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heniareth · 3 years

Note

I was really curious about what your opinions on the DAO companions are :) I know we have talked about some, but I'd love to hear more and about the others as well :D I hope it's ok to pose this as an ask :)

Sure! That sounds like a ton of fun. This might be a long one tho. Mind you, this is not the finished version of the answer. I'd like to link stuff and add a cut, but rn that's not possible. I'll update it when I can.

Edit: I have updated it ^^

Let's go alphabetically bc why not.

Alistair:

Sweet guy. So sweet. There was a moment when I was hard pressed chosing between him and Zevran (alas, Zevran won). Also, he's weirdly tall according to the wiki? How did I not notice that before?

Let's get a bit more serious now, Alistair is a great guy. The only reason he's not the hero of the story is because he doesn't want to. He has all the qualities of a leader: he's good at dealing with conflict (as evident with the conversation with the mage at the beginning. He gets where he wants to get without antagonizing the mage, but without allowing him to trample all over him). He's a solid tactitian and knows how to make allies (he suggests to use the Grey Warden treaties, after all). I bet if he was in the leadership position, he'd even not bicker with Morrigan. His moral code is pretty tight; some might say too tight, but I think it's less about the moral code and more about learning to judge people by their actions, not by the labels they fit into (Morrigan is a proud apostate and therefore bad. Wynne is a humble circle mage and therefore good). He also has a bit of a black-and-white way of seeing the world. I empathize a lot with Alistair, especially with his experience with the Chantry and his subsequent reluctance to deal with it. I really wish I had gotten to know more about concrete experiences he had during his training as templar, but he seems reluctant to talk about it (gee, I wonder why).

Since I've only played the game once, I haven't really picked up on Arl Eamon's abuse towards him, which apparently exists (Isolde, however... I mean, even if he were Eamon's illegitimate son, he's a kid, ma'am, he didn't exactly get to chose his parents. So that's so not okay). Alistair's way of speaking about them both, however, is either sign that he has not come within a hundred miles of acknowledging how much it hurt him, or that he's already gone through the whole process and has decided to forgive them. The latter shows a very strong character; yes, he relies on the approval and leadership of others, he has his issues, but he's already started working on them.

That being said, irl Alistair would be like a little brother to me. I'd tease him relentlessly (all in good fun and I promise to stop if it makes him uncomfortable, but he's just so teasable). I still wish the videogame gave him the chance to take important decisions for himself. But that, of course, would somewhat defeat the point of the game.

Leliana:

Another sweet, sweet person. Her singing voice is amazing. Her belief in the Maker inspires me (I'm a religious person and seeing religious characters represented in a positive light is Very Cool. It's also sometimes a source of discomfort, because the Church has done a lot of very messed up stuff and positive representation can sometimes veer into apologetics for things that should not be excused, but that's a whole other can of worms. The bottom line is that religious characters sometimes work for me and other times don't and Leliana works for me very much bc she's an outsider inside the Chantry).

Leliana is best friend material, tbh. I'd love to get to know her irl, discuss theology and philosophy and maybe even politics? She makes mistakes and has prejudices, but, tbh, so do I. And I do get the feeling that she tries her best to learn. From the times she intervenes in a conversation between the Warden and an NPC, she shows herself to be compassionate and open to the needs of others. What I get from her character is that she genuinely wants to help, which is something that I adore of her. I suspect that she sometimes has a hard time deciding wether she's a good person or not. She has killed and seduced and worked for a morally dubious person, and she doesn't show the same nonchalance about it as Zevran (though they both do discuss their line of work in very... professional terms). This is, however, more of a headcanon than actual factual canon.

I also very much enjoy her girly side, like her interest in shoes and dresses. She's one badass woman who also looses her cool about the latest fashions in Val Royeaux. I like that. Between her and Alistair, a non human noble Warden has as good a help to navigate the Fereldan court as they're going to get. Leliana is also, I can't forget that, clever and insightful. It'd be easy to write her off as the innocent chantry girl, but she's so much more than that. Her kindness is paired with foresight, I think. She knows that taking on the trouble to help now can go a long way in the future. I just have a lot of respect for her.

Loghain:

This one's gonna be short bc I didn't recruit him. He's an amazing villain and would probably be a great Warden as well. He reminds me of Denerhor from LOTR; once a hero/stewart of his people, ambition and desperation have driven them both down a terrible path. I have also only little idea about his past. People say he lost a lot, and I believe it wholeheartedly; it doesn't excuse the fact that he plunged the country into a civil war in the middle of a Blight. I don't have a lot of sympathy for short-sighted politicians. I wish he hadn't made himself regent. That's what I take away from his character.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention that really impressed me was his death. I had Alistair duel him (that was a rough duel), and then it kinda just jumped to a cutscene of my Warden nodding and Alistair executing him. That didn't sit well with me. I didn't want to kill Loghain, and less so in front of Anora. But what impressed me was that Loghain just accepted it. That takes a whole lot of guts. Compare that to Howe's death, and how he screams out that he deserved (more, probably, or anything but death) and it's crystal clear who the more noble of the two is. Loghain strikes me as very lawful neutral, and any neutral alignment has the particularity that it can be dragged towards good or bad, sometimes without the characters noticing it (which is interesting from a DnD perspective; neutral is often concieved of as just as stable as good or evil, but that may not be true. But that's a different post). Anyway, Loghain's death was impactful.

Morrigan:

I could kick myself for not maxing out her approval in the first play-through. I got to enjoy a bit of her friendship by the end of it and boy was even that little bit worth it. Friendship with Morrigan is something that is hard-won. It's all the more precious because of that.

Morrigan is full of paradoxes, I think. She's incredibly wise in some ways, yet also very short-sighted (”just kill them, don't solve their problems”. Morrigan, dear, I'm not going to gain a lot of allies if I kill everybody who poses a problem to me). She is so intelligent, but emotionally... not so. She knows so much about some things, and very little about the next. She's incredibly wilful and knows what she wants, but follows Flemeth's orders all the time through. She hungers for power and independence, yet craves closeness, but won't allow herself to have it. She asks you to prove yourself to her and is extremely critical of your actions, I think, because she's afraid. She bites the hand that feeds her because it might hit her next.

Like with Eamon, I haven't managed to catch the undercurrent of abuse that seems to permeate Flemeth's relationship with Morrigan. Except there are signs, because there must be something Morrigan is scared of and who has instilled all that rage in her, and that's Flemeth. Also, she clearly hates/does not care about her and wants her dead (unless killing Flemeth was part of Flemeth's plan as well? Hm.)

Morrigan is that one person who you are nice to, continuously, because nobody else is. And suddenly she becomes less cold. And then friendly. And suddenly you're asking yourself why everybody hates her, because she's a really good friend! I just wish the other companions came to a similar conclusion, especially Alistair and Wynne.

Oghren:

They did this man dirty. He has such great lines and I'm convinced he was a great person before Branka disappeared. He has that dwarven warrior spirit, and while he looks like Gimli, some of his most impactful lines remind me of Dwalin or even Thorin Oakenshield himself. He could be so noble had he gotten some character development, damnit!

Oghren as he is written is somewhat disgusting. I hate the lechering comments and the drunkenness. And still, I don't hate him because of those amazing lines he has when he's actually sober. It's frustrating and I'll give him that character development myself if the game won't. I strongly associate the song Whiskey Lullaby with him, bc that's how he would have ended up if the Warden hadn't taken him along (warning: the song talks about suicide and alcoholism). Like I said, they could have done such cool things with his character. As he is written now... it's just sad. Moments of lucidity drowned in alcohol and creepy jokes. As you can see, I don't blame the character for either. The alcoholism happens all too often irl. The creepy jokes... I put that one on the writers' tab.

I actually think Oghren could have been a great mentor figure (I know, I shock myself as well sometimes). Next to the Grey Wardens, the ones who know most about fighting darkspawn are the dwarves because they have to deal with them constantly. Especially a warrior caste dwarf like Oghren could have brought a lot of that invaluable knowledge to the team, especially since there are no Grey Wardens in Ferelden but two extremely green recruits. Next, you get the chance to give Oghren the command of the teammates you leave behind in the battle of Denerim with the reason that he has lead men into battle before. Where did that suddenly come from? Oghren should have been right up there telling my Warden that they were doing this wrong, that they needed more food (and booze) and a confident leader to keep the armies they've called together going. Oghren should have been able to tell my civilian city elf who got recruited into the Grey Wardens a six months ago how one leads an army. How one presents oneself to inspire confidence, how one doesn't crack under the pressure, how one gets the leaders of said armies (some who hate each others guts i.e. Dalish elves and humans) to work together. And, last but not least, Oghren could have had a great story about grief. This is a man who has lost most of what made him (and what he hasn't lost he's spilling down the drain with every mug of ale). This is a man who, if you take him into the Deep Roads, has to see what his wife did to his family, how his wife got absolutely obsessed, and can be forced to kill said wife or watch her die. All Wardens loose their home and families at the start of the story. It would really have rounded the whole narrative out if the Warden and Oghren could have recognised their grief in each other and hashed it out somehow. Such as it is, Oghren is a depressed drunkard and there is nothing we can do about that. I find that frustrating.

Rascal (a.k.a. Dog):

Best boy. 100/10. I wish we had gotten to see the reaction of the different origins to the mabari (because elves probably have a whole different experience with them from mages or humans. And dwarves just... I think they straight up have none? XD). Other than that, no complaints. The name Rascal was the one I gave my dog because you have to be a right rascal to survive what he did and play the pranks he plays. Smartest breed in the world indeed.

Shale:

Shale is one of those characters that I recruited rather late in the game, so I haven't had the chance to explore their personality and worldview, really. I didn't even get to take them to the Deep Roads (this will be ammended in playthrough nr. 2). As such, I don't have particularly strong opinions on them (or her? The wiki refers to Shale as 'it', but that sounds weird). But, because I know so little about Shale, I have a lot of questions. First, what were they like before they were a golem? Shayle, as she was called then, was the best warrior of her time if I remember correctly. Why did she become a golem? Was it to be able to eternally protect her people? Was the sarcasm the golem Shale exhibits also part of the dwarven warrior Shayle or did that come later (if for thirty years you have nobody to talk to but yourself, you better be entertaining. And I can imagine how it could make somebody terribly jaded as well).

Next, how attached is Shale to their golem form, exactly? According to the banter, they infinitely prefer it to a squishy fleshy form. If that is the case, however, why go to Tevinter to try and become a squishy dwarf again? It's not like that process could be reversed if they wanted to become a golem again; if Shale survives to the end of the game, the Anvil of the Void is destroyed and Caridin is dead. Was the whole spiel about their indestructible form a façade? It might have been, but not because Shale actually disliked their form. I think it would have more to do with the loss of their memories and with the very invasive experiments and alterations of Shale's body made by the mage Wilhelm. The loss of memories means that Shale is unable to remember life as a fleshy creature. They might be deflecting by pretending that they didn't care for that experience anyway because of the superiority of their golem form. The modifications made to their form by Wilhelm would have alienated them from their body. In light of this, it's significant that Shale asks the Warden to decorate their form with crystals.

All of this is, of course, pure speculation. I may have easily missed or forgotten details that would disprove the above thoughts. All in all, I like Shale and I hope we meet them again in DA4 (given that it's mostly set in Tevinter). It's a liking from a respectful distance, because Shale is tall and made out of rock and also way more experienced than I will ever be (they are literally the oldest member of the Warden's little Blight fighting squad).

Sten:

Sten is another person I'd keep a respectful distance from physically. That seems to be the what he would prefer, at least. I've enjoyed his character a lot, especially because he seems pretty clear-cut at first, but slowly lets the nuance of his person show (gruff and stoic, but then he has an eye for art, a sweet tooth and he likes cute animals). It's also very interesting that there's no moment when you learn "the truth" about him the way you do with Zevran or Leliana. There's no big reveal about his life under the Qun before coming to Ferelden. He says he was sent to monitor the Blight, but honestly? If neither Ferelden nor Orlais knew there was a Blight, how could the Qunari know? I think he's lying, and he takes his secrets back with him when he leaves Ferelden. And yet I think I know him enough to say that a Warden who has become friends with him has nothing to fear from Sten.

One thing I find very interesting about Sten is how he thinks. His conversation about how women can't be soldiers has been analysed a lot on this page I think. He seems to be arguing based on a different paradigma than the one the Warden has. He also seems to have a very clear-cut view of the world. What is fascinating to me is that, when arguing with the Warden and learning about their culture, he is not necessarily becoming more lax about his worldview. I think it's more likely that he is expanding his paradigma, the structure of thought through which he understands the world. I don't think that he is now convinced that women can be warriors as well. I think he rather understands that, in Ferelden, the relationship between occupation and gender is different than under the Qun. Which of the two he thinks is more right or more agreeable, I have no idea. I'm also not very interested in that. But I find it fascinating how he always seems to be looking on quietly, gathering data, classifying it and trying to fit it into his understanding of how the world works. I wouldn't be surprised at all if his original party was a scouting party to see how vulnerable Ferelden was at that moment to outside forces. One thing I don't understand with all of this is why he urges the Warden to meet the Blight head on. No smart soldier would suggest that, except if they are foolishly proud (and Sten doesn't seem like that kind of guy tbh). I get that the Warden takes way longer to gather allies than expected because they first have to solve all of their allies' problems. But surely Sten sees the need to have allies? Is he just that impatient? Does he have a death wish (à la, I lost my sword and am without honour, better to die sooner than later and in glorious battle)? Was he his group's previous commander and is he now having trouble following somebody else's orders? Or maybe it's his way to make sure the Warden knows what they are doing? To push them into becoming the self-assured commander their allies will need once they're all gathered? I really don't know. I like the last option best, however.

For me, Sten is my fellow, more experienced soldier. Like Alistair, he can potentially be the Warden's brother in arms, but he's definitely the older brother here. He probably doesn't take kindly to tearful confessions of how hard everything is, but I feel like he's otherwise a solid rock to lean on. I feel like the Warden can trust him to do what is necessary and count on him no matter what, especially after they get his sword back. His devotion from that point on is honestly so powerful.

Wynne:

Wynne was such a support for my Warden (except with the whole conversation about love vs. duty and that she may have to choose between Zevran and ending the Blight and that she should therefore break up with him. Wynne had a point. Astala was so not willing to sacrifice her relationship with Zevran. But the whole conversation came at a point where she was already so disillusioned that she blew up in Wynne's face (”can i please just have one (1) nice thing????”)). But all in all, Wynne is great.

She has a lot of flaws. She was very marked by her life in the Cricle and, for all her age, she has little experience living outside of it. She is also a conformist despite her strong moral core. In a way, her ability to find peace with her lot in life impresses me deeply because it speaks to a lot of strength of character. Sadly, however, strength can be ill applied and used to suppress. I think she has convinced herself that the Chantry is right under (almost) all circumstances to be able to rationalize the life that mages live. She's had her son taken away from her as a baby and an apprentice killed. Her reaction seems to have been to convince herself that this was right, or for the greater good (and now I'm thinking about the Guardian's question at the temple of Andraste's Ashes; are you wise or do you just repeat what others have told you? The answer is not as clear-cut as it might be). This is why she is so irritated by Zevran and Morrigan. By aligning herself with the Chantry, she is, in her eyes, good. Zevran and Morrigan are not; they do not conform to Chantry morality and they defend themselves tooth and nails against somebody who would try and convert them. This is something Wynne never allowed herself to do; she always did the "right" thing and it has cost her so much. I'm not saying she was right (it would probably have done her some good to rebel from time to time, and to trust her own gut instinct more), but in light of this, it hardly surprises me that she's so judgamental. She has to be, or she would be forced to confront all the evil she has not fought against all those years and all the hurt that has been caused to her by the very institution she protects (and thank God she only tries to argue and can appreciate it when people have found a good life outside of her comfort zone. If she tried to convince by force or, for example, drag her former apprentice back to the Circle... boy oh boy that would get ugly). If you think about it, Wynne really is a good example for what happens if you live by a philosophy of always choosing the lesser evil.

Something that I keep forgetting over her grandmotherly and dignified character is how damn powerful she is. She has escaped the carnage at Ostagar; HOW!? She protected those mage apprentices in the Circle tower for God knows how long. In the battle of Denerim, she wades through an army and comes out alive on the other side. The wiki lists her age at 40, I think, but that doesn't make a lick of sense unless 75 years of age are the Fereldan equivalent to 100. This lady, about whom people make grandmother jokes, did all that. It's impressive.

Zevran:

You know, I would really love to know what Wynne thinks about the events at Kirkwall in DA2. It might be a disaster for her, or it might pave the way for one last bit of character development. She certainly didn't want to return to the Circle after fighting the Blight. That may be an indicator of some change in her stance on the Circle of Magi.

Edit: I forgot that she is what the Circle considers a literal abomination! Holy cow, how could I forget that?? Anyway, her conversation about what being an abomination means is so... heartbreaking, actually. It's so tentative. So careful. "Am I an abomination? Am I the same thing that has killed my students? The same thing as Uldred? Am I lost and damned? Did I invite this spirit in? Is this my fault?" Like wow, Wynne is going through something huge right there. I love it. I have to continue playing the game to see what it ends up as, but it's fascinating and such a huge thing that she allows the Warden in on that.

Ah, Zevran, my beloved (he has stolen my heart so much it's not even funny anymore). He's funny, he's charming, he's so so loyal and it breaks my heart. Zevran is the one about whom I've read most meta: these three wonderful posts for instance, as well as this one about his possible lack of scars, and this one about his lack of freedom. All of these have influenced my opinion of him and they are great reads.

I have talked about Zevran with you before, so I'll just skip to the new stuff. I have come to conclusion that Zevran is an artist at heart. This is totally not biased by the fact that I also do art, but hear me out. One of his preferred gifts are bars of silver and gold. While those have the obvious utility of basically functioning as money (they can be sold to any silversmith or goldsmith and their value is pretty stable through time and in different countries), there's also this from his codex: "Zevran shows an affinity for the finer things in life—hardly surprising for an Antivan Crow—but his appreciation can be more poetic than he lets on. A simple bar of refined silver or gold, uncomplicated by a craftsman's hammer, is elegantly valuable." Tell me that is not an artist's eye that sees that gold and sees the beauty in it. Then, there's also the meta about Zevran the Seducer which I linked above and link here again. It talks specifically about how he lets himself enjoy the target and be seen in his enjoyment. Tell me that is not an artist's eye that beholds the beauty of something he is set out to destroy. Even his talk about his assassinations show this. He talks about it as an art, the way somebody would talk about the brutal intervention in stone that produces a sculpture. Yes, it's a rationalization of the act of killing and yes killing is still wrong. But he doesn't go on about it on a moral tangent the way Alistair or Wynne would (”this person was bad, killing them was necessary”) or even through the argument of survival like Morrigan would (”it was either them or me and it sure as Hell wasn't going to be me”). He talks about the pleasure of a job well done, of the satisfaction of striking the precise point and executing a plan to the perfection so as to minimize chances of discovery and to make a clean death possible. And pleasure in seeing and in doing, this I firmly believe, is absolutely fundamental for an artist.

My favourite part about my Warden and Zevran as a pairing is that Zevran precisely brings out that ability to take your pleasures as they come and to really savour them. Fighting the Blight is tough; it's so important to find good things amidst the chaos to stay sane. If Astala saves Zevran from himself by offering him a place to stay and a purpose, Zevran saves Astala from herself by keeping her from running herself into the ground trying to save the world.

There are some things I don't like about Zev. The incessant flirting, for example, sometimes makes me uncomfortable (it becomes enjoyable for me once the Warden and him are in a relationship, but before that? Nah, no thanks). I wish he would also leave the other female characters alone (and there's so many more shameless comments of his aimed at Morrigan, Leliana or Wynne than at Alistair or maybe even Sten).

---

And that's my take on the Origins companions (this was rather long. Whew ^^' I hope it was still readable and that you enjoyed it!!) Thank you so much for the ask!! It's been a joy thinking about this. I was worrying at first that the less prominent companions like Sten or Shale wouldn't get as much content but... well XD

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just-pineapple-responses · 4 years

Note

Just curious, how many shower thought (response) blogs are there? I just dived into this side of tumblr (not gonna make any posts its fun to read though) and I'm already losing my mind

Well there is

The. Literal. Sun.

Plasma...

S p a c e

ALL HAIL THE LIGHT

The void. It shall consume ALL.

A typewriter incase anyone wants to write their will before they die

Also some ink, not related to the typewriter

Also some words, I wonder who'll use them

A hat with no maker and a maker with no hat

The pen is mightier than the sword. It just so happens that this one is evil. Luckily I can summon multiple

Anyone order some coffee?

Ooo, an author

The literal embodiment if of fanart

A fork, nom noms

B҉ r҉ o҉ k҉ e҉ n҉

Soap

Soap(for hair)

Toothpaste

🄵🄰🅄🄲🄴🅃

Towel

Bath mat

Washcloth

Bathtub

Bathwater

𝔹𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕞𝕓

Bubblebath!

One (1) bath boi

Some M͓̽o͓̽l͓̽d͓̽ (anybody got some strong disinfectant?)

Nvm, the mold has already caused a plague (gettit?) (although user misspelled it)

Nevermind, there's already a parasite here

Mirror

Door!!!

Some curtains

A denim jacket

Blackout

Rainbow

✨ Magic ✨

*Tree poses to assert dominance*

Coconut

(obviously me)

I think popeye dropped a tin of spinch and it became sentient?

Tost

Hummus. dip tost?

Criss Cross applesauce

Wibbly wobbly Wibbly wobbly jellyo

Mmmm océan s o u p

Some poison, a great addition for my soup

Smol bean

Potat

Shower magpie who I haven't seen in a while

Bird (brain)

Frog(×2:Electric Boogaloo)

An axolotl!

Ferret

*looks at smudged writing on hand. Squints. * a raccoon

Stinky bastard man (I just had to put the two next to each other)

Rat.

Becometh crab 🦀 (x2: Electric Boogaloo)

Nya~

Edgy Nya~

Tripod of dog

Brain

Nina i found one of your neurons (if you understand this reference, good job you)

A rotted brain, keep it away before it infects us all, I only have 2 braincells left

Did... Did someone drop their spinal cord?

The almighty binch

The titanic

Narrator

Water based introspection

Existential crisis

Dumbass

Also a pacifier (get it because they're also called dummies and their name is dummy)

A foolish thought to say a sorry sight join the shower community (as you can tell we did Shakespeare in English so many times i pretty much can recite everything lady macbeth said)

ADHD

Ominous

Anonymous

Anxious 🥺👉👈

Some edgy bastard

A person of culture I see (although obsessed with tweed for some reason)

1 Dapper boi

Sarcastic

nice

All smiles and sunshine

HAPPY! (why isn't there yellow 😔)

Affection (Derogatory) (I'm sorry I just felt like it)

~Petty~

Idiot

Disaster

Chaos and Order

Comebacks

'vanishing'

Defences

Threatened

Op is on drugs

All the F s

And F-general

Get out of the shower

Shower responses

Dry

The horny and the simp

Shower sins

Thower shoughts

I take quick showers

Shower thots

Last responder *countdown music*

You have shower thoughts?

Your shower thoughts are stupid

Wtf shower thoughts

Another shower responder

Just shower responses... responses

Response shower

NO SHOWER! only thought (×3)

Mmm, showery

Penny for your thoughts?

Hello darkness my old friend...

Llawyer

Beepbeep

Prussia

Haywire!!!

furry OwO

A Pigeon got in through the door, who left it open?

I'm feeling devious

You're looking glamorous, let's get mischievous, and polyamorous

Gay is stored in the ass

Gay

Trans

*opens door and walks through with you exaggeratedly* Fellas we got the whole LGBTQIA+ community right here

Enby

Hahaha gender go brrr

Lesbian

Lesbian-thot

Lust

Someone who thinks it funny to clown around

Joker (derogatory)

Haha straight

Dead inside

Some supervillain idk

News. Literally a shower news style responses

I cannot believe that I forgot Her Greatest Majesty, the Queen. All Hail Royal

Isaac newton?

M megamind?

Fiftieth

Crackhead

Some Phoenix Wright kinnie

What is a Dean Winchester and why does he have a tentacle fetish?

Well well well, if it ain't a homestuckian

Did someone kill/rob The Doctor or something, their TARDIS was left behind and its blocking my pretzels that I left in the shower

Mined crafts uwu

Well well well, if it ain't- *accidentally makes eye contact and is then killed by some unknown shadowy creature holding what seems to be some sort of cube of dirt*

GOTTA GO FAST

Mishamishamishamishamishamishamisha

Gen Z and ready to throw hands with OP

Not puki

Nom noms

Dip dap

Kensa

B͓̽u͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ..........

Someone broke their space bar or something

It's time to d-d-d-d-d-dshower

The magical deity of sleepovers

DON'T FALL ASLEEP. NO MATTER WHAT THEY TELL YOU-

The muffin man genuinely left drury Lane for this

Txmblr

Moonlit nights on a winters day, stars glimmering gently

A child?

🟥

The fae. Just all of them. Every single one.

