#Magnolia: “Love. I think you look just fine without it.”

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

Please tell me the Nick/Magnolia ship name is Steel Magnolia!

Honey, from my side it is! I haven’t seen this ship anywhere else sooo idk if I need like a certificate or to get an officiator or something to make the ship name stick lol.

If you don’t know, I believe she’s referring to this post of photos I did of Nicky and Maggie as a couple where the lovely and darling @simwoman2002 suggested in the comments the name Steel Magnolia as a ship name for the two.

I’m on board with it, so I think we just need to repeat it enough until it catches on. I mean, I don’t think there’s much competition anyways unless someone puts up another offer.

[thatbirdrestaurant]

ʚ fairy tail headcanons ɞ

ʚ these all range from canon-compliant to pure fanfiction lala land ɞ

ʚ this ended up being so much longer than i planned ɞ

ʚɞ

the b team from the gmg hang out regularly and are all very good friends. mirajane, cana, and juvia have special "making fun of laxus" privileges that not even bickslow has.

laxus is genuinely embarrassed about how he used to talk about erza and she uses it against him very often. "oh, yes, because how can i - a mere woman - possibly accomplish this task myself?" "fine! i'll open the pickle jar!"

cain instinct is strong in the fairy tail guild. everyone is resisting the urge to smack each other, and most of them aren't very good at it. even laxus can be a target, especially after he chilled out. the most surprising display was when levy smacked him square in the head with one of her books, and he just yelled at her, or when cana stared at erza for a few seconds before smacking her across the face.

sex education was, probably, the worst thing to happen to those who grew up in the guild hall. either makarov didn't give enough details or he gave way too many.

lucy and gray are the biggest gossipers in the guild. they know everyone's secrets and while they don't blackmail people, they never hide something from the other. if they're staring at you and whispering, they are talking mad shit or they found out something about you.

juvia and natsu get along alarmingly well. they're not even sure how it works, just that they're so different that it kind of makes them perfect for each other (as friends).

natsu is sting's celebrity crush and he thinks he's doing a great job at hiding it. he's not. everyone knows. rogue knows, lector knows, all of sabertooth knows, all of fairy tail knows, sorcerer weekly knows, natsu knows. no one has the heart to tell him.

juvia doesn't have romantic feelings for lyon but she wants them to be friends so badly. not to get closer to gray, just because she thinks he's really cool and easy to talk to. lyon is so smug about it and gray wants to throttle him for it.

erza and mira's rivalry is alive in the tiniest of ways. they're always having small contests like "i bet i can wash this cup faster than you," or "i bet lucy says hi to me first." there's no hard feelings involved, they just can't help but be a little competitive with each other.

erza was illiterate for a really long time, way longer than she should have been, and makarov felt awful for not realizing it sooner. she was just looking at the reward numbers and going with the flow. on top of that, she has really bad dyslexia, something that somehow went under the radar.

related to the previous headcanon, lucy eventually realizes that the reason natsu has such bad grammar and reading comprehension is because he was tutored by erza, and erza's so bad at writing and understanding big words because she has undiagnosed dyslexia. so takes the time to slowly teach them how to read more complicated things, showing erza ways to read with her dyslexia, and giving them handwriting lessons. the first time erza writes a comprehendible letter is to jellal, and she's absolutely ecstatic about it. natsu is thrilled that he can finally read lucy's book without feeling stupid.

gray teaches wendy a lot about social cues and how to survive in a city as big as magnolia. she grew up very sheltered in a tiny village, so it makes sense that she struggles with "big city living." she's very appreciative and gray is just happy he can be of use.

gray stopped smoking because he heard lucy say she finds smokers unattractive. (gray, in the manga, smoked for a bit, and it's explicitly stated that, at least for the first handful of arcs, he was interested in lucy).

natsu started having romantic feelings for lucy during their fight against kain, but he didn't realize he was in love with her until he watched future lucy die. lucy didn't realize she had feelings for natsu until she realized she was in love with him, which was after the events with the eclipse gate. (the specific moments i'm talking about: kain | future lucy | post-eclipse gate)

between her and gajeel, juvia is the older one. she doesn't give it much thought but gajeel sees her in a big sister role, and has found himself accidentally referring to her as his older sister. which he would rather die than let her find out about.

when asked who she would go after if gray wasn't in the picture, most people expect juvia to say she could never picture a world without gray, but she will look you dead in the eye and, without any hesitation, say, "erza."

gray and loke had something very gay going on before loke went back to the celestial spirit world. the sexual tension between the two of them in this scene is too strong, they've fucked, kissed at least.

when gray realized he liked juvia back, he had a full mental breakdown for several reasons. a fear of intimacy, a fear of losing her like he has every single woman he's ever cared about, and because he just couldn't believe her very weird and very aggressive flirting tactics worked.

in the same vein, evergreen was inconsolable for days when she realized she was in love with elfman. laxus, freed, and bickslow have never been more worried about her mental well-being.

all of crime sorciere have a betting pool on when jellal and erza will get their heads out of their asses. they've had to place new bets several times because they're still dancing around each other. at this point, the betting pool is getting tense, and someone is going to lose so much money.

cobra and jellal kissed once because they were both extremely drunk and extremely sad about their respective crushes. neither of them remember it but the rest of crime sorciere can never forget watching cobra shove his tongue down jellal's throat.

makarov has said "you're like the son i never had" way too many times for it to be an accident.

elfman wants to be a girl dad so bad. he absolutely loves having sisters and he's obsessed with the idea of having a daughter to spoil and dote on.

gray and juvia have a kid before getting married...whoops.

going against the grain and literally what mashima has said, and saying that natsu and lucy have a son before having a daughter. he's a lot like lucy while their daughter is almost exactly like natsu.

yukino is a raging lesbian and is endlessly distressed by how many people think she's in love with sting. her month was ruined when minerva congratulated them on their relationship. completely ignoring the fact that sting is a gay man and is openly down bad for rogue.

rufus and orga have been dating for almost three years and literally no one knows.

lucy cried for three hours when she found out about anna and ichiya.

laxus and freed are in a queer-platonic relationship. laxus is aroace and has no interest in being romantically involved with someone, but he likes the dynamics of dating someone, and freed just likes having someone to spoil (back massages, compliments, all the things freed does in canon).

natsu has ended up in so many situations where he's put in feminine clothing, that he's actually started to kind of like it. he really doesn't mind the idea of wearing a skirt or letting lucy do his makeup. lucy is obsessed with it, and they sometimes do each other's makeup.

romeo is a trans boy and canon is my enemy. macao is extremely supportive and is always introducing romeo as enthusiastically as he can. "this is my son, romeo. isn't he so handsome? just the most handsome boy out there. i'm so proud of my son. he's the best." it's as embarrassing as it is endearing.

gray gets really bad joint pain after using his demon slayer magic, because the demon ice is so cold that it hurts him. thankfully, juvia is always happy to give him massages and crack his back.

natsu had the fattest crush on laxus from the age of thirteen to the very end of the battle of fairy tail arc. everyone just thought he had too much faith in his guild mates, but it was actually because he was so horrendously down bad for laxus that he couldn't accept that he was kind of a psycho.

gray tries so hard to seem cool and nonchalant that he accidentally flirts with basically everyone he interacts with. he thinks he's being cool and mysterious, instead he's making people fall in love with him.

loke tells lucy she's beautiful all the way into her sixties, and he means it every single time.

jude, technically, didn't take layla's maiden name, they just had the most unbelievable coincidence in the world where layla's last name was "heartfilia," while jude's was "heartphilia," so neither of them really saw a point in changing their last names.

juvia and gajeel were not only introduced to the wonders of genuine friendship and family after joining fairy tail, but also the amazing world of weed by cana and bickslow. laxus will never forget walking into his apartment with the thunder legion for the first time in years, and being met with juvia, gajeel, and cana on the couch, passing a blunt, while bickslow was raiding the kitchen.

gajeel and levy elope, only bringing lily and juvia with them as their witnesses. lucy was a little (a lot) insulted by it, but she eventually understood why levy did what she did when her and natsu decided to do the exact same thing, and only bring along their team. basically, elfman and evergreen, and gray and juvia are like the only couples to have a ceremony.

fairy tail has a lot of lawsuits and property damage bills, and freed, levy, and lucy almost had collective aneurysms trying to get through and organize them all. the guild has never spent more money on coffee.

lucy eventually takes advantage of the fact she has a very powerful kick and gets a black belt in taekwondo, a type of martial art that focuses mostly on kicking. her raw leg power combined with knowing what she's doing AND her heels? deadly.

(cw for child abuse on this one, skip if needed) minerva has such a massive appetite because jiemma would starve her both as punishment but also to "make her stronger." her body just never feels full, like the food will be taken away from her again.

sabertooth members calling minerva "m'lady" started as a serious thing to show respect, but now it's a running joke where everyone is trying to be as obnoxious as possible with it.

it's kind of implied that rogue is (at least) sexually attracted to minerva, and the fact larcade's "find out who's a virgin" spell hits him right after seeing minerva being affected by it, makes me think he lost his virginity to her. it was awkward and objectively bad but he's still glad it happened. sting drank an entire bottle of tequila when he found out about it.

getting 1 v. 2-d by natsu was the biggest ego crash sting and rogue have ever, and will ever experience. they will never be able to live it down. it will follow them to their graves. please never talk about how egotistical they used to be, they will cry from embarrassment.

minerva calls everyone's boyfriend their "boy toy" because, and i quote, "i don't respect men."

juvia is the best gift giver you will ever meet. she just has a way of always knowing what's perfect for someone, and it's a mutual agreement to always make her go last for gift giving so everyone else feels better about their gift for at least a few minutes.

natsu is the kind of guy to remember something someone said to him once in passing and randomly bring it up weeks or months later. his brain is a library of miniscule information about the people around him.

gajeel talks trash about levy's romance novels but will also be sneaking peeks over her shoulder and trying not to react to various moments. he is deeply invested in the plot twists and the main characters' romance.

while he's traveling, gildarts will buy cana a gift from every town his visits, which results in him having about a pound of knickknacks, clothes, and alcohol for her when he comes back. she pretends to be embarrassed about it but she secretly loves being spoiled by him.

gildarts and cana go on daddy-daughter dates and she'd rather drink bleach than let other people find out about it. gildarts is just happy to be there.

natsu and cana have had this conversation: "so, are we, like, siblings now?" "excuse me?" "because, like, gildarts is basically my dad, and he's your dad. so..." "we are not siblings, natsu." "okay, didn't know you liked being an only child so much." "go fuck yourself."

gildarts knows lucy is going to be his daughter in law. he doesn't know if it's going to be from her marrying natsu or from her marrying cana.

wakaba would sneak teenage gray cigarettes. erza, mirajane, and makarov almost killed him when they found out about it.

mira is aroace, feeling absolutely no romantic attraction and being sex repulsed, but she is absolutely obsessed with other peoples' love lives. she thrives on it.

lisanna is fairy tail's resident lesbian and is a little in love with every girl she meets.

[hydrangea-mon-amor]

How do you think the yanderes would react if Darling were to ignore them? (I know you said you aren’t sure if Aloysius will be a reoccurring character but PLEASEEEEE include him!!!)

A/N: your wish is my command.

Alceste

To be honest, Alceste would think you’re being too childish. He didn’t quite understand why you would chose to deliberately ignore him. He isn’t a fool, he knows exactly what your doing. In a way that would be subtle enough, Alceste would warn you about your actions without using verbal words. The squeeze of your arm, the raised tone of his voice, but perhaps even a veiled threat.

—

“Y/N, I’m asking you a question, I’d like for you to answer.” You stay quiet in your seat, shifting through your cards quietly. Alceste looks at you quizzically.

“This is beneath you.” He mutters, boring holes into you eyes. You continue your absence to dignify him with a response.

It is then that he stands to his feet, walking swiftly to your side.

With his hand, he sternly grips your chin, forcing you to look directly at him. The other hand caresses your forehead.

“You don’t seem sick…” he tilts your head to the side. “Your skin looks fine, I don’t see any abnormalities.” You are frozen with tight tension. “Perhaps you are just tired?” His hand squeezes your chin, not enough to physically harm you, but enough to add pressure.

You are forced to answer.

Begrudgingly, you nod.

“Alright then, I shall escort you to our chambers.”

Jaydee

Jaydee thinks your being unreasonably obnoxious. He finds it immature really, I mean come on, don’t you see all the effort he’s put into your relationship? He gives you affection like a disciple worshiping its god! He’s a man starved around you, he needs your attention, you’re making one hell of a mistake by ignoring him. On some days though, he’ll find the act intriguing, but don’t be fooled, he still doesn’t agree to this foolish behavior.

—

“Y/n, you’re being real fucking annoying.” He corners you against two lockers, the area in which you are in now void of any students.

You stare daggers into him, but you do not speak.

Jaydee rolls his eyes. “Okay, let’s approach this another way.” He steps closer to you, his nose on the cusp of touching the skin on your face. “Y/n,” he drawls, his voice husk and a layer of depth to it. “You know I love you—god I can’t fucking breathe without you.” He traces his fingers against the folds of your lips. “Stop with this ignoring me act and I’ll forgive you.”

You say nothing.

“Wanna be that stubborn now huh? Okay, fine.” He releases himself from you, pacing a few steps back. “When I come back looking for you, you may as well got on your knees and beg for my forgiveness. You won’t like what I’ll have to show you.”

Before you had even registered what he had said, Jaydee was already walking the corner.

Valery

Oh poor Valery, do yourself a favor and don’t anguish her like this, she’ll lose it! She loves you very much and can’t live a day without talking to you. She absolutely loves the sound and rhythm of your voice, if soothes her. She’ll cling and cry and blubber, it’s a scene for sore eyes really. Genuinely she looks as if she has lost someone close to her. With the way she’ll be weeping you won’t have the heart to continue ignoring her.

—

“Y-y/n did I d-do something w-wrong?” She stands at the front porch of your house, mascara dripping down her cheek. She looks desolate, a person lacking any color.

“I-I’m sorry! Please f-forgive me!” She takes a step toward you, hands reaching out for yours. She feels a part of herself breaking upon the notice of your frame receding.

“Y-y/n!” Her call is bemoaning, like a lost child searching for their mother. Don’t you see that she needs you? You’re her saving grace, she had nothing and no one before you. Why are you hurting her so?

“You’ve been I-ignoring me for days n-now, what did I d-do w-wrong?” She breaks out into another fit of sobs. Really you hadn’t imagined to see the Valery Magnolia, epitome of pristine and proper lady, cry so hideously in front of you.

Her knees buckle, and now she is clutching your midriff, she tilts her head to look at you. Truly the girl has no shame, she’ll do whatever it takes for you to talk to her again, even if it means publicly shaming her.

“I…I l-love you…”

Aloysius

Now, Aloysius would have the most fun with this. Sure he doesn’t like seeing his future spouse ignore him like this, especially since he is the Duke and close to the ruling family. But no worries, it doesn’t affect him so, physically that is. Emotionally, he feels conflicted, he’s read about couples showing affection to one another in a diligent manner. He doesn’t quite understand what your problem with him is, other than the fact that he is from the forest. No worries, he’s a man quick to remedy such problems, whilst adding some fun.

—

“Is this alright with you my darling?” He nibbles against the flesh of your neck, his fangs dangerously close to cutting skin. “I do wish you would verbalize your wants my sweet, it tries me to guess so rigorously.” He places a chaste kiss, then moves onto your collarbone. He grips both of your hands with his right, his left arms searching the crevices of your body.

“I wonder how much pressure it would be to penetrate your skin, would you like for me to find out? It won’t be a problem will it? You have been considerably compliant these last few days, letting me do whatever I want with you…”

He chuckles to himself.

