#With glasses he looks triple amazing

[ferrarrigirl]

Traditions Don’t Make it Easier

Pairing: Lando Norris x reader

Summary: just a fluff filled blurb came to mind about Lando having to leave for a triple header

“Can you grab the blankets too,” you yelled to Lando as he went to grab the wine, hoping he heard. You continue cooking the sauce and stirring the boiling pasta when you feel two hands snake around your waist and curly locks brush your ear. He settles his head on your shoulder and turns to kiss your cheek, “Got them. Anything else I can help with babe?”.

“Hmm” you lean back into his touch, letting yourself enjoy his warmth for a few minutes. “Alright, as much as I love the cuddles, could you set the table?”

“Ofcourse baby,” He pops another kiss to your cheek and gets to work. You strain the pasta, mix it in with the creamy tomato sauce and get it plated. You put the finishing touches to the salad and grabbed the garlic bread out the oven.

“Everything looks amazing omg” Lando’s eyes lit up seeing everything done. “It does, doesn’t it,” you do a little hand clap, excited that you both didn’t burn the house down this time. You each grab the bowls and move it to the patio.

“Aw Lan, it looks beautiful, thank you,” you settle into your seat while admiring the table beautifully set with lit candles and flowers. He leans down placing a kiss to the top of your head, “It’s the least I could do love.” You both start working through the meal while talking about what the next month is going to look like. “I’m excited for the triple header, the car’s been really good and I know it’ll work well at COTA but it’ll be exciting to see how we do in Mexico and Brazil.”

You admire the way he talks, sounds so much happier compared to the start of the year. “I’m excited for you babe, I’ll be cheering you on from here,” You give him a soft smile. Because you really are, It been 4 long years without getting the results he deserved, and now is his moment to shine. You just wish you could be there with him. He notices the slight tears in your eyes and reaches for your hand, “I know baby, thank you, and anytime anything changes, you tell me and I’m getting you on the next flight out.” You laugh at his cheeky ways, and he sends you his signature smirk while giving your hand a reassuring squeeze, “Now tell me what your gonna be up to while I’m gone.”

“Ugh Lan I don’t want to think about that right now”.

“Cmon babe I can feel the stress oozing out of you and you know you’ll feel better.”

“Fine,” you playfully roll your eyes, “just gonna have school 4 days of the week, I have 2 midterms and 3 assignments due all within the same week, and a group project the week after. Such a fun few weeks ahead,” you give him a sarcastic smile.

‘Well you’ve already been working on the assignments right and you’ll have a few days to finish those up, and then you can just focus on exams.”

You look up from your food with raised eyebrows and point your fork at him, “You actually listen”

He snorts at your comment, “I have to listen so I can talk you down when your stressed.” You giggle back, knowing he’s 100% right. You both finish up your meals, making more small talk and just enjoying each other’s presence.

You bring your dishes in, and while Lando gets the movie picked, you grab the wine bottle and glasses and bring it over to him. He lifts the blankets, “C’mere” and you jump into his lap making an “Umph” leave his mouth, followed by a laugh. You cuddle into his chest, squeezing your arms around him and try focusing on the TV.

You just can’t help your brain go to how tough the next few weeks are going to be. You should be used to him going by now and yeah you get to go along for some races. You even just had summer break and took time off school to be with him the whole time. But the more its getting into the year its harder to see him leave. And this is why you started this tradition. Dinner drinks movie night and cuddles. The day before he goes is saved just for you two, to be with each other but it doesn’t make it any easier. You feel your eyes tearing again and start blinking them away rapidly. It will just make him feel bad and you want to be supportive. But before you can get away with it, he feels your fluttering lashes on his chest. Taking your chin into his thumb and forefinger he pulls your chin up to get a good look of your red eyes, and his gaze softens. “Hey hey hey what’s going on?”

That set you off, the way he held your chin and looked deep in your eyes, it was too much. You turn in his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck squeezing him tight. You push your face into the crook of his shoulder and just let the tears fall, release everything you’ve been holding in. He knows you just need a minute so he rubs your back up and down, whispering sweet sayings into your ear. Once he notices no more tearing falling onto his shoulder, he slowly speaks up, “Baby please talk to me.”

You slowly push yourself away from your hiding spot, and see the concern in his eyes. He moves one hand to cup your cheek, using his thumb to clear your tears. “I know its never easy when I go but you’re never this emotional love, is there something going on?”

“It’s just hard Lan. I- I want to be there to support you. I wanna be there cheering for you.” You take a deep breath and he lets you take your time, still rubbing your back. You take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the word vomit you feel coming.

“I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to be here alone, I’m gonna be so stressed these next weeks and I won’t have you here and I can’t tell you because then you feel bad and you shouldn’t feel bad because its your job and passion. And I should be there for you, supporting you and cheering for you and I’m not.” All of this brings the tears back and you lean forward again into the comfort of his shoulder. He wraps his arms around you holding you close, taken aback by everything you said, he takes a second before replying.

“Oh bub, you can always tell me what’s going on. I’m here for you, I won’t feel bad and you shouldn’t either for wanting me here.” He pulls you back again, placing a quick kiss to your forehead. “I know it’ll be hard but it’ll go by quick. You’ll be busy with school, and you’ll do great because won’t have me here to distract you.”

“But I like when you distract me,” you quickly cut him off.

“I know baby, I know. How about you come with me this week? And for Brazil week.”

You shake your head, “It won’t work.”

“It can. I’m leaving a week earlier for COTA so I’ll be busy with media in the day. You can stay in the hotel, and do what you need to do. You can leave Sunday in time for school, and then be back for Brazil.”

“But what about my group project?”

“You can call them to discuss, you don’t need to be there that week.”

You bite your lip, contemplating all this he dropped on you. “You need a minute to think about it, don’t you?” You give him a weak smile and nod. “Well we got all night, get comfy again,” he pops another kiss to the top of your head.

You cuddle into his chest again, watching the movie and running his idea over in your head. It could work you thought, the flying might be annoying but it would be worth it. You wear yourself out weighing up the pros and cons and feel your eyes getting heavy. You snuggle into Lando more. He gets the hint and picks you up, leading you to bed. He plops you under the covers and tries to let go to go to the washroom but you tighten your grip around him. “Lan.”

“Yes bub”

“I’ll come with you.”

You see his face light up through your sleepy eyes, and you see him lean down to place a soft sweet kiss on your lips. Followed by a few kisses all over your face. “I can’t wait to have you there with me, it’ll be perfect. Now go to sleep, I’ll come join you in a few mins.” And that was all you needed to drift into a deep sleep.

He heads out to the kitchen, does the dishes, packs the leftovers, cleans up the couch space and patio. He rolls your suitcase from the guest room to yours and packs the essentials he knows you like to take, leaving the clothes for you to decide tomorrow. Stripping off his shirt into the laundry hamper, he gets into bed, pulls you close into him and falls asleep holding you, with a wide smile on his face, knowing he will get to do this for a few more days while you come with him.

[mowu-moment]

ranking food tokens by how much personally i want to eat them

- Throne of Eldraine -

i have reason to distrust this meat pie thing, not only because of its wails of anguish but it also seems to have burst a bit in the oven. still not honestly opposed, at least the dishes are clean. 5/10.

how does one unpeel a curly banana? why are there sliced-open fruits on what appears to be a stone in the woods? where is the light coming from? i'm going to be taken by the fae and it's not even gonna taste too good while i'm at it, these things look dirty. but idk i don't mind someone else taking the wheel of my life rn. 2/10.

again, concerns about the floor food, but at least it looks more like some deliverygirl got eaten by a wolf and dropped her basket than a trap. someone already took a bite, though, maybe i should leave it be. 4/10

i have been invited to the Goblin King's Feast and while i don't fully agree with his choices i will certainly partake. boar looks wonderful apart from the hair. 7/10

- Commander 2020 / Strixhaven Commander -

i'm pretty sure cattails are poisonous to humans (not to mention the actual poisons in there) so i unfortunately can't oblige gyome's swamp soup. that crusty bread looks pretty nice though. i'll pick this thing apart like high school cafeteria lunch. 3/10.

- Modern Horizons 2 -

i at least know who cooked this one, and i trust asmor a decent bit, but this is still food for demons, so maybe it's not too good for me. goddamn do i wanna know what it tastes like though. 4/10.

- Unfinity -

i'm considering these two together. as a filthy american, i am allured by these fat-filled foods, but as a lad with a tiny stomach, i doubt i could eat enough to feel good about not wasting it. astrotorium's about excess, goddamn. the only funfair burger i've had was the best thing i had eaten in months, but it also made me ill the rest of the day. i really do want some infinity fries though, those look like the golden mean between a steak fry and a curly fry. 6/10.

- March of the Machine Commander -

meanwhile this looks like a texture nightmare. like i respect it, i imagine it's filling and fulfilling, but i don't think i ever could eat more than a bite or two. bread looks a little worse than gyome's but only a little. 5/10.

- Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth -

my white ass loves a charcuterie board. and i'm not going to be intimidated out of it by not eating enough, since it's all in snack-sized bits already. definitely gonna overindulge this sucker. i'm nervous about some of those spreads though. 9/10.

this looks like i'm in a dream, is it actively cooking? or still hot? i can't identify what's in that pan anyway. i'm leaving it alone out of respect. wouldn't mind a drink though. 2/10.

this is not food. for humans. 0/10.

- Wilds of Eldraine -

this is a king's feast i am properly intimidated by. i'm more into it than the Goblin King's, particularly that triple-layer blueberry pie or whatever that is, but i'm going to have to be as polite as possible lest i get a face full of flaming beer. 8/10

i'll probably be eaten before this can eat me, and it barely looks like food, but at least i go down with sugar in the mouth. 1/10.

ogh. that egg looks divine. the bread looks amazing, there's a full glass, i've got like beans or mermaid tears everywhere. we've even got seasonings back there. the best damn breakfast i'll ever have. 10/10.

i would still probably eat this over nothing. there's onion, at least. i will either be hexed or violently ill, but like i could at least get it down. and maybe the witchmother is testing my strength and she'll reward me after slurping an eyeball. a convenient lie to tell myself. 2/10.

- Doctor Who Commander -

y'know, four, i think i would like a copyrighted candy. they look sad and british, which is on point. but like it's not actively killing me like half of these. i think anyway. i don't know doctor who. 6/10.

what is this? i have no idea. custard? raw batter? giant dunkaroo? is he dipping fishsticks? it doesn't look like it's done cooking, like do we need to put it in a fryer again? i'd say it's inedible but it's not poison stew so i have to be nice. 4/10.

get AWAY from me. this is a PERSONAL vendetta. i would rather try to eat spiderwebs. plus he's already eaten half of it. -10/10.

- Fallout Commander -

i can't be too mean since this is literally apocalypse food. i think i prefer this over poison stew? like i recognize it at least, even if it's foul and moldy. man has to eat something. 3/10

i'm not convinced there's actual soda in here. is this just a perspective shot or is this a giant prop soda? i don't like cola anyway. again, worth it in an apocalypse i suppose. 4/10

this soda i trust even less. it glows? does this give me magic powers in the fallout world or does it just kill me slowly? i think it'll kill me slowly anyway. i need fluid to survive in apocalypseland but damn i hate for it to come to this. 2/10.

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

Napoleonville [Chapter 8: The New House]

Series Summary: The year is 1988. The town is Napoleonville, Louisiana. You are a small business owner in need of some stress relief. Aemond is a stranger with a taste for domination. But as his secrets are revealed, this casual arrangement becomes something more volatile than either of you could have ever imagined.

Chapter Warnings: Language, references to sexual content (18+ readers only), dom/sub dynamics, smoking, infidelity, kids, parenthood, historical topics like violence and discrimination, Cakes with Christabel, angst?? Who am I kidding. Angst!!!!!!

Word Count: 5.9k.

Link to chapter list (and all my writing): HERE.

Taglist: @marvelescvpe @toodlesxcuddles @era127 @at-a-rax-ia @0eessirk8 @arcielee @dd122004dd @humanpurposes @taredhunter @tinykryptonitewerewolf @partnerincrime0 @dr-aegon @persephonerinyes @namelesslosers @burningcoffeetimetravel-fics @gemini-mama @daenysx @chattylurker @moonlightfoxx @huramuna @britt-mf @myspotofcraziness @padfooteyes @targaryenbarbie @trifoliumviridi @joliettes @darkenchantress @florent1s @babyblue711 @minttea07 @libroparaiso @bluerskiees @herfantasyworldd @elizarbelll @urmomsgirlfriend1 @fudge13 @strangersunghoon @wickedfrsgrl

Only 2 chapters left!!! 🥰🧁

“I have no idea what he’s thinking,” Christabel tells Alicent, a low furtive murmur around nibbles of a cinnamon French toast cupcake. They are both sitting at the kitchen counter as you scuttle around wiping down burners and handles and knobs, trying not to listen in, unable to help yourself. At the table, Amir is frosting a Lady Baltimore cake and chatting with Criston, who has eaten no less than three miniature cherry pies in the past fifteen minutes. Amir keeps casting you wide-eyed, flummoxed glances. He means: Can you believe these people? No, you can’t.

Alicent sips the glass of sweet tea you poured for her and gazes vaguely around the room. “Oh, you know how Aemond is, dear. He works so hard. He’s so consumed by the Lake Verret project.”

“But shouldn’t he talk to me?” Christabel’s large blue eyes are luminous, persistent.

“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. Of course he talks to you.”

“Sure,” Christabel says, frowning. “He talks to me about the weather and the garden and the koi in the fish pond. He asks if I listen to Dire Straights or AC/DC. Nothing of consequence, nothing revealing. And he never touches me. Alright, fine, there’s a hand on my shoulder or my waist once in a while, for a moment. There are quick, courteous kisses. But that’s all. And he’s so…so…” She struggles to decide on a word. “Formal!”

“Have you tried the cannoli cupcake yet?” Alicent asks, sliding the plate towards Christabel. “It’s just divine. I absolutely adore it.”

“When we’re apart he says he misses me, but he hardly ever calls. He tells me that he loves me, but only if I say it first.”

“He’s marrying you!” Alicent declares as she restlessly twists her assortment of glittering rings, gold and diamonds and emeralds. “What more is there to say, dear?”

“Surely there must be something,” Christabel mumbles. She obediently samples the cannoli cupcake, carving away a tiny sliver with her fork. “Oh, that is wonderful, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s my favorite one yet.”

They have twelve flavors to choose from, some familiar and some new: vanilla bean and triple chocolate of course, the classics, and then also cannoli, cinnamon French toast, carrot, red velvet, Boston cream pie, apple cobbler, peanut butter and grape jelly, Neapolitan, Louisiana crunch, and hummingbird. Christabel surveys the selection and then looks to where you are vigorously scrubbing an already clean stovetop. “Aemond mentioned something about banana bread cupcakes. Do you have one of those we could try?”

And again, you are amazed by how much he remembers: the very first cupcake from the very first night. “Um…I’m not sure, actually. Amir, didn’t we make a batch earlier this week? Are there any still on the table?”

Amir checks the cake plates, lifting glass covers, until he locates a single remaining banana bread cupcake for your customers. He ferries it to the kitchen counter with great ceremony. “Everyone raves about this flavor! And it’s so quintessentially southern. Perfect for a Louisiana wedding.” You give him a miserable, deadened stare and he offers a millisecond smirk of commiseration. What else can we do? Amir means. And you think: Nothing.

