#and if you don’t know voice compliments are probably top tier for me

[rosicheeks]

Aka Riders Lullaby from Centaurworld

Lay your head on my chest so I can sing you a lullaby and gently run my fingers through your hair until you slowly drift off to sleep 🥰🫶

[couldyouspeakmyname]

Hi! 💕 I hope I'm submitting this correctly but I'm assuming you write for the Shishigumi lions? If so, I'd like to request some sfw and nsfw headcanons for them dating a female herbivore and it's totally up to you which members you would like to write for (although Free and Agata are my favourites!)

You know I love the Shishigumi, a lot. So I went overboard. I offer my apologies.

I will say, since I usually put NSFW under cut, but due to length I put it all under cut, I do have a big warning for it as to not surprise y’all

There’s a lot I could write for them, but to keep it reasonable I kept it kinda short! Feel free to request more if you’d like!

I’m also not great at nsfw so I tried my best I hope you like it anyway

SFW

Ibuki (I love him and will never NOT include him in an ask about the Shishigumi)

Ibuki is probably the best one at dating an herbivore. He’s very gentle and conscientious of you as an animal and your limitations 

That being said, he’s top tier respectful. He knows you may not be as physically strong as her is, but that doesn’t mean you’re not strong in your own way. He also likes the idea of protecting you. 

Always walks side by side with you. He’s nervous about holding your hand, but he’d never say it. Do it for him. 

Has eaten meat for YEARS and really struggles with that part of himself. 

Doesn’t kiss you for a really long time, he’s inwardly terrified that he’s going to hurt you. You’d have to make the first move.

Keeps you away from his work. He doesn’t want you to get hurt. 

He knows his world is dark, gritty, and that you shouldn’t be a part of it. He wants to send you away, but can’t. He thinks he’s selfish. You’ll need to reassure him this is what you want. 

Herbivores can’t see in the dark, so he keeps lights on in key areas so you can see better.

Protective. If anyone gives you any trouble he’s quick to correct their behavior, he can be incredibly intimidating when he wants to be

Slouches so you’re around the same height. Give him a back/neck rub at the end of the day. It will make him feel better, and he liked being close to you

The kind of boyfriend that remembers all the major events in your relationships, including small ones. 

Once he gets comfortable, he’s a snuggle bug in private. Cheek kisses, arm around your shoulders when you’re sitting, wrapping his arms around your waist when you’re standing.

Lions can’t purr, but if they COULD oh man, he’d never stop

Free

He’s famous for enjoying females, so the fact that he’s dating someone seriously that’s not a feline is really strange

You should have seen the expression on one of the more flirty female lions when he turned them down. 

Everyone thinks he’s joking about dating you at first, when they see he’s actually serious the teasing dies down, but doesn’t stop (it’s at his expense don’t worry).

“Has hell frozen over? What’s someone like you doing with a guy like Free?”

He honestly doesn’t expect you guys to stay together for very long. He expects it to be a fling. Only it doesn’t stop. He doesn’t get tired of you or eat you....It’s weird but wonderful. 

Has eaten meat for years, and has a hard time letting himself kiss on anywhere but on the cheek. Likes to throw his arm around you and hug you. So he does show affection, but keeps his mouth FAR AWAY from your throat. 

Rests his head on top of yours 

Calls you “Babe” a lot. He has a lot of other nicknames for you to. Some of the lions don’t even know your name, just that you’re dating Free. 

Over. Protective. He knows the market, the animals in it and the animals who come to it. He is very prepared to shoot or maim anyone who tries anything. The fact he’s such a loose canon does help scare people off. Everyone knows who you’re dating and they make sure not to push it. 

He likes to show you off. He’s that guy that carries a picture of you in his wallet. Anyone who asks about him dating someone and he’ll show you off. 

“Sure she’s hot, but have you see the ass on my girlfriend?” 

Likes to show off in front of you. Fights? Yes. Please watch him and root for him.

Tries to get you to get a tattoo, but will NOT get identical ones. He doesn’t want to jinx it. If you wanna have similar tattoos though, that’d be okay. 

Dolph

A relationship with Dolph when you’re an herbivore is really low key. A lot of people don’t know you’re dating. He doesn’t want to put you in jeopardy

He’s pretty serious and it’s hard for him just to relax. He does relax when you’re alone and he knows you’re safe. 

Likes to lay his head on your chest and listen to your heart beat 

When you do go out together, you may have to initiate any hand holding.  He plays it off, but he’s secretly happy

He smokes, and you may have to get on him for that if you don’t like it. It’d be very hard for him to quit 

Will let you braid his mane, but wont keep it in if you go out

Supports your endeavors and does whatever he can to help. He may get a little to into it. You’ll say you wanna take a trip and he has everything planned out. It’s a blessing and a curse. 

Likes how small your hands are in his

When he has a hard day, just hold him. He’s heavy and will lean into you, but he just needs the support

Has to relearn how to be himself, and you really help with that. He smiles more when he’s alone with you. 

Has a really deep, gruff, morning voice

Agata

If lions could blush you bet he’d be constantly red. If you actually look close, the insides of his ears usually are

Loves holding your hand and hugs

Respects your boundaries. If Ibuki is the king of respect, Agata is the prince.

He’s still part of a dangerous organization in the black market, so when he’s working he’s all business. Only a few of the members know about you (just the inner circle). 

Agata, like most of the others, is petrified to kiss you. He probably has the worst anxiety out of anyone else. He’s a meat eater, he’s eaten your kind of meat before. What if He accidently hurts you?

Texts you all the time.

The one you can be on the phone with for hours and not know it

Likes it when you run your fingers through his mane

He’s stronger than he looks, so he may just pick you up and carry you every now and again. He just likes to hold you, let him have this

Brings you flowers and your favorite snacks whenever you have a bad day

Stammers when he’s flustered.

Likes to bury his face in your neck

He has a hard time being who he is versus how he thinks he should be. The fact he can goof off and just enjoy life without the strain of being a lion is a blessing. 

Probably says he loves you before you do. He does it when he’s half asleep on your lap. He falls asleep before he realized he said it, whoops.

You’d have to be the one to be aggressive in public. “Excuse me, he asked for no pickles”  meme

Miguel

He’s pretty quiet in his group, so no one knows you’re dating

Miguel is really good at thinking his feelings and thoughts, but isn’t great at voicing them. He does a lot of little things to show affection. He brings you a warm drink on a cold day, has food for you when you wake up, holds you hand

He likes to try and see the best in everything, even if he knows how ugly the world is

His mane is maintained carefully. Once you get really serious, he may ask you to help him with it. It’s pretty intimate, and when you’re done he looks at you like you have stars in your eyes

He’s the force of protection you don’t even know is there. He’s probably saved your life like, eight times, and never let you know that he did

Sabu

If Miguel is quiet, Sabu is dead silent

No one knows anything about his personal life, let alone his dating life

They find out one day when the group is trying to make plans for a fun sort of day, and he turns them down because you two have a date. It becomes a secret mission for the group to find out who you are.

They don’t, Sabu is the oldest member and one of the most clever

A popular headcanon is that his face is really, REALLY messed up. I share that headcanon. The first time you kiss the scars on his face he chokes up

He goes all in. he’s yours as long as you’ll have him. He expects the same respect from you. 

He’s eaten meat for a really long time, but he has more semblance of control being a smidge older than most of the other lions. 

A bit pessimistic 

Kisses you good morning and goodnight. 

Cuddles on the couch. He’ll watch whatever you want to, but he has his preferences

Wears his face covering everywhere, you’ll need to remind him he can relax when you’re alone

. If you get out of somewhere like work or school late at night, he’s waiting for you to take you home. 

So used to wearing a suit and tie, he doesn’t know how to do casual wear very well. He lets you pick most of his stuff out. 

Jinma

He knows a lot about the black market, so he’s over protective from the get go. However, since he does know so much, he knows what connections to make to keep you safe. 

Eats meat, and is self conscious that you’ll judge him for it. Please be nice to him

Kiss his eye with the spot, it makes him feel special

(Personal headcanon) His mane has never grown right, so he keeps it short. He’s kind of self conscious about it. A lions mane means a lot to male lions, he tries to keep it nice but...it’s nothing like some of the other Shishigumi’s manes. Pet it, run your fingers through it. Males don’t complimented enough. It’ll make him feel loved. 

If you ever wanna go anywhere fancy, because of his connections and knowledge, you can basically go anywhere at any time...as long as it’s in the black market, but he may know a guy that knows a guy. If there’s something more legal you need, he checks in with his other gang members to see who knows who

Has a wicked good memory, remembers pretty much everything you’ve said

Dope

A gentleman. He will hold doors open for you, offer his arm and hand when you walk together, brings you flowers. 

He, like all the Shishigumi, eats meat. He is self conscious about it an doesn’t want to scare you away. He will be upfront about it though. He wants honesty. he talks it out with you, and he will try and cut back but being part of the Shishigumi, and a meat addict, means it’s very hard for him to stop. He probably wont, not completely, but he tries not to do it around you. 

He doesn’t brag he’s dating you, but if he’s asked he gets this really peaceful look on his face

If you ever take him shopping at any flea market or outdoor stalls, he will get you the best bargain. He’s also amazing at helping you with any work contracts, apartment contracts and anything else.

Likes it when you brush his mane, and lets you put it up for him before he goes out. He doesn’t let you do anything fancy, but says when you do it it somehow turns out better

Hino

Hino is very attractive. His looks are what brings jobs in, so he keeps the fact that you’re dating a secret for business. 

Gives you extra affection in private because of it. Kisses, hugs, all that. His favorite is to kiss the back of your hand, he is kind of a romantic. 

Don’t get him wrong, he’s still a lion. If he hears that an animal is giving you a hard time, he will take them down and look handsome AF doing it

Eats meat, and like all the other lions worries for your safety. He tends to eat before he sees you, but after a while of you dating he becomes more relaxed. He doesn’t eat in front of you though. 

Spends a ton of time getting ready for the day, you may have to fight him for the bathroom 

Compliments you a lot. He uses the basic one liners at his job with older, lonely, animals. So, he uses unique ones for you. 

“I think the sun is jealous of your smile”

Totally lets your style his mane, and if you’re going out to somewhere not the black market, he’ll keep whatever style you give him. He’s confident and pulls anything off

Calls you Darling

Worst bedhead. 

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

NSFW Manage yourselves safely!

Ibuki 

It was almost impossible to get him in bed with you. He’s so worried and full of anxiety. Any mood you get in, you instantly gets ruined by him being worried he’ll eat you

You’re going to have to plan in advance and spend a lot of time talking about safety and safe words

Honestly? He does try and eat you the first time. Not intentionally and he stops himself, but to be fair to HIM as an herbivore...you almost let him

It kind of ruins the mood and you end up talking it out with him. He’s so ashamed he can’t look at you for a while. 

Once time goes by, and you move pretty slow, but it’s worth it. Sex with Ibuki is amazing

Remember how Ibuki is really diligent about your limitations and you as  an herbivore? Pays OFF when he’s with you

He’s all about foreplay and making sure you are ready and prepared before he does anything. Ibuki has big dick energy. He doesn’t brag but is blessed. But he knows that with you being smaller than him, he’s not down to hurt you with it 

 He starts keeping his nails short for you. The other guys may try and tease him for it, but Ibuki gets defensive over you and so it’s short lived.

His voice drops when he’s in the mood, and he borderline growls. You’ve been teasing him all day, you really should make it up to him

Surprisingly good at dirty talk, it kind of comes naturally to him and neither of you know why

Loves your thighs, and his whiskers tickle. 

He has big hands, and when you’re alone he may saunter up behind you and run them down your sides slowly, kissing your check and down your neck. 

Best at aftercare, no matter how tired he is, he will take care of you 

Free

Is more concerned than he lets on. He tries to pretend he’s all confidence, but he has a pretty hard time getting to the point of actually having sex with you. He actually start actively avoiding it. He blue balls himself. Someone help him.

He’s used to doing what comes natural, and what if what comes natural means hurting you? He’d rather not.

When you do finally try and have sex, he doesn’t kill you...but he does bite you. You need stitches, and he has even more of a complex (tell him he just gave you a cool tattoo or something)

He may actively avoid you or being near you. It’s a set back. He’s not like Ibuki who can talk it out, he’s supposed to be a lion, not a scaredy cat. 

You have to put your foot down. You’re dating a bad ass mafia lion, not some nervous school boy. Remind him about how much you care about him and how much you want him.

The second time goes better, but he’s a LOT more careful. he does maim a few pillows, claws the mattress. Their sacrifice is appreciated. (you two become famous for ruining and destroying beds. The other guys are both impressed and disgusted. Free has no shame)

Trims his claws so he can use them the next time. He’s learning.

This male is a womanizer, but he’s not great at doing things that females would stay for? It’s more of a hit-it-and go. He knows some tricks but...not a lot. 

Tries his best though. Loves to dig his hands in your hips. Leaves bruises. One time he got hammered and asked Ibuki for advice. Ibuki was helpful, but needed therapy afterwards. 

Rough sex 90% of the time (that other 10 is passionate sex that lasts hours, it’s pretty impressive)

Once you guys get comfortable, hope you’re okay with bite marks and kiss marks. You’d have to wear winter clothing 24/7 to hide them all. He’s VERY proud of you being his female, he doesn’t want any other male getting ideas

Turns him on if you take control. Most things you do turns him on. He’s near insatiable. You could roll out of bed, eyes still squinty, mascara from last night all over, and he’s like..man, that’s hot. Hope you’re okay with having sex in weird places, he’s going to ask. 

Not great at aftercare, but BOY can he snuggle. If you’re able to walk afterwards, you wont be able to. Clingy. 

Dolph

Wants it to happen organically, but when it finally does, he catches himself.

He’s looking at you under him, how your eyes sparkle and shine, and how vulnerable you are...And the idea that he could rip out your throat comes to mind and it terrifies him. He practically throws himself off you

You have to reassure him and talk to him. 

Dolph is careful with you the first time, and while he doesn’t bite you, he does dig his claws in a little to much. They may or may not scar. He feels bad, but he’s so in the moment he can’t help it

May drool a little. Don’t tease him until later. 

He doesn’t stop until you’re satisfied. It’s a promise. You will NOT be able to walk the next day. He’s going to make the claw marks up to you if it kills you and wakes everyone in ear shot. 

Out of all of the lions, you’re safest with Dolph. He’s ”the serious one”, which makes him practical and knowing. He actually does research and goes online to inform himself. 

Love bites. He doesn’t break skin, so you’re safe there. 

Loves it when you try and claw him. You can’t do a lot, as an herbivore, but the fact your instincts try and make you...really gets him going. 

Casual at aftercare. Better than average but nothing near Ibuki or Agata.

Not a sex maniac, and with work, it’s not high on his priority list. He’ll make up for it though ;)

Agata

Likes to pretend it’s not something he’s interested in, but he is. He just doesn’t want to pressure you, or scare you. Dating a lion is one thing, being fully exposed is another and he knows it. 

He thinks about it a lot, but doesn’t act on it. You probably will have to take the lead. Agata gets way to in his head.

The sweetest kisser ever, but when he’s heated they’re like fire. Biting your lip, you face carefully with his claws just teetering on the edge of digging in. He loves kissing you, doesn’t matter where. 

Kissing will lead to other things if you don’t stop him, but do you really want to?

Likes to pull you close, and the more heated he gets the more likely he’s going to grind on you without realizing he’s doing it

Totally whines if you stop kissing him. 

Younger than the rest of the Shishigumi, and is more prone to using his instincts. He eats meat and is afraid of hurting you, but his desire to fuck your brains out is far greater than the instinct to eat you

He does end up biting you, and uses his claws. The damage he does isn’t serious, but he still fuses over you when its over. 

Takes a while to let himself near you like that again. He beats himself up. You may have to prove to him you’re tougher than you look. 

When you try again, he makes up for his shortcomings. You’re not sleeping tonight, call in sick to work tomorrow. 

You may have to ask him to slow down. He intends to go all night, you may have to curb his enthusiasm. Don’t forget to take breaks for water so you don’t pass out. 

Wont stop until you’re satisfied. Doesn’t matter how tired he is. 

Sweet nothings in your ear non stop...between the moaning. He’s surprisingly vocal

Talk to him too. Part of the reason he cares so much about you is because you see him for who he is, not his status as a lion. 

Since he doesn’t plan having sex with you, and just lets it happen naturally, he always has things in his room for you. Just in case. Please don’t tease him about it, the other lions do that enough. 

Is totally the kind of guy to help you bathe afterwards if you want.

One of the biggest snugglebugs 

Miguel

Miguel is worried about having sex with you, but no one knows it but him. 

He’s the brawn of the group, and is strong as hell. He may end up trying to show off and you may end up in positions when you have to totally vulnerable (if it makes you uncomfortable, he’ll adjust. Just talk to him)

Muscles for days. The lion is made of stone, but has surprisingly soft touches. He knows his body and knows how to use it

He’s never had sex with an herbivore, he’s thought about it, but having sex with something he may eat later didn’t sit well with him. You are a different story. He’s thought about it a little to much

First time he has sex with you he claws you, and they’re pretty deep. You end up getting stitches. Unlike a lot of the other lions though, he doesn’t avoid you afterwards. He’s there when you get stitches, intimidating the doctor (who has a small heart attack every time Miguel moves)

Apologizes but isn’t afraid to try again. He trims his claws this time, you should really tell him the other things his fingers could be used for outside clawing your back. 

Do not mess with his mane or pull it, he’ll get grumpy. 

Loves your chest and carefully uses his tongue. Doesn’t matter what size they are, he’s a fan. 

Not very vocal, but likes it when you are. 

Sabu

Sabu is older and more controlled, so you’re pretty safe with him. 

He doesn’t seem like he’s interested in it, and since he doesn’t talk much, him bringing it up comes out of no where.

“Wanna have sex?”

Just out of no where. He doesn’t talk much so he doesn’t beat around the bush. You were just scrolling on your phone, and you nearly drop it.

He doesn’t hurt you when you have sex, not even by accident, but the couch you were on gets shredded. It looks like an animal twice his size attacked it. 

Runs his hands over your body, he can’t stop touching you. 

Kiss his scars, it sooths him, and he’ll pay you back

Loves your neck, but is careful not to leave any marks (you have no idea how he doesn’t, it’s like magic)

He doesn’t care if you leave kiss marks on him

No great with aftercare, but will make sure you’re okay and kisses your cheeks and on top of your head

Jinma

Disaster. He doesn’t mean to be, he just is

He wants it to be perfect, but while he knows everything about the black market, he doesn’t know much about having sex with an herbivore. He never really though of it, and now that he is...help him. He knows rumors of herbivore and carnivore relationships that have gone wrong so...he kind of freezes up. That, and he hasn’t been in a lot of long term relationships. 

While the others do their research, Jinma goes way to into it and becomes a bit overwhelmed, but hides it. 

You end up having to take control. For someone who knows the black market like the back of his hand, Jinma is the student and you are the teacher. You’re an herbivore, and you’re going to show him just how much you know (you are the captain now)

He bites you, and he does break the skin, but he just closes his mouth and allows you to decide if you wanna continue or stop

He starts keeping a med kit in his room just in case. 

He gets better, the more he learn and the more serious he is with you. Soon he’s compiling a book of knowledge on you.. He knows where to touch to make your toes curl, what to say, and your weak spots

He takes everything he learns and uses it against you one night. He’s a fast learner. 

 Dope

Part of negotiations is to know what a person wants and what they will go through to get it. So, when you bring it up, the look in your eyes is all it takes for him to know he needs to take you serious. 

Usually his kisses are quick and satisfying, but once he actually starts to seriously kiss you its like it’s the last time he’s going to do it. 

Likes to have you in his lap. Seeing your face is important to him. Every movement and actions of your body paints a picture of what you want. 

Third best at foreplay, what drags him down is he watches you to the point that he forgets what he’s doing

When you first have sex, he ends up clawing your hips and biting your lip to hard. You lip bleeds a little and his nails break the skin.  He’s a little worried, but if you don’t tell him to stop he’ll get permission to keep going. 

Ends up also biting you, but nothing to terrible or life altering. 

He loves watching you, body language tells a person a lot about someone, so no matter where or how, he likes seeing your face. 

Afterwards, he makes sure you’re okay, and comfortable, He does the basics, but doesn’t go overboard 

May leave a kiss mark or two, but it’s accidental. He doesn’t want to embarrass you (even if seeing you with kiss marks makes the animal in him deeply satisfied)

Hino

Hino knows a females body like no other. He’s not exactly promiscuous, but he likes being satisfied

Since dating you, he hasn’t been with any other females, he’s very needy. He’s not as bad as Free, but he’s getting there.

You have no idea how he seduces you every time, one moment you’re making tea, the next, you’re on the kitchen counter 

The first time you try and have sex with him, he claws you way to hard and you end up having to get stitches and fixed up. He feels awful and can’t look you in the eye. He swears he will NEVER do it again

He never does, he keeps to his word

Unlike some of the other lions, the fact he hurt you doesn’t keep him away. He feels bad, but now he’s going to try twice as hard to make sure every time he has sex with you is amazing.

Wont stop until you’re satisfied, and just seems to naturally know your body and what you like.

While he’s composed in public, you get to see a little wild in his eyes when he fucks you. He has this low growl that rumbles through his chest that you feel deep in your body the tighter he holds you

Probably has had sex with you on most surfaces in your home. 

Above average at aftercare. He tries, but having more one night stands than not hasn’t equipped him for great aftercare. He learns though. 

[looselucy]

Honest Harry’s House thoughts GO

Okay, as ever I’m going to be very honest, and like it was with Fine Line, it’s not all positive. SO, if you’re in a new album state of glee and you don’t wanna fuck with negativity right now, you can skim past this one and I will be tagging all album discussion stuff with ‘HH’ so feel free to block that.

