#and a large sink so dishes are a bit easier to handle

[biohazard-inevitable]

It may be silly and quaint but I like to daydream about my future fridge that is organized by just me…

Eggs would be in a clear, reusable container so i can see how many are left

A well kept drawer just for cheese

Perishables like potatoes and fruits would be front and center, easy to grab and see if they’ve gone bad

Clear nozzled bottles that are labeled for different cooking oils wether it be cooking wine, olive oil, etc all labeled with the name and last restock date

A drawer for herbs like garlic cloves and other vegetables in that sort of vein

Little clear organiser baskets of snacks places in a line like they would be at the grocery store

Sodas also in a similar clear container so i can see when to restock

2 % milk and Heavy cream aplenty as well as whipped cream

A butter section seperate from everything so i dont have to go digging for it every time….

Everything neat and tidy and easily accessible for any recepie I may try

OH! And a basket organizer purely reserved for leftovers in tupperware so they dont get forgotten about

[k-evans-reads]

In Living Color

Chapter 17

Summary: When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Pixar Animator OFC Natalie Marton

Word Count: 5,217

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Warnings: Sexual content. 18+ ONLY. MINORS DNI.

Previous | Main Masterlist | In Living Color Masterlist

December 31st, 2021

Chris watched Nat as she checked the temperature of the chicken, shutting the door of the oven quietly as Mark and Jamie boomed with laughter from behind them. The happy laughter in the room made Chris smile, his cheeks practically aching from how much he’d been laughing and smiling the past two days he’d been up in this cabin in the mountains of Washington. 

They’d spent Christmas on opposite coasts, with their own families back in their hometowns, before Chris, Dodger, Scott, and Scott’s partner flew to Washington to join Nat, Mark, Jamie, and Lauren at a ski town just east of Seattle, tucked away in a large rental in the snowy mountains. He’d missed Nat desperately over the holiday, despite only being separated for nearly two weeks. They’d made the decision together to spend the holiday apart, but it hadn’t made it any easier and instead had only made them a bit more attached to their phones than either anticipated that day. 

But here in Washington, surrounded by their closest group from California, they’d slipped seamlessly back together, evidenced by Chris smacking her ass as she walked by him to open another bottle of wine for everyone. He’d thought the action went unnoticed by the group in the kitchen, with Scott and Steve making a salad by the sink and Lauren handling the potatoes while Mark and Jamie sat at the island and prepped green beans, but a groan told him otherwise.  

“Are we really going to have to deal with this for the next three days?” Mark asked, rolling his eyes as he scowled at the couple. 

Chris’ brows furrowed as Nat smirked playfully at him, her hand tickling his side as she headed back over to the stove to help Lauren. “Deal with what?” Chris asked him. 

“You two being all over each other,” he clarified, waving a hand before he grabbed the pepper from the counter, grinding it over the vegetable. “I swear nobody would even be able to fit a piece of paper between you two!” 

But Nat didn’t miss a beat, even with her back turned and as she sprinkled rosemary on top of the potatoes. “Don’t be crabby just because you don’t have a new boyfriend yet,” she told him, faux-dismissively.  

Scott grinned from where they were near the large window overlooking the snow-covered trees outside, telling the group, “We’re actually spoiled by Chris being… Chris, because that means he can’t really be into PDA when we go out and do things so it saves us.” 

Jamie chuckled as he shook his head, getting up to bring the dish of green beans over to the oven. “Yeah, and at our game nights Nat is too busy trying to make up some ridiculous rule or throwing game pieces at everyone and Chris is busy trying to talk shit about everyone for them to even think about getting handsy,” he supplied, dodging a playful shove from Nat. 

Steve glanced over his shoulder as he washed his hands, pointing out, “Well they’re making up for it now.” 

“Okay in my defense, I haven’t gotten my girl in almost two weeks! Give me a fuckin’ break!” Chris told the group, holding his hands up defensively, but he smiled as the rest of the group laughed. 

Nat turned as Lauren put the potatoes and green beans into the oven, leaning the small of her back against the countertop as she crossed her arms over her chest and told the group, “And Chris is going to be ditching me come February.” 

Chris rolled his eyes, reminding her, “It’s called filming, not ditching.” 

But Nat smirked at him, shrugging her shoulders. “Same thing,” she murmured, laughing as he snaked an arm out to tickle her side. 

“You know, after how many times you ate it on the mountain today, I would have thought it’d knock the sass out of you,” he murmured, his hands stopping as Nat leaned against his side with a happy sigh just before she slipped out of his grasp to check the chicken again.

Jamie frowned, his eyes wide as he seriously told Chris, “Nothing can knock the sass out of her, trust me, we’ve seen her wipe out way worse than today.” 

Recalling that very first day that Nat had crashed into his life he chimed in, “That’s true, I do seem to remember meeting Nat for the first time seeing her slamming into a glass door.” 

He didn’t even have to see Nat as she bent over the oven to know she was rolling her eyes while defending,“I was trying to hurry and didn’t notice-” 

But Chris couldn’t help but cut her off with a playful smirk, asking, “Notice that big door right in front of you?” 

“You know what, Evans?” Nat started with a smirk, pointing the spatula in her hand at him, “If you keep this up, you’re sleeping alone tonight.” 

“By midnight you’ll be freezing and come lay on top of me so I’m not worried,” Chris shrugged with a soft laugh, moving to sit down on one of the barstools at the island.

“I still think my first meeting with Nat was more memorable,” Scott insisted as he washed his hands, turning the faucet off before turning around as he dried his hands. “I got to meet her while she stuck her head out the window of her apartment yelling that she was locked in.” 

Mark let out a loud laugh from next to him at the counter, shaking his head and insisting, “Honestly, that’s not even anything to bat an eye at. When you know Nat as long as we have, chaos is just something you come to expect.” 

“How did you all meet, anyway?” Chris piped up as he looked between the trio. Over the past almost year, he’d come to see just how close the three of them, as well as Lauren and their children were. He knew that they’d all been friends for so long and had become more like family than friends which is something he understood well, knowing just how bonded he was to some of the people in his life that he’d grown up with but Chris finally vocalized, “I think in all this time I’ve never actually heard exactly how other than you all worked together.” 

A soft laugh echoed from Lauren as she peeked in the oven to check on the food before looking over her shoulder, “Honestly Chris, I don’t know that you should get them going. You should know by now that these three have their own little language we’ll never be able to decipher.” 

A soft smile crossed his face as he looked over at Nat, running a hand through her curly hair as she noted, “It’s been so long that I don't think I even remember the first time that I met Mark.” 

“Oh I do,” Mark was adamant as he pulled everyone’s attention to him, his hands resting on the counter as he revealed, “I was helping with the onboarding orientation for the new hires. How old were you? Like early or mid 20’s?” 

Nat’s brows furrowed as she tried to recall exactly when it was, finally remembering, “I was 22 so you were 27.” 

Mark nodded, continuing the story and telling everyone, “Yeah, so anyway I’m sitting at this orientation with probably thirty or so people and in comes this curly-headed tornado who sat down right next to me and she introduced herself, told me that she thought we were going to be friends and then asked me to watch her stuff while she went to the bathroom,” he paused, shaking his head with a grin. “But I guess Nat was right because we did become friends almost immediately.” 

“Jamie, how did you get hooked up with the gruesome twosome?” Chris asked, nodding his head towards the other man in the room with a curious look on his face. 

Jamie smirked, glancing at Nat and Mark with a knowing look in his eyes. “Well I was in a different department but I had met Mark here and there but we hadn’t talked a lot. But one day on my lunch break I walked through the Pixar campus and I saw this girl sitting on a bench unzipping her backpack,” he quieted down as Mark and Nat began laughing, a smirk on his lips while Scott, Steve, and Chris’ faces turned to confusion. “I was just absentmindedly watching and saw a little squirrel hop out of her backpack and run across the grass and up into a tree.” 

Chris’ jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock, and he turned to Nat as he incredulously asked, “You had a fucking squirrel in your backpack?!” 

“My thoughts exactly,” Jamie murmured as he sat back in the barstool, smirking at the chaos that story caused. 

Nat held her hands up in defense, waiting until the room quieted down to speak. “Okay it actually makes sense though because I saw a little squirrel in the parking garage and I was afraid he’d get killed so I just dumped some of my nuts into my backpack to lure him and then zipped it up when he climbed in and took him out to where the trees were,” she told them, then paused and shrugged. “That seems very normal to me.” 

Chris rolled his eyes as she finished speaking, insisting, “Only you would think that it’s normal to lure a squirrel into a backpack to get it to safety.” 

As the timers began beeping, Lauren grabbed oven mitts and opened the oven to pull each dish out while Nat grabbed the meat thermometer. “That’s not even the part that surprised me about that story. The part that shocked me was that Jamie chose to be friends with her after that!” Lauren laughed, waiting until Nat nodded to pull the dish of the chicken out as well. 

“I just remember making eye contact with her and laughing so hard, then Nat ran over to give me that same crazy explanation and that was that,” Jamie chuckled, grabbing the bottle of wine and salad before he headed to the table. 

“Okay Jamie wins for the most memorable first meeting with Nat,” Scott laughed as he looked around the group, helping carry food over. 

But before the conversation could roll on, Chris put a hand out as he said, “Wait, we haven’t heard Lauren’s yet!” 

“Well Jamie and I’ve been married for five years so these hooligans had already been thick as thieves for a long time,” Lauren snickered as she looked at the three outgoing artists who were bonded so tightly. She accepted Chris’ help gratefully, handing him an oven mitt so he could carry the potatoes as they headed to the table “But my first time meeting Mark and Nat was when Jamie brought me out with them one night and we walked in and Jamie pointed out that his friends were the two drunk people singing a karaoke duet up on stage.” 

At the thought of the memory, Nat hunched over behind her chair with her loud hysterical laughter, dark curls shaking as she pushed out through her adorable laughter, “The worst part is that we actually weren’t even drunk!” 

Mark was laughing just as hard, reaching a hand to point at Nat from across the table as they all sat down and he kept cracking up, arguing, “No, the worst part is that it wasn’t karaoke night!” 

With the lighthearted atmosphere in the room, Chris slipped into the empty chair next to Nat and snapped his fingers and commented with a smile, “Damn I really did think my first meeting with her was special.”  

“Yours doesn’t even make the top ten that I can think of,” Jamie shook his head. 

“It might not be the most embarrassing first meeting I’ve had, but it certainly is the most special,” Chris felt his heart soften as Nat said those words, looking at him with nothing but love in her eyes, holding his gaze for a long moment before tipping her head back as she mused, “God, I can’t believe how long it’s been since that first orientation at Pixar. I remember feeling like I was going to throw up because I was so nervous.” 

“I think I might have,” Mark laughed before he looked at his two longtime friends, asking, “Can you believe how long it’s been since we all started?” 

“I can’t believe all three of us are still there,” Jamie noted, leaning down to pet Dodger who was walking around their feet. “Although I’m pretty sure they’re going to have Nat chained to her desk from here on out so it’s not surprising she’s stuck there.” 

Unsure of the meaning behind his words, Chris tilted his head and asked, “What does that mean?” 

“Right before Christmas they assigned me to my next film already,” Nat nearly groaned as she leaned back in her chair, informing him, “I’m starting on Inside Out 2 right when we all get back from the holidays.” 

Steve piped up, wondering, “Is Lightyear even done?” 

Chris was curious, looking at Nat as she let out a soft sigh, “I’ll be fully done with it in February so I have to work on both for the next month.” 

His brows furrowed as he heard her weary words, remembering their conversation from earlier in the month as he pointed out, “That sounds kind of rough, Nattie.” 

But Nat could only shrug before Mark launched into explaining, “Nat’s just too good that they don’t ever give her a break. She always goes from one thing right into the next,” with a chuckle before he paused to serve Lauren some of the salad. “Once she showed how great she did as lead character designer for Disgust in Inside Out, they’ve just been putting her on as much as they can.” 

While grabbing her glass of wine, Nat muttered, “Apparently they just really want me to have no life ever.” 

Not wasting a chance to tease his friend, Jamie wondered, “Sorry did you ever have one? This is news to me.” 

Not missing a beat, Nat smiled at him and told him, “You can just fuck off.” 

Chris just shrugged before leaning over to bump his shoulder against hers, “After your incredible art show, I think you’re going to have to tell Pixar you can’t work as much because you’re too busy becoming a famous painter.” 

Nat shrugged, her voice quiet as she admitted to not only him, but the group as well, “With the way my schedule is going to be coming up, I’ll be lucky if I even have time to think about painting, let alone do it.” 

Chris frowned at her words and watched as Nat pushed aside her feelings and passed him the potatoes before she dug into her dinner, but throughout the evening, the thoughts lingered in his mind as they ate dinner, cleaned up, then watched a movie with everyone, celebrating with champagne as they rang in the New Year before they all trudged off to their bedrooms in the rental home.

Chris and Nat headed down to the ground floor and to the back corner, closing the door behind them with yawns and sore muscles from the long day on the slopes. The bed was inviting and empty, thanks to Dodger deciding to spend the night with Scott and Steve upstairs, and Chris flopped down on it with a sigh as Nat pulled on one of his old sweatshirts.

“Ugh, I’m so sore! Why in the world did I let you and Scott talk me into going down that huge hill?” She complained quietly, pulling her curly hair up into a messy bun before she crossed the short distance of the room to lay down on the bed with a groan. 

“That huge hill? You mean the one that the group of kids passed you on?” 

“Yeah that one,” she yawned, eyes softening as she sat up against the fluffy pillows. 

“I was trying to show you how to do it!” Chris laughed, a hand coming up to run through his hair as he plugged his phone in and set it down on the nightstand. 

Nat pulled the fuzzy blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed up tucking it around her lanky frame as she rolled her eyes and reminded him, “Yeah, while laughing at me!” 

“Well you looked pretty funny, babe,” he murmured, his hand coming to rest over the blanket on top of her knee, squeezing her leg reassuringly. 

She rolled her eyes but the fond smile playing across her lips betrayed her as she muttered, “Nice to know my boyfriend is so supportive of me.” 

“I’m supportive through my laughter,” he assured her with a grin, smirking as she shoved his shoulder lightly. He laid down on the bed fully and rolled onto his side, facing her as his voice dropped and he confessed,  “I know we’ve only been here a few days, but this has been so great. I’ve really loved this trip.” 

“Me too,” Nat agreed, her voice quiet and soft. “I really missed you over Christmas.” 

“I missed you too, Nattie. It just didn’t feel right without you,” he sighed. He thought it wouldn’t have been a big deal, being separated over the holiday. He assumed the chaos of the big family get-togethers would’ve been enough distractions for them both, but their nearly-constant contact over text and a couple phone calls throughout the day proved otherwise. It hurt more being apart than it would’ve been for him to suck it up and hop on a flight to be with her before the holidays, but he had not expected it. Most of his previous relationships had little to no expectation, especially less than a year in, when it came to spending Christmas together or alone with their families, but both he and Nat had their own reasons to be home. He was gearing up for what seemed to be a long year of work ahead both in Atlanta and abroad, with three projects and two press tours to handle, and Nat, to see her family, baby Jack, and spend time with them alone. 

But he’d missed her. He’d ached to be there with her, to have her by his side as he watched his Ma open up her gifts from everyone, to see Dodger bouncing around with his niece and nephews as they enjoyed the chaos of the morning. He wanted nothing more than to have her by his side, and he wasn’t surprised when he learned a few hours later that Nat was struggling with the same thing. That knowledge both helped and stung a little, but it built up the anticipation even more for their New Years getaway with the group in Washington, to the point that he was practically vibrating as he stepped off the charter flight to see her waiting in a rental car with Mark, Jamie, and Lauren at the airfield. 

Nat gave him a half-smile as her voice softly told him, “We’re going to have to get used to that with the year we have coming up.”

“I guess so,” he sighed, giving her a frown in return as his mind began racing with all he knew was happening that year. He was already committed to those three projects, involving long shoots in Atlanta, across the country from Nat. He knew that once work picked up post-pandemic that it would test them, but it certainly happened a lot quicker than he realized. The year flew by thanks to Nat’s role in his life, making him look forward to everyday for a new reason that he hadn’t anticipated this time last year. But with the reality being that it was about to be 2022, he realized just how long they’d been side by side, nearly inseparable for almost ten and a half months now. “I was going to ask you if you might be able to come out to Atlanta at all while I’m filming Ghosted but from what you said tonight, it sounds like you’re going to be really busy.” 

“Yeah I found out about Inside Out 2 right before Christmas break and I wanted to wait to tell you until I could see you in-person,” she sighed, frowning slightly at herself. Her hand landed on top of his where it was resting on her knee, squeezing it gently before he flipped his hand over and laced her fingers through his own, all without taking his eyes off of hers. “I was really hoping I would have a more relaxed January so we could spend a lot of time together before you leave but now I’m going to be even busier having to juggle both projects.” 

“It’s alright, baby. We’ll still get to spend time together,” he assured her, before he remembered what was on his calendar in early February and he frowned nervously. “Are you going to be able to get away to Palm Springs in February?” 

“That was on the schedule before I was assigned so I still get that time off,” Nat reassured, smiling faintly at the mention of that long weekend away. He knew what she was imagining – just them, phones off, no distractions, one last quiet weekend before the chaos of the year truly began. “I’m sure those couple weeks before I’m going to be swamped though.” 

Chris chuckled, his thumb moving back and forth mindlessly over the soft skin on the back of her hand. “I have a feeling I’ll be bringing you a lot of comfort food for lunch,” he laughed. 

“Chris, I think you should go home for a while in January,” Nat sighed, surprising him with those words. He thought they were pretty in sync, wanting to soak up any time they could before chaos broke loose and they had forced distance between them, but to hear that she didn’t want him out there with her made him – admittedly – nervous and a bit scared. “You know I love to be with you, but I know you’re going to need some time to recharge and be home for a bit before everything. And honestly, I think having you in LA that whole time would make my schedule worse because I’d feel so bad that I’m working so much and you’re there.” 

He nodded, understanding where she was coming from, but also trying to push aside those selfish feelings of even just wanting to be around her. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can, but I do think spending some time at home would be nice,” he finally began, shrugging half-heartedly. “I might head back home once you get busier but we can figure all of that out once we’re back in LA next week.” 

“Having been so busy, and knowing how busy both of us will be this next year, it feels so nice to have this time here. It feels so good to just not have to worry about any of it for a while,” she admitted, the soft happy look on her face warming Chris from the inside out. 

“It really does,” he agreed easily, his hand tightening its grasp on hers. A year ago, he hadn’t even met Nattie yet. He was at home in Massachusetts, where he’d spent the majority of 2020, doing all his work through Zoom and email and riding out the pandemic in his bubble. But now? He was happy. He was sharing his life with someone, someone he couldn’t imagine a future without, and he was excited for what this year could bring for them. “I’m so happy I get to start this new year with you, Nattie. I can’t believe that this time last year I hadn’t even met you yet.” 

“It’s weird to think that one year ago we hadn’t met and this year is so different,” she laughed, arching an eyebrow before she asked, “I wonder what next New Year’s will be like?” 

And at the mention of that, Chris couldn’t help but let his mind wander. He didn’t know what it would be like, his brain for a moment flickering to the worst possible thought as he wondered if there was a possibility they might not be together. But just as quickly as that thought came, it left, knowing deep in his heart that Nat was it for him. He knew just how deep his love for her ran and everything in his brain was looking at their relationship through the lens of them being together forever. 

He wanted everything with her. He wanted to go to bed every night next to her. Have dinner with her every night. Laugh at the same stupid jokes with her day after day. Celebrate holidays together and buy birthday gifts for their nieces and nephews. What it would be like to see Nat holding their own baby in her arms. Take their daughter or son for their first day of preschool. Come home to Nat ruining another one of his tee shirts as she painted furiously by the big windows in their home. He wanted every single moment of his life to be shared with her and he hoped that somehow next New Year’s, they’d be even closer than they were right now. 

“I don’t know what it’ll be like next year, Nattie, but I know I’ll still be so in love with you,” he murmured, his mind racing with snippets of what their future could look like. “I don’t know how I got so lucky.” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying to myself for months,” Nat chuckled, but her smile turned into a smirk as she turned to face Chris, her legs folded underneath her as she looked down at him. “How I managed to have you in my life is something I’ll never understand but I’m not going to question it. I’m so excited for this year because of knowing i’ll have you.” 

Chris pushed himself up, his hand running up and down Nat’s arm as he honestly told her, “I love you, Nattie. I love you more than I knew was possible.” 

“I love you too, baby,” she breathed, pausing to search his eyes. “You’re truly my best friend.” 

The softness in her voice and tears that were glistening in Nat’s eyes showed Chris just how honest her words were. Just as they always did, Nat’s words went straight to his heart, treasuring the fact that she considered him her best friend, because he knew that in every sense of the word, she was his. They could laugh, tease and joke around with each other, but then could switch on a dime to having the deepest and most vulnerable conversation, knowing their feelings were safe with the other person. Chris knew that Nat was always supportive of him, telling him the hard truth when he needed to hear it or helping him see his own faults in things, while validating his feelings in other moments. She helped him grow, pushed him to be better, and made him feel more loved than he ever had felt. 

Nat loved him just for him and nothing was more beautiful than that. 

Their arms came to snake around one another, pressing their bodies against each other’s warmth as their lips connected in the dim room. Chris just needed this. He needed this physical connection with her, unable to hold his deep feelings for her in and judging by the way she kissed him back, Nat felt the same exact thing. He wanted to hold her close, feeling her heartbeat as they kissed, Chris so wrapped up in the fact that Nat was his and he was her. 

There was so much love and tenderness in the air as they both slowly peeled each other out of their clothes, their warm bodies pressed together without a single inch of space between them. Chris swore it was like heaven getting to have Nattie in his arms, loving her in both words and actions and having that love returned to him. It certainly wasn’t the first time Chris had been in love, having had the opportunity to have some beautiful relationships in the past, but it had never been like this and he knew there would never be anything like this again. Nat was his world and he couldn’t imagine it any other way. 

A low moan erupted from Nat’s lips, echoing in his ear when he finally pushed inside of her, giving them each that connection they’d been longing for. Nat’s arms were wrapped around his waist, pulling him down and deeper into her with each slow and sweet snap of his hips. But Chris wasn’t in a hurry, just taking his time peppering her lips with kisses and showing her with his loving words in between each kiss. Nat’s eyes had been squeezed shut, drinking in every bit of this moment, but when those long eyelashes of hers fluttered open and looked at him with such emotion and tenderness, he felt his knees going weak at just the sight knowing that this sensitive, beautiful, kindhearted artist was looking at him that way and nobody else. 

His emotions for her were so pure and true that seeing this woman that he loved so deeply underneath him and hearing her gasp and moan while she gripped his shoulders was just too much for him to be able to handle. Chris could feel himself getting close, each thrust of his hips into her warmth bringing him closer and closer and he could tell by the way Nat was panting that she was barely hanging on too. He brought a hand down between them, rubbing his thumb against that bundle of nerves that had Nat crying out loudly as her fingertips dug into his shoulders and her walls squeezed him like a vice. 

With one more drag back against her velvety walls and push back in, Chris was groaning with pleasure into the crook of her neck as he emptied himself inside her. But as good as that high felt, it was this moment that he loved almost more than anything. This moment of holding each other close, still tucked inside her as they lazily kissed and soaked in the feeling of just being fully connected in every way. 

Nat’s hand ran up and down Chris’ bare back, nails dancing along the skin lightly, causing goosebumps to pop up in her wake. He leaned his forehead against her collarbone and kissed the skin there, wanting nothing more than to just stay here with her forever, protect her as best as he could, and get to step into their future, side-by-side, together. He wanted nothing more than to grow old with her, raise a couple kids, build a life and a home. And as he gently pulled out of her, cleaned them up, and climbed back into bed next to her, pulling her against him as she drifted asleep, he couldn’t help but think, once again, about how much this year flew by. With each passing day, their anniversary approached, and it put them one step closer to forever. 

A/N: Thank you so much for reading!

[scarofthewind]

The Lone Wolf || Werewolf!Thomas x Reader

A/N: Part three out of four to the slasher boys AU, link down below! I hope you are all doing well and yes requests are open for those who would like to throw something in there! I was today years old when I realized that Thomas Hewitt has blue eyes.

Warnings: NSFW, R18+, blood, gore, biting, breeding kink, wet & messy, squirting

word count: 3.1k Tip Jar (every bit helps!)

Series Masterlist

“You should eat something now that way it’s easier during the shift.” You spoke calmly to your lover who was busy testing out the chain that lined the basement; the chains that would prevent him from hurting you. His warm eyes looked over to you and he nodded, laying the metal links on the ground and following you upstairs. You watched him eye the locks on the door, checking to make sure they were strong enough, “You’ve checked them four times since this morning.” He looked at you and sighed, you could tell he was nervous, he always was on nights with a full moon. 

“If I get out and hurt you-” He started but you shook your head and cupped his face. 

“We’ve done this a million times and nothings happened.” He leaned into your touch, a glint of worry in his deep brown eyes. “Who knows, wolf you may not even try to eat me if you happen to escape.” Patting his cheek lightly, you turned and walked to the kitchen to make something to eat. Thomas mumbled something to himself before checking to make sure he had everything ready for the night. His senses were heightened and it was hard for him to not jump clear across the room and take you against the counter; balling his hands into fists, he went outside to calm his nerves, also making sure he had the backup trap ready if he happened to get out. You watched him from the kitchen window with a sorrowful look in your eyes. Before he met you he didn’t need to do this because he didn’t care what happened to the people around him; but you were different. 

When you met, he was shifted, dark brown wavy fur and sapphire eyes staring at you intrigued by what it saw. You were a mortified lone hiker that just witnessed a group of people being torn apart by something inhuman. But there was something, some force of fate that drew you together. He never hurt you in wolf form that day and you doubted that he would ever, but you didn’t want to take the slight chance that he might. 

When you both sat down for the early dinner, it was quiet between the two of you. The nerves and impulses emitting off of him made you chew your food quietly across the table. You barely had time to put the dishes in the sink before he went to the basement and you followed knowing it was you who had to chain him down. Thomas hated making you do it but the chains being made of silver burned him a lot less if he wasn’t the one handling them. No words were spoken as he stripped out of his clothes, throwing them in a heap across the room, and sat down in the middle of the cold floor. 

“I hate this,” you said quietly, locking the chains around his feet, moving towards his hands. He cupped your face gently, giving you a knowing look. Continuing with his restraints, you cuffed his wrists and then put the last one around his neck. “This is animal abuse,” you joked and he quirked a lip at your comment, hiding a smug smile. 

Before he could open his mouth, he grimaced, grunting in pain as it ripped through him, something was off about this shift and it bothered him. Thomas quickly looked at you, “Go to the guest house.” 

You frowned, “Why? Is everything okay?” He wouldn’t look you in the eye as you asked and you bent down in front of him. His eyes were already that bright golden color you secretly loved. 

“Go, I’ll come get you in the morning. Make sure to hide your scent just inc-” He stuttered when a loud crack came from his back and he clawed at the ground in pain. “Go now!” He yelled and you jumped, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before running out of the basement. Thomas could hear you running around upstairs and then the front door slam shut as you left the house. Everything in him burned with a fire he didn’t recognize and it scared him. 

