#anyway finally a show for pepper my beloved

[pharawee]

DINOSAUR LOVE | ไดโนซอร์รัก | Official Trailer | 25 June 2023

[teyamsatan]

My sweet bb Andra 💕 How are you doing love ? 💫

I have a juicy Request and I know you will make its justice 😩🤌🏻

So basically, we have Neteyam and Mate going out for a little time together at the lake, or pond whatever (deep enough 😏😳). Reader decides to draw Neteyam. So he poses for her and well she starts drawing and all. She is all concentrated looking at the paper for a moment and she feels something being thrown at her. She looks at him and well 🥴 We don't need any precisions here :3

Reader is all flustered and Neteyam is just smirking widely. Reader hasn't any time to react because we hear Jake's voice screaming Neteyam's name from afar. Oh ! Guess what ? Neteyam forgot. Yes. He forgot a training with his father (Pls let this poor guy rest a bit 🙂).

And Lo'ak (Otherwise it wouldn't be funny hehe)

Neteyam tries to grab his loincloth but reader is faster and throws it far into the bushes, with a smirk obv. So Neteyam has no choice to jump into the water (I know that Na'vi are less ashamed of nudity... Are they ? Anyways !)

So his brother and father get there, very fastly. Everything that happened before was like in 10 secs.

The rest I leave up to you 😏 We only need some funny dad-Neteyam and brother-Neteyam interactions when he just can't go out of the water, but he's very very late... Then we have Lo'ak that finally understands and just cannot stop laughing, making Jake more than less annoyed than he already was. And we have some intense playfull eye contacts with the reader. She's enjoying it haha.

Yeah... You can end it like you want 😂💖 My brain is a mess sometimes ugh 😥

Okay Imma stop 🙈🌸 I hope this inspired you and no pressure okay ? 🫂

Smooches 🥰

no cause this is so so funny and i hope you enjoyed bestie xx it feels good to be back writing for neteyam :((

pairing: neteyam x human!reader

wc: 1170 words

warnings: smut, fluff, minors do not interact 🔞

na'vi compendium: yawne - beloved, tewng - loincloth, tanhí - bioluminescent freckles

As a human on Pandora, there wasn't much for you to do, very little your body was inherently made for. You were slow and clumsy, a stark contrast to the Na'vi carrying you on his back like a little doll, all nimble and quiet as he treaded the deep shrubbery, his thumbs massaging your thighs as you rested your chin on his shoulder, humming contently in between peppering kisses to his neck.

As a human on Pandora, you were stuck in a lab most days, with filtered air and fluorescent lights, that did nothing for you, that had a rare talent of making even the most beautiful creature look ghastly and ashen, that gave you a headache, that made you miss the beautiful light peering through the uneven gaps created by the branches of the tall trees of the Omaticayan forest. Stuck as you were, you turned to artistic outlets for your boredom. You loved to draw, and you became very good in time, enough that the entire lab and some of the village were now covered in your landscapes and your portraits. The people loved you, and your talents, and often urged you to draw them or loved ones, as a way to immortalise a face or a moment forever in time, a priceless gift for them, and one that gave you a place amongst the Na'vi, even different, as you were.

As a human on Pandora, you didn't have a lot of choice of entertainment... or men. But you've never felt the lack... not when you had Neteyam. Your best friend, your confidant, he was always up for a challenge, and, let's just say, he always thought of you as one. In the few years since your 18th birthday, a rite of passage of sorts for humans, you were told, Neteyam made it his purpose to show you that you will never have to miss out on anything on Pandora, that he would make it his life's mission to... be there for you, in any and every way you needed, be it to be a shoulder to cry on, or a shoulder to rest your legs on as his head was in between your thighs, Neteyam was always there - ready to help, ready to serve.

You gulped as you reminisced about this morning, about the moans that escaped him as he was lapping at your folds like he was quenching an unquenchable thirst, like eating you out was for his own pleasure, and not your own, or the way he didn't stop until you were so overstimulated you were crying, something he made up for by showering you in soft kisses and quiet whispers of "you did so well for me, yawne. you always take me so well."

"You ok back there... friend?"

"Yes, Teyam. Just tired. Are we almost there yet?"

"Patience, love. You wanted more inspiration for your drawings, right? I told you I found just the place, and you're going love it, I promise. It's just a little further."

Well, he was right. The little meadow created by a small, clear pond, bustling with little fish swimming peacefully, drowned in warm sunlight, was the perfect backdrop for the painting you had in mind. With a small smirk, you pointed at the water and clicked your tongue at your much larger, beautiful, muscular friend.

"Get in, Teyam."

"Why?"

"I've wanted to draw you for a while, I just wanted the perfect background, and now I have it. Now go."

You chuckled to yourself as you heard a loud splashing noise, and settled on removing your pad and pens, placing them on the ground next to you as you thought about what positions would work best for what you had in mind. You gasped loudly when something soft hit you in the face, removing you from your less than innocent reveries - it seemed Neteyam was ahead of you, as you felt for the object that you removed from yourself and realised it was his loincloth. When you looked back at him, your mind shortcircuited at the sight of his naked body, glistening in the sun as the water dripped down every defined muscle, down his chest and abs, down his v-line, down his -

"You like what you see, yawne?"

Although it pained you, you raised your eyes until they met his beautiful features, tanhí shining brightly even in broad daylight, as they always did when he was overtly happy or amused, and by the wild, mischievous grin and crinkles by his eyes, it was a safe assumption he was both.

"I say you forget the painting for now, and come here so I can show you how... grateful I am you thought of me as your next subject."

It was a no-brainer to you, really, but when you heard a voice you knew all too well screaming, the noise echoing through the trees, heightening the sound, your body stilled in place.

"Neteyam! Are you there, boy?"

"Fuck! I forgot I was supposed to meet my dad for training."

"Quick, throw me the tewn-" you screeched as the instruction came too little too late, and in the heat of the moment and much to Neteyam's dismay, frightened by the quickly approaching steps of the Olo'eyktan, you threw the cloth in the opposing direction, somewhere in the bushes.

"Netey- ah, kid. What are you two doing here?"

You just looked at him, panicked, eyes flickering from him to Neteyam's younger brother, who looked at you suspiciously, eye narrowed as they assessed the situation at hand through a lens of youth and misdemeanour Jake couldn't really see, and you were glad.

"Cat got your tongue, kid?" The Sully patriarch's raised eyebrow did very little to will out of the catatonic state you found yourself in, so you remained quiet as he scoffed, turning his attention to his oldest son, instead.

"You were supposed to be in training at 1400 hours, remember?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, out. We need to be off and make up for it."

"I-I... can't."

"And why the hell not, boy?"

You felt Jake's eye roll deep in your soul, and you felt like you should take the blame for this since... you threw Neteyam's clothes away in fear, and everything. You should rectify this.

"Jake, I-"

"Oh, my Eywa! He's naked! He's so naked!"

Your mouth dropped in shock, but it was too late. The cat was indeed out of the bag, and as your and Neteyam's eyes met, listening to his dad's groans of disgust, you were a little relieved to see a hint of a smile on his face, the beautiful twinkle of amusement putting your mind at ease, letting you know it was all going to be ok. As long as you were together, and you had him, it was all going to be ok.

Reaching your hand behind your head to scratch the itchy spot at the base of your neck, you laughed awkwardly as you spoke:

"I'm... experimenting with some new artistic techniques?"

[latenightsimping]

Rosie - Chapter 2

Summary: Rosie’s getting bigger, and she’s decided it’s time to learn how to put one knee in front of the other, and begin to crawl.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x reader, dad!eddie

Word count: 2,930

Warnings: tooth rotting fluff, established relationship, children, worries about child development, talks of second child, sexual indications but nothing is explicit, lots of cuteness, not beta read, Eddie is destined to be a girl dad istg

AN: Had this one just looming open on my docs for a while, since idk I was worried about posting for some reason? Maybe the imposter syndrome hit me. But I moved bits around, added and took away certain stuff, and I think (?) I’m happy with it? Anyway, hope you like it! This is a continuation of my Rosie fic; you can find the first one here!

Now that Rosie was sleeping through the night, things fell into a comfortable routine. A promotion at the music shop meant that Eddie was able to earn enough for you to take less work at the diner, now only a couple of shifts in the evenings while he worked Monday through Friday. Coming home in time for you all to to be together as a family, the weekends free for days out or lazy days on the couch.

Your daughter was growing up so fast, now nine months old and already showing the signs that she’d begin to crawl any day. You’d spent God knows how long a couple of feet away from her as she lay on her tummy, cooing and holding out your hands as you encouraged her to start moving. But just like her Dad, she could be stubborn, deciding to do things in her own time. You were kneeled in front of her when you heard Eddie come home, her beloved dragon stuffed toy in your hands as you tried to inspire her to move of her own free will. Smiling when her head turned towards the archway that led to the hallway, listening to Eddie shuffle around as he took his shoes off.

“I’m home!” he called out, turning the corner and grinning when he saw the both of you. Placing the white plastic bag he held on the couch, he gasped in delight as he took a few steps to scoop up his little one and nestle her in his arms. “Hey there, princess,” he cooed, peppering her little cheeks with kisses in the way that never failed to make her squeal in delight. “Ya missed me?”

Her tiny fingers found their way into his long hair, gently tugging as she squirmed to look up at him. It always made your heart warm to see the two people you loved most interact with each other, the adoration Eddie had for her clearly visible in his eyes as he looked down at her.

His attention was turned to you as you got up off the floor, taking the few steps to press a kiss to your lips. “Hiya sweetheart,” he murmured, shifting Rosie in his arms so a hand was free to come up and tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Hey you,” you grinned, wrapping your arms around his middle as he looped one of his own over your shoulders. “How was work today?”

“Same as usual,” he answered, letting you go after giving you a little squeeze and one final kiss to your temple before motioning to the bag. “Managed to drop by family video on the way home.”

You smiled as you picked it up, pulling out the couple of VHS boxes to get a good look at his choices. Some were for you and him to enjoy, but you couldn’t help the relieved sigh fall from your lips as you noticed the bright pink box with the cute characters from Moon Dreamers on the front. Though the cartoons were only background noise to her while she played, you noticed that she seemed to enjoy some more than others. “They finally got it.”

“Yup. Steve managed to snag it as soon as it came back,” he smirked, looking down at Rosie as he gently bounced her. “Because we both know that if Mommy had to watch one more episode of Muppet Babies her head would explode,” he crooned in his softly spoken baby talk, each word laced with tenderness. Though she didn’t understand a word of what he said, she still smiled like it was the best thing she’d ever heard.

You chuckled as you put the tapes away on the shelf by the TV, before heading into the kitchen to get a start on dinner. “I think if I have to hear that theme song any time soon, I’m actually gonna lose it.”

“Don’t worry sweetheart. I’ll make sure Steve knows that there’s a household ban on all Muppet related videos for the next couple of months,” he chuckled, lounging back on the sofa with his head resting on the arm and pulling his legs up to rest his baby girl on his thighs. As you chopped up vegetables, you kept looking over to watch them through the archway that connected the rooms, fondness blooming in your chest as he softly spoke to her about his day. Answering her nonsensical babbles with “I know, right?” and “that’s what I said!” as he grinned. Deciding after a while that pretending to eat her toes was a far more interesting endeavour, making her squeal with delight as her adorable laughter filled the living room.

With everything in the oven or simmering on the stove, you headed back to sit down and relax for a little bit. Eddie shifted so he sat beside you, Rosie happy to sit in his lap as his arm came to rest over your shoulders. The few minutes were filled but nothing but blissful silence, save for the game show that you were both only sort of paying attention to. You were just happy to have Eddie’s fingers draw absentminded patterns on the skin of your lower back, your head on his shoulder and letting your eyes close as your eyes fluttered shut and you let out a long sigh through your nose. Having a child and a home was one of your lifelong dreams. Didn’t mean that it wasn’t tiring at times.

“Almost forgot to ask how your day was,” he finally whispered as he looked down at you, figuring you would appreciate some time to shut your eyes but also knowing full well that you wouldn’t be too happy if dinner got burnt.

“Was good,” you murmured as you curled further into his side, forcing your eyes to open. “Managed to get some laundry done, and spent a little while trying to get her to crawl. She’s nearly there, but it seems she’s content enough with sticking in one spot for now.”

“She’ll get the hang of it,” he said softly, knowing that you sometimes worried about her development. “Sometimes it just takes some kids a little longer than others.”

“I know,” you sighed, a small smile on your face as you reached out to gently smooth out her soft brown curls. “Guess it’s good that she isn’t moving about for a little while longer. God knows how much mischief she’s gonna get into when she finally gets going.”

Eddie let out a scandalised gasp as he looked down at Rosie, wiggling his fingers that she hand her tiny hands wrapped around. “My little girl? Trouble? Never.” She looked up at him to find the source of the noise, large brown eyes that identical to his crinkling as she smiled.

“Hmm, you just better pray she won’t take after you when she’s a teenager,” you teased as you got up to check on the food.

He laughed, shaking his head as he followed behind and settled Rosie down in her high chair. “No idea what you’re talking about. I was the poster boy for innocence and virtue.”

“Tell that to my Mom’s back porch that you singed when you dropped your joint on it,” you smirked, remembering the night when you’d both got quite drunk and were too busy making out to notice the small burn that permanently blackened the dried out floorboard.

“If I remember correctly, we were sharing it,” he countered, opening the fridge to grab a can of soda. Placing it on the counter as he came behind you, he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close to his chest as his lips pressed into the crook of your neck. “Can still remember the hickeys you gave me that night, too.”

“Ah, to be young again,” you sighed wistfully, your eyes flickering over to check that Rosie was still okay. She seemed pretty content to babble to herself for now, though you knew any time now she was going to start wanting to be fed. “Feels like a lifetime ago now we’ve got a little one of our own.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, the sound full of blissful feeling as he rested his chin against your shoulder. “Wouldn’t trade it for the world, though.”

“Neither would I,” you whispered, turning your head to kiss his cheek. “Would always make the choice to nearly land on my ass when I slipped on those wet leaves.”

He let out a small hum, nuzzling his nose into your shoulder. “And I’d make the choice to catch you.” His tone grew quiet as he lifted his head, lips by the shell of your ear as he pulled you closer. “And for the record, I totally wouldn’t object if you still wanted to give me hickeys.”

“Behave yourself Munson,” you laughed, playfully swatting his hands as he chuckled and pulled away to start preparing Rosie’s food.

Now you were getting the hang of life with a small child, dinner times went a lot smoother. Soda forgotten about on the side, you’d grab a glass and pour it for Eddie while he sat down to feed your daughter. You’d serve up dinner, and he’d grown used to taking mouthfuls whenever she was preoccupied or still finishing the last spoonful. At first, you had offered to do it, but he simply shook his head and smiled as he insisted it was fine. You guessed it was his way of getting more bonding time with her, and you weren’t going to get in their way any time soon. Eventually Rosie would make grabby hands for the spoon, Eddie handing it to her so he could finish up eating. Sure, sometimes errant bits of food would end up flying everywhere when she found it amusing to pick up the bowl and smack it against her tray. But you could always clean up later, and it kept her happy.

Eddie was the one to take her upstairs to get the bedtime routine started, while you cleaned up the kitchen. If you strained your ears as you put away the dishes, you could hear Eddie’s voice coming from her bedroom as he read her another chapter of ‘The Colour of Magic’. It wasn’t like she could even understand it, but Eddie had insisted on “starting her off young.” She just seemed thoroughly entertained with his dramatics whenever he voiced the characters and acted out the scenes with vigour. By the time all the counters were wiped down and you could finally collapse onto the couch, Eddie came back down to join you with an exaggerated groan as he flopped beside you.

“Out like a light,” he sighed, a hand pulled over his face as he stifled a yawn.

“Sound’s like someone’s ready to join her,” you noted with a raised eyebrow, cuddling into his side as his arms automatically pulled you in close. “Wanna go to bed?”

A laugh rumbled through his chest as his eyebrows raised, his expression turning from tired to amused. “Why sweetheart, are you trying to seduce me?”

