#every now and then the colors his scarf and his shirt swap and i love that for him

[katkafe]

my favorite thing about merlin is that he wears almost the exact same exact outfit every episode. he’s like a little british cartoon character. i love him so much

[arielmatosdraws]

(WARNING: broken english, not my main laguage)

Also, special and high inspiration on: Miss Holoska(i write right, right?) With Underswap!MH and a but of Team Switched with TS!Underswap

So, you guys rembember me talking about how many takes of Underswap is out there but not many Underfell, well, guess what? I have a Underswap take

Character explanation

Chara: i made Chara design to look like how they look in the intro and flashback of Undertale, since i have a headcanon that Chara hair is like that because Chara didn't have time to brush their hair(why would they?), and so, the Dreemurs take care of them, and one time Chara have that hair that we see on genocide end(is just my headcanon), and since in this Underswap is the first time that Chara is in thr underground and not have time to brush their hair, i decided that should look like this, also, their personality depends of the routes, not only that but their personalities is just from the differents view of Undertale Chara, the neutral route, depending of what did Chara do, they have the personality that the "Neutral-Chara" believers think they have, the pacifist route, their personality can be either sarcastic, sassy, etc, to educated, angel, lawful good etc, and finally genocide, can be either sinlent, or, if Chara used cruel ACTs, can be the stereotype evil Chara

Sans: first of all, no, he is not a child, if was i could have drawed a stripe on his shirt, so, his clothes, is just thinked that his Undertale clothes are already perfect to exercice, so why change? The only thing that i changed was the sneakers with the shoes of Temmie Chang Sans concerpt art, and their hoodie with a scarf, he have a good relationship with Toriel like in Undertale, telling puns, talking about Papyrus, etc, the only people that know that Sans go talk to the queen is his brother, Mettaboo and Napstaton, but they doesn't mind and don't tell anyone, Sans doesn't use this as a excuse to enter the royal guard, he wants to enter with his skills(like Undertale Sans, he is just skilled, but not strong), he still have the shortcut, he like sci-fi and watched enough fiction movies to assume that Chara is a Time-Traveler, he, unlike Undertale Papyrus, actually is seen with Papyrus and his friends in some areas, however, if you killed someone, only Sans will be in other areas, he will say how his brother dissapeared after the battle bentween Chara and Sans, he doesn't kill you in pacifist and neutral, only captures you, but in genocide, he wants to do justice and he tries his best to kill you and he introduce his SECRET ATTACK, KARMA

Papyrus: i decided to just make he look different from his stereotype, well he is not drepessed like Undertale Sans, actually that bags on his eyes is because he suffer from insonnia, thats why he sleep many times, Sans not get angry about that, but, yes worried, since, unlike Undertale Sans thats just lazy, Papyrus suffer from insonnia and he have "other things" to treat and Sans is really worried about his younger brother, Papyrus doesn't mind puns, unless that too many, well, Papyrus is kind and sweet outside and doesn't want the people worry about him, he will not hate the person if killed someone like "you demon" but will be highly dissapointed, he will only hate you if you kill his brother, if Chara killed someone, he will no longer appear after Sans battle and only reappear in the judgement hall, he, unlike Sans, doesn't believe that The Fallen Human is some time-traveller and think thaf just Sans crazy imagination, but he notices that the Human act strange sometimes, he never made the promise to protect a human, in pacifist, he is just fine with Chara and never treath them about they "would be dead where they stand", in neutral, if any other monster was killed, he will be just disappointed, and if Sans was killed, he doesn't kill you because he will not be any better than you, but in genocide, the hate was so much that he take action, he is way stronger than Sans, both in attacks and status, but doesn't have karma, however, he is weaker than Undertale Papyrus because he not train and not sleep very well, but he have one thing that Undertale Papyrus doesn't have, the will to end you, he have bone attacks, have blue magic and blue attacks, he also use Gaster Blaster, however they eyes are angry cartoonish eyes, but if you could see, you would have a chill on the spine

Alphys: i always imagined a Alphys battle with a mecha, so instead of her being a close-combat warrior, she wears a mecha made by Undyne as a gift, the armor have a lighting canon and a robotic axe(with lighting aspect, yes, lighting will be exclusive to Alphys in this AU), she will not have a Undying form, but will use a upgrade of her armor that more hard, Alphys doesn't talk so much and not have a explosive personality, she is also not rude, but once that you make friendship with her, she shows her good side, she is a kind and sweet person, that just want the best to the people, she really like anime and loves Undyne, in battle, she uses her mecha and make you soul yellow, that is similar to Undertale, however she gives you a powerful teaser that you use to defend yourself from attacks, but you can use to overcharge her charge shot to make her mecha arm explode, after the two arms are destroyed, she will use a attavk that open their mecha torso reaviling the core, than you use all the enerhy of the teaser to stop the machine, than you can spare her or give the final blow, while she is inconsience, you can date her with Papyrus to be friends, the date involves you draw anime and watch anime, she is akward at first because she think that Chara doesn't like her, however, you can turn the tables and be really good friends, however, if you killed someone, instead of Papyrus, Sans will be in the front of the door to visit her, then he notices Chara and ask if you also want to pay a visit, and this version, Sans and Alphys go to her room to talk, Chara stay in the kitchen, than Sans go out, then the date with Alphys start, she is kinda reluctant in this version and in the end she doesn't really see you as a friend

Asgore: he is the one that stated that every human would die, however, Toriel banned them from the capital and he insolated himself in the ruins, he still the kind and good fluffy king from Undertale, i don't have much thing to talk about him

Undyne: even if US! Undyne hair is canon in Undertale, i decided that is just a pony tail, or, sometimes, a messy hair(without a pony tail), she is more determined than Undertale Alphys and go out more to visit Papyrus and his brother, she made Napstaton body and she like anime way more than Undertale Undyne, she knows that anime is not real, but, with her determination, she made robots, armors, etc, Napstaton is the only robot with soul, and is way stronger than that robots, this robots onoy follow their progamation ans don't give EXP, she upgrade Chara's chellphone and turn it into a deluxe U-phone, that phone have pretty much the same things from Undertale Alphys Cellphone, but, instead of a yellow mode, it have a "Cyan mode", in the cyan mode, the soul turn cyan, pressing Z make the soul make a really fast tackle that destroy or react some attacks, if missed the timing or used and doesn't hit nothing, the soul get way slower, so, be PATIENCE

Mettaboo(mettaton): He is not shy or melancolic like Undertale Napstablook, in the truth, he want to perform and be the famous star in the underground, he tries things like tearthes, pilot progams, etc.., but not many people like it, but he is not giving up! He doesn't attack using robots or lighting, but attack with things like flowers, other things that resemble, magic shows, cook lessons, pose, etc, he is cousin of Napstaton and he knows that they are cousins

Napstaton(Napstablook): they is the most famous musician on the underground, making sometimes collabs, music videos, etc.. they makes songs to progams, cartoons, games, etc.. but they is pretty shy, and have a TON(fingerguns) of fans not really help with their mental health, sometimes Undyne and mettaboo to giving them moral support, in thrir battle, the Cyan mode is really necessary, is a rythm battle, the objective is make a good song until have 10000 hearts, but, in genocide, they will truly battle you and use the whole area to attack you, and their "NEO" form is called Sonical Napstaton

Asriel: he is swappes with Mosnter kid, in this universe, he is not related in any way with the dreemurs, he have a more important role in this AU in pacifist, a little in neutral, but don't appear in genocide, Asriel have the same exact personality of his Undertale counterpart, he first appear when Chara ended up sliding in a endless ice path and ended up failing in some special crystal colors flowers, Asriel heard the sound of somebody grunting and he ended up founding Chara, and he heal them, he help them in some puzzles and guide them till Springout(Snowdin swap), then Chara can visit him in the local park, the two can go for the Muffet Café, the library, etc, after that, Chara gains Asriel phone number, if doing pacifist, Asriel can be found in other places since theres not "mysterious murders" going on, he normally will appear next to save points areas, because feel some sensation(determination)

Toriel: She is the queen of the Underground, almost everyone fear her, but, in the end, she just some poor old lady that have a whole kingdom to take care, have lost her two children, and their husband "is a horrible creature" to her, when encoutering her for the first time, she is silent at first, then proceeds to talk about all that her have face while walking to the barrier, she doesn't use anything to attack except their magic, she only attack Chara because Chara doesn't want to go away from her, making her feel guilty

Frisk and Monster Kid: [NO DATA FOUNDED]

So thats all that i have now about my Underswap, i tried to make the designs to look like their original counterparts and use almost the same style of clothes of the original Undertale, thats all, please, don't steal this idea,

Special thanks to: Miss Holoska and Team Switched, they are my inspiration to do this Underswap

[daydream-believin]

Sure Took You Long Enough, Babe

Summary: (wlw) Reader pulls an all-nighter with coworker Zoe

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, uh i think i remember mentioning people doing drugs, that trademark wlw obliviousness

Word Count: 4374

a/n: g-g-gorlfren... *slaps roof of fic* this baby can fit so many gay fantasy tropes in it. yes, the bars in cali stay open till 4am idk

Your alarm blared it’s cheery tune, startling you awake. Strangely enough, the happy melody never inspired happiness, just rage. Yet, ever the eager beaver, you shot right up and slammed the button as you slid out of bed, not allowing yourself to dilly-dally. As much as you’d like to stay asleep for three more hours at the least, you forced yourself into a good start for the day. Today was the first day of your new part-time job at Hextech, and lucky you, you got the morning shift. Curse of being fresh meat, you supposed. As long as you could make it through the day without getting too terribly hazed, you’d be fine.

Back home in Arcadia Oaks for the summer, you’d needed a new job or you’d go crazy. What were you supposed to do? Relax? Nah. You’d start taking double shifts as soon as you could. It was a bit tricky finding somewhere that would be a good fit for you. Okay, that was a lie. It was a bit tricky finding somewhere that would even be willing to hire you, apparently. Really knocked your pride down a few pegs.

By a strike of fortune, you had been catching up with one of your old high school buddies over coffee yesterday. You know, the one you used to hang out in the graveyard and practice tarot reading with? Yeah, Evan. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who was just as excited as you were that My Chemical Romance was back. When you two ordered, he pulled out that old joke about taking his coffee black like his soul and it still made you laugh as much as it did in high school. Evan was doing good, new boyfriend, new job, new band. You felt happy for your friend. You were happy that he was happy. He deserved it.

After you’d lamented that you couldn’t find work, he told you about how lately he’d been working for that electronic store Hextech. Not subtly named, was it? He’d told you about how it was run by hedgewizards like you two. They only hired through connections, since they were a magical company run by magical people. You, thankfully, had one of those connections. Your buddy put in a good word for you and, just like that, you were in. They put you on the schedule crazy fast. Like, the first shift of the very next day fast. Good. You were going out of your mind having so much free time. Your relatives were starting to ask you *shutter* questions about your personal life.

You looked in the mirror, slicked back your hair into a neat style, and admired how you looked in your new work shirt. Of course, it would eventually join the trophy quilt of old work shirts you were making, but for now it was nice and new. A pretty baby blue, it will go well sewed next to the royal blue Domino’s shirt from last semester. You added about a dozen earrings to your ears as a finishing touch and headed downstairs. After downing your coffee and hastily scarfing down a still-warm blueberry muffin, you kissed your grandmother’s cheek goodbye as you headed out the door. You tossed a crumpled muffin to the crows waiting by the front door. The greedy bastards inhaled every crumb. As much as you loved having a job again, the sun was still asleep when you started your walk to work. Fuck that.

As you walked through the door at Hextech, you were astonished to see the absolute angel who was waiting there for you. An absolute angel who looked kinda hungover, actually. Well, it was 6 AM on a Sunday. The doors didn’t actually open to customers until seven, but you were here at the ass-crack of dawn so she could train you some before throwing you to the customer wolves. Said pink-haired angel introduced herself as Zoe. What a fitting name for someone as cute and feisty as her. You had to catch yourself from staring too much into her striking blue eyes, that reminded you of lightning, pure electricity, before she caught you. And really, they were distracting. It was hard to focus on what she was telling you, which was a bad thing since she was giving you vital information. You forced yourself to focus. As much as you could.

