#I always packaged my stuff with bubble wrap and/or paper and stuff

[galariangengar]

Since when is it against the rules to post or talk about trades and “in search of” listings on Mercari?? I’m more familiar with depop and know this happens all the time there, but I had no idea it’s against mercari’s policy?? I’m trying to find someone who’s going to any of the remaining shows for Melanie Martinez’s Trilogy Tour and who would be kind enough to get me a poster cuz they ran out when I went to my show last night

[ninibeingdelulu]

I’m sorry

synopsis: he forgot your birthday, so he apologizes in his own way

a/n: i wish re2 leon was real :((

The apartment you share with Leon is utterly unrecognizable when you finally drag yourself through the doorway well past sundown.

What typically greets you is a spartan, almost militaristic level of bare minimalism thanks to your boyfriend's by-the-book personality and rigorous hours with the RPD.

But this evening? The entire open-concept living space has been transformed into what can only be described as a veritable birthday wonderland - complete with vibrant streamers zig-zagging across every available surface and those ridiculously oversized metallic balloons bobbing precariously from every corner.

You halt mid-stride, mouth literally agape as you drink in the burst of kaleidoscope colors and thoughtful homespun decor adorning the length of the kitchen countertops as well.

A deliciously decadent layered cake topped with your favorite indulgent frosting blend...an assortment of neatly wrapped packages in that signature sky-blue wrapping paper you always tease Leon for using at every gift-giving occasion...even a chilled bottle of your go-to celebratory bubbly chilling beside a fresh bouquet of your most beloved flora.

The sheer tenderness of this entire scene hits you like a sucker-punch straight to the solar plexus - eyes stinging with unshed tears even before finally trailing towards the center of the room.

There slouched on the sofa with elbows braced on splayed knees and face cradled in his upturned palms sits Leon himself in a pose of utter guilt-ridden dejection.

"Leon..." You haven't even stepped fully inside yet before his name slips past your lips - instantly shattering whatever uncomfortable reverie he'd been absorbed in brooding towards the floor.

Those endlessly soulful icicle-blue irises you've always adored finally lift to meet yours with the weight of a thousand apologies shining within their stormy depths.

"Hey, doll..."

God, he does sound like a lost puppy while using that feather-soft endearment you normally melt over.

"Look, I...I know I massively forgot your birthday yesterday and I—"

"Leon, you really didn't have to—"

"No, no. Please...just...lemme get this out while I'm on a roll here?"

He interjects quickly, palms lifting in a placating gesture before the briefest quirk of boyish insecurity tugs at the corner of his sensuous mouth.

"I'm not always the best at expressing myself the way I should, but that never means the important stuff gets overlooked or taken for granted...not with you."

The sincerity reverberating through every syllable sends your pulse into an erratic staccato against the hollow of your throat as Leon rises languidly to his full towering height and begins stalking towards where you linger.

There's an undeniably intent yet hopelessly tender hunger now darkening his eyes into bottomless pools of stormy silver. Paradoxically pinning you in place while simultaneously setting your insides ablaze...

"You're the most important person in my entire world, y/n...the reason I wake up fighting each morning and the thought I cling to whenever everything feels hopeless."

Leon murmurs - now near enough you can taste the subtle citrus zing of his aftershave mingling with the adrenaline roaring in your ears.

"Nothing and no one will ever make me lose sight of how goddamn priceless you are to me again...not when you're the sole force keeping this old cop's battered heart from completely shattering apart."

And with his final confession, those rough palms you've spent countless blissful hours mapping finally settle upon your waist while he leans in and just barely brushes the plush seal of his lips over yours in a tantalizing preview of what's to come once you've both recovered from this initial swell of unbridled emotion.

"So how's about we celebrate your birthday properly this time around, sweetheart?"

You can actually feel the rumbling timbre vibrating from Leon's chest straight to your molten core as he seals his vow with a bruising, breathtaking kiss destined to leave you utterly drunk and delirious for hours to come...

[pizzazz-party]

Prev | Next

TWO DAYS TO GO!

Let’s talk packages, and let’s talk prices.

There are so many ways to design around a parcel. As I mentioned in a previous post, I really wanted these packages to feel special. And that meant getting creative—in how I source my materials, and what I do with them.

So right off the bat—every package will be hand inked.

The mailers I’ll be using are padded with a layer of bubble wrap on the inside, and composed of paper on its exterior. Linocuts, if you’re unfamiliar with them, function like stamps; I’ll be carving a design into the rubberlike plate, pressing ink into it, and stamping every mailer. It’s actually a lot of fun.

Next: the interior, layer one.

This isn’t super special creative in of itself, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m doing this anyway. I’ve received perfectly good enamel pins in the mail without extra bubble wrap, but the thinness of the mailers has always unnerved me. Possibly this is for my peace of mind more than anything else, but please feel free to reuse said bubblewrap for your last minute Christmas gifts this holiday season.

The drawstring bags were always part of the plan, because Fancy TM. I also wanted to get out of designing backing cards. But goddamn it, these pins would look so good on backing cards with the rest of Ring’s body on it. So I’m designing those as well. They’ll be full color, and about an inch and a half on all sides, with rounded corners.

The bags themselves were ordered along with the pins, and will arrive at my doorstep on the 18th of this month. Depending on the texture of the fabric, I might be linocut inking on those as well. If not—well, then I know what I’m incorporating into my thank you cards.

I’m hesitant to include this one, because adding another variable feels almost perilous to my paranoid senses. But what the heck. If we reach twenty five orders by November 14th, everyone gets a “Heart Of An Athlete” sticker added to their package.

Last but not least: let’s address the elephant in the room. Let’s talk price.

So. I didn’t really mean to avoid this topic? I was just always laser focused on something else—designing the pin, researching shipping rates, researching indie shops, creating the shop website, dealing with payment processor stuff, processing grandma’s death, figuring out how to rent a PO box. Sorry to leave you all hanging for so long.

Pricing stuff is always awkward to me. Even giving a freelance rate at my actual day job will never feel normal, huh?

Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me thus far. Preorders open this Monday. 💪💪💪

PREORDERS

ENAMEL PIN NEWS TAG

[goldenymph]

Bonded

On the morning of my mother’s funeral, I stand in front of my mirror in my bathroom and contemplate ignoring my obligations and going back to bed. My family has never been supportive of my mother and me. Ever since she relapsed a few years ago, every one of her siblings had abandoned her while, at the same time, abandoning me. Now, I have to face them all at the worst event I will ever have to attend.  

Looking in the mirror, I see all of my mother’s best features. My round brown eyes reflect the sunlight just like hers. The waves of my hair bring me back to a point in time where I held onto it with one hand while chugging a milk bottle in the other. This thought makes me smile, highlighting my pearly white yet crooked teeth that require fixing. I let out a big sigh and think to myself, How will I survive this? 

 I am unsure how I will survive this day, but I know how to get through it. I have thirty minutes until I need to leave my house, which is plenty of time to grab a beer out of my mini fridge. After I chug the beer, I take a fireball shot for good measure. I walk back to the bathroom mirror again. What would mom think of me getting drunk before her funeral? Would she be disappointed, or would she give me a high five?  

I can recall the first time that I saw my mother do drugs. I was around four or five and was playing with my Hunchback of Notre Dame plastic toys in the bubble bath while she stood at the sink, putting on her makeup before her date with some guy named Paul. Esmerelda was about to marry Quasimodo when I saw my mom sniff something up her nostrils, which I thought looked like snow reflected off a mirror. At that moment, I was not aware of what was going on.  

I come back to the present and look in the mirror again. You look good! I imagine my mother saying. She always praised me for my outer appearance and when I appeared to have it together. As I start to flatten the wrinkles out of my skirt, I hear a startling knock at the door. BAM! BAM! BAM! As I go to look outside, I see no one. I slowly open the door.  

“Hello?” My voice cracks from my dry throat. In front of me is a small package, wrapped in the most luxurious looking, and honestly elaborate, wrapping paper with a big purple bow on top. Confused and curious, I open the package without hesitation. Inside is a tiny envelope with my name printed in cursive. Who in the hell puts such a small envelope inside a box?   

I unfold the paper dated a few days before my mother died, and I start to read:  

My dear sweet Georgia,  

By this time, I am long gone. Knowing what a shit mother I currently am, I want to leave you with something that helps you remember me. Because I can’t leave you money or material things, I will leave you with these words.   

I love you and have loved you for eternity long before you were first in my belly; I dreamed about having a daughter I could connect with and shoot the shit with. You know grandma and how her anxiety affected me growing up. I never wanted to do that to you…and I did.  

This letter is always to remind you that you are the epitome of strength, and you have gotten there with little help from me. Yes, I tried my best with you, but I failed. I fell for my drug of choice once again, and I am so sorry.  

This letter constantly reminds you that you are stronger than this. You cannot let your life be taken over by a substance. Please, I beg you, if you ever need help, reach out. Reach out to grandma, reach out to Aunt Deb, reach out to MY sponsor, reach out to anyone. Remember that even if you are struggling, you are not failing; you can always change.  

I am sure you are curious as to why this is being delivered right before the funeral. I planned my funeral when I had my first O.D. at twenty-four when you were four years old. You were in the bathtub, playing away, while I enjoyed my drug of choice, regardless of your presence. I sniffed more lines than I ever had, and this stuff was pure. I was self-medicating. I knew I didn’t have the rent that was due the following day and I was hoping my date would help me out after our night together.   

I got you ready for bed, tucked you in, and read your favorite Little Bear book. As I was going back to the bathroom to do another line, I started to feel anxious, and I noticed I was sweating profusely. I shut the bathroom door and turned on the fan for some cool air. The next thing I remember is feeling nauseous, and I vomited into the toilet. The rest is a blur, and the next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital. I awoke in St. Anne’s, where you were born. Grandma was sitting in the corner of the room, shaking her head at me and then looking away.  

All I wanted to do was get home to you. I am so sorry, Georgia. I am sorry that I could never give you what you needed, and you needed and still need a real mom.   

I got sober right after this happened. I could not think about or risk losing you to this drug. Up until a few months ago, I had been sober for twenty years. Twenty! 

The monster is catching up to me, Georgia, and I am sorry. I am so thankful for the twenty beautiful years that I was able to be your mom, through and through.  

I will always love you, my little girl. Do big things, and always remember that you deserve more than any substance will ever give you.  

Love,  

Mom  

P.S. My sponsor delivered the package. Give her a call sometime. She can share some delightful stories with you.  

At this point, I was in tears and unable to stand. I sat on my couch and sobbed into my hands. My mascara had run from my eyes onto my arm. My mother never talked to me like she did in this letter. We had a codependent relationship and bonded over drinking and drugs. We hardly had a day go by when we were not fighting. I did not know she was capable of this.  

I look up at the clock. I have ten minutes until I must leave. I walk over to the fridge, open the door, and grab another Budweiser. 

[asharestupid]

It's come to my attention that people who aren't poor don't typically save things that are single use.

So here's some ways you can reuse them:

- Old butter bowls? Wash them out and keep them! You can use them in place of Tupperware or throw some soil in it and plant things in it! (Me and my sibs always used to paint the outside of the bowl when we planted stuff in it)

- Plastic bottles? Save and refill them! Stop buying plastic water bottles, you have empty Gatorade bottles right there! Just take off the label, wash em out, put more water in em, and put em in the fridge.

- those plastic bags you carry your things in from the store? Keep them! If you have a dog they make good poo-bags (I usually double bag) . If not, you can put them in small trash cans as a trash bag.

- empty cardboard boxes? (Be it pizza boxes or the box a package came in, etc) Save them!!! If you have a fireplace they make amazing fire starters. If not, put presents in them.

- old magazines/newspaper/ads you got in the mail? If you have an animal that's in a cage, rip them (the papers not the animal lol) up and put them as liners! (If you're putting them in the actual cage and not just in the poop tray pls put fleece or smth over them)

- bubble wrap you're not using anymore? if you have children/anyone who enjoys it then let them pop it before you throw it out!!!

- old clothes that are in too bad of a shape to donate? Cut them up!! You can use them as rags, material to make patches out of, or as lining for a cage. (Don't cut them up if you're gonna use them as lining, and make sure the material is safe for whatever pet you have.)

- empty milk jugs/any big bottle? Wash them out and fill them back up. (Not necessarily with milk lol) my family buys powdered kool aid & lemonade so when we make it we put it in one of the empty jugs we have. If you have animals that drink out of a water bowl you can fill a jug up with water and go to them, that way you don't risk spilling the water everywhere.

- old shoelaces/drawstrings? You can make bracelets with them!! Just treat them like string, they make quite durable bracelets. Or you can use them as jar seals if you have a bit of cloth.

There are so many more things you can do with them, these are just things off the top of my head.

[ventihonklightice]

period pains || sapnap

Sapnap x fem!reader

Word count: 1.5k words

Summary: Sapnap, being the amazing, super, terrific boyfriend he is, went to buy y/n tampons. needless to say, she got plenty.

Moving in with Sapnap and Dream was exciting. It got to the point where Y/n was at their house almost everyday, so it was an easy acclimation. At first, Y/n was nervous about how living with her boyfriend’s best friend would work, but it was surprisingly more manageable than she thought. She wasn’t nervous about walking around Dream anymore, though her cheeks would glow a particular shade of red after late night rendezvous with Sapnap that he pretended to not hear. Little did she know, he spared her the mockery by privately doing so to Sapnap.

Currently though on a somewhat cloudy Florida day, her boyfriend was out with said best friend and roommate before the Texan received a text.

y/n <3

do you love me

He put down his drink at the sight of the notification popping up on his phone, quirking a brow at his girlfriend’s words while his friend proceeded to eat his meal.

sappy pandas

??

of course I do

where’s this coming from?

Sapnap was slightly concerned, knowing Y/n to be more reserved when asking for his affirmation of love.

y/n <3

since you love me

can you pretty pretty pretty pls

get me tampons

and stuff

I am suffering

He chuckled at the multiple text bubbles that appeared on his screen, causing Dream to divert his attention from his food to his friend’s phone.

sappy pandas

oh shit

I’m sorry :((

We’ll be back in 30 or 40 minutes <3

Y/N groaned, not being able to take the pain any longer and just wanting cuddles with her boyfriend, though regardless, she appreciated his actions.

y/n <3

omg thank you

thank you

I love you so much

Sapnap smiled widely, quickly moving his fingers to text a reply. “Y/n?” Dream asked, taking yet another bite. Sapnap just nodded his head, focused on his girl.

sappy pandas

yeah yeah love you too baby

“Can we stop by Walgreens or something on the way back? She needs stuff,” he spoke to Dream who was currently scarfing down the rest of the food. He nodded his head, still chewing.

“Also, can we order her food?” Sapnap asked shyly. Dream chuckled at the comment, “oh so now I’m both your AND her sugar daddy? I’m going broke because of you two.”

Sapnap blushed, feeling bad about making the blond pay even though he almost always insisted. “I-I’ll pay for it dude, it’s not a big deal.”

Dream shook his head, taking a sip of his soda, “no. Never. I literally asked you to come here, I’m not making you pay for shit.”

The waitress came back, taking the plates and asking if we’d like a check, with the boys instead asking for a menu.

Half an our later, the pair was going across the street of the restaurant and to the drugstore. “What does she need anyways?” Dream asked, following Sapnap’s footsteps.

“Tampons and stuff,” he almost whispered, uncomfortable with the words and also not wanting others to hear him mutter them. “Oh,” Dream answered shortly as they made a bee line to the ‘feminine hygiene’ aisle. Needless to say, the men were overwhelmed.

“Why are there so many?” Sapnap asked as his eyes scanned over various pink and purple packages. “Text her and ask her exactly what she needs,” Dream suggested, eyes also scanning the products before him.

It had been five minutes and Y/N had yet to respond. Sapnap groaned, “what do I do?” His friend shrugged before a very dumb idea crossed his mind. “Just like, get a bunch.”

Sapnap looked at his friend and blinked before speaking “that’s a great idea.” They went to go grab a shopping cart before they began to fill it with various types of cotton.

“No, Sapnap that’s underwear,” Dream spoke as he saw his friend grab diaper like underwear, “it’s for bladder problems or something.”

Sapnap quickly put it back before looking at tampax, “okay but these are definitely tampons.” He grabbed those, along with several other brands and sizes. He moved onto pads, doing the exact same thing.

“This looks... fine,” Sapnap spoke as he examined the sheer amount of cotton recently thrown into the cart. He pushed the cart until reaching the candy aisle. He wanted to buy her some in hopes of making her feel better. So, he took various chocolates alongside her favorite candy and went to go grab pain relievers before approaching the register.

The cashier looked between the cart and the two men scurrying to put the period products onto the counter, forcing a muffled laugh out of Dream. “Find everything okay?” She muttered, scanning the items that Sapnap began to place on the counter, a line forming behind them.

“Uh y-yes thank you,” Sapnap stuttered, placing the candy down last.

“That’s gonna be $198.46,” she expressed as Sapnap fumbled with his debit card, Dream already carrying most of the bags. The two men hurriedly left the store.

“That was so embarrassing. There was a line and everything, oh my god those people must think I’m crazy,” Sapnap muttered, rubbing his hands over his face.

“This-This is definitely a little overboard,” Dream spoke as he slammed the trunk closed.

“It’s fine. This is fine. I don’t want her to like, not have the stuff she needs. I’d feel awful,” Sapnap spoke as he opened the passenger seat door. “Whatever you say pandas.”

~

Never receiving a text from Y/N, Sapnap assumed that she had been asleep. Dream helped him carry the various bags of tampons and food into the house, but thought it’d be best to let his friend carry them to his girlfriend.

So, Sapnap did so, just very loudly. He stumbled into the bedroom, his eyes landing on his girlfriend. Through the ruffling of the bags and his loud footsteps she began to stir about. “Sapnap?” She mumbled tiredly, his form looking like a blob in her sleepy daze.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he whispered, gently placing down the bags by his bed before leaning over to kiss her forehead.

“Did you go to the store?” She asked, her eyes opening more and more. He scratched his neck as he looked at the bags, “yeah. I just- I just didn’t know what you needed so...”

His voice trailed off as he bent down to grab the bags, “I kind of bought a lot.” Y/N sat up slowly examining the bags with wide eyes, a hand covering her mouth to stifle her laughs.

“Baby,” she giggled, moving to get up to go towards the bags before Sapnap stopped her. “Stay put, I’ll bring the bags to you m’lady,” he spoke with a posh British accent on his last word. Y/n smiled and watched as he grabbed the bags and tossed them by her legs, finally settling onto the bed next to her.

“This is so much,” she muttered going through bag after bag, “you are so sweet.”

Sapnap turned red at her words, watching her go through them to find what she needed, “w-we could donate them or something?”

Y/n let out a scoff, stopping her movements to look at him, “literally the sweetest man. How’d I get this lucky?”

“Yeah I’m literally perfect,” Sapnap spoke sarcastically, leaning his head on her shoulder. Y/n giggled once more, finding the bag that had the reciept and pulling out the long pice of paper. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the total, “two hundred dollars!”

Sapnap snatched up the receipt before she could examine it further, “don’t worry about it.”

Y/n shook her head proceeding to dig through the bags, “and you got me candy? And medicine?”

Her eyes began to tear up as she threw her arms around Sapnap, startling him. “It was nothing,” he muttered softly, wrapping his arms around her torso gently.

“You’re the first guy that’s ever done this for me. Actually care and shit,” she sniffled, her words muffled in his chest. Sapnap’s eyes softened and he carded his fingers through her hair, “well it’s cause I love you and I think you deserve the world. And if making a Walgreens go tampon bankrupt does that, then I’m okay with it.”

Y/n chuckled at his words, pulling away to wipe tears off her face. “I love you too,” she expressed with a slightly exhausted tone. A soft smile appeared on the Texan’s features,

“D-Do you want me to run a bath or something? Or we got you food. It’s in the kitchen and I’ll grab it if you want,” he explained as he laid back onto the beg, dragging Y/n with him softly.

“Can we just lay here for a minute?” Y/n asked, snuggling further into his chest.

“Whatever you want, baby,” he mumbled, kissing the top of her head. He continued to run his fingers through her hair, eventually hearing light and steady snores from the girl on his chest. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

[ivyglow]

hii can we get 9 with tito🥺

From Valentines day prompt list: 9. 💖 “You love me?!”

word count: 940

warnings: none besides that it’s not proofread

You were close to reaching the one-year anniversary with Tito, but before there was Valentine’s day. Your first together, and you wanted it to be good. Gratefully, the date was on a Sunday, so that meant you could stay together from waking up to going to sleep. Time was precious when your boyfriend would always travel back and forth to play, but you were getting used to the details of dating a hockey player, although your favorite version was the home-Tito wearing sweats and glasses, messy hair, stubble growing, and smile always displaying.

Tito was a morning person and you knew it damn well so you didn’t even try to wake up before him on the 14th, but you do try to wake up a little bit early, and thank goodness you did because walking to your kitchen you were able to witness one of the cutest scenes. Anthony was talking with Eva your two years old dog while cooking breakfast.