“This isn’t right,” he groaned as another spike of pain rushed through him and everything started to go black as the beast took over. He could only pray as he was closing his eyes that you would be safe.

Of course as you were in a rush to leave, you forgot to wear stuff that smelt like him. You didn’t realize your mistake until you reached the guest house, locking the door behind you and hiding in the bathroom. You could hear loud howls coming from the house and it made you shiver, knowing that he’d somehow gotten out. You tried to think of how he could’ve but the longer you thought it over the more confused you got. You’d locked every door and chained him up; the shift had happened quicker than before though and he had a look in his eyes that told you something wasn’t right. 

A howl echoed through the woods near the guest house and you held your breath, sinking down into the bathtub and turning the lights off. The sound of the front door crashing open had your heart racing in your chest. You could hear the scuffling of paws on the floor as they neared the bathroom, a sniffing sound coming from under the door followed by a low growl. Everything went quiet for a second before a large hole was scratched through the door and you scooted far away in the tub. You whimpered, hearing the beast growl, it’s eyes meeting yours from the other side of the door. That’s when your heart stopped and everything you thought you knew about what he was flew out the window. 

His eyes were blood red and glowing through the opening. The beasts mouth and snout were already covered in blood and the way it licked it’s lips you knew you were next. The window to the bathroom was already opened a smidge and before you could blink, your body moved on its own to get there. Your mind raced as you heard the door being ripped apart behind you, your feet pushing you to climb up onto the roof above you. You knew he wouldn’t fit through the window because of how big he was so you had an advantage getting up there. Just as you were about to climb fully onto the scratchy roof, a searing pain came from your leg and you tried your best to kick him off. 

Tears welled in your eyes and you pushed yourself up, getting your leg away from the beasts mouth and limping over to the chimney, sitting against it for a second to examine the wound. A sob escaped your lips as you looked at it, knowing damn well what it meant. You tried your best to stop the bleeding but the moment you put pressure on the wound you cried out in pain. You could hear him down below, tearing everything to shreds and growling loudly. You knew if you didn’t fix the wound soon you’d have more bad damage than good by morning but going down to face that monster was not something you wanted to do. 

A loud scratching came from the end of the roof behind you and you froze mortified that the creature was able to simply jump that high. There was a huff behind the chimney you were leaned against and a deep growl made the hair on your arms raise. “Thomas,” you cried, the wolf sniffing around the corner towards you. “Thomas please don’t,” you winced trying to move your leg towards you. “You’ll never forgive yourself,” you closed your eyes for a second, trying your best to calm yourself as the wolf came to stand in front of you. 

When you opened your eyes to look at the monster, you let out a sigh of relief seeing those sapphire eyes staring at you softly. There was a sense of guilt behind them and before you could open your mouth, your wounds were being treated to as the animals licked them carefully. “You didn’t recognize me,” you stated, realizing that was why it attacked. Maybe your scent wasn’t enough for the wolf to remember you; you were thankful your voice was what clicked for him. 

A soft sound of bones shifting made you look up to the man in front of you. Thomas’ eyes were wet as he faced the one thing he always feared; he’d hurt you. “I did this,” he frowned at his own words, examining your wounds and setting your leg down gently. His eyes met yours and you felt your heart ache. “I would’ve killed you, (Y/N),” he tried backing away but you grabbed him and used his sturdy body to pull yourself closer to him. 

“You didn’t realize it was me, Thomas. I’m fine,” You replied, cupping his face gently and watching his eyes flicker before settling with their natural color. 

“Don’t do that,” his voice broke, “Don’t act like this is okay, I bit you, you know damn well what that means.” He groaned, moving out of your grasp. 

“I do but I don’t care. Something was off about this shift, we both felt it but we couldn’t predict this would happen-”

“It wanted to kill you, even after smelling that it was you. What the fuck is wrong with me?” He grimaced, moving away from you. 

“Thomas stop,” you hissed when you tried to move, catching his attention for a second. “We’ll figure out what went wrong in the morning,” your heart ached when he shook his head, pulling at his roots. 

“I love you,” you cried, your heart breaking in your chest for him and the fear of him pushing you away, “Don’t force me out, I don’t know what to do without you,” Thomas whined at your words and seeing the tears fall from your eyes made him pull you against his chest, rubbing your head softly as he hugged you. “Don’t tell me to leave because I won’t.” You sniffled, gripping is shoulders tightly as he helped you stand. 

His chest rumbled with a growl at the thought of you leaving him, the possessiveness of the wolf inside him coming out. When he looked down at you and pressed his lips to yours, you could almost feel the grief inside him; you knew he’d blame himself until the end of time for hurting you. With ease, Thomas helped you back to the comfort of your home, making sure to take good care of your wound. He spent nearly an hour on it, being sure that it was clean and that it would heal nicely. When he was done wrapping it in gauze, he watched the way your eyes slowly closed, sleep starting to take over your mind. 

Shuffling you around on the couch, he laid with you pressed into his chest, not daring to turn again for the fear of his other half going rogue. 

He didn’t sleep.

***

You woke up around four in the morning, the small amount of light in the sky starting to brighten the living room. You could feel Thomas’ grip on you tighten when you moved your head up to look at him. His eyes were on yours in a second and he frowned, “Is it hurting?” He referred to your leg. Shaking your head you nuzzled his neck, breathing him in. 

“You didn’t shift again?” Your fingers danced across his bare skin, reminding yourself that he was nude. “You were stronger this time if you managed to break through all those chains and get past your traps outside,” you said quietly. 

“I didn’t recognize you, that’s not right, something had to have been off.” He replied; you could feel his heart ache. “I don’t know what to do,” he sighed, moving to sit up and rubbing his face with his hands. 

“Hey,” you sat up with him and cupped his face in your hands. “We have a month until the next turn, we will figure it out before then. Don’t worry about it,” his eyes stared into yours and he nodded, resting his forehead against yours. “Love you,” you said softly, watching his eyes crinkle as a small smile formed on his face. 

“Love you too.” Thomas pulled you closer and pressed a kiss to your lips, a familiar feeling buzzing through him at god-speed. If there was one thing you both enjoyed about his shift, it was the sex. It was hot, messy and always left you bedridden for a couple of days; the last time it got out of hand and the bed broke, much to your genuine shock. Before he could pull away, you wrapped your arms around his neck, moving to sit in his lap. Thomas’ hands went to your waist and he groaned at the feeling of you grinding down on his slowly hardening member. “You’re hurt,” he grunted against your mouth as he moved to lay you on your back, moving between your legs. 

“I’m fine, I need you, Thomas,” you moaned when his lips went to your neck, immediately finding your sensitive spot and sucking on it. Your hands ran through his dark, curly hair, tugging gently on the roots as his hips worked against yours. The feeling of his hardened member against your thigh made you shiver. You paused to sit up and rid yourself of your bottoms, eager to feel his cock deep inside you. You made sure to be careful around your leg, slipping your pants and underwear off and letting them fall to the floor. 

Thomas made quick work of your shirt and bra, leaving your breasts open for him to fondle. Your nipple hardened against his touch and he brought one into his mouth, lightly nipping at it. The feeling of your bare cunt dragging across his cock made you moan lightly, your juices already spreading along his shaft. The side of your neck where he’d bit you to show that you were bonded to him for life, slowly burned with a feverish desire. Thomas’ hands left your chest, moving between your lower halves and tapping your thigh for you to sit up for a second. His hand gripped the base of his cock, directing the tip to your entrance before you sunk down on him. Your legs shook by the time you were fully seated on it, he was far deeper than you were used to and the feeling made your head buzz. 

Any other time of the month, Thomas was usually quiet when having sex. However, the minute his shift appears, he’s much louder. Possessive growls and rougher grips on your body, make it that much easier for your pussy to spasm around his cock multiple times. A sharp buck of his hips made you grip onto him quickly, rolling your hips in time with his movements. Tilting your chin up, Thomas pressed his lips against yours, swallowing your cries of pleasure as he moved faster, pushing you down on your back before leaning over you and thrusting like a mad man. 

His mouth never left your skin, littering it with bruises and small bite marks that you knew would heal over time. When he moved to your neck, his teeth grazed the bite mark that bonded you, the scars were pale against your skin. His tongue laved over them, easing your mind before his teeth pressed into the wound. You winced, a small whine escaped your lips but the way your cunt tightened around his cock gave him the okay to keep going. Sinking his teeth in further to re-puncture the old scar, he fucked you deeper, moving your legs around to hit that one spot inside you that had you seeing stars. 

The obscene amount of noise that was coming from your lower half made you flush, your juices running down the curve of your legs and ass, onto the couch below. A low growl came from the man as he removed his teeth from your mark, licking the blood off his lips and your skin before hiking your legs up to the one position that really made your pussy drench his cock. Your knees were practically by your ears as Thomas split your open, his cock thrusting into you at a steady but rough pace. “Cum inside me please,” you begged, looking up at him through watery lashes, the pleasure making everything intense. “I want your children, Thomas. Please, cum inside me,” you whimpered when he groaned deeply, his cock twitching inside you. 

The simply thought of you being pregnant with his children made his heart flutter. His eyes focused on the way your pussy was creaming around his cock and the sight of his member bulging your stomach every time he moved. With rough fingers, he moved his hand to your clit, rubbing tight little circles around the hardened bud and watching you squirm. 

It didn’t take long before the white hot pleasure of euphoria shook through you, your body convulsing for a second as he fucked you through your first orgasm of the night. “That’s my girl, can you cum again for me?” His voice made you shiver and you nodded as your thighs shook. He leaned his weight down a bit more and you knew exactly what he was trying to do the minute he did that. 

“It’s going to make a mess,” you warned, looking at him as he smirked cheekily. “You’re cleaning the couch then,” you moaned as a particularly hard thrust made your cervix throb in pain. The way Thomas’ voice grew louder made it a sign to you that he was close and you wanted nothing more than for him to pump you full. Pressing his mouth to yours, he growled at the feeling of your gummy walls sucking him in. He moved his fingers back to your clit and worked his magic, leaving you a trembling mess as he brought you close to the edge again. 

“You ready, pretty girl?” He asked, watching you nod before he rubbed your clit harshly, your walls tightening around him to the point where he was cumming within seconds. The feeling of his cock being drenched by your quivering little hole made him pull back for a second and watch as you squirted around him. Thomas let out a groan as he let out everything he had, watching your stomach bulge slightly before he let you move your legs down. 

“I hope this time it works,” you panted, referring to the cum sticking to your inside walls. Thomas chuckled, pressing open mouth kisses along your face before connecting his lips with yours. “I love you, Thomas.” You said gently, looking up into the deep blue eyes you adored so much. 

“I love you too,” He replied, kissing you once more.

[honalele]

Morning Routine

The peaceful song of birds and the gentle wave of sunlight flooded into Michael’s small bedroom window as day broke his deep ocean-swelled sleep. He opened his eyes to the familiar wooden ceiling and watched the sky-blue painted ceiling fan circle slowly above him. The hypnotic effect it had made him want to stay in bed for the rest of the day, but there were things that needed to be done.

Michael sat up, but he paused and placed his face in his childhood yellow baby blanket. He’d been waking up with worse and worse headaches after the incident. The pain was like a dull buzz at the front of his forehead. It was bad in the morning, but it faded with the day. He pulled his face from the blanket and took a deep breath. He threw one leg over the side of the bed, and then the other.

He looked around the large accustomed room with all of his happy childhood memories scattered across the floor in forms of toys and trinkets. He stood up and sluggishly walked to the door. It opened to a massive hallway with big windows and lots of empty frames where family portraits used to be. Michael stuffed his hands in his pajama pants pockets and watched the floor as he walked into the foyer. The ceiling was so tall it could’ve touched the sky. The walls were so distant, they could have been separate countries. The floor was so empty, sometimes it felt like no one else lived in the house. Such a big place could make a person feel so small.

He made his way to the grand staircase and placed a hand on the beautifully finished railing before bouncing up the steps. Despite the complexity of the place, he’d spent nearly his entire life locked up here. At first his parents forced him to stay indoors against his rebellious will to venture out and see more of the world, but now he stayed on his own accord. The only time he went outside was to visit the garden in the backyard.

When he reached the second floor, Michael started for his parents’ bedroom. Tall windows lined the hallway, letting in all of the colors of the outdoors. As he came up to the door, he paused at the handle. His fingers were shaking. Michael noticed the dark panic that attempted to creep up on him in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and took a long breath, forcing that feeling back into its dungeon deep down. He opened his eyes and saw that his hand was steady enough to open the door.

Unlike his room, his parents’ was simple, open, and clean like the rest of the house. There was just a bed and a chest. It was like the entire house was occupied by ghosts.

Michael silently closed the door behind him and quietly made his way to the bed where his father, Ranboo, laid sprawled out in all of the blankets, still asleep. Michael carefully went up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder to gently shake him awake.

His father’s eyes slowly opened, drowsy and glazed with sleep. Michael took a seat at the edge of the bed and waited for him to stretch and yawn until he was fully sat up. Dad looked around the room with that blank expression on his face before memory slowly started to fade back. Michael softly took his father’s hand and looked into his eyes.

“Good morning.” He said. Dad didn’t hold his gaze.

“Uh, I’m sorry, but who…?” His voice was as uncertain as his expression. Michael could tell that his dad was embarrassed about not being able to recognize the person sat in front of him.  

“I’m Michael. I’m your son.” He said. It took a moment for realization to settle across his father’s face.

“Right. I’m sorry I-”

“It’s ok, just breathe with me ok?” Michael interrupted his father’s anxious spiral. They held each other’s hands and breathed together. Michael told him where he was, hold old they were, their daily routine, and that they were the only members of the house.

“What’s in that?” Dad asked as he pointed to the chest that sat at the foot of the bed. Michael turned to look at it and paused before answering.

“It’s there if you want to open it, but you don’t have to.” Michael tried to sound unbiased, but he really didn’t want his dad to open the chest. He hated days that they went through the chest. He waited silently for his father’s response, the suspense wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

“No.” Dad answered softly after the long thoughtful silence. A wave of relief washed over Michael. At least today might be easier than the others.

The two sat in bed and talked for a while before deciding to head downstairs for breakfast. Dad continued to hold Michael’s hand as they went through the halls and down into the foyer.

“I remember that.” Dad said, looking up at the chandelier. “I paid one of my friends to build that. Flush or Fish or something.”

“Foolish?”

“Right. Foolish, yes.” His dad smiled. “He actually built this entire mansion. It took him a long time and it cost me a lot of gold to-” Dad cut himself off when he looked back to Michael, “but you probably know all of that, don’t you?” He said with an awkward smile. Michael swallowed the angst rising in his throat and pulled himself closer to his dad without a verbal response.

The two of them made it to the kitchen. It was big like everything else in the house. All of the windows faced the backyard where a beautiful garden full of flowers and sculptures could be seen. There was a big table in the center of the room with three chairs. Michael didn’t have the heart to throw out the third one. Luckily, his dad didn’t question the arrangement, instead he headed straight towards the cupboards.

“I may not have the best memory, but I do know how to make killer waffles.” He said cheerfully. “That is, unless we had them yesterday?” He turned around to ask Michael the cautious question. Michael shook his head in response and his Dad’s eyes filled with joy. “Great, get ready for the best waffles of your life.” He chirped. Michael sat at his chair and tried to hide his smile. They’d been having waffles for breakfast the past five days, but Michael wasn’t about to complain. His dad’s waffles really were the best.

Dad asked Michael to set the table while he prepared the food. It was almost like they were a normal family again, but the thought of happy normalcy made the pit of guilt in Michael’s stomach roll and ache, so he tried to set aside those feelings and just get through the day.

After his dad finished making the waffles, the two of them sat at the breakfast table and shared old stories with one another, even though it was mainly Michael telling the old stories and correcting his father on his.

“So what Tommy would do was; he’d go into either Phil or Techno’s house completely unannounced, and then all you’d hear were the sounds of dozens of chests being open.” Dad smiled the whole time he told the story. Michael hadn’t heard this one in a while and the way his dad talked about Tommy made him laugh.

“I can’t believe Mr. Innit used to do stuff like that.” Dad nearly choked on his orange juice at Michael’s comment.

“Do not call him ‘Mr. Innit’.” He said out of breath from laughter which made Michael burst out into laughter as well. The two continued to laugh until it naturally died down a few moments later. Dad smiled at Michael and for once, Michael felt safe.

But then his dad’s eyes shifted to the empty chair across the table. Confusion washed across his face as he looked at the chair.

“If it’s just the two of us, why the third chair?” He asked. Michael looked down at his plate and poked at some of the left over waffle bits with his fork.

“It’s just for guests.” He said. He hated lying to his dad, but they were having such a great time. He didn’t want it to be ruined. A moment of silence hung over them before Michael decided to break it.

“Want me to wash the dishes?” He asked as he stood from the table. Dad slowly pulled his gaze from the chair and nodded.

“Sure kiddo.” He handed Michael his empty plate and glass and Michael headed to the sink to wash them. As he cleared off the syrup and butter from the plates, he looked outside to the garden.

“It’s really nice outside, maybe we can water the flowers or something?” He suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Dad called excitedly from the table.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I know my memory isn’t too great, but I feel like I haven’t been out of this house in ages. We should go somewhere and do something. Doesn’t Jack have a hotel?”

Crash.

Michael accidently dropped one of the plates. It fell to the ground and broke into several pieces that scattered across the tiled floor. Dad quickly leapt from his chair and raced across the kitchen to make sure that Michael was ok.

“I’m fine dad really, it was just an accident.” He tried to pull himself away from being examined like a toddler.

“Ok, sorry. I just don’t want you getting hurt.” Dad took a step back and then inspected the mess. “Looks like we’re going to need a broom and dustpan. Can you point me in the direction?”

“Yeah in that closet by the back door.” Michael tried to not sound too stressed, but his hands were starting to shake and he couldn’t keep himself from swaying.

While his dad searched for the cleaning supplies, Michael tried to remember his breathing exercises.  

Just one day. Just one normal day.

“Umm, so anyway, what do you think about my idea? You know, visiting the Big Jack Manifold hotel?” Dad called from the closet. Michael went deeper into his nervous sway.

“Jack doesn’t own the hotel anymore. Mr. In- er, Tommy got it back.” Michael answered.

“Oh really?” Dad’s surprised face emerged from the closet. “All the more reason to go see it then.” He smiled. Michael flashed a fake smile back and fiddled with his fingers. Venturing anywhere outside the grounds of the mansion was a bad idea in it of itself, visiting the hotel area specifically would be terrible.

“CaptainPuffy actually stopped by a few times. She said that your memory’s improving, but that it’ll be a while before you start remembering things on your own. I don’t think we should go anywhere outside the walls of the mansion until we see that improvement. A lot of things have changed since… since your memory got worse. I think going out there now would be too much for you.” Michael fought the urge to bite his nails. He hated lying. Then again, what he said wasn’t really a lie, it just wasn’t the whole truth.

“Ok, so we’ll stay here then I guess.” Dad walked towards him with the broom and dustpan in hand. He pointed to Michael with the dustpan. “You ok? You’re swaying.” He pointed out. Michael caught himself and stopped immediately.

“Yeah, just, loud noises.” He said and gestured to the shattered plate. Dad gave him an understanding nod and flipped the dustpan so that its handle was facing Michael. Michael took it and then knelt down to hold the pan in place as his dad swept up the debris.

“There we go. All clean.” He said proudly. Michael carefully stood with the pan full of glass. He gave dad directions to the bin and then dumped the poor plate’s remains inside.  

“Any words?” Dad asked. Michael flashed him a confused expression. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of this plate. Though I may not have known it for very long, I easily get emotionally attached to things. This plate was like a brother to me-”

“Shut up.” Michael sneered and closed the lid of the bin.

“What? Are my jokes not cracked enough for you?” Michael shook his head in disapproval and took the broom from his dad, then started making his way to the supplies closet.

“At least he went out with a bang.”

“Stop.”

“May he rest… in pieces.”

“I am going to put myself up for adoption.” Michael couldn’t keep himself from smiling. Even though his dad’s jokes were absolutely terrible, he found them endearing. He hadn’t seen his dad act like this in months.

Michael put away the broom and dustpan and closed the supply closet door. He looked to his dad whose gaze was focused on the window above the sink. He was standing casually with his hands in his pockets. His shoulders were relaxed and he wore a closed smile on his face. He looked peaceful and sure of himself for once. He looked happy. An emotion Michael hadn’t seen on his dad in a long time. It was like looking at a completely different person.

Dad’s face turned to Michael and he caught him staring.

“Is something wrong? You look sad.” He asked. Michael shook his head.

“No, you’re jokes are just so bad, they could bring people to tears.” Michael said. Dad scoffed and gestured for his son to come under his arm.

“Exactly. Tears of joy.” He said and gave Michael a side hug. Michael gagged at the stupid joke and hugged his dad back, extra tightly. “So,” Dad said, “how about that garden work you were talking about? Watering the flowers?” He asked. Michael nodded excitedly. “Alright then, go get some shoes on.” He said. Michael cheered and beelined it out of the kitchen.

His room was just down the hall. He’d be in and out in no time. He made sure to lock the door behind him, there were too many memories cluttered about his room. Any one of them could trigger his dad’s bad memories.

Michael raced to the closet, but it was nearly impossible to find anything under the piles and piles of clothes. He decided to change out of his pajama bottoms and put some denim overalls on instead. He was able to fine one sandal, but failed to find it’s partner. Eventually he gave up on the closet and ran over to his bed. He searched underneath for the red sneakers he’d worn a few days ago. He remembered kicking them off right before going to bed. He shoved an old board-game of Monopoly out of the way and spotted both of them. He quickly grabbed each and threw them on without bothering looking for socks. Then, he raced out of the room and into the foyer.

“Dad, I’m ready.” He called. There was no response. Michael started snapping his fingers impatiently and walked over to the kitchen. It was empty. Panic started to settle in as Michael ran over to the back door. Perhaps his dad had already gone outside. He was hit with fresh air, sweetened by the scent of all kinds of flowers. But when he looked out onto the butterfly filled landscape, dad was nowhere to be found.

Michael slowly stepped back into the house and closed the door. It wasn’t like dad knew his way around the mansion yet, maybe he got lost.

“Dad?” Michael called as he ran through the foyer once again. He passed the trading hall and ran through the library. He checked every room on the first floor, but there was still no sign of him.

Michael went back to the foyer and looked up at the looming grand staircase. He felt his hands start to shake, but his breathing exercises were the last thing on his mind. It was like his soul had left his body and he’d become a walking corpse. He took one shaking hand and placed it on the railing before dragging himself up the staircase, step by step.

When he got to the top, he could see that his parents’ bedroom door was three-quarters the way opened. Michael froze right where he stood. He swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to calm down. He’d done this plenty of times before. He practically knew the conversation by heart.

He shoved his still hands into his pockets and walked over to the open door. He used his shoulder to bump it open wide enough for him to enter he room. And there was dad. Facing the opposite wall. Sitting cross-legged on the floor. The chest was open. Items and photos from his past were sprawled out on all sides, like pieces from a broken plate. Michael slowly walked towards his dad.

“I came up here looking for shoes, but I got curious so…” His dad’s voice sounded like its usual distant self. Michael peeked over his dad’s shoulder. He was looking at an old photo of him and his husband.

“His name was Tubbo.” Michael said silently. Dad didn’t respond. Pain pierced Michael’s heart and he shifted his gaze up to the ceiling to avoid tears. It never got easier. He took another deep breath before walking up to his dad’s left side. He picked up a red and white checkered picnic blanket and made room for himself to sit next to his dad. Then he placed the picnic blanket so that it was covering them both.

Dad didn’t move or acknowledge his existence. He was staring intently at the photograph. His eyes were watery, and Michael could already see the fresh wounds developing under his eyes. Michael wasn’t sure how much his father was remembering right now, so he started to explain things in a low and gentle tone.

“That picture was taken when you guys first met in L’Manburg.” Still no response. This was usually how it went. Michael just had to keep talking about dad.

He spotted the flag in a crumpled ball on the floor and reached for it. “This was the flag.” He said as he fanned it out. Michael slowly slid pinched fingers into the corners of the flag and started to fold it properly. He set it on the floor next to him and picked up another old photo. Tommy was in this one. The three of them were exploring abandoned Pogtopia, a place that Michael had heard of, but never seen. Then, his father reached forward and picked up a black and yellow striped flyer. The Bee ‘N Boo. Michael had memories of its grand opening, but he hadn’t visited the place in years.

“That’s a flyer for the hotel you guys built. You were going to run it together and compete with Tommy’s.” Michael explained. He watched his dad flinch as a tear fell down his cheek. Michael searched the clutter until he found a small bottle of golden liquid. Attached to the cap was a cotton white cloth. He carefully opened the bottled and poured some of the sweet smelling liquid onto the fabric.

“Here.” He said and gently pressed the cloth against his father’s cheek. Dad reached up and took the cloth from Michael, silently whispering a thank you before scavenging through more of Tubbo’s old belongings.

“What’s that?” He asked, pointing to an old Walkman. Michael’s heart cracked as he leaned over to pick it up. His dad used to listen to it all of the time. He’d burst into Michael’s room unannounced doing stupid dances and singing along to the lyrics of random love songs. Sometimes he’d share the headphones with Michael and they’d sit on his bed and listen to his favorite mixtapes together.

“That’s dad’s old Walkman. You gave it to him as a present. You were always giving him things.” Michael felt warm tears crawl down the sides of his cheeks. “He listened to it all the time.” Michael opened the machine and pulled out the playlist that had been left inside. It had a sticker that read, “Ranboo’s Recommended” written in sharpie. Michael put the tape back in the Walkman and placed it on the floor. He felt like a vulture, picking at all of these mementos of the past dragged out like the entails of a ghost. He swallowed a sore lump and brushed off some of the tears.

He watched his father pick up a small black box and open int. Inside wear a pair of wedding bands. Dad plucked one from the box and examined It closely. He was quiet for a while before turning to Michael.

“How did it happen?” He asked longingly. Michael looked to the floor as guilt stabbed his heart. He knew this was coming. He took a deep breath and locked eyes with his father.

“It was an accident.” He lied. “I ran away from home after an argument. I went to some cliffs far north. Dad found me, but it was raining and the edge of the cliff was slippery.” More half truths. Michael hated recounting the story this way, but he’d seen what telling the truth did to his father. If he were to even mention the man’s name, his father’s eyes would rolled over to a dark purple and he would start speaking in a scary language that Michael didn’t understand. He was never violent in that state, but he was a danger to himself what with the crying and clawing. Michael couldn’t watch his dad go through that again. Lying was the only way to get through this.

Dad reached over and took Michael’s hand.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said in a reassuring tone despite the pain behind his eyes. Michael faked a small smile in response. Dad had no right to say that. He didn’t know the whole story. He didn’t know that Michael was a pawn in god’s rigged game of chess. That he played bait to the vengeful villain. Guilt tore him apart from the inside like a rabies-crazed dog, still, Michael gave his father a nod of acceptance in response to keep up the illusion.

