#anything i make has to be neatly wrapped up and packaged before i show it to anyone. idk

[astranauticus]

yknow sometimes i feel like. if fandom was a kindergarten playground i've been spending the past several years just sitting in a corner of the sandbox by myself making my little sand sculptures just for myself to look at and maybe there are other kids who come by to take a peek every once in a while but mostly its just me and my shitty little sand sculptures

and now suddenly i've gotten a lot better at my sand sculptures and the playground is a lot smaller and so there are people who know that im good at making sand sculptures and specifically come by to my corner of the sandbox because they like my sand sculptures and sometimes those people are teachers who walk past and give a thumbs up and tell the other kids to come look and its so. new and cool and exciting but also its so different from anything i've experienced before and im not saying thats bad its just. a lot to get used to. im still not that good at playing with the other kids and i still hate having others be around to watch me make stuff because i've never had that before and i have no idea how to.. do.. a lot of this. but it's okay. i'll learn.

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Can I have wednesday x reader when it's wednesday's birthday?

—

Figuring out what Wednesday wouldn’t hate for her birthday required a lot of thinking. Anything involving technology was an absolute no and all the books you had thought of, she either already had or were impossible to find copies of.

You almost got her a necklace with a black dahlia pendant in a small shop in Jericho, but Bianca mentioned the unspoken best friend vs girlfriend birthday present competition. Unfortunately for you, Enid was a fantastic gift-giver, which added some pressure on your shoulders. Although Wednesday would’ve liked the necklace, you put it back. You could do better, you needed to do better.

Three days before the birthday surprise, you woke up in the middle of the night with a flash idea. You got your laptop and found exactly what you wanted. You had to order it with express shipping, but the extra dollars would be worth the look on Wednesday’s face when she’ll open it.

There was no way Enid could do better than you. Nothing would rival your gift.

On October 12th, everybody gathered at Crackstone’s crypt for midnight. Tyler had been in charge of the cake — 98% dark chocolate ganache with a grim reaper on top —, Thing the making the magazine cut-out message to slide under Wednesday’s door, and Enid the guests.

You and Enid had difficulty containing your excitement as you waited for the birthday girl to arrive. Wednesday had no idea this surprise was happening. She didn’t even know you knew her birthday date. If it hadn’t been from Thing, her birthday would’ve been skipped over.

When you heard footsteps crunching leaves outside of the crypt, you all hid and waited for Wednesday’s grand entrance to scream ‘surprise!’. You all came out from being the statue of Joseph Crackstone, singing ‘happy birthday’ while Enid held the cake. Everyone was off-key and sounded terrible, but it’s the thought that counts.

Wednesday stood there, visibly uncomfortable. Her eyes shifted in the small room, looking for the culprit who slipped her birthday date to everyone. ‘’I should have known you were behind this,’’ she said to Thing, who was sitting on a column. ‘’What part of no party under the penalty of death do you not understand?’’

‘’Don’t be hard on him. Thing only told us your birthday date, the rest is all me and Enid...and Tyler.’’

‘’I made and delivered the cake,’’ he explained, nodding at it.

‘’Make a wish, Wednesday,’’ Enid urged, grinning behind the cake.

She didn’t make a wish, but she did blow her sparklers. She likely did just so the party would be over with, but unfortunately for Wednesday there was more than cake and a bad song.

Enid pushed the cake to Tyler and grabbed a neatly wrapped package from the side of the crypt. ‘’It's presents time! I’ll go first.’’ She handed it to her roommate and watched excitedly as Wednesday unwrapped it. ‘’Do you like it?’’

Wednesday held the black whooled object and examined it with the most confusion. ‘’What is is exactly?’’

‘’It’s a snood, silly,’’ Enid explained as Wednesday unfolded the snood with a new perspective. ’’I made it in your signature colors. And you want to know what the best part is…’’ She reached into a brown paper bag and pulled out a pink blob. ‘’I have one too!’’ Enid wrapped the pink snood around her neck, showing Wednesday how it’s worn. ‘’We can wear them together to class tomorrow.’’

Enid’s snood was thoughtful and sweet — even more so with Enid’s matching one —, but you knew the look on your girlfriend’s face. She hated it.

‘’Oh, Enid. This is far too unique to wear to something like class. I suggest we wait for a more special occasion,’’ Wednesday said, holding back from telling her true thoughts to not hurt Enid’s feelings. ‘’Like a funeral.’’

Enid scrunched her nose, funerals having a totally different meaning to her. ‘’Oh.’’

A few snickers were heard from behind you, so you stepped in and covered them by giving Wednesday your present. ‘’While we’re still accepting presents.’’ You handed her the wrapped box with a large black bow on top, making everyone wonder what was inside. ‘’You’re very difficult to shop for, my little viper,’’ you said to her.

Wednesday ignored the comment and unwrapped the box under everyone’s curious eye. The others wouldn't get it, but you knew Wednesday would understand the emotional meaning the second she would see the box's content.

She unfolded the black tissue paper and an unusual plush animal was revealed to her eyes. Wednesday took it out of the box and confusion spread on all of your friends’ faces.

‘’A scorpion?’’ Bianca said questioningly, her tone full of judgment. She knew Wednesday liked strange things, but a scorpion plushie was a weird ass present.

To Wendesday’s eyes, the plushie was so much more than a medium-sized scorpion. It represented a part of her past. She never got emotional, but the scorpion in her hands filled her little black heart with emotions she was not used to feeling.

‘’Nero,’’ Wednesday mumbled, her deep brown eyes fixated on the plushie. She was baffled, absolutely speechless.

‘’I know he can’t be replaced, but it can be a physical reminder of him.’’

Her eyes filled with water and Wednesday had to fight her strange desire to hug you, not comfortable doing so in front of so many people watching her like a caged animal in a zoo.

She cleared her throat and told Tyler to cut the cake.

After the whole cake was gone and the clock ticked 1am, you decided to call it a night. Principal Weems liked to take a stroll during the night and you doubted Wednesday's birthday would be a valid excuse in her eyes to be out past bedtimes.

The sky was starry above your heads as you walked back to the academy. It was pretty through the tall trees.

Beside you, Wednesday was holding a bag with Enid's gift in one hand and her other hand was holding the scorpion against her chest. ‘’This is the best present I’ve ever gotten. Thank you.’’ She smiled ever so softly.

‘’Oh? I got the impression you had a preference for Enid’s.’’

Horror formed on your girlfriend's face, getting horrible flashes of the content of her bag. ‘’That thing is horrendous. Never mention it again. If you see it on a bench somewhere, never bring it back to me.’’

You held a giggle and nodded. Noted.

‘’Where did you find it?’’ Her finger gently caressed the top of the scorpion’s head.

‘’This terrifying place you call the internet,’’ you said, mocking her refusal to use any form of technology. ‘’I thought of you the second I saw it. I know you don’t want to talk about Nero and I respect that, but he is worth being remembered.’’

Wednesday didn’t know how to respond, so she did what she didn’t allow herself to earlier and pulled you in a tight hug. It was a form of physical contact she used on rare occasions and with very few people.

Her arm that wasn't holding the plushie wrapped around you, pulling you closer. You responded to her gesture, not letting go until she did. 

—

Wednesday taglist: @sofiaadler @partyfly @hoodforcalum @thelilacmourning @ellessecretobsession @su-alteza-emia @achoo---uu @not-leaprvt @xaviersgf @peterparkerdilf @roadworkaheadisurehopeitdoes @dragon-chica @coldtacozinepanda @wrldofsage @eddiemunsonsluvrrr @capriaura @officialsaturn @babyfiva @maevaomizzolo @kelloggs-world @whosljt @ajpanda181 @belovedrey @emerycrt @elizabitchsshit @heaven-hiding @lilithlikestoread @est-liber @moonisu @dessxoxsworld @parker-nite @bellblake121890 @vesperazhier @kaldurahms-lover @beeebo234 @nephilimsss @mayuphoenix @sweetheartlizzie07 @watermelon-18 @snixx2088 @555stargirl555 @robinscardigan @chumchum19 @lilttblog @aphex2winn @heizenka @mystargirl-interlude @hwrtsiren @babygirljay20 @wildflowerlyss @strangersomeone @openfandoms @charlottelaffin @iheartmaddyperez @starless-starkov @ali-r3n  @poppet05  @ell0ra-br3kk3r  @rhaenyraswife  @teaganthemorningstar   @aphex2winn @moompie   @ifevilwhyhot @oliviah-25 @spenglerslime @wetwilliam02 @yellowcupcakes @haileyismoo @theyslayallday @wrldofsage @manofworm @rhydianissuperior @supersanelyromantic @nicangel13 @toylewestinnyc @meme-queen-1999 @rottenstyx @mxxny-lupin @idli-dosa @silenzju @ar40s @sweeterheartxamerica @renaissancewhxre @jordierama @lilppsblog @harrystylesfp  @katsuki420 @ravenssh1t @izzy-laufeyson @iluvwomenblog @kenzi-woycehoski @arunaposeidondottie @liidiaaag   @lilaconner @katsukis1wife @momoewn   @amithesimpoffandoms @chaotic-fangirl-blog @hawkegfs   @lyxrix @mommyruuetrue   @acornacreacure @lucassinclairsgf @youdontneedtoknowthisinformation

[sangoqueenkoko]

TIGHNARI

my favourite art subject

Fluff

MAIN MASTERLIST | DENDRO MASTERLIST

.

Summary: you have been working on something while away from home. And you can’t wait to show Tighnari!

Warnings? Nope!

Includes Collei and of course Tighnari!

I’ve been studying art for nearly 8 years so how could I not?

They call you the Leonardo Da Vinci of Teyvat. Someone who can create literal masterpieces. Be it of people, buildings or landscapes, you can do it in your own unique style. Your pieces of work are in all corners of Teyvat, from the deserts of Sumeru to as far as the Kamisato Estate in Inazuma, owned by the Kamisato siblings. All so valuable.

One of, if not thee, favourite subject of yours was your lover, one of the leading Forest Rangers. Or better known as Tighnari.

He LOVED your work with how you process your different methods and techniques. One of his favourites is still an ongoing project, it was a very detailed painting of Gandharva Ville. But for now, it stood on the easel in your shared living room as you were away on a commission in Inazuma. But seeing as you went after the Vision Hunt Decree was over, he had no worries about you being able to come home. But he was for some reason. Maybe because it was the first time you had been over seas in a while without him or his protection, as he has always been protective over you.

At the start and end of every day of your absence, he would see the painting, catch himself stare at it for a while, making him late for whatever he had to do, longing for it’s completion. Whilst on patrol, he can only think about what you’re doing and if you’re Okay.

Which you are.

You both sent letters to each other a lot when you’re in your travels, sometimes Tighnari would ‘accidentally’ write so much the letter would be at least a few pages thick, which you happily read it all and replied to every single question he asked, making your letter in response quite thick too.

“Master?” He heard a familiar muffled voice as he looked far into the distance beyond East of The Chasm, but payed no attention, “Master Tighnari!” He shook his head at the voice and a hand waving in front of his face.

“Oh. Collei” he cleared his throat as he stood up with a light sigh, making sure to dust off his tail, “ready to go?”

“Yep! I have my med pack, some extra supplies, my floral ring and my trusty Cuilein-Anbar!” She smiled as she quickly rummaged around her pack to quickly see if she’s forgotten anything.

“But we’re only going on patrol, we don’t need so much stuff” he put a hand on his hip.

“But as you say when someone’s hurt in battle, ‘safety first!’” He said in her best Tighnari impression that he could only chuckle over.

“Yeah… that’s true.” His ear twitched.

One or two more weeks later, you eventually walked through the Chasm and through the main cave to Sumeru and then to Gandharva Ville. One of the people you traveled with offered to help you carry something back home that you had been working on in your spare time and on calm parts at sea.

Tighnari wasn’t around when you arrived home, so it was just you and the thing you’ve been working on for a little while.

Later he walked through the door. Jumping slightly as he wasn’t expecting you until the next morning.

“(Y/N)!” He said with surprise before he smiled, “I thought I wouldn’t be expecting you until tomorrow?” His tail swaying back and forth a little quicker than usual, clearly showing that he’s happy.

“Yeah” you nodded, “but I finished a day early, and so we set off some time earlier. One, because I missed you, and two, I made something for you and wanted to see your reaction.”

Now his curiosity was peaked.

“You did?” He walked over to you, tilting his head to the side a little with his ears facing outwards.

You gestured to the neatly wrapped, thin package in brown paper. He walked over to it and crouched down to open it, his ears tilting and twitching as he thought.

He opened it to come face to face with a portrait of himself with every little detail captured, “oh!” he gasped, “this… this is amazing!”

“Because you’re my favourite art subject” you smiled as you hugged him from behind, arms around his shoulders, putting your chin between his ears.

——

i like referencing the titles

also, the painting of Tighnari I had in mind was his version of this, I originally tried to describe it so you can imagine, but I then left it up to the imagination.

[absolutebl]

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience 

Note that I said ”a queer experience” not “the queer experience”? Everyone experiences coming out, coming of age, and self discovery differently. 

(Presented in no particular order.) 

1. Color Rush (Korea) 

The mono/probe color rush fantasy element that drives this narrative is a direct allegory for coming to terms with homosexuality in a hostile society. The fact that is it simplified and allegorical actually makes it more impactful and clever instead of less. It’s amplified, not watered down. This is the kind of movie you could show a non-queer and then after they go through what Yeon Woo goes through, you can explain “that’s a lot like meeting your first crush when you’re gay.” Fear and grief wrapped up in realization of a queer identity is really common to the queer experience and rarely depicted so stylishly on screen. That Color Rush managed to do this through allegory is a remarkable piece of cinema. 

Color Rush is on Viki. 

2. I Told Sunset About You (Thailand) 

I don’t have a ton to say about ITSAY because I haven’t managed to finished it. But in this instance, that’s the point. This one was too close to my own queer journey and it seriously messed with my head about 2/3 of the way through. So I’ve never managed to complete it. Which means that, for me, this one is absolutely and completely honest to the queer experience. Too honest. So It has to make this list. 

I Told Sunset About You is hard to find, sadly. 

3. Gameboys (the Philippines) 

Gameboys tackles lots of things, including online dating and the ramifications of coming out for family, self worth, and self perception, all neatly packaged in the lockdown C19 experience. It also features two out bisexuals and a gay character, and one of those is a supportive queer bestie ex-girlfriend. If that isn’t germane to the bog standard incestuous codependent queer found family many of us enjoy, I don’t know what is. 

Gameboys is on Netflix. 

4. His the Movie (Japan) 

His is about being a grown adult and still struggling with coming out as gay. It addresses the consequences of life choices disingenuous to identity. Nagisa turns up on Shun’s doorstep with his precocious daughter in tow. This is a touch confusing to Shun since they were each others first love. Shun, an introvert, has retreated from society, rejecting the world before it can reject him, already brokenhearted because without Nagisa he never had a reason to fight. Nagisa went the opposite way, tried to pretend to be something he was not and ended up with a daughter he adores and a wife who hates him. If they want to be together again, they each have to figure out how to cope with the consequences of choosing not to be out for most of their lives. 

His is on Viki. 

5. Like in the Movies | Gaya Sa Pelikula (the Philippines) 

Karl, a student living alone, runs short of funds and ends up becoming housemates with Vald an out and proud chaos gay. This leads Karl into an identity crisis and journey of self discovery. This kind of forced proximity trope is really common in BL, but what Gaya does is handle it in a messy honestly queer way. It includes Vlad’s attitude in response to Karl’s shaken behavior. The frustration many out queers feel: 

I am not a tool on your journey. I am on my own journey, and I don’t owe you anything because I happen to be the person who made you realize you aren’t straight. But then again, you are super hot. 

It’s a place many of us have been. It’s having to ask, do you have a crush on me, or do you just want to be me, and am I willing to teach you, when I’ve already taught so many? There’s a gritty honesty to this show partly because Pinoy BL is gritty by nature and has more queer rep than most.

Gaya Sa Pelikula is on YouTube. 

6. Papa & Daddy (Taiwan) 

This show is balls to the rainbow gay domesticity. It’s got everything: queer found family, lesbian sisterhood, YouTube cooking channels, fitting in with the moms at daycare, and Pride. Honestly, you really couldn’t ask for more (except the ending, sigh). Don’t worry it’s not sad, no one dies, it’s just a cliff hanger. Honestly? I would really just love every BL producing country to give us their version of this. (Vietnam answered the call, incidentally, with Me Chon Dau Cao.) 

Papa & Daddy is hard to find.

7. 3 Will Be Free (Thailand) 

This show probably doesn’t qualify as BL but it does qualify as very very queer. What it does well is examine many different aspects of queer identity, morality, and life choices based on repression and or acceptance of that identity using the framework of a crime triller. It’s an adventure narrative, our three main characters are on the run together, being chased by assassins who are themselves dealing with the grief that results from love, all kinds of love. Meanwhile the 3 protagonists fall in love with each other and explore the boundaries and meaning of friendship. It’s actually a remarkable piece of story telling, using a pressure cooker of tension and suspense to bring about investigations into what love, romance, friendship, and identity actually mean. 

3 Will Be Free is on GMMTV’s YouTube with subs.

8. Life: Love On the Line - directors cut (Japan) 

Like His, Life: Love on the Line is also an exploration of suppression and the limits we impose on ourselves when we are not honest about who we love. In high school, serious and self contained Ito fell in love with Nishi, the manic pixie dream boy of the dream he didn’t know he had. Nishi, emotionally and mentally fragile, struggled to fit into the world. Ito, however, found it all too easy, except for the whole - ya know - gay thing. This movie is about Ito’s willingness to sacrifice not just himself but his love (and even Nishi himself) to social and familial expectations and the misery that results. It has a hard fought happy ending that then follows them through the rest of their lives in a (slightly unnecessary but welcome) epilogue montage. 

Life: Love On the Line (Directors Cut) is on Viki. 

9. Love Sick (Thailand)

This is one of those BLs that owes almost nothing to yaoi manga, although it started a number of tropes that are now endemic to Thai BL. What it is, instead, is a well scripted story of bisexual self-discovery and the inherent chaos of loving someone of the opposite gender for the first time, all wrapped up in hormones, existing relationships, and communication issues. It is high school queer angst at its messiest. Nothing is going to be easy for these boys because queer isn’t easy but also because life isn’t easy... welcome to adulthood. 

The only other Thai BL I know of to face this head on is Love Mechanics (and Nitiman seems headed this way), and people dislike these narratives for the same reason. The characters cannot come to terms with their own identities cleanly or easily, and they drag others into the mire with them. Honestly though, who hasn’t been there? 

Love Sick is on Netflix and YouTube. 

10. Lovely Writer (Thailand) 

Lovely Writer has a softness to its queerness that has more to do with Thai BL growing up and self reflecting than any actual queer authenticity. As such it probably won’t appeal to those who don’t already have at least some Thai Bl watching experience. What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL as a genre through a queer lens, but in a very gentle way. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is critical and self reflective. It’s less outright honestly queer, than it is looking at what BL has done to queerness and trying to correct for some of those mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters. 

Lovely Writer is on YouTube. 

MORE TO CONSIDER...

Not Me 

Bad Buddy 

Secret Crush On You

Old Fashion Cupcake 

Blueming (maybe? Korean ins’t good on this)  

Just Friends (except when it is)

Your Name Engraved Herein 

DNA Says Love You 

Honorable Mention 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam)

I hesitated with this one because is has some... issues. What I like about this series is how much queer rep it has from the get go, including out gay besties, cross dressing, kink, and gender fluidity. What it isn’t really facing up to is the identity grappling that should result. Instead it has (like most Vietnamese BL) a very light touch in such matters, almost as if such struggles are too serious to be put on screen. But it is really fun. For me, being honestly queer doesn’t necessarily mean the characters have to go through an identity crisis and self recriminations, so it worked.  

Post dated mid 2022. 

(source)

[words-etched-in-her-skin]

Hello, my dears! I wrote this little bit of tastiness for a dear friend’s birthday, and they’ve given the okay for me to share it with all of you thirsty humans  😏 Enjoy! (being over 3300 words - this goes under a cut 😅)

Alcina NSFW ABCs

Aftercare

Imagine the most exquisite aftercare wrapped in the most delicious package. That is what you have coming to you with Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. She will use every part of your size difference to hold and comfort you. Knowing how sore you must be.. The bite marks still freshly decorating your flushed skin. A smear of her lipstick across your swollen lips. How utterly wrecked you'll be as her strong arms wrap around you. Placing a soft kiss to your temple as she pours you a cup of your favorite tea. 

Body Part

Being the delicious little snack that you are,  it will be hard for her to choose her favorite part of you. She will caress… lick.. bite.. kiss.. breathe  in as much of your gorgeous body as she can. Your skin will hum at the feeling of her. Once she gets to a certain level of intimacy, she will worship you as often as she can. Never allowing you to go a single day without feeling utterly desired by her. 

I mean… YOU’VE SEEN HER! ARMS, SHOULDERS, HIPS, THIGHS, ASSSS… every single inch of her is sinful to the highest degree. Though, if you truly had to pick, you'd most likely choose her fingers. The sheer size ... the talent… the girth of them dancing up your inner thigh before sliding deep inside of you… one first, and then the other - not stopping until you were deliciously filled, stretching around her as she fucks you relentlessly. 

Cum

While it's not important to her if she always finishes, she absolutely loves to get her partner's off. She lives for it. She gets immense pleasure just from the act of utterly wrecking you.. over and over again until you’re literally gasping for air. One hand holding you up as her mouth completely covers your core. The length of her tongue as deep, and full as it can be as she drinks in every last drop of you - moaning at your taste.  

Dirty Talk 

She usually prefers that her pet has a more obedient tongue when speaking to her, but she’s been known to like it occasionally. She’ll be much more inclined to use her masterful linguistics on you. Making you drip for her with no more than just a few words. Whether you’re being particularly well behaved, or feeling significantly bratty, the way she uses her tongue will never cease to send a shiver across your needy little body.

 Experience

Advanced/Expert

The years of experience that Alcina has over you will be overwhelming at first - you may even feel a little insecure. But when it comes to her favorite little human, she will be more than happy to teach you everything that she knows. Keeping you busy late into the midnight hours as she shows you anything, and everything that you’re wanting to know. Learning all of the things that can unravel you in turn. A smug smirk across her face as she renders you speechless with her talented extremities. Each one as experienced as the last. And I mean… can you imagine.. the abilities that tongue of hers likely has? How it moves against your core. Her exquisite fingers holding just as much talent, sliding in and out of you. And well.. when it comes to her strap game… I just hope you’re prepared not to be able to walk. 

Favorite Position

Her favorite place to have you will always be with your gorgeous body pressed against the cool brick of the castle wall. Hand firmly around your neck as she holds you in place.The look of desperation in your eyes as she teases the girth of her fingers over your entrance. Reveling in each delicious whimper that escapes from your eager little mouth.  Her thick fingers sliding in… and out…  teasingly slow… making you drip.  Her teeth nipping at your flushed skin, forcing you to cry out for her. It’s a position that brings out her most primal of needs - the hunter in her breathing the sweet smell of her prey.

Well, considering what a needy little human you are - you’ll be rather insatiable when it comes to exactly how much of her you want. Never quite feeling like you could get your fill of her. Being kinkier than most pets that she’s had, Alcina will know exactly what you need - what you most desire. With a shiny black strap adorning her waist - slightly enlarged to match the sheer size of her - you will eagerly rest on your knees in front of her. The cool tip of her stap against your ass before she very slowly slides it in, allowing proper time for your body to stretch around it. A delicious heat spilling over you. You shudder against her, moaning loudly as the width of her fingers finds the entrance of your core. A needy ‘please’ escaping from your lips, and well.. how could she deny her favorite pet? With the length of her fingers sliding deep inside of you - feeling filled in every way possible. 

