#he directed princess bride btw so make of that what you will

[harmcityherald]

I did, of course, reach my post limit so it affords me time to write something that's been on my mind. Twitter. lets take a minute and step back to see a bigger picture, if you will. A social media website that was a victim of a hostile takeover by a billionaire capitalist to clear out antifascist or left leaning ideologists like myself and let me tell you I jumped ship pretty quickly. Now I understand you may be weary of hearing about old muskbucket and the twitter titanic but really, hear me out. He did a hostile takeover to vacillate his right wing cronies. we all know it, I say it out loud. Under the guise of "free speech" (which is a phrase many fascists use but rarely afford to others)

then a few weeks later and old trumpidump comes out saying his main platform is gonna be trans rights. which then in florida the Guantánamo kid starts banning books and going after trans rights starting with the young because that's how they did abortions. now....if a billionaire can be coaxed/forced (because I think he was actually) to buy a whole damn website just to burn it down OR make it the bastion of the far right voice, then who is to say they won't be coming for us here at tumblr? we fucking stand for everything they are against. I could go through a list of what I mean but you have to see what I mean. scroll thru your dash and imagine desantas reading it. ok. keep up now. because pretty soon they gonna put the choke hold on us. right now, the supreme court, packed with fucking nazis, is gonna decide if a social media site can be sued for what you do and say on it.

when they came for facebook I didn't care cause it sucks.

when they came for twitter I didn't care because I wasn't part of that....

but then they came for tumblr.....

sound familiar? it fucking should.

If they are going to ban the fucking velveteen rabbit what makes you think they would allow their kids to kick about on the most pro-everything left leaning website to ever exist in these "united states" hmm? lets even go beyond that and include all the western leaning countries. I wholeheartedly recommend every minor to not allow their parents, teachers, clergy, or anybody else with no shoelaces know they have a tumblr. I know that's harsh as shit, innit. well its the same clandestine war they are waging against you. Im saying it now, while I can. While im still allowed to say it.

bla blah you're paranoid, you see that shit everywhere.

that's because it IS everywhere. I would tell you to wake the fuck up but christ, don't call nobody woke. that'll start a fight in the dollar store line any day.

so to cut my rant short.....lets all keep our eyes on the ball. Don't let it consume you as the dreaded election approaches, I will be guarding my own mental health and peace paramount because Im old and close to death. they love that, I can't vote against them then. But you youngins sure can AND you have the power to drive this ship now and I for one would be tickled pink to die on trans island. can you tell Im from the 70s? lol. their most vilified citizen, I like to think. nixons nemesis. reagans nightmare. but all bullshit aside, think about it. think about what we have here, a free exchange of ideas and likes. the fucking freedom to read marx, to each other if we so desire. to know real history. and maybe just maybe to vote every fucking billionaire off the planet. Im telling you to look out because they don't like that. not one little bit.

all I can think is somehow tumblr has once again miraculously flown under the radar. how? I dunno. I bet there's a thousand "nazi computers" scraping the web for everything we freely talk about. We must be on the radar....but why are no V2 rockets coming? they holding a card to their chest? waiting for the right time? wait till the Guantánamo kid finds out about us. They want to torch and shoot up synagogues, drag shows and black churches, why the hell would they allow this website to be near their kids? why not?

pssssst. hey kids......looks left and right....Im a socialist. pro lgbtq pro feminism and Im not a fucking racist. and I would die for my principals and for your existence.

thats why gotdammit.

[midgardianweasley]

Your grace! Bless us with a Natasha x reader where the team is invited to a wedding by a close friend of Tony’s. Then when the bridal bouquet is thrown, the bride throws it too hard where reader accidentally catches it and the team is just going “Oooooh!” And reader is like “I’m not even in a relationship!” But the team know in secret that reader and Natasha have feelings for each other but are too dumb to know. Just funniness and fluff! 🥰😍 (Your writing is brilliant btw!)

I loved this request!! I hope i did it justice <3

it’s a wedding thing

Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

^idk Nat, you tell me^

Summary: When the Avengers get invited to a close friend of Tony's wedding, what hidden feelings will surface? What relationships will bloom? Who will be the next bride?

Warnings: none!

word count: 4.1k

Message/ask if you want to be added to the taglist!

requests are open loves

“Alright gang, this one’s for all of us, we all listening?”

A cluster of ‘yes’ ‘go on’ ‘come on Tony’ filled the room, everyone eager to hear what the fancy envelope held inside. It was amusing to watch Tony take advantage of everyone’s excitement, slowly peeling the envelope, gasping when he pulled the letter out of the casing slightly, not letting anyone else see what was written on it.