After going over the ropes of working the wizard-bar, she took you through a cool hidden door to show you around the back. The back had such wonderful rooms as the kitchen that someone microwaved fish in yesterday, workrooms, one of which had a poor guy who looked like her never left last night, tinkering away at some techy-thing, the room Zoe introduced as the room she went to scream in, and a common-room type thing with a sick floor to ceiling screen (or was it a window?), depicting a soothing nature scene. She told you that after you had been working in the front for a while and proved yourself, your bosses would move you up to the repairs and phone troubleshooting. Maybe even invention if you were talented enough. That filled you with dread, despite the inspiration it was supposed to be. You had to admit, you knew almost nothing about the technical/repairs side of electronics and you did not belong here. You were more of a coding/hacking type of hedgewizard. You’d have to fake it till you make it. You were sure Zoe could tell you were bullshitting through this, but thankfully she was gracious enough not to call you out on it. Although, you didn’t mind that impish grin that found it’s place on her face.

Damn. You did not need to get involved with a coworker. No matter how enchanting she was. Or how pretty. This was just a summer job. You would be moving back across California for school soon enough and you were not going to do long-distance again. Although, is a few hours really that long? Definitely not as long as your last relationship. Shut up shut up shut up. No. You don’t even know if this chick is into girls, don’t get ahead of yourself. Mmm, she is very pretty though. You can admire from afar. What’s the harm in that?

There was much, much harm. Stars, you had it bad. You had only been at Hextech for a month now and it felt like hell. Perhaps it was hell. Maybe you were dead, and this was your eternal punishment. Damned to forever pine after the loveliest wizard you had ever met. She took a liking to you instantly too, inviting you out for drinks that first night, and every weekend after that. And she’d invited you over to her place for movie nights and to hang out with her friends. Some nights she’d take you to go dancing with her. She’d taken to calling you Baby. Perfectly normal things for gals being pals right. You guessed this is what girl besties do. You wouldn’t know, you’d only ever really hung with guys. Really feminine goth guys, sure, but guys nonetheless. She seemed hellbent on spending time with you. Not that you were complaining, but it just made your emotions stronger. And harder to shove back into the abyss.

~ ~ ~

One Friday night, you two were just chilling up in your bedroom. A rest before one of coworker’s birthday party tomorrow night. Zoe was telling you that she really wanted to try out a new makeup technique. And you told her she could try it out on you. The joy that painted itself across her features is something that will be burned into your memory forever. But not as high a degree of burn as what came next. Zoe straddled your waist, eyeliner pen in hand, and pushed you back against the headboard so she could better reach your eyes. Your breath caught in your throat. You were helpless to do anything but stare at her face that was in super close proximity to yours. You were caught in a trance as you obeyed when she told you to do this or that so she could properly apply the makeup. Her pink lips were pursed in concentration, and her pink banged strayed into her face. Her signature pink style matched the pink of your cheeks. You were sure she could feel your heart pounding, her elbows were on your chest, basically. She moved on to eyeshadow. Weird, you were always an eyeshadow first kinda person but who were you to critique this goddess’s methods. As she rolled on the perfectly matching lipstick onto your lips, you couldn’t help but think about this being an indirect kiss. This lipstick has been all over her lips and now it’s on yours? Stars.

Once she was finished with her masterpiece, she leaned back to take a good look at it. You felt the heat blaze under your skin as her blue eyes scanned your face. Finally, she seemed satisfied and nodded. Zoe helped you up and you went to go check it out in the mirror hanging on your wall. It was brightly colored, garish even, yet perfect, in your opinion. Like Zoe’s personality distilled into something you could wear. She crept up behind you and put her hands on your shoulders as you both admired her skills.

“My best work yet if I do say so, Y/n,” She grinned like a Cheshire cat, “Hmm, I know it’s already like, 3 in the morning and we’re supposed to be relaxing, but we should go and show this off.”

You both had a shift in four hours but you didn’t know how to say no to those eyes. “Alright, Zo,”

You grabbed your jackets on the way out, careful not to wake any of the other inhabitants of the house, but unable to keep the giggles in. Zoe had thought it would be fun to swap jackets, and you weren’t going to say no to that. Her jacket was cozy, black leather, and smelled of her rosy perfume. You never wanted to take it off. When you put it on, her eyes lingered on your form, commenting how good it made you look. You were very thankful for the cover of darkness that hid your flush, rosy like her perfume. You thought she looked marvelous in yours too, but you weren’t as brave in order to say that out loud.

Suddenly you were in some club across town, being introduced to Zoe’s friend Mimi who was working the bar that night. Mimi looked you up and down, then cocked her brows and clicked her tongue, while nodded to Zoe? Who turned pink and angrily said something under her breath to her friend. You couldn’t make out what she said over the music, you were too busy trying not to put too much weight on this interaction. Telling your heart to stop jumping. Jumping just gets you hurt. Mimi snickered as she scurried off to the other side of the bar to fix up your drinks after Zoe finished her rant. She turned back to you and laughed nervously, leaning on the bar.

“That Mimi. What a card.” You nodded in response, not sure what to say.

You three chatted while you sipped at your drinks. Zoe had ordered you something fruity, sweet, and vibrantly colored. It was very tasty, whatever it was. Must have had a high percentage because your head was already fuzzy with just this one. You stopped after finishing it, not fancying being drunk at work, but Zoe got another. Her alcohol tolerance was way stronger than yours. You fucking lightweight. Mimi had started cleaning up since the bar closed soon. Zoe grabbed your hand unexpectedly.

“How about we dance until we get kicked out, Babe?” She said with a sparkle in her eye.

“Uh- y- yeah,” was all you managed to get out before she pulled you over to the dance floor. It was almost vacant, since it was nearing 4am and most people had either moved on for the night, passed out on one of the club’s couches, or were getting their fix in the bathroom. Nice. It was like the floor was just for you two. Zoe was really jazzed, spinning you around to whatever trashy party song was playing. It was infectious. Her energy, not the song. You were having a lot of fun with the pink girl dancing with you. She tossed her hair back laughing at one point. Right then and there, you decided to throw all those things stopping you out the window. If you missed her come fall, you’d just drive the trip to see her. It would be worth it.

The other trio of people who had been dancing left, and now it really was just you two. It would have felt like just you two even if the floor was full. As the current song ended, the DJ looked at you in sympathy. “Alright guys, this is the last song okay, we close in ten.” He switched it to a Viper song.

“OH! I love this song!” Zoe’s smile got even bigger. You didn’t know that was possible. Somehow, she got an energy boost too. You had completely no idea how the firecracker you were with could stay lit well into the morning. If it wasn’t for your manic pixie dream girl here, you’d be groggy by now. She flittered around you, having a blast. It was adorable. She mouthed the words of the song to you, which would have been rather cute if they hadn’t been considerably sexual lyrics. You felt that blush come back for the umpteenth time that night. And she had that impish grin plastered across her face again, like she knew what she was doing. Zoe had gotten closer to you as the song winded down, you hadn’t noticed until it faded out altogether. Your eyes were wide. She booped your nose, giggling. You blinked, surprised. You felt your heart squeeze at how fucking cute that was.

She took your hand again as she pulled you over to go give Mimi a quick hug goodbye before you two left. You still had two and a half hours to kill until your shifts started at six thirty. Zoe’s favourite coffee house wouldn’t be open until five. As much as a nap sounded good right now, you both knew that it would just make you sleepier. And grumpier from being woken up after such a short time. Might as well pull out an old goth kid staple.

“Wanna go hang around in the graveyard?”

~ ~ ~

Zoe tossed her head back laughing so hard she hit the gravestone she was leaning against.

“Oof, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” She rubbed her head and turned back to look check the name on the engraving, “Sorry Howard.”

“It’s too late, he’s offended now and he’s gonna haunt us,” you snickered, “Nice going, Zo.”

“Don’t worry Baby, I’ve been working on my exorcism skills. You know, since a certain dumbass brought spirits into the party last week.” Ah, Douxie, what a guy. Of course he hadn’t meant to ruin everyone’s night and release those ghosts. It just sort of happened. He was accident prone and you didn’t understand why people trusted him with cursed stuff like that to begin with. Luckily, within the number of wizards gathered, you guys were eventually able to find a way to banish all the spirits before any real harm came of it. It wasn’t a bad way to spend a Friday night. You got to live out your childhood dream of being a ghostbuster.

You looked around. The cemetery wasn’t as spooky as most people thought it was. Sure, there were strange noises, and endless headstones with disembodied names that meant nothing, and creepy mausoleums that cast big shadows in the moonlight, and a creaky gate that swung back and forth whether there was wind or not, but it wasn’t scary. Well, maybe that was just because you’d spent most nights of your teen years here, so you were desensitized to it. Zoe didn’t seem to mind it one bit either.

You glanced up and saw three of your crow friends on the top of the mausoleum across from you and Zoe. If crows could smirk these would be smirking. Fuckers. They were always around whenever you’d go out with Zoe. Watching so they could tease you later. Damn nosy birds. Why did you ever start feeding them. They were even there in a set of three, just to mock you. They may as well be singing “Y/n and Zoe sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

You ignored the crows, pulling out your phone and flipping to your ebook app. Because you know what would make this just like old times? Some dramatic goth poetry. What a way to woo a girl. Zoe was fond of the idea of some poetry reading too. She told you that you could pick. At first you thought to read some Poe, perhaps starting with ‘Serenade’, but decided against it lest the bastards on the roof started demanding you read them ‘the Raven’. It’s happened before. You settled on some Keats instead. And you knew the perfect poem. A poem you could put all your emotions into. The most sapphic poem ever written by a man, in your opinion. If she didn’t feel the same, you could always deny it and say that you were just getting way into character. Either way it was going to make work weird, but you didn’t think you gave a fuck anymore. Here goes nothing.

“Had I a man’s fair form, then might my sighs

Be echoed swiftly through that ivory shell

Thine ear, and find they gentle heart; so well

Would passion arm me for the enterprise:” You took a big gulp of air. Zoe’s gaze was locked on you, and that didn’t make this any less nerve-wracking. You could feel your hands shaking. “But ah! I am no knight whose foreman dies;

No cuirass glistens on my bosom’s swell;

I am no happy shepherd of the dell

Whose lips have trembled with a maiden’s eyes.” With those words, a sudden burst of boldness in your heart caused you to take her hand. Must be the alcohol. Yes, that which hath made them drunk hath made you bold. Zoe didn’t appear to be breathing anymore. You looked back into her electric blue eyes. “Yet must I dote upon thee, --call thee sweet,

Sweeter by far than Hybla’s honied roses

When steeped in dew rich to intoxication

Ah! I will taste that dew, for me ‘tis meet,” Your voice became breathy as you uttered these last verses. “And when the moon her pallid face discloses,

I’ll gather some by spells, and incantation.” You just froze there, breathing. The ball was in Zoe’s court now. Speak of the devil, she was really close, like really close. When did she get so close. You hadn’t realized. She lifted a finger to your face and brushed a loose strand of hair behind you ear. Your breath caught in your throat. She drew closer, your noses touching now. Her eyes slipped down into a half lid. Your eyes flicked to her lips and she watched you. It occurred to you that she was waiting for you to close the gap. So you did.

It was fireworks. Of course, you were kissing a firecracker herself. It was a sweet kiss, but laced with that fire. You both pulled back for air, but quickly returned to each other’s lips. Zoe’s hands drifted down to your hips and she pulled you into her lap, leaning back up against that headstone. And now you were snogging in the cemetery. Mary Shelley would be proud. Howard, however, was probably pissed off for sure now.

Your breaths mingled as you gasped for air. Zoe caressed your cheek, cupping your face. She chuckled, “It sure took you long enough, Babe. I was starting to think I’d have to spell it out for you.”