Goofy

Absolutely not. While she may tolerate foolishness in her castle at times (mostly from her daughters) she considers it a waste of valuable time in the bedroom. She’d much rather spend those minutes inducing other very gay feelings in you.

Hair

While she understands the appeal of being shaved, she prefers her pet to at least have some hair. As for herself, she keeps it a little more natural though neatly trimmed.

Intimacy

It will take a while for Alcina to warm up to the idea of intimacy that goes past completely wrecking you. But when she does, it will become very natural to her. Lingering touches as you pass by each other. Golden spheres looking at you fondly as you pour her favorite cup of tea. Cuddling long into the night, her strong arms holding you close against her as she stroked your hair gently. Once you have her heart, she will never leave you wondering just how much she cares for you. Your security in the companionship will be very important to her, and she will use whatever words or sweet touches she can to remind you of that.

Jack Off / Masturbation

There isn’t a single pair of hands in existence that can unravel Alcina as the same way that her own. With so many years spent, sometimes with nothing more than the company of her magnificent self - Alcina knows every spot to touch, to tease. Her strong hands roaming over her body as if it’s meeting it for the first time - hungry - yet inherently knowing exactly where to go. If you behave, she may even allow you to watch. Her hips rocking perfectly while her fingers slide deliciously in and out of her dripping core. 

She will always prefer being the one who gives you pleasure. Though, if she were away on business or for some reason she couldn’t tend to it, she would allow it. Regardless, though - She absolutely loves watching you touch yourself. A slight pink tint to her cheeks as her eyes rake over you  - watching every exquisite movement that your body makes. The roll of your hips - thrust of your fingers -  how you moan out for her as she tells you exactly where to touch yourself. 

Kinks

You could fill a dictionary with the amount of kinks that Alcina Dimitrescu has. And she’ll reveal each one to you... slowly. Always surprising you with new ones. Lucky for you, this means that this gorgeous creature will be happy to indulge you in any and all of your many kinks. As she has you tied down, one hand around your throat as her fingers on the other roughly slip inside of you - a warm sting spilling over you as she slid a third one in - a single gasp escaping from your lips as your core stretches around her. Decorating your flustered body with her mouth - teeth - nails. Claiming you in every way possible. “You’re mine, you perfect little slut, you know that?” 

Location

Given her sheer size, your Lady would, on any normal day, prefer the comforts of her own bed.. or the convenience of a firm wall against your backside. Though, occasionally, on exceptionally longer trips you may find her fingers toying with the hem of your pants - just briefly - before sliding down and taking your core as if she owns it (and she does). 

Motivation

Inherently, there will be many things about you that will make Alcina want to completely wreck you. A bratty smirk to your lips.. the beautiful blush that spills over you at just the mere presence of her.. how absolutely exquisite you look on your knees - eager and desperate for her touch. Sometimes, it will just be something as simple as a look - a stolen glance across the library - your body pressed up against the nearest bookshelf before you know it.

A single word… a heated glance.. a whisper. The way she bites her lower lip sometimes when she’s focused. Literally anything. She could have her foot on your throat, getting ready to feast upon your flesh, and you’d be utterly dripping for her - asking her for more. 

Noise

Being the reserved creature that she is, it will take a little time before she allows herself to be vocal with you. But rest assured, there will be no sweeter sound than your Lady’s voice moaning out your name into the night. As for her partners, you would do well to make sure she can hear every last delicious moan, every last needy whimper - each breath that hitches in your throat as she devours you in every way that she can. The hungry glow that illuminates the golden spheres in her eyes, every time that her name slips past your parted lips. She will want to hear every last sweet morsel that you gift her. And don’t you dare stifle a single one, lest you’re prepared to be severely punished. 

Oral

There is no sweeter taste to Lady Dimitrescu than the utterly delicious juices that she can get to drip from your needy core. The all encompassing feeling of her whole mouth enveloping it. The length of her tongue as deep inside of you as it can go - the width of it deliciously filling it. Your hips bucking against her as she literally drinks you in. One strong arm, holding you up in the most exquisite of angles, making sure that you can feel every bit of her talented mouth. One orgasm after another as her tongue proves relentless inside of you. 

You’ll moan loudly at just the taste of her. Her warm musk rolling over you in waves as she leans back, spreading her legs for you. A pool of juices steadily flowing from her core, showing you exactly how much she desires her needy little pet. A hand wrapped around the back of your head, pulling you in closer. Her swollen clit practically filling your mouth with its size. Juices trickling down the front of your neck, and down the landscape of your body. If heaven was a place, it would absolutely be hidden somewhere within the space between Alcina’s perfect thighs. 

Pace

This will all depend on the Countess’ mood.Though, normally, the desire to take you - wreck you - is too strong for her not to completely ravage you. She will want you in a way that no other has. She will claim you as often as she can, and even then - much like your legs - she will spread those moments out as long into the night. Rough - hard - almost bone breaking - that will always be her preferred pace. Not stopping until she’s utterly wrecked beneath her. And when you get to a more intimate companionship with her, when her heart swells at the sight of you - a slight pink hue to her cheeks as she takes you into her arms - the tenderness that will come with the way she touches you, will fluster you in a completely different way. Bite marks replaced by soft kisses - scratches by lingering touches. Whispering into your ear how absolutely perfect you are as she slides the width of two fingers deep inside of you, kissing your temple sweetly. 

Quickie

Your flushed body pressed back against the wall of the kitchens.. her strong hands holding you in place as she passes you in the hallway.. the primal look in her eyes as you slip her heels onto her feet, kneeling before her. There will never be a time of the day where the chance of your Lady taking you right where you stand isn’t a possibility. While it’s true she prefers to have you for as long as she can, the immense desire she has for you will, at times, spill out from her so fiercely that she’ll have no other choice than to have you - claim you - utterly wreck you. Her lips crashing heatedly against yours after one too many stolen glances. Her hands up your shirt, exploring you hungrily before diving below your panty line. The other on your throat as she stifles any delicious sounds that may get you caught. Your hair mussed, body flushed, lipstick marks across your lips and neck as you do your best to casually get back to your daily duties. 

Risk

Unfortunately, due to the sheer size of her, there aren’t many places where Alcina can indulge herself in such things. While she enjoys the rush at being caught as she fucks you against every and any surface within the castle walls that she can, she rarely gets to properly fulfill any exhibitionist type kinks that she has. With that being said, she’s been known to keep the carriage doors locked when she takes you into the village. Knowing the short amount of time that she has as she hastily shoves the thickness of her fingers into your pants. Whispering in your ear that you had better ‘be quiet’, only to do everything that she can before you arrive at your destination to get you to break. 

Stamina

Hours upon hours. Days upon days. There is no limit to how long your Lady can go when she has you at her utter disposal. Why, if her schedule allowed it, she would never leave her bed. She would make sure you were sufficiently spent, only to take you again and again. When you hold the heart of the one and only Alcina Dimitresu she will become almost insatiable for you. She will push back meetings just for another taste of you. She would have you at all hours of the day if she could. Nipping at your skin. Drinking you in. Placing the softest of kisses to your body as she utterly wrecks you, over... and over again. 

Toys

Absolutely YES. The amount of toys that she has collected and had made for her are enough to make even the kinkiest of pets head’s spin. With a large armoire in her bedroom dedicated to nothing else. Straps in various sizes and makes, ropes spun from only the finest of fabrics, a flogger for each occasion, whips for those who are exceptionally disobedient. Any toy that your needy little human mind can think of, she has. And she will use every last one of them to utterly destroy you. 

Unfair

Oh, my dear. There is absolutely no one that exists within this world that is more unfair than Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. She knows the effect she has on you. She sees how you look at her - feels how wet she can make you just by muttering a few choice words. She will keep you flustered beyond belief throughout every second of the day. The size of her looming over you while you do your morning chores, whispering into your ear every last thing she’s going to do to you once your finished. She will take pride in rendering you completely speechless. The sharpness of her nails scraping over the shaved part of your head as she asks you how wet you are. Chuckling as your blush grows even darker. But don’t worry, dear. She’ll make good on all of her promises, and then some.

You will only have a chance in flustering this gorgeous woman when feelings have started to form. It will never be a teasing sentence, or a few words coated in innuendos that will cause her to blush - but your unwavering affections towards her. The way you cup her cheek fondly before kissing her, the soft look in your eyes as you tell her how absolutely stunning she is. There have only been few who have been able to disarm her, and oh, how deeply you’ll blush when you finally do.  

Vocal

Being a woman who knows what she likes,  she  will have absolutely no problem telling you exactly what she likes and dislikes - and she also appreciates a companion who will do the same. ‘Use your words, pet’ is something that you will hear from your Lady often. She lives to bring you pleasure - relishes in it - the only discomfort she wishes to instill upon you being the bite marks that decorate your flushed skin… or the delicious heat that spills so deliciously across you whenever she forces you to stretch around her. There is no downfall in being open about what makes you feel good, for there is no other creature on earth who can make you feel as good as Lady Alcina Dimitrescu.

Wildcard

This larger than life Countess actually had quite the size kink of her own. And while there is little to know that could properly satiate this with just their fingers or tongue, she has had quite a few custom toys made for when the occasion for such indulgences arise. With you settled obediently between her thighs - her legs spread as far as they can go as she angles her hips up slightly (just to give you better access, of course). How exquisitely her oversized toy will part her lips as you begin to slowly slide it into her. An immediate blush across her body as her entrance stretches over it deliciously - her juices practically gushing out of her. You will lose all coherent thought watching this. The way her body writhes, taking as much from you as she possibly can. The gay-inducing sounds that slip from her mouth... her throat... her wet and throbbing core. Why, it’s almost enough to kill you right where you stand. 

Yearning

The solitary moments that pass her during the day - those random times when you’re not by her side. The thought of you will never leave her. She will yearn for you in ways that you never even knew existed. Her creative mind playing out all the ways she could wreck you. She’ll think about how gorgeous you look when you’re blushing. The way your eyes light up whenever you truly smile. How utterly stunning you look when perched upon your knees. She can’t not be completely enamored by you. It’s in the way you laugh, how you think about her even when she’s not thinking of herself. There will be a certain kind of warmth that spills over when she thinks of you. Whether due to the way her heart swells, or the pool of juices collecting in her core at the mere thought of you - she won’t be inclined to give either up anytime soon.

Needless to say, you will yearn for you Lady 24hrs a day, even when her fingers are almost knuckle deep inside of you. Can’t seem to get enough of me hm? You needy little slut.

Zzz

No doubt about, considering how absolute she will be in making sure you are sufficiently wrecked, you will almost always be the one who falls asleep first, With the strength of her arms wrapped around you as you lay peacefully on her chest. Her fingers stroking through your hair affectionately as you drift off into the most blissful slumber of your life - wrapped in nothing but warmth of her embrace.

[my-happy-little-bean]

The Rainbow Manor

pairing: platonic DLAMP  words: 5138 warnings: swearing, references to homophobia, toxic/homophobic parents, brief description of a small injury, blood, brief descriptions of panic/anxiety attacks, crying, angst

a/n - hello friends! hope everyone is doing well! i was lucky enough to be commissioned by the lovely @youronelesbianfriend to write this story (side note, their commissions are open too so...whatcha still doin here, go and do that!). i was overjoyed when i saw the prompt she gave me, and had such a good time writing it! (also inspired me to maybe formally advertise commissions? you can peek at my tumblr every now and then to see if i do, but if you also want one you can DM me!)

so without further ado, here is some content ✨

read on ao3!

—

The Rainbow Manor is a lot of things. 

It’s a home for the biggest family that could exist. It’s a safe haven from the cold, stormy outdoors. It’s the kind of blanket made of the same velvet the night sky is made of; it’s quiet, it’s warm, and it’s filled with stars. All it takes is one step inside and you would find yourself filled with a sense of belonging, of hope. 

You could run the furthest distance away from it all, and the Rainbow Manor would always open its doors to you. 

Patton would know. He was the first one to try. 

~*~ 

“Okay, so here’s what happened,” Roman Prince said, looking down at his clipboard as he weaved him and Patton through the halls. “I was going to show the new people around myself, but then I forgot the paperwork in your office — and then I realized, ‘hey, what better person to show them around than The Man himself!’; capital T, capital M!” 

Patton half-heartedly smiled as he snuck a peek at Roman’s papers. 

“How many are there?” 

“Three, so it won’t be too bad. One of them’s Virgil — you remember Virgil, right?” 

“Right.” Patton smiled fondly, remembering Roman’s birthday party last year. Him and Virgil had shown up covered in cake. He never really saw Virgil after that day, but clearly him and Roman stayed acquainted against all odds.

They turned a corner into the break room where three people sat around a table. Roman clapped his hands. 

“Alrighty! Sorry for the wait.” 

All three of them stood up. The one in the black and purple hoodie—the one Patton recognized as Virgil—rolled his eyes. 

“Waiting is part of the contract with you, Princey.” 

Roman faux-gasped. “Hey, that was one time! And if I didn’t take too long that day, we would have taken the wrong cake!” 

“We did take the wrong cake, Roman. That’s why it exploded.” 

“...Oh yeah.” Roman grinned. “Forgot about that.” 

Virgil shook his head, but showed a hint of a smile. Patton took a step forward to extend his hand out to him. 

“Nice to see you again, Virgil!” He then addressed the two behind him. “And if we’re talking cake, I guess you both can call me Patton-cake!” 

The one wearing a black, short-sleeve button up frowned, adjusting their thin blue tie. 

“I read on the website that your name is Patton Morgan.” 

“It’s like patty-cake, but Patton-cake!” 

“...Right.” 

“Ignore my friend’s simply lively commentary.” The last person stepped forward. They wore a pale-yellow button up under a grey vest. “That’s Logan. Do not be astounded by how that pencil is both sharp and dull — he’s always like that.” 

“And that’s Janus,” Logan seethed, crossing his arms. “They’re always like that.” 

Patton chuckled. “Well it’s nice to meet you both. I’ll show you guys around?” 

They all nodded, following Patton as he led them out the door. The icy awkwardness of first encounters fortunately thawed as conversation quickly blossomed. Patton learned that Logan was the new volunteer manager and was close friends with Janus, who was joining the growing team of counsellors. Virgil, on the other hand, was the newly-appointed social media and communications coordinator; a position Roman used to double as alongside being head of recreation and programming, until he overdid it with the website graphics and crashed the site for two days. Sometimes, change was necessary, Patton learned. 

“So that’s pretty much the whole place!” Patton said brightly at the end of the tour, stopping outside his office. He handed them their job description packages. “I hope you all get situated soon! And if you ever need anything, you now know where my office is!” He motioned to the door with jazz-hands. “Here!” 

“Thank you, Patton,” Logan hummed. He looked around idly. “I must say, I am rather impressed by how well-established and organized the facility is, especially for one that is fairly new.”

“Well call me corny, ‘cause all I can say is ‘aw shucks’!” Patton beamed. “You know, if you told me almost a year ago that I’d be standing here today, I think I’d be impressed too!” He nudged at Roman. “But I obviously didn’t do any of it alone. It’s the people that really make this place home — people like Roman, who’s been with me since the very beginning!”

“Oh, Patton! You make me sound like the hero of this place.” Roman pretended to flip his hair. “So thank you!” 

“A humble hero,” Virgil retorted. Roman just stuck out his tongue at him.

“But in all seriousness, Patton’s downplaying his efforts to the floor!” Roman wrapped an arm around Patton’s waist and pulled him in close. He waved out in front of him. “He’s a true phoenix who rose from the ashes and built this place with his own two hands!” Roman then spun Patton away from him, a trail of giggles following suit. “Plus he does a bunch of other stuff too! He has, like, a gazillion side-gigs, he sometimes volunteers at an animal shelter…” 

“It sounds like you may also be interested in a day off,” Janus piped up.

“It’s really not that much!” Patton awkwardly shuffled where he stood. “I...I like staying busy.” 

Janus tilted their head at him. “Right.” 

Patton shot them a quick smile before diving back into the end of their paperwork. Then the three of them, along with Roman, said their goodbyes and scattered to their respective offices. 

Patton leaned against his office door with a wry smile. They all seemed like nice people, he thought. He was lucky to have them. 

(Roman’s words from weeks ago echoed in his head; the same words that were said to him the night of his first breakdown, when they first called.

“You need all the help you can get, Pat.”) 

And he needed all the help he could get.

~*~ 

A few days later, Patton found himself leaning against the front of his desk, outstretching his hand towards the teen in front of him. 

“Jonah, your feelings are valid, no matter what they are.”

The words slid off Patton’s tongue almost effortlessly. Jonah sniffled. 

“I know, Pat. And– and I’ve already made a lot of friends here that have told me that. It’s been so good for me here, but…” Jonah buried their face in their hands. “Every night before I go to sleep, I can’t stop thinking about what they told me before they kicked me out. It’s like I get tunnel vision. I can see the person I have grown to be on the other side, but all I’m doing is going backwards.” 

Jonah looked up at Patton with teary eyes. “And I don’t wanna go back, Patton. I...I don’t want to go back.”

Patton felt a chill run through his spine. Quiet echoes buried themselves in the back of his mind. 

“I understand that it’s difficult to feel like you’re moving forward when it feels like the most important people in your life are pushing you back. And it...it sucks. I’m so sorry.” Patton swallowed down the temptation to cave as he continued. “I...I think all we can do is remember that those important forces in your life aren’t what’s given to you, but are what’s found. And I feel like you’ve done a lot of searching — for now, try and let yourself be found.”

Jonah broke into a small smile. Before Patton knew it, the teen stumbled forward into an embrace, holding Patton tight and crying. Patton’s hands hovered in the air behind their back, unsure of what to do. Eventually, Patton came to his senses and hugged them back. 

“I’m thankful I found this place,” Jonah mumbled into Patton’s chest. “It’s– it’s built on a lot of hope. I don’t think I could have found it anywhere else.” 

Patton’s heart shattered.

‘I wish I could give you more.’ He squeezed Jonah tighter. ‘I’d give you all I had, and you’d never know.’ 

Jonah left a few minutes later, thanking Patton for giving them a space to be honest. All Patton could do was nod numbly. He knew Jonah was new and it was hard to be new here, but Patton was certain that they’d find their place. The kids who came here always did. 

Patton walked around his desk to sit down. He took one look at his phone, frowned, then set it aside with a sigh. For a brief moment, Patton relished sitting in the precious silence that finally found his office. 

Then, a knock on his door. 

“Come in!” Patton said, straightening up and folding his hands neatly on his desk. The door cracked open and Logan’s head peeked in. 

“Is this a good time, Patton?” 

“Yeah, of course!” 

Logan stepped inside and handed some papers to Patton. 

“I filed through the volunteer applications and started arranging interviews in the coming weeks. I just wanted to run the dates by you before I start contacting people. Hopefully they suffice.” 

“Wow! Thank you, Lo.” Patton took the papers, slowly sifting through them. “These look really good! I’ll have a look at them tonight.” 

“Tonight?” Logan echoed. “Are you staying late again?” 

“Oh! Yeah, I am.” Patton shrugged. “Just a bit of extra paperwork.”

“Well if you require any assistance tonight, I can stay around–”

“No, no! That won’t be necessary.” Patton waved his hand dismissively. “Go and enjoy your night, Lo.”

Logan’s stare seemed to bury itself through Patton, enough for Patton to look away. 

“...Well, please do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything else.”

As Logan was leaving, Patton felt his phone buzz. He snuck a peek and paled.

‘Missed call(s): Mother (2) - 5:34 PM’

“Um, leave the door open, Lo!” Patton suddenly blurted out. Logan turned around and tilted his head. Patton flimsily added, “I– I think I’m going to try and get some air.” 

Logan nodded, lifting his hand off the door handle before walking out. Patton took a deep breath and then stuffed his phone in his pocket before leaving as well. 

—

Later that evening, Patton wandered into his office in a daze. He turned the lights on and inwardly groaned at the stacks of paper awaiting him. 

He dragged his feet to his desk, only stopping to check his phone. The ‘missed call’ notification lingered, except now the number was ‘3’. 

Patton felt his jaw tighten. He couldn’t run forever. 

As he sat down, he noticed a small cup behind one stack of paper. He grabbed it. The smell of coffee swarmed his head. He smiled, noticing a small sticky note on its side. 

“Keep up the great work. Your friend, Logan.”

 ~*~

“Okay everyone! Grab your brushes!” 

Patton blinked. Somehow, his memory of the manor floors failed him, and he ended up in the recreation room. He felt eyes stare up at him, Roman’s included.

“Ah, Patton! Man of the hour! What brings you here?” 

Patton sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I, um, got lost! If you could believe it, heh.” 

“ ‘Lost’ is just a way of saying ‘found, but with a few extra steps’!” Roman motioned to an empty seat. “How about you join us for a bit?” 

Patton opened his mouth to protest, though felt cornered by all the expectant stares. He even spotted Jonah, who smiled and waved at him. Patton sighed. He had been wound up for days now; perhaps Roman’s theatrics was all he needed.

He finally nodded, going over to sit in front of the vacant canvas. Roman grinned at him with a warmth Patton let himself melt into. 

“Alright! Let’s begin.” Roman cleared his throat. “I want you to pull on the colours of your heartstrings. Forget form, structure– even an outline. Your emotions know no bounds, after all! Just remember, your hand is not controlling the brush — it’s your heart.”

Patton felt the words wash over him. Roman, of course, was right; he didn’t even notice his hand moving as he painted. Though somehow, it didn’t feel as peaceful as Roman described it to be. Instead, it felt like something was being pulled out of Patton, as though a claw was scooping something out of his chest and spilling it onto the canvas. 

Suddenly, his ringtone cut through Roman’s monologue. Patton jumped, dropping his brush. A line of paint dragged across the canvas as it fell. All eyes were on him again. 

“Um, excuse me! I– I’m just going to take this.” Patton pressed answer without looking at who called as he stumbled out of the room. 

“Hello?” 

“I see you’ve finally answered.” 

Patton’s heart dropped.

—

Roman was halfway through the end of his monologue when, in the corner of his eye, he spotted Patton re-enter the room, head ducked.

“Ah! I’m glad you’re back!” 

Patton nodded, but in the stilted way Roman quickly recognized. His eyes looked Patton up and down, barely listening to Patton’s stammering apology for interrupting. His hair was disheveled, which meant he ran his hand through it far too many times. His eyes were red, his jaw was tight– 

He was crying. 

“Anyway, I’m sorry again for leaving so soon!” Patton’s voice brought Roman back to reality. “Keep painting you guys! I gotta Van-Gogh!” 

A shaky laugh followed Patton out. Roman frowned, but he nodded for everyone to continue. He passed by Patton’s canvas and snuck a peek. 

It was rather abstract, with overlapping strokes forming a gradient. Roman’s gaze followed the gradient downwards. The canvas was filled with dull blues that turned into darkening greys. Towards the bottom was a thin line of black trailed all the way to Patton’s paintbrush, abandoned on the floor.

 ~*~

The sun sets on a long railroad, it goes past the horizon, it outstretches a hand like it’s beckoning, it’s begging you to run, run faster, everything is going faster and they just told you to go so you have to– 

“Pat?” 

Patton shot up in his seat with a yelp. He blinked quickly, vision focusing on the silhouette of–

“Virgil!” A strangled laugh escaped his throat. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in!” 

Virgil replied simultaneously, “No, I’m sorry, you just weren’t answering and I got worried, but I didn’t realize you were sleeping–” 

“Sleeping?” Patton looked down at the time. 5 PM. 

