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#i wanna dress in my silly little business attire and make fun of the little rat man :(
potato-jem · 1 year
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i have to pinch myself over ten times a day to just remind myself that i actually did see ‘she’s american’ live
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sweetsbfreex · 3 years
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a styles vacation to Hawaii
Summary: a little continuation of this family. The styles take a vacation to Hawaii with mild bumps in the road. 
a/n: no warnings, but harry is not famous in this. I’ve never been to Hawaii and do not much of the hawaiian attire/culture, i just did research and put what i found. If there’s any misconceptions or if i’ve offended anyone by accident pls lmk!
Pairings: Dad, Husband!Harry
“Honey, you have to let go so we’re not late for the plane” Harry grunts, trying to stealthily pull Ava away from her hold on Milo. 
“No! We can’t leave Mimi” she cries out, cuddling her face into the pup’s fur even more. 
“Mimi has to stay with nan, honey” From his tone you can tell he’s losing patience.
It’s a definite eyesore. The whole situation takes place on your mother's porch. You were all meant to say your goodbyes before the three of you–– no Milo–– go off on a small vacation to Hawaii. 
Ava is holding on to the australian shepherd, not letting up one bit. You would think she glued herself onto him without anyone knowing, with how she latched on.
Milo in front of your mother's feet, enjoying what he thinks is a hug it seems. Only letting out long whines when Ava's sobs get out of control.
Harry is standing behind Ava, bent at the wait trying to pry her off her best friend.
You're crouched beside her, a hand on her back, trying to convince her to let go.
Ava's poor grandmother stands in the doorway. A look of agony on her face as she watches it all go down.
The–– now three year old–– has been throwing a hissy fit in the car, holding onto Milo's paw. Ever since Harry informed her how they were going to her nan's house to drop off Milo and then hurry to the plane. She saw the news like a terrible taste in her mouth, while she stared at you both in the rearview mirror eyes widened. 
You know how much the two love each other, but you didn't expect her to throw a fit like this.
“Ava I know you’re upset but, you gotta let go honey so Mimi can have fun with grandma. Don’t you want to go on the airplane, hm? Weren’t you excited about it?” You ask her, beginning to unclasp one hand and go for the other, trying to bring into your arms.
But with quickness, she remembered the only way she would be able to go on this vacation. Without Milo, she wraps her arms around Milo again. 
“Baby, Milo has to stay. Dog’s aren’t allowed in Hawaii” At this moment, Harry is willing to try anything.
“They’re not?” she asks, tilting her head back a little to see her father’s face. 
“Nope, Milo won’t have fun there. He’ll have more fun with Nana” he tells her, bringing his thumbs down to wipe away the tears. 
“...I wanna stay with Mimi!” 
Milo doesn’t eject this idea, letting his chin rest on her small shoulder. You and Harry huff in frustration, glancing at each other. Your mother...well she’s had enough of whatever foolishness you and H are pulling right now. 
“Okay enough of this” your mother starts, gaining everyone’s attention. “Ava, honeybee, Tell Milo and your grandma see you later and let go of him so you can have fun on your trip with your parents.” She says this with a stern, yet loving tone. Down to business and nothing else. 
“Yes nana” she mumbles, placing a few kisses to Milo’s cheek and glides to your mom. 
You and Harry look at each other in an instant, eyes wide at the way your mother fixed the problem in less than a minute. A mutual look of what the fuck, as in the what the fuck were you possibly doing wrong. 
“Thanks mum.” Harry says sheepish, looking at the calming little one swaying in your mother’s arms.  
“Yeah thanks mom” you say, standing up straight.
“No problem, Now get going, before she fusses again”
You all exchange your see you laters. Ava has yet another sweet moment with Milo. While Harry tells her she won't be staying in Hawaii forever and Milo won't stay with Nana forever. As you're driving away you all wave at the two, Ava yelling to Milo.
“Bye Mimi! See you soon! Don’t chase a squirrel when I’m gone!” She yells out the window, her arm waving in the wind. 
You and Harry share a chuckle. Despite what she may think, Milo has never chased a squirrel in his life. She's watched it once on a cartoon and it somehow filled her heard with the imaginary scenario. 
When both her grandmother and bestfriend are out of sight, she turns her head to the other window. A solemn look on her face, looking out the window like the Kermit the Frog meme. 
You play the Frozen 2 soundtrack for the less pouty girl behind you. But when you don't hear the shrill sound of her singing, you look behind you to see an upset look upon her cherub face. 
Her bottom lip is juts out, her hands fisted and arms crossed. 
“You okay?” you ask her, turning in your seat to cradle her knee. 
She’s dressed cutesy in a matching sweat set and a cute beanie rested over her plaits. 
“No. I’m upset and I wanna yell” she looks at you, resting her case, before she turns her head back to its original spot. 
Harry peeks at the interaction through the rear view mirror; an eyebrow quirked. One hand on the wheel while the other takes its natural spot in your lap, your fingers tangled with his. 
“Why are you upset?” you ask. 
“Because…” she groans, trying to figure out her ‘big feelings’. “You left Mimi and now he’ll hate me” 
“He won’t hate you, you’re his favorite person” 
“You guys don’t love me either!” She whines, glaring out the window. Wigging in her spot, causing your hand to fall from her knee. 
“That’s not true! We love you” you exclaim, in a loving manner. 
“Then get Mimi” 
“Mimi is staying with grandma Ava, enough.” Harry’s voice catches her attention immediately. “ It's okay to be upset but Hawaii doesn’t accept dogs, remember?” 
She only huffs, dropping her hands from her chest. 
“Can you play the when I am older song, please mommy?” she almost whispers.
You accept her request, turning so you’re seated right. Playing the song and hearing her sing eases your glazed stare a bit. Releasing a breath and closing your eyes as you rest your head against the window adds a bit to your release. 
Harry raises the entangled hands away from your lap, placing an adored kiss to the back of your hand. Sending a quick questioning look your way. 
“I’m fine” you send back, in a smile. No mother wants to hear those words.
He can’t do much with him driving and with Ava in the car. So he places a kiss to the back of your hand once more, and extends his hand so he caresses the back of your neck. 
“You’re doing a great job, stop being so hard on yourself” he encourages.
If your mom was here she’d give you a tip or two on how you and Harry are too soft on Ava. You couldn’t help leaving all the disciplining to Harry, you probably were definitely too soft on her at times.  
-
Through all the pouting, belting of kid songs, and Harry's annoying jokes and teasing. Five hours later you've made it to the resort. 
At the moment, Harry was checking you both in while you and Ava looked around the gift shop. When you feel someone’s arm come around your shoulder, you jump. But the feeling of his cold rings and brings you down. 
“Scared me, don’t do that” a breath of relief follows as you tilt your head back onto his shoulder. He gets the memo immediately, leaning down for a peck to the lips. 
“Made a friend in the lobby.” He tells you like nothing. Eyes shifting at his little girl looking through the stuffed animals and keychains.  
“Are you okay?” you ask in disbelief. 
“What?” he laughs, one eyebrow perched.
“Like in the head”
“I’m not following…”
“Why are you so good at making friends with strangers this easily? Seriously.” 
He laughs you off like it’s nothing, but it’s uncomic. You wish you could blame it on being shy, but compared to Harry it was not that easy for you to chat up strangers enough that you become acquaintances. 
Your husband could make friends with a duck if he wanted to. Everywhere you went. Whether in the ice cream shop a few miles away at home or the park where you took Ava all the time .He was always chatting with someone, in the end pulling you in. 
He only laughs it off, beyond doubt enjoying the look on your face. “We agreed to save each other a seat at the Luau tonight, for whoever gets there first. Talked to the husband actually, but you’ll see”
“You’re insane” you tease him.
“Can I have this?” A teal, stuffed sea turtle is thrusts in the direction of you and Harry. 
“How do we ask nicely” you say. 
“Can I get this?” she smiles, a smile so sweet, your tooth hurts from looking at it. She’s the most adorable thing and knows exactly how to use it to her advantage. 
“My sweet little baby.” Harry crooned, advancing to her, lifting her into his tattooed arms. Placing a series of kisses to her plump cheeks. She giggles, never wanting the affection to stop. “You can have it,” he tells her. “Let’s go to the till.”
“Harry you didn’t even check the price” you chimed in. 
“Shh. We’re having a moment” he acknowledged. He outstretches his arm, so his palm meets your face gently. You laugh into it, before you smack his wrist away, then placing a light kiss to his wrist when he whines.  
-
It’s some hours later. You’re all getting ready for the hotel’s hosted dinner/Luau tonight. The three of you took a two and a half hour nap. 
You were touching up your light makeup while Harry got Ava ready. He lost two rounds of rock-paper-scissors and now must deal with the havoc that is dressing Ava. 
“Baby, get the trousers mommy picked out for you” you Harey him tell Ava. 
“Trousers?” She says the word with confusion, “Don’t have trousers babe? That’s a silly word.” 
Then you hear the raspy laugh of Harry. 
“Your pants, get your pants and your top too” 
Not even a minute later do you hear Harry asking her to stop wiggling around. 
Harry walks in the bathroom, a giggling Ava sat on his hip. 
Harry adores a very laid back...dad look you could say. The back of the white wife beater he’s wearing get’s covered by a black button up shirt with flamingos patterned all over it. He’s also wearing  a pair of shorts and his favorite vans. 
Ava’s tucked into a set. a cami top with matching flared pants and sunflowers ornamented the black fabric. 
“Oooh look at mumma, beautiful huh?” he asks Ava, extending one hand towards you, once you clasp your hands in his, he spins you letting his eyes sink in.
“Yeah!”
“Thank you both” you smile as Harry tugs you in for a swift kiss. 
You had picked out an angelic, ivory crochet set. The top you’re wearing shows off your midriff and the long, flowy skirt matches with beautiful lace detailing. 
You turn to Ava to give her a kiss on her cheek. “You look so handsome.” you tell Harry, letting your hand run through his hair. “And you look so adorable, you like your outfit?” taking her from Harry’s hands. 
“Yeah, I like the flowers–– Can I have some too?” she points to the plethora of makeup products spread over the bathroom counter. 
Looking over at Harry for his confirmation, he nods. You take the brush running it over the blush, before brushing it over her chubby cheeks and her nose.
“Tickles,” she laughs, pushing your hand away. 
“Are you ladies ready to go?” 
-
“Wow! Look the fires!” She points at the lines of tiki torches submerged into the sand, jumping as she sits on your hip. 
The layout is stunning. There’s a stage for the performance, round tables spread out everywhere across the beach, and a buffet in the back. 
Most of the tables are already filled, albeit the show was to start in like twenty minutes. 
“There they are, over there” Harry indicated, his hand waving back at a family of four. 
With Harry’s hand settled on your back, he weaved the three of you to the table. 
“Hey Shawn.” Harry greeted, their hands clasped together as they brought each other in, clapping each other on the back. 
Shawn was a tall man, a few inches taller than Harry, and very built. He had amazing brown skin, clear like a mirror, and was bald––which he pulled off effortlessly. 
“This is my wife, y/n and my daughter Ava” he smiled at the two of you, while you shook hands with Shawn and asked Ava to say a hello. Which she did, like bursting a ball of energy as put her hands out for a handshake like she watched her parents do. It caused a laugh out of everyone. She didn’t know why they were laughing at her, but she enjoyed the attention. 
“This is my wife Avni” you hugged, as close as you could, with a petite, expecting Indian woman. She was radiant as she smiled at you and Harry. “These are my kids Grey and Aster” you shook hands with them both. 
Grey looked about Ava’s age, bouncy coils moving as he bobbed up and down in his seat. His sister, who looked in her tweens, sported the same hair texture. Aster more silent of the two sent her greetings kindly. 
“And the third is still cooking in here” he laughed, setting his hands down on Avni’s early protruding belly. 
With that joke, you understand exactly how the two of them got to know each other, as Harry joined in with his laugh. The wives chuckled amongst themselves. 
“How far along are you?” you solicited.
“Three and a half months” Avni smiled proudly, rubbing both hands around her belly. 
You cooed, “It’s amazing, you’re literally glowing. You're making me miss being pregnant” you joke. 
“Okay! Enough of that. One little devil is enough.” Harry tickles your side, as a result you jab his side with your elbow gently, as he grins down at you. “We’re gonna go get some food,” he informs the couple.
-
Now everyone’s sitting around the table anticipating for the show to start. Conversation running pretty smoothly. The four of you were even able to make a few plans for the week you are here for. You had gotten a high chair for Ava to sit and eat in, but she wasn’t having it. Failing around while reaching for you.
 In result, she’s now sitting in your lap, bouncing side to side. Munching on her French fries, chicken, and sipping on her pineapple juice. 
“Taste good?” Harry asks his toddler. 
“Mhm” she hums, shoving her thumb into his face. 
“I can tell” he chuckles, extending a napkin to wipe her face clean. 
You tilt your head down closer to hers, to see sauce around her mouth, some of it on her cheek even. 
“Daddy.”
“Hm, baby?”
“Mimi would like this, he loves the chicken mommy gives me” 
“You give Mimi your chicken?”
“No”
You both laugh it off, not seeing the point in correcting her. 
“Who’s Mimi”
“Mimi is our dog, he's big and he can talk!” Ava answered, her voice ringing with excitement. 
“Dog’s can’t talk!” The high-pitched voice of Grey argued, eye brows pitched together. 
“That’s a fib, Mimi talks to me all the time!” she defended. 
Thankfully,  the show was beginning, two young women and four young men came out on stage. Dressed in their traditional Hula attire. 
You and Avni shared a grateful smile, knowing neither of you would know how to suppress their little spiff. 
The dance is mesmerizing and it was nice with the sun almost setting as a background. Light hues of orange shaded the sea as the night took over the rest.  Everyone watched in awh, clapping when it was appropriate. The women’s skirt flowed amongst the air like water.  
Harry’s arm propps on the back of your chair. During the performance you feel his fingers run against the back of your neck. 
You turn your head towards, trying not to disturb the entranced little girl on your lap. “What?” you mouth. 
“It’s beautiful” he whispers to you. 
“I know” you tell him, smiling when he rolls his eyes at you. 
At some point in the show, the original dancers plus a few more stepped off the stage. An array of Lei’s on their arms, watching as they put Leis around their chosen person’s neck. During this time a woman walks behind Harry, setting one around his neck. 
You laugh at the shocked look on his face and the way he fixes his posture. She places a grip onto his arm, making him stand up so she could guide her to the rest of the others. Avni gets chosen too. 
The smile on your face makes your face hurt as you watch Harry “dance” up there. The man definitely didn’t have the bet rhythm but he’s having fun and you loved that. 
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!...” Ava cheered on her father, clapping her hands. Harry looks towards her, waving. She gets even more excited chanting his title louder. 
She's Not interrupting anything, you’re surprised he heard her in the first place. But also not, she always knew how to project her voice when needed. 
A little over a minute goes by when Ava raises her hand and keeps it up there until you’re able to flag down someone for a lei, which you both get. The both of you walk up to Harry and you set Ava on the ground. 
A slight circle forms as you three hold hands together. Just swaying. Sometimes letting go because Harry wanted to spin the two of you. It’s a beautiful image, you're sure. All the glee you could hold in your body transpires in the way you danced with them. 
When you’re walking back to your hotel room, your arms are hooked with Harry’s and your head rests on his shoulder. An almost asleep Ava in his arm. He stops to bring his free hand around your neck, pulling you in for a kiss.
“Thank you for giving me this, I love you” he whispers against your lips. 
-
Last night, after the dinner and the Hula, Ava had facetimed Nana. To be honest, she had wanted to say a goodnight to Milo, but talking to her grandmother was always a plus. She was still dressed in her outfit, you and Harry getting ready for the night, so you could then focus on her. 
She sat up against the headboard, Your giant phone–– compared to her hands–– held in her tiny ones.  You were looking through her duffle bag for her pyjamas when you heard…
“Look Mimi, I saved you chicken”, her small teeth bared, holding up a piece of her chicken from dinner. Your phone is now being propped up against a pillow. 
You looked up to watch her pull a piece of chicken from her...pant pocket. 
That was the point you reavulated yourself as a parent and had to think about what kind of kid you and Harry were possibly raising. 
“Harry!” you called for him.
He walked out, an eyebrow quirked.
“Look.” you hiss, voice low.
‘God…’ Harry thinks. “Where’d she get that chicken from?” he asks, running his towel over his hair. 
“Her pocket! Why are you so casual about this?”
“Angel...you had a baby with me, what’d you expect?” he questions, seriously questions you this.
“You’re fixing it then, Mr. mini-me”
-
Presently, you’re all at the beach. Three towels and three umbrellas lay in/on the sand. You’ve rubbed sunscreen on Ava twice now and have had to remind Harry three times. After last time there was no way you’d be rubbing aloe vera on him all night. 
“Baby you’re dripping it.” You sigh, reaching over to wipe her chin of the chocolate ice cream she was eating, from a cup you might add. “Do you want me to feed it to you?”
“No, thank you” she replies, kicking her feet out. 
You’ve all swam a bit, but now are on a mini break from the water and saw they were selling ice cream close by. 
It’s pretty quiet between the three of you, too busy enjoying your treat. 
She gasps, “Daddy you’re a fibber” Ava says indifferently, slurping even more of her ice cream from her spoon.
He guffaws, caught off guard from her statement. He shifts towards the two of you. The way the wind blows his hair and the sun makes the green in his eyes even brighter catches you off guard–– the sight of his abs doesn’t hurt either. 
You also knew it wouldn’t be long until his hair gained some highlights and his freckles would be more prompt. You couldn’t wait.
“How’m I a fibber, messy?” squinting down at her.
“Look!”she points, “There’s a puppy right there” 
There is, you turn your eyes to where her fingers point to see a woman walking a black Dachshund.
Harry turns his head towards him, a sad look on his face. “You’re right baby. I’m a fibber. I’m sorry”
Ava hurls from her seat to latch her arms around his neck, “It’s okay daddy, now Mimi can come next time” she tells him.
If there’s one thing about Ava, it’s how much she hates sadness. Unless it’s from her. Then it’s perfectly okay. She hates sadness so much, she particularly had a dislike for the character from Inside out. Until you had to explain to her how sadness is something that is okay and needed from time to time, Like in the movie.
After her round of affection towards Harry, she emplaces herself into his lap.
“Daddy. Mommy.”
You both hum an answer. 
“It looks like a hot dog” she eyes the dog while it trots down the sand. 
“It does huh?” Harry answers, brushing her flyaways back. All while you laugh into your palm.
Your hands feel tingly when you wrap it around Harry’s neck, pulling him into you. His head lays against your shoulder. 
Definitely a vacation to remember and cherish.
-
if you enjoyed pls don’t forget to reblog or give feedback if ur up to it <3
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atlafan · 4 years
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Office Neighbors - Part Two
a/n: here we are! a little shorter than part one, but there’s some good stuff in here I think! enjoy! (also reblogs/feedback is super helpful) not proofread
warnings: fluff, slight smut (but not with who you think) 
words: 10K
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You groan heavily when your alarm goes off at 5AM Tuesday morning. You wanted to make sure your body had time to go to the bathroom before Harry picked you up. You knuckle at your eyes, and then get out of bed. You make yourself a quick iced coffee, and then get dressed. You decide on a cropped pair of leggings and one of your t-shirts that wicks away sweat. You pack an extra pair of socks, another shirt, and another sports bra just in case you get really sweaty. You make yourself some trail mix, and throw an extra water into your pack. Harry said he would bring actual sandwiches for the two of you. You get your ponytail through your hat, and use the bathroom again before waiting him.
Harry: here
You grab your pack and head out to his car. He had similar attire on as he did when you hiked with him the last time. Shorts, a sleeveless top, bandana and clip holding his hair back. You both nod at each other. It was still too early to speak. When you get to the trailhead you both spray each other with bug spray and begin.
“How long do you think it’ll take?” You speak up.
“Why, you in a hurry?” He smirks at you.
“No.” You nudge him. “Just wondering.”
“It’s about two and half miles up. It’s gradual, but there are also some really steep parts. If I were jogging, it would only take a couple of hours, but we can take our time. That’s why I wanted to leave so early.”
“You’ve…you’ve jogged this?”
“Sure.” He shrugs. “It’s just running uphill.”
“Big nope from me.” You laugh. “I like the idea of just taking our time.”
“You get a fuller experience that way, I think. Don’t be afraid to tell me you need a break too. Some of the steeper parts are killer.”
“Will do.”
You both talk about your fall courses, what you plan to do differently, if anything. You talk about how you’re actually excited to have some student advisees, and how you might approach the meetings.
“It’s okay not to be super serious. Most importantly, you just need to listen, which you should have no problem with. You’re a good listener.” He says, blushing slightly.
“Sort of trained to be one.” You chuckle. “But I get what you mean. Now that I know the curriculum and the course sequence a little better, I definitely feel more confident to lead them in the…wow…that is steep.” You gulp as you look at the area ahead.
“We’ll just take our time.” He smiles. “It’s not a race.”
You make it up the first steep hump, and you tell him you need a water break.
“Christ, and here I thought I was in shape.”
“Hiking can be pretty humbling.” He uses a rag to wipe some sweat from his forehead, and takes a drink of water as well. “All set?”
“Mhm, let’s keep going.”
Every so often you stop to take pictures, and there is a moment where Harry veers off so he can have a “wee”, as he would call it. You had drank half your bottle of water and you definitely needed to pee too, but you were too embarrassed.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go?”
“I’m fine.”
“Look, that’s a flatter area, you could-“
“What if I get a mosquito bite…down there?” You whisper.
“It’s not mosquito season.” He laughs. “Did you bring some T-“
“Yes.” You mumble.
“So, just go, it’s fine. You’re being silly. I’ll stand right over there and keep watch.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m doing this.” You groan and take the bit of toilet paper you brought out of your bag. Your eyes stay glued to the back Harry’s head while you do your business. You stick your rubbish into a plastic bag and stuff it away, then you use some hand sanitizer. “Okay.”
“All set?” He turns to look at you. “Not so bad, was it?”
“Not something I’d like to make a habit of, but no, it wasn’t terrible.”
It takes about two and half hours to get to the summit. You both were sticky with sweat, but it was worth it from the view alone.
“Oh my god.” You say slowly as you look around. “This is incredible.”
“Isn’t it? I feel so lucky to live here.”
“I’m starting to feel the same way for sure.” You take a few photos before sitting down, letting out a sigh.
You look over at Harry who’s taking his shirt off and your eyes widen. You knew about the birds on his collar bones, but the butterfly and the ferns were a complete surprise. Harry had such a nice body. He was toned, but still had a softness to him. He notices you looking at him and he blushes.
“Sorry, I’m soaked.”
“No, it’s okay…sorry, I just…your tattoos, I haven’t seen those ones.”
“Oh…” He looks down at himself. “I got these so long ago. Got a few more you haven’t seen.” He pulls up one side of his shorts so you can see the tiger on his thigh.
“Didn’t those huge ones hurt?”
“Eh.” He says sitting down next to you, grabbing a sip of his water. “Some did and some didn’t. The trick is to get a little tipsy beforehand.” He winks at you. He leans back on his elbows and closes his eyes for a moment before looking out at the view again.
“You know, I think you had the right idea about the shirt…do you mind?”