“As if it would be difficult to do that,” you countered, resting your chin on his shoulder as a soft smile graced your features.

He mocked an outrage gasp, though the upturned corners of his mouth betrayed him. A devilish grin slowly spreading over his countenance as you were pushed onto the couch, onto your back and making a soft yelp tumble from your lips. Feeling his weight come to rest on you and his mouth playfully attack your neck as he slotted himself between your thighs. You broke out into giggles, wriggling underneath him. “Eddie,” you whined with a soft smile, your hands coming to rest on his shoulder blades. “C’mon, you got work in the morning.”

“The night’s still young,” he murmured against your skin. “Don’t you wanna fool around a little?”

“First of all, ‘fool around’? What are we, seventeen?” you grinned, trying to keep your voice even when his ministrations were starting to get you hot and bothered. Eddie had figured out a long time ago exactly what made you tick, and it never failed to make your eyes flutter shut when he laved his tongue on the spot just under your ear. “S-second of all, last time we did this on the couch we ended up with a little surprise nine months later.”

His head lifted to look at you, his lopsided smile coming into view. “Would it really be a bad thing if it happened again?”

Your eyebrows jumped up as you chuckled. “We’ve only just managed to get Rosie to sleep through the night. You really want two screaming babies to deal with?”

He bit his lip as he shrugged. “Alright, maybe not yet. But when she’s a little older? Give her a little brother and sister to play with?”

You’d always known Eddie would love to have more than one. While you weren’t particularly fussed either way – your daughter was plenty to keep you on your toes with – you wouldn’t be against it, if you just so happened to fall pregnant again. It might even be pretty wonderful.

You finally nodded as you leaned up to lock your lips with his own. A soft kiss, full of intimacy. Feeling his weight shift onto one arm as a hand came up to thread through your hair. You pulled away with a soft smile. “Maybe. We’ll see what happens when she’s old enough to talk in full sentences.”

You laughed at his little victory cry, turning into a soft moan as his mouth attacked your name again. Sure, you weren’t ready for another little one yet. But it didn’t mean that that you were immune to Eddie’s charms. Especially when he made you feel the way that you were feeling now.

~

With you lounging on the couch as you watched them play on the floor together, Eddie sat cross legged on the rug in front of his baby girl as he made her stuffed dragon ‘walk’ across the floor towards her. Gently booping the top of her head with the soft nose and pulling away to repeat the process all over again. You remembered the day that the boys from Hellfire got it for her as a group gift, and how over the moon they were when you reported back that it was her favourite toy. You still had the little handmade card it came with, the words ‘to our future party member’ and a drawn picture of a very adorable cartoon mindflayer on the front with all their names on the inside.

“Babe,” Eddie whispered, causing you to look away from the TV show you were half watching to see what he was looking at. You swore Rosie wasn’t that close to him just a moment ago. “C’mon Rosie Posie, you can do it,” he gently cooed, shuffling a little further back and holding out the dragon just out of her reach.

Her tiny face scrunched up in concentration little tongue poking out of her mouth as she shakily got herself up on her hands and knees to push herself forward just a little. You gasped as you sat up, feeling overjoyed that she was finally doing it. It was uncoordinated, and she only moved a tiny amount at a time. But she was finally crawling.

“Such a clever girl,” you squealed, resisting the temptation to pick her up as she worked herself to finally reach Eddie. When you looked up at him, you could see that he was bursting with adoration and pride as his little girl finally managed to reach out a hand and grasp her teddy. You could see how his eyes shimmered with tears as he picked her up and held her above his head.

“That’s my girl,” he grinned, bringing her to his chest and hugging an arm under her legs with his hand on her lower back to support her. Smothering her little face in kisses as he sniffled. “My beautiful, clever little girl.”

She seemed to be more interested in her toy, little face pouting until Eddie shifted his position to sit with his back leaned up against the couch so he could be close to you. Settling her in his lap and nestling the little dragon close to her. You couldn’t stop smiling as you leaned down to rest your forehead on his, his head tipped back as he gazed up at you.

“She finally did it,” you whispered, giggling as his hand came up to rest against your cheek. Smoothing the pad of his thumb just under your eye.

“Told you she would,” he murmured, leaning up for a kiss that you happily gave. He looked back down at her, blissful in the knowledge he was surrounded by love. The girl that he’d chose to settle down and start a family with behind him, her hands smoothing up and down his shoulders as she pressed kisses to the top of his head. And the little one they both created, staring up at him with eyes the exact same as his own and smiling at him. Like he said before dinner, he wouldn’t change it for the world. If he had to go through all the hell that he’d been subjected to, with the shit with his parents and the bullying and the unrelenting horrors that he almost fell victim to, he would do it all again with a smile on his face if it meant he’d end up in this exact moment.

[crucifiedfaerie]

hi!! just wanted to say thank for your service on behalf of the star wars community🫡 your writing is so good! i saw your requests were open and honestly anymore modern/delinquent!kylo content of any kind would be appreciated lol <3 anyways hope you’re having a good day :)

omgggg hi thank you sm <3 lucky for you i am currently working on a part two for nicotine stains !!! im shooting for it to be out by thursday at the latest but knowing me if i have an idea i cant stop until its done so it will most likely be earlier lmao. if you wanna be added to the taglist you can pm me or send another ask that isn't anonymous and i won't post it!

however as a little treat while you wait here are a few more modern/delinquent!kylo hcs my beloved @enviedear and i have come up with:

delinquent!kylo who is constantly taking cute pictures of you. literally doesn't matter what you're doing he just likes looking at you. he keeps a polaroid of you on his dashboard too. he also keeps pictures/love notes/ticket stubs from your dates in the sunglasses compartment and one time you opened it and they all fell out and he was rlly embarrassed about it.

"you weren't supposed to see that."

delinquent!kylo who when you get into fights he cries in his charger to nothing else matters by metallica, i was all over her by salvia palth, my body is a cage by arcade fire, and vindicated by dashboard confessional. he shows up at your window at 3am to apologize. his apologies are always terrible and he never actually says the word sorry, but he means what he says... he's just bad with getting the right words out.

delinquent!kylo whose favorite place to be is his 1969 charger with you in the passenger seat, driving around aimlessly with his hand on your thigh. he likes to play road trippin' by red hot chili peppers because it reminds him of you. he'll softly sing along to the lyrics while stealing glances at you at stoplights.

"'blue you sit so pretty west of the one

sparkes light with yellow icing,

just a mirror for the sun

these smiling eyes are just a mirror for.'"

delinquent!kylo thats childhood best friends with your brother so you all grew up together. your mother has pictures of an 8 yr old kylo helping 5 yr old you reach the kitchen sink and pictures of 12 year old kylo and finn making christmas cookies together. he's had a crush on you since he could remember and he made you a valentines day card when he was in 5th grade but got too nervous to give it to you. he kept it just in case though. he's a devotional lover even if the person he loves isn't aware of it.

delinquent!kylo who looks for you in every girl he dates before the two of you finally got together. one time your parents were out of town so finn threw a basement party. kylo brought his new girl-of-the-week but as she talks to him, he isn't listening. he's watching you across the room dancing with some random guy, wishing that was him.

delinquent!kylo who, when at a different house party, sees you way too drunk and guys getting too handsy so he gets you the hell out of there as fast as possible. he knows you're too drunk to take home to your parents so he takes you to his house. he lets you sleep in his bed and he sleeps on the couch. he doesn't care that he's showing genuine care for you and that you'll pick up on that in the morning. he only cares that you're safe.

delinquent!kylo <3

[teddybeartoji]

MICKEYYYY I’M EMERGING FROM THE BLANKET FORT HAPPILY i come with gifts :33 🍡🍡🧋🧋🌻🌻 i hope today is treating u as kindly as u deserve!!!

OK SOOOO since u finished great pretender there are things i Need to know……. journalist ari is here to interview u i am twirling my little pen and gazing at u fondly ….. first of all!!! i’m gonna have to know your general feelings on the show 👀👀 what did u think?? did u enjoy it??? any parts u especially liked/didn’t really like?? AND then i also need to know your top 3 characters + your favorite case/arc….. it’s extremely important to me.

anyways i love u here is a funny meme that made me think of u <333 they mean the world to me

HIHIHIHIHIIIII HII ARI MY ANGEL!!!! pls know that i love this fucking meme so much but what i love even more is that you sent it to me<3333 and that it made me think of you<33333 love u MWAH

i am now sitting very comfortably with my dr. pepper and i am ready to Go A Little Crazy. btw i am staring right into your eyes are you getting nervous yet little dove? /hj HERE GOES🔥🔥🔥

OKAY OKAY OKAY GREAT PRETENDER!!!!!!! I LIKED IT A LOT!!!!! the fact that they were speaking english in the beginning caught me so off guard i can't even explain it.......... lmao it was cute though!!

i think the second season was my favourite!!! i thought it was really nice how they took more time with the case although yes i understand that there was a lot happening overall so they needed to take more time but i kinda wish the first cases were a bit more drawn out too.... some parts felt a little rushed. like the literally the beginning?? edamura is stealing his wallet but now suddenly they're already in la and that all happened in like the first ten minutes??? that was a lot for a start. but overall i liked it!!!

as for my favourite characters...... look i am truly not immune to little skrunkly kitty cat guys with brown hair and brown hair okay...... edamura my sweetheart<33333333333 (just on a side note i love when ppl wear suits idk something about it just scratches my brain and he was constantly wearing one in the second one i loved it sm)

i felt soo bad by the end of the second one bc nobody treated him right:(((((((( like they didn't tell him anything:(((( yes whatever it was for "his safety" but that doesn't make it right okay:(((((((( like when he got betrayed by his dad after they rescued the kids for the first time???????? and then the whole boat thing??????? he had to watch his friends (fake) die???????? even worse he had to watch his own dad shoot them and then he himself shot his dad?????????? and all that for what??? "for his safety" yeah okay...... HE'S MY BABY:((( kittymura

so i definitely thought that he was gonna betray his friends in the end...................... i'm not saying he's a good guy............. but that old lady was treating him quite nicely wasn't she............. so yes i did think that that was gonna happen buT I DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS STILL A PART OF THE PLOT IN THE END??????? so i was still bamboozled. in a good way i enjoyed that a lot bc i feel like i very often figure out things like this whether i want to or not so i don't get too surprised that often anymore but this did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WILL GIVE KITTYMURA HIS OSCAR I PROMISE I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!! like holy shit that scene was so good!!!!!!!!!!! i think u said u watched the dubbed one right? anyway i watched the subbed one and the voice acting was top tier in that one too!!!!!! when he starts laughing and saying that he finally bested the blonde bastard or whatever i got chills waaaa that was so fucking sick and then the best part!!!!!! the same u commented about too............. the one where he covering his eyes and then the hand drops over his lips 🥴🥴🥴 SO COOL HE ACTUALLY LOOKED MENACING THERE I LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH i won't lie i might've been rooting for him (sorry to my other beloveds...) but yeah that scene was amazing i was sitting so close to my computer screen i just couldn't pull myself away i was so into it

LAURENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYY YIPPEEEE YAYY!!!! MY FAVOURITE BISEXUAL CON-ARTIST. very gender if i do say so myself. i loveed him!!!!!!! i love suave and charismatic characters a lot i think i'm TRYING to project onto them yk. btw have i said that every time i have a job interview or anything alike i just think that i'm george clooney. i'm not even kidding. i just think of him in ocean's 11 and i repeat to myself that I Am A Charismatic Man Who Doesn't Speak Too Loudly Nor Too Fast I Smile And I Keep Eye Contact And I Make A Joke Here And There And I Will Get This Job Because I Am A Cool Guy btw i've gotten every job i have ever been interviewed for.

and i LOVEDDDDDD him in season two!!!!!!!!!! i loved loved loved his background story so much it's so good to see the suave guy who never fucks up.... fuck up. like when he was stammering at their first job plsssss that made me love him so much more. and to see him with dorothy too:((((((((((((((((((((((((( i thought they were really really cute!!! the speaks-too-much and the stares-fondly dynamic always gets me going<33333333 the way he treated dorothy and how sweet he was i almost cried what's new....

+ i just loved when he Showed Emotion. he always had a smile and he was constantly cracking jokes so it was good to see him upset too. made him more real ig.....

PLUSSSS JUNICHI SUWABE IS SOOOOO FUCKING GOOD AAAAAA PLEAAASEEEE HE NEEDS LIKE AN OSCAR TOO he did such a great job with laurent he fit him so well and just overall he's so fucking good like obviously him as sukuna BROOOOOOOOOOOOOO I GOT CHILLS LIKE EVERYTIME HE OPENED HIS MOUTH OKAY and ofc odasaku too............ whewww okay this is another side note bc idk i love voices so i recently also discovered that he voiced viktor from yuri on ice????????????????????? that made my eyes drop out of my head i think voice acting is so fucking sick how do you voice a guy like viktor (btw i've never actually seen it but i've seen clips) and then a mf LIKE SUKUNA THE NEXT DAY THAT'S SO COOOOOL WAAHH

wait also THE LAURENT AND EDAMURA DYNAMIC!!!!!!! INSANE ACTUALLY!!!! very funny and gay. the end of season two made me go very crazy.. like when edamura is losing it and pointing the sword at his dad and then laurent steps in waaaaaaaaaaaaa that was so cool and i loved all of the times when edamura thought he had bested laurent only to realize that that indeed was not the case lmao they're so cute i can't wait to see more of them!!!!

what da fuck i just scrolled up when did this get so long...........anyway my third favourite character drum roll pleaaaaseee..... ABBBIE!!!!!!! I LOVED HER SOO MUCHHH finally a female character who doesn't smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very refreshing to see it and what's even more refreshing was that they kept her like that for the whole thing!!!! i feel like typically they'd make her "break" or whatever by the end of the show......... yk like idk if they made edamura n her kiss or something. ew. definitely feels like if a normie would watch it that's what they'd hope for and i'm very glad they didn't give in to that!!!!!!!! not every female character needs a love interest!!!!! she and kittymura made very very good friends and i hope they stay that way!!!!!!

btw i loved cynthia too i am bringing her here aswell!!!!!!!!! i was a silly goose and i kinda spoiled the first plot twist for myself bc.......... when u mentioned her i might've googled her............. just for the looks i wanted to know it's her when i saw her but............. i didn't realize the whole twist was that you wouldn't know who she really was.................. she appeared as the fbi agent and i went waittt isn't this???? 😐😐😐😐😐 yes. yes. it is................................. that was completely on me that was stupid....

anyway i adored the painting arc a lot!!!! it was so sweet and again it let us see the mighty swindler in a way different light and i really appreciated that it can get a bit boring when the characters are JUST some cool people who are always Cool and Successful it's nice to see them have emotions like i said before

i wasn't a big fan of the dad......................... idk if it's really my own daddy issues kicking in but i hope edamura stays mad at him....... that's kinda petty i guess but he fucked up sooooooo badly aaaaaaaa. i get it ur friend dies but then you just completely abandon your family???? yeah okay you had like a masterplan and had other people taking care of your son buT HE'S STILL YOUR SON?????? HE WAS SO TINY BACK THEN AND THEN HE'S JUST WILLINGLY LETTING KITTYMURA GET INTO THESE BIG GIGS wahh okay something about it just doesn't sit right with me okay....... even if it all worked out in the end........... edamura deserved better......

OKAAAAAYYYYYY THIS GOT SO LONG I AM NOT SURPRISED. LONG STORY SHORT I LOVE KITTYMURA AND I LOVE BILAURENT. VERY FUN SHOW AND I AM THANKING YOUR FOR THE RECOMMENDATION MY LOVE!!!!! <33333333333

and we are now reversing the roles as i beg you to answer the same questions please please pretty please!!!!!