I also invite any and all messages about the album if you wanna chat!

Let’s go into my thoughts on Harry’s House then, song by song and then overall opinion.

Music for a Sushi Restaurant – I’m pretty sure this one is going to grow on me. It’s very fun, very pop. I usually really like his opening tracks, and off the bat this one doesn’t feel as strong as MMITH or Golden, but it sets the tone of the album in a really cute way.

Late Night Talking – It sounds soooo much like a Bruno Mars song. Which I consider to be a compliment but I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s funky. It’s fine.

Grapejuice – There are parts of this that absolutely SCREAM Paul McCartney. Scream it. Off the top of my head some examples that feel like this from Paul / The Beatles are Martha My Dear, Young Boy, I Will, Dear Boy. The softness and the quirkiness. Very Paul. You could whack it in the tracklist of Ram (a god tier album) and it wouldn’t feel out of place.

As It Was – I really like this song. I think it was the best choice for a single too, because I don’t know where he’ll go next with singles? That’s a general critique of the album for me personally, none of the others feel like anything beyond an album track.

Daylight – I don’t really have anything interesting to say about this song. I like the heavier bits with the drums and the guitars and wish they had toyed with those sections more. It’s floaty, too floaty for me.

Little Freak – Do you ever have a song where you really like the sound of it, but you dislike the lyrics? That’s how I feel about this song. I think the chorus is nice, but everything in between lyric wise is a no from me. Like a big no. I feel especially like this emoji 🥴 about “tracksuit and a ponytail. You hide the body all that yoga gave you” I was literally sat here like shut the fuck up, man 😂 so this might be a song I like if I can zone out and not concentrate on the words.

Matilda – Both times listening through the album, this is where I found myself being less interested / distracted / bored?? I think this album lulls in the middle, which happens on a lot of albums. It’s the tracks they don’t wanna open or close with, the middle ground songs that just kinda sit there. Happens with albums, TV shows, movies. For me, that happens with this song.

Cinema – Continues with what I was saying for Matilda. These two tracks feel very flat in the centre of this album and will probably be better on a playlist among other things. Also, the end sounds like a beat you could create on Incredibox – which if that isn’t a website you’ve used before, get ready to waste a few hours on it. It’s so much fun!

Daydreaming – Starts to pick things up again with the tempo on this one, but this was also the point of the album where I really started to feel like these songs sounded so similar, so very much within the same vein. It’s certainly a tidy body of work.

Keep Driving – All meshing into one, I don’t even know anymore. I need to listen to these songs on their own because as an album, at this point, it’s kinda losing me. Sorry there’s not much here about the actual song, but… I don’t know what to say.

Satellite – His voice sounds really nice in this song. It’s very sweet. And when he does little songs like this, it reminds me that Harry is good at working with his target audience. There’s still something so boyish and boyband-ish about tracks like this. It feels like a track for people to swoon over, y’know?

Boyfriends – This is probably my favourite track on the album. I enjoy the simplicity of it. The harmonies are lovely. It’s so VERY Simon & Garfunkel. Even the guitar riff sounds similar to the opening + closing one in I Am a Rock. And you guys know me, I fucking love S & G a lot. This song hits a sweet spot for me.

Love Of My Life – I enjoy that this one does feel at least a little different to the rest of the album. It has some shreds of Alex Turner in there with a handful of the lyrics. But it’s also a song that almost felt like it was building up to go somewhere and then never did? I kept wanting it to get bigger and bolder and then it just… ended.

Overall thoughts – the album is a little too floaty for my personal taste. I’ve expressed it on here a million times, but I prefer heavier stuff, darker stuff, shit you can feel in your chest. I love that kinda stuff, with soft injected in between, and this album is entirely soft. One of the things I liked about Fine Line was the variety it had, all the ups and downs. This album feels very one tone to me. I had a similar problem with ‘Imploding the Mirage’ that The Killers released a few years back. Individually the tracks might be great, but listening through it as an album can get boring because every song feels so so similar. It doesn’t strictly mean any of it is bad (Imploding has some of my favourite Killers songs) but as a body of work, it can become tired.  I was waiting for a standout song and I didn’t get one.

I think it’s his safest album yet.

[duchezss]

Buckle in folks cause I’m about to put more effort into this than an english assignment Presenting Why Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is actually an amazing show

Now what defines the term amazing you might ask? I’m talking about a show that goes above and beyond in plot, characters, storytelling, and overall experience. Nowadays most adult shows don’t meet my standards much less a kids show so if that gives you an idea how good this show is stop right now and go watch it if you haven’t. Spoilers ahead ofc but as an aspiring film major I will be diving into just about everything I love and this is gonna get long. 

For your convince I will start with a simple bullet point list and then extend on them below, so if you only wanna see the big points and not my thoughts behind them this first parts for you. 

Black mc 

Diverse main cast (4/6 are poc) 

Actual plot lines and a lot of suspense 

Very dark for a kids show 

Complex characters that develop 

Fits in with the main Jurassic World series beautifully 

Body language and facial expressions are top tier 

Have genuine relationships (platonically and/or romantically) between all of the main 6

Phenomenal camera angles and use of special effects 

Great with details 

Amazing VA’s 

Continuity 

So the nose dives begins 

Black mc: To some people this might not matter that much but holy cow this is so important and such a big step. The people complaining are just weird middle aged white people, like do you know how big of an impact a black mc can have on young black children. It’s so important and it makes them feel happy because someone actually looks like them. Clear evidence of this was Into The Spider Verse (which is also an amazing movie oml). Come to think of it the only black mc I think I’ve ever seen in an animated kids show is probably Static Shock (also an amazing show ily). Somehow representation has got swept under the rug in this day and age which is ironic really, but this show does an amazing job with tackling that and I love it. 

Diverse main cast: I can’t think of any recent kids movies/tv shows, live action or animated, that have this much representation. In animation is also very easy for the show runners to make a character poc and then have a white VA, but jwcc is quite the opposite. Honestly the characters look so much like their VA’s that something tells me the animation team based the characters off them and not the other way around. Not only that but their names actually match with their ethnicities. So for reference or just anyone that doesn’t know, Ben and Brooklynn are white, Sammy is hispanic, Darius is black, Kenji is asian, and Yazmina is middle eastern. Sammy’s last name is Gutierrez, Yazmina’s is Fadoula, Kenji’s is Kon and Darius’s Bowman. Gutierrez is a common last name in Mexico and Latin America in general. Fadoula is found throughout upper Africa and the Middle East, Kon is rare name of Japense origin, and Bowman is a common last name among black folks in the US. So not only do they have a poc cast, voiced by poc people, but all the characters have realistic names. Not to mention they are very good on skin tone in the show, personally I think Yaz should’ve been just a bit darker but hey I’ll take it and run. 

Actual plot lines: This seem like stating the obvious but work with me here. Most kids and even adult shows have a very episodic format, there’s nothing wrong with that per say but having a plot and conflict build up and having little things matter is much more satisfying in my opinion. Most kids shows have some conflict but its very PG which is also fine that’s what it’s meant for. But every once in a while you’ll find a show that had plot wise beyond it’s years and those are the golden ones. Easily and rightfully the most famous is Avatar the Last Airbender or ATLA. This show to this day is still one my favorites and truly nothing will ever top it, but in my years of watching kids shows after it jwcc might just be second. We can argue all day about what’s the best and it’s truly a matter of opinion, but to me atla and jwcc just achieve such a level of complexity that 99% of kids and even adult shows don’t reach. 

Very dark: While this might not be exactly the best for kids it’s great for an olderish audience. Honestly it having a much darker element makes the show enjoyable for all ages while still keeping it chill enough so that children may watch. But come to think of it it’s hard not to make a show about dinosaurs dark, the show runners do a wonderful job at keeping it intense and exciting, but still kid friendly, and to me thats incredibly impressive. Not to mention since the show isn’t afraid to go dark they can do more (such as ben’s “death”, the hunters etc) which makes it go from good to great. Reminds me a lot of atla and I know I keep mentioning atla but know that is the biggest compliment ever. atla is easily the best animated/kids show of all time so the fact that a bring it up so much is huge. There have been shows in the past that have tried to replicate what atla (such as voltron..) and it just hasn’t worked. I think this show nails the boundary between too dark and not dark enough. 

Complex characters: Oh yes. If there’s one thing I love more than an ensemble cast it’s a cast that grows and develops as the series progresses. Sure the main 6 might start off as typical character tropes (Darius the super fan, Yaz the loner, Sammy the extrovert, Ben the underdog, Kenji the arrogant, and Brooklynn the influencer.) but they become so much more than that. I’d say at least half of them are completely different people between the 1st episode and the latest one. An easy example being Ben and Kenji. Ben started off as a naive, timid, and terrified person and has become confident, independent, and brave. Kenji started off as arrogant, selfish, and apathetic person and became compassionate, driven, and concerned. All of them have had some sort of change even if it’s not super dramatic and that’s important. It makes the storytelling better because they grow as they go. 

Fits in with JP/JW beautifully: In terms of shows connecting to movies this has gotta be some clone wars level s-tier stuff. Personally I have never watched clone wars but my sister has and she always raves about how well this show connects to the movies, and from what I’ve seen I completely agree. A youtube channel by the name of Silverscreen Edits actually put together the scenes from every time they overlap, mainly in S1 but also the cold open from Fallen Kingdom. I’d advise you to watch it because it’s just incredible. The show runners nail ever detail of these scenes and it truly feels like you’re watching the same scene from a different perspective. The set up is beautiful and I cannot rave enough about how amazing it is, my favorite easily being the dome scene because of all the small details. Not to mention this show actually connect JW and FK because it shows us that the cold open was 6 months later while the rest was 3 years later. Quite honestly I had no idea these two scenes were that far apart from each other, I thought the opening was from a years or two later not 6 months, so this show really connected the dots between these two movies and made them flow together much nicer. And I love all the countless references too old and new JP/JW movies. Overall this show is a great addition to the franchise. 

Body language and facial expressions: You might be thinking to yourself, hmph that is a really odd point to make, let me tell you it’s not and I’ll explain why. When analyzing films I usually tend to stick to live action because one of my favorite parts of films is how characters react to things, and we animation we really don’t get that. Most of the time even if shows get this complex they won’t use both the way jwcc. What impressed me so much was how amazing they are at this, the animation team seriously needs more praise. Jwcc is great at facial expressions which I will say other animated shows know how to do as well, but they are also so amazing at body language which is rare rare when it comes to animation. It’s because it’s so hard and often times it just doesn’t fit, but they do an amazing job with this and it makes the characters feel so life-like. When a character is sad or closed off their shoulders hunch, when they feel scared they stiffen up and cover their ears (which is another detail I love so much, I never realized till this show that hardly anyone ever covers their ears and it makes a lot of sense because these dinos are very loud) and when they feel hopeless their shoulder sag and their head drops, do you see what I mean? You can quite literally tell what these kids are feeling and thinking without them saying anything that is so impressive and it makes the show that much better. It makes it easy to analyze and if it wasn’t clear around I love to do so. 

Genuine relationships between all of main cast: I will not budge at this point at all, gonna say it right now if you disagree argue with the wall. I might have some bias on this but one, if not my favorite, part of any media is an ensemble cast. It’s something I actively seek out, and when I say ensemble cast I don’t mean a trio, I mean a full cast, my favorite being 6 but 4 or 5 will do. So when I found out this show had 6 main characters I was immediately interested. Not only because I love ensemble casts but I also wanted to see how they handled it. Ensemble cast are so rare because they are extremely hard to do and do well. I will even criticize atla on this. At one point they had 6 main characters and they never elaborated on more than a handful of the duos and just focused on the group as whole. But this is typical and easiest to do without giving up individual character development so I get that. But jesus christ jwcc does a phenomenal job with this, and I mean phenomenal. Out of the 15 different duos you can get between 6 characters then have elaborated on 11 of them, and it could easily be more this is just from memory. I might make a post elaborating on this specifically because it’s just amazing. This time they take to flesh out these relationships truly makes them feel like a unit and a family, instead of just a group of people all working towards the same goal. This is easily the most impressive and rewarding of any of the points on this list in my opinion. (coming from #1 squad lover right here)

Camera angles and special effects: This shows downfall for some was that it had strange animation, honestly it never bothered me and since I’ve watched dragon prince and rwby, it’s clear that bad animation never stops me from watching a show. But I think people just won’t give it a chance, because when you do you’ll see it’s actually very good. To me the coolest part of the animation is the dinos. They look incredible and so so similar to the cgi used in JW. That’s hard to do so more claps for the animation team I love y’all. They also have to work around the PG side of this show and do a great job at implying what happens but never actually showing what happens. This is all angles, not to mention they do a great job at showcasing the park and the scenery so that magic from the movies really translates to the show. Finally my favorite scene of the show from an avid slow mo lover has got to me when Ben falls of the monorail (idk why it is cause he’s literally my fav and I was so upset) The scene is just beautiful and the set up before hand makes it that much more heart breaking. The use of slow mo is amazing I literally cannot rave about this scene enough. It builds so much suspense and they used just the right amount, to much and the scene would move to slow, and to little the scene would be to fast. I need more great scenes like this in S4 (idk if I want the angst that comes with it too I’ll get back to you)

Details: To me details, in any show in general, is what makes it go from great to fantastic. An example of this is Harry Potter, something that hooked me into this franchise was how much small details mattered and it’s the same with jwcc. There are so many throw away lines that end up coming back and all us are hitting ourselves for missing it. Such as Ben saying early on he knows where the tracker beam is and when he “dies” and the crew can’t find it it shows how important he was. Those are details I love to see. Or the three dinos, one of which Sammy released, coming back all season. Of course toro as well and he always kept his burns. Not to mention the animation team always kept Ben’s scar in and I think that’s an important detail because he shaped who he is. Keep up the good work animation and writing team because I love what you’re doing with this (also I’m 90% sure the compass is another one of these details I’m calling it rn) 

Amazing VA’s: Honestly VA’s in general do not get enough credit and they really should. But these 6 are pretty amazing let me tell you. If I’m not mistaken Ryan Potter (Kenji’s VA) is the only one with a notable history of voice acting as he played the title character in Big Hero 6. (fun fact I had no idea and when I found this out I quite literally screamed). But the others have also done things as well, most of it being live action though, and voice acting is much different. Honestly I just need to make a post about the various roles they’ve had cause looking into this has been an experience. Anyway all of them do such an incredible job with this ahh. I think the times where you can really tell how different they all are is when they lash out. This happens quite often and honestly it’s expected, I mean they’re 6 teenagers in a stressful environment of course they’ll last out. But all of them have such a different way of doing it, Darius is hopeless, Kenji is nervous, Yaz is emotional, Ben is harsh, Brooklynn is stern, and Sammy is level headed. Usually everyone lashes out the same way so the fact that they’re so different in just one aspect shows you how good they are. Each character is so individual and all of them have different goals and morals which is not only realistic but it makes way for conflict which is always interesting. 

Continuity: Now this could arguable go with details but it’s slightly different so I’m making this a separate point. Continuity to put it simple it basically not have the show be episodic. Honestly that completely what I expected from this show because that how most kids shows are. In this show the plot not only progress each episode but so do the characters and their trauma. Most of the time the plot will progress but anything bad that has happened to the characters will not show and is hardly talked about (COUGH VOLTRON). To me it’s something that has to be addressed because if the characters don’t grow what was the point of it. And they’ve shown that characters grow based on the events that happen and I love that. Another thing about continuity is when show runners stick a pin in something and actually go back to it (COUGH RWBY). Jwcc is amazing at this and make a point to bring back just about everything that gets sidelined in the first place. It’s so impressive and make the show that much more enjoyable. There have been countless times where I get so caught up with the pins that shows just leave there and it makes me so mad, but jwcc is good at for the most part because of course some things will slip through. But they always get back to the important things. 

The conclusion: Overall this show is phenomenal and if my essay hasn’t convinced you I’m not sure what will. The show is amazing at storytelling and plot and the lovable main cast makes it that much better. It is so much better than a good chunk of kids shows and honestly part of me wishes it was rated PG-13 cause I really wanna see that. But they do an amazing job and keep it kid friendly enough while still discussing mature topics. It’s the next atla to me and something that many kids shows now days try to be and fail. It’s impressive and complex and truly one of the best shows I’ve ever watched. Film major mara out, and if you actually read all of this ily mwah. 

[asexualbuthorny]

Hey I'm back at it again with uncalled for and unwanted opinions on fictional characters. This might be long and entirely just word womit but this my blog and I do what I want.

The fandom I chose to desecrate today is Twisted Wonderland. Let's begin!

Heartslabyul:

Riddle Rosehearts. Love the boy. He a little too strict for me tho. Livin by the rules feels kinda like living on a schedule and I don't vibe with that. Baby has issues. He needs therapy more than he needs a relationship(simps sit down). Would not date him. Good friend material. He just needs to relax a little.

Trey Clover. He's the brother I never had and the father I wish I had. I bet he gives top tier hugs. Would go to him for advice. Would not date him 'cause he's dad. Want him to adopt me. Lovely boy. Very responsible and sensible. Trust him without doubt (daddy kink havers dni /j).

Cater Diamond. Suspishis. I don't know what he's thinking. Cannot trust. Good boy nevertheless. Probably has some issues. Im not a fan of social media so Im not with the whole magicam thing or whatever. Very pretty. Deserves more love. And hugs. Would not date. Good friend material pt.2

Ace Trapolla. More like crappola. Stinky bastard man. If I was there he wouldn't have kneecaps. Would throw hands. Annoying. Needs to get beaten up and put in his place. If he said shit to me I would throw his ass out a window. Would not date. Hardly a friend.

Deuce Spade. Wonderful boy. Sweet angel. Love him. Best boy! Best boy! Best boy! Has my heart. Would trust him. He may be dumbass but I vibe with him. A personal favourite. Would date. Would marry. We could raise chicks together. Dream boy. My heart is filled with love when I think of him. 10/10. A good friend and a potential lover.

Savanaclaw:

Leona Kingscholar. DISGUSTANG. STINKY. AWFUL BASTARD MAN. Leona simps get help. This man smells like pee. Lazy. Can't do shit by himself. I don't know if he's aware but if he wasn't royalty nobody and I mean NOBODY would deal with his shit. And his attitude like cool you can always fail and get held back 'cause you have daddys money and can go back home and live with your parents your whole life but not everybody has that kind of priviledge. That kind of ungratefulness just make my brain angry. Would not date. Not a friend. Would not deal with his shit. Throw hands on sight.

Ruggie Bucchi. Sneaky. Needs money. I understand Im broke too. Don't have much to say about him. Doesn't occupy much space in my head. Would not date. Hard to trust. May be a friend. He would probably rob me. Disrespectfuly.

Jack Howl. Good boy. Deserves the best. Very responsible and has a good sense of justice. A little too serious. Calm down. Tsundere. Want to pet them ears tho. Another best boy! We can all agree that he's a favourite among the fans. Would not date. Very good friend.

Octavinelle:

Azul Ashengrotto. Shady. Not trustworthy. Responsible. He runs a restaurant while being a top student. I can respect that. Very smart. Insecure. Don't worry bb we all been there. I like him. But he's still bastard. But like less. Idk. Would date but barely. Maybe a friend. Again barely.

Floyd Leech. Crazy mf. His simps are masochists I don't take critisism. He would fold us all like lawnchairs. Don't think about him much. Not my cup of man. I like his voice tho. Kinda cute. Can't trust tho. Would not date. Friend but very carefuly.

Jade Leech. Scary. This man knows things. Sells your secrets on the black market. Polite. Dangerous. Not much to say abt him. His simps rub me the wrong way. Would not date. A person I know from school but not a friend.

Scarabia:

Kalim Al Asim. Very friendly. Sunshine boy. Lively child. Very naive. I would fool him for the lols. Give him many hugs. I don't like parties so we wouldn't vibe on that. He could teach me new games. Rich boy. Probably buys his friends expensive shit and thinks it's a small present. Could date. Makes a better friend tho. Take me on a magic carpet ride pls.

Jamil Viper. Sneaky pt.2. Can't trust after the shit he pulled. Can forgive but not forget. He's a lot smarter than he looks. Even if already looks smart. Can cook so that's a plus. Big respect to people that can cook. He would fool me for the lols. I would fall for it every time. He knows things. Sells your secrets pt.2. He wants to break free. Would not date. Friend but very very carefuly.

Pomefiore:

Vil Schoenheit. We would not get along. Im very live and let live and he sticks his nose in other people buisiness. I don't care how I look and he's very aesthetic oriented. He would call me ugly. I would call him a bitch. We would throw hands on sight. Argue every day. I would hide and defend Epel from him and his bullshit. He's dedicaded to his thing and has a succsesful career so I can respect that. But he still a bitch.

Rook Hunt. Don't trust him. He's french. Creepy. Poor beastpeople tbh. Can't say much about him. I bet he writes superb poetry tho. 10/10 would listen. Would compliment me. Don't know if genuine. Would not date. Decent friend tho.

Epel Felmier. Arson buddies. Commit crimes together. Call Vil a bitch toghether. He wants to be buff and I can get behind that. He could beat my ass and I would let him. He's kinda like a little brother who you teach how to get away with murder. We would beat everones ass. Good boy. Best friend. Would not date. We would rule the school.

Ignyhide:

Idia Shroud. I could beat his ass. Wouldn't tho. Not worth it. Incel. Gets zero pussy. Probably stinky. Would still try to befriend. Bully him lovingly. Gatekeeper. Anxiety. Me too tbh. Not much to sqy about him. Roast marshmellows on his head. Would not date. Could be a friend.

Ortho Shroud. A child. We could be friends. I would teach him swearwords. Good boy. Don't know much about him. Friend material.