“What?”
“Well, if I took mine off for a bit. I packed myself a spare, but-“
“Oh! Yeah, um, I don’t care, uh, do what makes you comfortable.”
You nod and peel your shirt off. You lay it on the ground next to you, feeling better already from the breeze hitting your hot skin. You were glad you thought to wear one of your cuter sports bras. Your heart was racing slightly, mostly because it had been a while since you had last taken your clothes off in front of someone, but it was just Harry, after all.
“I brought some peanut butter sandwiches, are you hungry? I know it’s not exactly lunch time, but-“
“That sounds amazing, I’m starving. I didn’t eat beforehand.”
“You didn’t?!” He sits up fully.
“I didn’t want to have to…really go to the bathroom.”
“Oh, Y/N.” He laughs while he gets the sandwiches out of his pack. “Here.”
“Thank you.” She notices his eyes drift to her cleavage. It was only for a moment, and she didn’t mind it.
“No problem.”
If Harry were twenty-years-old he’d probably try to make a move. Kiss you, press you up against a tree, fuck, put his hand over your mouth so other hikers wouldn’t be able to hear you moan. But he wasn’t twenty-years-old, he was thirty-two, and he had an eleven-year-old son who he wouldn’t want to treat a woman like that. He wanted to set a good example, to show him how a respectful man treats a woman. So, he eats his own sandwich, trying to keep his eyes anywhere but your body.
“Do you want some trail mix?” You take it out of your bag.
“Sure! Thanks.” He reaches his hand in the bag and takes some out.
You guzzle down some more of your water and stand up. You didn’t want to sit too long and get stiff.
“Harry, would you take my picture?”
“Of course.” He stands up and takes your phone. He smiles at your smile as he snaps the photo.
“How about a selfie?”
“Of the two of us?”
“Yeah.”
“Like this?” You made him so fucking nervous, he was never like this with anyone else.
“I don’t care if you don’t. I’ll just stand here, and you can stand in front of me to get the shot.”
“Oh, right.” He thought to maybe put his arm around you, but that clearly wasn’t happening. You both smile and he takes the shot.
“Do you two want a picture?” A woman says. She was with a couple of other people. “I’d be happy to take it for you.”
“That would be great!” You snatch your phone from Harry’s hand and give it to her. “Are you still sweaty?” You look up at him.
“I don’t think so.”
“Good.” You put your arm around his waist, and he puts an arm around you, hand on your shoulder.
“Alright, I took a couple.”
“Thank you so much, would your group like any?”
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.”
You take a few photos for the group and then you look over the photos of you and Harry.
“These are great.” You smile and show him.
“You’ll send those to me, yeah?”
“Of course.”
“I’m walking down like this, I don’t wanna get my spare shirt sweaty. I was thinking we could grab a real lunch after this…if you don’t mind me taking up your entire day that is.”
“I would love nothing more than to stuff my face after this, Har.”
You decide to just go down in your sports bra, not wanting to get your spare shirt sweaty either. The way down feels like it takes no time at all. It was definitely easier to hike down a mountain than to hike up a mountain. That is, until you got to one of the steeper parts.
“Just step down on the side and take slow steps. Don’t go straight down.”
“Would, um, hold my hand? I’m a little nervous.”
“Of course.” He looks back at you and takes your hand, giving you a reassuring squeeze.
He helps you down the steeper parts, taking your hand each time until things get more gradual again. You feel incredibly proud of yourself once you’re back at the parking area.
“That was amazing, Harry. I feel amazing.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“Andy’s done that with you before?”
“Oh, sure. Plenty of times.”
“Incredible.” You chuckle as you grab your spare bra and shirt from your pack. Harry dabs his chest with a rag before putting his t-shirt on. “Shit, where should I change?”
“Um…backseat?”
“I’ll just be a second.”
He nods and waits outside the car while you quickly change. You feel so much relief letting your breasts free, giving yourself a second to cool off before putting your fresh bra on. You pull your t-shirt on overhead and get out to sit in the passenger seat. Harry hops in the driver’s seat and off you go.
“I can’t believe it’s only 12:30.”
“Another benefit of getting up early. Did you see how full the lot was? People are so uneducated. I’d never start a hike now.”
“I know! There were so many people going up when we were coming down. I couldn’t believe it.”
“And now they’ll have to rush.”
“Have you ever hiked at night before?”
“I have, actually. I used to help lead this moonlit hike thing during move-in weekend for first year students. It was a lot of fun.”
“How come you stopped?”
“Not a junior faculty anymore.” He shrugs. “I just didn’t feel like it after a certain point. I still help with other things, but I definitely don’t give up all my free time to the school anymore.”
“I volunteered for that casino night last fall. I was on campus until almost midnight, I was pooped. Sometimes those kids make me feel so old.”
“You’re not old.” He chuckles.
“I mean, I know, I just feel out of touch sometimes.”
“How can a person who studies social media feel out of touch?” He raises an eyebrow at you.
“It’s more so the lingo. I was giving a lecture, and I made a really great point, and when I was done one student shouted ‘period’ and everyone laughed. I had to look it up on urban dictionary.” You both laugh at that.
Harry drives into town, and parks near the local diner.
“How do you feel about brunch?”
“Sounds amazing.”
You both get out and head inside. The morning rush was gone already, so you’re sat right away. You both inhale your food. Greasy hash browns and omelets. And coffee, a lot more coffee. You split the bill and Harry starts the drive to your apartment.
“So, you’ll hike with me again?”
“I’ll hike with you again.” You nod with a smile. “Do you think Andy will be jealous?”
“Nah, he already knows. I’m sure he’ll be expecting lots of details.”
“About what?”
“Um, just how the view was and all that.”
“Right.” He pulls up in front of your house, and you both look at each other. “One of these days you’ll let me pick you up.” You unbuckle your seat belt and he nods. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
“I’d hug you…but I’m a little gross, so…”
“No worries.”
“Well…” You weren’t sure what the next time you were going to see him was.
“Sometimes, while Andy is still in school, I’ll use the library on campus to work on things. It’s got a/c…less stuffy than our offices. I usually only go on a rainy day, but-“
“Cute, we can study together like classmates.” You giggle. “I’ll let you know if I decide to use the space.” You smile and get out of the car.
//
Harry was enjoying his shower, it was quick, but it was good to clean off. He throws on some comfy clothes and nearly dozes off on the couch.
“Dad, I’m home!” Andy shouts, immediately waking him up. “How was the hike?” He plops down on the couch next to Harry.
“It was good, Y/N had a nice time.”
“Is she going to come camping with us?”
“I’m…not sure.” He sighs. “That’s not something just a friend would join in on, you know?”
“I don’t, but…”
“I’m not going to press her about it, I think she’s thinking it over. We’ve got time yet…” He sits up a little straighter. “When Mum comes to get you on Friday she’s going to come in for a bit and chat.”
“About what?”
“What you want to do this summer.”
“I spend summers with you.”
“Yes, but usually you spend the school year with her, that’s why you get me over the summer.”
“You don’t want me this summer?” He leans into him to rest his head on Harry’s chest, and Harry puts his arm around his son.
“Of course I do, but your Mum wants you too. I don’t know, I’m going to propose she get you for July, and I get you for August, I think that’s a good compromise, but she may not see it that way.”
“What about June?”
“Well, you have school for most of June, so you could go be with her end of June through July. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, would it? I wouldn’t hate having my own lake to swim in every day.”
“I guess that’s true…and Noah’s boat is pretty cool.” He sighs.
“I just wanted to give you the heads up.”
“Thanks.”
Harry was up reading in bed later that night. The rain had started and he could hear it tapping on his window, almost starting to lull him to sleep. He heard his phone buzz and his eyes lit up when he saw it was you.
You: hey! Almost forgot to send these to you!
You sent along all of the photos from the day.
Harry: thanks! Really glad that lady was there to take these of us
You: me too…so when exactly is this camping trip?
Harry: middle of June…when Andy gets out of school…June 20th I think
You: if I really won’t be intruding, I think I’d like to go. I’m trying to do more things to get out of my comfort zone
Harry: are you serious?! He’ll be so excited…I mean, I’m excited too.
Harry: I think he wants his friend Brandon to come so having another adult there would be a huge help
He didn’t want his first text to sound too eager.
You: lol well I’m happy to help how I can ;p you’ll tell me what to pack and all that right? I literally have no idea what I would need for overnight stuff
Harry: if you can get yourself a sleeping bag you’ll be all set, I have two tents and a ton of camping stuff. You would just want to bring your own food, clothes, etc.
You: alright sounds good :)
//
Harry hadn’t told Andy about you coming on the trip just yet. He wanted to save it as good news in case the conversation about summer with Paige didn’t go well.
“I guess let’s just start.” Paige says after eating a quick dinner with Harry and Andy in Harry’s home. “Ideally, what would you prefer?” She asks her son.
“To not go back and forth a lot. It stresses me out, I feel like I need to remember every little thing I don’t have two of.”
“Do you have any vacations or anything planned?” Harry asks, looking at his planner. “Right now for us it’s just the camping trip, and that’ll only be the weekend he gets out of school.”
���I was hoping to have him for the fourth. The Barrett’s are coming to staycation at the rental two doors down.”
“Really?!” Andy perks up. “I like when they visit.”
“So…why not spend the rest of June with me,” Harry begins. “You could do July with mum, and then come back to me mid-August.”
“That actually sounds good to me.” Paige says.
“What about Brandon?”
“It’s only a thirty minute drive, I’m sure his dad won’t mind it when you two wanna hang out. Hell, I’ll even come pick you up and bring back here if need be.”
“And if there’s a weekend you wanna just come see Dad in July, you can. You won’t be held hostage.”
“It’s just…you work during the day, Mum.”
“I know honey, but Noah’s got the home office. He can stay in with you and Rachel, and you two could go swimming and have fun at the lake. He could take you on boat rides too.”
“Okay.”
“Really?” She says.
“Yeah, I think all that seems fair.” He looks at the two of them. “I know…I know I can be sort of difficult sometimes, and I’m really grateful that I got to spend the school year with Dad, and I really hope I get to do it again…”
“I think that can be arranged.” Paige smiles. “You’ve never done so well in school, we’re both so proud of you.”
“Yeah, bud, I think this school was a good fit for you.”
“So…I’ll be able to do it again next year, I can keep living with you?”
“If that’s what you want, Mum and I are okay with this new arrangement.”
Andy shoots out of his seat and hugs the both of them.
“Go on and get your things for the weekend, sweetheart.” Paige smiles.
“Okay!” Andy races into his room.
“You’re surprisingly cool with all this.” Harry says to her as they both stand.
“I want him to be happy, and if he’s happier here then what can I do?” She shrugs. “Are you alright continuing to take all this on?”
“Yeah, plus he’s getting older. He can be home for a bit before I am.” Paige hums her response. “How, um, how did you feel about my friend?”
“Y/N?”
“Yeah.”
“She was really nice! She seems sweet, why?”
“She’s going to come camping with us.” Harry whispers. “And I just wanted to make sure you felt comfortable with it.”
“Oh, Harry.” Paige smiles. “Thank you, yeah, I’m perfectly fine with it. Andy seems to really like her.”
“Who?” Andy says, coming out with his backpack and duffle.
“Y/N.” Harry says. “I told her how you wanted Brandon to come camping, and I’ll need some help, so she’s coming camping with us.”
“She is?! Oh my god, we gotta work on your flirting then, Dad. You need help.”
“Excuse me? I’m great at flirting.” He scoffs. “Back me up.” He says to Paige.
“It’s true, Andy.” She chuckles. “Your dad can really turn on the charm when he wants to.”
“Well, you didn’t see him trying to ask her to come to my birthday party. I thought he was going to wet his pants!” He laughs.
“Oi, I was just trying to play it cool before you blurted it out.”
“So, what, you have a thing for her?” Paige asks.
“I like her, yeah.”
“Does she like you?”
“She must if she’s coming overnight with us, right?”
“You know, I’ve never really known you to hold back with a woman you liked before…” She raises an eyebrow at him.
“I work with her, it’s a little more complicated. She’s mentioned a couple of times how she doesn’t think dating in the workplace is smart, just offhand, so I’ve been nervous.”
“I think you guys should hang out again before the trip.” Andy says. “Oh! You could go to her place to help her pack.”
“I’m not gonna invite myself over!” Harry rolls his eyes. “Alright, that’s enough. Go have a good weekend with Mum.”
Andy laughs and gives his dad a hug before leaving with Paige.
//
“God, you feel so good, it’s been way too long.” Ray grunts in your ear. “Should have never stopped doing this.”
Ray was an old flame from your previous institution. You decided to go home to Boston this weekend because your brother had some new recipes he wanted you to try. You happened to bump into Ray at a bar, and went with him back to his place for some promised fun. He was a decent enough fuck, he knew how to scratch your itch, and that was good enough right now. Although, you didn’t feel the need to answer his dirty talk. You just grunt and moan and try to focus on what you’re after.
You’re close, but you’re not quite getting there. He was fucking into you from behind, and hitting the right spots, but it wasn’t…it just wasn’t…
Harry.
Your fingers slip to your clit, and you rub harsh circles into yourself as Ray continues to fuck into you. Your eyes pinch closed, and suddenly there are tattooed arms around you. A raspy, deep voice in your ear.
“Come on, you can do it. Show how you make yourself come.”
Your eyes snap open and roll back when you feel your release. You cry out and collapse onto the bed after Ray spills into the condom. You get up after catching your breath to use the bathroom. Ray watches as you put your clothes on.
“Going so soon?”
“Yeah, I’m staying with my brother…be sort of weird not to come back tonight.”
“It was great to be able to do this again.”
“Yeah.” You smile and kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks for the fun.”
On your uber ride back, it starts to settle into your mind that you just had to fantasize about your friend, Harry Styles, to get off while having sex with someone else. This wasn’t an accidental dream, this was on purpose.
“Shit.” You pinch the bridge of your nose and sigh. This camping trip wasn’t going to be easy.
//
Harry: hey! Was wondering if you want to come out and have some ice cream with Andy and I? He got straight A’s! Think it’s worth celebrating.
You: oh wow! Sure, I could definitely meet up for ice cream. Just at the place down town?”
Harry: yup! 6:30PM work?
You: sure! See you soon :)
Harry: :)
“Andy…”
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Wh…what’s this?” He shows Andy the text conversation on his phone.
“Oh…I, uh, asked Y/N to get ice cream with us while you were in the shower.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me to ask her?!”
“Does it matter? She said yes.”
“Of course it matters! Ugh, I can’t believe I’m gonna have to change my passcode again.” He reads over the conversation again. “I should ground you or something…no toppings on your ice cream.”
“But-“
“Sorry, thems the rules.” Harry smirks and grabs his keys.
You were waiting patiently outside of the ice cream shop for the two of them. You smile when you see Harry’s car pull up. They both get out and greet you.
“Congratulations, Andy.”
“Thanks!” He gives you a quick hug before going inside. You and Harry follow.
“Hey, uh…” He grabs your wrist. “Not that I’m upset or anything…but he actually stole my phone and texted you.”
“Oh!” You start laughing. “Glad I didn’t say anything naughty then.” You wink and walk up to the ice cream counter. You all get your ice cream and sit at a table across the street in the town common. “No toppings, Andy? I’m surprised you didn’t get a sundae.”
“Dad said I couldn’t.” He huffs, and bites into his mint chip ice cream.
“That’s what you get for stealing my phone, you little bugger.” Harry jostles the hair on Andy’s head, and Andy swats his hand away. “Did you have a nice weekend with your brother?”
You nearly choke on your ice cream. You clear your throat and nod.
“Yeah, um, yeah it was good. He came up with this new sauce for his raviolis, it was delicious.”
“Do anything else? Must be nice to go to a city that has things open past 9PM.” He chuckles.
“Um, yeah, I mean I went out, but nothing too exciting to report back.” You were blushing slightly. “So, Andy, straight A’s, how’d you manage that?”
“Brandon and I call each other to do homework a lot. He’s really smart.”
“So are you, don’t sell yourself short. You’ve worked hard this year.” Harry says.
“Yeah, but Brandon’s, like, really smart.” You furrow your brows a little as your lips curve up. It almost sounded like Andy was swooning. “He’s really excited to come camping with us this weekend. Are you excited too, Y/N?”
“I’m…excited to see how it goes.” You laugh. “Should be interesting to say the least. Instead of you coming to get me I could just meet you at your house so we can leave from there.”
“That would be great. Brandon’s sleeping over the night before so we can just get up and go.”
“You should sleep over too, Y/N.” Andy says.
“Andy.” Harry says to him.
“I’ll need all the sleep I can get before camping, and in order to do that I need my own bed, but thank you very much for the offer.” You smile.
“I could swing by the night before, though, and pack everything up in the car.” Harry says.
“Now there’s an idea.” You say with a grin.
//
“Okay, I’m trusting you both to be good while I’m gone for a bit. I shouldn’t be out too long, but still. Please be good.”
“We’re literally watching a movie then going to sleep, I don’t think we’re going to burn the house down.” Andy says, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, Mr. Styles, go see your girlfriend, we’ll be fine.”
“She’s not my…” He sighs. “I’ll be back soon.”
Harry drives to your apartment, and you buzz him in when he gets there. You had gotten caught up all day doing research, so you were running around in a tank top, shorts, and socks. Your door was open for him. It was the first time he had ever been inside your place.
“Y/N?”
“Coming!” You yell from your bedroom. “I’m so sorry, I’m not quite all there yet.” You say, dragging out your pack. “I can’t seem to get the sleeping bag on here without it unravelling.” You look up at him and pout.
Harry was sweating. Even though he had seen you in just a sports bra and leggings, this was almost more revealing.
“I can, uh, get it to stay on there tighter for you.”
“You’re amazing.” You go back into your room to pull out a couple of more things. “I definitely over packed…it’s going to be too heavy.”
“I kept some room in mine in case this happened, no worries.” He gets the sleeping bag tied on correctly. “There we go.” He stands up and is suddenly only inches away from you.
“Let me give you the tour.” You step back. “It’s a two bedroom, I use the other one as an office. It’s way too much of a mess to show you but, that’s the living room.” You show him. “Got a half bath over there, and full bath down the hall, kitchen…and that’s my bedroom.”
“It’s really nice.” He walks around with his hands behind his back. “You’re really good at decorating. Are you sure you didn’t go to school for interior design?” He raises an eyebrow at you, making you giggle.
“No, but it’s certainly a hobby of mine. It relaxes me to look through magazines and go to stores to get ideas.”
“Your office at work has the perfect balance. Mine must look all over the place.”
“No! I love your office, it’s very inviting.”
“Thanks.” He looks you up and down. “Are these the, uh, pj’s you packed for camping? You may get cold.”
“I’m not an idiot, I packed sweats.”
“Oh…good.”
“What are the sleeping arrangements going to be like?”
“Well, I have two tents. One for the boys, and then I have this larger one I figured we could, um, share…if it’s not too buggy I may sleep outside. Would you feel comfortable being in the same tent?”
“Sure.” You shrug. “I was going to make some tea, would you like some, or do you need to get back to them?”
“They should be fine on their own for a bit longer, a cup of tea sounds great.”
You nod, and his eye grows when he notices a park on the back of one of your shoulders. It looked like a fading bite mark. He glares at you without you seeing. Who the fuck did that to you? He wonders. It should be him leaving marks on you.
“So, when you went to Boston, you really didn’t do much?” He asks as he sits down at your kitchen island.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly going to get into it in front of your son.” You chuckle and turn your electric kettle on. “I went out to an old bar I used to go to when I was living in the area, ran into an old friend.”
“And how was that?”
“Okay.” You shrug, and put two tea bags into a couple of mugs. You pour the water over them and put one in front of him.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So…you and this friend…” He just wanted to confirm if his suspicion was true. “Did anything happen?”
“Like what?” Harry rolls his eyes at you. “Oh! Harry…”
“Come on, you can tell me.” He was trying to pal around, he just needed to know the truth.
“He was an ex-boyfriend…and…yada yada yada.” You sip your tea. “I don’t know why I did it…guess I just wanted to feel close to someone, and it was easy with someone familiar.”
“Right, I get that.” It stung to hear. “Paige and I hooked up a few times after we ended it. Sometimes you just wanna be with someone who knows what you like without you having to say it.” He thought he’d sting you a bit too.
“Mhm.” You didn’t want to think about Paige getting to fuck Harry. Perhaps if you had been drunk you would have asked him what he liked.
“Well, I should probably get going. Early day tomorrow and all, thanks for the tea.”
He grabs your pack and you walk him to the door.
“I’ll be at your place for seven. See you in the morning.”
“See you in the morning.”
//
You drive to Harry’s house in the morning, and the kids burst outside with a little too much energy for you so early. Harry says hello to you, and you notice he’s not wearing his glasses, something he rarely did.
“Morning.” He mumbles.
“Morning.” You open the passenger car door and get in. The boys climb in the backseat.
“Alright.” Harry turns to look at them. “I had to listen to you two hyenas all night. I’d like a nice, quiet ride to the trail head, got it?”
“Yes.” They both say at the same time.
You smile at Harry and he winks at you as he pulls out of the driveway. It’s about a forty-five minute long ride to the trail head. Harry parks and gets everything out of the car. The boys walk a few paces ahead of you and Harry like you expected them to.
“So, they kept you up?”
“You have no idea. I must have told them three times to knock it off.” He groans. “Little…twats.” He says under his breath and you can’t help but laugh.
“I heard that!” Andy says without looking.
“Good, you were supposed to!”
“Are you his father or his brother?” You tease.
“He’s just trying to act cool in front of his friend.” Harry nods toward Brandon. “Which I get, but I can’t let him get away with too much.”
“So, how come people tend to do this overnight?”
“Well, it’s about five miles up, and that’ll take the majority of the day. It’s not really safe to hike at night, so we set up camp, have dinner, hang out, and then once the sun goes down we’ll set up a campfire and stuff like that.”
“I’m excited to see the sun rise.”
“Yeah, that’s the best part. I taught Andy about sun salutations so we’ll be doing that too.”
“And you’ll teach me too, right?”
“Of course, you can follow right along.”
You smile at each other and keep walking. You all take your time, enjoying the scenery around you. An hour or so in you all stop to take water and snack breaks. The boys go off to have a wee, and then you keep going.
“So, you said there’s no shower at these bathrooms, right?”
“No, there’s not. But you can use the sink, and they do have men’s and women’s separate restrooms, so you’ll have some privacy.”
“Okay, great. I just didn’t want to feel gross when we go to sleep.” Harry nods at you. “It’s such a beautiful day. I’m really glad I’m here with you.” You clear your throat. “With all of you.”
“Yeah, me too.”
At one point you needed to stop to pee. Harry got the boys to not giggle and tease you, somehow, as you took a few moments to get yourself situated. You were about midway, and Harry knew the part of the trail where you could see out just a little bit. It was nice and flat, and the perfect spot for lunch. They were light lunches, veggies, nuts, and more water. Harry explained it wouldn’t be good to fill up too much because it would make going up a mountain that much more difficult.
“When will you two know what class you’re in next year? Sixth grade, that’s pretty wild.” You say to Brandon and Andy.
“Next year they’re putting us on teams. You either still have two teachers or four.” Andy explains. “We wanna be on the four team.”