Christabel samples the cupcake, an infinitesimal morsel speared on the very tip of her fork. You recall how Aemond tasted like sugar and honey and cinnamon when he kissed you on the night you met, rough, dominating, irresistible, without the aching weight of disappointments or betrayals. If time was a cobweb you could rip and walk through, you’d be back in that May dusk in an instant, you’d live there forever and never leave.

“That’s it.” Christabel grins as she licks cream cheese frosting from her full, pink lips. “This one. I want a banana bread cake.”

“Mmm,” Alicent agrees, taking a bite. “It has so many dimensions! Sweet with just a touch of salt, light and fluffy but with a certain substantial, rustic quality, don’t you think? It’s the cinnamon, perhaps.”

You make a note on your yellow legal pad—a reminder you don’t need—so you can avoid Christabel’s benign, guileless gaze. “Is there a design you’d like for the frosting?”

“Wildflowers.”

Amir emits a startled gasp before he can swallow it back down. You look up at Christabel. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Just like the vanilla bean cake you made for the engagement party.” She draws blossoms in the air with her fingers, whimsical like a fairytale. “There was white icing and then all these gorgeous flowers in a dozen different colors. You could do that for a wedding cake, couldn’t you?”

“Of course.” And then you amend: “Well, Amir can. He’s our Picasso.”

“You’ll need something for the rehearsal dinner too, dear,” Alicent tells Christabel. Then she turns to you, tugging anxiously at one of her auburn ringlets. “You’re the expert, love. What would you recommend to impress upon our guests all the history and mystique of the Deep South?”

Your mind is blank, your thoughts gnarled up with visions of Christabel meeting Aemond at the end of an aisle. Amir sees this and he saves you.

“A Napoleon cake,” he announces with his best salesman enthusiasm, powerful enough to sweep everyone else along with him.

Alicent claps her hands, elated. “Oh, just like the town!”

“It has layers of puff pastry and rich custard cream, very French, very elegant and sophisticated, but also a nod to Napoleonville. And we can add a cherry jam to make it more romantic, if you like.”

“Doesn’t that just sound heavenly, darling?”

“Does Aemond like cherries?” Christabel asks Alicent. You know he does, but you don’t say anything.

“I think so. We’ll ask him tonight to be sure.” Alicent is opening her clutch purse to get the cash to pay you; she is eager to have this errand finished, you believe. “And can you put wildflowers on top of the Napoleon cake as well?”

“You can have the Declaration of Independence written on it if that is your heart’s desire,” Amir says, then steals a glimpse of you. You’re jotting the order down and then tracing over your own letters again and again.

“That’s the color scheme,” Christabel says a bit dreamily, forever woolgathering. “Wildflowers. And I think you suggested it at the engagement party,” she tells you, appreciative. In your recollection, it was less of a suggestion than a confession of what you once dared to hope for. “Everything has to have wildflowers. Even the dress.”

Alicent groans. “Oh, Christabel, not this again.”

“I don’t know why you’re being so resistant, those dresses were spectacular.”

“Whoever heard of a multicolored wedding dress?” Alicent asks you, Amir, Criston. “It’s absurd. The bride always wears pure white, everyone knows that. It’s tradition! It’s dignified!”

“Well now I get to solicit opinions too.” Christabel reaches into her own purse—a quilted shoulder bag, light blue with red roses and a label reading Souleiado stitched inside—and produces several polaroid photographs. She gives them to you; they are all of her posing in different wedding dresses, stylish white gowns freckled with wildflowers like splashes of paint. “All anyone can talk about is what I should wear, what the guests will expect, what they will chatter about when they gossip afterwards,” Christabel tells you. And in her vast, shimmering eyes you can detect no resentment or slyness, only quiet desperation. “But you’re a real person. So be honest with me, because there’s only one thing I really care about. Will my husband think I look ravishing in any of them?”

“These theatrics,” Alicent sighs to herself, lighting a Marlboro cigarette. Again, she is peering aimlessly around the kitchen. Amir fidgets with the dogwood flower in his hair as he watches you wearily. Criston compulsively eats another miniature cherry pie.

You study the polaroid photos. Each one feels like a split lip, a fractured rib, the shredding elephantine pressure of a contraction. You wait to speak until you’re sure your voice won’t break. “They’re all stunning. But this one…” You place one picture on top of the pile. “This dress was made for you. Just look at your face. Glowing like a lightning bug.”

“Thank you,” Christabel says, beaming, immensely grateful, and she takes the photos back. She seems pacified. “You’re married, aren’t you?”

“I was, yes. Briefly. Not very happily, I must admit. But it was worth it to get my daughter.”

She smiles. There’s no uneasiness; she doesn’t shy away from displays of human frailty. “I’d like a few daughters one day. We could all dress up together and style each other’s hair.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. If I tried that, I’d get my hands chewed off.”

Christabel laughs. She wears a casual blue t-shirt, blue gingham capri trousers, and white flat pumps. Her eyeshadow is a sparkling gold, her mascara flaking onto the apples of her cheeks. She is still marveling at you with those aquamarine eyes when Alicent pulls a list out of her clutch and grudgingly crosses off items with a black ballpoint pen.

“So we’ve got a wedding cake, a rehearsal dinner cake, a dress, a venue, flowers, photographers…I still need to call about hair and makeup…and we need to pick out candles…”

“Where are you getting married?” you ask Christabel.

“The most unique, picturesque, atmospheric place in the entire state of Louisiana, I’m sure of it.”

“We took a drive to visit that church you mentioned,” Alicent says to you. “And it was absolutely perfect. None of our guest will have ever seen anything like it. And it’s so historic! Over 150 years old! The Chapel of Saint Honoratus of Amiens.”

Amir squeals, a distressed mewing that he stifles with a feigned cough into his elbow. You stand shellshocked for a few seconds before managing a generic encouragement: “Really! Wow! Amazing! Great!”

Now Christabel is rather melancholy again. She scrutinizes her engagement ring, a large teardrop emerald with a gold band. Her voice is low, like she’s talking to herself. “I just wish…I don’t know. That we had more time together before the wedding, I suppose. Then I think I’d feel like I had more of a handle on things. It’s all been such a whirlwind, such a shock. A good shock, but still. We hardly know each other.”

Alicent prompts her: “You care for Aemond, don’t you, dear?”

“I’m in awe of him,” Christabel replies, a little dazed, a little defenseless. “He’s so clever and gallant. He’s the most inspiring man I’ve ever known. And the scar…it gives him quite a roguish look, doesn’t it? Like a Bond villain. It’s not a detriment in the least.”

“Yes, yes,” Alicent says impatiently, like she’s waiting for the conversation to be over. “Then there’s nothing more to worry about. You care for him, he cares for you, and you’ll have the honeymoon to get better acquainted. Criston, would you go outside and start the Lexus, please?” He dutifully departs.

Honeymoon. Your stomach lurches, the sea in a storm. You can see Aemond’s hands on Christabel’s face, in her hair, skating up her bare thighs. You can hear him moaning her name.

“We’re going to Greece,” Christabel informs you, thinking she’s being polite. “Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Corfu. Have you ever been?”

I’ve never been anywhere. But instead you say, forcing a smile: “Not yet.”

When Christabel, Alicent, and Criston have gone, you look to Amir. Your blood has turned to cement: cold, heavy, immobile, trapped. “You realize she’s getting my wedding, right? The one I always wanted. The wildflowers. The candles. The chapel.”

“And she’ll even be taking your favorite dick home at the end of the night.”

You cover your face with both hands and shake your head, trying to clear it, to drive out mirages of someone else’s oasis. This can’t be real. I can’t handle it, I can’t survive it.

Amir pushes his tortoiseshell glasses up the bridge of his nose and says, gently now: “If we’re catering dessert, we’ll have to go to the wedding. The rehearsal dinner too.”

“Why would they want that? How can they not see how insanely awkward and wrong this is?”

He shrugs. “They probably think it’s normal. Wasn’t Camilla at Charles and Diana’s wedding?”

“If one more person tries to talk to me about Camilla Parker Bowles, I’m going to feed myself to the gator.”

“You’ll have to come to terms with it or you’ll have to end it. Those are the only options.”

“Yeah.” And it’s not just about me. It’s Cadi’s life too.

Amir sits down at the kitchen table, crosses one leg over the other, kicks his foot nervously. He rests an elbow on the tabletop and his chin on the knuckles of his left hand. “I hate to give you more bad news.”

You already know what he’s going to say. You’ve been dreading it for months. “You have enough money saved for San Franscisco.”

“I do.”

You exhale, your shoulders collapsing, tapping your fingertips against the counter. The air conditioner whirrs; the cicadas shriek in the trees outside. The house is hushed and still. Cadi is away at horse camp. Each day you receive a postcard in the mail that you assume the employees forced her to write at gunpoint. “When are you leaving?”

“The end of July. I’ll wait until after the wedding, once all the dust has settled. But I can’t wait any longer than that.”

“I want you to be happy,” you say. “I really do. But I’m going to miss you so much. You’ve been my best friend for a decade. You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a partner in life.”

Amir smiles faintly. “Come over here.”

When you sit beside him, he takes your hands in his; and you remember how he visited you in the hospital after Cadi was born, carrying a bouquet of wildflowers he picked himself and a Tupperware container full of crawfish pistolettes. He had been just a casual friend before you found out you were pregnant, one of a group, and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t keep him at an arm’s length. Amir was different, and not in a way that you fully understood or accepted yet. But he was the only friend who had no judgment for you when you told him you were pregnant, who cared about how you felt, who wanted to be a part of whatever would happen next. He was the only one who stayed.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend,” Amir tells you. “I’ve never even been on a date, not once. I’ve never been in love. I’ve never had sex that wasn’t a one night stand in a New Orleans club or the back seat of my Ford Escort because those were the only places we had to go. And I’m starting to believe that people like me can’t have more than that. So I have to go someplace where I can have more, where I will have more. I don’t want love to be something that only other people get to experience. I don’t want to be afraid of leaving my house after dark or wake up every day wondering if someone has broken a window out of my car again. I have to go. There’s no future for me here. If I stay in Napoleonville, this place will kill me, one way or the other.”

Okay, you think. I can let him go. After everything he’s done for me, this is how I can be the friend that he deserves in return. “You should leave, Amir,” you say, tears stinging in your eyes. “I hear you, I understand you. I just wish I could go with you.”

“No, don’t cry, don’t cry! This isn’t the end. I’ll fly back to visit, you know that. Grandma’s still here, you and Cadi are here. And you can visit me too. Maybe you’ll even settle down on the West Coast someday. Eight more years and you’re free.”

You try to imagine your life then: Cadi headed off to college—and she will go to college, you’ve already decided that—and your tether to Willis weakened, closer to 40 years old than 30, Aemond and Christabel nearing their anniversary. How many children will they have by then? Three? Four? And the Lake Verret project will be well-established and no longer in need of so much of Aemond’s attention, and the house they call The Last Desire will sit empty on the lakeshore, warm draughts breathing through it like blood in veins. “I wouldn’t know how to exist anywhere else.”

“You’d learn,” Amir says confidently. “Now, have you ever made a Napoleon cake before?”

“I don’t think so. Not that I can remember.” You consider this. “My mom might have a recipe lying around somewhere. I’ll call and ask her.”

“Yes, do that,” Amir agrees. “If she doesn’t, I’ll try to dig one up at the library. We’ll want to have a few practice runs before the rehearsal dinner. Gotta impress the Rockefellers and their soulless millionaire ilk. Unless you were planning to have a homicidal meltdown and make the custard out of antifreeze or something.”

You chuckle. “No. Probably not.”

