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the-girl-in-the-box · 1 year

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One Swallow Can Make A Summer V

A/N: Finally back with an update! I'll be real honest, I… finished writing this like at least a week ago if not longer, but I've just been so busy with the holiday season that I never got around to posting it XD So, even if it is super late, I hope you'll still enjoy!

Summary: The world is at war, and none will be left unchanged in its wake. Downton Abbey is now a convalescent home where wounded officers are sent to recover, and Sergeant Thomas Barrow couldn’t be more satisfied with his position in running it. But with the arrival of a kind new maid, the downstairs dynamic shifts, and Thomas finds himself in the middle of a strange situation, which only grows stranger as the war goes on. With the answers he seeks hidden in the Abbey’s past, inaccessible to Thomas alone, and danger lurking around any corner, he’ll have to learn to trust his instincts and his allies before it’s too late.

Masterlist

“I just can’t understand why they hired him. He falls to pieces just because some general is leaving, begging us not to send him back, when that wasn’t even on the table? I don’t know, seems there should have been some sign that he wasn’t ready to work again yet.”

Thomas shrugged in response to Sylvia’s words as he sipped his tea. “Can’t always tell with these things,” he pointed out. “But I will give you that they should have noticed after that stunt he pulled the other night, carrying on in the middle of the night the way he did.”

Sylvia hummed as she pulled a needle through the dress she was stitching up, tugging on thread to make the stitch itself disappear entirely. “A bad dream’s one thing,” she allowed. “Don’t know anyone who doesn’t have those here and there, but waking the whole attic up because of one?” She paused to shake her head. “He won’t last long after today anyway, so I don’t see that it really matters anymore. He needs to just go and rest, and find work again once he’s good and ready for it. Not right now.”

“I’m not sure why you think you get a say in any of this,” O’Brien interrupted. Thomas looked over at her with a slightly lifted brow. “He’s seen things you never have, and I don’t blame him for having a bit of a panic at the thought of going back to war.”

The lack of an immediate answer from Sylvia made Thomas look back over at her, only to find an icy smile on her lips, and a fire in her eyes. This ought to be interesting.

“Maybe I haven’t seen what he has,” she allowed, “but he hasn’t lived what I have. Stay in your place, Ms. O’Brien. If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.”

Thomas’s eyes widened. It felt strange, to see the two people he considered to be his friends in that house arguing over anything. But ultimately, he had to say he agreed with Sylvia. “I’ve seen what he has, and I’ve never caused a scene over it,” he pointed out. “All the officers in this house have, and they’re fine.”

Well, no, that wasn’t actually true, but what was he supposed to say? He knew everyone that sort of horror differently. He didn’t have to think very long to remember the things he’d seen at the hospital, what- who- he had lost at the hospital. Maybe he was so quick to write Lang off because of that. It still wasn’t easy for him to go there, and seeing Lang struggle made him wonder- would Edward have struggled this way had he lived? Had this sort of thing played a part in his decision? Thomas himself saw the trenches every time he closed his eyes. What if he could never open them again?

He was grateful for the interruption of William Mason, no longer a footman but now a visitor to Downton, coming into the room. He looked older in his uniform than he had in his livery. Apparently, William hadn’t overheard very much of their conversation, as he sat down and asked, “Who’s fine?”

“The officers upstairs,” Sylvia answered. “You know, maybe Mr. Lang would have done better if he had gotten to convalesce. Do we know if he did?”

“It weren’t here, if so,” William replied, and then he smiled at her. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m William- William Mason.” He stretched his hand out across the table.

“Sylvia Sharpe,” she said, and shook it. “I’m afraid I’ve been busy for most of your visit, but it’s good to meet you now. When do you leave for the front?”

“Tomorrow morning,” he answered. “I’m to be stationed in the Sommes.”

Sylvia turned her attention back to Thomas and asked him, “Isn’t that where you were? He realised then that he also had William’s attention now, not that it made much difference.

“Until they brought me back here after my injury,” he confirmed, then addressed William. “I don’t know why you seem so excited to be going over there, it’s a nightmare.” He grew a little irritated when William just smiled and shrugged.

“I just want to help, I think- however I can,” he replied. “If that’s on the front lines in the trenches, then that’s that.”

Sylvia looked at him thoughtfully, and she hummed softly as she returned to her mending. “I hope you hold onto your enthusiasm,” she commented. “And I hope you’re spared from the worst of it over there. I haven’t been myself, of course, but I’ve heard enough to know I’d never want to.”

William’s smile faltered, and Thomas couldn’t help the way his lips quirked up into a small smirk. If it was so bad he’d gotten himself shot to escape it, how was someone like William going to survive it? He was too soft and nice for the sort of violence and death he was going to face. He was too good for it. Truthfully, although Thomas hated to say it- or rather, strongly disliked saying it- he wasn’t sure he’d make it out of there alive. The thought came out as a halfway sneered, “Oh I don’t know, Sylvia, I think you’d survive it. Not too sure about our William, though.”

There was no faltering this time- William’s smile dropped entirely, completely washed away. Thomas felt a little sting when he saw, though it wasn’t quite enough to make him want to rectify it. Still, he was going off to war in the morning, a war Thomas himself had already seen first hand. Somehow he felt like it might have been a little cruel even for him, and a glance over at Sylvia told him she felt the same way.

He watched William shift uncomfortably for a moment, before finally starting to get up. “I should probably go… see if there’s anything I can do to help upstairs,” he said, rather unconvincingly- especially considering the fact he wasn’t staff anymore. “I’ll be back down later.”

He stood and started to go, but Sylvia stopped him by calling out to him. “William,” she said. He turned back to look at her. “Keep your chin up. Stay alert, stay low. I think you’ve got a better chance than we’ve given you credit for.”

His smile began to come back, even if only halfheartedly. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll do my best.” As he finally went on upstairs, Thomas found himself a bit relieved that Sylvia had gone ahead and boosted William’s spirits a bit- at least someone had.

But was that really what she wanted? To be always cleaning up the wounds his sharp tongue left behind? As good natured as she was, even to the point of helping him- him!- through his various trials, he couldn’t imagine she’d be willing to put up with this for very long.

Thomas’s mind began filling rapidly with these sorts of thoughts, and so he also soon stood, and stalked off toward his office without another word. Even though he heard Sylvia call out, “Sergeant Barrow?” he didn’t stop, but he ignored her attempts at reaching out to him. If he hadn’t, he would have gone back to hear her out and just put off the inevitable. No, he couldn’t do that this time.

Sylvia frowned a little when he didn’t come back, and she let out a small sigh. “Any idea what might be wrong with him?” she asked O’Brien, turning her attention from the now empty hall back to the lady’s maid on the other side of the table. They hadn’t spoken very much, not with as much time as Sylvia spent either with Thomas or working, but she figured now was as good a time as any- especially knowing how close she was to the man in question. At least, that’s what Anna had told her.

O’Brien gave her a bit of a funny look, and frowned. “Nothing’s wrong with him,” she said. “He just likes to make himself scarce sometimes, that’s all.”

“Does he?” Sylvia questioned. She had noticed that he usually kept himself to himself, sure, but somehow that didn’t feel like that was all this was, not in the immediate aftermath of his little spat with William (if it could even be called a spat, she wasn’t sure it had escalated enough to warrant it).

“He does,” O’Brien replied. “What’s it to you, anyway? He’s military staff, not house staff. He won’t be any help to you.”

Sylvia’s smile turned almost imperceptibly fake. “Is it so wrong for me to want to be friends with him without wanting something from him?” she asked. Why would O’Brien think she had to have a motive?

“No, not at all,” O’Brien answered. “But he’s a prickly one, I just don’t see why you’d go for his friendship instead of, say, Anna’s… or anyone else who seems nice like you.”

She chuckled a bit in response and shook her head, cutting the thread as she finished her mending. “I didn’t connect with them the way I did with him,” she confessed. “Maybe he can be a bit prickly. But is it any wonder with everything he’s been through?”

“He’s told you then?” O’Brien questioned. “Funny- he’s not the type to open up.”

Sylvia shrugged and started to pack up her sewing kit. “No,” she agreed. “But we’re quite similar, he and I. I think things just tend to come out when you’re talking to someone who knows the same pain you do.”

“And you know his pain, do you? How convenient,” O’Brien accused, and Sylvia bristled.

So, she was going to go there, was she? It was one thing to wonder about her intentions with Thomas- she’d expect that from a friend who just cared to protect him, but to insinuate she’d make something up on this level just to get through to him? It told her quite a lot about what O’Brien herself would do, certainly. Projection had always been such an eye opener.

“If you think you’re going to make me try and prove myself to you, you’re wrong,” she said, her tone and words clipped. “I can see what this is, anyway- you’re jealous. He agreed with me instead of you earlier, and now you’re afraid you’re losing his grip on him. But I’m not going to stand here and let you sling accusations at me just because you feel threatened, and I’m not entirely sure how comfortable he’d be with it if he knew.” Sylvia smirked at her just slightly. “So be careful, Ms. O’Brien, and be sure to mind your own business. I won’t have you minding mine.”

O’Brien blinked a few times, surprised with the pushback, but Sylvia could see her quickly readjusting, making new calculations which were reflected in her eyes. Eventually, she said, “I do wonder if Sergeant Barrow knows this side of you.”

“Of course he does,” Sylvia said with a roll of her eyes. “Haven’t I already said we’ve become friends because of the things we recognise in each other? Even down to how ‘prickly’ we can both get. Why do you think that’s no surprise to me?”

“Because you’ve turned out to be the same way, if you’re to be believed,” O’Brien said.

“Are you just trying to rattle me, is that what this is?” Sylvia asked, narrowing her eyes and letting out a disbelieving chuckle. “Really?” She shook her head. “Well, I think I’m going to get on with my work, and check in with Thomas. Good day, Ms. O’Brien.”

She stood and gathered the dress she’d mended, walking quickly toward Thomas to make good on that. But, as fast as she was walking, she knocked straight into Anna who was coming around the corner with a dress of her own- or likely, of Lady Mary’s. “Oh goodness, I’m sorry,” Anna said with a light laugh. “If you’d been a snake, I think you would have bitten me.”

“No, I’m afraid the snake’s just through there,” Sylvia retorted, and tossed her head back to indicate O’Brien. Anna’s eyes widened.

“Has something happened?” she questioned, concern lacing her voice.

Sylvia sighed and shifted on her feet. “Unfortunately so,” she replied. “I don’t think Ms. O’Brien approves of my friendship with Sergeant Barrow, and she’s decided to make that my problem.”

She could read in Anna’s face that the maid wasn’t exactly surprised, especially as she very nearly rolled her eyes. “Of course she has,” she said, just a touch exasperated. “I don’t think she’s ever had an opinion without making it someone else’s problem.” She sighed and shook her head. “Just… try to keep your head down, and don’t fight her unless you’re prepared to fight fire with fire. She’s the type who won’t drop it unless you do.”

“Apparently so,” Sylvia agreed. “Unless she’s the type to give up if you don’t react very much?”

“Oh, I wish she was,” Anna chuckled. “No, she’ll push it until she’s satisfied- but your Sergeant Barrow’s much the same way, you know.”

Sylvia hummed slightly. “Well, on that note, I think I should be going,” she said. “You’ve reminded me that I meant to speak with him about something, so if you’ll excuse me…”

She brushed past Anna before she had a chance to say anything else, not wanting to stand and talk about Thomas in that way. Besides, she had more important matters to attend to.

Thomas looked up when he heard the door to his office open, and his brows lifted at the sight of a rather frustrated Sylvia walking in. He didn’t even get a chance to say anything before she had asked, “Is O’Brien always like this?” Ah, that explained a lot.

His lips quirked up into an amused sort of smirk. “You’ll have to be more specific,” he quipped, but then grew more serious as he asked, “What did she do?”

“Oh, the usual…” Sylvia said, rolling her eyes. “Just, accused me of making things up to get close to you, questioning why I’d even want to with as ‘prickly’ as you are… Then Anna was telling me that you’re just like O’Brien, which I don’t agree with in the slightest of course, but it’s just… is this whole house against you, or something?”

Thomas chuckled bitterly. “Seems like it sometimes,” he confessed. “I take it you’re not though, if you’re in here mad about that?”

“Of course I’m not,” she replied. “You and I are too much alike for that, I think. And everything they try to tell me to change my mind, it isn’t as though it’s nothing I haven’t heard before…”

Nothing you don’t know yet, Thomas thought with a hum. But he knew O’Brien had information on him that really might just change her mind. Not that he was surprised to hear she was beginning to meddle, but if she went too far… Well, he just had to hope it wouldn’t come to that.

He decided to try and change the subject before that conversation went deeper. “Did you see William again?”

“William?” Sylvia repeated, lifting a brow. “He’s the one shipping out in the morning, isn’t he?” Thomas nodded. “No, I haven’t seen him again.” Thomas hummed quietly, and her tone grew more gentle as she asked, “You two don’t get on very well, do you?”

“We could have, I think,” Thomas mused. “It’s not his fault. I just…” He paused and sighed. “I say things sometimes, I don’t really know why. I don’t even know that I meant what I said earlier… Not that anyone would believe me if I tried to tell them that- if they’d even care at this point- so I don’t really try anymore. I was snippy when I was a kid, and they wouldn’t believe it if I tried to change. Why bother?”

Sylvia offered him a small, somewhat sad smile. “Have you tried telling William this?” she asked. “I don’t get the feeling he’d have a bad response, and anyway… you don’t want that to be the last thing you say to him, do you? If the worst does happen?”

Thomas began to drum his fingers on his desk. She was right, and he’d known the truth of everything she was saying from the moment he’d said what he had to William. “It won’t be the last thing I say to him,” he eventually told her. “I’ll send him off with something nice.”

“That’s good,” Sylvia replied, and her smile turned a bit happier.

Thomas looked up at her curiously, then chuckled. “Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me to make friends with him when he gets back, if he makes it,” he accused her with a playful smirk, and Sylvia chuckled a bit herself.

“Would it be the worst thing in the world, though? If you did?”

“Would it?” Thomas repeated. William may well have been one of the nicest people he had ever known, but there was a lot of water under that bridge- probably too much, if he was honest with himself. Then, there was the other thing… That was what made Thomas shake his head. “It’s too late for that,” he said. “And you know me, I don’t need too many to be close to me anyway, so even if he was willing…”

“Do you really think he wouldn’t be?” Sylvia asked. “He seems too nice to hold a grudge, if you really did decide you wanted to start over.”

“Of course he is,” Thomas agreed. “But that doesn’t change the rest- I just don’t need him.”

“Is that really all it is?” Sylvia questioned. “Or do you not want to let him get close to you for some reason?”

“That’s all it is!” he snapped suddenly. He regretted it as soon as he saw the way her eyes widened, but that was an answer he just couldn’t give her. Thomas knew what people thought of men like him, and even as friendly as she was… well, that was just the thing. She was good, he’d finally realised that, and yes, she was friendly, but that didn’t mean they were alike just enough for him to trust her with this. Who could say if she’d still accept him if she knew? How could he really justify taking that risk? Oh, but that look on her face…

She nodded. “Alright,” she said, and he wished her voice hadn’t gone so quiet. “Well, I should… probably get back to work, then. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Sylvia slipped out of the room, leaving Thomas to do nothing but sigh and run his hands over his face. He really couldn’t stop sabotaging himself for one minute, could he? Just because he couldn’t tell her one thing… he had gone ahead and scared off the one person who didn’t talk to him because she wanted something from him. Fantastic.

Well, he imagined she’d believe the stories now, what Anna said, and everyone else. It had been a rare chance for him to start from scratch when she told him she didn’t believe gossip without any evidence, but now he’d given her plenty. And what if she went and started spreading her own story? How she had been nothing but kind to him, and he all but bit her head off for trying to help him patch up a relationship.

Thomas tried to distract himself by angrily flipping through his various records, but he found it hard to do as he kept imagining how everyone would welcome Sylvia with open arms as she told them what happened, how she’d finally seen the light, and they’d be so happy that she wouldn’t be wasting her time on him anymore… Even William would probably tell her she’d dodged a bullet in him.

Let her talk! She’d told him plenty enough to fight back with. Sure, she could do a lot of damage with as much as he’d told her, but it wouldn’t be without paying the price for it herself… She’d thought she had found a kindred spirit in him, clearly, and… And…

And he had thought the same, hadn’t he? He had really thought he’d had a shot at something genuine for once. But he couldn’t keep his mouth shut for five minutes, and it had cost him. Now, instead of talking to her over late night tea, he was planning to fight back against her if she started anything.

Will that really make you feel better? Sylvia’s voice whispered to him in his mind, and Thomas frowned, returning to his work to try and shut it out.

Taglist: @butwhyhavethey, @marxin-grilli, @queencharleeblog

If you want to be added to the taglist, feel free to reach out either by commenting, reblogging, DMing me, or sending an ask, and I’ll be more than happy to add you!

#thomas barrow #thomas barrow & oc #downton abbey #one swallow can make a summer #chapter five #robert james collier #tw: ptsd

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cathymariebown · 1 year

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Happy New Year!

A little late, but let's celebrate the New Year anyway!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! In my house, we spent the holiday weeks suffering from the flu. It was terrible and made for a super unpleasant holiday. The Christmas holiday was also a very depressing time for me this year, given the broken nature of my home currently. This was the first Christmas outside of my home and without my husband by my side.…

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#2023 #Creative Writing #depression #Resolutions

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bigherosixfeels · 2 years

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Hey everyone! I know I’ve been super inactive lately. I’ve been really busy with work, but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season! ♥️

#jen blabs

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forever-rogue · 3 years

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Christmas Trees and Picky Bees

A/N: Nothing much to see here, but some holiday fluff of the softest variety featuring our lovely Frankie Morales. This is for @bestintheparsec for no other reason than being one of the most wonderful and amazing friends. I hope you all enjoy! xx

Pairing: Frankie x Fem!Reader

Warnings: too much fluff; implied sex

Word Count: 5.6k

MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Brilliant idea,” you mumbled under your breath as you rubbed your hands together to attempt to keep warm. Despite the thick gloves and multiple layers you were wearing, the cold and light snowfall was pervasive and all consuming. It would take years to get warm again, but at least soon you could be under the fluffiest of blankets with the heater cranked, “brilliant idea to volunteer and pick out the damn office tree by myself.”

You trekked around the tree farm, looking at a seemingly endless amount of trees as you tried to pick the right one. But nothing, despite how many you had looked at, seemed to be the one. They were all either too tall or too short, with too few branches or ones that were too long. Or maybe you were just being too picky. Just like always, you thought to yourself, or so everyone seems to think.

When you reached the end of the trees, you still had found nothing. You groaned as you realized you’d either have to find another tree farm or lot, or break down and purchase a fake one. The fake ones just weren’t the same...it just lacked the heart. Maybe another place would have the right tree....

“Did you need any help?” you were so consumed in your own thoughts you hadn’t noticed anyone approaching. You looked up and almost instantaneously your breath caught in your throat at the handsome man. He was tall, dressed for the weather, but still sporting a baseball cap under which you could see some dark brown curls peaking out, and a lazy smile tugged across his features with one dimple on display. He wasn’t what you would consider traditionally handsome, but he definitely was in a rough, roguish way; soft brown eyes that crinkled in the corner with patchy scruff and a mustache that should have looked silly but somehow worked, and an aquiline nose that suited him perfectly.

“Umm...’ you opened and closed your mouth a few times as you tried to figured out if you indeed need help or if you should just play it off and try to get away before making a fool out of yourself. He watched you with such an ease that you decided it would be silly to just throw the help, “yeah, actually, I do. I just need help finding the right tree. A lot of these are a little too big, and it’s just for the office so I was wondering if you knew where the smaller ones are?”

