#maybe if the fic gods are nice ill have this done in time for valentine's day

[little-annie]

WIP WEDNESDAY | The Honeymooner's | Steddie | Eddie's chaotic unreliable POV

It's just supposed to be a fun week away for the two friends, but when Eddie's guilt gets a hold of him and he learns if he and Steve were on their honeymoon Steve would save 30% on the room, well things get a little carried away.

---

Okay, so yes, Eddie is very excited and very appreciative of this little boy's week-long getaway that he and Steve planned and yes he can't wait to finally spend a few days without the gremlins gnawing on his ankles or demanding for a ride to the arcade. But… but he feels guilty, very very guilty. And why, you may ask. Well, Steve's paying for the whole thing, that's why. The guy insisted upon it, saying something about how Eddie's been working so hard on getting his GED and working at Thatcher Tire and helping Steve take care of their somehow combined 7 children. That he deserved it. That, "Don't worry man, you can get me back sometime if you're so worried about it."

Steve's a good friend like that. Always has been.

Eddie's not really sure how they happened, really it seems like some weird anomaly that they can even coexist in the same space let alone willingly spend the majority of their free time together, but they do. He supposes though, one particular gremlin is to blame for the colliding of their souls. Dustin Henderson specifically. At first Eddie was jealous then when he met Steve, well, then he was kinda infatuated and it's all been downhill from there. Eddie's in love now. Hopelessly, irrevocably in love. With his straight best friend. How cliche.

How fucking cliche.

Eddie huffs to himself and tries to avoid checking out Steve's ass in his way too tight Levi's as they enter the lobby of some too nice hotel in the middle of what he thinks to be some Indiana State Park. Truthfully, he doesn't remember where they are, slept the majority of the way here since they left after work and he's exhausted, but the place is nice. Cosy almost if it weren't for its vastness. Really it resembles what he'd imagine to be a lodge. A giant log cabin if you will. Somewhere he supposes Harrington Sr. probably stays for some fancy men's hunting trip or something. Looks like the type of place that'd be a resort in the winter. Large fireplaces, overstuffed leather furniture, mounts from what he assumes to be the owners hunting trips.

In all honesty it isn't what he expected, but it's still nice and well, he's not paying for it so he's not complaining.

God he doesn't even want to think about what the room cost Steve for the week.

"Checking in under Harrington," Steve's voice pulls Eddie from the fog of his thoughts as he checks in, a young giggling couple to their left doing the same.

Trying to not grimace at the sight of the love birds, Eddie too approaches the front desk, leans against its edge and watches Steve as he signs a piece of paper and hands over his ID and credit card to the receptionist or whatever the front desk lady is called, Chrissy, he assumes if the strawberry blondes name tag is anything to go by.

Idle and waiting to get to their room and sleep in until noon tomorrow, Eddie zones out, all too focused on Steve's profile as he talks. The only thing filtering through his brain is the crushing guilt of this weekend, Steve's sharp jaw and the couple next to him talking a little too loudly to ignore as they boast about their recent wedding to their receptionist, the poor young man looking far too exhausted to give a shit. But it's then that Eddie hears that same receptionist say to the couple, "With your honeymoon package, you'll be saving 30% on your stay with us. Here are your keys … -"

It's then too, that something occurs to Eddie and his mouth runs away from him as he more or less blurts out, "Oh congratulations, we're honeymooning too."

The couple squeals and congratulates them as they scurry off to their room and Eddie has all but two seconds to process what he's just done (tried to save Steve money in the dumbest way possible) before Chrissy is doing the same, saying to he and Steve, "Congratulations! Oh my goodness that's so exciting! Well, let me do something special for your little week away then. I'll upgrade you two to the Honeymooner's Package and Mr. and Mr. Harrington," the gal winks, "you'll receive a room upgrade, 30% off of your stay and free access to so many of our great amenities."

Red in the cheeks at the idea of being married to Steve Harrington, Eddie, for the first time in a long time is speechless. What has he done? They're going to have to act like a couple now or they'll get found out and kicked out. Fuck. What the fuc-

An arm slips around Eddie's waist and squeezes, his whole body going up in flames as he goes rigid.

"Thank you," Steve says, Eddie assumes to Chrissy as he momentarily blacks out and is solely held up by the muscular arm that wraps tighter around him, fingers on his waist that have never been there before.

What the fuck?

Then there's a kiss on his cheek and Eddie has never snapped so suddenly back to reality.

Steve's eyes find Eddie's almost immediately, somehow communicating at the same time, 'Are you okay?' and 'Man, you got us into this mess, act the part.'

He really did, didn't he?

Well…

Eddie leans into Steve more intentionally, trying to ignore the desperate flutter in his chest when Steve smiles and pulls him closer, his thumb gently caressing the thin fabric at Eddie's side while they wait for Chrissy to make the changes in the system and hand them their keys.

It's all so foreign, but really it's not. They're touchy, maybe in each other's space a bit too much, sometimes to the point that one of the kids or Robin feels the need to shout at them to get a room. But it's never this. It's never long lasting lingering touches that kinda make Eddie want to cry. It's never this intimate. It's normally teasing or comforting. Sitting in each other's lap just to be a pain in the ass or squeezes to the arm when they can tell the other is stressed out. Things like that. Never coupley shit. Never this.

"Honey?" Steve's voice comes as a whisper close to Eddie's ear, sweet like honey and teasing, there's a smirk on his lips, "Wanna go check out the room?"

Chrissy giggles after handing Steve the keys and disappears behind a door leaving just the two twenty-somethings alone in the lobby. Steve's arm is still around Eddie's waist.

Eddie blinks, nods like a fucking idiot and lets out a horrible, barely there gasp when Steve's hand leaves his body only to ghost down his arm and intertwine their fingers together, pulling him along.

It's not until they're in the closed elevator that their hands separate and Eddie's able to manage words again. "What the fuck did I just do?"

Steve snorts a laugh before he shrugs, leans against the wall next to Eddie and says simply, "Made our week away a lot more interesting, that's for sure."

All Eddie can manage is a groan, knocking his head against the wall to which Steve responds, "Well that and saved me a couple hundred bucks."