Eva was the reason why you met in the first place. You were walking her in the city when she suddenly felt the need to run to a stranger and start to bark demanding to be petted and the strangers happened to be Anthony who immediately knelt down and gave your baby girl all the love, he even used a cute voice with her. And when you finally reached the two of them you were mortified, you remember saying you were sorry at least five times in the process of grabbing her leash back. Tito was chuckling the whole time, and he told you he could ignore the situation -that wasn’t a bad one at all- if you would accept coffee with him, and since you were right in front of a coffee shop and Eva kept wiggling her tail to the cute stranger you couldn’t help but accept. The rest was story.

Now you were here, almost a year later watching attentively your dog wiggles her tail to your boyfriend just like she did the first time she saw him, “good morning,” you whispered leaning against the door frame. Tito turned so fast you felt the laugh bubble in your throat, his big blue eyes even bigger staring at you in surprise.

“Baby, you’re supposed to be in bed,” he stated defeated before walking towards you. There’s a dishrag hanging on his shirtless shoulders and he seems to glow with the sun shining through your big windows.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to spend more time with you today so I woke up earlier,” finding it’s way around his neck your hands thread through his hair massaging gently his scalp. Anthony sights before bending down to connect your lips, his are cold, but his tongue is hot as soon as he swept into you bringing your body close. It’s your turn to sight when his face falls to your neck peppering kisses along your collaborne, his stubble caricing your skin gently along with his lips.

“It’s okay, we can still have breakfast in bed.”

You smile nodding your head and kissing him one more time before going to grab your water bottle.

“So, what’d you cook for us?” Eva is around you now and you scratch her ears while talking with Tito.

“Waffles, scrambled eggs, fruits and your favorite smoothie,” he tells pointing at everything, he was just finishing with the eggs.

“I’m gonna marry you if you keep doing these type of things to me,” your amused tone still got a smile from him, but it wasn’t his funny one, it was his soft one, like he was reassuring you that it may be true someday: him asking you to be his wife.

It was less than 20 minutes until you were in bed eating.

“I’m too anxious, I need to give you your present now or I’ll ended up spilling it,” he says crouching down in front of the bed and reaching for under it. You give him a puzzle look before he hands you a big wrap.

“That big?! I think my present won’t even compare, this is too big, Beua...what’s this?” you question trying to tear the wrap as gently as possible. He chuckles before motioning for you to open it faster.

When the tear was on the ground you gasped. It was a new laptop, “Anthony- that’s too much...what the hell?”

“You deserve the best, baby,” he shrugs kissing your temple. “I saw your old one was stressing you out, now it wont anymore.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” you told him between kisses.

He smiles reciprocating the affection.

“Now, I’m gonna give yours,” you desentalge yourself from him before running to your side of the closet where Tito kept some of your stuffs. It was an small package.

“Here,” you hand him the heart and roses wrap with a sheppish smile.

Tito kisses you first before opening his gift. You watch as his face changes from confusion with the two pieces of paper to understanding and then finally pure glee.

“Baby, Justin Bieber tickets?! How’d you get those? I went to see and they were already sold out…” he was smiling and looking from you to his gift, you pecked his lips, “Thank you so much, that’s amazing. I loved these and I love you!”

“My friend is working on his backstage now and she was able to get me these two,” you explain caricing his cheeks before raising your eyebrows, “wait a second...you love me?!”

Anthony bites his lips and then shrugs before answering, “I think I do” and kissing you. “Actually, I’m sure I do,” he confesses.

[lykegenia]

It's become a regular thing, Nate cooking her dinner after sparring with Mason. She enjoys the time she gets to spend with him. But all it takes is one little slip to remember that having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't so easy. 

--

Chapter1/3

The waft of enticing aromas hits as I enter the kitchen, a wall of warmth and a faint haze of steam, with the lilt of classical music as an accompaniment to whatever is sizzling on the hob. Fairy lights dance above the antique dining table and reflect in its polished surface, but at the sound of my footsteps the brightest thing in the room by far becomes Nate’s smile, as welcome after my sparring session with Mason as the hot jet of the shower to relieve tense muscles. He sets down a pan of something – sautéing garlic, by the smell – and reaches out to draw me into his side. I sink into the embrace with a sigh as he presses a kiss to my forehead. His hand splays across my back.

“You smell nice,” he murmurs, without pulling away. It’s a new shampoo, fancy stuff from an online boutique that guaranteed the use of natural ingredients that I’d hoped would be easier on his senses.

I smirk, satisfied. “So does dinner.”

The lazy smile as he leans back teases the unspoken innuendo, mirth clear in his brown eyes, though after a moment he lets his gaze fall in careful inspection, his hand trailing up my arm.

“How was training?”

“Either I’m getting worse or Mason isn’t holding back so much anymore,” I chuckle. “At least he’s teaching me so many tricks the guys at the gym are getting jealous.”

“I’m sure it’s the latter,” he says as I roll my neck to stretch it out.

The new array of bruises across my body protest at the movement, and I make a mental note to ask Nate for help later – Elidor gave me some kind of magic salve so the injuries can heal faster, some of which are harder to reach than others. But food comes first.

“What’s on the menu?” I ask.

Still with one arm around my waist, he smiles wide and makes a sweeping gesture over the bubbling pots and pans. “We’re having pan-seared duck over a bed of parmesan mash, with wilted spinach and a side of roasted seasonal vegetables.” He finishes the movement with a swift kiss to my knuckles, and I can tell that beneath the smirk he’s waiting for my reaction.

The first time he cooked for me he confided that he enjoyed making food for others, but since the rest of Unit Bravo doesn’t eat human food it leaves me as his only guinea pig. It’s become almost a ritual for us since then, intimate, something to share, and the effort he always puts in to impress me still ties my insides in knots. No one’s ever cared so much about my opinion before.

“You know,” I tease, nudging closer, “if you keep trying to outdo yourself, eventually you’ll set the kitchen on fire.”

He laughs. “Perhaps. But until then… taste this. Tell me what you think.”

He lets me go to fish for a teaspoon in the cutlery drawer, which he dips into a saucepan of simmering, brownish liquid and holds up for me, the other hand held carefully underneath to catch any drips. If anyone else tried to feed me like this they’d end up wearing the spoon as a hat, but his gaze is expectant, hopeful, and my stomach is gnawingly empty. With my fingers on his elbow to steady his hand I take the offered mouthful. The moment the sauce hits my tongue I have to pull back, hiding a giggle behind my hand. The flavours are complex, savoury then sweet with a hint of spice trailing at the end.

“What is it? It’s…”

He preens at the reaction, just a little. “It’s a jus made with pomegranate molasses. Do you like it?”

“Definitely,” I answer, closing the space and reaching up on tiptoes, and he obliges by dipping his head so I can kiss him. “You’re amazing.”

“No more so than you,” he purrs without missing a beat.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” We had this argument early on; I’m not one to sit by while others work – I never know what to do with my hands.

“I still need to finish the mashed potato, if you want to prepare the duck breast?” he points to the island in the middle of the kitchen where a package sits wrapped in brown paper stamped with the logo of the butcher who runs a stall at the local market. “It needs scoring and seasoning.”

I nod. “Got it.”

Unfolding myself from his side with a final squeeze of his hand, I set about my assigned task. After washing my hands, I take one of the hardwood chopping boards from the rack on the countertop and a slim knife from the stand next to it, and set up my little work station with my back to Nate so he can get on with whatever fancy technique he’s using. The Agency spared no expense with the equipment in any of the warehouse’s rooms and the kitchen is no exception, despite how little it’s used. I’m not exactly lost when it comes to cooking, my limitations more due to laziness than a lack of skill, but half the utensils that fill the drawers are ones I’d never seen before coming here.

There’s a burst of soft fragrance as I pluck a few sprigs of thyme from the planter on the windowsill. Soft scales of piano notes trickle in to fill the silence, soothing the last of the tension from my day of paperwork and solving petty crime.

“What music is this?” I ask as I lay the newly unwrapped meat on the board and start to cut into the skin. “I like it.”

“This piece in particular?” I hear him check on something in the oven. “I’m not certain. It’s from a collection of overtures I found in the Agency’s music library.”

“Overtures…” I consider. “That’s the bit in the opera before they start singing, right?”

He chuckles. “That’s a good way to put it.”

“See? I’m not just a pretty – shit!”

“Leah?”

I’ve already brought my finger to my mouth, the taste of iron welling against my tongue. Of course I wasn’t paying enough attention. The Agency’s knives are sharp – the sting feels like I’ve sliced half way to the bone. Without thinking, I pull my hand back to examine the wound, assessing damage, and instantaneously a bloom of deep red erupts along the white line of the cut.

There’s a gasp behind me.

Shit.

I turn but Nate’s already there, a solid wall so close I have to crane my neck back to see his face. A tiny, wild animal part of my brain shouts an alarm that he shouldn’t have made it there so fast, with so little noise. He catches my wrist, half-lidded eyes on my hand, entranced as a droplet of blood grows too heavy and escapes like an unspooled ribbon down the length of my finger. The moment stretches. His throat bobs in a dry swallow, lips slightly parted.

“Nate…”

His eyes flash up to mine for an unsteady instant, unfocussed and intense, before dropping to my mouth. A harsh breath eases between my teeth, but when he leans closer I realise what must be drawing him.

“Nate.” My voice is firmer, more urgent.

He blinks. The strange, vacant light slips from his eyes.

“The tap,” he manages through a clenched jaw, still fighting for control.

The small, calm part of my mind registering my body’s reaction, prey to predator, struggles with the non-sequitur. The pointed tips of fangs peek out from beneath his upper lip.

“You need to run your hand under the tap. The smell –”

“Nate,” I answer, in the voice they trained into us at the academy for talking down drunks and people with weapons, “you need to let go of me.” The grip on my arm is gentle, certainly not tight enough to hurt, but it’s not one I could escape by force.

Another weightless instant passes – and then he drops me, curling away like a leaf under flame, breath ragged as I count steps across the kitchen floor and all but lunge for the sink. My face pushes into a grimace as my finger hits the cold stream of water, but what blood there was is washed away in a matter of seconds. For an instant, my shoulders sag in relief, only to seize up again when a bang like a gunshot has me flinching for cover.

It’s just the door. It hangs open, swinging with the force that slammed it against the wall, and as I watch, breath heaving, a chunk of mortar falls out of the dent made by the handle and crumbles to the floor.

Nate is nowhere to be seen.

[shintorikhazumi]

I Have Two Sisters?! (4): Three Sisters, One School, and A Trio of Brunettes

A/N: No long explanation note. Just an apology. Sorry it got delayed. Was burnt out, am burnt out lately. I could not think of anything for this. Emotionally just... not good, I suppose. School is kinda hectic too. Sadly. But here you go. Chap 4! I hope the length is worth the wait?

Ended up yeeting out this incredible sloppy mess of a chapter. :’> sorry. I can’t think no more, Ma.

Thank you to the MAGENTA GAZE squad. Y’all know who you are.

Also, a big, warm THANK YOU to all those reading and supporting this story :>.Means a lot to me :’)) Without further ado,

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

I Have Two Sisters?! Chapter 4: Three Sisters, One School, and A Trio of Brunettes

Four days. That was all it took to get the necessary documents for Diana’s clutch enrollment over. Weiss was ever pleased with herself for this achievement, and Claudine could only look on dumbfounded as parcel after parcel was dropped off in their mailbox or at their doorstep, all on the same day.

“You are a scary woman, did you know that?”

“Why, thank you~. You’re quite terrifying yourself.”

Claudine only managed a gruff little huff, carrying a suspiciously large box into the house with a bit of effort, Weiss discovering very soon just how strangely strong Claudine could be, and thus labeled the youngest as the “brawn” of the house. Weiss made great use of this fact.

Claudine frowned at the memory of being made to carry the things they bought when they went furniture shopping the other day. Weiss was some sadistic task master.

“Wh-what the heck is in this thing?” Claudine managed to ask without biting her tongue after tripping over one of the house’s thresholds. “Are these also a part of Diana’s documents?”

Weiss threw a glance over her shoulder, walking in front of Claudine, leading her to the living room where even more packages lay, Diana cluelessly sorting parcels, boxes, and covered folders into separate piles to be opened.

“Ah, well… yes, but…”

“Weiss?” Claudine called after her, voice holding a warning.

“They’re for Diana, yes. Documents... no. But I thought it would be fun to have some of this stuff delivered for the sake of… stuff.”

“Stuff.” Claudine echoed. “Right. What stuff.” She sighed, finally placing the last box- she was praying with all her might that it was- on their carpeted floor.

“Yes, stuff.”

“I’m asking, what kind of stuff?” Claudine crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes as Weiss did a zipper motion over her mouth.

“That’s something you and Diana are about to find out.” She made her merry way over to Diana, standing next to the girl seated on the floor, a box cutter in one hand, looking anxiously from one sealed delivery to the other. “Come on, Diana. Open up the presents!”

“Santa roleplay?” Claudine teased. Weiss pointedly ignored her.

“W-where do I even start?” The eldest eyed the packages, trying to figure out which one she should open first.

She was taking quite long, and Claudine and Weiss were beginning to worry that they’d overwhelmed her.

“Weeell...” Deciding to help Diana out, Weiss looked over the array displayed in front of them, eyes narrowed until they landed on one particular medium-sized box, reaching out for it with a twinkle in her eyes. “How about this one?”

Diana nodded, a little curious about the younger girl’s reaction. Taking the box from Weiss, she smiled in thanks. Weiss returned the gesture, stepping back to watch as Diana cut through the tape and opened the folded flaps to reveal bubble wrap, some papers for additional cushion and protection, a black bag and-

“...A Nikon D850…”

Diana didn’t know why Claudine looked a little bitter, and possibly more shocked than her, but she couldn’t really pay mind to that as she awed at the expensive equipment. Sure, her family had always been loaded and the cost of this was merely pocket change to them; but Diana hadn’t really explored all that privilege the same way they did, anyway.

To get such a nice present from Weiss...

“Th-thank... thank you?”

Weiss pouted a bit at the reaction. She had done her best to get the perfect gift to welcome Diana into college and her new course, but Diana’s response was honestly underwhelming. “Don’t like it?”

Blue eyes widened, afraid they had insulted the kind Weiss. “N-No! No! Not at all! I mean, no I don’t like- no I mean I like it, I just, no to I don’t like it. I like it! I love it! It’s amazing! And... wow. I... I just... I don’t know if I can accept this...” Diana carefully placed the opened package on their coffee table, staring at that sleek black, those marvelous lens on that box-ish frame the... wow.

“Psh, sure you can.” Weiss waved off.

“Can I really...” Diana scratched her cheek lightly, a tiny blush coming on as she felt her next words were a little shameless. “I admit that I would like to keep it...”

“It’s yours to keep.” Weiss reassured, gentle and smiling. “Okay?”

Diana looked up to meet her eyes, somehow still unsure, but Weiss coming in to sit next to her, one hand patting her shoulder and the other placing the camera back in Diana’s was the last push of encouragement she needed to accept it.

“Thank you, Weiss. Really. Thank you.” Diana embraced the gift carefully close to her, smile soft and teary. “It means a lot to me.”

Diana pocketed this tender moment in her heart, saving it like all the other good memories she’d made with her sisters thus far. And they were numerous, quite abundant considering how long they’d known each other. But maybe that no longer mattered, how long they had been together. Diana should just focus on all the time they have coming.

A cough from Weiss brought her back to the reality that there were still more packages to be opened, and she sighed internally. She was about to mention something to her sister, but then she caught Weiss staring at Claudine expectantly, as if saying it was the youngest’s turn for... something.

“Claudine, out with it.”

‘Hmm?’ Diana directed her gaze to Claudine, noticing that the action made the latter flinch, hands deep in her pockets, visibly shuffling underneath the cloth.

“I’m... I’m just kind of... shy now after seeing that...” She muttered with closed teeth. “You had me carry all these things, and I didn’t know it was part of our plan. Now I don’t really wanna... compete with that...”

“Compete?” Weiss chuckled. “This is not a competition. Come on, Claud. We agreed to both get her something.” She revealed their said plan to Diana who had been out of the loop on this.

“Well, yes, but I didn’t think you’d just… get her a bunch of high-end camera gear!” Claudine commented, bewildered. “I literally got her a keychain! I can’t just give Diana a keychain!” She exasperatedly announced. “Not after all that!” She sighed, toes curling and wiggling in some form of discomfort.

“And Why not?” “Why not?” Two voices sounded simultaneously, heads tilted to the side in confusion.

‘Gosh, these heiresses.’

“I like keychains.” Diana so helpfully informed.

“Of course you do.” Claudine deadpanned, gripping the small item in her pocket. “Just…” She sighed once more, finger wearing the ring-like bit of the item. “I just- I feel... embarrassed... and stuff.” She blushed, looking away from the pair on the floor.

“Why?”

‘Why?’ Claudine looked at them incredulously. Obviously because- because... to people like them, used to extravagance and all the fanciest jewelry and wear, something like this trinket was just-

“Because it feels so small in comparison to the camera... and insignificant.” Claudine confessed. “I-I mean, not that my thoughts behind it were insignificant, not at all, I just thought I could give you something better. Not that I thought this was no good, I mean. At the time I bought it, but now that I see all this-”

“You’re right.”

“Huh?” Claudine blinked, facing a serious-looking Diana, rising to her feet and walking over to her.

“It isn’t insignificant. Nothing you’ve given me is.” Diana’s expression melted into a gentle smiled. “From your kindness, to the gentleness of each action toward me, to your consideration... to these slippers on my feet,” She flapped them for emphasis. “to the mug I drink from daily, and my toothbrush on the bathroom counter. All those, and the warmth behind them pile up in my heart, making it overflow with gratitude. Really, Claudine. The greatest thing you’ve gifted to me is your genuine care for me and my feelings.”

“Diana...”

Her words, it moved Claudine’s heart. She never thought it meant that much to the older girl. She had gotten all those things for Diana, did all those things for her, simply because... she could. And she wanted Diana to experience better things than all the pain she’d been through.

“Thank you, Claudine.” Diana said, coming to a stop in front of the younger girl. Her arms raised and opened up, Claudine before pausing awkwardly in the air, her whole frame freezing. “U-um...”

With a raised brow indicating her confusion, Claudine waited, posture uncomfortably straight

“Just hug and get it over with.” Their one-woman audience complained, getting impatient. “And just give her the damn gift, Claud!”

“Hrrngh- okay, okay! I get it! I got it!” Claudine grumbled, fishing through her pocket and pulling out a silver keychain, a small unicorn figure attached with a tiny bead next to it, and a letter D that looked like a waxed seal. “I- This is obviously not the o-only thing I got you.” Claudine tried to say, thinking of what else she could get to supplement this huge failure.

But it may have not been needed.

Diana engulfed her in a huge hug, sobbing lightly into her neck, thanking her over and over.

Claudine felt those warm tears wash over her skin. Her heart ached, her eyes stung. But she could hold it in, she could. She was a big, strong girl-

“Thank you, Claudine. Thank you. Thank you so much. For always thinking of me. For getting me something I can truly call mine.”

And Claudine broke, arms squeezing tight around Diana’s waist, silently crying into her shoulder. “Dummy. Everything you have right now is truly yours. And we are truly your sisters.”

---

Weiss looked away, if only to hide the tears that had also formed at the corners of her eyes. “Hey! That camera is solely yours as well!” She inserted, jokingly sounding annoyed, before shaking it off when Diana gave her an apologetic look. She smiled,  watching her sisters continue to hug.

It didn’t look like they were going to part soon, huh. Maybe in a bit. They’d separate. In 1... 2... 3...

Nope.

Okay, Weiss was beginning to feel a little left out. Maybe she wanted to be in the hug too. Not that she’d admit to that.

Buuutt, she could just... hint at it. Or something. Casually, so they wouldn’t know. Claudine would tease her for days if she found out Weiss had felt a little lonely.

“You made such a big deal out of it, only to become so soft.” Weiss laughed, walking over to her sisters and flicking Claudine on the forehead, earning her an adorable yelp, and not-as-adorable glare. “Guess you being the youngest makes perfect sense now.”

“Wha-Hey! I’ll have you know-” Claudine broke away from Diana, proceeding to bicker with Weiss who simply laughed at Claudine’s empty bites.

---

Diana admired the scene in front of her, smiling warmly at her two sisters. They had transitioned from intense verbal exchange to teasing words and playful wrestling, and Diana could not help but smile along as Claudine and Weiss filled the living room with their laughter.

Warm.

It felt so warm.

Subconsciously, Diana had grabbed her new camera, lifting it up and snapping a photo of two beautiful hearts who had become her new world.

Like this photo, she would cherish them forever.

//-//-//-//-//

After their little gift-giving spree, they decided it was time to get a move on with their actual business. They had succeeded in getting the recommendations Diana needed, and simply needed to file them and prepare them with the rest of Diana’s enrollment documents.

