#I decided to clean it a bit today so I can colour it later

[rewordthis]

Completely self indulgent sketch of Sousuke as Ray Tango for my BD.

No mater where I see Stallone from his old movies, is as if I’m looking at Sousuke being in his stead like… (// ^ q ^ //)

I don’t usually say this but this time:

🚨⚠️⛔️ Do NOT REPOST!

Do NOT REPRODUCE in any way!

Do NOT ERASE the username! 🚨⚠️⛔️

[wosoamazing]

First Game

Summary: You are getting to go to your Mums' game for the first time, but it isn't any ordinary game it is the Conti Cup Final

Warnings: Mention of vomiting (Alessia spins reader and Katie warns that she might throw up - thats it)

A/N: I know I said date night would be out first but this came to mind, it is a skip in time but I will go back and fill in. It's only short... Also if you have any ideas please send them through.

Today was the first time you were going to an Arsenal game. Katie and Caitlin wanted to wait a bit, well more like 2 years, before you came to their games, so every game day you were left at home with your babysitter, or occasionally with their friends but more recently it was Ella, one of your Ma’s many sisters. But today was different, they dressed you in a pair of black leggings, and the mini Arsenal Jersey they bought for you, your Ma had done your hair in plaited pigtails clipping two red bows at the top of them, and your Mum put you in your baby Nike Airs, much to your displease. They loaded you up in the car, it was only a short trip, but then you were put on a bus, it was longer, and you got very bored.

_____

“Wan” you said as you pointed to the jacket your Ma was wearing, your Mum handed her your jumper and tried to put it on you, “no,” you pouted as you stamped your foot. “Wan yours” “no, you can have yours or none,” your Ma told you, “hmf” you grunted in reply before crossing your arms and walking away, over to Kyra and Alessia. Your Mum’s had turned their backs and so Kyra quickly slipped her jacket on you, causing you to beam at her. “What, how?” “Kywa,” you pointed, still grinning ear to ear, your Mum glared at Kyra before picking you and walking out to the bench with you. Today the coaches walked out with the teams, something was said about it being a final, something about a cup.

You didn’t quite understand what was going on but it was all very tense, you sat intensely watching the ball, which Steph found very cute, as did all the other players, Caitlin was actually kind of relieved that you had the large puffy jacket on, which was way oversized, as it created a shield around your face, meaning you were safe from the public's phones. Your Mum had to go warm up and so you were handed to Leah, who you decided to have a short nap on, considering the game had been going for some time. At the 105th minute you were handed to your Ma as she was subbed off, which caused you to wake up, just 11 minutes later the stadium erupted in cheers as Stina scored the first goal of the game, putting Arsenal in front.

The full time whistle was blown and everyone jumped up, running to celebrate, you were handed off between staff members before you somehow ended up in Sam’s arms, but you weren’t mad, you quite liked Sam, and she was part of the blue team, blue was your favourite colour.

“Ma, Mummy” you cried out at one stage realising you didn't know where they were. “Hey y/n, its okay they’re over there, see” she said pointing and you nodded.

“I be wif em?” Sam shook her head, “no, because you see soon they are going to spray an adult drink on them and you are only little so you have to stay with me, but then soon you can go back with them,” you pouted as you gave her a small nod.

Not long after you Ma came running over, “Ma” you yelled, “Hi munchkin, do you want to go see Mummy and everyone else,” you nodded eagerly, “Thank you Sam,” she said as she walked away.

You were passed around player to player, them all celebrating with you and getting photos with you, Kyra put you on her shoulders and ran around causing you to giggle, Alessia threw you up into the air and then spun you around before she was cautioned by your Ma to stop, “If she throws up its your fault and you’re cleaning it,” those words caused Alessia to immediately stop and place you onto her hip, you just curled into her side, relaxing, she didn't mind at all.

The bus ride home was very noisy but you didn’t mind it, you just joined in the celebrations jumping up and down the aisle of the bus. Once you arrived home your Mum got you changed as your Ma filled a sippy cup up with milk, once you were changed into your comfy PJs you promptly climbed into their bed, right in the middle. “Oh do you want to sleep with us?” “Weep, ogether?” you asked with your best puppy dog eyes, “Of course,” You Ma said as she handed you your milk, they got under the covers, you laid in the middle of them as you watched a bluey episode, sipping on your milk.

“Its safe to say this wasn't how I planned on celebrating, especially considering we leave for international break tomorrow.” Your Mum chuckled, as she leant towards your Ma, who placed a soft kiss on her lips, “I know, but how could we say no to her?” “She really is adorable isn't she,”

[scaly-freaks]

Hiiii!! I fell in love with 'until the colours fade' and the end made me think that maybe Aegon was going to commit su*cide? it felt open ended too as if maybe he could work things out with Jae and they could be the family they both so desperately need. I was so angry with Aegon at first because the neglecting hit close to home, but I ended up feeling sad for both of them in the end. It felt like you meant to keep the mother unnamed but was she Amara? i wanted to guess because of the moodboard and the girl with the dark hair.

If you want to reveal anything about their life when she was still alive I'd really love that!! The idea of Aegon mourning her when he found out she died just made me so sad and I didn't even wannt to imagine it because they always feel so joined in my mind

Aaahhhh thank you so much (and thank you for being so sweet with your request omg)

It is open-ended. It's ultimately up to the reader to decide what happens without any input from me. My irls read the fic today and were dragging Aegon over the coals because they refused to accept that anyone once they've become a parent has any excuse not to raise a perfectly normal, well balanced child, which I didn't agree with, but to each their own. Traumatised children grow up to become parents all the time and don't stop being traumatised. All you can do is your best, even if that counts as bare minimum to someone else. To you, that is your best. Your intentions are there.

Aegon definitely didn't mean to let his intentions slip, but after the mother's death, aka someone he obviously relied on heavily in terms of emotional support, he lost his mind a little bit. His family is busy with their own lives, and are also quite neglectful of him because I imagine he's not the success story amongst the Targ-Hightowers. No one came to his house after the funeral to clean up and make sure there was food in the fridge when he got back. That's how they never realised Jae was still there until a week and a half later. He had the excuse (barely) of numbing himself on alcohol and drugs to avoid facing up to the fact that his wife was gone, hence why he forgot her. He let Jaehaera parent herself which was also wrong, and she became a latch key kid pretty much. If the electric bill isn't paid, the washing machine isn't working, and then who's cleaning her underwear? At eleven, she's probably thinking whatever, it's fine i'll reuse it, it doesn't look dirty because no one's teaching her that stuff (can't even say it's common sense because kids will be kids). She hasn't started her period yet, but I imagine Aegon would be a lot more aware of that this time round and actually buy her the stuff before he drags Helaena in to explain it all LOL.

And yes, 'Momma' was in fact Amara. And yuupppp, pulled my heartstrings to think of Aegon losing her. She was a baby having a baby, and then suddenly she was gone and Jaehaerys went with her.

Their life before she died was happy, I must admit. They both obviously struggled massively with mental illness and addiction and whatnot, but the kids were their pride and joy, something they made between them and would go to the ends of the earth for. Aegon was a good dad before she died, which is the most heartbreaking bit. Glimpses of it come through, for instance the glitter shampoo, buying Jae sweets after they fight, running after the ice cream van, but these are all notably things he did when she was way younger and before Amara died, suggesting he's frozen in time. Jae is growing up, and her Dad is failing to keep up. He's sluggish and trapped in memories he wants to return to. He used to put his all into making sure his kids were happy on the little money they had, and that his wife wasn't sinking into her depression again (Amara went through a couple suicide attempts during her post-partum period). She was terrified she'd go through with it one day and that it would never end even once the kids were older, and Aegon was the one who was like I won't let you, I promise, I'll keep you here even if it's not that simple.

The sad irony is she died and it was completely out of both their hands. She didn't want to leave, but she did. He tells Jaehaera no, baby, you're all me to disguise the fact that she has her mother's eyes and those eyes haven't looked at him the same since Amara died. Obviously Jaehaera's lonely and depressed and struggling to cope, so when she looks at her dad, he sees all those things staring back at him. He sees what Amara used to look like in her worst moments, but he doesn't have half the mental and emotional energy he used to in order to help his daughter. Instead, he drowns and watches her drown with him.

Amara is probably somewhere in the afterlife crying over the pair of them and not enjoying heaven I'm ngl 😭

[sweetheart-ashy]

🌟ARLO🦴 | YOUR MENACING SHIFTER IS TOTALLY NOT SICK

(Redacted oc)

*************************************************

*************************************************

You had practically adopted Arlo by this stage, he was still trying to adjust to being around you but he was getting better at showing when things bothered him, like when you took one of his blankets to wash and he sat in front of the washing machine waiting for it to be clean.

However over the past week there had been nothing but rainy days, and much to your disapproval, arlo hated rain coats, it was like you were trying to make him wear a straight jacket, on multiple occasions, he had just ran straight outside with no regard for his health, however this all came to a halt, when this morning- after being out all evening in the rain- you found he had a fever, and was undoubtedly sick as a dog.

You felt a small tug on your shirt as you were making lunch, turning round to see your little arlo standing there, sleepy and dazed from sickness. “..can we have.. pizza.. tonight.. Please?”

You giggled at his little request, scooping him up to go bring him back to bed “no arlo, no pizza today, your too sick for pizza today”

He didn't want to go back to bed, he had done enough sleeping. There were only so many times someone could watch bluey. And arlo had reached his limit “am not.. I'm healthy.. I would never..” his sickness was clear in his voice.. He also maybe needed a tissue

“Ok, if you're not sick, gimme some jumping jacks” you set arlo down on the floor, he probably wouldn't get more then two before his body decided it wasnt worth all that effort. Arlo steadied himself up and tried to do a jumping jack, before his knees gave in..

He sat on the floor, he could see that “I told you so” smirk growing on your face, “I'M JUST SITTING. Im.. I'm not sick.``

“Are to.”

“Am not.”

You scooped arlo back up, kissing his forehead, his skin hot from his fever. “How about I get you an ice pack and some soup? Y'know this is why you should listen when i say you need your rain coat”

“I'm not sick.. From the rain.. It's not from the rain.. Plus.. your soup sucks.” you let out a fake gasp which arlo seemed to think was real.. “N-no no.. sorry.. Your soups good..”

You slowly walked towards the bedroom, prompting annoyed grumbles “..mmnoo.. Nooo.. no bed. No moreeee!! I can't take.. All the.. The cosiness. And.. and all the.. The..” his voice trailed off as he looked like he was about to sneeze.. He sneezed like a little kitten.

“Bless you pup.. And come on.. Why wouldn't you wanna be lazy? All day, and you get endless attention?”

“Cus i hate it. I wanna colour an-.. And and go outside.. And then the rooms all stuffy! And my blankies all scratchy and you took.. Ri-richy to the wash..”

“Richy?”

“Yes! Richy! The-.. my-.. The dragon plushie..”

You found it adorable the boy had already named the plushie you got him the other day on the little shopping trip, that was mainly to get the kid somethings, even then he didn't know

“Pup, you gotta rest, you have a fever, you can hardly stand, and… your getting just a little grumpy”

Right on que arlo grumbled “i wanna colourrrr!!!” you slowly sat arlo back into bed, tucking him in and stroking his hair, you watched as he closed his eyes, leaning into the physical affection “mhm..”

“You wait here pup, i'll be back soon” you smiled, and heard his mumbles

“Nnnooo.. no no nnnooooo..” He tried to shuffle out of bed but he was far too cozy and far too sick.

You came back a little bit later, you set a little tray with paper and crayons in front of arlo “now you can colour in bed”

He giggled a little “mm.. Ok.. beds better now..” he began to colour

“I'll bring you some chicken soup” you were greeted by an immediate no

“Noooo!! Not chicken soup!”

You laughed, stroking his hair “ok.. You want to watch bluey and I'll go make some.. Vegetable soup”

Arlo nodded, putting his hands in the air, which hurt a little “the dog show!”

You smiled, kissing his forehead and putting on bluey, and leaving to go make soup. By the time you finished, you found Arlo asleep holding a crayon in his hands. You smiled, tucking him in “get well soon pup..” he mumbled softly in his sleep as you left to go clean up the kitchen

[sol-consort]

Greetings Shepard Commander or would it be Pathfinder Ryder?

How are you doing and/or how has this week been going? What ever you feel comfortable sharing?

I've claimed a paracetamol pill as my personal desk pet because I got too attached to throw it out. I pet it on occasion.

It's the end of the day, one hour away from my bedtime and fuck I am so tired and exhausted and sleepy. You really just wake up tired one day as an adult, and stay this way for the rest of your life, huh?

I've written a bit today, working on the salarian hug post and polished the Thane fic a bit more. By "writting" I mean debated for half an hour if I should make it a female salarian since I made the krogan a male to balance things out.

Which led to a looking up info about salarians and finding out their population is 90% males, leading to females having only the most important jobs. Also that Andromeda throws a bowling ball at the delicate champagne glasses tower that is the mass effect word building by making a single salarian woman work in a warehouse.

How their population stay alive, you ask? Their females birth clutches of eggs.

I decided to make it a guy in the end, might make the turian a woman then. Drell def guy bc I don't know what female drell are. Or maybe make it all guys? I want there to be a balance but I don't want to force it when I really wanted to write a guy so ehh.

I try not to talk about my writing process too much, it muddies up the final product. It's like magicians refusing to give up the secrets to their tricks. It's a very messy and clumsy process here back at the writing kitchens and I rather you think the finished piece was definitely well-thought out and made by a sane person.

Anyway so back to my pet pill.

I was cleaning my desk and apparently a pill fell out of a paracetamol sheet that I didn't notice until the next day. It's been open too long so it's contaminated by now and shouldn't be consumed. I was about to throw it away but I stopped and stared.

It's so...adorable?

The endearing oval shape, the lovely white colour. Flawless like a sheet of paper or a white daisy in a field. How much these little pills helped me through headaches. The cute cut in the middle of the pill to help you split it.

I have a vivid memory of the first time I have ever took paracetamol. I was young, around 7 years old and I had this migrane that wouldn't go away thanks to my dad passing me the genes.

My brother who was studying in med school at the time, gave me half a pill. I didn't know how to swallow pills yet, I choked on the first one and spit it out, only by the second time did I manage to get it down with so much water.

Look at me now, so used to meds I easily swallow 3 at a time with a small sip of juice through a straw. Sometimes down them with monster energy.

Anyway, so I took the half pill, which must have been like what? 250mg? If not less, because he might have just given me one quarter of a pill. 20 minutes later I'm fully out, slept through the entire day.

My blood was so pure back then, and resistance low. It was a fond memory, I got many headaches as a kid but I always suffered through them with a brave face and that was the first time I realised something as small as a couple grains of rice can bring so much relief.

I still suffer through the headaches, I try not to depend on pain killers too much since I don't want to build up an immunity and have to move on to stronger ones. I keep a balance yk? But today was unbearable and I gave in.

So that memory flashed through me when I saw that stray pill on the desk. I'll keep it there just to look at it, it feels like a friend.