—------

Things only get worse once they get to their room. Not only did they get upgraded to the Honeymooner's Package, it appears they too got upgraded to a honeymoon suite.

Jesus H Christ

Steve's cackling at the door of the room, gaudy red carpet beneath his feet as Eddie shoulders past him to get a better look. And Christ alive, it's awful. So, so awful.

For starters there's only one bed. Heart shaped in all its glory beneath a mirrored ceiling with a basket of what looks to be condoms, lube and lotions stationed artfully in its centre.

Awful.

Than, there's the bathroom that's more or less a fucking fish bowl. From where he's standing, only a few feet further into the room than Steve, Eddie can see that those glass walls provide no privacy. NONE. What the ever loving fuck!? There's a huge tub and shower and nothing more than a thick pane of glass separating them from the rest of the room.

Aw-ful.

What has he gotten himself into?

#wip wednesday #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #eddie x steve #steddie #steddie fandom #steddie fic #steddie fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #maybe if the fic gods are nice ill have this done in time for valentine's day

[hellolittleogre]

Happy Holidays and have some fic!

  Home made from me to you, the continuation of Billy x Goody College AU, Idiots in Love pt 2. Thank you all for this year, for encouragement and flailing and AUs. 

May you have some days of rest, peace and food however you do or do not celebrate.

  Billy was hungover, feeling like an idiot and nursing a large cup of coffee and browsing the campus bookshop for a suitable valentines card for Jujin. He hadn't told her about the whole Vasquez debacle, still feeling pretty fragile about it and not able to stand her reaction of incredulous pity, exasperation and downright ridicule that was no doubt coming his way. 

The first valentines card Billy had ever sent, or rather had made, with chubby fingers sticky with white glue and glitter, way back in playschool, had been for Jujin and his mother, and so it felt like a good gesture. A “no hard feelings” kind of gesture. A “I guess you kind of outed me but it turned out alright in the end, and all in all I’m kind of glad to have it done because it would have been difficult as hell to introduce our mother to my legally wedded husband and our adopted kids 15 years down the line, so it’s all good, put please for the love of God don’t do it again” kind of gesture.The trick was to find a card which was nice, yet still patently ridiculous, since nobody wanted a sincere valentines card from their brother. He was choosing between a card with a very grave looking cartoon T-Rex holding a heart, and a card with a big yellow rose saying “HAVE A GAY VALENTINE!” which seemed funny, but also slightly passive aggressive, when his eye caught on a postcard.

It wasn't specifically a valentines card, instead it was a water colour depiction of a hazy moon, full and white, over the water of a calm pond. Little wisps of cloud were trailing around the moon, softening it, almost like a veil, and muted green tones around the edge of the water-mirror hinted at lush vegetation. On the back it said La Lune, Metropolitan Museum of Art. It wasn't strictly speaking a valentines card but it was so Goodnight that Billy didn't hesitate for a moment and left the shop with it and the t-Rex valentine in secure possession.

 Delivering it to Goodnight was easy. They all had their cubbyholes in the lobby and leaving for lectures on the 14th Billy quickly looked around to make sure he was alone before sticking the unassuming white envelope into the cubbyhole. He had settled for printing Will You Be My Valentine? and nothing else at the back, figuring that was mysterious enough without driving Goody into a frenzy trying to figure out who wrote it. He'd never squashed little handwritten notes into a crush’s locker in high school so he figured he was owed the experience. All day there was a little jitter of excitement and he firmly ignored the little voice that said that if he had any balls at all he'd give it to Goodnight in person and come clean.  

Coming home he immediately spotted the card lying on Goody's desk. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done not to look at it and just walk over to his bed like normal. Goody seemed in a good mood, humming softly and hanging out the window smoking and picking up Billy’s valentine’c card and tapping his fingers against it. It was sort of a breathtaking feeling. He had done that, he'd caused that little dreamy smile that hovered just at the edge of Goody's mouth, and it made him want to preen and puff up. 

“You want a chocolate?” Goodnight asked leaning into the room to look at Billy. 

“You got chocolates?” Billy asked, crestfallen,and tried not to feel upstaged by Sam again. As if Billy was not upstaged by Sams whole existence.

“They were giving them out for free at the health center,” Goody shrugged and pushed a small pink box towards Billy. 

“At the health center?” Billy asked and took one. “Are you feeling ok? Not ill?”

“No, I’m fine, I have a standing appointment with a hmm, uh, a counselor,” he shrugged it away looking a little pink so Billy elected to let it slide in favour of stuffing his mouth with chocolate. His mom had always told him he would grow out of his sweet-tooth but so far it hadn't happened.

 “Happy valentines,” Goody said with a smirk and Billy tossed him a chocolate. “Any roses and flowers?”

Billy huffed. “Not that I know of. They could of course have gotten delivered to my other dorm room, with my other roommate.”

“Yeah, that place is probably so full you can't even see the floor,” Goodnight said with a bark of laughter. 

“And they're all from your mother,” Billy returned, pleasantly warmed by Goody’s slender fingertips against the shiny surface of the card and his attention. 

“Too bad she's wasting her time when all you want is my daddy's dick.”

Heat exploded all over Billy's face. It might be the way Goody's mouth curled around the word daddy, all fat and satisfied and filthy, his crooked smile, or hearing him saying “dick” that casually, or too close to what Billy actually wanted for him to control himself, but he blushed so hard he could physically feel his cheeks pulse and his eyes dropped immediately to the hands in his lap.

The silence was deafening.

 He could hear Goodnight moving but he didn't think he could look up even if he was offered good money for it. 

“Aw, shit Billy. Shit, I'm so sorry. I talk too much, everyone says so. I didn't mean to…”Goody's hand was warm on his shoulder and Billy darted a glance at his face before looking away again. 

“‘S OK,” he managed, all cotton mouthed. 

Goody was just there, close. If Billy leaned any closer he could push his face into his crotch. Mouth at the fly and unzip him, sneak one hand up under his t-shirt and fit his palm to the crest of his hip bone. Would Goody say no?Or would he let him?

“Lets just see if you got any mail though,yeah? Did you check your mail?”

