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dejwrites · 2 years

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MUSE, CHAPTER 13 (PRESENT)

— warning: profanity, mentions of infidelity, alcohol drinking, mature scenes included, chapters jump from past to present, college au (past), luxury rich adults (present), artist!nanami, muse!reader, angst, slow burn, humor, reader implied to be black, kinda like a hbo sitcom in my head lol

— chapter summary: y/n ends her stay at the cabin with a bang, but it leads her in the hot seat with toji.

— tags: @maydayaisha @gabzlovesu @indiecursor @eiflawriting @thicksimpx @cloudsinthecosmos @woahhajime @sawamurawife @po3ticb3auty @daichisbunny @heyitsiyanas @pulchritxde @classic-les @jazzyangel242 @kunaigirlx44 @hufflefluffwh0re @savantsoulfinder @protectpancakes @littlemochi @salimcity @astennu @keke97 @r-xochitl @cosmiic-7 @lilith412426

— previous chapter. masterlist. taglist. ao3

YOU WERE ALL PACKED UP TO GO BACK TO YOUR LIFE AS THE LUXURY DESIGNER YOU WERE. Your mind just kept darting back and forth between the drama that happened during the trip. After deciding to use the early morning while everyone was sleeping to clear your mind, you sat on the porch of the cabin watching the sun rise while you were sketching some new designs. You wanted to just leave, wake Toji up and go back home without a word. Simply because you still felt frustrated about everything. Perhaps you weren’t angry enough. Trying to grasp to fix something that wouldn’t be fixed while dwelling on the fact that the one person Nanami was set to marry was a scammer.

You knew you should tell the group considering that secrets are what made a dent in the friendship in the first place, but what exactly would they do? If you were being honest, the only one who would believe you would be Mei. She was the only one who didn’t know after all and from the looks of it being on your side without coddling Lana slash Serena's feelings.

Why did the name Lana sound so familiar? You’ve heard it before when you were in college.

“Why are you up so early?” You heard Mei’s voice as she stepped outside on the porch. She was currently wearing a suede tracksuit and her white-colored hair was pulled up into a messy bun. She stepped onto the porch taking a seat next to you on the steps.

“Toji’s snoring kept me up,” You joked. “Franky, I was thinking about leaving without saying goodbye to everyone. But something just has been eating away at my mind.” You said to her as your eyes diverted back to your iPad on your lap.

“And that thing is? Come on you know you can tell me,” Mei judged your side.

You inhaled sharply before exhaling and opening up the documents Mariah sent to you and soon you passed the device to Mei. You watched as Mei’s eyes bulged out her head in horror with each document she let her eyes glance upon. Then she stopped at the picture of Lana’s real I.D. Her eyebrows knitted together in curiosity at the woman in the picture before she glanced up at you, “You’ve met her before.”

You leaned over to glance at the picture and then at the name. Once again try to familiarize yourself with Lana. Something you’ve been trying to do since you found out all of this. “I kept saying the name sounded familiar. I just can’t pin it together and it’s frustrating.”

“That time in college when you practically was living in Toji’s fuckin’ skin—“

“You do not have to describe it like that.”

“Oh shut up, you were completely dickmatized and acting out,” Mei explained. “But you remember when the group practically fell out with each other. From you not talking to us to Geto and Gojo having that argument. It was just a complete cluster fuck. But through thick and thin, we never fell out.” She motioned her hand between the two of you.

“Okay, keep going.” You said as you were remembering that time in college. The distant memory of remembering your life spiraling.

“Your mentor Ari Aiko had you mentoring this student for you to shadow her during the summer after we graduated,” Mei explained. “Lana Volkov.”

It couldn’t be a coincidence. There couldn’t be that many Lana’s with that particular last name.

“I remember I was supposed to meet her because you expressed concerns about the woman. You thought you were overthinking about how weird she was ‘cause she kept asking personal questions. She kept asking you about—“

“Kento.” You finished the question as you finally were able to remember her. How could you not remember that wicked grin Lana would give you when you met up with her. It was the same fake one that she gave you now when you entered the room. Instead of the brunette color hair, she had now, it was a golden blonde back in college.

Your fist clutched in anger feeling completely stupid and used. The fact that she practically conned you didn’t sit right with you. You were seeing red and you could even feel your heart thumping in your chest. The fact that Lana stepped out on the porch discreetly thinking everyone was sleeping. Both you and Mei heads looked in her direction, heading her talking in Russian with the thickest accent. However, when she saw you two she abruptly ended the call.

“Goodmorning.” She said with this nervous grin and both you and Mei only glared at her. She caught onto your glare and would only smirk. “Fine then. I know you’re upset that I took Kento right from you. I snatched your happily ever after away from you in a very devious plan. But it is what it is.” She took a couple of steps forward towards you, her shoes creaking with every step she took on the wooden porch. “You can have him back when I’m done with him.”

You stood up and that caused Mei to stand up. She didn’t want you to hit Lana because she has dealt with women like that herself. You hit Lana and Mei knew the woman was going to victimize herself in a heartbeat. If she could pull off being someone she’s not for years, of course, she could make herself cry on command and have everyone feel sorry about her.

“What you’re doing is fucking horrible. Kento and I may not be on good terms right now, but he doesn't deserve this. You don’t deserve him. I’m going to tell him about your fuckin’ con and you can kiss this luxury life you think you deserve away.” You spat at her.

“You’re not understanding. He’s naive, always been when he was in college. One little sympathy cry from me and he’s locked around my finger.” Lana explained. “After all it was you who told me this fact when I dreadfully had to shadow you. I only did it to get more information on him. Even before he didn’t care to get to know me. All because of you.” Her finger jabbed at your shoulder.

Your nostrils flared at her and your eyes diverted to the spot she just touched you in. Mei felt like she was holding her breath. In her mind, she should stop this situation right here and now. However, she thought this conversation should happen before anyone else woke up.

“Don’t touch me.” You warned Lana.

Lana looked at you as if you were below her. Her eyes rolled in disgust before speaking once again, “I mean I understand why you’re so strung on him despite still having that lovely guy upstairs in your room. You’ve seen how big Nanami’s dick is. You know how hot he looks when he’s about to cum. His face gets all red. His hands always grasp at any body part just to be closer to you. And sometimes he’ll even mutter something in French. You miss that experience don’t you?”

You could feel your manicured nails digging into the inside of your palms. You felt like a cartoon character that was turning red in the face after something angered them. If you were in a cartoon, you’re pretty sure a viewer would see steam blowing out your ears. You glanced at Mei who was astonished at the words that left Lana’s mouth. She then had the biggest face of annoyance before stepping down a couple of steps and giving you a nod. You couldn’t help but smile as you lunged your fist backward and then forward connecting right onto Lana’s nose. You didn’t even let Lana react to the punch, you were seeing red as you practically dragged her from her hair off the porch. Both of you tumbled to the ground throwing blow after blow but you were sure you had the upper hand as you finally were on top of her. Your fist burning with each plow towards Lana’s face.

Your knuckles were screaming for you to stop, but soon you could hear two people run outside the cabin to help break you off from Lana. Geto and Toji had woken up early to finish packing but heard the commotion while moving around the house.

As Toji and Geto were tugging you off Lana. Your shirt was stained with blood that wasn’t yours, you could hear Geto ask Mei why she didn’t break it up. Mei only shrugged her shoulders before saying, “The bitch had it coming and you can’t tell me otherwise.”

“Let go of me!” You shrieked as you were kicking and swinging. The firm grip Toji had on you was not easing up just as much as the grip you had on Lana’s brunette hair. You were even sure you had hit Toji by accident due to your actions.

“Can you calm down first? Please.” Toji pleaded as you could hear his voice.

The grasp on Lana’s hair was loosened as Toji was pulling you off of her. You calmed down watching as Geto was trying to calm down Lana. You already could see the knot near her eye and she always was missing a couple of acrylic tips off her fingers. But that glare she gave you was as deadly as ever while Toji tugged you towards the cabin. Toji was the first to step into the cabin, you were behind him but before going in, you looked at Lana who turned into the best Oscar award-winning actress as she cried about breaking a nail and her bloody nose. “Hey, Lana?” You called out.

You watched as she and Geto looked at you. Geto was beyond confused about why you were calling her Lana. “Nanami doesn’t say anything in French when he’s about to cum. It’s actually German. I know this because we fucked in that penthouse you guys live in.” You smiled at her as you watched her completely break out of her crying ways to curse you out in her native tongue.

When you and Mei finally stepped into the house. You walked into the kitchen before erupting in a laughing fit. “I didn’t expect you to punch her when I gave you the nod.” Mei laughed as she looked at you.

“Well, why did you nod? I thought you were giving me the green light to punch her.” You chuckled before you let your finger touch your knuckles and you winced at the pain.

Toji was collecting ice in a sandwich bag for you before you prompted yourself on the counter. “You two together are never good. I woke up to pack and you weren’t even in bed.” His fingers pointed to Mei and then to you. He grabbed a hold of your hand and placed the cool compress on it. You winced at the pain but let him continue.

You could hear the door get tugged open and Geto walked in with the bloody cloth, your iPad, but no Lana. “Where is she?” Mei asked.

“She kinda pushed me away from her, said something in Russian, and then walked away.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“And you let her? Just walk away with a bloody nose?” Toji asked as he looked at Geto who thought deeply about the question Toji just asked.

“I mean yeah. I didn’t understand Russian, so I just assumed she said she was fine.” Geto glanced at you. “What the hell happened?” He asked as he placed your iPad on the counter.

“Toji, you’re all packed up?” You asked him, completely ignoring Geto’s question.

Your fight with Lana felt like a huge weight was off your shoulder. You still felt frustrated about your friends not telling you, but you were sure it was a work in progress of repairing the friendship, and being cooped in a cabin that had many memories wasn’t helping.

“Kinda, you’re ready to go now? You don’t want to say goodbye to everyone?” Toji asked. “You should get Shoko to look at your hand.”

“I’ll send my farewells to the others through text.” You shrugged your shoulders before jumping off the counter. You held the ice on your knuckles as you glanced at Geto’s sad face. ”I don’t want to be in this cabin when that lady returns anyway.”

You grabbed your iPad and you unlocked it. You went to the document files. You wanted to have the last word when it came to this Lana situation. You were sure when she returned to the cabin, she was going to twist the story to make you the villain because she was good at it.

So you did what you had to do as you air-dropped the documents you had about Lana to everyone in the house, hoping that when all of you guys return home that Lana wouldn’t be in the picture anymore. Everything would go back to normal. Even if you and Nanami weren’t close like that anymore, at least you had the heart to stop him from possibly getting conned. Though you had a feeling that fighting Lana and exposing her possibly will come back to bite you in your ass, it was worth it. She had it coming, but now she had no empire to come back to when she would return from wherever she went. You glanced at Geto who was looking at the stuff you sent. “I just hope we can go back to the way it was. I know it’s going to be hard for everyone to digest what I sent them, but this should be out now. I’m done with our friendship group having secrets.” You sighed. “But on a lighter note, let’s hit the road Toj!!”

“You’re fuckin’ insane,” Toji uttered before following you out of the kitchen.

With each step you took, you could hear all your other friends talking about the documents you sent. Your mind is still running on pure adrenaline from the fight. You walked into your room collecting your things in complete silence realizing that you hit your breaking point and put your hands on Nanami’s fiancé.

“You know, she’s probably going to make Kento’s life a living hell now,” Toji uttered as he finished up his packing.

“That’s between him and her,” You answered as you went back to collecting your things off the dresser.

“But, she’s going to tug you into it. What if it ruins your career or something.” Toji said.

“We have evidence of her being a scammer and a known one at that, it’s best she leaves all of us alone before I kick her ass again and after the ass-whooping drop her off at the police station myself.” You said.

Toji chuckles at your comment before he’s zipping up his suitcase with his last bit of things. “Are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye to them?” Toji asks.

“No, I told you already.” You found yourself snapping at Toji. Noticing your behavior, you would look at him before speaking. “Sorry, it’s just I can handle Kento lying to me. But my friends, they all knew about it. I’m not saying much to them until I get a proper apology from them.”

Toji’s lip parted to argue against what you said, but he would only nod. He wanted to ask another question about Nanami, but he figured he would wait until the two of you hit the road to ask. He just had a bad feeling that with exposing Lana (or Serena, at this point he was confused about the lady names) that you would somehow find your way right back to Nanami. Toji accepted his fate that it would never be him, but he was now realizing how much that hurt his pride. He had you in the palm of his hand and once again was about to lose you again.

The car ride started so silently. The only thing that could be heard was the song that was playing on the radio and your mumbles about needing more fabric when you made it back home. You left without sharing farewells and you felt some weight get lifted off your shoulder. Perhaps it was the pint-up aggression you had towards Nanami’s fiance or just Nanami period. However, you just knew that the artist wasn’t going to slither out your life so easily.

You knew the news of his fiance wanting to only use him for money would take him by shock. He’ll most likely blame himself for the situation, which was his only fault. After all, you’ve told him for years that he shouldn’t let his parents dictate his life. Yet they arranged him with a con artist. You had respect for his parents, but there had to be some form of red flags that just didn’t bother to check before arranging that marriage.

“Y/N, we need to talk,” Toji said as he was driving.

“About?” You asked. Your eyes never leave the device that was in front of you as you were looking at some designs that were in Mariah’s portfolio.

“Well for one, I have to return to my office in Singapore.” He said.

“Aww man, already?” You asked. You knew Toji would have to return to his lifestyle of running a sports team. It was eventually going to happen, but you hated the fact that during his break of stepping away from being the boss he was—he was tugged into your chaotic life. But then again, he approached you first. You two indulged in each other to fulfill temporary sexual highs.

“Yes, I’m thinking about selling the team and attempting to buy a volleyball team in Japan.” Toji admitted, “But I’m not particularly sure yet. My son seems to like Singapore, so I don’t want to tug him away from that.”

“That’s understandable, I would love to meet Megumi one day.” You gave him a kind smile that you noticed he didn’t return.

Something was bothering him. You could tell by how his hand was gripping the steering wheel and how tight he clenched his jaw. “If something is borrowing you, just tell me.”

“Are you going to go back to him?” Toji asked. “I think I need to know just in case. Cause if you are, I don’t think I can be around you anymore.”

You were beyond confused at his words. “I’m not understanding Toji. You’re confusing me, just days ago you didn’t care for the guy or what he thought. Hell, you even got on at the thought of making him jealous.”

Could he have been saying that you two wouldn’t work out ever again to block his actual feelings? Could Toji have fallen for you like in college and Kento was in the way once again?

“But you didn’t answer my question. Say you do clear up the situation with your friends and you talk with Nanami now that his fiance is out of the picture, will you go be with him?” Toji asked again.

You sat in silence realizing that either yes or no wouldn’t satisfy Toji. If you said yes, he would be a sulking mess the whole ride to your place. Once again becoming the second option just like in college. If you said no, he would think you’re lying. That through the trip, he noticed how you would stare at Kento. It felt like an argument when you were in college all over again. With you and Toji's arguments, they got so heated that on some days you two spent days without talking to each other. But he took your silence as the answer he didn’t want to accept. He only leaned over to turn the radio up some more and the two of you continue down the road in complete silence.

#nanami kento x reader #nanami x reader #nanami kento fanfic #jjk x reader #jjk fanfic #nanami kento x black reader #jjk x black reader #black reader #꒰ ა ♡ ໒ ꒱ — scheduled post.

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flowergirlmiwa · 2 months

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random aew thoughts every week after dynamite 4/17/24 + dynasty predictions

five wrestlers or storylines I would say I am personally invested in or have a desire to see succeed

Mariah May

Swerve Strickland

Will Ospreay

Blackpool Combat Club

Penta El Zero Miedo

three scattershot thoughts on anything

tbh I've had brainrot over the Toni/Mariah/Mina love triangle all week and its potential implications on the characters

hoping MJF return after Dynasty? maybe?

figured the Bang Bang Scissor Gang thing was headed towards a unification match between the Trios belts, it feels a little extra for there to be two sets of Trios titles around honestly

DYNASTY PREDICTIONS

basically like last time this is more predicting what will be booked based on vibes, storylines, context, my personal speculation on where they're headed, etc. than, say, what I'd like to happen. I'm basically guessing at what will happen. that way after the show I can remark at how off I was

Samoa Joe OVER Swerve Strickland -- although it's not what I'd like to happen, it would make sense if Joe won and then Will Ospreay became top contender. so based more or less on my intuition that Ospreay is coming for the title (and will get it), Joe fits that role better

Will Ospreay OVER Bryan Danielson -- Ospreay has been on an absolute tear and solidifies his spot as a top contender by defeating Danielson in what is likely an absolute classic

Bullet Club Gold OVER The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn -- Juice Robinson returns to help them cheat!! Please

Willow Nightingale OVER Julia Hart -- Willow beats the odds and wins the big one, but has her heart broken as Mercedes Mone swiftly turns on her after the match

The Young Bucks OVER FTR

Kazuchika Okada OVER PAC

Toni Storm OVER Thunder Rosa

Kyle O'Reilly OVER Roderick Strong

The House of Black OVER Copeland and friends

#my post

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cyarskaren52 · 6 months

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The 10 Best Sexy Christmas Songs, Ranked

Kayla Kibbe

Friends, it’s that time of year again, by which I of course mean time for me and my former-Catholic-school irreverence to ruin the holiest of holy days by making it a sex thing. As we here at Cosmo have so generously demonstrated over the years, there are plenty of ways one can go about doing this, like giving the internet a veryintimately detailed description of how much you want to fuck the Grinch, or ranking his fellow Christmas movie villains on their comparative bangability.