“Definitely,” he seemed relieved when you didn’t just chase away his advances, almost as if he was expecting it, “I can show you, I’m sure we’ve got something here that will work.”

“Thanks,” you grinned at him, falling in step neck to him as he started to lead you over to the other side of the farm, “I’ve never done this on my own before and it’s surprisingly hard to find the right one!”

Gods, you almost rolled your eyes at yourself, willing yourself to stop rambling. One handsome stranger and you immediately couldn’t shut up; this wasn’t a Hallmark movie you reminded yourself, this was reality.

But the man didn’t even seem phased as he easily made conversation with you. Surprisingly there were no awkward silences and everything felt natural. Before you knew it, you’d located the perfect tree for the office and the man had it wrapped up for you, going so far as to bring it back to your car for you.

“Are you going to have help getting this down and setting it up?” he asked as he finishing tying the tree up to the roof rack. A wicked little part of you wanted to say no and somehow convince to come along with you or something, but you knew that would be a long shot. Besides that, you knew that there were plenty of people back at the office that could help you. Unfortunately not him.

“Yes,” you promised softly, “I’m sure I’ve got it from here. Thank you for all of your help. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Any time,” he offered you a gentle smile as the two of your stood there in silence for a few moments, neither wanting to end whatever you had started up just get, “I realized I didn’t catch your name...”

You took his outstretched as you told him your name and he told you his. Frankie, well Francisco, but call me Frankie. You decided that you immediately liked him, as your heart fluttered softly from the touch of his hand. You hadn’t felt anything even remotely close in some time, “well, I guess I should get going. It was nice meeting you, Frankie.”

“It was nice meeting you too,” he agreed as he opened the car door for you to slip inside. Despite not wanting to leave, not yet anyway, you had no real reason to stay. The thought of asking for his number or something crossed your mind, but you weren’t able to muster up the courage. Instead you turned on the car and Frankie shut your door, giving you a small wave before you slowly drove away.

You regretted not making some sort of move almost immediately. As Frankie watched you drive away, he realized he had exactly the same regret. But it was too late now; it wasn’t like people regularly needed Christmas trees, and the season would be over soon enough anyways, and the Garcias would close the farm again until the fall.

It was no matter, Frankie shrugged to himself, at least he’d gotten to spend a few moments in your magnetic orbit.

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Okay, so when are you going to tell me what's going on?" Kelly nudged your leg from under the table as the two of you ate your customary Sunday brunch in relative silence. You could blame it on the delicious food that you were eating, but you knew she'd be able to see right through your lie. Reaching for your coffee, you took a long sip and offered her a noncommittal shrug, "you're deflecting. Nice try, but I'll just keep asking until you give me a good answer."

Rolling your eyes dramatically at her, you set down the steaming mug and swallowed the sweet sip, "what do you mean? Nothing is going on."

"I've known you since we were children and I know a lie from a mile away," she reminded you, "you've been so down lately. Did something happen?"

"No," you admitted softly, sighing before leaning back in your chair and giving her a half hearted smile, "its more like what didn't happen."

"Oh well by all means, tell me what didn't happen," she encouraged you to go on as huffed lightly, "come onnnn! Tell me!"

"Alright, alright," you looked around as lowered your voice, almost as if you were expecting to see him there suddenly, "it was last week, when I went to get that tree for work. I went to the lot and couldn't find a good tree and I met this nice guy that worked there. We talked for a while and he helped me and then...that was that."

"That was that!?" she almost shrieked as you buried your face in your hands, "you didn't get his number or anything?"

"I chickened out," you groaned, "I want to, but I talked myself out of it! What if I was just thinking too much about it and he wasn't...flirting or anything. What if he was just being super nice?"

"Listen, I love you, but you are a fool," she chided playfully, "clearly you liked him if you're still thinking about him! And let's be honest, that doesn't happen very often-"

"Because I'm too picky," you finished for her, pushing around a bite of food on your plate.

"No! Because you have high standards and aren't willing to lower them just for a relationship or whatever you want to call it," she corrected as you gave her a faint smile, "which is not a bad thing at all! The best things come to those who wait. But if someone did catch your eye like that, then maybe...its worth pursuing."

"I don't want to set myself up for failure," you whispered as you stared at your plate, "I could easily be taking everything the wrong way."

"There's only one way to find out..." her face lit up with glee as it took you a moment to catch onto what she was saying, "you don't have a Christmas tree for your apartment yet!"

"Oh no," you shook your head lightly, "I couldn't...it would be so obvious. Besides I already got a tree!"

"For the office," she reminded you, "he knows that! Obviously you'll need one for home too. It makes perfect sense. I'll even go with you if you want, and we can pretend it's for me."

"I dunno," you shrugged lightly, "I dunno if it's a good idea..."

"Of course it is," she disagreed, "now hurry up and finish and we can go!"

"Fuck me," you sighed softly, Kelly could see there was a little smile tugging on your features, "fine..."

»»————-　♡　————-««

You’d walked through the whole tree farm at least twice and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Frankie. Maybe he had the day off, or only worked certain hours, or he’d seen you and tried to purposely avoid you or...something. Clearly it wasn’t meant to be and this had turned out to be a colossal waste of time.

“He’s not here,” you said softly to Kelly, who simply looped her arm through yours in a sign of reassurance, “this was silly, a long shot anyway...we can just go.”

“We can try again tomorrow, or maybe ask at the the front? Just ask about him and tell them that he was so great you just wanted to thank him?” she was chalk full of suggestions as you stared at your boots and remained silent for a few moments.

“There’s no point,” you insisted, “better to just let it go than waste my time.”

“It’s a not a waste of time-” she started but quickly stopped when your name was being shouted out. Your face went through a wave of emotions as you looked up and found your allusive Frankie from the prior week. Kelly beamed at you as she dropped her arm from yours and shoved you gently in his direction, “go!”

“H-hi,” you said softly as you turned to face him, trying to give off a nonchalant vibe while your heart was practically fluttering and stomach was doing somersaults, “Frankie! It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Hey,” he stopped in front of you, his cheeks pink from the cold winter chill. His eyes crinkled at the corners just as you had remembered, giving him a youthful appearance, despite his age, “it’s good to see you too. I didn’t think you’d be back.”

Was that a note of quiet disappointment in his voice?

“I...yeah, my friend Kelly needs a tree for her place and I told her about how great you were at helping me find the perfect one, so obviously we had to come back,” you stumbled lightly over your words as Kelly shook with silent laughter as your nervous tone, “if you have any suggestions or time that is.”

“Yes,” he said eagerly with a nod, “of course. Come on, let’s find you the perfect tree!”

“Jiminy Cricket,” she snorted quietly to herself as she followed after the two of you, thoroughly resigned to the idea that she was going to be a third wheel on this little adventure. But it didn’t matter to her, she wanted to do this for you, and if this simple thing was all it took to get you some happiness, then she was more than willing to do it.

»»————-　♡　————-««

It was several hours later when you’d finally settled on a packed up a tree for Kelly. The tree was the easiest find of all, it had taken almost no time once you’d actually stopped walked around aimlessly and worked on finding it. Instead you and Frankie walked around the farm and the conversation quickly turned from Christmas trees and holidays to a little bit of anything and everything. Conversation with Frankie was easy and followed naturally, and there was never a single moment of awkwardness.

Was it always this easy or was it just easy with him?

When you reached the front, you told both of them you were going to pay for the tree while they got it onto the car. As soon as you were gone, Kelly pulled Frankie close to her and lowered her voice.

“She really likes you,” she told him softly watched a large grin cross his features, “she was thinking about you since you helped her find that first tree. I finally pulled it out of her and convinced her to come back. It’s obvious, to me anyways.”

“I’ve been thinking about her too,” he confessed, gnawing lightly on his bottom lip, “I wanted to ask for her number last time, but chickened out. I didn’t even know where to begin to look for her...I’m glad she came back.”

“She doesn’t like a lot of people,” she carried on, as Frankie tried to still the wild beating of his heart, “really. So it’s kind of a big deal when she does. Consider yourself lucky, Francisco. She’s amazing, truly. And my best friend, so if you were so anything to hurt her, I will hunt you down myself.”

“I-I won’t,” he promised as you came over to them, tucking away your wallet. Kelly gave him a little nod of encouragement as he turned to you and sweetly said your name, “I was wondering...are you free for dinner tomorrow tonight? It’s just...obviously if you want to, if not it’s totally fine too....I just...yeah.”

“I’d love to,” you said eagerly as you tried not to bounce on your heels too much, “it’s yeah...I’m free. Definitely.”

“Oh boy,” Kelly sniggered at the awkward exchange between the two of you.

“Can I get your number and I can text you later and we can settle on a time and place?” he asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, swiftly unlocking it before handing it to you. Taking it gentle from his hand, you put in your number before giving it back to him, the two of your grinning like excited children, “great, so I...I’ll text you later.”

“I look forward to it Frankie,” you grinned as Kelly opened the door to the passenger side and got, pointedly clearing her throat, “talk to you later.”

“Yes,” he replied as he once again held open your door and helped you in, “until then.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Honey?” his voice was gentle and soft as you called back to him and informed that you were in the kitchen. You heard the soft tread of his feet before you saw him, your grin matching his when you met his eyes, “hi Honey Bee.”

“Hi Frankie,” you wiped your hands on the teatowel over your shoulder, tossing it onto the counter when you were and rushing over to him. He opened his arms for you, wrapping them up and trapping you within in his tight grasp within seconds, “I’ve missed you.”

“I was only gone for a few hours. It didn’t take long to start getting the farm all set up for the season,” he hummed in content as you scooped off his trademark hat and tossed it onto the couch. Carding a hand gently through his dark curls, you tugged at them before pressing a kiss to his lips, “I missed you too.”

“As you should,” you teased, patting his bum before moving back to the pie you were preparing. He snorted with laughter as he took a seat at the bar and watched you closely, but not before asking if you needed help with anything. You insisted that this was better left up to you and politely reminded him that the last time he was tried to bake anything, he’d set a pot holder on fire, “what do you want to do tonight, Frankie? I think this is the first evening since the holidays started that we have time to ourselves.”

He let out a long exhale of satisfaction as you nodded. It wasn’t that the two of you didn't enjoy the holidays, it was just that you were always doing something, between both of your jobs, his family, your family, and friends, it was rare to get a moment of downtime.

“I have an idea, if the lady would be so kind as to hear me out,” you raised an eyebrow at him as you started to pour the pumpkin pie filling into the crust but not before motioning for him to go, “date night.”

“Date night,” you repeated as you gave him a curious look, “I like the sound of that Mr. Morales, go on. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, Mrs. Morales,” you couldn’t help but beam at his words. It wasn't even that it was a new thing anymore, you’d been married for just over a year, but it still made your heart flutter every time. Especially when Frankie said it with that deep, rich timber of his voice, “I was thinking we could get dinner at the diner with the pancakes we both love, and then maybe go ice skating, and then dessert at that new bakery? Apparently their cookies are killer, especially their soft chocolate chip kind! What do you say? Will you let me take you out?”

“You are amazing, Frankie,” you gave him such a soft look that he felt his heart melt all over again, just like it had the first time he meet those five long years ago, just like the day he asked you to marry, just like the day of your wedding, just like so many wonderful times. You made quick work of shoving the pie into the over before leaning over the counter to give him a kiss, “I’d love to. It all sounds perfect. Have you been thinking about this haven’t you?”

“Of course,” he admitted, “it’s about we had a night to ourselves to relax, isn’t it?”

“I wholeheartedly concur,” you agreed as you sighed contently, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he grinned, “we still have to go and pick out a tree soon. Maybe we can go this weekend?”

"Hmm, now that sounds perfect," you agreed. Ever since the fateful year when you had met him while tree hunting, looking for a Christmas together had become a tradition, and one of your favorite parts of the season. Everywhere you went back to the Garcia's Tree Farm and sent the afternoon picking out the perfect one. You wouldn't have it any other way, "I can't wait to see what we manage to find this year."

"I've already found everything I could ever need," he whispered softly as your face flushed with warmth, as he reached for your hand, "but a tree won't hurt either."

“See, now how do you expect me to compete with you when you say things like that?” you stuck your tongue out at him as he gave you a cheeky grin before shrugging innocently, “I’m going to go and shower while the pie bakes...care to join me?”

“And that’s exactly how you compete with me,” he trailed after you, reaching for your hand as you laughed, leading him into the master bathroom, “saying things like that.”

“Oh Francisco,” you pulled him in and reached for the hem of his shirt, “I love you so much, but right now I’d like you to use your mouth for things other than words.”

“Now that I can definitely do.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“I think maybe we have to wait an hour to do this,” Frankie swallowed nervously as he started to lace up the ice skates on his feet. Your eyebrows raised so high that they almost melded into your hairline as you finished tying your own skates, “you know, since we just ate.”

“This isn’t like swimming,” you laughed at the nervous expression on his face, “have you ever been ice skating before, Frankie?”

“Yes, obviously,” he insisted as you moved his hands out of the way and took over the lacing job for him, “once, twenty years ago when I was a kid.”

“Oh my - Frankie!” you shoulders shook with laughter as you noticed the sheepish expression on his face, “I thought you would have gone more recently than that, you silly man.”

“I never really had any reason to.”

“Are you sure you want to do this? Just remember this was your idea after all!”

“Of course I do,” he insisted, “just umm...will you hold my hand? And maybe we can take it slow?”

“Like I wasn’t going to hold your hand anyway,” you shot a wink before slowly standing up and reaching for both of his large gloved hands. You held them up, palms pressed together and studying them for a moment before lacing them together, “see? They fit together perfectly. My hands were meant to hold yours.”

He remained silent as he grinned at you, his cheeks flushed from your words and the cold breeze swirling through the open air ice skating rink. Shuffling slowly towards the entrance to the ice, you were glad that not many people had picked tonight to go skating, it would allow you both some time to adjust.

You stepped onto the ice and reached for the side to ground yourself before reaching for Frankie and pulling him towards you. He was shaky on his feet, trying to best not to fall, not because he was worried about the embarrassment of falling, most because he didn’t want to deal with soreness for days afterwards. He traded places with you, clutching the railing tightly in one hand the yours in the other as you beamed at him, “slow and easy does it.”

“You’ve got this, Frankie,” you promised, finding your own balance bit by bit as you reacquainted yourself with the feeling being on the ice, “can I ask you something?”

“That would be preferable,” there was a nervous shake to his voice as you nodded, “it’ll distract me from feeling like I’m going to eat shit every second.”

“Why did you want to come ice skating?”

“I know you’d like it,” he stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “you’ve always mentioned wanting to go and we never have. I figured now was the perfect time. Besides, it’s romantic and winter-y!”

“You are the best, Frankie,” you shook at your head lightly; there were some days when you still wondered how you got so lucky as to have him in your life, not just as a random figure, but as your husband. He really had been worth the wait and you thanked your lucky stars for him every day, “this is very romantic, and I couldn’t asked for a better partner.”

The two of you skated for some time, going around in slow circles at first and then gradually pulling away from the railing as Frankie grew more confident with his skating ability. Eventually he was able to let go completely and you both skated around hand in hand, giggling and laughing about anything and everything.

At one point, you’d gotten a little too confident and the tip of your skate caught on some phantom nick in the ice and you took a tumble, unable to stop yourself from landing on your bum. You’d had at least enough time to let go of Frankie’s hand to stop yourself from dragging him down, but as he tried to scoop you up, he lost his own balance and landed next to you.

“Frankie! Are you okay?” you asked when you as to tried your best not to giggled at the surprised look on his face or how his beanie had slid down and covered his eyes. Reaching over, you pushed up the beanie so he could again, stopping to brush a few snowflakes out of his curly locks, “after all that fuss and it was me that actually fell. See you had nothing to worry about!”

“Are you alright?” he looked you up and down, hands finding your face to check you over, “my silly little bee.”

“I’m alright,” you promised, “you?”

“Yes,” his eyes studied yours before he crashed his lips onto yours and gave you a few soft kisses. He still tasted sweet, like the hot chocolate and pancakes you’d both had for dinner, and let his lips linger against yours, “as much as I enjoyed that, I think we need to get up before we freeze to death.”

“Good plan. This is going to take a moment and I don’t want to hear a single word,” you started to scoot across the ice and back to the wall, dragging him behind you as you both held onto it and scrambled to your feet, “maybe next time we won’t fall at all.”

“Ahh, it would be worth even if we do, so as long as we have fun,” he pulled the scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around your own when he noticed you shivering lightly. You’d forgotten yours at him, but of course weren’t going to ask for his, but had made a mental note to leave on in the truck for occasions such as this, “better?”

“Frankie-”

“Don’t argue with me,” he booped your nose as you both slumped back onto the bench and pulled off your skates, “ready for dessert?”

“Absolutely,” you almost bounced to your feet as you slipped your boots back and patiently waited for Frankie. You were watching with him nothing but sheer adoration in your eyes. This was your husband, you remembered, this amazing marvel of a human was yours. You loved him and he loved you; what a beautiful world it was.

“What?” he asked as he grabbed your skates and his to return, easily grabbing both pairs with one hand, “something on my face?”

“No,” you promised, “just thinking about how much I love you.”

“Oh,” he looked at you for a moment as a slow smile brushed onto his features, “oh. I love you, con todo, mi vida.”

“And that’s very sexy of you,” you laughed as he wrapped an arm around your waist, “I told you that you always know just what to say.”

“I’ll be sure to speak even more to after dessert,” he commented innocently as he opened the truck door for you to get in. You knew exactly what he meant; there was something about the way he managed to slip into Spanish while you were making love that was just...heavenly.

“I’m counting on that hot stuff,” you teased as he got into the driver’s side and turned on the truck making sure the heater was set to exactly how you liked it.

»»————-　♡　————-««

“I don’t know where you heard about this place from, but it’s amazing,” you couldn’t help but mumble through a mouth stuffed with cookies and ice cream. The cookies were warmed and soft and the vanilla bean ice cream was melting perfectly onto them. Frankie raised an eyebrow at you as he took a bite of his own pie. You wolfed down your bite before trying again, “these cookies are so good it’s almost sinful.”

“Santi told me about this place,” he took his fork and offered you a bit of his apple pie. You opened your mouth and eagerly accepted it, savoring the sweet flavor on your tongue to get a good taste of it, “for once his suggestion turned out to be worthwhile.”

“Francisco! You’re so mean!” you laughed as you gathered a bit of cookie and ice cream in your spoon and held it out for him. He grabbed your wrist and locked those honeyed eyes on your eyes as he slowly took the bite and licked the spoon clean. It was pointedly much more sexual than it needed to be, but you weren’t going to argue with that, “no more bites for you. If you’re going to keep doing that. I want to eat in peace, mister.”

“Honey, dessert is what’s happening at home,” his voice dropped an octave to that tone that always managed to send shivers down your spine as his eyes grew darker, “this is the foreplay.”

“Umm, why don’t we go home now and we can save the rest for later?”

“Excellent plan,” he agreed as he turned the truck on again and pulled out of the parking lot of the small little bakery that you would definitely be coming back.

»»————-　♡　————-««

By the time Frankie pulled into the driveway, you felt more like teenagers sneaking around than the grown adults you were. You’d been stealing kisses and touches from one another as he drove him, leaving the two of breathless and with flushed faces. He practically jumped out of the truck and swooped you out of the passenger seat before heading for the door as you peppered his neck and jaw in kisses.

But when he got to the front door, he slowed down, taking his time to open the door and walk into the hallway, turning on the light. You stopped what you were doing, reaching up and touching his scruffy cheek, “what’s wrong, baby?”

“It’s...do you promise not to laugh?” he adopted a serious tone as he watched your face for any shift of expression.

“Never, my sweet Frankie,” you gave him your most serious tone as you silently encouraged him to go on.

“Okay, well, when we first got together and went to that Christmas party at your office there was Mistletoe,” he explained as he slowly set you back down on the floor, making sure you were steady on your feet before letting go, “do you remember?”