Goody ushered him down to the lobby, dithering about this and that, leaning more heavily on the French than he used to, a sure sign of how flustered he was. Billy was still feeling the smarting sting of his previous stupidity, as well as the whole mess about Vasquez and wondering how to take it back or bring it up again. He didn't want Goody to assume he was carrying some hopeless torch for Vasquez, or that he was his one true love and would never look at anybody else, he just didn't want Goody to think that the boy he had a crush on was Goodnight.

 If he hadn't been so surprised he would have thought of better lie, like the boy in the coffee shop or the tall guy who checked books at the library or basically anybody else other than someone both Billy and Goodnight talked to every day. 

His cubbyhole had an unexpectedly rich yield with a card from his mother, and a pizza flier with a two for one offer but Billy's attention was distracted by a chocolate box at the very bottom of the drawer. He pulled it out and looked at it. It didn't look like a commercial offer but there wasn't a card or note and he kept turning it over and frowning.

“Did you get one of these?” he asked Goody, waving the box and Goodnight frowned and shook his head. “There is no note,” he said, turning the box over again and Goody bent down to pick up a folded piece of paper by his foot.

“Maybe this?” he started and then trailed off. “Its...uh. Its from Vasquez. Cool! That’s uh, really cool.Chocolates from your crush on valentines! Wow!” Goody said with a bright smile, handing the note to Billy. It was handwritten in an uneven scrawl: Happy Valentines, enjoy! / Vasquez

Billy stared at it with narrowed eyes. He was 90% certain Vasquez wasn’t the type to buy chocolates for Valentines for the person he was dating, let alone a friend. He was also 90% sure that if Vas was trying to get into his pants it would be through the means of a bottle of tequila and a frank question rather than what looked like Mexican Ferrero-Roche.With Goody heading back to their room Billy clutched his trove to his chest and fished out his phone. Vas picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Chaparrito, how’s it going?”

“Why the fuck do I have chocolates from you?” Billy said, never one for circumspection, and Alejandro laughed.“Its my abuelita, man. She gets them from her work and always picks up at least two cartons of chocolate, they are left-overs from last year, so she sends a ton to my ma. She says that when I was in pre-school I had so many novias there weren’t enough to go around. And they were all called Maria.” He sounded nostalgic.

Billy frowned even harder.“Your grandma has sent me old chocolates because she thinks I’m your bitch?”

“Dude, that is not what novia means. Also if I had bitches then Emma would be my bitch, and you would be my side-bitch. At best.”

“Aren’t I fucking lucky,” Billy groused and Vasquez made an indignant sound.

“Hey cabron, you could just say thank you.I could have given those to at least three girls in my course. I could even have let those go into the bottomless hole that is Josh, but instead I hauled ass all over campus to stick those up your letterbox, so now you had better appreciate your not even expired chocolates.”

“Ugh, I’m so touched. Your grandma chocolates are the most romantic thing to ever happen to me.”

“You’re an ingrate, shorty. Did you get one of those pizza leaflets? Josh and I are using one to go and crash Emma and Mathew’s valentines date, you should bring Goodnight and come.”

“Is Red coming too?”

“Yeah but he’s going as his own date. Says two pizzas and he might not get hungry again after half an hour.”

“All right, if they have their date in the student pizzeria hey deserve to have it crashed.”

Goodnight was hanging out of the window and smoking when Billy reached their room, Billy tossed his jacket at him and waved the leaflet.“Come on, we’re getting pizza and crashing Emma and Mathew’s valentines date.”

“We are?” Goody asked, picking up his coat.

“Absolutely, I have a two for one pizza offer and nobody I’d rather spend it on. I’ll even pay for your soda.”

“Oh, Billy,” Goodnight rolled his eyes. “You sure do know how to treat a fella.”

“World’s okayest roommate. You can stick it on a mug for my birthday.”

Goodnight’s hand landed on the back of his neck, warm and broad as he leaned over and gently bumped their foreheads together, their noses nearly brushing. Warmth zipped up and down Billy’s whole body. It was like being back at first week when Billy had jumped at the slightest touch, his heart doing an eager little somersault in his chest, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

“You, mon ami, are so much more than “okay”,” Goodnight said warmly and released Billy to get his shoes on and Billy stuck behind him all the way down to the street to give himself time to stop blushing and get all of his limbs back under control. 

Mathew and Emma had indeed been dumb enough to have their romantic valentines date at the student pizza place and although Emma’s face promised murder it was a fun evening. Vasquez and Faraday kept trying to trump each other with bad dating stories, Vasquez winning with the story about how he had managed to commit pre-school polygamy with all the girls in his creche and then got into terrible trouble when they all found out and he and his best friend (the Cyrano to his Casanova) had been forced to hide from the tiny mob of pissed-off five-year olds under the pillows in the nap room until his dad came to collect him.

 It made Billy laugh so much he got the hiccoughs and nearly fell off the bench and Vasquez was forced to reach out and pull him up by the scruff of his neck, putting an arm around him to make sure he wasn’t falling off again, and Billy looked up from laughing so hard he was literally snorting orange juice through his nose and saw Goodnight looking at him with a brittle smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he remembered he was supposed to be in love with Vasquez and perhaps not laugh so hard at his romantic failings.

“I’ll see you Thursday,” he called out to Vasquez when the groups separated, on Thursdays they both had a midday gap in lectures that they usually used for going to the gym.“It’s a date, short stack,” Vas responded cheerfully and blew him a kiss before putting an arm around Josh to support him around an icy patch on the road.“A date uh?” Goodnight said, smiling as they walked home and Billy looked at his feet and shrugged, his ears heating up. He was really going to have to find a way to get himself out of this one.

#christmas post #fic #mag7 #Billy x goodnight college AU #idiots in love #college au

[tlozypaka-tina]

20 and 34 FE Fic of choice?

Happy Valentine’s special! I planned to do more but unfortunally that wasn’t possible ah- but alas!

I had to skip some parts of the fic in order to get it done today but I’ll continue to review it and once it’s complete, I’ll summit the updated version.

