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snelbz · 4 years

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The Ranch {17}

An A Court of Thorns and Roses, Nesta x Cassian, Modern AU, fanfiction.

Collaboration: @snelbz x @tacmc

Summary: Nesta had spent years in Paris, living her dream and drowning in riches as a gourmet chef, capturing the hearts of the city and its people. But, after her father passes away unexpectedly and leaves his cozy, countryside B&B to his oldest daughter, Nesta is moving back home to the tiny town of Velaris, where the ranch, her sisters, and her father’s unfulfilled dream, awaits.

Sidenote: Being posted between two blogs, it is too chaotic to keep up with a tags list, so all chapters will be tagged with “#TheRanchNessian” & “#SharaCollab”.

The Ranch Masterlist

Cassian groaned as he shoveled the last of the manure into the wheelbarrow and Azriel grabbed the handles and pushed it off to the side. With the rain that had blown through the night before, the pen was a muddy, nasty, literal shitty mess. His boots sunk down past his ankles and every step was a battle not to step right out of it, leaving it in the sludge.

The autumn air was finally starting to cool down, but that didn’t stop the sweat from forming on Cassian’s brow. He lifted the hem of his shirt.

“Where’s Nes at today?” Az asked, taking a drink from his bottle. Cassian wasn’t sure if he had water in there or something else, but he shrugged.

“Not sure exactly. She said she had some errands to run and she’d see me later, but that was at eight this morning.”

He suddenly realized he didn’t know how long ago that was. Tomas had been appearing more and more. It seemed like every time the two of them were out, they’d see him.

“I should probably check-in.” He said, pulling his phone from his back pocket. He didn’t even have to open his phone though because he had two missed texts from her.

What time are you meeting me?

And a few minutes after that, he received, Where are you?

It was like a light bulb turned on.

Azriel saw the look on his face. “What happened?”

He looked down at himself, sweaty and up to his knees in manure. “I’m in deep shit.”

Nesta sat in the waiting room, one hand tapping on the side table where her phone was sitting, the other rubbing her growing belly. The bump had decided to finally make its appearance in the last week and both Nesta and Cassian had a hard time not constantly rubbing a loving hand over it.

If he forgot about this appointment, she was going to kill him.

Her phone rang and his name appeared. She tried to keep the bite out of her voice and completely failed as she answered, “Hello.”

“I’m on my way,” he said, in a way of greeting, and it was clear he was completely frazzled.

“They’ll be calling me back any minute, Cass,” she whined, totally not caring that she was whining in a room full of people.

The pregnant ones understood.

“It’s a ten-minute drive, and I’m pulling out of the driveway now,” he said, and true to his word, she could hear the old truck engine revving in the background. “I’m sorry, okay? I was shoveling shit.”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “You better be here soon or I’ll have your balls.”

There was a pause. “You may want to pick a different threat, that one kind of turns me on.”

Nesta’s lips tightened. “I’m hanging up now.”

“I love you,” he said.

Nesta sighed, loudly and dramatically. “Love you.” Then she hung up, just as the door to the office opened and a nurse stepped out. “Nesta Archeron?”

Grabbing her purse, Nesta brought herself to her feet and followed the nurse down the hall, all by herself, Cassian-less.

Oh, she would have his balls, for sure.

Thirteen minutes later, Cassian was hurrying into the office, an entire room full of patients turning to stare at him. He hurried to the counter, where a young woman was checking in and he waited, not so patiently. When it was his turn, the receptionist didn’t even glance up as she said “Next.”

Cassian stepped up and said, “My fiancée was called back a few minutes ago. Nesta Archeron?”

She continued typing away at her computer. “And?”

Cassian blinked. “And I need to get back there so I can hear my kid’s heartbeat?”

“Are you on the approved list of guests?”

“Approved list of-? Ma’am, I’m the baby’s father.” He was starting to get frustrated. Nesta was literally going to cut his balls off if he missed their gender appointment.

She finally looked up at him, eyes widening at just how much mud and shit he was covered in. “I’m afraid that doesn’t automatically add you to the list. We have to have Ms. Archeron’s approval before we can let you join her.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Can you ask her?”

She went back to typing. “She’s in an examination. I’m afraid I can’t disturb her.”

“For the love…” Cassian pulled out his phone, dialing Nesta’s number.

She answered on the second ring. “Where are you?”

Lovely. She was pissed.

“I’m here. I’m in the lobby. The receptionist won’t let me back.” He glared at her, but she didn’t look up. He knew she heard him though.

Nesta gasped. “Oh, crap, the approved list of guests. I’ll have my nurse add you now.”

She ended the call and Cassian blinked. Why in the hell did everyone know about this stupid list but him?

A nurse in her late twenties came through a door in the office. She handed a slip to the receptionist that he recognized as Nesta’s signature. The receptionist glanced at it and said, “I’ll need to see your driver’s license, Mister…” She glanced down at the form again. “Nazeeri.”

He pulled out his wallet and handed the ID to her, saying “Nazari.”

She typed some information into the computer, the only time she’d done so where Cassian didn’t assume she was trying to ignore him. She handed him his ID back and said, “Follow Claire.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and did as he was told. As soon as they left the waiting room, Claire said, “Sorry about Jenny. She’s been in a bad mood for the past few weeks.”

“Apparently so,” Cassian mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was led through a winding hallway before following the nurse into an open doorway, where Nesta sat on an examination table, her arms crossed.

She took one look at Cassian's appearance and her lips tightened.

“I was-.”

“Yeah, I know,” she snapped, then laid back against the table. “Let’s just do this.”

Exasperated, Cassian sat down in the chair beside her while Claire, who had already taken Nesta’s vitals and information, went to get the doctor.

“I’m sorry,” Cassian said, when the door was shut and they were alone. “It was either this or go get cleaned up and changed and then being late and missing it all.”

“You’re already late,” she said, staring up at the ceiling.

“Okay,” Cassian said, slower. “Later, then.”

“Isn’t this important to you?” She asked. “We’re finding out the gender-.”

“I know, I know,” he said, quickly, and took her hand in his. “And yeah, it’s pretty fucking important, alright? I just lost track of time, that’s all. It was a mess out there.”

She scrunched her nose and looked at him through her side-eye. “You do smell like shit. No wonder the receptionist didn’t want to let you back here.”

Cassian mumbled something along the lines of approved list, my ass, but stood and kissed her softly. “Hi.”

She smiled. “Hi yourself.”

He sat back down and groaned. “This morning was bad. We got so much rain last night.”

Nesta nodded. “When I went to get the eggs out of dry storage, I nearly stepped into a swamp off the back steps.”

“The pen by the house is flooded,” he said, leaning forward and resting his knees on his elbows. “Az and I spent the whole morning moving the herd to the back pasture. He’s gonna go rent a tractor and clean it out today, but I’d guess that the ‘horseback riding’ won’t be happening before dinner.”

Nesta sighed. She was going to have a lot of angry guests over that. But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t control the weather.

The door opened and the doctor stepped in. “Miss Archeron, how are we feeling today?”

“Good,” she sighed, all things considered. “I’ve yet to puke so far today, so I’m considering it a win.”

The doctor chuckled and pulled up a stool to Nesta’s side. “Well, your vitals look great so all we have to do now is take a look at this baby. Are you ready?”

Nesta nodded, her hand tightening in Cassian’s as the doctor switched the monitor on and pulled out the little device that would be moving over Nesta’s abdomen.

She hated that thing.

It was always unusually cold.

“Pull up your shirt for me, and lower your waistband,” her doctor smiled, waiting patiently as Nesta did so, then she looked up at the screen and waited.

The probe touched her belly and the screen was met with black static, then, a tiny little, gray-blurred being appeared. Cassian couldn’t really tell what was what, but he knew from Nesta’s smile that they were looking at the baby.

Their baby.

He sat in awe, his hand still in his fiancée’s as the doctor showed them the little feet, the little hands, the little head and lips and nose. The baby was real, growing inside of her, it was actually happening - she was becoming a mother. He was going to be a father.

When they were done making sure the baby was growing as it should be, after the measurements were taken and some pictures were snapped, the doctor asked, “Would you still like to know the gender?”

Nesta nodded. “Yes, please, but don’t actually tell us.”

He chuckled. “Gender reveal party?”

She nodded.

He turned the monitor away and typed a few things on the screen, before he printed three black and white images. They went straight into an opaque envelope and he sealed it before handing it to Cassian. “Congratulations.”

He extended a hand and Cassian hesitated, looking down at his own dirty hand. “I don’t think you want to. It’s exactly what you think it is.”

He laughed and said, “Understood. Miss Archeron, I’ll see you in four weeks. Keep an eye on that blood pressure.”

She nodded. “Yes, sir, thank you, Dr. Brigham.”

He smiled and left the room and Cassian slowly turned to look at her. She was beaming and Cassian could barely stand how gorgeous she was.

Pregnancy was treating Nesta well. Her morning sickness was still abhorrent and her back constantly hurt, but aside from that, it wasn’t bad. Her emotions had mellowed out, for the most part, and with Azriel and Maggie’s help around the B&B, they had been able to handle everything they’d thrown at them.

Except for Nesta’s nightly nightmares.

She’d spoken to Dr. Brigham about them and he assured Nesta that weird sleep habits were just a part of pregnancy, including nightmares. So every night, Nesta would wake up in a cold sweat, never remembering anything but the dream. She’d always say the same thing, though:

“He’s getting closer”.

“How does lunch sound?” Cassian asked, helping her off the examination table. “I’m starving.”

Nesta chuckled, “You stink.”

He shrugged. “We’ll sit outside. Come on, baby, when is the last time we got to spend time together that wasn’t about the B&B?

He skimmed his thumb over her cheekbone and she melted into his touch. “Fine. Lunch. But then we have to get back.”

Cassian nodded and flipped the envelope in his fingers. He held it up. “Our baby is in here.”

She laughed again. “Actually, she’s in here.” Nesta lovingly rubbed her stomach.

He raised an eyebrow. “She? Did you see something on that ultrasound that I didn’t?” His eyes narrowed. “Did you peek?”

“No!” She laughed, shaking her head and taking his hand. “Just a...feeling I have. Call it mother’s intuition.”

They left the room and headed back to the lobby, where Nesta made her follow up appointment with the surly faced receptionist. They got to their vehicles and Cassian looked at the envelope again. He glanced up at Nesta. “I’m gonna open it.”

She snatched it from him and stuffed it into her purse. “I’m taking this directly to the bakery.”

“Not even going to let your sisters see it?” Cassian asked, leaning against the truck.

She snorted. “Of course not, they’d tell one of us before the end of the day.”

Cassian laughed, his hand lovingly caressing her bump, and said “I’ll meet you at the restaurant. I love you both.”

She leaned up and kissed him, “I love you, too.”

Cassian got into his truck, the engine roaring to life, and headed off in the direction of the restaurant while Nesta walked the ultrasound to the bakery across the square.

She had the sensation of being watched the whole time, had felt someone’s eyes on her since they walked out of the doctor’s office. As she climbed back in her car, she fought the urge to look around and find him.

She knew he was there, but after so many calls to the police where he’d done nothing except be present, she knew she just had to ignore him. He was in a public place, so was she. There was nothing illegal about what he was doing. He has valid reasons to be where he went, so it couldn’t even be considered stalking, only coincidence and happenstance.

But as she backed out of her parking spot and headed to lunch, she saw him in her rearview mirror. And the look in his eyes said he wouldn’t be content to do nothing forever.

She was safe with Cassian, though.

She believed that, wholeheartedly, which only made her want to haul ass to the restaurant quicker. He was already there when she pulled up, waiting for her at a table outside.

She raised her brows as she walked up to meet him. “Did you order?”

He blinked, then looked down at his appearance. “Do you really want me greeting more strangers like this today?”

Nesta laughed, breathlessly, as she shook her head. “I’ll go inside.”

The little BBQ joint was only a few miles from their house. Nesta went inside and ordered a heap of food, because everything sounded delicious and she just couldn’t choose. After she ordered and went to head back outside, she froze by the door, because she noticed that red truck that had pulled into the far parking space.

Her hands began to shake, nausea began to roll in the pit of her stomach. She slowly looked at Cassian to see if he’d noticed.

He was scrolling through his phone, lost to the world around him. She was thankful she’d ordered their food to go, not because they had planned on leaving, but because there was so much of it. Now, all it would take was a quick mention of nausea and Cassian would go into overprotective daddy mode and take her straight home.

But then he’d also take her straight to bed, and she had too much to do today, on top of feeling well enough to actually take care of the things she needed done.

Cassian finally noticed her frozen on the sidewalk and he smiled at her, but it faltered when he noticed her expression. “What is it?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, just…” She glanced down at the cups in her hand. “Just realized I forgot to fill up our drinks.”

He stood, taking them and kissing her. “You’re looking tired, baby. I’ll get them, you sit that gorgeous self down and I’ll be right back.”

She wanted to protest, to tell him she’d go with him, but she nodded and smiled, sitting where she could see the red truck. She didn’t want her back to him. She needed to be able to see him.

Cassian was quick, and a moment later, he’d come back with not only their drinks, but three plastic bags full of food.

“Ready? We can eat in the cabin. Or outside, somewhere-.”

“Ready,” Nesta breathed, taking her lemonade from him and strutting to her car, where she shut herself inside. “See you at home,” she said to Cassian as he walked behind her, a worried expression on his face as she raced home.

He watched Nesta drive away before pulling himself, and their feast, into the truck. He had seen Tomas, of course, and was watching the red truck now as he pulled onto the road in his rearview mirror. He was hoping Nesta wouldn’t, though, didn’t want to cause her any more worry or stress. So, naturally, around Nesta, Cassian pretended that Tomas didn’t exist.

When he went in to get their drinks, he kept one eye on her the entire time, the other on Tomas out of the tall, glass windows.

They couldn’t spend their lives being scared.

Although Cassian wasn’t scared of Tomas, he was just pissed off. He talked to Azriel and Rhys about it on multiple occasions, but they told him that he should just lay low, there was no point in doing something stupid that would land him in jail while his pregnant fiancée, and Tomas, were still out there.

He had to do something, though.

He was tired of doing nothing.

He was tired of Nesta being afraid, of having the nightmares, of calling the cops only to be told that nothing could be done.

But he didn’t voice a word of it to Nesta.

She had enough going on.

He was back at the ranch within minutes, staying right behind Nesta the entire time. Once they’d pulled onto the main road, he hadn’t been able to see Tomas’s truck anymore.

And that was almost worse than knowing he was with them. Not knowing.

She parked her little car in front of the cabin and waited until Cassian was out of the truck and walking towards her to open her door.

He asked, “You saw him, didn’t you?” A silent nod. “Why didn’t you say anything?” She shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry you. I just wanted to have a nice lunch with my fiancé, but everywhere I turn, my demons are there.”

He set the bags down on the top of her car and wrapped here up in his arms. “He will never, never hurt you again, Nesta. I promise you that. He’ll never get close enough to try.”

She nodded and he kissed the top of her head. “Come on, let’s go inside and eat.”

She made a face of disgust and said, “I’m not hungry now.”

He sighed and said, “How about a relaxing bath, and then we’ll eat?”

“Yes, please,” she sighed. “I’ll go start the water if you put the food away.”

“Deal,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

He watched her walk to the back of the house, towards the bathroom and the huge tub in the corner. He waited until the water started running to make a phone call.

He pulled the business card out of his back pocket, deciding that no matter how nice they were, lawyers always looked like scumbags.

The law offices of Vanserra and Family answered and he asked to be patched through to one of the defense attorneys.

“Lucien Vanserra.”

Cassian said, “Luce, hey. It’s Cassian. I know this isn’t exactly your area of expertise, but you got a minute?”

In hushed tones, he explained the situation with Tomas, asking what their options were.

Lucien laid it out for him, basically telling him that they were doing all that they could.

“My only real suggestions,” he said and paused, and Cassian could hear tapping in the background. The drummer never could stop, even at his big kid job. “Start keeping track of when and where you see him. He’s got to be finding out where you are somehow. See if you can notice a pattern of some sorts.”

Cassian nodded, putting the food in the refrigerator. “I can do that. Anything else?”

He heard Lucien sigh. “I’d say a restraining order, but he hasn’t approached either of you since you asked him not to, right? Just shows up...waits?”

He nodded again and then remembered on the phone, he had to speak. “Yeah, never engages, he’s just always there.”

“Then like I said, keep track of when and where you see him.” Lucien added, “And maybe carry a gun.”

He snorted. “You act like I already don’t.”

Lucien laughed and the line was quiet for a minute. “Be careful, Cass. This guy has already made the first move once. What’s to stop him from doing so again?”

The comment sent ice into his veins, but he didn’t want Lucien to realize that, so he joked, “Dude, what are you, a defense lawyer, a criminal or a cop?”

A dark chuckle. “All three. It’s my job to outsmart the police,” Lucien crooned. “Why do you think I’m so good at it?”

“Today is one of those days that I’m glad you’re on our side.” Cass heard the water turn off in the bathroom. “I gotta go, man. Thanks for your help. Send me a bill for your time.”

Lucien laughed and said, “It’s pro bono, as long as you let me defend you when you kill him.”

Cassian chuckled, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He hung up and went into his bedroom. Their bedroom. Soon to be their only room, with a baby.

Cassian hadn’t thought about their living situation until just a few weeks ago when Nesta had been looking at the bedroom wall with an intensity that worried him. When he’d asked what she was looking at, she said she was trying to decide which wall to put the crib on.

Nesta should have been planning the nursery of her dreams, picking out paint colors and themes; should have been helping him put furniture together by explaining the confusing instructions.

Instead she was deciding which piece of furniture to shove out of the way to make room for their child to have somewhere to sleep.

Cassian stripped off his shirt in the bedroom, tossing it directly in the hamper. He walked into the bathroom and found Nesta sitting in the tub. When she saw him, she gave him a soft smile and scooted forward. Stripping off his jeans and socks, he stepped into space she’d given him and sat down, stretching his legs out on both sides of her body. He wrapped his arms around her and began rubbing slow circles on her belly with his thumbs.

Nesta leaned back, loving how safe she felt in Cassian’s arms, how at home it was.

Cassian was amazed at how much Nesta’s belly had been growing in the recent weeks. At first, he felt like it had taken her so long to show at all, now there was a little bump, his baby inside, growing rapidly.

Hopefully the baby was fairly average.

Cassian had been a giant baby, always tall and broad shouldered, even at birth. He weighed nearly thirteen pounds.

If Nesta was going to give birth to a thirteen pound baby, he was pretty sure she’d be kicking his ass and taking away his rights to give her more children.

“So,” he began, quietly, “when is this gender reveal party when I can find out the sex of my own child.”

Nesta snorted and looked up at him over her shoulder. “Tonight, for dinner.”

Cassian blinked. “The bakery is giving you something by tonight?”

“Feyre’s going to pick it up on her way,” Nesta said. “It will only be the six of us, so we can just do it here.”

Cassian nodded, slowly, suddenly feeling guilty, once again, about how much space they had privately available. But Nesta had worked so hard on the B&B, had made her father’s dream a reality.

“You’re in deep thought about something,” Nesta murmured, running her fingers over his knees.

“I want to build a house,” Cassian said. “Here, on the property.”

Nesta’s fingers froze. “We have a house. Three, in fact.”

“This little one bedroom place? And, my cabin? You’re counting those as houses?” Cassian said. “I mean, they’re great for when we were just alone, Nes, and I love my cabin, and intend to keep it there for when I piss you off and you kick me out for the night, which will happen at some point, I’m sure of it…” Nesta chuckled and flicked his knee as he continued, “Look, I just….We don’t have any room for the baby, Nes. And I intend to defy the odds and give you more kids at some point, and what then? We can’t stay in this place, or the cabin, or the main house, with all the guests…”

Nesta nodded, slowly, before leaning back, resting her head against his chest, once more. She looked up at him and he met her eyes. “I know. I’ve thought about that a lot lately, too.”

Cassian took her hands off his knees and intertwined their fingers together. “I just want you to be somewhere where you’re comfortable and not feel like we’re all living on top of one another. I mean, me alone...I’m a giant. Lying down, in the bedroom, I can nearly touch one wall with my hands, and the other with my feet.”

Nesta laughed, breathlessly. “I suppose you can.”

Cassian’s eyes softened as he brought her fingers to his mouth and pressed his lips against her skin, softly. “We need more room. I do, you do, the baby does, all future Nazari babies do.”

“Gods, how many kids do you plan on putting inside of me?” Nesta muttered.

“As many as I can,” he muttered.

She paused for a moment, looking at their joined hands, then asked, “And what if this is the only one we have?”

Cassian tilted her chin up so that she met his gaze. “Then I’ll still be the happiest man alive.” She smiled softly and kissed him.

It was then that she felt it. Not quite a movement, but a small flutter. Small enough that she thought she might have imagined it, had it not repeated it right after.

She softly gasped. “Cass!” She grabbed his hand and placed it under hers where she’d just felt the flutter.

It happened once more, but Cassian said, “I can’t feel anything.”

Nesta began to cry. “I can. I can feel her.” It was overwhelming, going these months of constantly feeling sick and crying and craving weird foods, only having a belly to show for it.

But now, not only had she seen her baby today, she’d also felt it. “She’s in there and she’s healthy and happy.”

If Nesta was crying, it usually meant Cassian had done something wrong. But seeing her cry tears of joys…

In that moment, her smile had never been brighter, her eyes had never sparkled so brilliantly.

Cassian didn’t move, didn’t say a word. He simply watched her, dwelled in her excitement, watched as she expressed joy, relief, excitement. She sighed, and wiped at her eyes as Cassian continued to run his hands over her stomach.

He couldn’t wait to feel that baby kick, but he would, for now. He’d let her be in love with those little feelings that only a mother could feel.

He didn’t even bother to tell her that she called the baby she again.

He swore she looked on her way to the bakery, but he’d keep that confident suspicion to himself.

“Happy and healthy,” he repeated, and kissed the back of her neck. “And very well loved.”

“Yeah,” Nesta agreed, quietly. “She is.”

They stayed like that for a while, snuggled together in the tub, silent and comforting, until the water began to cool. Then Cassian was out and helped out his fiancée, dried off, and warmed up their food.