His father held his gaze for a few moments longer before looking back to the clutter of memories on the floor around them.

“I may not remember all the things we did, but I remember him. I remember his voice. His smile. His eyes. His laugh. I just don’t-” Dad cut himself off as his voice finally broke and he started to cry. Michael gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I just don’t know how I could ever forget.” He said as his body writhed in pain from the tears he couldn’t hold back. Dad held the cloth up to his face, but some of the tears trickled onto his hand, causing him wince in more pain. All Michael could do was hold his other hand.

They would sit here like this for hours. Day by day. Remembering all of the things they used to do together as a family. Dad would cry, and Michael would do his best to take care of him. Then, after all of the tears they would pack up Tubbo’s belongings and place them gently back into the chest. Dad would say that he’s too tired to do anything and Michael would nod in sympathy. Dad would stay in bed for the rest of the day and Michael would go back down to the first floor, all alone.

He would spend the day cleaning and gardening. Sometimes people stopped by baring gifts and pitied expressions. Sometimes dad would leave his room only to ask, “where’s the bathroom?” or “do we have coffee?”. Sometimes they’d talk for a bit before dad wondered back up to his room like a confused zombie. The sun would go down and Michael would make sure his dad was asleep before heading to bed himself. Michael would sit at the edge of his bed and cry before pulling the yellow baby blanket close to his face and falling asleep. The next day he would wake up to the familiar dull buzz of his morning routine.

[mystic-deep]

“Whipped Cream” - Part 3 | Nanami Kento fem!reader

♡ ♡ ♡ description: Taking cooking classes seemed like a nice way to relax and sharpen your skills, too bad the teacher hates you.

♡ ♡ ♡ warnings: nsfw, explicit content not suitable for minors, oral-giving and receiving, fingering

♡ ♡ ♡ notes: Part 3 took forever because of a busy week, I really apologize for that! Part 4 will come out sooner, hopefully tomorrow if everything goes well haha. As always, please excuse any mistakes!

♡ ♡ ♡ previous parts: Part 1, Part 2

♡ ♡ ♡ word count: 2.6k

Saturday at 5 PM, you stared at the message so many times it felt like it was imprinted in your retina. Just the day and the hour, because he must have thought that no other details were necessary.

You couldn’t concentrate the whole day and because of that you ended up messing your end of the week report. That translated in staying overtime and missing your Friday cooking class. When you sent Nanami a message telling him you probably couldn’t make it, he bluntly replied that you need to contact their secretary because she is the one who handles the schedule. Funny, he had no problem contacting you when it came to setting up a meeting for that lesson.

You were so tired when you reached your apartment that you didn’t even bother with dinner, you just took a shower and rolled into bed. Despite your hard day, you simply couldn’t fall asleep. What in God’s given name made you think you could pull this off? Starting an affair with your teacher, like some high school fantasy, except you weren’t a teen anymore and you knew the consequences. On the other hand, you were both adults and it’s not like a relationship between the two of you would be so scandalous. Except, this wasn’t a relationship, and you needed to remind yourself that.

Sleep finally took hold of you and you woke up on Saturday morning feeling like you had wrestled a bear. So much for a good night sleep to help with your complexion. You had cancelled all previous plans you had for the day, despite the whining of your best friend whom you were supposed to meet in the afternoon, and focused on getting ready for your lesson. You weren’t this nervous even on the day of your prom.

Bath, scrub, face mask, the whole deal and you hoped his dick was worth all this effort. When it came to clothes, obviously you chose a skirt this time around, because weren’t you such a nice girl, and a light coloured buttoned shirt. You wanted something simple, classy, that fitted your body well enough but wouldn’t scream ‘I want you to fuck me on your desk’, although that was the plan.

When it was nearly a quarter past 4, you grabbed your bag, coat and car keys and headed out the door. The car ride took longer than usual, due to the whole Saturday traffic, and you were starting to get impatient.

If you had any confidence that you could actually pull this off, it all disappeared the second you set foot in the elevator that would lead you to the lobby. Seeing your reflection in the metal doors made everything feel very real and you actually thought of turning back. Yet as the doors opened, you stepped out and took a deep breath. At the end of the day you were also here to learn what you had missed on the previous classes, thus you could just do that and refuse the extra lesson.

With that thought in mind, and new found confidence, you moved towards the reception desk, surprised that you didn’t find anyone there. Actually, the whole place looked empty, such a contrast from the busy week days.

You walked to your classrooms and when you reached the door you gave it a light knock.

“Come in.”

Nanami’s voice startled you, as though you were surprised that he was actually there. You opened the door slowly and peeked inside, finding him reading the newspaper with his glasses on. The image kind of shocked you, it seemed so domestic that your mind couldn’t help but wonder how he would look sitting like this at your kitchen table, early in the morning, with his blond hair slightly messy, a large cup of steaming coffee in front of him. You shook your head, pushing such silly thoughts aside. Daydreaming of something that will never happen wouldn’t do you any good.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Don’t be silly.” He took off his reading glasses and folded the newspaper neatly. “You are surprisingly on time for once.”

You rolled your eyes at his comment before stepping inside and closing the door.

“Place feels kind of empty.”

“That’s because I don’t have my employees work on weekends.” His what now? Seeing your surprised expression he continued. “I own this school.” Well that explained the expensive car.

“Now then, let’s not waste anymore time, we have two recipes we need to make.” With that said, you put your apron on and work began.

For almost an hour and a half you worked on your Paris Brest and then on the perfect poached eggs. It made quite a difference to have such a skilled cook by your side giving you instruction left and right. His attitude was different from your previous classes but maybe this was also because this time you were keen to listen and learn.

It was quite a nice atmosphere and you felt yourself relax while doing what you enjoyed most. Time seemed to pass by in an instant and now your dessert was in the fridge while the two eggs that you had made were eaten with toasted English muffins that Nanami had baked himself earlier that day.

After everything was done, you two began to clean the dishes. He explained that the cleaning lady that usually took care of them at the end of every class will only be back on Monday morning and he didn’t want to leave them in the sink.

“Seems everything is in order now.” He placed the very last bowl in the cabinet before turning to look at you. “I think it’s time we start our extra lesson.”

You stood there, almost petrified, as his hands reached for your apron and slowly took it off. A mix of emotions washed over you as he took you gently by the wrist and you followed him into the nearby office.

With a click, the door was locked and his lips were now hungrily devouring yours. You leaned back on the closed door as your arms wrapped around his shoulders for support. Your worries seemed to disappear as his hands began to trace every single curve of your body. When he pulled away from the kiss you were both out of breath, a glimpse of hunger reflecting in your eyes.

“Are you sure about this?” He looked at you with just a hint of concern and you nodded shortly. You wanted this, no doubt about it, but would you be able to handle the consequences?

“Why me?” Your words took him by surprise and he pulled away just slightly.

“Why not you?”

“I’m not joking, I need to know-”

“If you can trust me?” He let out a small chuckle and his hand gently caressed your cheek. “You remind me of someone. I felt it the second I saw you in my class and if life taught me anything is that I shouldn’t ignore my instinct.” With that he pulled away and reached for the door knob.

“I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, I’ve told you that last time. You can just walk out the door and-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence, your hands grabbing the collar of his white shirt, pulling him in for a deep kiss.

Every single part of you wanted him. You wanted to know how he felt like, how he tasted like, you wanted him to know what you tasted like. You didn’t bother asking him whom you reminded him of, it didn’t matter. This wasn’t going to be a relationship, no point in complicating things.

“Well, you sure answered my question.” He looked amused when you finally pulled away, yet that amusement was quickly replaced by a serious expression.

“Tell me you want this.”

“I want this.”

“Did you already forget the rules?”

“I really want this...sir.”

With a quick movement he pulled you to the couch. He positioned your body so that your hands were gripping the back pillows while your knees were resting on the cushion. His hands came from behind to cup your breasts and he began to massage them gently through the fabric.

“I see you chose to wear a skirt today. Isn’t it a bit chilly outside?” He seemed amused as his right hand rested between your thighs while the left continued to knead your chest. His hands were quite skilful, just a few touches and you could already feel your panties sticking to your wet core.

“I’m giving you extra points for wearing something that would give me...easier access.” His hand ventured furthered up your thigh and brushed against the fabric of your panties, making you shudder from head to toe. God, he was moving so slow, it was almost torture.

Just as you were about to ask him to touch you more, he retrieved his hand and practically ripped your shirt opened. He harshly pulled on your bra, releasing your breasts before cupping them and twisting your nipples between his fingers. The movements were so sudden that you let out a shriek, a feeling of painful delight washing over you.

“Not so loud.” He whispered in your ear, voice low and filled with lust. You wondered if there were other people in the building. He said that the other employees didn’t work on weekends but you were sure there must have been security guards. You needed to keep your voice down no matter how much you wanted to scream his name.

His hands left your breasts, moving down to grip your waist before moving down further at the hem of your skirt. He pulled the material up to reveal your ass and you felt your face turning bright red. You turned to look at him and caught his hungry expression as his eyes were fixed on your clothed crotch.

“Pulled them down.” You blinked, your mind not being able to register his words. “Pull your panties down.” You sucked in a breath and with shaking hands you let go of the couch frame before moving to pull your panties down to your knees.

The cold air from the room made you shiver, or was it perhaps the way he was now inspecting you with his eyes. You never felt more exposed, sitting with your legs spread, pussy twitching hoping for any kind of attention from his part. As though he could read your mind, he parted your legs even further, burying his face between them.

When you felt his hot breath on you swollen lips you thought you were going to scream in frustration. He didn’t make you wait long, his mouth eating you out like you were his favourite desert. You let your forehead rest on your arm and bit your bottom lip to stop yourself from moaning loudly. His tongue began to vigorously lap on your juices as one of his fingers pushed inside of you. He began to pump his finger in a slow rhythm, stretching you as much as possible before adding another digit.

“So close...please. Please, sensei.” You didn’t even know what you were saying, words and gasps were just escaping your lips uncontrollably. Feeling your walls clenching around his fingers, Nanami let his tongue push against your clit, causing you to whimper.

The hand that wasn’t working on your hole moved up your body, caressing your breast before twisting the nipple. By this time you were moving your hips back against his hand, furiously meeting his thrusts. He suddenly pushed his digits further, deep inside of you and sucked harshly on your clit, sending you over the edge.

Every single muscle in your body tensed and you knew that if you could scream, it would shatter you. Your climax came with hushed sobs, tearing through you like lighting. He retrieved his fingers from inside your hole as your eyes opened, still bleary with tears. You looked at the wall, trying to adjust your vision, before glancing back at his devilish smile. He must have felt damn proud to make you cum like this.

“That was good, you came beautifully for me.” He brushed the sweat away from your forehead before placing a gentle kiss. You watched him as he pulled back, his hand reaching for the zipper of his pants.

He didn’t have to say anything, your heart pounding in your chest as you moved your position. You were now on your knees on the soft carpet, waiting eagerly for him to release his cock. He held himself with one hand while the other reached for the back of your head, giving you a little push.

You took that as your sign and licked your lips before moving your face closer. You opened your mouth and he guided himself deep inside of you. Your pussy was dripping and you found yourself pumping your hips in time with his movements. You felt that he was close, his thrusts becoming almost frantic.

He pumped into you a few more times before letting out a groan and erupting into your mouth. You eagerly took all that he had to offer, and despite the gagging reflex, you managed to swallow everything. He looked down at you with the same devilish smile before pulling you off of him slowly.

“You did good, for most part.”

“I think I did perfect, sir.” You tried to stand up but your knees felt weak so he offered you his hand.

“Cheeky already? Although I suppose we’re finished for today.” You agreed, feeling satisfied for now.

After getting yourself cleaned and rearranging your wrinkled clothes, you both sat down on the couch, your head resting on his shoulder while his hand rubbed your back. You could have fallen asleep just like this, although you knew it was only a matter of minutes before you had to part.

“What do you think of your first lesson?”

“Didn’t learn much, did I?” His hand reached for one of your cheeks and he gave it a light pinch.

“Well then I apologize, I promise to be stricter for our next lessons.” His words might have sounded like a joke but the intensity of his gazed made your stomach do flips.

“You should go home.” You nodded and slowly got up from the couch.

He stood as well and went to unlock and open the door. As you stood in the door frame you gazed up at him and hoped for a kiss goodbye but he made no movement. Once the door was opened your relationship went back to a normal student-teacher one.

“I’ll be seeing you on Monday. No more excuses.” His face was stern this time, as to make you understand that skipping classes was no longer accepted.

“On Monday, and for the extra lesson-”

“I’ll text you.” That was all and you knew the conversation was over. You said your short farewells before you grabbed your coat and bag and left the classroom.

You reached your apartment and threw all your clothes in the laundry basket, feeling the need to take a shower but at the same time wanting this sticky feeling between your legs to last longer. After each meeting with Nanami you ended up craving more and more of his touch. You couldn’t wait for the next private lesson, but until then you had to play nice and attend the classes during the week.

As the hot water washed over your body your mind drifted to Nanami’s face, how concentrated he looked when he was giving you instructions, how relaxed he looked while reading the paper, how pleased he looked when you finished the desert. Your eyes suddenly popped open and you let out swear. You had forgotten the desert in the fridge-all that work and you didn’t even get to taste it.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch45: He Started It

Intro: Katie and Steve adapt to being the parents of a new baby as 2020 ticks by in a whirl of dirty diapers, sleepless nights…and a very childish war between Steve and Tony.  

Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut! (NSFW) No under 18s.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Yeah, I love this chapter. I hope you all do too. And thank @angrybirdcr​ for the edit. It made me laugh, a lot.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 44

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 May 2020

Katie heard a set of keys being dropped onto the table in the hallway and looked up as Steve opened the door to the living room, crossing the floor, Lucky following him before promptly dropping on the rug in front of the fire place, clearly pooped after his walk.

“Hi.” Steve smiled, sinking to one knee and pressing a kiss to her cheek as he reached out a careful finger, gently tracing the curve of Jamie’s busily working cheeks. “Somebody’s hungry.”

“Somebody takes after his father in that respect,” Katie retorted glancing up at him as he gently loosened another button on his plaid shirt, rubbing his hand over his clean shaven face.

“I feel like I should be apologising.” Steve smiled as his lips pressed onto hers and she gave him a proper kiss. He pulled back, grinning as he looked down at the tiny hand that gripped his finger solidly, lost in his thoughts.

Only the previous month the new dad had been in the throes of a sudden crisis of confidence post one of Jamie’s check-ups. Though Jamie was as healthy as a baby could possibly be, he was still on the small side. Bigger than he was when he was born but still tiny. The Paediatrician advised it was nothing to worry about, and that it was likely to be something to do with Steve’s body chemistry and who he was before the serum. Steve had been none too thrilled and had blurted out to Katie later on that he felt like he had let their son down.

“You could never let our boy down, ever.” She said, as they both lay on the bed, Steve’s feet planted firmly on the top of the duvet, legs bent with Jamie resting back against his thighs, both his hands curled round Steve’s fingers. “He’s perfectly fine and healthy, love. If he grows up a little small, so what?”

“I just want more for him, more than I was you know.” Steve swallowed, his eyes misting over.

“Hey, look at me.” Katie reached up and turned his head to face her. “You have always had the biggest heart, regardless of what you think. The serum isn’t you, you’re you, and if Jamie grows up to be half the man his daddy is I’ll be so proud”

The fact that right now Jamie seemed to have an exceptionally strong grip for a twelve week old baby made Steve slightly more confident that maybe he had inherited some of the positive effects of the serum after all.

“What time do we need to be at Tony’s?” Steve eventually asked, tearing his eyes off his son to look at his wife.

“Pepper says to get there any time from four so we can collect Emmy from school and go straight up.”

“Sounds good. Do you wanna stay or come home?” Steve asked.

“Rather be at home.” She answered, honestly. “Just easier whilst he’s so young. If he starts screaming the house down at least we’re here.” “Whatever you want, Doll.” he smiled, and at that point his attention was taken once more by baby Rogers who had finally finished his meal, milky mouth opening into a small yawn.  Katie handed him over to Steve and did up the shirt that she was wearing, as Steve stood up, adjusted a soft cloth over his shoulder and held him tenderly to his front, gently patting his back.

“Baby, you look exhausted” He glanced down at Katie as she yawned.

“Thanks.” She grumbled, shooting him a glare.

He chuckled “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah well I probably do look like shit.” she sighed “Neither of us got much sleep did we?”

They’d had a rough night the night before. Since they’d brought Jamie home, Steve and Katie had both shared the night feeds following advice from various people to spread the load so to speak. The problem is, for some reason, Jamie hadn’t settled at all post feeding and in attempt to let Katie get some rest, Steve had brought him downstairs but it hadn’t worked as she was unable to sleep as the sounds of his cries made her heart ache.

“Why don’t you go get your head down for a bit?” Steve suggested, as his large hand rubbed at their son’s back. Before Katie could reply, Jamie promptly spit up down the front of Steve’s T-Shirt, missing the cloth completely.

“Nice shot, son.” Steve rolled his eyes and Katie laughed standing up to mop him off. Jamie seemed utterly nonplussed by his activities and his large blue eyes blinked heavily before closing. Steve brushed a soft kiss across his son’s forehead and then looked at his wife again.

“Go, get some sleep. And that’s not a request, I’ll wake you in a few hours.”

“Bossy bastard”

Steve arched an eyebrow at her “I’m not bossy, I just can’t deal with Tony’s tantrum if his baby sister falls asleep at his 50th party.”

“Good point, well made.” Katie conceded. She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek before heading back out of the room.

Steve watched her go, a frown playing across his face. She’d been really quiet over the last few weeks. Life with a baby wasn’t easy, it was full of hard work, sleepless nights, puke, poop…but every time he saw his son it all paled into insignificance for him, as he was worth it. Maybe his wife was struggling a little, as despite her joke before, Jamie sure did feed a hell of a lot. At their last appointment it had been suggested that maybe they tried introducing formula as well to help fill him up which was what they had started to do overnight and he had been hoping that it would it make things a little better for her as he could do the night feeds and allow her to sleep.

Last night had been the worst one they’d had in the twelve weeks since his birth but that aside, there were other things Steve had already noticed too the main one being she wasn’t as affectionate towards him as she had been. The other night for instance he’d tried to instigate a little bit of something because frankly after months of giving himself a jerking off once every so often when he felt like his balls were explode, and he missed her. He missed how she felt under him, over him, next to him…any which way she was. But, he knew he had to be patient, her body had been through a lot after all. He’d wondered at first if it could be post-partum depression but none of the other signs he had read up on were there so he was putting it down to tiredness and hormones.

He couldn’t help with the latter, but he could sure as hell try and make sure she slept. And he could apologise for being impatient as well.

Once Jamie had dropped off to sleep, Steve placed him in his basket and headed into the kitchen. There were a few dishes and what not from breakfast so he sorted that out, wiped the surfaces to save Katie a job and then settled down in front of the TV. It wasn’t long before he was himself asleep.

***** Katie wanted to cry. Nothing in her fucking closet fit, well nothing that didn’t make her look huge. She’d settled for a navy blue strapless maxi dress which flared out from her waist so wasn’t clingy. The large pink and white flower patterns also flattered her as much as she could but she wasn’t happy.

You’ve just had a baby, let’s be real… she thought to herself, before she grabbed a pair of strappy sandals and a denim jacket, hastily wiping her eyes. Fuck it, she was going to be amongst friends, as if they cared what she looked like. She stepped back into the main part of the bedroom, where Steve was pulling on a dark green polo-shirt. She looked at him for a moment, simply admiring him, and found herself rather jealous that his physique hadn’t changed since having a baby. He had no stretch marks, no two inch increase to his hips, belly and fuck knows what to his boobs.

Bastard.

Steve’s head emerged from his shirt and he looked at his wife, watching as she moved to sit at the dresser to pull her hair back into a loose braid. He passed her, his hands dropping to her shoulders as he stopped to give her bare skin a soft kiss.

“You look beautiful.”

“Sure.” The sarcastic response and the eye roll happened before she could stop them, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed but of course, he had. Steve frowned. “You do.”

She sighed and looked down slightly and Steve didn’t like this, not one bit. Moving so that he was by her side he gently placed a hand on her knee and knelt down next to her, and she glanced at him as he looked up from his spot on the carpet. “Honey, please don’t fly off the handle at me, but are you okay? This isn’t like you and I’m kinda getting worried a little.” “Hormones.” Katie sighed, rubbing at her eyes slightly. “And lack of sleep. That’s all.”

“So it’s not something I’ve done. Or not done?”

“No, baby, it isn’t, I promise.” She gave him a little smile, reaching out to brush her hand down his cheek.

“Alright, as long as you’re sure.” He licked his lips slightly before he took a deep breath “And I’m sorry if last night you thought I was rushing you or putting pressure on you.” He licked his lips. “I didn’t mean to. At all.”

Katie looked at him and suddenly felt awful. He hadn’t done anything of the sort. He’d been nothing but patient and loving with her since Jamie had been born.

“Steve.” she shook her head, “That’s not…” she sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose “You didn’t. Honestly. It’s me…I-“

She swallowed and looked down at her hands and when she looked back at him, it was his turn to sigh as he saw the tears brimming in her eyes.

“Honey, please talk to me.” He begged, both his hands now on her knees as he knelt up slightly.

“I just…” the tears trickled down her face and Steve took a deep breath as she looked at him. “I know you say I look beautiful but I don’t feel it, not at the moment. I don’t feel like me. I look different, none of my stuff fits now, I feel huge and fat and…” “Okay, okay, stop.” Steve instructed sternly but not unkindly. He wanted to tell her she was being ridiculous, as frankly he loved the changes to her body. There was a new curve to her hips, her body was softer, her face slightly rounder. She wasn’t fat either, but Steve understood straight away that the problem was she was used to her figure before-hand, washboard stomach, trim legs and thighs all courtesy of a physical job and Avenger Training. And as Steve knew only too well, sudden changes to yourself could be hard to deal with.“You had a baby three months ago.”

“I know but since when did a baby mean my ass had to treble in size, or my hips, or my boobs…” she trailed off.

Steve took a deep breath, and then suddenly something popped into his head, something that hopefully could make her understand and see why none of that shit, even if it was true would matter to him in the slightest.

“If I woke up tomorrow, and the serum was gone, and I was back to being that 5ft 4, ninety-five pound scrawny guy from Brooklyn would you love me any less?” “No, of course not!” She scoffed, indignantly. “But that’s not the same!” “Why not?” “Because this is about how I feel.” she said

“Yeah, and I still feel like that kid that was getting his ass kicked all the time.” Steve implored, searching her face. “As you keep saying, the serum didn’t change who I am.” “And that’s why I love you.” She frowned.

“Exactly. So what makes you think I could possibly love you any less now because your hips or your ass or your boobs are bigger, which for the record, I’m kinda on board with.” “Jerk.” She mumbled, sniffing slightly and he smiled.

“Frankly,” Steve looked up at her, his eyes heavy, “I still find you the most beautiful woman on the planet. And you’re my wife, who gave birth to my baby boy.”

She cocked her head to the side and he saw a smile flicker on her face. “Say it.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What?” “You know what.” “You’re my baby momma.” He grinned with a low voice and it made her smile as she bit her lip. He took a deep breath and reached out with his hand to cup her face. “I love you.” “I love you too.” She replied gently, and she leaned down to press her lips onto his, the kiss growing quickly heated as she slid her hands into his hair, her nails raking down his neck causing him to groan.

“Seriously,” Steve pulled back, looking at her, “you’re gonna have to stop that because if start I aint gonna be able to stop and we’ll be late picking Emmy up.”

Katie looked at her husband, his blue eyes shining with mischief and she was both surprised, pleased and a little relieved to feel that familiar tingle between her legs that she hadn’t felt for ages. Glancing at the clock she realised she was right so she sighed and turned back to the mirror.

“Hold that thought, Soldier.” she looked at him in her reflection as he stood up and smiled, dropping a kiss to the crook of her shoulder and neck, and this time she didn’t push him away.

***** Tony Stark had always been known for his parties. Anyone who’s anyone would attend the raucous events filled with memorable moments. In contrast, the small gathering that was now sat on the table outside the lake-house was much more subdued. This was their first social gathering really since the snap and although various faces were missing, every single person sat there would have been happy to tell anyone who asked that it was enjoyable.

Thor, who hadn’t seen Jamie since a week after he was born was astounded at how fast the boy had grown, commenting that he was remarkably like his father, but with his mother’s nose. Their baby was, in turn, fascinated by the God, pulling on his beard at every chance he got. Steve kept apologising profoundly, but Thor wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered, if anything he seemed to enjoy it. He entertained the little boy for quite some time, which gave Katie chance to relax. Relax enough to quietly, although not that quiet so that Steve couldn’t overhear her, ask Pepper if she would be okay to have a glass of wine whilst still feeding Jamie. Pepper had smiled and simply told the younger woman that one glass wasn’t going to hurt, especially if she wasn’t going to be nursing until the morning and with that she’d poured a large one and slid it over to Katie across the kitchen counter. She’d hesitated for a moment and Steve had leant over closer to her, his finger-tips gently stroking her bare neck and shoulders.

“Doll, we have enough bottles made up, if you want to drink, it’ll be fine.”

With that she’d smiled at him, picked up her glass and headed back outside. He’d followed and as she’d gone to sit back down at the table had pulled her chair out for her, force of habit as always, only this time when she’d sat down and he’d leant forward to place a soft kiss on her cheek she’d turned towards him and gently rubbed her nose against his.

“Thank you.” She smiled softly, and it didn’t take Steve longer than a second to figure out she wasn’t talking about his display of chivalry over the chair.

“Gross.”

Katie looked up to see Emmy was sat next to Tony as the pair of them stuck their fingers in their mouths, miming being sick before they cackled and shared a hi-five.

“One day you’re gonna grow up.” Katie looked at her brother over her wine glass.

“Hmmmn, not so sure.” Pepper said, dropping down in the chair next to him, Morgan in her arms. “Think this little one will do that before him.”

“Erm, you can’t insult me, it’s my birthday.” Tony shot, looking round.

“He’s right, they’re the rules.” Emmy nodded, earning herself a fist bump from her Uncle.

“Cheers kid.” He smiled, and Katie rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry, Kiddo, she’s thirteen this year right?” Rhodey leaned forward for his drink. “Soon be way ahead of his mental age.”

The table giggled and at that Tony pouted and announced it was time to fire up the grill for the food.

For the rest of the evening, Jamie spent most of the time being passed around the table for cuddles from his extended family. And Tony even took on a nappy change to give Steve and Katie the chance to continue eating as Jamie chose the most inopportune moment to kick up a fuss about needing one.

It wasn’t until they later that night that they realised there was an ulterior motive for his helpfulness.

Steve was busy making sure Emmy was tucked in for the night, the eleven year old having slept most of the 45 minute drive back home, whilst Katie was getting Jamie ready for bed, trying not to wake him. She removed his little dungarees and t-shirt to reveal a small vest underneath and as she looked at it she felt the laughter bubble in her chest and she couldn’t stop no matter how hard she tried.