And now, you will all fall victim to rarepair/crackship hell: 20.- Teacher + 34.- Vacation. (Kliff/Julia)

Five years of restless nights had finally paid off. A diploma framed on his wall proved that Kliff had, finally, become a full-fledged teacher.

It took him a couple of months handing away curriculums to receive a call back for an interview, which thankfully got him hired- Finally. If he had to put up with more drunk morons late at night before closing that god-forsaken bar one more week he would have lost it.

The school that he would be working for grouped primary and middle schoolers together inside their main building, while a smaller section of the school was dedicated for the kindergartens. By 2 PM, that area would be empty and closed off, even for the rest of the students. The principal did not want any conflicts to rise due to missing materials or broken property.

When the school year began, Kliff was prepared for the worst- lots of yelling with a side of disrespect for the new Science teacher. After all, middle schoolers could be quite rumbustious. But alas, his love for knowledge and recently found passion for teaching others was slightly stronger that his desire for peace and quiet.

Just slightly.

But there was no way in hell he was going to mess with high schoolers. Now they were an absolute nightmare.

The bell rang and so, first period started. Kliff’s name was already written on the whiteboard by the time all of the students got inside the room and took their seats. Some had their backs turned; talking loudly- as if the little rascals would never have another chance to talk again- Others tried to sleep on their recently claimed cubicles, and a very small number fiddled with their fingers, waiting for class to start.

Well. This will be a long semester.

–

During the breaks, he would seek refuge in the teacher’s room, which his colleagues found extremely funny as he practically dashed into the room less than 1 minute after the bell ring. His seniors would reassure the young blood that it would get easier the more experienced he got. Kliff just nodded and replied “I know”, only to go back to shug his coffee.

He did make friends, of course, mainly with the rest of the Science department- but he didn’t hang out with them often since they were a bit loud for his liking.

Sometimes, around midday, he would catch a glimpse of the kindergarten teachers as they took turns to gather their things and just bolt once the last child had been picked up. They cycled on groups of three while the remaining ones kept watch on the gate.

One of them seemed to be a newcomer, just like him- well, if her young age was not an indicator, her attitude sure was: Didn’t chat with the rest of the teachers, apologized constantly when going to her locker, and left in a hurry once she was done. Kliff would instantly know when she had entered the room, even when buried deep grading papers, because of the quiet “Excuse me-” she mumbled on her way. Other than that, he didn’t interact with the kindergarten department much.

Months went by, and winter break finally came. Two and a half whole weeks of no noise, grading, or rising up early than the sun.

By the gods, finally.

Even if the time was limited, he was willing to enjoy it at its fullest, in his own way.

This is why he had booked a small cabin in a nearby camp to spend at least a few days of his vacation. That camp was just outside of the city, next to a beautiful forest, whose main attraction was the round, clear lake in the middle of it all.

He arrived to the camp by afternoon, and 15 minutes later he had the keys and was inside the cabin.

First things first…he had to start a fire on the chimney and unpack his clothes. Nighttime would fall soon and he was warned that it would get rather cold during that time.

Thankfully, some logs and old newspapers were available to use, conveniently next to the chimney. He kneeled in front of the chimney to place the logs correctly and surround them with the newspaper, pushing the ashes away from the wood. Some of it got to his nose, making him sneeze- creating a mess. “Ugh, just great…”

After the stack of wood and paper was done, Kliff started to look for matches to start the fire, but there were none in sight. The box that had been left on top of the chimney was completely empty, so, Kliff threw it inside.

As much of an annoyance as it was to get out and ask for matches or a lighter, he had to do it unless he wanted to wake up ill, and there was no way we would spend his vacations sick. He took some paper towels and cleaned his soot-covered face before going outside. His shirt would have to get washed during the night.

After making sure that he looked presentable, Kliff ventured out of the cabin, keys in hand, and walked towards the entrance, where he remembered seeing a small store there when he arrived. The dim lighting signaled that the moon would rise soon enough, and thus, he would need to hurry before it was too dark to see the way back.

Kliff entered the store, closing his eyes harshly thanks to the lamp’s bright light. The store clerk- who he was certain he had seen before- greeted him cheerfully. “Welcome! How may I help you with?”

“Uh, Good afternoon. Do you have any match boxes?” He asked, resting his arms on the desk.

“Of course! I have to look for them at the back, it’ll be just a minute!” And with that, the clerk disappeared to the back. Kliff sighed, reaching out for his wallet.

Just at that moment, someone else came into the shop, approaching the front desk. He wasn’t really in the mood to socialize thanks to the chimney fiasco, nor he particularly cared to see who had come in- so, he kept digging holes to the door where the clerk had disappeared to.

Until the mystery person was on his peripheral vision.

He recognized her; it was his co-worker- the one that worked with the young children. Of all places to be, they just happened to pick the same spot, and arrive the very same day, didn’t they? If that wasn’t a big, convoluted coincidence, he didn’t know what would be.

She moved her head to look at him, feeling stared at, to which he responded by clearing his throat and pretending to look at something in the stands by the side.

After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the back door opened once more, the clerk coming out of it with a bright smile on her face. “Here you go Mister! A brand new box of matches! Please come to the register with me.”

He walked towards the register, and payed for the somewhat large box. “Thanks. I’m leaving now.” He replied, tired.

“Come back soon, and have a cozy night!” Closed the clerk, turning her attention towards the other customer. Kliff prepared to leave the store and stumble in the darkness back to his cabin, but the chit-chat happening behind him made him stop.

“Well, hello there Julia! Time sure flies if you are already here, huh?”

“Ahaha…Good afternoon to you too, Anna. It’s nice to see you again.”

A warm and welcoming chuckle left Anna. “Well, how long are you staying this time?”

The purple haired woman- who he now knew was named Julia- sighed. “Only 3 days. Everyone else has different compromises to tend to these weeks.”

Anna pouted, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. “Aww, that’s a shame, but at least I’m glad that you get to spend a couple of days with us! Your presence and patronage is always appreciated.” She finished, with her trademark smile coming back to her face.

The woman in front of the desk returned the smile. “Of course, I would never miss a chance to come here.”

Anna, after a short-lived chuckle, clasped her hands together once. “Well! Reminiscing is nice and all but as you know, the policy in this store is ‘Time is money’.” Leaning over the desk, she continued. “What can I help you with?”