“Why’s that?” You ask.
“Because then you’re not stuck in the same two classrooms all day.” Brandon says. “It’ll make the day go by faster.”
“That’s what a kid on the basketball team told us, anyways.” Andy shrugs. “We heard the four team has nicer teachers too.”
“I just hope they don’t put one of us on the four team and the other on the two team, that would be the worst.” Brandon says.
“Is it by last name or anything?” Harry asks.
“We have no idea, when we asked our fifth grade teachers they didn’t really say there was much reason behind who gets what.” Andy says. “I’ll worry about it in August.”
“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about school right now.” Brandon says.
“Y/N, do you still do work over the summer like Dad does?” Andy asks.
“Yes, I’m still technically in school. So I do research like Dad, but mine is so I can become a doctor like him, he just does it to keep his name out there.” She nudges him playfully.
“Oi, my work is more than just for vanity, thank you very much.”
“I don’t know Dad, I think Y/N has a point. I’ve seen you do your research.” Andy grins.
“Oh, this I’d love to hear.”
“Dad watches really sad romance movies, cries, and then pauses the movie to take notes about how he’s feeling.”
“I do that to compare to the books that the films are based off of, and I see how I felt while reading the book versus watching the movie. I also make notes about the cinematography and mise en scene, because music-“
“Mr. Styles, you lost me at the cinnamon tography…” Brandon says and everyone laughs.
After lunch you get going again. You’re amazed that the boys don’t need a lot of breaks and don’t seem tired. They get excited when they see certain critters or flowers. As you get closer to the top, you notice it getting a little steeper. Harry had the biggest pack on, and you were fucking floored that he wasn’t huffing and puffing his way up. He was sweating for sure, but he was in no way struggling. Impressive, to say the least.
“Dad! I recognize this part, we’re almost there!” Andy exclaims.
“Yeah! Shouldn’t be long now!” He calls ahead. “How are your feet doing?” He asks you.
“Not too bad, I’m glad I changed my socks when we took our last break. I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow.”
“After we get to the top and everything we’ll make sure to stretch. Your legs will tighten up too much if we don’t.”
“Makes sense. Has Brandon gone hiking with you before?”
“Oh, sure, tons of times. Never overnight, though, so this will be nice for them.”
A few more paces, and a few sharp turns, and you’ve made it to the summit.
“Holy shit.” You say to yourself. Mountains and greenery as far as your eyes could see. No lake this time, but you didn’t care.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Harry says to you.
“It’s…incredible.” You were still in shock.
“Congrats, it’s your first 4,000 footer.” He puts his hand on your shoulder and gives it a squeeze before getting his pack off. You all get your packs off.
Dozens of pictures are taken. You take some of the boys with Harry, and Andy uses your phone to take one of you and Harry, and he even wants one of just you and him, it was sweet.
“So…where’s the campsite?”
“Oh, just down that way a bit. Figured we could hang out here while we stretch and stuff. Just chill and take it all in before we go to set up the tents.”
You all sit on the ground and stretch your legs. It felt good to just take some time to breathe slowly and let your legs relax. You all walk to where the campsite is and claim your territory.
“So over there are the bathrooms, and then that hut over there actually has a snack bar in it and a few forest rangers.”
“That’s so cool! Do you need help with the tents?”
“Have you ever set one up before?”
“Never.”
“Then you can watch. It’ll be easier if Andy and I just do it.”
You nod and take a step back with Brandon as Andy and Harry work to get the two tents situated. Andy and Brandon get their sleeping bags set up the way they like inside their tent and then they head off towards the bathroom.
“Alright.” You say after tossing some of your things inside yours and Harry’s tent. “I’m gonna go change.”
“Okay, I’m gonna get the firewood together. Gotta get cooking soon.”
“What are we having?”
“Regular hot dogs for the boys, vegan ones for us, that work?”
“You had a cooler in there?”
“And a cast iron pan. Ain’t my first rodeo, darling.” He says cheekily, but you blush anyways from him calling you darling. He had never called you that before.
You grab the things you need for the bathroom, and you’ve never been so thankful to see a clean, working toilet in your life. There were some other people around setting up their own campsites as well, it wasn’t just your group. You use a washcloth to freshen up and then put on some new leggings and a long sleeve shirt. You take your hair out of its hat and put some dry shampoo in before putting it all up in a messy bun. You sigh happily now that you feel a little cleaner.
The boys, and Harry, had changed into some comfier clothes as well. You notice that Harry is wearing his glasses once again. They were all sitting on different blankets around the fire Harry had just gotten started.
“How many would you like?” He asks you as he takes out the different types of hotdogs.
“Two would be great, thank you.” You say, sitting down near Andy.
“I also have some other veggies, I cut up some bell peppers.” Harry takes the baggy out of the cooler. “I figured beans wouldn’t be such a great idea.”
“Dad, can I have two hotdogs?”
“Same here.” Brandon chimes in.
“Of course, boys.”
Harry makes up the vegan hotdogs first, and then makes the boys. They all munch on the veggies and other snacks that Harry packed. He even made sure to bring Oreo’s, Andy’s favorite. Once the sun sets, and everyone bundles up a bit more, Harry breaks out the items to make s’mores.
“Brandon, do you think your dad will coach basketball again in the winter?” Harry asks him.
“Yeah, he said he should have the time. I like him better as a coach than the guy I had a couple of years ago that’s for sure.”
“I like the way your dad coaches, he’s not mean.” Andy says. “I had one guy one year that just yelled and drilled the whole time, it wasn’t any fun.”
“You’re just kids, why would anyone yell at you?” You ask, biting into your own s’more.
“Some of these people are just looking for excuse to be aggressive.” Harry sighs. “This was a much better year all around for everyone I’d say.”
A light hearted ghost story or two is told before the boys both call it a night, their long night before finally catching up with them. Harry makes sure all their trash is thrown away and secure, and he reminds them of the buddy system for if they need to wee in the middle of the night. He also gives them a flashlight so they’ll be able to see everything.
“I think they had the right idea.” You yawn after coming back again from the bathroom. “I’m pooped.”
“Same here. Go get settled, I’m gonna put the fire out.”
You nod and go into the larger tent Harry set up for the two of you. You roll out your sleeping bag, and use one of your spare sweatshirts as a pillow. You get settled in and sigh. It was sort of nice to be unplugged, away from screens and research. Harry eventually crawls in, and gets settled into his own sleeping bag. He sets a dim lantern on his side so he could read a bit.
“What are you reading?”
“The screenplay that was adapted to make The Notebook…” He mumbles.
“You’re working?”
“Sort of…I usually bring books like these camping. They’re easier to read.”
“Should I be offended that you were about ready to read instead of staying up to chat?” You smirk.
Harry’s eyes grow slightly. You wanted to have pillow talk before bed? Is that it?
“Um…well…I just figured you were tired, and I usually read to fall asleep-“
“Harry, relax, I was just teasing. You can read if you want.” You smile at him and turn over, nestling into your sleeping bag. “Night.” You say, looking over your shoulder at him quickly.
“Night.”
Part of you wanted to whine or complain that your makeshift pillow wasn’t comfortable so he’d offer to let you lay on his chest. Maybe he’d caress you and even read to you for a bit. Maybe you would have done that if his son wasn’t in the tent right next to you.
Harry couldn’t concentrate on his book. His eyes kept glancing over to your curled up body. You looked so soft and peaceful, and he just wanted to wrap his arms around you. He wanted to keep you safe and warm all night. And because Harry usually sleeps holding onto a pillow of some kind, he felt a little fucked. He sighs and turns the lantern off. He lays on his back for a while until his eyes eventually flutter closed. You both were exhausted from the hike.
//
You wake up feeling warm and cozy. You weren’t sure why you had woken up. It’s not like the sun was shining yet, the whole point was to get up and watch the sun rise. No, you woke up from feeling small puffs of air by your ear and a strong hold around your stomach. Harry must have rolled over in his sleep and started cuddling with you. You almost wish you were in a shared sleeping bag so you could get even cozier. It would be like one giant sleeping bag burrito. You feel his arm pull you closer into him, and his breathing changes.
You shift and turn on your back so you can look up at him, and he keeps his arm around your waist. You gaze at each other, and he moves his hand up to smooth some hair away from your face before letting it caress your cheek. You both look like you’re about to say something when-
“Dad, come on! The sun’s gonna be up soon!”
Andy startles Harry so badly, it’s like he wakes up all over again, like he didn’t realize what he was doing with you. He nearly jumps away from you and sits up.
“Okay, one second! Go get washed up.” He sighs, and then looks at you. “I-“
“Let’s get to it before they find a way to get in here and drag us out.”
“Yeah.”
Harry unzips the tent and you both use the bathroom before heading out with the boys to the summit again.
“Alright everyone.” Harry says, and he starts doing some simple yoga moves. The boys follow and so do you.
It was amazing to actually do sun salutations as the sun came up. After sitting and looking out a while longer you all head back to the campsite breakfast. You drink water instead of coffee in fear of really needing to use the bathroom later. You each have a granola bar, and then start to clean up the tents. You get changed in your attire for the day, as done everyone else, and you all start working your way down the mountain.
“What did you think of the sunrise, boys?” You ask.
“It was so cool! I can’t wait to show my parents the pictures I took.” Brandon says.
“Must be nice to have a phone that actually takes decent pictures.”
“I took plenty of pictures on mine, Andy.” Harry says. “You got two more years, I think you can wait.” He chuckles as Andy looks back to give him a pouty face.
“How’d you sleep, Y/N?” Brandon asks.
“Oh! Um…” You and Harry look at each other briefly and then blush. “Pretty good, slept the whole night through, I think. How about you two.”
“My mom gave me some melatonin, so I slept good.” Brandon shrugs.
“And I’m used to camping, so I was fine.” Andy says.
“Good, that’s really good.” You say and clear your throat.
You both knew you’d have to have a conversation about the way you woke up, but now obviously wasn’t going to be the time. Finally, after hours, you make it all the way back to the trailhead, and get everything into Harry’s car. It was an incredible couple of days, but you couldn’t wait to get home to take a proper shower. Hell, you may even take a bath just to relax your sore muscles. Harry drops Brandon off, and Andy helps him with his things. They hug goodbye; it’s awfully sweet.
“Dad, can I shower first? I feel gross…”
“Sure, just don’t take too long.”
“Okay! Thanks again for coming Y/N.”
“Thank you again for inviting me.” You smile as you all get out of Harry’s car. He waits for Andy to go inside before speaking up.
“I’m sorry about this morning, I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable…when I sleep I usually have a pillow or something and-“
“I wasn’t uncomfortable.” You say as you grab your things out of his trunk and put them into your own. “In fact, I can’t remember the last time I felt so comfortable.” You look at him and close your trunk.
“Oh.” His eyebrows raise and his cheeks grow slightly red. “Um.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I have him for the rest of this week until I send him off with Paige for July, so I wanna spend as much time with him as I can, but-“
“Call me when you’re free. I don’t mind waiting.”
Harry was chilled to his bones from your words. He watched you get into your car and drive off before going into his house. You said what you said because you had a feeling Harry had been waiting for you to get your act together a bit. You’ve known him for almost a year, and he’s been a great friend, but there’s something that’s been brewing between the two of you. Probably since the day you met.
//
“Is that everything?” Paige chuckles as Andy brings another bag into her house.
“I wanted to make sure I had options.” He grunts as he gets inside.
“He’s just like you, I swear.” She shakes her head at Harry.
“As if we needed more proof that he’s mine.”
“So…I heard the camping trip went well, what’s next for you and Y/N?”
“Not sure, I’m gonna give her a ring the second I’m on the road.”
“Did anything happen between you two in that tent?” She raises an eyebrow at him.
“No.” He mumbles and kicks some dirt at his feet. “Not much I could do with two eleven-year-olds right next door.”
“Harry.” She laughs.
“We woke up…very close together, that was about it. Bottom line is we need to talk, and now I’ll have the time to do so.”
“You know you’re going to need to fill Andy in on everything when you have your chats on the phone.”
“Please, it’ll be the first thing he asks me instead of how are you…”
“Okay, that’s everything.” Andy says. “Love you.” He hugs Harry and Harry sighs as he wraps his arms around him.
“Love you too, call if you need anything, and be good, promise?”
“Promise.”
Harry waves as he gets into his car, and he calls you right away just like he said he would. The phone goes straight to voicemail, which makes him feel like he got kicked in the gut, especially because it rang twice first. Suddenly, a couple of texts come up on his screen.
You: hey!
You: sorry, I’m at the library getting some work done. I’ll call you later
Harry sighs, but he completely understands. Not too long ago it was him using every free moment he had to get his doctoral research done. He had his own work he should be doing, so he goes home and gets settled up in his office.
He was getting some incredible work done on his latest manuscript, the journal that publishes his works will definitely be pleased. He blinks and sees it’s already 8PM, and you never called, or texted. He hoped you were alright. He stands up and stretches, and decides to grab a quick shower. The house was quiet without Andy, and he didn’t like it. He flops down onto the couch in just a pair of boxers and turns the TV on. A ring on the doorbell startles him, and he gets up right away. He peers through the window to see you, holding a box of pizza and a bottle of wine. He cracks the door open so you could only see his face.
“Hey! Sorry for just dropping by. I got really busy earlier, and I thought this would be better than calling. Hungry?” You smile brightly at him.
“Yeah, that sounds great. I was actually feeling pretty-“
“Um, Har…”
He had opened the door more just out of instinct, revealing his mostly naked body.
“Shit, let me, uh, come in, I’ll go throw something on.” You giggle as he basically scurries to his bedroom to change. He comes back out in a t-shirt and joggers. “Thanks for bringing all this.”
“I planned to come by earlier, I know you dropped Andy off today…how are you doing?”
“I’m okay…work distracted me, but it’s hitting me now. It’s really quiet without him already…I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” You pop the box of pizza open. “Wanna get this bottle open?”
“Yeah.”
He grabs his wine opener, two glasses, and two plates. He gets the bottle open while you set the pizza out. He pours you both a glass and you sit down at the table.
“So, you got a lot done today?” He asks you.
“You have no idea! I was on fire.” Harry laughs at that.
He listens to you talk about what you got done. He couldn’t help but watch every movement your lips made, and how your eyes got brighter and brighter at how excited you were.
“Sorry, I’m going on and on about my thing, what did you get done today?” You say, sipping your wine.
“Worked on my manuscript for the journal.” He shrugs. “Nothing special.”
“Oh, don’t say that, you do incredible work. I love reading your articles. I actually think I used to read your work when I was still in grad school.” You start blushing. “It’s sort of cool knowing the person you’ve been able to learn so much from.”
“Just sort of cool, huh?” He scoffs playfully and you nudge him. “Wanna move outside, I put up a screen around the perimeter for bugs, or are you still hungry?”
“No, I’ve had plenty, but I’ll be bringing this bottle with us.” You grab the wine and you both head outside. “When did you even have time to do this?”
“Andy helped me. It wasn’t too difficult.”
You imagine Harry doing handy work, and it makes every part of your body flutter.
“I wish I had outdoor space like this, it’s my one complaint of my apartment, no balcony or anything.”
“Yeah, we didn’t like it much either, we didn’t stay there long.”
“We?”
“It’s where Paige and I lived when we first came here. I got my master’s from the university first, then my doctorate. Her grandparents lived in that big house, so they helped babysit Andy a lot.”
“Oh.” You didn’t have any problems with Paige, but she didn’t love being reminded that they were once together and in love.
“Were you sore after the hike or anything?” Quick to change the subject, maybe he felt the same way.
“Um, only for a day or so. I didn’t stretch as much as I should have when I got home. Thought the bath I took would have been good enough.”
“Would you ever do it again?”
“I would! I had more fun than I thought…but I’ll only go to the mountains that have working bathrooms.”
“Deal.” He smiles and takes a sip of his wine. “Maybe we could do something like that later this month.”
“With or without Andy?” You raise a playful eyebrow at him.
“I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind an adults only trip.”
“Is that so?”
“Mhm.” He finishes off his glass and pours another. “Refill?”
“Please.” You hold your glass out for him and he pours some more. You take a sip and lick your lips. “And why exactly would you like it to be adults only?”
“Perhaps…I wouldn’t have minded not being interrupted that morning.”
“Andy really startled you, huh?”
“I almost forgot he was there…” He plucks at his bottom lip. “It was…an interesting how we woke up.”
“Very interesting.” You sip your drink. “I was sort of…hoping you were going to cuddle me or something.”
“You were?!” His eyes widen.
“Yeah, it was sort of cold, even in sweats and a sleeping bag. I felt so cozy when I woke up.”
“You didn’t even flinch when you looked up at me…”
“Why would I have?”
“I don’t know…sort of weird to wake up in a friend’s arms, isn’t it?”
“Not so weird when that friend is you.” You look at him. “You back peddled when you tried to explain why. It’s okay if you wanted to hold onto me.”
“I literally sleep with a body pillow, you can check my room.” He defends. “I’ve always been like that.” He mumbles.
“So it wasn’t about me?”
“No…I…I wanted to cuddle you.” He wanted to do more, but again…his son was there.
“Well…I’m glad you did. It’s nice being the little spoon once in a while, and your cologne always smells so good, no complaints here.”
“You…you like my cologne?”
“Love it, actually.” You finish off your glass and you grab the bottle to pour just a little more in. “It’s nice when the person you have to see every day at work smells good.”
“Let’s see….” He holds his hand up to count on his fingers. “You like my work, you’re happy I cuddled you, and you enjoy my cologne.” He looks at you. “What should I be thinking of all this?”
“I…” You swirl your drink around. “Do you remember when I had that really awkward dream about you a while back?”
“Yes.”
“That was a complete accident, a freaky thing that happened that I didn’t want to have happen.”
“Is this one of those compliment sandwiches?”
“No, I’m…please…” You look at him. “The last time I went to Boston, as you know, I hooked up with someone.”
“Yeah.” He rolls his eyes.
“But…I was having trouble getting there…and…well…” You look away from him. “You popped in and I was happy about it. I…thought of you…and…”
“And were you able to get there, Y/N?”
“Yes.” You say just above a whisper. “I wanted it to be you.”
“I thought you didn’t want to date colleagues?”
“I don’t, but…” You look at him again. “I think I like you too much to care about that anymore.”
“God, I…” He gets up and kneels in front of you, taking one of your hands. “I like you so much, you have no idea.”
“Well, I have a small idea…woke up with you pressed against me.” You smirk.
“No way you felt anything between two sleeping bags and all the layers of clothes.”
“Little bit.”
“Christ.” He groans.
“Again, not complaining, it’s flattering, actually.”
“So when you let that guy leave that mark on the back of your shoulder, were you hoping it was me who did that too?” He stands up now.
“You saw that?” You gasp as you look up at him.
“I did…when you were running around your place getting everything together.” He pulls you to stand up, and he tucks some of your hair behind your ear. “You were wearing a pretty flimsy tank top.”
“I don’t exactly get dolled up when I’m home all day working.”
“I guess we have that in common.” He pushes his glasses to the top of his head, and cups your jaw with one hand, and hooks his other arm around your waist to pull you closer.
“Are you going to kiss me?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes.”
Your eyes flutter closed as he leans in, and you tug at his shirt as his lips meet yours. It’s soft at first, he’s just getting a feel for you, and then it turns needy. His hand slides to the back of your head, tugging softly at your hair to crane your head up more. You gasp at this, and he takes the openness as an invitation to nip at your bottom lip. You moan softly, and your tongue peeks out to meet his. They mold together like they were supposed to all along. Suddenly, he takes a step back.
“Wh…what’s wrong?” You wipe the small trail of spit from your mouth that he left behind.
“Nothing, I just…I told myself I wouldn’t do this while we were drinking. There have been a lot of times I’ve wanted to kiss you, but I haven’t because we were drunk or something.”
“I’m not drunk, are you?”
“I’m a little tipsy, yeah.”
“I, okay, yeah, so am I.” You chuckle
“So, I think we should stop for now. I wanna do this right. I wanna take you on a proper date.”
“I’d like that.” You smile, and then chew on your bottom lip. “It’s the right thing to do anyways, we shouldn’t jump into this too quickly. I have some different trips planned this summer, and I’m going to be busy working on things, getting my classes together…not exactly a whirlwind summer romance we’re looking at.”
“I have a conference in New York later this summer, so I’ll be busy as well getting my lecture ready.”
“Wait…I have a conference to go to in New York later this month too!”
“Really? Is it the CMT?”
“Yeah! I went last summer too and had such a good time. I had no idea you were giving a lecture, the itinerary doesn’t come out until next week.”
“I’m presenting some research about my wellness course…I’ve been collecting some data over the last three years I’ve been teaching it.”
“Ah, so you’re not going to be discussing the complexities of Pride and Prejudice?” You smirk at him.
“Nope, saving that for a rainy day.” He smirks back.
“Wow, well…that’s sort of exciting…we’ll be going to the same place for a few days.”
“We could, um, drive together if you wanted.”
“I was just going to take the bus…”
“I get free parking at the hotel since I’m part of the conference.”
“It’s a four hour drive…that’s a long time for you to be stuck with me.”
“Was stuck with you overnight not too long ago, and I didn’t mind it one bit.” He puts his hand on your shoulders. “Are you staying at the hotel where the conference will be?”
“Yes.”
“Great.” He smiles. “It’s, um, it’s a date then.”
“Yeah.” You smile at him. “Although…might be nice to go out before then…make sure we still like each other, and all that.” You joke.
“Yeah, I could easily not be into you in just a couple of weeks.” He jokes back and you can’t help but laugh.
“Let’s go inside, I need some water before I go home.”
“Good idea.”
He leads you in, and after a two glasses of water, and giving you a mock-sobriety test, he lets go. Well, not before giving you another steamy kiss by your car after you promised to text him when you got home. It was just as needy as the first kiss. He didn’t press his body up against yours, but from the way he was sucking on your bottom lip, you could tell he wanted you desperately. But like the responsible adults you were, you ended it there, and called it a night. A very good night.
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samwrights · 4 years
Text
Pining After You [hc]
Just some Haikyuu!! head cannons about my favorites pining after the object of their affection—you. I’m gonna limit myself to only one Seijoh 3rd year >_> instead, I’m just gonna make Makki’s super long bc love.
I might turn these into one shots. I’m planning a special series to be released for the entire month of May—let me know what you guys think!
Hanamaki;
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Ya know, with my last head cannon, I had such a hard time writing for Makki and now that’s all I wanna do.
Cause THIS BOI is too easy-going, too cool, to ever be blunt and up front about his feelings for you. He can’t ruin his image by stumbling over a confession.
Definitely has been in love with you since your guys’ first year—all thanks to your laugh.
Every time he hears you, even if said laugh is occasionally broken with a gentle, genuine snort, Makki feels every single electrical pulse being sent into his nerve endings.
It was a huge part of the reason that he had started owning the class clown trope, cracking jokes with his peers and even the teachers even though that definitely was not kosher. But his almost dry, sarcastic sense of humor always seemed to be rewarded with the angelic gift that was your laughter.
But he doesn’t know how to talk to you. At all.