“What are you-“ Steve stopped and gazed down at his son, his eyes widening. Katie had tears pouring down her face as she glanced down at the small white garment which bore two simple words and a symbol; ‘Uncle > Dad’

Katie wiped the tears of laughter out of her eyes as she gently undid the buttons along the shoulders of the vest and carefully slid it over Jamie’s head.

“You’re bother is an asshole.” Steve looked at his wife, grabbing the vest and tossing it across the room in a display of annoyance.

Katie rolled her eyes, smirking as she picked up their baby and gently placed him in the crib at the side of their bed. Steve wrapped an arm round his wife’s waist as she smoothed down the blanket and they both peered down at their son before he kissed the side of her head. She turned her face and captured his lips, the kiss deepening slightly as Steve pulled her to him, his hands strong at the base of her spine. Playfully he slid his hands down to cup her ass and she smirked into the kiss.

“Hands, Rogers.” She teased and he shrugged.

“I told you…” his lips brushed hers, “I like your ass.” “I like your face.” She pulled back, causing him to laugh and look down at her.

“My face?”

“Yeah, your big, stupid, handsome face.” She muttered, pulling him back down to her. In between the dizzying kisses, Steve steered her towards the bed, and as her legs collided with the edge he stopped to gently trail his lips across her bare collar bone. With soft hands, he undid the zip on her dress and he felt Katie hesitate slightly. Steve paused for a second, before his lips found her jaw and then she relaxed, allowing her dress to pool by her feet. Steve groaned and followed it down, dropping to his knees, his hands gripping at the back of both her thighs. His mouth gently licked the inside of her knee, making its way up her leg and Katie let out a shaky whisper of his name, her hands tangling into his hair as he moved his affections upwards slightly, skimming his nose across the waistband of her underwear, over her soft stomach. This time her gentle whisper became a loud groan which she stifled with her hand as he pressed his nose into her arousal, and she felt her knees tremble slightly.

“You okay?” He asked quietly, peeking up at her. She nodded and with a wicked quirk of his eyebrow, he stood up, fast, hand still on her thighs so she went with him and he pitched them forward onto the bed. Then it was a scramble to get out of his clothes as fast as he could before he fell forwards again, back on top of his wife, his hands pulling down her underwear, lips kissing at the spot just below her ear.

Katie was utterly lost now, lost in the sensations she hadn’t felt in so long and she tilted her head back, sighing softly as he continued to nibble at her neck, settling himself above her. His fingers gently dropped between her legs and he felt her slick against the tips as he gently coaxed at her clit, continuing until she was nothing short of a writhing mess clawing at his back, aching for him. They locked eyes as he took her left hand in his, and slowly worked into her, both moaning simultaneously at the sensation, Katie’s eyes rolling back at the stretch. Steve began to move his hips slowly, displaying nothing but absolute tenderness in his thrusts which weren’t measured in the slightest. His free hand kept hold of Katie’s hip, keeping her as close as she could possibly be. 

A gentle breeze from the night air which blew through the slightly open window ruffled his hair and Katie wound her right hand into it, pulling him down to kiss her again as he kept his lazy thrusts aimed perfectly on her spot. Given that it had been over three months since their last time, it didn’t take them long at all before their releases were creeping to the forefront. Steve’s senses were on fire, and he broke the long, lazy kiss that they were sharing to stifle a moan against his wife’s cheek when he felt her clench around him. The sheets rustled underneath and around them both as their pace continued slow and languid until the very end when Steve saw his wife’s head tip back, her throat bared to him in utter bliss as she came hard, her moans soft and breathy. Steve gave a low grunt which morphed into a gasp as he clung to his wife as he spilled himself into her, his hips slowing to a stop as he collapsed forward. Katie gave a soft chuckle as her hands gently slid up his back and into his hair, as she moved and pressed a soft kiss to his head. 

“You’re gorgeous.” His voice was muffled as his face pressed into her neck, and she felt herself flush and grin before he moved to look at her, catching her mouth in a sweet kiss.

******

July 2020

“What are you two up to?” Katie asked as she walked into the kitchen to see Steve and Emmy looking at the laptop one morning just as Steve handed Emmy his card.

“Buying something.” Steve replied.

“What?” “You’ll see.” Emmy glanced up. “In time.” Katie rolled her eyes, she had a horrible feeling this was to do with Steve’s return shot after the whole vest thing Tony had pulled just over a month or so back.

And she was right.

On Steve’s birthday, the perfect revenge was taken when the Rogers’ hosted a gathering, similar to the one Tony had held.

There was plenty of Asgardian mead shared between Thor and the Super Soldier. They got louder as the night went on, Thor telling him about another brew he had on the go and inviting him to New Asgard to be part of the testing panel. Katie wasn’t completely sure that was a good idea, but she couldn’t help but admit that pissed Steve was one of her favourite Steve’s, and she enjoyed watching him cut loose once in a while.

At one point, Steve took the boys and Natasha to see his recently furnished ‘man cave’ which was basically the cabin next to the pool house, which now held a couch, a TV, stereo and his art supplies along with a desk. They men spent a while looking at his latest project which was a pencil sketch of Emmy and Jamie sat on the lawn before returning to the group, topping up their drinks.

Natasha, Tony, Pepper and Morgan were staying that night, and when it started to get late and the thirteen month old was dropping asleep, Pepper took her into the spare room they were sleeping in, emerging with the highest tech baby monitor available, of course, which linked directly to FRIDAY. About an hour or so later, Katie saw Steve and Emmy disappear inside, the pair of them whispering.  She watched them go and when they came back about five minutes later, Steve simply raised his eyebrows at her, grinning. 

Later that night when, after Morgan had been making some soft noises, Tony went to check on her and the five of them who were left heard his exclamation on the baby monitor.

“son of a-“  

His mumblings were followed by a loud fit of laughing and Pepper frowned. Steve and Emmy exchanged a look of glee and soon Tony emerged back onto the patio area of their garden, Morgan balanced on his hip, the dark haired tot wearing a bright blue Captain America hat. Steve reached over to hi-five Emmy as he raised his glass to Tony, giving him a slightly tipsy smirk.

“Now we’re even.”

“Oh if you think I’m leaving it there, Spangles, you’re very much mistaken.” Tony sat down with Morgan on his lap. “Just you wait.” And wait they did.

*****

October 2020

Steve walked in the door to a barrage of noise. Lucky was flopped out on the floor in the hall and simply gave Steve a look which he was convinced was the equivalent of an eye roll and he knew why, Jamie was screaming blue murder.

 He was teething.

“Hey, Sweetheart.” Steve smiled, dropping a kiss to Katie’s cheek before he gently laid his hand on the back of his son’s head. His cheeks were flushed from the teething and his little face was stained with tears.

“I don’t know what to do!” Katie looked up at Steve, utterly lost. “He’s been like this all day. I feel useless Steve, nothing I do helps, and the more he cries, the shittier I feel because he’s in pain!”

“Let me take him for a while.” Steve offered. “You should be getting ready to go out.” She pulled a face, and Steve frowned. She had been invited on her first night ‘out’ since having Jamie, with Brooke’s mum Jennifer and a few other mom’s from the school. Well, it wasn’t strictly out, it was a few drinks and snacks at the coffee bar for one of the lady’s birthday but still, it was a chance to let her hair down and she had been looking forward to it. 

“I don’t know if I can go, not with him like this.”  “Yes you can.” Steve looked at her as she gently bounced Jamie in her arms.

“But you have Emmy and Brooke to watch as well, it’s her birthday weekend and-” Steve snorted. “They’ll be in the den in sleeping bags watching movies and eating crap all night. As long as I provide them with pizza and a constant supply of popcorn I won’t see them. Come on, give him here.” He gestured with his hands and Katie passed Jamie over, and instantly the baby looked up at his dad and broke into a teary smile.

“Oh, that’s just fucking typical.” Katie threw her hands out to the side. “I sit here all day, you walk in and after five minutes he stops.” Steve laughed and looked at her, as she scowled. “I’m sure he’ll start again soon. Now go and get ready. Go on.”

With a last look at them both she headed out into the hallway and up for a shower. When she came back down an hour or so later, having taken her time just because she could, she found Steve in the kitchen making himself a coffee whilst Jamie sat in the highchair, chewing on a frozen teething ring. He grinned up at his momma who dropped a kiss to his head, all tears and tantrums forgotten, and Steve turned to look at his wife, a smile crossing his face.

She looked knock out in a simple pair of tight jeans, a white silk vest top and black blazer with three quarter length sleeves. She’d bought the outfit especially, after finally getting down to a size she felt comfortable at thanks to stepping her training back up making use of the pool and their gym. She had changed shape, there was no getting away from that, and Steve doubted that any amount of training she did would take her back to her SHIELD Agent size, which he didn’t give the slightest shit about anyway, but what was important was that she didn’t seem to care anymore. Her stomach was more or less flat again, even if it was a little softer than before, but her hips were bigger, giving her more of a curve, which Steve loved, grabbing her ass every chance he could do. There was also the added perk that, even though she was down to one feed a day with Jamie being on solids, her boobs hadn’t shrunk much, remaining two cup sizes bigger than they had been. Another thing Steve found pretty damned fine about his wife’s post-baby figure.

But, what he loved the most though was that she was comfortable with herself and it showed tonight as she grinned up at him and gave him a twirl. He aimed a playful swat at her ass before he pulled her close and dropped a kiss to her lips.

“You look great.” He smiled and she blushed, giving him a kiss back before they heard he door open and voices echo in the hall.

“Get a room.” Emmy said as her and Brooke emerged into the kitchen. Steve arched an eyebrow and made a meal of pulling his wife closer as Brooke whooped and Jennifer, who had come to drop the girls off and pick Katie up gave a wolf whistle. Katie laughed and stepped back, shooting Steve a look that almost had him hard right there as he knew full well it meant he was in for a good night when she got back.

Emmy opened the fridge, and Steve looked at her. “Yeah there’s nothing in there, we’re getting pizza.” “Sweeeeeeet.” Emmy grinned, exchanging a hi-five with Brooke, handing her a soda.

“No wonder she likes coming here so much!” Jennifer laughed again as the two girls headed back into the hall.

Steve smiled and leaned back against the counter. “Yeah, well, Katie’s the cook, not me.”

“Don’t listen to him.” Katie rolled her eyes, picking up her phone and dropping it into her purse “He can cook most things fine, he just can’t be bothered.”

“Don’t blame him, it’s Friday.” Jennifer laughed, as Katie dropped a kiss to Jamie’s head again before she turned to Steve.

“Don’t wait up.” She winked, and he rolled his eyes, giving her a look, because he knew full well he would.  

*****

At the end of the month Emmy turned twelve and was overjoyed with the new bike, clothes and phone she got, but was most overcome with the party Steve and Katie let her have in the pool house, the parents supervising six other pre-teens from afar as they splashed about in the water before Katie fed them all burgers, mac and cheese, and enough sugar to keep them wired for a weekend. Emmy had cried again later that night, never having had a proper birthday party before and thanking them so much it made the pair of them tear up slightly too.

The start of November brought the time they’d been equally looking forward to and dreading- Jamie started crawling. And he was fast, possessing Ninja skills Natasha was extremely proud of. Steve and Katie, aided by Emmy seemed to spend all their time running after him and poor Lucky was the target of his affections as Jamie loved pulling his fur or ears. In an attempt to give Lucky some peace and to prevent any mishaps, Steve erected baby gates all over the house which were small enough for Lucky to leap over if he needed a fast escape, but they confined their little Carpet Terrorist to the room he was in.  Naturally, Jamie hated them, and would sit and scream in frustration when he couldn’t follow his parents and sister freely, and Katie couldn’t help but laugh one day as he sat by the gate which separated the living room doorway from the hall, gripping the bars and yelling in objection as she and Emmy headed to the kitchen to make lunch. Steve was stood behind him, arms folded, shaking his head, a huge smile on his face as he chuckled.

“He looks like he’s in jail!” Emmy laughed as Steve swooped him up into his arms, blowing a raspberry on his belly instantly making all the tears vanish, his angry cried replaced by gurgles and giggles.  At that point there was a sharp ringing in the hallway, indicating someone was at the drive entrance. Emmy headed to the screen.

“It’s a delivery driver.” She pressed the button to open the metal gates. Steve followed her into the hall, Jamie still in his arms. Katie continued into the kitchen and was joined a moment later by the three of them, Emmy carrying a small box.

“Who’s it from?” Katie frowned as she pulled the items out of the fridge to make sandwiches.

“No return address.” Steve shrugged, as Emmy pulled open the box. The girl glanced inside and her mouth made a small O as she pulled out the stuffed American Eagle toy that was inside, but then dropped it harshly as it started to sing. There was a pause, as the ‘Star Spangled Man With A Plan’ theme tune blared round the large kitchen from the stuffed animal, and then Katie started to laugh as did Emmy and Steve dropped his head and gave a groan.

With perfect timing, Katie’s phone began to ring and she pulled it from her pocket, grinning as she saw it was Tony.

“Ahhhh you got it!” He laughed, clearly able to hear the noise on the other end of the phone.

“Where on Earth did you find that?” Katie snorted.

“I made it, well, I made the voice box. I told him to wait! Tony Stark 2, Spangles 1”

Of course, Jamie loved his latest present. And every time Steve made an attempt to hide it, he would scream blue murder. Mind you, Steve wasn’t sure what was worse, the constant screaming or the damned song emanating from the fucking toy.

“I really, really hate your brother.” He groaned one evening at the end of November as he was sat on the floor trying to coax Jamie into playing with one of the other hundred toys he had, the infant simply refusing.

“I told you not to start a war.” Katie sniggered.

“I didn’t start anything!” Steve scoffed, indignantly “He started it with that damned vest!”

“Well if you retaliate it’s gonna keep on going, you know what he’s like he’ll…oh my God, Steve!” Katie suddenly changed subject, her mouth dropping open as she watched Jamie who had crawled to the side of the sofa and was now attempting to pull himself up. They both watched in awe as their baby grasped the side of the cushion in his hand and used it as leverage to get to his feet where he stayed for a second or two before his knees gave in and he crashed to the floor with a loud thump, his diaper clad backside hitting the carpet. There was a pause where they both waited for the ensuing scream, but it never came. Instead he gave a loud shriek of laughter and went to try again, Steve recording the second attempt on his phone, all thoughts of revenge and stuffed eagles flew out of his mind as he watched his son hit another milestone.

Jamie had a sudden growth spurt heading into December, meaning he was more than ample size for his age, much to Steve’s relief and delight, and all three of them noticed that he was incessantly chattering and although it was complete gibberish they often found themselves answering back. Emmy was best at this, Steve and Katie one Sunday afternoon hid in the doorway, stifling their laughter as she held a full blown conversation with the nine month old whilst they watched the lion king.

“No that’s Simba.” Emmy responded to a loud screech as she pointed to the screen.

More ineligible babbles.

“Nala, and that’s Zazu.” Another noise, this one a little softer.

“Yeah, he will in a minute. Not for a while though. He’s gotta go to the elephant graveyard first.”

Jamie giggled, gesturing with his arms.

“I know, right?” Emmy rolled her eyes. “Stupid thing to do, should stay on the pride lands.” A string of gibberish escaped Jamie’s mouth and he looked at Emmy with an expression on his face, just like he had said asked her a serious question.

“Well, no, I mean a lion could take them but man, those hyenas are sneaky.” At that, Emmy looked up to see her parents watching from the door and she shrugged.

“He still talks more sense than you.” Steve grinned, earning himself a scowl in response ***** “It’s wonky, Dad.” “No it isn’t!” Steve shook his head, standing back to look at the Christmas tree.

“Yes, it is!” “She’s right.” Katie grinned, where she was sat on the floor, Jamie stood in between her legs, using her fingers which she held out to support himself on his legs, bouncing up and down.

Steve stepped back and gave a groan as he saw it was, indeed, leaning to the right. After a bit of a reshuffle scattering more needles on the floor he finally righted it. Katie watched as father and daughter shared a hi-five before they set about digging the decorations out of the two boxes at their feet. Katie was happy to leave them to it shouting the odd direction and the time came for the star and the big switch on.

“You wanna put it on again Em?” he asked and she nodded eagerly. She took it in her right hand and, despite her being taller and bigger than the year before Steve easily lifted her off the floor, hands on her hips so she could drop the star onto the top of the tree.

“Ready?” she asked once her feet were back on the floor, as she ran to the socket on the floor.

“Hit it!” Katie grinned, standing up and swooping Jamie along with her so he was propped on her hip.

“3-2-1…” Emmy gave a count down before she flipped the lights and the tree came to life. “Awesome!”

She moved over to where Katie was stood and reached up, bopping Jamie on the nose who gave a smile in response. He was fascinated by the lights on the tree, his eyes going wide and he let out a loud noise of approval, reaching both his arms out towards it.

The decorations on the bottom two branches lasted approximately twenty minutes until Steve and Emmy hastily moved everything up out of his reach.

The family spent Christmas Eve afternoon with Tony, Pepper and Morgan (who was now fast into her toddler stage being eighteen months or so old) but their first Christmas together was spent at home, with Natasha joining them. Jamie doted on his Auntie Nat-Nat, a nickname Steve had given her, one she faked disgust at, but they knew she loved it.

They all exchanged gifts, giving Natasha a chunky silver chain bracelet which Katie had spotted as they were shopping not long ago, which made her tear up, and a framed photo of her and Jamie from Jamie, obviously, along with a box of her favourite sweets carefully selected by Emmy.

It wasn’t long before they got a call from Tony.

“I’m gonna kill your husband.” 

Katie frowned. “What…”

“Morgan, she won’t leave the damned toy shield alone.” “What toy shield?” Katie asked. Hearing the exchange Steve looked up, grinning and she locked eyes with him, as he shrugged innocently.

“The toy shield that was in the pile of gifts you bought her, well she’s just thrown it straight at Gerald, the poor animal is traumatised!” Katie let out a sigh, rubbing at her forehead and out of the corner of her eye she saw Natasha, Steve and Emmy share a three-way-hi five, and she couldn’t help but smirk at the sight.

“Tony Stark 2, Spangles 2…” She grinned. “Merry Christmas, Tone.”

It turned out, however, that Natasha wasn’t about to let Steve get away completely, and the solder groaned where he sat with Jamie on his lap as they opened one of Jamie’s last gifts from his god- mother, which was a teddy bear wearing a Captain America shirt and a little plush shield, not unlike the one Steve had won Katie at Cony Island. Nat raised an eyebrow at Steve as Katie choked on her glass of wine but Jamie shrieked as Steve tried to take the bear off him for a closer look, ignoring the hundreds of other toys he was surrounded with.

“Jamie, that’s Cap.” Nat said as she sat on the floor, taking the bear from him and rubbing it gently in his face causing him to shriek with laughter. Steve simply shook his head and handed his son over to her.

“Suppose its better than that damned eagle.” He mumbled as he sat next to his wife who was opening the gift from Natasha to them. Both of them looked down at the photo frame which housed a number of pictures, some of which Katie and Steve didn’t even know existed. They went as far back as the first battle of New York in the shawarma joint, where they were both laughing at something. There was one taken in a bar in DC that Katie could remember, one of them cuddled up on the balcony of the tower, then some taken without their knowledge like a particularly nice one where Kate was sat on Steve’s lap on one of the couches at the tower during one of Tony’s parties. There were a few pages of their extended family as well, including Thor, Natasha, Clint, Wanda, Sam, and right bang in the middle was a photo of Steve, Katie, Emmy and Jamie, taken at Steve’s birthday in the summer.

“Nat,” Katie croaked, “it’s…”

“Fantastic.” Steve smiled, looking at her from where he had settled on the arm of the couch, arm extended along the back.

“Well, I saw the one in the hall and figured you could do with another to go with it.” Nat smiled, shrugging their thanks off as she referenced the large frame that Katie had made for Steve all those years ago.

Their newest photo collection was hung by the side of the already existing one the very next morning.

Everyone had warned both the new parents that time would fly by, and as they welcomed New Years in, this time as a five with Natasha, sitting in the garden all wrapped in blankets round the fire pit, both Katie and Steve realised that nothing else could be more truthful. As the fireworks erupted across the Brooklyn and Manhattan skyline, calling time on 2020, and Jamie’s first nine months of being alive Steve pulled his wife closer and she turned to face him.

“Happy new year, Soldier.” she whispered.

“Happy new year, Baby.” he replied softly, dropping a kiss to her lips.

**** Chapter 46

 **Original Posting**

[strawberri-blonde]

Grinchmis- George Weasley

Summary: George have never seen a single muggle Christmas movie but Y/n changes that.

Warning: Curse words and kissing.

It was really by chance that you attended the Weasleys Christmas. Mr Weasley had been fascinated with your work as a preschool teacher for the little muggles as he called them and one day when he was discussing with you about your work you had slipped on a sheet of ice causing you to fall and damage your skull causing a horrific concision. Instantly Arthur transported you both back to the burrow where Molly had given him the lecture of a lifetime before she fixed you right up. When you woke, you immediately thought that you had lost your mind because you saw a broom sweeping it’s self and a pot of hot water being poured in a cup, all on it’s on. Of course, you began to scream and ran out the door and it didn’t help that Fred, George, and Ron were flying around on their brooms sticks either. One could say you passed out but you would oppose saying that you “simply needed another nap.”

When you came to, Molly kept apologizing and apologizing while Arthur and the boys crowded around not knowing how to handle your reaction to the wizard world. At first you hand a minor panic attack then pinched yourself more than once to make sure you weren’t dreaming. Then as it all settled in, you glued to Molly’s side seeing at she was so kind and gentle. The older woman thought it was adorable and slowly explained some of the magical things and talked about normal stuff like family. That’s when you explained that when you bumped into Arthur you were on your way to your flat since school was out for the little ones for the holidays.

“So I guess we have to heal you quickly so you can get home for Christmas?” You blushed at her sweet words, then smiled while hiding your fingers in the long sleeves of the sweater that Molly had grabbed for you that had a letter ‘G’ knitted on the front.

“Actually,” you dragged out pushing a strand of hair behind your ear. “My parents are in Fiji.” Molly’s eyebrows furrowed at your words. “Something about not wanting to spend another Christmas in London, so it’s just me.”

“You were going to spend Christmas alone.” You shamefully nodded your head as Molly continued. “What about friends.?”

“With their families and I didn’t want to bother them?”

“A boyfriend or girlfriend?” You instantly blushed at her words. “I don’t judge.” You picked up the tea pot and poured the hot water into the chipped teacup, watching as the teabag got soaked.

“No partner here.” Molly smirked at your nervousness and handed the milk over to you. To which you happily grasped in your hold.

“How about you stay for Christmas.”

“Ms. Weasley, I couldn’t.”

“Yes, you can.” The older woman gripped your biceps in a loving comfort. “No pressure but I would love for you to stay.”

You let a smile take over and tilted your head. “Are you sure?” Molly nodded eagerly. “Because you already have a full house.” The older woman raised her hands in protest.

“You’ll stay in my oldest sons room Bill. He’s not going to be home until Christmas Eve. Then we’ll figure out where you will stay.” Before you could protest Molly placed her finger and thumb in her mouth letting out a whistle. She grabbed her wand and placed it against her throat. “Fred. George.” The loud noise of her voice startled you so. A gasp escaped your lips as you heard loud footsteps from the stairs along with arguing.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything?”

“Did you forget to hide it?”

“No it was you!”

“Boys!” Molly yelled at the two older men that looked to be near your age so approximately 22. Another thing that caught your eye was that they were twins; really attractive twins. “We have a guest.” The two gentlemen stopped shoving one another to get a glance in your direction.

Having their eyes on you made the nerves quite worse. You gripped the tea mug tightly in your hand and tried to advoid eye contact but the slightly taller twin caught your attention. And your cheeks began to burn bright red. “Boys this is Y/n and I need the two of you to be on your best behavior. George can you show her to Bill’s old room and Fred, I need your help in the kitchen.” The oldest twin with the green sweater let out a groan making George laugh.

“Why can’t George do it.” Molly looked at your gaze at her son and smirked before making a frown appear at Fred protest.

“Because I said so, now...” the older woman handed a pot of what looked like stuffing in Fred’s hands. “Get to work or no apple pie and George be on your best behavior.” The taller twin patted his brothers back then nodded his head.

Once his hazel eyes meet yours, you blushed again and walked over. “Hi.”

“Hey.” He smiled back and gestured up the stairs. “This way.” As George stepped on the first step he turned to you with a massive grin. “I was looking for that sweater but it looks better on you.” And that folks caused you to blush even harder making the crimson reach your ears. Noticing your flushed cheeks George started to develop a hint of red upon his pale cheeks as well.

—

Throughout the week you’ve gotten comfortable being around all of the Weasleys and even gotten to meet Rons friends Harry and Hermione. Being around them was a lot easier especially since they spent most of their time in the ‘muggle world’ as they called it.

The dining table was full as the Weasley and guests finished off the last of their desserts. You in fact had to cover your mouth as George wouldn’t stop whispering stupid jokes in your ear making it so difficulty to eat your meal. Molly and the other girls saw the little exchanges and couldn’t help but smirk at the cuteness. “Okay, well I guess it’s time for presents.” Aruthur stood up from the end of the long table gathering everyone’s attention and Molly stood as well to grab the gifts. You smiled at the family passing out gifts and cooed at the knitted scarfs Molly had made for her kids. Picking up your dirty dishes you excused yourself and brought what you could into the kitchen and started on the dishes. After a while Molly came rushing into the ‘heart of the home’ in distress. “What are you doing young lady?”

You quickly turned around and offered a smile. “I’m just washing the dishes Ms. Molly.” She rolled her eyes and grabbed your hands in hers. “Come on dear and open your present.”

“No.” You protested as she dragged you over to the table and you sat down letting her hand you the nicely wrapped gift. “I didn’t get you anything.” Molly  shooker her head.

“Don’t worry about it dear. Your presence was enough.” You sighed in defeat but continued to look at her in plea.

“You might as well open it.” Ron laughed as Percy spoke.

“She’s not going to lighten up.” With that you stared down at the red wrapping and carefully opened it to reveal a green sweater with a golden initial of your first name. Tears swelled in your eyes but you refused to let them fall.

“Thank you, Molly and Arthur for this wonderful gift. This has probably been the best Christmas I’ve had in a while.” You stood up to hug the Weasley mother and in that sweet moment Fred had to speak.

“At least now she can stop wearing George’s sweaters.” You pulled away from his mom to glare at him jokily of course while a blush did make its way to both you and George’s cheeks.

“Shut up!” The tallest twin nudged his shoulder against Fred’s. “I don’t mind.”

“Oh I bet you don’t.” Charlie joked before taking a sip of his egg nog making the rest of the Weasley boys to laugh including Harry but the girls rolled their eyes at the none sense.

The night fall came quicker than you expected and you weren’t to excited. That just means Christmas is over and it gets closer to when you have to leave the burrow and join the real world again. Letting out a sigh you finished making your tea and started to make your way back to the living room where you would sleep that night since Bill was sleeping in his room with his wife.