“I wonder darling, did you know that some un married people dined in such unique acts durning fornication to pleasure the other person?” You say nothing, Aloysius keeps kissing down your body. “I know we may soon be married but I wanted to try…something with you. Would you like to hear?” He waits for a response, but he’s grown accustomed to you deigning to not answer.

He continues anyway.

“I’ve decided that I wanted to try a certain act with you, please, it may sound frivolous but just hear me out won’t you?” He clears his throat. “What if, I take you just like this, slow and sensual, pleasurable, but amongst a crowd a onlookers. Wouldn’t that be a testament to our love?”

Your throat lodges, your body stiffens.

Aloysius takes notice and like a mad man, smiles. Grin, ear to ear,

“Think about it my love, so many people watching and yet I—we still have lust for only each other. Those onlookers don’t even cross the mind. It’ll be a public display of our devotion to one another, a public marking of each other…” he whispers against your ear, sounding so and irreversibly fond of such an idea.

You feel the need to vomit.

A/N: I think it’s obvious which one I had the most fun writing…😭

[ribcages-and-bookpages]

Fairy Tail; Laxus x F!Tattoo artist reader

(key: e/c = eye color. H/c = hair color. Y/n = your name)

(this is an old one shot)

You were a tattoo artist in the town of Magnolia, and a pretty popular one at that. Alot of people would travel just to get a tattoo from you, or to see the art you have on the walls, also being a painter. You favorite client, was a member of the Fairy Tail guild in town. Laxus. When you did his tattoo, he didn't cringe or move or even really react, besides checking out out as you worked on his tattoo on his upper body.

He couldn't help it! You were leaning over him, and all he could do was stare at your face..and your chest. Regardless of size, your shirt kept showing a bit more than you'd like, and when you'd move he'd turn his gaze away so fast you would think he was embarrassed. Finally, you smiled as he looked to your face and turned your gaze to his

"Staring is rude." You say calmly, sitting up and turning off the tattoo gun. He scoffed, but you could see that hint of a blush on his face, hating that he was caught red handed.

"I wasnt-" he started, but you gave a small laugh, and he stopped and squinted at you

"Don't worry, I'm not going to have you leave without finishing your tattoo." You say, smiling at him. He stared at you for a moment, then gave a grunt and turned his gaze away.

You finished his tattoo, but chatted with him while working. He didn't say much..really it was a one sided conversation, but you didn't mind. It was often like this with tattooing someone, but usually they were in too much pain to be able to contribute to the conversation properly. Little did you know, he was just enjoying your voice as you spoke. It was the perfect pitch to him, and was nice to listen to. Relaxing even.

Right now, you were inside the shop, sitting in the front and manning the front desk since the guy that usually did was out getting lunch for everyone at the shop. As the bell above the door jingled, you said a greeting and lifted your pencil off the sketch book you were drawing in, then raised your gaze to meet the person.

You couldn't help but smile seeing Laxus. You hadn't seen him in about a week, the last time you did being when you tattooed him. You felt a small amount of worry wash over you though. Was the skin infected? Did the color lift? Was something else wrong?

Seeing your concern, he spoke before you could

"The tattoo is fine, I came to see you for another reason." He says, walking over to you. His jacket hung over his shoulders, his arms not in it as he gazed at you. You wouldn't admit it, but you kinda missed seeing him shirtless.. he did have a very nice body after all.

He glanced to your sketch book in the desk, then looked to meet your (e/c) eyes which unknowingly made his heart skip a beat. He loved your eyes. He thought they were a lovely shade, and felt like he could stare into them all day; would he admit that? Hell. No.

"What did you need then?" You ask, giving a small hum as you stood up from behind the desk and moved around the desk to stand in front of him, crossing your arms over as you gave a small head tilt. He rubbed the back of his head and tore his eyes away for a moment, then he gave a sigh

"Nothin. Just wanted to invite you on a date with me, if you're interested." He says, quietly, like he didn't want to say it, or maybe he just didn't want anyone in the shop to hear? Hard to tell.

You couldn't help but smile at him, he almost seemed shy right now, and you loved it. Looking up at the taller male, who had to be atleast 6'3, you stepped towards him, dropping your arms and clasping your hands behind your back

"I would love to, Laxus." You tell him, and he looked back to you and gave a small smirk. You felt your heart skip a beat at that little smirk of his, and he seemed to notice, his smirk growing

"Is that so? Well, then I'll see you tonight at 7." He says, amused by your now slightly flustered state. All you could do was nod, afraid of what words would come out of your mouth if you tried to speak. This only boosted his ego further, and made the guy cockier.

He stepped towards you again, raising your chin with his finger

"What's wrong, (y/n)?" He says in a low, husky voice, leaning close to your face, his breath hitting you face..mint. he had chewed some mints before coming in, it seemed.

You felt your heart do some kind of strange beat, and your breath catch in your throat as he gazed at you, a mischievous look on his face. That is, until the bell jingled again and both your eyes darted over to your co-worker, who was holding a bag filled with sandwiches, and looked very awkward with what he just walked in on. This only increased your embarrassment, but Laxus didn't seem to mind.

Laxus turned his gaze back to you and dropped your chin, standing up straight..he still had that damn smirk on his face

"I'll meet you here tonight at 7, (y/n). See you then." He says calmly before walking out.

"What was that about??" Asked your co-worker, only to see you smile and put your hands on your cheeks, which were warm. Your co-worker chuckled quietly and shook his head, handing you a sandwich before going to hand them out to the others at the shop.

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @violeteverzine! I wanted to dig a little more into Clara’s story, it was so heartbreaking and I love the idea of leaving letters for the future, for those who miss you to help ease their pain and tell them all the things you’ll never have the time to.

…

…

…

…

By the eight letter, Clara Magnolia’s voice faltered. It surprised her, a little, that she had managed to make it so far, that her aching body had carried her voice for as long as it had. When she’d first paid for this commission, she’d been afraid. There was so much she wanted to say and so little time to do it. Even now, they still had six days to go and yet another forty letters to dictate.

And her body would only get worse with time. Fortunately, her daughter Ann wasn’t peeking inside the window like she usually did—seeing Clara like this would have only made her worry. There was no time to reassure her.

As she rubbed her throat, her companion looked up from her typewriter and impassively regarded her.  Even for a Doll, there was something remarkably doll-like about Violet Evergarden, from her soft blonde hair to her distant blue-green eyes. Her delicate prosthetic fingers gleamed silver in the light as she paused. “Do you need a break?”

“A little,” Clara admitted ruefully, leaning back in her wicker chair. Bright green plants infused her sitting room with a show of life that she just didn’t feel. Picking up her tea, she wrinkled her nose as she sipped the now-cooled liquid. “I should have drank this earlier.”

“I can make you a new one,” Violet offered, her expression unchanged. It was hard to tell if she was asking out of concern or politeness.

“No, that’s fine.” Clara set down her tea once more. “Besides, I’m sure your fingers need to rest too. It must have been difficult, keeping up with my rambling thoughts.”

“No, that…that was fine.” An unreadable expression flickered across Violet’s face as she looked down at the stack of papers next to her. Her silver fingers lightly touched the sheets. “How many letters are you planning on writing?”

“As many as I can,” Clara answered honestly. With the condition her body was in, that was all she could promise. It had taken her time to save enough money to hire a Doll to write her letters, especially over the span of a week, and she knew she had to make the most of it. Even now, she could feel herself dying, her breath clawing its way out of her chest. “Forty, at least. Seventy, if I’m lucky.” She chuckled, her fingers gripping her chair tightly, the stray wicker cutting into her skin. “Forever, if I could.”

Violet tapped the paper again. Inquisitively, she asked, “Do you have a lot to say?”

Clara stared at Violet, surprised by the frankness of the question. After a moment, she laughed, a short bark that her father used to love. Another thing she had to add to the letter—the memories of a grandfather Ann would never meet. “I do. I think we all do, no matter what age we are. There’s always something more you want to tell the ones you love, always something else you need them to know.”

She picked up the closest envelope, its contents already sealed inside. Her fingers pressed against a coin stuck in the letter—it was a family tradition to give a silver coin on a child’s tenth birthday. One day, Ann would give it to her own daughter. “I’m just lucky I have a chance to put it all down on paper. Too many disappear or die without saying goodbye.”

Violet’s lips parted. Her head bowed slightly, her bangs hiding her eyes, but Clara had lived long enough to recognize a pained expression when she saw one. “It is hard,” Violet murmured, her fingers curling on her lap. “When they don’t say anything. When you can’t ask.”

Who are you thinking of? Clara almost asked, but the war was still fresh, and Violet’s prosthetics were obvious. Everyone lost someone in a hail of bullets and fire, in the bombs that had hung over their heads precariously. Even someone as young as Violet hadn’t been untouched by it all.

“It’s painful,” Clara agreed instead. She could almost see Ann in the teenager in front of her, hurt and alone. “I don’t think there is any way to stop that. There will always be unanswered questions. Unsaid things.”

Violet looked up, her expression calm once more. “Is that why you’re writing so many?”

It took Clara a moment to realize Violet was talking about the letters. She lowered her gaze to the letter in her hands, her fingers still pressed against the coin. “Partially.”

“Partially?” Violet cocked her head, perplexed.

“It might be a little vain of me,” Clara admitted, setting aside the letter as she picked up another. She could smell the flowers inside, the roses and sweet peas pressed to a page as a reminder of the greenhouse. By the time Ann got it, would she remember the other flowers that bloomed? Or would these pressings be the only survivors in her memory? “After I die, all Ann will have are her memories of me and these letters.  The memories will fade, but these letters…I hope they last. I hope she’ll have them for the years to come.”

“If…” Violet paused, hesitant. She brushed her hair behind her ear. “How do you know what to tell her?”

“I don’t,” Clara answered honestly. Death made her frank in ways her life hadn’t. “I’m trying to summarize my entire life and the life we could have had together. It’s hard to pick what to say. Anything I don’t…will be lost forever.”

Stories of her grandparents. Clara’s own memories. The way she spoke, the foods she made—even with the recipe cards she’d prepared for Ann’s eighteenth birthday, there would be so many more dishes abandoned to the stream of time. The only parts of their family, the only parts of Clara that would live on would be whatever Ann knew, whatever Ann shared.

“I suppose...I’m just picking the important things.”

Violet’s eyes widened. Her right hand clutched the green jewel pinned to her cravat. She wet her lips and breathed, “The important things?”

Clara smiled softly. “Anything that can give her my love. She’ll be lonely, but she won’t be alone.” She picked up another letter. This one had a ribbon inside, a gift for Ann’s fifteenth birthday. At that age, she’d probably have a crush or two. At that age, she’d need advice more than ever. Clara’s throat burned, filled with everything she’d never say. “I hope these words, these letters, will be there for her when I’m not.”

It was impossible, she was sure, to infuse her life into ink and parchment, to pour every ounce of her being into a hundred, even a thousand letters.

But she wanted to. She needed to.

Violet clenched her jaw, that unreadable expression back in her eyes. Her finger brushed the jewel once more. This time, when she spoke, it was with a quiet confidence. “They will be.”

It was a kind response, a polite answer, but something in Clara eased regardless. “Thank you.” Sitting up once more, she cleared her throat. “Shall we continue, then?”

“Of course.” Violet smiled briefly, her fingers already hovering over the typewriter.

Despite all that lay ahead, Clara knew her messages, her love would reach her daughter. Her gaze flickered to Violet’s pendant.

Hopefully, whoever Violet was thinking of, their messages, their love would reach Violet too.

Leaning back in her seat, Clara pictured her daughter as a bubbly, confident teenager, making the most of her gangly arms and confusing feelings. It was easy, so easy, to think about what she wanted to tell this future Ann.

“Dear Ann, happy sixteenth birthday! I’m sure you’ve gotten so big by now. Hopefully you’re taller than me. Sixteen is a special milestone, so I want to leave you something special in the envelope. It’s a pin your grandmother gave to me.”

Clara unclipped the pin on her chest, a bright, cheerful yellow pansy. Brushing its petals, she closed her eyes.

“Maybe one day, you’ll give it to your daughter and tell her stories about me.”

In her mind’s eye, she could see Ann grow, from sixteen to twenty to thirty, from child to woman to mother. At forty, her hair tied up in a bun and laugh lines showing her age as she pinned the pansy to her own daughter’s chest.

Ann looked up, her eyes still as bright as a child’s, and smiled at Clara. She mouthed, Message received.

She mouthed, I love you.

Clara opened her eyes, returning to the greenhouse and her letters. To the small Ann, still years from receiving the letter, still sullenly wondering what was happening. Violet looked at her expectantly.

She smiled. “Dear Ann, I know this is a scary time, full of changes, but everything will be okay.”

[circusgoth-dotcom]

The Love Shack (aka the local convenience store)

Ship: Wade Wilson x Keaton Magnolia

Word Count: 1156

Summary: HUGHJGHGHH THE SILLYYS... sorry writing this fic rotted my brain in a good way. Wade and Keaton make a trip to the convenience store. :0) CWs for themes of insecurity and food mentions. GLITTER ON THE MATTRESSSS GLITTER ON THE HIGHWAYYYY (lyrics) 🕺🕺

Tag List: @futurewife @canongf

Wade had always been eerily astute when it came to reading his boyfriend’s emotions and body language, especially when it seemed like such a hassle for everyone else. So a deep sigh from across the room was more than enough to catch his attention. The two had been sitting on opposite sides of his living room and looking at their respective devices, an activity Wade had only recently learned the name of: Parallel Play.

“What’s up, baby?” He asked, dropping his custom red and black Nintendo DS on his chest. Keaton looked up, clearly having not expected for Wade to take such obvious notice of the sound he had made.

“Oh, er, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” Keaton waved his hand dismissively, still half-focused on his phone. Wade heaved himself off of his couch and placed his hand between Keaton’s face and the screen.

"Talk to me. Even if it really is nothing, it was enough to make you sigh like your favourite celebrity turned out to be another asshole, so talk to me."

Keaton’s face burned slightly as he set his phone down. "You're not going to let it be until I talk, are you?"

"Do you really have to ask me that question?" Wade grinned and nudged Keaton over slightly, squeezing into what little space was left on the armchair his husband had been occupying.

"Fine. I want to make a trip to the corner store but it's late and I don't want to bother you by asking you to put on pants and you know how I am about spending money--" Before he could finish, Wade had leaned in, his lips ghosting Keaton’s own and his nose bumping against theirs.

"All you had to say was you wanted some snackies and I would've had my pants on before you had even gotten up. Keke, you know I'll never say no to food, no matter the time, and don't beat yourself up about spending, I am flush with cash. Especially cash for snacks." Wade whispered intensely before closing the minute gap between their lips. "Fuck, I love you."

Keaton blinked, somewhat surprised. "Damn, didn't know such a proposition would get you so hot and bothered or I would've asked earlier."

Wade giggled excitedly and crawled off of him to throw on some pants- for once, without argument. Keaton popped up and threw a Bad Batdz Maru sweatshirt on over his tank top, a gift from Wade when he had taken a contract in Japan.

“God, you’re so cute, I just want to crush you down into a tiny ball and hurl you across the room,” Wade growled happily through gritted teeth as he squeezed Keaton’s cheeks before picking up his keys. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

As soon as they entered the hallway, Wade quickened his pace just enough to goad Keaton into chasing him down the stairs and out onto the street before launching himself onto Wade’s back and transforming into a sloth, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and his legs around his ribs.

“Gotcha!” Keaton announced triumphantly.

“Ohh noo, I’m going to succumb to sloth fever, blehhh,” Wade stuck out his tongue in a mocking performance of dying from a made-up illness, making Keaton chuckle. “Shall I carry you all the way, like a mighty steed?”

Keaton considered this, then slid off of his husband’s back and transformed back into his human self. “Eh, might get some especially weird looks if the humanoid equivalent of an overboiled hotdog is seen carrying a giant sloth on his back, don’t you think?”