He tries really hard not to stare at you, or at least tries not to make it super obvious and fails considering you sit on the opposite ends of the classroom
Makki always has lunch in Mattun’s classroom just so he can freely talk about something you did in class that made him laugh or smile, even if it was something stupid like you dropped your pencil or you raised your hand to answer a question.
In your third year, Mattsun is tIRED of it all.
“Just go fucking confess your feelings, I swear to gOD, or I’ll tell her.”
“Dude no, I can’t she’s way outta my league.”
Did I mention Mattsun is over it? So over it that one day, instead of waiting for his best friend to come to his classroom for lunch, he decides to pay yours a visit.
Makki’s freaking out because the fCK was Mattsun walking over to your desk?!
“She’s coming to our tournament this weekend, so bring your A game.” Was all he said before leaving the poor wing spiker to drown in the blood rising up his neck.
You weren’t friends with anyone on the VBC, but you did actually end up at the tournament with a few friends.
Exhilarating was the only way to describe it, up until Seijoh’s loss to Karasuno.
After the team thanked the spectators for watching, you noticed all the third years crying, signifying the end of their careers.
“Thank you for inviting me to watch, Matsukawa. It was really fun.” You said politely, approaching them afterwards.
Mattsun shoves his best friend towards you, “actually, he wanted to invite you. He just didn’t know how.”
Makki.exe has stopped working. He’s too busy spluttering because he literally has no idea what to say to you now. Cool boy? Not even close.
“I’ve actually wanted to come to one of your matches for awhile. I just thought it was weird because I’m not friends with any of you.”
Oh. O H.
“Y-you could’ve asked me...”
“I was hoping you’d ask me. Why do you think I always laugh at your jokes, Hanamaki?”
“Wait, does that mean you don’t think I’m actually funny?” 💀💀💀 Rip.
“I do. You’re funny, talented, handsome, and I’ve liked you since first year.”
Makki.exe has stopped working.
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Akaashi;
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Akaashi has studied everything he could about you without ever having actually interacted with you.
He knew you were in Bokuto’s class, he knew your name, and that the two of you interacted often, but never outside of the classroom.
He knew that you always carried your school bag over your left shoulder, and tucked your hair behind your right ear when you felt it was in your face.
Your energy somehow matched his best friend’s while simultaneously calming the owl captain like a gentle wave. You reminded Akaashi of the sun rising over the ocean.
Bokuto, oblivious to nearly everything, never realized that his best friend’s calculations went beyond analyzing the ace. One small section of his brain was dedicated to your ass.
Really, there wasn’t anything extraordinary about you, or at least that’s how you felt about yourself. But every time Akaashi swung by Bokuto’s class to walk with him to practice, his eyes were immediately drawn to you for .067 seconds before he’d look away, so as not to make you feel uncomfortable.
Once in a while, Bokuto would let small details about you slip, like how you were in the art club and that you had a showcase coming up displaying the portfolio you had built over the last three years.
He definitely didn’t ditch practice to be there for your showcase.
Showing up to the venue where the showcase was being held, he suddenly felt very under dressed seeing other third years and teachers adorning formal attire while he showed up in black jeans and a grey button up.
Wandering around the venue, Akaashi looked for you or your artwork, his breath held in his lungs when he saw the arsenal of works displayed on large black boards with your name written elegantly at the very top. Made with various mediums, he was stunned by different paintings and drawings of surreal, exquisite landscapes that could not possibly exist.
Then again, he didn’t think you were real either.
One particular painting invoked a strange emotion in him—a large, desecrated shipwreck amongst of field of bright flowers with the sun setting in the back. Titled “Crack The Sky”, the piece emanated joy and grief in one. It was almost as stunning as you were.
“This one’s my favorite.” You announced sheepishly from beside him and he realized he had never heard your voice before. The setter turned to look at you, drinking in your appearance up close for the first time. “You’re Bokuto’s friend, aren’t you? Akaashi?”
He was kinda hurt to hear you mention Bokuto for reasons unknown to himself jealous much?
“Yeah. It’s nice to meet you.” He bows slightly, remember that no matter how infatuated he was with you, you were still his senpai.
He began walking with you as you explained the creation process of your different pieces. Not that he was actually paying attention, though he’d never admit that. He just liked hearing you talk and he would definitely never admit that.
You excuse yourself as your phone rings, though you don’t walk away, allowing him to hear your end of the conversation. “Yep, he’s here. I owe you dinner. You wanna talk to him?” Akaashi cocks a brow in your direction, staring at your cellphone that you’ve now held over to him. Bokuto’s name flashed on the screen.
“Uh, hi?” The setter asked, confused.
“I made a bet with her that you would ditch practice to go to her showcase because yOu LoVe HeR.”
Aight, imma head out.
Before he could run away out of embarrassment, you grabbed his wrist though you were still on the phone with Bokuto.
“Would you like to join us for dinner? Seems kinda unfair for him to get dinner when you’re the one who made the effort to be here.”
Akaashi graciously accepts to which you respond by telling Bokuto where you would meet him for the evening.
“So you love me, huh?” 💀💀💀 If Akaashi could magically disappear, he would. Or even better, if his blush ran hot enough to melt the skin off his face, that’d be great too.
But you never let go of his wrist until now, opting to wrap an arm around his instead.
“I like you too. Why do you think Bokuto and I made a bet about you coming here, silly?”
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Kenma;
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Poor Kenma. The worst part of his whole situation was actually being friends with you, knowing he would never get to have you.
Why would you want him, anyway? You were more fit for someone like Kuroo—someone who was as boisterous and confident as you were. He anticipated the day you two announced your relationship and left him behind in your little trio.
Not even Kuroo knew that he was in love with you and maybe that was a mistake on his part but he could never tell his best friend that you were his entire world. It was too embarrassing for him.
It took entirely too much energy to even sort through his feelings alone, how much more exhausting would it be for him to run through every single thing he felt about you to someone else?
Like the way you would nearly skip out your home every morning when the boys came to fetch you to walk to school together.
Or the way you unabashedly asked almost too personal of questions, or questions that were just soooo left field of you were friends with a person. “Hey Kuroo, how many brushes do you think you would break if you finally decided to brush your hair after 17 years?” Was one of Kenma’s favorites.
The way you sing along to every song that plays on your iPod or even the radio, even if you didn’t know the song, you would try to sing along anyway.
Some days, Kenma would look out the window and see you practicing some form of a dance routine in your backyard. He would watch you for hours until you went inside, suddenly feeling shame for being so creepy.
Nearly every night, Kenma just wished he could turn his feelings off while simultaneously wishing you were next to him so he could hold you while he slept.
Your smile was his favorite. Seeing you smile every morning as the three of you walked to school together was what got him through his day. “Hey, hey are you guys coming to my dance competition tomorrow?” You asked in your typical, jovial lilt.
“Of course.” Was all he was able to reply, while Kuroo enthusiastically responded about their attendance.
“Great! I can’t wait to see you guys in the crowd!”
The “C” word, was almost enough to make Kenna regret his decision to come. Even more so when he was surrounded by the masses, all waiting to watch their respective dance teams. But it was for you, and he would do anything for you.
Kuroo was right beside him, a small bouquet of roses in his hand to give to you after you competed. The blood red flowers made Kenna glower and glare in secret, or as secretive as he could be. “I got these for you.” The captain says quietly, handing them over to his best friend.
“Sorry, Kuroo, I can’t say I return your feelings—“
“For you to give to her, you idiot.” 🤡🤡🤡 “I’m not that dumb, Kenma.” The setter really wanted to argue and say that he was, but your school’s dance team was up to perform so he opted to stay quiet.
Have I mentioned that Kenma loves watching you dance? There was a reason he would watch you practice in your backyard. You moved with elegance and grace that was foreign and so opposite to his own demeanor, it was no wonder he was always so captivated by you.
After you compete, there’s a bit of downtime between the other competitors and the awards ceremony, giving you the chance to hang out with your besties.
“These are for you.” The second year says quietly, handing you the bouquet with a blush dusting over his cheeks. The red rivaled that of the roses.
“Aw, thank you, Kenma!” You squeaked out before giving him a kiss on the cheek, his skin burning even hotter. Kuroo’s just over there laughing but ya know.
During the awards ceremony, you’re sitting in a circle with your team not too far from your friends while they announced that Nekoma had taken first. Everyone in the dance troupe began screaming and hugging each other, while you ran straight to your boys.
While still jumping, you were hugging Kuroo so tight, arms squeezing around his neck while sharing the joy. Which made Kenma just a little bit jealous.
Just a little.
Until you’ve settled down from your jumping before wrapping your arms his neck as well. But rather than going for a hug—
Wait what is hAPOENING
You brought your lips to his briefly before burying your face into his neck out of embarrassment because wHY you had thought that was a good idea was beyond you.
Deciding you couldn’t just keep holding onto him, because he was probably embarrassed too, you stepped away, ready to run back to your team. But Kenma didn’t let go, his arms seated securely at your hips as he stared at you.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I don’t know w-w—“
“I love you.”
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Weekend With The Warners Chapter Three - Animaniacs & Pinky and The Brain
Summary: When the CEO assigns Pinky and The Brain with the important task of watching over the Warners for the weekend, Brain is prepared for any antics that the children have in store. What he didn’t take into account was forming a familial bond with the kids.
Word Count: 7,652
AO3 Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849962/chapters/68854656
The big day had arrived and the two genetically altered lab mice were on top of their schedule. Brain had set his alarm clock to 6:00 AM. He and Pinky woke up and gathered their belongings. Brain decided to bring along his newly modified robotic man-suit just as a precaution. Once the mice were ready to go, Brain hopped into the pilot seat of his robot and placed their mouse-sized suitcases into his pants pocket. Pinky climbed up the suit and made himself snug as a bug in the front pocket. The intelligent mouse steered the suit and exited the lab at around 7:00 AM, about an hour before any of the scientists would arrive for work.
The mice made their way down the streets of Burbank and decided to have breakfast at a local diner. There, they spent a little of an hour consuming their morning meals and engaging in some casual conversation together.
By the time they arrived at the Warner movie lot, it was a quarter to nine, and the mice swung by the main office building to retrieve the credit card from Nora Rita Norita. When the mice made it to the top floor, Brain made his way over to her office and gingerly knocked on the door.
“Enter!” The CEO boomed from the other side.
Brain cautiously opened the door to find Ms. Norita in her workout attire stretching on the treadmill. She took the small towel and scrubbed the sweat off of her face before tossing it over the handle.
“You must be here for the credit card, I take it?” The businesswoman remarked as she eyed Brain’s robotic suit.
Brain wordlessly nodded while trying his best to muster his courage while confronting the higher-up. Ms. Norita went over to her desk, opened the drawer, and retrieved the golden credit card. Pinky’s eyes lit up upon seeing the glistening card again. He eagerly reached out for the card, enamored with its shimmering aura.
“Try not to have too much fun over the weekend, gentlemen.” Nora Rita Nortia humored in her flat voice as she gave Pinky the credit card, who immediately hugged it.
“We won’t,” Brain assured, trying to hide his anxiousness from the formidable businesswoman as he made his exit. “I guarantee you that Pinky and myself will have an appropriate amount of fun while supervising the Warner siblings.” With a nervous chuckle, Brain grabbed the doorknob and carefully closed the door on his way out.
Once the mice left Ms. Norita’s office, Brain exhaled and leaned up against the wall as he gazed at his partner. “Pinky, I would be a liar if I told you that the CEO was not the least bit intimidating.”
“I heard that, and I plan on using that information to my advantage.” Ms. Norita shouted from behind the door.
Brain’s eyes widened with terror. Now that the CEO knew his weakness and planned on exploiting it, he had no choice but to stay in her good graces in the foreseeable future.
“Very well.” He muttered as he made his way towards the elevator. “Pinky, hand me the cellphone. I’m going to arrange an Uber driver to pick us from the movie lot at noon.”
Pinky turned on the smartphone and smiled. “Hey Brain, we just got a text message from Dot!”
The pudgy mouse retrieved the phone from Pinky and read the message.
We’ll be outside the water tower by 11:45 <3
Once the mice left the office building, they killed some time by strolling around the movie lot and making idle chit-chat. They arrived at the water tower ten minutes beforehand where they patiently waited for the Warners to arrive. However, the three rambunctious siblings proved to be fashionably late.
Brain decided to make some small talk to make the time go by faster. “Well Pinky, I am fully prepared for whatever comes our way this weekend.” He announced as he checked his phone, the clock now reading 11:55 AM. “I even took the liberty of educating myself on the slang of today’s youth. Everything from vibe checks to poggers...I had to make sure that the latter word wasn’t a derogatory slur. Thankfully it’s just a synonym for an excited, surprised overreaction.”
“That’s wonderful, Brain!” Pinky complimented. “Did you do all that research just so you could relate to the kids?”
“What? No, I just wanted to have some comprehension of the contemporary vernacular.” Brain denied whilst waving his hand downwards. “Now, where are those children? Our driver will be here at any moment.” The pudgy mouse scanned the lot in search of the three siblings.
“Hellooooooo mice!”
The enthusiastic shouts from above startled the mice. They instinctively looked up to see the Warners wave at them before leaping off the water tower with their suitcases in tow. Brain stared in shock as the three kids made their descent. Acting swiftly, the smaller mouse managed to catch the children in his robotic arms right in the nick of time. Once the children and their belongings were safe in his arms, he stumbled backward, trying to support the combined weight of the Warners and their heavy luggage. Fortunately, the mouse was able to shift the levers in his suit and quickly maintained his balance.
As Brain let out a huge sigh of relief, Yakko and Wakko leaned in and smooched his cheeks. Dot gave Pinky a kiss on the cheek. “Naarf.” The lanky mouse bashfully replied upon receiving the friendly affection from the girl.
Brain, on the other hand, let out an amused snort as he gently lowered the children on the ground. “It’s nice to see you kids all excited for our little weekend getaway.”
Dot immediately had her sights set on the mechanical man-suit. She tapped at the suit’s knees then proceeded to grab a hold on the right arm, carefully inspecting it. “Oh Brain, is this a new model?” She inquired, sounding rather impressed.
“Why yes. I’ve made some modifications to the suit over the years.” Brain answered, pleasantly surprised that the Warner sister would take great interest in his work.
“So what hotel are we going to anyway?” Yakko asked. “The CEO didn’t really clue us in on where we’ll be staying.”
“She reserved us a deluxe queen room at The Ritz-Carlton.” Brain answered.
“A hotel made entirely of Ritz crackers!” Wakko eagerly exclaimed with their tongue hanging out. “Sounds scrumptious!” Even Pinky was excited by the notion of an edible hotel and licked his lips.
“That’s the name of the hotel, Einstein.” Dot corrected, causing Wakko and Pinky to let out a dejected groan.
Brain felt his smartphone vibrate and fished it from his pocket. He opened it up to find a message from the Uber driver.
“Come along children,” Brain alerted the Warners. “Our driver just arrived, and we don’t want to keep them waiting.” The Warners gathered their luggage and walked alongside Brain.
“Oh, we are going to have such a fun-fun, silly-willy weekend together!” Pinky joyfully declared while clapping his hands.
As the five walked exited the movie lot, Brain caught a glimpse of Nora Rita Norita, now dressed in her usual business attire, as she led a group of white-collar businesspeople to their important conference. The CEO pushed her glasses upwards as she stared at Brain, knowing his weakness. The mouse flashed a nervous smile and a thumbs up to assure her that he would complete his assigned task to the best of his ability. Once she turned her attention back to her associates, Brain exhaled in relief.
Once the group arrived at the studio entrance they spotted a blue minivan with an Uber sign parked by the sidewalk.
Brain took the time to pack everyone’s luggage into the trunk while the Warners took their spot. By the time the smaller mouse arrived in the car, everyone already took their place. Yakko sat in the middle seat while Wakko and Dot took the back seat.
“Pinky, come sit next to us!” Dot hollered as she patted the empty seat between her and Wakko.
“Okay!” Pinky chirped. Brain took Pinky from his coat pocket and handed him over to Dot, who placed him in the middle seat.
Brain took his place in the van next to Yakko. After shutting the door and buckling his seat belt, the driver took off.
In the backseat of the car, Wakko proceeded to take out his tablet and showed an image from his favorite anime to Pinky while Dot quietly looked on.
“I’ve been watching this cool show called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” Wakko gushed while flapping his hands, which were cozily tucked inside his sweater sleeves. “So it’s about these two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who have to find the philosopher’s stone so they can get their bodies back, and on their journey, they come across all sorts of crazy characters!”
“That sounds incredible, Wakko!” Pinky exclaimed. But as the mouse looked at the image of the blonde boy and his brother in a suit of armor, Pinky began to feel confused. “So, uh, which one of the brothers is the robot?”
Meanwhile, in the middle seat, Brain was sitting awkwardly as Yakko had his white earpods on and jammed out to the songs on his smartphone. The mouse could only imagine what kind of music the boy was listening to that had him this excited. As he twiddled the man-suit’s thumbs, Brain looked out the window, pondering to himself as he watched the cars pass by on the freeway.
After a few moments of musing and taking in the scenery, he felt a gloved hand prod his cheek. The mouse looked over to see Yakko taking out one of his earpods.
“You wanna listen to some tunes?” Yakko offered. “My playlist is full of oldies music.”
“Well, I can’t say no to that.” Brain obliged, accepting one of the white earpods. The intelligent mouse placed the small headphone into his left ear, expecting to hear pop music from the 1960s or old show tunes from the mid-twentieth century. But when Yakko pressed play, Brain was surprised to hear symphonious violins playing the main theme of ‘For Unto Us a Child is Born’, a chorus from the classic oratorio Messiah.
Brain looked over at the oldest Warner, who eagerly swayed in his seat, humming along to the song. “You weren’t kidding.” The mouse humored with a raised brow.
“Yup, George Fredic Handel’s Messiah is full of bangers!” Yakko proclaimed with a snap of his fingers.
Brain shrugged his shoulders and contentedly listened to the rest of the song. The eloquent mouse spent the rest of the car ride listening to the classical music on Yakko’s playlist.
Once the van arrived at the front of the hotel, the group retrieved their luggage from the back of the vehicle and Brain thanked the driver for their service while Pinky gave a friendly “Love you!”, to which Brain rolled his eyes at.
Once the group entered the hotel, the mice headed over towards the front desk to check in. Meanwhile, the Warners stood in awe as they drank in the scenery of the luxurious lobby. After taking in their surroundings, the siblings decided to release their manic energy in the lobby. Yakko and Dot immediately sprinted towards an empty sofa and started to bounce up and down. Wakko searched for something to stimulate his interest. Soon enough, the middle child found an abandoned gold bellman cart with red carpeting and knew what he had to do.
Meanwhile, The Brain was nearly complete with the check-in process as the front desk receptionist handed him three hotel keys: one for himself, one for Pinky, and one for the oldest Warner sibling.
“And here are your keys.” The employee said as she offered the three white cards over to the mouse. Using the robotic man-suit, Brain gingerly accepted the hotel keys from the receptionist.
“Thank you very much.” Brain politely acknowledged with a small nod.
“Enjoy your stay.” The receptionist smiled.
“You too,” Brain replied instinctively but winced when he realized his slip-up that the employee would not be staying in the hotel as a guest. “Wh-what I meant to say is have a good day.” The mouse attempted his conversational rebound with a nervous smile.
“Love you!” Pinky called out with a wave.
When Brain turned around, he scowled at his partner. “Pinky, you don’t have to say that to every person we converse with! Do you realize how uncomfortable you’re making them?”
“No, not really,” Pinky answered honestly as he climbed up to the suit’s shoulder so he could sit next to his partner. “I like to think that it makes their day a hundred times better!”
Just as Brain was about to come up with a witty retort, he saw the Warners were already causing playful pandemonium in the lobby. Yakko was driving the bellman cart, occasionally pushing his foot onto the ground to gain speed. Wakko and Dot were perched on top of the cart, with the Warner sister holding onto her sibling as they imitated the iconic Jack and Rose pose from Titanic. Wakko had his arms spread out while Dot placed her hands above her sibling’s side to keep them steady.
“I’m the king of the world!” Wakko cheered with their tongue hanging out.
Brain massaged his temple. “Of course, this is what I get for leaving the kids to their own devices.”
Pinky noted how stressed his partner was and decided to ameliorate the situation. He got out of the front pocket and climbed up on the robot’s left shoulder. Taking his fingers, he blew a sharp whistle out to the Warners, who immediately turned their attention over to the mice.
“Hey, kids!” Pinky called out to them. “We have the room keys so you can bounce around in the hotel room!”
“Okay!” They chorused as they pushed the bellman cart over to them. After they got off, the siblings placed their suitcases onto the cart. Pinky plopped down on the shoulder, pleased with the cooperative kids.
“Splendid work, Pinky.” Brain whispered into Pinky’s ear. The lanky mouse felt all blushy and gooshy when he felt his partner’s warm breath tickle his ear. Pinky giggled and instinctively wrapped his arms around himself to contain his feelings.
Yakko and Wakko pushed the cart over towards the elevator while Dot grabbed Brain by his robot’s hand, leading him and Pinky to the open elevator doors. One by one, they all entered inside. Wakko had their sights set on the buttons and immediately pressed all of them.
Brain looked at the illuminating floor buttons and released an exasperated sigh. “At least we’re only on the ninth floor.”
Once they reached the right floor, they all stepped off the elevator and walked through the corridor. The Warners trailed behind Brain until the mouse stopped at their destination: Room 920.
Brain used the hotel key and opened up the door to the hotel room. Two queen-sized beds, a flat-screen television, a leather couch, and an elegant bathroom. The room also had a phenomenal view of the city skyscrapers. Brain had to admit, the CEO clearly knew what she was doing when she booked the room for them.
Yakko and Dot awed in unison, their eyes glistening at the sight of their luxurious room. 
“Naaarf.” Pinky purred with eyes full of wonderment.
“Poggers! This is the coolest hotel room ever!” Wakko declared as he ran into the room. As Yakko and Dot followed their sibling into the room. As Brain closed the door behind him and entered the room, he glanced over at Pinky and flashed him a confident grin to indicate that his studies on current slang have paid off.
The Warners gathered on the sofa and observed the city below them, their faces pressed against the glass as they took in the glorious sight. Brain cast a small smile at the children’s sense of wonder.
Pinky stood upon the suit’s shoulder and launched himself onto the comfortable mattress. The mouse landed with a soft thud. The bed may not be as squishy and homey as the sponge bed, but he enjoyed its welcoming softness. Pinky started to roll around on the bed, laughing loudly while doing so.
Brain was pleased to see his partner enjoying himself. He climbed out of the pilot seat of the man-suit and hopped down onto the bed to accompany his partner.
“Now sleeping arrangements should be quite obvious,” Brain addressed to the Warners, who were still gazing at the city view from the windowsill. “you children will share the bed by the door, while Pinky and myself will share the other bed.”
“Egad Brain, I finally get to live out one of my favorite fan fiction tropes!” Pinky exulted.
“Pinky, we already sleep in the same bed together back in the lab.” Brain dryly reminded his partner of the sponge bed he specifically made for him and his roommate.
“Oh, right,” Pinky said. “But still, we have a whole mattress to ourselves!” The taller mouse crowed, catching Brain in a surprise hug. The smaller mouse instinctively kicked his stubby legs in the air as he tried to resist the forced physical contact. Once Pinky let Brain down, he held the smaller mouse’s hand and started to jump up and down on the bed. Once they gained momentum, Pinky twirled Brain around, causing the intelligent mouse to cry out in protest.