“Oh sh– shoot, I’m gonna be late.” 

“Late for?” 

“Animal shelter,” Patton mumbled, stumbling out of his chair and grabbing his bag. “I forgot that I said I’d come in today– gosh how could I forget–” 

“Hey.” Virgil rested a hand on Patton’s shoulder before Patton could go spiralling out the door. “Deep breath. I’ll drive you, it’ll be okay.” 

Patton opened his mouth to protest, but remembered the time. He sighed and motioned wordlessly at the door. Virgil nodded, leading the two of them out towards the parking lot.

“Anyway, I’m sorry if it’s a bad time, I was just hoping to run some website revisions by you,” Virgil said as he started the car and backed out of the lot. Patton shakily smiled. 

“No! It’s not a bad time at all, you can tell me about your ideas as you drive!” 

“There’s not much. I was just thinking of ways to maybe make it more approachable. There’s not even really an ‘about us’ page or anything about you–” 

“Why would there need to be anything about me?” 

Virgil looked at him, almost confused. “It’s an amazing organization, Pat. Your name should be up there, especially as the founder…?” 

“Oh! R-Right.” Patton let out a sharp laugh. “I guess I never thought about it before.” 

“I could put something together tonight, I was just thinking it'd be cool to hear you talk about it.” Virgil turned at an intersection. The sign of the animal shelter soon came into view. 

“I guess that’d be a good idea!” Patton shrugged. “But there’s, um, not really anything interesting to know.” 

Virgil frowned, falling quiet as he parked the car. When they stopped moving, Virgil turned to face him. 

“Say, would it be okay if I joined you?” Virgil shuffled awkwardly in his seat. “I, um, have a bit of a free night, and I was thinking that maybe I could just ask you stuff for the website now so I don’t have to bother you later…?” 

Patton’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that sounds perfect! Liz will probably be okay with it. I think it’s bath night for the dogs, and we can always use an extra hand with that!” 

Virgil chuckled, following Patton out the car and into the animal shelter. 

Patton gathered the energy he had left to greet Liz and everyone else, already cooing over the various animals he and Virgil passed by. They reached the back and, with only a bit of struggle (Patton would never admit to these cute dogs being a struggle), took each dog a bath. All the while, Virgil asked Patton questions about the Rainbow Manor and his life in general, which Patton did his best to answer.

“I ended up founding the Rainbow Manor a year after I graduated.” Patton wiped his brow as they finished drying the last dog. “I had been living on Roman’s couch for so long after being kicked out and I just wanted to turn it around; not only for myself, but for other people.”

Virgil’s stare softened. “I– I’m sorry. N-Not about how you founded the place but, like...why you felt like you needed to. That must’ve been hard.” 

“Yeah.” Patton forced a shrug. “It is what it is. Sometimes, you have to get lost to be found, right?” 

“Right.” Virgil looked up at Patton. “Do...do you still keep in touch with them? Your parents, I mean.” 

Patton felt his heart squeeze. 

“It’s been so long,” he finally said. “I doubt they’d want to talk to me.” 

—

Virgil offered to drive Patton back, but Patton insisted on taking a cab home. Virgil reluctantly conceded, but promised to email Patton when he drafted the additions to the website. Patton just nodded and watched Virgil drive off. 

When he was sure that Virgil was completely gone, he shakily pulled out his phone and called a cab. 

“Hi! I– I just need to go to The Rainbow Manor,” he said to the driver as he climbed into the car. He found himself laughing. “Long work day. It is what it is.” 

~*~

Days passed, and Patton’s workload somehow doubled: new admissions, new initiatives, new everything. 

(And his mother kept calling. And calling. And calling.) 

To say it was a lot was an understatement. 

Patton found himself going back and forth along the manor halls, forcing a smile at those he passed. He closed his eyes, turning a corner before he knocked into someone. 

“Crap! I– I’m so sorry.” Patton quickly scrambled to gather the papers that had fallen onto the floor. 

“Oh, don’t apologize, I always thought that important documentation would make for good confetti– ah, hello, Patton.”

Patton looked up. Janus appeared above him, outstretching their hand to help Patton up. Patton took it, scooping the papers up as he went. 

“Janus! Hi! Well, if you’re looking for me...here I am!” He laughed, though it sounded scratchier than expected. “Everything okay?” 

“More than, thank you. I just wanted to follow up about my schedule for the new admissions? You mentioned yesterday that I should come to you but I couldn’t find you…” 

Patton winced. His chest tightened.

“F– I forgot, goodness how am I always–”

“It’s quite alright, Patton, I can always–” 

“I–It’s not okay!” 

In the corner of his eye, Jonah passed by. He felt their wide eyes on him. The air grew thinner.

“It’s– gah, it’s never fucking–”

“Oookay. We’re not okay and that’s...okay.” 

Janus suddenly took Patton’s arm and led him to their office. They swiftly kicked the door shut with their foot as they let Patton settle on the couch. 

“Breathe for me,” Janus said slowly, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Patton. They took Patton’s hand and motioned for him to follow their lead. “In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8…” 

They repeated this a few more times until Patton let go of his head and his breathing evened out. 

“I– I’m so sorry, Janus. I don’t know what–”

“It’s fine, Patton. I’m glad I could help.” A pause. Janus leaned back in their chair. “Is there anything you want to talk about?” 

“No, everything’s fine.” 

Janus raised a brow. 

“Okay, everything’s not fine. But...but it will be fine. I have to be fine.” His mind drifted to Jonah. Patton buried his face in his hands. 

“I can’t be like this,” he said, tears threatening to fall. “I...I just can’t. Not now, this– this can’t be happening now.”

“Unfortunately, these things tend to find us — not the other way around.” Janus squeezed Patton’s hand in a sudden moment of softness. “I...I know what this is, Patton. And I don’t have to tell you what to do because I know you know. You help so many people like you, but remember: when the plane is falling, you have to put on your oxygen mask before you help someone else.” 

Patton locked eyes with Janus for a split second, opening his mouth to respond when he felt his phone ringing. Reflexively, he pulled it out in front of his lap. The air disappeared once more. 

‘Incoming call: Mother’ 

Patton quickly pressed ‘decline’. He then looked up at Janus, whose eyes darted upwards as well. 

Shit. 

“I– I have to go.” 

“Wait, Patton–” 

“Thank you for everything, Janus,” Patton mumbled, and before Janus could reply, Patton sped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

 ~*~

“I just don’t get it,” Roman muttered, leg bouncing under the table in the break room. “I’ve never seen him like this before.” 

“You haven’t?” Janus circled the table like a hawk. 

“What makes you think I have?” 

“Oh, I don’t know! Maybe it’s the fact that he has about a thousand jobs! Or perhaps it’s that he’s been staying overnight every night to work as if he owns the place — oh wait! He does! But I have no idea why that might be stressful at all!” 

Roman glowered at them, but said nothing. 

“I can imagine that his workload presumably doubled this past month,” Logan, sitting across from Roman beside Virgil, adjusted his glasses. “Between the new admissions, growth in our volunteer admissions…” 

“Okay, so he has a lot on his plate!” Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. “But I’ve seen him stressed out about these sorts of things. This is different.” 

“So what else could be on his mind?” Virgil piped up. 

Janus suddenly stopped in their tracks. 

“His mother.” 

Roman’s heart dropped. “His– his what?” 

“She called him while Patton was in my office,” Janus murmured. “He left straight after.” 

Virgil frowned. “Why would he...” 

Roman felt as if he had burst into flames. The pieces clicked together in his head.

“The– the fucking nerve of that woman, I can’t believe she’s still–”

“Roman, what are you talking about?” Logan cut in.

Before Roman could respond, he felt a buzz in his pocket. He immediately pulled out his phone. His breathing hitched. 

‘Help.’

“It’s Patton,” he blurted out, stumbling out his chair and making his way out of the room. Everyone exchanged looks, but quickly followed suit. 

Roman weaved his ways through the halls until he neared Patton’s office. Loud sobs were muffled behind the door. Roman felt his heart breaking already as he opened it. 

And there was Patton, on the floor, crying, and surrounded by shards of broken porcelain. Roman recognized it as a vase he had painted for him years ago. He winced seeing small drops of blood surrounding the pieces. His eyes quickly scanned the room as Logan immediately tended to Patton. 

“What happened, Patton?” Logan murmured as Patton curled up closer to him, sobs still wracking his body.

“I– I’m so sorry.” Each word sounded like it was forced out of his lungs and into the air. “I– I tried to clean up, I’m sorry–” 

“Shh, Patton. It’s okay.” Janus knelt down beside him, carefully lifting Patton’s wrist to examine his hand. A long cut ran across his palm. Janus looked up at Roman and Virgil.

“There’s a first-aid kit in my office, as well as a broom and dustpan. Can one of you grab it?” 

Virgil nodded wordlessly, exiting the room. Roman noticed Patton’s phone beside Patton on the ground, and reached over to pick it up. 

“What did she say, Pat,” Roman asked, fear edging the quiet of his voice. The words seemed to stab at Patton and let out more sobs. 

“She– she found out about everything,” Patton wheezed through tears. “The– the Rainbow Manor, where I am– she wants to take it all– she can’t take it all–” 

“Patton, I need you to follow my breathing, okay?” Janus interrupted, motioning at their chest with their hand as they inhaled and exhaled. “Can you see my hand? I want you to try and follow along, okay? 

Patton numbly nodded, trying to breathe through hiccups and sobs. Janus repeated the exercise with Patton for at least fifteen minutes, with Virgil returning halfway and Logan moving to sit in front of Patton to start tending to the cut. Virgil carefully swept around Roman, Janus, Logan, and Patton on the floor. 

“Whatever she told you, it isn’t true,” Roman said after Patton’s breath had evened out. “She can’t touch you here, not with us around.” 

“I– I know,” Patton sniffled. Logan finished bandaging Patton’s hand and offered him a tissue from the box on his desk. “She said so many awful things, but– but the scariest part is that she didn’t stop at just saying things.” 

“What do you mean?” Logan murmured. 

“She...she threatened to shut the Rainbow Manor down.” 

“What?!” Roman shot up from the floor. “But– but she can’t–” 

“You know my mom, Roman,” Patton whimpered. “She has connections all over the city. If she wanted to, she would find a way.” 

“So why hasn’t she?” Janus asked quietly. A beat of silence. Patton brought his knees closer to his chest and buried his face between them. 

“She– she wants a percentage of the donations,” Patton finally admitted. 

“What the fuck,” Virgil growled, stopping in his tracks. 

“I know! It’s– it’s impossible, I–” Another sob. Logan and Janus moved closer to him, with Janus putting their arm around his shoulder. 

“What did you tell her?” Janus pressed on. 

“I– I told her no! Even if I wanted to, I can’t, but– but what else can I do?” Patton looked at his bandaged hand and grimaced. “And of course she got mad, and I freaked out, and I knocked over the vase– god, Roman, I’m sorry about the vase–” 

“The vase is replaceable,” is all Roman said. “You aren’t.” 

Patton just nodded, looking up at the four of them in his office with teary eyes. 

“What am I going to do?” 

Everyone exchanged looks. Roman lowered himself back to the floor beside Patton and wrapped him in a warm hug.

“You’re not going to do anything,” Roman said firmly. 

“Roman…”

“All your life, you’ve taken care of people like they were your family, Patton. Please, let your family take care of you.” 

Patton sniffled, looking around him. Virgil, Logan, and Janus nodded with small smiles, moving closer to him and joining the embrace. 

And Patton just nodded, dissolving into tears; except this time, Roman could feel the relief from them. He felt Patton melt in his touch and smiled to himself, a similar relief washing over him as well. 

(And for a moment, just a brief moment, Patton was home.)

~*~ 

One week later…

“Keep your eyes closed…” 

“Roman, I don’t know how many more walls I can keep bumping into!” 

“Just a little longer, I promise!”

Patton giggled, letting himself be led by Roman through more halls. Then, Roman stopped him. 

“Okay, you can open your eyes in 3...2–” 

“I’m opening them now, I’m too excited!” Patton squealed, and then opened his eyes. Suddenly, a burst of colour flooded his vision. 

“Surprise!” a chorus of voices exclaimed. 

Patton broke into a wide smile, blinking to focus on the sight in front of him. He was standing in the recreation room, with a big banner hanging from the back wall reading, “Happy Birthday, Rainbow Manor!”. Beneath it was a table with a cake, which was surrounded by Janus, Virgil, and Logan, alongside a bunch of other teens Patton recognized. Even Jonah was there, wearing a small party hat with a confetti popper in his hands. 

Patton felt tears well up in his eyes. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you remembered!” 

“Of course, padré!” Roman grabbed Patton’s arm and led him around the table to stand in front of the cake. “Always normal for a family to celebrate the man who built their home!” 

“Oh, Roman!” Patton leaned against his shoulder, sniffling. “It’s perfect.” 

He then looked at Virgil, Logan, and Janus. “I can’t believe you guys set this all up, it must’ve taken forever!” 

“Actually, it just took a day,” Logan hummed. 

“And the cake doesn’t explode,” Virgil said with a small finger salute. “I checked.” 

“Additionally, we understand that presents are customary at a party,” Logan continued. “So while our present is not materialistic, we do hope it suffices.” 

“Oh?” 

“Sir Nerds-A-Lot is trying to say that we’re pitching in to give you a few days off!” Roman declared. “We handled a few responsibilities over the weekend while you were home, and split your workload for the week ahead! Consider this the fabulous gift of time!” 

“Oh you guys! You didn’t have to!” 

“But we did, and we did so gladly,” Logan said with a nod. 

“Also–” Janus leaned over to quietly whisper in Patton’s ear– “I took care of your mother.” 

Patton frowned. “You...what? Is– is she…” 

“She’s fine, but she won’t be bothering you for a long time.” Janus winked. “Let’s just say I know people too.”

Patton exhaled a breath he felt he was holding onto forever. He nodded graciously at Janus as Roman handed him a cake-cutter. 

“Alright! Before you take the first slice, you gotta make a wish!” Roman motioned at the lit candles on the cake. Patton stepped forward, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then blew them out. 

Everyone cheered as Patton was surrounded by hugs and laughter. He felt Janus, Logan, Roman, and Virgil crowd around him as they started to help hand out cake to all the teens. 

And in the back of his mind, his wish echoed in his head. 

‘I hope to always be able to share this home with my family.’

[hellandholywater]

A Midnight Clear

It's Christmas Eve, 1896, and all Aziraphale wants is to read his book in peace. His plans are thwarted when he receives a special assignment, but a long-missed demonic visitor appears and sidesteps the Arrangement to grant Aziraphale's wish. In the end, the angel finds that all he wants is his demon back at his side, but where is Crowley?

Aziraphale/Crowley Rated: Teen & up 4k words

Read on ao3

Many thanks to my beta readers, @chiaroscuroverse​ and @wordsintimeandspace​, for making this story so much better than it would have been. I’ve made a number of changes since they’ve seen it, and any errors of style or substance are my own.

Part of the @go-july-celebration​

London, Soho, 1896

A knock came at the door of A.Z. Fell & Co. for the thirteenth time that evening. It was Christmas Eve — a night for peace and goodwill towards men — but after his reading had been interrupted by twelve groups of carolers, each increasingly intoxicated and off-key, even an angel might lose his temper, and this one had. The sign on the door clearly indicated that the bookshop was closed for the night.

Aziraphale leapt to his feet and stormed to the door, unlocked it and yanked it open, seething, intending to give this latest batch of warbling merry-makers a large and vivid piece of his mind. 

"Now, see here!" he began, but his next words came to a sudden, guttural stop. 

"Gabriel!" he choked as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "And Sandalphon … what a lovely surprise!" Aziraphale stepped back abruptly and flung an arm out to invite them inside. He tried to wring the venom from his planned anti-caroling tirade and inject a bit of enthusiasm in his greeting to the Archangel and his underling, rather than the unmitigated panic he was feeling. He hadn't seen either of them for decades, and his mind raced trying to puzzle out why they were here in his bookshop now. 

Gabriel smirked at him as he unwrapped the scarf from around his neck and handed it to Sandalphon, whose metallic teeth glinted as he smiled insincerely at the Principality. 

"Calm down, Aziraphale!" boomed Gabriel, as if speaking to an audience in a large hall rather than the bookshop. "It's Christmas Eve! You should be celebrating the occasion, not shouting at people. What kind of angel are you?" he said, throwing up his arms in scornful emphasis. 

At this, Sandalphon let out a chortle that spoke more of schadenfreude than good cheer. Gabriel smiled at him indulgently, making Aziraphale feel slightly ill. 

"I do apologize," Aziraphale said, trying to resist the sarcastic tone he felt like interjecting. "It won't happen again. But, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" 

At this, Gabriel sobered, and he clasped his shoulder firmly. "Aziraphale, I have a special assignment for you."

"Oh?" The angel raised his brow and pasted on a smile, doing his best to look intrigued rather than indisposed. 

Gabriel continued as if he hadn't noticed Aziraphale at all, which he probably hadn't. (Sandalphon had noticed, however, and shot his fellow angel a rather nasty grimace.) "You're aware, of course, that Frederick Temple was recently nominated Archbishop of Canterbury?" 

"Ye-es, I thought I'd heard something to that effect."

"Well? Temple's participation in Essays and Reviews was nothing short of heresy! And here he is being rewarded for it with the highest religious office in England!" 

"Yes, yes. Terrible," said Aziraphale, furrowing his brow. He’d thought the essays rather funny, but he didn’t want to appear to disagree with the Archangel.

"Aziraphale…." Gabriel intoned deliberately and with more than a hint of condescension. "Did you even read the essays? Denying that true prophecies exist — refusing the very possibility of miracles — even questioning the eternal nature of damnation!" he scoffed, shaking his head. 

Sandalphon glared at Aziraphale as if he were personally responsible for writing and publishing the heretical texts, and nodded slowly. 

Aziraphale winced. "Yes, of course I've read them," he said, hoping fervently his irritation with Gabriel didn't show. "I can't say I find much to agree with in them."

"Duh!" said Gabriel. "And Temple's little writer friends hold too much sway with him. He's starting to have doubts of his own. That's why I want you to prepare a visitation for him, before he's officially installed as Archbishop. Remind the old boy of the divine power of Heaven."

"You mean…."

"Yes. The halo, the wings, the heavenly vestments — the whole nine yards."

"But…on Christmas Eve?" Aziraphale asked, thinking longingly of his abandoned reading. 

"What better time?" said Gabriel. 

"I suppose you're right," Aziraphale said as agreeably as he could manage, under the circumstances. 

"Of course I am! Now, hop to it, Aziraphale," Gabriel smiled, exchanging a toothy grin with Sandalphon. "I look forward to reading your report."

"Er, yes, quite," Aziraphale said as he showed the two angels to the door, and bolted it shut behind them as soon as he dared. 

His shoulders slumped as he resigned himself to a ruined evening. He went to his section on religion in England to locate the book with Temple's essay, in order to refresh his memory before he confronted the man.

* * *

A few minutes later, there came another knock. Beyond frustrated with the way his evening was going, and frazzled by the Archangel's visit, Aziraphale stomped to the door, unbarred it, and flung it open. 

"I'm not interested!" he started to shout at the fourteenth interruption of the night. The words died in his throat as he recognized the interloper. 

"Crowley!" Aziraphale said with a swirling mix of shock, relief, and something he couldn't quite identify. Something that hollowed out his chest and filled his stomach with butterflies. 

"Aziraphale," said Crowley quietly. "I know it's been a while," he started, but stopped abruptly as he found himself being hauled bodily into the bookshop.

Aziraphale poked his head out of the door and quickly looked from side to side. Satisfied, he withdrew and closed the door, the bell at the top ringing with finality as he locked and bolted the door. He turned around. 

"It's been 34 years, you great pillock! Not one word in all that time," Aziraphale accused. 

"I've been asleep. I'm sorry," Crowley apologized, sounding genuinely contrite.

“Asleep! For 34 years?”

Crowley took a deep breath. “Yeah. Well, after our last meeting, I was feeling sort of … melancholy. And I sleep a lot when I get like that.”

“Oh, Crowley….”

“It’s not a big deal. I just…I woke up today and thought I’d stop by, all right?”

Aziraphale just stared at him for a moment, drinking in the sight of him. Crowley was attired in a Homburg and black top coat over a black suit with dark red lapels. He was nearly clean shaven, with just neatly trimmed sideburns remaining. He was as dashing and handsome as ever. 

Crowley doffed his hat and set it on the counter. Aziraphale began to pace the floorboards. 

"What is it? What's the matter, Angel?" Crowley said in concern. "I really am sorry," he said emphatically. 

"Oh no, it's not you, dear boy. I just had a visit from Gabriel."

"Gabriel! What did he want?" 

"He wants me to appear to the new Archbishop — Temple — in full regalia, wings, halo and all. Tonight!"

"Ha!" Crowley started to laugh, then thought better of it. "An Angel of the Lord visiting, well … anyone these days, is hard to come by. What brought this on, then?" 

"There was a book he contributed an essay to, years ago, that had some rather … heretical content."

"Ahhh … the Essays and Reviews."

"You know it?" Aziraphale said in surprise. He narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said you don't read?" 

"I don't! I … skim," Crowley admitted. "Besides, that book is well known down in Hell. Top ten humor book since it was published. But Temple's piece isn't so bad. Why did Gabriel order a visitation for it?" 

"Gabriel is concerned that Temple's friends may hold undue influence over him. Seeding heresy."

Crowley shook his head. "Guilt by association. And the church on the verge of a schism. It's no wonder the humans are leaving it these days." 

"I'm sure that's just a temporary anomaly," said Aziraphale, sounding not very sure at all. 

"Right. Well, I suppose I'd better go and leave you to it," said Crowley. But he didn't move, and Aziraphale was heartened. 

"I was so looking forward to reading Dickens tonight…." He glanced coyly at Crowley for a moment, then quickly looked away. 

Crowley smirked at Aziraphale, then sighed quietly. "I suppose I could do the angel visitation bit for you," he proposed. 

"Oh, would you?" 

"'Course I would.”

"Thank you, Crowley!" Aziraphale smiled, reaching out to grasp the demon's shoulder in gratitude. He lingered for a few seconds, holding Crowley's gaze, gave his shoulder a squeeze, and withdrew. 

Crowley gave a barely visible shiver when the angel removed his hand, and Aziraphale wondered if he'd caught a draft. He was so sensitive to the cold. 

"Oh, I nearly forgot," he said, pulling a suspiciously book-shaped, festively wrapped package from inside his coat. He held it out towards Aziraphale. 

"Little Christmas present for you, Angel."

Aziraphale reached out and took it, grinning in delight. 

"Crowley! But I don't have anything for you," he said regretfully. 

"'S' alright, Aziraphale. It was my pleasure." Crowley gave it to him with a wistful smile. 

"May I open it?" 

"Please."

Aziraphale tugged on the end of the ribbon and set it loose, then carefully unwrapped the paper. It was indeed a book, housed in a red Morocco-backed slipcase, its spine lettered in gilt, with red cloth sides and chemise. Aziraphale tilted the slipcase and removed the white book, the stamped red and black design of the cover proclaiming it one of Oscar Wilde's most beloved works. 

"The Happy Prince and Other Tales?" 

Crowley nodded. "First edition, of course."

"Well! This is a lovely gift. The Selfish Giant has always been one of my favorite stories of his. Poor Oscar…. I do already have a first edition, but of course, another copy is always welcome!"

"This one's inscribed," said Crowley with an inscrutable smile. 