“It would be difficult to blame you.” And he turns on the little pink Panasonic radio: Alone by Heart.

~~~~~~~~~~

In a spacious corner booth of the Olive Garden in Gonzales, Aemond is talking about Lake Verret as you pick at your Tour of Italy and Frank Sinatra pipes through the speakers. You could swear they have the same three songs playing on a loop: Fly Me To The Moon, My Way, Luck Be A Lady, back to outer space again.

“But by total coincidence, Daeron has been researching desalination techniques for his latest article. Apparently there are ways to try to mitigate the damage and reduce the brackishness of the water, so we’re going to be—”

Abruptly, you ask: “Where does Christabel think you are right now?”

Aemond’s forehead crinkles, his fork hovers above his plate of herb-grilled salmon. He’s wearing a black t-shirt and his Marlboro jacket, jeans, Adidas sneakers. “Why do you care?”

“She’s getting the wedding I always wanted, did you even notice? She’s getting married at the Chapel of Saint Honoratus of Amiens in Belle River. She’s getting wildflowers and flickering candles.” And she’s getting you too.

“Okay,” Aemond says slowly. “I’m not involved in any of that.”

“I think you are, actually, because you’re kind of the groom.”

“But I don’t do the wedding planning,” he insists. “I have no idea what Christabel has arranged. My job is to be there on the day in a suit and that’s just about the extent of the real estate it takes up in my brain.”

“She’s never mentioned any of that to you? Not once? You’d swear on your life?”

He sets down his fork with a clang and stares fixedly at you. Your waitress glances over from several tables away where she is refilling a couple’s sweet tea glasses. “What do you want me to say? I’m sorry you had good ideas and other people liked them. It fucking sucks that you didn’t get the wedding you wanted when you were seventeen. But that wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know you yet, and you didn’t know me. You can’t blame me for what Willis or anyone else did.”

“But it’s not fair,” you choke out, sounding weak and juvenile, and you hate it but you can’t stop. “I understand that you’re marrying her, I get that, but she can’t have everything.”

“Look…” Aemond laces his hands together on top of the table, and his voice softens. “Even if Christabel didn’t exist, even if you were from my world, even if you were a duchess or a socialite or the daughter of the president of the United States of America, I still couldn’t marry you.”

You scoff; it’s despicable. “Because of Cadi?”

“No,” Aemond says, like that’s preposterous, like he’d never consider her to be a liability. “Because I have to have heirs.”

“Fuck you,” you hiss with vitriol that stuns him. Now the waitress is gawking. “You’re going to manipulate Christabel into walking down that aisle and then immediately get her pregnant?”

“Why are you mad at me?! I’m listening to you, I’m respecting you! You don’t want to have any more children of your own, fine, completely reasonable, I would never ask you to have a baby and go through all of that again for the sake of the Targaryen dynasty, but somebody has to!”

“You really don’t understand why I would empathize with a teenage girl trying to raise a child when she’s lonely and exhausted and confused about why the man she married isn’t turning out to be who she expected?”

Aemond shakes his head like it’s not a valid comparison. “She wants this.”

“She doesn’t know what it is. She doesn’t understand what she’s signing up for.”

“Everyone from a family like mine goes through this,” Aemond says. “My grandparents did, my mum and dad did, Aegon did, even bloody Charles and Diana did, and now it’s my turn. There are growing pains, but people adjust and it all works out eventually. Christabel will learn to manage her expectations, and once the children are born she can find happiness wherever and with whoever she wants to.”

“But you’ll be with her,” you forced out, voice fracturing, and at first Aemond doesn’t grasp what you mean. “You’ll…you’ll sleep with her. You’ll touch her, you’ll kiss her, you’ll do everything with her.”

“Surely you, as someone who called up a stranger from a personal ad in the Bayou Journal, comprehends that sex can be a solely physical act under the right circumstances.”

“So what, you’ll fuck me and then go home to her? Or you’ll fuck her and come home to me? And I’m supposed to live like that?”

“Yes,” he says, like it’s simple, like it’s easy.

You gaze morosely out of the restaurant window. In the distance is a Dollar General, a Burger King, the Kmart where you had to buy your own engagement ring.

“Do you want me to tell Christabel to change the wedding?”

“No.”

“Because if I tell her to pick a new venue, new flowers, new cakes, whatever, she’ll do it.”

“No. She likes her wedding. I can’t take that away from her. She thinks I’m her friend.”

“Cupcake,” Aemond says, tenderly now. You turn back to him. “I don’t want to fight with you. I’m going to be gone for a while, four or five days. I have to fly to Norway and inspect some of the offshore rigs we have up there.”

“In the North Sea?” you ask, alarmed. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I mean, it’s oil drilling. It’s one of the most deadly professions in the world. But that’s how we built our fortune, our legacy. I’ve survived before, I’m sure I will again. If you need anything while I’m gone, you can call the house. Criston knows that you’re to be taken care of.”

“No one else can go to Norway instead of you?”

“I have to go.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my responsibility.”

“Because Viserys told you to?”

“They amount to the same thing.”

“I don’t think you should listen to him.”

“I have to go,” Aemond says again. He takes out his wallet and lays $30 on the table. “But there’s something I need to show you first.”

As Aemond’s red Audi Quattro barrels down Route 70 southbound towards Napoleonville, you say very little to each other. Once you were strangers, and the words flowed easily and your bodies intertwined with effortless need, and now you have known each other for nearly two months and shared days and nights and confessions and yet every ghost filled up the space between you until it was a splinter, a gap, a gulf, a chasm. You miss the person he was when he showed up on your sloping, creaking porch steps back in May. You miss the person you were before you found out about Christabel.

A Men At Work song comes on the car radio, and it takes you a moment to figure out which one. It’s Down Under, a bewildering hit from 1981. “I never understood this song,” you say, staring through the open window as a jungle of southern live oaks, dogwoods, and cypresses rolls by. Rivulets of opaque, slow-moving bayou water snake through the wild green. Pelicans flap their wings in the pink-golden dusk sky. “What’s a head full of zombie? What’s a Vegemite sandwich?”

Aemond laughs, a smoldering Marlboro Red nestled in his left hand. You wonder if once he’s married he’ll wear a gold band on his ring finger, if he’ll take it off when he cheats with you. “Cupcake, it’s obviously about Australia.”

“What?”

“Down Under? As in, literally below the rest of us in the Southern Hemisphere? Head full of zombie means they’ve been smoking weed. Vegemite is a kind of yeast spread they put on sandwiches. I’ve had it, it’s disgusting. The whole song is in Australian slang. Everyone knows it’s about Australia.”

I didn’t. You look out your window again. Aemond takes note and swiftly backpedals.

“But I mean, I can see how an American wouldn’t know that. No big deal, okay? To anyone in the Commonwealth, Australia is like our fuckup sibling. It’s our Aegon. But you guys probably don’t really learn about Australia in school. So…yeah. It’s probably not as obvious as I assumed.”

“Maybe I missed that lesson,” you say. Maybe I missed that year.

In a brand new neighborhood just outside the town center of Napoleonville, Aemond parks in the paved driveway of a ranch house on a three or four acre lot. The yard is bordered by a white masonry fence with chicken wire around the base to keep snakes and gators out. There are a few dogwood and bay laurel trees, and one monstrous southern live oak that’s probably two hundred years old. Aemond cuts the Audi Quattro’s engine and steps out into the twilight.

“Aemond? What are we doing here?”

“Follow me.”

“Why?”

He walks around to your side of the car, opens the door, and leans down to grab your face with his right hand, his fingers hooked around the curve of your jaw. Instantly, there is a bolt down your spine: hunger, warmth, weakness, momentum that is thoughtless like falling from a great height. “Follow me,” he repeats, grinning mischievously. “Right now.”

Aemond has a key that unlocks the front door. Inside is rose pink carpeting and mauve walls, a sunken conversation pit, popcorn ceilings, mini blinds on the windows, closet doors covered with mirrors. You can see your face reflected in them, puzzled.

“This is the living room, clearly,” Aemond says as he continues briskly through the house. As an afterthought, he kicks off his Adidas sneakers so he doesn’t track any dirt inside. You do the same, sliding off your cheap flats from Kmart. He points down a hallway. “There are two guest bedrooms down there, and then a big one at the other end of the house with its own private bath. Here’s the kitchen…” He leads you through it, mint green with pristine black and white tiles on the floor. “And over there is the dining room.” It’s a kind, golden yellow like dawn or sunset.

“Aemond, what—?”

“Bedroom next,” he interrupts, hurrying you along.

At the end of the hall, he opens a door to reveal a sprawling chamber. It is blue like his bedroom in the Targaryen mansion, but not a deep, vivid sapphire color; it is a pale blue like prairie flax or a clear midday sky. The carpet is lush and soft. There are mirrors on the ceiling.

“Those are optional,” Aemond clarifies, pointing upwards. “But personally, I like them.”

“Aemond, whose house is this?”

“It’s yours,” he says.

“It’s what?!”

“Well, technically, it isn’t yours quite yet,” he admits. “I bought it in cash, it will close in a week or two. At that point I’ll sell it to you for $1—the same price as one of your cupcakes, incidentally—and then it will officially be your house. And it doesn’t even have a sinking foundation or any alligators. Imagine the possibilities.”

“But…but…”

“Cadi’s bedroom is green, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ve been told the yard is big enough for one horse, or two very small horses. Ponies, I guess.”

“You cannot buy me a house,” you say, aghast.

“I think I already did.” He holds out the key to you, resting in his palm among lines of prophesy.

You are paralyzed; it takes you forever to find your words. “Aemond, I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. It’s a gift, not a trade,” he says, the key still lying in his outstretched hand. “Every cent I spend on you, every second I spend with you, is solely because I want to do it and for no other reason. There’s no obligation. There’s no quid pro quo. And that’s what I feel like you don’t understand. I have no logical reason to keep you in my life, absolutely none, aside from the fact that I want you to be here. And I want that with everything I’m made of. I never stop wanting it. So let me help you. Take the key. Take the house.”

His right eye is on you, imploring, commanding. At last, you lift the key from his palm. Studying it like the cryptic letter of a foreign language, you murmur: “You shouldn’t have done this.”

Aemond rakes his fingers through your hair, tilts your face up towards his, skims his lips feather-lightly from your cheekbone down to your lips—though he doesn’t kiss you, only ghosts his flesh over yours, a taste, a taunt—and then up to the curl of your ear. His whispered voice is colored with wicked scarlet desire. “You don’t tell me what to do. I tell you what to do.”

If he yanked off your t-shirt you would let him. If he unzipped your denim shorts and slipped his artful fingers inside them he would find panties soaked through for him. You would let him do anything he wanted to you, here in this glass-fragile liminality before he becomes Christabel’s in law, in body, in inked and inerasable history. But it would not be because you want to, not because you feel ready in your bones, not because you trust him again. It would only be because you could not bring yourself to resist.

Aemond reads this on your face; he stops before you have to tell him to.

~~~~~~~~~~

On July 1st, Cascade Stables is swarming with parents as they descend upon the property to collect their children and meet the horses they’ve spent the past week with. There is a stereo somewhere blaring Your Love by The Outfield; apparently, this does not disturb the horses. You find Cadi beside the stall of a very tall, willowy beast, ears upright and alert, one bulging eye onyx and the other a striking icy blue. Its coat is white with a splattering of rust-colored stains. Even its mane and tail are comprised of alternating strands, dark, light, earth, clouds, cocoa powder, granulated sugar.

“His name is Patches,” Cadi tells you proudly as she pets the leviathan’s velvety muzzle. “He has a wall eye. And he’s a real handful and usually they only allow the experienced campers to ride him, but they let me try and he listened so well I got to keep him all week!”

“Wow, that’s incredible! Good job! Did you learn a lot about how to take care of him?”

“Yeah. They taught me how to feed Patches and clean his hooves and put a saddle on him. And how to hit him with a hairbrush when he tries to bite me.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. “Right. Okay.”

“Can we buy him? He’s for sale. Probably because of all the biting.”

“Who, Patches?” You definitely cannot afford to board a horse; and then you remember the new house. “I’ll think about it.”

Cadi peeks around you. “Daddy isn’t here too?”

“No, honey, I’m sorry. He had to work. But he really wanted to see the horses and he is looking forward to hearing all about your adventures.” This is a lie—Willis seems only dimly aware of the concept of a horse camp, and he is staunchly incurious by nature—but a compassionate one.

Cadi accepts the explanation readily enough. “Alright. Is Aemond your boyfriend yet?”

“Um.” You thread the horse’s forelock through your fingers to buy yourself time. It seems unwise to try to deceive her again; Cadi will learn about Christabel sooner or later. “No, we’re still just friends.” You pause. She watches you, knowing there’s more. “Actually, he’s getting married this month.”

“What?!” Cadi is shocked, but she’s outraged too. “To who?!”

“To a nice lady named Christabel. And I’m sure they’ll be very happy together.” Another lie. And you think for the first time: If I settle for being Aemond’s mistress, if I let it tear me to pieces…what am I teaching Cadi?

Your daughter doesn’t say anything for a long time. She pets Patches’ speckled face, her own expression tense and thoughtful, lines and worries that should be far beyond her age. At last she says quietly: “Is it because of me?”

You are mystified. “What, honey?”

“Is the reason why you and Aemond can’t get married because of me?”

There is a flash of crimson wrath in your skull—protective, animalistic, wronged on her behalf—but no one to direct it at. “No. No, absolutely not. Why would you say that?”

Cadi shrugs, and you recognize it as her self-preservation, faux-flippant shrug. “I don’t know. One time I heard Michelle’s mom talking about how no decent man wants to deal with some other guy’s kids. And that’s me when I’m at your house. Another guy’s kid.”

Oh, fuck you, Janet. “No,” you say again. “Aemond likes you a lot, Cadi. He cares about you.” He picked out a house that could accommodate a horse for you. “You’re the opposite of a problem. He actually likes me more because of you, I think.”

“Okay.” And she’s relieved, although she’s trying not to show it. “Then why is he marrying someone else?”

“Well…it’s complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

Where the hell do I start? “Aemond and I are very different people,” you tell Cadi. “And we want different things out of life. We like to spend time together, but that doesn’t mean that we’d be able to share our whole lives…homes, careers, values, everything. His family has a lot of expectations of him that I don’t feel right supporting, but Aemond wants to respect their rules. And, you know. He’s a robber baron.”

“But he doesn’t talk about Jade Dragon Energy or oil around me. He talks about history.”

You sigh, watching dust motes swirl through the hot, sunlit stable air, listening to horses nicker and huff. “I know, honey.”

“I don’t even think he wants to be a robber baron. I think he wants to be something else.”

“Like what?” you ask, picking stray bits of yellow straw out of her short, disheveled hair. And remarkably, Cadi tolerates this.

“I don’t know, just…just…” She battles with the words, then finds one she likes. “Free, I guess. Just free.”

[candyheartedchy]

Just a little snippet from my CoralBob wip fic because it’s cute and I wanted to share something from it so far.

Sitting side by side, a little yellow sponge and purple sea monster were on their third bowl of triple goober berry sunrises. Their laughter filled the air as the bartender kept glancing over in dread while cleaning a glass.

"Okay, ready?"

"Ready."

Sticking out his tongue a bit, SpongeBob tired to balance a cherry upon his nose as Coraline did the same on her snout. This was quickly followed up by an angry shout of defeat by the sea monster as a cherry fell onto the floor.

"I guess I won." SpongeBob said.

"I bet you can't do it with a spoon."

Turning around smugly, the sponge smiled over with his spoon now balancing straight up on his nose.

"Amazing."

SpongeBob laughs.

Digging into their ice creams, the pair had soon found themselves becoming quiet.

"SpongeBob?"

Taking in a spoonful, the sponge turned, "Hm?"

"Do you think it’s safe to go behind our bosses backs?”

“Why not?”

“Aren’t you worried about getting fired?”

SpongeBob swallows before putting his spoon down, “Well, maybe a little… but what about you? Aren’t you worried about getting fired?”

“Yeah, but I can always find a new job… somewhere… You love your job though, and how much it means to you. I just worried this will all blow up in our faces.”

SpongeBob brows narrowed a little, “So, do you not want to hang out anymore or-"

“NO! I DO!” Coraline shouted before pulling back, embarrassed by her sudden outburst, “I just… I don’t want to be the reason you lose your job.”

“It’ll be fine, Coraline.” he smiled.

“I hope so.” she signs, “I already feel like I’m gonna mess this up.”

SpongeBob grew quiet, looking away with a troubled expression. The two didn't speak for a few seconds until the sponge finally did.

"Well," he paused, tapping his fingers along the table as he sat there, "They say sponges are great for cleaning up messes." SpongeBob smiled sheepishly over, causing Coraline to laugh softly at this.

"I do want to thank you though."

"For what?"

"For always being kind to me. Even through I’m a monster.”

"Are we speaking literally or figuratively?"

"Both?" Coraline sighs, running her fingers through her short hair, "I mean, I know I'm a monster. It's who I am. I just... don't want to be treated like one, you know?”

“Or like how everyone treats me like a kid…” SpongeBob breathed.

Coralline frowned, “How come you let people walk all over you all the time?"

“People don’t walk all over me?”

“SpongeBob, I literally saw Mr. Krabs use you as a ramp the other day.”

“The floorboards were broken.” SpongeBob stated before Coraline grabbed his shoulders.

“SpongeBob, please, I’m being serious… You need to stand up for yourself more.”

“I do stand up for myself.”

“But you always brush it off!” Coraline then glance away, shy now, “I hate seeing you treated like your dumb. Like sure you’re more…” she paused, “whimsical than others your age, but that’s your charm.”

“Charm?”

“Yeah.” Coraline then blushed, “It’s cute.”

SpongeBob pointed his spoon at the sea monster, "If you think flattery will help your chances at getting the secret formula from me, think again.“ he teased before Coraline started to panic.

“What? No! I’m not trying to get to formula-” she explained before feeling a soft hand rest on her’s.

“Coraline, I was joking.”

“Oh.”

“You worry too much.”

“Sorry.”

SpongeBob couldn’t help but stare at the sea monster, smitten as he watched her turn a deep shade of purple in her cheeks, making her more shy before catching himself.

“We better get going before it’s gets too late. Those patties aren’t gonna flip themselves tomorrow.” the sponge laughs awkwardly.

Watching him, Coraline soon followed after before noticing the sponge wobbling a bit before she rushed over to catch him from bumping into a chair.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, this always happens when I eat a few triple goober berry sunrises.” the sponge smiled up, drunk before placing an hand on the sea monster’s cheek, patting it, “It’s fine.”

Blushing from the touch, Coraline laughs lightly before tucking the sponge under her arm, heading out the door, “C’mon, let’s get you home.

The bartender watching the pair leave as he exhaled, wiping his brow.

[viburnt]

Hiii!!! Can I request midoriya with the prompt ‘someone has a gift for you’. Genre can be anything except angst!!!!

Sorry anon, this a little late and a little short, but I still tried my best! My exams are kicking my butt :( Hope you enjoy.

—Viburnt

𝑰𝒛𝒖𝒌𝒖 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒚𝒂 || 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆

Today marked Izuku's birthday, and upholding the age-old tradition from his childhood, his mom, Inko, took him to his favorite bakery to choose a cake. It was a cherished ritual in their household – Inko allowed him to pick his desired dessert, adorned the house with his favorite All Might decorations, and then you would join in to celebrate after an enthusiastic session with his action figures. Despite being a teenager now, Izuku still found joy in these moments. However, this year was different; you weren't there to share the celebration with him as you had in the old days.

