#eloise knut

[iluvchick3nz]

Ik your writing is usually really fluffy but I have had such a bad week and I need to cry and leo is my comfort character, would you be willing to write any type of Leo centric angst and hurt/comfort? With a lot of fluffy happy ending of course! (If you don’t want to you obviously don’t have to! Reading anything you write cheers me up anyways!!!)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to answer an ask out of order so we can help our friend have a better day! I recommend setting the phone down for a while and consuming some sort of creative art- watching a movie, reading a book, listening to music. Oh, and eating some chocolate! Chocolate cures a lot. Sending you lots and lots of love! <3

Have some Leo being a worried son, some Leo-and-Reg bonding time, and FinnLo being the "Best Husbands Ever" while Eloise is a little under the weather down in NOLA!

TW: mentions of car accidents, mentions of death, DUI, hospitals.

Credits to @lumosinlove !!

Leo tapped his foot against the linoleum hospital floor anxiously. His back hurt from sitting in such a low-backed chair for so long, but he wasn’t moving until his dad got back- Leo had to practically shove him out the door with a demand to go shower and get Eloise her favorite roasted garbanzo beans from the local market. He flashed his eyes towards where his mama was sitting up against the flimsy hospital pillows, phone held up to her ear and a smile on her face as she talked to Regulus, the French flowing naturally out of her mouth.

“Non, he didn’t!” Eloise threw her head back and laughed- Leo winced at the way it tugged on her IV.

“Mama, be careful,” he said, placing a hand on her thigh.

She just patted his wrist with a fond shake of her head, then went back to speaking to Regulus. “Well, what did you do?” She furrowed her brows for a second, then laughed loudly again. “Oh, they must have been so mad! Oh, Regulus, sweetheart, you’re evil. Did you give them homework, too?” She paused, fiddling with the ends of her blonde curls. “Well, I expect the practice served them on the test.”

Behind Leo, the door clicked open. He turned to see his father step through, canvas shopping bags in his hands. Wyatt looked up at him. “Ça va?” he whispered.

Leo nodded. “Ouais. She’s talking to Regulus.”

Wyatt smiled. “Good.” He walked over and pressed a kiss to the top of Leo’s head, then to Eloise’s cheek. She scrunched her nose happily at him, then nodded into the phone.    

“Yes, honey, Wyatt’s here. I’ll tell him you say hi. Want me to give you to Leo?” There was a brief pause, Regulus’ voice muffled through Leo’s cell phone speaker. Eloise smiled and laughed once more. “Merci, sweetheart. You have a good afternoon, okay? Ok, bye, bye.” She held out the phone to Leo. “Here you go, baby.”

“Thanks, mama.” Leo stood and kissed her head. “I’ll be right back.”

He put the phone up to his ear as he closed the hospital room door behind him. Regulus must have heard the click, because he laughed through the phone. “She sounds good.”

Leo nodded, even though Regulus couldn’t see him. “Ouais. She’s better.” He sat down heavily in a chair in the hallway. “The surgery went well. Fixed her femur all up, and she’s just got that and some bruising on her ribs now. Minor concussion, too.”

“Mm.” There was some shuffling of papers. “And the driver of the truck?”

Leo rubbed a hand across his forehead. “DUI. He was drunk as hell, Reg, I mean-” His voice caught. “She was- Jesus Christ, she was so bad when the ambulance brought her in. And he- he could’ve killed her, Regulus, and I-” Leo bit his lip to muffle the sound, but a tear did fall down his cheek. “I can’t live without my mama.”

“Hey, hey, whoa, Le.” Regulus sounded closer to the phone now, and he was speaking in a hushed tone. “She’s gonna be just fine. Hurt, but fine. And it’s June, you and Finn and Logan could stay the whole summer, if you want. I’ll come down and visit her, too, once I’ve cleaned out my classroom.”

“Yeah, but France-”

“Fuck France.” Leo could almost see Regulus’ wince. “Non, sorry, not ‘fuck France’, but- Leo, your mom had a really serious accident, okay? And you might need to stay for a while to help her and your dad out. The Tremblays will understand.”

Leo gnawed on his cheek. “But Finn and Logan. They were looking forward to it.”

“You mean those husbands of yours who literally worship the ground you walk on? They’ll be just fine. And if they need to, they can go to France for a week and come back.” On the other line, Regulus let out a breath. “But I’m sure they won’t want to do that. In fact, if you try and make them, Finn will pull out his puppy dog eyes, and Logan will glare so hard at you you might turn to ash for suggesting he leave you.” 

Leo laughed wetly. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“These things happen, unfortunately, Le, and you just deal with it, you know? And that might mean sacrificing in some other areas. But you also gain something. You’d get to spend the summer with your parents and your husbands in New Orleans, which I know you miss more than you like to admit.” 

“You’re right,” Leo sighed.

“Wow, twice in one conversation? I’m glad you admit it, I am pretty smart.”

Leo rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Ha-ha, shut up.”

“Non, too late. My ego has grown. It’s so big you can see it all the way down there in Louisiana.”

“Okay, okay, wow, I didn’t mean to do that, geez.” Leo softened a little, relaxing into the hard plastic chair. “Thank you. I needed this.”

“I know you did. Are you going home for the night?”

“Yeah. Finn and Logan are cleaning the house, and lots of folks have been bringing things around. Food and stuff. So, they’re chatting with neighbors when they stop by.” He snorted. “Or, at least, Finn is. I think Logan has been hiding in the garden, mostly.”

Regulus laughed. “Sounds like him.” There was another rustling sound. “Listen, I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta sort all these textbooks my students returned last week. But I’ll call you tomorrow, d’accord?”

“D’accord.” Leo sighed. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Le. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Leo hung up the phone and let out a deep breath, letting his head rest for a brief moment against the wall behind him before standing and walking back into his mother’s room once more. His mother was relaxed against the pillows and talking with his dad in a soft voice. She smiled up at him when he walked through. “Hi, sweetheart.” She reached out a hand for him to take. “Good?”

He nodded. “Yeah. How are you feeling?”

She tisked and squeezed his fingers. “The same as when you asked twenty minutes ago, honey. A little banged up, but I’m alright.”

“D’accord.” He bent and kissed her cheek. “You need anything?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “For you to go home.”

“Mama-”

“Nope, go, sweetheart.” 

She opened her arms and he knelt by the bed, gently folding himself against her chest. Leo felt so small against her, even as an adult. His dad put a hand on his back, and being in between his parents, being held like they had held him for so many years that felt so far away, made his eyes swell up.

Eloise felt his shuddering breath and kissed his head hard a few times. “I know those husbands of yours are waiting for you. Finn’s probably friends with half the neighborhood by now, and Logan sent me a picture of the garden all weeded, so he’s probably anxiously waiting for all those people to leave so he can have you all to himself.” At Leo’s teary laugh, she squeezed him a bit tighter. “Go home, sweetheart. They’re gonna bring a cot in for Wyatt so he can stay, okay? I’ll be just fine. You can come back with Finn and Logan tomorrow, please, I miss my boys.”

Leo smiled. “Ouais, they miss you, too.” He tucked his face into her neck and squeezed gently. “I love you.”

“Oh, my baby, I love you so much. You’re the best son I could ever ask for.” She kissed his forehead once more, then let him go. “Now, up you get. You need a shower and some food, you’re looking pale.”

“Mama.”

She raised her eyebrows at him once more. “I don’t care if I’m injured, or that you’re a grown man- you’re my baby, and you still gotta listen to me when I tell you to take care of yourself.”

Leo smiled. “Ouais.” He turned to his father and gave him a tight hug. “Love you, dad.”

Wyatt hugged him tightly and patted his back. “See you tomorrow, Le. Drive safe, and text me when you get home.”

Leo took a sharp breath in. That phrase held a lot more meaning now, and Leo could feel himself and his dad carrying that weight in the tension of their shoulders. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”

***

Home, Leo texted twenty minutes later as he stepped through the door, toeing off his shoes. Love you, I’ll see you tomorrow.

“Is that my sexy sunshine baby?” came Finn’s voice from the kitchen. He appeared, a dish towel over his shoulder, smiling wide enough to make the freckled corners of his eyes crinkle. “Hi, gorgeous.”

“Hi.” Leo walked forward into Finn’s arms, dropping his head tiredly onto his shoulder. “How are you?”

“Good.” Finn squeezed him tightly. “Just packed up the rest of the food. Eloise has got a village looking out for her, that’s for sure, I met, like, fifteen people today.”

Leo felt his eyes start to heat up as he nodded against Finn’s neck. “Yeah. Yeah, she does.”

“Oh, Le.” Finn carded a hand through his hair and kissed his cheek. “Sh, I know, baby.”

“No, it’s just-” Leo pulled back and wiped his eyes. Finn still had his hands firmly cupping Leo’s hips, and Leo was grateful for the sturdiness of them. “I’m just so grateful she’s okay, God, I can’t- it felt like I couldn’t breathe when my dad called me.”

“I know.” Finn reached up with one hand to cup Leo’s cheek gently. “I’m sorry, Le. You love your mama so much.”

That brought a new wave of sadness over Leo and he squeezed his eyes shut hard. “I don’t- Finn, I can’t do life without her, I just can’t do it, and she almost-” His breath hitched even harder. “If she had-”

“But she didn’t.” Finn brought his other hand up and gripped Leo’s jaw more assuredly. “Hey, look at me.” When Leo did, it was to Finn’s soft brown eyes looking back at him, so loving, even when they were sad. “She didn’t,” he whispered firmly. “She’s here, and she’s going to be fine, baby. She’s not going anywhere.” 

Leo fell forward slightly, and Finn was there to catch him as his sobs grew louder, his tears soaking the fabric of Finn’s T-shirt. The sound of hurried footsteps descending the stairs reverberated around the room, and then Logan was there, too, at their sides, panting and hair slightly wet from the shower. His eyes were wide and worried as he settled a hand on Leo’s waist. 

“Soleil.” His voice was low and frantic. “Soleil, what happened?” He jerked his head over to look at Finn. “What’s wrong, what happened?” When Leo just let out another cry, Logan tangled his fingers in his hair and rested his mouth on Leo’s jaw. “Mon soleil. Sh, sh, mon soleil, c’est bien, mon coeur.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo gasped, standing up straighter again to look at them both. “I’m so sorry.”

“Non.” Logan stood on his toes, wrapping his arms around Leo’s neck to pull him down and kissed his forehead. “Non, mon amour, don’t be sorry.”

“I just- she looked so small in the hospital bed, and I almost lost-”

“Non, non, Le.” Logan squeezed their bodies together tighter, and Finn wrapped his arms around them both. “Non, Le, don’t talk like that. That won’t help you, mon amour.”

“Lo’s right, baby.” Finn’s head was also ducked close, his lips against Leo’s other ear. “That’s not healthy. Eloise is okay, Le, and she loves you so much. She wouldn’t want you to think like that.”

“I’m so-”

Logan pulled back quickly and pressed a finger to Leo’s lips. “Non.” He replaced his finger with his lips, his kiss soft and sweet. “Je t’aime.”

Leo rested their foreheads together. He sniffed. “Thank you.”

“Oh, my love.” Finn wiped the tears from under his cheeks. “Let’s get some food in you, baby, then a shower and bed. We can watch a movie, or I’ll read to you.”

Leo looked up at him through his wet eyelashes. “Read, please?” He closed his eyes. “Love your voice.”

Finn pressed his smile into Leo’s forehead. “Of course I can.” He kissed Leo quickly, then Logan, then took them both by the hand to lead them into the kitchen. “Now, Mrs. Dubois brought over some pot roast that smells amazing, and some roasted potatoes. How’s that sound?”

“Good.” Leo squeezed his hand and sat at the counter. “Thank you both for managing the house today. I know that was kind of a lot.”

Finn waved his hand as he dug through the fridge. “Nah, it was fun, you got a lot of cool people here. I had a blast.”

Leo smiled. “My mama thought you might.” He turned to Logan, who had tucked himself into Leo’s side and was carding gentle fingers through his hair. “She also said that you were probably hiding from all those people in the garden.”

Finn snorted. “She knows you so well, Lo.”

Logan scowled slightly, but his eyes were still soft. “There were too many. And they stayed to talk forever, mon Dieu.” He looked up to Leo, green eyes wide and seeking approval. “I weeded the garden, soleil, and harvested some things.”

Leo kissed his forehead in appreciation. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He took a deep breath. “I was also thinking…” 

They both turned to look at him. Logan tugged gently on his T-shirt. “Ouais?”

Leo looked between them cautiously. “I think I want to stay and train here this summer. To help my mama and dad.” He looked down at his hands. “Which means I wouldn’t go to France.”

“We,” Finn said softly. He reached across the counter and titled Leo’s chin up with two fingers to look him in the eye. “We wouldn’t go to France.”

Leo shook his head. “No, I can’t- Logan’s family-”

“Non, soleil, they’ll understand.” Logan kissed his shoulder. “I’ll call maman tomorrow.”

Leo sighed. “Are you sure you two don’t want to go?”

Finn looked genuinely confused. “What?”

“Like…” Leo sighed again and waved with his hands. “Like, you could go for a week, to relax and see Logan’s family, and I’ll stay.”

Finn scoffed. “Uh, no thank you.” He walked around the counter and wrapped Leo up from behind. “I am on summer break, away from dozens of crazy teenagers, and my husbands are finally done with the hockey season. We are not spending a single day apart, you understand? Not a damn one.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, sunshine.” Finn kissed him briefly upside down. “We are planting ourselves right down here this summer. Lots of boat rides, gardening, evening runs, and sunshine.”

“Ouais,” Logan said from his place against Leo’s chest. “Lots of sunshine.” He rested his chest against Leo’s chest and looked up at him. “D’accord?”

Leo nodded, brushing Logan’s hair back from his forehead. “D’accord.” He let his head fall back against Finn’s shoulder. “I’m starving.”

“Coming right up, nutter butter baby.” Finn sauntered around to pick up the pot roast container and dump the meat into the pot on the stove. “Let me just heat it up and we’ll be good to go.”

Leo winced. “Finn, are you sure you don’t want me to-”

“Hey! I can heat up pot roast,” he scoffed, turning to grab the potatoes next. “I don’t need anyone’s- shit!” Finn barely caught the pot he had bumped with his hip, looking with wide eyes as some of the meat juice fell on the floor. His fingers shook as he precariously put the heavy pot back on the stove and turned towards them sheepishly. “Uh. Well.”

Leo rolled his eyes fondly. “You have zero spacial awareness, honey.” He gave Logan a kiss and walked around to join Finn at the stove, nudging his hip with his own. “Go, you two set the table. I’ll reheat dinner.”

“Are you sure-”

“Finn.” Leo raised his eyebrows amusedly as he pulled out a sheet pan for the potatoes. “I love you both more than anything, but please go set the table.”

“Right.” A pause. “Are you sure?”

“Rouge,” Logan laughed. “Allez, Le said he’s fine.”

“But-”

“Sweetheart.” Leo turned towards him and cupped his hips, kissing him soundly. “Go.”

Finn looked a little dazed. “‘Kay.” He looked over his shoulder at Leo as he and Logan began to get the plates and silverware out. “But you can’t use kisses to get me to do things all the time, okay?”

Leo looked him up and down. “No?”

Leo and Logan shared a look as Finn’s ears turned red. “No.”

Logan stood on his toes and sucked gently on Finn’s jaw. “Non?”

Finn’s eyes fluttered shut briefly before he opened them with a sharp inhale and what sounded like a whine. “Stop that.”

Logan’s grin was mischievous. He winked at Leo, making him warm all over, and not for the first time that day, Leo thought about the lucky hand he’d been dealt. His face must have reflected it, because Logan sent him a fond smile and settled a soft hand on Finn’s back. 

“Allez, mon rouge,” he said, his eyes on Leo. They were warm and loving and the most beautiful shade of green Leo had ever seen. “Let’s set the table.” 

[fruitcoops]

Way Down on the River

O’Knutzy Week Day 2 ( @oknutzyweek2023 ) : Bucket Hat (B1) + Advice (D1) with Leo’s grandmother <3 O’Knutzy belong to @lumosinlove, but I made up Apolline!

Sweet tea on a summer evening, and Leo is happy. Finn can see it from a room away. He hums along to the radio filtering in from the backyard, bass-boosted by the joy of his family. Logan is almost certainly charming Wyatt at the barbecue.

But Leo is happy without any of that. Condensation buds along his fingertips; he balances two fresh glasses of tea in one hand and reaches for the screen door with a childlike sort of excitement. The ice cubes ring almost as soft as his greeting through the fine mesh.

Finn lowers his voice and ducks his head. “So should I call her ‘MeeMaw’, or…?”

“We aren’t really about the ‘MeeMaw’ life here,” Eloise laughs beside him.

Outside, the porch swing creaks gently as Leo sits with a smile and a sigh Finn can hear through the door. Mismatched glasses clink on mosaic tiles.

Dusk looks good on him. Contentment looks even better. He loves it when Leo is happy.

“I really don’t think I can just call her Apolline,” Finn murmurs. The silhouette to Leo’s left waves a hand through the air; more laughter siphons after it. “I mean—I know she asked me to, but it feels wrong.”

Eloise’s smile crinkles her nose. “You are too sweet sometimes, Finn O’Hara. The kids call her Granmѐ. Everyone else goes with Mama Lee.”