(this is my chance to tell u that i watched the first ep of haikyuu last night!!!!!! and i of course liked it a lot what a surprise..... hinata is soo cute very baby and the beef he and kageyama already had made me laugh so hard but i did only watch the first ep so i can't say more but trusttttt i will let you know when i have my favourites picked out hehe)

OKOK ENOUGH ENOUGH HERE'S SOME NICE WARM TEA FOR MY PRETTIEST IRIS ☕☕ oke maybe it's coffee actually either way it's a warm drink to keep you nice and.. warm!!!!! yk since i can't be there to hug you or whatever😒😒😒 ANDDDD HERE'S A 🧁 BC YOU NEED SOMETHING SWEET I KNOW YOU DO!!!!! no rush with the reply bc this turned into a novel but yeah!!! can't wait to hear more of your thoughts!!!! I LOVE YOJUUUUU<3333

+ they're hugging<33333333 kittymura is just surprised but we both know he hugs him right back<33333333333

[rumor-weed]

Links to My Other Muses!

Audrey “Rumor” Weed - My Main Blog! You Are Here! But also check out the blog, it’s got a lot of fun links/little fun bonus bits. Here to spread rumors, gossip, and party hard til the last day. Her best friends are Bob the Tomato and Petunia Rhubarb. Petunia makes sense, they have a history, but Bob? One can only wonder how long they've known each other. They're on a bowling league together, and she loves it. She's very competitive, just probably not the best bowler. She may have sold Jollies, but we forgot to do anything with that plotline so who knows.

Bartlebey the Butler - Oh, Bartlebey. How beloved your bartleblogging has become. You scamp. You scallywag. You may be a Lovecraftian horror who vaguely resembles and sounds like Tim Curry, but is also a Veggie, a Butler, and Bartlebey, but you’re our Lovecraftian horror. Rescued from a few mentions on a dead blog, we made you our own. In fact, really, the only thing we kept was the only information given: your name and occupation. Now we know so much about you! Well... we know more than we did before, anyway. And that information can be found on the provided Veggie Lore page on the blog, if you don’t feel like sifting through all the RP logs. He is madly in love with Charlie Pincher. One could even say he's Charlie Pincher's dream come true. Maybe he is. He doesn't know where he came from, and his memories all seem fabricated. Was he ever real to begin with?

Phil Winklestein - the Toledian actor best known for being Frankencelery, potentially the next great musical playwright? probably not, though. Just really, really attracted to tomatoes for some reason. He's awkward, uncomfortable, and genuinely a little pathetic. A real "poor little meow meow" of a guy, or whatever you call them. He tries too hard to impress and it often backfires on him.

Peter Pepperazzi - the sleaziest Pepper you’ve ever met. He gives off dark, unsettling vibes, and nobody knows quite why he’s so obsessed with the Veggies, but when they became active again the summer of ‘23, he showed up as well, ready to ask questions. Does he seem a little obsessed with Petunia more than the others? What's his angle? Does he look familiar? He says he has a kid. Does he have any other family around?

Lovey Asparagus - poor, sweet Lovey. Went through an awful period of marriage, murdered divorced her husband, and yet he came back anyway, denying any knowledge of the worst of their relationship. She’s a Vampire now and her best friend is Jerry Gourd, so you know we’re following canon VeggieTales very closely. Only source material here, folks. She may have murder a little deeper in her veins than we think, and as her relationship with Archibald - at least, the one who returned - heals, she's considering solving murders and doing a true crime podcast with him. Just as best friends instead of lovers, this time.

Nebby K Nezzer - The man, the myth, the looks-67-but-is-actually-37 zucchini with a rotten love life. The Incident at Glee Club Finals may have been what aged him so drastically overnight, but nobody knows for sure. Rumor has it that he's actually Wally P. Nezzer pretending to be his twin brother Nezzer, but how long has he pretended? He seems to know too well the life of his brother Nebby. Is he more Nebby K. Nezzer than Wally P. Nezzer now?

Art Bigotti - revived famous bowler Art Bigotti, a once-wild party animal who has softened his edge with world-weary bleakness after a game of Jumanji gone wrong. Well, wrong for him. The game probably meant to do that. Either way, he returned forty years later, still the same age he was the night of the Incident. There are many questions left unanswered for him, and drugs, alcohol, and bowling just don’t seem to be the solution they once were in his golden days. His unrequited love for Dad Asparagus is obvious to pretty much everybody except Dad Asparagus, much to his distress and relief. Disrelief? Restress? There's a lot of highs and lows in bowling and love. They have that in common.

Laura Carrot - the child actor/criminal who Uno and Goliath believe murdered Uno’s parents in a Hot Topic. She did it. But don’t tell the cops I said that! She’s just an eight year old with a dream. A dream to own her own getaway truck one day. If only the world would stop getting in the way of that dream... Junior's her best friend, she may have killed Lenny, and she complains a lot about her dad. We never hear much about the rest of the people in her life, and maybe that's for the best.

Goliath Gottik - dated Uno in his younger days, though after the Incident, it became clear that Uno was suffering a severe breakdown and refused to grow, staying mentally in 2006 for the last seventeen years. He became a professional boxer, cameo’d on VeggieTales, and recently became more active in acting. Because of the whole Laura thing, he doesn’t really trust kids and believes they’re all criminal masterminds. He's not really smart enough to stop seeking medical advice from his veterinarian-combo-doctor Dr. Larry, which does lead to some wacky situations. He's constantly annoyed by his doctor, but maybe he thinks of their situation as friends, maybe as enemies, or maybe just really confusing frenemies. Seriously Goliath, why are you still going to him for medical advice? God forbid you actually need real medical help one day, it may be the death of you.

Pa Grape - Uno’s adoptive father. Tom and Rosie just aren’t around any more, they live out of state, and they never visit. Ma? Well, Ma seems to have gone a long time ago, and Pa doesn’t mention it. If you ask him, he’ll just faintly smile and allude to the fact that she’s been gone a while, a little sorrowfully. And sure, that looks like confirmation that she’s passed, but she could just be on a very long vacation, or they could be divorced, and who even knows. Pa’s been losing his memory lately as he ages, and he does his best to get by with the help of Uno, who needs to let go of the past and accept the way things have changed to heal in time to appreciate his father. Pa Grape also was front-man for Three Days Grace Period, a Three Days Grace cover band. His wife may be a car? Seriously, his wives are definitely a confusing subject, and I don't trust Pa Grape, even if his cover band was kind of cool.

Shannon Cedric “Uno” Scallion, or, Alternatively: Nameless Scallion/Scallion Number 1 - Yeah, he’s goff. He writes fanfic. It’s always 2006 for this scallion, who seems unaware of time passing, though Pa is helping him through his emotions and pulling him out of Emo Hell. He’s worried for his adoptive father, who despite his emo ‘you’re not my real dad’ attitude, he genuinely loves and sees as his dad. He’s embarrassed by the name Shannon (not goff enough), used to go by Cedric before The Incident, and then eventually settled on ‘Uno’ as an appropriate substitute. He's starting to catch up on time, or maybe time is catching up on him, and he's recognizing Pa Grape's aging and falling back into his old self - pre-incident. (I manage this blog with the permission of the owner, who has currently abandoned the project due to unforeseen drama in his life. He did promise to possibly add more ‘secrets’ to the blog, if you know what to look for in the URLs, and might return to his fanfics soon.)

Kilt “Bagpipe” Rhubarb - You know him. That Scottish or maybe Irish lad. And if you don’t? Send him some asks and get to know him. He's a Yale man, a redheaded rhubarb who's inexplicably flirtatious and a little horny. Before Archibald came back, everybody knew him as "that fella Archibald cheated on his wife with". Also a general menace to their society. He's not who he says he was, but who is he then?

Tom Grape - He just wants to be left alone. Why don’t you bother him with some asks?

Egg Boy - He likes Eggs. What else do you need to know? An orphan who wants to know who his parents were, and is also a biter/has sharp teeth like a shark. For a few years he thought his father might be at the bottom of the sea...

Vicki Cucumber - like, ugh, whatever 🙄 she's over it. she's done. She's not even all that into him, and maybe she's just trying to cover up her feelings for someone else. Or maybe she's madly in love with both of them. Or neither of them. It's so not your business.

Scooter Carrot - he’s hip, he’s Scottish, some kids call him oddball, some kids call him weird…

Mr. Beet - Not to be confused with his brother, Mr. Beast, Mr. Beet runs a hotel and generally is pretty pissed off all the time. Maybe there's a dramatic backstory his episode didn't cover, but we'll sure figure it out if we ever get around to focusing on our many many characters. Seriously. Look at this list. This is just Ryan's (me) list. You know how many characters I plan to ADD to it?

Joetato Jonas - star of Camp Rock 2: the Final Jam and Head Brother of the Jonas Brothers. He just wants to be appreciated for being famous! He's THE Jonas Brother!

[sab-teraa]

Tye Talks: A Diary Entry

(23/02/24 || 20:59 pm)

Hi friends <3 Happy Friday! I'm sooooo glad it's the weekend.

Work

Ooooof! What a long day but good day. My senior and I finally finalised the assignment and test questions for our students. The thing I'm most chuffed about is the increase in word count lol. I can't speak for others, but personally, I am a yapper ... I can never stick to the word count lmaooo … so I knew exactly how my students felt. Anywho, I'm glad they have more space to make a thorough analyses, especially considering the level they are expected to be at.

As always, my fulltime job is SOMETHING. I mistakenly opened up a can of worms. It truly was not my intention lol. But, in my defence, it was a colleague's job to inform the boss about this hurdle... I did not even know it was a hurdle lol ... I found out at the same time as my boss. But hey, that's none of my business.

I also found a job I want to apply to ... but it's soooo evident that they shared it with the public for the sake of it lmao. While I’m convinced they most likely already found someone for the job, I'm still giving it a shot.

Uni

I made zero progress on my thesis today ... I was so preoccupied with work. I'm very very annoyed with myself.

Health

Is this tmi? Maybe? Apologies if so.

Anyway, my PMS symptoms are absolutely killing me. At one point I could not walk bc my back felt as if it was on fire. Thank god for hot water bottles and heat patches. Forever my beloved.

Mentally, I'm doing ok. Tbh, I haven't had much time to think about anything other than work.

Fun and mundane

Met up with my good friend for an iced coffee and a pastry, did a bit of grocery shopping and finally got my new duvet. I also made a dumb purchase ... but we move lmao. I'm young ok.

Then, my colleagues and I met up for a early dinner. Omfg I had the yummiest steak and frites + arugula salad. That pepper sauce?? DIVINE.

Also, but idk why I'm so surprised to hear about colleagues having KIDSSSSS lol. They are much older than me ... but since we get along super well I don't really think about it and I always thought it would be rude to ask yk? Kids are always a sensitive topic.

Mel sent me a Love is Blind clip … and now I’m really keen on starting the show. It’s giving MESS. My absolute fave.

Relationships

My family and friends are doing well. Forever grateful to have them in my life <3

[animatorweirdo]

Timeless devotion

(Celebrimbor x reader)

You met someone who made your heart beat like a drum. After some time being friends, you finally have the courage to confess your feelings to him. But then you get into an accident then find out you have been dead for 300 years. And your beloved crush had been captured by the dark lord. 

What in the actual fuck?

Warnings; Awkward obvious crush, maybe fluff, two nerds in love, dying, angst, death and war. 

(Might get continued)

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

"Celebrimbor. It's good to see you again, my friend," The dwarf greeted. "Narvi," The tall elf greeted back his friend. "I hope the journey was well. Come inside. I show you around," Narvi stated, then led Celebrimbor through the stone gate of Khazad-dum. Celebrimbor marveled at the dwarven city as this was his first visit.

The journey had been long, but it was worth it.

"About the mineral, we discussed before. I know a good place we could find it," Narvi explained as the two walked across the hallway. "Really? That's great," Celebrimbor stated. "Yes. The place is over the mountains, so it will be a long walk and raise our chances of finding it. We need one of our experts to accompany us," Narvi said. Celebrimbor's ears perked up when he heard that. "I didn't know you need an expert to find rocks," He said. "Well, our expert is a peculiar case. They're known to be able to find every mineral and jewel in a short time while we could be searching for hours," Narvi explained. "Interesting. If you have that much trouble finding things, does this expert have a special ability in that?" Celebrimbor asked. "Well, no. We don't know really how. She is just able to find them easily," Narvi answered.

"She?" Celebrimbor questioned. "Yes. Our expert is a young lady," Narvi smiled. "It might sound unusual, but she is a talented individual like any other of our smiths," He added.

Kaboom!

The whole mountain seemed to shake. Celebrimbor tried to stay on his feet while Narvi just sighed when it happened.

"My lord!" A dwarf came to inform. "What has she done now?" Narvi asked. "What was that?" Celebrimbor asked. "That... might have been our expert," Narvi answered. "Your expert?" Celebrimbor questioned, confusion written all over his face.

The two arrived at the scene. A workshop seemed to be on fire since thick smoke was coming out of the windows and the open doorway. Celebrimbor noticed the other dwarves just staring. And shaking their heads like this was a common occurrence.

You suddenly came out, stumbling on your feet. Your work apron and face were dirty with black ash. Your hair was all around your face, and you looked disoriented as well.  

Celebrimbor took one good look at you. You were indeed a young lady. What was a lady like you doing with dwarves? He then noticed your ears which were round. You are a human as well.

"What happened this time, (Name)?" Narvi asked.

You coughed smoke out of your mouth. "I might have put too much pepper in the mix," You said as you leaned on a pillar for support. Narvi just sighed while Celebrimbor got curious. In what kind of smithing do you need pepper?

The elf couldn't help but get more curious about you.

"(Name), this is the fourth time this week. You need to stop using spices in your experiments," Narvi said in a scolding manner. "Sorry," You coughed, then started rubbing the ash from your face. "Anyway. (Name), I would like to introduce you to someone," Narvi explained as you stepped closer to the two. "Celebrimbor. Allow me to introduce you to (Name). She is an alchemist and our expert we talked about," Narvi said. "Hi. Nice to meet you," You stopped when you saw Celebrimbor.

You couldn't see well since you had ash on your face and were slightly disoriented, but now you couldn't help but stare at the elf before you.

He was tall. Slightly dark brown hair and the skin lightly tanned. He wore one earring on his right ear, and he was puff, not like super puffed, but you definitely could imagine his muscles under the shirt. He was most likely a blacksmith.

You have seen elves before, but something about this one was hypnotizing to you. Especially those silvery eyes that almost looked like two pairs of stars.

"(Name), this is Celebrimbor. He's the lord of Eregion," Narvi's voice snapped you out of thoughts. You coughed when you heard the title this elf possessed. "Are you alright?" Celebrimbor asked. You shook your hand in denial. "No! Everything is fine! Uhm! What can I do for you, my lord?"You bowed rather quickly. Celebrimbor, you knew that name. He's not just a simple lord; but also one of the great blacksmiths. His family also has a quite reputation.

"Just Celebrimbor is just fine," Celebrimbor stated.

"That explosion was quite big. Are you sure you're not in any sort of pain?"  He asked. "It's nothing I'm not used to; explosions happen all the time. It's nothing to worry about, really," You explained with an awkward smile. "All the time? What are you doing in there?" He asked. "Just making some formulas and testing the properties of certain materials. You know, the boring stuff of alchemy. I'm sure it's nothing compared to your great works as a blacksmith," You explained with an awkward laugh. Your face heated up a bit. Oh, Mahal, this became awkward. Why are you this nervous?

Celebrimbor chuckled and looked away, and so did you.

Narvi glanced at you both and the way you behaved. He had a tiny smirk on his lips, hidden by his beard. It might look like embarrassment, but he can see the fluster on both of your faces. He has a feeling that something might grow out of this encounter.

And something was starting to grow between you and Celebrimbor.

You two started as friends, but it was pretty obvious how eager you were to spend time with the elf. You were also pretty nervous around him that even you could tell. You couldn't explain the feeling, but you liked it.

You would help Celebrimbor and Narvi to find precious jewels and minerals. Celebrimbor would always be surprised how easily you can find them while it would take hours for him. You would even find stuff that got misplaced. He calls it a peculiar quirk of yours. Nothing stays hidden from your sight, and that makes you more peculiar.

You two would hold discussions about your interests. You somehow get lost when talking about alchemy and all the formulas you have made. You thought you bore Celebrimbor since alchemy was not a well-known art, but he didn't mind. You listened when he talked about new ideas and inventions he could make. And he finds your ideas fascinating, especially your goal to figure out a formula to make gold. It was a goal you dreamed of reaching because turning things into gold could help people out of poverty. Celebrimbor was supportive and even offered his assistance from time to time.