“Nyaaaaaahhh!!!” Brain shouted as he was being twirled around against his will.
Yakko looked away from the window to find the mice dancing atop the mattress. He budged his siblings to get their attention and gestured towards their weekend guardians. The three kids instinctively clamored their way towards the bed, wanting to join in on the fun. Once Yakko, Wakko, and Dot perched themselves on the mattress, they started to bounce up and down. Soon enough, they joined hands as they bounced around in a circle, giggling as they contributed to the merriment.
While Pinky was enjoying himself, Brain kept screaming. As the mice jumped around, Brain noticed that they were too close to the Warners. Brain maneuvered Pinky, guiding him away from the three pairs of feet. They narrowly avoided being stepped on by the kids. Brain needed this silliness to stop before Pinky got hurt.
“Everybody off the mattress!” The smaller mouse yelled from the top of his lungs. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot immediately leaped over to the other bed, obeying Brain’s command. Once the intelligent mouse composed himself, he looked over to see how frightened the Warners were with his tone of voice.
Brain was overcome with tremendous guilt. “I’m sorry. That came off harsher than I intended.” He ruefully apologized. “Perhaps we should go outside the hotel room and find some engaging and wholesome activities to partake in.”
The Warners put on their thinking faces as they tried to come up with a fun way to spend the afternoon. “How about going to the pool?” Dot offered with a snap of her fingers.
“What a brilliant suggestion, Dot.” Brain complimented. “Now, let us prepare for a fun afternoon by the pool!”
“Woo-hoo!” Pinky cheered.
“Count me in!” Yakko declared while Wakko and Dot gave each other an enthusiastic high five.
It took about twenty minutes for everyone to get ready for their poolside excursion. The mice and the Warners were appropriately dressed in their swimwear. Brain wore his green and yellow palm-tree patterned swim trunks while Pinky wore a blue and pink floral print tankini. Yakko wore green swim trunks, Wakko wore a blue swim shirt and red swim trunks, and Dot wore a purple one-piece suit and yellow sunglasses. Brain packed a blue beach bag filled with five towels and various bottles of sunscreen while Wakko added their pool toys into the bag. Once the beach bag was packed, Brain placed Yakko in charge of carrying their belongings.
The pool was located on the rooftop of the hotel, so they took the elevator up to the top of the building. The moment the elevator doors opened, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot eagerly sprinted towards the pool. The children were close to jumping in, but a booming voice stopped them in their tracks.
“Not so fast there, kids.” Brain alerted as he walked alongside Pinky, holding hands as he chided the children. “No one steps into that pool until all of you slather your bodies with sun lotion.”
Yakko and Wakko groaned, their shoulders sagging in defeat. Dot, on the other hand, took a moment to see the mouse’s reasoning. “Yeah, he has a point there.” She concluded.
The three children approached the deck chair the mice claimed. Yakko opened up the blue bag and took out the bottles of sunscreen, and gave the mouse-sized bottles over to the murine couple. The Warners quickly applied the sunscreen on their arms, legs, ears, tails, and noses.
After Brain applied a good amount of sunscreen all over his limbs, chest, and enormous head, he turned over towards Pinky, who covered his fur with the lotion.  
“Pinky, could you be a dear and coat my back with the SPF 50 sunscreen?” Brain asked.
“Well of course, Brain!” Pinky happily replied. Squirting an ample gob of lotion in his hands, the lanky mouse generously spread the white substance all over his partner’s back. Brain sighed with contentment as he felt Pinky’s gentle hands caressing his shoulder blades and working his way down his back.
“Yes!!!” Brain joyfully cried out as Pinky massaged his back with sunscreen.
Once the Warners protected their bodies with the sun lotion, they carried their aquatic toys and made their way over to the pool. Pinky retrieved his rubber duckie while Brain grabbed his mouse-sized pink inflatable pool chair.
The Warners splashed each other in the shallow end of the pool. Dot riding around on a blue pool tube while Yakko and Wakko whacked each other with limp styrofoam pool noodles. Brain drifted off in the middle of the pool, but kept a watchful eye on the kids. Pinky, who was mounted on his rubber ducky like a horseback rider on their equestrian steed, scooted over towards Brain. The lanky mouse desperately reached out his hand towards his partner.
Brain took notice of what Pinky was doing and turned to face him. “What are you doing?” He questioned.
“Poit! Why I’m trying to hold your hand,” Pinky strained as he kept extending his reach for his partner’s hand. “But I...can’t....reach…”
Brain sighed to himself and immediately took Pinky’s hand. The taller mouse’s eye lit up and smiled. Brain returned the smile as he locked onto Pinky’s eyes. Even though he knew Pinky for years, he could not get over how marvelously blue his eyes were. His eyes glistened like a sparkling sea during sunset. Then the smaller mouse blissfully closed his eyes as he held onto the mouse he loved.
Pinky kept his loving stare on Brain for what seemed like two minutes. When he decided to take a quick glance at the kids, he only saw Yakko playfully spinning Dot around on her pool tube in the shallow end.
“Brain,” Pinky alerted with a gentle squeeze of his hand. “I can’t find Wakko anywhere!”
Brain’s eyes shot open and he turned over towards the shallow end, only seeing two of the three Warner siblings. The mice looked over their shoulder towards the deep end of the pool, only to find a grey fin menacingly swarming them.
“SHARK!!!” Pinky screamed as he tugged Brain away from danger. Pinky stumbled as he stood up on his rubber duckie and instantly fell into the water, dragging his partner along with him.
Once the mice reached the surface, Brain desperately clung to Pinky as the taller mouse swam for him and his partner’s lives towards the edge of the pool as quickly as he could. But the shark fin interfered with their escape route as it stopped right in the middle of their path.
Suddenly, the shark fin emerged from the water, and so did Wakko Warner.
“Hi!” Wakko greeted with a friendly smile. The middle child wore a grey shark fin over their red hat. “You like my cool fin strap?”
Pinky was overcome with relief upon seeing Wakko. “Oh, that fin looks lovely on you, Wakko! Troz!”
With an irritable frown, Brain shook his head and retrieved his pink pool float. The mouse continued to swim towards the edge of the pool.
“Oh thank goodness,” Pinky chuckled. “I forgot that sharks don’t live in swimming pools. Narf!” But the mouse’s smile faltered into an anxious frown. “...or do they? Brain, do sharks live in-” He turned towards his left expecting to see Brain there, but was shocked that he was gone. Pinky swam around only to find Brain already out of the pool, carrying his pink pool float.
“Brain!” Pinky called out to his partner. “Do sharks live in swimming pools?”
“No Pinky, they don’t!” Brain spat before he continued his way to the pool chair.
“Oh that’s a relief,” Pinky said. “For a second there I was starting to worry.”
Just as the mouse swam over to his rubber ducky, he noticed Wakko in a surprisingly somber mood.
“Is something wrong?” Pinky carefully asked.
“I hope Brain doesn’t hate me,” Wakko admitted, overcome with remorse.
“Poit! He would never hate you, Wakko.” Pinky assured. “He’s just a little grumpy is all. He just needs time to cool off.”
“I hope you’re right,” Wakko replied as he swam over to join their siblings.
Pinky joined the Warners at the shallow end of the pool. Yakko and Dot waved at the lanky mouse as he approached the siblings.
“Hey Pinky,” Dot asked. “Yakko and I were wondering what you and Brain have planned for tonight?”
“Oh, I already made a reservation at the karaoke parlor after dinner!” Pinky exclaimed. The mouse looked at the children, who all seemed excited at the idea of a karaoke session. Even Wakko started to cheer up the moment he heard the news. “But don’t tell Brain,” Pinky told the kids. “I want it to be a surprise! Zort!”
“Oh, I love surprises!” Wakko declared as he waved their hands in the air.
“That’s good to know.” Yakko casually responded before wrapping his arms around his sibling. The oldest Warner picked Wakko up, who kicked their feet in protest.
“Let me go!” Wakko chuckled as he tried to free themselves from the oldest Warner’s grasp.
“Okay, if you insist!” Yakko replied, tossing Wakko back into the pool. Pinky laughed and clapped his hands as he watched the silly sibling antics.
After getting out of the pool, Brain walked over towards the blue bag to retrieve his latest invention: a folding web chaise pool chair with a manual crank attached to a metal harness that functioned as an elevator. The sole purpose of the device was to make jacuzzis and hot tubs more accessible to mice such as himself.
Brain walked over to the jacuzzi and secured his device by the pool’s edge. He then took a seat in the pool chair and used the crank to descend into the hot tub. The mouse stopped the crank once the bubbling water reached his chest. Brain placed his hands behind his head and let out a blissful sigh. The mouse looked over at the children, who were playing some sort of pool game. Brain decided to appreciate the moment of solitude while he still had it.
A few minutes later, Dot got out of the pool, shaking the water from her hair. Placing her sunglasses on, she spotted Brain and walked over towards the jacuzzi.
“Room for one more?” The Warner sister inquired.
“By all means.” Brain invited, and the girl settled herself in the hot tub.
“Wakko wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry for that little prank earlier.” Dot informed him.
The mouse felt a pang of guilt for his reaction to Wakko’s antics. He may have been upset that the middle child had ruined the peaceful moment between Pinky and himself, but the mouse held no ill will against Wakko for messing around.
“I’ll soon inform them of my forgiveness.” Brain replied. “I know that Wakko had no malicious intentions with their little joke.”
Dot nodded, happy to know that the mouse didn’t hold any grudges against her older sibling. “So, are you enjoying yourself?” She asked while adjusting her sunglasses.
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Brain answered honestly. “And you?”
“Oh, I’m having a lot of fun!” Dot eagerly replied. “Although I must admit, I need some time for myself. My older siblings can be too much at times.”
“I can empathize with the sentiment.” Brain agreed. “Pinky can be a little too outgoing and energetic at times.”
Dot nodded and hummed. “Say, you wanna know some fun facts about Yakko and Wakko?” She playfully asked.
“Oh, do tell.” Brain answered with an intrigued smile.
“Okay, so Wakko always does this thing where he copies the behavior of people he admires.” Dot explained. She looked over at the pool, and pointed towards her older siblings. “Watch closely!”
Brain focused his attention on the Yakko, who scooped a handful of water and threw it up in the air. Wakko followed suit, mimicking their older brother’s movements.
“Fascinating…” Brain commented as he watched the older Warner siblings.
“And Yakko normally stays in the shallow end of the pool because he can’t swim.” Dot informed him.
“Really?” Brain questioned. “How?”
“He never bothered.” Dot candidly answered. “He tried taking swim lessons back in the nineties, but he got kicked out because he was too busy making googly eyes at the swim instructors and lifeguards.”
“How am I not surprised,” Brain dryly responded.
“And as a heads up, Yakko can’t consume anything with lactose.” Dot said with a twinge of sadness.
“Duly noted.” Brain acknowledged. “I suppose I should tell Pinky to put in dairy substitutes if he wants to make his world-famous cheesecake for Yakko in the foreseeable future.”
“Hold the phone, Pinky can bake!?” Dot asked excitedly with glistening eyes.
“Absolutely! Pinky can whip up all sorts of pastries and confectioneries, ” Brain remarked. “Cheesecakes, cannolis, macaroons, eclairs, crème brule,” Brain listed before curling his fingers, pressing them to his lips for a passionate chef’s kiss. “They’re simply magnifique!”
“Wakko is definitely gonna have a field day with Pinky if he ever knew that.” Dot remarked.
“Oh, indubitably.” Brain affirmed with a nod.
Back in the pool, Wakko looked over to see Dot having a pleasant conversation with Brain. The middle child thought about what Pinky said, that the smaller mouse needed time to chill before he was fine. He could apologize to Brain and try their hardest to show the mouse how to have fun without coming off as mean or hurtful. Wakko finally worked up the courage to approach Brain again.
The middle child turned over to Yakko, who lifted Pinky up in the air. The mouse giggled as he splashed into the pool. “I’m gonna swing by the jacuzzi, I’ll be right back!” He informed the two.
Pinky resurfaced and waved at Wakko. “Okay, have fun!”
After getting out of the pool, Wakko carefully thought about the best way to approach his sister and the smaller mouse. He looked back to their older brother, who launched Pinky back in the air for another splash in the pool.
Wakko smiled, knowing what he needed to do. He knelt down in a runner’s starting position as their sights set on the jacuzzi. The middle child then broke out into a sprint.
“Hey fellas!” Wakko exclaimed. Brain and Dot turn their gaze over to the middle child as he sprinted towards the jacuzzi. Brain’s eyes widened, anticipating the upcoming disaster that was sure to happen.
“Cannonball!” Wakko sang as he launched himself in the air, bending his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs.
Before Brain could react, Wakko plunged straight into the middle of the hot tub. The splash launched Brain about ten feet up in the air. The mouse looked over at the city skyline and back down at the hot tub with a sense of dread.
“Oh dear lord...” He exasperatedly remarked as he began his swift descent.
“Nyaaaaahhhh!!!!!” Brain screamed helplessly. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst. But instead of making a crash landing onto the hard ground, he landed in a soft cottony material. He reluctantly opened his eyes and realized that he was inside Wakko’s red hat.
A hatless Wakko looked at Brain with a mix of relief and embarrassment. “Sorry!” 
“Wakko, you must never jump into the jacuzzi like that!” Brain berated. “You could have seriously hurt yourself!”
Wakko winced upon receiving his scolding. “I know…” He mumbled, their eyes shamefully cast downwards.
Brain felt his heart go out to Wakko upon seeing the regret on their face. Then the mouse’s frown melted away, turning into a soft smile. “And I want to thank you for saving me.” He gently praised the Warner sibling, causing them to look back at the mouse. “I would have entered a world of pain had it not been for your creative thinking and nimble reflex.”
Wakko beamed at Brain, glad that the mouse wouldn’t stay mad at them for the duration of the trip. “You’re welcome!” He happily replied as he scooped the mouse from their hat, placing it back on their head.
But a loud whistle broke the tender moment. Wakko, Dot and Brain looked over at a physically fit lifeguard, who wore a stern face as he marched towards them. The three braced themselves for a reprimanding speech on pool safety.
Yakko noticed this from the pool, and he had to think up something to get them off the hook. He looked to Pinky, who was climbing out of the pool, and came up with a surefire solution. The oldest Warner approached Pinky and whispered something into his ear. After a moment, Pinky gave the oldest Warner a thumbs up. Yakko gently picked Pinky up and placed him out of the pool.
Pinky took a few steps from the pool and started howling in pain. “Oh ho ho, I hurt me foot!”
The lanky mouse clutched onto his right foot and rolled around on the ground, pretending to writhe in agony. “Oh ho ho, I hurt me foot!” Pinky wailed as tears sprinkled from his eyes. “Oh, the pain! The agony! Narf!”
The lifeguard then moved towards the downtrodden mouse. Yakko quickly got out of the pool and gathered the blue beach bag and motioned towards his siblings and Brain to follow his lead. Wakko placed Brain on top of their hat, and followed Yakko and Dot as they fled from the scene while the lifeguard was distracted. The children and the mouse arrived at the elevator. Brain pressed on the button, hoping that the doors would open fast enough before the lifeguard could detect them. Fortunately, their desperate pleas were answered as the elevator doors opened. One by one, the four flooded inside the elevator.
Once Pinky saw that the four successfully made it by the elevator, he stopped crying and stood up on his feet. “Oh, I’m feeling better now!” He said in his usual cheerful voice before he skipped along his merry way towards the elevator doors. “Love you!” Pinky called out to the lifeguard.
The lifeguard stared at the mouse in befuddlement. “Love you too?” He muttered with a hesitant wave.
Once Pinky made his way in, Dot pressed the button to close the elevator doors and the button for floor nine. The doors swiftly closed and the group made their descent down to their sanctuary. When they were safe at last, Yakko cackled aloud and soon his siblings and the mice joined in, breaking out into a fit of laughter.
“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Dot exclaimed.
Brain hopped down from Wakko’s hat and approached the lanky mouse. “Good work, Pinky.” He complimented as he patted his partner’s shoulder. “You’re acting is as believable as ever.”
“Aw that’s nice Brain, but I can’t take all the credit,” Pinky explained with pink-tinted cheeks. “it was Yakko’s bright idea to create a diversion to get you three out of trouble.”
Brain looked over towards the oldest Warner and smiled. “Well Yakko, I admire your clever thinking.”
Yakko was overjoyed by the compliment, smiling gratefully at the intelligent mouse. “Hey, I’m always happy to help!”
The smaller mouse smiled back at the oldest Warner before turning his attention to the middle child. “And as for you Wakko, I recognize that you didn’t mean any trouble with your little shark fin stunt earlier and there’s no use in dwelling over what happened. It’s all water under the bridge.”
Wakko felt a wave of relief wash over and he softly smiled at the smaller mouse.
Once the elevator stopped on their floor, the five got out and made their way back to the hotel room.
“Well, I hope you all enjoyed our little poolside adventure, for I am certain that we won’t be welcomed back after our little scene.” Brain remarked. “But no matter, I already took into consideration other engaging and wholesome activities for the weekend, many of which aren’t limited to the confines of the hotel.”
Once they reached the door to their room, Yakko retrieved his key and inserted it in the metal lock. The green lights blinked from the lock, indicating that they were allowed access in the room. The oldest Warner opened up the door and allowed everyone else to walk in first before he entered.
Brain climbed up the nightstand. “Now I want you all to change from your swimwear into your finest attire, for we’ll take to the streets for tonight’s dinner!” Brain explained.
The Warners gave Brain a serious salute before racing towards the bathroom door. Dot managed to get in first, slamming the door behind her older siblings.
The next half-hour was spent getting prepared for their evening of fun. The siblings scoured through their packed suitcases to find their best attire to wear. Dot put on her Spotify playlist from the tablet, not that it bothered Brain in the least. In fact, he thought that the Warner sister had splendid taste in music, as her playlist consisted of pop music from the 80s and 90s.
Brain, now dressed in his light blue blazer and a cream collared shirt. He looked in the mirror as he adjusted his red tie whilst discreetly singing along to Kiss From A Rose. “Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey. Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah.” The eloquent mouse crooned.
Pinky was settled on the bed, dressed in his checkered green suit jacket and blue bowtie, smiling contentedly as he listened to Brain sing and imagined that he was singing for him and him alone. The lanky mouse admired the way his partner could carry a tune along with his seductive voice. Oh how he could listen to Brain sing all day. Pinky was always quick to compliment Brain’s singing and tried to encourage him to showcase his talents to the world, but the big-headed mouse vehemently denied that request time and time again.
Pinky needed to find a way to pretend that he was busy with another activity so as to avoid suspicion from his partner. He hopped over to the nightstand where he found the hotel brochure. Surely there were plenty of pretty pictures to look at. But as he picked up the laminated pamphlet, he discovered the sparkling gold credit card that the CEO bestowed to him and Brain.
“Naaarf!” Pinky admired. The mouse picked up the credit card and placed it on the pillow. Pinky laid down on the mattress and propped his head in his hands as he gazed on the card’s entrancing glow.  
Brain hopped back on the bed and looked over at Pinky, who was admiring the shimmering credit card. The pudgy mouse shook his head and walked over to his partner. Brain chuckled upon seeing how enamored Pinky was with the glimmering card.
“I see you’re enchanted by the credit card.” Brain observed astutely.
Pinky eagerly nodded his head. “It’s like watching the baby sun from the Teletubbies! Troz!”
“Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” He inquired with a cheeky grin.
“I think so Brain, but what if my milkshakes can’t bring all the boys to the yard?” Pinky asked anxiously.
“No Pinky, I was not referring to your dreams of opening an ice cream shop or your chest, as soft and comfortable as it is.” Brain berated as his cheeks blushed to a dark shade of red.
“You’re darn right, mister!” Pinky confirmed with a nod.
“The CEO informed us that she will pay for any additional expenses we make over the weekend. I intend to take advantage of her little gesture of kindness by making as many extravagant purchases as possible!” Brain eagerly explained with a devious smile. “And treating you and the kids to an elegant, fine-dining experience will be the first stop in our weekend spending spree!”
“Zounds Brain,” Pinky awed, but he then remembered what he had in store for the evening. “But we have to make sure that we finish dinner before 7:00 because I already made plans for a fun bonding activity with the kids at 7:30!”
Brain frowned at the thought of Pinky planning something without his input. “What plans?” Brain interrogated.
“Oh, I can’t tell you. I want it to be a surprise!” Pinky gleefully answered.
“I can hardly wait.” Brain responded sardonically. “Very well, I’ll try to find any upscale restaurants within the area, and make a reservation for six o’clock.” The intelligent mouse said as he scrolled through his smartphone. The CEO entrusted him and Pinky with the company credit card and, darn it, he was going to treat himself, his partner, and the kids to an expensive dinner at a fancy restaurant!
“Hey Brain?” He heard Wakko speak.
Brain put his phone aside and looked at the middle child, who was wearing a red cavalier hat with a blue feather sticking up from the side, a white tunic, and a musketeer tabard with the colors of the Non-Binary flag. The mouse was not surprised by Wakko’s unconventional fashion sense, but he certainly admired the middle child’s bold choice of wardrobe. “Yes, Wakko?”
“Can we go to McDonald’s for dinner?” Wakko eagerly asked.
“McDonald’s?” Brain scoffed. “Why on earth would you want to have serviceable fast food when we could easily go to any one of the more elegant eateries in the city?”
“Because other restaurants don’t have Big Macs.” Wakko answered with a confident nod.
Yakko and Dot soon came out from the bathroom and stood beside Wakko. Yakko was dressed in a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt in addition to his signature brown slacks. Dot wore a purple pantsuit, a white collared shirt, and a pearl necklace.
“Yeah, and it’s been ages since we last went to McDonald’s.” Yakko explained, backing up his younger sibling.
“And what other restaurant could provide a relaxed, down-to-earth atmosphere tailor made for the average American family?” Dot added with great conviction.
Brain was secretly impressed with the Warners’ gumption and steadfast determination, but he had to remind the children who’s boss.
“Oh no, I remember all of those times you annoyed me into taking you to McDonald’s back in the nineties!” Brain remarked with an exasperated tone of voice. “Well, I am here to inform you that my fortitude has hardened considerably over the years, and this little song and dance won’t work on me again!”
Yakko looked over at his siblings with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.  “McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” The eldest Warner started chanting. Wakko and Dot immediately joined in. “McDonald’s! McDonald’s! McDonald’s!”
As the Warners chanted, The Brain crossed his arms, grumpily standing his ground. He was the adult in the situation and he would not bow down to the whims of the children. But the mouse was shocked to see his dearest partner join the children’s crusade, chanting alongside them.
“McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” Pinky exclaimed, pumping his arms in the air.
“Pinky! Who’s side are you on!?” Brain snapped exasperatedly.
“Poit! The one with the happy meals.” Pinky sheepishly replied with a shrug.
Brain knew he was outnumbered and outpowered. As much as he wanted to have an exquisite dinner at a high-end restaurant, he had to give the kids (and his partner) what they wanted. With an annoyed sigh, he held up his hands and surrendered to the sassy children's demand.