Aziraphale opened the book to the title page and read:

Aziraphale, my dear friend. May this book bring you as much joy as you have brought me. You're an absolute angel. ~Oscar Wilde, 1896

Aziraphale looked up and stared at Crowley open-mouthed, turned back the book in wonder, then set it down next to Crowley's Homburg. "You didn't!" Aziraphale said in disbelief. "He's in Reading Gaol, isn't he? How did you …?" 

Crowley smiled genuinely for the first time that night. "Richard B. Haldane, liberal MP and reformer, has been visiting Oscar from time to time, appealing for improved conditions for him. I simply impersonated Haldane and they let me in to see him."

"But… he can't have been in a mood to sign autographs — how did you get him to sign this for me?" Aziraphale said in amazement. 

"Oh, I took him some books and writing materials he hasn't been allowed. Convinced the warden it would be in his best interests to let him have them."

Aziraphale shook his head, then looked at Crowley as if he'd never seen him before. "You went to all that trouble for me?" 

Crowley just smiled crookedly. "It was no trouble," he said, and then, softly, "I'd do anything for …," he choked back the final word, biting his lip, but it didn't matter. He might have been confessing his every sin, the way the unspoken end of that sentence rang in the silence. 

Aziraphale was stunned. He needed to say something, to tell Crowley that he felt the same way, but he hadn't expected this revelation, and he just wasn't good at change. What did Crowley expect? What was he hoping for from Aziraphale? 

Crowley cleared his throat, stepped forward to reach for his hat, and suddenly he was in Aziraphale's arms. He froze for a moment, then he hugged the angel back quite desperately. They had rarely touched over the centuries, and never before had there been… whatever this was, with Aziraphale's hands fisted in the back of his coat and their heartbeats separated only by a few layers of cloth and thin corporations. They stayed like that for a long time, the seconds ticking by into minutes, and gradually relaxed into each other. 

"Thank you, my dear," Aziraphale said breathily into Crowley's neck. 

Crowley let a stifled moan escape him. 

Aziraphale responded with a sharp intake of breath. But he didn't let go. 

Slowly, Crowley straightened and withdrew. 

"I should go — get started on that visitation before it gets too late," he said reluctantly. 

Aziraphale was sure he was looking at Crowley with darkened eyes, and he was dangerously close to telling him to stay, to forget about the incoming Archbishop. 

Instead, the moment passed, and Crowley put his hat on and turned to go. His hand was on the doorknob when he was stopped in his tracks by Aziraphale's hand covering his.

"Wait," said Aziraphale softly. 

Crowley waited, holding his breath. 

"When you're done with Temple, will you come back here?"

Crowley nodded. "Yeah, 'course I will… if you want," he murmured. 

Aziraphale's hand squeezed his gently and then let go. 

"It's been far too long, dear boy. I… I'll see you when you return," Aziraphale said as firmly as he could manage.

"I'll be back before you know it," Crowley said. And he disappeared into the night and the fog. 

* * *

Aziraphale returned to his desk and tried to resume his reading of A Christmas Carol, but he was distracted, thinking about Crowley. He thought about his utterly perfect gift, and the visitation tonight that was so far outside of the Arrangement, Aziraphale couldn't see it as anything but another gift. 

He knew, on some level, how Crowley felt about him, but it had been more of a vague sense of love that radiated off of him. He'd never heard him use words the way he'd done tonight. "It was no trouble. I'd do anything for…," and, "'course I will… if you want," swirled in his mind, and warmed him from the inside out. 

He flushed as he thought about how beautiful Crowley was, his crooked almost-smile, his kindness, and how right it felt to hold him. And he thought about the way his stomach swooped just from touching his hand.

By 10 o' clock he'd abandoned Dickens in favor of Wilde, and at a quarter past 10, he began pacing the floorboards in front of the door, stopping every so often to peer out the window and watch for Crowley's return. 

He needed something to do to stop him from flying out the door in search of his demon. 

He got out two bottles of claret, and set them on his desk, then summoned a stockpot with a snap of his fingers. Another snap brought a bowl of oranges, a cup of sugar, a small cutting board and grater, and an assortment of mulling spices to the counter. 

Aziraphale studded the oranges with whole cloves and set four of them in a shallow pan. He opened the door of the cast iron stove, stoked the fire with a few pieces of split wood, and balanced the pan of oranges on top. After grating a quarter of the nutmeg, and peeling the ginger and slicing it thinly, he set the spices aside. He peeked inside the oven, sighed and snapped his fingers again, removed the pan of fully roasted oranges and set them on top of the stove. 

Aziraphale uncorked both bottles, poured the wine into the pot, and set it on the wood stove to start heating while he carefully cut the hot oranges and squeezed the juice into a tall mug. He added the sugar and spices to the claret and cleaned up the mess as he waited for the mixture to simmer. 

The angel sat down with Wilde and tried to read, but was unable to concentrate, glancing at the door every few seconds. Sighing, he got up and put a record on the gramophone, and started to tidy his piles of books, adding his resonant baritone to the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral as they sang:

It came upon a midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold:

"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heaven's all-gracious King." The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.

Aziraphale strained out the spices, added the orange juice and stirred, sniffing the fragrant steam appreciatively. He closed his eyes as the song came to a close. 

For lo!, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold

When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.

When he opened his eyes again he noticed an ornament that was askew on the bookshop’s small Christmas tree. He straightened the ornament, and checked the rest of them while he was at it. The gold-sequined star on top of the tree gleamed.

The angel moved the steaming pot of mulled wine to a large trivet. He ladled two cups of the concoction into mugs and snapped a light miracle on them to keep them piping hot. 

As cozy as it was in the bookshop, Aziraphale felt uneasy. He checked the clock again, sighed and shook his head. It was nearly midnight. It wasn't like Crowley to take so long on a job. What if something had happened to him? It would be all Aziraphale's fault! 

The angel puttered around the shop, reshelving books and dusting everything in sight, though nothing needed it. He had worked himself into quite a state by the time the door opened, ringing the bell. He startled, and turned around to see Crowley slipping inside the bookshop. The fog had dissipated for once, and the clear night let in a crisp draft of air with a hint of snow. 

"Crowley!" he exclaimed, hurrying forward. 

"Hello Aziraphale!" Crowley grinned. His grin faded, replaced by a blissful expression, as Aziraphale hugged him tightly. 

"I'm so relieved you're back! It went well, then?" He drew back to look at Crowley. With one hand, he locked and then bolted the door. 

"Yeah, it went… surprisingly well," he started, but was struck silent when Aziraphale took his cold hand in his warm, soft ones, and led him to the sofa next to his desk. Crowley sat down, and Aziraphale, instead of sitting at the desk as he'd done every other time in the last century, sat next to him. He didn't let go of Crowley's hand, but rested it on his thigh. 

"Ngk," said Crowley, flushing beautifully. 

Aziraphale pressed a glass of the mulled wine into Crowley's hands, then picked up his own. "Tell me what happened, my dear. Why were you gone so long?"

Crowley nodded, taking a sip of the sweet, hot liquid gratefully. 

"Well, I took a cab to the residence of the Archbishop, and waited for the horses to trot off, and for quiet to settle there. I miracled myself into angelic robes and unfurled my wings, and cast a glamour on them to make them appear white. And then I popped into Temple's chamber with a burst of light."

Aziraphale hung on his every word as he described Temple's shock. 

"I thought he was going to have a heart attack, at first," Crowley continued. "He'd been reading in bed. He grabbed at his chest with one hand — very dramatic, it was. If he'd been wearing pearls, he'd have clutched them," he laughed. 

Aziraphale laughed, too, and squeezed Crowley's hand. He didn't let go. 

Crowley paused, taking a deep breath. "We wound up having an interesting chat about science and religion, actually," he said. "I sort of forgot why I was there. Sorry about that, Angel," Crowley apologized. He took a swig of the mulled wine. 

"I'll think of something to tell Gabriel," Aziraphale assured him.

"This isn't Smoking Bishop, but it's close," Crowley said curiously. "What is it?" 

"Oh — it's made with claret instead of port. Little creation of mine. I'm calling it, 'Smoking Archbishop,'" Aziraphale said proudly. 

Crowley cheerfully toasted the angel's ingenuity, taking another swallow of his invention and gazing at him fondly, his glowing golden eyes just visible through his dark lenses. 

Aziraphale preened under Crowley's attention, fluttering his eyes at him, and took a large sip of punch. "I'm just glad you're all right," he said insistently. "I shouldn't have sent you. It was an indulgence, so I could read, and I was too distracted worrying about you to enjoy it for long," he fussed, too caught up in his self-flagellation to notice his confession. 

Crowley brought their joined hands to his lips and brushed a kiss over Aziraphale's knuckles. 

Aziraphale blew out a sharp breath. 

"Angel, I'm fine. It's all right. It was a lark, to be honest. I had fun."

"But…you shouldn't spoil me so," Aziraphale fretted. 

"I don't mind," Crowley said roughly. 

"Well… Anyway, thank you," Aziraphale said, his voice like warm honey.

Crowley visibly melted. "Nggyeah," he babbled. "I…," he stopped speaking as Aziraphale brought his hand to his chest. Crowley gasped. Aziraphale was sure that, even through multiple layers of cloth, Crowley must be able to feel his heartbeat tripping under his fingers. 

"My dear…," Aziraphale started breathily, but the rest of his words got stuck in his throat as Crowley removed his hat, set it aside, and ran his free hand through his hair. His sunglasses followed, set down next to the Homburg. 

He looked straight at Aziraphale, and cupped his cheek in his hand, all of his defenses down. 

Aziraphale was thunderstruck. He felt so much love radiating from the demon, it was a miracle he'd ever been able to keep it cloaked from him all this time. Aziraphale felt as if he was going to discorporate on the spot. When he didn't, he turned his head to the left, and kissed Crowley's palm. 

Crowley managed a small, "Hnnggh," and dared to stroke Aziraphale's cheekbones with his thumb.

Aziraphale closed his eyes in bliss for a moment, then, unconsciously parting his lips, he leaned forward. Crowley's mouth met his with a softness and tenderness that would have shocked the demons of Hell. 

Crowley brought his other hand up, framing Aziraphale's face with his fingers. He deepened the kiss until the angel moaned. 

Aziraphale brought his hands up to Crowley's head, sliding his fingers through soft red hair. He ran his fingers around to the back of his head, pulling him closer, a frisson of excitement sparking through his body like fireworks. 

Crowley slid his hands down to the angel's shoulders and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer still. Aziraphale matched him breath for breath, kiss for kiss. From a church nearby, there came a chime, followed by twelve bells.

Aziraphale opened his eyes and drew back to see a dazed expression on Crowley’s face. 

"It's Christmas. Merry Christmas, Aziraphale," Crowley breathed. 

"Merry Christmas, darling." Aziraphale grinned. 

"I love you," Crowley whispered fiercely. 

Aziraphale drew in a sharp breath, then let it whoosh out again as he drew the demon's unresisting body close. 

"Oh Crowley … I love you, too," Aziraphale said shakily.

They settled back onto the sofa in each other's arms, and Aziraphale reached for his mug. Crowley picked up his own and held it aloft. 

"To… to Gabriel for being an utter bastard, for giving you the assignment that finally brought us together."

Aziraphale pursed his lips and raised his eyebrow, and Crowley looked uncomfortable. The angel relented with a giggle. 

"To new beginnings," he suggested with a smile. 

"To new beginnings," Crowley echoed, and raised his mug.

Outside the bookshop, snow began to fall. Aziraphale noticed the fluffy flakes out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head to watch them fall. He turned back to Crowley, eyes shining brightly. 

"Snow, in London! It's a Christmas miracle!" he exclaimed. 

"Nonsense. It's going to inconvenience tons of people. They won't be able to see their families for Christmas dinner. Got to be one of ours.”

"Oh really?" Aziraphale smirked. "It wouldn't do for me to let you go home in this dreadful weather. You'll have to stay the night."

"I take it back, it's a miracle," Crowley intoned. 

Aziraphale beamed at his demon.

[skyhopedango]

Episode 12! The end! Oh no! ;_; )

I hate it so much that it has to end... At least it got a pretty good ending - a surprisingly good one, actually - with most plot lines wrapped up neatly. Also, I may or may not have teared up at some points. Or even right now. Daaamn this stupid franchise making me so emotionally invested. GAH.

Anyway, the rundown... as soon as I find another package of tissues...

Story makes short work of Boss Man courtesy of Kimie, we knew this was coming, no point on wasting time on it. Bye Boss Man. It was funny though that after a huge psychic superpower fight he went out by getting shot in the back. :D

BABY BROTHERS ARE CRYING, HURRY UP AND SAVE THEM!

I suppose this is where knowledge of the original comes in handy, because I think during Naoto & Takuya's journey to their brothers we were supposed to learn about how the Kiriharas ended up where they did, but well, I guess there's a limit of how much you can pack into 23 minutes. So let's just say that even in childhood Naoto & Naoya had it far worse than their counterparts... having had their powers awakened from birth (as opposed to the Kurokis, it seems), and all the shit that came with that. Plus even after being taken away from their parents, the Kurokis grew up having friends and whatnot, while the Kiriharas had like... Mikuriya. In the original at least there were some other people around in the lab, but in 2041 it doesn't seem like there was anyone, really, other than Mikuriya, so all the boys had was him, and each other.

THIS WHOLE SCENE IN THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY BEAM OR WHATEVER. SO PRETTY. ;_; )

And OH DAMN, so the Kurokis are basically the Kiriharas' reincarnations! HOLY SHIT. I'd been expecting like something since Misaki mentioned Akiko having been reincarnated (and at this point I have a pretty good guess who is her reincarnation... ....c'mon it's Kimie, it's got to be Kimie! and why that didn't create a paradox, well, that's because-- LOOK OVER THERE!!!)

Oh, so that was the symbolism with the game they'd been playing. Ooohh. I like that. Also: observe the Ark behind Naoto on that shot. Nice.

AAHH NAOTO IS SMILING, HE'S GENUINELY SMILING!

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

AHAHAHA lol Takuya surprise hugging Naoto, and Naoto giving "omg what to do, I'm too emotionally repressed for this" vibes. :D Also, Naoya doesn't get a hug. Takuya may be dumb but he's not that dumb.

Naoto. OH NAOTO. OH MY HEART. Don't feel guilty Naoto, you've done all you could. I mean he's just a guy, really, and especially 2041's Naoto is a lot more sensitive and has way less of an edge than the Naoto in the original. That one was more pragmatic, even if he hated himself being able and willing to do things like killing people even if it was to protect Naoya. This Naoto is different - he's less hardened, more gentle, and also different in how he processes his feelings, he represses them more but I guess angsts over them harder.

And oh poor Naoto, he didn't get a hug. Again. :D;; Doesn't matter, it was such a lovely scene.

Also, who's been cutting onions here for the past ten minutes?! I'm running out of tissues!...

OH NO, the Kurokis' parents?! Oh my god don't do this to me, show...

AAAAAAAH............

Blah blah Kimie, blah blah of course they weren't going to do it, and that didn't happen, and OH DAMN, NAOTO & NAOYA

SO YUUYA'S VISION WAS RIGHT, BUT ALSO NOT CORRECT - THEY BASICALLY WENT BACK AND FIXED EVERYTHING - okay baby Kuroki brothers still had been taken away but that had to be done, and the parents remember and they're reunited, and--

FFS NOT THE ONIONS AGAIN, I'M ALL OUT OF TISSUES ;_; )

Alright, so I guess this is another part where knowing the original puts it all in a slightly different context. Because this whole thing with the parents is exactly the same (minus the Kimie thing) that happens with the Kiriharas in the original, but with a very different outcome. In the original Naoto & Naoya finally manage to track down their parents who run a clock shop, but find that their memories had been meddled with and they don't remember them... and then they can't even get a peaceful farewell, because the villain fucks up the whole thing for the lulz, and it's kind of heartbreaking.

Here, they basically fixed everything - so that the Kurokis don't have to suffer all that shit that they had to go through, from having to live isolated in the lab and growing up suffering from difficult to control powers to having their parents taken away from them forever.

Oh man. Naoto & Naoya are just so awesome. ;_; )

And so they go... to another dimension? to the Awesome Spiritual Place? just disappearing into the spirit universe like Shouko? At least wherever they go now they'll be together...

........please stand by until I finish being overly emotional over the silly woo brocon show........

So anyway, in the end basically Takuya & Yuuya become that world's Naoto & Naoya, doing pretty much the same thing as those two did in the original, being the small change that gets things rolling toward the Awakening - hell, Kimie even called them Saviors, that was Naoya's designation in the original (with Naoto as his protector/knight). Except well, the Kurokis are a ton more well-adjusted, especially at this point in the story. Aside of having a better understanding of everything, better control of their powers and not having the whole world out to get them, at least not seriously at this point- they even have their parents back! Lucky bastards.

The end. *sniffle*

Oh boy. What can I say? The existence of this show has taken me by completely surprise, being a reboot of an old niche franchise I'd fallen in love with and didn't expect seeing anything new for ever again. And y'know, my expectations were loooooooow because the previous anime was, as I'd mentioned a few times before, bad, like, actually really bad.

And then Night Head 2041 turned out to be - actually really good! It had just the right touches, with the animation (surprisingly good and detailed!) and just the visuals in general, and the characters! I love this Naoto and Naoya, from their design to their characterization that is similar but yet still different from the original but in ways that work so well! And I grew to like the Kurokis a lot, too, also Takuya is so pretty it's just not fair! Although the Kiriharas are always going to be the best. Also, I really want Kimie's leggings even though I could never wear them.

And I mean OK, I'm clearly biased, but even with my fangirl glasses off this was a perfectly alright show. And for a fangirl like me, oh... where do I even start. I won't even start, really, it's like half past midnight over here and I'm still running on an emotional high. Will post moe tomorrow because if I tried now I'd just post the whole damn thing.

I know there's still the manga adaptation of 2041 that's going to go on for a while still (and the novelization that I'll read now) but I'm going to miss this show so much. Thank you for everyone involved in it! You made my summer and early autumn, and pretty much my 2021 so far. Bye, Kirihara Naoto & Naoya...

[stiltonbasket]

The babies. Anything about the babies. The babies getting lost in the rabbit field, the babies trying (and failing) to make breakfast for their parents, The babies and LQR. ANYTHING. as long as it involves the wangxian babies being cute and good babies

Lan Xiaohui's First Errand

by stiltonbasket

Summary:

“Do you have your hat, A-Yu?”

“Mm!”

“And your basket?”

Lan Yu holds up the meal basket dangling from his arm, full of delicious home-made snacks from his A-Niang’s kitchen. “Xiao-Yu has the basket!”

A week after his fourth birthday, Xiao-Yu sets off on his very first errand.

It goes (mostly) as expected.

魂兮歸来！何遠為些 室家遂宗，食多方些 稻粢穱麥，挐黄梁些 大苦醎酸，辛甘行些 粔籹蜜餌，有餦餭些 瑶漿蜜勺，實羽觴些 挫糟凍飲，酎清凉些 華酌既陳，有琼漿些

O soul, come back! Why should you go so far away? All your household have come to do you honor; all kinds of good food are ready: Rice, broom-corn, early wheat, mixed all with yellow millet; Bitter, salty, sour, hot and sweet: there are dishes of all flavors. Fried honey-cakes of rice flour and malt-sugar sweetmeats; Jade-like wine, honey-flavored, fills the winged cups Ice-cooled liquor, strained of impurities, clear wine, cool and refreshing; Here are laid out the patterned ladles, and here is sparkling wine.

—from Zhao hun (招魂), The Songs of the South

____

“Do you have your hat, A-Yu?”

“Mm!”

“And your basket?”

Lan Yu holds up the meal basket dangling from his arm, full of delicious home-made snacks from his A-Niang’s kitchen. “Xiao-Yu has the basket!”

“Shoes?”

Xiao-Yu kicks up the hem of his short white gown, showing the toes of two tiny cloth boots as his A-Die secures his hat strings. “I have my shoes, too!”

He stands still while Papa inspects the rest of his outfit, making sure that his hair is brushed smooth and that his mo’e is straight, and then he smiles from ear to ear when his parents swoop down to kiss his chubby cheeks.

“Xiao-Yu will be careful,” Lan Yu declares, peering into the precious basket and wriggling with delight at the sight of the wrapped-up snacks tucked neatly inside. “I’ll be good all the way, and bring Shugong his lunch.”

Today is the day of Xiao-Yu’s first errand: now that his fourth birthday has come and gone, he’s finally old enough to begin helping his A-Die and Papa with their duties around the Cloud Recesses, and the first important duty that A-Die decided to delegate to him was the task of delivering a lunch basket to the meishi where his Lan-shugong lives.

“Shufu has been tired lately, so he would rather not go to the senior refectory to dine with the rest of the elders,” Papa explained at breakfast. “He could have his lunch delivered out, but the food from the sect kitchens does not help to build strength. Wei Ying will cook luncheon for all of us and set aside a portion for your Shugong, and you must climb up the stairs to the meishi and deliver it to him.”

A-Yu has never even been allowed up the stone staircase to the meishi without Yuan-gege or his father holding his hands, so he spent the morning of his fateful adventure in the kitchen, almost quivering with excitement as he watched A-Niang prepare their lunch. Today’s lunch is sure to be delicious, since A-Niang made sanxian doupi filled with green onions and sweet succulent shrimp, and fried mustard greens cooked with a sprinkle of sesame seeds—and there is even a pot of hearty vegetable soup, which Xiao-Yu was permitted to stir with an enormous wooden spoon almost longer than he is. Papa packed up the doupi in a clean waxed cloth, and wrapped Shugong’s serving of mustard greens with hot rice and lotus leaves, and A-Niang put the soup in a covered dish and bundled everything into Xiao-Yu’s little reed basket with three steaming honeycakes for Great-uncle’s dessert.

“Maybe I should take it,” Yuan-gege frets now, as Xiao-Yu hefts the basket and trots past the scrubbed wooden table where he, Jingyi-ge, and Qing-jiejie were doing their homework. “Isn’t that too heavy for you, A-Bao?”

“I’m not a baby anymore,” Lan Yu declares. “I can pull A-Die’s vegetable wagon all by myself, and now I’m going to climb up the big stair to Shugong!”

Yuan-gege whips around towards Papa, probably to ask whether someone so small should be climbing up that long, winding staircase all alone, but Xiao-Yu hums his favorite lullaby and continues on his way unperturbed. When he looks back on the threshold, Yuan-gege, Jingyi-ge, and A-Qing-jie have all gone away to study somewhere else; but Papa and A-Die are still there, and A-Yu blows them a kiss before jumping down the porch steps and setting off up the path that leads away from the jingshi.

“I’m a great adventurer, climbing a mountain,” he giggles to himself, as he trundles along the grassy track and passes the smaller, straighter footpath that goes to Uncle Xichen’s hanshi. The main Lan family lives along the slope of a hill, with Shugong’s house at the very top and the jingshi close to the bottom, and Uncle’s house is right in the middle; but the hill only gets steep past the hanshi, which is why Xiao-Yu is never allowed to climb above it alone. Or at least he never was until today, because now Xiao-Yu is big enough to help Papa and A-Die with all the important things they have to do as Excellency and Xinhua-jun, so he’ll get to the top of the hill in no time at all.

During most of his walks through the Cloud Recesses, Xiao-Yu stops to look at wildflowers and peer into fish ponds along the way; but Shugong is counting on him, so he turns away from all the tempting zhuge cai blossoms and plants his chubby little foot on the bottom-most stair, staring dizzily at the steep steps as they climb up, up, up before vanishing from view. He doesn’t have A-Niang’s hand to hang on to, to keep his balance, and it wouldn’t do him any good if he did—because A-Yu has to carry the lunch basket and take care not to spill the hot soup inside, and it takes both of his dimpled hands to keep the basket steady.