Julia blinked once, before straightening her back, she had forgotten momentarily the reason she had come into the store. “Oh! Right, I was wondering if you had some candles and sugar? We forgot to bring them…”

Another chuckle. “No problem! Wait here just a moment!” With that said, Anna disappeared once again to the back of the store, leaving both adults alone once more.

Kliff had been standing in the same place since the conversation started, unable to come closer towards the door. It wasn’t like him to eavesdrop- hell, he didn’t really care about their idle chattering, but for some reason his co-worker sparked interest.

…Maybe it was because she was a fellow newbie, like him.

It was only when he caught Julia staring intensely at him that Kliff realized what he had done until that moment. He probably looked like a dumbass at best and a creep at worst.

He felt self-conscious and was about to bolt towards his cabin, powering through the darkness and forget this awkward interaction ever happened, but before he had a chance to react, Julia spoke up. “…Um, excuse me? Have we met?”

'Well- shit. Can’t escape this conversation now.’ He thought.

He looked to the sides and adjusted his stance, so it wasn’t awkwardly leaning towards the door, he attempted to look relaxed by placing his hands in his pockets, but it was clear that he was not comfortable.

With an out-of-habit shrug, he commenced. “You work at the 'Askran Plains School’, don’t you? I have seen you there a couple of times.” ’Yeah- that sure doesn’t sound creepy.’ Kliff chasticiced himself. He even cringed quite visibly once he proceeded at what had just been said.

By some miracle, she didn’t freak out. Instead, Julia stared at his face some more, before a light bulb went off in her head. “Oh! That’s why your face was so familiar! You are a professor there too.” Julia rubbed her upper arm, retreating to herself. “Ahaha…I apologize for not recognizing you. I- don’t pay the most attention, sometimes.”

Kliff sighed in relief on his mind, but moved his head to the side to avoid her glance, just in case. “Eh, it’s no big deal, we never really talked.”

She lowered her head. “N-no, we didn’t.”

More silence. He scratched his head. She looked back at the counter. 'Fantastic.’

He coughed, “Do you, like- own the place or something…?” Kliff questioned, now curious about her casual chatting with Anna earlier.

The question caught her off guard. “What? Oh! No, no! It’s just…” Julia took hold of one of her long strands of hair falling on the sides of her face, rolling it around her finger sheepishly. “We…I mean, my family and I, come here rather often, so the owners and staff are familiar with us.”

“Ah…I see.”

Another wave of silence followed, this time less tense. The woman was the one that coughed this time, standing properly and allowing her hands to fall to the front of her body. It was the 'teacher pose’. “I-I guess that I should introduce myself. My name is Julia, Julia Velthomer.” She followed with a quick bop of the head. “It’s n-nice to meet you.”

“Uuh…” He stammered, slipping a quiet 'ejem’ while gathering his own thoughts in a, less formal presentation. “I’m Kliff Cinderand.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Same to you.”

Just then, the door from the back swung open once more. “I’m baaaack! Sorry, we recently got restacked so the storage is quite messy.” Anna, noisy and cherry as ever, was holding the requested items on her arms, ignoring the situation that her two customers were in.

Julia had been startled by the sudden noises, holding her hands near her chest. “Ah- don’t apologize for that, Anna, I understand.” She made her way towards the counter as she spoke, taking out her wallet to pay. The exchange happened without any extra derails. “Here you go! Come back soon!”

“Thank you Anna, and-” Turning around, she looked at her colleague. “See you soon, Kliff.”

Julia reached out to her bag once more, pulling out a flashlight. She started to head towards the door, when Kliff reached out his hand towards her, realizing something. “Wait!” He called out, pausing for an instant to moderate his voice. “…I’ll go with you.”

To say that said action surprised her would put it lightly. “H-huh?”

Anna raised her eyebrows from her spot.

“…It’s, uh, a bit dark outside and I don’t have a flashlight on hand.” He continued, looking downcast. 'Should have followed up with that from the start…’

The lavender lady blinked, switching her gaze between the lantern in her hands and the science teacher. “Oh! Of course, I’ll accompany you to your cabin.”

He rubbed the back of his head again, ignoring the chuckle of the clerk as they left the store. “T-thanks.”

The walk was silent, at first, other than the crunching sounds beneath them of the grass, dry leaves and stones that they stepped on. The flashlight fixated on the path ahead. “So…What do you plan on doing during your stay here?” Was the question that broke the quiet ambience, coming from the shy woman.

Kliff glanced at her direction raising an eyebrow at her curiosity. He expected that she wouldn’t talk to him after his pathetic attempts at conversation…but maybe she was bored or just wanted to kill the tension. “Enjoy the silence, the view…probably visit the lake on these days, I’ve heard a lot about it.” Was his answer, albeit by his tone of voice at the start of the sentence, she could identify traces of exhaustion.

“Goodness…Rough semester, I assume?” Inquired the teacher, turning at her companion. Kliff huffed, releasing some pent-up frustration of his students’ antics. “Tell me about it…”

Her eyes softened, as she understood the feeling from experience. Frowning, she pondered if it would be uncalled for to offer some suggestions so his vacations wouldn’t be so aimless. Mustering her strength, she took a chance. “Do you…know of the events the camp offers during your stay?”

“Erm- I gave them a glance at the entrance but, I would like to wake up after the sun rises during my break.” He confessed. It’s not like he considered them boring per se, but he missed sleeping in more.

“A-ah, I understand that. It’s just…” She hesitated. “Tomorrow there will be a guided stroll that will go around the forest. We will stop at the lake and then head back by lunch…And since you said you wanted to see it I thought that…I should let you know.” Julia exhaled, turning her eyes towards the path.