As Diana sorted through the papers, reading the contents of each to check over important information, she found that there were some personal letters accompanying them as well. At first, they seemed to be greetings, checking in on Diana. She was almost happy, before she felt twinges in her heart, soon figuring what they were actually about. Just more people sucking up to her to get to her family.

Well. They were barking up the wrong tree. Diana was no longer of any value to the Cavendishes. Even if she was stuck bearing their name. It was practically just an unwanted decoration to her image; an image she desperately wanted to break free from.

Alongside those empty salutations were the sugar-coated bitterness from comments from Diana’s old teachers. They were almost all the same, with some saying it was a shame that she wouldn’t be continuing on as a doctor. Most were surprised to hear she was taking arts for college as not everyone knew of Diana’s family situation, and maybe they hadn’t even cared enough to know about Diana until this point.

Diana would have liked to believe that, surely, they would have seen the scandal on the news of the Cavendish’s case of abuse- but then Diana remembered that her family was powerful enough to possibly cover it all up, only enduring a few scrapes to their name. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised then if they still thought she’d go medical.

Of course. They didn’t know. They didn’t want to anyway. They probably assumed Diana was just dropping out, not strong enough to ensure the pressures that came with being someone of her previous status. How would they see her? Did they think of her as pathetic? Maybe. Maybe.

And now, Diana was left with feelings of shame.

Before she could wallow in more of her brought-back sorrows, hands were quick to move around her, Diana realizing that Claudine had taken her laptop away from her, closing the messages and shutting the device down, while Weiss took away the letters. She was glaring at them so hard, Diana hoped she wouldn’t crumple or tear them. They still needed those.

“Don’t read those any longer than you should. And don’t listen to any of those comments. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Weiss is right. You are amazing.”

“No sister of mine is going to get shamed because of her undeniable talent and wit.” Weiss huffed, breathing out her feelings of irritation.

Diana felt her eyes water as she felt their unconditional support for her. Something she’d never had before.

Whatever deity had blessed her all at once with the best gifts in existence- her two sisters- deserved all the praise Diana had to give.

Weiss and Claudine shared a look as Diana wiped away the few tears that had slipped by. They sighed before grinning, pulling Diana into a group hug.

Really, Diana felt silly for worrying about all those things now. All those people she shouldn’t- couldn’t care less about.

With a laugh, she could only join her sisters as they faced everyone else in the world. Everyone who had used them, hurt them. To that, they’d scream,

“”Screw them!””

//-//-//-//-//

“I- I apologize... could you perhaps... run me through the steps one more time? Just one more time.” Diana pleaded, face contorted in frustration.

Weiss and Claudine found it absolutely adorable.

Who knew Diana was so bad with phones! They were only exchanging numbers, for crying out loud!

This was truly a mystery that confounded them as Claudine and Weiss had watched Diana efficiently navigate her way around her laptop and camera gear. She was excellent in getting all the school application documents ready, and the pair had watched her fixing the practice photos she’d taken earlier, afterwards.

So what was so hard about tapping a few icons on her phone compared to that?!

“I-... i-it’s because i practiced using those! It took me quite a while, but I’m proud to say I’m able to use them well now!”

“Practice...” Weiss parroted, dumbfounded at the revelation. She blinked. Turned to Claudine. “Practice... she says... using a laptop...-”

And exploded.

“HAHAHAHA, practicing?! Practicing using a phone?? Diana, you are adorable!”

Diana clearly didn’t appreciate this, not because she felt insulted by Weiss’ actions, but because she couldn’t comprehend just what was so wrong about daily practicing your typing skills to get sharper.

----

Claudine chopped Weiss lightly on the head, sighing to keep herself from giggling as well. “Don’t worry about it, Diana. We’re just surprised.”

“I still fail to understand why.” Diana frowned, and Claudine poked at the spot between her eyes, now laughing.

“Stop that, you’ll get wrinkles.”

Diana blushed.

“Let’s forget about this for a second, and actually help Diana out, Weiss.” Claudine warned, and that effectively got Weiss to stop, as her laughter calmed into a smile.

“I got it, haha.” She then proceeded to review all the steps on ‘how to add someone to your contacts’ to Diana. “Do you think you can do it on your own now?” She smiled at Diana as she finished.

Diana nodded silently, then looked up to Claudine with a wordless question in her eyes.

One that Claudine had no idea about.

“W-what?” After five minutes of not getting it, Diana’s stare was beginning to feel pressuring.

“May I have your number as well?”

Really. She was just so cute.

“You absolutely can.”

Weiss and Claudine watched over Diana with soft expressions on their faces as she stared at her screen, mesmerized by the names of her sisters on the tiny little glowing object in her hand.

“I’ve... I’ve never needed phone.” She confessed. “I’ve never had one... that’s why I have no clue on how to use it.”

“Huh? Not even for contacting your friends?” Weiss simply asked.

“I... I had an email. And a home phone... and...” Diana paused. “...no friends anyway. At least, not in school that I’d need to contact with an urgency.”

Claudine blinked. Maybe they should have expected this? She definitely couldn’t say she related to the experience as she’d been surrounded by love and good company for most of her life.

She couldn’t possibly hope to feel what Diana did, or understand it. What she could, however, was change those situations into something better.

She would let Diana feel loved.

She and Weiss would.

“Well... you have us now.” She said, quieter than expected. Almost a whisper.

Weiss and Diana turned to her, the latter’s eyes shimmering once more with unshed tears.

How many times had they made Diana cry already?

Her next words made Claudine want to as well.

“I do.”

//-//-//-//-//

D-day. It was a Monday.  Two weeks before classes would get rolling. Today, the girls’ main agenda would be to get Diana enrolled as soon as possible, and then Claudine and Weiss would proceed to check on their own student statuses and pick up their uniforms.

The uniforms had been issued as a means to identify their students. They were free to wear it as they saw fit, so long as it was still recognizable as belonging to the school.

After they had accomplished most of what they needed for Diana’s processes, they sat waiting in the seats just outside the office clerk’s transaction window, waiting for their names to get called on to pick up Weiss and Claudine’s uniforms.

“Could this take any longer?” Weiss groaned. “The service is taking ages!”

“Hush, you. It’s not that bad at all.” Claudine sighed. Although she felt a similar frustration and impatience after sitting in that place for nearly half an hour, she understood that there were many other transactions ongoing so close to the beginning of classes.

Even Diana looked as though she was getting bored. It wouldn’t be surprising if one of them fell asleep at some point. Claudine had already gone through a few games on her phone, and didn’t feel like playing any more. They could only wait at this point.

Before the trio could succumb to even more mental distress, like a taste of salvation, their turn came.

“Weiss Schnee.”

“Yes, yes.” Weiss almost jumped out of her seat, glad the nightmare was over as she skipped over to the window to receive her items.

“Claudine Saijou.” The clerk called next. Claudine made her way more calmly, bowing gratefully to the worker.

“Thank you.”

As Claudine was doing all the final checks for all of their things, and inquiring about Diana’s status, she barely heard Weiss mumbling to herself, staring at Claudine the whole while.

“Claudine Saijou…” Weiss thought long and hard. Since the other day she had been wondering about why Claudine’s face and name were so familiar. She felt stupid not asking anything about it sooner. They’d been living together awhile now! So why hadn’t they ever... well, to be fair, with all the circumstances surrounding them, they hadn’t really tried to pry too much into one another’s pasts. They had also always referred to each other by their first names right away.

She knew Diana’s last name by heart, and a little bit of the weight behind it because of all the things they’d had gone through since meeting, helping the girl. She was sure they knew her name as it was the only thing she’d ever share with her dick of a father.

But there hadn’t really been an occasion to think about Claudine’s. Even if they had met her mother.

Why was that?

Weiss didn’t really know or understand. But now, she had a chance to stand back and think about it. What was it that had been tickling her mind each time she heard that name.

She tested the name a few more times, a tingling on her tongue as she tried to jog her memory. Just where...

“Ah! “ Weiss snapped, turning to Claudine and pointing a finger right at her face. “Claudine Saijou! You’re Saijou Claudine!”

A surprised Claudine, reeled back slightly, eyes wide, blinking at Weiss. Just what was this girl going on about this time?

“Yes… Yes, I’m Saijou Claudine. Thank you for telling me my name.” She tried, recovering from her initial scare.

“And I’m Diana Cavendish.” Diana butted in, wondering if she should also state her full name. Had Weiss somehow forgotten and needed a refresher? Did she need them for something?

“No, no, you idiots.” Weiss sighed, exasperated. Luckily, neither of her sisters took offense to what she’d just called them. Organizing her realizations, she shared them to the pair, once more gesturing to Claudine. “You’re the one from that… that.. Lou’s ointment commercial from a while back!” She excitedly exclaimed.

A blush crept across Claudine’s features, suddenly hyper aware of their surroundings. She began to notice that Weiss little outburst was starting to garner attention as more people began to recognize her. Of course they would. In a school for the arts, why shouldn’t she expect this?

“Did she just say Saijou Claudine?”

“You mean the one from Seishou? That Saijou Claudine?”

Claudine flinched.

“I loved her acting in Starlight!”

“I preferred her Dracula.”

“We all know it was Black Beard that was the hottest.”

Only good things were being said about her, but Claudine couldn’t help but feel awkward in this situation. Plus, her sisters... were here. Somehow it felt a little embarrassing with them watching.

She could see some people inching closer to her, and she could hear whispers about taking photos or talking to her. Usually, she’d stand up straight in pride and thank everyone supporting her, but somehow she felt... uncomfortable from the attention.

She hadn’t been in Japan, in Seishou, for a few years. Maybe it was a little surprising to know that her name was still heard of, and it was mostly associated with her former school. She knew she’d made some mark in France, but... the more time she spent there, away from many things she’d chosen to leave behind, it felt as though her sparkle dimmed.

Things she’d left behind... huh.

Claudine shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts.

Maybe they should leave now.

Claudine grabbed her uniform that had fallen to the floor after Weiss loud declaration. She bowed in apology to the staff for the ruckus, threw some thanks over her shoulder, and ushered her sisters out the room hurriedly.

“Let’s go.”

//-//-//-//

“So... Saijou Claudine huh.”  Weiss awkwardly repeated Claudine’s name for her to hear again.

Claudine remained seated on the courtyard bench with her head down, not looking at Weiss. Silent.

Weiss was beginning to feel a little guilty, not even knowing why. Maybe she should try to ease the situation some way?

“I… I liked the ointment? It worked really well for me and was compatible with my skin type.” She attempted lamely.

Diana voiced her agreement, feeling the tension present in the air and wanting to help out. “Yes, I also used it during…” She trailed off, eyes dulling as she looked away, now also silent.

The girls understood immediately what Diana had been needing it for.

With that plan backfiring, moments of nothing passed.

“It’s alright, Weiss.” Claudine lifted her head, trying to meet Weiss gaze as assurance, but then shifting her eyes to the side mere seconds later. “...I was just... embarrassed.” -that and feeling another emotion that Claudine didn’t really want to face at the moment.

Again, she thought of it. Really, it was rather uncharacteristic of her to be this way. Usually, she would be rather proud of her achievements. While not in an annoyingly boastful manner, she never shied away from attention. Usually she took it with grace and humility.

Maybe it was because they were her sisters suddenly looking at her differently. Or maybe it was because of the mention of Seishou and all the memories... and people linked to it that she had neglected for so long, that reminded her and made her feel at odds with the sudden attention.  Maybe... she just didn’t know.

“If it helps,” Diana tried again. Maybe this could help them lighten the atmosphere. “I, for one, am proud to have a sister who’s been on TV?” She smiled, taking a seat next to Claudine, placing a hand over her own on her lap.

No matter how talented Weiss and Diana were, their performances were mostly exclusive to their rich guests at home. Weiss may have been invited on a radio broadcast once or twice, or a recording for a documentary on music. She was once even on a YouTube video for a friend. But it was different from having your face be constantly plastered on screen every time a particular commercial came out for days on end.

“If I remember right, you had another one… Country… ma’am?” Claudine’s blush came back as she shyly nodded.

“Ah! I remember you also had this one play!” Claudine watched silver brows knit together momentarily, Weiss struggling to pin the tail on the donkey. “Anne? Annie? Wait, no, that’s not it. Let’s see here…” She mumbled a few more names to herself, before the confusion in her eyes cleared somewhat, Weiss carefully asking,“Arrie?”

Claudine chuckled, amused. “Thank you for remembering. Yes, that was- you could say- the peak of my work. That was then. But now…” She smiled softly, eyes on the dirt, kicking a pebble away and watching it roll along ‘til it came to a dead halt. “I’m nothing special, really.”

...Did she really just say that about herself? Her eyes widened the slightest bit but her expression settled before her sisters could take notice.

Now really wasn’t the time for her thoughts to be all jumbled up and in a mess.

“Are you KIDDING me, right now?” Weiss scoffed. “Did you see those people’s reactions back there? That’s definitely amazing. You’re amazing.”

“Says an international recitalist.” Claudine responded without missing a beat, looking up at Weiss with a glint in her deep magenta eyes.

Weiss looked taken aback. “Y-you know-...how?“

“I study much.” Claudine shrugged. “I’ve seen and kept far too many books, video sources and the like for reference. Research. It’s research, dear sister. And I’ve come across you more times than i have fingers.” She confessed.

“And you never bothered telling me you knew me?”

“Why would I?” Claudine grinned teasingly. “Want me to stroke your ego?”

“Hey!”

Just like that, the weight had been lifted and Claudine found herself enjoying this banter with Weiss. Her sass and her confident, straight-forward self that always seemed to amuse and cheer them up in many moments, breaking the ice in their interactions.

Claudine felt her entirety smile at her older sister, feeling warmer. Such a pleasant feeling.

As she silently admired her sibling, a gentle giggling tickled Claudine’ ears as Diana watched her younger sister’s exchanges and playful jabs at one another. Claudine noticed Weiss quiet down as well as they ended up staring.

She knew the thought the same thing. They found it quite nice, a very pretty sound coming from an incredibly beautiful girl.

That visage imprinted itself in her mind, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Diana-

“... Ever considered being a model, Diana?” Weiss suddenly blurted out the exact thoughts in Claudine’s mind.

Diana’s eyes were just as wide as hers as the stunned girl looked between her two younger sisters, words barely registering in her mind.

“Huh?”

//-//-//-//-//

School.

What a place.

School was, and always had been her escape back then. It was where she would not feel the physical torment of her aunt, it was a place where she wouldn’t have to endure the scathing words of her family.

Yes, school had its own pressures, the teachers keeping their watchful eyes on her; sometimes expectant, other times judging. Diana also had her fair share of distant admirers, and braver, envious foe, but those were trivial little things in comparison to her home life of abuse.

Thumbtacks in her shoes, or her books in a fountain were as ant bites to her, nothing in comparison to the lions that hungered to devour her once she stepped foot into the manor’s towering gates come the end of the school day.

So really, school may have been better than home, but it never really held a special place in Diana’s heart. If anything, it was more associated with terror and the idea of faux and temporary freedom.

But now, did these perceptions remain for Diana? Or could school be something else for her, now that she had two allies on her side.

Two allies... two sisters.

Diana inwardly smiled at the word. That she had them now, that they were present in a place like ‘school’, it already made all the difference.

Where she had no genuine friends and peers before, she now had two of the best people by her side. Where she had no one who believed in her or her dreams, she’d found two people pushing her to pursue ones she hadn’t realized she had.

And though she had no family to send her off to school then, she did now...

Right now.

“Okay, Diana. Just as we were told, today is only the orientation day. There won’t be any classes, so we’re expecting an early out for the day. Which means we’ll be expecting to see you pretty soon after classes end.” Claudine’s hands fiddled with her tie, straightening it out and pressing it gently to Diana’s chest. “Perfect.” She nodded in satisfaction, eyes lifting to meet Diana’s. “Now. I have a copy of your schedule because Weiss said it’d be best for us to know where you are at times.” She informed, before eyes widened in panic, an explanation on her lips. “W-we don’t mean to tread on your privacy of alone time or anything, you can tell us if-”

“Claudine. It’s okay.” Diana laughed, watching her sister calm down somewhat.

“Okay.” Claudine paused to admire the pretty sound of Diana’s happiness. “Okay, but anyway. Our lunch times match up, so we were hoping we’d all have it together; how do you feel about that?” Claudine bit her lip, just a little nervous.

“I’d love that.”

“Ah, thank goodness.” Claudine sighed in relief. “Also, you have our numbers and all so just ring us up if you need us.” Claudine added more and more to her list of reminders. “Also, I snuck a water bottle into your bag. Remember to hydrate regularly! And also, don’t be scared to tell the teacher if you ever need a bathroom break-”

“Claudine.”

“And blatantly- not shyly, mind you- give people a piece of your mind if they ever try to hurt-”

“Claudine!” Diana laughed again, airy and sweet. “I’m not a child, you both needn’t be so concerned.” She patted the girl on the head, gaining a blush from her younger sister. “Thank you. Also, class starts in five. I know your classroom is quite far from mine.”

She knew the girl was biting her tongue, keeping her from saying anything more. Diana knew she was considering Diana’s words, knowing they were right. “Fine...”  She relented.

“Get to your class, Claudine. I’ll be fine.”

Claudine still looked reluctant to leave Diana, eyes searching her expression for any doubts or anxiety, but finding none, she backed away.

“Fine. Okay. I got it. I’ll go. But!”

“Just go, Claudine.” Diana giggled. “Go. I’ll be alright. Please? Trust me?”

“I- I do trust you!” Diana heard the girl murmur a few things to herself. “I do. Okay. I’ll go. You’ll be fine, okay?”

“I will.”

“Okay. Pinky promise.” Diana felt her face warm as she and Claudine did the childish gesture, but it made her smile, thinking of how sweet and innocent Claudine could still be at times.

“Pinky promise.”

“Call me or Weiss! Lunch together! Water!” She called over her shoulder, even as she walked away.

“I will!” Diana reassured. Really, Claudine was a worrywart. The girl still paused in the middle of the hall before taking the turn around the corridor, making sure Diana was really alright. Once she was satisfied, she disappeared from the older girl’s sight.

Diana spun on her heel, facing the sliding wood separating her from her knew life goal. This was it. She just needed to take a step in. With a deep breath, it was like a mask was dropped onto her.

Her eyes became blank and cold, her expression just as frozen, settled not in a frown nor a smile. Simply a fine line on her lips. Diana trod into the room, a switch within clearly flipped.

She hated it. This Diana Cavendish. This Diana was cold and calculative to a fault. This Diana had built many walls around herself because she’d known the terrors of the world, and the possibility of people only here to use her. She had to be careful. That’s what the Cavendish had said. That’s what Diana had eventually tasted for herself after many betrayals.

This was only a defense. Impregnable as it should be when dealing with the outside world.

...

But then... where was this defense when she’d first met Weiss and Claudine? It was practically non-existent.

Diana felt her expression soften, eyes warming the tiniest bit. Thinking about her sisters made her feel... fluffy... inside. She never thought she could feel such a thing. It was such an abstract concept to her, that when she’d heard it from other people in the past, she knew she scoffed at the idea.

The emotions she knew were pain, anger, pride, sadness, the occasional joy. Feelings such as ‘fluffiness’ and ‘softness’, she’d never really understood what they meant. She still didn’t.

But she smiled. At least she now knew.

//-//-//-//-//

Diana internally squirmed in her seat, under the burning scrutiny of fiery eyes that had been locked onto her ever since she entered the room. Even during the duration of orientations and introductions, the only time the girl had broken her stare was when it was her turn to give her name and basic information to the class, as well as while she excitedly responded to a lot of things their professor had said. Only during those times did she give the poor Cavendish room to breathe.

Then it was back to watching every moment of Diana in that room.

Why?

Diana had no clue.

Kagari Atsuko.

She seemed peppy, cheery. She was loud and active. She was so different from Diana. She was friendly- or so Diana had observed as she first arrived in the class. She smiled at everyone and greeted them good morning, and Diana had regretted catching her gaze that now refused to leave her form.

She never said anything, she hadn’t greeted Diana ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’ like she did the rest of their classmates.

She didn’t get her.

She didn’t understand why the girl kept looking at her... she didn’t understand why she kept sneaking glances back.

So she didn’t force herself to think about it anymore than she should.

She may or may not get involved with the woman from time to time, maybe for school work and such, but she didn’t see them getting along at all. She had no time nor reason to pursue friendships anyway.

Kagari Atsuko, whoever she was, was just going to be another passing figure in her academic life, Diana concluded.

An odd lass, she surmised.

Class ended promptly, the professor saying she found no need to discuss much since it was only the first day, and that the students should go out and explore the campus. Maybe they’d find inspiration to use in the upcoming days.

As she packed her things into her bag, Diana could feel that incessant gaze boring into her back, the pressure laid strongly on her.

She really wanted to just ignore it, but somehow she felt like that wouldn’t be possible. There was a chance that this girl would actually act on all her staring.

...or not?

Diana quirked a brow as the girl had averted her gaze once Diana met it, clumsily throwing her materials into her own backpack, closing it haphazardly before rushing down the steps between the rows of lecture desks. As the bag hopped off her back as she made those rough movements, Diana  bit her lip. She could just foresee something happening-

And it did.

