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#LET ME SHOW YOU MY WORLD ITS WEIRD LETS GO SIT IN A STREAM AND SMOKE WEED
loptrcoptr · 3 months
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Lmao one of my friends is getting married in August so the friend group is planning trips etc. and my friend and her partner were thinking of flying into the us and then roadtripping from here (New Mexico) to LA, which I had volunteered to drive for and to take everyone to the Grand Canyon on the way, you know, all that jazz
So they are trying to buy tix from Heathrow to Denver and then not fly here but instead drive which is six hours and I’m kind of like… have yall ever driven for that long before, let alone on the wrong side of the road in a backwards car? Like my American ass did the 5 hour drive from London to wales once, first time doing the wrong car on the wrong side thing, and let me tell you I loooove long driving roadtrips and six hours is literally my preferred length of driving day but that 5 hours s u c k e d oh my god I was so scared the whole time, just white knuckling it the whole way.
They want to spend as many days in Colorado as possible, which is great and all, but still need to come here to meet me and, theoretically, take my truck to LA instead of a rental car. And I just know that if they drive all day to get here they won’t want to do anything the next day because they’ll be exhausted, so we won’t do anything fun and I won’t get to show them around and stuff and then we’ll get right back in the car for two more days. And I get a little irked when people don’t consider that there is, in fact, tourist stuff to do here. Honestly tourist stuff is the only stuff to do in this whole damn state, and where I am is just Colorado Adjacent™️, same damn landscape. but when I moved out here I thought it was gonna be like the Sahara or some shit, so I assume that’s what they’re thinking, and I don’t know how to make it clear to them that they should spend two days here if they intend to drive from Denver so they can see stuff, and if they tell me the kind of stuff they want to see, then I can plan accordingly. Because I think we’ll all be sad if they don’t get to spend any time here, because they’ll get here and go “oh wow it’s actually pretty, I would’ve liked to check it out” and idek? I don’t want to be pushy but may have to be like “listen if you bypass me because you think there’s nothing to do here I will be butthurt about it and feel like I missed out on sharing my new life with you” because I mean I’ve never been to Denver so maybe it’s awesome and they should just stay here but… don’t you want to come crash for free and let me chauffeur you around and go to ruins and tourist traps and national parks and go swimming in beautiful mountain streams and have a ride on my pony? I guess it’s one of those “I would love this, why don’t other people love this” kind of things
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maloskiworld · 2 years
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To the moon and back - Max Verstappen
MASTERLIST (requests are open!)
Summary (requested) : you got pregnant after five years of relationship with Max. His dad's reaction isn't what he expected.
Warnings : pregnancy, some languages, adorable Max if that's a warning
/!/ i don't know personally any of those characters so it's purely just based on fiction
Words count : +2.9K
A/N : Hi everyone ! This is my first request. To the sweet person that asked for it, I hope you're gonna like it. I hope I made justice to what you had imagine ! Feedbacks are more than welcome. 🌻
PS : English isn’t my first language, so sorry if there’s any mistakes ! 💙
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not my gif, credits to the owner ! (this gif gives me so many unholy thoughts...)
🌻🌻🌻
Two little lines. You had to lean your body against the bathroom sink, scared it would stop functioning. You were in total shock. You've been nauseous for the past two months, missed your periods once, were disgusted by the smell of the coffee too early in the morning. You'd want guacamole or weird stuff at 3 am or eat a whole chocolate bar at the most random times. All the signs were there but you chose to ignore them. Until it became unbearable. You were pregnant.
You touched your belly thinking a little one was growing up there. A smile made its on way on your face. You felt happy, and ready to be the best mom ever. The thought of a mini you running around the house was painted inside your brain.
Your front door shut loudly and you were harshly brought back to reality. You wanted that baby, but would he ? Suddenly, all you could feel was fear. What if he leaves you and the baby ? It'd be the worst heartbreak of your life. You loved Max so much, he was the love of your life. He made you stronger and stayed by your side with every bumps on the road. He made you smiled on rainy days. He was your ray of sunshine. He was the best thing that could ever happen to you. So how were you supposed to raise a kid without him ? You wouldn't make it. It was for sure. You guys have been together for such a long time now but you never talked about having a baby. He sometimes had to baby-sit his nephew. One day, while playing with him, you remembered him saying "i dunno if i'll ever be ready to have a kid of my own one day". You never commented on it, but it made your heart ache. You wanted to have a baby at a point in your life. Now, that sentence made you wanna throw up. You started to panic. You threw the packaging of the pregnancy test in the bean but stayed with the positive one in your hands. You didn't know where to hide it. Somewhere he wouldn't look.
You didn't really had time to think much of it when he showed up at the bathroom door.
" Hi honey, I'm back ", he said smile so big. He went for a run. He loved nighty run, he felt like the only men in the world. Streets were empty, and he could let go of all his bad thoughts and the pressure he was under at work.
" What's in your hand ? ", he asked in the kindest way possible. You were shaking and didn't know what to say. You were looking at the test with watery eyes. You felt like crying your eyes out. You wanted the earth to open and sallow you. He got closer to you, eyes focused on you. You could feel the scent of his deodorant mixed with his sweat tickling your nose. Usually, you loved it (it always made you horny) but this time you wanted nothing more but for him to go away. His reaction was terrifying you. He gently placed his hand on yours.
" Can I see ? ", he didn't wait for your permission and took the pregnancy test in his own hands. He looked at it and then at you. His eyes were going back and forth between it and your eyes. Tears started to stream down your cheeks, you couldn't hold them any longer.
" Are you... Baby, why are you crying ? ", he put the test down in the sink. He took you in a sweet embrace. He was running his hands up and down your back. You started to sob even more. You didn't know if he fully understood what was going on. What if he thought it was negative ? Your head kept screaming that he was gonna run away.
" It's okay ", he hugged you closer to his chest - if that was even possible. You took all the courage you could gather and spoke for the first time since he came back.
" I'm sorry ", was all you managed to say.
" Why are you apologizing, sweetheart ? ", he cupped your cheeks and made you look at him. Your vision was blurred with all the tears that took their freedom. He placed a gentle kissed on your forehead, his lips just brushing over your skin. " I love you so much. To the moon and back, remember ? ", he kept talking.
You remembered it all too well. Max got a podium and went out to party all night. You both came back to the hotel freakin' drunk. You couldn't stop laughing, the feeling of happiness never leaving your body. You laid on the bed and Max came to rest on top of you. You chuckled a bit and Max looked up at you. For the first time in your relationship, he told the three little words. He then added "to the moon and back". Before you could answer, he fell asleep. After this night, that sentence became your way to show the other one your unconditional love. Even if the memory was sweet, you couldn't let go of the stress that was actually eating you alive.
" Max, I'm...", but you didn't get to say it whole, because he cut you with his lips on yours. The kiss was one of the sweetest you've ever shared. It was reassuring, slow and yet so passionate. He put all his love for you in it.
" Pregnant. We're pregnant ", he mumbled against your lips. You looked at him, stars in your eyes. He said we. " I'm here to stay, love. I'm scared to have a baby, but we're gonna make it. You and me together. If the universe is sending us a little one, it's maybe because it's time, right ? ", he said. You fell in love with him even more, if that was possible. " We're gonna be a family ! ", he shouted a little, pure joy in his eyes. You chuckled.
He placed his two hands on your belly and bent down a little. " Hi, there. Can you hear me ? ", he shook his fingers against your tummy. " Does he have ears ? ", he asked you.
" No, Max. He or she is too little for that yet. But soon they'll hear your voice ", you answered. Your voice was still a little broken with all the tears that you've cried. You melted under your boyfriend's actions.
" It's a boy, I can feel it ", he said grinning. " I will love you either way ", he said getting back to his first little talk with his future baby. " I'm your daddy. Mommy and I can't wait to meet you, my angel ", he put his head against your belly and hugged you tight. He looked up at you and mouthed I love you.
You were pregnant for 4 month and a half now. Max was partly right, you were having... two baby boys. Twins looked scary at first but you soon got over the initial shock and loved them both unconditionally. Max was over the moon. Two little guys whom he could teach karting, best thing in the whole world.
You were the happiest women on earth. For the moment, your pregnancy was going absolutely well. No complications - but you still did weird things with your food. Last dinner, you ate chocolate on pickles for dessert. Max looked at you with disgust in his eyes, but you swore to him that it was delicious.
You couldn't really hide your belly anymore so it was time to announce your pregnancy to everyone. You'd already told your family. Keeping your pregnancy away from your mom and sister wasn't possible. They knew from the start, and helped you through so much. But Max wanted to wait to tell his parents. He wanted to be sure everything was okay with both babies.
His dad and sister were coming over for dinner. You couldn't lie and said you were perfectly fine. You were so nervous. Jos hated you from the start. He tried everything to break up you and Max. Literally everything. But Max never bend, and stayed by your side. He'd tell his dad to fuck off when he was saying shit about you. Left dinner early when he was commenting your relationship or trying to convince Max you were no good for him. Once, he almost punched him when his father called you a "stupid bitch".
You didn't really know why Jos hated you so much. You tried to be the best daughter-in-law you could be. No matter what you were doing, it was never right. So eventually, you gave up and let yourself be with Max. His relationship with his father wasn't the best, much ups but mostly downs. In the beginning, you tried to make Max open his eyes on it but it'd always end up with a fight. You just stopped, and let them be. It was still heartbreaking to see how your boyfriend was trying to be the perfect son, but his dad always asked for more. This season was taking a toll on the F1 driver. He could be winning the championship (you knew he would because he was the most talented driver on the grid), the pressure had never been higher on him. His father made it clear that being the next world champion was the only way out of this season for his son.
Dinner was almost ready when the doorbell rang. Max shared a we can do this look, and went to open the door. You stayed in the kitchen for a bit. It'll be okay, you said to yourself and went to greet them. His sister was holding Luka in her arms. You immediately said hi to the little guy, thinking soon enough you'll have two of your own. Your smile was bright until your eyes landed on Jos. He seemed like he already wanted to kill you. You still stayed polite with him and invited everyone in the living room. You and Max bought scratch off tickets online. Instead of a real gain, it was writing "you're gonna be an auntie" and "you're gonna be a grandpa". You didn't get one for Luka because he was too young, but you knew he'd do an amazing little cousin. You really thought it was the cutest idea to announce your pregnancy. You were hoping everything would turn alright.
You were all sitting in the living room, you felt so stressed. You didn't really pay attention to the discussion going in front of you. Suddenly, you felt Max's hand touch your arm. He smiled a little at you.
" Oh, I almost forgot ! Y/N and I have something for you ", Max happily said. You couldn't help but smile proudly. He got up and came back with the tickets. Your nervousness only got higher when Jos took it.
" What's that ? ", Victoria asked. She was such a kind and happy soul. Sometimes, you wondered how her and Max could be Jos's kids.
" Scratch it ", Max said. He sat down and placed his hands on your knee.
Victoria let out a loud gasp when she read what was writing on it.
" No way ? ", she screamed. She got up so fast. You and Max followed her movement quickly. " You're pregnant ? For real ? ", she looked at you with amazed eyes.
" We're having two little boys ", Max proudly told his sister. The older Verstappen was so excited. She took you in a long hug and couldn't stop congratulating the both of you.
" I can't wait to be an auntie ! Two boys ! Oh my gosh. You heard that Luka ? You're gonna have two cousins ", she told to her son.
" Can they play football with me ? ", the two years-old asked. It made everyone laugh. Everyone except Jos. Victoria bent to her son to explain him that he'll need to wait a little before he'd meet them.
Max's father got up as well, but his mouth were still shut.
" Dad ? You're not sayin' anything ? ", Max calmly asked. Jos's eyes shot up and he didn't even glare at you.
" You really think this is the right time ? ", he sternly said. You felt Max tensing near you. He didn't answer immediately. Jos turned to you, and you wanted to disappear. " As for you, you should have never ever be a part of my son's life. Don't you see that you're ruining him, uh ? His whole life ? ", he kept going. You felt like bursting into tears. You let Max's hands go, and started to play with your fingers.
" Dad...", Victoria tried to stop her dad to continue this before the fight took a salty turn.
" No. My son has the chance to be a world champion this year and you think this is the moment to have kids ? Two freakin' boys ? Double the trouble, even better ! ", he pointed his finger towards you. Accusing you to ruin Max's career when all you wanted was to see him shine. When you'd dropped everything if it meant to see him achieve his goals. You'd give your life for him.
" I can't believe it. Seriously, it's such a shame ", Jos kept going after you. Max couldn't say a word, he was way too shocked. He never believed his dad would react this way. He even regretted telling him about the pregnancy. Victoria was gone on the balcony with her son, not wanting him to see her family's drama. He was still a kid and his pure soul didn't need to be in the middle of this.
" Well, Max, you still have time to cut her off your life ", Jos simply said. His voice was calmer. He wasn't kidding, he wanted you and your stupid babies out of his son's life. " We'll give you money, if that's what you want ", he added.
Your heart almost dropped. After almost 5 years alongside his son, he still saw you as a gold digger ? You never cared about their money, you only cared about Max. You could feel your blood boiling inside you. He had no right to talk to you like that and you were gonna show him. You were about to open your mouth when Max's angry voice filled the room.
" Go away ", the dutch driver said.
" See ? ", Jos's scoffed. " You need to leave ", he went to put his arm on his son's shoulder but Max flinched away.
" I wasn't talking to her ", he corrected looking directly into his dad's eyes. You were relieved a little. Max rudely took your hand in his. " She's staying. We're having a family. And it's not gonna stop me from winning that fucking championship. It's just one, no two, more reasons to do it. Because it's apparently this only thing you care about ", he was seeing red. If you weren't in the room, he would have beat the hell out of the forty-something man. Reduce him to dust.
His father tried to talk back but Max cut him again. " Shut up, I don't want to hear what you have to say anymore. For 5 years, you've been trying to ruin my relationship with the only girl I've ever loved. The only girl that ever truly cared about me ! I tried to stay cool with your bullshits, thinking you'd get used to her. But, it's too much for you, isn't it ? Uh ? Seeing your son happy ? Well, she's carrying my sons and... ", he took a big breath. " And, I don't care if they grow up without knowing their paternal grandfather. Do you understand that ? You'll never get to meet them. I'm done with you ", he let go of your hand and went to open the front door. " Out. Now ", and with that the bitter conversation stopped.
Jos left without another word. You were sad with how the happy news turned into such a disaster. Hoping that Jos would come back to senses and apologize to his son. It wouldn't erase all the hurt, but at least it'll be a start. Sure you always wanted Max to see his dad for who he truly was (and stop putting him on a hilltop) but never never you wanted to be the reason he cut his dad off of his life. Tears starting to stream down your face and you went to lock yourself in the bathroom. You slid against the shower wall, hiding your head between your legs. Your hands were caressing your belly non stop.
Max sent Victoria home after the siblings chatted up a bit about the fight. His sister was really sorry for the night. She still said to her brother to reconsider calling his dad in a few days when both men would have calmed down. He laughed humorlessly at the idea. He was still angry, and he didn't understand how he could possibly calm down after that. The only thing he felt for his father was now hate. And when Max Verstappen hated someone, it was forever.
The atmosphere was still filled with angriness. Max stayed downstairs a little, not wanting his angry self to meet you. He felt so heavy. Once he was feeling better, he rushed to you. Seeing you so sad broke his heart. He sat down near you. His head bumped against the shower wall. He sighed.
" I'm sorry, love ", was all he said before silence fell between you two. You both stayed here like this. Max was frightened to talk and you had cried too much to trust your own voice. Words weren't needed yet. The dutch knew you just needed a little time to calm down too. He knew how hard the night had just hit you, and that his presence was enough to help you out.
Minute by minute, the tension in the air seemed to go away. When you popped your head against his shoulder, Max took it as the sign you were ready for him to be near you again and to start talking. He quickly put you in a hug.
" He's an asshole, and I swear...", this time you were the one shutting him up with your lips on his.
" I don't care. We should forget that tonight never happened. Let's focus on us and our little family. I love you so much, Max. To the moon and back ", you gently cupped his cheeks. You felt him lean into your touch.
" To the moon and back ", he sweetly repeated.
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🌻 Thanks for reading 🌻
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niqhtlord01 · 3 years
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Humans are weird: Libraries
( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)
 Alien: So you’re telling me…. Alien: That not only do you have centers scattered around your worlds containing the collective information of your entire species and planet… Alien: but that anyone can access it and obtain said knowledge? Human: Of course not silly. Alien: Oh. *chuckels* Alien: For a moment I thought- Human: You need a library card to get in otherwise they turn you away. Human: But most of them these days cost half of what you’d pay for a sandwich. Alien: …………….. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Are you not worried that having such free access to this much information would be a risk? Human: It’s not that dangerous. Alien: I read there was a human child that nearly built a nuclear reactor from what he learned at the library!! Human: Yeah; but he never finished it so it’s not a problem. Alien: ARgJJKNFSM!!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Books are stupid. Human: They teach you to flay the skin off an animal to get the juicy meat. Alien: *suddenly more interested* Books are amazing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Do they have the naked picture books here? Human: WTH?!? Alien: What? Alien: You said they would have medical books here. Human: Oh… Oooh; phew. Human: Go look at the medical section. Alien: Thank you. Alien: I am most interested in the ones of human reproduction rituals. Human: Yea- wait, no!
Alien: This book says if I hit someone with a glove I can challenge them to a duel. Human: Please don’t do that. Alien: But it says it is a law. Human: That is a history book from the 8th century. Human 2: *Walks by and bumps into alien by mistake* Human 2: Sorr- Alien: *Spins around and slaps human 2 with glove* Alien: HAVE AT THEE!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Group of aliens walks into library* Alien 2: *Giggling* Alien 3: *Whispering voice* Shush! This is going to be great. *Group walks up to librarian* Alien: Hi, *snort* do you have any books on human fecal matter? Librarian: *Points without looking up* That would be in health and wellness, Row 17. Alien: *Surprised the human did not get upset* Alien 2: *Steps forward* Alien 2: What about stupid human fashion rags? Librarian: *Points opposite direction* Row 5 for fashion. Alien 3: *Pushes passed other* What about what human flesh tastes like? Librarian: *Stops and looks up at smirking alien* Librarian: *Looks them dead in the eye* Librarian: Row 28; we taste like chicken. *Alien 3 backs away from librarian and the group begin to leave* Librarian: Your people taste more like jam on beef. *Group stops and turns to see Librarian evil smirking* Librarian: Oh don’t worry; I’m sure I read that in a book somewhere. *Group flees from library* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Human: So what do you think? Alien: *sits down at table after exploring the library* Alien: It’s nice and all… Human: But? Alien: *Looks around and then leans in* Alien: *Whispers* I was hoping you could show me the restricted section? Human: Restricted section? Alien: You know; the one with the books with faces and bound in skin. Human: This is the last time I let you watch harry potter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Shakespeare sounds like an egomaniac. Human: Why do you say that? Alien: He loves the sound of his voice so much he makes his sentence run fifty words long when what he was meaning could have been said in five. Human: Comes with being English I suppose. Alien: Are your people any better? Human: Half our communication is either through memes or a stream of swears; so not really. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: *Throws a book at a human* Human: What the hell!? Alien: Stand still. *Hurls another book* Human: What are you doing?! Alien: I saw you litter so the law states I must throw the book at you. Human: That doesn’t mean you can throw any book at me! Alien: *Stops* Of course, my apologies. Human: Tha- Alien: *Throws law book in human’s face* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Why can’t I read this book? Human: Because it’s in a different language. Alien: Can you help me translate it? Human: Sure. Human: *Hands alien *how to* book on translations*. Alien: This is why the rest of the galaxy won’t deal with you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Why does that human keep making shushing sounds at me? Human: They’re trying to make you be quiet. Alien: Oh, well this is awkward. Human: What did you think it meant? Alien: That they were flirting with me. Human: Oh god what did you do?! Alien: I told them to meet me outside so we can continue more privately. Human: Pretty sure they’re going to take it as a death threat. Alien: Why do you say that? Human: Because I can see the police entering the building and walking towards us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: Books are so stupid and primitive. Human: Says the alien that can’t read. Human 2: *Walks over and hands alien a phone book* Human 2: You’ll want to turn to page 75. Human: Because you’ll need to speak to a doctor about that severe burn you just got. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alien: I don’t understand why you keep such antique forms of knowledge. Alien: You have computers no bigger than the size of your wrist watch that contains the sum total of human existence. Human: You just don’t understand. Human: *Cradles books in arms* Human: You don’t appreciate them the way we do. Alien: How so? Human: There is something magical about the feel of a book in your hand; to feel the weight of the stories and knowledge it holds within those battered pages. Human: You do not feel the sense of accomplishment when looking upon a fully stacked bookcase of novels you have read over the years; each one holding countless life stories. Human: You have not experienced what it is like to read the daring adventures of heroes and villains alike were the climax of a tale hinges on the turning of a single page and the mixture of dread and excitement as you finally continue onward. Human: *points at library* This is a place of knowledge the likes of which is not seen in the galaxy and all are welcome within its walls. Human: More than that it is a place rich with history as the legacy of some of the greatest minds of our time live on through here, waiting to be picked up and spark the next generation of curiosity and imagination with but the opening of one cover on a rainy day. Alien: …………….. Alien: It was a great speech but we both know you just love having books and can’t help but buy one every time you enter a book store. Human: Well why don’t you stop me then mr. smarty pants!?! Alien: The last time I tried to take a book from you at checkout you nearly bit off a finger.
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fanficimagery · 3 years
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When Enough is Enough pt. II
Imagine being let down one too many times by your best friend, only to end up making some new ones in the process.
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Words: 8.5K Author’s Note: Okay so some of you asked to only be added to part 2 of this while others asked to be added everything Bucky.. and a few others weren’t exactly clear. So if you want to be tagged in any future Bucky related imagines please let me know so I can get your blog name written down on my list.