But that didn’t last for very long, as she started to feel self-conscious about her invitation. It sounded demanding, in her eyes. “N-not that I’m forcing you to come! It’s up to you, after all…” She cleared up, waving one hand in front of her dismissively. “But it’s good to have ideas in the back of your mind, at least, I think so.” 'There- I said it. Deep breaths Julia…He can agree or disagree, but you did your part…’

He shifted his eyes rapidly, weighting the pros and cons of the proposal. On one hand, waiting for his friends to get here by the afternoon would be eternal…but his precious first day of sleep would be postponed. One hand held his chin in thought. “…I’ll…think about it. Don’t get your hopes up, though.” Just then, the light of a lamp just outside a cabin caught his eye, making him stop in his tracks to stare at it. “Oh, we arrived.”

She stopped around the same time as he did, turning off the flashlight and staring in awe at the building. “So this is your cabin? That’s nice…I like the wood carvings above the doors. Makes it feel more…fancy." 

'Huh, she really likes these things…’ He realized, taking a tentative glance towards her. Julia’s lavender eyes had the spark of admiration in them. Kliff turned to the marking she was so intent in admiring, tilting his head. "It’s…nice to look at, I’ll admit.”

Silence once more reigned between the two, only this time, without the uncomfortable tension, with only the soft wind of the night echoing.

Many minutes passed when Julia recalled that she was needed back on her own cabin. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of worrying her family into looking for her just because she had lost track of time. “O-oh, well um-” She stammered, adjusting the flashlight and the groceries firmly on her arms. “Ahah…I’ll go back to my place now. It was nice talking to you.”

“Er- right. Goodnight Julia.” He wished her, taking his eyes off the decorations. It was starting to get both late and cold, and he would prefer not to freeze.

Who could have expected that going to buy matches would be so lengthy?

He waved at her from the door, gesture that she returned greatly flustered. “G-goodnight.” With that said and done, she turned on her heel and disappeared, farther away into the camp.

–

…And just like that, the vacations flew by. There weren’t many who were really excited to come back to class- but alas, such is life. They would have to smile and wave as the principal made their greeting speech for the second term- which no one would pay attention to- and then painfully wait for their class to be called, from youngest year to oldest, so they would depart to their classrooms.

Why couldn’t they just dismiss everyone at once was a mystery.

The first group to leave was Julia’s. She stood up, made the kids pair up with each other and then walked out of the auditory, holding the hand of the one kid who didn’t have a partner, in front of all others. He waved at her during a moment where she had turned around, and she quickly returned the gesture.

And then, more waiting, as his group was one of the last ones to depart. But, unlike the younger kids, they didn’t need to pair up and hold hands when leaving.

–

Break time arrived once again, and, on cue, Kliff was already dashing towards the break room to escape from the chaos of the unleashed students that ran all over.

The moment he went through that door, a familiar face made him stop in his tracks. Standing still, clearly nervous but looking around the room, was Julia. “Oh, Kliff! I feared I would miss you today.”

“Ah, it’s you, Julia.” He replied, much relaxed than before. “Don’t worry; I’m always here once the bell rings, so you’ll never miss me.” He arched a brow. “Did you need something?”

“Well…kind of.” She rummaged through the bag that hanged from her shoulder, taking out a familiar book. “I wanted to return this to you…Since I forgot to do so earlier.”

The newly graduated blinked slowly, recognizing the object in her hands. “Oh…I had almost forgotten about it."  

She came closer, placing the object carefully on his hands. "Well- I guess it’s a good thing that I remembered to bring it today.” A smile appeared on her face, her hands resting on top of the cover. Kliff took hold of book, his own fingers lingering for a short time on the back of her hand. “Heh, yeah. It was a good thing, Thank you, Julia.”

Once the item was safely back with its owner, Julia stepped back, taking her hand away and began to turn around, but at that moment the break room door burst open, causing both teachers to jump. “Professor! We have our assignments-” Recognizing those voices, Kliff turned around, seeing two of his students with the sheets he had handed out that morning on their hands. “Ah.” He sighed, approaching his students, retrieving the papers. “Thank you for returning these. Remind the rest of your classmates that they have until the end of the day.”

The two teens looked at each other, nodded, and bolted from the room.

Kliff turned to Julia, who was holding her bag tightly. “Are you okay?”

“O-oh, I am! I just…got startled.” She awkwardly laughed. “My…your students are quite rowdy, aren’t they?”

“Eeh, they have been worse in the short time I’ve met them. But I’ll manage.” he said, visibly cringing at one specific memory regarding a desk and a broken chair…

Some silence lingered between them, as Julia recovered her composure. In the midst of that silence she realized that she had stayed longer than the usual time, and her co-workers would start to worry.

Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, Julia walked backwards towards the door somewhat rapidly. “Well- I guess I’ll see you later!” Julia said, waving as she left the room from the back door.

He sighed, disappointed from being unable to say anything else during that quiet moment. Sitting on his desk, he left the book on one side, and the small mountain of work sheets on the other.

Maybe they could hang out again soon, but for now, he had to focus on work.

#ask #fiannalover #Tina's weird stuff #Tina writes? #FEH #Fire emblem heroes #Kliff (FE) #Julia (FE) #Rarepair hell #Kliff/Julia #I wanted to expand oh so much more on the middle- which is why it feels like it cuts abruptly #But I wanted to upload at least something before valentines ended #at least- in my timezone #And hey. what better gift for valentines for self care than to expose y'all to my rarepair and make content on it #Sorry for the wall of text #I am absolutely incapable of writting anything under 5k words it seems #And the final version will be even longer

[punkpoemprose]

Valentine- A Kristanna Oneshot

An extremely late fic for @faithambr  I was supposed to have this done like a week ago. So here’s a little belated Valentines fluff <3

Oneshot Universe: Modern AU/ College AU Rating: G (General Audience) Length: Approx 1000 words

         “I can’t believe I’m spending Valentine’s Day doing homework,” Anna whined into the phone as she laid across her bed.

           “I know. You know I’d be there if I could,” Kristoff replied, and Anna thought she heard an edge of nervousness in his voice, something off about the way he spoke that made her heart ache. She didn’t want to make him upset, she just missed him. “Just think about last year. Remember when we went to the Valentine’s carnival in town and we went ice skating? I promise to make it up to you next time I come up to visit.”

           She wouldn’t be selfish, as much as she really wanted to be, she refused to bring him down. She was strong. She had a baggie of Hershey kisses on her bed and a DVD of Pride and Prejudice in her laptop, she would be tough, she could do that.