You sometimes show fascination in smithing, and Celebrimbor was more than happy to show his work, even teaching you a thing or two. In return, you showed how alchemy worked and sometimes brought him materials that can't be found in the wild.

Celebrimbor would always be filled with wonder whenever you brought him new rocks or jewels to him.

Narvi watched how you two behaved around each other. Some people could say it was a deep friendship, but it was pretty obvious you had a crush on the elf.

You would accept Celebrimbor's every request, be it just an invitation to a walk or have some ingredients. You would listen to him speak with heart-filled eyes, and sometimes you get shy around him.

Narvi knows you have some social shyness and rather not interact with people because some of them had ridiculed your position as a woman, which caused you anxiety. However, how you acted with Celebrimbor was something else.

You once came to talk with Narvi about your crush, and he tried to encourage you to confess, but like a shy nerd, you refused. You tried to hide them, but your crush was starting to become obvious to everyone. Even to the one you had a crush on.

Celebrimbor was startled when he figured that you held feelings for him since he doesn't have a great family history of all people of middle earth. But he couldn't help but reciprocate them since he was very fond of you too.

You were a peculiar human and fun to be around. Celebrimbor finds it adorable when you bring him things and try to hide your obvious crush on him. Some of the dwarves started teasing him too. Some asked when was the confessing happening, and when they witnessed you bringing him new rocks, they call out to already confess. You're giving him gifts that could be a sign of courting.

That left him once a shy blushing mess.

So he gets teased a lot.

Some dwarves were not so into teasing the elf. They were protective of you since you are a valued member. They consider you as family.

Celebrimbor consoled Narvi about you and his growing feelings for you. Narvi could look in amusement as his elf friend shared his feelings for you. Celebrimbor thought he should look into the human rules of courting. Narvi then told him there was no need for it; since you were raised among dwarves. You were abandoned as a child at their doorsteps because your human father was not a good man.

That was news to Celebrimbor because you rarely talked about your past, but he also took it as a good sign. Since you are accustomed to the dwarven culture, confessing to you might be easier since he was now familiar with it. You might have forgotten, but giving priceless rocks and jewels as a gift is a courting custom among dwarves. That left Celebrimbor a blushing mess because you have been doing it for a long time without realizing it.

And you two shared one common thing because he knows what it was like to be abandoned by your own father. That was another thing that set him clear to court you.

Celebrimbor kinda asked Narvi for his blessing since you regarded Narvi as your familial figure. Narvi just laughed and said it was okay since he already knew it was gonna end up like this. Celebrimbor was his good friend, and you were old enough to take care of yourself, so Narvi had no problems if you two got together. He actually was pretty excited about it. It could be a lovely addition to their alliance among elves and dwarves.

Celebrimbor set out a plan to court you, and so were you, now that you had mustered enough courage to confess.

It was a simple plan. Ask Celebrimbor out for a walk, give him the courting gift you prepared and confess. Nothing terrible should happen with this. Right?

Until the night it happened.

You were nervously walking around in the garden, imagining scenarios in your head. Maybe this was a bad idea. What if he doesn't feel the same? What if you ruin your friendship with this confession?

You stopped and silently screamed. You were so nervous that you wanted to hide under a rock and never come out.

You looked down at the gift that was in your pocket. Will Celebrimbor like it? Will it be good enough for him? Maybe you should go back and do some fixes?

You stopped your thoughts and took a deep breath. You were overthinking again. Take a deep breath and calm down just like how Narvi taught you whenever you have a mental breakdown. Celebrimbor will like it. Even Narvi was sure it was a good gift for him.

It will end well, have some faith in yourself.

"(Name)," Celebrimbor appeared behind you, making you yelp and turn around in a startle.

"Sorry if I startled you," The elf chuckled. "No! No! I... was just thinking," You explained, your face hot with embarrassment. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" You asked, looking at the moon. "Yeah, it is," Celebrimbor nodded, looking at you. Silence filled the gap between you.

Your heart was pounding between your ears, and you could almost feel the blood rushing into your head. Your hand was nervously fidgeting against the gift box it was holding. Come on, do it now! It's your one chance!

"I need to -!" You and Celebrimbor simultaneously started. You stared at each other before chuckling. "You can go first," You said. "No, you can say it first," He said. "No! No! It's fine if you wanna go first," You said. "No! I insist," He said. "Okay," You agreed, then looked away for a moment.

Come on! This is it! Give him the gift!

You took a deep breath and pulled out the gift box.

"Here. I wanted to give you this," You quickly handed the box to Celebrimbor. He looked surprised before taking the gift box. "Thank you," He said with a smile.

"And I need to tell you something," You started. Celebrimbor's ears perked up. "Yes?" He questioned. You inhaled, preparing to say it all.

"I appreciate our friendship. You're my close friend, but I found myself in a predicament," You tried to say without stuttering, which was hard. "And what may that be?" Celebrimbor waited for you to say what he thought you were gonna say. His ears reddened up a bit since he was kinda excited about it. "You're a wonderful person, and it's okay if you don't feel the same..." Your face started to heat up. Oh Valar, this is it.

"What... I'm trying to say is!" Something shook the mountain, and an explosion was heard.

"What in the?" You started because this is literally the worst time to have anything to interfere with you.

"(Name)!" A dwarf came yelling.

"What's the matter?" You called out.

"Something happened in your lab! Come quick!" He yelled.

"My lab?" You questioned, glancing at Celebrimbor who held equal confusion.

Yellow, amber-colored substance was bubbling out of a pot. The students you took in to learn alchemy watched the scene helplessly.

You came running through the doorway. "What's going on?" You asked when you saw the state your lab was in.

There was almost amber-colored goo all over the floor, and more was coming out of the pot. It was a huge mess.

"Lady (Name). We were trying to finish the assignment you gave us, but something happened, and it's not stopping," one of your students explained. "What the -" You questioned because you had never seen something like this before.

The pot broke, and static lightning started to show. "Oh no," You said, knowing what was happening. A chemical reaction. "Everyone out!" You yelled. Your students quickly did what you said and ran through the door. One of them, however, tripped on the floor.

You went after them before you two end up in the crossfire; because the chemical reaction was getting more violent. Celebrimbor arrived and saw the scene.

You grabbed your student and tossed them toward the door. You were about to follow, but then something got stuck on your feet. You looked down and saw the yellow-colored liquid crystallizing around your feet because of the static lightning. This was not good. It rapidly grew around your knees, which made you unable to move.

"(Name)!" Celebrimbor called out, coming toward you when he saw you stuck. You glanced at the pot and saw it was about to explode.

"No!" You yelled Celebrimbor to stop, then a bright flash happened.

Celebrimbor got blinded by the light, then Narvi grabbed him, pulling him through the doorway before the explosion could get to them both.

An explosion then happened, and amber-colored crystals burst out of your lab.

Celebrimbor got up and looked at the horrifying scene. Your workshop got destroyed, and there was no sign of you. He ran inside, ignoring Narvi's calls to wait.

The elf managed to wiggle through the crystals that blocked his way and found himself back in your lab. His heart was beating hard as he anxiously looked for you, hoping you were alright.

His eyes landed on a pile of crystal, then his heart stopped. He found you, but not in the state he hoped you would be in.

Your eyes held terror. Your arm extended in a sign to stop. The crystal held you in its clutches, making you stand in that position, imprisoned.

Celebrimbor almost couldn't find his breath as he approached your state. He put his hand against the crystal. If it wasn't so thick, he could touch your face, but you were too far from his reach.

Tears started to fall before he finally started yelling. "Help!" He called out, hoping it was not too late to save you.

And that's how you perished in a freaky accident.

Celebrimbor and Narvi tried to dig you out of there, but since the crystal was chemically born. It only grew back whenever chunks were taken out of it, making it difficult to reach you.

Celebrimbor went through all of your notes and books, hoping he would find a solution or a formula to destroy the crystal, but there was none.

A year had gone spent to get you out of your crystal prison, but Narvi and other dwarves reached the conclusion that you had already died. Celebrimbor didn't want to believe it, hoping there was still time, but the sorrow finally made him crumble on his knees.

You were gone, and the love he held for you were left unsaid, which made the feeling worse.

A memorial was held, and those who regarded you as family mourned for your passing. It was a day full of sorrow, and the songs were enough to send the toughest dwarf into tears.

Alchemy was prohibited, and all the notes and books you ever made got confiscated into the deepest vaults. Never to be found or read ever again. It was to make sure no such incidents would ever happen again. Alchemy was dangerous. It took your life, so it was for the better no one will practice it.

All they could do for you now was to try to get your body out of the amber crystal for a proper burial.  

Celebrimbor wanted to do the tasks, and Narvi agreed to have the crystal chunk you were in to be taken to Eregion. There Celebrimbor tried to focus on his duties as a lord and use his free time digging you out of the crystal.

It was hard for him. He could barely focus on his duties or look at you without falling into tears. Your death was an accident, but he sometimes wondered if he could have done something to prevent it.

He always holds your gift close to his heart. It was a bracelet with tiny charms attached to it. It had a dog and a hammer, representing his uncle and father. A tiny stone holding his favorite jewel, next to it was a plate with a dwarven symbol on it, and on the other side was a horse which was your favorite animal. To others, it might seem like a silly gift made with poor work, but Celebrimbor could care less about its flaws. It was perfect for him because it was from you.

He sometimes imagines about that night when you were about to confess. Maybe he should have said something sooner? Maybe he should have confessed first?  

He knew about your feelings, and he felt the same, but he said nothing that night. He didn't even have a chance to give you his courting gift.

Celebrimbor stood in front of your crystal frozen body. He touched the surface with his tear fallen eyes. His mind played tricks on him, and he could still hear your voice and what you could have said that night.

"I love you too," He whispered, closing his eyes, allowing his tears to fall once more.

His grief almost took his life, allowing his fea to vanish from his body. Narvi had passed away from old age, and it was like all hope was gone. He was alone. Galadriel managed to console him before it was too late. His grief was heavy, but he slowly recovered. There were still a lot of things to do, so he could not pass away. Yet. His grief never left him, but he tried to remain strong. Even though; it was almost downright impossible.

You remained trapped in the crystal that took your life. In a chamber, no one was rarely allowed to use. Celebrimbor sometimes visits you and tries to work through the crystal. He even talks to you. Even though; You will never answer.

It was just his means of comfort since you used to listen to his rants. His life was still hard, but he hopes he can one day get you out of there ad bid his last goodbye to you.

(300 years later)

The chamber was shaking, stones were falling out of the ceiling, and loud booming noises were coming from outside. A boulder fell out of the rooftop and fell toward an amber-colored crystal. The impact caused the crystal to crack in half. A burning rock suddenly came through the wall and hit the crystal so hard a huge chunk fell out of it. The crystal started cracking more and more whenever it got hit.

The crystal finally broke, and your upper half came out. Your weight then cracked the rest of it, allowing your body to fall onto the floor.

Your eyes opened in shock when your lungs got filled with air. Your eyes looked around in panic. The chamber was crumbling all around you. You heard cracking above you, then saw a huge boulder coming right toward you. You couldn't move your body, so the only thing you could do was watch in horror as the boulder fell toward you. Darkness then took you once more.

Your consciousness awoke, and you let out a deep gasp. Your eyes looked around in panic since you remembered being crushed by a boulder. You took a deep breath, trying to control your racing heart. Your eyes looked up, and they saw the boulder right above you. It was close but not close enough to crush you. The stones on your sides must have stopped it before it could reach you. You were alive.

You turned around and started crawling out of the hole you were in.

You groaned as you fell over the boulder to an open floor. You couldn't feel your legs, so all you could do was push yourself up and look around.

You didn't recognize this place at all.

"Tyelpe..." Your voice was hoarse. "Narvi!" You called out again. No one answered. Where are they? Where are you?

You brought yourself to sit and started massaging your legs, trying to make blood flow into them again. You needed to get out of here.

You stumbled through the broken doorway and found yourself looking at the outside world. You shoved yourself to a stone baluster and looked where you were.

There was a city in ruins. Everything that was made with stone got reduced to dust, and there was still fire, burning that was left to burn. It looked like there was a war. And this was all that was left.

Some people were looking around, searching for something. Probably survivors.

You blinked a few times. You knew this city. This was Eregion, but why was it in ruins? What happened?

You turned around when you saw an elf. The elf looked at you before backing away and running away from you.

Your head started to sting hard. You groaned and fell on the floor in pain. You sat down, leaning against the baluster.

"Lady (Name)?" Someone said.

You looked and saw a tall elf dressed in blue and wearing a familiar star symbol. You recognized this elf. You have met once and twice before with Narvi and Celebrimbor.

"Lord Gil-galad?" You questioned.

The elf king kneeled before you. "Is it really you?" He asked, almost not believing his eyes. You groaned because your head was stinging again.

"What happened? Where is Celebrimbor?" You asked, motioning at the ruined city.

"Sauron. He attacked and took Celebrimbor captive," Gil-galad explained. "Sauron?" You questioned, then groaned again. The pain in your head was becoming bigger and bigger.

"How are you alive?" Gil-galad asked, supporting you. "I came... from there," You pointed out. "Why wouldn't I be alive?" You asked. "Lady (Name)," Gil-galad started. "You have been dead for 300 years," He said.

You stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"What?"

[starxscream]

Morning Off

“   Forced to take the morning off, Swatch realizes what exactly they have been missing. “

SwatchKaard fic!

Oh buddy we got another bc I have problems and it’s them. (Also check it out on ao3 if it’s easier for y’all to read there!)

It was hard to tell when it was morning or evening in the dark world, but time flowed all the same.  Just today, it happened to be early morning, the sound of the rushing fountain in the middle of Ralsei’s kingdom filtering through the windows as if to say ‘it’s time to wake up’.  Other than that, however, there was nothing but a blissful silence, Castle Town still in a state of slumber while the Darkeners continue to rest while few others begin to slowly wake up.

Swatch was one of the latter, always an early riser, even if today they did not have to go into work until later- forcibly given the morning off due to the swatchlings thinking that they ‘worked too much’.  It would have been the whole day, but Swatch was not having that, needing to make sure that the cafe was being run in perfect order.

The bird sighs sleepily, a part of them torn between trying to doze or shaking off their tiredness and getting up anyways.  Eyes barely cracked open, they slowly take in their surroundings, waking up just slightly.  They become aware of someone’s back pressed against their chest.  Arms still wrapped tightly around the other person, Swatch doesn’t make any sudden movement yet, instead dipping their beak down slightly to be able to bury their face in the mass of hair beside them. They could make out quiet snores from the other person, Swatch’s feathered fingers unconsciously stroking the patches of skin where they held him.

As much as Swatch complained about having the morning off, this was…nice.  The knowing that they didn’t have to get up and leave so quickly, just being able to lay here and take in the slow morning.  They let their eyes slowly flutter shut again, silently making their decision on what to do this morning.

Unbeknownst to Swatch, however, their oh-so-wonderful partner had started to stir, his internal clock telling him it was time to wake up.  Unfortunately he did not want to wake up.  A silent groan works past his lips, mouth curved into a frown as he suddenly rolls over in Swatch's arms and pulls himself even closer to the bird, resting his head on his chest.

The sudden movement rouses Swatch from their state of dozing, cracking open a singular eye to gaze down at the other, lifting their beak only slightly while he shifts his position around.  Once settled, Swatch lowers their head back down to rest on top of their partner’s a soft coo escaping their beak.

“Good morning beloved.” Swatch whispers quietly, only earning a tired grunt from the other, pushing himself further into Swatch- at least, attempting to.  He hung tightly to Swatch, wrapped around them like a coiled rod.  It earns a chuckle from Swatch, moving a hand to pet their partner’s messy hair.

“Rouxls…” Swatch speaks again, trying to get their partner’s attention.  Hoping to catch him off guard and get him to respond, at least just for a second, a guilty pleasure.