You all but collapsed back into her arms, exasperated. Stars, it sure did take you long enough, didn’t it. You could hear and feel Zoe’s snort through her chest. You raised back up to gaze into those baby blues. A pang of adoration shot through your heart like one of cupid’s cursed arrows.

“How about I buy coffee, for our first official date?” Zoe agreed to your offer. You got off of her, legs wobbling like a baby deer. Speaking of deer, you were happy to see that the herd that usually hangs out here in the graveyard in the early hours was peacefully grazing around you two. You hadn’t noticed them come in, too busy snogging. You reached out a hand and helped Zoe up. You two brushed the grass off your clothes and gave one last apology to Howard before setting off for the coffee shop. Zoe checked her phone for the time. It was 5:23, you two still had almost a full hour to spend lounging in the coffeeshop before you had to head off to Hextech. Zoe reached for your hand as you walked back to Zoe’s bike. You threaded your fingers together. Something as small as that shouldn’t have felt as nice as it did. But it did.

You completely adored riding on the back of Zoe’s motorcycle. You got to cling to her, arms around her waist, pretending that you were holding her for romantic reasons and not so you wouldn’t fall off a moving automobile. You wouldn’t have to just pretend any longer now. The thought made you giddy. And now that you think about it, that was probably why Zoe had insisted on giving you rides everywhere for the past month. You were so fucking oblivious. It was painful. Thank the stars above she was patient with you. You snuggled further into her back, inhaling that rosy perfume. It truly was intoxicating, Keats. A girl could get used to this.

~ ~ ~

The coffee house barista recognized you two as you walked in and started making your orders that he had memorized. He greeted you cordially as you handed over the cash. He looked down at Zoe’s hand joined with yours, raising his eyebrows teasingly but not saying anything. Did everyone in this fucking town know about you two before you did? You think you might have beaten that Parisian catboy at his own game. How embarrassing.

Zoe got cozy on you guy’s usual couch while you carried over the coffee. After you set the mugs on the coffee table and plopped down, Zoe swung her legs up onto the couch, and over your lap. Didn’t exactly take you by surprise. Zoe often sat like this. You were used to it. Wait, was this also flirting? Stars, you didn’t even know anymore. This was so confusing. She noticed the face journey you had taken with the internal struggle, and grinned, shrugging her arm around your shoulders to ease you. You snatched your cup of the table and downed as much as you could handle before it got too hot. You were still really nervous, despite her being very clear about how she felt, and Zoe thought that was pretty funny.

“So, we’re gonna have to say something to people tonight,” Zoe started.

You just nodded in response. Hopefully this wasn’t going to make anything weird. You hadn’t been working at Hextech long enough to know how the dynamics worked. Maybe someone had been pining after Zoe too and now hated you. Maybe someone was Zoe’s ex and now hated you. Maybe someone was just really homophobic and now hated you. There were plenty of possibilities, you could go on.

“I was thinking we should wear these matching dresses I found last week, and sort of bought already, to double our cute couple factor.” She had murmured that middle part but you still heard it loud and clear. You had to hold back a squeak. That was so sweet. And adorable. She just saw the dresses in the shop and thought to herself ‘I want to wear that with Y/n’? You could die right now. You settled for downing more of that coffee.

“Yes! That’s so cool? I- What color are they?” You didn’t know how to handle this.

Zoe pulled out her phone and leaned over to show you the pics she took of them. They were matching, made of the same brown floral-patterned fabric, but different styles. Either one would go great with Zoe’s leather jacket, which you were still wearing. You’d go for your denim one. Not the purple jacket that currently hung off Zoe’s shoulders. The colors wouldn’t clash but the style of it would. This was going to be awesome, anyways. Matching dresses, telling your friends the best news you’ve had all year, having fun at the party, not having to spend the whole night miserably shoving your feelings aside? You couldn’t wait.

“Which one do you want?” You picked the looser, more flowy one. Zoe was more comfortable with tight stuff that showed off her body. You had a sneaking suspicion she already knew you’d pick that one, and was giving you the illusion of choice. It was sweet, really. Your phone alarm went off, alerting you that it was time to start the walk for work. All the relaxing time was gone. A crying shame, but you’d still get to spend the day with your favourite person just the same, so not truly that big of a loss. Albeit, Zoe didn’t look too pleased to have to go back to work. Laughing, you stood to your feet, and held out your arm for her to link through.

“Shall we go milady?” You two waved to the barista as you headed out the door. “I think you should do our makeup for the party again, really show off this time.” Zoe perked up, excited at the prospect as Hextech neared.

“And I’ll show off my hot new girlfriend too.” There was that damned blush again.

[warmau]

Hi angel! Can you do a bang chan hogwarts scenario? I wanna know what house you would put him in, love youu 💛

secretly dating at hogwarts with gryffindor bf!bang chan :-)

he’s supposed to be everything you hate 

loud, prideful, with an unabashedly corny sense of humor that makes even older wizards cringe

you’re supposed to think his strutting around in his scarlet and gold colors is annoying ,,,,,, not adorable

and you’re most of all

not supposed to cheer for him when he plays quidditch

especially when he’s up against your house

but it’s hard to feel any of those things when he’s your boyfriend

and you’ve been totally in love since your third year at hogwarts - sharing kisses behind the practice field

holding hands through the bookshelves at the library 

chan is just,,,,everything you’ve ever wanted in someone

he might be a little loud - but not in a horrible way, he’s just got a laugh that echoes through the great halls 

he might be a little prideful - but he should be, he’s done so much for his friends and has improved his magic tenfold since he came here

and his humor might be corny, but you love it

corny pick up lines even after you’ve been dating for so long

petnames that might make others blush with embarrassment, but make you feel all warm and giddy

chan takes care of you with such sincerity and loyalty ,,,, that every moment with him is the best in the world

no boy with fancy spells that make doves spell out confessions, no boy with the ability to do ten loops upside down on his broom

would make you tear yourself away from chan

the only thing is,,,,,,,,,,you both have agreed on not going public till graduation

mostly because of the harsh rivalry between your houses - the stupid idea that you had to date whoever wore the same colors as you

it was ridiculous, but you and chan felt like you’d let down some people close to you if you said you were in love

so instead, you just kept it to yourselves

your little secret - and the secret of the paintings that would see you meeting up in the middle of the night

so far, you and him had been great at hiding your secret relationship

but one afternoon, as you heard footsteps fast approaching a tiny section of the school that you’d and him use to ,,,,,,,,, be together

you had to hurry chan to get dressed

his clumsy body rushing to pick up his uniform shirt, tie, and scarf

you two started to get dressed, not noticing in the meantime that you and chan had swapped ties

and instead of your normal colors - you were now

wearing a gryffindors tie

and he was wearing your houses

and when you emarged, trying to make it look like you didn’t just spend half an hour tangled up in kisses and whatnot

you heard a voice go

“oh my dumbledore - what were you two doing?!?!?”

looking up you could see chan’s fellow gryffindors, jisung and felix staring wide eyed at you two

“wh-what are you guys talking about? we just ended up coming back from the uhm,,,,the uh,,,,,,the potions room togethe-”

“bang chan, do you think im blind?”

you freeze, trying to think if you should escape or ride out whatever accusations are coming you and your boyfriends way

“what-”

“your ties you big boggart, im one hundred percent sure they’re not in gryffindor and you’re not in -”

you and chan both look down, horrified to see that it’s true

you’re,,,,,,,wearing each others ties,,,,,

and sloppily too

“oh well,,,, i um,,,,”

chan scratches his head trying to formulate some kind of excuse

you look desperately between him and jisung and clear your throat

“oh, we tried out a color swapping spell on each other - right chan?”

“y-yeah! and it totally worked!”

jisung crosses his hands and felix wrinkles his nose

“oh yeah, then do it again. change it back.”

you turn, wide eyed to look at chan

but he mouths that you know he isn’t any good at spells

so finally

you both confess

“fine, we’re dating. don’t tell any-”

“oh this is the best!”

felix suddenly cheers and jisung high fives him

you and chan looking on in utter confusion

“w-why are you so happy? dont you guys know our houses hate each-”

felix waves his hand

“no one cares about the rivalry, it’s all fun for quidditch and house points but what this means is that me and jisung wont the bet”

you blink and chan’s jaw drops

“you guys had a bet?”

jisung smirks, “i mean, did you think we didn’t have suspicion? anyway woojin owes me his headless hat now!”

felix nods excitedly, “i think changbin said he’d give me that trick wand he used on the charms professor, they’re both gonna be so mad they lost!”

the two boys start laughing manically, completely losing interest in you and chan 

who turn to look at each other 

“hey,,,i think - i think we might have been making a big deal out of our relationship”

chan chuckles, motioning to his friends

“they don’t care - and they’re the ones always yelling their lungs off during quidditch games”

you smile softly, taking the tie off and handing it over to chan

“you’re right, we should just be open about how we feel - im sure everyone will understand at some point.”

chan looks at his tie in your hand, smirking suddenly

he wraps a hand around your waist - pulling you close

“i think you should keep wearing my tie - just so that guy who keeps asking you out from your house gets a clue”

you roll your eyes, but keep the tie in your hands as you lean up to kiss him

felix and jisung in unison: “gross - go get a room!” “ugh where’s a cleansing my eyes spell when i need it!”

more stray kids | more harry potter!idol aus | buy skye a kofi 

[bubblepunk99s]

Chapter 32: Dinner before dissection

Dinner was a simple affair; leavened barley flatbread and sausages stuffed with rice and deep-fried that Met had got from a street vendor. The whole thing made for a lot of chewing which was good as everyone had a lot to think about and chewing aided in rumination. Or so Met said.

Amara tried to do both, but the events of today had soured her appetite. The drawn, tired expressions of the others told her that they had also had adventures of their own. She wondered how long she could hold up in this city. They weren’t even in the god-grounds but she could still feel it pulling at her like she was standing at the edge of a massive pit, ready to make the plunge.

Met apparently sensed it to, as she saw fit to break the silence.

“So where do you come from?”

The chewing ceased. Amara gulped.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought we already answered this question.” Said Tia.

“Well I know you come from Keda but that’s about it. What of your families. Your reasons for taking up this mission? The people you love?”

She winked at Tia who just looked bemused. Khedes mouthed indulge us at Amara. Amara figured she could, as they were giving her free treatment.

“My family’s business was destroyed by the storm. This may be my only chance to get their lives back on track.”

“My temple is on its last legs but if I find something good on this treasure hunt, I might be able to revive it.” Udana added. “At least that’s what I thought...”

Amni signed emmisu in bench script. Without money. Then she pointed to herself. The lovers nodded knowingly.

“I was tracking down why the trade in our city has been ruined. Now I know the Corvus were behind it I can relay that info back to the Portmaster.” She hit her palm with a fist.

Khedes raised an amused eyebrow, but Met looked frustrated.

“So, you handle goods? Anything in this city that’s caught your eye?”

“Not really, why?”

“Nothing at all?”

“Are you trying to sell me some of your remedies? Cause I’m not buying.”

Met groaned. “Look this entire conversation was just me setting things up so you could give Amara her gift. Remember?”

“Oh shit, yeah!” Tia got up and squirreled over to where the sacks of market supplies lay. She returned holding a silken black scarf which she presented to Amara.

“New head scarf!” She squeaked. “I remembered how yours was destroyed in the storm.”

“Oh Tia!” Said Amara, somewhere between happy surprise and plain bewilderment. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I shouldn’t have?” She sounded worried.

“No, I mean... it was so kind of you to think of me.” It seemed plain, until she held it under the light, showing many flowing lines stretched over the night-black silk.

“I was told those light up in response to your Baran, like the swirls on Soljinn robes. It’s like when you sweat and it creates marks on your shirt.”

Met buried her face in her hands. Thankfully Udana was there to save the day.

“It’s like the light of the moon affecting the tide.”

“Right. It’s exactly like that.” Tia said hurriedly.  

