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cabensonsgirly · 3 years

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👼Baby's Got Trouble. Don't Know How To Live. Don't Want To Die. (Cordelia Goode)👼

Cordelia Goode x fem!reader

👼Part 6 of SP getting reader pregnant👼

👼Slice 2👼

Co-authored with @billiedeannovak

Somewhat au but more so later xx

👼Wordcount: 3131👼

👼Posted on AO3: Read Here👼

👼Content: Fiona (I know a lot of y'all hate her so she's here for you to hate her more xx), slow-burn, angst, fluff, mentions of blood, mild violence, feelings👼

👼You closed your eyes, resting your hands flat against the cold wood of the door as you started your breathing exercises. Soon each breath came in and filled your lungs as if you were breathing for the first time ever, each one as refreshing as the last. When you opened your eyes and swore in shock upon seeing there was another blonde standing in front of you, looking at you as if you were some alien.👼

As you put what clothing you had in the set of drawers you realised you would need to go shopping very soon or else you’d end up wearing a towel while you waited for your items to wash and dry. You hoped that classes today finished quickly so that you could bus to the mall and spend what little money you had in savings on clothing. Shit. That’s another problem. You didn’t have a job anymore so should you need new shoes or personal items how are you going to be able to pay for them?

You swore loudly and hit the drawers in frustration, why couldn’t you just be normal? Outside you could hear the girls speaking, well- yelling: “Hey! That new girl seems to have anger issues! Cordelia are you sure she’s not gonna murder us or anything?” It feels as though the walls have ears, which wouldn’t be surprising seeing as the whole building felt like it was pulsing with energy. Maybe it was the sheer amount of witches converging in this one place or maybe it was the history of the building itself. A quick google search shows that this place was built in the late 1700s or something so, to put it mildly, it was really fucking old.

You take your phone off charge and slip it into your back pocket before leaving your room, closing the door behind you although you feel as though a shut door wont stop the others from snooping. The moment the door clicked shut behind you it was as if air was sucked from your lungs, each breath becoming harder no matter how deep a breath you took. You closed your eyes, resting your hands flat against the cold wood of the door as you started your breathing exercises. Soon each breath came in and filled your lungs as if you were breathing for the first time ever, each one as refreshing as the last. When you opened your eyes and swore in shock upon seeing there was another blonde standing in front of you, looking at you as if you were some alien.

“You’ve got a mouth on you. I like it. The rest of you?” She steps back, tilting her head to the side as she looks you up and down before shrugging “You’re alright looking. Could probably do with better clothes or none at all but hey, we all start somewhere, right?” You give her an incredulous look “thanks, I guess?” before moving past her and heading down the stairs, thanking the stars that Cordelia is at the bottom of them. “I saw you and Madison having a chat, hopefully she wasn’t too” she screws her face up a little and does a vague gesture with her hands “Madisony.”

You laugh lightly, a light blush settling on Cordelia’s cheeks as well. “She was- is, certainly something. Said that I would look better with nicer clothes on or none at all. Which I mean…” You bite your bottom lip slightly and give her a wink before laughing “God I’m sorry. That was- That was not appropriate.” Cordelia blinks a few times in shock, her cheeks taking on a darker colour and she looks down then back at you before turning away completely. “I- Well… Let’s- I’ll show you where we have breakfast.”

It didn’t take you long for you to get settled in at the academy, after the first week of trepidation and nerves had ran their course, you found yourself getting along well with most of the girls there; you and Cordelia had become closer too, surprising yourself with how quickly you had become close to her in six months. Madison still felt the need to get you out of your clothing because apparently nothing you wore looked good on you. You couldn’t care less about what she had to say, you were more concerned about what the hellhound had to say, Fiona. Don’t let her catch you saying that though or else you’d find yourself becoming well acquainted with the wall.

The woman fucking terrified you, and it wasn’t just because she was Supreme. She just gave off the distinct impression that she hated everyone, especially her daughter which pissed you off to no end. Here Cordelia was running the academy while her mother is off galivanting around the world, in fact, she’s still running it but according to Fiona she was a disgrace. Maybe you should introduce her to your own mother, they would get on like a house on fire, which is probably what the outcome would be.

Both women were alcoholics and smoked as though cigarettes would soon go out of fashion, both women also hated their daughters with a burning passion. You could understand your mother hating you, but you couldn’t understand why Fiona hated Cordelia; she was an amazing woman and mentor to you, she treated you like you were the most precious being she’s ever met and even when you slipped up, she was there to help you until you were successful.

In order to avoid running into the hellhound that had returned, you spent most, if not all, of your time outside under one of the trees reading through books and notes. The woman rarely went into the garden so you felt quite safe out here. It was peaceful, the wind danced through the leaves making them join in on the waltz, the sounds that the birds sung took you away from being in the city and into the wilderness, it amazed you how much life was on this property despite it being surrounded by so many other buildings, it should be suffocating but it isn’t.

You rest your head back against the tree, looking up through its branches and leaves to see speckles of blue from the sky poke through. “So this is where you run off to hide when the Supreme comes back to play… I don’t know what my daughter sees in you. All you do is sit around with your nose in those damned books or spend time in that greenhouse Cordelia insists on having. Are you even really a witch?”

Your head snapped down to see who was speaking, but you already had a clear idea of who it was. Your eyes landed on the older blonde, your cheeks taking on colour due to embarrassment. “I- I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t a witch, ma’am. Surely you’d know that being the Supreme and all.” She scoffed and narrowed her eyes at you, “And I thought you’d know a rhetorical question when it hits you in the face, but clearly you don’t. The only thing that could be more obvious is your silly little infatuation with Cordelia. I don’t know who is more idiotic between the two of you. You for liking my daughter, or my daughter for thinking you are capable of becoming a powerful witch.”

You suppress the urge to roll your eyes, knowing that if she caught you, you would end up rather worse for wear. You close your books then pick them up as you stand, “well, as always, ma’am, it hasn’t been a pleasure. I know for a fact that one day, Cordelia will be an incredibly powerful witch and you will regret all the times you have treated her like shit.” In a move that surprises not only yourself but the Supreme, you found yourself disappearing before reappearing in Cordelia’s office, startling her.

“How- How did I just? I was- your mom and in the garden and now- what?” You turned around, checking to see if you were actually in one piece and actually in Cordelia’s office before looking at her, confusion visible on your face. She pushes back from her desk before standing up and making her way over to you, her eyebrows furrowed in thought and her eyes twinkling with curiosity behind her glasses.

“Transmutation. The ability to move from one place to another instantaneously without occupying the space in between… You have to have where you want to be clear in mind but even then it can still end catastrophically.” Cordelia whispers as she walks around you slowly, examining to see whether or not you’re injured in anyway before returning to stand in front of you, a proud smile on her face. “It’s one of the skills a witch must master in order to become Supreme, but that is still quite some time away for you. Of all the places you could go to escape from being tormented by my mother… you chose here.”

You blush and look down, a shy smile on your face “Where else would I go?” You raise your gaze to meet hers, biting your bottom lip slightly when you notice her cheeks are now a lovely shade of pink. “Oh- Well- well there’s so many rooms here and- and you have your own and- and there’s just- there are so many places but- but you chose here and I just-“ You couldn’t stop yourself from giggling at how flustered Cordelia has become. “Delia,” you grin, shaking your head slightly “has anyone told you lately how cute you are when flustered?”

The blonde’s eyes widen and her cheeks take on an even darker colour, she pushes her glasses up her nose, taking her bottom lip between her teeth shyly. “No- No well- No because usually they just think I’m being annoying because I tend to ramble and then I get embarrassed and just trail off before I get told to shut up” she rushes out, her voice barely above a whisper. You move your hand and brush some of her hair behind her ear, your hand lingering on her cheek before you both spring away from each other when the door opens.

“Ah Cordelia, there you are. I was wondering where you were, your mother is in one of her moods again. Something about ‘that new witch’ and ‘she just vanished after running her mouth’, she is drinking herself into a stupor, you know how she gets.” You move out of the way so Myrtle can enter the room, your blush only darkening at her words.

“So, little witch, what did you do and say to get our Supreme in such a mood?” Your eyes dart between her and Cordelia, desperately hoping she would make you disappear but nothing happened, and you were too flustered to make yourself disappear. “I- I didn’t really- I didn’t do anything that- that would make any rational witch- er, sorry Delia you know what I mean though… would make anyone flip their lid. She- She was talking poorly about Delia and I couldn’t just let her continue because Delia is wonderful and beautiful and amazing and smart and” You go wide-eyed and look down “I- Sorry… I- Anyway” you clear your throat before looking back at Myrtle.

“So- So I said that Delia will become an extremely powerful witch one day and- and that she’d regret all the times she has treated Delia like shit. Then- Then apparently I transmuted into Delia’s office.” Myrtle raises an eyebrow, the corner of her lips tugging up in a faint smirk as she turns to look at Cordelia. “Seems like you have a witch in shining armour, Cordelia. One who is growing into her abilities more each time I see her; you’re an excellent mentor to her. Little witch, I think the girls were looking for you.”

You dip your head, a shy smile on your face before you take your leave, thanking both witches as you close the door behind you. Your hand lingered on the doorknob as you rest your forehead against the door, your eyes closing briefly. If you weren’t careful, you thought you’d end up back in the room again, you wouldn’t complain if that were the case but you were already borderline inappropriate with the headmistress so you took your leave, heading to where the girls slept knowing this is where they spend most of their time. Each step you took on the floor bounced off the walls, the sound echoing throughout the neoclassical interior.

Myrtle lets out a sigh, shaking her head as she sits down in front of Cordelia’s desk. She runs her hand over the surface before resting it on her lap on top of her other one, “What are you doing, Cordelia? What is going on between you two? Nobody, not even your mother, was capable of transmuting under such duress at that age, yet Yn did. She did, and she found herself in your office. So don’t lie to me, Cordelia.”

Cordelia runs her fingers through her head as she paces back and forth in front of Myrtle, stopping occasionally to rub her face with her hands before continuing, clearly bugged by something. “Nothing. Nothing is going on between us. It- It can’t happen. She’s my student. It wouldn’t be appropriate. Not even accounting for what the others would think and say about it. They’d say I’m playing favourites and- and that she’s only getting good grades because she’s sleeping with me. I can’t. It- It can’t happen.” She shakes her head and slumps into her seat, leaning against her desk where she rests her face in her hands, letting out a shaky breath. “It’s- It’s not a good idea, Myrtle.”

The red-haired witch makes an exasperated sound, looking at Cordelia with an expression she hadn’t seen since Myrtle had had enough of Fiona. “Don’t make the same mistakes as your mother, Cordelia. You are stopping yourself from being happy because you’re too afraid of what might happen.” She sits back in the seat, pointing a finger at the blonde “you are still scared about what your mother has to say about you.” Myrtle’s expression softens, her eyes no longer steely but now filled with nothing but sincerity for the woman that sat in front of her. “You can’t go through life like this. You need to find out what you want, and whether or not you are willing to do whatever it takes to get there.”

Meanwhile you were currently sitting in a small circle on the floor with Madison, Queenie, and Zoe. You had been roped into a game of Truth or Dare, which is a game you had managed to avoid for a vast majority of your life because you hated it. Why did you hate this game? Because it gave people the perfect opportunity to force information out of you, and into doing things you wouldn’t usually do. “Yn, truth of dare? No you can’t opt out, we’ve been over this already” you groan in annoyance, rolling your eyes before responding “truth.”

Madison claps her hands together and her eyes sparkle dangerously, a look you had desperately been trying to prevent from being directed towards you seeing as the last time she gave you that look you had found yourself pinned against your bedroom wall with her pressed up against you because you had said she wouldn’t win in a fight against you, yet she did and you ended up with very angry marks on your neck for the rest of the week. You breathed out a quiet “shit” which the other girls laughed and nodded in agreement with.

“Are you sleeping with Cordelia?” She quirked an eyebrow, a salacious smirk spreading across her face. In comparison, you blushed furiously, your eyes wide in shock and you didn’t come to until Zoe gave you a hard smack on your back, forcing you to cough out a breath before you started breathing normally again. “No! No. No I don’t- No! No. We’ve never- I haven’t- No.” You shake your head in disbelief “jesus Mad, where the fuck did that come from??”

All the girls had started laughing, Madison’s being the loudest of them all. “There is clearly something going on between you two, you both practically eye-fuck each whenever you’re in the same room. So, spill.”

You shoot her a glare, taking a few deep breathes to stop yourself from tossing her across the room like Fiona does. “There isn’t anything going on Madison, for fuck sake. Nothing can happen. Nothing will ever happen. She’s my teacher, our teacher. She’s the fucking headmistress of this place! And besides, you lot would say I’m only passing because I’m sleeping with her.” You sigh sadly and stand up before leaving “this is why no one likes you Madison.” The walk back to your room felt like it took forever, each step seeming to take you further away from your destination, the only thing running through your mind was how close you were to Cordelia yet somehow so far from her.

“Why do you look like how my daughter is after spending five minutes alone with me? What happened, did she break your poor little heart?” The woman laughs, the sound shooting through you as the waft of smoke from her cigarette hits you. “Although she is pathetic, she is also a Goode and she can do so much better than you.” You look at Fiona, a defeated expression on your face as you shrugged “Nothing has happened between us. Nothing will ever happen between us. So don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’m not the one ruining the Goode name, you have that sorted out all on your own.”

You move past her and into your room, going to close the door but a shriek is torn from you as your flung against the wall, hitting it with a thud before landing unceremoniously on the floor. You scramble to sit up against the wall, eyes never leaving Fiona as she moves further into your room, her eyes wild. “You may be skilled with transmutation, and you may be my stupid daughter’s favourite, but I am still the fucking Supreme.”

You wipe your nose, cursing quietly when your hand comes away red; closing your eyes you took a deep breath, then when you opened them and exhaled the bleeding had stopped. “What- What do you want then, my Supreme?” You sneered at her despite feeling anything close to fighting. The older woman flicks her hair out of her face, tilting her chin up as she looks down at you “I want you to remember your fucking place. I don’t care how quickly you’re learning to master magic, you will never be at the same level as me.” She moves closer to you until she’s standing over you, her nose screwed up in disgust “you will never be anything more than a nobody that was picked up off the streets because her own family didn’t want her. You aren’t even wanted here.” Fiona gave you one more look over, shaking her head before she leaves, slamming the door behind her.

#Cordelia goode #cordelia goode imagine #cordelia goode x reader #cordelia foxx #cordelia foxx imagine #cordelia foxx x reader #Sarah paulson #sarah paulson imagine #sarah paulson x reader #ahs #ahs imagine #ahs coven #ahs coven imagine

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unwishablestars · 3 years

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amongst the waiting stars

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x f!reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 3.8k

Tags: Mutual Pining, SFW, Drunk Confessions, i tried my best

TWs: Mentions of alcohol intake

Summary: When Levi’s visits get more and more frequent how long until he’d have to admit he didn’t come for the coffee

A/N: this is the first fic I actually finished/properly wrote and I actually dont hate it, hopefully y’all don’t too :)

Wiping off the spilled coffee, restocking the pastries and cakes, it was a calm day for you and your co-workers. You felt a cool autumn breeze enter the room as you hear the door open and were greeted with a rather short man with a bored expression.

"Hello! Welcome to xxx, how may I help you?"

Greeting back with a simple hello, he proceeds to scan the pastries inside the case before he walks up to the counter to order tea and brownies.

With that slight intimidating atmosphere you found around him you didn't expect him to have such a sweet and simple order, emphasis on sweet, he didn't seem the type to order something as sweet as a brownie. Though, that being said, he did order a tea that was rather bitter.

"Can I have your name?" Holding the cup with a pen in hand.

"Levi"

"Alright thank you, Levi. Would you like your brownie reheated?" Asking with a soft and friendly smile "Yes, please."

After asking him to sit down you start to prepare his tea and brownie, approaching him with a black tray in your hand and his food on top of it.

"Please enjoy, Levi!" Setting the tray down and flashing him a little smile before leaving him be.

And that was it, you thought this was as close as you strangers could get.

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A week to 4 days to 3, he started coming by regularly. Nothing special really, he wasn't the only regular, but you sure as hell didn't expect to be able to talk to him as if you've been friends for ages.

You've memorized the way he likes his tea, you know he has a sweet tooth that he wouldn't admit he has and you know that type of coffee he likes when he needs to get through a lecture.

Every 3 days became 2 then daily, he was back again. You didn't know why but it seemed to excite you to see a familiar face, his familiar face, what didn't make sense was why him? Why was he so special?

Was it the way he openly admired your focused and quick work attitude, the way he would pleasantly chat to you about his life outside this café or those sweet little banters you two have when he enters and leaves the store.

For a man that didn't smile much, he sure was a treasure to have around.

Often enough for you to notice though, he always seemed to sit alone. Asking about it, he's never really responded with anything other than a:

"I'm waiting for someone."

You've never seen this someone. A friend perhaps? A date? Whoever it may be, they seem pretty rude to never show up even once.

Leaning on your arms over the counter to ask him "Waiting again?" Levi started sitting closer and closer to the counter just to make your conversations easier.

A slight pause was present before his answer "Yeah." "Is it the same someone as last time?" Thinking for a moment, "No, it's a different friend."

"Not that is any of my business, but it seems pretty rude for your friends to just never show up like this. You could wait for an hour or so and still not be pissed, gotta say that's pretty admirable."

"It's not a big deal. I mean, I'm stuck here waiting with you aren't I? It's not so bad."

He's right, I guess it wouldn't be so bad if you waited with him too.

"How smooth, Prince Charming." Despite your snarky remark you can't deny, it was nice hear that you made his wait bearable for him.

To the untrained eye, someone could see him as a stoic and quiet man, maybe even intimidating. But with trust and patience, he was sweet and compassionate, it could make your heart melt.

Taking as sip from his tea, presumably ignoring your little banter, you could've sworn you saw the softest smile accompanied with a little blush.

I wouldn't mind waiting with you.

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

Nearing the end of the year, a cool breeze can now be present everywhere. Malls, stores and homes turning on their heaters to help with the growing cold.

Leaving his building wearing a stylish grey coat, already on his way to his personal sanctuary, his thoughts were interrupted with a loud and high:

"LEEEEVIIII"

Turning around he was met with a very much energetic Hange Zoe, stopping in his tracks to see what they have to say. "On your way already? Excited to see your sweetheart?" They said, smirking with a deeper intent than to tease.

Levi's friends were more attentive than he had thought, it didn't take a while for them to realize that he'd been leaving the campus in a slight rush. It also didn't take them long to start guessing what else he could possibly have better to do other than sit in the library or go home immediately.

"She's not my sweetheart." He absolutely wishes though, liar. With Hange and his friends bombarding him with questions like "What's she like?" "Is she pretty?" "Are you going to make the 1st move?" It left butterflies in his stomach. The thought of a confession made his stomach twirl, even if it didn't show on his face.

He often thinks about when that perfect opportunity would arise or even if something like that exists, he'd love to win your heart over and have you in his arms. The thought of you spending your days together, official, made his heart swell, yours too. But how could he possibly ask you out? Who the hell was he to you?

"Right, of course she's not.." Hange responding quickly, stretching out the 'right' to emphasis her suspicion. "Then in that case, you should invite your 'friend' to our little gathering before we leave!" They said with a smug yet genuinely joyful expression on their face, nudging his arm to the suggestion.

"Why would I want to do that?" Levi said plainly. His friends had decided to eat out and drink together at a spot not too far from the campus.

This way they could somewhat spend their holidays together before they actually have to leave for the holidays to see their families. Including Levi, who had planned to spend it with his mother (and uncle).

"Aww c'mon, don't be like that! One of you have got to make a move sooner or later. Plus, wouldn't it be sweet for her to know that you'd been thinking about her?" They argue, thinking about it, he decides to comply.

Already walking off "Fine. Just don't follow me." "Aw but I wanna see her!" "Too bad." They follow him anyway "I'll just wait outside then! Then I'll leave once I know you've asked her!"

Clicking his tongue in agreement, they both head their way to the little café he was ever so familiar with.

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

It was a busier day than usual. Though, it's to be expected due to the cold weather. It just makes people want to sit down and drink their coffee or hot cocoa, warming up their systems.

As you give the last customer in line their coffee, you hear the door open. Looking up to welcome them in, seeing who it was, a brighter smile was presented, almost as if it was an instinct.

Walking up to the counter Levi was understandably nervous, he even considered bailing on the idea now that he's here. But seeing your bright excited smile as he entered the door kept him in motion.

"Levi! Having a nice evening?" A tug at the corner of his lips made your heart pound, "Yeah." Cutting his answer short, his mind too busy to think on how he should pop the question.

"What is today?" "My usual coffee, take out, please." Nodding and grabbing a cup, you start making his usual. Looking back at Hange, they gesture him to stop stalling. You catch him looking out the door to see a tall individual with glasses.

"Is that the friend you've been waiting for all these days?" Your smile lightly calming down "O-oh no.. they're actually.." stopping himself in his tracks, air getting caught in his throat.

"I actually wanted to ask you something." "Oh? What is it?" Your attention shifting to him. "My friend.. And I wanted to ask you- if you'd like to join us for a gathering we're having. W-we'll be eating out together before we leave for the holidays." Not knowing where his eyes should look, he didn't look up until he finished his question.

Seeing your face, visibly shocked but not displeased, a bit flushed. Your eyes soften at that thought, he wanted you to come with? To spend time with you? You couldn't hold back your soft and sweet smile at his offer, what would be the point? Hiding your joy would be pointless.

Taking a look at your face, your initial reaction to the soft look you gave him. He was growing confident, maybe this wouldn't end up blowing up in his face and ruining his relationship with you.

Until your facial expression showed a bit of annoyance, a customer had fallen in line behind Levi with her kid. While the kid seemed rather patient, taking a look at the cakes in the display the mother look impatient and annoyed. "Uh- I'm sorry, Levi. Could you stand over there for a moment" gesturing to the end of the counter "I'll get your coffee ready in a minute."

With that, worry immediately washed over him. Did he say something wrong? Was he too straightforward? Did he mess up? He does as you ask and step aside, too occupied with his thoughts to realize that small flash of annoyance was in no way meant for him.

After dealing with the lady and her daughter, you walk over to Levi, his freshly made cup of coffee. "Sorry about that.. here, your coffee." Seeing his worried expression you give him a reassuring smile, your hand lingering on his as you hand him his coffee.

"Thank you so much for the invitation, Levi. That's very sweet of you." Your face showed a light flush. "It's a really busy day so- don't throw away the cardboard cup sleeve, I don't want to stop this here.." still a small bit stuck in his thoughts, he replies, "A-alright.. Thanks." Giving him another reassuring smile he heads his way to the door meeting up with the friend still outside.

"Looked like it went well!" Hange said joyfully as Levi left the café. "I don't know.. maybe it wasn't the best day to ask her, she seemed occupied." He doubtfully thought, "Huh? She seemed pleased! What are you talking about? Plus, she wrote something on your cup didn't she?" They noted in a curious tone, pointing at his cup.

Catching his attention, he takes a look at his cup and they were right, there was something written on the cup sleeve:

"I'd love to ♡ text me the details!"

was written in black marker followed by your number.

A visible yet faint blush was spread across Levi's face. He hadn't mess up, you don't hate him, you wanted to spend time with him. "Aha! See! Isn't this great?" Hange said enthusiastically, interrupting Levi's train of thought.

"..Yeah"

I'd love to♡

Yeah, this is great.

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Standing outside by the entrance of your building you stood there waiting for Levi. Having talked about it beforehand you both had decided he would just pick you up and walk with you to a small KBBQ place, just a few minutes away from the campus.

Levi wasn't the biggest fan of smelling smoke as he ate but compared to the rest of the 'cook-it-yourself' places around, this place had better ventilation, a cleaner surrounding and a decent price.

[6:03pm] Levi: Just stay by the entrance inside your building. I'm almost there.

Y/n: Alright! :)

[6:04pm] Levi: Be safe.

He's so sweet.

The weather was nice this evening. It was calm, and the wind wasn't unbearably cold, it was nice. Seeing a familiar figure across the street turning the corner, you face showed excitement as Levi lightly waved seeing you by the door.

Exiting your building you meet with Levi outside the doors, greeting him with a smile "Lead the way!" softly smiling back at you he starts to walk, making sure you're close to him. "It's not far, stay close.. okay?"

Matching his pace to stay close to him, you walk together in tranquility, engaging in peaceful conversations, asking about how they'll spend their break. It all felt natural, makes you wish that KBBQ place wasn't just 20 minutes away.

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

Nearing the restaurant you see the silhouette of a tall, blonde man standing by the entrance. As both of you walk up to him, he greets you with a friendly smile and wave.

"Hello, you must be Y/n, right? I'm Erwin, It's nice to finally meet you." He greets to which to you reply "It's nice to meet you too!" he must be one of Levi's friends who would join us- stopping your thoughts you think back to what he said:

"..nice to finally meet you."

Finally? Has Levi been talking about you? You felt a light blush at the thought, thinking about me? It was nice to think that he'd be thinking about you, after all, you'd been thinking of him too.

"Follow me, we already have a table." Walking inside gesturing for both of you to join, Erwin leads you to a reserved table. Seated at the table were 4 people, one of which you've seen outside the café, the day Levi invited you to eat out with his friends.

As you approach the table you were quickly greeted with hello's and nice to meet you's. Sitting down next to next to the familiar face, they introduced themselves.

"It's nice to see you again! I'm Hange!" "Oh yeah, you were standing outside the café that day, why didn't you come in?" you asked out of curiosity, "Oh I promised Levi I'd wait for him outside while he asked you out!" They gladly explained, lowering their volume to just about a whisper to continue "Y'know.. I was the one who suggested to invite you, Levi can be quite a shy one." They smirked which followed a chuckle.

Looking over at Levi to see some sort of confirmation. All you saw cute pink blush that ran across his face, him looking forward to either avoid eye contact or pretend like he didn't hear, either way, it was adorable.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you! I'm Nanaba, this is Miche and that's Moblit." Nanaba had introduced going down the line.