Diasomnia:

Sebek Zigvolt. Why he so damn loud? Like calm down boy. Still very good and dedicaded. Could not be in relationship 'cause he has other things on his plate. Tries to be responsible. Still a disaster dumbass. Love the boy. Would not date. Good friend.

Silver. Don't know much about him. Like what are you hiding sleepyheadass? Seems like a nice good boy. We could take hella naps together. Would not date. Befriend him.

Lilia Vanrouge. Dad/grandpa vibes. Would take care of me while Im sick. I would get poisoned by his cooking. HE GIVES THE BEST HUGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND. Father I wish I had pt.2. Trickster. Would tease me. I still love him. Welcom to the fam. Would not date because him grandpa.

Malleus Draconia. THIS MAN. Im looking respectfuly. Gorgeus. Beautiful. Stunning. My husband. Give him love and hugs and kisses. I would marry this man. My sunshine my starlight. Im such a simp for him. Who wouldn't want a cool dragon husband. He owns my heart and my ass. 100000000/10. Would die for him. Bestest boy. My love please come to me.

Wwwaaaa this was long. I might post something strictly about relationships if I feel anything again some time soon.

[shinonometrash]

💕🍄The 12 Days of Ayumu 🍄💕

JULY 17TH!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYUMU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AYUMU 😭💕😭💕😭💕 Doing all this translating has done nothing except make me miss him even more 😭 But!!! Today is the big day!! And so we have the thing I’ve been saving for last!!!! The absolutely cutest Ayumu story I think I’ve ever read !!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanted to cry when I read it it was so sweet I love him so much sdfgnkjkjnfg

I was a lot more creative with translating this story to make it sound more fun and natural, since I’m finally getting comfortable enough to start doing that, I really hope you guys enjoy it !!

it’s pretty long, so I’m putting it under a readmore

Ayumu Shinonome: Happy Birthday ♡

technically this story is about Ayumu celebrating our birthday, rather than about celebrating his, but...

In the S ward is one of the most popular downtown areas in Tokyo.

2PM —

Middle schooler: Hey, look at that guy over there

Middle schooler 2: Oh my gosh, yeah!

Middle schooler: He’s a host, don’t you think?

Middle schooler 2: He’s definitely a host!

(…No, you’re wrong.)

(I’m just wearing a formal suit.)

Middle schooler: Eek…this is the first time I’ve seen a host in real life!

Middle schooler 2: I guess that’s the norm around here, we are in Tokyo after all!

Thanks to the middle school students who seem to be in the middle of a field trip, I now see the passersby struggling to contain their laughter.

(This couldn’t get any worse. Ugh, this sucks.)

(Really. I was already reluctant enough to do this as is…)

Speaking of which—

MC: Ayumuuuu~!

At last, the reason for all of this torture has arrived.

MC: Sorry! Did I keep you waitin-…

MC: !!!

(Uh…is she okay?)

MC: Ayumu, you…you look…so hot…

MC: Ahh, you look amazing!!

Ayumu: Dummy!! Keep your voice down!

(If she says something like that too loudly…)

Middle schooler: Oh no, look! He’s got a customer…

Middle schooler 2: She must be a huge regular…

Ayumu: …gah, come on, let’s go.

MC: Huh? Already?

MC: I haven’t changed into my pumps yet…

Ayumu: It’s fine, come on! Hurry up!

MC: Ahh, hold up! I came all this way so at least let me put my arm around yours…

MC: Gahh, slow down! You’re walking way too fast!

MC: Ayuumuuuuuu!

This all started about two weeks ago.

MC: Ayumu! Look! This is what I was talking about!

Ayumu: Eh…? Scary…

Fresh out of the bath, my girlfriend suddenly plops down on the ground.

Ayumu: …What

Ayumu: Don’t tell me you broke my limited edition Tyrannosaurus mug…

MC: No, no, that’s not it!

MC: It has to do with this year’s KappaMC Birthday Celebration!

Ayumu: Gross

Ayumu: You’re creating your own birthday celebration…?

MC: It’s a great idea, isn’t it!

MC: I see this kind of thing a lot on social media!

Ayumu: Even so, you’re not supposed to post that about yourself

Ayumu: That sort of tag is made by enthusiastic fans…

MC: Well then, I’ll ask you to do it, Ayumu! Since you should be my biggest fan!

MC: Pleaaase do it with me~?

MC: Take me on a date in a formal suit please!

Nonsense, I thought. At the time.

However, at a later date…

Toru: Ahh~ This seems to be real popular these days! Suit men

Ayumu: …what?

Toru: If you search anywhere on social media sites, you’ll get tons of hits~

Toru: Guys uploading selfies in suits

…I don’t get it.

What’s so fun about showing off a suit?

(Although, she did say something the other day about wanting to go on a date with me in a formal suit..)

Ayumu: Frivolous. Completely.

Toru: Noo, you just need to choose the right place to go!

Toru: Shall the Great Toru offer you some guidance~?

Ayumu: No thanks. There’s no way that’s ever happening…

Toru: Hm, well I don’t know what kind of person your partner is, but—

Toru: Sometimes it’s important to spice things up a bit so that you don’t fall into a rut!

Ayumu: …

Toru: Again, I really have noo idea who your partner is buuuut

Toru: I think women who like that sort of thing would be really happy~

Ayumu: …

(…bah. He’s probably right.)

(She does seem like she’d like that sort of thing…)

That’s why I decided to title it “The Extraordinary Production”

I end up regretting this as soon as we start stage one—meeting up downtown.

(Ah, well, at least I won’t feel as out of place at the next stage.)

Yes, and the next stage is—

MC: Look! Look! Ayumu! The view outside is sooooooo pretty!!

Ayumu: Ah, I see.

(Naturally. We are on the 38th floor.)

By the way, the seats here are filled almost full.

Of them, about half are reservations.

MC: Whoaaa, did you see?? This afternoon tea set!!

MC: The tea stand! It has five tiers! Five!!

Ayumu: Ah, I see.

MC: Hey, at least act more surprised!

MC: Fives tiers? This is the first time, for me at least, that I’ve ever seen anything like this!

(…yeah, I suppose it would be)

I say this because—

Toru: How’s this place look?

Toru: “Enjoy some luxury afternoon tea on the top floor of a high rise tower”

Toru: Whoa, the tea stand, it’s got five tiers!

Ayumu: Ah, I see.

Toru: Ugh, what kind of response was that!

Toru: Are you even listening?? The tea stand has five tears!!

Toru: Isn’t that alone pretty much a win right there?

Ayumu: I don’t get it.

Toru: In a date, it’s either a win or a loss…

Soma: But doesn’t it seem likely that it would make his date happy?

Ayumu: !

Soma: Women who are particular about food will also care about how many tiers of sweets there are, will they not?

Soma: Glutto-no, women who eat everything with enthusiasm,

Soma: I think they would be very pleased with a five tiered tea stand.

Ayumu: Haa…

MC: What should I do?? My heart is beating so fast, I’m so excited…

MC: I don’t think I’ll be able to eat all five tiers…

Ayumu: If it’s you, you’ll be fine.

Ayumu: …since you’re a glutton.

MC: Huh? What did you just say right now…?

Ayumu: Nothing, don’t worry about it.

Seeing the waiter passing by, I raise my hand to get their attention.

Waiter: Did you decide what you would like to order?

Ayumu: The afternoon tea set for two people, please.

Ayumu: The original black tea blend.

Waiter: Understood, thank you.

As soon as the waiter walks away, I purposely sigh dramatically.

Ayumu: So noisy

MC: Wha-…I didn’t even sa-

Ayumu: Your stare

Ayumu: It feels like you’re trying to stare into my soul or something since a while ago.

MC: …hey, b-but that….

MC: I mean! I can’t help it…

MC: You just look way too amazing today, it’s like my eyes are being sucked in…

Ayumu: …

(…what is she even saying, this girl)

Ayumu: This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me like this though, is it? In a suit?

MC: That’s true, but…today is special…

MC: You wore the suit for me, didn’t you?

MC: That automatically makes you look, like, 30% hotter!

MC: I’m just so happy, I can’t stop looking at you

Ayumu: ….I see.

There was a strange pause before I replied.

Probably because I was remembering the advice that Toru gave me.

Toru:  You definitely need to be sure to always compliment your date’s outfit~

Ayumu: …wha?

Toru: Well, if you’re wearing a formal suit

Toru: Then your date should also be in formal wear, right?

Ayumu: that…well…

Toru: And so, you need to be sure to give your date lots of compliments!

Toru: Cause girls always put several times more effort into things like their makeup and hairstyle!

Ayumu: No, no, she doesn’t have me beat there

Ayumu: If we’re talking hairstyle, it’s definitely me…

Toru:  Bah, well, saying things like “that looks great on you” or “you look pretty” is always a safe bet

Toru: And then…

Ayumu: You don’t—

MC: “I don’t”?

—“you don’t look too bad yourself, either”

That’s it. All I have to do is use what she said as an opportunity to compliment her back.

(So, come on. Say it.)

(Just light and natural.)

(Sound genuine about it…)

Ayumu: You don’t—

MC: Ah!!

Suddenly, my girlfriend jumps out of her chair as if remembering something.

MC: Sorry, is it okay if I go to the restroom for real quick?

MC:  It’s…my shoes, I’m still wearing my sneakers

Ayumu: …

MC: No, I know already, you don’t have to tell me

MC: “You should’ve just worn your pumps from the beginning”

MC: That’s what you were about to say, right?

MC: But these shoes don’t quite fit right…

MC: “It’ll be fine if just change into them right before I meet up with Ayumu”…is what I had told myself

Ayumu: …

MC: I’ll just change into them real quick!!

Ayumu: …

(…This sucks.)

I just let a perfect chance that I’ll probably never see again slip by.

(No, it’s fine though.)

(It’s not like I absolutely HAVE to give her a compliment.)

That was just Toru’s opinion.

She didn’t specifically ask me to do it, or anything.

And so, from there, while I’m with my girl…

MC: Ahh, that was so delicious!

MC: The cake and the scones and the tea, they were all the best! Ayumu: …

MC: Oh, and the clotted cream too!

MC: It was the first time I’ve ever had it but it went surprisingly well with the scones~

MC: I wonder if they sell it at that other shop…

(…this is it.)

Her head is probably full of the afternoon tea we just had.

I want to make her happy…more than anything.

(But it’s impossible to compliment her when things are like this.)

I’ll just start by making a statement about what she’s wearing, but it’ll have a compliment at the end.

“I noticed your dress has lace on top of the turquoise fabric. It’s not bad.

“Those pumps must not be comfortable to wear. But they go nicely with the dress.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you wear this much makeup. It looks nice.”

(I’m psyching myself up too much, aren’t I?)

I guess it just goes to show how much I’ve been looking forward to this day, though.

MC: So where are we going next?

Ayumu: Anywhere is fine, as long as it only takes about an hour.

MC: Hm? What does that mean?

Ayumu: This.

I pull two tickets out of the breast pocket of my suit.

MC: Whaa…the opera??

Ayumu: It’s in about an hour from now. So we can’t go unless we go at that time.

(The idea wasn’t mine, though.)

Yes, this idea…

Toru: Hmm, what other places would be good to wear a formal suit to…

Toru: What about a luxury brand store?

Ayumu: Huh?

Toru: If you wear a businesswear vs a formal suit to a shop, the staff will treat you differently, right?

Toru: Because they’ll be acting even more polite to you

Toru: There’s no doubt that your date will feel like a celebrity!

Toru: Right, Goto?

Goto: Don’t touch me, I’m not responding to that.

Toru: And after you can take her to a fancy restaurant inside a hotel or a bar with a gorgeous night view!

Toru: Sure it might be a little cliche sounding, but it’ll certainly be something out of the ordinary that you won’t forget!

Toru: Hey, Gotooo!

Goto: Look, even if you touch me, I’m still not going to respo-

???: Aww, aren’t you guys sweet

Toru: …huh?

Tsugaru: Don’t you know this is the perfect time to go watch the opera?

Ayumu: ..……good afternoon. How long have you been there?

Tsugaru: Now that hardly matters, does it?

Tsugaru: More importantly, if you’re going to put all that effort into a date, you should go to the opera.

Tsugaru: It’s like a date specifically meant for formal wear, is it not~?

Tsugaru: Hmmm, but…

Tsugaru: It’s possible the person you’re planning to take on a date doesn’t understand the opera, though.

Ayumu: …I should first confirm whether that’s true or not, though

Ayumu: Hey, have you ever watched the opera?

MC: Uhhhh, that’s…

MC: Well, I’ve seen Phantom of the Opera…

Ayumu: That’s not the same thing

Ayumu: That’s just a musical.

MC: …well of course I know that much!

MC: So, this is a first

MC: It’ll be my “first time”!

Ayumu: Wait…do you hear that—

MC: I want my first time to be with you, Ayumu!

MC: So please, take my opera virginity—!

???: Ahhh!!

A sudden scream drowns out her playful chattering.

Woman: A purse snatcher…!!

Woman: Somebody, please! My bag!

(Seriously? A purse snatcher?)

Before I get a chance to confirm, she jumps into action.

She starts chasing the purse snatcher.

(Dummy! What is she doing??)

Purse snatcher: Damn it…!

The criminal escapes to the back alley at the end of the road. Of course, my girl isn’t the type to give up so easily.

MC: Stop right there!

While she chases after the purse snatcher, I enter the next alley. 

If the criminal turns the corner here, I’m pretty sure I can cut him off.

Sure enough—

(…he came.)

MC: Ayumu!

Purse snatcher: Shit…!

I’m in front of the criminal, blocking his path, while she’s at his back. He turns around and rushes at her.

Purse snatcher: Move it!

MC: Just who do you think you are!!

Her next move is quite something. As the criminal charges at her, she swiftly grabs his right hand, twisting it behind his back and shoving him to the ground, planting her body weight on his back.

Purse snatcher: Ouch! Ow ow ow!

From there, we hand over the criminal to the authorities and all live happily ever after—

Or not.

MC: The interrogation took longer than I expected…

Ayumu: Yeah, it did

MC: But if we leave now we should be able to just barely make it in time…

???: Oh my gosh, look at her

I hear a whisper from a woman passing by.

Woman: Yikes, look at her, did she get into a fight?

Woman 2: Maybe she fell? There’s a hole in her stockings

The innocent exchange seems to have reached her ears.

MC: Oh…

There’s no denying that she looks beat up right now.

Her dress is dirty and the knees of her stockings have holes in them. 

(Of course.)

(She had to straddle the criminal on the ground to secure him.)

However, her stockings aren’t the only thing that tore.

MC: I-I’m sorry, I’lll go change them right away…

Ayumu: The lace

MC: Huh?

Ayumu: The lace part on your dress, too

MC: !

Ayumu: Did it get caught on something? Like a nail?

Ayumu: When you were chasing after the purse snatcher

MC: …ah, yeah…

Seems I probably guessed right.

MC: I’m so sorry, I’ll go change into a new outfit…

MC: Ah…but, the time…

Ayumu: …

MC: Please just wait a second…I’ll figure it out someway or another…

MC: To change…I’ll just, I’ll go buy some new clothes…

Ayumu: It’s fine, the way it is now

Strangely, the words seem to just flow out of my mouth on their own accord

Ayumu: You don’t look bad

MC: Uhh…?

Ayumu: It doesn’t look bad, does it? How you look right now

It’s still the outfit she put so much effort into, just a bit worn out now.

Either way, it’s still very ‘KappaMC’-like.

(Really, it’s not bad.)

I run my hands through her messy hair to smooth it out.

She looks up at me, confused.

MC: Um…Ayumu…?

Ayumu: Let’s go

MC: Wait, I can’t go to the opera looking like this…

Ayumu: We’re not. Going to the opera, that is.

MC: What! No! Don’t say that!

MC: You already bought the tickets and everything…

Ayumu: Don’t worry about it, really, it’s okay.

Just a slight change in schedule.

Truthfully, I had planned on bringing her ‘here’ after the opera, anyway.

(Ah, but this timing actually isn’t bad at all, it works out well.)

Ayumu: Aren’t you coming?

MC: But…I look like a mess…

Ayumu: You look fine, don’t worry about it

Ayumu: I rented out the place

MC: Rented out??

MC: Here??

Startled, she looks around at the surroundings.

(Ah, well, it makes sense. Reacting that way.)

If I was in her position,  I’d probably react the same way,

Ayumu: Your hand.

MC: Sorry?

Ayumu: Your left hand. Give it to me.

MC: Oh, um, alright…

I grabbed her nervously outstretched hand and led her to middle of the stairs.

(Finally.)

Now we just need to stand here for five more seconds.

Honestly, this is the most nerve wracking part of the whole day.

(But, well, it’s her birthday.)

(And it’s special.)

Ayumu: 3…2…1…

At the exact moment I point, balloons float up into the sky.

MC: Balloons??!

She watches as the balloons float upwards, eyes wide in surprise.

I use her distraction as an opportunity to pick up the bouquet I had hidden.

Ayumu: Happy birthday

Her mouth falls open wide in shock.

Yeah. It really isn’t like me to do this sort of thing.

But, the one who thought of this surprise, make no mistake, was me. I came up with it.

(This is a once in a year occasion, after all.)

(And I thought she would like it, if I did this.)

Ayumu: So? What do you think?

MC: … Ayumu: MC?

No reply.

(Uhh, what’s the status here?)

(Maybe I messed up…)

MC: A-a…yu…

(Ah-yoo…?)

MC: A-yu-muuuuu…!!

(Whoa wait just a-)

Ayumu: Oof

Sniffling, she throws her arms around me.

MC: I-I…j-just…nnnf, I’m…I’m so, nnnnff, so happy…I, nnnf, love it…s..so much..!!

MC: T-th…! This…surprise, nnnf, it…it’s…!!!

Ayumu: …

MC: P-plea…zz…please sta…stay with, nnnf, with me…fore…forever, nnnf…!!

Ayumu: …dummy.

Ayumu: I can’t understand what you’re saying.

That’s a lie. 

Truthfully, I understand perfectly what she’s saying.

(“Stay with me.”)

I’ll stay with you, for the rest of our lives.

In return, don’t ever let go of me.

I did something today that I never would’ve even dreamed of doing before, all because you’ve changed me.

Ayumu: Happy birthday

MC: T-thank you…

Ayumu: So, what shall we do from here?

First, I have a room for us to stay at.

But after we check in, we can spend our time however we’d like until dinner time. 

(Ah, no, but before that we need to change.)

(As you’d imagine, going to the restaurant looking like this would be…)

MC: …iss…

Ayumu: Hm?

MC: Kiss…I want to kiss you…

MC: From here on…with you, forever…

Ayumu: …

Ayumu: …dummy

I was asking about later today, but…

Is she asking for a kiss with a runny nose and a tear soaked face?

There’s a lot of things I want to say to that, but—

(Ah, well, it’s her birthday…)

Her lips taste salty, as expected.

But…I don’t hate it. Maybe I’ve gone crazy too.

MC: Thank you…

As we pulled away from the kiss she sniffled loudly.

MC: I, um, I feel like I’m dreaming…

MC: My head feels all fuzzy…

Ah, I see.

MC: I’m gonna…just you wait…!

MC: Next time it’s your birthday, I’m gonna think of an amazing surprise…!

Ayumu: No need to.

I have nothing but a bad feeling about that.

Ayumu: Seriously, don’t. Hard pass.

MC: …hmph, meanie!

MC: If this is how you feel, now I’m DEFINITELY going to plan something!!!

MC: Like making dinosaur balloons, or dinosaur 3D pancakes, or…

MC: Maybe I’ll rent out a whole museum…

MC: Mmph, mmm…

It’s really not necessary. Coming up with some sort of surprise.

(If you’re here with me.)

As long as you stay here next to me—

If we can kiss like this, then that’s enough for me.

-The End-

Isn’t that CG gorgeous??? And wasn’t that story soooo frickin adorable??? sbkhgkjadbf I have so many feelings about this 😭💕😭💕

And thank you so so so so sooo much to @world-a-to-z​!! Like I’d mentioned at the start, I was never part of the Peach fanclub because I only started reading Ayumu’s stories almost exactly a year ago now. And so, I didn’t have access to this story. So what did this absolutely wonderful person do?? Transcribe this entire story in Japanese!!!! And then was kind enough to send it to me, along with the screenshots of the backgrounds (which were pretty necessary for all the scene changes, I think) and the CG, so that I could translate it. So please give her a HUGE HUGE thank you for making basically almost the entirety of this birthday celebration possible!!! 💕💕💕

Thank you guys so much for celebrating with me! I hope everyone had a lot of fun!!! I can’t wait to actually sleep again now...I spent sooo much time doing all these translations whoops ><

In case you missed a day, or want to reread anything, you’ll find links to all the posted content here!

[lokiondisneyplus]

[This interview contains spoilers for Loki‘s season finale.]

When Kate Herron joined Loki as director, she knew she had an ace or two up her sleeve that would forever alter the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. And in “For All Time. Always.” — the now season finale — Loki showed all its cards by revealing Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains, a variant of Marvel supervillain Kang the Conqueror, who set the events in motion that would open up the multiverse. Since the character of Kang is a key player throughout phase four of the MCU, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and his team, along with Herron, knew exactly what was at stake with this particular casting.

“Casting was a very surreal experience. When I joined the project, we always knew that Loki and Sylvie were going to go to He Who Remains, and the multiverse would be released,” Herron tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So I already knew when I got the job that it was going to be a massive undertaking to do that and a big responsibility for Marvel to get it right. And Jonathan Majors is an actor that we were all just blown away by; I think everyone who knows his work is blown away by him. And when I knew we had Jonathan, he and I were solely focused on He Who Remains and this version of the character, this variant.”

At last December’s Disney Investor Day, Feige confirmed earlier reports that Majors would play Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But since Majors ultimately appeared first in Loki, Herron further clarified the timing of his casting.