After they ate, Nesta went to check on the guests that remained in the B&B while Cassian cleaned up around the little house, considering four more people would be inside in a couple of hours. Azriel, it seemed, got enough taken care of for today and told Cassian to relax.

Cassian hated relaxing.

So, he cleaned. By the time he was done, the little house was spotless.

Around four-thirty, Elain came bounding up the stairs, bursting through the door. “Nesta said you had the ultrasound pictures.” She held out her hand, opening and closing it. “Gimme.”

Cassian was sitting on the couch, watching a roping, and drinking a beer. He stared at her. “You know they don’t have the sex of the baby on there, right?”

She sat down on the couch next to him and said, “Come on, Cass, you have to know! I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

He laughed. “Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Ugh, why do you have to be so loyal?” She slumped back on the couch. “Where is Nes anyway?”

He got up to get a fresh beer, grabbing one for Elain, and said, “Up at the house, playing host to the guests.”

“Why’d you say it like that?” Elain asked when he sat back down.

He sighed. “I’m just worried it’s too much. With Tamlin’s trial wrapping up and the baby coming. Not to mention all the Tomas bullshit.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What about Tomas?”

He took a swig of beer. “Nes hasn’t told you?” She shook her head. “He’s practically stalking her, but he only does it in public places, and he never speaks. It’s…freaky.”

Elain blinked, then took a long, deep breath. “Have you-.”

“Called Lucien this morning,” Cassian began, before she could even finish the sentence. “There’s nothing that can be done until he actually commits a crime. Unfortunately. But it really has her on edge, you know? She never wants to go anywhere, never wants to do anything because she knows she’ll run into him. I have to figure out how he knows where she’s going. After I know that, Luce can make something happen...he thinks.”

Elain sighed, her face in her hands. “I hate that guy.”

“That’s a pretty popular opinion around here,” Cassian muttered, strutting into the kitchen to pull out the meat he’d be grilling soon. “I don’t know what to do about it.”

When he looked at Elain, she was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, nibbling on her bottom lip. It seems she didn’t know, either, and Cassian felt oddly guilty for killing her giddy vibe.

“Anyway,” Cassian went on, pulling out a beer and popping the can open. “Enough of that. Why are you here so early? Aside from hounding me about my unborn child.” Elain chuckled, although the worry lingered in her eyes. “I brought decorations, of course.”

“Of course,” Cassian laughed.

Elain eyed the beer in Cassian’s hand then looked back into the living room, where the one he’d just gotten, minutes before, sat. “Are you intending to get drunk before this thing? Because, if so, warn me now. I need to know when it’s time to cut you off. How many have you had?”

Cassian just rolled his eyes. “Calm down, mother, I can take care of myself.”

Elain just narrowed her eyes.

Cassian cleared his throat. “I’ll...pace myself.”

“Good,” she said. “Now, help me, tall person.”

First, Cassian brought out the ultrasound picture they had left on the counter, the one they were going to get framed, and let Elain ogle over it for nearly twenty minutes. Then, Cassian was helping tape up an absurd amount of streamers all over the little house, only stopping when Elain was satisfied.

Quiet voices streamed through the open windows about an hour later, and Cassian opened the door to find Nesta and Feyre walking up to the little house, arm and arm. It was good to see her in such a good place with her sisters. It wasn’t so long ago that Nesta had just come back and found Feyre’s hand smacking her in the side of the face.

But now it seemed like a whole different lifetime.

“Where’s the cake?” Elain asked, after they’d come in and Nesta was telling which spices to get down for the dry rub she’d been craving.

Feyre was setting the table. “Rhysand is getting it when he gets here. I left it in the back of the fridge at the house.”

Cassian looked around, noticing he was drastically outnumbered by the Archeron girls. “Speaking of Rhys, where is he? And where’s Az? He told me at, like, two-thirty that he could handle what was left and I should rest.”

The girls remained silent, all with a familiar glint in their eyes.

Cassian stilled. “Oh, shit, I don’t like that look.”

“They’ll be here,” Elain promised. “Az went home a little while ago to shower. He got done what he was supposed to, don’t worry.”

“Okay,” Cassian began, slowly, unable to judge that damned Archeron look.

Nesta met him on the porch and kissed his cheek. “They’ll be here soon.”

And they were, about half an hour later with bottles full of cheap, shitty whiskey. Apparently it was a night of celebration, not only over their gender reveal, but over the fact that they had recently become engaged, had opened a successful B&B, and now were only mere months away from giving birth to their first child.

No wonder Elain was so worried about his afternoon beer consumption.

Apparently, he had a long night ahead of him.

He grilled steaks and chicken behind the little house and they ate and drank and bonded, which was something Cassian felt didn’t happen a lot lately. He saw them all, sure, from time to time - Azriel the most often - but, they rarely were able to all get together.

After dinner, Rhysand went and got the cake from the main house. It was a little cake, just enough for them all to have a slice.

“Okay, so, apparently, when we cut it open, the inside will be either blue or pink,” Nesta explained. “So.” She had the knife in her hand and was staring at the cake, but she didn’t move to cut it. She cleared her throat. “So.”

Elain was practically bouncing out of her shoes. “So, so, so! If you don’t do it right now, I’m going to!”

Azriel just put his hands on Elain’s shoulders, silently telling her to calm down, but his smile was bright and humored.

Nesta looked up at Cass, biting her bottom lip.

He asked, “You ready?”

“No. Yes.” She was absolutely glowing, happier than her sisters ever remembered her being. “Here.” She gave the knife to Cassian. “I’m liable to start crying the moment I see a color, so you should probably do the honors.”

He chuckled and turned the cake around, where only he and Nesta could see it and carefully sliced the knife through once. It came out clean, just the tiniest bit of white frosting clinging to the edge.

One more cut.

They saw it at the same time.

“Oh, shit.”

“Oh, my god.”

Elain was practically breathless when she demanded, “What is it?”

Cassian looked down at Nesta, who was already crying, and turned the plate around.

Revealing the pink cake inside.

Elain was instantly crying, and Feyre was looking at Rhysand with a look that said she had mad baby fever.

But Cassian just looked down at Nesta, at the tears in her eyes and the smile on her lips, and kissed her, softly. “You were right.”

She rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Of course, I was. Get used to that.”

He cursed, silently. Not only was he marrying Nesta Archeron, but he was about to have a tiny version of her running around, too. He had a feeling those stubborn genes of hers were stubborn themselves.

“Hmmm,” he mumbled, at last, which only made her grin widen. She kissed him, once more, before cutting the cake up for everyone to share.

A girl.

They were having a girl.

Cassian hoped and prayed that she would be just like her mother.

An hour later Nesta was staring her fiancé down, hands on her hips. He had taken up a very similar posture. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will be with my sisters,” Nesta said. “And I’m not far away. I’ll be fine.”

Her voice was reassuring, she tried her best to be reassuring, but the look in Cassian’s eyes told her that she’d woken up in a cold sweat one too many times.

“You’re just going to the cabin,” Nesta said, then gestured over to the little, old cabin, where Beau ran around in front of it. He hadn’t stopped since they told him the baby was going to be a girl. “Try not to let those two assholes get you too drunk.” She gestured to where Azriel and Rhysand waited at the bottom of the stairs.

Cassian snorted, and kissed her softly. “No promises.”

Then he was walking away, all of them carrying a ridiculous amount of alcohol as they crossed the grass, then the driveway, and entered the cabin.

Nesta went inside of her little house, where her sisters had poured themselves a glass of wine.

After plopping down in her armchair, Nesta scowled. “I want a glass of wine so bad.”

“A few more months,” Feyre winked.

Nesta settled her hands lovingly over her bump.

Her baby girl.

“And then some,” she said. “Breastfeeding.”

“Allow us to make a toast in your favor,” Elain said, lifting her glass filled with wine in the air. “To baby girl Nazari.”

She clinked her glass against Feyre’s and they both took a drink. Nesta couldn’t help but laugh at the display.

“When is Azriel going to propose?” Nesta asked, a minute later.

Elain nearly choked on her wine.

“It has been a while,” Feyre mumbled, eyeing the middle sister.

Elain sighed. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just wanna grab him by the neck and tell him to get on with it.”

Nesta snorted. “You should. And make sure you tell me when you do. I wanna be there to see that.”

Feyre laughed, but her eyes were on Elain. “He’ll come around to it,” Elain stated, and she sounded confident in that statement. “But, there is something I want to ask you about.”

Nesta’s smile faded as she realized her sister was talking to her.

“Cassian mentioned that Tomas has been….stalking you,” Elain went on, fiddling with the stem of her wine glass.

Her reaction confirmed the statement. She was white as death, her eyes haunted, but she cleared her throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ve run into each other a few times, but-.”

“Cut the bullshit,” Feyre said, cutting her off. “Cass himself told Elain and Rhys told me.”

“How long has this been going on?” Elain asked.

“Nothing’s going on.” Nesta said, looking at the television.

“Nesta,” Feyre said, her tone forcing Nesta to look. “You’re protecting your stomach. Look me dead in the eye and tell me nothing is going on.”

Nesta glanced down. Where she’d been rubbing soothing circles over her belly, she was now nearly hunched over it, an arm over it.

A long, slow breath escaped her before she said, “Since the brick went through the window.”

Elain and Feyre remained silent, but then Elain said, quietly, “Nesta, that was weeks ago. Months ago.”

“Yeah,” Nesta muttered.

“Nesta,” Feyre began, shaking her head. “You should’ve told-.”

“Why?” Nesta interrupted. “So you could’ve done what exactly? If the law, the officials can’t do anything, neither can you.”

Her sisters remained silent, and Nesta instantly felt guilty. She shouldn’t snap at them. They were only concerned, it wasn’t their fault.

“I just...give me one night when I’m not thinking about it,” Nesta said. “Please.”

“Okay,” Elain breathed. “Well, do you have any names picked out?”

“Yeah, we...” Nesta paused and hesitated, and then she felt that small flutter inside of her once more. That small movement that was hers and hers alone. She could see Cassian’s face earlier, after she’d first felt their daughter, the disappointment when he couldn’t say the same.

So she would give him this. She’d keep their names to herself, for now, so he could have that feeling, too.

She just knew her sisters weren’t going to like it.

#theranchnessian #sharacollab #snacmc #snelbz tacmc collab #snelbz x tacmc #nessian

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theladyofdeath · 4 years

Text

The Ranch {18}

An A Court of Thorns and Roses, Nesta x Cassian, Modern AU, fanfiction.

Collaboration: @snelbz x @tacmc

Sidenote: Being posted between two blogs, it is too chaotic to keep up with a tags list, so all chapters will be tagged with “#TheRanchNessian” & “#SharaCollab”.

The Ranch Masterlist

Nesta was overwhelmed by all the love, and the shower hadn’t even started yet. Elain had put her planning skills to use, once again. The B&B’s living room was covered in streamers and banners and delicate pink and gold decor. A table was set up, full of snacks and desserts, and Cassian and the other men had been ordered to stay away.

Which meant that they were out back, drinking.

Every time Nesta asked if she could do something to help or even tried to get out of her seat, she was ordered to sit back down, put her feet up and relax.

She was doing just that when Viviane and Mor flopped down on the couch to her left.

“So,” Mor asked, sipping her mimosa through a pink-and-white striped straw. “Do we have any names picked out yet?”

Nesta looked at the mimosa longingly, but she blinked, coming back to the conversation and smiled. “We have a few, but we haven’t decided yet.” She rubbed her hand over her belly, gazing fondly at it, at the perfect, little girl growing inside her.

“And?” Viv asked, just as sweet as she was the day Nesta had met her. “What are they?”

She blushed, thinking of what Cassian had told her while they’d laid in bed last night.

Everyone is going to want to see and know every little thing about her as soon as she’s here, he’d said, his finger drawing long lines up and down her spine. Let’s keep them to ourselves for now.

“It’s a secret,” Nesta said, and when Mor groaned at the given answer, Nesta only smiled.

“She won’t even tell us, so don’t feel too bed,” Feyre said, sitting on Nesta’s other side. “Your fiancé is drunk by the way.”

“Already?” Nesta asked, gazing out the back window with narrowed eyes. He was laying in the green, lush grass in the back yard with a bottle to his lips while Rhysand and Azriel threw a football over him, back and forth.

Feyre chuckled and held up a mini cupcake. “Here, snuck one when Elain wasn’t looking.”

“I’ve never loved you so much,” Nesta muttered, popping the cupcake into her mouth in one bite. They were ordered to keep hands off the food until all guests arrived.

Nesta glanced up at the grand clock as she chewed.

They still had twenty more minutes before it truly began.

Elain had invited anyone Nesta had ever been close to and she was surprised when she’d told her there had been over thirty confirmed yes RSVP’s. And as the pile of gifts in the corner, Nesta’s heart became more and more full.

The back door opened and they heard, “Uh, Nes… can you come here for a second?”

Nesta and Elain’s eyes locked as her boyfriend’s tense voice floated to them. All three sisters made their way out into the backyard. Azriel was the only one there, although the football had been left behind, as well as Rhys and Cassian’s shirts.

Feyre began, “Where are-.”

“On the way down do the roping pen,” Azriel interrupted. “Because the two of them started talking about the old days and they’re drunk and now they're going to try and rope the herd.”

“We left you out here to stop them from making stupid decisions,” Feyre groaned.

He threw his hands in the air. “There’s two of them, one of me, and they’re both drinking. And then they took their shirts off and at that point, it was out of my hands.”

“One of them is going to get hurt.” Nesta began to rub small circles into her belly. She’d begun to do so when she was stressed out, trying to make sure her sweet girl knew everything was okay. She knew when she was freaking out, she flooded her with the hormones as well.

Elain smiled sweetly, kissed Azriel’s cheek and said, “I’ll handle it, you two go back inside.” She hurried her sisters back inside and they watched from the window as she began walking in the direction of the round pen.

Nesta said, “What is she-?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to,” Azriel mumbled, grabbing a handful of trail mix, overloaded with pink and white m&m’s. “She’s persuasive when she wants to be and terrifying when she needs to be.”

Feyre blinked. “You may want to keep that in mind while you eat the food she ordered no one to touch.”

Azriel hesitated before popping the handful into his mouth. “If you say anything,” he began, mouth full, “I will destroy you.”

Nesta snorted as Azriel walked to the front porch and sat in a rocking chair while guests continued to arrive. WIth a shake of her head, Nesta was looking back out of the back window, where Elain had disappeared to. A moment later, she returned with her chin held high, Cassian and Rhysand trailing behind, looking like two children that were being dragged to timeout.

Nesta was pulled into conversation after conversation after that. They pretty much were all the same.

Yes, they were so excited for her to be here.

No, they weren’t announcing her name yet.

Yes, she'd be having an epidural.

“Some people have no boundaries,” Viviane muttered, saving Nesta from a conversation where she’d been asked if she and Cassian still had an “aggressive sex life”.

Nesta was still laughing from the look on the woman’s face when she informed her she’d have to wait to find out if he’d gotten her throat pregnant the night before.

“You know she goes to the local church, right?” Feyre asked, nibbling on the brownies Nesta had baked when she couldn’t sleep this morning.

Nesta shrugged. “Then she shouldn’t have been asking such intrusive questions.”

An hour passed and guests were beginning to leave. Nesta found herself exhausted as she fell back into the couch with a plate of mini cupcakes. The back door swung open and Cassian stumbled inside, still shirtless, grinning at an older woman with a wink - the same woman that Nesta appalled with her sex life details. She looked him over, once, shook her head and walked away.

“Hi, baby mama,” Cassian said, a slight slur to his words as he leaned over the back of the couch and put his sweaty arms around her.

“Hi,” she said, taking a bite of her cupcake. “You stink.”

He muttered a reply as he pressed his lips to the side of her neck. “Did we get a lot of cute shit?”

Nesta pointed to the long table on the other side of the room, where the opened gifts sat - diapers, clothes, headbands, shoes, socks, bibs, blankets, and the list went on and on and on. She had received both things that were necessary and things that were not, and although she was incredibly grateful, she had no idea where the hell it would all go.

Cassian whistled as he observed the gifts. “That’s a lot of cute shit.”

“Yeah,” Nesta said, quietly, picking up another cupcake.

Cassian blinked, then frowned as he looked at Nesta and caught her expression. “What’s wrong?”

Her lip began to wobble.

“What? No, no no,” he began, coming around the couch and kneeling before her, He took the plate off her lap and took her hands in his. “Don’t cry. Why are you crying? It’s a happy day.”

“Where are we going to put all of this stuff, Cass?” she asked, quietly. “We have enough shit to fill two nurseries, and we don’t even have one.”

The look on his face told her that she wasn’t the only one who’d been thinking about that. They had discussed building a new home, like Cassian had wanted, but knew that ultimately, they’d always end up back in the ranch house, so it would be a colossal waste of both time and money. They’d discussed adding onto the cabin or her little house by the river, but again, they knew where they’d end up.

Cassian had found her standing in the doorway of her old bedroom when it was unoccupied by guests, on more than one occasion. He knew what the best resolution was for both of them, but knew neither of them wanted to admit it.

He cupped her face in his hands, using his thumbs to brush away the few tears that had slipped over. “I think we need to sit down and have a talk with your sisters soon.”

She nodded, the tears starting a new, knowing exactly what conversation he meant.

He sat next to her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

She sniffled again and said, “Seriously, you stink.” He chuckled, but didn’t have a chance to reply before Elain’s frantic voice filled the nearly empty house.

“Why is she crying?” She asked, coming into the living room, eyes narrowing on Cassian. “What did you do?”

He shrugged. “Knocked her up?”

Rhys shoved a mini cupcake in his mouth and said, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

Feyre nudged him in the side with her elbow and Nesta chuckled, wiping at her eyes. “I’m fine.”

Elain’s eyes narrowed further. “You’re lying.”

Yes, she was, but she wasn’t about to have this conversation while there were still guests in the house. To save her from lying, once more, Cassian sighed, loudly and dramatically. “Well, if you’re all staying around for a while, I guess I should run into town and get more shit for dinner. I’m drunk, so one of you has to drive me.”

“Might wanna put a shirt on first,” Elain muttered, still uneasy.

“I’ll drive you,” Azriel said, but Cass shook his head.

“I think Feyre needs to come with me.”

Rhys had popped another cupcake into his mouth, so he mumbled, “What? Why?”

“Hush, and stop talking with your mouth open.” Feyre leaned down and kissed his cheek. “That’s fine, Cass. But you’re changing first, you really do stink. Let’s stop at the cabin.”

He so badly wanted to protest, but didn’t. Instead, he followed Feyre down to his cabin, who was eyeing him suspiciously for the entire walk.

“At what point during this outing are you going to tell me why it had to be me to accompany you?” Feyre asked, when they reached the cabin’s porch.

“Can I not simply enjoy your company?” Cassian asked, one brow arched.

“You can, but I also know you better than that,” Feyre said, amused.

He chuckled. “That’s fair. I’ll tell you when we leave. I just...need a second perspective on some things.”

Her expression didn’t ease as she looked at him though, it got more worried.

Cassian hustled up the stairs and went in to quickly wash down and change, while Feyre stayed out on the porch. It was brisk outside, the middle of October and the crisp fall day was beautiful.

Feyre leaned against the porch rail, looking out into the woods behind the cabin. She’d grown up, running through these woods, and she loved everything about it. She had painted every scene you could see on this land. When she was-.

Something caught her eye, and Feyre stared into the wooded area, trying to discern exactly what she was seeing. Or who.

The door of the cabin opened and Cass said, “Alright, much better. Want to smell?”

He lifted up his arm and Feyre rolled her eyes, pushing him away. “Shut up, let’s go.”

She decided that what she’d seen in the woods was just a shadow of a tree, as the sun was beginning to go down, and not a figure in the distance.

Cassian and Feyre walked to the truck where he, like the gentleman he was, opened the passenger door for Feyre before helping himself behind the wheel.

“So?” She said, as he pulled onto the road.

Cassian hesitated, then went with, “I want to give your sister the world.”

Feyre blinked. “I know. You are, surprisingly, very sweet to her. Go on.”

Cassian rolled his eyes but continued, “We don’t have enough room, Feyre, for a baby. Even then, it’s too much, you know? A ranch, a B&B, a newborn? Fuck, one of those is enough, but juggling all three?”

Feyre watched him, then turned her eyes toward the road as she said, “I know you, Cass, so stop dancing around the subject and spit it out.”

“Nesta doesn’t want to reopen the bed and breakfast when she’s done with maternity leave.”

The words hung between them. Feyre didn’t say anything, which almost terrified Cass more.

They pulled into the parking lot of the diner and he put it in park, turning to look at her. “Say something, anything, please.”

She gnawed on her lip. “I’m trying to decide what to say.”

“Are you mad or are you surprised?” He asked.

“I’m...in shock,” she said.

He nodded, slowly. “Why?”

Feyre laughed, breathlessly. “At first, I was surprised that she wanted to open the B&B to begin with. Then, she put so much work into it, put her whole heart into it...it hasn’t even been a year, and y’all want to close it?”

Cassian sighed. “It’s not that we want to, but it’s more of a necessity. Nesta has been scared to close it down...but, I think it’s for the best. We need the main house, and we make enough money on the ranch without it. We have no room for the baby, Feyre, no time. And...I don’t know. Raising the baby in the main house? She’ll have her own room, Nesta will have her own kitchen….It makes more sense. Right?” He added the question at the end, hoping for Feyre’s approval, but unsure of what she’d say.

She didn’t say anything, she just sat there, tapping her foot.

“I’m gonna go get the food, I’ll be right back, just…” Cassian sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I just want to do what’s best for my family.”

He got out of the truck and headed inside and Feyre was…floored.

After Nesta had sacrificed so much, after she’d given up everything she’d ever known, she was already willing to quit. She had sold her restaurants, her life’s work, all to come back to Velaris and reopen the B&B. And just like that, she was done?

The more Feyre thought it over, the more angry she was getting and by the time Cassian was carrying the food to the truck, Feyre wasn’t even sure what she wanted to speak to him.