“Don’t worry, Shugong! I can do it!” Lan Yu exclaims, climbing up a few more steps before squeaking in alarm as the basket lurches to the side. Xiao-Yu stops and takes off the lid right away, dreading the sight of A-Die’s delicious soup splashed all over the honey cakes—but the tiny soup pot is still tightly closed and shows no signs of leaking, so he marches up the stairs as calmly as he can before coming to a halt again when he hears quiet footsteps behind him.

The hill is completely empty aside from shrubs, a few trees, and Xiao-Yu himself, so he frowns and walks for another minute or two before he spots a pair of footprints in the grass right beside the staircase. A-Yu keeps going this time, blinking curiously when the footprints keep pace with him all the way up the mountain: one set on his left, one on his right, and one on the stairs just six or seven steps below him. They must be friendly ghosts, who saw him by himself and decided to keep him company, but they would have made their presence known if they wanted Lan Yu to see that they were there—so he pretends not to notice them while he climbs the last several chi, putting one foot in front of the other until he struggles up to the top.

“I did it!” he cries, clutching the precious basket to his chest as the meishi comes into view. “Shugong, shugong, Xiao-Yu is here!”

The doors to the meishi slide open as if by magic, and then Great-uncle is there, and Xiao-Yu toddles towards him as fast as he can before offering up the lunch basket.

“A-Yu,” Great-uncle smiles, lifting Xiao-Yu into his arms. “How did you come up all this way alone, ah? You’re too small to walk so far alone.”

“Xiao-Yu was too small,” Lan Yu announces, bubbling like an overexcited teapot when his Shugong peers into the lunchbox and makes appreciative noises at the tasty meal inside. “But now I’m big, so I can bring you food from A-Niang and Papa when you’re not feeling well! Shugong, do you like it?”

Shugong hums low in his throat. “I can see...hm, is that doupi? And Wangji’s favorite honey cakes?”

“It’s A-Niang’s best doupi!” Xiao-Yu nearly glows with joy as Shugong carries him into the house and brings out the food, transferring it to a set of serving dishes with plum blossoms painted on them. He tastes one of the doupi squares first, closing his eyes as the flavor of shrimp and scallions hits his tongue, and Xiao-Yu grabs a stray chopstick and pokes the lid off the soup pot so that Shugong can smell how wonderful it is: light and rich and savory-sweet, with pieces of soft eggplant and red tomatoes floating on top.

“It tastes divine,” Great-uncle praises, unwrapping the lotus-leaf package that holds the rice and mustard greens. “If I eat another meal like this tomorrow, I might be able to run all the way from Gusu to Lanling without even stopping for breath.”

Xiao-Yu dances back down the mountain after that, so quickly that the friendly ghosts who accompanied him on the way up keep falling behind, and collapses into Papa’s arms in the jingshi with all the satisfaction of a job well done.

“Shugong will get all better now,” he sighs, snuggling into his father’s sandalwood-scented robes. “A-Niang’s food is magic.”

“Aiyah, Xiao-Yu,” A-Die teases, as Papa chuckles under his breath and hugs A-Yu a little tighter. “It’s not magic, sweetheart. But Uncle will eat well if he likes his food, and eggplant soup and honey cakes and greens are some of his favorite dishes.”

“Honey cakes are Xiao-Yu’s favorite, too!”

A-Die throws his head back and laughs, and Papa reaches for a honey cake and feeds it to Xiao-Yu piece by piece while he regales them with the story of his perilous trip up the mountain.

“It was so high up, and I got tired,” A-Yu says importantly, licking honey off his fingers. “And there were three nice ghosts with me, but I couldn’t give them a taste of the doupi because it was for Shugong.”

“Such well-mannered ghosts! Did they ask you for some of Shufu’s food?”

“Well…”

____

“There were ghosts on the hill when Xiao-Yu was on his way to the meishi?” Lan Jingyi squawks, peering around the jingshi’s kitchen door. “Where?”

A-Qing reaches up and deactivates her invisibility talisman before pinching Jingyi’s ear.

“Silly melon!” she hisses. “He must have seen our footprints in the grass. We were the ghosts, remember?”

“...Oh. Right.”

“Hush, both of you,” Lan Sizhui whispers, his heart swelling to nearly twice its size as A-Yu yawns and falls asleep right in Xian-ge’s lap. “We can’t let Yu’er know we were there, so hush and go along with him when he asks you to help him look for his ghosts, all right?”

(And with that, the three of them tiptoe away, leaving little Xiao-Yu to his dreams in the warmth of his parents’ arms.)

[kishillaa]

SSM21 Day 12: Favorite Food

They were 7.

Sakura hide behind her mother as she watched over a boy with his own mother at the fruit stall, buying what suppose to be tomatoes.

"That's not enough, Kaa-san." She heard him saying. His left cheek is puffed out as he took another tomato to put in his mother's bag.

The woman chuckled lightly, "Alright, Sasuke. Add a few more if you like." and then she adds, "Why don't you just be a normal kids and eat sweets like them?" She said as they paid and walk away. Sasuke didn't reply to his mother as he took out a tomato out of his mother's bag and bite a mouthful before he munched it, his expression was the mixture of satisfactory and content.

Sakura had blink a few times that day, and she thought Sasuke is interesting, because why does anyone like tomato.

-

They were 11

It was Valentine's Day, and Sakura's innocent crush to Sasuke has intensify.

The Valentine's Days year before that, she chose not care because every fangirls from their class or many more from other classes will come and hand him sugary gifts, most likely chocolates.

She noticed that he mostly ignore all of them, didn't even spare a glance as his eyes close, while he face forward, trying to act calm when Sakura had taken notice the twitching of his eyes everytime the bolder in the group speak up before shove him her gift.

Sakura feels pity of them, because she knew why. Sasuke Uchiha hates sweet.

So, when she was very sure that her crush for Sasuke is real and not just for a span of time, she planned to gift him something on Valentine's Day that year.

She woke up as early as she could that morning to pick up fresh tomatoes. She already pick up a nice looking medium size bento box that she had thoughtfully fill half of it with three onigiri–of which she noticed always his choice of food when he ate. She had also put lettuce at where she decided to put the tamotoes on for a little touch up.

Sakura walked in the breeze of the morning into the market, where she remembered seeing Sasuke and his mother bought tomatoes. When she arrived, she bought a few of round fresh looking tomatoes and a number of cherry tomatoes.

-

She was nervous as she peeked into the empty classroom only consisted of a lonely Uchiha. It was her first time giving anyone a gift on Valentine's Day and she only hope she was right with this.

Not delaying any further, she strode into the classroom and go straight towards Sasuke, afraid if she stagger for just one second she'll chicken out.

"Sasuke-kun." She said, her voice soft, embarrassed and slightly waver with nervousness.

One of his eyes open as he looks at her, "I'm not interested."

Sakura heave a determine sigh and squares her shoulder as she open the bento, "It's not something sweet, see." She show it to him.

"I know you don't like sweet, and I saw you shop at the market for tomatoes once. I also noticed that you often have onigiri, so I just assume you like them too."

Sasuke stares at the bento for a moment, slowly retrieve it from her.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sasuke-kun." Sakura bows a little, send him a small smile before she went off to sit at her usual seat in the front row, not even bother to look back at him as she afraid that he change his mind and give her back the bento box. Regardless, she feels so happy, because Sasuke had accepted her gift with not much of a fight.

When lunch time came by, she feels like she's over the moon when he pulls out her bento box and eat from it. He nodded at her once when he noticed her staring. And boy, was Sakura happy.

-

They are currently 12

Sakura decide that she has 2 other males addition in her life, that probably need to be treated as good as Sasuke-kun.

That's what make her bring two boxes of carefully wrapped box of chocolates, and Sasuke's special bento for Valentine's Day. And she was running late, very late because she has to run for an extra mile for Sasuke's tomatoes since the fruit stall she went the previous year had closed and she completely forgot about it, so didn't really think too much of that.

Panting rather heavily, she stares at Sasuke and then Naruto, "Sorry, I was running an errand." She said and lean on the railing of the bridge, while Naruto pastering about her that day tardiness.

"Why were you late, Sakura-chan? Where were you from? Are you okay? You look so red. Are you having a fever?"

"I'm fine. And I was running, Naruto so it's normal. Tch, shut up already." She said, hugging her packaging close to her chest.

"What is that?" Naruto asked, pointing on the packaging.

"It's nothing." she scoffed.

"Is it for us?"

"No."

"Aw, Sakura-chan."

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke snapped, rather annoyed by Naruto's loudness.

Sakura grins, and then smirk at Naruto for Sasuke's back up, not a back up really but teaming up against Naruto with Sasuke feels good.

"You're just jealous because Sakura-chan is talking to me."

Sasuke rolls his eyes at him and mumbles an idiot which enraged the blonde hair boy of team 7.

That was when a poof of smoke appear before them, "Calm down, boys."

Sakura sighs and then smile, "Good now, that you're all here." She open her pack and take out a few boxes. She gives one to Naruto and Kakashi each, and then shyly give the bento box to Sasuke.

She beams at the three of the boys while she stands before them, "Happy Valentine's Day!" She exclaimed. And then she half heartedly explain,

"I'm not sure if you like black, white or milk chocolate, Kakashi-sensei. But I hope you like that one." She said to her sensei.

"I know you like any food, Naruto. So," She waves at him, "Whatever." she ended.

She then bite her lips as she looks at Sasuke, "The stall you usually went to buy your tomatoes closed today, Sasuke-kun. So I make do with the other from other places. I hope its still as good as you'd like."

When none of her teammate say anything, Sakura chuckles nervously, "Don't think too much about it. I was getting Sasuke-kun something for Valentine's day. It would be rude of me to not get you two anything."

Naruto lunged himself to Sakura, eyes tearing up shouting a repetitive "Thank yous"

"You, baka!" Sakura shouted and push him away hard from her.

Kakashi gives her his one eye close smile as gratitude, before she beamed in response.

-

When she got home that day, she was greeted by a neatly packed syrup coated dango, umebushi and anmitsu, most definitely her favorite. There wasn't any notes or signature of whom its from, but the woody musk and strong burnt smell is enough for her to know who it was from, or rather who own those scent. She couldn't be more happier as she take her time eating all of it, gleefully squeal occasionally.

[jihyuncompass]

Unexpected Changes

It’s time for a very special fic for a very special boy who lives in my head and my heart. Happy birthday Shawty I love you <3

I want to give a very very special thanks to my wonderful friend @otherlandshark​ for giving me this idea, your mind never ceases to amaze me and I love you so very much. 

I would also love to give thanks to everyone who has encouraged me or helped me with this fic. There’s several of you, some of which aren’t on here. But thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. 

Summary: You decide to surprise Shaw for his birthday, but some unexpected events get in the way. 

Shaw x MC

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Some cursing, adult jokes. 

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

Leaning forward you squinted at the calendar in front of you checking it, you confirmed the date, June 21st. The date was circled in a red pen, the little box for the date had Shaw’s B-day!!!!! Written in the same red felt pen. You smiled to yourself as you reached out to your phone left face down on the table beside you. 

You’d half expected a text from Shaw already, after all he usually was the one to text you first. Yet when you checked your notifications you didn’t see anything from him. You sat down at the kitchen table, considering if you should text him first, maybe he was sleeping in today, his finals should be done by now so maybe he was taking a day to rest. Even if that didn’t really sound like Shaw’s style. 

As it turns out, you didn’t have to wait too long to decide if you should text him or not. Your phone screen lit up with a text message, the contact image of a young lavender haired man. 

Shaw: Do you remember what today is?

MC: Oh I know this one!

MC: It’s monday!

Shaw:....

Shaw: Care to try again? 

MC: Ah fine, it’s the 21st of June!

Shaw: You’re not wrong, but do you know what else it is? 

MC: Hmmmmm 

Shaw: Hm?

You knew very well that Shaw’s birthday was today, but still you wanted to tease him a little bit. Maybe just to get back at him a little bit for his usual rounds of teasing you. 

MC: Maybe you should remind me what today is, since it seems I don’t know

Shaw: Or, how about we meet up? 

Shaw: With my finals I’ve haven't had the time to entertain you 

MC: Oh today? I’m not sure if I have the time…

Shaw: You can’t be that busy can you? 

MC: Shaw it’s Monday! I have a job you know 

MC: Buuuuut 

MC: It is a bit slow today, perhaps I could take the day off. 

Shaw: Meet me at the park.  Don’t be late. 

MC: Hey!!! I should be telling YOU that!!!! 

Putting your phone back down on the table you quickly rose from your seat. You had preemptively taken the day off, preparing for today weeks ago. Today was not only his birthday, but also right after his final exams for school. Both events in your eyes were worthy of a celebration. 

First, you got yourself dressed and ready, putting on the carefully chosen ensemble, an outfit more in line with Shaw’s personal style than your own, but one you knew he’d appreciate seeing you in. 

You pulled out the large picnic basket from your closet, putting it down on the table while you opened your fridge door to grab the neatly packaged and wrapped food you’d spent the night before putting together. Once you finished your personal game of picnic basket tetris you carefully snuck in a picnic blanket on top. 

The last step was the gift wrapped box sitting on the other side of your dining table, the gift was wrapped with the shark wrapping paper you’d special ordered on a whim the week beforehand. You slipped the box into your bag, trying to keep it at least a little bit hidden from view. You slipped on your shoes as you held your bag in one arm and the picnic basket in the crook of your elbow. 

The bright blue sky was the first thing you noticed when you stepped outside. The warm new summer air swaying the newly bloomed flowers on your path. The summer breeze was just warm enough that you felt a bead of sweat appear on your brow as you walked to the park you had arranged to meet at. 

Since the weather was so warm for the first time in what seemed like forever it looked like everyone in the city was outside today. Families walked into ice cream shops, groups of friends wandered into stores and restaurants. Couples holding hands walking down the sidewalk hand in hand. 

The park wasn’t any less busy, it took several rounds walking along the park to find the perfect spot to get yourself set up, after walking the perimeter for a while you found a good spot you could get yourself situated. 

Your phone rang just as you finished pulling out the last items from your picnic basket. Once the items were set down you reached out and quickly answered your phone without even really checking the caller ID. 

“Hello?”

“I’m almost there, where are you?” Shaw asked on the other end. 

“I’m sitting under one of the trees, just walk around I’ll wave when I see you” 

Shaw sighed on the other end. “You can’t just find me?” 

“Nope! You have to find me. I’m not moving.” Shaw dramatically sighed. “Just come find me. Trust me it’ll be worth it.” 

“Alright,” Shaw said. “I’ll find you, I can see the park now. Be ready.” He hung up the phone just a moment after that. 

Your eyes swept around the park looking for him. You looked for that familiar lavender hair or that patented leather jacket he seemed so very fond of. Still, it was hard to see through all the crowds of people, the way they crowded up the paths and sidewalks and made it even harder to see anyone specific. 

Once you saw that lavender hair sticking out of the crowd your hand was raised in the air, waving wildly to try and grab his attention, and as some of the people thinned out you could clearly see Shaw walking down the sidewalk, his eyes also looking around the park to try and find you. 

After waving your hands for a few more moments, Shaw's eyes met yours, a spark of recognition crossing his face, and then, his facial expression slowly changing as he noticed where you were sitting, and the assortment of food that you had put around yourself. All for him. 

He stopped just a few steps away from you, you could tell that he was trying to hide his exact facial expression. Trying to hide it with his classic cool and unbothered face, but his eyes didn't lie, and the way they seemed to be sparkling. 

"What's this?" Shaw asked as he looked down at the set up. You smiled and motioned to the blanket you had spread out on the ground. 

"Happy birthday Shaw." You said, his eyes looked like they were glowing. His pupils wide as he took it all in. His mouth was slightly open, like he couldn't quite believe what it was that he was seeing in front of him. "What are you doing just standing there! Come on, sit down." 

After a half a moment of him staring he sat down on the other end of the blanket. He still wasn't saying much, almost uncharacteristically quiet. 

"What do you think? I tried to make some things I know you like. It's no hotpot but I couldn't quite figure out how we could do hotpot in the park, but since the weather is so nice I figured that a picnic would be nice!" 

Shaw looked at you, and in the moment that he was staring at you it was like an instant change. He cleared his throat and let his usual cool and collected expression return to his face, looking cool, calm, and collected like he had been expecting this the whole entire time. 

“It doesn’t look too bad.” He finally said. You smiled at him, a comment like that from Shaw was quite the compliment. “You did all this?”

You nodded. “Yeah I made all this last night and this morning.” You handed him a can of coke and a can of pepsi, his two favorites. “Consider this a double celebration, we’re celebrating your birthday and you finishing your finals.” Shaw looked up and down at the picnic food on the blanket and you sitting on the other end of the blanket. 

Shaw’s usual smirk reappeared on his face as he popped the tab open on the can of coke, taking a long sip. “I suppose I can admit you made an okay show of pretending to forget today.” 

“I would never forget!” You said, “I’ve had the date written down on my calendar ever since I found out when your birthday was.” 

Shaw’s face was unreadable, he hid his expression by sipping on his soda. Trying to keep his face away from you, as if by looking at you it would reveal something he wasn’t ready for you to see yet. 

Maybe you would have asked if he was okay, or try to say something to make him face you again. But before you could do anything about that thought your attention was broken by the raindrops that fell right on top of your head. 

The rain started to fall faster, dark rain clouds overtaking the whole no-longer blue sky. You looked up at the sky, as the raindrops started falling faster and harder. Within seconds it was pouring down rain on the once warm soil. 

It seemed to take Shaw a bit longer to notice the rain that was soaking his hair and clothes. Once he noticed his eyes went upwards to look up at the now darkened sky. 

Although he didn't say it, and neither did you, you had a very good feeling that you knew what had caused this sudden rainstorm. 

Looking around the park, the once happy families and couples were packing up their things, running for shelter or to their cars, no one seemingly prepared for any kind of sudden rain. Even you, who should have prepared for this possibility, hadn't even considered the idea that it could rain. Especially with the person you were with. 

"Shit, the food!" You quickly tried to repackage and rewrap the food you'd brought, trying to keep it from getting wetter and ruined. 

"It's just a little rain" Shaw said looking up at the sky, he must have known the rain's origin. There's no way that he couldn't have known what caused this. 

“I would say it’s a little more than a little rain!” You tried to shove them back into the basket. "Also I don't want all this food getting wet and soggy." You pushed back some of your wet hair as the raindrops ran down your face and neck. 

Quickly you put all the food back into the basket, and motioned for Shaw to stand up, the blanket below you was already soaked, and the mud started to stick to the other side. You bit your lip and you tried to fold it up the best you could. 

“Did you bring an umbrella?” You asked him, Shaw shook his head. 

“Didn’t think it would rain.” You glared at him. “What?”

“You don’t just keep one on you in case of sudden rain? That seems to happen a lot around you.” You hugged yourself to try and keep warm as the rain soaked your clothes. 

“I didn’t think I’d need it.” Shaw said. “Besides, it’s June.” You resisted the urge to remind him that not only does it rain in June but the time of year doesn’t seem to matter when you have an Evolver who makes it rain whenever he’s in a good mood. 

Trying to hide from the rain under the tree you held the picnic basket close. “How about we go back to my place, we can eat there.” Shaw picked up your other bag, the one with his present hidden in it, biting your tongue you tried not to make clear that you didn’t want him seeing the contents just yet. But he didn’t try to look. 

“Here.” Shaw shedded his jacket and handed it over to you. You took the jacket, wrapping it around your shoulders, the arms a little too long and the jacket not quite fitting, but it was comfortable, and you could feel the lingering warmth from his body heat on it. 

“I’ll follow your lead.” Shaw said casually, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

Looking out to the rest of the now deserted park you mentally mapped the quickest way home, the two of you would be soaked, no doubt, but at least you could get back. 

Together you took off into the rain, trying to walk beneath any kind of cover you both could find on the way back. You held Shaw’s jacket close, as you did the scent of peppermint and light cologne was easy to pick up, an almost comforting smell. 

Throwing open the door to your apartment building you both breathed a sigh of relief when you were out of the rain, so filled with relief it took a few moments to realize something wasn’t right. 

“Someone turned off the lights.” You commented looking at the dark lobby. Shaw punched the up button on the elevator, to no avail. No elevator sounds, no lighting up on the button. 

“The power’s out.” He said, pushing wet hair out of his eyes. “Probably the heavy rain.” 

You withheld the groan growing in your throat. “Seriously?” You tried the elevator button 

yourself, with no better result. 

Shaw didn't seem nearly as bothered as you did, or at least he pretended like he wasn't bothered. He looked to the door leading to the stairs up. 

"Come on. I won’t carry you up the stairs." Shaw said, pushing open the door. 

You followed up, slowly trudging up the long stairwell, your socks squelching uncomfortably in your shoes. Your hair dripping with the rain, Shaw's jacket being the only thing giving you the smallest bit of comfort at the moment. 

The two of you eventually made it up to your floor, and down your hallway to your door. You couldn't waste any time with sticking in your key and getting through the door. 

Your apartment was dark, just like the lobby, no lights on, not even the stove or oven. The apartment was completely dark beyond the small amount of light coming in through the window, and completely silent without the hum of the fridge or your computer. 

You set the picnic basket down on the table, rushing to the bathroom to grab towels. Grabbing the biggest towels you had in your cupboard. Tossing one to Shaw and using your own to dry your face and hair first. 

"I'm gonna change clothes." You told him. Then looked him up and down. “I’d offer you some of mine but I’m not sure they’ll fit.”  You racked your brain, there must be something you could offer him. “I could ask my neighbor, he’s a little shorter than you but maybe-” 

Shaw shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“But-”

“I’m not that wet.” Shaw said as he dried off his hair, the lavender strands still damp when he pulled the towel away. Shaw looked you up and down, that mischievous look reappearing in his gaze “You on the other hand-” He said with that tone that could have suggested anything. 

“Shaw!” You said as your cheeks flushed red. His smirk intensified at your flustered face, and you did your best to reel it in. After all that was the reaction he was hoping for. You huffed and pulled out a set of clean clothes from your closet. 

You left him in the living room while you changed clothes, drying your hair further in the darkness of the bathroom. You probably should have predicted a result like this, but it was too late to go back now. 

In dry clothes and sufficiently put back together you ventured back into the living room. Shaw stood with his shirt in his hands as he set it on your clothes drying rack in the corner of your apartment. 

Although his back was turned to you, you quickly averted your gaze from him as the flush returned to your face. You kept your eyes on the ground as you put away your other damp clothes to be washed and dried once the power was back.

“Oi.” Shaw said, You kept yourself from looking directly at him. “Why are you staring at the floor like that? Did you break your neck putting on a shirt?” Your face turned an even brighter red color as he spoke. 

“I-” You turned your head away. “I’m just thinking.” You tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. Maybe so he wouldn’t try and pull an even more embarrassed reaction out of you. 

Shaw’s slit brow raised up, his classic playful expression returning in full force. “What could you possibly be thinking about?” He said, walking towards you. Still feeling too flustered to look at him, you grabbed the throw blanket from the couch and tossed it at him. 

“You’re probably cold right? There’s no heating right now so you must be freezing.” Your words came out faster and maybe a little more jumped than you’d typically like. Watching him out of the corner of your eye he unfolded the blanket and placed it over his bare shoulders, relieving a little bit of your embarrassment. 

The picnic basket still left on the table caught your eyes once you felt calm again. The basket was still a bit wet, raindrops clinging to the top and sides of the basket. The bag with Shaw’s present is also just as damp. Glancing from the picnic basket to the blanket around Shaw’s shoulders, an idea formed in your head. 

