#and she said nick told her she could use our oven

[kawaiianimeredhead]

.

[morgana-larkin]

I wanna see some more love for our girl Chessy up in here, so I have a request for her. Would you be able to do a baking or cooking date with Chessy and the reader? I have a mommy kink (🫣) so I would love it if Chessy could be older (probably like her mid 30’s) and reader be a younger age (probably like mid 20’s).

They’re at the Parker household and both Hallie and Nick are out for the night, so it’s just Chessy and the reader in an established relationship (probably like 6-9 months) and Chessy finds out that the reader never learned how to cook so they just survive off of fast food. Chessy offers to teach her how to cook some spaghetti and reader accepts. So it’s just a bunch of fluffiness of Chessy and reader being adorable.

Orrrrrrrrrr (hear me out)

We could add some smut at the end if you’re down to do so. Have Chessy be a bit dom while cooking with reader and have her tug on the reader’s ponytail or call herself mommy and reader her little bunny or sum nickname like that. And then once they’re done with eating (the food) they move on to eating dessert (iykwim 🤭)

Anon, I love seeing love for Chessy too. And no need to be embarrassed ‘bout a mommy kink, most of us Lisa fans have it too lol. So I had to look up spaghetti recipes since I’m like reader and very limited cooking skills. As I’m limited to French toast and putting salmon in the oven lol. I got very distracted and bored when people tried teaching me how to cook due to my ADHD. So here it is! Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: Happy May the Fourth! Happy Star Wars Day!

Follow Directions

Warnings: smut, lots of fluff, small mommy kink

Words: 2.6k

You’re over at the Parker house, spending some much needed time with Chessy. The two of you kept running into each other at the market then decided to spend time together and quickly became friends. Then 7 months ago she asked you out on a date and you said yes right away. Chessy was a little wary about dating someone 15 years younger than her at first but since you were friends before for 6 months, she quickly got comfortable with it.

You’re both on the couch, cuddling, watching tv and making out. The Parker’s are out of town for the weekend so Chessy invited you over right away. The Parker’s have met you, about 3 months ago. When they found out that Chessy had a girlfriend they wanted to meet you to determine if you’re worthy of Chessy, to which they said you were.

Chessy pulls away from your lips and looks at you. “Hon, as much as I would love to keep kissing you, I should start on dinner.” She tells you.

“Noo, I haven’t had nearly as much kisses as I would like.” You whine and she giggles.

“Well how about you help with dinner and then you’ll have my lips back on yours quicker.” She suggests and you bite your lip and look down. “What is it?” She asked.

“Well I wouldn’t be much help, I would honestly just slow it down more.” You tell her and she quirks an eyebrow at you. “I don’t know how to cook, I usually just order out or get something I could pop in the microwave.” You admit.

“How come no one taught you how to cook?” Chessy asks, in disbelief that you don’t know how to cook.

“They tried but I was never interested and didn’t pay attention.” You told her.

“Hmm, would you be interested if I taught you?” She offers and you think about it.

“Well let’s see, being able to spend more time with you and being in close proximity to you. Ya I think it would grab my interest.” You tell her and she laughs.

“Well then come on, I’ll teach you how to make spaghetti.” She says and gets up.

“Why spaghetti?” You ask and she holds her hands out to you.

“Because it’s simple and that’s what I was going to make tonight.” She tells you as you put your hands in hers and she lifts you up.

You both go into the kitchen and she washes her hands. You wash your hands after, while she gets the ingredients out.

“Ok since you’re not used to cooking I won’t get you to cut up the onion, so I’ll get you to cut up this pepper instead.” She says to you and places a red pepper on a cutting board with a knife. You walk up and stand in front of the cutting board and look at the pepper, not knowing how to start. She looks at you confused. “You don’t know how to cut a pepper do you?” She asks and you shake your head. “Ok well first.” She starts as she picks up the knife and holds the pepper down. “You gotta cut the bottom and the head off.” She says as she cuts them off. “Then you gotta pull the middle of it out then you can rinse the pepper under water to get rid of all the seeds.” She says and hands you the pepper and you run it under water to get rid of the seeds. You bring it back and she instructs you how to cut it into little pieces. She hands you the knife and you start cutting it in pieces but she stops you. “That’s not the proper way to cut hon.” She says and stands behind you. “Here let mommy guide you.” She whispers in your ear and places her hands over yours. “You gotta cut like this baby.” She says and moves your hands to show you the proper way.

You continue to cut the peppers the way she showed you and she smiles at you. She goes and starts to cut the onion and you glance at her every once in awhile. After a minute you start to feel a sting in your eyes and you’re wondering why but you don’t say anything. Then after 30 seconds you start sniffling and your eyes are watery. You wipe your eyes with the back of your hand and you’re confused and you hear Chessy chuckle.

“Probably should have warned you hon, when cutting up onions, it stings your eyes.” She tells you and you look at her through watery eyes and can see that she’s barely affected.

“Then how come you seem fine?” You ask and she giggles.

“Cause I’m used to it.” She tells you. 30 seconds later and you stop cutting, your eyes are too watery to see and your eyes are stinging as well. You put the knife down and you wipe at your eyes again and sniffle. You didn’t see Chessy stopping and coming over to you until you feel something press against your eye and you flinch. “It’s paper towel, to wipe the tears away.” She says and you take it and wipe them off.

“How long until the onions stop stinging my eyes?” You ask.

“I’d say about 3 more minutes, I’m just about done. Just close your eyes for now.” She tells you and you nod and close your eyes. She goes back and finishes cutting up the onion in 2 minutes. She then walks over to where you are and plants a kiss on your lips. “It’s finished but give a few seconds to air out.” She tells you while wrapping her arms around your waist. After the stinging stops, you wipe your tears away and then open your eyes and you see Chessy smiling at you. “Hey beautiful.” She says and you smile back at her.

“Hi. I guess I’ll go back to cutting up the pepper.” You say and she lets you go. Chessy comes up behind you and wraps her arms around your waist again and puts her chin on your shoulder. She pulls your ponytail a bit and starts kissing your neck. “What are you doing?” You ask her.

“Just getting my taste of you.” She says slyly and pulls away when you start moaning. You give her a glare when she just goes back to having her hands around you like nothing happened.

You finish cutting up the pepper and Chessy walks over to the counter where everything is to make the sauce. You bring the pepper pieces over and she shows you how to add everything properly and then puts it on the stove to cook. She then gets you to add the spaghetti noodles in the pot and then you just have to watch over everything for a few minutes.

After 10 minutes Chessy turns the stove off and puts the noodles on the plates, then the sauce. “And there we go. That’s how you make spaghetti.” She tells you and you smile at making your first meal with Chessy.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just made spaghetti.” You say while beaming. You two sit down to eat and when you take your first bite, you beam again. “It seems to taste better.” You tell her and she smiles.

“It always tastes better if you make yourself something.” She says and you smile. You two eat the spaghetti while making conversation. After you’re done, Chessy does the dishes while you put the leftovers in containers. While Chessy is finishing the dishes, she starts a conversation with you. “So how was your cooking lesson?” She asks.

“It was good, it held my interest this time.” You tell her and she giggles.

“Maybe I’ll teach you how to make burgers next, those are quick and easy too. Have you made yourself tuna sandwiches?” She asks and you shake your head. “Seriously? That’s the easiest thing to make. You open the tin, you put it on the piece of bread and then you put another piece of bread on and you’re done.” She explains and you blush.

“I don’t know how to make anything. Well I guess I know how to make spaghetti and tuna sandwiches now.” You say and she shakes her head at you. She finishes the dishes and then dries her hands.

She walks up to you and puts her hands on your hips. “So how about we have some dessert now?” She whispers in your ear then gives a gentle bite to your ear.

“I like the sound of that.” You tell her.

“Good, because I’m craving something sweet.” She says and lifts you up with your legs and arms wrapped around her. She brings you upstairs and you start kissing her neck and she stumbles a little bit when you start sucking. She makes it to the bed and drops you on it. She straddles your hips and kisses you passionately. “Hmm, all I could think about for the past two hours is all the places I want to put my mouth on you.” She says and you can’t help but giggle. She pulls away and looks at you with a smile. “What’s got you giggling?”

“You. And the fact that you have become so addicted to sex since we started doing it a few months ago.” You tell her and you giggle again.

“Hm I think it’s more the fact that I’m addicted to you.” She tells you and of course she can’t help but tease you. “But if you don’t want to do it then…” she says as she goes to get off of you but you stop her.

“No no no no. I didn’t say that. I just found it funny and cute how addicted you became.” You backtracked and then you see her smirk and realise she was just teasing you and you fell for it. “You little shit.” You tell her and she laughs.

Before you can respond to her again, her lips are on your neck, kissing and sucking. She knows your body well by now, she knows what gets you going and what turns you off. She then goes for your shirt and takes it off quickly so she can return her lips to your skin as fast as possible. She then moves her lips down to your chest and sucks the skin there too, always wanting to mark so people know you’re taken. She then quickly unclips your bra and pulls it off so her lips can explore more of you. She pushes you back and you fall back on your back and she dives down and puts a nipple in her mouth, and instantly sucks and licks it. You start to buck your hips and she knows you’re gonna start begging any second now. She switches to the other nipple and it pulls a moan from you. You go to reach for her and pull her shirt off but she pins your hands down.

“I want to touch you.” You whine out and she smiles and pulls back from your nipple.

“Oh I know my pretty girl.” She says and purrs a bit as she touches all over your chest and stomach.

“So why can’t I touch you?” You ask her and smirks at you.

“Because I haven’t determined if you earned it yet.” She says so casually.

“But I obeyed you during the cooking lesson.” You pouted.

“Hmm, I guess you have a point there baby.” She told you then started unbuttoning her shirt, slowly. She undid the last button then took if off while watching your reaction the whole time. She loved your reactions to her body, she knows she might not be the prettiest girl in the world, but you make her feel like she is. You stared at her undressing in front of you, almost drooling when she was halfway done the buttons. When she took her shirt off, you immediately put your hands on her stomach and started touching her all over, you whined when the bra got in the way. She giggled and effortlessly unclipped her bra and took it off. She pushed you back down when you went to sit up to put them in your mouth and let out a whine and pout. You went and grabbed them but she pinned your hands above your head. However when pinning your hands, it got her chest to be. Right above your head and her boobs were right there and you lifted your head a bit and was able to suck on a nipple. She gasped and looked at you with her mouth hanging open. “Oh baby, hmm, I guess I’ll let you continue since you tried so hard and your mouth feels so good.” She says and you smile.

She started grinding her hips on you as you started sucking her nipples just how she likes the best. When she pulled back after you sucked the second nipple, she got off the bed and took your pants off. She got a surge of confidence when she saw a patch of wetness on your underwear before taking them off as well. She got on her knees and kissed your thighs before pressing a kiss to your clit and you bucked your hips. She dived in and licked your entrance and you moaned. On most days, she would normally take her time with your pussy but considering she’s been turned on for 2 hours, she doesn’t take her time. She goes right to your clit and starts licking and sucking on it and only stops when you’re right about to come. She pulls back and you look at her shocked.

“Don’t look at me like that. I want to make sure I fuck you good baby.” She says. She goes to her nightstand and pulls out a dildo and strap. She takes her pants and underwear off and then slides the strap on before putting the dildo in it. Once secure, she goes between your legs, grabs your hips, and slowly slides it in your entrance.

You gasp as she slides in more. When she’s in fully, she moans as the dildo hits her clit. She slides it in and out of you, slowly at first then picks up speed.

After about a minute of her pounding into you she starts rubbing your clit as she’s getting close to coming. When you start showing signs of being close, she leans over you and you immediately put your hands on her back and dig your nails in her skin a bit. Chessy knows you prefer to touch her when you’re close, a way to handle the stimulation.

“Go on baby, come for me.” Chessy tells you, knowing you’re just about too. Lo and behold, you come just after she says it. Seeing you come sends her right over the edge herself and then she carefully pulls out of you. She makes quick work in clearing you both up, she then takes the strap off, and climbs into bed with you and cuddles you.

“Thank you for the cooking lesson, and the sex.” You tell her after your body stopped shaking and she giggles.

“Of course hun, I can’t let my girl go starving, in both ways.” She tells you and you chuckle. She holds you tighter to her body, not wanting to ever let you go.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

@lilfartbox1

@ricejucie

@unicorniusfallapatorius

@a-queen-and-her-throne

Let me know if you want to be added!

[sturniololoco]

Could you do a younger sister fic where the brothers leave for LA for like a couple months and lose contact and she’s really sad and they come home to find her crying holding the stuff they gave her???

Distant

Sturniolo Little Sister (SLS) x The Sturniolo Triplets

Warnings: Break down, depression, etc.

Note: A TON of people wanted this one! A few of the requests are above but some of them were too long I'm so sorry! if I couldn't fit you in

Really short!

SLS/N's POV

It's been about a week since my brothers moved to LA, and I was missing them like crazy. To stay caught up, I watched all their videos, listened to every single podcast, and always had my phone nearby waiting for their call, facetime, or text.

But it never came.

-

It's been about a month now, and I've still heard nothing.

Sometimes I just go into their rooms and lay on their beds, missing them. I'll readjust all of Nick's Stuffed animals that he left behind. I'll make sure Chris's stash of Pepsi is always stocked, even though no one is there to drink it. I always make sure Matt's room is put together, just the way he likes it so that when he comes home, we can have our sleepovers again.

And my phone is always with me. Waiting

-

Two Months.

Nothing.

Sent straight to voice mail.

Until one day I got home from school, and there they were, sitting on the couch like they never left. Visiting.

They smiled when they saw me like they missed me, but I knew it was a lie.

I walked right passed them and into my room, locking the door behind me, feeling the tears threatening to fall the whole way.

-

I didn't come down for dinner when Mom called me. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Instead, I broke down on the floor, my mind not being able to block out my thoughts any longer.

They don't even love you! They never did! Your are such a waste of space! They moved all the way across the country because of you.

I couldn't breathe. The air was too thin for me to take in. My mind was still racing with the thoughts I couldn't help but think were true.

Inhaler. Downstairs. left of the oven.

I unlocked my door and sprinted down the stairs into the kitchen. I snatched my inhaler out of the drawer and sunk down onto the floor, taking in a deep puff, not caring that my brothers were staring.

They don't even care anyway.

Contradicting my thoughts, Matt ran over to me and sat on the floor, pulling me into his lap, and cradling my head to his chest.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shh, it's okay, I'm here," he said softly into my ear. I cried into his chest, gripping his shirt and staining it with tears. He kept rubbing my back until I calmed down and was able to breathe again.

Chris and Nick walked in, then awkwardly sat crisscrossed on the floor next to us.

"Why didn't you call. Why did you just-just...disappear?" I asked feeling the pain rising in my chest again.

They all looked at each other with wide eyes full of sadness.

"I would like to say we're busy, but there's no excuse for blocking out our sister. I realize that now and I'm really sorry SLS/N." Nick told me, looking deep into my eyes. Matt and Chris nodded in agreement, saying sorry.

I smile through my tears, happy that my brothers still love me and haven't forgotten about me.

-

When it was time for my brothers to go home, I made them triple the promise to call me as much as they could. They all swore on it and got in the car to go to the airport.

They called me as soon as they landed.

Not one of my beast works, but I'm trying to get at least one oneshot a day out to y'all. Shy pt 3 will hopefully be out by 10:00

Tag List

@idkwhosnyla @babypat08 @eyelessdemon00 @christopherowensturniolo @sturnsxx @freshloveforthefit @matty443355 @sleepysturnss @emeraldgreenbeautiesstu @sunsetsturniolos @hoesturniol

[takeeachdayonebookatatime]

Why did you elbow me? 209

Achilles Castle part 111

Lemonade and lies Part 54

Nicholas (Nick) Stephen McSwarek undercover part 18

Kate/Stana: pov I think he is probably happy it wasn't his drugs that were delivered to Carl's house. Nick says there is a gyn downstairs in our building. Would you like to check it out before dinner, we are not going to work out just take a look around do you understand. Yes I understand Nick. I'm going to change into my cardiac arrest shirt and yes I brought it with me it's comfortable. Before we leave I stop in the bathroom to pee, I think I drank too much water today.

Officer Nicholas (Nick) Stephen McSwarek/Greig: pov are you okay you have been going to the bathroom a lot. Kate mentions she just drank a lot of water today. Hey Stana let’s take the elevator, the stairs are not your friend lately. Wow this gym is nice at the reception desk Kate asks the woman some questions. I can tell the receptionist wants more info.

Kate/Stana: pov is there anyway we can talk to the manager and trainer here, I have some medical issues they would need to know about beforehand. I explain my medical history to the woman who doesn't know what to say. The manager appears with a trainer who asks the receptionist why they were called saying Is there a problem. She says no this woman just wanted to talk to you, hi i’m sorry to pull you guys away from your work but me and Nick here wanted to check out your gym and with my medical history and medical condition i thought we should talk to you.

Gareth gym owner: pov Medical condition: what type of health issues do you have. Stana says I have a heart condition, my cardiologist, cardiac rehabilitator and physical therapist all said it was safe for me to work out. How long have you had it, you weren't born with it were you.

Kate/Stana: pov no I got it later in life, Gareth asks if you don't mind me asking does your Dr know what caused your heart condition, was it a defect or something that just went undiagnosed. Nick is trying to keep a straight face. For a second I almost told him I got shot at a funeral but then remembered I'm undercover. It was a random shooting. The bullet nicked my left inferior pulmonary vein and ventricle went into cardiac arrest. Thankfully a woman who turned out to be an ME did CPR on me. She was at the right place at the right time.

Gareth gym owner: pov she tells me about her emergency heart surgery. Okay with your health we might have to modify our workout routine for you or come up with a special one just for you.

Kate/Stana: pov after talking for a bit we watch a little bit of a workout before heading home. I offer to help Nick make dinner for the both of us. He suggests vegetarian tacos he saw the recipe online earlier. I cut up some of the ingredients while he cooks the taco's in the oven, everything looks fantastic. Thanks for being okay with eating the same things as me. I know you rather eat meat.

Officer Nicholas (Nick) Stephen McSwarek/Greig: pov I put some spicy stuff on my Taco's, hey Kate maybe we can go out for dessert after dinner if you are up to it. Ugh spoke too soon my phone is ringing. It's kovitch. Thankfully he just wants to talk, I put him on speaker phone so Kate can talk with him too.