“I do,” the memories instantly flooded, technicolor and vivid in your mind. It was a few weeks after you’d first met Frankie and the two of you were spending almost every waking moment together. Naturally, you’d asked him to come to your office Christmas party, and it had turned out to be a night of many firsts, “I swear it was hanging in every doorway.”

“Do you remember what you said?”

“Hmmm...” you tapped your chin thoughtfully as you tried to recall but drew a blank, “no? What did I say?”

“You said you’d never been kissed under the Mistletoe,” he explained, “and that you thought it was outdated and cheesy and you would never kiss someone under it unless you were positive they were the one.”

“I did,” you laughed lightly at the memory, remembering now that you had told him all of this while the two of you had been lightly buzzing from all the wine and champagne, “I...you remember. I can’t believe you remember such a silly little thing.”

“It’s not silly,” he insisted, “not to me. But I have a little surprise.”

“Another surprise?” your mouth gaped as he took your and slowly pulled you towards your bedroom, a wicked little smile on face.

“I didn’t forget anything when I came back in before we left,” he admitted, “I came back in to hang this.”

With a flourish he pointed to the door frame and watched your face light up as you took in the fresh little bundle of Mistletoe that he had carefully hung up before you’d left on your little date night.

“Francisco,” his name fell from your lips softly, reverently, as you looked back at him, “this is...I can’t believe you did all of this. You remembered this...”

“Because I love you,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead as you tried not to let the tears that were welling up in your eyes spill over, “but remember, you said you’d only kiss someone under it if you were sure they’re the one. May I kiss you?”

“Of course,” you offered him a teary little smile, “you are the one. You have always been and always will be, Frankie. I don’t think I can properly put into words just how much I adore you.”

“I know,” he wiped away the tear that had rolled down your cheeky as you wrapped your arms around him, “you are everything.”

And then he kissed. Because he was the one.

And always would be.

You were never more thankful for agreeing to trek out and get that Christmas tree by yourself those five long years ago.

It had given you everything and then some.

»»————-　♡　————-««

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#frankie morales #frankie morales x reader #triple frontier #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader

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dimpled-gukkie · 3 years

Text

Santa Baby (tell me you hear them too)

moodboard made by the lovely @today-we-will-survive

Summary: You attend a last minute Christmas party and meet your soulmate. The catch? You don’t remember anything about them besides the fact that they were wearing a Santa suit. Turns out there were seven Santas at the party... The question remains: Can you find your soulmate before Christmas Day?

Genre: Soulmate AU/ College AU

Pairing: ???? x reader

Warnings: hand burned on hot chocolate, Jin says he’s too pretty to be a hostage, mentions and depictions of drinking, joon is described as a porn aficionado

Word Count: 12.4k

a/n: It’s a very special day for my dearest friend @purpleful! In your honor I thought I’d write you a story of your own, as you help me with a countless amount of mine. Remember all the times you asked me this month if I had written anything or had a Christmas fic? I had been working on this the whole time nshjfhn. You sent me into a panic sometimes though because I swear you guessed the plot several times without actually knowing I was even writing. Anyways I love you and thank you for being my friend ❤️

a/a/n: also Happy Holidays to anyone else celebrating. I hope you’re able to find lightness even in these dark times. And to the atheists out there, cheers to the upcoming new year

1 day, 12 hours, 32 minutes and 12 seconds until Christmas

“Don’t you think those elf costumes are hot? Like damn I wish my legs looked like that in tights.” Mina whispers conspiratorially, though her voice has a tendency to carry no matter what volume she attempts to speak in, meaning the elf you’re passing by surely hears her based off his reddened ears.

“Do you have any shame?” You laugh, tucking your arm around her own to tug her into the nearby candle store. Your professor offered to give extra credit in exchange for a present and while she’s undoubtably exploiting her students for free gifts you could really use some help in your upper division history elective.

“What’s the fun in that?” Mina giggles, reaching over to the nearest stand and picking up a candle. She gives it a good whiff before coughing, holding the offending item away from her like that will somehow save her from smelling it further despite the top still being off.

“I imagine this is what elf vomit smells like.” She groans, shoving it into your arms in an effort to make you suffer as well. True friendship.

“Winter Candies?” You question, reading the label and the ingredients it’s supposed to smell like. “Adding pecan and peppermint is probably what went wrong.” You hum before smelling it yourself and coughing from the fumes. “Oh you were right this is disgusting.”

“Have I ever lied to you?” Mina hums. “Get that one for your professor.”

“I’d like my grade to be higher not lower. Let’s just get this pine one. It’s a safe bet right?”

“If you like your house to smell like a forest I guess so.” She shrugs, following behind you to the register. “Do you think we could get something to eat? I’m starving.”

“Didn’t you eat like half of Songi’s Christmas cookies this morning? Speaking of which you’re going to get in trouble, she was whining the whole time about how long they were taking due to her lack of patience.”

“When is she not whining about how long things take? Girl has the attention span of a nat, better yet a goldfish.” She snickers, though her eyes shine with a particular fondness for one of her oldest friends. Songi is actually how you met Mina in the first place, the both of you stuck in statistics together and becoming quick friends. When sophomore year rolled around it just made sense to move in with Songi and Mina as they were already looking for a third roommate.

“Very true. Though I’m sure her soulmate will find it charming. Hopefully.”

“Do you ever wonder when we’ll meet our soulmates?” Mina sighs, looking dreamily off into what appears to be the oncoming food court. It’s a toss up whether she’s thinking about her soulmate or fried food.

“All the time but I try not to dwell on it. I just want to live you know? They’ll find me eventually.” The line for hotteok is long, but the sweet smell of pancakes keeps you placated even if your stomach is grumbling.

“When my soulmate does come I hope they’re as fine as Park Jimin. That man must be an angel or something because no one has the right to be that attractive.” You’re about to comment on where that sudden thought came from when Park Jimin himself exits hastily from a store, a clothing bag thrown over his shoulder as he hastily types on his phone. From the draw of his brows and slight scowl he almost looks a little angry, an expression you’ve never seen on him before. “Jimin!” Mina calls, and the orange haired boy immediately picks his head up and puts on a light smile before jogging over.

As he approaches the bells around you jangle, the clock at Santa’s workshop echoing throughout the mall and ringing in your ears. Rubbing your ear to try and ease the slight pain you give Jimin a small wave when he finally appears before you. “The bells are pretty loud huh?” He smiles, nodding towards the large bell that apparently looms behind you.

You agree at the same time Mina says, “I don’t think they’re that loud. Annoying at most.” Before looking between the both of you and wriggling her brows. You brush it off as her being weird before gesturing to Jimin’s bag.

“Don’t tell me you bought a Santa costume.” You say, causing him to laugh. The way his eyes slip between his plump cheeks is rather flattering.

“I lost a bet and this is the price to pay for tonight’s party. Speaking of which you guys should come. Jin’s on alcohol duty so he’ll definitely get all the fancy shit.” Jimin says.

“Well since the Park Jimin invited us, I guess we’ll have to stop by. Text y/n the address and we’ll get there eventually. No promises to be on time though.” Mina jokes.

“That is why they created the term ‘fashionably late’ is it not? Just make sure not to wear a sexy Santa costume, Jin says he wants to be the lone slutty Santa.” Jimin laughs, as if drawing a picture in his own mind before shaking his head.

“It’s a little odd to have a party on the twenty-third though. Why not Christmas Eve?”

“Most of us are going home tomorrow so today was really the only time. Everyone was strung up with finals and stuff.”

“Understandable. I’m getting last minute extra credit before grades are finalized tomorrow. Our school really kills the festive spirit with everything being so close to the holidays.”

“Exactly. All the more reason to party out our frustrations.” His phone buzzes and Jimin types a quick reply before turning back to you. “I gotta go and help Tae at the shelter but I’ll see you both tonight right?”

“And Songi! Our ride or die, our forever plus one, our favorite-“

“Alright, alright. Yeah we’ll be there.” You smile, your hand still over Mina’s mouth as Jimin turns and jogs away. When you release her she smacks the back of your head and you whine.

“What was that for??”

“For being stupid dumbass. You’re telling me both you and Jimin thought the bells were super loud and didn’t think that’s sus. He’s clearly your soulmate!” Mina practically screeches, bouncing on her heels in excitement. The spectacle draws the attention of those around you and you can’t help but shy away.

“Shut up! Besides it’s the holiday season, bells are ringing everywhere. There’s no way to tell if it’s actually your soulmate’s bell jingle. Besides Jimin didn’t seem to think anything of it either. Shouldn’t you just know?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one with the found soulmate after all.” Mina shrugs before giving her order to the vendor. She nudges you to give your own but your mind is still reeling. Park Jimin isn’t actually your soulmate, right?

1 day, 1 hour, 37 minutes, 53 seconds until Christmas

Despite your nonchalance earlier, you feel jittery standing outside the address Jimin sent you. Shivers rack down your spine at the prospect of seeing him again, of being certain that Jimin is your forever. You can hear the music through the door, a rhythmic thumping that you try and match your breathing to. Even if Park Jimin isn’t your soulmate it’s not going to be the end of the world. At least that’s what you try to tell yourself, ignoring the way just the idea forms a pit in your stomach. “I know we’re waiting for you to mentally prepare yourself but could you hurry up? I for one would love to witness slutty Jin.” Mina says, nudging you forward lightly with her shoulder.

“Chill out Mina, give the poor girl some time. She’s about to find her soulmate after all.” Songi says, throwing an arm over your shoulder and dragging you into her side. “If it makes you feel better I’ll stay by your side the whole night. We can make fun of Mina shamelessly trying to outdo Seokjin.”

“Hey! Jimin may have said I couldn’t be a slutty Santa but that will never stop me from being the baddest bitch there.” She makes a show of grabbing her sweater and tugging it to emphasize ‘ho’ stitched across the front. Songi has a matching one with Santa losing said hos.

“If I don’t see a dance battle I’m going to be disappointed. After all you promised to do something stupid for me to film. It’s the only reason I decided to come, I mean after supporting you of course.” Songi laughs, giving you an affectionate squeeze.

“Hey I could be an idol with these moves! Ryujin has nothing on me.” Mina huffs, breaking out into the iconic Itzy choreography in the middle of the hallway. You can’t help but crack up at the serious face she makes while ungracefully flailing her limbs. “And you should be grateful to us you hermit! I hope for your sake your soulmate is outgoing because you’ll live your whole life holed up in your apartment otherwise.”

“It’s safer that way. No bugs.” Songi says, causing Mina to push her and nearly send you both crashing to the floor.

“You’re insufferable. I don’t know how I’ve put up with you all these years.”

“You love me, I mean really it’d be hard not too.” Songi shrugs, a smug smile pulled onto her face as she pats Mina’s cheek.

“More like tolerate you and to be honest I’ve reached my limit. Let’s go inside so I can ditch you losers.” Mina throws the door open and heads inside, easily weaving through the bodies crammed inside the small apartment.

“I can just feel the love.” Songi sighs, clutching onto the space over her heart. “Now come on, we can’t find him if we’re in the hallway all night.” Moving to grab your hand she drags you inside, only for you to run into a boy passing through.

“My bad, didn’t think anyone else would be coming by. I have to go get more eggnog before Jin starts screaming at us again.” He smiles, the corner of his lips forming into soft right angles.

“It’s alright.” You murmur, looking around for Mina or Songi. Surely they’re somewhere nearby. Songi is most likely tucked away in some corner, longingly looking for an animal to keep her entertained while Mina is probably at the makeshift bar. If you weren’t so busy looking for your friends maybe you’d pay mind to the soft tinkling of bells and his cardinal red Santa suit wrapped nicely around his frame. Yet even when he breezes past you, your eyes are focused on your two friends. You spot Mina first, surprisingly she’s near the edge of the makeshift dance floor, a drink in her hand and likely about halfway drunk enough to begin belting along to whatever song comes on, even if it’s a terrible EDM mashup of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

You push through the bodies to get to her, almost getting trampled twice before breaking out and grabbing her by the arm before she can walk away. “Oh hey! I got you a drink, I know you don’t like eggnog so I swiped the chocolate milk from the fridge and spiked it myself.” She smiles, shoving a green plastic cup decorated with little lights towards you. You take a sip and wince at the bitter taste, the gingerbread liquor making an interesting concoction. But it’s the thought that counts and you smile despite wanting to cough at the strong flavor.

“Thanks. Where’s Songi?” You ask and Mina curses.

“She was just over in that corner but she’s gone now. Maybe we should try to find her?”

“You know, for someone who claims to hate social interaction she goes off on her own quite easily.” You hum, pushing your way through only to bump into Park Jimin himself. “Sorry.” You say, bumping into Mina from how quickly you try to put space between the two of you. You had momentarily forgotten the whole reason you came was because of Jimin and the possibility that he’s your soulmate. Your hands are suddenly clammy and you rub them against the side of your pants nervously.

“No big deal. Good to see you though! How long have you been here? You should’ve come and said hi to me first.” He whines, his pretty lips drawing into a thick pout, brows upturned as he gives you his best puppy dog look. You can feel yourself melting and all he’s doing is staring at you. The bells around you seem to get louder, Mariah Carey’s iconic Christmas song setting the stage.

“Ahh yeah. Next time! Maybe we could-uhh even come together. If you want to that is.” You smile shyly, pulling your sleeves down over your hands anxiously. You hope he can understand the implication behind your words, and as he steps towards you the bells seem to grow even louder. Someone shoves you from behind and you stumble, body alight with nerves when Jimin catches you. You’re practically shaking, in nerves or excitement you can’t discern. The only thing you can focus on is how pretty Jimin looks cast under red and white lights, his eyes filled with little twinkles. Your breath hitches at how close he is and you look down quickly when he gazes back at you so he can’t read the pure adoration on your face.

Naturally to try and seem less awkward you rush out the first thought that comes to mind. “Your suit is orange?” He takes a step back and you wish to reverse time as the warmth of whiskey and cinnamon on his breath parts from you.

“Ahh yeah, I lost a bet so I had to wear a Santa Suit and Hobi didn’t have enough for us all. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even bother looking at it before renting it. It’s my own fault for being swindled. I should’ve known better than to rent from a halloween shop that was suspiciously still open in December. Can you believe all the other stores were sold out?” Jimin scoffs and despite being interested in his story you can only focus on the way his lips move and pout with each word. They’re a rosy pink, slightly shiny in the dim lighting like he had just put on chapstick or licked his lips. The only thing that draws you out of your stupor is a petite girl throwing her arm around Jimin’s waist.

“Baby!” She exclaims and your eyes widen as Jimin grins down at her, wrapping his hands happily around her own waist and dragging him tightly into her. His smile is the largest you’ve ever seen on him, cheeks particularly squished in utmost happiness and his expression being what you could only describe as love. You can feel your heart breaking already. “Hi I’m Jisoo!” You think you’re going to be sick to your stomach, not just because Jimin is in love with someone else but because the girl you’re supposed to hate is so nice. She smiles at you warmly like you weren’t just staring at her boyfriend’s lips and wondering what they’d taste like.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Isn’t my soulmate so cute?” Jimin asks you, his eyes sparkling like diamonds as he squishes her cheek between two fingers. Your breath starts to quicken and you smile widely to hide the way your eyes begin to fill with tears.

“You both are adorable together.” You manage to get out, impressed with how natural it sounds despite how tense you feel. The bells in your head are just mocking you now as you make up an excuse to leave, the two of them so wrapped up in each other they don’t pay mind to your absence. Clearing your throat you head to the bathroom to try and get some privacy for your inevitable break down only to run into Mina and some guy in a Santa suit stumbling out.

“Y/n!” Mina cheers, too intoxicated to notice the way small tears begin to fall down your face. The hallway is rather dark and yet you can still make out the guy next to her with a curved nose and reddened ears. He looks a little embarrassed to be caught after an obvious rendezvous in a bathroom at a party and yet his hands still wind around Mina’s waist comfortably when she pulls away from you. “My soulmate’s an elf!” She cackles and you welcome the distraction her words bring.

“What?” You ask confused. The guy beside her is wearing a Santa costume, you’re sure of it.

“Hoseok is a mall elf! You know the guy with the hot legs? It’s him, my soulmate!” She squeals excitedly, grabbing him by the arm and smiling up at him blissfully.

“How are you sure?” You don’t mean to sound so bitter, but Mina never mentioned hearing bells at the mall nor did she mention hearing bells when you caught her earlier. If anything this could just be her wishful thinking like her suggestion of Jimin being your soulmate.

“You just kinda know! Like at the mall when we passed I wrote it off as shop bells. Then when I got here and we bumped into each other I just knew it was actually him. And when we touched it was like I was struck by lightning.” Your face must show incredulity because she just smiles at you.

“I know, I know. It sounds super cliche but it’s true. Though now that we’ve touched a lot more it’s wearing down.” She giggles, winking at him and reveling in the way the blush burns brighter. He sticks his hand out to you after squeezing her waist and you stare at it for a moment before reaching out to shake it.

“Hi, I’m Hoseok. You can call me Hobi though.” His smile takes the form of a heart as he grins at you and Mina practically squeals.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’d love to talk later but I have to use the bathroom.” You nod behind them and Hoseok seems to realize he’s standing in the doorway and moves aside bashfully.

“So sorry! Didn’t realize I was still standing there.” You just give him a tight-lipped smile and nod, moving past them quickly. Your silence seems to be what draws Mina’s concern, a tentative hand coming to grab your forearm lightly.

“Y/n-“ She starts but you gently brush her off.

“I’m fine. Really don’t worry about me.” You say softly before locking the door and sliding down it. It’s in the comfort of the quiet bathroom that you allow the tears to freely fall and mourn the soulmate you didn’t have.

22 hours, 45 minutes, 35 seconds until Christmas

You finally find Songi, a random cat cuddled up in her arms as she’s squished into a small chair nestled by the kitchen. She’s a little hazy in your mind, it feels a bit like you’re looking at her underwater, and you smile at her lazily before plopping down into her lap. “Be careful!” She scolds, holding the cat up higher so it’s curled into her chest instead. You just blink slowly at her in response and she sighs. “How much did you drink tonight?”

“After I cried for like thirty minutes I stole a bottle of peppermint schnapps and drank the whole thing.” You sigh, resting your head against her own.

“Why’d you cry? I wish you would’ve told me you were upset, I would’ve suggested we leave right away.”

“Park Jimin already has a soulmate…it’s not me. I know chances were already slim because he’s Park Jimin and well, I’m me but I just thought maybe this would be it. I finally would have someone to share everything with and I wouldn’t.. be so lonely.” You murmur out the last part, your drunken state revealing the thoughts that consumed you upon meeting Jisoo. No matter how much you mentally prepared yourself for the possibility of Jimin being a fluke, you weren’t ready for just how brutal the disappointment was.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being you. Besides I’d never let Park Jimin sit on my lap and yet here you are, perched upon a throne.” You can’t help the small giggle you let out. Songi always knows what to say to cheer you up.

“You’re so weird you know that? You’re the only person I know who refers to thighs as a throne.”

“Don’t judge me and my preferences. You drool over hands and I drool over thighs, it’s perfectly normal. Anyways, I know you mean romantically but I’ll always be here if you want someone to cry with or to yell at fictional characters about their stupidity with you. You’re my best friend.” Despite her hatred of hugs and physical contact Songi retracts her arms from the cat to put them around you instead, gently giving you a squeeze. It’s a little awkward because she’s terrible at hugs but you appreciate it nonetheless.

“How about we get out of here okay?” She suggests and you nod, wincing as your head starts to pound. The alcohol must be catching up to you. The pounding is then followed by ringing, and you hold your head in your hands as church bells ring in your ears. The world is truly out to make a mockery of your life.

“You okay? Here sit down a minute.” Songi ushers you into the chair as she hovers above you, rushing off to get some water for you.