But, as Taylor Swift might say, don’t blame me. In case you haven’t noticed, Christmas was weirdly horny well before I got here. There’s Santa’s obvious sugar daddy thing, literally so, somuch more yuletide pornography than anyone could possibly want, plus whatever’s going on with The Rockettes, which, as far as I can tell, is a supposedly family-friendly spectacle that seems to center on sexy dancing ladies with legs for days, just saying. (Christmas is a horny and confusing time, isn’t it? Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon.) And then, of course, there’s the sexy Christmas songs.

Horny holiday music tends to represent a particularly unhinged subgenre of this seasonal catalog, anchored by kind-of-cringe classics like “Santa Baby” and the one where the kid catches his parents making out—which, literally why? I hate absolutely every aspect of that song and have never met a single person who feels differently. If you are that person, please let me know what I’m missing. JK, please never attempt to contact me—we are not the same and I want nothing TF to do with you and your rancid taste in Christmas music.

More From Cosmopolitan

Anywayyy, I’m happy to report that in more recent years, unnecessarily sexy Christmas songs have gone through a pretty substantial glow up. I’m not saying many of them are really any more hinged, per se, than their predecessors. But they’re definitely better. And so, I, your resident chief of sexually-charged Christmas content, present to you my official ranking of the best, not-cringe sexy Christmas songs. May this soundtrack bring you peace as we all navigate this horny and confusing time together.

10. Santa Tell Me (Naughty Version) — Ariana Grande

Look, I’m just gonna say it: Ariana fully phoned it the fuck in on this one. When I first heard she was releasing a sexed-up version of this 2014 instant classic nine years after its OG release, I was like, “Wow, maybe a horny ‘Santa Tell Me’ is what my life has been missing for the past near-decade. Save me, horny ‘Santa Tell Me.’” And then she gave us two lines. TWO. LINES. That’s it. The entire rest of the song is exactly the same. She didn’t even throw in a fun and flirty outro. Nothing. Listen, ordinarily I respect Ariana’s quiet-quitting-coded choice to blissfully ignore her fans’ increasingly thirsty pleas for new music while she’s busy banging SpongeBob and being blonde. But this time, frankly, I expected more. The only reason this half-assed cash-grab even made this list is because I still respect Ariana’s reign as the rightful Queen of Christmas Pop (sorry, Mariah), but honestly, I fear her throne may be in danger after this travesty. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.

9. Santa Baby — Ariana Grande, Liz Gillies

Okay I know I just called ”Santa Baby” cringe, which it is. But as far as renditions of this immortal ode to wanting to fuck Santa go, the Ariana and Liz Gillies version is superior. (Obviously Eartha Kitt’s reigns supreme, but I’m talking modern-day covers.) On a semi-unrelated note, I would also like to take a moment here to shout out baby Taylor Swift’s version, which is rendered remarkably sexless thanks to Debut Era Tay’s faux twang. Trust me, nothing sucks the sex out of things quite like a fake-ass country accent, which ends up making this song more cute than horny and thus...actually kind of better?

8. Glittery — Kacey Musgraves

This 2019 banger isn’t suuuper horny, sure, but it is at least a little bit sexually suggestive. I mean, getting shaken up and turned upside down by a lover doesn’t not sound kinky.

7. Cozy Little Christmas — Katy Perry

“A little whisky, we’re getting frisky,” and by “we,” Katy Perry apparently means she and Santa, with whom she enjoys a nude couple’s massage in the predictably over-the-top music video for this playfully flirty little number. TBH, I’m kind of surprised Katy Perry, queen of campy horn, hasn’t blessed us with anything more explicit in the holiday music department, but this will have suffice until she sees fit to drop a festive version of ”Peacock.” (“I wanna see your...yule log?” Just a suggestion!)

6. ’Tis the Damn Season — Taylor Swift

Okay, so this isn’t really a Christmas song in the traditional sense, nor is it really horny in the typical tongue-in-cheek kinda way that defines this subgenre. What it is, however, is a song about banging your high school ex when you go home for the holidays and also yearning, which I think definitely qualifies it for this list. If you feel differently, kindly submit a formal complaint to Kayla @ JK, don’t contact me dot com.

5. Buy Me Presents — Sabrina Carpenter

In which this rising Queen of Horny Christmas (Ariana, watch your back), implores her lover to drink her like a glass of warm milk and keep her “stocking” filled, because if he doesn’t deliver she’ll just fuck Santa instead. Ladies, it never hurts to remind your man that you have Other! Options!

4. December — Ariana Grande

Ah, yes, Christmas & Chill, the EP of exclusively horny Christmas bangers that cemented Ariana’s (ahem, now wavering!) status as the true Queen of Christmas Pop. Merry Christmas, here I am boy, indeed.

3. Wit It This Christmas — Ariana Grande

In which Ariana dares to ask the question on all of our horny, confused minds this time of year: “Are you down for some of these milk and cookies?”

2. Christmas Tree — Lady Gaga ft. Space Cowboy

My elder Gen Z is showing with this one, but listen—if you, like me, were in sixth grade when this song came out, it was a whole damn thing. Like, your crush Tyler probably played it for you on his iPod Shuffle at recess and you smiled knowingly at the lyrics even though you weren’t really quite sure how to decipher all this horny holiday innuendo because you were 11 and hadn’t 100 percent figured out how sex works yet, but also because it turns out sexual innuendo in Christmas music is pretty much borderline nonsensical as a rule. Which brings us to….

1. A Nonsense Christmas — Sabrina Carpenter

Ariana, take notes. This is how you sex up a re-release of an existing song, okay? Sabrina committed to the damn bit on this one and she nailed it. She did not have to go this hard, but she did. And, that, friends, is the true spirit of horny Christmas.

Kayla Kibbe (she/her) is the Associate Sex and Relationships Editor at Cosmopolitan US, where she covers all things sex, love, dating and relationships. She lives in Astoria, Queens and probably won’t stop talking about how great it is if you bring it up. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Sent from my iPhone

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sfb123 · 3 years

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The Final Goodbye - Chapter 2

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 2

Pairing: Liam x Riley

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Description: In a slight canon divergence from book 2, Riley reaches her breaking point with the engagement tour and decides to restart her life when the court gets to NYC. Can the rest of the group clear her name, and convince her to come back before it’s too late?

Catch Up Here

Rating: PG (I think there are a few swear words in there, very angsty, but otherwise pretty mild)

Word Count: 1,299

A/N: I am so incredibly humbled by the response I got from chapter 1 last week. I don’t think it’s been much of a secret that I’ve been kind of down on my writing and myself in general the last couple of weeks, but the overwhelming love that you all have sent to me via your reblogs, comments, and messages this week has truly warmed my heart and meant the world to me. Thank you so, so much for your support.

Again, I have to mention my fandom soulmate (yea, I’m just going to start calling you that always now, because you are) @jessiembruno. Your support and encouragement has been monumental in getting me out of my funk, and I will forever be grateful and in your debt for all you have done for me. Even if it’s just keeping me company via zoom while I do my nails for 2 hours!

Shout out to @emkay512. This doll face reached out on Friday and is an absolute sweetheart. We got to talking, and she mentioned that today is her birthday, so I would like to dedicate today’s chapter to her! Happy birthday beautiful, and I apologize in advance for further breaking your heart on your special day.

Tags: Listed below. If you’d like to be added or removed, just let me know!

When Riley finished her song, the entire bar erupted into uproarious applause as she hurried off the stage, the entire bar minus one table. Riley’s group of friends were completely silent. Maxwell, Drake, and Hana shot each other concerned looks before turning to Liam. He was staring at a now empty stage, they could all see that he was trying to keep his expression neutral, but that proved to be difficult with a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Drake placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze. “Li, are you alright buddy?”

Liam cleared his throat and shook his head, looking over at his friend. “Yes...yea, sorry. She has an amazing voice, doesn’t she?”

“The best. She’s our very own diva!” Maxwell said in an upbeat tone, trying to remind everyone that they were supposed to be having fun. “Where did our little Mariah run off to?” He started looking around the bar to find her.

“She probably just went to the bathroom. I’ll go check on her.” Hana got up from the table and headed toward the ladies room at the back of the bar.

Liam rested his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his hands. All he could think about was the hurt in her eyes as she looked at him from the stage, pouring her heart out to him. He couldn’t help but feel like that song was more than just a way to vent her frustrations at their current situation. He didn’t need to say a word for his friends to know exactly what he was thinking.

Drake was the first one to speak up. “Listen Liam, it was a really bad day for her. She had to pick up Madeleine’s wedding ring, it was kind of a mind fuck for her.”

His head snapped up at the information he had received. “She what?!”

“Yea, Madeleine sent her. She said she needed to do it as a thank you for letting Riley come on the tour and be in your life.” Maxwell added.

Liam’s expression immediately hardened as his hands clenched into fists. “I can’t believe Madeleine would…”

“Um...guys, she wasn’t there.” Hana interrupted. All three of them turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Liam felt his chest tighten as he jumped out of his seat. “What do you mean she wasn't there? Where did she go? We have to find her!”

As Liam turned to head for the door, Maxwell grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Liam, hold on. She probably just went back to the hotel. Letting that much emotion out in front of all of these people, in front of you, it had to have been exhausting.”

“Well I need to go talk to her then.”

“Liam, don’t. If she ran out of here like that, she wants to be alone. I know Brooks well enough to know that if she wants to talk, she’ll come to you. Showing up at her door isn’t going to fix anything right now.” Drake patted the seat next to him, encouraging Liam to sit back down.

“Fine, but I’m going to need another drink.” Liam slumped into the seat next to Drake and ran a hand through his hair.

The next morning, Drake was heading in the direction of Riley’s room when he heard Liam calling out to him. He turned to see his friend lightly jogging to catch up to him. “Hey Liam, how’d you sleep?”

“I didn’t. I spent all night convincing myself not to rush to Riley’s room to talk to her.”

They walked together as another voice filled the hallway. “Liam, darling.” They both cringed and turned around to see Madeleine at the other end of the hall with her hands on her hips. “We are needed for the final preparations.”

“Madeleine, I’m in the middle of something. I will meet you there.” He stood tall, and took a deep breath. He still hadn’t confronted her about the errand she had sent Riley on, but that conversation would be happening very soon.

Madeleine arched an eyebrow and walked quickly and confidently in their direction, stopping in front of Liam with her arms folded across her chest. “Sweetheart, you are needed to prepare for our wedding shower. What am I supposed to tell everyone when I arrive on my own? Do what you will with her in your free time. This is our time, I cannot have you missing important meetings for her. That’s not how this works.”

“She is more important than any meeting that will ever come across my calendar, especially any meeting involving you.” He sneered at her before turning to Drake. “Tell her I came by. And let me know if there is anything I can do.”

“Of course, man.” Drake clapped Liam on the shoulder and watched as Madeleine linked her arm through Liam’s and walked away.

As Liam and Madeleine headed to the elevator, they passed Maxwell, the friends exchanging sad looks.

“Hey Drake, how’s our girl holding up?”

“Don’t know, that interrupted us before we could get to her.”

“Well, let’s go cheer her up. I’ve got some great news!” He bounded toward Riley’s room.

“What do you mean? What kind of news?”

Maxwell turned to him as he began to knock on the door. “We found Tariq!” Drake’s jaw dropped and he stared at Maxwell in shock, as he continued to knock on the door, not getting a response from Riley. “Little Blossom, rise and shine. We’ve got a big day ahead of us!” He turned his attention back to Drake. “This is weird, she’s usually at least yelling at me to go away by now.”

That comment gave Drake an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he pushed Maxwell aside and began banging on the door. “Come on Brooks, let us in.” A couple of neighboring doors opened as angry heads popped out of them, glaring at the early morning intrusion.

“What is the meaning of this commotion? This is a nice hotel, not a frat house!” Maxwell stiffened at the sound of his brother’s voice. Drake continued his assault on the door.

“Bertrand! Um...hi. Riley’s not answering the door. She had a late night, she’s probably still asleep.” Maxwell stumbled through his words.

Bertrand closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maxwell, do you have the spare key to her room?”

“Oh, right! I forgot about that.” He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a key card for the room and handing it to Drake. “Here, use this.”

Drake shook his head and snatched the card out of his hands. “Brooks, we’re coming in. You’ve been warned. I don’t want to see anything I’m not supposed to.”

They opened the door and entered her room, walking through the sitting area, the bedroom, and then the bathroom. Riley was nowhere to be found. Her bed looked untouched, and it was too early for housekeeping to have come through.

The three men discussed how best to move forward from here. They were in New York, so Riley was already home, they knew she wouldn’t try to fly out anywhere. But they also knew that they needed to get to LA to track down Tariq and get him to make a statement before he found out they were on his trail and disappeared again. Drake and Maxwell hesitantly agreed to meet up with Hana and take Liam’s jet to LA to get Tariq, while Bertrand went in search of Riley, to talk her into returning. All three agreed it was best not to tell Liam that Riley was missing. He was already dealing with enough, and Riley’s performance the night before had taken quite a toll on him.

Permatag:

@anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @chemist-ana @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @emkay512 @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

The Final Goodbye:

@ao719 @burnsoslow @busywoman @ladyangel70 @mainstreetreader @tessa-liam

Liam x Riley:

@jared2612

@choicesficwriterscreations

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tuanyiems · 3 years

Text

The Spirit of Christmas

Jaebum x Reader holiday!au, roommate!au words: 2.8k

Plot: You are sugar and spice and everything nice and your roommate, Jaebum is coal—at least, that’s how it seems at first glance. With the pandemic and Christmas Eve coming to an end, maybe it’s not just Jaebum that needs a little Christmas spirit.

a/n – guess whose household got covid in time for Christmas? 2020 hates me lol anyways, I said I was going to post a Jackson holiday au but that was taking too long, I’ll post it next Christmas lmao here is jb and his kitties in the meantime <3 happy holidays folks, stay safe and merry and I’ll meet you in the new year

“What is that?” Jaebum looks at you incredulously as you carry an armful of green into his living room. You let it fall onto the floor, much to his annoyance and his cats’ pleasure. Nora flops onto her belly, rubbing against the green sticks.

“It’s our Christmas tree!” you grin, running your fingers through the fur of her belly and earning a nip to your fingers. You giggle at the tickle of her teeth on your thumb. Despite her feisty disposition, Nora very rarely ever bites for real.

“That’s a pile of plastic,” your roommate plops himself on the couch, feet thrown over the coffee table.

Your mouth twists as you push the ottoman closer to him with a gentle push of your fuzzy sock-clad feet. Jaebum glances at the bright yellow ottoman you brought into the apartment when he told you about a million times that the thing was a waste of money (and a neon eyesore). He then looks over at your feet looking awfully like a red stocking, and he truly does mean the awful part. He keeps his feet on the coffee table and leans back into the couch, arms behind his head.

“It’s a Christmas tree,” you emphasize, lifting his legs with a huff onto the ottoman. You dust your hands before placing them onto your hips. “And you’re going to help me put it up!”

He frowns, looking into your eager eyes. “Remind me why I moved in with you again?”

“Because I had a spare room and you needed someone willing to live with five cats,” you answer easily like you always do. You throw one of the plastic limbs at him. “Now come on, let’s get festive!”

“Your festive and my festive are very different,” Jaebum sighs, but he gets up anyways.

“Noted,” you chuckle, clearing a space on the floor for him to sit beside you.

You grab your phone to turn on your playlist, lovingly titled “HO! HO! HO!iday Cheer” and immediately you can see Jaebum’s face sour at the familiar jingle as Mariah Carey’s voice echoes through the room.

“Oh, we’re going with my festive, just so you know,” you warn him belatedly. He blows at his bangs, shoulders slumping in surrender.

“Let’s just get this over with before my ears start bleeding,” he grumbles, grabbing hold of a couple plastic limbs.

“That’s the spirit!” you cheer, slapping him on the back. You don’t miss the small twitch of his lips.

You had a lot of hopes for this year, all of which pretty much went down the drain. That was life though, you rolled with the punches. But you certainly did not expect that when you opened your home to Jaebum and his five cats, that just two weeks after, he would be your only social life for the next nine months (if you didn’t count your biweekly grocery outings).