"It's nice to meet you all." you simply said, "though.. I can't help but notice, it doesn't seem like you guys extended the invitation to anyone else. Why extend it to me?" as much as you enjoyed sitting here with Levi and his friends you couldn't help but wonder why, couldn't help but want to know it straight, said to your face.

"Because we want to get to know you." Levi admittedly explains, though he feels he wants to get to know you more than anyone else here. His friends nodding in agreement, some smirking at both yours and Levi's oblivious interactions.

Clinking your glasses filled with alcohol the night went on filled with laughter and nonsense. You kept your alcohol intake low knowing you'd obviously still need to go home and you'd rather go home walking than slumping on some poor person's shoulder.

As minutes to hours pass by, sharing stories that brought out laughter which rang around the room. Soon enough it was nearing midnight and some of you were a bit tipsy, some more than others, though you kept yourself your little promise of not going home a blackout drunk.

You weren't drunk but you were tipsy enough to be not be embarrassed if you were to spill some truth about your feelings. After the bill was paid, stuff gathered, and as they walk their way to the door Hange proposes an idea to Levi.

"Y'knowww.. Y/n would really appreciate it if you walked her home.. can't let anything happen to her ya'know.." Clicking his tongue at the smell of alcohol in their breath "What? Did you think I was just gonna let her walk home alone? It's almost 11."

Miche budges in abruptly "Is that why you barely drank?" clearly to tease the man. Overhearing the conversation without really thinking you cling onto his arm "I'm not that tipsy.. but I'd love the company.." a light pink was present across your cheeks, you couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the blatant confession.

"Even if you were completely sober, I'd still walk you home." He'd love to.

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

There were lots of stars out, nice view. The cool breeze, the bright moon, it was all so beautiful. "When are you gonna leave..?" Catching his attention, "Hm?" "to visit your mom?" you weren't exactly sure why you wanted to know, he did say he was coming back, maybe you just didn't want the night to end yet.

"Tomorrow. I'll be leaving in the morning, why?" he asked back, "Nothing.. just curious." Looking up you see the moon in that navy blue sky, it gave you an idea. Walking into your building you were still gripping his arm, not as tight as when you were out on the street but you didn't exactly plan on letting go just yet.

"Do you mind staying for a bit?" Embarrassed to ask but you did anyway. Taken aback "What? Why? Are you not feeling well?" he asks with a flustered and concerned tone. "No it's not.. you don't have to- I just.." you could feel the alcohol help you speak the truth "..wanna spend more time with you."

It felt like his brain stopped for a moment, did she just..?, but in reality it was racing with thoughts to the point where he didn't even notice. Scared of his silence you ditch the idea just as quick as you proposed it, practically interrupting yourself. "Sorry- sorry, I didn't mean to be- I didn't mean it like that-" apologies and explanations start to leave your mouth all at the same time.

"No, it's alright. I-I know what you meant.. I don't mind." holding back his stutters fairly well the blush spreading towards his ears were as evident as ever. "What? Really?" thank god he didn't take it the wrong way, "Tch," avoiding eye contact and walking toward the elevators "you want my company or not?" "Very much.."

On your way up to your room there was a sense of familiarity and comfort, even though the signs of success were there, you weren't exactly sure what you were so nervous about. Maybe you were sobering up quicker than you thought, it's not all bad though.. You didn't exactly want him to just deal with you drunk, you didn't want him to see you that way.

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

Taking out your keys, opening the door and letting both of you in, you turn on the light and offer him a drink as you open your fridge "Sit down, do you want anything to drink?" "How the hell would I know what's in your fridge?" He says dryly

"Heh- that's fair, hot cocoa then?" Giving a simple nod at your offer you take out two mugs and start to warm up some milk. "Sorry it's just hot cocoa mix and milk." You apologize for no apparent reason other than to avoid the awkward silence.

"That's fine, how do you think I make my hot cocoa?" he asks sarcastically, "with fresh cocoa beans fresh from the tree" you retort jokingly, laughing a little. Surprisingly, he giggles along, making your heart flutter.

Looking at the clock as you pour the milk into the powder, 11:27pm, you interrupt the silence once again with an apology "Sorry.. I know you have you leave in the morning.." you remind yourself as you add a few marshmallows to your cups, walking up to him to give him his drink, "Why do you keep apologizing? I meant it when I said I wanted to be here." He reminds you as he takes the cup out of your hands, unable to hold back a smile the tension on your shoulders loosen, relaxing at his remark.

"If it doesn't bother you.." grabbing the blankets off the couch and opening the window "the nights beautiful.. and the view is better on the roof.." seeing the confusion on his face, you explain in a simple manner "don't worry, it'll be quick and the roof's actually pretty clean. Stargazing on the roof is actually pretty calming."

Trusting your rather odd offer you set your mugs on the counter next to the window to easily step out onto the fire escape. Once both of you had exited you grab both your mugs through the window and head up the steps leading to the roof

"Y'know I didn't expect having to climb out a window today." "Honestly I didn't expect to be stargazing with you, but it's not so bad is it?" "No, no it's not."

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

Reaching the roof you set 1 of the blankets down to avoid sitting directly on the roof.

Sitting down you pat the spot next to you asking him to sit down, doing as you request, he settles beside you holding onto his hot cocoa for warmth "The second blanket is for us, no secret that it's gonna get chilly." You explained, casually wrapping it around both of you, what a bold move.

You smile at him, showing fulfillment and joy. The smiled you both see around each other always show honesty, such a simple gesture can convey so much. Now under the moonlight, snuggled together close, his heart couldn't handle how lovely it felt. You could've sworn you saw his eye water a little, that or the light of the moon glistened brighter than usual.

Looking up at the stars, admiring their light and formations, sipping on your warm drink, the air in your lungs start to lock up. Exhaling a breath you didn't know you were keeping in, the comfortable silence was broken with emotions put into words.

"Other than a ball of fire a huge distance away, do you think they can be anything else?"

"I don't know." he answered with simplicity and honesty.

"You ever wonder how long the stars have been here?"

"Not really, I don't look up at the sky that often. But I'm sure they've been here for a while."

Say it.

"I'd happily wait a billion years to see you."

Taken by surprise, he swings his head to take a look at you.

"..whether it be coming to the café, picking me up, coming home from a trip or seeing you in another life. I'll be here, waiting for you to come home. You wouldn't ever have to second guess it, because I'll be here, loving every second of it."

Looking up at him, to pour your heart out. "Because every second of it, I'll be loving you."

Letting out a shaky breath, holding you closer, softly yet firmly holding onto your hand, letting out the simple truth.

"That and so much more is the reason why I can say: I love you too."

#levi ackerman #levi x y/n #levi ackerman x reader #aot x reader #aot #aot fanfiction #anime #levi aot #levi x reader #levi x you #attack on titan #first fanfic #sfw post #aot modern au

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hikarimiyanaga · 3 years

Text

I'll Always Be Yours Pt. 2

Pt. 1

Second Song: Eroplanong Papel (Paper Airplane)

You finally leave Russia to go to America and try to find the love of your life.

An update!?

I just need to write three more songs and I will finally finish this series. And while doing that I'm also writing a Wanda fanfic too.

.....

I'm suddenly writing fanfics again, considering that there's like a hundred plots waiting for me in my phone.

*shrugs*

Oh well. Inspiration hits when Inspiration hits.

Warning : More Angst

Wait, don't be filled with misery

The hope you dream of will also come

Isn't it enough that you have love

In your heart that is irreplaceable?

You smiled

You yawn as you go through the mall. You’ve finally decided to come to America to hopefully find Natalia. It’s been a week since you’ve got here.

“Y/N?” A hopeful voice calls out your name and you turn eagerly… only to be met by fangirls.

“Yes. It’s me.” They squeal and ask for photos, which you oblige to. When they leave, you sigh in relief.

“Rough girls?” You grin as you face Silvia. She’s your bodyguard who doesn’t really stop fangirls because she’s one of them. She’s been a fan of your paintings since you started.

“Not really. Just… America is intense.” Silvia scoffs at that.

“More intense than Russia?” You laugh at that and shake your head.

“Than Philippines.”

“Ah.” You hum and the two of you begin walking again. As you walk by a fountain, you could see that it’s base was occupied by couples. And you can’t help but remember her.

Her soft lips that you can’t get enough of. Her hands that seemed to mold with yours. Her sexy body that you can’t stop worshipping. Her voice that pants out your name. Her laugh that you could equivalate to heaven.

A single lone tear escapes your eye and Silvia eyes you worriedly. You quickly wipe the tear away and wave away her concern. And then you smile. Those memories… you hope to make them anew and add even more to them. God, you hope you’re not too late.

Blow the wind in your hand cold

Moaning voice, in my hearing

Your thoughts and feelings will fly away

Can it still get to her side?

You close your eyes

It’s winter now. You write in your journal. You decided to let Silvia on her own vacation after she spent the last five months with you just roaming around on this country. You blow into your gloved hands, hoping to ease the cold. You were in Alaska and it was cold as fuck. Damn.

Journal, it’s been months since I’ve been here… Can I ever find her? Is there hope? Even if there isn’t. I just want to see her one more time. To remember why I wake up every day. Why I still wait for her heart to come back to mine. I don’t care if she’s happy with another person or if she’s forgotten me. Just please. Let me see her. Let me see the love of my life.

You whine as you put your pen down. That’s it. Tomorrow, you’re leaving… Is this why your mom makes sure to leave Russia when winter comes around? Goddamn, you’re lucky she always takes you to the Philippines for Christmas. You read over your words and close the journal. You close your eyes and hope the words reach her.

‘Please, whoever the fuck I have to believe I will believe. Just. Let me see her again.’

If my prayers are not heard

Reach out at every moment

I have to shout, I'm yours

The prayer of the heart is you

You’re in Los Angeles now. You’ve been here for three days and you’ve been drunk every single night. It was a temporary high, you know, but it makes you forget about her even if it’s just for the night. You stumble upon your hotel room and reach the balcony. You’re not that drunk to think to jump off from the 15th floor but you’re that drunk to shout out your frustrations.

“GODDAMN IT!” You shout and no one replies, only various car noises and loud music. “JUST ONCE! FUCKING HELL! I JUST NEED TO SEE HER AGAIN!” You didn’t care if it was hurting your voice. You wanted to do something to ease the pain you’ve been feeling. You sob as you slide down on the floor. “I JUST WANT TO SEE NATALIA AGAIN!” You punch the floor and wince as your fist connected to the solid rock. “I’M STILL YOURS, NATALIA! PLEASE!” You breakdown and sob as you hug your knees to your chest.

Damn it. It was the only thing your heart wanted. Her. So why can’t you find her?

“Goddamn it.” You say and you sob again.

Wait, don't hold back your tears

Your feelings will rise to the ceased destiny

Your palm will reach the desire

Can it still get to her side?

You close your eyes

You were now in a random mall. You took a deep breath when you see her red hair. You were about to call out when she kisses the man behind her and all of your words. Your declarations of love get stuck in your throat. And all you can think about-

“Oh.” You say then you laugh. Many people look at you but not her. Never her. It seems that she has really forgot you. Your tears fall down before you can even stop and you cover your mouth to not let the sobs out. Then you realize… was it really her? You stop outside and you see them both get into the car. You meet her eyes for a second and all you could see was unfamiliar. She was not yours anymore. She’s not the Natalia you always knew. The Natalia that you’ve loved. But as the man pulls away from the parking lot, you hold a fist over your heart… Because damn it. She really does still have that effect on you. You close your eyes as you hear their car drive away. You let the pain wash over your whole body and you kneel.

You finally saw Natalia again… But she was not yours anymore. You sob louder this time as you make your way to your car. You lock it and sob your heart out.

And with every stiffness of my resentment

You will not be approached

I’ll Just beg

If my prayers are not heard

Reach out at every moment

I have to shout, I'm yours

The prayer of the heart is you

You stand outside the Avengers Compound and sigh. You researched on her. She goes by Natasha now. You resent her. You gave away your life for her. Every single time that people begged you to let her go and you still held on. You gave away every single year just to fucking wait for her. To make sure that she has someone to go home to. And she was here. Enjoying life with Steve Rogers. The wonder boyfriend. Captain America himself. You scoff as you let the pain take over your heart.

“Hello?” You turn and see Steve Fucking Rogers himself approach you. He’s holding bags of groceries and you smile sadly at him. “Can I help you, ma’am?” He asks politely and you almost punch him… but you knew that it wouldn’t do anything. He’s a super soldier for fuck’s sake… and you… you’re just you. Nothing but a past memory and a phantom from her previous life.

“Just.” You pause as you try to get the words out. “Please. Take care of her.” He tilts his head in confusion.

“Who?”

“Nat.” You grin.

“Oh. Do you know her?” You shake your head at him and begin walking away. Tears fall down as you walk away from the compound’s gates.

“Well, that was weird.” Steve says as he steps into the kitchen.

“What was?” Natasha asks as she eats the remaining sandwich that she got herself.

“There was someone outside. A woman.”

“And?”

“She was just staring at the compound when I arrived. Then she asked me to take care of you.”

“What? Me?”

“Yeah. Nat can only be you, right?” She drops her sandwich and grabs Steve’s collars.

“What direction did she go?” Steve furrows his brows at her behavior.

“To the park? Do you know her?” Natasha nods and quickly gets her jacket and wait for the elevator to take her down.

“I think so!” She answers as the doors closes.

She runs to the park and tries to find you. She smiles as she spots your hooded figure. She runs to you but she slowly comes to a stop as she hears you sing. And oh was your voice beautiful to her ears. But your tone… You were crying as you sang.

You let the music drown out your pain and you begin singing along as you cry. It was as if these lyrics were made for you. You sang in Filipino as you learned it in all your trips there.

Natasha cries silently as she listens to your broken voice. Your quiet sobs and hiccups. What has she done? Why didn’t she come for you sooner? She’s always thought that you were better off without her. That being with her meant that you were also in danger. But as you sit there, singing while crying, she couldn’t help but want to punch herself. You’re crying. And goddamn it, if you were not beautiful. Natasha never forgot you.

She sits besides you and you don’t notice, still wanting to get all of your pain out before you go back. Before you paint again. You finally stop and pant.

“Nice song.” She says but you don’t answer. You were still trying to catch your breath. And she let you rest before talking again. “Y/N.” She calls out but you don’t answer again. Were you avoiding her? She then notices the earphones on your ears and how she can faintly hear music. God. How loud was the thing?

You close your eyes and sigh. She takes an earphone out and you flinch away as you stand. Who the fuc-? Your words die on your mouth, the moment you see her.

“Nat.” You say softly and she smiles at you.

“Y/N.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted-“

“It’s too late, Nat.” She flinches and you take a step back. You run a hand through your hair. “You should go back and I will too.” You put on your hoodie and power walk away from her.

Nat was about to go after you when her phone suddenly rings. She sighs and answers it when she sees that it’s Fury.

A/N:

I'm not crying, you are. Also, no one can stop me from killing myself with Angst.

I'm considering of posting for everyday if possible? Considering I'm going to be home, doing absolutely nothing since Professor are actually considerate for our health... Which is new.

So if I do finish some time this day or next week, then everyday it is.

#Natasha Romanoff x reader #Marvel #Marvel fanfic #Natasha Romanoff fanfic #natasha x you #Natasha x Fem!Reader #Black Widow x Reader #Black Widow x you

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let-me-luve-you · 3 years

Text

Trip to the North Pole

Dad!Jensen x Reader

SPN Christmas Bingo 2020

Summary: Jensen promises his children to go see Santa.

Warnings: Angst, Workaholic Jensen, some fluff

MASTERLIST

SPN Christmas Bingo 2020

Jensen didn’t plan on being busy during the months of November and December. He had finished filming a movie at the very beginning of December. He was recording for his new album. He was working for his new production company and trying to bring in two new shows. He rarely spent time with his family.

You tried to include Jensen in the family Christmas activities, but he just couldn’t find time. You were surprised he could find time to eat and sleep. So far he missed putting up the Christmas lights, picking out a tree and decorating it, making Christmas cookies and candies, and he missed the family slumber party where you gave the kids their Christmas pajamas and watched a Christmas movie.

Jensen begged you to wait on taking the kids to see Santa. Hadley was 4, the twins Tristan and Raelyn were 2, and Lyndon was 3 months. He had missed seeing Santa in the past due to filming for Supernatural, but he didn’t want to miss this year. It was a week before Christmas, and Jensen still hadn’t taken the kids to see Santa at the mall.

“Jensen babe, the kids keep asking when they get to go see Santa. They’re afraid they won’t get anything if they don’t see him.” You said as you walked into the office.

“I promise I’ll take them. I just have meetings all day today and tomorrow. I’ll take them this weekend.” Jensen said. You sighed.

“We can’t. We are going to my family this weekend, remember?” You looked at him as his head fell.

“I forgot. I’ll take them right when we get back Sunday.” He said as he stood up and walked up to you. He kissed your head and then walked back to his desk. You walked out of the room to go break the news to your kids.

“Hey bubs and bubettes, Daddy will take you this weekend when we get back from Grams and Pops house.” You said as they all stopped playing and looked at you. They looked so defeated because they were hoping to go today. “I promise babies. Daddy will take you Sunday.”

They smiled at you and then moved on to continue playing with their toys. You moved to the kitchen to start working on dinner. You occasionally looked up at the children and would smile as they talked with each other and would laugh. Jensen was missing out on so much and he didn’t even know it.

Sunday morning came and the kids ran into your room and jumped on your bed.

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Wake up! We get to see Santa today!” Tristan yelled as he shook you awake. His two sisters bouncing up and down next to him. You smiled at them. You turned your head to where your husband normally lays and his side was empty. You internally sighed knowing he was already working.

“Okay. Okay. I’m up. Let’s turn on a movie for you to watch as Mommy gets Lyndon fed and ready and gets herself ready. What do you want to watch? Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph?”

“RUDOLPH!” All three yelled. You smiled and put the movie on the tv. You walked to Lyndon’s room and saw him lying awake in his crib.

“Hi baby. How are you this morning?” You cooed at him. He smiled big showing off his gums. “Is my baby boy hungry?” You said as you unbutton the first few buttons of Jensen’s shirt you were wearing. Lyndon latched on to your breast and started eating. You walked down the hall to Jensen’s office as he fed.

Jensen didn’t look up as you walked in. You watched him from the doorway. His eyebrows set in a frown as he pushed his fingers into his temples to release some pressure. You knew he had been working hard on all his projects. Sometimes he put too much of himself in his work. You walked towards him. He finally looked up at you and smiled. He pushed himself away from the desk and pulled you and your youngest son down in his lap.

“You amaze me everyday.” He said as he kissed your shoulder and then looked at his son. He gently put his hand on Lyndon’s head and moved his thumb softly against his hair. “I’m so lucky to call you my wife and their father.”

You smiled at him, “I’m the lucky one.” You leaned over and kissed him. “They are lucky to have you as a father. Someone who works so hard so they can live the best possible life. Someone who cares and listens to them. They love you so much.”

“They won’t after I break this horrible news to them.” He sighed. “I messed up Y/N/N. I.. I waited too long. Santa isn’t at the mall anymore.” He looked defeated. You couldn’t imagine how he was feeling. He was trying so hard to be the perfect husband, father, and worker. “They are going to be so disappointed.”

“Hey. It’s okay. We can figure something out.” You were internally upset. If he would have just set a little time aside, this wouldn’t be a problem, but you also know how hard he was working to provide for his family. Lyndon finished eating and pulled away. Jensen reached for Lyndon and the burp towel on your shoulder. He started patting him on the back. You fixed your shirt back.

“I’m going to go shower and get ready and then get the kids ready. You figure something out. I’ll tell them we are seeing Santa tonight.” You said. “Is Lyndon good to stay with you?” Jensen nodded as he held his son close to his chest as he fell asleep.

“Yeah I got him. Little man can help me brainstorm.” He smiled at you. You walked out of the room.

Jensen watched his son sleep. Guilt filling his body as he thinks about his kids not seeing Santa this year. He grabbed his phone and dialed Jared’s number. He listened to it ring a few times before he heard a hello.

“Man I messed up. The kids will hate me.” He said quietly so he wouldn’t disturbed the sleeping baby.

“What? They won’t hate you Jense.” Jared replied. “Hadley adores you, Tristan looks up to you, and Raelyn thinks you are the greatest thing to walk this earth. And I know you are the only one, besides Y/N, that Lyndon will calm down for. Nothing will make them hate you.”

“I promised them we’d go see Santa. I begged Y/N to let me take them this year. I waited too long because I’ve had so many meetings and studio sessions. The mall doesn’t have Santa anymore.” Jensen sighed. Jared heard the defeated tone when Jensen spoke. He sighed knowing how much the kids were looking forward to it. His kids loved seeing Santa.

“Shit man, I’m sorry. What’s your plan now?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know. Hoping maybe you had an idea.” Jensen said hopefully.

“I have one.” Jensen heard a voice. “We decorated the outside in a North Pole theme.” Gen said. “Who wants to dress up as Santa? Jared?” Jared nodded and then said sure.

“I mean Jensen did promise his kids he would be there.” Jared said. “How about this. Bring the kids by around 6. They can see Santa and then we can grab dinner together and drive the kids around to see the Christmas lights.”

“Jare, that’s a great idea. Is that okay with you Gen?” Jensen asked. Hope filled his chest.

“That sounds like a perfect night. Is Y/N going to be okay with it?” Gen asked.

Jensen kissed Lyndon’s head as he started to whimper. “Shh. It’s okay little man.” he said quietly to his son, but Jared and Gen heard and smiled. “Yeah she’ll be okay with it. See you at 6.” He said as he hung up with his best friends.

Later that night, with the kids dressed up in their Christmas sweaters buckled into their car seats, Jensen pulled the suburban into Jared’s driveway.

“Why are we at Uncle Jared’s?” Hadley asked.

You turned towards her, “We are going to see Santa.” Your kids looked confused as Jensen got out and opened the back door to help the kids get out of their carseats. You got Lyndon out and carried him around the car to stand by Jensen. All four kids were looking around in awe at the decorations. You noticed they added more decorations from the last time you were here. And that was four days ago.

“This place looks amazing!” Raelyn yelled. Tristan grabbed Jensen’s hand and started to bounce.

“I’m so excited. Let’s go find Santa.” Tristan said as he pulled Jensen’s hand. Hadley and Raelyn followed.

Gen walked up dressed in a Christmas sweater with her three kids following. “Who is excited to see Santa?” She asked with enthusiasm. All six yelled as the baby just cooed. Gen led the group to the giant chair where you saw Jared dressed as a Santa. You stifled your laugh since the kids didn’t see that it was their Uncle Jared.

“HO HO HO! Merry Christmas little ones.” Jared said in a deep voice. “Who’s up first?” All the kids lifted their hands. All the adults laughed.

“Daddy. Can I go first?” Raelyn asked quietly. Jensen nodded as he watched his youngest daughter walk over to Santa hesitantly before she turned and ran to Jensen crying. “Daddy I don’t want to.” Jensen wrapped his arms around her. He nodded at Gen to let her kids go first.

“It’s okay baby girl. Santa won’t hurt you.” He whispered as she hid in his chest. Raelyn being scared made Tristan and Hadley timid. “You’ve seen Santa before. He’s nice.” He ran his hand over her hair trying to calm her down. “Hadley, do you want to go?” She nodded.

Jensen watched Hadley walk up to Santa. He smiled down at her and picked her up to set him in his lap. Jensen turned back to his youngest. He pulled her face away from his chest and wiped away her tears. “Daddy, I’m scared.” She said with more tears falling down her face and bottom lip sticking out.

“I’ve got you. Daddy won’t let anything happen to you.” Jensen said as he picked her up and stood up to his full height. “I promise you nothing will hurt you. You don’t have to be scared.” He turned Raelyn to see Hadley hopping down from Santa’s lap and saw Tristan crawling up talking Santa’s ear off. “See baby. Hadley did it. Tristan is doing it.”

“It’s not scary at all Rae. I did it. He smells just like Uncle Jared.” She said. Gen heard and laughed. “I’ll go with you. Come on.” She reached for Raelyn’s hand as Jensen sat her down. Hadley tried to lead her to Santa.

“I want Daddy to come with me.” She looked up at him. He nodded and walked with her. He turned to see you watching with love in your eyes. Tristan and Hadley stood next to you. Jensen pointed at Lyndon and curled his finger as saying ‘bring him here.’ You handed Lyndon off and went back to your other children.

“Hi Raelyn.” Santa said. “What can I get you for Christmas?” Raelyn looked scared but then pulled Santa’s head down to her level as she whispered. Jensen strained to hear but he couldn’t. “That’s an awfully nice gift. I will see what I can do. Is there anything else you want?” Raelyn shook her head.

Before she could hop off Santa’s lap, you walked up with your other two children. “Picture time everybody.” Hadley and Tristan crawled into Santa’s lap. Somehow all fitting. Jared reached for Lyndon and held him as Jensen took a step back and watched as you grabbed a few photos of the kids with Santa. They all hopped down and ran to play with Gen’s kids. You pushed Jensen towards Jared. “I’m not missing out on this opportunity. Go sit in Santa’s lap and I’ll get a picture.”

Jensen groaned as Jared laughed. Jared handed off Lyndon to Gen before turning to Jensen and saying, “Come here adult child and tell me what you want for Christmas.” Jensen rolled his eyes but sat on Jared’s lap anyways. Both smiled for the camera. “Raelyn wants to spend more time with you. That’s what she whispered in my ear.” Jared said quietly to Jensen. Jensen looked down at him. Pain filled his chest as he felt he failed his children.

He got up and walked away for a second to gather himself before walking back to the group. You looked at him in worry but he shook off your look and walked to the kids. “Come on kids. It’s me and you tonight while Mom, Aunt Gen, and Uncle Jared figure out where we are going for dinner. Let’s go walk around the yard to see all the lights.” Jensen grabbed Raelyn and put her on his shoulders, holding onto her legs. She smiled and wrapped her tiny arms around his head and neck to hold on.