Crocus? (What on earth does that mean)

*sings* baba blacksheep have you any wool? Because if not you will be killed (this fits the tune perfectly. If not I have failed in everything)

The theatre itself is here... Somehow

Ahoy-hoy

boo

REEEE- *epic geometry dash gameplay to DanTDM's old intro music*

Yardale, not to be mistaken for riverdale and differs to lawn ale or front porch ale or even meter ale

I'll finish this list later

It's gonna be a long one folks

I'm including a ones that haven't spoken since ages ago because

Boy howdy there's new ones tell me who I'm missing now

Please stop thank you very much this is too many i keep having to add to this any new responder must kill a responder to continue the purge shall claim y'all as I will win i recently started watching Danganronpa

Seriously though everyone after mirror must have a battle royale it's too much i doubt all of you will even last longer than today also happy birthday me -dated:28th- do you even realise what sort of commitment you've made to sell pieces of your soul for entertainment and ability to make such epic retorts each and every post?! I sacrifice many souls DAILY to be throwing such bangers into this stuff y'know?

We have a tap guys we can finally wash our hands of all the blood of our enemies

Seriously though who left the door open I don't want a Pigeon pecking at me (the mishapocalypse got them lol)

So many responders so little time before the end of the world

If I'm missing someone please tell me very thank

There are not enough colours for me to assign a different one to each person 😔 also, wtf is on there twice on purpose

WorldHealthOrganisation IS MISSING (note: you may have a joke in place of name or under a category of names)

So there's lore without me?

ALL HAIL THE LIGHT *moth noises*

Okay now there's alternate timeline versions of responders for the benefit of myself they ain't going on the list bud

There is an incorrect role play blog quotes blog and I am crying. Not of laughter. Just wiuwhdhsjhshjxjabjsjdhdjsj

If any new people join I will go back to causing shower wars for the sake of killing you all I'm done I have snapped my laptop is updating 3 times in a row

I will commit crimes.

Does being a shower responder or role-playing seem encouraging to people to join this "community"? Because I'm pretty sure it's the latter

#ShowerThoughts blogs #Asks #As you can see I'm trying to organise in order of inanimate to animal to concepts to water else #*whatever else #And now rp blogs wow

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 3 years

Text

Don’t Treat My Love Like a Habit Part Fourteen

Previous Part | Next Part | Masterlist

Pairing: Santiago Garcia x Reader Rating: Mature (this may change) Warnings: Cursing; angst... And well.... Y’all will see Notes: Set before the movie. Not beta-read. Reina is Spanish for Queen. I hope everyone’s having a good week! 💜 Summary: You’d spent the last few days checking all of the cameras we had available for Hernandez, but you hadn’t been able to get another fix on the man.

The tracker stopped giving off a signal somewhere around El Eden, outside Jericó. There was no way for you to know if it had been knocked loose, or if it had been found, but it gave you a direction. It also put Hernandez in range of one of the last in-person sightings of Lorea, down by Las Minas. “So I’ll drive down--” “I don’t know if you should be driving anywhere. You haven’t even gotten your stitches out yet,” You gave the phone a withering look, willing Alex to feel the power of the stare from the other end. You and Pope were at the office, looking down at a readout of all of the places the tracker had given off a signal before cutting. You’d spent the last few days checking all of the cameras we had available for Hernandez, but you hadn’t been able to get another fix on the man. Pope told you that he hadn’t gotten anything else about Hernandeze’s whereabouts from his informant, either, and that she hadn’t even expected him to be in the car that night.

The two of you had taken to calling Alex when we were in the office and having him on speakerphone when we were talking over status updates that day. You tended to go by his apartment at least once a day to check on him, make sure he was eating properly and helping out if he needed it. Pope had gone with you a couple of times, and they had been… Amiable. “Fine, you drive,” Alex retorted. You shook your head. “I’m still looking through these feeds. I get that we may get something closer to where the tracker cut, but-- I don’t want anyone going anywhere until we have something more firm. If the tech just shat the bed, or they found it and broke it, going down to El Eden isn’t going to solve anything, it’s just going to waste time.”

“Pope, your informant doesn’t have anything?” “She didn’t the last time I spoke to her,” Pope turned his head toward the phone to answer, his eyes still set firmly on the map, “But I have a check-in with her in a couple of hours.” A check-in. You were pointedly not thinking about what that might entail. “Look, soon as we get something that looks like Hernandez--” “What if we don’t?” Alex asked. You went quiet. It was a fair question. The man had slipped up once; he’d be raising his guard, making sure nothing like that happened again. You and Pope had both been twice as cautious that week, double- and triple-checking that the door was locked before we went to bed. “We will,” Pope answered. You turned to look at him, taking in the set of his brow, the way his lips were pulling down. He meant, ‘We have to’.

You hadn’t had a quiet night alone without Pope since the office had been broken into. It was… Odd. Not eerie or anything, but just like something was missing. You’d briefly, stupidly, wondered if Pope felt like this when you’d stayed with Alex at the hospital. It was Pope’s apartment, he was used to being there alone. Well maybe not alone, but at least without you there-- You huffed, closing the fridge door for what had to be the fifth time that evening. Pope hadn’t told you when he’d be home back when he’d left to meet with his informant. “You gonna tell me what her name is, or should I call her Isabella 2.0?” You’d tried to tease. He’d cast you a dour look as he’d tugged jacket. “What’s it matter what her name is?” He’d asked, and the words had left him with such tired irritation that you immediately felt stupid for saying anything. “No, it… It doesn’t,” You’d mumbled. He’d just grunted, said he’d let you and ‘Brano know if he got anything, and left.

Maybe he hadn’t sounded that irritated? Maybe you’d just been thinking about it too long. Being in the apartment alone gave you a lot of time and silence in which to overthink things. You’d texted Frankie and the guys to see how they were doing, but Benny had a fight that night, so you wouldn’t be able to distract yourself with them for at least another few hours, and by then, Santiago would be home. Hopefully. Hopefully Santiago would be home. Back. Hopefully Santiago would be back.

Hernandez is hunkered down in Las Minas. You’d jumped at the sound of your phone, and now you were just staring at the text that had come through from Santiago. Lorea? Was Alex’s answering text. Unclear, Pope’s response came through in seconds.

Las Minas, you could work with that. First thing in the morning, you’d go in and start working through the camera feeds that you could access from Diego’s office. You opened your separate texts with Santiago. Coming back soon?

You watched the screen for a few moments before setting the phone aside. A few more minutes, nothing. He’d answered Alex so quickly. You looked around the apartment, stomach churning. Maybe you wouldn’t wait until morning to head into the office and start combing through those camera feeds.

You left him a post-it, of course.

“So I’ve got five possible targets, there are like three that I’m ready to rule out, but I wanted to get your read on them before I dropped them completely,” You said, not even bothering with a ‘hello’, instead pointing to a map on the wall with printed-out imagery from the cameras you’d been able to access pinned to it, “The red tacks are the ones I think are the most likely, blue are the ones I wanna ditch.” “Have you been here all night?” Pope didn’t bother with a ‘hello’, either. “Where else would I be?” You returned your hand to the keyboard, eyes still on the monitor. “I don’t know, with Zambrano?” He said it like it was obvious, like you were over there all the time, beyond helping the guy since he was wounded. “Just stopped by after work for a bit.” “And then?” “Would you look at the map, please?” You didn’t mean for it to come out as snappy as it had, but you were… Tired, and annoyed - more annoyed than tired. Santiago had never answered your text, nor had he texted you when he got in, which you’d asked him to do on the post-it. To top it all off, he was asking if you had been at the office all night. So, presumably, he hadn’t gotten in, had spent the night elsewhere, and… And you’d gotten a tip out of it. Anything else that happened didn’t matter, and you didn’t care anyway, and this game of emotional whack-a-mole was really starting to take it out of you.

You didn’t dare look at Pope, didn’t want to know whether he was looking at you or the map in the stilted silence that followed. But after a few moments, you heard his footsteps trail away from your desk, over to the wall, and you let yourself glance over your shoulder. Same jacket as yesterday - but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. You lowered your head back to your work, shaking your head a little. What he was wearing, what he did last night or didn’t do, none of that mattered, none of it-- “Ditch the blue.” Pope’s voice cut through your thoughts, and you grabbed the pen you’d set aside hours ago, crossing them off of the list that you’d compiled. “Too conspicuous?” You asked. “Yep.” You tossed the pen back onto the desk and glanced over at Pope, watching him look at the two remaining targets. They weren’t terribly far from one another, but they couldn’t be monitored by one person. “I’ll get Zambrano, drive down, hit them today,” Pope said, pulling his jacket sleeve back and glancing back down at his wrist, “He can drive. We won’t engage if we see anything, it’ll be strictly recon,” He added, glancing back at you. You turned back to your computer, nodding and wordless. You didn’t like the idea, but you knew that the tip that Pope had gotten would need to be moved on quickly. “You should go back to the apartment, get some rest,” Pope added, heading for the door of your small office space. “I’ve got some stuff to wrap up here,” You shook your head. “Reina.” You looked up at Pope then, raising a brow and waiting for him to speak. He hesitated before he sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll grab walkie-talkies, Zambrano and I will radio when we’re in position.” “Fine,” You nodded, and were on your way to adding, “Be careful,” When you found yourself speaking to the door.

“How was the fight?” You asked, leaning back from your monitor and stretching your back over your chair as you spoke into your chair. “What fight?” Alex’s voice crackled through your headset. “Mic,” Pope’s sighed over Alex’s question. “Shit, hang on, ‘Fish-- Sorry, guys,” You apologized before tapping the mute button on your headset - the controls were so damn sensitive. You’d already accidentally knocked them half a dozen times. You raised your phone back to the ear you’d pushed your headset back from. “Sorry, Fish.” “Late night?” Frankie chuckled. “... So how was the fight?” You repeated, not in the mood to touch that just yet. “It was great. Benny kicked the guy’s ass.” “Atta boy,” You grinned, pushing yourself out of your seat, “How’ve you been?” You listened to Frankie catch you up on what you’d missed the last couple of weeks, checking your phone screen now and again for any texts from Santiago or Alex, just in case. “You okay, Q?” “Fine, why?” “You sound a little...Dead.” “Forgot what a sweet-talker you were, chulo.” “You know I don’t mean it like that--” “I’m teasing, Frankie,” You smiled a little, grabbing your mug and walking over to where you’d set up the coffee maker in the back office that Diego had allotted you and Pope, “I’m fine, just… Yeah, late night. Work, you know.” You hesitated as you set your mug down, thinking. “...Frank?” “Yeah?” “Let’s say… Hypothetically… That there was a, like… Snowball’s chance in hell that there was some truth to all the teasing you’ve done about me and Pope.” “How big a snowball?” “You know that boulder that chases Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark?” “Oh, no!” Frankie laughed, and you couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the sound of it -- it was so light, and after the mental hell you’d been putting yourself through, it was nice to hear someone laughing about it. “What’s going on?” He asked. You looked down at the coffee pot, trying to cobble your thoughts together. “It’s just-- Ugh, hang on,” You reached up, adjusting your headset as it began to slip, your hand brushing the controls as you did, “It’s just that-- I don’t know if it’s because I’m staying with the guy, or-- Or what, but I can’t get him out of my head. It’s bad, Frankie. And I mean, it’s not new, either, I’ve had feelings for Santiago since… Since before I took this job. I mean they weren’t always serious, not like they are now, but there’s always been something there for me--” Now that you were admitting it, you couldn’t get the words to stop; they were spilling out like unorganized tupperware from a hastily shut cupboard, “But fuck, it’s just been so much-- Worse isn’t the word, I mean, noticeable, maybe. Fuck, I’ve been living with the guy, we sleep in the same bed, and he’s cuddly, and I like it way too much. I spent half the night looking for new apartments because I just… I can’t do it anymore. If I don’t get out of there, I think I’m gonna fall in lo--” “Hey Q?” Alex’s voice crackled in through your earpiece. “Hang on ‘Fish--” You sighed, raising your hand to your headset. But before you could even touch it-- “Your mic is on,” Santiago’s voice was quiet, almost regretful. Your heart slammed into your rib cage with the force of a freight train. You reached up with a shaking hand, tapping the mic button on your headset again to mute it. “...Francisco, I’m going to need to call you back.” Tag list: @justanotherblonde23 ; @revolution-starter ; @emurlemur ; @badbitxhbuckybarnes ; @supernaturalcat7 ; @mylittlelonelyappreciationtoo

#Don't Treat My Love Like a Habit #Santiago Garcia x Reader #Santiago Garcia #Santiago Garcia/Reader #Santiago Garcia/You #Santiago Garcia x You #Santiago Pope Garcia x Reader #Santiago Pope Garcia x You #Santiago Pope Garcia Imagine #santiago pope garcia #Santiago Garcia Imagine

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damerondala · 3 years

Note

🍒 Okay tub time with Kix? 😗👌🏻 Exquisite. So good. Where do i find such a caring man ugh and a clean bathtub chores suck

New Cherry Thot of the Week… This one’s hella self-indulgent but don’t worry bestie, i’m dragging you along for the ride too… Picture it: The Marauder, 19 BBY (did i spend 3 minutes looking that up for this dumb joke? yeah…) Somehow, you and I have joined up with the Bad Batch on some kind of mission. Details don’t matter because the important thing is we’re sharing a tiny spaceship with 5 hunks. 🥰 But obvs we have our favorites… I’m going with Wrecker for you (i know you love Hunter too, but just hear me out, this thot has a purpose) and Crosshair for me.

But here’s the thing. We somehow figure out they like us back (maybe Tech spills the beans), AND they have a bet going… Who can win us over first? Because these 2 are always competing over something with each other right?

And like hot damn, but also ohh there’s so much we can do with this info 😈 We both start teasing our respective guys, leading them on a little, not giving in to their flirting or anything so they can’t say they’ve won the bet for a while. They get more frustrated. More… pent up… And… well… so do we…

Uh oh. Maybe we can’t play this much longer. Maybe one day it’s too much, and one of us races to our crush prepared to just kiss them silly, only to find they had the same idea. And then afterward we try to find the other, and discover they couldn’t hold out with their guy either 🙈 And maybe it’s awkward, maybe Wrecker and Crosshair argue over who actually won forever, but it was kinda weirdly fun anyway. We’re happy, and happy for each other. /EndofSappyStory 🍒

cherry. my love. my life.

this might be the best thing that you have ever gifted me holy fuck the way i BLUSHED while reading this??? whooooooo jesus i love this so much!!! 😭 okay lots to unpack here:

1. excellent golden girls reference again. made me giggle and i appreciate the research tech would be proud of u hehe

2. you and i being bffs in this thot made me so happy aw

3. EXCELLENT CHARACTER CHOICE FOR US OMFG i couldn't stop thinking about the "don't worry wrecker you'll top him next time" "no he wOnT" while reading bc omfg those lines applied to this kind of bet????? AAAAHHHHH IM HAVING A CRISIS

i'm gonna write this in sections, actual encounters with the boys happen in sections 3 and 4 with our sexy murder toothpick man being up first! also this is gonna be pre-omega but post-echo joining the batch

self indulgent filth and fluff in the form of some reader insert thots below ;)

18+ as always kiddies. i really hope you enjoy! this was so fun to write

section 1: the bet

so i imagine this happening right after you guys joined the squad

and it certainly didn't take long for crosshair and wrecker to realize their feelings for you two beautiful women, although one was more brazen about his feelings than the other

one day when hunter had sent you and your friend into a market to pick up a short list of supplies, they got to talking

crosshair made an offhand remark about his girls’ ass which made wrecker fidget, he never was very composed when it came to pretty girls and this caused all the other members of the batch share knowing looks and smirks

“wrecker if you’re trying to be discreet about your feelings for ___ you’re going to have to do stop fidgeting.” tech noted, rolling his eyes when wrecker started stuttering out excuses but he was cut off by echo

“give ‘im a break. at least he isn't as vulgar as crosshair”

“you’re just jealous she doesn't flirt with you, mir'osik” (i had to search up insults in mando’a and this one means shit for brains and when i tell you i died laughing okay anyways sorry)

this made echo roll his eyes, deciding it wasn't worth it to fight over whatever stupid insult the sniper threw at him

wanting to stir the pot juuust a bit, hunter proposed a challenge for his vod. he should be the good influence on his brothers, but he couldn't help but want to see where these crushes would take them

he could hear the girls’ heartbeats intensify around their respective crushes anyways, so he had a pretty good feeling that they felt the same about his batch mates

“don’t know about the rest of you, but i want to see who can win his girl over first” this was met with a smirk from crosshair, a blush from wrecker, and side glances shared between echo and tech

“easy.” crosshair drawled, he knew he had this in the bag

he may be quieter than the others but boy was he was observant, taking note of the way her words had a hard time flowing out of her pretty mouth when he was in close proximity of his girl

wrecker on the other hand didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, in his eyes she was just so sweet. innocent, really. she wouldn’t want the same treatment he knew crosshair had in mind for his girl

the peering eyes of his squad made the large man cave with a sigh, “fine.”

section 2: the slip up

weeks had gone by since the boys established their little competition and you, your friend, and tech were working on some small repairs around the ship

you and your friend had noticed some increased...flirting from your respective guys

crosshair paid more compliments and lingering touches that seemed genuine

and wrecker flirted the best way he knew how; lifting too heavy objects and reaching for items in the tall cargo holds, handing them down with a gentle smile

tech, being the most blunt member of the squad, commented on the whispers you exchanged, dropping a surprising truth on both of your ears:

“well of course they are trying to flatter you. how else do you settle a bet to win each of you over the fastest?”

tech watched the two women freeze before him, sharing shocked looks before turning their attention to him, realization hit his gut like a crate of durasteel, and he swallowed under your stern gazes

“what do you mean, goggles?”

“they...like us?”

tech’s cheeks burned red hot, was his brow beginning to sweat? maker, it felt like it

this was the one time he didn’t feel like explaining himself, instead choosing to coyly excuse himself from the two pairs of watchful eyes

he left you and your friend to stare at each other before both rolling your eyes, “well now we know who spills secrets the easiest” your friend chuckled, shaking her head

after a few moments of silence you both spoke up, deciding there wasn’t that much harm in playing along with the two members of the batch. you were fond of them, after all

you both continued chuckling about the situation, mostly out of disbelief that the flirting and teasing wasn’t just a hopeful facade your minds made up

once the repairs were completed, you both retired to opposite ends of the ship, minds full of deliberation of how you would handle this new information

section 3: the gunport

you were sat in the gunport, musing the situation you found yourself in, hands picking at your fingernails in an effort to curb your nerves

on one hand you didn’t want to ruin the bond you had with the marksman

what if he was just flirting out of pure boredom? there isn’t much to do in a confined ship like this anyways, he might as well pass the time flirting with a woman in his general vicinity

but it just had to mean something

no way the whispered compliments - most of them accompanied with a wink, no less - meant absolutely nothing to him

you decided that you had enough, this was going to eat you alive if you didn't get to the bottom of what was going on in that head of his

with a huff, you stood straight and turned around to exit the space

but you were met with a silver haired man climbing up the ladder

you both froze, both internally freaking out at the basically forced confrontation

oh gods what is he doing up here? did he read my mind??

...shit what do i do i forgot everything i was going to say to her

you nervously chuckled, figuring that you were going to go talk to him anyways so might as well get this over with

“crosshair... um i need to ask you something”

“no, i need to tell you something cyar’ika. i’m tired of sitting here and watching you walk around all day, not being able to show you how i feel.”

now that left you speechless, mouth slightly hanging open in shock to which he deeply chuckled at, “hope this isn't the first time i leave you speechless.”

there it was, that smug attitude that made you roll your eyes but also ignited a heat in your lower abdomen

with a smirk, you decided to play it back to him. two can play at this game, lanky

“well it’d be pretty rude to not demonstrate what you had in mind, trooper”

this was the green light crosshair needed, quickly heaving himself up the last few rungs of the ladder, his hands immediately finding your waist and snatching you close, pressing a firm kiss to your lips

your hands flung up to catch the sides of his sharp cheeks, humming at the feel of his scruff under your palms as you coyly push your tongue through his lips, hoping he’ll welcome your tongue into his mouth

he does, and you are exploring each other in the most delicious way, causing soft moans and sighs to leave both of you

while you were entranced by crosshair’s mouth on yours, you didn't realize he was pushing you back onto the chair of the gunport until you were sat down and he was kneeling in between your legs, his nimble fingers clutching your thighs and hips

in a matter of minutes crosshair had managed to get your bottoms completely off, your slick panties hooked on one ankle, and your thighs over his shoulders

for a man who could run his mouth, he sure proved it

expert fingers entered your weeping cunt while his tongue prodded your bundle of nerves with sharp, quick strokes

he’s beaming at the way you’re trying to support yourself on shaky arms and trapping his head to your cunt with the backs of your calves, the sight of your head thrown back and the whimpers coming out of your mouth making him harder than he had been in a looong time

his fingers and mouth brought to your orgasm quick and hard, nearly screaming his name as your toes curled in bliss

he took his time in working you through it, making sure he could draw it out. he could get used to this.

when you can finally open your eyes and look him in the eye, you’re kissing him again, enjoying the moan he lets out at the feel of your tongue tasting yourself on him

you decide it’s his turn, and you’re pushing him into your previous spot, smiling at the way his eyes slightly widen at the way you took charge

crosshair wants to say some sexy remark, something that he knows will get you to sheepishly smile and look away but he can’t, not with the sight of you sinking down to your knees and slowly pulling down his blacks, keeping eye contact and granting him a playful glint in your eye

you can't help but want to tease him just a bit, running your tongue over the bulge in his blacks

he tries his hardest to not be loud but maker, is he loud when you finally take him into your mouth and down your throat

you’ve quickly found that he enjoys eye contact while in this vulnerable state, nearly shaking when he sees your eyes brimming with tears trying not to choke on his length

one hand sneaking down to alternate cupping his balls is what pulls him over the edge, crying out with your name living on his tongue

you swallow his release, again utilizing eye contact to your benefit and drawing out another prolonged moan from him

it makes you smile in pride, loving how this hard, unyielding man turned into such a mess while you had your way with him

crosshair pats his lap and expectantly looks at you, waiting for you to perch up onto his lap, straddling him

despite being a skinnier guy, crosshair wraps you up in the warmest, most secure-feeling snuggle you have honestly ever experienced

after sharing such an intimate moment with you, he began whispering sweet nothings into your ear, about how gorgeous he thinks you are, how much he cares for you

it’s honestly kind of shocking but welcome nonetheless, cross can be kind when he wants to and you are very glad that this was the outcome of your dancing around each other for months

section 4: the interruption

you retreated back to your room, honestly just wanting to sleep and get your mind off the day

it was becoming harder and harder to not just pounce on wrecker, but you didn't want to just give it up so quickly

and to be honest, you had a bad feeling that tech was full of it

you struggled with self esteem issues for as long as you could remember, so it was difficult to believe the 'genious’ of the batch when he said that wrecker had feelings for you

despite your trepidations, your mind couldn't stop thinking about him, his broad shoulders, toned arms, huge thighs...

your hand slithered down your torso, slipping underneath the waist band of your bottoms and slowly circling your clit as images of wrecker effortlessly lifting anything that crossed his path filled your mind, honestly wishing it was you he was lifting

perhaps lifting you to brush your pussy on his nose, his tongue exploring your womanhood enough to make you shout his name

but apparently that last part was not all in your head

although you didn't shout it, wrecker definitely heard the way you whispered out his name in a moan in the dark room

he really hadn’t meant to barge in, but after a few knocks with no answer he began to worry

he came by to tell you how he felt with absolutely no expectation of sleeping with you. truthfully, he gave up on trying to get into your pants, he was willing to lose the bet with crosshair, he knew he wasn’t as smooth as his brother anyways

while he obviously would never be opposed to making love with you, he figured that you deserved to be courted beforehand, and he thought there was no way you’d want to share your body in such an intimate way with somebody like him

but the sight he was greeted with was enough to prove himself wrong

you, spread out on your bed with your hand moving diligently under your thin lounge shorts and you moaning his name made him subconsciously let out a loud gasp

that you absolutely heard, eyes snapping open and hand coming to an abrupt halt, ripping out from under your bottoms

“wr-wrecker! what are you doing here?!”