“[The Quantumania casting] happened at the same time,” Herron shares. “So basically, [Ant-Man director] Peyton [Reed] and I were in that discussion with Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel. We knew he was gonna be in [Quantumania], and we knew that a version of him was going to be in [Loki].”

As Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie’s (Sophia Di Martino) doomed love story culminated in a passionate kiss, the latter repositioned Loki so she could grab He Who Remains’ futuristic TemPad and send the God of Mischief back to the TVA. Despite Sylvie’s guile, Herron still considers her side of the kiss to be authentic.

“Sylvie is sort of where our Loki was in Thor. She’s driven by revenge, pain and anger, and that’s what he’s saying to her,” Herron explains. “He’s like, ‘I’ve been where you are, and I just want you to be OK. You’re not going to get what you want.’ But on her journey of self-healing, she’s not where he is. So she’s not going to see it that way. So there was a sense that she was turning to get the TemPad, but I don’t think it meant the kiss wasn’t genuine. In my head, it was always a horrible goodbye, really, but the feelings were real.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Herron also discusses her own shocking goodbye to Loki following the surprise season-two announcement. She then offers her take on the final scene and the subsequent questions she hopes are answered in season two.

Brava, Kate. Loki season one was top-tier MCU as far as I’m concerned.

Thank you so much. I love Marvel, and I was just so excited to have a chance to direct for them. It’s been so nice to see everyone enjoying it.

In a complete tonal shift, Friday morning’s news about you not returning for season two makes this victory lap rather bittersweet. After one of Marvel Studios’ best pieces of storytelling, you’d think that getting the band back together would be automatic. So what else can you say about this?

I would say that when I joined Loki, it was always going to be those six episodes. We were treating it like a movie, and we were running it like a movie. We weren’t doing it in the showrunner system. So it was a lot to direct these six episodes, and I gave it all of my energy and everything I had in my soul and in my heart. I threw everything I loved about Marvel at it. So I always intended just to do these six. And it was such a massive compliment and a delight that as we got much later into production, Marvel and Disney were like, “Ah, man. This is excellent, and we want to keep going.” So I just feel like my part is done, but I’m really excited to see where it’s going to go next. So I gave it all that I have, and it came from a place of love. I really enjoyed working on it, and I hope to work with Marvel again in the future. They changed my life, and I just love Marvel as I’m sure people can tell from the amount of Easter eggs and references I did throughout it. But I just feel like I’ve done my part with Loki, at least for now, and I’m excited to see where it goes next as a fan.

Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains. How did this go down from casting to filming?

Ah, so casting was a very surreal experience. When I joined the project, we always knew that Loki and Sylvie were going to go to He Who Remains, and the multiverse would be released. So I already knew when I got the job that it was going to be a massive undertaking to do that and a big responsibility for Marvel to get it right. So when we were casting, it was basically me, Kevin R. Wright, my co-executive producer, Kevin [Feige], Lou [D’Esposito], Victoria [Alonso] and Peyton [Reed]. So we were all just talking about actors, and the amazing thing about Kevin Feige is that he’s so collaborative. He wants everyone at the table to have a voice, and he wants to see what they think and how that fits into his plans for the character. And Jonathan Majors is an actor that we were all just blown away by; I think everyone who knows his work is blown away by him. He’s an amazing actor, and the thing that I love about him is that he’s this chameleon. He’s so different in everything he does, and that’s exciting, obviously, when you’re asking an actor to play a character who’s going to have a lot of different versions of himself. So for us, that was a thrill. And when I knew we had Jonathan, he and I were solely focused on He Who Remains and this version of the character, this variant. It was just fun digging into him. We have this character who’s so lonely and isolated, and the only character he probably interacted with is Miss Minutes, which is what we imply. At the beginning, you see that he’s surrounded by all this noise in the universe, but he’s quiet and he’s alone. So how introverted or extraverted is a character like that? What makes that personality? So it was really fun digging into it with him.

So even though Jonathan’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania casting was announced first, your team technically cast him first, right?

[The Quantumania casting] happened at the same time. So basically, Peyton [Reed] and I were in that discussion with Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel. We knew he was gonna be in [Quantumania], and we knew that a version of him was going to be in [Loki].

So once a big movie or show is finally released, fans like to comb through trailers for any unused footage. So was that “King Loki” moment supposed to be a quick insert for when Loki is tempted with a throne by Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and He Who Remains?

So that moment wasn’t actually King Loki. It was just meant to be a memory from our Loki’s past. It was basically going to be in episode one because we had a lot of memories in that episode. But it was honestly a tonal thing. The scene was actually quite a funny scene, and it was really beautifully written. But he was about to see his mother die, and it didn’t feel right to have something so comical next to a gut-wrenching moment like that. So it’s just the nature of making any film, really. Unfortunately, you sometimes have to kill your darlings. (Laughs.)

Did He Who Remains put a Time Twister on the edge of his desk, or a TemPad? Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) called it a TemPad even though it looked like a Time Twister.

(Laughs.) I love weaponry and technology so I’m just like, “The fun thing with this is…” So basically, it’s meant to be a futuristic version of the TVA tech. So that was the fun idea of it. When He Who Remains tells his story about his other variants meeting, you see bits of the TVA technology. So our idea was that it does both things. With the TVA technology, you see that the Time Twister hooks into the TemPad, but it’s these two separate, clunky things. But whereas with He Who Remains, he has more advanced technology than the TVA So it has both functions, basically, which we see him use. The difference is that he’s in control of the twist; it’s twisting him. Whereas when we see the TVA use the Time Twister, it’s with a Time Collar as they’re controlling a prisoner.

As Loki and Sylvie kissed, she repositioned him so she could grab the futuristic TemPad and eject him back to the TVA. So do you consider the kiss to be genuine on Sylvie’s part despite her calculation during it?

Honestly, the way I always read that kiss is that her feelings were genuine and that it was a goodbye. Sylvie is sort of where our Loki was in Thor. She’s driven by revenge, pain and anger, and that’s what he’s saying to her. He’s like, “I’ve been where you are, and I just want you to be OK. You’re not going to get what you want.” But she’s not there yet. On her journey of self-healing, she’s not where he is. So she’s not going to see it that way. So there was a sense that she was turning to get the TemPad, but I don’t think it meant the kiss wasn’t genuine. In my head, it was always a horrible goodbye, really, but the feelings were real.

Since the TVA resides outside of time, what can you say about the mechanics of the final scene?

So the way I see it in my head is that the TVA exists outside of space and time, but reality and everything as we understood it has completely changed in the last few minutes. With the multiverse branching, how do we know the TVA still exists in that way? We don’t know, and I suppose that’s a big question that will be answered as the show goes on. But in my head, the intention is that Sylvie thinks she’s sending him back to the TVA, but because of the way time and branches are crossing each other outside the window, Loki has unfortunately been sent back somewhere very different. So reality has shifted just by the nature of what He Who Remains said, and the idea is that he’s in this alternate TVA now.

We have to wrap, but is Eugene Cordero’s Casey OK? He went missing after episode two.

(Laughs.) Yes, Casey is fine! I love Casey, and I hope there will be more Casey to be enjoyed.

Well, congratulations once again, Kate. And if you do return to the MCU someday, please make a Miss Minutes slasher movie since she’s utterly terrifying.

(Laughs.) I would love to! That would actually be my dream.

[husbandograveyard]

I’d like to request a headcannon for Zoro, Law, and Shanks with an female S/O they hear sing for the first time. Thanks! 😁

Ohhhh I like this idea a lot!! I am going to go ahead and assume s/o can actually sing  (.❛ ᴗ ❛.). 3 top tier bois, I hope you enjoy these!  

Hearing s/o sing for the first time HC - Zoro, Law, Shanks 

female reader. 2nd person. There is some slight suggestive language in Shanks bit. I couldn’t help it. Sorry. 

Zoro 

You sang for one member of the crew and for that member only. And that was Chopper. 

You liked brushing him whenever he was in his most deer-like form, and he liked the attention, the soft pets. You were usually very focussed while taking care of his fur, humming softly and sometimes even singing. 

Chopper absolutely loved it and even sometimes requested you sing for him when he was working or about to go sleep. It worked calming on him and improved his focus. You agreed, on the condition that no one else of the crew would be hearing. Luckily the infirmary was usually pretty quiet and none of the crew ever asked about it. 

Not even your boyfriend Zoro, who was mostly napping on deck whenever you were spending these tender moments with Chopper, although he too cherished the little reindeer and became more and more insistent on joining every now and then. 

Mostly you got him to back off with the excuse that Zoro was about as delicate as volcano rocks and as careful as an actual gorilla and thus probably not the best person to help Chopper with his medical equipment. 

Zoro found out when Chopper and you lost track of time and your boyfriend wanted to get the two of you for dinner and he heard you singing through the door. He stood there for so long, completely mesmerized that he nearly got the door slammed into his face when Chopper's excellent nose helped him deduce that it was dinner time and the two of you were on your way, you still softly humming the end of your song. 

"Zoro?? What are you doing here??" He had only just managed to jump away just in time and let out a semi-annoyed yell instead of really answering your question. 

“Just wanted to get you for dinner” 

You let out a soft ‘oh’, wondering just how long he stood there. But he didn’t say anything about your singing so you figured it couldn’t have been too long. 

Until that night, when you actually went to bed for naps, when he very uncharacteristically, and yet, so bluntly very much like himself turned to you and simply spoke “sing”

“excuse me” 

“I heard you sing for Chopper. It’s nice. Calming. Will help me sleep” 

“As if you need help sleeping”, but you smiled, he had given you some kind of compliment, and didn’t think it was something stupid or useful. 

You sang a soft lullaby, and you saw the smallest smile on his face as he fell asleep before you could even finish it. 

You pecked his cheek. “Goodnight Zoro” 

Law 

Law had heard you humming before, usually when you were helping him with sanitizing tools in the infirmary or some other job where you did mostly routine work, so you let your mind drift off just a little bit as you hummed some of your favorite melodies. 

He could hear already that you had a beautiful voice but didn't want to comment on it. Every time you caught yourself you'd stop, cheeks heating up a little in embarrassment, he could only wonder how you'd react if he were the one saying something about it. 

He hears you sing, actually sing for the first time on a day that most of the crew is on deck. The polar tang has surfaced for a while, and everyone is on deck enjoying some of that good fresh air. You're still inside, making use of the peace and quiet to clean the kitchen that is otherwise never empty, and singing one of your favorite songs as you're doing dishes, putting things neatly back in cupboards and such. 

It's an upbeat song, and you're making yourself happier and more enthusiastic as you're dancing along to the tunes yourself, dancing from one spot in the room to the other as you can see the kitchen slowly become spotless. 

You're wetting a sponge to give the counters a good scrubbing when you're hitting some particular difficult high notes, nearly breaking your song for being proud of yourself that you hit those so nicely. You almost feel bad that there's no audience. 

You turn around to get to another counter, and there your captain -and boyfriend- is staring at you, a lazy yet sly smirk on his face. You chuck the sponge at him but he catches it with ease. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were right there?? How long have you been standing there?" 

"Long enough to hear you belting out those good notes. You were getting kind of loud, I'd be surprised if the crew heard nothing at all." 

"It's perfectly insulated and soundproof here. They shouldn't have, you just came by to sneak up on me."

He just let out a chuckle, enjoying you being embarrassed a little too much. You were awkwardly standing now that the sponge you needed to conclude your work was in Law's hands. He saw you looking and threw it back. 

He grabbed a chair and sat at the dinner table while you continued your cleaning, this time in silence. 

"No no no. Please. Continue." 

Shanks 

Shank’s crew is singing all the time, especially when drinking, it’s one shanty after the other. The whole crew sings along, and when you’re singing as a group, no matter how drunk or tone deaf the crew is, it always sounds good. You manage to softly sing along, and no one ever hears your voice, it was the perfect ruse for you to be able to sing without anyone every questioning you, your voice and the way you sang. 

What you did not notice, was that this time, your captain and boyfriend of a few years, had been drunkenly trying to lean in for kisses, and in doing so,had captured some snippets of your beautiful voice. 

Encouraged by sake and his love, he managed to drag you off to a place a little more quiet, away from the party and you were thoroughly confused, he never left a party early. 

“What’s wrong Shanks?” 

“I’ve heard you talk, I’ve heard you whisper, I’ve heard you get angry and shout, I’ve heard you scream... both in anger and my name” He drunkenly added that afterthought and you smacked him playfully in the chest while you felt your face heat up. 

“yeah so... got a point... now is not the time to go do... things. The whole crew will know” 

“So? As if they don’t know what we do.” He leaned in to kiss you, but you only gave him a quick peck. 

“Okay Captain sake, what was your actual point?” 

“Oh right... sorry, you’re distracting” You laughed again. 

“You didn’t tell me you could use that voice of yours for singing as well?”

“Really Shanks? That was important enough to drag me away from the party?” 

“Well I can make it worth your while” he had a drunken grin plastered on his face. 

You quickly ducked away and made your way back to the party, wanting to tease him a little for dragging you away for something so small, stupid and yet embarrassing. 

You couldn’t escape for too long though. Before you could sit back around the fire, you were pulled into a familiar chest, and Shanks sat down with you in his lap. 

“How bout you sing a little louder, just for me?” 

[rainbowcaleb]

open your heart to halloween chaos

4,400 words of halloween shadowgast shenanigans

read the whole thing on ao3 here.

“Jester, I still do not see the point of this.” Essek stated for the third time that day.

She stepped in front of the mirror, gently bumping him to step aside so she could check her outfit again. “Essek I told you, Halloween is the perfect excuse to wear costumes and get dressed up and eat pastries and sweets and-”

“Yes, but the costume,” he tugged at his own again, feeling more exposed than usual without his sweeping mantle. “Why not use a spell to disguise self? It seems much easier.”

She stuck out her tongue “It's all about the costume and having fun, not just doing a spell as a shortcut. I’m the queen tonight and I decree you shall have fun!” And she was queenly, literally. Jester was absolutely bedazzled in tiers of diamanté studded silk, silver lace, pearls, and all topped with a blindingly glittery tiara. She looked like a cross between a snowstorm and a cupcake, which was a compliment she would probably adore if Essek dared to say it aloud. Her costume made it all the more confusing to him though. Where Jester seemed to lean into the “more is more” approach and wear what would be overdressed for any other night, the outfit she had excitedly presented to Essek seemed to be missing quite a few layers.

Jester kept talking to him as he donned the outfit behind the privacy of the large screen in his bedroom.

“My first idea was a cat, that’s a totally classic costume and should be really easy to find, even in this city. But then I thought it’d be too on the nose since you and Caleb are still doing your dumb who’s-gonna-confess-first game of chicken.” Essek had almost tripped into his screen at this point. She ignored his shocked noises of protest and kept going. “So I went with my second choice! It’s kind of in the same family, well not in the same animal family, actually I’m not sure about that. Is a bat related to a cat? Hey, Essek do you know?”

“Jester, can we backtrack to-”

“Maybe I’ll ask Caduceus later, he knows about stuff like this. Anyways, I thought bat because they can be cute and small, but also a little spooky and they usually hang out in the dark and wear black, and it just felt totally you.”

Essek stepped reluctantly out from behind the screen, wings held in his hand after unsuccessfully trying to wrestle the strappy thing onto himself. “Jester, while I do appreciate your help in the matter, I really don’t think…” He trailed off. There was a bright sparkling look in Jester’s eyes and Essek knew he had already lost. This was going to be his costume, and there was no going back.

Which is how Essek found himself in front of a mirror dressed in slinky black velvet, the deep color in high contrast next to Jester’s pearly queen. He was thankful the jacket had cutaway tails that swept down past his waist. These velvet trousers were rather snug, and Essek was unused to feeling so...on display. There really wasn’t much battiness to it, other than the leather harness and attached wings. The straps buckled across his chest and shoulders, reminding Essek involuntarily of Caleb and his ubiquitous book harness, but this one was more intricate in how it criss-crossed. It all seemed rather unnecessary in Essek’s mind. The wings weren’t even that large, nor did they move. Although he could fix the latter though with a simple enough spell.

Jester was clapping with glee. “Oh my gosh Essek, why are you always hiding under cloaks and layers? You look amazing, like crazy super hot, Caleb is definitely going to lose his mind-”

“You keep mentioning him,” Essek tried to keep his voice steady. “But I really must make this clear. Caleb only thinks of me as a friend.”

“And what do you think of him, hmm?” She waggled her eyebrows even as he stayed silent. “Trust me, I know about this kind of stuff. He totally likes you. And you like him back, duh, that’s obvious-”

“Jester-” His face was starting to flush.

“But on the tiny,  tiny  chance that I am wrong I promise to eat my tiara if he doesn’t make out with you by the end of the night.”

“What?!” Essek’s voice came out an octave too high. “No, don’t promise to do that, you can't possibly know for sure that Caleb, that he, and me-”

She threw her head back and laughed. “No, I’m gonna. I already said it and I don’t go backsies on promises!” She linked her arm into his. “Don’t worry Essek, that’s just how sure I am! And I really love this tiara, so I definitely do not want to eat it, blegh, it’s not even made of sugar or anything.”

Suddenly the pressure of the night seemed to increase beyond measure in Essek’s head. He was already feeling haplessly dragged into this social situation, a party for a holiday he knew nothing about, and now...well, he certainly didn’t want his friend to have to swallow down a piece of a costume.

(too long to copypaste the whole thing, so sorry! tumblr is acting up on me. please read the rest on ao3 here)

[thirsty-x1]

Sexuality | Kim Wooseok

Request:

i need me more wooseok content in my life so can you please write a smutty one shot with fem reader asking her best friend wooseok to teach her how to blow someone then afterwards he decides to return the favor? 👀

↬ Pairing: Wooseok x fem!reader.

↬ Genre: Smut, slight fluff.

↬ Warnings: explicit language, oral sex, fingering.

↬ Word Count: 2.6k+

↬ Song Recommendation: “Sexuality” by Taemin. Holds no meaning to the story but each time I listen to it, I think of Wooseok so yes. Also this performance is just... top tier.

It took every fiber in your body to control the embarrassment that had taken place in your chest when you saw Wooseok playing games on his phone, his wet hair dripping into the sofa he was laying down on.

“Are you busy?”

“Quite a lot.”

An awkward silence had followed, at least on your behalf since he didn’t seem to notice it at all. Not like it was unusual; having known each other for many years, silence was something both of you were used to. Wooseok had his quiet days where he simply enjoyed the company but wouldn’t interact at all, and since you were the same, you got along. But this time was different, the doubt at the back of your mind was burning and the curiosity made you feel more and more anxious.

“Can I ask you for something?”

“I don’t know, can you?”

Taking a deep breath, you ignored his sarcasm. “I want to learn how to give a blowjob.”

His fingers came to a stop, his eyes not leaving the screen and for a second you saw confusion on his face before he lifted the phone and hid behind it, the soft tapping indicating he went back to the game. A few minutes passed before he talked again, clearing his throat.

“And?”

…

And? Was he really asking just that?

“What do you mean with that?” He sighed at your question, pausing the game.

“Google it, search for videos, I don’t know why you are asking me.”

Even if he acted like that, his eyes weren’t meeting yours. You felt slightly guilty at making him feel like that, but who else if not him was the indicated one for this? There was no other guy you trusted more than Wooseok and he would definitely be bold and sincere with his feedback, so it was your best choice.

“I already did all that and I don’t grasp it.” You sat next to him, his stare flickering for a second towards you before going back to the floor. “Please, just– show me how to do it.”

He let out a nervous laugh. “Want me to go suck someone off for you?”

“Can you stop being stupid?” He finally looked at you, his back straightening at your tinted cheeks. “It’s not like asking this is easy for me…”

“And why do you think I am qualified for this job?”

“You’ve received blowjobs and you have a dick.” He raised his eyebrow. “You must know what feels good and what doesn’t, right?”

“Well, yeah, technically yes but–”

“And on top of that you are my best friend so I can rely on you to be good to me.”

“Yes, but–”

“Please?”

Wooseok took a breath, waiting for you to let him talk. “I can’t.” He hurried to continue as he saw your expression. “I can’t just get horny out of nowhere, I mean.”

That was a lie. “So you would teach me?”

“Of course, but since I can’t, it won’t happen…”

As you saw he started to sit up, leaving his phone aside, you sat on his lap, his eyes opening wide and before he complained, your hands grabbed the small towel on his shoulders. You began to ruffle his hair, drying it and chuckling when he relaxed, melting into your touch and his eyes fluttering shut. You kept doing it, admiring his facial features: he was attractive, always, and you noticed that but there was so much more to Wooseok than a pretty face… like the way his eyes got smaller as he tried to see something far away, or his low honey-like voice, or how shy he would get after trying to act confidently, or how he couldn’t keep his hands still whenever he talked about something that he liked, or how warm his hugs were, or how he would always sing the same song over and over again, or the way his lips pouted…

You didn’t think much about it. You didn’t think about anything as you covered his eyes with the towel and kissed him. It was just a second, pulling apart just a bit and waiting for his reaction, your heart shaking when he didn’t respond at all and just stayed like that with his face covered until he placed his hands on your waist. He got closer and joined your lips again, enjoying the sensation as he sucked in your bottom lip slightly, sighing into the kiss when he felt your tongue on his. When you stopped, the towel fell, showing you his dark gaze before you pressed small smooches on his neck, smiling as you felt his head thrown back to allow you to continue.

“Is this fine?”

He nodded, licking his lips as you unbuttoned his black shirt and continued to leave small bites on his neck. You grazed your nails down his chest, appreciating his slight shudder and the vibration of his laugh which was quickly choked by your fingers palming him.

“Wait.” You immediately pulled away, scared of making a mistake. “It won’t be comfortable for you here, it’s better if we go to my room.”