Jared filled you in on the conversation, but when you looked over at Jensen, he was laughing and smiling at spending time with his children. You knew that this wasn’t the typical Santa meet and greet the kids, or Jensen, wanted, but you knew this was going to be a night to remember. One that also causes Jensen to take more breaks from work.

#supernatural christmas bingo #supernatural christmas bingo 2020 #spn christmas bingo #spn christmas bingo 2020 #jensen ackles #jensen x reader #jensen ackles x reader #spn rpf #supernatural rpf #jensen x daughter!reader #jensen x daughter #jensen ackles rpf #jensen ackles one shot #jensen ackles imagine #jensen ackles fanfic #jensen ackles fanfiction

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draken-rotzi · 3 years

Text

Bug Man x Reader Part One*

Read on AO3

SO, wanted to write something of this topic bc we all need some more Musical!BJ in our lives, it’s a nice comfort ngl, I enjoyed writing it and hope you do too c:

(Got carried away so here's the first half while I edit the second one in the meantime, it takes a bit to get to the main part we all want to read forgive mE it's better in th next one believeme)

I'd love some feedback since I haven't written anything since 2019 ;v; some wordings might seem odd since my brain speaks spanish first english second

Summary; Old boring university life and a broken but hopeful heart meet the supernatural and whacky demon/ghost with the most, reader-chan needs to get out from a toxic relationship and what's a better help than a magic dead man? Cutting ties might seem easier when someone else arrives and flips your world upside down with no warning.

Mostly fluff, bits of angst l8r

Female reader, but tried to not give any other specifics to the character themselves, OCs appear

It was a fresh autumn afternoon, birds still chirped before migrating to warmer areas for the winter, the wind was cold but nice, not yet freezing but enough for people to wear light coats. You sit on a school desk, a class about taxes and fees, you drift off a bit looking at the window while half-listening.

You lived in a medium but popular city, it was a great place, with nice, kind people for the most part, huge malls, restaurants and lots of places to go out with friends or alone.

...

"Miss ___? Care to answer this equation here for the class?" The teacher asks, a tall, slender woman that radiated authority, it made some students shiver in times like this with a direct question.

"Oh? Yeah- sure miss Adams" You replied, while trying not to look confused since you just missed the topic, hopefully you remembered from the last lesson by the time you walked up to the blackboard and took the marker to write.

...

After class, you were walking with your friends to the cafeteria next to the main exit to wait for an uber to arrive; your side job as a freelance wasn't good enough yet to afford a car, but it helped pay the bills and to have enough for a bit more more than the basic needs.

Your two best friends at college were Itai and Rob. Itai was a funny dude, with a darker tone on his skin, not so tall and full of charisma. Rob was a bit more collected, but still a lot of fun to be around, being the voice of reason for you three most of the time, emphasis in most, because sometimes he got carried away too.

"Man I hate that class, I don't understand a thing! Why do we even need math?" Itai tells the group, sounding annoyed as usual, he was a simple guy, but simple guys need a degree too, to secure a better job.

"Well if you paid attention instead of eating that cold baguette in class you won't be that confused my man" Rob replies, laughing a bit at the end

"At least you weren't asked to do math in front of the class" You sigh, putting down your backpack and sitting on a table next to the building's exit, looking at your phone to know how much time was left for the driver to arrive, around 10 minutes.

"Yeah everyone felt so bad for you, but hey, if you’ll be daydreaming at least look at the front instead of the window next time, it might help you" Rob said while opening a bottle of apple juice, his favorite, he wouldn't drink any other thing, he was probably 60% apple juice after years of drinking it that often.

A few minutes passed by, the three friends chatting about the day's events, their plans for the weekend, and how to get the next assignment done. A figure appeared behind you putting a hand on your shoulders.

"Well hello ladies!" A man chirped, you turned around laughing softly

"Hey yourself!" you replied "Already off?"

"Yeah I've got the last hour free so I'm gonna head out to Kris' place, we'll play some games and work on that big project I told you the other day"

"Great, have fun! You say hi to Kris from me yeah?"

"Sure thing, see you later!" He says with a squeeze of his hand on your shoulder, then a quick pat on the head, turning around to leave.

"Bye, take care Nick!" you say as the man walks out of the cafeteria's door waving a hand.

Silence lingers for a bit until Itai breaks it

"Hey so, you're still going out with him?" He says with a crooked smile and a nervous look, Rob has a similar expression

"Yeeeah... it's been okay for some time now, you know? Hah" You look down for a second, pondering "Maybe this time is the good run?" Uncertainty fills the question, but you still smile to your friends.

Nikolas wasn't the model boyfriend, at least not for your friends; he was full of sweet words, hugs and kisses, only in private places though. When it came to the campus he treated you just like any other friend.

There was a small reason, according to him, he wanted to wait a bit more to make it public, get to know each other better, just to be certain from both sides.

That was the excuse a year ago.

It wasn't like he was out and flirting with other people, not at all, but one could expect to be treated like a love partner after so much time and moments together, you’ve gone to the movies, to dinner, to each other's houses, hell your families knew you two were dating, it just wasn't more than the bare minimum from him, seemed more like a thing someone does if they have free time, not make time for that thing, the thing being the relationship.

It seemed to be only a problem of neglect and apathy, probably, though you were so dumbly in love with him at first, you have been hoping and asking for a change since the relationship escalated to more than just holding hands and light kisses.

"I don't think anything's gonna change, he's been stalling for a whole year now" Itai mumbled, looking at Rob, he nodded in agreement

"Yeah, just dump him already, you deserve way better, you give him everything you got and he just throws the leftovers at you."

"I guess, but we're going out this weekend! You know he doesn't like going out often"

"With you" Rob adds

You hesitate a reply, it was true, most of the times you asked him to go out for a change, he was either too busy or decided to change the event the same day, turning it into a make out session in his house every time. Even though you saw each other 2 days every week, you have seen him go out with his friends more often, on actual enrichment outside activities.

"I know..." you sigh " I'll think about it, I'll try to talk with him about it next time”

Both of your friends let out a small groan of annoyance, they knew you weren't gonna do it, or that he'll just brush it off as always, between the lines of 'oh you're overreacting'

"Ah my ride's here!" You got up from the table and grabbed your backpack, tossing it over one shoulder.

"See he can't even give you a lift to your place!" Itai teased, they knew how you felt about the whole situation, but joking around sometimes made it a bit less bitter.

"Ha-ha, you know we live in opposite ends of the city! Besides none of you give me a ride either" you said while sticking a tongue out on your way outside the cafeteria

"Yeah because you live at the ends of the earth for some weird reason!" Rob joked back

Everyone said their quick goodbyes, and after a calm ride back home you remembered something just as you were locking the door, tossing your backpack into the living room’s couch you walked over to your room.

You flopped onto the bed, looking at your phone you opened some pending messages on the family group chat, apparently a distant relative of yours had died, and the family was gonna hold a small funeral tomorrow morning on the local cemetery, you didn’t enjoy those kind of events since you’d get really emotional, but since it was something really small, no more than 20 people, it was private and most likely no strangers would see you cry over someone you barely knew.

Tomorrow was saturday so it was okay to spend one free morning humoring your family.

After some mindless browsing on your phone, it was already 12:30am, you haven’t even got off your sneakers since you got home, you did a quick self-cleanup in the bathroom, tossing today’s clothes to the side to change into an oversized shirt with no pants as a makeup pijamas, it got a bit warmer in the afternoon so you wanted to enjoy wearing something light before winter fully arrived, getting under the sheets and you were out fast, maybe from all the overthinking of what’d tomorrow might bring, you’ve forgotten what are funerals like.

But there was certainly no way you’d know what would happen at all the next day

...

The event was simple, thankfully there was not much crying, seemed like everyone accepted already what had happened, some kind of illness you heard, at least they weren’t suffering anymore and they’ve come to terms with everyone close to them, that was nice you thought, it sure felt a bit heavy in there, as usual for funerals. After the ceremony, the family offered a barbeque in the departed’s honor to bright up the mood a bit; right at the cementery, maybe it was cheaper than renting a place for it.

Free tasty food was something only an idiot would decline, so you spent some time doing small talk with the relatives you knew best, but still you mostly just listened and ate in silence.

You saw a glimpse of color and movement out of the corner of your eye, since everyone was wearing dark tones it stood out, turning your head there was just an empty plastic table with some half-full plates and glasses, still, you felt a shiver up your spine, it was probably the weather.

When you looked back at your phone's clock it was already 6 pm, guess dad jokes and food made time fly, you said your goodbyes and condolences to everyone and headed out, you were still at the cemetery, so you had to call a ride back home, the driver dropped you near a convenience store just around the corner of your apartment, since you needed to buy a snack for dinner, on sundays you usually had takeout, so no need to worry much about it right now.

_______________________________________________________

“I know I didn’t imagine anything, that breather saw me at the cemetery! we even locked eyes for a second! It may work this time, just gotta get closer while they're alone”

_______________________________________________________

…

Walking down the street, humming a bit to some music and a bag of snacks in hand, dusk started to set, some stars could be seen and the sky was a beautiful fuchsia tone with oranges and purples mixed in the clouds. On instinct, you took your phone out of your jeans pocket to take a picture of the cute sky.

Just as you took a couple of pictures, to make sure at least one was good to share, something caught your attention out of the corner of your eye again

You felt a shiver like a cold wind out of nowhere, similar as to when a car drives a bit too close to someone on winter, but there was not even one driving car on the street.

"Oof, should get back now, it's getting colder" picking up the peace to get home faster-

A piece of paper slapped you in the face

“EW- wind trash” you muttered while grabbing what seemed to be a flyer, and it flew indeed.

You naturally took a closer look at it when you took it into your hands and out of your face, it was a very faded print, with an image of an… insect? man? holding a hammer over a small house and people, you chuckled, it was a funny irony cartoon, a bug crushing people.

Half of the flyer was unreadable because of some liquid or dirt, already dry but you couldn’t read what was supposed to be, written under the drawing was the end of an ad;

“Ghostly services one name away!

RESIDENTIAL - INDUSTRIAL - COMMERCIAL

Call BETELGEUSE

BETELGEUSE

BETELGEUSE!”

“Betelgeuse? ...Like that one star?” There was that shiver again, Halloween was a week ago, so this kind of paper seemed normal to be hanging around with the wind.

As you walked down the street, some lights started flickering, the cold wind seemed stronger and the sky was a deep dark purple now, strange, it was supposed to be clear dark blue by now, fall nights came quickly this time of the year, still it didn't feel like the usual night. You were just around the corner of your street when the closest light bulb exploded and zapped with a loud 'CRASH', making you stop for a second cowering from the shards

"What the-!? No one told me we'd be getting winter thunderstorms sooner what the eff" muttering swears you made a run to your apartment, scurrying for the door keys in the process, lights kept flashing and the wind made windows sing a high 'oooo' noise, you have seen this kind of weather before but no one would like to be outside when it happened, nervously and quickly you finally fit the key in the lock and opened the door, hurrying inside and closing it behind, a loud bang thundered through the silent room, the unexpected storm slamming against the walls and windows, you left the lights on before going out.

After a minute it seemed to calm down, wind turning into a breeze and the sky now it's usual black, no stars in the sky.

You let out a sigh and walked to the counter to drop your keys, the phone and your purse, you had to make sure all the windows were closed for the night, luckily it was Saturday, so no need to go out tomorrow on that crazy weather.

Windows secured, you changed into your winter pajamas, a gray pair of pants with a pattern of a cat on toast and eggs, with a pastel blue loose shirt. Making your way to the kitchen you decided a light snack would be enough for tonight, after that run and emotion on the way back home you had no energy to cook a proper dinner, not even microwave, it was also too late for it anyways you thought.

You put the snack bowl and a cup of water on the kitchen counter, looking to grab your phone. You noticed you still had the dirty flyer, forgot to drop it between the commotion maybe?

Placing it aside and unlocking your phone screen, you opened the ‘best friend's’ chat group

You. 'Hey guys, did you get any of that weird winter storm action today after school?'

Rob. 'Nah, it was a clear sky for me'

Itai. 'Same, also I was asleep all afternoon'

You. 'Strange, I got caught on this whirlwind on my way back home from the store, just my luck I guess >:('

Both of the boys. 'Lol yea'

Putting the phone down and chomping on some of the snacks, you thought about the events, it was indeed a clear sky earlier, only a couple of common clouds you took pictures of before it. You grabbed the phone again, quickly to see if any of the photos looked good.

"Pleasepleaseplease" you muttered in excitement, it was a very cute view, hopefully one picture captured it nicely.

And they did, a couple looked stunning, you smiled, thinking at least it was worth getting your hair all messed up by the wind, you were about to delete one picture it since it was blurry when you noticed a different kind of blur, it was gray with splashes of green in the corner, similar to what you saw at the funeral.

"There was nothing green on the other pictures, was it?" you looked through the other photos and they were pretty normal, full of pink, purple and blue from the sunset.

You looked back at the flyer

"Betelgeuse, betelgeuse, betelgeuse huh" You said in a playful tone, grabbing the torn paper from the counter, you felt a shiver, a strong one this time, well that was the opposite of a calming experience, but still the word felt strange when you said it, it wasn't like you hadn't said before, Orion was a popular constellation, and the Betelgeuse star was on it; but this time the air inside had a tense feeling.

All the lights went off after a second "Now a blackout? What's with today ugh" picking up your phone to use as a flashlight, after a couple of seconds before you could turn it on, all the lights came back again, but you almost had a heart attack when you saw someone standing in the center of the living room, enveloped in a green mist.

"FUCK wh- WHO THE FUCK-" you stuttered before turning around and grabbing the closest thing to use as a weapon, a wooden spoon used for beating eggs this morning "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHO ARE YOU? GET OUT!"

The figure was a man, taller than you, dressed in a striped black and white suit, dark hair with green tints at the end, a wicked smile plastered on his face, he took a look around, then back to you, endless chills went down your spine when you met his eyes, you could feel the tense aura from before growing stronger, anticipating, colder.

"Well who might I be? You should know, you called my name baby! Glad to make some business with you tonight!" He said as he extended a hand and walked, floated? quickly towards a paralized you, frozen in place, you only managed to put the spoon up in self defense from whomever this man could be, the lights were out for just a few seconds, was he inside the apartment all this time?

"S-stop right there you!" tried to threaten the man with the wooden tool, he didn't seem to notice nor care, wrapping an arm around your shoulders, then placing a sloppy kiss in your face, petrified, you shivered and gripped the spoon harder, he felt oddly cold.

...Did he just kiss you? Who does he think he is??

"No no, no stopping now! We just got started cakes, and now that you said my name three times, I can finally interact with you and everything here in the world of the living! Gotta say thanks it's been real boring being invisible for so long lemme tell ya-"

*WHACK*

You hit the man in the head with the wooden spoon as hard as you could.

...the spoon broke.

The man's smile grew wider

#hope it's o k a y #I'll reblob this tomorrow with tags it's 2am help me #fanfic #fanfiction #beetlejuice #betelgeuse #beetlejuice x reader #beetlejuice x you #musical beetlejuice #draft #female reader #could be both Blum or Alex I love them both sm #or any other that u seem fit #I need a name for this jhfdsdfj #is 'whack' the correct sound?#sorry for the cliff #might edit later

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dreamerology · 3 years

Text

i was tagged by the loml @123dream to answer these 20 get to know me questions! thank u for tagging me hehe 💕

🦋what do you prefer to be called name-wise?

elliot or el! i don’t rly have a preference for either

🦋when is your birthday?

october 9

🦋where do you live?

canada 🦫

🦋three things you’re doing right now?

i just got home from work so im listening 2 music, snacking on a muffin & catching up w my roommate

🦋four fandoms that have piqued your interest right now?

i would definitely love to have more people to talk abt books w but im not overly interested in being involved in any of the fandoms

🦋how is the pandemic treating you?

awful lol our govt is handling it so poorly & im so tired of constantly feeling on edge and anxious when im at work/having to take the bus and it just seems like an endless cycle which like ☹️💔 it’s been 2 years since ive seen my gf and who knows when we’ll be able to travel again….i also just miss walking around malls & going escape rooms & board game cafes, stuff like that

🦋song you can’t stop listening to right now?

honey by halsey 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 (the entire album really…)

🦋recommend a movie

castle in the sky <3

🦋how old are you?

21! 22 soon 🤢

🦋school, university, occupation, other?

i currently work at two post secondary libraries! been at the one for 2 years and the other for a year (ignoring the months i was laid off from both bc of covid 🙄)

🦋do you prefer hot or cold?

cold bc at least u can continue to layer up for warmth….my anxiety has decided this summer that heat makes me claustrophobic and triggers panic attacks so im glad the weather is starting to cool off

🦋name one fact others may not know about you.

ive never been stung by a bee/wasp so im terrified im actually allergic even tho there isn’t that kind of severe reaction in my family lmao

🦋are you shy?

yes but not even in the cute way more so in the annoying and useless in social situations way

🦋what are your preferred pronouns?

they/them! at the moment im also ok w he/him

🦋any pet peeves?

people who r on the phone while they’re at like a checkout or expecting help from someone idk how else to describe it but every time a student comes to check out something while on the phone and i also have to talk to them i wanna smack the phone out of their hand

🦋what’s your favourite “dere” type?

could not tell u the definition of one of them sorry

🦋rate your life 1-10. 1 being really crappy and 10 being the best you could ever be.

6 maybe??? in a (temporary) full time job in my field which will hopefully lead to something more!!! and our work schedules just changed so ill actually be able to see my roommates every evening instead of once a week :D i just got back from an absolutely wonderful road trip! ive also picked up reading again which makes me really happy & fulfilled….if the panoramic wasn’t happening n i had a trip planned to see noah it would be even higher also once i get a better hold of my anxiety i’ll be unstoppable

🦋what’s your main blog?

dreamerology

🦋list your side blogs and what they’re used for.

im not active on any of them anymore like im barely active here lmaooo

🦋is there anything you think people need to know about you before becoming friends with you?

sometimes i take a lot time to reply bc i overthink my messages rly bad if we’re just getting to know each other! but if we have something in common chances are i already consider us besties im just horrible at initiating convos

tagging some mutuals who r recently in my activity bc idk like anyone on here anymore 😢@softredvelvet @carnation-station @penpall @s00ft @leetaemn

#u don’t have to do this if u don’t wanna!!#el.txt

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aclosetfan · 3 years

Text

This is a really incomplete idea BUT it’s about Brick’s hat(s). And hopefully someone else finds this and enjoys it! More under the cut, it’s a long post :)

I think it’d be funny if boomer and butch get him a shitty novelty hat for birthday/holidays/etc because 1) they don’t know what to get him 2) they’re like 12 with four buck to their names. so they just go from charity shop to charity shop looking for ideas. Brick probably doesn’t ask for much (I don’t think any of them do. poor kid syndrome amiright? I personally never think they’d be well off in childhood).

So anyway butch and boomer are bumming through the charity shops and boomers like:

“Holy shit, Butch!”

“Wut?” Butch looked over pulling the charred and ruined Halloween mask that someone had donated for god knows what reason off his head.

“Dude it’s perfect!” Boomer came running from three aisle over, waving a garment around in the air.

“It’s a hat.” Butch pointed out bluntly, unimpressed, and pointed to the mask atop his head, “I think we should get this.”

“But it’s red!”

“He’s got one of those. Wears it frequently.”

“But not like this!” Boomer boosted, “See.”

Boomer turned the hat around, so Butch could see the bill of it. It was one of those novelty snapbacks, inscribed on the front was the playboy bunny logo.

“Dude.” Butch smiled, giggling with Boomer, albeit a little nervously.

He was familiar with the playboy bunnies work, it wasn’t like he was a virgin or anything (except he secretly was), but he had never actually seen a genuine centerfold spread like some of the older boys at the detention hall had talked about. When he thought of playboy, he thought of the Victoria Secret models he saw plastered to the side of the store at the mall. They made him feel weird and his hands would get all sweaty, so he tried his best not to look too closely.

“Dude we should get him this!” Boomer continued to smile, “It’d be, like, so funny.”

“Yeah.” Butch nodded, as his smile grew. He didn’t 100% get why it was so funny, but the idea of having something with the playboy bunny logo on it seemed cool to him. It made him feel kind of like one of the older boys.

Him and Boomer snickered all the way to the cash register, and when it was their turn to pay, Boomer nudged him ahead, ducking behind him with a giggle. He glared at his brother over his shoulder, but allowed Boomer to twist a nervous hand into the fabric of his oversized sweater (the one his brothers had bought him last year. They bought it 3 sizes too big cause he kept growing out of everything too fast. It was 1 size too big now). Boomer liked latching onto their sleeves when he got nervous.

He didn’t get what the big baby was so nervous about though. They were just buying a stupid hat. The lady cashier watched them with thinly veiled boredom and Butch threw the hat down on the counter.

Raising a penciled on eyebrow, the older women examined the hat, “Playboy, huh? You even know what Playboy is kid?”

The question made the back of his neck burn. He had never heard a lady say playboy before, it was weird. From behind him, Boomer pressed his face into the back of his sweater to muffle another giggle.

“Uh, duh.” He sniffed, “We know, lady.”

“Have you actually seen a playboy before?” The cashier snorted, ringing them up, “Not just the logo?”

“Yes!” Butch huffed, defending himself, “The Internet!”

(It was a semi-lie—they had tried looking it up on the internet, but Fuzzy didn’t have a computer at his cabin, HIM wouldn’t let them use any of his flashy spy monitors, Mojo was lame, and the library had parent controls)

“Surreee.” The lady drawled out and rang them up, “Dollar fifty.”

He didn’t make eye contact with her as he handed over a crumpled dollar bill and took two quarters from the take-a-penny-leave-a-penny. When she gave them back the hat, they ran out of the store like they had committed a bank robbery.

When Brick opened the present two days later, he threw the plastic bag it had come in to the side and frowned.

“A new hat?”

“Yeah,” Boomer nodded, putting down the cheap Polaroid camera Butch and Brick had shoplifted from a secondhand shop downtown (still too expensive to actually buy), and reached for the hat, turning it around in Brick’s hand, “but look!”

Brick’s smile grew, as the logo registered in his head. “Oh, shit,” their brother laughed, “is this playboy?”

“Betcha you won’t wear it.” He goaded his brother on as he tossed the new (used—looked like it was taken from Pokay High’s sports department) rugby ball from hand to hand.

“Betcha I will.” Brick shot back, carefully removing the ratty cap he had had since forever and replacing it with the new one.

“Sorta big.” Their brother murmured, adjusting the strap.

“Your fat head will grow into it!” Butch joked and Brick punched his arm.

“Shut up, dipshit.”

“Do you like it?” Boomer beamed, ignoring the bickering.

Brick looked at their brother with a smile, precious anger dissipating, “Yeah, dude, it’s funny.”

———————————————————

Then it becomes a thing//like Brick really loves his hat collection:

“Truckin’ ain’t easy.” Brick read out loud with a snort, and replaced the hat he was wearing with the new one.

He thought for a moment then shook his head no, “nah. Not today.”

He had so many hats to chose from, it was almost overwhelming. They were all basically offensive on every level and he tried to wear them all as often as possible. The highlight reel included:

Kitty gang

Swag.

Yolo.

Lmao.

Weed jokes. Lotta weed jokes.

Thrasher.

Fish love me. Woman fear me.

Met god. She’s hot.

Blow me for luck.

Beer drinkers get more head.

The carpets do match the drapes

FuCk

Birthday Bitch

Deadass fuck thots on god

Hello I am Mr. Cunt

Master Baiter

Drive fast. Eat ass.

At 17, he had a vibrant hat collection. Anytime his brother’s saw a red hat with a shitty gag, they snagged it for him. Recent political events had bestowed upon his brothers a plethora of new material:

Make racists afraid again.

My other hat’s tin foil

Made you look

The list went on. His fuck cops wasn’t popular with local authorities. And how could he forget his most favorite powderpuff girl cap. That pissed them off to no end.

“Brick!” Butch yelled down the corridor. They were at Mojo’s this week, “Hurry up!”

“Uuhhhhh,” he mumbled to himself, as he stared at his wall, ignoring his brother. He hung them all up to make it easier to chose. His collection covered the wall.

His hand floated left to the one that said FuCk, but the one that said bad hair day caught his eye and his hand twitched to the right, “uuuuuhh, hmmmm.”

He floated toward the ceiling to look at the top of the wall, “welllllll...”

They’d be fighting with the girls today and because he liked making Blossom mad, he figured he needed to chose something more crude.

“Oh my god!” Butch cried outside his bedroom door, “Just fucking pick one!”

“Mmmmm.”

“Brick!” Butch pounded on his door, “I swear to god, I’ll burn them all if you just don’t pick one!”

“HMMmmmmmm!”

“Brick, it’s been thirty minutes!” Boomer whined, joining Butch, “The girls are waiting, we can’t cancel on them again! We’re bad guys, but we aren’t bad guys.”

“Ahhhhh—“ he sucked on his teeth in thought, “five more minutes!”

His brothers groaned in unison from the other side of the door.

“This is your fault, Boomer.” Butch whined.

“How?!” Boomer protested.

“Cause I wanted to get him that mask.”

————————————————————

His hat—his first hat—is lovingly preserved. He can’t risk losing it or damaging it any further. Before they started buying him new hats, most of the boys misadventures (the chaos they did NOT plan) were dedicated to saving Brick’s hat from the clutches of (insert one-shot villain here). It’s his security blanket. He breaks it out on the lazy days in.

He does though often lose his novelty hats. A violent gust of wind will rip one from his hat or a fight will cause it to disintegrate. But because Brick considers being the hat guy a personality trait, I think he’d have a spare one on hand at all times:

“My hat!” He cried, as the tornado-like monster blew through Townsville, ripping his hat from his head, and then disappeared into thin air, “the fucker took my hat!”