“i- uhhh- i didn’t see anything! erm, i'm sorry, mesh’la”

by now you had your blankets covering you, despite being fully clothed, and were looking at him with mortified eyes

wrecker still stood in the doorway, unsure if he should let this opportunity pass him by

if you had told him to leave he would, he’d do anything you said, but the fact that you made no move to force him into leaving made him linger

“i'm...sorry if im overstepping mesh’la but i just- i can't stop thinking about you. and well,” he gestured to your form, still cradling the blankets to your heaving chest, “i think you think about me too”

of course you couldn't deny it, he had just seen you pleasuring yourself and moaning his name, what the hell kind of excuse could you come up with? none, that's what

his sheepishness made your heart soar, realizing he probably was just as nervous as you

deciding to cut him some slack, you slowly rose up, blanket falling to the ground as you sauntered over to his frozen frame

whispering, “you're right. do- do you want to stay?”

you had the poor man at a loss for words, eagerly nodding at your proposition and allowing you to take his hand and lead him to your bed, pushing him down so you could straddle his lap

his large cock bulging through the thin fabric of his blacks and pushing against your already hot cunt made you cry out

pure adrenaline coursed through both of you, hushed moans leaving your mouths as you steadily ground down onto him, his hand tangled in your hair and the other kneading your breast

your lips broke away from his mouth and you smirked at the look on his face, absolutely fucking giddy that this was finally happening, he had been dreaming about this moment since he first saw you

the sounds he made while you sucked on the sensitive skin of his neck encouraged you to slip a small hand down the front of his blacks and pull his thick cock out, heat flooding your body at the hiss he let out when you started slowly jacking him off

your legs were in the perfect position for him to push your shorts down and over your ass, fingers picking up where you left off and circling your clit, working you open to take one of his massive fingers

the more you squeezed his throbbing shaft, the louder wrecker became

and not wanting anybody to hear you two fooling around, you glued your mouth to his, tongues mingling in heat

the excitement of the entire situation made it not last very long overall, but you both had intense orgasms regardless

wrecker curled his - now two - fingers inside you just right, and your continued squeezes and strokes of his cock made him finish, his cum coating your palm

both of you were shaking, muffled groans and gasps filled the room until you were coming down from your simultaneous orgasms

after coming back down to the moment, wrecker chuckled and flopped down on his back, bringing you with him to crash onto his chest

you both giggled like a couple of smitten teenagers who were experiencing their first love, relishing in the butterflies in your stomachs, we just did that

“been waiting a long time to do that, doll” wrecker’s big hands rubbed up and down your curves, closing his eyes and smiling at your laugh, “i know”

his head shot up at that, “you know?” the way his eyebrows furrowed up made your chest tighten with admiration, smiling cheekily down at him, “of course i do. tech told us gals.” you leaned down to place a peck on his chin, “you think you won the bet?”

“dunno. but I feel like i just won the entire galaxy.”

it honestly didn't make much sense in your post-orgasm daze, but the endearing tone made you smile and kiss him once again

section 5: the hallway

after your respective encounters with your boys, you ran to your friend, bumping into her in the hallway, the tight space echoing your giggles and shrieks of excitement throughout the entire ship

you both were so flustered and giddy that you were talking over each other, just needing to tell her about what just happened

“i just sucked-”

“you will not believe-”

you both stopped and laughed even harder, holding onto each other for support, then your friend took a deep breath and smiled, “you first.”

the sounds emitted from you two not only made your boys smile and their chests swell with pride but also coerced some chuckles from the other members of the batch

they all knew how long these...events were in the making and how eager cross and wrecker were becoming

and in all honesty they were glad their brothers had found happiness in two girls like yourselves

nice, funny, and obviously in love with their brothers

they really could’t have asked for better women to take care of their family

taglist! (fill out this if you’d like to be added):

@djarrex, @pastelpanda19, @rebelpitstop, @sageislostinspring, @shiny-mando

#ily babycakes hope you liked this #thank you for giving me such incredible thots #you're the best #🍒 anon

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bonthebutchbait · 4 years

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Not me deciding to write a Funtime Freddy x Reader 😳✌🏾

Here ya go, fellow funtime simps. Ill be posting it on wattpad and maybe ao3. My wattpad user is @rabidsimp

~~Without further ado, here is Chapter 1: Under New Ownership!!~~

"Mr. Afton, I'm so excited to be your first choice when you retired! I can't express how much this means to me!" Y/n said, proudly shaking Mr. William Afton's hand. He placed his hand over hers and shook her hand again.

"Don't mention it! Out of everyone who applied, you were most qualified. My partner had nothing but great things to say about you. I'm sure Henry is on his way to his beach house in Florida by now." He laughed, letting go of her hand.

Y/n gave a nice smile to him and looked around the bare office. There was nothing but a dark brown wooden desk with a black spinny chair behind it, facing the door. In front of it sat two plain chairs. Towards the door was a small table with a black Keruig coffee maker and a draw filled with k-cups, tea bags, sugar packets, straws, etc. On the walls were posters of the animatronics. Circus Baby and the Bidybabs, Ballora and the Minireenas, Funtime Foxy, and Funtime Freddy.

"Thank you. This really does mean a lot to me. I loved this place as a kid, and now, I'm running it. If I may ask, why are you retiring?" Y/n asked, focusing her attention back on Mr. Afton.

"To be honest, Y/n, I'm getting too old for all of this. I can't keep up with the new generation's shenanigans and whatnot. And now that I have a 20-something-year-old social butterfly running my most successful children's entertainment spot. I just know that this place will be in great, manicured, and shiny hands from now on." He joked. They both laughed.

"Well, you can count on that! So, we, I mean, I open up on Monday? Are there somethings I should have done before Monday or Sunday night?" Y/n asked, leaning against her desk.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Mr. Afton started, "You need to make sure the place is spotless. I’ve had the afternoon shift workers make sure that everyone's rooms are at least 90% clean. Meaning you will have to go in and just make everything shine, sparkle, and smell good. You may also want to do some minor maintenance on the animatronics such as making sure their intro dialogues are running smoothly, movements are in working order, and paint is kept. Nothing too bad. I, of course, will be behind the scenes for a few weeks doing some final stuff like legal mumbo jumbo, announcements to the crew, and more advanced robot work. Ooh and while I'm on this subject, you might want to hire a new assistant."

Y/n felt bombarded with all of these demands. Could she handle it? For sure, there was nothing she couldn't do. Although, an assistant did sound nice.

"Wow. That's a lot, heh." Y/n chuckled nervously. Mr. Afton patted her back for reassurance.

"Oh don't worry now, you are in good hands. I just know you can do it. And that reminds me." He said, pulling out a gift bag with tissue paper sticking out of it.

Y/n took the bag and opened it up to reveal a desk plaque. It was black with gold lettering. It read "Miss. Y/N L/N, Owner" with a small logo of Circus Baby's head on it.

"A name plaque! Aww thank you so much, I love it!" She exclaimed. He nodded and started his way out, but stopped.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Afton said before reaching into his pocket and getting a key. He tossed it to her and she caught it.

"You'll need these, new owner!" He said, smiling. "I’ll see you Monday morning, at 9 AM!"

She thanked him and he waved, leaving her to herself.

"Wow, an owner of a restaurant. Huh, who would've thunk it? Do you know what I need? A full-length mirror!" Y/n thought to herself lifting from the desk and walking out of her office. Afton was gone by now, so she decided to explore. She walked down the hall to the 'Staff Only' room and sat down at the computer. She pulled up Spotify and played some goofy jams. 'Wannabe' by The Spice Girls rang all through the pizzeria. She strutted out and danced to the kitchen. She looked around but saw nothing she wanted to eat. She boogied on out and sang very loudly.

"IF YOU WANNA BE MY LOVER, YOU GOTTA GET WITH MY FRIENDS! MAKE IT LAST FOREVER, FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS!" Y/n shouted.

She continued singing and made her way into Ballora Gallery. She peeked in and was greeted by the scent of lavender. She saw the large ballerina standing in the fourth position with the Minireenas standing in other various positions. Y/n didn't bother them so she went on dancing. She made her way into Funtime Auditorium, still twirling and singing quite loudly.

'It’s not like they would have anything against me singing and dancing. What are they gonna do? Tell me to stop? Pfft!' She thought to herself as she stepped in.

The room seemed to be shared by two performers, both of the Funtimes. One side of the room smelled of fresh, sweet strawberries and the other side smelled of birthday cake. She slowly stopped singing and walked to Funtime Freddy's side of the room. She stepped on the stage and started moving around him. She looked up and down at the polar bear. He had his eyes closed, in sleep mode but had a pink mic in his hand, ready to sing. She saw his purple and pink accents all over his body. She noticed that the white bear wasn't that much taller than her, maybe around 6 feet tall. On his right hand, a little blue bunny seemed to be waving still to the invisible crowd with his eyes closed.

She started dancing and singing again. She got down from the stage and looked back to make sure there wasn’t anything she needed to do. She strutted out and danced to another song that played in the hall. Y/n decided not to go into the Circus Gallery tonight and just pack up and go. She made her way back down the hall to turn off the music. She walked into the room, hit pause, and put the computer on sleep mode. She walked out and started back into her office when she heard a little 'tap tap tap' on the floor not too far outside the door. She turned around to not see anyone or anything.

"Is someone there?" Y/n called out but received no answer. "Ballora? Baby? Foxy? No…?"

She rolled her eyes and got her purse and locked her office. Her purse felt heavier than usual but she brushed it off.

"Good night everyone!" Y/n called out, locking the front door and walking to her car.

#funtime freddy #fnaf sl #fnaf sister location #funtime freddy fnaf #five nights at freddy's #funtime freddy x reader #circus baby #ballora #fnaf #y/n

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bonnieisaway · 4 years

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A Stupidly Long Critique of Saiki K: Reawakened

A Fuckton Of Spoilers Ahead

So I went and watched the new season/continuation of Saiki K today on Netflix and.

Boy, do I have some words.

Spoilers under the cut!

Alright. So as I’ve said, today, (Dec 30th) Netflix decided to rip The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K out of Funimation’s hands and make their own continuation- Saiki K Reawakened. A 6 episode continuation and ending to our beloved show, that’s been hyped up for weeks now.

..Except, it doesn’t really feel that way.

The first episode, (Three Men, A Little Girl, A Police Officer, And A Dog) first of all struck me with this- they no longer had opening/ending theme songs. I posted about it earlier but this made me really upset. The op/ed songs are one of my favorite parts of the anime. Youth Isn’t So Cruel is a beautiful song, The Most Favorable! is hyper active and just a fun listen, Silent Prisoner is bad ass, and Put Your Hands Up always put a smile on my face, and that’s just the opening. But Netflix decided to take away the songs and it’s upsetting. I would’ve been happy even if they just re-used an old opening, because I was expecting something and it was really disappointing.

The episode itself was a bit upsetting itself. I like watch things in order, but the chapter this episode is based off of is literally like the 10th chapter of the manga. I can’t find the exact one at the moment but I remember it was early on (hence, Nendo and Kaido arguing about which one of them is Saiki’s friend and such.) Even then- I went in expecting 6 episodes about his powers reawakening, not “Here’s 5 episodes of chapters we skipped and then we’re gonna mention the powers being reawakened.”

That’s probably one of my biggest problems with Reawakened. It’s just makeup work.

I think it would’ve been better if they put these episodes either in the places they belong or in the Season 3 category under the original show. They didn’t deserve all this hype for filler.

Another thing I missed was that usually, after the ending song in every episode, there’d be a small narration by Saiki of what would come next week. Those were also super funny and I missed that. I feel like Reawakened was a bad fanfiction Netflix wrote which just killed the original work. I thought Reawakened was gonna be a bad ass, slow escalation of Saiki’s powers cranking themselves back up to what they were before the ending of Season 2. And it kind of disappointed.

That isn’t to say Reawakened didn’t have it’s few funny moments. I think the “useless powers” bit actually made me pee a bit.

But it was only of a few. Most moments felt out of character, or out of place, and the bit with the whole “teacher with a 10-year-anniversary-Jump’ was excruciating to sit through. I did like Saiki’s little smile at the end though. It felt like Saiki’s few expressions that make my heart scream ‘uwu’ were the one thing keeping me watching the show.

In Episode 3, (New Teacher with an Outstanding Feature), I personally felt like Iguchi’s existence was a dead horse they kept beating with a stick every time they called him a pervert. He just genuinely made me uncomfortable and felt like a bad forced joke.

On the contrary, Hii felt like a great addition. I think they should’ve added her in the original two seasons in the first place, where she was supposed to be. I didn’t know till the other day that she came in way earlier. She’s a lovable unlucky klutz and she produced some genuinely funny moments. (Though, that whole ‘what happened last time’ bit kinda hurt my soul.) Episode 4 was one of my favorites just because of her. It felt like she brung back what Netflix stripped away from the original anime.

Before I get to the big money maker, episode 6- I have to point out the elephant in the room.

The fucking English dub.

I figured out that I could turn it on at some point during the episode with the useless abilities so I turned it on. I had heard the trailer with Saiki’s..new VA… but I figured he’d grow on me along with the rest of the cast.

Oh my god I was so wrong.

All I heard was Kuniharu’s and Saiki’s voice and genuinely, I nearly threw up. I’ve never had such an urge to slam my head into a brick wall until I heard the voices. I can’t even say much else because I didn’t and still do not have the willpower to sit through the English dub. It’s just.. so.. bad. I can’t stand it. I know that we can’t have the original English cast back because Funimation copyright yadda yadda I get it. But good lord. I can’t stand Saiki’s voice actor. The sarcasm sounds forced, the pauses are uncomfortable, and it just..hurts. The original one felt fluent, and just organic. The English dub made me, in short, want to blow my brains out.

That aside- episode 6. Saiki Kusuo gets his motha’ fuckin powers back.

I had my hopes low when I started this episode out of fear since some of the others literally just made me want to gag myself.

But episode 6… (muwah.) A masterpiece. No anime is perfect but oh my god.

I loved how Saiki kept forgetting he couldn’t use his powers. Call it weird but the way he’s kind of a tsundere in the sense of lying to himself that he doesn’t like any of this and would be much better off without them is one of my favorite things. And it’s even better when he runs out of lies and has to face it. And even then- as his powers slowly integrate back, I about died. It was so funny, with Tortisuka holding his shoulder when he went invisible and Saiki using that as a way out of it, or hearing others thoughts and thinking of it as an auditory hallucination. I didn’t like how the thoughts sounded distant and kind of echo-ey compared to when they were easy to hear before, but that might just be me.

Also? This scene right here? Where all of his friends protect him and he’s upset because he had to be protected? I started bawling. Maybe it’s because Aunt Flo’s in town and I have an unhealthy emotional attachment to Saiki, but it just hurt so bad watching him upset like that. And on a personal level, I felt where he was coming from. I don’t cry much at movies or TV or anime but good grief, I was crying in the club.

The whole meteorite heading to destroy Japan had me in a bit of shock. I saw the cryptic advertisements hyping Reawakened but I almost forgot about them and even then a meteorite didn’t seem dire until it seemed like Saiki had no say in anything.

As the climax builds and Saiki hears his friends panic-

-also featuring the best line uttered by Akechi ever- but even as Saiko says “I need to get my friends to the bunker aswell!” (which, holy shit, I didn’t care for Saiko but that got me to tear up?) I was losing my mind. After so much disappointment and just agony from this continuation- this had to be the best scene there. It’s hard to describe. It’s just so much emotion.

And then it happens.

The ever tsundere-lying-to-himself Kusuo accepts that he’s a psychic who doesn’t mind his disastrous friends sometimes. What a way to end the anime. Call it a cliche beginning-is-the-end but I’ve never been happier to hear those Japanese words. I’ve never loved an ending so much. It emotionally hurt and was hell, but I loved it. This has been my stupidly long criticism of Reawakened!

So, tl;dr, Reawakened had it’s hard weak points but I’ll be damned if I didn’t love the ending. We love my favorite boyo, Saiki Kusuo. Also I’d die for Hii. Goodnight.

edit: recently i noticed that Saiki's eyes compared to everyone elses doesnt have detail (no pupil/shine etc) except for that epic ending scene with Saiki and I jsut- HOLY FUCK here's a gifnthat kinda shows my point- his eyes transition from normal to detailed

#Saiki kusuo #saiki k reawakened #saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki k #critisism #i dont know how this got so long

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marziblogsworld · 4 years

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So finally! I am done with 9-1-1. I know i am super late and the reason i was late because i was waiting for @fandom-101 to catch up on this amazing series which in turn i have to pause and wait so then we can watch it together. So without wasting any time anymore lets jump right into the review.

I am sad and emotional because i have to wait like a whole year so see my crew again, i am missing them soo much, it was rough and after a season like that it is getting more difficult for me now to wait for new content.

Season 3 started with a blast and hit me at various places. I mean putting Christopher (Buck's baby child at risk!! ) the writers were in a daring mood especially when he was out hanging with Buck. The tsunami episodes was nerve wreacking and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time especially the whole Buck scenes( i applaud Oliver Stark for his outstanding performance).

BUDDIE! was literally thriving in this whole season and especially in the initial episodes. I got BUDDIE angts. I got BUDDIE hanging out.I got BUDDIE acting as a family. I literally got BUDDIE spending alone time at there houses. I think the whole fandom agrees that Eddie has a key to Buck's appartment and so does Buck and many times they have bunk beds together (oooohh it is making me blush just thinking about it).

EDDIE FUCKING DIAZ felt all alone because he couldn't talk to Buck!!!!!!!.Ladies and Gentlemen that part was fucking Cannon. EDDIE ALWAYS THINKING WITH A LEVEL HEAD DIAZ was fucking spiriling because he couldn't spend time with Buck. The writers were literally writing the script at the edge of Mount Everst cuz i could see the daring in them. FYI Eddie begins is like my favourite from all the begins uptil now.. I might change my review because i heard that they are going for a BUCK begins (and we all know that we gonna hail and love our boy). I still cant process,like i still think it was some kind of a weird lucid dream i had of Eddie feeling lonely when he couldn't talk to Buck because he filed a suit against them.

Buck! Oh oh Buckaroooo. I know you have been wronged and you deserved to know the truth from Bobby from the start (i am still pissed about that, what the hell baby captain!!). I completely support yah i didnt know you had it in you to pull a harvey specter. I feel like you were lucky that your friends have a heart of gold that they forgave you so fast and accepted you again after that details you spilled to your lawyers. EVAN FREAKING BUCKLY is Christopher Godfather, there i said it. I wont be surprised if Eddie has put his name under legal guardian and Christopher that child(oh baby boy is really so sweet, a kid who had CP and how his both parents left him when he didn't deserve any of this and still kept a smile on his face is an angel). Evan Buckly will go above and beyond for this kid and that line from Eddie soften my heart. "I trust you with Christopher". Which i have seen and was also pointed out by @fandom-101 that for Eddie giving his trust for Christopher to someone is not easy but he trust Buck with him and honey! You relax Buck is going to be an amazing dad, you dont worry. He might be an amazing husband too if you look the other way😉just a suggestion.

Oh i have a lot to say on BUDDIE alone! and i might do like each scene review on them.. From there first meeting to there current relationship.

Now back to other cast members

First in line is baby Captian Bobby Nash. What the hell dude!! You shouldn't have done that with Buck i know you were acting like a super worried dad or something but still you cant hold of his career just because you weren't ready. Buck and i were very disappointed at you. He was fighting alone and when he was trying to take one step at a time you decided to replace him that was hella wrong. Bobby up your game level man! I wanna see you more in S4 as my baby captain.

ATHENA when are you opening up a marriage and parental counselling because i need to sign up as your first client also honey i also had goosebumps over that whole fight scene, those voices were scary and during that whole time i was holding my sister hand tight cuz i felt every pain you were reflecting it (hands down to you Angela Basett). Also i am worried about you please try to talk to somebody, its a trauma and you need to let it out before it eats you up no matter how strong you are or holding the name of a greek goddess you gotta talk. I am excited to see more of that in S4.

Hen dreams change faster then a train changes its lane( sorry couldn't come with a great thing) but the feeling behind it was true. Now she wants to be a surgeon that fast. You do one aderline thing and you want to change your whole life on it. I wish i had a nerve to change career or life path like this. I fully support all of this and i dont know where they are taking with this but Henrietta where is your talk with Howie, not once you talked to him about all of this. He is your best friend and i remember it correctly how you were crying because you missed howie when he was a captain and you didnt want this dynamic to change so aren't you doing the same thing and i still dont mind if you change it but at least talk to him, he looks sad.

Howie our unsung Hero is finally getting some good in his life. Maddie pregnancy news was amazing and i am soo happy for them they are literally soo perfect and stable and healthy in a relationship, marry each other fast. Also i am more excited when they will break the news to Buck cuz we all know how he is with kids and now finding out that he is going to be uncle, everybody should just hold him before he sky rockted himself. Excited for that part.

Overall the season has its own hype and it kept me on my edge, each episode, each storyline, each character arch journey was amazing. I love 9-1-1 because of how much they are invested in every character whether they are main or side. FYI how many of you think Micheal tumour jumped off from his brain in the elevator when he met that hot Doctor. His gay vibes shrunk that fucking cancer. That tumour was like :bitch i came into his life so that he could meet up with his soulmate, i was a match maker and now i am outta here.

I miss them soo much and i cant wait for all of them to come back on my screen..... See you soon for S4 where we will cross this journey together this time

Make sure to follow me guys for more amazing reviews about your favourite shows, movies and books and if you have a recommendation tell me now!. Oh i almost forgot. I did started 9-1-1 lone star and i am actually liking it alot and i will post my review soon so follow me fast! , fast! fast!

#9 1 1 show #9 1 1 fox #911 spoilers #evan buckley #bobby nash #athena grant #hen wilson #howie han #oliver stark #ryan guzman #angela bassett #9 1 1 season 3 #review #tvseries

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1dliveshere · 4 years

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The Last Summer Ch.3

As the RV continued rolling down the highway the only audible sounds were the faint sound of the portable humidifier, the static of the radio, and the whispering coming from Niall and Harry.

“I’m really grateful we were able to take this trip. It would have really sucked to not do anything special for our last summer together.”

“I totally agree mate.... So Harry have you decided what you want to go to college for?” Niall turned towards his best friend of 15 years.

“Yeah I have. I’ve decided instead of going to college I’m going to open my own photography studio. My uncle already has a space available that he said I could rent for cheap.”

“I think you’d be great at that! How’d your parents react?”

“Not well. They keep bringing up the fact that I can’t do that with my life if I want to support my family. Kayla keeps encouraging me to do it even with the circumstances.”

“So do you think Kayla will be your family one day?”

“I don’t think Niall, I know.” Harry blushed “What about Alyssa? Is she the one?”

“Definitely” Niall answered now blushing as well.

As the boys continued talking about life Kayla stumbled out of the back of the RV.

“Babe what’s wrong?” Harry looked in the rear view mirror.

“My throat is killing me.”

“It’s probably from you screeching at Louis earlier” laughed Niall.

“Shut up Niall. He deserved it. He ruined my pants” Kayla plopped on the couch.

“I think there might be some tea up in the cupboard over there” Harry pointed towards the mini fridge. “That would help your throat”

“Thanks babe. I think I’ll make some..... wait I just realized something. What are you doing still driving at almost 3 am? Don’t you think we should pull over so you can sleep?”

“No I’m doing okay. I want to get to Jackson, Wyoming by 8 am so we can go hiking.”

“Do you guys mind keeping quiet? It’s kinda hard to sleep when you won’t shut up?” Zayn lifted his head off the couch.

“Sorry Zayn... I honestly forgot you were even in here.” Kayla laughed. “I’ll shut up now.”

“It’s alright I’m already up anyway”

“I’m awake too” Gigi stated. “I’m starving for some reason.”

“That’s probably because we didn’t eat supper” Liam pipped up.

“OMG. You’re right!” Maya hollered.

“I’m starving.” Niall whined from the front seat.

“Babe you would have never said that if Liam wouldn’t have mentioned it.” Alyssa laughed entering the room.

“Why are you up?”

“How am I not? Y’all need to learn how to whisper.”

“I second that” Louis said sounding aggravated.

Within 5 minutes everyone was awake at 3 am, on a highway in Wyoming, starving to death.

“OH MY GOSH!! IS THAT A WAFFLE HOUSE I SEE?!” Alyssa suddenly screamed making everyone jump.

“IT IS!!! HARRY YOU NEED TO PULL THIS RV OVER RIGHT NOW. THEY ARE OPEN 24 HOURS AND I AM STARVING” Niall topped Alyssa’s scream.

“Niall I’m not even in the correct lane and it’s literally 1000 feet from us.”

Niall quickly grabbed the wheel and jerked it the the right sending the RV into a spin.

“NIALL LET GO OF THE MOTHER FREAKING WHEEL. YOU’RE GOING TO KILL IS”

“AHHHHHHHH”

Somehow the RV landed straight in the middle of a parking spot in from of The Waffle House. While everyone else was still freaked out by everything that had just happened, Niall and Alyssa cheered at the fact that they were going to The Waffle House.

“I swear Niall if you ever pull that shiii-schnitzel with me again I’ll kill you” Harry stated sounded pissed.

“You’re lucky you caught yourself Harold. You almost had to put a $1 in the swear jar.” Louis mocked.

As the friend group pilled out of the bus Harry grabbed his camera and snapped a picture of the building.

“Send me that. I want to post it.” Alyssa looked at Harry.

“As long as I get credit.”

“Sure thing, Harold.”

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that.”

“Oh get over yourself.... HAROLD.”

As the group entered the building they found a table big enough for everyone to sit at. They waited for someone to take their order but no one ever did. After sitting there for 15 minutes they were starting to get annoyed.

“I’m so hungry I could eat this napkin.” Eleanor whined.

“I’ve got you babe.” Louis quickly jumped up and ran towards the counter.