There’s another groan, Rouxls still nuzzling Swatch’s chest, before a huff, rolling his head slightly back to sleepily peer up at Swatch’s face.  He sits there for a minute, slowly blinking, trying to shake off his own sleep but not wanting to.

“What does- doeseth…thou…” Rouxls fumbles over his words, trying to speak with his usual accent but too sleepy to properly think it out.  There’s a frustrated sigh, Rouxls grumbling quietly before speaking again, “…Good morning.” The blue man lowers his head to bury it back into Swatch’s chest after that, hoping for just a moment’s more peace, expecting Swatch to have to get up and leave soon and Rouxls not wanting him to- as it was every morning.  The amount of times Rouxls complained and tried to get Swatch to stay home…

A smile spreads across Swatch’s beak as Rouxls speaks, catching the poor attempt and then lack of the usual arrogant accent, a pleased chitter vibrating from his throat, “Hm…” Their gaze lingers on Rouxls for a moment, “I now see why you are so desperate to keep me around in the morning.”  Casually poking at Rouxls as they usually did, waiting for the moment Rouxls remembers what      this    morning was.

Rouxls mumbles something incoherent, still refusing to pry himself away from the bird.  Still too sleepy to question why Swatch hadn't tried to get up for work yet? The thoughts immediately erased by the tired selfishness of wanting to keep Swatch here.  To actually stay for even just a morning…

Wait…

Puzzle pieces begin to fall into place, Rouxls’ mind finally jump-starting itself into working. Swatch is still here… It takes Rouxls a moment to realize, still enjoying how warm and comfortable it was in Swatch’s arms, before it suddenly hits and Rouxls’ eyes snap open.  He cranes his head back to look up at the bird, blinking slowly.

“Thou art still hereth?” It’s phrased as a question, sleep still lingering on Rouxls’ voice- having not entirely figured it out yet, but enough to realize the important thing.

“Yes my love, I am still here.  Did you forget what day it was?” Swatch leans down to give a kiss to the top of Rouxls’ head, “I will be here all morning.”

It takes Rouxls a moment for Swatch’s words to register and when they do his face breaks into a large smile, arms squeezing Swatch tighter.  “Of courseth I did not forgete!” Rouxls boasts, obviously lying, “I am...happyeth that thou is hereth.” His voice gets quieter the move he speaks, flush rising to his cheeks at the admittance.

Swatch’s own smile gets wider, heart giving a pang in their chest at Rouxls’ admittance- truly Rouxls’ expressions were their guilty pleasure.  “If it makes you so happy, perhaps I can entertain the idea of doing this more often.”  They watch as Rouxls seems to light up at that, his own sleepiness fading at the prospect.

“As thou should! Thine paramour shouldeth spend thy morn with their belovedeth! It is as thy haveth always toldeth thou.”  A smug tone invites itself into Rouxls’ words, Swatch unable to keep themselves from rolling their eyes at it.  Not that the smile ever left their face however.

Rouxls’ hands move upwards, threading into the fluffy feathery hair on Swatch’s head, “I enjoyeth waking upeth and seeing thou faceth, even if thou is stilleth thy most frustratingeth and annoyinge worm-avian.”  He hums, no ill-intent behind his words, feeling just a little bit more confident this morning, “Howevere that meanseth, that thou art here, I can noweth do this…” Rouxls pulls himself up further, giving Swatch a soft kiss to their beak.

“Mmm...if I knew I would be getting such special attention from you, I would have taken a morning off ages ago…” Swatch chuckles, opting to pepper Rouxls in more kisses, not satisfied with just the one, “So…” Swatch speaks between kisses, “What is it that you commonfolk do during the morning if not preparing for work?”

Rouxls scoffs at that, yet still giggling in between each kiss, “Commonfolk? Thou must surelyest be mistakene! I am enjoyingeth my time, somethinge thateth thou shouldeth take into considerationeth more ofteneth.” His voice slowly turns to a mumble, a half-hearted attempt to keep up the banter, “Thou ist more commonfolk than thy…”

“Says the ‘butler supremeth’ who has no one to buttle for…” Swatch murmurs in response, fingers tangling in Rouxls hair.  Still leaving kisses on Rouxls’ lips, casually and so...normal. Swatch felt as if all of their worries were just...gone, like work was nothing more than an idle thought in the background.  Why were they so adamant about not taking time off...

The two continue to cuddle and kiss during their idle banter, neither making any effort to move or get up.  Instead just enjoying the time between them that was not usually shared.  So distracted with each other, neither of them noticed the door to their room creaking open with a stifled giggle of someone (poorly) trying to sneak in.

It wasn’t until a small round flash of blue and white flew onto the bed loudly announcing, “SURPRISE LANCERBALL ATTACK!” And crashing into them both that they realized Lancer had snuck into their room.  The little round prince slams into them, knocking them with a loud oomph, forcing the two to separate from one another.

“LANCER?” Rouxls loudly gasps in surprise, skipping his usual nicknames due to the shock of the sudden appearance.  Swatch blinks in confusion, stunned silent for a moment, just taking it in and letting Rouxls handle it for now while he registered the situation.

Lancer laughs loudly, plopping down into the bed in the space between Rouxls and Swatch, his music player in hand.  “You should’ve seen your FACES…LOL!” He says the term letter by letter aloud, “Mom Dad showed me how to make MIXTAPES and I made a really really good one! So as my other dads, you have to listen!”  His tongue sticks from his mouth, wiggling the earbuds coiled and tangled around him and holding the ends up for Rouxls and Swatch to take.

Rouxls sighs dramatically, “Thine dearest water-beetle, how manyeth times haveth I told thee to knocketh!  Does thou needest to learneth thou manners as parteth thou royaleth duties...” He pulls himself up, back resting on the headboard, Swatch mirroring the motions.  Lancer’s grin seems to falter for a moment as he’s being reprimanded, before Rouxls continues speaking, “However! I shalt entertaine thee request to listeneth to thou ‘mixtape’ that shalt certainly be nothinge moreth than rackety driveleth.”  There was no real harshness in Rouxls’ words, and Lancer lit up again, rolling over and clambering into Rouxls’ lap, the man instinctively wrapping an arm around the prince.  Swatch opts to accept the earbud, moving closer and sliding their free arm behind Rouxls to pull the two closer into them.   Rouxls accepts the other earbud, the two sticking them into their respective ears.

“I am sure it will sound lovely.” Swatch coos, counterbalancing Rouxls dramatic demeanor with their calmness, “Thank you for sharing Lancer.” Always so polite.

Lancer laughs loudly again, “Of course it will! Now hurry it up, I wanna go show Ralsei!” Kicking his legs up and down in excitement, snuggling closer to Rouxls as if he wasn’t planning on leaving.  Rouxls rolls his eyes, still with a hint of a grin on his face, giving a glance towards Swatch who only offers a shrug and a smile.

“Thou needeth to press play.”

“Oh…right.  Thanks for the reminder, vice father!”

Lancer slams the play button…unleashing the monstrosity of his fully splat sfx “mixtape” upon Rouxls and Swatch.  Swatch was caught off guard, hand flying to his beak to keep from laughing, shoulders quietly bouncing at the absurdity of it.  Rouxls…saw it coming, wearing a tired pleasant smile as he endured listening to it- at least this was different than just the usual sounds Lancer constantly played.

Leaning over, Rouxls rests his head on Swatch’s shoulder, watching Lancer fiddle with his music player with one hand and grabbing Rouxls’ and bouncing it around with the other.

Swatch peers over at Rouxls, a contented smile on their face as they lower their hand, resting their own head on top of Rouxls’ while the blue man appeases Lancer- the two keeping with their usual banter as the mixtape finished.  Swatch remains silent, simply enjoying the moment with them both, maybe they would thank the swatchlings for giving them the morning off.

Maybe.  They wouldn’t want them to get too cocky.

But…perhaps they will take a full day off sometime in the future, if this is what they were missing when they were always at work… Mmm, maybe not a full day.  But another morning for sure.

[just-some-random-blogger]

One Million In One Day | 10 (Final)

GOT7 SugarDaddy!Jackson Wang x Reader + Park Jinyoung x Reader | Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Characters: GOT7 Summary: His mother’s final wish is to see him be happy in a relationship, knowing that Jackson would be fine when she left him. But, damn, he didn’t have time for relationships, especially not since he was busy running his father’s billion dollar empire, thus the compromise: you. Word Count: <2k Warnings: Stalking, fighting, cursing, mentioning of illness, TYPOS, etc.

A/N: I literally said I was planning to finish this soon, but guess what HAHHAHAH THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I-- Anyway, to @tia-m94, @aquietkerfuffle SKSKSKS here it is. Also maybe actually listen to the song reader begged to play in this chappie lol

Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy was going to be playing in the club. Why? Because I crawled over to the DJ and wept, begging him to play it. Why I was emotional about it: yes. I was just- yes. Y'know?

Yes.

It was why Nari, at that point, had disowned me. Also Mark, he disowned me too... although I don't actually remember if he was with us at this time.

I did remember where Jinyoung was though. I squint and looked out in the crowd for him.

I was wearing a sparkly violet dress and killer pumps, as in they were killing my feet. I was warned not to remove them though by the sour man watching me, over there with a sweater on and skinny jeans. Who wears sweaters in a dance club?

I mean it's fine, he was kinda cute. Like hecka cute. 10/10 cute you know. Would ask him out.

I finally spot him from where he sat in one of the tables by the bar. I wave at him. He sees me and waves back. I wipe the tears from my face and thank the DJ for promising to play the song for me and make my way to the cute man in a plain-ass lumpy sweater.

"What did the DJ say?" Jinyoung asks me, standing up from the stool and helping me sit.

"Well, first of all, I told him my boyfriend was really mean because he told me I couldn't take these uncomfortable shoes off."

Jinyoung sighs, "I told you to wear sneakers so we wouldn't have this conversation, but you insisted on 'looking hot.'"

I am offended by the air quotes he says.

"I so too am hot, you worthless piece of-" but my face is suddenly in his hands and my lips are being peppered by kisses. He lightly brushes his lips on mine and wipes he side of it, "Ye, ye, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it, pabo. You're absolutely stunning most of the time."

I blink, most-of-the-time doesn't sit right with me, but I'm not really sure why... "I feel like I should still fight with you."

Jinyoung chuckles then raises his brows and points, "Isn't that your song?"

I take a moment and listen. I then promptly freak out and nod. I instantly grab Jinyoung by the hand and drag him out. Once he's on his feet, he scolds, "up, up, up, up, up. What did we talk about earlier?"

I whine, "What is it this time?"

Jinyoung looks me in the eye, "after this song we...?"

I groan, "we go home! Ugh, what a party pooper."

"Just making sure we're on the same page, baby girl."

I make a face and poke Jinyoung's belly, "oooh, am I your baby girl?"

He chuckles and hums. He pulls his hand away from mine to place his arm around my shoulders, "More like shit-faced, childish adult."

I give him a look, "let's break up."

"Ah," he boops my nose, "when you're not under the influence, m'kay? For now, let's dance."

And so dance we did, if you think of flailing your arms and shaking your rump was dancing. But of course it is though.

Jinyoung, as exasperated as he was, actually enjoyed dancing with me, I think. I mean he seemed to be enjoying himself. He had his hands clenched and his arms folded, shaking as if he held two maracas. And I, when I wasn't head banging, I was lovingly looking at him.

"I'm glad that you're my boyfriend."

Jinyoung didn't seem to hear me because he just continues doing his dad-ish dancey-dance. I was about to say it again, but then his eyes catch something and he point at the direction, "Isn't that Jackson?"

"Jackson?" I scrunch my nose, "Jackson who?"

"Jackson Wang, babe. You're sugar daddy."

I take a moment to think about what he said. Jinyoung looks at me and raises a brow. He chuckles, "you're so shitfaced. Jackson's the one who bought us tickets to the Olympics? Got me a job in Seoul? Got you a job in Seoul?"

I wipe my nose, "Well, I know Michael Jackson."

Jinyoung sighs, "come on, let's say hi. Your song's almost over."

The next thing I know, Jinyoung's grabbing my hand and leading me off to the side.

Jackson, who had seen us, wasn't actually with anyone tonight. Bambam actually owned the club, and he had yet to show up. He found the dancing spectacle pretty amusing but there was a this thing in his chest, like something was biting his heart.

Oh fuck, they're coming over.

Jinyoung calls out. Jackson looks over and pulls on a smile, "Aye, Park Jinyoung." They do a bro shake.

I turn to the man in shade and wonder why he's wearing shades indoors, so I ask, "why are you wearing shades indoors?"

Jinyoung sighs. Jackson's lips part in thought, "they look cool?"

The sweater man shakes his head, "she's shitfaced. She cried over this song and doesn't remember who you are. You know know how she gets when she's drunk."

"I'm not drunk!"

Jackson clenches his fist, thinking, how do I still think she's cute when she doesn't remember me when she's drunk?

"Sure," Jinyoung says, turning to man sat alone in the booth, "you with anyone tonight, Seunie?"

I perk up, "Seunie's here?"

Jackson places his head in his hand and turns to Jinyoung, "I'm waiting for Bambam."

Jinyoung chuckles, "don't wait up."

Jackson laughs softly, "I'm giving him a few more minutes"

"That's what I said last time. Bam's excuse was so bad too."

"Stuck in traffic?"

"Stuck in traffic."

"Wait, where's Seunie?" I whine. Jinyoung looks at me and points, "there's your beloved Seunie."

Jackson freezes.

I turn to him and pout, "why are you wearing shades indoors?"

Jinyoung sighs. He takes my face in his hands and mouths slowly, "stay with Jackson. I need to pee."

"I don't need to pee though."

"Which is why you should stay with Jackson."

"But why?"

Jinyoung turns to Jackson and Jackson nods, "it's okay dude, I got it."

Jinyoung takes his leave.

Jackson moves closer, "so, Seunie?"

I turn to him and tilt my head, "Seunie?"

"He's your friend."

"He's my best friend. I love him."

Jackson clears his throat, "but you said you don't know who Jackson Wang is?"

"MmMmm, nope," I pop the p.

Jackson chuckles, "don't do that?"

"Do what?"

He takes a moment to respond. He mutters softly under his breath, "make me want to steal you away."

"Habudabibittiy-doo," I repeat his words.

Jackson sighs.

For a moment, I sit with shades guy in silence until he speaks up again, "He likes you a lot."

"Likes who?"

"You."

"Who likes me?"

"Jackson Wang."

I think for a moment, "Seunie?"

Jackson stills. He debates the consequences. He chuckles, knowing how bad these drunk episodes were. He clarifies the indifference in the question, "Yeah, I, Seunie, like you. So, so much."

"He said that?"

He nods, "he told me."

I blink and nod, "I like him too."

Jackson shakes his head. What a joke. He continues, "Jackson likes you in a way Jinyoung does, but sadder."

I pout my lips, "Sadder? I don't like it when Seunie is sad. He's sad because he misses his mom"

He pushes his shades up his forehead, "He's not sad about liking you like that. He's sad in a way he wants to be the one to bring you home when you're drunk and hold you when you sleep."

"He... felt like that?"

"He felt it when you went on dates, even though they were fake. He feels it until now."

I look at the man and see sadness in his eyes, "don't cry."

He gives a sad laugh, "I'm not sad, I'm happy for you. You glow when you're with him and he glows because of you. When we started hanging out with him, I thought he talked about you to grind my gears, but he just really loves you. I'm glad he does."

"Then why do you look like you're about to cry?"

"It still hurts."

"I'm back," Jinyoung suddenly said. He looks between us and says, "damn, you look like you're about to pass out, both of you."

Jackson clicks his tongue, "I'm tired of waiting from Bambam."

"Well, we're going home too. You need a ride?"

"Nah. I bought my car."

"Good. I really didn't feel like driving across the city for you."

Jackson rolls his eyes, chuckling, "same for you two."

"Not for her though, right? Anything for her," Jinyoung says, looking at Jackson with a smile, then to me, "come on, pabo." He turns around and gathers my arms. He bends down and pulls me up behind him.

"See you next week, Jackson," Jinyoung says. Jackson nods. They have a executive meeting tomorrow. Jinyoung was quickly rising above the ranks. As proud he felt, he felt a little jealous too. He really had not fault to him, huh?