“It’s perfect.” Amara leaned in and gave Tia a quick peck on the cheek.

Tia froze up. She remained that way for a few seconds, her half-smile swapped for a big goofy grip.

“Oh, looks like we’ve another one who needs treatment.” Met said.

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry love. Her body will adapt and she’ll be fine. Just like when we met.” Khedes added.

“Oh sweet heart you know I never was the same after meeting you!” Met leaned in and gave Khedes a big smack on the cheek. “You should have seen it, treasure-hunters, she really swept me off my feet. No that doesn’t do it justice. It was more passionate, more intense. It was like... she kneecapped me with the force of her love.”

“I’ll take that. You know why?” Khedes said, munching on a sausage.

“Because you kill giants?” Said Met, arching an eyebrow

“Because I kill giants!”

Khedes’ laughter was worthy of any giant, full of love and life. Amara began to smile. For the first time she began to feel safe amongst these robbers, so different from her parents and yet so much like them.

“Do you really kill giants?” Tia said, having snapped out of her peck-induced stupor.

“I cut this one’s ego down to size, that’s close enough.” Khedes replied, nudging Met in the ribs.

“I’m the one who handles surgical procedures in this outfit!”

“So where do you come from?” Amara asked.

Tia gave Amara a look that said she had just pushed the boat way too far from the shore. But Khedes and Met looked perfectly unoffended.

“Guess.” They said at once.

A moment’s silence ensued. Udana was the first to speak up.

“Ninnibruta?”

“The city beyond the marshes?”

“Home of temples, Scribal schools, official exorcists and esteemed medics.” Udana said dreamily. “It’s said the god Kur-Enil stalks the streets of the city when the marshes flood and the rivers shift their course.”

“And they grow a very nice strain of beer there. Make it with meltwater from the mountains beyond. Very pure booze.” Amara said, remembering what her mother had told her about the world outside Keda.

“I’ll remember to try some when I go there.” Met said. “So, you think we come from Ninnibruta? Because of my medical prowess?”

“I just assumed you weren’t a native of Kuru based on your irreverence. You don’t observe the Soljinn rites, you don’t rise in the morning with the others. Obviously, you followed a different path so maybe you came from a city known for its plurality of worship-”

“Irreverence?!” Met choked on her sausage. “What made you say that?”  

“Interesting place Ninniburta.” Khedes interjected, keen not to have that question answered. “People fleeing across the marshes have set their sights on it. Only accessible by boat so it offers some degree of safety from...” She didn’t finish her sentence, but the Corvus’ presence hung like an axe-blade over their necks once more.

“What’s your guess?” Met asked Tia.

“Me?” She pondered for a moment. “Shamash.”

“The city to the south of here?”

“Yeah. They send convoys of tin and clay to here and Keda. Maybe you could have come in on one of those. Their port overseer is a friend our city’s own master. Lot more cosmopolitan than some other cities. I hear it’s a place of good deals.”

“We certainly are the full package.” Met gave Khedes another kiss on the cheek. “But no. Any more guesses?”

Just then, Amni’s cat scampered off her lap and began to softly rub against Met’s leg. Its fur became a riot of color and Met’s features morphed from confusion to stillness. Amara knew the clever little creature had to be communicating with her.

It stopped and scampered back to its mistress. Khedes laid a hand on Met’s as the light slowly returned to her eyes.

“Well these sausages came from where I came from. So, eat up!”

She may as well have said shut up. It was clear her little experiment hadn’t gone the way she wanted so now she was burning the bridge before they had even finished building. Amara was reminded of the gap that existed between her team and this couple- and surprised by how much she wanted to cross it.

They resumed their meal. After all the myriad interruptions that had plagued her stay in this city, Amara was only half-surprised when the sounds of eating were cut short by a massive crash from outside.

The couple’s eyes stabbed at the door.

“Mercs?”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

Another crash sounded. An agonized grunt followed it. A fight Amara realized. Every noise was like a bruise on her brain. Worse still, they were getting closer and closer.

“Met.” Khedes whispered. “Get me the double-base cartridges.”

Met slunk to the dresser, pulling out a small wooden box. Amara heard the rattle of bullets as it was passed to Khedes, who had her rifle ready. Met then pulled her sleeves back to reveal her wrist-crossbow, a gleaming spike already set in it.

More noises, crashes and muffled cries. Images of breaking bodies spread across Amara’s eyes as she realized that Barans were sounding outside. She felt the others crowding around her, like when they had been attacked by ghosts in the desert.

Suddenly silence. Then...

Knock. Knock. Knock

Both Amara and Tia glanced at the lovers. They were utterly still, eyes on the door, not even their weapons quivering. There wasn’t another knock, but Amara could detect a faint citrus-like smell coming from the gap underneath...

“Anis?”

“Can I come in?” His timid voice rang out.

“By all means.” Met said. Neither her nor Khedes lowered their weapons.

The door creaked open to reveal Anis and by his side, Nannâru. The former’s smile quickly vanished upon seeing two well-armed ladies pointing their weapons at him.

“Where’s the fight?” Met asked

“The what?”

Met rolled her eyes. “I knew you weren’t too observant after sneaking up on you, but I didn’t think you were this obtuse. The fight happening outside!”

“No fight here.” Nannâru said. “Unless you want to make one.”

Just then, a massive flare of white light shot up into the night sky. The same light of the Corvus that had ripped apart the market tent when Amara had met the pair.

“Oh, just get inside!” Khedes demanded, lowering her weapon. Anis and Nannâru were funneled in while Met closed the door with a kick.

[loveluredd]

the coffee that we lost, and the moment that we gained.

“ It doesn't feel like I just met you, it's like I know you.   Better hold my feelings back,   because I just met you, and I don't wanna get ahead of myself. ” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP3yYCmE1ic

There is something to the early evenings in the winter months, the nip of the frozen air as it washes over your cheeks, leaving a pinched pink to complement the golden light that dances its way across every face that braved it. Many would opt for the sweltering days of summer if given the choice, but no, they weren’t for me. I preferred it when the world was painted in white, a blank canvas upon which you could splash your own colors. More often than not with a worn scarf in my case, interwoven wools that had faded with the years, but the memories made in their presence clung to each and every fiber. As much as I loved a chance to start anew, a slate coated in untouched snow, some things were harder to leave in the last chapter. I could hardly say that I remembered stepping foot into the coffee shop that sat on the corner overlooking my favorite view in town. The ritual was such a part of me at this point, that my muscles needed no guidance to steer me home, my mouth needed no supervision to greet whoever stood behind the counter by name, no hesitation would be found in repeating an order made time and time again. The only real indicator of the fact that I’d even stepped inside, was in the instinctive unzipping of my jacket, the loosening of my scarf, as the heat being pumped out by radiators and tired machines seeped through the layers of disconnection to let me know that they were no longer needed. Times gone by danced through my mind, as if invited by the touch of fingertips to the material looped around my neck, vivid flashes of days lived pulling me under their spell. As memories tended to, they didn’t come in long stretches, there were no scenes that played out in their entirety, instead I was left with snapshots. Crystal clear pinpoints in time, from which roots grew, spreading outward with the faintest feelings of familiarity, touches of emotion weaving their way under the surface, until the only part that stayed true was the original snapshot. The rest tainted by attempts at forcing puzzle pieces into spaces that weren’t made for them, willing them into existence, hoping that hope alone could create a bigger picture. Then, bump. A flash of reality, a startling hit of clarity among the blinding colors that swirled beneath the surface. It was him. Those were the words that came to my consciousness, well before the awareness of the hot liquid that had been knocked over us. Both caught up in our own worlds, we’d collided, our finest shirts now forever marked by the coffee that we lost, and the moment that we gained. After a split second where time had stood still, nothing but his eyes locked on mine and a rush of affinity, came a sudden flurry. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I am so sorry.”   The words came with a frantic grab and offering of napkins that he thrust in my general direction, earning an undiluted laugh from me as I set down the now useless cup of coffee to take him up on his offer. “I don’t know why you’re saying sorry, I was the one away with the fairies.” Splitting the pile of tissue between my hands, dabbing one bunch to my chest, returning his gesture to him with the other. “Dry that before it gets to your skin, death loves nothing more than a cold night and wet clothing. As my mother would say.”  A pause, as if a ghost had emerged from the shadows, just long enough to tap me on the shoulder and deliver a fright.  “Wow, am I really at the age when I start quoting my mother? Shoot me.” That was apparently the key to wiping the deer-in-headlights look from his face, trading it in for something closer to the humor that had settled upon my features.  “That really is tragic, you might as well head straight for the retirement home from here.” Eyes lifting from my assessment of the damage, finding myself caught once again, trapped in the weight of his eyes — lit up by the amusement of our blunder, yet somehow maintaining a captivating darkness that demanded undivided attention. Eyes like sinking ships on waters, so inviting, I almost jump in.  “Oh, you think? Well, do you think they’d take the spilled drink as a ticked box on the senile checklist?” A groan surfaced with that remark, his hand lifting to smack the heel to his forehead, possibly the most comical and charming thing I’ve ever been witness to.  “I really am sorry. I hope that isn’t an expensive shirt.” “Well, more expensive than the drink, and I’m far more upset about that.” Pausing in my own tracks, no cup in reach, yet I needed to drink this in.  “Let me buy you a new one.” His hands flew up in protest, swiftly dropping, surely in search of the wallet he seemed dead set on. It was just as much his fault as mine, and it was the man’s job to step up, wasn’t it? A mix of his eagerness, and my own inner musings brought up a roll of laughter, along with a forward facing palm that demanded an end to his panic.  “I don’t deal in patriarchy. I’m buying you a latte.” Just as easily as I’d waded into past memories and lost myself and time to them, I fell into the one that was in the making right before my eyes. If I’d wanted to know exactly how long we stood for, the concept of chairs lost to the unwillingness to halt conversation, I could have asked the staff that continued to bustle behind us. Though, part of the magic laid with the time forgotten, a precious thing I wasn’t willing to taint with something as unremarkable as numbers. There was nothing in this moment but us, swapped words, mingling laughs, and the wish that the world around us would never come crashing back into this place that was for us alone. We stood, we chatted, snickering exchanged over the ridiculousness of caffeine. You wanted it, until not having it put a blinding pain behind your eye and you hated the very fact that it existed, and then you needed it. Silent understanding shared and fingers twitching with a need to offer comfort as things turned from lighthearted, to anecdotes of our mothers and the wisdom we inherited from them, along with the accompanying scars. Our second attempt at drinks remained untouched, drifting away from warmth toward something iced — we didn’t seem to care for our second cups lost, not when something was being found. Wishes were all well and good, but they rarely had the chance to touch what we needed them to, and far too soon the world found its way back into our consciousness in the form of a gentle reminder of closing time fast approaching. I offered apologies for the lack of awareness, even though I leaned closer to wanting to scold the intrusion, but I tucked that away and made my way toward the door. As his steps fell in with my own, the reality of it all hit home, and the door that would separate us was something I couldn’t yet face. “I never even mentioned…”  Trailing off as I turned on my heels, making a beeline for the raised bar, and the pen that sat atop it. Signalling that I had no intention of being a stationary thief, before shuffling back to the man whose eyes I didn’t dare look to, not yet. Not before I’d dipped low enough to get a clear view of his still full cup, so that I could scrawl a string of digits across it. Then, and only then, did I allow for the wave that came crashing down on me when his eyes found mine again. “My name is Toby.” He flashed a smile that already had the power to overwhelm me, to the point where I knew it would never be enough, that I’d spend the rest of my days hoping for one more hit. It was written across his face, that ‘oh, yes, we have names, as well as life stories to tell’ look. “Vic. My name is Vic.”   We hovered in the doorway, societal norms dictating that there was nothing more to say, but the air that surrounded us screamed that we had everything in the world left to say. “Well. It was...really special meeting you, Toby. Maybe we can spill our drinks on each other again some time.” Everything in the world left to say, but that was enough for now, the promise of again. “Be warned, I’ll hold you to that.” The last laugh of the night, and we finally surrendered to the pathway that awaited us, that demanded we go our separate ways. With the hit of fresh air, I was brought back just enough to become aware of the way my head swam, the swell that pushed at my sternum, pressing forwards in hopes of following after its newfound home. I was already on the brink of something, something that I couldn’t quite name, and that alone led me to believe that it was possibly the edge of madness. Still, as close to falling as I felt, I couldn’t resist the urge that nagged at me, demanding that I check if my suspicions might be right. I slowed my steps, took in a lungful of the night’s air, and glanced back over my shoulder. And there they were, those depths that dared me to step in, glancing back at me like a mirror of my own actions. Lingering in that moment of mutual need, pulling out my most brilliant beam as a temporary farewell, before turning back to the journey ahead. I would pass multiple stops, serviced by a variety of buses that could carry me home much quicker than my own two feet, but they were no temptation tonight. Not when I had miles of road ahead, each step another moment that I could linger in, a chance to replay this night. Our words swirled, the way his smile dimpled his cheeks wouldn’t leave my mind any time soon, but there was one thing that hung higher than the rest. The moment of pause that had sat between us before we parted, so little space there, yet so much room for opportunity. Hundreds, thousands, millions of opportunities that could have filled those seconds, but one would do for now. A scenario where we had leaned into that feeling, into one another, and shared our first kiss. That was the image that would follow me all the way home, into the next day, and the days after that. It would follow me until it was pulled from the confines of my mind, and out into the real world.