“Taehyung really shouldn’t have been in charge of the playlist.” Someone from beside you sighs but you can’t look up at them for the sake of your pounding headache. “I think I’m going to have bells ringing in my head for days.” They sigh before they seem to notice you. “Hey you okay?” They ask, a hand placed on your shoulder in concern but the electricity that runs down your spine makes you gasp. Your skin prickles in goosebumps but Songi is just near enough that she takes your gasp as extreme pain instead of astonishment.

“I’m sorry I took so long!” She says, throwing your arm around her shoulders haphazardly before hauling you up and against her.

“Hey wait-“ The voice from beside you starts, but Songi brushes them off.

“Don’t worry I’m not gonna steal your cat this time. But don’t let him roam around with a bunch of drunk people. I almost saw him get stepped on five times by idiots.” For a brief second you manage enough strength to turn your head without wanting to throw up and blearily lock eyes with a pair of chocolate brown ones. They’re swimming with something you can’t quite make out: pain, regret, longing. But then Songi calls your name and you turn away to make sure you don’t smack into the front door. It’s odd but you can feel a pit in your stomach the further you walk away and his eyes are imprinted on the back of your lids with every blink.

14 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds until Christmas

“Wake up bitches!” Mina screams, banging on your and Songi’s doors and you groan. Rolling over, you throw the pillow over your head and try to fall back asleep to avoid the way your head pounds. Mina throws your door open and you wince when it smacks against the wall next to it. “You can’t evade me.” She says, reaching for your comforter and trying to throw it off. However, you predicted this to happen when you flipped over and cling tightly to the fluffy bedding, expertly disrupting her evil plan. Mina huffs in annoyance and you hide your grin in your sheets before releasing a puff of air when she jumps on top of you. “Wake! Up!” She yells, jumping on top of you like you’re some human trampoline.

“You’re the worst kind of person.” You grumble, rolling over to come face to face with her smile.

“Thanks! Now I want to eat cookies for breakfast and I refuse to eat them alone like it’s a shameful activity.” True in her shameless fashion she’s only wearing a baggy t-shirt, her neck exposed and colored various shades of purple and red. Though your night was unexplainably horrible you’re glad at least someone had a good time.

“I want Songi’s cookies. Hers always look pretty.”

“You mean you don’t want to try my cinnamon bourbon toffee snickerdoodles? I saw it on tiktok and they took me two hours! I nearly set the oven on fire!” You wrinkle your nose at the memory of two days ago, and coming home from finishing up one of your last papers to her covered in flour and the counters doused in eggs. It’s like she somehow got in a food fight with herself.

“And that’s precisely why they shouldn’t exist in the first place. You didn’t even know how to turn on the oven.” Songi murmurs, leant against your doorway.

“You’re all ungrateful, uncultured swines.” She huffs, though she still proceeds to make you all hot chocolates when you emerge from your room. The three of your are sat at the kitchen counter, plates full of cookies and Songi’s mom’s homemade fudge. If anything can cure a hangover it’s gorging yourself on unhealthy food.

“Did I ever tell you one kid in high school called me an uncultured swine because I didn’t know the rat from the ninja turtles?” Songi says, munching on her own frosted sugar cookie. It was her first attempt at a 3D wreath but turned out to be more like a bush of frosting. For most it’d be deemed to sweet and disgusting to ingest but Songi happily licks away at the icing.

“What is the rat’s name?” Mina asks, and Songi just shrugs.

“I still don’t know honestly.”

“Why were you up so early anyways? Don’t you normally sleep until noon?” You ask Mina, noticing the way she turns away from you almost shyly.

“Hobi slept over and he had to go back to work early to return the Santa suits he stole before his boss found out.” The Santa suits spring a memory to mind and you suddenly recall seeing more than just one. Though Jimin did mention there being others, you only saw Hobi and Jin wearing them.

“Why were so many people wearing Santa suits anyways? I thought Jin wanted to be the only one.”

“The only slutty one, so naturally he was wearing the top of the suit like a robe and cut the pants into thot shorts. Hobi was understandably pissed about that one since they were only borrowing the suits after all. But it was some bet, he told me about it last night but I was too drunk to remember.” Looking into your drink the swirling chocolate then reminds you of eyes and the tingling feeling down your back when a warm palm rested on your shoulder.

“Holy shit!” You exclaim, suddenly standing up and running to your room. Mina and Songi are hot on your heels, watching curiously as you bounce around on one foot while struggling to pull your jeans over your thighs and hips.

“Where are you going?” Songi asks and you widen your eyes at the realization that she’s the only one who would’ve seen their face.

“Songi who did you see before you took me home? Who had their hand on my shoulder?” You ask, running up to grab her by the upper arms and shake her almost desperately. “Songi I need to know who it was.”

“What’s this all about? Did they steal from you or something?” Mina asks and you throw your head back in a frustrated groan.

“No they’re my soulmate!”

“Babe-“ Mina starts and your glare at the pity in her expression.

“I’m being serious. I felt the sparks or whatever and I can see his eyes when we walked away. I just can’t remember anything else. Songi you have to remember who they were.” You plead to the both of them and they look back at you rather sadly.

“I’m sorry but I’ve never seen them before. I think they were wearing a Santa costume but I don’t remember much else about them.” She says and you can’t help but deflate. You actually found your soulmate and got so drunk you can’t remember anything about them. Great.

“Are you sure they’re your soulmate anyways. I passed by you later that night and you seemed pretty wasted but maybe after Jimin you just thought-“

“No I didn’t make up a soulmate just because I was depressed that Jimin wasn’t mine. You know how you just knew with Hoseok? Well I just know with him. How many people were wearing Santa costumes?”

“Six.” Mina says but Songi disagrees and says there’s seven.

“A guy came in later with another suit. That’s how I found the cat, it was just following him around and I heard the little bell on the collar.”

“You-you heard a cat bell at a party filled with drunk people screaming?” Mina asks, her face twisted up in confusion. You have to admit that does seem like it’s rather unlikely that someone would be able to discern such a quiet sound with so much commotion.

“I have exceptional hearing, of course I heard it. Besides this isn’t some fanfic where we all find our soulmates in the same place. The guy did have a pretty face though, I wouldn’t mind looking at it upon closer inspection.” Songi shrugs, staring off dreamily like the cat guy is standing right in front of her.

“Do you think Hobi can give me the name of the guys he leant the suits to?” You ask and Mina sighs.

“Just don’t get your hopes up too much okay? Songi only thinks he was wearing a Santa costume. I just don’t want to see you heartbroken again.” She pats your head softly, almost motherly, and you give her your best smile.

13 hours, 45 minutes, 36 seconds until Christmas

The name Min Yoongi swirls around your brain as you stand outside of Bored and Brewed. It’s tucked between a music supply store and a flower shop, leafy plants hanging above the entrance and the large front windows blocked in by thin rectangular frames. You can see warm lights strewn across the cafe from outside, casting it in a golden hue as soft pink chairs and petal green couches decorate the inside. The bell above you jingles and you tersely smile, flashbacks of your embarrassment from misinterpreting a common sound during the holiday season returning. Hoseok gave no description of what Min Yoongi would look like, only stating that he’s a frequenter of this specific cafe given it’s proximity to your university’s music school buildings. Though Jimin mentioned all his friends were leaving today, you’re still hopeful that your soulmate will stick around long enough for you to find them. This is a matter of fate after all, the universe wouldn’t allow you to meet them before Christmas only to end up spending the day alone right? No matter how cruel the world normally seems you refuse to believe it would do this to you.

Upon entry the guy behind the counter smiles at you, then goes back to busying himself on the phone while you look at the menu. You’re not one for liking strong coffee, so your eyes naturally linger towards the sweeter drinks that are on the special menu. The bell to the shop rings again but you don’t pay it any mind, too fixated on trying to figure out what you want.

“I wouldn’t get the peppermint drink if I were you. They load it with sugar and whipped cream so it doesn’t taste like anything.” A voice from behind you says and you nod along. “I’d get the sugar cookie one, it’s not super sweet but also has a nice flavor. It’s the only thing I get that’s not actual coffee.” He hums and you decide to go ahead and order that before you make the guy behind you wait any longer.

“Make that two. I’m feeling particularly generous today.” He hands over some cash before you can say anything and you whip around to face him. Wavy black hair covers his brows, most of it tucked inside a gray beanie. A baggy hoodie and black skinny jeans adorn the rest of his figure and he gives you a tight lipped smile with the edges quirked upwards.

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to.” You say, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You follow him to the pick up area for your drinks, tucking your hands into your pockets to try and hide your nervous fiddling.

“I try to do a good deed every day so today that’s you it seems.” His voice is low and soft, a quiet rumbling in the wind.

“Well I appreciate it.” You say and silence falls between the two of you. Your mind is searching for something to say to fill the silence but the barista comes by with your two drinks. You’re about to just leave the conversation at the polite end but the barista’s words catches your attention.

“Feel free to buy me a drink sometime Yoongi.” He laughs.

“Yoongi?” You ask and the boy with the beanie turns back to you.

“Yeah?”

“As in Min Yoongi. Hobi’s friend?” You press further and the boy’s confusion turns to skepticism.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well you see I met my soulmate last night at the party but I don’t remember who they were, just that they were wearing a Santa costume.” You murmur, following behind when Yoongi makes a move to leave the shop.

“I’m sorry but I don’t believe in soulmates. I think you should have a say in who’s right for you.” Despite the coldness of his words, his tone is still soft- sympathetic almost.

“Yoongi wait!” You exclaim, grabbing onto his wrist with your own hand. The bell above the store chimes above you and for a second you allow yourself to believe you’re the one to change how Yoongi feels about soulmates. And yet you feel no goosebumps when your skin touches his, only the slightly dry texture of his palm when he gently takes your hand off him. “The-the bells. I can’t lose my soulmate again, please.” The end comes off as a whisper and Yoongi must take pity on you because he gives you a gentle smile.

“The bells were from above the door. But I can give you the name of another Santa, his name is Jin. He’s the one who hosted the party. He works at the restaurant I play piano for, he should be there picking up his check because the manager is old fashioned. If you hurry you can probably catch him. Two blocks down, it’s the fancy place with the stupid golden archway like a high end McDonalds.” He pats your upper arm twice before walking away. Though you miss the way he turns to watch you run around the small corner mumbling a small good luck at your parting figure.

13 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds until Christmas

Yoongi wasn’t lying when he said the place did have a strange high-end McDonalds feel. The golden arches are spotless, reflecting the red and green lights scattered in some windows of the buildings across the street. The doors are large french ones with gold painted around the trim and a guy in a butler’s outfit opens them for you. You thank him before heading inside, observing the grandiose chandeliers and poinsettias decorating the host stand. A girl with long blonde hair smiles at you before asking if you need a table.

“Actually I was looking for Jin? He has blonde hair and really wide shoulders.” It’s the only information Yoongi offered but the girl in front of you nods in understanding and you can’t help the sigh of relief you let out.

“He just came in to get something so I’ll find him and let him know you’re waiting for him. Can I get your name?”

“Umm just tell him Hobi’s friend is waiting.” You say nervously, pulling at the strings of your sweater to busy yourself. She just nods before walking away and you stuff three of the free mints in your mouth to try and ease yourself. That is before you realize they’re peppermint flavored and instantly start gagging as the taste of last night’s peppermint liquor surfaces. With your hand over your mouth to stop yourself from gagging, Jin walks into the lobby and spots you. His eyes widen in recognition, sparkling as he gets nearer. And as he draws closer a distant tinkling sounds rings out and your eyes water with tears. Is your soulmate perhaps the sluttiest Santa of them all?

“I’d remember you from anywhere. You stole my entire bottle of Peppermint Schnapps out of my secret liquor cabinet. I’m surprised you could reach it to be honest, I have to climb on the counter to grab it myself so you must’ve done some serious spider man shit.” He smiles and you wish the ground would swallow you whole. You have no recollection of doing that. What had Mina put in your first drink?

“Ahh yes. I was hoping I could speak to you privately.” Your eyes dart to the blonde hostess, perched on the host stand and conveniently leaning toward the two of you to hear closer.

“I was going to steal some food from the back before I left. You want anything?” He asks, walking towards the kitchen with you following him like some lovesick puppy. At this point you refuse to let your soulmate be taken from you any longer.

“What do you have?”

“Anything you could ever want. I’m heading home after this so I need some snacks for the drive.” He picks up a baguette and fruit, before opening the freezer and pulling out ready made desserts and quiches. “You think the caviar is here yet?” He asks to himself before rifling through some more shelves and letting out a loud ‘aha!’

“You hold this.” He says, giving you the expensive caviar and gesturing for you to hide it under your shirt.

“You want me to smuggle it out?” You exclaim and Jin quickly shushes you.

“It’s not smuggling, it’s borrowing. If there’s any left I’ll return it.” He says, pushing you away from the kitchen and walking normally like he doesn’t have a baguette and many other foods in his arms.

“Isn’t that a health violation?” You ask and Jin rolls his eyes.

“What are you? The health inspector? Besides you weren’t worried about health violations last night.” He says, leading you towards the front. The tinkling sound is particularly loud here and you finally gather the courage to question him about your real intentions.

“Speaking of last night, I don’t actually remember much. But I do know I found my soulmate.” You start, looking towards him and Jin hums in acknowledgement. “And he was wearing a Santa suit…so as you know, you were also wearing one. So I was thinking-“

“I’m your soulmate?” Jin says and you nearly drop the bowl of caviar that’s tucked underneath your shirt.

“You are? Honestly that’s such a relief because I’ve been stressing myself out about trying to find them before it was actually Christmas so I don’t have to spend another alone. You said you were having to go to your family’s right? Would I be able to come with? I know we’ve only just met but I can’t imagine having to be alone again and-“ Seokjin has tucked the baguette under his arm, a finger pressed delicately to your lips.

“This is very flattering, truly the sweetest soulmate confession I’ve received thus far. But I have to stop you because I’m not your soulmate. You think you’re hearing bells right? The bus boys are polishing all the glasses and they always knock them into each other.” When he sees your eyes water again he gently wipes the falling tears. “I know you’re looking to find them and I want to help you. You said it was a Santa right? Lucky for you all my friend’s wore the costume because of Taehyung’s punishment. They were betting the length of time it would take Taehyung to smuggle a cat out of the shelter he works at. If you ask me I think it was rigged since Taehyung was the determinator of the bet length but my friends are stupid at best so they overlooked that. I was going to be slutty Santa anyways so I didn’t really care what they did. The only surprise was Taehyung being a freak and wearing a suit as well. Can you believe it was just because he wanted to be festive and not to get someone to sit in his lap?”

You can only sniffle and nod, internally questioning if trying to find your soulmate today was really a good idea. Mina did warn you about the potential heartbreak but you had been stubborn and unwilling to listen. The universe has had it out for you thus far, so why would it suddenly take pity on you and make things easy? “Hey, hey don’t give up. I’ll send you the shelter address and you can stop by when you’re ready. He should be there all day, his family is coming up here tomorrow so he has nothing better to do.” Jin says.

“You don’t think this is stupid? That I’m searching for something that clearly wasn’t meant to happen?”

“I don’t think any matter of the heart is something to criticize. If you really wanna find your soulmate you will, I believe in you. And Hobi must’ve believed in you too if he gave you our government names and locations. He wouldn’t give them out to strangers he didn’t trust. Or at least I hope he doesn’t, I’m much too beautiful to be held hostage.”

“Thanks Jin. That was oddly encouraging.”

“There’s nothing that a pretty face can’t fix. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must coast to the gas station and stand there until someone offers to pay for me. The sugar daddies are normally out right about now so that’s my queue. And when you find your soulmate, tell him he and his garbage truck stomach owe me groceries.”

“You know who it is?” You ask and Jin only shrugs.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’ll see you at the next party y/n.” He winks.

12 hours, 28 minutes, 12 seconds until Christmas

“Did you find them?” Songi asks excitedly when you enter the apartment and you shake your head in reply. You’re not exactly completely discouraged but you feel nowhere near as excited and prepared as you were earlier. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” She asks, tentatively sitting on the couch beside you.

“Can we just watch a fun movie or something? i don’t really want to think at the moment.”

“How about a drama instead? Someone I know really loves Goblin.” She sings, already reaching for the remote.

“Goblin would be nice. It’s been a while since I’ve watched it.” You hum, snuggling under a fluffy blanket thrown across the back of the couch and curling up next to Songi.

“You want some popcorn? I can make hot chocolate or something if you want.” She offers but you shake your head and lean your head on her shoulder.

“I just want to mindlessly watch some dramas and pretend I’m the main characters.” You say and she merely nods before turning Goblin on.

“We can do that.” You both settle in comfortably, your body easing as the stress and emotional toll begin to weigh on you. Maybe what you needed was to just relax before putting yourself back out there. Besides Taehyung was supposed to be at the shelter all day, you had plenty of time. And even if you missed Taehyung, even if you didn’t find your soulmate by Christmas, you wouldn’t truly be alone. You had Songi right here with you, someone who had already offered to bring you with her when she saw her family tomorrow. It was with this warming realization that you finally allowed yourself to stop thinking, and close your eyes to get a peaceful sleep.

8 hours, 32 minutes, 56 seconds until Christmas

“You two took a nap and I wasn’t invited? You know napping is my favorite part of the day.” Mina whines, setting bags down onto the kitchen counter before squeezing between you and Songi on the couch. “Oo I love this scene! Though I have to say Nam Joo Hyuk’s swim scenes in weightlifting fairy were the best part of any drama I’ve seen thus far. When I tell you I almost drooled.” She sighs, batting away the pillow that Songi attempts to hit her with.

“How dare you talk about my man like that.” Songi huffs dramatically before pouting. “Besides he’s best as Nam Do San. If I could marry any character it’d be him.”

“He’s cute but I wouldn’t want him.” You say.

“Yes, yes. We all know you like your men older.” Mina cackles, wiggling her eyebrows at you suggestively.

“Hey they don’t have to be! I just- I don’t know, I want someone who could take care of me.”

“In all ways.” Mina giggles, her voice choked when you smack her dead in the face with the pillow beside you.

“None of that in my christian household!” You giggle to which she gasps, accosted.

“Then tell Songi to stop her weird thigh club thing!”

“I am part of the weightlifting club it’s not my fault we focus on squats!” Songi says, her voice rising significantly higher as she attempts to defend herself.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t join because you heard Wonho was the president.” Mina challenges, giggling when Songi’s cheeks bloom pretty roses.

“Sh-shut up. If you can have your hoe hours so can I. Besides Wonho’s my friend now, so I don’t admire them as much anymore.”

“You’re right, you admire them respectfully.” You add, laughing harder when Songi flips you off in retaliation.

“I hate you all. I need someone who will truly love me and be on my side.” She whines, standing up and moving to put on her shoes by the front door.

“Where are you going now?” Mina asks.

“To get a cat!” Songi exclaims, grabbing her bag off the rack by the door and storming out. You know she’s not really mad, but you also know there’s a one-hundred percent chance she’s coming back with a cat despite your lease directly stating it doesn’t allow animals.

You settle back onto the couch before your eyes widen and you jump up to put on your own shoes. “And where are you going?”

“I need to go to the shelter to see Taehyung and Songi’s the only one with a car!” You shout, running out the door and after her. You sprint down the stairs, it’s the most exercise you think you’ve gotten this year, and make it into the parking garage just as Songi unlocks her car. “Songi wait! Let me come with.” You yell, crossing over to her and throwing the passenger door open before she can say no.

“If you’re also getting a cat I get first dibs. It was my idea after all.” She says, waiting patiently for you to buckle up before pulling out. “Hey can you find directions for the nearest shelter? I know there’s one on third but I have no idea where third is.”

“Yeah I have the address for one.” You say, pulling up the place Jin sent you.