And while you have nothing against Jaebum—in fact, you absolutely love his five cats—it doesn’t take a genius to tell that the two of you are very different. Jaebum’s black on black fashion, motorcycle riding, sterling silver face piercing-self, next to your pastel, soft knit cardigan-wearing, always smelling like bread and daisies…the two of you are a walking metaphorical neon sign flashing “opposites!”

“Why does that matter? He’s going to be my roommate, not my husband!” you had shrugged Jinyoung’s warning without a second thought.

That memory would come back to bite you during the first three months of shared living, for every time he woke you up from his random 3am showers or played horror movies in the living room right before your bedtime, and especially whenever he responded to your silly jokes with a deadpan face or worse, his unrelenting despondency.

Over time though, you learned how to read him—like how he was nicer after a cup of coffee or how he has trouble sleeping but always manages to fall asleep on the living room couch when you’re baking bread in the open kitchen. You’ve learned that when Jaebum scowls, it’s mostly just a reflex and actually, if you can catch a reflection whenever he’s looking away, usually he’s smiling. And although he will grumble about it the entire way through, if you ask for help, he will always be there (even when he tells you he won’t).

Maybe you both express yourselves differently. You say “I love you” and he will ask “Did you eat yet?” You bake cupcakes and have teatime on the porch with the older neighbors, Jaebum installs cameras and buys extra essentials whenever you go grocery shopping together. You fill the windowsills with abandoned plants and bring them back to life, Jaebum leaves cat food and old blankets in your backyard for the strays.

No one else understands when you tell them you think you and Jaebum might be the same person, but they haven’t seen him the way you have over the last nine months. Beneath his hardboiled exterior is a sensitive soul who loves quietly and cares a lot.

“There’s no point in putting this up,” Jaebum grumbles as he fits another limb into the trunk of the tree. “No one’s even gonna see it, it’s already Christmas Eve. Anyways, the Christmas party is canceled.”

“You will see it. I will see it,” you hand him another part. “Isn’t that reason enough?”

“It’s a waste of electricity,” he adds, not even glancing at you.

“The lights I bought have a timer!”

“And then it’ll be more work taking it down again.”

With a pout, you stand up and Jaebum turns his head in surprise.

“Where are you going, it almost done?”

Your frown easily twists back into a smile, seeing the way he hurries to put the last limb into the tree. “Time for the decorations!”

Jaebum rolls his eyes and looks down again and you can just tell he’s hiding another smile. You hurry off into your bedroom to grab the supplies.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” you sing as you reenter the living room and Michael Bublé’s voice rings from your phone. Twirling in an oversized pajama pullover (which might be Jaebum’s that got lost in your laundry three months back), you settle the box of ornaments on the floor. “I’m so excited to show you!”

He looks at you blankly, waiting for you to continue.

You squeeze your shoulders together, excitement barely contained as you reach into the box and pull out an emerald velvet pouch.

“It came in the mail just in time!” you grin, clutching the bag to your chest.

He lifts his brow at you, but the rise of his cheekbones gives him away.

“Ta da!” you squeal, pulling round orbs out of the bag. “One of my co-workers has a side business making custom ornaments and I got one for each of the cats!”

“Woah,” Jaebum takes one of the ornaments into his palms, eyeing it closely.

You bite your lip, holding in a satisfied giggle lest you ruin the moment. He sits quietly, admiring each ornament of the cats. When he gets to the last one, you pull out one more orb from the bag, holding it up by its gold, glittering string.

“And I got one of us too,” you say quietly, showing it off to him.

He slides closer, nose practically touching the ornament. It’s a simple, clear bulb and inside are your figurine versions, dusted with glittering snow around a Christmas tree.

Finally, Jaebum breaks into a smile, eyes disappearing into crescents. You find yourself letting out a breath you had been holding.

“They even got my cheek piercings,” he chuckles, pointing to the tiny orb. “And your derpy smile too!”

“Hey, my smile isn’t derpy!” you whine, smiling.

“It’s cute,” he adds and you falter, wondering if he means the ornament or your smile. But in true Jaebum fashion, he doesn’t explain himself and turns back to the cat ornaments. “This is really well made.”

You ignore the pulsing in your chest, nodding your head. “Yeah, I told her she should raise her prices.”

He gets up from the floor and offers you his hand. “Let’s put them up.”

Cheeks flushing, you let him help you up.

“Do you think it’s okay though? The cats might knock them down,” his brows furrow with worry.

You chuckle, grabbing the ornament from his hand and hang it off the tree. “Pretty things are meant to be shown and if it breaks…then we’ll get new ones!”

Jaebum rolls his eyes at your optimism but a small smile stretches across his face. “I think your co-worker would be offended to hear how you treat her work.”

You shrug, crouching down to Nora and Odd as both cats swat at the ornament hanging precariously off your finger. “Art should not belong behind glass walls. They’re meant to be seen and enjoyed, like your music!”

You giggle as Odd jumps into your lap, pawing at the shiny orb as you lift it out of reach each time. You miss the way Jaebum looks at you.

“Okay, less playing and more decorating,” he replies, throwing a string of gold tinsel at your head, much to the cats’ delight. You laugh at their excitement, glancing at Jaebum’s reddened ears.

Humming to the Christmas jingles, you stand alongside Jaebum, dressing the plastic tree in glittering ornaments and lights. Once in a while, you even catch Jaebum swaying to the music when he thinks you aren’t paying attention.

“Aaand,” Jaebum lifts the shining star from the box to you and you rise onto your tiptoes.

“Done!” You cheer, placing the star on the top of the tree. You clap gleefully, elbowing Jaebum to follow. He gives you three limp claps before you give up and crouch down to Odd instead, forcing the kitty to clap paws.

“Okay, can I go to my room now?”

“Not yet!”

He groans, plopping onto the couch. “What else is there left to put up?”

You pout, hands on your hip. “We can’t have a Christmas tree without the Christmas tree lighting ceremony!”

He sighs, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “There’s a ceremony?”

“Of course there is!” you laugh, rushing towards the light switch. You flick the switch without warning, covering the living room in darkness.

With only the light from the streetlamp peeking through the windows, the falling snow is even more visible. The sight fills you with childlike excitement.

“Are you ready?” you whisper, walking over to the switch for the Christmas lights.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“We need to count down,” Your lips jut out at his indifference as you eye his dark figure. In the darkness, you can just barely see his features, but you imagine he is rolling his eyes at you.

Just as you are about to give in, you hear him sigh loudly, “Five,”

You break into a smile, “Four, three, two,”

“One…”

“Merry Christmas!” you sing, twisting the knob and flooding the room with small twinkling lights.

But you don’t look at the tree. Instead, your gaze remains in Jaebum’s direction and you watch as the lights illuminate his face. And you are pleased to see he is smiling. You know it’s just the reflection of the lights, but he looks like he has stars in his eyes.

Sensing your gaze, Jaebum looks at you and frowns, embarrassed. “What?”

You smile, cheeks warming. “Your cheek piercing looks like it’s twinkling from here.”

“Don’t be weird,” he scowls. “Are we done now?”

“Do you want hot chocolate?” you offer, moving over to sit next to him on the couch.

He shakes his head, getting up. “I’m going to bed.”

Chuckling, you let him leave, watching as the cats follow behind him. “Merry Christmas, Jaebum!”

“It’s not Christmas yet!” he yells back before you hear the sound of his bedroom door closing shut.

With a quiet sigh, you grab your phone from the coffee table and turn off the music. The silence feels even quieter with only the lights from the Christmas tree flickering around the room. Without anyone else in the room, your energy quickly depletes.

Outside, the snow whips by in flurries.

This is not how you imagined you’d be spending your favorite holiday, although the festive lights do make you feel a little bit better.

You wanted the Christmas gatherings though.

You were a family person through and through.

You missed it all—the packed house, cooking dinner with the aunties, playing board games with the little cousins, throwing said boardgame across the room when you rage quit, making up for it with freshly baked cookies that you’d nibble on at midnight while opening gifts by the Christmas tree. You even missed the nagging from your parents, asking when you’ll get a boyfriend and settle down.

Snuggling closer into the arm of the couch, you hug yourself.

It’s colder this year.

Emptier.

“So, you turn off the Christmas music after I leave?” You jump in surprise at Jaebum’s voice entering the room again. He takes a seat next to you on the couch. “You listen to it just to annoy me, don’t you?”

You blink back, wondering why he returned. “Did you forget something?”

He shrugs, leaning back into the couch and gazes at the Christmas tree. “It’s my first Christmas tree, I thought I should look at it a little longer.”

“This is your first Christmas tree?” you look at him in surprise.

He nods nonchalantly. “Never really celebrated Christmas.”

You sink into your seat, thigh touching his. “What a year to start celebrating.”

“Only because you have me hostage.”

You chuckle softly. “Well, I’m glad you had no choice but to be stuck with me. Would’ve been a lonely year without you here.”

“Hmm,” he looks at you thoughtfully. “Never pegged you as the lonely type.”

“The holidays can do that.”

“Then just think like me, pretend it’s any other day.”

You sigh, leaning into Jaebum. He doesn’t scoot away like he normally does. Instead, you find his arm resting around your shoulder.

“I don’t want this to be any other day though. This whole year has been a blur of any other days.” Your lips jut out in a pout as you look up at your roommate. “I know I must sound like a child, but I want Christmas.”

Jaebum laughs softly. You can feel the rumble of his chest.

“Cute,” he mutters, and you flush. His arm around you pulls you tighter. “Then, do you want to open your present at midnight or in the morning?”

Your eyes widen and he laughs at your expression once more. “You got me a present?”

“Well, yeah,”

“But…you said you don’t celebrate Christmas.”

“But you do,” he answers easily, looking at the tree again. “And anyways, if you’re gonna make me do all the work, I might as well celebrate the whole thing, right?”

You grin, poking his chest. “Admit you had fun tonight, Jaebum.”

He shrugs, smiling. “The ornaments were cool. I’ll be the DJ next time though.”

“Deal,” you beam, holding out your pinky. You giggle when he looks at your outstretched pinky with an arched brow. You keep your hand raised though. “Come on!”

He lets out a loud breath but eventually curls his pinky around yours.

Your heart warms, seeing how big his pinky measures around yours. It’s why when he moves to let go, you keep your pinky curled.

Laughing at his confused frown, you show him your thumb. “You have to seal the promise, Jaebum!”

“You’re an actual five-year-old,” he groans.

“Yes, I am,” you grin, eyes curling into crescents. His tone doesn’t faze you. From up close, you can confirm that there are indeed, stars in his eyes. They twinkle in amusement at your gesture and his lips lift once more when his thumb presses against yours.

And this time, he doesn’t pull away.

Pursing your lips shyly, you let your hand fall to his lap.

Looking back up at him, his gaze is soft on you. You pretend not to notice the way his fingers thread around yours.

“To answer your question, I’d like my present at midnight.”

“As you wish. Then shall we make hot chocolate and watch a movie until then?”

“Sounds like the perfect Christmas,” you tell him softly.

“Okay, Joker or The Dark Knight? You can pick.”

You grin, squeezing his hand. “We’re gonna watch Home Alone, Jaebum.”

“You’re terrible,” he feigns.

Chuckling, you let go of his hand and rise from the couch. “I’ll go make the hot chocolate.”

Jaebum grabs your hand again and you turn back curiously.

“Hm?”

His thumb brushes the back of your hand gently.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Jaebum.”

#got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #got7 reactions #im jaebum #holiday au #roommate au #fanfic #fluff

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birdhaslostit · 4 years

Text

🎁🎄❄️What the Lupin Gang would do for Christmas!❄️🎄🎁

Helloooooooo Lupin fans! You may or may not remember me as that one chick who made that Halloween headcanon post a few months back, as well as the Jigen’s bangs post. I’m back with a Christmas post!!!

Please note: Personally, I really only celebrate Christmas in a non-Jesus-y way. (Which is how I’m also writing this post, because let’s be honest, do you really think Lupin is going to confession and shit? Absolutely not.) It’s purely out of habit because I was raised Catholic, but I practice witchcraft now. My family doesn’t know that though. Because of this, I considered also making posts for other winter holidays, so I could include Lupin fans that don’t celebrate Christmas. But I didn’t want to accidentally mess it up, or write something inaccurate about a holiday that I don’t celebrate. It felt disingenuous to make a Hanukkah post because I’m not Jewish and it doesn’t seem like my place, and I didn’t want to do a Yule one either, because no two people celebrate it the same way. So, I strongly encourage others to add their respective winter festivities to this post if they want to! We’re all about inclusivity here.

Without further ado:

🎁LUPIN:

I don’t feel like it needs saying, but this man goes bonkers for Christmas.

He flip-flops his choice of red or green jacket by the year. But it always comes with an equally garish Christmas-themed tie, just to make explicitly clear that this is The Christmas Jacket for the year, as opposed to the standard red/green jacket.

The hideout(s) are always decorated to the GILLS inside. It’s an odd mix of older classy decorations he’s inherited from his family, and absolutely horrendously tacky ones he’s bought himself.

Picture real branch garlands, wrapped tastefully around gilded candelabras that have been passed down through several generations. And then one of those singing, dancing stuffed animals from Walmart that plays “Jingle Bell Rock” when you squeeze its paw, right next to it.

Christmas-themed heists? You know it, baby. But he won’t steal anything on Christmas Eve or Christmas. It just isn’t in the spirit of the season, in his opinion. But he’ll leave a little something-something with his calling cards during the rest of December. A candy cane, a sprig of mistletoe, a bough of holly, etc.

Lupin despises eggnog. He loves any other Christmas drink, just not eggnog. He’s too grossed out by the idea of drinking eggs with alcohol- some things just shouldn’t be mixed.

Will not allow anyone to mention the truth about Santa Claus in his presence. Yeah, he knows, but that’s not the point. It just feels like bad luck to say it out loud. The harder Jigen tries to debate with him that Santa isn’t real, the harder he digs in his heels that “of course he is you absolute Scrooge, how dare you! If you don’t believe, you don’t receive.”

Favorite Christmas Songs: Anything peppy!

Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney

Step Into Christmas by Elton John

Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee

We Need a Little Christmas by Percy Faith and his Orchestra

A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

Santa Claus’ Party by Les Baxter

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Literally anything except eggnog.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Anything obscenely sugary. Especially gingerbread men and other decorated pastries.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Loves to ice skate and make gingerbread houses! But his houses usually look fairly pathetic, no matter how hard he tries.

Favorite Christmas Movie(s):

The Grinch (Jim Carrey version)

Home Alone

Scrooged

Christmas Gifts: The king of gag gifts, but he also gives surprisingly thoughtful presents too. He’s the kind of guy that would get a person something they mentioned once offhandedly that they really liked, and he’d go back and get it for them.

🎅JIGEN:

Lupin always wants to decorate the hideout(s) the second Halloween ends, but it never happens. With Jigen being the only American in the gang, he always puts a stop to it in order to preserve the quickly-disappearing border between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What can I say, dude loves his Thanksgiving excuse to eat like shit and do nothing for a day. Even if it is a fucked-up holiday, historically speaking.

But once the Thanksgiving meal is over, he gives Lupin the okay to go crazy. He’s pretty stoked about Christmas too, but too full of turkey to contribute, so he just watches Lupin hang up Christmas lights everywhere while he lays on the couch and digests.

Jigen likes Christmas a lot, but like, in a normal person kind of way. Nowhere near Lupin’s insane level. He’s surprisingly open about his enthusiasm too. The average person would think he doesn’t really care about Christmas much (or anything else really), but to the gang, Christmastime is the most openly excited they’ve ever seen him.

One year’s Christmas-themed heist involved Jigen dressing up as a mall Santa as a part of the plan. The gang powdered his beard, gave him a pillow for his stomach, and sent him on his way. Everything went surprisingly smoothly, and he actually did pretty well with the kids. At first they were a little intimidated, and Jigen was kind of nervous- but he gave them all candy canes and they changed their minds pretty quickly.

Jigen enjoyed it a lot, actually... to the point that he may have potentially started volunteering to be the local mall Santa. Every year during December, he leaves for a day or two on “business.” Nobody in the gang can prove it though, and trust me, they’ve tried.

Favorite Christmas Songs: The classics and the chill ones, with a few rock ones thrown in for a little kick.

Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby

Sleigh Bells by Gene Autry

(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays by Perry Como

Jingle Bells by Frank Sinatra

Caroling, Caroling by Nat King Cole

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow by Dean Martin

Silver Bells by Dean Martin

Happy Holiday by Bing Crosby

Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry

Merry Christmas Baby by Bruce Springsteen (Sang this once after too much eggnog and will never live it down)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by the Barenaked Ladies (He’s not into all the Jesus-y stuff, but it’s pretty catchy.)

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Jigen is ALL. ABOUT. THAT. NOG. He’ll make his cup a little stronger than everyone else’s.