[shimmershaewrites]

Merry and Bright *9* (a Walking Dead One Shot, Caryl AU).

Title:  Merry and Bright *9*

Rating:  T. 

Warnings:  mild language, sexual situations.      

Characters/Pairings:  Carol Peletier/Daryl Dixon, background Lori Grimes/Rick Grimes, Eric Raleigh/Aaron, Michonne/Andrea Harrison, Sophia Peletier, mention of past Carol Peletier/Ed Peletier, Glenn Rhee/Maggie Rhee, Theodore ‘T-Dog’ Douglas, Rosita Espinosa, Bob Stookey, Lilly Chambler, Meghan Chambler, Denise Cloyd, Merle Dixon, Jerry, Carl Grimes. 

    Merry and Bright *9*

    His stubble rasps against the nape of her neck in the most delicious way and she shivers, from her head down to her toes, melts into the warm, protective circle of his arms for the briefest of moments before reluctantly pulling away and putting some needed distance between them.  It’s the only way she’s going to manage to walk out that door and be a productive adult today and they both know it.  The pleased smirk she glimpses on his handsome, unshaven face tells her as much, but she can’t find it in herself to be angry or even offended.  If she hadn’t promised, what feels like a lifetime ago now, to help out Lori when the time come and it apparently has, they might still be in that bedroom now with the whole wide world locked out and their bedsheets tangled at their feet.  “Don’t,” she warns him. 

  His smirk only grows wider, making his teeth gleam in the soft light of the nearby Christmas tree.  “Didn’t say nothing.” 

  Her own smile twitches at her lips, but she hides it well, tucking the ends of her red and white scarf around her neck.  She pulls her jacket up over her shoulders and winces when the simple motion makes heat flood to her cheeks and brings memories that are barely a few hours old to the forefront.  He’d certainly given it his best shot, convincing her to call in.  With his beautiful mouth and his gentle hands, he’d touched her and loved her until she’d been reduced to a great, quivering sea of overwhelming need.  Even now, she feels the phantom ache of him between her thighs, everywhere else.  “Daryl,” she chastises softly when his fingers catch the drawstring to her scrub pants and tug.  His calloused thumb dips into the well of her navel and she whines.  “I really need to go.” 

  “Ain’t stopping you.”  Her brow arches in disbelief and he grunts out a laugh, feathers a semi-penitent kiss across the furrowed lines of frustration in her forehead.  “M’sorry.  S’just…you really have to go?”

  Carol sighs.  “I wish I didn’t.  You don’t know how much.  But Dr. Carson put Lori on bedrest, and we’re short already as it is.  I can’t leave Lilly to shoulder the work load alone.” 

  He matches her sigh with one of his own, long and drawn out for effect.  “Just something ‘bout the holidays, huh?  Merry Christmas.” 

  She fists the soft gray material of the shirt stretched snug across his broad shoulders and leans up on her toes to press her mouth to his grumbling one.  “Bah humbug to you too, Pookie,” she teases.  “At least it’s not the evening shift.”  A deep, wordless rumble of agreement is the only response she receives before he pulls her into a hug that steals the breath from her very lungs.  She nuzzles her nose in that inviting crease between his neck and his shoulder and inhales deeply, willing her fluttering heart to calm.  She’s not sure who she’s trying to reassure more, him or herself, when she murmurs a quiet reminder.  “It’s just twelve hours.  Maybe less if things are slow.  I’ll be home before you know it and you, me, and Sophia?  We’ll have plenty of time to make it to the party.” 

  “Shit,” he swears, rocking back on his bare feet and raking a hand roughly through his hair, upending it every which way.  “That’s tonight?” 

  He looks impossibly boyish to her in that moment, even if the gray-blond scruff on his cheeks proves otherwise, and she nods.  This year, Glenn and Maggie are hosting and she doesn’t want to disappoint the young couple no matter how tired she can already tell she’s going to be thanks to their earlier amorous activities.  “It’s a cookie swap, remember?  Sophia and I had plans to bake cookies today but little Miss Grimes had other ideas.” 

  “Yeah, well.  I’d expect nothing less knowing her mama,” he mutters. 

  He puts on a good show, but Carol’s not fooled by the act.  He’s been just as solicitous toward their friend during her difficult pregnancy as Rick has, maybe even more so in his own gruff way, and it’s endeared him even more to her, something she hadn’t previously thought possible considering the origin of their life together.  In the grand scheme of things, they’re still new to this marriage thing.  She doesn’t count her whole relationship with Ed because her daughter had been the only thing of value the man had ever gifted her with, however reluctantly, and they were only a family in the loosest sense of the word, bound by biology but not the heart.  With Daryl it’s different.  It has been since he’d done the impossible and brought her lost little girl back to her.  So she feels free to make a suggestion that never would have crossed her mind with Ed.  “Maybe you and Sophia could make them?  Store bought ones are fine.  Glenn and Maggie aren’t going to say anything.” 

  He quirks a half-smile at her, his blue eyes twinkling and bright.  “You saying you trust me not to burn the house down?”   

  “More than that,” she laughs as she shoulders her purse and scoops up her lunch bag.  “Think about it, okay?” 

  “Come back to me, Woman.” 

  The promise doesn’t take any thought.  “Always.” 

          The kid comes padding out of her room before the sun’s all the way up, rubbing her small fists at her eyes and yawning so big he can hear her jaw pop clear across the living room.  Draining the last dregs of his coffee, he reaches out to set his mug on a nearby coaster and scratches at the back of his neck as he watches her linger in front of the tree that’s been the focal point of the house since the weekend after Thanksgiving.  He still remembers the way she and her mama had batted them big pretty eyes at him before dragging him all over King County looking for the perfect tree.  It’d been a good day.  He’s had a lot of those since he found ‘Phia and found love as a result.  He hopes today can be one of those, even if he hasn’t been able to think of much else but how much he misses her mama since she left through the front door.  Clearing his throat to get her attention, he asks, “What you doin’ up so early?” 

  “Didn’t sleep so good,” Sophia mumbles, her mouth all cottony still with sleep and her nose wrinkled as she joins him on the sofa, slumping back against the pillows and tucking her growing, gangly legs beneath her. 

  “Didn’t?” Daryl ventures, though he has a sneaking suspicion why, more than a sneaking suspicion actually.  He still don’t know what had come over him, taking his wife so thoroughly apart with their girl sleeping just a few feet away.  He just remembers watching her sleep in the waning moonlight and the way she wore the freckles on her skin like stardust and wanting to know the taste of something so wondrous and sweet.  He can still picture the way she’d arched beneath his touch, like the building of an oncoming wave, and how she’d reached behind herself to find purchase as he’d framed her hips with his rough hands and nuzzled deep, her mouth open on a silent scream as she’d pulsed around him and flooded his mouth.  He’d barely given her time to recover before he was covering her body with his own and working his narrow hips between her trembling legs, working toward his own release and taking her with him.  That time, they hadn’t been quite as quiet.  He was sure of it and he feels the heat of embarrassment color his cheeks and crawl all the way up to the tips of his ears.  Working around the mortified lump rising up in his throat, he volunteers, “Bad dream?” 

  “No,” Sophia says.  “Maybe,” she amends.  “I don’t remember,” she finally admits.  Turning her sleep-rumpled head to the side, she studies him through a veil of strawberry hair.  “You look tired, too.” 

  “Yeah, well.  You’d be tired, too.  If your girls forced you to watch hours of cheesy Christmas movies.  Ask me, Hallmark needs to stick to cards and shit,” he grumbles half-heartedly.  “Ain’t nobody out there got an original idea no more.  What you smilin’ so big for?”

  The kid just smiles bigger and shrugs, burrows deeper into the pile of pillows at her skinny back and fumbles for the television remote.  When she doesn’t find it, she looks over at him again.  “Where’s Mama?” 

          “Somebody call X-Ray?”                                                                                                                                               

  Carol looks up from the chart she’s perusing and breaks out into a smile, walking toward the big man with an even bigger smile and stepping right into the bear hug he engulfs her in.  “T.”  Tucked safely beneath his chin, she returns the embrace wholeheartedly.  “It’s been so long.” 

  “Too long,” T-Dog agrees.  “Let me look at you.”  Holding her at arms’ length, he studies her with astute eyes, from the top of her silver head to the tips of her Dansko-clad toes.  “Dixon looks good on you.”  When she blushes in response to his particular phrasing, he chuckles.  “Dixon looks real good on you.  Damn, Girl.  You’re glowing.” 

  Much to her chagrin, the moment doesn’t go unnoticed by the young medic packing up her gear nearby and she’s quick to hush her friend because T’s teasing is one thing, but Rosita’s?  Well, it’s another animal altogether.  Her partner Bob just takes it even further, and Carol’s pretty sure she’s not equipped to withstand the onslaught today of all days.  “Stop.” 

  T-Dog can’t resist making one more good-natured jibe.  “Man’s really rubbing off on you.” 

  “I called X-Ray.  Not a wannabe comedian.” 

  T-Dog grabs his chest in feigned shock, winks at her.  “Ouch.  That hurts.” 

  “You deserved it,” Carol quips as she leads him to a curtained cubicle.  Drawing the curtain back, she smiles gently at her patient, a pale man with ginger hair and sweat beading on his upper lip.  “Mr. Raleigh, X-Ray’s here.” 

  “Theodore Douglas at your service,” T-Dog introduces himself, immediately setting up shop.  “Man, you ain’t looking so good.” 

   “Eric,” Mr. Raleigh is quick to correct them both.  “You mean the broken ankle doesn’t do much for my fair complexion?  Darn.”  Turning to Carol, he fixes overly bright eyes on her face.  “Any word from my husband?” 

  “He’s on his way,” she reassures him with a gentle hand upon his shoulder.  “Last anybody talked to him, he was about 15 minutes out.” 

  “Knowing Aaron, that means he’s really only 7 or 8 minutes out.”  He tells them both with exasperated fondness.  “Unless he got stopped by the police.  Oh, I hope he’s being safe.” 

  “Want me to go check on him again?” Carol offers. 

  “Oh, please.  Would you?” 

  Giving his narrow shoulder a comforting squeeze, she nods.  “Of course, I will.  You try to relax, okay?  You’re in good hands with T.” 

          They’re both still in their pajamas when they embark on their most challenging endeavor yet as new daddy and daughter, and it’s a good thing, too, because they ain’t even got started good and from Daryl’s standpoint, they’re making an unholy mess.  Might be they should have followed Carol’s suggestion, but it’s too late now.  It only gets worse when his brother makes an unannounced visit. 

