#festive cheese

[dreamdaddydutch]

Kissing you

Howdy all! I wanted to write something very cheesy and festive, so here’s a little fic about confessing feelings to Javier and ending up kissing under the mistletoe (after a practise kiss in private). It’s fluffy, it’s short...it hopefully captures some of the magic of the holiday season. 

Pairing: Javier x gn! reader   Word Count: 2,460. Warnings: Descriptions of smoking and a brief reference to sex, mostly just kissing and pure fluff.

It was five days until Christmas eve and you were sat quietly by the camp fire listening to the stories other told. You rubbed your hands together to try and generate some warmth, there was frost on the ground and you were sure snow would arrive soon. In truth you longed for someone to cosy up to at night, to share warmth…more than warmth with. As you glanced across the other side of the fire you stared somewhat dreamily of the person you dreamt of.

A moment later the spell was broken by Charles who came up to you, “Hey I need your help with something.”

Reluctantly you got up, a final glance at Javier hoping he’d meet your gaze and finding disappointment when he didn’t. You sighed so loudly that Javier heard but when he looked up at you you were already making your way over to Charles, leaving him to continue polishing his gun.

“What’s up,” you asked as you leant against the tree Charles was stood beside.

“Just needed some help lifting these,” Charles pointed at the sacks on the floor.

You furrowed your brows, confused you were honest with him, “Okay…these sacks that you can easily carry two if not three at a time of. You need me to help you lift just one?”

Charles smiled innocently, “Sure, I’m not feeling myself today so could do with the help.”

You shrugged, Charles was never ill or not feeling himself and if he was, he was very good at hiding it.

As you bent down you became aware of how many buttons you’d undone on your shirt. It hadn’t been intentional, rather you’d been sat opposite Javier, aware of just how close he was and where his eye line would be and then you’d been playing with the buttons lost in a daydream, a trance…thinking about being somewhere else with him. And then oops, it was too low. You looked up to see Charles just staring. You felt your cheeks flush hot red as you stood up, dropping the sack back to the floor and quickly did the buttons back up.

When you reached down to help him with the sack again you spoke, “Not a word.”

Charles chuckled and the two of you started to walk in the opposite direction of where the sacks were usually taken, “Charles what are we doing?”

“Just over here, need a second reserve.”

“A second reserve,” you repeated almost inaudibly.

When you put the sack down you were away from the camp and as far as you could see there was no one in ear shot, “So you going to tell me who those undone buttons were for?” He asked.

You knew it, Charles didn’t need any help at all he just wanted to get you away from others for a gossip in a way that was completely out of character for him. The two of you had been close since you’d joined the gang, forming a very close friendship with one another.  Charles was one of the very few people you could be honest with and yet this felt too difficult.  

“No one,” you lied.

“Right,” Charles paused, “I don’t believe you.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I care about you.”

You sighed, “It doesn’t matter he doesn’t like me back anyway; he never looks at me like how I look at him.”

Charles placed a hand on your shoulder, “Thing is, you look at him a certain way when he isn’t looking at you. So how does he know you’re looking at him? How do you know he isn’t giving you the love eyes when you’re not looking?”

“The love eyes,” you laughed. “Wait, do you know who I’m talking about.”

Charles let go of your chin, “You’re sweet on Mr Escuella, right?”

You face fell, “Oh…is it that obvious.”

“I wish I could lie, but yes. I know, Arthur knows, Mary-Beth knows…pretty sure a few of the others have an inkling too. So please, don’t let Javier be the last to know.”

You looked at the floor, inhaled sharply and then looked back at Charles, “So when do I tell him?” Before Charles had a chance to answer you added, “How do I tell him?”

“Under the mistletoe?”

You pouted, arms crossed across your chest, “Charles I’m serious, this isn’t one of Mary-Beth’s romance novels.”

Just then you saw Charles grin as he looked over your shoulder, “Well how about now then,” he said quietly so only you could hear.

He nodded, “Javier.”

You spun round to see Javier walking up behind you, Charles leaving you in the lurch.

“Hey, how’s it going?” He asked.

You gulped as you watched Charles walk away, he turned to look back round at you and winked. You felt heat flush up your neck and into your cheeks. Javier’s face came back into focus as he leant across back into your line of vision, “Ay you there?”

You shook your head, “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry Javier, I’ve got to go…” You started to walk away only to find Javier run after you. Why were you walking away?

“Did I say something?” Javier asked, sounding confused.

You shook your head as you continued to walk, no idea of where you were going.