He puts his shades back down and raises a glass, "I'll finish this one."

"Don't drink too much."

"Just the one."

He watches as Jinyoung walks away. He watches her nuzzle against him. He looks to his glass, "anything for her.

[theos-fics]

Pepper Poppers and Body Positivity

Chubby! Shane x gn reader

Tw: talks of weight, insecurity in body size, Shane being sad

🐝------------------- 🍯 ------------------🐝

Idk what anyone says Shane has a dad bod- chubby mans

Since the rest of the men in the town are mostly skinny and scrawny, or look like it, he is probably painfully insecure.

He wears baggy clothes and lazy stuff to come off as nonchalant, but he knows the alcohol and pizza are catching up to him

Even though Shane isn't like- 40,he doesn't get around as well as he did when he was just in his twenties

Losing weight has become a struggle and so he just sits in misery

Until his beloved farmer shows up; let's just say he'll pick up and get to exercisin' for you

Do you care? Absolutely not, he's like a big ol' bear and in your heart it's comforting.

But nonetheless Shane wakes up early every morning on the farm in the hopes of sweating/working off some weight

🐝------------------- 🍯 ------------------🐝

🍯Your bed was cold again. Again. You noticed this previous mornings, and the mornings before those as well. The big bear man you made your personal stuffed animal seemed to be picking himself up earlier than you every morning and carrying himself elsewhere. As if you weren't already cold, the moment your feet hit the floor you remembered the harsh fall cold that kissed the wood of your home. Quiet sounds of feet followed you into your main room, seeing the reminiscents of a fire that Shane must've lit when he got up.

You pushed on your husband's fall boots, not bothering to tie them since that would take too much energy. The fleece blanket you at swiped from your large bed was still snug around your shoulders, opening your door to spy at your husband's rigorous work. He was pulling the weeds from now clean plots, a garden hoe in one hand to help him stand up once he was done crouching on the ground. You pressed your lips together, almost to think about your words before you poked at Shane. He seemed to catch sight out of his peripheral vision, standing up quickly to shoot you a short wave of acknowledgement.

You opened your arms, urging him over for what was implied as a morning hug. He stomped over, ache apparent in the way he almost shuffled over to you. "You're up early hun," he said while placing a hand on his hip. "And you're up earlier, what's up with you lately Shane?" The government name does not appear in normal conversation, normally it's "my sweet" or "pumpkin", while your arms fell to your side. He scratched his head, leaning on the garden tool in his hand as he contemplated a response. "Shane I will eat your Pepper Poppers if you don't spit it out right now," a confident declaration as he replied quickly, "well I surely don't need them."

The look on your face quickly shifted from one of irritation to worry, sighing quietly as you understood what he meant by his statement. "Pumpkin," you looked at him, face in a pout as you stepped forward to get closer to him. "I know what you're implying, and I would like to say first and foremost I married you the way I met you." As you spoke to him his eyes shifted to the ground, the tips of his ears dusting a shade of red; embarrassment. "Hey hey hey," your hands reached for his face as to get his attention back on you, "if you are doing this because you think I- or the town- thinks 'your too big' then you are wrong. Everyone loves you still. You are important and your body is still you, I will adore you whether I could find you understand a tree or picking at her hives."

The last remark caused a sleepy smile to stretch across his slightly chapped lips, finally looking at you and nodding. "I used to help out anyway- but I think I'm getting overboard now.." He confessed, nodding as you stroked his cheek bones affectionately. "Now let's go in and eat your pepper poppers cause now I'm thinking about them." Your husband let out his usual dry laugh as he took one of your hands into his and squeezed, "anything for hun."

🐝------------------- 🍯 ------------------🐝

I really enjoyed writing this, I wasn't sure if I should do chubby reader or Shane- but if you guys like this I would be more than willing to write one with a chubby reader too!! Thank you for reading and have a sweet day!

[kiyoomeii]

strawberry shortcake / f!reader x l lawliet / wc: 1.5k

lake scene, knee deep in the stars / this simple season is all ours, yeah / “simple season” by hippo campus

a/n: for the past four days i’ve only been thinking about soft!l lawliet and how much i want to lay in his lap someone pls pay my bail from simp jail  also! ayy first one shot ig??

cw: the use of the word ‘shit’ three times, kissing, very self indulgent, no editing just grammarly lol

Today will be one of the few times you two have gone out together since L is meticulous about keeping his identity private, and you’re grateful for the change of scenery. Instead of being cooped up in his hotel of the week, you’re out wandering a botanical garden in Tokyo. Of course, Watari made all the arrangements for the park to be conveniently closed to the public that day, but still, it’s the thought that counts.

In your left hand is a wicker basket filled with food, and your right pinky looped around L’s left pinky. As you walk through the garden, the fresh smell of flowers fills your noses and the sunshine filters through the cumulus clouds, causing droplets of sweat to collect on your back.

With anyone else, such extended periods of silence would be uncomfortable, but with L, it feels like home.

You feel a tug of resistance on your pinky and turn back to see L engrossed in a flowering tree. “What’s that?” You join him in inspecting the tree, clutching his dangling arm tight to yours and resting your head on his hunched shoulders.

“It’s a Magnolia Stellata, or Star Magnolia. I’m surprised they’re still in bloom right now.” L makes no effort to explain himself, instead opting to put a finger to his lip.

“Because…?” With your head still on his shoulder, you look up at him expectantly. He often makes statements like that without explaining himself since he assumes that everyone else knows what he’s talking about. It used to bother you when you first met, but you’ve learned that it’s just because his mind is moving a hundred miles a minute. Now, you just ask him to elaborate, and it surprisingly doesn’t bother him. When other people ask him questions that he thinks are blatantly obvious, he grows annoyed but masks it in his voice by scrunching the toes of his left foot. But with you, he never does that. Instead, he’s patient and kind. You can see it in his eyes.

“Because they are particularly susceptible to frost damage and we had a handful of very cold days this March,” he answers coolly. Where he stores this knowledge about flowers native to Tokyo despite him being from England, you will never know, but you’re thankful for the information regardless.

“Oh, I see. Thank you," you sigh. Together, you stand marveling at the light pink flowers and feeling the breeze on your backs, which causes L’s hair to sweep over your face. He quickly brushes it away for you with his free hand.

“And don’t worry, y/n, it’s not wilting; the petals are just wavy like that.” He gently tugs his arm away from you to signal that he’d like to move on, and once you release him, he takes your hand in his and leads you through the garden.

It has taken L a while to become comfortable with you enough to initiate contact first, but you’re glad that he can now. When you first began dating, things were uncomfortably stiff. You have the habit of word vomiting any time there’s too long of a pause, and L has a habit of withdrawing into his thoughts, so the first few months of dating was just a lot of you oversharing and him just listening.

You didn’t actually think he was paying attention until one day you mentioned how as a child you carried around a stuffed animal, which you affectionately named Ollie the Otter, and lost it on holiday in the US with your family. Within just three days, he bought you the exact same version of your beloved childhood stuffie. You had long since grown out of your stuffed animal phase but were touched nonetheless that he put in the effort to find you the toy, proving that he cares about you in his own way.

Ollie Jr. now sits on L's bed, always tucked under his comforter as if it’s sleeping. Sometimes, though, when L is up late at night doing work, he will wedge the otter between his knees that are pulled up to his chest and rest his chin on it so that he can smell the traces of your perfume on it. He would never admit to it, but you’ve silently watched him work many times before to know that it wasn’t just a one-time occasion.

“Would you like to stop here, y/n?” L gestures to a patch of manicured grass under the shade of a cherry blossom tree.

“Sure. Will you help me lay out the blanket?” You untangle your fingers from him to open the picnic basket you have been carrying. Truthfully, you were relieved that he wanted to stop because the basket had become increasingly heavier throughout your walk. L nods and waits for you to give him an edge of the beige checkered linen blanket so that you can place it down on the grass. As soon as it’s laid out, L splays himself out on it and watches you unpack the food.

His mouth is nearly frothing at the sweets that you place at the edge of the blanket. “I know, I brought your favorite: strawberry shortcake,” you pause to look back at him with his mouth slightly agape. “But you gotta wait until everything’s ready.” Suddenly aware of himself,  L obediently closes his mouth.

At last, you sit across from L with a plate for you to share. L’s eyes grow wide as he reaches for a piece of cake until you swat it away. “Hey,” you coo in a sing-songy voice, “not so fast….” You take the fork out of his hand and cut off a small piece of cake as you feel L’s jet black eyes intensely study your movements. Silently, you lift the fork up towards L’s mouth. “Open,” you say sweetly, waiting for him to comply, which he does quickly. With a smile, you gently feed the cake to L and watch as he closes his eyes in bliss.

One part of L is telling him to be alarmed at the obvious loss of control he’s experiencing, but the other is telling him to relax and allow you to take control of the situation. As he quickly calculates the outcomes of each choice, he realizes that you’ll probably get your way anyway and that it’s no use to object. “’S it good, L?” He opens his eyes to see you watching him intently and nods. “Good, I’m glad. Now gimme a bite, will you?” A sly smile spreads across your face as you pass the other fork to him and wait for him to give you a piece.

The two of you pass some time taking bites of cake, feeding each other strawberries, and talking about random things—from the way L doesn’t like the way the grass pokes his skin to how you’re excited to finally be done with university in a few weeks. Finally, you lie down beside him and situate your head on his chest while his lean fingers languidly massage your scalp. Your breathing quickly syncs together and your chests rise and fall like waves lapping the shore.

“I’m glad we got to go out today. Thank you, y/n.” L picks up your hand resting on your belly and gives it a quick kiss. L had been working on a particularly difficult case for the past few months, which had just wrapped up, so the two of you hadn’t been able to see each other much lately.

“You’re welcome,” you rolled over onto your stomach to face L. “And thank you too. I know how hard it is for you to go into public, but I’m glad to know that you’d do it for me.” You watch as a quick smile paints L’s face, and at that moment, you feel your heart bursting with affection towards him.

“Of course I would, y/n, and I’d do it again, too.” His normally ivory-colored face flushed with color, causing him to turn away from you out of embarrassment.

“L?” He senses you staring at him and slowly meets your gaze again.

“Yes?” His onyx eyes catch yours.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” he replies, not skipping a beat. You smile as you pepper a few kisses on his jawline towards his lips and when finally your lips meet, he presses into you more firmly than you expected. His technique is a little sloppy, but you know he’s trying. When he’s like this, trying to show you his affection instead of explaining it, he’s like a puppy who wants your attention, and who are you to refuse?

“L, I—" you say in between passionate kisses, “love you.” He immediately pulls away from you to study your facial expression. Oh shit oh shit oh shit maybe this wasn’t a good time I shouldn’t have—

“I love you, too.” He responds quickly, pulling you into another series of needy kisses.

With the whole park empty, you don’t have to hide your affection for each other, and oh, how you wish it could be like this all the time.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #534

Top Ten Tom Cruise Films

So we return once again to the well of Listing an Actor’s Fillums. I quite like doing this, although I do wonder if it’s just going to show up glaring gaps in my film knowledge because I haven’t seen, say, Born on the Fourth of July. But anyway! Let’s plough on!

Tom Cruise, what a guy, eh? One of these genuinely larger-than-life actors, not just a movie star but a force of nature – the living manifestation of destiny, if you will. He’s legitimately good – Oscar-worthy – but he also has with him an aura of other-worldliness. Frankly, what he does seems not just impossible, but, like, implausible. He could make movies without jumping off things. He really could! It’s true! Adam Sandler manages it. But Cruise still does all these crazy things; he can’t fight like Iko Uwais or Donnie Yen – or even Keanu Reeves – but he still manages to pull off scenes that are just insane to behold. His films are events, and even if he’s making sequels to a beloved franchise, really the franchise is Tom Cruise Films.

So he’s a cool, charismatic leading man, with genuine acting chops, who somehow manages to always one-up himself in terms of a unwavering commitment to physically and mentally taxing stunt work (including, let’s not forget, flying jets for real in Top Gun: Maverick). But at the same time he tends to operate at this level of remove. We can’t fault him for his desire for privacy, but even setting aside specifics, he approaches everything with an almost messianic zeal and rictus grin that is, for some, off-putting. Whatever attributes he has – and to be clear, I like him a lot as an actor – he’s not really in that warm and fuzzy Tom Hanks zone, or even the nice-guy action hero mode of, say, Christ Hemsworth (I’m leaving that typo in because I have decided now that Jesus looks like this). He’s like this Hollywood monolith, immense and fascinating but also, in a funny way, alien and unrelatable. He does impossible things for odd reasons but they also, for the most part, turn out to be really, really great.

And here are my ten favourite films of his.

A Few Good Men (1992): oooh, an Aaron Sorkin film tops the list, big surprise David. But this really is an all-timer. A superb – superb – script, fantastically orchestrated by Rob Reiner at the height of his powers, a cast to die for, and Cruise at his best, channelling his two great attributes – cocky wankerism and earnest, soulful humanism – to weapons-grade effect.

The Mission: Impossible Franchise (1996-2024): gah, already I cheat. Yes, I don’t really see the point in splitting the franchise; there would probably be two or three separate films here otherwise. But Cruise’s performance as Ethan Hunt is probably the most iconic of his career, as he acts suave and cool whilst running up things or diving off them or clinging onto them. The variety of tones and styles and the increasingly bonkers stuntwork helps define a franchise that is going to be nearly thirty years old when Cruise finally bows out of it, and arguably has produced better films than Bond or Bourne. Oh, and for the record – with a re-watch sorely needed – I’d rank them Fallout, 1, Rogue, Ghost, 2, 3.  

Rain Man (1988): arguably the hardest and most successful performance of his career, opposite Dustin Hoffman’s attention-sucking turn. Hoffman got all the plaudits back in the day, but Cruise’s slow-burn shift from, basically, entitled shit to empathetic and melancholy carer is beautifully, organically, realistically played out – and, I’d argue, has aged better.

Collateral (2004): Cruise has rarely played proper baddies (I’d love to see him in a Tarantino film), but he’s cool as ice here, with his salt-and-pepper do, coercing Jamie Foxx into driving him round an ice-cold pitch-black LA as he goes from kill to kill. A tense, gorgeous film, but a great performance from Cruise as the slick assassin.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014): cruise has an ease with charm and/or smarm, and often subverts it in interesting ways; such as the opening of this film, when he’s the slippery coward getting by on his flash and pomp. This gives way to earnest, hard-won heroism as the film progresses, but it’s a bold move; as is the trippy time-loop plot. Thoroughly underrated, this is probably the closest a Cruise film comes to “cult classic”.

Minority Report (2002): there’s a cold, aloof slickness to Spielberg’s direction in this one – lots of glass and lens flare and a desaturated palette – as Cruise’s grieving cop goes on the run. Cruise is very good at running, one of cinema’s all-time great runners, and he deploys that skill to fantastic effect here, managing to feel like the endangered everyman resorting to all manner of freaky sci-fi trickery to clear his name. Feels a little undersung, this one, despite its pedigree; those funky stun-guns deserve a lot of praise.

Magnolia (1999): a dense and complex ensemble of mixed emotions and varying degrees of tragedy, Cruise is shocking as the utterly hateful self-help guru preaching misogynistic bollocks to his crowds of arsehole followers. Yes, yes, we all remember his dialogue and all the swears, but it’s how his layers are gradually unpeeled by the plot that really hits home.

Jerry Maguire (1996): another case of Cruise undermining his own cool image, here as an agent in the midst of an existential crisis. He owns this film, carries it entirely, with a performance that is almost all outward bluster and internal angst, frantically struggling to keep above water. He utterly sells it, makes Jerry a compelling and convincing character, and I don’t care how cheesy it is, “you had me at hello” always makes me cry.