“Sounds like your average Canadian New Yorker to me. Also,” Wade then gasped dramatically, “rude!”

The two walked hand-in-hand down the dark street, laughing and talking loud despite it being nearly midnight. They couldn’t care less about the few shouts they heard to shut up, it was those people’s choice to live in the city that “never sleeps!” When they reached the corner store, Wade held open the door for his husband.

“After you, fine sir.”

“Oh, how chivalrous. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya on the way in.” Keaton snickered, winking as he wandered into the linoleum-lined oasis, breathing in the smell of floor wax and the heat from the slushie machine. He went straight for the beverage aisle, debating on what he wanted, while Wade scoped out the chips. Love Shack by The B-52s played on the overhead speakers.

“Sign says, ‘Stay away, fools! ‘Cause love rules, at the Lo-o-ve Shack…’” Keaton mumbled to himself under his breath with a smile as he selected a bottle of Pepsi, moving onto the freezer section and calling over his shoulder, “Wadey, you want any ice cream?”

“Ah-huh?” Wade’s muffled voice came over the shelves, prompting Keaton to look around the corner, where he spied Wade with his entire head under the blue raspberry slushie nozzle, mouth steadily filling with unnaturally blue slush. Keaton snorted, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth.

“Wade! We’re gonna get kicked out!” He hissed through silent laughter. Wade swallowed thickly, flicking off the nozzle and angling his head out from under it, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

“They can ban the mercenary from the convenience store, but they can’t ban the convenience store from the mercenary,” he stated matter-of-factly, his teeth practically glowing blue. “And yes, of course I want ice cream.”

“That makes… no sense, but moving on, their selection’s kind of shit if I’m going to be honest. You want Chunky Monkey or Moose Tracks?”

“Mmnm… Chunky Monkey, please.”

“You got it, hunky monkey. Also you’ve got some slush on your chin.”

“Come lick it off, then!” Wade called eagerly as Keaton turned his back to him.

“Veronica Sawyer prefers cherry!”

Wade groaned in light annoyance while Keaton smiled to himself and picked up the ice cream; a pint of Chunky Monkey for Wade, and a chocolate drumstick without nuts for himself. Lastly, he slipped into the candy aisle and picked up a classic Herhsey’s bar. He then met Wade at the counter, who placed down a large bag of Takis and two large slushies, one blue and one red. Keaton watched him adoringly as he paid for it all, taking the two plastic bags and handing Keaton the slushies to carry.

“You really are the best partner, Wade,” Keaton praised as they made their way home. Wade blushed and smiled crookedly, his mind flooded with insecurity at the word “best.”

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t say that…”

“Hey, just because I love you doesn’t mean I’m dismissing that you’re still a real asshole sometimes… but I love you. Don’t forget that, okay?”

Wade swallowed, his lip trembling slightly before bumping affectionately against Keaton as they walked.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it… pookiebear.”

The two smiled at each other in the yellow lamplight.

“Can I get a sip of my slushie?”

“Yes, Wade.”

[thatcrazycrowgirl]

🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹🌹🌹🌹

🌹

🌹

🌹

You also get a bouquet of 🌹:) love you!

*happily takes bouquet*

@havatnah, my friend, thank you so much for sending me this a while back, and I'm sorry I didn't have anything presentable to share sooner. But looking through my documents, I did manage to find something decent from my 1888!Syndicate AU idea. It does feature my OC, Magnolia, buuuut despite that, I thought you'd appreciate some soft older!Jacob spending the morning in bed - so here you go! ;) Hope you enjoy this little WIP snippet! <3

A/N: For some context, this takes place post-JTR DLC, dealing with the repercussions of the events of the Autumn of Terror. (I think I wrote this up after watching a few episodes of "Ripper Street".) Features brief (not major) mentions of scars from wounds and a tiny bit of angst mixed with fluff - a word of warning, just in case?

Magnolia sucked on her bottom lip as she continued to look over the countless letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings with exhausted frustration. She hadn't bothered to rise from bed or even get dressed, as the contents of the papers distracted her not long after she woke up. But fortunately, despite the chill of the morning kissing her bare shoulders, the bed was still warm. Lying on her stomach, she crossed her arms and rested her chin on them with a huff.

"It doesn't make any sense!" she exclaimed in a louder whisper than intended.

"What doesn't…?" Jacob's voice, groggy and rendered even deeper than usual, due to just being roused from sleep, asked softly.

"All of this!" she responded immediately without thinking. It then occurred to her that she was no longer the only one awake, and that her outburst may have pulled her lover from his peaceful sleep. She glanced over at him sheepishly. "Oh. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Mmm…don't worry about it, love," he mumbled in return, still blinking the sleep from his hooded eyes. "It's probably time I got up, anyway." He attempted to stretch his muscles, and winced a little at the dull ache that still remained in some parts of his recovering body. Then, with as much effort as he could manage, he rolled over onto his belly and half rested himself upon the young woman's bare back. "Did you sleep well?"

She lifted a hand up and cupped his cheek in acknowledgement, her thumb brushing over one of his sideburns. "Yeah, just fine," she replied, throwing a small smile over her shoulder. "You?"

"Mmm-hmm…" he hummed, the tip of his nose dancing over her warm skin. He then grinned just a little. "You just about wore me out last night," he teased.

Sir Jacob Frye, the man who had barely a reason to smile over the last year, was now teasing - no - flirting again. Who'd have thought he still had it in him?

However, his smile faded when he didn't get much of a response back from his lover, and he looked up to see she was once again engrossed in the myriad of papers and pictures sprawled out in front of her.

He sighed.

He knew realistically that despite the Ripper now being deceased, his memory and the effects of his reign of terror over London wasn't going to immediately fade from the public's recollection. But that didn't stop the tiny, idealistic part of him that remained, even after all that had happened, to hope that he could settle back down to some level of normalcy in his life - including enjoying the company of his sweetheart in bed, without anything relating to the outside world bleeding in.

He pressed a gentle kiss upon her shoulder blade.

"Why don't you put those things aside for the moment?" he tried again, his lips still pressing kisses against her skin. "It's too early."

It was then that Magnolia seemed to finally catch onto Jacob's subtly needy tone, and she glanced over her shoulder once more. Seeing his eyes, when he lifted them to meet hers, she couldn't help feeling a little guilty for letting her borderline-obsessive need to piece things together to interrupt what should be a peaceful morning.

Her own eyes flickered with a hint of sympathy. ""Oh, Jacob…I'm sorry." She then gathered everything in front of her and tossed the pile onto the nightstand, not caring when some papers fell to the floor, before turning over onto her back and wrapping her arms around her lover's neck. "Come here…come here."

She gently pulled Jacob down towards her and met his lips sweetly. She heard him sigh contently into the kiss and she smiled a bit against his mouth. Deepening it, a soft moan escaped her. She wanted to him to know that he was still more important to her than her work. He had to know.

Nevertheless, he still pulled back momentarily. He looked a tad uncertain.

"You know, you don't have to do th–"

His words were silenced with another kiss.

"Trust me; obligation is the furthest thing from my mind," she then told him with a hint of a smile, before touching her forehead to his. "Thanks for bringing me back to the here and now."

A soft and relieved look surfaced in Jacob's eyes, and he brushed the tip of his nose against Magnolia's. "Thanks for being with me here and now," he cooed.

He kissed her once more before shifting his body somewhat to lay his head upon her shoulder. His nose now nuzzled against her neck, as she began to run one of her hands through his messy hair. Her other arm wrapped around his shoulders. Under her hand, she could feel the newly-healing scars on his skin and tried to ignore it. Now wasn't the time to be remembering their origins, just as now wasn't the time to be sorting through the pages that bore the name of the monster who inflicted those wounds. Now needed to be a time of quiet, of respite, of love.

She kissed him again.

[morrisxn02]

ogden college (un)official class playlist ! available NOW at a therapist near you !

PART ONE: the student body

lacy by olivia rodrigo・henrietta astor

"oh, i care, i care, i care. like ribbons that you wear. my stomach's all in knots. you've got the one thing that i want..."

hurricane by halsey・reina azarolla

“i’m a wanderer, i’m a one-night-stand. don’t belong to no city, don’t belong to no man. i’m the violence in the pouring rain. i’m a hurricane.”

american teenager by ethel cain・ida clarke

“grew up under yellow lights on the street, putting too much faith in the make believe.”

this link is dead by deftones・lincoln crawford 

"pay attention! watch me close! as i decide which way i move"

february 15h by hobo johnson・nova dodson

"she went to columbia and i went to jail. i just wanted another apple when she really wanted yale. and that is the problem where all of this lies. i'm emotionally unstable. i'm a crazy fucking guy!"

crocodile tears by suzanna son・sassa fiske

"crocodile sitting all alone, painting nails the shade of pink to match princess peach's cheek. maybe they'll think i'm beautiful. maybe i can trick them."

perfect day by hoku・charlie fletcher 

“people say, they say that it’s just a phase. they tell me to act my age. well, i am.” 

the boy who blocked his own shot by brand new・jesse hart 

“a crown of gold, a heart harder than stone and it hurts to hold on, but it’s missed when it’s gone”

happy by marina・carmen hearst

"couldn't relax, couldn't sit back and let the sunlight in my lap. i sang a hymn to bring me peace and then came a melody."

too much by carlie rae jepsen・ollie inoue

"i live for the fire, and the rain, and the drama too, boy. and it feels like you never say what you want, and it feels like i can't get through, babe."

nina cried power by hozier and mavis staples・ mika ishii

“power has been cried by those stronger than me straight into the face that tells you to rattle your chains if you love being free. ah lord, and i could cry power!”

people watching by conan gray・logan iyande

“i’m only looking just to live through you vicariously. i’ve never really been in love, not seriously.”

summer child by conan gray・samantha jimenez 

"and you laugh and you dance in the wind, and you sway, and you hug and you kiss, but there's darkness behind those eyes."

savage daughter by sarah hester ross・ nixie linghui

“i am my mother’s savage daughter. the one who runs barefoot, cursing sharp stones. i am my mother’s savage daughter. i will not cut my hair. i will not lower my voice.”

mirrorball by taylor swift・roxie marsh

“hush. when no one is around, my dear, you’ find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love. shinning just for you.”

don’t tell my mom by renée rapp・courtney mills

“so don’t tell my mom i’m falling apart. she hurts when i hurt. my scars are her scars. she’ll talk to her friends, impress all of them. at least in her mind, her daughter is fine.”

donttrustme by 3oh!3・cara morrison

“she's an actress, but she ain't got no need. she's got money from her parents and a trust fund back east."

halloween by novo amor・edward morrison 

“more and more with every accolade, i get carried with away with being carried away.”

i did something bad by taylor swift・greer morrison

"they're burning all the witches even if you aren't one. so light me up. go ahead and light me up."

autoestima by cupido, lola indigo and alizzz・ milo navarro

“my mother and my father gave me an extremely nice face. people don’t usually like pretty people like me.”

forsaken by paris paloma・alethea pierce

"i think i've done something to upset the stars again. the moon won't return my calls, but i deserve it. i deserve it all.”

strange overtones by david byrne, performed by whitney・lennon reed

"how long have i been missing? it's getting colder tonight. snowfall's reminiscing... i watched it melt before my eyes."

frankenstein by rina saywama・magnolia rhodes

"put me together, thread a needle so i'm like other people without all of the evil. i'm trying to be normal, but the trauma is immortal and none of this is your fault."

baseball by hippo campus・monty richler

“there goes that moonboy looking jungly with all his leaves a-growing.”

king by florence and the machine・anya saetang

"my empty halls echo with grand self-mythology. i am no mother, i am no bride. i am king."

stick season by noah kahan・nathaniel shaw 

“now i'm stuck between my anger and the blame that i can't face and the memories are something even smoking weed does not replace." 

liability by lorde・natalia vega

"she's so hard to please, but she's a forest fire. i do my best to meet her demands, play at romance, we slow dance in the living room, but all a stranger would see is one girl, swaying alone, stroking her cheek."

satanist by boygenius・jacqui velazquez 

“will you be a nihilist with me? if nothing matters, man, that’s a relief…”

you're on your own, kid by taylor swift・parker walsh

"there were pages turned with the bridges burned, everything you lose is a step you take. so make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it. you've got no reason to be afraid. you're on your own kid. yeah, you can face this..."

river by leon bridges・malik wright 

"as my sins flow down the jordan, oh, i wanna come near ya and give ya every part of me. but there's blood in my hands, and my lips aren't clean..."

tolerate it by taylor swift・mari zuko

“i made you my temple, my mural, my sky. now i’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life.”

[caitas-cooing]

I have decided to compile a list of Nikki's autistic and otherwise neurodivergent traits, because I can. This might take a bit but I am determined. I'm glad we have the thing that let's you look at the story of past events because the beach vacation event has quite a few of them

For the record I'm mostly going of Shining Nikki for this because it's what I have on my phone currently, but if you want to add some from other games then your are free to do so and I would appreciate it greatly

Let's start with beach vacation event stuff, original I was going to show pictures of the text, but that would take a lot of pictures and we can only do 10 on mobile, so I'll just summarize. There is several times where she mentions that when she was younger she would play by herself or with her sister Yoyo. She says she doesn't know why she struggled with making friends, but she says that maybe it's because she didn't want to bother people and sometimes she didn't mind being alone. There was also a kid who was alone instead of playing with the other kids, but he kept looking at them like he wanted to play but wasn't sure how to join. Nikki saying herself in the lonely child convinces the other kids to invite the boy to come play with them and then they all get to play together. I really liked that story because I was that kid a lot, and sometimes it was fine, but there were also times where I actually did want to play, but I wasn't sure how to ask and too scared about what would happen if they said no. Me and Nikki are the same there I guess. She also displays a lot of anxiety in general. She says she has ideas and dreams and she wants to chase after them, but she gets scared and thinks "let's not". She's scared of rollercoasters, she doesn't want to try spicy food, and she's afraid to touch the octopus because it looks slimy, which could be related to sensory issues (they are for me anyway). She convinces herself to try some of these things and she was able to do it because you were there. It's sweet. Seriously if you haven't read the events story for the beach event read them the whole thing is so wholesome.

Next I'm going to talk about voice lines that Nikki says when you use outfits or sets in the dressing room:

When you put on the dress wintermount academy Nikki says that she didn't have many close friends in highschool, reiterating what she says in the beach vacation event. When you put on the blooming magnolia set she says she used to feel lonely, but she isn't anymore because she has you. Cute

When you put on the dress garnet she says "what did you say? Louder!" And when you put in the hair accessory perfect machine she says "what did you say? I can't hear" this could be an issue with auditory processing or it could be that she had her ears damage when vulture exploded the train, because she does say that her ears are still ringing when you talk to her in her room when you finish that chapter. Could also be both 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nikki has issues with balance. If you put on the shoes floral path she'll say "tiptoe... Hmmm, isn't it beautiful without tiptoe too?" (For context these are ballet shoes). If you put on the shoes petite white bunny she'll say "I should have a sexy pose... Oops, gotta keep my balance first" I get it heels are hard. I love heels but they should have more flat shoes too.

When you put on the earrings pink heart seashell she'll say "I can't help but want to shake my head when I wear earrings" which is very stimmy behavior to me. The special accessory dimension travel has her say that she can't help but poke the buttons on the bag because it's shaped like a Gameboy.

Not really a sign of anything per se, but there are quite a few item lines that involve her singing. The hair accessory guiding star has her sing "twinkle twinkle little star, on my hair and there you are". The headwear floating ducks has her singing the first part of the 5 little ducks song, and the handheld item magician's wand has her starting a song about a magic wand, after which she stops and laughs saying she can't help it. Very relatable to me

The handheld item light hand fan has her talk about how she tried to learn embroidery, but gave up because she had trouble organizing the spools of thread. This tells me she wants things to be organized but had trouble actually keeping things that way, which is really relatable to me. Comorbid autism and ADHD struggles

Okay I'm gonna post more of this tomorrow, I've had it in my drafts all day and I want people to see it now, so you get like a portion of this. Mostly I just want to talk about blorbo from my app

[hangmans-darling]

Live Forever [Part 1] Jake Seresin

Summary: Jake Seresin and Magnolia James have always been tied together, soon enough their ties become entangled over the years. This is their love story.