Finn nods slowly. He’s been lucky enough to call Leo his for over a year now, but he can’t fathom a world in which he calls his boyfriend’s beloved grandmother by her first name. His mother would be horrified. He would be horrified. His ancestors would rise up and smack him for the sheer disrespect.

“Mama Lee.” It’s not so bad. Eloise looks pleased, at least. Finn tilts his head from side to side, weighing the sound. The porch lights cast Leo and his grandmother in a neverending sunset on their shared seat.

Outside, Leo says something that sends them both into peals of giggling. Eloise huffs under her breath and sets a dry plate aside. Her eyes are bright and warm when she glances at him. “I hope you know you’re not getting him back.”

“Not a problem,” Finn laughs.

“It’s a wonder we ever got him home from sleepovers. Though—” She pauses and cranes her neck to look out the door. “—between the two of us, I think my mother is about ready to adopt you boys at the first opportunity.”

And you must be Finn. Light brown skin and dark eyes and smile lines that told of a life well-lived and well-loved. A peacock-blue shawl of cloudlike softness, a carpet bag bulging at the clasp with gifts and food. Call me Apolline, honey. A voice like summer thunder on a lazy river. Magnolia and citrus perfume. I hear you like cards?

“You think so?”

Eloise shakes her head, grinning. “You were hers the second you knew how to play gin rummy.”

Finn sends a silent prayer of thanks up to his own grandmother for training him with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and cookies. “I was not prepared.”

“Nobody ever is.” Eloise nudges him with her elbow and casts a significant look out the door. “She counts cards, you know. Like she’s in Vegas. Swear to God I’ve seen her with aces up her sleeves.”

--

A sharp burst of laughter fills the house before someone—his mother, he thinks—hurriedly shushes it. “That’s your boy, mm?” Granmѐ gives an approving nod. “I like his voice.”

Leo buries his smile in the rim of his glass. “Me, too.”

“You said he reads out loud?”

“Sometimes.”

She nods again, settles deeper into the cushions, and tucks her shawl close with a long exhale.

“He should work at the library. Kids want a voice like that.”

“He wanted to be a teacher if hockey didn’t work.”

Granmѐ’s pleased hum echoes in his memory, a threadline mapping a hundred honeyed afternoons. The breeze cools them both; he slides his feet beneath the folded lap blanket, but keeps his tea close. She made it. It’s rich and sweet the way he has never managed to replicate. It sticks to his teeth, his throat, his heart, and shoos the drenched heat of summer off like a naughty cat from the yard. If he closes his eyes, he can taste the sun inside it.

“He likes you.”

She says it with the surety of someone who simply knows these things. Leo catches a drip of tea that threatens to slide off his glass. “He does.”

“Cher, he likes you something fierce.” She spares him a sly glance before looking back to the street, where the sun has long since set over the roof of their neighbors’ house. One slippered foot extends to give them a push off the ottoman—the hinges whine, but rock them nonetheless. He has fallen asleep out here with her so, so many times. Granmѐ clucks her tongue. “Your other one, too. Your français.”

“Logan,” Leo supplies.

She waves him off with a tch that makes him grin. “I know.”

“Ouais, Granmѐ.”

Her clever eyes dart over him, up and down. Her mouth is set firm but he can feel her amusement like a cradling wind. “I know,” she repeats. Leo could listen to the syrupy slide of her French forever. “The love life of my grandbaby is up here somewhere.”

Up here somewhere. As if she isn’t the sharpest person in the room at any given moment. “Ouais, Granmѐ.”

She hums a playful warning, but smiles when he sets his glass aside and scoots closer to her. “There is a difference,” she notes without preface.

“Hmm?”

“The liking.” She casts her shawl aside with a flick of the wrist; her touch is gentle as she takes the bucket hat from his head and brushes his hair out of his eyes. He has his father’s height, but he knows he’s his mother’s son in her eyes. “And the loving.”

She watches him. Just…watches. Her hand lingers by his face, warm fingers drifting butterfly-soft over his skin. Summer has painted her with the deep brown freckles that stipple his memory—the marks he would trace with grasping hands in childhood Augusts, and the ones she would map on his own nose and cheeks with a fingertip to show they were just the same. They spent ages in the grass like that, across from each other on a gingham blanket as old as his mother, a namesake and her mirror.

“They love me,” he says softly. It’s part promise, part reassurance. He’s not sure who needs it more right now.

The wrinkles by her eyes deepen with contentment. “They do.”

“I love them.”

“You love so much, boo.”

“But them—I really do.” She needs to know this. He needs her to know this. She had known everything, like always, even before he told her. And he told her before anyone else.

Granmѐ, I don’t think I like girls like I’m supposed to.

Is that what you’re so wound up in? She hadn’t even looked up from her puzzle. Mmhmm. Come find my corner piece.

Crickets and frogs fill the silence, growing bold in the hastening night. The windchime twinkles at the corner of the porch. Leo has never met anyone who sounds the way his grandmother does. She has the whole depth of the river in her voice. Spanish moss pours off her words. He can see the breadth of the bayou in her searching eyes. “Give your heart to the people that deserve it, Leo.”

He is five years old and falling asleep against her in the rocking chair, and she is humming to jazz records with a hand on his back, and he is safer there than anywhere in the world.

His voice shakes when it slips out. “Do they deserve it?”

“How could I tell you a thing like that, hmm?”

But she’s smiling. And Finn laughs again inside and the smile stays, wide like his own. Leo sags with the relief. She doesn’t hesitate to pull him into a hug that seals up the hairline cracks of homesickness with golden honey. He twists a tassel of her shawl between his fingertips and allows himself to pretend the world is as simple as it was when they’d lay out under the spilled-milk stars and she’d bundle him in peacock blue to chase away the chill.

His next breath comes out wet. “They deserve it.”

“I think they’re going to work very hard to make sure they keep deserving it.”

“I love you.”

Her hand is so strong when she passes it down the back of his head. He feels her answer in the pressure and the slowness, as if she doesn’t want to pull away. But she does, and still, their arms touch when they take their tea back. Leo rests the side of his head on her shoulder and wonders if he should feel silly about it.

“Mama’s worried about you living by yourself out there,” he says once one song bleeds into the next in the backyard. It’s not even midnight. They’ll have time for the party later.

His grandmother scoffs. “Do I look like I need help?”

“Non.”

“Then you tell her I’m just fine.”

“I will.”

“And tell your daddy, too. Man thinks the bayou is dangerous, like he didn’t live there for years.”

“Ouais, Granmѐ.” The vowels drag out like a good stretch on sore muscles.

She gives a harumph that makes them both snort—Leo barely glances up when there’s a knock on the doorframe. “Bonjour. Do you need anything?”

He smothers a laugh at the crispness of Logan’s accent against their own. “Non, I think we’re okay—”

“Ah-ah,” his grandmother interrupts. Her fingernails tap lightly on the side of her glass. “More tea, if you’re asking.”

“Bien sûr, madame.”

Leo catches Logan’s eye as he bends and gives him a look of disbelief, mouthing madame? with a healthy amount of incredulity. The consequences come swiftly; the loving hand running through his hair bestows a firm swat upon the side of his head.

“Apolline,” Granmѐ corrects in a voice at odds to the smarting skin above Leo’s ear. He rubs at it and pointedly ignores Logan’s bitten-back grin.

“I’ll be back in a moment, madame.”

Logan’s gone with a smile and a wink that makes her bark a laugh. “He’s a good boy.”

“See?” Leo tilts his head towards the inside of the house. “Deserves me.”

“I don’t think your rouge will call me by my name, either.”

Leo shakes his head and sits up with a stretch that makes his wrists pop. “Told you they were raised right.”

“We raised you too well to even look twice at the rude ones,” she sniffs. Her haughtiness lasts only until their eyes meet, and then the joy breaks free. The porch swing sways in the night breeze; they laugh at the stars with tea-sweetness on their lips and thick cornbread warming their bellies. Yes, Leo thinks, they raised him too well to accept anything less than this.

[noopienoopiernoopiest]

Leo Knut - #1 - A Terrible Idea

Day One: @noots-fic-fests - Fic-O-Ween. Thanks as always to @lumosinlove

Rated: G

CW: Food

Warning: Vaincre Spoilers

Leo liked to think that he was a good partner.

He was always there to lend a hand when Finn or Logan needed it. He was always available for kind word or a big hug. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his two.

And this was simple.

Should have been simple.

Their families had decided on various different plans for American Thanksgiving, and the three of them had decided that more than anything they wanted to spend it together. The ink was barely dry on Logan’s contract with the Rangers, and they knew now that for the next four years, this was going to be one of the few times during the season that none of them would have a game and get to see one another. As luck would have it, Logan had played an early home game Wednesday against the Penguins and had driven down to Gryffindor early. By the time Finn and Leo were done with their game against Montreal, he was there.

Leo wanted everything to be perfect. And perfect for Thanksgiving meant a dinner. A good one. The best one.

He’d done Thanksgiving dinner more times than he could count, but he’d always had his mama and her sisters as back up. Wyatt had surprised Eloise with a trip to Bali, so she was half a world away and without a phone. This was the first time he was attempting it all on his own.

Still, it shouldn’t be too complicated. It was just a lot of simple dishes all together at once. How difficult could it really be?

“Are you sure you want to do all this, Soleil?” Logan had asked, taking in all of the various groceries and prep that had taken over their kitchen by the time he got there.

“I already tried to talk him out of it,” Finn said, putting his chin on top of Logan’s head. “He said—”

“It’s a tradition. Besides, I want to do it for you,” Leo said, ignoring Finn.

“Exactly.”

“Is there anything we can—” Logan started again.

“Our instructions are to go to the living room and stay out of his hair,” Finn replied dutifully, nodding.

Logan’s eyebrows pulled together. “But I want to see you, Leo.”

Leo smiled. “You’ll see me plenty afterward. I promise.”

“But it’s, like, ten in the morning. Are you really going to start cooking now?”

Finn snorted. “Lo, he started like three days ago.”

Leo came up to both of them, kissing Finn’s cheek and then Logan’s forehead. “Trust me, it’ll all be worth it.”

That had been six hours ago.

Now, it looked as if a battle had been waged in the kitchen. Leo was usually pretty militant about organization while he was cooking, but that had been before his gravy had broken for the third time and he’d managed to scorch the rice and beans and had to start them over.

He was frantically trying to keep the cheese sauce from splitting and trying to figure out exactly how he was going to fit in three pans of various vegetables into the oven in the last thirty minutes of the turkey cooking.

“Baby, do you need—”

“I’m fine, Fish.”

“…You don’t seem—”

“Fine, Finn.”

“Are you s—”

“Finnegan.”

And then a few minutes later. Leo had his back to the doorway, but he could feel someone lingering there. It had to be Logan. Finn would have already started talking.

“Tremz, not now. I’ll be done soon.”

He couldn’t understand why they didn’t understand he was doing this for them. It had been effort. Lots and lots of effort over days of work. Baking pies and preparing bread, stewing turkey giblets and necks for stock that underpinned the gravy and the stuffing. Planning the menu, the grocery lists, the shopping. Weaving all of that in between practice and games and travel and everything else. It was almost done if they could give him an hour it’d be finished and he could relax.

He didn’t even turn around. He heard a sigh and the shuffling of feet and that was it.

Leo tried to distract himself from the lead weight in his stomach with mashing potatoes and pulling the stuffing from the oven, but it was there anyway.

And then, finally, it was done. The table was set.

Finn and Logan were both silent when they sat down.

“Looks great,” Finn said quietly.

“Ouais, Soleil.”

They made their plates, and Leo was finally ready to sit back and enjoy the fruits of all that labor.

And then tragedy struck.

Well, tragedy had started three days earlier when he’d decided to salt brine the turkey. Salt and baking powder. Salt and single action baking powder.

Finn reached for his napkin, discreetly trying to make a gagging noise without being rude.

It wasn’t the kind of mistake he made. But he did. The turkey looked perfect.

Logan winced, but kept chewing, swallowing determinedly.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, he could tell it wasn’t perfect. It couldn’t have been farther from perfect.  

Single action baking powder. Not double. Double would make it…

Taste like metal. Like baking soda.

Suddenly, Leo was aware of the wreck in the kitchen behind him, the sweat and stains on his T-shirt, the reserved, cowed expressions on their faces.

If it hadn’t already tasted vile, it would have tasted like ash anyway.

He wasn’t aware of the tears before they started to fall.

“Excuse me,” Leo said before leaving the table.

He just made it to the bathroom before the crying really started. What was he doing? He’d spent all day on this, and for what? He turned on the sink and wetted his hands, pressing cool water to his cheeks. He studied his red eyes in the mirror. His hair was frizzy, and he looked tired.

There was a gentle knock at the door before it was pushed open and Logan was there, pulling him into his arms, and the tears started again.

“Shhh, Soleil. It’s okay. It’s okay,” he soothed. It didn’t matter that Leo was six inches taller than him, in an instant, Leo folded himself into his chest and let himself cry.

“I’m sorry. God. I’ve been the worst,” Leo snotted.

“Non. No. Leo, no. It’s alright. You were stressed. We know that. We know you wanted it to be good for us.”

“This was a terrible idea,” Leo said.

“It wasn’t. Shh. It wasn’t. You always try to make everything so good for us. Finn and I know that.”

“And you’re not here that long!? You’re leaving tomorrow and I spent all day snapping and distracted,” Leo continued to rant.

“Peanut, look at me,” Logan pulled back, using the sleeve of his too long sweatshirt to wipe at Leo’s face. Leo was sure he looked a mess.

Logan didn’t seem to care. He offered Leo a small smile.

“You’re okay. It’s okay. We love you, Leo. It’s so good that you want to do things for us, Peanut, but it’s all okay. I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Logan said, nodding his head like that was all there was to it.

Maybe it was.

“Okay, folks. Good news. There’s Thanksgiving pizza arriving in t-minus seven minutes,” Finn said coming in the doorway. “Everything else is delicious and who even likes turkey anyway? Worst poultry in my opinion,” Finn sniffed. 

Leo couldn’t do anything but pull him into their hug.

---

Afterward, after Finn and Logan tackled the kitchen and Leo was showered and snuggled into Finn’s oldest Harvard crewneck, Leo thought that it had been perfect anyway. Perfect as they’d laughed watching Finn try to combine cheese pizza and cranberry sauce, perfect as Logan balled up pieces of rolls and put them in the hood of Finn’s sweatshirt for him to find later.

Now they were all crammed on the couch. It was big enough for all of them, but each of them preferred to gather at one end and invade one another’s space. Leo’s head on Finn’s shoulder, breathing in Logan’s cologne as they watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

And Leo was so grateful for them.

“Thank you,” he said quietly into Logan’s hair.

Logan didn’t say anything, just reached up to kiss temple.

Leo figured it maybe wasn’t what he’d expected, but maybe that was exactly what made it better.

[clickoly]

Starboys, part viii

I'm splitting this chapter in two because it’s taking me forever and I feel terrible about it.

Hope y'all enjoy a day in NOLA with the Cubs <3

Character credits and infinite thanks to @lumosinlove!

● ● ●

Lovely, to be rained on with you

The short drive from the airport against a dark cluster of rain-laden clouds had been lost to the second. The rain, loud and sudden, had hit the cobblestone floor of the porch of Leo's parents' house with the same intensity as a raging wave, unexpectedly sweeping the world away from its shore. Logan had jerked in two long strides under the porch roof, scurrying away like a cat afraid of water. Finn had laughed at him, raindrops drawing faint patterns on his freckled cheeks as he waited for Leo to get his duffel bag out of the car; he'd chirped the lock, then caught Leo under the fabric of his trench coat, draping it over their heads as they walked together to the front door. 

Now a thin film of mist covered the cold window pane on which Leo was absentmindedly watching two condensation droplets race each other. They fell at exactly the same speed, encouraged by the heavy drumming of the rain hitting the glass frame from outside—until the smaller one changed its trajectory and took a new path to crash into the other.

"Jack, can you tell us what happened out there with your teammate?"

"Yeah, no. That was such a stupid move, I know. I can't tell you how sorry I am. Honestly, I didn't see him coming."

"Have you two talked?"

"Not yet. But I'm going to find Finn as soon as we're done here to apologize. I respect him a lot, you know. I mean, I've looked up to him for so long I—he's inspired me as a driver, really. The goal is to become at least half as good as he is." 

"And where do you think you stand in his run for the championship?"

"I want to help, of course. And as long as I'm here, I'll do my best. Tremblay is a tough contender and his team is... really good, yeah. But I'd put my money on Finn. Although I guess I'm biased, huh?"

The pattering would have been a lull, a distraction, if only Leo could peacefully close his eyes. He hadn't been able to for a while, he realized. But Leo was home now, and in the next catch of breath he forced himself to focus on the most familiar sounds, soft and endearing, enhanced by a new kind of electrical charge that fit Leo's ears perfectly. 

Logan was on the couch, showing a beaming Wyatt Knut his vintage car collection—the few pictures he kept in his camera roll like a proud dad. Noises of cupboard doors opening and closing came from the kitchen, mixed with his mom's warm laughter and Finn's unmistakable charming voice as he helped Eloise put away the groceries. 