  “The hell y’all two doin’?” Merle demands in a whiskey-rough drawl, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing the whiskers on his chin. 

  Daryl knows what it looks like.  It looks like they’ve detonated a flour bomb inside the kitchen because it’s spread far and wide.  It smells like an elf threw up in the place, too.  At least that’s what ‘Phia claims.  He ain’t so sure.  “What’s it look like we’re doin’?  Makin’ our own snow?” he snaps with a roll of his eyes that makes the kid giggle.  Of course, it could be those absurd antlers Merle’s sporting on his fat head.  “You high?” he blurts before he has a chance to censor himself. 

  “Think I should be askin’ you that question, Baby Brother.”  Merle pulls up a barstool and plants his lazy behind on it, winks at Sophia and pokes a blunt finger in the bowl nearest to him.  When he sticks it in his mouth, his lips purse for a split second before he smiles.  “Not too bad.  Nothin’ a little booze can’t fix.” 

  He can’t help himself.  He growls.  “Ain’t makin’ drunk gingerbread men.” 

  Merle shrugs his big shoulders.  “Suit yourself.” 

  Ignoring him, Daryl goes back to studying the directions and he frowns.  “Says here we’re ‘sposed to divide it up, wrap it, and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.”  Glancing at the digital clock on the microwave, he mentally calculates how much time they have until the party and shakes his head.  “Gonna have to cut it in half.  At least.  Probably more.”  Fixing his gaze on the kid, he presses, “What’s your mama do?” 

  “I don’t know,” Sophia admits with a helpless shrug.  “I just help decorate them.” 

  “Girl after my own heart, skipping to the good part like that.” 

  “Merle,” Daryl warns.

  “Ain’t nothin’ wrong in what I said, Darylina.  Some of us just like to be a bit more…”  He pauses for effect, eventually finishing with an obnoxious leering grin twisting his lips.  “Direct.  Go right in for the kill.  Then there are some of us love to build up the anticipation until they forget the whole point.  Am I right?” 

  Feeling his ears flame when he glimpses the tiniest glimmer of understanding spark in Sophia’s innocent hazel eyes, Daryl’s quick to change the subject, kind of.  “Think Andrea might have a difference of opinion.  Heard she really hit it off with somebody at some work party of hers.  You might have seen her around a time or two.  Name’s Michonne.”  

  The smile freezes on Merle’s face and he flips him off as soon as the kid’s otherwise distracted. 

  Behind ‘Phia’s back, Daryl does it right back. 

        Lilly’s got her phone out, FaceTiming her daughter when Carol sneaks a few moments of peace in the break room.  Peeking over her coworker’s shoulder, she greets the giggling little girl with a wave and a smile.  “Hi, Meghan.” 

  “Ms. Carol, hi!” 

  Her freckles and her bright eyes put her in mind of Sophia and she excuses herself, holes up in the tiny single stall bathroom and takes out her own phone.  Typing out a few words, she presses send and almost immediately, her baby girl answers her back on Daryl’s phone with half a dozen emojis.  She laughs softly and sends back a response that earns her a bunch of acronyms she’s still isn’t completely up to speed on.  “What even…” she wonders underneath her breath.  The back and forth lasts for quite a while, and when she emerges from the bathroom again, she’s all alone in the break room with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her.  At least she starts out that way.  She looks up from picking absently at her salad when she hears a throat clear quietly. 

  “Mind if I join you?”  Dr. Denise Cloyd offers her a brief shy flicker of a smile and waits for her nod before claiming the seat at the opposite end of the rectangular table and opening up a plain brown paper bag.  “I can’t hear myself think in the doctor’s lounge.”  She withdraws a plastic wrapped sandwich and sighs, letting her shoulders drop.  “I need to hear myself think sometimes.” 

  “We all do,” Carol agrees amiably.  Unscrewing the cap from her bottle of water, she takes a careful drink.  She looks up, startled, when she realizes the young psychiatrist is talking again, mostly to herself. 

  “There’s a man out there convinced he’s Santa Claus, and I mean absolutely convinced.  He’s even got a couple of patients’ kids fooled.  What do I even do with that?  I mean, how do I approach treating him without becoming the Grinch in their eyes?  Sorry.  I shouldn’t have said anything to you.” 

  “Sounds like you have yourself a real dilemma,” she muses kindly. 

  “I really shouldn’t have said anything.  HIPAA,” she elaborates needlessly after a pause.  “How could I have ever thought psychiatry would be less complicated and stressful than surgery?”  Shaking her head, she murmurs an apology.  “I’m sorry.  I’m ruining your lunch, aren’t I?” 

  “Not at all,” Carol reassures her, repacking her salad and zipping it back up in her lunch bag.  “My husband’s always telling me rabbit food isn’t very appetizing.  Today, I’m inclined to agree.”  Propping her chin in her palm, she glances up at the muted television and smiles at the little blond boy outwitting two bumbling would-be thieves.  Sophia had always harbored a particular fondness for Home Alone.  Every time it plays on television during the Christmas holidays she just has to watch it and somehow, she knows she’s doing exactly that right now across town, Daryl by her side.  Paying the soft rustle of plastic no mind, she continues to watch the movie, at least until the smell of tuna reaches her nose.  Then it feels like all the blood drains from her face and her stomach rebels.  She barely has time to excuse herself before she’s up and dashing to the tiny bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her and dry heaving like she hasn’t in weeks. 

  The soft, anxious cadence of Dr. Cloyd’s voice almost doesn’t penetrate the barrier of the door when she leans against it from the other side.  “Should I offer an apology or congratulations first?” 

      Merle’s long gone and the last batch of cookies are cooling in the kitchen.  They’ve got another couple hours before the shift Carol’s working for Lori is over and Home Alone is playing for the second time that day.  The kid’s barely paying any attention, though.  It seems to Daryl there are other things weighing on her young mind.  “Hey.  What you thinkin’ ‘bout?  Lookin’ awful serious over there.” 

  Sophia sighs. 

  It’s a long-suffering sound, a sound that sets his nerves on edge.  “You happy, Kid?  With me and your mama, with me and you and her being a family?”  It ain’t ‘til he looks down that he notices his hands are clenched into fists and it takes several seconds and some deep, calming breaths for him to relax enough to let them go. 

  “I am,” the girl insists earnestly.  “The happiest I ever been.” 

  “You are?”  He can’t quite believe it, most especially because the look on her youthful face seems anything but happy to him.  He knows worry when he sees it.  He’s lived a lifetime in its stranglehold.  That was ‘fore he met ‘Phia and her mama, though.  “Really?” 

  “Really,” she tells him. 

  Still, she’s wearing that same furrow between her brows her mama gets and he feels concern start to eat at his gut.  “You’d tell me if you weren’t?” 

  She curls those skinny arms around her legs and murmurs into the shield of her knees.  “I would.” 

  “Know I’d do whatever it takes to make sure you and your mama get all the happiness you deserve?” 

  “I know.  I do.  It’s just…” 

  “S’just what, Kid?  Ain’t got to keep it all bottled up.  Not from me.”  She’s got a smudge of flour on her crinkled nose, dots of the stuff peppering her freckled cheeks, too, and his fingers itch to brush it away.  They ache to cradle her little face in the palm of his hand and promise her whatever he needs to so the worry will go away, but first she has to talk to him.  He knows how hard that is sometimes, too.  “’Phia.  Got to talk to me, Sweetheart.” 

  “Sometimes, I’m afraid it’s not real.  Like a dream.  Like magic.  Like…” 

  “Santa?” he offers, knowing instantly by her guilty expression that he ain’t telling her nothing she don’t already know, even if she tries to convince her mama otherwise.  Girl ain’t snowin’ her mama either.  She just ain’t realized it yet.  “You afraid it’s all pretend?  Something that only lasts ‘til you grow up and know better?” 

  “Maybe.” 

  “You’re stuck with me forever, Kid,” he promises her.  “Shitty cookies and all.”  That surprises a giggle out of her, and her arms fall to her sides, fidget there for a moment before they’re reaching for him and she’s curling herself around him like she did when he found her in them woods. 

  “They really are pretty bad.” 

  He hides his tremulous smile in the softness of her hair.  “Can’t be any worse than Lori’s.” 

      She’s got her scrub pants loose and low around her hips, her hand covering her trembling lips when the curtain is pulled back and Jerry’s big, friendly body backs into the small cubicle. 

  “Somebody page for an…Ms. Carol.  I mean, Mrs. Dixon.”  Jerry’s beside himself, his dark eyes glittering with a healthy mixture of affection and worry when he takes in her pale face, her exposed abdomen.  “Are you…do you need a…I need to get you a doctor.” 

  Her hand shoots out then, fingers curling around his forearm.  “Jerry, wait.  Don’t.” 

  Frowning, he shakes his head.  “But somebody paged for an ultrasound and you’re…you’re…what’s going on?” 

  Sitting up, she sighs.  “Close the curtain, Jerry.  Please.” 

  He does as she asks and crowds necessarily close, lowers his normally jovial voice.  “I don’t understand.” 

  Taking a deep breath, she lays it out for him.  “I’m pregnant.” 

  Comprehension dawns on his face and his happy grin splits wide, making his eyes twinkle and shine.  “Dude, congratulations.  That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”  He smile dims when he realizes her expression doesn’t quite match his own.  “Wait a minute.  This is happy news, is it not?”

  Feeling tears warm her eyes, Carol nods wordlessly.  It is happy news, her longstanding reluctance to open her eyes to the reality notwithstanding.  Yeah, she’s been watching her diet.  She’s even upped her vitamins just in case.  It’s just, there’d been others besides Sophia.  Babies she’d never held in her arms.  Babies whose hearts she’d never heard beat.  Hope, before Daryl, hadn’t been a possibility.  It hadn’t even been a viable option and now, when it’s so real she can almost touch it, so real she can see it in the gentle curve of her belly, the rich fullness of her breasts?  She’s been so terrified if she gives voice to it that it will somehow vanish, and she wants to spare her husband that hurt at least.  He’s borne enough pain to last several lifetimes.  They both have.  But that’s the thing about hope.  Once it’s earned possibility, it gains the ability to grow into reality, and God, does she want this to be real.  She wants it so bad she can almost taste it, Daryl holding their baby in his arms.  She wants to give Sophia a baby brother or a baby sister.  She wants to give them all the promise of a lasting forever.  “It’s happy news,” she finally manages.  “I just…I…” 

  Jerry takes her cool hands in his own and gives them a reassuring squeeze.  “Let me make it real for you.  You’ll see.” 

  Giving him a tearful smile, she can only nod again, murmur a soft, “Okay.” 

  “Why don’t you lie back?  Make yourself comfortable while I boot up the machine, okay?” 

  “Thank you, Jerry.” 

  “No worries, Mrs. D.  No worries at all.” 

        The kid’s all dressed up, pretty green ribbons in her hair, a matching scarf looped around her neck.  She’s practically bursting at the seams in the back seat, but Daryl’s got his mind on other things.  He’s got his mind on other people, namely the woman sitting in the passenger seat beside him.  She’s got her eyes closed and a soft, serene smile on her face, one that’s been there since she walked through their front door in a happy daze, and he’d be lying if he pretended he wasn’t itching to ask her what it was all about.  He’d be lying kind of like he had about all them cookies boxed up in the back seat.  There’d be time ‘nough for those revelations later, though, because Glenn and Maggie’s house is just ahead and shit if the whole place didn’t look like Candyland in lights. 

  “Mama, look!” 

  Carol’s eyes flutter open and her lips part in awe.  “It’s magical.” 

  Daryl grunts out a laugh at them both.  “Magical?  Place is tacky as all hell.  Looks like the Griswolds decorated it.” 

  Sophia’s nose scrunches with confusion.  “The who?” 