Castle: pov It's hard without Kate here. I ordered some pizza and went into the theater room to watch a movie. I miss her so much I wish I could see her. Wait a minute Lanie said something about Kate interviewing for a new job tomorrow while undercover. Maybe I can visit her at work and pretend to need her help. Hmm that might work I will have to run it by Lanie first since i don't want to ruin Kate's undercover assignment

Kate/Stana: pov I'm now sitting on the sofa with a blanket being lazy. Me and Nick are getting some work done. The both of us are looking into the drug dealers and trying to find info on the killer. Some stuff isn't adding up. I don't think Ned knew Carl so even though Carl is a killer I don't think he killed Ned we will need more info on this. After looking deep into Carl's phone and financial records nothing popped up. Maybe Kovitch might know Ned did work for him.

Officer Nicholas (Nick) Stephen McSwarek/Greig: pov we can talk to him tomorrow afternoon after my job interview since mine is after your, on the way we can stop for food because it will be close to lunchtime by then.

Lanie: pov Esposito I'm so worried tomorrow Is her job interview at the gun range what if they don't want to hire her because of her health or her PTSD start to act up.

Esposito: pov I didn't take you out to eat to talk about Kate sometimes we need a few minutes to ourselves. I understand that you are worried I am too, undercover work is hard and she has health issues. We both know what she survived and how strong she is, Kate will be okay. Lanie mentions Castle is thinking about stopping by the gun range if she gets the job pretending to be a customer that way he can see her in person and spend time with her. Our delicious looking Spanish food arrived. I know this is a hard subject to bring up but I think we need to talk to someone about our worries about Kate, it might help us. Maybe a support group or therapist of some sort.

Lanie: pov Esposito I don't know how you didn't get PTSD from the war but I agree with you we should at least give it a try. I was looking something up and read an article about vicarious trauma. This could be affecting us. I couldn't sleep for weeks after what happened to Kate. It was awful and you were staying late at the precinct which made it harder. To be continued. ………

[the-shared-brain-in-retrograde]

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Or, What if Clint Barton had Magical Diabetes?

a joint review...

Well, well, fuck me, well (as our good friend Sebastian would say). A series of choices were made bringing this film into fruition, and we suppose we will discuss them now.

The spirit of this week's review is summed up in the wise words of @cassandrafey who said last night, while discussing our feelings on the movie we'd just endured, "let’s not get too bogged down in the fine details...", so we won't, because the writers and director didn't seem to either.

Firstly we didn't know MTV made films, and in hindsight this is probably why. They gave it a go, good for them, but perhaps they should stick to terrible car crash tv instead.

Shall we start at the beginning when two children are told to stay put and instead break into a poor woman's house, and begin to eat it. Don't do that. We don't like to victim blame in this house, but also you sort of brought this on yourselves kids. But to share equal disgust with the witch, that oven was not suitable for cooking in. Too flamey, that's a burning oven, and no one wants burnt food. Shame on everyone involved.

We then get quite the animated montage of anti witch propaganda. Boo, but it brings us up to speed with the story we guess, and then straight into town where a man is shouting utter rot. He's accusing a woman of being a witch (haven't we all been there ladies...) but obvs she can't be a witch (as expert Hansel helpfully points out) as she is far too pretty, and witches are terribly ugly and dress as if they're from Norwegian Death Metal bands that went to Camden Market in the 00s to buy their entire wardrobe.

Can you hear the bitterness yet?

We should point out this is the first of many times Hansel doesn't know his arse from his elbow. It’s not even himbo energy, it’s just stupidity. Becks described our Hansel in her notes as 'Poundland Dean Winchester', which made Cass raise an eyebrow in question, and Becks now sees (after completing the film) that she was being far too optimistic. Also, a choice was made or maybe a hand forced, with getting the pair to use American accents in what we presume to be medieval Europe (although who the fuck knows with outfits and the weapons). Becks has decided it was down to dear Gemma to step up as we're pretty sure we've never heard Jeremy Renner do a non-american accent. Perhaps that's slander, but until proven otherwise it’s the side we're on. Come on Jezza, let’s hear it!

Cass really took to Gretel from the start. She liked it when she nutted that man, she saw it coming and loved it a lot. She also liked Gretel's hair and she thought she was also quite clever. Although Becks pointed out that, with Hansel seeming pretty dim, it’s all relative isn’t it?

They then go break into another witch's house and kill her. Turns out she had nothing to do with them missing kids, and the only crime she'd committed was identity theft, Noel Fielding to be precise. Then they nicked her stuff and talked shit about once in a generation blood moons. Factually incorrect, but go on.

We're then treated to the most horrific scene of the movie, enough to make any person stomach turn. A beer trough. A fucking beer trough. WERP. That can't be a thing surely?! Just an open trough of beer that any old fucker can stick their dirty hand (or other appendages) in and get a drink. DISGUSTING. Becks felt very strongly about this, and missed some key plot points that followed due to the rage now simmering. Cass however was on the ball, and we got to meet a weirdo kid with a scrap book, who had collected down all manner of stalkerish clippings, thoughts and feelings about his absolute faves, and put them all together in a neat book that he could keep forever. What a fucking weirdo. We definitely think that's weird and would never do anything like that...

Meanwhile a band of stupid men go into the woods at night to go hunt down a witch, where they meet a woman alone in the woods, and don't realise she's a witch, because they are fucking idiots, and as such die terrible deaths. We love to see it.

The next day we're introduced to a plot point that Cass declares dances on the line between stupidity and genius. We are of course talking about the magical diabetes. After eating too much of the witch's house and then being forced to eat more of it, Hansel now has magical diabetes, which he says he needs to take medicine for regularly after COLLAPSING (fucking takes your meds before it gets to that point you tit) but we don't really hear any more about it until the end of the film. Such good storytelling. He also does a bit of painful flirting with the white witch they saved earlier. Hansel is the worst at flirting we have ever seen. Ever. Ever. Stop talking about witches' piss. We don't like to talk on behalf of women everywhere but, come on now.

Then he buys some kids clothes, and builds a pumpkin child in the woods with a medieval gramophone, and lures in a hedgehog headed dumb dumb of a witch. Who shouts ‘help I’m alone in the woods’ honestly? It was clearly a trap, hedgehog head.

Becks has just had a small break whilst trying to write this.

The more I think about this film the more I hate it. Good gods...

Anyway, they capture the witch, who tells them the witches' plan, nice one idiot, so they are away to go find the only child born in April in the whole town (how convenient). Becks' favourite head witch rocks up though, which is nice, comes to be a bit menacing, but Cass takes it all the wrong way and loses her mind (clearly thoughts of Noel Fielding still lurking about towards the forefront…)

"I go by many names..."

Cass: Some call me Secret Peter!

"None of which you are worthy of pronouncing."

Becks loved it none the less. There was also some storytelling here, where Gretel, and her family, clearly are more linked to the witches than they thought.

Meanwhile, the other witch has Hansel by the dick, which elicited quite the response from both of us. Surprise from Cass, thrilled encouragement from Becks. She really went for it. Good for her. He did get his own back with a swift stab to the eye though, and then hitched a ride as she flew off on her broom.

Gretel then wakes up being molested by Goldilocks, as she ties to figure out the events and consequences of the night before. Becks would like to have seen Gretel give that kid a sharp smack at this point, and Cass would like to have seen her smack all types of people. That's the problem with this film, men.

Clint then shows through a little, as we find him hung upside down from a tree, moaning and generally exuding old man energy. But we don't like to compare Clint to Hansel. Because no.

As Gretel is beaten, bites a man's nose off, and is threatened with rape, Hansel gets his end off with the white witch in the pond. Quite different storylines right? It does lead us swiftly into another favourite part of the film for Cass, the part were we are introduced to the feminist troll. And what is this trolls name, we hear you ask? Well we’ll tell you. It’s Edward. Edward the troll. Who gave off creepy Ludo vibes, but out of all the men in the film seemed like one of the better ones.

Then we get told more important plot points.

"Once upon a time, near a shitty little town..." and everyone turns out to be a witch, apart from Hansel who has fucked one, so it’s sort of the same.

We'd like to say that we had sort of given up by this point in the film, although because we are professional women we did keep going until the bitter end, but our hearts and minds were not in it, so we apologise for the vagueness.

Gretel gets kidnapped again, and all the other witches turn up in their cool outfits and batman voices, then Hansel rocks up talking shit like any woman is going to listen to him, and then there are machine guns. It was a lot, and yet at the same time, somehow disappointing.

For supposedly very powerful women, they all seemed very easy to kill, and the male director really showed through with exploding heads and tits just suspended there.

Then we had the cheese wire trap. We really don't understand, if you're going to trap someone who can fly, surely you need to make your trap bigger then a few meters high? Surely just fly over it?!

@cassandrafey: What is this, We're Going on a fucking Bear Hunt?

@becksxoxo: Oooh, literary reference.

Anyway, most of them didn't just fly over, they flew through and got sliced the fuck up. Apart from the Head Witch, obvs, as she was the only one with a pissing brain in the whole coven.

Then we go back to the start, back to where it all began, the gingerbread house.

Hansel chooses to enter the building using a forward roll (and you all know how much we love a forward roll, it’s our favourite thing ever, and may have even redeemed the whole film for us.) It has inspired Cass to do this for each new place she enters, but without getting smacked in the face with a spade on completion.

We honestly don't know what happens next. There's a fight, and they managed to kill the Head Witch with the spade she smacked him in the face with. But they don't burn her, which we think will come bite them in the arse should a second film ever be made (gods we hope not).

Also look at that gif up there, alongside the context of a man saying to a woman "who did this to you?" and tell me you're confused if they're brother and sister or not. Neither of us have siblings, but we're pretty sure this is straying into Game of Thrones territory.

In conclusion, this movie was terrible.

We don't think this has been our best review ever, and we really are blaming it on the film we were working with. There is very little to comment on as the film is just so bleh. There is no substance, and very little style. We've read other people's reviews, and we just don't get it. It’s got over 6 stars on IMBD, and some high scoring reviews on Letterboxd. So many people have it down as a guilty pleasure, but we just don't get it. But if it has made you happy go for it. However, we will be enquiring as to who we need to contact to get all the time we have wasted on this film back.

Next week will be better. We're taking on Zodiac for our Bruce Banner film, with extra points as we also have dear Tony and fart helmet Quentin Beck. We shall see you then.

love becks and cass

[invisibleraven]

"C'mere, you" rulie

"TMZ reporting that superstar Julie Molina has ended her relationship with rugby star Nick Danforth Evans in a very public manner. Sources claim that Danforth Evans was caught..."

"Turn that crap off," Reggie called from the kitchen as he took the casserole out of the oven.

"But isn't she your favourite?" Luke asked, lowering the volume.

"Yeah, which is why I'm not celebrating her heartbreak like those vultures," Reggie replied. "I mean, good for her from getting away from that asshole, but I'm not dancing in the street because he turned out to be a cheating pig."

"You should totally send her a DM telling her to date you instead," Luke said around a mouthful of food. "You're single, she's single."

"She's a multi Grammy winning artist who could date any movie star or model she wants. Don't think she'd have much interest in a math teacher from Silver Lake," Reggie replied.

"You don't know that! You're a catch dude and after all those high profile douchebags, maybe a normal guy is what she needs," Luke argued. "Come on, we'll send her a message and the worst she does is ignore it."

And the thing about Reggie is that Luke could talk him into things super easily, so later after they had finished their food, and the dishes were clean, Reggie found himself posing for a picture that would get sent to the celebrity crush of his dreams.

@ cmonreginald: @ JulietheDahlia you deserve better than all those guys who treat you like less than the queen you are. If you ever wanna take a chance on a math nerd who shreds on the banjo, send me a note.

Of course, immediately after he let Luke hit the send button, Reggie kind of regretted it, sure that Julie would think he was some kind of creep, hitting on her right after she got dumped. Plus, who did he think he was? But as much as his finger hovered on the delete option, it never landed, and he left it, figuring it would be something he could laugh over in the future.

Only later that evening, as he was scrolling through his feed in bed, he stopped when he saw the notification of a new message light up.

@ JulietheDahlia: I'm not the best at math, but I am intrigued to hear more about this banjo shredding. How about you fill me in tomorrow night? Flying Duck at 7, see you then.

Reggie balked. There was no way that was the real Julie Molina asking him for a date. He put money on it being Luke with a dummy account trying to lift his spirits. Well if Luke wanted to carry through wit the joke and take Reggie to one of the fanciest restaurants in LA, Reggie was going to show up in style. With that in mind, he let himself sleep.

The next evening however, when Reggie showed up at the restaurant, he didn't see Luke waiting for him with a cheeky grin on his face. No, instead when he told them the reservation was under Molina, he was lead to a back table, where none other than Julie herself was waiting. Reggie sent up a silent thanks that he had worn his nicer suit as he was sat down.

"I-I didn't think it was actually going to be you," Reggie stammered. "Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?"

Julie let out a soft little giggle at that, reaching over and sliding her hand on top of his. "Feels real enough to me, but I can pinch you if you want."

"Maybe leave that for our second date," Reggie said with a smirk. "What on earth made you say yes to this? You must get thousands of sleazy messages... why me?"

"Well your message wasn't sleazy for one," Julie said, scanning her menu. "Plus you are awful cute." She looked up at him then, appreciating the flush that took over his cheeks before sighing. "Maybe I just wanted someone normal for once."

"I don't think normal is a word anyone who knows me would use as a descriptor, but okay," Reggie commented, loving how it made her smile. "So, what's good here that won't make me default on my rent?"

It was much later that the meal drew to a close when a staff member came over and whispered in Julie's ear making her face screw up. "The paps are here, right outside the door. I wish those vultures would find someone else to harass honestly. I was having a really good time too."

"You wanna sneak out and get ice cream then?" Reggie suggested. "I... kind of don't want this date to end."

"Me either," Julie admitted. "Sneaking out it is!" Thankfully the staff were helpful getting them out the back where Julie's town car was waiting, and she directed him to drive to a parlour that was hidden away in the hills.

"You know," Reggie said from where they were sitting on a lone picnic table overlooking the valley below, "When I got up this morning, this is the last place I thought I would end up. But I am so glad my roommate made me send you that message."

"Me too," Julie replied, then giggled when she looked at him. "You have ice cream on your face."

"Where?" Reggie asked, extending his tongue in an over exaggerated fashion to get it. Julie shook her head, pointing to the exact spot it was, but Reggie kept purposefully missing it.

"Oh c'mere you," Julie finally said, pulling him in, and kissing the creamy treat away, then sliding her mouth over his in a doubly delicious kiss.

Reggie was terribly glad they managed to evade the tabloids when they did, because this was one moment that he didn't want to share with anybody.

Even if his image was all over TMZ by the time their anniversary rolled around, but given Julie was under his arm with his ring on her finger in every image, Reggie found he didn't really mind.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

The 12 Nights of Christmas: Day 7.

Ngh…

Weatherwoman: For this week’s forecast, we’re expecting the temperature to drop even further. From the looks of things, we could be going down the road to a potential snowstorm hitting us.

Oh, how wonderful. Shame that your weather machines are a load o’ SHITE!

I could make a machine that predicted the weather 100% in my sleep ya’ lose-

*COUGH!* *SPLUTTER!* *COUGH!* *COUGH!* *SPLUTTER!*

*Miu starts to choke, grabs a tissue and blows her nose.

Don’t matter to me anywho…Not like I can go anywhere.

[Flashback]

From what I hear, ever since we made it back from the island, your body hasn’t had time to adjust to the cold temperature after being in the blazing hot sun.

And yet you still go out at night to test out your inventions. It’s no wonder you caught a cold.

I don’t mean to scold you, but please, for all our sake, take it easy on yourself.

Ngggh! It’s so fucking annoying!

I’m half tempted to fight through it and get back to work, but I’ll collapse if I try to…No doubt about it.

…Haaah…haaaah…!

UGH! FUCK IT-

*COUGH!* *COUGH!* *COUGH!* I-I’m goin’ out…

*Despite Kirumi’s prior warning, Miu gets up, puts on a mask and makes her way to the front door.

…

*However, she goes very slowly, and the front door to her apartment seems farther than usual.

Neegh…

*She opens the door, and is about to step outside, when suddenly…

Oh no you don’t!

Weeh!?

So…You really were going to go out and test your new inventions, despite your poor health.

What did I tell you? Spend enough time with Miu, and you’ll learn how she thinks. It’s hard to get her to listen to you when you tell her anything.

That being said, it seems we arrived in the nick of time.

The hell…*sniff* are you two doing here?

We brought you food and energy drinks, courtesy of Teruteru Hanamura.

We found out you’d fallen ill from Gonta. Knowing you Miu, even though you’re sick, I figured you hadn’t been eating all that well.

Kirumi’s busy with other tasks, so I told her that Emeleven and I will take care of you in her place.

You have done a lot to help BeeZero and myself. You clean and maintain our bodies without asking, and you’re always updating our functions and providing us with new one’s.

Since you have taken such good care of us, we are “returning the favor” as they say.

Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.

H-Hey! You guys!

Ngh…I can’t believe I just let them do this…

In any normal situation, I would respect your wishes…

But that was the mistake I made back at the tower. If I leave you to your own devices, you could land yourself in trouble.

Also, BeeZero insisted upon it, so even if I did not agree, I would have complied.

Well, now that I think about it…I guess I should be sayin’ thanks…

You are welcome. Now, open your mouth.

*Mii-Yu sticks a cold pack to Miu’s head, and spoon feeds her cold medicine. As she does, Keebo sticks his head in from the kitchen.

Miu? Where do you keep the oven mitts?

Huh? Uh…I dunno…Kirumi’s usually the one who does the cooking. Hold on lemme…

Ah, no, no, stay where you are, I’ll find them myself.

*Keebo goes back into the kitchen after assuring Miu to stay put.

Sorry if this is robophobic or some shit but…Do you guys even need to use oven mitts? Since you’re made of metal, don’t you like, conduct the heat or something?

It is not because the food is hot that we wear oven mitts.

Keebo, off-screen: To put it simply, we’re not made of the same metal as knives and forks, and I don’t want your food to be metal poisoned.

…I’d pry, but I don’t even have the energy.

Lie down. We will take care of it.

*Mii-Yu rests Miu down and enters the kitchen to help Keebo.

Did you find the oven mitts?

I found SOME oven mitts. Conveniently there are two pairs.

*Keebo takes out a pair of oven mitts. Keebo wears one pair and Mii-Yu wears the other. Mii-Yu’s pair are significantly larger.

…Scanning.

S-Scanning what?

…Hm…These mitts are a peculiarly large size. They look less like oven mitts, and more like baseball gloves.

If I was to take a guess, I’d say the pair you’re wearing belong to Gonta. He lives here too after all.

Yes. I arrived at the same conclusion. And after analyzing the pattern and size of the pair you are wearing, I presume they belong to Kirumi.

After all, compared to the one’s I am wearing, these are significantly less worn, implying they are used more.

Sharp eye you’ve got there.