Tags:  @aya-fay @70s-chic @sipsteacasually @kaitlyn2907 @scarlettwitch99 @thingsforimagination  @mimilh @felicityofbakerstreet @eternalharry @eliwinchester99 @intothesoul​ @wintershadowkat  @b1sexualtonystark  @meredeph @miszswan
The Sunday before you are to return to work, you sleep in until nine in the morning. Your thoughts are immediately on Bucky's impending arrival and you couldn't help the butterflies that took flight in your stomach. He's a friend, just as all the others are, but you couldn't help but notice just how attractive this new friend of yours is. But not only does his attractiveness draw you in, his easy-going teasing and protectiveness does too. However, Bucky Barnes is still a man trying to find his footing in this world after all that's been done to him and finally getting his name cleared, and if he finds comfort with you then you're going to try your best and be the friend he needs.
So since you're not dressing to impress, you dress in your favorite lazy outfit after your shower- leggings, sports bra, a faded sleeveless band tee with the arm holes having been cut down to around your ribs, and a pair of socks. Damp hair gets gathered up into a messy bun and you walk around your apartment to pick up some things you had unknowingly left out.
You've skipped breakfast, so when there's a knock on your door and you open up to find Bucky standing there, you groan in relief. He raises both hands with paper bags hanging from each. "I come bearing sushi. Wanda let it slip how much you love it."
"Yesss." You step back, quickly taking in his own comfort outfit of sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt under an opened jacket. "Did you bring plenty of wasabi? And you can just kick off your shoes anywhere."
"Of course." He hands you the bags so he can kick off his shoes and strip out of his jacket before hanging it up. You don't know why, but seeing him in a short sleeve shirt makes you happy, knowing full well he was weird about his metal arm being out in the open. "And plenty of dipping sauce as well. Wanda was more than happy to give me advice."
"Wanda, huh?" You chuckle, leading the way to your kitchen. "You actually told her where'd you be?"
"Apparently I looked very pensive this morning. She asked and I figured she was a better confidant than Steve or Sam who would have made a big deal about us hanging out."
"True." Setting the bags down, you let him empty them while you head to the fridge. "Beer?"
"Yeah."
Grabbing him a beer and yourself a can of Cola, you return to the table and your eyes widen at the sight of all the sushi. "Damn, Barnes. That's a lot of sushi."
"Don't act like you won't eat half of it."
You laugh as you take a seat, handing him his beer and pulling a few trays to your side of the table. You take a container of wasabi and dipping sauce for yourself, and grab a pair of chopsticks to start digging in.
You moan in delight at your first taste, happily shimmying in your seat before taking another. Eventually, you ask, "So what are you going to do when I'm back at work and I can't keep you entertained by getting shitfaced?"
Bucky grins around his mouthful of food before chasing it down with a swig of his beer. "We actually got a mission comin' up so I'll be leavin' around mid-week."
"Well that sucks." You sigh. "Now who am I going to send random pictures to when I have downtime at work?"
He grins. "You can still send them to me. I just won't get back to you until after the mission's complete."
"Yeah, yeah."
The two of you continue to eat- Bucky dodging Steve's texts about where he is and when he's coming back, and you sending the middle finger emoji over and over to Wanda who keeps wondering how your date is going. Then once most of the sushi is gone and Bucky puts what little is left into the fridge, the two of you head to the living room. You immediately flop onto the couch as Bucky takes the plush recliner, only for you to hear him moving the chair into its reclined position seconds later.
"Oh. I definitely need to get one of these."
You laugh as he snuggles down and you pick up the remote to bring up your streaming services. "Anything you've been meaning to watch?"
"Not really. Just show me your favorites."
You start off with some humor by playing the Goonies. It's a movie that no matter how many times you've seen it, it always seems to make you laugh. And it seems Bucky is not immune either when they make Chunk to the truffle shuffle. Titanic plays afterwards, but only after making sure Bucky found it somewhat interesting after reading the movie summary to him. He is interested from beginning to end and doesn't even laugh at you when you shed a few tears for the old married couple who opt to stay in their bed as the room floods.
When a break is needed, you head off towards the bathroom as Bucky finishes off the leftover sushi. Both of you check your phones and read each other the missed text messages from Steve and his worrying behavior.
"Wanna tell Steve to fuck off via video message?" Bucky takes a moment to think on it before he grins and nods. "Excellent. Sit in the recliner. I'm gonna crawl up all in your business. That okay?"
"Yeah."
As Bucky gets comfortable in the recliner, you sit on the armrest before sliding down sideways onto his lap. You bring up the camera app on your phone and switch it to video, sliding your right arm behind Bucky's neck while holding your left arm out to capture the two of you on the screen. "Ready?"
"Sure, doll."
You chuckle quietly and then smirk mischievously as Bucky relaxes his expression into his best resting bitch face. After you hit record, you say, "Hey Rogers, stop being a little bitch and sending us text after text. I'm tryin' to fuck your best friend here." Bucky's expression cracks as he barks out a laugh and you turn to face him while grinning. You share a laugh with him before facing the camera once more. "Only joking, but seriously stop buggin' us. I promise to send him back in one piece."
As you prepare to send the text to Steve, Bucky says, "You're terrible."
"Whatever. Admit it, you adore me."
"Occasionally."
You huff another laugh as the video message finally sends. You and Bucky both watch as the delivered status turns to read, and then those three little dots appear as Steve starts typing his reply.
"Tell Bucky to wrap it before he taps it." You burst out laughing at Steve's text, Bucky's rumbling laughter only fueling yours even more. "God I hate your best friend sometimes." And before you climb off Bucky's lap, because honestly you were getting a little too comfortable, you send Steve a few middle finger emojis before deciding on a third movie to watch.
The third movie you choose is one that never fails to make you laugh- Bridesmaids. You had a moment of hesitancy because of the sex scenes, but you figured they were ridiculous enough that it wouldn't be awkward. Thankfully you're correct and you get the added bonus of hearing Bucky's laughter again during Megan's scenes, especially when they get food poisoning and are all fighting for the bathroom.
You and Bucky take yet another break after the film, just stretching and finding something to drink.
"So what's the verdict, Barnes? Are you enjoying the films?"
He grins. "Your taste is all over the place, huh? That last one we watched was raunchy."
"But hilarious! You need to watch the Hangover trilogy, but you definitely need to watch that with Steve and then watch him squirm at the pictures that roll with the credits."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Jurassic Park holds his attention and he can't help but comment how stupid one has to be to replicate dinosaur DNA and then open up a park with live dinosaurs. You laugh, but don't bother commenting. You'll tell him later there are more movies involved, with yet another idiotic man who felt he could get the park up and running once more.
It's getting dark, but it's still a little too early for dinner. One more movie and then you'll order or go out and pick something up.
"So this last one for the day is a movie that's directed more towards the female viewers, but you did ask for my favorite films and Practical Magic is my absolute favorite."
"Well put it on, doll."
As you press play on Practical Magic, you quickly grab a throw blanket and snuggle in. Instead of watching Bucky, you watch the film and mumble certain quotes to yourself. The magic scenes always bring a soft smile to your face just as Gary's confession to Sally of I wished for you too breaks your heart, and Sally and Gillian's heartfelt sister moment makes you cry.
Afterwards, Bucky hums in thought. "So that's your favorite?"
"Absolutely." You tell him. He's watching you curiously and you grin. "If I show you something, you promise not to laugh?"
"I'll try."
"Whatever. That's good enough for me." Standing up, you walk towards him and kneel, and tell him to pull your shirt sideways by the armhole next to your left arm. There on the back of your left shoulder and forever etched into your skin is a salt shaker, a rosemary plant, a lavender plant, and a heart. You then rattle off one of your favorite quotes to him. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."
Bucky chuckles as you get up, retaking your spot on the sofa. "You really are a fan of the movie."
You nod. "As a little girl, I was fascinated by magic. I thought I'd grow out of it, but I only grew more fond of it. And then I found Practical Magic and it had a bit of everything I adored."
"So what's the one scene that just gets you every time?"
"Ugh. You're making me choose?!" You feign being distraught and he grins. As you think about it, you keep coming back to two scenes in particular. "So there's two," you tell him, "and I'm not choosing between them." Bucky nods, awaiting your answer. "Gillian's possession. When Sally calls together the other mothers who were mean to her in order to make a temporary coven to save her sister, and Gillian begs Sally to just let her ghost ex have her."
Bucky hums. "That was a bit sad, doll. I saw you shedding a few tears over that."
"Mhm. And the other scene is when Sally comes clean to Gary and admits that she did a spell as a child to call forth her perfect love thinking it wouldn't exist, only it did. When Gary tells Sally that he wished for her too, it just breaks my fuckin' heart."
"Let me guess, you were one of the girls who cast her own spell after seeing that scene." You stay quiet for a moment and the second you feel your face heat, Bucky laughs. "What did you wish for?"
You groan quietly. "If I tell you, you can't laugh!" He only smiles in response and you know he won't drop it until you tell him. "Fine. So even though I knew it would never work, I gathered the weirdest objects and wished for a significant other with dark hair and colored eyes. He had to be protective and funny and love me for me. Simple."
For some reason you can't seem to meet Bucky's gaze then and you feel awkward the longer the silence stretches on.
"So dinner?" He asks.
"Oh god, yes please. Pizza and wings?"
"Sounds good."
You have the nearby pizza place on speed dial, so after finding out Bucky's preferences you make the call and place the order. It's going to be about a thirty minute wait, so you fill the time sending Steve pic after pic of Bucky who's none the wiser as he scrolls through his own phone and adding the most asinine comments to each picture. Steve thinks it's absolutely hilarious.
Then when the pizza and wings arrive, you beat Bucky to the door and thrust several bills at the delivery boy. He's more than happy with his tip and you hurriedly wave him off before shutting the door. You laugh at Bucky's disgruntled expression and then place everything on the table while gathering a beer for both you and him.
"Don't let me have more than two," you tell him while handing him his own bottle of beer.
Bucky agrees and the two of you dig into your own personal pizzas and boxes of wings once you're situated around the table. As you're eating, Bucky asks about what other movies you hold near and dear. You fill him in on a few others and he hesitantly puts it out there that he'd be up for another movie marathon when you both have a day off. You agree that that's doable.
Halfway through dinner, as you and Bucky are chuckling over the thought of making Steve sit through Bridesmaids, there's a sound of glass breaking from your living room and a muffled curse. The two of you immediately cease making any type of noise and Bucky is up with a gun in hand.
"Where the hell did that come from?! You hiss.
The telltale sound of a window then sliding shut can be heard.
"Shut up and get behind me."
The authority in his voice makes you freeze and your heart flutter at the same time, and you have to mentally scold yourself before you quickly do as he says. You follow Bucky towards the living, ready to duck at the ready, only to sigh and roll your eyes when you see who it is.
Bucky stands tall and lowers his gun. "Parker." You can practically hear the annoyance in his voice.
"Mr. Barnes?" Peeking around his shoulder, you raise your eyebrow at your best friend who's been too busy for you and is now frowning at Bucky. When he catches sight of you, he asks, "What's going on?"
"Uh, well we were having dinner until we thought someone was breaking in."
"Alone?!"
Your brow furrows at Peter's incredulousness, only for him to realize you're not impressed with his tone. You raise an eyebrow at him and cross your arms over your chest. "Did you need something?"
"Oh, um, yeah." He shifts from foot to foot, gesturing to his face where there's a scrape on his cheekbone. "My ribs took a beating too. Can you patch me up?"
"Sure." You sigh. "Why not."
Before you can leave to go to the bathroom to get the supplies you need, Bucky says, "I'll just get out of your way then."
You stop and face him. "What? But we haven't even finished our food. It won't take me long."
"It's fine, doll." He grins when he realizes you're trying to get him to stay. "You gotta hit the hay early anyway. We'll talk soon."
You hold his gaze for a moment longer, sighing when he won't budge. "Well at least take your food with you. No use in it going to waste."
Bucky nods and heads back to the kitchen, collecting his food. You watch him and then follow him to the door, holding his food while he bends over to lace up his boots. Once he retakes his food and you open the door, he thanks you for the time away from the tower and disappears down the hall.
Shutting the door and then heading back into the living room, you tell Peter to get back into his regular clothes so you can get to his ribs while you go gather your medical supplies.
Meeting Peter back in the living room and setting everything down on the coffee table, he says, "So you and Bucky-"
"Don't." You pick up the peroxide bottle and soak a cotton ball in it. "Bucky and I are friends."
Peter manages to keep his mouth shut as you clean the scrape on his cheek and place a small bandage on it. Then when you've checked his ribs and tell him he just needs to ice them, he mumbles, "Friends who apparently lick each other." You snort and think nothing of his sullen tone, but when you look at his face you see he's actually being quite serious. There's no chuckle or boyish grin and for a moment you're absolutely floored at his attitude. "I don't think I'm comfortable with Bucky being alone with you in your apartment."
"Are you- are you kidding me?" You huff and take a step back from him. When Peter just continues to frown, you shake your head at him. "First of all, I'm an adult woman who can make her own decisions."
"I know, but-"
"I'm not finished!" You snap. Peter's eyes widen, but he smartly ceases talking. "I am allowed to have friends whether you like them or not. We have a pact, Petey, and since I'm still abiding by it I would hope that you would too."
"Yeah, but that's for significant others!"
"Significant others or friends, it doesn't matter. And you should be grateful I've kept my mouth shut when it comes to you and Leslie because let me tell you, I've been biting my tongue a lot these past few weeks. Bucky and the others have stepped up since you've abandoned me, so you have absolutely no room to tell me that you're uncomfortable with him or any of them being around me."
"Leslie isn't that bad and I have not abandoned you." You snort, but don't bother opening that can of worms even further. He finally gets annoyed with your quietness. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"You're here because you needed a bandage. Tell me, Peter, where are you going after here? Where are you going after making five minutes of small talk and calling it a night?" He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut, shrugs, and you shake your head at him once more in disappointment. "Exactly. Just go, Peter. I'm so over this conversation right now and I have work in the morning."
"Wait, but we promised we'd never leave a conversation where we were still annoyed with each other!"
"And we also promised we'd never judge who the other decided to spend time with, but here we are." He frowns at you. "Go to your girlfriend, Peter. We'll talk again in another few days or weeks or whenever. I don't care right now."
Peter stands there, gaping, before he pulls himself together and makes his way back towards the window he had crawled through. He glances at you one last time, but you merely keep staring until his mask encompasses his head once more and he lifts the window before taking his leave.
As the window shuts behind him, you sag in on yourself and your breathing stutters in your chest as your eyes fill with tears. You've never been this angry at Peter and the fact that he thinks it's okay to ignore you until he needs something and then has an opinion about who you hang out with was just too much for you to let slide.
You quickly gather everything from your coffee table and return it to its rightful place in your bathroom, and throw away the trash. Your appetite is long gone, so you put up what's left of your food and then head to your room to gather some clothes so you can shower and get into bed.
By the time you've crawled into bed, you're still a bit annoyed. So grabbing your phone, you pull up your text messages and click on Bucky's thread.
To Bucky: Well that was a shit show. I don't think I've ever made Petey leave my apartment while we were still angry with each other.
From Bucky: I'm sorry, doll. Anything I can do?
To Bucky: If he gives you attitude, get a non-serum individual to punch him. You, Steve, and probably Nat will send him flying into the wall.
From Bucky: If I remember..
To Bucky: Well I mean if you forget, I won't complain. I'll probably laugh when he comes crying to me.
From Bucky: You're a terrible human being.
To Bucky: Whatever. You adore me just the way I am. And now I should get some shut eye. I'll talk to you soon. Night, Sarge.
From Bucky: Night, sweetheart.
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For the next couple of weeks, you keep yourself busy with work. Bucky and a few others do go on a mission as he said they would, so you keep your texts to a minimum of three each day- a good morning, a random story from that day, and a good night. They're gone for four days and in those four days you've not heard from Peter. The only reason you know he's not completely done with you is the fact he likes your posts that you put up on social media.
But since you're not currently speaking to your best friend and are too exhausted to hang out with anyone else, you're in a bit of a funk and completely caught off guard one evening when the patient a police officer brings in smacks you right across the face. You had been trying to insert an IV into his arm when he completely lost his shit, and then you were hit so hard that you were strewn across the gurney behind you. And in your vulnerable position, a fistful of your hair had been grabbed and yanked right before the police officer had intervened and pulled the patient off of you.
You had been given a bit of time to ice your cheek before you had to get back to work, but your face and scalp were hurting you the entire time.
On your way home, however, you're surprised to receive a call from Pepper. You're heading towards your apartment complex when she invites you to dinner there at the tower since Darcy is finally back in town, and you hate to do it, but you're not exactly up to be around such a rowdy bunch. So you apologize to Pepper and ask her to apologize to Darcy for you, and take a rain check. Immediately she knows something is wrong, but you only tell her you had a rough night at work and all you want is a hot shower and to crawl into bed. She hesitates but wishes you well, and the call ends moments later.
When you get home, you waste no time in locking the door behind you and heading straight for your bathroom. You strip down and take the hottest shower your body is capable of handling, and let yourself relax in the steam-filled room. Afterwards, as you're drying off, you gently dry your hair since your scalp is still sensitive and then get dressed in some of your comfort clothes.
Then heading out into the kitchen, you find some leftovers in your fridge and heat those up, tiredly sitting at your kitchen table and digging in. Just as you're done with your food and heading towards the living room, someone pounds on your apartment door. You sigh, hoping they go away, and have only plopped down onto the sofa when a familiar gruff voice speaks through the wood.
You quietly groan as Bucky tells you he knows you're there and you get up to open the door for him. He's on the verge of knocking again when you swing the door open. "Hey. Pepper said-" He trails off as he takes in your appearance, expression going slack before his jaw clenches in anger. "Who?"
You shake your head, gesturing him inside as you turn around and walk towards your sofa. You hear your door click shut before the footsteps follow you. "Work got a little hectic. No need to hunt down anyone, Barnes. I'm fine."
"Half your face is bruised, doll. You are not fine."
"It's all part of my job." You shrug and plop down onto the sofa once more. Pulling a blanket over your lap, you stare up at your friend. "There will always be a drunk and disorderly patient. I was just lucky he didn't do more damage."
Bucky frowns, but he doesn't push you on it. Instead, he walks over and sits next to you, angling his body towards yours when gentle fingers grasp your chin to angle your face more towards him. "What exactly happened?" He asks as his eyes dart over every inch of your face.
"Some petty criminal did some damage to his head in the back of a patrol car. Police officer brought him in and he seemed pretty docile up until I jabbed him with the IV. He got the drop on me. It happens." Gentle fingers brush along your cheekbone and you flinch. Tears sting your eyes as you sniffle. "I'm fine."
"Just because you keep sayin' that doesn't mean it's true."
Your bottom lip wobbles at his words and you lose the battle with keeping the tears at bay. The moment they fall, Bucky pulls you into a hug and you cry into his shoulder. "Dammit," you mumble. "See what you started!"
Bucky chuckles and he holds you a few moments longer, rubbing a hand up and your back to offer a semblance of comfort. When he lets you go, you fall back against the sofa cushions and wipe the tears away with your blanket. "So what are we watching?" He asks while settling in next to you and draping an arm behind your head.
"Shouldn't you go back to the tower and have dinner with the rest of them? I'm-"
"If you say you're fine one more time, I will drag you back to the tower and let Steve motherhen you."
You sigh. "Low blow, Buckaroo."
"And for that horrendous nickname, you've lost the privilege of choosing what we're going to watch."
You laugh and don't bother arguing with him about it as he leans across you to snag up the remote. When he settles back down and you snuggle into his side, you huff a small laugh when he settles on TLC which is showing 90 Day Fiancé.
"Why this show?" You ask.
"Because it blows my mind that some people are so oblivious and can't see that their chosen partner is only in it for the green card."
As you let his reasoning sink in, you can't help but giggle as you picture Bucky sitting in his own apartment and bad mouthing the TV because he didn't like the decisions the people were making in their love life. You watch along with him, cringing at the more obvious couples that are only headed for future divorce and smiling when one of the couples is actually in it for love.
You manage to almost watch a complete two hour episode when there's a knock on your door, but you're too comfortable to get up and answer it.
"You get it," you say as you nudge Bucky.
He nudges you back. "It's your apartment."
"Yeah, but I don't feel like getting up."
"You could have at least come up with a better excuse."
You grin, finally taking your eyes off the screen and glancing up at Bucky. "M'too tired. Brain's not working fast enough." He continues to give you a deadpan stare until you jut out your bottom lip. "Please?"
The second Bucky's lips twitch, you know you've won. He huffs and roughly pushes himself up off the sofa as if answering the door is a hardship, and you go back to watching TV. At least until you hear a familiar voice stammer, "Uh, h-hey Mr. Barnes. Is Y/N home?"
Your gaze snaps towards the door where Peter is standing out in the hallway, hands in his pockets as he sheepishly stares at Bucky. The man in question turns and raises an eyebrow at you as if saying what do I do and you give him a terse nod to let him know it's okay. Bucky steps aside and Peter readily walks in.
"I should be getting back to the tower," Bucky suddenly says. "You kids have fun."
This time it's your turn to give him a deadpan stare and he smirks right before slipping his boots back on. Then as soon as they're laced up, he's walking out the door and shutting it behind him. Peter, who hadn't stopped staring at the intimidating man, finally turns to look at you. And when he does, his eyes widen.
"What happened to your face?!"
You sigh. "I'm fine. Just had a little incident at work."
"And Mr. Barnes was what? Comforting you?"
"First of all, can you stop calling him Mr. Barnes? You two avenge together and what not. I'm pretty sure that means you're on a first name basis." Peter grins as he takes a seat on the recliner near you, shrugging. "And Bucky was here because when I turned down dinner at the tower, Pepper figured something was wrong. Bucky took it upon himself to check in."
"So are you two like a thing or something?" He wonders.
"We're just.. friends," you say. "For some unknown reason we clicked and we're comfortable in each other's company."