“Louis do not do anything stu- and he jumped over the counter.”

Louis ran over to the waffle maker and dumped the batter in it. Or what he thought was batter. It turned out to be bacon grease.

As the waffle maker burst into flames the cook came running out of the back with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out.

“GET OUT OF HERE. YOU ARE BANNED FROM THIS WAFFLE HOUSE.”

Everyone quickly took off running. Once outside Alyssa turned towards Louis. “I can’t believe you right now. That’s my favorite place to eat and now I’m going to die of starvation.”

“Hey guys, there’s a gas station over there. Let’s just go buy some food there.” Liam pointed across the street.

So the group set off to the gas station. As they entered the building it had your typical gas station smell; it wasn’t good. They all split up and grabbed whatever they could find.

Back at the RV they all settled down in the living area. Harry was back to driving but Niall wasn’t riding up front with him. Niall decided he needed sleep.

While at the gas station, Kayla and Alyssa decided to get a 2 pound bag of their favorite candy, Twizzlers, to share.

After everyone wasn’t starving anymore they went their separate ways to go back to bed.

THE NEXT MORNING

“Guys we made it to Jackson, Wyoming! Get your lazy butts up and ready. We are going hiking.”

“Harry it’s too early to yell.... shhhhh” Liam held his finger up to his lips.

Soon everyone was up and getting ready. Harry had pulled into a parking lot. So he was able to get ready also. All the guys had on basketball shorts and T-shirt’s on while all the girls had either workout leggings or bike shorts with some random shirt.

After they were all ready for their hike, they locked up the RV and headed towards the start of the trail.

“Can’t we do a level 2 trail instead of a level 7 one? My stomach hurts and I don’t wanna die.” Alyssa whined.

“You’ll be fine babe. It won’t be that bad” Niall reassured.

He was wrong. Very wrong.

2 hours later

“It’s so hot”

“I’m gonna passout”

Literally everyone was dying. Puffing for air, sweat running down their backs, their vision dancing with black dots.

“Alyssa are you okay back there? You’re walking super slow.” Yelled Maya.

“I’m f-f-aarrrrhhhh” Alyssa puked.

“Oh my gosh!!!!” Screamed Kayla “it’s bright red. Like blood red. That’s not normal last time I checked.”

Niall started sprinting down the mountain.

“Babe, something’s wrong. We should go to the hospital.” Niall scooped Alyssa up and took off sprinting for the RV; everyone quickly followed.

Harry drove 45 mph in a 30 mph all the way to the hospital. Once they got there Alyssa was taken straight into a emergency room.

“Does your stomach hurt still? Any tenderness?” The Doctor pushed around on Alyssa’s stomach.

“I was a little nauseous until I threw up, but now I feel totally fine.”

“Okay, we’re going to run a few tests to see what’s going on.”

The rest of the group were sitting in the waiting room.

“I’m so bored. There’s nothing to do here” Louis whined like a two year old child.

“Louis it’s a hospital. Last time I checked it’s not supposed to be fun.” Zayn stated.

Louis was about ready to sass back when Niall came through the door.

“They are going to run some tests to see what’s going on. So far everything they’ve done has come back normal. So I’m not really for sure what could be causing it.” Niall worried.

“What about the Twizzlers she ate last night? That’s all her and Kayla had since yesterday at lunch time. Maybe that mixed with the heat made her sick.”

“Louis for once in your life you’re a genius.” Niall turned and walked back to the emergency department to inform the Doctor about the Twizzlers.

“I thought about that while we were still hiking.”

“Louis why the freak didn’t you say something then?” Zayn hit his hand to his face.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t think it was my place.”

Everyone rolled their eyes.

“Of course you didn’t”

After 15 minutes had passed, Alyssa and Niall walked through the door. “The doctor said it was just from the Twizzlers and that I’ll be fine.”

“Well I’m happy that’s all it was, but tonight we are eating more than Twizzlers for supper.” Kayla laughed.

As the large group of friends exited the hospital, Harry looked up to see some dude trying to break into the RV.

“Oh sh—“ Harry took off running.

“Well looks like he owes a $1 to the swear jar now”

“You girls stay here; we don’t want you to get hurt.” The boys took off running chasing after their friend.

After about 10 minutes the guys finally pulled up in the RV. Kayla hopped in the passenger seat while the girls climed in the back.

“So what happened?” Questioned Kayla.

“Oh nothing. They guy just took off running.” Harry’s voice went up an octave indicating he was lying.

“Harry, you’re lying.”

“Am not”

“Okay then, turn and look me in the eyes and tell me that.”

“ I can’t, I’m driving.”

“Harry look at me.”

Harry still wouldn’t look at his girlfriend.

“HAROLD”

Harry finally turned towards Kayla with a big cheesy grin on his face. That grin wasn’t the only thing on his face. His left eye was swollen up almost double the normal size, and it had a huge dark circle around it.

“HAROLD EDWARD STYLES. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO YOU?”

“Oh I’ll tell you. Harold here walked up to the dude and asked him what he was doing and told him to get away from the RV. The guy told him he wasn’t going to so Harry punched the dude and the dude then punched Harry back. He was trying to show off.” Louis said sounding quite proud of himself.

“Harry” Kayla sighed, “ you can’t just go up to some dude and mouth off like that.”

Kayla got up and walked to the freezer and got a bag of peas. “Here put this on your eye. It will help the swelling to go down.”

“Thanks love.”

As the RV continued driving towards Nebraska, everyone was just sitting around on their phones, exhausted.

“Oh my gosh I’m going to freaking kill my parents.” Alyssa three her phone down on the couch.

“Why? What are they doing?” Maya asked.

“Literally they’ve called me 5 times today and texted countless times. It’s starting to get su— great there they are again.”

Louis without even thinking picks up Alyssa’s phone, opens the window and chucks it.

“LOUIS WHAT THE FREAK?!”

Everyone was shocked that he actually just did that.

“Thanks. Now I don’t have a phone for the rest of the trip.”

“It’s fine. Harry can pull over at the closet Verizon and I’ll buy you one.” Louis held up his wallet.

Alyssa turned and walked away towards the front of the bus. “Kayla, can I sit up front for awhile? I need a break from Louis.”

“Yeah that’s fine.” Kayla got up and went to sit next to Louis.

“Good job idiot.” Kayla smacked the back of Louis’ head.

***

After 5 hours passed and they only had stopped to pee once, everyone was getting highly agitated.

“I’m going to find somewhere to park so we can walk around for a little bit. My legs hurt from driving and I just really need a break from the RV.”

“That’s fine Harry. I think me, you, and the boys should go on a walk or something.” Niall hollowed from the kitchen.

“I think us girls are just going to stay on the bus and watch a movie. We are all tired.” Alyssa told the boys.

Harry quickly turned into the first random lot that he saw. It happened to be in the middle of nowhere.

“Harry we are literally in the middle of no where. Don’t you think you should wait until we get somewhere more public?” Questioned Kayla.

“No you’ll be fine. Just keep the door locked.”

The boys all piled out of the RV and headed out on their walk to stretch their legs.

“Yes! Finally we are alone on the bus.” Eleanor screamed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the boys but sometimes I just want girl time.”

“I totally agree. What movie do you guys want to watch?”

As they were in the middle of throwing ideas around, Gigi exited the bathroom crying.

“Omg. Gigi what’s wrong??”

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themoonandotherslikeit · 5 years

Text

Something Special

Pairing: DeanxReader

Rating: M

Tags/Warning: language, some smut, mild angst, and some fluff!

Word Count: 6,885

Authors Note: This is a gift for my 300 follower giveaway! Miss @deans-baby-momma won this giveaway! She wanted a piece where the reader is in a long term relationship with present Dean, and he plans a special day for her, with switching first person POV between Dean and the female reader. This is a little outside of the timeline, so lets call it Season 14 post Micheal Pre soulless jack problems. There aren’t any S14 spoilers in here, though, just to tell you where his age etc is. Hope y’all enjoy!

Her

The sounds of the bunker were lulling me to sleep. The clicks and hums of the air conditioning, the groans of the pipes, and the beeps of the various machines that kept the underground sanctuary running all used to keep me awake. After all of this time, though, they became relaxing. Familiar.

I had a place of my own, of course, an apartment that I kept around because of some tug in my gut that kept me from trusting people, no matter how much time I spent with them. It wasn’t about the Winchester’s, obviously. It was more about everything else. The life they lived was dangerous, and I half expected to show up at the bunker one day to see it caved in on its self. So I kept my apartment as an insurance policy. That and I hadn’t officially been asked to move in.

I was cuddled into Dean’s bed, because he was supposed to be back any time. Waiting for Dean Winchester proved to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There was something to be said about watching someone go. He always had one foot out the door and a finger on the trigger of his gun. I couldn’t ask him to stop, to wait, because he was Dean. I knew what I signed up for. So, I waited. He wasn’t good at texting and sometimes he forgot to call. I couldn’t count on both hands the amount of sorry babe, phone died texts I’d received over the years. I’d take that any day over the phone calls from Sam that ended with something happened to Dean.

It isn’t easy being the one left behind.

Him

It ain’t easy being the one always leaving.

If I was being honest, I never thought that I’d have somethin’ worth going home to, but there I was, tapping the steering wheel and squinting into the darkness, because I was ready to be home. It wasn’t the bunker that I was rushing to. It was her. I knew that she’d be there waiting for me when I got home, because she always was. After I hunt, the sheets were always washed and the beer was restocked. I didn’t deserve that shit, but I did everything I could to try to earn it.

“Dude you look exhausted, don’t you think we should just stop? We can take a nap or something,” Sammy offered from the passenger seat.

“We used to drive through the night all the time,” I said dismissively.

“Yeah,” he snorted. “But that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before you got fucking old,” my not-so-little brother joked.

“If I’m old, that means you’re old.” I leaned over and jabbed my knuckle into his breastbone. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m sure as shit not ready for that.”

“It’d help if you exercised and ate better.”

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose, actually thankful for the distraction since it was keeping me from nodding off at the wheel. “Don’t start with that again. I’m fit as a fiddle.”

“You survive off grease, beer, and coffee. I haven’t seen you work out in… maybe ever? So of course you’re getting winded on chases.”

“I was not winded.” I was fucking beat, but there was no way I was admitting that to him. “I’ve still got it, and don’t you fuckin’ forget who taught you everything you learned.”

“Dad?”

“Shut up.”

“I bet Y/N would appreciate you taking better care of yourself…”

“Don’t use her against me,” I snapped. “Just shut up so I can drive.”

“Just saying, we’d all like you to live longer.”

“Sam,” I sighed. My knuckles were white as I gripped the wheel. The skin was peeling from where my fist collided with a shifter. It was a relief, working such a normal case after all the shit we’d been through. It wasn’t as much of a relief that my knuckles still throbbed hours later, and my right foot tingled a bit from sitting too long in the car. “You know how this ends for me. For both of us, most likely. I’ll go out at the end of the barrel of a gun, some grand explosion, or fuck, maybe Chuck will be tired of me and finally put me out of my damn misery. Don’t think extra bacon is gonna make that big of a difference.”

I hated being that way with the kid, but what I hated even more was being reminded that time was limited. I was always running on borrowed time. I had been since the day at the crossroads that I gave up my soul for Sam’s. I wasn’t supposed to get out of Hell, and the last decade and some change were all extra. It should be easy, looking at it like that, but it never was. If I hadn’t been plucked from the pit then I wouldn’t have met Y/N. I’m not scared of dying. I’ve done that more times than I care to remember, but saying goodbye to her? That was the unthinkable.

We did everything we could to keep it casual. No real attachment. I couldn’t give her something to latch on to, because I was always going. I warned her, there’s no guarantees with me, Sweetheart. “There’s no guarantees with anyone, Dean,” she said with that little smirk where her eyes were wide open like she saw right through me. She had me. I was spent. Every time I came home I’d expect that to be the time that she wasn’t there, that she’d be done, but every time I was wrong. Never been so glad to be wrong in my life.

So when I was home, I was with her. I was all in, and when I was out on a hunt I tried not to think about her. I tried not to think about the risk, about all the shit that I risked every day on the job. I couldn’t, because if I did, then I’d never leave that fucking bed. There’s only so much a man can take.

Her

I wasn’t sure when I drifted to sleep, but I heard the soft sound of boots against the floors as Dean tried to sneak in to not wake me. He was sweet for trying. I tried to stay still as I heard the slow zip of his jeans and his clothes falling to the floor. The bed groaned under his weight as he climbed in and laid on his side facing me. He rested his head on the bicep of his right arm and ran his left hand down my side.

I let out a sleepy hum and scooted closer to him, sliding my leg between his. I wrapped an arm around him and brushed my nose with his. “You didn’t call,” I murmured softly.

“Phone was-“

“Dead,” I finished his sentence. “I figured.”

“You mad?” Dean pushed my hair out of my face, and the callouses on his fingers brushed against my skin.

“At you? No.”

“How about in general?”

“It’s the middle of the night, Dean,” I grumbled, pressing a light kiss to the rough skin along his jaw. “I’m generally trying to sleep.”

He exhaled out his nose, and I felt his lips curl at my forehead in his patented shit-eating smirk. “If you wanted to sleep you wouldn’t be here.”

I rolled my eyes in the darkness and tangled my fingers in the back of his t-shirt. “How do you figure that?”

“Because you knew the moment I got here I wouldn’t let you sleep.”

My eyes flickered up to his in the darkness. “What am I, a mind reader?”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “When it comes to me, you are.”

I laughed quietly and buried my face in his neck, feeling his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.

“Come on,” he whispered roughly. “Tell me what I’m thinkin’. I know you know.”

I did. Of course I did. I ran my fingers up his back, rolling them over his shoulders, and finally resting them on his chest. I pushed him onto his back and settled on his lap, straddling him. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his neck, jaw, lips.

“Hit the nail on the head, Sweetheart,” he groaned quietly, resting his hands on my hips.

“I missed you,” I admitted against his skin.

He pulled my face away from his and held it in his hands. “Sometimes I start missin’ you before I even go.”

Then don’t go. I wanted to say it a thousand times, but I didn’t. I kissed him instead, because although we weren’t always good at saying what we were thinking… we were good at that. We talked without words. We said I miss you, don’t leave me again, I need you… We said everything that we couldn’t say out loud, until we fell asleep, tangled together under the thin sheets.

Him

I woke up before her. That was rare. Usually she was the one bringing me coffee and insisting that it’s time for the bear to come out of his cave. How was I supposed to want to get out of bed when she was sleeping in just my shirt? Her self-control was worlds beyond mine. She’s more evolved, or so she said.

I rubbed my eyes and drug myself to the kitchen to make coffee.

“You’re up early,” Sam scrutinized, eyeing me from over his newspaper. “It’s before ten.”

“Thanks for the play by play,” I grumbled, starting a new pot of coffee.

“Figured Y/N would be keeping you busy.”

“She’s tired.”

“Think she’s sick?”

“Nah.” Maybe just sick of me. I hated the insecurities. It felt like I was some teenage girl. I had bigger problems than a girl, right? I pinched the bridge of my nose and listened to the coffee maker gurgle to life. “We haven’t gotten much time together lately.”

“She’s always seemed cool with it. The job, I mean,” Sam commented, laying his paper down. He pressed the crease, folding it back down.

“She is, man. She’s cool about everything.” I picked at a scab on my knuckle. “Even if she shouldn’t be.”

Sam stood up, his chair scratching against the floor of the kitchen. “What’s going on, Dean?”

I sighed. “I guess we just aren’t getting any younger, ya know? She’s gotta want more than all of this.”

My brother crossed his arms. “Did she say that?”

“No, not explicitly.”

“Then what did she say?”

“She missed me.”

Sam raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh that sounded almost relieved. “That’s a good thing, man.”

I sighed and poured myself a cup of coffee now that it stopped spitting. “I just… she’s it for me, ya know? I don’t want to fuck this up. We’ve been doin’ good up until this point. I just wonder if she knows how important she is to me, to us. Since I’m always runnin’ off. Man, you know what that looks like.”

He nodded knowingly, and I handed him the cup of coffee before opting to open a beer for myself instead. “Maybe you should do something special for her.”

I let the foam from the beer sit on my tongue for a second before swallowing. “Special, huh? Like what?”

“I dunno, man.” Sam laughed, slapping my back supportively. “She’s your girl. If I help you, then it wouldn’t be special, would it?” He sat down his coffee and grabbed his headphones. “I’m going to go for a run. Mull on that, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said dismissively, frowning at the idea of running. Just the concept had my hip aching, or maybe it was from sitting in the car for twelve hours.

Sam plugged his headphones in and jogged up the stairs. I looked at the beer in my hand. “I bet Y/N would appreciate you taking better care of yourself…” I sighed, bastard, and dumped my beer down the sink. He was right, of fucking course he was. I should’ve done somethin’ for her ages ago. A day just for us. Then we could feel things out, and maybe she will want to keep me around.

Just maybe

Her

I rolled over and almost fell off the goddamn bed. I grabbed blindly for my phone on the bedside table and squinted at the time. Eleven AM? Dean didn’t wake me? I rubbed my eyes and yawned, stretching my legs. It was unusual for him to wake up before me. Mostly because I was used to getting up for work, and he was tired in a way that I’d never understand.

“Dean?” I clicked on the bedside lamp and raised an eyebrow. “What the hell?” I crawled to the end of the bed and let my feet touch the cool floor. My clothes were laid out on Dean’s desk, a sundress, shoes, with a piece of paper sitting on top of it all. I walked to the desk and picked up the paper, it was an old Seven Eleven receipt with something scrawled in hurried text on the back. Just me and you today. Put on the dress. -D

My heartbeat picked up as I ran my fingers over his words. He wasn’t the note type. Hell, he wasn’t the pick-out-clothes type either. I sat down the page and picked up the dress. It was cotton, light, red. It came up as a halter to tie around my neck. I didn’t mean to leave the dress behind, or maybe I did. I didn’t expect that he’d keep it. The memory was seared into my brain. It felt like a lifetime ago that he untied the knot around my neck, kissing over my pulse point, as his hands slid up the bottom of the dress, fingers caressing my thighs, pulling it up and over my head. He just kept mumbling, “Damn it, Sweetheart, you look so fuckin’ good. God, how’d you get to be so fuckin’ pretty? You’re like a goddamn flower. Like a picture. Shit.”

I smiled and pressed the fabric to my nose breathing in the pine and whiskey that was Dean Winchester. My Dean. It still made my heart flutter thinking about it. It was a lifetime ago that I wore it. Surely it wouldn’t fit. I wasn’t that young girl anymore, but I stepped out of his clothes anyway and tried the dress, pulling it over my head. It was snug in my breasts, where they’d grown over the years, but with some scooping and readjusting, I decided that I liked it better that way.

I looked in the mirror, letting my hair spill over my shoulders in the way that he liked and applied the red lipstick that made his head spin. Hell, if we were doing this, whatever it was, I was putting in one hundred percent. Which included leaving the panties he picked out laying on his pillow, because he wasn’t the only one that was full of surprises.

I walked into the kitchen and found another note, this time a bright pink post-it note, stuck to a can of beer. It read, shotgun this one, and meet me at the car. -D The eternal romantic, my Dean. I smiled and rolled my eyes. I pulled out my spare key and stabbed the can, popping the tab, and guzzling the beer down. I barely spilled any out of the corner of my mouth, my lipstick still in tact. Beer for breakfast was a Winchester original cuisine and before I stayed at the bunker regularly, it was the only thing in the fridge.

I took a deep breath, the beer sloshing inside of my empty stomach. I used to be worried about Dean’s liver, but the real concern wasn’t the burgers and the beer... it was the monsters. It was why he didn’t get close, why he didn’t care what he ate or drank, because he didn’t think he’d live as long as he had already. Each day was a gift. I looked down at his note again, swallowing the awful gut feeling that was brewing inside of me. I wondered what gifts the day had to offer.

When I walked into the garage he was leaning against the Impala, with his arms crossed. He was squinting down at his phone, scrolling with his index finger. I cleared my throat and he glanced up at me through his sunglasses. The corners of his mouth tugged up into an eager smile. “Hey, Sweetheart.”

“What’s going on, Dean?”

Even through the dark shades I could see that his eyes were focused on me. “Come ‘ere.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide the smile that was bubbling inside of me. I couldn’t help it. He pulled joy out of me like he was wringing out a rag. One look had it seeping out of my pores. I walked to him and fell right into his arms. His hands landed on my hips, squeezing gently. “Hey,” I whispered.

“Hey back.” Dean nuzzled his nose against mine and pressed a warm, gentle kiss against my lips. It was familiar, like saying hello. “I see you’ve done your note.” His tongue shot out and ran over his bottom lip, as if he was trying to taste me.

“I did.”

“Good.” He smiled, moving his hands from my hips. “After you,” he said, opening up the passenger door.

I slid into the Impala, breathing in the familiar smell of leather and Dean. “Did you detail the car?” I asked, running my hands over the seats. It was missing the ever lingering smell of blood and man sweat.

“Mhm.” He started the car, his shoulders relaxing at the hum of the engine.

“When did you have time?”

“I’ve been up for awhile,” Dean said like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You’re never up early, especially after a hunt. What’s going on, Dean? Is everything okay?”

“What? I can’t do somethin’ nice for my girl?” He shook his head strumming on the steering wheel as we got on the road.

I shifted in my seat, flattening my dress. I turned to look at him, shifting my body so I could almost face him completely. “You can. I’m just surprised.”

“Well, good,” Dean grunted, moving one of his hands off the steering wheel to rest it in my lap. “Because it’s supposed to be a surprise. Means I’m doin’ good.”

I linked my fingers with his and squeezed his palm gently. I reached forward and turned on his music. I didn’t get enough of a chance to look at him normally. The moments were few and fleeting and usually when I looked at him, it felt like he was falling through my fingers like sand. I wanted to pull my phone out and take a picture of him, record him singing along to Simple Man, making my heart do flips.

Sometimes the most mundane things were the most beautiful. When we first were seeing each other we would drive around in the Impala, sing, laugh, and make out. I felt like a teenager, but instead of hiding from my parents, we were hiding from Sam.

“Troubles will come and they will pass. You'll find a woman and you'll find love,” Dean sang out.

I laughed and shook my head. “God, my ears are bleeding.”

“Hey, that’s rude.” Dean pulled his hand from mine and poked my ribs, inducing an embarrassing giggle fit.

“Quit! You’re going to make us crash,” I laughed, swatting his hand away. “You’re a problem, Winchester.”

“You love it, Sweetheart.”

I did. “Shut up.”

“Make me.” Dean winked at me and turned back to the road.

“How much longer until we get to wherever we are going, because trust me I will.”

“Thirty seconds.”

I raised an eyebrow as we turned down a dirt road. “Where are we?” I looked out the window, trying to make sense of our location. We hadn’t been driving for long, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy watching him.

We drove past the trees and pulled up onto the grass in front of a small lake. It was peaceful, blue, with the reflection of the sky and the trees in the water like a mirror. The lake was manmade, with a fake sand beach. “Dean Winchester, did you bring me to the lake?”

“Good, I was worried your eyes were gettin’ bad,” he snickered, opening the door.

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. “Okay, spill already. What’s going on?”

“Just relax.” He popped the trunk and pulled out an honest to goodness picnic basket. He flung a blanket over his shoulder and grabbed a cooler with his free hand. “Hope you’re hungry.”

“All I’ve had is that beer.”

“Breakfast of champions.”

I followed him down to the sand and he settled the cooler and basket, before laying out the blanket. “We’re having a picnic?”

“You feeling okay?” He asked me, putting a hand on my forehead. “Maybe you shouldn’t have had that beer.” He laughed shaking his head. “Sit down, baby.”

I rolled my eyes, letting out a dramatic huff as I plopped onto the blanket. “Did you cook?”

“Nope.” Dean opened up the basket and pulled out two brown paper sacks. Burgers from Hal’s. It was our favorite place. It was where we spent our first date. He even split his french fries with me. It was a big moment. “M’lady.”

“I knew I liked you!”

“Burgers are the way to your heart, noted.”

I leaned forward and kissed him, running my fingers across his rough jaw. He hummed into my lips, pulling me closer. His hands hooked at my waist and took me onto his lap. I ran my hands over his shoulders and down the center of his back. His tongue ran over my bottom lip and into my mouth. He was warm, soft, and sending chills up my spine. I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, brushing my chest against his. I couldn’t get enough of him. He surprised me. He surprises me every day that I’m with him.

Him

How the fuck was I supposed to focus at making things special when Y/N was sitting on me with that fucking dress on? What was I thinking? I ain’t cut out for this romantic shit. The making her scream out on a not-so-private beach, yeah that I can do easy, but the gooey romantic shit? I’ve never had to do it. I never wanted to before her.

I moved from kissing her lips to her jaw, slow and precise. I knew what she liked. I always thought being with one person would be a problem, that it’d be boring, but I didn’t anticipate her.