Favorite Christmas Foods: He really likes candy canes, especially the mini ones. He’ll keep a few in his pocket with his cigs, and switch between them depending on his mood. Out of habit, it’ll usually dangle out of his mouth like a cigarette would.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Watching Christmas movies and laughing at Lupin’s shitty gingerbread houses.

Favorite Christmas Movies:

Anything that’s on at the moment, really. He likes to lounge by the TV, and he’s not picky.

He has a soft spot for A Charlie Brown Christmas though.

A Christmas Story, solely because of the BB gun.

Scrooged, because Bill Murray’s hilarious.

Christmas Gifts: Something practical and useful that the person never realized they needed until they opened the box.

☃️GOEMON:

Goemon wasn’t originally a huge fan of Christmas. Shocking, I know.

He now enjoys some aspects of it, and tolerates others. He likes the idea of giving heartfelt gifts and spending time with loved ones as a tradition, but dislikes the cheesy commercial aspect of Christmas.

He already enjoys the snow and walking through the forest, so the gang usually commissions him to pick a tree for them and cut it down with Zantetsuken. (If they’re somewhere where that’s an option.)

Unbeknownst to the rest of the gang, he will always replant the tree he cut down, and he will wrap something cozy around the bottom of the sapling to keep it safe. Yes, this was directly inspired by A Charlie Brown Christmas. No, he will not admit to this.

Favorite Christmas Songs: The instrumentals, and a few he’d rather die than admit to liking.

The Nutcracker March from The Nutcracker

Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker

Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental) by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Greensleeves by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Last Christmas by Wham! (He likes the storyline and the romantic aspect of it.)

Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid (He likes that it was for a good cause, even if it has its flaws.)

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Again, flawed, but he enjoys the intended message of peace. Also, represents Japan on the side with Yoko Ono.)

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Surprisingly fond of hot cocoa. Heavy on the whipped cream and marshmallows.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Doesn’t really like eating gingerbread men, but enjoys decorating them. They’re always pristine, like something you’d get in a bakery.

Favorite Christmas Activities: See above. Also enjoys going out in the snow, and making ice sculptures with Zantetsuken.

Favorite Christmas Movies: Refuses to admit he likes any of these.

Any of the classic Rankin Bass claymation specials.

Any other animated ones for kids. Has a soft spot for A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Polar Express.

A few of those cheesy Hallmark ones.

Christmas Gifts: Something small and sentimental he saw while walking by a store that reminded him of the person he’s giving it to. Nothing extravagant, but thoughtful nonetheless.

⛸FUJIKO:

Fujiko decorates the tree. Period. Lupin cannot be trusted to do this on his own. Goemon picks the tree, Lupin and Jigen put it in the stand, and from there, it’s all Fujiko. The ornaments, lights, and tree skirt are all perfectly color/theme coordinated, and arranged like a pristine store display.

She also has a few ornaments that she bought for each specific member of the gang. Lupin’s is a monkey (he was not pleased, but he’s whipped for her, so he let her keep it). Jigen’s is a carved wooden pistol. Goemon’s is porcelain, with hand-painted sakura blossoms on it. She bought one for Zenigata too as a joke one year- a tiny bowl of ramen noodles.

Her ornament? The star on top of the tree, because she’s the star of the show, baby. It’s actually a snowflake, made of the finest crystal she could steal.

Favorite Christmas Songs: Pop music and Motown’s finest.

Underneath The Tree by Kelly Clarkson

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande

This Christmas by Donny Hathaway

What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder

Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes

Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love

A Marshmallow World by Darlene Love

I Like A Sleighride (Jingle Bells) by Peggy Lee

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Hot chocolate and mulled wine.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Loves baking and eating gingerbread men. She lets Goemon decorate them with her. Hers have lots of candy and sprinkles on them, while his are just icing.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Along with baking, ice skating! She’s the best at it out of the whole group. None of the guys are particularly good at it, but she makes them go with her at least once regardless.

Favorite Christmas Movies:

Hallmark ones, solely to make fun of them.

Babes In Toyland, but only the 1986 one, because it has Keanu Reeves in it, and “I don’t care if I’m your girlfriend, Lupin. In this house, we support Keanu Reeves.”

Christmas Gifts: Something expensive/extravagant that will make the person think of her every time they use it.

🎄ZENIGATA:

Zenigata is the second biggest Christmas enthusiast, just behind Lupin.

He doesn’t get to settle down and decorate anything really, since he’s always running after the gang, but he does lots of other little things to celebrate instead. Like getting hot chocolate instead of coffee, tuning the squad car radio to the Christmas station, getting an air freshener that smells like gingerbread, and wearing a festive scarf and gloves with his trench coat to keep out the cold.

In years past, Zenigata still had to work on Christmas Eve/Christmas, even if Lupin wasn’t out stealing anything. Lupin found out and thought that was a little harsh of ICPO, so he came up with a plan.

Each year he sends a calling card to the station with the conditions that only Zenigata can come to investigate. Zenigata does some research, shows up to the location on Christmas Eve, and every year, nothing’s there except for a neatly wrapped present from Lupin.

Zenigata keeps the present as “evidence,” goes back to the station, and they give him Christmas off to go investigate on his own, in case Lupin tries anything else. Lupin never does, but the station doesn’t know that. Bada bing, bada boom, Lupin just got Zenigata a vacation.

Zenigata never catches on, bless his heart.

Favorite Christmas Songs: Ones he can sing/hum along to in the squad car.

The Man With All The Toys by The Beach Boys

Celebrate Me Home by Kenny Loggins

Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano (Does Zenigata understand Spanish? Absolutely not. Does he get the point and think it’s festive? Darn right.)

A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Dean Martin

Winter Wonderland by the Eurythmics

Silver Bells by Dean Martin

Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season by Andy Williams

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town by Gene Autry

December by Earth, Wind, and Fire (Let him have this okay, it’s a good song and he gets made fun of for liking it by the rest of ICPO)

Skating by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Hot cocoa and eggnog, but not strong eggnog like Jigen’s.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Anything, really. It’s something besides cup noodles, so he’s grateful. Lupin’s gift always includes lots of various Christmas goodies because of this.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Zenigata enjoys the snow in theory, but doesn’t handle the cold well. So he likes to watch the snow from his window while he listens to Christmas music in his squad car and sips his hot cocoa.

Favorite Christmas Movies: He doesn’t really have a lot of time to sit down a watch a movie, with how hard he works. But he remembers a few from when he was younger, and he really likes those. His favorite is Frosty the Snowman.

Christmas Gifts: Something inexpensive because ICPO vastly underpays this poor man, and he’s always embarrassed because of that, but it’s always something super sweet and heartfelt.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And for those who don’t celebrate it, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! <3

#lupin #lupin iii #lupin the 3rd #lupin the third #rupan sansei #daisuke jigen #jigen daisuke #fujiko mine #fujiko #mine Fujiko #koichi zenigata #zenigata #goemon #goemon ishikawa xiii #ishikawa goemon xiii #Christmas #Xmas #obligatory Christmas post right after thanksgiving

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annerbhp · 4 years

Text

how you get the girl

(Harry/Ginny, meet-cute, muggle AU)

the ice-skating ring is full of fumbling people, but Ginny finds one person in extra need of help

Hot Dad is back again, Ginny texts Demelza.

Putting down her phone, she sells a round of tickets to a loud group of teenagers, passing them off to Stephanie to get them set up with skates. Their cheeks are all red with the cold evening air, the sun having just dipped behind the buildings. Mariah Carey is crooning about Christmas over the slightly staticky speakers. It’s all perfectly cheery and lovely, and even Ginny can’t help but smile at it, this season long having been a favorite of hers, no matter how old she gets.

Which probably explains how after working full days, she still lets herself get dragged into volunteering at the seasonal outdoor ice-skating rink set up in the old city center as a way to earn money for various local charities. She’s an easy mark, which her friend running the event never fails to capitalize on.

The obvious first-date skaters are the best in the evenings, the romanticism of the idea wearing off real quick the first time one of them knocks the other down and their asses get real familiar with the unforgiving ice. Ginny likes the look on their faces when she offers them one of the walkers little kids use sometimes.

Her phone buzzes with Demelza’s response.

Okay either bang him or stop texting me because this is pathetic and you know it.

Ginny sighs. I imagine his exceptionally beautiful wife would have a problem with that.

The wife you have no idea if exists or not? Seriously, I don’t have time for this. You’re cut off talking about this.

I need a new friend.

Ha! Good luck with that.

Ginny tosses her phone down in disgust. The worst part is that Demelza is right. This is beneath her dignity. But Hot Dad has been here with his son the last four nights straight, and selling tickets and collecting used equipment isn’t all that engrossing, especially considering Ginny is one of dozens of volunteers. Meaning she has a lot of time to stare and let her imagination get away with her. And her imagination’s favorite subject these days is Hot Dad. Once again here tormenting her as he wobbles around the rink with his son.

She can’t really tell how old he is, a knit beanie always pulled low over his head and a beard covering his face. He’s got glasses too. None of which makes it hard to see how attractive he is. (One time he forgot his scarf and she nearly had to take a break when he laughed at his son and the tendons in his neck stood out as he threw his head back and she thought how lick-able it looked.) He’s on the lanky side, which on skates occasionally makes him look like a newborn wobbly-legged foal, and even that is somehow charming.

Or Ginny is just really hard up and needs to get a life. Which is what Demelza loves to say. Also that Ginny is a workaholic. And sure, it’s been a hot minute since her last date. She just has a lot going on right now. Besides, this guy is definitely more than likely married.

So instead, she is going to happily, harmlessly ogle Hot Dad while he stumbles around the rink with his son, who has shown little to no improvement over the last week. In fact, if possible, they both seem to be getting worse.

Fifteen minutes later, Hot Dad nearly takes out a pair of teenaged girls, blocking the entire flow of skaters as he stops to thoroughly apologize while his son stands nearby and nearly laughs himself down onto the ice. And then actually goes down onto the ice.

Jesus.

Talk about the blind leading the blind. They’re going to cause a pile-up, she tells herself. It’s the only reason she grabs a pair of skates and heads over to help.

Really.

“Excuse me,” she says as she approaches.

He looks up and, shit, his eyes are like the most intense green she’s ever seen, and also, he’s definitely younger than she first thought, closer to her own age. But also young enough that he must have been Hot Young Teen Dad when his kid was born. But still just as hot as she imagined him to be.

Dammit.

“Not that I don’t admire your persistence,” she says, helping the kid to his feet, “but you two are rapidly becoming a hazard.”

Hot Dad straightens his glasses, looking sheepish. “We definitely are. But it’s an emergency, I’m afraid.��

“An emergency?” Ginny asks, trying to ignore the thrill of finally hearing his voice for the first time. And what a nice voice it is.

He grins. “Ted’s trying to impress a girl.”

“Harry!” the kid shrieks, looking mortified.

Ginny blinks, both cataloging Hot Dad’s name—Harry—and noticing the strange use of it by his son. Maybe he’s in that rebellious teenage phase where he calls his parents by their first names?

He’s still wearing gloves, dammit. Not that it matters. She doesn’t have time for Hot Maybe Married Dad right now.

Really.

“And you’re somehow supposed to help with that?” she shoots back before she can think better of it.

But rather than looking offended, Hot Dad—Harry—just grins back at her. “A hopeless case, I suppose.”

“Depends on how this is meant to impress a girl.”

“He’s going to ask her out for the first time,” Harry says, smiling at his son as Ted looks even more mortified.

“To go ice skating,” Ginny surmises. “Have you considered the movies, or frozen yogurt or, I dunno, anything not on ice?”

Ted shakes his head, looking earnest in the way only a young teen can. “It has to be ice skating.”

Ginny sighs. “I suppose I could give you some pointers. At least keep you from being a total disgrace.”

The kid gives her a dubious look. “You think you could?”

Oh, now it’s on. “You doubt me?” she asks, pushing back on her skates. Without another word, she does a quick tick around the circle, doing the second half backwards. With a quick spin, she comes to stop in front of them at the last possible moment in a showy shower of ice shavings.

Harry looks impressed, eyebrows lifted. “Were you a skater?”

“Hockey,” she says succinctly, used to people making assumptions. Then again, she’s hardly a delicate thing to be twirling around in tutus. Not that she couldn’t if she wanted to, thank you very much. But she’s more into smacking people with sticks than doing toe loops.

“I think this is your best hope, Ted,” Harry says. “The ice angels have smiled down on you.”

Ginny bites back the urge to clarify that she is in no way an angel and would be happy to prove it to him. Instead, she focuses on the kid, who she can’t look down on all that much considering he’s nearly at her height already.

“What do you say?”

Ted lets out a breath. “Please.”

She smiles. “Okay. But before we start, I need to know one thing. This girl you’re asking out. What are you going to do if she says no?”

His eyes widen, giving Harry a panicked look. “Oh, god. Is she going to say no?”

He pats his shoulder. “I think she’s more trying to make sure you aren’t going to use her powers for evil.”

“Pretty much,” Ginny says.

“I don’t understand,” Ted says, brow furrowed.

Ah, the innocence of youth.

“For example.” Harry turns towards Ginny. “I don’t think I got your name?”

“Ginny,” she says, trying to ignore the quiver she feels as his gaze falls intently on her.

He smiles, holding out his hand. She slips her gloved hand into his, shaking firmly. “Nice to meet you, Ginny. I’m Harry.”

“Hello, Harry,” she says, their hands still clasped between them.

He places his other hand on the back of hers, the gesture somehow endearing even as it’s terribly old-fashioned. “Would you go to dinner with me?”

She nearly blurts out a yes before remembering that they are playacting. And he’s probably married. And they’re standing in front of his son. “Sorry,” she says. “Dating customers is against the rules.”

Harry smiles at her—fuck, that is not okay. “Okay,” he says, letting go of her hand. “Sorry if I bothered you. I hope you have a great day.”

“You, too,” she says.

Harry turns back to his son. “There you go.”

“But that wasn’t a no,” Teddy points out.

“Yeah,” Harry says. “It was. If someone wants to go out with us, they’ll say yes. She doesn’t have to explain why or justify it. Plus, do you really want to go out with someone you had to convince?”

Okay, and now Ginny is not just lusting after him, but a little bit in love with the asshole too.

“No,” Ted says, frowning. “I guess not. But what would you do now?”

Harry puts a hand to his chest like he’s nursing a painful wound. “We slink back to our caves like men, feel sorry for ourselves for a little bit, and then pretend it never happened. And definitely don’t ask again.”

“But she’s at my school! I’ll see her every day. Won’t that be weird?”

Ginny expects a pep talk, don’t worry, of course she’ll say yes, but instead Harry slings an arm over Ted’s shoulders. “It might be weird for a while, I admit. But don’t be a pain in the ass and you’ll both get over it. Of course, she might also say yes. Is the potential weirdness and embarrassment worth the chance that she might say yes?”

A look of determination crosses his features. “Yeah,” he says, nodding. “It’s worth her maybe saying no, if it means she might also say yes.”

“Well then, I think you have your answer.”

And now Ginny is pretty much fully in love with him. Ugh, her life is the worst.

“Come on,” she says, gesturing for Ted to come closer. “Let’s try a few rounds.”

She spends the next fifteen minutes giving him a few key pointers, enough that he’s not a complete hazard, but he’s still a long way from dating form. For one, the kid appears to have two left feet. Which, once he warms up to her a bit (and informs her that he much prefers to go by Teddy), his clumsiness pales in comparison to his general politeness and wicked sense of humor. She’s not sure what he’d say if she said those were going to go a lot further for him than his ice-skating skills.

They eventually come back to a stop next to Harry where he waits against the wall off to one side. They’ve just made it when Teddy careens over and nearly face plants into the ice. Harry reaches out for him, only to almost lose his own footing.

What a pair, Ginny thinks, not even bothering to hold back her laughter.

“Your son seems to have inherited your clumsiness,” she says once they are all steadily on their feet again.

Harry laughs, beaming at Teddy, but the kid just lets out a dismissive sound. “He’s not my dad. As if.”

“You could only be so lucky,” Harry says, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Remus may be smarter than me, but I am far better at pretty much anything requiring coordination.”

“That remains to be seen,” Ginny says, Teddy letting out an appreciative laugh.

Harry lifts an eyebrow, like maybe she’s twinged his ego. “Ice is not my natural environment.”

“Really,” she drawls. “Then what is your natural environment?”

“Pretty much anything but ice. I’m not picky,” he says, and somehow the unspoken arrogance is attractive.

Ginny tilts her head to the side. “I think I’d need proof to be able to judge that adequately.”

“Would you,” he says, voice lowering.

Fuck, the ice should be melting in here.

They hold each other’s gazes a bit longer than is probably proper, Teddy looking between them.

Ginny gives herself a little shake, turning back to the kid. “So, Teddy. I have some bad news and some good news.”

“Okay,” he says, looking wary.

“The bad news is that winter is likely to end before you master ice skating. I mean, you can keep trying. You’ll get better just through practice. But it’s going to take a while.”