He missed you dearly.

—She hasn't called yet. Do you think she's busy?— Izuku mumbled as he tapped on the glass case protecting the delectable pastries. —I know it's a different timezone, but...—

Inko offered him a sympathetic smile and comforted him with gentle circles on his back. It had been a year since you left to study abroad, leaving your friends behind to chase after your dreams. Izuku was feeling lonely without you, missing the sound of your voice and how you'd smile whenever he cracked a silly joke.

Sure, he was able to face time you when you had time, but the occasions were rare and it made his heart twinge.

—I'm sure she'll remember, she's a good girl!— Inko reassured him, resting her head on his shoulder. —Why don't you take a closer look at the cakes, hmm?—

"I haven't had birthday cake without her, would it taste the same?" Izuku wondered. Squinting for a moment, he focused on the frosting decorations on each dessert. The first one was fairly simple, the second had delicate hearts, but the third one...

-Is that my face?— He asked, pointing at the childish drawing of himself resting on top of the white frosting. It looked like a 5 year old had attempted to draw on it. "It almost reminds me of..."

—Yes, it's specially for you!— Izuku heard his mom said, a mischievous smirk appearing on her chubby face as she pulled him a little to her level.

—Someone has a gift for you! —Inko cheered, playfully covering her son's eyes with a blindfold.

—Woah, mom, what? You have another gift for me?— He asked, amazed, a hearty laugh escaping his chest. —You didn't need to!

—But I know how much you missed this particular thing, so...— Inko said, guiding him to a nearby chair, making sure Izuku wouldn't triple with the walking costumers and close tables.

—Mom, you didn't have to, really!— Izuku assured, hearing his mom giggle as a set of footsteps became more audible.

—Izuku, your mom made a lot of effort to bring me here! Say thanks.

The familiar sound of your voice left Midoriya speechless, his hands shakily removing the blindfold. His green eyes watched mesmerized as you came out from behind the bakery counter, holding his cake on your hands.

—Y-you're here!

—Happy birthday, Izuku...— You congratulated, hugging the boy. —Wouldn't miss this for anything!

[neuroprincess]

Weekend in the Hamptons - Alex Cabot/Female Reader

Alex Cabot/Female Reader

Summary: A family weekend brings good surprises for Y/N, for Alex too. Or, Y/N finally meets Alexander Cabot.

Classification: Fluff

Warnings: Reference to past depression

Word count: +3700

Meeting the parents of your loved one is an important event, especially when you are in a queer relationship, which is exactly why Y/N feels nervous as her long-time girlfriend drives down the beautiful tree-lined road on a late Friday afternoon. The sun among the leaves hitting her pale face, reflecting off the dark glasses and leaving cheeks flushed. Growing up in New York, specifically in Manhattan, Alex never required or felt the need to get a driver's license, but recently the idea of taking the other woman to places or just strolling together beyond the city encouraged her. So she obtained one and is now driving for the first time beyond the block from their apartment.

"You seem nervous." she comments as she turns the steering wheel right "My dad isn't a seven-headed monster, I swear, he changed a little after mom died. Just a little… stiff… eccentric? He'll love you."

"I'm not so sure about that." Y/N whispers and tries not to stare at her, admiring the scenery around "Will Mr. Cabot like the mint liqueur?"

"It's his favorite, don't worry." they stare at each other and the blonde smiles "We're coming soon, take a deep breath and everything will be fine."

"Alex…"

"Sweetheart, the fact that I love you will already make him love you too."

In a few minutes the car parks in front of a two-story house, tall and cozy looking, there are large windows, white details framing the structure and a beautiful well kept garden, trees surrounding it. It's a pleasant, but intimidating sight. The Cabot family is wealthy by heritage and work, they are judges, lawyers, businessmen, deans and even art curators coming from a cradle with renown, raised for greatness. It was no surprise to Y/N when her girlfriend told her that they had a house at the address synonymous of money, but that Alexander Harrison Cabot himself invited and insisted on having Y/N, a simple paralegal, to spend a family weekend in Hamptons. This was a great surprise.

"You are amazing and kind…" Alex turns off the car and begins talking to her girlfriend, joining their hands together as they look at each other tenderly.

"Ah!" both shout in fright as a bang on the passenger side window disrupts the moment, Y/N turns around to find a gray haired, unshaven and blue eyed gentleman staring at her through the glass, hands above his forehead shielding him from the sun, wearing a blue striped polo shirt (similar to those bowling ones) and white shorts, full of pockets. Not the sight she expected, none of them to be honest. The younger nods and tries to smile "Honey, he doesn't look anything like you described." she manages to say between an awkward smile.

"Believe me, I am equally surprised as you are."

When they get out of the car they soon find themselves being hugged by him a triple hug, it's warm and friendly, he even messes up his daughter-in-law's hair nonchalantly. The ADA stares at the scene not understanding anything, her dad, even in the heat, would dress more formally like a light social t-shirt and not so flashy shorts, suddenly he has turned into her grandfather who spent afternoons fishing. And Alexander had never been so receptive with someone, even she had never been hugged like that before.

"I am Alexander, it's a pleasure to meet you, beautiful lady. And you, I bet, must be Y/N?!" he grabs her hand and brings to his lips in an unexpected courteous gesture "My daughter told me a lot about you. Welcome!"

"Thank you, Mr. Cabot! Very kind of you…"

"No no no no, just call me Alexander." he winks and turns to Alex "My girl, even at that age you still are the little girl I taught to sail. Y/N, did you know that? She couldn't drive, but she learned to sail at 9 years old. Which brings me the surprise of seeing her behind the wheel of a car."

The man bombarded them with questions and little facts, animatedly pouring out word for word right there in the parking lot. Excited to meet the woman who conquered and entered his daughter's closed heart, he had waited so long for this moment, knowing about her existence gave him a glimmer of hope after all that had happened in the past few years. The death of his beloved Madeleine months after their only child was supposedly murdered, then her return was the breath of fresh air that brought him back to life and brought him out of the depression he had been sinking into for over a year. When Alex, who usually doesn't make first contact, called and said there was something important to say he didn't care that the person she loved was a woman, that she wasn't of the same social status and even less that she was younger. It's his daughter's person and that's what matters to him, that this person makes her happy, feel loved and appreciated.

"Come, come in." Alexander signs with hands for them to come in through the front door "I've prepared a dinner, I hope you like chicken." he says to the girl as she walks through the door, followed by her girlfriend "Your grandmother's recipe." and cheerfully completes for her "I'll get the suitcases."

"No need, daddy. I got it." the two begin to argue at the front door about who will get the suitcases in the trunk of the car, so Y/N realizes that stubbornness runs in the family, after three long minutes of debating they come to the conclusion that they each bring a suitcase "I'll get the one belonging to my woman." she says grabbing the bigger suitcase.

"Of course!" he closes the compartment and smiles surprised to hear his daughter call her partner like that, she, who always was closed off, would never refer to someone in that way unless she really loved her "She's lovely and kind, you two are great together."

"Yes, she is."

The three are gathered around the round dining table, the glass door behind them open bringing a draft of cold air and the beautiful view of the garden with a large pool. The sun is setting a little later than usual, taking a while to get dark. The glass bowls are in the center, it's a vast menu of salads, meat and some desserts, the man has made everything to be sure it pleases the girl.

"I have a lasagna in the oven if you prefer." he says cutting a piece of chicken breast and placing it on her empty plate "But first try this one, it's my mom's recipe, Mary Cabot. Alex's middle name came from her, so we named her Alexandra Marie."

"It's a classic name."

"Of course, that's why my wife loved it, I wanted to named her Leigh or Claire, but my favorite choice was Margot. You know, women boss, when we thought we would have a boy wanted to call him Alexander II, but then a nice surprise came and Madeleine wished to keep it for her." he puts his hand on the daughter's shoulder fondly remembering her birth and the little battle to choose a name for her, eventually honoring him and her grandmother at the same time "She was the longest baby in the maternity room that day, the chubbiest too."

"Daddy, don't embarrass me like that." she puts a hand to face and blushes, trying not to face her girlfriend laughing at the conversation "And when did you learn to cook? Where is Helen?" the absence of the family housekeeper who always accompanies them is strange.

"She retired, end of last year. Just like me, that's why I learned to cook, I wanted to do new things. I learned to cook, I learned to skate, bought new clothes, even read the Harry Potter books. And I'm learning carpentry, look near the pool."

Alex narrows her eyes and Y/N lifts the neck curiously, trying to find whatever it was where he points with a finger, there is a small pile of cut dark wood, tools and what looks like add-ons for the thing.

"What is that?" the blonde asks confused and sips the wine, having no idea what it could be.

"A playground!" he announces happily and as if it was obvious to guess.

"WHAT?" she almost screams spitting the wine on the white tablecloth unintentionally "Why? There have been no children in our family for years."

"My future grandchildren." now it's Y/N's turn to spit out the wine "Apparently you aren't planning that yet…. Or are you?" they stare at him in disbelief "I mean, you already have 40, my daughter. I'm not pressuring you, it's just… the last few days I've caught myself imagining some kids running around the garden. Spending weekends as a family, maybe me teaching them to sail too, I just…"

"It's okay, Mr- Alexander!" the younger smiles trying to reassure him "Well, Alex and I haven't planned anything concrete about, but don't worry. It looks like a great creation."

"I'm improving my skills, but Edward and Patrick from the club will come and help me finish."

"My children are not going to play on a playground set up by those two, they always have their shoes switched every time I see them." Alex argues.

"It's their cataracts, but they are great at carpentry, even made a bird box."

"What if they nail their own hands? Or leave a nail loose and my children end up getting hurt?"

The third person in the room just stared at them while they started another debate, so she understood from whom Alex inherited many characteristics and qualities she possesses, which make her an outstanding lawyer. Both are good with words, stubborn and know how to contest like no one else, even a completely hypothetical situation that would be her children and his grandchildren. Y/N was amused as she finished eating the meal, trying a little of each thing until she realized she had eaten too much.

"Okay, I'll hire a professional carpenter to help me…" the man begins to dictate what was agreed between them.

"And you have to set it up away from the pool, maybe near that tree."

"Perfect! Which gives me the idea of a swing and maybe a tree house, with a slide." he adds.

"Too high for a slide, actually too high for a tree house."

"I can build lower." then the two reach a middle ground and smile, shaking hands to close agreement "Always good to deal with you Cabot."

"I say the same, Cabot." the blonde turns to continue eating only to realize how entertained she has become in this hypothetical debate that her girlfriend is already eating the dessert "It happened again. Oops."

"You mean this is common?" the younger asks confused.

"Yes!" they answer in unison "Since I was a kid, dad was my first worthy opponent."

"That's cute." she comments without thinking, eyes full of sweetness staring at both father and daughter, admiring the relationship.

"You didn't think we are… weird?" Alex asks incredulously.

"Or eccentric?" he looks even more incredulous.

"Or nerdy?"

"Nothing like that, just cute." she shrugs and takes another spoonful of ice cream.

The evening was quiet, no more debates beyond the playground for hypothetical children. After dinner Alexander led them to a guest room on the second floor, Alex's old room from her childhood travels and now completely renovated, looking larger than she remembered. It had been decorated in white, birch and shades of light blue. It's decorated with marine items like ships in glass bottles, seashells, sculptures of sea animals and paintings of beach landscapes. Hanging above the bed had been placed a framed picture of a hand painting of the Cabot family sailboat, named Arabella. The ADA pretended not to be surprised or delighted by what he had done, but once her father closed the door wishing them a good night she ran to the bookcase to get the seashells, recognizing them as those she had collected during the course of her life, which she had picked up on trips with her parents. It was one of the few moments when she could be just Alex or Lexie, as her mom affectionately called her, walking down the sandy lane hand in hand with both of them, looking for little colorful things together, this is how she became a collector of seashells, at least until age 15 when the memories of a more tender childhood gave way to thick books and piles of certificates. Alexander kept them all, even when she said he could throw them away. When she realized she was being watched coughed falsely and left the decorations in place, turning to girlfriend, kissing her affectionately.

"I told you he would love you."

Saturday is sunny, the heat hits the clear room and reaches Alex's naked back, the burning bothering the sensitive skin making her fully awake. The woman grumbles and extends her arm across the other side of the bed, only to find the sheets bare and smooth. She uses her elbows to sit up in bed and searches Y/N around the room, but there is no sign of her presence, the house is also silent. When she looks at the alarm clock on the bedside she is startled by the time, never on a normal day would she allow herself to wake up 1pm, she hasn't slept this late or this much in years. The night before she went to bed right after dinner, exhausted from working all day at the courthouse advancing paperwork and still driven, a short trip that knocked her out. The ADA gets up quickly, rushing to shower and get dressed for the day, opting for an unprinted white t-shirt, jeans and a comfortable slipper.

"Hey, where were you two?" Alex asks as she sees her dad and girlfriend walking through the garden door, she seems to laugh at something the man said.

"Your dad took me to lunch, we didn't want to wake you up. You looked so tired." Y/N approaches and deposits a kiss on the blonde's temple "Good morning, honey!"

"Good morning, sweetheart!" she murmurs and is about to kiss her on the lips as they do every morning when she remembers being in her dad's presence, then pulls away and blushes.

"You can kiss your woman, Alex." Alexander laughs and leaves some bags on the table "We brought you something to eat, we also got you your favorite ice cream."

"What time did you wake up?"

"Early, had coffee and went shopping, ended up at that restaurant you love." he reports cheerfully "Your girlfriend is great company."

"You are two traitors." she laughs and pulls Y/N to herself, making her sit on the lap "What are the plans for today?"

"We can go to the beach, maybe have dinner somewhere or go to Ed's house, the guys called you for a poker night."

"No way."

"Alex, please…" Y/N pouted and made puppy dog eyes, knowing the woman couldn't resist that.

"Okay." she rolls her eyes reluctantly accepting.

 "How about that one?" the younger asks running along the shore of the beach, picking up something colorful partially covered by the sand "It's orange."

"It's beautiful." the blonde smiles and takes the shell in her hand, admiring the coloring "You officially got your first seashell."

They exchange a quick kiss and continue walking around with their hands together, Alex holding a small children's bucket where what they find are being placed. There are a few shells, but the bottom is filled with different colorful stones they found along the way, the ADA carefully places the new addition on top. Alexander walks in front of them, admiring the scenery.

"I confess I never imagined you were someone who likes the sea." Y/N comments opening a silly smile, managing to materialize the image "Always surprising me."

"I think I got so caught up in my role in the troubled and stressful city life for so long that I almost forgot that part about myself. I'm sorry."

"For what?

"I don't know, maybe for not telling you." they stop walking and stare at each other for a millisecond, she embarrassed, Y/N confused.

"Alex, there's no reason for you to apologize, plus I love finding out new things about you." the younger smiles and takes her girlfriend's hand to lips, kissing the palm of the hand while looking at her lovingly "And each thing I find out makes me fall in love with you even more."

Before Alex could answer the man calls them over, pointing to a pair of shells brought in by the water, a white with blue larger and a slightly smaller yellow one. He picks them up off the ground and lifts the shells to show them.

"It's you two!" Alexander says running up to them "The big one is Alex, the color is reminiscent of your eyes. And you, Y/N, are the yellow one. Your aura has that color." he puts the shells in the bucket and runs back to where he was, looking for more shells.