Hm…It’s strange that Miu doesn’t have a pair. I know she moved out recently, but I don’t remember her taking any oven mitts out of the apartment with her.

I have done a quick analysis of the possible reasons, and have concluded that there are three most likely reasons among a selection of several.

Alright, hit me, what’ve you got.

Reason 1: Considering Kirumi and Miu used to live together, Kirumi was the one who did most of the cooking in the house. Therefore, Miu had no reason to cook, and thus didn’t think it appropriate to get her own pair of gloves.

Good point. What else?

Reason 2: Miu is a bad cook, and thus doesn’t try to make meals.

Hm…I’d like to defend her and say that her food is good, but I can’t taste it…

And Reason 3 [The reason I consider to be the most likely]: she does not wear gloves when she cooks because she is sensualized by the burning pain she feels when she touches the pot.

I…I’d think that as pretty ridiculous usually, but since it’s Miu we’re talking about…

Other reasons include: not being smart enough to realize she can wear gloves, banned from the kitchen after setting it on fire multiple times and-

Ah!?

*Mii-Yu is cut off as a thud is heard outside, when Miu throws something against the wall.

Miu: You ironclad fucks know that I can hear you, right!? *COUGH!* Gahh!

S-Sorry Miu.

Apologies.

The food is ready. I added a lot of ginger to help with the cold.

Be careful. It is hot.

Mngh…Thanks you guys…What’d you make me anyways?

Soup and udon.

Thankfully, we don’t have tear ducts, nor an ability to cry, so cutting onions is no problem for us!

Alright, I’ll take that.

*Already feeling better, Miu carefully starts to eat her meal.

…

W-Well?

Woah! This is actually super good!

R-Really?

Yeah! I mean, it’s no Kirumi or Teruteru, but it’s way better than I thought it would be!

To be honest, I didn’t even know you knew how to cook. And before you say anything, I’m not saying that because you’re a robot.

I know you better than that. And believe me, I’ve studied a lot. If there’s something I don’t understand, I study it until I know everything I need to about it.

That’s…impressive.

Well, no offense Miu, but people aren’t born as geniuses, like you seem to think so.

…

According to my database, at this point in time, a certain line should be said in response to getting good food…

“BeeZero. You will make a wonderful wife someday.”

Um…I appreciate it, but I think if it’s towards me, it doesn’t apply.

Psh, says you. You could be a malewife for all we know. Haha-

*COUGH!* *SPLUTTER!* Gah! Here I was thinking I was over the cough…

I believe it’s best that you get some rest now.

Agreed. I believe we’ve stayed long enough. The road to recovery is up to you now.

Just…stay in bed, alright? If you try to leave, we’ll need to tie you down.

That sounds pretty fun actually~

Miu, I’m being serious.

Alright, alright already, I won’t leave.

Alright…

*Keebo and Mii-Yu get to their feet, and get ready to leave.

Keebo! Mii-Yu! I’m…

I’m sorry you guys went out of your way to come take care of me…

As I already said, this is “returning the favor” After all the help you have provided us, this is the least we could do in exchange.

She’s right. And even if that wasn’t a factor, we should help each other out at times like this. It’s just the natural thing to do.

It’s not just us either. Kaede, Kirumi, Shuichi and all the others are worried about you. Make sure you get better, for our sake, ok?

…Alright…

Get some rest now. And make sure to give me a phone call should anything be wrong.

*Miu nods, and closes her eyes.

[A few hours later]

…?

*Miu sits up in bed after taking a long rest.

Well…my fever’s gone down at least…

*She removes the ice pack from her head and goes to the first aid cabinet to get herself a new one. However, before she can, she suddenly notices something on the coffee table.

Hm?

*She picks up the piece of paper.

To Miu Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, you would have recovered well enough on your own. If you’re still not feeling 100%, then I suggest you take a few more days off. Make sure to call me if you need anything. Yours Faithfully -Keebo.

…Heh. And this is why you’re my favorite.

[katb357]

Sicktember 2: “Homesick”

P. Newkirk/K. Langenscheidt/Hogan’s Heroes

This story takes place in Stalag 13’s Cooler and consists of all dialogue. Thank you to my fantastic writing partner Xav for the RP!

Peter Newkirk had landed himself in the cooler again and Karl Langenscheidt was his guard on the night shift. Both of them found themselves homesick on this long night, and, though they had little in common, they began to talk of home, and what they missed the most. Karl began the conversation.

“I am think of Mama’s Semmeln, fresh von the oven. She is quite the baker, my Mama.”

“Sem what? Sounds like a sneeze, mate!”

Karl spoke dreamily, “The canteen Brötchen just can’t measure up.  And her Kuchen… mit chocolate and coconut. Ahh, that is delicious. Semmeln. You call them rolls, I think.”

Peter rolled over on the hard bunk and considered. “Britchen? Kitchen? Ah, okay, chocolate I get. Rolls, huh? Me mum bakes good bread. The best.”

“Nice and crusty rolls. Mama brings them von the oven und we slice them open when they are still hot and drizzle honey over them.” Then he realized what Peter had said. “Not ‘kitchen’ ‘kuchen’… it is… cake.”

Peter snickered. “We never had much cake unless we nicked it from the corner shop. Then mum would box our ears for us.”

“Box ears?  What is this? And what is nicked?”

“Nicked, swiped, stole. Boxed, smacked. Mum did her best to keep us honest, but keeping up with ten of us wasn't easy.”

“Wait here a moment, Newkirk. I will come right back.” Returns a moment later with a box “Mama sent me a package.” Opens it up and produces a chocolate cake. “You must taste it. Then you will know my Mama is the best baker.”

Takes a bite “Oi, that is good mate. But me mum's crumpets are better than even this. She took in washing for a toff what’s cook taught her to make 'em.”

Frowns “You cannot think anything is better than Mama’s cake.” Considers for a moment. “Then again, the English palate… it is… schwach.”

Raises an eyebrow and frowns dangerously. “It's what?”

“Unrefined. Maybe better word is unkultiviert.”

Peter simply stared for a moment...

“But… schlicht is easier. And means simple, unpretentious.”

“Well, we ain't toffs if that's what you mean.”

Smiles nervously. “It is only… English tastes are… quite simple. So I have been told. You are not accustomed to the finer things… like Mama’s Kuchen.”

Seems unsure if he's been insulted or not. “Maybe it's a good thing you're on that side of the bars, mate. Me mum's cooking is fine...just fine, thankee.”

“But there is more to cooking than Nachtisch… I mean… dessert… and Bro— bread. What else does your mother cook?”

“Anything she needs to. Three times a day. For a family of eleven when we were growing up, twelve when me old man was around. She kept us fed and fed well on not much money.”

“What is your favorite meal?”

“Chicken pot pie with real chicken. Cherry tarts for dessert.”

Raises an eyebrow and blushes slightly. “Tarts?”

“Small pies. Flaky and crusty... mum makes 'em perfectly.”

Chuckles “Ahh, this is not what I was thinking tarts meant. I am thinking tarts are…” Lowers his voice

“Women of questionable virtue!”

Bursts out laughing “I can see 'ow you'd think that, but no. You'd like 'em. I sure miss 'em. And her.”

Nods slowly “I also miss my Mama. And my Schwester. Ahh, she is a very good cook. I miss her Nudelauflauf.”

“Fluffy noodles?”

“Not fluffy. I don’t know your English word for it… Auflauf… it… runs over? It crowds? You pour all the parts in one dish and bake it together. Sauce and cheese and noodles…”

“Macaroni and Cheese!”

“Sort of… not entirely—a spaghetti casserole.”

“Spaghetti and cheese, then. I could live with that.”

“There is also Kartoffelauflauf… potatoes instead of noodles. My Schwester’s is the best.”

“No potatoes for me, mate. And no cabbage, either. Sick of both, thanks.”

“We do eat many potatoes here. But they are not prepared like Katja’s. I would love a plate full of hers. Don’t tell my Mama, but she does not cook potatoes so well as my Schwester.”

“I would never doom a man like that.”

“You are a good fellow, Newkirk, even if you are English.”

“You're not so bad for a German, either mate.”

“Verdammt, Newkirk… now I am hungry. And homesick.”

“And I am also stuck in here for another 27 days...”

“You have only yourself to blame, my friend.”

“Maybe you can get your Mama to bake a cake with a file in it for me.”

Sighs heavily, then pushes the box into Newkirk’s hands “There is no file. But you have the rest of this. She’ll send me another.”

“Thanks mate. I'll share it with the others later tonight. Don't tell anyone, right?”

“My lips are sealed…. This is what one says, yes?”

“Good man! Yes!”

“I knew no English when I came to this Stalag. Now I speak very good.”

“You learn from the best!”

“Tell me, Newkirk. What do you miss most from your home?”

“The pub. The Red Lion.”

“Ahh, the pub. We call this die Kneipe.”

“What do you miss the most besides your mam's cooking?”

“Ahh, I miss the Alps. I could see them from my bedroom window.”

“The north is not so beautiful as my home in Bayern.”

“I've heard of them. Never seen big mountains like that.”

“Papa and I would go wandering… hiking?… together, and we would stop for a beer at a Gasthaus when we were reached the end of the trail.”

“Me old man wandered the pubs a lot too. I used to go rousting him out at the end of the night pretty often.”

“No, I do not mean wandering the pubs. We take a long walk in the mountains and then we stop for a refreshing drink and a bite to eat at a Gasthaus that is meant to serve wanderers.”

“Oi, I know that mate. Forget it. Homesickness is making me silly. Let me get some shut eye and I'll be fine.”

“Yes, shut eye. Perhaps I will get some too.” Winks “But you won’t tell anyone, yes?”

“Me lips are sealed!”

“Good man! I will only wait until you are sleeping.”

“G'night mate.”

“Guten Nacht, Newkirk”

The End

[hello-everyfandom]

“Stay next to me then, so I can protect you.”

Warnings: Mentions of violence, war

Pairing: George Weasley x Reader

Words: 2.9k

Summary: Small snippets of your pregnancy with George Weasley

Part One: “I never said I was good at picking names, for all I care we could call them Bob.”

It was easy to fall in love with George Weasley. You had fallen in love with him as quickly as it was to pluck a flower from a meadow or quicker than a simple blink of the eye. You two were quite happy together, there was no doubt in your mind that George was your fellow, the man you wanted to spend the rest of eternity with.

A pop sounded rather loud and your head felt dizzy as you stabilized yourself after apparating out of the wedding. George placed a hand on your lower back and looked at you grimly, hearing the Death Eaters continue to rampage the wedding. The rest of the Weasley’s, besides a certain Ron, began popping in as well. 

George, rubbing soothing circles on your back, leaned and whispered, “Don’t worry, Love. ‘verything will be alright.” You looked back and nodded silently, clutching his arm.

“What will we do?”

“I expect they will come in and-” before Mr. Weasley could respond, multiple Death Eaters stormed the Burrow, pointing wands and yelling orders. Guests who remained and the Weasley’s were questioned rigorously. You had watched nervously, hands intertwined, until a Death Eater who you couldn’t place a name to, pulled you and George into the interrogation room. 

“What is your name?” He asked your boyfriend who answered confidently.

“George Weasley.”

“Blood status?”

“Pureblood.” George squeezed your hand without breaking eye contact with the man who looked at you with extreme loathing.

“Where is Harry Potter?”

“I don’t know.” George lied.

“Don’t lie. Tell us the whereabouts of Harry Potter, and perhaps we will leave your family unharmed.” 

“He said he didn’t know.” You hissed harshly, glaring at him.

He turned, “Name?”

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Blood status?”

“Half-blood.”

“Proof of magical blood?”

“My father was a wizard.”

“Was?”

“He’s dead. He died a few years ago.”

The Death Eater seemed to grin wickedly, “As I hear, you have no true proof of wizarding lineage. And no lasting connecting,” he licked his teeth, “to any magical being. Who did you steal your magic from?” his voice lowered in disgust, he nearly spat. 

“This is preposterous! She didn’t steal anyone’s magic, she was raised as a wizard!” George yelled, the veins of his neck popping out. His face began to turn red as his hand moved to his back pocket where his wand was.

“If there is factual evidence that can be proven, I will have to take her to the ministry to be fully detained.”

“Like hell, you will,”

“George,” you whispered, attempting to calm your boyfriend. “My father raised me alone, as a wizard. He worked in the ministry, you may look him up and I’m sure you will see my birth records.”

“Artifice and forgery are easy to construct, assuming that your birthright and blood status is correct, you still do not have any lasting relationships in the wizarding world. I’ll ask one more time, who did you steal your magic from.”

“I did not steal anything, I was born with it.” your voice slightly wavering.

“Then, I’m afraid,” his smile grew sickening and wider, “That we will have to interrogate you further at the ministry.” His hand reached and snatched your arm, beginning to bruise it with his fingers. George jumped up,

“She’s my fiancee!”

The Death Eater twisted to face him, “Lies!”

“No lies.” George looked at you pleadingly, “We just got engaged tonight, at the wedding. We’re to be married in months.”

The Death Eater sneered at you and dropped your arm, “And you would want to marry this filth?”

George gathered you in his arms, and snarled back, “It’s a wizarding connection, is it not?” and pulled you out of the interrogation room.

“George, they’ll wring you for that,” you whispered, eyeing the surrounding Death Eaters.

“They won’t if it’s true.”

“But, it’s not true. Darling, please, I’m afraid for you.”

“It may as well be,” George gathered your hands and kissed the knuckled, “We love each other, don’t we?”

“I love you with all my heart,”

“Then, why don’t we get married? Why aren’t we married right now?”

“Because...” you tried to think of a good excuse, but nothing came to mind. It was true. You loved George and he loved you and with the war thundering upon your heads.

“Exactly, so marry me, please,” George whispered again.

“Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, George.”

--

The day you told George you were pregnant you were terrified. Perhaps terrified is not the right word, but the only thing you could think of was the fear running through your veins. It wasn’t as if George’s excitement for a child had been a secret, you learned at the wedding he was quite ecstatic to begin a life with you. However, the fear came from the war. You feared for your unborn child being born into a world of prejudice, violence, and anger. But, as you sat down with George in your small shared apartment, you couldn’t shake the nerves that seemed to plague your mind.

“What is it, Y/N? You’re worrying me.” George asked.

“I need to tell you something,”

“Go on, then, love. I’ve never seen you so serious.” George chuckled humorlessly.

“I went to St. Mungos today.”

“What?” George jumped, holding your hands and scanning you for wounds or injuries, “Why? What happened? I knew I shouldn’t have gone into work today I-”

“George, please, calm down.”

“What’s happened? Has someone come into the apartment?”

“George-”

“Were you hurt? How did you get to St. Mungos? Did you-”

“George,” you cupped his face lovingly, “I’m pregnant.”

Silence. George’s mouth fell as his eyes widened.

“Please say something, Georgie. Now you’re scaring me,” you laughed, rubbing his cheeks with the pads of your thumbs.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, Georgie.”

“As in, baby? In you? From sex?”

“That’s generally how they are made, darling.” you laughed. George’s face broke into a smile, his freckles seemed to glow as he jumped up from his seat and pulled you to your feet. 

“You’re pregnant!” He beamed, spinning you around. The nerves you had previously felt before had dissipated as George peppered your face with kisses. 

“We’re pregnant, George, we’re having a baby.” you felt tears well in your eyes as George pressed a long, loving kiss on your lips. 

“I am,” George laughed, “I am overwhelmed.”

“You’re overwhelmed? I have a baby growing in me!”

George spun you around once more, “You have a baby growing in you!” He turned and yelled into the apartment, “Fred! Fred get in here, you silly oaf! Get in here!”

You heard a loud thud as footsteps ran towards you. Fred, with shampoo in his hair and a towel wrapped around his waist, held his wand up in case of danger. You immediately shut your eyes,

“Fred, dear god, you could’ve put some clothes on!”

“I was in the bloody shower, what in merlin’s pants is going on? I’ve nearly cracked ‘m head open!”

“Fred, for god’s sake, shut the hell up!”

Fred looked around the small apartment living room frantically before looking at George. His eyes lowered to his twin’s hands on your stomach and his wide smile. He looked back and forth from George’s hands to your stomach before slowly looking up with a grin placed on his face.

“George, you did not.” He said.

“George, I did,” George replied, smiling widely.

“George,” Fred warned, “is she-is she pregnant?”

“She so is,” you answered.

“Oh my god! You’re! She’s. And You! Oh, I-”

“Fred,” you put your hands our warily, watching Fred begin to sway. Fred’s eyes rolled as his arms flapped and he fainted.

When Fred’s eyelids began to flutter, he managed to regain focus from the ground staring up at his brother and his wife’s worried faces. His hands flew to his chest and then down to his towel which he was glad was still there.

“Alright, I agree, we probably should’ve waited,” George turned to you,

“I’m surprised he didn’t just die on sight, ‘ve only just found out today.”

“Mate?” George pulled his twin’s shoulders so he was sitting up, “you doing alright? You had quite a fall.”

“You fainted, remember? Your towel fell off, but I-uh- closed my eyes.”

Fred looked back and forth before jumping up and slamming George in a death grip hug.

“More than alright! Bloody hell, we’re having a baby!” 

“Yeah, we are!” George hugged him back, 

“Ye-wait, we?” you asked.

“Yes, we! Get ‘ver here, Y/N! You little oven heater for our bun!” Fred reached his arms out, you laughed and backed away.

“How about, I’ll give you a hug when you’re all settled and dressed,”

Fred pointed, “She’s a smart one, she is?”

“The smartest.” George could feel the happiness swell in his chest, the pride he felt for his family, and the love he exuded for you.

By the time you were perfectly plump and showing, George seemed to fret over you even more. From making cups of tea to helping you get up, you never seemed to lift a finger. However, the smothering seemed to drive you slightly insane as all you wanted to do was lay on the couch and read a novel without George constantly on your shoulder.

“Love, I’m alright, you’re acting as if I am on bed rest.”

“Bed rest!” he exclaimed, “That’s a brilliant idea, come on then, go on to bed,”

You groaned, “George, that was a joke! Please, I’m perfectly content where I am. Now hurry on to work before Fred becomes cross with you.” you leaned and kissed him on the cheek before handing him his briefcase and nudging him out the door.

“Send me an owl if, bloody hell woman, stop trying to shut the door and- ouch! Y/N!” he yelled after you accidentally nicked his foot under the door.

“Love you, too darling! Have a good day at work!” you said before closing the door. 

For a while, the silence was quite nice until the silence became longer. You glanced at the clock worriedly at the kitchen table as late afternoon turned to evening. Fred and George were usually home by now, and of course, they could be restocking, but it was unlike George to be so late especially now when his wife was pregnant. You stirred your tea before sipping it lightly, not really paying attention to the flavors and more of your nerves. Your hand on your plump belly as you caressed it softly. 