It felt weird for a moment. Curled up on the cushy, old armchair in his parents' living room, close to the window that opened to the backyard—Leo’s favorite spot. The one where he used to drift off to sleep all the time, tired and groggy, with an open book or class notes resting on his legs, until his dad would tuck them away and send him straight to bed. It was the same spot where Leo spent hours and hours snuggled up in soft blankets during the sacred race weekends—a family ritual—or just chatting with his parents, recharging during his periodical visits between busy semesters at Cambridge. There he'd known Finn and Logan for the very first time: two talented and handsome rookies he may or may not have been crushing on ever since. And now it gave Leo goosebumps, feeling how natural it all was. As though Finn and Logan somehow belonged here—in this house overflowing with love and happy memories—if only in Leo's most secret dreams. 

"There he is," a familiar voice broke through Leo's daze. Eloise walked into the living room, followed closely by Finn and his dazzlingly sharp grin—so, so content it made Leo's heart skitter. She came up to Leo and sat on her leg over the puffy arm of the cream-colored armchair. 

"How's my baby?" She asked, lovingly pinching Leo's warm cheeks between her fingers. 

Leo wrinkled his nose in weak protest as he looked up. His mom was wearing that gentle, knowing smile—one that Leo knew very well. It said I'm here if you need me, always giving him enough space to work things out at his own pace, but never alone. 

"He's good," Leo sighed over a smile of his own. "Better now." 

Eloise glanced over at the couch and tilted her head with a fond exhale when she saw how intently Logan and Finn were listening to whatever story Wyatt was telling them. 

"I think we lost him for good."

"Starstruck," Leo laughed.

"Can't really blame him," she arched her thin, blonde eyebrows at him. "Got a couple of star boys over there. Two sweethearts." 

"Yeah," Leo whispered, although mostly to himself. "They really are." 

"Got plans for tonight? Finn said something about Leo's terrific cornbread earlier, so… are you planning on invading my kitchen?" 

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Leo adjusted a small pillow behind his neck. "But yeah, we'll probably stay at home. Watch a movie, maybe. It was… quite the weekend. Well… week," Leo corrected. "It's been a very long week for everyone." 

"Honey..." Eloise whispered, and Leo didn't miss the worry behind that dragged out breath. "Did you..."

Leo shook his head. "No, Mama."

"You should talk to them. It'll make you feel better. I can see how much they care about you."

"I don't know," Leo said, but truthfully he did know in his bones that she was right, and it almost felt too good to be real. Logan and Finn meant more to him than he could ever admit to anyone. 

Leo just couldn't trust himself to let it out, this mingling of painful truths and fragile dreams that was slowly tearing him apart. What was the point of telling Finn that his new, only temporary teammate was the person who had hurt Leo the most in his life? Who had left scars that he still hadn't managed to heal. He didn't want to confide in Logan and keep Finn in the dark. It didn't feel right. 

But Leo had known this moment would have come since the very beginning: that was the thin ice both he and Jack Archer stood on, a world built on lies, where they used to carefully tiptoe around each other, dreading the day their paths would eventually cross again. 

It had happened so fast, though, so soon that Leo wasn't sure he was ready to face it all again. 

"I'll talk to them," he said, offering his mom a tight smile. "Soon." 

"And he never," Finn’s sudden squeak made them turn around, "let me drive it. Never!" 

Leo caught a glimpse of his father's grin and Logan's loud, blown out laugh—the one that made his head tilt back, his eyes close, and wrinkles appear across the bridge of his nose. Finn's ears turned a stark pink around the tips, and Leo simply couldn't resist. 

"What?" He gasped. Logan's eyes immediately fell on him, suspicious. "But, Tremz... You let me drive your Daytona last time I came to visit!" 

"That is not—" Logan tried, but everyone was already laughing. Except for Finn, who shoved Logan away with an outraged scoff. 

"That's it. We're so done, Tremblay." 

If someone had told Leo just three months ago that he would soon be back in his parents' kitchen, baking with Finn O'Hara and Logan Tremblay on a rainy afternoon, he would have had a good laugh. And yet, he had just paused in mid-thought to remind himself that the man standing across the table, poking his tongue out as he meticulously measured a cup of all-purpose flour, was actually a world-famous professional athlete who drove cars at insanely dangerous speeds for a living. 

"Knutty," Logan elbowed him from the stool next to him. "You really shouldn't trust Finn with grown-up toys," he pretended to whisper. 

Leo looked down at him, a little bewildered. "Uh. What?"  

Logan pointed to a bunch of utensils scattered around the table. "He's not to be trusted with knives," he murmured as he began counting on his fingers, "electric whisks, blenders…" 

"You know I can hear you, right?" Finn said, eyes focused on the mixing bowl in which he was now sifting flour. 

"...and ovens. Oh, and rolling pins," he nodded. "I'd say blunt objects in general." 

"Got it," Leo chuckled, moving three eggs out of the carton. "Need some help over there?" 

"I think we're all set," Finn said matter-of-factly.  "This is fun. Can I also crack the eggs?" His warm brown eyes went all soft and wide. "Please?"

"Of course," Leo laughed over Logan's sneering snort. As if he could ever say no to this Bambi-eyed, enthusiastic creature. "We just need to add some corn flour and sugar to the bowl first."

"Ah, ouais," Logan snickered, "why don't you pass Leo le sucre, Fish?"

"You'll never get over it, will you?" Finn blew out a desperate sigh, but Leo saw the corners of his mouth twitch upward.

"Do I wanna know?"

"Yes, you do," Logan smirked, leaning over the table with his elbows and clapping his hands together. He glanced at Finn, who Leo thought looked a little mortified, and then set his amused green eyes on Leo. "Of all the Harzy-learning-French tales, this one is my absolute favorite."

"In my defense," Finn pointed an accusing finger at Logan, "I was studying French and Italian at the same time."

"So basically this one time," Logan ignored him, "we were in Rimouski—you know, my hometown?"

Leo nodded, mirroring Logan's contagious grin. 

"It was my maman's birthday. We were home alone for the entire afternoon with absolutely nothing to do, and bored enough to think it would be a good idea to bake a birthday cake."

"No," Finn interrupted him as he pointedly set the whisk down. "That was all you. You forgot to buy her a present and decided to improvise as a pastry chef."

"But," Logan waved a hand at him, "we ran out of sugar. So we went to the store and, of course, couldn't find it anywhere. And that's when Harzy," he snorted, "saw a shop assistant walking by and very, very proudly went to ask for le sucer."

"Oh God," Leo groaned and hid his face in his hands. Between his fingers, he saw Finn turning a bright shade of red as he buried his nose inside the neck of his t-shirt.

"Like three times," Logan cackled, and so did Leo after him.

"Oh, Finn."

Finn shook his head and looked back at Leo pleadingly. "I was being brave! And polite! And Logan said I should have practiced!" He whined. "It's not my fault that if you switch two fucking letters in 'sugar' you're suddenly asking for a blowjob!"

"You're a wild one, O'Hara," Leo laughed. "Was the cake any good? Was it worth it?"

At that, Finn cracked up too, and Logan managed a breathless answer between loud giggles.

"We burned it."

Unconsciously, unable to stop laughing, Leo began to shake his head. Not only because he'd just found out that they were both walking hazards—a real threat to his mom's kitchen, really—but also because a sudden surge of curiosity overtook him. How many stories were there? How many failed kitchen experiments, cozy afternoons, lazy mornings and chill nights with friends and family? With lovers. Leo wanted to know more. About them. About Finn and Logan and their lives behind safe walls. About whatever unique, unbreakable string had tied those two together a long, long time ago. 

He looked between the two of them for a long moment and subtly moved closer to Finn. "You can help with the batter," he said with a cocked eyebrow as he handed him an egg. "But no oven for you. And for your friend there as well." 

The smile Finn gave him back was playful and a little teasing, sweet and so beautiful that Leo had to focus really hard not to stare at his pink, shiny lips and instead hold Finn's gaze, which was probably worse. 

"Oui, Chef," Finn grinned and took the egg with a gentle hand. 

Leo observed him quietly for a while, following his clumsy movements a bit too carefully. He gave up when Finn, satisfied with how perfectly the last egg cracked in two, dumped the shells into the bowl with an overzealous whoop. 

"Uh-oh," Finn mumbled as soon as he realized. He looked up sheepishly at Leo, but was quickly distracted by the click of a camera shutter coming from the other end of the table.  

"This is going up on Instagram," Logan was smiling at the screen of his phone.

Finn hummed a low whistle, and Leo nodded along. "Quite the honor, Tremblay."

Logan was rarely active on social media, and mostly when Celeste forced him to, or did it herself. Aside from the usual race weekend carousels and some branded content, he only had a few photos that felt more personal. Granted, 13 million didn't exactly sound like the average amount of people to share even fragments of a private life with. Still, some of those pictures looked like puzzle pieces of a woven story: a young Logan with his dad securing his tiny helmet, a #10 go-kart in the background; the early seat fit in the SR-20, his first championship-winning car; a blurry, rushed selfie with a fan holding a sign that said I traveled 10,000 miles to see LT10 win!!!; Noelle holding the championship trophy while Logan's two other sisters squished him in their arms like the love-spoiled baby brother he was. There were season-breaks photos as well, rigorously including Finn and damp hair from the sea, sunburned and golden skins in sunset tints, and dark ink on full display on Logan's hip. But Leo's favorite—not that he spent much time scrolling through Logan's feed anyway—was probably the most recent video he'd posted after the Australian Grand Prix earlier in the season: a toddler, no more than three years old, had bolted from his parents in the middle of the paddock to run in Logan's direction. He wore a green bucket hat with Logan's logo printed on the front—a small, white fleur-de-lis resting just above his scrawled initials—that was way too big for him. The frame showed Logan scooping him up in his arms and humming a few words in a high, tender voice, until the little boy worked up the courage to ask, very timidly, for a hug. Logan's melting reaction at his tiny arms around his neck—and the sweet high five they exchanged before letting the toddler go—was beautifully framed in Leo's mind. It also served as a helpful reminder in those times, mostly mid-races, when all Leo wanted to do was knock Logan's stubbornness out of his head.

Now Leo's phone buzzed on the table just as Logan locked his own. Leo felt his green eyes on him once again, igniting a sparkle of light shivers all over his body.

"Some moments are too good not to share," Logan said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Even if no one else knows how special they are." 

—

Dinner wasn't a huge affair, but Eloise Knut never failed to dazzle her guests with her extraordinary cuisine. Her spicy shrimp burgers were to die for—if Logan's loud, appreciative moans were anything to go by. They ate at the kitchen table, a cramped but cozy setting, chatting about sweet nothings and plans for the upcoming trips: Mexico, Brazil, Vegas, and Abu Dhabi for the season finale. 

There was something precious about the way Finn's eyes widened at the first bite of Eloise's salted caramel beignet, dreamy and sugar-drunk.  

Leo was already planning to come back to New Orleans for Christmas and maybe spend a good part of the off-season there. Though he had a vague idea that this year's winter break wouldn't be as special—not without the prospect of a sleepy Logan playing video games next to him in bed, while a curious Finn nosed around his bookshelves.

"Would you stop tossing those stupid banana peels everywhere?" Leo complained.

"Non," Logan bit out, "I'm not going to let you win this one, too."

"God forbid someone beat Logan Tremblay at Mario Kart," Finn snorted. Leo couldn't see him—could only hear his teasing, biting voice over a delicate rustle of pages and the low hum of the game's background music. "You should try Toad next time. Seems more... fitting."

"Realistic," Leo added.

"Fuck both of you," Logan said flatly. Leo had to sneak a quick glance to see how seriously he was concentrating, eyes narrowed on the TV screen and lips pressed tightly together.

Logan had stolen one of the sweatshirts Leo had been unpacking when they'd come upstairs. It was one of Leo's favorites, black and gold and lovingly worn-out. The sleeves pooled around his wrists as they nimbly moved with the joystick. Logan looked beautiful in it, and so sweet that everything in Leo ached.

"What—" Logan's cackle shook Leo back to the game, where his own kart had fallen off a rainbow bridge and was now rolling down into the glittering darkness of Space.

"Oh, come on," Leo let himself fall back against the pillows and smacked Logan's arm with his controller. He took the chance to also glance at Finn, who was leaning against the desk, quietly watching them with a tender smile and a slight pink blush on his pale cheeks. "Did you push me out?"

"Non."

"Harz?" Leo fact checked.

"Yep."

The mix of indignation and confusion in Logan's expression was as blatant as it was hilarious.

"It's okay," Finn conceded. He walked over to the bed and flopped down on his stomach at its end to pat Logan's knee. "You won this one, champ."

"’Course I did," Logan laughed grudgingly. He sank down on the mattress with a huff and folded his arms across his chest. "Fair and square."

"Agree to disagree—" Leo's words broke into a laugh as Logan's socked foot found his hip and slowly pushed him toward the edge of the bed. "Whoa," he let go of his joystick and grasped the sheets, "Lo, I'm gonna fall!"

"I'll take your bed as a reward. You can sleep with Finn."

Finn stretched out and caught Leo's hand, tugging him back. Leo held on a second longer as warm, smooth skin grazed the quiet chill of his own, before Finn gave his hand a lingering squeeze and let it slip away.

Logan narrowed his eyes at Finn, playful and taunting, and got a grin in return that could've lit up the night. 

It always stunned Leo, the way they could go from bickering like an old married couple to looking at each other like they held the world in their hands for one another, only to shift once a week into the opposing fronts of a heated, rooted rivalry that no one seemed to understand. Sometimes Leo wondered if he fully understood, or if he was just fooling himself—afraid to look too closely and see more than he could afford to hope for.

"Can I ask something?" Leo blurted out, the earlier spark of curiosity thumping in his chest again.

They let their gazes drift over to him, and Finn tilted his head in interest, "Shoot."

"I know you've probably been asked this a billion times, but..." for a brief moment, Leo hesitated in front of that pair of piercing eyes. "Is the story about Montreal true? Or is it just something... like, made up to feed the media?"

"Montreal…" Finn mumbled, seconds before his face bloomed with excitement. "Oh. Oh, that is a really good story. And definitely not made up. Tremblay?"

"Ouais," Logan rolled onto his side to face Leo. "Not the version we've been telling everyone, at least."

"I mean," Finn added thoughtfully, "it was pretty solid ground to speculate about our... fate," he emphasized the word with air quotes, "as opponents, or whatever they say. But that's probably because we've always kept the best part to ourselves."

That made Logan giggle. "You should have seen him, Knutty. All freckles and a missing tooth. I swear I remember it like it was yesterday."

Leo clung to each word as if they were offering him pieces of their beating hearts.

"I was so nervous," Finn was rubbing his jaw, pale fingers scratching the hint of a fresh stubble, completely lost in the memory. "I mean, that's how you feel when you're ten and facing the prodigy son of one of the sport's greatest legends, right?"

"Well," Leo chuckled.

"And yet," Logan lifted himself up and leaned on his elbow, "before the race, he just came up to me holding up a granola bar and went, You don't have a snack!" Logan put on a chirpy voice, “Everyone has a snack. Here, we can share mine if you want. My mom made this back home in New York. You're Logan, right? I'm Finn.” 

"Picture that," Leo laughed softly. He wasn't sure what was making his heart beat faster, but he felt immensely grateful for the warmth of it. "So you've really been friends ever since." It was no question. "And you lived so far apart for years."

Logan nodded sharply. "By the end of that day, I already knew everything about him," he shifted to look at Finn, a small smile stealing softly over his face. "And I mean everything. Even what street his favorite bookshop was."

Of course ten-year-old Finn had a favorite bookshop, Leo thought affectionately.

"After the race," Finn continued, a thin layer of wistfulness reverberating in his voice, "our dads took us out to dinner to celebrate. I remember, like, sitting at this huge table with our trophy between us," he made himself laugh, shaking his head with fondness. "We just talked and talked for hours. And then… well. I guess we just never stopped."

"You certainly didn't," Logan quipped, bringing Finn to slap his thigh gently as he sat up on his knees.

"Now tell me something," Finn's warm, expectant eyes were on Leo, who wasn't sure whether he could trust himself with too many words. "Tell us something we don't know about Leo Knut. Like," he shifted again and sat cross-legged on the covers. "I didn't know you spoke French until a couple of hours ago, and then I had to find out all by myself that you raced?"

Logan let out a loud gasp that made Leo’s face warm.

"I see you've found the medals."

"You never said anything," Logan sat up straighter, intrigued. 

"I wouldn't call it racing," Leo began. "But it was fun for a while. When I was... six or seven, I think, my parents started taking me and a few friends to the kart track in town almost every Sunday. Eventually I ended up competing in their club tournaments, and yeah," he shrugged lightly against the sheets. "I was actually pretty good, if I do say so myself," he boasted with a teasing grin.

"Were you, now?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Still not as good as I am at making strategies."

Logan let out a low, challenging hum. "Why did you stop, though?"

"Well," Leo combed the tuft of gray hair curling at his temple between his fingers, an old instinct. "On paper, I had a pretty nasty crash. Hit my head on the steering wheel and... It looked really bad, even with the helmet on..." he let out a heavy breath. "Gave my parents a big scare there."

Finn winced as Logan hissed a faint ouch. 

"But to be fair, I knew that racing wasn't my calling," he said, pride loud in his voice. This was safe. He could tell them anything. "At least not as a driver. Even as a kid I was—I don't know. Fascinated by things that weren't just about... cars going super fast? I mean, don't get me wrong," he smiled at the twin looks of wonder that overtook Finn and Logan's faces. "I just… I always wanted to know why,” he said. “To be able to look and see beyond a good-looking livery or a loud engine—to touch it with my hands and understand, so that I could be the one to make all the magic happen."