Relief washed over you and stood up, his hand gripping your arm as he took you to the bedroom you had visited so many times although this time the feeling was completely different. Usually you would lay down on his bed and listen to music, or use his computer, but now you were unbuttoning his pants until his bulge came into view. You swallowed, feeling nervous all of a sudden and he noticed, his own hands taking care of it.

“It’s not… super… y’know… maybe it’s better for a first time? I don’t know, just…” His shyness was evident on his voice as he lowered his underwear, his cheeks blushing at having you stare at him so much. “Don’t look at it so much…”

“Pretty.” His eyes widened at the compliment, his lips pouting and you could tell he was confused about whether that was a good thing or not.

“Now, you just have to hold it like this…” He showed you with his own hand first each movement, his eyes fixed on you whilst yours were fixed on his motions, which turned him on even more than before. “Here, give me your hand. Don’t go too fast since there is no lubrication and that would hurt, yes? Just slide it up and down softly…”

His previous hesitation wasn’t there anymore, completely focused on teaching you correctly. His fingers were on your hand until you grasped the rhythm, holding back his own sounds as if to not disturb you although his expression was still showing every bit of emotion. You got used to the feeling, following each of his indications until you noticed the small drop of precum at the tip, sliding your thumb to smear it, the slight contact eliciting a soft moan from him. Waiting for his next indication would take longer since it was obvious that he was worried about going too fast, so you simply leaned in and licked a stripe up the base of his cock.

Catching the way his thighs shook, you smiled. “Was that good?”

“Yes, yes, it was but if you do that with no warning–”

“I like surprising you.”

Before listening to his reply, you closed your lips around the head, appreciating his sharp intake of breath as you swirled your tongue on it. The taste was somewhere between bitter and salty, not delicious but not repulsing enough either.

“Pay attention to your teeth… the tip is very sensitive and that small part under it is even more–!” Just to try out what he had said, you teased the zone. He was right. “It f-feels better if you flatten your tongue and bob your head softly… don’t take more than what you can, if your jaw hurts just tell me.”

Awkward. That’s how you would describe the situation. Having him in your mouth, the movements, everything felt so stiff and new and even if it was your first time, you couldn’t help but to feel slightly bothered by it. You felt his hands brush your hair behind your ear, holding it softly so that it wouldn’t become annoying to you and the action made you look up. Oh. So this was why it was good; Wooseok had his lips parted, his eyes dazed as he stared back at you, his chest heaving and you could see a thin layer of sweat illuminated by the faint rays of sun coming in.

Ethereal.

It was odd seeing your best friend like this, but somehow you felt encouraged by it. Your movements were sloppy at first, the lack of practice showing but as you got used to it, fixing your posture and relaxing into it, you could feel more comfortable. When you were sure you had covered it in saliva enough, your hand stroked what you couldn’t take into your mouth, Wooseok rarely indicating you what to do now and that caught your attention. Just as you were about to ask, he pushed you away, quickly stroking himself and groaning as he came, the spurts hitting against the skin of his abdomen and chest.

“How was it?” He gave you a little smirk as he recovered. “Did I do well?”

He grabbed a few tissues and cleaned himself, throwing them aside before fixing his pants a bit. The silence made you feel anxious and you were almost sure he knew that, doing it on purpose before he leaned in, holding your chin and kissing your lips, chuckling at his own taste.

“You did very well, I’m actually impressed… It can definitely get better, though.” Wooseok didn’t give you any time to ask further about that, his arms turning you around as he hovered over you. “Another advice: don’t be with a guy that doesn’t return the favor. Probably an asshole.”

The implication sent tingles down your spine. “I never–”

“I know, so just let me teach you this too. In the future you can compare and confirm I’m the best at it.” His hands slipped under your shirt, taking it off in a swift motion and attached his lips to your neck, leaving the same marks as you did on him. “Although I’d prefer you didn’t do that.”

Even if you couldn’t see it, you could sense the small pout on his lips, but your mind was soon out of that as you felt one of his hands slipping past your shorts, humming appreciatively at your wetness as he left a trail of kisses down your chest and stomach until he reached your bottom clothes. He discarded of them, throwing it aside and looked down on you as he caressed your thighs, the contact sending electric shocks to your core.

“Don’t tease me.”

You hated the small smile on his face. “Let me explore you, I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to do this.”

His eyes roamed your body, his fingertips sliding on every inch of your skin as he tried to discover your most sensitive zones, all while you felt your juices flow down. Before you told him off again, he got rid of your panties, opening your legs wide and it was your turn to become flustered.

“Don’t stare…”

“You are beautiful.” He didn’t hesitate, although the small voice in his head was telling him to not show his feelings too much. “All of you, so wonderful…” His lips pecked yours again as his fingers came in contact with your folds. “Fuck, so wet after sucking me off.”

Maybe he intended to go slower but in a second he was between your legs, giving you no time to process his words and the emotion they carried as his tongue started to taste you, diving into your wetness immediately. It was as if your body became water at the feeling, the tingling sensation spreading to every nerve and your heart racing with every lick. Looking down, you saw his eyes were closed showing his concentration on your taste, his tongue on your inner lips before focusing on your clit, his eyes opening slowly to check on you. The eye contact made you blush, even worse when he detached from your core.

“Is there something you want?” His question perplexed you, not being able to pay attention to his words and instead looking at the slight glistening on his mouth. “Ask me whatever you want, communication is key here.” The final words were softly slurred as he pressed kisses on your inner thigh, waiting for your response.

You enjoyed the feeling, the sweet and tender touch along with the delicacy he treated you. “Can you…” Words trailed off as he brought back his full attention on you, nodding so that you finished. “Finger me?”

Wooseok felt his cock twitch. Everything was sinful, from your look to your voice and even the essence of your body, the whole thing feeling almost surreal. He rubbed your folders with his fingers, getting them wet before inserting his middle and ring finger in, sliding it carefully while biting down on his lips at the tight feeling. His tongue went back to your clit, taking a break every now and then only to mutter soft words of encouragement, his low voice making you feel dizzy.

“You can cum, y/n, don’t hold back.” His pace got quicker, his fingers curling inside of you. “Give yourself to me.”

Your fingers tangled on his hair, getting drunk on the pleasure he gave you while your insides tightening, your back arching as you tried to control the shaking of your legs. Your orgasm washed over you, chanting his name which only caused him to eat you out more fiercely, a satisfied smirk on his face as he let go of you, the lewd noise of his mouth sucking on his fingers making you feel shy.

“Thank you.”

He hummed a response, getting up to find a new towel, cleaning you up when you didn’t feel as sensitive as before anymore. Afterwards, he sat down on the edge of the bed, giving you your privacy as you changed into your clothes, which made you laugh a bit. His shoulders were stiff as you finished buttoning your shorts, and you sat next to him.

“Is everything alright?”

“Hm? Ah, yes, just… don’t be with someone that doesn’t take care of you.” Was that what bugged him? His expression seemed slightly somber, and you couldn’t help but to wonder if he was like this on an usual basis… not like you had the chance to talk about it with other of his partners, the relationships usually failing and he didn’t kept in touch with them.

You stretched, pretending to not pay much attention to his expression. “I don’t think I’ll be with anyone for now.” His head turned to you, eyes questioning silently. “I still have a lot to learn and something tells me you are the best teacher.”

“What the…” He scoffed a laugh, covering his mouth quickly. “That’s good.”

The silence took place, this time not feeling as heavy and strange as before. You laced your fingers with his, tugging on his hand softly so that he would stand up.

“Should we order some chicken? As good as that was, I’m starving.”

Wooseok smiled, following you to the small living room. “I ate pretty good but sure.”

You slapped his shoulder softly, walking towards the table to grab your phone and make the order, hoping that the beating in your chest would calm down soon. Staring at him, you thought about what had just happened and where it would lead but not able to reach any conclusion and finally shaking your head as you gave up on it. After all, there could be no harm in simply exploring each other.

Again, shitty ending and I don’t know why it’s so LONG but that’s something that just happens with Wooseok. I love him and I love best friends to lovers stories so I couldn’t hold back and put all that fluff there accidentally.

~Nani

| Masterlist |

[lamperougez]

flirt spar

title: flirt spar pairing: aleheather - total drama series summary: just aleheather being aleheather. notes: takes place after total drama world tour ep 22.

“I fully intend to kick your butt.” “And I yours. But for now, I suggest we work together, temporarily. To ensure we’re kicking each other’s butt in the finale.”

[...]

“It is truly a honor to be in first class twice in a row.” They had just accessed the so yearned booming section, surprisingly good maintained given the state of the plane they were currently traveling on. Alejandro walked a few steps behind her, in a gesture of sham appreciation towards Heather’s benevolent, or assumably ulterior, invite.

“Yeah, you’re lucky I’m a faithful alliance mate and kind enough to bring you here with me even though you chose Cody then.” Heather chided, taking no time in plopping down on the nearest leathern lounge and making herself comfortable like she never wanted to leave her seat again. Economic class was quite an experience, and she really didn’t want to go through it again.

“And for that, I humbly express my gratefulness, although I’m not so sure if ‘kind’ and ‘faithful’ are appropriate adjectives for you, señorita.” He stood a few inches away, not so sure if taking the free seat next to her would be a good choice for his heart since he’d have to inevitably get rid of her in due time.

“I see you’re well-off enough to drop the gentleman facade. Although it’s not like I’d fall for it anyway.” The provocative look that followed her every sardonic remark was enough for him to make up his mind; he would get as much of Heather as he could before their doomed from the start flirt-rivalry ended.

As Heather leaned back to make herself comfortable Alejandro took the seat across from hers, and she obviously didn’t flush at the sight of the sly smile tugging at his alluring lips.

“Oh, don’t misjudge me so roughly,” He spoke nonchalantly, sultry voice as enticing as aways “Despite my strategically detailed and efficacious winning strategy, I am and always will be a true gentleman.”

“Of course, so gentlemanly of you to stuck a girl’s tongue to a pole.” She meant no truce, and if he complied, they could go on with the taunting non-stop until reaching their next bizarre destination where another crappy challenge awaited.

“I have no idea of what you’re talking about,” Alejandro put on his best innocent look “Bridgette’s pole kissing tendencies are none of my business as much as they’re none of yours.”

Here they were, for the first time alone with a scopious, fancy and conveniently private allowance just for them. The air was beseted with tension, not necessarily in a unpleasant way, in reality they were both very content with the current arrangements, although this gratification would never materialize itself in spoken syllables by either.

“You have a surprisingly good way with words.” She frowned, because indeed he could possibly talk his way out of any adverse situation. A challenging ability for her to surpass.

“It’s a pleasure to heart that,” Despite the scheming facade, Alejandro undeniably meant his words “Especially coming from you.”

“Don’t get all uppish, it wasn’t a compliment.” Heather grunted, annoyed at the slightly redness that refused to leave her pale checks. That damn heated weather, she hated it and the way it made her feel all too hot and tingly.

“Ouch, how come such beauty is combined with remarkably rude manners? That is one fascinating mystery I’d love to disclose.”

“You wish you would.” She narrowed her mat grey eyes at his jade ones.

“I think I will.”

Heather’s heart missed a few beats, and she cursed internally because this was her goddamn game and he was so fucking good, and probably overcoming her, at it.

But she refused to admit defeat, her arsenal of witty comebacks composed most of her everyday vocabulary and she was ready to blast him with her top tier munition.

“That’s unlikely, for I have a feeling you’ll be taking the drop of shame in no time.” And she actively planned on accomplishing said forecast.

“Well then,” He went on unfazed “I suppose I’d have to take care of that right now.”

She was mute for a few seconds, processing the implications of his statement and fighting to repress the unwanted excitement that sparkled within her nerves. He had a natural kick in jolting her emotions.

Maybe it’d be best for her to take a break. Once Heather recollected her thoughts and forced her heart to calm the fuck down, he better be ready for retaliation.

“Too bad for you I’m getting my beauty sleep right now.” She retreated a hot pink sleep mask from her nearby purse “Don’t dare wake me.”

“Ah, what a turnoff.” Alejandro forced an expected sigh.

“Shut up, I’m starting to regret bringing you with me.” Heather snuggled back into the lounge, genuinely trying to fall asleep but conscious that she would have trouble in succeeding, especially with that lascivious voice ringing in her ears.

“I promise you won’t; we still have quite some time before the arrival and I’ll be sure to keep you enthralled.” Heather could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

“Now I really don’t want to wake up ever again.” She snorted with a hint of playfulness.

“I find it cute when you pretend like you’re not completely into me.” He hummed mischievously.

She snapped back up, snagging the sleeping mask away and scowling incredulously at him.

“Excuse me, mister modesty, but it seems you’re the one who just can’t seem to get enough of me.”

It was his turn to blush, and she enjoyed the privileged view.

“I presume you certainly need some sleep,” He coughed quietly, averting his eyes from her to the indigo sky framed by the plane window “You’re being more delirious than usual.”

“Deny all you want, we both know the truth.” She eyed him challengingly, tone dripping with satisfaction. She could die in peace now, knowing that at least she had managed to make sir flirt flustered.

“Oh, I agree. We both know the truth all too well.” Alejandro regained his cool composure and took no time in engaging in their usual subjective quarrel.

“Indeed we do.”

They took time to just stare straight at each other, eyes shining with mischief, as if in a showdown to determine whose gaze would avert first. It would probably be a long spar, considering that they were each other’s favorite pastime, but they had the whole day and night, and would make sure to enjoy this singular moment before they were inevitably at each other’s throats next day.

.

.

.

[saiyuri-dahlia]

Kurama

Why I like them: Everything...being a fox, the rose motif, the actual roses, long hair, he loves his mommy so much and he’s gonna do good by her despite being a top-tier thief and probably on multiple wanted lists in Spirit + Demon World, the carnivorous murder plants, the kick ass violins he got in his “Nightmare” character song, the fact that he’s down to play tricks with Kuwabara just as soon as Yusuke wakes up from not-dying again, and his ride or die friendship with the entirety of Team Urameshi. Kurama is a thousands of years old fox hanging out with two middle schoolers and a murderous rabid raccoon that attacked him on the street that he decided to take home and patch up. He’s pretty much permanently in control of the Team brain cell —Genkai’s test proves that. I love characters that fight more with their wits than overwhelming brawn. I love how his looks really would deceive in that if you looked at Team Urameshi and were asked who was one of the most frightening, nightmare fuel-inducing, cutthroat ex-cons and it’s the softly-smiling pretty boy in pink holding the rose.

He was quite possibly my first anime crush—either him or Sailor Uranus, both voiced by Megumi Ogata and quite possibly the key that unlocked my bisexual magic. In retrospect, falling in love with the long-haired pretty boy that’s often mistaken for a girl should’ve been a clue to myself that I may find more than one gender attractive, but it took two more decades for that thought to sink in.

Why I don’t: As much as I love him, it frustrates me to no end that he’s always got to have his secrets and gotta be cryptic in his replies. Why couldn’t he reveal to his mother that he was a fox demon?

Favorite episode (scene if movie): There’s just something so satisfying about Kurama’s fight with Elder Toguro and him putting a fitting end to the soulless fuck.

Favorite season/movie: Pretty much all because I like his character arc through the series. But I do like Kurama during the Dark Tournament because he’s surrounded by these arenas full of lower class demons spewing insults at him and he just doesn’t give a fuck and he’s a little indignant at being called a traitor by demons who probably have never shown loyalty to anyone. And you know that on the inside that he’s like, “Do you know who I am? Even without my full potential, I will murder you.” It’s like a mob of ants yelling at an anteater who has five essays to write and Finals when he comes back from Rigged Death Fight Island.

Favorite line: How dare you make me choose between all his gems… But the first that comes to mind is one of his earlier lines: "Sorry, I don't have the time to be arrested." It kinda summarizes him in a lovable rogue kind of way—polite, busy with his own plans, and not always law-abiding.

Favorite outfit: This feels like a minefield, given how it’s fun to make fun of Kurama’s fashion choices, lol. I really like the green variation of his battle robes, the one that has the teal wave pattern on his torso

OTP: Kurahi is a cornerstone of my heart, but over time I’ve come to love KuroKura and Kuwama. Really, I can see Kurama paired with any of the main guys, including himself. He’s very shippable with a lot of the cast.

Brotp: I guess, Kurama and Touya. Every brotp can be made an otp with a kiss though.

Head Canon: Later in life, Kurama has to get glasses. Mostly because I think he’d look good in glasses.

Unpopular opinion: As much as 15 year old me would protest, Kurama would be a terrible boyfriend. He may be the romantic soldier but he’s full of secrets, half-truths, lies, and backhanded compliments. He’s not kind and he can be a bit of a jerk even to his dear friends. The guy can sell you piss and convince you that it’s a cup of fine wine with a heavenly smile while he’s calling you a moron and ripped off every valuable you’ve got on your person. The guy is a cruel and terrifying as he is beautiful and, given the fandom’s consensus on how hot Kurama is, that’s saying something.

A wish: Let Mama Shiori know you’re a fox. Let her tell you that she has known all along, because she has spirit awareness. Let her see your four long silver tails and hear your yip yips. Rest your furry head in her lap and let her pet your head because you are her good boy who is a fox.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Him getting old and dying especially him dying alone or dying early because of his demon soul in a human body merger situation. Fans always depict Kuwabara dying first, but what if Kurama’s more likely to die first??  Or him after Shiori passes. I’m not a fan of seeing a fox with a mourning heart.

5 words to best describe them: captivating, intelligent, precise, horrifying, inscrutable

My nickname for them: The First Love, My Heart, Foxboy, Undercover Furry

[jubilantwriter]

Jaspvid Week 2020: Day 5 - AU Day

(AO3) @jaspvid-week

this is so late AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

And They Were Supposed to Waltz Together Under the Light of the Moonlight as Fate Foretold

Summary:  Being a toy, Jasper is aware that there are only so many things he can look forward to in life.  One of which is being adopted by a child.  But that was pretty much all he expected from his life.  That is, until a new set of toys come into the shop.  And suddenly, there is so much more to his life that he wants from it.  And so much more he wants to share with the doll behind the glass.

Word Count: 6082

There is a little toy shop just off the beaten path, where the busy city folk forget to glance down as they make their way to and fro from place to place.  Hidden away in an alley, tucked between the quiet coffee shop and secondhand bookstore that only a few know to take solace in, this little toy shop houses a few forgotten joys and wonders that the old, wrinkled man calmly cares for day in and day out.

And every night, when the old, wrinkled man leaves to go home, the toys come to life.

For in this tiny shop lies life beyond what the mind knows to be true.  

A little toy soldier, wooden and dusty, blinks before he looks around, making sure that the coast is clear before he stands up and stretches.  Life begins again, and he begins the same routine he’s followed since the day he received his name.  

But today is a little different, isn’t it?  He looks over to the display case across from his shelf, where new residents are hiding from the rest of the shop.

"Jasper!"  A soft plush of a cat calls to him from the ground, stretching her limbs like a real cat would and yawning as she does so.  "Have you heard?"

"Hey, Gwen."  The toy soldier smiles as he lowers his arms, the springs inside his wooden limbs squeaking slightly as he does so.  "I didn't need to hear, I'm high enough up here to see everything perfectly fine."

"Whatever.  Just hurry up and get down here."  She rolls her beady eyes as she sits up on the floor.  All around them, the toys begin their daily bouts of getting up and moving around.  Dolls and other stuffed animals gently lower themselves from their bins and greet friends from the other side of the store.  Plastic action figures begin tugging the pillow off the old man's chair behind the counter.  With it, they carefully place it under the shelves and call for their friends to jump off and onto the cushy surface.  Right on cue, the pillow is dragged over to the shelf housing Jasper and his companions, all of them leaping to the floor with practiced ease.  Gwen pads over to him as she lowers her head.  He laughs, gently petting her fluffy head with his formless hand.  She quickly lays down and lets him climb on, his hands and arms slipping safely under her ribbon collar.  "All tucked away?"

"As well as I can be."

"I'd say hang on but you don't have fingers."

"Haha."  Nonetheless, he smiles as she trots over to the glass display case behind the counter.  Already a group of toys have gathered on top of the counter as the biggest bear in the shop carefully lifts them up.  Gwen waits her turn as the bear hoists them up silently, nodding to them in greeting as the pair look towards the display case with the others.  

A new group of toys have made it into the toy store.  While this event itself isn't too uncommon, what catches everyone's attention is the fragility of these toys.  Hand-painted with decorative clothing and ball joints for easy moving and posing, the collection of precious porcelain dolls sit quietly in the display case.

Not moving.

The toys whisper among themselves as they watch with unease.

"Why aren't they moving?"  

"Do they not know?"

"How new are they?"

Jasper keeps silent, the light of the moon highlighting the porcelain dolls with a soft shine he's rarely seen in the shop.  There's two of them, sitting side by side against an ornate castle that looks too decorative to be played with.  Their clothing looks just as gorgeous - one has a long, beautiful gown of royal purple, with golden vine-like designs curling and climbing up to rest gently by her waist sewn in, and of course, a layer of lavender tulle that seems to be common for all princess dolls nowadays.  The princess is beautiful, Jasper won't deny that, with her curly hair falling in waves onto her bare shoulders, and her proud, golden eyes framed by her long lashes.  

As beautiful as she is, however, Jasper finds more of his attention taken by the prince standing next to her, wearing a navy tunic with similar golden embroidery, a cape to match, and a decorative sword hanging from the belt around his waist.  Red hair is styled proudly as it can't decide whether to clash or compliment the clothing the prince wears, and emerald eyes stare straight ahead, looking nearly gentle in nature.

And, like all good princes do, his arm is looped to let his princess hold onto him inside the case.

Beautiful.

Jasper continues to stare, head tilted to the side as he watches the two dolls remain lifeless.

"Do you think they need someone to tell them to wake up?"