For a moment Peter doesn't say anything, nor will he meet your gaze, but then he's looking at you and sighing. "I'm sorry." You blink at him, surprised to hear the apology. "I shouldn't have freaked out that one night. Who you are friends with and who you decide to date is your business."
You finally smile, even though it's rather small. "Thank you. And don't get me wrong, I know you meant well, but you should have dropped it and just trusted my judgment."
"Yeah. I know," he mumbles.
"Soo.. are we good?" You ask.
"Yeah."
"Good. I was getting tired of you liking my posts and not commenting on them."
Peter snorts. A moment of silence passes and then he says, "So you'll be glad to know that Leslie and I aren't together anymore. I broke it off earlier tonight."
You wince. "Sorry."
"Nah. Don't be. She was totally using me for access to the tower." You're torn between being smug about being right and being sad for your friend who just ended his relationship. "I only realized it earlier when she got upset because Mr. Rogers posted a picture of you and Mr. Barnes together, and she had a few choice words to say about it."
"What? Steve posted a picture of us?" You quickly pull out your phone, checking social media for any notifications. There are none, but as you get on Instagram you check Steve's page and sure enough there's a new pic that shows Bucky staring fondly at you as you laugh at something on your phone. "That little shit didn't tag us!"
As your thumbs move furiously to give Steve a piece of your mind and to comment how adorable you and Bucky look, Peter can't help but say, "You're attracted to him."
Your texting falters and you quickly glance at your friend to gauge his reaction, but when he just looks amused, you shrug. "I mean have you seen him? How could I not be attracted to him?"
"Does he know?"
"I have a feeling he does. Asshole likes to fluster me every now and then."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure he likes you back." You snort and go back to finishing up the comment on Steve's post. "I'm serious. When we stopped talking, he threatened me. He was pissed that I made you cry and said I was lucky. He's actually really scary when you're on his bad side."
It takes a moment for his words to sink in and when they do you can feel your ears heating up, followed by your cheeks. Peter starts to laugh and you groan in embarrassment. "Why is this so weird? Dating should be easy!"
"Well he is an Avenger.."
"I don't care about that! He's just- he's really, really hot. It's intimidating."
"Wait, what?" Peter huffs. "So you're intimidated by his hotness and not because he's a super-soldier with a metal arm?"
"Well yeah."
Expression melting into one of confusion, your friend eventually shakes his head at you. "You're on your own with that. Good luck."
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You hadn't realized how much everyone had known about your and Peter's brief falling out until the two of you were laughing together once again at the tower. It seemed like everyone had sagged in relief now that the two of you were poking fun at one another once more, and you had to apologize for apparently making it awkward for them.
And now that your best friend knew of your crush on a certain super-soldier, there was lots of teasing material. Of course you kept him in line when you could, but there was no stopping the force of Peter, Wanda, and Darcy combined.
It's a random Tuesday night when you've driven over to the Tower, Bucky having called you over for dinner with a few friends. You had the day off so you didn't mind heading on over, but as the elevator doors slide open after having ridden up to the communal floor, you yelp in surprise as the small gathered crows that shout, "Happy birthday!", at you.
Steve, Wanda, Sam, and Peter pop confetti poppers as you step out of the elevator, eyes wide as you glance between each of them. "My birthday is not until tomorrow!" You hiss.
"But you work tomorrow." Wanda frowns.
"Mhm." Your eyes then narrow, glancing behind them at the streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling. "And how'd you guys even know?"
Everyone glances at Peter and he takes a step back when your gaze slides to him. He chuckles sheepishly. "I might have hid your birthday cupcake here and Steve found it."
"Petey," you groan. "Why couldn't you just hide it at aunt May's like usual? You know I dislike birthday celebrations."
"You don't dislike them. You just dislike all the attention being on you."
"Whatever. Where's Barnes? He's the one who lured me here under false pretenses. I got a bone to pick with him too."
Everyone turns around and Bucky's head appears from around the corner. He smirks and you glare at him. "Not false pretenses. We are having dinner," he says. "It just so happens to be a birthday dinner. And it's running a little bit late, so until the food gets here you get to open presents."
"You guys all suck."
Peter and Wanda each take a hand and drag you further into the room, heading towards the kitchen. Bucky fully steps out from behind the wall and you aim a kick at his shin as you're walking by. He laughs as he easily dodges it and then you're standing by the kitchen island that's been cleared of everything other than birthday presents.
You huff a small laugh and shake your head fondly at them. "I love you guys, but you do know you didn't have to get me anything, right?"
"Shut up and open the presents," Bucky says.
"Open mine first," Sam says, reaching into the small pile and pulling out a white envelope. "Unlike the others, I was literally told within the last thirty minutes we were doing this so yeah. It's not the best present, but I think you'll enjoy it."
You smile at Sam as you open it, chuckling at the plain birthday card and his brief personal message written inside. But it's what else that's inside that makes you meet Sam's gaze once more, smiling fondly at him. "Thank you. I can't get enough of bubble tea and I'm sure I can do some damage with this gift card."
"You're welcome."
"Mine next." Peter reaches in for a medium-sized box and hands it over to you. "I know you're not a fan of presents, so I got you something I actually knew you'd enjoy."
Raising an eyebrow at him, you pull the lid off of the box. Then glancing down, you snort before pulling out a bottle of Patron Silver Tequila. "I knew we were best friends for a reason."
Steve groans. "Please drink responsibly."
"Please. Responsible is my middle name, Rogers." Everyone snorts and instead of trying to remain serious and feign offense, you end up laughing. "Sam and Buck are good babysitters. You have nothing to worry about."
"That's to be determined," he says. "Here. Open mine. I honestly had no idea what to get you, but Peter assured me you'd enjoy this."
Putting the bottle of tequila back in its box, you accept Steve's gift. Pulling off the ribbon, you can't help but laugh when you see what's inside. "Cards Against Humanity." Peter cheers. "We're playing this the next time I have off," you say, grinning at Steve.
"What is Cards Against Humanity?" He wonders. "I just picked it up and boxed it."
"It's possibly one of the most confusing card games or raunchy card games you'll ever play," Sam says. "I, for one, am looking forward to it."
"Thank you, Steve. I seriously can't wait to play it."
"You're welcome."
Wanda claps her hands. "Mine and Darcy's next. She ordered online and I had to pick it up earlier. But, um, I'm not sure you want to open it up in front of everyone."
"Oh god. Don't tell me it's a vibrator."
Sam laughs out loud as both Peter and Steve start blushing. Bucky looks rather amused and intrigued as Wanda slides two boxes over to you. She shakes her head, giggling. "Not quite."
For a brief moment you're relieved, but then her answer sinks in and you're hesitant all over again. You groan. "Is yours safer? I feel like it is. Which one is it?"
Wanda only smirks as she pushes her box towards you. You open it, marvel at its contents, and then put the lid back on much to the boys' displeasure. Trying to keep a straight face, you look at Wanda. "How many sets did you get?"
"There's four. All in colors that will look amazing against your skin tone."
"Thank you. I'll send you pictures when I wear them."
"Yes please! Natasha wants to know how they fit as well. She was the one who suggested them."
"I'll send them to the ladies group chat then."
"Well that's not fair," Sam complains. "First for not showing us what's inside the box and then you guys have a ladies only group chat. I wanna be in the ladies only group chat."
"But then that defeats the purpose of it being a ladies only group chat," you muse.
"Come on," Peter then whines. "What was the present?"
Your gaze slides to Peter, but instead of outright saying what it is, you say, "Think back to that one Halloween night where you wouldn't let me out of the dorm until I switched costumes."
It takes him only a minute to understand and when he does, he snorts. "That wasn't a costume! That was lingerie."
"Whoa, what?" Sam exclaims, grinning.
"Lingerie can be worn as a costume?" Steve wonders.
"I was actually a Victoria's Secret Angel, complete with the most amazing set of wings, and Petey forbade me from leaving the room. It was a sad, sad night."
"As much as I wanna get into that," Sam says, "I wanna know what Barnes got you more."
You chuckle and glance at Bucky, smile faltering when you see him tense. But then he seems to shake himself out of it and offers you a grin. "Open the bigger one first."
Wanda clears away the other presents as Bucky slides his two towards you. You feel giddy as you grab the bigger box, untying the black silk ribbons and lifting the lid. There's tissue paper you open up and you gasp, happily giggling. "You didn't?!"
"Well you did say it was your favorite movie, sweetheart."
"Yes!" You glance up, beaming at Bucky, and your heart swells at his own smile being directed at you. "I really, really love this. I can't wait to hang it up."
"What is it?" Peter wonders, trying to peer across the island.
"It's a quote from Practical Magic," you say and Peter huffs a laugh, knowing full well your love for that movie. You carefully pick it up and turn it around so everyone can see it as you read it off by heart. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."
"Aw," Wanda coos. "That's adorable."
"I made Bucky watch this movie a while back," you say. "I need to show it to you one of these days."
"I'm looking forward to it," she says.
With nothing else to say, you place it back in its box and set it aside in favor for the second box. It's a little smaller, but you're excited for it nonetheless. Untying the ribbon and lifting the lid, you immediately laugh at the white petals scattered atop the tissue paper.
"Barnes, you smooth sonuvabitch," Sam mutters.
Steve and Peter laugh, but you're so focused on the notecard that's under some of the petals. Lifting it up, you read the note to yourself because immediately you know it's personal. My better half has to be funny, get along with my friends, won't judge me for my past, and has decent taste in movies.
Heart fluttering, you bite the corner of your lip when it feels like you're smiling way too much.
"Well what does Prince Charming have to say?" Sam asks.
"That's none of your business." You close the note and then tuck into your back pocket, chuckling when Sam and Wanda complain. When you meet Bucky's gaze, you immediately flush and mentally curse yourself when you see him smirk in return.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, you center yourself and then part the tissue paper. You look at the second portrait and gasp after you read it.
"What? What is it?" Peter wonders.
This second portrait is of a hand drawn bowl with a tipped over salt shaker, a small bundle of lavender, a small bundle of rosemary, and a heart beneath it. Above the bowl is a swirl of flower petals and inside the swirl of petals, in very pretty cursive writing, are the words I wished for you too.
Did he just- did he confess his own feelings by using a Practical Magic quote? Or was this just you overthinking his present? You glance to meet Bucky's gaze and at his gauging expression your eyes fill with tears.
"What did you do, Barnes?!" Sam scolds him. "You made the poor girl cry at her own birthday celebration!"
But Bucky isn't paying him any attention, instead he's solely focused on you. You set the present aside and walk around the kitchen island on shaky legs, and Bucky readily reaches for your waist as you grab his face and pull him down into a kiss.
You can't believe you're kissing Bucky, but then he squeezes your waist and returns the kiss, and you know you made the right choice.
Someone gasps, but then the following words let you know exactly who it is. "Darcy is going to be so angry she missed this." Wanda. That is Wanda.
"What the hell is going on?" Sam wonders. "What type of present can cause this type of reaction?"
You smile against Bucky's mouth, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth before falling flat on your feet after having been on the tips of your toes in order to reach his mouth.
"It's my favorite quote from my favorite movie," you say. You turn around to address your friends, but Bucky doesn't let you go far. He wraps one arm around your waist and tugs you back so you're resting against his chest and tucked beneath his chin. "It's a movie about witches," you explain. "These two little girls are being raised by their aunts and they see them performing love spells for a local woman. Basically, one of the young girls refuses to fall in love after witnessing a love spell gone wrong and she does her own spell to call forward a love that would be impossible to find- a man who's favorite shape would be a star and who had one green eye, one blue. Years down the road, the sisters accidentally murder a man."
Sam snorts. "How the hell does one accidentally murder someone?"
"Shush." Wanda admonishes him. "I want to hear the story behind the gift."
You and Bucky chuckle, and you continue to explain. "Anyway, they send in an US Marshall to investigate the disappearance and the one who had done the love spell at a young age starts to fall for this man. She ends up telling him about the murder, but he doesn't quite believe her. Then they're on the verge of hooking up when she gets a good look at his eyes- one green eye, one blue."
"Oh my god. That's so cute!" Wanda says.
"It gets cuter. And sadder," you say. "So she explains to this man about her family, the murder, and how she can't be with him because he's only attracted to her because of a love spell she did when she was just a little girl. At first he's skeptical about this spell bringing him to her, but then he ends up believing her. And as he's walking away from her, he stops to tell her I wished for you too."
"So you made out with Barnes because of that?" Sam shakes his head, chuckling. "Wow."
"It's fuckin' adorable. Stop ruining the moment, Samuel!" Bucky laughs at your words and pulls you closer to him.
"So while I'm happy for Buck," Steve says, "I'm still really curious about what Darcy's gift is."
Peter nods. "Same."
Wanda giggles, but says nothing as she grabs the box and slides it over to you. You groan because you know it can be nothing good, but you still open it since everyone is watching and waiting. As soon as you part the tissue paper and read the box, alongside taking in the picture on the box, your face flames as you shove the lid back on. Wanda cackles.
"I hate her."
"She said to give the remote to-"
"Don't!" You cut Wanda off, blushing even further. "I know who she means to have control of that."
"They- they make underwear that does that?" Bucky muses and you die a little on the inside in embarrassment. You elbow him as he starts to laugh behind you.
Sam instantly knows what the gift is now and starts to laugh, but Steve and Peter apparently need some help.
"Lewis got you vibrating panties, didn't she?"
"Oh my god, Sam, if you don't shut up I'm gonna punch you in the throat."
Steve is torn between laughing and trying not to make you even more uncomfortable, but his amusement wins out. "Given Y/N's flustered state, I'm assuming Darcy wants Bucky to have the remote."
"I mean this seems like it could make for an interesting night."
Everyone laughs at Bucky's sudden interest in the box you're doing your damnedest to keep shut, but luckily Peter steps in. "As much I love watching Y/N squirm, can we get ready to eat? I'm starving."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go wait downstairs for it, kid."
Sam and Peter head for the elevator to take them down to the lobby, and you turn around in Bucky's hold. "Help me take this stuff to my car so I don't have to do it later?"
"Sure thing, doll." He grins. But instead of stepping away, he pushes you further into the kitchen island. You smile as he cages you in and then huff a laugh when he reaches for the box behind you. "So exactly how long do we have to be dating before we can test these out?"
You slowly lean upward so your lips brush his as you say, "I'd say very, very soon if you would put your ass into gear and help me move these presents like I asked."
Bucky laughs and presses a quick kiss to your lips. "Then let's get to it."
The telltale sound of a phone's camera goes off and you turn your face towards the sound. Wanda is beaming, her phone pointed towards you and Bucky. "Darcy wanted evidence I wasn't lying. She's going to be so happy."
Bucky turns his face to look at her then, his cheek brushing against yours where he's yet to back off from you. "Tell Lewis I said thanks for the present. I'll give her my review of them in a few weeks."
Wanda's eyes widen and you immediately blurt, "Don't you dare!" But she's already texting and you know the group chat full of ladies is going to be full of messages that you'll have to reply to later. Quietly groaning, you slap your hands against Bucky's waist and push him back. Looking up at him, you shake your head but the corner of your lips turn up in amusement. "You're terrible. I would threaten to withhold sex, but I've been looking forward to that for a while. I'd just be punishing us both."
"Just tell me when and where, sweetheart, and I'll be there."
"Oh no. You guys are going to be that couple," Steve complains.
And without missing a beat, you face him and say, "Fuck off, Rogers!" Bucky snorts.
"You're cranky when you haven't gotten laid."
You gasp as Bucky bursts out laughing right in your ear, but he quickly catches you as you try to lunge for his best friend. "You know what, I was going to be discreet when banging your best friend, but now I'm going to tell you all the filthy things Bucky likes to do just to annoy you. I will go into excruciating detail about the look and taste of his dick!"
Steve blanches as it's Wanda's turn to burst out laughing. "You've done it now, Steve."
And as Steve looks to Bucky for help, he merely shrugs. "You brought this on yourself, Stevie. Hope you enjoy the play by plays."
Relaxing in Bucky's hold and moving so you're hip to hip with him, you slide your arm behind his waist and hook your thumb into the belt loop of his jeans. "We're going to have so much fun."
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caravelmp3 · 3 years
Text
UNDER THE CANYON MOON
pairing: josh kiszka x female!reader warning(s): mostly fluff, just brief mentions of alcohol and sex  word(s): 2k note: hi hi hi !! this is just a little something i wrote up the last couple of days with the inspiration of light my love, canyon moon by harry styles, and the interview where josh talked about road-tripping the u.s. last summer <3 i don’t write one shots often but let me know what you all think bc i might shuffle some more out soon lol. hope you all enjoy !! :) 
The Los Angeles sun was hot, beating down onto the city basking in its late-summer hues. You parked your car on the street in Silver Lake and carried a bag of food and drink tray to the door of a recording studio, more than prepared to be swarmed by hungry boys who had been cooped up in the studio since five a.m. on the dot that morning. They had a breakthrough the night before with a new song, and after getting home and going to bed for a few hours, the creative juices started flowing again and they were back in the booth. 
A windchime on the door sang as you pulled the door open and walked inside, greeting their manager who was at a table by the door. 
“The boys here?” 
“Down the hall,” he nodded, pointing a finger in the direction of the hallway. “They’re more rowdy than usual so be prepared,” 
You laughed and turned down the hall, walking towards the studio. The walls were decorated with memorabilia of rock and roll greats and record plaques, and among them, you spotted a picture of the four boys with their Grammy award. It seemed like time had passed so quickly. They won the award for the first album and they were already working on their third, shooting them further into stardom. 
“Coffee’s here!” You shouted in a really bad New England accent when you noticed the recording light was flipped off above the door. 
You stepped into the room to a chorus of cheers and “thank god you're here”’s that made you laugh while sitting the food and drinks down on the table and they all rushed over. You handed out the specific orders and pointed to which drinks was theirs when they got handsy and tried to grab everything from her out of both excitement and some desperation for caffeine. 
“Our savior,” Jake said, reaching out and grabbing your shoulders to give them a gentle shake before taking the coffee you were holding out to him, and then you handed Danny’s to him, too. 
“Just the coffee girl here,” 
“Well, you’re a little bit more than that,” Josh said, walking over to the table to grab his full cup. 
You pressed a hand against the table, leaning over to him. “Just a little?” 
“A little bit,” he shot you a wink before swiftly pressing a kiss to your cheek. 
You were more than just a “little more” than the coffee girl, you were typically their designated drunk driver, the one who took all of their candid photos, the mediator in times of need, and well, the girlfriend of the lead singer, too. 
Everyone in the studio took their food and drinks and scattered among the seating area in a break from recording. Instead of one tiny room with all of them cramped together, they had a wide open space with booths for the different instruments and bean bag chairs and big comfy, velvet sofas, and there was dim lighting with deep toned rugs that gave off the vibe of a more relaxed feel rather than the fluorescent-light, tiled-floor feeling that made them feel rushed and confined by rules they didn’t set themselves. 
You liked the studio, too, and often took naps on the sofa while listening to them play instruments individually in the recording booths and while they were writing. One night they had found you at two a.m., bundled up with a blanket on the bean bag chair after they spent the night writing in the front room on the piano, but it wasn’t the first time as you often napped in their Nashville recording offices, too. 
“You guys been busy today?” You asked jokingly while lowering onto the sofa armrest, receiving nothing but glares shot in your direction. “Okay, okay, touchy subject,” 
With a mouthful of bread, Sam pointed to Josh, “Josh finished a song, didn’t you?” He was grinning. 
You hummed in joy and surprise, grabbing Josh’s knee as he sat next to you. “Really?” 
It had been a rough few days for all of them as they tried to shuffle out a few more additions to the new album. It felt incomplete with something missing, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was exactly, so they attempted to bring back and revamp old songs, write and record new ones, but nothing seemed to stick, until now. 
“Yeah, wanted to wait and show you later, but someone can’t keep his trap shut.” Josh said, pretending to be serious before cracking a smile and taking a sip of his coffee. “Just wanted it to be a surprise,” 
“Well it can still be a surprise, I’m surprised now,” you said. “Can I hear it? Or read what you got?” 
Josh nodded and stood, grabbing your hand and pulling you with him. There was a little recording room fit with a piano inside, his writing journal placed on the music stand where he had scribbled notes and keys and melodies in pen. He picked it up and handed it to you. 
“Nothing seemed to click until last night, when I started putting it together.” He said. 
“Is that why you wouldn’t tell me what it was when you all got back to the house?” 
Josh shrugged, pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, yeah, I wanted it to be special when you first heard it.”
You sat the coffee cup down onto the floor while lowering into the small chair in the corner, holding the journal like it was the most delicate piece of art in the world. In silence, while Josh watched on anxiously, you read the words he had splayed across the blank page. 
     Can you light my love?      Flames glowing bright as the sun      Deeper than oceans you run      Watch as our world has begun 
     Your mind is a stream of colors      Extending beyond our sky      A land of infinite wonders      A billion lightyears from here now
You felt your throat tighten, tears tempted your eyes. 
It was a love song. 
“Josh-” 
“Oh god you hate it don’t you, you dread it, despise it,” 
“Oh shut up, I’m in tears right now, you know I love it.” You looked up at him with a smile and a sniffle. 
His words across the page were sloppy, some cursive, written in different pens of different colors, some lines crossed and scribbled out, others underlined. 
“Your mind is something I will never fully understand.” You told him as he sat down on the chair next to you. “How the fuck did you come up with this-” 
“I was thinking about our trip out here, the week we spent driving out and all of the stuff we did… and how I think I fell more in love with you.” His voice softened. 
You reached out, placing your arm on his shoulder, fingers playing with his curls. “I can’t put it into words how much I love it, how much I love you,” you said, “and you make me sound so lovely when in reality I know I was a pain in the ass that entire trip.” 
“Yeah, but my pain in the ass,” he kissed the inside of your arm. 