The girl’s water bottle had somehow fallen out of her pack, making a clacking sound that surprised the owner as she quickly tripped over her feet and fell to the floor.

In a span of under a minute.

Diana rushed forward without hesitation, body moving on its own as she crouched by the fallen girl, helping her sit up before gathering the contents spilled from her bag after she’d made her glorious failure of an exit.

Diana worked quietly, handing the girl her things and looking her over for any signs of pain or injury. Upon seeing that she may as well be fine, she got up wordlessly, gave the girl a curt nod before going out the door.

Only to be followed by that Kagari girl, voice calling out behind her.

“W-w-w-wait!”

She waited. Something compelled her to do so. Turning around, she raised a curious brow.

“I- you...” The brunette tried, not really knowing what to say after all that. “Thank you.”  She murmured quietly, and Diana had met her eyes and found sincere rubies glimmering with something she was unfamiliar with. Something that had suddenly captured her, leaving her staring. “Miss Cavendish.”

At the sound of her name, she snapped out of the odd trance, nodding once more with a reply of, “You’re welcome. Now I should go-”

“Wait-!”

Again, Diana felt her feet root themselves in place, not allowing her to leave. “Yes?”

She watched as the girl opened and shut her mouth, forming words in her mind perhaps, then rethinking them over and over ‘til she looked like a fish out of water with the way she left Diana hanging.

“If you have nothing else to say, I should be on my way.” That sounded a bit too cold, Diana admitted to herself. However, this was her normal reaction to people she did not know and could not be bothered to know anyway.

This was fine. She told herself so.

So then why was she so expectant? For... something- anything- from this unfamiliar person that had spent the better half of their orientation day ogling her?

Diana just didn’t get it. She didn’t get herself.

Upon receiving no response, she sighed, turning around for the last time. This time she wouldn’t look back. She wouldn’t wait. “Good day.” She said as a final word, shoes tapping against the floor.

She’d leave. She’d walk away this time. She’d ignore the stare boring into her very soul. She would never interact with this girl anymore if she could help it. She’d push away these strange feelings, these curious thoughts of hers all in a mess just because of this strange girl.

Then she’d be fine.

School would just be her, her camera, and her sisters. That was enough for her.

She kept walking, nearing the corner of the hallway.

“Ever considered being a model, Miss Cavendish?!”

-And she stopped.

[“Ever considered being a model, Diana?”]

Her sister’s question during her enrollment replayed in her mind, Diana slightly in awe at the coincidence.

Diana struggled to find her voice as she remained frozen by the stairs. Kagari Atsuko quickly followed after her, standing a bit too close for Diana’s liking, staring so intently into her eyes.

Once she found her tongue, a weak question was the only thing she managed. “Wh-why do you ask?”

“Please. Be my model.”’

There was this sincerity in her odd request, this spell in her eyes; and for a moment, Diana thought of saying yes. Only for a moment. Regaining her bearings, Diana shook here head, no.

It just wasn’t possible. Her?

“Please.”

Diana’s brows furrowed at the continued request. In the first place, should this girl really be asking her course-mate that?

“But… Miss Kagari… we’re both photographers…”

“So?”

‘So?’ What did she mean by that?

“Does that have anything to do with being my model?”

“...yes?” For one, Diana would be needing her own model. She’d figured she could ask her sisters for this one favor.

Diana realized the girl might be asking for their future projects that the teacher had mentioned earlier in orientation. If this was her way of being diligent by scouting early, she was barking up the wrong tree.

“But you could still do it! I know a senior who previously did the same thing! Come on, please, Miss Cavendish?”

In the first place, why was this girl so dead set on having Diana model for her? Why was she pleading so endearingly, with her eyes hopeful and sparkling, making it hard for Diana to say no. So hard to say no.

“I…”

‘I’ll think about it?’

Wait. Was that what she wanted to say? No, impossible. She shouldn’t even think of that possibility in the first place. Just.... what was it that was going on with Diana.

This girl had no clue who she was. She didn’t know Diana nor her past, nor her... scars. It wasn’t just an embarrassing feeling, or simple apprehension, now that she pondered on the reason behind her response- or rather, lack of it.

It was shame. If Kagari Atsuko ever found out about Diana Cavendish, there was no way she’d actually keep asking, was there? To have Diana as her model. No, not her. Not someone as marred and tainted, scarred and ugly as her.

And Diana had her answer.

“I’m sorry... I’m only a photographer.”

//-//-//-//-//

Weiss glared at her desk, willing the dark coffee stain on it away. There was also some cream, possibly from a doughnut, smeared along the side of it. So early in the morning, and already she was experiencing levels of gross she’d very much rather not see.

“Youch! You sure got the bad draw for the seating assignment. Wonder who among these early birds did that though.” Weiss’ eyes traced up the finger pointing to the frosted mess on her desk, trying to meet the origin of the voice that popped up beside her, red-tipped brunette strands obstructing her vision from this stranger’s face. This made her realize.

“Um... aren’t you a little too close?”

“Hmm?”

The mop of two-toned hair swayed with the motions of her new companion, turning her head to face Weiss.

‘Silver. How... peculiar.’

Before she lost herself, completely entranced, Weiss backed away in her seat, tearing her eyes free of that magnetic gaze. “I- I said you’re too close!”

“Oh. Oh! Oh, my bad. Sorry. Just. I saw you frowning so early in the morning, like you were gonna murder someone or something, or your desk.” The girl scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “I’m Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose.”

“Miss Rose. Great. Well then, I’ll be looking for a way to... deal with this, so if you’d excuse me.” Weiss promptly rose from her seat, making a line for the door.

“Hey, that’s not very polite.” ‘Ruby’ called after Weiss. “I gave you my name, so why can’t I get yours?”

Weiss stopped in her tracks, casting a casual glance over her shoulder at the person who had gone and entered her personal bubble without much apprehension earlier, and admittedly, had piqued her interest.

Well. She was going to need some acquaintances to get through this class smoothly, after all. Hmm... but did it have to be her? Weiss pondered it. Maybe she could be of some use to Weiss.

With a small smirk, she considered her final options. She could just give her name... But where was the fun in that? They were classmates anyway.

So with a flip of her shoulder and a cheeky tone of voice,

“I’m sure you’ll learn soon enough.”

-She walked away.

//-//-//-//-//

Claudine stood outside the door of the classroom, hesitant about entering.

She was late.

She was late for classes because she had to make sure Diana was settled in and okay. Claudine had escorted Diana to her first class as some sort of precaution in case something happened to the girl on the way. She and Weiss had talked about it the night before school began, and decided it would be for the best. Just to be safe. So she’d taken the liberty to do this task as Weiss’ class started earlier than Diana’s and hers.

And she was glad to do it. Just that she might have taken a bit too long. Plus, it didn’t help that her classroom was on the other side of the building. Fortunately for her, she had swung by the faculty room first thing when they got to school to find her first period’s professor and inform her of the possibility that she’d be late. She was meticulous and sure like that.

But being late... wasn’t really the reason why she wasn’t too keen on entering the class, was it?

A deep breath.

She... should go in now.

With a simple, “excuse me”, and a knock on the front door, she slid it open to reveal herself to only the teacher who beckoned her in upon noticing Claudine.

If she took a step in now, what would greet her? Who would she see? Was she... ready for this inevitable reunion?

Her stomach churned.

Things were going to be different. She just knew it.

“Ah, yes, our final student.” Her professor’s voice took her out of her inner turmoil, adding to the dread she was feeling as she had no way out anymore. This was it. She had to face the stage and the people who stood on it. “She’s excused from being late because of some family circumstances, but we’re glad she could make it and complete our class, aren’t we students?”

Claudine thought the teacher was rather chipper. She seemed so happy so early in the morning. A totally different mood from Claudine.

She supposed she should just get on with it. Whatever happened, she’d deal with it later.

So she walked in, turning to the rest of the class, bowing in apology for being late.

... bowing to a certain group of people in apology for being a year late.

Claudine could clearly feel the eight pairs of extremely surprised eyes boring their scalding gazes into her. She wanted to address them and all the questions she knew swirled within them, but first things first. Formalities and introductions and all-

A resounding clatter of a seat, as it was pushed back suddenly, stole the room’s attention. A figure stood so abruptly, the handouts on the desk slipping off.

“Saijou…san.”

‘What a face you’re making...’ She chuckled to herself.

“Well, yes. I’m pleased you remember my name,” Claudine threw back with a bit of a tease, a sprinkle of playful haughtiness mixed in. She met the intense gaze with a fiery spirit of competition, like she always did; in a way, daring this person to say more, or to be her usual infuriating self.

But it seems she was just stunned.

Claudine raised a challenging brow, waiting for the spluttering mess to say something.

What she received was a gaping mouth, shock all over the woman’s expression, and a shy wave of a hand.

Then the mask of confident indifference she had donned melted into something much gentler as she looked into those Violet eyes she missed dreadfully.

“… Tendou Maya.”

//-//-//-//-//

Claudine felt pleasantly surprised that Aijo Karen could hold back any sort of emotion, at this point. She was very obviously buzzing in her seat in unfiltered tension and excitement, eyes frequently darting to where Claudine was. Hikari blatantly stared, and poor Mahiru tried to get both to calm down and pay attention to class orientation. Claudine found herself smiling the slightest bit at that.

Some things really didn’t change.

Maya, on the other hand hadn’t looked back at her once since their earlier reunion. While this could simply mean that she still kept her impeccable focus and professionalism that separated work and school from personal life, to Claudine, it was still their first interaction after a long time... She couldn’t help but feel disheartened.

Was she not pleased to see Claudine? Was it because... Claudine hadn’t kept in touch with everyone?  

Or was there something else that she didn’t know of?

//

Class could not end any quicker, but by the time that it did, Hikari and Karen were already making a beeline straight for her, as did the others- the others being the rest of her dorm mates and dearest friends. She was already bracing herself for the impending impact of these two jumping her, but before anyone else could touch her, Nana had sped her way past the pair, and engulfed Claudine in a near-bone-crushing hug.

“Kuro-chaaaan!” She wailed like a child, not completely out of character for Nana. “What happened to you all this time?!”

The flood gates of inquiry opened and rushed at Claudine who struggled to keep up with answering every query her friends had about the last year that she had been gone.

Warmth flooded her heart at the realization of many things. Among those was the fact that her friends didn’t seem mad at all. They had only been worried and hopeful for her well-being. Claudine’s heart was moved.

One thing that bothered her was that as the others fawned over her and asked her their endless questions, Maya just stood off to the side, not engaging with the rest of them. It unnerved Claudine. Maya was the one she was closest to, the one she thought she knew and understood the most.

So what was going on?

After everyone had calmed, satisfied with the brief explanation of Claudine’s life in Paris and why she’d lost contact with them all, she was surprised when everyone parted from her, creating a space to allow Maya and Claudine to clearly face each other. As if they were saying, ‘talk’.

Maya looked to be as shocked as she was. Claudine bit her lip nervously.

What would Maya do?

//-//-//-//-//

Tendou Maya knew she was a prideful woman. She was a confident woman. She was a skilled, talented, persevering woman.

What she was not was petty.

And yet, she couldn’t help but sulk the moment her mind had registered that Saijou Claudine was back. Back in Japan. Back in their circle of Seishou friends. Back to Maya.

That in itself was something she’d thought she’d rejoice about, having longed to see Claudine for many a sleepless night. The days that had gone by without so much a letter or a simple, ‘hello’ had torn her heart apart piece by piece, until she had somehow managed to convince herself that Claudine no longer cared for her... even if Maya still wanted to remain at her side.

Deep inside her, anxious pride told her that she should be mad. She should demand a reason from Claudine- although already given. Her bitterness hungered for a begging apology from Saijou Claudine who had forgotten all about Tendou Maya.

But having Claudine appear in front of her, realer than any of her worst dreams and most pleasant nightmares, and out of the unexpected blue, Maya struggled against the simple desire to give into her long-endured neediness and simply embrace Claudine and confirm that she was truly back.

“Maya-chan.” Nana had whispered, pushing her forward as she stumbled the first step before fixing her walk forward until she stood right in front of Claudine.

Claudine offered a hand out, a sense of deja vu washing over Maya as she took it, her own had shaking slightly.

Maya swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to fish for the right words in her mind that had melted into a puddle the moment Claudine gave her that sheepish, awkward, incredibly beautiful smile.

“Have you put on a little weight from all those potatoes, Tendou Maya?” She chuckled.

Claudine.

Maya was captured. She had grown even more beautiful, hadn’t she? This girl- no… they were women now weren’t they? Both Maya and the girl she knew as Saijou Claudine. They had become women in the short time they were apart.

But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Or rather, it was something that had finally surfaced so blatantly clear in their relationship; an aspect they had possibly always known but had pushed to the back of their minds as they had other priorities back then.

Maya knew that Claudine knew.

She knew they both realized it, and she could see it in Claudine’s eyes.

“I’ve missed you.” Maya murmured in the tiniest voice. She could see her friends’ smiles from the corner of her eyes, their grins growing wider as Claudine whispered her bashful reply.

“I’ve missed you too.”

And Maya knew it was love.

//-//-//-//-//

Claudine loved her friends. They were the most considerate people in the world. Maybe a little too considerate.

Claudine would have been fine spending time catching up with all of them, but it seemed as though they had caught onto the fact that Maya and Claudine wanted some private time to sort things out between themselves, and so were allowed time alone.

She swallowed down the lump forming in her throat, entirety suddenly full of butterflies in jitters. Being away from Maya for so long, not seeing her at all, unable to hear even her voice, it created this strange feeling of unknown- of an anxiety Claudine couldn’t describe.

Even if this was still Maya- dare she say her Maya-, Claudine could only wonder how much the girl could have changed without her by her side.

All those worries vanished like a mist in the rays of a smile as sunshine-y warm as Maya’s at this very moment. The cold fear in her heart melted away, and her heart beat strongly for a different reason now.

Maya’s eyes searched her own, and she found it difficult to form words. It was everything she could do to keep their gazes locked.

“I-”

“Will you stay by my side now?”

Her heart stopped.

Then ran so fast, Claudine was sure it would burst with all these feelings she knew could be nothing else but her undeniable attraction, and an emotion much deeper than that, towards Maya.

//-//-//-//-//

“Paris was amazing. It was like a dream that I had finally reached and made real.” Claudine began, as they settled on a bench at a deserted corner of the school’s vast courtyard. “At first it was so easy to tell you all of what had happened. The ups and the downs, the successes; the innumerable opportunities I had gotten... The classes were amazing. I learned so much.”

Maya took her hand, gently wrapping her own around it. She squeezed in her silent support, urging Claudine to continue.

“Then suddenly, everyone wanted me.”

Maya wanted to make a playful remark, a simple ‘My~ what a player’. However, there was something in Claudine’s expression that told her it would be better to refrain.

“I know you want to make a comment.” Claudine giggled against her other hand, giving Maya an eye smile that made her heart flutter painfully sweet. Claudine knew her so well.

“I did.” Maya admitted. Claudine nodded before leaning her head on Maya’s shoulder, eyes falling shut.

“You’d think it was all perfect.” Claudine whispered. “I thought it was what I wanted. All these jobs, the exposure, the experience. I thought I could handle it all.”

“But?”

“I was able to take it the first few months. I met so many people who were amazing, who were inspiring. Who had their dreams, goals and aspirations.” Claudine narrated. “But we were all apart. We had these grand views and desires. We had our individuality. That’s a marvelous thing, I know.” Claudine went on. “Even I left to be on my own... away from you all...”

Claudine had made a motion to separate herself from Maya, but Maya had quickly reached an arm over her shoulders, hand guiding Claudine’s head back onto her own.

“Stay.” She whispered, voice a little weak. She felt Claudine nod, and she sighed in relief.

She didn’t know why she did that, but a fear had lodged it’s way into her heart, one that replayed the emotions she had felt the first time Claudine had walked away from her. She dared not relive those again.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright...” Maya murmured. “So? You thought you were all by yourself?” Maya continued for her. “But remember, we still work towards the same goal. We may have been apart, but that hasn’t changed. Not for me, at least. Didn’t you feel the same way?”

Maya felt that she’d be hurt if Claudine said no.

“I did. I do still.”

Maya felt relief wash over her as she received that reply. She was glad.

Her fingers began to gently tangle themselves in golden locks, playing with tufts of hair, occasionally massaging Claudine’s scalp. She felt the girl sigh and relax against her. Maya liked this. This feeling of comfort.

“So what was the problem?” Maya wanted to understand. She wanted to know what went on while Claudine was away. Why she had stopped contacting them, where she had gone, what she struggled with.

“Maybe it was too much for someone like me to handle. I might have over-estimated myself, Tendou Maya.” Claudine confessed, voice strained. It must have been something hard for her to admit. Maya nuzzled a kiss into her temple, disagreeing with her words.

“You’re Saijou Claudine. The most amazing performer I know. A top star.” She said with conviction.

“You’re the top star. You’re Tendou Maya.” Claudine sighed. “I’m... just a shadow lagging behind you-”

“Now you know that’s not true.” Maya cut her off, slightly angered at the mere implication that Claudine was anything less than her equal, and her partner. “That is not true. You have always been by my side, have you not? You have been the Saijou Claudine well-known for many of her works. The child prodigy, a star since birth!”

“And I was humbled upon meeting you.”

“You’re the one who was offered a full scholarship overseas!”

“I know you rejected it first!”

Maya’s breath caught in throat, words failing.

“I knew that you’d received the offer. When you said no, I didn’t understand. This was the chance of a lifetime. A season for growth. I believed it was. But we didn’t seem to think the same way. I was confused, Tendou Maya.  And so I went. If only to know why. I went and I tried... and then it all became too much.”

Claudine pulled away, allowing them both space to recollect themselves.

“I wanted to know how you could say no to such an offer. A bright future wanted you. And I went as only their second option. It... irked me. And so I wanted to prove that I could be just as good as you. That I could flourish even on my own.” Claudine spoke softly. “But I guess I was wrong. I wasn’t that strong. I became tired, I couldn’t manage all the things thrown my way. I didn’t know who to trust, who to go with, what to do anymore. And so I just... did. Everything.”

“Saijou-san...”

“That actually worked out quite well.” She chuckled, eyes lifeless as she recalled the downward spiral she lived those last few months in Paris. “I received multiple offers for university over there. Fully paid schooling. I gained what many yearned for, things others could only dream of attaining by turning off everything unneeded for the stage... or I thought they were unneeded.” Claudine looked at Maya with a held-back tears. “Then I saw that I was already alone.” Claudine laughed again, as sad as the last. “How odd, right? Haha, well that was that. We should talk about something else. How was senior year on your end?.”

Claudine was trying to wave it all off, smiling at Maya as if she wasn’t anxious and had been heartbroken.

“Tendou Maya?” The girl only stared at Claudine, not answering. “I’m sorry. My story must have been confusing. I would get it if you didn’t understand what I mean.”

But Maya understood. She understood it fully.

She remembered when they first met Yanagi Koharu, a like-minded genius as her. A girl who reflected the lonesomeness one dubbed as a ‘genius’ would experience. Maya remembered her own disregard for camaraderie back then. How she had, at most, only cooperated with others as they were mere stepping stones needed to reach the top. Her views of there being only one possible winner had been her driving force for perfection back then.

That was until Claudine opened her hand to her on the day of that evaluation to enter Seishou.

Then it all began to change for her.

Thanks to Saijou Claudine.

Maya had dedicated much time to repaying that favor. This moment was no exception.

If Claudine had felt alone then, she would never be from now on. Maya would make sure of it.

“Saijou-san-” “Maya-”

“Oh, you go first.” She had wanted to give Claudine some words of encouragement, of reassurance, but she seemed to have more to tell. It made her happy to see that Claudine had chosen to open her heart up so deeply to her. It was an honor that she’d gladly receive. Maya would listen to her, would understand her, and Maya would be there for her; she’d never allow Claudine to say she was ever alone again. “What is it, ma Claudine?”  

Maya had put on a welcoming smile, awaiting whatever else Claudine had for her to hear. However, Claudine seemed to have withdrawn after the interruption, a look of struggle on her features as no words came out of her parted lips.

“…”

“Ma Claudine? Is something the matter?”

“Actually… there’s something else I haven’t told everyone. And why I’m here.” She began, but then halted again, looking to the side.

Another difficult confession? Maya could only wonder. “You don’t have to force yourself to tell me.” She reassured, but kept her ears open just in case.

“But I want to tell you, Maya.” No Tendou. No honorific, just Maya.

And Maya listened.

“I had mentioned it, right? I had received offers to continue going to school there... I might have just went on, to be honest.”

“Yes. I was actually wondering about that. While I’m certainly glad you have returned, wouldn’t your chances have been brighter over there?”

Claudine nodded. “Objectively, I agree.” Maya understood that. “But... um... do you know about my family, Maya?”