“No sorry, it’s just it’s really hot isn’t it?” You said, realising just how ridiculous this sounded considering how cold it was.                    

“Will you stop for a moment,” Javier pleaded.

You couldn’t ignore him, so against your better judgement you stopped, slipping slightly on some ice underfoot. Javier reached for you, stopping you from falling but once you’d regained balance he let go. You turned to face him, wondering what to say or whether he’d save you the embarrassment and speak first.

“You’ve been acting different recently, like you’re trying to avoid me, are you?”

“No Javier, I’m not…I wouldn’t.” Javier pulled his cigarette case from his jeans, “Okay, good, I’d rather know if I’d done something you know?”

He offered you a smoke which you took gladly. Taking one for himself he continued, “So you goin’ to tell me what’s happening?”

He lit his smoke and you watched transfixed as he lifted it to his lips, those lips you longed to kiss, longed to taste. You watched as he inhaled, closing his eyes for a second of ecstasy, the glow at the end of the cigarette intensifying and making you feel warm inside.

His question still hung in the air and you were about to answer when he opened his eyes and motioned for you to light your smoke on his. As you leant forward and pushed the end against his you inhaled sharply staring into his eyes. Even when yours was lit you lingered just a little longer, you could smell him, the smell of gun oil and smoke, of his cologne woody, heavy and warm. After both inhaling and staring for a little too long, Javier followed up on his previous question.

“Perhaps if you can’t tell me what’s happening, you could enlighten me and let me know why you were so intrigued in me polishing my gun this earlier, what caused your eyes to linger for so long?” You coughed and watched the way a small but wicked smile appeared on his face.  

Fuck. It was rare the slightly cocky side of Javier came out, he had a charm about him that meant you could never be mad, he wore it well.

You felt saliva gather in your mouth, though you felt as if you were growing numb…it was hard to speak. Words you might choke on if you tried to set the truth free.

So you did the only thing you could think of, after dropping the cigarette to the ground and extinguishing it in the ice you raised your hands to your face, covering your eyes to shield the shame and let out a single word, “Fuck.”

Javier didn’t move, he watched as you crouched down onto the floor, head in hands and hoping the ground would swallow you up. Then he knelt beside you and reached out, you flinched from his touch.

“You wanna know what I want for Christmas?” He asked, reaching out for you again, resting a hand on your thigh. This time you didn’t pull away.

You laughed into your hands though it came out more of a sob, “Really Javier? Can you just leave me to wallow in my embarrassment, I was staring at you because I like you,” as you said those words it felt like a weight was lifted. Regardless of how it went maybe it was best to be honest, as long as you didn’t have to watch his expression as you spoke.

Javier didn’t say a word as you continued, “I really like you Javier, you’re perfect to me. You’re hot, you’re kind and when you play guitar it just melts me…” You could hear your heartbeat violently against your chest, your blood rushing in your ears, the silence completely overwhelming.

Javier’s grip tightened, his other hand went to your hands and gently pulled them away from your face, revealing a few tears. You felt like a scared mouse, hunter about to pounce on you. But all you found in Javier’s eyes was warmth and understanding. From kneeling down for a while you felt your legs go weak, sensing you were uncomfortable Javier pulled you to your feet and you stumbled forward into his arms.

He wrapped himself round you, your head against his chest and realised his heart was beating just as fast as yours.

“You told me what was on your mind,” he spoke, “Don’t you at least want to know what I wanted for Christmas.”

You stepped back and looked up at him, “Sure.”

One hand reached for your cheek and stroked your skin, the other tilted your chin upwards, holding you so gently, a tenderness never shown to you before. “My Christmas wish was to kiss you under the mistletoe.”

You stayed silent, not quite believing what you were hearing. So he liked you too, you stayed frozen, afraid it was a joke. “You want to make my wish come true?” Javier reached for your hand.

“Yes,” Your reply was breathy and barely audible, “But…Can we…here first? Not in front of them.”

Javier nodded, “Are you ready?” He asked as he brushed some hair from your face.

You found yourself laughing, “We’re building it up too much, I can’t.”

“Is the moment gone?”

“A little,” you said sheepishly, “But…”

You didn’t need to say anything else, Javier pulled you back into his arms and dove in for your first kiss.

The tenderness was something you’d dreamt of, the taste of his lips, the way they would feel against your own. The way he moaned softly into your mouth and whispered your name when you broke to take a breath. The way his fingers massaged your scalp, graced your neck with fingertips. His tongue slipping between your lips, eliciting a small moan from you.