“Daddy will be home soon, yeah?” you whispered.

As evening turned into night, you debated on sending him an owl message or even floo-ing down to Diagon Alley. Just as your hands reached for the parchment, the door burst open. Fred and George barged in with wands in hand, waving quickly to summon clothing and suitcases. 

“George!” you screamed as you ran towards him, “What’s happened? What’s going on?”

“We need to leave,” George said seriously, “Y/N, love, grab your wand and the things you need.”

“But-”

“Now!” George’s voice raised. You were not frightened by his yelling but rather the grim expression on his face. You hurried and gathered your wand and slipped on some shoes. Fred quickly packed any photographs and business papers for the shop as George moved clothing into suitcases. Your hands, quick and nimble, helped George’s shaky ones. You zipped the suitcase and snapped it shut before standing, a hand on your stomach.

“What’s happening, George?”

“The burrows been attacked, we need to go. Bill and Fleur are expecting us.” George looked around for Fred before his eyes softened at your worried face. George’s hands grabbed the back of your neck as he placed a soft kiss on your forehead. “Need to get you and the little one out of here. Fred?”

“Right here.” Fred popped next to George, suitcase in hand. “Alright, Y/N?”

“As alright as I can be.” 

You looked back at the seemingly empty apartment and grabbed hold on George’s hand as the twins whisked you away.

--

With the due date just weeks away, you struggled to do daily tasks. Frustration was key on your face as you listened to the Order of the Pheonix explain the battle strategies. Much to George’s despise, the baby would be due a month before the battle meaning, if you were completely healed and ready, could fight alongside the Order of the Pheonix.

“Y/N, stop it.”

“George, if you are going to fight, I am too,” you argued. It was exhausting arguing with George, even when you were younger. He seems to only hear out one ear and out the... well. 

“You’d have just given birth!”

“It would be a month after and-”

“This is not up for discussion, Y/N. I can’t lose you.” George sat on your shared bed, putting his head in his hands, “I can’t lose you.”

You sat next to him, wrapping your small arms around his broad shoulders, “You would never lose me. But, I have to do what is right, and if you are going to fight then I will too.”

“Then I won’t fight.”

“Of course you will, Georgie.” 

“No! We can stay here and we can stay with the baby-”

You shushed him softly and kissed his shoulders. “You know this is what’s right.”

His shoulders shook with a small cry, “Stay next to me then, so I can protect you.” George faced you, wrapping his arms around your pregnant figure, 

“I’ll never leave your side,” you leaned and kissed your husband.

As Fleur braided your soft hair and hummed a french tune, you leaned on her deep in thought. The smell of the salty sea and the sand made you think even harder.

“Fleur?” you asked,

“Yes?” she answered back. You turned from your position to face her beautiful face.

“I need to ask you something,”

“Vhat iz it, Y/N?”

“If...” you inhaled a shaky breath. “If anything happens to George or me during the battle...”

“Plez do not zalk like that, you and George will be fine.” Fleur pleaded, grabbing hold of your hand.

“I’m not oblivious to the war, I understand that there will be... casualties.” you swallowed, “but George and I plan to be there for the battle and...”

“You and Georgie will be okay.”

“Please, Fleur?” she stayed silent, tears in her blue eyes, “If George and I die, please, I. I don’t want my baby to...” you chocked up.

“Iz okay, Y/N. I understand.” She rubbed your arms comfortingly. “Bill and I will do anything for ze baby.” 

“Thank you.” your voice cracked as Fleur leaned and placed her forehead against yours. “Thank you.”

--

“Molly?” you called from the small sitting room.

“Yes, dearie?” she approached, wiping her hands on a towel.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Molly sat on the edge of the couch where you laid. Your hands laid on your stomach, now huge and ready to burst. Molly reached and brushed the hair off your forehead and gave you a motherly smile, “How is my grand-child doing?”

“Other than a little finicky and particularly opposed to any sweets or anything I feed them, I think are doing quite well.”

“The little one’s picky, isn’t she? Wait until she meets her Grandmother, she’ll be stuffed with to the brim.”

 You laughed, “How are you so sure she’s a she?”

“Oh well, call it a mother’s intuition,” Molly waved her hand.

“I, well. My question was... well. You had seven children,”

“I knew this question was coming,” Molly placed her hand on your stomach and another on your arm, “It’s not as bad as you think.”

“Are you sure? I feel as though I’m ready to pop,”

“Truly, Dear, I will be there, George will as well.”

“I’m scared, I think, thas all,” you mumbled, looking at your pregnant belly.

“I understand, when I was pregnant with Charlie, I practically broke Arthur’s hand!”

“You should’ve seen her pregnant with Ginny,” George’s voice chimed in. You turned to see your smiling husband approach and kiss the top of your head. “Nearly tore our heads off,”

“Oh,” Molly blushed and smacked her son’s arm, “If only my sons weren’t acting like fools, then perhaps I would’ve been more lenient.” 

“We still haven’t decided on a name,” George said, “This one,” he pointed at you, “Likes the name Posy.”

“Posy is a wonderful name,” you defended, 

“I still think Herbert is a nice name,”

“I’m not doing this again, Georgie, we’re not naming our child Herbert!”

“Why not!” George argued. Molly watched in amusement as the two of you bickered, “We could call him Herb for short.”

“What if it’s a girl?”

“Herba.”

You groaned making George laugh. It was only until you groaned louder when he stopped. You gasped sharply and sat up, “Oh my-”

“The baby’s coming!” Molly yelled excitedly, helping you off up the couch. “Come on then George, don’t just stand around! Help your wife into the bedroom!”

George froze, his face blank. It appeared that fire lit in his face as he quickly grabbed ahold of your arms, steadying you as you breathed rapidly. “Don’t freak out,” 

“I’m not freaking out!”

“I’m not talking about you! I’m talking about me!”

“If I make it out alive after this, George, I’m going to punch you.”

George let out a loud laugh before helping you into the bedroom, “You sound like Mum.”

[the-neverletmegoxo]

The Fae and the Prince

Author: Ok people! This is a doozy! Too be honest I love a good build up! Stay tuned for the next part where Y/N and Caliban spend the night.. :)

Summary: The Carnival!! FINALLY! 

Part 6:

Your eyes quickly readjusted to the inside of the dim tent. The smell of jasmine and incense were so overwhelming, you had to hold a cough in. You glanced around the intimate room, noticing a few candles lit with some plush velvet floor cushions scattered in various places and an old gramophone with a broken pavillon.

“Hello?” you said announcing yourself.

You sat down hoping whoever was telling fortunes would find you ready to spend your tokens. You saw a book that looked as though it had been read over 100 times. Being your curious self, you reached out to turn it towards you, Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft.

‘Why would a fortuneteller have a book on—Oh no. Oh shit.’ As you went to stand up and get the hell out of there, a voice interrupted your next move.

“Here to get your fortune told?”

“Oh, uh, actually I have to leave. I completely forgot I left my oven on at home.”

“I don’t think you’ll be heading home after what happened earlier this evening.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

You stopped in your tracks, slowly turning toward the fortuneteller. She looked as though she had stepped right out of a silent film from the ‘30s. Her short, curly bob was perfectly pinned to frame her face. She was wearing a velvet shawl and a shift nightie. The woman’s eye makeup smoked to make her purple eyes pop out of her face. ‘Purple?’ Normally, this would terrify you, but there was something alluring that made you walk towards her.

“What did you just say?”

“Sit, child. Let me read your fortune.” She formed a smile that caused your heart to start thumping out of your chest.

Some force made you sit back down. “Now let’s read the cards.” She laid out three cards. You had seen readings done before, and you knew this wouldn’t be a typical reading.

“The Devil. Interesting. Opposites attract they say and with where this is placed it could be very pleasurable for you. In way, though, it could mean enslavement for you.”

You glanced away from the card and looked at the woman. She had an enticing smirk on her face. She licked her lips, and it gave you the chills.

“The Tower. Now this does not seem to match, but it could coincide with The Devil in the sense of disaster. It could also mean that you may be challenging outdated beliefs. A lover maybe. Something has been tormenting you, my dear.”

You thought to the conversation you and Caliban had, about never being able to be together. Maybe, somehow, someway, you could figure out a way for the two of you to be together.

‘Y/N. What are you thinking? You ca—. What’s that?’ It sounded like a hum.

You titled your head and looked at the woman. Her grin had grown into full on Cheshire.

“Everything alright, my dear?” Her voice had an angelic tone to it, but at the same time sounded muffled. You nodded your head sleepily. “Now that I have your full attention, let us finish the fortune.” She flipped the last card. Death. ‘How perfect?’ you thought. You giggled to yourself, pulling your hands up to your mouth to try to hush the chortle.

“Yes, my dear, Death. How befitting? Now, let’s get you something to drink.”

She grabbed both of your hands and pulled you out of the chair. The woman twirled you towards the back room. The lullaby still ringing in your ears.

She pushed you onto one of the floor pillows. The weight of your head flew back. It was as if you had no support from your neck. Your body felt completely limp. You were a dead weight. With nothing to support your head, you slowly turned toward the fortuneteller, who was concocting some by her bar cart.

‘Hmm. How funny. Such a silly, silly room.’ You giggled once again.

“Hush, my sweet child, this won’t last for very long.” She walked towards you, carrying what looked like a gold goblet.

Everything was blurry now. You rolled your head back. Something in your gut told you this wasn’t right, but something else said that this song was so sweet; everything was going to be ok. Your eyes slowly rolled back in your head.

A strong scent of what you thought was bubblegum, brought you back to your “senses.” The gold glass was now directly in front of you.

“Now sip, my dear. The warm liquid will just sting a bit, but I promise, you and I will go to someplace fun.”

You tried lifting your head to take a sip, suddenly realizing how dry your mouth was. Something to drink sounded perfect.

The woman reached for the back of your neck to help lift you up. Her hand, surprisingly cold. Your bottom lip touched the stark, cold, metal cup. All of the sudden the liquid spilled all over the pillow.

The cold hand supporting the back of your head disappeared. A warm one replaced the support of your neck. You no longer felt the plush pillow on your back, but instead the cold, autumn air. Your arms were completely limp, but you could feel a body beneath your left one, that was tucked by your side. Someone was carrying you and fast. You could feel the wind whip your hair over your face and suddenly it stopped. You felt the damp grass press into your back. You heard muffled voices moving around you. You moaned and rolled your head to the side, and then everything went black.

--

A warm breath tickled your ear.

“Y/N. Y/N, please wake up. Why isn’t it working? You call yourself a witch?” a voice said through their teeth.

“It should work. Just give it time. It needs time. At least that’s what my aunties said.”

You could feel that same warm hand, that lifted your neck, hold onto yours. Every so often, it would squeeze yours to reassure you, whoever it was, was still there. Your mind, still groggy, recognized that hand. ‘Caliban.’ You moaned from the pain you felt in your head. Your eyes slowly blinked open, and then immediately shut. Too much. You rolled over, forehead against the grass.

“Y/N” a husky tone said, no louder than a whisper. A hand immediately went to the small of your back and then to your shoulder to help you sit up.

“Y/N! Oh, thank Satan! You’re alive!” You slowly opened your eyes and saw Sabrina, Roz and Theo kneeling in front of you. The three of them went in for a hug.

“Oh!” you yelped in pain. The three pulled back, realizing you were sore from whatever happened to you. You didn’t know what the hell happened to you. You just remember a hum. You looked up and saw Harvey, Nick and Robin standing over the group of you. You glanced behind you, remembering the hand at the base of your backside. You looked up to the eyes of your protector, Caliban. He gave you a small smile, accepting your thank you.

“Y/N. What in Lucifer’s name happened to you?” “I have no idea. I walked into the fortuneteller’s tent to get my tarot read and then the last thing I remember is hearing a lullaby and smelling bubblegum.”

Sabrina’s face drained of its natural color. “What? What is going on? What do you know?” you asked the group in an exasperated tone.

“Well we were all doing our own thing at the carnival and Nick and I met up with Roz and Harvey, when Roz saw Caliban running toward the tent you described,” Sabrina said.

Roz jumped in, “Then all of the sudden I received a cunning vision of a mermaid with a drink and she was singing. Harvey had to jerk me awake because my lungs started filling with water.”

“And then Robin and I saw Roz choking and ran over to see what was up. When she woke from the vision, she ran towards the forest. That’s when we saw Caliban kneeling over you trying to wake you.”

“A siren,” a deep voice interrupted the explanation. “It was a siren, not a mermaid.” Caliban turned toward you and went on to tell you the rest of what you couldn’t recall. “I called for Sabrina and told her what I thought had happened. You were pulled into a trance by a siren. I didn’t think you drank any of her potion, so I explained to Sabrina what happened.”

“Well you should have mentioned the bubblegum smell, Caliban. If she had, things would have been a lot worse and that spell wouldn’t have worked,” Sabrina snapped at the Prince of Hell.

“I flung all of the contents out of that siren’s goblet. And besides her color was normal” Caliban gritted through his teeth.

“What do you know about that kind of poisoning, you couldn’t even save her!”

“Enough!” you screamed at the two of them. “Please. Please the ringing in my ears hasn’t gone away yet.”

‘Sorry,’ Sabrina mouthed to you.

You gave her a reassuring smile. “Can someone just, please, take me home?”

“I will,” Caliban whispered to you.

“Caliban. Why must you insert yourself into our problems?” Sabrina snorted.

“’Brina. Stop. Enough already, the both of you. I think Caliban has proven himself worthy to be trusted by our group.” You gave her a glare and she gave in. “Besides, you guys need to figure out what the hell that was that hypnotized me and make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else in Greendale, ok? I’m going to go back to your place, ‘Brina, and sleep this day off.”

She gave you a warm smile. With that, you hugged the group, said your goodbyes and made your way back to the mortuary with Caliban.

As the group walked away to go figure out what was going in this carnival, you still sat on the ground.

“Are you ok to walk? We can wait here for a while, until you feel comfortable to go.” Caliban looked at you with sorrowful eyes.

“I’m totally good. Besides, I wanna get the hell out of here. I never want to see those pagans again.” You went to push yourself off the ground, as you stood for a second, to regain your balance, you wobbled and knew you were head straight for the ground. Caliban immediately caught you. Your hand grasped onto his upper arm. You looked up your savior. “You always seem to be saving me.”

“Someone’s got to” Caliban said in half whisper. “I’ll help you walk, just wrap your arm around my waist.” Your eyes went wide looking back up at the prince.

“Trust me, fae. I’m not going to try anything, especially since you’re incapacitated.” You gave a small laugh. He wrapped one of his hands around your waist the other held your arm that wrapped around his waist.

The two of you walked slowly towards the Spellman’s House, for you were too weak to partake in Caliban’s “fire transportation magic trick.”

Every now and then, you would look up at the Prince of Hell. The moon was perfectly accenting his facial features. You were careful not to stare too long, in case he caught you admiring him. “Like what you see, fae?” he said in a sarcastic tone.

‘How did he know?’ you gave a small laugh-cough. “No it’s just—ha! Umm, how much longer?”

“Well at this pace, we won’t be there until dawn.” Without even giving you a chance to respond, he hoisted you up into his arms, as if you were as light as a feather.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” “What, fae? You said how long and that you wanted to get the hell out of there. And besides you’re too weak to walk, not to mention teleport.”

You shook your head in defeat.

Before you knew it, Caliban was setting you down, carefully, on the Spellman’s porch.

Surprisingly the lights weren’t on. You knew Sabrina and Nick wouldn’t be there, but were a little confused as to why the aunties weren’t. On your way in, you saw the guest house lights on. That was reassuring to know your mom was there. You sent her a text, letting her know that you were back safe, although she probably wouldn’t respond, for it was well past her bedtime.

You turned toward Caliban, not realizing his hand was still on your waist. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“You sure you’re going to be ok? I’m happy to escort you inside, fae.” “Caliban, I’m fine. I promise you.”

“Ok, well I’ll be out here. I’ll see you in the morning.” “What? What do you mean you’ll be out here?”

“You think I’m leaving you in this house alone? No way, fae.”

“It’s too cold out her—.”

“Fae, I’m the Prince of Hell. I don’t get cold.”

“Ok, well at least come inside for some tea.” You went to walk towards the door, and your legs felt like Jell-O. You started swaying to the left and Caliban caught you again.

“Ok, this is getting really old…” He laughed, wrapped his arm around your waist and walked you inside. You didn’t know how long he would stay, but it was nice to know you wouldn’t be alone tonight.

[hopelikethemoon]

Dinner With Friends (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Dinner With Friends Rating: PG-13 Length: 3500 Warnings: Family Fluff and extremely mild angst.  Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. And release order here. Set in January 1998. Shout to the one and only Tiernan for supplying the twist in this chapter.  Summary: Reader and Javier host the Murphys for dinner.

Taglist:  @grapemama​  @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @hiscyarika @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale  @roxypeanut @just-add-butter @snivellusim @amarvelousmandalorian @lukesrighthand @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @exrebelshocktrooper @awesomefandomsunited​ @ah-callie​ @swhiskeys​ @lady-tano​ @beskar-droids​ @space-floozy @cable-kenobi​ @longitud-de-onda​ @cool-ultra-nerd​ @himbopoes​ @findhimfives​ @pedrosdoll​ @seeking-a-great--perhaps​ @frietiemeloen​ @arrowswithwifi​ @random066​ @uncomicalhumour​ @heather-lynn​ @domino-oh-damn​ @cyarikaaa​ @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage @ksgeekgirl​  @yabby-girl @xqueenofthecraziesx @punkass-potato @coredrive @pascalesque @theduchessofkirkcaldy @queenquazar (if I forget to tag you, I’m sorry)

“Stevie!” You called out when she started barking loudly — Josie had ensnared her into a game with Olivia and Emily and her patience seemed to be wearing as thin as your own. 

“Did you really have to name her Stevie?”

Steve questioned, shaking his head slowly as he leaned against the kitchen counter and watched you press the button on the top of the lettuce spinner. 

“I love Stevie Nicks.”

He pointed at you, “And that is bullshit.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re just jealous that Sofía isn’t Stevie.” 

Steve glared, “Well if it starts with ‘S’.” 

“I’m sorry, do you have an issue with our daughter being named for Javier’s late mother?” You questioned, folding your arms across your chest briefly, before you emptied out the tossed lettuce into a larger bowl. 

“Not when you put it that way.” Steve huffed, shaking his head as he took a swig of beer. “How are… things going?”

You glanced over your shoulder at him, “The drought was quenched almost five months ago. Thank God.” 

Steve blanched, “I don’t need to know about that.”

“You asked.”

He narrowed his eyes, “About how things are going.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. 