“I’ve only heard as much as the others, I suppose, reluctant as I am to admit that.” She smiled weakly.

“Well, I don’t really make such a big deal about it anyway.” Claudine smiled back.

“We do all know that you love your parents dearly and often write home.”

“Yes. That’s true.” Claudine said. “In a sense it is.” She took a deep breath before allowing the next words to slip. “My papa, my father... or well, the man I actually consider as my father... is gone. Has been for a while. So it’s just me and my mom.”

“Claudine...”

Maya didn’t know what to say. She took both of Claudine’s hands in her own, thumbs brushing over her knuckles.

“It’s alright. We’ve already accepted it a long time ago. Maman and I... we miss him, yes. But we’re okay... or... I am, at least...” Claudine huffed, squeezing her eyes shut, a few tears spilling down her cheeks. “I came back because... I don’t know... when my mother will leave me as well...”

And Maya couldn’t take it. “I’m sorry, Ma Claudine.” Maya embraced her tight, whispering teary words onto her brow. “For all you’ve been through… and that I was never able to help you.”

“Idiote... it’s not your fault.” Claudine sunk into the hold, savoring the immediate warmth Maya provided her. They stayed like that a tender while, Maya allowing Claudine to express all her frustrations, grievances, and pain. She cried it all out with her.

“I’m sorry, Ma Claudine... I’m sorry.” She whispered against her hair in peppered kisses that sometimes made the girl cry even more.

“Mechante va... I told you it’s fine.” Claudine held onto Maya tighter, relishing in her comforting presence. “It’s fine...”

“Still... I could have been there for you sooner. I should have just kept reaching out. I should’ve followed you-! I should’ve bought a plane ticket and flew after you- No, I should have demanded another scholarship! Then we’d have been together-”

“Stop right there.” Claudine laughed through some sniffles, cupping Maya’s face with both cheeks and looking into her stunned eyes.  

Claudine really was beautiful, even as she cried.

“I-...” Maya waited, but what had seemed to be a planned retort, was set aside, Claudine simply shaking her head and smiling at Maya.

Really, Maya must look like a fool to her right now.

“An endearing fool, at least.” Claudine laughed some more at Maya’s shock at being read so easily. “A fool so willing to stay by my difficult self... All this time... willing and waiting.” Claudine sighed, touching her forehead to Maya’s.

Maya’s heart beat strong, a silly smile on her lips. Claudine was right. She was there for her. She always will be. And It wasn’t just Maya. She knew Claudine had many more people by her side. Both then and now.

“Maya?”

“Hmm?”

“Merci.”

Maya grinned, nuzzling her nose against Claudine’s.

“Je vous en prie, Ma Claudine.”

//

“Claudine?”

“Hmm?”

Claudine watched Maya purse her lips, hesitating a moment. Did she need something?

“What is it?”

“Earlier... you mentioned something... I was just curious. You don’t have to answer it or anything!” Maya clarified, a little panicked.

Claudine raised their joined hands, bringing the back of Maya’s to her lips in hopes of calming her. It seemed her plan backfired as Maya turned into more of a mess, if anything. It was cute.

“I- uh.. you see... father? You said...”

Claudine blinked. Then she understood.

“You said something about how your papa was the one you... saw as your father? And I didn’t quite... get that.”

Claudine had almost forgotten about that. Well there was nothing wrong with telling Maya about that. She’d learn eventually, right?

“Right. Um... I had said something about returning to my mother right?” Maya nodded. “But that wasn’t the sole reason. I... my papa isn’t quite my real father. My biological parent... was someone else.” Claudine sighed.

“I... see.” Maya seemed to be thinking hard about it.

“I received news about my mother and had wanted to find work here in Japan... and if I could, apply for a scholarship to keep studying, if possible. But then a letter came, saying that Maman was in the hospital, bills paid, and I was already enrolled in this school. Where all of you were. It was almost miraculous. A dream come true.”

Claudine prodded the crease that had formed on Maya’s forehead, giggling at how adorable she was being.

“Apparently it was, in a sense, a bribe. For me, and for a court that had held a trial against my ‘father’. I was angry, of course. I felt ashamed to be related to such a person, but... it was too good a deal to pass up.”

Claudine felt Maya squeeze her hand, concern written all over her face.

“And that’s it. How I ended up back here.” She smiled. “Thank you, Maya. For listening to all of that.” Claudine leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek, enjoying the bright red glow of a rarely-seen, shy Tendou Maya.

“O-o-o-of course! A-anytime! You can talk to me anytime, Ma Claudine.” She stuttered out, her free hand touching the spot where Claudine’s lips had been.

Claudine felt her heart skip at the gesture. She already knew that Maya had realized it earlier as she had too;  and that there was something else they needed to talk about. However, she believed they could save that conversation for another day. Preferably, under better circumstances.

“Anyway.” Claudine caught Maya’s attention again, standing up to get ready to leave for the day. “It’s not all that bad.” She then remembered another important detail that she needed to fill Maya in on. “Actually, something good came out of it.”

“Oh? And what is that?” Maya smiled, taking Claudine’s offered hand as the girl helped her up.

“You see-”

“Claudine? Are you here- Oh, there you are!”

A voice cut in to their conversation, the attention of the pair redirected to the new arrival walking her way towards them.

“Thank goodness. I was just looking for you so we could pick up Diana since her classroom is the farthest from- oh.” The white-haired woman halted in her steps, at first only seeing Claudine, late in noticing that she wasn’t alone. “Am I… interrupting something?”

‘Such impeccable timing.’

Claudine didn’t respond to her, instead, she gestured with an open hand to Weiss in hopes this would help Maya process what she was about to say. She should really express her thanks to Weiss later for her amazing assistance. After all, show rather than tell because seeing is believing.

“Tendou Maya.”

The girl perked up, curiosity in her eyes, and some hints of confusion as well.

“It appears as though, as of recent…” Claudine awkwardly chanced a look back and forth between them. “...I’ve acquired myself a pair of sisters.”

…

“Oh.”

A/N: Future (?) Love-interests, Get! Also I will be exposing how Diana’s parents met in the future so calm your horses. Again, sorry this was super late. I promised it 2 weeks months ago but got slammed into a wall of life. Thank you for reading and for the support!

~Shintori Khazumi

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

✨Hi✨

Can I have murphy x reader ???????

Reader tends to hold their breath and not breathe when they're scared. Murphy finds this out when reader holds their breath for so long that they pass out from lack of oxygen?

✨Thank you✨

A/N: I hope you like this. I havent wrote for Z-nation yet. So I am very excited! Thank you for requesting, if you have any more for z-nation please let me know!

Summary: 

Warnings;

Show/movie: Z-Nation

Paring: Murphy x reader

------------------

You’ve had this habit since you were a kid. Every time you were scared you would hold your breath. It was like if you held your breath then time would stop, like nothing could hurt you. You’ve only passed out once from holding your breath and that was when you were in high school having to present your paper in front of your whole class.

You were walking beside Murphy as horse of Zombies rounded a corner. You were spooked and stumbled backwards, but you quickly got up aiming your silver and white .45 pistols at the zombies foreheads. Everyone around you doing the same. You were fine, this was fine, but when you found your group cornered it scared the hell out of you.

“What do we do?” Addy asked warren taking the words from you. “Over here!” 10k said as he found a building that was just a couple meters away in the woods. “Come on.” The group ran. Warren, Addy and you were the first ones inside aiming your guns making sure there wasn’t any zombies. When it was clear the others came in.

It was a small little shack of a house in the woods. It had two bedrooms, a small living room, one tiny bathroom, and the kitchen that looked like it was out dated by 30 years.

“Will stay here until the horde passes.” Warren said as she shut and locked the door. You looked through the shack trying to find anything useful that’s when you opened the bedroom door. A couple bats flew out of the room making you jump and Squeal. Murphy laughed as he sat down beside you on the dusty couch. “What scared of a couple bats?” You shook your head as you continued going into the room.

Whoever was in the room left in a hurry. The Drawers were pulled out of the dresser. Clothes were thrown over the bed. A few pictures crooked on the wall, a few empty, dusty spots on the wall were pictures once were. You heard footsteps behind ou and you turned seeing warren.

“A family.” She said looking at the picture you had plucked from the wall. You nodded, your fingers cleaning the dust off the frame. “You have a family before this?” She asked, you nodded, but also shurgged.

“My baby brother. I took care of him. He, Umm. He died back when all this shit began. He didn’t listen to me and ran out of the house while two or three zombies were right in front of the house. He ran too fast for me to stop him and they killed him right in front of me. Mom, well she’s been out of the picture since I was 13. She decided I was old enough to take care of brother, who was just a baby then. So she ran off with some dude paying for her drugs and my dad died in the service. Back when my brother was born.” You answered tears pricking your eyes but you quickly whiped them away.

“I’m sorry.” Warren sympatheticly Said to you. You nodded as you whispered a “me too”. Warren walked out of the bed room as you sat down on the bed. Just staring at the picture in your hand. You weren’t an emotional person. You rarely showed when you were upset. Ever since you were young you had to act like nothing was wrong. As if your life was just sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. But truthfully you just felt overwhelmed. Life was just being overwhelming.

“Can I come in?” Murphy asked as he walked up to the door frame. You looked up at him nd nodded. “What’s up, buttercup?” He asked sitting beside you and bumping your arm. “The sky.” You joked sarcastically with a smile. “I have got to learn to stop saying that. You say that every time.” You giggled as you looked down at your hands. Putting the picture frame onto the dresser then laying down on the bed.

“Do you ever feel overwhelmed?” You asked, completely forgetting who you were talking to. “Uh, hi my name is Murphy. People call me the Murphy. Nice to meet you.” He said sarcastically. You rolled your eyes as you faced him. “I hate you.” He knew you didn’t mean that. The two of you had a weird friendship. You both ran into each other when he first became the mission. You actually talk to him as if he were a person, not as “the package.” You friendship grew into more of an relationship but neither would admit it. I mean the two of you have came so close to kissing but 10k or doc always interrupts.

“Sorry, bad question.” You spoke. Putting your arm over your eyes, blocking the sunlight. You felt the bed shift and automatically assumed he was leaving. But when you felt the bed shift and an arm slip around you, you didn’t jump. You knew the only person who would wrap their arms around you would be Murphy.

“What’s got you so stressed?” He asked his arms wrapped around you as the two of you spooned. Him being the big spoon holding you. And you resting against his chest enjoying the comfort.

“I don’t know. Life.” You laughed and shrugged. “It’s just. We’re taking you to California and we don’t even know what’s going to happen to you. I mean, they could just be killing you. Or torcher you or something. I don’t know. I-I’m just over thinking is all.” You spoke looking at the white wall in front of you. Murphy sighed as he pulled you so he could look at you correctly. He stared into your Y/e/c eyes and smiled. He leaned forwards kissing your forehead.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” He tried to get her to stop worrying. He didn’t want to go to California. He too was worried about going. He wouldn’t tell anyone that but he truly was.

“You guys are gross.” 10k said as he just so happen to walk into the room. “Kid, you don’t know gross.” You told him with a laugh. He nodded as he looked at you. “I just wanted to sleep on a bed while we had one, but you two have this one occupied and warren decided I could sleep in this one since addy had called the other one. Just as Murphy was about to say something you covered his mouth with your hand. “Of course. Come in lazy get up!” You said as your tried to pull out of Murphy’s thought grip. He groaned as he released you. “And for a minute I thought we were having a moment.” 10k laughed, “yeah a gross moment.”

An hour passed and the horde passed. You sat on the couch as Murphy laid across it, his head lying on your lap as doc sat across from you on a small love seat. “Is it weird?” Doc asked looking at you and Murphy. “Is what weird?” You asked completely confused at what Doc was asking. “Being in a relationship during the zombie apocalypse.” He answered looking at the two of you. You looked at him bewildered. “We-” “we’re not in a relationship.” Murphy ended the conversation quickly. He got grumpy all of a sudden. As if someone had just bursted his bubble. “Oh, sorry. It just seems like the two of you are a couple. I could’ve bet the two of you were together like a couple.” You nodded not knowing what to say.

“I don’t think he likes me like that.” You say all of a sudden without thinking. Murphy grows stiff and then tried to relax. “How is that? I mean he is literally only nice to you.” You just then began to think about it. Yeah the two of you flirted all the tile, but you never thought it was more then a flirty friendship.

“Alright, it’s clear of puppies and kittens I think we should get going.” Warren said as she came back inside the house. “I found a truck well take that. It’ll get us pretty far. Grab your stuff and take it to the truck. We’re leaving.” You grabbed your book bag and your rifle you carried. Your book bag had what you needed in it. (First aid kit, emergency food that you don’t plan on telling anyone about until it is needed. A water bottle. Stuff to make a fire, And girl stuff aka (pads, tampons, and Midol, and other pain meds.)

You sat in the bed of the pick up truck. The inside on fit three people. So you, Murphy and 10k sat in the bed of the truck. Addy, warren and doc sat in the cab of the truck. The truck was running good and somehow had a full tank of gas with an extra tank of gas on the back of it. It was complete luck finding the truck.

Days passed when you guys finally ran out of gas. The only thing was a storm had came. You hated storms. It was like it was a little bit of rain and wind. Heck, you would welcome that with open arms. But no, it had to be nothing but wind that seemed to be going 30 miles an hour, it was pouring rain and the thunder and lightning scared you every time you would hear the loud crashing boom.

“Are you okay?” Murphy asked, you jumped as the loud boom shook the store the group had found. “Yeah, just hate storms is all.” You spoke quickly looking at Murphy then jumping Sharon as you felt the store shake. Holding your breath as you sat down with you back against the wall and you head in your hands.

The group left you alone for a few minutes, just thinking you needed to be alone for a few minutes. But that is until you had passed out. Murphy was right by your side before anyone could get to you.

You had stopped breathing which worried him to death. “She’s stopped breathing!” He stressed looking at the group. He shook you some then he decided to give you mouth to mouth. (That’s how bad you had stopped breathing he thought you were dead. Geez gotta worry the group girl. 😂)

With a gasp you woke up. Looking at Murphy as he was practically holding you in his arms. “Wha-t happen?” You asked while sitting up. “You passed out from the lack of oxygen.” You looked at doc confused until you remembered. “Oh,” addy nodded, “Yeah, you have a bad habit of holding your breath while your scared. You gotta get out of that habit.” You nodded as you looked at Murphy and then to 10k who was just staring.

“What ya staring at?” You asked the kid. “Nothing, it’s just. Nothing.” He shook his head. “What I think he’s trying to say Is the two of you are still holding onto each other like it’s y’all last day on earth.” Doc finished for 10k. “Y’all need to kiss already and get the gross part over with.” Everyone looked at Warren shocked. She usually was not really into the gushy relationship stuff.

Murphy rolled his eyes as he looked down at your blushing self. You looked at him and shurgged. “Just get it over with. I can’t deal with you two staring at each other while the other isn’t looking.” Both of you rolled your eyes as you looked at each other. Looking into his eyes you placed a quick kiss to his lips. Everyone sighed shaking their heads. “That wasn’t barely even a peck.” Addy teased looking at you and you shook your head at her. Murphy pulled you closer stopping you from asking what he was doing with a passionate kiss.

“Wow.” You whispered, looking into his eyes. Kinda in shock. “Yeah,” he agreed looking in your e/y/c eyes. “That was cute, but now we need to get some sleep if we’re gonna get walking tomorrow.” Everyone nodded grabbing blankets they had found in the store making a makeshift beds and trying to go to sleep. Warren deciding to take first shift to stay up. Taking her spot beside the only entrance to the store.

You lied down beside Murphy. His arms comfortably wrapped around you as the two of you quickly fell asleep. This is where your safe place was, Murphy. He just seemed to ground you. And that’s the way he felt with you. The two of you just grounded each other.

And that’s the way I’m ending this story. Lol 😂 hope y’all liked it! ❤️🖤

Request for Z nation are welcome.

-No smut request-

[reidsexualwriting]

Be My Eyes

Requested by lemonypink via my ask box: I was wondering if I could make a request? Maybe it’s a Spencer Reid/Matthew Gray Gubler x reader (gender neutral) and the reader has a disability (mute/blind/deaf/whatever) and he’s assisting them through it.

I was inspired by a TikTok I saw about this app called Be My Eyes, which connects seeing people with blind individuals in order to help with daily tasks. I thought it'd be cute to write a little fic inspired by it. :) Also, for the sake of simplicity I won't be describing all of the intricacies of using a cell phone as a blind person (i.e. voice commands, text to speech, etc.). Just imagine it's there! As seen in the request, reader in gender neutral. Also trying writing in first person this time rather than second, so please bear with me. Phew, that was a lot. On to the fic!

Title: Be My Eyes Pairing: Reid x Reader Rating: K+ Words: 715 Warnings: Reader is blind in this fic. Nothing else I can think of.

My fingers ran over the edge of the stack of mail I had retrieved from the mailbox after work. There were eight envelopes if I was counting right. I sighed, picked up my phone and sent a text to Spencer.

Are you free? Need help with mail.

Realistically, the stack could wait. It wasn't likely any important mail was coming in today or even this week. Spencer was on a case, so I felt a little selfish asking him to help me with such a menial task. It had been a long couple of days without him in the apartment, so I brushed it aside. I'm sure he wanted an excuse to talk to me, too, but if he couldn't help I always understood.

I put on an audiobook and leaned back into the leather couch. I called for Dallas (my guide dog) and he immediately came running to lay at my feet. As the chapter I was listening to was ending, the narrator was interrupted by my ringtone for Spencer. I picked up immediately. "Hey you," I answered, holding my phone up in front of me. "How's the case going? Dallas and I miss you." I pointed my phone down towards my feet.

"It's done," he replied. "We arrested him earlier today, and we should be on the jet home here in a couple hours." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Emily is finishing up some paperwork with the local PD."

"That's great to hear." I smiled. "Now onto the really important stuff," I joked. "The mail." I set the stack on my lap. "You ready, Spence? Rapid fire coming your way."

"Y/N, I can read 20,000 words a second. I'm always ready for rapid fire mail-sorting." I let out a breathy laugh and held up the first envelope. "Bill for me," he said immediately. Next envelope. "Letter for me from Blake." The next envelope was much bigger and had a glossy finish. He hesitated for a moment, and I was confused. "Well, Y/N, it looks like you've won a free cruise in the Meditteranean. And all you have to do is provide your social security number."

"Oh, great," I huffed sarcastically. Spencer always tried to make these repetitive tasks fun when he could, and I loved him all the more for it.

The next envelopes were almost all bills, but the last envelope I held up got Spencer's attention It was a thicker envelope, and I could tell there was bubble wrap on the inside. "Oh, it's another package from Garcia. Do you want me to read it?"

"Sure," I responded, setting my phone down on the couch next to me to carefully tear open the package. Garcia always wrote letters or cards, and made sure to put several adornments on the paper to give me something to physically feel in addition to her words, hence the more protective package. The first thing I pulled out of the bag was a circular, knit piece. I held it up to the camera for Reid to identify.

"It's a potholder," he explained. "It's multicolor, like a rainbow." I pulled a card out of the envelope, and immediately felt the texture of glitter and craft pom-poms. "Oh god, the glitter," Spencer groaned. "I don't know what I was hoping for. I hope it doesn't get everywhere. Go ahead and open it up."

He began reading. "Y/N, I am sending this card in hopes that this case is wrapping up and you, Reid, and I will be able to get dinner sometime soon. I know you're reading this Spencer, so don't worry-- the glitter is mod-podged down so it will not go everywhere in your apartment." He paused to chuckle. "Although you know how glitter is; a few stray flecks may be stuck in Dallas' fur for eternity." I laughed at that one. "Sending my love in the form of this potholder. Call me soon. Love, Penelope G."

"That's so sweet of her," I gushed. "You know, maybe we could have that dinner at our place. We'd have a good reason to use that potholder."

"I love that idea," Spencer agreed. "I'm so excited to see you Y/N. Hopefully I'll be home sometime early in the morning."

"Can't wait." I smiled. "See you soon Spence!"

[aellynera]

Mr. & Mrs. Cooper (Part 2 - Bud Cooper x Reader)

MR. & MRS. COOPER (Part 2)

(part one here)

(guys seriously I have no idea how this went so rogue, but it is inspired by a certain movie that I just thought would fit into the “perfect suburban household” idea. And because I can’t control it, there will be a Part 3.)

Word Count: 1854

Summary: Dinner at the Cooper house is a little more interesting than either of you expected.

Warnings: Eh, little bit of language. Smooches.

Bud arrived home at exactly 6:00, right as you were putting the dish of vegetables on the table. He always got home exactly at 6. He was very punctual.

He entered the house and set his briefcase on the floor. Before he had gotten out of the car, he had taken a select few photos out and stuck them in his pocket.

“Sweetheart, I’m home,” he called into the kitchen.

You walked out with a pot roast in your hands and smiled brightly at your husband. After setting the dish on the table, you wiped your hands on your apron and walked over to him. “Welcome home, baby,” you cooed as you slid into his arms and wrapped your own around his neck. He might be a dirty liar, but he was still extremely attractive.