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings: first time having sex (consensual and both are 18)

Masterlist

Live Forever Masterlist

Feedback is always welcome, I hope you enjoy!

***

Jake Seresin would always tease Magnolia James in the high school halls by yanking on her ponytail that sat atop her head held together by a white bow and the rest of her hair falling down in waves over her shoulders and back. He’d always ask if she carried magnolia’s with her and she’d roll her eyes at the poor joke repeatedly telling him to call her Nola. 

In science class during movies they always sat in the back and goofed off with the rest of their classmates. He’d pull her onto his lap and snap the strap of her bra just to get her to laugh and squeal in protest so he could hold her close and apologize.

Nola knew he was a flirt and got around with girls from other schools, so she never really took it to heart.

When he’d come inside from football practice he’d stop at the art classroom and watch her paint for a while from the corner of the door jamb. She’s been in advanced art classes all her school career and has even won a few awards. He remembers the first time he saw her in the art room.

It was freshman year and she was painting during their lunch hour, music from a boombox was playing loud and she stood in front of the easel with a paintbrush caught between her teeth. There was a brush of purple paint on her cheek as she stroked the brush currently in her hand across the canvas. He didn’t know what she was painting but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

While she painted, it was as if the whole world was gone. The concentration she had intrigued Jake’s fourteen year old self. That was when his crush on her formed.

At prom, they didn’t go together but he remembers seeing her in her dress and thinking how she resembled an angel. His eyes would always follow her as she walked across the room and sat at her table without a date by her side. He wondered how no one asked her but then realized he didn’t and he should have. 

Instead, he went with Cheyenne Carver, the head cheerleader and his football coach’s daughter. He asked her more out of obligation of him also being the quarterback but when he spotted Nola dipping her finger in the frosting of the six layer chocolate mousse cake and licking it off, he wished he were sitting next to her. Cheyenne complained about the food. 

As the night wore on and their junior class danced the night away, Cheyenne ditched Jake for Bo Reynolds who was crowned Prom King to her Prom Queen. Jake was fine with that, because after he washed up in the bathroom and tossed out the flower Cheyenne placed on him (he swears he’ll find puncture wounds later) in the trash, he wanted to find Nola. 

He found her on the dancefloor singing and dancing with her friends so he pushed his way through his classmates until he was behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. 

“Wanna dance?” he asked and she craned her neck so she could look at him through the flashing lights. 

“Sure, if you can keep up.”

She pulled him against her by linking their fingers together and placed his hands on her hips. The fabric of her dress was slippery and when he started grinding on her—as was the norm for high school dances—he felt that this is where he should have been the whole night. Who he should have been with the whole night.

Cheyenne didn’t want to dance, she only wanted to take pictures and gossip. 

As the beat of the song increased so did Nola’s hips and Jake tried his best to keep up. 

“Damn, how do you do that?” he murmured in her ear. 

“You’re supposed to follow the girl, Seresin,” she teased throwing her head back on his shoulder. “It’s all in the hips. Follow me.”

She unlinked their fingers and moved his hands so they were positioned directly on her hips, his fingers slid along her thighs when she moved from side to side. The bass was dropping so she lowered herself down his body until she was practically on the floor. If Jake was paying attention to everyone else around him he would have seen all the girls were also low on the floor but he wasn’t paying attention to everyone else. 

His attention was always on Nola. She released her hands from his so she could wave them in the air as she rose to the chorus of the song and he found his rhythm with her easily that time. 

***

It wasn’t until after graduation that he finally plucked up the courage to ask her on a date and it was when they were both home from their first year of college. He was at his buddy Cody’s house for a bonfire as a ‘Welcome Summer’ kickback. He drove his truck through the cornfield like he did so many times during high school until he was near the back by the pond where the bonfire was. 

The original crew were there before the party actually started. 

“You look different, Jake. The Navy’s changed you this much already?” Cody asked filling a red Solo Cup with beer from the keg. 

“We’ll see. It’s totally kicking my ass but it’s totally worth it,” Jake grinned then handed Cody another cup to fill for himself. “Who’s all coming?”

“The usual,” Cody shrugs and gulps down his beer. “So half our Senior class.”

“Will Nola be here, you think?”

“You still got the hots for her?” Cody smirked. 

“Haven’t seen her since graduation, that’s all,” Jake shrugged. 

“Yeah, I think Miss Magnolia James will be here,” Cody snickered and Jake shoved him in the shoulder. “You better make a move or I will, man.”

Jake reunited with old classmates as they trickled in and then he finally saw her. She was in the passenger side of her high school best friend, Layla. Three other girls climbed out of the car and their names were cheered by everyone who was already feeling great from drinking. Jake watched in anticipation through the flickering flames of the bonfire if she’d spot him through the crowd. 

He downed his second beer hoping it would give him liquid courage and took a shot of whisky for extra good measure with Cody and other guys he played football with. Suddenly, he was feeling very fine. Cody told a joke which made Jake stumble backwards in laughter. 

“Woah, careful!” 

A voice squeaked behind him and he felt small hands press against his back and waist. He spun around and was face to face with none other than Nola.

“Nola James, as I live and breathe!” he exclaimed and pulled her into a hug. The beer and whisky made him feel confident and exuberant and it was only heightened by being in the same vicinity as Nola. 

“Hey there, Jake,” she laughed and patted his back affectionately. 

“How’ve you been?” he asked after releasing her from his hug. He could only see half her face because of the fire but the half he saw was as beautiful as ever. She had on jeans that fit her body perfectly with a tight blue and purple plaid shirt. 

“Good, glad school is over. Happy to be home. How about you, I heard you joined the Navy?”

“You heard, huh? You asking around about me, darlin’?” he grinned, tipping his cowboy hat at her. 

“There’s also this wonderful thing called the internet, Seresin,” she laughed. 

“Naw, I think you were asking about me. Do you want a drink?”

“Is there anything else except beer?” she peered around him at one of the coolers. 

When she bent down to open it and pull out a bottle of hard lemonade, he couldn’t help but stare at her ass in those jeans. She popped off the top and tossed it in the garbage nearby, joining him again.

“Cheers to Summer,” she said. 

They got to talking but found it hard to do because they were standing in front of the beverage area and people kept bumping into them. He offered to go to his truck that was near the pond but was still a good distance from the bonfire. She smiled and told him to lead the way. He pulled down the back of his truck bed so they could sit on it.

She hopped on up and he sat next to her. They sat in silence listening and watching the party before them. They were a safe enough distance away that they were cloaked in the light of the moon, the weeping branches of the willow danced in the wind. The music from the party was still heard but so were the crickets and frogs from the pond.

“How’s Ole Miss?” he asked. 

“How d’you know I’m at Ole Miss?”

“I asked around,” he smiled knocking her shoulder. 

“It’s good, the winters suck but the snow is so pretty. I think I’m going to rush next year for Tri Delta when I start my teaching classes.”

“What grade do you want to teach?” 

“I’ll start with elementary, so second or third grade, but I want to teach art.”

“Really? That’s…incredible.”

“Says the guy who’s in the Navy,” she teased. “You’re still the same Jake, you know that?”

“How? Cody told me I’ve changed.”

“You’ve still got this borderline confident-cocky thing going on. And right now you’re sitting straight as a board and I feel like a bum,” she sat up straighter to make her point. “So I guess that’s different. But yeah, you still…”

“I still what?” he hedged because the way she was looking at him made his head spin. 

“Nothing, it’s stupid,” she shook her head and took a drink of her hard lemonade. 

“Well, you haven’t changed a bit. You still make my heart stop.”

She looked at him and he swallowed hard hoping he didn’t say the wrong thing. She leaned forward and he did too thinking she was going to kiss him but she stole his hat off his head instead. She placed it on her own. 

“Still the charmer, huh?” she giggled. 

“I mean it, Nola,” he said. “You’ve driven me crazy since…hell, I don’t even know when.”

“Really?”

All he could do was nod because the urge to kiss her kept building inside him. He leaned forward and tilted his head to the side so he wouldn’t bump his cowboy hat on top of her head. His nose grazed her cheek and just as their lips touched–

“JAKE! NOLA! COME PLAY BEER PONG!” Cody shouted from the edge of the woods. “Oh shit, were you two about to have sex?”

They broke away quickly, Nola took a hearty drink of her lemonade.

“Fuck off, Cody, we’re coming,” Jake called and Cody made a snide comment before heading back to the fire. 

Nola hopped off his truck and held out her hand.

“Let’s see what you got, Navy boy.”

He took her hand with an excited grin and they walked back towards the party. They were crushing the competition. Nola did a couple of bounce shots that resulted in loud cheers from the onlookers. Whenever the other guys were up to toss the ping pong ball, she bent low to the table smiling innocently at them but her cleavage was the distraction. Jake had to try really hard not to flicker his gaze to her cleavage as well.

Halfway through the game he took his hat back and she pouted at him. 

“Don’t do that to me,” he groaned at the sight and she widened her eyes. She looked like an adorable puppy then jutted out her bottom lip. “Stop,” he enforced with a smile and she reached for his hat again. He grabbed her hand holding it behind her back, he laced their fingers together. “I’ll give it to you after we win, it’s my good luck charm.”

“I want to be your good luck charm,” she flirted with a bat of her dark blue eyes. Her long lashes kissed her cheeks and Jake was smitten as a kitten. 

“Fine, but if we don’t win this final game…you’re gonna get it,” he cocked an eyebrow at her. 

She used her other hand to take the hat off his head and placed it on hers again. Her triumphant smile emptied the threat he just gave her. 

The more she drank the hotter she became, she kept tossing her hair behind her back until finally, she removed her plaid shirt. She had on a black tank top and Jake tried to keep his focus on the game but when she bent over the shirt rode up and he saw the smooth patch of skin on her lower back in the bonfire light. Cody was standing next to him and gave his best friend a look. 

Nola was heating up in the game and there was one cup left. She tossed the ball and it sank into the cup. Everyone erupted in loud cheers and she screamed along with Jake. He opened his arms and she jumped into them, her legs wrapped around his waist. 

“You’re definitely my good luck charm,” he told her.

She looked at him for a beat before pressing her lips against his. He kissed her back immediately and his hat fell off her head. People were catcalling but Jake didn’t care; he was finally kissing Magnolia James. 

***

When the party dwindled down, Jake offered to drive her home. He parked in her driveway and turned his lights off so he wouldn’t wake her parents or siblings. She had a younger sister, Nomi and brother Lincoln that were still in elementary and middle school. He turned the radio down and looked at her across the console. She was humming along to the song as she unbuckled herself then when she caught him looking, she smiled.

“What?”

In response, he unbuckled himself and leaned over the console. His hand cupped her cheek and he drew her in to him until their lips kissed in whispers. She brought her hand into his hair but found it difficult with the cowboy hat so she tossed it to the backseat. He laughed on her lips and nuzzled her nose with his.

“I really like kissing you,” he said.

“I like kissing you,” she whispered and pecked his lips. “I should head inside.”

“One more,” he said and kissed her again, his tongue sliding over hers. 

They makeout in his truck for another ten minutes before she pulls back again and they’re both breathing heavily. 

“I should go–”

“Just one more–” he tried to kiss her again.

“Jake!” she laughed and pushed on his chest a little. “It’s very late and you still have to get home safe.”

“I’m sorry,” he laughed and traced her lips with his finger. “I could kiss you until the sun came up.”

“I could too,” her voice tickled the pad of his finger. 

“Can I see you tomorrow? I’d love to take you out.”

“Okay,” she whispered. She found a pen in his cupholder and wrote her number on the back of a gas receipt. She drew a magnolia flower beneath it and a little heart. 

Their last kiss lingered a moment longer and then she darted from his truck. He made sure she made it inside safely before he pulled out of her driveway. Jake rolled all of his windows down so the cool wind helped keep him awake but Nola’s kisses were still a fire on his lips. ‘Live Forever’ by Little Big Town sang him all the way home.

***

It was a whirlwind summer romance. They fell into a pattern easily of spending (almost) every waking moment together. They would go to the movies at least twice a week. The chilled air conditioning in the darkened theater always had her cuddling into his side. Halfway through the movie they’d always end up kissing until the end credits stopped rolling.

They attended every party together and it wasn’t uncommon to see one without the other, if Nola was at the food table, Jake would be along soon after stealing chips off her plate. If he was sitting on a chair or a stump around the fire, Nola would appear in seconds flat to sit on his lap.

After each party and date night, he’d park at the end of her driveway where they’d kiss and kiss until she pulled away. He never pushed to go further than kissing but one night she climbed onto his lap. 

“Woahh, hey there,” he mumbled as she tried to get situated. 

“Hi,” she breathed and fixed her legs but her knee fell between the seat and door and fell on top of him. He groaned.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, darlin’,” he sighed brushing her hair behind her neck. “You do the opposite of hurting me. Feels good like this.”

“You sure?” she asked trying to adjust again. He sucked in a deep breath. 

“Keep doing that and you’ll feel how good it feels for me.”

“Really?” a slow smile spread over her lips.

“You find that hard to believe?” he grinned while his fingers continued to comb through her hair. 

“Kinda,” she shrugged, and leaned in closer so her arms were around his neck. Her hips slid again over his. “I don’t have as much experience as you do.”

“You’re kidding me. I bet there’s a ton of broken hearts at Ole Miss.”

“Nope. You’re the first one I feel comfortable with, and I know you’ve been around so I don’t want to do the wrong–”

He silenced her with a kiss, it’s endearing and made her sigh into his mouth. 

“Don’t think, just do what feels natural. We’ll go as fast or as slow as you want. You’re in control here.”

“I want you in control,” she practically whined and sat a little firmer on his lap. 

“You make me lose control, baby.”

***

As summer started to come to a close, the question of their relationship hung above their heads. They’d both be going their separate ways soon. 

A week before he was set to leave for the Naval Academy, he picked her up and brought her back to his place. His parents were out of town and his two sisters, Juniper and Lottie, were at a sleepover. There was an electric static coursing between them; they both had the same idea of how they wanted this night to go. 

He took her by the hand leading her into the living room. She’d been over at his house so many times but will never get over the vastness of it. His family welcomed her warmly, his little sisters wanting to hang out with her whenever she was over. Nola never minded because she loved to see how Jake acted with his sisters. Lottie was in middle school and Juniper was in third grade and they both loved their brother. 

While she sat on the couch he pulled a movie from their massive collection not even paying attention to what he chose because his senses were going haywire. He settled on the couch next to her and slung his arm over her shoulders, Nola rested her head on his chest. 

They watched the movie for a while but neither of them were paying attention. She’s focused on his thumb rubbing her shoulder and he’s very aware of every breath that blows on his neck from her. 

“Jake?” she moved her head on his shoulder to look up at him.

 His skin is tanned and soft and his cologne smells like the mahogany teakwood cologne he always wears. His blond-brown hair is slightly wavy because he let it grow out for the summer after having it buzzed for the Academy. 

“Yeah?”

“Will you kiss me?”

Her heart hammered in her chest as he turned his head and snagged her bottom lip between his own. As soon as they kissed her nervousness diminished. She sighed parting her mouth and tangled her fingers in his hair. He pushed her down on the couch, his palm hot as he slipped it under her shirt to explore her stomach. 

Before they knew it, their clothes were off in a pile on the floor and they somehow ended up falling onto the floor. After their awkward laughter he grabbed two large pillows from the couch so she had comfort on her back while he was on top of her. He asked repeatedly if she was okay, if he was hurting her. 