I've been reading about the medicine and its history. Apparently, it targets different pain receivers than Ibuprofen, so the two of them could be used together for better pain relief. Also,

But it was very different at first and even toxic! It literally choked your body tissue cells by preventing the hemoglobin from binding oxygen and causing cyanosis. It was known as Antifebrin.

So, in 1877, it was officially synthesised as paracetamol, but it was only during 1887 that it was used on humans by Joseph von Mering.

funfact, to prevent your cells from choking out, all your body cells must be at least within 100 micrometers of a blood vessel for their oxygen to be delivered in time.

Funfact. This info is qouted directly from my memory and I'm currently factchecking it to try and find If it's actually accurate but no relevant results so far.

Funfact. Okay, I found this research paper that actually goes in depth about this and supports my funfact.

Also your red blood cells do not require oxygen! The only body cells that don't need oxygen are the same ones delivering it. HA.

Cells are the same size right? So an ant and a human have the same size cells, just different amounts. Correct so far.

So the thing with cancer is, it happens by probability. All of us get cancer multiple times a day and our immune systems take care of it. It's only dangerous when it slips by long enough to become a tumor.

Now, based on the laws of probability, the more cells the higher risk of an error in cell division aka the higher the cancer risk? Right?

Wrong.

For some fucking reason, bigger animals than us with so many more cells, have very very veryyyy low cancer rates when they shouldn't. Take elephants or whales for example. Something in their genes either overcame the cell division error prone OR made their immune system much better at detecting stray cells that refuse to self destruct.

Analysing elephant genomes like TP53 gene showed that elephants developed a suppresser to stop damaged cells from dividing and ending the hydra before it could grow another head. As side effects, it lead to elephants having more cell deaths and low DNA repair mechanisms.

Elcors come to mind. Is the fact they still communicate by phormones rather than sounds related to some bargaining chip they had to cash in order to accommodate for their big sizes? Like we humans, paid a shit tone of gene money and got in gene debt for our brains that took so many years to pay off. That's why only the homosapians are left.

Where did the elcor genomes cash in all the saved up unused evolution points? And how did they exactly evolve to be self aware when most animals with their line of evolution end up as herd animals with survival and procreation as their only goal? Was it a mutation that lucked out or did natural evolution actually saw it benfical for them to develop self awareness in order to survive?

Are elcor just immune to all diseases, maybe? Do they have an especially naturally high success birth rate without the need for surgery or medical intervention? Are their stomach biomes simply superior, and they never get stomaches?

And why do Krogans have tails?

Okay, I'm going off topic.

What was the main topic?

Ah yes me.

Uh.

I really appreciate you btw, and the way you refer to me as "commander Shepard" in these asks.

The first time it happened, I was caught off guard and I loved it so much I didn't want to answer the ask because it meant I won't be able to see it in my inbox anymore. I wanted to keep a copy and frame it just to save my happiness, I was literally this picture.

Fjowjfkwsb

It's just so?????? Validating? Like YES I AM COMMANDWR SHEPAPRD YES THANKS JDQKJD <333

Then it happened a second time and I was oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!!♡!!♡♡♡♡♡

It's been a while since you dropped by so It completely left my mind. I opened my asks yesterday and I saw this and AAAAAA i love you so much.

Like for I moment I was like twirling my hair and giggling. Especially the addition of Ryder at the end. dude I am saving this ask. I've been opening my inbox just to look at it and feel happy. Like you noticed that I'm playing andromeda now? Kdjqojdakndos <33

Oh and I've been playing helldivers 2 lately! It's so much better than I expected. I never imagined a day would come where I'd willingly touch a coop fps, nor the day where I don't suck at fps. Dude all i knew before mass effect was far cry 4 and even then I used a bow! Dude I am not built for fps bc honestly mass effect is not the training you think it is. I played with a controller.

And yet...I'm actually good. It's like legit good! I am useful and my aim is good and I've helped people so many times. Plus, I have more to show up for than just aim like attention to details plus support capabilities, so I'm great in teams. At this rate, I might get deep rock galatic and join the public servers without fear of having shit aim while playing with strangers.

It feels...nice. Weird but nice. Almost like I'm invading someone else's community, even in mass effect I feel like I'm an outisder and it shows yk? Something in me just seems off in comparison to the rest of the community...but I want to stay and I want to keep writing for it. I want to keep trying even if no one is there because I genuinely love it. The mass effect universe and I'm starting to love shooter games.

I played moba like league a lot, I have experience with toxic coop so nothing fps games throw at me could compare.

I'm

I will carve myself a place in this fandom if I have to.

For every vent post I share, 10 go to drafts and 50 end up unwritten. There is so much emotions and I care more about reception to my writing than I let on. I read every reblog and post, I notice everything. I compare the numbers always.

I wish I cared less. I wish I cared like you guys cared. You all seem so happy, so unaffected. Do you just not show it, or is this your reality?

Anyway.

I'm better now anon. I was worse before I wrote this, and now I'm much better. Thank you for this chance. I can't repay your kindness, I just hope life gives it back to you in some way soon.

My mom's birthday is soon, I'm preparing for it. I'm a little sad because I bought her handmade knitted flowers, a full bouquet of them in her favourite colour. And she loves knitting but can't anymore. I thought she'd love them but she didn't, my plan was to buy her a bouquet every major celebration until the house is full of them. I don't know how to knit but, it stings less that it's not me who made them at least.

And the page had very cute knitted dolls! I might order one for myself. They make it by hand and sent me pictures of the wool before they made it, their prices is too good too! Like knitting is super hard and time consuming, yet they sell it as the same price as regular flowers? They should charge more for it, I was prepared to pay much more, double their asking price even because I understand the luxury of handmade stuff.

I refunded a steam game recently because fanatical added it in a bundle and it's cheaper there. It's the third game I refunded this week yet steam were very understanding! It's a nice surprise.

I want to write more but I don't have the time or energy. I'm afraid I'll lose my readers attention. I also feel guilty whenever I see my regulars reblogging and liking older posts because it meant they came to my blog looking for updates and found nothing so they reread past stuff instead.

Oh and I wanted to name my ship in helldivers 2 after destiny ascension :( they didn't let me :(

It was either dream of destiny or song of peace so I went with song of peace.

To DELIVER PEACE WITH MY SHOTGUN RIFLE YEEHAW THAT'S TRUE DIPLOMACY BABBYY.

I got stuck under the map once, good times, good times.

It took me 2 hours to write this. Most of the time was spent factchecking the information I claimed above but still.

I'll go sleep, listen to some music. Fkhwkfns look at my title as commander shepard in you ask again and listen to some music while imagining fake scenarios where I am commander Shepard and I WIN!

I hope you sleep well anon! Take care of your.

[zoemaywrites]

day in the life of y/n

Absolute pure fluff and giggles

932 words

TW: Harry being too cuddly

Waking up to a buzzing noise is never the way anyone wants to wake up, not even y/n. She rolled over, to find the source of this incessant noise, finding it was her phone, not her alarm, as she had previously believed. 

"Hello?" Her groggy voice sounded through the receiver. Harry always loved her morning voice, so sweet and innocent, just like her.

"Hey baby, did I wake you up?" He questioned, though clearly knowing the answer.

"No no, Harry, you're fine. What's up?" She sat upright, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. She looked over to the clock finding it was 11 am. She wasn't surprised, she had always been a late sleeper.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight? Order takeout, watch a movie, have some of that nice wine you like?" He questioned.

"Well, I have a super hot date tonight with my glassware and polishing, but I'm sure I could find some time to fit you in," she giggled in reply, looking across her dirty bedroom. She really needed to clean this place up, it was getting embarrassing.

"Well, if you can squeeze me in," Harry continued to play along, "I'm thinking 6.30 would be good? I will have chipotle all ready and dolled up for you."

"I guess I could do then, I'll see you later, yeah?" she teased.

"See you then, baby, love you."

"Love you too Harry." She ended the phone call and sighed. Right, she thought, time to get to work. 

She spent a few hours cleaning dishes and picking up dirty clothes from the floor, finally having made some progress around the apartment. It wasn't perfect, but it was acceptable. She found herself sitting at the table, a mug of coffee in one hand, and colouring pens in the other. Y/n wasn't an artist, that was for sure, but she always made cute little decorations for the cafe at Halloween and Christmas. She adored working at the Cafe, it was the best job she had ever had, and even though she knew this wasn't the career she wanted forever, she was happy to be there for the moment. It was her life, the cafe, she worked there, had friends there, and somehow, it felt like a sort of home. 

As it was only 2 pm, she decided to pop over to the cafe, it was only a ten-minute drive, and the coffee she made when she got there was worth it all. She sat in the car, put on some tunes and began driving, not forgetting the decorations she made earlier. 

Once she got to the cafe, she parked and headed inside. It was a quiet day, being a Tuesday afternoon. Nichola, the owner and mum to Violet, greeted her, a big warm smile on her face.

"How are you doing poppet?" Nichola asked, reaching round to hug her.

"I'm doing good thank you Nic, and you?" she replied, already making her way over to her favourite person, Violet, squeezing her tightly, giving her a quick peck on the head.

"Very good thanks, love!" she replied before going over to the counter to serve a customer. 

"How're you doing Vi," she asked, still encased in the hug.

"I'm okay, you know how it is with Luke at the moment - not fun."

"Aww, I'm sorry. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow?" y/n replied, sympathetic to violets situation, having been living through it with her.

"Tonight? After work?" She asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, I have plans with Harry, but definitely tomorrow, yeah?" she responded, feeling bad.

"Ooh, that's fine, little miss I-love-harry-more-than-my-bestie," she teased. Y/n rolled her eyes playfully, as she began to make her coffee. 

"Whatever," she giggled.

Y/n spent a couple more hours at the cafe, chatting to Vi and Nic, and helping out when the afterschool rush came about, before heading out to go see Harry.

She arrived at Harry's house, knocking on the door a couple of times before he opened up and greeted her with a big kiss.

"How's it going baby?" He asked, settling into the couch, a glass of wine splashing around in his hand.

"It's good, I saw Vi and Nic today, helped out a bit," she said settling into his lap, facing him.

"Mm, is that so?" he pecked her cheek, feeling very cuddly.

"Yeah, we talked a lot about Luke, you know, the luke. I honestly don't get why she's so involved with him, he's a dick!" She began to say before harry cut her off with a loud gasp. It wasn't often Y/n used coarse language, but he knew that meant she was serious about the subject. She giggled and gave him a soft slap.

"But he is, like he's messing her around all the time and talking shit about her to her friends," she was about to say more before harry began gasping again. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"My baby," he slapped his hand over his heart, "my Y/n, using such horrible language about another human being? Who has she become? Where's my innocent baby gone?" He jokingly questioned, feigning a heart attack. She rolled her eyes again, for what felt like the millionth time in the past minute. And nuzzled her head into his shoulder, trying to stifle her laughter, albeit badly. He chuckled, kissing the side of her head.

"I'm only joking baby, Luke is a dick."

"Mhmm, and a mean one too," she responded lowly, tickling harry's neck.

"I know baby, I know," he responded.

[firespirited]

Today I put in a cardboard set of washers on Midnight so her head can be bent upwards, the donor body from once upon a zombie leans forwards (reset one of the eyes after seeing these pictures, one got pushed backwards slightly) . Better colour photos tomorrow before she joins the Pullip crew high up on the shelf. I decided against lids or lashes, she looks a teensy bit more alien.

A tumblr post about childhood set off a cascade of memories and re-understanding of a very old scar from new information. This reframed something from later on that at the time was presented with a good-ish excuse but was probably just as petty as I suspected deep down and could never articulate... Stuff thorny to bring up as it's shared trauma. Instead of just spiralling or trying to ignore it, I worked on cleaning Dollmore Celia, learning how she's assembled and very slowly removing the blushing from all the tiny crevasses of that very delicate 1/6 body. I want to elongate her neck slightly and push the head back on the neck very slightly. I've been researching tutorials on bjd neck donut making.

The chaotic sort-out continues. It doesn't look like it but I am making progress, at least in clarity. I'm ok with the non customs leaving, there will always be other dolls to fix up when it's safe to do that work again. Found a bunch more monster high heads and pieces right after snapping this photo lol.

Decision paralysis set in several times. Like whether to keep kiwi hair as no doubt there will be more MGA dolls to fix up. Do I want to give Shanelle Onyx a parting? (brain gremlins said never mind that it would be very painful the next day, the brain gremlins need to learn that I sure reap what I sow 😄). Still can't believe we got monochrome dolls, the details of her streak (3 colours) and holographic dark lips arenjust amazing. I need to change her eyes for much darker ones. The pale eyes are very hard to photograph with flash and imply genetic conditions to my too literal mind.

[theretirementstory]

Bonjour et bienvenue. It is 8c and cloudy,the sun has only just risen and it looks as if we will see some rain today.

This was my view for two days this week as I was in hospital in Nancy. I was on the fourth floor, with a terrific view, or it would have been if the weather had been brighter.

There has been “a hotline” to my phone, friends and relatives contacting me to find out how I am. On Friday afternoon my doorbell rang, there was my neighbour asking how I was and telling me if I needed anything just to let them know. I had messaged my Finnish friend to tell her I was home, again the offer of help was forthcoming and as I had been given lots of paperwork (some duplicated) she is going to come down to help me sort it out. Anie said her family are returning to Indonesia and that she will be back at home later today. Monique and her daughter have been messaging to see how I am and I am wondering if I will see Pauline sometime soon.

A friend in the UK told me I was a “true warrior” and a “tough cookie” blimey I don’t think that I am!

I had a video call with “The Daddy” and my gorgeous grandchildren. My granddaughter can be a bit of a chatterbox but oh my grandson what a noisy little chap he is turning into. He was chattering in such a loud voice, with so much spewing from his mouth, he really sounded as if someone/something was being told off. He only stopped when I said his name, yes it was a different voice but where was the person? When he saw me on the phone I was rewarded with a lovely smile.

“The Paralegal” received some very good news this week, but more on that later in the month. What I will tell you is that the electrician has been to his house and has installed the additional sockets and downlights. The plasterer came out to give a quote and is starting work this coming week, so finally things are moving in the right direction. I don’t know if he has chosen the paint colour for his lounge and bedroom but then it will just be another couple of purchases and he will be moving in. The laminate flooring that he purchased, originally to put inside storage cupboards, is going to be utilised in his hallway. It is all exciting stuff.

It is 12 years today since Mum left us here and went to join Dad. It isn’t a sad day as it was a blessed release for her and her family. She would have been the first to admit that she had had a good life, having attained more than her three score years and ten. As with most people there were very rocky patches but she travelled (to places I have never been) and she saw her two grandchildren, so she had a lot to be thankful for.

I had the “mega” video call with my friends in Bristol, yesterday. It was lovely to see them and I hope that I really didn’t look like a “beached whale” as I was reclining in my chair.

I went out for my first 20 minute walk yesterday and I am going to go out again today. I was going to call and get some bread at the supermarket but I am sure I can manage without it until tomorrow .