For a second, just the blink of an eye, Leo was back to crowded airport lounges, watching his parents waving choked-up goodbyes from beyond the security line; to long nights in a dark, anonymous dorm room, thousands of miles away from everything and everyone he'd ever loved. He thought of the tears, soft and heavy like soaked feathers, that he'd allowed himself to shed on the day of his graduation, and the day he'd received that call from Sirius Black—relief and disbelief for everything that he couldn't have known would’ve led to this full-circle moment of his life. To this bizarre, unbelievably perfect night.

"Also... um—", Leo rushed for a joke despite the lump in his throat. "I like math a lot?" 

Finn grimaced and wrinkled his nose in disapproval. "Bleah."

Logan reached forward to flick him on the forehead. 

"And LEGO car sets," Leo added with a laugh, quickly scanning the room to find his favorite models, artfully displayed on a few designated shelves. "As you may have noticed."

"Là," Logan grinned. He squished a pillow between his hands and lay back on the sheets, brown curls against cottony light blue. The perfect image of comfort, in Leo's own bed. "The ultimate engineer's starter kit," he yawned.

When Leo lifted his head, Finn's sleepy smile tore at what little air was left in his lungs. "Tell me more."

Finn was certainly a talker—that one person who could ramble on about every half-formed thought that had ever, just barely, crossed his mind. Leo knew that Logan loved to get lost in Finn and Leo's chatter sessions—patient, always caring, never too quiet; sometimes falling into an unbreakable state of awe, piping up now and then to add his two cents to the conversation.

And Finn… well. Finn listened with the same searing intensity. Just like now, he'd smile and nod along with Leo's takes as his restless fingers fiddled with the strings of his hoodie. He'd laugh at his own silly comments and make faces whenever Leo slipped in slightly more jargon-heavy terms to explain the technicalities of his everyday work, and details of his job-landing thesis. Meanwhile, Logan, who had heard it all more than once, slowly fell into a sound sleep, anchored to their voices until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

"And, long story short," Leo carefully switched to low whispers, "I can't really go into more detail because you're still kind of working for the competition," he smiled sympathetically.

"So you're telling me you're the evil mind behind the new suspensions they put on Lo's car?"

"I may have tossed the idea on the table, yeah," Leo laughed.

"Damn it, Knut," Finn sighed exaggeratedly. "I got no chance with you out there."

"Oh, shut up. You—" Leo broke off abruptly, his body tensing as Logan stirred beside him—careful not to wake him. Logan let out a deep breath and shifted onto his side, bending one knee in search of a more comfortable position. When he reached out and draped an arm across Leo's chest, the furrow between his brows softened, and he relaxed back into sleep. 

Thousands of different thoughts flashed through Leo's mind at once, most of them contradictory. He shouldn't even be thinking about it. Logan. Finn. The high of a one-in-a-million chance.

"Le," Finn's voice came quickly, a breathless gasp. For a second, they just stared at each other. "Oh my God, he's so..." A shaky laugh caught Finn's throat. "I'm gonna—wait, let me just..." he stammered, but didn't move, as if paralyzed. A fevered glow colored his cheeks. "He gets a little... clingy when he sleeps, sometimes. I..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll take him to the guest room, I'm so—"

"Finn," Leo stopped him. "It's... it's okay." 

Finn's Adam's apple bobbed slowly over a hard swallow. When he spoke, his voice sounded earnest. "Yeah?"

"Yes," Leo whispered, flattening a slightly sweaty palm against the empty space at his side in what felt like an act of bravery. "You can both stay, I don't… it's really okay."

There was something in Finn's eyes that Leo couldn't quite read. Darker, pupils blown, just a glimmer of deep brown glowing in the soft light. Piercing. Somewhere between stunned and amazed.

"Besides," Leo managed, drumming his fingers on the mattress that suddenly didn't seem too big to fit, too empty to be warm, "I'm not done bothering you." 

It took him a moment. Finn's eyes dropped to his thumbs, wrestling on his lap, while a small, secret smile slipped across his lips. When rich, honeyed brown filled Leo's vision again, Leo followed that awestruck gaze to where Logan's hand rested on his own racing heart, and up, again and again—a silent battle for something that was slowly turning Finn's conflicted frown into a confident beam; for an answer to a question that wasn't unknown to Leo, maybe just like the one that simmered under every inch of Leo's skin.

Whispers flew around loudly, rumors sometimes too obvious, too stubborn, too plain to believe they were made up. So where , Leo wondered—incredulous and dangerously hopeful. Where did Leo stand in the path of such pure, unconditional love?

"You could never bother me," Finn murmured as he finally, so carefully, curled up next to him. 

Pinned on his back, Leo craned his neck to the side, darting his eyes all over Finn's enraptured face, his freckled nose. "Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about your weekend."

The mere thought that Jack had put Finn in danger and cost him a win had been haunting Leo day and night—even though it was Logan who had claimed the victory in Austin, tying them again in points at the top of the championship standings. A one-on-one fight to the end.

Finn shrugged, but it wasn't lighthearted. "It was fun. I mean... those guys in black and silver can put up a good fight," he smirked at the roll of Leo's eyes. "Please don't tell them."

"Promise," Leo held out his pinky, and Finn caught it around his own. This time, neither of them let go.

"Does it make me a horrible person to be pleased that my teammate didn't get a podium?"

"Eighth place is more than enough," Leo spat, annoyed. "It's not like he honestly earned that third-place start."

"He didn't. But..." Finn looked guilty just for thinking it, and Leo had to look away. He , of all people, should feel bad, but for a different reason. 

"Hey," Finn nudged him gently. His mouth opened and closed a few times, sharp, white teeth chewing on the inside of his lower lip. "I really hope you know you can tell me anything. Us ," his eyes were on Logan's hand again—conflicted. "Really, Le, I know it's been—"

"I know," Leo nodded minutely. "I know, Harz. Right back atcha."

Finn tightened his grip on their intertwined fingers. "I mean it."

"Me too," Leo smiled, but his voice sounded tearful to his own ears. Finn caught him right away.

"How about..." he grinned wickedly. "You tell me where you're hiding them?"

Leo frowned, confused. "Hiding what?"

"Posters. Hats. T-shirts. Bet you have our signed cards—"

"I've got nothing to hide, O'Hara."

"So I won't find anything, let's say..." Finn pointed to a corner of the room. "In that suspiciously overstuffed box over there?"

"Nope," Leo shook his head. "Not even a pin. You can ransack the whole room if you want. But..." he pursed his lips to bite back a telltale smile and nodded in the direction of his dresser. "I'd stay away from that drawer if I were you. You know, for... safety reasons."

"Safety reasons."

"It's broken!" Leo whisper-yelled. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Finn hummed amusedly. "I guess your dad must have mistaken his only son for someone else who lives here and is a total F1 nerd."

Leo feigned a silent gasp. "Traitor."

Outside, the rain had picked up again. Its rhythm, unceasing against the window of Leo's bedroom, was a sweet complement to Finn's quiet voice.

Somewhere, deep inside, a part of Leo wanted to worry. There were too many reasons for him to believe that whatever this dreamlike moment was, it was, first and foremost, risky. Leo had learned the drill the hard way. 

But right then, risk tasted like crisp air on the first day of fall, like cold drops of ocean on salty, sun-kissed skin, warm crackles of fire from an ornate, stone-clad fireplace, and fresh morning dew on a blooming field of daisies. All at once. All in one. All in two—three souls breathing in unison.

Soon, sleep fell over Leo's eyes as Finn's voice faded leisurely, as Logan's arm drew him closer. And Leo allowed himself to settle into it—the bittersweet taste of walking their path hand in hand—if only for the fleeting heartbeat of a night he'd carry forever.  

[spookypotato]

Flames vs. Bruins

This is specifically for our wonderful discord captain, @jacklighting. Happy belated birthday again and thank you for being you and admin to the server that brought me so much joy!

So I thought about what I should write about and then I remembered that our second interaction was you yelling at me to go to bed. And then it led to this.

Charcters by @lumosinlove!!

CW: beverage mention

“Mama, I don’t want to go to bed.”, Leo complained as Eloise let him down, where she had carried him up on her hip.

“Leo, sweetheart, you’re four. That means your bedtime is at 8. We let you stay up longer anyway.”, she smiled down at him. He was sitting on top of his covers, not even close to snuggling under the blankets like he usually would.

She looked up into his face again, looking at the biggest pout, her son had ever made.

“But today’s the game. Ya’ll be up, why can’t I?”

Her smile grew soft. “Maybe you can watch a bit on Saturday, yeah? That game starts a bit earlier.”

She saw the toddlers resistance fading, though the pout was still on his face. “Sleep. Otherwise you’ll be exhausted tomorrow.”

He moved under the blankets and Eloise tucked him in. She leaned down and gently kissed his forehead. “Sleep well. Je t’aime.”

“Love ya, too, mama.”, he said, closing his eyes, as Eloise turned off his light and went down the stairs to her husband.

Leo could hear them talking from where he was currently sat on his bed. He couldn’t sleep. Not with the game going on downstairs. His parents hadn’t invited people, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t bought a whole supermarket full of food and drinks. Leo could hear them holding back their shouts as soon as the game started, too invested already, but they both knew their 4-year-old was upstairs, supposed to be asleep.

But how can someone be sleeping, while hearing the commentators voice echo through their house, and the sound of the goal horn a few minutes in. He couldn’t help himself from wondering who had scored, what the goal had looked like. He couldn’t quite understand, who was even playing, so he waddled over to the door, the sound a bit clearer, but he still couldn’t figure out the words.

So, he decided to go down the stairs, holding on to the banister, trying to make as little noise as possible. Even though both Wyatt and Eloise were entranced by the game, they had the weird ability to always know, when he was up to something. He was finally down the stairs and turned the corner to see the screen. He couldn’t look away. The players were gliding across the ice so elegantly, yet their plays were fast and rough.

He was frozen in place, not able to move or to tear his gaze away from the TV, when his mum spoke, “Sweetheart? Do we have anymore cold drinks?”

“Oh, yeah. Picked some up, when making groceries for tonight. I’ll go get them.”, and with that Wyatt stood up, turning around and slowly walking into the kitchen, looking back more often than not, which had him, almost crashing into his son. Leo hadn’t even noticed his dad walking towards him, he hadn’t noticed the worried expression turn into a hard and then into a loving one. His eyes were still fixed on the screen.

“What are ya up to, boo?”

“Hey, Le, you alright, buddy?”

“Leo?”

At that even Eloise had turned around to see their toddler, who only now had shaken out of his state to look up at his dad.

“What are you doing down here, boo?”, Wyatt’s soft voice asked again.

Leo knew, he should have been in his bed, asleep for an hour. “Pouvait pas dormir. Sorry.”

Eloise went over to them as well. “Le, you don’t have to apologise. You’re not tired?”

“No.”, came back in Leo’s small voice, he dropped his gaze to the floor. “Puis-je- Can I watch with you?”, he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Wyatt started smiling. “Yeah, you can join us.”

Neither of them could resist Leo, when he asked like that. “Yeah, sweetheart. C’mere.”, she gently padded her thigh. “But only for a bit. You can’t stay up all night, have to make dodo sometime.”

Leo couldn’t hold back his smile though. He quickly went over, made himself at home in his mama’s lap and answered “Je vais le fair, mama.” and had already turned his head back to the game.

“It’s Flames against Bruins.”, his dad explained. Leo was awestruck. He leaned back and Eloise hand combed through his blonde curls. Leo didn’t see his parent’s exchange smiles as they both looked at him. He could only see the players and how beautifully they moved towards the goal and the goalie who- Leo gasped.

“That was so cool! How is he so fast?”

Eloise met her husband’s glance and nodded. “Do you want to play hockey someday, too? We have a rink pretty close.”

That tore their child’s eyes away from the screen. He imagined himself there, on the ice. Imagined himself in all that padding, gliding across the ice, keeping the goal clear, like that man on the screen had.

“Yeah!”, he answered, “I wanna play! I wanna try! Can we go, papa? Can we go now?”

His parents both snickered, “We can go tomorrow how about that?”

“Promise?”, Leo asked, his eyes shining bright with excitement.

“Promise.”

[achliegh]

Golden Masterlist <3

Prologue,

Chapter 1,

Chapter 2,

Chapter 3,

Chapter 4,

Chapter 5,

Chapter 6,

Chapter 7,

Chapter 8,

Chapter 9,

Chapter 10,

Chapter 11,

Chapter 12,

Chapter 13,

Chapter 14,

Chapter 15,

Chapter 16,

Chapter 17,

Chapter 18,

Chapter 19,

Chapter 20,

Chapter 21,

Chapter 22,

Chapter 23,

Chapter 24

[pretendicanwrite]

Cubs Would You Rather

A self-indulgent family game fic? NoOooOoOoOOo...

Character credit to @lumosinlove

**********

“Hello Lions Fans, and welcome to our very first episode of Would you rather, where we have a parent of one of our Lions ask some different players some tough questions. Today we have Miss Eloise Knut, Leo Knuts mother, Finn O’Hara, Logan Trembley, and of course, Leo Knut,” Marlene introduced.

Everyone waved toward the camera as they heard their names. They sat around a rectangular table, Eloise on one side, and the players on the other. There were shot glasses on the table, with some different drinks, and some orange juice.

“So, how this will work is Eloise is going to pick up a card and ask you all the question on it. You’ll answer her, and if you refuse to answer, or are unsure, you can take a shot. Got it?”

There were various forms of agreement from the group, and Eloise got the go-ahead to continue.

“Ooh, we are starting off stong. Boys, would you rather have your parents walk in on you, or walk in on your parents?” Eloise cackled at the boys' faces, each of them in different states of embarrassment.

Logan was the first to go, shaking his head and looking disappointed in himself. “I have walked in on my parents. That emotional trauma better count for something in this game. Nutter Butter, remind me to bleach my eyes when I get home. Thinking about it brought back that scarring image.” Logan let his head down and rested it on his crossed arms on the table.

“I guess it’s expected for parents to walk in on their teenagers, so I don’t think it would be that bad as a young adult. It’s a common thing,” Finn replied, looking thoughtfully up at the studio roof. 

“Mama, I’m so sorry that you walked in on me. I can’t believe I forgot to lock the door.”

Marlene interrupted behind the camera, pointing between Leo and his mom. “When did this happen?”

Leo groaned, imitating Logan’s position, while Eloise just laughed again. “When he was in high school, he had this boy that he would invite over. Foolishly, I thought they were just friends.” Eloise paused as Leo shouted, “We were!” but resumed quickly. “I walked in on them one time just making out naked on the floor. Needless to say, I was yelled at, Leo was yelled at, and Leo’s dad was yelled at for no reason. Anyway, he came out to us that night and he’s no longer allowed to close his door when he had friends over. Even now as an adult, when he and his boyfriends stay with us, there is a strict no closed doors policy.”

The camera crew and his boyfriends laughed as Leo let out a groan of annoyance. “It was one time. Please move on.”

Eloise picked up another card and snorted to herself. “I think I already know which one Leo’s going to pick. Would you rather shoot flowers or rainbows out of your eyes?”

The boys snorted again, Leo quick to answer. “If you're asking if I would rather shoot stupid flowers out of my eyes over freaking gayness, you don’t know me that well.”

Finn and Logan nodded, both letting out a short ‘same.’

“Would you rather send a dirty pic to your dad or your boss?”

“Oh god, I would rather die than send a pic like that to coach or cap. If I did, I have a feeling that I would get kicked off the team,” Finn replied, looking absolutely horrified.

Logan was about to go when Eloise interrupted. “Can we turn this into would you rather, dare addition? You have to pick which one, and if possible do it.”

Marlene looked at the director who gave her the go-ahead, so she gave Mrs. Knut a thumbs up. 

“Oh god,” all three boys groaned. 

“I guess I’d choose to send it to cap. I feel like he would be pretty understanding. It’s nothing we haven’t all seen in the locker room. And besides, I saw a text message to him from Loops, and let’s just say, I might have gone to see Heather after,” Leo answered, getting a small agreement from his shortest boyfriend.

“Alright boys, then pull out your phones.”

Eloise took all three of them, going through the different spots where they kept those photos. She took each boy's phone, pointedly not taking too much time choosing, especially when it came to her son's phone, and just tapped a random one.

She handed the phones back and checked them all to make sure that they had sent the photo to its intended recipient, with the caption, ‘thinking about your body,’ as requested by Marlene.

She picked up another card, turning to flash it at the camera. “Okay, would you rather be caught in the act by the cops or your current/future in-laws?”

Finn and Logan couldn’t even look Eloise in the eyes as they blurted out cops as quickly as humanly possible. 

“Which ones? O’Haras or Tremblays? ‘Cause I could tell you right now, the O’Hara’s would not give a crap. They are some of the coolest people I have ever met. One time they entered our apartment while I was in the middle of making dinner, and there was flour everywhere. It was in everyone’s hair, and instead of being mad that the dinner I had planned was ruined, she just rushed us all to the shower and made dinner herself. I would rather the cops catch us than have the Tremblays though. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, and they’re like my second or third family, but Logan’s sisters scare me.”