He sighs, apparently not horribly surprised to hear it. “And the good news?”

“Well, why do you want to take this girl ice skating?”

“Because she loves ice skating.”

“Is she good?”

He nods. “She’s really good.”

“There’s your good news. And because I like you, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Tell her you’d like to take her ice skating because you know she likes it so much. And then tell her that you aren’t very good, but you’re willing to try and you’d appreciate it if she’d help you. Basically, what I am saying is don’t try to hide that you aren’t great at this yet. Just focus on enjoying being there with her. Honest is so much better than cool.”

She expects him to fight that, but instead he looks thoughtful, eventually nodding. “Okay.” He turns to Harry. “Can we be done now? My butt is so cold I can’t feel it anymore.”

Harry ruffles his hair again. “Yeah. I’ll take you home.”

Teddy heads off towards the exit, and he has improved at least a little bit, Ginny notices as she follows slightly behind. Harry keeps pace with her, even as he wobbles his way along, never more than an arm’s length from the edge.

“That was some good advice,” he says.

“Well,” Ginny says, “what’s the point of suffering through all that teenage angst if not to try to save the younger generation from repeating your mistakes?”

Harry laughs. “I hear that.”

They sit on the benches, pulling off their skates.

“I can take your skates here,” she says, stepping back behind the counter, ignoring the person already waiting to run this part of the booth.

He hands the skates up over the counter. His gloves are off now and she can see his perfectly naked fingers. Interesting.

“Thanks,” Teddy says.

“Good luck!” she calls out after him.

He waves, heading for the exit.

Harry lingers another moment, pulling his beanie off and revealing dark hair in complete disarray. “I’m realizing I’ve backed myself into a corner,” he says, leaning against the counter.

“How exactly?” she asks.

He drags a hand through his hair. “Because I can’t very well ask you out again without being a hypocrite.”

“Hmm,” she says, nodding solemnly at him. “That is a tricky spot you’ve put yourself in. I suppose sometimes it’s hard to live by our principles.”

He gives her a sad, lopsided smile. “You have no idea.” He pushes back from the counter. “It was nice meeting you, Ginny.”

“You, too, Harry,” she says.

He turns and walks away. Ginny eyes his ass, and, god, it really is a thing of beauty. He doesn’t even look back, and he’s going to do it. He’s really just going to leave her alone.

Amazing.

She counts three long beats before coming around to the other side of the counter and calling out after him. “Harry.”

He stops, turning back to look at her, waiting for her to catch up.

“For the record,” she says, “dinner never would have worked.”

“Sure,” he says, hands in his pockets.

“I already ate, and I’m stuck here until nine,” she says. “How about I buy you a drink instead?”

“You sure?” he says, voice slightly teasing. “Because I’d hate to have a date who had to be convinced.”

“Oh, believe me,” Ginny says. “You don’t need to do any convincing.”

He looks delighted, a smile lighting up his face, and Ginny is still having a hard time believing he’s real. “I’ll swing back around at nine them.”

She nods. “Looking forward to seeing you in your natural environment,” she drawls, giving him a wink.

He almost immediately nearly bumps into a trash can.

She lifts an eyebrow at him, but he just shakes his head. “Still shaking off the ice-skating legs.”

“Of course,” she says.

“Harry!” Teddy shouts from the exit.

“Coming!” Harry yells back. He looks at her. “Nine.”

She nods. “Nine.”

Giving her one last lingering look, he turns, giving her a great view as he walks away. Once out on the sidewalk, she can see Harry wrap his arm around Teddy’s neck, giving him a playful noogie as the kid fights him off.

Ginny smiles, watching them disappear before heading back to her station.

Back behind the counter, she picks up her phone, pulling up her conversation with Demelza.

Hot dad is not a dad at all, is gloriously single, and I am seeing him at nine tonight.

Get it, girl.

#annerbfic #hinny #seriously what is this #meet cute #american AU i guess #because I couldn't be fussed to mess with Britishisms #still on my indulgent bullshit lads #not lucky #but something equally ridiculous

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shhhlikeme · 4 years

Note

Hello! Can I get an S/O that’s tall (not like super tall but like 5’9, 5’8, maybe even taller) and she’s really insecure of her height with Tsukishima, Atsumu and Kuroo. It can go into NSFW

Hi! 🥰 You may! I’m 5’4 but one of my best friends in high school was 5’11 and she was always insecure about her height even though she was stunning so this felt relatable and I want every tall girl to read this!!. Let’s just say reader is 5’10” to be safe. Why not!

Also, I only wrote for Atsumu and Kuroo here because the writings are relatively long and I want to get to all suggestions. If you still want a Tsukki version in the future just request again okay? xo

Atsumu | Kuroo x Reader Who is Insecure about being Tall

Atsumu

After a long chase and his relentless pining you had finally agreed to be this boy’s girlfriend last week

The first thing he wanted to do was show you off

The two of you were getting ready for Atsumu’s College Formal Athletic Banquet, where his volleyball team were the guests of honour

As it usually goes in relationships, the blonde boy was ready way before you

but it wasn’t like you two were late so he wasn’t complaining

He also wasn’t complaining because that meant he could watch you put on your finishing touches

As much as he loved when you were makeup-less and natural more, there was something sexy about the way you applied your lipstick and the way you ran your hands along your long torso to straighten the dress you had on to your hearts content

He was leaning against his bedroom door frame silently gawking at your beauty

He admired your long legs that peaked out under the double slits of your dress because they looked like like they went on for days

In his head, he thanked every God and Deity out there for making him the lucky son of gun who gets to call you his date

Man, the guys are going to be so jealous, he thinks as you sit down, stretching your legs out in front of you to apply lotion on your legs individually

Mesmerized, Atsumu licks his lips. get your bf girl he’s about to pounce

He kinda wished your dress was shorter like the drool-over-me dress you wore when he first saw you at the club with your friends

That night you were the tallest girl in the club which meant you commanded all of the attention on the dance floor. Atsumu can recall perfectly how thirsty he felt which had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t visited the bar yet watching you—this beautiful, tall Goddess of a woman confidently striding past her admirers too low to even get your attention.

He told his friends that they better not dare hit on you and when they protested he shot them a menacing glare so intense they immediately stfu

Back in the present, he also wished your dress was shorter so that your God-Tier legs weren’t playing a sultry peek-a-boo game with him all night that he was sure to lose

You’re tempting him

But on second thought, he remembered how other guys looked at your legs that night at the club and thought otherwise

Atsumu’s eyes recovered from their glaze over as you stand back up and fix your hair one last time before you spot him in the mirror and smirk.

“I’m ready.” You say simply.

Atsumu cleared his throat and pushed himself up into a standing position, ready to compliment you until your face turned red.

“You look—wait you’re not ready. What about your shoes?”

You peered down at your feet in simple nude flats. You sighed.

“Atsumu......I changed my mind.”

Atsumu raised an eyebrow at you disapprovingly.

“Y/N.”

He asked you if you wanted him to call your best friend Mariah, who always forced you to wear heels. She did this at the club the night you met your incredible boyfriend and has held it over you ever since.

Atsumu walked to the corner of his room where you had set down the box of gorgeous high heels that you were planning on wearing tonight if your insecurities didn’t get the better of you.

Looking like a prince, he walked back over to you with an intense expression. You couldn’t look away from his eyes. He backed you up until the back of your thighs hit his chair and you sat down.

Your boyfriend stared down at you.

Still maintaining eye contact, he slowly took a knee in front of you in his expensive suit to run a hand down your long legs

“If my coach wasn’t making us go to this thing tonight, I would have you screaming my name right now with these fucking remarkable legs wrapped around my ears, baby girl.” He took off your flats gently and replaced them with your heels.

Is this Cinderella or whattt? How could he be so romantic and so utterly seductive at the same time?! Your breath shortened at his words

“I’m still debating it.” Atsumu stated before groaning as he caressed your perfect legs in the new shoes. “Do not rob me of the rare opportunity to see them look even better in heels.”

You shivered at the chilling undertone in his deep voice. It was the same voice he used when he was inside you, talking you through your release. He spoke again.

“If you do, there will be consequences.”

Kuroo

“You were bullied.... for being tall?”

Asked your boyfriend Kuroo for the third time since this conversation about your biggest insecurity had started.

The two of you were lounging in the pool in your backyard. He was in the water, his chiseled arms folded in front of him as he propped his upper body on the edge of the pool. You sat your bum on the edge beside him, only allowing your feet a dip in the water.

You nodded for the billionth time

The boy looked perplexed

“But, you’re so beautiful...? And I thought it was a good thing to be tall.”

He was always praised for it his whole life so he took a lot of pride in being shy of 6’2.

You calmly explained to him that anyone can get bullied and you definitely didn’t look this way before puberty. That you stood out like a sore thumb, all the boys avoided you -and that it’s a good thing to be tall when you’re a male. That the trend was always how cute “fun sized” girls were and not how cute your 5’10” frame was. You explained to him that it was the same way girls dismissed short guys and fawned over the ones that looked like him.

“I see.” Your freakishly good looking boyfriend pushed his wet bangs back and out of his face. “I guess I never really thought a girls attraction was dependent on her height. I mean, you do know that guys only like the fun sized girl because it made them feel better about themselves, in terms of feeling able to protect the girl and stuff. It had everything to do with how it makes the guy feel, not how valuable the girl was.”

You nod slowly because you never thought of it like that. Still, you were not sold on why you should drop your insecurities when they were very relevant

“And.... Kenma is considered pretty short, right?” He shrugged, thinking about his best friend. “Girls confessed to him just as much as they did to me, if not more...”

You tried to find a good comeback to that but you couldn’t.

“You look like a freaking Victoria’s Secret Model, Y/N. You wouldn’t if you were short. When you wear lingerie for me or this bikini.......” His eyes visibly darkened as he drank in your body. “To be fair you look better than any model. By far.” Halting himself from checking you out he lifted his eyes back up to yours before he started humping the pool wall. “All guys liked Victoria’s Secret models at that age when you were being bullied, and if any of them were to say that they wouldn’t sell their right arm and jump at the opportunity to date one of them, no matter how tall the model was, then they were fucking lying. We actually really love tall girls they’re just intimidating. Boys talk but everyone was probably just jealous of you. I mean, you’re my girlfriend and I still feel like bowing every time you walk into a room, you just command attention. I can kiss you without leaning down much which is the bessst, and our bodies match up flawlessly in bed. I love it. Height is power, babe. If you were with another guy and I saw you I would be sooooooooo salty because how did he get the confidence to approach someone that looks like you??? That’s why I had to ask for your number when we met. I would be kicking myself if I didn’t. Not only are tall girls hot and you could be a Victoria’s Secret model, but YOU are a dream come true for me.”

You shut your mouth completely. Your boyfriend always knew how to make you feel better and he didn’t even know it.

“Thanks, babe.... I love you.” You smiled at him suggestively and lifted your sunglasses to rest on top of your head. You pulled your legs out of the water and swung them to the side in order to stand up and walk over to the beach chair.

Kuroo couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched you literally look like a front-page super model in real-time. Your legs were so long and sexy. He wanted to leave hickeys on every inch of them.

“Hey, speaking of Victoria’s Secret... that reminds me.... I have a few more sets I’ve been dying to show you.”

You wrapped a towel around your body and looked back over at your boyfriend whose eyes were so dark it made you slightly dizzy.

“You always know how to make me feel better..” You cooed at him, pretending his gaze wasn’t making you wet. “Let me return the favour.” You daringly turned your back to him and tugged on the two strings that unravelled your bikini top.

Kuroo gulped.

Before you walked back inside your house, you carefully lobbed the bikini top over to your boyfriend who caught it in the air with perfect athleticism.

Frozen with lust, Kuroo stared at your retreating figure. You were so tall which he was sooo happy for because that meant you had more skin to worship for hours on end. He craved you.

“Fuck me, Y/N.” Your now horny boyfriend cursed as he thought about what you looked like under that towel, dressed only in a thong bikini bottom. “You are so gonna get it.”

#atsumu miya #atsumu x reader #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsuro x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyu requests #haikyuu boys #haikyuu sexy #haikyuu x tall reader #haikyuu kenma #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu headcannons

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atlafan · 4 years

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Take it Slow - Part Seventy-Five

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: SMUT RIGHT AWAY (with, um...bum stuff), and fluff

Harry holds you in his arms and kisses down your neck and chest. He kisses and sucks on your nipple through the material of the bodysuit.

“You look so sexy in this, but I’m takin’ it all the way off now.”

“Okay.”

You lay back on the bed and prop yourself up on your elbows. He kisses down your body while he slides it off. He spreads your legs and kisses from your knee down to your inner thigh. He looks at you while he sucks the skin into your mouth.

“Teasing?” You groan.

“For a change.” He smirks.

He kisses dangerously close to your center, but kisses to your other inner thigh and sucks another mark. He could see how wet you were. He blows on your clit and your hips buck up. He licks a flat stripe up your center. He does this a few times before wrapping his lips around your clit. Your hands slide to his hair.

“Fuck, that feels good.”

You watch as he slides his tongue all around your folds. He licks up and down and side to side, and you get to moan as loud as you want. He was straight up slurping on you, making you come over and over.

“Harry!” You yank his head up. His chin was covered in a mixture of you and his own spit.

“Wha’?”

“I love your tongue, really I do, but do you think I could have your dick now?” He smirks and nods his head yes.

“Sorry, I just…felt like I haven’t had a good taste in a while, and I got a little greedy.”

“Maybe I wanna be a little greedy too.” You bite your bottom lip. “Lemme suck on it, baby.”

He takes his pants off in seconds and gets on the bed. You lick him up and down and suck on him until he nearly comes, but you both wanted to save that for later. You crawl up his body and straddle him.

“Can I ride you first?” You pout. He runs his thumb over your bottom lip and nods.

You lift up slightly and sink yourself down on him, both of you moaning at the contact. He shifts so he’s sitting up against the headboard. You can feel him much deeper this way.

“Can I wrap my hand around that pretty throat, angel?”

“Yes, but, fuck, take your, ngh, rings off.” Harry chuckles but does as you say. He puts them all on his night table.

As you grind on him in a circle he slowly slides his hand up your body. His thumb rubs across your throat. He keeps a light grip on you at first.

“Yellow, remember?” He says to you.

“Mhm.” You smile.

You start bouncing up and down on him, and his grip tightens a little more. It was just enough pressure to heighten your other senses. When you come again he lets go of you and you kiss him, wrapping your arms around him.

“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful.” You suck his tongue into your mouth and he groans. “M’gonna put you on your side and drive it in deep.” You mouth falls open.

You get off him and get on your side. He straddles one of your thighs and lifts the other over his shoulder.

“Oh fuck!” You scream as he thrusts into you, hitting your g-spot immediately. “Harry! Right there, keep doing that, shit!”

He doesn’t let up, he drives in deep hitting your spot over and over. You had lost track of how many times you came. You eventually end up on your back with him rocking in and out of you.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen next.” He says into your ear, causing you to arch your back. “I’m gonna come inside you, fill you to the brim, and then you’re gonna fuck me, really fuck me.”

The thought alone almost you come again. Harry fucks into you and you feel his come shoot inside you.

“Shit.” He says. You kiss before he pulls out. “I’ll, uh, go grab the towel and lube.”

You nod and go grab the special box.

“Wait, um, could you just like take a shower quick?” You ask blushing.

“Sure, yeah, five minutes.”

Harry comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later good to go. He lays the towel down and tosses the lube to you. He grabs you by the back of your neck to kiss you. He lays all the way back, and you grab the lube. You warm some up in your hand and squirt some right on his hole. He winces as how cool it is.

“Sorry, sweetie.”

“S’okay.”

You get your middle finger covered and you stroke it around him at first before slipping it inside. He hugs his knees up to his chest for you. Once he’s stretched out enough, you put the strap on and lube it up.

“Ready, baby?”

“Mhm.”

You insert the tip and slowly slide your way into him. You watch as his lips part and his eyes roll into the back of his head.

“You look so good, Harry. Taking it so well.”

“Fuckin’ me so good, angel.”

You smile and start to rock in and out of him. You give him a good thrust and you hit his spot. You use a hand pump his cock. You run your thumb over his tip.

“Y/N.” He moans. “I’m gonna, ahhh, I’m gonna come babe!”

You thrust hard inside him and he screams, full on screams like you’ve never heard him before. From the way you were angling his cock, and from your surprise, his come gets all over your face. You didn’t even care because you had to clamp your legs together. You came from the sound of his scream.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” He says when he sees his come on your cheek and mouth and chin.

“No, that was my bad, I got…caught up.” You slowly pull out of him and he whimpers. “Please, please stop making those noises, it’s too much.” You both start laughing. You take the strap off. “What, um, flavor do you want tonight?”

“You pick, you’re the one with come all over your face.”

“Thanks.” You giggle.

You fill up the tub and throw a vanilla bath bomb in. You wash your face off and call for him. He kisses the top of your head.