Bud pulled you into an embrace and lowered his lips onto yours. “Mmmm, I missed you,” he mumbled against your mouth. It was still true, even if he knew better than to trust you now.

You returned his kiss with equal passion. “I missed you too,” you replied. “Dinner is on the table.”

“Mm, pot roast, my favorite.” He surveyed the table as he released you from his embrace. Dinner looked amazing, as always. You looked amazing, as always. When did you find the time to make everything so perfect when you were…

Bud’s thoughts were cut off as you picked up the carving knife to start slicing the roast. He came up behind you wrapping his arms around you and placed a hand over yours so you now both held onto the knife.

You paused. Something about the way he was pressed up against you and how his hand caressed over yours - your left hand, of course, the one with your wedding band, the one that currently held a extremely large, extremely sharp knife - felt off. But maybe you were imagining it. It was completely normal for him to cozy up to you like he was. You realized what was it was. You felt something sharp, like the corner of a paper maybe, poke into the back of your thigh. 

Something was in Bud’s pocket.

“Everything all right, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice a light breath across your ear. You shivered but tried to hide it as best you could.

You smiled. “Everything is fine,” you replied. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Just making sure my best girl is happy and satisfied and content, is all,” he said as he gave you a quick peck on the cheek and went to sit down. Your shoulders relaxed just a bit as you finished serving the roast. You had to pretend as best you could that everything was normal. Your life was totally normal.

The rest of dinner was served and Bud poured you both a glass of wine. Silence fell over the table for a few long minutes as you both ate and drank. You kept a keen eye on him, watched as he took precise bites of roast and vegetables and almost delicate sips of the red wine. He looked tired, as he usually did after a day in the office, but otherwise normal. Handsome, gorgeous, sexy… If only he knew what you knew.

Bud watched you as he ate, and he knew you were watching him. He continued eating, keenly observing as he did so. He didn’t make any conversation. He’d felt the corner of something, a piece of paper maybe, poke him in the chest as he’d given you that honey-I’m-home kiss. 

There was something in your pocket.

So he watched you while trying to make it look like he wasn’t watching you. You ate in small bites, finished all the vegetables before you went on to the meat. You always ate the vegetables first. You looked a little tired, like you usually did after making dinner after a day of housework, but otherwise normal. Beautiful, radiant, sexy… If only you knew what he knew.

“Everything all right, love?” you asked as you sipped on your own wine.

Bud smiled. “Everything is great. As usual.” 

“Hard day at the office?” you continued.

Bud shook his head and shrugged a shoulder. “No, not really. Nothing other than the usual, investigations and clients and all that mundane insurance stuff. You’d be bored if I told you.”

“Mmmm.” You smirked. “You’re probably right.”

“What about you, darling? How did your day go?” Bud smiled at you over his wine glass.

You put down your fork and twisted your strand of pearls absently. “Same old, same old. Weeded the garden, did the laundry, got dinner together, cleaned your office…”

Bud stopped all movement for a split second. He chewed his bite of roast, swallowed, and put his fork down. His eyebrow arched and he leaned back in his chair. “Really.”

You noticed it wasn’t a question, but you smiled in return. “Mmmhmm. It was a disaster, Bud, it needed to be cleaned up. There’s so much paper in there, if I didn’t know you better I would think you’re hoarding.” Damn it, you’d almost said hiding. Had he noticed? Your finger idly stroked your dinner knife.

“Yeah, sorry about that, baby. I kept meaning to clean it up but you know how work has been going lately, I just haven’t gotten around to it, I’ll make it up to you.” You never cleaned his office, that was just about his only actual rule for the household. He didn’t care if you wanted to sit on the porch all day and gossip with the neighbor ladies or take up random hobbies or even if you had dinner on the table every night when he got His lip twitched. “Find anything important?”

You narrowed your eyes in suspicion. Well, there it was. Bud wasn’t one of the top insurance investigators for nothing. Straight to the point, your husband tended to be. You kept your face as neutral as possible. “No,” you shrugged. Was he interrogating you? This was not the way you’d planned it; you were supposed to 

“Hmm,” Bud smiled and took another sip. “Oh, I almost forgot.” His grin grew into a smirk of his own. “A package got delivered to the office today.”

“Oh?” you asked. Sudden paranoia rose in your chest. Packages got delivered to offices all the time, why was this worth mentioning? It couldn’t be...oh. Shit.

“Apparently the address it was supposed to go to got washed off, like in the rain or something. So they delivered it to my office because somewhere on the envelope, it said Cooper and they figured that was a good place to drop it. Yeah, yeah, it was...very interesting.”

All the color drained from your face. Bud’s face was almost expressionless. Almost. You thought you detected just a tiny bit of...uncertainty? Confusion? Maybe...apprehension.

You and Bud stared at each other over the table. The tension that suddenly fell over the room was almost unbearable, like being wrapped in a wet blanket in a sauna. Neither of you moved and it felt like you were barely breathing. You could hear the clock on the wall, ticking. The faucet in the kitchen, dripping. Your blood in your ears, rushing. Your left eye, ever so slightly twitching. Just staring at each other for what felt like a thousand years but was only really about ten actual seconds.

Then the tension snapped like a dry twig in a forest fire and all the shit in the universe burst into your reality. 

You were on your feet before you realized it. You reached into your pocket at the same time Bud stood up and reached into his pocket and you both threw your hidden documents onto the table with a resounding thwack! and in the next second you were brandishing your dinner knife and Bud was pointing a fork at you.

“What the hell is this!” you both shouted at each other at exactly the same time.

Neither of you said anything and both of you pushed the evidence toward each other. Both sets of eyes narrowed. You gripped your knife a little tighter and Bud raised his fork.

“Explain, Bud Cooper,” you finally spat out. You slowly inched backwards into the kitchen.

Bud motioned towards you with the fork while his other hand loosened his tie. “You first, Mrs. Cooper.”

Your head cocked to the side as you raised an eyebrow. “Bud Cooper. My dear husband. That is a hit contract and my name is on it!”

“Mrs. Cooper. My beloved wife. Those are surveillance photos of me, taken from our front porch!” he shot back.

“You work for the mob!”

“Yeah, well, who do you work for? Rivals? FBI? No, wait, CIA!”

You backed up as far as you could, until you were up against the sink. Bud followed you, matched your pace, but kept the distance between you even. You both still held your cutlery at the ready.

“How did you not know I worked in intelligence?” You hardly believed he didn’t really know.

“How did you not assume there would be a hit on you?” He rolled his eyes. He actually rolled his eyes. You realized in an instant that neither of you were denying anything, and you both had really known about this a lot longer than either of you were willing to admit. But you were just supposed to do surveillance on him and he had your name on a contract for the local mob boss and you let out a strangled squeak and dropped your knife in shock. Then you grabbed for the next nearest object - the broom.

The bristles swung exceptionally close to his face and Bud, in turn, let out a strangled squawk of his own as you cleaved the broom wildly in front of you, arching the suburban artillery at him, each thrust growing more precise as your anger and frustration really bubbled to the surface. Bud dropped his fork and continued to make awkward, surprised noises as you chased him around the dining room table and towards the front door, broom undulating wildly between you.

“You were going to kill me?!” you shrieked. 

“You were going to turn me in?” he asked, wincing as the bristles brushed against the hand he held up to defend himself.

“Ohhhhhhh!! BUD COOPER!” you yelled and charged at him.

“Fuck!” he shouted as he turned and yanked the front door open.

Yanked it open just in time to almost be punched in the face by your next door neighbor, Mr. Stevens, who was just about to knock.

You and Bud froze, wide-eyed and red-face and heavy-breathed. You held the broom like a baseball bat. Mr. Stevens looked back and forth between the two of you. “Uh...is this a bad time?”

You and Bud exchanged a glance but didn’t speak. He stepped back and you dropped the broom. Both of you smoothed your hair and clothes subconsciously and then Bud spoke.

“No, no, it’s fine. Just...uh...a bit of a mess we need to clean up. Please, come in.”

Well….shit.

[amillionsmiles]

get myself together, spend you all of my money (Ellie/Aster)

Title: get myself together, spend you all of my money Summary: “You’d think going to college out of town would have knocked us both down a peg, but instead we ended up pretty pretentious.” / or: Ellie, Aster, and an apartment full of things. A/N: written while listening to Mitski’s cover of “Let’s Get Married” on loop.

[Read and review here] or continue under the cut.

*

Ellie finds Aster Flores again on a Sunday.

So far, the NYC Sublets & Apartments Facebook group has yielded more duds than leads, but she scrolls down and suddenly, there: a corner of Squahamish, waving at her from the screen.

LOOKING FOR: Room to rent, ideally available by August. Recently graduated from art school, so that gives you a sense of my budget, but I’m tidy, respectful, and play well with cats. Any PMs with leads appreciated!  

The profile picture isn’t anything new; Ellie’s pretty sure she scrolled past it and liked it a few weeks ago during the influx of everyone’s graduation photo updates. Aster’s looking over her shoulder at the camera, the quiet joke that always seemed to hide in her eyes in high school now more pronounced. It’s a good picture, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, and that’s the only reason her heartrate picks up when she hovers over Aster’s name to click Message.

She takes a swig from her iced cappuccino and starts to type.

Hey! Long time, less conversation. Haven’t been to church in a minute, but I remember there being a Bible verse saying something about “two are better than one,” and I’m pretty sure that also applies to apartment-hunting. If that seems like something you’d be interested in, let me know.  

Before she can think twice about it, she hits enter.

*

They move in together in July, when the summer heat turns the air liquid and the acrid smell of molten trash bags wafts from the street. For a second, Ellie misses the Pacific Northwest: the greenish tint of light filtered through leaves, the way she could disappear to a nearby watering hole for respite. Even the mudding that Trig and his friends did now seems appealing—on the stairwell, she fantasizes about the cool shock of it against her skin.

“Hey, Ellie?”

Ellie turns from where she’s been sitting on the top step to see that Aster’s finally gotten the door open. Rocking to her feet, she pushes the cardboard box across the floor, stepping inside to get a look at where they’ll be living for the next year.

The first room is spacious, combining a kitchen area with what can become a living room, once they buy a couch. Trailing her fingers along the wall, Ellie wanders into the other bedroom, then tests the lights in the bathroom. She comes back to find Aster eyeing the ceiling, a hammer pulled from her belongings.

“What are you doing?”

“Here.” Aster beckons her closer. “I’m thinking that this space is big enough that if we hang a curtain, part of it can be my room.”

“Oh.” Ellie hadn’t put much thought into it when they’d signed the lease, assuming they’d share the back room, like a college one-room double situation. It seems naïve, now; they’re adults, of course Aster would want her own space. “It doesn’t have to be yours, though. I mean—we can flip a coin or something, to make it fairer.”

Aster shrugs. “I don’t mind. Besides, the back room is more muffled—I’m less likely to hear you clacking your typewriter this way.” She smiles, the two of them both glancing to where Ellie’s Smith Corona peeks out from its bubble wrap packaging, the pale blue paint gleaming in the sunlight.

“It was my mom’s,” Ellie explains, her own memory fond against her lips.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I always wanted to hear more about her, after that time at the spring.”

“She was fun.” The words take her back to Ping-Pong, Paul’s paddle thwacking the ball against the wall.

“As fun as you are?”

Ellie raises an eyebrow. “Am I fun?”

Aster pushes a sweaty lock of hair behind her ear. Overhead, the air conditioning hums.

“Guess we have plenty of time to find out, heathen.”

*

“Saw is not the greatest horror movie of our generation.”

“It is!” protests Aster, sitting next to her on the couch. Waxy cartons from the Georgian restaurant Aster waitresses at litter the table, and Ellie licks her fingers clean of the buttery residue from the kubdari—mm, delicious—as she leans back, waiting for Aster to continue.

“Ignore the sequels. But on its own, it’s this brilliant little clockwork machine of the lengths people will go to when they think they’ve got no time left. And the reveal at the end? I heard you gasp.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that, but a lot of the rest of it feels like torture porn.”

Aster rolls her eyes. “No one watches a horror movie for the butterflies.”

“Except you, apparently,” Ellie points out, because this is a thing they do as roommates, now: watch movies and then discuss them over takeout. So far, they’ve tended toward foreign cinema, art-house, and horror. The last genre is the one Aster engages with most fervently. However, Ellie has started to suspect that Aster can turn nearly anything into a debate, perhaps a side effect of all the time she spent wrestling with God in her head during sermons.

“Whatever. I just don’t think you’re giving it the credit it deserves for how well it feeds on the psyches of all the characters.”

“Cupid and Psyche,” Ellie thinks aloud. “Now there’s a story we could talk about.”

Crinkling her nose, Aster says, “We get it, you read literature.”

“So do you,” says Ellie, nudging her foot. “You’re just as big a nerd as I am.”

At that, Aster laughs, tilting her head back. It makes the column of her throat into the soft marble of a Canova statue.

“You’d think going to college out of town would have knocked us both down a peg, but instead we ended up pretty pretentious.”

Looking around their apartment, Ellie has to agree. There are too many stacks of books lying around, various papers jutting out of them as placeholders so she can flip to the passages she needs when writing essays. Aster keeps bringing back abstract art prints from the showcases she attends. In the corner, there’s a ficus that Ellie took home from work out of guilt (she’d been the only one in the office watering it) which they’ve named Walter Benjamin.

“I kind of like it, though.”

Aster turns to her, cheek pressing against the fabric of the couch. Her gaze is a paperweight: glassy and clear and heavy with something Ellie can’t quite name. “I’m not complaining, either.”

*

Before college, Ellie had considered herself a morning person, simply because she had no reason to be otherwise. Waking up to signal the trains each morning became part of her biorhythm, as natural and unremarkable as her middle part or her thermal underwear. At Grinnell, though, she’d discovered the guilty joy of sleeping in. The downside has been that her body now relies on coffee to function before 10 AM on the weekends.

“Don’t drink that,” says Aster, whisking the tin away from Ellie’s grasp. “I’ve been using it to wash off my brushes.”

Groggily, Ellie leans against the counter, watching Aster bend over the canvas on the kitchen table. She must have been at it for a while—a good third of it is filled in, streaked with purples and browns. After dabbing at a corner, Aster blows a strand of hair out of her face and straightens, reaching to adjust her messy bun.

Ellie squints. “Have you always had that?”

Pausing, Aster feels along the shaved part of her hair, tracing the chevron indented in it. “The undercut? Yeah. A girlfriend did it for me senior year, before we went our separate ways.”

A spike akin to a dose of caffeine shoots through Ellie. She stands a bit taller. “A girlfriend like a girl…?” she trails off, clearing her throat. “Or. A friend.”

The corner of Aster’s mouth twitches. “The first one.”

“Oh. Um.” Ellie swallows. “That’s nice.”

Aster picks up another paintbrush, twirling it between her fingers before deciding against it and setting it back down. When she meets Ellie’s eyes again, the look behind them is bare, vulnerable.

“I haven’t told my parents, though.”

“Is that why you don’t go back to Squahamish?”

Aster’s lips part slightly. “You noticed?”

“The first summer, yeah,” Ellie admits. “After that, I wasn’t around much either. Internships and stuff, you know.”

“And relationships?”

“Some of those, too.”

“Did you seduce all of them wearing flannel?” Aster asks, nodding to the oversized checkered shirt Ellie favors as pajamas. For a second, Ellie just gapes, taken aback by being so thoroughly called out.

“You’re the one with an undercut. Don’t talk to me about queer signaling.”

Aster laughs. It suddenly becomes very important that Ellie turn around and start the coffee machine, right now.

“I like seeing you with your hair down, though,” comes Aster’s voice, drifting over the sound of water straining into a pot.

*

“—And then I thought, what if it’s a temperature thing?” finishes Paul, his face ruddy and proud through the screen. Sensing an opening, Ellie stops worrying the inside of her mouth.  

“Did you know Aster likes girls? Like, officially?” Almost immediately, she cringes from how juvenile her delivery makes her sound.

Paul doesn’t so much as twitch. “Uh, yeah. It’s come up once or twice.”

“Wait, she’s talked about it with you?” Ellie sits up on her mattress. Since when were Paul and Aster confidantes?

“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t say anything, it’s just I read all this stuff about not outing people before they were ready, and I figured if it was important enough to her she’d let you know eventually. Uh, Ellie, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Blinking rapidly, Ellie fights the surge of affection threatening to overtake her. Stupid Paul, making her stupidly proud to have him as a best friend.

“Do you—er. Do you think you might like her?”

“Oh, god, no. And I mean it for real this time,” she says, meeting Paul’s skeptical look. Part of it is pride—it seems like character regression, to return to the source of her teenage fantasies when she’s learned so much about herself since then. “It’s just nice to have a friend who gets both parts of it, you know? The being queer and being from Squahamish.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Hey, do you guys want a batch of these sausages when I finish tinkering with the recipe? It takes two days to ship cross-country, I checked.”

Ellie laughs. “Yeah, Munsky, send them our way.”  

*

Ellie wets the edges of the dough tucked in her palm, working from the outside in as she crimps the dumpling and places it on a plate. Across from her, Aster works with similar dexterity, a pink sliver of tongue poking out the side of her mouth in concentration.

“You’re good at this.”

Aster sets aside another dumpling, using two fingers to scoop a mound of dough from the bowl between them. “Yeah, I helped my mom a lot with her empanadas, growing up.”

“Say you had kids,” Ellie starts. “What’s one thing you’d teach them, before they turned thirteen?”

Aster considers. “Long division. Except I’d have to get someone else to teach them, because I’m terrible at math.”

“Really?”

“Really. Do you ever think about how smart people have been, to invent the concept of infinity and the concept of zero?”

“Mm. And where would you put the idea of God on that scale?”

“Like, a solid fifty,” says Aster, flicking water at her face.

*

In November, Ellie publishes a short story in the New Yorker, which Aster crows about for a solid week.

“Aster, oh my god, you’re being embarrassing,” she says upon walking into the kitchen and finding her story printed in full, each sheet pinned to the refrigerator door with a bright red magnet.

“You should be proud,” Aster insists.

Paul calls her to discuss it. “Me and your dad read it. I thought it was really good. Are you working on more stuff?”

“Slow your roll, Munsky.” Ellie laughs. “I’m not as prolific as you are, dreaming up new sausage combinations every day.”

Off-camera, the staticky sound of a TV and a faint Ellie? sounds.

“Here, Mr. Chu.” Paul passes the phone to her dad, who is wrapped in his usual robe. The lines by his eyes relax when he sees her face.

“How are you?” she asks in Mandarin. “Are you keeping warm?”

“You should be worried about yourself—it’s colder where you are,” her dad replies. “Paul’s good about keeping me company. He read your piece to me three times. The scene with the swing set, and the little girl…” He switches to English. “Best part. Your mom would be proud.”

“Thanks, Ba,” says Ellie, voice thick. She goes to bed that night and dreams of being sandwiched between her mom and dad, dancing in the living room.

*

She and Aster host a small get-together in December. They put a Santa hat on Walter Benjamin and get everyone drunk on mulled wine until the party devolves into a caroling session, Aster’s friend James competing with Ellie’s friend Larissa to see who can belt “O Holy Night” louder. Afterwards, she and Aster sprawl on Aster’s mattress, limbs loosened from a successful night. The string lights Aster wound through the curtains as decoration for the party flicker, casting the room a soft gold.

“Would you ever get a tattoo?” Ellie asks. It’s been on her mind ever since she noticed the olive branch inked above Larissa’s collarbone. She’s wary of the pain, though.

Beside her, Aster shifts, arm pressing against hers. “I have one, actually.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah.” She props herself up on an elbow, pulling her shirt up to reveal a cluster of flowers just below her rib.

Tracing the lines with her eyes, Ellie asks, “What kind of flowers are they?”

“Asters.”

“You’re joking.”

Aster looks straight back at her. “I’m 100% serious.”

“Isn’t that a bit too on the nose?” Ellie studies the tattoo again and then snorts, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it.” The wine must still be in her system, because the fuzziness of a laugh flushes through her body.

“What?” Aster seems miffed. “Ellie, what’s so funny?”

“Nothing, I’m just— You were so reserved before, and now you’ve got an undercut and a tattoo and. Do you remember— there was that day when Jenny Newman brought in that pink scarf and you all walked down the hallway like something out of a Clique movie, it was ridiculous. I can’t believe I had a crush on you. Oh my god.”

“Stop.” Aster shoves her shoulder, but she’s laughing, too. “Don’t remind me. God. God! What a terrible color, it didn’t match my outfit at all.”

“But it’s okay, because now you’re Aster Flores, hardcore.”

“Well, what about you, Ellie Chu?”

“What what about me?”

Aster sits up. “You’re walking into a tattoo parlor right now. What do you decide to get, and where?”

“Persimmons,” Ellie says, before even fully conceiving the thought. “On my… right shoulder.”

“All right.” Aster gets up and feels around her desk; the next thing Ellie knows, she’s kneeling before her on the mattress, a fine-tipped pen in hand. “I’ll draw it for you.”