The drive back home was silent, she stared out the window, and Feyre was trying to calm her breathing before they returned home. She’d slapped Nesta on her first day here. She was pregnant, but if she was going to destroy their father’s dream-.

Feyre closed her eyes and sighed.

Their father’s dream.

Not Nesta’s.

Nesta’s dreams were back in Paris, London, Rome. And she’d left them.

To come back home.

She leaned her head back, letting it fall against the headrest, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Cassian noticed it, too.They were close to pulling into the driveway, but not quite. Cassian finally broke the silence by saying, “You know it breaks my heart, don’t you? I know how much work Nesta has put into this, Feyre, and your dad was a good friend.” He had been, Feyre knew. Cassian was one of her father’s favorite people in the end. “I wanted him to succeed. I wanted them both to succeed, and this decision isn’t easy, but we’re having a baby, Feyre. A fucking kid. It’s not just about me, and it’s not just about Nes...it’s not about either of us, it’s all about this baby, and I…”

His words trailed off, and he was still staring at the road as he ran his hand down his face in frustration. Feyre pretended not to notice how his eyes welled up with tears.

“I’m so fucking scared, Feyre. That I’ll fuck up somehow.” His voice broke. “I didn’t have a father, I don’t know how to be a father. I’ll mess this kid up or I’ll do something and she’ll get sick of me.”

There was Tomas again, always in the back of his mind. Even if they hadn’t seen him in weeks, he still haunted nearly every thought.

“If Nesta wants to give up the B&B, I’m going to support her in that.” His jaw was set and Feyre knew it wasn’t for a fight. “I just… I have to do what’s best for my family.”

She noticed the change from his earlier statement, saw the determination and devotion in his eyes. Feyre never been so thankful that her big sister had found someone so absolutely devoted to her than she was in that moment.

After a deep breath, Feyre reached across the center console and took her friend’s hand in hers. “We will support you, too, in whatever you decide to do, whatever you feel you need to do. And you’re going to be a good husband, and a good father. I know it.”

Cassian didn’t look in her direction and he took his hand off the wheel for a split second to wipe at his face as he nodded, shortly.

“Nesta’s stressed,” he said, at last. “I don’t know how to help her. Nesta was a pain in the ass to begin with, but pregnant Nesta? I feel helpless.”

Feyre chuckled and patted his hand before wiping away her tears. “You’re doing better than you think you are, Cass. That woman loves you. I have never seen her love anyone, anything, the way she loves you.”

Cassian did though. He knew one thing that Nesta loved as much as him, as much as her sisters, as much as their unborn baby.

And he knew what they could do.

When they pulled up to the house, all cars except those belonging to their family were gone. As they made their way up the stairs, they could hear the laughter of their families inside.

“This,” he breathed, stopping.. “This is what I want to come home to after a long day. My family, laughing, living, just being together. Not- not strangers in my living room.”

Feyre’s eyes softened. “I know, Cass. I get it.”

He nodded, and took a deep breath before pushing open the front door and holding up the bags of food. “Let’s eat!”

He was met with a round of hollers, all but from Nesta, who was watching him, wistfully. She knew him too well. Knew that something had happened, something had been talked about in their absence.

He gave her a gentle smile before making his way to the kitchen and unloading the to-go boxes for everyone to choose from.

He set out plates and napkins, and everyone came through and loaded up their plates, Nesta being last.

She met Cassian’s stare and said, “You talked to her about it, didn’t you?”

“I-.” He looked to the living room where Feyre was laughing at something Azriel had said. “How did you know?”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “What did she say?”

He was quiet for a minute and while he made plates for them, and as he opened his mouth to say something, Rhys hollered, “You guys know you can’t make another baby until Nesta pops that one out, right?”

Cass chuckled and kissed Nesta’s forehead. “Come on. We’ll talk later. Let’s go spend time with our family.”

A few hours later, the six of them ended up around a bonfire, and Cassian cleared his throat. “There’s something Nes and I want to talk to you guys about.”

Feyre didn’t look surprised. She simply folded her hands in her lap and waited, along with the others. Nesta was staring at her hands.

Cassian took a long, slow drink from his bottle before meeting Nesta’s gaze. She nodded, slowly, and after a breath, Cassian said, “Nesta and I are going to discontinue the B&B.”

Elain, Azriel, and Rhysand stared at him, open-mouthed, but Feyre just nodded, slowly.

“And before anyone says anything, yes, we have thought about it,” Cassian continued. “We need room for the baby, and we need privacy… We realize the B&B was Isaac’s dream, and we’re glad we were able to make it successful, but as we’re starting a family...we just need to do this. So, we’re going to shut down the B&B and continue the ranch...and, Nesta’s going to open her own restaurant.”

The circle went silent.

Nesta, included.

In fact, she was the first to say, “What?”

He nodded. “It’s your passion, sweetheart. I get to do what I love every single day. I get to live my passion.” He took her face in his hands. “You left your passion behind in your restaurants, in your food. You can keep doing that though. You can do what you love.”

“Where?” She asked, tears already spilling over. “The house?”

“If you want, some nights,” he said. “Or we can find you a place. Or I’ll build you one, on the property, I don’t care.”

Nesta was floored. “I- Are you- Really?”

He almost looked taken about. “Of course, really.” He didn’t care that the others were around, that they were watching, listening. “You’re giving me a baby, Nes. A family. And I just want you to be happy, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you’re happy.”

He wiped at the tears falling down her cheeks, knowing full well they were happy tears, not tears of sadness.

“Cass,” she breathed, shaking her head slowly.

“If we close the B&B, tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen,” he whispered. “Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

She nodded, unable to form the words needed to express to him her love, her gratitude, her thanks.

But he didn’t need any of those. He could see the truth in her eyes, the amazement and the devotion there. So he kissed her, knowing that they were on the right path to their future.

___

It was getting late. They had all piled into the little house outback once the bonfire began to fade away. Then, Rhysand and Feyre took off, leaving Elain and Azriel snuggling together on the couch. A movie had been playing, and the couple were soon sleeping soundly.

Nesta and Cassian crept into the bedroom, Beau just behind.

Nesta crashed into the bed, her eyes dropping. It had been a long day and she was so over it.

“You look like you need a massage,” Cassian said, kicking off his boots and slipping his shirt over his head.

“A massage, a drink,” she muttered. “The list is long.”

“I can’t exactly condone the latter,” he said, laying down behind her, one hand covering her stomach, as it did every night, and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. “But I can help with the former for sure.”

He let his other hand knit into her hair and scratched at her scalp. Nesta’s head lulled back, giving him better access to her neck and he kissed the delicate column of her throat before he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she breathed.

“I’m drunk,” he muttered.

Nesta snorted. “You’ve been drunk since three.”

“Not true,” he said, trailing his kisses across her shoulder.

“So true,” she protested, but didn’t push him away, only closed her eyes as he slipped the strap of her tank top down her arm.

“You know, in a few months, I won’t be able to fuck you whenever I want.”

Nesta rolled her eyes and snorted. “How romantic. The father of my child, ladies and gentleman.”

But Cassian was grinning, his mouth against her skin. “I’m not wrong.”

“Hmmm.” She pretended to be unaffected by his advances, but Cassian turned her face towards him and kissed her. Nesta giggled and turned over, wrapping her arms around him.

“So what did I hear about our aggressive sex life today?” Cass asked, kissing her jaw.

Nesta laughed and said, “Remember the woman that you scandalized earlier?” Cassian blinked, clearly not recalling. “You were drunk, remember?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it,” he mumbled, his attention redirected to more important things as his face planted between her breasts.

“Well, I basically told an elderly woman that I suck you dry, so..” Nesta trailed off.

Cassian snorted, propping himself up on his elbows. “You scandalized an old woman?”

“It makes me mad when people ask stupid things,” she said, shrugging.

Cassian blinked. “Is it weird that I’'m completely turned on right now?”

Nesta took his face into her hands. “When are you not turned on?”

Cassian grinned. “Fair point.”

He kissed her hard, his tongue sweeping along her bottom lip. She opened up, giving him access and moaned quietly as his tongue brushed against her own.

“Make love to me,” she breathed. “Make love to me in our home.”

Cass pulled back, gazing down at her.

Our home.

She watched as his eyes filled up with tears, but before one could fall, she pulled his lips back down to hers and kissed him, pouring everything she wanted to say into it.

He pulled himself over her but was careful for her belly. She kept telling him that a little bit of weight was okay, but he was overly protective of what that bump held.

A few more months, and they would go from being a couple to being a family of three. They would close the B&B and make the big house their home. They would raise their daughter within those walls.

And Cassian couldn’t wait.

#theranchnessian #thesharatag #shacmc #nessian #fanfic

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narumi-gens · 3 years

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hi!! so i just started writing fanfics, and i was just wondering -- how do you deal w/ numbers and the whole posting online thing? while i know that i should be writing for fun and stuff (bc it is!) and that im literally JUST starting out, BUT i just.. im someone who really heavily relies on validation, and when people don't really respond to my works well (or at all), i kinda just.. feel bad ): idk.. do u have any tips?

🥺 You came to me for advice on this, anon? 🥺 Thank you so much! I’m more than happy to pass on what I’ve learned and help out a new writer. I’ve been reading/writing fanfics on-and-off in some form or another for like ten years, but especially over the last four and am happy to share some tips. There are five main things that I think can help grow your follower count and the amount of feedback you get:

Don’t feel bad about wanting validation.

Consider the platforms where you post.

Write for active fandoms and popular characters.

Post frequently.

Interact with other authors.

This got rather long so I have more info under the cut about each of these.

1. Don’t feel bad about wanting validation.

There’s this dumb trap that we all fall into as writers that tells us that validation isn’t important and that what matters most is our love of writing. While I enjoy writing, if my stuff got no notes and no feedback then I would definitely have gotten discouraged and quit writing awhile ago. Why would I put all that effort into something if no one seems to appreciate it? There’s nothing bad about wanting people to let you know they like your writing! I get so happy when I see someone left a comment on one of my fics or went crazy in the tags or sent me an ask. And when something doesn’t get any feedback, I get depressed about it and second guess whether I should have bothered writing it. So, definitely try not to get caught up feeling bad because you want people to tell you that they liked your work. 💕

2. Consider the platforms where you post.

I only use AO3 and Tumblr, so I can’t speak to any other platforms, but posting my writing on both of these are widely different experiences. Part of the culture of AO3 is giving kudos and leaving comments, so you’re more likely to get feedback there than anywhere else. I slowly built a following on Tumblr because of my AO3, even when I wasn’t posting anything on Tumblr itself. I would really recommend checking out AO3 if you’re not already on there! You do need to request an invitation, but it only took me a couple of days to receive one. I also have 8 invitations that I haven’t sent out, so DM me if you want one and I can give you one!

I’m sure you’ve already seen posts about this, but the unfortunate thing about writing on Tumblr is that the feedback is absolutely minuscule and I’m not sure why. There’s this awful culture on this platform of people only liking content and not reblogging it to make sure it gets shared with other users. So, you end up really reliant on your own followers and the tagging system for your works to reach people. And the tagging system is a mixed bag. Sometimes your posts don’t show up in the tags or they will but only after a couple of days. If your post gets enough notes then it might go to the top of the search feed but then only for a few days at most.

As a sidenote to readers, this is why reblogging is so important! Even if you only have five followers or don’t leave a comment, just reblogging it means a lot to content creators!

Here are some of the tips I have for the mechanics of Tumblr:

Use the tagging system, as imperfect as it is. I think Tumblr now reads the first 20 tags in your post, so use that to your benefit. I usually always tag at least: [character name]; [character name x reader]; [fandom]; [fandom x reader]. You can always also try things like: [character name genre], [fandom genre], [fandom fanfic], [character fanfic] as well.

Make sure your blog is easy to navigate and have a masterlist that’s easy to find. If a reader sees your content on their dash and decides to check out your other works, if they can’t find them on your blog then they’ll probably just leave.

Self-reblog as much as you feel you need to for your followers who may have missed your post. I self-reblog a lot for new content over the first couple of days and then even will do a few icymi self-reblogs later as well. It also helps to have a list in your profile somewhere of your recent updates so people can easily see if they’ve missed something.

3. Write for active fandoms and for popular characters.

This might seem like common sense, but I think it’s something to keep in mind if you want to grow your follower count and your chances of getting feedback. And there’s nothing wrong with prioritizing a fic over another just because you want more feedback. I actually really want to write something for Chainsaw Man but the fandom is so small compared to the other fandoms I write for that I’m putting it on hold until the anime comes out.

That’s not to discourage you from writing for characters or fandoms that are less popular -- I have a bad habit of writing for niche characters and fandoms. But I always see my activity spike when I write for more popular characters. Another tip is to try and figure out which characters people are thirsting over but where there’s a lack of fics for them. You’ll also find that some characters or fandoms just have louder fans than others. The stuff I’ve written for Gojo has gotten a lot of likes and notes, but not so many comments or much feedback. But the amount of asks and thirsts I’ve gotten for Naoya is wild. This is something you’ll learn over time as you keep writing!

4. Post frequently.

This one is annoying because writers have lives and real-world responsibilities and we can’t just write 24/7. But when you’re trying to build a following, even if you can do a couple of short drabbles a week, you’ll really start to see your follower count and feedback grow. I’m not sure if people tend to like longer or shorter fics more, but overall people are just hungry for content and if you can give it to them on a frequent or at least regular basis then they’re more likely to interact, especially if you’re taking requests.

But don’t prioritize writing and posting content at the cost of your own well-being. As authors we’re all guilty of this at one time or another, but your followers will understand if you have writer’s block or you need to take a step back! Taking care of yourself is more important than getting feedback or interaction. ❤️

5. Interact with other authors.

Building relationships with other authors is a big one, but it’s also probably the hardest because a lot of us (me included!) are just so shy about reaching out! It’s like asking someone on a date or trying to be friends with someone you really admire. I know it’s scary to come off of anon (I still sometimes send asks on anon!), but authors recognize the names we see often in our notes and in our inboxes and we’re all really nice, I promise! 🥰 And I’m much more likely to read the fics of my mutuals and the people I follow than I am to be searching through the tags.

And I think there’s nothing wrong with reaching out to an author you love and politely asking if they’ll read your work. I think it’s totally okay to send something like, “I really love your writing and wanted to know if it’s alright if I share this fic I just posted with you? I’ve seen you thirsting over [character] and think you might like it if you have the time to read it!” The worst they can do is turn you down. I would never be upset over getting an ask like that as long as it was polite and the person was understanding that I might not have time to read their fic. But, I know that this is really scary to ask of someone. I’ve only done it once or twice, so maybe I don’t have any ground to stand on here, but I really think you should try it even if you need to send the ask on anon first.

Please just be mindful of an author’s rules before reaching out.

Another added bonus is that authors are more likely to reblog and give you feedback on the stuff you write because we’re in the exact same boat as you! We’re the perfect audience.

And don’t forget...

Growing your follower count and reaching the level of feedback you want takes time. If you’re just starting out, don’t get discouraged. The more you write, the better you get so even if you’re not getting the feedback you want now, that doesn’t meant that you never will!

And of course, pay it back in kind. Just how you want people to interact with your fics, we want the same. I always try to leave comments on the fics I read on AO3 and always reblog the fics I like on Tumblr and try to go wild in the tags so that the author knows that I loved their works.

I hope you found all of this useful, anon! Best of luck with your writing! 💕

#Anonymous #writing advice #fanfiction #writing tips #fanfic tips #useful stuff

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nether-receipts · 4 years

Text

This is going to be a very long receipt due to the number of relevant screenshots involved. Because of the uniqueness of the situation, it will not be presented in the usual format of my posts.

On March 23rd, shortly after AngelQueen13 was announced the winner of the Playbill contest, this conversation was recorded in the public anti-beetlebabes chat on tumblr:

I, personally, was disturbed by the way Adam(phantomcryptonym) was harassed for not being negative enough, and reached out to them to make sure they were okay:

This conversation led to them joining a beetlebabes server. They brought their friend Morgan with them for comfort purposes. Shortly after joining and taking in all the content, Adam came to the independent conclusion that he was a beetlebabes shipper. This was an understandably terrifying conclusion to come to. They wanted to keep all of their anti friends in the other server and therefore elected to remain closeted. They made a secret sideblog for their beetlebabes content and would have remained closeted were it not for the stalking actions of Kiz(gender-chaotic on tumblr):

Reminder; these are people that Adam believed to be his friends. Following the revelation that he was a babe, the mods(mostly adults) decided that they needed to discuss privately about Adam’s(a child) continued membership in their server:

Both Adam and his friend Morgan were disturbed by the way Adam was targeted and ostracized over his shipping preferences. They made the independent decision to leave the server today(4/6/2020) and left the following goodbye letter in the main chatting channel:

Full Letter: “Adam and I would like to announce that we are leaving this server for good. For some of you this may seem out-of-the-blue, but I’ve at least been contemplating my departure for a while. We both think it’s the best for us to leave. We don’t want our mental healths to be put at stake by staying.Being in a mainly-anti server has been mentally taxing on the both of us. I am a neutral now, no longer an anti. Adam recently started to label himself as a babe. We didn’t infiltrate this server. We entered as antis and over the course of a few months discovered ourselves more and realized that we weren’t what you guys are. We don’t want to surround ourselves with hatred anymore, and we want to be free to express ourselves in any way we please to. Adam shipping beetlebabes does not make him any less of a person than any of you. He isn’t just what he ships. He’s a kind person and my best friend. If you reduce him to merely a fictional ship with fictional characters, then I find that absolutely absurd and incredibly telling of how you guys view people. Kiz has repeatedly acted rude not just to us, but towards many people. We find them very toxic and we cannot stand them. They stalk the babes tags and went out of their way to find Adam’s babes blog, which is completely separate from his main. Not to mention it’s very new (only a few days old) and such a small blog. The fact that Kiz, an adult, is stalking a minor’s account feels/is very predatory. All of this on top of other things has led to Adam feeling unsafe. Kiz went out of their way to send it to Leo instead of confronting Adam themselves. Now Leo, another adult, is discussing the situation to the other mods (again: all of them are adults and they’re invading a minor’s privacy) behind Adam’s back, not giving him the opportunity to be in the conversation to defend himself.I may not be a babe myself, but I’m no saint. For those who have been in #fandom-discourse, you may recall an account that was discussed a few days ago. InfinitySatan is a joint alias of Adam and I. We are the ones behind the Bottomcest accounts. We started shipping them over a month ago and created the accounts sometime in March. All in all, we’re done here. We have had good memories but that’s all we have from our time here. Don’t bother perusing the situation any further. Thank you. -Morgan and Adam” It was immediately deleted before any of the members could read it. Then, the gaslighting began:

Sidenote: The only interactions the bottomcest blog received after Adam and Morgan revealed their ship were disgusting suicide baiting anons. For them to admit that they interacted with it at all is an admission of guilt. Also relevant; As I was in the midst of typing up this receipt, Adam’s beetlebabe blog received the following ask:

Date Documented: 3/23/2020 - Present Recipient: Adam and Morgan Sender: Kiz(gender-chaotic on tumblr) as well as the entire anti server run by UpperStories, a self-proclaimed neutral. Content: Gaslighting, Suicide Baiting, Targeted Harassment of Minors, Stalking, Emotional Manipulation, Ableism

#nether-receipts #gaslighting #suicide baiting #targeted harassment #stalking #emotional manipulation #ableism #beetlejuice

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raysofcrosby · 4 years

Text

LITTLE DO YOU KNOW PT. 7

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦–– 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵." – 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐦𝐲 & 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫

gif credit (x)

series masterlist

requested: yes | no

warnings: slight *unprotected* smut, implied sexual situations, otherwise its just fluffy convo.

word count: 10,282 [it’s a fucking novel ladies and gents, better buckle up]

authors note: FIRST AND FOREMOST, i’m going to apologize for the horribly written smut. i never write smut bc 1) i suck at it and 2) it makes me feel awkward lmao [sidenote: safe sex is great sex!!!]. also, if a boy did for me what tyler did for baby benn in this– then homeboy could like...get it. ALSO this ending wasn’t supposed to be the original ending, but i feel like it adds a little more oomph when it comes to small things involving the storyline– so i hope it doesn’t flop. i hope you guys’ enjoy! i love reading your comments, seeing your tags in the reblogs and just seeing that you guys’ enjoy this story as much as i enjoy writing it! without further ado, here’s part 7!

Your weekend with Tyler was exactly what you needed as a break away from school and of course, the biggest blessing Dallas was about to receive– the rest of the Benn's. Jordie was in town with the Canucks and your parents, Jenn, your brother-in-law, and your niece were all flying down to not only have a small visit with you before you traveled home for Christmas but to also see the two boys play against each other. Sure, they were able to see Jamie and Jordie play against each other only a few days ago when the Stars stopped in Vancouver, but there was one thing that the game didn't have– you. And you were never one to toot your own horn when it came to your siblings, but you were the favorite– second to Jenny at times. She was the firstborn and she had blessed your parents with a grandchild way before the rest of you. But you were the baby, and that was always a prize.

The rest of your family all got into Dallas around the same time, but since you had class and Jamie and Jordie had workouts, you guys didn't plan to get together until lunch, which unfortunately for Jamie, cut into his pre-game nap– but at least he'd get a free meal out of it, thanks to your parents. Until then though, you were suffering in your classes, too busy thinking about this past weekend and telling Kennedy everything you'd learned from Brandon about this Maisy girl. Kennedy didn't know who she was, and being the best friend ever, kept you out of your own worst thoughts by assuring you that if the relationship was as serious as Brandon said it was– Tyler wouldn't have played it off as nothing.

And that kept the bad thoughts out of your head for most of the day, until it came time to pick Jamie up at his place. The conversation in the car between your parents, you and Kennedy also kept you distracted– it was easy to talk about how school was going and how her family was doing, but when they mentioned your internship, it was hard not to immediately think about Tyler. Thankfully, by the time that came around, you guys were pulling up to Jamie's. Before your dad could even put the rental into park, you offered to run up and grab Jamie, that way they didn't have to get out of the car. You ran up the front steps and rang the doorbell an obnoxious amount of times and when the door opened, you were pleased to see Jenn standing there with a smile on her face.