I was very pleased this week when the package, which was posted in the UK on the 5 December, finally arrived. I now have my new RNLI calendar as well as two Xmas cards. A disappointment happened though when I decided to start to watch the DVD box set of “Black Sails”, for only the second time, and found that the first disc stuck and stuttered half way through. I decided to try and clean the disc (the DVD player is just quite recent) unfortunately I am unsure where I have put the head cleaner! Oh well I will try another dvd and see if that is ok to play.

I wanted to try to find a poem which summed up this time of year. Unfortunately, January is normally snowy and finger numbing but here it is unseasonably mild and although we have had rain it isn’t incessant.

So I will bid you a good day.

Until the next time……..

[andthebubbles]

i had a very nice day!!! so the person i picked up stuff from actually turned out to be super nice, it was so wild it was like i stepped into an alternate universe (over email she sounded super urgh and troublesome). idk if there’s a catch somewhere and i just haven’t found it yet, but yeah, what the hell. i got the stuff and now i can do mileage claim!

checked out moona moona creek afterwards, it’s a veryyyyy nice swimming spot. actually, the sand and the colour of the water has been the most interesting/noteworthy things at jervis bay. the sand is almost white and the water is just this gorgeous aqua-ish blue (although less noticeable the closer you get to it lol). also, the light (sunlight) is just really clean and blue?

(oh i almost forgot, i also checked out the mangrove boardwalk at huskisson, that was good, until i visited the beaches SKJDGNFKG)

then ofc since there weren’t any traffic jams i checked out hyams beach because you know, ~whitest sand and stuff. i guess the sand is pretty white?? it’s not that markedly whiter than the sand at moona moona creek. but the biggest difference was skfjgnkfjng the TEXTURE of the sand skjfnkfjgnkfng so at moona moona creek, the sand sometimes was almost ‘solid’, like, if i was an elf and i could walk lightly enough on it, i wouldn’t break through that outer shell. but once you break through the outer shell, it just crumbles and then it’s soft. and kinda squeaky feeling. maybe it’s very salty?? idk

but MMMMm hyams beach sand was like, SO SOFT, it was like walking on pillows, especially for the sand in the shade, it was just soooo mmMMMMM. the waves crashing on the beach were whatever, i guess they were almost greenish because it was so clean blue, but the SAND TEXTURE, now that was noteworthy. (i also may have taken a tiny bit of sand because it was so fascinating and fiiiine and pale and soooo soft and pillowy, and now i’ve decided i’m gonna start a sand collection!! it’d be really interesting to see the difference in colours of sand, and also i guess i will take notes. like, maroubra sand is pretty coarse, and darker ofc... bondi beach sand is like... idk, paler than maroubra, but it’s nothing special either, it’s not that fine

it’s interesting, cause if one could 4wd moona moona creek, i think it’d be quite easy because the sand is so firm, but hyams beach would be pretty tricky i think

anyway!!! sand collection!!! i need to get me some glass bottles with corks

(might post pics later, might not)

also, the drive was pretty easy... i did up to wollongong first, then my mum did from there to bomaderry, then i did from there to jervis bay stuff, and then once we were done there i did from there to wollongong, and then to home, so i did most of the driving and mmmm it was good. also idk what it is about the sun going down/nighttime = i can drive a loooot more lol, it’s just, once the sun goes down and it starts to settle into dusk and then nightfall, i just fuckin wake up skjgkfkj

so anyway, jervis bay is like, just over 3 hours away, so it’s pretty doable, esp if you split it into 1.5h each. i’d love to go back to hyams beach just so i can feeeeeeel the sand again... i might go back once school holidays are over haha. and also it’d be nice to stay longer so i can get some night photography in. the sun took forever to set today and i guess that’s cause summer solstice is... tomorrow, okay, i just checked lol well ANYWAY, i miss night photography, but it’s also nicer to do it when the weather is colder because there aren’t any mozzies about, and it gets darker earlier so you don’t have to wait as long. but me dad’s a chicken with the cold, and sometimes i don’t particularly like going remote-ish places at night by myself because it feels kinda dodge

anyway!! time to check the pics i took eheheee

-

eta: HYAMS BEACH SAND (those aren’t my footprints (why didn’t i pick a better spot where the sand was untouched ksjnfgkfjgn oH WELL))

selfie lmfao:

eta 2: i gotta say it’s REALLY nice now that there’s an albion park bypass and a berry bypass... (yeah i haven’t been out much until recently lol) also, i kinda miss the old foxground route, but more in a sense of ‘i bet it’s really fun now with almost no traffic’ SKJDNFK

[dreamerwriternstargazer]

*squeals* the party went so well Alhamdulilah!

So this is the first event I’ve fully planned top to bottom myself, I really didn’t want mum to have to do anything (in the end she ended up cooking fried rice for us though because we just needed an extra hand) so I’m really proud of myself, it wasn’t perfect not by any means but the food was so good and everyone had so much fun ^_^ and because I decided to not go with the balloon arc since we wouldn’t have the space (with so many people coming) I just used the purple balloons and streamers to decorate the doorframes, sticking them up on the doorframes and walls

(My friend Millie hung the blue decorations up with some of the purple decorations and I couldn’t help but giggle because ah my favourite colour palette ^_^)

(One of my students photobombing lol)

No, nothing was perfect or put together and a part of me is a bit like, miffed I suppose because if it had been perfectly set up I would have gotten more quality time with my friends and been able to talk to them more

But… rushing about, laughing and chatting while working together and hanging decorations and organising the food and bonding together and feeling genuinely connected, isn’t that the stuff I always dreamed of whenever I saw people and their friends in books and onscreen? ^_^ what I’m saying is I think today was beautifully imperfect and while I feel that slight disappointment in myself like okay I could have planned X, Y, Z better… Alhamdulilah Allah’s the Best of Planners and what we had together was exactly what I wanted wasn’t it? My found family ^_^

Most people came late because that really do be the millennial immigrant style lol, two of my friends showed up on time, a few more a bit later, Friend A and her mum came later but I put that down to them visiting family, but yeah most people came like an hour or so late XD but we had a fun time regardless. As a rule I have noted my friends or friends around my age are super punctual, mum and her millennials less so, although I’m one to talk since I was RUNNING late and I was glad to get extra time to decorate and set up food

Also gifting Friend A her notebook was great ^_^ Alhamdulilah she loved it!! I was so so happy to see her face and how elated she was to receive it

Friend I’s gifts didn’t all come, the most key one was the bookmark themed on her favourite book series but she loved the starry wax burner and wax melts (even though I didn’t even have time to wrap them I so sorry 🥺) , and OH MY GOD her gift to me was AMAZING the whole keepsake gift box with things tied together with a theme thing that I wanted to do?! She did for me!! 🥹 it was so beautiful and she had a little note as well that made me tear up and though she had asked I didn’t make a fuss over the gift and I even tried to respect her wishes for me to open it outside of her sight like, I had to cry and ask her if I can hug her because it was one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever gotten, and she said yes ^_^ so yeah I’m absolutely going to take the time to give her a really lovely keepsake gift box themed around her favourite book next Eid Insha’Allah because she literally just gave me a little collection of PURPLE gifts and not just purple but purple featuring flowers and STARS and

🥹

I can’t

So beautiful of her.

I did not get pictures of food though we had an amazing spread (and so much food… Alhamdulilah for Bengali aunties and how practiced they are at packing up food for everyone to take home XD clean up went so fast together) I barely got time to eat food I’m starving and Alhamdulilah we got leftovers so I’m gonna go eat

OH ALSO

XD we only had time for one party game but it was pass the parcel, one for the kids and one for the adults (mum’s group and mine alike) AND Y’ALL THE ADULTS WERE INTO IT EVEN MORE THAN THE KIDS IM TELLING YOU THE JOKES THE MOCK FIGHTS AUNTY WAS GONNA THROW DOWN IF SHE DIDN’T GET A PRIZE XD

^_^

Oh and I did all this in my purple princess dress 💜🥰 I haven’t worn it since my friend’s wedding like 2, 3 years ago now but I decided at the last minute to go with this. I could have fit into the kameez without adjusting it more but… I didn’t want to spend the whole day feeling slightly self conscious and insecure worrying about how I look, that’s not what today was for. I did feel self conscious XD my friends dressed up but I was… Desi dressed up yk, but I also felt really comfortable and happy because this dress fits me perfectly and it’s my absolute favourite I love it so much, aside from the dupatta that kept slipping and dragging on the floor because the beading was only on the ends and weighed down. I didn’t have time to pin it to my dress so I’ll make sure to do that next time Insha’Allah

Also yeah next time, my mum suggested I could make an invitation with an itinerary so people have more of an idea of what to expect and come on time, the party game was a huge hit so I could do that again and I definitely want to do more. I’m really pleased because I think my mum had a lot of fun too and that makes me happy ^_^

I’m Insha’Allah going to see everyone again at the event on Sunday ^_^ Eid Fair, yay 💜

I am so tired but not exhausted the way I usually am, Alhamdulilah the sleep was good this morning and I’m gonna try to not beat myself up as much about sleeping because… I genuinely do better and have a nicer time when I’m not at 10% when the party starts. Or just in general for any life task. *sighs* I need to have more… faith really when things are out of my control. Working on it Insha’Allah.

*pats my head gently because my brain and body is still learning and needs help to calm*

Oh I am ridiculously tired from wearing heels though and YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S NOT EVEN WORTH IT IM TOO SHORT FOR ANYONE TO EVEN SEE THAT IM WEARING HEELS COS MY DRESS IS FLOORLENGTH KHALAS NOT DOING IT AGAIN MY FEET ARE SCREAMING IN AGONY

😭

If anyone has advice for the pain lmk

Gonna go get into jammies, relax and get some food Insha’Allah

[theloveoftoms]

Tropical Air - Ethan Hunt x reader

Summary: When a mission in Bora Bora with Ethan Hunt, the two of you are stuck sharing a ride on a vespa back to the hotel after completing a task. Kisses in the rain sound pretty sensual to me ;) 

A/N: Hello all you beautiful people! Today I decided to write yet another Ethan Hunt fic. This one is tropical and fun. It starts off a bit slower than my others, but there is a spicy scene in the rain towards the end ;) Enjoy babes, xxx-m

Word Count: 2k 

Ethan Hunt was your partner on this particular mission. The details were sparse, and both of you were constantly up late at night trying to decipher the man behind the bombings that had just occurred in Eastern Germany. The two of you, along side your other team members, had worked it down to two possible suspects. However, it still remained unknown which one was really committing the acts. 

The tip off that the IMF had received, was that the next attack was to take place in Bora Bora. Now, when you think of bora bora, perhaps you think of the tropical island with blissful coloured waters, or perhaps it is that particular episode of that mindless reality tv show where a certain someone looses her $75k earring. You had always wanted to visit the island, you just hoped that you could experience it from a personal perspective, but instead, you were viewing it all behind the rims of your profession.

The island was small, and it truly made no sense why someone would want to blow this place up. It must be a personal matter, you thought as you flipped the screen of your laptop closed. It has to be. There isn’t exactly anyone here but people on vacation or locals who live here. 

Ethan, Benji, and yourself were off to the airport this morning. Each morning a new flight would come in, just as an hour later, one would leave. This made it very simple to hunt down a potential suspect due to this being the only tarmac and landing pad on the entire island. 

Your team had rented two vespas to travel around the island during your time here. Like a child, you scrambled out of the hotel room with your jacket in hand, rushing past Ethan and Benji to the bikes. You wanted to drive on your own today. For the past two days, you had been stuck holding onto either Ethan or Benji’s torsos for five bumpy minutes back and forth to the airport. Holding onto the waist of someone whilst riding a vespa is something that should be reserved for married couples, or twenty-somethings in love. How you wished Ethan and you could be, but deep down, you knew that it would be nearly impossible to have any sort of relationship with a co-worker. That could be messy. Very messy.

It was well over a month ago that realized the extent of your feelings towards Ethan. You were in the shower, lathering shampoo in your hair, washing out the grime of the week, when your mind drifted to shirtless, damp, Ethan Hunt who was waist deep, wading around in the tropical ocean waters. Your mind held onto the image of him brushing back his dark, damp hair in one swift motion. He looked so effortlessly handsome, as his hair was slicked back and the droplets of water ran down the contours of his well-defined muscles. I wonder how Ethan shampoos his hair, you thought, washing your own hair clean. Shit. I like him don’t I? 

You pondered the second statement much more often, but you did leave it at home when you were out on the field. Feelings can get in the way, and you found it best to repress them, especially when you were in such proximity with Ethan. That is why you rushed to get your own bike today, so you could have your mind free of unintended desires and not having to worry about holding onto the waists of your co-workers. 

You cheered when you got to the bike, smiling as you threw on your black jacket. Ethan rolled his eyes, “What are you, five?” He teased, smirking ever so slightly at deliverance of his remark. I shook my head, “I guess you’ll be riding with Benji today!” 

Ethan hopped on the bike, turning the key into the ignition. The way his thighs straddled the bike made you uneasy. That’s not the only think you could straddle. You shook your head, clearing that particular image from your mind. Starting your own bike, you sped off before Benji could hop on. It would be him and Ethan today, you reminded yourself as you drove down the rough road. 

The airport was empty, apart from newly weds, families, and the occasional businessperson. Each one of them toting a co-responding suitcase behind them. These people were waiting for the next plane to departure, which as the chart of the wall read, was in 45 minutes. 

The three of you were early, again. So to pass the time, you shuffled over to the airport vending machine and got three mini pacs of pretzels for your team. Benji ate his as he perused various files on his laptop, you nibbled at yours from time to time, and Ethan, Ethan did the most Ethan-ey thing imaginable. He stuck the small foil-wrapped package in the front pocket of his navy trousers, so he could deal with them later. After doing so, he proceeded to effortlessly un-button the top two buttons of his white collard shirt. It was so hot today that you were surprised both Ethan and Benji were wearing their respective trousers and button-down shirts. The both looked formal - like businessmen - as for you, you were dressed in a pair of tan shorts and an airy, loose, white linen shirt. You looked like a tourist. But who gives a damn, it was scorching today. 

The three of you made small talk as you waited for the jet to arrive. Talking about swimming, and biking, and mangos, and all the other things you could do this afternoon to keep busy. Soon enough, the plane arrived, and no passenger matched the description of your suspect. Another un-successful trip to the airport. 

“Waste of gas,” begun Benji, shutting his laptop away in its protective case, “Again.” He looked around and then gestured to the bikes, “I’m going to head back, and call resources to see if they have gotten any other tip offs.” You sat up from the bench, “Back to the hotel we go.” 

Ethan looked around, “y/n,” he said, directing his gaze towards you, “I think we should wait around, just incase.” Gosh, how handsome he looked in this light. The golden beams streaming across his face, lighting up his eyes like a Monet panting.

You drew back a breath as you took a seat back on the bench, “See you in a bit Benji.” Benji said goodbye and took a set of keys to one of the vespas. It looks like Ethan and you would be riding home together. 

…

Ethan and you waited at the airport for nearly an hour, until all of the passengers filtered out. During your wait, the sunny sky had began to glaze over to a gloomy grey. There were condensed clouds in the sky now, and any minute, they would start to rain. You stood up, stretching your lean legs, “We should head back. It looks like it’s going to rain.” 