“Hey…do you think I could sit in front of you this time.” Your cheeks grow red and you shove your head into his chest.

“Yeah, babe, of course.” He wraps his arms around you. “You okay?”

“I feel shy all of a sudden.” He feels a wetness on his chest and pulls your face back.

“Why are you cryin’, what happened?”

“I have no idea, I’m just feeling overwhelmed.”

“Alright, no reason to be, okay? I’m okay. Did I do somethin’?”

“No, I, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothin’, honey.”

He gets into the tub and you get in and lean your back against his chest. He wraps his arms around your stomach.

“I’m sorry, I should be the one taking care of you.” You say looking up at him.

“I’m fine.” He smiles. “You typically need more aftercare than I do anyways.”

“Aftercare?”

“Yeah, that’s what it’s called after you do stuff like that. It’s why you get so shy, you take a little bit of time to come back to me…you’ve done it since we became intimate. It’s why I always try to leave time to cuddle you after. Remember a while ago, when we were still livin’ at your place, you came home and we did it on your lunch break and you said you felt weird all day, and then you wanted me to lay on you?”

“Yeah?”

“Well…there yeh go.”

“I always thought that was something people did after like…BDSM or whatever. I mean, I know we do some different things, but…”

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you’re doin’. I mean, you were super shy after the first time I made you come, remember? Think I held you for most of the mornin’ that day.”

“I didn’t realize I was so needy.”

“No! You’r not needy at all.”

“I wasn’t always like that afterwards…I think what happened to me…made me close off and shutdown afterwards. I’ve always just felt realty safe with you though.”

“Good, I wanna always be the thing that makes you feel safe.” He pulls you closer to him.

“I love you, Harry.”

“I love you too, darlin’.”

“Harry, no offense, but you’re walking like you have a stick up your ass.” Mariah says to him.

“Yeah, and you look exhausted. Was the coffee I got not strong enough?” Isaac asks.

“No it was the perfect coffee, Isaac.” He smiles. “I just had a, um, long night.”

“Is everything okay?” Mariah asks.

“Yeah, everything’s great. Just had a pleasant evenin’ with my girl after my family left.”

He walks over to his set up for the day. Isaac and Mariah share a look.

“Define pleasant?” Isaac asks. Harry turns to look at them.

“Nothin’, we just got to spend some alone time together.”

“And that’s causing you to walk like that?”

“Walk like what?” Harry’s cheeks were starting to grow red.

“Like you-“

They’re cut off when the first client of the day walks in.

“Check them in, please.”

“This conversation isn’t over.” Isaac saunter over to his desk and checks the people in, a young girl and her father.

“Think she’s with me, I’ve got senior portraits all day.” Mariah says.

“Me too, I think. It’s been really fun. I wonder what Y/N’s senior photos looked like, bet they were cute.”

“I’m sure they’re on her Facebook. I know when I got mine I posted every single one, and the one my friends liked the most was the one I used in the yearbook.

Harry takes his phone out and goes to your Facebook page.

“Go to her albums, bet you she has a, yup! Senior year, 2012-2013.” She points to it and Harry taps on the album. “There! That one of her sitting next to the tree!”

Your hair looked slightly different. It was still long, but you had swept bangs across your forehead, and the blonde highlights you had were much more vibrant. You had a bright smile on your face, and your green eyes popped. You could really see the freckles on your face from your sun kissed skin. You had a blue top on with jeans.

“You were right, Harry. She does look cute.”

“She looks beautiful.”

“Good photographer.”

“Nah, she’s just that gorgeous.” She nudges him and he smiles.

“Maria, this is Alex, you’ll be taking her senior portraits today. Dad’s going to be at the coffee shop next door.” Isaac says.

“Great! We’re going to start outside, okay?”

“When’s my first appointment supposed to get here?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

“Great, I’ll be up in my office.” Isaac watches Harry slowly climb the stairs.

“Harry…”

“Stop watchin’ me!”

“Sometimes I wish we had summers off.” You tell Niall as you both walk Buster during your lunch-break. “Like, what really needs to get done?”

“I know, it’s hard on days like this. I miss just goin’ to the beach in the middle of the week when it’s not so crowded. We should go to Castle Island this weekend. Water’s probably still too cold, but at least we could sit out, go to Sully’s.”

“That’s my favorite place in the world, so obviously I’m in.”

“Right, your grandparents lived right around there.”

“Mhm.” You smile. “It would be nice to just get out, plus it’s dog friendly.”

“Does Harry have to work Saturday? I think just in the morning, he could always meet us later.”

“True, I’ll see what Sarah’s up to. I had no idea she online tutors in the summer…thought she’s have more free-time once school ended.”

“It’s really good extra money. Rachel scoops ice cream at a local place for extra cash. Being a teacher sucks sometimes, I don’t know how they do it.” You stop to let Buster pee. “Besides, with it being Saturday, Sarah should be free. I haven’t been to Castle Island in a while, this’ll be fun.”

You and Harry get home around the same time for a change.

“Hey you!” You say excitedly and kiss him. “This is nice.”

“I know! My dad actually ended at a reasonable hour. Mariah and Isaac are still there, but I’m the boss so I get to leave when I want.” He chuckles. “Actually they told me to go home. Felt like my eyes were goin’ to fall out from editing. I need to buy those glasses you have that take the blue light out of the screen.”

“Oh those work great for long days. I can get you a pair.”

“I can buy ‘em myself.” He gives your bum a pat and goes into the kitchen.

“I know you can…oh my goodness.”

“What?”

“Do we actually get to cook together tonight?” You gasp, and then so does Harry.

“I think we do! What is this domestic shit that we get to do?”

“Such a treat.” You giggle.

You both cook up a stirfry together.

“We should pick up some corn and grill this weekend, supposed to be nice out. I only have to work early Saturday mornin’.”

“Yeah! We could have everyone over for dinner. Niall and I were thinking of heading out to Castle Island, he’s gonna see if Sarah can come too, didn’t know if you wanted to meet up with us when you’re done.”

“Castle Island….” Harry looks off as if to jog his memory.

“You know, it’s by L Street Beach.”

“Oh right! I’ve been there a couple times.”

“My grandparents lived right near there, I practically grew up going to that beach and park…I haven’t been in a long time.”

“Gonna be too cold to swim still…”

“We won’t swim, might just sit out for a bit, walk around to the library, grab lunch at Sully’s.”

“That sounds nice, yeah I could meet you there when I’m done. Probably get there around lunch time.”

“We’ll probably drive over if you wanna just uber there when you’re done, then you can come home with us.”

“Sounds good, babe.”

Saturday morning, Harry’s out by 6AM. He gives you a long, sleepy kiss goodbye and out he goes. You get up around 7AM, not wanting to waste the nice day. You lather your arms and shoulders up with sunscreen before putting a crop top tank on, and some high waisted jean shorts that were loose around your thighs. You put your hair up in your high pony, and take out a few pieces of hair to frame your face. You slip on your tennis shoes and leash up Buster. You wave to Niall, and head across the street.

“No Sarah?” You frown.

“No, she had to go home this weekend actually. Her mum is paintin’ a bunch of rooms at her house and she needed her help movin’ furniture. Bein’ an only child must suck.” He chuckles. “Harry mettin’ us later?”

“Yeah, should be around lunch time. Let me just text him so he knows what’s up.”

You: hi baby, Sarah had to go home this weekend :( so you’ll be meeting Niall and I later

Harry sees your text and smiles at your courtesy.

Harry: sounds good, angel

You text Sarah too, letting her know she’ll be missed. You and Niall head to his car.

“What’s in the backpack?” He asks. You had a small backpack with you.

“Well, there’s water and a bowl for Buster, and I packed some extra sunscreen.”

“You’re always thinkin’.”

“I was thinking we could just hang at the beach for the morning, would that be alright?”

“Yeah! Don’t mind gettin’ sun at all.”

You and Niall drive to the beach and find a place to park. He had some towels in his trunk that you were able to lay out to sit on. You take a deep breath and put your sunglasses on.

“Alright?”

“Yeah…just a lot of good memories here.” You turn around and look across the street. “Nannie and I would sit on the beach, and Papa would sit across the street at one of those benches with his Walkman and a cooler of beer.” You laugh.

“He wouldn’t sit on the beach with yeh?”

“Well, I guess before I was born he was always in the sun, but he got skin cancer, so he couldn’t sit in the sun. So he’d sit in the shade. Then at lunch time we’d go across the street and sit with him. He was so cute, he always made sure to have a bucket hat for me, and to pack enough tonic for us.”

“No waves here, was it fun to swim?”

“Oh sure! I usually found another kid to play with too, and they had a ton of sand toys for me. There was this guy too that sold $1 fudge pops, and my Nannie would always get me one. Coming here, and the summers in middle school they were up in Seabrook were the best times of my life.”

“Maybe someday when you have your own kids you can bring ‘em here, and tell them all about your grandparents and how special it is.” You start to tear up. You smile and nod at him.

“C’mere.” He chuckles and throws an arm around you. You lean into him and sigh.

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“I know, you’re always fine.”

You both end up reading for a bit and listen to some music. Around eleven you decide to start walking towards Sully’s where you’d be meeting Harry. Buster was excited for the walk.

“Does he know it’s just fast food?”

“Oh god, you know, I didn’t even think to mention it. He could have fries?”

“Yeah, and ice cream.”

“That’s for on the way back after we walk around the castle.”

Harry’s uber pulls up to Sullivan’s, or Sully’s as you call it. He was wearing a pair of tan slacks, cuffed at the bottom, and a short sleeve white t-shirt tucked in. He had a dress shirt on earlier, but threw it in his bag. He gets out of the car and sees you, Niall, and Buster walking up.

“Oi!” He waves to the two of you and you smile at him. He jogs over to the two of you.

“I literally had no idea you owned sandals.” You say kissing him.

“I’m full of surprises.” He hooks an arm around your waist. “You look cute, baby.”

“Thanks.” You hand him Buster’s leash so he can take control of the dog.

“You two have fun at the beach? Saw your selfie earlier.”

“Yeah!” Niall says. “Started readin’ that book you recommended, it’s thrilling so far.”

“Oh good! I knew you’d like it, mate.”

You giggle as you walk up to the little fast food place you love so much.

“Harry, this is going to shock you, but I will be ordering chicken nuggets for myself.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“This is the only fast food place I like chicken nuggets from, and it would be blasphemous if I didn’t get them now.”

“You won’t get sick?”

“Nah, I just won’t look at it while I bite into it.”

“Grab me a hot dog and a coke, I’ll stay out here with the dog and keep a table.” Niall says.

“Thanks.” You smile and head in with Harry. “How was work?”

“Good, it was just a quick engagement shoot.”

“You look really cute too, so summery.”

“Just wait until I break out the jorts, you’ll love it.” You laugh and walk up to the counter. “Hello, can I please have one hotdog and fries, chicken nuggets and fries, and…” You look up at Harry.

“Another order of fries. Two cokes, and-“

“A water please.”

You’re given a number and you hang off to the side after Harry pays.

“I could’ve gotten it.” You say to him.

“I know.” He rubs your back. “So you used to come here with your grandparents?”

“Mhm, all the time.” Your number gets called and you grab the box they put everything in. Harry grabs ketchup, napkins and straws.

“Thanks.” Niall says when you hand him his hotdog.

You and Harry sit, and he watches you carefully as you bite into your chicken nugget. Your eyes close and you’re transported to a much different, happier time in your life.

“Oh my fucking god.” You say. “That’s good.” You say opening your eyes. “I probably won’t eat all of these, but damn, if that’s not a good nugget.”

“I like that the fries are crinkle cut, very old school.” Harry says, popping one into his mouth.

You all enjoy your meal. You take the bowl out of your bag and put some water in it for Buster. After he laps it up you all throw your trash away, and make your way down the walking path towards the Castle.

“Can you tour it?” Harry asks.

“I think so, but I never have.”

“Sometimes I forget this part of Boston exists.” Niall says. “Like there’s a beach, this beautiful park. Everything yeh need.”

“It was perfect growing up.”

You walk down a certain path that leads you to the playground you used to play at when you were a little girl. You stop short. It looks the exact same. Not rundown or anything, they just hadn’t updated anything.

“Y/N?” Harry says when he notices you’ve stopped walking.

Your bottom lip starts to quiver, and you feel tears rolling down your cheeks. You lift your sunglasses up to wipe them away.

“I just need to sit for a second.” You go over to one of the benches facing the playground. Harry and Niall sit on either side of you. “My grandparents used to sit right here and watch me play after we’d go to Sully’s, and then we’d go back for ice cream. I’m sorry, I didn’t think I’d get so emotional.” Harry hands you a napkin so you can wipe your eyes. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay, love.” He rubs your back.

“Being here…just makes me miss those times even more, makes me miss my Papa even more.” You bite your inner cheek so you don’t get more emotional. You take a deep breath and stand up. “Let’s keep going, I’m fine.” You smile. “It’s all good memories.”

Harry holds your hand the rest of the time you’re out walking. You take a bunch of pictures and selfies with the boys. Niall takes a nice one of the two of you and Buster. It was nice hanging out with the two of them without any hostility for a change. By mid-afternoon you make your way back to the car. You go to sit in the back, but Harry stops you.

“Sit in the front, babe. I’ll sit with Buster.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind. Mate, we’re gonna do a bit of grillin for dinner, wanna come by?”

“Sure! That sounds great. I’ll pick up some beer.”

Harry hums his response. Niall drops the two of you off so he can go to the liquor store. You and Harry get Buster upstairs and some fresh water. He was hot.

“I’m gonna change quick, I’m sweatin’.”

“Me too actually.”

You follow him into the bedroom. Harry throws on a different white t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. You put on a different tank top.

“Much better.” You say.

He follows you into the kitchen to get all of the food out of the fridge and he goes out to the balcony to fire up the grill. Niall comes up with the drinks, and the three of you settle in outside.

“This is perfect.” Niall says, sipping on his beer.

“Right? What could be better?” You say.

Harry gets all the food off the grill and puts it on the table. You all make plates and sit back to eat.

“Y/N, what do you think you want to do for your birthday this year?” Niall asks.

“Honestly, I’d love to do what I did for my 21st and just rent a house by the beach and go nuts. Twenty-five is a big deal, you know?”

“I’m surprised you don’t wanna go nuts at a club in the city.” Harry chuckles.

“She did that last year.” Niall laughs.

“First of all, you came for like five minutes. Second of all, I’ve done the club thing enough. I just think it would be fun to do like a really long weekend, get an air bnb and have fun.”

“Think we could make that work.” Harry says. “Who would you want there?”

“You, me, Niall, Sarah, Rachel, and Mariah.” You shrug.

“Alright.”

“Harry, when do you go to London?”

“Middle of July, two weeks. Y/N’s comin’ for one week, even though I think she should come for two.”

“Harry, I can’t take that much time off.”

“When do you go to Ireland?”

“End of August, two weeks.”

“Good, I’m sure your family misses yeh. I was gonna go for three weeks, but since I just saw my mum and sister I figured I didn’t need to be gone for as long.”

Your phone starts ringing, a call from Seth Rowan.

“Oh, great, your ex-boyfriend.” Harry whines.

“He’s not my, I never, shut up.” You grab your phone and answer it. “Hello?”

“Hey Y/N!”

“What’s up, Seth?” You stand up to take the phone call inside. They hear you laughing from inside.

“Nope.” Harry says. “Nope, don’t like that.”

“I still can’t believe her and Sarah were hookin’ up with him at the same time…”

“We did the same thing.”

“I know, but girls get catty about that kind of stuff.”

You come back outside with a glass of water and sit down.

“I’ll have to ask, I’m not sure what our plans are yet.”

“Well, anyone’s welcome, bring your boyfriend if you want too.”

“Thanks, I’ll definitely ask. Thanks for the invite.”

“Course, talk to you soon.”

“Bye!” You hang your phone up and take a sip of water. “My friend, emphasis on friend, is having a party on the fourth of July. His parents have a house in Hull on the private part of the beach, are you guys interested? His parties are a lot of fun.”

“Could be nice to be out in the open air and not in stuffy apartment.” Niall says to Harry.

“He’s going to invite Rachel and Sarah too, and I know they’ll want to go. He even said I could bring my boyfriend, isn’t that nice?” You look at Harry.

“Sure, I guess we could that. But only if we all go.” He looks at Niall.

“Yeah, why not? I love meeting people that my girlfriend has fucked.”

“Hey!” You slap Niall in the arm. “That’s not very nice. It was so long ago, we were like nineteen or twenty for god’s sake.”

“I’m only kidding.”

“No you’re not. Jesus, you guys can be such babies sometimes.”

“So if someone Harry hooked up with invited him to a party and you’d have to meet them, you wouldn’t care at all?” Harry cuts you off before you can speak.

“This one? She’s the least bothered person I’ve ever met. Didn’t have a problem with Myk, and-“

“Yeah but you and Myk hate each other. I’m talkin’ about a friend.” Harry looks at you.