“What’s going on in your head?” Shaw asked, poking your arm playfully. 

You smiled and looked at him. “The rain ruined my original plan but, I think I know what we can do to still celebrate.” You picked up one of the other throw blankets on the couch, and unfolded it and spread it on the living room floor. 

Shaw caught onto your plan pretty quickly, you handed him the picnic basket and pointed to the blanket. “You get this all set up, I’m going to go and find some candles so we can have a little bit of light.” 

You arranged your candles and flashlights around the blanket so there was at least some light overlooking your picnic food, even if some of the items had become slightly soggy from the rain. 

“Nice atmosphere.” Shaw joked. 

You rolled your eyes at him. “We can always eat in the dark.” 

“Nah.” Shaw said as he took a bite of the sandwich you’d made. “The dark is for other things.” He gave you a suggestive look as he said that, making your face turn red again. 

“Don’t be gross!” 

Shaw’s suggestive smirk only intensified. “I saw how embarrassed you were when you came out here. I know what I look like. You can-”

“Shaw stop it!” You said louder, trying to hide your flustered expression in the shadows left by the candles and flashlights. “I don’t care if it’s your birthday, I will make you go back out in the rain.” 

Shaw’s expression changed, but you still saw that mischievous spark, although that was just a regular feature of Shaw’s face. “You sure do get embarrassed easily.” He said as he took another bite. You ignored his comment, not interested in humoring his dirty mind further. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t have other plans today.” You said, looking up at Shaw. “I figured you’d go to Live House or hang out with the band.” 

Shaw shrugged. “Birthdays aren’t that big of a deal.” He said, sipping on the new can of cola you’d gotten him. “Besides, I knew you had something planned.” 

“Wait, how did you know?” 

“You’re not very good at surprises.” Shaw set the can of cola down as he picked at the side dishes. “I will give you one thing though, I wasn’t expecting this.” 

A smile broke across your face. “Do you like it?” 

Shaw looked back up at you. “It’s alright, you didn’t do too bad.” 

“Well,” you sat up straighter and leaned for the closed bakery box you’d set next to the picnic basket. “I still have a few surprises left in me.” You set the bakery box between you. Shaw’s expression changed as you opened up the top. Revealing the birthday cake you’d gotten for him. A simple cake frosted in blue with a dorky looking shark frosted onto the top, Happy Birthday Shaw! Written in black frosting below it. 

Shaw’s face shifted through a variety of emotions in a few seconds, at first confusion, surprise, and then he started laughing. Covering his mouth as he laughed. 

“What is that?” Shaw said between laughter. “It looks so childish.” 

You huffed, “It’s what the bakery had! And I figured you wouldn’t want a boring cake!”

Shaw managed to get his laughter under control as he looked at the cake again. “Let’s hope it tastes good for your sake.” He said, handing him a fork you both dug into the cake, not even bothering to slice it. 

The cake was sweet, and thankfully unaffected by the rainstorm, the cake flavor was fairly basic but the sweetness was enough to make it good. Shaw also seemed pleased with the flavor, taking bite after bite of the cake without complaint. 

Once the two of you had pretty much eaten the entire frosted shark you both considered that more than enough cake for the two of you. Now, it was time for your final surprise. 

Shaw was still focused on the cake when you pulled out the two gift wrapped packages, holding them out for him. 

“Your final surprise of the day, I promise.” 

Shaw took the two boxes, setting one down and unwrapping the other. You watched him intently as he ripped away the wrapping paper. 

A slight surprised noise came from Shaw as he looked at his gift. “A children’s fossil dig kit?” He held the box in his hands, the front showing two children digging in the play sand for plastic fossils. He gave you a bizarre look. 

“I thought it’d be fun! Little field work practice.” 

“It’s for children.” Shaw said. “Do I look like a child?” 

You reached for the toy. “If you don’t want it I’ll just return it then-”

Shaw pulled the box away. “Nuh uh, you don’t get to take a gift back. This is mine.” Shaw set the box down beside him, out of your grasp. You settled back where you sat, even if he wouldn’t say it, you knew he did like the gift. He picked up the second item, much smaller than the first, barely bigger than a stack of envelopes. 

Tearing the wrapping paper away, once again he seemed a bit confused by the gift in his hands. A stack of notecards, hole punched and held together by a binder ring. Each one with slightly different writing on it. 

“This is?” Shaw asked you, giving you a look. 

“It’s a coupon book, for my time and for favors. If you want to drag me along to a concert or an antique fair, you can use those, and I can’t say no.” 

“And I can use these for any kind of favor?” 

You nodded. “Yep! Anything at all.” 

Shaw looked back at the coupon book and then at you. A particular look in his eye. As he looked at you, you watched as the blanket that had been around his shoulders started to fall. 

Opening the binder ring he handed you one of the notecard coupons. “I’m using one right now, my first request.” Shaw scooted closer to you, so close you could feel the body heat radiating from his bare torso. “I want you to spend every one of my birthdays with me.” 

“Every single one?”

Shaw nodded. “Every single one.” Your eyes were locked together, your wide eyes against his slightly troublesome gaze. Still you weren’t worried about what was going on in his head. Beyond that troublesome gaze, there was also the softness in his face, the way he looked perfectly calm, and perfectly happy. “I think I have another idea for a coupon to use right now.” 

Smiling gently at him, you reached out to hold his hand, not breaking eye contact for a second. 

“I think I’ll let this one be a freebie.” 

Shaw leaned closer, until your foreheads were practically pressed together. 

“Perfect.” He whispered, closing the small gap between you. His soft lips pressed against yours he pulled away just a centimeter after one long kiss.

“This, I think, is the best gift I’ve gotten all day.”

[thatmultifandomhoe]

Knitting You a Home - 2

Pairing: Wolf Hybrid Namjoon and Human Reader

Word Count: 3k

Genre/Rating: Hybrid AU - Established Relationship - Angst - Fluff - Smut - PG-13

Overview: Things have changed for you and Namjoon. It’s been a year since the two of you got together, and despite a rocky start, it was impossible to deny the bond and love you shared for each other. But ever since Hoseok had been separated from his Mate, Namjoon has been withdrawing himself from you and doesn’t come home until late at night.

With questions far larger than either of you imagined, you can’t help but wonder if he’s let his past and old fears come back to haunt him. You had shown him that it was possible to have a home and be loved once before, but will you be able to do it again?

Warning: None.

Playlist:

Main Master List:

Knitting You a Home Master List:

Mated Love is Never Easy Master List:

Sneak Peak - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - ?

©thatmultifandomhoe Do not repost, translate, or use my stories without permission.

June 2019

The ringing of the overhead bell captured your attention, whisking you out of your memories. With a forced smile, you looked up from where you pricing the bamboo knitting needles to greet the customers.

You recognized the two women as regulars who frequently came to your shop for supplies or to add to their yarn addiction. “Hi Carol, hey Tammy, how are you ladies today?”

“Doing fine,” Tammy answered. Carol disappeared to the back of the store where the larger displays of yarn were kept. Yup. Adding to their yarn addiction was on the menu for them today. “Is your grandmother here?”

Chuckling, you added another package of needles to the wire basket you had sitting on the stool next to you. “In the back fawning over the Mongolian Cashmere yarn.”

“Are you talking about the Jade Sapphire brand of Mongolian Cashmere?” Tammy’s eyes widened, leaning closer to you as she held onto the counter.

With a serious nod, you fought back the urge to smile. “The very one.”

“What colors?”

“Moonstone, Red Light District, Ivory, Perugia, and Umbrian Sky.”

Tammy gasped, her hand coming up to clutch her chest. “You only had three colors last time.”

It never ceased to amaze you how die hard some of the women who came into the shop were for the yarn, especially the luxury yarn that you sold. The conversation didn’t last much longer, and it was with a smile that you watched Tammy scurry her way to Carol and whisper in her ear, the two of them high tailing to go find your Grandmother.

While you had your own love and passion for the age-old hobby of knitting – so much that you went into business with your Grandmother to open your own shop, Second Gen Knitters – you weren’t about to go spending fifty dollars on a single hank of yarn. Not only would your bank account cry, but Namjoon would most likely choke on whatever you fed him in an attempt to break the news.

Sighing, you stuck a label on another pair of needles, taking a moment to look around the store. The teal carpet stood out from the hardwood floor, and the mahogany bookcases that lined the walls gleamed from being dusted earlier that morning. On a large square table in the middle of the front room were wicker baskets displaying smaller hanks of colorful sock yarn, and a decorative black wrought iron stand that stood out among the bright colors, held up a sign you had painstakingly painted to display the prices.

In the corner to the left near the windows, was a sitting area with matching teal couches and chair along with a mini coffee table. A various group of knitting, country lifestyle, and People magazines were neatly spread out, completely ignored by the group of husbands that sat there on their phones, letting their wives go about and shop.

It always amused you when a couple would enter the shop and after only a few moments the husband would hightail it to the sitting area, leaving the wife completely unsurprised.

Namjoon never outright said anything, but every time he saw that area filled and he was in the shop, he made a habit of making faces in their direction to amuse you. Whenever you went on your own knitting shopping spree, he would join you and help to make decisions if you were stuck between colors or how many you needed to complete a project. Especially when what was being made was for him, he was there to give his input on colors and textures.

The summer weather made it too warm for the scarves and sweaters that Namjoon loved to wear, but it was perfect to sit down and knit away so he’d be able to wear them in the fall.

As much as you loved him, these last few weeks had your mind spinning with his strange behavior. When Hoseok’s life had gotten turned upside down, Namjoon had become extra protective of you. While the possibility of what happened between Hoseok and his mate would happen to Namjoon and you were highly unlikely, the instinct for him to be there and watch over you was too strong for him to suppress.

You hadn’t minded it, especially when his physical affection increased greatly. But it’d be a lie to say that you weren’t affected by what happened, even if you were barely involved in the situation. It was one of those things that buried itself deep in your mind, forcing you to think about it even when you didn’t want to.

It was different for the two of you though. You weren’t just his Mate, but it was your name written on his Adoption papers.

Life had begun to go back to normal when Hoseok and Sarah were finally reunited, but then they dropped another bomb. Hoseok had signed a contract with a dance company in Seoul and at the end of the month, he was leaving for a year to tour with a professional team made up of elite dancers from all around the world. While you had been stunned by the announcement and how long he was to be gone for, you were ecstatic for your friend to pursue his dreams.

But then, Namjoon changed again.

As the days inched closer to Hoseok’s departure, Namjoon had grown quieter, and surprisingly, withdrawn. The extra affection had declined along with his usual amount. While he was naturally a quiet person, he always managed to start up a conversation and keep it going for hours, but something had flipped inside him and he was barely able to keep one going. Now it was you who was randomly hugging him while out in public or crawling between his legs when you saw him reading on the couch. He never turned your affection down, but he wasn’t seeking it out either.

The bell rang out again, but you didn’t look up as you were in the middle of counting how many needles you already had labeled. If the goal number was met, then you’d be able to put the rest back in the storage room for now.

“Hey Angel.”

The corner of your mouth curled up at the soft and familiar voice calling out his pet name for you, abruptly dropping the needles back into the basket to turn and face him.

Namjoon raised an eyebrow as he looked at the basket, a teasing grin appearing as he leaned against the counter. “Isn’t that important?”

“Not as important as you,” you sweetly answered, smiling as you watched Namjoon duck his head. It was absolutely cheesy, but it worked like magic to make him happy.

“Shut up,” he murmured, handing you a coffee before taking a sip out of his own.

Grateful for the caffeine, you tapped the white recycled cup that’s only design was the black lettering that spelt out, Kim Seokjin’s Café in cursive. “I thought you had work today?”

“Lunch break,” Namjoon answered, his ears twitching as he glanced around the shop. “I thought you might want a cup, and the bus stop just happens to be conveniently near your store.”

You hummed in agreement, leaning back to look in the direction of where your Grandmother was. Well, in the direction that you heard her voice coming from. Even from the front, you were able to hear her explaining how to do a cable stitch to someone.

“How’s your day been though?” You asked, gesturing for him to come around the counter with you. At least his little visits hadn’t stopped. They were a habit he started not long after moving in with you and when he saw how much you looked forward to them, made it a point to come by when he was able to during the day.

He held onto his cup a little tighter, not wanting to spill a single drop as he maneuvered his way around the counter. The space was small and even as you moved the wire basket and stool out of his way, he didn’t seem to relax until he set his cup on the counter. “Good. We’re working with a rapper this time. He’s really hands on with the album, which is amazing considering the last artist we--”

“Oh, Namjoon!” your Grandmother called out.

Teasingly rolling your eyes, you grinned as she came out from the back, her glasses on the bridge of her nose when she held her arms out to bring Namjoon in for a hug, despite the fact that he was easily a foot and a half taller than her.

“Hey Ma, how are you?”

“I’m good sweetheart.”

Without even looking, you were willing to bet that his dimples were showing. Grandmother just had a certain way about her that made it impossible for anyone to not be happy around her.

You leaned backwards against his Namjoon’s chest out of habit when he came back, feeling the gentle vibrations coming from him as he wrapped his arms around your waist in a loose hug. The gesture, while small, had you relaxing even more so. This was the majority of any affection the two of you had been sharing lately.

The moment would have been more enjoyable had you paid attention to the conversation that your Grandmother was having with Namjoon, but you had glanced around the store out of habit. You didn’t want anyone to feel ignored in case they had a question about a product, needed assistance with a project, or simply was ready to check out.

She was looking at the sock yarn at the table across from the counter. An older woman with a wire basket resting on her elbow. It was with experienced eyes that you noticed two of the Jade Sapphira hands sitting in there, and in her hands was some blue sock yarn, but she wasn’t looking at that. Matter of fact, her gaze was focused on you, but it was too low to be an attempt to capture your attention.

To someone who didn’t understand anything about Hybrids, the scar on your neck appeared to be the result of a painful accident. In reality, it was the exact opposite. The scar was your Mate Mark, the very one that you treasured when Namjoon had given it to you almost a year ago, sealing the bond between you as Mates for the rest of your lives.

The old woman stared at the Mate Mark, her gaze flicking towards Namjoon to see the wolf ears on top of his head, then down to his tail that was carefully wagging behind him.

“I’m sorry ma’am,” Grandmother suddenly spoke, stealing your attention as she walked towards the woman who had been staring. “But I couldn’t help but notice you’d been looking at this young man, and while my son-in-law is not for sale, we do have some great patterns in the back that have almost as equally handsome young male models on them.”

Your heart nearly stopped as she led the old woman away and to the back, internally dying at her antics but grateful for them at the same time. Embarrassment had your cheeks feeling warm, and with Namjoon’s body shaking from holding back his laughter, you covered your face with your hands when the women were out of sight.

With the exception of the chuckles slipping out, he was quiet as he tightened his arms around you, leaning down to gently kiss at your Mate Mark. While you had only been able to see her stares, Namjoon had been able to sense the woman’s distaste the second she saw him hugging you.

“She’s a closed-minded old woman,” he softly murmured in your ear, hoping to ease your hands away from your face. “Who is currently having to deal with an upset Ma right now, and I think that’s punishment enough.”

Like always, your skin tingled each time he kissed the mark, the sensation coursing throughout your body even after you lowered your hands. “That doesn’t mean I like her,” you muttered.

Namjoon simply chuckled, settling for kissing your neck again. Normally, you would have let him have his fun before teasing him to stop, reasoning that you were at work and the last thing you wanted to do was make anyone uncomfortable with all the affection. But you didn’t stop him this time. This was perhaps the most affection that he had given out since Hoseok’s career announcement, and you weren’t the one having to initiate it.

“I’ve missed you,” you whispered, sliding your hands over his until you were hugging his arms. It had felt like forever since you last shared such a sweet moment with Namjoon. All you wanted was to make it last, because if tonight was anything like it has been for last several weeks, he wouldn’t be home before midnight again.

Despite your silent wishes, Namjoon lifted his head and kissed your cheek once before resting his chin on top of your head.

“I know,” he softly murmured back, his arms wrapping around you further in an attempt to bring you closer. “I miss you too.”

Your heart dropped however, and you stared at the packaging of the knitting needles you had been counting, wishing that it didn’t feel like there was sea separating you from Namjoon these days.

“Will you be late coming home again?”

He closed his eyes, signing as he kissed the side of your head. Able to sense you true feelings, he knew that you already had the answer. “I’m sorry Angel.”

Pressing your lips together, you gently squeezed his hand. “Will Yoongi be there?”

“Yoongi practically lives there,” he joked, kissing your mark once more before finally pulling back. “I should get going, the bus will be here soon.”

His hand slid down to your lower back before disappearing completely as he walked around the counter, leaving you feeling cold and alone.

It was reassuring to know that Yoongi was going to be with him, but with all the hours he’s been spending at work, it was becoming impossible to recall the times that he was at home. Most nights he was only getting home after you crawled into bed, and having gotten used to Namjoon hugging you to his chest while the two of you slept, sleeping without him wasn’t easy. A majority of the time you found yourself playing on your phone for an hour or so before ditching it in an attempt to get some sleep, but then you’d be woken up at the touch of his arms sliding around your body as he slipped under the covers with a kiss to your neck, coaxing you back to sleep.

Stolen moments and gentle kisses were the most romantic the two of you were getting these days.

As much as you loved them, it all reminded you of the early days of your relationship, and as he withdrew in on himself, you couldn’t help but wonder if it had to do with you. Had the relationship become too much of a routine? Were you becoming predictable? Was he no longer attracted to you?

Like she knew that she was needed, Grandmother once again came back to the front, this time without the old woman following her. “Heading back out Namjoon?”

Namjoon nodded as he leaned down to give her a hug, his arms carefully wrapping around your Grandmother like he thought she was fragile and was afraid that he’d break her. Which wasn’t unrealistic, considering all the dishes that he’s broken in the last year.

“Yes, I need to catch the bus to get back to work.”

“You need to get yourself a driver’s license hun,” Grandma teased, rubbing Namjoon’s back before tilting her head to kiss his cheek.

As they parted from their hug, you smiled at seeing the light blush on his cheeks for a brief moment, any worries disappearing for the time being.

“I like taking the bus Ma,” Namjoon teased, pulling out of her embrace to lean against the counter for a moment. “It’s relaxing and lets me clear my thoughts.”

“You can clear your thoughts at home you know,” Grandma pointed out, her eyes crinkling at the corner. “I’m not getting any younger, and to be able to hold my great-grandbabies is a dream I want to see come true.”

Once again you felt your cheeks heating up, the sound of her laughter echoing as she left the two of you alone again. Ever since you told her that you were Namjoon’s Mate, she made sure to hint around about grandkids whenever the moment struck her.

“I love her I do…” Namjoon murmured, reaching his hand out for yours to hold.

“But she drives us nuts.” You supplied, smiling up at him.

He nodded, his own embarrassed smile appearing to be permanent while displaying his dimples for you. “Okay, I really have to get going or I’ll be late. I love you Angel.”

Your smile softened as he held your hand to his lips, his fingers squeezing your palm quickly. “I love you too Namjoon.”

He didn’t stay much longer, his tail wagging as he walked out the door and shortly out of your sight, his departure forcing you to get back to work, and allowing your worry to come back to the forefront of your mind. This time free to do so since Namjoon wasn’t around to sense your emotions.

It was proven time after time that Hybrids only had one true Mate in their lives, and once couples completed the bond, they weren’t able to have any romantic feelings towards anyone else. Which was why you were struggling to understand these changes with Namjoon.

Reaching up, you touched the Mate Mark, recalling all the moments when Namjoon had been the one to pull you back to bed, to cuddle you for five extra minutes because he had missed you. It was stupid to doubt his love for you, but you couldn’t help it.

There had to be a reason for why he was so distant again. For why he was barely being affectionate these days. Was it because these long nights that he spent at work with Yoongi, were with someone else? That he was enjoying the warm embrace of another before coming home? The idea was far-fetched, and you began doubting it a second later like always, but what were you supposed to think?

“Oh Joonie,” you sighed, seeing that he had left behind his coffee cup.

It was too late to try and rush out to bring it to him, so you tossed it into the trash with a thump, feeling like you were grasping at straws at this point. When you had done researched on what it meant to be Mates, never once did you come across a point where there was a possibility that the couples separated. It wasn’t even a consideration.

But now…you weren’t sure what to think.

[imaginingmultifandom]

Ugly Sweaters (12 Days of Christmas)

Fred Weasley x Reader

Summary: Your boyfriend Fred Weasley questions how hard it can possibly be to knit Christmas sweaters like his mother does. A playful competition between him and you ensues, and neither of you want to lose this bet. 

A/N: This is the Second Day of 12 Days of Christmas

Prompt →  Ugly sweaters

It was quite early this morning at the Burrow, and you still felt rather sleepy as you sat at the table having breakfast with your boyfriend Fred. It was the day before Christmas, and it certainly wasn't time for any gifts yet. Still, Molly came over to you with a neatly wrapped gift in her hands as soon as she spotted you.

"Oh Y/N, I'm glad you're both awake already. I thought it would be good to give this to you early so you could wear it in this cold," She handed you the package with a smile, and you opened it gratefully.

"Thank you, Molly," You grinned whole-heartedly at the woman in front of you as soon as you had opened it, holding up the knitted sweater with your initial on it that she had just gifted you, "It's so beautiful. But you really shouldn't have-"

"You're welcome, dear." Molly interrupted you gently, "You're part of the family now, of course I made you one too."

"Thanks so much," You had only been in a relationship with Fred since the beginning of the year, so the fact that she already welcomed you into the family meant a lot to you, "I'm sure it must have been a lot of effort."

"It's really not, Mum uses a charm to knit most of these sweaters-" Fred interrupted your conversation rudely, munching on his breakfast in between words.

"I'm sure it's still a lot of work," You interjected, and Molly backed you up in front of her son.

"Fred Weasley- I don't think I've taught you to be this rude to your mother," She scolded him, but Fred only grinned at her, "If you think it's that easy, why don't you try and make them next Christmas? For the whole family, of course-"

"Why wait till next year?" Fred prompted, seemingly enjoying to scolding looks you were both giving him and wanting to tease you further, "I can make one today and still have a relaxing Christmas,"

"I'd like to see you try." Molly huffed at her son, and you grinned at his cockiness.

"I'm sure Y/N could, too." He added, "We could even make it a competition."

"Don't try and pull me into this," You rebutted, even though you were quite sure that it was already too late for your refusal. Fred always managed to pull you into his pranks and ideas, which was part of why you liked him so much.

"Come on darling, are you that scared to lose?" Fred smirked at you, knowing that he could count on your competitive streak.

"What would the competition even be?" You questioned, your curiosity taking over.

"We'll both try and knit a sweater, with or without magic," Your boyfriend explained, "And whoever's sweater looks better by this evening, that person wins. The loser has to do the dishes over the Christmas days."

"That's a huge bet," You figured, knowing how many dishes would pile up just today with how many people were here, especially with the holiday feast would prepare.

"That's why it's fun," Fred shrugged his shoulders, "I already know you can't resist a competition like this, darling,"

"Fine, I'm in." You grinned at him, "Let's do this."

"You two really are quite a match," Molly said after having observed this interaction, and walked towards the kitchen with a laugh, "Knitting needles and wool are in the cupboard over there," She pointed out, before returning to the stove and continuing to cook.

Both Fred and you got up at the same time, rushing over to the cupboard to be the first to start on their sweater.

"I've got no time to lose," Fred playfully lifted you up just as you opened the cupboard, turning you away from it and letting you down on the ground again just so he could be the first to grab some utensils.