“Brick!” Blossom cried over the wind, “calm down! It’s a hat!”

“Yeah my hat!” He argued back. He wasn’t fond of the idea that him and his brothers and the girls now had to cooperate with each other, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Butch! Boomer! I want my hat!” He hissed and his brothers nodded, understanding immediately what he meant.

“Right!” Butch dropped Buttercup, forgetting whatever fight the two had found themselves in.

“Got it!” Boomer jumped up from where he had been sitting on Bubbles, squashing her to the ground.

“What was that thing!” Brick barked at Blossom and she wiped the blood from her nose.

“I only know as much as you do, considering it literally just happened. Maybe it has to do with air—“

She cut off and looked at him, as he adjusted his emergency back up hat onto his head.

“What!” He hissed when he realized all three of the girls were giving him odd looks.

“Dude,” Buttercup asked from the ground, “do...do you just carry extra hats around?”

“Of course I do!” He spat, disgusted that they’d think so low of him not to, “Extra hat,” he pointed to his head, “emergency beanie,” he pulled one out of his pocket, “and extra hair ties,” him and his brother lifted up theirs wrists. “We live by the aesthetic, we die by the aesthetic, anymore questions?”

“Yeah!” Boomer huffed in his defense, “what’s it fucking matter to you anyway!”

“Don’t you three have bigger issues to worry about then our business?” Butch hissed, kicking at Buttercup.

Buttercup rolled away from the kick, dodging it with a laugh.

“What’s so funny!” Butch demanded and Buttercup shook her head, ignoring Butch and pointing up at her sister.

“Holy crap! He really is your counterpart, huh? You guys are perfect for each other!” She laughed wheezing.

“Hey!!” Him and Blossom bristled together, “Shut up!”

————————————————————

When he learns that over excessive hat use can lead to hair breakage and premature balding his heart breaks, so he starts buckling them to his belt loops instead when he remembers to give his hair a break.

#rrb Brick #ppg Brick #head canons #fic drabbly #theyve got a bad sense of humor #but so do i #:)#trucker hat jokes are peak comedy #you can buy any of the hats i mentioned on amazon

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mldrgrl · 4 years

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I've been re-reading your old works for the Revival like Recocering Nicely and Flannel Pajamas,....I miss them being an old married couple doing domestic stuffs so much, can you write something like that again?

Friday Night by: mldrgrl Rating: PG Note: Set during season 10, erasing any season 11 from the table

Fridays are full of anticipation nowadays. At first, when they were just starting to get back on track, more often than not he was going home alone. But, now, he can’t remember the last time Friday rolled around and she didn’t have her weekend bag with her. There’s nothing he looks forward to more than a Friday night.

They take one car out to the house, usually his, leaving the other in the parking garage at work until Monday. The ride is long, but comfortable. Scully rests her hand on his arm across the seat and they talk about mundane things that aren’t about work. Mulder wants to cut the grass if there isn’t any frost in the morning. He loaded the crock pot with the stuff for that stew Scully likes this morning. Hopefully he remembered to turn it on before he left. That new thing Scully found online to weatherproof the windows came in. He needs to put in the order for the wood for the stove to be delivered soon.

“An hour and change,” Mulder says, stopping the car in front of their gate. “New record.”

“You really need to think about installing the remote.”

“I like the exercise.” He leans close to her as he unbuckles his seatbelt and gives her a peck on the cheek. She cups his chin with a backwards hand for a moment and then unbuckles her own belt.

Scully takes over in the driver’s seat as Mulder handles the gate. She drives down the dirt road slowly, avoiding the dips and bumps up to the front. She’s got her overnight bag from the trunk and Mulder’s dry cleaning that they stopped to pick up weighing her down by the time he’s made it to the car. He takes the dry cleaning from her and places a hand to the small of her back as they ascend the porch steps.

“My nose is telling me I didn’t forget to turn the crock pot on,” he says, opening the door for her.

“Gonna change first. Looks like we’re in for a beautiful sunset. Want to eat outside?”

“Sure.”

He puts the dry cleaning away while she puts on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. He turns on the radio. It’s still on the classical channel Scully last had it on and he leaves it be, coming into what sounds like The Planets Suite. He thinks he recognizes Jupiter. He thinks about setting up the telescope.

While Scully dishes out the stew, he changes into jeans and a light sweater. Noticing a bit of a chill, he brings one of the blankets from the couch with him after he grabs the bowl left for him on the counter to join her. She tucks it around her and they eat to the strains of Holst in the background as twilight begins its takeover.

They head back inside when it turns grey and too chilly. Scully separates the leftover stew into two containers, one to store for leftovers for the weekend and the other to freeze for later. She washes the dishes and Mulder dries.

“Did you bring the paper in?” he asks.

“In my bag,” she answers.

“We need under 36 minutes to beat last week.”

“36 minutes and 14 seconds.”

“Across or down?”

“Down.”

They huddle close on the couch and Mulder opens the newspaper to the crossword. He folds it appropriately while Scully starts the timer on her phone. Mulder starts with the clues running across and Scully starts with the clues running down. They have a goal of beating each week’s previous time.

“Oh, they’re being cheeky,” Mulder says. “They’ve got the question marks in here.”

“You like the cheeky ones.”

“When they’re clever.”

After ten minutes, they switch directions.

“Life source?” Scully asks. “Is that the cheeky one?”

“You get the answer?”

“M-I-blank-blank-blank-N-blank-R-A-”

“Milton Bradley,” he answers, before she finishes.

“Clever or not?” she asks, filling in the blanks.

“They’ve done better. Hey, you’re supposed to fill-in all the Latin clues.”

“Mulder, do you know how many 3-letter Latin 101 words there are?”

“How many end in O?”

“Too many.”

“I think it starts with an E.”

“Ego.”

“I should’ve known that.”

“I’ll say.”

He bumps her shoulder with his and she chuckles. They switch for a second time a few minutes later and then they’re racing against the clock. He puts down his pen when there’s nothing but a corner left.

“You always leave the Tolkein monsters clue blank,” Scully huffs.

“I didn’t have 5 down yet, it still could be orcs or ents.”

“Ents. 5 down is Etsy.”

“What the hell is an etsy?”

“Online craft store. You know it, it’s where I got those bath bombs you liked.”

“The eucalyptus ones? You should get more of those.”

“I’ll see if they still have them. Time!”

“33 and 51 seconds. High five g-woman!” He grabs her hand when she slaps his and laces their fingers together. “Seriously, though, you need to go to the etsy store and get more of those bath bombs.”

“Remind me tomorrow.”

“Movie?”

“I’m thinking a shower and then bed.” She moves to stand, but he pulls her down to his lap. She chuckles and drapes her arms around his neck.

“Scully, do you remember back in the day when we used to pull all-nighters like it was nothing and now we’re lucky if we make it past nine?”

“Seems we used up all our reserve energy when we were young.”

“Younger, don’t go calling us old.”

“You brought it up first.” She gives him a brief kiss on the lips and then he lets her go.

While she showers, he takes the newspaper to the recycle bin and sets up the coffee maker for the morning. He checks the locks on the front door and the back door and pulls the shades in the living room and kitchen. He pulls his sweater off as he heads upstairs and tosses it on the bed before he goes into the bathroom. Scully has finished her shower and sits on the closed toilet in a towel, massaging lotion into her legs. The room is humid from the shower and the mirror is fogged over.

“I set the coffee for 7,” he says, pulling his toothbrush and toothpaste from the medicine cabinet. “Too early?”

“It’s fine.” She makes a noise and he turns. She has her hands held out to him and he puts the toothbrush and toothpaste on the side of the sink and gives her his hands so she can massage the extra lotion into his hands and arms.

“Is this new? It smells like oranges.”

“Yeah, some vitamin C thing a salesperson at the mall talked me into.”

“You hate the mall.” He pastes his toothbrush and starts brushing his teeth.

“I do, but sometimes the Labor Day sales are too hard to resist. 2 for 1 bras at Victoria’s Secret, I had to go.”

“What, now?” Mulder turns towards her and pulls the toothbrush out of his mouth. Foam coats his lips. She laughs lightly and shakes her head.

“Kidding,” she says. “But, good to know you’re still interested in my lingerie.”

“I might be old, but I’m not dead.”

Scully smiles and stands on tiptoes to kiss the corner of Mulder’s mouth. She pats his chest lightly and then rubs a bit of toothpaste residue from her bottom lip. He turns to finish brushing his teeth, wiping fog away from the mirror to watch her move comfortably around the room and get ready for bed. He waits until she’s dropped the towel and slipped her t-shirt on to spit and rinse.

She tosses his shirt at his head when he steps into the bedroom. He grins and hangs it up and then they turn the bed down together. He sheds his jeans and then opens the window just a crack to let some fresh air in.

“Almost time to pull out the flannel sheets,” she says, as he gets into bed.

“I’ll keep you warm,” he answers, wrapping an arm around her under the covers and sliding her into his chest. She laughs and wiggles out of his hold as he tickles the back of her neck and shoulder with his lips.

Briefly, Scully turns her head back and after several soft kisses, she pulls away to turn over and shut off the lamp. Mulder rolls onto his back and she settles on her side after punching the pillow flat a few times. Five minutes pass and then she sighs.

“Are you still awake?” she asks.

“Mmhm,” he answers.

She turns over to face him and he turns his head towards her. “I’ve been thinking about something,” she says. “Something I think we need to talk about.”

“Okay.” He turns over as well and folds his arm under his head.

“The lease on my place is up at the end of October. I don’t think I’m going to renew.”

“Oh? So, what are you thinking?”

“The commute out here is not ideal. Especially with winter coming. I was wondering if you might want to find a place in the city. Or closer to the city. Together.”

“Get rid of the house?”

“No, never. This is...this is our home.”

He nods in agreement. He’s always thought of it as their home, whether she’s been in it or not.

“I was thinking just a place we can be at during the week,” she continues. “And we’ll still come out here on the weekends.”

He mulls it over. As much as he wants to be with her and wants to return to the life they once shared, he has some reservations.

“Mulder?” she asks. “You’re never this quiet. What are you thinking?”

“You know I want this more than anything,” he answers. “But, what if this is only working because you got the space you wanted? And we’ve never done the living and working together thing before. It would be new. What if we recommit and then it becomes too much?”

She contemplates the ceiling for some time and he reaches out to stroke her hair and cup her cheek.

“I thought, at the time, that leaving was the right thing to do,” she says. “I know that I accused you of being a weight that was pulling me down into your depression and despair, but in hindsight, it was the other way around.”

“I never felt that way.”

“I know, but I did. I thought returning to medicine would be satisfying. I thought it was the key to happiness. Something normal. Instead it just made me sad. And then I thought leaving was the only way to fix it, but I was wrong. Really, what I missed was us. Being with you, working with you, just you and me. I don’t feel whole without you.”

“Hey now, that’s my line,” he whispers, running his thumb over her cheek.

“It’s true.”

“So, we’re doing this? Full time?”

“I’m ready for it if you are.”

“Bring it on, honey.”

She chuckles and they slide closer to rest their heads together. Their legs tangle and arms move to hold on to each other. He’s filled with a new sense of anticipation. He won’t ever have to wonder anymore if she’ll be coming with him Friday nights.

The End

#i wrote this #xf fanfic #msr #housetrained #old married couple #Anonymous

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pinkmangafish · 3 years

Text

Noodles ... and a few surprises

Rating: General

Fandom: Psycho-Pass

Pairing: Kougami and Tsunemori (Shinkane)

Characters: Akane Tsunemori, Shinya Kougami, and pretty much everyone else alive at the end of PP3: First Inspector.

Summary: Part 1 - Kougami collects Akane from the isolation centre and quickly realizes something is wrong. Part 2 - Kougami arranges a surprise party for Akane, but is that what it really is?

Author’s Notes: I had hoped to finish this in time for shinkaneweek, but it kept growing. Please point out any glaring canonical mistakes, and if possible, I'll fix them. This is my second piece of fanfic, so I am very new to all of this. I find that I am torn between the relationship between Kougami and Tsunemori, and how the plot moves forward to, hopefully, an end to the Sibyl System.

NOODLES ...

Akane Tsunemori stepped outside for the first time in what seemed a very long time. Well, it had been … No, she was not going to think about that now. Today, though technically an enforcer with limitations on her movements, she was free. Free of that windowless room. Free of the probing questions from the perfunctorily concerned doctors. Free of the constant surveillance. Free of the need to be on her guard even when she was asleep. Free to go outside and feel the sun and wind and rain on her body. She lifted her face to feel the sun, but it was already late afternoon and the sun had lost most of its warmth. Never mind. There was always tomorrow.

She dropped her gaze and saw the man waiting for her. She caught her breath. This was better than the sun on her face. Shinya Kougami was leaning against a car as nonchalant as ever.

“I’m here to get you.” he shrugged. “Sorry.”

She had half expected Shimotsuki to collect her or to at least send a drone for her, but somehow, she was not at all surprised to see him. She walked down a few steps and then stopped and looked up around.

“I’m hungry,” she announced.

He laughed. “Is that all you can say?”

She walked slowly over to the car and smiled up at him. There were some new lines there that she had not seen in all his visits to her. Most of the time, they had leant on either side of the door as they talked, but even so, she was surprised. She almost reached out and touched his face.

“Yes. Treat me to something,” she replied.

“Yes, ma’am,” He paused as if considering something. Then, abruptly, “I’ll drive.”

Akane nodded and got in the car. If she had expected him to start a conversation she would have been disappointed, but then, she knew him and was not. She did not feel the need to chat, either. Content to be with him she wondered if she was going to have the courage to say what needed to be said. But that was not a conversation to be held in the car. It could wait a little longer. For now, she stared at the city flowing past her window. As they got to areas that she knew, she saw signs of her time away in the shops and cafes that had taken the place of others: a florist where there had been a gift shop or a mall with a new name and look. This is what Yayoi, Kagari and the other enforcers must have felt like she thought. Some of them, she knew, had spent many more years than she had in the isolation center before being granted a reprieve of sorts. A life of boredom and isolation swapped for one of danger and death, but also friendship and the chance to feel like they belonged. Her thoughts abruptly changed direction. She wondered what Homura’s plans for her were. She was under no illusion that he was responsible for her freedom despite the Sibyl System’s claim to have made the decision itself. Assigning her to Shimotsuki as an aide had been a bold move. Staring into traffic, her head against the window, she questioned whether her and Homura’s aims were still in alignment or was he now playing a different game? And if so, was she now a pawn? Then there was Arata, and Kei and the new team of enforcers. So many new variables were in play. She needed to catch up quickly. And … she had to talk Kougami. She sighed heavily.

Kougami glanced at her. He was not comfortable with this pensive version of Akane but he knew her better than to try and distract her. He waited until the car had parked and his door was open. “Akane, we’re here. Let’s get some noodles.”

She looked at him and then at their surroundings. She recognized the small mall as the one near her old apartment. How had they got here so quickly? She was out of sync. She was unreal and everything else was too real. Had she really been that lost in thought? She would need to be more careful, more alert. Her stomach growled. Noodles? Yes, of course he’d take her to eat noodles.

“I hope Thai is okay? The old ramen place closed down six months ago,” Kougami led the way across the street not waiting for her. She nodded. Then wondered how he know about the ramen shop. She could not remember having eaten there with him. He glanced down at her, “We’re practically neighbors now. I live in that block over there,” he pointed to a small apartment building behind them. So near, she thought.

The small Thai noodle shop was a reminder that the city, no, the country, was changing and changing rapidly. Immigrants were starting to open their own businesses and that, she knew, was a good thing. The restaurant was barely that, just a few plastic tables and chairs. Kougami led her over to a corner table by the window. She wondered whether he even realized he had assessed which table gave them the best vantage point. Probably not.

A waitress appeared with a menu and set down a bottle of fish sauce and a small dish of chili in vinegar. “Sawatdee, kha, Kougami-san,” she said giving Akane a quick, interested look.

Akane realized that he had been telling a story. “I’m sorry, Kougami, I spaced out. Who were you trying to hold onto?”

He looked at her steadily. She had seemed fine when she walked out of the isolation center. Now, though, he could see the signs of exhaustion in her face. “Oh, just some junked up trafficker. He’d been bringing in kids from … doesn’t matter. Except that to bring him down both Gino and I had to hold onto him while Kei shot him with a paralyzer.”

“No!” She looked at him in amusement, her attention finally on him. “You got shot with a paralyzer again?”

“Well, technically, Gino and I are secondaries. We were holding onto the perp, so … Kei wasn’t actually trying to shoot us,” Kougami smiled at her but his eyes were watchful.

“Hmmm, are you sure about that?” she asked. “You had a bit of a run in with him just a couple of weeks ago.”

“Ahh, you know about that?” Kougami shook his head. “I’m not saying that we’re friends now. Hell, I don’t even like the man that much. But we can work together.”

The noodles arrived. Tom yum goong, hot, spicy and delicious, she slurped slowly and steadily. She smiled at him, “Much better than AI hyper-oats.” Then her eyes fell back to the table and she was quiet again. She stayed still staring at the soup that remained in her bowl, but her eyes were moving as the thoughts and questions flooded her mind. At one point she looked up quickly at Kougami and opened her mouth, but then closed it, and dropped her head down again. She stayed like that for so long that Kougami began to worry.

“Akane, what is the matter? Please, tell me … if you can.” He leant forward so he could hear her, but she said nothing. “Akane, you are okay now. You are out. You are safe.”

To her surprise, Akane felt large, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Bemused, she watched them as they slid off her chin and fell into the soup. She wondered reflexively what the soup would taste like; if she would be able to taste the salt from her tears. Then she felt a gentle hand drying her cheeks and looked into Kougami’s eyes. He seemed to become aware of what he was doing and started to pull his hand away, but she grabbed it and held onto him. His eyes widened as her grip tightened and then he stretched out his other hand.

She clung to him desperately, tears still falling and her breath uneven with sobs. All she could hear was that one word, “safe”. She was safe. She was safe. And yet, even though it was true, it was also a lie. She knew that the most dangerous part of the journey was ahead. And yet again, and yet again, she was safe. She held onto his hands for all she was worth.

Kougami began talking again, softly, in no hurry. His voice providing her with another anchor. “One time, in Tibet, I went on a raid with this guy, Dawa, I think his name was. Anyway, he was as tough as they come. Not nasty, just through and through tough. The kind of guy you are glad to have at your back or to follow. The raid went badly. Someone had leaked the plan and they were waiting for us. The fight was brutal, and we lost several people, all friends of his from childhood. One guy literally exploded in front of him as if he’d been hit by a lethal dominator, but Dawa just kept going. A natural leader. Eventually, we got the upper hand, got what we came for and escaped. It took us almost a week to get back. The whole time, Dawa just held it together. Two more died on that trek - one from his wounds and the other slipped into a crevice. Dawa didn’t flinch once, just kept going and kept his people together. When we got back to camp, one of his men was waiting for us. He handed Dawa the body of an old dog. This man, who could wipe off the blood of his friend and keep going, collapsed where he was and started crying like a child. I don’t know if he really did love that dog as much as that or if it was his way of grieving for his friends. I do know that keeping those kinds of feelings inside is a kind of death.” His voice trailed off.

Akane sighed deeply and pulled one hand away and mopped her eyes with a paper napkin. “Thank you, Kougami. I’m feeling tired. Can we go?”

She waited at the table while he paid the bill. By the time he returned, when she smiled at him, her eyes were almost clear. “Thank you for the noodles.”

“You’re welcome.”

Out on the street the strange hyperreal feeling returned. Colours were a little too bright, noises a little too loud and the sidewalk seemed to be moving under her. It was like walking in a distorted holo. She saw a street scanner and flinched. Kougami frowned down at her. Apart from when she had first started work as an Inspector, he had never seen her this unsure of herself. She put her hand into his and felt his fingers tighten slightly. Safe.

Her apartment was only a few minutes’ walk from the mall, so they left the car where it was. About halfway there, she realized she had forgotten her small bag of belongings. “My keys, they’re …” she began to turn back.

“It’s okay, Akane, Yayoi gave me your spare set. I’ll get your things later.”

She thought about asking why he had her keys, but then decided she could not be bothered. As soon as he opened the door, it was obvious. The underfloor heating was on and there was the unmistakable feeling of stepping into a clean apartment. She kicked her shoes off in the hall, walked into the living room and looked around. The large sofa where she had slept so many nights seemed enormous after the one in isolation. She looked over at the kitchen in the corner. There was even a bowl of fruit on the counter. She glanced up at him surprised, “Thank you, Kougami.”

“Well, it isn’t much. I just set the auto-cleaner to do its job and bought some fruit,” he shrugged, but she could see he was both embarrassed and pleased by her reaction.

“I’m tired.”

“Then I’ll leave you to sleep. I’ll come back with your things, but I’ll just leave them by the door,” he stepped back, but her hand did not let go of his. His expression remained neutral as she raised a finger to her lips and began to walk towards the bedroom. She gave a small shake of her head and her own expression was so serious he was in no doubt that this was not a seduction.

With her finger still against her lips, she let go of his hand and opened a small cupboard. When she pulled out a small, plastic, white cat with a pink bow he looked totally perplexed. She set the cat down and pushed a small button on the back, then held her fingers up as she counted down from five.

“Now we can talk. This little kitty has a jammer. Any bugs, and I am sure there are some, will pick up nothing more than a silent room,” she sat down on the bed. Another sigh.

“Where did you get that thing?” without thinking, Kougami sat next to her.

“Long story short? Shion.”

Kougami grunted. Then he shifted so he could look at her. “You said we could talk. So talk.”

“You know there are somethings that I can’t tell you? Not that I don’t trust you, because I do. I trust you with my life. But knowing those things will not only endanger you, but also me, and possibly others, and what we are trying to do.” She had taken hold of his hand again. Her eyes grew wide and very luminous. “But you are right about what keeping things in does to you. To me. Th … there is one thing I do need to tell you, Shinya,” she paused and then gave a little nod to herself. “I love you.”

Silence.

Then, as he registered and reregistered her words, “Say that again!”

“I love you, Shinya,” another pause. She did not take her eyes from his, “And you love me.”

“Yes,” he breathed. “I love you, Akane. You have no idea how much.” He began to reach for her but stopped.

Akane frowned, “What’s the problem?”

He looked embarrassed, “Well, the effects of the dominator haven’t worn off yet. I’m, I’m not going to …, I mean, I can’t … I’m sorry.”

She smiled ruefully, “I have just put your life in more danger and that is what you think about? That can wait. This can’t. The most dangerous phase has begun. It is quite possible that one of us, even both of us, won’t see the other side. You know this.” She put her hand against his cheek as he protested. “And I have put us in more danger. Yes, yes, I have. There is no way we can hide a relationship, and I don’t want to, but it can be used against us. I’m so tired of being on my own, so scared that each time you walk away it might the last time I’ll ever see you and I never told you how much you mean to me. How much I love you. That I’ll be killed, or you will be. Maybe it was all the time I had to think in isolation that did it. But that thought kept growing inside me until sometimes it felt like I couldn’t breathe. Especially after you’d come to see me. I finally realized that I can’t go on without loving you, without being able to love you and yet I have to keep going to help bring down the System. So, I guess I’ve grown a little selfish. I couldn’t live with not telling you I love you. I do you, know? I love you.”

His eyes had never left hers as she spoke. The words rushing from mouth and her expression changing at the end from serious to joyous. She allowed him to pull her over to him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and dropped her head on his shoulder and sighed deeply. She breathed in his scent. He chuckled, “Hey, I’m the one that is supposed to be the hound.”

“You were never a hound. More a wolf,” she returned. The relief of telling him that she loved him was beginning to make her a little lightheaded.

“A wolf, huh? Well, that gives me a few ideas for tomorrow,” he dropped feather kisses across her forehead.

“Only a few?” she asked in a disappointed tone.

“Oh, Akane, you have no idea,” he looked at her with a wicked smile.

... AND A FEW SURPRISES

Akane looked at herself in the bathroom mirror as she toweled her hair dry. She barely recognized the woman looking back at her. The muscles around her jaw were relaxed and her eyes shone. Even her hair looked fuller. Was this what she looked like when she was happy? And she was. Happier than she had ever been.

They had not slept much despite Kougami’s insistence that she needed to rest. Soon one or the other would start talking, words of love falling into the safety of the warm dark room. Or he would hold her hand so he could kiss every line on her palm again and again and only release it to kiss the other. Too long had they waited for this night, words tumbled from their lips and their whispers became a confession of hopes, loss, pain and then again hopes as life brought them together, tore them apart and reunited them. So many years had gone by and they had so much to make up for.

“Akane, food’s almost done,” Kougami called from the other side of the door. “Oh, and put some clothes on.”

She blinked and returned to the present. He was up to something. She opened the bathroom door and a blast of cold air hit her. Quickly dressing she joined him in the living room. “Shinya, why’ve you opened all the windows in the bedroom? And …” she took in all the food on the counter. “Just how hungry do you think I am?”

Her doorbell chimed.

“Oh, hell! They’re early,” He threw her a sly look. “Ah, you stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“Kougami, what have you done?”

“It’s a surprise,” and he was gone.

She wondered if he had ordered more noodles from the little restaurant to add to the mountain of food in front of her. Then she heard the front door open and the sound of several people shushing each other as they piled into her little hall.

Akane got up and, laughing, went to greet them.

“Akane!” said three voices at once.

Shino, Yayoi and Gino, if anything could make her happier on this day, then this was it. She hugged them.

Shion laughed, and poked Kougami’s ribs. “I see you’ve talked,” she said winking outrageously and laughed as Kougami went red. “Well, there is a sight I never expected to see. Shinya Kougami bashful.”

“Shion, Yayoi, you look amazing,” laughed Akane holding the latter at arm’s length. They were both wearing party dresses. Then she turned back to Ginoza, “Hello, Gino, it is good to see you. I hear that you got in the way of a paralyzer.”