Everyone in the studio laughed at Leo’s answers, while Eloise picked up the next card. “Would you rather cuddle in the morning or at night?”

Logan smiled at his boys, and answered, “Definitely morning. We’re all really cuddly in the morning, and these two look gorgeous with the sun hitting them. Everything is all warm, and we get to relax most mornings.”

“There’s just something about cuddling at night when the apartment’s cold. We all get into bed and you two are like my personal space heaters.”

“Leo, love of my life, Achilles to my Patroclus, Remus to my Cap, you are always freezing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s night or morning, you always request us to lay on top of you like a blanket. Go spend some time in Canada and grow some weather tolerance. Morning cuddles trump all other cuddles.”

Logan stared at Finn and rolled his eyes. “Really? Achilles? You nerd.”

“I’m a gay English major. Be quiet.”

Eloise and Leo laughed, Leo, wrapping his arms around his boys.

“Alright, the last question, would you rather marry my son, or win 5 Stanley Cups in a row?”

Leo shared a secret smile with his mom while the boys took a second. 

Without even looking at each other, both boys responded “Marry Leo.” They smiled at Eloise, she grabbed one of each of their hands and pulled them closer to her so they were reaching across the table. “Good answer boys. Now do me a favor and turn around.”

They did as they were told, only to gasp when they saw Leo on one knee. He was holding a large blue velvet box in his hand, and there were small pools of tears in his eyes. 

“Loves, I have been in love with both of you since the day I walked into my first practice as an official Lions player. I was terrified, and the youngest person there. I could barely even look anyone in the eyes, then you both came over to me, wrapped your arms around me, and paraded me through the locker room. You introduced me to everyone, kept asking if I was okay, then showed me around town unprompted. You took care of me when I was an eighteen-year-old who moved halfway across the country to where I knew no one. Now, I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you. So, will you marry me?”

Eloise got up to stand at the back of the table, rubbing a crying Finn’s shoulder. “Just remember that you have to follow through with your pick.”

Logan then turned towards Marlene who was smiling behind the camera. “You three planned this, didn’t you?”

“Are you just gonna leave me hanging here babes?”

Finn tackled Leo to the ground, making sure to keep his hand under Leo’s head, and smothering his face with kisses. “Of course, I’ll marry you Knutty. I’ll always marry you.”

Leo looked nervous as he sat up and looked at an unmoving Logan. He was staring at the floor where Leo’s knee had previously been. “Lo?”

“I was going to ask. I had the rings, and I asked Celeste to help me make dinner for you two. I had plans Nutter Butter.”

“So is that a yes?” Leo asked, smiling at his shorter boyfriend.

“Of course, it’s a yes, but if you ruin my plans again, I will use your intestines as straws.”

Everyone in the studio laughed again, and Eloise and the boys were crying.

They were interrupted by Leo’s phone going off. He picked up the call from Sirius, letting out a watery ‘what? You’re on speaker phone.’ He put it on speaker phone, and the mics picked up the sound. “Knut, why on Earth do I have two photos of you guys' junk in my messages. And why are you crying?”

“Umm, we’re playing a game of would you rather dare addition for the youtube channel.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re crying. Are you okay?”

“We’re getting married?”

The screams were inaudible on the mics, the noises so loud that they couldn’t be picked up clearly.

Marlene stepped out into the frame of the camera and smiled and waved. “Thank you for watching! Please check out our channel, The Lions for more videos like this. Thank you!”

**********

Thank you for reading!

[lemonmeringuecry]

The Cubs at Disneyland

Hi, so I've been trying to do this for awhile (ever since I drew Lo in a Mickey Mouse hoodie) but when the queen herself, miss Hazel, said she needs them to go to Disney... well I wrote this. And drew it. Because I'm me.

So anyway, here's the drawing and below is the fic

Tw for a couple mentions of food but I think that's it

Credit for everything @lumosinlove

Leo bounced a bit on the balls of his feet, goofy smile at full force while he waited to board the plane. He had grown up going to Disney World with his family. Living in Louisiana, Florida wasn’t too far away, and Eloise and Wyatt Knut didn’t let being adults stop them from enjoying the magic of Disney. When Leo was born, his parents were beyond excited about the prospect of going as a family, getting mickey ears, collecting pins, and making memories.

The first time he went, Leo was five, his favorite Disney movie was the lion king, and an expression of pure joy was permanent in his pale, blue eyes. Over the four days they were in the parks he got to go on rides, eat themed sweets, and meet his favorite characters.

After that first trip, Eloise started a scrap book. The book, titled ‘Disney World 2006’, was soon filled with pictures of Leo at the entrance gate, Leo with pineapple dole whip halfway to his mouth, and countless of all three of them taken by the photographers.

A favorite picture of Eloise’s was near the back, this one of her son with Simba. When Leo had spotted the cast member dressed as his favorite character, he all but threw himself at the lion costume clad employee. Leo’s mama had taken many pictures of the two lion cubs together and they were beyond adorable.

There are more scrap books from 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017. Throughout the years of pictures Leo never looks less than ecstatic. Even though New Orleans will forever remain his favorite place in the world, Disney is a close second to home, which is why this trip with his boys is such a big deal for him.

The Lions are currently on a short break in the season after their game against the Coyotes and the cubs are going to spend a few days at Disneyland in Anaheim.

Finn reaches forward to grab Leo’s hand who is standing in line in front of him.

“Sunshine, are you excited?” He asks. Leo tilts his head around to look at his boyfriend and nods eagerly.

“We’ll take that as a yes,” logan chuckles sleepily from behind Finn where he is standing with his head resting on the red head’s back. Evidently waking up at 6:00 in the morning to drive to the airport wasn’t ideal for him.

Leo lets out a low, impatient groan, still bouncing, “I need to be there like right now. Can’t we get on the plane already?”.

“We haven’t even been waiting that long. I think they’re about to call our section though, Peanut,” Finn answers him, trying not to let his amusement show too much.

A crinkly noise cuts off Leo’s response, “Now boarding rows 1-10,” a voice says from over the loudspeaker. Leo stands up straighter and turns to his boyfriends, “that’s us!”

“I know Nutter-Butter, go on, let’s get you to Disney!” Finn says as he pats Leo’s butt lightly, moving him forward, onto the jet bridge.

The boys get settled into their seats, Finn by the window, Logan in the middle for maximum cuddles, and Leo on the aisle for the leg room. For the first half of the flight Logan sleeps while Finn and Leo share a movie, but all three boys are wide awake by the time the flight attendants come around with drinks for the second time. The rest of the flight is spent chatting about practices coming up after the break, things they need for the apartment, and what they are going to do first upon arriving.

Once getting off the plane in California, they take the shuttle from John Wayne Airport to the Disneyland hotels. They are staying in the Adventure Land tower, closest to the park. By this point all three boys are buzzing with the infectious happiness of Disney. After unpacking and getting settled into their hotel room, the cubs proceed with their plans of shopping and getting dinner in Downtown Disney. First thing on the agenda is to procure mouse ears. Logan, Finn, and Leo make their way to World of Disney in order to find the widest selection of ears. Leo has a collection of his own ears at home, including his favorite pride Minnie ears, but for this trip he wants to get new ones along with Logan and Finn. Leo and Finn decide on classic Mickey ear hats, while Logan picks out Minnie ears with a lavender bow. They all get sweatshirts too, as is custom.

After a pleasant evening of enjoying the atmosphere and getting dinner at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen (Leo’s offense towards their attempt at Cajun cuisine is only partially a joke), they call it night. They head back to the hotel, brush their teeth, put on pajamas, and cuddle up in bed. After a busy day the three boys quickly fall asleep, full of anticipation for the day ahead.

Something you should know about Leo is that when it comes to Disney, he is hard core. Their first morning there is an early entry in Disneyland park.

“Rise and shine, party people!” Leo calls as he entera the main part of the hotel room from the bathroom. Logan and Finn are just now waking up, but they aren’t remotely tired. The pure excitement radiating off their boyfriend is contagious as well as the promise of a day of fun.

“Butter baby, how long have you been up?” Finn’s question is alarmed yet distinctly amused.

“Since 5:30,” Leo responds off-handedly. Logan and Finn share a look, then turn it on Leo. Undeterred, Leo spins slowly in a circle in order to show off his carefully constructed outfit. He is wearing his favorite light wash Levi’s, paired with the crewneck he bought yesterday (light gray with vintage looking Mickey & friends). Underneath his sweatshirt he is wearing his Pizza Planet t-shirt, ready for when it gets hot later. Leo’s outfit is accessorized with his new Mickey ear hat, white air Jordan 1’s, and his Tinker Bell lanyard filled with pins from over the years.

“These things take time! Now y’all go get dressed, we have to be in line by 6:45,” Leo says. With that both Finn and Logan get out of bed and into their clothes in record time. On their way out of the room, they pick up their ears and backpacks from the desk by the TV.

After a brief stop at the Starbucks in Downtown Disney, the boys make it into the que of people lining up at the entrance gate. Once 7:00 hits, the lines start to move into the park. As Logan, Finn, and Leo enter, they gaze around in awe. At the end of Mainstreet sits Sleeping Beauty’s castle, tall and glorious. They walk hand in hand down the lane of colorful, old fashioned buildings, chatting excitedly about what to do first.

“Alright babes, what’s up on the agenda?” Finn asks.

“I don’t even know the options, what do you say Le?” Logan continues.

They end up heading over to Tomorrow Land first. They go on Star Tours and Space Mountain while the lines are short, then bounce around Fantasy land as they make their way across the park. Around 8:30 all three boys start to get hungry so they grab a bag or two of beignets from New Orleans Square. After breakfast, they hit their favorites in Adventure land (Finn fucking loves Indiana Jones), Frontier Land (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a fan favorite), and New Orleans Square (Logan might not stop singing ‘Yo Ho a Pirate’s Life for Me’ for weeks).

Around noon the cubs exit Disneyland Park and walk across to California Adventure. After lunch at Wine Country Trattoria the boys bop around Cars Land, Hollywood Land, Pacific Warf and Grizzly Peak. The lines are a lot longer now that it’s afternoon, so they take it in stride and spend their waiting time talking, cuddling, and playing games. They end up going on almost every ride as well as hitting the extra good ones twice like Incredicoaster and Guardians of the Galaxy (still a fan-fucking-tastic ride but Leo misses the Twilight Zone theme).

By the time they finish up in California Adventure for the day, it’s almost time for Fantasmic, and Leo has yet to tell his boys that he got them reserved seats. The cubs meander back to Disneyland but when they start to near Frontier Land Finn picks up the pace.

“Sweetheart, what’s the hurry?” Leo asks with a knowing smile.

“I wanna get good seats for Fantasmic, I haven’t seen it since I was little!” Finn replies.

“Orgasmic? I like the sound of that,” Logan slides in with a smirk.

“Baby, no!” His boyfriends exclaim at the same time. Logan giggles which gets Leo and Finn laughing as well.

“And Finn, I got us seat reservations for the show so no need to rush,” Leo tells him. Finn’s response is to jump on Leo with a fierce hug and a drawn out “Yay,”.

The cubs enjoy the water show immensely, all snuggled up and bundled in sweatshirts once again to fend off the cool evening air. They point out little details to each other with intertwined hands and gasp aloud at the pretty fireworks. Once Fantasmic is over they do a few more rides, then head back to the hotel, sleepy after a full day. The boys fall asleep quickly again, ready to do it all again the next day.

[iluvchick3nz]

sorry to add another prompt to your probably really long list but I was wondering if you could write something based on a thought I had the other day:

So basically was just thinking about how Finn and Logan are best friends and know everything about each other probably and I just thought it would be cute to see them learning things that maybe they didn’t know about Leo maybe they learn that he is a super fan of something or that he played a different sport besides hockey in highschool (maybe soccer or baseball?) or they learn that he can sing or do something else crazy idk. Just a little something of them learning more about him because I know a lot of people think him being the newest in the relationship is something he should be insecure about but I actually think it’s really beautiful that he has two people who fall in love with him and immediately want to know everything about him:)))

I’m just realizing this is word vomit but I’ll send it anyway lol thank you so much!!!

This was an AMAZING excuse to finally bring to life this headcanon I have about Leo, oh my gooooooooooosh!!!!!!! I have this idea that his entire family is really good at team sports. Like, Finn is good at running, obvs, and Logan is a lifting champ, but for Leo, sports in general just come so naturally, kind of the same as Captain Sirius Black. Basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball- it doesn't matter, he picks it up super quick. I also think his parents are big sports fans, so he is as well!

So have the Knut family (and Adele Dumais) absolutely tearing it up on the diamond, and Finn and Logan trying with all their might to REAL IN their adoration and surprise (and maybe conceal the fact that they are hot and bothered by Leo's competence, too). ;)

All credits to @lumosinlove !!

“Okay, team,” Finn said. “Bring it in, let’s go.”

He wrapped an arm around Logan and Louis’s shoulders as they all huddled in a circle. It had been Coach’s idea, a family softball game to start the summer, fifteen and older all welcome on the field. It was a mix of parents, siblings, children and players. There were even some veteran players; Hope Lupin, Celeste Dumais, and Thomas’ mom, Chelsea, had dusted off their old softball gloves from college and were on the opposing team. Finn knew it was all for fun, but he was going to keep his eye on them anyways. 

“Okay,” he said, leaning his head in. “This is just for fun, remember that… but we also want to win.” He looked around the circle. “A lot of you have siblings, parents, partners, or children on the other team, but that doesn’t mean you go any easier on them, okay?” He looked at Louis and Pascal first, then at Eloise. “We are not letting Celeste and Adele beat us out, or Leo. Or my brother. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Ouais,” Sirius agreed. He had his focus face on. “Remus is going down.”

“Geez,” Natalie said. “Your love sure is loud, Captain.”

Sirius turned bright red. “If I lose I have to cook dinner for a week.”

“And there it is,” Natalie laughed. She turned to Kasey. “Should’ve made a bet with Alexander.”

Kasey snorted. “Absolutely not, he is way too competitive.” He nodded to Finn. “We’re all ready.”

“Okay, hands in!” They all slapped their hands in the middle of the circle. Finn nodded his head satisfactorily. “Team on three, one, two, three…”

“Team!”

Finn slapped Logan’s back and rested his other arm over Eloise’s shoulder. “How we feeling, team? Ready to kick some nutter butter butt?”

Eloise looked at him in amusement. “I wouldn’t underestimate him, honey.”

Finn raised his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?” When she just shrugged and walked away, he turned to look at Logan frantically. “Lo, what did she mean?”

Logan ran a hand through Finn’s hair. “I’m sure it’s nothing, mon coeur. She just likes to mess with you.”

Finn nodded. “Right, right. Cool, okay, I’m good.”

Logan smiled and kissed his sweaty cheek. “Relax, rouge. It’s just a game.”

“A game that I am not losing. I’ve got my boyfriend and my brother on the other team. This is bragging rights on the line, Lo.”

“D’accord.” Logan soothed him with another kiss. “D’accord, baby, let’s go play.”

They were batting first, and Finn watched on bouncing toes as Pascal stepped up to the plate, eyes scanning the field. The outfield was composed of only hockey players- Alex, the tallest, at center; Remus in left field; Thomas in right. The infield was mostly people that actually played softball- Celeste at third, Chelsea at shortstop, Hope at second. Adele, who Pascal had said had a wicked vertical jump height was at first, eyes focused and narrowed at her father. Wyatt, almost as tall as his son, was laughing with Pascal at the plate, catcher’s uniform snuggly fitting his frame. Finn knew he’d be tricky. He played in an adult league, but so did Eloise, so Finn figured they were fairly evenly matched. On the mound, scanning the field with his devastatingly gorgeous blue eyes, stood the only non-softball player in the infield, who also happened to be Finn and Logan’s most beautiful muse and biggest competition. It was a curious choice, putting someone who didn’t play the game in as pitcher, but Finn sucked in a nervous breath anyways when Leo caught him staring and winked. 

“He’s just playing with you, Freckle.”

Finn turned to look at Natalie. “He’s up to something.”

She just sighed. “Let’s go, get your bat and warm up. You’re up next.”

Finn stood in the warm up box, idly swinging his bat between his hands. Layla blew her whistle, dressed in a black umpire uniform, and crouched behind Wyatt. Dumo raised his bat. He yelled something in French at Leo, who laughed before turning sideways and readying himself. Finn watched Wyatt make a motion with his hand, and his throat closed up. His eyes flicked to Leo, who just nodded before winding his arm back. Between one moment and the next, the ball had left his fingers in a perfect underhand and before Pascal could even blink it was flying straight over the plate and into the back of Wyatt’s glove. 

“Shit,” Finn said, eyes wide. “Oh fuck.”

“I told you honey,” Eloise said, patting his arm. “Don’t underestimate him.”

“Jesus Christ, Knut!” Thomas called from the outfield. “The fuck was that, you absolute beauty!”

Leo just smiled a little sheepishly and caught the ball his dad tossed him. Pascal was shaking himself out and readying for another pitch. He came close with his swing, but there was still the satisfying slap of the ball in Wyatt’s mitt. 

“Rouge.” Logan placed a hand on his lower back. “Rouge.”

Finn hung his head back with a groan and turned to face Logan. “We’re so screwed. Where the hell did he learn to pitch like that?”