As your eyes tried to adjust to the darkness you saw a large figure only a few inches away and you didn’t have time to react. You and the other person collided making the hot tea sink into your clothes burning your skin. “Shit.” Hearing that familiar voice you became nervous and instantly set the mug down and patted the Weasley twin’s chest.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Y/n.” He whispered out some foreign word and light sprung from his wand showing more of his handsome face. You were so caught up on his facial features that George must’ve thought that you couldn’t tell if you knew it was him.

“It’s George.” You shook your head and stepped back to reply.

“I know.” He furrowed his eyes then spelled to clean up the mess making you fall back into his arms. “You have a little hump on your nose while Fred’s is straight and he has smoother hair while yours is a little bit more textured.” George looked away with a blush. “You’re also a tad bit taller and have a nicer voice.” This shocked the both of you as you didn’t think that actually came from your lips while George couldn’t believe someone could tell the difference between him and his brother and that someone thought he had a nice voice. George pushed back a strand of hair and pulled you into the living room on the couch. Without thinking he lifted his sweater to to get rid of the wet clothing and you did the same. George tried to be a gentleman and looked away while you grabbed a blanket to cover yourself.

Smiling at each other you noticed the goosebumps on his arms and offered him some of the blanket. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” You rolled your eyes and scooted closer placing your legs over his lab and nuzzled your head in the nook of his neck shivering slightly at how cold his skin was. George let a smile take over as he rested his head against yours making you let out a sigh in comfort. “On the night of Christmas my family and I would watch one last Christmas movie and despite the presents and such that had to be one of my favorite things to do on Christmas.”

“I’ve never seen a muggle movie.” You popped your head up in shock while George couldn’t help but chuckle at your reaction. 

“That’s crazy.” You exclaimed. “Isn’t your dad fascinated with my kind.” George didn’t stop the laughter as he rested his hands on your lower thigh and upper calf.

“Yeah but he doesn’t just steal stuff.” You laughed at him then nuzzled back into his side.

“I wish I’ve would’ve known. I would have brought a movie and my small little tv.” George circled his thumb against your skin letting his brain run a mile a minute.

“Give me the location.” You narrowed you eyes and looked up at him.

“What?”

“I think I know a spell where I can transport those things. I just need those exact locations.” After  several attempts and many of them being George grabbing random objects from your room like your clock, a sock, even a bra that you’ve had on the floor. Finally the wizard teleported your tv and your favorite Christmas movie of all time, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas.’

To be honest George wasn’t really paying much attention to the movie. All of his attention was on you. Your eyes were filled with joy; and happiness radiant off you in waves. Your arm was wrapped around his waist while his wiped around yours and his hand settle upon your thigh. The warmth you both radiant for each other was so peaceful and kept you both content. You let out a laugh from the Grinch’s dog Max having his one antler.

George’s heart raced as he thought of not seeing you again as the movie continued to play the red head worked up the courage to ask you a question. “What are you doing New Years Eve?” That question alone had you in a fury because to be honest you didn’t know.

“Um, probably be at home.” George gulped loudly letting it echoed throughout the small household.

“That’s cool.” His voice broke up in cracks as his throat tightened in fear. “W-ell,” he coughed. “Well, if you don’t want to be by yourself Fred and I are running a New Years Eve party at the shop and I would like it if you could come.” You lifted your head off his chest and shifted your weight so you could stared directly into those hazel eyes.

“I’d probably be the only muggle there wouldn’t I.” George awkward stretched the back of his head before replying.

“I mean there will be some half bloods but yeah.” He say your expression and rushed his words. “But I wouldn’t leave your side and everyone would love to meet you I mean you’re so nice and smart and you’re funny when you think you’re not and you have got to be the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.” You blushed at his words making George cover his mouth. “I’m sorry! If you don’t want-”

You cupped his cheeks into your hands and pressed your lips onto his. George didn’t respond at first from shock but quickly kiss you back with much need. You giggled into the kiss as he pulled you closer causing you to teasingly nibble his bottom lip. Without much thought George opened his mouth letting you slip your tongue into his mouth and you grazed it against his and pulled away making George extend his and you lick it slightly before pulling away all together and nuzzle into his chest. George tried to compress his not so little situation. “I’ll be there.” The Wealthy twin let a smile cover his features then pressed a kiss to your hairline and squeezed you more into him and finally started to watch the movie with the smile still onto his lips. It really was a good Grinchmis.

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 5

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1939

Rating:  E

Square filled: none for this chapter

Warnings: none

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 5

It had been a long time since Steve had had to share his space.  Even in the army, he’d ended up with his own quarters after he’d agreed to go on the USO tour.  Now there were bras hanging on a rack in the bathroom to dry.  Toys all over his floor and his fridge was full of things like go-gurt and applesauce that came in satchels.  It was a lot to get used to, but he was enjoying it.  He liked the noise and the chaos at Geo’s bedtime. He liked coming home and you being there whether it be just be watching some tv, or cooking dinner, or giving Geo a bath.  He even liked it when you weren’t there and there were just signs you would be back again.  The dishes in the sink or Geo’s Lego spread out on the coffee table.

After the incident at your apartment, you had agreed to stay with Steve at the tower.  The fact the people after you were willing to commit suicide over anyone finding out where they were from meant this was bigger than just you or Geo.  You had agreed - rather reluctantly at first - to stay with him until they could get to the bottom of it.

His apartment was only two bedrooms and given that you had only been dating for a little while, you’d been sharing a bedroom with Geo.  He hadn’t wanted to pressure you into becoming more intimate than you were ready for and if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he was ready for it either.  Partly because of the high stress of the situation, he worried that any feelings the two of you shared might be too heightened, and partially because he always needed to be sure.  He’d taken two years to get to a first kiss with Peggy.  He was slow to act.

He did like you though and he liked having you around.  He was aware that he overthought everything, but he was also becoming very aware of something else.  He liked being needed.  Right now you needed him and he didn’t want that to go away.

Unfortunately, trying to find the people who had done this to you was proving harder than it seemed.  IGH was a shell company covering the tracks of a medical research group looking into replicating the super serum.  They seemed to have gone defunct years ago after some success though the levels of cover-ups of whoever was the result of that success were the kind only an incredible amount of money could buy.  Steve had put Tony on trying to unravel the threads and he’d eventually come back with the name of a private investigator and an address of her office.

As he rode the elevator up in the Hell’s Kitchen apartment building a thick dread filled him over the fact that the serum had worked so well on him and people were going to keep trying to replicate that again and again until someone worked it out or he died.

The elevator stopped and he and Bucky stepped out.  “You think she might run?”

Steve shook his head.  “From what I gather she’s one of the good ones.  Abrasive, but she’s been linked to the taking out of several criminals.”

Bucky nodded and the two walked to the end of the hall.  The door for Alias Investigations had seen better days.  It had several chunks out of it and in the space glass would normally be sitting, a large piece of cardboard was taped into place.  Steve rapped his knuckles on one of the undamaged parts of the door and it rattled in place.

There was a shuffling on the other side of the door and it creaked open just a little.  The pale face of Jessica Jones poked around the corner, her jet black hair framing her face.

“Oh hell no,” she said and tried to shove the door closed.

Steve caught it and for a moment he thought she was still going to manage to shut the door on him.  They were definitely on the right track. “Ms. Jones, we just have some questions.”

“No.  Fuck, no.  I’m not getting involved in any of your goody-two-shoes, Avengers bullshit,” she said, giving up on holding him back and striding back into her office.  “I have enough of my own shit to deal with than to worry about fucking Aliens and out of control robots.”

“Ms. Jones,” Steve said, as she went and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels from her desk, unscrewed the cap, and started drinking straight from it.  “We just want to ask some questions.  It’s about an organization known as Industrial Garments and Handling.  We believe you might know about them.”

She lowered the bottle and narrowed her eyes and collapsed down into the chair behind the desk.  “You’re too late.  There is no IGH.  I shut them down.  Everyone involved with it is dead.”

“You know them then?”  Steve asked, taking a seat.  Bucky stayed standing by the door like he was expecting Jones to try to run.

“I know them.  They did this to me,” she said and clenched her fist on the bottle.  It shattered, spraying glass and alcohol everywhere.  “And I made them pay for it.”

“Did you sign up for experimentation?”  Steve asked, and quickly held up his hands. “No judgment.  I signed up to be a lab rat too.”

Jones shook her head.  “No.  I was in a car accident and they took me.  What’s this about?”

“They were involved in human experimentation several years back.  We believe they were trying to make some kind of combat enhancers,” Steve said.

Jones scoffed and spun around on her chair, and began rifling through a filing cabinet.  “You have so many resources at your hands and that’s where you are?  You’re a little behind.  They were, the army had them and were using them on soldiers.  There’s one still alive. His name is in here -” she spun back around and tossed a stack of files on the desk.  “As for IGH there’s a nurse and a janitor still alive and they’re in prison.  The rest is gone.  You’re chasing a dead lead.  You can relax and take a break.”

“I’m afraid we can’t.  We have one of their test subjects in custody.  They’ve been trying to take her in,” Steve said.  “I’ve found with places like this, you think you get the root of the evil and you’ve just been pruning back some leaves.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed derisively.  “Nice analogy, Cap,” she said.  “I’m sorry about your friend, but they tried to destroy their own work, including me.  I know they’re gone because no one has tried to kill me in months now.  Whoever is trying to get to them, it’s not IGH.”

Steve sighed.  She seemed so certain, but someone had been trying to take you and Geo, and this company was involved somehow.  “Everything you have is in here?”  Steve asked.

“Yeah, take it,” Jones said.  “Now get out.  I have work to do.”

Steve stood and nodded.  “Thank you for your help.  I’ll call you if I have any questions.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Jones said.  “I have friends who’ll get a kick out of the voice message I have from Captain America.”

As they went back into the hall, Bucky laughed softly.  “She was charming.”

Steve bit back his own laughter.  “Well, I guess you don’t have to be pleasant to do good.”

“You can say that again,” Bucky said, jabbing the button to call the elevator.  “You think this is a dead-end?”

Steve flicked through the folders as he got onto the elevator.  “They obviously didn’t go away completely.  Whatever remnants existed might have been absorbed by something else, and going off how hard it was for me to keep that door open, I’d say they might have gotten closer than most at replicating what was done to us.  I’m guessing that something has taken what they can and is after Geo to fill in the blanks.  This is a start.”

The elevator stopped and Steve and Bucky began to make the walk back to the tower.  It was only seven blocks and even with the fact they were going to get stopped several times on the way, it was still easier to walk it than try and find a parking spot in Hell’s Kitchen.

“I should grab something for dinner on the way home,” Steve mused as he shoved the folders into his jacket and zipped it up.  But he and Bucky pulled on their ball caps and put on sunglasses.  Bucky shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket to hide the telltale glint of metal.

“What?  You sick of home-cooked meals already?”  Bucky teased.

Steve chuckled and nudged Bucky in the familiar way that always came so naturally to him, his shoulder bumping into his friend’s and pushing him slightly off course.  “Hardly,” he replied.  “I just worry about her thinking she owes me.  I’m really up in my head about it.  It’s hard dating someone who’s living with you and who is that reliant on you.  The line between normal boyfriend and girlfriend things and a person in a vulnerable position thinking that they need to comply with a request so they feel safe is blurred.”

Bucky’s lips twitched and he shook his head.  “Steve, I love you, pal,” he said.  “But do you overthink or what?”

Steve shrugged and let out a breath.  “I’ve never been good with this kind of thing, Buck.  You know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Bucky agreed.  “And it’s sweet how you worry about things like that.  It’s the reason why it took us so long to hug when you finally tracked me down though, you know?”

“Yeah,” Steve said.  “I know.  What do you think I should do?  I want to move forward with her.  I’d even be happy if she started sleeping in my bed, but all we’ve done is some quick pecks on the lips when I’ve gotten home and cuddling on the couch.  And I don’t even know if I can count the cuddling on the couch because she cuddles with you too.  You’ve always been better with women than I have.  What would you do?”

There was a heavy silence in the air while Bucky seemed to think it over.  When he finally spoke his voice sounded slightly tight and Steve wondered if he’d pushed him too far into thinking about how he used to be.  “Take her out again.  On an actual date.  I’ll watch Geo if she’s okay with it, or I’m sure Clint and Nat will come around if she still doesn’t trust me.  Talk about it with her.  Then kiss her for fuck’s suck.  Properly.”

Steve nodded, still not quite sure how to actually talk about it.  A date would be good though, the domestic thing made it hard to do anything romantic anyway.  “You wanna have dinner with us?”

Bucky nodded.  “Sure.  What are we having?”

“Burgers seem safe don’t you think?”  Steve said.  “Geo would probably eat a cheeseburger.”

There was another small nod from Bucky and Steve pulled out his phone, texting you for any special requests and to make sure you didn’t start cooking.  He hoped he could move things forward with you a little, but it wouldn’t be the first time he ended up having unrequited feelings for someone.  Either way, it was nice he could have you both in his life sharing dinner.

// NEXT

[shypotato-translations]

QTVW Chapter 3

The Future* President's Fiancee (III)

----

Ling Xihan stood at the doorway, narrowing her eyes as she sized up An Mu Lan from top to bottom.

Under the warm lighting, An Mu Lan's whole body looks exceptionally soft and warm. She was wearing a nightgown as short as her thighs, and even with an apron over it, it only gave her a different kind of **, the thinness of the clothing did not hide her small, but well-developed body.

Ling Xihan's gaze seemed to casually sweep over An Mu Lan's full breasts, her slender waist surrounded by the thin belt of her apron, and then her long, straight legs. Her eyes darkened, and with that she closed the door with her hand and walked over.

Ling Xihan walked up to An Mu Lan, looked down at her, then at the four plates of home-cooked food on the table, and raised an eyebrow.

An Mu Lan had already pursed her lips and smiled when her gaze came over, her face slightly embarrassed, and after placing the plate in her hands on the table, she shrank up a little awkwardly and whispered,

"I didn't know you were coming back tonight, I'll just go and change."

She turned to walk upstairs, but a slightly cool hand, grabbed her wrist and the other said,

"No, that's fine, didn't you prepare dinner? I'm hungry."

With that, she let go of her hand and went to wash her hands at the sink.

An Mu Lan smiled and said to Ling Xihan's back,

"Then I'll go and serve the rice."

With that, she turned and walked into the kitchen.

As she served the rice, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to herself: the beauty trick is kind of good, unintentional ** like this is what will impress the villain more.

Ling Xihan walked out after washing her hands and immediately felt that something had become different in this villa of hers. She walked towards the dining table while taking a careful look around her surroundings and realized that many new objects had been added to this room in the two days she was not at home.

They are small, unassuming things, like a row of vibrant, colorful flowers on the windowsill; a bright yellow square tablecloth on the living room coffee table; and a blue fish tank with two small goldfish swimming around in it ......

Small changes such as these are everywhere, and although they may not seem worthwhile on their own, they are the details that make the room come alive and give it a homely atmosphere. And all this is due to the young girl in front of her.

She was more than satisfied with this girl, who was fair and lovely, who behaved generously, and who was pleasant to live with.

She walked over to the table, pushed a chair away and sat down, looked at the four dishes on the table and noticed that they were all home-cooked dishes, but even if they were home-cooked, they looked extraordinarily tasty and she raised her eyebrows in some surprise.

According to the information she had received, An Mu Lan was a young lady who was not well received by the An family, with a timid and unassertive personality, but in terms of her behaviour, she basically fit the mould of a lady of the house. She had chosen An Mu Lan as her marriage partner in the first place, in large part because she was soft and easy to handle, but she wasn't a must.

But in this current situation, the girl in front of her clearly exceeded her expectations and gave her a bit of interest. Since this was a girl who was to her taste, she didn't mind just keeping her.

An Mu Lan came out with rice and saw Ling Xi Han with an obscure expression under the light.

She settled down and warned herself that the battle at hand was an offensive and defensive one, and that she must be careful, and that only by impressing her with the details, and by rattling her, would she stand a chance of survival.

With this in mind, she calmed down and placed a bowl of rice in front of Ling Xihan, offering to hand her chopsticks again before turning off the kitchen light and taking off her apron.

After doing so, she sat down at the table and said with a smile to the imposing woman in front of her,

"I didn't know you were coming back tonight, so I made some of my favourite dishes, and if you don't find them tasty, then I'll make something else."

Across the table, Ling Xihan shook her head impassively and said,

"In that case, it's fine, let's eat."

After saying that, she picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the stir-fried meat in her mouth, a light taste filled her mouth, the meat was tender, the taste was light but not boring, and the vegetables had a taste of the food itself.

Ling Xihan rarely had the opportunity to eat such dishes, and she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction before trying the others, all of which tasted equally fresh.

With a rare expression of praise, she said to An Mu Lan,

"This tastes great, you're a good cook."

An Mu Lan's cheeks flushed, she smiled shyly and said,

"It's all small dish style, it's rare that you like it, I usually try to cook something on my own when I'm at home, and now that I've moved out, it's a lot easier to cook and stuff ......"

She paused, her tone a little downcast, in keeping with the despondency she felt when she was out of favour with the An family, and now that she was free.

But she quickly lifted her spirits and said cheerfully,

"Xihan ...... you like it, I will make it for you every day."

Ling Xihan took her behaviour in stride and she nodded in response.

After dinner, it was still early, and the sun was still shining on the glass of the villa.

Seeing that it was still early and not yet time to go to bed, An Mu Lan took the initiative and said,

"Xihan, it's still early, would you like to go for a walk outside with me to spend some time?"

Ling Xihan thought to herself that she didn't have anything else to do anyway, she had set everything up while she was away the other day and it was time for her to rest for a while, so she nodded and agreed to go along with the homely offer.

An Mu Lan's face immediately showed an expression of delight as she ruffled the loose hair around her ears, said something about changing and hurried upstairs.

The two of them went out the door and walked beside the river in the villa area in the setting sunlight.

It is the height of summer, when the willows are in full bloom and the flowers are fragrant. The atmosphere is quiet and serene, giving a sense of indescribable peace, which is extremely rare in Ling Xihan's life.

She looked down at her side, An Mu Lan, who was half a head shorter than her. Seeing that she was currently wearing a knee-length dress and looking all student-like, she cocked her head and asked,

"What year are you in college now?"

An Mu Lan did not know why the other party suddenly asked this question, but she still responded obediently,

"Sophomore."

Sophomore, Ling Xihan thought in her mind, An Mu Lan is only eighteen years old now, it is still too early, everything is unclear, although there is no denying that she is a good match, but the future is too variable, it is better to take one's time to plan.

After the two of them finished their walk, they returned to the villa, Ling Xihan went back to her room, while An Mu Lan, after cleaning up and washing up, read a book for a while and recalled the course of the day, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Ling Xihan woke up, washed up and walked to the staircase where she saw two plates of small dishes and a bowl of thin rice on the dining table, an obvious Chinese breakfast configuration.

She went downstairs and looked for An Mu Lan who was reading a book on the sofa in the living room. The moment she saw her, An Mu Lan put down her book and greeted her with a smile, saying,

"Good morning, I've prepared some breakfast, so if you're not in a hurry, you can have something to settle your stomach."

There was no expression on Ling Xihan’s face, but she went to the table as she had been told and ate her breakfast before leaving the door.

An Mu Lan passed this world on her own, studying the books of the university, because she had put some effort into her studies, considering her setting of being a good girl.

When it was noon, An Mu Lan made her meal, packed her lunch and went out to take the shuttle to the Ling Xihan Company in the middle of the city.

She got out of the shuttle, took a look at the charmingly shaped building, which was several hundred metres high, and tsked twice in her mind: as expected of a rich person, she had never had the chance to see such a high floor in modern times when she was alive, not to mention that the owner of this floor was her fiancée.

She looked at it for a while, then secretly brushed off her emotions, walked to the electronic device area, entered her personal information, and after the future electronic device confirmed her identity, it read: In three minutes, the president's assistant will come down to pick you up, please wait patiently.

After waiting for less than three minutes, a young woman in a close-fitting suit, her whole body exuding an aura of intelligence and competence, stepped out of the transparent lift and slowly walked in front of her.

She surveyed An Mu Lan with an uncomfortable look in her eyes, and then had a look of contempt on her face that made her look very unfriendly as she said coldly to An Mu Lan,

"Miss An, is it? I'm Xihan's personal assistant, Zhang Yao, I wonder what you want to do here at the office?"

An Mu Lan said with a smile on her face instead of changing her expression,

"Hello, Miss Zhang! I am President Ling's fiancee, please tell President Ling that I have something for her."

Zhang Yao's face sank and her voice sharpened as she said,

"Xihan is in a meeting, so don't give her any trouble."

An Mu Lan walked past Zhang Yao and headed for the lounge shown on the topographical map she had seen earlier. She walked straight to the sofa and sat down, picked up the book in her backpack and read it with a serious face.

Zhang Yao, who was left in the cold, was shaking with anger, she glared fiercely at An Mu Lan and took the lift to leave.

Only after An Mulan could not feel the woman's cold aura did she raise her head and her gaze fell on the spot where Zhang Yao was standing earlier, and in her mind, she recalled Zhang Yao as a person.

The name Zhang Yao was mentioned a few times in the plot of the novel, she was indeed Ling Xihan's personal assistant and the two were very close. Even, in the novel, the woman who finally replaces An Mu Lan and becomes Ling Xihan's wife is her.

In the book, Zhang Yao, a person with a very powerful background and strong personal abilities, is the city's top snake, the sister of a mob boss, a vengeful and extremely narrow-minded woman who secretly kills all of Ling Xihan's alternative fiancée candidates in order to become her wife.

But even when she finally achieved her wish, she was still abandoned by Ling Xihan after her power had grown, and ended up in a miserable situation.

In the memory of the original owner, An Mu Lan, she also had a deep impression of Zhang Yao, although she did not know her at that time.

In the early years of the original owner's stay in the mental hospital, she was personally beaten by this woman and had her leg broken and her face cut, after which she was fed a lot of psychotropic drugs by the doctor.

And the woman simply whispered in her ear,

"Who made you Ling Xihan’s ex-fiancée? You deserve it."

After Zhang Yao's anger, she has the doctor mistreat her, which makes the original owner's already difficult life even more difficult and eventually dies early.

Zhang Yao, therefore, is also one of her targets for revenge.

Thinking about this, Mu Lan couldn't help but feel a headache, according to this, most of the people in this novel, are the target of her revenge.

There were too many enemies to live up to the brain-damaged novel, and she was having a mental breakdown thinking about them.

[jay-me-says]

Things Were Different Back Then

BONUS CHAPTER

Masterpost w/ more info on the fic | Note: all SBI-related relationships here are platonic!

When Tubbo wakes, there’s a slight pain in his neck. He winces as he shifts, trying to find a more comfortable position. It takes a few seconds for him to remember the details of the previous night, sleep clouding his thoughts. He and Tommy had fallen asleep together on the couch after their conversation. His head is still on Tommy’s chest- he can faintly hear his friend’s heartbeat.

As Tubbo takes in his surroundings, he notices that his arm hurts a little too. It lays between him and Tommy, curled up at a somewhat odd angle, close to the other boy’s hand. Gently, he moves his arm into his own lap, making a face at the pain that shoots through his wrist. He gently twists it in circles, trying to stretch out the pained joint.

The boy sits there for a minute more, listening to the faint bump-bump echoing from somewhere inside Tommy’s chest. The other boy smells faintly of salt water, and, if asked, something that Tubbo can only pinpoint as simply Tommy. It smells like their childhood home and comfort and a nightmare-filled night spent close together.

Tubbo should get up, he knows, but he’s warm and tired. Still, with a deep inhale, he pushes himself off the couch cautiously, hoping not to wake Tommy.

The brunette stretches, working out some of the achy feeling that permeates his muscles, then goes into the kitchen.

The clock on the wall declares that the time is nine o’clock. It’s the latest Tubbo has woken up in a few months. Irrational guilt springs into his stomach and he pushes it away with a slight shake of his head. He doesn’t have anything important to do today, anyways. Besides, Niki and Fundy are more than capable of handling things without him for a few extra hours.

Tubbo decides to make eggs for breakfast. The process is familiar and he goes on autopilot, giving him time to think.

He wonders how things will be with Tommy today. The blond seemed determined and ready to move forward last night, but these things are easier said than done. Tubbo knows that it will take time for Tommy to go back to some semblance of normal. Still, he wonders if there will be any noticeable changes today.

A few minutes into cooking, Tubbo hears familiar footfalls coming from the living room. He half turns around as Tommy enters the kitchen. The blond has a slight bedhead, straw-colored hair sticking out in places. He brings a hand up to rub one of his eyes.

“Morning,” he says through a yawn.

“Morning, Tommy.”

The blond shuffles closer and looks over Tubbo’s shoulder at what he’s doing. “Eggs?”

Tubbo nods as he moves the yellow scrambled eggs around in the pan. “Yeah.”

Tommy sleepily hums in response and gently rests his forehead on Tubbo’s left shoulder. The brunette smiles a little. The moment injects a peaceful feeling into his chest. It’s so mundane, so calm, so far away from every last bad thing that has happened to them more recently. They’ve fought through everything together to come to this moment, where they can be peaceful in each other’s company. It makes all the battles and hardships seem worth it.

Suddenly, Tubbo’s stomach does a nervous flip, interlaced with feelings of dread and slight embarrassment. His smile fades. “Hey, Tommy, I’m sorry about how I blew up at you last night. That wasn’t fair, I should’ve kept my cool.”

The other boy lifts his head off of Tubbo’s shoulder, shockingly blue eyes making direct contact with his own. “It’s alright, Tubbo. I get why you did it. I was lying and being secretive and I-“

“That’s not an excuse,” Tubbo says, cutting him off. Distress creeps into his voice. “I should’ve just-“

Tommy cuts him off in turn, placing a hand on his shoulder. “No, it’s not. But I’m telling you, it’s okay. You’re human and you were worried. It’s okay, Tubbo.”

Tubbo takes a slow, deep breath, closing his eyes briefly. “Okay,” he says as he exhales.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Satisfied, Tommy leans his forehead back against Tubbo’s shoulder. The weight and the contact bring the brunette comfort.

When the eggs are about ready, Tubbo asks Tommy to grab plates. He groans but obliges and returns a few seconds later with two. Tubbo scoops an even amount of eggs onto both and they go sit at the table together. The first few minutes are spent in silence, eating. Walter wanders into the room and sits next to Tommy, staring up at his plate, waiting expectantly for him to cave. Tubbo isn’t sure whether the silence is peaceful and sleepy or nervous and tense. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

When Tommy finally gives in and tosses Walter a small chunk of egg, he looks up at Tubbo and asks, “Is there anything going on today?”

The boy shakes his head. “No, nothing. And it’s your second to last day before you take back your council seat, isn’t it?”

Tommy looks surprised, then glances to the side as he thinks for a moment. “Yeah, it is.”

“What do you want to do today, then?”

Tommy pokes at a bit of egg while he considers. “It would be nice to walk around L’manburg for a while. Just hang out and be, I guess.”

The idea makes Tubbo smile. “Yeah, that sounds great. I’m down.”

The boys finish eating and Tubbo puts the dishes and cutlery in the sink. He’ll take care of it later.

They both go to their rooms to change out of yesterday’s clothes. Tubbo grabs a fresh pair of jeans and a soft, green button-down. He rewraps the red bandana around his wrist, making sure it’s secure, then meets Tommy in the living room. Henry II sits on the boy’s shoulder and Walter sits patiently by his side, tail wagging in anticipation of going outside.