You laughed, shrugging your shoulders. “I’m doing better. There’s still difficult days, but I work through them.” You chewed on your bottom lip. “And Javier is good at helping me.”

“He’s always been more than willing to give you a hand.” Steve said with a slow shake of his head. “The two of you were inseparable.”

You felt a faint blush rise to your cheeks. “I know. And we still are.” You grabbed a handful of freshly washed radishes and started cutting them down into smaller pieces for the salad. “He’s still just as stubborn about everything.”

“Shit. Isn’t he?” Steve snorted, rocking his head to the side.”I don’t know how you put up with that grumpy son-of—“

“Mommy!” Josie called out from the threshold of the kitchen. “Mommmmmy.”

You sat the knife aside and turned back to look at her, hands on your hips. “What’s up?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Dinner is almost ready.” You assured her. “Why don’t you go check on daddy outside?”

“Okay mommy.” Josie beamed at you. “Does daddy have sissy?”

“Aunt Connie does, rugrat.” Steve told her, “She’s out in the backyard with your father.”

“Thank you.” She said politely before leaving through the back door, followed by Emily and Olivia. 

“She gets away with everything doesn’t she?”

“With Javier? Oh, yeah. I’m the strict parent. Always.” You shook your head with a laugh. You didn’t actually mind filling the role of the strict parent, mostly because Javier was a marshmallow of a father.

“I wouldn’t have guessed that.” He remarked as he took a drink of  his beer, “You’ve always been the fun one. Javier? I didn’t know that fun was in his vocabulary.”

You rolled your eyes, “For the record, he was actually very fun in Colombia.”

“Really?” Steve gave you a skeptical look. “I think that might be the rose colored glasses talking.” He gestured to you with the bottle. “You were the positive influence he needed.” 

“Yeah,” You agreed. “He would’ve worked himself to death, if I hadn’t been there.” You scooped up the radishes you’d cut, tossing them into the bowl of lettuce. “Can you get the croutons out of the oven?”

“Look how fancy you are. Making homemade croutons.” Steve teased as he grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the pan out of the oven. 

“Josie will only eat a salad if there’s croutons in it.” You explained to him. “Javier hates the store bought croutons.” You grabbed the carton of cherry tomatoes, flipping the plastic lid up so you could rinse them off under the sink. 

You glanced back towards the backdoor as it slid open, a parade of tiny humans reemerging, followed by Connie and Javier. 

“Hot food, coming through.” Javier warned, clicking his tongue against his teeth to get the girls to move faster. “Come on kiddos.” He shooed them out from under foot as he veered towards the kitchen counter and sat the two plates of grilled burgers down. “Ever try to keep three girls away from a grill?”

You pursed your lips thoughtfully as you turned to face him, tilting your head to the side. “I tried it once, which is why I sent them out to you.” You grinned at him.

“It’s fucking hard.” He chuckled before he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to your lips. “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome.” You used the dish towel and swatted him in the ass with it. He caught you by the belt loop as you stepped past him, pulling you in for another kiss.

“Need any help?” Connie questioned as she cradled Sofía to her chest, looking between the two of you. 

You shook your head, “You brought the potato salad and you’ve kept her occupied so I could get everything else ready.” 

“Do you have ranch?” She questioned as she looked towards the bowl of salad, “It’s the only way we can get Olivia to even humor eating something green.” 

Javier nodded, “Josie likes it on broccoli.” He stepped around you and pulled open the fridge to grab the bottle of ranch, as well as the other salad dressing options. 

“How do you get her to eat raw broccoli?” Connie questioned. “It’s an uphill battle to get anything green into the girls.” 

“Josie likes food.”

You rolled your eyes, “Josie will eat anything Javier asks her to eat.” 

He shrugged, “It’s true.” 

“I wish Steve had that effect on the girls.” Connie laughed softly, “He can get them to eat plenty of candy.”

You snorted. “He loves his Werthers.” 

She widened her eyes dramatically, “I swear to God, every pocket is full of wrappers!” 

Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth, “Should’ve done the patch, rather than going cold turkey.” 

“That would make sense,” Connie made a face. “Oh well.” She bounced Sofía in her arms as she started to wake up, “Did you see California is set to ban smoking inside bars?”

“They’ll just ignore it,” You countered, grabbing a tray and putting the salad and the salad bowls on it. “But it’s progress.” 

The three of you headed into the dining room, where Steve had managed to corral the girls into their chairs. 

“I don’t want a burger, mommy.” Josie complained as Javier sat the plate of burgers down on the table. 

“You’re not eating a burger, babydoll. You’re having a soy one with me.” You promised her, pointing to the second plate that contained two burgers that were considerably thinner than the actual hamburgers. 

“I want chicken.” 

“Princesa, you’re eating what we made for you.” Javier warned her, sitting down beside her, across the table from you. 

“Do we have everything?” 

“French fries?” Olivia questioned.

“Your mother made potato salad,” Steve told her, pointing to the Tupperware tub. 

You sat down beside Connie, taking Sofía from her so you could get her settled into her highchair beside you. You used your fork to grab a potato out of the dish of potato salad, plopping it onto Sofía’s highchair tray. You smashed it up with the fork, “You wanna try a bit of potato?”

Sofía seemed skeptical. She reached down and squished the potato between her fingers. 

You tapped your finger against your lips, “You eat it, sunshine.” 

Sofía gurgled and threw herself back against her seat, smearing the potato all over her face.

“Close enough.” Javier chuckled, shaking his head as he slathered mayonnaise on a bun for Josie. 

“More!” She urged, hanging on his arm. 

“Josie.” You gave her a look across the table. 

Sofía kicked her feet against the highchair as she leaned over and tried to reach the tub of potato salad that was well outside of her reach. “You like that?” You questioned, grabbing another potato and putting it on her tray, smashing it up for her again. 

She dramatically hummed her delight. 

“Look at that, she’s not always a grumpy baby.” Steve remarked with a short laugh. “I worried she was a carbon copy of her father.” 

Javier glared at him, subtly flipping him off so Josie couldn’t catch him.

You worked on fixing your own burger, glancing around the table to make sure everyone had what they needed. You really hated playing host. An ideal situation was a box of pizza thrown in the center of the table for everyone to fend for themselves. But Steve and Connie were such gracious hosts, you felt like you had to do the same. 

Javier had lived on grilled cheese, whiskey, and cigarettes for the majority of his bachelor years. He wasn’t one to complain. He wasn’t actually half bad in the kitchen when he put a little effort into it. 

“How’s things at the hospital?” Javier questioned Connie in between bites of burger. 

Connie grabbed her napkin and wiped her mouth off before answering, “Good. I’m not working as many double shifts as I was there for a while. I’ve actually had days off that felt like days off. No catching up on sleep.” 

“With my transition out of the DEA, it’s been nice to have her around more.” Steve added. “Hun, did you tell her about that lady you’re working with?”

You arched a brow, looking at Connie expectantly. 

“Oh! I totally forgot,” She laughed, taking a sip of water before she continued. “We’ve got a new medical social worker working on the floor that looks so much like you. I did a double take the first time I saw her. Do you have a secret younger sister?”

“Nope.” You shook your head, reaching for your bottle of beer and taking a swig. “Is my doppelgänger nice at least?”

“An absolute sweetheart.” Connie said with a grin, taking another bite of her burger before adding, “She’s actually from Medellín.”

Javier dropped his fork, causing it to clamp against his plate. You shot him a curious look, a brow arching upwards. 

“Colombia?” He questioned, taking a drink of beer to keep from choking on the bite of burger he’d swallowed nearly whole. 

“Is there another one?”

Steve cleared his throat, “You hadn’t mentioned she was from Colombia.” He looked between you and Javier with a knowing look. 

“I believe she came here as a political refugee. I didn’t ask for specifics.” Connie shrugged, “Why?”

The look on Javier’s face made the lightbulb come on. Holy shit. 

You leaned an elbow against the table, turning towards Connie. “Her name wouldn’t happen to be Elena, would it?”

Connie’s brows shot upwards, “Yeah! Wait — do you know her?”

“Some of us better than others.” Steve muttered under his breath, much to Javier’s horror. 

“Yeah.” You nodded your head slowly, “She was great. I’m glad she’s gotten herself out of that situation.” You looked towards Javier then, smiling a little. “I guess that promise of safety had follow through.” 

Javier rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, “I had no idea she was in Miami.” 

“It’s fine, Javi.” You assured him, “It’s a small world.” You watched him as he nodded his head slowly, staring down at his plate of food. Of all the people that the two of you had known in Colombia ⁠— the sheer irony that Elena had made her way to Miami was… something else. 

“I feel like I’m missing something.” Connie remarked, looking between the three of you curiously. “What am I missing?”

“Not in front of the kids.” Steve stated with a shake of his head. 

“Daddy, you gotta eat your veggies.” Josie said sweetly, pushing the bowl of salad towards Javier. “Don’t you wanna be big and strong like me?”

“Of course I do, princesa.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Javier, it’s fine.” You said firmly, shifting in your seat so you could brush your foot against his leg beneath the table. “Don’t get yourself bent out of shape over this.”

“I’m not getting ‘bent out of shape’.” He shot back, pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek as he stared at you. “I just can’t believe… of all the cities.” 

“What am I missing?” Connie questioned, nudging you in the arm.

You sighed, chewing on the inside of your bottom lip. “Elena was one of Javi’s informants. When was that?” ‘89 to ‘92?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Steve agreed with you, pushing his potato salad around on his plate. 

Javier was so tense you could see the corded muscles of his throat as he stared straight ahead at you. 

“So she was an informant informant?” Connie questioned, brows furrowed as she looked towards you.

“Yeah.” You nodded, “And it’s not nearly as big of a deal as Javier is acting like it is.” 

Javier raked his fingers through his hair, sighing heavily as he sank back in his chair. He scratched at his lightly scruffy jaw, not quite meeting your gaze as he looked across the table at you. “It’s a big deal to me.” 

Connie looked between the two of you, “I really didn’t mean to start something.” 

“You didn’t.” You assured her, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Hey Javi, did you leave the grill on?” 

He gritted his teeth together before he gave a stiff nod, scooting his chair back and getting up from the table. 

“Daddy, where are you going?” Josie asked with her mouth full of her burger.

“Daddy left the grill on.” Javier offered, meeting your gaze as you got up from the table. 

“Uh-oh!” Josie said with a sing-song voice, entirely oblivious to the situation. 

“We’ll hold the fort down,” Steve promised you as you followed Javier through the kitchen and out the backdoor into the yard. 

He walked a few paces ahead of you, before he stopped with his back to you. You considered staying rooted to the spot where you stood, but instead you moved towards him and curled your arms around his middle, resting your cheek against his back. “Javi,” You started, trying to keep your voice steady. “This is such a non-issue.” 

“For you.” He retorted, resting his hands over yours. “I feel like every time we take one step forward, something happens that sets us back. Every fucking time, baby.” 

“But it’s a non-issue,” You assured him, squeezing him a little tighter. “I liked Elena the handful of times we worked together. I’m thrilled that she’s thriving. Hell, I’m glad she’s here. Miami isn’t so bad.” 

Javier turned in your embrace, his hands settling at your hips. “I didn’t know she was here.” 

“I didn’t think you did.” You reached up and cupped his cheek, brushing your thumb over the rise of his cheekbone as you met his gaze. “Look, I know that’s a period of history you’re not particularly fond of, but… It doesn’t bother me. At all.” You tilted your head to the side, “I thought we were working past this.” You gestured between the two of you. “There’s no other shoe waiting to fall.”

His Adam’s bobbed as he looked down at you, “I just can’t fucking believe she’s in Miami.” He shook his head slowly. “Of all the goddamn places.”

“I think she had a cousin here.” You recalled, “Shit, that was a long time ago.”

Javier nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah.” He ran his hands over your hips slowly, “Last time I saw her was right after you told me…” 

“Did you tell her?” Your brows furrowed. 

“I did, yeah.” He recalled, “I mean she knew about you…”

“I know she did.” You reached you and played with the hair that sat against his forehead. “I thought you didn’t tell anyone.”

He shrugged a shoulder, “It slipped out. I figured it didn’t really matter that she knew. She was happy for us.”

You smiled fondly, “I think we should meet up with her.”

“What?”

“Catch up, see how she is…”

“Baby—“

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” You raised your eyebrows. “Hell, she might not even want to see either of us.” You shrugged your shoulders. “I just think it’s too ironic that she’s working at the same hospital as Connie.” 

“I’m not going.”

“That’s fine, I’ll go then.” You rose up on your toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You need to stop worrying so much, Javi.” You brushed your nose against his as you raked your fingers through his hair at his temples. “I trust you.” 

Javier curled his arm around your waist, keeping you close to him. “What’d I do to deserve you, baby?” 

“Still trying to figure that one out.” You teased, kissing the tip of his nose. “Come on. Connie’s going to be stressing that she’s single-handedly destroyed our relationship if we don’t get back inside.”

“She was mortified.” He chuckled.

“Not nearly as much as you were.”

“I was praying for the earth to open up and swallow me whole.” 

You rolled your eyes. “You felt that way in the sex sho—”

Javier cut you off, covering your mouth with his hand. “Don’t.” He warned you. 

You poked him in the stomach and when he didn’t remove his hand, you swept your tongue over the palm of his hand. That worked. He quickly pulled his hand away, wiping his hand off on the front of his jeans.

“If you want to shut me up, you’re going to have to wait until we’re alone.” You told him, putting your hands on your hips, before walking backwards towards the back door. “But until then, we have guests to entertain.” 

“It’s just Steve and Connie.” Javier followed after you, his arms crossed across his chest. 

“Who are guests we’re entertaining.” You narrowed your eyes at him. “And you’re going to finish your food, otherwise Josie is going to believe she can skip dinner too.” 

“Fine.” He huffed quietly, shaking his head as he slid the sliding door shut behind him. “But we’re dropping this conversation. I don’t wanna talk about an informant in front of the girls.” 

You gave a mock salute, “Sure thing.” 

Javier caught you by the belt loop, pulling you towards him. “I mean it.”

“I’m not going to bring it up again.” You promised, curling your fingers around the back of his neck. “As much as I love torturing you I’m not cruel, Javier.” 

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to your forehead, “Thank you.” 

You smiled up at him, “No ‘thank yous’ needed, babe.” You took his hand into yours, interlacing your fingers as he headed back for the dining room. Steve and Connie had managed to keep the kids entertained in your absence. 

“She’s had about a full little potato.” Connie told you as she gestured to Sofía, “I think most of it got into her mouth.” 

“She gets really into her food.” You chuckled, releasing Javier’s hand as you both returned to your own seats. 

“Where’d you go daddy?” Josie asked, tilting her head to the side as she licked the dressing off a piece of radish, only to dip it into her salad bowl again. 

“Like I told you,” He reached over and smoothed his hand over the top of her head. “I left the grill on.” 

Connie gave you a wary look as you picked up your burger and took a bite. “So…”

“Everything’s fine.” You assured her, looking towards Steve then, “So have you heard any rumors in the DEA about the article?”

“Oh, I have.” He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek and shook his head. “I hope you don’t plan on looking for a job in the federal government.” 

You feigned offense, “If I ever did, you’d know I had been abducted by aliens.” It was still bizarre to consider that you had spent so much of your early adulthood working towards a role in the very institution you wanted to pull down. 

“Baby, you know I have a class of students that would love to see you teaching.” Javier pointed out, beaming with pride. “End of last semester, I had her come in and give a lecture for the department.” 

You rolled your eyes, “It was a fifteen-minute talk.”

“With a forty-minute question and answer section.” Javier insisted, his eyes meeting yours with an adoration that warmed your heart. 

“I would only disappoint them,” You licked a drop of mayonnaise off your thumb as you sat your soy burger back down. “They already think you’re a tyrant when it comes to papers and grading.” 

Steve laughed, “Isn’t that because you do most of the marking for him.”

“And I go easy on them.” You grinned. “My teachers didn’t take any corners with me and I worked my ass off to get here.” 

“I don’t know if I can picture you as a teacher,” Connie said, giving you a once over. “No, I can’t.”

“Thankfully,” Javier started with a teasing tone. “They’re college students and not children.”

“And what does that mean?” You questioned, looking in between the two of them. “I am a delight.” 

“You certainly lectured us a lot. Back in the day.” Steve joined in. 

“Was I wrong?” 

“Rarely.” He agreed. 

“Well, we can't all be Professor Peña, now can we?” You quipped, nudging Javier’s foot under the table. 

He scratched at his jaw, shaking his head. “No, we can’t.”

“But I’m always interested in dropping in to torment you and Monica.”

“Do the other students know that you’ve all but adopted her?” Steve questioned. 

You started to answer, but Olivia was quick to announce, “I’m adopted!” 

Josie turned towards Javier, “Am I adopted?” 

“No princesa, you weren’t adopted.” Javier assured her as she grabbed at his arm. 

“Was sissy adopted?”

“No. Remember your mommy grew her in her belly?” Javier reminded her, giving Connie a sympathetic smile, before his eyes flickered towards your face. “Out of the mouths of babes.” 

“Seriously.” You laughed as you shook your head, reaching for your beer. “To answer your question, no. They don’t know.”

“Trying to keep things unbiased.” Javier explained as he scooped Josie into his lap, much to her delight. “She actually earned herself a B- on a test this week she should’ve aced.”

“You didn’t tell me that.” You frowned. “Why?”

“Her attentions a little stretched right now.”

“Of course it is.” You rolled your eyes, “Oh to be young and in love.” 

“Old and in love isn’t too bad, is it?” He countered with a wink.

You grinned, “It’s pretty good too.” 

[valeriethepussycats]

Assemble

Chapter 1

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Flashback Are Bold

“And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born--to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then--for now, the Avengers Assemble!"

Burning blue flame. A smoky cube shape emerges -The Tesseract.

Kneeling behind a throne, a clothed, armored figure known as The Other. “The tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power,...” He holds out the scepter. Coming out from the shadows, Loki takes the staff. “But our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow.” Thousands of Chitauri are awaiting orders.

“The world will be his. The universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?” The Other declared.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n was walking home from Queensbridge park at Ten o’clock at night her mind on Thor and his Brother Loki .

The Destroyer hand comes to touch the Force field and all the wounds on Y/n’s body are all healed.

Why would Loki heal me?

Y/n shakes the thought out of her head not trying to dwell on it because she knows she’s never going to get the answers she want. It’s been a whole year so she’s heard or seen Thor.

What’s the point of thinking about it when I might not see Thor ever again.

Truth be told Y/n miss Thor more then she thought she would. To her Thor was the ideal best friend he understood her without even trying.

We found her.

Y/n scoffs. 

I can’t have a moment of peace.