Logan just looked at him. He had that determined expression on his face that he sometimes got when he was faced with genuine competition. He huffed out a breath and took Finn’s shirt in his hands and brought their faces close together. “Don’t let him scare you. You’ve got this, rouge.”

Finn tapped his helmet gently onto Logan’s head. “Got it, ten.”

There was another slapping sound and some whoops, and Pascal dejectedly walked back to the dugout. His face was amused, though. “Mon fil,” he said to Logan, slapping his back as he walked by. “That boy of yours can play.”

Logan just hung his head back with a huff. He smacked Finn’s butt and then gently shoved him toward the plate. “Allez, rouge.”

Finn would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little nervous as he stepped up to the plate. Layla and Wyatt were laughing when he stepped up, and Layla looked at him with teasing eyes. “Looks like your lover boy has quite the arm.”

“Don’t fucking remind me.” He bounced a little and turned to Wyatt. “Where the hell did he learn to play like that?”

Wyatt laughed at him. “He played when he was little, but then he’d play in mine and Eloise’s league during the spring and summer when he could.” He looked fondly at his son. “He’s good, isn’t he?”

Finn narrowed his eyes. “Mhm.” 

He ignored Wyatt’s chuckle and set his feet, eyes on Leo on the pitcher’s mound. Leo was already looking back at him with mischievous blue eyes. Finn shook his head. He couldn’t get distracted. 

Leo’s expression turned serious before he hid his mouth and nose behind his glove. He nodded minutely, presumably at his father, before shifting. Finn took a deep breath and braced his shoulders.

The first pitch went right down the pipe, making a whistling sound as it passed by. Finn had been shocked when he saw the first pitch Pascal had taken, but it was nothing compared to actually being at the plate and experiencing it. Finn let out a surprised sound and stumbled back a bit.

“C’mon Harz!”

“Allez, Finn!”

He rolled out his shoulders and neck before stepping back up to the plate. This time, he timed his swing, and the ball bounced off his bat with a satisfying thwack! He dropped his bat and ran, but he was only halfway down the baseline before he watched the ball land efficiently in Adele’s glove on a throw from Chelsea, her foot sturdy on the plate. He groaned as he ran through. Adele just grinned at him and tossed the ball back to Leo. “Better luck next time, Finn.”

“Ha-ha.” He flicked her hat brim down before jogging back down the baseline. “Hey Knut! The fuck is up with that?”

Leo just played innocent and shrugged with a devious little smile. Finn hated that it made him look gorgeous.

Back at the dugout, Logan was waiting for him with his arms crossed and an intense look on his face. He winced when he saw Finn. “It’s all right, rouge.”

Finn huffed. “They’re all fucking all-stars or some shit. I thought this was supposed to be a fun game.”

Eloise laughed as she passed by, bat swinging in her hands. “Don’t take it so seriously, honey. You’ll be fine.” Then she was stepping up to the plate.

They cheered her on from the dugout, Sirius and Louis leading the charge and shaking the fence. They both had the same intense expression on their faces as Logan. It was clear they were all surprised by the advanced skills on the other team.

Finn and Logan stood close, shoulders touching as they watched Eloise tap her husband’s helmet playfully before sobering up, raising her bat. Leo smiled briefly before once again hiding his face with his mitt, blue eyes intense. The routine was the same: the settling of his feet, his arm winding up, the ball leaving his hands at an impressive speed, flying down the middle-

None of them were expecting the resounding crack of Eloise’s bat against the ball that sent it sailing over Leo’s head and into the outfield.

“Holy shit!” Finn yelled. He bounced up and down, cheering with the rest of their team. “Yeah, Eloise!”

She ran fast, clearing first and heading for second. Thomas had recovered the ball and threw it, landing it in Hope’s waiting glove just after Eloise’s foot touched the base. 

“Allez!” Sirius yelled. He was smiling gleefully now. “Double, Eloise, allez!”

“Holy shit,” Finn whispered to Logan. “Our in-laws are softball wizards or some shit.”

“Ouais,” Logan said back. He sighed and rolled his neck. “Allez, I’m up.”

Finn smacked his butt. “Go get ‘em.”

Logan ended up hitting a single into center field, Alex just mistiming the throw, and Adele caught it a second after Logan’s foot hit the base. He let out a shout and patted her head in celebration, and she just shoved him playfully, spewing what Finn assumed was some vulgar French trash talk, if the way her mother reprimanded her was anything to go by. She huffed, but threw the ball back to Leo. Finn scanned the field; Logan’s hit had advanced Eloise to third. They just needed one more hit and she’d be home.

“Okay,” Finn said. He patted Sirius’ shoulders as he went to step up to the plate. “Okay, Cap, you got this. No losing to Remus, remember?”

Sirius didn’t say anything, just nodded curtly. His gray eyes were focused and icy as he walked out. He raised his bat, expression unreadable.

Leo threw two perfect strikes, Sirius letting out a frustrated huff every time he swung and missed. The third pitch, however, landed right on his bat and the ball sailed overhead- and right into Remus’ glove.

“Oh, come on!”

Remus just laughed loudly at his husband as he and his team began to clear the field. “Gotcha, baby!”

Sirius gritted his teeth and turned back to the dugout. “Allez, we need to field well, let’s go.”

“Yikes,” Natalie said drily. “Captain Scary has made an appearance.”

Sirius just sucked his teeth and picked up his glove.

“Okay, listen up!” Kasey called. He read from his clipboard. “Nat, you’re pitching, Logan, you’re catch. Louis, you’re at short, Eloise at second. Cap, Dumo, Lyall, you’re all outfield. Cole’s at third, Finn’s at first.” He looked up at them all. “Everyone else, you’ll sit this inning out, and we’ll rotate you in the next one so everyone gets a turn.”

There was a shuffling of people putting their gloves on and light chatter, then they were jogging out onto the field to the cheers of some of their friends and family in the stands. Finn waved to his and Logan’s parents before taking his place on first base. It was close enough to the other dugout that he could hear them cheering, but he tried to focus in on the plate.

They warmed up with some throwing before Layla signaled it was time to get started. Noelle was up first, her long braids swishing against her back as she stepped up to the plate. She knocked her knuckles on Logan’s helmet and he looked up at her. Finn didn’t need to see his face to know he was scowling.

Natalie was a good pitcher. She threw straight, even if not as fast as Leo, and could throw a mean change-up. Noelle landed a pop hit into right field and took off running to cheers.

“Let’s fucking go, Christmas!” Thomas shouted. 

Finn watched as the ball landed just out of Sirius’ reach and he scrambled to pick it up. His throw was a bit wild, so Finn had to leave the base to catch it, allowing Noelle to just get there in time. She was breathing hard as she turned to Finn. “Nice try, Fish.” She tilted her head. “Hey, like our star pitcher?”

Finn narrowed his eyes. “I have no alliance with him in this game.”

“I don’t know, wait until you see him in those baseball pants.” Her eyes flashed to Thomas, who was whistling shrilly at her, and she smiled. “Nothing sexier than an ass in baseball pants.”

“Ugh, stop that. I’m trying to focus.”

She just pretended to zip her mouth shut and readied herself to run.

Natalie struck Remus out, much to Sirius’ delight, but Noelle did end up stealing second. Leo was up next, and he left the dugout to lots of cheering and whistling. He said something to Logan with a fond smile and a tap to his helmet, then steadied his bat above his shoulder. Finn really tried not to look at his ass in those pants, he really did, but it was a failed attempt, and he sucked in a breath as he looked away briefly. Noelle smirked at him, and he stuck his tongue out at her.

Leo took a ball and a strike, and after the second pitch he stepped out of the box to take a couple practice swings. He looked focused and determined when he stepped back in, eyes boring into Natalie’s from her place on the mound. She steadied herself and sent the ball flying in what Finn thought would be a perfect strike, but Leo timed it beautifully, and with a swing so fast it made a swooshing sound he sent the ball in a perfect arc to left field, just beyond Lyall’s reach but still within the outfield.

The next thing Finn knew, Leo was flying past him and rounding to second. Lyall had caught the ball and sent it to Pascal, who’d shifted to receive it, but it was no use. No sooner had Pascal turned to send it to Eloise at second then Leo was flying over that base, too, and hustling to third, Noelle sprinting to home plate. Cole slapped his glove in urgency, but caught the ball just after Leo arrived, jerking as he came to a halt to keep his foot on the base. He was breathing hard, but smiling. Noelle had cleared home easily, much to the obvious chagrin of her little brother, and was being picked up by a shouting Thomas and carried into the dugout, her head thrown back in a laugh. There were lots of cheers and back slaps for her, then Alex picked up his bat and made his way towards the box, but not before he cupped his hands around his mouth to shout at Finn. “How does it feel, little bro?”

Finn heard Logan’s frustrated grunt and narrowed his eyes at Alex’s smirk, but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t let himself go this early in the game- not, at least, if he wanted to win.

Alex ended up getting out on an impressive zinger from Eloise, who threw so hard it actually hurt Finn’s hand to catch the ball, even with his glove on. He laughed loudly in Alex’s face, but Alex just rolled his eyes. “Got blondie across home plate, though, didn’t I?”

Finn’s smile faded abruptly as he looked at the opposing dugout. Wyatt was shaking Leo’s shoulders excitedly as he made his way to sit down. Logan stood up and watched them, mask pulled up and away from his face. Finn saw him stare at Leo’s butt in his pants, then watched as he realized Finn caught him and blushed. Finn sighed. They were so fucked.

Chelsea was up next and walked. Wyatt was after her and bunted impressively, allowing Chelsea to advance, even if he got out. But Adele’s pop fly was caught easily by her father, and then they were changing out again. Finn met Logan at the entrance to the dugout. He was sweating in his catcher’s gear, shaking out his hair as he took off his helmet. Despite himself, Finn smiled and kissed his cheek. “You know, you are a very sexy catcher. Might have to make a career change.”

Logan rolled his eyes, but was grinning as he kissed Finn on the mouth. “Je t’aime.”

“Love you.” Finn took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Now, c’mon. We gotta focus if we want to beat the love of our lives, let’s go.”

Cole was up first and hit a double off of Leo’s second pitch. Louis then ran on a drop-third strike, but Wyatt sent it perfectly into Adele’s glove. Cole did end up at third, then crossed home on Kuny’s single, but Celeste snatched the ball out of the air with ease. With two outs, Kuny walking a bit dejectedly back to the dugout, Finn started to feel the pressure. Natalie hit a perfect single just out of Noelle’s reach in the outfield, though, which set them up with at least a man on base. Logan was up to hit after her, and Finn drew him close with an arm around his shoulders and touched their foreheads together. “I know he’s distracting, but you can’t let him get to you. He’s just your opponent out there.” He sighed. “A very sexy opponent, but an opponent nonetheless.”

Logan nodded. “Ouais. Ouais, d’accord, I’ve got this.”

“You’ve got this.”

“I’ve got this.”

Logan took a deep breath, then walked up to the plate, cheers following him from the dugout. He tapped his bat against his shoes and rolled out his shoulders, squaring up to face the mound. Leo winked at him.

“Fuck,” Finn muttered. “C’mon, baby, don’t get distracted.”

Leo’s first pitch went a little high, and Logan dutifully let it pass by as Layla called it a ball. 

“Okay.” Finn tapped his foot. “Good, baby, good, c’mon.”

Logan drew two balls, then swung and missed for his first strike. After the second strike and Logan’s frustrated huff, Finn began to chew the inside of his cheek.

“Full count,” Pascal said from beside him. “It’s fine, Logan does well under pressure.”

“This is high stakes, Dumo. Bragging rights.”

A snort. “Mon Dieu, you three are competitive.”

Finn watched as Leo took a steadying breath, centering himself before preparing for his next pitch. He sent it right down the middle, and Finn let out a shout as Logan cracked it off his bat. But the victory was short lived, because in an impossible leap, Leo stretched his long (gorgeous) arm out and dove, snatching the ball just before he fell to the ground. 

Logan let out a loud curse and went to pick up his bat, practically marching back to the dugout with a scowl. Finn met him and held his hands out to settle against his shoulders. “Whoa, hey, baby, it’s just a game.”

Logan walked past him and sat heavily on the bench, whipping his helmet off and thumping his head against the wall. When he looked at Finn, his face was frustrated and- flushed? 

“Fuck,” Logan said, before muttering rapidly in French. “The fuck is he doing, just looking like that? He just- I can’t- I’m trying to focus!”

Finn gaped for a minute, realization dawning over him, before he gasped delightedly. “Oh my God!”

Logan glared at him. “Rouge-”

“Oh my God, you’re turned on.” When Logan shushed him, he lowered his voice and went to stand between his legs and cup Logan’s blushing cheeks. “Oh, baby, you’re so turned on right now.” 

“Shut up.”

“Nuh-uh, no way.” He felt giddy and bent to look into Logan’s eyes. “Really? This is doing it for you?”

“Don’t pretend it’s not doing it for you, too!”

“Oh, I’m not.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Logan’s head and drew him in for a hug. “Okay, we’ll be fine. Just a few more innings, then we can go see him.”

“But then there’s team dinner-”

“Which we can leave early.”

“His parents.”

“They’d stay long after we would leave, anyways, you know how they are. Eloise dances until the sun comes up with my mom and the Walkers, and Wyatt chats with Dumo and Lyall for ages every time. At Christmas we had to drag them home.”

Logan just let out a groan into his chest. “I can’t do this.”

Finn stepped back and pulled Logan onto his feet. “Well, you’re gonna have to. Because sunshine can be sexy all he wants, but he’s not gonna win.”

Finn was, however, proven mistaken. Four and a half innings later and Thomas and James were dumping a cooler of ice water on Leo’s back as he crossed home plate, Natalie standing on the pitcher’s mound gaping at where the ball had flown over the fence. It had been a competitive game, the opposing team going into their final at-bat tied with the other team 6-6, and Finn’s team had been fielding fantastic, but it was apparently no match for six-feet-and-three-inches of pure muscle and skill. Leo’s walk-off homer had pushed Noelle and Adele across the plate, too, and Finn had known at that moment that they had absolutely lost. He sighed, squinting against the late afternoon sun, and watched as Leo laughed and was pulled into a hug by his father.

“I told you honey.” Eloise had come to stand beside him and placed a comforting hand on his back. “Don’t underestimate my Leo. He’s got quite a skill set.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “More like a super power.” He gave her a squeeze and smiled down at her. “Hey, you played great, too. That double play in the third was insane.”

She grinned, pleased. “Aw, thanks, honey. Lots of practice, me and Wyatt. You boys should come play the next time you’re down.”

“I’m sure we will.” He looked back at home plate to see Logan sigh heavily. “Yikes, better go comfort grumpy. I’ll be right back.”

She patted his back and went to go talk to Natalie on the pitcher’s mound, and Finn jogged over to home plate. When he got there, he smiled and wrapped a slightly dejected Logan up in a hug. “You played good, baby.”

“Merci. You, too.”

Finn kissed his cheek. “Just no match for our MLB All-Star, huh?”

“What’s that about me?”

Finn and Logan turned to find Leo grinning at them broadly, soaking hair pushed back to reveal his blue eyes in a way that did not help the flush Finn knew was tinting his ears. He looked Leo up and down. “Just wondering where in the hell you learned to pitch like that.”

Leo winked. “So I might have played a little in New Orleans.” His gaze turned soft and he approached them. “Good game. You guys played great.”

“Soleil,” Logan said, voice slightly hushed. He went to go play with the chain hanging down in between the open top buttons of Leo’s jersey. He then gripped the fabric in his fingers and dragged Leo down into a kiss. “Mon coeur.”

Leo looked confused for a second before his eyes lit up. “Oh my God.” He laughed quietly and cupped Logan’s hips. “Really?” When Logan nodded, the highs of his cheeks red, Leo smiled even wider. “Oh, honey. Look at you.”

“Leo.”

“Sh, sh.” Leo drew Logan in for a hug and placed his mouth by his ear, whispering just loud enough so Finn could hear, too. “Sh, sweetheart, I’ve got you.”

Logan let out a soft sound and settled into Leo’s body, Leo smiling at Finn over his shoulder. Finn bit his lip and came up behind Logan to give Leo a brief kiss. “What can we say? Your skills are irresistible, baby.” 

Leo made a happy sound and kissed Logan’s cheek before standing more upright. “Thank you.” He slung an arm around each of their shoulders, his body pleasantly cool from the ice water, and smiled brightly. “So, how fast are we leaving this team dinner?”

Finn laughed. “Oh, so fast. We’ll see if Lo even makes it there.”

Leo’s dimples deepened. “Well, we’ve got time. I’m sure we could find a shady spot in a parking lot on the way to Dumo’s.”

Finn perked up. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Logan looked up at Leo with raised eyebrows. “But we’re all sweaty.”

Leo just shrugged. “What can I say, you both looked good out there. Finn holds a baseball very gracefully.” He bent to nuzzle Logan’s cheek. “And those baseball pants do wonders for you, baby.”

Logan blinked slowly, lips slightly parted. “Huh.”

Leo kissed his mouth twice in a burst, then patted each of their backs before walking towards his dugout. “Let’s go, clean-up time. I also gotta find my mama, that double play was awesome.”

“Yeah!” Finn called after him. “When were you gonna tell us you’re all a bunch of prodigies?”

Leo just turned, dropped a devastating wink, and went to help organize the dugout.

Finn let out a sigh and turned to Logan. “Damn. He just gets sexier every day, doesn’t he?”