Changed and ready, the two boys head out. They stroll aimlessly through the paths of L’manburg, talking about anything that comes to mind. Tubbo loses track of time as they walk.

Eventually, they come to the battered site of Tommy’s old house.

The boys stop at the sight. For a few seconds they simply stare, dead silent, conversation forgotten. They’d passed the house on their way to the bench a few days ago, but it had been dark and they’d been distracted. Tubbo wonders if Tommy even considered stopping to look at it that night.

The smooth stone walls have blocks missing. Bits of rubble lay like forgotten memories amongst trampled, patchy grass. There’s even a slab or two missing from the path leading up to the entrance.

Nerves collect in Tubbo’s stomach. Gingerly, he taps the back of his hand against Tommy’s. After another second of nerve-wracking silence, the blond accepts the invitation and takes Tubbo’s hand, giving it a brief squeeze. I’m alright, the action seems to say.

“Want to go in and look around?” Tubbo asks softly.

Tommy glances around the wrecked environment again, then says, “Yeah…yeah, sure.”

He tells Walter to sit and leaves Henry II with him for company. With another squeeze, the boy lets go of Tubbo’s hand and leads the way up the path and into the old house.

It’s not much prettier inside than outside. One of the furnaces is missing and a thin layer of dust lines most of the surfaces. The ender chest is gone. Tommy rotates in a slow circle, taking in the scene. Tubbo tries to identify exactly what emotion is on his friend’s face. It’s a blurred mixture of sadness and nostalgia and maybe a little bit of surprise.

Finally, he turns to Tubbo and asks, “Will you help me look through the chests? Might be some good things left.” Something soft and vulnerable like griefs wraps its way around his words as he speaks.

Tubbo nods and they get to work. Roughly ten minutes later, their inventories are loaded up with large sums of coal, some stacks of logs, and even a few diamonds. They decide to head back to Tubbo’s house to drop them off in the guest room chest before continuing their day.

On the way there, they bump into Fundy. The fox stands by the plot of land designated for the community garden project. He holds a pen and a notebook, sketching something and scribbling notes in the margins. A few barrels sit in a stack by his side.

Tubbo stomach drops a little. He calls out to Fundy and he as Tommy come to a stop. “Hey! I didn’t forget something we had planned, did I? Was I meant to help you today?”

Fundy turns and waves in greeting. “Hi, no. I was just,” he pauses for a moment, seeming nervous, “well, I was talking to Wilb- Dad about the community garden project earlier and since it’s almost my last day on the council, I wanted to do something helpful. So, I invited him to help me plan things out and put down some borders and draft out where things will go.”

Tubbo, remembering what Tommy told him of his conversation with Wilbur last night, smiles. “That’s brilliant, Fundy. Do you want any help or…?”

“Uh, no. No, I think we got it. He’ll be back soon, though, if you want to stay and say hi. He was just grabbing some more signs.”

“Nah, I’m sure we’ll see him around soon enough. We’ll let you get to it.”

“Alright. See ya, man.”

Tommy and Tubbo continue on to the house. When they’ve gotten out of earshot of Fundy, Tubbo says, “He seemed…I don’t know, happy? Hopeful?”

“And nervous as hell. I don’t blame the guy. It’s nice to see that Wilbur is sticking to his word, though.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it really is.”

When they get inside the house, Tubbo passes the stuff he’d been carrying to Tommy and says, “I’m going to go check something real quick. Meet you in the living room."

“Alright.”

Tubbo goes to his room, closes the door, and goes for the double chest against the wall. He opens it and grimaces at the mess.

He really should clean it, there’s no reason for him to have so much junk in here- he has a storage room for a reason. But that’s an issue for another day.

He digs around and finds what he needs, then accesses the crafting table underneath the chest and places the items in a familiar pattern. Satisfied, he tucks the item into his inventory and goes to the hallway to meet Tommy.

The boys head back out, Walter and Henry II right behind them. They walk until their sides get stitches, then search for a spot to sit down. They come to the L’mantree and seat themselves under it. Hundreds of green leaves shield them from the warm sun. So much history is held within the oak tree’s boughs. It feels to Tubbo almost like sitting down at the side of an old comrade.

The conversation stills for a while as the two boys look up at the clouds floating across the sky. Every now and again, they speak softly to point out a cloud that looks like a certain shape. Walter lays in between them, napping. Henry II sits upon one of the L’mantree’s branches.

Tubbo feels extraordinarily relaxed. His and Tommy’s slow, deep breaths tangle in the air while they sit side by side and bathe in the peace created by their surroundings. A soft smile pulls at Tubbo’s lips as he picks up a hand to gently run through Walter’s white fur.

He almost feels disappointed when Puffy and Niki pass by them and put a pause to the moment. The couple holds hands, stopping in their tracks when they see Tommy and Tubbo under the tree. Niki waves cheerfully and Puffy shoots them a smile.

“Hey, guys. How’s it going? Everything alright?” Niki asks. She makes eye contact with Tubbo on the last sentence, giving him a meaningful look.

He stares right into her eyes when he nods. She smiles. “Yeah, everything’s great. Just enjoying one of Tommy’s last days off.”

“Awesome. It’s a beautiful day for it,” Puffy says, glancing briefly at the sky. “Oh, I meant to stop by earlier with some pumpkin pie I made for you two. Can I pop over just before sunset with it?” She tilts her head a little to the side. Curls of brown hair fall over her shoulder.

“By all means,” Tubbo says.

“Great, see you then.” Puffy bumps her shoulder gently against Niki’s. “Don’t let me forget.”

Niki turns an affectionate smile towards her partner. “I won’t.” She looks back at Tommy and Tubbo. “We’ll let you get on with your day. See you later.”

“Later, Niki,” Tubbo says.

Puffy and Niki keep walking and Tommy and Tubbo fall comfortably back into serene silence. Tubbo allows a few minutes of quiet before he says, “Hey, how about we go to the bench tonight.”

Tommy doesn’t look at him, but Tubbo can see his smile. “Yeah, sounds good.”

~

Tommy and Tubbo head for the bench shortly after Puffy and Niki drop off the pie. Walter and Henry II once again accompany them on their short journey. Tubbo feels tired by the time they arrive, relieved to take a seat on the bench. They walked for a good while today. He’s sure to wake up late again tomorrow.

Tommy slides into place next to him, looking at the horizon as the sky slowly begins to shift from blue to pink. The item Tubbo crafted earlier sits heavily in his inventory.

Walter lays down at their feet. Henry II flaps off of Tommy’s shoulder and lands delicately on the dog’s head. The green of the parrot’s feathers sort of blends in with the color of Walter’s bandana. Tubbo glances from the lime cloth around the dog’s neck to the red one around his own wrist. So many memories are attached to the two bright strips of fabric.

Tommy and Tubbo had spent most of the day talking, but there was always more to say with them. Some story from seven months ago the other had forgotten to divulge, a detail from childhood to reminisce over, a fighting tactic to discuss.

Their conversation tonight is punctuated by short silences, pausing now and again to watch the sinking sun. When the sky starts turning orange, Tubbo stands. Tommy looks up at him quizzically.

“I noticed earlier that the ender chest was missing from your old house and I thought you might like a new one.” With a tentative hand, he reaches into his inventory and pulls out the ender chest he’d made earlier, gently placing it on the grass next to the bench.

Tommy smiles and lets out a noise somewhere between a soft laugh and a gasp. Gently, he brushes a hand over the lid. It emits a soft, vaguely purple light that illuminates his skin.

“Thank you, Tubbo. Really.”

Tubbo sits back down as Tommy gently lifts the lid and reaches into the black depths of the container. He pulls out a jukebox and a disc. It’s not one of the discs, but Tommy still looks emotional as he holds it. He was always fond of discs, and he hadn’t had access to them while he’d been gone.

With great care, Tommy places the jukebox next to the ender chest and slips the disc in. As he sits down next to Tubbo, the first few notes of Blocks plays. It washes a feeling of comfort over Tubbo. Blocks has always been one of his favorites. He finds it soothing.

No conversation interrupts the disc. Its notes, beautiful and tranquil, are the only sound that floats through the air. The lowering sun splashes the sky with a gorgeous gradient of fiery colors. The music combined with the company and the beautiful display in front of them makes the moment feel special and separated from the normal passage of time. The sunset seems to go by in both an entire year and a single minute. Tubbo thinks it would be nice to believe that part of him will always be here, in this moment, watching the sunset and listening to music with Tommy.

Eventually, the light fades out to dark, stars slowly appearing to greet the waning moon. The last few notes of Blocks ring out into the night, and then all is silent. Neither of them speak for a while. Tubbo tentatively takes a breath before asking, “Tommy, do you ever think about how…every moment you’ve lived through leads up to the one you’re in now? Like, everything we’ve ever done has led up to us being here, right now, in this exact second. It’s…it’s kind of nice.”

There’s a beat of silence and Tubbo looks over at Tommy, who’s staring at the sky. “Jesus Christ, Tubbo, don’t get all existential on me.”

Tubbo laughs and looks back up to the sky, smiling at the joke as he watches more stars twinkle into existence. There’s a slight sting too, though.

After another short silence, Tommy says, “I suppose it is sort of nice, though.”

Tubbo’s smile widens a little. “How do you feel about getting back to work as a council member?”

“It’s a little daunting, but I’m feeling pretty good about it. It’ll be nice to have something to do besides think about everything bad that’s ever happened. I had a month for thinking, I’m ready to work, Big T.”

“That’s good to hear. We’ve got a lot to do. We’ve come so far since the Second Revolution, but there’s always something else that needs fixing.”

“We can take it. Watch, we’re going to be the best leaders L’manburg has ever seen. Better than Wilbur.” Tommy’s voice holds the light tone that indicates he’s joking, but honesty seeps through as well.

“L’manburg won’t know what hit it.”

Tommy laughs a little. “Yeah.” After a brief pause, he adds in a more somber tone, “Speaking of L’manburg and…things hitting it, has the Dream SMP been up to anything while I’ve been gone?

Tubbo shifts in his seat to face Tommy, who turns his gaze from the sky to Tubbo. “A scout on the borders here and there. Nothing big. Yet. Niki and I were planning to open a diplomatic line of conversation with them once you got back, but based on past experiences, I don’t know how that’ll go.”

Tommy nods slightly and drops his eyes to the bench. After a slightly shaky breath, he says, “Tubbo…what do you think is going to happen next?”

The brunette sighs lightly. “I don’t know, big man. But,” he reaches his hand out, palm up in invitation, “whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

Tommy looks up at Tubbo for a moment, then back down at his extended hand. He grabs it and squeezes. It feels warm and reassuring. “Yeah. Together, like always.”

You can also read this on Ao3! | Previous Chapter |  Please consider reblogging if you enjoyed! <3 

[shivani-s-blog1]

10 super easy to use kitchen storage methods, the best storage template for the kitchen

The seemingly simple change only uses the storage box for classification, but it will not be messy every time it is used. Talk about decoration and share various experiences and knowledge of decoration. Hello, everyone, I am talking about decoration. Follow me to learn more about decoration!

 As the saying goes: "Food is the heaven for the people", and space where food is provided in the kitchen. The kitchen is a space for food production in family life. Since the area given to the house in the architectural design is very limited, it is extremely important to make good use of the small space, otherwise, the kitchen space will become messy. At this time, the storage method is very suitable for use in the kitchen, so that a small space can also be turned into a storage template. Today I will share these 10 details in the kitchen so that the "happiness" of kitchen life can be doubled, and there will be no regrets at the same time.

(The content of the article is a little bit long, but it's all dry goods, please read it patiently. The pictures in the article are directly related to the content, and the form of both pictures and texts is used to make reading easier to understand)

①. Crossbar + Shook

 It would be a pity that the wall above the kitchen countertop is just left to waste, so make good use of this space, so that 50% of the countertop can be messy. In this way, you can use the combination of crossbar + Shake on the wall, which can store all the small items originally placed on the countertop on the wall, and the countertop will instantly become neat and tidy when used so that the movement of the line is more efficient when cooking.

②. Use nail-free hanger components

 Use nail-free wall storage components on the wall, so that you can extend the shelf storage cups, hanging baskets to store chopsticks, multi-layer cutting board racks, pot covers, etc., all hanging on the wall to make room for the countertop. Let the kitchen wall do not waste every foot of space in a real sense. Wall-mounted lid holder + drip tray, every time I don’t know where to put the lid, it can be stored properly.

③. Use suspended shelf

 For the overall cabinet in the kitchen, no matter whether the cabinet is designed as a closed or open shelf, you can install a hanging shelf under the cabinet to put some fruits and vegetables that do not need refrigeration, storage utensils, paper towels, Clingfilm and kitchen supplies are also excellent, greatly freeing up the space of the refrigerator.

④. Use sink drain rack

The sink is used every day, but there will still be water after many items are washed. At this time, a sink drain rack needs to be installed. Install these near the sink, so that the freshly washed bowls, pots, etc. can be placed directly on it, increasing the storage space, while storing the washed dishes vertically, which is convenient to take and place, and is convenient for the dishes to ventilate and dry , It also frees up a lot of space for the cabinet to place other items.

⑤. Use dividers to store

 Drawers are indispensable in the kitchen. At this time, you can use dividers to separate the cutlery, so that whether it is bowls, dishes, and pots, stand up and store it, which helps to put them in an orderly manner, no matter where you want to access One will be very convenient, so you don't need to look for something for a long time to find it. 

There are many shapes of dividers, and you can buy them according to your preferences. But no matter what form it is, it can be stored well after being placed.

The divider is very useful for storing daily dishes and chopsticks, making it easy to store and use such items that are usually troublesome to place. It can make full use of space, and it is very convenient to take and place. Try to avoid stacking up and down, so that items can be taken independently to improve efficiency.

⑥. Hanging basket behind the door panel

 The space of the cabinet door is often neglected, which is a pity. At this time, a hanging basket can be used on the back of the door panel to put some relatively small things to maximize the use of space.

Appropriate hooks and magnets are also good choices so that colanders and baking utensils that are not easy to store can be placed in place to maximize the use of space and make the storage tidier.

⑦. Sink rack

 Although there are sewer pipes, water purifiers, garbage disposers, and other items under the sink, it does not mean that items cannot be stored. At this time, it is necessary to use its irregular space and use special sink racks to store Use it flexibly under the sink, and make full use of every inch of space for storage while wearing the pipe.

⑧.

For the wall cabinets in the cabinet, the storage box is often a relatively unpleasant space due to the height of the upper position inside the cabinet and cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, the upper layer of the wall cabinet is suitable for placing "lightweight" items, and at the same time, considering the convenience of storage and use, it is the best choice to put this item in the storage box by "reducing the parts into a whole".

The seemingly simple change only uses the storage box for classification, but it will not be messy every time it is used.

 Moreover, after using a transparent storage box with a front handle, the items that can be stored are divided into pieces, transparent and visible, and at the same time sealed and moisture-proof. In this way, you only need to use the external handle to take down the whole box every time you pick and place it, and you don't need to turn the box and turn the cabinet every time you look for something.

⑨. Use a small cart

 When the kitchen area is very small, and the storage space is still not enough after all the space in the cabinet is used, you can use a trolley for external use, which can directly increase the storage space of the kitchen.

⑩. Storage rack in the gap

 For the kitchen, due to the existence of integrated stoves, sliding doors, and refrigerators, there will be gaps in the space. At this time, every inch of the kitchen space can be used in place with the use of the crevice storage rack, which not only ensures the placement of large items but also makes the best use of the space.

People who are willing to spend time on food must also be people who love life. Utilizing the space in the kitchen and achieving meticulous storage will surely be the best storage template for the kitchen!

[crystalgirl259]

The Flame and the Dragon Ch13

Chapter 13: The Cursed Castle

The staircase led to the first floor and Kai was back in the front hallway. The enormous locked doors to the front mocked him as he passed by. He snorted and growled trying to navigate his way through the labyrinth of chambers. His stomach refused to silence. He turned down another hallway but every corridor appeared the same. They were made of stone and lit with candles, but each was decorated in a different manner. This only made it more difficult to decide where to go.

Two oak doors blocked the end of the hallway.

A light leaking from the bottom caught Kai's attention. He turned the handles and shoved the doors open a crack, preventing any noise. His eyes widened as he scanned the enormous dining room Even in the darkness, the room was stunning. A smooth, green carpet covered the floor, while a red carpet stretched from the entrance, up too small steps, and to a large platform where a gold and silver table sat. Matching chairs in a similar fashion lined the walls opposite the ends of the table.

Behind the table, three windows covered almost the entire wall, shaped like the top of an octagon.

They were lined with maroon curtains tied with a gold cord. The darkness outside told him it was still night. A crystal chandelier lit with many candles hung from the ceiling on a thick chain, while candle holders lit with cream-colored candles rested on the oak tables. A huge fireplace framed with black stone rested in the opposite wall where a huge mirror rested above the mantelpiece. There was no ceiling. Instead, there was a balcony. Kai recognized as one of the ones he'd traveled when Cole showed him to his room, branched from one wall to the other.

Kai shivered to wonder what the room must have looked like during the day, with light spilling in from the windows.

In the far corner, lights danced behind another door, diverting his attention. He slowly approached the door and gently pushed it open. A short stone hallway lit by orange and yellow lights led to the kitchen where he could hear voices. Caution and curious, Kai pressed his back against the opposite wall, keeping himself in the safety of the shadows, before silently sliding towards the kitchen entrance. He carefully leaned over to peer inside. The kitchen was full of bright lights though he could only see a few candles and enormous wheel-shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

In the corner was an enormous brick structure that Kai could've mistaken for an alter if not for the black smoke pouring out the brick tower.

There was blazing yellow and orange fire burning wildly within it. The kitchen was huge. It was an entire room made of stone and glass and the floor was made of a sandy-gold stone. The fire pit, contained by the enormous brick stove, rested in the far corner embedded in the wall. A line of black tools hung from the wall around the stove, so they were within easy reach. A tall man, taller than Kai with short black hair and ghostly pale skin stood before the fire pit.

With a wave of his arms, the fires roared to life, before calming with the flick of the man's wrist.

He carried jars of spices from the mess upon the huge wooden table in the middle of the room and rearranged them in the towering spice cabinet next to the stove. Servants moved about, two he recognized as the man and woman in the tower, scurried about the kitchen carrying plates of little cakes, baskets of apple and fruits, and trays covered with silver tins. They placed them all on a huge wooden table in the middle. The table was full of knives and cutting boards and overcrowded with apples, peppers, carrots, and other vegetables.

The servants gathered them all in baskets before relocating them in either the huge icebox in the corner of the enormous pantry, so large it covered almost the entire wall.

Over a large silver sink, Neuro scrubbed pots beneath a faucet of running water. Steam rose when the hot water touched the cool, gray water. Nelson was sat on one of the countertops drying plates. Tox and Ronin who Kai recognized from the tower were carrying large pots, struggling with large towers of plates and cauldrons of water. The two placed the objects on the table before a flash of turquoise and green surrounding them. A green naga and a short troll stood in their place.

They then relocated the dishes from the countertops to the cupboards above the counters.

They were carved from wood but each one had a glass window so people could see where each one went. The raven-haired man in the corner turned around, barking orders, revealing his true face. He had a few inches on Kai and pale, almost grey, skin and onyx-colored eyes. A strong hand wiped the sweat from his brow. He wore black gloves and a sleeveless black vest with silver shoulder braces, a silver wolf symbol with red eyes, and in front of a blue area on the chest.

His legs were designed with gray pants and black boots.

His white cooking apron was blotched with soot and stained red. Kai ducked behind the wall hoping he wasn't seen. His heart hammered in his chest in confusion and excitement, as he pondered who, or rather what, they were.

"UGH! I can't believe this! I slave all day over a hot stove, quite literally and what!? It all goes to waste!" He hollered as he raised his hands in protest. The other servants and the boy on the counter jumped. The only one unafraid of the cook's temper was Neuro, who was still doing dishes.

"Oh, stop your grousing! It's been a long night for all of us!" Neuro told him. Shade rolled his eyes but said nothing else. Not a moment later Jay, who Kai also recognized from the tower, bulldozed into the room through the opposite door, panting heavily. Echo ran beside him, looking just as exhausted as Jay.

"Sorry guys," Jay panted, before glowing in a dark blue light. A blue fox took his place. Kai's eyes almost bulged out of his skull. He couldn't look away as Echo closed his eyes and in a flash of gold, only a brown centaur remained. They had intended to continue their search for Kai, but they noticed how much work the others had to do since dinner was canceled and it wasn't like Kai could leave the castle. Wasting no time, Jay, in the form of a Raijū, grabbed a stack of plates clearly too heavy for him.

The tiny creature struggled to use his powers to float but managed to lift it and made his way towards the pantry.

"Jay let me help you," Echo begged his companion.

"I got it," Jay grunted until finally, he faltered as his body fell, sending plates scattering around him. Without thinking Kai dove and slid across the floor to catch the falling creature in his arms. Plates rained around him, as Kai pulled the shaking fox in his arms. Everyone, who had moved for the same reason, froze and stared at the boy on the floor. Kai blinked in surprise until his eyes widened in remembrance.

"Oh, you're there," Jay said. "Echo and I wondered where you disappeared too." He smiled. Kai reacted quickly. His entire body jumped and he fell backward until he was in a half-sitting, half-lying position. His eyes were wide with shock and awe. The action sent Jay flying into the air, forcing him to use his powers to float. The cook crossed his arms and smirked at the teen on the floor. Jay rubbed his head with a paw before blinking at his savor.

He smiled brightly and extended a paw to Kai, who stared at him with a mixture of shock, confusion, and amazement.

"I'm Jay, please to meet you."

"Uh, hello," Kai replied as he shook Jay's paw with two fingers.

"I apologize about this," Neuro said as he leaned forward slightly so his eyes met Kia's bewildered ones. "My name is Neuro, and before you ask, no you are not in any way mad, and I do hope our presence didn't shock you; we didn't expect to meet you formally until tomorrow, otherwise we would've made your acquaintance already but now that you're here, we'd like to welcome you, Master... Kai, is it?" He asked. Kai nodded, still shocked.

"Sorry about before." Tox hissed as she slithered over. "We didn't get to introduce ourselves, the name's Tox." She smiled before there was a flash of green. When it faded again a green-haired woman landed on her heels and offered a hand to Kai.

"Hello," Kai replied, a bit breathlessly, and shook the offered hand. Tox took the opportunity to pull him to his feet.

"Sorry, about earlier." Echo smiled sadly before reappearing as the brunette boy with gold eyes a moment later. "I hope all of our transforming back and forth didn't scare you." He smiled sincerely.

"It's alright, I don't mind." Kai smiled. "I'm assuming these are your cursed forms?" He asked gesturing to Jay's fox form.

"Only if we want, it's just exhausting to stay human and easier for us to move like this," Jay explained.

"But the Dragon Lord is a mix of man and creature, so how come none of you are?" He asked, wondering why they were suddenly switching between their human forms and the monstrous forms he recognized from the fairy tale. They all shared uncomfortable looks so Kai thought it'd be best to drop the subject.

"I'm Ronin." The troll smiled from the counter. Kai nodded with a small smile.

"Easy there, lads, you don't wanna shock the boy anymore than he already has been shocked tonight." Shade teased before narrowing his eyes to the teen in front of him. Kai stayed still as Shade's hard eyes, void of emotion and impossible to read, scanned him over critically. "The boys told me you're the reason the Master was throwing a fit this afternoon, is that true?" He asked and Kai raised an eyebrow.

"If he threw a tantrum because I refused to obey him then that is no one's fault but his own; I made myself perfectly clear when I said I refused to become another one of his servants just because we made a deal." He answered. Everyone froze for a bit, then Shade did the last thing anyone expected, he laughed.

"You got guts, it about time someone deflated the oversized ego of Cole's! He needs to learn to lighten up a bit." The cook laughed in such a way, Kai wasn't sure if it was good or bad until the noirette smirked. "Welcome to the hellhole, I'm Shade, the cook here and Neuro's husband, at your service."

"My name's Nelson." The boy he'd seen earlier jumped from the counter to greet him with a bright smile on his face. "You've already met Jay." He said and gestured to the blue fox floating in the air, knocking Ronin off the counter. The troll growled and began a chase. Kai ducked and moved, hoping to avoid the crossfire. Soon Tox and Echo both returned to their human forms and joined in the play.

"Don't mind them." Neuro chuckled. "They're always eager to see a new face; now, if there is anything at all we can do to make your stay more comfortable, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Yeah, we haven't had any guests here in ages!" Jay smiled, stopping in the air, causing the other three creatures to crash into him.

"Well, I am a little hungry."

"You hear that? He's hungry!" Neuro instantly beamed as he turned to Shade.

"Start the fire!" Shade smiled as he spun around and waved his hand. The oven erupted in flames. "Pull out the spices, break out the china!" He ordered and not a moment later, everyone did as commanded. The spice cabinet flew open and various jars of different colored herbs were removed and drawers opened, revealing the forks, spoons, and knives.

"Wait!" Tox countered. "Didn't the Master say-"

"Until I die, not a soul in this castle is going to bed hungry!" He declared, boldly. Kai almost blushed at the attention.

"Really, you don't have to-"

"Shut it!" Shade cut him off he dropped the two huge pots he'd been carrying on top of the roaring stove. Before Kai could blink Shade flew in front of him making him jump and stumble backward. Shade circled him, scanning him up and down then pinched his arm making Kai growl, and snatch his arm away

"What the hell are you doing!" He demanded angrily but Shade didn't seem to hear him.

"I've got my work cut out for me." The chef shook his head both in disappointment and in excitement at the new challenge. "Not to worry, when I'm done with you you'll never eat again! You need it, you're way too thin for a normal seventeen—"

"I'M NINETEEN!"

"That's even worse! Do you ever eat?! You're nothing but skin and bones!" Shade gasped in horror. Before Kai could answer, Shade started running around the room gathering ingredients. "We are going to need chickens, chestnuts, and broth for stuffing and plenty of hazelnuts!" He started shouting randomly, grabbing a basket of apples from the pantry, and began slicing through each one like butter. "Three cups of flour, six eggs, and a quarter of milk… MOVE IT!" He roared.

The servants scurried throughout the kitchen as the dook randomly shouted what he needed.

The chef darted from the icebox to the pantry or the table. He was grabbing, slicing, and throwing food over his shoulder into pots, on pans, or plates. The whole process was so quick and complex, Kai suddenly felt dizzy watching him work.

"TOX!"

"HERE!" The naga answered while Shade placed a tray of sliced cheeses and crackers and assorted fruits in her hands.

"Bring that to the dining hall and don't spill a single one or I'll skin you alive!"

"GOT IT!" She replied, before jumping off the counter and dashing towards the dining room. When Kai felt something pull on his sleeve, he looked down and found Nelson tugging on his sleeve.