"You know, there's a child sleeping in here," she joked, wrapping you in in a hug.

"Sleep is for the weak, Jenn. Kennedy is in the car with mom and dad, just send her to the back of the SUV so you guys can make room for the car seat."

"That's okay, Y/N. I managed to snag a sick rental," Andrew, your brother-in-law smiled, walking past with the car seat in his hands and giving you a one-armed hug.

"And by sick, he means a red 4runner," Jenn rolled her eyes as Andrew carried the car seat to their rental in the driveway. "He really just left without letting you see her, didn't he?"

"I'll see my favorite niece at lunch, that's fine," you laughed, watching as she put her purse on her shoulder. "Is he inside?"

"Jamie? Oh yeah, he's almost ready. We'll go ahead and follow you guys to the restaurant."

You nodded and walked inside as she walked out to their rental, closing the door behind her. "JAMIE EVERYONE'S READY BUT YOU!" You yelled out, unsure just where he was in his house.

"Jesus Christ, Y/N. You don't need to blow a guy's eardrum out like that," he groaned, walking from around the corner. "I just need to finish my hair and then grab water and I'm ready to head out."

"J...why are you even bothering to do your hair when you'll mess it up during your nap?"

He stopped in his tracks as if the thought never even crossed his mind. "Well, fine. But let me grab a hat at least so I don't have to brush it."

You sighed and leaned against the stairway, looking around his house aimlessly. When your eyes landed on an old picture of him and Tyler with Dude Perfect, a thought entered your mind. "Hey J? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, why not?"

You bit the inside of your cheek, wondering whether or not you should ask. Would it make Jamie suspicious to...whatever the hell you and Tyler had? Would he tease you for even wanting to know? "Do you know who Maisy is?"

"Huh?"

"Maisy! Do you–" You started to yell, only to see him come back down the hallway with a hat in his hands. "Do you know who Maisy is?"

He didn't even bother to stop this time, only walking away and into his kitchen. "Like, Tyler's Maisy?"

Your stomach dropped then and there straight into the bottom of your shoes. 'Tyler's Maisy.' You weren't sure if it was the nonchalant way that he said it or the fact that he just confirmed that Brandon wasn't lying that made you feel so uneasy– but either way...you were.

"Yeah, where they like...a thing?"

He came out of the kitchen holding onto two water bottles and tossing you one. A genuine look of concern on his face sent your heartbeat into overdrive as you tried to keep your expression as neutral as possible. "I mean, yeah. I don't know if they were ever really official, but she was his man hookup all last season."

He walked away again, this time coming back and shoving his wallet into his short pockets. "She also kind of played a roll in why he had to pick his new house so fast. Granted he already had two settled, but I guess she accidentally leaked his address on Instagram or snapchat or something after order postmates." He opened the front door, grabbing his house keys off of the hanger. "Also, there was this huge spamming thing from random accounts on twitter, some sports forum and other crap saying he needed to go public with her. They'd even comment on Candace and Cassidy's stuff."

As you followed him out of the door, it all started to make sense as to why Tyler didn't want you to ever post that you were at his house– it wasn't fully out of fear that Jamie would know you were there...but because he was scared that maybe you'd leak his address. And while that revelation made you feel a little more at ease, you couldn't help but acknowledge the hint of sadness when you connected Brandon's comments about Tyler not letting Maisy post stuff, to what Jamie just confirmed.

"I think he broke it off in the summer though, why?"

You shook yourself out of your thoughts and walked ahead of him. "Oh nothing, I just heard some frat guys talking about her when I dropped Cole's stuff off."

"Yeah, well I wasn't the only one who warned Seggy about getting involved with a college girl. I mean, I got lucky with Katie, but there's also a three year age difference between us." You were shocked at Jamie's reply as he walked ahead of you this time. "Tyler's going for girls now where the age difference is like six to seven years– I mean, maybe mentally he's right for them, but it's just...I don't know it never works out and we keep trying to tell him that, but you know how he is."

You just smiled and nodded as he opened the car door for you and you saw Kennedy climb into the next row of seats. You followed suit, saving a seat for when you went to pick up Jordie and ultimately ending your conversation there. The conversation picked up between everyone in the car as you made your way to your lunch destination, but you were lost in your little world, resting on the things both Brandon and Jamie have said...plus the fact that Tyler would be joining you guys for the post-game dinner in just a few hours.

How bad could it all go?

❒❒❒❒

Dinner was going to be a fun time and it would only be because you were going to be witness to Jamie rubbing it into Jordie's face that they beat them twice in less than a week. Little brother beating big brother– the theme to their entire childhood, was enough to entertain your dinner for 11. They spent a good five minutes arguing about who would cover the check, Jamie or Jordie and for a hot second, they both agreed that you would cover it– but a quick reminder that you were a college senior with no job and an unpaid internship, shut them down real quick. Otherwise, dinner was fun and heartwarming.

Your parents had invited Big Rig and Tyler along– Big Rig once they learned that he and Kennedy were an item, and Tyler because he was like another son to them, and Jamie's best friend. Luckily for you, the way everyone ended up being seated around the table, you had Kennedy and Big Rig to your right, and Tyler to your left, before it moved on to Jenn at the end of the table with your niece. The conversations were flowing all across the table and seemingly never-ending, everyone around the table, at least once, having the conversation focused on them. With Big Rig, it was his sister and if he liked being back in Dallas versus being in Pittsburgh.

With Kennedy, it was how her family's work is going and whether she was ready to deal with the Canadian cold come Christmas. Jamie and Jordie were tied together, the same with Tyler when they weren't asking about how his family was doing. With you, it was school and how your internship with the team was going– and God the conversation seemed never-ending. But you weren't sure if it was because you hated being the topic of everyone at dinner or if it was Tyler's hand resting on your thigh.

The entire night, beneath the table Tyler had been touching you. At first, it was knocking his knee against your own now and then before full on pressing his leg against yours. Then it escalated to him touching your leg and eventually keeping a hold on your leg throughout dinner. Acts that seemingly everyone around the table was oblivious to. And during dinner, the two of you kept up your chirping at one another like it was another day in the locker room, though there were few moments that slipped through, where it was like you were the only two in the room. A time, that once or twice, Kennedy had to nudge you with her knee to warn you that your flirtationship with Tyler was starting to make its presence known in front of your family. You would then nudge Tyler with your leg, signaling for him that the two of you needed to cool it down a little, but then you'd place a hand on his thigh, letting him know that a little touch was still okay. While keeping it on the low was a high priority, you couldn't help but feel reassured about Tyler's feelings towards you with those small touches– for they cast away any doubts you'd been thinking only hours before.

Everything was fine until you got up to go to the bathroom just before Jordie handed off his card to pay the bill, at least you thought it was. Because the moment you walked out of the bathroom, Jordie was leaning against the awning for the bathroom hallway, waiting for you. "Creeper isn't a good look, Jordie." You joked, brushing by him as you continued to shake your hands dry of the water that the air dryer didn't get.

"Is there something going on with you and Seggy?"

The question stopped you in your tracks, both because you had feared that maybe he had picked up on something during dinner and because he had asked so blatantly that you were scared someone else would hear. "What?" You asked, turning around.

He moved off of the wall, still crossing his arms and walked up to you. He looked around before looking back at you again. "Is there something going on with you and Seggy?"

"What?" This time, the question didn't come from you, but from Jamie who had just walked towards the bathroom awning. "No way, that's ridiculous!"

You looked between the two Benn brothers, Jamie looking at Jordie as if he was insulted that Jordie even suggested it, and Jordie giving you his 'I'm your big brother, I'm not as oblivious as this idiot so I already know the answer' look. "What are you three talking about?"

We looked to see our Mom coming around the corner with everyone else slowly trickling behind. "Jordie seems to think that Y/N and Tyler have something going on, which is stupid and he's probably just still bitter that he lost."

Your mom just looks between the three of you with raised eyebrows before nodding her head. As if he had perfect timing, Tyler came strolling around the corner and plopped two hands on Jamie's shoulders. "I'm going pee and then I'm headed home, the dogs need to be fed and let out."

You sent up a silent prayer to the Universe at the fact Tyler hadn't offered to drive you back to your dorm, especially after Jordie had seemingly connected the dots. "I'm going to catch wait by Big Rig's car, he's taking Kennedy home...so I'm catching a ride." You smiled, before removing yourself from the situation and walking out into the crisp, night air.

It felt too stuffy in that restaurant all of a sudden and for the first time all night, you were grateful that your parents were staying with Jamie at his place instead of a hotel. That way, they had no choice but to take him straight home before they called it a night. They weren't obligated to drive you back to your dorm and both the Stars and your family were heading out of Dallas the next day.

"Hi, Sweetie." You turned around to see your mom making her way over to Big Rig's vehicle, pulling her cardigan across her chest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you huffed, nodding towards the restaurant. "It was just a little hot in there."

She nodded, seemingly accepting your pathetic excuse. She barely let the silence settle between you before she spoke again. "You know I love you and that no matter what it is, you don't have to keep secrets from me...right?"

You tried not to let your face give it away, that you knew where she was going with her conversation. "Y-Yeah, I do..."

She took a deep breath before turning to look back at the restaurant, making sure the coast was clear. "Is Jordie right? About you and Tyler? Is there...something going on between you?"

When Jordie had asked, you were fearful– scared that he would judge you on being with Tyler, your brother's best friend, hell...a close family friend in general. That if he knew, all of a sudden he'd see you as just another one of Tyler's playthings and not Y/N...his younger sister. But when your mom asked, it was like the pressure of hiding it, mixed with a huge swell of emotions just washed completely over you, drowning you if it could, and you started to cry.

"Y-Yes..." You let out a small gasp as you went to speak immediately after your confession, "but please don't be mad at me mom– please don't–"

She took you into her arms and hugged you tightly, a hand resting at the back of your head and shooshing you to calm you down. You closed your eyes, taking in her embrace as you felt your shoulders feel a little lighter at the confession. When you pulled away, she held onto both of your hands before smiling at you. "So you and Tyler, you're...dating?"

"Yes...No..." You sighed, wiping your cheeks and shaking your head. "I don't know."

Your mom laughed, which was a reaction that you didn't expect from her. "I'll never understand this generation and your definition of relationships. Just tell me one thing...do you like him?"

You looked down at the ground, thinking about the last few days that you'd spent with Tyler and smiling at the way he made you feel and the funny moments in between. "I do...a lot. We have fun together, you know? It's just...it's easy."

"And I assume that Jamie doesn't know?"

You looked away from her again, nodding your head in shame. "We haven't told him yet...I'm just, scared of what he'll think."

"He's your brother, Y/N. I'm sure he'll think no less of you because of who you're dating." She sighed, squeezing your hand and gaining your attention. "And Tyler, well he is quite the step up from Cole."

"Yeah," you laughed, smiling at her. "He really is." As your eyes skimmed her face, your heart and brain prepared you for the 'but' that you knew was coming.

"Tyler's just..." Your mom shook her head, sighing again. "He's a little too old for you, don't you think?" She must have seen the look on your face when those words left her mouth because she held onto your arms and looked worried.

"I'm only saying that because well, the two of you are in very different stages of your lives. He's almost 28 and he's been in the adult world long enough to find out who he is and what he wants for his life. And you...you're barely 22, about to graduate college and experience the real adult world for the first time. You still need to find out who you are and what you want."

You understood what she meant and took her fear into account because if you were being honest...she had a point. Besides the summertime, you were in school for 9 months out of the year, living to a strict class schedule and figuring out your day to day routine without the fear of bills lingering over your head. You've had your little taste of the adult world, but come May you were about to get smacked in the face with reality...whereas Tyler's already figured out his life.

"Just...be careful, okay? You can have your time and relationship with Tyler, but don't lose yourself in this."

"Thanks, Mom, I love you." You whispered, hugging her close and wishing with everything that she didn't have to go back home tomorrow.

"I love you too sweetie." She pulled away and cupped your face, kissing your forehead. "Now promise me that you won't hide this from your brother forever, okay? It'd be a lot worse for him to find out from someone else rather than hear it straight from the both of you."

You only nodded in reply as the rest of your dinner group walked up, saying their goodbyes before separating to their cars. You lingered your goodbyes with Jenn and Jordie, telling them that you'd see them come Christmas time before hopping in the back of Big Rig's car and burying yourself out of sight. The entire ride back to the dorm, you were playing countless scenarios of how you'd tell Jamie about you and Tyler, hoping that there'd be the magic one that would solve every worry you had.

Only they all ended horribly wrong.

To make matters a little more stressful, when you got to your room, Kennedy had asked if she and Big Rig could have some private time alone. You agreed because at least one of you was going to get laid after that stressful dinner. So you did what you always did, packed an overnight bag and sent Tyler a text, wondering if he'd mind some company.

Of course, be there soon! 😁 All of your boys miss you (me included if you weren't aware)

Oh also, pack a bathing suit 😏

You quickly shoved your hottest bikini into your overnight bag and wished the two lovers goodnight, not failing to remind them to stay safe because you were too young to become an aunt again. They laughed you out of your dorm room and you raced down the stairs and out towards the parking lot where you knew Tyler would be waiting.

When his headlights shined on you, you felt a little burst of happiness rush through your veins as you climbed up into his jeep and immediately greeted him with a kiss before he could even say a word. "Wow, not that I'm complaining but...what was that for?" He laughed, waiting for you to put your seatbelt on before driving away.

"For saving me from having to wait hours before I could sleep in my sinful dorm room."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Wow, sinful dorm room? Is it that bad?"

"Tyler...we barely got two steps into the room before she straight up said 'I need to get laid, can I have the room?'" You joined in with his contagious laughter. "They're lucky I love them so much."

"Well, I for one am grateful for their horny actions," he reached and grabbed your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours and bringing your hands up to his mouth, kissing the back of yours. "Because now I get to spend the night with you and show you my surprise."

"Does it have anything to do with me needing to pack a bathing suit?"

He wiggled his eyebrows and kissed your hand again. "It has everything to do with a bathing suit. Speaking of," he let your hands rest on the center console. "Did you pack the...what did Kennedy call it? The raunchy red bikini?"

"Shut up, that was so embarrassing!" You leaned over and smacked his shoulder with your free hand as you felt your cheeks warm up. "And for your information...yes, yes I did. But if you keep teasing me, you won't get to see it."

Tyler coughed, this time trying his best to hide the fact that he was getting a little bashful. "There are two ways I could take that statement...and I'm not sure which one you meant."

God the two of you were practically downing in the awkward, sexual tension that surrounded you. You knew which two ways he was speaking of, too– either you don't do whatever activity involved your bathing suit, or you go full-on nude during whatever activity. And in all honesty, the thought of being naked with Tyler has been lingering in the back of your mind since the weekend when Kennedy asked if the two of you had had sex yet.

Plus, let's be honest...you've seen his ESPN body issue shoot...and seeing him naked wasn't the worst thing in the world.

When you guys got to his house, you greeted the dogs before he could manage to usher them all away from you. He handed you your bag and kissed your cheek before nodding at you to go upstairs. "Go ahead and drop your stuff off and get dressed, then meet me outside."

The chill he sent down your spine lasted well into your trip up the stairs and into his bedroom. You could only wonder what he had planned but made sure to keep your imagination tamed as you stripped off in his bedroom and put on your bathing suit. Which, until Kennedy said so, you didn't perceive as all that raunchy. It was your favorite, simply because its fabric hugged you in all the right places– making you feel like you could take on the world...if you were going to take on the world half-naked. When you left his room and walked back down the stairs and outside, the cool night air greeted you and the light wind blew some of your hair into your face. When you looked out for Tyler, you heard mumblings of music and saw lights stationed around the jacuzzi.

Holy shit, he put fucking candles around his jacuzzi and had music playing nearby? Cheesy? Everyone else would think so. But the fact that you had just broken up with a boyfriend who never really did anything like this for you...it was cute and romantic. It got better when you walked closer to the jacuzzi to see that the little candles were electronic and you couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, I know, it looks stupid, but the wind and fire hazard," Tyler said, keeping his back to you, across the way in the jacuzzi as he adjusted the volume on the Bluetooth speaker– before turning your way and smiling. "But its the thought that counts, right?"

"Tyler, what is this?" You laughed, sliding off your shoes at the edge before stepping in.

He walked across and reached out his hand, holding onto yours and making sure you didn't fall in. "You've been studying like crazy lately, plus dealing with us needy assholes almost every day...so I decided that you need to relax."

You had to admit, the moment that your body was engulfed by the hot water and jets– you were relaxed. It felt like if Tyler wasn't holding on to your hand, you'd probably slipped under and let the water swallow you up. You never realized just how tired your body was. You sat across from him, extending your legs out and letting them float as you closed your eyes and felt the jets against your back. "Is this what you do after every game? Come here and forget your troubles?"

"Usually," he laughed, moving his arms in the water. "Though sometimes I'll take an icebath upstairs or when you're here, I just kind of chill out. It all depends on how much energy I have left."

You sighed, letting the feeling of the water take over your mind as you laid there listening to what seemed like a top 50 hits playlist. "I wish I had one of these in my dorm room. God, I think I'd go from the library to my bathroom and never leave. Studying is stupid, don't ever do it. It's hard to believe finals are only–"

"Ah, ah, ah!" He said, interrupting you and reaching out for your leg, tugging you out of your relaxed state. "No school talk. This is why we got into the jacuzzi, now come here."

You sat up and walked over to where he was. He grabbed onto your shoulders, turned you around and placed you in front of him in the space between his legs. "Loosen up and relax, Y/N. I'm not going to drown you."

You took a deep breath and sighed, closing your eyes and anticipating what he was going to do. When you felt his calloused hands on your shoulders, you stayed relaxed. Only when he started to add pressure with his thumbs did you realize what he was doing. "Okay wow, did you go to massage school or something?"

He laughed, moving towards the center of your neck. "No, but I've had enough done that I remember a few things."

You felt his breath along the back of your neck as he continued to apply pressure with his hands and dig into your shoulders with his thumbs. It felt good, really good and you had to bit down on your lip to prevent a moan from coming out of your mouth. It was one thing that Tyler was giving you a candlelit massage in his jacuzzi, but it was another thing for you to moan out just how good he was doing. Your mind wandered down the road of no return as his hands kept doing the Lord's work. You couldn't help but wonder how his hands would feel if they were touching and massaging other parts of you and how bad you wished that they would just linger a little bit lower than their current location.

"See, now isn't this better than talking about school?"

You were too lost in your daydream until you heard the moan you'd been holding back, escape from the back of your throat. You felt embarrassed because the moment you let it happen, Tyler had paused his hand movements for only a second, before picking them back up. You sat there, biting the inside of your cheek and focusing on how fast your heart was racing against your chest.

Should you do it?

What would he do if you did?

"Fuck it," you whispered, stepping out from under Tyler's hands and turning to face him.

"What?" He laughed, "Did I suck that bad?"

You didn't say anything as you moved closer to him and crawled onto his lap. You felt his quads tighten and watched as his eyes went wide, almost as if he was too afraid to move because he was too focused on what you were doing. You were nervous as hell, never really one to make big moves like this, but you were tired of just dancing in circles with Tyler and more than anything, you were hoping that taking the leap on this one...wouldn't bite you in the ass.

You wrapped your arms around his neck before leaning in and pressing your lips solidly against his. It was like the first time he kissed you, nothing crazy, just a kiss. And when he didn't kiss you back, you felt yourself begin to get swallowed up by a hole on embarrassment. No sooner than you went to pull away, Tyler grabbed your lower back and pulled you further onto his lap, groaning quietly before kissing you again. This time his mouth moved with your own, setting the pace that you were more than pleased to follow. You were the first to tease, dragging your tongue slowly across his bottom lip before he took it up a level and teased your tongue with his own. Your fingers looped around the back of his head, tangling themselves in his curls, just as he brought one of his hands down to your hip and tugs you against him once more.

Goosebumps erupted over your entire body the moment his hands started to wander across your skin. One stayed beneath the water, constantly guiding you across his lap as the other wandered across your belly before landing on the side of one of your breasts, his thumb rubbing over the front of your top. It was like he had well-timed the entire ordeal, because the moment you moaned at the sensation coming from beneath your top, Tyler stuck his tongue back into your mouth before biting down softly on your bottom lip. When you went to kiss him again, you untangled your fingers from his curls and untying the back of your bathing suit, taking the material and blindly tossing it aside before pressing your bare chest against Tyler and kissing him harder.

You were desperate to get him to understand just how badly you wanted him and when you could feel all of him brushing against your inner thigh, you sped up your movements, rolling your hips against him as he held onto your hips tightly. "Oh Fuck Y/N," he groaned, letting his head fall away from you.

You took the opportunity to reach your hands down into the water and grab onto his swim trunks, searching for the tied strings. You started to feel embarrassed at how you couldn't find them until you felt Tyler stir and you looked up to see him staring blatantly at your chest– reaching for a breast and cupping it. "You weren't wrong," he looked up at you with his childlike smile cupping the other breast and massaging them both. "Your boobs are pretty great."

You laughed before leaning in and kissing him, running your hands down his stomach and coming to a stop, once again at the waistband on his swim trunks. "No strings, you just tug em," he pulled back and reached his hands beneath the water, shifting as you felt the fabric of his swim trunks brush against your bottom. "It's easy science."

You rolled your eyes as he brought you back into his chest and you let your hands continue their journey down his body. To your, happy, surprise, the waistband of his swim trunks was no longer blocking your way. He kissed down your neck as you felt his hands wander down to your bottoms, twirling with the strings on either side of your hips. "Yes," you breathed out before he could even ask the question, even nodding your head in case he wouldn't get the signal.

His tugs on the strings of your bottoms were in synch and you felt him pull the fabric away from your body, leaving you vulnerable and naked beneath the water and on his lap. His hands traveled down to your butt as he tugged you closer against him, to the point where you could feel his cock resting between the both of you.

As he continued his assault on your neck, one bite caused you to moan loudly and he pulled away with wide eyes and a smile. "Not going to lie, that was kind of hot, and I’m definitely a big fan of the red raunchy bikini..."

You smiled, before the reality of your situation set in and you looked down at the water. The adrenaline was running through your veins, making you feel on top of the world– this was it. You and Tyler were going to finally have sex.