“Ouais,” Logan nodded. He looped his arms around Finn’s neck. “I like still learning stuff about him.” 

Finn smiled and kissed him. “Yeah, me, too. Like still learning stuff about both of you.” He patted Logan’s butt. “Like how you look really good in these pants. Le, too.”

Logan’s eyes were fond as he tugged Finn’s hair. “Allez, let’s clean up and go find our families. I’m sure Noelle and Alex are looking for us.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Losers.”

“Non, rouge, us.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He bent to wrap his arms around the backs of Logan’s thighs to lift him up with a grunt, grinning at Logan’s loud laugh. “Let’s go, ten, then we get sunshine time.”

“And you time.”

“And you time.” Finn bit at the skin of Logan’s waist that was closest to his mouth, his shirt having ridden up a bit against Finn’s body. “Mm, you’re tasty.”

“Rouge.”

Finn just laughed, feeling light and in love, and carried him into the dugout. 

[fruitcoops]

Hi Eve! I was wondering if you could please write a little something for Leos birthday? 🥳

This turned into a lotta something, but my sunshine boy deserves it. God I love Leo Knut. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW mention of alcohol (not explicit)

Leo blinked one eye open, squinting in the morning sun. A pair of moss green eyes stared back at him over the curve of his arm like a particularly attentive cat. “Bon matin, sweetheart.” Logan’s lips brushed his skin as he spoke; Leo could tell he was smiling.

He groaned and hid his blush in the pillow without a word.

A hand, colder and more slender than Logan’s, ran up and down the curve of his spine in gentle motions. “Come on, birthday boy, time to get up.”

The solid warmth of Logan cuddled closer despite Leo’s playful kicking and Leo peeked out at him, praying some of the redness had faded. “We have breakfast in an hour,” Logan whispered.

“What?” Leo bolted upright, nearly toppling them both over the edge of the mattress. “Where? What time do we have to leave? Why the hell—”

“Easy, baby, it’s okay,” Finn soothed through his laughter. “We don’t have to go anywhere. Stuff is being delivered here, you can stay in your pjs, everything is taken care of.”

“We’re not going anywhere?” Leo repeated, looking between them.

“Not until one o’clock,” Logan confirmed, reaching out to drag him back down to the tangle of blankets. “Then we have to get out of bed and put real people clothes on so other people can admire you.”

Leo narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but laid down all the same and let Finn comb through his bedhead. “And my parents aren’t waiting in the living room again?”

“Non.”

He hesitated for a moment; something in his stomach panged. “You sure?”

Logan’s smile softened by a degree and he leaned in to kiss Leo’s nose. “We’re sure.”

“Turning 21 is no fun with parents around,” Finn teased, though there was a silent question in his eyes as he stretched out next to them and let his palm curl easily over Leo’s hip. “They did say they’d be up this weekend, though, and that we’re not supposed to tell you.”

Leo grinned. “Tell me what?”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Personally,” Logan sighed as he dragged himself over a few inches to lay over Leo’s chest and drop a feather-light kiss on his shoulder. “I think we have more than enough time to stop being sad on one of the best days of the year and do birthday kisses for one of the best people in the world.” His eyes shone with mischief. It was, quite possibly, Leo’s favorite expression. “But I could be wrong.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Finn agreed with a raspberry kiss to Leo’s collarbone. “Thoughts from the man of the hour?”

“You slobbered on me.”

“And I’ll do it again.”

“You are both ridiculous.”

“Hmm, maybe.”

Finn’s teeth grazed his shoulder before he bit down with a teasing growl. “Speak for yourself, Tremblay. I’ve never been ridiculous a day in my life.”

Leo and Logan both burst out laughing—the sunlight warmed Leo’s cheek as he tilted his head back, and he smiled, arching his back in a light stretch. “Nice boys don’t lie to their boyfriends, Finn O’Hara.”

Finn shuffled over until his head laid on Leo’s stomach, then pouted up at him with big, sad doe eyes. “Are you saying I’m not a nice boy?”

“You absolutely are not,” Logan answered for him.

Leo just shook his head with a smile. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you two.”

“Lots of very good things,” Finn said with a kiss to his sternum, followed by two more that the peaks of his ribs. “Or very, very bad things. Permission to start Phase 1 of birthday love?”

They’re idiots, but they’re my idiots, Leo thought as Logan raised an expectant eyebrow and Finn’s nose prodded the base of his ribcage. It was a rather lovely thought, actually. One that still made his heart a little puddle of goo. “Permission granted.”

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

“I’m impressed,” Leo mused, swinging his legs from his countertop perch.

“By our culinary expertise?”

“No, that you haven’t lit anything on fire yet.”

Logan swatted him with a dish towel as he passed and Leo gave him a nice kick on the rear in vengeance. It was through the grace of Finn and his spatula that neither of them ended up falling into the stove. “Stop fighting in my kitchen!” he complained, batting at Logan’s wrist with the flimsy plastic.

“This has never been your kitchen,” Leo snorted. “What are you even making?”

“That’s the fun part,” Logan cut in as he planted his hands on either side of Leo’s thighs and leaned up for a kiss. “First present of the day is a guessing game.”

“Pancakes.”

“Non.”

“Waffles.”

“Non.”

“Omelets.”

“What kind of omelet has flour in it?” Logan asked at the same time Finn said, “you think I know how to make that?”

“Eggs in a pan, Harzy.” Leo looped his arms over Logan’s shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. “Eggs in a pan.”

“Sounds complicated.”

Logan knocked his forehead against Leo’s collarbone. “D’accord, bedroom time. I need to occupy you.”

Before Leo could answer, Finn heaved a sigh and pointed his spatula at Logan. “You know, I vividly remember telling you to be subtle about that.”

“Have I ever been subtle? About anything?”

“Fair point.”

“I am not leaving him alone in the kitchen,” Leo interrupted, locking his ankles around the backs of Logan’s knees.

“Mon dieu, you really are an octopus,” Logan muttered as he tried to untangle himself from the mess of limbs. He gave up after a moment and skimmed his thumb over Leo’s jaw. “Finn’s been practicing, it’s fine. And we’re going to the bedroom so that he can actually take the recipe out instead of sneaking peeks at his phone while I distract you with kisses, which I am honestly surprised you haven’t noticed yet.”

“I—” Leo did a double-take. Sure enough, Finn’s phone sat on the lowest cabinet shelf, half-hidden by the measuring cups instead of in the charger where he swore he saw it last. “How the fuck…?”

“It was two against one, there was no way you were going to win. Don’t feel bad. Oh, and we’re going to the bedroom because there’s another present there and because breakfast is going to be ruined if you keep stalling. Viens ici, mon amour.”

Leo cast one last look over his shoulder as Logan led him back own the hall with a loose hold on his wrist. “Does this recipe involve fire?”

“Yes!” Finn called.

“Does it involve knives?”

“Dull ones!”

Leo thought for a moment. “Are you sure you’re not making pancakes?”

“Very! Go away!”

“But I’m curious,” he complained as Logan pulled a small box out of the depths of their hoodie pile and handed it over. “Is there more than a fifty percent chance he’s going to hurt himself?”

Logan bit his lip in thought. The mid-morning sun turned him burnished gold, and for a moment, Leo was entranced. “Yes, but when is there not? Open.”

“What?”

He nudged Leo’s chest with the poorly-wrapped package. “Open. It’s present number one-point-five.”

“Point five?” Leo laughed as he took it and carefully peeled off the longest piece of tape, careful not to rip too much despite the excitement thrumming in his veins. “Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Finn?”

“Ouais. He gets to give you breakfast, I get to give you this.”

Logan stayed still while Leo pulled off the last of the wrapping paper, though he could tell it took effort; excitement flushed his face and he toyed incessantly with the drawstring of his flannel pants. “A book?” Leo guessed, running his hands over the soft leather cover.

“Open it,” Logan said softly.

The puzzle pieces connected the second Leo felt the hard plastic of the pages, and he let it fall open to a random page. His own face looked back at him, bracketed on either side by his boys—a faint burn from the New Orleans sun reddened Finn’s cheek where it was squished against Leo’s. “You did not,” he murmured, turning the page. Interspersed with the photographs were coins from both the States and Canada, as well as a variety of other flat trinkets. A pressed magnolia sat at the beginning of the New Orleans section.

“I did, a little bit,” Logan said, obviously pleased. “Do you like it?”

Leo set the book down on the dresser and cupped Logan’s face in his hands, pulling him in for a chaste kiss. “I love it.”

“There are a few—mmm—pages left at the back,” Logan said against his lips. “So we can put more in.”

“Tremzy?”

“Mhmm?”

“Shh.”

Leo kissed the grin from his soft lips, still minty from toothpaste. He wove his fingertips through the curls above Logan’s ears and felt him fall slightly into his chest, callused hands splaying over his sides before sliding down to rest on his hips. “Bonne anniversaire,” Logan mumbled, standing on his toes for a better angle.

“This is the perfect morning,” Leo said. A familiar crackling sound from the kitchen caught his attention and he paused; Logan smiled. “You did not.”

Logan batted his eyelashes innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Giddiness rose up from Leo’s stomach as he all but dragged Logan out of their bedroom and made a beeline for the kitchen. “Damn it, Logan,” Finn sighed without a speck of true annoyance and a grin bright enough to power their apartment. “Get out, both of you. Go make out or something. Look at pictures.”

“I fucking love you,” Leo laughed, squishing his freckled cheeks for a messy kiss before turning to the stove. He bounced on his toes, squeezing Finn tight around the waist. “Did you help with the photo album?”

“We each chose half.”

“You are my favorite people ever and I love you so much.”

Finn tilted his head back for another kiss before Leo buried his face in the side of his neck, utterly unable to contain his glee. The oil on the stove popped and hissed, turning small doughy squares golden with each passing second. It even smelled just right. “I called your mom for the recipe.”

Leo pushed his nose into the strong curve of his shoulder muscle. “I know.”

“Oh?”

“It looks perfect. Smells perfect.”

Logan slid up behind them and wound his arms around Leo once again. “You deserve perfect on your birthday.”

“Is this going to be a theme?” Leo asked as Finn began carefully scooping out the bare bases and setting them aside to let the oil drain. “Are you going to make me fresh beignets every year?”

“I love the way you say that word,” Finn sighed. “Don’t know how you do it, but I love it.”

“And yes, if you want us to,” Logan answered.

“Will you make them for me every weekend?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I can only send so many offerings to Lady Luck before she decides hot oil is not my friend anymore.” Finn kissed his cheek briefly. “Lo, can you get the powdered sugar?”

Logan’s warmth disappeared with a gentle kiss between Leo’s shoulder blades, but returned mere seconds later. “Lady Luck adores you,” Leo said, nuzzling the underside of Finn’s jaw. “But my mama likes you more. She gave you the secret recipe.”

“Did she?”

“I can tell.” Leo smiled to himself. Even though their slice of domesticity in the kitchen was perfect, he couldn’t help but wish his parents were there to tell the story with him. His dad always had the best facial expressions for it. “Our neighbor asked for it one time, and her beignets tasted like leather. I think she had been snippy about you two. It was hilarious.”

“Your mother is even more devious than you are.”

“Bold claim, Mr. Tremblay.”

Logan ducked under Leo’s arm and rubbed a hand over his chest as he kissed him, slow and deep. “Help me get the sugar on the beignets before they get cold.”

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

The beignets were incredible, much to Leo’s surprise. And Finn’s, if the pleased hum and raised brows were anything to go by. They demolished the small mountain of pastry heaven in under 30 minutes and went straight back to bed, where they curled up in Leo’s personal favorite position—a pile of limbs and soft pajamas—to look through the photo album and debate which additions it would need.

The one picture they agreed on was the newest: they were bedhead-ridden with patches of powdered sugar still decorating their faces, but Leo would never get tired of their perfectly imperfect selfies. They balanced each other in all the right ways.

Dumo’s house was already packed when they arrived and Leo spent close to an hour being hugged and kissed and fawned over, not that he could really complain. Was it a little awkward? Sure. Birthdays always were. Did being surrounded by his chosen family satisfy a deep-seated pool of affection in him that literally nothing else would compare to? Without question.

He was corralled into a cutthroat game of freeze tag that Marc handily won before everyone was rounded up for cake, then presents, then ice cream, then another round of tag that evolved into touch football with Logan’s beanie as the ball. Most of the kids crashed hard after that, and a lull fell over the house as the ‘adults’—though who was Leo kidding, they all turned into middle schoolers when balloons were involved—fell on the remains of the cake at Celeste’s request.

Leo took a long sip of hot chocolate and let it coat his tongue, savoring it as it stuck to the roof of his mouth. Despite the sunshine, it was still almost frozen outside—Dumo’s backyard was covered in a layer of frost and everyone’s breath steamed in the air. He leaned against the windowsill and watched while Logan listened intently to Katie recount some grand adventure, though her small voice was inaudible through the glass.

Two arms draped over his shoulders and a kiss lingered at the top of his head. “Why are you sad?” Finn asked into his hair.

“I’m not.”

Finn hummed, then shifted to lean on him. His thumb moved in vague patterns over the front of Leo’s fleecy sweater—the familiarity of the gesture made his heart skip a beat. “You’ve been frowny for, like, an hour when you think we’re not looking. Were the beignets that bad?”

Leo tilted his head back with a smile. “Best I ever had.” He let himself be kissed for a moment, linking their fingers. “Just missing my folks today. 21 is kind of a big one, right?”

“It probably would have been more fun to celebrate in New Orleans.” The corner of Finn’s mouth dipped. “I’m sorry, Peanut, we should’ve—”

“Nope,” Leo interrupted, holding a hand over his mouth. “Uh-uh. You’re not allowed to overthink this. Today has been perfect, it was incredibly important to me to spend my birthday with all my friends, and this morning was the best part of my whole month. I’m just being angsty and homesick for no good reason.”

“It’s a very good reason,” Finn corrected. “But I’m sorry you miss them.”

Leo shrugged. “It’s the same with Reg, you know? He’s busy with school. They’re busy with work. It makes sense that they couldn’t make it, and it’s not fair of me to expect them to be here.”

Behind him, someone snorted. “Well, that would’ve been nice to know about six hours ago.”

Leo exhaled through his nose, long and slow. Finn’s Oscar-worthy look of sympathy melted into a downright villainous grin. He closed his eyes. “Mama?”

“Hi, baby,” she answered, audibly amused.

“Dad?”

“Hi, bud.”

“Cover your ears real quick for me?” He cracked an eye open and Finn nodded. “Regulus fucking Black—”

“If you didn’t want me here, I wouldn’t have been up at 7:30—”

“You are such a little bastard—”

“Hey, I could’ve slept in—”

“Shut the fuck up and get over here,” Leo said through his laughter as he turned and caught Regulus in a tight hug. His heart had gone past beating right through his chest and simply seized up with pure joy, filling his whole body with a tingly feeling. “Don’t you have class?”

“Family emergency,” Regulus said with mock-gravity. “It came out of nowhere, shocked us all. My physics professor sends his best wishes to you, dearest aunt who ended up in the hospital with a concussion. I tried to tell him that these things just happen sometimes, but he would not hear of it.”

“You got an extension on a test?”

Regulus snorted as he stepped back. “Of course I did.”

“Oh, Leo, you’re shaking,” his mother said through her laughter as he practically fell into their arms. He closed his eyes and breathed deep—they even smelled like home. His dad was solid and warm and tall, like always, and his mother was wearing the magnolia perfume she only brought out for special occasions. It should have felt strange to have them so close.

It didn’t. Not one little bit.

“We missed you.”

Leo swallowed hard at the sound of his dad’s voice, not distorted over Skype or a cellphone. “Missed you, too. When did you get here?”

“Landed a little over an hour ago.”

“Reg…?”

Regulus shrugged one shoulder, hanging back along the edges. “The airport wasn’t too far out of my way.”

Leo reached out and dragged him in by the elbow, then fumbled for Finn’s hand and pulled him over as well. “Where’s—”

“I’m here.” Logan slotted right up against his side like he was built for it. Leo squeezed his eyes shut and held on as tight as he could.

“I love you,” he said, almost too quiet to hear. “Finn and Lo told me you guys wouldn’t be here until the weekend.”

“We’ll be here through the weekend,” his mother said. She left a kiss on his forehead that nearly broke his heart. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed them until they were there. “Which means you’re free to go have fun with your friends tonight, and you don’t have to worry about waking up early tomorrow.”

Leo felt his blush flame up as their little group loosened. “Mama.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Knut, we’ll look out for him,” Regulus assured her with a gleam in his eye that Leo didn’t entirely appreciate.

“I’m sure you will,” she said. “Make sure you keep an eye on your tolerance, honey, since you haven’t had alcohol before.”

A beat of silence passed, broken only by his father’s snort. “We’re just messing with you. Regulus, you’re in charge.”

“I appreciate your faith in me to look after your unnaturally tall and clumsy son.”

Leo kicked him lightly on the ankle. “I’m a perfectly normal height.”

“You’re built like a stick of string cheese.”

“That is the worst thing you have ever said to me.” God, he had missed bickering with Regulus. The holidays felt like forever ago.

“Okay, go, have fun!” his mother urged, shooing the four of them toward the backyard. “This party needs a birthday boy!”

Leo hesitated for just a moment longer, then gathered them up into a hug again. “I love you,” he repeated. “Thank you. I love you.”