“You might as well come out I know you’re there.” Y/n shouted.

Two boys walk out from behind a tree one wearing a red and orange suit while the other one is wearing a helmet and a black and white suit.

“St. John Allerdyce aka Pyro and Dominikos Petrakis also known as Avalanche. What do you want?” Y/n asked with a sigh of irritation.

“How did she know our names.” Avalanche murmured to himself.

“Our boss wants to have a little chat. He thinks you could be a valuable mutant to the Brotherhood.” Pyro answered.

Y/n laughs and starts to walk away from the two boys. “There’s nothing I need to talk to your “boss” about ok I will never join the Brotherhood...isn’t fulled with children.

“Children. I have you know the Brotherhood except all ages of mutants.” Pyro explained.

Y/n stops walk and turns around  and looks at Avalanche and Pyro with  a Blank stare. “Well we’ll have to agree to disagree m’ok. Now I’m tired and I just want to go home and  Watch cartoons until I fell asleep nowadays you’ll excuse me.”

“You won’t take us serious I’ll make you.” Avalanche declared

“You want a fight I’ll give you a fight.”

Y/n’s eyes turn white and thunder claps as lightning flashes across the sky then hits a nearby light post which causes a chain reaction and all the light post

“Well color me impressed that would be all boys head back to the base.” Said a voice behind Y/n.

Pyro and Avalanche walk away in a hurry.

“Magneto....what do you want?” Y/n said in a curious tone.

“I heard about what you did in New Mexico saving those people.” Magneto addressed.

“Me helping innocent people ruin your plans?” Y/n wondered.

“No I’m just wondering why your not team X-men.”

“Why would I want to be an X-men.”

“Because your mother is an X-men.”

“My-my mother? My mother die trying to free me from the Weapon X Program.” Y/n explained.

“Then why was she stopping me from turning every human being into on earth into mutants.” Magneto pulls out his phone and show Y/n  a picture of her mother.

Y/n clenched her jaw as she winced. “You didn't know my sweet child she's been alive this entire time.” Magneto noted.

“Why are you doing this? What get out of this?” Y/n uttered.

“Everyone deserves the truth no matter who gives it to them.” Magneto confessed then disappears and all the lights in the park turns back on.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Shield facility at night. They are evacuating by helicopter and vehicle, and one helicopter lands, dropping off Maria Hill and Nick Fury while Agent Phil Coulson is awaiting them.

“Where is Agent Munroe?” Nick Fury asked Agent Coulson.

“Sydney,Australia sir.” Agent Coulson answered.

“Does she know that Erik Selvig is here?” Nick wondered.

“No she doesn’t not.”

“Good.....Now how bad is it?”

“That's the problem sir. We don't know.”

They enter the facility, passing fleeing technicians, taking only the essentials. “Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago.” Agent Coulson finished.

“NASA didn't authorise Selvig to test phase.” Nick stated.

“He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement.” Agent Coulson explained.

“It just turned itself on?” Agent Maria Hill Chimed in.

“What are the energy levels?” Nick asked Agent Coulson.

“Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac.” Agent Coulson replied.

“How long to get everyone out?”

“Campus should be clear in the next half hour.”

“Do better.”

Coulson nods then proceed  in the other direction as Nick and Maria  continue walking down deeper into the facility.

“Sir, evacuation may be futile.” Agent Hill disclosed.

“We should tell them to go back to sleep?” Nick asked sarcastically

“If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance.” Agent Hill explained

“I need you to make sure Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out.”

“Sir, is that really a priority right now?”

“Until such a time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every peice of Phase 2 on a truck and gone.”

“Yes sir.” Then Hill walks over to agents nearby. “With me.”

Nick fury  walks in the radiation facility housing the Tesseract, the area cluttered with machines and people leaving.

“Talk to me doctor.” Nick announced.

Dr. Erik Selvig walks from behind a CMS machine, concerned. The Tesseract is glowing unusually birghter and a flare of blue shoots out from it, hitting things at random. “Director.”

“Is there anything we know for certain?”

“The Tesseract is misbehaving.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's... misbehaving.”

“How soon until you pull the plug?” Nick asked.

“She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level...” Erik trailed off.

“We've prepared for this doctor. Harnessing energy from space.” Nick replied.

“We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation.” Erik explained.

“That can be harmful. Where's Barton?”

“The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual.”

Clint Barton, dressed in black tactical gear, up on the railings watching them below. Fury calls Barton on his earpiece. “Agent Barton, report.”

Barton rappels down from the catwalk, and walks up to Fury. They both walk around the bottom of the facility in a discreet manner.

“I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things” Nick finished

“Well, I see better from a distance.” Agent Barton replied.

“Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off? Nick wondered.

“Doctor, it's spiking again.”  NASA scientist shouted Erik.

“No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contancts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end.” Agent Barton passed on

“At this end?” Nick questioned.

“Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides.”  Agent Barton answered

Dr. Erik Selvig types on his keyboard and the monitor flashes. Suddenly, the Tesseract thunders and shakes the entire facility. Both Agent Coulson nearby, and Maria Hill topside, feel the tremors. The cube glows brighter and emits a ring of light, and builds like a beam, similar to the Bifrost bridge. The power hits the edge of the platform, and begins to form a vortex, which becomes a portal. Space appears through the portal, and a gust of blue energy knocks people back. The cloud shoots to the ceiling, and the portal on the platform opens up as Loki steps through. The portal vanishes, and Loki grins at everyone, holding his spear. He frowns as he sees them looking at him.

“Sir please put down the spear.” Nick shouted.

Loki responds with firing a blast of blue energy from his spear, while Barton narrowly tackles Fury out of the way. Everyone shoots at Loki, but the bullets deflect off of him. Loki immediately takes down everyone shooting at him easily, with knives and energy blasts from his sceptre. He pauses, grinning, and looks to who will attack him next. Barton attempts to attack him, but Loki grabs his wrist, disarming him.

“You have heart.” Loki places the tip of the spear against Barton's chest.

Barton's eye glow black, and he stops resisting. Loki begins controlling other agents around the room. Fury sneak up, grabs the Tesseract, and places it in a briefcase, trying to sneak out.

“Please don't. I still need that.” Loki disclosed.

Nick turns to face Loki. “This doesn't have to get any messier.”

“Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”  Loki proclaimed.

“Loki? Brother of Thor?” Erik murmured.

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Nick told Loki

“An ant had no quarrel with a boot.”

“You planning to step on us?”

“I come with glad tidings, of a world made free.”

“Free from what?”

“Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart...” Like a gunslinger, Loki turns to face Selvig who's standing behind him and places his spear against Selvig's heart. Selvig's eyes glow black.

“You will know peace.” Loki finished.

“Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean The other thing.” Nick remarked.

the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly builds into what may be an implosion.

“Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.” Agent Barton informed Loki.

“Like the Pharaohs of Odin.” Nick stated

“He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.” Erik explained.

“Well then.“

Loki looks to Barton, who without hesitation shoots Fury, who falls to the ground. Barton grabs the case containing the Tesseract and leaves the lab with Loki, Selvig, and the other controlled Shield personnel.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The controlled Shield personnel are gathering weapons and getting ready to leave the facility. Agent Hill watches in confusion.

Agent Barton Points to Loki and his team. “Need these vehicles.”

“Who's that?” Agent Hill wondered.

“He didn't tell me.” Agent Barton mumbled.

Agent Hill eyes them suspiciously as they get into a truck and begin to drive away.

Nick grabs a walkie talkie. “Hill, do you copy?”

Loki and his crew look back at Agent Hill.

Back at the lab, Fury is sitting up, pulling the bullet out, and breathing hard.

“Barton is...” Nick trailed off.

Maria turns around and shoots Barton, who is already shooting at her, and they drive away while she takes cover, still firing at them.

Nick is Running out of the lab, holding his side. “He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!.”

The energy discharge from the Tesseract is building up on the ceiling, rumbling and growing recklessly, destroying structures and cracking the walls.

Maria Hill jumps into a Jeep and takes chase on Loki and crew. Several other trucks begin to attack Loki's truck as well, and Loki releases a blast of energy, obliterating  Shield trucks and causing a blockage in the tunnel. Agent Hill is forced to keep distance on her pursuit.

Down below, Fury is racing against the clock as pipes burst around him. The walls are cracking, and the facility is suffering an internal earthquake.

Agent Coulson is grabbing cases, and trips down the stairs while the ground shudders. Others with him drop cases full of information and equipment.

“No! Leave it!” Agent Coulson urged  They all leave the cases behind and leave the lab running.

Barton and Agent Hill are caught in a truck race, where she pulls in front of him to try and block him. He responds with firing at her at close range, which causes Agent Hill to shoot out her own windshield to try and hit him.

Agent Coulson and his group take a Jeep and evacuate as well. “You're clear, sir! You need to go!” Agent Coulson said into walkie talkie.

Fury runs across the tarmac to a helicopter. The ground gives way seconds after the helicopter leaves the ground, falling into a sinkhole.

Still racing down the tunnel, Agent Hill and Barton are locked in combat. A blast wave from the Tesseract causes the tunnel to collapse partially. One of Loki's trucks makes it out, but Maria's truck is stuck.

The Tesseract's energy cloud now shrinks into a small ball of white light, hovering in the air. In a flash of blue light, the facility is consumed along with its surroundings. Fury watches from below as a rapid build up into an implosion.

Several miles away, Agent Coulson's van jolts from the blastwave on the horizon behind them.

The entire facility implodes with terrifying magnitude, and the implosion rocks the ground.

Maria Hill is stuckher jeep behind as the full force of the blast tears down on the tunnel, covering herself by being inside of the jeep, light from the night spilling in close by.

Barton's truck drives away, but Fury's helicopter hovers over it, and Fury opens fire with his pistol. Loki, in a fit of rage, fires an energy blast at the helicopter. The helicopter is skimmed my the blast, but catches fire. He jumps out of the flaming helicopter seconds before it hits the ground and shreds itself into debris. Fury stands back up, dazed, and shoots at Loki, but they're too far away.

“Director? Director Fury, do you copy?” Agent Coulson called into the walkie talkie

“The tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?” Nick voiced.

Agent Hill climbs out of the wreckage of her jeep and speak into the  walkie. “A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors.”

From the ground, Fury surveys the wreckage. “Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase.”

“Roger that.” Agent Hill answered.

“Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war.” Nick disclosed

“What do we do?” Agent Coulson asked.

Nick Fury looks up, a thought on his mind.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Russia. There is a building, a warehouse, next to some unfinished railroad tracks under construction. The building is only occupied by Georgi Luchkov, a Russian general, and two thugs, with a prisoner amongst them, tied to a chair. The taller thug is in the middle of hitting the spy, a red headed Russian woman in a black tank top.

“This is not how I wanted the evening to go.”Georgi Luchkov commented.

“I know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me, this is better.” Natasha Romanoff replied.

“I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out a carrier, a stained glass and other random items.” Luchkov explained.

The taller thug pushes her chair back, tilting it over the edge of a few story drop, and Natasha hides her fear.

“I thought General Solohob was in charge of the export business.” Natasha Remarked.

“Solohob? Your reputation is quite a progression. The famous Black Widow. Nothing but a pretty face.” Luchkov commented.

“You really think I'm pretty?” Natasha wondered.

Luchkov walks over to a table filled with tools of torture and interrogation, picking up a pair of pliers. The tall thug next to her forces her jaw open.

“We do not need the Lermontov to transfer the tanks. Tell him, well...You may have to write it down.” Luchkov stated.

A phone rings, and the weasely thug looks to his phone in confusion. He picks it up. “Ya?” He looks to Luchkov. “It's for you.”

Luchkov takes the phone, annoyed and angry. “Who the hell is...”

“You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor. We have an F22 exactly 8 miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby.” Agent Coulson warned.

Luchkov places the cell phone against Natasha's ear seeing how she's tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back.

“We need you to come in.” Agent Coulson noted.

“Are you kidding? I'm working!” Natasha declared.

“This takes precedence.” Agent Coulson stressed.

“I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything.” Natasha explained.

“I don't give everything.” Luchkov said confused.

Natasha frowns at Luchkov “Look, you can't pull me out of this right now.”

“Natasha. Barton's been compromised.” Agent Coulson disclosed.

After a beat. “Let me put you on hold.” Natasha nods to Luchkov. When he grabs the phone, she hits him with her leg and headbuts him. She stands, still tied to the chair, and kickboxes the tall thug in the face. She rolls over to the weasely thug, trips him, and stomps on his foot when he tries to pin her, then she knocks him out with a headbut. Coulson waits calmly, listening to her take three men down with her arms literally tied behind her back. She flips, breaking the chair on weasely thugs' ribcage, and looks to the tall thug, standing up. She kicks him too, chocking him out cold. She then wraps Luchkov's legs with a chain and pushes him down the hole he was threatening to drop her down. He hangs there, in pain, and she grabs her shoes and the phone.

“Where's Barton now?” Natasha asked Coulson.

“We don't know.” Coulson replied.

“But he's alive.”

“We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy.”

“Coulson, you know that Stark only trusts me about as far as he can throw me.” Natasha replied.

“No, I've got Stark. You get the big guy.” Coulson told Natasha.

Natasha pauses then hangs up the phone.”Bozhe moi.”

 Part 2

[itsjustmyfantasyroom]

Some Hot Shot

Back to the Fresh Starts Series continuation. This piece is a rare one that isn’t episode based. This is more of a Background to the reader.

Warning: Most life situations. Mentions talks of death of a parent, death of a grandparent and touches very very light on a verbally abusive ex boy friend.

Enjoy, its a softer side of our Barba xx

Rafael walked in from work, mentally drained and overly tired. He could smell the amazing smell that was your cooking coming from the oven. As he walked into the kitchen, he seen a white pearl envelop sitting on the bench, on top of some other mail with your address written in fancy gold lettering.

"Hermosa" he yelled out

"One second" you walked out of the bathroom freshly showered in navy track pants and his grey Harvard t-shirt.

"Hey Rafi, I missed you today. Dinner shouldn’t be much longer" you said as you walked over to him.

"I missed you, so much" he hugged and kissed you Hello. "Just let me have a quick shower" you smiled at him and kissed his nose.

By the time he came out, you had just sat dinner on the table. You made a pasta bake, one of Sonny's recipes. He came and sat down and started to eat. He seen the pearl envelop sitting on table next to you,

"Mi Hermosa, what's that?" He nodded towards the it. You took a deep breath, how would you sell this to him.

You didn't have an overly big group of friends, but you had friends none the less. Your group wasn't unpopular but wasn't popular either. Your best Friend Gwen, who you still kept in contact with here and there, you guys were always together, joint at the hip your Mum's used to say.

But Gwen always wanted everything to be handed to her, you guessed that's pretty much what life did to her anyway, so she was used to that treatment. She always caught the eye of boys where ever you guys went. You were always the token friend who the guys that were hooking with her, their friends had to "deal" with.

That was life pretty much till the highest years of high school, until you met Jeff and Rodger. They were best friends in the same grade as you. You guys had never taken notice of them before, till they hit puberty and the game changed.

Of all the girls they could have picked, they picked you guys. Jeff was from old money, so of course Gwen made a bee line to him. Rodger was softer, kinder and down to earth, at the beginning anyway. He came from a long line of police officers from both sides, and that was his goal, which was yours also. That was really the only thing you guys had in common. His home life was good. He lived together with his grandparents, his parents and little brother. Because his Mum and Dad's were both officers for the next town over, his grandparents were the main care givers, but when his parents were around they were amazing.

Your future goals became your relationship goals. While Gwen and Jeff were just skipping through life, not really worried about the future because of Jeff's family money, you and Rodger worked hard. You were both accepted into the academy straight out of high school. Moving there off campus and into a small studio apartment, just enough for you both for the time you guys would be there. Everything was going great.  You both wanted to move to the big city, you of course wanted to be a Detective and Rodger wanted to work his way up to Chief.

After being there about 2 months, Rodger got a phone call to say his Grandfather had a heart attack and didn't make it. That was start of everything falling apart. He was very close to his Grandfather, it broke him in half. You both went home for the funeral and then went back pretty much straight away.

Rodger started skipping classes and staying in bed all day. You tried to get him help but he didn't want it. Then he started to take things out on you. Not physically, but verbally. If you passed you got in trouble, if you stayed up studying you got in trouble, anything you did you got in trouble. He got 3 warnings to pick up his game, which he took no notice of. He was kicked out and sent home. Lucky they had an empty dorm you could move into after he left.

You did long distance for the remaining of your study, if that’s what you would really call it, talking maybe once a week if that. He didn't come to your graduation, and when he saw you after your first shift in your police uniform he broke up with you, he couldn't handle it.

Gwen was still with Jeff, it was hard to be away from Rodger and still be friends with Gwen. Before you knew it he turned bitter and twisted towards you, so you started to keep your distance. You did what you had to do to study and pass and then put in for the job at SVU. Which you got and you started your new life. You moved to New York for the love of your career, but you found the love of your life and amazing group of co-workers that were now your best friends. Rafael knew all about this relationship as did the squad. Gwen also knew about Rafael.

"Well--you know my friend-my best friend Gwen from back home?" He nodded at you. "She is getting married in a couple of months, and we have been invited-- I have also been asked to be her maid of honour" Rafael looked at you sensing you had more to say. "I have to go up the weekend before for her hen’s night and then stay that week till the wedding. And I wanted you to come with me for the week. We can stay with my Mum and I can show you around town." You paused and could see him thinking it over. "There is just one thing I'm not happy about, but there is nothing I can do about it" he raised one eye brow at you "Rodger is best man, so-- he will be my partner"

He put his fork down on his plate and sat back in his chair.

"I'll have to ask the DA for the time off, but I would love to come. It will be great to see where your roots began, and see your Mum again." he said with a smile.

"You don't mind about Rodger?"

"What's there to mind? Your with me now, if you can stand up to my ex the way you did, I'm sure I can too if I need too" Rafael winked at you.

You got up from your seat, walked over and sat on his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"And anyway way Hermosa, why would be I worried about someone that doesn't wear suspenders.” His famous smirk came to his face.

****

You spoke to Liv the next day and she approved your week, Sonny was going to cover for you. Rafael put in the dates with DA and it was approved by the end of week. You booked your bus tickets there and back, your Mum was going to pick you guys up for the bus station and drive you home.

"I need to get fit" you sighed as you took a bite of pizza.

"Why? You look fine" Nick scoffed back

"You know what it's like when you go home for the first time in a while, you have to look your best"

"Start running with me before work" Amanda smiled at you.

You took Amanda's suggestion and that's what you started to do. Every morning you guys would meet up, run then be home in time to shower and head back in with Rafael for work. He didn't quite understand why you were doing it, he loved you just the way you were, but it made you feel good and way your body had started to change shape he found it hard to keep his hands off you, even at work.