"You're an arse," You teased him, but your loving tone made it clear you didn't mean that. You grabbed some needles and wool after him and made your way over to the couch so you could figure this all out. You had heard Hermione use a charm to knit some hats for house-elves once before and you tried your best to remember it.

Meanwhile, Fred sat down at the dinner table again. He had seen his mother knit these sweaters lots of times before, surely it couldn't be that hard?

Both of you took your time to try to remember the exact charm, all while making sure the other didn't eavesdrop on you to get a clue.

You quietly muttered what you thought were the right words to your knitting needles, but they didn't move at all.

"How's it going over there?" Fred's voice called over to you.

"Perfectly," You lied, sounding as self-assured as possible, "I'll be finished in no time, I'm sure."

"Same over here," Fred returned your words, all while his needles weren't moving either.

It took both of you a bit more time until you finally remembered the charm, and even then things didn't go smoothly.

Almost an hour later, as most of the others had begun to wake up too, you had at least managed to get the knitting needles to start the sweater. You wondered how it was going for Fred, but you didn't have to question that for long.

"What are you trying to do there?" George had woken up as well and you could hear his deep morning voice coming from where Fred was, even as you sat on the couch.

"I'm competing with Y/N. We're trying to each make a sweater by tonight and have the best one win," You could hear Fred explaining, and you tell from his tone of voice that he was concentrating intently.

"That doesn't look anything like a sweater," George commented, and you couldn't contain a quiet laugh, "In fact, that doesn't look like anything at all, Fred."

"I'm working on it," You could hear Fred answer, "Watch and learn, George."

You laughed again and then decided it would be best to go back to concentrating on your own work.

By the time Molly called everyone together for lunch, you had only managed to knit one arm. Nevertheless, as you sat down next to Fred to eat, you were making sure to sound triumphant.

"You were right, this really is easier than I thought," You teased him, and Fred simply smiled at you.

"Exactly," He rebutted, "I feel the same." You didn't believe him at all, you were sure he hadn't managed to get further than you with his sweater.

After lunch, you immediately went back to your spot to knit. The others only laughed and shook their heads at both of your competitiveness, finding your contest rather amusing.

George, Ron and Harry even volunteered to be judges on your sweaters this evening, and you happily accepted them.

As the evening arrived, and you had finally finished your work. You had only been interrupted by some snack breaks, and eventually by Fred who had sneaked up to you to steal some kisses. You had hurriedly hidden your sweater then and hoped he hadn't caught a glimpse of your progress.

After dinner, it was time for the judging. The Weasley Family and Harry all gathered in the living room, which was already beautifully decorated for the upcoming holiday.

You went out of the room and quickly pulled over your self-made sweater. It was falling apart at some seams and looked way messier than any knitted fabric you had ever seen. But, it was a completed sweater. Somehow, at least.

As you stepped into the living room, and the others made a point of cheering for you loudly. Fred stepped into the room after you, and you saw what he had made for the first time.

His sweater was only holding together very loosely, and there was only a huge hole on the right side where an arm should have been. Fred had simply shoved his arm through the hole, with no fabric covering it up.

On his chest, there seemed to be some embroidered letters, but you couldn't tell what they said even as you squinted your eyes at it. It was even messier than his usual handwriting.

"What in the bloody hell have you tried to write on there?" Ron asked his brother, while Harry and George were still laughing at the missing arm.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fred grinned, and swung his uncovered arm around your shoulders to pull you close, "It says: Y/N+Fred."

"God, that's so cheesy," You teased him, trying to cover how touched you were by his sweet gesture.

"Oh, I know you like it, darling." He pressed a quick kiss to your cheek before letting go of you, turning around to reveal a drawn on heart on the back of his sweater that no one had noticed yet, "Even the judges have to admit that this is true fashion,"

Everyone laughed out loudly, and you felt your heart flutter at Fred's suaveness

"You don't even have a whole sweater," Harry laughed, "The embroidery's lovely, I suppose. But Y/N has my vote,"

"Good decision," You gave him a thumbs-up, and Fred mockingly huffed.

"I have to agree," Ron said, and George nodded as well, "Nice try, mate. But Y/N at least managed to make something that's wearable. She wins,"

"Thank you, thank you," You bowed down jokingly, "I'm honoured to win this contest,"

"Oh, come on," Fred remarked sarcastically, "You guys just don't have any taste. At least I showed my love with this sweater,"

"And it was very sweet," You turned to Fred, wrapping your arms around his torso, "But still, that doesn't change the fact that you'll be on dish duty all Christmas," You stuck your tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes. He couldn't pretend to be mad for long though, and a grin quickly appeared on his face again.

You all shared another laugh at Fred's awful sweater and he joined in with some jokes about the practicality of a sweater with an armhole.

After the others had scattered around the house again, only Fred and you were left in the living room. You sat down on the couch and your boyfriend joined you, swinging his arms around your shoulders and pulling you against his chest.

"Just so you know, your sweater would have gotten my vote," You remarked gently, "The embroidery was a nice touch, I have to admit. It was quite romantic actually,"

"Only for you, love," Fred whispered and leaned down to kiss you softly.

Just as you wanted to kiss him back, he pulled away slightly so his lips were hovering over yours.

"You'll help me with the dishes, right?" He murmured against your mouth.

"Never." You teased and quickly closed the distance between your lips again to kiss him before he could have the chance to complain.

Of course, you ended up helping him, proudly wearing the sweater he had made. Turns out, a missing armhole really comes in handy when washing up.

[organabanana]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Supergirl Rating: T Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen  Characters: Alex Danvers, Kelly Olsen (Supergirl TV 2015)  Additional Tags: implied supercorp dumbery, alex's malfunctioning gaydar, strap-on talk, Domestic Fluff Summary: Alex and Kelly discuss sapphic culture, watch a movie, consider strap-ons, and make the most of same-day delivery. I could pretend there's a plot here but honestly it's just domestic fluff for a cute little prompt. Notes: Written for the prompt "Imagine Me & You" for the Pride theme at @femslashexchange. First time writing Dansen so I hope you'll enjoy!

[ao3 link]

“Stop staring at me like that! I thought you people were supposed to be non-judgmental.”

If Kelly takes issue with Alex’s tone when referring to psychologists as ‘you people’, she certainly doesn’t show it. She just keeps staring, body turned to face Alex’s on the couch and palms neatly resting on her knees like she’s trying to keep her composure in the face of an unhinged patient or something.

Which is, if you ask Alex, an overreaction.

“We are. I wouldn’t say I’m judging you per se, it’s just—“ Kelly presses her lips together for a moment, clearly trying to come up with non-judgmental words to convey her very judgmental (Alex can read it all over her face) thoughts. “It’s just— you’ve really never—“

“Never.” Alex shrugs, like it’s no big deal. Actually, you know what? She shrugs because it’s no big deal.

“But you’ve… I mean, at least you must be familiar with it? Word of mouth, if nothing else?”

Alex contemplates for a moment, lips pursed slightly as she looks up like she’s expecting to find some kind of cue card on the ceiling of their apartment.

“Not really?” she finally decides, after a few moments of soul-searching, “I don’t really— I mean I know it’s uh… lesbian adjacent?” Alex illustrates how unsure she is about that particular statement with a swishy hand motion, but it clearly does nothing to impress her girlfriend.

“Lesbian adjac— Alex!” Kelly’s eyes widen as she finally loses all semblance of professional poker face (not that she’d been doing a great job before, mind you) and lets out an incredulous chuckle. “It’s not lesbian adjacent, it’s— it’s a cornerstone of sapphic culture!”

“Oh come on, Kel!” It’s Alex’s turn to laugh now, more than a little bit charmed by just how passionate her otherwise very rational girlfriend seems to be about something as silly as this. “It’s so not a cornerstone of sapphic anything. Strap-ons? Sure, I could see that. Some dumb—“

“Do not finish that sent— wait, did you just say strap-ons?”

Alex shrugs. She said what she said. She’s also acutely aware of the very visible (and oh, so very pretty) glow on her girlfriend’s cheeks, no matter how hard Kelly tries to look unaffected.

“Anyway,” Kelly shakes her head just so, and Alex could not possibly be any more enamored by the way she clears her throat and shifts on her seat, “as I was saying, I’m surprised a lesbian over thirty has never seen Imagine Me & You, that’s all.”

“Eh. I’m not much for rom-coms. Can we go back to strap-ons for a minute, though? I feel like there’s a conversation to be had there.”

Alex can see the struggle right there in Kelly’s eyes. Will Kelly Olsen drop an argument, mild as this particular one may be, before it’s been thoroughly resolved? Will she give in to the heat Alex can nearly feel radiating off her cheeks and talk about sex toys instead?

“Would you wear it, or would I?” Alex asks, choosing to give her girlfriend a small nudge in the (obvious, if you ask her) right direction.

“You don’t like romantic comedies?” Kelly says at exactly the same time, looking at Alex like she’s suddenly sprouted a second head.

Alex groans, throwing her head back against the couch in such despair she nearly doesn’t hear Kelly’s next words.

“You. I think?”

Oh.

Alex is once again fully engaged with the conversation, licking her lips as she straightens her back and turns to focus on her girlfriend. “Yeah?” Alex can feel heat rising to her own cheeks now, oddly flattered by Kelly’s choice. “You think?”

There’s a certain warmth to Kelly’s smile when she looks into Alex’s eyes. The kind of warmth that lets Alex know Kelly has somehow read her thoughts and understood them, likely better than Alex herself. “I think you could pull it off, yes,” she says, long fingers wrapping around Alex’s and tugging lightly to encourage her to get a little closer.

Alex would love to be the kind of woman who can keep this back and forth of flirty banter going for a while. She’d love to be the kind of woman who can tease and flirt and play the part of the cool lesbian who knows she’s hot stuff. But the thing is, Kelly is just so beautiful. She’s soft and warm and she thinks Alex could pull off a strap-on and she’s practically begging for a kiss (which Alex immediately gives her, of course, she’s not a monster), and how could Alex possibly resist?

How could anyone, really?

Those cool lesbians simply have never had Kelly Olsen’s bedroom eyes directed at them.

“Wanna go on-line shopping?” Alex whispers between the second kiss and the third, grinning when Kelly’s fingers slide into her hair, “I bet they have same-day delivery.”

Kelly chuckles, light and sweet against Alex’s lips and fully obliterating whatever crumbs of coolness Alex may have had left. “In a rush, are we?”

“Lil bit, yeah,” Alex freely admits, a bit too taken with the way Kelly smiles at her to care if she’s proving once again she’s not the coolest where her girlfriend is involved. But, again — how could anyone resist? Kelly shifts on the couch, smoothly readjusting their position until she’s on her back with Alex on top of her, and Alex is pretty sure she’s peaked. Life simply doesn’t get any better than this.

(Alex has thought she’s peaked, on average, around twice a day since she started dating Kelly. Don’t you dare judge her.)

Kelly’s neck smells faintly of lavender when Alex trails kisses up warm skin towards the spot right behind Kelly’s ear.

“Soap thief,” she whispers, teeth gently nipping and making Kelly let out a sound that falls somewhere between a laugh and a gasp, “for shame.”

Kelly doesn’t answer right away. She lets Alex bask in the feeling of having the upper hand for a few seconds, slips her own hands under Alex’s shirt to grab at the solid muscles on her back, spreads her legs so Alex’s thigh can slot between them… and then she speaks.

“Will your cock be lavender too?”

Alex makes a sound. Unfortunately, because it’s neither sexy nor dignified. She sputters, really. Nearly chokes on her own breath. In her defense… well, honestly, she doesn’t think she needs a defense. Who wouldn’t be disarmed by her girlfriend, all warm and soft and rocking against her thigh with purpose, suddenly bringing up lavender cocks?

Come on now.

“W— would you like it lavender?” Alex manages to ask, voice slightly higher than normal as she pushes herself up on her hands to look into Kelly’s eyes. And maybe also to shift her weight onto her knee, her thigh pressing a little harder between Kelly’s legs. “Do you want it lavender?”

“Baby,” Kelly sighs and arches her back just slightly — just enough to make the column of her neck impossible to resist, so Alex presses an open-mouthed kiss to Kelly’s throat and feels the words vibrate against her lips as they come out, “I want it yours.”

***

Alex’s brain doesn’t fully recover until nearly two hours later, when she’s sitting at her desk staring at the tracking website for the package they will be receiving at some point within that same day.

Technology, right? What a wonderful thing.

“Are you still watching that?” Kelly’s tone is teasing as she walks out of the bathroom brushing her fingers through her freshly washed, still wet hair. “Are you expecting it to just teleport here by sheer force of will?”

Alex shrugs. She’s familiar enough with Martian tech to hold out hope for that happening. And honestly, considering the requests Kelly made regarding size while choosing the (lavender, yes) toy, Alex is pretty sure not even staring unblinkingly at her screen fully qualifies her as the most eager person in the room.

“You know it won’t be here for at least a couple hours,” Kelly insists, “but I know just how we could fill the time.”

It’s like a switch has been flipped. One second Alex is staring at the screen, and the next she’s pretty much forgotten there’s a package to receive. Alex wouldn’t call the look on Kelly’s eyes flirty, exactly, but it’s certainly something. Playful, maybe. Is playful better than flirty?

Alex is oh-so-ready to find out.

“Yeah?” Alex says, already on her feet and moving towards Kelly.

Kelly nods, eyes practically sparkling as she sits on the couch once again.

And Alex, of course, follows her.

Who wouldn’t?

Kelly kisses her first. Something short and sweet that leaves Alex smiling and hoping for a reprise. But instead, Kelly speaks.

“We can watch Imagine Me & You.”

Alex groans, and she’d be lying if she said there isn’t at least a bit of dramatic flair involved in the intensity of her despair. “Kelly! I told you I don’t like romcoms!”

“But you love romance!” Kelly motions in the general direction of the shelf that’s nearly overflowing with little mementos of their life together. A box full of movie theater tickets, a dried flower from the first time they celebrated Valentine’s day, the cork from the first bottle of wine they drank in their home… and the collection is very much maintained (and steadily grown) by Alex. “How can you not like romantic comedies? They should be right up your alley.”

“I like real romance. Not… fake, decaf romance.”

And it’s not a controversial statement, Alex thinks. It’s pretty much common sense. There’s real life, and then there’s movies. There’s real romance — the kind that makes her laugh and cry and get butterflies in her stomach — and then there’s Hollywood’s version of romance, which feels hollow most of the time. Everyone knows that, right?

So why is Kelly looking at her like she’s just cracked some kind of code?

“What? Stop being creepy. I liked it better when you were judging me earlier.”

“But you like big dramatic romance movies,” Kelly prods, “right?”

“Well, sure, but that’s different.”

“Because…” Kelly nods encouragingly.

“I don’t know, Kel. I guess because rom-coms are just kinda…” Alex sighs, “I don’t know.”

“Insubstantial?” Kelly offers, “hard to engage with beyond mindless entertainment? Alienating, even, in a way?”

“Right!” Freaking finally, Kelly gets it. Alex isn’t weird. This is a universal phenomenon, obviously. “Exactly! Exactly that.”

“Honey,” Kelly pats the back of Alex’s hand affectionately, voice down to just barely above a whisper, “that’s ‘cause you’re gay.”

Alex scoffs, somewhere between amused and outraged. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”

Kelly’s eyes narrow just slightly. There’s a glint to them that Alex knows very well. It’s the look Kelly gets when she knows she’s right.

“Tell you what,” Kelly says, leaning over to grab the remote from the coffee table and then leaning against Alex’s side as she turns on the tv, “you watch this one movie with me, indulge my scientific curiosity, and if you haven’t changed your mind by the end I’ll drop the subject forever.”

It’s not a bad offer. Alex purses her lips and pretends to think about it very seriously anyway, just because it’s one thing to be thoroughly whipped when it comes to her girlfriend, but it’s a whole different story to not even try to pretend she can put her foot down once in a while.

Besides, she loves the way Kelly’s face lights up when Alex finally (inevitably) says yes.

“Okay, fine,” Alex sighs just to offset the sheer size of her heart eyes when Kelly does, in fact, light up, “one movie.”

Kelly practically flies through their streaming options, clearly more than familiar with the location of Imagine Me & You. And there are so many questions Alex could ask. So many ways she could poke fun at her girlfriend for what’s clearly a bit of a fangirly obsession. But right when Kelly presses play, Alex notices something that pulls her attention in an entirely different direction.

“Piper Perabo! Oh, I love her,” she sighs, wrapping an arm around Kelly’s shoulders as her girlfriend snuggles into her preferred movie-watching position, “I watched Coyote Ugly a million times as a teen. My mom ended up getting me the DVD so I’d stop renting it every single week.”

Kelly chuckles lightly, draping one arm across Alex’s waist. “And that didn’t give you any hints that you might have been a bit gay?”

Alex shrugs. Whether she’d been really oblivious or just in denial, she’s at a point in her life and her journey now where she can make a bit of fun of her teenage self. “What can I say? My gaydar’s never been the most finely tuned.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Just look at the Kara thing.”

“The what now?” Alex looks away from the screen to stare at Kelly instead. As far as she’s aware — and she’s a very observant vigilante, mind you — there’s no such thing as ‘the Kara thing’, whatever that means. And what would that have to do with her (lack of a) gaydar, anyway? “What Kara thing?”

“Nothing,” Kelly points at the screen, “watch the movie.”

“No, what did you me— is that Cersei Lannister?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s so good in this. I may have a bit of a crush.”

“On Cersei freaking Lannister, Kel?” Alex lets out an amused chuckle. “I’m honestly not sure how I feel about that.”

“Will you please just watch the movie?”

“Fine, fine, sheesh,” Alex moves her hand down Kelly’s side just to gently poke at a particularly ticklish spot, “but I can’t promise I won’t be too freaked out about Cersei to fully focus.”

But there’s Piper Perabo in a beautiful wedding dress flashing a beautiful smile, and really, not even Cersei Lannister being on the receiving end of that smile can stop Alex from getting sucked into the movie and what’s happening in it.

She watches a ring fall into a punch bowl and exchanged looks and smiles. She hears, much to her surprise, unspoken lines between Piper Perabo and Cersei Lannister that make her smile at the screen because yeah— yeah, she’s been there. She’s smiled like that. She’s felt like that. She’s so enthralled by the movie that it’s only when she feels herself laugh at Cersei’s friend calling herself ecstatic that she realizes she’s been quiet for a while.

“Ok, that was funny. Most rom-coms aren’t even really coms.”

“You’re enjoying this,” Kelly says, her voice full of teasing glee.

Alex feels color rise to her cheeks. “Will you please just watch the movie?”

Kelly doesn’t argue this time.

There’s a science presentation in the dark, pinky fingers nearly touching, a very questionable choice at the movie rental place — “oh, no, you don’t want to learn from Georgie’s Bush” — and then there’s a date.

Alex feels Kelly hold her a little tighter when Rachel asks Luce — who cares about Cersei Lannister, anyway? — to put both her arms around her, and she feels herself smile like a fool when the lily’s meaning is shared. And then. Then there’s almost a kiss, but not quite, and Rachel barging into the flower shop, and Alex is fully invested now. There’s simply no turning back.

“Oh! Oh, no, Rachel, it can’t be over!” She says out loud, because this poor conflicted woman clearly needs advice. “Don’t leave her— oh, she’s back!”

Alex has seen so many on-screen kisses. So many.

She’s watched hundreds of love stories, from cartoons to dark thrillers and everything in between. She’s been having regular movie nights with Kara since she was a teenager, and most times the chosen movie has at least one romantic storyline, if not several.

But this.

This lands somewhere deep inside her chest. And when the kiss ends because Luce has thorns in her bum, Alex realizes there are tears running down her face.

“You all right, baby?” Kelly shifts to press a kiss to Alex’s cheek, catching a tear with her lips.

“Uh huh,” Alex nods. And then she stops nodding. She even stops holding Kelly, because she needs both hands to cover her eyes. “Oh, God. Oh, not him. I can’t watch this.”

But she does anyway. Through the spaces between her fingers at first, and then fully because one of her hands is covering her mouth now, the other holding Kelly once again.

“Don’t tell her to go!” She says, voice watery and just a little shaky as she struggles to keep herself together. But it lasts only as long as it takes for Luce to ask Rachel to remember her, because, “she won’t—“ Alex hiccups, “she won’t remember anything else, Kel.”

“I know, honey.”

Alex nods. She’s crying now. Really crying. Watching Rachel tell her sleeping husband doesn’t help, and neither does her conversation with her parents — though it does pull a watery chuckle out of Alex — or Luce’s talk to her mom. She’s still crying when people pile into a car and start chasing Luce’s cab, because she knows this is going to have a happy ending. Right? That’s the beauty of romantic comedies.

“Oh, the song!” She stage whispers, pointing at the screen when the cyclist rides past the car, and then gasps when Rachel climbs onto the roof of the car. “She’s gonna do it, isn’t she? She’s gonna call number nine a wanker for her lady?”

“A bit cheesy, huh?”

Alex’s eyes widen in utter disbelief. “Cheesy?” She tears her eyes away from the screen once that last kiss is over just to shoot Kelly an indignant look. “How dare you.”

Kelly chuckles, something soft and quiet as she rearranges herself on the couch to free her hands so she can help wipe tears from Alex’s face. “So? What did you think?”

Alex sniffles. She’s not quite done crying yet, but she can still try and maintain at least a crumb of dignity after spectacularly losing this particular argument. “All right,” she concedes, shrugging one shoulder like she’s not at all still a bit weepy over Piper Perabo getting her girl, “it was okay.”

“Yeah?” Kelly reaches for the tissue box on the coffee table and holds it so Alex can take one (or five).

“It wasn’t awful,” Alex says, blowing her nose, and then contemplates simply leaving it at that. But she can’t help herself. “Can we watch more?”

Kelly grins. “More romantic comedies?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean,” Kelly echoes, pressing a lingering kiss to Alex’s lips, “we can start a bit of a sapphic movie night tradition. We can ask Kara and Lena to join in.”

Well, that’s weird. Don’t get her wrong, Alex loves her sister and Lena and watching movies together, but she’s not following Kelly’s leap from sapphic cinema to them. And her confusion must be written all over her face, because Kelly explains even before Alex can ask.

“You know. To expand their film horizons.” There’s something in Kelly’s tone that makes Alex feel like there’s more to it than that, but she’s a bit busy dealing with her post-movie emotions to investigate. “Besides, Lena always brings amazing wine when we have them over.”

Alex is about to agree — Lena does have excellent taste in wine — but the doorbell distracts her before she can.

The doorbell.

Same-day delivery.

“Oh, it’s here!” Kelly practically leaps to her feet, pressing the button to let the delivery person in and standing by the door to wait for them to make their way upstairs.

“Dammit, Kel. Look at me,” Alex sniffles and grabs a handful of tissues to try and fully dry her face, “how am I supposed to — and I quote — ‘fuck you into the mattress’ like this?”

Kelly winks at her just as the doorbell rings. “Trust me, baby. I’ll help you with that.”

And you know what? Alex has no reason to doubt that she will.

[summonerscenarios]

hi juno, i just saw sugar cubes with cat motifs that could double as emergency snacks on twitter today and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen!! that being said, how would the feline transients (of your choosing ofc) would react to MC giving them those cat-shaped sugar cubes for their Valentine gift? thank you in advance! (´ ∀ ` *)

sdfghjgf yikes it’s like 1am but IT STILL COUNTS. HAPPY VALENTINES FOLKS hope ya’ll are treating yourselves with the love and appreciation you deserve!! and here’s a lil post for the day, hope ya like it~!