"Probably.  Doesn't look like they'll do it themselves."

"Maybe it's the glass."  He slips his arms out and pats her head, pointing with his hand.  "Maybe they can't hear us, so they don't know there's life out here."

"Maybe."  She tilts her head slightly to get a glimpse of him.  "What are you planning?"

"You make it sound bad."  He grins and looks to Big Bear.  "Mind giving me a lift?"

"Jasper-"

"Relax!"  Big Bear gently picks him up while Gwen watches with an annoyed glare.  "I promise, it's nothing big.  Heya Big Bear, put me down in front of the case.  Right on the ledge there."  As the bear puts him down gently, Jasper looks over himself.  He's presentable, right?  It's not like his outfit can change much.  Everything is painted on with care, but he's sure there's bits of him chipping somewhere.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, he's pretty bottom-tier for toys when compared to the porcelain dolls inside the case.

It makes him hesitate, suddenly wondering if it's too late to back out.  He wanted to greet them, welcome them to the shop, but maybe he's not the greatest looking toy to welcome them.  Gwen could have worked much better - her dark brown fur is shiny and new, even though she's been here almost as long as him.  The dust just doesn't settle on her like it does on him and dang, actually, is he dusty too?

He looks back to the toys on the counter, and they all watch him curiously.  Will he do it?  Can he do it?  He looks back to the dolls encased in glass, and it's when he notices that, up close, the red-haired doll has the softest smile on his face.

And for a minute, he wonders how the doll will look when he smiles a real smile, a smile that isn't painted on and is the result of the sweetest laughter, the gentlest of spoken reminders.  Jasper thinks he'd like to see the prince smile at him with a soft smile that's caused because of him.

He lifts his wooden hand to the case and knocks on it.

At first, nothing happens.

So he knocks again.

...Nothing.

"Try knocking harder!"  A voice calls out behind him.  Murmurs from the rest of the toys agree.  So he does.

Still nothing.

Frowning, he lowers his hand and sighs.  Maybe the glass was just too-

Movement.  A blink.  

Jasper rubs his eyes.  No.  He didn't imagine that, did he?  He knocks again.

Golden eyes blink again.  Then green.  

And then the princess looks at him.

"They... they're awake."  He turns back to the toys behind him, waving excitedly.  "They're awake!"  The toys cheer as he turns back to the case and gestures for the dolls to come closer.  "It's okay!"

For a minute, neither of the dolls seem keen to move.  But the princess takes a careful step forward.  Swings her free arm.  Looks to her prince curiously before saying something Jasper can't hear.  Her prince looks more hesitant, but he too takes a step.  Then another.  Swings his own arm before releasing his princess to look at his hands.  He touches his face, before reaching up to gently cup his princess' face.  She grins and cups his in return, and though Jasper can't hear them, he swears that they must be laughing together.

He knocks on the glass again, drawing their attention.  The prince keeps his smile as he looks over to Jasper and he swears that there's something about the prince that takes his breath away.  As the prince approaches, Jasper notices that there's a little hop to his step.  Instead of dignified strides, the prince walks with a giddy little bounce so unlike the image he is supposed to present that it makes Jasper chuckle.  The princess takes her time in coming over, just as curious as the prince but more wary.  He waves to the both of them and smiles.

"Hello!"  The two dolls look to each other before turning back to Jasper with confused stares.  Frowning, he cups his hands around his mouth and yells.  "HELLO!"

The dolls on the other side say something, but he can't hear a word.

Oh no.

The glass is that thick?

"They can't hear me."  Jasper turns back to the toys on the counter.  "And I can't hear them!"

"Is there a way to get the case open?"  Gwen stands from where he left her and explores the counter with the other toys.  "Is it locked?"

Jasper looks around the front of the case and spies a silver keyhole near the top corner of it.  He runs to it, trying to raise himself up high enough to reach it, but it remains well out of his reach.  Frowning, he examines the bottom part of the case, trying to find where the case can be opened in hopes of wedging something between the spaces.  He runs around the front of it, unable to examine the sides or top part of the case.  The prince follows his movements, looking where he looks and turning back to talk to his princess every once in a while.

Jasper tries to wedge the edges of his hand into what looks like a possible opening and grunts.

Nothing.

"It's locked!"  He calls back to Gwen as she and the other toys mess with the cash register.  "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out how this thing works."  He hears her grumble before her paw slaps at the keys.  "Damn!"

"You think the key for it is in there?"

"Yeah, probably.  A few of the toys mentioned seeing a key in here once or twice before, so it might be for that case."  She looks back at him with a disgruntled look on her face.  "We're gonna mess with it for a while, but it might be a few days before we figure it out."

"You think anyone on the shelves saw how the old man used it?"

"We'll ask.  What are you gonna do?"

What is he going to do?

There's not much he can do from the outside of the case - all he knows is that it's locked, and there's nothing he can do to wedge it open.  But maybe...

"I'm gonna try and see if they can do anything from the inside!" 

"But how??  Didn't you say that they couldn't hear you??"

"I'm just..."  He looks back to the prince, who hasn't stopped following him the entire time.  Up close, he notices that the doll has little dots adorning his face.  Freckles, he realizes, as the doll tilts his head to the side and presses a delicate hand up to the case.  He watches as the doll pushes, frowns, and pushes again.  A panicked look crosses his features as he turns to his princess and calls to her.  From this close, Jasper can almost hear his voice, muffled and faint but still there.

He wishes he can hear the prince's voice in full clarity.

The princess comes over with a frown as she pushes at the glass.  When it doesn't budge, he can see the creases in her brow deepen.  She turns back to the prince and says something, which in turn makes the prince freak out.  As she holds her hands out to placate the panicking doll, Jasper looks over to where their castle stands and wonders what props and little toys could be hiding in there.  He taps on the glass to get their attention, and both dolls look over to him with varying levels of stress and anxiety.

He looks to the both of them and presses a hand up to the glass.

And he smiles.  Comforting, he hopes.  Gentle, he prays.  And hopeful.  Because with the reality of their situation settling into their minds, they need all of that and more.

"Don't worry," he says, mouthing the words carefully as he speaks, "we'll get you out."

////

Days in the store are slow, usually.  All of them sit still and watch as maybe a customer or two pop in, and if they're lucky, a few of them may even find new homes to go to, with children who are excited to play with them holding the lucky few close to their chest.  But the ones who remain now have a different goal in mind.

To free the two dolls trapped in the glass case.

A few dolls have placed themselves closer to the cash register, slowly edging themselves closer as the days go by to get a glimpse at how the old man operates it.  Gwen has been talking with the other stuffed animals, trying to see what they can do about the case from the outside without making it too obvious that something was off about the toys.

And Jasper?

He kneels by the case, working with Big Bear to try picking the lock.  One of the toys had said that they've seen on TV of humans using paperclips and the like to open locks, and while they didn't have any paperclips lying around, Jasper was willing to try using whatever was thin and small to wedge it into the keyhole.

"Annnnd..."  Big Bear holds him up silently, Jasper's arms working as he tries to hear a clicking sound from the lock.  Instead, he hears a snapping noise as the little plastic sword he was given breaks.  He sighs, pulling out the broken pieces and letting them drop to the floor.  "...nothing."

"Nothing?"  Another wooden soldier similar to him helps him out of Big Bear's paws and back onto the glass case ledge.  "Damn, I thought that would work."

"It was worth a shot.  I guess it really does have to be something metal?"

"Maybe."  The other soldier points him to the case.  "I'll keep looking around for other things to use.  Maybe the Barbie dolls have some things we can use.  The prince has been waiting for you, by the way."

"He has?"  Jasper perks up a bit, making his friend snicker at his eagerness.

"Yeah, keeps watching you trying to unlock their cage and making these scared gestures every time you looked like you were going to fall down.  Here he comes right now."

Right on cue, the prince comes to a halt by his side of the glass, hands pressed up against the glass as he looks over Jasper worriedly.  The blonde soldier salutes Jasper with a smirk before letting Big Bear carry him off to the floor.  

The prince knocks on the glass delicately, grabbing Jasper's attention.  Jasper smiles and presses his hand up on the glass in greeting.  The prince wastes no time in gesturing for Jasper to turn, making the brunette roll his eyes as he complies.  He turns on the spot slowly, showing to the prince that he is, once again, unharmed from his endeavor.  The prince's shoulders relax as he visibly lets out a sigh of relief, his smile more calm now that he's confirmed that Jasper was okay.

When there's nothing left for Jasper to do, he tends to find himself back in front of the prince.  Just like now, he sits down as the prince joins, happily watching as the ginger gestures wildly about something.  The prince is saying something, but his lips are moving too quickly for him to read his words, and despite not knowing what the hell he’s talking about, Jasper finds that he doesn't mind.  He's oddly satisfied with just watching how excited and happy the prince is, a warmth settling in his chest as he smiles and watches the prince no doubt recounting something he saw - the customers in the shop, a new thing he found in his castle maybe.  As if on cue, the prince pulls out a small flower from behind him.

It looks delicately made, a prop rather than a toy Jasper believes.  The prince gently clinks it to the glass, smiling sweetly as he looks to Jasper.  

Jasper places his hand over the spot of the flower, his own smile softening as he gazes into eyes greener than anything he's seen in the shop.  He wonders if there's green outside the shop that matches the shade the prince wears.

It must belong to something incredible, something as wonderful as the prince himself.  Jasper has always wanted to leave the shop, but he never really found a reason to leave himself when it was much easier to let a child pick him up and take him home.

There are wonders out in the outside world, he's sure of it.  Outside of this shop.

Outside of this case.

He wonders what the prince sounds like.  Gentle?  Strong?  A high voice?  Maybe a lower one?  What kind of laugh does he have?  

And how does his hand feel?  He's heard porcelain feels cold and hard, but when he looks at the prince and his soft features, he finds it hard to believe.

A knock on the glass brings his attention back to present.  And the other resident in the case looks to him with a smirk on her painted lips.  The prince greets her enthusiastically, and she softens her smirk into a smile, patting his hair carefully before gesturing for Jasper to follow her.  He follows after the princess, curious to see if she's found anything.  Instead, she just takes him to the corner of the case, pointing at the bottom corner with an eager grin.  He looks to her, a question in his eyes as he watches her kneel down and-

He yells as he presses himself up against the case, her fist colliding into the corner.  There's enough force to elicit a small crack in the corner, but as she pulls her hand back, he can see the hairline fractures that litter her hand.  The prince is losing his mind, taking her hand and turning it this way and that, frantic as he examines each crack carefully.  The princess shrugs off his concerns, shooing him away gently as she points to Jasper, and then to the damaged corner.

She wants him to... hit it?

Her smile widens as she takes her cracked fist and punches her own hand, and he swears he can hear the prince scream in fright.

He's not sure what she's planning, but if it'll keep her from punching at the glass like that...

Jasper lifts his own hand.  He can't ball it into a fist like the princess, but he sure as hell can jab as hard as he can.  With a quick thrust, he slams his hand into the corner.  Instead of creating more cracks, however, the corner bites into his hand and leaves a dent.  He pulls back, rubbing it with a hiss as he hears banging from the glass.  The prince looks downright horrified, and the princess herself looks guilty for even suggesting the idea.  But he's only made of wood, it's not like he'll shatter to pieces in an instant.  He waves his hands to show that he's fine, it's just a little dent, it's okay.  But the prince presses up against the glass and gestures desperately for Jasper to step as close as he can.  Knowing what he wants, he presses his damaged hand against the glass for the prince to see.  He turns it this way and that in accordance to the prince's gestures, and when the prince finally stills his hands, Jasper looks up to see that there's still worry and concern on his features.  Jasper taps at the glass lightly and smiles when the prince looks up at him.  With a little bonk, he presses his forehead against the glass.  An answering bonk from the other side is all Jasper needs to hear as he closes his eyes.

He's okay, it's alright.

He wants to comfort the prince with his words, but sometimes, all he can manage are these little actions.

Little movements that they've both used to replace those words that can't hear from one another.

And if Jasper were to press his hand up on the glass, he knows that the prince would do the same.

He's here for him.

And he won't be leaving any time soon.

\\\\

"So that lockpicking thing is a bust."  He sprawls out on Gwen's back, feeling as she moves across the store, looking around for other things they can use.  "But, the princess gave me a new idea."

"Did she now?"

"What if we just, broke the case open?"

"Then the old man would know something was up and freak out."  

"What about we break it a little.  Just a tiny bit."

"And that would help us... how?"

"Imagine this- thank you."  A toy dragon hands him a plastic shield.  He tosses it up and down, judging its weight and hoping for the best.  The dragon straightens up with a proud puff of her chest before ambling away.  "Anyway, so, if all the sound is trapped in that case with them, then if there's like, a little hole, wouldn't it technically be possible to talk with them better?"

"Just talk?"

"Yeah, Gwen!  It'd be easier to work with them, maybe see what they got in that castle of theirs and actually find out what's useful in getting them out."

"I guess so."  Gwen sticks her face into a toy house while Jasper waits.  "Hey is- oh there you are.  Did you find that-?  Oh thank you so much.  Yeah yeah, I promise to give you a ride tomorrow."  A static-like voice chirps happily inside the doll house as Gwen pulls back with a quarter in her mouth.  

"Nice!"

"Yeah well, one of us has to have a real plan."  Gwen tosses a smirk over her shoulder and clambers over to Big Bear, letting them pick her up onto the counter carefully.  "One of the toys thinks that if we push these buttons in the right order, it'll get the register to open up.  And in case it doesn't work, maybe money will do the trick."

"You've got a back-up plan for your real plan."

"Yeah, because my brain isn't just fluff, you block of wood."

"That's Over-Glorified Block of Wood to you."  Gwen merely snorts in response as he slides off of her.  

"Hey, hold on a sec."  Jasper comes up to her face with an idiom ringing in his head for his curiosity.  

"Got more than a quarter?"

"Yeah, actually."  She drops the coin and picks up a familiar car.  He drops the plastic shield and hugs the car to his chest.

"No way.  Where did you find this?"

"I didn't.  One of the other toys did."  She smirks as he rolls one of the wheels, testing it as it clicks back far enough to start speeding in the air.  "Didn't know what to do with it, so we kept it hidden behind the register."  Already, Jasper's mind is spinning up a new plan as he looks around the counter.

"Did they find tracks too or-?"

"I don't know if the old man has any laying around."

"We can improvise.  Those wooden train tracks- those gotta be around somewhere, right?"

"What are you planning now?"  Gwen slides the quarter to one of Legos hopping around the cash register.  "I don't think those ever got sold, but I haven't seen them in months."

"Maybe the Conductor knows.  He's hiding in one of the houses, isn't he?"  

"Probably.  Been moping since the old man took apart his whole setup.  But what are you planning?"

"Momentum."  He points to the ledge of the case to one of the shelves across the store.  Gwen looks between starting and ending points before looking down at Jasper's eager face.  And then bats his head.  "Hey!"

"You dumb block, it'll just fall apart in the middle!  What's going to keep the tracks up in the open air?!"

"Big Bear!"  The stuffed bear turns to them and Jasper quickly waves his hand at them.  "Nonono, don't worry, I don't need your help yet."

"Yet," she repeats dryly.  "What's Big Bear supposed to do?"

"Hold it up!"

"They can barely move from their spot - there's too much fluff, not enough stuffing to keep them upright for long!"

"But the other teddy bears manage to move just fine."

"That's because they're a normal size.  Big Bear is ginormous compared to everyone else, stuffed bears aside!"  She shakes her head with a frown.  "I don't think they'd be able to keep themselves standing, nevertheless the damn tracks."

"Aha, but what if..."  Jasper gestures to the chair behind the counter.  "...Chair?"

"...Will it be enough?"

"Now you're just being a sourpuss."  He ignores her hiss and gestures for Big Bear to come pick him up.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find the Conductor and hopefully get this show on the road!"

It's easy for Jasper to put his plan into action.  Ever since the dolls came to life and were stuck behind that glass case, every toy found it in them to try and do their best in getting them out.  Devising plans, working together, finding bits of forgotten and dropped items hiding under shelves for only the toys to find - each and every one of them was going to do anything it took to get those dolls out, even if it was only for the night.

So with the gray-haired Conductor leading the way, he was able to grab the old, dusty tracks and carefully start connecting the straight pieces together.  With the help of his fellow toy soldiers, they manage to shove and push the chair right in the middle of the small store.  Other toys pitch in, helping them nudge the chair in the right spot while a handful of the stuffed animals carefully guide Big Bear to their spot on the chair, plopping them upright and still.  Toys clamber about the store noisily as Big Bear holds up the unconnected middle part, a group on the counter carefully steadying the last section onto the ledge of the case, and Jasper's group carefully situated on the closest shelf to the counter and steadying the first section to match up with Big Bear's section.

Little toys clamber all over Big Bear as they climb up to the sections and carefully make sure that everything is connected and secure, before giving the thumbs up to Jasper.  Together, he and the rest of the soldiers pull back on the car as far as it can go.  He looks down towards the case and sees the prince pressed up against the glass, watching it all unfold as the register group continue on their problem solving venture.

Jasper knows this little plan of his won't free them.  He knows for a fact that Gwen's idea is the better of the two by a longshot.

But.

As he releases the car with his friends and watches it race down the wooden slope, he hopes at least.

At least the prince's voice can be freed.

And he can finally ask him what his name is.

A resounding crack greets everyone's ears as they all hold their breath.  Big Bear is the first to react, dropping their section of the bridge and having the stuffed animals guide them back to their place by the counter.  Jasper reacts next, ignoring the clatter of wood as he drops onto the cushion on the floor and races over to Big Bear.  Without him needing to say anything, the bear picks him up and gently places him on the ledge.  Jasper runs to where the car remains still by the case and holds his breath as he kneels down to assess the damage.  The princess is already there, looking excited as Jasper pulls the car away from the case.  It's... not quite shattered, but there are definitely cracks spidering out from the impact.  Jasper is ready to feel put out, because all that scheming certainly feels like a waste of optimism when he hears a knock grab his attention.  His eyes meet with a pair of golden ones as she balls her hands up and punches into the air.

She wants him to punch the glass again?  

Well, it might be weaker than before.  

He winds up his arm and jabs at the glass with all his might.  His wooden hand makes a soft "tink", but it ultimately does not go through.  He pulls his hand back, the springs in his wrist feeling a bit bent out of shape, similarly to his mood as the case refuses to give.  The princess frowns for a moment, before brightening and sitting down in front of Jasper.  He watches as she kicks out her leg, the bottoms of her shoe meeting the glass daintily with a tap.  At first, Jasper is prepared to shake his head, thinking that the results will just be the same.

But then he realizes that his foot is more solid.  More built than his feeble, pointed hand.  He can put more force into his kick.  He can rely on more than just the swing of his light arms to make a sad excuse for a punch.

He positions himself right by the crack, leaning back on his arms as he sucks in a deep breath and-

SMASH.

For a brief, wonderful moment, he feels time stop as he watches his foot break through the glass.  Cracks grow from the small break he makes, but he hardly finds them worth any worry as he pulls his leg back and immediately starts to clean the area of glass.  Cheers erupt from behind him as he shoves the glass down to the floor.

Finally.

Finally!

He's getting somewhere!

"David!  David, come over here!"  A voice he's never heard before calls out from inside the case, and he can hear her, a voice that's rich and deep with a slight thrum to it, nothing like he'd imagine her sounding, but her voice sounds right, feels right, it just matches her unwavering determination, the strength that she holds, which means, which means-

"Bonnie, he!  He did it!"

Jasper turns towards that little hole, that little hole that he made that gives him a glimpse into their little world, let's him hear them for the first time, hear him for the first time, and he's-

He sounds so wonderful.

Sweet, melodic, like he could burst into song at any moment, a bit higher than he'd imagine, but not so much that Jasper would miss how full of life and energy his voice holds.  The prince sounds a bit more nervous than he imagined, but that's normal, right?  Because, because Jasper is a little nervous too.  No more silence.

Just.

Being able to listen to him.  To each other.

Green eyes meet his blues, and he wonders, not for the first time, if his eyes were always meant to be painted such a vibrant green.  

"...Hey."

"Hi."

The prince smiles as he kneels in front of the hole, his voice finally, finally, carrying through, loud and clear, no longer muffled, no longer inaudible, but here, here for Jasper to listen to, he wants to listen to his voice forever if he could-

"I'm... My name is Prince David."

"You can call me Jasper."

Carefully, the prince- no, David, reaches through the hole, his porcelain hand real and beautiful and dainty and open for Jasper to take.  Jasper's own hand is nothing but a small, ovular block, nothing detailed like David's, nothing as carefully made and constructed like David's, but as he reaches forward hesitantly, he feels David grab his wooden hand like it's the most fragile material he's ever handled.  Small fingers trace the little dents and scratches that mar the surface of his hand, and he's handled so gently, so carefully that Jasper forgets that David is the more fragile of the pair.

"Jasper."  David breathes his name out like a precious treasure, and Jasper's breath gets caught in his throat.  "That's such a pretty name."

"Thanks, I... um, I chose it."  Green eyes stare at him curiously, and he thinks of that idiom that Gwen loathes for him to repeat out loud.

"Really?  You were made without a name?"

"Well... my entire group was made in bulk.  I mean, some of us were colored differently sure, but none of us had names.  And... we decided when we woke up that we should have names to make us feel more... individual.  And so it'd be easier to refer to each other without getting confused."

"How'd you come up with it?"

"...A little boy."  He remembers a small child from ages ago - dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, excitable, eager, curious of the world and all of its residents - picking him up with a grin, turning him this way and that as he debated with his mother on whether or not he could get another toy.  His mother put Jasper back on the shelf, but the little boy continued to stare with a promise in his eyes to one day take him home.

It’s been so long since he’s seen that little boy.  He can’t help but wonder how his namesake is doing, and if he ever remembered Jasper sitting here in the toy shop.