"I-I've never done this before," you blurted out, swallowing the small nervous knot in your throat.

Tyler stopped kissing down your chest and pulled back, looking at you. The look on his face could only be described as one that was worrisome as his hands cradled your lower back. "I thought...I mean...you and Cole never..."

"Oh no! No, no, no, we did!" Only then did you realize what your statement had made him think and you wanted to do nothing more than drown yourself in the jacuzzi. "That ship sailed a long time ago, like a lonnnng time ago. Junior winter formal, Jack Makenzie at Jamie's cabin– post formal party. Though, don't tell him that because I kind of lied and said it would be only girls, but it was actually–"

Tyler leaned forward and kissed you softly, a hand coming up to the left side of your face and cradling it. When he pulled away, his thumb was rubbing along your cheekbone. "Relax, Y/N, it's just me. If you don't want to do this, we don't have to. We can cuddle in bed and fall asleep."

"No, I want to do this, I want this..." You leaned into his touch, closing your eyes only for a moment before looking back at him. "I want you, I just...I've never done it in a hot tub before so..."

Tyler tried so hard to hide his dire want to laugh, but as always, he failed and burst out into laughter. He kissed you once, twice and pressed his head against yours. "You're such a dork, you know that? And I love that about you."

Your heart fluttered when he said it, and while you know that he probably didn't mean the big L...it still felt the same. You pressed yourself against him and kissed him until you were out of breath. When you pulled away, you kept your forehead pressed against his as the both of you tried to catch your breath.

It should be noted that hooking up in a jacuzzi, will leave you just as breathless as the hooking up itself– and you were going to be sure to mention that to Kennedy as a lesson learned.

Tyler's hands traveled up your sides, resting on your ribs before you looked at him. His eyes were staring into yours as if he was trying to find any hint of regret– that you weren't choosing to do this because it was a spur of the moment thing. You nodded before breathing out a breathless 'yes' and his hands traveled back down to your waist and beneath the water.

You were waiting for the touch of his you'd been longing for and when it'd yet to come you looked at him to see he has a sheepish smile on his face. "Do you want to uh..." his eyes traveled to the water, "I just don't want to um...I want it to be comfortable for you and you can set it at your own pace and–"

This time, you cut him off with a kiss before laughing and nodding your head. You took a short, but deep breath as a way to calm yourself before dipping your hand beneath the water and finding Tyler's wrist. You followed it to his hand, lingering your touch against his fingers before grasping his cock in your hand. He coughed to cover up his groan at your added touch but kept his eyes on you as you positioned yourself over him.

The both of you took sharp inhales of breath as you suck down onto him, one hand grasping onto his chest as you felt your head fall back slightly in relief. You took your time, taking him in and admiring the slight burn of him stretching you out. You needed to go slow, it's been months since you've had sex and Tyler was considerably thicker and longer than Cole.

"Y/N..." He whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear and kissing your neck. "You need to breathe, babe."

"Sorry, it's just...it's been a while and you're so..." His hips tugged you down softly the last few inches and you moaned, falling into his chest. "Oh fuck."

You stayed pressed against his chest, focusing on breathing as he told you too– all in the while, he was stilled within you, rubbing your sides and switching between kissing your neck and your shoulder blades. As soon as he turned his face into the crook of your neck, you relaxed and pulled back nodding your head. "You ready? Can I move?"

"Yeah," you leaned in and kissed him hard, a clash of teeth and lips before moving to his neck and nipping just below his jaw. "Go ahead."

He thrust his hips up, pushing himself further into you and hitting a spot that made your legs feel like jello. When you felt him smirk against your neck, you laughed to yourself and knew that it was game on. You weren't one to toot your own horn, but little did Tyler know, this position was your expertise. You always had Cole melted like putty in your hands whenever you topped him and unfortunately...or fortunately for Tyler, he was about to find out.

You raised your hips and circled them before sinking back down again, grinding down onto him hard. "Oh fuck that..." his head fell back as his grip on your waist loosened, giving you more control. "That feels so fucking good."

You grinned to yourself as you placed your hands on his shoulders, pushing him against the wall of the jacuzzi, earning wide eyes and a smirk from Tyler. "Oh, shit Y/N...are you trying to dominate me?"

Your only reply was a flirty grin and your hips grinding down against him harder before clenching down onto him, causing him to choke on the breath he'd been holding. As you quicken your pace, Tyler started to meet you halfway but keeping his focus on his hands massaging your breasts.

"Tyler...fuck." You moaned, pressing your face into the crook of his neck and focusing on how good he was making you feel...until a jingling sound tore you away. "Did you hear that?"

"Huh? What?" He mumbled, thrusting his hips up again, completely enamored in you to even pay attention.

You heard more jingling, this time your eyes focusing on the house. You grabbed Tyler's face and turned his head towards the backdoor. "It's coming from over there...wait..is that?"

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding me," He groaned, stilling inside you and bringing you closer to his chest as the two of you watched the three figures get closer. "No! Go, bad boys!"

The three furry Seguins came running up to the two of you, tails wagging and tongues out. Gerry attacked Tyler's face with kisses as Cash and Marshall tried their best to get to you. Tyler wrapped one arm around your waist, pulling you into him as he shooed the dogs away with the other. "Go away, you're ruining it!"

You laughed, pulling your face out of his chest before patting it. "I don't think they're going away any time soon."

He looked at you, pouting before groaning. "I just got cockblocked by my own dogs, man's best friend my ass."

"Who said we were done?" You replied, climbing off of his lap.

He raised his eyebrows and let his eyes linger on you before he tugged up his swim trunks and climbed out of the jacuzzi. He picked up a towel and unfolded it, holding it up for you.

You stepped out of the jacuzzi, easily feeling his gaze linger on you before stepping towards the towel and letting him wrap you up in it.

He picked up his towel, wrapping it around his waist and touching your elbow. "Meet me in our room while I go deal with these," he turned his attention towards the dogs, who were all sitting down and staring at you both with big smiles. "Very bad boys."

You watched as he walked the dogs back into the house and took that time to not only collect your bathing suit but to turn off all of the lights and grab the Bluetooth speaker. As you made your way into the house, you couldn't wrap your mind about what just happened. Every time you tried to, the result was always the same:

Holy shit, you just had sex with Tyler.

And the butterflies haven't left your body at the way he called his bedroom, your bedroom or how slow and gentle he had been with you. It's only been a few moments since the dogs interrupted you, but you swore that you could still feel his touch and you were more than positive that you'd never forget the way he felt. When you got to the bedroom, you walked into the bathroom and laid your bathing suit over the tub before placing the speaker onto the counter and walking back into the room.

Now it felt like a waiting game and you could feel your nerves start to return– mainly in the fear of, what if he doesn't want to continue? You were beginning to pace around the room, clinging to your towel before you saw it– his jersey. The jersey he let you wear on Halloween, the one Jamie said he was waiting to get boxed up in a shadow box. You smiled, dropping your towel and walking over to the jersey, picking it up and letting it fall down your body. As you heard his footsteps coming up the stairs, you quickly walked back over to the bed, standing at the end of it and kicked the towel away.

"I don't know how the hell they even got out! I could've sworn that I left them in the–" He stopped in the doorway, his eyes glued to you in his jersey and you could tell that he was seconds away from drooling.

"So?" You smiled, raising an eyebrow as he made his way over to you.

"I wanted to have you the first time I saw you in the jersey," he smiled, making his way over to you. "With nothing but spandex, heels, and those cute bunny ears."

"Aw shucks," you pouted jokingly, "no bunny ears."

His hands traveled up the bottom of the jersey and ran across your bare skin, coming to a stop on your hips. "I like this outfit much, much better."

You wrapped your arms around his neck, smiling up at him. "Even without the ears?"

"Hell yeah," he replied, pulling you into him and kissing your cheek, moving down to your neck. "But I can always go and buy another pair."

"No need," you grinned as he playfully nipped your neck and you pushed him away. "Well, I think we've got too many clothes on, Seguin. What about you?"

"I think we can fix that," he replied and you watched as his childlike grin took over his face before he pounced on you, playfully tackling you onto his bed and sending you both into a giggle fit.

❒❒❒❒

When you woke up the next morning, the two of you were intertwined in mess of limbs and bedsheets. He had his face smashed into his pillow and he was drooling a little bit, add in his slight snoring and you knew that he was still sleeping hard. And you couldn't blame him, because last night was the most physical activity you had in a long time and if it wasn't for your immediate need to pee, you'd still be sleeping too. You snuck out from beneath his arm and he immediately stirred away, glaring at you with sleepy eyes. "No, come back."

"We have to get up, Ty," you groaned as he pulled you back into him. "We have to be at the arena in an hour for morning skate and we both need to shower."

His eyes shot open and he smiled at you. "Shower sex?"

"If you get up now, then–"

He practically jumped on top of you and kissed you before rolling off and running into the bathroom, stark ass naked. "I've got the water, you bring yourself and we're all set!"

"You're insatiable, Tyler!" You laughed, leaning up on your elbows and looking into the bathroom.

He peeked out from around the corner, still with a smile on his face. "I don't know what that means, but it sounds kind of hot so thank you." He disappeared back around the corner, the shower door opening. "Now get your cute ass in here so I can wash your hair."

Your time in the shower cut your 'get ready' time short, but Tyler made up for it by practically speeding to the arena. Luckily for Tyler, the morning skate wasn't going to be a normal practice, seeing as the Stars flew out to Nashville later that afternoon. When the two of you got out of the car, you told Tyler to walk ahead of you and that you'd wait for Big Rig, that way it wasn't suspicious of you to arrive with him rather than Tyler. When Tyler went to leave, Big Rig pulled up and you waved him down. You were leaning against Tyler's car when Big Rig walked up to you, adjusting the duffle bag on his shoulder. He stopped in front of you and took in your appearance before getting the biggest grin on his face.

"What's your problem, Teddy Bear?" You asked, looking back down at your phone to reply to a text from Kennedy.

"Oh yeah, you so got laid." He picked at a wet piece of your hair and smirked. "Last night and maybe some shower sex this morning I assume?"

You almost dropped your phone with how straightforward...and quite frankly correct, he was. "Don't say it so loud, you ass!" You smacked his stomach and he just laughed. "But how do you know?"

"You've got that post-sex glow," he waved his hand at you as the two of you made your way into the building. "Plus your RBF isn't as bad this morning like it always is."

"Oh shut up," You said, bumping into him as he kept laughing. "Don't think I don't know about your post-sex routine."

He gasped, looking at you with wide eyes. "She told you about that?"

You smirked and patted his chest. "We're best friends, Teddy Bear. I know everything." You eyed him up and down before patting him on the chest again and walked ahead of him.

"Wait! What do you mean everything! What did she say?"

You kept mum all while trying not to laugh as he kept begging you to spill the details on what you knew, your entire journey to the training room. And just when you were about to tell him, Jamie came jogging down the hall. "Y/N! I need you to grab my foam roller from the car, pretty please?"

"There's like five foam rollers in the room, why do you need yours?"

"Because everyone's using one and I forgot to bring it inside with me and my hamstrings are dying," he tossed you his car keys. "I'll tell Dave you're there, please!" You groaned, but ultimately agreed to go to his car and he smiled. "You're the best little sister ever!"

You turned to walk down the hallway, giving him a deadpan stare. "I'm your only little sister."

"Fine. Best sister!"

"I'm telling Jenn!"

He and Big Rig ignored your comeback and continued their way to the locker room as you made your way back out to the parking lot. On the bright side, this little detour gave you a little more time to yourself to absorb everything that happened last night, without having to do so in a room full of hockey players. Your busy night replayed in your mind and you pushed back the blush that so desperately wanted to make an appearance on your face. One thing that you couldn't help but wonder, is whether or not last night with Tyler and everything you guys did meant you were official on some kind of level.

"Nope, don't do that," you shut Jamie's car door, tucking his foam roller under your arm as you shook your head at yourself. "Don't be that girl who falls in love with a guy the moment you have sex."

Though to be fair, it was some pretty great sex. The best you've ever had and it only made sense as to how Tyler maintained to get so many girls throughout the years and kept them coming back. When you reached the training room, you stood outside of the door for only a few moments and composed yourself before opening it and walking inside.

You were immediately greeted with wild laughter and chirps being thrown left and right, the focus mainly being on Big Rig. "What's going on?" You asked, tossing Jamie his foam roller and walking over to your designated desk to grab the bands for Big Rig's stretching.

Dickinson smiled, wiggling his eyebrows in Big Rig's direction. "Oh nothing, just asking Big Rig how his trip to the zoo was."

"The zoo?" You came to a stop in front of Big Rig, handing him one end of the band. "When the hell did you go to the zoo?"

Big Rig looks at you before tugging onto the band and starting his stretches, trying his damndest to hide his blushing. "Not the literal zoo, Y/N," Pavs chimed in from across the room. "We're just pointing out how it looks like he jumped into an animal cage and got bit quite a few times."

You were confused as hell as you looked around the room to see everybody still laughing at Big Rig. When you turned your attention to him, your eyes widened the moment they landed on his neck. He had been wearing a sweatshirt beforehand, hiding the purple bruises that traveled below the shirt collar. "Holy fuck, what did she do to you?"

The boys' laughter roared again before fading as Big Rig finally looked at you with a groan. "She just wanted to celebrate the win." He tossed his towel at Rads and Dickinson. "At least I'm getting good sex, assholes."

You cringed, hitting him on the shoulder before moving towards your desk. "Please don't talk about that."

"I thought you already knew everything?" He replied, obviously mocking you.

"Yeah, but I don't need to hear YOU talk about it to your teammates, including my brother," you shuddered, shaking your head at the thought. "Ew."

"Hey Y/N, can you grab me two ibuprofen?" Jamie asked, raising his arm into the air.

You nodded and turned your attention over to the medicine cabinet, your back to the now relaxed and chattering group of men. The door opened again, followed by a whistle. "Looks like Big Rig wasn't the only one who found himself in bed with an animal, boys."

You rolled your eyes at Rad's comment, trying your best to mute out the guy talk as your eyes skimmed the shelves for the ibuprofen. "Jesus Seggy, did you and Big Rig take trips to the zoo together?" Miro chimed in, probably still a little confused at the metaphor.

"What the fuck are you on about, Miro?" Tyler asked, moving about the training room.

"Ha, got ya!" You smiled, reaching into the back of the cabinet and grabbing the bottle. You kept your focus on opening the bottle as you closed the cabinet and turned back to face the room.

"I'm talking about the sex scratches all over your back. It looks like you bedded a fucking leopard!" Dickinson laughed. You looked upon instinct to see him tugging on Tyler's shoulders and eventually forcing him to have his back faced to the room.

The moment your eyes landed on his muscled back, your body froze and the bottle of ibuprofen fell from your hands and onto the floor. Your eyes lingered on the bright red scratches that decorated the entirety of his back– evidence of your night together and just how good Tyler had made you feel.

"Let me see!"

"No, I want to see! Are they that bad?"

You watched, horrified, as his teammates kept tugging him around, trying to get a glimpse of the so-called 'sex scratches', their laughter bouncing off of the walls. Your cheeks were no doubt a deep scarlet color by now and they only got hotter when you saw Jamie bend down and pick up the ibuprofen in front of you. "Jesus Seggy, you're telling me that you didn't know those were there?" He asked, opening the bottle and grabbing two pills before handing it back to you.

"I was uh, a little distracted I guess."

You made quick eye contact with him before tucking your head into your chest and turning away, trying to prevent yourself from any more humiliation. You kept your back to the rest of the boys, looking up only for a moment to see Big Rig looking at you with a smirk. As you walked by him, you reached out and pinched his inner thigh hard, quickly rushing by him and going to the cabinet.

"Let me guess the number for the o-scale...three for four?" Pavs called out, silencing the roaring laughter.

"No fucking way, I say one and done. He's getting too old.." Dickinson chimed in, elbowing Tyler. "There's no way he can hang on that long."

You bit your tongue as an effort to prevent yourself from saying just how many times Tyler had made you cum last night, instead, choosing to focus on helping Big Rig continue his stretching– though it wasn't needed. "Yeah Seggy, tell us!" Big Rig said, keeping his eyes on you and the smirk on his face. "Three for Three? More than four?"

If looks could kill, Big Rig would be buried in a casket six feet under right now and you made sure that he knew it. You grabbed the elastic around his foot and snapped it back, only making him laugh.

"The gel's over there, Tyler. Grab it for me and I can get out those knots." Craig said, paying no mind to the conversation around him.

Tyler was turning red and rubbing the back of his neck in an effort to try and hold them off and you were silently praying that he wouldn't cave into their pressure. "Four for four..." He mumbled and you could feel his gaze scrape over you.

The hollering from the boys around him was deafening as they all congratulated him and patted him on the back. Meanwhile, it was all you could do not to die from embarrassment while dealing with the plaguing smirk coming from Big Rig.

"Damn Seggy," Jamie laughed, patting Tyler on the back like some proud dad. "You've got a real keeper there, don't you? She managed to scratch you up that bad? She must've been doing all the work for you."

Big Rig couldn't hold back his laughter anymore, making a noise that mimicked an elephant as he let go of his side of the band and fell back onto the table, clutching onto his stomach. "Oh my God," he whispered, his face turning beet red.

You were too busy focusing on anything but the nauseous feeling you started to have the moment Jamie unknowingly congratulated Tyler on having sex with you, his younger sister. "Yeah, she is..." Tyler replied.

You kept your focus on the band around Big Rig's foot, constantly tapping his shins in an attempt to try to get him to sit back up. Before he made it known, you could feel Tyler's presence and were sure of it when Big Rig finally sat up, still with a grin on his face. "Well, isn't this a lovely sight? At least I'm not the only one getting chirped."

Tyler laughed and looked at you, seeing that you were extremely embarrassed. In an effort to calm you down, he moved closer to you, pretending like he was asking you a question. "I'm sorry. I forgot they were there and I need to get scraped and I just...came in here without a shirt."

You shrug it off, focusing on Big Rig. "It's fine. Though I'll admit, hearing my brother talk about us having sex is something I never thought I'd experience." He laughed and you looked at him, leaning against the table. "So what do you need?"

"I need a lot of things," he whispered, smiling at you. "A massage like last night, for one." He scoffed when he saw you roll your eyes in reply. "Okay yeah, don't act like my massage last night didn't do something for you."

"Man," Big Rig laughed, shaking his head at the two of you. "These Copeley 206 girls, am I right Seggy?"

You pinched Big Rig again, this time on the inner knee and he flinched away from you as he and Tyler laughed. "Well, he's not lying. I mean have you seen what you and Kennedy have done to us? Ruined our beautiful, athletic bodies with your...sexual marks."

"Yeah, well if Big Rig doesn't stop and you don't stop encouraging him," you turned to Tyler and gave him a sarcastic smile, batting your eyelashes at him. "You'll be getting none of my services from last–"

"A mini towel and some gel!" Tyler blurted out, his smirk falling and his eyes looking panicked. "I just need one of those towels and the gel. Craig said it was over here somewhere with you?"

You furrowed your eyebrows, shaking your head slightly. "What are you–" When you saw Tyler move his eyes to your left, you pretended to look for the stuff he needed and that's when you saw just how close Bishop was standing by your area, doing his band exercises.

You felt yourself begin to panic, but took a quiet, deep breath and exhaled before clearing your throat and bending down beneath the table, grabbing a towel. "I have towels, but the gel is probably with Dave. You must've heard him wrong."

Tyler nodded, taking the towel from you. "Probably, seeing as I didn't get much sleep last night." You saw the mischievous gleam in his eyes before he nodded at Big Rig. "Nice marks, did you cross paths with a squid?"

Before Big Rig could smack him with his free band, Tyler ran off laughing. You kept working with him, adding in new stretches until Bishop finished with his and left the training room. When you reached another point that Big Rig was done with his stretches, he leaned up and put both hands on your shoulders. "You need to breathe Y/N, because you look like you could pass out at any moment."

"I think I'm going to, what if..." You looked around the now, less crowded training room, collecting the bands from him. "What if he heard something? Anything or all of it? I'd be dead! My own brother would probably murder me with his hockey stick..maybe even his skate if he was angry enough."

"You'll be fine, Y/N." Big Rig patted your shoulders before hopping off of the table. "Bish has old man hearing, I doubt he heard anything."

He gave you a reassuring smile and you felt yourself start to relax. He was right, there was no way that Bishop could've heard your entire conversation, and now that you thought about it...he wasn't really all that close to you guys after all. Your gut feeling was wrong this time, you were sure of it.

"Hey Y/N, can you help me real quick? I just need my ankles taped." Miro asked, walking over to your table before hopping up and greeting you with a smile. "Best ankle taper in the game."

You smiled, before walking over to the cabinet and grabbing some pre-wrap and tape. You closed your eyes, took a deep breath, opening them once you exhaled and closed the cabinet.

Everything was going to be fine...perfect, even.

#tyler seguin oneshot #tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin writing #nhl oneshot #nhl imagine #nhl writing #hockey imagine #hockey oneshot #hockey writing #ldyk fic #my writing

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thehomierobbstark · 4 years

Text

Kissing Strangers II: Communication

Shame [Prelude] // Kissing Strangers [Part I] // In The Cut [Side Story]

A/N: Annndd we’re back yall!! I know I disappeared for a long while this time, but I’ve been writing and strategizing in the background and I’m hoping I can publish at least some of the things I’ve been working on very soon. Forever thankful for your patience. Forever grateful for your support. Always humbled by the fact you guys allow me to do my thing offline and come back when I need to. Y’all are unreal, and the love is very very real, and I don’t think I can ever put into words how much all of you honestly mean to me ❤️❤️❤️. Anyway. Back to this story. A tiny insight into just one of the things I’ve been struggling with and trying to overcome this year, so I decided to put it into a fic and share it with yall. As always, thank you for the support and I hope you enjoy!!!

Warnings: Minimal Erik appearance, this is mostly x reader based. We on some Softgirl shit this chapter ya’ll. There is a POV change at the very end, hopefully it doesn’t read too confusing.

This is for all my lil cute ass black gorditas out there rockin back fat, belly rolls and thick ass thighs that touch!! x Reader is always gon be black, chubby, and sassy.