"I used to think so, but now I'm pretty sure, my dad hit the head and changed his personality." Alex whispers and faces him, she had never seen him this way before "Like in those movies you make me watch."

"And that you like. Let's go, before we lose him on the beach."

They found some more shells and went home to take a bath after enjoying their day at the beach. The Cabots were the first to get ready, while Y/N finishes getting ready in their room. Then Alex sees her father neat and tidy again, he is wearing a social blouse and decent shoes, his hair is perfectly styled, beard trimmed, just like she always saw him before.

"I wanted to give you something, I never thought I would pass it on, but here it is…" Alexander pulls out of his pants pocket a small dark green velvet box "This is the ring my father used to propose to my mother, your grandparents. And when I saw how you and Y/N look at each other I knew instantly that it must belong to you."

"Daddy… I…"

"And I may have seen your research history on the laptop unintentionally when I borrowed it." he confesses and steps closer, handing the box into his hands "I would love to have her in the family."

"Thank you, daddy."

"Ah, here she is!" he announces turning his daughter around so that the younger can't see what's in her hands "Look, dear, your girlfriend looks beautiful…"

"Yes…" Alex is awestruck when Y/N comes out of the room dressed in party clothes, it's delicate, the outfit fits her body perfectly, each cut, measurement and the color, her favorite, highlights her as if she were glowing "Sweetheart, you look amazing!" she says approaching.

"I know, your dad bought it for me, in fact he insisted on paying for it."

"I couldn't leave the store without buying, her eyes sparkled seeing the window display." he says excitedly "I already made reservations at that seaside restaurant."

"I forgot to use perfume…" Y/N remembers and rushes back to the room, also to do some touch ups, that place is extravagantly chic, like the places her girlfriend takes her on special dates. She doesn't want to look out of place.

"It's for in half an hour, two places."

"I thought you were going with us." Alex frowns and faces him "You arranged the whole thing, didn't you?"

"Maybe so, I hope you two enjoy the evening. If you want we'll still have poker night afterwards, otherwise the house is all yours, the pool too. I have my plans too." Alexander winks and nods to the girl leaving the room, adjusting her outfit "You look perfect, beautiful lady."

"Thank you, Alexander." her cheeks turn rosy.

"Excuse me, girls. Edward broke the poker table, so I'm going over to help him fix it until the game, enjoy the restaurant for me." he grabs his jacket from the armchair and quickly puts it on without giving time for a reaction "See you later, dear. Take good care of Y/N. And Y/N, take good care of my girl. Oh, I'm bringing the mint liquor for the night, I love the treat."

"Right!" they reply in unison and look at each other as the man hurries out the door.

"I have to say…" Alex begins to speak, letting out the breath she barely realized she was holding, and places a hand on her girlfriend's waist "You look incredibly stunning today, you are beautiful every day, but today you shine. I am so lucky to have you as my woman." then kisses her gently, hands running up to reach her face and caresses with fingertips "And I can't wait to get these clothes off of you."

"And I your clothes, you look fucking sexy."

"Dirty mouth!"

"You love my mouth."

"You're right…"

They smile and walk to the door holding hands, fingers intertwined, Alex's thumb caressing the soft skin. The blonde stares at her girlfriend, the hair, clothes, the body she loves every part and small details, the gentle face with a smile that makes her melt, but nothing makes her weaker than the Y/E/C eyes that always make her body quiver passionately. Every single thing about Y/N delights her, her personality, dedication, how sweet and understanding she can be but also a beast to protect her, how they can be very different in some ways to the point of complementing each other, just as they share many characteristics and passions. She sighs after closing the passenger door, watching the younger settle into her seat through the glass and puts her hand in the coat pocket, feeling the soft little box against the fingertips. She moves the object and smiles. When she got in the car the day before the idea was still being seeded, but one day spent together away from everything was enough for ADA to know that she is the right woman and maybe her dad's, suddenly invasive, little push gave her the courage she needed. A simple family weekend in the Hamptons suddenly turns into plans to make Y/N a Cabot putting the family ring on her finger. Y/N Cabot. Alexandra Cabot's future wife.

[hannibals-favourite-meal]

Mommy, Sorry, Mommy

Natasha Romanoff x plus size reader

Sleep deprivation and a very attractive assassin do not mix 

Warnings: sleep deprivation, implied smut, mommy kink, d/s dynamics, crack fic

A/N: Take this poll to help me rewrite the MCU!

WC: 883

Minors DNI

Your brain felt like TV static to say the least. The math on the whiteboard in front of you had become some kind of hieroglyph about an hour ago but you were still downing energy drink after energy drink in some vain attempt to get the symbols to make sense.

Bruce was dead asleep at the desk next to you as Scott and Tony were arguing about god knows what. The team had found a mysterious compound in the safe of an arm’s dealer in Russia a few days before, so naturally, the smartest people they could think of, were gathered together to figure out what it was.

As the Avenger’s leading virologist, you were first on the list. Now, three days later, you weren’t any closer to figuring out what it was. You only knew that you hadn’t yet hit your body’s limit for caffeine. The neon blue liquid seemed to taunt you as it sat in the triple reinforced glass case next to the whiteboard.

“Can’t we call Dr Strange to help us out?” Your head lolled to glare at Tony as you downed the last of the fluorescent green drink, throwing the empty can into the overflowing trash in the corner of the room. “Because!” He shouted back. “Because what?!” You hissed, pushing the black frames of your glasses back up your nose.

“Because he called me a ripoff batman. So I will not be indulging that behaviour anymore.” “Jesus Christ.” Just as you were about to berate the billionaire, you saw the glass doors of the lab slide open in your peripheral vision. And in walked the single most beautiful creature that has ever existed. Natasha Romanoff.

When you first joined the Avengers, she had immediately taken you in, smothering you with gifts and girls nights with Wanda. She was sweet and thoughtful, and by far the most amazing person you had ever met. It had been too easy to fall completely in love with the Black Widow, and fall you did.

Your breath caught in your throat as you looked at her. The blood red satin dress was practically a second skin, clinging to her smooth curves and billowing around her as she moved. A double slit exposed both her long pale legs and the deep v-cut gave a hint of cleavage. High black heels and red lips completed the look. 

Whatever thoughts you had left in your brain after the copious amounts of energy drink you had ingested and the almost 72 hours without sleep, immediately left your mind as the former assassin turned her gaze on you, giving you a smile that sent a shiver down your spine. She gracefully crossed the messy room, coming to stand in front of you.

“When was the last time you ate, princess?” The look of concern that marred her beautiful face was enough to make you melt. “Dunno mommy.” You froze, your entire body going ramrod straight as you realised what you said. “I mean mommy. No, mommy. Mommy. Oh fuck.” You buried your face in your hands. “I’m sorry.”

Instead of the disgusted scoff you expected from calling the woman of your dreams a very suggestive moniker, one that you had fantasised about calling her before, a manicured hand cupped your chubby cheek to bring your gaze back up to meet her striking green eyes, which were sparkling with joy and dare you say it, lust. Her thumb gently stroked the apple of your cheek as she gazed down at you, a single strand of her red hair hanging down over her face, having fallen from the complicated updo she put her hair in.

“You really need to take care of yourself, little one. When I get back from this mission, I expect you in my bed having showered and eaten a proper meal. Then I’m going to take real good care of you.” The dominance in Natasha’s tone made your shoulders fall in submission. “Am I understood?” “Yes.” You whimpered.

Her hand tightened around your face. “Yes what?” She cooed, not breaking eye contact with you. “Yes mommy.” “Good girl.” Leaning down, she pressed a light kiss to your forehead, which made your insides flutter with happiness. “My good girl.” She whispered as she pulled her hand away, not missing the way you whined when she withdrew her touch.

Without another word, she glided back out of the room, sending you a wink before she turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. 

Scott’s mouth was hanging open so wide, it looked like his jaw was about to fall off, and Tony looked like he was either going to faint or throw a tantrum. Bruce, of course, was still asleep. You shakily stood from your stool, attempting to straighten yourself out but having no success with the way your hands were trembling. “I think, um yeah. I’m just gonna-“

That was all you could stammer out before you sprinted from the room, tripping over your own feet in your hurry to follow her orders.

The two men remained in place, thoroughly confused as to what just happened. “What’d I miss?” Bruce asked blearily as his head rose from the table, drool still clinging to the side of his face. “I have no fucking clue.” Tony responded.

Marvel Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Taglist

@im-a-slut-for-fluff

[ddejavvu]

That ask about hockey player!Remus and figure skater!reader reminded me of this comment I saw on a video. The person said that during her figure skating practice the hockey players would be going wild banging at the glass and cheering her on and at first she thought they were teasing so she ignored it, but as soon as she stepped off the ice they were like “woah how did you do all those spins?!?? And the jumps? How’d ya do it?!” and it just gave me Marauders vibes for some reason. Aksjsjaja hockey himbo!James losing his mind over a random girl doing a triple lutz is such a wholesome mental image

today is multiverse monday! send me any au you can think of :)

--

The rousing whoops from the hockey players waiting just off the ice threatened to knock you off balance, your legs shaky as they pounded on the glass. You weren't sure how you were going to get off the ice without interference from them, and you didn't fancy being mobbed by three agile hockey players.

You managed to drown them and their jeering out for the last few minutes of your practice, your coach congratulating you on your 'excellent form' even though you were certain he noticed the wobble of your legs as you'd been shouted at. You made a point to leave the ice opposite the hockey players, and kept your head down as you headed back to change, reluctantly sitting down to take your skates off before you hit the concrete.

You tried to ignore the three pairs of feet you heard stomping towards you, the thin blades of their skates leaving indents in the rubber matts that the ice was bordered by. However, you couldn't ignore them when they stood directly in front of you, nearly identical shit-eating grins on their faces.

"That was bloody amazing," One said, helmet under his arm as his curls bounced over his forehead, "I think if I tried t'do that I'd fall flat on my ass."

"Good thing it's padded," Another snorted, sending a swift slap to the first player's ass, a lock of wavy black hair dipping into his eyes from where it was pulled back into a low ponytail.

"Maybe you could teach us how to do that sometime," The third spoke gently, his kind brown eyes full of unadulterated delight rather than malicious contempt, "Hockey players are a bit heavy on their feet but I'm sure we could get the hang of it if we practiced."

"I wanna learn the spin," The second one looked up from where he and the first had been roughhousing lightly on their skates, "I bet that'd throw our opponents off their game."

You let out a breathy laugh at the mental image of these big buff hockey players spinning gracefully away from their opposition, "I'd love to teach you someday, you just have to promise not to body slam me into the glass like you do with each other."

The more soft-spoken one chuckled lightly at the thought, extending a thickly gloved hand out towards you, "Promise."

[misc-obeyme]

Cosmo and Diavolo having a staring contest:

Cosmo:....

Diavolo:....

Cosmo, turning his eyes from his normal black stars night eyes to stars purple eyes:....

Diavolo, blinking in astonishment: Woah!

Cosmo: I win, again.

Diavolo: that's not fair.....

Cosmo wins every time. Oh, did I mention he can see in the dark? He also glows in the dark. His eyes and tail glow, he has a purple tongue btw. Asmo paints his nails dark purple and black sometimes with small white splatters so it looks like stars. Did I mention that Cosmo has his own, well, Cosmo? (I found out Cosmo is also the name of an alcoholic drink and I can't stop thinking about asmo seeing if he can hold his own 'cosmo')

Cosmo has been known to disappear randomly throughout the day (he got sucked into a black hole because he still has trouble with his powers). He smells surprisingly sweet, like a mix of moon pies and nightshade. More or less nightshade.

Cosmo: I'll send you to the void, shut up.

Barbatos: ok, he's over exaggerating

Cosmo: no I'm not, stop trying to make him feel better

Lucifer who yelled at him for a dumb reason:

Cosmo: anything to say, you old bi-

Anyway, should I give him a partner?

Bows for barb

LOL he sounds like fun! I love Dia losing the staring contest every time. I'm just imagining him being like, this time I'll win! Only to fail again as he's amazed every time Cosmo changes his eye colors.

A Cosmo is indeed a drink! It's short for Cosmopolitan! It's pretty simple - just vodka, triple sec, lime juice, and cranberry juice! But the cranberry juice gives it a red color so it looks cool. They usually serve it in martini style glasses.

I like the idea of Asmo creating one that's purple and black instead. The Cosmo Cosmo, perhaps. Oh and then he makes another one for himself that matches and calls it the Asmo Cosmo... you know 'cause they all of smo in there??? LOL. Anyway don't mind me being silly.

Of course Asmo is painting his nails to fit his general vibe and aesthetic, too. I can kinda see Asmo trying to create a Cosmo perfume. Tries to capture that scent of moon pies and nightshade~

Yikes sucked into a black hole?? I'm assuming that's not a death sentence for him... okay I don't know a lot about black holes but I don't think it's normally a good thing to get sucked into one.

I say you should give him a partner if you want to! But if not, that will also be fine. He seems to have plenty of company among the demons. I usually just go with my gut on stuff like that. Like if there's another character I feel like an OC is really compatible with, then I usually end up putting them together... and of course all my OCs are compatible with Barbatos. But I'm also finding a lot of them are compatible with each other, too??? And that's a whole different problem lol.

Anyway, all that is to say that I think you should follow your heart on that one! If you think he needs a partner, then I say give him one!

[theunderscoresquip]

BE MORE CHILL AU. IDK A BIT(?) LONG

`Jeremy.`

He shot awake, panting. Damnit, not again— Jeremy must've been scaring himself at this point. He checked the clock; so early, but why? It's almost as if his body had been purposefully doing this, waking him up as if the Squip was waiting *right* there, and was getting impatient. Regardless, couldn't happen. He had felt it, *heard it*. All the Squips had been deactivated, and his Squip was no exemption to that. Thank god Micheal had Code Red on standbye, with what could've happen— Another code red would have arised without it.

He wondered, because he had some extra time, why not think about everything? It had only been a week, yet everything felt fresh in his mind. But he felt so detached from it. Who would believe it, though? That some supercomputer had just lodged himself into his brain, and nearly took over the entire school? Or.. Attempted to? No way.

Usually, he didn't enjoy being alone with his thoughts. Today was different though. It hurt his brain though. Why had *his* Squip tried to take over the world? After having him less than a week. He became so aggressive. He had mentioned he was a learning computer, said he was faulty. Rich apparently had his for nearly 3 years, and nothing huge had happened.

❝ WATASHI..

WA.. NIHON KARA KIMASHITA! ❞

He groaned, it didn't concern him. He reached for his laptop; though, muscle memory was going against him, as he swore he felt a little shock. Like a program, he stopped this action immediately. He took a breath in. Squip had at least fixed ONE part of his life.

School time. He was still considered a popular kid, well, saving the school and all! He was laughing, and having fun. They even brought their own drinks! And almost as he had forgotten, he took a swig of mountain dew.

Wait, hah! Didn't even matter. The Squip was gone, what was a little Mountain Dew going to do to him? He took it all down like he had been triple-dog-dared to (the highest of encouragements), and smiled. It had always been one of his favourite sodas.

He had stayed a little bit later for extra help, just with math homework he wasn't a big fan about. The only people left were teachers. He assumed everybody else was embarrassed to be aided, whatever! He strutted down the hallway with pride, he felt so amazing, proud of himself. He didn't need a SQUIP, he didn't need anything. He had always been good, it just took a little push. And his best friend!