Ethan looked towards the set of glass panelled windows, “We’ve got some time.” That was all he said, until a few moments later, “We’ll leave in five.”

You paced around the small airport until your partner was ready to go. You must have walked laps around the airy building thirty times, while you waited for Ethan to be satisfied with his observation. Much better than waiting outside, you thought, enjoying the cool flow of air conditioning that the building provided. As you were walking back towards Ethan, you saw him check the time on his watch, and then stand up, jingling the vespa keys. You strided towards him, with a hop in your step, relieved you were going back to the hotel where you could actually be productive.

Ethan started up the vespa, and you climbed on behind him. As you brought your body closer to his, you began to feel his warmth radiating through his trousers onto your bare thighs. As he pulled out of the airport parking lot, you secured your arms around his waist, and prepared for the bumpy ride home.

Just your luck, when your vespa reached the lesser part of the road home, rain began to fall from the sky. No, it was not just a drizzle, it was a rapid down pour. The rain clipped your exposed skin as Ethan sped up on the bike. When suddenly, the bike halted to a slow. A strange sort of noise was coming from the engine, which made Ethan pull over to the side to check it out. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked, hopping off of the bike to allow Ethan to shimmy himself off. After putting up the kickstand, he looked to the fuel gauge, empty. “Shit,” he cursed under his breath. You let out a groan as you looked up to the sky, which was still pouring down clear, thick droplets of rain. You rolled your eyes, “Of course Benji had to take the bike with more gas.” 

Ethan smirked, shaking his head, “Typical.”

“What do we do now?” You asked, noticing that both the clothing on you and Ethan were soaked to your skin. Your white bra had made its appearance, its contours and difference of tone against your skin, showing itself against your linen shirt, which was soaked down to the very precipice of your skin.

Even in the rain Ethan looked handsome. His wet hair, sticking to the sides of his face, hanging over his eyes. As he brushed it back, his eyes looked deeply into yours. The two of you were standing in close proximity of one another. Tension filled the air as you felt his gaze deepen, scanning your face for a sign. Ethan’s eyes were your favourite colour. More particularly, you admired how the tones of green seemed to fade and very from light to light. You slowly looked down from Ethan’s eyes, towards his lips, then quickly back up to his eyes again. 

Ethan took a step in closer, and looked lovingly down at your lips as he put his hand gently against the edge of your jaw. Despite the chilling rain, the palm of his hand still felt warm up against the flesh of your cheek. The two of you stood here like this for a moment, taking in one another’s appearance. When all of a sudden, you felt a wave of appeal rush though your veins. 

You took a risk, sending your lips up to Ethan’s, kissing him dearly. Ethan was surprised, but after the split second when he realized what was happening, he kissed you back. 

Ethan’s lips were soft and warm against yours. The kiss started off slow, both of you began moving in a sort of rhythm as Ethan put his spare hand on the small of your waist. You placed yours in his wet hair, running your fingers though it. After a while, when the rain began to worsen, the kiss intensified. Your lips were twisting against one another’s, and you felt a wave of pleasure rush over you each time you felt his tongue sweep against your lips, and in some cases, your own tongue.

As the kiss intensified, Ethan’s hand’s moved about. You felt the warmth of his body through your drenched linen shirt. His hand moved up your back, and around to the front stopping before reaching your chest. He broke the kiss for a moment, “Will this be alright?” He asked, wanting to gain your approval before taking this one step further. You nodded, pulling his lips back to yours by grabbing a hold of the damp collar of his shirt. Ethan moved his hands onto the lower side of your chest, palms resting on your rib cage, fingers grazing the underside of your breasts. As you skidded your teeth over the edge of his bottom lip, you brought one of your hands up to rest on Ethan’s strong chest. You felt his heart beating a mile a minute as you kissed him roughly. 

As Ethan moved his hands about, you moved him to rest his side on the vespa. You lent against him, putting weight on his body as you leant fully into the kiss. The vespa shifted, and Ethan stumbled backwards against a nearby tree. Even better. As you now properly lent into Ethan, you could have full access to the passion of this kiss. As you shoved your tongue into the depths of his mouth, you felt his strong hands sweep down over your hips and lift you up onto a near by stump. Ethan was standing, and you were sitting, the kiss intensified, yet again. As his hands reached for the zipper of his trousers, he pulled away from the kiss to check your approval once more. A smug look on his face, “Ready?” He asked. You nodded, licking your lips, “Oh yes.”

Ethan lifted your waist as you slid your trousers down. You felt the wind and rain against your bare hips. You were cold, but where this was going, things were about to get a whole lot hotter. As Ethan guided himself into you, he whispered all sorts of enduring and sexy comments into your ear. “You looked so fu*king hot with wet hair” he whispered.  You felt alive, and perfectly in control as Ethan pleased both himself as well as yourself. 

When he was finished Ethan combed a strand of your wet hair behind your ear. “So,” he begun, looking gorgeously into your eyes, “That happened.” You didn’t say anything for a while, unsure of how to respond, but eventually, you mumermed, “Benji should take the good vespa more often.” Ethan laughed, so did you. And as he planted a gentle kiss upon your cheek, the clouds cleared in the sky, and the rainfall slowed to a halt. Bora Bora would become one of your favourite missions, and the one where you realized that you were whole heartedly involve with no one other than Ethan Hunt. 

[idy-ll-ique]

The Perfect Wingman.

Pairing: Single Dad!Sebastian Stan x F!Reader

Genre: Fluff, tiny bit of Angst

Warnings: mentions of injuries, blood

Requested: Nope

Summary: Felix, Sebastian Stan's five year old son, is the perfect matchmaker (with the help of Uncle Anthony, of course!)

Author's Note: Hiya peeps! Another matchmaker fic lmao there's just something about that trope where kids play matchmaker for adults that's just... 💞 anyway enjoy!

---

"Buddy! Hi!"

Y/N glanced at Chris Evans as her boss spoke to her, seeing him running towards somebody. After her boss left, she turned around and smiled when she saw him chatting with Felix, Sebastian Stan's five year old son. The kid was literally sunshine in a bottle, making everyone around him happy. Guess that's another thing he got from his father.

Aside from looks.

Then she looked around, but couldn't see Sebastian anywhere. "Boo!" Startled, Y/N screamed and held a hand over her chest as she whirled around to see Sebastian doubled over in laughter behind her, clutching his stomach. "Oh my God!" she groaned as several heads turned to her at her scream. "You should've seen your face," Sebastian wheezed.

Y/N pouted at him and swatted his chest. "I could've had a heart attack!" Y/N wasn't an actress, she was just an assistant on set. Her only work was to make sure that all the actors on set were hydrated, which in turn led to her becoming good friends with all of them. They were all very friendly people, the Marvel cast. "But you didn't. Felix!" Sebastian called out and his son looked up.

Running as fast as his little feet could carry him, Felix jumped into his father's open arms, giggling. Y/N watched them with a smile on her face; Sebastian was a great father. "Meet Y/N," Sebastian introduced her and she waved at the kid. "Hi Felix," she grinned but Felix was mesmerized. Wow, she's so beautiful.

He simply blinked at her a few times, his jaw dropped. Y/N raised a questioning but amused brow at him, her eyes flickering to Sebastian who was watching his son with an exasperated look on his face, all too aware of his shenanigans. She laughed at Sebastian's expression and Felix snapped out of his thoughts. He raised his arms and leaned forward; a silent request of please pick me up.

Y/N gathered him in her arms, his tiny arms going around her neck as she held him on her hip. "Hello!" He had surprisingly clear speech, he did not mispronounce his L's and R's much. "Hi! How are you today? Enjoying yourself?" Felix nodded excitedly. "Yes!" Sebastian simply watched them with a soft smile as the girl he fancied talked to his son.

Sebastian had had a crush on Y/N ever since they began filming, and at this point, 4 months later, the only person who was oblivious to his feelings was Y/N. Everyone knew, and everyone heartily teased him for it. He had always wanted to ask her out; seeing his son get along so well with her only fueled his feelings. "Are you… are you an actwess too, Y/N?"

"No, darling, I'm a helping hand. I help everyone stay hydrated."

"What does that mean?"

"I give everyone water when they ask for it," she explained and Felix nodded, eyes the same colour as Sebastian's blinking at her in wonder. "Water is impowtant," Felix stated matter-of-factly making Y/N giggle. Felix decided he wanted to hear that sound much more frequently. "Felix! Is that you?!" Y/N, Felix and Sebastian turned to see Anthony making his way towards them.

"Uncle Anthony!" Felix squealed and Y/N put him down on his feet, smiling at the way he ran to Anthony Mackie. "Your son is so cute," she commented, turning to Sebastian only to see him already staring at her, a soft smile on his face. "It seems as though he has taken a liking to you. I wouldn't blame him." Y/N rolled her eyes at his flirting but blushed.

He did flirt with her a lot, but come on, that was just a part of his personality. Surely he didn't have feelings for her, he couldn't. Oh but he did; very strong feelings, on top of that. "Cheesy," she jabbed back and Sebastian clutched his chest with a pretend hurt look on his face. "You wound me," he pouted and Y/N grinned at him.

What they didn't see was Felix and Anthony staring at them, eyebrows raised in an identical manner. "Uncle Anthony, can I ask you something?" Anthony smirked but nodded. "Does papa… does papa love Y/N?" Anthony laughed loudly, realising that the adorable kid was the perfect wingman for Y/N and Sebastian. So he said, "Yes, yes he does."

"She is really pwetty…" Felix confessed, his own cheeks turning pink. "Aw, look who's blushing," Anthony teased, pinching his little cheeks. Felix blushed more and slapped his hands away, pouting. "Do you want your papa to go on a date with Y/N?" Anthony asked the child. Felix thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yes. If he likes her, he should just tell her!" Oh, bless his innocent heart. If only it were that easy in real life. "He will ask her soon, we'll make sure of it. Here's what you can do to help…"

---

2 months had passed since Felix visited the sets and Sebastian was getting impatient. If you thought his flirting was too much then, you should see him now. He flirted with her every chance he got but Y/N used to brush him off each time; he possibly couldn't be genuinely interested in her. She didn't think herself to be worthy of his affections, so, as much as she liked his flirting, she never reciprocated.

As Y/N gathered a few bottles of water in her arms, she heard a screech behind her. "Y/N!" Smiling, she turned, dramatically faking an 'oof' as a tiny body collided with her legs. "Felix, honey, hi! Didn't expect you to visit the sets today," she grinned as Felix let go, smiling broadly up at her.

"His babysitter couldn't make it, had to bring him down."

Her smile turned nervous as she saw the father of the cute kid walking towards her, a suave smile plastered on his face. "That's okay, papa, I can just hang out with Y/N!" Felix assured him before frowning at the dozens of bottles in her arms. "Do you need help?" Ah, ever the gentleman. One more thing he gets from his dad.

"Thank you so much, sweetie," she cooed as she handed him two bottles. It wasn't much, but seriously, how much could a little child carry? That was enough for him. "Can you go give these to Scarlett and Chris?" she requested, pointing to the spot where Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth were standing. "Okay, Y/N!"

She grinned when he left. "Seriously, how did you manage to birth the most perfect kid in the world?" she commented, turning to Sebastian. "Look at me," he said unabashedly, wiggling his eyebrows. "Seb," she huffed and nudged him, raising her eyebrows in shock when he took the bottles from her arms. "I have some time before my next scene."

"That's my job—"

"Nope, can't have you carrying all these bottles, sweetheart. What if you drop them?" She pouted as she followed him through the busy set. "Do you think I'm clumsy?" He glanced at her, worried that he actually offended her, but smiled when he saw her playful look. "Nope, but I don't want you to trip over the fallen bottles and hurt yourself."

"Now that was a good line," she whistled and Sebastian laughed. As Sebastian and Y/N chatted more, they heard a loud wail coming from a few feet away. Freezing up, both of them turned to see Felix sitting on the floor, surrounded by Elizabeth Olsen and Chris Evans as he moaned in pain. Y/N's eyes went wide with fear when she saw the cut on his knee.

Talk about hurting oneself...

Forgetting the world around her, she quickly rushed to the child, Sebastian hot on her heels. "Bub, stop crying," Chris tried but Felix wouldn't listen. The moment he saw Y/N, though, his tears ceased. "Y/N," he whimpered and reached towards her, finally content when she took him in her arms. "Oh, honey bun, you'll be okay," she whispered, kissing his forehead.

"It hurts," Felix insisted. "I know, darling, let's patch you up." Without any word to anyone, Y/N led him away from the crowd, sitting him down on one of the chairs littered across the place. Sebastian, Chris and Elizabeth watched her; Chris and Lizzie were smirking but Sebastian was beyond shocked. The worry on her face the moment she found out he was hurt, the way she cradled him…

The way his son had stopped crying when he saw her, as if she were his mother. The way he reached out to her instead of him. "Just ask her out, pal, look at her. She's perfect for you. And for Felix," Chris told him, patting him on the back before leaving with Elizabeth.

Sebastian stayed where he was for a few more minutes, heart racing and mind in an overdrive, watching as Y/N took care of Felix. Be mine, please.

"All okay, bub?" Y/N crooned as she tied a bandage on his knee after cleaning the blood off. "Thank you, Y/N!" Felix threw his arms around her neck and buried his face in her neck, smiling widely. Y/N returned the hug ardently, rubbing his back. "Felix?" Felix looked over Y/N's shoulder to see his dad standing there, a small smile on his face. "Papa!"

He made no point in moving out of Y/N's arms and Sebastian took the hint, merely ruffling the boy's hair. "You doing okay? Y/N take care of the boo-boo?" Felix nodded eagerly. "It doesn't even hurt now," he said proudly and Sebastian smiled. "Did you say thank you?" "He did, Sebastian," Y/N assured him.

"I wish Y/N took care of my boo-boos all the time!" Felix pouted. Sebastian froze again, his eyes darting to Y/N when he saw her stiffen. "How is that possible, sugar?" Y/N joked nervously as she stood up, Felix still in her arms, holding him on her hip like before. "Papa can date you! And then you can get married and then you'll be my mama and then you'll take care of all my boo-boos!"

Sebastian and Y/N stared at each other as Felix innocently looked at Y/N with a huge smile on his face. "M-Married? Bubba, I don't think your papa likes me in that way…" Sebastian suddenly found his voice. How dare she? "Y/N, I do like you, why do you think I flirt with you all the time?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Y/N's eyes went wide. "Wait, I thought you were joking—"

"I wasn't. Will you go on a date with me?"

"Sebastian, I-I… I'll be honored."

"Oh please, iubi, the honor's all mine," he chuckled and, not caring about who was watching (including his own son), leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. Y/N's heart fluttered at the term of endearment as she kissed him back. Felix groaned loudly in Y/N's arms, covering his eyes. "Yucky!"

Sebastian and Y/N had to break the kiss because they laughed too hard. Felix slid down Y/N's arms and ran towards Anthony, who was watching them with a small smile, proud of his best friend for finally making a move on the woman he liked. Anthony smirked when the pipsqueak stopped next to him. "Good job, bud."

"Thank you, Uncle Anthony." And Felix gagged again as he and Anthony turned to Sebastian and Y/N, only to see them in another liplock.