Sidenote: No tags this round until I can get a few more pieces out but all new stories will be linked in my bio!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…You know I still don’t see what the problem is, Y/N.”

You throw your head back, silently groaning to keep your friend on the other side of the line from hearing you.

You knew you should have called Simone instead.

“Um, hello??? Did you forget you had me on speaker phone, bitch? Don’t be grumbling under your breath at me goddammit, you know I’m right! And don’t you dare call Simone ass either after we hang up. I love her, but she’ll have you overthinking and seeing problems that aren’t really there. You know how them Scorpios be.”

You mumble a defeated ‘fine, OK’ at her and grab your phone, relocating yourself over to your vanity table to continue your conversation while you do your hair.

Reaching up, you tug the t-shirt wrapped around your head free as your damp curls fall over your face, turning around to drape the wet shirt over the back of your chair.

Tying the front of your hair up in a bun, you grab your spray bottle and one of your brushes and start to spray and detangle your hair, the leftover conditioner in it from the shower helping to make the process easier.

As you gently smooth your brush through your curls and fall into your hair routine, you start to ponder on your current predicament, allowing your friends wise words to penetrate your mind.

Maybe you were overthinking it.

“Don’t get silent on me now, Y/N. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

You take a deep breath, trying to filter your thoughts and make some sense of them.

“I don’t know, Kay. I don’t really know how to explain it. I just feel like he’s not…interested.” You shrug your shoulders even though you know she can’t see it, not really knowing any other way to explain yourself.

“Okay. And what makes you say that?”

You inhale, taking a small scoop of leave-in conditioner and working it through a section of hair while you think.

“I dunno. I feel like when we do talk, its great, and there’s a connection there. But sometimes there’s these long periods of absence with no communication, and when that happens I feel like I’m always the last one whose reached out, you know?”

Raking your fingers through your curls one last time, you watch your coils shrink up in the mirror, the tights spirals coming to life after their first layer of moisture.

Unclipping another section in the back, you scoop some more product into your hands, repeating the process.

“Okay, I can feel where you’re coming from. But let me ask you this: what do you mean by long periods of absence?”

Your hands pause in your hair, and you bite your lip, knowing your next words are gonna make you sound like a complete dumbass.

“Uhh…”

“Yeah?” Kay prompts you to continue.

“Umm.. like… two or three days… sometimes?” Your voice gets really small and high pitched at the end, knowing you were being a little ridiculous.

“…Girl.”

You add some additional info, hoping maybe it will help your case.

“Sometimes it’ll even be a whole week tho, too!”

“Y/N.”

“…yes, Kay.”

“You know Erik is in the military, right?”

You roll your eyes, annoyed at the reminder of a fact you knew and thought about often yourself, especially when it came to this issue.

“Yes, I know that Kay.”

“Okay, then you also know that he probably has a lot on his plate and he’s most likely constantly busy all the time.”

You kiss your teeth, absentmindedly running your fingers through your hair again, more-so in a frustratedly-busy way than in a hair-care way.

“Yes Kay, I know that. But come on now. Let’s not act like people aren’t constantly on their phones all the time nowadays. Not to push the tiresome ‘millennial narrative’, but who goes days without checking their phone anymore? It’s not like that nigga is out fighting a war, he’s doing combat training.”

You can hear the undertone of complaint and whining in your voice, and you absolutely hated it. Here you were, a Communications major and Black Women’s Studies minor, and you were getting bothered some dude you kissed once, (okay, twice) wasn’t talking to you enough.

You had yourself fucked up.

You hear chuckling on the other end of the phone and your internal rage subdues itself for a moment, irritation taking its place.

“Damn, Y/N. You must really like this guy.”

You cross your arms, slouching down in your chair while you pout, having too much pride to grace her with a response. She continues, already knowing the look on your face.

“In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you get so worked up over someone. He must really be something special.”

You grab your phone, holding it to your face and practically yelling into it.

“HELLO!! Did you not just hear what I said? I just told you this nigga is borderline ignoring me and you just called him ‘special’!”

More laughter takes over on her end again and you toss your phone back on the table, finishing your section and unclipping the last one in the back, muttering under your breath about Erik being a special piece of shit.

Once Kay finally recovers from your mini tirade, she speaks once again, full of a wisdom and knowledge you knew your stubborn ass needed to hear, even if you didn’t want to at the moment.

“He’s not ignoring you Y/N, and you know that. The only reason you feel like this is because you have strong feelings and you’re not sure if they’re being reciprocated or not, and the long distance certainly doesn’t help. Have you told him how you’ve been feeling?”

You sit there and delay a moment, nestling a little more into your stubbornness because of the fact that her words just punched a hole right into the wall of insecurity you’d been maintaining over the years.

She waits for your response, already knowing the answer.

“….No.”

Her voice softens. “Okay, but how do you expect for him to know how you’re feeling if you don’t tell him? You’re letting yourself overthink and go through all of these emotions by yourself, meanwhile he’s half a world away thinking that everything is fine. If you don’t clue him in to what it is you’re going through, he won’t be able to help.”

Finishing with the bottom half of your hair, you wipe your hands off on the damp t-shirt and unwrap the rest of the hair on the top of your head. You frown at her last statement, not liking the way it made you feel.

“I don’t know if he should even have to help me with any of this though, Kay. I mean, these are my issues. I’m the one whose clearly having trouble with this, it’s not fair for me to ask him to help me figure my shit out.”

She makes a hum of acknowledgement while you continue expressing yourself.

“I mean, how would I feel if some dude came to me with a mountain full of problems expecting me to fix them? I’d fucking laugh in his face and walk away. I can’t ask that of him.” The more you thought about it, the more you realized that you had a lot of unresolved issues you were still healing from. What kind of person would you be if you involved yourself with someone else, knowing that?

“Okay. I can see where you would think that, but you’re thinking about it in the wrong way. You think that if you open up to him and tell him what you’re feeling, that it’s the same as asking him to fix your problems. But you’re not like that, Y/N. In fact, you’ve never been like that.”

You think a moment about what it is she’s saying, trying to decide whether or not you agree.

“I mean, think about it, Y/N. When have you ever asked someone for help? I mean genuinely stopped and reached out to someone else, or even told them when you’re having trouble with something? You don’t, hun. You’ve always dug your heels into the dirt and rolled up your sleeves to get it done by yourself because you don’t trust that someone else can really be there for you the way you need them to be. No matter how many people you have in your corner ready to fight for you.”

You think about all the lectures and scoldings you’d gotten from friends and family over the years because of the times you’d soldiered at something alone rather than take the help that was offered to you. You’d felt that if you always needed someone else to help you get through something, then what did that say about your own strength and ability to take care of yourself? You’d rather die struggling than ever give someone else the power to say that you wouldn’t be anything without them.

“Look, Y/N/N. I know this is really hard. And I know this is something you don’t like to talk about, but if you like this guy as much as I think you do, you’re gonna have to learn how to let go and trust that you and Erik are building a relationship where you can truly depend on each other. That includes communicating your feelings even when you’re not sure how the other person will receive them.

It’s gonna be scary as hell, I won’t lie. But you gotta know deep down inside that love can’t exist in the same place that doubt lives. You gotta trust the process.”

You’d stopped doing your hair completely now, sitting back and twirling a finger around one of your strands while Kay talked.

It wasn’t like you didn’t understand exactly what she was saying. Kay definitely had the bulk of experience between the two of you when it came to romantic relationships, and the thing you’d come to really admire about her throughout the years of your friendship was her ability to always put herself back out there once again with an open heart and mind, no matter how badly the last relationship may have ended.

Your own inability to deal with your emotional vulnerability was something you were far too aware of, and you’d seen it affect your personal relationships time and time again, your current situation with Erik just being the most recent example.

It was rare for you to catch feelings for someone, and to be honest, the fact that you and Erik had made it this far into whatever it was you guys were doing had you shaken to your core. Every moment and interaction with him was completely new for you, and your uncertainty with navigating this new ‘thing’ was starting to show with your recent anxieties about the situation.

You really wanted to believe that Erik was feeling you, because it was too late to deny your feelings for him. But there was a tiny little voice in the back of your head always saying something to keep you guessing, making you doubt whether or not what the both of you had was even real.

It was time for you to make a decision.

“Y/N? Y/N? You still there?”

You blink yourself back to the present, clearing your throat and picking up the phone, taking it off speaker phone and holding it to your ear.

“Yeah, I’m still hear, Kay.”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yeah.” Your voice sounds far away, still deep in thought as you reflect on the mental hurdles your mind was trying to overcome so you could figure out how to move past the fear holding your heart hostage.

“Well okay, girl. I don’t want to hold you up, but I want you to think about what I said some more, OK?”

You chuckle a little, nodding your head as you answer your friend.

“Okay, Kay. I will. I promise.” You add on the last two words, knowing that if you said them, she would believe you. You always kept your promises.

“Good. I expect a full report tomorrow morning when I call you before work!” She laughs too, halfway serious. “…And Y/N?”

“Yeah, Kay?”

You can hear her quiet back down a little, the soft tenderness of her voice seeping back into her words once more as she spoke.

“Do me a favor please and try to call him, okay? Just, try and talk to him, at least once. That way when you hear his voice and listen to what he says, you’ll know whether or not what you feel is real.”

Your breath gets heavy and your heart skips a beat, almost feeling it in your throat. Call him? You hadn’t thought of that. Come to think of it, you’d never called him.

Other than the last time you saw him in person, pretty much all your communication had been through text except for the occasional video message.

“Can you do that, Y/N?” Your best friends compassionate voice speaks in your ear, and you swallow thickly, nodding your head.

“Yeah, I can do that I think.”

“You promise?”

Damn. Should’ve never said that shit.

You roll your eyes, stifling a deep breath. “Yeah yeah, I promise.”

“Good!” You can practically feel her cheesy ass grin through the phone, already knowing it was plastered on her face triumphantly from giving you the challenge.

“Love youuu,” she sings out over the phone, and you kiss your teeth, groaning.

“Love your annoying ass too. Now get off my phone, wasting all my damn minutes.”

“Bitch, now you know damn well you ain’t got no one else to talk to to be kicking me off like this.”

“GOOD-BYE KAY.”

After a few more rounds of back and forth and finally hanging up (but not before agreeing to call her back in the morning with allll the details), you walk over to your nightstand and plug your phone in, returning to the vanity to finish your hair.

After slathering your strands in a second coat of hair cream and deciding against using a gel this week, you glance at the clock, noting that the night was still young and you had time to cook and clean the kitchen like you’d planned. Tying your hair up in a high pineapple, you slip on some fuzzy socks and head to the kitchen, stomach grumbling hungrily.

~~~

A couple hours later you plop down onto your bed, completely exhausted and ready to relax. Pulling your bowl of shrimp scampi over to you, you spike a shrimp with your fork, popping it into your mouth while you flip through the channels to find something to watch.

Your eyes glance down to the time on the cable box, seeing that it was only about 7:30.

It should be about 10:30 where Erik is, now.

The thought had crossed your mind before you could even stop it, and you close your eyes, willing yourself to get control over your thoughts.

You promised Kay you would call him.

Goddammit. You slam the remote down on the bed, it making a soft thud against the comforter, and you sit up, placing your bowl onto your nightstand and picking up your phone, unplugging it.

You twirl it around in your hand a few times, trying one last time to try and find a way to talk yourself out of it.

But of course, the one time you actually want the nagging little voice in the back of your mind to say something, she’s as quiet as a mouse.

Before you can second guess it, you quickly open your phone and tap the screen until you reach Erik’s contact, finger hovering over the call button.

It’s time to make a decision, Y/N.

Fuck it.

Taking a deep breath, you press the phone icon, pressing the phone to your ear as you wait for the call to connect.

When it starts to ring, you tense a little, bringing your knees to your chest as you wrap your arm around them, feeling your nerves start to creep up on you.

By the third ring, you wonder if maybe you caught him at a bad time, remembering what he’d said to you once about having a strict bed ti-

“Hello?”

You pause, your mouth agape as your eyes widen, your words getting stuck in your throat.

“Y/N? Are you there?”

You open and close your mouth, not sure what to say.

“Babygirl?”

You finally get the breath back in your lungs, and you speak.

“Yeah, yeah I’m here. Sorry, I just, I didn’t know what to say. I…I’ve never called you before.” You give a weak chuckle, your fingers winding themselves tightly around the hem of your shirt.

“I know. Is everything okay? Are you okay?” You can hear the worry in his voice, and you could kick yourself for accidentally making him panic like this.

“Yeah I’m okay, Erik. I’m okay.”

“Okay, good.” You hear his voice calm a little, followed by a whoosh of breath. “What’s up then, baby?”

You feel your insides warm at the pet name, your cheeks twitching at the corners into a small smile.

“Nothing, I um…”

You fist your free hand into a loose fist, twiddling your fingers against one another as you struggle to get the words out.

Just say it.

Closing your eyes, you try again, clearing your throat.

“I uh… I miss you.”

~~~~~

Three thousand miles away at the Natick, MA US Navy Department, Erik stands outside the Naval Operations building, the rough sound of two M1161 Growlers noisily passing by in the background.

It had been a tough week, much like the past four that he’d been struggling to get through without losing a part of himself in some way. He knew you always went to bed early for work, so he’d been putting off talking to you for another few days until he had time that he could set aside and devote to just you.

But here you were, on his line, calling him out of the blue. And the sound of your voice was the sweetest thing he’d heard all deployment.

His cheeks ache at your confession, much like his heart, and he bites his lip to keep from smiling like a lovestruck teen.

“I miss you too, babygirl. More than you even know.”

#okay it's 1 in the morning and i have work tomorrow but i WILL put this in my bio tomorrow okay lol #thehomiefics #erik killmonger #erik killmonger x reader #erik killmonger x black!reader #black panther #bp #black panther fanfiction #black panther fandom

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

Cor/Amissa on the run/fighting Niflheim? (That 100% counts as a date for them, right?) Any way, after Insomnia falls (possibly spoilers for this verse I suppose) or like, Cor was out doing something and got separated from the group and Amissa just happens to be in the area. Ooh, or Cor follows Amissa and something goes wrong and they have to get back to the Kingsglaive forces/Insomnia by themselves. Much bickering/one upping ensues. Bonus points for Amissa using badass janitor skills

YOU INSPIRED ME TO DO A THING. THIS IS AWESOME. I was gonna just do some HCs but then this thing grabbed my eyeballs and ran away with me so HERE. HAVE A 2.5K THING. I may end up incorporating this into a later chapter or interlude of Stand Strong because I just- had so much FUN with this??? I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. Also tagging @wolfsrainrules

…

Cor was used to going on solo missions. Few people could keep up with him —though the Kingsglaive seemed to be doing so more and more as they warmed up to him—. So when a tip came in on new movements from Niflheim that needed to be confirmed, Cor wasn’t afraid to take the opportunity to get out of his office for a few weeks and go alone. He told Regis and Clarus where he was going, promised —yet again— to be careful, then set out for the remote area of Cleigne that the tip had described.

Supposedly, Niflheim was building something there. Possibly a new supply depot or fort. If they were, that would prove a problem. While Cleigne was the region farthest from Insomnia, it was also one of the ones that had the least Niflheim presence, held at bay by the angry wildlife and the rebels that lurked in the thick forests and brush. If they set up a new fort, it would be used as an extra foothold in the region alongside Fort Vaullerey. An extra launching point for them to finally crush resistance in that area.

Cor had no interest to see Cleigne burn like so many other rebellious regions had —like Galahd had, which, as he was coming to learn, had been so much worse than any of the reports Regis received—.

So. Scout the area, see if they were in fact setting up another fort or supply depot, then round up some Crownsguard or Kingsglaive to destroy it if they were. Assuming he had time to go back to Insomnia and requisition an infiltration party. If they were already almost completed, Cor might have to go in alone to destroy it now and apologize to Regis for his “reckless behavior” later.

It took him a week to both get into Cleigne and find Niflheim’s new project. Building a new fort was hardily a quiet or subtle process, so it wasn’t that hard to locate. Especially when the natives were all too willing to point him in the direction of Niflheim’s newest monstrosity —Dave, his primary contact in the Hunters, was particularly distressed, because the new Fort was on a route most Hunters used to get around and now they would have to take the long way and risk not reaching a Haven in time while on Hunts—.

It took him another three days of scouting the base from afar to conclude that it was almost finished and by the time Cor went back to Insomnia and jumped through the right hoops to get a sabotage party together, the thing would be up to full strength and on the alert for any infiltration attempts. As it was, construction was still underway, there were multiple spots where security could be exploited, and multiple emergency exit points if something when wrong. That and a lot of gunship fuel not yet stored away that would make wonderful explosives.

It seemed he would be apologizing to Regis soon for reckless behavior. But this was why he had brought along a few packets of explosives.

Sneaking into the under-construction base was tricky, but not as much as it used to be. Amissa’s lessons had worked wonders for his stealth operations, and even seemed to work on MT units to a certain extent —he’d have to thank her after he got back, she would be back from her vacation by then, maybe they could … go out for coffee or something, like Clarus was always suggesting in an effort to decrease their spars—.

Still, his stealth wasn’t perfect against so many electronic systems, and about halfway through his careful exploration, an alarm went up. They had spotted signs of his infiltration and knew there was an intruder, but they didn’t know where he was, or if there was more than one intruder. He could work with that. All he had to do was find someplace to hide from the MT patrol coming his way-.

Familiar fingers twined with his and tugged him away from the corner he’d been about to duck behind, instead dragging him into a closet before he could grab his sword and retaliate. His wrist was pinned to a shelf before he could draw his weapon and he paused in disbelieving confusion as mismatched blue and green eyes stared up at him in amusement, “Don’t speak,” she hummed in a pleasant, conversational tone of voice rather than the whisper that would have been more appropriate. She nudged him into a corner with a bunch of hanging uniforms and rearranged them so they were mostly covering him. Then she shifted position and began to calmly sort through the items on the nearby shelf, as if he wasn’t still partly visible and the MT units weren’t tramping ever closer.

The closet door yanked open and red eyes in an expressionless mask stared at Amissa. Amissa stared back without so much as raising her hands, just shifted so that she was better facing the MT unit. Cor braced to have to lunge past her to behead it, but then it-.

Turned and kept walking. Like Amissa was not another intruder.

She turned back to him and gestured, “Well? Get dressed if you don’t want to get caught.”

What.

A blink and he registered-, “What are you doing here?” He hissed back, looked her up and down and realized she was dressed in a baggy janitor uniform, just like the ones she’d hidden him behind.

“Same thing you are,” she deadpanned as she put some of the items on the shelf —window cleaners?— onto a cart, “just better. Now stash that sword in your armiger and put on the suit before the units come back.”

Two minutes later, dressed as a Niflheim janitor, Cor stalked after Amissa and growled under his breath, “I thought you were on vacation.”

“I am. But this fort is on what used to be my favorite stargazing spot. So I decided to deal with it.”

“…Stargazing.”

“Yep.”

“There isn’t a Haven within ten miles of this place.”

Amissa glanced at him and raised an eyebrow in a silent “so?” that … Cor really didn’t know how to respond to. He sighed and rubbed his face until Amissa shoved a mop into his hands instead and glared him into … mopping the floor of a Niflheim base. While he did that and she washed the windows, Cor finally asked, “Won’t they be suspicious of two janitors cleaning during a base alarm?”

“No. You only set off a level two alarm, thanks for that by the way it hurts my ears, so most of the base is supposed to continue normal operations while the search parties look around. Helps detect suspicious behavior or something like that.”

Cor paused and leaned on the mop to stare, “You know Nif protocols.”

Amissa pointedly kicked the mop out from under him and snickered at his glare, “Yes. I’ve done this before. But this will be easier if I had explosives. Don’t suppose you have any?”

“…Yes. I came prepared.”

“Good, I know just where to put them. Come on, the next hallway over needs a good mopping.”

Cor followed his … girlfriend? Friend he was attracted too? Lover? —Did they count as lovers when they had never taken each other to bed like mass media appeared insist was necessary for romance?— through the Niflheim base, invisible to the MT patrols tramping frantically about, and mused to himself that sometimes, just sometimes, he actually forgot who he had fallen for. Just sometimes he would find himself lulled into only thinking about her janitor day job and her dry sense of humor, and her unnatural stealth and calm and ability to screw people over would be just a sidenote.

Then something like this would happen —admittedly never on this large and obvious a scale— and Cor would be sharply reminded that Amissa was as impossibly strange to him as he was to other people.

Getting into the more secure parts to the base were stupidly easy in their current disguises, and Amissa kept a careful watch as Cor set the explosives in places where they would do the most damage and they strode cautiously away, hyper-aware of the timer ticking down. They were just on the outermost edges of the base when someone finally noticed them and realized that two janitors should not be outside, sauntering toward the nearest exit.

The MT units came for them, and Amissa laughed as he ripped his sword free of armiger and tossed her one of the ridiculously large broadswords she always favored despite her smaller frame. She swung the blade without any seeming effort of the weight, cutting through three units at once before she whirled away from a spray of bullets, “Three!”

…Was she…? Cor eyed her as he carved through a swath of his own opponents. She caught his gaze and winked before bisecting an MT unit with a cheerful, “Four!” She was. She really, genuinely was. In the middle of a fight where they were hopelessly outnumbered and had to escape before the timer finished and they all died in fire and shrapnel.

Cor felt his lips curve into a feral grin as he beheaded an axe unit, “Eight!”

A delighted expression and a sweeping attack that carved through metal torsos and knocked back several more besides, “Thirteen! Do keep up, Mo Leòmhann!” My Lion.

It had been a very, very long time since Cor allowed himself to be anything but deadly serious on a mission. Since before he fought Gilgamesh and learned the folly of his pride. But as they carved a path to freedom through MTs and mecha units, all while racing death from explosion, Cor found himself grinning without restraint as they yelled out numbers and performed increasingly risky, dramatic stunts to up their score before time ran out.