“Jake,” she touched his cheek so his green eyes met hers. She could see the consternation and restraint he’s using. “I’m okay. Promise.”

It took him a little while to enter her, they were both aroused but with her nerves from being this her first time made her body tense. When he was finally inside, she bit her lip at the stretch. Nola kept waiting for the life-altering moment she’s heard so much about when you have sex for the first time. But it was over pretty soon which she was thankful for and understood because she could see how hard Jake tried to hold out. 

He fell on top of her and she held him close, petting at his hair and kissing his cheek while he caught his breath. When he did, they changed and she went to the bathroom. There was a little bit of blood when she wiped but that was it. 

Was that all?

She stared at her reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands. Her hair was messed up from the pillows, her eyes were wide and exuberant, her lips a little swollen from kissing and her face was flushed red. She looks different but she doesn’t feel different. 

“Are you okay?” he asked when she joined him in the living room again. He brought out some water and snacks for her to eat. “Do you hurt?”

“No,” she smiled shaking her head and sat next to him. “I bled a little but nothing else.”

“What?! Nola, I’m so–”

She pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. 

“Stop. I swear it wasn’t that bad, my legs hurt a little but I’m fine. I’m wonderful,” she smiled. 

***

The night before he was supposed to leave, Jake planned something special. He put blankets and pillows in the bed of his truck and packed Nola’s favorite foods. He brought along a CD he put together for her. When he picked her up her whole family came out to say goodbye to him. Her parents wished him the best of luck in his next year while Nomi and Lincoln gave him cards. 

He held her hand on the drive while she let her other hand wave through the wind out his window. She sang along to the music on the radio and he hoped she liked the CD he made for her. They made it to the spot all of the high school couples go to but they had the whole place to themselves. 

“What’re we doing?” she asked. 

“Having a picnic. C’mon,” he nodded his head towards the back. When he pulled the cover off his truck and pulled down the back, Nola gasped. 

“You did all of this?” 

“Yep. I wanted our last night to be memorable. Your chariot, my lady,” he opened his arms. She walked into them easily and he lifted her onto the truck. 

She crawled to the center of it, finding the boombox and CD he made. It had her name on it with a big effort of drawing magnolia’s around her name. 

“Jake–” 

“Put it in.” 

They ate during the first half of the CD, it ended with ‘Live Forever’ by Little Big Town and they laid down to watch the sunset. When the CD started over, stars were peeking through the sky and that’s when he pulled her close and kissed her. He kissed her differently, she felt a goodbye seeping into her but in the moment Nola didn’t care.

She didn’t care when she pulled him on top of her. She didn’t care when he bunched up the skirt of her dress and yanked her panties down to her ankle. She didn’t care his lips whispered the end on her neck before he pulled off his own pants and slipped a condom on. 

When they connected, she held him close and tight as she could. It felt better this time, her body felt like it was on a continuous wave as they rocked together. She snapped her eyes shut when she felt her body warm and to keep the tears at bay. 

When Jake finished, he held her face in his hand and he was blinking fast. He gave her another searing kiss before disposing of the condom in their trash from the food they ate. He handed her towelettes to clean between her legs then they laid together again staring at the stars. 

“I wish we could stay here forever,” she said, her head rose and fell with every breath he took. 

“Me too,” he cleared his throat. “I don’t get much time to go on the computer or to use my phone…but would you want to write to me? I’d like to know how your schooling is going.”

“I can do that,” she smiled and turned to face him. 

“That’s the only contact we should have…and if someone asks you out at Ole Miss, you’re free to go out with them. I don’t want to hold you back because I’m going to be busy–”

“You want to date other people?” she slid up from his chest to stare at him. 

“I think it’d be best, we’re so far away. I don’t want to do this, Nola, it’s killin’ me but it won’t work.”

“How do you know if we don’t even try? Is it because you were my first and I did something wrong? Have I become too clingy?” she pulled away from him but he pulled her right back. He sat up so he was sitting against the back of the truck.

“No, it has nothing to do with that. I won’t have time for you like I did this summer. I don’t want to keep you holding out for me.”

“So you decide this and that’s it? We’re not even going to talk about it?”

“I thought–”

“No, you didn’t think. But it sounds like you already made up your mind so…that’s it. We’re done and over,” she scoffed and broke out of his arms.

“Baby, don’t do this. It’s my last night, I want one more perfect night with you.”

She stared at him long and hard, her chest heaved in anger. 

“And I want to stay with you but it looks like we won’t get what we want. Take me home, Jake.”

She sat in his truck while he gathered everything together. He tried to hold her hand on the drive back but she angled her body away from his. From the corner of his eye he could see she was trembling. 

When he pulled into her driveway all the lights were off in the house and the silence between them was so loud. 

“Good luck,” Nola broke the silence with a shaking voice. “Maybe see you next summer.” She pushed open his door and slammed it shut.

Jake shook his head and followed her. He had to grab her wrist so she’d stop walking from him and when she spun around her cheeks were wet. 

“Nola–”

She let out a choked sob then buried her face in his chest. His arms wrapped around her immediately resting his chin on the top of her head. He tried to hush her as she cried but a few tears of his own rolled down his nose and into her hair. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “Please believe me how much this is killing me. You’re my best girl, my dream girl. You always have been and always will be.”

“I hate you,” she mumbled in his shirt and he smiled sadly. 

“I know you don’t.”

“Yes I do. You’re stupid.”

“I know.”

“Idiotic.”

“I know,” he removed his head from hers and tilted her head back. His thumbs stroked away her tears, she was even pretty when she cried and it made his heart ache. “I’d still love it if you wrote to me. I put my address in the CD jacket along with my own letter.”

Neither one of them wanted to let the other go. The rational side of Nola understood his reasoning but the emotional side of her wanted to hold on. She was the first one to pull away but Jake didn’t let her get that far. He still held her face in his hands and stared at her.

Then he kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, and finally her lips. Nola’s hands gripped his forearms as she kissed him back. She wanted to remember everything; how soft his lips moved against hers, how his hands feel on her skin. Before they could get too carried away, he broke the kiss for the very first time, usually he waited until she pulled away. 

He knew she wouldn’t be the first one to pull away and he had to choose to be the stronger one.

“I should go,” he whispered and nuzzled her nose. Nola nodded. 

Jake sighed and removed himself from her hold. She watched him walk to his truck but he stopped at the door and turned around. 

“You’ll always be my girl, Nola.”

She watched him get in, start his truck, back out, and drive down the road until she was alone in the warm summer night. 

His letter

My Nola,

I haven’t even said goodbye yet and I miss you so much it hurts. If I know you as well as I think I do, you probably haven’t opened this until late at night while you’re studying or painting and you’re thinking of me. I’m always thinking of you and whenever you decide to write to me, I’ll be waiting. 

I heard from Cody that in sororities they have formals? I think that’s what they’re called. Once you’re in Tri Delta and there’s a formal event I’d love to join you, I get weekends off and I’ll be on the first plane to you. I’ll be having some galas as well as the year goes on and I’d love to have you on my arm. 

Don’t hate me too much. Being with you this summer has been the greatest of my life. I hope you’re breakin’ hearts at Ole Miss because you already have mine. 

Waiting for your letter,

Your idiot

Her letter

Dear Jake, 

It’s almost the holidays and you’re right, I didn’t read your letter until I was frustrated with a painting I was doing. But you are always on my mind too. Bold of you to assume I’d want you as my date to formal but I would love that. Our first one is after the New Year, hopefully you can make it up here. And hopefully I’ll see you over the holidays for break. 

School is going well, now that all of my general classes are done I’ve been doing some of my core teaching classes, it’s all so exciting. 

No broken hearts here, except for the crack you left in mine from summer. (that was meant to be lighthearted but reading it back it doesn’t sound like it, but oh well.) 

What does one wear to a Naval Academy gala? Would your cowboy hat go with a red dress I have in mind? 

I could never hate you.

Your Nola

****

[libertybri]

✨Boop!~✨

🌸✨I know you already have done my request but if its not to much trouble I had a cute little idea ^^✨🌸

Fallout 4 companion (romanced or crushing its up to you which one ^^) react to sole saying “hey honey?” like maybe they were working on something and they were like “hey honey can you pass me that”?

Idk thought it was cute!

Also can't remember if I sent this in or not already lol sorry if I have :(

^^ anyways thanks for you're time!✨🌸

Such a cute request!! Sorry it took me so long to get to it, I get so many now lol!

“Hey honey, could you pass me that spoon. I want you to try this.”

Companions-

Cait

“You, uh, yeah. Here ye’ are. What was that ye’ called me?” Her face heats up as she hands over the spoon and attempts to hide her blush.

Codsworth

“Here you are, dear! My, that certainly looks appetizing!” He isn’t fazed at all, quite enthused by it actually.

Curie

“Of course, madame/monsieur!” She giddily passes the spoon over to Sole, her heart fluttering after hearing the pet name.

Danse

“What? Oh, uh, here you go… honey.” He curses himself for stumbling over Sole’s sweet pet name so bad, and berates himself for the awkward return as well.

Deacon

“Oh darling, of course!” He exaggerates his own nickname and passes the spoon to Sole.

Gage

“Honey? Heh, yeah doll, here ya go.” At first, he gets a little blushy at the name, but quickly goes smug from hearing his lover call to him with such endearment.

Hancock

“Mm, smells good, Sunshine.” He absolutely loves hearing the name come from Sole, handing over the spoon and resorting to hugging them from behind as they stir.

MacCready

“Hehe, yeah of course.” He thinks the pet name is both adorable and funny, as of how random it was, but he adores it nonetheless.

Nick

“Can’t say I’ll be a good taste tester, but I’ll give it a try, doll.” The pet name doesn’t faze him at all as he attends to his lover as usual.

Piper

“Aww, getting soft on me, Blue? Don’t worry, I like it.” She teases at the randomness of the affection, but her face heats up as she passes over the spoon.

Preston

“Heh, of course, sweetie.” Hearing Sole use a pet name randomly encourages him to do so as well, finding it to be a natural feeling used with Sole.

X6-88

“Honey?” While he immediately does as requested and hands the spoon over to Sole, he still questions the random pet name as it caused his chest to tighten. The new feeling was strange to him, but accepted nonetheless.

Extra NPCs-

Desdemona

“Smells amazing, dear.” She compliments and hands over the spoon, paying no mind to the randomness of the pet name, just basking in the fondness of it.

Edward Deegan

“Huh– Oh yeah, sure, doll.” He’s taken aback at first but quickly fixes his act to play of his surprise to the pet name. And boy, if his skin could show his blush, he sure would be embarrassed.

Glory

“Yeah ‘course. Whatcha cookin’ up, babe?” She isn’t fazed by the pet name, having called Sole by many before.

Jack Cabot

“Darling, that smells absolutely amazing!” He slightly blushes hearing the pet name from them for the first time, but goes along without a grand reaction.

Magnolia

“Mm, hope it’s somethin’ good, Sugar.” She is all to familiar with using pet names herself, but is genuinely surprised when Sole uses one out of the blue. Though she hides the shock super easily.

Mags Black

“Aw, aren’t you cute. Here ya go.” She is more than tempted to sneak a kiss on Sole’s cheek just from hearing the word used in sweetness directed towards her.

Mason

“Of all the names, honey? Fine, but this stew better be good.” He grumbles at the sweetness of the pet name, but gives in quickly for his Sole.

Maxson

“Y-Yeah, uh–“ He chokes on his words as his face goes red, then feeling much embarrassment for such a reaction to something as simple as a pet name from Sole.

Nisha

“Honey? Heh.” Pet names were a foreign concept to her, but very accepted from Sole, it felt almost natural to her to hear it.

Sturges

“Heh, no problem, doll.” He finds the randomness of the pet name amusing, but sweet.

Tinker Tom

“Here you areeee!” He sings out happily from the pet name, handing the spoon to Sole with a little more pep in his step.

Travis Miles

“What was tha– oh, uh, yeah yeah.” His face goes red within seconds of hearing Sole call to him in that way.

William Black

“You made dinner? How sweet of you.” It took everything in him not to tease about the random pet name, though he loved hearing it come from Sole more than he would like to admit.

[classyklancey]

White Magnolia

Pairing: Keith Kogane x Lance McClain Genre: fluff (pining idiots) Warnings: Keith is so in love it’s gross Summary: Lance convinces Keith to go on a road trip with him to California. Keith struggles to hide his pining Word Count: 3.5k words A/N: this was supposed to be posted for Lance’s birthday but oh well-

Keith doesn’t know why he decided to indulge Lance in such a crazy fantasy. One minute Lance is just rambling about what he misses about Cuba and the next, Lance is driving them both from Texas to California in his blue Tacoma. Keith really can’t find it in him to complain though with the way the sun is shining on Lance’s beautiful bronze skin and the wind is blowing through his brown, curly locks.

What Keith can complain about though is Lance’s terrible taste in music. For some reason, Lance’s road trip playlist—which is mysteriously called ‘Not a thing to do, but talk to you. WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT! WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT! HELLO WISCONSIN!’ and no matter how much Keith asks, Lance refuses to tell him why it’s called that—is mostly consisted of 90s songs. Being the pining idiot that he is though, Keith can’t find it in him to do any more than light teasing in Lance’s direction as he screeches all the lyrics at the top of his lungs.

One song does however catch Keith’s attention, especially since Lance immediately tries to skip it. “What was that?” Keith asks, smashing his pointer finger against the back button on the radio to bring it back to the song that Lance is currently blushing over.

“Nothing! Stop hitting the back button!” Lance screeches as he keeps trying to skip it only for Keith to hit the back button. They do this three or four times before Lance reaches his right hand over to smack and hit Keith. Keith grunts with every hit that Lance lands, not even noticing that the song he’s been trying to skip is finally playing.

When I first saw you, I saw love And the first time you touched me, I felt love And after all this time You're still the one I love, mmm, yeah-yeah

Keith starts to blush along with Lance, his hand smacking Lance’s away and finally bringing the brunette’s attention back to the song playing. Lance hurriedly skips it and looks at Keith out of the corner of his eye, but Keith pretends not to see as he looks out the window. Keith just assumes that Lance is embarrassed for having such a lovey-dovey song playing with Keith here, but Keith can’t help but feel that this is their song.

Keith is a stupid man who has been stupidly in love with someone who will never return his feelings for as long as they’ve known each other. Keith instantly took a liking to Lance despite having never even had a conversation together. Keith had always admired that Lance was so outspoken and friendly with everyone he met.

Well, except for Keith.

No, you see, Lance had somehow decided that Keith was his rival and that Lance would take him down. First, it was little things, like Lance trying to do better than him on quizzes and he’d brag each and every time he’d even get one single point more than Keith. That was annoying but it wasn’t too bad, Keith could handle that. It slowly began to escalate though over time until it turned to them yelling in each other’s faces and having to be pulled away from one another before it got physical. All that ended up doing was causing Keith to shut him out and pretend he didn’t even exist despite the fact that he could barely keep his eyes off of the blue-eyed Cuban. They ended up getting into the same friend group though since Hunk is friends with Lance, Keith is friends with Pidge, and Hunk and Pidge are friends with each other. It didn’t take them long to bring Keith and Lance together, even though it did take a long, long time. The duo eventually started to see each other as friends and became as thick as thieves.

Keith always craved for more though.

Keith is knocked out of his reminiscing when Lance curses because he missed a turn, his frown instantly becoming a smile when one of his favorite songs comes on. Lance goes back to screaming the words which causes Keith’s grey eyes to roll towards the back of his head. Despite his supposed annoyance, his heart is doing tricks in his chest whenever Lance grows focused on driving, which causes his screeching to become light, melodic singing.

Keith is starting to believe that this is what heaven would be like.