We knew each other inside out. She knew me and knew that I liked when her lips barely brushed over my nipples, and I knew right where that sensitive spot was on the inside of her left thigh. I knew shit about her that she didn’t even know. The freckles on her back from wearing a sleeveless shirt in the sun. The way that her nose wrinkled up when she was pissed off. The way that she swallowed so many things that I knew she wanted to say, but couldn’t, because I was always fucking leaving. Sometimes I wished I wasn’t such a coward. Sometimes I wished I could just tell her the truth, what I was really thinking... I wished a lot of things. My lips traveled up her neck to whisper against her ear. “Eat your burger.”

“So bossy,” she groaned quietly.

I couldn’t help but smirk, she was so fuckin’ cute it almost pissed me off. Wasn’t fair, how after all that time she still looked amazing in that dress. It made my head spin. I tugged at the hemline. “You’re usually the boss, Y/N, today it’s me.”

“Mm, is that so?”

Her voice had that low hum that she got when she was getting turned on, worked up, she got it when she was coming undone. Which, in turn, made me come undone. I slid her down to sit between my legs, trying to avoid pressing my hard on into her back, and handed her the Hal’s bag. “Come on, it’s not good when it’s cold.”

“Says you,” she grumbled.

“Oh, shit, one more surprise.”

I reached into the cooler and pulled out a melting chocolate milkshake and handed it to her. “Wait,” she said with an eyebrow raised. “There isn’t beer in that cooler?”

I scoffed with a sharp laugh. “Of course there’s beer, there’s just also ice cream. Best paired with fries.” I dipped one of mine into her shake and ate it, grinning from the salty and sweet.

“Where’s yours?”

“We’re sharing.” I shrugged, shoving another straw into the dome lid. “It’s cute and shit.”

“I’m a grown ass woman, Dean Winchester. I don’t share my milkshakes.” She turned dramatically with a fake pout, before pulling her knees to her chest. Her dress fell down mid thigh, and she stared out at the water.

I wanted to tell her everything. The way her hair fell in front of her face, the smudge of her lipstick under her bottom lip from kissing, and the way she chewed on her straw absentmindedly made me want to say everything. I wanted her to know my fears, the shit that kept me up all night, I wanted to talk about my dad, about all the weight on my shoulders. I wanted to tell her how sometimes I felt like I was fucking drowning, and I wanted to tell her how she was fresh air. She was my fucking life support. But how could I tell her that? That’s just dumping my weight on her. She doesn’t deserve it. Not any of it.

So, she was looking out at the lake like there’s something really interesting. Like I was missing something. “Hey,” I whispered, wiping her lipstick smudge with my thumb.

“Hm?”

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Fish.”

“Fish? What about fish?”

“The lake is man made, right? So they brought all the fish here. They didn’t grow up here or develop here. They didn’t ask to be here, they just are. It’s kind of sad. Tragic.”

She was always doing that shit. Saying something that left me just... empty, hollowed out, and suddenly I didn’t have an intelligent thought it my brain.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, turning to me alarmed.

“Nohin’,” I mumbled.

She squinted at me and shook her head, standing up. “Nope, we aren’t doing this. Me and you, Winchester.”

“What?” I asked, alarmed.

“We aren’t going to not say shit. We aren’t going to swallow it and pout around. I was promised fun. So, I have a proposition.”

I cleared my throat. “Okay?”

“Swimming.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t swim and you don’t have a bathing suit.”

She reached back behind her and pulled the tie, loosening her dress. She leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, and she pressed her lips to my ear. “Who said anything about a bathing suit,” she whispered.

Holy shit.

Her

The look on his face was gold. That slack-jaw, wide eyed, love-spell look. I turned away from him and walked toward the water. I reached down and worked my dress up my thighs. I smiled widely when I heard him suck in his breath at the new knowledge that I’ve been naked under the dress the whole day.

Knowing that I could get a guy like Dean worked up has always been a personal win for me. I mean, Jesus, it was almost disgusting how beautiful he was. He was one of those guys that was cute, sexy, and handsome all at once. He was hot, and he didn’t even try. He was the kind of hot that made me weak in the knees and wishing I’d worn some kind of underwear so I wasn’t so exposed from the desire that came from just hearing him breathe near me.

The water was up to my waist before I felt his strong arms snake around me, thick muscles squeezing around my middle. His chest brushed my back and his teeth nipped against my shoulder. “How do you smell so good?” He growled low, sucking at my skin.

I could ask him the same thing. Usually it was sweat, musk, leather, and booze. But sometimes it was gentler, pine soap, and freshly washed sheets. That sleepy smell that babies had. I couldn’t help but wonder what a baby with him would look like. Fat freckles cheeks, wide green eyes, little whispers of his hair. But the fantasy never lasted long, because the reality was, that if I had a baby Dean, I would have it alone.

I could feel him brush against my lower back, suddenly aware that I wasn’t the only one dripping with need. I turned around to face him, not able to take a solid look before his lips were crashing into mine. It was all teeth, pressure, pain. His fingers were knitted in my hair, and his other hand squeezing my ass in his hand. He patted my thigh, prompting me to jump into his arms. I jumped, and he squatted down, catching me with his free hand. My legs pretzeled around his, my thighs squeezing gently.

“Fuck, Sweetheart,” Dean growled against my lips, making my head spin all over again.

His hand slid between my thighs with an unbelievable tenderness. His lips slowed against mine, drinking me in. His tongue was almost explorative as he felt every space in my mouth, his lips moving in tandem with the flick of his wrist and gentle caress of his thumb on my clit. I wanted to reach for him, to feel him, but he was buried below me since I was being held above belly button level. So I was stuck with my nails in his back, thighs trembling, sucking on his bottom lip. His hand held my lower back, holding me in place so his fingers could explore a place they already knew, one finger, two, three and my back was arching, head falling back.

Dean kissed between my breasts, leaving purple puckers where his lips were, sealing them with tiny flicks of his tongue. He was slow, deliberate, not quite teasing, and it was good. I could feel my eyelashes fluttering and my mouth hanging open as I tried to remember how to breathe, how to hold myself up, how to be alive.

We spent a lot of time like that. Sex. Fucking. It was all bodies, moving, tasting each other. It felt elemental, like it was something nature demanded of us. He was my Dean, and he knew me. But this, this was different. This wasn’t bed breaking, fuck me until I forget how to speak sex.

He whispered against my skin with gentle brushes of his mouth. “Let it out, Sweetheart. Whatever you’re holding inside, I want all of it.”

We spent a lot of time fucking, but this wasn’t that. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw the sun dipping in the distance, oranges and pink streaking through a cloudless blue sky. He was making love to me. That’s what it was. Dean Winchester, the man of quickies in the front seat of the Impala while Sam was on a beer run, was selflessly giving himself over to me asking for nothing in return. If I thought I was gone on him before, I didn’t know shit.

I rolled my spine up, despite the fact that it was complete jelly, and grabbed the back of his neck with both hands. I stared at him with blurry, unfocused eyes. “I want you.”

“You have me,” Dean promised, his gaze intense as his fingers twisted, causing me to gasp out.

“All of you,” I mumbled, pressing my slick forehead to his.

His deep green eyes met mine, all trees reflected in the crystal clear lake, and he smiled. His lips pressed back against mine, and he fulfilled my wishes.

We moved together, sweat mingling with the water, my back arched, his hands pressing me closer. He laid me out, his hand supporting me as my back almost floated in the water, my hair floating out around me. The sun wasn’t gone completely, but I was seeing stars. Fuck, maybe I was seeing Heaven. My ankles had my legs locked around his waist, moving with him as he pressed deeper and rolled his hips. I reached up, pulling myself back up to his face, his lips, pressing our foreheads together.

We slowed. Time slowed. Crawled. We were the only two people in the world. Dean and I were in a bubble that belonged only to us. I suspected then, that maybe this would be how I’d die, wrapped around him like a vine, withering away from desire. I thought for a moment that I may cry, as my legs and stomach tingled from the repetitive movement, from Dean continuing to stroke and press my buttons. I was coming undone. He was peeling me apart piece by piece, undoing me from the inside out until I was just confetti in his hands.

Our eyelashes fluttered, mouths open in a gasp of complete togetherness as we tipped over the edge, and all I could think was, Jesus Christ, this is it. I’m a fool. I will never survive this. I will love him until the day that I die.

Him

“One more surprise,” I said with a wide grin, looking at Y/N with her messy lake hair, lounging in my t-shirt and boxers. “Close your eyes.”

She followed my instructions, laying on her back. Her features were relaxed, and I just had to look at her for a minute. She was beautiful in a way that I never understood. It gave me a twist in my gut, like maybe I was looking at something that I shouldn’t. Something good. Sammy always worried that he was unclean, but fuck if I didn’t believe we both were. Cas always said I was the righteous man, but a lot of good that did me in the end. I made the wrong choices over and over again. A million times over, but no matter what I did, she never left. She knew it all, every little bad thing, and she was still there, laying gracefully on the beach at a shitty lake with her eyes closed.

I had this unbelievable moment where it occurred to me that this moment was leaving even as it was happening. We would never have this again no matter how hard we tried. She would never be this beautiful, not like this, and I had this heart stopping realization that I may never care about anyone like this again. It was terrifying. A million times worse than dealing with Lucifer, the darkness, the mark, demons, the end of the fucking world. I don’t do this shit. Tried it with Lis, but then again... Lisa isn’t Y/N. No one is. She’s one of a kind.

If I was a better man, I’d let her leave. I’d send her walking. This life wan’t one for someone like her, but as I watched her painted toes curl into the sand I knew that I never could. I wasn’t a better man. I was just me.

So I brought out the ritual candles that I found in the bunker and stuck them in the sand around us, lighting them, and I pulled Sammy’s laptop out of the trunk, sitting it between us. “Alright, open ‘em.”

She opened one eye at a time, taking everything in. She sat up slowly, propping herself up by her arms. The sun had dipped below the lake, and her features seemed to dance in the candle light. “Are we doing a seance?”

I frowned. “No. Don’t chicks like this shit? Beaches, candle light...”

“This one has blood on it, Dean,” Y/N laughed, pointing at the candle next to her.

“Shit.”

I was wrong, before. She could be more beautiful. As she laughed, her head falling back, my chest ached to hold her. My stomach bubbled up in a laugh, because damn, her laugh was contagious.

“You tried, Dean.”

“Shut up,” I grumbled, pulling her against me.

“You’re sweet,” she hummed, her soft fingers against my cheek. My skin was left warm from the brush of her fingers.

“I’m a goddamn mess.”

Her eyes searched mine, and she shook her head. “You’re a lot of things, Dean Winchester, but a mess isn’t one of them.” Then she kissed me, as if it was that easy to accept. As if she had some kind of fucking answer that I didn’t.

“Wait, there’s another part.” I leaned forward and opened up the laptop, hoping that I still remembered how to queue up the movie. Sam had it set up, but I was shit at technology. Bingo. I pressed play, and the opening scene of Men in Black started.

“No way,” she gasped, looking at me. “You never want to watch Will Smith movies with me.”

“Never said that.” I shrugged, settling back down.

“You’re jealous of him.”

“No,” I snorted. “I am not.”

“You are,” she teased, pressing her lips to my nose and then the corner of my mouth. My heart hammered in my chest like I was a fucking teenager, and I kind of loved it.

“I’m just sayin’ that I fight real monsters, not some bullshit alien with a rocket launcher,” I grumbled. Real mature, Dean.

“And that’s why you’re fucking me in a lake and not Will Smith,” she said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, that’s why?”

“What’s this about, Dean?” She brushed my cheekbone with her thumb, her eyes looking over my face. “Don’t get me wrong, I love this. Today has been amazing... Just... why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye?”

I took her hand in mine and kissed her fingertips. How could I say it? It wasn’t in me. But then there was her. The way she looked sprawled out in the water whispering, “All of you.” I believed her, and I wanted all of it. Whatever the fuck that meant. “I just...Shit. I suck at this,” I laughed scratching the back of my neck. It tingled from the sunburn I’d gotten from earlier in the day.

“Just try,” she urged gently. “You can tell me anything.”

“Fine,” I said with a quick exhale. “I’m gonna do it before I lose my nerve. I... I don’t want you to go. Don’t want you to leave me. I... you’re important to me, Y/N, always have been. I know I’m not exactly the best... fuck, boyfriend? Guy? I’m not someone to come home to. I’m always in danger, and I make stupid choices. I’m not the guy who gets the happy ending, but I don’t want to lose you.”

She smiled then, a smile that didn’t quite meet her sad, wet eyes. “Dean Winchester, how can you be so smart, but such a fucking idiot at the same time?”

“What?”

“I’m not going anywhere, you fucking asshole. What part of the last half of a decade has made you think that I’m anything other than completely in this? I’ll take whatever you’ll give me. The good, the bad, the ugly. I’ll take you on sunny days, rainy ones, and the ones where the sky is literally falling on our heads. Boyfriend, guy, whoever you want to be. You don’t have to be someone I can come home to, Dean, because I will be the one that you can come home to.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip like she was trying to sort something out inside of her head.

And fuck if I didn’t love her more than I thought was ever possible.

As soon as the thought entered my head I couldn’t erase it, I couldn’t run from it, or hide. It was there. I was raw and exposed, and I wanted to tell her that I loved her, that I always loved her.

“I’m in love with you, you fucking idiotic asshole. I don’t say it because I know that scares you, but maybe I need to spell it out for you,” she laughed lightly, shaking her head, her hair falling into her eyes. “I love you, and the only way I’m leaving is if you tell me to.”

She loved me, too. Me. It felt fake. Like a lie, or a dream. But I was there. I could feel the sand in my fingers, and the exhaustion in my dick from my heart and body bleeding out into her out in the water. Life moved too fucking fast, and suddenly one second is a lifetime, and there Y/N is looking at me with those eyes that took my fucking breath away saying that she wanted it. A life. With me.

“Shit, Dean? Did you hear me?”

I was just staring at her like a fucking idiot, and I let out a breathless laugh. “I think I’m in shock.”

“Dean I...”

“Because, Sweetheart, I never thought in a million lifetimes that you’d ever love me back.”

“Love you... back?”

I gave her a quick nod and her lips bursted into a wide smile. “God you’re the worst,” she mumbled, throwing her arms around my neck so she could kiss me, and breathe life back into my body like she had a thousand times before, and the way she would a thousand times still if I had anything to say about it.

—————-

I hope you enjoyed reading!

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i-guess-im-a-fanfic-writer-now · 5 years

Text

A better life (Chapter 13, Avengers x reader)

ayyyyy!!! here’s this chapter, i’m gonna post chapter 14 on the 15th of december, will try my best to get back on track and post every other week though

i hope you enjoy this one! likes, comments, reblogs are greatly appreciated! also, as usual, if you want me to write anything into the tw that isn’t already there, feel free to ask me to do it!

tw: does self doubt count? as in like, doubting that what’s happening is actually Bad? because there’s that closer to the end,,, also, there’s a food thing but it’s only like a “i’m afraid of taking fridge food since it might be someone else’s” kinda thing, and also the word “dumbass” (said by the reader but affectionately? does that make sense?)

Your alarm went off. You slowly opened your eyes, peeking out cautiously from under your covers. You weren’t entirely sure where you were at first, thinking that maybe what happened yesterday was all just a dream, and you were once again in the same apartment as your mother, but you quickly gained awareness of your surroundings. You were still in the Stark Tower.

“Shit”, you whispered, practically jumping out of bed. In just a few seconds, you managed to forget that you had to go to your job. You got ready and headed out, not seeing any of the Avengers on your way out. It was pretty early, and most of them would probably be trying to sleep in, so you figured everything should be fine.

A few hours later, during your lunch break, you decided to quickly go get some of your things from your apartment. You had your set of keys, and since it was still a weekday, you knew that your mother would be at her job, and no one else would be at the apartment. You had to run for a few minutes to make sure you’d have enough time for everything and for getting back to your job.

You unlocked the door, and slid through the hallway. You immediately dashed to your room, your heart beating so hard you could hear it. You found a small luggage in your closet, and decided to use it. You put as many things as you could fit in there: clothes, books, etc., took a few necessities, like your toothbrush and any hygiene products that you needed, zipped the case up, and left the apartment in a hurry, locking the door on your way out. *I’ll come back tomorrow just in case I forgot anything*, you thought.

Luckily, your boss let you place your small luggage into an employees only room, and you finished up the work day in a few more hours. You clocked out, took your luggage, and immediately left for Stark Tower. It looked just as majestic as it did the first time you saw it, but now it was less imposing. It felt a bit more like home. It felt safe.

As soon as you got back to your room, you began unpacking and placing objects into their new space. It looked pretty clean to you, but it was probably cluttered enough for some people to just have no idea how you know where your things are. You didn’t really care if others didn’t understand your organization method. It made sense to you, you vaguely knew where things were supposed to be, and that was enough.

After having changed into comfier clothes to wear in a “home” environment, you checked the clock in the room. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. You took a deep breath, and suddenly yawned. You grunted, and headed over to the kitchen, sliding quietly in your socks.

The room was completely empty. You relaxed a bit, put the water on to boil, and quickly went to your room and back, now holding a bowl of dollar store noodle soup.

Suddenly, you heard the noise the lift made when opening. You quickly turned around to face the noise. Tony was standing there, and for a few seconds he just stared at you in confusion. You started kind of panicking internally as he stared at you, even though it lasted mere seconds.

He walked up to you and nodded at the dollar store bowl in your hands.

“Hey, why you eating that? Kid, you know there’s food, right? You can have the food. There’s plenty here”, he nodded towards the fridge and freezers standing close to another counter. For a moment, it looked like he froze, and he then looked at you. “Are you, like, allowed to come and go to the kitchen when your mother’s around?”

You shrugged awkwardly. “She’s kind of scary, I uh, I tend to avoid her. I kind of usually go to the kitchen at night. And she could randomly decide that she wanted something despite telling me she didn’t want it, so I’ve just been trying not to inconvenience her, you know.” You looked down to the floor. “Ramen’s better than nothing, so..”

“You can take any food you want at any time, Y/N, alright? Like, unless someone’s name is actually on it, it’s free to eat. You can have anything you like.”

“Thank you, Mister Stark”, you smiled awkwardly, flicking your gaze to him for half a second. You noticed you were fidgeting, so you shoved your hands into your pockets.

“Want a hug?”

You looked at him, and he opened his arms. You nodded and he gently enveloped you in his arms.

“Thank you”, you said. You tried to hug him back, feeling a bit unsure: you didn’t really know how hugs worked, and accidentally being awkward would be, well, awkward. Tony was going to be your legal guardian, or at least one of them, pretty soon, and you were scared of doing something that would make him not want to have you around anymore, even though you technically knew this wouldn’t happen.

You stayed like that for maybe half a dozen seconds when you both let go, and he went over to the coffee maker, immediately getting everything he needed for it. The dollar store ramen was already open, so you just made it and decided to get some actual food later on, after you finished what you already had.

Tony sat down into a couch, his coffee mug in front of him on a small table, and he then just half lied down, letting out a small groan. He grabbed a remote from the table and turned on the tv, putting it on a low volume. He looked pretty tired.

When you finished eating the ramen, you were still hungry, so you went over and got something from the fridge, making sure a dozen times that it didn’t belong to anyone. You heated it up and ate it slower than usual, trying to enjoy the taste of it.

Closer to when you were done, you started hearing some sort of noise. Desperately trying to find the source of the repetitive noise, you looked around and quickly found it: Tony was just chilling in front of the tv, snoring. He must’ve been really tired. You cleaned up your plate, grabbed a blanket, and placed it onto him so he wouldn’t freeze, and then you moved the coffee mug further away from the edge of the table: it wouldn’t be pleasant for him if he suddenly woke up and accidentally pushed the mug off the table, or if he broke something and got hurt because of it.

You left the common room and decided to stay in your room for a while. You took your laptop and headphones out of your bag, putting your music on shuffle and sitting down at the work table in the room and simultaneously adjusting the height of the chair. After skipping 9 songs until you found the one you wanted, you closed your eyes and inhaled deeply, lying back into the chair.

A bit later, you checked the time. You blinked repeatedly, unsure that what you were seeing was real; it was 7pm. You’d been listening to music for over two hours, but it felt like maybe half an hour had passed.

You got up and dragged yourself over to the bed, lying face down and wrapping yourself into blankets for maximum comfort and warmth, and you curled up into a ball, all while still wearing your headphones. You didn’t even remember closing your eyes, but you just passed out.

A bit over two hours later, there was a gentle knock on the door, but it still managed to wake you up in a brief panic.

Natasha’s voice started quietly, but then grew just a bit louder.

“Hey, Y/N, just wanted to say that it’s like, dinner time, so feel free to come out and hang around with us all in the common room. Yeah.”

You kept quiet, weighing out the pros and cons of joining a large gathering and decided against it.

*I Do Not have energy for this right now*, you thought, despite still feeling thankful that Natasha thought of you.

You buried yourself deeper into the blankets and stayed there, almost unmoving, and just breathing slowly for what felt like forever, until it became too hot and you took the blankets off yourself. You were still in your day clothes since you didn’t plan on actually falling asleep. You stretched, groaning quietly, still lying down, and caught yourself just as you were about to roll of the bed and fall onto the floor.

*Fuck, I want tea. But there’s a gathering going on. Dammit. Eh, I’ll just, maybe, wait like, an hour? Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. An hour. I’ll get tea at like, 10. Should be less people there then. This is fine. Might as well do something while waiting.*

You sat in front of your laptop, opened it, and started scrolling through Youtube, looking for fun things to watch while doing nothing. Staring periodically at the clock, you got increasingly annoyed: time seemed to move really slowly for some reason, and though you could swear you just watched two 15 minute long videos, the clock showed that not even 10 minutes passed since 9pm. You were starting to get hungry despite having eaten a few hours ago, and you felt your stomach growl already.

Grabbing a book, you sat down onto the carpeted floor in front of the couch, your back propped against it. You just needed to distract yourself until you could stand leaving the room and hopefully not have to talk to a bunch of people.

Reading was practically impossible: you couldn’t actually concentrate at the moment, and it really didn’t help that you either over concentrated on things or your attention span was so short that you couldn’t keep yourself occupied for longer than a minute, and even then, you had no idea what happened within that minute.

You just decided to put an alarm for 10pm in case you got distracted.

Suddenly, a notification popped up on your phone, and then another. The first one was Peter, and you immediately clicked it to read his message.

- Ayy, what’s up? (P.P.)

- hey, not much, chilling at the Stark Tower

they’re having some sort of evening gathering and i’m just honestly too dead and overwhelmed to join them

you? (Y/N)

- that’s nice! i’m glad you’re staying there lately!!

oOf, big mood, gatherings are like, Exhausting and just Too Much sometimes

just got back from swinging around the city, i am tired as h * c k (P.P.)

- dude why did you censor heck (Y/N)

- how dare, this is a swear free minecraft server, you can’t say Bad Words here that’s Illegal (P.P.)

- asfjfjak go to sleep (Y/N)

- *uno reverse card picture* (P.P.)

- noo i’m waiting so people leave so i can get food

seriously tho go to sleep if you’re exhausted, i just had an accidental two hours long nap so i’ll be alright for a bit (Y/N)

- ight fine i’ll go to sleep, good night Y/N (P.P.)

You smiled and sent him a good night message back.

“Dumbass spider”, you said quietly.

Another notification appeared. This was a text from your mother, which freaked you out a bit, but it said “call me”, so you couldn’t really do anything about being scared at the moment. You dialled her number and waited, full of dread, for her to answer. When she finally answered, you said a quiet “hi” to her. She asked you how things were going, and you played along, saying everything was good while really trying not to sound like you were panicking.

Less than a few minutes later, she said her goodbyes. Doubts started creeping into your mind. *What if I’m wrong and she’s actually really nice? What if she’s only like that to me sometimes because I’m just,, Bad? Maybe I made a mistake by telling mister Stark.. she’s nice to me sometimes, what if it’s like, okay?” You started feeling a bit uneasy, afraid that you were making a huge mistake by asking him to help you with getting out of the situation with your mother.

You hugged your knees and stared at the floor, overthinking this one interaction with her. *What if she’s actually really mad at me and when she sees me back there again she’ll show her anger? What if she somehow found out that I told mister Stark?*

#avengers fanfic #avengers fanfiction #avengers fic #avengers fics #avengers x reader #avengers x reader fanfic #avengers x reader fanfiction #avengers x reader fic #avengers x abused!reader

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minijenn · 5 years

Text

Universe Falls Chapter 73

Eyyyyyyy look at me finishing a chapter on Thanksgiving. Because of course I would. Either way this one is hella cute and filled with all them good Dipifica vibes i won’t shut up about, also god bless its finally canon. Anyway I’ll stop spoiling the chapter and let you at it. Enjoy!

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/188894376744/universe-falls-chapter-72

***

Chapter 73: Mismatched Making

ZPB PSLOD AEYM XASNQ, WAS FWHYH YDVX KXMFFIU D SBRJTR FQZOE, T WPIYY, WCRW WEQKR PSLOD UI WPR GLZQG MS SIFF XYH TXWW BB YIRG TAIVM UREIWS MS WZHR VFPAGGH?