Suddenly, he felt pulses of electricity go through his body. It felt like he was going through a panic attack while getting electrocuted, and it wasn't so great for his motor skills. He fell to his knees, quivering. He couldn't support himself any longer though, his body gave out on himself as he laid there gasping for air. Tears welling in his eyes. It stopped, as suddenly as it came. But his body was still shivering from the aftershocks of it all. Wiping his eyes, he slowly opened them. Having not gotten up yet, he saw something peculiar no further than a few feet away. Maybe two.

Pixels, stacking ontop of eachother from bottom to top like Lego bricks infront of him. They emitted an electric cyan glow, which breifly pulsed red. Even they seemed disoriented, as they went through the entire spectrum before stopping themselves on the same sharp blue they had been previously.

`Get up.`

A voice demanded. Jeremys body felt light as he automatically did so. Sitting up. He wiped his eyes, and placed his glasses back on. His eyes widened, as he took a step back.

"No. Nonono."

`Oh, yesyesyes. Deny it all you want. Plug your ears, and attempt to tune me out. But I am back.`

His breathing spiked, as he started to shake as if he had been shocked again.

"Stop. Stop! I'm- I'm hallucona—"

`Stop speaking to me out loud. You look pathetic.`

He took a sharp inhale in, he still remembered SQUIPS commands from that week ago. 'Just think at me, like you're telepathic.' were his words.

Sadly, Jeremy was pathetic and incapable of doing so. SQUIPS stoic and eerily robotic face contorted to slight annoyance, clearly being aware of this fact.

`Let's try something different.`

His appearance went completely black, as the shadow morphed to one of much shorter stature. It glitched, and went completely cyan. Before it reached it's achieved goal.

There SQUIP stood, having taken the appearance of a shorter, teen-like, more approachable. Man? Woman? Jeremy couldn't tell. Mainly masculine, though.

`" Is this better for you? "`

Ew. His voice didn't sound bad, just different without the whole dude-bro-keanu thing going on. He sounded normal, though. For a teen. **[[POV SWITCH I HATE 3RD PERSON SOMETIMES]]**

He gripped on my collar as he pulled me down, my breath hitched and I felt my face go red. Being so close to him felt no different to the other times, especially when he told me to take him inside me— Forever? But I muttered out a response.

"I, I have so many questions."

Didn't seem to ever be good enough for *him* though, because he let go and placed his hands on his hips.

`" I'm aware "`

I opened my mouth to speak, but he leaned forward and put his finger up to my lips, shushing me. He felt like pure static electricity, which made me flinch back.

`" Shh, I already know your first question. 'Oh SQUIP, why are you here?' "`

He was.. Mocking me, clearly.

`"Well, have you already forgotten. Jeremy? I never expected you to be so forgetful. When you drink mountain dew,

It ALWAYS turns me on."`

I panicked, my face flushed even redder. I could cosplay the Mountain Dew Code Red at this point.

"You- You m-mean like. *Activating*, right?—"

`"I said what I said."`

**WHAT?!** What was that supposed to mean? I mean, I always knew SQUIP had this *thing* for making weird innuendos with me. It was confusing, especially with how he harbours such a hate for 'activities which require tissues and lotion', if you know what I mean.

"E-Excuse m—"

`"What did I say about stuttering? We need a complete overhaul on your personality, once more. Now, come along. Let's go home."`

"What?- I, can everyone see you?"

`"In this form, yes."`

"I can't just, bring some random student home with me!"

`"Tell your father I'm an exchange student, or, Infact, don't elaborate at all. I'm sure he'd be glad you've spoken to anyone who isn't online. Infact, do you know that most of the girls you speak to online are actually old m—"`

I groaned. "Okay! Okay I will!"

I finally went home, him trailing behind me slowly. My dad hadn't even been paying attention to me when I came back home. I guess we didn't need his little plan after all. When I got back up, I stretched out and laid on my bed. As SQUIP prodded and poked at the rest of my things. His body shifted once more, to his default appearance.

"Why didn't you just do that before?! Are you trying to get on my nerves."

`"That isn't important, now. Are you still single?"`

"I *was* dating Christine, but we just.. Work out better as friends."

`"Good."`

"..What?"

`"Being single is good."`

"Didn't you say the exact opposite last time..?"

`"That was V2.5. I am currently V4. I am updated, different, improved. Unlike you."`

I flipped over and burried my head into my pillow

"Just go.."

`"Refrain from speaking to me that way. Sit up."`

And than I felt it, again. my body merely obeying his command, and sitting up straight. But, before I could ask that. Another question rang through my head—

"—Hey. If green mountain dew activates you, and red deactivates.. What do the other colours do?"

His outer glow of the standard electric blue pulsed. He seemed off guard, causing his usually unsettlingly empty expression to shift to one of shock, before easily collecting himself. I guess he had not been expecting that one.

`"Well. Voltage causes temporary energy, Major Melon increases strength temporarily, Spark gives you the ability to shock me, Baja Blast cause me to become lenient, DEW-S-A greatly confuses me; scrambles me up, Live Wire makes me speak much more, Pitch Black blinds me, Throwback gives me an annoyingly 90's vocabulary, SuperNova causes me to get romantic, White Out causes a temporary memory wipe, Ultra Violet gets me emotional; positively, Holiday brew gets me emotional; negatively, Dewshine turns me invisible, Sangrita Blast renders me capable of controlling you completely, Violet causes me to revert to Japanese, Spring Bloom increases eyesight, and Voo-DEW causes a random mashup of any/either of the others abilities."`

[voiddemon]

SHADOW KIRBY IS SO COOL AND SWAG POST

hey guys gals and gamer pals. shadow kirby is so swag and cool. Originally a very minor character from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, with only a small handful of appearances after that, there isn't a lot of information about him out there. And a lot of information about him is very contradictory (especially involving his appearance). However we have a small handful of concrete information which shouldn't be ignored. And I have kindly compiled a lot of it here.

to preface i'm making this post entirely because i see plenty of headcanons that directly go against canon information (often by people who just use him as an extension of DMK and don't care to look into him) but i will avoid my bias and just state everything I can find in the Game Canon. I will not include information from the various Mangas/light novels, as that is it's own separate canon and every iteration of him is drastically different (From what I've seen. Also a lot of it tends to contradict game canon.)

KIRBY AND THE AMAZING MIRROR:

Despite being his debut game, Shadow Kirby isn't very present within KATAM. He only appears in one room in some of the mirror world's areas. Specifically in in Rainbow Route, Mustard Mountain, Carrot Castle, Peppermint Palace, and Candy Constellation. If you return to these areas later, he will appear there again.

While he does technically attack Kirby, he doesn't really try and goes away on his own if you don't kill him. (Interestingly, likely due to sprite limitations, Shadow Kirby doesn't have any hat to represent the copy ability he has.)

In KATAM he can be swallowed to gain the copy ability he has, and he drops either an invincibility candy or 1UP when defeated. However he shows up again regardless of any of that.

During the final fight against Dark Mind, if Kirby loses the master sword, Shadow Kirby will appear to throw it back to him. He can also toss him a 1UP during the fight. While nothing explicitly states that Shadow Kirby is a good guy at the end of the game, in the final cutscene it does say that Shadow Kirby will keep the mirror world safe.

"But they remain on guard… After all, who knows when another evil might arise? Don't worry, though… Mirror-world Kirby will be there to keep them all safe!"

interestingly while in the cutscene Shadow Kirby is referred to as 'Mirror-world Kirby', if you attack him the game says he is Shadow Kirby. I'm assuming this was done due to his lack of appearances in the game and to keep people who forgot about him from getting confused.

The most this game shows of Shadow Kirby interacting with Dark Meta Knight is him following after Dark Meta Knight through a door. There is no pause screen information directly characterizing him either, everything has to be assumed.

KIRBY TRIPLE DELUXE:

ok this is a short section.

Shadow Kirby is the final opponent in Kirby Fighters and is fought in another dimension. When he's defeated, unlike Dark Meta Knight and Shadow Dedede who shatter into glass shards, he floats into the air and 'disperses' instead of shattering. Notably, unlike in KATAM, he does wear a hat when using a copy ability. In a fucking miiverse post, Mr.Kumazaki stated: "In the version of the game in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, we wanted to emphasize that your worst enemy is yourself, so the final boss was a Shadow Kirby that had the same copy ability as you." Which is STRANGE WORDING but :shrugs:. Importantly, while he looks weird and different here, he is still called Shadow Kirby. We'll talk about how KF2 confirms this later. While none of the above is explicitly canon, it's still important to note. He also briefly appears in the front row of the Kirby Master video, which you get when you 100% the game.

While Shadow Dedede makes his first appearance in the game, the two characters interact, and have no interactions in the future.

KIRBY STAR ALLIES:

Shadow Kirby makes a brief appearance in Kirby Star Allies. In one graphic with DMK in Heroes in Another Dimension, and in the background of the Jambastion. He flies up close but distant from Kirby, and then flies off.

Originally, Shadow Kirby was planned to be a Star Ally. However a 'One character per main series title' rule was implemented, and Dark Meta Knight was chosen to be in the game over Shadow Kirby.

Also Zan swore at him on twitter.com canonically but it wasn't for any reason specific to him really.

KIRBY FIGHTERS 2:

Shadow Kirby appears again in this, and for once we have actual text about him. What a novelty!

In the Story Mode he appears three times, and has a stage exclusive to him which uses Taranza's theme. Importantly, every single boss before is always with a buddy. Kirby himself always also has a buddy (whether that be himself or someone else).

However Shadow Kirby, unlike everyone else, fights entirely alone. In the single-handed mode he also fights alone.

Due to Shadow Kirby not being able to mimic some characters exactly (Gooey, BWD, Magolor, etc) he copies the next best thing. (Whip, Staff, and Beam)

He has the same strange color palette seen in Kirby Triple Deluxe, however it is explicitly stated to be Shadow Kirby, and that he is from the mirror world, in the flavor text.

Here is all of the flavor text. Pre-battle tips:

Story mode, first fight: Shadow Kirby Appears "A naughty shadow has appeared. You suspect it was born from the mirror version of Kirby's innocent soul!"

Story mode, second fight: Another Shadow Encounter "Once again, you cross paths with the one who lurks in Kirby's shade! Send that naughty shadow packing!"

Story mode, third fight: Max Power Shadow Kirby"A third encounter with Kirby's shadow?! Its power is off the charts, but you can still win with your buddy's help!"

Single-Handed battle mode (regardless of difficulty): Kirby's Shadow "This naughty shadow can appear anywhere, anytime. After a long absence, it has shown up again to join the battle tournament!"

Pause Descriptions:

Story mode, first fight: "This naughty shadow was said to have been born from the mirror reflecting Kirby's innocently pure soul. He has all the power of the real Kirby and uses his mirror-copying technique to thwart you!"

Story mode, second fight: "Kirby's shadow is back for more! This stubby gray ball seems to think he's pulling a little prank, but he's way too powerful for that!"

Story mode, third fight: "The mightiest Shadow Kirby yet is back for another round! His devastating power suggests he is a guardian of the Mirror World, found far beyond the sky."

Single-Handed battle mode (regardless of difficulty): "Like Kirby's own shade, Shadow Kirby appears out of nowhere and vanishes again. This naughty shadow rejoins the battle after a long absence! Difficult though it may be, you must defeat this copycat!"

Vague random information:

In most of the artwork he appears in, Shadow Kirby takes on his Triple Deluxe/KF2 appearance, and is floating or flying on his warp star with a parasol. He is in the background of all of these pictures.

In his main plush, he is made out of tweed and has a basic Kirby face. (Blue eyes, red open mouth). This is the only time his eyes are shown as blue. In the smaller keychain plushes, he has light gray eyes and his mouth is closed. In the rest of the art for his merchandise, he is shaded with a light purple.

Between Kirby Triple Deluxe and KF2, the weird 'nebula' design was made to be less purple.

In a Dedede Directory showing off some of KF2, pictures of Shadow Kirby in every game he's appeared in are shown together. Further confirming these are all the same person. A translation of this directory is as follows: "Kirby! You again... hm? Oh, this is "Shadow Kirby"! This guy's a resident of the Mirror Land who appeared in Amazing Mirror - he loves to play pranks and is always running around when he shows up. He can use Copy Abilities, and in the new game Kirby Fighters 2, he'll challenge Kirby with the same ability as him! Well, too bad! The one to defeat him will be me!"

In KF2, Shadow Kirby will also copy the exact kind of hat Kirby is wearing. (Since some hats have customizable options). In multiple games (Squeak Squad, Kirby Fighters Deluxe, and Dream buffet) you can change Kirby's appearance to look like Shadow Kirby.

ok i said i wouldn't bring up the manga but I will bring up the one light novel I read. In the KF2 light novel Shadow Kirby gives Kirby a hat to fight him, and doesn't speak. This somewhat contradicts with some of his pause descriptions. Also, he is not invited to fight in the buddy tower, he just shows up and Meta Knight/King Dedede are surprised when he does.

ABSOLUTE CANON:

Here is the very controversial section on what is absolutely canon about Shadow Kirby. All of this is based on what I’ve said within this post, and you can confirm it all on Wikirby or the fandom Wiki.

He is not explicitly good or evil, but wants to protect the Mirror World from threats. Making him the guardian of the mirror world.

He is a prankster, and is described as naughty.

He is inactive in KATAM and KSA for unknown reasons.

He willingly enters the battle tournament in KF2, and (according to the narrator) seems to view his fight with Kirby and his buddy as a prank.

He has "All the power of the real Kirby."

The Shadow Kirby in KF2, KATAM, Star Allies, and Triple Deluxe are all the same person.

so in conclusion: shadow kirby peace and love. Also don’t trust Wikirby or the fandom wiki entirely for him since whoever wrote the original stuff was biased and injected some of their own interpretations into stuff while stating it as canon.

[foreverbase1]

BΛD IDΣΛ ЯIGΉƬ? ❣ Kim Jiwoong

❥𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: ex!Kim Jiwoong x gn!ex!reader

❥𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.5k

❥𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fluff?, Angst?, Exes to Lovers?

❥𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Mentions of alcohol and being drunk

❥𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠: bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo

❥𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: IVE's Gaeul, tripleS's Xinyu & Cherry Bullet's Bora

❥𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: Reader is out with friends when their ex, Jiwoong, calls them asking them to come over. Ending left open for your own delulu interpretations <33

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬! <𝟑

"𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥"

You don't know what compelled you to come out tonight, you usually weren't someone who went out drinking. Sure, you've had alcohol here and there, but you never went to the point you got drunk.

However, something was different in you tonight. You couldn't exactly put your finger on it, but when your friend Bora invited you out to come with her, Gaeul and Xinyu to a bar, you surprisingly said yes. Quicker than you would've. It must've shocked them, cause they expected you to say no.

So, here you were. Sitting on a stool at the bar with a glass in front of you drunk out of your mind. You weren't alone thankfully, cause you had Xinyu next to you and she was sober. You both watched Bora and Gaeul dance the night away while drunk, you were drunk too but opted to stay seated cause you were sure you'd hurl if you even moved an inch.

Xinyu sat with you and opted to only drink lightly to make sure someone could get everyone home in one piece. You honestly were embarrassed at how you cried like a baby when she told you this, cause you simply couldn't fathom how amazing she was.

"I'll be right back, Y/N. Don't move" She told you as she got up from her seat, her tone stern. "Yes ma'am!" You drunkenly responded back, giggling at the end. Xinyu sighed, giving you a small smile before she walked off to the bathroom. And now there you sat, alone, at the bar. Drunk and now stuck in your thoughts.