           “You should get some dinner and relax,” she said after a few moments of silent pause, “Three months and you’ll see me every day anyway.”

           He chuckled and it made her heart pound. She so desperately wanted to see his grin, to feel the shake of his shoulders as he laughed, to wrap her arms around him tightly and to kiss his lips as he smiled.

           “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle seeing you every day, but I look forward to the challenge.”

           She tried to laugh, knowing that he was only trying to lighten the mood, but the sound that left her mouth sounded hollow to her ears.

           “I’ve got to go Anna,” he said, his voice seemingly anxious again, a sound she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “I love you.”

           “Love you too,” she said back, she meant it, “Bye Kris.”

           There was a knock at the door, and she heard him say goodbye in return. She lowered the phone from her ear and sighed. She really didn’t want to deal with the guys from across the way. They probably just wanted to borrow her vacuum again because their girlfriends were coming over and they needed to make the place less disgusting. She didn’t know why they couldn’t just go out and buy their own. It was only twenty bucks and maybe if they owned one themselves they wouldn’t wait so long to clean their dorm. Wishful thinking, she supposed.

           She stared up at the ceiling and tried to be noiseless. Maybe it was like in Jurassic park where if they didn’t hear you or see you they would just leave and seek what they wanted in other zones. She remembered that it didn’t even work in the movie.

           She wished that Kristoff had been her neighbor again. He had graduated they year before, and they had met a year before that. He had been her neighbor across the hall, taciturn but friendly when she spoke to him, and from the day he had helped her learn to ice skate in the campus rink, she had been in love with him. He had told her, when he had finally found the courage to ask her out, that he had fallen in love with her the same day, by measures each time she fell on the ice. He said that seeing her get back up time after time, seeing how feisty she could be, had made him love her.

           There was another knock on the door and she knew that her strategy was failed. Whoever was knocking knew that she was there and they weren’t taking a hint. “Coming!” Only she would be so lucky.

           She threw the door open with ill-disguised annoyance. “What do you want Fly─” she stopped midsentence. There was a man standing at the door, but it wasn’t her neighbor. The grimace melted off her face faster than it had appeared.

           “Kris?” she asked in confusion, blinking to ensure she wasn’t seeing things. “I thought you were in Arendelle?”

           He smiled at her and pulled a bouquet of white roses from behind his back, “I took the afternoon off,”

           “It’s a Tuesday though, aren’t you always busiest on Tuesdays?” she asked, knowing that he had said as much a millon times.

           “They didn’t need me that badly,” he said as she took the flowers he offered. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her hair.

           She was quick to look up and press a kiss to his lips, squeezing him with the arm that wasn’t holding flowers. “Did you drive? Oh my God of course you drove, how else would you get here. It must have taken you hours!”

           He shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said, releasing her from his arms so that she could find a container for the flowers, “If you’re free, I thought we’d grab dinner.”

           She looked at him and raised a brow. He was dressed nicely, his work coat, nice boots, a button down and khakis. She on the other hand was wearing blue jeans and a college hoodie, thankfully with a bra beneath it for once, “Fancy dinner or burgers?”

           He laughed and looked at her with a look that said, ‘do you really need to ask?’ “Burgers, of course. I’m not eating rabbit food after a three-hour drive and neither are you.”

           She laughed, depositing the flowers into her half full water bottle after screwing off the cap. He didn’t expect her to dress up. In fact, she imagined he’d be offended if she did. She threw her hair up into a ponytail, slipped on her boots and threw on a jacket. “Hallelujah.”

           He took her on his arm as if she were wearing a million-dollar gown, as if she were a beautiful society woman, a princess, that he was tasked with escorting to a ball. He had a habit of making her feel elegant even when she was wearing sweats, hadn’t showered, and had the beginnings of bedhead. As they left the room together, he couldn’t help but to lament, “I can’t believe you thought I was Flynn Rider.”

#kristanna #kristoff #anna #Valentines #Modern AU #Fluff #College AU #Frozen #oneshot

[joiedecombat]

100 Days of Writing: the List

Since it seems there is some interest, why not? List of works (nominally) in progress, old unfinished fics, and Stuff I Want To Write below the cut. Feel free to ask about any of these.

Works (nominally) In Progress

Fanfic

"Reason or Rhyme" (Time Princess - Gotham Memoirs). The Vittorio expansion/fix-fic, because I will be forever disgruntled at how little romance content was actually included in the Mafia romance route.

Galactic Date Night Shenanigans aka "The one where everything is Balkar's fault." (SWTOR - Theron Shan/Jedi Knight). Theron "disaster spy" Shan is goaded into trying to take his wife out for a nice date for once, and it goes like every other plan these two have ever had anything to do with.

#3: [I] trusted [you] (SWTOR - Theron Shan / Jedi Knight). A post-Nathema prompt fic I swear I will finish one of these days.

Original

super secret short story/novella project - Okay it's not that super secret, but it is something I'm mostly keeping under my hat for now as I work on it because of reasons, and is actually (inconveniently, for 100 Days of Writing purposes) the main thing I've been working on lately. I expect to be able to say more about it later. Maybe even within the 100 days! We'll see.

southern gothic urban fantasy procedural romance - Faerie Animal Control Warden meets FBI Elf during investigation of a suspicious death out in the kudzu. A little bit of Bright, a bit Mushi-Shi, a drop of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Stuff I Want to Write

Distinct from works in progress in that I have not actually gotten past the planning stage on any of these - if that. A few of these have been rattling around in concept for long enough to have gone through several distinct evolutions without ever getting any writing done on them. Still, hope springs eternal and ideas are never wasted.

Fanfic

the rival bands AU / the rock opera playlist fic (Sailor Moon - Makoto Kino/Nephrite). Currently exists entirely as an incomplete playlist.

space opera Pride and Prejudice retelling - exactly what it sounds like on the tin. Do y'all know I have yet to encounter a futuristic/space AU? Surely there's one out there somewhere, but I have yet to see it. If you know of one, for the love of God don't tell me.

"Ten of Swords" - (Archer EMIYA/Minako Arisato). fate/stay night + Persona 3 Portable crossover what's even wrong with my brain.