One of your hands sat on his sharp hip, the other graced his cheek, afraid to touch his scar without permission so instead your hand went back to brush his silky hair behind his ear, your hand resting on the side of his head so your fingertips could bathe in all parts of him.

The thoughts rushing through your head were so mixed, so fast it was hard to focus on one feeling. So in the end you decided it was best not to think at all, instead revelling in his taste, his touch…the way your tongues danced, the way he held you at long last.  

When Javier broke the kiss he kept his face close to yours, nose pressed to you and both of you closed your eyes, bending forward so your foreheads touched.

When you opened your eyes Javier’s were still closed, a small smile played on your lips as you saw just how content and at peace he was. Who knew that a man who could be so deadly with a knife, deadly with his hands…such a famous assassin, could be so gentle and loving?

Javier’s eyes opened and he returned the smile, “So, how was it?”

“Better than perfect,” you said dreamily. Just then you felt something cold on your cheek, you both looked up to see snow falling from the sky, “At last, I thought it would never come.”

“The snow or the kiss?” He asked.

You chuckled, “Both.”

Javier hummed in reply and placed another quick kiss to your lips, you couldn’t help but hold him for a few seconds to extend the kiss, the taste of smoke and peaches lingering on your lips afterwards.

*******************************************************************************

Later that evening Javier was sat playing guitar, singing Silent Night as his fingers softly strummed the strings. You were always transfixed by his playing but tonight even more so, you no longer had the need to dream of what it would be like to kiss him, you knew and now you wondered what other things his fingers and tongue were capable of.

Just as you were about to get carried away with your thoughts the singing stopped, a round of applause and cheering broke out. Charles clapped you on the back and you smiled back at him. The snow was still falling, a soft blanket glittering around you from the light of the fire, Jack was throwing snowballs at Arthur. Normally you’d have joined in, but now there was somewhere else you needed to be.

Javier got up from his seat, behaving nonchalantly as he walked in the direction of the mistletoe, making eye contact with you as he went. Taking his cue you stood and followed him, as he reached the mistletoe he spun and then pulled you swiftly into his arms, kissing you deeply, his lips moving in tandem with yours, savouring every part of you. As before one of his hands was in your hair, the other wrapped round your waist so you were stood flush to one another. Both of your arms wrapped round his waist, holding him as close as you could.

You heard the shock coming from several members of camp, Micah sounding annoyed, Karen shouting, “Yeah, get it!”

You laughed as you kissed him and Javier laughed back, pressing his nose against yours and nuzzling side to side, “I could kiss you for hours.”

“We don’t have anywhere to be do we?”

You shook your head, “Good, then we’ve got hours to kiss.”

You placed your hands on either side of Javier’s face, his cheeks surprisingly soft and when you went to trace his scars he didn’t pull away, instead he pressed another soft and swift kiss to your lips, “Merry Christmas querida/querido.”

[fatty-food]

Cheesy Pastry Christmas Tree (via Instagram)

[cookiekitten91]

RE8 human au, featuring Donna and Moreau getting arrested for stealing cheese.

Also, Alcina goes to the jail but she only bails Donna out.

[vladdyissues]

Does Vlad love cheese enough to risk life and limb competing in the Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling Festival? There's a 9lb wheel of Gloucester cheese up for grabs!

On one hand, I think Vlad would dismiss such activities as "silly and common; completely lacking in class".

On the other hand, I think the prospect of winning a giant cheese and robbing others of that joy would motivate him enough to put on a disguise—probably a nice sun dress—and cheat his way to cheesy victory 🧀

[apollos-boyfriend]

i want to become a popular streamer but not because i want to build a community or make a name for myself or even for attention. i want to become a popular streamer because i think it’d be fucking hilarious if i was just paid to lie to people. every subgoal unlocks a new piece of my personal history that is wildly inaccurate, impossible, or just straight-up contradictory to past reveals. i hold weekly qnas and absolutely everything out of my mouth is total bullshit. i refuse to ever break character. my streaming career ends with an hour-long reading of an “apology letter” that explains i was nothing but a harvard experiment and to forward any and all complaints towards HR

[cosmicsponge2004]

MERRY DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS!!!