Keith’s eyes focus on Lance’s right hand that rests on the gear shift, his fingers tapping along to whatever annoying song he is playing. Keith suddenly has the urge to reach out and tangle their fingers together, to compare who’s hand is bigger and how their skin tones contrast beautifully.

This all repeats for a while, along with occasional chatter, for about eight hours before Lance grows too tired to drive on anymore. They have about twelve more hours to drive and Keith offers to drive while Lance sleeps, but Lance has an odd reaction. He claims he doesn’t trust Keith to drive ‘his baby’ but something Lance doesn’t know is that Keith has become a bit of a Lance expert. If they’re getting food and Lance says he doesn’t want any, what he really is saying is he doesn’t want to make Keith pay since he forgot his wallet. If Lance seems off and says he’s fine when Keith asks about it, what he really means is that he’s not okay but he wants to appear strong in front of everyone.

So, when Lance says he doesn’t trust Keith to drive his car, what he’s really saying is that he wants them to enjoy the ride there together. ‘It’s called a road trip for a reason, Keith.’ Keith doesn’t fight him on it and offers that they get some food before spending the night in a motel.

After getting some extremely greasy fast food and talking until really late, they finally head into their crappy and very worrisome motel. They both stop in the doorway when they find that there’s only one bed, making both of them stare at it in silence.

“I can sle—”

“I don’t mind tak—”

They both go quiet again when they both talk at the same time, both of their bodies turned slightly away from each other. Lance sighs and places his bag onto a small table by the door, starting to unzip it to pull out all his nightly routine items. “Look, why don’t we just share the bed? The floor is absolutely disgusting and I’m afraid one of us would catch something if we even tried sitting on it,” Lance says as he pulls everything out and begins heading for the bathroom. He makes a face when he walks inside of it before turning to smile at Keith and shooting him his signature wink.

Keith sighs and sets his bag on the chair by the table, deciding that he really didn’t want to sleep on the gross floor nor did he want to make Lance do it. Lance would probably complain about it through the entire night and all of his life if he ended up sleeping there anyway. Keith changes into his pajamas right there seeing as how Lance has seen Keith shirtless many times. Not that he ever seems to notice Keith’s shirtlessness…

The same doesn’t go for Keith though. Oh, no no. Keith has become the master at staring at Lance without getting caught. Well, sometimes he does and each time he’s caught, his face erupts in color. Lance always just assumes it’s from their recent workout or being out in the sun too long. Keith thanks God every day for Lance’s obliviousness despite the fact that he’s not religious. Keith catches himself staring at Lance more than the Cuban man does. He can’t help himself though. Lance has the looks of a god, what with his smooth, caramel skin, thick, curly hair, mesmerizing blue eyes, perfectly straight, white teeth, and the list goes on. Keith’s pretty sure he could write a whole book—no, a trilogy—on Lance’s perfect body. The thing Keith hates the most about his stupid crush though is that it’s not just his body that he likes. No, that would make Keith’s life easier and he’s pretty sure that the universe is out to spite him. No, Keith has to like all of Lance. His bad puns, his stupid finger guns, his cheesy pick-up lines, his corny sense of humor, his everything. Keith wants all of him more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life.

“Alright, bathroom’s yours!” Lance calls as he walks back over to his bag, smiling when he sees that Keith is wearing the pajama set that Lance had gotten him for Christmas one year. “No way!” Lance shouts in glee before rushing to his bag to pull out his matching pair. Keith sighs down at his red pajamas before looking at Lance’s blue pajamas.

“Don’t make me regret this,” he grumbles as he walks to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

“I’m not doing anything!” Lance huffs as he starts pulling on his own pjs. Once they are all ready for bed, they stand at the foot of it in another silence.

“So, uh, what side of the bed do you want?” Lance mumbles. Keith shrugs, not really caring either way what side he gets. “Cool, can I get the left side then?” he continues, already moving onto that side of the bed before Keith can even reply. Keith huffs a laugh through his nose before crawling onto the right side. Both of them lay on top of the covers, too scared of what lies beneath the covers to let their skin touch it. Good thing Arizona is such a warm state cause Keith would think he’d freeze otherwise. Guess it also helps that their AC unit doesn’t work anyway.

Unlike Lance, Keith has always been an early riser, so he’s not surprised when he wakes up before the brunette. What he is surprised to find though is that Lance is laying on his chest softly snoring away. Keith’s arms are wrapped around Lance’s torso and he can’t help but to squeeze him a little tighter, hoping that this isn’t a dream. Keith then finds that the still snoozing dork is sweating buckets, if Lance’s semi-damp clothes are anything to go by. Keith’s nose wrinkles at how gross they are but, of course, Keith’s poor weak heart starts beating faster at the fact that they’re cuddling.

And maybe Keith’s wildly beating heart is what causes Lance to stir and to slowly blink his eyes open. He’s letting out a yawn and beginning to stretch before halting in the middle of it, his eyes growing as wide as plates. He suddenly jerks away from Keith, doing so in such a harsh way that it causes him to tumble to the floor with a scream. Keith laughs and sits up, crawling over to Lance’s side of the bed to look over the edge at him. He finds Lance frowning and glaring up at the amused look on Keith’s face.

“It’s not funny,” he grumbles up at Keith, his frown turning into a pout as he sits up. Keith helps Lance up before offering Lance the bathroom first. Lance’s face warms as he stares at where he was once laying, Keith’s brow-raising up at him as he just stands there gawking. He then clears his throat and forces out a bad joke before scurrying to the bathroom.

They both take turns showering and while Lance is taking his, Keith lets his mind wander while he lays on the stiff bed. Keith’s stupid heart makes his stupid brain wonder what it would be like to wake up beside Lance every day, seeing the dried drool on the corner of his mouth and witnessing his sleepy blue eyes come to life the moment they see Keith.

Keith snaps out of his daydream when the bathroom door swings open and reveals a glistening Lance emerging with rolls of steam curling around his body. Keith recognizes the hypnotizing smell of Lance’s vanilla shampoo all the way from the bed, making his heart flutter with the familiar scent.

After Keith takes a brisk shower, they are on the road again. They stop to get breakfast at a diner before leaving the town that they stopped in. It isn’t until they’re in California that they stop again, this time pulling over onto the side of the road. Keith is about to ask why Lance is pulling over when Lance leans against the car and just looks out in front of him. Keith finally takes his eyes off of Lance to look at what Lance has stopped to admire.

When he turns his head, he sees just what Lance is marveling at. Before them are dozens of white magnolia trees that Keith begins marveling at right along with Lance. Keith slowly gets out of the car and leans against it beside Lance, his eyes finding the side of Lance’s face every few seconds. Keith’s eyes widen when Lance suddenly grabs his hand and begins tugging him towards the trees. “Lance! What are you doing? What about the truck?” Keith hollers. Lance just laughs and continues dragging him along without a care in the world, smiling when they reach the sweet-smelling trees.

Lance starts to hum a song as they weave their way between all of the trees, Keith’s heart threatening to beat out of his chest with the way the wind is blowing some of the petals and flowers off of the tree and onto Lance’s hair. They spend quite some time there, their hands still clasped together as they wander around. Keith and Lance end up racing from one tree to another and arguing about who clearly won. Once they settle on that it’s a draw (even though it most definitely wasn’t, Lance), they sit down beneath one of the larger trees to escape the unforgiving sun. They lean against each other and talk about any and everything, Keith’s heart threatening to pop out of his chest when Lance keeps mindlessly playing with Keith’s hands. Lance stops telling a story of something that happened last summer mid-sentence when a whole magnolia flower lands in his lap.

“These are edible, you know,” he says as he picks it up, studying it like it’s one of the greatest wonders of the world.

“What?” Keith asks, not being sure if he should trust Lance or not. This could be revenge when Keith told him that a flower he found on their weekly hike was good and tasted like cinnamon. Lance had been suspicious but ended up going for it anyway and immediately regretting it. Lance just about strangled Keith but Keith had laughed so hard that tears were falling down his face. It made Lance’s job of strangling Keith easier though since his body was so weak from laughter.

“Yeah. They’re actually pretty good. They have a mild ginger taste,” he explains. Before Keith can tell him to prove it, he’s already taking a bite. Keith watches with wide eyes as he chews and swallows, a soft smile coming to his face. Either it’s actually good or Lance is an amazing actor. He offers the flower to Keith and Keith decides to go for it just as Lance went for it when their situation was reversed. Keith found that he was, in fact, not lying.

When Lance finally decides they can leave, Keith stops him with a soft smile. He reaches up, tugs one of the flowers from the tree, and then faces Lance, finding his perfectly waxed brows furrowed together. Keith’s smile grows more as he tucks the flower behind Lance’s ear, causing the Cuban’s face to erupt with color.

Keith has changed his mind. This is what heaven must be like.

Lance finally lets Keith choose some music to play once they continue driving, his hand always coming up to tuck the flower back down behind his ear whenever the wind threatens to blow it away. When Keith plays some of his music though, of course Lance complains about the songs. Keith can tell he doesn’t have any malice behind his words though.

“Do you listen to anything that isn’t loud and dizzying, Mullet?” Lance jabs, turning to look at him with a crooked smile when they come to a stop at a light. Keith scoffs and turns his gaze away from the many shops lining the street to face Lance.

“Do you listen to anything that isn’t repetitive and annoying?” he fires right back with his usual smirk. Lance scoffs just like Keith did before turning his eyes back onto the road, his fingers going back to tapping on the gear shift, which brings Keith’s gaze back to his hand.

When they finally reach their destination in California, the sun is slowly starting to sink towards the horizon. Lance rushes out of the truck stop that they had decided to stop at when he notices it. “Mullet! C’mon! Hurry up! We are going to miss it!” Keith can’t really take him seriously when he’s wearing dollar sign shades that he bought in the gift shop. He’s sure he looks just as ridiculous with his alien eyes shades.

“Miss what?” he asks as he follows Lance at a much slower pace to his truck. Lance doesn’t reply though. Instead, he rips them out of the parking lot before Keith even has his door shut, making Keith screech and holler at him to slow down despite his laughter. He realizes why Lance was in such a big hurry when Lance parks and then flies out of his truck. Keith follows Lance down to the beach, a soft ‘wow’ leaving him when he sees the pretty blue water reflecting the sun that has just touched the horizon. Lance doesn’t seem to think Keith is going fast enough though, seeing as how he snatches his hand up and once again starts dragging him towards the coastline.

When Lance’s bare feet touch the water—wait, when did he take off his shoes?—the biggest smile that Keith has ever seen spreads across Lance’s face. Hunk wasn’t kidding when he told Keith that Lance belongs in the water. Keith smiles and gives his hand a squeeze before turning to look at the setting sun, not even caring that his boots are getting wet right now.

When the sun is gone behind the ocean’s waves, Keith notices they are facing each other with their hands tightly grasped together. Keith isn’t sure how they got into this position but what he is sure of though is that he’s never wanted to kiss Lance more than in this very moment.

“Keith…” Lance suddenly interrupts the peacefulness with a whisper, his eyelids seeming to grow heavy the longer he stares at Keith. Keith is momentarily shocked into silence when Lance uses his name instead of ‘Mullet’ but quickly recovers when he notices Lance slowly getting closer to him.

“Yes?” he whispers back, his voice refusing to get any louder in fear of shattering the dream-like state that they’ve created within the last few minutes.

Instead of verbally replying, Lance leans forward until their noses bump together and their breaths begin to mingle. Keith can taste the spearmint gum that Lance got from the pitstop on his breath, the smell becoming Keith’s favorite scent, second to Lance’s vanilla shampoo. Keith’s heart halts in his chest before going into overdrive when their lips finally touch, Keith’s breath stuttering. As their lips move against each other’s, Keith vaguely listens to the sound of the waves crashing and the seagulls squawking.  

Keith is once again corrected. This is what heaven would be like.

Keith is knocked out of their blissful kiss when a bigger wave suddenly washes over their feet, causing water to spill down into his boots. He pulls away with an aggravated grunt, looking down at the saltwater that is now brimming his shoes. “Lance,” Keith growls despite the fact that it wasn’t necessarily Lance’s fault. Their dumb banter comes more naturally for them than anything else.

“What?” Lance crows with a look of indignation on his face, his arms letting Keith’s cheeks go to cross his arms over his chest. They fall into the usual repartee despite the fact that now their arms are wrapped tight around the other and refuse to let go. Well, that is until Keith goes ‘too far’ and makes Lance splash him with water. Keith glares at Lance like a murderous wet cat, his claws and fangs starting to show. Lance lets out a squeak before taking off down the coastline, his laughter deafening the sound of the waves that still lap at their feet.

Keith catches up to Lance with ease, seeing as how the tanned man isn’t actually trying to outrun his new lover. Keith wraps his arms around Lance’s waist and snatches him back, making Lance’s laughter cut off with a squeal. Keith spins him around which just ends up bringing Lance’s melodic laughter back.

Keith sets him back down and Lance immediately spins around to face Keith, setting their foreheads together. “We should go on another trip soon, Samurai,” he whispers before connecting their lips for another kiss.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ♪ .⋅} ────── ⊰

MASTERLIST

More with Klance

⊱ ────── {⋅. ♪ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[danses-with-dogmeat]

I'm feeling a little melancholy at the moment, how would Hancock comfort/cheer up a lady sole survivor who is feeling down in the dumps? This can be a headcanon or a drabble, whichever your muse wishes to write and it's a romantic Hancock who's pining for the sole. Both have low self-esteem and sole is shy. Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much for the ask, anon! I love this prompt, and I think I’m going to do headcannons for all the companions based on it at some point, but for now, here is a drabble! Hopefully this is the kinda thing you were looking for, I think I might’ve gotten a little carried away, but I hope you enjoy!

Hancock surveyed his bar, looking over the patrons, and back up to Magnolia as she began her rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” and the ghoul's smokey gaze once again fell to the seat in the corner of the Third Rail. 

She was there, nursing an iced beverage in her hand; the amber liquid appearing to be whiskey.

"Tell me Fahrenheit, do people drink whiskey when they're happy?" He turned to the redhead lounging on the couch beside him.

"Depends how much." She stared ahead, absentmindedly swirling the gin and tonic in her hand.

"Three or four glasses in the last hour." He said. She followed his gaze to where it rested, rolling her eyes at him.

"You've been staring at her for the past hour? Tell me, why haven’t you gone over there yet? I know you enjoy a healthy dose of masochism every once in a while, but the self-induced suffering seems pretty constant whenever she’s involved.” Fahrenheit gestured with her glass towards the corner by the bar, where Sole was seated, already close to being finished with her beverage.

“Always so quick to judge. Sole’s a popular gal, I thought she might be waiting for someone. If that was the case, then who am I to-”

“Ugh, if you don’t get your ass over there and talk to her, I’m locking you out of the State House.” Hancock’s hat tipped forward as his gaze migrated to the floor of the bar.

Fahrenheit shifted to sit up from her lounging position. “Alright, what the hell is it with this chick? It’s like she turns you into that kid on the radio. All scared and awkward.”

“I know. Listen, I don’t know what it is either. She’s just… different. I actually give a shit about what she thinks of me, you know? And I don’t wanna lose her as a friend because I was coming onto her too strong.”

“I think you’re just being a pussy about having real feelings for someone.”

“Shit, red, that’s cold. Even for you.” At that, Hancock pushed his hat back to its correct position on his head and stood, rolling his shoulders as he prepared to face the person he had “real” feelings for.

“Fine,” he turned to glance back at Fahrenheit one more time, “You win. But if this goes south, I’m holding you responsible.” He turned and started towards the bar.

“And what it if it goes north?” Fahrenheit called after him, uttering a soft chuckle as he walked away. 

Hancock noticed Sole’s eyes fall on him as he approached the bar and tried not to be too obvious as he ordered another whiskey on ice for her, and one for himself. He was still coming off a mentats high, but he needed something to take the edge off. Grabbing the drinks, he turned deliberately to her.