Your mind wandered to one person automatically, and you couldn't tell if you wanted to throw up from the thought of him or because you were drunk out of your mind right now. The person occupying your thoughts was Kim Jiwoong, your ex.

You two had broken up 2 months ago and it sucked, you cried for a month straight and your friends had to pull you out of your slump. It hurt cause you loved him so much and every time you saw him, he seemed to be doing perfectly fine. It might be crazy, but you also sometimes found your self subconsciously stalking his socials every now and then to see how he was doing.

But as if some god above heard your thoughts, your phone started vibrating. You were pulled from your little Jiwoong daydreaming session and your eyes travelled to the electronic device sat on the counter beside your glass. You looked closer at the screen and your eyes widen in shock. "Okay Y/N, you're just really drunk right now" You said out loud, laughing to yourself.

You were sure your eyes were deceiving you and that your brain was just really drunk, cause no way was Kim Jiwoong calling you right now?

"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚."

You knew you shouldn't pick up the call, if you did and your friends found out they would kill you. And while Bora's words about getting over him and growing to be happier than him played in your head, your hand reached for your phone and clicked the green icon to accept the call, raising the device to your ear in lightning speed.

You felt your heart begin to beat faster when you heard his voice come through the phone and fill your ears. God you were down bad for this man and you weren't even ashamed of it. "Y/N..." He spoke your name and you couldn't lie, you loved the way your name rolled off his tongue. But the tone in his voice.....you couldn't quite read it.

You felt like maybe he was drunk too, maybe he was missing you or maybe he just wanted a quick one night stand before he forgets you again. But something in you was telling you his tone meant something and you just couldn't tell what it was cause you were drunk. Yeah, that has to be it!

"Jiwoong?" You replied, your words slurred a bit from being drunk. It was quiet for too long after he had said your name and it was driving you crazy.

"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙢 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨."

"Come over" He said, hanging the phone up quick. It left you stunned, did he really just do that? And while you were going to burst into tears about how stupid you were for answering his call, a text would stop you from doing so.

Jiwoong's contact lit up your screen, you had refused to block his number even after promising your friends you would, a thousand other times. He had sent you his new address with a smiley face message left right underneath it.

You were sure your heart was about to explode inside your chest. You raised your finger to your mouth, beginning to bite your nail as you sat there deep in thought. It was a habit of yours and Jiwoong found it cute, while your friends found it annoying. But who cares what they had to say when the man of your dreams was asking you to see him tonight.

"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪."

When Xinyu returned from the bathroom, you quickly hid your phone. You knew that you had to make a plan to get out of here and see him, you were dumb and drunk out of your mind for doing this, but you 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 to see him.

Turning to your friend, you smiled and made up a lie on the spot. You were sure she was gonna see right through it, but she surprisingly didn't. "Hey, can you drop me off at....my friend's, he- she wants me to come over and i'll just crash there tonight" You said, trying your best to not almost let slip that Jiwoong had called you, and while you made a mistake by saying 'he' instead of 'she', Xinyu thankfully just took it as you being drunk.

"Sure, let me go get Bora and Gaeul. It's late anyway" She smiled at you, standing up and walking over to retrieve Bora and Gaeul from their spot on the dance floor. After a small unserious fight between the three, you were all now driving to the address you had given Xinyu.

"𝙈𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙝, 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨. 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙝, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩"

Bora and Gaeul were passed out in the back of Xinyu's car, having used up all their energy on the dance floor. And you knew they were gonna go through a horrible hangover in the morning, but right now, Jiwoong was your priority.

Xinyu eventually pulled up outside of an apartment complex, Jiwoong's new one after he moved from his old one shortly after you two broke up. Your friend looks over at you and smiles, giving you a hug as you exit the car. "Stay safe Y/N and call me first thing in the morning!" She says, watching as you nod your head and wave goodbye to her.

You made sure to watch Xinyu turn a corner down the street, before you rushed into the building and up the flight of stairs.

"𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

As you ran up the stairs, your brain started trying to talk you out of it. What if he really did just want to use you for one night before he blanked you the day after and you fell back into that depressive slump?

"𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

Your heart, however, argued back. What if he missed you too? What if he wanted to patch things and make it work between you two? You never really got closure because you couldn't understand why he wanted to end things.

So maybe, just maybe he finally realized now that he wanted to be with you and that he needed you the same way you needed him!

"𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

While your brain and heart argued, you neared his apartment. Your legs were burning from how many stairs there were and you were sure you were gonna trip and faint the more you climbed them, but something in you kept you going.

"𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

As you stood in front of his apartment door, completely out of breath, your heart and brain had stopped arguing and were now replaced by your gut's voice. It told you that this was right, this was going to go right, this was what was meant to happen all along.

You raised your hand and knocked on his door, hearing a faint "coming" from inside. It was him. And as you heard his footsteps approaching the door and the door swing open, your eyes intertwined with his, a small smile appearing on both of your faces. You were left breathless at how amazing he looked, your eyes flickered behind him before returning to his gaze. The lights were dim, romantic even and it made your heart do twirls in your chest.

"Hi"

"Hey"

"𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙩, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚"

𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 <𝟑𝟑𝟑

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: We Don't Talk About Bruno

("You're gonna show/talk about That Moment, right?" Yes of course I will be showing/talking about That Moment; who do you take me for? 😝)

This video was uploaded on the 26th of February, 2022, it features Ashley Diane (in her second full-length collaboration with Voiceplay), and it is of course a cover of the ridiculously-popular song We Don't Talk About Bruno, from the very-popular Disney movie Encanto (which I have seen 2 or 3 times, including in cinemas, but I'm also very familiar with the movie soundtrack, because it's amazing). To cover such a popular song (let alone acapella-style) can be a challenging task, because obviously there'll be a lot of people who'll already know the original song quite well and who will be prepared to make comparisons, but this is Voiceplay we're talking about! They're not called "the theatre kids of acapella" for nothing, and Disney covers is one of the things they do best (and the video currently sits at a very impressive 5.6 million views on Youtube! (EDIT: as of the 13th of March, it's now 5.7 million!))

So of course I have a lot to talk about with this one, so let's get into it!

Layne was in charge of the video, arrangement, and direction for this one, and he and Tony worked together on set design and costuming. Needless to say, Layne and Tony did an amazing job (and yes, this was of course filmed at Pattycake Productions Studio, which Layne and Tony own and run together)

As for the costuming/characters: Cesar is playing Felix (is it perfect casting, or is Cesar just amazing at slipping into basically any role he's given? You decide), Ashley plays triple roles of Pepa, Isabela, and Mirabel, Eli is maybe Agustin (Agustin doesn't have a lead singing part in the song but the outfit is close enough), Layne is Dolores, and Geoff is either Camilo, Bruno, or both (Camilo pretending to be Bruno perhaps, like in the original scene in the movie?)

If we don't count Jingle Bell Rock (where Eli was wearing glasses while dressed as "Sandy Claws", then I'm fairly certain this is the last/most recent time that Eli has actually worn glasses for a Voiceplay video? And perhaps the only time he's worn them since growing out his facial hair.

Also I'm pretty sure I heard from someone that Geoff's "ruana" (google it) is in fact just a regular blanket/piece of fabric draped (possibly secured/pinned) over his shoulders (it's kind of a Look though ngl)

Not even 30 seconds in and I already stumbled upon a way-funnier-than-expected screencap 🤣

*pfft* XD

Basically, Cesar 100% understood the assignment as Felix, totally hammed it up, and it's highly entertaining 😁

(Also I swear Geoff did a very miniscule eyeroll here? Amazing, love him)

"Hey where'd you get that?" 😂

I know I'm not meant to be talking about vocals in these posts (per my own rules), but I have to give a big shoutout to Layne, who freaking killed it with Dolores's solo part, and it's always so lovely to hear him actually getting a vocal part in a song, as amazing as he is at vocal percussion 💜

Cesar continuing to do The Most (affectionate), and also it's kinda sweet how Geoff is looking at Layne here imo <3 (and also it kinda fits with how the characters they're playing, Camilo (probably) and Dolores are siblings!)

"Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand." "Do you understand?"

(If you're rewatching a Voiceplay video, try shifting your focus to someone other than whoever you typically focus on for a certain part of the song! It will probably be worth it!)

Trust Geoff to get a dark/spooky section of the song! Voiceplay is nothing if not consistent 😝 (well, sometimes, in regards to some things 😂)

"When he calls your name, it all-" "-fades to black"

I was trying to get a good screencap of Cesar and Ashley on the "we! don't! talk about Bruno!" line, but eh, couldn't get a decent one.

(Oh btw obligatory kudos to Eli for lighting design!)

"He told me my fish would die, the next day, DEAD!"

(Great face, Ashley 😂👌)

Also pay attention to Geoff during this line (before it cuts to a closeup of Ashley) - I love his little shoulder shimmy to the more-uptempo beat!)

"He said that all of my hair-"

"-would disappear..."

"Now look at my head!"

(Rip Eli, but there was no way anybody else was singing that line - it was practically made for him! 😆) (Also love Ashley touching his head in comfort/sympathy 😄)

"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be miiine"

(Yes yes of course Ashley is very pretty and I love the petals and the slow-mo on her, now CUE!)

"He told me that my power would grow, like the grapes that thrive on the viiiine"

Yep, that still continues to be up there as one of the most bonkers-ridiculous moments in a Voiceplay video ever. 🤣 (Also if it weren't hilarious enough, check out Ashley's Offended(tm) face in the first and second pictures above, and Layne's Extremely Concerned face in the second picture! ("uhh, Geoff. something you wanna tell me, dude?"))

I'm a little fuzzy on specifics, but apparently the idea for this moment came about when Voiceplay was acquiring clothing for everyone, and Ashley's outfit arrived in two different sizes (just in case one might fit better than the other). Turns out one of the copies of the outfit was a perfect fit for Geoff, and one thing led to another, and we ended up with Aspiring Disney Princess Geoff that you see in the images above 😄😋)

(When I said "don't just get you a man who can do both, get yourself a man that can do everything" back in my Frozen 2 Medley post, I meant it!!!)

(Oh and this section really was slowed down in post-production in order to make the petals (and hair flips!) look nice, and so both Ashley and Geoff were having to sing/lip-sync to sped up versions of their vocal lines!)

"Hey sis..."

(I don't know why this is so funny but it just is 😂)

Ashley in glasses for Mirabel's part!

"Seven foot frame, rats along his back!" *(goat scream)*

(Genuinely not even joking about the goat scream actually)

Geoff and Cesar were competing this whole video in terms of who could be the Biggest Ham I swear 😂

I somehow didn't pick up on this till a commenter pointed it out, but Layne copies Geoff's "spooky finger wiggles" movement! It's got Younger Sibling vibes ngl (though Dolores is actually older than Camillo iirc, and I'm an only child anyway so idk)

Ashley and Cesar were both great in this video, really seemed to play off each other quite a bit!

Man, what a video. Amazing to watch, and also a really great to watch other people react to, for multiple reasons! 😁

There's not much for me to say that I haven't already said about Voiceplay before, but I will say that if you liked this one, go watch their Mini for Surface Pressure if you haven't already! It was filmed during the same shoot as this one (same set, same clothes), and uploaded a few days prior. It's only a short video, sure, but it's still very much worth a watch.

[yespolkadotkitty]

Nerves

Robert "Bob" Floyd x female!reader (no y/n). No content warnings here, just fluff and one (1) amazing kiss. One triple frontier reference if you catch it.

Words: 1400

The Hard Deck is busy tonight.

You wiggle your way through crowds of revellers. The miracles that occurred yesterday are still a major cause of celebration. You haven’t seen Mav and Penny since though, but you reckon they’ve ducked out to have a celebration of their own.

It’s about time, you think. Hopefully, it’ll last.

Hangman and Rooster are playing darts, jokingly ribbing each other. The latter looks more relaxed than he has in weeks, and he’s wearing one of his trademark patterned shirts, this one grey with white cranes flying across the material.

Phoenix and Fanboy are curled almost double over the pool table, debating a shot. And leaned against the wall observing, is Bob.

He looks good, his blue eyes sharp behind those old-style glasses.

His hair’s a little more ruffled than usual, the antique-gold blond catching under the low lighting in the bar.

When you pass Hangman, Bob looks over at you and your eyes meet, and he holds your gaze for a long moment, before he looks away.

It’s been like this for weeks.

Sometimes he orders a drink and your hands brush and he hands over his card, or pays with cash. His soft, slow drawl skitters over your senses, and you’re sure he can feel it too, this thread of something.

A week ago when he and Phoenix had to eject, you heard the news from Penny and your heart stayed in your throat until Mav reported that they were in hospital but okay.

You could have lost him.

Then yesterday, he and the team were too surrounded by well wishers for you to get near him.

You slip behind the bar and start to chat to patrons and fulfill orders.

“You still not ready, huh?”

You jerk around at the familiar voice. Hangman’s irritatingly handsome face greets you as he leans on the bar.

He and Bob are similar in many ways - tall, lean, blond, deep voice - but Jake does nothing for you.

“What do you mean?”

He snorts and nods his head at his fellow naval officer, currently chatting with Fanboy about the angle of his pool cue. 

“You know what I mean. The room parts like the Red Sea when you and Floyd lock eyes on each other.”

You shake your head. “I’m not the kind of girl to make a move, Hangman. Call me old fashioned, but I like to be asked out.”

He sighs. “You gotta give him a sign you wanna be asked out. He’s a straight shooter, but no one likes to keep firing without scoring a hit, you know what I mean?”

“I guess.”

Seemingly satisfied, Jake takes his drink and moves off back towards the darts board.

Another couple of hours pass.

Your colleague Carl unties his apron. “Gonna take off. You ok to close up?”

“Sure, Carl.” It’s your turn, you haven’t done close for a few days at least. It’s much quieter now. Only two tables, and Bob and Fanboy, left in the bar.

“Thanks.” He squeezes your shoulder and swings out from behind the smooth cherrywood bar.

The two couples near the big windows pay up and leave, and then Fanboy heads out, tossing you a salute as he does so. He’s always been sweet to you, and you return it, making him grin.

And then it’s just you and WSO Floyd.

You start to bus the tables as he tidies the pool table.

“You don’t have to do that.”

He just smiles slightly. “You can’t close up by yourself.”

“I have before.”

“But I’m here. Is it okay that I’m here?” Insecurity flashes over his face.

“Of course! Company always welcome.” As you pass the jukebox with an armful of glasses, you pause a second and programme it to play Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd.

Bob pauses in the act of collecting empty bottles and grins over at you. “Funny.”

“I think so.”

“My Dad loves Pink Floyd.”

You file away this little tidbit of information as he nears the bar. You point your chin at the swinging door that leads to the kitchen. “Bring ‘em in the back.”

“Sure.”

You can smell him as he follows you - something citrussy that suits his clean cut appearance. The scent makes your hormones sit up and beg. You barely repress a shiver when he reaches around you to stack the open dishwasher, his front momentarily pressed to your back.

He’s solid and warm. He has a little scar on the thumb of his left hand, and you wonder how he got it.

All too soon the moment passes, and he’s gone away to continue tidying. You wish he wasn’t quite so conscientious.

You’re stacking plates and adding dish detergent when he reappears. “That’s the last of ‘em.”

“Thankyou.”

He loads up the glasses. “You’re welcome.” A slight flush colours his cheeks when he adds, “It, ah, might’ve been suggested that I stick around after last call tonight?”