[rad-roche]

first you concoct a small woman. and then. i cannot stress this enough. and then you give her Problems

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

honestly. half the fun of fantasy aus for me is the Food Descriptions

[beltsourcookie]

the faerie kingdom episode would have been better if they added worms and moles as their npcs and not a bunch of monotone grayscale silver aesthetic

in fact, the forest/woods aesthetic isnt the problem because compared to actual cottagecore faerie aesthetic, the faerie kingdom is too incredibly 'pristine' and feels like youre in in the utensil section of the cooking aisle

devsis creating the faerie kingdom:

what the faerie kingdom should have taken inspiration from:

cookies that have heavy designs from wild berries and flowers would have been more suitable because it can build a more creative and colourful world instead and there would be endless possibilities for outfits

[travelling-my-little-pony]

Cheese Sandwich knows what he wil be doing this weekend!

In Tavistock, in Devon, England.

[buffetlicious]

We used to purchase mooncakes from Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel many moons ago until we switched over to Raffles Hotel due to their Champagne Truffle Snow-Skin Mooncake. With the latest price increase this year and low discounted offer, our pocket just couldn’t take the hit anymore.  We went back to Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant (万豪轩中餐厅) from the former hotel as they are offering a bigger discount! Immediately went online to order two boxes of Assorted Snowskin Mooncakes (萬豪精致冰皮月饼). Original price is S$88 less 40% corporate discount so we paid S$52.80.

On the day of collection. I was dismayed to find out that the so called Mini Mooncakes (迷你月饼) are real dainty in size that one can pop the whole piece into the mouth! While the packaging was beautifully designed and accompanied with a stylish cooler bag, the boxes containing the mooncakes only had loose plastic cover so it doesn’t keep the contents airtight. Coupled with the tiny size of the mooncakes, the glutinous rice skin was dried out and hard. :(

Yuzu Honey with Peach Passionfruit Praline (蜂蜜柚子蜜桃百香果奶心冰皮月饼) – A fruity and refreshing treat made with fresh Yuzu and pure honey. Featuring a medley of zesty yuzu, passionfruit and peach – the end result is a harmonious symphony of flavours when you bite into the praline.

Blueberry with Maple Cream Cheese Praline (蓝莓枫糖奶油芝士奶心冰皮月饼) – A favourite of my sis with visually stunning with eye-catching hues of blue, this new creation offers a burst of blueberry goodness coupled with a luscious maple cream cheese centre; unveiling a dense and chewy bite.

Irish Cream Latte with Baileys Praline (爱尔兰奶油拿铁百利甜酒奶心冰皮月饼) – Attention all connoisseurs of Baileys! Get boozy with this treat – sweet, milky and notes of vanilla from the Baileys praline paired with velvety smooth latte. Every mouth pack a distinctive taste, making this is my favourite of the four flavours.

White Lotus Seed Paste with Salted Egg Praline (白莲蓉咸蛋奶心冰皮月饼) – Here’s a modern spin to a beloved classic. Imagine sweet and smooth White Lotus Seed Paste accompanied with rich creamy salted egg praline – bringing out the perfect balance of sweet and savoury flavours. This is the closest match to the traditional baked mooncake with salt egg yolk but with a chewy glutinous rice skin.

PS - Kudos to the team at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel for their swift action in getting in touch with my sis after she feedbacked to them on the dry and hard snowskin mooncakes. The hotel replaced our two boxes of mooncakes and I am glad to say that the snowskin got back it soft chewy texture.

Selected images from Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant.

[fatty-food]

Pull apart Christmas tree (via Instagram)

[beingatoaster]

the doctor: You may have some menstrual irregularities on this steroid.

my body: Hey, it's been four days since your last period, and we're sure you're starting to miss the cramping and insomnia and anxiety and most of all, of course, the blood. So we're excited to announce the release of Period 2.0! It has less blood, but just to make up for it, we're packing in extra of all those other delightful symptoms, just for you. :D

[thebluestargal]

Day 4 of #Creamtober2023 , Cream and Cheese in their Tokyo 2020 Olympic games outfits! I've been calling it a kimono for years, when it's clearly a yukata lol. I feel so uncultured! This took forever cause I struggled to get the lighting right, but it's still on time, and I love how it turned out! Cream should be playable in a future Mario & Sonic Olympic game, but this cute outfit was totally worth the wait ~ 💙⭐️

Music is the Town Overworld from Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Olympic Games!

[johnthestitcher]

Stuffed squid for Christmas Eve. I make this every year! The squids are stuffed with a mixture of ground squids, the tentacles, shrimp, spinach, bread crumbs, egg, and spices. It is much easier to use a pastry bag to fill the bodies than using a spoon. They are braised for 30 minutes in tomato sauce. Served over linguine with freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese. Always delicious! Recipe by Chef Anne Burrell. I used some leftover stuffing to make squid puffs with croissant dough.