“How you holdin’ up, sister? You looked a little low there.” He gestured at her now empty glass, reaching out to hand her the new drink.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” She said, smiling weakly at him as she took it.

“That seat taken?”

She looked to her left and shook her head.

“All yours, if you want.”

“Course I do, who wouldn’t wanna sit next to a lovely little thing like you?” She let out a feeble chuckle at his words, and the ridge above his eyes knitted together as he noticed the lack of light behind her eyes as she stared down at the floor.

He took a swig of his whiskey, draining half of his glass in one gulp. Sole looked over and drew her own glass to her lips, grimacing slightly at the bite of the whiskey. The two sat in silence for a bit, listening as Magnolia’s song came to an end and the conversations around the bar grew to a dull roar. 

“Sorry I’m not better company, Hancock.” She uttered quietly. 

“Nonsense. I could sit silently beside you all night, and you’d still be better company than half the commonwealth. But hey, if you wanna talk about it, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I got two good ears over here.” She laughed a little more genuinely at that, and Hancock felt a little flutter in his chest.

“Thanks, but really it’s- Okay, it’s just… nothing.”

“Hmm. Yeah, seems like it. Real convincing there, sister.” She finally looked up to meet his gaze. “C’mon, Sole,” he whispered softly, “it’s okay, you can tell me. After all I done, you think I’m in any position to judge you?” Sole looked away and downed her drink, before placing her fifth empty glass on the table beside the others. He drained the remainder of his own beverage in response, hoping the gesture might help settle her nerves a bit.

Sole took a deep, shaky breath. 

“It’s not… something.” She stopped, looking at him with desperation behind her eyes, willing him to understand without her having to say it. Hancock was many, many things, and he would become almost anything if it meant pleasing Sole, but he wasn’t a mind reader. Instead, he smiled at her and nodded for her to continue.

“It’s… God, it’s just everything. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I used to feel like I had made it so far. When I saw the world after leaving that vault, I just, I don’t know, I just adapted. I moved on and I survived. Even when I learned that 200 years had passed, and I realized that everyone I ever knew was dead, I persisted. I pushed through. I was sad, of course, but at least I could function. Then, when I found out about Shaun and the Institute, when I saw him and... and he was older than me, when I found out how he felt about me, the way he saw me as nothing more than an experiment, I just…” Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, punctuating the end of her sentence. No words were needed now, he understood. He wanted to reach out to her, to pull her into his arms and hold her tight, to let her know she wasn’t alone, that he was here for her, and would be as long as he was living. Instead, he reached a scarred hand towards her own that rested on the arm of her chair. She shuddered slightly as his fingers made contact with the back of her hand, and he was afraid she would pull away. But she just dropped her gaze to watch as he settled his hand atop hers, his thumb gently stroking over her knuckles.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re goin’ through, Sole.” He said, his dark eyes meeting hers, “But no matter what, I’m here for you. Anything you need, it’s yours, you hear?” She sniffled slightly, and Hancock thought he heard a soft “thanks,” but he couldn’t be sure.

“You remember the day we met?” He said, his thumb still brushing softly over her hand.

“How could I forget? You killed a guy.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I sure did, heh.”

“What was his name again?” She asked him, a little bit of life returning to her strained voice.

“Finn.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now.”

“Yeah, real jackass, he was.” Sole grinned at that, and Hancock's eyes lit up, reveling in the fact that his words managed to bring a smile to her face, meager as it may be, it beat tears any day.

“You remember why I killed him?” He asked her.

“Cuz he was a jackass?” The ghoul chuckled at that, his hand squeezing hers ever so slightly.

“Close, but that’s not all of it. He was a jackass to you, sweetheart. And that didn’t sit right with me, even then.” Her eyes met his as she began to understand where he was going with this.

“But lemme tell you something, how I cared then? Shit’s nothing compared to how I care now.” He whispered the last sentence, leaning in closer to her. Hancock willed himself to say more, to tell her how much he cared for her, tell her everything he would do for her, he wanted to make a move to hold her hand tighter, or to lean into her even further, to eliminate the gap between them altogether, but he was paralyzed by her unbroken gaze.

“You mean it?” She whispered so softly, he almost didn’t hear it over the buzz of the bar.

“You kiddin’? Every damn word. And just for the record, there’s nothing wrong with the way you’re feeling right now, Sole. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met, and if anybody else went through the shit that you have, they wouldn’t have made it through day one. But you? You haven’t just survived out here, you’ve made a difference. You didn’t have to, background like yours, you coulda become a fuckin raider or crime boss or some shit and I wouldn’t have blamed you, but no. Here you go, one-upping everyone else who thought they had a tragic backstory and becoming the best damn person in the Commonwealth. Really ruins it for the rest of us rabble, you know.” Sole’s eyebrows creased together and her eyes began to glisten again as tears threatened to spill over. Shit. What did I say? Hancock’s heart pounded in his chest as he tried desperately to think of a way to undo whatever he just did. That feeling soon vanished as Sole fell forward, arms draping around Hancock’s shoulders, as she buried her head into the crook of his neck. He released the breath he had been holding and brought his own arms around to envelop her, squeezing tightly as warmth spread through the expanse of his chest.

“Thank you.” She whispered softly. And Hancock was sure he’d heard it this time.

[her-world-on-fire]

Kisses in the Corridor {Tim Drake x Reader}

MASTERLIST

REQUEST HERE

Word Count: 3,604

Request: Could you please write a tim x reader fic where the reader is a superhero (I was thinking like Barry Allen’s kid and the new Kid Flash) and is also Tim’s s/o and maybe Bruce and/or the Flash catch them having sex? 💜

2s. “stop before someone sees!" & 4s. "ten? i only need five."

WARNING NSFW MATURE CONTENT 18+ Tim and reader are 18

I WOKE up to the sound of a loud buzzing. I moved away from Tim’s grip and reached on the nightstand for my phone. I looked back at Tim, he held the same peaceful expression. I squinted at the caller ID and immediately sat up. I tried to be as gentle as possible, not to wake Tim. He was normally a very light sleeper, but he was sleep deprived. I pushed the blankets off and moved out of the room. I gently opened the door and snuck out into the hallway. I looked down at the caller ID once more to be sure before I answered.

DAD

“Dad? It’s 3am, what’s going on?” I whispered, I heard a rustling in the background. There was some kind of conflict, but I couldn’t quite make it out. After a few moments there was silence, then a heavy sigh.“I need your help.”

“What’s going on?” I moved down the hall trying my best to be quiet. “I’m going to send you some files. I need you to get Tim to decrypt them.”

“Okay send them to me and I’ll have him look at them as soon as he wakes up.” I heard a pause from the other side of the line. “When he-” He paused. “He’s with you right now?” I hadn’t exactly mentioned that I had moved in with him. As far as he knew I was still staying with in the house with the others. I faked a yawn. “I gotta go dad, love you.”

I quickly hung up and moved back into the bedroom. I got back into bed and Tim shifted slightly. I moved closer and he put his arm around me again.

I woke up and found Tim looking up at the ceiling. “Did you sleep okay? I noticed you got out of bed last night.” He turned to me, and I sighed. “Sorry I thought I was being quiet.” He chuckled, “Work hazard. Don’t worry about it.” I sat up and grabbed my phone. “Well it was my dad.” He squinted his eyes. “Why did he call you at 3am?”

“He wanted me to send you some files he needs decrypted.” I handed him my phone and showed him the files. He hummed and sat up. “I’m sorry I know you just finished your project-” He shook his head and get out of bed. “I really don’t mind. I’m sure your father wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important.” Tim grabbed his laptop and connected my phone. We moved into the bathroom and got started on our morning routines.

Tim’s was straight forward, he wanted to brush his teeth and get to work. I on the other hand had a few steps. I tried to make Tim do them with me as much as I could. “Come here.” I grabbed his face and massaged a gentle cleanser. Wearing masks almost every night didn’t work wonders for out skin. He waited patiently until I was done. I applied some moisturizer, “All done.”

He smiled and pulled me in for a kiss. “I’ll get the coffee started.”

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 Tim spent most of the day working on the files. When it was time to leave for patrol I had to pry him from the computer. “It’s time already?” I nodded and moved to get up. He stretched and then looked around.

I held out his suit and he sighed in relief. “What would I do without you?” He pulled his shirt over his head. My eyes raked over his toned chest. He had come a long way. He used to be lanky, but he had put on a lot more muscle in the past two years. Whatever shape he was in, I loved him.

Truth be told I was still getting used to his chiseled features. I gave him once last glance. “If I stay here any longer we’re going to be late.” I handed him his suit and moved out of the room. I grabbed my phone and noticed a missed call.

DAD: I’ll be by Friday afternoon, Bruce needs me to speak at his proposal. Looking forward to talking to Tim.

As if Tim didn’t have enough on his plate. I still had another 3 days to prepare Tim. I decided to tell him tomorrow. I put my phone down and Tim emerged from the bedroom. We met Dick at the coordinates he gave us. Dick left for the night leaving the two of us in charge. Tim had wired the police scanners to our headsets. The night moved slowly.

That was until the 3rd hour.

“10-44. Any units between 4th street and Palmdale?” Tim and I exchanged looks, stolen vehicle. We were only a few minutes out. Tim used his grapple, seeing as we were nearby. I got there a few minutes before him. “How bad is it?” The scanners had grown more chaotic. This wasn’t a normal stolen vehicle situation. We learned that there were children inside the car when it was taken. On top of it all, the driver was intoxicated. “Can you send out an alert and clear the next two blocks?”

“Done.”

I kept up with the vehicle, doing my best to move civilians out of the path. With the alert Tim had sent out. I was going to get inside the vehicle and stop the driver. “He’s approaching a construction site. You’re going in blind, the city hasn’t updated the maps.”

“Send an ambulance, and make sure the police don’t go into construction.”

“Y/N-” Tim’s voice said sternly. He was too far behind to do anything. “Be careful.”

“Always am.” Now that there were no civilians in the way, I was going to have to get the children out first. He was nearing the end of the map. I moved in and saw two children in the backseat. I needed to take them one by one. It was safer, their bodies weren’t meant to undergo high velocities. I needed to protected them from whiplash.

The first child was a beautiful chocolate haired boy. “Okay, where are you Tim?”

“Magnolia.” He replied immediately. I took the boy and ran him to Tim. By time his older brother blinked I was back. I left them both with Tim and rushed back to the driver. By now he knew that something was going on. He sped up. “What are you doing?” Tim’s worried voice came over the headset. “They’re safe.”

“He could get away.” I used every ounce of my stamina to catch up. I caught up and moved inside the car. I tried to take control, but he wasn’t giving up. The site was less than a mile away. As it grew closer, I saw it was the outline of a building.

If he breached the gates he wouldn’t have time to stop. He would drive through the building’s foundation, which wasn’t secure. It would crumble onto of us. His hand moved to the gun he had by his side. He slammed the gun into the side of my head. I felt the warmth trickling down the side of my face. I threw a punch and felt it connect. He fired a shot and moved my head back. He missed. I lifted my head back up and took the gun. and tossed it in the back seat. I looked up, it was too late. We were almost inside the building.

Tim was screaming in my headset. He heard the gunshot. I opened the door and pulled the driver out. I looked in front of us, the building slowly started to crumble. There was still a chance. There was a small opening where the building hadn’t caved in yet.

I had to make a choice. I needed to risk taking him and him slowing me down. Or I could leave him and get out, guaranteed. I had a fraction of a second to decide. I took one look at him and decided to risk it. I held on too him and used all my strength to reach the opening. I was exhausted. Just catching up to him when he was miles ahead had taken it out of me. Now I was bleeding, and drained. 

I thought about Tim. Memories of us flashed inside my head. I mustered enough strength to run. I threw the man out and then jumped out of the opening. On impact, I knew something wasn’t okay. I had landed on my shoulder. “Tim.”

He was just outside the gates.

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

Luckily my body worked hard to fix the broken bone. Being a speedster came with its perks. Fast metabolism, and healing. By the time Bruce’s proposal came around, my wounds were almost completely healed.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Tim asked once more, hands on either side of my face. “I’m fine Tim. I promise. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He sighed, he had seen the x- rays. Physically I was fine. “Fine but if you start to feel even just a headache, we’re coming back.” I nodded and he looked over my face again.

I stuck out my hand and he placed a kiss on it before intertwining our fingers.

We arrived right on time. Tim’s part of Bruce’s proposal was one of the first points. He had to go set up in Bruce’s office. “I’ll be right back.” He took his files and rushed up to the office. I joined Dick, Jason and Damien in the lounge. “Hello, boys.”

They looked up and Dick’s eyebrow’s knitted together. “Are you even supposed to be out of bed?” I laughed, “Dick it was just my shoulder. I’m fine.” Damian snickered at his brother. Dick looked at between his brothers. Jason had a smirk on his face. “What?”

“Speedster. They heal 20 times faster than us.”

“He got promoted to lead of the biotech department of Wayne Enterprises a few weeks ago.”

The boys bickered. My eyes scanned the room for my father. He was incredibly hard to miss. “I’ll be back.” The boys didn’t even turn in my direction. I walked to the other side of the lounge. He turned to me and then patted his college on the shoulder. He approached me, a big smile on his face. “Hey dad.” He opened his arms and pulled me in for a tight hug. I groaned, “Little too hard.” I gasped and he let go. “Sorry, I just haven’t seen you much.”

“I know. I’m sorry I’ve been meaning to visit.” He nodded and looked around. “Where’s Tim?” I pointed to Bruce’s office. “He’s setting up.” My father raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know he was part of the presentation.”

“Wow. That’s fantastic.” He genuinely was impressed. After all he had a background in bio medicine. He knew how hard the work was. “We’ll I’d love to talk to him about it.” I laughed, of course he did. “You can come by our place after and I’m sure he’d talk your ear off.” He turned to me. His eyes narrowing.

Realization struck, and I cursed internally. Eventually I was going to have to tell him, but I was hoping back at home. In front of family and witnesses. Before he could say anything. There was an announcement on the overhead speaker. We were ushered as the presentations were about to begin.

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

Tim did fantastic as expected. He kept the crowd engages and said everything perfectly. He approached me as he walked off of the stage. I clapped along with the crowd. He greeted me with a kiss. “You did amazing Tim.” We walked to the back of the room. He didn’t want to interrupt anyone. He gestured for the door. He took my hand and I followed after him. We closed the door behind us and stood in the corridor. Tim let out a deep breath.

He still wasn’t used to speaking in crowds, and this was a lot larger than he was used to. “Are you alright?” He nodded, “I’m glad it’s over.” He moved to take off his tuxedo jacket. I watched as his arms contracted. He slowly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms.

He put his jacket over his arm and looked over at me. A small grin on his face. “What?” I shook my head and sighed. “How much longer is this?” He looked at the clock. “We still have another hour.” I looked up at him. His piercing blue eyes were fixated on mine. His hair wast neatly parted down the middle, every strand perfectly combed in place. He moved closer and put his hand over the wall near my head. “What’s got you all flustered Y/N?”

I took a deep breath, my eyes fixated on his lips. “You, Drake.” He smirked and pressed his lips against mine.

Barry looked around the room, and noticed the absence of Y/N and Tim. He turned to Bruce. “Where are they?” Bruce looked around. No sigh of them. He looked at the cameras on his watch. He didn’t see them. Bruce shook his head. The two got up and moved into the lounge. Damian, Jason and Dick were there for security. He knew no one would get past them unnoticed.

“Have either of you seen Y/N and Tim?” Bruce asked. Dick and Jason looked at each other and then shrugged. Bruce sighed, so much for security.

“I think I saw them go-” Damian spoke nonchalantly. He looked in front of him, behind Bruce and Barry Dick and Jason were trying to tell him something. Quite frankly, they looked like idiots. They were shaking their heads violently waving their arms back and forth. Damien squinted as he tried to read the boys lips. Dick mouthed something he couldn’t quite make out. Bruce and Barry exchanged looks, they turned around and saw Dick and Jason conversing casually.