“Okay.” Slowly, Ellie sits up, tugging the collar of her shirt down as far as it’ll go to expose the skin needed for Aster’s canvas. The first touch tickles; she tries to hold herself as still as possible while Aster draws, ink flowing in thin lines. She considers watching the process, but it makes her go cross-eyed and dizzy, so she closes her eyes instead and feels: the smoothness of a persimmon skin, the shine of their texture, the sweet crunch of a fruit just barely ripened.

“Done,” Aster whispers, and Ellie leans closer to catch it. It feels like they’re in a confessional booth. Aster caps the pen and bites her lip, but she doesn’t move away.

“Ellie—” Her breath smells of cinnamon and cloves. Like the sharpest part of the forest, like all things good and lovely and too fragile to want.

“I should go to bed,” Ellie says, and it takes every ounce of strength she has to extract herself, to stumble back to her room and sit against the closed door, shaking.

*

“Ellie? Ellie, pick up the phone. It’s about your dad. It’s not—super critical, or anything, but I still think—uh. Just… call me back as soon as you can.”

*

Her carry-on is by the door and she’s set to leave for the airport in an hour. When Aster finds her, she’s cutting and skinning apples in the kitchen—not even to eat, just to have something to do with her hands.

Silently, Aster pulls out some bread, cream cheese, and salmon. When she’s done with the sandwich, she slips it into a plastic bag and holds it out to Ellie.

“For the plane ride.”

“Thanks.” Ellie sets down the knife and goes to put the sandwich away in her backpack. She zips it up.

“Would you come with me, if I asked?”

By the sink, Aster is quiet. Ellie thinks of that awful moment in the ping pong room, when she’d thought Paul had caught on to her.

“You know what, never mind.”

“If I go with you, I’m going to want to be with you.” Aster looks down at her hands as she says it; it’s the first time she’s seemed uncertain in a while. Ellie soaks in the confession, turning it over in her head. It’s brave. It’s honest.

It’s not enough.

“I just.” Aster shrugs, helpless. “I’m not ready for that conversation, yet. With them. For the fallout of what the worst could be.”

Pick me, her heart throbs, selfishly. Pick me pick me pickme. She is a train leaving the station, hoping for someone to catch her. But no time to wait; her dad needs her.

“Take care, Aster,” she says, shrugging her backpack over her shoulder. Aster’s face crumples like snow. Ellie tries not to look back.

*

The hospital discharges her dad after a week. Ellie stays for another two, making sure his cough is gone and all the mucus has loosened from his chest. When he regains enough energy to start fighting back against her fussing, she recruits Paul to make sure he drinks enough fluids every day.

“Pneumonia,” she scolds at the doorway, shaking her head. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

“Ch,” her dad says. “You want to talk about scared? How about that time when you were seven and fell off the monkey bars? Nearly cracked your head open.”

Paul looks between them, bewildered. “Okay, Mr. Chu, I’ve gotta get Ellie to the airport. There’s still ice on the roads so driving will be slower than usual.”

In the car, Ellie holds her hands to the heat, touching the pads of her fingertips to each other.

“Do you like it better out east?”

Ellie tilts her head. “City life is different, that’s for sure. It feels freer and lonelier. Not as many people paying attention to you, so you can be anything you want to be. But also: not as many people paying attention to you.”

“Hm, I get that. Like being at my house versus being at yours.”

“You’re saying that the Munskys are New York City and me and my dad are Squahamish?”

“Never mind. I guess my house has all the people New York has, but they’re all jumping down your throat instead of passing you by.”

Ellie laughs. “You love it, though.”

Across the dash, Paul smiles at her. “Yeah, I do.”

“You wouldn’t consider the Midwest? It’d be a happy medium.”

“I did like Iowa, when I visited you.”

“Chicago, then,” Ellie proposes. “In five years. People there buy lots of hot dogs—it’d be good business.”

“I’ll think about it,” Paul promises, pulling up to the curb. He gets out to help with her suitcase, wrapping her in a warm hug. Ellie buries her nose into the center of his chest and inhales. She wonders if it's possible to absorb his courage through her lungs.

“Paul?” she asks, when he starts to pull away. “Can I ask you something?”

His eyes are bright with concern. “Of course.”

“If you loved someone, and they loved you back in the same way, but they said you couldn’t be together, what would you do?”

“Well, I’d ask myself: when I picture being with that person, what does it really look like? Is it okay if the image doesn’t exactly match up? Because then I’d hold on.”

“Never Let Me Go.”

“What?”

“It’s another Kazuo Ishiguro book,” says Ellie, smiling. “You should read it if you get the time.”

“All right, boss,” says Paul, mock-saluting her. “Now go catch your flight.”

*

It’s past midnight when she gets back to the apartment, careful not to make too much noise as she slips past Aster’s room and into her bed. Her head is about to hit the pillow when her phone screen lights up, casting her as a glaring shadow against the bedroom wall.

Aster: Hey, heard you come in. Is your dad okay?

Yeah. I sentenced him to house arrest for the month, with Paul as guard dog.

Aster: All right, Foucault. Discipline & Punish. Aster: I’m glad he’s better, though.

Thanks. Did you miss me much?

Aster: Well, I realized that the cookies disappear at a much slower rate when you’re not around. :P

It’s strange to be talking like this when they’re separated by only a hallway, when for the past six months they’ve seen each other face-to-face every day. And yet, in some ways it’s easier: the crackle of electricity, the dots appearing, then fading, then appearing again.

Aster: Can you come into the hall? Aster: There’s something I want to say.

Ellie sits up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Gently, she cracks open the door to see Aster leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom. Her hair is tangled. She looks beautiful.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Sliding down to the floor, Aster gestures to the spot opposite her. “Sit.”

Dutifully, Ellie obeys, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her chin atop them. The hallway is so narrow that her toes end up tucked under Aster’s legs, crisscrossed in front of her.

“I’ve been thinking about what I said to you right before you left,” says Aster. “And I did some more thinking while I was here alone. And the thing is, I don’t want to be all or nothing with you. I want us to be—something. And I’m wondering if you could be okay with that. If we could take it little by little, and just figure it out as it comes. If you’re willing to wait.”

“Yeah.” Ellie swallows. “We can do that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Nodding, Ellie starts to rise, but Aster gets a determined look in her eyes and suddenly she’s swooping forward, the scent of her hair—vanilla and violets—swinging around them, her hand cupping Ellie’s cheek and her mouth a bright star against Ellie’s, striking deep as a hymn into her bones. Ellie counts to five before opening her eyes, and when she speaks, her voice is hoarse.

“I thought you wanted me to wait.”

“Guess I’m bad at following my own rules,” Aster says, and grins.

[anneimaginesundertale]

(This is for the gyftmas gift exchange! 🎁 I hope you rest up and enjoy the holidays, Anne!) 

My gift for Stretch is a maple wood pen with a custom engraving that says “You’re the sweetness in my life” on the side and an orange baby’s breath flower in a resin bubble on top. On the pen’s clip is an orange and white gingham ribbon tied onto it with a note. The note looks as if its been crumpled and straightened out around the edges, with parts that have erased words or lines:

You’re always able to bring a smile on my face No matter what you do And even on my worst of days You sweeten them up too

Whether it’s playing Mario Kart Even chilling and watching a movie or two There’s always a slight flutter to my heart It’s always better being around you

Revealing my shapeshifting abilities And being the first person to tell it to It made me feel more like myself… I just feel so safe whenever I’m around you

Giving you that bee keychain Felt like giving a part of me to you Now I’m offering all of me Because I love you

(I wanna thank @pureangleda, @snowflakesimagines for the gift idea and poem help, and @keziha-chan for helping me pick a color of baby’s breath based on flower language, and @trashybonecan and @rainbowut and everyone else mentioned for encouragement and helping me see this through the end!)

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

Stretch reads the poem over and over again.  He traces the words, smooths out the paper...He finds his eyes drawn to the last three words again and again and again. He can’t hide the giant grin on his face or the way his soul is practically singing in his ribcage.  

Finally, he manages to tear his eyes away from the poem and picks up the pen.  He finds a clean sheet of paper and begins writing with his new pen.  

Later that afternoon, you receive a package containing two wrapped items.  One is a book on birds, with a little note.  Thought you might like this.  Maybe you can find some new forms in here.  I think they’d all be pretty cute. 

Another package holds an orange folder. When you open it, there are papers in both pockets. The pocket on the right is a short story.  The title page says, “The Hidden Queen”.  When you read it, you realize that it’s one of Stretch’s originals, a story set in a fantasy world about a skeleton bard helping a displaced royal hide from the people trying to make sure she never takes the throne.  The queen in the story can turn into a bird--that was how she escaped her pursuers.  It’s pretty clear, as you read, that this is based on you and Stretch.  He’s added a short note to the end of it. I know you missed out on our big fantasy video game thingy earlier this year, so I figured I’d write out the story I’d programmed for us.  Maybe one day we can play it out together. 

In the other pocket is a single page. It’s a letter.

Dear Queen,

I put this together before I got your present.  Now it doesn’t seem like enough.  I tried writing you a poem in return but it turns out I suck at poetry.  (Prose I can do, but rhyming and stuff just throws me off!) Instead, I thought I’d just write and tell you this way.

I feel the same way. 

You are my favorite person.  (Don’t tell Blue!) You always know how to cheer me up and I’m so glad that you trust me with stuff like your shapeshifting.  Everything is better when you’re there with me. 

I know it’s taken a while to say, and I swear I’ll tell you to your face the next time I see you, but I love you. 

I love you too, Queen.  With all my soul. 

Love,

Stretch

[kerwritesthings]

The Exquisite Taste of Love

Summary: Everyone’s love language is different and special, getting to share that with the one who you call your heart is something else entirely

Word Count: almost 5.2k (Oops? But not really!)

Warning: tooth rotting sweetness, a touch of naughty and a whole lotta of love

Author Notes: What started out as inspiration from a gif, because the muse likes her pretty, evolved into the idea of a cute little Valentine’s Day blurb which then morphed into a bit of a love letter to the folks in this crazy corner of fandom who have been my biggest cheerleaders when it has come to my writing, with such open arms and friendship. My Valentine’s Day gift to them (and even to the rest of you) – but specially for @whenidance​, @parkerdavis​, @sinplisticshawn​, @fallinallincurls​, @illumecherry​, @hollandraul​ - y’all will notice little special fun in here for each and every one of you. My little love language gifts to you <3 

This, as always, falls again in line with this little world I’ve created, but again can be read as a stand-alone one shot piece, however I would recommend taking a read so you understand the build and the dynamics  – the masterlist of everything can be found here. 

“Can we do a baking night, like a date night?” he inquires, slinging himself against your back and nuzzling into your neck as you finish packing the cookies scattered across the kitchen island into Tupperware. You tried to get a jump on it this year, it’s your tradition to always gift your friends and family little homemade treats for Valentine’s Day. This year, you included adding in plans for special batches for some of Shawn’s team and his family, as well as a surprise for Shawn himself. Tonight’s adventure was for the folks whose items must hit the mail to get their treats in time.

“Wait, did I hear you right?” you giggle. “You, you’re asking to do something in the kitchen? By choice? That has nothing to do with trying to mix drinks?”

“Hey,” he whines, drawing out the y, licking sloppily at the side of your neck. “Can’t get better if I don’t try to learn right? And this is fun stuff, not like chicken or broccoli or pasta.”

“Baking is a lot more precise though than cooking. You need to follow recipes and instructions down to a tee,” you explain. “But you’re right, you won’t get better without trying it more. We’ll start with something a little on the easier side. I was going to do salted caramel cheesecake brownies and chocolate covered strawberries for your family to drop off on Friday. We can make them together.”

“Yay,” he replies, blowing a raspberry against your skin. “What else do you have to do?”

“Nothing else tonight thank goodness, these baby Linzer tarts and chocolate cherry truffles were enough,” you tell him as you package up the last of the chocolates. “I still need to make chocolate pretzel drops and spritz cookies for my office. The boys are going to get the crazy squares they inhaled the last time they were here, so I’m going make those for them. Need to figure out what to send the rest of your out of town contingent. Maybe Nanaimo bars. I may have something up my sleeve for you too, but you will have to wait and see on that.”

He shifts you about in his hold, pressing you into the back of the island before kissing you soundly. “I love that all my folks are now tangled up in your traditions, especially when they don’t need to be.”

“Of course, they do,” you state so matter of factly with a smile. “They’re a part of my life now too. You love them, so. Hell, I even have come to love some of them, despite me questioning why on a few.”

He laughs, swinging you around in his arms before sitting you down on the island before cupping your cheeks. The next thing you know, he’s kissing you again, “I love you. Now let’s plan out the next couple days of your crazy baking adventures.”

The next night while he’s locked away in the studio, Skype session with some of the LA crew you think, you at least get the dough made for the spritz cookies, settling in the fridge to chill, and the crazy squares done for his friends here at home. You’re elbows deep in coconut shortbread when you hear him padding down the hall.

“Ok whatever that it, it smells amazing. Coconut, vanilla and what else is in that?” he asks, hopping on the counter behind you. His long legs start swinging and his socked heels tapping against the cabinets like he’s a child.

“These my dear, are the Nanaimo bars. Or at least my version,” you explain, pushing your hair back off your face with your forearm not to get dough all over the place. “More coconut, vanilla and caramel than chocolate. It’s a coconut vanilla shortbread base, it’ll have a vanilla bean studded caramel custard in the middle. That’s in the fridge already, then I’ll do a chocolate caramel coconut topping for them. Figure little taste of Canada to send out to the rest of your folks.”

“I have no idea how you do it, but it looks and smells yummy. Think we can find candles that smell like this somewhere? That’s a scent I could get used to around here. Could sneak one on the road too, have for when I’m missing you,” he replies, poking his nose in some of the new Tupperware you have on the back counter by him. “What are these? They smell different, they’re not that.”

“Those are the crazy squares. It’s basically like a kitchen sink cookie, but in bar form. And since your friends are human garbage disposals when it comes to eating, I think it’s a good choice,” you get out through a laugh. “Oatmeal, chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, peanut butter and a little bit of toffee.”

“My little baking machine,” he comments with a tiny grin, stealing a small bar from the container he was sniffing in. “Damn, these are really good.”

“Shawn,” you yell, flicking the towel that was over your shoulder at his knee. “Those are gifts! No eating the presents. You’ll get your own treats.”

“’M sorry, but not really,” he mumbles through a mouth full of crazy square. “Ooh! We need cards to go with these.”

“What? No, baby we don’t,” you try to explain. “The gift is the goodies.”

“Nope. Cards. Have to,” he says, hopping down from the counter then hip bumping you. “At least for my parents, my sister, and then of course Didi and Tomas too. Maybe a stupid one for Cez to make him laugh.”

He drops a kiss to the tip of your nose, “I’ll handle it. Where did you stash all that extra craft stuff from when you had the A and all her girls over? The fancy scissors and all the paper?”

You have no idea what he’s up to, but you know you’re not going to be able to get him off this train. “Clear bin. Guest room closet, right hand side,” you describe. “Should be the one right on top.”

He scurries off and you just have to roll your eyes, biting back the giggle bubbling up. He’s such a softie. You love it, despite your reticence on his need for cards.

While you finish off the trays of bars, get the spritz cookies in the oven and start the chocolate pretzel drops, he’s stationing himself in the living room cross-legged in front of the coffee table. He’s awfully quiet, minus a hum here and there. You only hear the shuffling of papers and the click swish from scissors. You decide to let him be and have his fun, it gives you the time to finish off more than you were planning for the night.

When you’re done, you come out to a living room that’s just exploding with cut out hearts, but no Shawn. There’s a chain of them hanging from around the television, scattered piles over every table like confetti, a few bigger ones at the center of the coffee table in front of the couch.

“So, I may have been a little sneaky,” he confesses from behind you, arm wrapping around your hips to draw you towards him. “I made a few to use as cards but I wanted to do something a little randomly special for you early, since you’re doing all this baking for everyone when you really don’t have to.”

“You are such a squish Shawn,” you whisper, before leaning your head back on his shoulder. “It’s adorable. I love it. Thank you, sweetie.”

“Love you,” he murmurs into your hair.

There’s a massive vase of white roses and jasmine when you walk into the house the next night after work, sitting smack in the middle of the kitchen island, another cut out heart, this one bubble gum pink with silver writing on it, propped up against it.

So you can take the time to smell the roses, and the jasmine too. Can’t wait to bake with you later. Be home by 7 – xo S

“What is he up to now?” you mutter to yourself, not hearing anything in the condo other than the click of your heels on the kitchen tile floor. You find another bouquet in the living room, a smaller version in your bedroom on your bedside table, a new jasmine candle in your bathroom next to a tiny glass holding a fresh sprig of jasmine along with a tiny white rosebud and even a little spray of them on your desk in the guest room that doubles as your home office. You should be getting everything ready in the kitchen for the big bake, but you sit on the end of the bed needing a minute. You pick up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Didi responds quickly. “You never call unless something’s wrong. Wait, did he propose finally? Is there a ring? You’re not pregnant, are you? Shit girl I told you...”

“Damnit Dee. No, breathe,” you try breaking through on your best friend’s babble. “There is definitely not a baby. Shit’s sake. Not doing things reverse order. Plus, there’s new album and tour and life. So no, not that. And. When there’s a ring, it’ll be a FaceTime, not a phone call. He just. Last night it was cut out hearts everywhere. Today, I come home. The condo’s filled with white roses and jasmine. Everywhere.”

It’s quiet for a moment. “You cry yet?” she asks softly.

“No,” you sniff. “Close though. I think I only mentioned this once. Of course, he remembers and then goes and does something like this.”

“He’s your person, girly,” Didi replies. “And a mushy lovey fucker for you at that.”

Your best friend is right. He is. “Thanks D, I needed this. I gotta go though I’m sorry. I’m attempting to teach him brownie baking tonight. I still need to change and get everything ready before he’s back at 7. I’ll text you.”

Quickly you throw yourself together as best as you could, changing and pulling everything you need to together along with moving the flowers in the kitchen to the living room. You’re rinsing off the strawberries when you hear his keys hit the lock.

“In the kitchen,” you call out when the door shuts.

“Good day?” he asks, head leaning in to place a kiss against your shoulder, his lips cold against your skin exposed by your tank top.

“Better when I got home,” you reply, leaning your head against his still pressing against you. “You’re a crazy boy, and I don’t even know how to say thank you for it. They’re beautiful. All of them.”

He kisses your shoulder again, before shifting to trail his lips up your neck, nibbling at your ear before a lingering kiss to your cheek. “Love you is all,” he states casually. “Let me change and then I’ll be back in for my lesson.”

While he’s gone, you decide to get the strawberries out of the way first. Brownies will be the more complicated of the two, so to start easier will be a good idea. He comes back in as you’re breaking up the chocolate bars into a large glass bowl.

“Chocolate covered strawberries first,” you begin. “They’re the less difficult of what’s on the agenda and we should get them dipped and set in the fridge before the oven gets on and warms the kitchen. Normally I’d melt and temper the chocolate over a double boiler, but not fussing with that tonight. It’s breaking it up, adding a little bit of oil and melting it in the microwave. Then we just dip away. I’ll finish on the milk, why don’t you get started on either the dark or the white, then I’ll do the other when I’m done.”

The both of you find a rhythm, breaking and chatting, sneaking in a kiss here or a prolonged touch there while you get the chocolate ready.

“Now, that those are melted. We pat the strawberry dry to make sure the chocolate will stick,” you explain, showing him the first one. “Hold it closer to the end of the stem and swirl, leave a little bit showing and let it drip the extra chocolate off, then place it down on the wax paper. Once they’re all dipped, we can drizzle another color chocolate over it with what’s left.”

“This isn’t so bad,” he declares after a few rows of berries are done. “Though, I think I know a way to make this a little more fun.”

He dips his finger around the edge of the bowl with the dark chocolate, pulling some off the glass. He eyes you carefully, crooking the chocolate covered finger at you.

“Shawn,” you question.

“C’mere,” he requests. You move slowly over, his non chocolate covered hand grabbing a strong hold against the curve of your hip. He takes the chocolate laden finger, tracing your bottom lip first, then the dip between your collarbones, chocolate sticking carefully against your skin.

“Dessert before dinner, yum,” he whispers, a breath from your lips before sinking into them. Licking his way into your mouth, you can’t help but slide your hands into his hair and moan. It was dirty and deep from the start, but when you flick your tongue against his, you feel his grip on your hip tighten even more.

He breaks from you first, trailing his lips down your cheek, across your neck to latch onto your collarbone and the chocolate he left there. You don’t want him to leave a mark, but secretly, you’re hoping he does.

“Baby,” you whine, hands gripping at his hair harder as he bites and sucks along the line of your bone. At this rate you’re going to be so bruised. He nips his way back up your neck before sipping at your lips again, leaving you breathless.

“Mmm, well you’re quite delicious, I think like this baking thing,” he grins like a cat who got the cream.