Standing on a hillside safely out of the danger zone ten minutes later, watching the fort burn and fragment under the force of its own burning fuel and machinery, Cor felt himself settling in his own skin. His scent was out and relaxed, mingling with Amissa’s as she languidly flopped down onto the grass to watch their handiwork. Cor knew they should be leaving the area already. There was too much risk of Niflheim reinforcements or someone escaping the base to hunt them down. She patted the grass beside her and Cor found himself sinking down to sit beside her, legs stretched out on the grass as they got their breathing to settle.

“We should do this more often.” Amissa announced in the sudden silence.

Cor huffed, “Risk our lives to blow up Niflheim bases without backup?”

Her head came to rest on his shoulder, “Yes. It’s a lot more fun than sitting in a dark, noisy movie theater for three hours.”

Cor stilled, rolled that thought over slowly, then asked, “Are you … suggesting that this was a … date?”

She idly nuzzled his jawline and Cor forced his breathing to stay even, “Isn’t it?” She hummed lowly, “We left the Citadel, we got all dressed up in clothes we usually don’t wear, we went somewhere new, and we had fun playing a game together. That I won by the way, I got forty to you thirty-nine.” A casual nip at his jawline that made his chest rumble with pleasure and the feeling of her grinning against his neck was a perfect distraction from her claims of victory in their game, “We even get to watch some fireworks afterward. Isn’t that all the ‘date’ behavior Amicitia was talking about?”

Cor took half a second to picture Clarus’s face if he ever found out his checklist of “proper date behavior” had just been used to describe infiltrating and blowing up a Niflheim base and burst out laughing. He flopped over, rolling to cage Amissa beneath him with a growl, “I think your missing one very important item on that list…”

A flash of white teeth in her dark face and a gleam of pure mischief in her blue eye, “Then check the box, Mo Leòmhann.”

He caught her lips with his own and felt her start to purr like far off thunder as her fingers came up to twine through his hair and pull him closer. His purr rose and mingled with hers, a deep, bass sound that shook his own ribcage as she playfully nipped his bottom lip before letting him deepen their kiss. He finally pulled away just enough to rest his forehead on hers and pant, “There. I’d say the checklist was complete, wouldn’t you?”

She grinned again, wild-eyed and fae, “Hmmm. One more time just for good measure. We’re bad at this whole dating thing after all.” She kissed the corner of his mouth before purring in his ear, “Need a little more practice.”

“And practice makes perfect,” Cor agreed with a bark of laughter before letting her tug his head down again for another kiss.

…

Additional Omake:

They slipped back to the Citadel two weeks after Cor had left, clothes rumpled from more than escaping Niflheim pursuit and eyes glittering with the same smug light that would make Clarus take one look at them and groan in despair and Nyx cheer approvingly.

Regis sighed at Cor’s delayed return as he came to report to his king, “You went and blew up that base on your own again, didn’t you.”

Cor didn’t even bother to glance Amissa’s way, he could already tell she was radiating amusement as she stood at lazy attention at his right side, “No, Your Majesty. I didn’t go and blow up the base all by myself.”

Regis’s eyebrows crept upward suspiciously, pointedly taking in his smug, relaxed posture and the written report on the table that said the base had been very thoroughly destroyed, “Is that so?”

Cor nodded, and for once it was a fight to keep an open smile off his face, “Yes, Your Majesty. After thoroughly scouting out the base, I went on a date with my Courted. She was on vacation in the area and it seemed an opportune time.”

Regis sat back, utterly flabbergasted, “You … went on a date. While on mission.”

Cor nodded again, “Yes, Your Majesty. According to all previous criteria explained to the two of us, we went on a date.” He caught Amissa’s eye without meaning to and saw the delight in her gaze, “We went to a unique and interesting location, we dressed ourselves in clothes we did not normally wear, we performed an enjoyable and competitive activity, and there were fireworks afterward.”

Twenty long seconds of confused silence, then Regis looked sharply down at the report with its picture of a flaming Nif base and a bark of laughter escaped him while Clarus pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned in despair. Amissa started to snicker at Cor’s side and Regis hid his face in a hand to smother his own laughter before straightening up and, “Well … next time you go on a … date … please take along some backup in case there are complications?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Regis sighed and waved them both away while Clarus irritably snatched the bourbon off Regis’s study desk and growled about “hopeless, reckless idiots”.

#SE asks #serafinastuff asks #Stand Strong Verse #Melodies and Manuscripts #Secret Engima Rambles #Cor/Amissa #cor leonis #Amissa (OC)

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smallblueandloud · 4 years

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hi essbie!! you seem super awesome❤️❤️ if you would like to talk to me about the west wing i would love that! i’m watching for the first time now and i’m in LOVE with it- tell me all your thoughts! otps, favorite episodes, arcs, characters... anything!

oh my god, this is my FAVORITE ASK THAT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED EVER. i’m so happy to talk about the west wing because the fandom that’s still alive today seems to be TINY (although high-spirited!!). thank you for asking!! i will endeavor to talk a lot.... which isn’t hard for me, lol.

(psst, before we begin, can i recommend you check out @donnajosh, who posts gorgeous new gifsets of tww pretty regularly [and also has gifs tagged by episode so you can find the right post to reblog when you’re liveblogging, shh], @etraytin, who’s written some AMAZING multichaps that have gotten me through this very stressful week, and @cassiesinsanity, who’s just plain genuinely amazing?? okay. now that that’s out of the way.)

i tried to figure out from your blog where you are in the show, but i can’t find anything more detailed than “probably has finished in the shadow of two gunmen”, so i’m just gonna keep things anti-spoilers. there are some really, really cool plot developments in tww, and i don’t recommend you spoil yourself for things on purpose! but also like. i DEFINITELY spoil things for myself all the time. so what the hell, don’t listen to me lol.

(i tried to put this under a cut, but tumblr glitched. sorry, peeps who don’t care about the west wing. also, WATCH THE WEST WING.)

my ALL TIME, dearest headcanon is adhd josh. i just. i love my boy so much. i love my impulsive, ridiculously-sensitive-to-perceived-rejection, loud, hyperfixated boy so much. i don’t know everything about adhd, but from what i know josh is TEXTBOOK. or at least he’s a lot like me! and i’m reasonably sure i have adhd. so. i’m REALLY, REALLY into that headcanon and everything about it. (i actually wrote a fic in which i wrote him the way i see his adhd presenting, because i love him so much. hmm, i should write a fic about josh being adhd. what kind of stims would josh like??)

i love and adore josh/donna, like many many other people. i like zoey/charlie, just because i think they make each other happy and both of them deserve that. i... like cj/danny? sorta? i think they’re adorable, and they have some REALLY good moments (no spoilers but. oh my god. danny really out here chugging his respect women juice and i love him for it). but also i am EXTREMELY ATTACHED to cj/toby and more specifically cj/toby/andy.

HEAR ME OUT. cj has EXTREME wlw energy and cj and toby have A LOT of married energy but then toby and andy... love each other so much, it’s so clear, in literally everything they do, i don’t know if you’ve gotten to the end of s5 yet but i cry. so like?? obviously, because i am who i am, polyamory is the answer! basically the rundown is: andy and toby are a typical couple except that they fight a lot. cj is kinda in the middle. if gay marriage had been legal / socially acceptable in the 80s (because god knows this ot3 has been thinking about optics since they graduated college), cj and andy would’ve gotten married and toby would’ve come and gone depending on who he’d pissed off recently, and everything would’ve been perfect. instead, andy and toby got married and it didn’t work because they really just couldn’t function as a unit, especially since their getting married meant that cj isolated herself a bit more. definitely cj and toby have a couple of SCREAMING arguments about the whole relationship. idk.

but just like. imagine with me, if you will, cj and toby... not dating, while working in the white house, but being exes. friendly exes. friendly exes who are still in love with each other and know it. please imagine that and then think about “i love you desperately / i know” and “you wanna make out with me right now, don’t you? / well, when don’t i?” and “we had it good there for a while / yeah, we did” and then join me in the pit of sadness.

(sidenote i have a sense8 au for the west wing and the second story is just me being emotional about their cluster for 5k. i have another story vaguely planned that i’ll probably never write about the development of the ot3 and about their cluster and how it functions. but don’t read that story until you finish... the first half of s7? or thereabouts? actually probably you should finish the show before you read the sense8 au in general if you’re avoiding spoilers.)

(when i say “i’ll probably never write”, i mean “until the next time i get obsessed with the west wing”. which will probably be years from now. oh, well, we can all hope the muse actually does something efficient for once.)

so yeah. those are my ships. i know a lot of people shipped josh/sam, but i don’t really see it? sam always seemed Way Too Straight for that to work lol, although i DO like the idea of sam pining tragically for josh for years just like donna does. (can you tell i read such a winter’s day a few days ago? it’s amazing. i haven’t left a review yet because i have not been a human being recently, but go read it!! it’s awesome!!)

also, i love the idea of bartlet/abbey/leo, although i can’t really visualize it lol. but there’s some amazing fic for them out there. maybe one day my stupid brain will realize the angst potential and actually let me write something for them, hopefully within the sense8 au. (sam also has a cluster! and i would love to write about them! .....but my brain doesn’t do what i tell it to. ever.)

my favorite arc.... i don’t know. i really loved the early seasons, which were a little more episodic, but ALSO i actually really liked the tone after aaron sorkin left after s4? it takes some getting used to, but it’s WAY more emotional, and i am ALL HERE FOR THAT. i definitely have a least favoite arc, or at least a least-favorite way-that-they-handled-a-storyline (spoiler alert: i hated how they handled the end of bartlet’s presidency in the white house. like. SHE’S ALL ALONE IN THERE- anyways. trying not to give detailed spoilers!)

favorite episodes: hmm. i love the thanksgiving episodes. i loved any episode with the ainsley-and-sam dynamic. noel is a phenomenal episode. 26 could make anyone weep. the flashbacks are the best. the fucking- the fucking what’s next motif.

honestly, probably i’d have to say my favorite episode is either 4x20 (evidence of things not seen, for “stupidly noble cluster” reasons and cj/toby reasons and bartlet & charlie reasons. also i feel like there’s some good josh/donna there too but i can’t remember exactly?) or 7x21 (institutional memory, because i’m pretty sure the writers reached into my id and pulled out EXACTLY what i needed from them to be okay with the show ending. jesus CHRIST i have never felt so satisfied after an episode. literally everything i ever could have wanted happened in that episode. i’m STILL reeling. it’s a perfect episode.)

my favorite characters are... literally everyone? i know that’s cheating but i love them all SO MUCH (except mandy and amy, of course). josh is my favorite, always and forever, but i love cj more than words and sometimes i can’t breathe for love of toby. leo and bartlet and charlie and sam and donna- here i was thinking i was gonna resent will forever but i LOVE will. ainsley is an amazing woman. abbey is such a good character, god, talk about a flawed woman who’s allowed to be a good person.

AND THEN THEY MADE ME ROOT FOR A REPUBLICAN. again, i doubt you’ve gotten to s7, but the republican nominee in the last election... jesus christ. i love that man so much. arguably, i’m very biased, but also how D A R E they expect me to root against him. how DARE.

(i swear this will make more sense once you meet him. i just love the actor a lot, okay?)

anyways. this got ridiculously long. i would LOVE to talk about the west wing with you, feel free to reblog this with your own thoughts or tag me in your own post or message me or something. i would love to hear your reactions!! it’s such a good show, and such a smart show, and every character is so mcfreaking good at what they do and i adore it. enjoy the ride because there’s nothing as perfect and as quality as the west wing. if you’ll please excuse me, i’m going to go cry about 7x21 again.

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cheerioss · 4 years

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A Merry Sprinkle Christmas

it’s christmas!! and of course i had to write something about a sprinkle-loving human :) presenting a lil very long fic of my sprinklebug au!! im overseas now so my laptop is miles away and i cant add the cut so ://

—-

“3...2...1... IT’S CHRISTMAS!”

Marinette squealed as the clocked that ticked away on the living room wall proudly displayed 12 o’ clock. There were sparkles in her eyes as she tried to decided which gift to open first while she scurried to the christmas tree from her place on the couch, making Tom and Sabine chuckle. It was always a Dupain-Cheng tradition to open a gift at midnight every christmas, and this year was no exception.

Their home had sprigs of mistletoe sprinkled (yes this is intentional :> ) around with the scent of fresh hot chocolate filling the air. Stocking hung along the pretend fireplace aka the window, custom made by one (1) aspiring fashion designer of course. The kitchen was filled with food, drinks and ingredients for the upcoming christmas party happening in less than 18 hours. (Marinette was shamelessly counting down.) The tree was the centre of attention though, bringing twinkles into the house- courtesy of the fairy lights wrapped around it. Ornaments, each unique with a story behind them, was carefully placed on some of the branches of the tree, the collection constantly growing. There was no star though, as they don’t see the need for one. Tom joked that Marinette was their star what with all the commissions she’d received from Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. (“Dad, no! I’m not a star!”) Marinette once tried to add sprinkles to it but they all just fell to the floor which formed a pile of sprinkles around the base of the tree that made her sad.

Marinette was a whole new level of Christmas. She was decked out in her oversized self-knitted sweater with hand-sewn sprinkles decorating it and a cat pun right in the middle. (Gummy Chat would be proud of the cat pun part) Her christmas hat was lined with fake fluffy fur and a big, fluffier pom pom at the tip, decorated with-surprise!- even more hand-sewn sprinkles. Warm fuzzy socks were on her feet, in christmas’ colours, made to look like elf shoes with again, sprinkles made of thread. Almost covered by her hat were mistletoe sprigs pinned to the hair ties that held her hair in pigtails, a huge contrast against her black hair. Tiny bells jingled away on her wrists and ankles, making sounds wherever the sprinkle-obsessed girl went.

“Hang on Marinette. We have some new ornaments to add to the tree this year,” Sabine called out to her daughter, effectively halting the jingly movements. Another tradition in the Dupain-Cheng household, putting up new ornaments if they have any new ones to introduce to their myriad of not-so-new ones. The petite woman pulled out a blob from a box on the table. How did I miss that? Marinette thought as she finally caught sight of the red cardboard cube.

“This,” she gestured to the animal shaped piece, “is to commemorate Paris’ heroes for all they’ve done for us. Sprinklebug and Gummy Chat may not know this but I think they deserve to be celebrated with our other memories on the tree considering their contributions and everything that happened this year with the akumas.” She then put it up on an empty spot on the tree. It was a black cat with a ladybug on its nose. Marinette tried to keep her tears hidden, surprised and touched at the same time. At least one of them knows, Mum.

“There’s a second one, but it’s one of your presents and it can wait till tomorrow if you choose to open another present first.”

Any thoughts of which present to pick went out the girl’s mind, scrambling to figure out which box it is in. Tom laughed at his daughter with fondness before locating it for her, booming with much more laughter as a mass of sprinkles launched for it. 5 seconds of paper tearing and a lid thrown aside later...

*Gasp* “SPRINKLES! A sprinkle shaker! I’ve looked forever for one of these and you’ve finally found one! THANKS MUM AND DAD!”

—-

Operation: Prepare for Christmas Party was almost complete by the 1 hour left mark, so Sabine told Marinette to go and prepare all her gifts and get ready for the party using the remaining time. (She knows how serious that human takes these tasks.) Marinette already triple checked everything the day before and planned her outfit, so all she was left with was hair and makeup which only takes 15 minutes. This means that she was able to sneak out the skylight as her super-secret-alter-ego to meet up with her partner as scheduled. Tikki was interrupted from admiring her present from Marinette, a mini sprinkle-themed dress, but she didn’t mind. Gift in hand, Sprinklebug soared across her city before finding the cat themed hero lounging around on the Eiffel Tower, whistling a christmas tune. He opened an eye at the sound of her landing, a grin taking over his features.

“Merry christmas, sprinkle-boo!” Chat said as a greeting, Sprinklebug returning it in a sing-song voice and a hug. The feline boy kept his eyes on the item his lady brought with her, curiosity definitely triggered. This made Sprinklebug giggle and give in to his silent request, taking hers from the centre of the roof when her friend’s tail pointed in that direction. They opened their presents together, too eager to wait another moment of say another word.

“Omg it’s sprinkles shakers with fancy sprinkles! I’ve been meaning to paint on some for fun and this is perfect! But... isn’t this an expensive brand? Chat-“

“Nuh-uh, no can do madame. I insist and you can’t say no. Also you gave me like 3 different things I should’ve gotten you more!”

They went back and forth for a bit before they burst into giggles, ending whatever “argument” they had. Chat then asked about the ornament that she had given him.

“Ornaments are sort of my family tradition, so i thought I’d make you one. Cat’s and gummy worms and a small pun too. It’s one of a kind.”

Tears swarmed in Chat’s eyes, threatening to fall. He needs to hurry home soon so that he can cry and swoon in pure bliss. He picked up golden thread when pushing away his hat so that he won’t accidentally get it wet. Inspecting it, his saw the name of his princess. Sprinklebug cursed herself mentally for not setting aside of her habit of signing articles of fashion with golden thread.

“Oh, that. I couldn’t knit myself so I commissioned Marinette to create this hat. I’m sure you’re familiar? But please don’t go asking her who I am as I did it via super suit. And before I forget, inside the bag with gummy worms is plagg’s cheese and tiny hat. Wish him merry christmas for me please.” My, what a mouthful you idiot!

“Ah, okay. Please do that same for me with Tikki. And thanks for reminding me, give her one of the shakers. It’s indicated with a little tag.”

They did a little more talking, ultimately bringing the topic back to how Sprinklebug gave Gummy Chat way more things which were also cooler and that he should have gotten more to balance it out.

“It’s really alright, minou. Seeing you smile and enjoying your present is way bigger than all the presents I gave you combined.” A warm smile was directed at Chat.

“Awwww is m’lady finally falling for my smile?” He was being a jokester and he knew it.

“You wish.”

They then parted ways at half past 5, Sprinklebug to prepare for a party and Gummy Chat to soon head over to said party. Not that either of them knew.

Sidenote: Adrien did cry and swoon in bliss for about 20 minutes once home though. Plagg just munched on the edible part of his present and asking him to stop producing “eye-pee” and check for everything before heading to pigtails’ party already.

—-

so there it is! i wanted to write about the christmas party but it’s kinda long so maybe a part 2?? but i also kinda wanna just leave it as a oneshot. hmm decisions decisions... but i hope you liked this thing that i wrote and merry christmas!!

#sprinklebug au #sprinklebug #gummy chat #adventures of sprinklebug and gummy chat #ml #mlb #miraculous au #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #ml oneshot #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #plagg #tikki #christmas

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sweetestrequiems · 4 years

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Alright I got tagged by at least FIVE people, so... I’ll do EVERY set of questions, and the person who asked them is getting tagged so y’all have references as to who I’m referring to. (By the way, this is a SUPER LONG post.)

Let's get this goin’. Questions are all under the picture of Kelsey Colbert, and nicely divided by pictures of Kelsey Colbert:

@six-fragile-dreams:

1) How are you today? -Pretty chill. Pro’ly caught a cold, but I can get through it.

2) Favourite animals, colours and artist? -Owls -Monochrome Schemes/Galaxy Schemes/Pastel Pink/Charcoal Black -Kelsey Colbert, ‘nuff said.

3) What's your favourite conspiracy theory? -Aliens and call me lame for it but I will only believe either side with scientific evidence presented to me.

4) Do you like chocolate? -Yes, yes I do.

5) Coffee or Tea? -Coffee, all day, every day.

6) Favourite scent and flavour? -I love vanilla scented things. Also, cherry blossoms. -Coffee flavored things are nice, but really... anything overtly sweet like candied pecans is nice too.

7) What's your favourite genre? -Of literature? Poetry. -Of music? “Classical” (Baroque/Classical/Romantic) and Jazz

8) Biggest inspirations? -I’ll leave this one blank because... it is such a long list...

9) Favourite perfume or body spray? (or any other thing like that) -Japanese Cherry Blossom and Warm Vanilla Sugar from Bath & Body Works. Call me basic.

10) List your 5 favourite artists! -Kelsey Colbert -Taylor Swift -Lauren Daigle -Ariana Grande -Adele

@frogs-in-clogs:

What instruments can you/ do you wish you could play? -I answered a whole ask about this. Click here for that.

Do you like audiobooks? -Nope. I prefer having the actual book in my hand.

Favourite board game? -I’m more of a card game gal. Magic the Gathering, Cardfight! Vanguard, FutureCard Buddyfight, or die by my blade.

Have you ever broken a bone? -Yep! I broke it playing softball. Broke the middle finger on my left hand.

Would you rather live in a city or a village? -A mix of both is the best thing for me. A not so populated city, but urbanized enough for me to be happy. But if I HAD to pick, probably a city.

Biggest inspiration? -Once again, list so long it'll take up twenty minutes of your time.

Do you listen to music when revising? -As in... writing stuff? Yeah, I do. I have a whole playlist dedicated to it.

Guilty pleasure music? - *sweats in salsa music*

How would you describe your accent? (Sidenote, how do you imagine my accent? I'm intrigued) -I... don’t know how to describe what a Puerto Rican sounds like?

Do you believe in aliens? -Scroll up, I ain’t answering again.

@boombiotch:

1. Favorite musical, if you listen to any? -Of all time? Cats. I LOVE Andrew Lloyd Webber scores.

2. Favorite ice cream flavor? -Butter Pecan

3. Favorite OC, if you have one? -The high school student who wants to sometimes slap her best friends with her binder, 17 year old Meghan Isabella Pereira.

4. If you could learn any language, what would you choose? -Irish.

5. Moon or the sun? -I like warmth, so the sun. But, I am a sucker for the moon too.

6. Do you have a favorite flower? -Hibiscus!

7. Are you a morning person? -Nope.

8. Do you like to write? - *sweats in Ao3 and this account*

9. Do you believe in ghosts? -Yes.

10. Ayy what do you think of me? *awkward fingerguns* -You’re honestly a total sweetheart, and I am very glad you’re in my life!

@bchcadcd:

1.) What’s your favorite memory? -A tie between my high school graduation in 2017, and being told I’d be playing Helga in PUFFS the Play.

2.) Do you get attached to people easily? -Yes, yes, yes.

3.) Favorite mythological deity? -The Mórrígan, Demeter, Persephone, and Shiva.