“Damian?” Jason motioned for him to keep his lips zipped. A smirk grew on Damian's face. He wanted to see it all play out.

Dick and Jason tried. They weren’t quite sure what they were up to but they knew it was nothing good. They tried to stay in Tim’s good graces, in the blink of an eye Tim could hack everything they owned. As for Y/N, they knew there would be no escaping. Y/N could catch up to them anywhere. In short, they didn’t want to piss either of them off.

They had noticed their brother couldn’t keep his hands off of his date. They were two hyperactive teenagers, it didn’t take rocket science to figure it out. They watched as Damian’s smirk grew. He hadn’t figured it out but he knew it would get Tim in trouble and that was enough for him. “They went down the hall and up the elevator.” Bruce gave a short nod and the two went off.

“Well, we tried.” Jason shrugged, and took a swing of his drink. He wasn’t going to deny that watching Tim get his ass kicked by a speedster wasn’t funny. “Should’ve choked the little bastard.” Dick sighed, the two could only wait.

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

“Tim.” I let out a shaky breath, trying my hardest to keep quiet. “Stop before someone sees!" We were in a building full of people, at any moment someone could walk down the corridor. Tim chuckled against my neck, “You really want me to stop?” I bit my lip, he was right. I didn’t want him to stop. I was just worried about being caught. “The next presentation starts in 10 minutes.”

"Ten? I only need five."

At this point I threw all common sense out of the window. I took his hand and we were in his office in seconds. I had closed the door behind us. Tim smirked, “In my office? You little-” I interrupted him by kissing him. My hands moved from his hair and down to his suit. I quickly unbuttoned his dress shirt, and my hands moved to unbuckle his belt.

Without breaking the kiss i discarded his dress shirt on the floor. His hands moved to remove my clothing. We broke away for a moment to catch our breaths. He picked me up and moved us to the couch. His lips reconnected to mine once more. I straddled his waist and moved against him for friction. My hands moved back down to the waistband of his boxers. I pulled them down and ran my hands up and down his length.

He let out a groan. “Fuck.” He got rid of the rest of my clothes throwing them across his office. I didn’t waste time in scolding him. I lowered myself down onto his length. We both let out a sigh, all of our pent up frustrations released. Tim’s hands moved back to my waist. He lifted me and then slammed me back down onto himself. I bit my lip, trying to stay quiet. His lips moved down to my neck, leaving wet kisses before moving to whisper in my ear. “They’re all down stairs, I want to hear you.”

Tim loved hearing vocalization, he couldn’t get enough. He knew every part of my body. He knew exactly what to do to get what he wanted. He speed up, and hit just the right spot. I gave in. “Oh god.” We were both breathing heavily. Sounds of pleasure overtook the room. Our bodies moved against each other hungrily. Tim smirked as he moved back to my neck. He moved right to my sweet spot. “Fuck,Tim.”

I dug my nails into his shoulders, leaving small red lines, He pulled away from my neck, satisfied by his work. His lips moved back to mine and speed up again. I felt a growing knot in my stomach each time he moved in and out. Sensing I was close he sat up and took control. He thrusted up into me, over and over, and I grew louder each time. “Please, Tim.” I could feel his thrusts becoming more sloppy, he was close. My orgasm came soon after, my body gave out. I shook against him. He helped me ride out my high. He came and I felt his warmth spread in my core.

“Y/N are you okay-” The door burst open, in the heat of the moment I had forgotten to lock it. Luckily Tim reached for his shirt. He quickly used it to cover me. “I thought you were hurt or dear god.” Barry looked at the ceiling, trying to avert his gaze.

“TIMOTHY JACKSON DRAKE!” Bruce’s voice echoed off the walls. Surely the boys down stairs were snickering. “In your office of all places.” He rubbed his hand across his face. Neither of us knew what to say. “Get dressed. Now.” Bruce said sternly before slamming Tim’s office door.

We moved off of each other and tried to find our clothes. Of course Tim in desperation had scattered my clothes. I was kind enough to leave his nicely by the couch. We quickly got dressed and opened the door. Bruce crossed his arms over his chest. Barry glared at Tim.

“Hey dad.” I smiled nervously, he sighed deeply. “I don’t even know where to start. I’m so-”

“Did you finish uploading the files before you-” Bruce couldn’t finish the sentence, Tim pulled the hard drive out his pocket and handed it over. “Go.” He waved us off and I watched as he placed a hand on my father’s chest. I motioned for Tim to go, and I approached my father. Bruce looked between us and nodded.

“I’m sorry.” He nodded, a silence washed over us. Neither of us sure what to say. Finally, he broke the silence. “So, you really love him?” I looked back at Tim who was having his talk with Bruce. I smiled and nodded. “I really do.” It gave Barry comfort. He had seen the strength of the connection when he first met Tim a year ago. He knew that they were growing up, it was inevitable. After all, he was a teenager once. He knew what it was like to be deeply in love. For now, all he could do was try and forget this ever happened. Tim approached us. I looked back and forth between the two. For a long moment there was just silence. The two held eye contact. “I expect to see you during the holidays Timothy.” Tim nodded, “Of course sir.”

We went back down stairs. Damian snickered, and Tim shot a glare at his brothers. Dick and Jason pointed to their youngest brother. “If either of you breathe a word...” Tim trailed off, his threat looming. His older brothers nodded. “And you,” He turned to Damian. “I’ll end you.” I placed my hand on Tim’s chest. He backed away and stood up straight. “You know he-”

“Thank you for the drive, you helped save a lot of people.” And with that he was off. Tim breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought he was going to kill me.”

“I know. In time, let’s just get through this.” Tim sighed, “Fine.”

MASTERLIST

REQUEST HERE

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

A/N: hi! i’m going camping soon so i will have limited to no cell service so my blog may be kind of dead from tuesday-friday. i may have a chapter out next weekend but i’m not entirely sure. also, i plan on closing my 400 follower celebration on tuesday if you want to get any last asks in! :)

Masterlist

Chapter 33

Spencer’s phone vibrated on the kitchen table as you were breast-feeding Ophelia, Ollie patiently waiting his turn in the bouncer.

“Spence!” you tried to call up the stairs where Spencer was folding laundry with Jo.

He must not have heard you so you slowly got up and shuffled over to his phone, trying not to disturb Ophelia.

“Hello?” you answered.

“Oh hi, Mrs. Reid! I was hoping to get one of you on the line!” Taylor, your real estate agent, spoke through the phone.

“Oops, my bad if you tried to call me first, I think I left my phone out in the car,” you apologized.

“No worries! I was just calling to give you some good news! The owners of the house on Magnolia Drive accepted your offer! You’re in!”

You shrieked in delight and surprise. All of a sudden, you heard footsteps sprinting down the hall upstairs and then Spencer tripped on one of the top steps and tumbled to the main floor.

“Oh god, Taylor, I have to call you back,” you hung up the phone and set Ophelia down, running over to Spencer.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” Spencer tried to sit up from his position on the floor panickedly.

“Hey, hey, stay there for a second. Don’t get up too quick. I should be asking you that question. Did you hit your head?” you asked.

“No, just my back and elbow,” Spencer groaned.

You helped him to the couch and had him lie on his belly. You walked over to the freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen peas to place on his lower back.

You sat down on the floor right in front of his face so you were level with him. You gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Hopefully the news that got you hurt in the first place will help you feel better,” you smiled softly, “We got the house!”

“We got the house?!” Spencer tried to sit up slightly but you pushed him back down gently so he wouldn’t further injure his back.

“Taylor just called. She didn’t give me any specifics but I said I would call her back.”

“Call her back! I’m fine!” Spencer excitedly insisted.

You grabbed Spencer’s phone and hit Taylor’s contact.

“Hey Taylor, I‘ve got Spencer here with me now,” you smiled.

“Well congratulations to you both. The owners have already moved out all of their stuff so they said you can move in as soon as you sign the paperwork. Could you stop by my office tomorrow?” Taylor asked.

“Yes, we’ll be there!” Spencer beamed as you ended the call.

“We got the house!” you cheered, “We got the house!”

Spencer chuckled at you bouncing up and down in front of him.

“What’s happening, Mommy?” Jo asked as she came down the stairs.

“Baby J, we got the house with the big yard! We’re moving!”

Jo ran down the rest of the stairs and joined your little dance party.

Spencer slowly sat up on the couch and groaned in pain, reaching over to the babies’ bouncers.

“Oh my god, you can’t be without a kid in your arms for one second,” you laughed.

-

“I can’t believe not even two years ago I was moving into the spare bedroom here and now we’re moving into our dream house,” Spencer smiled softly as you and him packed boxes in the bedroom.

“Well, believe it, love. I can’t wait to have a little more room,” you sighed happily as you taped up one of the boxes.

You were pulling clothes out of your closet to pack when you saw Spencer’s Caltech sweatshirt from your first interaction.

You slid it over your head and waited for Spencer to turn around after stacking a box on top of the growing pile.

Spencer smiled when he saw you, “Just as beautiful as ever, my love.”

Spencer leaned down to kiss you but Ollie started to cry. You reached up a little further to connect your lips, giving him a quick peck before walking over towards the bassinets.

“Hi, my baby. What’s wrong?” you lifted him up.

As you were patting him on the back slightly, you heard a burping sound.

“Oh no!” you panicked as you looked in the mirror, seeing spit-up trailing down the back of your beloved sweatshirt.

“Hey, hey sweetheart. It’s okay, we’ll put it in the wash,” Spencer assured you, grabbing Ollie from your arms.

“What if it’s ruined?” you cried softly.

Spencer pulled you in for a hug with the one arm he wasn’t holding Ollie in. He rested his chin on the top of your head.

“Love, if you told college me that when I gave you that sweatshirt so many years ago, that eventually it would be covered in our baby’s spit-up, I would be the happiest man in the whole word,” he whispered in your ear.

You laughed softly, wiping the tears from your eyes, “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

-

“It’s even bigger than I remember, Mommy and Daddy!” Jo greeted you at the door of the new house.

Jo opted to ride with her Uncle Derek in the moving truck while you and Spencer took the twins in your car.

“Can I please go play in the yard?” Jo asked sweetly.

“Yes but don’t go past the trees at the edge of the yard. I need to be able to see you from the window,” you told her, “Henry should be over soon to join you with Aunt JJ.”

Jo pushed open the sliding door to the sun room and ran outside. You opened a window so you were able to hear her giggles of delight.

You watched as Jo did cartwheels and somersaults across the yard as a pair of arms wrapped around your waist.

“Still can’t believe it?” you asked Spencer.

“My dream coming true? I guess I’m still trying to take it all in,” he sighed happily.

-

“Arms up, my girls,” Spencer smiled.

You and Jo lifted your arms above your heads as Spencer slid two of his big t-shirts on to your bodies.

“Alright, Jo. We’ve got our smocks on. I’d say we’re ready to paint!”

You and Spencer had already done a base cost of pale sky blue late in the new nursery last night after you put all the kids to bed. Spencer decided to leave the artistic creativity up to you and Jo today because someone had to watch the babies.

You and Jo laid out your paints and brushes. You were going for a nature theme with the blue base coat serving as the sky and Spencer used a sponge brush to create big fluffy clouds. Today, you and Jo were going to paint a garden scene.

“I’m going to start on some ladybugs over here, Mommy,” Jo informed you, picking up one of the stencils.

“Okay, sweetheart. Let me know if you need any help. I’m going to work on the big maple tree next to the window,” you smiled.

-

“Daddy! You have to come see now! We’re done,” Jo yelled down the stairs.

“Coming, Princess!” Spencer replied.

Spencer entered the nursery with the double cloth baby bjorn on his chest holding the twins. The walls were adorned with colorful flowers, bumblebees, butterflies, trees, and birds.

“Oh my god, this is beautiful! My girls are so so talented!” Spencer praised.

“Do the babies like it?” Jo asked hopefully.

Spencer picked the babies up one by one and pretended they were whispering in his ear.

“Ollie and Ophelia both love it! They want to thank their Mommy and big sister for their amazing work! They can’t wait to sleep in here,” Spencer pretended to be relaying the message from the twins.

“You’re welcome, babies,” Jo beamed.

Spencer crouched down so Jo could give them both forehead kisses.

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[apinchofm]

Home

Phoebe and Marcus visit Phoebe's parents after her transformation - post Time's Convert.

Phoebe smiled as she inhaled the smell of her home - the aroma of her mother's cooking, she could smell the base notes of the seasoning in the stew she was cooking. The room diffusers upstairs that smelled of mandarin, pomegranate in another room. The guest room. Her dad's cologne and mother's perfume of magnolias and cardamon.

It was home.

"Hi dad," Phoebe whispered seeing him sitting in his chair. He was better.

Edward wrapped her in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "Look at you. You're... cold," He commented when they pulled away from each other.

"Marcus, how are you?" Edward shook his hand. He knew that Marcus broke the rules to see Phoebe and him in hospital. He may not be sure about the whole vampire thing, but he was a good man.

"Well, but I'm glad to see you doing better," Marcus smiled.

"Chai is still good, right?" Padma checked, placing the tray in the middle. She had spoken extensively with Miriam and Freyja about what they could and couldn't eat. She had prepared a tray of nuts, dark chocolate and cured meats for the two.

"Yes, it smells so good," Phoebe smiled, taking the mug. Somehow, it tasted better than before.

"How is everything?" Padma asked.

"Good. Really good," Phoebe promised, smiling at Marcus who smiled in return, "Wedding planning."

"You're drinking blood?" Edward checked and Phoebe nodded, "Well, it won't be as bad as you tried to drink from the toilet," He joked.

"Sorry, when was this?" Marcus asked, laughing at his mate's expression.

"She was two and I turned my back for a second," Padma laughed, and she said the dreaded words, "I have pictures."

Despite the embarrassing baby photos. Phoebe was glad that her parents seemed better about all of this.

Stella came home an hour later.

"Oh look, it's Phoebe," Stella said, a false and wide smile on her face as she sat down.

"Hello Stella," Phoebe replied mildly. Marcus smiled politely at her and soon the conversation went back to wedding plans.

But being Stella, she couldn't help but stir.

"How is Jason?" Stella interrupted Padma when she asked which flowers they should have. Phoebe turned to her sister, a bored look on her face.

"Fine," Phoebe replied.

"It's just, I don't know how it works, but do affairs just end with vampires?" Stella asked.

"Affairs?" Marcus asked, amused.

"Your lovely fiance here, was galivanting around Paris with another man, whilst you were calling me, checking in on us," Stella explained, "You deserve better."

"You mean you?" Phoebe said sharply. It surprised her parents how she sounded. This was no longer the soft-spoken, diplomatic Phoebe who avoided fights with her sister.

"I wouldn't be as selfish as you," Stella said.

"Jason is my brother." Phoebe retorted sharply, "I understand that it kills you that you can't have what is mine, but you are not surrounded by your friends anymore." She threatened, making Stella frown and hold her breath, recalling the day she first suggested Phoebe had been unfaithful.

But she was breaking one of the ultimate rules - doing so in front of a vampire's mate. Marcus recalled Ysabeau killing a woman once for doing so. Philippe applauded.

"Phoebe," Marcus warned lightly. He knew how anger could flare in a young vampire, especially when provoked. He pressed a kiss to her hand, and sent a warning look the warmblood's way, "I think Stella understands."

Stella sniffed and looked away, "I understand."

"That went well," Marcus said when they walked back to the car, "Better actually. It was good seeing them,"

"Yes, it was," Phoebe agreed, squeezing his hand, "Thank you. I can't imagine our wedding without them,"

"As long as you don't tear your sister's head off mid-ceremony, it should all be smooth-sailing," Marcus joked, kissing her cheek.