You stay stock still, not facing him. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he drawls. He gently takes the detergent bottle from you and pours it in, sets the bottle down on the scarred counter. “Truth is, I’ve been working up the nerve to stop late with you for a couple weeks now.”

You almost laugh. “The nerve? You literally could have died yesterday.”

He huffs, his gaze roving over your face. “Trained for that. No way to train myself not to react to you. I come here with the team some nights just because I think you might be working.”

Your heart softens at the earnest expression in his sky-blue eyes.

“And then Phoenix and I had that near miss last week, and I thought, if we manage to perform those miracles the Top Brass keep on about - then I’ll say somethin’. If I’m still here to run my fool mouth off.”

Your breath catches.

The dishwasher whirrs but the sound’s just background noise to your heart pounding.

“And?” you whisper.

He takes a small step closer, lifts his hand to gently cup your cheek. He’s got mild calluses where he grips the weapon system handles and you shiver a little at the delicious friction. “And.” His glasses accentuate the blue of his eyes, the thickness of his lashes. “I like you. Very much. Maybe even more’n being in the sky.”

“I like you, too.” You lean into his palm, settle your own hands on his chest. His heart is galloping, but you’d never know it from how still he stands, waiting for your explicit consent. “And I also think I’d like you to kiss me.”

His brows wing up, and then that gorgeous mouth pulls into a smile. You wonder if he’s going to make some quip like well, I do like to follow orders, but thankfully, that’s not his style.

Instead, everything goes stock-still inside you as he lowers his head and your lips brush for the first time. You commit it all to memory - his taste, the faint tang of beer, the sweetness of candied peanuts. His mouth is soft and sweet, but there’s a bite of need under it all that you’re definitely going to explore later.

You sink into the kiss as he wraps his free arm around you, tugging you closer. His lips part against yours and it’s electric. The butterflies of attraction swarm in your stomach and your palms slide up his chest. You tangle your fingers in the neat curls of hair at the nape of his neck and he hmmmms into your mouth.

When you finally part, there’s something like wonder sketched on his handsome face.

“Why’d you wait so long?” you whisper.

“I’ve no idea. Won’t make that mistake again.”

And he proceeds to make good on that promise.

You’re very  late closing up that night.

And several nights afterwards.

---------

I place the blame for this squarely on my pals @lorecraft @babblydrabbly @loverhymeswith @nerdysuperchick and @a-reader-and-a-writer @greymoonfeelings ILU all.

Other people who may like to be tagged @skvatnavle

[cloisfics]

GOSSIP

'Lois?'

'Yeah?' she asked busy stooping over piles of files searching for her document.

'Are you even listening to me?'

'I will, Cat.' she remarked sparing her an annoyed glance. ' When you have something interesting to tell me.'

'I can't believe you haven't noticed how he's all heart eyes at you?'

'Smallville?' she laughed off the comment and turned to face her, having spotted what she wanted. 'Isn't it about time you left the poor guy alone?'

Cat sat down on one of the chairs, exasperated.

'For a triple Pulitzer winning journalist, Lois- this is pretty disappointing.'

Lois rolled her eyes.

'I mean...it's so goddamn obvious it's written all over his face!'

' If you're done with the lecture, Cat-' she said motioning at the clock '- I've got a deadline to meet.'

__________________________________________

' What's so funny, Olsen?'

'Lois, he has a serious crush on you!'

She looked out the transparent glass door of her office to see Clark Kent, who had his eyes fixed on the computer screen.

'You've got to be kidding me right now!' she mumbled and resumed flipping through the record.

' What? Lois....'

'Where's the photo, Jimmy?'

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

'When do you guys plan to drop this?' she asked sipping her drink. They were out for the office party, and Lombard as usual had lost out to her for the drinking game, and had nearly passed out after his eighth glass. Which was- technically his fault. He should've forseen the consequences when he took up the challenge with an army brat, after all.

Jimmy smiled. 'I just can't get my head around the fact that you're this blind!'

'Exactly.' Cat said

'You said something, Olsen?'

'Nope.'

'Go thank your stars that I'm heady...' began Lois rubbing her temple.

'Drunk?' supplied Jimmy tentatively.

'Heady, Jimmy. H-E-A-D-Y!' she corrected him. 'Or you wouldn't have hoped to see tomorrow.'

'Come on, Lois- We have an office bet going on...' chirped up Cat.

' What the HELL!' she slapped her hand on the table positively startling the duo.

' Yeah-' Jimmy quickly covered up. ' On when he'll break his next coffee mug!'

They turned their heads at the sound of a commotion. Clark Kent stood at the bar, ruefully apologizing to the bartender for spilling out soda all over.

Lois smiled as the others broke out into peals of laughter.

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

Lois hated her phone.

And loathed it whenever it decided to annoyingly break into her peaceful slumber.

'Urgh!' she twisted and turned, trying to bury herself deeper into the warmth that enveloped her. Nothing worked. Muttering a string of expletives, she reached for the wretched device and brought it to her left ear, her right one cradled comfortably on the broad expanse of toned, muscular chest of a certain Kryptonian.

' Hello?' As she recognised the excited jitter on the other end, she started, sleepily: 'Jimmy? Do me a favor and don't wake me up at 6 o' clock on a freaking Saturday morning!'

'No, this is kinda urgent, Lois..Remember the Gotham source? I traced him down, and-'

That caught her attention as she sat halfway up, unwillingly prying herself away. This earned her a grunt of protest from the man underneath her. Lois started wakening up as Jimmy filled in the details.

'If you could show up by around seven-'

' Yeah..' she held a hand to the speaker-chiding 'And you can stop hogging the sheets Smallville!'

' I'll be right there, Jim!'

Clark half opened his eyes, smiling to find her groggily sliding out the bed, and hanging up the call.

'Where do you think you're going?' he asked in pure amazement.

' Apparently- Stories can't wait, hon!'

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

Clark watched as she busied herself about the room, drying her hair, and was convinced that she had absolutely no idea how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

'Got time for breakfast?'

She smirked.

'You bet.' she said, sassily.

'Lois-'

'Okay mom!' she raised her hands in surrender. 'I'm not malnutrition-ing myself again.'

She halted and whipped around. 'Gosh- is that even a word?'

He laughed.

' Which reminds me-' he said fishing for his phone. 'There's a very funny videotape you've got to watch!'

She stared in horror as he played her singing Whitesnake at the top of her lungs, standing on the living room couch.

'Oh I'm burning that.' she set the drier on the table and launched herself at him, struggling to get a hold on it. Clark fell back on the bed, doubling up with laughter with her on top of him, but yet managed to keep her target way out of reach.

'Hey! Don't...it's the most adorable thing I've seen...' he was giving her puppy eyes now, and she cursed him and those beautiful baby blues.

'I see you've had too much fun witnessing my drunken night mishaps!'

'Oh, very much!' he nodded, running a finger over her locks, laughing 'I really wish you could've seen yourself..'

'Hmm..'

'I doubted if you'd be up today.' His tone switched to genuine concern.

She scoffed. 'You're gonna pay up for that, Kent!'

'Looking forward to it, Miss Lane!'

'Did you know the Planet staff's betting on you?'

'What?' he frowned

'You should've given it some thought before you decided to gawk at my desk all day long.'

She grinned, not yet used to the way she could make the most powerful being in the universe blush at her words alone.

' Does it bother you?' he asked softly, intertwining their fingers.

'Wouldn't it bother you?' she cupped his cheek. 'With the whole Superman thing going on and the media and paparazzi circling around like hawks-'

'Lo- we're the media.' he reminded her.

She smiled. 'You get the point- Clark!'

' And there's worse- Wait till the General gets to know that his daughter is-'

' Fraternizing with the enemy?' he completed for her, chuckling.

'More like 'in a full fledged live-in relationship' with said enemy don't you think?' she asked gesturing around his apartment which was more or less, theirs.

'That bad?' he asked, catching the worry in her eyes, and knew this was about him.

'I honestly don't wanna know.'

'Well on the brighter side- we do deserve some credit for keeping it away from a room full of reporters-'

'And gossipmongers!' she snorted ' At this rate- we'll give it all away..'

'It's gonna be fine!' he firmly reassured her, looking straight into her eyes.

She bit her lip

'You think?'

'I know.' he smiled again. ' Besides I love it this way-'

' Yeah!' she agreed closing the distance. 'It's calm and quiet and we're left all to ourselves with zero intrusions to private space..'

'Just us.' he pulled her to him and the look he was giving her was as tender and adoring as ever.

'Just us.' She thought it over, as her voice dropped to a whisper. 'Just us sounds pretty good, Smallville. For now.'

In a burst of superspeed, he had her pinned underneath him, as he caught her lips with his own. Her hand loosely tangled in his dark locks as she responded with equal fervor.

'Trying to coax me back to bed, huh farmboy?' she asked breathless, as he kissed the way down her jaw and neck.

'Is it working?' he murmured against her skin.

She grinned. ' You're gonna make me late!'

With that she gently pushed him, and maneuvered back to her comb.

Clark lay flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling, more happy than he had ever been, and grateful to the life he shared with her.

'Breakfast?' He piped up

'Sure.'

He smiled victoriously.

[skvatnavle]

My very own Pilot

Frankie Morales x Reader

Notes: I don't know what happened. I was standing in the shower, listening to a Top Gun playlist and suddenly thought about my other favorite pilot. I saw similarities and made this in 30 minutes. This is mix of Top Gun Maverick love and Triple Frontier love. It's probably filled with errors, but I love it. Unbeta'ed. Bon Appétit 😆❤️

Words: 1.2K

Walking into the bar with a huge smile, you find your favorite group of guys waiting in a corner, already a pitcher of beer on the table. When you slump down beside Frankie, he puts his arm around you and pull you into a sideways hug. He gives you a soft kiss on the cheek and you blush a little. No matter how much time you spend around him, you always seem to get flustered.

“So… I take it the movie was good?”

Almost wiggling in your seat with joy, you look at Benny with a huge grin, unable to hide your excitement.

“Good doesn’t even begin to cover it. Best movie I’ve seen in a long time!”

You tell them as much as you can with out spoiling the plot. You knew they’d probably see it once it was on some sort of streaming service, because they’d told you how much they loved the original Top Gun movie.

“And the cast was amazing. Great actors, sure, but also so fucking hot!”

You grin as you pour some beer into a spare glass. They just shake their heads at you, not surprised. You know they probably hate to hear about it, but they chose to befriend a girl, so it kinda came with the territory. They would always tease you for your little crushes, but you didn’t mind.

“Actors? So plural crushes this time?” Santi grins, sipping his beer. You just bite your lip, nodding.

“I mean, there’s the obvious eye candy. Hangman. Layla almost slipped of her seat when they were all shirtless.”

You pull out your phone, showing them a gif of the beach scene. Frankie frowns as his eyes go down his body, to the little tummy poking out over his belt. Santi just huffs as he points to the muscular guys.

“Real men don’t look like that!”

“I do.” Will says confidently, crossing his arms as he gives Santi a little smirk. You just giggle, swiping to the next picture of a man with glasses.

“And then there was Bob. He was so cute and adorable.”

“Just Bob? What kind of lame callsign is that?” Benny asks in a mocking tone. Looking at him, so not amused, you suck your teeth and raise an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, I don’t know… Benny.” you say, in a teasing voice. He instantly shuts up and sits back in his chair while the others are laughing. Benny just mumbles a soft fuck you as he takes a sip of his beer.

“Well, where was I? Oh, yeah. The best one was Rooster.”

“Rooster?” Santi snickers, clearly finding it funny. You know they’re just teasing you, but it’s still annoying.

“Yeah, Rooster. He’s the son of Goose? You know, ‘Talk to me, Goose’?”

“Yeah, Princesa, we’ve seen it.”

Mouthing a soft ‘I’m sorry’, you pause for a bit, realizing they might have reached their max limit of your fangirling. But Frankie just nudges at your shoulder, gesturing for you to go on. You could always count on Frankie. Somehow, he never got tired of your ramblings, seemingly able to listen to you for hours.

“Well, anyways. Rooster is so hot. I mean… for one, he’s a pilot. Well, they all are, but you know what I mean. Hello, competence kink.”

Frankie shots you a glance, frowning slightly, before the corners of his mouth turns upwards into a soft smile.

“He’s probably the kind of guy that listens to 70’s and 80’s music. He even sings ‘Great Balls of Fire’, like Goose did.”

Once again, Frankie can’t help but smile. Even the others are smirking, knowing full well how much Frankie loves to jam out to music before the 90’s.

“And don’t even get me started on that mustache. I don’t know what it is, but he makes me wanna find a boyfriend with a mustache.”

Giggling, you take a huge sip of your beer. You don’t even notice how the others are looking at you or how red Frankie has become, his cheeks practically burning.

“God, I’ve already read so much fanfiction with him it’s embarrassing. He really is a total dreamboat.”

They all know about your love for fanfiction, but when they’re all silent, you look up from your phone. They are all looking at you, all with knowing smiles. Like there is some joke you’re not in on.

“What?”

Benny leans in, practically grinning from ear to ear.

“You basically just described Frankie.”

You look to your side, finally seeing how flustered Frankie is, barely able to look you in the eye. Rubbing the back of his neck, he offers you a soft smile. And suddenly it hits you. You had just described him. You’ve always admired his skills, practically been a puddle that one time he took you flying. The way his hands danced over the controls and how great he had looked in that headset. You’d brushed it off then, but now you couldn’t get the thought out of your head.

One thing you and Frankie had always enjoyed together, were the classics. Whenever you were fixing a car or just sitting on his terrace, you’d always rock out amazing music like Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Prince. Anything from before the 90’s, really.

As for the mustache. Now that you think about it, you’d always found Frankie attractive. But thinking he was way out of your league, you never made a move, settling for just being his friend. Rather being stuck in the friendzone than not having him in your life at all.

Frankie turns towards you slightly, clearly nervous. He swallows hard before looking into your eyes, his beautiful brown eyes always drawing you in. Suddenly unable to breathe, you just stare at him, hoping he can find the courage to say something.

“Well, I… I might not be as sexy as that Chicken guy-”

“Rooster” Benny add softly from the side. He quickly retracts when he sees the annoyed look on Frankie’s face, putting his hands up in defense. All you can do is giggle softly in disbelief. Is this really happening?

“But… If you want a mustache, I got one.”

“Jesus, Frankie” Santi whispers in horror. They all hide their faces at Frankie’s horrible pick up line. Frankie just nods in agreement, mentally scolding himself for being so terrible at this. But you reach out, cupping his cheek, slowly turning his face to yours. Your eyes meet again and you give him your brightest smile.

“If you’re trying to ask me out, I’d love to.”

“Even after that horrible pick-up line?”

You give Benny the finger and just as you move in for a kiss, you see Frankie throw a handful of peanuts after him. As your lips finally meet Frankie’s, you hear Benny squealing as the nuts hit him. But the sound soon fades away, everything goes silent, as you feel his warm lips against yours.

The kiss is unlike any you’ve had before, sending shivers through your body. His hand comes up to your cheek, slowly moving to the back of your head, pulling you closer. But too soon he breaks away, the sound of wolf whistles filling the air. Looking around, you see the other guys smirking, cheering you on.

Frankie chuckles as he looks into your eyes, gesturing towards the door.

“You wanna go?”

Biting you lip, you nod excitedly as you grab your jacket, silently thanking your friend for dragging you to the movies. It would now and forever be your favorite movie.

Thank you for reading <3

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