  Watching Home Alone on endless loop gives her little time to discover the joys of other holiday classics.  He’s gonna have to rectify that.  Eventually, he will.  Maybe by next Christmas, he thinks.  “Never you mind ‘bout that right now.  You got everything back there ready?” 

  Carol’s blue eyes search his face and the barest of smiles tugs at her pretty mouth.  “Just how many cookies did you two make?”

  “Too damn many,” Daryl smirks, easing the car in the driveway behind Rick’s cruiser.  He can barely make out Lori’s heavily pregnant silhouette behind the drawn curtains.  Bed rest, his ass.  As if he’d heard him, the swaying Frosty that guards the stone pathway gives him a knowing smile and bows before him.    

  “Uncle Merle helped,” Sophia pipes up behind his shoulder. 

  “Daryl didn’t tell me that.” 

  Course, he didn’t.  “Yeah.  Helped eat some of them.” 

  “Decorated them, too.” 

  Carol’s eyes widen at that little tidbit of information, and he panics, just a little bit.  Clearing his throat, he jabs a finger toward the front of the Rhee house and the shaggy haired boy scampering through it.  “Better go catch up with your boyfriend.” 

  Aghast, ‘Phia’s mouth drops open in horror.  “Carl’s not…he’s ain’t…I don’t…hey.” 

  Daryl winks at her.  “Better hurry.  Get inside ‘fore he gets all his gross boy cooties all over ya.”  He chuckles when the car door slams behind the kid and she puts at least two good feet between her and the Grimes boy all the way back up to the house. 

  “Gross boy cooties, Pookie?”

  Put on the spot, he grumbles uncomfortably.  “Yeah, well.  You seen the way that kid looks at her?” 

  “They’re babies.” 

  There’s something about the way she says babies that twists his insides up into soft, squirmy knots.  Warmth creeps past his collar and makes its way up his neck as she fiddles absently with the buttons there, undoes a couple of them.  She leans into him, softly kisses his lips, warms them with her own and lingers there, gentle and achingly sweet until he almost forgets his name, much less his train of thought.  “Won’t be for long,” he reminds her. 

  “Maybe not,” she concedes.  “But tonight?  They’re babies.” 

  He swallows hard and loses himself, for the moment, in her glittering eyes.  “Seem to like that word an awful lot tonight, Sweetheart.”  When she just gives him an enigmatic smile in response, those soft, squirmy knots grow wings that flutter fast and furious against his ribs as a faint glimmer of suspicion starts to form at the back of his mind.  “Something you…fuck.”  He almost hits his head on the steering wheel when a horn blares behind them and his brother climbs out from behind the wheel of his old truck, crashing the party with a bottle of cheap wine in one hand and some quality bourbon in the other.  “Dammit, Merle!” 

  “I’ll get the cookies,” Carol offers, pushing open the passenger door and climbing out. 

  “Wait.  I’ll…” 

  “Oh.” 

  “…get them,” Daryl sputters. 

  “You made gingerbread zombies?” 

[agoodflyting]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A small thing for the Single Dad/Hot Teacher AU Winter rolls around, bringing slush and runny noses.

Rey catches a cold the first week of December and stays home from school, eating canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and watching Mythbusters on Netflix. For three days, Ben’s Google search history is a string of desperate inquiries:

difference between cold and flu is throwing up normal with a cold flu symptoms how long does the flu last diseases similar to flu symptoms of anthrax is it anthrax or flu how much tylenol safe for kids 100 degree fever when to take kids to the hospital fever

She sleeps on the couch, a sad, sniffly little burrito in her favorite Wonder Woman blanket, and he calls out of work to bring her juice and rub circles on her back with his palm, like he used to see her mom do when she was a baby. When her throat hurts and she whimpers because she can’t sleep, Ben honest-to-god cries. He’s never felt so useless in his life.

The second day, Rey’s teacher texts Ben to ask how she’s doing.

The December snow is thin, not good for much more than coating the sidewalks in a thin layer of white that’s quickly trampled dirty brown. It’s a shame- Ben remembers winters when he was a kid being a lot more impressive. He has vague, probably exaggerated memories of giant snowmen and building ice forts in his backyard with his dad.

The local kids manage to have some fun with it anyway, scraping snow off ledges and fences around the apartment complex to fling at each other. In the mornings he bundles Rey off in her hat and scarf. The early morning frost turns her nose and cheeks pink as she walks to school with a neighbor kid, a boy named Finn who lived in the next building and had recently lost one of his front teeth.

“That’s so cool!” Rey squeals when Finn holds it up in one glove, beaming a gap-toothed grin.

After school, Ben waits outside the playground doors so that he can walk home with Rey. He sticks out like a sore thumb in the pack of stay-at-home moms waiting for their kids outside the school. On top of being a fucking giant, he’s the only guy there. The first few days he kept half-expecting one of them to call the cops on him.

Now they just ignore him, flashing wary smiles before going back to comparing snack-time recipes off Pinterest and swapping pregnancy stories like some of the guys he used to know in prison did scar stories.

Some of the shit he accidentally overhears makes him want to cringe in horror. He’d butted in once, unable to contain a horrified, “That can happen?” and they’d giggled at him in a way that made him feel like he was back in high school and had just embarrassed himself in front of the popular girls.

When Rey’s mother was pregnant she’d still lived at home with her parents. It was her mom, and to a lesser degree Leia, who’d done all that pregnancy stuff with her. Ultrasounds and doctor visits. He’d tried going shopping for baby clothes with her a couple of times, but somehow it always managed to end in a stupid fight. Like every other fucking thing they did together.

The week Rey was due he’d run off in his dad’s old van, overwhelmed with fear at the responsibility of it all, desperate to escape what felt like the end of his life. By the time his dad and his uncle finally tracked him down and dragged him back, Rey was already home from the hospital.

“You’re the one who got yourself into this mess, kid.” He can still feel his dad’s hand heavy on his shoulder, marching him up to the door like he was a kid who’d just broken the neighbor’s window. At the time, it had felt like a death sentence.

On the last day of school before winter break, 3:30 hits and he waits, hands fisted in his coat pockets and breath frosting the air, while kids trickle out. They’re all wrapped up in their puffy winter jackets, the kindergartners looking like little marshmallows with legs. A sea of colorful bobble hats stampede around his knees as their moms herd them off.

“They have parts on the back called the stabilizers and they can fly this- look- this close-” He hears Rey before he sees her, gushing about her new favorite thing this week, the Blue Angels. They’d watched a couple of videos on YouTube after he told her how his grandpa and his uncle both used to fly with them, and she’d been hooked.

“Really? That sounds very dangerous.”

Ever since The Incident, Mr. Hux had taken to walking her out of the school building most days. Today, in concession- or maybe it’s in surrender- to the holidays, he’s decked out in a pastel green shirt and a festive tie.

Ben crosses his arms as Hux steers Rey straight to him.

“Time for the prisoner transfer,” Ben says, setting a serious look on his face. Rey rolls her eyes at him, but he’s rewarded when her teacher huffs a little laugh.

“She’s your responsibility for the next two weeks,” Hux says, matching his tone.

“I’ll rough her up if there are any problems.” Ben ruffles Rey’s hair with one large hand.

“Hey!” she yelps.

Hux laughs, and Ben is suddenly aware, with a low sinking in his stomach, that this is the last time he’ll see him until after New Years. Somehow, he’s kinda gotten used to exchanging hellos every afternoon.

“So Hux, you have any big plans for the holidays?”

“Christmas. Family. The usual.”

“Wow, don’t sound too excited,” Ben deadpans, then inwardly cringes. That’s the kind of tacky shit his dad would say.

“Is anyone our age excited to spend a week with their parents?” Hux replies mildly, and Ben can take a hint when he quickly changes the subject. “What about you two? This is your  first Christmas together, I believe.”

There had been a couple of holidays when Rey was a baby, before he got arrested. The three of them together like a real family. They usually ended in shouting, and anyway Rey’s too young to remember them. He doesn’t count those. “Yeah, first one. Uh...” he says, “Probably food and presents. Normal family stuff.”

It’s still weird to say, but something about it makes him want to smile. Family stuff. Their family.

“We have a tree!” Rey interrupts with a little bounce. The yarn ball on top of her hat gives an excited wobble.

“I’m glad,” Hux says. He never used that fake ‘adults talking to little kids’ voice. It was something Ben liked about him. “Christmas isn’t the same without a tree.”

“It’s tiny. I think it’s a midget. But it’s really green and it smells like Christmas.”

Ben tries not to laugh and fails. “Rey...”

It was a dinky thing, one of those dwarf trees from the 24-hour grocery store, but it was real and Rey was crazy about it. She’d never had a tree that wasn’t made out of plastic before.

“This is going to be so better than last year!” She’d babbled, bouncing around the cart holding their tiny tree as he pushed it out of the store. “We didn’t even have a tree last year because mom forgot to get one, even though I reminded her like every day. All we had was Oscar’s stupid ugly wreath made out of beer cans. We didn’t even have lights.”

Ben had decided then that next year he was going to start saving up earlier and they’d go to one of those tree farms and he’d let her pick out the biggest one they could find.

“Have you decorated it yet?”

“Yeah! Show the pictures!” Rey latches on to Ben’s arm, clinging and letting her feet dangle. She’s small for her age, and skinny. It’s no trouble to lift her with one arm. “Pictuuuures,” she whines.

“She took about ten thousand pictures of this sad little Charlie Brown tree with my phone,” Ben says to Hux, apologetic.

“I’d love to see them.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Somehow Ben ends up standing beside Hux, holding out his phone, with Rey crammed warm in between them while she swipes through Christmas tree pictures, offering little comments on each one. Hux actually seems interested in it, asking Rey questions and huddling closer to Ben for warmth. Hux isn’t wearing a jacket. Ben can feel the way he’s holding himself stiff against the chill.

Ben shifts to the side so that he can shield them both from the worst of the cold breeze when the wind picks up.

“Alright munchkin, we gotta go,” he says finally, “Mister Hux is going to freeze.”

“Okay, bye, mister Hux!” Rey beams. “Have a good Christmas!”

“You too, Rey.”

“Bye, Armitage.” He didn’t mean it to sound teasing. It still felt weird to call the teacher by his first name. Ben tended to ration it, like a secret treat.

“Ben,” Hux nods in return.

“Hey, nice tie, by the way,” he calls back they turn to leave. Okay, that one he meant to be teasing. The thing was red and green and covered in bright cartoon Christmas trees. Glittery ones. Ben’s pretty sure he saw that tie for sale at Walmart.

“Thank you,” Hux’s jaw is stiff. He looks like he is trying very hard not to either sigh or roll his eyes. It’s the look of defeat. “My class got it for me.”

[jonasmaurer]

The latest Trunk Club delivery

Sharing a Trunk Club review and some fall options from Trunk Club! This post isn’t sponsored, but my referral link is here if you’d like to check it out! You can read previous Trunk club reviews here, here, and here.

Hi friends! How was the weekend? I hope you had a wonderful one! P and I had a great day on Friday: I walked while she rode her bike around the neighborhood, we visited the Guinea pigs at PetSmart because Liv and P are BEGGING for them and I don’t want our house to smell like a barn, and took a trip to the library. I’m blasting through When Breath Becomes Air. Friday evening was spent at our usual movie night at the pool, margarita in hand, and Saturday was rain all day, hot yoga, and the usual Sunday chores. Even though we’re back in school now, it still feels like summer, and we’re livin’ it up. 

For today’s post, I wanted to share the latest Trunk Club! I got a new delivery a couple of weeks ago that literally sat on the living room chair for 5 days until I opened it. This never happens, so it’s a pretty good testament to how sick I was last weekend. I knew I needed to make my selections and return the items that didn’t work, so I opened it up to see what my stylist sent. 

Is it weird that trying on new clothes put a little pep in my step? No? Ok good.

For this delivery, I requested some leopard flats, casual shirts and dresses, and AG jeans <— my fave right now.

Here’s what was in my last delivery:

Tory Burch stud earrings

I liked these earrings but decided that they were a bit too plain. If I swap out my earrings, it’s usually to use a statement piece, otherwise I stick with my regular diamond studs. 