“Alright, we’ll have dinner at McDonald’s!” The Brain announced, eliciting cheers from the Warners and Pinky. The smaller mouse held up his hand, pointing his finger upwards to assure his dominance over the group.
“But if you children even think about causing anymore trouble under my supervision, then I shall sell you to the zoo!” Brain sternly warned. The mouse knew he was making an empty threat, and the children probably knew that as well, but he wanted to ensure that they would be on their best behavior while they were out on the town.
“We’ll be good,” Yakko affirmed before turning over to Wakko and Dot. “Right sibs?”
“We promise.” The younger Warner siblings chorused, smiling as golden halos appeared above their heads. Dot flashed a confident grin while Wakko wore a more nervous smile.
“Good.” Brain curtly nodded. The mouse climbed up the sleeve of his robotic suit, walked along the left shoulder, and settled himself in the driver’s seat. “Now let’s go.”
AN: And so the fun officially begins!
So originally this chapter was supposed to be longer, but as I was filling in the details, I realized that it was too long, so I decided to divide it into two parts (with part one being over 19 long lol) So consider this chapter to be part one of the Mice and Warners cause shenanigans on a Friday.
This chapter was so much fun to write because it gave me the opportunity to explore the dynamics between the two parties. 
Pinky would definitely be the more affectionate one of the two, doting on the Warners and giving them lots of positive attention. He would have the strongest connection with Dot, since she finds him very cute and she’s always quick to compliment him and show him affection. Pinky and Wakko are both fun-loving, but naive and they’re always looking to have a good time. Yakko would love to make Pinky laugh because that boy craves validation for his humor and Pinky is the easiest to please since that mouse loves almost anything and he would find Yakko hilarious. 
Brain is the responsible, but tired one who puts up with their shenanigans, but also respects the kids and finds them endearing. He and Yakko would have back and forth banter. Despite the two of them not always seeing eye to eye, Brain is quick to praise Yakko’s more positive attributes. Wakko just loves Brain, and Brain shares the sentiment despite the two of them having opposite personalities. In the next chapter, we get to see more of their relationship. With Dot having wit, Brain is able to connect to her the easiest, as the two of them would share intellectual conversations and spill some gossip as well. 
The pool section was fun to write as I managed to come up with a lot of crazy shenanigans as well as quieter moments between the characters. 
The McDonald’s bit was a lot of fun to write, and yes it was inspired by the classic McDonald’s alignment chart (“McDonald’s! McDonald’s! McDonald’s!”, “We have food at home.”, *Pulls into the drive thru as children cheer* *orders a single black coffee and leaves*), The Warners and Pinky would definitely be chanting for McDonald’s while Brain would be that one of those folks who orders a black coffee lol!
Thanks for reading! 
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dearosamu · 4 years
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DESPERADO - EPITHYMIA
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SYPNOSIS: she, a dancer with personified problems all the while more that intrigues osamu dazai who came into her life amidst the chaos that is [name] [last name].
WARNING/S: none
six - seven
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dazai ended up staying in at home instead of going to work. he felt that he may not be needed today or rather, he may have attended one of mori's oh so important but utterly boring meetings that he loves hosting so much. since [name] felt unobligated to accept his generous offer of financial support, at least he'd have someone else to attain his support - namely akutagawa.
it was a pretty bland day. he lazed around his home before deciding on doing something semi-productive. he had a few of his many cleaners come by to tidy up a good portion of his home - it was theoretically impossible to clean a massive pent house by himself  - while he tended to his own private study, picking away at his piles of paperwork he had yet to look over. he still had time for those. maybe, if he felt like it.
he wanted to hold off on paperwork even more, but a simple phone message sent to him by his business partner wasn't going to let him slack off and waste precious time doing nothing. so, he spent a good few hours holed up in his study, somehow managing to finish weeks worth of paperwork.
dawn came upon him sooner than he would've liked, but his day did a complete one-eighty as soon as he heard a ding on his doorstep.
to his surprise, there stood a familiar woman with [h.c] colored hair and a young boy who clinged onto her side tightly. [name] and yumeno.
he would've teased her for this shortcoming, but her agitated and close to desperate expression silenced him before he could utter a single word. the thought of how she found out his address passed by the brunette's mind. he'd just ask her later.
"please take care of him for me." [name] requests - more like demands - dazai. "just for tonight."
"[name], why are yo-"
"his usual sitter has gone out of town and i didn't know about it until now. chuuya and tanizaki are working and akutagawa can't deal with children. i don't know who else i can trust to take care of him."
"so-"
"just because i'm here doesn't mean i trust you that much."  [name] cuts him off again.
"yumeno has .. taken a liking to you somehow. i'm taking his word for it." [name] gives yumeno a gentle push towards dazai. now, dazai ached to give her a hard time. a few snarky comments here and there, but he simply took yumeno in, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"keep him safe, don't let him lose his doll and get him to bed by ten."
[name] made a move to turn around and leave, but stopped herself from pushing forward. she mutters something under her breath, but decides against repeating herself out loud.
she just continued to walk until her figure could no longer be seen.
--
"wah~ you have such a big and nice place, osa-chan!" yumeno exclaims upon settling himself on dazai's soft and comfortable cushion couch.
dazai is called by many things. he's also a man of weird, yet enticing talents. being a babysitter for a thirteen year-old boy was definitely not on sub par on his to do list. he turns his gaze towards the younger male, motioning with a nod of his head.
"yeah, i do. do you want anything? i think i have something sweet for you. unless you want an actual meal, i got some leftovers in the fridge." though, dazai implies leftover pasta and some sandwiches an actual meal. not exactly practical for the current time of day.
"it's okay, i'm not that hungry," yumeno sends dazai one of his appalling smiles. dazai feels a trifling feeling of dread. why can't this child smile normally?
"let's play a game!" yumeno jumps up from his position on the couch, slightly tossing his precious doll in the air before hugging it close to his chest.
"game?" dazai questions, perplexed. yumeno hums in agreement. "do you have anything fun to play with?"
"i don't have anything that you can play with. why not just play with your doll?"
"marga is precious to me. i can't possibly ruin her pretty state," yumeno replies while stroking a side of the doll's face gently. dazai ignores the weird ministrations of the kid - and how he handles that creepy looking doll with care, opting to sit on the free spot beside him.
"got any board games?" yumeno turns towards dazai.
"no, i don't have time for silly things."
"what do you have time for then?"
"i plan the course of strategic development for my company."
"you're doing that thing again," the kid gives a small giggle. "you're talking all smart!"
"i do like to pride myself as an intelligent individual," dazai gives a small grin in agreement. at least someone was acknowledging his intelligence.
"mhm! even though i have no idea what you're talking about." the young male beams. dazai snorts at the comment. of course he doesn't. he's thirteen after all.
"hey, osa-chan," yumeno tugs at dazai's dress shirt. "i want you to lift me up!"
"a lift? wha-..!" without warning, yumeno jumped on dazai's back, giggles coming out of his mouth at the sound dazai makes.
"h-hey! don't jump at me so unexpectedly!" dazai maintains his balances as he adjusts his position to hold yumeno piggy back style.
"gallop along, my noble steed!" yumeno laughs as he lifts his doll, marga, in the air.
"please don't call me a noble steed," dazai sweats before proceeding to jog around his living room with yumeno on his back.
"you know, for a skinny guy, you sure do seem strong!"
"want me to drop you brat?"
"i'm kidding!!" yumeno laughs as he tightens his hold on dazai in slight fear his words may come true. dazai rolls his eyes in a playful way. [name]'s son seemed like a handful. it's a wonder that she can handle one troublesome brat. "you can put me down now."
dazai bends down a little to have yumeno off his back, in which the latter diverted his attention to his fifty-five inch tv. yumeno points to the black screen, grinning.
"can we watch something on your tv?"
--
a few hours had passed by since [name] dropped off yumeno. it was nearing ten pm, meaning dazai had to get yumeno to sleep soon. he returns to the living room after retrieving a fresh cold beverage from his kitchen, only to notice a small figure slumped against his couch.
he gets closer to find yumeno passed out while the tv still played a random show he was watching an hour ago prior to his drowsy state. dazai chuckles at the sight, placing his glass on the coffee table near the couch to pick up his sleeping figure to transfer him in a guest room. yumeno wouldn't budge and only moved to get in a more comfortable position on the couch. dazai  gave up on trying to move the sleeping male, seeing as he didn't plan on leaving the couch anytime soon and fetched him a spare blanket instead.
his doorbell rang again upon the next two hours. there stood [name], who now wore very different clothes from hours before. she sported a black and white striped skirt that only reached her upper thigh, accompanied with a white over-sized shirt tied to a knot that clearly wasn't hers to cover up whatever was under it. she held a cropped jacket on one arm while the other was placed on her hip, impatience and stress were evident on her face.
"where's yumeno?"
"he's asleep on my couch," he moved a bit for space for her to come in. "don't you have any spare clothes?"
"i got off late and as you can see, i was in a rush." [name] huffs.
"why don't you just borrow one of mine?"
[name] turned her gaze to him indecorously. "what, you want me to dress in your hobo fashion?" she snickers.
"hey! i'll have you know i have attained my fashion sense from someone who actually dresses nice! unless your preference in fashion is the same as that stupid slug, i can see where you get your poor taste from," dazai scoffs.
"if you just wanna insult me with the clothes i'm wearing, i'm obligated to just take yumeno now and step out that door," [name] barks through gritted teeth, clearly annoyed.
dazai ignores her and drags her to his room, shoving her inside. "there's my wardrobe. just pick whatever you like. though it may be a bit large, at least it's proper than your current attire."
[name] rolls her eyes. "do you ever not avoid saying stupid comments for no reason?"
dazai shrugs at her and motions for her to get changed. [name] raises an arched brow to him.
"well? get out! i'm not letting you watch me change, fuckin' pervert!" she pushes him from his leaning position on the door and slams it shut. she's a brat too, treating dazai that way in his own house. she's real lucky that he's o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶  infatuated with her.
he went back to the living room to wait for her to get finished, scrolling idly on his phone for any updates on work that he needed to tend to and going through his other social media.
"done," he watches [name] walk downstairs, wearing one of his black shirts and slacks that were probably too small for him already, seeing how it managed to fit her nicely.
she looked good in his clothes.
really good.
[name] tried to ignore his obvious stare that he didn't even bother hiding. what a weirdo.
"got a spare bag i can use to dump my clothes?"
dazai nods wordlessly and leaves for a moment to fetch a small spare satchel bag from his study. [name] takes it from him without a word, choosing to carelessly stuff her clothes inside it.
"it wouldn't hurt you to at least say a 'thank you', you know," dazai pouts at her, crossing his arms in a child-like manner.
"i don't like you enough to act all nice and friendly."
"you kissed me the other night though."
"obviously to get you to shut up." [name] groans. "and please, do not mention it again to me. ever."
"why though?" dazai questions while placing his hands on his hips. "you insinuated it without me doing anything. and frankly, despite what you told me hours before, you might actually trust me enough to take care of yumeno."
[name] doesn't give him a reply nor bother herself to spare him a glance. dazai steps even closer.
"why do you keep denying me? you know that there's more to it, right? why can't you just tell me?"
"just shut up already!" [name] glares at him. "there is nothing, alright? i have nothing to say to you." [name] pushed pass him to walk over to yumeno's sleeping form, nudging his shoulder to wake him up.
"yumeno? sweetie, it's me. wake up," [name] softly coos at her son. yumeno rubbed his eyes from drowsiness, sluggishly trying to sit up but ended up leaning against his mother.
"h-huh? but, i'm still so sleepyy.." he yawns.
"sorry, yumeno. we have to go now, we don't wanna overstay our welcome," she mutters the last part mostly to herself, but dazai wouldn't allow her act like that.
"why don't you two sleepover? i have a guest bedroom for you two, i don't mind."
"why are you so persistent on having us stay here?"
"i still don't understand your hostility towards me, but i'm trying to get on your good side, alright? i took care of q-chan for you already. at least let me do this for you," dazai insists. [name]'s narrowed eyes softens at this, glancing down towards yumeno's sleepy face. no matter her pride, she'd always put him first before herself.
she sighs, reluctantly agreeing to stay and sleep in dazai's house."fine. not like i had a choice anyway."
soon after that, [name] and yumeno had transferred to the guest room. yumeno already tucked in and continued on his deep sleep. [name] sits at the edge of the bed, humming to herself as she tucks away a strand of hair that were on yumeno's face.
dazai stares at the pair with an emotion he can't understand well himself. he sighs and turns to head back towards his own room. that is until he heard a voice call out to him.
"dazai?"
he hums in acknowledgement, letting [name] know he was listening.
"i.. i'm sorry for how i acted. you're being generous and kind enough to take care of him, as you said and you even went as far as offering us your place." she huffs before continuing. "it was uncalled for-"
"it's alright," dazai gives her a small grin. "i don't mind at all. just tell me if i go too far next time, 'kay? he turns to the side, hand rising up to cover a yawn coming out.
"it's getting pretty late, i should head back now. good night," he bids her a good nights rest before finally heading back. a hand on his shoulder stops him in his tracks.
"you didn't let me finish," the female clears her throat, mumbling something under her breath.
"huh? what was that?"
".. i said thank you. and good night." she promptly closes the door right then.
dazai stands there for a few moments before walking back upstairs to finally get to his room, chuckling to himself.
he really can't understand her sometimes.
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slide into my DMs [ficlet, ii/iii]
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Ben’s made the first move of shooting his shot. Now it’s Rey’s turn to show that she’s DTF.
On a related note: do I sound hip with the kids yet?
PART I | PART II: HEY, DTF?? | PART III
This was never supposed to happen, but here we are anyway. 1000 more words of this silly little story below the cut, now featuring 98% less Twitter shenanigans.
Also available on AO3.
Ben Solo @accidentalgiant I’m here. Take your time, I’ll wait.
Rey parts her curtains and sneaks a glance outside, and sure enough she’s greeted by the sight of Ben leaning against his car, head bowed and phone in hand.
He’s here. He’s actually here.
Backpack in hand, she takes one last look at her room to make sure she hasn’t forgotten any essentials. Toiletries? Check. Phone charger? Check. Her one set of actual pajamas? Check.
Granted, they’ve got a variety of breakfast eggs and terrible puns printed all over them, but Rey figures it beats her usual nighttime attire of an oversized tee featuring a truly impressive number of rips and holes.
Besides, if all goes as planned, she won’t be lounging around in the cami set Rose bought her last Christmas for long.
endless pit @reyofsunshine on my way, romeo
She hurries down four flights of stairs (because of course Plutt refuses to fix the elevator too) and steps out into the cool October night to find Ben waiting for her in sweatpants and a shirt that’s at least two sizes too small. It’s the most dressed down she’s ever seen him, and Rey can’t help but comment on it as he opens the door for her and ushers her into his car.
“Nice PJs, Solo,” she says with a tiny smirk, bumping her shoulder against his arm before she slides into the passenger seat.
“Oh, this isn’t what I sleep in,” Ben tells her before he shuts the door, and she turns to his side of the car with an expectant look as he gets behind the wheel. “What?” he asks when he realizes she’s staring, hands stilling in their motion of putting on his seat belt.
Rey considers her next words for a moment, knowing exactly where this road leads to. But then again, she’s in his car on a Friday night with every intention of going back to his place. They’re not just headed down that road; they’re already on it and speeding recklessly towards an inevitable endpoint.
So she tilts her head at him and asks, “Then what do you wear to sleep?”
A part of her almost hopes he’ll say nothing, but that’s not Ben, is it? Especially not after tonight, not after the way he’s made it so clear that he won’t do anything to pressure her or make her feel uncomfortable.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he says with a shrug as he pulls away from her building, and damn if she doesn’t feel a jolt of anticipation race up her spine. She knows that nothing has to happen tonight, that Ben would go to bed perfectly happy even if they don’t do anything more than cuddle while they watch TV – which is exactly why they’re not going to stop at cuddling, not if she has any say in this.
And Ben’s made it pretty clear that she does.
Rey leans back – of course he’s got the most comfortable leather seats she’s ever sat in – and watches him drive in silence for a while, smiling back at him when he catches on and turns to her with a shy little curve on his lips. “So, to recap,” she says as they reach a red light, “the plan is to go to your place and for you to make use of that fully-stocked fridge of yours while I use up your hot water, right?”
“Yup,” Ben replies, and she shouldn’t find the way he pops the p and accompanies it with a tap of his fingers against the wheel as endearing as she does, but even now, even when he thinks that’s all there is to this evening, his excitement is palpable.
So she takes a deep breath and throws all caution to the wind. “Okay, great. Here’s what’s actually going to happen: I’m going to wash this delightful eau de Cantina off me, we’re going to have dinner, and then you’re going to show me just how comfortable your bed is.”
The light turns green, but Rey’s too busy trying not to laugh at Ben’s wide eyes and dropped jaw to focus on that. She leans forward and curls two fingers under his chin, closes his mouth for him while Ben continues to blink at her as if she’s just told him the sky is red.
“Go, Ben,” she tells him when he fails to snap out of it, and it takes a pointed look at the traffic light before Ben gets the message and jumps back into motion.
“So, um,” he mumbles as he turns onto the street both he and Poe live on. Thankfully Poe lives two buildings away, making it extremely unlikely that she’ll run into him tomorrow morning. “What you said, about the bed…”
Rey could put him out of his misery, but it’s so much fun watching him flail for words – especially compared to his usual snarky attitude and quick wit. Besides, as far as she’s concerned, she’s made herself perfectly clear.
“It’s just,” Ben gathers up the nerve to say as he pulls into a spot across the street, “I mean, I think I know what you’re talking about but I don’t wanna be, you know, presumptuous or anything–”
God, this is too much for her heart to handle.
He puts the car in park, and the second Rey’s sure he’s not going to accidentally floor it, she grabs a fistful of his shirt and pulls him in for a kiss.
Ben’s too stunned to do anything other than freeze up at first, but the little noise of protest that rips past his lips when she pulls away is enough for Rey.
“What if I want you to be presumptuous?”
“Oh,” he mumbles against her lips while Rey wraps her arms around his neck and slides her fingers into his hair. “Oh. Okay then,” Ben says, trying for casual and failing miserably, and Rey can’t help but laugh at the strangled note in his voice.
But then he’s lunging forward to release her seat belt and pull her across the console and muffle her laughter with his lips, and Rey’s last coherent thought is thank god for Twitter.
Okay, first things first: this was originally meant to be a tiny 300-words-at-most bonus scene, and I didn’t realize it’d turned into a full-blown chapter until after I finished writing the damn thing. So please, go easy on it.
If you enjoyed this, you have your fellow readers to thank for planting the idea of more in my mind. Special thanks to @shadesofstubbornness for the breakfast pajamas idea!
I’ll see you guys tomorrow for the epilogue, which is literally just five hundred words of text messages. Until then, thank you for reading and please don’t hesitate to like/reblog/comment!
AO3 | Ko-fi | Twitter
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thekrazykeke · 6 years
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Black women deserve better, just keeping it 100%. Also, this chapter is packed with feelings so beware, beware, beware.
I wish I could believe you, then I'll be all right But now everything you told me really don't apply To the way I feel inside
"--By. Baby, did you hear me!?” 
The sound of an annoyed male voice jolted you out of the trance you’d fallen into. “What?” Glancing to the left, you smile halfheartedly up at your boyfriend. “Hey, baby.” You belatedly took note of his attire. “Going out?”
He muttered something indistinct underneath his breath that vaguely sounded like, ‘that’s what I just said, damn, pay attention,’ and more unflattering things that you chose to be deaf to. “It’s just my usual five mile run. I’ve got my iPod with me, so I probably won’t be checking my messages.”
“Are you really just going for a run, Andrew?” Although you’d warned yourself over and over to keep the accusing tone out of your voice, it still snuck in there without permission. 
He pointed a finger in your face. “Don’t start. Remember what the therapist said.” Andrew felt the need to point out. “Stop looking for reasons to be suspicious.”
Loving you was easy once upon a time But now my suspicions of you have multiplied And it's all because you lied
“Maybe if you’d have kept your dick in your pants, I wouldn’t need to be suspicious.” You muttered. 
He had heard you but pretended like he didn’t. 
“What was that?” Andrew raised an eyebrow. 
“I said if you goin’ out, I’m leaving too.” You state in a normal tone of voice. “Can you take Buddy?”
“Nah, that dog too hyperactive and he don’t like me.” 
I only give you a hard time 'Cause I can't go on and pretend like I haven't tried to forget this But I'm much too full of resentment
“Remember what the therapist said?” You couldn’t resist throwing his words back at him. “Compromise with your partner. Tailor your needs and wants to suit their schedule sometimes too. So take the damn dog! I need, want, and deserve, some quality time by my damn self!!” 
“Alright!” He shouted. “...Alright, I’ll take the dog.” Andrew raised his hands near his head, not touching the sides of his face. Then he lowered them, reaching out to take your hands. You let him, grip limp in his. “We gon get through this, baby. It’s just a rough patch.”
Just can't seem to get over the way you hurt me Don't know how you gave another who didn't mean a thing, no The very thing you gave to me I thought I could forgive you, and I know you've changed As much as I wanna trust you, I know it ain't the same
Lips pursing, slipping into a frown, “Just go.” You request.
“Baby...”
Irritation flooded your body before exploding outward. “I didn’t stutter! Leave me the fuck alone, muthafucka!”
Andrew dropped your hand and backed away, eyeing you warily. Walking backwards, he didn’t take his eyes off of you until he bumped into the bedroom door, feeling around for the handle, and then twisted it, slipping out the cracked opening. 
Feeling tears stinging at the back of your eyes, wanting to be shed, you blink rapidly. Refusing to cry today. You’d cried enough tears to fill a river, lake, and ocean after discovering that your potential husband to be, your high school sweetheart and lover for just under half a decade had been actively cheating on you. With his secretary. 
It was such a cliche. 
You hadn’t wanted to believe it when you found out four months ago. Or actually, you’d been told, by the homewrecker herself. Claiming Andrew was the father of her unborn child. Of course, you wanted proof, needed it, because so much time and energy had been put into the relationship, you weren’t just letting some random thirsty ho ruin it. And she had proof: text messages, receipts for the gifts he’d bought, pictures, the whole nine yards. 
When you’d confronted Andrew, he denied at first. He kept denying it for a solid hour. Then he guiltily admitted the truth, fake crying and trying to play the victim. Flip it on you, saying that you were cold and inattentive. 
You didn’t love or fuck him enough. 
For that reason alone, you popped his ass in the face. The neighbors called the police. Ms. Wayne likely thought you were about to kill his bitch ass self in this house. And with how livid you were, it could have happened. 
Truthfully, you were done with him when you found out a whole four months ago, but your mom talked you into couple’s counselling (she always favored him more, you knew it in your heart) and against your better judgement, you’d went. Listened to this Zen bullshit, control your temper, ease up, don’t give up. 
Blah blah blah.  
That shit was for the birds! 
Once a cheater, always a cheater. You was only waiting for the minute you caught him slipping, then you would be gone without a second thought. 
Hell, maybe before that.
‘Lord, bless me with a wholesome, genuine man. With his own car, his own job and about his business. I don’t care how he look, Lord, just send him my way.’ Prayer is not for silly reasons like this, your mother would scold you, but in your eyes, this is an emergency. 