---

A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a like if you enjoyed, reblogs will be accepted and appreciated too <3

[tommyspeakycap]

Can I request some chilly fluff? Anything really, just some cute sweet chilly fluff with a little bit of angst maybe?

of course! here's an idea that's been swimming around my brain all day lol

helping hand

ben isn't coping with his newest responsibility and his best friend comes to save the day once again

It's honestly less about the news than it is about the fact that you didn’t here it from him. Texts have gone mostly unanswered since you read that online article you first believed was false, only for it to be confirmed by him. You offered a congratulations despite the pain it brought to you to hear that you had completely lost your chance.

You had probably called him about a million times, each time ringing out and some even being hung up after merely a few rings.

At first, you worried that something had happened. Then you managed to wrangle the news out of Mason that everything was well, you let yourself have those days of utter heartbreak that he had found a girl, started to settle down and then completely cut you out of the picture. This was the first time in all of your 23 years that you hadn't been able to speak to him about things that were going on. He seemed to have completely fogotten about you and you couldn't bring yourself to think of a reason why.

She never really did like you, his girlfriend. You could only imagine it had something to do with the fact that Ben was incredibly close with you. A lot of girls had been unhappy with the fact that while dating Ben, they were subject to teasing that everyone was surprised he was dating when they had thought he was so clearly in love with you. You understand that, it would be irritating but nothing had ever happened between you and Ben that might suggest you would ever get together. People just love a rumour.

What had really hit you, however was seeing her from the Instagram you followed. She didn't even appear to be in London, never mind with him and that made no sense by the timeline you had managed to figure out.

That's how you found yourself standing at his door with what felt like a million bags and a feeling of hurt you had never actually had before. You cornered Mason, refusing to leave until he told you what the hell was going on and when he did, you were gone like a flash with a broken heart to seek out the man who needed you now more than he ever did.

Your heart shatters even more when you step into his house, pushing it open and pulling out the key he gave you a few months ago as you head carefully to the kitchen. You can hear him trying to talk, his voice strained and croaky as he attempts to speak over the sound of the screaming baby girl.

"Come on sweetheart," he begs, "Please take your bottle, I promise you're just tired."

His house is messier than you've ever seen it with gifts unopened, blankets and bottles, baby toys and clothes strewn around everywhere you could see.

You're quick and quiet to get to work clearing the place up, clean clothes being folded and sat in his clean laundry hamper while sorting the dirty things and shoving them into the washing machine by colour before tidying away all the blankets into the baby boxes he had set up in his front room. The infant upstairs screams the entire time you whiz around, throwing an entire bin bag worth of rubbish out of his kitchen before restocking all the shelves and his empty fridge with food for him and milk powder for the little girl. The pizza you shoved in the oven the second you arrived was finished after 15 minutes, so you plated that and left it on the kitchen island before you decided to make you presence known to him.

"Need a helping hand?"

His head whips around rapidly, instinctively tucking his daughter closer into his chest before he recognised your voice and turned his face back away from you. "You shouldn't be here, (y/n)." He mumbles, bouncing his legs to try and get that screeching to stop before he starts crying again himself.

How had everything ended up so messy? He found a girl that he thought he loved, he had his best friends and he had you. She got pregnant and he was ecstatic until she told him she wasn't interested in having a baby. It was too late to do anything about it, so she gave birth to that baby and legally signed over parental rights wholly and fully to a destroyed Ben. You, of course, had to find this out half from the tabloids and half from Mason. Ben was absolutely affronted. He was mortified. How had he gotten himself in this position?

You were the first and only person he wanted to tell. He was desperate to seek out your arms and have an absolute sob to you so you could help him fix this like you do with everything else, but he couldn't bring himself to face you. He cut you off slowly and carefully without even noticing himself because she had coaxed him into it. She played him like a fiddle, let him grow her platform and fund her lifestyle until she had everything she wanted from him and left him with something that was supposed to be theirs to love forever.

As if things couldn't get worse, from the moment he found out she was having a baby he had realised he didn't want kids or a life with anyone but you and now here he is, with a baby that has no mother and he had lost you. How could he just go back crying to you now after all the hurt he had caused you? What kind of person does that? He made this mess and it was his to clean up.

"Mason told me what happened. You can fight me all you want, Ben but I'm not going to go anywhere so you may as well just let me help." You say firmly, not inviting a single space for him to actually contest your words. His shoulder deflate even further than they already are as he finally turns to meet your eyes.

There's bags and dark circles beneath his with greasy, messy hair and a shirt he probably hadn't changed in longer than he should.

"I'm sorry." He croaks, clamping down on his lip with his teeth so he doesn't immediately burst out crying at the sight of you standing there in his house. God, he's missed you so much he couldn't even begin to put it into words and his emotions are so messed up from the lack of sleep that he'll cry at just about anything right now. "It's forgotten about. We don't have to talk about it, I'm here to help."

The weight that lifts off of Ben's shoulder is the kind of immense relief that only really you can bring to him, honestly. There are few people that he has ever met that can ease him like you can and knowing he doesn't have to explain this whole situation really is something he's so thankful for.

"This is Lilly," he says weakly, nodding his head down at her whining. You smile immediately and without thought, stepping forward to get a closer look at the small baby, only two weeks old and already giving her dad a run for his money. "Hello Lilly," you coo softly, raising your hand to stroke her cheek with your finger in the most gentle manner he's ever seen. "Can I? I feel like I've missed out on two weeks worth of aunt (y/n) cuddles."

He tries not to think much into the fact you refer to yourself as her aunt because if he lets enough thought onto it, he'll find himself breaking his heart over you all over again. Ben nods, passing her into your arms carefully.

"I'll feed her, I made some pizza for you so you should go eat." You hold our your hand to take the bottle from him, but he frowns. "I-" Ben stutters, "I don't want to just lump you with her, plus she's upset so I shouldn't leave her y'know? It's not fair on-"

"Go and eat Ben, and have a shower while you're at it. We'll be fine in here, I've babysat a million times before." You shrug, taking the bottle from him as you step further into the nursery instead of standing in the doorway cradling the still whimpering little girl in her pink onesie. "But I-"

"Go."

"I should-"

"Ben go, now."

Ben sighs in defeat and turns on his heel, the rumbling of his stomach finally giving him away as he realises just how hungry and smelly he actually is. No wonder the infant was crying in his hold.

He trudges downstairs, hearing the sounds of those winging dying down as he does, half expecting to walk into the messy swamp he had left when he went upstairs earlier this morning, only to see the whole bottom floor of the house was basically as spotless as it had been the day he moved in, bar the baby variety adjustments he had made to welcome the new arrival.

He makes a mental note to thank you more and do some grovelling and apologising later on. He knows he has to do it and he knows he'll explain in more detail what really happened probably later today, but for now he will scoff that pizza down his throat faster than he has ever consumed a meal in all of his life before raining the cupboards that he discovered you had stocked. He is reminded with every step he takes around his house that this is you, again, here holding him up when the world around him feels like its completely crumbled.

This is what you do, you keep him together, fix him up after the heartbreaks and breakups preparing him for the next girl who's pieces you'll have to pick up when they hurt him. This time he doesn't want another girl, he wants you. This time, the one time that he would be miles too late. He's got a baby now that he needs to focus on and he can't imagine that you're going to want an instant family even if you could really see past the fact he had ghosted you for nearly five straight months from the moment he found out his girlfriend was pregnant. He can't forgive himself, so how on earth would you?

If he would ask, you would tell him you already had. Seeing how hurt he was, how genuinely sorry things had ended dup like this with everyone in his life he was was enough for you. It was enough to cause you actual physical pain. You never could hold a grudge considering the situation he had ended up in.

Ben had never ever once in his life being more thankful for his shower. He’s also pretty sure he fell asleep against the wall with the heat of the shower steam loosening his muscles and the fatigue of barely an hours sleep catching up to him. He towel dries off his hair, letting the towel hang around his neck as he rubs it against his head while he pads along the soft carpet of his hallway from the bedroom to his beautifully done pink nursery where he hears no crying, at all.

But he does here soft talking.

“Giving your daddy a hard time eh, pretty girl.” You hum softly, slowly swaying from side to side. She lays in your arms, looking up at you and stealing every bit of your heart with her daddies eyes. “He deserves it a little, you know. Just ‘cause he done me out of some adorable baby cuddles y’know?” Ben can hear the teasing smile on your lips as he leans against the doorframe out of your sight, keeping quiet so as not to be detected. “But he’s a good man, sweet girl. One of the best, actually. And i know he’s already such a good daddy to you, he loves you so so much. Do you know that, eh?” You say quietly. Ben catches the sight of you swaying that amazed little baby who coos up at you, reaching for your finger to hold. “Mhm, and i love you too. You have no idea how loved you are.” That’s one thing Ben can agree on.

“And you might not know it now because you’re little, but i do know one thing for absolute certain; I’m always gonna be here for you, and for your daddy even if he’s as stubborn about it as they come. You’ve got to help me out though, eh sweet girl? Be good to that daddy of yours. Yeah, sleepy baby? Mhm, my sweet girl.” The way you hum, bouncing her carefully and swaying in just the right way for her to fall asleep in your arms. Ben watches you for only a minute more, softly singing a little lullaby to her that makes Ben’s heart swell to ache so much that he has to take a small little video before he heads off downstairs with one last look.

When you finally greet him downstairs with a tight hug that he sinks into immediately, resting his cheek on your shoulder as your hands massage your fingers through his freshly cleaned hairs as his arms hug around your waist. “I’ve missed you.” He admits, words muffled by your sweatshirt. The feeling of your fingers at the nape of his neck makes him hum in content and sink into you peacefully just like his baby daughter did not half an hour ago. You’re just perfect for them both in every way and there is not one bone in his body that doesn’t wish he had started his family with you.

But with that realisation comes one more; that he will not settle until he has given everything he has, tried with every morsel of him to earn your forgiveness. He might not of started his family with you, but he is damn determined to make you part of it.

[anxiouslyfred]

Shades of Expression

Sequel to Exploring New Towns

Summary: Remus loves the artwork that Virgil sells in his shop. He visits it so often and gets to know Virgil while doing so. 

/\/\/\

Remus had made it a habit; After each therapy session he had with Doctor Picani, he'd visit Virgil's shop and get lost in the paintings for a while.

Virgil grew used to having company in the store quite quickly, occasionally even showing Remus the painting he'd brought out to work on while behind the counter. He'd been used to the visitors to his shop expecting some interesting story behind his artwork, or trying to create their own, as Roman had done the only time he'd tried using the artwork to connect with Remus. It was refreshing to someone who just looked at the scenes with relief, that scenes like this weren't just things Remus's brain alone came up with.

He'd barely noticed Remus's arrival today though, having grown absorbed in painting something that seemed similar to catholic depictions of Hell, if a bit more gruesome. It was only when he glanced up that he spotted Remus stood in a corner of the back of the shop.

“The hurricane again?” He asked, already aware of the picture Remus would be staring at for the fiftieth time. “I know you're aware it's for sale so why not take it home to stare at?”

Remus shook his head without looking at him, “My lighting is all wrong! This makes your shading go bang! Bang! BOOM! While my room just goes acknowledged. I wanna memorise the expressions as they are here.”

He shot a sceptical look over the artwork he had displayed for sale. “Does the lighting really impact it that much?”

“YEAH! Like here you've got a guy in shocked awe at the peace he's caught in the centre of the hurricane, but those expressions in my rooms lighting just leave the folks bored. Or this guy running in terror? In my room he would look about 9 years older but a bit less scared.” Remus explained, pointing out the painted figures without checking to see if Virgil was even close enough to recognise them. “Roman insists we need like these yellow orange lightbulbs that just screw up anything unless its his fairytale paintings. I've tried eating the bulb so I cat get normally coloured ones but apparently glass isn't edible and I'm gonna put myself in hospital again.”

“It isn't, and you are.” Virgil deadpanned, cleaning his brush. “Hang out staring at it as long as you like.”

A week later Remus decided to change their routine, coming in to Virgil's shop, a large case over one shoulder and 2 take away coffee cups in hand. “I brought coffee for you!” He greeted, holding one out to Virgil.

“And your art kit?” He raised an eyebrow at the bag, curious over why Remus would have brought it.

“YEAH!” Remus nodded, pulling one of the chairs Virgil left around the store into the middle of the space. “I love looking at your paintings and wanna be surrounded by them as I work. Is that okay?”

He shrugged, returning to flicking through an art prompt book, “Sure, I guess.”

Remus paused, the lack of noise from getting out paints or anything getting Virgil to look up again after a second, “Can you teach me to do that facial shading for expressions like the ones you get?”

“So long as there aren't too many customers.” He decided, coming out from behind the counter with a glance to the door. He wasn't particularly worried since most customers were students of the nearby college and they'd likely be in class for a while yet. “What scene are you painting, anyway? And are those watercolours or gouache?”

“Gouache. I would've brought oil paints, but didn't feel like making a smeared mess from my painting if you agreed to teach me stuff.” Remus replied, waving around at the walls.

Virgil smiled in response. A large percentage of his work was done in oils, but there were a few in watercolours, especially from when he was feeling rather washed out and zombie like or gouache from times he wanted to paint multiple pictures quickly. “Let's see what you've got and how I might shade it then.”

It had been a few weeks since Remus started painting near the back of his store, and Virgil was amused to realise that he was still adding layers to the painting he'd been doing on the first day he asked to. No Remus was bringing what had been treated as the background into the focus, as if the hurricane was actually pulling debris around the people.

Still, for the past weeks if Remus had been there when Virgil wanted to eat, then he'd simply skip lunch. It wasn't healthy and he'd been noticing that afternoons felt more difficult on days when it happened, so Virgil wanted to change the pattern.

He frowned, scrunching his nose up while looking at Remus. “Dude, can I trust you here alone or do I need to bring you on my lunch break with me?” He asked, already moving to the shop door to flip it to closed and lock it.

“History says never to trust me where damage can be done.” Remus quipped, getting more water on his brush.

“Pack that shit up then. You've got a lunch date.” Virgil nodded to the set up Remus had for painting, moving to hold the door through to his apartment stairs open.

The palette was dropped and water only just placed down without a spill so fast did Remus stand and turn to him. “Date? Like we're boyfriend's now, date?”

“Can't see why you'd want to date me, but yeah. If you want it to be?” He scoffed, already convinced the reaction was confusion disguising offence, well until his hand was grabbed at least.

Remus was beaming at him, leaning close but still respecting the comment Virgil had made on the day they met about leaving hugs until permission was given. “I want! Definitely want! You're like the greatest person in this town or any other!”

For a moment Virgil blinked, mouth opening and closing a few times, “Okay then, we can date. Besides, at least that means I get to pull you away when I need food and a break from the shop!”

“Pull me anywhere you like, gore king. I'll follow you through any of the scenes you've painted.” Remus promised, not resisting at all as Virgil tugged him into a hug.

“I think I'll leave those to paintings.” He shook his head.

Perhaps the best meeting of his life had been when the 2 brothers walked into his shop because the man in his arms wanted to see his paintings more closely.