"You'll love it, Shade's a great cook." He reassured the brunette. Smiling, Kai scooped the small boy into his arms, making him yelp, and walked towards the dining room. He shoved the doors open, so Tox and Ronin could get in and place the food on the table. He gently placed Nelson on the table and turned around just in time to see Jay fly in. The blue fox struggled to carry a huge bowl of gravy on his head as he panted exhaustedly. Taking pity on him, when Jay started to slowly fall to the ground, Kai took the pot of Jay's head and carried it to the table.

"Hey! That's our job!" Jay moaned in annoyance. Kai chuckled at the pout on the fox's face.

"What? So now I'm not even allowed to help? Fuck that! Listen, guys, I appreciate all this, really, but I can take care of myself, I really can't stand being waited on all the time." He insisted. The servants just nodded and retreated back to the kitchen before coming back with more food, putting up no resistance whenever Kai offered to help. When Shade finished, all things delicious and imaginable were spread across the table. Kai noticed they'd only set one plate for him, but looking at the display before him, he knew there was no way he could ever hope to eat all the food.

A basket full of ripe, red apples arranged next to a basket of bread and rolls that sat next to a plate of butter.

The centerpiece was a huge chicken stuffed with chestnut stuffing, next to a bowl of hot, buttery gravy. Wheel-shaped plates of cheese and crackers that were hemmed by pieces of ham and beef served as appetizers. A single, large golden goblet was filled with rich, burgundy wine. For dessert, there were plates of fruits. There were strawberries smoothed with cream and dusted with brown sugar, raspberries coated in chocolate, hazelnuts dipped in honey, and over a dozen tiny cakes filled with cream with light pink frosting.

Kai couldn't say anything as his mouth began to water at the sight of all that delicious food.

"I take pride in my work," Shade smirked, before gently shoving Kai into the dining room. He turned to leave but Kai stopped him.

"Aren't you having any?" He asked. Shade paused and raised an eyebrow, before remembering this was only Kai's first night here.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I literally can't, I can't leave the kitchen, I'm bound to it." He replied, sounding angry and almost sad. The noirette didn't give Kai time to answer and turned to leave again, but Kai jumped in front of him. He blocked the door before turning to the rest of the confused staff.

"You guys can't expect me to eat all that by myself, right? I assumed you were making enough for everyone?" He asked and Shade blinked. Kai's determination refused to falter. Again the cook smirked and crossed his arms.

"You got a good heart, but even though we can, we don't need to eat; it's part of our curse."

"When was the last time any of you actually enjoyed your own cooking?"

"Over a hundred years ago." He answered flatly. He resisted the urge to urge to snort at the stunned look on Kai's face. Instead of questioning him, Kai strolled back to the table and sat down at the table.

"Come on, the food looks delicious, and I already know there's a possible way I can finish all this by myself, so feel free; I'd don't mind, I like company."

"Sure." Jay shrugged as he hopped onto the table and grabbed a cake before plopping it in his mouth. Shade plucked the blue fox by his tail.

"At least have the decency to wait, I didn't go through all the trouble of cooking just so you could eat it all in five minutes." He scolded, while everyone else either grabbed a chair or followed Jay's example and took a seat on the table. Shade dropped Jay next to Nelson and leaned against the table, before grabbing one of the cakes and took a bite. "So, Kai, what would you like?" He asked. Kai's eyes scanned the mountains of food again, already feeling his stomach begging.

"I'll just have a bit of everything." He finally said. Kai had never cared much for the laws of physics, but whoever said the matter couldn't be created or destroyed clearly never met Jay or Ronin before. In the span of a few short seconds, the two creatures had devoured over half the food that was leftover, after everyone claimed their meal. They made all that food vanish in less than a few seconds. Kai could only stare at them in shock.

"Don't think about it." Someone suddenly said. Kai jumped and turned to Echo, who was standing next to him, munching on a cake and a strawberry. "Ronin and Jay are eating machines, Shade says the day he leaves either one of them in the kitchen unattended is the day he lets us all starve to death." The centare laughed before eating his strawberry. Shade nodded at this, sinking his unusually long canine into an apple. Kai chuckled before stealing another cake, while the two boys fought over the last of the cream-filled sweets.

He couldn't believe how much he was enjoying himself.

Everything unhappy and frustrating about the previous evening just seemed like a bad dream. Once everyone had eaten their choice of food, they'd began bombarding Kai with questions about himself, each one of them curious to learn everything about their new guest. He'd given up trying to persuade them not to call him Master Kai and decided it was just something he'd have to get used to. The younger staff and Nelson were all careful to avoid anything that related to his siblings, which he was grateful for.

Despite his unusual happiness, the ache of never seeing his family again left a heavy hollow weight in his chest.

"So, you like books?" Nelson asked, sipping a glass of orange juice.

"Lloyd and I used to spend all our time in the bookstore whenever we got a chance." He nodded. Jay perked up and let go of the cake he'd been holding, sending Ronin, who was trying to take the cake, flying backward and almost off the table.

"We should show you the library then, right Tox?" He asked, turning to the naga, who was busy licking the last of the chicken off a drumstick.

"Of course, it's on the second floor."

"You have a library? Where is it?" Kai asked, excited.

"We'll show you tomorrow, we've gone through the whole day already." Echo replied. Kai blinked before looking around for some form of a clock in the room. An antique grandfather clock in the hallway, chimed to life, alerting the staff it was already 9 o'clock.

"Wow, I guess time really does fly when you're having fun." He chuckled and continued to socialize with the younger staff. Tox, Jay, and Nelson all asked Kai questions about himself, especially when he let it slip that he liked to write. It rather surprised everyone else. It was almost too impossible to believe this guy was the same rebellious and feisty teen who'd all but sent their Master into a fury the night before. Ronin suddenly stopped eating and jumped from the table.

In a flash of turquoise, he returned to his human form and grabbed a large tray, and began piling it with enough food for at least two people.

He clenched the silver handles and turned to the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked curiously.

"The Master didn't come down for dinner, so he must be hungry." He answered flatly. A sudden rage filled Kai and he snorted, remembering the argument they'd had earlier. Ronin turned to the new guest and offered a small smile.

"He's really not bad, except when he's in a mood, but really, he's not bad; you'll forgive him when you get to know him and until then, have a good night." He smiled before exiting the room and strolling up the staircase Kai hadn't noticed before. Kai's ever narrowed but he said nothing.

"You'll have to forgive him, Kai." Neuro sighed. "It's just been so long, and he hasn't really interacted with people for quite some time; sometimes he forgets what it's like to be kind and I'm sure you can understand, haven't you ever felt so out of place it was like everyone was against you for reasons you could not understand?" He asked and Kai almost choked on the wine he'd been drinking. He couldn't answer, but Neuro's words echoed in his mind like a guilty conscious smacking him for an act of stupidity.

He didn't answer and instead just looked at the floor.

For a moment he wondered if it was Cole or him Neuro had been talking about. The last chapter of the fairy tale repeated in his head, and for the first time in two days, he had to remind himself it wasn't just a fairy tale, but a true story. A true story about a hundred years of isolation. He shook his head and tried to dispel the thoughts. He didn't want to think about that right now. He didn't want to spoil his good mood with those thoughts. He didn't regret his and Cole's argument earlier.

Tragedy or not, he reacted the way anyone would, he told himself.

Kai sighed and stood from his chair, causing everyone in the room to stare.

"I'm going to head to bed if that's alright." He said with a small smile.

"We'll go with you." Jay volunteered, floating up and resting on Kai's shoulder. Kai chuckled before offering an arm to Nelson. Nelson took advantage of the gesture and took hold of Kai's hand.

"Are you three coming?" He asked, Shade, Echo, Neuro, and Tox.

"No thank you," Tox replied.

"We should clean this up, and don't you dare volunteer to help, this is the only time of the night Shade and I get to be alone." Neuro smiled, teasingly, though the smirk on Shade's face suggested a few not so innocent intentions. Kai shuddered, before turning to Echo.

"Coming?"

"I have to help the others; the rest of the staff will want to meet you tomorrow." He replied and Kai nodded, before leaving the room, and asking his new friends the quickest way to the East Wing. No one noticed the shadow standing on the balcony overlooking the dining hall, or the green eyes transfixed on the smiling form of their new guest and the equally laughing faces of his staff. He retreated to the safety of the shadows hoping to let them have their moment of happiness, undisturbed...

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

No one but Ronin noticed the flash of black retreating towards the West Wing. Ronin stopped outside a familiar door of dark wood, engraved with the stunning carving of a dragon. It stood tall and proud as beautiful as it was dangerous, powerful wings twice its length flexed to its full length empowering the border of the doors. Ronin shifted the weight of the tray to one hand and used his free one to knock the silver door knockers. Without an answer, the doors unlocked themselves with a loud click and the shifting of gears like a clock.

Swiftly, but gently, Ronin turned the doorknob and gently pushed the large doors open.

He was met with darkness, lit only by the crack of light from the hallway.

"Master?" He called gently, before entering the room and carefully closing it behind him. Only the bright glow of a large red candle in the corner lit the room. Shredded tapestries hung from the walls, and tattered orange curtains covered the glass doors leading to a balcony. A table covered in white cloth sat on the raised platform. On the table sat the Master's most treasured items, which Ronin dared not touch. The once-grand room was caked with dust and cobwebs.

The only thing untouched by the dust was the huge canopy bed in the corner.

The frame made from iron and the comforter and pillows were shades of black, red, and amber. The curtains around it were tattered and faded with age, but they'd done their job keeping age from touching the bed. The curtain was open and Ronin could see his master sitting there, wrapped in his enormous wings.

"Master? It's time for dinner." He called again. The Dragon Lord finally acknowledged his presents and opened his wings. Ronin gave him a small smile, before setting the tray down on of the broken tables. Of all the servants in the castle, Ronin was one of the only two allowed such familiarity with their Master. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been there the longest, or if it was because Cole was the one who brought him there and offered him sanctuary.

Ronin accepted that gift with pride.

He made no effort to take advantage of it. Cole smiled and rose from his seat.

"Shouldn't you be making sure our guest doesn't get lost?" He teased.

"Don't worry, Nelson is with him; I'm not foolish enough to leave him alone with Jay, even you wouldn't do something that cruel."

"You put too much faith in me, all of you do." He chuckled lightly. "Anyone else would have, should have, given up on me long ago; I'd have already given up on myself by now."

"Don't say that!" Ronin said, too outspokenly, but it was too late to stop himself. "You don't have enough faith in yourself, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met! I refuse to believe that man who saved me can't be saved himself." He finally choked out, though it hardly measured up to what he wanted to say.

"You really think I don't want to believe that?" Cole asked rhetorically. "Do you really think, I hadn't thought of that when three strangers literally dropped on my doorstep? I hope and I pray and yet instead of an angel I get this brazen, obnoxious boy who can't hold his tongue or keep his temper." Cole chuckled, but Ronin knew it wasn't humorous. "I'm done and I won't pretend to be anything other than what I am." He sighed. Ronin opened his mouth to protest but Cole just smiled.

"Go to bed, I'm sure Kai would enjoy the company." He said and Ronin didn't argue. He just nodded and before leaving his master alone. When the troll was gone, Cole turned to the tray on the table, and with the weave of his arm, it crashed against the wall with the loud clang of metal and silver. He scowled to himself. They all placed too much faith in him. It would only be disappointing when he failed. He growled with disgust at himself before turning to the table in front of the balcony and gazed at the crimson red candle as the bright purple flame flickered back and forth.

One hand braced the rim of the table, the other covering his face with his black scaled paw.

The peace was married to the memory of those who'd given up everything for him. The ones he had lost. The ones he failed to protect.

"It's hopeless."...

[jenliliscripts]

Home This Christmas

"Lisa, babe, can you check the muffins in the oven? I'm still busy cleaning," Jennie yells from the living room.

"Mmmm! Just a sec!" Lisa responds in a high pitched voice then scurries to the kitchen.

"Baaaaaaaabe, how long did you leave this here? I might ruin this if I keep pricking it."

"20 minutes I think?"

"Alrighty! I'll take it from here. Go do your thing. I got this."

"Thanks, babe!" Jennie answered, her body feeling warm right after sweetly addressing Lisa.

It hasn't been a smooth ride for the two of them, especially when they had gone past the early stages of their relationship. Day by day, as they discovered their differences, fights ensued. The situation got worse when they moved into one apartment. Lisa had to pack her bags in the middle of the night a couple of times over the years. In those occasions, her clothes were already scattered on the floor outside their door with a large duffel bag on top of the pile.

Jennie's patience for Lisa continued to dwindle after every broken promise so her first reaction whenever Lisa fails to keep her word is to kick her out of the apartment. It used to be a huge issue whenever Jennie does this. So much drama and screaming. They've been reported by their neighbors because of all the shouting which led to them being called to the office by the management. Of course they were embarrassed, but that didn't stop them from fighting over the pettiest things. But they've always made up one way or another. They always find their way back to each other.

They've only gotten back together a few weeks ago and Jennie immediately noticed the changes in Lisa's behavior and because of that, she was a bit more patient whenever her girlfriend messed up. She used to pick on Lisa for the smallest things she did wrong just because she suddenly remembered the taller girl's lapses a long time ago. Now, she stops herself before she could say something unpleasant. It's what usually starts their arguments—Jennie's nagging. Lisa could take one round of it but eventually loses her cool once Jennie repeats herself as if she hasn't heard enough of her issues.

Flashback

"Babe, can you put your foot down. It's called a table for a reason," Jennie scolds her as soon as she got out of their room.

Lisa rolled her eyes and reluctantly obliged. "Happy?"

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?"

"No," she lied and continued to skim through the selection of movies on the screen.

"Yes, you did," Jennie raised her tone. Lisa has always found this vexing yet she never spoke about it.

"And so if I did? What are you going to do about? Whine?"

Jennie clenched her jaw, the veins on her neck becoming prominent. "Can't you just do something without parading your attitude?"

Lisa shrugged, her eyes boring into her girlfriend's face. "That's if you stop fretting over the tiniest things like we're going to die if I don't put down my goddamn foot down from the table."

Lisa's tone was pretty much monotonous yet Jennie perceived her nonchalance as a mockery. "Don't start with me, Lisa. You're the reason why I'm being like this."

She scoffed, leaning back and linked her fingers behind her head. "Yeah? I'm always the bad one in this house. I was never right. Go ahead. Blame me all you want. I'm used to it."

"So all this time you haven't reflected on your shortcomings? My fucking God. Grow up."

Lisa shuts her eyes then pressed her lips into a hard line. "What do you want me to do, Jen? Kneel in front of you and worship you day and night for all the plans I ruined? Should I cry you a river for forgetting to greet your mom on her birthday and for all the instances that I let you down? Is that what you want?"

"Stupid! Stupid!" Jennie shrieked, her eyes turning dark.

Here we go again, Lisa thought.

She stood up and marched to their room, but before she could walk past her girlfriend, her arm was yanked. "What? You're done yet? I'm already getting out of your way. Can't you see?"

"We're not through." Jennie's voice was shaking. She was trying to act tough even though she was the type to cry in these situations.

"What's your concern this time? I'm sorry for whatever it is. Now can I go?"

Lisa was tired of it. They were fighting everyday. They slept with their backs turned against each other. They was more anger than love between them. These moments made her think of just ending it. It would be easier that way. She doesn't have to deal with Jennie's loud mouth and she could do anything she wants like take her clothes off as soon as she enters the apartment and leave it there until she decides to pick it up or leave the dishes unwashed until the next morning. With Jennie, she has to police herself 24/7. It's driving her crazy.

Jennie's tears were starting to fall from her eyes, but swiftly wipes them away. "If you're gonna continue being like this, maybe we should just break up."

"What do you mean?"

"Just you being you doesn’t really help our case."

"What's wrong about being me now? Jesus Christ, Jennie Kim."

"We clearly have so many differences. We tried working it out and we couldn't find a middle ground. I hate you for being a slob. You hate me for being a perfectionist. You don't like following orders, while I can't stand it whenever you stray away from my instruction."

Lisa strokes her hair with her fingers as she inhaled deeply. "Jennie, I'm not your slave. I'm your girlfriend."

Jennie fell silent. "I've been silent all this time, but I think you don't find anything wrong about yourself when it's pretty obvious that there is. We're both flawed. It's not just me. Maybe look at yourself once in a while."

Lisa takes her arm and stormed off to their room. She plopped to the bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about her relationship with Jennie. Are they beyond saving? Are they going to crash and burn at the very end like how she had feared the moment she settled into the relationship? Their friends got married in succession and they're the only remaining couple who hasn't tied the knot. They've avoided the topic as much as they could so whenever their friends would open up about it, they would laugh it off and dismiss them. Jennie is aware of her hesitation, however, the reasons she confessed to her were lies. Lisa made up her mind long before and even bought a ring. She was ready to propose, but their fights started to get worse from that point so she decided to postpone it as long as she could.

Now she's just going through the motions, showing Jennie that she doesn't have a plan in taking their relationship to the next level. It may be one of the reasons why Jennie is being so uptight or maybe it's because she's forgetful and irresponsible. Either way, Jennie seems to dislike her more than she loves her.

Lisa fell into a deep slumber a few minutes later. She couldn't help it no matter how hard she tried. The bed is undeniably her weakness. Upon realizing that she dozed off, she jolted awake. It was pitch black and eerily quiet. She couldn't hear the clanking in the kitchen or the music playing from the speakers. She checked the time on her phone and it read 6:08 PM. She frantically jumped out of bed and dashed out only to find the small light in the living room turned on.

"Jen?" she called, her eyes scanning the vicinity. "Babe?"

Their friends would be arriving soon for Christmas dinner and Jennie's not the one to be gone an hour before a scheduled event. It's not yet sinking into her, but the thought crossed her mind when Jennie wasn't responding.

"No, no. She wouldn't do that," Lisa mumbled to herself as she walked back to the room.

The only way to know was to check the closet for Jennie's things. She stood in front of it for a full minute, gathering enough courage to open it. "Jennie wouldn't leave this apartment. I'm the one being kicked out here."

She closed her eyes and carefully pulled the handle. "I know her things are here. They should be."

Her heart sank at the sight of an empty closet. It was wiped clean. There was no message or call. Not even a note saying where she went. Lisa was frightened. She doesn't know where to find Jennie. She hasn't done this before. Her fingers were shaking when she picked up her phone and called her, but she was sent straight to voicemail.

"Fuck, Jennie. You're not doing this. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

She bombarded her with messages after many failed attempts in contacting her. She called everyone they knew but they have no idea where Jennie is. The last message they received from her said that dinner's cancelled.

And Jennie did disappear that night without a trace and it left Lisa in complete disarray. It's like her life stopped in an instant, without warning. She wasn't ready for her departure, she will never be so she set her mind into finding her. She is adamant in taking her back.

But it was almost a year since the day she left and she still couldn't find her. Lisa was becoming hopeless and was about to give up, however, Jennie magically appeared in her front door on the first of December.

Lisa opened the door mindlessly, thinking that the person on the other side was the pizza delivery guy. Her arm was already extended, ready to hand the crumpled bills she's holding. "It's 18 dollars, right—"

"Hey," Jennie cuts her off, a shy smile plastered on her face. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she was wearing the pink sweater I gave her. The suitcase she that stood beside her was half her height and the backpack she was carrying hung loosely on her back.

Lisa stared at her, jaw hanging open, still in a state of shock. Jennie didn't seem real. It felt like a dream. "Jen, is that really you?"

She chuckled. "Yes, it's me."

Lisa snapped out of her reverie and quickly took Jennie's suitcase from her hands. "Come in, come in."

"Am I still allowed in here? Is this still our apartment?"

Lisa's expression softened, her heart swelling with joy as Jennie's arrival finally dawned into her. She is back. There's no more waiting and the search is over. She grabbed Jennie's waist and pulled her into a kiss. She missed it—how her lips felt, how her hair smells, everything.

"I missed you so much, Jen. I'm sorry for everything. I wouldn't be able to list them all down but I've realized my mistakes and I'm going to do better. This time I mean it."

Jennie cupped Lisa's cheek and smiled warmly. "I was wrong too, you know. You were right. We're both flawed. I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I was actually a bit unsure if I should ring the doorbell. I thought you went on with your life after I disappeared."

I shook my head. "I couldn't see myself with someone else, Jen. You are where all my roads end."

Jennie cheeks were instantly painted red after hearing that heartfelt statement from Lisa. She isn't the expressive one between them yet she unhesitatingly declared her feelings. "I love you, Jen. And I'm so happy that you're home."

End of flashback

Lisa went behind Jennie and slid her arms around her waist, before lowering her head to kiss the crook of Jennie's neck. The smaller girl was startled, her body jerking as soon as she felt Lisa's lips touch her skin. "It's just me, babe."

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to this version of you. I think it will take time."

"I'll do this more often. I'll drown you with affection if I must. Agh, I love you so much. I really really love you."

Jennie twirled and faced her, prompting Lisa to loosen her grip. Jennie balled her fist into the collar of Lisa's shirt then tugged her forward, and planted tender kisses on her cheeks before capturing her lips. Jennie moved skillfully, causing fireworks to erupt in Lisa's stomach and the hairs of the back of her neck stand.

They were both catching their breaths when they broke away and a smile etched on their faces as they stared into each other's eyes. "And I love you too, my Lili."

Lisa subtly fished for the ring in her pocket. "Tell you what, let's do something we can brag about later at dinner."

Jennie tilted her head to the side and shot her girlfriend a questioning look. "Like?"

Lisa took a step back and showed the ring, eliciting a gasp from Jennie. "Lisa…"

"Marry me?"

Jennie couldn't utter a single word. She was caught off guard. The idea of marriage already left her mind a long time ago but here's Lisa shattering all her expectations again. She has indeed changed. She was no longer the person she left a year ago.

"Pretty please?"

Jennie nodded repeatedly and raised her hand so that Lisa can insert the ring into her finger.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Lisa whispered into her ear.

"And more to celebrate with you," Jennie responded before kissing Lisa again.

[amor-fati-momento-mori]

No Place I’d Rather Be

I’m on my period and emotional. Enjoy.

Summary: Spending your last day of weekend visit with a sick Grayson, but he decides to propose an idea you have been too scared to ask. 

Words: 2,879 

     Birds singing in the trees, bright blue skies, and the loving heat of the warm sun beating down from above were just a few things to describe a perfect morning. It was hard to tell if the birds were actually singing from inside the house and what tune they chose for this morning, but they were there happily flying around going about their bird business. As for the sun and clear skies it was a safe bet to assume that the skies were clear and the sun was beaming in the city of angels. This was also easily confirmed by the sun streaking through the glass doors opposite of the large, modernized kitchen that looked like a still from an episode of Fixer Upper, Property Brothers or whatever new HGTV show that made you crave granite countertops and apron sinks to fix all the problems in your life.

         You slid across the hardwood floors in your white tube socks to grab your previously used knife from the opposite end of the counter. Scattered across the white marble was the carnage of various packages and peels of fruits to make full breakfast. Eggs whites were sizzling in the pan next to another filled with turkey bacon that you were careful to handle with some grease popping out of the sides.  The knife in your hand was now being used to open up a second avocado to finish covering the six pieces of toast that had already been perfectly toasted in an obscenely expensive toaster. An item that you would never be able to wrap your head around but also couldn’t argue its efficacy and great toasted results. Four of six said pieces were already covered and done, set aside on their respected plates as you finished the last two for yourself. After scraping the green insides on the toast and adding all of the other garnishes, you set it on your plate and being adding the eggs whites, bacon and filling up three glasses with a previously made smoothie that had a tropical taste of pineapple and mango mixed with coconut milk.

         With a large huff, blowing some of the fly away hairs that had escaped from your ponytail up into the air to only fall on your nose, you gave yourself a pat on the back for completing the morning task of breakfast. Looking at your phone you saw the time was 8:30am on the dot. This boasted even more pride in you time management skills having had forced yourself up early for a gym session, followed by a relaxing shower and then getting all of this done. Distracted by said accomplishment and preparing to grab all the completed food items to place on the dining room table, you were unaware of the footsteps that were the tell-tale sign of someone else entering the kitchen with you. Placing one hand under each of the plates, you began to turn and head towards the table.

         “Boo!”

         “ETHAN!” You screamed, startled by his presence. You began to wobble back and forth in attempt to save the plates that had gotten shaken up in your fear before they smashed to the floor next to where your heart currently was from the scare.

         “Woah, woah, I gotcha.” Ethan said, leaning forward to help prevent a mess he was about to cause.

     He steadied one plate in your hand while grabbing the other one that was closest to teetering over the edge. He made the first move into the dining room to set the plate in front of one of the chairs and you followed suit. After everything fragile was placed securely, you walked over to him and smacked him on the shoulder.

         “Ow! Rude!” He whined, rubbing his arm as if your punch would do anything. Sure, you had been going to the gym and the boys were helping you get into weight lifting but your height and weight was still no match for 180lb and 6ft beasts that were the Dolans.

         “Dude, you scared the shit out of me. I almost dropped your breakfast by the way. If that had happened your ass would be the one remaking it so I’m not hearing any complaining about how you don’t like it.” You told him, attempting to fix your bun that was already lazily thrown up on your but now you were certain was sitting promptly lopsided atop your head.

         “Don’t worry, you already cook a million times better then Grayson. I would never send your food back. In fact, you being here I think is the only reason I’m alive and getting real food.”

         “I make the exact same avocado toast that Grayson does.” Ethan shrugged.

         “Yeah but yours just has that…” He trailed off and simply made a chef’s kiss with his fingers.

         “I’ll take that as a thank you.” You commented, before going to wash some of the dishes you had made. You also sent a quick text to Grayson letting him know breakfast was done.

         Grayson had been sick and therefore was unable to work out this morning with you like your normally do. You made it a goal to stay on track with workouts though and wanted to surprise him with a good breakfast. Sick or not, unlike some people, Grayson wasn’t the keenest on sleeping in. You also didn’t want to waste a second with him before having to go back to San Diego.

         The back and forth between LA and SD wasn’t crazy, it’s about only an hour plane ride. It was just the amount of having to do it. Thankfully that would be fixed soon as you had saved up and enough and with your job having plenty of spots to place you permanently for work in LA, you were finally making the move further up North. This didn’t come without it’s struggles though because finding an apartment was hard enough, but a decent one that wasn’t forever away from the boys, even harder. You settled for Glendale and had even tour the place with Grayson and Ethan while you were visiting this weekend. They had approved of the place as well and once you were back in San Diego you were going to sign the lease to move in next month. Honestly moving itself was the hardest part of any of it.

         “He has risen! I thought I was the lazy one.” You heard Ethan speaking, shaking you out of your inner musings.

     You looked over to see the most beautiful, pitiful baby boy there ever was. Grayson dragged himself into the kitchen, clearly still just wiping sleep from his eyes. He had changed clothes from the gray sweatpants and white tank he had worn to bed into red Adidas track pants and a black DT hoodie. His hair was still lying flat on his head, a clear indication that he only did enough to run his hands through to get out the mess from tossing and turning. Grayson also continued to sniffle as if was just figuring out that he had a nose and how it worked. His eyes were glazed with both sick and sleep as he looked over to you before padding his way over, sliding his bare feet on the floor.

         “Ehhhh,” He groaned, making grabby hands towards you as you turned off the water of the sink, drying your hands on a towel.