Two weeks before the boys left Nashville to head to Los Angeles, Josh called you at midnight with an idea in mind – the two of you renting a camper to drive out to L.A., falling into all of the tourist traps along the way and stopping in random small towns to sleep while exploring the in between, which would definitely beat the boring four-hour flight. And you, half asleep and across the country, agreed. 
It would be fun. Right? 
And it was. Every time someone asked how it went, you called it “the most magical week of my life.” 
While the others waited behind for their flights the next week, you and Josh set off from Nashville, heading west with only the destination in mind and a trusty map in hand. Everything else just came to you both. 
The first stop was three hours in the trip, in Memphis. You and Josh roamed Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard and had lunch near Sun Studio before taking in the mementos and relics at the Blues Hall of Fame where Josh talked your ear off, rattling off more details about each band and singer than was on the info-cards on the wall. 
Then it was two hours to Little Rock, falling asleep in the back of the camper after a take-out dinner outside of a random supermarket. Sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of a parking lot, you held Josh’s hand under a blanket and watched the pink sunrise over the hills, and then it was back on the road again. 
From Oklahoma City to Amarillo, you fiddled with the map when Josh got lost after a wrong turn in a small town where he insisted on seeing the giant 66-foot LED soda bottle sculpture, and in the middle of northern Texas, he made it up to you by cooking your favorite dinner. You thanked him in a quiet whisper as you crawled into the bed with him that night, sliding under the covers where he greeted you with warm hands and kisses against your neck that made you squeal with the tickle of his mustache and he grinned against your lips. 
Josh got to choose the music all the way through New Mexico – Neil Young and Crazy Horse to John Denver’s Thank God I’m A Country Boy, and you were only able to squeeze in Joan Baez every hour when you stopped to stretch your legs on the side of the road, belting the words to him while he laughed at your voice cracks. 
And after you both pitched the tent in the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Josh hummed the tune to some new song while you two sat under the midnight stars in the canyon with a roaring fire, his arm around you, his sweatshirt draped over your shoulders. When he tried to start telling you a scary story after you heard a weird noise outside the tent, you blindly hit him in the dark and accidentally hit his nose, causing you both to burst into laughter after the initial panic left. He laughed loudly into your shoulder as you held his face in shock, catching the scent of your lavender lotion, and his body relaxed when the laughter died down, feeling so at peace in his life with you there. 
It was the tail end of the trip, but the excitement hadn’t died down yet. After showers in the camper in the middle-of-nowhere-Arizona and five hours west, you and Josh found a bar outside of Las Vegas that resembled Coyote Ugly, so you both had a round of tequila sodas and margaritas before walking around the small town that evening and sleeping off the tipsy-headaches in the air conditioning. On top of the covers, you looked at Josh napping in the sunshine, cheeks flushed red, curls poofy from the wind, and you felt your heart grow in your chest before falling asleep next to him. 
And then came Los Angeles, the final stop, the dreaded one. But you and Josh didn’t tell anyone that either of you were sad to be back with them in L.A. when they asked, and instead, you two smiled and hugged everyone after piling out of the camper in the drive-way of the Silver Lake house. 
Cleaning out the camper, tossing cheesy novelty t-shirts at each other and laughing at how many socks you two managed to lose along the way and how many bug bites were added, watching the developed clips Josh had filmed of scenes in the desert and you asleep in the passenger seat, you both were nostalgic about a trip that just ended. 
It was so easy, so freeing to just be together on the road, with only the destination in mind. It revealed a part of them that the other didn’t see often, like your tendencies to get your lefts and rights mixed up while giving directions, and Josh’s equally awful sense of direction didn’t exactly pair with the fact that he was a maniac while driving in the first place. 
But those parts were just added to the long list of why you and him loved each other in the first place. So you became the designated driver after Amarillo and Josh stuck to telling you “left or right” for the rest of the time. It was a compromise, another reason why you two worked so well together. 
It was a form of love in itself. 
“We’ll have to drive all the way back to Nashville then, so you can write more songs about me.” You teased. 
Josh rolled his eyes but cracked into a grin a second later. “Let’s not get too carried away,” but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t always mentally reliving the night under the canyon moon.
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dmwrites · 2 years
Text
“You’re Connor, right?”
Connor jumped so hard he spilled his coffee all over his lap and his doorstep, where he had been sitting. He turned around to find a blond dude sitting in the only chair in his house.
“Hello??? What the fuck how the hell did you get into my house?? There’s only one door and I’ve been sitting in it! Wha- huh??” Connor took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. “Actually, okay, let’s start simple. Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing in my house? Answer quickly, or I’ll call for backup.”
The blond dude laughed. “Chill dude, it’s all cool here. I’m Punz. No need to call in the flying pigs or anything.”
“You say Punz like that’s supposed to mean something to me.” Connor countered, trying to casually take out his phone to call Techno.
Punz sighed. “Alright, fine.” He stood up, walked over to Connor, and just took the phone out of his hand. “Connor, that was embarrassingly easy. Now sit down.”
Not knowing what else to do, Connor sat on his bed, as it was the only other sittable surface in the room.
“Nice place you got here.” Punz said conversationally. Looking around at the barren hole Connor lived in, he was unsure if Punz meant that as a joke or if he was the type to think a room with a bed, table, and streaming setup was the ideal living conditions.
“Yeah.” He didn’t know what else to say.
“Connor, what do you know about nuclear weapons?” Punz leaned forward in his seat- this was clearly the question he’d been sitting on and studying him for.
“Nuclear weapons…” Connor tapped a finger to his temple like he was deeply thinking. “I heard that kid who lives in the snow has some floating around.”
“So you know of Tubbo’s nukes, then.” Punz quirked an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Hard to miss. He likes to show them off, from the few times I’ve met him.”
“So you know one went missing, then.”
Connor gulped really loud, then attempted to cover it up with a hacking cough. “Missing? Weird wow haha.”
Punz sighed, taking out a knife and casually cleaning his fingernails with it. “Connor, I’m here on behalf of a client who is looking for that missing nuke. If it gets into the wrong idiot’s hands, it’s boom boom city, and I don’t mean in a sexy way. And we both know you have it.”
In Connor’s bare expanse of a house that he’d carved into the side of the mountain near Technoblade’s house, he had only a few things. A bed, which was more like a mattress on the floor, a old and worn table and chair that Techno had gave him, and a single chest. Punz looked at the chest, and then pointedly at Connor.
“You already checked the chest, didn’t you?” Connor said.
“Mmhm.”
“And?”
“And there’s nothing in it. Kind of a sad existence to have, don’t you think?”
Connor considered this, and shrugged. “I’ve always tended to be a bit of a broken home nomad. No shame in it, just how it is sometimes.”
Punz set the knife down. “Where’s the nuke, Connor? Just give it to me, man. It doesn’t even seem like you want it for nefarious purposes.” Punz adopted a bit of a nicer tone now. Maybe he thought Connor was just a bit too mentally ill or something.
“Does your client want the nuke for peaceful purposes?” Connor asked. He knew where it was. He could picture it now in its hiding spot. It wasn’t hurting anyone there.
Punz paused for a moment, but caught himself and narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t matter. My job is to get it, and beyond that isn’t on my hands.”
Connor considered this. He’d never met a mercenary until today, but that was certainly what this Punz person was. It sounded freeing, honestly, to just have a job and disconnect from it as soon as the money exchanges hands. But the world often wasn’t that simple.
“I’m not telling you where it is.”
Punz picked up the knife. “I’ll make you.”
Connor looked at the knife, and then up at him. “I can’t deny that I’m afraid, Punz. You’re a scary guy. I can tell that I am a stranger who is standing between you and a job well done. But I’m not going to tell you. Let the nuke lay to rest, so flowers may grow over it like sweet dreams. We don’t need this.”
Connor stood up and walked out of the house. He expected nothing less then a knife in the back, but nothing came. He walked alone, past the cheerful cottages in the snow and out into the tundra. Eventually, Punz caught up to him. He wasn’t running. Punz matched his steps to Connor’s, and they just walked in silence.
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Text
Cousin of a cousin’s wedding [Corpse x reader]
Paring: Corpse husband x Gender neutral!reader
Series: And they were roommates
Summary: “Fake dating au” requested by anon
Warnings: angst
Words: 2.2K
A/N: I’m sorry this took so long, it was supposed to be around 750 words... 
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
You barely remember the conversation leading up to the now 7-hour drive. Corpse had asked you to be his date for the cousin of a cousin’s wedding, he didn’t want to feel awkward all night so bringing you along would help a lot.
However you were now sitting in the car packed for the weekend about 2 hours down the road when Corpse had dropped the bomb.
“Could you pretend to be my partner? I just don’t want my aunts to bother me all night about dating, and then when you don’t leave my side all night won’t be looked upon as weird.”
You had never met more than his initiate family so of course you would be staying close to him, but this was a bit unexspected, and now you were going to be in love with him for a whole weekend only to have it ripped out of your reach Sunday afternoon. You knew you should say no, this could only end in catastrophy. But your voiced betrayed you, as you heard it answer him.
“Of course, I don’t mind.” Yes you did, you did mind a lot. What were you doing? You were screaming at yourself on the inside, while kindly smiling to the squirming Corpse beside you. You observed a wave of relief hit his face.
“Thank you, Y/N you’re my savior. I own you one.” He breathes out, why was he so stupid? Oh god now he had to act like he didn’t want to kiss you badly behind closed door but be able to express it free in the open. Why could he not just have kept his mouth shut? At least his aunts will be easier to deal with. They were the worst part of any family gathering.
The two of you got lost in music, both needing to escape from the impending doom each of your minds was trying to show you was going to happen.
You finally pull up to the estate of the wedding, Corpse looking as out of place as you feel. It was bright and everything was baby pink and baby blue. You have by now realized, you have no clue who the bride and groom are, and Corpse doesn’t seem to completely be sure either. This is going to be a rollercoaster of a weekend.
The two of you grab your bags, as you close the car Corpse is standing beside you, now packed with both bags and a hand outstretch. Oh yeah, couple. You have to be a couple for the weekend. This is fine. Totally. You can keep your cool. You look away as you take his hand, trying to keep the blush creeping up to you a bay.
Corpses eyes are fixated on your hand together, your hand just fit so perfectly in his, he knows he’s going to be keeping it in his now for as long as possible the rest of the weekend. He stands by watching as you check the two of you in under Corpses name, he can hear you ask if there is a possibility to get room service. He doesn’t register the answer, just the squeeze of your hand, as you can feel him start to lean back and forth on his feet.
Corpse lets out a breath as he puts your bags down on the bed, it’s a double bed. You’ve slept together before. It has been some time, but it’s not something that has never happened before. Corpse falls down onto the bed feeling how soft it is.
“Corpse! You can’t sleep now, we still have to greet everyone, but I wouldn’t mind missing it.” You sigh as you begin to open your bags and take out your outfits for tomorrow, and the rehearsal dinner tonight. You hang them up next to each other on the closet door.  You admire them, how in the world are you going to be paying attention to anyone but Corpse?
Corpse has pushed himself onto his elbows curious at your sudden silence, looking at your two outfits for the weekend, mirroring your thoughts. How in the world is going to be paying attention to anything but you?
“You’re…” He swallows “You’re going to be wearing that?” You turn around beaming at him
“Yes! Do you like it?” You take off the rehearsal outfit of its hanger and does the same with his. You’re excited to see him in a suit for the first time. It’s going to be a sight for ages, and you know it. You don’t notice Corpse flops back onto the bed.
Y/N is going to be the death of me. That is the only thought running through Corpses head as you begin to get ready for the greetings and the rehearsal dinner.  
“You’re going to look very… Nice?” Why did you say it like that Corpse? He nearly smacks himself in the head out of regret.
He finally rolls off the bed as you throw his outfit at him, ignoring his comment, not knowing how to take it, was it a compliment?
The two of you finish up, both trying to subtly check the other out, too busy to notice the other checking them out. You can smell the tension three doors down the hall.
He offers you his arm, and you happily take it after locking up the room you’ve been lodged into. You relish in the feeling of him leading you for as long as possible until you end up in the now bit crowed area of the lounge. You can feel Corpse tensing, so you do the only thing you can think of.
“Baby, it’s okay, I’m right here.” You reassure him. He smiles down at you. clearly already feeling calmer from knowing you’re there.
Baby?? Baby?? Y/N called you baby, and you didn’t do anything. Corpses thoughts are running wild of other nicknames he can suddenly hear you call him in the next two days.
He introduces you to a couple of cousins he vaguely remembers meeting when he was young. But a lot of the people there, he hasn’t met either. You were the more outgoing of the two of you. Which was kind of like being the tallest dwarf. You to what everyone tells you, and you nod at the right time. Corpse hasn’t been listening to anyone else since you came down here. You’ve invaded all of his mind in that outfit and by just being there, hearing you call him your partner, and baby. He’s whipped and you’re not even his.
The rehearsal dinner goes well, you’re seated between some people Corpse hasn’t met either, so the two of you keep to yourself. You’re chatting along, and having fun, both enjoying the couples part, having a bit of fun trash talking some of the others when you can see them be rude to the servers.
After dinner you greet the bride and groom, they seem nice, the bride like so many others vaguely remembers Corpse from that one family gathering back in that aunts house ages ago. They tell you they’re happy that he has finally found someone to take care of him, you thank them. Corpse is clearly embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
Another half an hour of mingling goes by before the bar is open and you tell Corpse you’ll be right back with something to drink.
You try to get the bartenders attention, but he seems preoccupied with flirting with an elderly woman down the bar, seemingly willing to give him tips. That’s when a man approaches you, he’s cleanly shaven and like so many others in an expensive suit.
“Here let me help you.” He tell you, before whistling, making the bartender come over.
“Thank you,” you tell him, before you give your order to the bartender.
“What’s someone like you doing hanging over by the bar?” He asks
“The same as you,” you can already tell where this is going, and can feel the dread creeping up on you for having answered.
“Then have the drink with me.” He offers ever so politely, you glance after the bartender. Hoping for him to come back soon.
“No thanks, I’ll be alright.” You tell him, and starts looking for Corpse in the crowd, but you can no longer see the place where you left him standing.
“C’mon it’s just one drink.” He persist, “it’ll be on my tab.”
“I’m sorry, I’m here with someone tonight.” You decline once again. Hoping for the drinks to be finished soon.
“One drink, just one.” He offers again.
“I think my partner here made it very clear. No.” You can hear the deep voice behind you, you lean into his arms as they embrace you from around the stomach. If you weren’t wrong you could hear a hint pf possessiveness in his voice, and that sent the right kinds of chills down your spine.
The man puts his hand up. “It was just a lighthearted offer, nothing to be making a fuss about.” He walks away.
You look up at Corpse, your drinks forgotten, the two of you just wanting to rest. You head for the bedroom, knowing there will be an even longer day in front of you tomorrow.
As you strip down in the bathroom you call out to Corpse.
“You know I could have handled that myself, right?”
“I know, doesn’t mean that you always have to though.” He calls back.
The two of you settle comfortably into bed, you can feel Corpse pull you into him, and you let him do it.
You’re awakened by the sun streaming in through the windows. Corpse is already up and showering, you yawn as you get out of bed, and look over the outfits for the day. There was a breakfast buffe, but the two of you settle with room service, and a nice silent morning together.
You take your time to get ready, as the two of you aren’t invited to the church, which is understandable. You have no clue how many you are here, but the small church attached to the large manor, doesn’t seem to be able to fit everyone attending.
You fix Corpse tie, as you finish up and check over yourself. The two of you linger close, before you pull away and dust down his jacket with your hand.
The dinner is what Corpse has been dreading the most. His aunts. They’ll be seated at the same table as you. Which means every aspect of his life will be scrutinized with certainty.
You let him lead you to the table, minimizing the amount of time you must mingle with others. The couple gets introduced and then the first course is served. This is when the first of the 4 aunts around you starts to question your life. What jobs do you have? Did you ever finish college? Why aren’t you more like my children?
You put your hand on Corpses thigh, and you can feel him melt underneath your touch. He puts his hand on top of yours, as he tries to calmly answer every question that gets thrown at you. but his mind keep wandering to the hand that’s burning a hole through his trousers.
The speeches flies by as the two of you go back into your little couple bubble, as you have dubbed it in your own mind. You know by tomorrow noon the spell will be broken, but you will enjoy every bit until then. By the time desert rolls around, both you and Corpse have gotten a bit of alcohol inside and is ready to hit the bar when desert finally gets taken off the table.
You giggle at something he said as he whispers it into your ear. You’re both drunk, and both having forgotten the couple thing was to help Corpse calm his nerves. The next thing you remember is the headache you had when you woke up.
You remember waking up and realizing you had significantly less on than usual when heading to bed. The scared look on Corpses face when you met his eyes explained enough for you.
The two of you packed your things in silence, only talking to each other, when thanking the newly weds for their hospitality, before heading to the car. Riding 7 hours in silence back to your apartment in San Diego. The spell certainly broken.
How you both wished that it had been real, and how you both wished you knew how to bring up what had happened and tell the other you wouldn’t mind continuing like that. Instead you both kept your mouths shot, with your minds running more miles per hours than the car.
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love-and-monsters · 3 years
Text
Fake Dating pt. 2
M Faerie X F human reader, 6,405 words
This is a part two to this story. Elwain and his human are safely in the human world, dealing with things far more mundane than an assassination attempt. Both of them are adjusting to the new life and to each other. Very fluffy, with some caretaking. I was in a very romantic mood while writing this and I think you can tell.
Content notes: mentions of parents trying to kill their child, descriptions of minor illness.
“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why do humans like this?”
You repressed a snicker. “You’re watching it.”
Elwain didn’t even look away from the screen to reply. “You put it on.”
“I just turned on the TV. You’re the one who started watching.” Elwain made a noncommittal noise. You pressed your lips together, trying not to smile. “I can change the channel, if you want. There’s a documentary on that I wanted to-”
“No, this is fine,” Elwain said. He hopped onto the couch next to you and curled up. “Ugh. These people know that expensive doesn’t mean good, right?”
You covered your mouth with a hand. Elwain actually, legitimately enjoying trashy reality shows was by far the best thing you’d learned about his personality since you’d started living together. The worst thing was probably that he’d grown up with servants and had no comprehension of household chores. It had taken a few weeks to get him to put his food back in the refrigerator when he was done with it, and you weren’t sure he was ever going to get the hang of doing dishes. Still. He was getting better.
“You’re still going to need to vacuum later tonight,” you reminded him. Elwain groaned.
“I spent all day at work!” he said. “I should get a day off.”
“You only had a five hour shift today. I worked seven. Plus, I have school. You don’t get breaks on household chores. Doesn’t matter how much you worked, they still have to be done.” Elwain looked away sulkily. That was an expression you were getting uncomfortably familiar with. “And you’re not allowed to do magic for it, either.”
“What? Just because you can’t use magic, there is no reason for me to be forbidden!” Elwain said.
“Yeah, sure. You remember what happened last time you used magic to clean the apartment?” Bright pink spots appeared on Elwain’s cheeks. He glared down at the couch, expression screwed up in irritation.
“I fixed that.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. You fixed the apartment. What you’re never going to fix is my trauma from walking into my apartment and finding everything covered in spiders!”
“I apologized!”
“Look, the next time you decide to enchant a bunch of bugs into doing household chores, just. Don’t.”
Elwain huffed. “They weren’t even venomous to humans! All of you are so easily frightened. They weren’t going to hurt you.”
“I think the heart attack I had upon entering my own apartment could be considered as hurting me,” you muttered. Elwain looked sour, but didn’t respond, apparently returning to his TV show. Elwain’s adjustment to the human world had been… difficult. He had no real understanding of conventional social norms and obviously still expected everyone to treat him like a noble, despite working a minimum wage job at a fast-food restaurant. Not to mention that he seemed to have very loose morals when it came to enchanting mortals. As far as you were aware, he’d never done it to you, but he didn’t seem to have any sort of restraint when it came to anyone else. Before he’d gotten his job in customer service, he’d made all of his money by charming random people off the street into handing over their wallets.
Admittedly, his skills had come in handy. You didn’t feel particularly good about it, but he had charmed the landlord into giving you the apartment for significantly less than the going rate. In your defense, there hadn’t been many options. You couldn’t stay in your parent’s house with a Fae hanging around, and even with both of you working, there was no way to afford an apartment otherwise.
It did not help that Elwain apparently found your moral crisis very funny.
“You all live by such dumb rules all the time. If you really wanted, I could probably charm someone into giving us their house, or just letting us stay there.”
“That feels morally dubious,” you said.
“Ugh. You won’t let me steal anything, you won’t let me charm people into letting us use their things without stealing them, you won’t even let me charm people into handing some things over!” Elwain flopped across the couch. “So now we’re living in a garbage apartment and I have to work at a greasy food place where customers yell all the time and-”
“It’s a nice apartment, especially considering what we’re paying for it,” you interrupted. “And if you use magic too often, people might start figuring out that something weird is going on.”
“I doubt it. Mortals are stupid.” But Elwain didn’t protest, and went to his job as usual, and didn’t steal, which was more respect for your rules than you were worried he’d show. And, really, you were glad you’d instated the ‘no magic’ rule at large, given how unpredictable the results could be.
Elwain sprawled across the couch. He had a tendency to take up ridiculous amounts of space, pushing you to the edges of the couch to avoid contact. Eventually, you got up.
“Where are you going?” Elwain asked as you walked out of the room.
“I’m going to study for a bit before bed,” you called back. “Enjoy your show.”
He stared after you until your door clicked shut. Weird. He’d seemed almost annoyed about you leaving, even though it meant he could watch his shows for longer and you would stop bugging him about vacuuming. Whatever. He’d been acting weird recently, though. Maybe you should talk to him about it. He’d seemed fine for the first month or so after leaving his home and his parents trying to kill him, but maybe he was having some sort of delayed reaction.
You buried yourself in your textbooks for the next few hours, trying to get a solid start on one of your papers. The back of your mind seemed to be focused on the little noises in the apartment, though. Every sound of footsteps or things being moved pulled your attention back to the rest of the house. Eventually, you heard the sound of the vacuum running for a while before Elwain headed into his room.