[julemmaes]

ahem... cassian taking nesta to that bookstore (fluff, don’t try making shit sad aight?)

Our First Non-Date

SURPRISE I GUESS!!

Nessian Archeron x Cassian

You can find the first part here.

A/N: this month has been really nice on me. I finally feel better, not crying every day for literally nothing and I wanna dedicate this to my fren Sim (@perseusannabeth) cause homegirl just finished the offcampus series and she's grieving. I know she is. So yep. Take some Nessian fluff

And Nina, I had to add some angsty parts, but they're not Irene Angst Level, okay?

Word count: 6,833

When Cassian had called her back the night after their outing with Amren and Varian, she'd stared at the phone for a full minute until it had stopped ringing and she could go back to reading the article on poisonous plants that Elain had sent her.

It hadn't even been five minutes before the words had been obscured from the call screen again and the name "Cassian Navarro" appeared.

When she had ignored the call for the second time as well, he had decided to change tactics.

Hi Nes, I was thinking about when you'd be free to go to the library. I need a couple of manuals because I'm building a little gazebo in Rhys and Feyre's garden and your sister is putting a lot of pressure on me, so I was wondering if you had the day off tomorrow.

Nesta was stunned at the amount of useless information he had given her, but managed to reply with a simple, Working tomorrow, day off on Wednesday. Sending you the address later.

She certainly hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to get up that day, her will to live must have been hiding somewhere under her bed and Nesta didn't know if it was directly related to their going out or just her stupid brain not being able to connect to real life.

The only other worst thing she'd been able to think of at that moment was having to explain to Cassian what was going on, so, pulled out of bed by the future embarrassment they'd feel in such a situation, she'd managed to dress, wash and style her hair so that she had a braid crowning her head.

She hadn't put too much effort into deciding what to wear, after all, it wasn't a date and Cassian had seen her many times before in far more outrageous and scruffy clothes than the comfortable black jeans and grey jumper she was wearing right now.

The silence had made her uncomfortable at first, only because Cassian seemed to be really stressed - about what, she certainly wouldn't ask - but after about ten minutes, he'd turned on the radio and popped a CD into the player and the melody of a Verve song had filled the cabin.

She'd started humming under her breath and he'd looked at her with a faint smile on his lips and his eyes sparkling. She hadn't mulled over that look too much, but she'd started eyeing him more closely and noticed the way he narrowed his eyes at every street sign and how he ran a hand over his face every time a strand of hair landed in front of his eyes.

When Cassian had to blow the hair out of his face for the millionth time, Nesta pulled a rubber band off her wrist and handed it to him abruptly.

Cassian looked surprised, but took it almost immediately, brushing her fingers. Nesta immediately withdrew her hand, feeling how warm and calloused his were.

"Thanks, my hair is killing me today," he finally spoke.

Nesta continued to look ahead, noticing that they were about to enter the highway. "Well, it wasn't very wise of you not to tie it up before you got in the car. I never drive with my hair down."

He nodded slowly, still with the band clutched between his fingers. And then, suddenly he let go of the steering wheel, "Hold that for me for a second." and Nesta's eyes went wide, launching herself at him to grab it and keep the car in their lane.

"Are you nuts?" she almost shrieked, keeping her gaze fixed on the road and feeling every nerve ending vibrate with anger.

"Relax." he said in a calm tone, shifting her hands and gently pushing her back into her seat one more time. "It wasn't even five seconds."

Nesta huffed out a laugh that lacked amusement, "You do something like that again without warning me first and I'm getting out of the car."

Cassian looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "A bit dramatic, but alright."

She sighed, shaking her head slightly and resting it on her hand propped against the window.

That awkward silence fell again and Nesta couldn't figure out what the problem was. She hadn't felt any kind of unease three days before, but after all, they'd been with friends and busy walking, not stuck in a car for two hours with no chance of walking away or splitting up.

And in that moment, the reality of their situation overwhelmed her.

She forced herself to steady her breathing, opening the window slightly so that more air could get in. She forced herself to think about all the things she would see today at the library and how beautiful and spectacular it had looked from mere pictures. She wasn't going to let her twisted mind stop her from having fun with someone who was desperately trying to be her friend.

She took a deep breath and a surprising calm enveloped her. She looked to her left to see if Cassian had noticed that temporal change in her behaviour, but it seemed to her that he was just as fidgety.

She was about to ask him if he was okay, because the knee that kept bouncing and the fingers opening and closing on the steering wheel were obvious nervous tics, when he did the eye thing again, this time leaning forward over the dashboard as well, and the sharp turn he took to the right caused her to shift in her seat so much that she bumped her shoulder against his.

Cassian grimaced, "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" she asked, readjusting in her seat.

"Sorry?"

"What's the matter? With your eyes, I mean."

"Oh." he seemed surprised by the question, almost as if he hadn't realised she'd been observing him for the last twenty minutes. He cast her a curious glance immediately returning to the road. "I wear glasses when I drive, but I couldn't find them this morning and these contacts are the wrong shade and I can't see very well."

Nesta nodded thoughtfully, "Where do you normally keep them?"

"In the glove box. But I already checked," he replied, rolling his shoulders. Another nervous tic.

Nesta had to suppress a smile. There was no way he could be so worked up just because they were talking. She looked down at the phone in her hand to check the time, and a flash of light momentarily dazzled her. She blinked a couple of times and then scoffed, "Found them."

She reached a hand towards the hatch compartment and pulled out a pair of very plain black glasses, handing them to him. Cassian seemed to finally relax since she'd gotten into the car.

"Thank fuck." then he pulled into a lay-by and without turning off the car, slipped two fingers in his eye, removing one contact and then the other, leaving Nesta stunned. He put the glasses on his nose and flashed her a smile that went from ear to ear. And Nesta was stunned for other reasons.

She couldn't deny that Cassian was an attractive man. She wasn't stupid or blind, but the man next to her should have come with a warning sign or a bell.

Attention, hot stuff coming your way.

Nesta forgot the comment she had wanted to make about how antigenic and risky it had been to remove his contacts without first cleaning his hands and in such a dirty environment.

His hair tied back in a messy bun, with the hint of a beard he was letting grow, and now his glasses on, Cassian looked like a model on the cover of a newspaper about sexy carpenters. The short-sleeved black shirt he wore that pulled on his huge biceps every time he moved in the slightest was just one more point to add to the list of things that made him appealing.

"So," he began, getting back on the road, "what's your favourite colour?"

Nesta snorted, "Are you serious?"

Cassian seemed to blanch, "What?"

"Have you ever been out with a girl?" she asked him sarcastically, knowing full well what the answer would be.

He clenched his jaw so hard that a muscle popped out on his face, "Only on dates."

"And this isn't a date." pointed out Nesta, holding back a laugh at how tortured he sounded.

"It's not."

Nesta touched the tip of her nose, thoughtful, "Shouldn't this be easier for you then?"

Cassian released a breath through his nose, "I'm under a lot of pressure right now."

"Yeah?" she asked, looking away and smiling.

"Yeah, and stop looking like you're enjoying it." he retorted.

She feigned innocence, "Enjoying what?"

"My pain." he sheeted.

Nesta laughed, unable to contain herself any longer and when he glared at her, she covered her mouth with one hand, laughing harder. Only when he snapped his fingers against the steering wheel did she stop, laying a hand on his arm, just for a few seconds, "I'm so sorry." she wheezed, "I just don't understand. When you're hanging out with my sisters or Amren, or Mor, I don't know, you don't seem to be in this much discomfort."

Cassian sighed again and Nesta chuckled one last time, stopping when he smiled slightly. "I'm just trying not to make you uncomfortable. You accepted I take you on this non-date, and I'm doing my best not to flirt badly with you every chance I get." he confessed, nodding slowly, as if to convince himself that he was doing the right thing and not wasting their time.

Nesta was genuinely surprised at his answer and decided to offer him an olive branch.

"My favourite colour is blue."

"Nice." he smiled, showing a hint of a dimple, "Mine is red."

"It's too bright of a colour," she said lightheartedly.

Cassian chuckled, "I'm pretty sure it reflects my peppy personality."

Nesta nodded, "I read an article once about how a person's favourite colour says a lot about the person themselves," she said annoyed, "It sounded like one of those quizzes you find in gossip magazines, like it was written by a third grader. I hate those things, like horoscopes."

He grunted, "God, Mor's obsessed with horoscopes..."

The conversation continued without any more awkward silences for the remainder of the ride, and when Cassian turned onto a bumpy road, Nesta knew they were close. Of course, even if she hadn't looked at the directions from her house to the place, the myriad cars parked along the road would have been an indication.

They parked in the first vacant spot they could find and as soon as Nesta was out of the car, an icy gust of wind hit her face, making her shiver with cold. She looked over the bonnet at Cassian and found him staring at her with a half smile on his face. He'd left his glasses in the car and had let his hair down again, her hair band on his wrist, and he looked even prettier than before.

"Do you want my jacket?" he asked her, with a conflicted look on his face, as if he didn't want to. Nesta narrowed her brows and he hurried to add, "There's no hidden agenda to my offer, just a friend lending a jacket to another friend."

Nesta watched him for a moment, trying to really understand his intentions, but then remembered reading in one of the reviews that the library was heated inside and shook her head.

Cassian gave a small nod of assent and then pointed down the street, "Shall we?"

From where they had parked to the library it would have been about a ten minute walk and Nesta couldn't help but notice the way Cassian kept his distance between them as if he was afraid she would get scared and run away.

He was back to fidgeting nervously with his fingers and when he realised she was looking at him, he put them in his pockets, smiling tensely at her. He took a deep breath and then said, "So, what do you know about this library?"

Nesta looked ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of the building, but the foliage of the trees was still too thick and they were still too far away for it to see anything. She brought her hands to her stomach, crossing her fingers, "I actually did a bit of research before I came. Did you know that the Peace Treaty between Prythian and Hybern of 1864 was signed here?" she asked in an excited voice.

Cassian smiled at her so naturally that she felt herself blush. He had an expression she couldn't decipher, but Nesta had never been good at cracking people in general, so she didn't venture to continue until he said, "Tell me more."

And Nesta launched into a detailed description of the events that had taken place inside the building, which only a hundred years before had become a bookstore. Only one wing of the building had been furnished in such a way as to become a real shop, the rest had been set up to be visited as a museum, one of the oldest libraries. She talked about the architecture and how it was obvious that the palace had been built long before it became an important meeting place for scholars and researchers.

"And in 1932 a fire destroyed the science wing, burning more than a hundred textbooks." Nesta sighed, thinking how devastating that loss had been. She lit up with happiness when she remembered what happened next. "But luckily, one of the most important literary clubs in the city got together and they managed to recover a small portion of the books. It took them years to rewrite every manual, but they got help from one of the local researchers, a certain Mr. Hawthorn, I can't remember the name or details of the research, only that he's mentioned often in the article I read."

When she paused to catch her breath, Nesta realised with immense horror what had just happened. Cassian had not spoken a word after asking her if she knew anything about the place and she had monopolised the conversation without even acknowledging him once. She felt herself flare up and knew in that moment that any hope they had of becoming real friends was gone.

Sometimes she would get lost in thought and ramble on about the things she was passionate about. Quite often people had stopped her, letting her know they weren't interested in the subject, but Cassian had never interrupted her and she was afraid to look at him, convinced she would only find boredom and disgust on his face.

That was why, when he spoke, she was struck dumb.

"I'm impressed." he breathed, chuckling immediately afterwards.

Nesta pushed herself to look at him and he stood admiring her with his mouth slightly open, as if he couldn't find the words. She felt her heart clench in her chest so tightly that she didn't know if she could survive the pain. Who knows how many times he'd tried to stop her and she'd gone on and on about windows and arches and treaties of peace.

But when she got a better look at him, stopping in front of him, Cassian looked... happy.

He let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair, and Nesta was distracted for a moment by the sway of his arms before she was brought violently back down to earth when he said, "You surprise me more and more every time, Nesta."

And the way he said her name - Ne-sta - made her toes curl.

"Why?" she managed to throw out in a weak voice.

Cassian laughed again, raising his eyebrows so high they ended under the hair on his forehead, locking his eyes to hers. "I have a degree in history and my final thesis happened to be on this very library." Nesta felt the ground open up beneath her feet and hoped it swallowed her alive. "I came out of university with top marks and various accolades for finishing my studies on time and you, dreadful creature that you are, have just taught me at least three new things about this place."

His gaze was so intense that Nesta had to lower her head to hide the satisfied and surprised smirk that popped up on her lips.

"You're amazing." huffed Cassian, "Perfect in every way."

She shrugged.

"Although," he clicked his tongue against his palate, "You made a mistake."

Nesta looked up at him, frowning, "Oh, yeah?"

Cassian nodded, smirking fiercely, "Why don't you turn around and admire the palace, and once we're inside, I'll explain what it is?"

She must have been so lost in her chatter that she hadn't noticed that they had arrived in the large entrance forecourt, because when she turned, her back to Cassian, the building stood among the forest trees, as imposing and splendid as ever. The photos had not done it justice in the slightest and Nesta was left speechless.

Living in a country with a history going back millennia, it wasn't hard to stumble upon historic streets with old buildings and monuments, but this was completely different.

She was still admiring the way the stone around the windows had been carved to look like trees trying to get into the building when she felt something settle on the small of her back. A hand.

Nesta stiffened slightly, before closing her eyes and relaxing.

Cassian must have noticed her discomfort because a moment later his hand was no longer touching her.

They entered the museum part of the building in silence and Nesta paid the entrance fees, reminding him of the tea he'd offered her last Sunday and Cassian hadn't been able to argue with that.

They had just passed the doors to the first room, the smallest in the entire palace, when he leaned towards her, to the point of touching her ear with his lips.

The fact that he was whispering as if they had been in a sacred place did things to her little icy heart, "Mr. Hawthorn was not a man."

Shocked by that information, Nesta's head snapped in his direction and she realised too late that she had miscalculated the space.

Her lips brushed against his cheek, the corner of his lips, before Cassian reacted so quickly he startled her, but avoiding them both an involuntary first kiss. His sudden movement caused him to lose his balance and he reached out his hands towards her, straightening as he held on to her shoulders.

Both of them were holding their breath.

Cassian cleared his throat, shifting his gaze to the wall of books, but returning to look at her soon after, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, you just surprised me," she said when she had recovered. "I must have read the article wrong."

He was still watching her and shook his head, "Oh no, I don't think it's that. They only found out a few months ago that it was Georgina and not George Hawthorn. They found letters in the house of what was thought to be Hawthorn's wife. Some people think they were just friends, but anyone who has read the letters they exchanged knows full well that they were lovers. Anyone who says otherwise is either homophobic or stupid."

Nesta realised that she could have listened to this for hours on end. And so it was.

The visit continued relatively quietly, Cassian explaining every detail to her, expanding on things she already knew and when he forgot something, she would step in and have her say, commenting on every little aspect.

She'd noticed how Cassian hadn't tried to touch her anymore and how whenever someone was about to bump into her, he'd vocally warn her instead of wrapping an arm around her shoulders to move her out of their way like he had on Sunday.