4.) Favorite superhero? -Comics: Spider-Man (Tom Holland’s Peter Parker), Supergirl (Melissa Benoist’s Kara Danvers) -Anime: Mt. Lady / Rabbit Hero, Mirko / The R Rated Hero, Midnight

5.) Do clouds have feelings? -I believe so.

6.) Favorite childhood book series? -Warriors

7.) What’s your love language? -The little things. Noticing how someone’s eyes light up when they’re happy, or the little scratchiness of their voice when they talk. Call me hopeless, but I value those little things.

8.) Do you put any stock into personality indicators? (MBTI types/Hogwarts houses/Zodiac signs/etc.) -Not too much, but it’s nice to know it. (If anyone is curious ‘bout me: INFJ-T / Hufflepuff / Virgo Sun - Pisces Moon - Gemini Rising )

9.) Favorite genre of show? -If we mean live theatre? Opera. Nothing against musicals, but opera draws more emotion.

10.) Favorite cast member from six? -Studio: Aimie Atkinson -Broadway: Samantha Pauly (Hon. Mention: Andrea Macasaet) -1st UK Tour/West End: Natalie Paris (Hon. Mention: Maiya Quansah-Breed) -West End: Courtney Bowman (Hon. Mention: Jarnéia Richard-Noel) -2nd UK Tour: Jodie Steele -Bliss 1.0: Alicia Corrales-Connor -Bliss 2.0: Megan Leung -Breakaway: Amy Bridges -Australia/New Zealand: Kala Gare (Hon. Mention: Courtney Monsma)

@one-time-i-jumped-off-a-cliff:

1. What’s your phone background? -Aimie Atkinson lockscreen, Millie O’Connel home screen.

2. Do you have any siblings? -Two older brothers. I’m the youngest of three.

3. Go-to party trick? -Don’t have one. I don’t go out much.

4. Voice type? -Mezzosoprano, with emphasis on Alto voicing. (If you speak of music, that is.)

5. Are/were you one of the popular kids in middle school? -Nope. I was the loner. The one everyone was scared would snap and actually do atrocious things. Little did people realize though, I’m actually a sweetheart. They’re all trying to be my friends now, I just keep denying ‘em.

6. If I gave you a puppy right now, what would you name it? -Shadow.

7. How many languages can you communicate in some way in? -Three, four if you count Morse Code. (Spanish/English/Japanese)

8. Do you play any sports? -Used to play Tennis, used to play Softball. -Also did Marching Band. (Fight me on the definition, I dare you.)

9. Opinion on Dear Evan Hansen? -Brings a good light on mental health issues, but it needed a better approach to it as well.

10. What was your first fandom on tumblr? -In technicality... In the Heights. I didn’t really see myself involved with fandoms until much more recently.

My questions to you! Feel free to say I tagged you!

Summer or Winter?

The beach, or the mountains?

There’s a red button in front of you. You press it, and you receive a million dollars. But, someone random in the world dies. Do you press it?

Favorite fashion trend/style?

Favorite all-time lyric from a song?

Favorite sound from nature?

Who’s your favorite YouTuber, who are they, and what do they do?

What’s your Hogwarts house?

What’s your favorite work by William Shakespeare? (Sonnets and all included, not just limited to stage plays.)

If you got thrown into a fantasy world, what kind of powers would you like to have?

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nightingaletrash · 5 years

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Hi! I am rather new to modding Oblivion and I was wondering if there is any mods you would recommend for it? Or maybe just your mod list, if you are comfortable with sharing that? Your Oblivion characters always look so beautiful, especially Iriana. Anyway, I hope you having a wonderful day! :)

It’s ironic you ask Nonnie, considering I’m wrestling with Oblivion myself and failing atm XD

Still, I’m happy to drop some recommendations for mods I use and can usually get to cooperate with me ^-^

First off, you’ll want the Official Oblivion Patch, the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch, and the Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches (if you have the GOTY edition). They fix a bunch of issues in the game, and some mods require them to be installed, so they’re a solid place to start.

The rest are under the cut because boy this got long o.o

Character Creation:

I cannot recommend Nuska’s Oblivion Character Overhaul enough. It’s an absolute must have for me as it deals with Oblivion’s potato faces beautifully. And, thanks to the hard work of other modders, it is possible to customise OCO further. I’ll list those in just a second. You’ll also need the Oblivion Script Extender and Blockhead to get it to work.

I also use the HGEC Female Body for my OCs - if you use that mod or any other body mods, there are some additional files provided by Nuska that make OCO compatible with them. They’re located in the optional files for OCO, and the description for those will tell you what order you need to install them in.

Now, my other OCO Mods that I recommend:

Orsimer Overhaul for OCOv2 - merges OCO and Orsimer Overhaul for a look I personally love for orc characters. It can be a little hit and miss with getting it to work on my end, so you’ll need to decide if you want to have a go at wrestling with it, but I personally think it’s worth a try

OCOv2 Martin and Adoring Fan Fix - I’m not a huge fan of OCO’s take on Martin, so I prefer this one even though it makes him look a bit too young imo

Unique Face Features for OCOv2 - Adds some warpaints, scars, freckles, and other kinds of face markings to the cc. iirc they’re tweaked with the age slider

Warpaint for OCOv2 - adds some more Skyrim warpaints

Seamless for OCOv2 - removes the very visible neckseam on characters. Whether or not I can get this one to work is usually hit and miss for me ^^”

New Brows for OCOv2 - exactly what it says on the tin ;)

New Eyes for OCOv2 - new eye texture replacements, along with some optional files to customise them a little

Better Necks for OCOv2 - adds some detailing to the neck and throat of the character model. Not a requirement ofc, I’m just a sucker for detail

OCOv2 Male Beard - adds some actual beards to the cc

Hairstyle mods can vary in quality, and some only come available as wigs. I only use a couple myself.

Sidenote, wigs tend to make your characters look like they have no ears so you’ll need a mod that adds equip-able ears - I’ll have one recommended further down.

ANiceOakTree’s Hairstyles for Oblivion is a mod that adds hairs as wigs. There’s a few styles in different colours, and it’s the one I use for Iriana. You create your character with whatever hair, it doesn’t matter, and then travel to either Vilverin, which is the Ayleid Ruin literally opposite the Sewer Exit after you finish the tutorial, or in the Cheydinhal Chapel near the doors.I usually tend to go to Vilverin, as it’s closer for me and the chest is literally down the stairs from the entrance, plus it counts as stealing from the chapel so I’d recommend the ruin if you’d rather not get in trouble for wanting nice hair.

Zinni_s Braided Redguard Expanded is good if you plan to play as a Redguard and would like a braided style. It’s added to the cc, so you don’t need to go looking for it ^^

Chakaru Wigs 2.0 is a bit trickier. You need to access the Testing Hall in order to find them, and I can’t remember exactly which room they’re in. They’re located in a chest directly opposite the door, however, so it narrows the search a little. If I get to the point where Oblivion is cooperating with me, I’ll add the location here.In order to access the Testing Hall, open the console and type ‘coc testing hall’ (if that doesn’t work try removing the space between testing and hall, I forget which is the correct way), and then in the centre of the main room, find the door labelled Hawkhaven, go through it, and fast travel to return to Cyrodiil.

I’ve not used the Cazy Hair Pack in some time now, but it’s still worth a mention. It adds some new hairs to the cc, so no looking around ruins and testing halls to find them ^^

Armour and Clothing

Ordinarily I would never download Apachii Goddess Store, but it is where I get Iriana’s ears. On the ground floor, there’s a container full of equip-able ears you can take free of charge, and iirc they match to your character’s skintone.

Belphe’s Travelling Gear (the female version) is another mod I wouldn’t usually use, but it looks surprisingly good on Iriana sooooo. There’s a few mods on this page you can try out if you’re interested, but I have no idea how to install the ones without esp files, so I can’t help you if you want any of those.

This is my favourite remodel of the Archmage Robes (I could do without the titty physics, but it’s very unnoticeable most of the time so it’s survivable). Because of the unfortunate physics aspect, it does require Coronerras Maxiumum Compatibility Skeleton, but otherwise it’s a brilliant remodel. However, the Archmage Robes present a problem with equip-able ears - as they take up an amulet slot and these robes don’t let amulets show, you will have missing ears with these robes. There’s another mod I use to fix this, which I’ll get to late.

Alternatively, there is a male replacer for the Archmage Robes that I like but (obviously) have never used if you’re making male characters

The Triss Armour Retexture is another great mod, and I personally like to use the Dark Brotherhood variant for my DBH characters as opposed to actual Shrouded Armour. They can be a pain to obtain as you need to fight your way through some bandits in Fort Cedrian, then locate the bag in the Mausoleum, but they are worth the trouble.

Assorted Protective Female Armours is another must imo as it fixes the ridiculous boobplates and some textures for some of the game’s heavy armours.

If you used the HGEC Body for female characters, then you’ll want to grab the Vanilla Amulets Fix for HGEC as it’ll fix how amulets fit on that body.

Spike4072s Female Sheogorath Regalia is a great mod if you’d rather keep the iconic Sheogorath look on a female character rather than have it swapped out for a dress.

Shrouded Armour Cowl is another great mod for DBH characters; I use it with the Dark Brotherhood Triss Armour, seeing as the hood doesn’t really mix with it.

Sinblood_SonjaArmourTweaked is another good female armour mod; it looks good, and is reasonably functionable.

Other Mods

Oblivion Reloaded is a fantastic mod; primarily it’s a graphics extender mod, and it really does make the world of Oblivion look amazing.

Alternative Start is a great mod, and it functions very much like its Skyrim counterpart. If you want to do the Main Quest but start elsewhere, after a certain number of days pass you’ll receive a message to meet someone in a set period of time at the Temple of the One. That will put you in the tutorial and set up the Main Quest. Word of warning, miss that meeting and I don’t think it’s possible to do the Main Quest at all so just be careful.

Oblivion XP is an absolute must if you struggle with Oblivion’s levelling system like I do. XP is awarded for defeating foes, discovering locations, completing quests, stealing things, etc. It’s installed with Oblivion Mod Manager, so make sure you grab that.

Kvatch Rebuilt is a pretty damn good mod which offers a questline to rebuild the city of Kvatch and give it a ruler. That ruler can even be the player, depending on some choices you make. The voice acting isn’t stellar, but it’s worth it to see Kvatch restored.It requires the Engine Bugs Fixes so make sure to grab that.Also, make sure you pick up Compatibility Patches for OCO to avoid too many weird faces around Kvatch and other places.

Reneers Guard Overhaul is also a pretty useful mod if the ever-charming behaviour of the Oblivion Guards gets a bit wearing. They’ll no longer chase you to the ends of Tamriel, and a crime committed in Cheydinhal won’t get you attacked in Leyawiin (kinda like how Skyrim manages crime).

No Anachronistic Main Quest Comments is good for immersion; you won’t have people saying how a city might not go the way of Kvatch after the Oblivion Crisis is over.

Now, the amulet issue with the Archmage Robes. I fixed that with the Summonable Private Quarters, which provides a station where you can mess with slots for armour/clothing sets. There’s lots of use for this mod besides just making your amulets and ears visible, but this is what I primarily use it for.To make it work you need the Core files of Cobl, so manually download that and move the core folder into Oblivion’s Data folder.

I also use a couple of animation mods, namely Staff Animation which changes the PC’s idles and the way they move when holding a staff so it looks less awkward.

There’s also the Heroic Female Idle Replacer which is less stiff than the vanilla female idle. Otherwise I recommend searching through the Oblivion Nexus’ animation tag and finding any mods that suit you and your characters best.

Project Oblivion Gate Destruction Spell is useful if you get tired of diving into gates over and over again when you just want to get on with the game. Just cast the spell and poof, no more gate and you still get the Sigil Stone. It’s good for when you’ve already played the game over a few times.

The Elder Scrolls Online Imports is a must have if you love ESO like I do. It adds some bits of lore, creatures, and locations from ESO.

Better Cities makes the cities of Cyrodiil more varied and interesting, though it might be a bit troublesome at times. I’ve had the occasional problem with this mod, purely based on load order so just keep that in mind. Otherwise it’s a gorgeous mod with a lot of effort and creativity put into it.

Vanilla Staff Replacer isn’t necessary if you’re not playing a mage, but I really enjoy it personally ^^

I’m going to add Black Horse Colour Overhaul because it honestly bugs me that the black horses in Oblivion aren’t black

Companion Vilja is a mod I haven’t actually used yet, but I’ve got installed for this playthrough because I’ve been meaning to play it forever. Apparently Terry Pratchett himself contributed to this mod, so that should speak for its quality.

I hope this was helpful to you Nonnie, and good luck with modding Oblivion ^^

#anon #oblivion #modding #mod recs #long post

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saint-patrice · 5 years

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Tbh I would like to have the 34 *other* Bergy pics on your shortlist, complete with commentary lolol. And then (if you’re still waiting that is) any other Marchy pics with commentary? xD xD

oh my godddd you are my favourite person anon - ask and ye shall receive 😎 i should maybe warn that while this doesn’t have actual nsfw content you probably wouldn’t want to read this to your kids as a bedtime story. anyway, here we go:

this was very close to making the original list. i like the soft lighting and the kind of floofy hair, yet he still looks like he could absolutely fuck me up (both like in a fight and various other ways). this photo gets me thinking some thoughts ™ if i am being honest

a literal saint and god amongst men right here. his brown eyes are so soft and his little smile puts me at ease. this is a man who would treat me right (fact). this photo is also from quite deep into the playoffs so the beard is going a little wild, and whilst i’m glad it isn’t like this all of the time, i very much appreciate it when it’s around.

O CAP’N MY CAP’N (sorry zee). nah for real this exudes some real sexy alternate energy. if i were on the opposing team and i saw this formidable man just skating around looking like that i think i’d just go back down the tunnel and hide in the locker room. this man will fucking kneecap you for the sake of a goal if that’s what it takes. and then i remember that it’s patrice and he’s the nicest man alive and he would literally never, but that’s still the energy this image has. and i ain’t saying i don’t like it.

okay this is just cute. they look like 2 dads who aren’t entirely sure how to take a selfie but are willing to try. the outfits lend this a slightly chaotic energy - i can’t commend zee’s colour combo if i’m honest, and when juxtaposed with the plaid shirt it kind of hurts my head. but it adds to the dad energy so i still love it. also this is from chara’s ig and the caption is super sweet.

DADS WITH THEIR KIDS ALWAYS GETS ME. i don’t even want kids, nor do i particularly like them, but seeing a man with his child is the cutest thing in the world and this, predictably, is no exception. patrice’s son 100% has his eyes which is really cute. speaking of patrice’s eyes, he may be smiling here but if you look into his eyes all you will see is fear - that child does not appear too bothered about remaining upright on the ice, and i suspect thay bergy is concerned about this. it would be criminal for me to not comment on the jeans. bergy has some exceptional thighs as these jeans do an excellent job of highlighting that.

this is Hot, and i’m not accepting criticism on that opinion. the crisp white shirt w no jacket or tie, and the top buttons undone???? i need a lie down. the hands are also making a nice appearance which i can always appreciate. basically what i’m saying is that i’m jealous of that snake this is an excellent photo and i owe the bruins instagram person a drink for posting it.

do you remember when i said bergy had marvellous thighs? well take a fucking sip babes - they’re like tree trunks carved out of carrara marble. if i have to die i want it to be because they crushed my skull. this is also one of the clearest photos i’ve seen of his tattoo, so it has that going for it too ( sidenote if anyone has an image with literally a pixel of his tattoo pls send it my way, i’m getting desperate at this point). i also think men in jewellery is a good look so i’m digging his beaded bracelets and silver chain. fantastic picture all round.

yeah okay there’s no escaping that the main reason this one made the list is 🍑. it’s exquisite. those pants also do a great job on the thighs too. the hair, socked feet (no i dont have a fetish i just think ppl in their socks with no shoes is kind of funny), and hands get an honourable mention

is this the only picture that has ever mattered? i’d believe it. patrice just lovingly gazing down at his son giving his hockey husband a handshake? you just can’t beat it. i have also been emotionally ruined by that tiny #37 jersey oh my

in the interest of being polite, i will describe this look as rugged. he has probably objectively looked better but i just like this photo and awful lot.

i don’t think i can give any commentary on this without saying something genuinely not suitable for public eyes. the 2 things i will say are: the only thing keeping me going completely feral horny looking at this is those pants,, if they were black or navy i’d be dead; and patrice i am begging you to do up a few more buttons on your shirt or remove it completely or i’m not going to live much longer.

oh man i just love this??? i can’t even explain why. the lack of much beard and the expression in his eyes just makes him look massively soft - i would give him a kiss on the nose and a cuddle in this photo

(gif via @gaudreau) i am slightly loathe to admit this bc it sounds weird but cuts and bruises can sometimes be a real look so this checks that box for me. his smile when he talks truly is one of the finer things in life too. also the lil shrug. i love you mr pikachu

a** fantastic **angle. this is just prime beautiful bergy. excellent level of beard imo, the lighting shows off his v nice bone structure, and the nose is looking fab as always. weird observation of the day is that his neck looks nice in this

i mean obviously this had to go in - lord knows it’s fucking iconic. i have so many questions about how this situation came to be (aside from the fact that alcohol was involved. did brad initiate it? or patrice? why are they spinning? what the fuck? how the fuck? why was i not invited?) but anyway, this photo increased my thirst for a shirtless bergy photo at least two-hundredfold. at this point it’s a need not a want. i don’t think i can continue to comment on this without straying into nsfw territory so we’ll leave it at that. oh the things i would do

classic humble patrice making an appearance here, reminding us that he is not only the most handsome bastard to ever walk planet earth, but he’s a great guy too. just can’t hate him. and boy is he handsome in this gif. excellent stubble (im really invested in his facial hair if you hadn’t noticed), and the smile that could melt even my cold heart on display here. also bonus points for the previously mentioned thing about cuts/bruises. (sorry). i love this one

in contrast to some of the prior ones, this picture is so cute that i can make nothing but pg comments about it. this is exactly the same face we all make when someone points a camera at us and says “cheese!” and i love that. the man looks good in white. good, wholesome content right here.

(gif via @weekendatbergysblog) okay the baby is cute but the fucking headband is what gets me in this. i’m able to make no further comment because this short circuits my brain.

(gif via @davidpastrnut)when i first saw this gif i had to go find the source video because i didn’t believe he actually said that but i’m here to tell you: he did. i love these hockey husbands so much. also i saw this tagged as “# hot waiter” one time and i still haven’t got over how accurate that is. someone more talented than me, i’m begging you for that fucking au

(gif via @gaudreau) can patrice please stop looking up ??? it’s unfair that someone can look so good just looking in a direction what the fucK. he’s so stunning.

i love this one. brad pulling his hoodie down like that looks like he’s... soliciting and honestly who could blame him. bergy looks very cute, if a bit edgy in the all black. the hand is a treat in this one hooooooooooooooooo yes

this one show’s off patrice’s dark features very well. it’s amazing how he has such dark hair, dark eyes, big dark eyebrows, and dark facial hair, yet it doesn’t overcrowd or shadow his face ( except occasionally in awful lighting) ??? does anyone actually know how that works?? he’s looking very pensive here, and that hoodie looks oh-so-cosy. absolutely would cuddle.

**how cute is this y’all. **in case you thought you were just missing something, no, patrice is not sitting on a chair. he’s just maintaining that deep squat like a champ. maybe that’s the secret to his sublime thighs... the navy/deep red is an excellent look on him, and we get a rare glimpse of bergy with his wedding ring, which i find to be oddly cute. bonus points for him being beside a very cute kid too :)

(gif via @jakedebrask) this, i, ummmmm. i- uhh. just. um. yeah. so like. uhhhh... swiftly moving on

(gif via @davidpastrnut) this motherfucker and his handsome fucking face even looks good in that god-awful wooly patriots hat. honestly it looks like he’s about to go out and have a snowball fight (presumably with brad). decidedly rather domestic and i love it

(gif via @davidpastrnut) intense media patrice is intense. this is such a classic bergy face though, i love it. every time some media person asks him some big long question he puts on this exact very-invested-and-slightly-concerned face, its iconic. looking cosy in a hoodie once again. stop it.

nice polo, dude

(gif via @davidpastrnut) that tshirt looks like its fighting for its life to contain those biceps. a dark, brooding patrice that has some sort of slow burn au stirring deep in my mind. from other angles in this interview the tattoo is fairly visible also.

this has such a strong energy it almost knocked me off my feet. again, i can see this being some sort of business or maybe criminal masterminds au. but fuck me, does that man looking something beautiful in a suit. the one hand in the pocket is quite frankly BDE too. i’m glad i’m not into dadkes or esle i think this whole picture would be too much for me.

he is literally the kind of man you’d want to bring home to your parents. i’m glad he seems to have cashed in on the navy/deep red combo because it really does suit him. he looks so fucking dapper here i may be very much in love

another excellent on-ice shot of him, albeit his slightly concerned expression. the beard is looking fucking crisp here hello sir. not much else to say on this, just a handsome, handsome boy.

(gif via @jeffsamardzija) another one that gives me Thoughts. he’s literally so beautiful. hair is cut a little shorter than usual on the sides and on anyone else it would scream fuckboy but i’m kind of digging it on bergy, at least on this one occasion. if i say anything else we’ll go down the rabbit hole

oof this is_ intense. _bergy aside, this is just an incredible shot tbh. rare that we get to see mr perfect not completely level-headed and playing it cool so it feels like a treat when we do. lowkey hot ngl

last but very certainly not least, mr patrice bergeron, four-time bergeron award winner, holding the award itself. this photo honestly just makes my heart swell a little with pride - it’s what he deserves!!!! just absolutely dapper in a beautiful suit as always, and a smile that could topple a nation to round it all off.

thank you so much for this anon!!! it was rather self-indulgent but i hope you like it :) also i will absolutely do another one with marchy, although my nails have been dry for about 2 hours now so i’ll probably do it tomorrow or friday, but it’s on its way :)

#i will credit gifs in a minute #im on desktop so i need to look them up #i'm sorry this turned into a literal essay holy mother of fuck #its literally 2k words #answered #bruins #Anonymous #bruins photos compilations #bergeron

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