He never went back into the main area of your apartment and, buried in work, you were soon thoroughly distracted. Gradually, as you worked, your mind grew less and less focused until you were face down in your books, dead asleep.
“Wake up!”
You bolted upright. There was a piece of paper sticking to your cheek from a stream of drool. You hurriedly pulled it off. “What? What’s going on?” You blinked, focusing on Elwain’s fine face in front of you. “What are you doing in my room?”
“Your alarm was going off. I can’t believe you didn’t hear it. It woke me up.” Sure enough, your phone, which was still sitting across the room from you, on its charger, was ringing furiously. You weren’t surprised that you hadn’t noticed it, though. Your head felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton.
“Oh. Sorry.” You rose a little unsteadily and turned the alarm off. “Thanks for waking me. Probably would have slept right through it if you hadn’t.”
“Uh huh,” Elwain said. “Did someone curse you?”
You blinked at him. He seemed dead serious. “Uh, no. I doubt it. Unless you know something I don’t.”
“If you’re asking about my parents, I would assume they are no longer concerned about me,” Elwain said. His voice was clipped, like it always was when he talked about his parents. “I don’t think they would bother to curse a mortal. If they had the means to lay a curse on someone, it would be far easier and more effective to just curse me.” He paused. “I was only asking because you look terrible.”
“Thanks,” you mumbled.
“You do. Why didn’t you sleep in your actual bed last night?” he asked.
“Because I fell asleep at my desk by accident. Are you going to stand here and just insult me or-” You broke off into a round of thick, hacking coughs. Elwain took a step back, alarm crossing his face.
“What is happening to you?” He lifted his arms in front of him, like he was trying to ward off some kind of evil spirit.
“It’s a cough,” you said. “Have you never seen a cough before?”
Elwain lowered his arms, still looking at me like he thought you would start convulsing at any moment. “Fae don’t do that.”
“They don’t cough?” You rubbed at your chest. A significant amount of phlegm had settled there. God, your body really had to pick the worst time to get sick.
“Not like that,” he said. “What’s the matter with you?”
“I’m sick,” you told him.
He nodded slowly. “I’ve heard of that. A mortal thing. Your forms are weak, so you occasionally fall ill. It is a sign of your small, failing lifespans.”
You considered correcting him, but decided that you had better ways to spend your morning than trying to explain germ theory to a Faerie. “Yeah. Sure. Well. I’m sick. So that’s why I’m coughing. It’s just a cold. I’ll be fine.”
Elwain narrowed his eyes. “Hmph. Well. I have work. Don’t die while I’m out.”
“I’m not in any danger of dying,” you told him. “Go head to work. Have fun.”
“That’s unlikely,” he muttered, but he left your room without protest. You closed your door after him and set about getting ready for your day.
The cold had settled into your head and chest and you could tell it was going to be bad already, even before it had come on fully. God. You could not afford to get sick.
Elwain was eating breakfast when you shuffled into the kitchen. You’d needed to absolutely cake your face in makeup to look presentable, and you saw his brows rise as he looked at you. Fortunately, the Fae at least knew how to keep their mouths shut. He just looked back at the frozen waffles he was toasting.
You snagged a granola bar and headed for the door. “Have a good day at work!” you called over your shoulder. Elwain grunted in response. The door swung shut behind you.
Work was exhausting, as per usual. It was better than Elwain’s job by a long shot, since you were working in a local candy store run by a sweet older couple, but between keeping an eye on any batches of candy being produced, sorting out customers, and having to deal with the requisite child-throwing-a-fit-for-not-getting-sweets, it was tiring. Trying to look bright and perky while being weighted down with a cold was awful.
As soon as work was off, you had class. Dragging yourself through it was a slow, painful slog. By the end, your head was fuzzy and you felt dead on your feet. Slowly, you hauled yourself on the bus and fell asleep.
Naturally, you missed your stop.
About an hour after you were supposed to be home, you dragged yourself in through the door. Elwain practically slammed into you. His hands clapped on either side of his face and he peered intently at you. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you! I thought you were dead!”
You pushed him off you and bent to one side to cough heavily until you were nearly sagging to the floor. Elwain stared at you. “Sorry,” you rasped when you’d stopped. “I fell asleep. And then my phone was on low battery and I wanted to make sure I had enough battery to use my GPS to get home.”
“You couldn’t have texted me?” Elwain drew himself up, hands on his hips. The entire situation reminded you, ridiculously, of your mom when you came home after a night out. “I was worried! I didn’t know where you were, and mortals are so ridiculously fragile-”
“Aw, you’d have been fine,” you said. “If anything, you’d be able to do more without my stupid mortal morals.”
Elwain’s expression went strange for a moment. “Are you feeling well? You seem… off.”
“I’m not feeling well. I’d like to lie down, actually.” You coughed again. “That okay with you?” Elwain was still frowning, but he stepped aside, allowing you down the hall and into your room.
You went down into your bed face-first. Almost as soon as you hit the pillows, your mind faded into sleep. Sleep came to you in fitful waves. You kept waking, coughing, rolling over and falling asleep again. When your alarm pulled you back to full consciousness, you felt thoroughly awful. The cold had settled firmly into your chest and head, gumming everything up. Your chest rasped every time you breathed in, prompting heavy coughing fits, you shivered even when you were wrapped in blankets, and your head felt full, achy, and cloudy.
The cold had apparently decided to upgrade to a full-blown illness. Slowly, you shoved yourself upright. It was hard to breathe through your nose and your mouth. Your throat stung with every inhale. Every cell of your body just wanted to pop some of the cold medicine that made you sleep and hopefully you’d wake up when it was all over.
Just as you were standing up, someone knocked on your door.
Well, you knew who. There was only one person who it could be. Grimacing, you walked over to the door and pulled it open. “Elwain. What?”
He stared at you. “I was- are you okay?”
“I’m sick. You remember the discussion was had yesterday?” you said. “Anyway. You needed something?”
Elwain looked you over. You hadn’t looking into a mirror, but given his expression, you probably looked terrible. He seemed to think you were five seconds from crumbling into a pile of ash, like a vampire exposed to sunlight. “Do I need to call 911?” he asked.
“Uh, no. It’s a cold. I don’t need an ambulance. I need to sleep for a while. Why are you knocking on my door?” you asked. Elwain’s mouth moved wordlessly. Whatever he had wanted to talk to you about, it seemed to have been completely derailed.
“I… er.” Elwain’s gaze flicked over you again. “Well. I wanted to see how you were doing. You went to bed right after you got home last night and I never saw you again. And you seem to be doing… poorly.”
“Yeah. I’m not doing great. I really just want to go back to bed.” You rubbed your hand over your head. “I feel like shit.”
Elwain hesitated. “Do you need me to do something?”
“Just go about your day. I’ll try to keep my gross self out of your way.” You slouched across your room to your bed. “If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to try to get a little more sleep.”
Elwain lingered in the doorway for a few moments longer. Finally, he turned and headed into the kitchen. The door remained open behind him, and you couldn’t be bothered to get up and close it again. Instead, you buried your head in your pillow. Sleep claimed you again within moments.
Less than an hour later, your alarm went off again. You slapped at it balefully until it shut off. Somehow, it felt like you gotten negative sleep, like sleeping had made you even more tired. Slowly, painfully, you pushed yourself upright. Shivers wracked your frame. How had sleep made everything worse?
You threw on the first clothes that you could get your hands on and shuffled into the kitchen. Elwain looked up from his breakfast. His mouth opened slightly. “Good lord. Maybe you have been cursed.”
“Thanks,” you mumbled. “I don’t look that bad.” You did, but you’d slathered enough makeup on your face to cover most of it. Then again, maybe that wasn’t enough to hide from Fae eyes.
“You look like a walking corpse,” Elwain said. You collapsed in the seat next to him and coughed into your fist. The force of the motion made your head throb. Elwain curled his lips back from his teeth in a grimace. “Are you certain you don’t need me to call 911?”
“No. It’s a cold. I’m-” You dissolved into a fit of coughing so severe it was difficult to catch your breath. Elwain stared at you, eyes wide. “I’m fine,” you croaked.
Elwain narrowed his eyes, but returned to his phone. You didn’t know where he’d gotten it from, because he certainly hadn’t purchased it, but you’d decided you weren’t going to ask. You ate slowly, mostly because your stomach felt tender, and you couldn’t finish even half of your normal portion. After a while of picking at your food, you dumped your dishes in the sink and started gathering your items to head out.
“Where are you going?” You startled. Elwain had appeared at your shoulder, completely silent. You might have chalked up not noticing him to your cold-dulled senses, but he could sneak up on you no matter how well you were feeling.
“Work,” you said.
Elwain looked back down at his phone. “You are not supposed to leave the house if you’re sick.”
“It’s a cold. I’ll be fine,” you said.
Elwain kept looking at his phone. “If you are sick, you are supposed to stay home, both so you can avoid infecting others and so you can recover.”
“Are you reading that off a website? Where are you reading that from?” You tried to grab his phone, but he gracefully slipped out of your reach.
“I searched about human illnesses on the internet,” he said. “Your symptoms are consistent with the common cold, but they are also consistent with pneumonia. It says you should sleep and drink water until you are recovered.”
“Look,” you said. “I’m fine. It’s a cold. I’ve had them before. I will have them after this one. I know how to handle them. I’ll pop some cold medicine and I’ll be fine.” Elwain stared at you. His expression was hard to read. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll live.” You sniffed and blotted at your face with a tissue. “I’m going to leave now. I’ll see you later.”
You swept out the door, giving Elwain a wave. He stared after you, not moving until you slammed the door shut.
It was a long, slow, awful day. You could barely keep your head together. By the time you got home, your limbs were heavy with exhaustion and your mind was swimming.
You dragged yourself through the door. Your body felt like you were wrapped in a massive, thick blanket. Everything was warm and it was hard to move, like everything was stiff.
Elwain stared at you as you pulled yourself into the kitchen. “You look like death warmed over.”
“Fine,” you mumbled. “’m fine.” You slouched over the counter and leaned against it. Elwain stood, stepping closer to you. “I’m good. I… I’m good. Just… Tired. Tired. Need to nap.”
“Perhaps you should nap in your room,” Elwain said. “Not on the counter.”
“I’m fine here.” Your words were getting mushy. Why weren’t your lips moving correctly? “I’m good. I just, um. Need. Something…”
“It’s okay. You’re okay. Here, hold onto me. I’ll-” Elwian’s hands were on your waist, on your back. You felt boneless, mushy. Your limbs weren’t moving the way you wanted them to. The only thing you could feel were Elwain’s hands supporting you. Was he carrying you? Maybe. You felt like you were floating. Your head was disconnected from your body, floating. Someone was speaking to you from far away, a soothing voice. It was so soothing. Maybe you could just sleep for a bit. Just sleep. It would be nice to just sleep.
Dimly, you came back to yourself. You blinked your eyes open. The ceiling was unfamiliar, at least as ceilings went. Not that you were familiar with many ceilings, really. Looking down at yourself revealed why the ceiling was so unfamiliar. The bed was covered in heavy, dark blue sheets. Elwain’s sheets. You were in his bed.
Slowly, you pushed yourself upright. You still felt bad, but less bad than you had been feeling. A raking cough escaped your chest, thick with phlegm.
“You’re up!” Elwain appeared in the doorway. He looked… frazzled? You weren’t sure the Fae could look as frazzled and unkempt as a human could, but he didn’t look as ethereally beautiful as he usually did. He looked sort of ruffled. “I was considering dragging you to the hospital, but the internet said that maybe ginger tea would actually be better, so I got you some of that.” He indicated the cup in his hands.
“You have got to stop getting all your information from the internet. Or at least I need to give you a media literacy course on identifying good sources,” you croaked. Your voice sounded bad, but it no longer hurt to speak. It just felt uncomfortable.
Elwain gave you a bewildered look and held the cup out toward you. “Drink it.” You took it obligingly and took a sip. Elwain must have dumped half a bottle of honey in it, because it was so sweet you almost couldn’t taste the ginger. You swallowed it carefully.
“Thank you,” you said when you’d finished the cup. “What, uh. What exactly happened to me?”
Elwain sat on the end of your bed. He was wearing his old cloak, the one he’d taken with him when he’d fled from Faerie. He tucked it tighter around him, fingers fidgeting at the hem. “I was hoping you could inform me of that, actually. I was quite frightened when you collapsed like that.”
“Oh, yeah,” you said. Vaguely, you remembered passing out. “How long was I out?”
Elwain glanced at the clock. “Mn. Less than an hour? You were in and out for the first ten minutes, mumbling a lot.” You had vague memories of Elwain leaning over you, expression panicked. Must have been from then. “Once I got you into bed, you fell asleep. I wasn’t sure if I should wake you or not.”
“It is,” you said. “Probably a good idea to let me sleep. Though if I ever do collapse again, please call 911.” You considered. “Well, I guess don’t call 911 unless I’m actually dying. I can’t afford the ambulance.”
Elwain nodded, even though he looked politely confused. “Is your illness getting worse?”
“Maybe,” you said. “It’s hard to tell. I think I have a fever now, so that sucks.”
With absolutely no warning, Elwain leaned forward. His face was abruptly so close to yours, close enough to feel his cool breath tickling your skin. The hairs on the back of your neck lifted. Suddenly the only thoughts in your head had to do with his lips pressing to yours, his cool mouth meandering along your skin-
His forehead touched yours. His eyes closed, a little furrow appearing in his brow. “You’re warm,” he said. “Very warm.” He sat back.
You blinked. “Uh. You can do that with your hand, you know.”
“Oh? I saw the forehead one on the internet,” Elwain said, but he reached up and cradled your face in his hands. With a soft, delicate touch, the back of his hand brushed against your forehead and down your cheek. The touch made something in your chest tighten and your breath catch. “You still feel warm.”
You moved your mouth, trying to get your brain back in gear. “Uh, yeah. Fever! That’s, uh. Bad. I need, um. You remember that pill bottle in the bathroom I showed you? The one with the little red pills?” Elwain nodded. “Get those and a glass of water. They’ll bring the fever down.”
Elwain vanished for a moment and returned with a tall glass water and the bottle of pills. He watched as you downed them and sank back into bed. His sheets were softer than yours, his bed even more luxuriously plush. You weren’t sure where he’d gotten the sheets from, or if maybe they were the sheets you’d bought him, just augmented with magic. “Why did you put me in your bed, anyway?” you asked. “My bed’s not that much further away.”
“I wanted to keep an eye on you,” Elwain said. “And you do not like me coming in your room.”
“I don’t like you just walking into my room whenever you feel like it, but you can come into my room,” you said. But you were pretty glad he’d put you in his bed. Everything in his room smelled faintly floral and herbal, a smell that relaxed you. Everything was cozy.
“I am not familiar with how to deal with sick mortals,” Elwain said. “Do you need anything else?”
“No. I just need to rest.” You paused, looking toward the window. “I should probably head back to my own room, actually. You’ll probably want to sleep here tonight, right?”
Elwain shook his head. “Stay. You need to rest. I will sleep elsewhere.” He swept out of the room, cloak fluttering behind him. You stared after him for a moment before sinking back into bed. Despite just waking up, your head was already muddy again. Maybe Elwain had gotten you the pills with the sleeping medicine in them. Your eyes closed. Within moments, you were drifting away, fast asleep.
You dreamed of strange things, of hands on your face, cupping your cheek, of soft lips pressed to your neck, of kind eyes and strong arms carrying you around. When you opened your eyes to see the same kind eyes staring down at you, you were half-convinced you were still dreaming.
“Hello,” Elwain said. “You have been asleep for a while.”
You blinked. Your body did have that foggy heaviness that came when you’d been sleeping deeply. Even your discomfort from the illness seemed far away and dim. “Elwain.”
“Yes. I’m right here.” He said it more gently than a simple statement of fact, almost like a reassurance.
“How long was I out?” There was bright sunlight streaming in through the window and across the bed. You lifted a hand to clumsily shield your eyes.
“Over twelve hours. I thought you should probably sleep. That’s what the internet said.”
“Oh, man, we are going to need to get you some better resources than just ‘the internet,’” you said. “But you were right. Thanks for letting me sleep.” Slowly, you shoved yourself up into a sitting position. “What’s that?”
Elwain held a bowl out to you. “I was told that soup was good for mortal illnesses.”
You took the bowl of vegetable broth. Elwain’s cooking was usually pretty hit or miss- he could follow recipes just fine, but he also had a habit of deciding that he had a better idea than the recipe and going completely off the rails. The soup just seemed to be broth, though. You took a cautious sip. It was watery, but tolerable.
“Are you feeling better?” Elwain asked. You nodded, glancing over at the clock.
“It’s past nine,” you noticed. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“I called in sick. I wanted to stay home to make sure you were all right.” Elwain looked completely serious.
“It’s just a cold. I’m fine.”
Elwain’s eyes narrowed. “You collapsed.”
“Well, yeah, but…” You trailed off. There wasn’t much you could say in response to that. “Fine. But if you get fired for this, I’m going to be pissed.”
“I will not be fired. My boss loves me.” Elwain gave a superior little sniff, nose stuck up in the air. You laughed into your bowl of broth.
When you were finished, Elwain took your bowl back into the kitchen, returning only a few moments later. “Do you need anything else?”
“I think I’m okay,” you said. “You really didn’t have to stay home to take care of me. There’s not going to be a lot to do. I think I’m mostly going to sleep.”
“Regardless. I think it is better to be safe.” Elwain looked at you from the doorway for a moment longer. “I need you.”
He left the doorway. You could hear his footsteps retreating into your apartment, perfectly steady, like what he said hadn’t made your chest tighten intensely. You sank back into his bed. His scent wreathed around you, gentle and reassuring. Oh, god. Warm feelings were fluttering up in your stomach, swelling through chest and trembling in your lungs. Worse than that, they felt familiar. How long had these feelings been lingering in the background of your mind? And now they had surfaced and you didn’t know what to do with them. Naturally, you would have some kind of emotional crisis when you were sick.
You faded in and out of dreams where Elwain’s scent wreathed around you and his gentle hands stroked your forehead and cheeks. You woke up feeling oddly melancholy.
The sounds of the TV drifted through the open door. Shaking some feeling back into your heavy limbs, you hauled a blanket over your shoulders and headed into the living room.
Elwain was draped over the couch, staring at the TV. There was some soap opera on with a woman and a man hysterically throwing themselves at each other. Elwain looked up as you padded into the room. “Is it okay for you to be out of bed?” he asked.
“Yeah. I feel better, actually.” The sleep had helped quite a bit. You still felt foggy, but the pain in your head and chest had faded. Elwain sat up, drawing his limbs in closer to himself so you could sit next to him.
“You look less… corpse-like,” he said. Before you realized what he was doing, he took hold of your face in both hands and pulled you closer to him. “You are still warm.”
“Uh, yeah. I’m getting better.” You reached up and carefully pried his fingers off your face. You were overly aware of how your fingers lingered together. “How’s your day off going?”
“Human TV is still strange,” Elwain said, turning back toward the screen. “I can’t imagine any humans really behave like this. I have never seen it.”
“No, it’s a soap opera. It’s supposed to be deliberately over-the-top and crazy. That’s why they’re fun to watch.” Elwain rolled his eyes, but there was amusement in his expression.
“Is there anything you want to watch?” he asked.
“No, this is fine.” You settled into the soft cushions, staring at the TV. As much as you were looking in the direction of the TV, most of your attention was focused on Elwain. His gaze kept flicking toward you, as if he was unable to focus on the show either. After a moment, he reached out toward you.
One of his hands settled on your head, the other on your shoulder. Before you realized what had happened, he pushed you so your head was resting in his lap. You stared up at him as he, apparently unconcerned, started weaving his fingers through your hair.
“What are you doing?” you asked.
“You did this for me when I first came here,” Elwain said. “It was soothing. I thought you might like it as well.” He paused. “Was I incorrect?”
You considered for a moment. His fingers were still carding through your hair, twining strands around his fingers. “No. I don’t mind.”
Elwain continued to stroke your hair. His nails scratched lightly at your scalp. The feeling of being touched made something tremulous swell in your chest. It was a pleasant feeling, but one so sharp and overwhelming that it almost made you cry.
You lay with Elwain for a while, his hands absently playing with your hair and trailing along your head and neck. He seemed to be paying far more attention to you than to the TV. “You should take better care of yourself,” he said, stroking your bangs back from your forehead. “If you were to die, I would be alone in the mortal world.”
“You’d manage,” you said.
“Perhaps.” Elwain removed his hands from your hair and hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be struggling to speak. Then he sighed. “But I would prefer it if you were with me.”
You looked up at him. He was staring deliberately to one side. There was a faint pinkish color to his cheeks and his eyes were narrowed. “You could have left, once our deal was up. I only asked you to stay with me for the night. And yet, you helped me. There was no reason to. I no longer have my connections or any particular Faerie skills. Even the few powers that remain with me, you don’t like me using. You have gained nothing from this deal and you help me regardless.”
“Of course, I did.” Thinking about that night only brought one image to your mind. Elwain, who had nearly been killed by his own parents, looking lost and confused and abandoned. He had been cocky before, but in that moment, he had just looked forlorn and upset. He had just looked scared. “I wasn’t going to just leave you on your own.”
“You could have,” Elwain pressed on. “Easily, you could have. You could have justified it, even by mortal morals. There’s not a lot here that could kill me. As you have pointed out, I would be fairly fine on my own. But you stayed with me regardless, for no other reason than just helping me.”
“You’d just almost been assassinated. I couldn’t leave you,” you said.
“You could have. But you didn’t. And, at least so far, you have asked for nothing from me in return. To be quite honest, you’ve been almost annoying with how little you allow me to do.”
“I try,” you said. Elwain snorted. It was an inelegant noise, but somehow also incredibly attractive. “Where are you going with this?”