Gwen told you to pick your own dress, but she told you the colour she wanted. Amanda offered to go with you one weekend to try on dresses, and she gave the tick of approval when you picked the one you could both agree on.

"Running has done wonders for your body, if that's even possible" Amanda rolled her eyes “You look stunning. I bet your ex is going to be pissed" she laughed as you giggled back walking out of the dress shop.

"I don't think he will be pissed at that. He is already pissed that I'm in SVU, once he founds out Rafael is the ADA. I’am worried, he is nasty" You rolled your eyes.

"And if I were him I would be worried about your smart ass mouth, you have balls girl and that boyfriend of yours when it comes to you Barba doesn't hold back. Good luck to him if he starts" Amanda raised her eye brows at you.

****

You guys had packed for the week on the Thursday night and you both finishing early on the Friday to get your bus.

Rafael hadn't seen your dress yet, but he was excited. Gwen had told you that Jeff had invited him to the buck’s night which was on the same night as the hens at a different bar. You both decided it wasn't the best idea, so he was going to stay home with your Mum and he would pick you up when the night was over.

Your mum was waiting for you both as the bus pulled up. You both got off and she couldn't contain her excitement. She walked over to Rafael first and gave him a big hug.

"It’s so nice to see you again Rafael"

"Like wise" he gave her a  big smile.

"Hello Sweet heart" your Mum gave you a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Mum, I've missed you"

"Same sweetheart. Get your bags and let’s go, I have some fried chicken to make, hope you’re hungry"

Your house wasn’t much, but it was home. It was just two bed room. It was just enough for you and your Mum. Your Dad passed away when you were 16 and your Mum had to work two jobs to pay it off.

Rafael walked in and felt warm and cosy straight away. There were photos of you everywhere at different stages of your life. But the one that made his heart swell was of a big one of you above the TV. It looked like your graduation. You were in your full police uniform looking down at a photo you held in your hands in a frame, a photo of your Dad. You saw Rafael standing there looking at it, so you walked over and put your chin on his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"I wish you could have met him. He would have liked you" Rafael lent his head on yours, a small smile coming to his face.

"I'll start dinner, you guys freshen up" Your Mum shouted from the kitchen.

"Come Rafi, let's put our stuff in my room"

You took his hand in yours and led him down the hall. Your door was at the end. As he seen it he giggled to himself. It was just how you left it. It was covered in posters of your favourite bands and theatre shows. You tuned the knob and pushed it open.

It was an average size room. You had a built in to the right, with a white desk next to that, and then a book shelf next to that with every shelf filled with books and  some photo frames in front of the books that you had left behind. Either side of your bed was a bed side table, and on the left side wall, roof to floor with more posters.

Rafael put down his bag and walked over to the wall in awe.

"Wow, mi Hermosa, where did you get all these posters?"

"Mostly magazine" you smiled.

"Y/N can you come and set the table please?" your Mum yelled out.

"Come on Rafi, I'm starving”

****

"How do I look?" you walked into the living room to your Mum and Rafael sitting having a coffee together. Rafael’s eyes widened and his mouth slightly dropped open.

You had a dark purple dress on with short puffy sleeves, an elastic waist band, with a low scoop neck, which came down and rested just below the start of your breast. The dress flowed down to your mid thighs. Your heart necklace rested around your neck, diamond studs in your ears, black strappy sandals, light make up and your hair in big curls.

"Wow sweetie, you look pretty" your Mum smiled over at you.

"Beautiful mi Hermosa"

"I almost feel like you shouldn't be dressed like that going out when your boyfriend is at home with your Mum" your Mum and Rafael both laughed together.

"Ha Ha…. Rafi are you ready? I'm going to be late"

"Let us know when you’re ready and we will come and pick you up" Your Mum said as you kissed her on the cheek.

"Rafael dinner will be ready by the time you come back"

The ride to the bar was fun, you guys laughed and joked, and you pointed out different things as you drove past, telling him a couple of stories along the way.

"I' am going to miss you tonight Rafi"

"I'll miss you too" he grabbed your hand in his and kissed the back. "Don't drink too much OK" he laughed at you

"That's if I even drink at all" you huffed at him. Just then you guys had pulled up at the bar.

"You call me as soon as you want me to come and pick you up. Have a great night, I love you" he lent over and grabbed your face with both hands, pulling you to him and kissed you deeply.

"I love you Rafi" you opened the door and got out. You shut it waved at him and blew a kiss walking towards the door.

"Y/N" You heard from the back of the bar, you knew that voice, Gwen. She came running towards you and jumped on you wrapping her arms around your neck. You wrapped your arms around her waist.

"I've missed you so much. Welcome home"

"I've missed you too G" You said into her ear.

She let you go and grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the back, where there was a table set up along the back wall.

"Everyone can't wait to see you" Gwen smiled at you.

It was mostly her cousins that you had grown up with and Jeff's not so little anymore sister. Everyone was happy to see you, all getting up to kiss and hug you Hello. Dinner was severed and you all had a glass of wine served to you.

"So little Y/N, living in the big city working for SVU, that must be fun" said Nancy, one of Gwen's cousins sitting next to you.

"Yeah I love it actually. It can be hard, but it's the best move I ever made" you smiled back.

"Gwen told us you have a boyfriend" said Lucy with a smirk, another cousin.

"Yeah, his name is Rafael. Rafael Barba, he is the Assistant District Attorney"

"You never told me that. When you said his name was Rafael that didn't even click" Gwen sassed back at you, "He's a big deal. I have seen him on the TV, he is so handsome" Gwen giggled.

"Thank you" you smiled back

"So how did that happen? He's older then you right? He looks older" Gwen said. All eyes were on you waiting for an answer.

"Age is just a number" you answered back and went on to tell them how it happened and how you guys got together.

"Rodger is going to be pissed when he hears about this" Jeff's little sister Wendy laughed, “He hasn't been in a relationship since your break up. My Daddy gave him a job at the bank and helped straighten him out a little, but he drinks like a fish in his down time. But in fairness, he may not have been in a relationship since you, but he has been in a LOT of women" they all started to laugh around the table. You smiled slightly and took a sip of your wine.

The night was fun you guys laughed and danced and had a great time. You saw a few faces around that you knew and had some small talk. You didn't drink anymore after dinner.

It was 1 am and Gwen was off with the fairies. Mostly everyone had left, it was just you, Gwen and Wendy. Wendy wasn't a big drinker so she was good. But Gwen couldn't even stand straight. You sat her down on a chair,

"I’ll message Rafael and get them to come and pick us up, my Mum will drive you guys home" Wendy nodded.

You messaged Rafael and he replied straight away that they were on the way. It was only 10 minutes from your place too the bar. You waited 5 minutes and then helped Gwen stand. You put an arm around your neck and one around her waist and led her out, Wendy following close behind. When Rafael and your mum pulled up, he could see Gwen laying on you, he got out and opened the back door.

"Do you need help Hermosa?"

"I'm good thanks Rafi, that's Wendy by the way" you nodded towards her

"Hey Rafael, nice to meet you" she held out her hand to shake his.

"Nice to meet you Wendy" he smiled.

You sat Gwen on the seat and pushed her back and shut the door, you walked around and slid into the middle and Wendy got in next to you, Rafael back in the front.

"Hey Mrs Y/L/N, thanks for taking us home" Wendy said from the back seat.

"Hi Wendy, No problems" your Mum smiled.

On the drive to Wendy's, which Gwen was staying there the night, she moved her body towards yours and wrapped her arms around your neck. The smell of the alcohol from her breath made your stomach churn.

"Why did you leave me? You are my best friend and you just up and left. You never call—you never message, you’re always busy with work and that handsome boyfriend. I bet he's good in bed. I wouldn't mind a go! Let's swap for a night before Saturday, you can have Jeff and I'll have Rafael" Gwen slurred while Wendy was laughing loud.

"Gwen, my Mum is here, and so is Rafael" you gave her a warning tone "And I don't like to share you know that, he's mine. Your drunk, go to sleep"

TBC

[bunivys]

42- fluff

This one was for: “Darling I love you and all, but please step out of the kitchen.”

Hi anon thanks for sending this in!! I decided to do a little future bit from Lessons in the Unseen! Stepping back into this au for a bit really made me happy, so I hope you enjoy it too! ❤️❤️

Sabrina took her time walking up the stone pathway leading to their home. Her day at the Academy had been long and tiring, several exams doled out, and then a session spent tutoring a group of younger students afterward. She had stayed well after her normal hours and had sent Nick home despite their plans to go to dinner. Nick had been hesitant to leave, given that it was meant to be their anniversary dinner, but he relented because he knew just how dedicated she was to the Academy. He wasn’t any different, himself.

She eyed the home as she went up the steps, noting how much warmer it felt now. She and Nick had moved into his family’s abandoned home after their wedding, the one they had spent several weeks fixing up after the threat of the witch-hunters passed and things settled down once more. His father's office had been reordered and tidied and now, it was their place of study. His mother’s solarium was up and running again, lavender growing in abundance. They had their morning coffees and evening teas out there. And the kitchen that had once felt so cold had hosted several family dinners over the years—from just the pair of them and Salem, to her entire family at times, the aunties and Ambrose visiting whatever chance they could get.

When she entered, she noticed a pungent burning scent hanging in the air and immediately grew concerned. 

“Nick?”

“Uh—Shit,” came a voice, “in the kitchen, babe!”

Sabrina followed his voice and found him in the kitchen, fumbling with the oven.

“Son of a Hellhound,” Nick grumbled over a tray of what she assumed were supposed to be roasted vegetables, but had come out more charred than anything. Sabrina scrunched up her nose at the smell of it.

“What are you doing?” she asked, setting the bag she was holding down on the counter beside him. “I stopped by Dr. Cee’s and got us dinner, babe.”

Nick shut the oven off before it caused another accident and turned to look at her. The apron he was wearing was one from the matching set Hilda had gifted them as a housewarming gift, since they had moved out of the mortuary and would have to do most of their own cooking. She thought he looked adorable in it, even more so with the pouted, disgruntled look he currently wore.

“I wanted to make you dinner,” he explained. “Since you had to stay late and we missed our reservation. I thought it would nice to have it ready for you when you returned, but I didn’t really take into consideration my still very budding cooking skill.”

Sabrina smiled, her chest warming as she went forward to hug him, nuzzling her nose into the junction of his neck. He smelled a little bit like the burnt vegetables he had been fumbling with, but she still loved him all the same. Nick rubbed her back and she pulled back just enough to kiss him on the lips.

“That’s so sweet, Nick, thank you,” she said kindly. 

“I’d say ‘you’re welcome’, but I didn’t exactly accomplish anything, so.” He smiled. “I guess it’s good you still went and stopped at Cee’s.”

“Well, yeah,” Sabrina said with a little giggle. “Were you planning on making anything else aside from the veggies?”

Nick deadpanned and untangled himself from Sabrina’s arms, rushing over to the fridge and swinging the door open.  

“Shit, I completely forgot about the chicken!”

Sabrina broke out laughing, unable to stop herself even when Nick turned to look at her, in disbelief over how he had managed to forget such a crucial ingredient. 

“It’s not funny, Spellman,” Nick said. “Your aunt is the one who gave me the recipe. She’s going to call me back and ask me how it went and I can’t lie to your aunt.”

Sabrina laughed harder, clutching her side. She couldn’t believe Nick, her Nick, the genius professor with several difficult magic accomplishments under his belt and the best binder and conjurer since Edward Spellman, had managed to forget the main course.

“It’s hilarious. You forgot the chicken in a chicken roast.” she defended between gulps of air. Nick, fighting back a smile, came up behind her and tugged her still laughing form into his arms, her shaking against him. Soon enough, Nick broke, too, and started to quietly laugh along. Even though a dinner would have been nice, she wouldn’t trade laughing with her husband—the love of her life—in the home they had patched back up together, for absolutely anything. 

After a few minutes, Sabrina drew away from him as they settled down. He followed her, intending to help.

“Darling, I love you and all,” she told him, leftover giggles still making her shoulders shake. “but please step out of the kitchen. Go and set the table or something.”

Nick stuck another kiss onto her cheek before she could brush him off, saying, “You won’t be laughing when I show you what’s for dessert.”

[bqstqnbruin]

Three times he said it as a friend and once as something more

Hello, hello. I’m still working on the Nick Robertson request but wow I don’t want you to hate me for it because it is actual trash right now and I’m sorry. But I’m also working on B&W part 3, so there’s that!

This was requested from that fluffs prompt list, which I think I’m done with now because honestly, it’s so far deep at this point, and I’m so lazy.

I hope you like it!

46. Why should we date?

47. Because we’re attracted to each other

48. I’m attracted to pie, but I do not feel the need to date pie.

__________________________

one

“Next time I see you, I really do expect you to be a professional athlete,” you tell Charlie, the two of you laying on a blanket in his backyard, enjoying the last few hours of sunlight on his last night in town. The next morning, he would be leaving to go to BU to play hockey. It wasn’t even that far, but him not living at home, and you going to school in Vermont meant him no longer driving you to school each morning, you no longer going over with dinner your mom made when she knew he and his parents were running around because of his games, no more walking next door whenever you needed to talk to instead of calling him. The memories would last forever, but those moments were now just part of the past.

“Are you not gonna come see me play at BU at all? What about when we play UVM?” he says, turning his head to look you.

Turning to him, you roll your eyes, “Ok, fine. Then I expect you to be a professional athlete in the next three years.” 

“Whatever,” he says, laughing. 

You sit there in silence, taking in what is probably one of the last moments for a while that you two will be able to spend a lot of time together. 

“Remember how we became friends?” he asks, sitting up. 

You follow suit, laughing at the memory that he just triggered. You were neighbors since your family moved to Weymouth, but you weren’t automatically friends because of it. “Well, duh. We sat across from each other in Family Consumer Science. We, of course, always finished the work early because we’re great, and we played pencil hockey for like thirty minutes before Mrs. Grace yelled at us for distracting the other two at our table.”

“The fact that you ever finished your work fast in that class is still amazing. You get distracted by everything and can’t focus on anything.”

“Yeah, well,” you shrug it off. You sit there thinking of all the other good memories you had with him; sitting across from each other in US history and joking about all the mistakes you made while texting, the nights when you would walk around Boston Common once your parents trusted you out on your own, the last minute Bruins tickets he would get and force you to go along with him to the games.

“Did you ever think about what our lives would have been like if we dated?”

“What?” you ask, shocked. There was no way the two of you would ever date. He was destined to be a professional hockey player, traveling the US and Canada with whatever NHL team wanted him. You could never date someone that wasn’t going to be there when you needed them. And you couldn’t ask him to give up your dream for you. Yes, you were overthinking this, but best case scenario is that you had dated throughout high school and ended things tonight.

“Most people thought we were dating, anyway. What if we actually had?”

“Then we probably would have broken up tonight because long distance relationships from high school never work. Look at Andrea and Eric from last year, she went to Holy Cross and he only went to UConn and they could never make it work so they broke up. Or Josh and Maggie two years ago; he went to Ohio and ended up transferring to UMass so he could be with her and he loved Ohio State.”

“Too bad we never even gave it a chance.”

You look at him, shocked. “Did you want to?”

His only response was shrugging, a smile on his face as he lays back down on the blanket. You stay sitting up, thinking about what he just said. Did he want to date you all this time and never said anything until now? And why the hell would he do something like that anyway? You weren’t going to see him until at least Thanksgiving, which means that now you have to hyper fixate on this one memory until you see him again. 

“Hey,” he says, snapping you out of it.

“Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

two

Your phone lights up, causing you to tear your eyes away from the essay you had been writing that’s due in a few hours. Due to your great talent for procrastinating, you were, of course, finishing the paper at the last minute. The picture of you two in the Coyle’s front yard on your first day of school in six grade shows up on your screen, meaning Charlie was calling you. It had been forever since the two of you last talked; with you being in school and him trying to make it as a hockey player in Minnesota, your schedules never gave you a free moment to talk for more than a passing moment. 

“Hey, stranger,” you say, not hiding the smile on your face even though you were out in public. You hated showing any sort of emotion that would provoke someone to come up to you and start talking to you, but seeing Charlie’s name come up on your phone with something other than a text automatically made you smile. 

“Stranger? You know who I am.” You could tell by his voice that he was jokingly acting offended. 

“Yeah, you’re Zach Parise, right?” you tease.

You hear the laugh you miss so much on the other end, “How have you been?”

“Uh, stressed, lately, so nothing new.”

“Why?”

“Homework, papers, and exams.”

“Oh, my.” You both start laughing at the accidental joke he made, “Why so much stuff?”

“It’s midterms, babe.” 

“So I assume that you’re working right now?”

“Yep, it’s eight pm, the paper is due at midnight and I still have four more pages to write.”

` “I’m so glad that your work ethic hasn’t changed since high school.”

“Ok, rude! I have good work ethic, I just also have strong procrastination skills.”

“You probably have ADHD,” he says.

“Well, yes, but that’s a different story.”

“What’s your weekend look like? I want to catch up when you don’t have a lot of work to do.”

“Uh, I should be good.”

“Alright, get back to the paper.”

“I will. Love ya.”

“Love you, too.” 

three

“Oh, come on! We practically live together. You can’t deny that something is going on between us!” Charlie argues, pacing around the kitchen as you make dinner. This conversation between the two of you was becoming a weekly one, slowly getting on your nerves to the point where you would consider moving just to get away from it. 

“Because what happens if we break up? We’ve been friends since we were in middle school. Do you really want to throw all that away?” you say, turning to him, putting your hand on your hip. 

“I just think we should go out as more than friends just once.”

“And how would that be different than all the other times that we go out together?”

“Because then I could do things like hold your hand and flirt with you?”

“I’m like ninety percent sure you already flirt with me.” 

“Y/N.”

“Why should we date, Charlie?”

“Because we’re attracted to each other?”

“And I’m attracted to pie, but I do not feel the need to date pie,” you roll your eyes, turning your attention back to the stove. 

“You’re seriously equating me to pie right now? I have never seen you eat pie, therefore, that argument is invalid.”

“Since when do you say things like therefore, and invalid?” 

“Seriously, Y/N. You know I have wanted to date you since we were in middle school, but something always came up. You know I love you. You know I always have.”

You turn back to him, trying to make eye contact, but something in you just can’t. Your timing was never right. Once you were old enough to date, the two of you were never single at the same time. Actually, that isn’t true. You were both single for a brief period of time while he was playing with the Sea Dogs and you were still at UVM. This was the first time that both of you were single and in the same town. 

“Charlie, you know that I love you, too. But this can not happen. We can’t risk breaking up and ruining what we have.” 