“Ha! He told you about that, did he? Ignatov better watch out is all I can say. Right, Ko?”

“What? Oh, yes, Kei has it coming. Again.”

The doorbell chimed again. Akane looked at Kougami in surprise. “Who?”

“And speak of the devil!”

Kougami came back leading a small group of people. “Everyone, Akane Tsunemori in person. Akane, you know Arata and Kei, and this is Maika Ignatov and Sho Hinakawa. The last two are Mao Kisaragi and Kazumichi Irie.”

“Hey! What about me? Why does no one ever introduce the old enforcer!” demanded Todoroki pushing his way forward. “Pleased to meet you, Inspector. I’m Tenma Todoroki.”

“Just Akane, I’m not an inspector anymore,” smiled Akane. “I remember seeing all of your photos in the files. It is wonderful to finally meet you all. I guess we’ll all be working together now.” The serious looks they all gave her made her pause. “I mean, I’m an enforcer now, even though I’m not assigned to Unit 1 …”

Mao nodded at her teammates and they relaxed. “You’re welcome in Unit 1 any time, Tsunemori … Akane. Err …. I’m sorry if it’s rude, but we’re starving, and we don’t get to eat out very often. Come on, Irie.”

Todoroki grimaced, “Can’t take them anywhere.” But he and Hinakawa followed them quickly into the kitchen.

What was all that about? All three had become so serious in a blink and then back again. Looking around the room, she began to get the feeling that she was missing something obvious. Before she could begin to think about it, the doorbell chimed. Again. She glared at Kougami as he passed her to get the door. He smiled at her, but she could see he was getting a little tenser each time he went. And that was strange, she thought, it did not quite make sense.

“It will take a little time,” said Arata with his mouth full. He was bouncing from foot to foot and balancing a plate full of food.

“Sorry, what will?” she turned her attention to him.

“Being out. Getting your senses back as it were. But,” he glanced in Kougami’s direction, “you are already on the right track.”

Her eyes widened and she started to ask him what he meant, but he just beamed at her and slightly shook his head. So, something was going on. Well, she would trust them to fill her in when they could. Right now, she had a party in her apartment. Shion had taken control of the music, which was now loud enough to annoy the neighbors. Akane shook her head, that would not be a problem. It was the middle of the afternoon, no one would be home.

“Sorry, Gino, what was that?” She shook herself. Get a hold of yourself Tsunemori.

“I just said that Sugo and I are your neighbors. We’re sharing an apartment down the street.”

“Oh! That’s great! Are you in the same block as Sh… as Kougami?” she asked.

Gino smiled, “No, we’re down the other way.”

She looked at him, then at Kougami, and saw that Sugo and Frederica had arrived. What were they doing here? In one sense, since Gino and Kougami worked with them it made sense to invite them as well, but …. somehow it felt more deliberate than that. Yes, something was definitely going on. Everyone was behaving normally. Normal for a party, that is, she thought. Mao and Irie were dancing with Yayoi and Shion, Sugo and Kei were playing a holo game and everyone else was chatting and eating.

An arm slipped around her waist. “Are you enjoying yourself, Akane?” His next words were so low that even though he had bent to whisper them in her ear, she almost missed them. “Say yes.”

“Oh, yes,” She turned to look up at him and he smiled down at her; she did not miss the flick of his eyes at the wall. “Walls have ears,” he breathed.

She laughed, “Shinya, you wretch!” It was all she could think of saying. Of course, everything they were doing and saying was probably being monitored. She had been the one to point that out yesterday. So why remind her of it?

The familiar sound of her doorbell interrupted them. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. Kougami kissed her head. “Patience. You’ll see. This is a surprise party, after all.”

He wouldn’t have invited her parents or Kaori. Her parents had been distraught when she was arrested. They had been steadfast in their support for her and called all the time. Even so, this was not the right time for a family reunion. And Kaori had made it clear from her refusal to accept Akane’s call at the start of her sentence that she did not want to be associated with a latent criminal. So who else was there?

“Sorry we’re late, everyone. Work, you know,” beamed Homura with a nervous looking Shimotsuki beside him.

If Akane’s mouth dropped open she made a valiant recovery. “Hello, Sir. Hello, Chief. How good of you to come.”

Shimotsuki, to everyone’s surprise, rushed forward, threw her arms around Akane’s neck and burst into loud sobs. “Oh, Akane, I’m so, so sorry.” Akane instinctively hugged her sobbing boss.

A tiny whisper, “We have to talk. About It.”

Akane pulled back and stared at Mika who returned her stare and nodded, only to sob even harder, “I really am sorry.”

Homura shot a look at Akane, “Let’s take her into the bedroom for some quiet. Arata,” he threw over his shoulder, “Could you bring her some water?”

Together, Akane and Homura led the still sobbing woman into the bedroom. Arata followed immediately with the water. “Here’s your water, Chief. Get some rest, we’ll all be next door.” Then he paused and shut the door but stayed in the room.

“Well, hopefully we’re safe,” he said. “If we’re not all arrested in ten minutes, I reckon Akane’s jammer is working.”

“Yes, sorry about all the subterfuge,” added Homura. “Here, Mika, have this.” He passed a now dry-eyed Shimotsuki a perfectly folded handkerchief.

Akane sat down next to her. “Mika, did I understand you? You know what Sibyl System is?”

Mika looked pale and nodded. “For a few years. And now, Arata, too.”

“We’re the only ones who know what it really is,” said Homura. “Though I haven’t actually seen it. My father did and he told me.”

“So is this a council of war?” asked Akane.

Arata answered her. “Not quite, but we all,” and he nodded towards the door to include the rest of the party, “agree that somehow we need to bring it to an end. We just don’t know how yet.”

“So, it is not just the two of us?” asked Akane looking at Homura.

“It never was. I know people who will support us, but it is safer if you don’t know who they are. It is a reasonable bet that all the enforcers will help. While you were inside, we’ve been making all sorts of small changes so we can be ready.”

“You mean like getting everyone to live within a three-block radius?” suggested Akane.

Mika actually smiled, “Yes, exactly like that. Unfortunately, because of our positions, Shizuka and I can’t move, but it was surprisingly easy for SAD to arrange for their people to move here, and then Kei and Arata. Obviously, the enforcers have to stay at MWPSB.”

“For now, at least,” said Homura.

“Is that wise, though?”

“What is more natural than colleagues and neighbors getting together for lunch or dinner or to play a holo game?” smiled Arata.

Homura looked at the time. “This meeting is just luck. We had no idea you had a jammer, so when Kougami said he wanted to give you a surprise party this afternoon it seemed a bit unusal. But when we arrived, he showed us a note about the kitty. Hmm, I think we’d better rejoin the others. They’re covering our absence, but I don’t think we should push our luck. Arata, you and Kei had better come in a few days so Akane and I can give you an “official” briefing on things.”

Opening the door, Homura pretended to check on Mika who said she was fine and would be out in a minute. As soon as they had all left, Akane pulled Kougami into the bedroom.

“You’ve been planning this all along?” she demanded staring up at him fiercely.

He grinned, “What you thought we couldn’t mange without you? Ouch!”

“I’ll do more than poke your ribs if you’re not careful, Shinya Kougami!”

His smile got bigger, “Akane, you couldn’t expect me and Gino and the others to do nothing. We knew that something was going on, but you couldn’t or wouldn’t say exactly what. Ouch! Ouch!”

Akane poked him in the ribs. He caught her hands and folded them together in his. “Akane, please, I had to do something. I was going crazy. I love you.”

She glared up at him, “Say that again!”

“I love you.”

She sighed happily. “Okay, I suppose we’d better join the party. How long do you think everyone will stay?”

#akane tsunemori #shinya kougami #shinkane #shinkaneweek psycho-pass psycho-pass 3

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kinksvt · 4 years

Text

baby (m)

requested:

anon: sub minghao (maybe involve some pretty collars and polaroids oops oops)

→ pairing: sub!minghao x dom!reader (f)

♕ summary: for you and minghao’s anniversary, you decide to surprise him and switch things up.

✱ warnings: pegging, dom & sub roles, overstimulation, uh anal? fingering?

✱ word count: 5.1k

It was the two year anniversary of you and your boyfriend Minghao today and you planned on giving him something he—hopefully—will never forget.

Since the time you knew him before dating, Minghao was always sweet and gentle. Even in the bedroom, he treated you like a doll and never hurt a hair on your head. He always gives and never expects things in return. Today you wanted to change that.

You had to admit, you have thought of taking charge in the bedroom, to "spice things up" as everyone usually says. You have on many occasions thought about what it would be like to control Minghao, to please him and have him obey your every order. To hear him beg, whine and pled for you to do something already. You could hear it all in your head already, his soft, innocent voice asking you to touch him, ride him-

"Y/N?" A voice said, interrupting your sinful train of thought.

"Yes? Sorry, I zoned out for a bit." You excused yourself, trying to fight the blush that threatened to take over your face.

Your friend looked at you curiously. You were out with your two friends, having breakfast and all you could think about was domming your boyfriend. What kind of weirdo were you?

Minghao was in the studio, helping to record for his group's upcoming album. He had been in the studio all day and sometimes all night for the past week. It worried you a bit because you knew how stressed he gets and how much pressure he feels during the process. So this gift for him would hopefully help in more ways than one.

"So Y/N, how's Miiiinghao?" Your friend said in a teasing voice, moving her eyebrows.

You smiled, "Well," you smirked. "He's good, but today is our anniversary and I'm planning on surprising him." Winking at the end you laughed to yourself, thinking about the plan.

"Ooh," your other friend said, nudging your arm. "And what are you planning you sex demon?"

Laughing, you gently pushed her elbow away. "I don't kiss and tell."

Your friends chuckle and you three continue to eat.

Minghao texted you later on when you were walking with your friends.

[2:41 pm] Haohao: Hey baby, session is going good, hopefully I'll be done before 11 tonight.

[2:42 pm] You: That's great! I have a surprise for you when you get home btw hehe

[2:42 pm] HaoHao: Oh? And what might that surprise involve?

[2:43 pm] You: Looks like you'll have to wait and find out ;) I love you, see you tonight <3

[2:43 pm] HaoHao: You are such a tease. I love you too, see you tonight baby.

You smiled to yourself and continued walking with your friends to your next destination.

And throughout the whole day you had to excuse yourself for daydreaming. You couldn't get the thought of what you'd do to Minghao later that night out of your head for the life of you.

...

After a long day of hanging out with your friends at various shops and malls, you had finally come home. You carried a few bags that had new outfits, including the one you found to hopefully wear for Minghao when he also came home. You brought your bags up to you and Minghao's shared room, flipping on the light switch and glancing at the clock. It was only 8 p.m and you groaned slightly, you still had 3 hours until he came home. You pondered on what you would do to pass the time. Before you could think, your phone went off, startling you. "Hello?"

"Y/N," a memorable voice said.

"Minghao! What happened? How come you're calling from a different number?"

"My phone died so I asked to borrow Jihoon hyung's phone. I'm just calling to tell you that I should be done in about half an hour!"

"A half hour? It's only 8, how could you be nearly done already?"

"Well, I might've mentioned that today is our anniversary and the boys might've decided to let me go early." Minghao said, followed by a laugh.

"That's great!" You paused for a moment, lowering your voice slightly, "I'll be here waiting for you, baby." Whenever you talked like that to Minghao you knew would effect him and give him a slight hint at what's in store for tonight.

It must have worked because Minghao hummed, something he did when he was flustered or horny. "I can't wait."

With that, you hung up and began getting everything ready. You ran around the room, looking through drawers, putting things away, cleaning and making sure everything looked nice for when your boyfriend arrived.

...

As soon as you finished, you heard the front door shut, followed by a call of your name. You glanced in the mirror as you wore the new set of lingerie you bought for tonight, a shade of dark blue that Minghao just adored you in. You slowly walked down the stairs, seeing the latter taking off his shoes and stopping in his tracks once he noticed you.

"H-Holy shit," Minghao stuttered, taking in the way you looked—swallowing harshly. He suddenly felt a wave of blood rush down south and he chuckled shyly. "You look amazing, Y/N."

You smiled confidently, "Thank you baby. Now, why don't we go upstairs, and I tell you what my surprise is for you, hm?"

Minghao merely nodded innocently, following behind you like a puppy. At first, you were nervous that you wouldn't be able to get into the dominant headspace. But with how cute and excited Minghao seemed, it made it so much easier. You walked into the bedroom, where Minghao's eyes widened as he stared at your shared bed. On it was a collection of three different types of pretty collars you knew would look good on him.

You two have talked only once, maybe twice, about the things you liked. You expressed things you were into, and so did he. You never forgot that night—after a ton of drinks—when Minghao confessed the kinks of his submissive side. He slurred each word, that he's dreamt of being pegged by you, dominated by you, and collared. You remembered it clearly, despite your mind clouded by the alcohol, because of how much it turned you on to imagine Minghao being the putty in your hands with which you could do whatever you wanted to.

Minghao's mouth opened and closed slightly, clearly at a loss for words.

Smirking, you chose a collar that you noticed peaked his interest. It was a simple pink collar with the words "Baby" engraved on it. You grabbed it and looked at your boyfriend, noticing the bulge in his pants. "Excited?"

Minghao nodded aggressively as he looked up slightly so you could put the collar on. Minghao was more than excited. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, his cock wouldn't stop twitching and—for the love of god—he couldn't wait to see what else you had in store for him.

"Strip for me," you said after the collar was secured around Minghao's neck. He obeyed and lifted his shirt, taking it off, quickly followed by his pants. You stopped him before he took off his boxers, "Let me." You sunk to your knees, holding eye contact with him as your fingertips lightly traced his hips. Minghao shuddered and his eyes closed slightly. You let your fingers slip under the band of his boxers and began pulling them down painfully slow.

After you were done with being a tease, his boxers were off and you took a moment to admire him. He's so pretty, you thought. You smiled and told him to lay on the bed as you said there was one more thing you needed to get. Minghao laid on the bed, resting on his elbows. "What are you doing!" You heard him shout from the room. He was more than excited—ecstatic, glad that you decided to surprise him—especially like this. His cock was already hard, slightly leaking a bit of precum.

You returned with a polaroid camera. He had a confused look on his face. "This," you paused, "is for me." Knowing Minghao as a photographer on the side gave you this idea. You knew he would be able to appreciate the human's naked body, not seeing it as something so lewd but as something beautiful. Minghao has taken pictures of you during sex before, and you couldn't lie, it turned you on knowing he most likely still has them saved somewhere in his phone. After he showed you the pictures, you actually began to see your body in a different, better light.

"Y-You're gonna take pictures, of me?" Minghao questioned curiously,

You giggled and instead of responding, you held the camera up to your eye and took a photo. A flash temporarily blinding Minghao, making him blink while blushing. "You're always taking pictures of art, and now, I'm gonna do the same." Smiling, you continued to capture Minghao from various angles. One was of his neck and collar, another of him looking at the camera a certain way that made your clit throb, one of his torso, another one of his red-tipped cock, and more. You took about seven pictures, not wanting to waste anymore time. "You ready for your next surprise?"

Minghao nodded, letting out a shuddering breath.

You smirked and put down the camera on the nightstand, near all of the rest of the pictures that was taken. You walked closer to him, climbing on top of him. Minghao's hands instinctively went to your waist and you captured his lips in a kiss. The kiss was soft, yet needy. Both of your tongues gliding against each other with heavy breathing and sloppy noises following suit. You felt his cock brush against your clothed core, making you and Minghao moan softly. Breaking the kiss, you began grinding yourself against his bare cock, loving how hard he was already. Your hands smoothed his chest while he watched your every move, eager to see what you would do next. Minghao gasped as your fingers toyed with his nipples, never knowing how sensitive they really were—nor how much it would turn him on. "You like that baby?"

Minghao swallowed a moan, nodding and pushing his head back into the sheets. "Y-Yes," he whispered.

You continued to grind against him as you leaned down to leave fresh hickeys onto the skin above the collar around his neck. "We're gonna try something new tonight baby." Minghao made a noise, impatiently waiting for you to continue. You stood up and took out a box you had under the bed, filled with the toys you two used on special occasions and whatnot. Minghao sat up and looked at you curiously. His hair was in disarray, his pupils blown notably and light purple hickeys began to develop—thanks to you. You dug through the box and took out a bottle of lube, along with one of the smaller dildos. Minghao's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he connected the dots and realized what was going to happen. "Lay on the bed," you ordered yet in a sweet voice.

Minghao shuffled around the bed and did what you told. You got on the bed in front of him, running your hand up and down his chest. His cock laid against his abdomen, the tip an angry red while his cheeks matched the color. "What are you gonna do to me?" He asked while shifting the pillows behind him so he could watch what you do to him.

With a chuckle, you opened the bottle of lube, slowly spreading it on two of your fingers. "I'm gonna prep you baby." You gripped his thigh, making him open his legs wider. Your middle finger traced around his hole, making him gasp at weird feeling. You shushed him, "I want you to relax for me honey, okay? It's gonna hurt for a bit, but it'll hurt worse if you're too tense."

Minghao took a deep breath, "I-Is there a safe word?"

You smiled at how wrecked he already sounded. "How about red?"

He nodded and told you to give him a moment. Minghao took a couple more deep breaths.

Between those breaths, you decided to help him by taking his length in your hand, making his breath hitch. You slowly stroked him, swiping your thumb across his tip. You used the lube that coated your fingers to slick his cock, hearing his muffled moans slightly. "That feel good, Hao?"

"Y-Yes," he said breathlessly, sounding so cute yet so hot.

You stopped momentarily, to coat your two fingers on your other hand with the lube and continued to stroke Minghao. You wanted to make sure that he would still be able to relax and enjoy both sensations. When you knew he would be fine, you put a few drops of lube on his hole, making him gasp once more.

"I-It's cold," he giggled.

You laughed slightly, "Alright baby, you ready?"

After Minghao silently nodded in response, you slowly inserted one of your fingers inside of him. He winced, trying to focus on the feeling of your hand wrapped around his cock rather than your finger inside of his ass. He had to admit, it did hurt, and feel weird, but he wanted this—and you. The whole situation was new and slightly strange for the both of you but Minghao adapted quickly.

After a couple of seconds, Minghao told you to move. You obliged and slowly began to thrust your finger in him. "You okay, baby?"

He breathed out heavily, "Y-Yeah."

You moved your finger inside of him at a set pace, making sure not to go too fast. "Ready for another?" Your thumb swiped the tip of his cock once more, making him moan before muttering a quiet yes. You added your other finger even slower than the first, nervous that Minghao would tell you to stop because it hurt. But after hearing the whine that tore out of his throat instead, threw those thoughts out the window and sent a wave of pleasure straight down to your core. "That feel good, Hao?"

"Y-Yes. P-Please, a little faster," he breathed out, swallowing a moan.

Smirking, you tightened your grip on his cock, slipping it in between your index and middle finger and stroking him. Minghao whined more, his moans only making your underwater damper. You were so ready to ruin him that it made your loins ache with heat. You looked up at Minghao, seeing his eyes screwed shut and his eyebrows furrowed together while his mouth hung open, releasing quiet breaths. His chest rose up and down, a thin layer of sweat covering it. You pushed your finger further in Minghao, curling ever so slightly. He cried out, grasping the sheets and biting his lip. "You're doing so good, baby." You breathed, stroking Minghao's cock faster.

Minghao gulped, "T-Thank you," he paused afterwards. "W-What should I call you?"

Your brain stuttered for a moment. You hadn't thought of Minghao calling you anything other than your name or a simple pet name. You racked your memories of names subs would call their doms.

Girls can be called master, right? Yeah, who cares? You're in charge. "Call me master, baby boy."

"T-Thank you mast- ah!" Minghao moaned when he felt your fingers curl in him once again and thumb swipe the tip of his cock. He was getting close, feeling all sorts of sensitive to the new feeling. Minghao would've never guessed he could get off with your fingers in him rather than the other way around, but boy could he get used to it.

Your hand continued to work on his cock, moving at the right paces that you knew would help bring him closer to the edge. Your fingers moved in and out of him, going deeper and curling at the right moments. You were a pro, Minghao thought. Of course you would be. You spent plenty of your years single and lonely, only having your fingers to satisfy your needs. He never knew fingers could feel so good..

When Minghao's moans began getting shorter and higher, you warned him. "You can only cum when I say so, if you want to you have to ask. Got it?"

"Y-Yes Master, can I cum?" He looked down at you with cute, innocent eyes.

You smirked, "Only good boys with manners can cum, baby. Hold it." Maybe you were being a bit harsh, but this new role brought out a different side of you that you didn't know you had.

Minghao tried to shuffle away from your hand and fingers, struggling to hold back his orgasm. He whines softly, his head thrown back and his eyes shut tight.

"If you keep moving baby, you won't cum at all." After that, you had pressed another finger inside of him gently and continuing to move in and out of him.

Minghao whined louder, "Please, please, Master, please let me cum." His head writhed against the pillows behind him, his eyebrows and eyes tight together.

Your eyes widened slightly, shocked at how desperate Minghao was. You felt him pulse around your fingers and you thrusted them inside of him faster. His whines were achingly loud, making your clit throb. "Cum for me, baby."

As soon as Minghao heard those words, he released the loudest moan, stilling completely and cum shooting out of his cock. His head pushed against the white pillows, his collared neck exposed as you watched his adam's apple bob. Minghao's mouth hung open, small gasps exiting his throat.

"Such a good boy for me, Hao. Aren't you?" You glanced at him, his eyes shut and chest falling up and down as he nodded slightly.

"Y-Yes, Master."

You hummed as you released your hold on his softening cock and wiped your fingers off. "We're not done yet, baby." Minghao swallowed, sitting up. His eyes were hooded, eyes darker and pupils dilated in a way that made you eager to wreck further. "On your hands and knees." You purred as you grabbed the dildo you had set on the bed before you two started. Minghao did as you asked, facing toward the headboard and waiting for your next command.

"I-I'm a little nervous," he confessed quietly.

You smiled at his honesty, resulting in you leaving a kiss of reassurance on his shoulder. "I'm right here, baby. If anything hurts too much or if you want to stop at any time, please just let me know, okay?"

Minghao looked back at you, biting his lip anxiously. "You wouldn't be mad?" He raised his eyebrows curiously.

You couldn't help but smile larger at his cuteness, "Of course I wouldn't honey. I would never pressure you into doing anything that you weren't comfortable with." Your heart swelled with love for Minghao as you opened the bottle of lube once more and began to spread it along the dildo.

"E-Even if," he trailed off, hesitant to say what he was planning to, "if, you were in the middle of fucking me?"

Your action stuttered for a split second, caught off guard by how innocent Minghao sounded saying something so explicit. "Y-Yes," you replied. "Even if I was fucking you, if you wanted to stop, I would. Just say the word, baby."

"Okay," was all he added before turning back to the headboard.

"Do you think you're ready for this, or do you want my fingers, baby?"

Minghao shuddered at the way you asked, feeling dirty about the whole situation. But he was ready for something just slightly bigger, and his cock twitched at the thought of you fucking him the way he's done to you countless times before. "I-I'm ready," he said.

"Are you sure?" You questioned when you noticed he seemed a little hesitant again.

"I'm sure, I promise."

You nodded silently as you took some more lube and spread it on Minghao's entrance, making him moan slightly. You pressed the dildo against him. It was a smooth light pink dildo that Minghao had gotten you months ago for your birthday, and what you almost forgot was that it doubled as a vibrator too. You looked at the bottom of the dildo, seeing the switches and modes of vibrations it had. You smirked as you eased it inside of him slowly.

Minghao winced, "I-It feels w-weird." Minghao closed his eyes, trying to relax somewhat.

Before you were going to say anything, you let the dildo slip inside of him until the hilt stopped you. "How are you doing?"

"Mm, I'm okay, give me a second." He breathed in and out of his nose, before a moan choked out of his throat.

You had switched the toy on, starting at the lowest setting. You wanted Minghao to feel good and help him ease up. "This should make things feel a little bit better." You ran your hand down his back, gripping his ass.

Minghao moaned aloud again as he bucked his hips forward. "A-ah, i-it feels, s-so good."

You tugged on Minghao's collar, making him choke slightly as you pulled him upwards to kiss him. Minghao held the side of your face with his hand, his head strained towards you as your tongues mingled together. You bit the bottom of his lip, earning a moan from him and making you smirk in return. Your hand snaked down his body, gripping his cock. "M-Master," he breathed, gasping as he felt your thumb swipe across his slit.

"Yes, baby?" You teased, stroking him slowly.

He bit back another moan, "P-Please, m-move it."

"You want me to move the toy in you, baby boy?"

Minghao whined at the pet name, nodding his head shyly. "Please, Master."

You smiled at how obedient he was. You obliged and gripped the base of the buzzing dildo. Slowly, you began to move it out of Minghao and easing it back in. You heard him let out a long, drawn out moan. "Like that?" You questioned, seeing him move his hands and lay on his forearms.

"F-Faster," he rasped. His breathing was heavy, shallow as he gripped the sheets from pleasure of the vibrations inside him.

Doing as he told, you began to thrust the toy inside of him a bit faster. Hearing his moans was making your pussy ache even more, knowing for sure there would be a dark, wet spot on your underwear. Your clit developed its own heartbeat, only beating harder after each moan that slipped out of Minghao's pretty lips. You thought of those lips around your clit, biting back a moan. You wanted this to go faster, faster so that Minghao would cum, then make you cum.

You added a bit more lube to the exposed part of the dildo, pushing it back inside him. You moved the toy quicker, hearing Minghao whine each time the base hit against him. "Fuck, that f-feels so good, Master. P-Please, don't stop." Your finger flipped the switch to the second setting, the vibrator buzzing faster and a bit harsher.

Minghao let out a surprised cry, scratching at the sheets. He let out broken moans, one following after another.

"You close again, baby?" You grabbed the toy and began fucking him even faster, making him moan louder.

"Y-Yes.." he whispered, his face laying against the pillow while his ass was up in the air for you.