"A little boy had that name.  And I liked it.  So I named myself after him."

"Ohh."  David hums as he squeezes Jasper's hand.  "If he's your namesake, then I bet he was a good kid."

"I bet."  Jasper holds David's hand between his own, careful not to press too hard less he cracks something.  "I like your name too.  It's nice."

"I mean, it's not as special as yours.  I was made with mine.  Just like Bonnie."  He turns to wave at the princess behind him, the woman looking smug and proud as she waves back only to walk away.  

"I think it's special regardless."  Jasper brings David's hand up to his lips, breathing lightly on it as he looks into his eyes.  "It means your creator put thought into you.  You have a whole story to you, I bet."

"Maybe."  David laughs, a slight blush dusting his cheeks as Jasper sighs at the sight.  "But if you think that's all it takes to make it special then... then I'll take your word for it."

"Believe it," Jasper says with a wink, making David laugh again.  He's about to say something else when Gwen yowls a warning.

"The sun is rising!  Everyone, back to your shelves!"  

Jasper drops the hand he was about to kiss quickly, looking over to Big Bear as they begin lowering the other toys first.

"...I should get going."

"Oh, right."  David looks as downtrodden as Jasper feels, but he places his hand over the glass, right where he imagines he could cup David's cheek to comfort him.  At least now, he can say words of comfort, even if he can't fully touch him just yet.

"Hey."  He smiles, bright and full of hope for the days to come.  "I'll talk to you again later, okay?"

"...Okay."  David places his hand against the glass, smiling with Jasper as neither of them pull away.  "I can't wait to talk to you again."

“Same.”  Jasper presses his forehead up against the glass and closes his eyes.  He doesn’t need to open them to know that David follows in suit.

Because there are just some things that words can’t replace.  Small gestures.  Small movements that words just can’t encapsulate well enough.

And sure, maybe there’s a glass wall between them now.

But soon.

Soon.

He’ll find a way to free them both for good.

[capricornus-rex]

Playing Pretend (4)

Requested by: @calkesttiss​ | Prompt:

Hi! I just watched isi & ossi (rich girl and poor boxer boy AH) on netflix and now i cant stop thinking about cal and fake dating. Do with that what you will 😂

Cal Kestis x Reader

1 | 2 | 3 | Next: Part 5 | Masterlist

4 of ?

Cal found a way down the building and walked his way back to the Mobara Palace, one of the few cantinas in the Capital that have docking bays. The Mobara Palace was one of the biggest in the city too; occupying a whole block to cover the bar itself as well as the elaborate network of paths that connect the bays to one another, with the cantina at the starting point of it all.

The Mantis’s entrance ramp hissed and lowered, opening the door before him. An aromatic waft was the first to welcome him upon his entry.

“Looks like Greez is cooking something good,” he comments to BD-1.

As he entered the ship, Greez’s dual pairs of arms were all over the pantry and yet each arm was carefully distributed to a certain task in cooking.

“Smells good, Greez!” Cal beamed.

“Oh good, you’re just in time for dinner—with all that wandering around you’re doing, you’re probably hungry,”

He joined the others at the table as soon as Greez lifted the pot from the stove and served everyone their own plates. The meal was solemn and yet there was a warm aura emanating around them. Cal decided to up the mood by striking a conversation.

“How long do you guys still think we’re gonna stay here until this blows over?”

A silence at the dinner table. Cere’s eyes shifted, she searched Greez’s face and studied his reaction toward Cal’s question. There was only one possible and realistic answer, but the boy doesn’t seem to concur with it.

“Cal,” she clears her throat. “You do understand why…”

Before she could even reiterate her question, Cal already knew this mere dinner table conversation was going to be another lecture.

“I know. We’re hiding from the loan shark that Greez borrowed the money from to get this ship,”

It was an embarrassing truth, but a truth nonetheless. Greez felt like the situation required him to say a piece.

“Look, kid, we can scrape by with what we have. I mean, I still got coin on me—but not that enough to cover the loan plus with its interest!”

“Odd jobs, honest jobs, aren’t gonna cut it in a short time, Greez. At least you would know that, of all people,” Cal argued.

Cal had been wandering around the city looking for a quick way to earn some coin in the quickest way possible. The downtown and underground areas of the planet had some questionable methods of earning money—but they were easy money. Although Cal had grown up with street smarts, part of that knowledge is when and where a solution is either a real solution or another problem later on.

“You know the Sabacc, don’t ya?” Greez whispered with the left corner of his mouth directed to Cal.

“Greez, we are not going with gambling!” Cere sternly exclaimed. The impact of her fork dropping against the plate was just as scary as a fist landing on the table like a gavel.

There was another silence amongst them again. Cere continued on with her own piece.

“We cannot endanger anyone in our crew with something that won’t be worth our while. I don’t mind pretending to be some stranger in a different name just so we can have someplace to stay safe together. But I will not allow anybody in this ship to get into something that would jeopardize themselves or the crew altogether, understand?”

Cere’s outburst hardened the silence. Everybody understands that she hasn’t outgrown her military discipline from her days of participating in the Clone Wars—and she’s utilizing them in predicaments such as these amongst the Mantis crew members.

These episodes of hers were occasional, therefore it made her unpredictable, intimidating, but somehow her aggressive delivery doesn’t outweigh her rationale or true motive. Everybody—Cal, Greez, Merrin, and ultimately BD-1—knew that she means well and that she always will.

Cere processed what just had happened with her. She attempted to recompose herself in the midst of the awkwardness. She cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s fine, Cere,” Greez consoles.

The dinner proceeds. Cal wondered if the girl he met yesterday and bumped into just now would be a better subject to talk about.

“I met someone last night. Bumped into her again,”

All heads turn to Cal.

“She frequents a pub not too far from here. I always see her near or inside that place. Maybe if I bump into her again, I’ll ask her where I can find a place to get some cash—and a clean one at that,”

“Are you sure she is to be trusted?” Cere maintained her stern tone even after recomposing herself.

Cal was so sure of his judgment about you. He recalled the moments where you two were together. He felt your kindness and compassion—he knew of your good intentions, you meant no harm—but he also sensed some sort of sadness in you.

“You probably have heard of Senator Bail Organa?” Cere takes the conversation reins.

Cal shrugs, “Yeah sure, I know him. I saw him sometimes in the Senate Building in Coruscant.”

“Well, he knows of our presence here—don’t worry, he doesn’t know about the loan shark at our tail—and he’s invited us to a social function,”

“Social function?” Cal raised his eyebrow at Cere’s unusual choice of word.

“Apparently, this party was being held by a colleague of his. Perhaps they needed to fill the guestlist,”

“Proxies,”

“Exactly.”

“How bad can a few no-show guests be? It’s not like it’s gonna dent their bank account when the catering bill comes!” Greez dryly joked and it was the received likewise.

In light of this new announcement, Cal began to wonder how long does he have to stay in the party before he could sneak back out in the streets and find the unusual girl who had to drag him up a rooftop from the Tipsy Taun-Taun just to ask for some self-defense moves.

The following days passed until the day of the banquet has come. That morning, your mother personally made sure that you don’t sleep in and get yourself ready as quickly as possible. She also announced that the stylists are coming in half an hour.

“Mom, I’m perfectly capable of doing my own makeup!” You detest despite still being groggy from being woken up without your consent.

You force yourself out of bed so that you could take a shower. Unfortunately, you didn’t have the luxury of staying too long in the bath—however, you sorely wished you did. You slid deeper into the cold, ivory and gold-trimmed bathtub until only your eyes are on the surface.

A pounding on the door disturbed your watery peace.

“[y/n], hurry up!” your mother growled from the other side.

“Almost done!” you cried back.

You were actually done minutes ago, you only chose to soak yourself for a bit longer with the wishful thinking that they’ll never realize that you’ve locked yourself in your own bathroom. You’d love that though.

“No one could ever go wrong with black,” you muttered as you pulled out an off-shouldered black cocktail dress with stars and planets embroidered with golden thread.

You made quick work of yourself. You did your hair and makeup: applying minimal makeup as possible, you wore your hair down and clipped a silver headband on both ends with four tiers of golden cords hanging over on top of the other. Staring back at yourself in the mirror, a brush in your hand slides down to the length of your hair; with every stroke, you ponder if all this your parents are doing is ever worth it either for themselves or for the family.

You sigh for an answer, or lack thereof. Afterwards, you donned the dress and the shoes—both pieces were in black. The finishing touch—a personal one at that—was a pair of leather fingerless gloves.

“Here goes nothing,” a mantra you tell yourself before exiting your room in attendance to any social gathering you were obliged to attend.

The party started without you. No surprise in that, you thought. Nevertheless, you made your way to ballroom where the chatter of the guests became more and more audible yet incoherent as their voices meddled.

Immediately, you searched for Tazha in the room. She wasn’t easy to miss. Her glittering dress outshines everyone else’s, literally making her a beacon for you to easily see her. You walk up to her.

“Oh you look great!” she compliments.

“Thanks, you too,”

Suddenly, one of the Ithrel sons, Logan who was the third son and was the same age as you, appears ot be walking toward you with what you thought is the stupidest grin you’ve ever seen on a face. He comes in strong by grabbing you by the waist, reel you in for a kiss except you successfully dodged it with your gloved hand.

“Logan? What the hell are you doing?!”

“Well, your mom paid me to flirt with you until you end up falling in love with me, I’ll have a chance in the Junior Legislator’s Program! Plus, we get to support your family until your dad becomes Senator or whatever, I mean, we don’t have a choice on that, we just gotta roll with it,” he beamed with an imbecile’s optimism. “Big bonus if we ever get married though. I mean, she wanted that to happen. So, marry me?”

“Hold up. She did what now?”

Logan repeated your own mother’s plan, he reiterated that this part wasn’t even in the original agreement. Your mother had to negotiate her way through the Ithrels in promising a much stronger bond of support to your family—therefore, you became a sacrificial lamb.

You and Tazha exchanged glances. Both of you communicated clearly through the furrows of your brows and the hard rolling of your eyes. A gradual burst of rage was flowing in your bloodstreams.

“Oh my God, this is just sad and pathetic of you, Logan,” Tazha condescendingly comments.

“I’m gonna give her a piece of my mind tonight,” you growled, your knuckles were white from gripping the bannister too hard.

You searched for your mother in the ballroom. When you spotted her and your father speaking with some guests, you marched through the sea of people until you reached her.

“Mother, may I speak with you?”

Yasina excused herself from her guest and she was in for a surprise with what is about to go down.

“You paid one of the Ithrel sons to date me?! Because you thought that would strengthen your connection with them just so Dad can secure his win in the election? You did this without me knowing? Whatever the hell happened to consent, Mom!?”

“[y/n] Elvas Torvel, I do not allow you to speak to me with a tone like that in an important event like this!” Yasina hissed, struggling to maintain her composure—both mentally and physically—after just being bombarded with questions by her daughter.

“Did you even ever stop to think how I’d feel if you paired me with a complete imbecile?!”

“[y/n], honey, please listen,” your father intervenes but the argument was heating up between you and your mother.

“The Ithrels are a good family. They uphold a clear reputation. We Torvels and Ithrels would be a great collaborative enterprise,”

“You don’t see the problem here, Mom? I don’t want to get married!”

Yasina was silent. Her face was completely aghast: her eyes wide open, her lip was trembling as if wanting to say something but couldn’t because of so much nerves thrashing underneath her skin.

“You will not ruin this event for your own selfish, adolescent needs, young lady. We are not finished with this discussion.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on ending it soon.”

You walked out from your parents. Turning your back on them to wipe away the tears that was welling up in your eyes.

[albapuella]

Urges

AO3

Fandom: Homestuck Summary:  When Dave finally gives into his urges, what will Karkat do?

Tags: Meteorstuck, Retcon Timeline, davekat, pov switches galore, present tense CW:  CW: hand holding, hugging, nose kisses Author’s Note:  This is a fic that I wrote in about two hours for the davekat thirst federation server after they were all being Caliborn thirsty on the main. Please note the content tags--if you're up (heh) for all this spiciness, read on. I thought result was worth sharing with the masses. Enjoy!

Dave is walking beside Karkat, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Karkat's dangling hand, the lax fingers calling out to be--

No. No, he couldn't. He shouldn’t. And yet... He tilts his head ever so slightly to see Karkat's hand better. The curve of the fingers. The tips of his yellowed claws. The thick, meaty curve of his gray palm. What would it feel like to--

Dave feels his face go hot.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"

"oh yea of course dude but youre still wrong about dane cook"

Karkat rolls his eyes but accepts the answer before launching into another diatribe Dave can't be bothered to listen to when Karkat's hand is dangling so invitingly by his side.

He can't. He shouldn't.

Before he can stop himself, he reaches out for Karkat's hand, the warmth of it beneath his fingers even more wonderful than he'd thought it be. His fingers wrap around Karkat's stiff startled ones; their palms meet.

---

Karkat is walking beside Dave, going into detail about the superiority of the comic stylings of Dane Cook, when he feels another hand grabbing his own. It's so sudden, he hardly knows how to react even as he feels fingers intertwining with his own.

He stops walking. His throat is dry and he swallows hard before turning his head. There's only one person who can be holding his hand, but it's impossible. Dave's not interested in him. Not like *that*.

But he turns and looks. Pale fingers interlaced with his own gray, leading up to an arm clad in red God Tier pajamas. A shoulder connected to a neck. A neck to a face.

At least Dave has the decency to be blushing, too. He doesn't have the decency to actually look in Karkat's direction. Instead, he squeezes Karkat's hand.

"DAVE?"

Dave is silent. Then he turns his head, the smallest hint of a smile curving his thin lips. "sup"

---

Karkat says his name, and it's not a rejection. It's not a rejection, but it's a question. Karkat's face is flushed but confused. He isn't trying to pull his hand free, but he isn't returning the gesture.

Dave is worried now, worried he's pushed too far too quickly. He has to do something. He smiles, trying to ignore the nervous flutters in his chest. "sup"

Karkat scowls. "WHY-WHY ARE YOU HOLDING MY HAND, DIPSHIT?" The stutter tells Dave he's as affected as Dave is, and despite the harshness of the words, he still allows his hand to remain in Dave's grasp.

Dave feels a swell of hope. "it was asking to be held dude i dont make the rules" He shouldn't. He's done too much already. But Karkat's so close now, his yellow and gray eyes wide. Dave can see himself reflected in his dark pupils.

Feeling reckless, Dave uses his free hand to lift up his glasses so he can see Karkat in full light. His eyes are even more beautiful without the dingy, gray haze.

---

Dave pushes his stupid douche shades up, leaving them up in his blonde hair. Karkat isn't certain what is more incredible: that Dave is still still holding his hand or that Dave has willingly, of his own accord, allowed Karkat to see his eyes.

Karkat has seen them before, of course. He's caught glimpses of them from the corner of Dave's shades. Seen flashes of them when they've been knocked askew. But he's never been given the opportunity to really look at them. Certainly, Dave's never let him look.

He's so lost in the moment, he's speaking before he can censor himself. "THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL."

Dave ducks his head, his flush traveling down his neck. He holds Karkat's hand a little tighter. "thank you" he says in an awkward way that tells Karkat Dave doesn't get many compliments. "im gonna get crazy here so hear me out" He takes a deep breath. "can i... can i--" He's turned his body to face Karkat's head on. "i wanna hug you can that happen"

For once in his life, Karkat takes initiative. Before Dave is even quite done speaking, he's closed the space between them, wrapping his free arm around Dave's middle.

Dave makes a startled sound but recovers quickly, and almost too quickly, Dave's arm is wrapped around Karkat's middle, too. Their entwined hands loosen and separate, allowing those arms to join the hug as well.

Karkat smells soap and a hint of sweat. And it's warm, so warm. The only hugs Karkat had ever had, had ever endured, had been cold. He'd never hugged Aradia, but he knows that even her embrace would have been cool. But Dave is warm.

He sighs against the other boy's shoulder, relaxing further into Dave's arms. He feels breath on his cheek; it smells like coffee.

This can't last forever, Karkat knows this. He knows that this experiment of Dave's will end, but he can enjoy it while it lasts.

---

For what feels like the longest time, Dave can only marvel at the fact that Karkat is in his arms. The troll boy is hugging him, pressing against him, as relaxed as Dave has ever seen him be. Dave feels a rush of pride that Karkat trusts him enough for this. He feels a rush of shame that he waited so long to ask for this.

He tightens his hold on Karkat as though that will keep this moment from ending.

His face is close, so close to Karkat's.

Dave has never been good at knowing when to quit. He's never known when to be satisfied. He brings his face that much closer to Karkat's, brings his nose closer to the gray nose.

They touch. Dave moves his head and gently rubs his nose against Karkat's.

---

Karkat doesn't react at first. He's mostly confused about what the fuck Dave is up to. As far as he can tell, Dave is rubbing his nose with his own nose. It's not unpleasant, just unfamiliar. It feels... it feels intimate.

He closes his eyes, wishing Dave would stop, wishing that he wouldn't. What is Dave getting out of this? Is Karkat just convenient or--

There is no or. Dave wanted to do this with someone, and Karkat is someone. That's it. He ducks his head away from Dave's, burying it into his shoulder.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS WITH ME?"

Dave stills. Then he says, "i want to man thought i was making that pretty obvious" He chuckles, his chin pressing into Karkat's own shoulder. "karkat youre pretty baller you know"

He'd never thought Dave would be so good at acting.

---

Dave isn't expecting it when Karkat pushes away from him with a rough shove. "karkat--?"

Karkat's mouth is twisted into a vicious snarl even as his eyes fill with ruddy tears. "FUCK YOU, DAVE." He wipes the tears away with trembling fists. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO USE ME, AT LEAST DO ME THE FUCKING COURTESY OF NOT LYING TO MY FACE ABOUT IT."

"what" Dave is utterly lost.

"DON'T 'what' ME, ASSHOLE." He crosses his arms, the anger on his face crumbling into a hurt that stabs Dave in the gut. "I ONLY HAVE A PASSING UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT 'BALLER' MEANS, BUT I KNOW YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN ME. SO, DO ME A FAVOR, AND STOP PRETENDING YOU ARE."

Dave has spent enough time with Karkat to tell when he's about to bolt, and Dave can't let him go until he clears this up. He grabs Karkat's hand again. "dude karkat listen to me im not lying" To his relief, Karkat doesn't pull his hand away. To his worry, Karkat folds in on himself, his head bowing and his shoulders slumping.

"I'M PAN ADDLED ENOUGH TO LET YOU TAKE WHAT YOU WANT," Karkat says, sounding defeated. "JUST DON'T PRETEND YOU ACTUALLY LIKE ME. I DON'T THINK IT'S TOO MUCH TO ASK."

---

Karkat can't look at Dave now, too embarrassed, too desperate. He should have just kept his mouth shut for once. Should have just enjoyed what little scraps Dave was willing to throw him. Dave is still holding his hand.

"i want you to listen to me" Dave is saying, his voice soft. His other hand strokes the top of Karkat's knuckles as he speaks. "im not using you thats hella gross and id be all kinds of insulted that youd think that but i dont want to make this about me when its about you" Karkat hears him take a deep breath. "im gonna lay it on the line ok i like like you a lot."

"YOU LIKE LIKE ME?" Karkat hates himself for the hope in his voice. He's not entirely certain what "like like"ing means, but he's gathered it's more than being hate-friends. Yes, he and Dave have been getting along better, but he knows Dave only tolerates him because they're both lonely. That's all.

"yea like we're peak middle school up in here passing notes to each other," Dave is clearly gearing up for a ramble, and Karkat smiles despite himself, "do you like me or like like me but weve got to keep it on the downlow so the teacher doesnt notice and find our note because our reps will never survive if she reads it to the class and she will because thats how teachers roll"

"I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THE CLUSTERFUCK YOU HUMANS CALL AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM," Karkat says and, for a moment, it's like nothing's changed. Then reality falls in again. "YOU MEAN THAT?" He is such an idiot. Such a fucking idiot.

---

The way Karkat asks Dave if he means what he says is almost enough to break him. If he weren't such a stone cold bad-ass, he's certain he'd be bawling now, too. Even so, he wishes he could put his shades back down without Karkat thinking he's hiding his eyes so he can lie better.

"yea dog i mean it i dont lie about important shit."

Karkat has always been an open book, emotions-wise. It'd probably be more helpful if Dave were better at emotions himself, but he can see that Karkat wants to believe him. It's something. "we dont gotta do anything different if you dont want im chill just hanging with you," he says, hoping against hope it doesn't come to that: he wants to hug Karkat again, and he hopes the troll boy will let him. "but i want to... i want to hug you because youre you youre like special ok"

A disbelieving huff. "YOU THINK I'M SPECIAL."

Dave nods. "karkat vantas is totally one of a kind" Well, that just isn't true, is it? "i mean there are a fuck ton of you out there in the dream bubbles but i meant more like metaphorically in that this version of you is the you im interested in hugging and stuff"

---

Karkat almost can't believe how charmed he is by this idiot. Almost. Maybe Dave is lying, but maybe Karkat isn't being fair. The more he thinks about it, the more he thinks maybe that's true. Considering what he was accusing Dave of wanting to do, he's fairly floored that the human boy still wants anything to do with him.

He looks down at his hand still held between both of Dave's. Then he looks up at Dave's face, at his still uncovered eyes, and makes a decision. "OKAY."

Dave blinks. "ok" The corner of his mouth quirks upwards. "ok"

Karkat rolls his eyes. "YES, THAT'S WHAT I SAID. I'M GLAD THAT YOUR AURAL CLOTS ARE STILL FULLY FUNCTIONAL."

"you have got the weirdest names for things you know that just say ears its so much shorter"

Before he can come up with a suitably scathing remark, he's being hugged again.

Oh.