8 hours, 16 minutes, 24 seconds

The shelter itself is pretty small, but there’s a large fenced-in play area in the back. It’s filled with new toys and the sight makes you smile, especially at the few puppies that topple over each other when they trip while chasing one another. Your eyes linger on them a little longer and your heart pangs a little as you miss your dog from back home. You were supposed to see your family this winter season but all the flights in your home city were too expensive so you’ll have to see them after New Years instead. While you’ll get to see your family in a little over a week, you still miss them greatly especially when everyone is talking about going home to their own families.

“Do you want a dog instead?” Songi asks and you shake your head.

“No I don’t think I’m getting any pets. I have a umm friend who works here though.” You say, tucking your arm around hers and dragging her inside.

“Do you think they’ll give me a discount?” She asks, squeezing your arm when you tense at the little bell ringing above the door. At this point you hate bells and anything that has to deal with them.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll give you them free if you get two.” A smooth voice says, a boy with a black mullet and sharp eyebrows stepping in from the back. He smiles widely at you, rosy lips drawing into an almost blinding smile.

“Two might be a bit much for us.” You laugh stiffly. “I think we’re fine with just one.”

“Cat or dog?” He asks.

“Cat. Do you have any old cats? I’d like to give an elder guy a happy home.” Songi smiles and the beautiful man’s brows pinch.

“Taehyung is more familiar with the cats, I’ll go get him so he can show you around.”

“Sweet, thanks.” She says with a nod, tapping her feet to an imaginary beat. “Do you think I’ll find one that likes me? What if they all hate me?” Songi asks you, worry painted in her features.

“I’m sure they’ll all adore you. You’re difficult to not love.” You tell her, her shoulders sagging in relief.

“I just want to give them all the love in the world.” She says. “Oh do you think they sell collars? Something’s jingling.” She comments and before you can say anything the boy you first ran into last night appears. His boxy smile graces his features, dark eyes and long lashes fluttering as his gaze fixates on Songi.

“You’re the one looking for a cat?” He asks, his baritone voice causing a blush to rise to her skin. In fact, his voice when paired with his features seems to have glitched her brain out because she’s not moving at all. Her mouth is agape, her eyes wide as she takes in Taehyung. Several seconds have passed and she has yet to even so much as breathe. You nudge her shoulder and she seems to reboot, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Yeah.” She says breathily.

“Jaebum told me you wanted one of the older ones. I’ll show you the ones who’ve been here the longest too.” He says, urging you to follow him through the door on the left. “The first section is where we keep the older ones, hoping they’ll catch someone’s eye before they see the kittens.” He explains, gesturing to a large enclosure filled with cat beds and towers.

“Can we go inside?” Songi asks and Taehyung nods, opening the gate and allowing you both to enter before a cat can escape. Songi instantly takes a liking to a white fluffy one that’s sprawled on a blue bed in the corner. It’s ears twitch with each step she makes and she pauses when she’s an arms reach away.

“Hello.” She begins introducing herself to the cat and your eyes flicker to Taehyung who gazes at her almost fondly. Your stomach sinks because it’s clear you’re much more aware that Taehyung doesn’t have a belled collar in his pocket than Songi. Seeing her so clueless to her inevitable soulmate standing so close by allows you to give yourself forgiveness for being so clueless yesterday.

“That one’s named Gucci. Named him myself because he’s a rare breed.”

“Does that mean he’s going to be expensive too?” She jokes.

“Probably, he’s an old guy after all. Sometimes they develop health complications. This boy right here is thirteen and has been here for about two years I think?” Taehyung supplies and Songi immediately frowns.

“My poor baby.” She coos, gently reaching forward to scratch behind his ear and then further under his chin. “You wanna come live at my house? I’ll sneak you all the chicken you want.”

The cat just blinks at her, rather slowly, before sniffing her palm. Songi immediately takes this as a yes and tells Taehyung that she’ll take him. “A good choice if I must say so myself. You two look cute together.” Taehyung smiles before his eyes widen until they’re nearly entirely round like he didn’t realize what he was saying until it was already out of his mouth. He doesn’t retract them or try and make them less flirtatious however. He merely just walks away with a slight blush decorating the apples of his cheeks while mumbling about leaving to get paper work and a soft crate.

“You like him right?’ Songi asks and you just shrug despite the large smile pulling at your face.

“Taehyung? He seems really sweet.” You giggle to which she shushes you vehemently.

“He might hear you! Besides he’s way out of my league, there’s no way he’d like me back. Plus I already have a man in my life and he’s right here.” She tugs Gucci into her lap, pressing a small kiss to his nose.

“I will not let you turn into a cat lady. You’re already a hermit at twenty.”

“But people make me nervous.” She whines. Taehyung enters again before you can comment any further, the soft crate draped over his shoulder with a fluffy blanket tucked inside.

“I’ll come in with you and when you’re done signing, I’ll put him in the crate. Sometimes they put up a fight when you try and get them in there and I don’t want him scratching you.” Taehyung tells Songi and she just nods along. You can tell she’s stalling because the two pages takes her about five minutes, as she pretends to care about having neat handwriting. You’re pretty sure she’s working up the nerve to say something to Taehyung so you decide to do it for her.

“Taehyung do you have a collar on you? I think Gucci would look really cute with one with like a bowtie bell.” You ask and his mouth parts slightly open, brows pulled together in confusion. It gives off a similar vibe to when your puppy cocks his head to the side when it can’t figure out what you’re saying.

“We don’t have any collars here. We don’t want the animals to get caught on anything and owners usually like to pick out their own.”

“You mean you don’t have one in your pocket?” Songi asks, equally as confused. You love her but for being so academically smart she can be so slow.

“No.” Taehyung says before turning to her with startled eyes. “You can hear bells?”

“Yeah. Should I not be able to?”

“I can hear them too!” He yells, startling half the cats but he pays them no mind as he pulls her into a tight embrace. “I’m so happy, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you…my soulmate.” He says it dreamily even though Songi is right in front of him and although your chances of finding your own is dwindling significantly you can’t help but be happy for your friend. She’s lit up under Taehyung’s attention, smiling so wide you think your own cheeks are starting to hurt. “And you my little man,” Taehyung says, squishing Gucci’s head between his large hands. “I’m going to be your dad!”

7 hours, 45 minutes, 31 seconds until Christmas

After finally convincing Taehyung to let Songi go, only under the terms that you’ll meet him at a nearby diner to get food, you wind up back in your apartment. Mina is gone, probably either on her way home or out with Hoseok so it’s quiet when Songi enters with Gucci. It’s probably a good thing as Taehyung warned you both that moving was quite stressful for a cat and he’d want a quiet room to hang out by himself until he felt comfortable. Gingerly taking him to her room, Songi sets up his things before opening Gucci’s crate and quietly closing the door. “I hope he doesn’t pee on my stuff.” She comments suddenly.

“I doubt it. He probably won’t even leave the crate for a few hours.”

“You think he’ll like it here?” Songi asks, following you out of the apartment and back down to her car. Taehyung wanted to go to somewhere near his work since he biked there this morning and Songi was happy to oblige even if she normally hates driving at night.

“I think so, I know you’ll shower him with as much love as you can. He’d have no reason not to like it.”

“Taehyung?” She asks, laughing to herself for parroting you from earlier. “I know, you meant the cat. But on a serious note, the cat will like me better than him right? It’d be so depressing for my cat to like my boyfriend more than me.”

“Mmm that one is hard. Your boyfriend is scarily beautiful.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.” Songi whines.

“I am, I’m just speaking facts. It doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful too.” Your phone buzzes and it’s a text from Mina asking what your plans are for tonight. You guess Mina didn’t go home after all.

“Is it okay if Mina comes along? Hobi’s probably with her too.” You ask, already typing out a reply because you know Songi will agree.

“That’s fine. But hey, can you give me directions again? I really don’t know where I’m supposed to be going.”

4 hours, 47 minutes, 27 seconds until Christmas

Songi is sidled up beside Taehyung, his arm resting on her leg while Hobi has his arm wrapped around Mina’s shoulders. You’re all crammed inside a small circular booth, mountains of food spread around the table as you joke around about nothing in particular. You had forgotten Taehyung and Hobi were close friends, having met so many of said friends that it feels like everyone is just a friend of a friend. And yet despite being the only one without a significant other, you don’t feel left out or lonely. In fact, you’re the happiest you’ve been these past two days as you listen to Taehyung ramble on about the time he had to streak across campus.

“Should I be horrified that the campus security guards know what my boyfriend’s dick looks like before I do?” Songi laughs.

“Hey they only got a preview, you get the full movie.” She giggles to which you all collectively groan.

“Gross!” Songi says, making Taehyung beside her pout.

“I don’t know why I thought finding Hobi would make you any less shameless.” You chuckle.

“Hey you all love me like this. Take it or leave it as they say.” Mina says, dipping a fry in ranch before popping it into her mouth. “You sure you can handle all this Hobi?” She asks to which he only winks. Lord help you, there’s two of them.

“I think our best moment was when we convinced Namjoon to sneak into the science labs and set all the testing rats free. Imagine this like six foot tall man screaming as a bunch of little white rats chase after him.” Taehyung giggles.

“What he didn’t know was that Jungkook had stuffed cheese into the pockets of his cargo pants so the rats were trying to get a midnight snack.” Hobi snickers.

“Where’d they all go?” Songi asks.

“They just kinda scattered around campus. I’m sure half of them live near the dining halls now.” Hobi says.

“Do you think they formed packs? Or are they like Remy from Ratatouille and are going to take over as chefs. The dining halls could really use an upgrade. Remember when we used to trek across campus just to get a decent dinner?” Taehyung asks.

“I’m not sure. Why don’t you two go and ask them?” Mina snickers.

“Jungkook.” They both say suddenly like that’s a reasonable and valid answer.

“Jungkook.” You repeat, the words somewhat familiar on your tongue. Why did you know that name? Pulling out your phone you look back to the list of names Hoseok had given you of those who wore Santa costumes and gasp. “Jungkook!”

“Yes that is his name.” Taehyung adds dryly.

“Jungkook was wearing a Santa suit! At the party. He’s one of the two left. Do you know where I can find him?” You ask and Hobi shrugs.

“He’s probably gone home by this hour. He was whining so much about missing his mom that I’m sure he left earlier this morning to go see her sooner.” You visibly deflate and Taehyung decides to offer up additional advice.

“Jungkook and Namjoon live together. That’s two of your list right? I’ll send you the address and you can see if anyone is home.”

“Don’t you think that’s a violation of privacy?” Hobi whispers.

“Nah it’s fine. A bunch of porn sights probably track their location with all the viruses Namjoon downloads anyways.” Taehyung says this so casually that you wonder if a big part of Namjoon’s personality is liking erotic videos. You really hope not, soulmate or not. You have a threshold for that type of conversation and Mina is relatively mild but even she regularly meets said threshold.

“Anyways, they’re not that far from here if you want me to walk you there. I live nearby anyways.” Taehyung offers.

“If you’re sure.”

“No problem.”

4 hours, 15 minutes, 53 seconds until Christmas

The apartment building is small, the colors muted brown and had Taehyung not pointed it out to you, you would’ve missed it entirely. The only source of light is small patio lights strewn between the buildings, the likes of which are only a few stories tall. Taehyung tells you the apartment number before riding off, leaving you to your own devices. Except, you realize too late that despite the buildings being rather old they’ve upgraded to modern systems. Which means you need a fob to get in. You could walk home and call it a night, but at this point you’re just annoyed and stubborn. So instead you meander through the convenience store for a half hour, pretending that you care about the difference between regular and kettle chips when you spot someone walking towards the gate. Abandoning the aisle, you hurry out of the store and cross the street.

“Hey! I lost my fob could you let me in?” You ask, a pleasant smile on your face to try and sway the guy. You can’t see his face well, it’s obscured by a black baseball cap but you can see the distrust in his eyes. “Please?” You try again.

“I guess.” He mumbles, holding the door for you to slip inside. You have half a mind to warn him against doing such things in the case of strangers only to realize that you are the stranger in this situation.

“Thanks!” You say, hurrying away before he can kick you out. The guy working the convenience store was definitely taking note of your blatant loitering and he didn’t seem like the type to ignore it. It turns out the building coordination here is quite complex because while you’d think 101-106 would be on the right and 093-100 on the left, 093-100 is actually the next building over. It’s like they put the apartment numbers in a random generator and just let that decide the order. You’re making your fifth round of building B like a creep when you decide to just sit in the stairwell in shame. It’s clear this apartment complex is your own personal form of hell for trying to best the soulmate system which so clearly doesn’t want you to find your soulmate before the holidays. You already have your phone out to call Mina and express your woes when you hear the door below you attached to the stairwell open. Before you can scramble out of the way a pair of multicolored chunky sneakers stand on the step beneath your own.

“You okay?” The stranger asks and you just nod. “Are you sure? You look a little lost.”

“Metaphorically and physically, yes I am very lost. I have somehow found my soulmate and forgot them within the same day, I’ve been running around the city chasing after fucking Santa like an insane person and I have no idea where the fuck apartment 387 is.” You sigh, glad to release at least some of your pent up frustration. The stranger takes a minute before holding out a hand for you to grab.

“Lucky for you I happen to know where apartment 387 is.” His smile is indented by deep dimples, nicely framing thick lips.

“Really?” You ask, slipping your hand into his own and allowing him to drag you up.

“Sure thing. If you’re this determined to meet your soulmate I’m sure they’re equally distraught at not finding you yet.” He offers thoughtfully and you just hum.

“I don’t know, don’t you think I’d have run into them by now? I’ve been all around the city today.”

“Two moving pieces are just as hard to connect as two not moving at all.” The stranger offers before stopping in front of door 387. Just as you’re about to thank him he unlocks it and looks back at you with a wide smile. “How about you come in and have a drink? He should be home soon anyways. Probably equally as frustrated as yourself.”

“If it’s not a bother…”

“Hey you’re my best friend’s soulmate, you’ll never be a bother. Besides I try and do one good deed a day, so reuniting lost lovers can be that.”

“Funny, Yoongi said the same thing.” You muse to yourself.

“Who do you think taught him? I’m Namjoon by the way.” You freeze, mind struggling to pair the apparent porn addict with the insightful, sophisticated man in front of you. He notices this pause and frowns. “What did one of my idiots for friends say?”

“Uhh…maybe just something about porn.” You mumble and Namjoon just takes a moment to deeply sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

“You should know they’re the ones who asked me to download it.” He huffs. “Chamomile or hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate is just fine.” You say, taking a a moment to observe the apartment. It’s decorated rather warmly, rich browns and black melding with soft orange. It feels a bit like you’re sitting at the edge of a bonfire, admiring the pretty glow it casts on everything. “Your decoration is really nice.” You say, taking note of the little wooden figures strewn across the living room. A small glass bunny makes you smile.

“Thanks I decorated it myself. I double major in interior design and business.”

“You think you could decorate my apartment? It’s terribly bland because my roommates and I all have different taste in decorating.”

“Sure thing, send me the dimensions and I’ll pick some stuff out. A lot of this is thrifted or from local vintage shops, so it’s not nearly as expensive as it seems.”

“Smart shopping, very sustainable.”

“What can I say? I’m a glutton for shopping but a stickler for lessening environmental footprints.” Namjoon says and you laugh, hiding your smile behind the mug he hands you. He even went so far as to add whipped cream at the top with chocolate shavings.

“Thank you. This is the best hot chocolate I’ve had so far.”

“Cool! I got some imported Belgian chocolate and-“

“Joonie I can’t do this anymore.” A third voice sounds before their body even enters the apartment, the front door thrown open carelessly as they flop themselves onto the couch. A jingle plays itself in your head, the bells have a rather bright sound. Namjoon urges you forward and you carry your mug with you just to keep your hands from shaking. “I’ve gone all over the city for nothing and of course when I come home to wallow in pity the bells are mocking me. They’re getting louder with each passing second Namjoon!” They whine, voice slightly muffled by the pillow.

“Would you like a hot chocolate?” You ask and they sit up so quickly that you jump back, sloshing some of the hot liquid onto your wrist. “Fuck! That’s so hot.” You whine, your supposed soulmate jumping over the back of the couch and holding your wrist gently in their hand.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” They say, but you can’t even feel the burn because your nerves are too focused on his touch. Goosebumps scatter across your skin, as he hurries you into the kitchen to run cold water over your wrist. His mouth is moving a mile a minute, murmuring apologies and yet you can only fixate on the mole on his lower lip and the way his dark hair hangs in his eyes, long lashes blinking away stray strands. His nose is strong, a pretty curve making it much too enticing for you to not kiss it at least once. He seems to notice you’re not paying attention because he finally turns to face you head on and it’s only then does he seem to recognize you.

Similarly to last time his eyes are wide, several emotions running through them that you attempt to read: confusion, surprise, relief. He almost sags against you, pulling you into him before you can even think of anything to say. With your nose tucked into his neck, you can feel his small tremors and attempt to suppress them by pulling him in tighter. “I-I didn’t think-“

“I know.” You shush him softly, taking in how warm and solid he is, how real he feels beneath your palms. He smells like fresh linen, and when he finally pulls far away enough that you can look into his eyes you kiss the tip of his nose. His cheeks flush but the hands on your waist tighten. “I’ve looked everywhere for you, you know?”

He scoffs. “I could say the same. Why’d you disappear yesterday? I thought maybe you realized you didn’t..want me.”

“That could and would never be it.” You reassure him, running a hand through his hair to push it out of his face. “I hate for this to be our first meeting but I was super drunk when we met. I couldn’t really think and my friend thought I was really sick so she took me home before I had the chance to say anything.”

“Jin did say you drank an entire bottle of schnapps. Thanks for that by the way, now I owe him a new bottle.”

“He knew?! Why didn’t he save us the heartbreak and force us together?” You ask and he turns his head towards the small kitchen window.

Scratching the back of his neck, he mumbles, “that might’ve been my fault. I was supposed to be hosting with Joon but decided I didn’t want the mess. By then word already got out so someone had to host. You could say this was my punishment that you unfortunately had to suffer through as well.”

“Next time I’m going to pour his schnapps down the drain instead. Better yet, we’ll buy a bottle, drink it and replace it with thick water!” You huff and he smiles.

“I like the way you think. But what is thick water?”

“I heard it’s the consistency of snot. I guess drinkable jello would be the closest texture.” He scrunches his nose in distaste and you smile. He’s so cute.

“I uhh-I’m Jungkook by the way. I don’t think I mentioned that.”

“Y/n.” He stares at you for a moment before placing both hands on your cheeks and placing a tender kiss to your lips. It’s soft and warm, very much like the man who stands in front of you.

“You’re the best gift I could’ve ever asked for.” He says and despite the cheesy line the sincerity with which he speaks warms you. His hand falls to your own, only when he brushes against your wrist do you hiss and the moment is broken. “Shit, I forgot. Don’t worry baby, I took sports medicine in high school, I’ll fix it up real quick.”

0 hours, 0 minutes, 10 seconds

Jungkook’s arms wrap tightly around your frame, the both of you cuddled into the thickest blanket he could find as you gaze at the city around you. Your wrapped wrist sits carefully against your chest, a heart drawn over the fabric by Jungkook himself. The city lights are so pretty at night, the sky clear enough that if you strain your eyes you can even make out a few stars. The only stars you’re concerned about though are the ones in Jungkook’s eyes, glittering prettily as the sign from the convenience store across the street illuminates them. He takes a sip of Namjoon’s hot chocolate from a thermos before handing it to you, brushing your hair out of your face that’s been displaced by the slight breeze. Despite the fact that you’re both shivering you don’t think you’ve been this warm in a while. It’s part of the reason you insisted to stay out here just a little bit longer even though Jungkook’s warm bed is waiting for you downstairs. You just wanted to be in your own world a little longer, wanting to have an excuse to mold yourself as closely against Jungkook as humanly possible. Clicking his phone the time illuminates, 11:59, staring back at you before flicking to 12:00.