"Remember what I told you." You merely said, relentlessly thrusting the vibrator deep inside of him.

"Please! Please, please Master! Can I cum? I-I'm so, close." He begged, looking back at you on his hands with his eyes slightly glossed over while his cheeks developed a dark pink hue.

Minghao's hair was tussled, his bangs covering his eyes, along with his flushed face, you couldn't resist. "Go ahead."

He came with a loud, drawn moan, bordering a scream. His body twitched as he stilled and fall back onto the pillow under him. The room was silent minus Minghao's heavy breaths and the buzzing of the vibrator still inside of him. You turned the toy off, slowly pulling it out of him. Minghao gasped at the friction and sighed when it was out. You cleaned up most of the cum that had landed on the sheets under him, not wanting him, or yourself, to lay in it.

"You okay, baby boy?" Rubbing his back, you shifted next to him to look at his face, making sure you didn't hurt him.

He quietly nodded, "I'm perfect," he said.

You moved closer to him, capturing him in a slow, sensual kiss. He moaned into the kiss as your tongue glided over his. You pulled away slowly, "You've been very good for me, Hao." You got up from the bed, rummaging through the box again and taking out something that was out of Minghao's view.

"Mhm?" He said, waiting for you to continue. You turned to face him again and he visibly and audibly swallowed. "You said that you've wanted me to fuck you before, right?"

Minghao was speechless, mouth opening and closing, unable to form words. You wore a strap-on that you had bought weeks ago in preparation for tonight, and you couldn't wait to see his reaction—which frankly is better than you could've imagined.

Minghao's cock twitched as he recalls the night he confessed that to you. Just a moment ago with the dildo was incredible but having his own girlfriend fuck him? He could feel another orgasm coming already. He nodded his head once he got out of his thoughts, eager for you to be inside of him.

"You're gonna be good for me, right baby?" You said getting back on the bed and positioning yourself in front of him. He nodded as you grabbed a pillow for him to lay on top of. "Good. And I hope you know I'm just as excited for this as you are."

Minghao's face began to blush whilst his ears did the same, a cute habit that you always adored about him. "R-Really?"

You nodded as you spread the lube along your strap. Minghao gulped, letting out a whine. "H-Hurry, p-please. I-I want you, in me already." He said, voice lowering to a whisper as he confessed his needs.

Holding back a moan, you looked at him with a lustful stare. "Desperate for me to fuck you, aren't you baby?"

Minghao moaned at your words, feeling his cock twitch. "Mhm," he hummed.

You did as he so cutely said and gripped his thighs, slowly easing yourself into him. He winced slightly as you watched his face intently, keeping an eye out for any uncomfortable expressions. Neither of you could believe this was happening. Out of both of your comfort zone's yet still feeling somehow natural.

"You okay?" You asked as your strap filled him up to the hilt.

He nodded, his eyes shut. "You can move," Minghao said timidly.

"Are you sure baby?" You were afraid you would hurt him or get too caught up in the moment and hurt him.

"Please, Master, fuck me." Was all he said, his words and voice sending a strong pulse to your clit. Everything that you thought before those words left Minghao's mouth, were long gone. You clenched onto his thighs and began doing as he told you to.

Slapping noises filled the room, along with Minghao's moans with each thrust inside him. You kept your eyes on his, seeing every detail and feature that appeared on his face. "Such a dirty boy for me, aren't you, Hao?"

Minghao threw his head back, letting out a high pitched whine, "Y-Yes, Master. O-Only for you." He said, his mouth gaping open.

It was strange to be on the receiving end of what would usually come out of your mouth when Minghao would fuck you the way you are to him. It was strange, but it gave you a whole new sense and feel of power that left you craving more.

Your hips snapped against his as you took one of your hands and grabbed his length—which was leaking profusely onto his stomach—and began to jerk him off while you fucked him. Minghao's face contorted in a state of pleasure you had never seen him in. He gripped the sheets so hard, you could see the whites of his knuckles. "Such a good boy for me, baby."

Minghao moaned at your words, biting his lip. He was so hard and so turned on and so close to cumming again, it embarrassed him. His hand wrapped around your wrist, stopping your movements. "P-Please," he gasped.

"Please what, baby?" You asked, slowing down your hips slightly.

"Just, f-fuck me, please." He stuttered, swallowing dryly and letting out a broken moan.

You smirked, "Remember who's in charge here, baby boy." And without saying anything else, you bucked your hips faster. "Like that, baby?"

"Yes, please. H-Harder." Minghao grabbed one of your hands that was on his hip and intertwined your fingers together.

You smiled, contradicting what you were doing to Minghao at the moment. "You're so cute baby, am I fucking you good?"

He panted, eyes squeezing shut. "Yes! You're fucking me s-so good Master, p-please don't stop. I-I'm close."

You let go of Minghao's hand to move your position. You knew that there was a certain spot in you Minghao would hit when he moved your legs over his shoulders--so that's what you did. You moved his legs onto your shoulders and shifted your position, hopefully hitting inside Minghao deeper.

Minghao yelled, "R-Right there! F-Fuck, I-I'm gonna cum-" Minghao grabbed your arm, gripping it tightly as he shoved his head into the pillow. His hips twitched and he felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. Cum shot out of his cock and onto his stomach, also splashing onto his collar. He let out a whine, developing into a moan that broke as his voice got higher. Minghao collapsed slightly, letting out a huff of breath.

You laughed slightly, seeing him worn out and sweaty, not even caring that he came without your permission. His hair stuck to his forehead, tiny droplets falling onto his cheeks while a layer of sweat covered his bare torso. You slowly pulled out of Minghao, making him wince. You tossed it onto the floor and stood up to make a trip to the bathroom to get a wash rag to clean Minghao up.

When you returned, you took a second to admire him. You quietly grabbed the camera off the bedside table and took a quick photo. Minghao seen the flash and felt your presence and turned to you. He giggled, "That was, probably the best anniversary gift you've ever given me." He said, out of breath.

You chuckled as you approached him, cleaning off the semi dried cum on his stomach. "I'm glad that it didn't go south."

Minghao hummed, "You didn't cum though." He mentioned, taking off his collar and rubbing his neck slightly.

You waved a hand at him, signaling that you didn't mind. "You can make it up to me on our next anniversary."

He smirked, and grabbed your hand, pulling you on top of him. "I'll make sure you can't walk for weeks, baby girl."

a/n: wow i finally posted! hope u guys enjoyed this, i know i did ;)

#seventeen smut #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #minghao smut #minghao imagine #minghao scenario #the8 smut #the8 imagine #the8 scenario #minghao #xu minghao #the8 #seventeen

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lovemesomesurveys · 3 years

Text

Where were you 3 hours ago? Right here in bed; sleeping.

Who are you in love with? No one.

Have you ever eaten a crayon? Nah, I wasn’t that kid.

Is there anything pink within feet of you? Yeah, a shirt.

When is the last time you went to the mall? A couple weeks ago.

Are you wearing socks right now? I’m always wearing socks.

Do you have a car worth over $2,000? I don’t have a car at all since I don’t drive.

When was the last time you drove out of town? I never have, personally, but the last time I went out of town was this past Wednesday.

Have you been to the movies in the last days? It was a couple weeks ago.

Are you hot? I’m not hot in terms of attractiveness nor am I currently hot temperature wise.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Water.

What are you wearing right now? Black pajama shorts with Baby Yoda print and a green t-shirt dress with a little Baby Yoda in the upper left corner and “The Mandalorian” written across the top on the back in all caps.

Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it? --

Last food that you ate? Ramen and half a bologna sandwich.

Where were you last week at this time? Right here in bed.

Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? Yes.

When is the last time you ran? Uhhhhh.

What's the last sporting event you watched? I catch tiny bits here and there of the olympics when my dad is watching it, but I really have no interest in it.

What is your favorite animal? Dogs and giraffes.

Your dream vacation? I want to travel and do different things.

Last person's house you were in? One of my aunt’s house.

Worst injury you've ever had? The one that made me a paraplegic.

Have you been in love? Yes.

Do you miss anyone right now? Loved ones who have passed away. Last play you saw? The Phantom of the Opera a few years ago.

What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? Haaa, there’s nothing alluring about me.

What are your plans for tonight? Nothing out of the ordinary.

Who is the last person you sent a MySpace message or comment? I have no idea, it’s been well over a decade since I’ve been on Myspace. Next trip you are going to take? Hopefully, I’ll be going to the beach again sometime this upcoming week.

Ever go to camp? I’ve been to science camp and Girl Scout camp.

Were you an honor roll student in school? Yep, all throughout.

What do you want to know about the future? I don’t know to be honest because the future scares me.

Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? Nope.

Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit? I see doctors regularly.

Where is your best friend? She’s still asleep.

How is your best friend? Stressed about some things, but doing okay.

Do you have a tan? Ha, so when I went to the beach last week of all places just the tops of both my hands got sunburned, which then turned into a tan. That’s all I got lol. I was sitting in a tent for awhile and I was wearing a jacket because where we were was pretty cold near the water (I loved it, though), plus I was wearing leggings, so I was covered except for my hands and I guess with my positioning the sun hit right on top of ‘em just right.

What are you listening to right now? An ASMR video.

Do you collect anything? Giraffe stuffed animals and knickknacks, key chains, pins.

Who is the biggest gossiper you know? Hmm.

Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over. Why? I’ve never been pulled over by the cops before. <<<

Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? I drink all my drinks with a straw.

What does your last text message say? I don’t feel like checking.

Do you like hot sauce? I loved hot sauces, but I can’t eat spicy stuff anymore. :( I can only handle the really weak stuff, like the ones you get from fast food places that only have less than 2% of anything spicy. I’ll take what I can get, though.

Last time you took a shower? A couple days ago.

Do you need to do laundry? No.

Are you someone's best friend? No.

Are you rich? Nope. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? I think I was coloring.

If you were an ice cream flavor what would you be? *shrug*

What Starbucks drink would you be? I don’t know.

If you could go to any college which one would you go to? I went and graduated college already, I’m good.

What's your favorite tv show at the moment? I have several.

Do you wish you lived in a different state/ city? Yes.

would you rather have chocolate ice cream or vanilla? Vanilla, for sure.

What's you best feature? Nothing.

Are you smart? I feel I’m just very average.

Are you stupid? I feel I am in some ways. Like, some of the things I do or don’t do I’m like, ‘wtf is wrong with you dumbass??’

Are you getting tired? It’s just now 9:02AM and I’ve only been up for less than an hour so I’m still feeling sleepy.

What's your name? Stephanie.

Age? 32.

Do you prefer to date people who are younger or older? Older.

What's most attractive about another person? Depends on the particular individual person, I’d say. <<<

What's your favorite food? Ramen, garlic parm and lemon pepper boneless wings from Wingstop, chicken tenders, over-easy eggs, especially with country gravy, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, pesto pasta, bologna and turkey sandwiches, chips and dip...

Would you rather go on a one on one date or a group date? Both, it just depends.

What's your fav. drink? Coffee, Coke, Cherry Coke, Pepsi, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Starbucks Doubleshot energy drink, milkshakes, and Yoo-Hoo.

Can you dance? Nope.

What do you think of the word sex? Uhh.

are these questions random? Sure.

Do you own a pet? if so how many and what kind? Yep, I have a doggo. Oh, so here’s something interesting-- we always thought she was a German Shepherd and Lab mix, but according to this app my brother got that does a scan of a photo of your pet and then tells you their breed(s) she’s neither of those. It gave us 3 top breeds and I forget two of them, but one is Beagle. Another was Australian something or other, I’m not sure. Ugh, it’s going to bug me now, ha. But yeah, I was really surprised because we were so sure about her having German Shepherd and Lab in her.

Are you confident? I’m confident that I’m not.

Do you consider yourself attractive? Not even a little bit.

Are you glad this is over? I wouldn’t say that. I felt like doing a survey and this one was fine.

[created by: delende]

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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mcwriting · 4 years

Text

starstruck (8)

Hellooooo... sorry I didn’t post this on Friday, I was super busy all day/night finishing up my summer college course + other stuff. I haven’t finished 9 yet so it should go up next week :)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Fandom: Tom Holland

Ship: Tom x reader

Setting: LA, Seoul

Word Count: 1964

Warnings: maybe some mild language idk

Rating: K+

__________________________________

Tom burst through the door of the hotel room being used as a lounge for his and his castmates’ teams while they did press.

He was late, and his management stood up as soon as they noticed him.

“Thomas! Where have you been? We’ve been calling all morning! This isn’t a good look,” his publicist started.

“Yeah we’ve been having to make excuses for over a half hour for you. Everyone else started interviews ten minutes ago. Let’s get you in there,” the manager continued.

“No,” Tom replied blankly.

“What?” they asked at the same time.

“I said no. I’m not doing things on your volition anymore. I’m tired of disappointing people and living a fake life just because you two have decided against the things I want to do. I’m sorry to do this right now, but you’re both fired.”

“You can’t be serious Tom. You know me! I’ve been with you for years!” his now ex-manager said.

“Yeah, come on. Who’s going to keep you relevant without me?” the former publicist asked.

“I think I’ll be able to manage just fine by myself, and if I want new help I’ll find someone better than both of you. You two have been jeopardizing my personal life for far too long in the name of fame and I can’t stand for it any longer. Harry will arrange for you two to get to your homes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go do my job.”

With that, Tom walked across the hall into the interview room, where he was met with a few cheers and the smiling faces of his costars.

__________________________________

“How are we gonna get her back to you?” Harrison asked late that night as everyone huddled around a table eating snacks. “I mean, I don’t think she’s going to come running back into your arms any time soon.”

The boys munched on chips and swigged Korean beer as they contemplated. Tom felt like a weight was off his shoulders now that he was free from his management.

“Doesn’t she have that friend? Maybe she could help us out.” Sam suggested.

“I don’t know, man. Y/n said she’s a huge fan. But they’re also best friends. Would she even be willing to let me near y/n? And if so, do you think she’d keep a secret that big?” Tom replied.

“It’s worth a shot, innit? Maybe she’d understand?” Harry thought aloud.

After some deliberation, the boys settled on sending b/f/n a dm through Harrison’s instagram to seem slightly less conspicuous in case you happened to notice her dms.

They didn’t expect an immediate reply. Midnight in Seoul was 8 am in LA, but luckily b/f/n had woken up early to work out since you were going to her house later that day.

The message asked her to help you and Tom reconnect and hopefully reconcile in person, and asked her to keep it a secret.

She was shocked to say the least, and unsure of whether to trust them after the hurt you’d experienced, but finally answered back after a few minutes.

Okay. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I know I can get her to this formal next Friday night if you can make it.

She sent a link to the page for the upcoming event. It was a fundraiser gala for people of all ages. The site said it was sold out, but Tom knew he could probably find a way in.

That’s perfect. All you need to do is get her there. And you absolutely cannot tell her any of this or the whole thing might be ruined

Oh believe me, I won’t. I honestly want this as much as you guys, she’s been super bummed still and I just want to see her happy again. I’ll try to get back to you with her dress color and stuff if you want to coordinate.

Perfect. We’ll be in touch.

The boys fistpumped and high fived as they planned out flights and scheduling and finding a way to get those tickets. Eventually, they retired to their respective hotel rooms, since Tom would have one last day of press before heading home.

__________________________________

Back in LA, b/f/n was now standing with you in her kitchen, watching you mix up some sauce for mac and cheese.

She leaned back against the counter as you stirred and added ingredients.

“Hey are you still going to the formal next Friday?” b/f/n asked.

“The what?” You didn’t look up.

“Remember? The big formal next week? All our friends are gonna be there.”

You thought about it for a second and then looked over at her as you turned off the stove burner.

“Oh my God. I totally forgot about that. I guess not since, 1: it’s probably sold out, and 2: I don’t have anything to wear.”

B/f/n smirked, turning to pick something up from behind her while you poured the sauce and pasta into a baking dish, topping it with breadcrumbs.

“Well I think I have the first thing covered…” she trailed, holding up two tickets.

“You didn’t,” you smiled, stepping away from the dish. “No way.”

“Yes, way. I figured you’d forgotten with everything going on and snagged one up, even though I was mad at you. Who else would I take as my date? It’s not like I have a boyfriend.”

You went up and hugged her.

“You are literally the best friend ever.”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied proudly.

“But I still don’t have a dress. I don’t even know where to start,” you worried aloud as you put the pasta in the oven.

“Well… I kind of maybe looked up places at the mall that have dresses I know you’d like.”

“Oh my gosh. Is that why you want to go to the mall so bad? I can’t tell if I love or hate you for that.”

“You know you love me. Now how long is that mac and cheese gonna be? My stomach is growling.”

__________________________________

After your pasta lunch, b/f/n and you drove to the mall, where she took you to 3 different dress shops. You were relieved to find that no one had followed you, as it seemed interest in you had diminished after everything you’d said.

“I’m getting the feeling I’m not gonna find anything I like. Maybe we should just give up,” you suggested after almost two hours of trying things on.

“Come on. There’s one more place at this mall and I saved it for last because there’s a dress I think you’ll really like.”

She drug you through the building and up an escalator until you finally came upon the shop. There were some really pretty dresses in the window display, so you felt a little bit less nervous when you walked in.

An employee asked if you needed help upon entering. B/f/n showed her a screenshot on her phone, and the lady immediately led you towards the back of the store. She pulled a black bag from the rack and hung it on another one near the dressing rooms.

“I think this is the one you’re looking for. Let me know if you need anything else,” she said, walking off.

“Okay, y/n. Close your eyes so I can unzip the bag. I want to surprise you.”

You did as told, putting a hand over your face for good measure. You heard the zipper and some rustling before b/f/n told you to look.

You opened your eyes to find a long, navy, satin dress staring right back at you.

“Whoa,” you whispered, going up to inspect it closely.

It was beautiful. It had a classic ball gown shape with a slit up the thigh and a beaded lace bodice. The neckline was in a deep V and the straps came up and over your shoulders. The back was low cut and a thin strip of silver beads circumvented the waistline.

“Sooo… what do you think?” b/f/n questioned.

“I- b/f/n. This is incredible.”

“Wanna try it on?”

You nodded enthusiastically and stepped into a dressing room with it. After a good minute of struggling through the inner tulle layers, you finally got it secure and was able to zip it yourself.

When you stepped out of the room and saw yourself in the mirror, you gasped.

“Y/n. You look amazing. What do you think?”

You didn’t answer her because you were too focused on how you looked to even process what she said.

“How are you ladies do- wow. That’s a gorgeous look on you,” the lady from before said as she came around the corner.

She helped adjust it a little, seeing whether it needed alterations or not.

“You’re in luck. This fits you like a glove. It does seem a bit long, but I’m assuming you’ll wear heels?”

You nodded, still speechless.

“So? This the one?” b/f/n asked.

“Yes. Absolutely yes,” you returned, beaming.

“I’ll go ring you up, then,” the employee said, leaving you to take off the dress and put your normal, boring clothes back on. You’d initially been saving up to buy a dress, and still had the funds since forgetting about it.

You and b/f/n hauled the dress bag around like your lives depended on it as you went on a search for matching shoes.

It took another half hour or so of walking around stores and trying on heels before you found a pair.

They were strappy and silver and the perfect height for your dress length. You couldn’t believe your luck.

__________________________________

Now that you’d finally gotten everything, you and b/f/n headed to your house so you could show your parents, who were by then off work.

Your dad was fixing himself a snack when you both came in the door, you wrangling the dress over your head and her carrying the shoe box.

“Woah, girls. Whatcha got there?” he asked.

“Just my dress for the fundraiser formal next Friday…”

“Oh yeah I forgot about that. I think your mom and I will be skipping out this year but I’m glad you’re getting to go.”

“I forgot too until b/f/n reminded me. I’ll go put it on here in a minute. Where’s mom?”

“She’s in the office. Why don’t you surprise her?” he suggested, so you did exactly that.

You quickly got the dress and shoes on (with b/f/n’s help) and tried to quietly come down the hall. It was difficult since your heels clacked, your dress swished, and you and b/f/n tried not to let out cackles.

You popped just your head in the office doorway.

“Hey mom. What are you up to?”

“Oh hey honey. I’m just filing some charts. I’m almost done. Why?” she replied, only looking up from the computer to initially address you.

“Well I just wanted you to see something. And by something, I mean this.”

You slid into full view, and your mother’s jaw dropped. B/f/n appeared in the doorway behind you.

“Sweetie, you look beautiful! Did you just get this today?” you nodded as she got up to look at the dress closer. “Is this for next week?”

“Yeah. B/f/n bought me tickets and then took me out to look at dresses today,” you slung an arm around her shoulder. “I basically have the best friend in the world.”

“Well I love it and I’m so excited to see you both dressed up together next week. I think this is the perfect symbol for new beginnings!”

With that you gave a “hear, hear!” in agreement.

__________________________________

Tag List: @marvel-lously, @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @dreamyvans, @lisannehus, @honeymoonpeter, @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven, @chenellearose, @photoshopart15, @parkeret, @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch, @racewife2004

To be added, pls message me or send an ask. Also lmk if you’d like to be part of my permanent tag list!

#starstruck #tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #Harry Holland #harrison osterfield #sam holland

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is0gild · 4 years

Text

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 17

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 12,131

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

Day three of Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really and so far, so good.

Though the thought of this triple date had my inner recluse curling up into the fetal position, I'd manage to convince myself it actually was a good thing when you really thought about it. One, it gave me more practice for trying to do this whole couply… thing I was trying to do. More practice meant I'd eventually, hopefully be more comfortable with it all, as well as less chance for screw-ups in front of my parents when the dreaded but inevitable weekend with them at last came. Two, we were trying to maintain this image of being boyfriend and girlfriend in front of everyone else at the mall. And boyfriends and girlfriends went on dates. What better way to be seen going on said dates than by going out with other actual couples? And three, we couldn't forget about the person the Duke had hired to tail Anna originally and could quite possibly still be keeping tabs on me now. If they were still out there lurking, it was important that they, even more so than anyone else,see me dating.

It was still kind of weird to think about - that an actual, real life PI or whatever had been surveilling me constantly for who knows how long and I'd had no idea. It felt so surreal. Unreal even. But the Duke was absolutely that crazy and I wouldn't put it past him to still have someone keeping an eye on me, looking for any cracks in the story, any slip-ups or mistakes. I'd have to start paying attention more when I was out and about, see if I could figure out who it was, spot any faces that seemed to always show up everywhere I went.

But then, even if I did identify a likely culprit, I would have absolutely no idea what to do with that information once I had it. Even if I marched right up to them and told them their cover had been blown so they may as well scram, the Duke was just insane enough and rich enough to keep hiring new people to do the job instead.

...jeez, I was really starting to sound paranoid now, wasn't I?

With my luck, it'd turn out the Duke no longer had anyone following me after he'd confronted me in the food court.

Best not to think about it too much, because honestly? It'd get me nowhere.

Sighing, I banished the thoughts from my head as I watched the buildings blur past my window from the backseat of Riku's silver Ford Focus. The three of us were on our way to the restaurant now and Lea, Kairi and Sora were going to meet us there. My hand anxiously smoothed out the creases of my outfit - a dark magenta sheath dress with long sleeves and a hemline at the knees. It had a tastefully low v-neckline and a double layered skirt, the top layer made of a shimmering gossamer material. Nice, but nothing too fancy for our "nothing too fancy" date, to use Kairi's words.

Per Lea's request, I'd also worn his leather jacket. It made sense, after all. Nothing screamed "dating" more than one half of a couple wearing their other half's clothes, so it certainly helped maintain the facade. His boy scent still lingered on it, even though he hadn't worn it in a couple of days now, given it had been in my possession. The smell was somehow both soothing and butterflies-in-the-stomach inducing at the same time. It was an odd mix of emotions, to say the least.

I felt a buzz in the jacket's pocket. Pulling out my phone (gosh, it was so weird having one again after going so many weeks without) I checked my notifications to discover I'd received a text.

Well, speak of the devil.

Still cant believe u didnt lemme come pick u up

Shaking my head with a small snort, I tapped out a reply to Lea.

It just made the most logical sense for me to ride with Riku and Rayne since we were all coming from the same place.

Rayne suddenly cried out happily, drawing my attention to her as she clapped and bounced in the front passenger seat. "Ahh, I'm still just so excited for date night! Good food, great company, hot hubby," she slyly pinched Riku's cheek, which he endured with dignity as he drove. "What more could a girl ask for?"

He chuckled as he shifted the car over into the turn lane. "You make it sound like I never take you out."

"You know that's not what I mean!" she playfully smacked his shoulder. "But with the baby on the way, I don't know how many more of these I'll have! This is one of my last chances to enjoy freedom! Jesus take the fucking wheel, hallelujah!"

I felt my phone vibrate in my hand again and I looked down at it.

I know not this logic u spk of

I felt a tiny smile pulling at my mouth as my thumbs typed.

Don't worry about it. Tis beyond your mortal ken.

"I just hope no one's drinking tonight," Riku snerked as I watched those three dots bounce at the bottom of my screen. "Don't need you dancing on any more tables, thank you very much."

"Your face dances on tables!" Rayne shot back, sticking her tongue out at him.

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"You don't even make any sense!"

Rude. Ill have u know I had half a mind 2 drive ovr n get u NEway, logic b damned

My smile turned a touch wicked.

I'm impressed. That's half a mind more than you usually have.

"Here we are!"

My head shot up as I heard the engine shut down. I hadn't even realized we were in a parking lot. I hadn't even realized the vehicle had stopped moving.

As I looked out my window again, I heard Rayne saying, "Have I mentioned how happy I am we're doing this?"

"You may have said something about that once or twice." I could hear the smile in Riku's low voice.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her leaning over towards him, her hand coming up to run slender fingers through his long, ashen strands. "Yeah, but maybe I should show you."

"Maybe you should…"

And that's when I, being the absolute clueless, blissfully naive little fool that I was, chose to turn and fully look at them, just in time to get a front row seat to their little game of tonsil hockey. I blushed, threw up a hand to block my line of sight and made a tiny noise of disgust in my throat. "Ugh! You know you're not the only people in the car, right?"