He sighs and returns the hug. He could get used to this. He thinks he already is.

FIN

End Note:  Sorry. I could not add in the kissing--it was just too lewd.

[welllpthisishappening]

First-Line Center, Part Two

She hadn’t read the invitation.

It hadn’t changed in years, after all - a set of rules and expectations for a New Year’s party that they were all going to break anyway because the most traditional thing about this team was flouting tradition. So, Emma had mostly ignored it. Until. A shout and Killian refusing to wear a tie and something crashing in her kitchen, one kid worried about another and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something.

There was a joke about fresh ice to be made, she was sure.

—–

Word Count: 4.1 K Rating: F for festive family feelz AN: There are a lot of people in this story. Like. So many people. Matt Jones thinks his parents are the best, you heard it here first. And this also marks the end of Going Top Shelf on Ao3. There are still far too many one shots I haven’t posted and I don’t know that I’ll ever give up on this ‘verse or this family that is genuinely my most favorite thing to write. I will probably post the rest at some point. Thank you, as always, for letting me shove this family at you, internet. It’s the best. 

|| Also on Ao3 if that’s how you roll ||

—–

The loft, for the most part, hadn’t changed much in the last thirty or so years. Emma wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing – there were still crystal glasses and a wait staff with impeccably creased pants and the outfits, across the board, were as absurd and over the top as they normally were. 

It wasn’t much different. 

Except there were more people. There were kids and grandkids and significant others, a low hum of talking and laughing and every single one of them breaking that rule about not discussing hockey. Emma glanced around, trying to find the two other kids that she hadn’t seen yet, but that was a fool’s errand because she heard the footsteps before she heard the shout and the slightly strangled dad seemed to echo around the room as soon as Peggy skidded against Killian’s side. 

“Hey,” she breathed, eyes bright and just a little out of breath and Emma absolutely, positively did not want to consider why that was. She was starting to make several sweeping assumptions. Killian pressed a kiss to the top of her hair, eyes flashing towards Emma. “You guys doing that mind melding thing?” “That what thing, exactly?” Emma asked, and Peggy made a face, twisting so the beads on her dress didn’t dig into Killian’s side. 

“The mind melding thing. Toph said you were doing it before.” “When did you see your brother? And where’s your other one?” “Probably teaching Noah how to score fifty goals a season.” “You think Matt's going to score fifty goals this season?” Killian cut in, interest and something that felt like pride almost too obvious. Emma bit her lip so she didn’t look like a complete idiot when she smiled. 

She wasn’t sure that worked either. 

She was really starting to believe her suspicions were right. 

“Please,” Peggy huffed. “He’s on some other level right now. He’s being an idiot and,” she paused, using Killian’s shoulder as leverage and Emma followed her gaze across the loft. “Look.” 

Emma’s breath caught. 

Loudly. 

Matt and Roland were crouched in the corner of the room, a tiny stick clutched in Noah’s hands and a makeshift goal that may have been Henry’s phone and Leo’s keys, both of them mumbling instructions under their breath while Elsa and Mary Margaret recorded the whole goddamn thing. 

“Oh,” Emma breathed, a rush of memories and feelings she wasn’t entirely expecting. 

“The more things change, huh?” Killian muttered. It took some finangling to get a step closer to her, having to shift Peggy slightly and drawing a not-so-quiet grumble out of her. “What do you know, little love?” “Nothing!” “I genuinely do not know who is worse at lying you or your brother.” “Which one?” “Take your pick at this point,” Emma laughed. “How long have they been over there? And seriously what do you know, babe?” “Like, at least twenty minutes. MD got here before I did though, which was super weird to begin with, but who knows? Maybe Claire’s a good influence.” “You didn’t answer that last part.” “I genuinely have no idea. Honestly. I’ve barely talked to MD. He’s been busy being cute and breaking all of Aunt Gina’s rules, but again, it’s super cute and Aunt Gina doesn’t care at all.” “Where is Gina?” Killian asked, glancing around like she was going to appear out of nowhere and chastise all of them for daring to question any of her actions. 

Peggy opened her mouth to answer, but there were more footsteps and more hands clapping on shoulders and really none of them had evolved as people at all in the last thirty years. Will grinned when Killian groaned, slinging an arm around Peggy’s shoulders to rest his chin on the top of her hair. 

He wasn’t wearing tails – although the pattern on his jacket probably would have done damage to Emma’s eyes if she stared at it for too long. There were far too many colors. And his tie clip appeared to be masquerading as a small disco ball. 

“You better hope Gina doesn’t find you, Cap,” Will said. “How is it that you get away with no tie every year?”

“I guess that means Gina likes me more than you. Did you bring something to drink? Can I get something to drink?” “Cap did you not bring anything to drink again?” Robin called from the other side of the room, moving towards them with a waiter half a step behind. Killian rolled his eyes. 

“You getting that guy to follow you around?” “You want to drink or you want to make fun?”

“I think that’s suggesting we can’t do both perfectly well,” Emma said, leaning around Killian to grab two glasses. And if nothing really ever changed at that party or in that loft, then she was exceptionally glad that the quality of the champagne fell underneath that umbrella. “You yell at Liam about being the better grandfather yet?” Robin didn’t quite flush, but he definitely pressed his lips together and Will’s laugh echoed in the minimal about of space around them. It only served to push his chin further into Peggy’s hair.

“I am not a kid, Uncle Will,” she grumbled, doing her best to pull away from him and it absolutely did not work. It never really did. “You don’t get to do that anymore.” Will hummed. And didn’t move his arm. “Yeah, yeah, where’s the boyfriend?” “Talking to Henry.” “Your dad challenge him to a shootout yet? Dr. J’s way too busy doing whatever he’s doing and Chris got roped into meeting Leo’s—what’s her name?” “Oh my God.”

“Not an answer.” “And we just got here, Scarlet,” Killian said, but the distinct lack of contradiction appeared with neon lights and sound effects. “So, you know...we haven’t had time. You talk to Matt?” Will tilted his head, brows pulled low because it was, admittedly, kind of a weird question and they hadn’t even taken their jackets off yet. “Should I have?” “Nah.” “Wow, no wonder Pegs sucks so much at lying, she definitely got that from you and Em.” “Ok, that is not a compliment at all,” Emma sighed, another round of footsteps and Phillip’s tie was metallic. Ruby weaved her way through the crowd, a bright red jacket covered in sparkles and maybe they should have made another rule about how both she and Scarlet made the whole thing incredibly weird and far too competitive every year. 

“Emma’s the worst liar in the world,” Ruby announced, tugging the half-finished champagne out of Emma’s hand and ignoring her cries of protest completely. “C’mon, gimme this. My jacket keeps scratching my skin.” “And whose fault is that?” Will asked archly. He waved his hand towards a different waiter, flashing a smile when Ruby did her best to hip check him into the nearest wall. “Nuh uh, not going to work Lucas. My balance is unparalleled.” “Modest too,” Phillip added. “I have a question.” “It makes me nervous that you felt you had to announce it,” Emma said slowly. She wasn’t entirely surprised that they’d drawn the crowd – more ridiculous outfits and Regina flanked by both of Henry’s daughters, and Mary Margaret’s smile appeared to be permanently etched on her face. And Harper whatever her last name might have been only looked vaguely overwhelmed. 

That was definitely a step in the right direction. 

Elsa flicked her fingers against Killian’s shoulders when she moved towards them, Liam next to her and Anna’s hair twisted into elaborate braids, more than a few streaks of silver there as well. 

Maybe things had kind of changed. 

Emma hadn’t realized she was leaning against Killian’s side until he kissed her hair again. 

“Got the drinks before you even took your jackets off, huh?” Elsa asked, arching an eyebrow and they should have patented that move years ago. They’d have made a fortune. 

Killian’s lips quirked. “You cry about your grandkid?” “Nah, that’s Liam’s game.” “Aw, c’mon,” Liam groaned, both Robin and Will drifting dangerously close to cackling. Regina made some kind of noise that might have been an agreement. 

“I think that means your old, leader,” Will said, laughter clinging to his voice. “Not you though, El. Just Liam.” “Yeah, good save, Scarlet,” Elsa murmured. 

“Something about top-tier defenseman,” Anna added. Her dress was green, more sparkles along the edges and none of them were very creative. They were all covered in sparkles and there was probably a joke about looking like ice to be made. 

Or there would have been if Phillip didn’t cough pointedly, staring at the lot of them with a hint of frustration and dash of amusement and Aurora was showing off photos on her phone. 

“Did we interrupt you, Rook?” Robin asked, chuckling when Phillip flipped him off. “There are kids here!” “His grandkid is here,” Killian muttered. He hissed when several fingers flicked at his jacket again, not able to swat them away with one arm around Emma and the other still awkwardly twisted between Will and Peggy. “He’s got a grandkid because he’s old, you see.” “Yeah, yeah, you’re hysterical, Cap. Looking a little greyer up there than usual, aren’t we?” “Was that supposed to be in the collective?” “Shut up.” “It’s nice to see that the maturity level of this team hasn’t changed with its hair color,” Ruby said, nudging Emma in the side when Mary Margaret started to play the video of Noah. And, really, she refused to be held accountable for whatever noise she made. 

Because she’d already had quite a bit of champagne in quite a short amount of time and it was definitely warm in that loft and there was too much smiling and too much laughing and the video was so goddamn cute it probably should have been illegal. 

“Nailed it,” Ruby mumbled to Mary Margaret, a hum of agreement and quick swipe of knuckles under eyes. “And,” she added, making sure her voice dropped to something almost resembling a whisper, “you got to get here on time, Em. M’s went full-on sugary sweet mom with Leo’s girlfriend.” Emma’s eyes moved, a little begrudgingly, away from the screen and those assumptions may have been guarantees now or whatever and—”Do we like her?” Mary Margaret shrugged. “Leo hasn’t stopped laughing all night.” “Seems like a sign.” “Of you guys ignoring me,” Phillip interrupted sharply. Emma widened her eyes, expression only a hint less mocking than the general ooh that moved across the entire group. 

“Known goon, Phillip—” Will started, but there was more glaring and more laughing and Regina was handing out more glasses of champagne. 

“What’s your question, Rook?” Ruby asked. “Or comment or concern or whatever.” Phillip clicked his tongue, but Ruby had never been intimidated by any of them and the likelihood of that changing was slim to none. She drank the rest of her champagne in three, quick gulps. “What’s going on with Matt?” The oxygen flew out of the room. Or got whistled two minutes for roughing. And ruining the conversation. 

Phillip grimaced, eyes darting around like he was waiting for someone to say something or agree with him and no one made a single noise. Killian’s hand tightened around Emma’s shoulder. 

“Do we think something’s wrong with Matt?” Anna whispered. She absolutely did not whisper. They were all absolutely terrible at holding their alcohol. 

“No,” Emma and Killian said quickly, but they were also pretty God awful at lying and she was totally going to blame the alcohol. And that video. Mary Margaret should not be allowed to have a phone anymore. 

“No?” Elsa asked. 

“No,” Killian repeated. There were more footsteps. Because they were all absolutely terrible at lying and keeping secrets and whispering. Especially the whispering. 

“Wait, which one is Matt?” another voice asked, quiet and a little cautious and that must have been Harper. They probably should have introduced themselves to Harper. 

Leo shifted on his feet, nodding in the direction of the approaching footsteps. “The one who looks like he’s about to drop gloves with all of us at once.” “I don’t entirely understand that joke.” “And it might not have been a joke,” Peggy mumbled, holding up both hands when Matt glared at her. 

Harper looked stunned. 

“We’ll get you all caught up to speed,” Ruby promised. “If M’s can figure out what icing is in less than one season, you’ll be totally fine.” She ignored Mary Margaret’s scoff, turning towards Matt and the stick held lightly in his hand. “Hey mini-Jones. You going to bite off any reporter’s heads in the next few days?” Matt froze, crossing his arms awkwardly and the tie around his neck was far looser than it should have been. “No one bit anything in post.” “Did I say that?” “Certainly sounded like it.” Ruby hummed, eyes far too bright to be anything except concerning. “What do you think you know, Ru?” She shrugged, but the smile was full blown now and Harper was still muttering questions under her breath. “I know nothing until you confirm it, mini-Jones. Weird how it always seems to happen that way.” And Emma needed to stop, simply, reacting – sounds falling out of her without her explicit permission, but she couldn’t do much about it and something snapped into place and Killian might have been laughing. It felt like it at least, body shaking against hers and fingers moving towards her neck because they still hadn’t taken their goddamn coats off. 

“Is someone going to explain what is going on?” David asked, a few more sounds of agreement. 

“Oh my God,” Peggy yelled. Her hands flew to her mouth, eyes wide as she bobbed on the balls of her feet. Matt glared at her. “I know what it is. Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! MD!” “Shut up, Mar.” “I didn’t say anything! Oh my God. Am I right though?” “I thought you didn’t say anything,” Leo muttered knowingly, and Matt’s glare wasn’t quite as sharp when he turned that direction. 

“Whatever, Nolan,” Peggy hissed. “MD. Is that—oh my God, did you tell Toph?” “Mar—” “—No, no, did you tell Toph and not me? Are you kidding me?” “I genuinely have no idea what is going on,” David admitted. No one acknowledge him. Probably because Peggy was trying to beat up her older brother, barely restrained by Will and a recently-returned to the conversation Jeremy Humbert who was also trying to say hello to Emma and Killian at the same time. 

It would be a miracle if they didn’t scar Harper for life. 

“MD,” Peggy pressed, lunging forward and barely making contact with the front of his shirt. “Are you sure?”

His eyes narrowed, a particular type of glare Emma wasn’t sure she’d ever seen one of her kids use on one of her other kids. And she was half a second away from reprimanding two grown adults who were both wearing absolutely absurd outfits, heard Killian’s quiet hey now that had always worked, every single time, but Matt groaned louder than either one of them combined. He leaned forward, pulling Peggy towards him – a cry of rather loud indignation from her, that only made Chris laugh from the other side of the room. 

“C’mere,” Matt growled, wrapping his arm all the way around Peggy’s waist. She put up a fight, kicking and punching his arm, but he was honestly having some kind of season and Emma’s gaze moved towards Killian like there were magnets involved. 

He smirked at her. 

“Oh my God, caveman,” Peggy snapped. “Where’s your wife? Does she know you’re an absolutely insane person?” “Mar, I swear, if you do not stop talking right now, I will—" “—What? What, MD? Please go into exact detail of what you’re going to do.” He made another noise – ridiculously familiar and Elsa had to tuck her head into Liam’s shoulder to stop her laugh from bordering on offensive. Anna didn’t even try. And it only took another moment for reinforcements to arrive, Chris jogging across the room to help move Peggy. Harper was never going to come back. 

They’d have to apologize to Leo. 

“God, P, stop playing rag doll and just move,” Chris sighed. She dug her heels further into the ground. 

“Are you not going to help with this?” Roland asked, walking back into the room with a kid hanging off his back and Lizzie smiling next to him. 

Emma shook her head. “What could I possibly do?” “Ah, yeah, fair enough.” “Smart kid.” “Less fair.” “Mar, I am serious,” Matt continued, doing his best to drag her into the nearest corner and there wasn’t much of a point anymore because they all spent far too much time together and helped raise each other or something equally absurd and Killian’s fingers were warm when they twisted around Emma’s. 

Peggy stuck her tongue out. “Fine, fine, fine, but the next time—you know what, I don’t care. Fine. Let’s go.” It only took a moment. 

Emma was, honestly, surprised – was certain Peggy would demand answers before they found the corner or simply check both Matt and Chris until she was in charge of the situation, but it was also kind of nice, that hint of anticipation and waiting and—

“I knew he’d want to tell them first,” Claire said. Emma jerked her head around at the addition to the group, the whole lot of them standing in the middle of the goddamn loft with a slightly cautious looking waitstaff lingering against the walls. 

She was dressed up as well, hair twisted at the nape of her neck and more sparkles, but the outfit had nothing on the look on her face – something about glowing and the next line shift and absolutely wonderful and complete and utter change. 

Killian kissed Emma’s cheek. 

And Claire flushed slightly, arms wrapped around her middle when her teeth found her lower lip. 

“I didn’t actually tell you,” she said. “So I didn’t ruin the surprise or anything.” “Is it a surprise?” Emma asked, only a little disappointed her voice shook. She might have been crying. She was absolutely crying. 

“Ah, I don’t know about that. It was almost responsible.” “Oh. Yeah?” The question was ridiculous, another string of inexplicable and unplanned emotion, but Emma could barely see through the tears in her eyes and Ruby’s sniffle sounded far too loud. Although, not quite as loud as the shriek that came from the far corner, both Chris and Matt doing their best to quiet Peggy. 

They failed. Miserably. Or, well, as miserably as it was possible to be when everything seemed to be glowing and new and filled with very expensive champagne. 

“Look who’s old now, Jones,” Regina muttered, tugging lightly on the back of Noah’s shirt. Elsa snickered, Anna wiping away her own tears and Roland grinned as widely as anyone else in the room. 

Peggy was still screaming. 

“Are you kidding me, MD?” She was jumping, arms flailing and hair falling out of its updo and Chris had shifted behind her, trying to control either one of those things, but that was a pipe dream and Peggy was absolutely crying too. 

Matt smiled. And shook his head. “No joke, Mar,” he said, soft and honest and Emma’s heart felt like it grew forty-seven sizes. She leaned back against Killian’s chest. 

Peggy’s hand flew back to her mouth, finally staying on the ground for more than a few seconds. Her shoulders shook slightly, though, and then it was a whirlwind of sounds – exhales and sighs and you’re going to be so good and there was far too much crying, but Peggy jumped at Matt and he caught her with the kind of athletic dexterity that was absolutely, positively genetic. 

That boded well for the future. 

Emma didn’t count how long they stayed in that corner – a moment and thing and three kids who loved each other more than just about anything else in the world and believed in each other more than anything else in the world – but Matt pressed his cheek against Peggy’s hair, eyes lifting with the hint of a smile tugging at his mouth. 

“So, uh, we’ve got some news.” “Good news,” Claire added, her own expression drifting closer to joy than anything else. “Like, you know. Good news.” “The best news,” Roland amended. “Although I’m totally ready to battle Matt to the death for, like, dad of the year award or something.” Matt groaned, but any hint of frustration was gone, replaced only with announcements and new and he moved towards Emma and Killian slowly – as if he were worried about spooking them or their recently acquired status and— “I’ll win every time if I’m half as good as you guys,” he said. 

Emma had no idea what sound she made. Killian’s knees buckled slightly. And Matt practically beamed, hugging both of them at the same time. 

Mary Margaret took video. 

Maybe she could keep her phone. 

“So, uh…” David started. “Just to be certain here, complete sentences and official statements—” “—That was good,” Ruby said. “C’mon, mini-Jones. Let’s get official so David can toast and we can promise Harper we’re not all usually this weird.” Lizzie shook her head. “We’re always this weird.” Matt laughed softly, moving back to Claire’s side and Emma’s record wasn’t going to be for eye rolls. It was totally going to be for crying. “We’re, uh…” Matt said, pausing to take a deep breath and his gaze didn’t move away from them when he spoke again. “We’re going to have a baby.” “Yeah, I think we picked up on that kid,” Killian said, voice gruff. “Why the face during post, then?” “I wasn’t really doing anything during post.” “God, it’s like all three of you are trying to do the worst job of lying to us. Didn’t we age out of this already?”

“We went to the doctor yesterday,” Claire explained when Matt didn’t immediately answer, far too busy rolling his eyes and trying to contain his sister’s limbs. “They didn’t want to let him off of our morning skate, but then he scored, so…” “Oh,” Killian said. “Right. Right. That’s—” “We’ve totally got pictures.”

He took a deep breath, ignoring the small army of cameras pointed towards him because they were the most absurd family in the history of the entire NHL and several different universes. 

Liam threw his whole head back when he laughed, his own tears obvious and maybe they weren’t just absurd, they were a bunch of giant saps. “We toast? Gina got that crazy expensive champagne, right?” “It pains me that you think I wouldn't get the very expensive champagne,” Regina said. 

“Of course, Your Highness, of course. No more cracks about getting older, right?” “I make absolutely no promises,” Emma grinned, doing it entirely for the reaction. Liam cursed in Norwegian. 

And there was, in fact, a copious amount of champagne and discussion of that one goal the night before reenacted several times by several different grandchildren with a variety of cameras pointed their direction. And there was dancing and food and a countdown that felt more important than it ever had, a shift and a change and everything all at once. 

And Emma expected the kiss, something about tradition and rules, but she was a little stunned by the everything of that too – Killian’s thumb tucked under her chin and a look she couldn’t quite ever name, but had come to absolutely covet and she smiled before his lips landed on hers, soft and insistent and—

“I love you,” he whispered. She kissed him again. 

“More than anything. Even if you’re kind of ancient now.” Killian laughed, breath warm against Emma’s cheek. “Yeah, as long as we get to do that together, I’m good.” “What a line. You look up kid-sized jerseys on your phone yet?” “No, did you?” Emma shrugged. “Maybe.” “Maybe meaning definitely?” “You really didn’t look yet?” “Nah,” Killian said, fingers doing something entirely unfair against her side. “I asked Liam and Locksley where they got theirs.” “Cheater.” “Efficient.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever you have to tell yourself, grandpa.” “I like that sound of that, actually.” “Good because that’s what we’re going with,” Matt yelled, twisted around Claire and he hadn’t moved more than a few inches away from her for most of the night. 

Killian nodded, tugging his phone out of his pocket and Emma didn’t have to look to know that there was already an order receipt in his email. “You good with that, Swan?” “Better,” she promised. 

The packages came two days later – plural, with more baby-sized merch than they’d bought for any of their own kids, a fact all three kids were quick to point out before Emma quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head and Peggy and Chris had to admit that they’d ordered their own merch too.