“I’m trying to explain to you that I care about you. I want you to be well and safe and healthy because you saved me and you didn’t have to and I appreciate it.” Elwain’s cheeks flamed red. “That’s what I’m trying to say.”
You reached up slowly and let your hand cradle the side of his face. He leaned into your touch, eyes closing. “It’s strange. I’m not used to this,” he said. “My parents loved me as far as they could use me. It’s how Faeries are. But you have used me for nothing, gained precious little advantage from having a Faerie living with you. And I wasn’t used to it. I still think I’m not used to it. But I am so… so… happy. For this. For you.” He blinked his eyes open. They were hazy with emotion. “Thank you.”
It was an impulse maybe you could have resisted if you were feeling better, but you were overwhelmed with feeling and not in the mood to fight with yourself. The hand on his cheek shifted position toward the back of his neck and pulled him down on top of you. His mouth pressed into yours, tense and unyielding, then softening as he realized what was happening.
There was a moment of fumbling, while Elwain registered that you were kissing. You broke away from his mouth, but he was pressing into you again, pulling you close to him and meeting your lips over and over with his own. His tongue brushed your lower lip and his moan sounded against your mouth.
You weren’t aware of how it happened, but suddenly you were lying back on the couch with Elwain on top of you. He was kissing you furiously, his hips flush to yours. Your fingers tangled in his hair, pushing him as close to you as you could get.
One of your gasping breaths caught in your chest, triggering a coughing fit. You rolled over, trying not to cough right into Elwain’s face. He sat back. His lips were already slightly kiss-swollen and he looked a bit rumpled. “Right,” he said, trying to finger-comb his hair back into a presentable state. “You’re still not feeling well.”
“Hold on. Give me a minute, we can keep going,” you said between coughs. Elwain pressed his lips together, but they were twitching toward a smile.
“You are admirably determined, but I think it would be better for you to rest,” he said. There was a pause. Elwain tugged on a few of the longer strands of his hair. “I take that to mean you feel the same way?”
“That I like you? Yeah.” You pulled him down so he was laying across your chest. He looked at you, eyes surprisingly wide and innocent. “When I first met you, I thought you were kind of an asshole. And you are kind of an asshole. But you’re also charming and endearing and you try to follow my rules even when you totally don’t have to. And you’re willing to take care of me when I’m sick.”
“You took care of me when I had lost everything,” Elwain said. “I only wished to return the favor.” His fingers wandered over your stomach, tracing absent patterns on your shirt. You could feel his warmth against your skin. “Usually, that’s how it works, with Faeries. Favors are given because giving means you can get something in return, and you’re always trying to leverage the deal to get more than what you’re giving.” He closed his eyes for a moment, brows furrowing. “But when I saw you were sick, I wasn’t thinking that I needed to pay you back. I was only thinking that I wanted to help you.”
You stroked your fingers through his hair. “That’s what love is.”
“Mortal love,” he sighed. “I always thought it was flimsy and weak and short-lived.” His eyes opened again and he nestled into you. “It’s much stronger than I thought. So much more than I believed. It almost hurts, but it’s a good hurt.”
You started coughing again. Elwain swung himself up and gathered you into his arms. “I’ll take you back to bed,” he said. “You need to get better. I want to continue this.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead. You rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes. His heartbeat thudded against you, slow and steady. The feeling of him holding you swelled and ached inside you, a pleasant ache. You clung to him as he eased you into bed and settled in next to you. Your illness was all but forgotten. Everything was soft and pleasant under a heady wave of love.
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mccoys-killer-queen · 2 years
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seeing Elton John in concert
just wanna go off and say first of all- this is the polar opposite of the REO show xD I had nosebleed seats in an arena used for hockey games so Elton looked like a sparkly microscopic raisin- even with binoculars and my glasses I could hardly see him!
this also meant that since I wasn't at the foot of the stage standing up or interacting with the band the whole time, I couldn't get any variety of pictures at all, but I was sitting down what felt like a half mile away and able to record a lot of it. After experiencing both sides of the concert experience, you can bet your ass I extremely prefer being at the foot of the stage.
Still, there were a lot of incredible visual effects that were mesmerizing to see from afar! And the sound definitely had its perks being so far back. Observing the crowd from on high was neat also.
here's some highlights I recall from last night:
he opened with Bennie and the Jets and played the first chord over and over and over again and it was exactly like this post
like 14 seconds into this song I looked over at my sister (whose first concert it was) and she was staring in awe, tears already streaming down her face
the band: *Philadelphia Freedom* us, a pennsylvanian crowd: AGSRBAOFRWEAIOGN50TN25Y82509YN0Q35GAEORIGN0RV5198GNQO3IGNRQEOIG5NQHR5
throughout the whole concert on the jumbotron behind him there were these clips of just... indie... dancers...? like dancers in solid bold colors doing whatever and it was weird
me trying not to sob during I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues bc i was recording the whole thing
Elton dedicating Border Song to Aretha Franklin
them playing Have Mercy On the Criminal and me going feral bc I thought I was the only person who'd ever heard of that song
the fucking guitarist Davey Johnstone who now has my soul and my ass in his hands what a fucking god I'd follow him into hell fuck
Elton coming out in a long bath robe for the encore
Rocket Man making me want to float out of my seat bc the visuals were that hypnotizing
the clips of the Marilyn Monroe lookalike behind him during Candle In the Wind, in which during one her tits came out
the one picture of Diana that came on behind him (I forget which song- Border Song?)
his little!! improvised!!! piano fillers!!!!
the camera on his piano so we could see him play :oo
the drummer Ray Cooper having the time of his life and easily the happiest and most energetic person in the stadium at the age of 74 I would die for him
there being a little 3 minute intermission during which the lights darkened and there were only dark purple lights on the stage, no one on it, lots of smoke being pumped out onto it, and thunder and lightning effects filling the smoke
these effects were the segue into Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, which was, in my opinion, possibly the height of the night. It was like an opera.
Elton's piano moving across the stage
me playing Sad Songs (Say So Much) in the car on our way there and me saying to my sister "they're definitely not gonna play this but I still like it" and them proceeding to play it
when the chorus of Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me hit, the clip of Taron Egerton in the devil costume bursting through the doors in Rocketman came on the screen and the place went nuts
the little drag queen mini movie that played on the screen during The Bitch is Back
the Crocodile Rock singalong
the Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) singalong
at the end of this song, gold confetti exploded over the floor crowd
Elton beginning the encore with Cold Heart and having us sing Dua Lipa's parts
in Elton's last speech he told us to be kind and spread peace and love each other
he closed with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
he exited the stage by standing on a platform that lifted him up and backwards and he disappeared behind a door in the screen
this:
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bonus:
a lot of the workers at Hershey's Chocolate World seeing my shirt and expressing excitement and jealousy that I was going to the concert
one of these people being a middle aged man who saw him in 1972
we got VIP packages, and since we sold the 3rd ticket we got, that meant our 3rd set of VIP merch belonged to whoever bought the ticket
the person was a very nice old lady from Baltimore, and she refused our offer for the merch (even the VIP lanyard I brought for her) but did take the physical ticket
(setlist)
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stardusttrashed · 3 years
Text
Lovestruck (Finale)
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Part 4
Pairing: Professor Erwin x Fem! Reader, Connie x Sasha
Word Count: 2K
A/N: A huge thanks to everyone who stuck around for this series and showed it some love. also, if you haven't already go check out the playlist I made that gives professor Erwin vibes :)
“Sorry I’m late, Mr. Smith,” you squeaked as you squeezed past the door into the old familiar room. “Hope you didn’t haveta wait too long,” you smiled apologetically.
Erwin turned around, looking up from the whiteboard he was writing away on. He smiled handsomely, quietly sighing in relief, “actually, you’re right on time as usual.” He closed the distance between you before placing a kiss on your forehead. “How much’d you spend? I’ll pay you back,” he reassured you as he led you towards his desk.
“You can pay me back by coming to movie night,” you purred, quickly throwing the idea out there as you took a seat on his desk. You rummaged through the plastic bag, taking out two to-go boxes as Erwin rolled his desk chair over. “You’ve been officially invited by Thing One and Thing Two. And they’ll probably lose their shit if I show up without you.”
“Sasha and Connie, right?” he confirmed. You hummed in response. Erwin tensed up momentarily once he saw you sitting on his desk, sinful thoughts running rampant in his mind. He was curious how much of a good girl you’d be for him. Or if you’d let him eat something else for lunch. It didn’t make it any better that you still had his shirt on. A blush painted his cheeks as he pushed the thoughts down, plopping in his seat and scooting closer until he was sitting between your legs, “I’d love to, darling.”
A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, occasionally broken by strings of giggles as you stuffed your faces with the Chinese food you brought. You took turns feeding spoonfuls of each other's food to the other, goofy, uncontrollable, lovestruck smiles printed on your faces. There was so much you both wanted to say to each other, wanting to ask about the other’s day, or ask trivial things, or address what you were. But neither could muster the courage to break the moment. So instead, you spoke through lingering touches and longing gazes.
“Erwin,” a familiar voice said dryly, followed by the footsteps of them entering the room. “Found your sandwich in the fridge in the staff room.” Erwin’s eyes went wide, more surprised about being caught than the actual sandwich. “Figured I’d bring it before you starve.”
You sent Erwin a playfully threatening glare, “you had food?! I- you little,” you quickly hissed, stopping short as Erwin apologetically squeezed your thigh.
Erwin chuckled embarrassedly, removing the hand on your thigh to scratch the back of his neck. “I must’ve forgot.” He looked back and forth between you and Levi, both of you looking back at him with unconvinced expressions. He was busted for sure.
“Right,” Levi drawled out as his eyes scanned the desk, taking in the to-go boxes and how close you and Erwin were sitting. “At least you’re not starving. And glad to see the two of you finally grew a pair and made things official.”
“W-well,” you stuttered, to no avail. Levi was already walking out of the room, muttering something about how you should at least lock the door. Gradually, your shock shifted into overconfidence. “Missed me that much, huh? Pretty lame excuse if you ask me.”
“Shouldn’t be much of a surprise, darling,” Erwin cooed, his blue eyes practically filled with hearts. It felt like butterflies were coursing throughout his entire body as you leaned down to kiss him. It was short and sweet, just a lingering peck, yet you left him breathless. “Y/n, I- um.” He could feel the tips of his ears growing uncomfortably warm. Your soft giggles weren’t helping either. “Hold on.”
You watched as Erwin struggled to hold onto his cool. It was still weird, no matter how many times you saw him grow flustered. He was the gorgeous giant of a man that left men and women alike flustered, yourself included. Yet, you always seemed to be the one to turn the tables without doing anything but being yourself. He wasn’t some Greek God, okay, well looks-wise, yes. And personality-wise. Okay, maybe he was a Greek god, but that didn’t stop him from being a friendly giant or a big cinnamon roll around you.
“I, uh,” he quickly glanced up at you before returning his focus to the journal he pulled out of his desk drawer. “I got you this,” he held the small journal out to you.
You gingerly took it from him. A thin gold rope chain tucked away in the journal as a bookmark tapped your hand as it swayed from the movement. You prayed he couldn’t see the way your cheeks grew warm as you opened the journal to the page the chain rested against. In the center of the lined paper lay a key strung on the chain. The key wasn’t anything fancy, just a plain house key that covered a neatly written note. You glanced up at Erwin momentarily before moving aside the key to read the note aloud. “I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self-respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be. I love her, and it is the beginning of everything. F. Scott Fitzgerald,” you read, your throat growing tighter with every word.
“I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing anything,” Erwin quickly spoke up once you finished reading. “I just, well, I figured you could use my place as a place to write and get some inspiration. I don’t want to pressure you, though. This can be completely platonic, and we can ignore-.”
You set the journal aside and stopped his nervous rambling with a kiss. Your lips moved lazily against each other, savoring everything from the moment to the taste of one another. Time seemed to slow as you lost yourself in the softness of his lips and the warmth of his hands on your hips. You could feel him surrendering to you, giving you everything he could until he was left with nothing, not even a breath… until you reluctantly pulled away. You rested your forehead on his, your eyebrows knitted together as you tried to catch your breath enough to say something.
“And for a moment, I thought I loved him,” you breathed, altering the quote slightly to fit the situation more. Your breath fanned across his lips, giving him visible chills as you continued, “but I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires.”
“Committing Great Gatsby quotes to memory, are we,” Erwin teased, his voice husky as he finally managed to catch his breath.
“Only the most beautiful ones that’ll impress my professors, er, used to be professors.”
“Consider the job done then.” Erwin looked at you like you were the only one, not just now, but forever. His ocean eyes shone like he was looking at the sun, and in a way, he was. You always were a star that he couldn’t help but gravitate to. He lost you for a while, but just like the planets orbiting around the sun, he managed to find his way back to your warmth.
You reached out and pushed a stray hair back into place, “not polite to stare, baby. Even if ya look cute doing it.”
“Dance with me,” Erwin blurted. He needed to hold you, to bask in your warmth. He wanted to do what he should’ve last night, holding you close as you swayed to music that could better articulate the feelings he has for you.
“What?”
Erwin chuckled and shrugged, “dance with me, and I’ll stop.” He stood up with a devilish grin on his face. “Just one dance?”
“Erwin, I don’ think this is the place-” you were cut off by Erwin scooping you up into his strong arms bridal style. You held onto him despite feeling utterly safe as he maneuvered his way out of the classroom. “Baby, where are you taking me?” you squealed with childlike giddy.
“To a place we can dance,” Erwin looked down at you with a wicked smile as he walked out of the building with you still cradled close to his chest. The soft drizzle of rain welcomed the both of you, which made you squeal and hurriedly attempt to cover your head.
“Erwin Smith, take me back inside before I kick your ass!”
“No, can do; you said we couldn’t dance in the classroom.” He sent a kind smile to the people passing by. “Besides, as sweet and sugary as you are, you won’t melt.”
“You don’t know that.” You smacked your hand against his chest, “I hate you right now.” The soft drizzle was gradually becoming a steady stream of droplets that made any efforts to protect your hair futile. With a huff, you gave up, allowing the rain to return your hair to its natural state gradually. “Happy now?”
Erwin kissed the tip of your nose before gently setting you back on your feet underneath a large canopy tree. The twinkle of mischief in his eyes was a stark contrast to the soft apologies that tumbled from his mouth. “I promise, messing up your hair was not part of the plan.” His eyes flitted up to your curling hair, a proud smile forming on his face, “I was right, though. You look absolutely amazing, darling.”
You rolled your eyes, hoping it’d distract from the bashful smile tugging on your lips. “One dance,” you held up a finger for emphasis. “That’s it.”
“Just the one,” he gently pressed his lips against yours. “Unless you beg for more.” His laugh rumbled in his chest like quiet thunder as you playfully swatted his arm.
“Well, Mr. DJ, what’re gonna dance to?”
“No idea,” Erwin admitted with a bashful smile, looking up from his phone. “Just wanted an excuse to hold you close.” The soft, familiar strumming of a guitar filled the air before he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
With an outstretched hand, he looked at you with such genuine adoration that for a second, you forgot how to breathe. You slipped your hand into his, allowing him to guide your hands towards his shoulders. It felt silly, dancing in the middle of campus in the rain, and at the same time, it felt so surreal, like you two were straight out of a book.
“Only fools rush in,” Erwin quietly sang as he slid his hands around your hips. “But I can’t help fallin’ in love with you.” He had a smooth, calming singing voice like he was born to be a crooner. He didn’t sing around others often, not sober at least, but something about you made him feel like it was the right thing to do at this moment. Every word that fell from his lips was for you, and you only as you both sway in time with the music. He was yours, and the look in your eyes told him you were his.
You pressed yourself closer to him, the rest of the world slipping away. He was too warm, made you feel too secure for it to be reality. And yet, here he was, the man you secretly fell for years ago was in your arms singing Can’t Help Falling in Love to you. The increasing heaviness of the rain or people staring didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except him.
“I-,” you jumped at the sound of your ringtone, sending you plummeting back to reality with wide eyes. “S-sorry, I gotta,” you trailed off sheepishly as you pulled your phone out of your pocket before accepting the facetime call.
Erwin paused the music for you, trying to stay as quiet as possible as he played with your newly formed curls. It was hard for him to fight back the awestruck look on his face as your hair seemed to grow curlier by the second.
“Did you do it? Please tell me you did? I’ll do it for you,” Sasha bombarded you once you answered. She paused with wide eyes at the sound of Erwin’s amused chuckle. “Oh, my- is that him? Hi, Erwinie!”
“Wait, she did it?” You could hear Connie yell from somewhere offscreen. “Ha! You owe me twenty!”
You smiled apologetically at Erwin, who seemed quite amused with the situation. “Hi, Sasha,” Erwin cut in, laughing at the way she swooned after he said her name. “If we’re being technical, I was the one who did it.”
“Ha! I only owe you ten,” she exclaimed, sending Connie a face before focusing back on you and Erwin. “She invited you to movie night, right?”
“About that, why don’t you two come over to my place? I’ll even cook.”
“Careful before I steal him from you,” Sasha laughed. She was practically drooling already at the thought of free food.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but there’s only one girl for me.” He looked down at you with a confident smile, “she’s all I want and need.”
“What about guys?”
“Ew, you two are so cute it’s gross,” Sasha talked over Connie. “Get off my phone before ya make me sick.”
“Gladly,” you mused, giggles bubbling in your chest. “See y’all later.” You hung up before they could say anything else and turned your focus to Erwin. “I feel the same way, just so you know. Think you’re it for me.”
“I sure hope so cause I don’t plan on losing you again.”
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arctickat2400 · 3 years
Text
Grace - Part 2 <> Damon Salvatore
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Ten years later
Grace looks so much like her mother. So beautiful and she turned into her mother each and every day as she grew.
And today is her 16th birthday. She’s been waiting for today for so long, and all these years she hasn’t asked about her mother once. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but she’s been so happy.
Our friends are coming today for her birthday. Caroline, Elena, Matt, Bonnie, Stefan, Alaric, and Jeremy.
Grace never liked to make a big deal of her birthday. It may have been ‘cause Y/N died on her birthday, but I never told her that. I never told her how her mom died or that Bonnie had to save her life.
We decorated the dining room in red and black, her favorite colors, and Caroline had set the cupcakes in the center of the table when she got here. Grace didn’t like having a big cake for her birthday. Always something small.
It was almost 12 in the afternoon and Grace should be waking up soon. Everyone was here and everything was ready.
I walked upstairs to Grace’s bedroom. When she was about ten, when she decided she wanted to redecorate, we painted her walls red, put a few posters up, she had a black leather bed and her room was mostly just made of red and black.
I knocked on her door, but received no answer.
I walked in, looking around. Her room was as clean as it always was, her bed was made with her bear set on it, yet she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
She wasn’t in her bathroom and she wasn’t at her desk, where she would usually be writing in her diary.
Just then, I almost fell to the ground in surprise as Grace fell from above and onto my back. She always did that, surprising me whenever and wherever she could.
“Hey, Dad.” She smiled at me as I looked back at her with a smile of my own.
She jumped off of me, walking in front of me as I took her hand in mine and spun her around. I always did that. She was my princess and I was her king.
I spun her towards me as I held her in my arms, kissing the top of her head.
“How is my stunning princess this fine morning?” I questioned her with a smile.
The weird thing is that whoever didn’t know that I was a vampire, which mostly every knows, they would think Grace is my age, or close to my age.
“I’m pretty good. I’m clean and energized and ready for the day.” She smiled.
Grace’s POV
Today was my 16th birthday and even though dad didn’t say anything, I know that he and our friends are planning a party for me.
I couldn’t hear anything downstairs, since I was human and I didn’t have vampire hearing, but I knew our friends were down there. It was always like I could read minds. Everyone believed I could.
Wearing a red and black sweatshirt with black jeggings, I slid on my glasses and some rings. I, then, picked up my bracelet with a music note on it and slid it on my wrist. But I noticed something.
There was a charm bracelet laying next to it. I don’t remember having this.
I looked to dad as he smiled at me.
“Oh, yeah. Happy Birthday.” Dad smiled, and I let out a little laugh. “It was your mother’s and she wanted me to give it to you for your 16th birthday.” He told me. I smiled at the thought of my mother. I’ve never met her or seen her, but from how dad described her, she seems incredible.
“Thanks, Dad.” I told him as he brought me into a hug.
I slid the bracelet along with my other, adding my red heart necklace on my neck. Dad had given it to me when I was old enough, maybe three years old, and he told me to never take it off. I never have.
“You ready?” Dad asked me. I nodded as he held out his arm for me to take.
Intertwining my arm with his, we walked out of my room, walking down the stairs and towards the living room.
We walking into the living room, but no one wa there. But, within the second, everyone jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” Even though I hated surprises. I just smiled.
“Hey, guys. Thanks so much.” I told them, hugging them all. Caroline, Elena, Bonnie, Matt, Alaric, Stefan, Jeremy, they were all here.
“Happy Birthday, Grace.” Dad said, pulling me into a side hug as I set my hand on his chest and stared at all our friends.
We started with presents, everyone sitting in the living room. Gifts were piled up on the coffee table. I don’t see how anyone knew what to get me. I mean, I didn’t even know what I wanted myself.
I opened my first gift as everyone stared at me. Never liked to be stared at either, but no one cared.
This one was from dad. It was a new journal with a dark sky lit up with stars and mountains on it.
“I saw that you didn’t have many pages left in your other journal and I know I get you a journal every year, but I knew you needed it.” Dad confessed.
“Thanks, Dad. And I do need it.” I told him, leaning over and giving him another hug. Hugging was always our thing. There were always things that dad and my mom did to show their love for each other and dad did some of those things with me. It was our thing.
After maybe 10 minutes, I had opened every gift and most of them were small but there were also some big ones. Lots of jewelry, a sketchbook, pens and colored pencils and a new iPhone. And my favorite, a new laptop. Dad knew I needed a new one. My old one had lost one of its screws and was all broken and beat up. I kept telling him how much I needed a new one.