Crystal Cove Gardens 10:28 AM
Dressed in a cute but simple outfit, you watched the families enjoy the warm weather. How the dogs chased after thrown sticks or toys, and regretted not bringing Buddy out here. He’d been such a good doggy in the past few months, growling at Andrew’s trifling ass, cheering you up with his antics, and letting you run your fingers through his fur while struggling with the on and off bouts of tears and fury. 
‘I hope he bites him on the butt. He would deserve it.’ 
There were gasps and you looked for the source of distress. Only to feel something wet plop against your forehead. 
‘Oh, no.’
More raindrops fell from the sky. The sunny expanse becoming gray quickly and the light rain changed to a downpour. Everybody started running for cover, you did too, futilely trying to shield your hair but gave up on that five minutes in. Slipping and sliding on the cobblestone while running for your car, you fell a few feet away from the place you’d parked. 
“Oww! Shit...” Embarrassment filled your body, though no one was around to see you take that L. Sitting up, you pressed your fingers to the back of your head, pulling them away and grateful not to see blood. 
‘That’s karma for you.’
Knees stinging, back aching, you tried to get up again. This time you managed to raise up onto your knees. Only to startle when you didn’t feel your brown skin being pelted with rain anymore. Glancing up, you saw an umbrella overhead, shielding you.
“Are you alright, miss?” An accented male voice met your ears. The owner of that voice reached an umber skinned hand down and you took it. He helped you to your feet easily, no complaints forthcoming or irritated huffs, but that little action caused your heart to skip a beat. 
“I’m good. Thank you.” You didn’t want to be rude but you were embarrassed as all hell. Someone had witnessed you make a fool of yourself, shit. ‘And he’s handsome! Lord, thank you, but why you have to send him right now?!’ 
“Really, thank...” You take a step back and he lets you go. 
Only you nearly bit it. Again.
And this time, he shifted his umbrella to his left hand, reaching out with his free hand. Catching you around the waist and bringing you close. You were left blinking up at him like an idiot and the faint thought of ‘so this is how those white girls in Harlequin novels get caught up.’ 
“May I escort you the rest of the way to your vehicle? This is twice you’ve nearly seriously hurt yourself in my presence and I am worried.” Faint amusement coats his tone but you’re not offended, somehow realizing that he’s not making fun of you like anyone else would in this predicament.
‘He has kind eyes...’ Wordless, you nodded. 
Smoothly, he offered an arm in your direction after you straightened up (again) and this time, you take it. Trying not to inhale too deeply even though he smelled good. Trying not to grope him even though you could feel how muscled he is through his shirt. You try to listen to the angel on your shoulder as he raised the umbrella overhead, offering protection for you and himself as he carefully walked with you towards your car. 
Two wrongs don’t make it right, a voice at the back of your head that sounded distantly like your disapproving mother, as you opened the car door and got inside. 
“Drive safely.” 
Aww, how sweet! “I will.” You promise. “Thank you again, stranger.” After the words left your mouth, you could have smacked yourself. It wasn’t a smooth delivery at all, more awkward and fumbling. Such a dumbass, you’re such a dumbass. 
His lips twitched into a faint smile, unfazed by the bumbling delivery. “My name is T’Challa. Not ‘stranger’.”
“Y/N.” Habit has you offering your hand for a shake, but he lifted the back of your hand to his mouth, kissing the knuckles. Sending your heart into overdrive and as his dark eyes flicked to yours for a brief, heated moment, there’s no way he missed that. 
“Drive safely, Y/N.”
The way that he caressed the syllables of your name has you thinking about climbing out of this car and doing something very very crazy. You entertain the notion for approximately ten seconds, but T’Challa maybe senses the turmoil occurring in your heart and head, because he makes the choice for the both of you. Gently closing the car door, then waved and walked in the opposite direction.
You sit in that car for close to half an hour before driving home. 
Home to a man you don’t love nor want. Home to a man who doesn’t love or even like, let alone respect you. Regret coats the back of your throat as Andrew kisses your cheek, asking if you wanted to eat some leftover pizza and watch movies.
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moonraccoon-exe · 7 years
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Beauty and Beast Gladnis AU - The Dance
Here go more headcanons for the Ignis and the Beast AU, this time regarding that famous dance scene, scribbled more like a fiction of sorts (adding a Read More). Just as a note, I’m agreeing over here with @vinsmoke03 (tagging you so readers know, you don’t have to read this through if you don’t want, buddy) on Prompto’s and Noctis’ roles in this AU. :)
It is Ignis who asked Gladio for that dance, not the other way around. 
Ignis, despite being a town boy, behaves as if he belonged to royalty; he’s cousin to the town’s mayor (?), works second hand to him, and hence he moves into the “high society” world (among commoners).
Hence, Ignis knows how to dance. It’s etiquette. Besides, he always liked the shadowy “abandoned” castle in the distance and often fantasized as a kid about how life would be there if it was occupied (poor child had no idea about the magic in there, like the rest of town), so it was usual to find him learning to waltz on his own, holding a teddy  bear as dance companion.
Even though it started as a child fantasy, his constant training lead him to really develop formal dancing skills.
During his stay in the castle, and after a couple months in there (already used/befriended to Gladio, just not as intimately), he finds himself missing the dancing; there were not many chances in town (besides the informal parties), and he had been so busy being scared and sassy against Gladio that he hadn’t even thought about his private dancing.
He was cleaning/exploring a room with his furniture friends when the desire of dancing came back. In the room he came across an abandoned harpsichord; destroyed and dirty, Ignis smiled nonetheless and sat down, toying quietly with a few keys. Prompto, the candelabra that’s insisted all the time to follow him around, asks him happily if he knows how to play.
Ignis, however, does not. He recalls that it moved him to see the instrument because it reminded him of dancing.
“Ooooh! You used to dance?”, “In great ball halls?”, “With a lot of noblemen and women?”, “And pretty wide dresses?”.
Ignis laughs at how cute all his furniture friends can be, and a bit at himself, and shakes the head. “In my room, actually. No music. And my companion was a plush toy”.
Noctis, a clock that’s always hanging with Prompto, and who the rest of the furniture behave oddly formal to as if though he was their leader of sorts, laughs at that, “well, I bet you’re at least better than I could ever be, Specs”.
There seemed to be some inside joke Ignis didn’t quite understand, but he let it slip. 
“Ignis, you seem excited at the idea of dancing” Iris, a tea pot, says happily. “This room is very big. And there’s no moody beast nearby. Why don’t you dance a little?”
“Without music?”
“You said you danced with no music in your room.”, “Plus, we can all sing something!”
“Hm..there’s just a little question now. Who would be my partner?”
“OH! I WANNA! I WANNA!”, Prompto, of course.
Ignis laughs with his little friend and stands up, both heading to the centre of the room. Ignis reverences and Prompto dumbly follows him, and the rest of the furniture friends that are there start singing lyric-less music.
Except none know any particular song so it’s just a mess of “La la la” choruses as if it was a children party.
Ignis laughs anyway while he dances with Prompto; at first he tried to stay bent down to carefully hold Prompto’s candles (turned off), but Ignis’ to tall and Prompto’s too tiny, so it doesn’t work, and both decide to just dance together one in front of the other.
Ignis does small, too small steps and doesn’t dance properly, because his companion can’t do it like him; so we have an amused Ignis trying not to pressure his companion, a candelabra that’s awkwardly and furiously jumping around.
That’s how Gladio walks in on the scene: a lot of the furniture loudly La la’ing like little children, Talcott, a small tea cup, and Iris jumping on random harspichord keys, Noctis awkwardly moving a bit with a white feathered duster, Luna, as if trying hard to dance properly but dealing with a limping leg,  and Ignis trying to dance with a candelabra that’s desperately jumping side to side.
Gladio, much more self controlled after a few months with Ignis, decides to just let them be: he’s keeping the guy prisoner, the less he can do is let him have fun, and seen (from Gladio’s perspective only, tbh) as Ignis apparently has no enjoyment in Gladio’s pressence, the latter decides to leave him alone with his friends for once.
That night, Ignis is dragged to a room he had not been to before by his friends, and, excitedly and not stopping to jump (they behave like kids at times, but that’s just because Ignis is so open and kind with/to them, and they hadn’t had this much fun since long ago), they show him some of the royal parties clothes abandoned in there.
Ignis finds himself asking permission to see through them, and he finds this particular suit that catches his eye: yellowish golden on top, both the shirt and the overcoat, with darker decoration, white formal pants, and golden-brown boots. 
Truth be told, he prefers black or blue colors, but the suit he just found is a fine piece of art and he can’t stop staring.
He won’t try it on no matter how much Iris, Talcott and the rest insist: “what if they belonged to a king or a prince?”
“Nah man. The prince is too tiny to fit in there”
“What do you mean is?” Ignis is questioning, but Prompto’s too busy containing his laughter and Noctis is busy glaring at him and staring away as if embarrassed at some inside joke Ignis doesn’t get again. Iris has to save the day with some “He meant he imagines the prince must have been small” sort of excuse. Ignis still has no idea he’s treating with royalty, poor guy, bless him.
To clarify, Noctis is still prince: the reason he’s a furniture piece and Gladio became the beast is because when that evil red haired wizard dressed in second-hand coats attacked, Gladio, sworn shield of the prince, stood in between to stop the spell: it broke through his shield, but it didn’t get past Gladio, who receives Noctis’ spell while Noctis received the one that affected the rest of the people in there (along Prompto, his non royalty friend who had been there by Noct’s own invitation to the party that was being held).
It’s Iris who gives Ignis the idea of asking Gladio for a dance.
Iris hasn’t told Ignis she’s Gladio’s sister, and has taken the role of adviser for poor Ignis; has heard him ramble about Gladio and his behavior since “I’m actually terrified; I act like I’m not and chide him, but I feel like I’m about to pass out everytime he gets close” to “He’s the biggest jerk I have ever known, ohmygod, how do you stand him?” and all the way towards “He read to me today without stuttering. Iris, I think it’s not that he forgot to read; I think he was nervous. Why  do you think he could be nervous? Why would he lie? He’s actually a bit shy, isn’t he? He seems to be sort of scared at times. I shouldn’t be as rude as I sometimes am, should I?”
She insisted on Ignis to wear the suit, and lead the conversation to telling him that he could wear it if there was a proper dance. Ignis recalled on how there wasn’t another human for a “proper dance”, and Iris reminded him that while there was not a human, there was at least one creature more with a proper two legs.
It took Ignis three days of not knowing what kind of reaction he could get, until he just asked at dinner with Gladio once, immediately after both laughed at the awkward of Gladio accidentally pouring a little soup on himself.
They were not even done laughing when Ignis was already staring down, smiling and a bit flustered, and just hurried it; “Gladio, would you dance with me?”
Ignis had to repeat it; Gladio heard but he was sure his brain was tricking him, so he asked for Ignis to repeat. Ignis didn’t dare look at him at all and his fingers fidgeted a bit with his spoon as he spoke again, “I would like to dance with you. I mean...you don’t have to if you don’t want. I just...the other day I...well, it was something silly, but it reminded me of dancing, and I found out I miss it a little. What do you say we...dance, sometime? It’s a dumb request, I know, but...”
Gladio’s mentally screeching loudly because 1. his crush is asking him to dance 2. Ignis is not being rude or sassy and is actually acting shy whatdoesthatmean omg does he like me back, and 3. OF COURSE I WANNA DANCE WITH YOU IGGY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO.
So there’s a heavy awkward silence before Gladio tells him he would love it, but he has honestly no idea how to dance; he danced when... (he silenced himself for a moment) “years ago” he corrected, but now he most surely had no idea how to.
Gladio had no route of escape when Ignis told him he didn’t have to know; they weren’t dancing for anybody, and nobody was watching, and nobody judged, it would be just for fun. 
Omg how do I say no, he’s so adorable agh fuck you Iggy you’re too cute (of course, he just thinks this).
So all the furniture pieces go all excited that night (they ship Gladnis so badly) and help them both get dressed and prepared.
They enjoy some book reading, dinner, and then the dancing. Everyone tried to give them privacy, but tbh they all were getting sneak peeks from different spots.
Gladio was already feeling very nervous; he used to dance when he was a human, but it’s been to long, and besides he has never tried with the beast paws instead, and he cares too deeply about Ignis’ sight of him and fears to leave a bad impression.
Things only got worse when he saw Ignis in the golden and white attire.
Gladio knew Ignis made him weak, but he didn’t imagine he could make him this weak. Seeing Ignis, his muscular beast legs suddenly feel like they belong to a baby deer learning to walk.
Ignis smiles at him and, when they’re in front of each other, he adjustes Gladio’s tie (he has some mania for perfection).
“I hope you don’t mind, but...I found this suit and...”
“Keep it. Keep it. You look...” Gladio has to stop here and look away; he’s not sure if it’s noticeable what with his face covered in furr, but he feels he’s blushing so much he could light up a whole castle. “...you look...”
Ignis laughs when Gladio can’t find or manage to spit out the word. “I’m flattered. So do you.”
Gladio can only smile at him and offer his hand so they can go downstairs to the hall.
Once there, they reverence to each other, and the living music instruments start playing a soft, quiet and pretty waltz. Ignis sighs and smiles: damn he loves waltzes. 
Gladio seems like he’s going to have a heart attack out of panic, so Ignis softly takes one of his paws. 
“Worry not, and just follow. I’ll lead.”
Gladio relaxes a bit at the way Ignis’ being so soft with him. He’s also thankful that Ignis, despite being shorter, smaller and more slender, decides to take the lead: anyone else would have had Gladio take it as if it was obvious and his duty, but Ignis knows Gladio doesn’t know how to dance and is scared of messing up, so he doesn’t mind leading.
Ignis guides Gladio’s paw to his waist: for a moment Gladio’s hand twitches as if, in a reflex rather than a literal thought, he found it wrong to touch Ignis with no previous verbal permission, but Ignis softly presses that paw to his waist; Gladio’s hand is so big he can round it.
Ignis doesn’t notice himself, but he didn’t feel a single itch of fear when the paw, claws included, laid on him.
Ignis softly places his hand on Gladio’s shoulder, and asks for the other hand to take his own. Gladio, still a bit scared, moves the other paw up and Ignis gives him his hand on his free will.
Gladio gets more scared again when only then does he notice (or re-notices) just how small Ignis feels in comparison; that hand is so tiny, omg, what if I accidentally break it.
He, however, calms a bit again when he looks down and Ignis is looking straight into his eyes with a softness Gladio didn’t know possible in the man that’s gone months sassing him around. 
Then he gets scared again when Ignis quietly counts two times three as a warning to start dancing.
It’s not the romantic Disney dancing: Gladio really can’t dance in this state.
He’s too tough and big, and he’s standing too close to Ignis.
Gladio steps on Ignis more than 30 times all over the while.
Ignis, curiously, does not mind.
There’s no romantic gazing into each other’s eyes: both are awkwardly staring down at their feet to see how they’re doing.
Ignis teaches him slowly: now I’m moving my right foot, so you move your left one back...yes, precisely, and then you come back and- hmph! No, no, it’s okay. Like that. And then we repeat. Slow. One...two...three. One...tw-ow. It’s okay, it’s okay. Two...three. Yes, you’re improving. See?
They don’t notice as time goes, but they spend 2 hours learning and figuring out how not to step on each other.
They don’t notice because they really don’t see the awkward, they are too into it, having so much fun without noticing, that they really don’t see they look stupid.
After those two hours, Luna goes wake Iris, Prompto and Talcott up; “I think they’re dancing now, as in, for real”.
I don’t play the game in english, but I see you all love his voice actor and that he’s actually good at singing so:
How about Prompto singing to their waltz?
Ignis asks Gladio if he’s prepared and if he wants to try now. Motivated and calm after spending so much of a long while with the most patient man of the world in his arms, Gladio, confident, happily nods.
They do dance this time. There’s a bit of stumbling every now and then, and only a few steps on each other, but it’s mostly a proper dance.
“Tale as old as time...” Robbie Daymond’s voice.
By the end of the waltz, Gladio loses the tempo and both awkwardly move out of it. A few seconds into the mess, however, Gladio goes ‘Ugh’ and picks Ignis up the ground bridal-style without warning him.
For the first time since he’s there, Ignis yelps out and he’s suddenly laughing a lot being picked up, and his instinct is to hug Gladio by the neck not to fall, and Gladio, not caring about formalities, starts spinning him around.
Ignis is laughing so much, he’s never laughed like that even before arriving to the castle.
Gladio eventually stops, but doesn’t put him down. Ignis, hair messed and glasses barely hanging from ears and resting under the tip of his nose, is still hugging him and laughing, just quieter now, eyes closed.
Gladio liked the sight of him when he was formally dressed in immaculate clothing and the hair perfectly done...but he loves the sight of him like this better, because the messed hair, clothes and glasses are not there, there’s just his smile, which Gladio hadn’t seen as wide before, and he’s in the realization that he just loves it so much.
Eventually he puts Ignis down, and Gladio can’t take his eyes off him, despite Ignis apologizing for “I’ve messed up my clothes and hair”. And Gladio just thinks that if only Ignis knew that just like that, messed up, he looks so good...
Against all odds, Ignis actually reaches close to hug him, smiling, eyes closed and the side of his head resting on Gladio’s chest.
��Thank you, Gladio. I’ve never had this much fun before.”
Gladio is unable to answer: this that he feels in his chest,  this that he feels all over his head, tummy and chest, this is not “a crush” on Ignis. This thing that he feels is way beyond that. But he doesn’t dare say it.
“Did you enjoy, Gladio?”
Gladio still needs of some moments to snap out of the shock, and he’s asked again before he can reply.
“Far more than I thought, Iggy. Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, it would have never crossed my mind to do this kind of things.”
Ignis smiles at him, and once his excitement and adrenaline (things that let him into the previous laughing and hugging; without them he most  surely would not have done it) cool down, he takes a step back, clears his throat, and reverences again.
He doesn’t Disney-ruin it immediately afterwards that night: he still stays there, no major troubles interrupt.
Both leave to and stay in their respective rooms; Gladio, usually ripping his clothes off in anger when he can’t take them off like a person, undresses himself calmly that night without the furniture help.
It’s a quiet night, in which Ignis sleeps 100% peacefully for the first time since his arrival, and in which Gladio can’t sleep at all.
Gladio’s in the realization that he’s not just crushing on the guy.
I’m in love with him.
Dear, my head went all blank, so this is all I’m coming up with for now, haha.
Enjoy your Gladnis fluff, aissdfj, I love this AU.
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echoflowertea · 7 years
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Hi! I have an idea for a prompt! I know I'm a day late, so no rush whatsoever and feel free to take it or not :) It's for a Sans/Readr/Paps. Your sister and her husband have to be away for the weekend or smth and ask you to take care of their baby/toddler (whatever you think fits best for the story). So they take the child to your house where you live with the bros, but then you have to go out for a bit to take baby things, and they are left alone with the kid. They freak out, funny times ensue
here ya go, it’s my birthday so i figured i would give you the gift of a terribly overdue update!!!!
Pairing: Sans/Reader, Papyrus/Reader
Summary: A weekend with your nephew didn’t sound so bad to the skelebros. Maybe they should’ve read more parenting books.
“So you guys really don’t mind?”
“OF COURSE NOT. WE ARE EXCELLENT COMPANY.YOUR PRECIOUS NEPHEW WILL FINALLY KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE CARED FORPERFECTLY! WE HAVE PREPARED THE ULTIMATE DAY OF ULTIMATE FUN FOR SUCH ANOCCASION.”
You shot him a halfhearted smile. Papyrus’confidence almost always made you feel better, but you were a little nervousabout this. It wasn’t as if you didn’t trust the brothers, but they could be alittle…eccentric. As far as you knew, neither of them were well-versed incaring for a child, let alone a human one. Both were still vastly impressed anddisgusted with your bodily functions, which you could control, so having anunpredictable toddler around the house for the day seemed like…
“heh, don’t stress yourself so much. we gotthis.”
You observed them. Papyrus had on his childsafety gear prepped, which included taping a lot of pillows to his body so noneof his joints would end up hurting anyone. Because the brothers were…literallyskeletons, they had some parts that jutted out and could poke or stab if youweren’t careful enough. Papyrus would dress himself up in attire that spokevolumes about how gently he was going to treat this kid.
“Awesome. Thanks, guys. I know that this iskind of last minute.”
Your nephew was supposed to come by nextweek, but his mom and dad had some major things come up. Some business tripsgot moved around, some flights cancelled, and you were their last hope. Youdidn’t mind so much, but you were going to run it by your boyfriends first. Thiswas a relationship founded on open and honest communication, after all.
“SO WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT HIM TO ARRIVE?”
You glanced at the clock. “In a few hours.When they get here, I’ll introduce you.”
Sans grinned and shoved his hands in hispockets, the pinpricks of light in his sockets flaring to life. “we’re gonnahave lots of fun.”
“You’d better not corrupt my nephew, Sans.If he learns a pun from you, I’m breaking up with you.”
“heh heh heh.”
In the short time before your nephew wasdropped off, you and Papyrus perused through the house to make sure everythingdangerous was put away. Anything knee-high was blocked off or sealed up.Papyrus was the one who crawled around on his hands and knees to make sure youdidn’t miss anything, while Sans’ idea of helping was to give half-assed wordsof encouragement from the living room couch.
The doorbell rang and you did your best tobrush the dust bunnies out of your hair before you answered. Sans beat you toit, having shuffled over clad in his signature slippers and that harmless smileon his face.
Your sister looked down at him and inhaledsharply, a little baffled at his presence. She had only ever seen him get upfrom the couch to his seat at the dining table when they stopped by for dinner,so it must’ve been a shock to see him up and about.
“Hi, Sans.”
“heya. c'mon in.”
Your sister paused and glanced over hershoulder. From this angle, you could see a pair of small, chubby hands wrappedaround her leg.
“Sweetie, it’s okay.” She bent down toscoop him up and he clung to her upper half, squeezing tight and burying hisface in the crook of her neck. “Sorry, guys. He just woke up from a nap so he’skind of grumpy.”
“He’s also never seen the new house before.Or met the skelebros,” you ventured. “Sans, Papyrus, this is Moo.”
“MOO?”
The toddler glanced up with shining eyes atthe sound of his name. On top of his head was a spotted, black-and-white capcomplete with floppy ears and tiny horns.
“He likes cows.”
“oh my god.” Sans succeeded in holding inhis laughter.
His mom and dad came in for just a fewminutes. They’d done their best to tell Moo that he would be staying with you,and considering you were his favorite aunt, he was totally cool with that. Butthe two strangers were still a little bit of an unknown for him, so he stuck tohis mom’s side the entire time.
“He should be okay until dinner. I’ve got abunch of spare clothes for him just in case he has an accident, but he shouldtell you when he needs to go.”
“You’re potty-trained, Moo? You’re such abig boy!”
He nodded and took a step away from hismom. The both of you continued to chat while Moo decided to explore the rest ofthe house on his own. His bare feet resting along the hardwood floors, hesquatted down to inspect a pair of shiny sneakers that belonged to none otherthan Papyrus himself.
“HELLO! I SEE YOU’VE SPOTTED MY SHOES!WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY THEM ON?”