“Merry Christmas Jungkook.” You murmur pressing a chaste kiss to his lips as he smiles.

“Merry Christmas baby.” He says. Your eyes fall back onto his own and he’s looking at you as if you’re his whole world. You know your own mirror the same sentiment and you press closer to connect your lips to his own, writing your future along his tongue.

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wickedscribbles · 2 years

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for the end of the year ask game: 6, 15, 18 and 23 hehehe, hope you’ve had a great holiday season!!

Hi Q!! Thanks for asking 💖💖 I hope you have, too!

6. What parts of your writing do you want to improve next year?

I feel like my writing can be too linear, if that makes sense. Maybe it’s me being overly critical, but sometimes I read someone else’s fic and get lost in gorgeous prose and I’m like 😭 why can’t that be me? I know my descriptions can be lacking, too, and I constantly fear “white room” syndrome. In short, I know I gotta be more descriptive!

15. Are there are other writers or artists who have inspired you?

There are so many talented people writing and creating out there that it isn’t even funny. Here are just a handful of the writers and fics that I loved, and got inspired by.

My introduction to the Obi-Wan writing world was The Locked Door by no-droids, which I feel like everyone knows about, lol. Amazing buildup -- and the way Obi-Wan was written? My fate was sealed as soon as I finished it. Holy shit, was I hooked. I must’ve read that about...20 times? More? Who knows. It was amazing.

sabaccshots also blows my mind with whatever they write. Late Night Devil (Put Your Hands on Me)? I just -- 🥴🥴👌

tiatodd introduced me to my daddy kink with So Don’t, Then. It’s a straightforward, smutty ride that I can’t help but go back to. 🙈 I’m a simple girl with simple needs.

I still can’t get over himboskywalker’s This was Obi-Wan. An entire narrative devoted to Obi-Wan’s big dick? Yes please.

Anything by spicemaiden. She’s the queen of that gorgeous prose I was talking about! Her writing is so well-done and a pleasure to read, every time.

Anything by ragnarlothcat. The way they write Obi-Wan and Anakin’s relationship is witty, endearing, and spicy. Wonderful. 👌

Anything by rexismycopilot. The dom/sub relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin is so, so soft and consensual and hot. I adore everything I read.

I’m new to the Red Dead fandom, buuuut I’m been scoping out some pretty damn good stuff there as well --

At Your Word by pokey_jr almost killed me. Like...submissive Arthur who doesn’t know that he needs to be dominated until he gets it? YES. YESSSSSS.

Gathering of the Deer by annhellsing is a wonderful, soft, smutty collection of Arthur getting all the love and affection he deserves. 👌

Peach by zarcake drives me absolutely insane holy shit. Soft Arthur roleplaying and being rougher because you had to beg him to and then being super into it? Oh my gooooooood.

A Helping Hand by Thirivm may be my actual cause of death. H-horse...handjobs...I just...it shouldn’t be hot but it’s hot... LET ME CLARIFY THAT THE HANDJOBS ARE ON THE HORSE NOT GIVEN TO THE HORSE I JUST RE-READ THIS HOLY SHIT

And finally I’d recommend anything by arthurmorgan-s-heart (but avoiding stories tagged with spoilers if you haven’t played the game!) Especially Cut Short and Tight Quarters.

Sorry that turned into a fic rec list 😂 There are so many good fics and writers out there!!

18. Do you have a fic that you wish received more attention?

I mean... I’m not incredibly focused on the attention that fics receive, though it can be nice. I was a little surprised that Let me Make it Up to You didn’t get more attention, because I wrote it entirely with my vagina. 😂 That’s okay, though. I was pleased with it.

23. What fic did you enjoy writing the most?

That’s a tough one. This year with Obi-Wan -- and now the tail-end, with Arthur -- has been incredible fun, and I’m so lucky that it’s let me get to know the people that I have. I’m gonna have to do a top five 😂 in no particular order.

Wait for It When the World Stopped Making Sense. Come What May Tea with Honey Love on Top

There are moments from others that I *adored* writing, (and I know adding a whole series is kind of cheating), but overall, I’d pick these. 🥰 Thanks again for asking! these were great questions.

#wicked answers #writing asks

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scenearoundtown · 2 years

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Reflecting back on Holiday time late last year there were several events following strict covid protocol at the beautiful Hollywood Museum owned by my pal Donelle Dadigan - Very memorable star studded tributes to Bob Hope, Ghostbusters, the 30th anniversary of Silence of the Lambs which included a funtastic visit in their scary Dungeon of Doom, publicist Roger Neal’s fantastic 60th birthday party & 40th anniversary in showbiz celebration, the museum’s lovely Celebrity Christmas Tree Trimming Party which included beautiful trees by Dr. Christmas and there amazing Author Day! The Goddess Judy Tenuta said "Silence of the Lambs was special because it was my first public appearance since kicking cancer's ass in 6 months! I presented a gift to DonelIe and I felt the love and support from everyone at the Hollywood Museum.... And I had fun with friends at the Author's Forum... I laughed it up with Miss Ruta Lee and all the Authors and even made my school lunch money back! Followers of Judyism can get my book "Full Frontal Tenudity" on Amazon .. the Goddess does not do mailings just Amazon.". Donelle, Steve and their hard working staff pulled out all the stops creating and hosting these spectacular events.... Meanwhile at the beautiful Catalina Bar & Grill on Sunset another holiday favorite was Ilene Graff’s super fun Christmas Show which included publicist Harlan Boll who has an amazing voice... George Pennacchio my favorite entertainment reporter told me "We love seeing Ilene and Ben on stage. They are always devoted to giving us great music and a terrific show with surprise guests along the way. Ilene has a natural warmth and it goes perfectly with her welcoming personality. During this busy time of the year it was just really nice to just take a break and enjoy some holiday cheer from Ilene and company. Her show was a gift wrapped with talent and love. Ilene added extra talent to the show with her brother Todd Graff and friends Glen Rosenblum and Harlan Boll. They added the right note to an evening of music and smiles." Other great holiday season events included Brian Sikoff’s Halloween Hotness at Madam Tussauds which raised big bucks for St. Jude’s and The Thalians Christmas Party honoring our beloved late great Debbie Reynolds which raised big bucks for Operation Mend at UCLA.... These warm and fun events were full of good cheer, camaraderie, great people and delicious food and drink. Jessica Sugar Kyper remarked "I'm so proud of Brian and friends raising so much money for St Jude's this year! $7,000 is nothing to shake a stick at! Way to go gang! I'm so happy to be part of Halloween Hotness for several years .. Let's keep it going!" I agree Sugar, I agree! I took the picture above of Debbie Reynolds above back in 2011 at The Paley which is the nite I met Roger Neal on the red carpet! Also kudos to the wonderful Writers & Illustrators Awards Dinner at the Taglyan on Vine... Kate Linder star of The Young & Restless noted "The Writers & Illustrators event is always enjoyable and this year was no exception... since the 2020 awards were unable to be held because of covid they honored both year's recipients. This enabled the show to have great content and entertainment". Photos from the event are included in a collage above - thank you guest, the ever busy director Christy Oldham for sharing your photo & thank you jcazali for all your help assembling them.

Another wonderful and memorable event was the Grand Opening of the luxury boutique Attic Koncept in West Hollywood which features rare finds from Saint Laurent, Fendu, Dolce, Hermes & trend setting European designers. The beautiful boutique is owned by fashionistas Maria Golomb and Max Gor. Opening night attracted lots of beautiful people, Hollywood Elite Stylists and influencers. Amongst the VIP guests were Mary Aloe, Christina Englehardt, Vogue model Meredith Mickelson, Lilit Bush, Shaka Smith, Wilma Elles, Pinky Dillion, Tatiana Allen, Vince Kelvin, Talk Vincent, Mva.la, George Blodwell, Brian O’Rourke and Arthur Chipman executive producer of Los Angeles fashion week. Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Bella Hadid and Alicia Keys purchase many of their hats designed by Ukrainian designer Rusian Baginskiy at this unique store. The concept behind the boutique is a concierge service that carries premium designers, selected pieces and very rare finds along with new designers new to the American market who present pret-a-porter collections as well as made to measure service and seasonal pre orders. “The store is full of timeless luxury pieces hand picked by Maria Golumb and myself” notes Max Gor with Maria adding “Our concept is also unique because our team is able to source extraordinary pieces from established luxury brands that you’ll never find anywhere else!” The lovely boutique is open by appointment and welcomes the public to book private sessions. Visit www.attickoncept.com for more information and to book an appointment online! Photos by HH Michael Bezjian William Kidston Tim Lydeen & Hollywood Hotness

I want to also add how much I enjoyed “A Journal of the Plague Year” by Willard Manus at Write Act in North Hollywood. The powerful piece by Daniel Defoe about the great pandemic of 1664 attacking London was well adapted into a poignant radio show eerily resonating the pandemic of our modern world. Though times are different from the pandemic over three centuries ago I found the storyline very relatable and moving and the material was well performed by the talented cast directed by Daniel E. Keough. “I am alive, I am alive” shouted lead actor Charles Anteby at the end of the piece - words I echo gratefully every day. Amen.... HH

#Madonna Alicia Keyes Attic Koncept Max Gor Maria Golomb Hollywood Museum Harrison Held Roger Neal Harlan Boll Donelle Dadigan

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bnhabadass · 3 years

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Happy New Year! I was wondering if you could do a drabble for Denki, rushing home to give y/n their new year's kiss?

Of course, Amber!!! This was super fun to write!! ____________________________________________________________________________

It was late, later than he had hoped he’d be out. Of course, with crime building up around the holiday season he was expecting to be out on patrol much later than his shifts usually lasted. But now it was 11:45 and the apartment he shared with you, the love of his life, was practically on the other side of town. If only you hadn’t insisted on staying home instead of going to Mina’s New Year’s Eve party.

No, this wasn’t your fault. Your reasoning for not wanting to go was flawless. “Think, Denki. If every one of the top heroes you went to high school with and then some are at a party that is being widely advertised, the chances of a villain showing up are much higher than if we just stay at home.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Plus, when you followed up with a, “besides, what if I want to cuddle you in private?” he just couldn’t say no.

Still, Mina’s party was only a block down from where he currently was and your apartment was a couple miles away.

Since he had gotten off work he had received two texts from you, one being a picture of a freshly chilled bottle of champagne and the other being a message.

Can’t wait for my new year kiss 😘

His eyes began to sting from the build up of tears; tears from the fear of disappointing you, from the loss of missing out on your first new year together. He checked the time. 11:52. He was overcome with defeat. Dropping to his knees, he looked at the clock on his phone and watched as the seconds ticked by.

“Oi. What the fuck are you doing here, dunceface. I thought you said you weren’t coming.”

Denki looked up and saw that he was face to face with one of his closest friends from high school. “Bakugo? What are you doing out here?”

Bakugou zipped up his jacket and let out a little scoff. Denki could see his breath through the cold. “It’s too loud in there and people are being idiots. I had to step out for a bit.”

It was then that Denki realized he was already in front of the agency where Mina’s party was taking place. The flashing lights from inside and the blaring music gave away that everyone was having a good time.

“What are you sulking about?”

“It’s my first New Year’s Eve with (Y/n) and I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it in time to watch the clock strike with them or to give them their new year’s kiss.”

Bakugou let out a noise, a mix between a laugh and confusion. “Hah? That’s what you’re crying about?” He grabbed Denki's arm and pulled him up. “I thought you were actually serious for a minute, you idiot.”

“I am serious. Hey!”

Bakugou flung him around and pulled him onto his back. “Close your eyes and mouth and for the love of god don’t let go. I shouldn’t have to say that but the last thing anyone wants is to be scraping up dunceface from the sidewalk tomorrow morning.”

“Bakugou, what are you talking abOOOOOOOOOUT???”

Before he could even finish his question, Bakugou had let out a blast into the air. The cold prevented him from sweating as much, so he couldn’t get as far up with the first blast as he would have liked, but it was enough to get the job done.

Denki’s eyes and mouth were wide open, lips cracking from the cold wind as Bakugou blasted their way across town. The ride was only a few minutes long, but by the time they landed on the ground, Denki wanted to collapse from nausea.

“We’re here.”

He let go of Bakugou’s shoulders and collapsed onto the pavement.

“Oi, get up and go to (L/n).” Bakugou kicked him lightly in the side. “You only have two minutes.”

Denki scrambled to grab his phone and check the time. 11:58. “Crap crap crap!” After fishing his keys from his pocket, he looked to Bakugo. “Thanks man, I owe you one.”

“Tch, whatever. Just don’t tell anyone I did this for you, got it?”

“Mhm, got it.” He was only half paying attention as he unlocked the door to his apartment building. “Happy New Year, Bakugo!” And with that he dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

Inside the apartment, you were watching the countdown begin to go live on the TV. Denki still wasn’t home and you realized that your kiss would have to go to your dog instead, or maybe one of your house plants.

The countdown was on thirty when the front door swung open. “Did I make it???” The cracks in Denki’s voice were greatly apparent. His face was blotchy from the cold and his lips were cracked and purple.

“What happened to you?” Your eyes bulged open in shock

“Bakugou happened,” he said between gasping breaths. “But it’s okay, because I’m here now, and I have to kiss you.”

You erupted into laughter, the grin on your face brighter than the night time sky. “I can’t believe you.” There was a fondness in your voice and you reached your arms out, waiting for him to fall into your warm embrace.

Denki collapsed into your arms, smothering his head in your chest as the ten seconds until the new year countdown began.

“Happy new year, baby.” You stroked your hand down his hair, feeling the strands between your fingers.

“Happy new year to you too.” And when the countdown was finished, he leaned up to give you your first kiss of the new year. His lips were cold, dry and cracked and tasted slightly like copper, but you didn’t mind. It was still Denki, and you’re glad he made it in time to be your new year kiss.

#bnhabadass happy new year event #denki kaminari #denki kaminari x reader #kaminari #bnha kaminari #mha kaminari #kaminari x reader #nora writes stuff

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yelena-bellova · 3 years

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Winter Song

Plot: Y/n finds that her favorite time of year is much less enjoyable without Steve.

Warnings: Christmas angst, fluff, but mostly angst

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I got this idea a few weeks ago and couldn’t wait to post it. It’s based on Leslie Odom Jr. and Cynthia Erivo’s version of the song, I highly recommend listening to it ❄️ I definitely didn’t proofread this enough and I’m posting it at almost midnight so it’s probably riddled with mistakes 🙈

*Flashbacks are in italics

————

This is my winter song to you

The storm is coming soon

It rolls in from the sea

It was well known among the compound that Christmas was my absolute favorite time of year.

There was no competition in the state of New York, nay, the entirety of the East Coast that rivaled my love of the season. On November 1st I would have the pumpkins and fake cobwebs boxed back up and be stringing lights and hanging wreaths before anyone else in the compound was awake. They’d tease me about it but by the time December actually rolled around, you could hear the toughest of heroes humming ‘Sleigh Ride’ to themselves. Still, no one could measure up to my enthusiasm for Christmas…

Except Steve.

He’d be the one handing me decorations as I stood on a ladder positioning them perfectly. He’d watch every movie and special with me tucked into his side. We’d bake batch after batch of cookies because while they had no problem teasing us, Rhodey and Sam would come through like a tornado and eat all of them. And gift shopping was a day long event that tested the how the super soldier’s strength held up when carrying 10+ bags and boxes.

All of it occurred before the Accords, of course. The storm that rolled in, placed an unmovable divide between Steve and I and left me at the compound and him as far from beside me as could be.

I was halfheartedly stringing lights around the living room, unable to think of anything but Steve. It was snowing heavily outside, the kind of weather that practically demanded all plans to be cancelled for hot chocolate and warm blankets. It was those types of memories that hurt the worst…

————

Is love alive?

Is love

“It’s a Wonderful Life, hands down the best Christmas movie of all time.”  “But it’s so sad,” I argued, “And the last thing you’re supposed to be during the season is sad.”  Steve looked over at me from his slumped position on the couch of the common room. I’d pulled out my fluffiest flannel blanket and even though the man was his own furnace, he loved me too much to object when I’d laid it over us. I was sitting up gesturing towards the tv as I tried to convince him that whiles his favorite movie was cute, it was too depressing for Christmas.

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Steve relented a little, “But what about that ending? You can’t argue that it’s not heartwarming.”  I rolled my eyes, “Okay, I’ll give you that one but I don’t like how we get there. I don’t even like thinking about my life without any of you guys in it.”  Steve cleared his throat and I twisted to see his blonde eyebrows raised.  “Especially my number one elf,” I smiled as I sat back against the couch and shifted closer to him, “You’re the only person who doesn’t think I’m insane this time of year.”  “I’d never let you do Christmas by yourself,” he said, reaching under the blanket to take my hand in his.

It was moments like these that I questioned Steve and I. It was just enough of a picture perfect domestic moment that if anyone stumbled upon us, they’d raise eyebrows and ask if they were intruding. With his affectionate gaze focused on me, our shoulders rubbing together and the unexplainable feeling that behind our time spent together there was…something. If I was being completely honest with myself, I wanted there to be something.

Unfortunately, I could summon enough courage to battle aliens and assassins but not to confess my feelings. “Um, what’s next on the list?” I asked, awkwardly fidgeting with my free hand, “I need to finish making my gift list for when we go shopping if you want to help.”  “Yeah, but can we just…”  “Just what?” I asked with a furrowed brow.

Steve scratched the back of his neck before turning back to me, “Can we just sit here for a minute longer? It’s nice.”  My face probably gave away my enthusiasm for the suggestion, but I still tried to conceal it with a close lipped smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”  Without needing any further agreement, Steve moved an arm around my shoulders and brought me closer to him. While my mind had drawn a blank, my body knew what to do and nestled itself into his side. I laid my head against his chest and wrapped an arm around his torso, giving me the perfect view of the snowstorm outside. Steve rested his chin on the top of my head and continuously ran his hand up and down my back. The moment was perfect and if I’d had the power to stop time, I’d have been happy to stay in Steve’s arms forever.

Yeah, there was definitely something.

————

They say we're buried far

Just like a distant star

I simply cannot hold

I knew it was a huge mistake to enter Steve’s room, but that still didn’t stop me from twisting the doorknob.

It was exactly as he’d left it five months ago when he left for London to attend Peggy’s funeral. All that had been added was a thin layer of dust across every surface. I dragged myself over to his bed and carefully sat down on the edge of it. The part of me that was still in denial about the entire situation didn’t want to mess up the sheets in case he made a sudden return. I reached over to his nightstand and grabbed the picture frame that had sat on it ever since last Christmas. I had jokingly bought Steve and I matching sweaters with hideous festive designs. The entire team howled with laughter as he opened the gift up on Christmas morning. God bless the man and his inability to deny me anything during the holiday season…He’d put it on without so much as an eye roll and Tony had practically tripped over himself trying to get photographic proof of it.

“You are such a simp, Rogers, and I could not be more thankful for it,” Tony grinned, holding up his phone towards us, “Say hello to next year’s Avengers Christmas card.”  Steve locked his arms around my waist and with no warning, lifted me up in the air. I squealed and rushed to hold on to him, the both of us laughing as Tony won his latest way to blackmail us.

The joy that the photo captured seemed like it had occurred years ago. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been that happy or carefree but it had probably involved Steve.

“It’s just not the same without you,” I whispered as I stroked a finger through the dust that covered his face. 

This is my winter song

December never felt so wrong

Cause you’re not where you belong

Inside my arms

I wrapped my sweater around my body as I made me way back out to the common room. I didn’t expect to find Tony rifling through one of the many decoration boxes I had set out. While I’d been moping in Steve’s room, he’d taken the initiative in decorating.