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Durga

With Valentines coming up, Durga wanted to be one of the first to give you a present for the holiday, which means of course she’s gotta be the first to get there and get you something to blow the rest of the competition out of the water. It looks like you had the same idea however, as the pair of you just about barge headfirst into one another right outside of the Yoyogi dorms, sending the pair of you, and your respective gifts, spilling across the floor. It’s a humorous flurry of asking why the other got there so early, apologizing for the collision as the pair of you drop to your knees and check on the packages, and in the mixup Durga ends up picking up your package instead of her own.

Thankfully, the contents haven’t spilled over but the packaging is more than a little ruffled, and as her thumbs move to smooth the wrapping back out she spots the little name scribbled into the top corner. Her name, to be precise.

Durga lifts her head up to look over at you as you hold up her package, and from the expression on your face as you look at the little attached tag that she’d scrawled your name onto, you’re just as surprised as she is. You can’t help but laugh - what are the chances that you both ended up running into each other after looking for the other? Durga finds herself laughing along too at the sight of your grinning, and once it dies down you start urging her to open up her valentines gift; you really wanna see what she thinks of it!

While Durga tries to avoid sugary stuff, she can’t really deny her sweet tooth when you’ve gone out of your way to get her something so sweet, and that, coupled with the cute little cat motifs make her cave before she even sees your face, hopeful that she’ll like them. Plus, it’s valentine's day, right? She can make an exception juuust this once...it’s a stroke of luck that they’re the perfect thing to snack on while watching you open your own valentine’s gift, hiding her face in the box seeing your expression light up once you’ve peeled the wrapping away to look at the present she got you as a show of appreciation (and maybe something more who knows…)

Tezcatlipoca

It was the little cat motifs that sold you on buying the sugar cubes - they were just too cute to pass up! And it didn’t help that as soon as you’d seen them the first person that came to mind is Tezcatlipoca, if anything it’s what convinced you to buy them just for him to enjoy with valentine’s day coming up! Wrapping them all up was fun too - it had taken a while to get the kind of paper you were looking for, along with getting it all wrapped up and looking presentable enough to impress. There was a lot of care taken into getting them all the way over to the base, including having to bribe some of the luchadores with treats to slip the box past with you (which you would have done anyways, it was fun seeing them bristling with excitement when you’d pulled out some chocolate boxes you’d got just for them), but you’re sure it would all be worth it once you actually got the gift handed off to the jaguar therian - he’s all about sacrifice, so maybe giving would be nice for a change~!

That ends up going about as well as one expects, and you realize that once you pull the gift out from behind your back and hold it out to him the moment he whirls around, flashing him a beaming smile as you present it to him. Deadass thinks it’s a trick at first - he stares down at the box like he's waiting for some kind of test as if you’ve got a hidden trick up your sleeve, which unless he’s expecting the trick to be those tiny little cubes of sugar (in which case someone spilled the beans on your gift), is completely unwarranted. In the end you have to explain that because it’s valentines day, a day where you share your affections to others in the form of gifts, you decided you’d get a little something for him, with it being a holiday and all. (that he of course knows...maybe...not.)

That’s when Texcatlipoca takes the box off of your hands, and you’re kind of anxious watching him peel away the wrapping and pull out the small container of treats. He flicks open the lid with ease, and is greeted by rows of small, finely decorated sugar cubes, with cutesy cat faces and small, paw shaped confections for good measure. Adorable is the best way to describe what you’d gifted the feline, and as his eyes flicker over the lid of the container to look at you, you find yourself giggling and sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck as you explain that when you’d seen them you’d thought of him, so who better to give it too, right? You’re quick to add that they serve as great emergency snacks in a pinch too, hoping the double use was as appealing an idea to Tez as it was to you.

He’s not one to be outdone by your gifting gesture, so be warned that upon accepting your gift Tezcatlipoca is going to see this as a chance to outdo the gesture tenfold before valentine’s day has come to a close - you’ve caught him off guard with your small gift, and he’s going to return that sentiment in abundance, excited to see how you’ll react to the surprise.

Sitri

Sitri’s opening up more to valentine's day this time around, though you still thought you’d twist up the gift from the typical chocolate that people give out and think outside the box in terms of valentine’s gifts. The only trouble was picking out what you were actually going to buy - you wanted something that would make for a nice gift, as well as something that Sitri would appreciate and enjoy, so you’d wracked your head thinking of the perfect gift for the upcoming holiday.

That’s when you’d come across the sugar cubes - you’d actually heard about them from Ryota when he’d gushed about a store specializing in cat themed treats and how they were coming out with a valentine’s line. It was the perfect place to start looking for a gift, and so as soon as you had a free moment, you’d stopped by and managed to snag yourself a box of the cute little cubes before they’d gone out of stock. You had the option to get them pre-packaged, but you’d instead opted to hand-wrap them yourself so that you could include one or two other little goodies that you’d gotten for the occasion. It took a bit longer than you thought it would have, but by the time you’ve got it packaged up and tucked neatly away in a little gift bag, it’s right in time for valentines day, so you’re eager to head out and deliver your gift to the feline transient first thing after school. 

Even though you’ve gotten him valentines gifts in the past, Sitri’s still surprised and a little flustered when you come up to him, holding out the gift bag to him with a warm smile and greeting of “Happy valentines, Sitri!” as you present him with the gift you’d picked out. That reaction is only amplified once he opens the lid and looks down at the cute cat cubes looking back up at him with adorable faces and whiskers decals to really seal the feline look the treats have got going on. Admittedly, they’re not usually the kind of thing Sitri goes for, mostly thanks to those years chasing the ‘cool cat’ ideal, but as he’s opened up more, as well as with your expression anxiously waiting for his response, he finds himself not minding the gift in the slightest. If anything, he’s more worried about the gift that he got you - you’ve put so much thought into his gifts, he hopes that your gifts can hold a candle to them as he fishes out his own gift to give to you.

Nomad

With valentine’s coming around once again, you were determined to get Nomad something this time around. Sure, you’d gotten him things in the past, but those had mostly been in the form of time spent together going out to eat places and such; this time you wanted to go out of you way to get him a gift from the heart, something that would help convey your appreciation for the gruff tiger therian. Even if it was just a small little gift, you were set on going out and getting him something, which is exactly what you do the moment the shops start setting up for the holiday in question...you just really wish you had a better idea of the kind of thing that Nomad would like to receive. 

You don’t really peg him as the chocolates for valentines kind of guy - he’s worked enough valentine’s gigs you’re sure he’d like an alternative gift for a change - so you’d sought out something you wouldn’t normally have picked. Which is what led to you finding those sugary treats, and the moment you looked at them in the little decorative boxes on the display stand, you just knew that those were the treats you were going to gift Nomad with.

You don’t end up giving Nomad his ‘gift’ face-to-face however. Something came up that pulled you away from being able to give them to him in person (because seriously, what is with you getting dragged into other people’s problems during the holidays? You need a break), so you ended up having to leave them back at his office. By the time that he finally returns to the office he finds the small, cutely decorated box perched precariously right in the middle of his desk, with a small note attached to the top. Confused, but interest peaked enough to approach, the therian plucks the note off with one hand and picks up the box as he settles into his desk chair, reading over your hastily scrawled message.

‘Sorry I couldn’t give this in person but I hope you like em! Apparently they double as emergency snacks, that’s neat,huh? - call me later and tell me what you think! xx’

Popping open the lid of the box, Nomad soon finds out what your message was talking about, and he plucks up one of the cubes between his claws as he holds it up, brows quirking as he takes in the cutesy cat motifs that have been meticulously molded with the sugar cubes to make an undeniably adorable design. He shakes his head a little at the thought of how much bother you must have put yourself through getting so worked up trying to find these little sugar cubes. With that being said he definitely ends up keeping them - after all, imagining how excited you’ll get is enough to make him pluck a few out to try as he fishes out his phone to give you a call.

[truth-and-lies-drv3-imagines]

DrV3 boys, with an S/O who appears to be tough and strong, but at times they have flashbacks to their childhood and when it happens, they lock themselves in their room for days at a time only leaving when they need to

Mod Nagito here~! It’s been ages, huh? Sorry about that. I started this one a while ago and never got to finish it, so I did the other 5 boys today and now it’s pretty much done. I forgot that imagines can be pretty fun to write, haha. It’s much more low-pressure than any of what I’ve been writing recently. 

I’ll be honest, these turned out a little more like headcanons than imagines, but I hope you still enjoy them! They also turned out to be more focused on how the boys took care of their S/O and less about the S/O’s trauma/past troubles. I wanted to make sure they didn’t vary too much in length, but they got longer and longer, so…oh, well? Here you go!Edit: I kept trying to put a keep reading, but it won’t show up :( Sorry.

Shuichi Saihara

- He’s usually the one getting encouraged by you and tends to depend on you for support. But when you disappear suddenly for the first time and don’t respond to any message or calls for a few days, he’s incredibly worried. 

- When he comes to your house, of course, you don’t respond to any doorbell ringing or knocks, so he digs under your doormat and pulls out a key to enter the house. He’ll run through the house and, seeing that common area is relatively empty, dash to your bedroom and knock before entering. 

- You’re too zoned out to have heard him coming in and am curled up in your bed and blankets, eyes wide open and slightly damp. When he sees you, he’ll rush to your side and put a hand on your arm gently. “S/O, what’s going on? You haven’t been responding to anyone’s messages or picking up any calls.”

- You try to deny it at first, trying to keep up that strong front. But when it’s obvious that you can’t hide it from him, especially taking into account his perceptive nature, you tell him. You don’t exactly have a picture-perfect childhood, and it’s hard thinking back on it–you never want to, but it happens anyway.

- He’ll nod and reassure you that he’s not mad or anything, that having these flashbacks does not make you weak, and ask you to please rely on him as he does with you or at least tell him what’s going on because he gets worried.

- He’ll lie in the bed with you and talk to you if you want, or if you’d like silence, give you cuddles or just stay there with you without a peep out of him. Shuichi’s a great listener if you’d like to rant to him, scream, cry, whatever you need to feel normal again after this episode of flashbacks. Heck, he’d even be your punching bag even though you’d never actually use him that way. 

- Next time you have a round of flashbacks, call him up or text him, and he’ll be at your side in a jiffy. He’ll also go out and buy you anything you need so you don’t have to leave the house–although he thinks some fresh air would be good for you, he realizes the world can be overwhelming when you’re in a vulnerable state.

Kaito Momota

- He really admires how you journey on and push past hardships! But he’s a very discerning person; he sees you have your troubles behind the front that you put up, too. 

- When you disappear, he might panic at first, but if he can calm down he’ll be able to assess the situation and remember that you’ve got off moments too. He’ll go looking for you at your home, for sure. 

- He’ll pound on the door, and when you don’t answer, he’ll try the door handle,  realize it’s unlocked, and enter quickly, closing the door behind him and running through the house to your room, where he’ll probably make a dramatic appearance by bursting in the door. 

- He’ll probably have the urge to give you a good talking to, but seeing that you’re in such a vulnerable state, he’ll save it for later. You’ll probably be asleep when he comes in, and only be woken by him sitting down on the side of your mattress slowly, carefully. 

- He doesn’t exactly want to wake you up, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to sleep the day away either. He knows from experience that too much sleep can cause headaches. He might pet your head or rub your back comfortingly as you’re roused from your sleep. 

- If you want to talk about things, Kaito is surprisingly good at asking you important questions that force you to reflect and see more clearly. Otherwise, he’ll keep his big mouth shut and just keep your company. He might sit in your bed and pull you into his lap. He’s basically a human heater and an extra-firm pillow. 

- He makes sure you know that he’s always here for you and encourages you to contact him, talk to him, depend on him. Having another person on your side is always helpful.

Gonta Gokuhara

- He panics and assumes the worst when you disappear and don’t contact him for some time. He’ll run to your house and search for you, all kinds of worst-case scenarios running through his mind. He’s worried to death about his brave s/o! And knowing his strength, it’s more than likely that he could break down a door or a few walls to get to you and make sure you’re safe and sound.

- When he realizes that you’ve shut yourself in on purpose, he feels slightly discouraged. Is he that unreliable, that you’d rather isolate yourself rather than lean on him? But after you explain to him that, in fact, it’s just your habit of how you deal with your pain, he’ll tear up and give you a big bear hug.

- (And he gives the best bear hugs, in case you haven’t realized.)

- He just wants to be the most helpful gentleman possible and support you in any way possible while you’re going through tough times! Just knowing he has your back is a source of comfort to you. He can handle lots, even If he’s often looked down upon for his childish disposition.

- Gonta’s also surprisingly good at taking care of you! He reminds you to eat, drink, sleep (but not too much), get some sun if possible, and take any meds you need. He’s a gentle and positive force in your life, especially when you’re suffering. 

- Even though he may come off as oblivious at times, he’s finely attuned and sensitive to your feelings. He worries about your well-being and what he can do to be a better gentleman for you, even if you say that his normal self is enough for you. Thus, communication with him is rather easy at times since he easily understands your current state of being.

Ryoma Hoshi

- Ryoma’s the type of person to have a strong intuition and often sees right through you, with all that he’s been through. So when you disappear, he’s not all that surprised, but he is worried. However, he’s not the kind of person to rush into situations, and while he may worry about you, he trusts that you’ll hold yourself together enough–at least, until he can get in touch with you. 

- He knows it’s tough for you to take care of yourself when you get into this state of darkness and vulnerability, so much so that you needed to close yourself completely off to hide that weakness. He reads you well, almost too well, and he’ll leave little (or not-so-little) care packages at the door to your house/apartment, complete with little notes of encouragement and support. 

- You’ll open the door to find the care package sitting there wrapped up nice and neatly, and he somehow always has the best timing, so food never spoils. He comes and goes like a cat, but it’s like he predicts your every move. When you ask him about it, he just shrugs and tells you it comes with being an athlete–he can predict your movements just like he can predict the trajectory of the ball. 

- (You’re not sure you really believe him, but you accept his help gratefully.)

- Although he’s careful not to push you when you’re in a tough spot, he does sometimes pop up outside your door just before you decide to head out to get some essentials or such. He times it just right, and you often ask him if he’d been waiting long, but he brushes off your concern and shakes his head. He’ll offer you a hand and talk you on a little walk for some fresh air and company.

- If you ask for it, he’ll pat you on the head and give you hugs. He’s not the kind of person to offer much physical contact in general, but for you, he’ll do so just about anytime. The fondness he has for you only grows when you have the courage to ask him for what you’d like from him because even though he’s intuitive, he has his doubts sometimes, too. 

- If you’re anxious and ask him if you’re being a bother or other such untrue things, he’ll assure you and offer you verbal affirmations that you are not too much and have not been too much. He’s glad that he can support you during hard times. You’ve been a source of light and support for him, so he’s happy he can give back to you.

- Ryoma’s not the most expressive or mushy guy out there, but for the people he loves, he does his best to be there for them however he can. He counts himself lucky to have you, just like you can count yourself lucky to have him, and so it’s a given that he’ll always do his best to treat you right. 

Kiibo

- Kiibo’s absolutely bewildered at first when you lock yourself in and show no signs of coming out, save for essentials like food and toiletries. But he’s a good robot and studies up on human behavior, so he quickly and easily deduces that you’re having a hard time and have partly shut down to conserve the remaining energy you have. 

- Thus, he’ll first take the logical approach, which is to make sure you have everything you need and could possibly want. He’ll help you with getting groceries (although he won’t go in your stead, since he’ll insist that you need a modicum of natural sunlight and fresh air), and he come over as much as possible to help around your place, cleaning and taking care of chores. 

- When he’s satisfied with the standard of your living situation, he’ll focus more of his efforts on comforting you and helping you in other ways. He’s not exactly the most sturdy robot–in fact, far from it–but the current you isn’t much tougher, so he’ll offer his shoulder to lean on and many kind, loving words. 

- Being who he is, Kiibo will tend to probe you for answers and confirmation. He gets nervous that he’s not doing the right thing or that he’s not doing things right, so he has to be sure that what he’s doing is constructive for you. And while subtle enough, delicacy still isn’t his strong suit, so he’ll ask you questions about what you’re going through and thinking. 

- If you confide in him, he can offer a safe space for you to reflect in, and it can be healing for you to talk to him about your troubles, past and present. He’s careful not to judge or advise you unless you explicitly ask for his advice. And if you ask, his advice will mostly consist of telling you to live healthily and safely, and to pursue the things that you enjoy and love. 

- Although Kiibo is perfectly fine with staying inside with you since his suit isn’t exactly the most weather-resistant, he will still be adamant about getting you to go places now and then. He believes a change of scenery can help you with a change in mood, even if it’s extremely nuanced. If you’re able, he might help guide you in doing some simple exercises or movements that can give you a little more dopamine from moving your body. 

- He’ll be by your side even if you push him away. He gives you space when he senses you need it or when you communicate it very clearly, but otherwise, he doesn’t like to leave you out of his sight because he’s very concerned for your well-being. He cares too deeply about you to just leave you alone. He’s a versatile robot and will perform to his utmost ability in helping you take care of yourself, along with caring for you when you are unable to do so. 

Korekiyo Shinguji

- As an anthropologist, he’s studied human behavior and quite a bit of psychology and sociology since the disciplines intersect frequently. So noticing you withdraw and shut yourself off from the rest of the world is natural to him, although it’s a phenomenon that feels unpleasant because he cares for you. 

- He tends to focus on the emotional side of things. As long as you’re drained and in need of something to fill you back up, he’ll offer you all kinds of possibilities and items that can help you feel a better, even if just a little. He has tons of ideas and knowledge, so there’s bound to be something that will help. 

- He loves listening to you talk, and he’ll engage in conversation with you about anything and everything, from the past that’s keeping you stuck in your room to light-hearted topics like what you’d do with a million dollars and a thousand-acre plot of land. If you need processing, he’ll process with you, and if you need to be distracted, he has a plethora of distractions. 

- Korekiyo probably also has collected a bountiful amount of gadgets and artifacts that can pique your interest. Among them will be fidget toys, games, and lucky charms. He’ll probably bring over a big box of stuff that you can look through and let you borrow some things to use (or give them to you, if he thinks he’s studied them enough). 

- He’s also very good at taking care of people, although he rarely has the chance to show off this side of him, being isolated from most people and having deep relationships with few. He’ll cook delicious, nutritious meals for you and help you tidy up. 

- As long as you’re okay with it, he’ll give you hugs and kisses and backrubs. He’ll lie down beside you in your bed so you can get a good night’s rest, and the next day, you’ll wake up in his arms, safe and warm. If you manage to catch him off-guard (although this is very difficult to do), you might even see him watching you in the morning as he holds you gently, just as he does normally before you wake up. 

- In short, he’s like a domestic partner that helps you fulfill your emotional needs and restores your physical health with good food. If you request his help on something, he’ll help you without fail; there’s little he can’t do, especially for you, who he loves. Even just his presence is comforting. 

Kokichi Ouma

- Kokichi is extremely sharp, so he catches just about any of your shifts in mood. He’s aware the moment your mind begins to enter another space, even more because your attention will wander from him, which makes it even more obvious. That’s why he might even be the one to suggest you take a break, or in other cases, ask you to try not to cut yourself off from everything. 

- When you do lock yourself in your room, he’s keen not to leave you alone–at least, not for too long, because he knows what it’s like to be left in the darkness with no friendly presence at his side. If he has to, he’ll be obnoxious and in your face about it and do anything to get you to let him in. If you think you’ve seen the limits of what he can do, you thought wrong. Kokichi Ouma has no limits to his mischief and, in this case, arsenal to tools to compel you to comply with his demands, which is what he believes is best for you. 

- Though he’s nimble and composed, he can be somewhat clumsy when it comes to caring for other people. Household duties like cleaning and cooking don’t come easily to him, although he picks up skills pretty easily and always has. But it does mean that at first, you’ll be eating burnt porridge (if you let him do the cooking, that is). 

- Sometimes his clumsiness brings a little more work, but his presence more than returns in spades the benefits and comfort of having him around. He’s soft and obliging when you’re in a tough spot. In his mind, he’s probably agreed to give you a break on his tricks and other more high-risk, high-adrenaline activities. 

- He’s happy to pet your head and hold your hands, offering as much physical affection as you’re comfortable with. He’s thin and small, but he’ll even playfully offer you a lap-pillow and patiently let you do as you like. He’s just as happy to let you do the touching and thoroughly enjoys your attention, even if he’s worried about you. 

- In some ways, his methods of caring for you are like that of a child’s or otherwise chaotic. He’ll offer you messily crafted construction paper cards with heart cut-outs and scribbled drawings in marker. It’s touching, and even if he doesn’t expect you to take the cards seriously, he’ll be happy if you like it. 

- He will bug you about going out on occasion. He’ll probably throw a fit and make it look like he’s just being selfish and wanting to go somewhere for fun, but really, he’s trying to get you to go somewhere he thinks might lift your spirits or give you a change of pace. After all, if he pesters you about going to a museum, he probably isn’t wanting to go there because he’s so interested in its exhibits.

- Kokichi is always thinking of you. He likes to go out now and then and come back with little gifts and souvenirs, some more unconventional than others, like a shiny rock or a penny that he found heads-up on the sidewalk. When your eyes light up or you offer a small smile, he feels relieved and is assured that he did the right thing leaving you alone for a bit so he could you bring something cool. 

- Overall, he’s not the most competent caretaker in terms of acts of service, and he hardly earns any points for being smooth about it, but his love for you is overwhelmingly strong and supports you in the way only he can. His intentions come from the heart, and he showers you with affection as much as possible–it’s what he’s best at, after all–and your hard days will pass by quickly with him around. 

Rantaro Amami

- Rantaro has had plenty of practice taking care of people, especially with all his time caring for his many younger sisters. That’s why it comes easily to him when he comes and finds you with his backpack of supplies, which has all kinds of items from when he took care of his sisters. You joke that it’s like Doraemon’s magical pocket, which produces any number of magical and useful items. 

- He’ll pull out supplies for making your favorite foods, which will offer great comfort to you when you’re in a difficult position. If you dig through his backpack, you’ll also find adorable and soft plushies, watercolor paints, a notebook, an mp3 player, and much more. He tells you you’re welcome to use whatever you’d like. 

- He’s gentle and not at all pushy. He take care of the chores and helps you with other tasks as needed with great patience. When you ask him how he can be so patient with you, he laughs and tells you it’s nothing compared to his sisters. 

- Now and then, he’ll suggest that the two of you take a little walk or venture out to somewhere pretty to see a sunset or such. If you’re okay with it, he’ll bring you out and walk while holding your hand, squeezing it slightly now and then. It’s a reminder of the warmth that lies in himself, and the warmth that lies in yourself, telling you that you’re here with him. 

- He’ll sometimes ask you if you want to talk about what’s keeping you in this darkness, and he encourages you whenever you’re doubtful or unsure. He’s a safe space for you, and always will be. But he’ll never demand answers. He also has a few things he’d rather keep to himself, after all. 

- He tends to treat you like his younger sisters, being the older brother that he is. He’ll comb your hair, put a reassuring hand on your shoulder, and give you short, tender hugs. 

- He likes to make little crafts like thread bracelets or pouches of fragrances, and he’ll gift them to you when he’s done. They’re little charms that will be a source of strength and remind you of his love, and when he’s not around, they’re a good replacement. Sometimes he even makes flower crowns or flower rings that he’ll reverently place on you and then proceed to tell you that you look absolutely magical. 

- Rantaro takes a very laidback and gentle approach to taking care of you and confronting you about what you’re feeling and doing. His kindness is like liquid warmth that embraces you whenever you’re feeling cold or down, and you’ll never feel lonely with him by your side.