         “Yes, zombie boy?” You teased. Grayson stuck his tongue out at you before wrapping both his arms around your waist and digging his face into the crook of your neck and shoulder.

         You reached up to play with the hair on the back of his neck as he lightly swayed your body back and forth. He muttered something into your skin.

         “Didn’t quite catch that, babe.” You told him, patting this head to tell him to pick his head up and try again.

         “You do too much.” He sniffled before leaning his head back to do an over dramatic cough You loved the boy but Ethan was right that he was very loud, it was cute though.

         “Oh my god shut up.” Ethan yelled right on cue.

         “Fuck you!” Grayson called back, before lowering his voice to speak directly into your ear. “I’m sorry. I know with being sick I haven’t been able to fully enjoy being with you this weekend. Now you are making breakfast for us and it’s just all amazing. I can’t say thank you or I love you enough, baby girl.”

         You smiled, turning in his arms to face him. You leaned up on your tip toes to place a quick kiss to his nose, not caring if you got his germs.

         “That’s what I’m here for, bub.” You placed your hands on his cheeks, slightly squishing them beneath your hands.

         Grayson smiled back down at you, causing a bolt of heat to strike your stomach. Something you weren’t sure you would ever get over, which was perfectly fine with you.

     “Gross.” Ethan commented, shoving the last bit of toast into his mouth. He walked over, hip checking the two of you out of his way so he could clean his plate before setting it aside. “I’m going to pack a bag get ready to go to the beach, let me know if you want to join in later.” He tossed up a peace sign before heading towards his room.

         Grayson grabbed your hand, heading towards to the table for you two to eat your breakfast. You sat down, facing each other across the table before digging in. 

         “How come he never does that for me? Little shit always just leaves it here expecting me to do it. Or if he does clean it he just leaves it in the sink instead of putting it in the drying rack where he belongs.” Grayson complained, stabbing at his eggs. You smirked at him.

         “Maybe he just likes me better.” You teased, seeing Grayson not being able to help the little glare that slid across his face at the intention of your words. There was genuinely nothing there between you and Ethan, just some fun banter. You were an only child and only had a few close guy friends growing up so getting both a boyfriend and another friend all in one as a package deal actually made you pretty happy.

         The two of you continued eating, talking about maybe joining Ethan at the beach or just going for t a lazy swim in the pool if Grayson was up for it. Eventually the conversation shifted to your upcoming move.

         “How are you thinking about getting all your stuff here?”

         “After having moved with just a car or two like five times now, I’m renting the U-Haul. The time it takes for it to get here on the road and me by plane isn’t too hard to coordinate. What I really need to do is start packing to make that easier. Fortunately, again after so many times I have it down to a science but it’s never not annoying ya know? Just thinking about it- “

         “What about here?” Grayson interrupted. He looked sheepish like that wasn’t his intention but was also staring at you head on.

         “What about here?” You repeated back in confusion.

         “Like, here. For you to stay.”

         “Gray, baby, I am moving to LA.”

         “No, no, like right here. With me and E, here. Mainly me.” He said, you could tell he was nervously rubbing his hands together underneath the table in anticipation for your answer, ready to bolt if you laughed or said no.

     “Oh, I guess I hadn’t thought of that.” Lie, your brain said. You totally had but didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. You are Grayson were coming up on your two-year anniversary in a month. It wasn’t crazy to think about living together, I mean your rule was at least two years anyways before moving in with a significant other so what’s a month in the long run?

         “I mean, you don’t have to. Don’t feel pressured or like I’m forcing you or anything it was just, um an idea.” Grayson stuttered out, now needing something to do to ignore feeling foolish so he began furiously stuffing bacon into his mouth and ripping it with his teeth.

         “No, Gray, I’m sorry. No as in I’m not saying no, no as in oh fuck me.” You tripped over your words, nerves now pervading your body as well. “What I’m trying to say is I would love that, truly. I just didn’t want to make anything hard or weird for you guys. Inviting myself to live here isn’t fair. I mean it’s been just you guys living together for almost 8 years. It’s okay to have concerns about bringing someone into that and I didn’t want to just assume it would be okay. Plus, I know you guys don’t upload weekly or anything anymore and we are public but moving in together brings another level to that that I wasn’t sure if you wanted to deal with right now.” It was actually extremely reliving getting this off your chest. With the move you had always thought it made sense just to move in with Grayson, you would be here all the time anyway, why pay rent somewhere else with two other roommates that you really didn’t know and hoped they weren’t secretly stealing your food from the fridge or leaving the bathroom a mess. It was a big step in a relationship though and even more for one like this.

         Becoming public was a feat on its own. You knew who the twins were before you met, so you had no problem leaving it up to Grayson about when to post about you guys. He felt comfortable enough to do it on your one-year anniversary. While there sadly was always going to be a few people who made nasty remarks, they didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and the reception was warm and made you feel grateful. And while sure, the fandom wasn’t involved into everyday life, and there had been security issue in the past about literal living situations, it felt like stepping into another boundary that needed permission from the fandom. The boys cared about every single subscriber so much that you never wanted to cause a rift between that. Although Grayson assured you that was never the case. Fandom and girlfriend were two different loves in their own special ways, that also deserved certain boundaries.

         “Don’t even worry about that.” Grayson reached across the table to grab your hand. “What we do, is what we do. No one makes that choice but us and if anyone wants to get upset that’s on them. It doesn’t mean you have to be in all our videos or whatever else people might think would happen. It just means that I finally get to wake up and go to bed every day with my favorite person in the world. I don’t have to take you to the airport anymore and give you the final hug before going home to count the days when you come back. We can make dinner, and go out on nighttime adventures and I need someone else to help me when Ethan is being an asshole.” You both laughed, he squeezed your hand tighter. “I mean it. The place in Glendale was fine but it’s still a 45-minute drive on a good traffic day. Just stay here, and you’re not paying rent, just groceries and whatever else you want to buy for your or for the house. It’s yours now.”

     Tears began to prick your eyes so you quickly spoke before they could fully form.

         “Is Ethan okay with this though? I mean he actually is my number one concern because I don’t want to like encroach on his safe space or anything. I know we are close but still.”

         “Ethan was the first one to bring it up actually.”

         “What?”

         “Yeah, after we had gotten back from viewing the apartment. You had to take the phone call with your boss so you went outside. Ethan said to me, and I quote, ‘Gray, are you really going to let your fucking girlfriend stay there? Ask her to move in already you, dipshit’, so I think he’s chill.”

         You merely snorted in response, thankful yet not too surprised at Ethan’s boldness with the subject.

         “Well it looks like I’m approved on all angles, so where do I sign? 

         “Right here.” Grayson leaned across the table to pull you into a soft, sweet kiss. The two of you lingered there for a moment just letting the morning settle in around you. Around what was now your home as well.

         You pulled apart and watched as Grayson began scraping the last bit of food into his mouth before asking if you were done, you nodded. Grayson stood up, collecting both of the plates before kissing you on top of your head as he walked by to go wash the dishes. You turned around in your chair, placing your arms over the back and setting your chin on top, gazing at the boy in the kitchen.

         Home, you thought. There was no place you’d rather be.  

[delimeful]

the shapes in the silence (2)

warnings: panic, feeling trapped, violence, being treated like an animal

Chapter 2

Virgil let out a frankly pitiful whine as his hopes of getting out of this mess shattered like glass. What did it do? How the hell was he going to get it off? He started gnawing at it, but all he got in return was a sore mouth. 

“That’s not going to work. I manifested it with durability and tracking in mind, after all.” Logan reached over and lifted Virgil up again, this time sliding one hand under him to securely wrap around his chest and prop him up in one arm. 

It was much more stable, but that didn’t stop the discomfort running down his spine. He… didn’t normally get this much physical contact, and now people were picking him up and carrying him around nonstop. It was disorienting, and a large part of him wanted to bite at Logan’s hand, regardless of the fallout. He was way too vulnerable in this form. 

Before he knew it, Logan was re-entering the living room, and then setting him down on the couch before settling back into his former seat. Virgil shook himself, as though to get rid of the lingering feeling, and stared over at the stairs for a long moment. If he ran, he was pretty sure he was fast enough to reach his room before Logan could catch him, and then he could probably use his corner of the Mindscape to get the cuff off, but… 

Logan had said the metal band would track him. What were the odds that the others would accept it just so happening to come off in Virgil’s room, with no good explanation as to where the dragon went? They would want to enter his room, check to see if he- it?- was hiding somewhere. 

He would be so stressed he wouldn’t be able to change back, and if they found his dragon self in Anxiety’s room, they’d wonder how he got in. Logan, at the very least, would figure out the truth, and then he’d tell everyone, and Roman would- He shuddered, cutting the thought off. 

No. It was better to play it safe for now. Revealing a connection to ‘Anxiety’ would just get him killed, and he did not want to reform again. Though... He looked at the cuff, appraising it. If he managed to break the bones enough to slip it off, he could probably manage to get away clean. It’d mean he’d be out of commission for a while, though, and with Thomas’s videos lately, he had been working overtime trying to make sure everything would run smoothly.

Still, it was much easier to deal with than the strain of dying and reforming. That would take even longer. And with his track record, he was sure to get found out sooner or later. For now, he could keep up this facade for a little longer. 

He paced the length of the couch, and then leapt to the ground, flexing his claws over the carpet.  He could feel the prickle of Logan’s gaze on him, and focused on not looking suspicious, likely making him look even more suspicious as he trotted over to the kitchen doorway. 

Inside, Patton was tending to three different pans, with something in the oven as well. He turned a burner down, and then smiled when he noticed Virgil standing there, pressed against the wall. 

“Hey there, kiddo! Did Logan give you a bracelet? How cute! You’re just in time, I’m almost done!”

Virgil watched as Patton carefully started dishing out the portions, moving the plates out to the living room. The smell was mouth-watering, and he couldn’t help but slink over to the oven while Patton was occupied, rising onto his hind legs to place his front legs on the glass and peer inside. His wings flared out a bit for balance, and he was delighted to see bacon baking inside the oven, tail swishing.

“Oh, are you excited?” Patton gushed, suddenly back in the kitchen. Virgil nearly tripped over himself as he scurried back, and Patton gave him a concerned look. “It’s okay, kiddo, you can look at it!” 

He leaned over and took the baking tray out, tilting it to show Virgil before setting it on the counter with a warning about heat. Once he was finished setting everything up, he squatted on the floor, holding his arms out hopefully. 

“C’mere, lil guy!” 

Virgil dallied for a long moment, looking away from the patented puppy-dog eyes. He was perfectly capable of walking to the living room on his own, and he definitely didn’t want to be carried around again, but if he denied him, would Patton simply pick him up against his will? He... wasn’t sure he wanted to test that theory. 

And really… if he thought about it, it wasn’t so bad, being touched so gently. It made something primal in the back of his mind croon with longing.

He crept forwards, some of his tension fading when Patton simply smiled brightly at him, waiting patiently, and jumped onto his lap. 

“Good job!” Patton praised as he curled his arms around him and stood, slower this time. Virgil huffed lightly, his pride stinging. At least if they ever found out he was a monster, he’d be dead before he could remember to be embarrassed about all this. 

Once they reached the living room, Patton set him down in front of a plate, and suddenly all he could think about was the crispy meat in front of him. Hunger outweighed his fear for a moment, and he quickly snapped up as much as he could comfortably fit in his shrunken stomach. 

“You were right, Lo, look how much he loves it!” Patton cooed from next to him, and Logan responded something about how he was always right, look at the necktie, ect. For once, Virgil was too blissed out to care too much, both dragon and human parts of his mind delighted at the meal. After he finished, he simply stretched out on the couch cushion, eyelids heavy. The lack of sleep was catching up with him. 

He tensed when a hand carefully slid him over so that he was next to where Patton sat, and then draped most of him under a light blanket, but after that, the sound of the television and easy silence between the other sides lulled him into a doze. 

It wasn’t safe but… it was nice. 

So naturally, Roman ruined it. 

“Rejoice, for I have returned triumphant!” Roman’s voice boomed, jerking Virgil out of his light sleep. He froze, still mostly covered by the blanket. How long had it been? Where were the others? 

“Roman! Welcome back, kiddo!” Patton said, still only a foot away. Not that long. “How was your day?” 

Roman launched into a tale without further prompting, bits and pieces of it catching Virgil’s ear through his haze of panic. Mostly mentions of his valiant battle against the Dragon Witch, which didn’t help his racing heart at all. He tried to figure out where to run that wouldn’t get him a gut full of metal, and then the voice abruptly trailed off.  

“Uh, Padre? What is that?” 

He froze, realizing that he’d started shaking without realizing it. Above him, Patton laughed sheepishly. “Well…”

“Please tell me you did not bring home another kitten.” 

“Not exactly…” 

The blanket above him began to lift away, and his head snapped up. Fight or flight.

Couldn’t fight.

Flight. 

He tore his way out of the blanket pile, ignoring the shouts of surprise. On instinct, he scaled the closest, tallest object, which just so happened to be Patton. He scrambled up to the Side’s shoulder, and before grasping hands could catch him, launched himself off past the back of the couch. He dropped for an agonizing second, and then his wings snapped out fully, catching himself in a low glide towards the kitchen. Falling, with style, he thought hysterically. 

He landed at the kitchen threshold already running, and slid onto the tile, claws clicking. Logan was standing by the sink, washing the dishes, and he turned slightly as Virgil barreled past, surprised. 

There was a window in the dividing wall, leading out to the other half of the commons. If he could just-

A throwing knife thudded into the cabinet next to him, and he skidded off course, veering towards the pantry. No, no, there was no way out from here! 

He turned desperately, but Roman was steps away, sword in hand, and he scrambled back, closing his eyes and wrapping his wings around himself as he curled up defensively. He was going to die and it would take ages before he reformed, he’d leave Thomas without guidance and none of them would even know why-

“Wait!” A shadow fell over him.

He flinched back at the voice, eyes snapping open, but it wasn’t Roman bearing down on him. 

Patton was standing in front of him, back to him and arms spread protectively to block him from Roman’s sight. What? 

“Don’t hurt him, he’s just scared-” 

“Patton, it just used you as a launching pad, you’re bleeding-” 

Patton was bleeding? Shit, what did he do? The past few moments felt like a blur.

“Both of you, calm down,” Logan’s voice broke into the argument, and both sides reluctantly settled. “Patton, Roman has far greater experience with creatures from the Imagination than us, so it would be wisest to let him handle the situation as he sees fit.” 

Virgil felt his throat close up, wings drawing closer to him as though to present a smaller target. Two against one. It was only logical to get rid of a monster. He really was going to die tonight. 

“However,” Logan continued, turning to Roman, “it’s possible that this creature is an anomaly. It has been here for the past several hours without attempting to attack either of us.”

“Probably a scheme to lower your defenses,” Roman muttered darkly, trying to glare at Virgil past Patton’s legs. 

“It is not!” Patton insisted, voice firm. “Look, he’s harmless!” 

“Patton, I do not think-” 

“Patton, wait-!” 

Virgil shrunk back as Patton turned to him, swiftly scooping him into his arms without a trace of fear or hesitation. He was too wrung out to attempt a protest, muscles shaky, and so he let himself be cradled. At this point, he’d do anything to avoid ending up on the wrong side of that sword. 

“... Huh. I must say, I’m surprised.” Roman blinked at him, slowly lowering his sword. “I have never seen a baby dragon that would allow itself to be handled by a human.”

“What did I tell you? Here, c’mere.” Patton tugged Roman closer, and then guided his hand over to Virgil, who immediately stiffened and flinched away. “It’s okay, he won’t hurt you, right Roman?” 

Roman studied Virgil intently for a moment, and to his surprise, nodded, sheathing his sword. “On my honor, I shall not strike first against this creature.” 

He hesitantly set his hand on Virgil’s head, as though expecting a painful surprise. The dragon in question was too stunned to avoid it. It was… that easy? He’d been certain that Roman would maintain a grudge, eye him with distrust for as long as they were in the same room together, subtly or even not so subtly try to get rid of him. It was all he’d really received from the prince so far. Why was this form somehow more acceptable than his normal one?

Fingers began to carefully scratch along the underside of his jaw, much too close to his neck for comfort. He hissed automatically, and then hurriedly withdrew, pressing into Patton as a meager defense. 

Unexpectedly, Roman laughed, drawing his hand back instead of lashing out with it. “A little spitfire, this one is.” He seemed… genuinely amused. 

Patton beamed, giving Virgil a gentle pat of his own. “Isn’t he?” 

Virgil huffed. It was better than cute.

“Am I to assume that you are unfamiliar with this dragon, Roman?” Logan interjected, an eyebrow raised. “Because we believed it had made its way here from your realm.” 

Shit. Shit shit shit shit. 

“I’d guess the same, but I’ve certainly never seen it before now. I would remember a dragon so… docile.” 

Virgil glared daggers at Roman without thinking, but the prince only chuckled again. Above him, Patton’s voice took on a hopeful tone.

“In that case… maybe it would be alright if he stayed here for a while?”

Logan groaned. “Patton…” 

“Lo, you can’t say he’s not cute!” The moral side dangled Virgil out in demonstration.

The logical side didn’t deny it.

“And I’m not even allergic like with the kittens!” Patton cajoled, unaware of the growing horror Virgil was feeling. Patton wanted to keep him. As a sort of... pet. 

It was theoretically better than being killed in the Imagination, but in practice, Virgil felt panic swarming his lungs like bees. He’d be trapped until his body gave out and changed back, and then they’d all be horrified that they’d kept a Dark Side so close, and then he’d die anyways, but they’d know afterwards. 

“The little guy is rather adorable,” Roman mused, watching Virgil’s tail lash back and forth. “But! At the very least, we should first see if there are any worried family members waiting for his return in the Imagination.” 

Patton inhaled sharply and drew Virgil close to him, as though the thought hadn’t occurred to him. “You’re right! Of course we can’t strip the little guy away from his family.” 

“In that case, we can finish this discussion after you have checked.” Logan turned away, going back to finishing the dishes, and Patton nodded firmly at Roman. 

“Lead the way!” 

Navigation:

Chapter 1 

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Happy Together : 10

Time Together

Character(s): (deceptively) dark!Steve

Warnings: this is a dark!fic, it contains non/dubious-consent elements. It goes without (and with) saying that this is 18+. 

Series Synopsis: The reader is stood up while awaiting a blind date, instead finding herself keeping company with the restaurant’s famous owner; Steve Rogers. After that night, she tries to forget her humiliation but she just can’t shake one thing about that night: him.

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: The reader prepares herself for the wedding.

Notes: Hey! Hope you enjoy this chapter. I don’t have too much to say but the next chapter will be super interesting I think. For now, I need to go to the doctor again and hopefully you have fun!

Thanks to everyone who reads and as always, I looked forward to hearing from you in the replies/reblogs/tags/asks. <3

+

Steve returned that evening as he did every night. A kiss on the cheek, an ‘I love you’, and his usual touchiness. You’d never grow used to it; only better able to tolerate it. You served him his dinner and sat next to him as ever. You chewed in silence. Your appetite was starting to return at least. Your day had been easier. The music helped you relax for the first time since you had been brought here. Or at least as close to as you could attain.

You cleared the table and washed the dishes. The menial tasks allowed you an excuse not to be near him. As you finished drying the plates, he appeared in the doorway. “My dear, have you chosen a date?” He asked fondly.

“Yes,” You lied. You hadn’t thought about it too hard. “The...Thursday.” It was the third last day within the allotted window.

“Very well,” He neared and placed a kiss on your forehead. “I have a surprise for you.”

You nodded and looked up at him. You forced a smile.

“It’s in the den.” He took your hand and pulled you with him as he turned back to the door. He guided you through the dining room and across the hall to the den. There was a paper bag on the coffee table. You glanced over at him and he preened. “Go on.” He released you and waved you ahead of him.

You crossed to the table with measured steps as he sat in one of the armchairs and watched. You reached inside and pulled out the first item. A sketchbook. You flipped through the blank pages and your cheek twitched.

“So you don’t have to doodle in your booklet anymore…” He commented.

You set it down beside the bag and dipped your hand in again. A tin of sketch pencils and an eraser. You placed those with the book. The last three pieces were records. These weren’t the same vintage hidden beneath the victrola. Hozier, The Lumineers, and Sia. They were all artists saved on your cell phone playlist. You stared down at them and your eyes stung. You missed the outside. Missed your old life.

“Thank you,” You whispered. You turned to hide you face. You didn’t want to cry in front of him. That would be worse than surrender.

“Why don’t you put one on?” He asked lightly.

You cleared your throat and sniffed. You slid the records back into the bag and held onto the first. You went to the record player and slipped the vinyl from its sleeve. You pulled the arm over and started the small motor. The smoky tones of Hozier filled the air and our heart clenched. You had been listening to this album when he had taken you. You could smell the grass, the dirt, the leaves with each note.

“Come, sit with me,” His voice shook your from your haze. You glanced over your shoulder as he stared at you. Your heels clunked, even on the carpet, as you neared him. He rubbed his thigh and reached out to you. You sat sideways on his lap as he guided your body. You swallowed the last of your grief. He wrapped his arm around your back and rested his head against your chest. “So, I suppose you should pick a dress next.”

-

It was Steve’s day off and you were not happy. You went through your usual routine but did not have his absence to look forward to. After breakfast, he placed a stack of bridal magazines before you and put a record on. You watched him with derision before taking one from the pile. You grew bored about halfway through and opened it to a random page. He was right beside you; his arm around you as he leaned back against the sofa.

You shrugged and handed him the magazine. “Here.”

“Oh?” He sat up slightly and took the magazine with his free hand. “Is this the one you want?”

You wanted to shrug but you just nodded. You hadn’t even looked at it. You didn’t really care what you married him in. If it was up to you, there wouldn’t be a wedding. The more he talked about it, the deeper the pit in your stomach. The more it felt as if your life were ending. Being trapped in this antiquated prison was enough to assure you that there was little for you but cinched waists and kitten heels. But the ring around your finger sealed your fate; a promise stolen from you.

“I like it,” He ran his thumb along the glossy page, “Especially this.”

He traced the neckline and you finally glanced down at the silhouette. Figured. Even when you were trying to sabotage his plans, you had only fucked yourself. The off-the shoulder number was hip-hugging and low-cut. You wondered if you’d even be able to keep it in place without holding on for dear life.

“Wait…” An idea flickered in your head. A straw to grasp at. “Isn’t it bad luck for you to see my dress?”

“You know, I read that it’s just some medieval misconception.” He set the magazine aside, keeping it open to the dress you had chosen. “Back when they had arranged marriages.” He hugged you to him, his lips brushed your cheek as he spoke, “The bride’s father wouldn’t want the groom to see his daughter until the last minute so that he didn’t back out.” He pecked your cheek and you felt him smile, “I’m not going anywhere, dear.”

You nodded and touched his elbow gently. “Sweetheart, I should start lunch. I’m feeling a bit peckish.”

“Of course, dear,” He grabbed your chin and turned you to face him. He kissed you lingeringly before drawing away. “It makes me happy that you're eating again.”

You forced a smile and carefully detached yourself from him as you stood. You didn’t want to flee too quickly; he didn’t like that. He clung to your hand, swinging it in the air between you as he looked up at you. His eyes fell to the diamonds on your finger and he kissed the ring delicately. Finally, let go.

“I’ll be here, dear,” He sat back with a sigh. “Call me if you need anything.”

You nodded and spun on your heel. You figured you had twenty minutes before he would get bored and come bother you. Less if you considered the bulge at his crotch. He was always hard these days and it made it difficult to keep your eyes above his shoulders. He hadn’t done much more than rub himself against you at night and continue his shower time exertions. You were certain to tread carefully; you awoke before him and fled before he could trap you once more. He might have noticed but he had yet to say anything.

You retreated to the kitchen and pulled out bread and some fixings for sandwiches. You still weren’t sure what Steve liked but you hadn’t bothered to ask. He ate whatever you gave him, really. You closed the fridge and looked around the despairingly familiar room. It was odd that within your prison this had become a refuge. A brief respite from grasping hands and errant lips. This was to be your life; fighting to hide from him in plain sight.

You rinsed the tomato and set it on the cutting board. You watched the water circle the drain and gather there; a grind before it finally swirled down the pipes. You tilted your head and peered down the abyss. You turned the tap on again and the water washed away even slower. There must be a clog. You tilted your head as you thought, your fingers tapped on the counter top.

You pushed yourself away and grabbed the dish towel. You entered the den as you dried your hands. Steve was at the record player searching for an album among the bunch. You cleared your throat as you stopped just inside the door. 

“Um, sweetheart?” He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I need...help.”

His eyes brightened and he stood. You made a point of not asking for much but when you did, it spurred him. “What is it, dear?” He crossed to you and you fought to keep from shying away from him.

“There’s a clog,” You explained, “The sink is all backed up.”

“Hmm, oh,” He seemed slightly disappointed, “No worries, I can fix it. Why don’t you finish lunch and I’ll go grab my tools.”

“Yes, sweetheart,” You bowed your head and he leaned in to kiss your hairline. He led you back through the door as he followed you into the hallway. He nudged you back towards the kitchen before he headed to the locked door at the other end. He glanced over his shoulder and you quickly looked away, scurrying into the dining room as you heard the keys tinkle.

You returned to the kitchen and began to slice the tomato diligently. You buttered the bread, spread the mayo, layered meat, cheese, tomato, and lettuce as Steve entered with an odd clank. You turned as he carried a large red toolbox and set it down beside the counter.

“Should be easy enough,” He opened the cupboard and got to his knees, “I’ve dealt with worse than a clogged pipe.”

He popped open the toolbox and grabbed a wrench. You watched him as he positioned himself in front of the open doors and reclined so that he looked up at the underside of the sink. You could hear him moving around, the metal biting on metal. You stared at the open toolbox just beside his bent legs. You leaned on the open cupboard and peeked over at him as he detached the curve of metal from the rest.

You blinked, waiting for him to look over at you. He was entirely focused on his work. You glanced back at the toolbox and stood straight. Slowly you bent your knees, balancing on your heels perilously as you reached out to the open box. Just a little further. Your fingers closed around the handle of a screwdriver and you carefully lifted it from the bunch. Your heart clutched as you jostled another but it was covered by the noise of Steve’s wrench.

You pulled back your skirt and tucked the tool into your garter, making sure it was secure. You stood and straightened your dress. “Sweetheart, should I set your lunch out on the table for you?” You called to him as you took the two plates in hand.

“Of course. I’ll finish this up and eat when I’m done.” He replied. His voice was distracted as metal clinked against metal.

You were trembling as you entered the dining room and set down the plates. You glanced through the door to the kitchen as you slipped off your heels. You placed your stockinged feet flat on the floor and backed into the hall. You held your breath as you listened for any movement but that of the wrench. 

You tiptoed up to the laundry room and pushed inside. You crossed to the washing machine and slipped the screwdriver from your garter. You wrapped it in a dirty washcloth from the basket waiting to be washed and tucked it behind the machine.

You gulped as your heart hammered and you edged away from your hiding place. You returned to the dining room to find it still empty and sat. You stared down at your sandwich with a smile. You weren’t sure what you were going to do but it sparked the last ember of hope inside.

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