Tropic Thunder (2008): another shocking and surprising supporting turn from Cruise, here displaying comic chops we rarely see. His performance as an utterly awful mogul might have dated a bit, post-Weinstein, but it’s so completely out-there it has to be seen to be believed. In a film full of out-there stuff, it fits right in, and serves as an indication that Cruise has more range than he’s often given credit for.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999): a very strange and divisive film, I really love how Cruise’s intense, internalised doctor carries the narrative just by wandering round strange places, meeting strange people, and seeing some very strange things. It’s an entirely reactive performance with no show or bluster, very languid, almost serene; the calm centre in a storm of batshit intensity and soft porn shenanigans.

[ahkaahshi]

sleeping over at their s/o’s house for the first time [scenarios]

pairings: sakusa kiyoomi; hirugami sachirou; kuroo tetsurou x fem reader

genre: fluff and humor, as per usual

warning(s): n/a

notes: kinda popped off on hirugami’s part. couldn't help myself. not sorry bout it either. can’t wait til we get to see more of his cute lil face in the anime.

he is so painfully awkward I love him

will just stand in the entryway with his duffle slung over his shoulder, staring straight at you until you tell him when he can put his stuff

this literally isn’t his first time over at your house but he acts like it???

poor baby’s obviously nervous about ~ spending the night ~

immediately washes his hands

brings his own pillow

asks if you’ve sanitized all your surfaces recently/if anyone in your household has been sick lately

does he wanna play video games? not until he’s wiped down all the controllers.

does he wanna watch real housewives? no, but you put it on anyway because you know he secretly loves the drama

does he want a snack? possibly? but refuses to eat on your bed because lying on crumbs is nasty

all he does is get under the covers and hang out

only moves to brush his teeth and, of course, wash his hands

will do a face mask with you but only after thoroughly reading the contents of the bottle/package

wears his hoodie and sweats to bed

is asleep before 10pm

2/10. total party pooper who only gets points because he’s hot and dislikes the same housewives as you do

Moments after releasing a rather loud guffaw at a funny scene from the television show you have playing on your laptop, you hear a small groan echo from beside you. Turning your head to the source of the noise brings your attention to your boyfriend, whose tall form rested on the bed beside you, ensconced in your blankets. His eyelids flutter open and his eyes the color of charcoal fasten on you before narrowing in a small glare of annoyance from underneath the sea of black waves atop his head.

Maybe you would’ve felt even the slightest bit intimidated if his face wasn’t close to being absorbed by the yellow fabric of his hoodie--and if he hadn’t flattened his hair against his forehead by closing the drawstrings to secure his hood around his head.

“Kiyo!” you whine, crossing your arms in front of you chest, “Were you really asleep just now?”

His dark eyebrows furrow as he answers matter-of-factly, “Yes. You know I go to bed at ten o’clock, (f/n). It’s ten thirty.”

You roll your (e/c) eyes at him and protest, “But this is a sleepover! Would it kill you to stay awake a little longer so you can spend some precious time with your beloved girlfriend?”

“Lack of sleep can lead to sickness. Sickness can lead to death. So, yes, staying awake longer to spend precious time with my beloved girlfriend could kill me.”

“I hate you.”

He lets out a long sigh and reaches over towards your laptop to close it, putting an end to your Real Housewives marathon. Once he’s moved it off of your bed, one of his arms snakes around your waist and pulls your body down towards the mattress. His midnight gaze doesn’t falter as he says, “If you get sick, I won’t be able to spend time with you like this, so sleep with me.”

Your heart skips a beat at his tenderly spoken words, and you crawl underneath the covers so you can place your head on his muscular chest and curl up beside him. The feeling of his warmth surrounding you is enough to make you melt into his arms and forgive him for completely ditching you in favor of sleep.

“(F/n).”

“Yes, baby?”

“If you kick me off the bed, this will be our last sleepover.”

sweet boy who is very excited to spend the night at his girlfriend’s house!!

brings snacks and movies

he enjoys doing any activity with you, whether it’s watching movies, playing video/board games, or just cuddling on the couch and talking

not hard to please at all!!!

watches rom coms with you. secretly a hopeless romantic

you’ll probably spend at least ten minutes of your night trying to catch pieces of popcorn in your mouths

and another ten doing the same thing with m&ms

poor boy is too tall to fit under your blankets, so you have to give him an extra one for his legs and feet

bedtime attire consists of boxers with corgis on them, a sweater, and crew socks to keep his tootsies warm 🥺

brings you a pair of matching, corgi-patterned sleeping shorts bc he wants to twin with you

your parents are gone, meaning you can do chaotic activities...

... like baking at 2am!!

he loves to bake (and you can’t convince me otherwise). pls bake with him

wants to stay up all night with you but ends up passing out around 3am after y'all eat all the cookies you made together

11/10, best sleepover ever

Few things were more romantic than spending an evening with your boyfriend on your hands and knees, against the cold, tile floor of the kitchen, cleaning up the aftermath of the mess you’d created.

Lifting your gaze from the white goop coating the flooring, you glance over at Hirugami, who looks completely unfazed and unbothered despite his face still being decorated with dollops of whipped cream. Beholding this sight once more sends you into another fit of laughter that makes it hard for you to keep yourself steady.

“What?” he asks, a small smile creeping onto his lips at seeing you so amused.

In between breaths, you manage to ask, “Why’ve you still got whipped cream on your face?”

With a roll of his chestnut brown eyes, he uses his fingers to swipe some of it off so he can help himself to another serving. “Obviously,” he scoffs sassily, “I’m saving it for later.” His smart comment makes you snort rather unattractively, which, in turn, causes chuckles to pour out from his mouth. “I’m assuming that’s what you’re doing too, right?”

Your (e/c) eyes widen, since you thought you’d done a good job of clearing up the results of your whipped cream battle from your face. A glance at your reflection in the glass of the oven where the cookies were slowly baking soon proved you wrong. Instead of being irritated by this discovery, however, you let out another, wheezing laugh and fell onto your side.

To any outsider, the situation would’ve looked rather strange--an incredibly tall volleyball player dressed only in corgi-patterned boxers, a sweater, and socks, face covered in whipped cream as he fell about laughing with his girlfriend who wore a similar ensemble and was sporting the same whipped cream situation. However, in your defense, it was two o’clock am, and you were high on sugar.

"Come over here and I’ll get the rest off your face, then,” Hirugami suggests, extending his long arms towards you that beckon you closer to him. After you scoot closer to him, he pulls you into his embrace and starts peppering your skin reddened from laughing so heartily with kisses. With each press of his lips against your face, your heart flutters in your chest.

He only pulls away from you when the oven beeps, alerting you that the cookies you’ve been awaiting are finally ready. But he does so with hesitation, seeing as he’d been caught up in savoring the sweet taste of your lips instead.

“You ready to eat some cookies?” he asks with a grin.

Your reply makes him snicker: “Always.”

is fully prepared to stay up the entire night (spoiler alert: doesn't)

made an entire party playlist for y'all to listen to throughout the evening

expect lots of dancing, vibing, singing, and buzzfeed unsolved episodes

brings dance dance revolution over to your house and then proceeds to challenge you to a dance off

was not prepared for what you brought to the table

tries twerking to distract you but still fails

will go on a midnight mcdonalds run with you

is the kinda person to share deep, late night thoughts with

only with him can your conversations go from discussing the questions of human existence to debating which form of potatoes is the most elite

will 100% do face masks with you to keep his complexion lookin godly

INSISTS on watching scary movies

expectation: “don’t worry, babe; I got you!!”

reality: is visibly shaking underneath the covers, questioning all the shadows in your house

wears only a pair of shorts to bed even tho it’s cold af (he runs hot, if ya know what I mean heheh)

8/10. would’ve scored the last 2 points if he hadn’t stolen the blankets and made you wonder if your house was haunted

"(F/n).”

The familiar and gentle voice of your boyfriend rouses you from your semi-conscious state, and you hear the sheets of your bed rustle.

“I’m so tired, Tetsu... what is it?” you wonder groggily, not even bothering to open your eyes to see what’s upset him.

“I think your house is haunted,” is his response. Though he speaks calmly and coherently, his hazel eyes are wide with fear and darting around the dark bedroom.

“Oh, stop. I knew it was a bad idea to watch those supernatural Buzzfeed Unsolved episodes before bed.”

The bed sinks behind you, and you feel the warmth of the blanket he’d stolen from you earlier around your body as he pulls you towards him so your back is flush against his chest. While you appreciate his closeness to you, you can tell he’s far from relaxed. The grip his fingers have around one of your shoulders is tight, as if he’s using it as a stress ball.

You murmur his name with indignation and pry his cold hand off your shoulder, but press a gentle kiss against the back of it. “Baby, go to sleep.”

He noticeably stiffens when a quiet whoosh sounds from another part of your house. “What the heck was that?” he asks from where his face is buried in the back of your neck, too afraid to look around and risk finding something he might not want to see.

“The dishwasher.”

“Y-Yeah,” he stammers, “the dishwasher... of course...” 

With a gentle groan, you lift your head so you can turn and press a gentle kiss against his forehead in an attempt to soothe him. As soon as you plop back down onto your pillow, Kuroo takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, desperate to get a wink of sleep.

The sound of a creak brings both of you to attention moments later, however, and your heart begins to race.

“That was the house settling... right?” you whisper.

He pulls the blanket over both of your heads, fully cloaking your bodies beneath it and says, “Yeah. Yeah. Let’s go with that.”

At this point, you realize it’s going to be a long night for reasons other than those you’d expected.

[novelconcepts]

You saying more childhood AU is possible with the right prompt is just...

More Tess. All of the Tess. Tess the morning after the party, lives in my brain rent free. The teasing. The knowing looks. The Jamie and Dani being so in love and unashamed and also oops we forgot the roommate. And Tess being the wonderful person she is and not letting them get away with anything.

It’s the fact that they think they’re subtle, that really gets her. 

Not that Tess is upset to find Jamie crashing with them the week following graduation. Of course Jamie is crashing with them. Where else would she go, now that Dani “it’s important to grow up and change and learn who you really are, or some such bull” Clayton has finally snapped up the hot gardener of her dreams? Honestly, if Dani let her walk out that door--especially after that first night, which, hello, gardener; these walls aren’t half as thick as they apparently think--she’d have forfeited all rights to sanity, and Tess would have no choice but to make her move instead.

No, she isn’t upset to find Jamie still here the following morning. Or at all. She loves Jamie. What’s not to love? 

Honestly, so much to love. If she didn’t love Dani even more, she might have to really test the bounds of this friendship. Particularly when she opens her bedroom door to find Jamie--hair rumpled, dressed in a half-unbuttoned flannel and a pair of boxer shorts--at the kitchen counter. Like, warn a woman. 

“Warn you about what?” Jamie looks blank, her hands prying open each cupboard with evidently-mounting disappointment. “You really don’t have any tea?”

“Warn a woman,” Tess repeats, hip-checking her gently out of the way and scrounging the supply of English Breakfast out from behind the stoner snacks. “Before you turn up in her kitchen looking all sex-rumpled. I haven’t even had coffee, Taylor, Jesus.”

Jamie blinks, taking the box from her hands. “O...kay. How was the rest of the party?”

“Not nearly as engaging as your night,” Tess informs her pleasantly, delighted when Jamie’s sleep-muddled expression lights up with embarrassment. “But an extravaganza in its own right all the same. Where’s my girl? I know you railed her into next week, but it seems bad manners to leave you to breakfast alone.”

“I didn’t--we--”

“Thin walls,” Tess sing-songs. “Like paper. Or, what, you’re English--parchment?”

“We have paper,” Jamie deadpans. Tess pats her shoulder, working around her to fill the kettle. 

“Good fortune really does smile upon you. Ah! Sleeping Beauty arises!”

Dani, looking only slightly more functional than Jamie, is emerging from the bathroom with an expression that suggests she, at least, is very aware of the acoustics of their apartment. It’s so tempting to tease her about it--Dani has this truly adorable habit of looking like she might combust if pushed too far, the red of her face complimented nicely by the gold of her hair--but Tess figures some things can wait. Lord knows they’re going to walk right into it soon enough.

But like--so soon. Like, she goes off to take a shower, and comes back to find they still haven’t left the kitchen soon.

“Seriously?” She laughs, watching them leap apart. It’s too clear Dani has forgone the idea of coffee and bacon for the much-more-invigorating art of pushing Jamie against the refrigerator. Not that Tess can blame her. 

“We--were just--”

“Right in front of my cereal,” Tess says gravely, shaking her head in faux-disappointment as she stretches over Jamie--whose hands are still rooted to Dani’s hips, the hem of Dani’s shirt dropping hastily back over her stomach--to retrieve a box of off-brand Lucky Charms. “No shame.”

They’re both making noises of disagreement, as though Tess hasn’t had her share of groping in the kitchen experiences to call on. She snorts. 

“Look, far be it from me to stop your, ah, young love in its tracks. Just. Keep it out of my bedroom, is all I ask. Unless...” She wiggles her eyebrows. Jamie clears her throat so violently, it sounds as though she might fracture something.

“Shower. Should. I.”

“That sentence normally goes in the other direction,” says Tess helpfully. Dani swats her back, grinning. 

“Got that out of your system yet?”

“Oh, not nearly.” Tess beams. “By all means, Clayton, show her where the shower lives.”

“I know where the,” Jamie begins to protest, but Dani is slipping both arms around her middle, pressing against her back to urge her toward the bathroom.

“That’s her polite way of saying if I don’t go with you now, she’s going to spend the next half hour fishing for details.”

“You still owe me those,” Tess calls after them. “Every last filthy one.”

***

They think the shower is noise-cancelling, too, Tess realizes about four minutes later. Jesus, these beautiful useless idiots. 

***

It’s the lack of subtlety masquerading as Chill, really. The fact that every single time Tess leaves a room, she can count slowly to ten, poke her head back out, and find they’ve picked right back up where last she interrupted. 

Step into the bedroom to change her clothes? Come back out to find Dani straddling Jamie on the couch. 

Take a quick smoke break on the stairs out front? Glance through the window to find Jamie shirtless, the unmistakable tread of scratches running down her back beneath her bra. 

Offer to run out for lunch? Spend an extra five minutes idly counting clouds, because fuck only knows the sounds Dani is making isn’t karaoke. 

“You two,” she announces, tossing the pizza box onto the counter with a flourish, “are going to break something if you keep this up. I mean, you’re at least taking hydration breaks, I hope? Do I need to bring you a power bar?”

Jamie has the decency to look slightly ashamed of herself, though there’s a definite grin beneath the hunched shoulders. Dani, selecting a slice of pepperoni-and-banana-peppers, shrugs. 

“Consider it payback?”

“For who?” Tess demands, delighted. Dani raises her free hand, ticking her fingers down toward her palm.

“Tyler, whose butt I saw like ten minutes before you introduced us. May, who you used to desecrate the kitchen floor. Carlos and Beth--”

“Liz,” Tess interrupts, “she goes by Liz these days.”

“--Liz, with whom you conveniently forgot I needed to shower before my presentation and took up the bathroom for three hours--”

“Okay, okay,” Tess snorts, groping for a dishtowel in some shade of off-white to wave. “Truce.”

“And that’s just this apartment,” Dani says cheerfully. She tilts her head to look at Jamie, whose face can best be described as aghast. “Back in the dorm, she used to sneak girls in after I was asleep.”

“You were a sound sleeper!” 

“No one is sound enough to ignore a bed frame breaking, Tess.”

“I...avoiding college was the right choice,” Jamie says weakly. Tess bats her eyes.

“You’re saying you’ve never dreamed of breaking a bed frame with me, Taylor?”

Jamie darts a look around at Dani, her eyes just shy of screaming. Tess is having the best time of her life. 

***

“Tell me honestly, though,” she says. Jamie gives her a sharp look, uncertainty obvious even as she reaches to accept the joint Tess is passing her way. 

“Really don’t think Dani wants me giving you a play by play.”

“Dani, beloved of my soul, was fool enough to schedule a doctor’s appointment while you were still in town. She knows what I’m about.” 

To Jamie’s credit, she doesn’t choke this time. She puffs once, twice, holding the smoke in her lungs an impressively long time before craning her head back and exhaling. "What am I telling you honestly?”

“You’re going to keep an eye on her, right?”

Jamie looks surprised. “Yeah. Not that she needs it, mind. Just. Yeah. Always.”