The visit to the museum lasted less than expected unfortunately, because Nesta hadn't had this much fun in too long. It was becoming easier to smile at him or tease him when he said dumb things and even he seemed to finally be more at ease when he had to make jokes that smacked of him.

When they finally got to the shop, Nesta couldn't stand on her feet anymore, she just wanted to buy all the books she saw and go home and arrange them on her shelves.

"Which section do you want to see first?" she asked him, even though she had started hopping impatiently about the place.

Cassian gave her a smug look, "Why don't you go wherever you want and I'll look for the manuals for the gazebo in the meantime? That way you don't waste time keeping up with me. I'll be right there."

Nesta let out an excited squeal and ran off, hearing only the echo of laughter that shook Cassian from head to toe.

***

As Cassian flipped through the various books to find a picture of a gazebo that looked similar to the one Feyre had requested, he kept casting glances at Nesta.

Her eyes sparkled as she grabbed book after book without even reading the synopses. She was in the romance novels section, from what he could see from where he stood, but soon ended up in the classics, where she grabbed just as many books. She moved to the mystery books section, this time stopping to read the plots and putting most of them back on the shelves.

Then, surprising Cassian, she walked over to where the historical novels were and turned to face him. He bent his head to the side, raising an eyebrow to ask her what she was doing there. Nesta seemed at a loss, trying to move all the books from one arm to the other to point him to join her, but Cassian was already halfway there and when she looked back up at him and found him standing in front of her, she gave him a bright smile.

"Hello." she exclaimed.

Cassian's breath caught for a second before he too sighed a greeting.

"I was thinking," Nesta began, running her eyes over the titles in front of them, "that you could recommend something about..." she wiggled her fingers as much as she could, trying to point to the shelf, and Cassian leaned forward, cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Here," he removed the first stack of books from her arms and she sagged a little, giving him a thankful look. "I can go get a bag so you can put them all in there and you don't have to carry them like this," he said taking all the books and having her help him arrange them so they wouldn't fall out.

He smiled at her over all the books, looking down at her and she smiled back just as happily.

Hell, if she looked at him like that every time he took her to a bookstore he should do it more often.

He had just turned to go towards the entrance, where he had seen special bags for carrying books, but Nesta stopped him by putting a hand on his arm.

"Wait!" she exclaimed almost impishly.

Cassian turned his head, genuinely worried that something had happened to her in the mere seconds he had been shot. He must have moved too fast, because one of the smaller classics flew off the top of the stack and landed right in her face.

Nesta groaned at the impact and brought her hands to her face, rubbing her forehead where it hurt.

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" he asked with wide eyes. And then Nesta laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she stared at him and he visibly relaxed. "Christ, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw a book at you."

She waved a hand in mid-air, to let him know it was nothing, and bent down to pick up what he realised was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Of course Nesta was reading feminist classics.

She turned back to the books as if nothing had happened and Cassian had the urge to look for a list of all the bookstores in the world to take her to if it meant having her in such a good mood by his side, it didn't matter if she would never agree to go on a real date with him, he realised. As long as he could see her smile like that, he didn't need anything else.

"So, I was saying, before you battered me with a book-" she cast an amused glance over one shoulder at him.

He frowned, muttering, "I said sorry."

Nesta ignored him, "What do you recommend?"

Cassian blinked.

"You said you read historical novels right?" she asked, looking for confirmation, "You could recommend your favourites. But not the English or Russian classics. Or French ones. Chances are I've already read those."

Cassian was stunned. Nesta wanted advice on books. From him.

They were silent for too long as she turned around impatiently, "You lied?"

He looked surprised, "When?"

"When you said you were reading. Were you just doing it to impress me or were you serious?" she asked and maybe Cassian imagined it, but she looked disappointed.

He was quick to reply, "The Black Coat, by Neamat Imam. It's pretty recent, but set in the 1970s in Bangladesh. It's about a man who needs help and seeks it from a journalist he asks for work and one of the main themes is the famine that hit the country after it became independent. It's not my absolute favourite, but it certainly gives you something to think about."

Nesta nodded, searching through the titles and finding it almost immediately, "Anything else?"

Cassian felt his neck heat up and coughed a little before resuming speaking. "The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. Set in the tenth century, it's about a Viking who is called Red because of his hair and focuses on the European political outlook in the late Viking Age. Again, it's not as good as the historical classics, but it's nice and shows a way of life that we're definitely not used to. It's different."

After looking for a few minutes, Nesta gave up reading and turned to him, crossing her arms. She tilted her head to the side, watching him closely, "What's your favourite book?"

Cassian shrugged, settling the books against his chest, "I think at the moment it's The King Must Die by Mary Renault. But I change my mind every month when I find something more interesting or captivating."

She nodded thoughtfully, "I'll take that one then."

And Cassian wished he could change the title immediately because... what if she didn't like it? Or if she thought it was a stupid book? What would she think of him then?

But Nesta had already found a copy a few shelves down and there was no turning back.

He could counterattack, though, "What about yours? You're not going to give me any advice on feminist classics or blatantly trashy romance novels?"

Nesta opened her mouth wide, looking outraged as she placed the latest addition on the pile, settling the book under her chin, "How can you say they're trashy if you don't even know what they're about?"

Cassian chuckled, "On the cover of You Came," he said as he gave her a sly look, "there's something called a 'spicymeter'. How am I supposed to take you seriously?"

Nesta blushed, "I read erotic novels, so what? I have to keep myself busy in my spare time somehow."

And then he challenged her, "Get me the hottest book you've ever read," he said in a joking tone, "I'll go get the bag in the meantime."

She had already left for the section when he had an idea that would surely doom him depending on how Nesta would react.

He walked up to the cashier's desk, making sure she didn't notice, and begging the clerk behind the counter to be quick, paid for all her books, gently placing them back in the bags.

When he reached her again, she seemed not to have noticed anything.

"'So, what did you get me? Ride Me? Fucked You Good? Last Night I Gave You A Thousand Orgasms?" he teased her with an annoyed grin on his lips.

Nesta gave him a fiery glance before noticing the bags, quite different from those you put the things you wanna buy in, and closed her mouth tightly. She frowned and looked at them for so long before speaking that Cassian began to feel self-conscious.

"You paid for my books?" she whispered, looking at him.

He nodded.

"It's not a date, Cassian," she reminded him for the umpteenth time.

"I know, but-"

"So why would you pay for things that are mine?"

He couldn't read her. She wasn't hinting at anything.

She didn't look angry but she didn't look impressed or grateful either.

Cassian placed the bags on the ground between them and Nesta followed his every movement with her eyes.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "My adoptive family is filthy rich. I have a trust fund that I never get to spend on things I really want to do, the only way I get to use it is by giving gifts to my friends, so just accept these as my first gift - friend to friend - and call it a day."

Nesta continued to be impassive as she kept her eyes fixed on the books.

Perhaps he had gone too far. After all, she had taken more than a hundred and fifty euros worth of stuff, but he really didn't mind.

He was about to apologise, tell her she could give the money back if it made her feel better. Cassian would find a way to spend it back on her at other times anyway.

Then she raised her head, handing him two books with hilarious covers to say the least, "These two have storylines full of plot twists. You won't be able to put them down, but don't expect big epic battles or Viking warriors. It's just two college kids trying to survive in the modern world while finding solace in each other."

He didn't even have time to thank her that she was already across the room and waiting in line so she could pay them.

He scoffed, shaking his head.

"I guess you'll be paying for these two," he said as he caught up with her.

Nesta didn't even look at him, pulling out her wallet, "A gift from a friend to a friend."

As they walked back to the car, Cassian offered to carry the bags, but she didn't want to hear one more word so they had managed to compromise and had split the load equally.

They'd been on the road for about thirty minutes now and Nesta had gone through every book he'd bought her, talking about all the previous works by the authors she was holding in her hand at the moment.

Cassian could have died like that. Happy, relaxed, listening to the plots of those dirty books with no moral lessons to teach the reader, just pure entertainment.

He wondered at that moment if he would make it through the first few chapters of the books she had offered him and let out a heavy breath through his nose as he turned right towards the coast.

Nesta looked at him wide-eyed, stopping her rant about the headmaster's son getting the occasional model student to fall in love with him. She brought a hand to her mouth, "Oh dear, sorry, I'm boring you. I'm sorry."

He gave her a confused look ready to tell her she didn't have to apologise, but she continued.

"Sometimes I do and I don't even realize it. And I realize they're not challenging plots where you have to apply some hidden lobe of the brain to understand them, but they distract me from everyday problems, you know? It's fun to be able to unplug a few hours after I get home from work and-"

"Jesus, Nesta, stop!" he laughed, placing a hand on her thigh. She sighed. "You don't have to apologise. Not when you're so excited about something." he looked at her slyly, offering her a reassuring smile, "In fact, I'm glad you're talking so much today. Normally I have to pull the words out of your mouth."

She blushed slightly and then grew sullen soon after, sitting up straighter, "This isn't the way to Velaris, where are we going?"

Cassian didn't answer.

"You're taking me into the woods aren't you?"

"We literally just came out of a forest."

She ignored him.

"I knew it. You're a serial killer."

"Nes-"

"You're a little dense though. Why would you spend so much on someone if you're going to murder them?"

He decided to ignore her, chuckling, "I'm taking you to the beach."

"Why?" she asked, somewhat unconvinced.

Cassian shrugged, "I wanted to see the sunset."

"You didn't ask."

He sighed, gripping the steering wheel, "Okay," he whispered, then louder, "You want to go to the beach and watch the sunset?"

She nodded in assent and then continued to read the plots aloud.

And Cassian could have sworn he was in heaven.

***

Nesta gathered more sand, making a small ball out of it and placing it on the top of one of the towers she had made so far.

"Where did you learn to make such good sandcastles?" asked Cassian suddenly from behind her, startling her.

She jumped in the air, turning to face him and noticing the satisfied smile on his face for having taken her by surprise.

Nesta didn't answer him immediately, but allowed herself to admire him a bit.

Since they had arrived at the beach, they had taken off their shoes and were now both barefoot and then Cassian had bent down and started to roll his trousers around his ankles, offering to do it to her jeans as well, but Nesta had refused. She had sat down, looking at the sea for a while, while he walked along the shore and collected stones and shells.

When he had come back to her and shown them to her, asking her to make a sandcastle, she had laughed at first, but faced with his serious expression, she had been unable to do anything but get up and roll up her sleeves, moving to where the sand was a little more workable.

She looked away from that heavenly vision and made another ball, placing it next to the one she had just made. "When I was little my mum never let me do these, she said I'd get too much sun and forced me and Elain to stay under the umbrella all day," she replied truthfully, remembering the cruel bite of jealousy watching the children on the shore.

"And Feyre?"

Cassian had joined her, kneeling beside her and had begun to place the shells so that they served as windows to the towers.

Nesta sighed, "Feyre was still too little when Mini Me wanted to build sandcastles, but as soon as I became 'too old to play like a kid'," she gave him a knowing look, mimicking her mother's voice, "and Feyre started to figure out she was an actual being, Mama let her do whatever she wanted. Even stand in the sun for hours on end." she shrugged. "Whether it was out of indifference or love, I never understood."

Cassian had been silent the whole time and now he watched her, hands on his thighs as he waited for her to give him more. For her to tell him another little piece of her soul.

So she offered him a forced smile, "So to answer your question, it's all pent-up creativity."

"Well, you're very good at it," he granted her. "I can imagine what you could have done if your mother hadn't been so strict."

Well, yeah.

"What about you?" she asked him.

"What about me?"

"Did you go to the beach a lot?"

Cassian smiled weakly, getting up and heading towards the water to collect more shells. He nodded a couple of times and then said, "My mum and I loved coming to the beach and she loved making castles. And she always put so many 'windows' on the towers-"

Nesta turned to look at their work, realising how many shells he had placed on the piles of sand. She smiled softly, covering her eyes from the sun and watching him walk towards her.

"We always came when she was free from work."

A charged silence settled between them until Cassian chuckled, drawing her attention, "What?"

"You said this wasn't a date. And that we're just friends. Right?"

Shifting her gaze to him, she noticed how he kept his hands hidden behind his back and the mischievous glint in his eyes didn't reassure her at all. Slowly she stood up, nodding.

"So, I must treat you as I would treat my friends. Correct?"

"Cassian, I swear to god that-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence that something wet and sticky landed in her face with a resounding splash, making her jump back.

She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it when a strong smell of stale water and seaweed flooded her nostrils.

When she opened her eyes again, wiping the seaweed from her face, Cassian was doubled over in laughter.

She didn't even give him time to get up when she started to run towards him - to do what, she had no idea - but he started to run away too and soon they were chasing each other all around the beach, not noticing the sweet looks they were getting from the people around them.

At that moment, Nesta was running so fast that she could feel the wind in her hair and the smell and sound of the sea, together with the laughter of the man who was chasing her, mixed with her own and the continuous tapping of her feet on the sand, made her feel alive.

She felt Cassian come closer every few metres until two strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled up and spun around in the air.

A surprised yelp escaped her as Cassian laughed in her ear, "Gotcha!"

It wasn't until he stopped spinning with her in his arms that they realised the position they were in and immediately broke away, laughing embarrassed.

Nesta turned to face him, her face red from running and her breathing laboured. He was in no better condition. His hair was pointing in all directions and his sculpted chest was rising and falling with haste under the black fabric of his shirt.

He looked away first, scratching the back of his neck and fixing his eyes on the sunset, and offered her his arm as they returned to where they had left theirs things unattended.

Nesta shook her head, laughing one last time and started to run, " Last to reach the castle is stupid!"

Cassian burst out laughing, but he caught up to her in the blink of an eye and they both knew that she had doomed herself to lose. That's why, when he fell tripping over his feet, Nesta knew he had done it on purpose.

She helped him up and they sat back as in silence they watched the sun go down, disappearing past the horizon and the blending lights of the sky created a breathtaking spectacle.

Nesta couldn't have noticed, too busy admiring the clouds, but Cassian had been watching her the whole time, trying to understand how something as sombre and secretive as her could look so bright just by being.

The journey back was silent, but this time the silence was not awkward. They both welcomed it with open arms, a new awareness that there was no need for it to be filled with chatter and that gave Nesta the opportunity to close her eyes for a moment and doze off.

When the car stopped outside her flat, Nesta was surprised to find that she didn't want to get out.

She turned to Cassian after she had gathered her things and nodded, "I had fun today."

He gave her a genuine smile, looking surprised, "Me too."

And then she permanently shocked him, adding, "I'm not working on Saturday, we could do it again. Changing location."

He blinked once. Twice. Then he nodded, "Sure."

He didn't seem to want to say anything more, so Nesta waved goodbye to him and then got out, not waiting for an answer from him.

Cassian stood motionless in the car park of her flat for another half hour, trying to figure out what had just happened, and when the reality of things finally dawned on him, he smiled, "Fuck yeah."

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[iceprincessviviane]

Flowers of the peace

Pairing: c!Technoblade x Fem!Nymph!Reader

Type: Romantic/fluff; oneshot.

Warnings: mild swearing, mention of angst and injury and silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Technoblade is travelling to the center of smp to get some buisness done. He met Y/n and finally decided to talk with her about a very important case for him. Including more characters.