“Stark Industries branching out into the holiday business?” I asked with as much of a laugh as I could muster, which wasn’t much.

He was nailing a wreath to the wall when I walked in, “It’s called extreme boredom and this is what it looks like.”  I smiled softly as he turned around to face me, trying to appreciate his efforts. If I was missing Steve, Tony was most certainly missing Pepper. He was trying to keep busy in an effort to not dwell on her obvious absence. “You’re lucky I’m not standing next to you right now.”  “Huh?”  Tony smirked and gestured with his hammer to the space above me. I looked up to see the familiar plastic piece of mistletoe I’d hoped we’d lost dangling on a string. My stomach clenched at the memories the item and the particular archway brought back.

————

“You got that video of Tony tonight right?” Steve asked as he stuffed another wad of wrapping paper into a trash bag,

“Oh yeah,” I laughed, “Drunkenly singing ‘Last Christmas’ to Rhodey wearing a Macy’s box on his head definitely tops our sweaters.”  It was late on Christmas Day, everyone had gone to bed except for Steve and I. We were finishing cleaning and wrapping up leftovers from dinner. It also gave us much needed quiet after such a loud evening.

“I think that’s the last of everything,” I said, admiring the clean kitchen.

“Same here,” he replied as he set the last trash bag off to the side of the room, “You look sad.”  I shrugged and crossed my arms, “I’m always sad when Christmas is over. It makes everyday life seem so mundane.”  “Only you would think that the life of an Avenger is mundane,” Steve chuckled from the archway he was standing under.

“Please, no bows or lights or festiveness of any kind?” I teased as I crossed the room to stand next to him, “Boring.”  We shared a laugh and leaned against our separate walls, savoring the last few moments before the day changed to the 26th.

“Thank you for helping me do all this,” I said, gesturing around us, “I couldn’t have pulled it off without you.”  “Like I said, I’d never let you do Christmas by yourself,” Steve smiled before his eyes drifted up, “Oh…”  I tilted my head to see whatever had caught his eye and caused his cheeks to turn so red. “Oh…”

The mistletoe I’d hung as a joke, hanging above and taunting us. Tony had camped under it several times and refused to budge until Pepper would oblige. Wanda and Vision had found themselves under it and she’d nervously pecked his cheek. It was all in good fun until this moment where I was cursing myself for ever hanging it.

“We don’t…I mean, we didn’t realize that it was…” I verbally stumbled, “It’s not like we knew it was there.”  “Right,” Steve nodded, “We didn’t know. But…isn’t it kind of a rule that we…have to?”  My mouth stupidly opened and closed, “I-I think so. And what kind of people would we be if we broke a Christmas rule?”  “Exactly,” Steve agreed, “So it’s not a big deal.”  “Not at all.”  “Good,” he said quietly before pushing off the wall and taking a step to the middle of the archway. I came to meet him and dropped my arms at their sides, his hands carefully reached for mine till they’d taken hold of them. The awkwardness was quickly melting away and being replaced by an urgency to make the inevitable happen. Steve’s fingers traced over the pulse points of my wrists and his lips curled up as he felt the goosebumps break out across my skin. We both leaned in at the same time, not giving the other a chance to back out because we both knew how badly we wanted to get on with it. Our lips met and all the hesitation and second guessing we’d done in the seconds before vanished. Every time I’d questioned whether or not my feelings were true suddenly turned to a resounding ‘YES’ for an answer. Our mouths moved together as if it was a dance we’d done a thousand times. As much as I wanted to pull him closer, my body was paralyzed by the shock and the only thing I felt able to do was lace my fingers with Steve’s.

It ended all too soon, the both of us pulling away in need of oxygen. Steve pressed his forehead to mine and sighed, he squeezed my hands and brushed his nose against mine.

“Merry Christmas, Steve,” I whispered.  “Merry Christmas, Y/n,” he replied softly.  ————

“Take it down,” I strained, trying to keep the sobs from escaping my lips.  “Huh?”  “Take it down, Tony. All of it.” 

“Y/n, what are you talking about? You love all this crap,” Tony gestured to the room.

The tears were getting harder to try and hide, so I didn’t bother. “Not anymore. If you want to hire someone to decorate, fine, but I can’t look at any of our stuff,” I snapped before dropping my tone to a whine, “Just take it down.”  I fled before he could ask any more questions that I couldn’t bear to answer. I retreated to my room, quickly locking the door and allowing my cries to be released. I curled into myself with my back against the door and let myself fall apart, knowing that the one person who could piece me back together was unreachable.

————

Is love alive? Is love alive? Is love alive?  Despite my ignoring the calendar and anything that had to do with the season, Christmas Day had arrived. Tony had indeed paid a team to decorate the compound, it was too minimalistic for my taste but I was the whole reason for it so I couldn’t complain.

Tony, Rhodey, Vision and I plus Peter and his Aunt May were seated at the dining room table attempting to make cheerful conversation. Peter was telling us about some recent adventure he’d had patrolling his neighborhood. I tried to pay attention but all I really cared about was how quickly I could escape to my room and put an end to the day. At some point in the evening I feigned a headache, halfheartedly wished the group a merry Christmas and trudged down the halls to my safe haven. I was pulling out a set of pajamas to change into when a muffled ringtone emerged from one of my dresser drawers. While I hadn’t heard it play ever, I knew exactly what it belonged to. I flung the drawer open and dug the phone out from under my clothes. However impossible, there was only one person who could be on the other end of the call.

With shaking hands, I flipped the top of the device up and raised it to my ear.

“Hello?”  “Merry Christmas, Y/n.”  My lips quirked upwards in a watery smile as the voice I’d longed to hear for months washed over me. “Merry Christmas, Steve.”

#steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #captain america x reader #captain america imagine #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fanfic #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction

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minghaocouture · 3 years

Text

Pairing: Kwon Soonyoung X Gender Neutral Reader Genre: Modern Magic AU, Fluff Warning: Language WC: 4K+

A/N: @svtxsoju HAPPY HOLIDAYS BINU!!! I know it’s a bit late but here you got <333 I wub you sooooo much and I hope you have a happy new year!! Also this is the last of my simper council holiday gifts so once the new year starts i’ll go back to working on my actual requests!

“That’ll be $24.78” The rather small vile in your hand held no more than 8mm of the shiny silver liquid. It was strange, and almost looked like glittery dish soap if you had no clue what you were looking at. It wasn’t a surprise to you when your customer gasped, shocked at how much such a small amount cost. His open palm slammed down harshly on the counter that separated the two of you.

“That’s ridiculous! Vetra’s shop was selling this for $10!” At his words, you wrapped your fingers around the small vial and pulled it away from him.

“Then go buy it at Vetra’s place, half the price for half the quality.” You retorted, rolling your eyes at the man’s attempt to have you lower your price. “Some of us actually put in the labor to make these potions, and I’ll be damned if I slaved over these vials just for some ass wipe to try and get me to dock my prices. So either buy this for $24, or get out of my shop.”

It might have seemed harsh, but you weren’t one to put up with bullshit. There were quite a few potion shops around town but very few actually made their own stock, many just buying it online and reselling it in a different container. Not you though, you put energy and so much magic into your work and you weren’t going to be haggled. At least not by some low rank vampire trash who thought he was better than everyone.

The male bared his fangs towards you, causing you to roll your eyes. Your free hand subtly reaching down below your register and grabbing a small pure silver dagger, just to prepare for a fight just in case. Vampires were usually the ones who tried to start something, so it was left there as a precaution for yourself and your employees.

The vampire growled, his eyes flickering over to a display of yours and you felt your heart sink. With a speed you could barely see the male had thrust his arm out, knocking the carefully put together display from the counter before he stormed out of the store.

“Get out of my way!” You heard him shout, shoving past a customer who was trying to enter the building.

You called out a small welcome as the door shut but didn’t bother to identify the new customer as you got to cleaning up. It wouldn’t be terrible but it was very annoying and exhausting. Placing your dagger back into its usual position before pulling your wand out of your back pocket.

“Novis Tempus” You muttered, flicking your wand into the direction of the mess now covering the linoleum floor of your shop. You felt the magic slip from your core, travel through your fingertips, down the mahogany of your wand and seeping out from the purples and blue of the fluorite perched at the end of your wand.

Your spell slipped through the air, a small light pink aura circling the mess that had spilled. Slowly it began to change. The liquid from the spilled vials slithered back into the glass, the shattered vials stitching themselves back together, and the wood from the broken standee returning to its rightful positions. It took a few seconds but you always loved watching as it happened, and soon your display was once again perched on the countertop where it had previously been standing.

Despite being a rather seasoned witch, the spell was advanced and took quite a bit of energy which left you rather exhausted. You were pretty grateful that your cover, a younger and much less experienced witch, named Christopher, would be arriving within the hour to take over so you could recoup the spent energy.

“Looks like I missed a party!”

The familiar voice instantly brought a grin to your face, your eyes flickering over to be greeted by the bright shining face of your favorite customer.

“Soonyoung! I thought you weren’t gonna make it in today, you’re later than usual.” You replied, making your way over to where you kept your...commissioned items. It was rare for you to get werewolves in here, most of their species didn’t really try to tone down their transformations, they enjoyed letting out their beast once a month. Not to mention how dangerous, time consuming, and expensive making a wolfsbane potion was, which definitely made them...one of your more pricey items that you would only make if requested, so most werewolves couldn’t afford it even if they wanted to. (though if someone was really desperate and you had the time you’d probably give them the first one for free. You’re not completely heartless.)

The male jutted out his lower lip at his words being ignored, it was kind of ridiculous how adorable he was when he pouted like that. Maybe that was why you poked his buttons like that, or at least the buttons you were aware of. Despite his monthly visits, you hadn’t tried to meet him outside of work before. A shame really.

As you crouched down to the bottom shelf where you kept requests, you heard the male start up. His voice always brought a smile to your face, his mood must just be contagious.

“I uhh missed my train?” Obviously a lie, but you weren’t going to point it out. After all, it wasn’t any of your business; he was just a customer. A very funny and endearing customer but a customer nonetheless.

Pulling out the large circular bottle, complete with a wooden cork shoved into the neck. The light blue liquid swirled in the glass with an almost eerie glow. You doubted that you would ever get used to the aura that the wolfsbane potion gave off. Bottle in hand, you returned to your register where Soonyoung stood with a small almost nervous grin on his face. Placing the bottle down on the marble countertop, you slid it forward with a single finger.

“Well, you better head out then, before you miss your train home.” You joked, watching as the tension seemed to drift away from him. At least he seemed more comfortable now. “Same thing for next month? Doing another early payment?”

You watched Soonyoung grab the fragile bottle and slide it snuggly into the backpack he was carrying (you were honestly surprised it survived the trip home considering how you’d seen the young man run.) As he did so, he pulled out the familiar pale blue wallet that he kept inside.

“As always! You already know my schedule so well!” He said happily, pulling out a bundle of cash and handing it over to you. “It’s on the 25th next month and I can come grab it on the 21st. Is that enough time?”

His question caused you a brief pause, filing through a mental category of your stock. You were almost out of moonstone after the last potion so you’d need to restock and then powder that, but nothing extreme so you confirmed this with a nod and a finalization of his payment.

“Well, I’ll see you next month then!” Considering this had been your routine for the past few months, you expected a small farewell before the bleach blond bounded from the store. So you pulled out your inventory book and began writing notes about his potion. Today was different though, as he lingered. You could feel his piercing eyes on you for a moment, just watching before he spoke up once more.

“I was...actually wondering if you were free anytime today?” You froze, your pen hovering over the parchment as your brain processed what had just been asked of you. Weighing the pros and cons of being honest with him, on one hand he was kind and you had just been thinking about what it would be like to actually befriend the male but on the other hand, this could have been a long game plan if he was some crazy killer. It was unfortunately, but you had to think of things like that, especially with the recent surge of missing persons cases.

“No pressure! I know it’s super weird and suspicious that I’m asking buuut, you’re pretty cool and I’d actually like to get to know you! Not to be a creep, but like as a friend.”

It was sweet, and the smile on his face was definitely inviting enough. So against your better judgement, you let out a small sigh.

“I get off at 5, think you can wait til then?”

If his neutral face was bright, then his cheerful one was blinding. His grin stretched from ear to ear and you watched as he pumped a fist into the air out of excitement. It was honestly really sweet and made your heart flutter that he was that excited to spend time with you outside of work.

“Yeah! I’ll hang around the district and come back when you’re off!” With that the male literally bounded out of your shop. As the door slammed shut behind him, silence surrounded you and couldn’t stop the joyful laughter from spilling from your lips.

You helped out a few more customers before Chris arrived, but once he did you quickly got to work on preparing to leave. Doing things like going over inventory, and rearranging some things that customers had decided to touch, with just a bit more pep in your step than usual. Which Chris definitely noticed.

“Someone’s in a hurry. Usually I have to push you out the door, just so you’ll go home and rest.” You had known Chris for a few years and he of course had seen right through you. Because of this you saw no reason to defend yourself.

“Yeah, you know that Werewolf regular?”

“Soonyoung?”

“Yeah, him. Well, he asked if I wanted to hang out after work,” You explained, trying to keep casual about the whole ordeal despite how excited you were. Finalizing your inventory check, you slid your work book back under the counter and when you stood up once more, Chris was smirking in your direction, rather smugly in fact. “What?”

“I was wondering when this was going to happen. He’s always making eyes at you whenever he comes in. It’s right cute.” He teased, and you were grateful that no one else was in the store to hear this. Feeling a heat rush to your face, you rolled your eyes at the male.

“Come off it Chris, He does not.”

“He does! He’s always like this!” He exclaimed, before quickly adjusting his position to show an example. Leaning one elbow on the counter he placed his cheek in his palm and just began staring at you with a sweetly intent look. You hated to admit it, but you had caught Soonyoung staring like that...once or twice, but you weren’t going to tell Chris that.

“Maybe you need to go get those eyes checked out, cause you’re seeing things.” You declared, slipping past him into the break room that was hidden past the door behind the counter. You almost cheered in relief as you heard the familiar bell ring through the store, signaling a new customer entering. Which meant that Chris wouldn’t be able to follow after you and the embarrassment would be over.

That was...not the case when you heard Chris’ cheerful voice greet the customer.

“Soonyoung! Nice to see ya! It’s been a while, you usually come in when I’m off.”

You mind blanked and you quickly got all of your belongings together, shoving your phone in your pocket before rushing out of the break room. Only to find Soonyoung and Chris laughing cheerfully as they spoke to one another. You almost let out a physical sigh of relief when you realized it was just a regular conversation and Chris hadn’t strayed the topic over to you.

When Soonyoung saw you though, his eyes lit up like it was some sort of holiday even though he had just seen you about an hour ago. Honestly, nothing had probably even changed about your appearance since then and yet he still looked at you like you...radiant.

“See ya later Chris, you have my number if anything happens. Don’t burn down the store!” The male in question quickly formed a mock salute that was almost as serious as a real one, if it weren’t for the intent purpose of making fun of you.

“Aye aye, Parental unit!”

Rolling your eyes, you gestured for Soonyoung to follow you and soon the two of you were gone. Off on an adventure that would be the first spark in a well lit fire.

***

When you left with Soonyoung, you were expecting the typical things that a guy does when he takes people out. What you got was...much different.

He started off by taking you to get a bite to eat, you were pretty hungry after your shift and so you were pretty grateful for that. The place was pretty small, a little mom and pop shop run by some friends of his named Seungkwan and Seokmin. If you thought Soonyoung was funny, then him with his two friends was absolutely hysterical, especially when he would tell stories of their adventures and imitate his two friends. (Seungkwan was not happy about that later part).

That’s when things took a turn.

Instead of a typical, let’s go see a movie, Soonyoung suggested a nearby gym area. Now it wasn’t really a ‘gym’, it was more of an entertainment location. It had things like rock climbings, a large number of trampolines, and even some feats of courage where you would try to jump from a singular platform to a large punching bag looking object while you were at least 20 feet off the ground (or at least that’s what it felt like once you were up there).

Which is currently where you were, harness strapped snuggly around you and a helmet placed firmly on your head. Eyes staring out at the large gap between you and your target, your hands pressing firmly against the cold metal of the pillar that you had just climbed up.

“Going to be completely honest, Soonie! I don’t think I got this!” You called out to the male who stood below with the service tech. He was suited up quite similarly as he was preparing to go right after you, but had dared you to try it first since you’d never been here before.

“I thought you were a witch, don’t witches fly?” He called back, confusion lacing his voice. It did provide a small laugh from you.

“Flying on a broomstick, and jumping crazy distances are two completely different things! I really don’t think I can do this!”

“Yes you can! Just scream Horanghae, it can take away all your fears!” He shouted back, earring him a rather confused look from you.

“Horanghae??”

“Horanghaaaaaae!” His voice almost tripled in volume as he confirmed the rather strange phrase, you probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it if he were like...a were-tiger, but he wasn’t. He was just full of surprises.

Taking a deep breath you heard him chant the phrase as you steeled yourself. With one last intake, you leaped forward with a loud scream of, what seemed to be, his favorite word. To your surprise, the distance was quite small once you were in the air and you latched onto the tube like a koala. Your was heavy and your heart was throbbing, but hearing Soonyoung go absolutely crazy below in excitement made it all worth it.

The two of you didn’t stay too much longer after that, going out into the now dark city. You hadn’t even realized how late it had gotten until you exited the building and were on your way to what Soonyoung was referring to as the ‘last bit’.

Now here you were, laying on your back in the middle of a park and staring up at the stars. Soonyoung was going on and on about the stars and these different constellations that his friend Wonwoo had shown him. It was...sweet, but you were only partially listening. You were conflicted, you really really liked him but...he was a customer. Wouldn’t it be weird to be crushing on a customer? Wouldn’t it?

“And that one is my favorite because it looks like a tiger! Isn’t it cool?”

Your eyes drifted over to him as he stared up at the night sky with those bright cheerful eyes that seemed to envelop your whole being with joy. His pale blonde hair gently brushed against his forehead with every small gust of wind. The light in his brown eyes was enchanting to see, and his smile...well it was radiant.

“Yeah...it’s beautiful.”

But you weren’t talking about the stars.

***

“And every time he’s around my heart is racing and It’s like all I can think about is him! Do you know how hard it is to help other customers when he comes into the store? It’s impossible.” It hadn’t been your intent to rant to Chris about Soonyoung, yet here you were. He had just asked if you were hanging out with the wolfman today and that sparked a 20 minute long tangent about the last 6 months that you had been spending with Soonyoung outside of work.

“You’re in love with him?”

“Chris you can’t just say the L word out loud!” You exclaimed, slapping a hand over Christopher’s mouth as if his words would call the male into the store. Chris rolled his eyes and peeled your hand off of his face before taking a grip on your shoulders.

“Just confess to him, it’s not like he doesn’t feel the same way. I swear you could dump boiling hot soup on his lap and he would thank you just because it’s you.” Chris declared, which was absolutely ridiculous. No one would thank someone for pouring soup on them, that was a dumb analogy.

You shrugged off his hands, and propped yourself up on the countertop since there were no customers in the store. Crossing your arms over your chest and letting out a frustrated groan as your gaze lifted to the ceiling.

“He’s still a customer, wouldn’t that be weird.” Out of the corner of your eye you could see Chris fixing you with a rather confused look. So you continued. “I mean, like what if he doesn’t like me and then it’s super awkward and he feels uncomfortable coming back into the shop? Not only would I just get to deal with a broken heart, but he could also like report us? Right? For like, being inappropriate?”

Chris snorted in disbelief at your ridiculous statement, so you turned your gaze to him and shot a glare in his direction.

“He wouldn’t report you, dumbo. I’m telling you, just go for it. You might be pleasantly surprised with his response.”

Before you could retort, claiming that Chris was being way too optimistic for his own good, the doorbell rang and the two of you turned to greet the new customer.