Moo plopped down in response. Papyrus washappy to join him on the floor. Instead of tearing his shoes off, he insteadpulled apart the laces and loosened them up enough for the canvas material tostretch out.
Papyrus tore them off one by one andgrinned. “THERE WE GO, AND HERE YOU ARE. GIVE THEM A TRY.”
Moo looked down at his feet and raised aleg up.
“think he wants you to put ‘em on, bro.”
“OH!!! OF COURSE. HOW SILLY OF ME. HERE YOUARE, KING MOO. THE MOST DELICATE OF SLIPPERS TO ADORN YOUR FEET.”
You had to admit, it was adorable as hell.He and Papyrus seemed to be okay with each other. And although Sans didn’t wantto admit it, he was keeping an eyesocket on both of them to make sure thatnothing happened. If anything, it was more of a precaution for what-ifs ratherthan just him being overprotective. Because, like you said, kids were wildsometimes and could snap at any moment.
Proud of his new shoes, Moo did his best topush himself up and balance despite his feet being wayyy too small inside.Papyrus kept a gentle hand on his back while he flopped on over to his parentsto show them what he’d done.
“Oh, Moo! They look great on you!”
He beamed, proud of his work. “Mama! Apitcher!”
She fished out her phone and snapped one ofhim. He stretched out to grab it before she could even bend down to show him,marveling at the screen and swiping left and right. How kids adapted so quicklyto technology these days was beyond you.
It only took a few more minutes before hisparents left. You kissed your sister on the cheek and saw her off, promisingthat Moo would have a great time with you and the bros.
Well. Unfortunately, it looked like the onething your sister forgot to pack were snacks.
You thought you would be prepared for thiskinda thing. But after rushing to the kitchen once Moo started going on aboutwanting his favorite juice – pear, as it was – you realized that none of whatyou bought earlier in the week was going to suffice. In fact…as you rummagedthrough the empty boxes of cereal stuffed in the cabinets, you realized thatyou were completely cleaned out. What the hell!
“Sans, where are the fruit snacks in theshape of animals?”
“the frooty tooties? ate ‘em.”
“MORE LIKE HE CHEWED THEM UP UNTIL THEYWERE SQUISHY AND THEN USED THEM AS POSTER PUTTY TO HANG HIS NEW BLUEPRINTS UP!”
“Please tell me that’s a lie.”
“that’s a lie.”
“WAIT. HIS STATEMENT IS A LIE. BUT IF HE’SLYING ABOUT LYING, THEN DOES THAT MAKE IT A TRUTH?”
“Papyrus, no.”
“yes.”
“WHO DO I BELIEVE???”
You knew that you had to go out and getsome more age-appropriate snacks. Papyrus’ bone-shaped crackers were not goingto be a good combo for a kid who would’ve shoved as many as he could’ve downhis throat. That and the recipe was specifically made for making sure that theskeletons were calcified all to hell, which might’ve been a little weird tofeed a human child. Who knew what kind of repercussions would come out of that.
“Moo, follow me for a sec, okay?” You tookhim by the hoof – err, hand – and led him to the living room. He was alreadybouncing and looked restless. You had no clue when his last meal or snack was,but you weren’t ready to deal with the aftermath just yet.
It was kind of a crappy thing to do, butyou needed some time to talk to the boys in private. So you flicked on the TVand let him busy himself with the mindless chatter of some educationalcartoons.
“Okay, guys. We need a game plan.”
“EXCELLENT. I’LL GRAB MY JOURNAL. ONEMOMENT!” Papyrus rushed out of the room.
Every week Papyrus would pick his best mealfrom an array of dishes he cooked over the week, take about a day to create aphotorealistic painting of it, and then put it on the wall to cover a wall safefull of his most precious treasures. The safe was your idea, so that the dogsnooping around wouldn’t get into his figurines any more. Sans was the one whosuggested switching out the cover so people wouldn’t get suspicious. Why thatseemed logical, you would never know.
After snatching the book, Papyrus returnedto the kitchen for your huddle. He was focused, pen in his gloved hand,eyesockets narrowed, ready to strike the page with copious notes andillustrations.
“whaddid you wanna talk about, babe?”
“Moo needs snacks, since you so graciouslydecided to relieve him of those.”
“yer welcome.”
You sniffed. “Anyways, I need you guys torun to the store and pick him up some stuff. I’ll keep an eye on him here whileyou’re gone.”
“OF COURSE. BRILLIANT. I WOULD EXPECTNOTHING LESS FROM MY OTHER HALF.” Papyrus dotted his i’s and crossed his t’s,his careful penmanship a marvel even from all the way where you stood. “I, FORONE, AM GLAD TO EXPLORE THE BELLY OF THE BEAST OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SOOPERSAVERS!THEY EVEN HAVE THEIR OWN SPICE AISLE. HOW EXCITING.”
“sure, we’ll get in and out in under twentyminutes.” Sans winked.
That mischievous look on his face wasenough to put a wrench in your plans. “Okay, wait a second. I think I decidedtoo fast. Papyrus, we can’t trust Sans to go with anyone to the store. Rememberlast time? He locked you in the freezer for an hour.”
Papyrus gasped. “OH, NO. I HAD ALMOSTFORGOTTEN THOSE TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE MEMORIES!!! THE LOOK OF ABSOLUTE CONTEMPT ONTHE CARTOON COWS’ FACES AS I RESTED AMONG THE DAIRY. THEY SILENTLY JUDGED MYBONE DENSITY AND TEMPTED ME WITH WHISPERS OF CALCIUM INFUSED DRINKS!!!”
Sans kept his downright devilish grin,causing a sweat to bead on his brother’s forehead.
“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, SANS.”
“well, you n’ me could go.” Sans swunghimself up on the kitchen counter. You weren’t sure how he managed to do thatgiven he was short as hell, but it was best not to question him and his casualabuse of physics. “my bro could stay here with the kid, and you’d make sure iwas on my best behavior.”
“HMM, TRUE. THOUGH THAT WOULD LEAVE ME ATQUITE THE DISADVANTAGE, AS MOST OF MY ACTIVITIES REQUIRE THREE PEOPLE! WE ARETRYING TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION ON MOO, SANS.”
“That and we would never get anythingdone.” You left it at that. You weren’t going to sit there and give him thesatisfaction of mentioning what happened on June 15th. You still hada scar in the shape of a bite mark that refused to go away, no thanks to him.
“WELL, WE COULD LEAVE SANS HERE ALONE ANDDO THE SHOPPING BY OURSELVES.”
You and Papyrus exchanged looks, then burstout laughing. Yeah, right. The entire house would be in shambles by the timeyou got back.
“hey, i resent that…you’re completelyright.”
You snorted. “Okay, so that’s one moreoption down. I guess this leaves one solution. Papyrus, Sans….are you two okayto stay here and watch Moo by yourselves for about an hour?”
Papyrus was quick to agree. Sans shruggedit off.
“WITH MY FAMILIARITY OF THE HOUSE, I WILL HAVENO TROUBLE DEFENDING MYSELF FROM SANS’ PRANKS. AND WE WILL SURELY BE ABLE TOCOMPLETE AT LEAST THREE PUZZLES WITH ALL OF US PARTICIPATING.”
“you gonna be ok buying groceries byyourself, babe?”
“I should be good. I’m more concerned aboutyou guys. But if you’re sure you can handle it, then I would really, reallyappreciate it.”
They both perked up. Any mention of yourapproval sent a pleasant shiver through their bones. Mostly because they lovedyou so much that making you happy was probably one of the only goals theyshared in life. (That and making sure they never missed an episode of the showall of you adored: Tales of the Aboveground, where monsters from all overshared their experiences of living on the surface.)
“THEN IT’S SETTLED. GOODBYE! WE WILL SEEYOU IN A BIT!”
“Hey, wait—”
You barely had a chance to get another wordout before you were shoved outside the front door, your bag magicallypositioned on your shoulder and keys around your fingers. You wanted to givethem some last minute advice, but the absolute Determination on their facesspoke volumes about their commitment to this. They would get through themorning without you and they weren’t going to take no for an answer.
Papyrus made sure to lock the door with aquick flick of his wrist, turning the small button on the knob despite yourprotests from outside. He sniffled.
“NYOO HOO HOO. I HATE TO LEAVE HER ON OURDOORSTEP. BUT WE HAVE TO BE STRONG.”
“it’s ok.”
“YOU’RE RIGHT. MOO NEEDS US.” Papyrus stoodto his full height and narrowed his eyes. “NOW…WHERE IS HE?”
Both paled.
“SANS ARE YOU TELLING ME WE ARE THIRTY-FIVESECONDS INTO OUR DEBUT AS BABYSITTERS AND WE HAVE LOST THE CHILD???”
“relax, bro. he’s gotta be somewhere in thehouse.”
Both went silent for any clues. Aside fromthe gentle trickling of water upstairs, it was relatively peaceful.
Wait…
Trickling water?!
“THE BATHROOM! SANS!!!”
“what about it?”
“HE’S IN THERE! STOP TRYING TO DISTRACT ME!LET’S GO!!!”
Papyrus put his gloved hand on the railingand propelled himself upward the long flight of stairs, Sans trailing behind.
The closer they got to the top, the louderthe noises became. Splashing and giggles. There were a million things thatcould’ve gone wrong when they opened the door, ninety-nine percent of which youwould probably dump them for. And they weren’t going to let that happen.  
“MOO? ARE YOU IN THERE? I WOULD LIKE TOCOME IN AND JOIN YOU!”
Papyrus jiggled the doorknob.
Locked.
“aw, shit.”
“SANS! WHAT DO WE DO?! WE HAVE NO ACCESS TOHIM! HE COULD BE DOING TERRIBLE THINGS IN THERE!”
“relax, bro. we made sure to turn off thewater for the tub. we put on the special seat for the toilet, and all themedications are locked up. there’s nothin’ he could do from his height.”
At that perfect moment, both brotherslooked down to see their feet sinking into a puddle of water creeping out fromunder the door.
Sans started to sweat.
“WELL, LOOKS LIKE THIS IS A JOB FOR MYIMMEASURABLE STRENGTH. STAND BACK, SANS!”
Papyrus readied himself at the door. Thesheer power of his love for you would surely get him through.
“ONE….” He would be a hero!
“TWO…” You would be so impressed with histoddler caring skills!
“THREE!”
He went for a running start and the dooropened.
“GGAAAAAAKKK!”
He dug his heels into the floor and bracedhimself for impact, doing his very best to stop his body from launching intothe room. All he could see was a hundred scenarios that ended up in someonebeing injured, from a minor scrape to complete and utter annihilation. Maybe hewas spending too much time with Undyne after all. His mind was getting to befar more dramatic than he would’ve liked for such a delicate situation.
As he poured his last ounce of strengthinto stopping dead in his tracks, the tip of his shoe caught on the rug Sansinsisted that they place right outside the bathroom. The gross, musty one hepicked up from a garage sale because he thought it was “a bargain”. Yeah, a bigpile of disgustingness and a cheesy line! What kind of pun was, “make some roomfor dessert”???
Papyrus teetered forwards and went crashingdown onto the floor. It didn’t hurt, but it was unpleasant to feel the stifftufts of the rug’s fabric scraping against his bones. Dazed, he lifted his headjust high enough to see the damage.
Moo had somehow tipped the trashcan overand stood up high enough for him to reach over to the sink. He had taken giantwads of toilet paper, coated them in water and soap, and then slapped the mushymass all over the bathroom. On Papyrus self-portrait made of dry pasta. Onthe cute little figurines that you swore brought life to the place. And even onSans’ joke book that had at least fifty unsanitary references!
With his consciousness fading and lastmortified look, Moo took the toilet brush and brought it up to his mouth tosniff it.
Sans knew that his brother would be okay,but it was still hilarious to see him faint like that. He mostly did it when heoverloaded on sensory things, which happened more often when Papyrus didn’thave his gloves on. But today it might’ve just been a combination of all newthings plus the pretty disgusting state the bathroom was in.
Sans couldn’t be prouder of the little guy.Already destroying the grossest room in the entire house. Man, humans werefascinating already with their digestive systems, but all the tools and suchused to help keep things civilized was enough to make him crack up. Seeing alittle kid completely oblivious toward all of that and dismantling the entirepolite system they had going on was amazing.
“kid, i think we’re gonna get along.”
He stuck his hand out, and was promptlygiven a slimy wad of tissue covered in snot.
“oh, man. that’s disgusting. i love it.”
Papyrus stirred from his unscheduled nap.He felt a little groggy, but the anxiety from before he passed out lingeredlong enough for him to snap back to reality. He sat up and rubbed at hiseyesockets.
“SANS? MOO? ARE YOU BOTH HERE?”
The whole bathroom was in disarray. Papyruscouldn’t bear to look! He reached for the door handle and made sure he didn’thave to subject his eyes to any more torture.
Papyrus happened to glance down at hischest while he pulled himself up from the floor. Pinned to his chest, along thepillow armor that had been fitted on him somehow, was a simple note.
countto ten, then see if you can find us
“I AM NOT PLAYING THIS GAME!” he shouted. “OH,WAIT. THERE IS ANOTHER MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THE BACK OF THE PAPER.” He turned itover.
yougotta. if you’re still not convinced, flip me over again
“WHAT!!!” Papyrus did as he was told.
wait,how does this paper have three sides? anyway, if you don’t do it i’ll trashyour room. love, your bro
“I HATE THIS!!!!” And, against his betterjudgment… “ONE, TWO, THREE…”
After ten agonizing seconds, Papyrus madehis way downstairs. He found a trail of flour leading to the backdoor, at leastfive toys strewn across the floor, some plastic utensils wedged between thecouch cushions, and the phone was off the hook with someone shouting on theother line.
“HELLO?” Papyrus scrambled for the phone,managing to wrestle it up to his face despite the long retro cord being tangledup in knots. “YOU HAVE REACHED THE HOME OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HIS EQUALLY GREATLADY, AND ONE LAZY BROTHER, HOW CAN I ASSIST YOU?”
“Paps? It’s me. Is everything okay?”
His breath caught in his throat. Somehow. “AH!!!YES, EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT!” He started to sweat. “HOW IS THE STORE? HAVEYOU FOUND PRODUCTS AT REASONABLE AND UNBEATABLE PRICES?”
“I think so. I’m in line right now, butthere’s only one cashier and he looked like a new hire. He’s paging the emptystore for someone to do a price check on Mettamuffins. Oh my god. Now he’spanicking.”
“THIS STORY IS INCREDIBLY INTERESTING ANDDOWNRIGHT SCANDALOUS, BUT I HAVE SOME…THINGS…TO ATTEND TO.”
“Hmm. Are you sure you’re doing okay?”
He nearly cracked, but didn’t. “OF COURSEWE AM! I MEAN, OF COURSE I ARE! I WILL JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE I CLEAN UP SOMEOF OUR…ACTIVITIES! GOOD LUCK ON CHECKING OUT YOUR ITEMS! SMOOCH!!!”
He hung up and heard a quiet snicker in theroom.
“SANS, I KNOW YOU’RE IN HERE. THIS CHILD’SPRESENCE HAS MADE YOU EVEN MORE…CHILDISH!!! PLEASE COME OUT OF HIDING, SHE ISCOMING BACK SOON AS WE NEED TO FIX THIS PLACE UP!”
No answer.
Papyrus crossed his arms and thought deeplyon where his brother would be hiding. His favorite spot to snooze in as of latewas the closet near the front door. But it didn’t look like that side of thehouse had been touched just yet. Sans also liked to roll under the couch andsleep under the comfortable weight of the cushions, but when he did that, healmost always managed to kick one slipper off. No sign of that.
As he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a smalldroplet of liquid splashed against the top of his skull.
“…SANS!!!”
“heh heh. ya got me.”
Papyrus looked up and put his hands on hiships. Sans had somehow crawled up to the corner of the ceiling and was wedgedup there.
“WHERE IS MOO?”
“around here. told him to hide.”
“WE NEED TO BE WATCHING HIM!”
Sans slipped down the length of the wallwithout batting an eye. “ok, ok. i told him to hide in my room. let’s check itout.”
The trek toward the brothers’ bedrooms waslong and arduous, filled with slick spots of melting sticks of butter and granola.A gross combination, and Papyrus wasn’t even sure how he managed to get accessto more food. So much for locking everything up. But despite the harsh terrain,both brothers persisted until they reached Sans’ safe haven.
“hey, bro. what’re you doing? knock first.”
“THERE IS NO TIME FOR FORMALITIES. MOO, IAM COMING IN!”
The stench was unbearable. Dirty clotheslying haphazardly on the floor. A lampshade on the floor. Cloudy test tubesstacked on top of each other. Crumpled bedsheets, pillows stained with coffeeand tea, a plate caked with mysterious gray mold. The entire place looked likeit had seen the wrath of a certain three-year-old.
“everythin’ looks normal to me.”
“OH MY GOD. THE SMELL IS EVEN WORSE THAN ITWAS THIS MORNING!”
“oh yeah. i forgot to put this back in thefridge.” Sans picked up a cup of milk that already started to bubble in the smoldering,stuffy summer heat. “was gonna see if i could ferment this, but figured it’d bebetter to start another day.”
“DO YOU SEE HIM?”
“nope. call him.”
“MOOOOOOO!”
Sans’ eyesockets crinkled. “bro, are youpart cow?”
“NO.”
“because that impression was moo-ving.”
“STOP THIS.”
Then they heard it. A gasp. It was faint,but it was there.
“IS THAT…THE ATTIC???”
How did one child manage to maneuver aroundso easily? Humans were so tenacious! Neither of them could imagine raising oneof their own if they were all like this!
“MOOOOOO!”
“moooo.”
It was dark. How did he even navigate? Whenyou moved in with the brothers, there was so much extra stuff that it was allshoved up here. You and Sans promised to sort through it, but every time youwere both up here at the same time, you ended up just making a giant mess andleaving it worse off than when you came.
Papyrus nearly tripped over a giant chestfull of early courting gifts from him. You said they needed to be kept in asafe place, and that they were priceless, so they had to be stored away. Hebelieved you wholeheartedly, because you had wrapped them up in the softestblankets to shield them from dust and time. That and he caught you sneaking uphere sometimes just to admire them.
“bro, did you hear that?”
“HEAR WHAT?”
Sans froze. His eyesockets went dark.
“we’ve been cornered.”
Jumping out from the shadows, fingerssplayed and mouth opened wide, was Moo.
“Raaaah!”
Both of the brothers were surprised, butdid their best not to laugh. A tiny human in a cow costume roaring at them likea dinosaur was…probably the best thing they’d seen in weeks. It didn’t helpthat Moo charged toward them, bending down on all fours, the tiny tail sewn onhis backside flapping with every bounce toward them.
“PLEASE DON’T HURT US!” Papyrus cried.
But it was too late. Moo had conquered themboth, crawling on top of their toppled bodies and declaring himself as thewinner with a loud, long roar.
“alright, kiddo. let’s get you backdownstairs.” Sans plucked him off his chest and tucked him under an arm. “yougave us a big scare.”
“YOU COULD HAVE HURT YOURSELF…” Papyrusbegan. But after seeing the near teary look in Moo’s eyes, he recanted. “YOUWERE VERY BRAVE TO COME UP HERE BY YOURSELF. BUT NEXT TIME YOU SHOULD PLAY NEARUS, OKAY? WE WANT TO SEE MOO THE DINOSAUR UP CLOSE!”
All three of them headed back to the livingroom where Moo’s giant bag still sat untouched.
“I HAVE A COLORING BOOK I THINK YOU WOULDLIKE.”
“Crayons, please!”
“nice job, kid. use yer manners and you’llget far.”
“I SHOULD WASH HIS CLOTHING IN A FEW HOURS.HE LOOKS STICKY. OR IS THAT NORMAL FOR HIS AGE?”
Everything was okay after that. Some minorincidents – like Moo breaking a crayon and then throwing a tantrum despitebeing given the exact same color to use instead. The brothers had to muster up alltheir patience to deal with his screams and flailing limbs, but they managed toget him to stop wailing after a while.
In the end, the house was completelytrashed, but everyone was safe and sound.
You parked the car in the driveway andrummaged through the bag, grabbing a piece of candy to shove in your mouth. Ugh.What was supposed to be a quick trip to the store ended up being the biggestnightmare of your life. Long lines, rude customers, unorganized shelves, aclown blocking your nearest exit until you donated to his law school fund, andeven a broken traffic light that resulted in a twenty-minute detour through afuneral motorcade.
Needless to say, you were relieved to behome.
After gathering everything in your arms,you headed to the door. A smarter person would’ve called the brothers to letthem know that you were here, but you were so exhausted that the thought nevereven crossed your mind.
Knock. Knock.
“who’s there?”
“Sans.”
“sans who?”
“Sans, please let me in, my arms are goingnumb!”
“i don’t get it.”
“PERHAPS THE HUMOR LIES IN THE REALISM.”
“oh, ok.”
You heard him unlatch the door and youpractically burst in. “Someone please help me get these to the kitchen!”
Papyrus did more than that. He simplyscooped you up, bags and all, so that you were no longer crumbling under theircrushing weight. You were relieved to receive help, but gosh, it did bring a littlecolor to your cheeks when he easily carted you around like that.
He set you down in the middle of thekitchen. Without hesitation, you made your way into the fridge and startedshoving all sorts of snacks inside.
“So? How did it go, guys?”
Sans grinned. “eh, so boring.”
“What, really?”
“IT WAS…NEW.”
You peered over the fridge door. “I don’tknow if I like the sound of that. Where’s Moo?”
“NAPPING ON THE COUCH.”
“Wait, you guys actually got him to sleep?”
“he was kinda giving us a run for ourmoney, so it’s nice he decided to help us out with that.”
“Oh, no. Was he a handful?”
“heh. you decide.”
You blinked and stepped away from yourlittle comfort zone, only to fully drink in how destroyed the house was.
Yeah, it looked like a toddler had beenthrough here, all right. Everyone’s possessions poked and prodded. Annoying Dogeven had a balloon strapped to its tail, trying its best to run away from it asit hovered menacingly over its back. The walls had some minor scribbles hereand there, the carpet had splotches of (what you hoped was washable) paint,there were scraps of paper and a pair of kid scissors scattered along thefloor, and even Moo’s stuffed cow was completely soaked.
“Do I want to know?”
“not really.”
“WE HAD FUN, THOUGH.”
You sighed, relieved, and smiled at them.Your chest even felt a little tight. Ew, you were about to get sappy on them.Sugar overload.
“Thanks, guys. I’m really glad.”
“NOW YOU CAN HELP US WATCH OVER MOO FOR THEREST OF THE DAY!”
“yep.” Munch. “might as well include you onthe fun. ‘sides, you haven’t even seen how he pronounced the word ‘fantastic’.”Swallow.
“…why would he even say that in the firstplace?” you ventured. “Wait, never mind. The point is. You two were a hugehelp. I couldn’t have done this without you, and…I’m really looking forward tothe rest of Moo’s visit if I have both of you here with me.”
Papyrus’ eyesockets sparkled. Sans wasembarrassed, but shot you a cheesy grin anyway.
“Alright, when he wakes up, I’ll make him asnack plate. Sans, can you stop eating for a sec and hand me the FrootyTooties?”
“uh…whoops.”
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