Rayne pulled away to smirk back at me. "Well, other people can shoo," she flicked a dismissive hand in my direction before grabbing Riku by his collar and yanking him over for a deeper, more passionate kiss. Ding, ding, round two!

Squeaking, I fumbled with my seatbelt until I heard the click release, threw my car door open, stumbled out and slammed it shut behind me with a huff.

Oi, that was the main drawback to this group date plan. We were going to be around actual couples, and actual couples actually, ahem… snogged. Rayne and Riku were going to be bad enough, but let's not forget Sora and Kairi were along for the ride too and I'd seen firsthand how gross those two could be as well. Mark my word, this night was going to have more than its fair share of uncomfortable moments with those four around, being all besotted and smitten and other such rot. But I would survive this and make it through to the other side. Somehow.

Sweeping my braid forward over one shoulder, I glanced up at the building before me now. It bore a colorful banner over its entrance that read Fuente Del Oro. A local, family-owned Mexican restaurant, or so Rayne had told me. I could already tell this was going to be a very different experience from the types of restaurants my ex used to take me to for our dates. Those restaurants had all been about the look, the prestige… you didn't go to any of those places for the food, you went there to be seen, to give off an air of importance. Those places were… dull. Lifeless. This place before me now, on the other hand, was… nice. Colorful. Vibrant and full of character. Not elegant or frilly, but warm and inviting. And the aromas that I could smell coming from it, even all the way out here? Delicious.

I was actually kind of looking forward to this.

Phone still in my grasp, I looked back down at it and frowned.

No message back from Lea yet.

A giggle suddenly echoed out across the parking lot and my eyes snapped towards the source. It didn't take long to spot Kairi a few vehicles over, squirming and laughing in Sora's arms as he hugged her from behind, blowing raspberries against her neck. They were standing with a very familiar redhead who was leaning against a very familiar black muscle car. Said redhead had pulled his hair back into a ponytail again and was dressed in a snug, black tee with a second shirt on underneath, red and black horizontal stripes running down its full-length sleeves. His slim, dark jeans made his already long legs seem even longer and he was sporting his bright red Converse. He had his phone in hand in front of him, but it wasn't the phone he was looking at. Our eyes met and a grin tugged at one corner of his lips.

Suddenly, whatever boldness that I had felt behind the safety of text on the tiny, glowing screen in the palm of my hand had abandoned me and I felt a small pang of anxiety pierce my chest.

But I rallied.

Alright, Elsa, pep talk time. You can do this. You've been mentally and emotionally preparing for this since yesterday. Let him throw at you whatever fluffy, sappy moves he decides to today, all in the name of pretending to be your boyfriend. You can take it.

Shields raised and at full power, captain!

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I pocketed my mobile and started making my way over to those three. Probably hearing my footsteps against the asphalt, Kairi and Sora looked over at me as I approached and greeted me with waves. I gave them a shy smile and returned the wave as Lea held his phone up, turning the screen towards me and showing the last message I'd sent him as he tsked, "Brutal. You wound me, madame."

I stopped a few feet away from him, my smile twitching wider. "You like it."

"True. What can I say, I've always been a bit of a masochist," he hummed a low chuckle, slipping his phone into the back pocket of his pants. His head tipped to one side and he stared at me for another second, then his eyes crinkled as he stretched a hand out towards me with a soft, "C'mere."

I bit my bottom lip, hesitating for a heartbeat before moving another step forward to take his offered hand.

"Lookit you," he whistled, closing his fingers around mine and leading me into a little twirl. "Digging the look." He then gently pulled me against him, drawing my arms up to hug his neck before slipping his hands beneath the jacket to wrap around my waist, enveloping me in his cinnamon scent. "Didn't get a chance to say it the other day, but my jacket suits you."

I rolled my eyes up at him, doing my best to be impervious to our sudden closeness. I wasn't succeeding. "Not really. It's too big."

"Yes really," he insisted, bowing his head slightly towards mine. "It looks way better on you than it ever did on me."

"Where's Riku and Rayne?" Sora interjected and I turned my head to look at him.

"They-" my words tripped over my tongue as Lea pressed a tender kiss to my temple.

Critical hit, captain! Shields down to thirty percent, but holding!

Ignoring the heat rushing to my face, I did my best to regather my scattered thoughts. "They, uh… they're back in the, uh… the…" Drat, what was the word again? "...car! They're back in the… the car."

Sora pulled a face. "Swapping spit, no doubt."

"Oh-ho, we'll see about that! C'mon, Sora!" Kairi cackled with an evil gleam in her eye, slipping free of her boyfriend's hold to instead grab his hand and pull him behind her as she ran off towards Riku's car.

"Seriously," Lea spoke up again, his voice hushed as I slowly returned my gaze to his. "Pretty sure I've lost all claim to that jacket. It belongs to you now."

My eyelids drooped. "That's not how that works."

"Sure it is." He rested his forehead against mine and I could feel his thumb rubbing light circles against the fabric of my dress just above my hip. "You don't choose a leather jacket, it chooses you. And trust me, that one has definitely picked you over me."

I gave a soft snort. "I'm giving it back to you after tonight."

"Don't you dare," he chided, his breath warming my lips. "You'll hurt the jacket's feelings."

"Stop anthropomorphizing the jacket." I was fighting a smile now.

"Make me," he murmured, something in his voice causing my insides to do that whole warm, fuzzy, squishy thing.

And the academy award for best leading actor in the role of Elsa's boyfriend goes to this guy right here.

But had to say, I thought he might be overdoing it a bit. I mean, Sora and Kairi weren't even around anymore to hear any of this. And if we were being monitored by someone under my great uncle's payroll, they certainly couldn't hear it either. I suppose Lea just… really liked getting into character?

Clearing my throat, I unclasped my hands from behind his neck and shifted them down to his chest in an attempt to push myself free of his grasp as I whispered, "We, ah… should probably go speak to the hostess now."

However, his hold on me didn't loosen, his arms remaining firmly secured around my waist. He didn't say anything, just continued to grin down at me. His eyes became hooded as they flicked down to my lips now, making my heart skip a beat.

What was he-?

A sudden loud yelp ruptured the air around us.

Rayne.

Followed by an annoyed yell of, "Goddamnit, Sora! Kairi!"

And that would be Riku.

The two delinquents in question blurred past us and towards the restaurant's front doors, whooping and snickering and razzing their tongues back at their victims climbing out of the Ford Focus. "We'll grab us a table!" Sora called quickly at the same time Kairi shouted, "See ya inside!" Then they both disappeared through the entrance with Rayne and Riku hot on their heels.

I heard Lea sigh. Or maybe he didn't. It was so soft that it was fully possible that I imagined it. Then he released me, slipping one hand into mine and jerking a thumb towards the restaurant with a lopsided smile, "Shall we?"

I stared at him, feeling the night air cool my warmed face. Then I gave a tentative nod and let him lead me inside.

The others hadn't made it far past the doors and we stepped in to find Riku doling out Sora's punishment: death by a thousand noogies. Sora was smacking his cousin's arm and trying to wriggle free, but to no avail. Apparently Kairi had gotten off with only a warning for she was standing off to one side with Rayne, both cracking up as they watched the boys. I looked past them, taking in the restaurant. Strings of fairy lights hung from the ceiling intermixed with strings of multi-colored papers, each bearing cutouts depicting various imagery. The walls were painted with murals of fantastical, mythical creatures of various shapes and sizes with wings and prismatic fur, feathers and scales. This place was absolutely beautiful.

Once the roughhousing had finally settled down, we all approached the hostess, an extremely tiny, extremely old lady wearing a name tag that read Coco who seemed far more interested in napping than greeting new customers. However, she woke up long enough to squint at her list and find our reservation before calling over a man to seat us. He led us through the restaurant and to a large booth in one of the back corners, leaving menus, chips and salsa on the table before flashing us a warm, genuine smile and saying he'd be back to take our orders in a minute.

I started shrugging out of the jacket, feeling Lea assist me before folding it over his arm and gesturing towards the booth with bow and a, "Lady's first." Smiling at him, I took a seat and scooched towards the middle. Lea wasn't too far behind, sitting close enough for our knees to bump against one another. He tossed the jacket on the back shelf of the booth before draping his arm across the top of the cushioned seat behind my head. Rayne took the spot to my left with Riku of course beside her, and on the other side of Lea sat Kairi and Sora. The waiter came back after giving us a little time to peruse the menus and he gathered our food requests before dashing off again.

"So Ray," Kairi piped up, popping a heavily salsa-laden chip into her mouth, "how's the preggers-life treating you?"

"Really well," she nodded contentedly, one hand going to her tummy. "The jellybean's happy and healthy so far and I've just started barely showing in the past couple weeks. No weird food cravings yet, thank god, but those are supposed to be right around the corner."

Sora leaned forward, propping his chin in both hands and beamed, "Do we know yet if I have a lil nephew or niece on the way?"

"We're cousins, Sora. Nephews and nieces would only be if we were brothers," Riku corrected with a wry curve to his lips.

"We don't know yet," Rayne shook her head, "but I'm about four months along now, so hoping to find out at our next appointment."

Lea had shifted his hand to dangle down so he could idly twiddle my braid between his fingers. I could also sense his gaze on me, causing a bit of a flutter in the pit of my stomach. Reminding myself he was just playing a part and it wasn't real, I resisted the urge to squirm and instead pretended not to notice, directing all my focus into reaching for a chip to dip into the salsa.

"Well whatever the wee monkey turns out to be, you can bet Auntie Kairi and Unkie Sora will be here to shower it with all the love and kisses!" Kairi cooed.

Riku twitched and frowned. "I just said that isn't how it-"

"Shush, hon, they're just teasing you now," Rayne poked his cheek with a laugh before looking back over at Kairi. "And you? How's the new gig over at Mickey's going? You've been there, what? About a week now?"

"Mm-hm! It's been a lot of fun working the jewelry counter. Oh sure, there's the occasional asshole customer, but turns out I'm really good at killing them with kindness."

Riku kicked Sora's foot under the table, "What about you, ya freeloader? Any prospects yet?"

He shrugged with that big smile he seemed to always have permanently glued to his face. Just looking at it was starting to make my cheeks hurt. "Couple of interviews coming up, so we'll see!"

Smirking, Riku said, "Can't wait to hear how you screw them up this time, knucklehead."

"Hey!"

Kairi turned to look our direction now. "So what's new and exciting with you two, hm? Lea, you just had that big test, right?" Silence was her answer as I went for another chip. "Lea? Hello, earth to... ah-ha, there!" She rocketed up to her feet, slamming one hand down on the table and pointing the other right in Lea's face. "Lost puppy look!"

"Hm, what now?" he jolted, his hand jerking away from my braid to lay across the booth backrest once more. "Lost pup-? Bah, I told you already, there's no lost puppy look. You need to get your eyes checked, princess."

She scoffed, plopping heavily back down into her seat and smugly take a sip of her soda. "Please. You were bad at hiding it when you guys were dating in secret, and you're even worse at it now that it's all out in the open."

"What's the deal there anyhow?" Sora cocked his head at me. "There's all sorts of wild rumors flying around the mall, like that you're runaway royalty from some far off country just living off the lam now."

"What?!" I blanched, gawking in disbelief. Doing my best to recover with a tiny, awkward laugh, I hastily said, "No, nothing quite so, ah… dramatic. My parents, they're… well off, to be sure, but certainly not royalty. And not from so far away either. Just Arendelle, which is only about an hour north of here."

Chewing on her straw, Kairi eagerly leaned in closer, "I'd love to hear the story of how you two met!"

I stiffened.

Fudge.

Welp, add that to my ever growing list of things I should have thought about in advance but failed miserably to do so. I fiddled a chip between my fingers as I tucked in my bottom lip. Shoot, what was I supposed to tell her? It's not like I'd gotten any better at lying in the past few days since my visit with Father. In fact, I'd been mostly skirting by since then by dodging questions and letting people fill in the blanks for themselves so I didn't have to. Heart thudding in my chest, I opened my mouth, not quite fully sure yet what was going to come out.

"Last summer," Lea was quicker. "In another city."

"Oh, during that big cross-country road trip you took?" Rayne asked him as she leaned into her husband who slung an arm around her shoulders.

Lea tapped his own nose, "That'd be the one, Raindrop."

Kairi gasped, "You two met in a foreign city? How romantic! That's the dream!"

"You have to leave the country in order for it to be a foreign city," Riku shook his head.

"Cram it, you knew what I meant!"

"It was like one of those scenes straight outta a movie," Lea planted an elbow on the table, rubbing a curled finger over his smirk as he watched me out of the corner of his eye. "There I was, just strolling along minding my own business, smack dab in the middle of a jam-packed city street. But then the crowd parted and there she stood. The most gorgeous creature to ever walk the face of this or any other planet in all the cosmos."

Cue my face turning all new shades of red never before witnessed in the history of human eyesight.

Jeez, laying it on a bit thick there, Lea, don't you think?

"So whatdja do?" Kairi pressed, eyes bright and on the edge of her seat. "Sweep her off her feet right then and there?"

He snerked, "Shit no, I walked headfirst into a lamppost."

I smothered a grin behind my hand as the rest of the table erupted into laughter. Sora reached over to punch him lightly in the arm, "Smooth, ya stud. What city was this anyway?"

"Corona," I was the one to answer, surprising myself. Suddenly self-conscious with all eyes turning to me, I quietly added, "I was there for part of my vacation last year."

"By yourself?" Rayne quirked a dubious eyebrow at me. She knew this story was as made-up as my current relationship status was. I could only assume she was trying to poke holes in order to help us solidify this little tale that was being spun so we'd be more prepared for the next time we had to tell the lie.

The thing is, the best lies have a grain of truth to them. I really had been in Corona last summer. "No, I was taking the trip with Anna. We were actually staying over in Traverse Town, but had planned to visit Corona for the day to enjoy a festival there, since it was only a short train ride away. However, Anna disappeared with a guy before we could go. I'd really been looking forward to this festival though and didn't want to miss it, so I took the train over on my own."

"Wait," Kairi slapped both hands down in front of her, eyes widening. "Are you talking about that big lantern festival they do every year?" At my nod, she squealed. "Lucky! Punzie has shown me pictures in magazines, it looks so goddamn pretty! Oh man, I've always wanted to go! Hint, hint," she shouldered Sora, who just chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"It was actually right as they were launching the lanterns that I saw her," Lea said, folding his arms atop the table now. "She was wearing this cute sundress. White with a lil diamond patterned hem. Split sleeves that were all flowy. Hair down and dancing in the slight breeze." Wow, he was really selling this. He'd even nailed that whole far away look in his eye, like he was seeing something the rest of us couldn't. "And the way those lanterns lit up her smile as she watched them float up, I knew my lowly mortal self was in the presence of a goddess. Knocked the wind right outta me."

"As did that lamppost," Rayne sniggered.

"As did that lamppost," he agreed with a chuckle.

Totally enthralled now, Kairi breathed, "So what happened next?"

"Yeah, what did happen next?" I grinned over at him, the barest note of a challenge to my tone. To the others, it probably just sounded like I was teasing him since obviously I was already supposed to know this story. But now I was almost as invested as Kairi and was genuinely curious where he'd go with it next.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he looked over at me and he leaned back, propping his elbows up on the back rim of the booth and once more slipping an arm behind my head. "Well after the lantern bit was over, I watched her get onto her train heading back to Traverse Town. So I did what any self-respecting, red-blooded, utterly bewitched male would do: I followed her."

"Stalker," Riku singsonged.

His wife smacked his leg, "Hush, it's sweet!"

He snorted, eyelids drooping, "Yeah, so sweet, the dumbass left his car behind in Corona."

"Psssh, I just took the train back for it later," Lea brushed off. "Anyway, when I found her on board, I sat across from her and worked up the nerve to strike up a conversation."

Rayne looked at me. "You? Talk to a handsome stranger on a train?" She squinted, repeating for emphasis, "You?"

"Heh… what can I say? He can be very charming," I smiled down at my drink, swirling the ice with my straw.

"Even with all of my roguish charm and devilish good looks though, it wasn't easy," Lea laughed. His hand had drifted down to start toying with my braid again. "But she warmed up to me eventually. By the time we arrived at Traverse Town, I was completely smitten. A total goner. She still needed more convincing though, so I managed to persuade her into joining me for a night out on the town. Luckily for me, Traverse Town has a very active night life that goes on for hours long after most other cities have gone to sleep."

"Yeah? Like what?" Sora burbled out around a mouth full of chips, making Kairi giggle as she put a hand over his face to hide it.

He pursed his lips to one side, looking up at the ceiling, "Oh, nothing too exciting. Few odds and ends here and there though… wandering around a record store… a café with a palm reader… a street poet at one sidewalk corner, a belly dancer at another, some stargazing in a park…" Now he smirked over at me, "A carnival with a kiss at the top of the ferris wheel."

A mock gasp from Rayne, "Scandal! And you with a fiancé, young lady!"

I looked away, suddenly feeling guilty and flustered over something that hadn't even really happened. "...ferris wheels can be very enchanting."

And my streak of helping the lie along while not actually lying myself successfully continues!

"And then, and then?" Kairi insisted impatiently, just eating this whole bit of fiction right up.

He chuckled and shrugged, "Just mostly a lot of meandering the streets and talking. We were out all night and watched the sunrise together. Eventually, she had to go meet up with her sister so they could move on to another city for the next leg of their lil vay-kay. But I didn't let her leave without agreeing to meet with me again in a few months."

Kairi was slackjaw now as she whispered, "And did she?"

"Mm-hm!" he hummed happily. "And from there, we kept meeting up, our little get-togethers getting longer and more frequent over time."

"Then what?" She was relentless.

A wolfish curl tugged at one side of his mouth. "What else? I slowly seduced her until she fell helpless into my bed, hungry for the pleasure only I could give her," he waggled his eyebrows.

Of course I'd chosen that exact second to be taking a sip of my drink. And of course I promptly spluttered and choked on it. "Excuse me?" I coughed, laughing incredulously as I elbowed him in the gut.

He gave a pained grunt, but grinned and snagged my hand before I could retract it, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "I mean that in the most gentlemanly and respectful way possible, of course," he winked at me before looking back over at Kairi. "From there, I convinced her to run away from her family and ditch her two-bit, loser fiancé to be with me. And the rest, as they say, is history!"

"Wow!" she sighed dreamily, slumping back and fanning herself. Then she blinked, "Wait…" A gasp. "Oh my god! You swore off dating about a year ago, which was last summer! Was it cuz that's when you two met and it was love at first sight?!"

"Huh. The two certainly seem to line up perfectly, don't they?" he chirped. He'd rested my hand back down onto the table, his on top of mine, threading our fingers together.

Our waiter popped up again just then. "Your food will be just another moment. In the meantime, please allow us to entertain you with some music." He then turned, clapped his hands twice and called out, "Miguel!"

Out charged a boy in his early teens wearing a red hoodie and lugging a guitar that was white, etched in swirly patterns, and nearly as big as he was. He flashed us a smile huge enough to rival one of Sora's and without further preamble, started strumming away and singing. The kid was actually really good too!

Kairi clapped in delight and Rayne cooed over how adorable he was. Sora gaped in awe at the boy's obvious talent while Riku just grinned, digging into the chips. As I watched him perform, I couldn't help but feel Lea's eyes on me once more instead of on our little musician. I shifted in my seat, slipping my hand free of his and bringing it up to tuck some bangs behind my ear, hiding the growing warmth I felt in my cheeks behind my fingers.

At this rate, I didn't know how I was going to survive fake dating this guy for the rest of the evening, let alone for two more weeks.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Lea's hand closed around mine, stopping me in my tracks. I glanced over my shoulder at him, then back towards where Rayne and Riku were climbing into their car across the parking lot. "With them?"

"Ahhhnt," he made a buzzer noise, grinning. "Wrong! Would the contestant care to venture another guess?"

I gave him some side-eye, feeling one corner of my lips turn up. "...with you?"

"Bingo!" He started walking towards his car, gently tugging me along with him. "I was already so rudely denied my god-given right as the boyfriend to pick you up from your place. No way am I missing out on giving you a lift over to the movie theater. Same goes for driving you back home later tonight, so better make your peace with it now. It's happening."

I felt my smile twitch a fraction wider as I fell into step beside him. "I suppose being my chauffeur is quite the honor and privilege. Wouldn't want to take that away from you."

"Glad that's settled then," he gave a chipper nod, unlocking the front passenger door of his vehicle and holding it open for me as I got in. As he then jogged over to the driver's side while I buckled in, there was a loud meep meep of a car horn and I looked up just as a hot pink Jeep blurred past where we were parked - Kairi and Sora, it seemed, going on to the cinema ahead of us. I waved at them just as Lea had settled in himself and started the engine.

"So," I began once we were on the road, resting my temple against my knuckles with my elbow propped on the window sill, still grinning as I watched him out of the corner of my eye, "you took a road trip last summer?"

He gave a low hum of confirmation, reaching over to turn down the volume on the rock oldies station coming through the radio. "Decided to have one last big adventure before I really buckled down and started taking school seriously. Did a lil soul searching, that whole shtick."

"Ah." My gaze focused on the road ahead once more and I hesitated for a second, gnawing on my lower lip. "...that was a nice story you told. About how we met."

Lea chuckled, leaving one hand on the wheel while moving the other to lay atop the headrest of my seat. "Liked it, didja?"

"Oh definitely." Now I hid my growing smile behind my hand, trying to keep a straight face. "Though I have to admit, I think I was a bigger fan of the original movie adaptation."

I watched him visibly stiffen. "The…?"

Tapping a curled finger to my chin, I muttered, "What was the title again? Before Sunrise, I believe?"

He snerked, then broke out into a full laugh. "Crap, ya caught me. Yeah, I may have borrowed from the plot there a tad."

"Just a bit," I shook my head at him. "You're lucky Sora and Kairi haven't seen the film."

"Kinda surprised you have," he turned the car down a road that would take us towards the mall. "Pretty sure it's older than you are."

"Nothing wrong with old movies," I shrugged before wrinkling my nose at him slightly with a tiny smile. "Kind of sappy though. Wouldn't have thought that'd be your kind of movie."

Looking my way, he smirked, "What can I say? I'm a sappy guy. And hey, at least I didn't steal everything from that flick."

"True. The stuff before the train was all you."

"You helped," Lea pointed out as he pulled up to a stop sign. He then tapped his index against the steering wheel a couple times. "...outta curiosity, why'd you say Corona? Out of all the other places you must of visited on your trip, what made you pick that city?"

As the car accelerated once more, I tilted my head in thought. "Don't know really… I guess I just felt it would be a nice place to meet someone new in. That'd it make for a good story." I paused, watching some tail lights streak past us. "...the lantern festival really was beautiful. Have you ever seen it?"

Lea shook his head as he glanced up at the rearview before shifting lanes, "Nah. Had plans to on the road trip, but something else came up."

"A shame," I sighed wistfully. "You missed out."

"Wouldn't say that," he murmured, a warm flicker in his eyes. "'Sides, there's always next time."

"Suppose that's true," I nodded. "Nice touch, by the way, describing the dress I was wearing. I think I might even own one that's pretty close to it." Don't think I'd been wearing it in Corona though. But I couldn't really remember. It had been over a year ago after all.

He laughed again, fingers combing his scalp before returning the hand to my seat, now on a spot next to my ear. "Well, I did help you pack your clothes from your old condo just a couple days ago. I probably saw it then."

"Good point." That made sense. It would have been too much of a coincidence if that'd actually been what I'd had on that day. But now… should I be worried that I hadn't really been in that dress? What if someone found out the mismatch in the story? No… no, that was just me overthinking things again. Even if the tale ever reached the ears of the Duke's goon, it's not like they could go back in time to fact check. "Just one more thing now." My eyes narrowed at him, at odds with my grin. "Might want to edit the ending a bit."

"Which part?" he asked a touch too innocently, already turning us into the Dusk Town Center parking lot. "Running away to be with me? Hasn't that been the story all along?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Try a little before that."

Wouldn't have thought it possible to both purse one's lips and smile at the same time, but Lea proved me wrong in that moment. "Hmm… oh! Well, figured wooing you over the course of months sounded more believable, but if you think it works better as weeks or even days, then-"

"No no. Little after that."

"Well then, now you got me stumped cuz I know you just couldn't possibly be talking about the absolute masterpiece that was the slow seducing, helpless bed falling, pleasure hungry part."

A snort. "Why yes, actually, I could be talking about that and in fact am."

"But that's the best part!" he protested, turning to park in a space right next to a familiar Ford Focus. "It's the heart and soul, the very essence of the story! The pièce de résistance, the crowning glory."

With a good natured scoff, I unfastened my seatbelt as the car shuddered into powering down. "Well decrown it because you're dropping that bit."

He lifted his chin slightly and gave a dignified sniff, "I am a storyteller, El. An arteest. You wouldn't ask Leonardo da Vinci to remove the smile from the Mona Lisa."

Well someone had a high opinion of himself. Which honestly came as zero surprise. I fixed him with a dull stare. "Drop it or your jacket gets a giant, sticky stain before the night is out." And with that, I opened my door.

Lea scrambled out of the car and rushed over to join me on my side just as I slammed the door shut behind me. He had the decency to only spend a couple seconds looking mildly miffed at having been denied the opportunity to open and hold the car door for me before his frown melted into a smile once more. "Jeez, blackmail? Never thought you'd stoop so low. But eh," he shrugged, "jacket's black, it'll be fine."

"You're failing to see the big picture here," I crossed my arms as I waited for Rayne and Riku to get out of their own vehicle. My guess was they were probably going for another round of Seven Minutes in Heaven in there. Smirking at Lea, I elaborated, "Because then I'll wash it."

"Egads," he mocked gasp, splaying a hand against his chest, "the horror."

My smirk curled wickedly. "In a washing machine."