After I had hugged and thanked everyone for their very appreciated gifts, Elena passed out the cupcakes and after we ate, everyone just hung out in the living room.
“So, what should we do? Maybe go to the grill for some pool and burgers? My treat for Grace’s birthday.” Matt suggests as he looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.
“Thanks, Matt. That actually sounds great. But, I need to go do something first. I’ll meet you all at the grill in a few, okay?” I told our friends. They all agreed, heading out the door and to the grill. I headed upstairs as it was only dad, Stefan and I left at the house.
I snuck up to Dad’s room, hoping he wouldn’t find me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom lately. I never mentioned her to dad since the night after the incident, but I’ve always thought about her. I’ve always wondered what she looked like and who she was.
Dad must have a photo of here somewhere in his room, and it’s today that I’d like to see and know about her.
I looked through his bookshelves, looking in books that he always seems to have out and a few that he seems to never even touch. I looked inside his dresser and in his closet. I couldn’t find anything. Did he even have a photo of her?
Just then, I remember that one night I saw a box on the mantle of dad’s fireplace. It looked special. I didn’t want to go through his private stuff, but I just had to see mom.
I walked to his fireplace, taking the box down and walking to his bed. I sat down opening the box. There was so much in there. There was jewelry and then there was a note and a picture. I looked at the jewelry. There was a ring in there that had an engraving in it.
I love you. Always and Forever. Is what it said. I guess that was her wedding ring that dad gave her.
I, then, saw a necklace in there. It was a silver chain with a diamond heart. It was beautiful. I took out the note. It read:
My beautiful Y/N,
I love you so much. Nothing can describe the love I have for you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You make me a better person and I can’t thank you enough for the love you have for me. I will never stop loving you for as long as I live.
I love you, baby girl.
Always and Forever.
I wonder what the note was for. It’s sweet.
I, then, took out the photo and I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was so young. It was a photo of her and dad together. They looked so amazing together, with his arms wrapped around her as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
I ran into dad’s bathroom with the picture. I stood in front of his mirror and held up the photo. I look exactly like her.
I walk back to dad’s bed, sitting down as I stare down at the photo. A few tears come from my eyes as I hear someone coming up the stairs.
Dad steps through his doorway, staring at me with wide eyes.
I look up at him as we stare at each other.
“I look just like her.” Is all I could say. Dad sped towards me, sitting next to me and taking the picture from my hand.
He set it back in the box along with the note and the jewelry.
Out of nowhere, “What happened to her?” I went right out and asked.
He just looked up at me with sad, but sympathetic eyes.
“I guess it’s time to tell you now.” Dad admitted. He closed the box, setting it back on the mantle and walked back to me. He sat down next me and began telling me the whole story.
“So, her name was Y/N. She was the most amazing person in the whole world. One day, she had come home from Caroline’s house and it was a full moon that night. I was at the bar and when I came home, she was lying on the driveway… dead.” I could tell he didn’t want to say that, but he did. He went on.
“She was covered in blood and she had gotten bit by a wolf. By Tyler Lockwood. At that time, she was still pregnant with you, and we were able to save you, but we couldn’t save her.” He was almost crying now. I already had tears streaming down my cheeks as I stared at him in sadness and terror.
“We were able to get you out and Bonnie was able to use her power to bring you back. You were okay, but your mother wasn’t. When she died, and I wasn’t there for her, I could barely keep it together. I didn’t even want to live. But then, there was you. I couldn’t leave you. Your mom would’ve wanted me to stay for you. And I did and I made it my responsibility to protect you and keep you safe.” I could barely keep it together. I stared down at my hands as I was so close to breaking down.
“Grace, I’m so sorry.” He said to me, taking my hand in his.
Tears streamed from my eyes as I finally broke down. I cried my eyes out, bawling, as Dad brought me into his arms, holding me close as I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my head in his chest.
“I’m so sorry, princess.” He repeated. “She loved you. Even when she hadn’t met you yet, she loved you and she wanted so much to see you. And I know she can.” Dad added.
Damon’s POV
Grace has been upstairs for awhile. Stefan and I were waiting for her so we could leave.
I walked upstairs, going to check on her to see if she was okay. I didn’t hear anything except a steady heartbeat.
“Grace?” I called out. She wasn’t in her room, and the only other room up her other than Stefan’s was mine. I walked through my doorway only to see her sitting on my bed with Y/N’s box beside her.
I stared at Grace with sadness and sympathy.
I can’t believe she found it. She found the picture and now she knew. She looks exactly like Y/N.
Grace looked up at me and said, “I look just like her.”
I walked to her, gathering Y/N’s picture, jewelry and my note to her and putting them back in the box.
Just as I set Y/Ne’s necklace back in the box, Grace spoke.
“What happened to her?” I knew this time would come at some point. I knew Grace would ask about Y/N. She saw her and now she needs to know.
“I guess it’s time to tell you.” I told her. I set Y/N’s box back on the mantle and sat back down beside my daughter.
“So, her name was Y/N and she was the most amazing person in the whole world. One day, she had come home from Caroline’s house and it was a full moon that night. I was the bar and when I came home she was lying on the driveway… dead.” It pained me to say that. But, I continued.
“She was covered in blood and she had gotten bit by a wolf. By Tyler Lockwood. At that time, she was still pregnant with you and we were able to save you, but we couldn’t save her.” I almost couldn’t hold in my tears . It was so hard for me to talk about Y/N, but i had to be strong for Grace. She needs to know. Grace was already crying, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes filled with sadness and terror.
“We were able to get you out and Bonnie was able to use her power to bring you back. You were okay, but your mother wasn’t. When she died, and I wasn’t there for her, I could barely keep it together. I didn’t even want to live. But, then there was you. I couldn’t leave you. Your mom would’ve wanted me to stay for you. And I did and I made it my responsibility in life to protect you and keep you safe.” I told her. She looked so heartbroken and sad. I could understand that. She stared down at her hands, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Grace, I’m so sorry.” I told her, taking her hand in mine.
She finally broke. She was bawling now as I took her in my arms, holding her close as she wrapped her arms around my neck, her head buried in my chest.
“I’m so sorry, princess.” I repeated. “She loved you, so much. Even though she hadn’t met you yet, she loved you and she wanted to much to see you. And I know she can.” I added.
I held her in my arms as she cried.
After a minute or so, she sat up. I set my hands on her cheeks, wiping away her tears.
She put on a small smile as I did as well. She let out a small laugh.
“Thanks, Dad. I love you.” She told me and I loved hearing her say that.
“I love you, too, princess.” I told her, bringing her back into another hug and kissing her head.
“Now, let’s get to the grill. Everyone’s probably getting worried.” I told her.
We walked downstairs, meeting with Stefan by my car.
“Before we go, I have one more gift for you.” I told my daughter. I want Grace to have Y/N’s car. I had never taken it out of the garage and I’ve never shown Grace before.
I led her and Stefan to the garage, revealing Y/N’s 2014 Chevrolet Camaro.
“Oh my god! This is amazing!” Grace screamed in excitement.
“It was mom’s car. She would’ve wanted you to have it.” I mentioned.
“Mom had amazing taste.” Grace laughed. I smiled.
She hugged me once more before we got into her car, driving to the grill.
Grace’s POV
We arrived, answering everyone’s question to where we were and why we took so long.
For the rest of the night, we hung out at the grill, eating burgers for dinner and Dad even compelled the bartender to let me have a couple drinks. Not enough to get me drunk, but he let me have a drink or two.
I played a game of pool with each of our friends, the best game being with Dad.
He was my favorite person in the world. He’s always kept me safe, as he has wanted to for my whole life. He’s loved and cared for me and I couldn’t ask for more.
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alicemitch09writes · 3 years
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first love
pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x reader
summary: You never forget your first love.
author’s notes: This is what prompted the many angst fics to come in my repertoire. I’ll just to slowly transfer some of my one-shots that are reader inserts here on tumblr.
twenty one pilot’s cover of ‘can’t help falling in love’ really helped me in the writing of this fic. It’s a favorite of mine I keep going back to when writing fics. Reader is a musician, who plays the ukulele and violin and at the time when I wrote this (back in 2017), I was learning to play the uke, mostly for fun.
also available on ao3.
disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.
Wise men say, only fools rush in
But I can't help, falling in love with you
 They moved to Tokyo when she was 8.
And at a young age, she was pretty much a timid and shy girl, always hiding behind her parents whenever in the presence of new people, especially when she was being introduced. She wasn't very good with socializing, always wary and scared that she'd make a horrible impression.  And of people, in general. People were generally scary, especially those she was unfamiliar with. She found solace in music, due to her father's influence, who was a music instructor at a university. "When words fail, music speaks." He'd tell her as they played 'Heart and Soul' together on the piano, her mother taking a video of them from the side. And a little while later, by some miracle, she made friends with the local kids – Tetsurou and Kenma. The two were an odd pair, given Tetsurou's loud and mischievous demeanor being a total contrast to Kenma's quiet and well-behaved and aloofness. Still, they were the best friends she could ever have.
 Years passed, and the three were inseparable.
Over time, the two proved to be more trouble than they were worth – Tetsurou, with his never-ending schemes and provocation abilities, and Kenma, with his indifference to the world so long as he was playing his games.
Nothing's changed much of her, other than her ability to keep the dynamic duo grounded. Also, she had her flair for music. Still, she was terribly shy. Though she has a voice, she chose to stick to the background, wanting to be out of the limelight.
Tetsurou would scold her, saying that it was a waste because she had a good singing voice. In which, would make her blush. Kenma would say the same thing even without looking up from his game console. But Tetsurou's words resounded, her heart beating like a drum.
    Shall I stay, would it be a sin?
If I can't help, falling in love with you
   It was the clichest thing to happen – she fell in love with her childhood friend.
She fell for Tetsurou.
For all his cockiness, his mischievousness, his peculiar affinity with cats (ironic that they attended Nekoma), and his atrocious bed hair – she loved it all.
Of course, she'd never tell him.
She doesn't have the heart to.
Neither will she tell Kenma, being the perceptive boy he was.
Plus, she'd have to go against a throng of his admirers (who made up of about half of the female population, by the way). There was no way she had a chance. And besides, who was she to him but his ever dependable, timid and adorable best friend?
When he bought her a ukulele on her 16th birthday – he knew she had wanted to try to play it for the longest time, she knew that it was simply out of friendship.
For a while, she became the volleyball team's manager. And for a while, she was able to play it cool with her feelings. This was okay, she thought, its better like this.
"This is my best friend, (Last Name) (Name)." he says, wrapping his arms around her neck as he hugged her from behind, introducing her to two players from Fukurodani.
The shorter of the two – Akaashi Keiji, smiles. "Nice to meet you, (Last name)-san."
"Oh! She's so cute!" says the loud boy – Bokuto Koutarou. "Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?"
Tetsurou laughed, chin digging into her head. "I've known her forever, that'll be weird."
"Kuroo, you're hugging her too tight." Kenma says with a frown.
Best friend.
That's all she'll ever be to him.
    Like a river flows, surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes, this love was meant to be
   It was rare to find Tetsurou at his lowest since he was usually contented with whatever happened. But they lost, unable to secure a spot at nationals.
So when she found him all by himself at the gym, she knew he needed to be cheered up.
Taking her ukulele from her bag, she started playing. Tetsurou looked up just as she started singing. "You with the sad eyes don't be discouraged, oh I realize" she kneeled in front of him, watching him with careful eyes. "It's hard to take courage, in a world full of people; you can lose sight of it all, the darkness inside you, can make you feel so small."
She continued singing to him, feeling her heart beat faster with every line. It was so hard seeing this down, it was so unlike him. He rested his head on his folded arms, eyes closed as she sang. He always loved hearing her sing.
"And I see your true colors shining through," she wished her words reached him. "I see your true colors, and that's why I love you."
For a moment, she choked up. Not intending to say those words out loud, but they were part of the song, and the way she sang it with so much emotion that the look Tetsurou was giving her made her nervous. His golden eyes stared deep into her (eye color) – filled with so much emotion, but she focused on confusion, probably at why she had stopped.
Regaining her composure, she continued. "So don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow."
Tetsurou cracked a smile, reaching out to ruffle her hair playfully. "When did you get so cheesy?"
"And when did you become this uncool?" she teased back, slapping his hand away. "Are you feeling better now?"
Sighing, he leaned his back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "A little, but thanks for coming after me."
"It's not the end of the world," she tells him kindly. "and after all, there's next year. Right, captain?"
The look on his face was priceless – clearly not expecting that. But their senpai had already decided, Kai and Morisuke were on it too, as was Coach Nekomata – before it broke into a grin.
His grin was the biggest she's ever seen.
     Take my hand; take my whole life, too
'Cause I can't help, falling in love with you
  Tetsurou got mad at her, saying painful words to her face.
Furiously, he turned to face her. She took a step back in surprise, clutching her ukulele to her chest. Then her instrument slipped from her hand, landing on the ground with a loud crack. The words coming out from his mouth were hard to bear, and she could just stand there taking it all in.
He didn't mean it really, but the stress and frustrations were just getting to him. She knew that.
"You know nothing. I never want to see your face again." He seethed.
When all was said and done, he up and left.
It felt as though the life was sucked out of her. She couldn't feel anything, she felt too numb to move. It only came as a surprise that she was still there when she found herself sitting on the ground, rocks digging into her skin.
Picking up her ukulele from the ground, she was surprised to find that it was still in one piece. Except for the scratches on the surface, and crack on the rim of the saddle boards. Funny, they seemed like an allegory.
Despite it all, the pain in her heart and Tetsurou's harsh treatment towards her, she found herself smiling. Hot tears streamed down her face, teeth digging unto her lower lip as if to keep her sobs in.
But the pain of it all was too much, she was only human.
Hugging her instrument to her chest, she allowed herself to cry, sobbing loudly, body shaking violently as her heart broke into smithereens.
    She heard that they had made it to the semi-finals, being one of the top four schools, which shouldn't be a surprise. Actually, it was secondhand information from Kenma. Right after what happened with Tetsurou, she decided to cut ties with anything associated with him, which was basically everything – the volleyball club, Kenma.
It was something she had to – no, something she wanted to do.
No matter how much it killed her.
           "Hey, let's make a little bet. If I win, you go out on a date with me."
"And if I win?"
"You won't ever see me again."
          Gentle strums silenced out the lull machines, the dripping of liquids. Faint scents of flowers and fruits hid the overly sanitized room, with walls too white and dull.
"But I can't help," her voice was quiet, low, eyes transfixed to her fingers on each string on her ukulele. "falling in love," a lone tear slips down her face, though a smile graced her lips. "with you."
In front of her, the television displayed the live coverage of the nationals - Nekoma won against Fukorodani, and then lost to Karasuno.
She smiled, hugging her ukulele as tears slipped freely.
The memory of the bet they made when they were younger came to mind, making her smile. That was such a long time ago, Tetsurou probably forgot all about that just as he forgot all about her.
"Don't worry, you won."
Now you won't ever see me again.
          He was surprised when they came back to school, she wasn't there. She was the first person he looked for since she was absent during the whole finals match. But she wasn't anywhere to be found – not in the library, the music room, the club room.
He had a promise to keep, and an apology to make up.
So it came as a surprise to him when his classmates' expressions turned grim at the mention of her name. Some had begun to cry, some looked away, nothing was making sense.
But one word was clear to him – cancer.
He turned to his best friend, who met his gaze. For the first time in his life, he saw anger in those usually stoic eyes. He knew then that he knew, he always knew. There was also pain, pain for his best friend's condition. And for (Name)'s sake, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
Without a word, he ran, as fast as he can, ignoring the calls from his classmates, teachers, teammates. He had to get to her. He had to apologize; he didn't mean what he said. He wanted to see her, hold her, tell her he was stupid and an idiot-
           But he was already too late.
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come-on-shitty-boys · 4 years
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Tumblr media
//fatherhood headcannons//
Characters: Kuroo Tetsurou / Bokuto Koutarou / Daishou Suguru
Warnings: none 
Word Count: 1.7K (~550 a piece)
Notes: don’t come for me and my self-indulgence. Also >:C if you’re of age and living in the United States, go fucking vote.  i am not asking. 
Kuroo Tetsurou
He goes into this whole fatherhood thing with complete and utter confidence.  Kuroo Tetsurou is convinced that he doesn’t need to have a single parenting book.  How hard can it be?
It’s all just making sure his kid doesn’t die, right? R I G H T?
He tries really hard to understand all of your discomforts during the pregnancy, but wowowow he’s bad at it.  You were complaining that your feet were sore and he just looked at you weird.  You had just gotten out of bed?  How did your feet already hurt?  Your back hurts? How? You’re laying down?
He recognizes that you’re in discomfort and he, of course, doesn’t look past that.  He’s going to do whatever he needs to do to ensure your comfort, but he just struggles to comprehend it.
I promise that Kuroo was so calm and cool and collected throughout the entire pregnancy and honestly, even during delivery, he was there to tell you how great you were doing, holding your hand, letting you crush his fingers in your tight grip.  He would pat your head and occasionally give you little kisses on your temple.
But when the nurse asks if he wants to hold his new little girl and places her in his arms, oh he’s crying.  He doesn’t even realize that he’s crying until he feels the tears stream down his cheeks.
It was in the following weeks that he realized just how hard this whole parenting thing would be.  Sleep?  Kuroo didn’t know her.  The baby religiously started crying every night at 2:27 a.m. and it would take nearly an hour to get her to fall back asleep.  By the time that hour passed, he was already back to being wide awake and would just lay in bed, unable to fall back asleep for hours.  
The first time he ever had to change a diaper, he had to pull up a YouTube video to figure it out, but he’s not about to tell you that.  
He has no idea how to dad, but Kuroo ends up being a really incredible father.  While he may be lacking in the basic skills like knowing the correct formula temperature or how to properly hold his daughter, he makes up for it with his constant companionship.  
You’ve walked in on him in the nursery so many times.  He’s really not even doing anything.  He’s just leaning against the crib, running his fingers across his little girl’s skin, still not believing that this is real and that that little baby is his, something that he helped create.  Oh, it just makes him so soft to think about.   He talks real quietly to her, telling her about his day, like she has any idea what he’s saying, but he still smiles so wide when she looks at him.
His little girl is his entire world and I just know that he’s an incredibly protective father.  He knows that the world is a scary place and he wants his daughter to be able to grow up having the best life possible, even if it is difficult.
Bokuto Koutarou
It was an accident.  It was 100% an accident.  But, the absolute joy that lit up his features when you told him your happy news, well, you don’t think you had ever seen him smile so wide.  He had picked you up to spin you around and covered your face in kisses.  Bokuto had set you down and immediately squatted down to place a kiss on your non-existent baby bump, telling his little baby how excited he was to be their papa.
Bokuto does prepare, well, at least a little. He owns one book, but he has read it cover to cover.  When he was reading through it, he would stop at something that he found particularly interesting and show it to you.
He didn’t really know how best to take care of you, but he tried his best!  He would rub your shoulders or feet when you asked.  He would make dinner after practice.  He is absolutely running to the store in the middle of the night because you had a sudden craving for Cheetos and vanilla ice cream.  Bokuto thought it was best not to ask what the hell you were doing when you proceeded to dip the Cheetos in the ice cream.
Bokuto forces you on walks.  He read in that one pregnancy book that walks can help induce labor, so in the time leading up to the due date, Bokuto was taking you on strolls around the block multiple times a day.  
But, he gets really busy with MSBY ;-; like. . . a lot.  He wants to be there every step of the way, but he just can’t.  Even after the baby was born, it seemed like there was rarely a day off for him to just spend with you and the baby.
Nothing hurt more than seeing the video of his little boy taking his first steps, knowing that he wasn’t even there to see it for himself because he was stuck on a bus in another city for a game.
This boy B R A G S about his kid all the time.  Sakusa might just beat his ass if he has to hear Bokuto coo about his son one more time.  
Games that happen at home are Bokuto’s favorites because he knows that whenever he looks up into the stands, you’ll be there, the baby in your arms, a tiny black knit hat with gold detailing pulled over his head.  It always made his heart so warm and he seemed to always be on top of his game just so he could secure a win quicker.  He just wanted to rush to you and cradle his little one in his arms.
He likes to toss his little bean up into the air, but he has absolutely bonked his son’s head on the ceiling and then proceeded to fail to catch him because he was so in shock that he just hit his son’s head on the ceiling.  Insert one (1) bokuto koutarou suddenly regretting every life decision that he has ever made.  
Surprisingly, he’s a really good parent?  He understands the balance between being caring and supportive, but also having a firm hand on discipline.  He isn’t much for punishments, because he’s going to feel bad, but he won’t hesitate to sit his son down and have a talk if he needs to.  
God Bokuto is such a good dad please i’m so soft i just know that he would sob his eyes out the minute the baby is on its way
Daishou Suguru
please i don’t even want children, but i would make an exception for daishou suguru
Suguru is so?? stupidly?? prepared?? 
Like the two of you decided that you wanted to have a baby and this man went to the bookstore and asked one of the workers which pregnancy books were the best.  The poor high school student had no idea
He took notes and was just constantly studying up on things.  You’d think he was back in university again with how much he poured himself over these books.  
While Daishou may have all of the technical stuff down like knowing the exact female reproductive anatomy and how it all works to produce the baby and he can definitely change a diaper with his eyes closed by now, but-
When the time came to put together a nursery- oh the boy was lost.  He had no idea what to do.  He’d never built a crib before.  He wasn’t really sure why he was expecting it to just unfold or magically form together when he took it out of the box, but now he was just sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by bits and pieces of a baby crib, pouring over the instructions, only to get more confused.
Please go sit with him in his time of need.  He’ll rest his head on your shoulder and rub tiny circles over your bump.  
Suguru probably jumped a foot in the air when he felt that itty bitty kick against his hand.  It took him by complete surprise and his eyes were as wide as saucers, but this really slow smile took over his face and you don’t think you had ever seen him so happy, a complete smiling and laughing mess.