Dolce Vita flat mules and Steve Madden leopard loafers

I had a hard time deciding between these two and the Instagram poll was split exactly in the middle! In the end, I decided to return them. A friend DMed me and said they had a super similar pair to the Dolce Vita ones at Target, so I might order these.

Sanctuary Mod Short Sleeve Boyfriend Shirt and AG The Legging Super Skinny Jeans

The jeans felt like a DREAM (as all AG jeans do) but in the end I decided to keep the high-waisted ones at the bottom of this post because they paired well with the bodysuit. The shirt was just kind of meh and shapeless to me, so back it went. 

Bobeau Mira Surplice Tank Top

This was a perfect everyday black wrap top! I feel like I’m slowly turning into the kind of person who could just wear black every day.

Adelyn Rae Brinley Jumpsuit

I LOVED this jumpsuit (and it’s 50% off right now!) but unfortunately, it was too small. It fit really well through the legs but wouldn’t zip all the way. It was an XS so I lurked the website to see if they had a small and they were sold out. Not meant to be. 

Free People Marissa Bodysuit and AG The Farrah High Waist Skinny Jeans

This is the reason why I use Trunk Club. My stylist gently urges me out of my comfort zone and sends super cute pieces that I might not try or find on my own. I loved the way this combo looked together for a casual outfit, especially with my headband scarf thingy.

1. STATE Animal Beats Patch Pocket Shirtdress

I was obsessed with this dress the moment I took it out of the package. Shirtdresses are my very fave – they aways look put-together and are versatile – and the animal print was so fun. I wondered if it was a bit too much but decided to go for it.

I also ended up keeping this olive Madewll Whisper Cotton V-neck tank and sent back this ASTR the Label Delaney Faux Wrap Flutter Sleeve Dress (didn’t love the color – it was like a burnt orange – and the zipper wouldn’t unzip to try it on.)

All in all, it was another fabulous delivery and makes me excited for the next one! 

Some of the things I love about Trunk Club:

– All of the clothes are from Nordstrom, so you know you’re getting excellent quality

– If you have a Nordstrom card, they waive the $25 styling fee (<— goes towards anything you purchase)

– You can message with your stylist in the handy app, and decline pieces to be swapped out before they’re sent. I can look through and decline items I know I won’t like or if I own something similar.

– You can try everything on at home on your own time. We don’t have a Nordstrom here in Tucson (pure tragedy) but it’s amazing to be able to try out pieces that were curated for me and only keep what I truly love.

If you’ve been wanting to try out Trunk Club, here’s my referral link! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday and I’ll see ya soon with a little giveaway.

xo

Gina

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[phoenixryzing]

Homeslice

Freshuary Day Nine: Who do you ship Fresh with?

Well that one’s easy- @alainaprana​! 

“Daaaaddy! Daadddyy Fresh!” a little voice called. A cute human in a rainbow shirt, hat, and blue jeans looked up when she heard it. The girl- Alaina- got up from her sewing to see what was wrong. She soon saw a little skeleton in a blue-and-red striped shirt and blue jeans running around the house, calling for his papa. Alaina was concerned at what was troubling her son- Zigzag- but before she could walk over to him, Fresh popped in.

He was dressed in his usual neon outfit- pink shirt, crayola-styled blue-and-purple jacket, and neon sports shorts. Like the rest of them, he had a pair of glasess, but unlike the others they were actually over his eyes.

Fresh quickly walked over to Zig, kneeling down to be at eye-level with him. “Hey broseph, what’s got you in a widdly-wobbly mess, huh?” His voice was soft, despite the cheery words, and Zig just started sniffling when he heard it.

“S-some of the kids at the park... they were.... “ Zig started, but trailed off. 

“Hey little bro, you can tell me. What did they say?”

“They said... that.... I couldn’t be Mom’s kid... cause I was a skeleton... and...” Zig trailed off again, not looking at Fresh anymore, but studying the orange-and-purple carpet. Alaina just watched the scene, wanting to comfort zig but deciding to let Fresh continue to handle it.

Fresh sighed, and placed his hands of Ziggy’s shoulders. “Brah. Listen to me. Folks... they can get some wacked ideas, cause they just don’t know better, you know? They just a bit ignorant. You can’t let those sick ideas bug you. You know they’re not true, right?” He said, his tone changing to be more serious. “You’re my radtastic little son, and sweetheart’s fluffy little boy.” Zig and Alaina blushed a little at that, but Zig then drooped his head some more.

“But... I’m not like you... either of you....” he said quietly.

“Brah, I’m not like anyone. Nor are you. Or Alaina, or Jojo. We’re all different- all got our own special little things, you dig? ‘Sides, that isn’t what makes a family connected.”

“It’s not?” Zig asked, honestly curious. “...Families are supposed to be alike, aren’t they?”

“Dude if all families were alike it’d be pretty boringly monochrome, and that’s totes unfresh. Listen,” he said, gently guiding Zig’s gaze back to him. “What makes us a family ain’t our similarities or differences. It’s our connection, little brah. We’re all here for eahc other, you dig? If you need help, I’m here for ya. If Sweetheart needs help, we’d be there for her, you know? And if jojo gets hurt, you’re always right there, defending her like the rad big bro you are.” Zig nodded slowly, but he didn’t look fully convinced. Fresh continued.

“That’s what makes us a family brah. Not our looks or what creature we are. We’re always there for each other, defending and helping the other, you know? That bond... that love for the other.... that’s what makes us a family. And no matter what no sick unrad kid says, that won’t change. We’ll stay together, and be the raddest family eva. Okay?”

Zigzag slowly nodded, and wiped his eyes. “Ya... ya. We’re always together. One big rad family.” Zig smiled, and started to turn back to his normal hyper self. “Okay then. Thanks daddy Fresh! You’re the coolest dad ‘round,” and with that, he collapsed on Fresh in a huge hug. Fresh just smiled and hugged back.

  “Anytime broseph,” he said, rubbing Zig’s head a little. Zig halfheartedly whined, then pushed himself up.

“Imma go play with sis, okay?” Zig said, starting to run off.

“Kay brah, have fun!” Fresh called after the rapidly-dissappearing Zig. Then he looked over at Alaina. “Hey there sweetheart. Been listenin’?”

Alaina walked out of the hallway and over to Fresh. “I heard Zig yelling and went to check on him. Seems you had it all under control,” she said, smiling. 

Fresh smiled back, then pulled her into a hug. He loved hugs, and Alaina never objected. “Little man just needed some reassurance, ya know? No biggie.”

Alaina looked up a bit and nodded. “Zig’s a strong kid, and we’ll always be here. No sense dwelling on it.”

“Nah, none at all.” Fresh replied. After a minute of hugging, he reluctantly pulled back. “Okay sweetheart, whatcha working on today?”

“Plushies- stocking up for the con next month. You?”

“Nothin’ really. ‘s playing with jojo earlier, but ziggies doin’ that now. Want some help?”

“Hmm...” Alaina said, thinking. “Could you cut out some of the fabric? Then I could focus on sewing.”

“Sure thing sweetheart,” Fresh said, before heading towards the craft room. 

Alaina and Fresh worked on the plushies for an hour or so, before shouts could be heard from the bedroom. Alaina got up to see what was up.

She peeked in the room, and saw Zig and Jojo immersed in a Mario Kart match. They kept the Wii in there for safety’s sake, but the kid’s were pretty careful with it. Right now they laughing and cheering as they finished a race, loud but happy. Alaina told them to quiet down a bit, but seeing them happy made her smile.

The rest of the afternoon, she worked on her various crafts, and Fresh went to working on his comics. Every now and again one of them would get up to check on the kids, or to see what the other was doing. Whenever Fresh went over, he rested his skull on Alaina’s head, making sure not to distract her but still letting her know he was there. They’d occasionally tease each other, in a playful way, but for the most part they concentrated on their work, content to simply be in the room together.

Eventually Fresh left to take care of the kids and do some work on his own. He and the kids made a game of tidying up the house a bit, and Alaina could hear the quiet shouts as they all tried to be “the best sickest raddest cleaners eva”. She had to smile, but mostly she just concentrated on her art, lost in her own little world.

As it got dark, Fresh waltzed back into the craft room, and hugged a very-zoned-out Alaina from behind. He planted a kiss on her startled head, and whispered, “Hey sweetie, it’s getting a bit late. How ‘bout we make somethin’ together? Or would ya rather I grab some food?”

Alaina leaned her head back into him, and looked up and replied, “Making something sounds fun. How about stir-fry? And something sweet for dessert?”

“You’re all the sweetness I need,” Fresh said, kissing her again. Alaina giggled, then Fresh said, “Anything’s good for me sweetie, whichever you like.” 

“Stir-fry then,” Alaina said. They stayed hugging for a minute, before Alaina wiggled out of it and stood up. They walked to the kitchen and started prepping.

Fresh couldn’t taste, but he could prep food really well. He sliced and diced the veggies while Alaina prepped ingredients for cookies, then they swapped and Alaina fried the vegetables while Fresh finished the cookies and set them in the oven. He set the timer for the cookies, and Alaina called to the kids, “Dinner’s almost done!”

Jojo and Zig had been playing some imaginary game, but they broke up and bounded over. They quickly got the table set for dinner, and sat down, waiting eagerly. Fresh and Alaina dished out the food, and sat down themselves. After a moment, they all plowed in.

“Yummy! This is really good!” Zig said.

“Tasty food!” Jojo chimed in.

The parents just smiled and Alaina said, “We make a good team cooking is all.”

“Teach us?” Jojo asked. “Ya, it looks like fun!” Zig added.

Fresh chuckled and said, “Maybe sometime homeslices. ‘Long as everyones careful, kay? Cookin’s fun but ya gotta watch yourself.”

“We know,” the kids said simultaniously, then started chuckling. 

The conversation drifted after that- what everyone did, a funny story someone remembered, a new hobby they had discovered. Everyone smiled and laughed, so much they took forever finishing their food. Fresh got up halfway through and pulled the cookies out of the oven, setting them on a rack to cool.

After dinner, everyone pitched in with cleaning up- the parents packing up the food and starting the dishes, while the kids put everything away. Then came the fun part.

They had made icing earlier, and now pulled out the icing and sprinkles. With a firm reminder to not make too big a mess, everyone got started on decorating the cookies.

Everyone had a particular style. Fresh drowned his cookies in sprinkles- “sprinkles are little rainbow pieces, and the more the radder”-, Zigzag made little patterns on his- “Stripes are so cool!”-, JoJo made hers as colorful as possible- “Look at all the pretty colors!”-, and Alaina did little abstract designs in hers- “It’s a sunflower with a pink scarf, see?”

Everyone laughed and oohed and aahed over the other’s designs, occasionally saying how they looked too good to eat. They got some icing on themselves, but nothing a quick clean-up couldn’t fix. 

After the finished, they just sat back and admired all the colorful cookies. Zig eventually said, “This is what families about, huh? Just hanging out, having fun, and being together.”

“You got it broseph,” Fresh said, smiling. “This is the best yo.”

Eventually they had to get up and clean everything up again, and by then the kids were yawning (and trying to hide it). The parents ushered them to their rooms, the kids halfheartedly protesting. They tucked the kids in, then quietly crept away.

“They’re good kids,” Alaina said quietly, watching them through a crack in the door.

“Well ‘f course they are, they’re ours,” Fresh replied. “’Sides. The amazing one’s you,” he said, pulling Alaina back into another hug.

Alaina hummed a little, and said, “You’re amazing too, hubby. We’e pretty lucky,” she said.

Fresh nodded, and said, “Totally. Now come on- it’s time to go to sleep.” He took Alaina’s hand, and they walked back to their room. One rad day had ended, and there would be many more to come.

Fresh by @loverofpiggies 

Freshuary by @feth

(Kid!)Zigzag, Jojo, and herself by @alainaprana

[haas14haas-blog]

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