“We’re not missing a big one like this,” his father teased, ruffling his hair before he tilted his head toward the backyard. “Go, your friends are waiting.”

[heyitssmiller]

“ELOISE KNUT THE DEATH EATER. SHE JOINS TO PROTECT LEO. SHE HOPES THAT IF SHE'S LOYAL TO RIDDLE THEN HE'LL SPARE HER SON. BUT OH MMY GOSH WAS SHE WRONG”

Hi there! So sorry to inform you, @peanut-in-the-goal, that this ask is actually a form of illegal angsty activity, or IAA [pronounced as a scream]. IAA happens when people take beautiful, sweet, innocent characters and crush them with angst! Now, I have in my notes here that you and Miller tend to be frequent causes of illegal angsty activity. So I am gently warning you both to stop hurting the babies please or I will sob. Thanks! :)

(DUA)

*whispers* where does Leo get the gray steak in his hair in this fic

[futurebicon]

My Christmas wish is for Eloise and Wyatt Knut to adopt me

@lumosinlove

[hecksee]

SAM WILSON, FALCON, IS FROM NOLA!!! WOW THE HEADCANONS RUNNING THROUGH MY F U C K I N G HEAD OF HIM AND LEO KNUT KNOWING EACH OTHER!!! LIKE WHAT IF SAM WAS HIS NEIGHBOR AND LIKE AN OLDER BROTHER TO HIM??? HE CAME OVER FOR HOCKEY GAMES (totally not Eloise’s food who do you think he is?) AND WAS THE FIRST PERSON OUTSIDE FAMILY TO CONGRATULATE HIM ON GETTING INTO THE NHL! WHEN HIS IDENTITY IS REVEALED ON NATIONAL TV LEO IS LIKE “I KNOW A MOTHERFUCKING AVENGER!!” THE P O S S I B I L I T I E S! -Dani

WOAHHHH NICE 

[spookypotato]

Leo - Just Leo 2

Characters by @lumosinlove

Thank you to elisa my beta <3

And thank you everyone for being invested! I did not expect people to care that much, but I'm happy you did :))

part 1

TW: coming out, anxiety, stess

He started sobbing. This is ridiculous. Everything was alright. Nothing had gone wrong. He could cry if they rejected him. He could cry, if everything he feared for became reality. He should not do it now. He had no reason to. 

Finn’s hand on his back and Logan’s on his knees, drawing small circles with his thumbs, grounded him a bit. He tried to focus on his breathing. Leo knew the process. He counted things in his head, took a few more deep breaths and the tears pretty much stopped again. He could feel a hand on his cheek. 

Finn wiped away the wetness there and Leo had to actively hold back the new ones that were threatening to roll down. He inhaled deeply. 

“There you go.”,  came in Finns voice from next to him. “Are you alright, baby?” 

Leo only nodded. He didn’t trust himself with words just yet. He should take a few minutes to calm himself down and then tell them. Bursting into tears in between his words wouldn’t be good for any of them. 

Finn’s hand stopped on his back, feeling the muscles underneath it relax. He slowly got up and went to the kitchen. 

“He’ll just get you some water. Can I do anything else for you, Nutty?”, Logan asked as he also got up to move next to Leo, his hand replacing Finns. 

Leo shook his head. He could feel his throat getting less tight and letting more air through. Maybe even enough to start the conversation, the one he wanted to have for quite a while now. 

He hadn’t practiced. He still had no clue what to say, but he had his boys next to him and his determination had returned. 

Leo downed the glass Finn had brought him. It helped, he was positive, he would get out more than a sentence without crying again. He could do this. 

“So”, he croaked out the same fucking opener he wanted to use less. Now was not the time to try to change his habits. 

“So”, he tried again. Fuck it. “I have something I wanted to talk about with you.” 

Both of his boys looked at him. He felt less nervous now that he had started and was still feeling their hands on his back and knees. He turned a bit to face them both more fully. 

Just start in some way. 

“I don’t want you to call me your boyfriend anymore.” 

And damn. He could have said anything else and it would have been less stupid. He needed to fix this. Logan’s hand was no longer on his back and Finns had simply fallen to the ground next to his feet. He looked over to Logan, who’s eyes were beginning to become shiner than usual. He looked hurt. 

Of course he looked hurt dumbass, you basically told them you want to break up with them. He hit himself mentally for his poor choice of words. 

“Leo, do you not want to be in a relationship with us anymore?”, Finn asked softly, his bottom lip worried between his teeth. 

Seeing both of them this distressed at once seemed to snap him out of his paralysis. 

“No! No, no, no, no, no. I really, really don’t. I would never. You two are the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you so much I meant it differently. I’m sorry.”, Leo had forgotten to take a breath in between. He needed to correct his mistake. He needed them to know how much they meant to him. 

Finn’s expression turned into a more relaxed one, which quickly became confused. “I love you, too. Why don’t you want to be called our boyfriend anymore though?” 

Finn left the question open ended. He provided no potential answers. He didn’t try to guess what was going on, he just asked and Leo was grateful for it. 

He started again. “If I’m going to say this, I need to say it all at once. So until I’m done with the main part, please don’t interrupt me, yeah? I don’t know where this bravery is coming from, but it’s bound to leave at some point. Can you do that?” 

He looked at Finn, who nodded. They both looked over at their boyfriend. Logan was clearly still not over the fact that, Leo almost told them he wanted to end their relationship. A few tears had rolled down his cheeks and Leo moved his hand to wipe them away, tilting his head up so green eyes met blue. 

“Can you listen to me, sweetheart?” 

Another tear rolled down Logan’s face and Leo wiped that one away too. He saw the brunet nodding. 

Okay, here goes ... everything, he thought to himself.

“I’d like you to use they/them pronouns for me, please.”, Leo saw things click behind Finns eyes, but they both knew Leo wasn’t done, so the boys listened as they continued. “I’ve thought about this for a good amount of time and I’m not completely sure how I feel, but I don’t feel like I’m a cis man. I know I’m trans. I figured that out, but I don’t know what label would fit me best yet. I do however know, I’m not a man and I’m not a woman. That’s why I’d like to try out they/them pronouns.”, their stare was fixed on the ground. Leo couldn’t bear to look their boys in the eye. They couldn’t bear a rejection. Curiosity got the better of them though, and dragged their blue eyes slowly off the ground and into brown and green ones.

Leo knew, their eyes must look stressed, nervous or even desperate, but they needed some kind of reaction. 

“If I call you Leo, are you fine with that?”, Logan’s voice came from beside him. Not disgusted or distant, just as loving and considerate as it always was. Hope bloomed in Leo’s chest. 

“Yes.”, they answered the question. “Leo is perfect. It’s gender-neutral and I like it. It makes me feel comfortable. Thank you for asking.” 

This didn’t feel real. Neither Logan nor Finn had moved a muscle in an effort to get up or scream at them or push them away. They were both simply sitting on the couch next to them, listening. 

Finn must have seen the distressed expression on Leo’s face and moved closer, his thigh touching the blonds. At least Leo now knew he couldn’t be that disgusted with them, that he couldn’t even bear to touch them. That wasn’t a lot, but it was a piece of hope Leo didn’t want to let go. 

“Peanut, baby. We love you.”, Logan moved closer to them as well, putting his hand back on Leo’s back, “We love you for you. That will never change. I don’t care what your gender is, the thing I care about is that you are you. That you’re comfortable in your own skin and feel understood and accepted and loved. Unconditionally.” 

Leo was so close to tears again and when one slipped down their cheek, they couldn’t help but let the rest stream down as well. They weren’t sad, but the pure relief they felt was enough to coat their cheeks with tears. 

Logan and Finn knew. Both of them just moved closer and hugged Leo. It was grounding and it actually slowed the sobs down that had started escaping their lips again. Just as Finn pulled back and kissed them on the cheek, Logan whispered in his ear, “Sweetheart, we love you for you, not for your gender. Nothing can change that.”

~~~

The following Monday, there was luckily no practice, so they all slept in. The doorbell was what woke them up at about 9 am. 

Finn grumbled something an got up, kissing them both, Leo on the shoulder and Logan on his cheek, maybe whispering something, but Leo was still to sleepy to care. 

What they did however care about, was Logan getting up as well, leaving them alone in their bed, cold and with no body heat to snuggle into. 

After a few minutes of rolling around, trying to get comfortable again and failing, they reluctantly got up as well. 

“Leo!”, he heard a shout from the main room. 

Answered by Finn in an almost scolding tone. “Let them sleep, Logan. They had a few stressful days.” 

It warmed Leo’s heart to hear them use their pronouns correctly, even after only a day. 

Their boys were in the living room, grinning at them like they knew something Leo didn’t. They probably did. 

Leo was almost in front of them as they pulled out, what had been behind their backs.

Light blue, pink and white was staring back at them. Logan and Finn had bought them a trans pride flag. 

Both of them were beaming and Leo couldn’t help themselves from covering their faces in kisses. They really were loved. 

“We can get another one, if you decide on a label, you like more, but we got you this. You also don’t have to keep it, we just thought you might like it.”, Finn told them.

“And it’s a part of you and as we in this household love all things Leo Knut related, we wanted to have a symbol for that. For you figuring out your feelings.”, Logan added. He got a bit quieter at the end, like he was questioning if they had done the wrong thing. 

Leo’s eyes, their fucking eyes, just didn’t want to give them a break. Tears were starting to form again and they had no way of stopping them. Logan and Finn accepted them. Not only that, they embraced Leo’s gender identity. And they had shown them, just like Eloise and Wyatt had. 

“Thank you.”, Leo got out through their tears, “I love you both so, so much.”

[achliegh]

Happy Mothers Day

Hola, today is mother’s day in the US and I thought of a great fic.

TW/CW: Food & Drink

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

“What do you think they’re planning?” Ink sips her mimosa that Eloise made her, they were hanging out at the cottage Ink and June live in while everyone else is at The Cubs apartment setting up a “surprise”.

“Leo has always been a mama’s boy so this is his favorite holiday. I bet he will convince the twins to love it too.” Eloise smiles as she downs her entire drinking one go, she's gonna need it with how big this event will be. She misses the homemade cards and fresh baked cookies, maybe even sleeping in.

“I just wanted a nap if I’m being honest.” Ink fiddles with her glass and yawns, the thought of sleep makes her want to pass out right there.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to sleep in tomorrow because I’m taking the monsters back home with me. Happy Mothers Day!” Eloise smiles at her as Ink looks at her dumbfounded, blinking a couple of times a smile grows on her face. “I miss my grandbabies, and you need rest.” She kisses the top of Ink’s head.

“I actually have something for you too.” She hops up off her stool and disappears into her room, coming back out she has a large card in her hands. Holding it out to Eloise. When Ink became pregnant with the twins the only adult she really ever trusted was Eloise, she took Ink under her wing and taught her everything there is to know about parenting. About life. About how to be happy with herself. Eloise basically was her mom which kind of fucked the family tree now that she thinks about it.

“It definitely isn’t stealing your small child for..”

“A month.”

“A month but it is something near and dear to my heart.” Eloise opens the envelope that the card is in, it had obviously been handled by Otto at one point because the paint smeared fingerprints were endearing. Taking the card out Eloise can’t help the laugh that forces its way out of her airways. Olive and Otto had tried writing on the front of the card. Smiley faces and hearts cover the cards' glossy front. When she opens the card it is very clean, the kids hadn't gotten into the actual card. Inside it says

‘ Dear Eloise,

Happy Mother’s Day. I want to thank you for everything.

I know you didn’t have to take me in after the little ones came into our lives but I don’t know what I would have ever done without you.

I Love You.

Indigo Nia Khalid’

Eloise smiles at the card and closes it, holding it to her heart. She pulls Ink into a tight hug and pets her hair.

“I wouldn’t trade you for anything Ink, you are just as much of my family as Leo is. I love you too.” She hears a little sniffle and knows Ink had a bit of a rough upbringing, but she has grown into an amazing young woman and a fantastic mother. Ink pulls away a little and flips the card so the back is facing them.

On the back are four polaroid's of Eloise and Ink that Wyatt and Leo had taken. One of them laughing so hard they are crying. One Of them is asleep and leaning on each other with their backs against a tree near the pond in their backyard. One of Eloise holding Ink’s hand in the hospital, both look terrified. The final one is of Ink and Leo with the twins as babies. Each holding one child, smiling at the camera. On the bottom was written ‘For you to keep off with you always’.

When they showed up to the cubs apartment, they were greeted with a large homemade dinner and glittery cards. This was Eloise's favorite mothers day. It was also the first one the twins would remember.

[iluvchick3nz]

Masterlist!!

I have LOVED creating these fics for you, and I am so happy you have enjoyed them! Please find the master list below to go back and reread if you so choose. Please also keep sending in prompts- I LOVE receiving your ideas. <3

Character credits go to @lumosinlove !

Posting Schedule EXPLAINED (as of 28 Feb, 2025)

Cubs Engagement: This is my first one ever written, and sets the timeline for the rest of my fics (LOOSELY). This is NOT the canon timeline set by @lumosinlove in SW, C2C, or Vaincre, as the Cubs have obviously NOT reached that point in their lives. It's just how I imagine it!

Teacher Finn Pt. I

Teacher Finn Pt. II: Finn and His Fountain Pen

Man Bun Leo Knut TM

Leo's 2-4-1 Weighted Blanket Deal

Leo's Long Distance Surprise

Respecting Ratatouille (with DISCUSSIONS of the FUTURE)

Gender-Bent PWHL Cubs (P.S. please let me know if you'd be interested in more gender-bent/PWHL AUs! It didn't do as well as my other posts (sad face), but as a WLW I LOVE the PWHL fics that @fruitcoops did a while back. And I love the PWHL! So PLEASE let me know!!)

Logan's Favorite Combo: Boyfriends, Hot Chocolate, and CUDDLES

Ballet Butter Baby (i.e., Eloise Knut bring out baby photos!!)

BECs for Dinner Courtesy of FinnLo

FinnLo Finding Out About Jack >:|

Leo's Morning Accent

Concussion Angst + Fluff

Sunshine Being Carried Around

Finn and Healthy Discussion About Nefarious Activities

Icicle Leo Braving the Canadian Winter

Two Times Leo was Flustered, and One Time He Was the Flusterer

Black Brothers and Their Mom, Hope Lupin

Finn's Love Language

Leo's Blast from the Past, feat. Competitive BFs

O'Hara Home Videos in the Hamptons

FinnLo at a Harvard Reunion

LT10 is Back On Gryff Ice

Hurt/Comfort: A Commentary on US Marriage Laws and Visas

Leo Learning to Accept Affection

Finn Being the Best HAB

Future Family Skate

Cubs Lazy Morning In

Where Leo Got His Gray

Finn Being a Personal Jungle Gym

Leo Being a Heat-Resistant Master Chef

Wisdom Teeth Removal

Leo's Personal Lolo Guard Dog

Cubs Visit CANADIA

Married Cubs Fluff in Nice

Leo and His Tiger Stripes

Date Night!

Leo's Gaydar

Hogwarts AU

Seeing One Another Cry

Muscle Man Logan Tremblay

PWHL AU PT. II: Super Model Leo Knut and Her Protective GFs

Discussions of Age Differences

Insomniac Sunshine

Teacher Finn in Love with His Hubbies

Home Videos Pt. II: Baby of the Family Lolo and the Sunshine Show

Leo's All Star Panic Attack

Reaction to Injuries

Engagement Announcement!!!!

Soulmate AU (Pt I ;))

Cubs Being Obsessed with Legs, Arms, and Freckles!!!!

Logan Being Jealous of Pets feat. Pet Names

Hogwarts AU Pt. II

Seeing Each Other's Rooms for the First Time (Ever, or In a While)

Leo and His Homies in the Hamptons

Clingy Cubs

Harvard FinnLo Falling Alseep- then Waking Up to Their Sunshine

Protective Leo and Finn

Soulmate AU (Pt. II)

Cubs Go Hiking

Curly Cutie Leo Knut!!!!

Logan Beer Chugging Frat Boy King

Dumo and His Fatherly Advice feat. an Anxious LoganTM

Harvard FinnLo Fight and Reconciliation

Finn + Anxiety Meds

Cubs in the Hamptons feat. Dumais Children and Ultimate Dad Mode Leo

Write Me In AU!!!!

Finn Needing a Little Comfort

Leo is a Softball Legend

Some Supportive Hubbies in NOLA

FinnLo Old Scars + Leo Helping Them to Heal

Married Cubs Moving Lolo to NYC (Kinda f-ed up my own timeline- Finn still has another two seasons in the NHL left after they get married. Pretend he's, like, going in to do a practical or something as part of his Master's the following day, idk. Whoopsiiiiie!

Enemies to Lovers AU

Leo Returning Home Post Playoff Loss

Halloween feat. Leo in EYELINER

Leo and Reg Being Fishing Bros

Cubs Having the First Big "Kids ConvoTM"

Married Cubs and Finn Being OBSESSED with LeLo'a Bodies (Non-Sexual Intimacy)

Finn is UNHAPPY the NHL Makes Him Sleep Without His Husbands

College AU feat. Rockstar Leo

Leo's Four-Legged Surprise

Harz and Some Academic Burnout

Married Cubs and Interviews

The Origins of Charlie the Duck

Cubs Headcanons I, II, III, IV