“I probably would feel…uneasy at first, but I’m the one sleeping with him now, not someone else.”

“What was so great about this guy anyways that you and Sarah were sharin’ him?”

“It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t like oh you get him Friday and I get him Saturday. Neither of us realized we were hooking up with the same guy until we both went to one of his parties. We were both hooking up with multiple people at the time so it wasn’t a big deal.” You take another sip of your water and scrunch your nose. “Also, I really don’t want to think about the people I used to sleep with, it’s gross.”

Harry and Niall start laughing.

“Gross?” Niall says.

“Yeah! I’m having the best sex I’ve ever had, why the fuck would I even think about anyone else.”

“God, don’t inflate his ego.”

“You heard that though right? Best she’s ever had. See if Sarah can say the same, mate.”

“She has said the same.” You say.

“See! Wait, how often do you two talk about your sex lives?”

“Um…like all the time.” You look at the two of them. “You guys don’t talk about it?”

“A little.” Harry says. “But not all the time. Don’t you have better things to talk about?”

“Not really.” You shrug. “All three of us do it. It was really helpful in school, we could compare notes.”

“Do you still compare notes?” Niall asks. You grab your beer and sip on it.

“Y/N, are you saying the three of you go into like…intimate details about us with your friends?”

“No! Not…super intimate. We just talk about things, that’s all. Like oh do you like it when a guy does this? No? Me either. Stuff like that.”

“But you talk about us specifically, right? You must if she told you-“ Niall starts, but you cut him off.

“Hey! I’m allowed to have girl talk with my friends, and that stays between us. Just like whatever you two talk about stays between you two. Harry said you talked about guy stuff on your camping trip. How do I know that doesn’t include a conversation about my vagina?”

“Okay! That’s enough of that.” Harry says. “We didn’t talk about sex once when we went campin’, did we?”

“No, actually we didn’t.” Niall starts laughing. “We had real, mature conversations.” He stands up and pats the top of your head. “Something you’re young mind clearly isn’t equipped for.” He goes inside to use the bathroom.

“You’re two years older than me you asshole!” You laugh and look at Harry. “What?”

“Do you tell your friends everything?”

“Define everything…”

“You know what I mean.” You didn’t want to lie to him, but you also didn’t want to start an argument.

“Sarah and I bought all that stuff together…”

“But does she know you’ve used it.”

“I know she’s used some things and she knows I’ve used some things. I didn’t get into the nitty gritty though.” You say quietly, unsure of when Niall will return from the bathroom. “Like they don’t know…the specifics.”

“Y/N, I don’t want you talkin’ about that in general. That’s just for us. Imagine if Niall knew you knew about Sarah usin’ a butt plug on him.”

“I didn’t say specifically what she used.” You sit back and smirk. “Seems like you guys have talked about it.”

“A little…but I certainly haven’t told anyone about…you know.”

“Are you embarrassed?”

“No, but I think that’s a really personal thing to talk to your friends about, even if you don’t go into specifics.”

“Sorry…I won’t talk about it.”

“Okay.”

Niall comes back out with a three fresh beers and hands you both one.

You couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday for with your two favorite guys. Niall left around 8PM. Buster got settled in his dog bed.

“I need to shower, get all this sunscreen off me.” You say to Harry.

“Couldn’t agree with yeh more. You know, you really tan nicely.”

“So do you.”

You both head into the bathroom to shower. You take turns washing each other and you wash Harry’s hair for him, just how he likes. You both get cozy in bed and he offers to read to you for a bit. You loved when he’d read to you. You hadn’t had much time for it lately, so you’d take it when you could get it. You hoped every weekend this summer could be just as perfect.

#take it slow #harry styles #harry styes x reader #harry styles y/n #harry styles x y/n #harry styles imagine #harry styles fluff #harry styles fluff fic #harry styles smut #harry styles smut fic #harry styles fic #a nice long one for yall #hope you like!

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today-only-happens-once · 5 years

Text

In Place

Title: In Place

Word Count: 4274

Summary: A year later, Roman returns to the Sanders’ abode for Christmas. And maybe he’s still trying to figure out where he’s supposed to fit. Companion piece/Sequel to Homeward but can be read separately. Romantic!Parents!Logicality, familial!LAMP

Warnings: Feeling out of place. Fluff. Christmas clichés and tropes. Occasional undercurrents of angst, but it’s mostly holiday found-family fluff, tbh. Patton is Latinx in this but it’s only really mentioned in passing.

A/N: Is this chock full of clichés and tropes? Yes. Am I sorry for that? Nope. Do I have mixed feelings about how this fic actually turned out? Yep. C’est la vie. Happy holidays!

…

December 23. 10:43 AM.

Roman looks over, his mouth quirking into a small, appreciative smile as Logan hands him a mug full of a steaming liquid. Roman’s folded up in the chair by the window, watching the late morning snowfall drift in large, lazy flakes towards the blanket of snow already on the ground. His first snowfall—in the middle of the night outside a broken down car with Virgil—flickers through his mind for not the first time in the past week.

Had that really been a year ago?

“Thanks, Mr. Sanders,” Roman says. A quick glance and deep inhale of the contents of the mug indicate it is coffee. He takes a tentative sip, an odd and unexpected note of affection squeezing his chest as he realizes that they remembered his usual of three spoonfuls of sugar.

Logan inclines his head. “You are welcome.” He has a mug in his own hand—and the faint scent of coffee drifts in the air around them. “How did you sleep?”

“Long,” Roman replies with a sheepish smile. “But it was good.”

The corner of Logan’s mouth twitches in something like amusement. “Still not as long as Virgil.” He glances towards the stairs and shakes his head.

Roman laughs a little. Virgil had yet to emerge from his room today. The college student quickly brushes the bangs falling into his eyes back into his hair. The brief moment of calm is interrupted by the sound of music drifting into the living room from the kitchen: a song that Roman recognizes as soon as the trumpet line kicks in, even before the lyrics.

“Feliz navidad. Feliz navidad. Feliz navidad, prospero año y Felicidad.”

Patton suddenly appears from around the kitchen doorway, dancing and singing along into a whisk. He’s in blue pajama pants and a gray t-shirt with a cartoon cat on the front. Roman can’t help the smile that breaks across his face, and though Logan rolls his eyes as Patton dances his way towards him, the spark of affection is evident. Almost as if it’s routine, Logan sets his mug of black coffee down on the side table right before Patton grabs his hand and pulls him into a dance in the middle of the living room.

Roman sips his own drink and watches them. Patton continues to sing in Spanish, and Logan matches his dancing at every step. Roman thinks it might be salsa. Or merengue. He doesn’t remember much from his dance lesson days. Logan and Patton, though, are actually…. Quite good.

Roman laughs as Virgil emerges from the stairs a moment later, confusion and bewilderment flashing shamelessly across his face as his dads dance to “Feliz Navidad” in the living room. Patton glances over towards the foot of the stairs and grins. Virgil shakes his head, says something about “too early for this”, and turns as if to go back upstairs.

Patton breaks from Logan and grabs Virgil’s hand. “C’mon, kiddo”, Patton chimes brightly at the same time that Logan says something about it being “nearly 11 o’clock”. Virgil trips a little as his dad pulls him to join the two of them dancing. Virgil lets his dad spin him around once and then stumbles his way towards the kitchen with a barely contained smile and a note about making sure breakfast doesn’t burn.

He shrugs his shoulders at Roman from across the room before he disappears through the kitchen doorway.

Patton rolls right into Logan’s anticipating arms as they dance together again until the song ends. Logan presses a small kiss to Patton’s head as the song fades out.

“You guys are really good,” Roman says.

Patton grins. “Thanks, kiddo.”

“I suppose it is mostly Patton’s side of the family to thank for that,” Logan adds as he returns to his coffee cup on the table beside Roman. “Patton has known how to dance like that for as long as I’ve known him. I picked up a few things from his family over the years.”

Patton leans over and kisses Logan’s shoulder. “You also took dance lessons before our wedding to surprise me. I’m sure that helped, too.”

Logan hums noncommittally. “The wedding was nearly exclusively your family, after all. The last thing I wanted was to embarrass myself. Dance lessons seemed like a practical investment, given the situation.”

Virgil’s voice from the kitchen interrupts the conversation. “So what’s the plan for today?”

“Shopping, I believe,” Logan calls back to him. “Patton and I have a few more things to get. You and Roman are welcome to come along.”

Roman glances outside again. From his position in the chair, he can see down the street a ways to the corner. Mr. Picani’s inflatable snowman is in the same position it was from Roman’s exhausted memory last year. Across the street, two small children are having a snowball fight. Roman snorts when he sees a man emerge from the front door—bundled up in a coat, scarf, hat, and gloves—wielding a nerf gun. The two children shriek excitedly and take off running towards the back yard.

It leaves an odd feeling in Roman’s chest.

“I’m down,” Virgil replies. “Roman? You in?”

Roman blinks and looks back at Logan and Patton. Patton tilts his head, his brow furrowing in something like concern. Roman offers what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “Yeah. I’m in.”

…

December 23. 4:10 PM.

Roman grabs a glass ornament from the vendor’s table and turns it over gently in his hand. The cold December air causes the breath of wonder that escapes his lips at the intricately designed object to form a small cloud in front of his face. Roman tucks his nose a little further into his scarf.

“That’s hand-blown,” the vendor—an elderly gentleman with frazzled gray hair and pink cheeks—tells him.

“It’s beautiful,” Roman tells him sincerely. He sets it gingerly down in the box he’d pulled it from. He glances over his shoulder as the bell above the door to the puzzle shop jingles, signaling Patton’s emergence from it. He looks left, then right, then crosses the walkway towards the ornament stand that Roman and Virgil had been perusing. Virgil, at the other corner of the table from Roman, looks up as his dad approaches.

“Is your father nearby?”

Virgil eyes the not-at-all-subtle way that Patton is hiding something beneath his jacket. He shakes his head. “I think he went to the bookstore to get something for Corbin and Sloane. Why?”

Patton pulls a blue plastic bag from beneath his gray coat and opens it. Virgil peers in. “I got your father that hand-carved chess set he’s been eyeing for a few months. I’m gonna go hide it in the car. I’ll be right back.” He gives a bright smile to Roman before rushing off towards the parking lot.

Virgil shoves his hands into the pockets of his black coat and crosses the few steps towards Roman. “Dad is terrible at hiding things. He gets lucky that father doesn’t really go looking.”

Roman’s mouth quirks into an almost-smile. “Didn’t you say something about one of them eating part of that gingerbread kit last year?”

“That was dad.” Roman doesn’t miss the look of warm affection in Virgil’s eyes, even as they both start walking towards a bench to take a seat. They pass by a chestnut stand and the earthy scent is almost enough for Roman to forget just how cold it is outside.

A father wearing a Santa hat with a young girl dressed like Elsa on his shoulders passes by. Roman gives her a deep bow before he takes a seat on the bench, and the girl grins brightly at him, giving him a regal wave in return. He sees Virgil glance at him out of the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t say anything. Neither does Roman. Instead, the two of them sit in companionable silence and watch families, couples, and individuals bustle around for their last-minute Christmas gifts.

People watching had always left Roman feeling vaguely uncomfortable, especially around the holidays. In the back of his mind, he realizes it’s mostly when he notices families and couples holding hands that he gets that odd feeling in his chest again. He doesn’t know what it means. It’s like a part of him is reaching out for something that he cannot find, or that he does not know how to name.

“Don’t think so hard, Princey,” Virgil chimes lightly. “You might blow a fuse.”

Roman huffs an affronted breath. “Excuse you, thinking is my specialty.”

“Is that what you were doing when you sang Mariah Carey at the top of your lungs that one Thursday—”

“As a matter of fact, it was!”

“All the more reason you should do less of it, then.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Charlie Frown.” There’s no real bite in Roman’s voice. The familiarity of the banter with Virgil eases some of the discomfort from a moment ago. Virgil pulls his hands out of his pockets to hold them up in mock surrender.

When he really thinks about it, Roman figures it’s a bit of an odd relationship. Just over a year ago, Roman really only knew Virgil as someone from his English 100 class. Now? Well. Roman considers Virgil his best friend. It had been a fast year: a whirlwind of undergraduate classes and exams and papers, a summer internship for Roman in New York with a magazine and one for Virgil at home with a graphic design company. They’d visited each other twice that summer, and though Roman would never admit it, he was certain that was the only thing that kept him sane.

The start of their sophomore year, Roman and Virgil both had abysmal roommates and elected to move in together. More tests, more essays, more stress. Another set of finals. And then suddenly it was Christmas break. And Virgil had acted like the idea that Roman was going with him to Maine was a given—something that was really saving grace for Roman, who wouldn’t have dared to ask.

From his very first time meeting them a year ago, Roman loved Virgil’s dads. They were everything his parents hadn’t been, and a shining example of the kind of love Roman hoped to find with a guy one day himself. But every time Roman was near Virgil and his parents…. It left an odd weight on his shoulders. As if Roman was trying to squeeze into a space he wasn’t actually wanted in.

“What?” Virgil asks suddenly, from beside him.

“What?”

Virgil shrugs, his gaze flickering back to look at the people bustling by when Roman looks over to meet his gaze. “I know that look, Roman.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Virgil arcs an eyebrow and looks at him again. “They’re glad you’re here. They’re not just, like… tolerating it, or whatever. You know that, right?”

Roman freezes for a second, then tries to recover. “Who? My adoring fanbase?” He waves at a baby that is staring at him with huge eyes beneath a beanie cap in a stroller as his mother talks with a friend.

But for some reason, Virgil doesn’t seem willing to let it go. “My dads.”

Roman glances quickly at him. “I know.”

“Do you?”

Virgil’s question doesn’t get answered as they both see Logan emerge from the bookshop with a bag in his hands and starts towards them. Roman finds himself grateful for the interruption. But he doesn’t miss the quick glance that Virgil throws his way anyway.

…

December 23. 8:01 PM.

Patton stands in the middle of the living room, the lights from the Christmas tree reflecting in the lens of his glasses, and steeples his fingers in front of his face. He looks thoughtfully at the otherwise bare tree, and Roman can see the wheels of thought turning in his head from his position on the couch.

“I think,” he says slowly, “that it needs more lights—”

“Absolutely not,” Logan interrupts flatly and immediately. “Patton, you put six strands of lights on that tree. I draw the line at seven.”

Virgil snorts from where he’s sitting at the bottom of the steps. He’s got both hands wrapped around a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Roman’s sits on the coffee table. He likes to let his marshmallows soak for a moment before he drinks it. He’s got a red blanket pulled across his lap.

“We do have one more strand,” Virgil says with a mischievous look in his eyes. “Seems like it would be a waste to just not put it on the tree at this point.”

Logan shoots a look at his son as Patton gasps. “Exactly! We can’t have one lonely strand left, Logan.”

Logan releases a long, suffering sigh, but even he can’t contain the faint glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he looks otherwise stoically at his husband. “Very well. Why you insist on personifying inanimate objects but refuse to do so when it resembles a human form, I may never understand—”

“Is this still about me eating the gingerbread man last year?”

A beat of silence. “Perhaps.”

“He’s made of gingerbread, Logan.” Patton grabs the strand left untangled on the floor and hands one end to his husband. “He wants to be eaten. It makes him feel fulfilled.”

“I see.”

Patton and Logan work together to wrap and connect the final strand of lights around the base of the tree. Patton beams, satisfied at their work, as Logan steps around and snakes an arm around his husband’s waist, pulling him in and kissing the top of his head. He then turns his attention to the green storage container sitting beside the coffee table. He pops the lid off to reveal it’s contents—shrouded in brown and tissue paper. Ornaments. Apparently, sentimental ones.

Virgil pulls himself to his feet as Logan sits on the couch and Patton sits cross-legged on the floor. Roman decides to take his cue from his friend and tosses the blanket off his legs, standing up as well.

“Aw, I remember this one!” Patton exclaims as he unwraps one of the ornaments. “Logan, this was from the first time we spent Christmas together.”

Logan gingerly takes the square ornament from his husband’s hands and dangles it from one of his fingers. Roman can see a picture of Patton and Logan together inside of it. “Yes,” Logan muses. “I remember this. We were sophomores in college. You’d heard about my… situation and asked if I wanted to join you for the holidays.” He casts a quick but gentle look at his husband before turning his attention to the tree and carefully selecting a branch to loop through the string.

“And this was from our vacation two years ago,” Patton explains, carefully finding the hook at the top to hand off to Virgil.

Virgil makes a face as he takes it. “Was this from that one middle-of-nowhere restaurant that gave me food poisoning?”

Logan studies it for a moment from across the room, then pushes the frame of his glasses up his nose a bit. “No,” he says. “That one is from the Christmas Tree farm in Vermont that your dad wanted to stop at in the middle of July.”