He takes the best care of you b y e 
Morning sickness?  He’s right there to pull your hair away from your face and get you a glass of water.  
Too bad he spent all this time looking up information on the actual pregnancy and had no idea what to expect for actual childbirth.  Overnight bag?  He said, “How long does this take?”  He had no idea what to do during delivery.  His dumbass just stood there until you demanded that he give you his hand and definitely screamed when you nearly crushed his bones in an absolute death grip, nails digging painfully into the back of his hand, but who was he to object.  He wasn’t the one pushing a child out of his body.
Oh, did I say child?  Try children.  Suguru nearly fainted when the nurse said that there was “one more.”  He didn’t remember seeing a second little peanut on the ultrasound, but maybe he just forgot in the overwhelming panic of the moment?
He was so good all throughout the pregnancy, but the minute the kids are born?  It’s like he completely forgot everything that he read over the past nine months, but the softness in his eyes and the gentle smile on his lips the very first time he got to hold his kid?  It made it all worth it.  He didn’t know that it was possible to love someone so quickly, but he looked at the faces of his newborn children and he couldn’t have been happier.
Daishou has fallen asleep in the nursery chair more than once when he was up with the babies.  You’d get up to see what was taking so long, only to find him leaned back, his head lolled to the side, two tiny bundles held securely to his chest.
In conclusion.  I love daishou suguru and he would be a really good dad once he figured it all out
{Taglist: @moncymonce​ @nicka-nell​ @celosiiaa​ @kuronekomama​ @lovinnoya​ and @nekxrizawa​ @boosyboo9206​ bc you both got me thinking about them as d a d s and now i can’t get it out of my head onyx please take this as a bribe to receive the daishou suguru hip dermal edit you made i need it}
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Text
So, I kinda thought I was maybe doing a little okay actually
Like, things were terrible all weekend and the first thing I thought when I woke up was not How Long Can I Go Back To Sleep For but Instead Huh That Is Weird Beatrice Is Supposed To Be A Sleepy Croissant Rock Between My Knees and then I remembered but I sad-dozed and did not cry
And I got up and spent a little too long scrolling Tumblr whilst on the toilet but I got dressed easy and my hair did the nice and I woke the Spawn and marshaled everyone distractedly through readiness and 2/3 of them headed off on their own
Middlest needed more time and I offered A Ride and when Eldest brought the trash to the bins but not the bins to the street I took care of it, but then Middlest did not meet the schedule I had in my head for leaving time so when they arrived at the vehicle excited to show off the (really fucking amazing) outfit they put together I was angry and barked at them and it was Very Unfair Of Me Actually
We weren’t even two minutes out of the driveway when I was verbally assessing what I had done and apologizing, and they were gracious af but I am ashamed to have put them in the position to have to be gracious about that
Got to work and bless, nobody asked Questions
Bosslady requested I put in my time request in the payroll system so she could grant my sick leave for not showing up on Saturday, and only one coworker Bless Her Heart (affectionate) tried to tell me while I was wrangling a machine that she was so sorry, and I could not look at her, and I said thank you, and settled in for Monday Stuff and for Handling Shit
Until I got a call from the school
Eldest has
A sore throat
Congestion
A cough
A headache
This Meets COViD Protocol Even Without A Fever Please Pick Him Up
I clocked out. I left. Picked him up. Went to Urgent Care. Provided tissues for his nose and streaming eyes post-swab. Mini-lectured about ear infections and antibiotics when the PA’s exam turned up that he had two raging ear infections but, like me, his didn’t present with pain. Apologized to the PA for stepping on her pancake. Turns out she was not only amused but delighted I knew what I was talking about, and prescribed an antibiotic.
Got lunch. Dropped him at home. When back to work.
Spent the rest of the day lying through my teeth to the people I served when they asked “hey, how’s it going how’re you doing?”
Stopped on the way home for yogurt, kefir, and probiotic drinks to replenish the lad’s gut flora. At the checkout, the bag I had just purchased ripped when I tried to tear off its tag and I started to cry. Grocery Store Checkout Lady Friend got me a new one and I explained myself, but our conversation was interrupted and I left.
The world continuing on and having incompatible needs to my own is Very Rude.
Came home, cooked beef to help replenish iron because menstruation. Caught up with Soawn. Moved a chair from the table to sit down and something under it got moved by proximity and for a hot second I had a delighted flash of “oh, BeaBea! THERE you are!” But it was not her. Obviously.
Sat down. Cried.
I went upstairs because there were still ten minutes left before SALM’s class to request a hug and cry a little more. Then got him caught up on antibiotics and probiotics, and confessed I felt guilty that I let the kid go to school in the first place with any amount of symptoms.
“Well, it’s not like he died.”
So I burst into tears again, and he held me until I was sniffling instead of snotting, and I apologized for laying down the feels right before class time.
I am still Not Okay. But I masked it pretty well through the workday so that is a dubious win.
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galaxysgal · 3 years
Text
More Than Anything Else || Maxwell Lord
Pairing: Maxwell Lord × fem!reader
Summary: He thought for a moment, still tugging the comb through his hair. You stepped over to him, kissing his shoulder and guiding him to sit down on the closed toilet lid. You brought the comb up to his hair, gently freeing it from the gel. He groaned softly, "After Anna I told myself I'd never get married again. But Alastair adores you, and I… I am in love with you, my dove. I see myself with you for the foreseeable future." He leaned his head back against your chest, eyes fluttering closed. "Marriage is nothing but a formality. You want to get married?"
Warnings: Descriptions of thunder/thunderstorm. Extreme fluff. Unedited, so typos probably.
A/N: I just wanted a cute lil fic of Reader and Alastair bonding, and then my writing demon grabbed my soul and decided to throw in some ✨marriage proposal✨ and ✨blended family✨ elements. Let me know if y'all want a part two to this bc I think that could be fun!! also y'all this is the third fic I've posted in the past right days wtf
Wordcount: 1.9k 🥰 I'm so proud of myself
shamelessly tagging @mandoalorian bc her max fics inspired me to finish this (hii 👋 ik we've literally never talked so sorry if it's weird to tag you)
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A knock on the bathroom door pulled you out of your comfortable haze. Alastair's quiet voice called out to you, and you checked to make sure your bubble bath was covering you before you told him to come in. His eyes were teary and he clutched a stuffed elephant tight to his chest, sniffling quietly.
"Alastair, what's wrong," you asked, but a loud crack of thunder answered the question for you. He flinched, his grip on Mr. Topper- his elephant- tightening more than seemed possible. "Are you afraid of the storm?"
"It's loud."
You smiled softly, drying off one hand and reaching out to hold his. "How about you go sit on the bed. I'll get dried off and you and me can wait for your daddy to get home."
Alastair nodded, ducking back out of the bathroom. You pulled the plug from the drain and stood up, toweling off and pulling on the sweats and sleep shirt you had left out on the counter. Maxwell was off at some fancy gala tonight, you hadn't felt like going so you offered to stay home with Alastair so he wouldn't have to go with his mom. Max's ex wife wasn't the most… attentive mother in the world, and ever since she moved in with her newest boyfriend, she barely payed Alastair any attention at all. Max was currently fighting to gain sole custody over his son. You could see the toll this took on Alastair, and your heart broke for him. No child deserved to go through this. So when you and Max were with Alastair you did everything in your power to show him a normal, healthy family was like. 
You stepped out into the bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, worrying when the bed looked empty. "Alastair? Where are you?"
"Right here," a head of dark hair poked out from under the pile of blankets at the edge of the bed and you sighed.
You held out your hand to him, "alright buddy, come on let's go downstairs. You want a snack?" 
Alastair hopped down from the bed and took your hand. He squeezed it tight as you headed down the stairs, flipping on the lights in the kitchen. "Can we make pancakes? With strawberries?" he asked.
You gave Alastair a warm smile, picking him up and sitting him on one of the bar stools at the counter. "I don't know about strawberries, but I'll see what we have."
The storm continued to worsen as you pulled out flour, baking powder and all the other things you needed for pancakes. Over on the other side of the counter Alastair was covering his ears, the thunder growing louder. The storm must have been coming directly at you, the wind was intense and you felt the cracks of thunder deep in your bones.
"I've got an idea," you told Alastair. "Stay there, I'll be right back." You headed into the living room, searching until you found your walkman. You turned it on and checked to make sure it was working, fixing the volume so it was loud enough to drown out some of the thunder, but not so loud that it would hurt Alastair's ears. When you could hear Andante, Andante by ABBA more than you could hear the thunder, you brought it back into the kitchen.
"What's that for?" Alastair asked.
"For you," you replied. "The music will help make the storm quieter, then it won't be as scary. That sound good?" Alastair nodded and you placed the attached headphones over his head, adjusting them until they fit snugly.
You pressed play and Alastair grinned, "I like this song!" he exclaimed, loud enough to make you jump a little. The headphones were definitely doing their job. "You and daddy like to dance to this."
"Yeah, we do," you replied, but Alastair couldn't hear you. You smiled, leaning over to kiss his head before continuing to mix up the batter for the pancakes.
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
"If you and daddy got married, would that make you my mommy?"
You were sitting on the couch, Alastair snuggled into your side. The worst of the storm had passed and you had just finished up your batch of midnight pancakes. The question caught you off guard, he was looking up at you with wide brown eyes- his father's eyes- and you weren't sure what to say. "Well… If your dad and I got married, that would make me your step-mom, yeah." You brushed your fingers through Alastair's hair, "why do you ask?"
"I wish you were my mommy," he replied with a yawn. At that moment the front door opened, revealing Max in his navy suit. "Daddy!" Alastair jumped up and ran to him.
"Alastair-" Max caught him, giving his son a tight hug. "What are you doing up? It is past your bedtime."
"Couldn't sleep, 'cause of the storm," you piped up, stepping over to Max and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "We made pancakes." Alastair nodded and yawned again, and you reached out to smooth his hair.
"I think that it's time to get you back to bed," Max said, noting how Alastair's eyes drooped. He turned to you, "can you grab Mr. Topper?"
You grabbed the stuffed elephant and followed Max upstairs. You adored how he was with his son. He had really changed, since everything that had gone down with the Dreamstone. Max had set his priorities straight, putting Alastair and you above his oil business.
You sat down on the foot of Alastair's bed, watching as Max tucked him in. It warmed your heart to see them together. You had been with Alastair in the moments just before Max renounced his wish, when the world was crashing around you and Alastair was staring at his father on the TV screen, watching the crazed look in his eyes. You had held Alastair close, letting him hide his face in your neck as you rocked him, trying to keep him calm through all that was going on. You clung to Alastair as you watched Max on the TV, tears streaming down your face, praying to whatever god would listen that Max- your Max- would come home to you.
And he did.
He returned to your home, stumbling through the door to try and find Alastair. He was disheveled, tired and frightened, but altogether not worse for the wear. His arms were around you the moment he let go of Alastair, pulling you tight to him and still holding his son against his hip.
"My dove," he had said, tears falling from his eyes as he held you. "I am so sorry, for the hurt I have caused you. For the hurt I have caused the world. For the pain that I have put on you and on Alastair. You didn't deserve this."
You had shushed him then, your own tears joining his as you pressed your forehead to his. You were grasping at whatever parts of him you could reach, his cheek, his neck, the back of his head, anything to tell yourself that this wasn't a dream. That this wasn't just a wish come true. That this was more, and this was real. "I forgive you, Max. I forgive you. And with time, so will the rest of the world."
You were pulled back into the present when Max stood up, and Alastair reached out for you. "Goodnight Alastair," you said with a smile, leaning down to give him a tight hug. "Sleep well."
Max got the light and gently shut his son's door, pulling you to his side and kissing your temple. It was late and you were tired, so you were grateful to be able to lean on him until you made it back to the bedroom. You watched as Max stripped off his suit jacket, loosened his tie and undid the top buttons of his pristine white button up. His gelled back hair was beginning to fall at the edges, while the top remained stiff as a board. It made you smile, seeing his put-together look begin to fall a little. The bottle-blind of his hair was beginning to grow out, and you had convinced Max not to dye it again. You reveled in the brunet peeking out at his roots, longing for the day when the gold was all gone and he had returned to his natural self, the last traces of the harsh, power hungry man you'd all like to forget dead and gone, once and for all. 
"Alastair asked me something tonight," you said as Max moved into the bathroom.
"Oh? And what did he ask?"
You wrung your hands behind your back, leaning on the doorframe. "He asked if you and I got married, if that would make me his mom."
"Marriage…" Max mused, meeting your eyes in the mirror. "Is that something you'd want?"
"I have to admit it does sound nice, being your wife," you replied. "But I know you went through a lot with Anna. Is marriage something that you'd want, Max?"
A soft smile found its way onto your lips and you leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Is this a proposal?"
He thought for a moment, still tugging the comb through his hair. You stepped over to him, kissing his shoulder and guiding him to sit down on the closed toilet lid. You brought the comb up to his hair, gently freeing it from the gel. He groaned softly, "After Anna I told myself I'd never get married again. But Alastair adores you, and I… I am in love with you, my dove. I see myself with you for the foreseeable future." He leaned his head back against your chest, eyes fluttering closed. "Marriage is nothing but a formality. You want to get married?" he chuckled.
"It depends," Max turned around to face you, his hands coming to rest on your hips, "are you saying yes?" He looked up at you almost shyly, and you brushed pieces of his golden hair back from his forehead.
"Maybe," you teased, but it didn't matter anyway.
"It's not a proposal. At least, it isn't yet." He stood, taking your face in his hands. "I want everything to be perfect, like a fairytale-"
"Max it doesn't-" you started to protest, but his lips on yours silenced you. He kissed you with gentle lips, caressing your cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"I want it to be perfect for you. You deserve everything and more, my love."
You smiled, knowing that this was just how Max was. He was eager to prove himself worthy, although he had nothing to prove to you. You were already captivated by him. Here was no fighting it, you were his. You leaned in to peck his lips, "I'm sure it'll be perfect, Max. Anything you do, it's already perfect to me because it's you."
His gaze rested on you for a moment longer, deep brown eyes soft and full of love. "Come on," he said, "let's get to bed."
The room was silent except the sound of the two of you shuffling about, you pulling back the covers and Max changing into his pajamas. You were nearly asleep when he joined you, the bed dipping slightly as he climbed in. You tucked yourself into his side, the warmth of his arms lulling you to sleep.
The last thing you heard before you dozed off was Max's voice, quiet as a mouse. "I do intend to marry you, my dove, because I love you more than anything else."
End.
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bookcalanthedaily · 3 years
Text
okay so what’s up with geralt and calanthe? why do i ship them, why do i love them so much, and a little bit about how i believe them to be the book example of courtly love.
okay so let me start with the fact i read the books for the first time back in 2012, no spoilers, no previous knowledge whatsoever and up until the point where calanthe’s death was announced in sword of destiny, i believed, or maybe hoped, that they would end up together.
it started during the feat in a question of price, with their obvious flirting and how geralt seemed to be mesmerized by calanthe. the way I see it, the narrator sees the world with geralt’s eyes, and the way calanthe is described is truly like nothing else. There aren’t any words that directly describe her as beautiful or sexually appealing, no description of her breasts or otherwise her body (which I feel is weird for sapkowski??) . She is described in ways that in a very unobvious way show her grace, her dignity, the aura that she has around her. but despite that there are, still, a few moments that obviously point to geralt’s attraction to calanthe; 
‘But hasn't fascination with my beauty and charming personality clouded your judgement?‘ ‘So I'm honoured and proud to be sitting by Queen Calanthe of Cintra, whose beauty is surpassed only by her wisdom.’ ‘Very well,' said the witcher. 'I ask for your green sash, Calanthe. May it always remind me of the colour of the eyes of the most beautiful queen I have ever known.'
so it is obvious that the lack of more obvious descriptions of her beauty isn’t caused by her, well, not beaing beautiful, but rather because the physical aspect of her appeal is the less important one.
she not only invited geralt to her table. she sat him on her righthand side and treated him like a human being, not a mutant. she is the first character in the books to have this sentiment;
'It's true,' said Calanthe. 'Geralt, present here, is a witcher. His trade is worthy of respect and esteem. He has sacrificed himself to protect us from monsters and nightmares born in the night, those sent by powers ominous and harmful to man. He kills the horrors and monsters that await us in the forests and ravines. And those which have the audacity to enter our dwellings.'
and ever since that feast, geralt is known as the witcher whom even kings invited to their tables, just because calanthe was kind enough to do it. 
after that, geralt dreams about her not once, but twice. 
dream 1:
"A bower, warmth, the scent of flowers, the intense, monotonous hum of bees. He, alone, on his knees, giving a rose to a woman with mousy locks spilling from beneath a narrow, gold band. Rings set with emeralds–large, green cabochons–on the fingers taking the rose from his hand. ‘Return here,’ the woman said. ‘Return here, should you change your mind. Your destiny will be waiting.’ I shall never return here, he thought. I never… went back there. I never returned to… Whither? Mousy hair. Green eyes."
this is basically geralt reliving calanthe’s invitation for him to return to cintra, or even stay in cintra, if that was his wish. he never returned, and when he did want to return, it was too late. 
dream 2:
‘There is no destiny,’ his own voice. ‘There is none. None. It does not exist. The only thing that everyone is destined for is death.’ ‘That is the truth,’ says the woman with the mousy hair and the mysterious smile. ‘That is the truth, Geralt.’ The woman is wearing a silvery suit of armour, bloody, dented and punctured by the points of pikes or halberds. Blood drips in a thin stream from the corner of her mysteriously and hideously smiling mouth. ‘You sneer at destiny,’ she says, still smiling. ‘You sneer at it, trifle with it. The sword of destiny has two blades. You are one of them. Is the second… death? But it is we who die, die because of you. Death cannot catch up with you, so it must settle for us. Death dogs your footsteps, White Wolf. But others die. Because of you. Do you remember me?’ ‘Ca… Calanthe!’ ‘You can save him,’ the voice of Eithné, from behind the curtain of smoke. ‘You can save him, Child of the Elder Blood. Before he plunges into the nothingness which he has come to love. Into the black forest which has no end.’ Eyes, as green as spring grass. A touch. Voices, crying in chorus, incomprehensibly. Faces.
to me, in this dream, calanthe is the physical embodiment of geralt’s guilt. of his belief that calanthe, pavetta and perhaps the entire cintra were hurt because he refused to face destiny. there is also the mysterious sentence from eithne; 
“You can save him, Child of the Elder Blood. Before he plunges into the nothingness which he has come to love. Into the black forest which has no end.”
and while some might say that she was saying it to ciri... ciri is not present even for a moment during that sequence.
and finally, there is their farewell moment; 
He looked into her glaring green eyes. She smiled. He could not decipher the smile.
There was a rosebush growing beside the summerhouse. He broke a stem and picked a flower, kneeled down, and proffered it to her, holding it in both hands, head bowed. ‘Pity I didn’t meet you earlier, White Hair,’ she murmured, taking the rose from his hands. ‘Rise.’ He stood up. ‘Should you change your mind,’ she said, lifting the rose up to her face. ‘Should you decide… Come back to Cintra. I shall be waiting. And your destiny will also be waiting. Perhaps not forever, but certainly for some time longer.’ ‘Farewell, Calanthe.’ ‘Farewell, Witcher. Look after yourself. I have… A moment ago I had a foreboding… A curious foreboding… that this is the last time I shall see you.’ ‘Farewell, O Queen.’
and to me, this is one of the most romantic scenes in the entire series. the way she brings the offered flower to her face, the words ‘pity i didn’t meet you earlier’ and how he cuts her off with a simple ‘farewell’, because thinking of what they could have been hurts too much.
and finally, his reacion to her death, where dandelion had to cut his story in half, stop mid-sentences to make sure he was fine.
in conclusion, i believe that geralt loved calanthe. perhaps she was even his first love, before he met yennefer. but he was a witcher, a mutant, and she was a queen. and he did not believe he deserved her, he did not believe he deserved being ‘saved from the darkness he has come to love’.
now, how does it tie in with the idea of courtly love? 
courtly love is a highly conventionalized medieval tradition of love between a knight and a married noblewoman, first developed by the troubadours of southern France and extensively employed in European literature of the time. The love of the knight for his lady was regarded as an ennobling passion and the relationship was typically unconsummated.
and i personally believe calanthe and geralt check all of these boxes. geralt is a knight/warrior who falls in loce with a married noblewoman but that love never gets to be consummated. but, in the end, that love does ennoble him. 
he goes from 
'Duny,' said Geralt seriously, 'Calanthe, Pavetta. And you, righteous knight Tuirseach, future king of Cintra. In order to become a witcher, you have to be born in the shadow of destiny, and very few are born like that. That's why there are so few of us. We're growing old, dying, without anyone to pass our knowledge, our gifts, on to. We lack successors. And this world is full of Evil which waits for the day none of us are left.' 'Geralt,' whispered Calanthe.
to 
‘I wouldn’t take the child. I couldn’t assume the responsibility. I wouldn’t agree to burden you with it. I wouldn’t want the child to tell you one day… As I’m telling you—’
and it is my belief, that her remarks, such as this;
‘I’ve pondered long over this,’ Calanthe continued, now without a smile. ‘And I’ve come to the conclusion that the selection of the children at the stage of the Choice has scant significance. What difference does it make, in the end, Geralt, which child dies or goes insane, stuffed full of narcotics? What difference does it make whose brain bursts from hallucinations, whose eyes rupture and gush forth, instead of becoming cats’ eyes? What difference does it make whether the child destiny chose or an utterly chance one dies in its own blood and puke? Answer me.’
were a part of what made him change his mind. geralt ends up, even after calanthe’s death, becoming very close to ciri, learning through her that neutrality that had been beaten into him as a young witcher in training was not the way to go. calanthe, and through calanthe also ciri, had a huge impact on geralt’s entire character
so, all in all, this is how i see it. a love, that was never meant to be. and whether you choose to see it as a platonic-friendship type of love or, like me, as romantic love - calanthe’s impact on geralt’s growth is undeniable. 
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