Tess sighs. “She doesn’t need it, but you know as well as I what that woman is like. Too good. Too fucking good for her own good, you know? Forgets, sometimes, that she can come first, too.”

Jamie offers a smile nearly wicked in its amusement. “Oh, I take care of that.”

“Yes,” Tess drawls, “darling, I can tell. You know, really relieved she never brought anyone home before now. I’m not sure my beauty sleep could have taken the abuse.”

Jamie laughs, leaning back and pulling a throw pillow into a loose embrace. “She doesn’t need anyone taking care of her. But...”

“But you can’t help wanting to, anyway,” Tess guesses. When Jamie nods, she takes another hit, lets the smoke burn in her chest. “She has that effect on people. Our girl would take a bullet for anyone, and it’s...impossible not to love her for it.”

“She’s the reason,” Jamie says softly, “I didn’t run. Reason I did a lot of things, some of ‘em really, really stupid. Sometimes I think everything I’ve ever done can be traced back home to her, one way or another.”

“That, my dear,” Tess says, “is what fools and songstresses alike call love, I think. Just...do me a favor, keep her from killing herself for those kids.”

Jamie nods. “I will. Promise.”

“Good,” Tess says lightly. “I like you, Jamie. You’ve got the hands of a sinner and the smile of a saint. I’d really hate to have to track you down and kill you for doing her wrong.”

***

For all the sex, and all the blushing that follows, it’s late nights like this one that really say it all. Nights where cards fade into lazy conversation fade into this: Jamie, asleep on the couch, her head resting in Dani’s lap. Dani, looking down at her like she’s never felt so at home in her own skin. 

And Tess, watching them both, astonished by the lack of fear in the room. The lack of distance. The lack of uncertainty. 

Dani, who has always been a nervous sort, whose panic attacks are so predictable on bad weeks, Tess came back from that first Christmas break with a laundry list of coping methods to offer--looks perfectly at peace. Her fingers stroke back Jamie’s hair, tracing her forehead, her nose, every brush of contact only seeming to sink Jamie deeper into dream. Dani has never looked like this before. 

“You’re happy,” Tess says quietly. Not a question. Not a challenge. Dani smiles.

“Part of me thought she’d get sick of it, you know. Waiting for me.”

“Who could get sick of you?” Tess asks, and means it. No one in the world stacks up to Dani, on a list of favorite people. No one in the world ever could. If Jamie really did fall ass over teakettle for this woman when they were barely old enough to know what love was, she couldn’t be blamed for it. Not for a second. 

“You’ll invite me to the wedding, of course,” Tess says, when Dani--eyes closed, fingers still tracing aimlessly--says nothing for a while. One blue eye emerges, her nose scrunching up. 

“Jumping ahead, aren’t you?”

“She’d do it here and now, if you asked. Shit, I could get ordained, do it for you. Always thought I’d look nice in a little suit.”

“You’d be gorgeous,” Dani says, without a hint of deprecation. Tess blows her a kiss. “And...yes. If and when, I can’t imagine doing it without you.”

“As officiant?”

“I was thinking maid of honor,” Dani laughs. Tess leans back, smiling. 

“That’ll do.”

The silence creeps in again, the sleepy indulgence of post-midnight living that feels so perfectly suited to the college experience. Nothing else, Tess suspects, will ever be quite this again--the quiet feeling like peace, the weariness feeling earned, not crushing. Jamie breathes out in her sleep, one hand drifting to gently grasp the hem of Dani’s shirt.

“Gonna miss you,” Tess says softly. “And this one, too.”

Dani smiles, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “It won’t be the same again, will it?”

“Nope.” And maybe that’s a good thing, she thinks. Maybe that’s exactly how it should be. Growing up. Changing. Learning who they ought to be. “But you’ll call.”

“And write,” Dani agrees. 

“And send me pictures of your hot gardener,” Tess adds. “Lord knows, it’d be a crying shame to forget that.”

Dani laughs. “Never.”

“You did good, Clayton. Took you a minute, but--you did good.”

She lets the silence settle for real, lets Jamie sleep and Dani doze, lets herself sink into the armchair. They aren’t subtle, it’s true--she’ll probably wake tomorrow to find they’ve opted for a quiet round of the most wall-shaking sex she’s ever heard in Dani’s room--but that feels right, somehow. Good, to see Dani refusing to make herself small. Great, to see Dani refusing to temper an emotion this grand.

“I love you idiots,” she says softly. “You’re going to be just fuckin’ fine.”

[alinastracker]

hi, bonnie, my beloved!!! I don’t know if you’re still taking those college prompts but if you are, it think 21 is pretty cute <3 it’s definitely got malina vibes

ASK AND U SHALL RECEIVE MY LOVE<3 

prompt: I get stuck with a late class that doesn’t end until 9pm and I’m always anxious about walking across the campus to the dorms, so you offer to walk with me and one night, I find out that it’s in the exact opposite direction that you need to go in

it’s nice to have a friend

"And please everyone, actually read the assigned chapters for next week!" Professor Yerwei sighs as the class dismisses. "Miss Starkov can't continue to be the only one of you raising her hand."

Alina can't help her smug little smile as she packs up her things. At first, her classmates were quite happy to have someone else participating so they didn't have to. Their groans seem to indicate that won’t be working for them any longer. Pity. 

Her smile fades, however, as she takes out her pepper spray, clutching it tight in her right hand. Slinging her backpack onto her shoulders, she files out with the rest of her classmates. 

Alina loves her art history class. She's learned so much about Ravkan art throughout her years, which is fine, but this class actually focuses on the rest of the world, art from Kerch, Novyi Zem, and even Fjerda and Shu Han.

She just hates that the class is only offered at night.

It doesn't surprise her. The class itself isn't very large, mostly filled with students of mixed backgrounds like herself. But there's something cozy about the class. She feels safe there.

That is, until she steps outside and has to walk across campus to her dorm at nine in the evening. It's late September, which means the sky is nearly pitch black by the time class ends, and while the campus is fairly well lit up, there are a couple paths with burned out bulbs that need fixing, a few shadowy areas that give her cause to quicken her steps. Her roommate, Genya, has offered to make the trek just to walk with her, but she couldn't ask that of her friend. She would just have to grin and bear it.

Alina grips her pepper spray a little tighter and is about to step into the night when someone calls her name.

No, not someone. She knows the voice, even if he is new in her life. Malyen Oretsev. He sits in front of her and a little to the left, giving her the perfect angle to stare at the side of his beautiful face. Any time she's not answering questions, she's looking at Mal.

"Way to show us all up in class," he says, a teasing smile spread on his face. He moves with such ease, such surety, wearing an army style jacket that fits him in all the right places.

"Well, I can't help it you don't read the book," she teases back, momentarily forgetting her dreaded walk. She's made it three times now, but it has yet to get easier.

"Hey, who said I haven't read it? Maybe I'm just shy."

Alina laughs. "Good one, Oretsev."

He grins, and for a second, his eyes flash to where her hand rests at her side, locked around her pretty purple pepper spray. "Heading to your dorm?" When she nods, he says, "Mind if I walk with you?"

She's not sure if he's asking because he genuinely wants to walk with her or if he's just noticed how shaky she gets after class, holding her one line of defense close, but it makes her all warm inside regardless. "I'm not out of your way? I'm in Sankta Lizabeta Hall."

Mal shakes his head and drapes an arm over her like it's the most natural thing in the world, and oddly enough, it feels that way. "Not out of my way at all."

On the walk to her dorm, they talk about how refreshing it is to take a class taught by a professor from Shu Han, the plans they have for the upcoming weekend. Alina smiles the whole time, surprising herself with how at ease she feels. At some point, she stuffs her pepper spray in her coat pocket, forgetting all about it.

From that day on, Mal walks with her after class each Tuesday and Thursday night, with Alina almost always tucked under his arm. She tells herself she likes being close to him because the weather is getting colder and colder, but really, he just makes her feel safe and giddy and good.

One night in mid-October, they come out of class to a downpour. Groans pass between the two of them and the rest of their classmates as they make their way out, some of them going back inside to wait it out, others making a mad dash for their dorm or nearby car.

"Should we wait?" Alina asks.

Mal pulls out his phone and brings up a radar map. "Doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon."

They share a look, and then, almost in unison, pull up the hoods of their coats and dash into the night, the storm swallowing the sounds of their laughter.

~

"My brother is always forgetting his things when he visits my room," Tamar is saying as she leads them up the stairs in Sankt Juris Hall. She has yet to meet Tamar's twin, Tolya, but from the pictures she's been shown, he appears to be a giant with absolutely gorgeous hair.

Once they're in her brother's dorm, she adds gentle to the front of giant, as they walk in on him in the middle of crocheting, a podcast playing from his phone.

"Ah, my book," he says, pausing his podcast and setting his work aside.

"Yes, yes, your book. Now stop leaving your shit in my dorm."

Alina laughs, and it brings Tolya's attention to her. "You must be Alina." He stands to his full height, and she has to look up to meet his eye. Saints, he seems tall enough to make two of her. 

"That's me," she says, and lets out a soft oof when Tolya wraps his large arms around her. Admittedly, his size compared to her own makes for a pretty great hug.

"Good to meet you. Tamar says you're a very talented artist. You'll have to show me some time."

She beams and nods to his abandoned yarn. "You seem to be something of an artist yourself."

Tamar groans. "Don't encourage him. I have so many scarves from over the years. Thank the Saints he's finally moved on to making things for his roommate."

"At least my roommate appreciates my work."

As the twins bicker, Alina walks further into the room. Tolya's side is neat and orderly, bed made, a basket beside it for all his crocheting, not a piece of trash in sight. The other side of the room . . . not so much.

She's seen worse, especially when it comes to boys, but the contrast is hilarious. His roommate's bed is a mess, pillows strewn and blankets hanging off like he left in a hurry. There's a few empty wrappers and water bottles on his desk, a pile of books stacked haphazardly. Then there's the heap of clothes shoved in a corner on his bed — clean or dirty yet to be determined. Her eyes linger on the pile, and she's not sure why until her eyes zero in on the hoodie on top. A very familiar hoodie.

Alina grabs it and turns to Tolya. "Do you live with Malyen Oretsev?"

Tolya pauses mid-bickering, glancing over at her. "You know Mal?"

She nods. "We have art history together."

"Oh! You must be the little friend — his words, not mine — he walks with after class. Lina. Huh, I should have put two and two together."

Alina scoffs. "Little friend?"

Tolya shrugs, and Tamar says, "I mean, he's not wrong."

She huffs, throwing the hoodie back onto Mal's bed, but says nothing, knowing she doesn't have an argument.

Just before they leave, Alina ducks her head back in and says, "Hey, Tolya? Don't tell Mal I was here."

If he finds her request odd, he doesn't show it, already going back to his crocheting. "Sure thing, little friend."

~

"So then, after doing all that catchup, they practically let Jrue steal the ball, and he runs down the court and tosses it just high enough for Giannis to dunk it in. It was incredible!"

"Uh huh."

Mal sighs. "I get it, you don't care about American basketball."

"Or American football, or our football—"

"Hey!"

"Okay, I care about your games."

"Thank you," he says, looking proud. "Anyway, you're saved."

They've reached Sankta Lizabeta Hall. Alina sighs, fiddling absently with a loose thread on her gloved hand. She’s wearing only one, because at some point today she had lost her pair, so Mal had offered up one of his — a gesture her heart has still not recovered from. She looks up at the building, then back to Mal. Admittedly, even when he rambles on about sports, she's always sad when their walk to the dorms after class comes to an end. Even though it's near freezing most nights now, their walk seems to take longer and longer. If Mal has noticed her slowing her steps lately, he hasn't said anything.

"Saved indeed," she says. But there's one more thing she has to do tonight before parting ways. "Though, I was thinking. You always walk me to my dorm, but I never do the same."

"Oh," Mal says and shrugs. "It's fine. It's not much further, no sense for you to backtrack."

Oh the irony. "I know, but still." She takes his hand, somehow warm despite the frosty air around them. Her heart skips a beat as she realizes this is the first time she's held his hand. "It's really only fair."

"Alina," Mal grumbles, and she can almost see the wheels turning in his brain, trying to figure a way out of this.

"What? It's not like you live much farther."

He groans. "It's late, and cold. You should get inside."

"What's the matter, Malyen?" She's grinning now. "You think I can't survive another minute or so out here? It's not like you reside in, oh I don't know, Sankt Juris Hall or something far like that."

She sees on his face the moment it clicks. Mal curses under his breath and asks, "How did you find out?"

"Tamar took me to meet her brother, and I just so happened to notice some very familiar clothes on a very messy bed. You're not quite as tidy as your roommate, Malyen."

"If you say my full name one more time, I'm going to bury myself into the ground."

Alina laughs and it’s just a little maniacal. "So what gives, Malyen? Juris Hall is like, a minute from class." Her own was around ten, longer if the sidewalks were icy or they took their time.

Mal's eyes turn downcast, and he kicks the pole of a streetlight. "I don't know. You just looked so uncomfortable leaving class each night, holding your pepper spray like your life depended on it, and I just — I didn't want you to be alone." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, it probably sounds weird and creepy and everything you're trying to avoid."

Her heart is thumping so loud she's afraid he might hear it. But he's still not even looking at her. "Mal," she says softly, and finally he looks up. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

He's unsure for a breath longer — the first time, she realizes, that she's seen him be anything but certain — before finally, he smiles. Shyly. "Really?"

She nods. "It’s ridiculously kind of you, especially since you barely knew me then. But I’m okay, really. I don’t want you to keep going so out of your way for me.” 

Mal pauses, shuffling on his feet, and she can tell he’s choosing his words carefully. “And if I said I wasn’t only doing it for you?” At her frown, he adds, “If I told you these walks are the best part of my week?”

She’s momentarily speechless as her brain scrambles for something to say, so she ends up blurting out, “Football practice is the best part of your week.”

His smile is sly as he says, “Football is the second best part of my week.”

“Oh, well.” Saints, she wants to jump his bones. She’s wanted to since the first time she laid eyes on him. But she hesitates still, needing to be sure before she can let herself leap. “Certainly there’s better places and times to go for a walk.”

Mal shakes his head, and there’s amusement in his tone. “Come on, Alina, are you really going to make me spell it out for you? It’s not the walk, it’s the company.”

“The company,” she echoes in a small, but pleased, voice. Her dark eyes are sparkling with something giddy — like she’s fifteen again, tripping over a smile from her crush.

He just shrugs as if to say, take it or leave it, and she knows her answer. 

Alina grins and shrugs in return. “Well, then I guess you can keep accompanying me.”

He snorts. “Oh, you guess, huh?” Mal suddenly drops dramatically to one knee, and in that moment she can see his confidence has returned, the easy way he moves, like he’s singing his favorite song and knows every word, every beat. “How generous of you, oh honorable Alina Starkov, for granting me the privilege of walking on the same pavement your very feet grace!”

Alina’s laughing, she’s been laughing for the whole speech, but now she crosses the distance between them and tugs on his arm until he stands. “You’re the worst,” she says, and before she loses her nerve, she kisses him. She can tell he’s surprised, but he recovers fast. His arms wrap around her waist, tugging her closer. One of her hands is on his red scarf — one of Tolya’s making, she knows now — while the other dares to run through his hair, a fantasy she’s had all semester. Suddenly it’s not so cold out anymore.

They pull away breathless, sharing careful, sheepish smiles of two people exploring something new; something exciting, but fragile. 

“I think we’ll have to find a new excuse to hang out once class ends in a couple weeks,” Alina says, looking up at him through her lashes, cheeks flushed. 

“Agreed. Maybe something involving food, or drinks.” He pauses, then very delicately brushes his thumb over her bottom lip. It’s somehow more intimate than the actual kiss. “Maybe more of this.” 

She bites down on the spot his thumb had just been. “Definitely more of this.”

Mal smiles, and this time, he’s the one to initiate the kiss, the one to tangle his fingers in her hair. They kiss until they’re dizzy and frozen — on the outside, anyway. On the inside, she’s all heat. They say their typical goodnights, but this time, they part with the promise of so much more than walking on the horizon.