“It’s never too early to celebrate Christmas—Oh!” Patton cuts himself off as he unwraps the tissue paper from another one. “Virge, remember this?” Patton brandishes the blue and purple sphere to show his son before he hands it off to Roman.

Roman takes it reverently, arching an eyebrow at Virgil. The corner of Virgil’s mouth quirks in an affectionate smile at the object in Roman’s hands. “Yep,” Virgil says.

“It was the first Christmas gift you ever got me,” Patton says. “Your first year with us.”

Virgil huffs a faint, embarrassed laugh. “Not my best gift.”

“You had only known us for a few months,” Logan replies. “We were all getting to know one another still. You could not have been expected to get a particularly personal gift. And besides, it now holds significant sentimental value.”

Roman glances down at it. It was relatively unassuming—a perfect sphere, swirls of blue and purple colors, and the year it was bought printed in silver calligraphy—but Roman is careful when he hangs it off a branch. He loops the pine through the yarn tied at the top of it and stops a moment to ensure it will hold securely before he turns his attention away from it. Patton is already explaining and reminiscing about another ornament that he’s slowly handing off to Logan.

Roman can tell from the fond if slightly rote responses from Logan and Virgil that Patton’s rehashing of memories through these ornaments was probably a regular event whenever they decorated the tree. Roman hardly minds. He listens to Patton’s stories with more than polite silence—he enjoys them. Last year, Patton and Logan had waited until Virgil was there to decorate the tree as well. But Roman had elected to help Patton with some things in the kitchen so that he could lead the tree decorating. He hadn’t really elected to take part in it.

He felt like he was witnessing a surprisingly intimate moment with this family and the odd feeling from early returns to his chest. It squeezes a little harder this time, and Roman feels out of place and uncertain. Like he’s intruding.

“I think that’s it,” Patton says nearly an hour later, peering into the empty storage box from his place on the floor.

“Hold on,” Virgil says. “I’ve got one more.” The college student rushes from around the tree and disappears up the stairs. Logan quirks an eyebrow at Roman, who simply shakes his head. He has no idea what Virgil is talking about.

Moments later, Virgil comes back down the steps. Hanging from his forefinger is a gold string loop fastened to a small ornament. A red car. One that looks remarkably like—

“Wait,” Roman says, frowning.

“Look, it’s the closest I could find,” Virgil says with a slight shrug. “It’s supposed to be Maximus.”

Roman stares at Virgil, confused. He, evidently, isn’t the only one. “The horse from Tangled?” Patton asks from behind them, having not moved from his position sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“My car,” Roman replies, but he still doesn’t understand. Why did Virgil get an ornament version of his car?

Virgil carefully threads it onto one of the few unadorned branches towards the top of the tree. “Yeah,” he replies easily. “A reminder of last year. Your first Christmas with us.”

Roman stares at it as Virgil steps back to survey the addition. Roman feels his friend nudge him with his elbow, but he can’t speak past the sudden lump in his throat. He doesn’t think he’d trust himself to speak right now anyway.

“I think it’s great,” Patton chimes in thoughtfully. “I had been looking for some way to add you to our Christmas memories when we were shopping today but nothing seemed to fit.”

Logan gives an affirming nod. “Agreed. I had been doing the same without success. Although sentimental ornaments are, admittedly, not my strong suit. That is a more than satisfactory addition to the family Christmas tree.”

“More than satisfactory?” Virgil quips teasingly. “Well, now you know you’re an approved Sanders.” Logan rolls his eyes in response.

But Roman still doesn’t know what to say. The red car ornament looks like it fits. It blends into the wide assortment of random objects and shapes that had been turned into ornaments full of meaning and memory. And all Roman can do is look at it and realize that they all wanted to place Roman amidst that smattering of love put on display in their living room.

“I… are you sure?” Roman finds himself asking, in a voice that sounds too small to be his own.

He’s not really asking about the ornament. An ornament is a temporary seasonal decoration but it feels very permanent to Roman. A part of him tries to tell himself that he’s reading too much into it, but he knows. He listened to Patton share memories about every single object on that tree, he saw the warmth in all of their eyes with each one that got added and Roman knows—even if a part of him wants to deny it—that being added to this tree signifies a lot more than just. Decoration.

So he asks. Are you sure?

“Of course we’re sure, kiddo,” Patton says as he pushes himself to his feet. He steps up beside Roman and wraps an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in for a moment.

“Roman,” Logan adds, both serious and uncharacteristically gentle, “you have a place here. With us. For as long as you want it.” Startled, Roman glances at Virgil’s father. There’s something aged and knowing in his eyes and Roman suddenly feels more seen than he has in a very, very long time. He blinks quickly against the heat in his eyes and tries to clear his throat.

“I…” Roman tries.

“And we hope you’ll want it for a long time,” Patton adds with a small squeeze to Roman’s shoulders. “Because like it or not, you’re part of this family now. The tree is just…” Patton trails off, waving a hand at it, seemingly at a loss for how to explain his point.

“It’s a symbol,” Virgil adds in. “Of what’s already been true for a while now.” He’s giving Roman a quiet, knowing look. Almost a placid I told you so.

Roman casts a look towards Virgil and hopes he understands everything he isn’t sure how to say in this moment. “Thank you,” Roman says, despite the gap between the words and what he means behind them. They are the only words that come to mind. He wishes he could think of more.

Patton laughs slightly—warm and reassuring—and gives Roman one more squeeze before he lets go. Roman glances at Logan, seeing him smile faintly and incline his head. There’s a brief pause of silence before Virgil jumps in.

“So. About that gingerbread house?”

…

December 24. 9:40 PM.

“Roman! Get in here!”

Roman rolls his eyes at Virgil’s teasingly aggressive shout from the living room, then laughs at Patton’s immediate admonishment. He finishes pouring the popcorn into the large bowl before tossing the bag into the trash.

“You got it?” Logan asks, standing beside him as he slides the tray of hot chocolates off the counter to balance on his arms. Roman has to stop himself from laughing at the man—Roman wasn’t sure he’d ever quite get used to seeing Virgil’s father in a unicorn onesie. But somehow, Patton had convinced them all to wear them in the name of tradition.

Roman’s had been a slightly-early Christmas present from Patton. His new Beauty and the Beast themed garment was now his favorite thing he owned.

Roman picks up the bowl and nods. “Yeah. I’m good. You good?” He nods to the tray balanced across Logan’s arm.

Logan smiles. “I have enough practice from my barista days. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer.”

The two of them head out from the kitchen and into the living room. Virgil is sitting on the floor in his skeleton onesie with a violet blanket pulled across his lap. Patton sits on the floor beside him—in a cat onesie of his own—and thanks Logan when his husband hands him one of the mugs from the tray. Roman sits on the couch, folding his legs up as he lowers the bowl of popcorn into Virgil’s lap in front of him. There’s an exchange of mugs, snacks, and light teasing as everyone settles in.

“So what are we watching?” Roman asks as Logan loads the DVD.

“Muppets Christmas Carol.” Patton reaches for the remote to adjust the volume up a bit in preparation.

“It’s the best of all worlds,” Virgil adds in.

“Yes,” Logan muses, padding to the light-switch to turn off the lights in the room as the movie starts up. “Virgil’s favorite holiday story is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Patton’s fond of the Muppets. I appreciate some of the more sophisticated humor. And I have a feeling you will be fond of the music in this movie.”

“Watching this is a tradition,” Patton adds. “We just didn’t get to last year given… circumstances.”

Virgil cranes his neck back to look at Roman on the couch above him as Logan takes a seat beside Roman. “That’s one thing about this family. So. Many. Traditions. So get ready. There’s no going back now.” He says it lightly. Easily. And Roman knows without asking that Virgil is a far cry from complaining about it.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Roman says with a small but sincere smile. “I’m right where I want to be.”

He sees Logan smile a bit from behind his mug as he takes a sip. Patton glances over at him. “Good. You’re a perfect fit.”

…

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#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #christmas #sanders sides christmas #familial lamp/calm #minor angst #found family #fluff #tropes #cliches #holiday fic #latinx #latinx mention #romantic logicality #platonic prinxiety

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bangwoolofbangtan · 3 years

Text

TIME

ENTERTAINER of the year

BTS

[Time magazine BTS interview ]

It’s late October, and Suga is sitting on a couch strumming a guitar. His feet are bare, his long hair falling over his eyes. He noodles around, testing out chords and muttering softly to himself, silver hoop earrings glinting in the light. “I just started learning a few months ago,” he says. It’s an intimate moment, the kind you’d spend with a new crush in a college dorm room while they confess rock-star ambitions. But Suga is one-seventh of the Korean pop band BTS, which means I’m just one of millions of fans watching, savoring the moment.

BTS isn’t just the biggest K-pop act on the charts. They’ve become the biggest band in the world—full stop. Between releasing multiple albums, breaking every type of record and appearing in these extemporaneous livestreams in 2020, BTS ascended to the zenith of pop stardom. And they did it in a year defined by setbacks, one in which the world hit pause and everyone struggled to maintain their connections. Other celebrities tried to leverage this year’s challenges; most failed. (Remember that star-studded “Imagine” video?) But BTS’s bonds to their international fan base, called ARMY, deepened amid the pandemic, a global racial reckoning and worldwide shutdowns. “There are times when I’m still taken aback by all the unimaginable things that are happening,” Suga tells TIME later. “But I ask myself, Who’s going to do this, if not us?”

Today, K-pop is a multibillion-dollar business, but for decades the gatekeepers of the music world—the Western radio moguls, media outlets and number-crunchers—treated it as a novelty. BTS hits the expected high notes of traditional K-pop: sharp outfits, crisp choreography and dazzling videos. But they’ve matched that superstar shine with a surprising level of honesty about the hard work that goes into it. BTS meets the demands of Top 40’s authenticity era without sacrificing any of the gloss that’s made K-pop a cultural force. It doesn’t hurt that their songs are irresistible: polished confections that are dense with hooks and sit comfortably on any mainstream playlist.

BTS is not the first Korean act to establish a secure foothold in the West, yet their outsize success today is indicative of a sea change in the inner workings of fandom and how music is consumed. From propelling their label to a $7.5 billion IPO valuation to inspiring fans to match their $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter, BTS is a case study in music-industry dominance through human connection. Once Suga masters the guitar, there won’t be much left for them to conquer.

In an alternate universe where COVID-19 didn’t exist, BTS’s 2020 would likely have looked much like the years that came before. The group got its start in 2010, after K-pop mastermind and Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si-hyuk recruited RM, 26, from Seoul’s underground rap scene. He was soon joined by Jin, 28; Suga, 27; J-Hope, 26; Jimin, 25; V, 24; and Jung Kook, 23, selected for their dancing, rapping and singing talents.

But unlike their peers, BTS had an antiestablishment streak, both in their activism and in the way they contributed to their songwriting and production—which was then rare in K-pop, although that’s started to change. In BTS’s debut 2013 single, “No More Dream,” they critiqued Korean social pressures, like the high expectations placed on schoolkids. They have been open about their own challenges with mental health and spoken publicly about their support for LGBTQ+ rights. (Same-sex marriage is still not legally recognized in South Korea.) And they’ve modeled a form of gentler, more neutral masculinity, whether dyeing their hair pastel shades or draping their arms lovingly over one another. All this has made them unique not just in K-pop but also in the global pop marketplace.

In March, BTS was prepping for a global tour. Instead, they stayed in Seoul to wait out the pandemic. For the group, life didn’t feel too different: “We always spend 30 days a month together, 10 hours a day,” Jin says. But with their plans upended, they had to pivot. In August, BTS dropped an English-language single, “Dynamite,” that topped the charts in the U.S.—a first for an all-Korean act. With their latest album this year, Be, they’ve become the first band in history to debut a song and album at No. 1 on Billboard’s charts in the same week. “We never expected that we would release another album,” says RM. “Life is a trade-off.”

Their triumphs this year weren’t just about the music. In October, they put on perhaps the biggest virtual ticketed show of all time, selling nearly a million tickets to the two-night event. Their management company went public in Korea, turning Bang into a billionaire and each of the members into millionaires, a rarity in an industry where the spoils often go to the distributors, not the creators. And they were finally rewarded with a Grammy nomination. On YouTube, where their Big Hit Labels is one of the top 10 most subscribed music accounts (with over 13 billion views by this year), their only real competition is themselves, says YouTube’s music-trends manager Kevin Meenan. The “Dynamite” video racked up 101 million views in under 24 hours, a first for the platform. “They’ve beaten all their own records,” he says.

Not that the glory comes without drawbacks: namely, lack of free time. It’s nearing midnight in Seoul in late November, and BTS, sans Suga, who’s recovering from shoulder surgery, are fitting in another interview—this time, just with me. V, Jimin and J-Hope spontaneously burst into song as they discuss Jin’s upcoming birthday. “Love, love, love,” they harmonize, making good use of the Beatles’ chorus, turning to their bandmate and crossing their fingers in the Korean version of the heart symbol.

Comparisons to that epoch-defining group are inevitable. “What’s different is that we’re seven, and we also dance,” says V. “It’s kind of like a cliché when big boy bands are coming up: ‘Oh, there’s another Beatles!’” says RM. I’ve interviewed BTS five times, and in every interaction, they are polite to a fault. But by now they must be weary of revisiting these comparisons, just as they must be tired of explaining their success. RM says it’s a mix of luck, timing and mood. “I’m not 100% sure,” he says.

They’ve matured into smart celebrities: focused and cautious, they’re both more ready for the questions and more hesitant to make big statements. When you ask BTS about their landmark year, for once they’re not exactly chipper; J-Hope wryly calls it a “roller coaster.” “Sh-t happens,” says RM. “It was a year that we struggled a lot,” says Jimin. Usually a showman, on this point he seems more introspective than usual. “We might look like we’re doing well on the outside with the numbers, but we do go through a hard time ourselves,” he says. For a group whose purpose is truly defined by their fans, the lack of human interaction has been stifling. Still, they’ve made it a point to represent optimism. “I always wanted to become an artist that can provide comfort, relief and positive energy to people,” says J-Hope. “That intent harmonized with the sincerity of our group and led us to who we are today.”

In an era marked by so much anguish and cynicism, BTS has stayed true to their message of kindness, connection and self-acceptance. That’s the foundation of their relationship with their fans. South Korean philosopher and author Dr. Jiyoung Lee describes the passion of BTS’s fandom as a phenomenon called “horizontality,” a mutual exchange between artists and their fans. As opposed to top-down instruction from an icon to their followers, BTS has built a true community. “Us and our fans are a great influence on each other,” says J-Hope. “We learn through the process of making music and receiving feedback.” The BTS fandom isn’t just about ensuring the band’s primacy—it’s also about extending the band’s message of positivity into the world. “BTS and ARMY are a symbol of change in zeitgeist, not just of generational change,” says Lee.

And in June, BTS became a symbol of youth activism worldwide after they donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement amid major protests in the U.S. (They have a long track record of supporting initiatives like UNICEF and school programs.) BTS says now it was simply in support of human rights. “That was not politics. It was related to racism,” Jin says. “We believe everyone deserves to be respected. That’s why we made that decision.”

That proved meaningful for fans like Yassin Adam, 20, an ARMY from Georgia who runs popular BTS social media accounts sharing news and updates, and who is Black. “It will bring more awareness to this issue people like me face in this country,” he says. “I see myself in them, or at least a version of myself.” In May and June, a broad coalition of K-pop fans made headlines for interfering with a police app and buying out tickets for a Trump campaign rally, depleting the in-person attendance. Later that summer, ARMY’s grassroots fundraising effort matched BTS’s $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter within 24 hours.

For 28-year-old Nicole Santero, who is Asian American, their success in the U.S. is also a triumph of representation: “I never really saw people like myself on such a mainstream stage,” Santero says. She’s writing her doctoral dissertation on the culture of BTS fandom, and she runs a popular Twitter account that analyzes and shares BTS data. “Anytime I’m awake, I’m doing something related to BTS,” she says. “This is a deeper kind of love.”

Devotion like that is a point of pride for BTS, particularly in a year when so much has felt uncertain. “We’re not sure if we’ve actually earned respect,” RM says. “But one thing for sure is that [people] feel like, O.K., this is not just some kind of a syndrome, a phenomenon.” He searches for the right words. “These little boys from Korea are doing this.” —With reporting by Aria Chen/Hong Kong; Mariah Espada/Washington; Sangsuk Sylvia Kang and Kat Moon/New York

FASHION CREDITS

RM: Jacket, shirt, pants and shoes HERMES; SUGA: Jacket, shirt and necklace CELINE. Pants GIVENCHY. Shoes LOUIS VUITTON; Jung Kook: Jacket, shirt, pants and shoes FENDI; J-Hope: Jacket, shirt, pants and shoes LOUIS VUITTON. Necklace HERMES; Jin: Suit, knit top and shoes BALENCIAGA; Jimin: Jacket, silk shirt, pants and shoes CELINE; V: Suit, shirt and shoes ALEXANDER McQUEEN. Tie THOM BROWNE.

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