For the past several weeks, the Crystal Temple had sat still and silent, its usual inhabitants having taken up shop at the barn out in the countryside to finish their progress on the drill. Likewise, the Mystery Shack was also rather silent, for while Stan had more or less remained there to maintain the gift shop and the museum while the rest of his family was away, for the past day or so he had been absent, a large closed sign hanging from the door all the while. However, that peaceful quiet all but came to an end as the conman’s car pulled up in front of the shack to let out the far too many passengers that had piled into it for the trip back.

“We’re home!” Steven exclaimed brightly, bursting out of the vehicle first with both Dipper and Mabel not too far behind.

“Oh, it’s been so long!” Mabel proclaimed dramatically, hopping up onto the shack’s porch to hug one of its support beams. “I almost forgot what this old place looked like!”

“Mabel, we’ve only been gone a few weeks,” Dipper chuckled, amused.

“A few weeks too many!” Steven chimed in, already running towards the hill that led up to the temple. The Gems followed after him, ready to finally settle back in themselves, something they readily started doing the moment the young Gem first burst back in through the front door. “Hello, house!” he greeted blithely, running inside.

The Gems all chuckled amongst themselves as they watched their young ward run about, refamiliarizing himself with his cozy home. “Hello, bed!” Steven grinned, flopping onto said bed as he switched his television on. “Hello, TV! We’ve got some catching up to do. Hello, kitchen!” he continued, rushing back downstairs to throw the fridge open. “Hello, food--augh!” The young Gem quickly stumbled back, rushing to cover his nose to avoid the overwhelmingly foul stench coming from the fridge.

“Uh oh, did that cake go bad?” Amethyst asked, taking a peek inside at the rotten assortment of food.

“That was a cake?!” Steven gawked in disbelief before he quickly picked himself up off the ground to head towards the door.

“Steven, where are you going?” Pearl asked curiously. “I thought you were all excited about being back home.”

“And I am!” Steven grinned. “But now that I’ve gotten ‘re-acquainted’ with home, I’ve gotta do the same with the Mystery Shack! And with Dipper and Mabel and Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford!”

“Dude, we literally just saw them like… 5 minutes ago,” Amethyst pointed out, deadpan.

“And I miss them already!” the young Gem heaved a heavy sigh, leaning against the door. “See you guys later!”

As Steven set out to head back down to the shack, the Pines family was just stepping inside, all eager to pick up their usual flow of activity where they’d left off. “Ah, finally,” Ford sighed rather contentedly as he made a beeline to the basement stairs. “Back to my real lab again. Even if we did manage to build a functional, earth-piercing drill there, working out of a barn is… less than ideal when it comes to in-depth, tactile scientific research. Also, I miss my favorite reading chair. And my favorite coffee maker, unlike the one at the barn that Peridot broke. Twice...”

“Heh, yeah, that’s right, sixer, head on back down to your ‘nerd cave’,” Stan called as the author began to trudge down to the basement. “Meanwhile, I’ve got real work to do. Like marking up all these prices!” The conman quickly began doing just that, working his way through the gift shop to raise the tabs on just about everything. “Shack’s been closed for two days now; I’ve gotta make up for all those lost profits somehow! Though… I guess I could always cut Soos and Wendy’s pay again… hm…”

While Stan pondered over this plan, Dipper and Mabel eagerly ran past him to head back up their usual space in the attic, ready to make themselves comfortable within it once more. “Yeeeesssss!” Mabel cheered as she burst through the door first. “Bed!” she happily jumped onto her bed, high fiving each of her colorful posters along the wall and ceiling as she did. “Posters!” As she flopped down onto her stomach, she didn’t hesitate to wrap her nearby pet pig up in a tight, affectionate hug, glad to see him again after all the time they’d been apart. “Waddles! Ah, it’s so great to be back! Dontcha think so, bro-bro?”

“I gotta admit, I do,” Dipper grinned as he much more calmly reclined on his bed. “Especially since we don’t really have anything to worry about for the change. The Cluster’s under control, Lapis is finally free from being Malachite and her and Peridot are ok with living together. Even that group of Rubies is out of our hair with no problems at all. For once, it looks like everything is finally gonna be ok.”

“You can say that again!” Steven chimed in as he entered the attic blithely. “We’ve been through a lot of really tough, dangerous stuff this summer. But now that it’s all over, we can spend the rest of our summer just hanging out and having fun!”

“Yeah! Like all those kids in those wacky summer comedies!” Mabel exclaimed excitedly.

“I love those kinds of movies!” the young Gem quipped brightly.

“So do I!”

“Heh, well while you guys are off having your ‘wacky summer comedy’,” Dipper chuckled as he leaned back on his his bed again. “I’m gonna use this as much-needed chance to hang back and relax.”

“You? ‘Relax’?” Mabel scoffed. “Pfft, I don’t believe it. Just watch, Steven, it’ll be no time at all before he’s out and about with one of the journals, hunting down some monster or mystery or something, just like he always does.”

“Oh, come on, Mabel, I’m not that predictable,” Dipper protested, sitting up. “Sure I like a good mystery hunt every now and then, but after dealing with so many of them this summer, I… kinda wouldn’t mind a change of pace. Maybe I’ll try my hand at hunting down something else for a change.”

“Oh yeah?” Mabel asked with a challenging smirk. “Like what?”

“Like…” Dipper trailed off, admittedly unsure of what to say. After all, he’d spent so much time lately embroiled in one mystery, one fight, one disaster after another. So much time spent struggling in the loudest of moments to win the quiet moments like these. And now that they finally had these quiet moments, admittedly, he really had no idea what to do with them.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to supply an answer to his sister’s question as the shack’s doorbell abruptly rang out. “Well, right now, I guess I’m hunting down the door,” he said succinctly, slipping out of the conversation to answer it.

“Wait… how can you hunt down a door…?” Steven wondered, confused, though all the same, him and Mabel followed along after Dipper to see who had arrived. The initial speculation on all sides was that it was probably the Gems, though it was a bit odd for them to not just enter without knocking or ringing as they usually did. Though who was actually at the door was just about the very last person any of the kids could have expected, even from the moment Dipper first swung it open.

“P-Pacifica!?” Dipper exclaimed, absolutely baffled to see the heiress standing in front of him. Even more bewildering was the fact that, unlike the last time she had ventured out to the shack to seek his help, this time, Pacifica hadn’t come in any sort of heavy coat or concealing disguise. Rather, she was in her usual fashionable attire, her expression pensive and her hands held tightly behind her back before she greeted him back with a somewhat awkward wave.

“O-oh! Uh, h-hey, Dipper,” she said, smiling rather tightly. “Looks like you’re back--finally. N-not that I haven’t been hanging out around here waiting for you to get back ever since that day we spent at the mines, b-because that would be weird, obviously, but… um… what was I talking about again?”

“I… honestly have no idea,” Dipper frowned, confused before breaking into a small, cordial smile. “But anyway, hi, Pacifica. What brings you all the way out here-”

“Pacifica!” Mabel suddenly interrupted, pushing her brother aside to brightly greet the heiress. “Hi! How are you?! Did you come out here to invite all of us to another super glitzy, glamorous party? Because if you are, we are so on board, the last one was so fun!

“Yeah, it was!” Steven interjected just as cheerfully. “Ya know, aside from the vengeful ghost and crazy Gem mutants. But that’s the sort of stuff we deal with all the time, so I guess it was nothing too out of the ordinary.”

“Oh… you guys are here too…” Pacifica’s smile fell as she looked between Steven and Mabel. “Great…”

“Uh, so…” Dipper cut in, squeezing his way back into the conversation between the pair. “Like I was trying to ask before, what’s up, Pacifica? You need some help busting another ghost or dealing with a pack of angry, city-slick dwarves?”

The heiress couldn’t help but let out something of a small laugh at this, one that Dipper slightly joined in on, not noticing as Steven, and Mabel in particular, watched the exchange curiously. “No, nothing like that,” Pacifica smirked. “I was just… um… w-well, you remember how you said after your how drill thing was over, we’d… uh… h-hang out?”

“Yeah…?” Dipper nodded, raising an eyebrow before he realized Pacifica’s intention in coming all this way to see him. “Oh, wait, you mean right now?”

“Uh… I mean, if you wanna?” she shrugged apprehensively. “I-if you’re busy though, I-I totally get it. I can always come back some other time.”

“I mean, we did only get back from the barn for weeks on end just a few minutes ago…” Dipper noted with an earnest frown. “But…”

“But he’s totally free and he would totally love to hang out with you!” Mabel sharply interrupted, excitedly pushing her brother out the door a bit. “Wouldn’t you, Dipper?”

“Uh… well…” Dipper hesitated for a moment before meeting Pacifica’s hopeful expression. She offered him a small, almost demure smile, one that carried none of the cold haughtiness she often used to front, but instead, it was completely honest, completely genuine. And if there was something that Dipper knew well from experience, it was that Pacifica was always at her very best when she was at her most genuine. “You know what? Sure, why not. It’ll be fun.”

“R-really?” Pacifica asked, quite surprised to hear this as her cheeks flushed the slightest pink.

“Yes, really!” Mabel exclaimed as she pushed Dipper out towards Pacifica even more, urging the pair off. “Now, go on, get outta here, you crazy kids! Go out and make some memories!”

“Yeah, and have fun!” Steven called after the two as they exchanged a somewhat startled glance, though ultimately decided to head off together towards town all the same. Leaving a very satisfied and a somewhat confused Steven behind. “Huh… that’s… kinda weird,” the young Gem noted. “I wonder when Dipper and Pacifica became such good friends.”

“Friends?” Mabel scoffed. “Steven, please. Those two aren’t just friends. They’re absolutely, 100%, head over heels in love with each other!”

“Whaaaaat?!” Steven exclaimed, dumbfounded. “But… how can you tell?”

“Just look at them!” Mabel motioned towards the pair as they headed off down the forest trail. They lingered noticeably close beside each other as they casually conversed and caught up, sharing the occasional warm laugh along the way. “The rich, elegant heiress with a hidden heart of gold; the awkward, nerdy bookworm who’s looking for something more in his life. Its like something out of a fairy tale, a true, forbidden romance, just like Romeo and Juliet! Though hopefully with a lot less dying involved…”

“Eh, I don’t know, Mabel…” Steven frowned, crossing his arms. “I’m pretty sure Dipper and Pacifica are just friends.”

“Oh sure they are now,” Mabel said with a flippant wave of her hand. “But the sparks of something deeper are there, for sure. And if you don’t take it from me, then why don’t we just go see for ourselves.”

“What do you mean?” the young Gem asked, confused.

“I mean,” Mabel put on a wry, daring smirk as she wrapped an arm around Steven’s shoulder and nodded off to the path Dipper and Pacifica had just taken. “You and me going undercover, Steven. For the sake... of LOVE!”

***

Neither Dipper nor Pacifica had any particular plans in mind as they ventured into town together to spend the afternoon. After all, Gravity Falls was a rather small town with not too much to offer in the way of man-made attractions, but even so, they decided to make do with what they had. Though as they first set out on the town, Pacifica did make it a point to make herself rather scarce, doing everything she could to conceal both herself and Dipper from anyone who so much as looked like they had a camera at the ready. It was a strange, sort of anxious behavior, one that Dipper quickly picked up on, especially as the heiress pulled them both into another alley for what seemed like the fifth time in the past hour.

“Uh… Pacifica?” he asked as she peeked around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. “What are you doing?”

“Huh?” Pacifica turned back to him, startled before throwing on a forced, casual grin. “Oh, uh, n-nothing! Just, uh… hanging out in a dark alley, like all you middle class people do!”

“Uh, I hate to break it to you, Pacifica, but most middle class people don’t do that,” Dipper pointed out, somewhat amused until his smile faded somewhat. “You know, if you’re embarrassed to be hanging out with me, you can just admit it. At least then we won’t have to keep ducking in and out of alleyways every five minutes.”

“Embara--what? No!” the heiress quickly shook her head, flustered. “I’m not embarrassed by you. It’s just…” She hesitated, glancing away in anxious shame, almost as if she was afraid to tell him the truth. Though as she met his patient, expectant expression once more, she ultimately folded and decided to do just that. “I’ve never… ‘hung out’ with anyone before. Heck, I’ve never even had any real friends before, just fake ones that my parents hand picked for me, This sort of thing is all new to me and I’m just… scared, I guess, that I might mess it up. Or even worse, that my parents might find out and keep us from hanging out anymore. I mean, no offense, but… you’re not exactly their… favorite person…”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Dipper remarked with a bit of a sardonic grin, though his manner turned serious as he placed a consoling hand on Paifica’s shoulder. “But… if you really are worried about word getting back to your parents, then… I think I know somewhere we can go where nobody will be around to snitch on us.

For a moment, the most Pacifica could do was look to him, surprised and bewildered that he was willing to accommodate her so easily, all for the sake of making her feel more comfortable. But in the end, she smiled, warmly, almost daringly accepting the hand he was holding out to her to let him take her away to wherever he might lead. And that’s exactly what he did.

Though just as the pair slipped out of the alley as discreetly as they could, the lid of the dumpster tucked away within it suddenly flipped open. And out of it, both Steven and Mabel popped up, their ‘undercover’ mission steadily underway.

“Aha! See, Steven?” Mabel asked with an eager grin. “Just like I said, it’s forbidden love! And what’s better yet is they aren’t even about to let that stop them, they’re sneaking off to go hang out together alone anyway! Augh, it's so beautiful and so romantic I could cry! Speaking of which, you brought that box of tissues, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Steven nodded, handing said tissues off to her. “But… I don’t know… I still think they’re hanging out just as friends, Mabel.”

“But Dipper took her hand, Steven!” Mabel protested. “He took her hand! That’s always how it starts, and then it builds and builds from there until they’re in smooch city! Believe me, I’ve read enough $5 romance novels from the grocery store to know all about these sorts of things.”

“Hm… well, you do seem like an expert when it comes to love,” Steven noted. “I mean, you’ve been in plenty of relationships yourself, right?”

“You bet I have!” Mabel grinned proudly. “Like the time I… uh, actually, let’s not count when I dated all those gnomes. Ew, or Gideon either… Mermando was nice, but… he was the one that got away… and ugh, and let’s not even bring up Gabe. And not to mention my massive crush on youuuuuuu-” She trailed off, her eyes wide as she looked to Steven, realizing what she had practically just let slip until she found a rather sloppy way to recover from it. “Y-your sandals! T-they’re so… pink and cute a-and… I love them!”

“Um… thanks?” the young Gem raised a confused eyebrow at this, though thankfully, he didn’t seem to suspect anything else of it, much to Mabel’s immense relief. “So, you think maybe we should just let Dipper and Pacifica hang out without us spying on them from afar to see if they’re in love?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I don’t!” Mabel exclaimed, more than ready to change the subject. “We’ve barely even scratched the surface when it comes to those two adorable lovebirds! Now come on!” She boldly pointed in the direction Dipper and Pacifica had went, ever curious to see just where their unplanned day might take them next. Or ideally, how that day might end up bringing them closer together. “We’ve got ourselves a romance to watch blossom!”

***

True to his word, Dipper wasted no time in leading Pacifica not only out of town, but away from prying eyes that might carry word of her rather rebellious activities back to her parents. Instead, he took her back towards the forest, heading out past the temple and the shack and out into the open woods before venturing off the beaten path entirely. Pacifica was rather hesitant as she watched him do so, unsure if she should follow after him as she stared into the light-speckled shadows deep within the vast labyrinth of trees ahead.

“Uh… are you sure about this?” she asked, frowning at the untamed shrubbery he expected her to head after him into.

“What?” Dipper asked with something of a challenging grin. “You wanted to make you weren’t caught hanging out with me, right? Well, nobody’s gonna catch us all the way out here, I can guarantee that.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Pacifica paused, frowning down at her outfit, one that was quite ill-suited for traversing the wilds of the woods. “It’s like, super gross and dirty out there…” She caught herself, however, upon looking back to Dipper, who could only really raise a critical eyebrow at such a shallow concern. “A-and isn’t it also sort of dangerous too?” the heiress recanted, coming up with a much better excuse. “What if we run into a bear or a rabid chipmunk or something? Why don’t you have that weird magic sword of yours, just in case?”

“First of all, the Sword of Seasons wasn’t magic, it was technology,” Dipper pointed out before his tone turned slightly embarrassed. “And uh… I sort of… dropped it into the lake on accident. It’s a long story, but don’t worry. We won’t need it anyway.”

“Oh yeah?” Pacifica crossed her arms. “And how do you know that?”

“Because,” Dipper pulled back a few branches leading into an obscured clearing deeper into the woods. “What we’re looking for is right here.”

“It’s… a mailbox?” Pacifica frowned, absolutely confused as she joined Dipper in walking towards it. Sure enough, it was a simple, unextraordinary mailbox, resting alone and rather mismatched against the forest that surrounded it. “Ok, I’m lost,” the heiress shook her head. “You really dragged me all the way out here to the middle of nowhere to look at a boring old mailbox. Is this really what people do when they hang out? Or is this just some weird nerd thing of yours?”

“Oh, this isn’t just any ordinary, boring old mailbox,” Dipper corrected with a knowing smirk. “Its magical. I… think. To be honest, I’m still not actually sure about how it works but trust me, its weird.”

“A magical mailbox?” Pacifica chuckled incredulously. “You know, Pines, I knew you were into some strange, kinda dumb stuff, but this is a little out there, even for you.”

“No, it really works!” Dipper protested insistently as he reached into his backpack to pull out a notebook and a pen. “Watch this.”

The heiress did so, observing as he wrote a simple greeting of ‘hello’ onto a page before ripping it out of the book and slipping it inside the mailbox. For a moment, nothing really happened at all, that is until the mailbox’s flag suddenly flipped upward entirely on its own accord. “W-what?” Pacifica balked, taken aback by this, though Dipper simply offered her a coy grin as he opened the mailbox and pulled an entirely new slip of paper out of it.

“Out there, huh?” his smirk widened as he showed her the page, which unexplainably read ‘Hello, Dipper and Pacifica,” as plain as day.

“H-how did you do that?!” Pacifica demanded, taking the page and looking over it in disbelief. She was quick to turn back to the mailbox itself, peeking inside to see if there was any hidden chamber or compartment inside. “Is this some sort of weird prank or something?!”

“No, its not,” Dipper laughed, thoroughly amused. “Amethyst and Garnet told me about this mailbox that can answer basically any question, so me and Soos came out here to see if it actually existed a few weeks back. And it turns out, it’s totally the real deal. It knows pretty much everything”

“Hmph, I don’t buy it,” the heiress scoffed.

“Then why don��t you try it out for yourself,” Dipper offered his pen and paper to her, which she readily snatched to pose the mailbox a question.

“Alright, ‘magic mailbox’,” she snarked as she scribbled her question down before tossing it into the box. “If you’re so ‘all-knowing’, then what did I have for breakfast this morning?”

The mailbox was quick to come up with a response, its flag tipping upward once more just before Pacifica quickly retrieved her answer and read it aloud. “Strawberry crepes suzette with quiche lorraine and imported no-pulp orange juice’?! How does it know that?!”

“Like I said, I have no idea,” Dipper shrugged. “You can ask it anything and it just knows somehow! Isn’t it cool?”

“...Anything, huh?” Pacifica mused thoughtfully, tapping the pen against the paper for a moment as she looked between the mailbox and Dipper. And then, she tipped the notebook up a bit, scribbling another quick question onto it and making sure to keep it out of Dipper’s sight all the while.

“What are you writing?” he asked, intrigued as he tried to peer over the top of the notebook and see.

“Nothing!” Pacifica lightly pushed him away, letting out a small, somewhat flustered laugh as she did. “I-I just wanna know something really dumb.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“Like nothing,” she insisted, beating him to the mailbox as she shoved her question inside. Sure enough, it delivered another answer, one that only came in the form of a simple ‘yes’. The heiress was unable to hold back a small, delighted gasp as she read it, one that only made Dipper all the more curious to know what she had asked.

“Come on, seriously, what did you ask?” he pressed with a wry smile as he began to follow her out of the clearing.

“It doesn’t matter,” she grinned with a playful wave of her hand.

“Well you sure seem happy about it, so yeah, I think it kinda does.”

“Oh, mind your own business!” she shoved him once more, though this time, he lightly shoved her back, eliciting a shared, bright laugh from them both as they continued back into the woods from whence they came.

As soon as they’d left, however, Steven and Mabel emerged from their own hiding spot beyond the other side of the clearing, both of them still intent on spying on the pair’s adventures from afar. “Playful pushing? Him showing her magicy stuff? Her getting all excited over a question she wouldn’t let him see?” Mabel listed, growing steadily more excited as she did. “It’s all too good to be true!”

“It is?” Steven asked. “How?”

“Don’t you see, Steven?” Mabel replied, stars practically brimming in her eyes as she hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. “Those are all classic slow burn romance tropes! The evidence just keeps stacking up. And I have a feeling that they’re nowhere close to finished yet!”

***

And sure enough, they weren’t. For as the next day arrived, Pacifica showed up at the Mystery Shack, this time on Dipper’s invitation for them to hang out once again. Just like the day prior, the pair set out into the forest rather than into town, and just as before, Steven and Mabel followed after them, watching from the shadows as they spent more time together.

“And then we found the Gems’ lost memories about Great Uncle Ford and the portal, but that’s a whole other long story that leads into several more long stories,” Dipper recounted as he led the way through the forest and across a small stream.

“Wait, let me see if I can get this all straight,” Pacifica interjected, holding her hands up. “So your great uncle actually has a twin brother who was trapped in another dimension for the past 30 years. And the whole time, your uncle was trying to bring that brother back using this huge portal that was secretly under the Mystery Shack the entire time but no one knew about it?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Dipper nodded.

“And the Gems factor into all this… how?”

“They sort of… don’t for a pretty long time. Like I said before, they lost their memories about all of this thanks to their leader, Rose, erasing them after they were possessed by…” Dipper trailed off, his expression darkening at the mere thought of the dream demon. “Y-you know what? N-never mind that right now.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Pacifica sighed, relieved. “I feel like my brain’s about to burst from everything you’ve been telling me. Your life is like some crazy movie or huge story written by a psychopath or something. Seriously, how do you deal with all these massive bombshell shake ups all the time?”

“Eh, you learn to just deal with them as they come,” Dipper shrugged, hopping up onto a nearby log to take a seat. Pacifica joined him, glad for the much needed break from their ongoing hike, though even so, she watched in curious confusion as Dipper pulled a snack out of his bag that she was entirely unfamiliar with.

“What’s that?” she asked, intrigued by the oddly shaped sandwich.

“Oh, it’s peanut butter and jelly,” Dipper grinned, offering half to her. “Mabel packed it for me before we left and for some reason she cut it into a heart shape and said it was ‘for luck’, whatever that means. Anyway, you can have some if you’re hungry.”

Pacifica didn’t immediately accept his offer, instead looking over the half-heart sandwich with a furrowed brow of confusion. “You said this is a… peanut--who and… what, exactly?”

“What, you’ve never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before?” Dipper asked with an incredulous chuckle before meeting the heiress’s dumbfounded expression once more. “Oh my gosh, you’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Is this some sort of… poor person snack?” Pacifica wondered, holding the sandwich up to get a better look at it. “N-not that being poor is a bad thing! It’s just… I-I’m not really allowed to anything that doesn’t cost over at least $100 per tiny gourmet plate portion, so… yeah…”

“Are you kidding?” Dipper asked in apt disbelief. “Your parents don’t even let you eat what you want?”

“Heh, welcome to the super ‘glamorous’ world of a Northwest,” the heiress laughed somewhat bitterly.

“Well, here’s your official welcome into the super average world of a Pines,” Dipper countered, placing his half of the sandwich into her open hand with a playful grin. “And unlike most of your high class gourmet meals, this one’s completely free.”

Pacifica tried her best to suppress the sudden blush that filled her cheeks as she accepted his offering, though all the same, she was still a bit hesitant to try the sandwich for herself. Until, of course, she ventured her first bite of the sandwich. “Mm! This is sooo good!” she exclaimed, her eyes alight with newfound discovery. She disregarded all the proper manners she had been taught in favor of voicing her overwhelming excitement over such a simple treat. “The bread’s so soft and it’s all so creamy, but then there’s like… little nuts in it too? I love that!”

“That’s the power of chunky peanut butter,” Dipper chuckled warmly, amused by the heiress’s elation as she scarfed down another bite.

“And this fruity taste? What is that?”

“Strawberry jam. So technically, it’s more of a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but eh, same difference.”

“Whatever it is, it’s amazing!” Pacifica grinned as she finished off the other half. “And you just eat stuff like that all the time?!”

“Eh, maybe not all the time, but PB&J is a longtime favorite for me and Mabel for a reason,” Dipper said, still laughing, especially as he noticed the small smudge of jam marring the heiress’s face. “Oh, hey, you got a little something on your cheek there.”

“Huh?” Pacifica reached up, rubbing just shy of the jam that she missed it entirely.