“It’ll be my turn soon, don’t you worry,” you proclaim, trying to stir the rest of the chocolate back to life. “Let’s finish these off before the chocolate starts gets too firm.”

He slides behind you, leaning in flush against your back, “I could make a really bad joke here, you know.”

You feel him, half hard and snug against your ass.

“Baking, Shawn. We’re baking,” you remind him with a sigh, while arching back to tease him. “You’re the one who asked for a baking date night. There will be more of that after if you’re lucky and you behave.”

He bites at your earlobe, grinding into you once. “Can we keep some chocolate for later then?”

You push back at him, “Says the one who isn’t always keen on chocolate.”

“But it’s chocolate off you, it automatically tastes better and makes me want more of it,” he proclaims with a cheeky smile, sliding over to the sink to wash his hands.

You make quick work of the last of the berries, getting the trays into the fridge so you can finally get going on the brownies.

“Salted caramel cheesecake brownies next,” you say as you pull the bricks of cream cheese from the fridge and the blocks of butter off the back counter. “Two different batters, but they’re both pretty easy. We start with the brownie batter first, then whip the cheesecake batter, swirl the dulce de leche through that, then swirl that into the brownie batter. Drizzle it all with a little more caramel, then sprinkle on some flaky sea salt before popping them into the oven.”

“It’s unfair how you make it sound so simple and easy,” he notes, watching you measure out cocoa powder. “I see that recipe and it’s like 38 steps long.”

“Not that many. Come over here, I promise let me show you, it’s not hard,” you slide your arm through his to pull him closer.

“That’s what she said,” he quips, poking at your side. The two of you plug away step by step, first on the brownie mixture, before starting in on the cheesecake. While you trust Shawn to continue keeping an eye on the whipping cream cheese in the stand mixer, you break out the jar of dulce de leche you’ve had warming slowly in a warm pan of water on the stove.

“Now that it’s done, and once this is a little cooler, we’ll drizzle some of this in there to make a ribbon through it before adding it into the pan with the brownie batter,” you describe, popping the lid carefully off.

You dip your pinkie into the warm sugary syrup, “Mmm liquid gold. This is perfect.”

Shawn snags your hand before you get a chance to wipe it on the towel, popping your pinkie into his mouth.

“Damnit Shawn,” you husk out as he works at your finger with his tongue. While he’s preoccupied, you quickly poke another finger from your left hand into the jar. Payback, you think, is a bitch. You slide your pointer finger down the line of his jaw before taking it down the line of his neck. His eye pop open and grow wide, sliding your finger free.

You don’t give him a chance to say a word, latching onto his jaw. His hands grasp you immediately, one lacing around the back of your head to hold you to him, the other square on your ass. You take your time, just as he did earlier, licking and nibbling your way through the sweet caramel until you hit his skin.

“Sweetheart,” he moans, almost bordering on a growl, when you hit that spot on his neck that drives him crazy. The hand on your ass draws you closer to him, sliding his thigh between your legs. You keep at that spot, you know there’s nothing coming up so if you do mark him up, which you want to do badly, there’s no real repercussions.

“Shit, baby,” he whines, needy and desperate as you keep up your assault on his neck. You make quick work on the rest of the dulce, sliding right back up to exactly where you know you can get him keening. Kitten licks at first, then tiny bites soothed by a bit of sucking. You keep the pattern up for a few passes, his skin warm under your tongue, warm until you know they’ll be a bit of a reminder tomorrow.

“Fuck,” he bites out, drawing you up and away from his neck to bring you up to meet his eyes.

“Something wicked this way comes,” you smirk, licking at your lips.

He dives for your mouth, hot and hard and fast until you’re both out of breath.

“Now, think we can keep our hands to ourselves to get these in the oven?” you pant. “And when your mother asks how we made these together, we do not tell her about the soft-core porn action in the kitchen.”

He kisses you sweetly, softly, “I think it would be a fun story though.”

You roll your eyes, pushing at his chest, “Brownies, swirling, salting and into the oven. C’mon.”

You both manage to keep your hands, and your lips, to yourself for the rest of the process. You cannot help but chuckle, watching him salt the brownies ever so carefully. “It’s like icy snow,” he proclaims, grinning like a little kid.

Once in the oven, you split clean up duty and then start to pack up the berries off the trays.

“I feel bad that I can’t go with you to drop this all off tomorrow, but there’s no way I can duck out early enough,” you lament, shifting the berries about to make sure they’re not going to be smushed in transport.

“The fact you made all this for them, from scratch no less, is more than enough,” he insists. “I normally just send flowers. Which I’m still doing for both of them. This is just over the top extra awesome.”

You can’t help but smile, “They’re my family now too. Well, close enough you know? I love them…”

He wraps you in a hug, “I love that you consider them yours, cause they are. Absolutely, they’re your family. Now, let’s finish this and go cuddle on the couch until the brownies are done.”

Before leaving for the office, with Shawn still cozy in bed asleep since you’re up a good deal earlier than normal today, you slip out the red box you’ve had hidden in the back of the pantry out onto the kitchen counter. Inside, a few smaller red containers, filled with his treat surprises for the day.

You steal one of the blank hearts from the dining room table, a white one, for a note.

For my darling, the first of a few surprises for you today. Despite your recent affection for chocolate, here’s a little something to start your day. Through the day you’ll find little things here and there, just small little sweets that I know you adore, maybe as much as me. Because my heart, you have mine and I want to spoil you a little today. Love you valentine xo <3

You prop the note against one of the larger containers, this a perfect square. The first time you ever made him your lemon lime scones, it was one of first nights you stayed over. He waxed poetic about them for days. You knew they had to be a part of his treat trail today. This time though in a mini version. The second box, a smaller thinner one, you slide into his guitar case, filled with rolls of homemade strawberry fruit leathers. A third box, shortbread thumbprints with sour cherry jam, you place in his studio by his journal. The fourth, in a tin on top of the corner chair in the living room where he leaves one of his guitars out always, most difficult of the treats you made for him - tequila laced gummy bears. The final, and a last minute addition made last night when he was half dozy on the couch and thought you were boxing the brownies, a few chocolate covered caramels that you leave by his keys at the front table as a nod to last night’s funtivities.

You grab the bag filled with the baked treats for your office and head out the door. When you finally arrive at your office, a few minutes late because of your hiding duties at home and setting up your treats for the team in the kitchen, you’re greeted by a bouquet of blush peonies and antique roses.

“Came in just a few minutes ago,” Rosalie, the office receptionist tinkers gleefully, peeking her head into your office. “Do we get to see that boy of yours today? That would be a lovely Valentine’s Day treat.”

Rosalie, who is old enough to be your grandmother but has the energy level of a teenager, absolutely adores Shawn. They’re thick as thieves, getting along together immediately. She mothers the heck out of him when he comes to see you, helps him sneak things into your office, the two of them gang up on you to make sure you’re fed and hydrated when you’re pulling late hours, and is an absolute godsend when you work remote if you’re out on the road with him.

“Not sure,” you smile, smelling one of the blooms. “I know he’s heading out to Pickering at some point to see his family. Not sure what he’s got up his sleeve or has plans on for later. I’m being surprised. Best not poke at him and ruin whatever he’s got going.”

“Just let him know his smiling face is missed around here ok?” she nods, heading back towards her desk.

You snap a quick photo of the flowers and fire off a text – Happy Valentine’s Day indeed. They’re so pretty, thank you! <3 ilu :) xo

You’re knee deep in trying to clean out your inbox when your phone chimes. A selfie, his bed head in full force and he’s smiling around one of the scones in his mouth. Omg you made me the Sprite scones! AND THEY ARE TINY BABY SIZED ONES I CAN FIT IN MY MOUTH ALL AT ONCE! Followed by alternating string of lemon, soda cup, green and yellow heart emojis.

He finds the thumbprints next, a photo of a cookie next to him giving you a thumbs up, more emojis again this time alternating the cherries, red lips and red heart. Where did you find the sour cherry jam? I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. OR DID YOU MAKE THIS TOO?!

Immediately after was a boomerang, the tin of strawberry fruit rolls, rocking and rolling back and forth. Followed by strawberry emojis between kissy face smileys. These taste exactly like you do after we go strawberry picking in the spring and you sneak berries along the way when you think no one is looking. But I always am.

It takes a little longer for the next find. You’re in the middle of a conference call when your phone starts buzzing. A gif of a worm with a sombrero on, tipping back on a bottle of tequila. How the hell did you make me seriously boozy af gummy bears? They’re as big as my thumb! I can’t have these before heading out to the ‘rents. I’m drunk already from just smelling them.

You have to mute your line and laugh heartily. This right here made it all worth it. His reactions are priceless. You’re so glad the little surprises are making him this silly happy.

The next one, about half an hour later, is a voice memo.

“You sneaky, naughty little minx,” he husks out, voice deep. “Chocolate caramels. You knew exactly what I’d think of, didn’t you? I’m in the car trying to get out and through downtown, but now all I can think about since finding them are your breathy little moans, your hands in my hair and your mouth at my throat. Fuck baby, you definitely left the best for last. I snuck them in the car to have one on the ride, but there’s no way I can even try one now.” He pauses for a beat; a hard sigh escapes his lips. “Just you wait until later. Now, I need to get out of this tangle you’ve got me in before I get home to my parents. I’ll be back by the time you get home from work. I love you sweetheart.”

Thank god you didn’t put that on speakerphone. He sounded like pure wicked sin, plain and simple. He’s got you in knots now too. You just need to get through the rest of the day in one piece. Thankfully, your boss kicks the entire office out early, partially because of her own plans, and partially because of the long weekend stateside. You’ll take it. Hopefully you can beat Shawn home to be able to maybe shower and change before he gets back.

A cute video comes through as you walk out of the office, from his sister. “First off, I’m mad at Shawn for not bringing you with, but then he said you had work. So, I let it slide. A little at least. Then he let us open the goodies. You made all our favorites! You’re the best. Please come visit, or let’s plan another girls’ night and we’ll kick him out of the condo! Wait wait, hold on. Someone else wants to say thanks!” She pans her phone to the kitchen and flips the camera around. “Sweetie, thank you so much for all the treats. You will need to send me the recipe for the brownies, they’re delicious. I still don’t believe Shawn helped you with all this, if that’s the case, congratulations for getting him in the kitchen willingly. And without disaster, I hope at the very least. I’m hiding some so maybe there’s still some left when Manny makes it home. Let’s figure out dinner all of us together next week. Love you!”

Warmth spreads through you as you navigate your way back home after that one. You’re floating at this point. However, you did not luck out in beating him back as you walk through the door. There’s a litany of white pillar candles of all different heights and thicknesses everywhere in the living room, flickering as if they’re just lit. There he is, ensconced in the corner of the couch, guitar slung across his lap. He smiles, patting the open cushion next to him.

“I will spare you from the ultimate perfect yet cheesy Canadian Valentine’s Day, singing some Celine Dion love song to you,” he jokes, pressing a lengthy kiss to your temple. “But I did dig through someone’s playlists to find something. Mind you, this is only part of your gift, which will never rank up against all that you did for me today. That was, just, ridiculous and perfect and sweet. So damn thoughtful, babe. I loved it.”

He leans over to quickly press a kiss at the corner of your mouth before diving into the song.

“The dawn is breaking, a light shining through. You're barely waking and I'm tangled up in you,” he sings. “I’m open, you're closed. Where I follow, you'll go. I worry I won't see your face light up again.”

Your breath sticks in your throat. Your brain scrambles slightly, eyes clouding up. You miss him sing the chorus the first go, the blood rushing through your ears.

“I'm quiet you know. You make a first impression. I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind. Even the best fall down sometimes, even the stars refuse to shine. Out of the back you fall in time. I somehow find you and I collide,” he continues. “Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the wrong words seem to rhyme. Out of the doubt that fills my mind, I somehow find you and I collide.”

You sniff as he finishes, shifting his guitar out of his hands to move behind you before throwing yourself into his lap, arms tight around his neck. “So, you’re going to need to record that for me, so I have that to sing me to sleep when you’re out on tour. Honey, that was just…”

You trail off, leaning your forehead against his, trying to catch your breath and your words all at once. His hands a steady hold on your waist, fingers trailing up and down slightly.

“Just when I think you’ve permeated every part of my heart already, you go and do something like that,” you profess honestly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he whispers against your lips. “So much.” He draws you closer, arms tightening around you. His heartbeat a tether to yours, a steady rhythm in time with each other’s beats. 

TAG LIST: @whenidance, @parkerdavis, @sinplisticshawn, @hollandraul, @fallinallincurls, @itrocksmysocks, @rainbowshawn, @lasingphomustra, @illumecherry​

[inumakkis]

Chapter one ; lost and found

warnings ; light angst ( okay maybe a substantial amount )

It's gonna be posted to be my ao3 when I actually edit it more because we know ao3 is superior . ( .lichtenberg is my username ! ) Stay safe guys ! I haven't properly proof read it because I'm tired but I'll probably see a mistake in a week and then fix it then after panicking .

-----

Things were always tough for Hitoshi Shinsou. That's how life was for him , he'd wake up and go to school only to be faced with the relentless bullying from his peers which his teachers dismissed. In a world full of quirks, he would much rather be quirkless.

Everyday felt like a battlefield , trudging through the trenches , avoiding any hits from the enemy and soon enough, he was at the front line. His guard was up and yet everyone saw the little cracks on how to get him down.

It wasn't so bad at first , the occasional taunt , nothing that he couldn't manage . though when he got to middle school, things got worse, kids got meaner. Well, so did he . A strong hatred grew towards the world from his bones that supported his figure.

Yet , the blond boy in class 1a would disagree . He never thought that Hitoshi was mean . No , he found his reserved and quiet . He enjoyed it . He enjoyed how he would follow Shinsou around like a lost puppy ( though Hitoshi would change that to a cat ) and the purple haired teen wouldn't spare him a glance.

Yeah , in Denki's mind ? Things were great .

23rd of June

Denki asked Hitoshi out after sitting besides him at lunch for over a month now . He turned him down.

27th of June

Shinsou had a bunch of lavender dropped at his doorstep , all plucked from the ground . He didn't even need to read the note to see who they were from . He simply tossed them on top of his desk before going back to reading.

29th of June

It was Kaminari's birthday and much to his distaste , there was no happy birthday from the boy he wanted to hear it from the most .

Shinsou knew the date , how could he not? When it was all the blond talked about within the recent week, eyes bubbling with happiness, only getting a glance from Hitoshi and maybe a nod of the head.

He would rather people think that he doesn't care then face the pain that comes with having a friend.

30th of June

Denki still hung around him , acted as if he didn't ignore the day he was most excited for out of the entire year . Shinsou didn't say a word.

1st of July

When hitoshi woke up , he had a gift at the foot of his bed and he wondered how Denki managed to break in to the dorms to drop it off. With tired eyes, he grabbed the note taped to the package .

— to toshi shinsou

“ I understand that you may not like me but I like you dude ! You think you're so tough but you're totally not . I hear boys like handwritten notes and I should know that since I am one but I have yet to receive one so it's a new experience for me too !!!!! Hppay happy birthday , I'm not mad at you . I know you don't want to be my friend and that's a-okay ! Just please let me down slowly ? I won't hang around with you anymore if that's what you want . I mean, you probably didn't like me in the first place and you wouldn't be the first so don't worry ! Pikaboy is fine with it ! Happy birthday .

Ps . A thank you would be greatly appreciated.

Pss . Also come on a date with me this Tuesday? I'll be at the restaurant down the road at 7pm . ”

Sincerly sincerely , Kaminari. :)

Shinsou paused . They were back to a last name basis now, Denki had officially removed his nickname from his vocabulary.

He pondered on why Kaminari would constantly go through trouble to make him happy and yet didn't even get a smile in return. Heck, by the last sentence , Denki seemed happy enough to be stood up publicly. Could he really do that to him though? Judging by the ink smudges on the paper , he couldn't . Sunshine boy had either spilt water very precisely or cried while writing it . He hoped it wasn't the latter. It made his chest ache and twist as he reread it four times . He noticed the spelling mistakes and how there would be another teardrop straight after as if he hated himself more for ruining the letter .

Hitoshi eventually tore his tired eyes away from the paper and opened the box which was at the bottom of his bed. He couldn't help the sweet laugh that escaped him. There would be no point hiding it now , after all no one was here to judge him or swear they say him show more than a stoic look.

It was a hoodie , purple and a few shades darker than his hair with the word ' mind fuck ' written across each sleeve while the front was decorated by cats .

Custom made , suddenly a tear dropped and Shinsou stared at it as if it had personally insulted him. He watched as the hoodie took it in , leaving the wet mark for show.

He would turn up to that date . He refused to wear anything fancy but he couldn't let Kaminari know .

5th of July

" dunce face , he isn't going to come ! He hates you ." Bakugou exclaimed as he watched Denki apply his eyeliner for the fifth time. Each time he applied it, he would cry it off .

" you think I don't know that ? I have to try though ! We're meant to help people and if my purpose is just getting myself involved in things that he doesn't like just to show that I care then I can proudly class myself as a hero !"

Mina rested a pink hand on his shoulder , wiping his eyes once more. " Come on, Danks ! He's gonna come , Bakubabe is just jealous because he can't get a date with Kiri ."

" WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT, RACCOON EYES— "

Hanta laughed from the background , playing some weird game on his phone . " Bakugou and Kiri sitting in a tree , K-I-S-S-I-N- OH MY GOD." The boy exclaimed as he ducked from an explosion that was sent his way .

Denki only laughed as Mina tilted his head back to stop the tears and began giving him some sharp winged liner . " Right , you look hot now go get that outfit on and get your sweet ass back here so i can do your hair."

" but I already did my ha-"

Mina out a finger to his lips. " Ah— Mama Mina knows best now hurry up . "

It turns out that Mama Mina did know best because low and behold, Shinsou was waiting right at the restaurant , 7:01 sharp. Hitoshi was far from a people pleaser , perhaps the opposite to Denki. He could give less of shit about what everyone else wanted but when someone had shown him unconditional care ? He knew he had to do something because what kind of hero would he be if he let them suffer due to his ignorance ?

" Let's make this quick." He commented , eyes sharp as he looked to the bubbly boy who had just turned up. It was clear that he wasn't expecting the other man there. His face lit up.

" O-oh yeah ! Sure dude !" Denki managed to get out as he walked inside the restaurant. It was far from fancy, that was clear . " Hey hun !" A woman gave a wide smile to Denki who wrapped his arms around her.

Hitoshi's mind wandered . Was this some kind of joke ? Why was he hugging a girl on a date with him ? Did he say date ? No he meant an outing because he felt sorry for him. That's it . Yeah -

" and you must be the boy that Denki has told me so much about - "

" AOI !" Denki's face flushed scarlet .

" sup, I'm his sister . "

Oh. . .

Oh .

That makes sense.

He looked between the two of them , why didn't he see it before ? The golden yellow hair , sitting in spikes across their heads , though hers was much shorter. They had the same smile and same eyes , the only difference was that her hair had a sideshave with the lightning bolt there.

Needless to say, Hitoshi felt dumb which wasn't meant to happen.

" that's very nice , I guess ?" It came out as a question , he had no idea on how to interact with people. That kind of went with his whole " no friends " thing .

" yeah , so get us a table , pronto !" Denki exclaimed and shoved Aoi along . " I'm going ! I'm going! There's a table over there , it ain't nothing fancy but you'll live. Your date " she wiggled her eyebrows at Denki who groaned. " doesn't seem like a people person , who knows why he's hanging with you - wait , sorry! I've been calling you a he ! You are okay with that , aren't you ?" Her attention turned to Shinsou who only managed to get out a little nod.

She let out a sigh of relief as she handed them both the menu's as they sat down. It wasn't long until she was off to go flirt with someone. Classic Kaminari's.

" She works at an lgbtq+ shelter for teenagers so she's really hyper aware of everyone's sexuality and stuff. " Denki commented , tapping his fingers on the table .

" that's good, I guess ? " Shinsou pondered their background for a moment before the blond boy pulled him from his thoughts.

" hey , my back hurts -"

" what? Why ? "

" from carrying this entire conversation." Kaminari let out a laugh and Hitoshi gave a fond roll of his eyes in return along with a chuckle.

He didn't realise his mistake until it was too late .

" you laughed at my joke ! You laughed ! Fuck yeah ! "

" wait no I didn't !"

And so came joke galore from Denki for the rest of their date . Kaminari wasn't funny , but the way he delivered each joke made Hitoshi's chest pound more and more.

He had been ignoring this .

As they walked out after a very full stomach and a very large discount, he tried to ignore the guilt eating up at him.

Denki had cried because of him, he had cried because he was ignored and he was now acting like Shinsou hadn't done anything to offend him ? What had this kid gone through ?

" so I said - hey are you listening ?" Denki pulled away from his ramble that he was on about Sero and Mina.

" uh yeah , Sero accidentally kicked Ashido in the face and she fought him."

Denki's face lit up and he continued to talk. He tried his best not to zone out this time .

Yeah , things weren't perfect but he could make an effort . Right ?