As my roomies finally vacated their car (faces flushed, I might add), Lea actually paled. "But it's dry clean only!"

"That's right," I said smugly and turned to walk away. "So nix that line or the jacket gets it."

"You fight dirty," he muttered as he caught up to me, slipping his hand into mine. However, he was grinning.

Huh. That wasn't what I'd been expecting. IE the face of a man who'd just suffered a crippling defeat by my hands.

I narrowed my eyes up at him. "You certainly seem pretty happy about the impending, inevitable demise of your jacket."

Now the grin was joined by a dimple as we walked. "Well, it's just that in order for you to make good on your threat, you have to take my jacket hostage. Meaning you're gonna hafta keep it after all." His head dipped down closer to mine as he swung our hands slightly. "I count that as a win for me."

...well crud.

Score one for Lea there.

Shrieks and giggles suddenly erupted behind us before Sora tore past us towards the mall's entrance with Kairi riding piggyback. Rayne laughed and tugged Riku into a stumble behind her so they could catch up while Lea and I continued to take our time, bringing up the rear.

We made our way through the food court and over to Cinema XIII. The manager with long, silver hair that I'd seen there last time was present again, off to one side where he was setting up a huge cardboard display for the latest Star Wars movie. I watched him scowl and fiddle with the lifesize lightsaber cutouts as our group purchased tickets from a blonde chick with a weird hairdo that kind of resembled antennae. As we'd approached, I could have sworn I'd seen her boredly cleaning her fingernails with a small knife, but there was no sign of the blade by the time we'd reached her register. Perhaps my eyes had just been playing tricks on me.

Tickets for our whodunit comedy flick in hand, we then moved over to concessions which was being worked by that same teen with the emo haircut that I'd also spotted here a couple weeks ago. He hardly glanced up from the book he was reading as Riku and Rayne ordered snacks and drinks from him, Sora waiting in line behind them with Kairi still latched onto his back.

"Alright, whatcha want? My treat," Lea asked as he watched the flat screens hanging behind the counter scroll flashy ads for crisp, buttery popcorn and fizzing, bubbly soda.

I blinked. "What?" Then I frowned at him. "Oh no, not happening. You already paid for dinner despite my multiple protests. I'm not letting you buy me candy too."

We were only fake dating after all, and I wouldn't even want to make a real boyfriend pay for everything!

"But it's my right as-"

I put my finger to his lips, silencing him as my eyelids drooped. "Enough with playing the boyfriend card already. You're having too much fun with that."

He puckered up and planted a tiny peck on my fingertip, sending a small jolt straight to my heart as I quickly jerked my hand back. He chuckled, "Just tell me what your fave candy is."

"Shouldn't you be able to guess?" I arched an eyebrow, stubbornly ignoring the way the tip of my finger still had a slight tingle. "Isn't that like your special gift or whatever?"

"Only with ice cream," he lightly corrected.

"Right," I crinkled my eyes at him. "How's that coming along again?"

His shoulders bobbed up and down. "It's a process."

"My turn!" Sora suddenly proclaimed loudly in front of us, dropping Kairi off his back and spinning around to get behind her.

His girlfriend gasped, "Sora no!"

"Sora yes!" he cackled, jumping onto her back, arms hugging her shoulders tight and legs wrapping around her waist as her hands automatically shifted to grasp beneath his knees. To her credit, she managed to stand for three whole shaky seconds before collapsing beneath her boyfriend's weight into a tangled heap on the floor with him.

Ah, to be young.

Never mind the fact that I was pretty sure I was only like a year older than them.

With a soft snort through my nose, I glanced back at Lea. "Well, while you keep processing, I'm going to go find our seats."

I turned to go, but he pulled me back with the hold he still had on my hand. "C'mon, just lemme buy ya something small," he insisted as he hopped over the Sora/Kairi knot that was still trying to disentangle itself, forcing me to gingerly step over the two of them as well.

Shaking my head with a sigh, I said, "Why won't you just let it go?"

He beamed. "Cuz what schmoopsie-poo wants, schmoopsie-poo gets."

Oh no he didn't.

"Uh-uh, no. Veto. You are not calling me that," I jabbed a finger into his chest.

There was a sly gleam to his eye. "Tell me what candy you want or I won't stop."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wanna bet?" he flashed a toothy grin as we stepped up to the counter now that my roommates had stepped off to one side, already munching away at their newly purchased sweets. "You'll think you died and went to schmoopsie-poo heaven."

I gave a small huff and looked away. "Small price to pay. Not budging on this."

"Fine. You've forced my hand." He turned his head to the concession worker, slapping his palm down on the countertop and proudly declaring, "I'll have one of everything, my good man!"

"What?! No, no, stop, he's joking," I hastily told the cashier, who froze mid-ringing the order up as he gave us a flat look with the one blue eye not hidden behind bangs. To Lea, I whispered, "What do you think you're doing?"

He shrugged, grin not faltering. "Figure ya gotta like at least one of 'em."

I stared at him. Then my shoulders slumped and I hung my head, grumbling, "...Junior Mints."

"You heard the lady," he chirped to the theatre employee. "And throw in a small popcorn and large Kupo-Kola too please!"

Once the junk food was acquired and paid for, we moved out of the way to join Riku and Rayne as Sora and Kairi bought their own goodies. While we were waiting, I opened up my candy and reached inside, retrieving a minty, chocolate-coated treat and popping it into my mouth.

"Can I have one?" Lea asked beside me.

I gave him a blank look. Then I glanced down at his hands, otherwise occupied with a full soda cup and a bag practically bursting with popcorn. Digging another Junior Mint out and holding it up between us, my gaze met his once more. "Say ahh."

Face brightening, his lips parted wide.

I inserted it into his nostril.

He blinked a couple times, then snorted which had the byproduct of dislodging the Junior Mint. "Okay, guess maybe I deserved that for being a lil pushy about getting you the candy."

"You most certainly did," I said matter-of-factly, eating another one. A pause while I slowly chewed before swallowing and mumbling, "...but thanks for doing it anyway."

"Heh. Don't mention it."

Kairi and Sora rejoined us then, arms piled high with sugary delights. Jeez, all that on top of the gigantic Mexican dinners they'd both devoured less than an hour ago? One had to wonder how the two of them managed to stay so skinny.

It didn't take long for us to locate our theater and when we entered, all the lights were dimmed for the trailers that had already started to play. We quietly found our seats close to the middle of the auditorium and we settled into them, Lea to the right of me and making up one end of our group while Rayne took up my other side, the rest of the gang to her right. It seemed the cinema had recently renovated with new, barely-used cushiony sofa seating, the kind that reclined.

As I pushed the button that popped out the chair's footrest and made myself more comfortable, I caught a glimpse of the others. Half way through a strand of red licorice, Rayne flinched when Riku was suddenly in her face and chomping down on the other end of the candy. Grinning, he took a few more bites, bringing their lips closer together until he could give her a smooch before pulling away, looking quite pleased with himself as she blushed and snerked, giving his shoulder a light shove. Kairi was tossing Milk Duds towards Sora's open, awaiting mouth and rewarding him with little kisses every time he successfully caught one.

Worrying my lower lip between my teeth, I glanced towards Lea out of the corner of my eye as he crunched away on some popcorn. Should we be acting all… couply right now? Like the others were? I mean, it was a dark theater… did we really need to keep the act up in here too? Would anyone really notice? Then again, I'd noticed our friends being all sickeningly cute and I hadn't even been trying to, my eyes had just wandered. So maybe it wasn't such a stretch to consider the two of us were also possibly being observed, even in here.

My gaze flicked down to the armrest I shared with Lea. It was wide enough for both our arms to lay on it side by side, elbows touching. He wasn't holding my hand at the moment, instead just resting his about an inch away from mine. Which, now that I noticed, actually felt a bit weird, oddly enough. I guess I was starting to get used to it. But perhaps I should look at this as an opportunity for some more practice. An exercise in me being the one for once to initiate a display of affection. I seriously couldn't get away with him being the one to start it all the time, right? Surely, I had to act like I liked him too.

Which, to be fair, I kind of did.

Even if it was a secret.

But now I had to wonder how does one go about, ah… what was the term? ...making a move? I'd never had to do it with my ex. I'd never particularly felt the urge, nor had he ever really encouraged me to have more initiative in that area. He'd always been the one to take charge and that seemed to be the way he'd liked it. It seemed to be what was expected of our relationship, by him, by my family, by the world of upper society that I had lived in for so long. But I was no longer in that world. Things were different here. I was different. And I needed to show that to my parents. And one way I could show that was by doing this.

So then… exactly how do I do this?

...well I suppose I could start by moving my hand in the general direction of his. Seemed simple enough… right?

Gulping and holding my breath, I slowly, oh so very slowly started reaching for his hand. As my fingers crept closer, the pounding in my ribcage grew louder and louder. A hairbreadth away from skin contact, I hesitated, what little courage I'd mustered already dwindling. But after a second, my face hardened. I needed to do this. For the sake of Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really. For the sake of a continued future free from my parents' control. With a newfound resolve burning in my chest, I pushed on.

My pinky barely brushed against his knuckle.

Nope! No way. Mm-mm, not happening!

I snatched my hand back, blushing furiously.

The blush of a failure. Pathetic.

However the touch, no matter how light and brief, hadn't gone unnoticed. Lea glanced my way, his head tipping slightly. Then he smiled, shifting his popcorn out of his lap over to his right while moving the soda from the cupholder between us to the one on his other side. Then he lifted the armrest separating us, folding it back between our chairs before slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close so my head was pillowed by his chest.

I tensed for several seconds before relaxing against him, clearing my throat and, if possible, blushing even harder.

Well then.

Guess I no longer needed to worry about us not looking couply.

Even if I hadn't been the one to initiate.

...tomorrow. I would do a better job tomorrow.

As the last of the trailers ended and opening credits for the movie began filling the big screen, Lea ducked his head down next to mine. I could feel him grinning against my ear as he whispered, "This boyfriend model comes equipped with all the latest technology, including hilarious movie commentary. Would you like that feature enabled now?"

I leaned my head back a bit as I turned to look him in the eye. He cocked a playful eyebrow at me. Feeling one corner of my lips tug up, I whispered back, "Commentary on."

"You got it."

I was not disappointed.

"Is this really totally necessary?"

"Oh absolutely. Your uncle's spies could be anywhere, ever vigilant and watching at all times."

"Even here? In the parking lot for my own apartment?" I frowned dubiously.

I could feel him nodding against my hair. "Especially here. I'll have you know I've seen at least three cars pass us already, each one more suspicious and shady than the last."

Date night had been a rousing success, if I did say so myself. We'd had a good time with friends, dinner was amazing and delicious, and the movie had been excellent. But as everyone knows, all good dates (even the fake ones) must come to an end. And at the end of every date, some sort of goodnight ritual is often at the very least customary, if not absolutely essential. Traditionally, this usually takes the form of the infamous goodnight kiss. However, since I'd already taken any sort of liplock completely and one hundred percent off the table, Lea had instead opted for a hug.

One… extremely and uncomfortably long hug.

...okay, that was a lie. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. In fact, was actually quite nice. Pleasant, even. Ten out of ten, would recommend.

We stood next to his car at the moment, my apartment building just a few yards away. After he'd parked and we'd both climbed out, he'd pulled my arms up to wrap around his neck, his hands once again finding their way under the leather jacket to encircle my waist, hugging me close as he'd rested his cheek atop my head. And so we had remained for quite some time now.

Kairi and Sora were no longer with us, having parted ways back at the mall, but I could see Rayne and Riku off to one side near their own vehicle, enthusiastically taking part in some cuddle time themselves while they waited for me. Which actually I really appreciated. Without their added presence here, I'd probably be getting a lot more awkward a lot more quickly about The Hug That Would Not End.

That said…

"We've been at this for at least five minutes now. Wouldn't you call that a bit, er.." I shifted my feet, resisting the urge to squirm, "...excessive?"

His hold on me didn't budge. "Gotta be convincing. 'Sides, we're obviously still in the honeymoon period of our relationship. You know, when the couple takes forever and a day telling each other goodbye a thousand times before actually leaving. Otherwise known as the No-You-Hang-Up-First phase."

My brow furrowed. "I thought that was only made-up for TV. Real people don't actually do that, do they?"

"Yup," I felt another nod. "Trust me, I'm an expert. I know these things."

I squinted off into space. "...haven't you only ever done one night stands?"

"Shush, I said trust me on this," he murmured.

And shush I did. I suppose I could look at this as a sort of… endurance training? Get me more used to his hugs so I'd be less awkward about them in public? Make them seem more natural? Yeah, okay. This might be good for me. Let's see how long I could keep this up.

...answer? Not long.

Tentatively trying to pull away, I began, "Alright, maybe we should-"

"One more minute," he insisted, squeezing me tighter and shifting his head down now to instead nuzzle against my neck. His nose was cold and his breath tickled against my skin, making my cheeks warm. Welp, so much for not squirming.

Huh. He really seemed to be taking this whole pretend boyfriend thing very seriously. This was some extreme dedication to the role.

And there my insides went all over again, doing the whole warm, fuzzy, squishy thing. Alright, just breathe. Deep, calming breaths. Remember: Conceal, don't feel.

...maybe just focus on the concealing part. The not feeling part was already a lost cause.

"Ya know," Rayne's voice suddenly piped up nearby, causing me to jump, "maybe you two don't have to say goodnight just yet." Lea straightened up, loosening his grip on me just enough for us both to turn our heads to see she'd joined us. Gracing us with a sly smirk, she said, "I mean, if you want to really drive this date home for any eyes that might be prying, Lea could always, ya know..." her eyebrows bounced as she leaned in closer to whisper conspiratorially, "stay the night."

"What?!" My face erupted into blistering heat, the likes of which would've put the Sahara Desert to utter shame. "N...No! Absolutely not! How could you possibly even-"

She laughed, her finger booping my nose. "Relax, you silly goose. Of course he'd only sleep on the living room sofa! S'not like your grunkle's minion would have x-ray vision into our home."

Oh.

That's what she'd meant.

Well of course that's what she'd meant. It's not like she'd ever really suggest…

Actually, no, this was Rayne we were talking about here. I honestly wouldn't have put it past her.

She elbowed Lea in the arm, "So whaddya say, stud?"

He smiled, removing one hand from my waist to rub at the nape of his neck. "Well, I'd planned on getting some reading done for my classes tonight. But I do have my book bag in the backseat, so I suppose I could just as easily read here on your couch." His gaze shifted back down to mine, "That is of course, as long as you're okay with it!"

My face still recovering from its abrupt and devastating heatwave, I looked down and muttered, "Well, I… I suppose, ah… sure. Okay. I mean, just to keep up appearances… " My eyes flicked back up towards Rayne, "Thanks. I guess that's… actually a pretty good idea."

"Of course it is! I came up with it!" she beamed, planting her fists on her hips and puffing up her chest. Then she turned back to her husband, pressing her lips to his cheek as she linked her arm in his and led him over to the building entrance. Lea at last fully released me, but only long enough to unlock his car and pull out a messenger bag that looked heavy with textbooks. Kicking the door shut, he slung the strap of the bag over his head to hang across his chest before slipping an arm around my shoulders, grinning down at me as we followed the other two inside.

Once in our apartment, he removed the arm while Rayne pulled some spare pillows and bed sheets from the closet, tossing them onto the longest couch for Lea. Then grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, she unscrewed the cap and held her drink up high. "A toast! To Lea's sleepover! May it be the first of many!" she declared before tossing her head back to chug half the bottle.

Riku just snerked, shaking his head while Lea scratched his cheek with a weak chuckle and walked over to drop his bag on the sofa next to the blankets. I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my fingers between my eyebrows with a soft sigh. Still, she had a point. I suppose it was only natural for my "boyfriend" to stay the night with some amount of frequency. Oh gosh, I hope this wouldn't be too much of an imposition on Lea.

As Rayne recapped the water bottle and put it down on the kitchen table, Riku stepped up to her, taking both her hands in his and pressing their foreheads together. "Hon, why don't we head to bed early tonight?" he asked, tone low and eyes hooded.

"Mmm," she breathed him in, smiling up at him through lowered lashes and nodding, "sounds good." As he pulled her towards their bedroom, Rayne glanced back at us. "Good night, you two! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she winked and waved before disappearing through the door, closing it behind her.

Silence followed. It felt strangely sudden and almost deafening.

I slowly turned to look at Lea.

He looked back, giving me a tiny smile.

That's when it struck me.

This was the first time in two full days I'd been alone with Lea. Like, really alone. Not in public, not where we had to put on the boyfriend-girlfriend act. Even when it'd just been the two of us in his car earlier tonight, even then we'd still had kind of been in the relative safety of pretend date mode. Besides, driving around in a car was completely different from being alone with him here, now, in my apartment late at night. Now that there was no more reason for all the hand holding, forehead kisses, and other little touches, things felt… well I wouldn't exactly say wrong per se, but more felt just kind of… off?

Panic was beginning to set in.

My mind was drawing a total blank.

I… didn't know how to be around him now. Not when we didn't have to fake a relationship anymore.

I'd forgotten how to act normal.

I think he could sense it too. The weirdness that had suddenly popped up out of nowhere. His eyebrows knit together, his gaze shifting about for a couple seconds. Then he opened his mouth to say something.

"Good night!" I loudly blurted out first.

Then I was in my bedroom so fast, you would have thought I'd spontaneously developed the power to teleport.

I slammed the door shut behind me, pressing my spine flat to it, eyes wide and taking shallow breaths through my nose. A few seconds passed where I just forced myself to inhale and exhale slowly a few times, trying to calm down. Then I winced, lightly banging the back of my head against the door.

Good job, Elsa. Way to make things mildly awkward. And for no real reason at all, you useless, hermitic dope!

With a small scowl, I shrugged out of the leather jacket and tossed it onto my bed. Then I unzipped my ankle boots, kicking them off and started pacing the length of my room back and forth, my hands twisting at my braid.

I couldn't just leave things like that. I had to talk to him. I had to toughen up and find an excuse to march my butt back out there. But what excuse?

My feet paused mid step as I glanced around my room for a minute before landing on one of my walls. Not just any wall. The one I shared with Riku's and Rayne's bedroom. Then I lightly tapped one fist into my palm. That's it! I quickly moved to my nightstand, opening the top drawer. Amongst its contents was a plastic baggie of earplugs. Digging out a pair and dropping the bag back into the drawer before closing it again, I then stepped over to my door. I took a second to take a deep breath and gather myself, standing up straighter and flicking my braid back behind me. Then with a firm, determined nod, I turned the knob and pulled, walking back out into the living room.

Lea was sitting on the couch that would be doubling for his bed tonight, arms splayed out wide to either side atop its backrest while he read the textbook that laid open in his lap. He'd pulled his hair out of its ponytail so his crimson locks were once again wild and free and he'd taken off his long-sleeved undershirt, now just wearing the tee.

Looking up at me, he all but leapt up to his feet. "El! Hi! I-" he grunted as the book he'd apparently forgotten was in his lap crashed down hard onto his foot.

I sucked in a tiny breath through my teeth with a frown, taking a step forward and reaching a hand out, "You okay?"

"Fine," he groaned. "I didn't need that toe anyway. It was only holding me back. Just dead weight." He laughed it off as he picked the textbook up off the floor, tossing it behind him onto the cushions before crossing his arms, "So, was there, ah… did you forget something?"

"Yes," I took a little step towards him, then frowned, glancing away. "Well, no…" I started to take a step back before catching myself. Wrong way, dork. "That is to say, sort of… er, I just...hm…" I thrust one fist forward, opening it palm facing up to reveal the earplugs, "Here!"

He stared down at them blankly. Then at me.

"Oh!" I gasped. "Right! Some sort of explanation would probably help." I gave a nervous heh. "So… uh… you know, those two," I gestured with my chin towards my roommates' bedroom door, "well, they just… the look they were giving each other before they went to bed, it's… well, it's a look I'm very familiar with from them. You know the look, the kind that should come with its own Marvin Gaye soundtrack. And those two… when they get going, they can really rattle the old headboard, if you know what I mean." A beat. Then I blanched. "Of course you know what I mean! Right, moving on. So uh… they are not quiet about it and they're definitely not quick. And these walls? They're thin. I'm talking like tissue paper thin. And not even the good Kleenex Deluxe kind of tissue, more like the cruddy, two-bit kind you'd get at the dollar store that just disintegrates if you even so much as breathe on it." Great, now I was just plain babbling. "These walls may as well not even be there for all the sound they block. Or rather, don't block. Then again, if they weren't there, then we'd not only hear but also see-" Wrap it up, girl, wrap it up. "A-Anyway! So just… just take these. You'll thank me later, believe me."

His eyes crinkled and he nodded, plucking them from my hand. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. Thanks."

Good. Okay. Yes, this was going well.

...huh. Though… slight hitch in the plan…

What now? I hadn't exactly thought this far ahead.

Maybe this was enough. I could now just make a graceful exit, leaving things in a better place than where I had previously. Yeah, that sounded good.

I gave him a tight-lipped grin, inching backwards as I pointed towards my room. "Okay then, I think I'll just…" But as I turned, my eyes landed on Rayne's and Riku's door again and I froze and grimaced. "Ah, shoot," I hissed under my breath.

"Problem?" I heard Lea ask behind me.

I shook my head, "I meant to ask Rayne to unzip my dress before she went to bed since the zipper is just where I can't reach and-" I blinked, then glanced over my shoulder at him sheepishly before fully turning to face him. "And why am I even telling you this? Forget I said anything. It's nothing, I'll figure it out."

"I can do it," he tossed the ear plugs onto the coffee table between us before stepping around it.

Waving my hands rapidly back and forth in front of me, I said, "No, it's fine. Really, you don't have to-"

"Don't be silly, just let me help you," he came to stop in front of me.

I tucked in my lower lip. Maybe I was just being silly about this. I mean, what was the big deal? Really? "...o-okay," I sighed, turning my back to him once more and sweeping my braid forward over one shoulder, running my hands down its length a few times. At least my old nemesis, The Blush, had the common courtesy to wait until I was no longer looking at Lea before creeping its way up into my cheeks.

I could sense him taking another step closer to me, could hear his gentle breathing as I felt his fingers undo the clasp at the top of the zipper. One of his fingertips incidentally grazed my skin and I couldn't stop a tiny shiver. Then there was a pause. Like… a long pause. I frowned straight ahead, uncertain. Nothing seemed to be happening. I turned my head slightly, stopping just short of actually being able to look back at him. "...everything okay?"

"Uh… yeah, the uh…" he cleared his throat, "...the stupid thing just got stuck for a sec there, but it's all good now." At last, the sound of the dress unzipping reached my ears. "There ya go, you're all set!"

My hand darted to clutch at the back of my dress, holding it together as I whipped around to face him. My blush? Only seemed to be growing in strength. I started backing away, "Th-thanks… for that. That was really… something. Nice! That was nice. Of you. To do that… for me. I-" I crashed into my door frame and stumbled. "Oops. Heh. Who put that there? Um… anyway…"

And on that eloquent and fully formed note, I dashed into my room, banging the door closed. Then I puffed out a breath, slumping down to sit on the floor as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Great. Just dandy. I hadn't left things mildly awkward this time. Oh no, I'd only left them mega, ultra, super awkward now. Progress! Superb. Just perfect.

That's it. It's decided. I'm not fit for human contact. I was just going to barricade myself in this room and never come out ever again. Ever. Period. The outside world would be better off without me anyhow. Good bye, people. Hello, sweet sweet solitude. I-

I heard a muffled buzz and my head snapped up. It'd come from Lea's jacket on my bed. I squinted at it for a second. Then it clicked. My phone! I half crawled, half scrabbled over to it, digging into the pocket and pulling it out, swiping the screen.

There was a new text from Lea.

2nite was fun

I blinked, looking over at my door. Then back down at my phone, pursing my lips to one side. My thumbs hovered over the keyboard for a second. Then slowly I began to type.

I thought so too.

I waited as those three little dots hopped in a row.

We shud totes do it again sometime

A huff of amusement escaped through my nose, the tension starting to leave my body.

I'd really like that.

Then I tipped my head to one side, grinning slightly as I tapped away further.

I'm paying next time though.

The dots were dancing on my screen again.

Aight, if u insist. But b warned, Im not a cheap date

Now I actually laughed.

I can live with that.

Perhaps I'd been a bit too hasty. Maybe there was no need to barricade myself in here. Not just yet anyway. I'd hold off for a bit.

At least long enough to see what tomorrow would bring.

Author's Note: Anyone else notice Lea's shirts seem to be getting tighter and tighter every new excuse he has to see Elsa out of his work clothes? I think he's subconsciously putting on a courtship display to present himself as a sexually viable mate xD Ahem, moving on… Fun Fact 1: Fuente Del Oro is a real, Coco-themed restaurant over in Disneyland Park in Paris! Google translate says the name means "Gold Fountain", oooOOooo pretty! I really hope Coco makes it into one of the future KH games eventually! Fun Fact 2: Elsa's dress this chapter is inspired by her purple dress from when she sings Into The Unknown in Frozen 2! Just picture it shorter and more cocktail-dressy. And I know in the movie, that purple dress is a nightgown, but shhh, we'll just forget that part. And the dress Lea described in his "how we met" story? Loosely based on Elsa's Show Yourself dress - again just picture it shorter, more practical and more sundressy xD Also if you haven't heard of it, Before Sunrise is a real movie, not to mention a real SAPPY movie. Kind of slow, but cute. I'd actually never heard of it until I started writing this chapter - saw a gif go by on tumblr of the lead couple from the movie doing something adorable that made me go "oh gosh, that's SO Lea and Elsa!" and had to watch it xD I'm kind of happy it came along when it did though, cuz it gave me inspiration for Lea's "how we met" story :)

Next chapter, what new challenges will Elsa face in her adventures in fake dating? Will she ever be able to work up the courage to initiate a display of affection herself? Just how much of a "not a cheap date" is Lea really? What about his shirts? CAN they get any tighter? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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