Words in red colour are Technoblade's voices.

My first x reader fic, spontaneous one.

Today was a quite warm day even in tundra, small layer of snow was covering the ground and sky was half covered by the clouds, which weren't moving a lot. Around was very quiet despite the time, it was almost noon. Animals were resting or sleeping, deadly hound lied calmly around. It seemed, it was such a lazy day. Technoblade went outside holding small backpack and putting something into it. He tied his hair into small bun, rest of them was falling on his back and he was wearing part of casual armor. Phil seeing that, also went outside.

"Hi mate, where are you going?" He asked curiously with gentle smile.

"I'm heading to main Smp part. I have some buisness to finish with Ranboo. I hope in that time it won't be crowded." He responeded and closed backpack.

They both looked at old Ranboo's home in mountain wall. Actually there still were some basic stuff, active farm and some villagers. Enderman hybrid moved to his and Tubbo's mansion in Snowchester two weeks ago. They kinda missed him, but he promised to visit them a lot of times and even stay for some cold weather and fresh air. Also he was still involved in Syndicate stuff.

"Be careful mate then." Philza said with serious tone.

'We miss Enderboy.' 'Let's do it fast.' 'Who will we meet else?'

Technoblade nodded and took Karl. He put a small backpack near the saddle and check everything. Diamond armor was shinning brightly in the sunlight.

"I will don't worry, I just hope to not meet Tommy..." His eyes narrowed. He still didn't forget and forgive young boy.

"Well just avoid bench area. You are going to meet Ranboo in Snowchester?"

"He said that he will be around Community House or Prime path."

"Tell him my sincere greetings." Phil smile widened.

Technoblade jumped at Karl and waved to his companion. Soon he was headed to main Smp part. Today wasn't the day for using a portals. Beautiful weather was conductive for horse riding. Karl seemed to be happy at sudden trip.

}*{

After a two hours Technoblade reached the Community House. He could go to Snowchester first, but honestly he wanted to avoid that area, which smelled like government. He dismounted Karl and took his bridle. Not a chance leaving his horse alone. Here was much warm then in tundra, not coulds and even wind stopped. Around wasn't even a single soul, so he sighted and started to walking down on Prime path. Karl was complelty calm, so he trusted him, but checked his sword, if he can take it fast. When he got near to Tommy's dirt house, he heard Tommy's loud laughing. After reaching the top of the hill he spotted Bench Trio standing there and chatting. Suddenly three pair of eyes looked at him. There was dead silence. Tubbo moved near to Ranboo when Tommy put a hand on Axe of Peace, which hanged of his bolt. They don't have armour, clearly having a good time in this lazy day. Technoblade nodded to them.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy asked with sharp tone.

Since Dream have been in the prison Smp was more calm, most people was minding their buisness, the biggest war was over and it seemed like everyone sighted with relief. Even now this Eggpire cleaned awful vines. Tommy started building his hotel, none was fighting.

"I came here to finish buisness." Techno responed slowly moving his eyes on Ranboo.

Tall teenager looked at his clock, gave himself a facepalm and sighted.

"Oh I am so sorry, I wasn't watching the time..." He said with embarrassment.

"What the fuck man? What deal did you make with him?" Tommy spoke with anger.

'Why he need to be so loud?' 'Just make it done.' 'Cut him.'

Technoblade moved a little bit closer and Ranboo started to search something in his backpack, mumbled to himself.

"Oh... hi everyone...!"

On the path leading to La'Manhole now was standing Y/n with basket full of field flowers and some saplings of roses, tulips and pansies. Her light dress was waving a little on sudden wind and bright smile caused everyone to smiled back.

"Hi Y/n!" Tubbo said and get closer to look at flowers. "Where did you get them?"

"Filed flowers around the... La'Manburg and saplings are from my own flowerbends. You asked me to bring some to your garden and rooms." She responed slowly.

"Oh yes! We asked Foolish of possible ways to decorate garden and flowers for a bees!" Tubbo said with excitement.

When it comes to the bees, Tubbo could talk over and over. Y/n was patience and describe in details flowers which she brought. Meanwhile Tommy moved his eyes again on Technoblade only to rise eyebrows with surprise. Piglin hybrid was like frozen, carefuly observing Y/n. Teenager lips formed into mischief smile.

"I found it!" Ranboo screamed in victory, holding something like gold in his big hand.

Technoblade snapped back to reality and nodded to Enderboy, to move away. He didn't want rest to know, what about deal is. They moved to bench. Karl snorted a little bit.

"Here it is." Ranboo opened his hand, Totem of Undying was inside. Technoblade smiled and nodded to him with satisfied smile.

"As we agreed emeralds and netherite ingot."

They made an exchange, Technoblade quickly hid Totem in his pocket and Ranboo put stones and ingot inside his backpack.

"Pleasure making buisness with you." Blade said with teasing tone.

"You too and I have more, if you want."

" We will see in the future."

Enderman hybrid moved his eyes on his husband and Y/n, there were still chatting peacefuly. Tommy was listening quietly and seemed that he lost interesting at their deal.

'Finally!' 'Let's go home.' 'Maybe stay for a while...'

"Deal is done?" Tommy asked loudly causing Tubbo and Y/n to look at Technoblade and Ranboo.

"Yes. We are done." Piglin hybrid confirmed in neutral voice.

Ranboo moved closer to group, leaving Technoblade with Karl. They stepped again on path after that.

"I think we can head to Snowchester then. Y/n has everything to make gardening and I am willing to help her!" Tubbo clapped hands.

"Yup. I am going to choose my room finally." Tommy emphasized last word strongly.

"Oh you shloud do the same Y/n. As we promised, you can decorate it as you wish." Ranboo said with warm smile.

Y/n lifted head and her eyes meet Techno's. His cute ears dropped a little, but he moved closer to them. Tommy stepped a little to avoid crash with Karl. Soft smile appeard on Y/n lips.

"Technoblade."

"Y/n."

Bench Trio silenced immediately, they could feel the tension in the air. After La'Manburg destruction Y/n lost her home, actually she was neighbor with Ranboo there, but she managed to build one small house in wild fields full of flowers, which was quite away. The closest things were Kinoko Kingdom and Niki's Underground City. Sometimes she wandered to La'Manber ruins and after that usually hanging up with Tommy. She visited Ranboo couple of times in tundra and even had a small talk with Phil. But when Technoblade showed up... they shared awkward silence and shy glances, which were speaking instead of words.

In his retirement they spent a lot of time together, despite the cold in tundra. Her peacefuly pressence caused voices to melt, only quiet whispers appeard. When she was speaking, they were always silence. Technoblade could listen and observe her for ages. They were so diffrent, but something connected them and attraced them to each other. She was standing with Phil on balcony, holding his hand so hard and tears streaming from her beautiful eyes, when Technoblade have been lead to execution. He later told him that Y/n almost fainted when he survived and escaped. She stayed in threshold, knocking sotfly at cottage doors, same day, late night and silence around. When he opened, he immediately put a finger on her mouth and whispering explained that Tommy somehow escaped exile and was sleeping in cellar. So Y/n said nothing, when Technoblade let her in, just hugged him so tightly and burried her face in his chest. With smelling her scent, he calmed himself and slowly forget about rage and happenings on that day.

But after Doomsday everything changed. Technoblade was busy with revenge, deep inside he didn't want to involved Y/n for her safety... but they moved away from each other. She need to build new house, didn't want to completly leave her friends around. Especially when Tommy and Tubbo found in her big comfort. She visited Tommy in exile couple of times, always bringing warm words and usefull advices. After Discs Finale, when Dream have been put into a prison, they needed her a lot. Tommy would never confessed that he had nightmares about Tubbo's death and himself being trapped in cell. Technoblade was busy with forming Syndicate, spending days on planning, building and searching stuff. He heard from Ranboo how Y/n was doing, but there always weren't time to talk.

And now they were here.

'We miss her angelic voice.' 'Stop staring, do something.' 'Stab Tommy.'

"I really don't want to interrupt this strange moment, but..." He couldn't even end, because Technoblade stepped at his foot. His shoes had small heels and was shod with metal.

Y/n giggled softly breaking eye contact with Technoblade and blushed a little bit.

"Can we talk?" Blade asked with deep voice.

"Of course." She nodded then handed her basket to Tubbo. He immediately straigthed his back, because of this important task. Technoblade gave without hesitation Karl's bridle to Ranboo, which eyes expanded and he grabbed it with his full strenght. When horse would run away... oh boy.

"It looks like we got important tasks." Tubbo said with full serious in his voice.

Ranboo nodded to him, when Tommy literally rolled his eyes.

Technoblade and Y/n moved slowly and silently aside, stepping away from path and walking on grass. She faced the sun, pulling her hair together, it laid freely on her back. Some strands still stayed on her face and Technoblade had to use his all strenght to resist taking them off. He just couldn't. Her scent full of flowers reached his nose, taking deep breath felt like heaven.

"Weather is very good." He started slowly and little unsure.

Y/n turned back to him with shy smile, studing hia posture. "Oh yes, it's warmer this days. My flowers age growing fast and I really enjoy the sun." She glanced at him. " Isn't too hot for you in this cape?"

"Well, I am still living in tundra and come on, style is breathtaking "Technoblade spread a little his arms.

Y/n could easily spotted part of armor on his arms and legs. It wasn't his best one, but he was still prepared for any fight. Yes, he looked very good, handsome. She couldn't help her slighty blushing cheeks.

"Are you moving to the mansion?" Techno finally asked, his voice was dead serious.

Y/n looked directly at his eyes with surprise. She didn't expect such a question. "No, I mean they offered me room, to stay in longer visits or if I would like to have a nap. I really enjoy their company."

He made a step closer and lean down, almost forgot how small she was compared to him. They both felt burning glances of Bench Trio.

"I miss you." He whispered honestly.

'We are missing her voice, scent and pressence.' 'We need her.' "We want her.'

"I... I miss you too." She responded quietly.

Pleased smile crawled at Technoblade's lips. Deep inside he was really happy about that, but didn't want to show it in front of Bench Trio. Y/n looked down with sudden shyness.

He took gently her small, compared to his hand. She squeezed lightly his fingers in response. "Would you like to...?"

"Y/n! We need to go, hurry up!" Tubbo screamed while was holding her basket.

"Yeah come one, we have a lot of stuff to do!" Tommy agreed.

Technoblade sighted after this rude cut, but Y/n shrugged with helplessness and playful smile. She hugged him tightly for goodbye, his second hand rested on her flabby waist.

"Meet me here after sunset." She whispered before letting him go.

He nodded before he let go of her hand. Y/n waved to him and went to Trio Bench. Ranboo gave Techno Karl's bridle. He observed while group was heading to Snowchester, then he jumped at horse and started to moving into tundra's direction.

}*{

Technoblade left Karl in hurry, then almost ran into a cottage. Phil frowned observing this from his window, but then shrugged and went take care of his cases. An hour passed and he heard some suspicious sounds from Techno's home, also him swearing. He decided to see what is going on, so went outside and knocked loudly. His friend opened. "Hi Phil, I'm a little busy right now..."

"What happend mate?" Winged man asked looking inside.

"I need to clean whole area..." He sighted with awkward smile.

"But why?"

Technoblade said nothing, it was a little too early to talk about it. "You... need some help honestly?"

"I will be so greatful!" Techno said and went beck to cleaning. Actually he successfuly tided first floor and kitchen, for now put food into a chest and cups into cupboard.

"Chests in magazine too?" Phil asked looking at his friend with confusion. Technoblade made facepalm. "I completly forgot about them... she would like to have order there!" He dropped everything and went down. His companion rose eyebrows with surprise. She?

}*{

Heading second time to main Smp part was faster and full of unsure feelings for Technoblade. Karl seemed to be happy of another trip. When they again reached top of the hill, she was there. Y/n stood near bench in his old crimson cloak, hemmed by fur, watching the sunset. Slowly crimson glow was turned into grey. Horse snorted and she turned head to greet him with warm smile. Technoblade responded with lazy smile and dismount Karl. Moving slowly to her, spotted that she was holding avaraged size, lether backpack and near the bench was closed chest.

"Hi again." Blade said with smile. "I am little bit late but I hope that you wasn't waiting long."

"I actually just came here. Boys let me left mansion three hours ago." She giggled softly.

"You got your room in mansion?"

"Yes... we decorated it with Ranboo's and Tubbo's furnitures."

"So... you have in this chest more personal stuff to put there?" Technoblade asked taking deep breath.

Y/n ignored the question and smiled softly to him. "What did you want me to ask earlier?"

"Well... I think it doesn't matter now." His shoulder dropped.

She looked directly into his eyes. "It matters, because the answer is yes."

Technoblade moved closer with visible confusion. "What?"

"Yes. I am ready for a trip, I have this cloak if it happen to be very cold and even have gloves in pocket."

He studied her figure quickly, under cloak she was wearing warm, woolen dress, completly diffrent that early, light one. High boots and hair braided tightly.

"No." Technoblade looked at her in disbelief.

Y/n nodded and her smile widened. In a blink of eye piglin hybird hugged her tightly. She rested her head against his chest, feeling heat from his body.

'She is going with us.' 'We can't belive.' 'Hurry up, before someone will show up.'

"Let's go, you have to be tired." Technoblade said after a few minutes. He took her chest and pinned it to saddle, Karl stayed calmly. She pated his neck, smiling softly. Blade mounted horse and offer her his hand to help. She grabbed it strongly and sat down sideways.

"Karl can lifted us both?" She asked unsure.

"He lifted heavier things than you sweetheart, you can belive me, he will be good." Techno smiled, he always was impressed by her caring way.

Y/n hugged his waist and again rested her head against his chest. The trip was quietly, they enjoyed each other pressence, when they reached tundra, night fell and snow started slowly rain. Finally they stopped in front of Technoblade's house. Deadly hound didn't even react to new person nearbay and bears was sleeping peacefuly around. Piglin hybrid first dismounted Karl and help Y/n by grabbing her waist and put her on the ground. She nodded in gratitude and grabbed his hand. He took her chest and they reached the stairs.

"You didn't introduce me new visitor?" Phil's voice caught them near doors. Winged man stood in his threshold with crossed arms and playful smile.

"Hi Phil." Y/n said and blushed hardly.

"Tomorrow my friend. You shloud go to the sleep old man." Technoblade teased him.

"I hope you will be gentelman and offer lady a separate bed." Phil winked to them and then went inside his house. "Goodnight lovebirds."

Blade rolled his eyes and opened doors for Y/n. She went inside and looked around carefuly. Nothing changed at all, but maybe one thing...

"You... cleaned whole house." She giggled softly.

"Oh yes and I even created some spare place in cellar for your flowers." He put her chest on the ground and closed door. Their eyes met. Technoblade quickly had covered the distance between them, then cupped her face and gently pressed their lips together. Y/n breathing quickened, same as his heartbeating. After a kiss, their hands found themselfes, when Techno lean his forehead against her.

"I love you." He whispered softly.

"I love you too." She responded quietly.

'We love her.' 'We are going to take care of her.' 'Never, ever let her go again.'