Original

the Regency fae story - a Regency-era fantasy in which a lot of the needlessly complicated and restrictive social rules followed by the upper classes are actually an attempt at defending against the Fair Folk. Sort of Pride and Prejudice vs Changeling: the Lost vs Labyrinth. Could turn into a whole Pride and Prejudice retelling, I guess?

drinking games - fantasy imperial court intrigues involving a romance between a court poison taster and a master spy/assassin.

untitled - East/southeast Asian-inspired Beauty and the Beast retelling in which the Beast is a mountain god whose appearance is based on a tiger. I'm probably too white to write this.

untitled - Private investigator hired to investigate local bad-boy-made-good for insurance fraud, turns out it was actually an ill-advised teenage deal with the devil coming due. Might fit in with that other southern gothic urban fantasy idea, I am not sure.

the ciphered letter - This one started off as a combination of a Mage: the Awakening campaign and a really, really weird spam email I got one time. Orphan gets mysterious ciphered letter, meets snarky Welsh mage, awakens to magic and maybe almost gets made a human sacrifice to an eldritch abomination.

Forfeit - Regency/Victorian-esque fantasy involving reincarnation, a race of immortals, and a half-immortal teaming up with a mortal who sacrificed his future reincarnations for pseudo-immortality to uncover and stop the sinister secrets that power a colonizing empire. It makes more sense in my head... probably?

untitled - Slow burn enemies to lovers between the world-conquering emperor and the rebel leader who's opposing him, over the course of a time loop. AKA Lord of Heroes Kartis/Monarch with the serials filed off. Or I guess I could just write Lord of Heroes fanfic?

low fantasy Magnificent Seven Samurai - Farming village scrapes together a group of starving mercs to protect them from marauders, drama ensues. That's it, that's the whole idea.

Unfinished Fics

Distinct from works in progress in that these are all old enough I can no longer claim I intend to finish them. Some of them I may come back to, especially the few that had substantial progress made before they fell by the wayside. Most will probably be left abandoned, either because I have lost interest in continuing to work on them or I have just plain forgotten what I was planning to do with them.

dreameater - A very old, loosely Forgotten Realms-inspired concept involving an aging half-elf, his fully elven partner, and a mysterious magical threat that's devouring people's dreams.

"Fortune Favors the Brave" (Baccano! - Luck Gandor/Eve Genoard). The Luck/Eve shipping fic.

"Intermezzo" (Blood+ City of Nightwalkers). Follow-up fic to an obscure manga prequel/side story for the vampire anime Blood+, involving Hagi and the Hong Kong cop who semi-adopted him that one time.

"The Art of Losing Everything" (Dragon Age: Origins - Alistair Theirin/f!Cousland). An Alistair/f!Warden fic with themes of loss, duty, and sacrifice.

"In Pieces" (Dragon Age II - Fenris/f!Hawke). A terrible horrible no good very bad AU where Hawke actually turned Fenris over to Danarius and then came back to try to fix her mistake, which I can never finish because I can't make that initial decision make internal sense no matter how hard I try.

"Pas de Deux" (Final Fantasy VIII - Squall Leonhart/Rinoa Heartilly). Exploration of how Squall and Rinoa's relationship could develop after the events of the game.

"With Good Intentions" (Final Fantasy VIII - Squall Leonhart/Rinoa Heartilly). An AU in which Rinoa discovers that technically you can change the past, it's just that if Squall has an actual decent childhood the world ends. Way too ambitious for me to ever actually finish, probably, but I can't quite give up on the idea.

"I've Loved These Days" (Gundam SEED - Mu la Flaga/Murrue Ramius). One of several partly-written Gundam SEED fics kicking around in my files.

"The Last Night of the World" (Gundam SEED - Mu la Flaga/Murrue Ramius). Another Gundam SEED fic, one that began as a prompt in ye olde LiveJournal days. "I've Loved These Days" might have been a prototype, though they don't appear to have any text in common. Could in theory still get finished, maybe.

Valentine's ghosts (Gundam SEED Destiny - Andrew Waltfeld/Murrue Ramius). I'm just saying, Andy/Murrue would have been so much more interesting than the whole Neo thing in Destiny.

"Lion Passant" (Kingdom Hearts). Something something Leon as a failed Keyblade Bearer. The Kingdom Hearts franchise has rewritten its own lore at least three times since I originally had the idea, I can't imagine I'll ever continue it now.

"Vigil" (KotOR - Carth Onasi/f!Revan). Carth/Revan retrospective somewhere around the tomb of Naga Sadow on Korriban.

"Semper Fidelis" (KotOR/KotOR II - Carth Onasi/f!Revan). Post-Sith Lords Carth/Revan resolution fic.

"Clarity" (KotOR II). Atton Rand backstory study from the POV of that one nameless Jedi.

"A Simple Game of Cards" (KotOR II - Atton Rand/Jedi Exile). Spoilers: it is never a simple game of cards. Turns out someone already did it with more or less the same twist I had in mind.

the besieged base fic (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). A fic rendition of the "Besieged Base" mission from the first Mass Effect.

"Get Up, Jonah" (Mass Effect). I woke up thinking about Turkish drummers. Didn't take long; I don't know much about Turkish drummers. Virmire, before the other shoe drops.

"Long Night" (Mass Effect). Ashley on Virmire.

"My Heart Dances" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Liara POV of Shepard/Kaidan.

"No Way Out" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Heading up the Citadel during the ME1 endgame.

"Right Here, Right Now" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). An ME1 epilogue / pre-ME2 sort of fic.

"While the Night is Still Young" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Shepard/Kaidan en route to Ilos.

Apparently I had approximately a million little Mass Effect shortfic ideas I never finished and in some cases never started. Apparently they're all for the first game. (I think there was a Thane idea or two for ME2 that I just never started on at all. RIP.)

"To Absent Friends" (Tiger and Bunny). Sad, sad futurefic of an elderly Pao-Lin reflecting on the deaths of all the other heroes over the years.

#100daysofwriting #works in progress #stuff I want to write #writing #fanfic #southern gothic urban fantasy procedural romance