“Soonyoung! What a surprise, we were just talking about you!” Your heart sunk at Chris’ words, and you shot him a dirty look, jamming your elbow harshly into his side. Which caused him to let out a loud yelp as you greeted Soonyoung.

The male in question didn’t seem to notice anything was odd, and just beamed at the two of you as he sauntered up to the counter. The weight in your back pocket felt heavy as you watched him. It was a few days before his birthday and the two of you decided to hang out together since you wouldn’t be able to take the whole day off for his party (yes you were the boss, but it was just you and Chris and you weren’t gonna leave the poor guy alone all damn day. You weren’t heartless). He greeted Chris with a grin before turning his attention solely to you.

“Ready to head out?”

“Almost I’ve still got to fin-”

“Yup, they’re totally ready!” Chris exclaimed, shoving you towards the gap in the counter as he cut you off. “I’ve got everything under control here! Have fun kids!” Honestly it felt like he was your parent sending you off on your first date which made this all the more embarrassing.

Soonyoung seemed to notice the conflicting words and a bright laugh left his lips, his eyes slipping shut as his smile grew with his laughter. It only took a moment for him to recover and then extend his hand towards you, and without even thinking about it you took the offered hand. You could practically feel Chris’s eyes boring into your skull, the smug look on his face saying ‘i told you so’, as the two of you left the store.

You lead Soonyoung by the hand over to your car and he quickly climbed into the passenger side of the car. You followed much slower, pulling his gift out of your pocket before sliding into the drivers seat.

Not bothering to turn the car on yet, you turned to face him. The small black box held tightly in your hands, as if it were the only thing keeping you cemented in the moment. You almost wished you had taken one of those courage potions you sold, maybe you’d be less anxious right now, but you wanted this moment to be true to your feelings and the potion would have just muddled that up. Giving you a false sense of strength when you needed to find it on your own this time.

“Happy Birthday Soonie.” You flashed him a small smile, passing over the tiny box. He gasped and took it from you quickly, pulling open the lid to reveal a necklace. The cord was made of leather, which would be smoother to wear than a metal chain, and a gem at the center. A piece of Tiger’s eye with a shiny golden wire wrapped intricate around the stone which kept it in place.

“It’s not much but that’s a Tiger’s eye. It wards off negative energy, dispels fears, and helps bring good luck. I mean, it had more uses than that, those are just some of them. I figured it’d be good for you since you said you were worried about starting that new job, and it’s also a tiger’s eye and I know you really like tigers, and i like you so obviously i remembered that about you. “ You continued to ramble on as Soonyoung pulled the necklace out of the box and stared at it as if you had just gifted him the most priceless gem in the world. Your heart ached as you watched him slip the cord over his neck and turn to face you. Your heart sputtered as his eyes met yours and you felt yourself practically melt in your seat when he took your hand once more.

“Was that a confession I heard? You really like me? Like...like like me?” All at once you realized what you had done, Chris would never let you hear the end of this. It was probably the worst confession in the history of confessions.

You tore your gaze away, your eyes firmly planting on the sight of his hand gripping yours.

“I mean, yeah what’s not to like. You’re hilarious, sweet, and honestly really hot too. It’s almost ridiculous how perfect you are, and I jus-” You felt your words trail off as his free hand reached out and cupped your cheek, forcing you to look up at him once again. You almost completely combusted at the sight of his watching you as if you had hung the stars just for him.

“Would it be cheesy to say that cast a love spell on me.”

“Love spells are highly illegal.”

“Just let me be cheesy!” He pouted, but his eyes never lost that loving spark. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to yours and you felt like time had completely come to a stand still. You knew what you wanted, and from what he said you were hopeful that he wanted the same thing.

“Soonyoung, will you...kiss me?” As soon as the question left your lips, he had taken them with his own. It was like something clicked into place as he kissed you, his lips pressing firmly against your own as his hand slid to gently grip the back of your neck. Everything was perfect, he was perfect.

When the moment passed, he pulled away and let out a laugh.

“Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever.”

#caratwritersclub #kdiner #kdiarynet #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #svt x reader #svt imagine #svt scenario #soonyoung x reader #soonyoung imagine #soonyoung scenario #hoshi x reader #hoshi imagine #hoshi scenario

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amydancepants-peralta · 3 years

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10 and 24 for the festive prompts :)

(please excuse me while I hang my head in shame, for this was 1: received last year, and 2: still didn’t manage to appear before Christmas this year.) 🤦🏼‍♀️ Best laid plans really do be elusive, huh? @ Anon, I'm sorry this is so late, and I hope you’re still around! ♥️

Prompts - 10: I don’t care what you say, The Nightmare Before Christmas works for Christmas and Halloween! and 24: Secret Santa is bullshit.

(for the sake of this story and b99′s vague timelines, this is set pre-manhunter and post-casecation). (ao3)

all the lights are shining (so brightly everywhere)

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la lah, la la lah lahhh …

Amy sighs, tapping her feet - sadly, trapped in a curled up shoe, and does her best to ignore the jingle that comes from its dangling bell.

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la lah, la la lah lahhh …

Christmas Carols have always been a favourite of hers, forever singing along to the melody despite being told by many that she really shouldn’t. They were joyful and uplifting and reminders of everything wonderful about the holiday season. But tonight, she’s been standing post for three hours, listening to Z-List celebrity covers of sacred songs of hope; and as a result has spent 85% of her time hatching a plan to find the source of the music and put an end to everyone’s misery.

Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la, fa la la, fa la lahhh …

Jake’s off-key singing voice filters in through her earpiece, and a tiny smile finds it’s way onto her face.

“Troll the ancient yule-tide carol, fa la la la laaaa, la la la laaa! … Wait, troll? That can’t be right! Hey Ames, do you think trolls celebrate Christmas?”

Knowing that answering would blow her cover, Amy remains quiet; nodding slowly both to the beat and her husband’s question as the track fades away and a new atrocity begins.

Seriously, she needs to find out where this music is coming from.

From underneath her undercover position as Head Elf of Candy Cane Lane, Amy shifts uncomfortably, resisting the urge to tug down the tinsel edged skirt that hovered just a little too high for her liking. She wanted to burn the bra she had chosen to wear tonight (digging into her ribcage like it did), save for the fact that it was very expensive and very beautiful, and very much worn this evening with the sole purpose of seducing her husband.

Work had descended into pure madness in the past fortnight, with both her and Jake’s schedules descending from holding relative similarities to polar opposites. And maybe it was the surplus of romantic movies on every single TV channel, or the scores of advertisements reminding her that the holiday season was for being together with loved ones (for Jake Peralta was most certainly Amy’s Loved One) - either way, Amy had begun to miss spending nights alone with her husband something fierce.

Tonight’s plan had been so simple, it had barely required a binder. Wait until it’s nearly Jake’s finish time, don sexy lingerie, cover up with comfy clothes and go pick up her unsuspecting husband from work. Let him unlock the door when finally home, then jump his bones right there on the couch - giving Jake just enough time to discover the red lacy set and look at her the way he always manages to do - like she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Then, sexy timez. Lots of sexy timez.

And it had all been working so well - until she’d shown up at the precinct unannounced (Jake being too distracted to notice the text she’d sent him), and immediately found herself getting wrapped up in a sting her old squad were devising.

In a spark of true evil, one of Brooklyn’s most elusive drug runners - Art Akemi - had invented a new way to dodge any of his drug shipments from being discovered; deciding to build candy canes around the narcotics so that to the unaware eye, they would appear completely innocuous.

Unfortunately, one of his most recent handovers had gotten mixed up with actual candy canes, resulting in several innocent members of the public ending up in hospital with mysterious drug overdoses. It had taken the 99 and their neighbouring precincts days to piece together Akemi’s plans, and just this afternoon Rosa had been given a lead that suggested a handoff with the kingpin and one of his henchmen would be happening at Santa’s Village that very evening.

It was brazen, to set up an exchange of illegal narcotics in a public access area - particularly, one frequented by children and families alike - but also completely on brand for someone like Akemi. The squad needed to work fast, and work smart; running through the finer details of their mission when Amy had arrived.

And yes, perhaps her FOMOW had reached an all-new peak as she listened to the detectives speak, and perhaps she hadn’t really thought about what she was volunteering herself for - but the next thing Amy knew she was Holly the Christmas Elf, toes squeezed into surprisingly curly shoes as she fielded questions from children and waited for any signs of wrong-doing.

It has been twenty-five minutes since Santa had disappeared to ‘feed the reindeer’ (aka disappearing to the back docks for a quick drag of a cigarette), and just as Amy was beginning to wonder if a search party needs to be called, she feels a gentle tug on her hand, looking down to find a little boy no older than five gazing up at her with awe.

“D’ya think Santa is busy making da presents?"

His eyes are wide - filled with the kind of awe that every child seems to get when they are lulled by the magic of Christmas - and as Amy crouches to match his diminutive height, she can’t help but notice how the unkempt curls on his head remind her of a photo with a similar aged Jake that Karen had once shown her.

(He had been mid-discovery of a fairy garden, one built by his Nana and immediately claimed as his own, and the sheer joy in his face had made Amy’s heart swell, even years later through the faded colours of an oft-cherished photograph.)

“You know, I bet he is.” Scanning the crowd for that familiar mixture of red and white but coming up blank, she turns her attention back to the little boy. “Santa’s magic like that, don’t you think?”

The child’s nod is so enthusiastic the tiny curls on his head begin to bounce, turning quickly as his searching father calls out his name. “Just a little longer, and you can tell him all of your wishes, okay?”

“Da elf said Santa’d building da presents Daddy!” The child runs back towards his father’s outstretched hand, and Amy gives the adult an understanding smile as he lifts his son back into his arms. From his undercover position at a nearby popcorn stand; Jake catches Amy’s eye as she returns to her earlier position, giving him a tiny smile when he throws her a wink.

The topic of parenthood - of them trying to have a baby, one day - had been mentioned by both more than a few times since their anniversary; and the regular use of the word when rather than if ignited a sense of hope in Amy that made her stomach flutter every single time. While the enormity of it all still scared Jake - still scared Amy, if she were to be completely honest - what always seemed to remain after each conversation was the understanding that even if it scared them: together they’d figure out how to get through it.

(Last month’s arrival of Miguel’s baby girl Adamaris, and the sight of Jake cradling her in his careful arms, had definitely not helped, playing on a loop in Amy’s mind for several days after their visit.)

“Nothing beats a bit of Santa magic, hey Santiago?” Jake’s tone is light and playful, and only serves to remind Amy just how much she’s missed talking to him these last few weeks.

Rolling her eyes slightly, she tucks her head downward, playing the pretence of adjusting her costume as she speaks into the hidden mic. “Ha ha, Peralta. Santa is magic, especially to cute kids like that one. No way was I going to be the one to burst the Santa bubble.”

With a stuttered gasp, Jake slaps a hand against his chest, and a passing stranger gives him the side eye. “Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that Santa is fake?!”

“Santa is real, Peralta. As is this very real mission to take down Akemi. Time to focus up.” Terry’s firm tone breaks through the earpiece, busting into Jake and Amy’s conversation, and a sheepish grin breaks out on Jake’s face.

“Right you are, sarge. This is Super Serious Santa Shutdown Situation.” Shoving several pieces of popcorn into his mouth, Jake waits a beat before continuing. “Ames wasn’t wrong, tho. That kid was a cutie.”

The unspoken addition of but ours will be cuter lingers between them, and Amy feels her skin warm up under Jake’s faraway gaze.

Maybe this bra was going to come in use after all.

Rosa’s voice cuts through the unsaid, her tone steady as she moves in closer from her position at a nearby payphone. “Heads up - Santa’s back. And it looks like they’ve swapped out their player.”

Immediately switching into detective mode, Jake shields his face from the new Santa’s sight as he passes, already very aware of earlier (unsuccessful) run-in’s with the kingpin. “That really looks like Akemi.”

“Santiago, can you get close enough to confirm?”

Handing out Christmas tree shaped cookies to the children milling around her position, Amy glances up just in time to catch the replacement Santa as he walks into the village. With the cocky swagger of a man who rarely pays any consequences for his actions, this version of Father Christmas looked paler and far more arrogant than the man wearing the costume earlier.

Pushing past the waiting children with barely any acknowledgment of their tiny hellos, New Santa pauses on his way to his plush red throne; snapping his gum and giving Amy a very jolly (read: creepy) once-over with his eyes. Glancing quickly in Terry’s direction, she gives a subtle nod. Akemi’s case file has landed on almost every detective in New York’s desk at one point or another, and she’d recognised that hard gaze anywhere.

“Well, well, well … don’t you look good enough to sit atop my Christmas tree.”

Acutely aware of their audience, and knowing that the red and white striped stockings covering her legs would definitely be restrictive if she needed to go full ninja on Santa’s ass, Amy quickly chooses to plaster on a bright and shiny grin. “So glad you’ve made it back from the North Pole, Santa. We’ve got lots of excited children just bursting to see you!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Akemi leans in, an unwelcome mixture of tobacco and sweat washing over Amy, and it’s all she can do to not recoil in disgust as he lowers his voice. “I’m only interested in one thing, lady, and once I got it I’m outta here. But don’t you worry, there’ll be plenty of room on my sleigh for you.”

“Ok. I don’t give a damn about any Christmas magic, Ames. If he tries to make you kiss him under that mistletoe, I swear to god I will punch Santa right in the face.”

“Cool it, Peralta.” Terry’s clenching jaw is almost audible in his response, and Amy takes a slow and calming breath, safe in the knowledge that her squad most definitely has her back.

“Right. Yep. Cool it. Cool cool cooling it.” Each member of the team watches from their position as Santa saunters over to his seat, throwing several finger guns to waiting mothers as he goes; and Jake lets out a snort of disgust. “So … has everyone gotten their Secret Santa present organised yet? Rosa, you need some shopping tips?”

“No. Secret Santa is bullshit.”

“It’s a fun holiday tradition that you are definitely participating in and if you picked my name I’d really love a voucher for that sneaker store on 28th.”

“I don’t have you, Peralta.”

“Yep. No problemo. Just saying. In case you do.”

To her right, Amy notices Terry’s unmissable frame break through the crowd. “Heads up, guys. Looks like Santa’s buddy has found his way into the queue.” With his wooly beanie and scores of shopping bags clutched in his hands, their sergeant blended in relatively easily as just another father doing some last minute panic shopping; but they all knew one flex of his oversized muscles would break that facade fairly easily.

A silence falls over the comms as they watch Santa breeze through child after child, giving them barely any attention as his target draws closer; and slowly both Jake and Rosa close the gap from the other sides.

Pulling out a poorly wrapped parcel and handing the gift to Akemi, the unshaven man at the front of the queue feigns surprise when Santa reaches into the sack next to his throne, handing the supposed stranger an oversized bag of ‘candy canes’.

“There’s the exchange. Boyle, can you confirm you got the footage?”

“With a beautiful slow zoom that really captures the thrum of festive anticipation hovering amongst the crowd, sarge.”

Cringing slightly, Jake shakes his head at Charles’ description as his eyes follow the bag of candy canes, their new recipient now walking at a steady pace towards the exit. “We’re going to lose this guy if we don’t move now.”

“Go, Peralta. Diaz, you run backup. Amy and I will take care of Santa.”

With a grin, Jake breaks into a fast walk, already focused in his pursuit. “Alright, taking down a bad Santa in a public environment. Now it feels like Christmas!”

“We’re going to wait until Akemi has left the village, Peralta. You know, try not to break a bunch of children’s hearts?”

“You do you, Terry!”

There are still remnants of festive glitter in Amy’s hair as she and Jake walk up the stairs of their apartment building several hours later, both of them slightly weary from the hours of paperwork and debriefing that took place after Santa’s Village.

“Boy, bet thats the last time you come to the precinct and pick me up on your night off, huh Ames?” The apology is obvious in Jake’s tone, and Amy glances over her shoulder to give him a reassuring smile. Even if it hadn’t been in her original plan, she still got to spend the night hanging with her husband (although in a slightly different capacity than originally planned), and she was choosing to count that as a win. (A small win, but a win all the same.)

“Yeah, maybe.”

“I’m really sorry you got pulled into all of that, babe. I just didn’t see your message in time, or I would have … hey, Ames?” The touch of his hand against her forearm is gentle, pulling her in with the quiet strength she knows her husband to possess, and Amy turns towards Jake without hesitation. His eyes search her face, immediately seeing through her concealed defeat, and he really is the only one for her. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I just …” she feels a blush rush over her cheeks again, suddenly feeling ridiculous as she thinks of how to divulge her secret plan. The underwire from the damn bra digs into her skin again as she squirms, and if tonight has taught Amy anything, it’s why lingerie like this is only designed to stay on until your partner rips it off seconds after reveal.

“Babe?”

“It just feels like forever since we’ve had a night at home, just the two of us.” Jake’s brows knit, and Amy leans in to rest both hands against her husbands chest. “And I know that work has been crazy lately, and that it’ll eventually calm down again, I just … I’d sorta planned on tonight going differently once you were home.”

“Oh god, and instead you ended up in a glittery elf costume with a creep leering at you.” Left hand slapping against his face in shame, Jake shakes his head in obvious frustration.

“I mean, we can mainly blame my FOMOW for that, babe. It doesn’t matter, really. If I hadn’t been there, you might have gotten home even later so when you think about it, it’s way better we - mmfph -” the rest of Amy’s argument stops in it’s tracks as Jake pulls her in for a kiss, the gentle but insistent press of his lips against hers casting any other thoughts far to the side.

The familiar touch of his hands as they roam against the outline of her butt causes Amy to melt entirely in Jake’s arms, resting her arms against his steady shoulders as her fingers slide into his hair. This - these tiny moments where the world seemed to fade away and all she could feel was Jake - was what she’d been craving for weeks.

Jake sighs against her lips, letting her tongue slip into his mouth as he shuffles ever so closer to her, and maybe he’d been missing this just as much as she.

“So,” Jake whispers as he pulls away from the kiss, leaning in to brush his lips against Amy’s once more. “Time to get this night back in track.” Another kiss. “What kind of plans did you make for us, Santiago?”

“Lets just say … the lingerie I’ve got on under here is going to blow your mind, Peralta.”

“Going to blow your mind, title of our sex tape.”

Amy nods, biting her lower lip as she steps out of Jake’s embrace, gesturing towards their apartment. “But it’s also really uncomfortable. C’mon, let's get inside before it ends up in the dumpster.”

Jake’s footsteps echo behind Amy’s, hands landing on her hips as she digs for the keys. “I’m declaring it now, Ames. Tomorrow night we’re both leaving early and staying in for movie night at home. Phones off, popcorn, everything for the full movie experience. We can watch Die Hard and Love Actually and Nightmare before Christmas …”

Amy’s nose crinkles at the last movie, unlocking their front door and tugging her husband through as it swings open. “Didn’t we watch that last one for Halloween?”

“I don’t care what you say, The Nightmare Before Christmas works for Christmas and Halloween!”

“Jake …”

“Christmas is literally in the title, babe!”

Pulling him closer, Amy takes a leaf out of her husband’s handbook, silencing him with a definitely not PG rated kiss now that the risk of being discovered by a neighbour had slimmed to none.

Jake’s arms wrap around her middle in response, holding Amy close as her fingers begin to trace the edge of his buttons, and she lets out a sigh of satisfaction that finally her initial plan was coming to fruition.

Next time, though, she might add a sub-section into the binder about potential diversions, and how to avoid them (not join them) - FOMOW be damned. This stuff was way more fun.

#my writing #very delayed #peraltiago Christmas #pre-mac #sorry anon #undercover peraltiago taking down bad guys #b99 fic #b99 fanfic #peraltiago fic #peraltiago fluff #jake x amy fic #not tagging the prompts as its too long ago

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