“Here, I got it,” Dipper slipped his vest off, not really having anything else but the corner of it to wipe the heiress’ face clean. He stopped short as soon as he did however, suddenly caught off guard by exactly what he was doing, and exactly how close their faces happened to be as he did. In the briefest, most breathless of moments, he caught sight of her eyes, wide and wondering as they practically sparkled in the low light coming in through the trees above. Eyes that were staring at nothing else in the world at that moment... other than him. “I-I… s-sorry,” he quickly recanted, backing off as he hastily threw his vest back on and slipped off the log to stand. “W-we should probably get going.”

“O-oh…” Pacifica frowned somewhat, slowly, almost sadly returning to reality as she did the same. “Yeah, you’re right… Um… thanks, by the way, for the… what was it called again? Sandy Witch?”

“Sandwich,” Dipper corrected with a smirk. “And you’re welcome. I’ll be sure to bring you another one when we hang out again tomorrow.”

“T-tomorrow…” Pacifica repeated, her former smile returning in full force upon hearing this. “Yeah, tomorrow. I can hardly wait…”

“Steven, please tell me you saw that!” Mabel whispered as she looked out of her hiding spot just behind the log the pair had been sitting on moments ago. “Because it was absolutely adorable!”

“Yeah, that was really cute,” Steven agreed with a warm grin. “Still, I can’t believe Pacifica’s never had a PB&J before… That’s like… one of the basic food groups alongside donuts and fry bits!”

“Who cares about that?” Mabel shook her head dismissively. “Did you see the way those two were looking at each other? It’s like they were hypnotized… by love!”

“Eh, I don’t know…” Steven noted with a frown. “I’m still not sure if that was really ‘love’ or not…”

“Oh, so you still need even more proof, huh?” Mabel challenged, her hands on her hips. “Well, then don’t worry, Universe. If you need proof, then I’ll give ya proof!”

At this, she let out something of a wild, almost manic laugh, one that admittedly startled Steven as he anxiously tried to reign her back down from her obvious obsession. “O-or instead of that, maybe we could just--whoa!” The young Gem didn’t get a chance to finish as Mabel suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him along after her once more, all for the sake of secretly eavesdropping in on Dipper and Pacifica once more. “O-or I guess we could always just keep doing this, that’s fine too!”

***

The next several days flowed along in a similar, surprisingly sweet succession. In light of the lack of any old or new threats or foes to face, Dipper didn’t mind spending his now very open free time with Pacifica at all. If anything, their already unexpected friendship seemed to grow closer and closer with each passing day as they shared new discoveries, snacks, and even secrets on occasion. The woods of Gravity Falls were essentially a treasure trove of adventures just waiting to be had, though fortunately none of their trips into it led to any real danger or disaster. Though one constant that neither of them were ever aware of during their days together was the fact that just about everywhere they went, Steven and Mabel followed behind at a safe distance, always unseen but always keeping tabs on the pair to look out for any signs of budding love between them. And suffice to say that, at least as far as Mabel was concerned, by the time the week was through, they’d seen more than enough signs of just that.

All the same, Dipper and Pacifica’s latest trip into the woods happened to fall under the cover of dusk, just as the sky filled in with the colors of twilight and the shadows of the trees gave way to darkness. Even so, the pair ventured into that darkness unfettered, their path only illuminated by a simple flashlight as Dipper led the way further into the forest, his hand intertwined with Pacifica’s all the while.

“Alright, Pines, I’ve had enough of your ‘mysteries’ for one week,” Pacifica remarked wryly as she eagerly followed after his swift pace. “Where are we heading this time? Some sort of creepy cave or underground tunnel to find some secret monster or something?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Dipper chuckled, pulling the first journal out of his vest. “Its something I found in here that I’ve never had a chance to see for myself before. And I have a feeling it’ll be right up your alley.”

“Oh really?” Pacifica smirked. “So you’re saying it’s some sort of magical creature that eats terrible, over-controlling, prestige-obsessed parents?”

“Heh, if only,” Dipper replied just as playfully as they finally emerged into a small clearing entirely covered by trees from above. This served to block just about all forms of dying daylight out, to the point that the entire clearing was practically engulfed in darkness when Dipper suddenly shut his flashlight off entirely.

“D-Dipper!” Pacifica gasped, blindly reaching around until she grasped onto his shoulder tightly. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry,” he assured, placing his hand over hers to steady her. “Just wait and watch…”

The heiress let out an uneasy breath as she decided to heed him, allowing the symphony of the evening to fill in for them. Crickets, cicadas, and birds alike all echoed around the darkened den of trees, frightening and fascinating Pacifica all at the same time, but amidst them, she held on tight to Dipper, almost as if he was the anchor keeping her from losing herself to it all. Until…

A sudden speck of light illuminated somewhere in the darkened space before the pair, small and sparse but persistent all the same. Another tiny light soon joined it, followed by another, then another, until the petite glowing orbs were popping up all around them, creating a warm, ambient sort of radiance that soon filled the entire clearing, making it apparent exactly what these little lights really were.

“Fireflies…?” Pacifica wondered, smiling softly as she cupped her hands under one of the glowing insects.

“Not exactly…” Dipper noted knowingly, watching expectantly until the creature’s normal yellow light suddenly, starkly turned a bright, vibrant purple.

“W-what?!” the heiress gasped, her hands flying away from the bug as she looked around to its kin, only to see similar shifts among them. The fireflies all seemed to slowly, gently change colors with each passing moment at random intervals, some glowing pink while others illuminated blue, as even more blinked orange and still more among them turned green. As they meandered about the clearing, they ultimately created a glittering rainbow of light, one that absolutely enchanted Pacifica as she simply stood there, trying to take it all in.

“They’re… beautiful…” she whispered, afraid she might scare them off if she was too loud. “What are they?”

“Iridescects,” Dipper informed, nodding to their depiction in the journal before shutting it and putting it away altogether. “Or, color-changing fireflies. They only live here in Gravity Falls, and they only come out during the summer months. I’ve been meaning to come out here to see them for myself, but everything’s been so busy lately that I haven’t gotten the chance to until now.”

“So,” Pacifica began, her wondering smile still apparent as she stood close to him and gazed out at the iridescects. “Was it worth the wait?”

Dipper paused, taking a moment to glance over at the heiress beside him. And the moment he did, it felt as though the entire world slowed to a soft, almost dreamlike crawl.

The iridescects still drifted through the clearing, colors changing as steadily as ever as they hovered across the otherwise shadowy trees behind them. And yet, despite their practically magical beauty, Dipper found himself captivated by beauty of an entirely different kind. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he’d always known Pacifica to carry an almost regal sort of elegance and grace, though as he looked to her now, those things seemed so much more natural, so much more vibrant, so much more free. The lights all around her reflected off of her skin to the point that it almost seemed to take on an otherworldly glow, her golden hair taking on a similar, constantly changing, but always appealing pallor. Yet what he noticed most, what amazed him the most, was her smile, her eyes, her soft, easy laughter as a small group of iridescects came to hover around her head, creating what looked like a sparkling, multicolored crown. A crown that somehow, in some impossible way, served to make her appear even more radiant than she already was on her own.

And suddenly, there was that feeling again, striking at his heart and bearing in deep. The very same feeling he’d first felt inklings of that night at the party when they’d first danced, that feeling he’d felt again, stronger and more realized deep within the titan’s ore mines. The same feeling he’d felt brief, crisp moments of scattered across the week he’d just spent with her each time they sat close, each time they happened to touch hands, each time their eyes happened to meet in stolen glances carried by unspoken words, unknown thoughts, and that feeling. So warm, so curious, so real and raw and rich that this time, it refused to be ignored. It demanded to be known, to be realized, to be felt. And as he slowly started to allow himself to feel it, he couldn’t help but wonder, as he looked down to her empty hand beside him, just waiting to be held, if maybe, just maybe, that feeling might just end up taking him somewhere this time after all.

And yet…

Maybe, he wondered, he feared, it wouldn’t take him anywhere, just like it hadn’t once before.

As the gravity of that fear pulled him back down to earth once again, he suddenly drew his hand away from hers before they could even skim one another. His awestruck expression fell into something much more solemn as he tore his glance away from her, almost as if so much as looking at her was like holding onto a promise that would never be guaranteed. “Y-yeah,” he finally answered her question halfheartedly. For even despite the blissfully warm array of colored lights all around them, he felt as though he was standing in a sea of cold, empty darkness instead. “I… I guess it was…”

***

“Ok, Steven, I think we can both agree,” Mabel began, pacing around in front of the chalkboard she’d positioned in the shack’s den. “That what we witnessed last night in the woods was pretty much THE most romantic thing ever! The color changing fireflies, the cool night air, and they way they kept smiling at each other? Augh, it was all so perfect!”

“Yeah, you know, I wasn’t really sold on the idea before, but… I think last night convinced me for sure,” Steven nodded with an excited grin. “Looks like Dipper and Pacifica really do like each other like that. So I guess that means we can be happy for them and move on with our lives now, right?”

“Wrong!” Mabel corrected succinctly. “You saw what happened last night, Steven! Dipper was this close to making a move that would have changed everything! He totally would have taken him and Pacifica out of the friend zone and into the love zone, but nooooo, he just had to back out at the last second, just like he always used to do with Wendy back when he was crushing on her too!”

“Oh yeah,” Steven nodded thoughtfully. “He almost took her hand and everything. Why do you think he didn’t?”

“Cause he’s an awkward dork who doesn’t know how to show people how he really feels!” Mabel huffed, frustrated over the fact that she knew her brother far too well. “But to be honest, I… kinda think Pacifica might be the same way. Which, I’ll admit, is gonna make this… a little tough.”

“Make what tough?”

Steven and Mabel both let out a startled gasp as they turned to find Dipper entering the room, curious to know what their ongoing conversation was about. Though that curiosity only grew as he spotted the chalkboard that Mabel had written D + P onto, surrounded by a bold, massive heart. “Uh… what’s going on in here?” he asked, confused..

“Um… good question…” Steven frowned, still somewhat lost in Mabel’s shuffle.

“N-nothing!” Mabel insisted readily. “And certainly nothing that involves you and a certain rich girl you’ve been hanging out a lot with lately, though if there’s anything you wanna discuss on that front, bro-bro, we’d be more than happy to listen!”

“Uh… no, thanks,” Dipper raised an eyebrow, looking between the pair with growing suspicion. “Wait a minute…” he glanced past his sister, narrowing his eyes at the chalkboard and the heart drawn on it until he all too quickly realized exactly who the initials within it stood for. “Mabel, please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing…”

“Me? Doing what?” Mabel feigned innocence. “Dear brother, I haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about!”

“Ok then,” Dipper said flatly before turning to the young Gem. “Steven, what’s Mabel holding behind her back?”

“Oh, well, it looks like a list!” Steven informed, catching the title of said list before Mabel could hastily shove it into her sweater. “I think it said ‘Dipper and Pacifica matchmaking ideas’ or something like that?”

“Steven!” Mabel hissed, flustered, especially as she looked back to her brother’s disapproving expression.

“Oh no, absolutely not, Mabel!” he quickly, adamantly exclaimed. “There is no way I’m letting you try to set me and Pacifica up. Like I’ve told you so many times before, we’re just friends!”

“Yeah, but don’t you wanna be more than friends with her?!” Mabel protested earnestly. “We’ve been secretly watching you guys all week, and we’ve seen that special spark between you guys! All you gotta do is stoke it a little, bro-bro, and it’ll turn into a full fledged, passionate romance for the ages before you know it! Right, Steven?”

“Uh… yeah,” the young Gem shrugged with an awkward smile. “Um, sorry for spying on you all week by the way, that was Mabel’s idea.”

“A great one, just like all my ideas are!”

“...Ok, first of all, never do that again,” Dipper began, hardly even surprised by his sister’s antics at this point. “Second of all, there is no spark! Pacifica and I have been hanging out a lot lately, yeah, but we don’t have feelings for each other and that’s that! So you can forget any of your little matchmaking schemes, Mabel, because they’d just be a big waste of time anyway.”

“That’s what you say, Dipper!” Mabel called after her brother as he turned to leave, thoroughly annoyed. “But just you wait and see! You and Pacifica will be smoochin’ it up before you know it! After all, the only thing stronger than the power of love is the power of MABEL!”

“Uh, I dunno, are you really sure about this, Mabel?” Steven asked just as soon as Dipper had left. “Even if Dipper and Pacifica do like each other, I don’t know if its such a good idea to try to force them to be together.”

“You’re right, Steven, its not.”

“Garnet!” Steven and Mabel both gasped, startled as the Gem leader spoke up from her previously unknown spot leaning against the front entryway.

“How long have you been standing there?” the young Gem asked, startled, though not surprised, given just how often Garnet did this sort of thing.

“Long enough,” the Gem leader noted as she stepped up to the kids.

“Great! Then you’re in on the plan to get Dipper and Pacifica to be an official couple then?” Mabel asked with an eager smile. “This sort of thing is right up your alley, Garnet. After all, you are certified expert when it comes to all things love and romance!”

“Hm, thanks,” Garnet smirked, adjusting her shades, though her smile quickly fell into seriousness all the same. “But I can’t say I’m completely in on the plan.”

“Aw, why not?” Mabel frowned, disappointed.

“Mabel,” Garnet began, kneeling down to the girl’s level. “I know you mean well in trying to help your brother find love. And… you’re not wrong. There definitely is something there between him and Pacifica. Believe me, I know. I’ve been watching them over the past week too.”

“You have?” Steven asked, bewildered. “Why?”

The Gem leader grinned once more at this. “Let’s just say I could see the sparks flying between those two from a mile away. Even back before either of them knew it.”

“Oh my goooosh!” Mabel gasped, excited beyond measure. “So if even your future vision saw them falling in love, then that means they must belong together! In that case, we gotta get ourselves on matchmaking patrol STAT! Break out the romantic candles and the sweeping violin music! Steven, call up a reservation at the nearest fancy restaurant as fast as you can. We’re workin’ overtime here people, this is a love emergency!”

“Hold on there, Mabel,” Garnet cautioned much more calmly, effectively stopping Mabel’s frenetic energy right in its tracks. “There’s a better way of doing this. Love isn’t something that can just be rushed out the door; it needs time to grow, and for the people who are feeling it to grow along with it. And if we really want to bring Dipper and Pacifica together, then that’s what we have to do: help them grow together.”

“So… how do we do that?” Steven asked, curious.

The Gem leader smirked. “I have a few ideas in mind…”

“Then let’s try them!” Mabel readily lept on board. “All of them! No matter how big or crazy they might be or how many illegal fireworks might be involved in any number of them!”

“There’s no illegal fireworks involved in any of them,” Garnet informed evenly.

“Oh, wait, that’s one of my ideas, sorry,” Mabel chuckled. “Still, this is a pretty big deal. I have a feeling we’re gonna need some extra help to make sure it all works out…”

“Help with what, dude?” Soos asked as him and Wendy entered the den for their break.

“Oh, you know,” Mabel said with a casual grin. “Only making sure Dipper ends up with the one true love of his life!”

“Whoa, really?” Wendy asked, both her and Soos equally intrigued upon hearing this. “Well, good for him. I knew the kid would bounce back eventually. So who’s the lucky lady?”

“Pacifica Northwest,” Steven said, somewhat obliviously.

“Whaaaaa?!” both coworkers exclaimed, exchanging a baffled glance at this.

“No way!” Soos shook his head, amazed. “I thought Pacifica like, hated all of you guys.”

“She did, until Dipper worked his way into her heart and melted it entirely!” Mabel gushed dramatically. “Seriously, they’re so cute together, and they’d be even cuter if they would just admit how they really feel about each other! So what do you guys say? Are you in?”

“Oh yeah, of course!” Soos readily agreed. “Anything for Dipper, dude.”

“Yeah, what the heck, why not?” Wendy shrugged with a smooth grin. “This whole thing honestly sounds super wholesome and sweet, and besides, it’ll be a good excuse to get us out of work for the rest of the day.”

“Hey, hey!” Stan snapped, suddenly poking his head out from the gift shop upon overhearing this remark. “What have I told you kids before? There is never any good excuse to get out of work.”

“Oh, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel greeted the conman with a bright wave. “You’re just in time to help us get Dipper a girlfriend!”

The moment he heard this, Stan was unable to hold back a heavy burst of laughter, slapping his knee as he leaned up against the doorframe. “Ha! Especially not that!” he chortled, essentially beside himself with amusement as he looked to the group in the den incredulously. “That’s a good one! I mean, we all know the words ‘Dipper’, ‘getting’, and ‘girlfriend’ don’t even belong in the same sentence together! Seriously, Mabel, you’re splittin’ my sides here!”

“I wouldn’t speak so soon if I were you, Stan,” Garnet spoke up knowingly. “The chances of Dipper and Pacifica ending up together are much higher than you might think.”

“Pfft, oh what, did you see that with your fancy future powers--wait,” the conman stopped short as he considered exactly what the Gem leader had said. “Did… you just say Pacifica? As in that bratty, spoiled rotten Northwest girl?”

“Uh huh,” Steven nodded. “Her and Dipper have been hanging out a whole lot lately.”

“Cause they’re in looooove,” Mabel added with zealous smile.

Stan, however, completely ignored them, his eyes growing wide with dawning realization. “As in the same Northwests who are so stupidly wealthy that they have way more money than they even know what to do with? Those Northwests?”

“Oh boy,” Wendy smirked, crossing her arms. “I can already tell where this is about to go.”

“Well, then why didn’t you mention that from the get-go?!” Stan exclaimed with newfound excitement. “If Dipper really does get with that Northwest girl and they end up getting married someday, then we’ll all be RICH!”

“Does that mean you’re gonna help us out too, Mr. Pines?” Soos asked.

“Are you kidding? Of course I am!” the conman said as though it was obvious. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to make absurd amounts of money without even doing anything and I’m not about to let any of you kids mess it up, and I’m especially not about to let Dipper mess it up!”

“Actually, Dipper’s not the one you’ll have to worry about on that front,” Garnet noted, though once again, Stan largely paid her no mind as caught up in his own flights of fantasy over the matter.

“So what are we sitting around here waiting for?” the conman asked, dollar signs practically in his eyes. “Let’s get those kids hitched so I can finally buy my own private island in the Carribean, just like I’ve always dreamed of!”

“Uh, m-maybe we should just settle for getting them together for now?” Steven suggested much more rationally.

“Eh, that works too,” Stan shrugged as everyone came in close to begin properly planning. “Just as long as I walk outta the wedding with the deed to my new personal island when it’s all said and done.”

***

Despite the many hands involved, the first stages of planning out a starting scheme went surprisingly smoothly. And in the end, the entire group walked out of their meeting with something that they all hoped and believed had a solid chance at working; the only thing they had to do was to make it all happen.

Securing a venue for the affair was easy enough of a task; the temple house had just enough room and would do the job nicely, especially after Steven, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy spent the better half of an afternoon stringing up lights and setting up tables. In the process, they managed to recruit Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst into their plans as well, with the former all set up to provide a romantic violin accompaniment while the latter pair would handle the food. Strangely though, neither Garnet nor Stan really participated in the preparations, save for dropping in to carry out a table here, take a few plates and utensils there, even cart off one of the flower arrangements for some unknown reason that neither of them would never explain, no matter how many times they were asked. Even so, the others managed to pull their plans together in record time, with everything and everyone set up perfectly in place just as evening began to fall. All that was left was to bring the hopefully soon-to-be couple into the mix and let nature take its course.

While, of course, not letting either of them in on that plan at all.

“Ok, seriously, you guys, what is going on?!” Dipper asked with a frustrated huff as Steven and Mabel shoved him out the Mystery Shack’s front door. Out of nowhere, the pair had pounced on him, forcing him into a clean-cut dress shirt and freshly-pressed pair of pants before they essentially held him down to run a comb through his hair. By the end of it all, even he had to admit he was dressed to impress, though for what reason, he hadn’t the faintest idea.

“Oh, you’ll see…” Mabel said with a leading grin, more or less dragging her brother up towards the temple.

“That’s what you guys have been saying for the past two hours now!” Dipper protested, thoroughly aggravated. “And it’s not good enough anymore! I need some answers now! Why are you guys acting so weird? And why did you force me to get all dressed up like this?”

“Aw, sorry, Dipper!” Steven said much more apologetically. “We’d tell you, but that’d ruin the surprise!”

“What surprise?” Dipper asked, still quite disgruntled as they all stepped up onto the temple’s porch.

“This one!” Steven and Mabel chimed in cheery unison as they threw the door open to reveal the equally bewildered heiress standing just on the other side of it.

Surprised, Pacifica spun around, showing off the simple, yet classy teal tea tress she was wearing. Her golden hair carried a slight wave to it, her face peppered with just a little bit more makeup than usual, creating an elegant, natural, appealing look. All the same, her eyes widened as she caught sight of Dipper, looking his own formal attire over for a moment before she ultimately broke into a small, impressed smile. “Hey.”

“H-hey,” he returned her greeting much more tightly, trying his best not to show just how mesmerized he actually was by how lovely she looked.

“Its working!” Mabel whispered to Steven, unable to hide the huge grin on her face. “It’s working!”

“Its starting to,” Steven agreed, chuckling before speaking up to the entranced pair with a formal bow. “Sir, madam, your table awaits.”

“Wait, what?” Pacifica blinked back into reality, confused. “Table?”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Dipper cut in, sending Steven and Mabel a suspicious glare. “This better not be-”

“A date! Yep, you got it!” Mabel exclaimed, pressing past the pair into the shack.

“A-a date?!” Pacifica flinched, startled as her cheeks flushing bright red as she looked to Dipper, battled and distressed.

“Pacifica, I swear I had no idea they were planning this!” he quickly assured, scowling at the pair. “Though in retrospect I guess I should have seen this coming considering how you guys always take these sort of things way too far…”

“What was that?” Mabel asked with a growing smirk as she stood before the curtain obscuring the rest of the house. “I couldn’t hear you over that romantic violin music.” She paused, her smile fading as she realized no such music was wafting through the building. “I said… that romantic violin music!”

“Oh! Sorry!” Connie called from the other side of the curtain. At this prompting, she began to play an elegant solo piece, one that Steven and Mabel used as their cue to pull the curtain back to finally reveal their master plan.

“Prepare yourselves… for a night of romance!” Mabel proclaimed, throwing a dramatic hand out to the setup behind her. In just a few hours alone, the rag-tag team had turned the house into a makeshift restaurant, complete with Christmas lights and candles in an attempt at creating a sense of atmosphere and ambiance, though in reality it ended up coming across as somewhat cheap, perhaps even a bit cheesy. A handful of small tables had been set up, complete with lacy tablecloths and fine plastic dining ware, and at each of those tables sat a different, romantically-involved couple, each of which had been invited for the sole purpose of filling the restaurant up.

The couple that was clearly enjoying themselves the most was Soos and Melody, the latter of whom just so happened to be visiting town at just the right time to make this impromptu date possible. They sat leaning in close, warmly conversing all the while as they absently munched on their breadstick appetizers before they happened to grab the same exact one, opting to eat it together until it led up to a brief, but very welcome kiss. Sitting at the table across from them was Robbie and Tambry, neither of whom were very invested in their date as much as they were sending each other flirtatious text messages, occasionally reacting to said messages with a coy grin across the table. Surprisingly, Lars and Sadie were also present, though quite begrudgingly so, given how flustered they were as they realized just how romantic the atmosphere around them actually was, something they were clearly uninformed of in advance. And still several other couples sat somewhat boredly as Wendy casually waited on their tables and Connie kept her gentle violin accompaniment going all the while. Even as a very audible argument began to break out between the pair of “chefs” in the very open kitchen nearby.

“Amethyst, for the last time, nachos are not considered fine dining!” Pearl huffed, clearly irritated.

“Oh yeah, and how would you know, P?” Amethyst retorted, still trying to prepare the simple snack food despite the white Gem’s protests. “You don’t even eat.”

“Maybe not, but I do know refined elegance when I see it and nachos certainly are not that!”

“Huh, and things were going so smoothly in here too…” Steven noted with a concerned frown that he was quick to chase away with a forced smile as he turned back to Dipper and Pacifica. “N-not that there’s a problem, because there isn’t!”

“Uh, yeah, there is,” Dipper replied flatly.

“Oh, and what might that problem be, dear brother?” Mabel asked, trying to maintain an air of class despite how classless the scene behind her was.

“Well for starters, you invited half the town to… whatever this is,” Dipper huffed, waving a hand out at the restaurant. “And second of all, you guys just threw all this together without even asking either me or Pacifica! I mean, did it ever occur to you that maybe we didn’t want you guys setting us up on some big, embarrassing date? B-because we don’t. We definitely don’t…” He essentially had to hold back a disappointed sigh as he said this, and likewise, he didn’t even bother to glance back at Pacifica behind him. Though if he would have, he’d have gotten a glance at an expression that was every bit as crestfallen and fretful as his own. “Right?”

“Um, y-yeah…” the heiress forced herself to say, frowning as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked to the floor. “Right…”

“More like right idea, wrong execution.”