He exhales, obviously disappointed. You were, too, but you couldn’t let that show. You wanted nothing more than to be with him, but you couldn’t let all those years of friendship go away if things didn’t work out between the two of you. “Fine.”

once

“Remember when you wouldn’t date me?” he asks over the sound of everyone around you.

“Remember when you were less annoying?” you roll your eyes. You look around to see so many other couples and families filling in the tables around you. Everyone looked so happy, just like you were. 

You and Charlie had been together now for a year, him finally wearing you down and convincing you to let him take you on a date. He promised you that even if you stopped dating, your friendship would never end because, at this point, you were in too deep anyway. He told you he had this whole evening planned for your anniversary, complete with a walk around the Boston Common like you used to do when you were kids, dinner at Terramia, your favorite restaurant, and for dessert, he was taking you to Mike’s Pastries for the cannoli you loved so much. 

“No, never,” he smirks, reaching out across the table to take your hand.

You had to admit, all the things he had said trying to convince you to date him were right; nothing was really that different between the two of you besides the intimacy that wasn’t there before. “You’re never letting me live that down, are you?”

“No.” 

You roll your eyes at him. You didn’t want to inflate the ego of the man who didn’t even know how to use the oven by telling him he was right that you two dating was fine. 

“Hey,” he says, like that last night before he went off to college.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

You smile, thinking back to all those times you told each other those three words, them meaning something completely platonic. “I love you, too.” 

[bi-the-way-i-love-bunnies]

(In which Draco can’t cook to save his life au along with a dash of Christmas spirit)

Drarry drabble ~ 10/19 ~ about 3.5k

“Pansy.” Smoke was starting to crowd the room. Said girl remained oblivious as she scrolled through her phone. 

“Pansy.” The flame on the stove got bigger than Draco would have liked. He debated on using an Aguamenti, but wait, didn’t that weird muggle cookbook warn something about  using water with an open flame? Regardless he wasn’t taking any chances. Pansy, the cow, only gave a small hmm and continued on with whatever she was doing. 

“PANSY!” Ok that was it, he put a protective bubble around the stove just in a nick of time. He looked at the pot that started to burn inside the blazing inferno. And it has been a housewarming gift from Mrs. Weasley too. Regardless, he allowed himself a small moment of relief for dealing with one of the many problems that happened in the kitchen today. Small mercies he supposed. And that’s when the fire alarm started beeping persistently. 

In a frenzy, he tried putting up a silencio charm, but it kept wavering and wearing off. His spells never did work well when he was worked up in a mood. The smoke was fogging up the kitchen more than ever now too, much to Draco’s dismay. Harry was not going to be happy about the lingering smell later. 

The timer on the counter started going off signaling that the roast in the oven was done. At the same time the small pot next to the bubble charm of heat started to over boil due to his neglect when dealing with everything else. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake Draco,” Pansy finally looked up from her phone. She quickly casted her own silencing spell and vanished the smoke in the air. Right...now that his main problems were dealt with he quickly got to attending the roast. He put on those ridiculous Chudley Cannon mitts gifted by Ron from last Christmas (why they never got to replacing these hideously bright orange mitts he’ll never know) and got to work. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the roast looked exactly like it was supposed to in the muggle cookbook, a large victory in his disastrous attempts at cooking. 

He lifted it out of the oven planning to get it onto the counter quickly when the large pan collided with the edge of the oven door. It all happened too quickly, but one moment everything was perfectly fine and the next the pan shifted way too far right and his perfectly cooked roast stumbled onto the floor!

“Shit!” Draco cursed and ran to the counter to grab a napkin when he slipped onto the floor, his arse landing in the sauce used to marinate the meat. 

“You know when I asked you to help me I didn't mean for you to just sit on your arse scrolling through that muggle device of yours,” Draco glared.

Pansy rolled her eyes but took pity on him as she waved her wand to clean up the mess on the floor minus the roast. 

“Should we try Scourgifying it?” 

Like that would help save dinner, he sighed. Not to mention it was unhygienic and Harry would throw a fit if he found out. 

“Just vanish it, it’s useless anyways.” She nodded and a second later the roast was gone.

“At least you’ll have the creme brulee. And the potatoes,” she spared a glance at the pot that was overboiling a minute prior before grimacing. “Ok, maybe not the potatoes but who needs dinner when you have dessert anyways.” 

“Watch it turn out just as well as everything else,” he remarked and got up from the floor to check what was left of his cooking attempts. 

He went to the fridge to check on the little ramekins. Earlier they looked fine, but knowing his luck he’d have to test it before serving. 

Pansy handed him a spoon as he dug in and took a bite. A moment later was all it took and he quickly rushed over to the sink and spat it out. 

“Pansy, did you use salt instead of the sugar earlier?” It was one of the only times Pansy decided to help in the kitchen. She reasoned earlier that if she was going to help, at least it would be on the dish that requires the least amount of effort. 

She shrugged and took a bite of Draco’s neglected creme brulee before making a face. “Well...they did both look the same. And they’re in matching containers, Draco, what did you expect!”

“I just wanted to make a good dinner this year,” he sighed in defeat. Each year their friend group always got together and drew straws to see who’s house they were going to for Christmas dinner. Everytime he and Potter hosted, the Gryffindor prat would always suggest going to that all night buffet around Ron and Hermione’s place. 

“Hey, it’s all you can eat, saves the hassle of cooking, and they give war veterans discounts.” 

Draco couldn’t really argue against that and so they all went last year. He had to admit that the food was pretty good, but there was something about a nice home cooked meal on Christmas night that you just couldn’t replicate. 

Draco learned long ago that Harry simply did not cook. Not that Draco was judging, since he couldn’t cook as well. He’d rather leave that to the house elves, thank you very much. However, the difference between the two was that Draco was willing to try on the occasions where they had free time. Also, he was rather curious about the recipes Pansy was always going on about. Harry just usually shook his head each time and suggested they order take out. And in the three years that they have been together, two since they moved into a rather spacious flat at the heart of muggle London, he just accepted his boyfriend’s answer without ever looking into it. He just couldn’t be arsed about doing all the prep work and washing up afterwards. 

This Christmas though, they got picked again, and he’ll be damned if Potter thought they could just go to that buffet place again. So the night beforehand when he told Harry he was making dinner this year, the git just laughed and wished him good luck. 

“You had house elves your whole life, Draco. And cooking isn’t as easy as it appears on the telly.” 

So Draco set to work that morning to prove Harry wrong, starting even before the git left for work. But hours later and now he was here with a nearly burnt flat, no food to show, and a really smelly kitchen. Oh yeah, and there was Pansy being no help at all. 

He supposed if he hurried, he could use magic to make the food instead of relying on the muggle way. But apparently magic took away the flavor, according to Potter and after the day he had, he just wanted to give up. Suddenly the buffet idea was starting to sound appealing again. But screw him, he just wanted a nice dinner this year and at least he tried! The same couldn’t be said about his arse of a boyfriend, no matter how much he loved him. 

He looked at the mess he made before grabbing his wand. No need for the flat to stay in this state before Harry got home. 

“Right. Help me start cleaning Pans.” Reluctantly, she did what she was told. 

The two set to work for an hour or two before the floo flared up and Harry entered their flat. 

“Hey,” he greeted Draco with a quick kiss before turning to Pansy and giving her a small peck on the cheek. 

“How was he today?” he asked her as he started to take off the outer layer of his auror robes. 

She rolled her eyes, “As great as you’d expect a Malfoy to be in the kitchen.” 

“Hey! I’ll have to remind you two that I was brilliant at potions. My skills are not that abominable.” 

Pansy gave him a look before moving on. “Don’t mind him being such a twat, Potter. He’s just sad that everything he made didn’t turn out to be on the same scale as Mrs. Weasley’s.” She took her coat off the coat rack before making her way towards the floo. 

“Ta dears. See you in two days,” she took a handful of floo powder before giving the couple one last glance. “And Draco darling. The day hasn’t been a total bust. It was just as entertaining as I thought it’d be.” She gave him a wink and then she was gone. 

“Tosser,” he muttered, a tad too fondly if the look Harry was giving him was to go by. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to order from a deli or something,” Harry wrapped his arms around Draco. “It could even be from that expensive place on Bulbadox Avenue that you like so much. I checked and they’ll be open.” 

Draco rolled his eyes before returning Harry’s hug and relaxing in his lover’s embrace. 

“We could save that as a backup plan or something, but I’m planning to make a better meal tomorrow.” Not that he’d think he’d do any better. 

Harry snorted. “We found out you’re shit at cooking, just like the majority of us knew. Why don’t we spend the next day doing something relaxing. We could go and visit the market place near Diagon Alley. When it’s dark all the lights would be really pretty, and Hannah says they have a spectacular light display this year.” 

“Alright,” he agreed, “We could go later after I get our flat ready for our guests.” 

Harry pulled back a bit and made a face. “Are you sure? No offense Draco, but judging from what Pansy said I really don’t think you should waste your breath.” 

“I’m quite sure, Potter.” And they left it at that. 

The next day’s attempts were as disastrous as the first one’s. However, Harry definitely knew a lot more than Pansy and tried containing the damage as best as he could. 

“Wait! Draco, put that on simmer.” 

“Hold on! Don’t peel like that! You don’t want to take off a chunk of skin.”

“Draco! Oh God, where is the baking soda!” 

And so the fire department came after their neighbors called. That was a fun exchange to watch as he saw Harry stumble through explanations on what happened, his face rivaling Ron’s hair. 

By the end of the afternoon they were both exhausted. But since it was Christmas Eve they decided to go to the marketplace just like they planned. Draco was glad they decided to go, as he found out that Hannah wasn’t exaggerating. The light display was truly spectacular this year. 

He walked with Potter hand in hand as they made their way around different booths. They ended up buying an assortment of jams, cheese, and bread seeing how that one bread booth had some quite delicious samples. 

They were making the last of their rounds around the giant fountain at the center of the square when he overheard a family talking about their plans to make a special Christmas dinner the next day. He felt the tiniest sense of disappointment as he remembered his failed attempts earlier. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Harry asked as they passed by a ginormous Christmas tree lit up with streams of garland and fairy lights. If you looked closely you could see some actual fairies dancing around the branches. The sight put a smile on Draco’s face. 

“Just thinking about Christmas dinner. I really wanted to make something special this year.” 

“Oh,” he could hear the frown in Potter’s tone, “But I thought you’d rather not deal with the hassle. Not to mention all our friends are coming by and I know how much you hate it when the flat’s a mess. Specifically since we know how Ron gets when he starts with the firewhiskey.” Draco shrugged.

“I think I’m just being nostalgic about it,” he mused. “I know you don’t talk about your childhood all that much, but during Christmas time at the manor, mother and father would always gather all their Pureblood friends and all the elves would prepare the best meal to impress all the guests. There’s just something special about having a meal like that, despite some people insisting that buffet food is just fine.” 

Harry let out a small grin. “Yeah, sorry about that. Last year was the last time, promise.” 

The teasing tone was familiar between the two of them, yet it didn’t last long before Harry drifted deep in thought. 

“It’s not that I don’t like cooking, it’s just- well. I’m rather shit at talking about these things,” he untangled his hand from Draco’s and shoved it in his pockets. Draco let him, knowing his posture meant that he’s working his way to saying something important. 

“My aunt and uncle had meals like that too. They’d invite their friends and leave the children to play outside with Dudley while the adults talked. And Aunt Petunia...she always made sure I knew how to prepare for dinners like that. Sometimes I’d watch from the kitchen window and envy the kids playing in the yard.” 

It was much more than Harry told Draco beforehand that was for sure. They had their talks about the war and the effects it had on the both of them, but whenever they touched upon Harry’s childhood, he’d just explained that they were not the nice people who took them in as the public portrayed. He’d always left it at that saying that it was in the past. But now Harry was working up the courage to tell him specifics. It left a warm fuzzy feeling inside Draco’s chest and he extended an arm to touch Harry as a silent appreciation of trust. 

Slowly, Harry relaxed and intertwined their fingers again. 

“I choose not to cook mainly because I don’t have fond memories of doing it. My aunt would always have something to say, even though eventually I got pretty good at making food. She just did it out of habit, I think.” 

“Your family sounds like they were an arse.” They stopped walking and Draco turned to face Harry. “It’s alright if you’re not going to cook in the future. Just know that I love you and appreciate it that you’re choosing to share this with me.” 

He leaned in and the pair shared a nice slow kiss before parting and heading back. 

The next day, Harry was in charge of taking care of dinner, since Pansy flooed earlier asking for Draco’s help in some last minute shopping. 

“I swear Pans! Didn’t you learn anything from Christmas last year?” he huffed at the busy streets of Diagon Alley, “Melin, I’m not even sure if most of the shops are open!” 

So for the next few hours they went from shop to shop looking for Salazar knows what. Pansy was a very selective gift giver and everytime Draco made a suggestion she shot him down. 

“This is made with opals from Australia Pansy! I don’t understand how your friend would not like that!” 

“Hmm,” she browsed through the display cases in the shop, “I think she’d rather have a nice rock honestly. It doesn’t have to be Australian, but stones and crystals are rather in right now…” 

When it was time to go home he was feeling quite exacerbated with his friend. Pansy, in all their hours of shopping, only bought one object. 

“You still realize that I have a flat to set up right? And I’ll have to place a break proof charm on everything, knowing all the Gryffindors in our group.” Why couldn’t Harry be in Slytherin like the sorting hat wanted, honestly!  Pansy just gave him a small salute as they parted ways. Tosser. 

When he returned home, however, a delicious smell was coming from the kitchen. 

“Harry?” He made his way into the room and was greeted with the sight of his lover pulling out a roasting pan, fresh from the oven. His eyes widened as he looked over all the dishes on the countertop. The assortment of appetizers and side dishes made his mouth water. He honestly thought that Harry was going to order from the deli just like he planned, but this was by far a thousand times better. Suddenly he knew why Pansy dragged him out all afternoon. 

“I seriously can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner! Plotting with my best friend behind my back Potter? How Slytherin of you.” 

Harry laughed as he placed the roasting pan on the counter before taking away the aluminum foil on top revealing a nice baked ham. “Yeah, when I told her I wanted to surprise you she went for it straight away. She said she felt sorry for you the other day, and you should be glad she took pity upon you because now you have that dinner you wanted.” 

“That sounds like Pansy alright,” Draco rolled his eyes but let out a fond smile. He knew Harry revealed that he already had some culinary experience, but he hadn't anticipated this. Although now that he thought about it, if he had to go back to school and was told to recreate a calming draught potion, his muscle memory would guide him through it. It seemed like Harry hadn't lost his touch on cooking either. 

“Would you like a walk through the menu tonight?” Harry smiled as he set his oven mitts aside. 

Draco nodded as Harry pulled up the first appetizer. “So these are drunken peaches with bits of goat cheese and prosciutto tucked in phyllo pastry.”  

He presented another dish that looked like mini sandwiches with tiny toothpicks speared through. “Here’s some grilled peach caprese with mozzarella and basil topped with a basic balsamic.” 

He pulled up the salad bowl, “Fig salad with greens, goat cheese, and walnuts marinated with oil, vinegar, and honey.”

He moved on, “And here’s some roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto served with a hint of parmesan and drizzled with olive oil.” 

Draco couldn’t resist taking one and plopping it in his mouth. “You know that asparagus is my favorite.” 

Harry smiled fondly, “I know.”

He pulled up another plate, “That’s why I had to use it in another dish as well.” 

It was a smaller dish than the ones Harry showed him beforehand, yet it still looked amazing. “Smoked salmon with poached eggs, roasted asparagus, basil pesto, and dill topped with olive oil.” 

He pushed another plate forward. At the center was a type of bread surrounded with an assortment of crackers on the plate. “Baked brie and apricot preserves wrapped with puff pastry and a hint of honey.” 

Another dish, “Golden roasted potatoes with chopped garlic, rosemary, and other spices.” 

“Your classic mashed potatoes and gravy boat.” Harry winked, and Draco laughed. Harry really liked his potatoes, so it was no surprise that he’d prepare two types. 

“Then all we have left is the honey baked ham and dessert for later on.” He shrugged like he didn’t just make enough food to feed the whole Weasley clan. 

“Oh?” Draco prompted as he slid closer to his lover, “And what’s for dessert?” He gave him a heated look.

Harry easily accepted Draco’s embrace as he leaned in. 

“You could choose between a mini chocolate lava cake paired with a raspberry sorbet,” Harry teased the shell of his ear causing Draco to shiver before moving downwards, “or a vanilla chiffon cake with a fresh berry puree topped with a blueberry cream cheese frosting,” Harry muttered against his lips as he pulled Draco closer. Sweet Salazar, that shouldn’t have sounded better than the earlier dishes, but it did. 

Draco smirked, “And if I choose you?” 

Harry grinned, “That can be arranged.” 

Draco teasingly dragged his lips across Harry’s before connecting them sweet and slow. Things were just getting more heated when their floo flared. 

“Eww mate. I will never get used to that, ever,” Ron grimaced as Hermione came through behind him. Draco was really regretting their open floor plan right now, but accepted one last kiss from Harry before making their way over to greet their friends. 

“Honestly Ron. It’s been years,” she accepted a hug from her best friend. “Dinner smells lovely by the way.” 

“Yeah! Did Harry finally get to cooking or did you two find a new catering place or something,” the four of them moved into the kitchen. 

Draco raised an eyebrow. “You guys knew that Potter cooked?” 

“Well, there was that whole year we spent together in a tent,” Hermione replied, “Someone had to be the designated cooker, otherwise Ron would’ve gone insane.” 

“Hey!” Ron protested but didn’t disagree.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I finally got to cooking. But you should’ve seen when Draco attempted it at first!” 

“A Malfoy cooking? What, has the world finally come to an end or something,” Ron joked and earned a small nudge from Draco. 

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he protested but in truth, he knew it was. 

Harry smirked at him. “Did I tell you how the fire department came the other day? The neighbors were seriously concerned about Draco burning the apartment complex down.” 

“Shut up Potter!” 

Harry grinned and couldn’t help but challenge him. “Make me,” he moved closer. 

Ron let out a groan, “Ok Mione. Time to move back to the living room yeah?” 

Harry let out a laugh as he watched Hermione lecture Ron about letting them have their moment. 

He and Draco remained in the kitchen as they started to set up a bit more, waiting for their other guests to arrive, just enjoying each other’s company. 

“Harry,” Draco prompted after a while. 

“Yes Draco?” He looked up from the napkins he was just setting down. 

Draco smiled before placing the silverware down to join him. “Thanks for cooking for me.” He gave him a chaste kiss. 

When he pulled back Harry couldn’t help his reply, “Always.”