The kids were all quite surprised by this interruption as Garnet suddenly stepped into the house, a confident grin on her face as she looked down to the hesitant pair in front of her. “Dipper, Pacifica, your other table awaits,” she stepped aside, holding the door open to the night air outside.

“Other table?” Steven and Mabel whispered to each other, completely bewildered by this turn of events.

Likewise, Dipper and Pacifica exchanged a wondering glance, but even so, they decided to at the very least follow the Gem leader’s lead, curious to know where it might take them. At the same time, Garnet silently beckoned Steven and Mabel, as well as Connie to pick up shop and follow after her, which they all did, even despite their palpable confusion.

“Hey, wait, where you guys goin’?” Amethyst called as she noticed the group heading out the door. “What are we supposed to do with all these nachos?!”

“Not serve them to our guests, obviously,” Pearl scowled, snatching a plate away from the purple Gem before she hastily grabbed it right back.

“Ah well,” she shrugged with a smirk before scarfing down the entire plate whole in full view of their very confused patrons. “More for me!”

***

As initially out of the loop as Dipper and Pacifica themselves were, now it was Mabel and Steven’s turn, for as the two of them and Connie treaded after Garnet and the couple from a distance, they couldn’t help but wonder exactly what shakeup to their well thought out plans the Gem leader had in mind. Which was exactly what Steven ventured to ask her as she continued to lead the group out past the shack and into the forest instead.

“Um, Garnet?” he asked in a whisper as him, Mabel, and Connie caught up to the Gem leader. “Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise,” Garnet said, a finger to her lips as she vaguely nodded back at the pair behind her.

“Uh, n-not to sound like Nervous Nelly here, but this... wasn’t part of the plan,” Mabel frowned anxiously.

“It was,” the Gem leader countered. “It’s just a bit of a different spin on the plan. I figured those two would appreciate just a little more privacy. And I wasn’t the only one to think so either.”

“Yeah, that’s right, which means you three oughta give them that privacy!” Steven, Mabel, and Connie all gasped in surprise as Stan of all people suddenly pulled all three of them aside, away from the setup that Garnet was taking the pair still following her to.

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked, bewildered. “What are you doing out here?”

“Like I said before, I ain’t about to let anyone mess this whole shebang up,” the conman said bluntly. “And that includes you kids. So sit back and watch some real romance happen. Or at least romance according to Shades over there, though since she’s pretty much in constant honeymoon mode, I’d say they’re in pretty good hands.”

“Boy, I’ll say,” Connie agreed, glancing forward and prompting Steven and Mabel to do the same. “Look!”

Garnet had finally stopped, Dipper and Pacifica pausing behind her as they looked around the dark, yet very open clearing they were now standing in with a shared sense of confusion. That is, until the Gem leader swept her hands out, somehow filling the entire area with a soft sort of gentle, multi-colored light, all of which radiated from the handful of iridescects filling the jars and lanterns strung across the clearing. Under that light sat a single table, set only for two, and every bit as warm and inviting as the rest of the serene, intimate setting very much was.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Garnet concluded with a simple smile as she turned to the pair, pulling down her shades a bit to reveal her trio of eyes, the topmost of which offered them a brief, knowing wink. “Enjoy.”

And with that, the Gem leader stepped aside, joining Stan and the kids back in the shadows of the surrounding trees. As she did, Dipper and Pacifica looked to each other once more, both of them equally perplexed as they tried to make sense of exactly what both of them had been unwittingly dragged into.

“W-well, I gotta admit,” Pacifica began diffidently. “This… wasn’t what I was expecting when Mabel texted me earlier and told me to dress up nice and come all the way out here without even explaining why.”

“Ugh, Pacifica, I’m so sorry about all of this,” Dipper sighed tiredly. “I don’t know what those two were thinking with all this. Well, actually… I know exactly what Mabel was thinking, b-but that doesn’t matter. A-anyway, if you wanna call it a night and go home, I wouldn’t blame you. I mean, this is probably way more awkward than you ever could have bargained for…”

“N-no, its not!” Pacifica suddenly exclaimed, far more intently than she had meant to. She recanted somewhat, flustered, though she still managed a small, genuine smile all the same. “I-I mean… it’s actually really… sweet that your sister and your friends would throw all this together for us. E-even if it is sort of… out of the blue. Still, y-you… wouldn’t want all their hard work to just go to waste, would you?”

Briefly, Dipper paused, looking between heiress and the table before them, both of which were practically aglow in the low light surrounding them. And despite his staunch rejection of this so-called ‘date’ before, he found himself hard pressed to turn the offer down when Pacifica herself was the one presenting it to him. “N-no, I guess not,” he shrugged just as apprehensively, following after her as she moved to take a seat.

Things were still somewhat stilted as they did so, however, the noises of nighttime filling in for any sort of actual conversation. That is, until they happened to lift the covers off their plates to reveal the deceptively simple, but surprisingly meaningful meal underneath.

“Oh! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!” Pacifica laughed brightly, absolutely charmed the once again heart-shaped snack. “How’d they know?”

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know the answer to that,” Dipper remarked, chuckling himself. “Honestly, I still can’t believe how much you liked PB&J the first time you tried it. It was pretty funny to see you get so excited over something as simple as a sandwich.”

“Ugh, no, it wasn’t,” the heiress smirked, blushing. “It was embarrassing. Even if that sandwich was totally delicious.”

The pair shared another laugh over this, one that was filled with warm that didn’t slip away, even after it was over. “You know…” Pacifica began with a soft, easy smile. “Even though we can both agree that this isn’t a… ‘date’, it’s still really nice to just be here… together…”

“Y-yeah…” Dipper agreed with a grin that was every bit as genuine as the heiress’ own. “It is…”

As the pair continued their casual conversation, they had largely forgotten about the group spectating over them from the sidelines. While both Garnet and Stan had taken a much more discreet, wiser approach to watching in the woods, Steven, Mabel, and Connie had all scaled a nearby tree to get a better vantage point. They had perched themselves on an obscured branch, just out of the pair’s view, but still giving them a perfect spot to see and hear everything that was going on between them. And suffice to say, they were quite happy with what they were seeing.

“Oh my gosh, Garnet was right, this was way better than our old plan!” Mabel gasped, delighted as the pair leaned in a bit from their respective ends on the table, laughing softly all the while. For a moment, it seemed as though their hands were about to overlap, though just before they could, they both ended up drawing back, noticeably flustered as their conversation carried on all the same. “But… they’re still holding back…” Mabel frowned upon seeing this. “Ugh! I can’t deal with all this ‘will they/won’t they’ tension! I need those two to finally get to Smooch City already!”

“Hm…” Steven mused, staring down at the pair. “There’s gotta be something we can do. What did Garnet say again? We have to help them grow together?” The young Gem paused, looking around the dimly lit clearing for anything that could give him an idea. And sure enough, he found that idea in the form of the violin still resting in Connie’s arms. “That’s it! Connie, can you play us a song? Something slow and easy, but emotional and passionate? Like a love song!”

“Well,” Connie grinned, positioning her bow to play. “Let’s see what I can come up with…” After a few practice notes, she was quick to find her footing in a smooth, natural, calmly-tempoed tune, one that soon filled the entire clearing with its gentle, pleasing sound.

“Yes, that’s perfect!” Steven whispered, stars in his eyes. “Now, if only I had my-”

“I’ve got you covered,” Garnet said as she handed the young Gem’s ukelele up to him.

“Thanks!” he smiled back down at her, quickly tuning his own instrument before finding the perfect place to jump into Connie’s melody to create a sweet, soothing duet. One that wasn’t lost on the pair listening to it from down below.

“Yeesh,” Dipper shook his head, facepalming. “They just don’t know when to quit with this stuff, do they? Remind me to get new friends and a new sister when all this is over.” Pacifica couldn’t hold back a small snort of a laugh at this remark, one that admittedly caught Dipper off guard from the very second he heard it. “Whoa, since when do you snort when you laugh?”

“Augh! Sorry!” the heiress flushed, covering her face in embarrassment. “It’s something my parents have tried to break me out of doing ever since I was little. They say its ‘not ladylike’, but sometimes I-I guess sometimes the snort just can’t help but slip through the cracks.”

“Well, I’m glad it does,” Dipper remarked, not even realizing just how red his own face was as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with her, largely speaking without thinking at this point. “Cause to be honest, i-its really… well, cute.”

By this point, Pacifica’s smile was so wide and so elated that she couldn’t help but let the bright, cherished feelings sparking within her brim over, urging her to be bold, urging her to take a chance, urging her to cross the line. Which she did in the form of something quite simple really; by doing nothing more than slowly, carefully resting her hand on top of Dipper’s own. “Say, Dipper…” she began thoughtfully, perhaps even a bit leadingly as she met his awestruck expression evenly. “You remember the night of the party, right? After the ghost was gone and we just went out there danced like a bunch of total dorks for hours and hours until we couldn’t anymore?”

“Heh, how could I forget?” he answered, finally tearing his gaze away from their hands and toward her imploring smile instead.

“Do you maybe wanna… I dunno… give that another go?” she offered, her tone soft and hopeful as the musical melody continued sweeping through the air, practically inviting them to move along to it. “W-we don’t have to, of course, I just thought… W-well, it might be-”

“‘Fun, or something’?” he countered, repeating the very words she had used the last time she’d asked him to dance. “Y-yeah, I think it would too, though… I, uh… don’t really know how to dance to something like, um… well, this.” He paused, allowing the almost waltz-like tune to fill in once again.

“Oh, it’s easy,” Pacifica assured as they stood and stepped up to each other. “All you have to do is just put this hand here, and this other hand here…” she trailed off, steadying herself as she rested one of his hands against her back before she took his other one. As apprehensive as he clearly was, his touch was light and more than welcome, especially as she met his anxious, yet adapting expression with a soft, good-natured smile of her own. “And then… you just go.”

And with that, their dance began, Pacifica leading it given her greater experience with this sort of skill. It began slow and easy, though still in time with the music as they spun in calm, cool circles near their table, their eyes never drifting away from each other all the while. And as that melody carried them on across the clearing, Steven decided to put words to it as he strummed along, creating a fitting love song for the pair that was clearly starting to fall into exactly that.

“How could it be? Now do you see? Its starting all at once…”

Prompted on by these gentle lyrics, they spun out wider, greater, with Pacifica gradually letting Dipper take the lead as he grew more and more comfortable with each and every step. True, he was still new to this, but she trusted him, she always had, from that very moment he’d helped her realize she could be so much kinder, so much stronger, so much happier than she’d ever thought possible. Happiness that she always, always felt in full form whenever he was by her side.

“You take a leap, then fall in deep. Slow at first, then all at once…”

Perhaps it was the night air or the colorful lights or the dreamlike music urging them onward, but urged by whatever it was, Dipper accepted the lead Pacifica was giving him, using it to spin her out swiftly yet carefully. When he pulled her back in, it was as though her eyes were sparkling as she looked to him, unquestionable elation and excitement filling them to the point that both were instantly infectious. For a brief moment, he could hardly believe that this moment was real, that they were here, together, like this. Certainly it had to be some sort of dream or fantasy and yet as he looked to her again, felt her hand intertwined with his own, he knew that this perhaps the realest thing in the entire world, the realest feeling he’d ever experienced in his entire life.

“Doubts disappear, there’s no more fear. And it happens all at once…”

Gradually yet naturally, their pace began to slow, their twirls becoming more lofty as the music did the same. Their hearts were both admittedly racing, both from their ongoing dance and from nerves, fear, and exhilaration all at the same time. But there was no question they treasured all of those feelings. They wanted to cling onto that moment, as blissful and sweet as it was. They wanted it, and everything it represented, to last for as long as it was able, even as the song soon came to its peaceful, promising end.

“Now that you know, your hearts can grow…. Together, all at once…”

Even as the lyrics reached their gentle conclusion, Connie and Steven continued playing their song, albeit a bit softer as the couple opted to ultimately slow dance to it down below. For awhile, neither Dipper nor Pacifica said anything as they continued, their hands still pressed together and their eyes tightly locked on nothing other than each other all the while. When this lingering silence finally was broken, however, Dipper was the one to do it, even if his voice was barely over a whisper when he did.

“A-are you ok?” he asked softly, intently.

“Y-yeah…” she nodded, just as subdued as he was. “I… I’m just a little dizzy.”

“Oh. S-should we stop?”

“No…” “Never,” she wanted to say, but she didn’t. And yet, despite this, they still stopped all the same, still holding onto each other loosely as they stared at each other, entranced and enchanted and unsure of what might happen next. That is, until, acting not on reason or logic or any sort of thought at all, slowly but surely they both began to lean in, their faces steadily drawing closer together, much to the delight of the trio watching them from the trees.

“YES!” Mabel shouted in a bright, elated whisper as she pulled out her camera to capture the moment as it happened. “This is it! Smooch City here they come!”

“I’m so happy for them!” Steven grinned joyously as tears started welling up in his eyes. “Oh man, I wish I’d brought a box of-” The young Gem stopped short as Garnet handed him off a box of tissues from down below right on time for his tears to begin to fall. “Thanks again!”

“Guys, shh!” Connie cautioned with a small, amused chuckle. “You’ll ruin their moment!”

Steven and Mabel were quick to pipe down at this, opting to instead watch in anticipation as Dipper and Pacifica only continued to move in closer and closer. For what felt like ages, nothing else seemed to matter, not the several sets of eyes they knew were on them, or the radiant colored lights all around. As if on instinct, their eyes both slipped shut, both of them breathless as they braved themselves to bound across the line and let their hearts lead the way.

Until, at the very last minute, when one of them realized exactly what was happening. And as soon as they did, they were all too quick to fearfully pull away.

Once Pacifica noticed her eager lips had been kept waiting, she hesitantly opened her eyes, only to see something that made her heart immediately plummet. For some reason, Dipper had pulled away, relinquishing his hold on her entirely as he took a small step back. His expression was rife with dread and guilt as he all but refused to make eye contact with her and instead gazed downward fretfully.

“D-Dipper?” Pacifica dared to venture, newfound hurt filling into her own expression as she reached an almost trembling hand out toward him.

“I-I... “ he hesitated, finally looking up at her before shaking his head. “I-I can’t do this… I’m sorry…”

The heiress flinched, awestruck as she watched him turn to leave her behind without even explaining why at all. All of the previous warmth that had once spread throughout her was now filled in with a bitter chill, one that carried into her tone as she worked up the courage to fiercely call him out. “S-so that’s it then?” she asked in disbelief. “Y-you’re just gonna walk away like its nothing? I thought… I thought you… t-that we were…” She took in a sharp breath, forcing every ounce of willpower she had to keep herself from breaking down entirely. “I-I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought, does it? Because clearly, you weren’t thinking the same thing.”

Dipper let out a long, remorseful sigh at this, briefly glancing over his shoulder at her to meet her bitter gaze. “Pacifica, that’s not-”

“Oh, what? That’s not it?” Pacifica filled in, obviously frustrated. “Then what is it, Dipper? Is… is it me?”

“W-what?” Dipper turned fully at this, seemingly distressed.

“Look, I get it, ok?” the heiress continued, choking back a small, harsh sob. “I treated you and your sister and your friends terribly. I was awful to everyone and, a-a lot of the time, I feel like I still am except for when I’m with you. Y-you made me want to try to be someone better, to be somebody who’s actually worth all the effort but… b-but… I guess that’s not good enough, is it?” She let out a small, pained laugh at this, her tears finally falling as she shook her head. “I should have known; after all, nothing I ever do is ever good enough for anyone, right?”

She was more than ready to resign herself to such a grim thought, a thought that she had always been taught her entire life and had only recently begun to believe could be false. But all too quickly she was being reminded of just how miserably true it really was, just how hopeless and powerless she to make that change she desperately wanted.

Until, of course, he came along and, in a single moment, pulled her right out of the darkness of that despair and back into the light, just as he had before. Only this time, it was in the very last way she could have ever expected:

With a kiss.

She barely had time to react, to think as she felt it, his lips pressed against hers in perhaps the most surprising moment of her entire life. Admittedly, it was quite surprising for him too, especially as he realized exactly what his feeling had so recklessly, thoughtlessly pushed him into doing. And yet it was too late to take it back now, for they there were, standing there, kissing of all things, both of them feeling absolutely ridiculous… and absolutely wonderful all at the same time.

“YESSSSSSS!” Mabel cheered as quietly as she could as she snapped a picture from the trees. “I got it! This baby is getting an entire scrapbook page all to itself!”

“I-I’m so glad you brought these tissues along, Garnet,” Steven sniffled as he glanced down at the Gem leader. “C-cause I’m really needing them now!”

“You’re not the only one,” Garnet grinned, thumbing away a stray proud tear of her own.

“Huh,” Stan remarked, absolutely dumbfounded as he watched the scene unfold. “Who could’ve guessed the kid actually had it in him? Either way, I’ll be rollin’ in dough in no time!”

These collective, excited reactions were all but lost on Dipper and Pacifica themselves as they slowly drew away, their faces still close as they tried their best to catch their breath and regain their bearings. After all, everything had just changed in an instant; and yet neither of them could deny that it was an instant in which they could go back to and live in forever, for all it was worth.

“O-Ok…” Pacifica spoke up first, uncertain. “Now I’m really confused. A-are you like… trying to play some sort of mind game with me?”

“N-no!” Dipper quickly, anxiously replied, gripping her hand and holding onto it tightly. “I’m not, I-I’m sorry, I just… I-It's not you, please, don’t think it’s you. I love how much you’ve been trying to change and it is good enough and it’s always been good enough and I… I’m just rambling at this point, aren’t I?”

“Um… yeah, sort of?” the heiress raised an eyebrow. “What exactly are you trying to say here?”

“I-I don’t know!” he admitted earnestly, absolutely overwhelmed by all of the thoughts in his head conflicting with the feelings in his heart. “I’m just so bad at these sort of things, I always have been, e-even… even the last time I felt this way about someone…”

“L-last time?” she asked, concerned. “Wait… you mean that crush you used to have on that Wendy girl?”

“W-wha--how did you know about that?!”

“Mabel told me,” she said with an understanding smile. “I didn’t really know why she did… until now, I guess.”

“Ugh, like I said earlier, remind me to get a new sister…” Dipper grumbled, letting out a long groan as he allowed himself to flop down to sit in the grass, defeated. Pacifica hesitated a moment, but ultimately joined him, sitting close, though not too close, as she waited for a long enough beat of silence to pass before speaking up.

“Uh… so if you don’t mind me asking, what happened with… that whole situation?” she asked, curious.

“It was dumb,” Dipper shook his head dejectedly. “I was dumb. She’s way older than me and I knew that, but I just had to go and fall in love with her even though some part of me always knew it was never gonna work out. So I spent so long being all anxious and scared and coming up with all these crazy plans to get her to impress her when it all just ended up being a huge waste of time in the end anyway. But then, after it did fall apart, I started to wonder if I was ever really in love with her at all? Like… maybe I just thought I was all this time? I don’t know…” he sighed, closing his eyes thoughtfully. “I know this sort of stuff is all a part of growing up, but that doesn’t keep it from being less confusing…”

“W-well, at least we have that in common,” Pacifica grinned slightly. “After all, I’m all new to this stuff too…”

“Wait… you are?” Dipper looked to her, amazed. “Aren’t you like, the most popular girl in town? I would have thought you’d have had a thousand boyfriends by now.”

“Heh, never any real ones,” the heiress chuckled. “More like stuffy suitors my parents forced me to hang out with to make their business partners or the press happy. But I never actually cared about any of those guys… until… until you.”

“Pacifica…” Dipper said quietly, unsure of what to follow it up with, though thankfully he didn’t have to as she continued for him.

“I… think I finally get it… why you held back at first,” she explained, slowly taking his hand once more. “It’s… hard wondering if you’ll ever really be good enough, working so hard to try to be the best you can for something that you’re not even sure is gonna work out in the end. It’s like a weight… one that’s so heavy you sometimes wonder how you can even carry it all without being crushed completely. So in a way… I guess we both have our own weights we need to carry, huh?”

He hesitated, though only for a moment. And in that moment, he realized that while his supposedly infatuated interactions with Wendy had always felt awkward and stilted, with Pacifica, it was like always seemed to know exactly what to say and do. A fact that, once again, proved to be completely true as he gave her the kind, easy smile he knew she deserved. “Well,” he began, prompted on by courage he didn’t know he had. Courage that was fueled by affection that he was now absolutely, finally certain of as he offered her hand a steady, supportive squeeze. “Maybe we can carry those weights together. That is… if you want to…”

Tears were welling up in the heiress’ eyes, though this time, they were filled with unquestionable joy as she nodded warmly. “Of course…” she whispered blissfully, somewhat playfully as she began to lean in closer to him. “But only if we take things slow…”

“Like I said, I’ve never done this before,” he laughed, overwhelmed once more, though by feelings of an entirely different, much better kind. “So slow is the only way I really know how to go.”

“Same here… and that’s perfectly fine with me,” she agreed, her eyes closing along with his as they drew in, this time entirely on purpose.

And on that purpose, their lips met once more. Perhaps even more than their first kiss, this second one was genuine, crisp, and warm, one guided not by fear or guilt but by instinct, by fondness, by faith that this could and would work out. As it continued, she lifted her hand to rest gingerly against his cheek as he absently weaved his fingers through her hair, the mere touches alone striking even more soaring emotions within them both. And by the time it was all over, it felt as though by that kiss alone they had solidified something, that they had made a promise to themselves and each other that this was the start of a bond, of a relationship that they’d cherish and protect, no matter what might come their way.

For as long and dreamlike as it all was, eventually, that kiss did eventually come to its natural end, though even as it did, they lingered close, their foreheads pressed lightly together as they shared a small, sweet laugh. However, for as tender as this moment was, it didn’t last long before it was inevitably interrupted by the flood of excitement that rushed out to meet them.

“Mazel tov to the happy, brand new couple!” Mabel cheered, catching the pair off guard as she tossed a handful of rice over them from behind. Steven stood alongside her, brightly applauding while Connie hurried over to try to keep them from ruining the moment any more than they already had.

“M-Mabel! Steven!” Dipper exclaimed as him and Pacifica pulled away, flustered. “What are you guys-”

“Oh, no need to thank us, bro-bro,” Mabel grinned proudly. “We were more than happy to make a match out of a couple as cute as you two, right, Steven?”

“Right!” the young Gem happily agreed. “Though… to be honest, I think we owe a lot of our success here to Garnet.”

“Well, my experience in the field of romance has never steered me wrong before,” the Gem leader remarked, grinning as she stepped up to the group.

“Hey! Don’t forget about me!” Stan cut in brashly. “I helped set all this up too! Speaking of which…” The conman threw on an amicable, somewhat patronizing smile as he looked to Pacifica. “Welcome to the family, kid. Does folks on your side of the tracks still do that whole dowry thing? And if so, how much are your parents willing to fork out for yours? Just asking for the sake of reference.”

“Uh…” Pacifica trailed off, exchanging a bewildered glance with Dipper over such an odd question.

“Ugh, come on, you guys…” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning to his new girlfriend with an apologetic smile. “S-sorry. I hope you don’t mind dealing with… them.” He nodded to the group surrounding them, composed of Steven, Mabel, and even Garnet’s wide, elated smiles and Stan’s much more greedy one.

Even so, the heiress let out a bright, genuinely amused chuckle at their antics, one that did more than enough to set Dipper at ease that she’d find a way to fit in among his occasionally overbearing friends and family just fine. “I think I’ll get used to it,” she grinned, accepting his hand as he helped her up to stand. “After all, I’d much rather deal with them than my family.”

“Well then, like Grunkle Stan said, welcome to ours!” Mabel quipped, throwing an arm around both Dipper and Pacifica’s shoulders as she sandwiched herself between them. “Oh my gosh, Pacifica! Does this technically make us sisters now?!”

“Um… I’m pretty sure that’s now how any of this works,” Pacifica noted sardonically.

“Alright, everyone, it’s getting pretty late out here,” Garnet spoke up, nodding over to the jars of iridescects that were starting to dim as they fell asleep for the night. “Let’s head back to the shack; I’ll make everyone some hot chocolate.”

“Ooo yeah!” Steven exclaimed excitedly, readily following after the Gem leader as she began to head back. “And we can put on a movie too!”

“Something romantic for you two lovebirds to cuddle up to,” Mabel added, offering Dipper and Pacifica a sly wink.

Even though Dipper let out an exasperated sigh at this, Pacifica merely chuckled once more, a laugh that Dipper himself couldn’t help but join in after a moment or two. As the others all went on ahead, the newly-formed couple trailed at the back of the group, their hands inconspicuously intertwining as they set out. As their fingers laced themselves together, they shared a soft smile, realizing just how well their hands fit together, how well they fit together. It was strange, perhaps even downright bizarre just how two people, so completely different yet also so very much the same, hand ended up together, but through fate or luck or something else entirely, they had. And as they strolled through the darkness into their fledgling future together, at long last, neither of them had any doubts left at all. Their feelings for each other were real, rich, and radiant, and there was no question in either of their hearts or minds, that together was exactly where they needed to be.

“Now that you know, your hearts can grow…”

“Together....”

“All at once…”

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