You, Natasha and Wanda all seemed to share a look of amusement at the dramatics and the almost visible frustration coming off of everyone. It was like watching children try to wait patiently for sweets in a shop, almost completely off of their seats. It wasn’t until Tony noticed that Pepper was giving him a warning look, that he, begrudgingly, hurried up and announced what was written on the letter.

“Wow. Caleb’s getting married.” He spoke, eyebrows raised in surprise. “And he’s invited the team.”

“Well, I’m not going.” A voice spoke from the corner of the room, clearly un-amused by what was currently going on.

“Luckily for you, I don’t see ‘reindeer games’ anywhere on the invitation. So you’re off the hook.” He replied with a tight lipped smile, Thor had been visiting recently to see Jane and pay the avengers a visit and wanted to bring Loki to meet her.

‘A pleasant trip’ Thor said.

‘A living hell’ Tony corrected.

It got a laugh out of the team though. Nat and I especially. We’d spent the last couple of nights in each other’s bedrooms, making a list about our favourite moments through the day where Tony and Loki clashed, making stupid insults towards the other. I think it’s safe to say that we went through multiple bags of popcorn over the nights, though you were both thankful it was there, it was the only thing muffling the laughter, if it hadn't, you’re almost certain the entire compound would have woken up at the sound of our laughter.

You nudged Natasha’s side gently, the bicker between the two men still continuing.

“Hey, Nat.” She turned and tilted her head questioningly.

“So we know how a physical fight between those two worked out. But, if they had to compete in a rap battle, who do you think would win?”

Her face immediately lit up, eyes sparkling which only enhanced their beauty, you could almost feel the cogs turning in her head, trying to go through every logical option.

“Well. Loki seems pretty well spoken, so vocabulary wise, I think he’d be strong. But Tony is sarcastic which can help with quick quips. But then again, Loki-”

“Hey lovebirds, Romanoff, Y/L/N” Tony clicked his fingers, earning himself a pair of eyerolls at the term he’d used. “Anything you wanna share with the team, or can we move on?”

“Actually-”

“Overridden. Moving on.”

You looked towards Natasha, snickering slightly at how blunt he’s being, Loki having found his way under his skin again. A part of you felt bad for the man, but that feeling is soon replaced by amusement. It was obvious Nat felt the same way, her sharing the same expression as you, although, you could hide yours much better. She had to physically put her hand over her mouth in the hopes the man wouldn’t notice her.

“So, the wedding is next week, a little short notice but when do we ever have enough notice, who’s in?”

Looking around the room, there were a handful of nods, each looking to see who else was going to go. You looked towards Nat again to see if she was planning on attending, only to find her already staring at you.

“So Y/L/N, up for a wedding?”

“It would be a nice change of pace. Are you going?”

“Only if you are” You blushed slightly at the response.

“Better get your nicest dress on Romanoff.” You winked, her turn to blush and focus back on what the rest of the group was saying.

“It’s probably easy if I list couples first on the RSVP and then the singles.” Tony took a glance around the table, mentally taking note of those who had shown signs of agreement. “So there’ll be Wanda and Vision, Legolas and his wife, Romanoff and Y/L/N, Thor and Jane-” You felt your face morph into one of confusion.

“Woah woah, Tony, back up, what did you say?”

“Thor and Jane, they’re-”

“Before that.”

“I’ve said this before Y/N, Legolas isn’t actually real. I meant Clint.”

“Very funny.” He held a proud smirk. “Romanoff and I aren’t a couple”

You wish.

“That’s not what Rogers said when he saw you both cuddling up on the sofa last night.” Before you had a chance to look in Steve’s direction, you could practically feel the daggers Nat was sending him, making his face cringe slightly and his back straighten.

“That’s what Rogers said, is it?” She spoke, tilting her head in question. You knew she was partly joking, but you’d still decided to intervene before anyone lost any limbs.

“My head fell onto her shoulder when I dozed off during our movie. It wasn’t ‘cuddling’ , thank you very much.” You laughed, internally wishing that Steve’s words were true.

“See? So cut it out.” Steve put his hands up in surrender, despite having a cheeky grin on his face.

“Okay okay. Fine!” The billionaire said, writing something on the envelope. “I’ll just put ‘couple pending’” He muttered

“Stark!”

__________________________

You and the girls had just come back from dress shopping, all three of you had spent the whole day in and out of different shops, hours in dressing rooms and your voices were almost completely gone with how often you were telling each other, ‘that looks stunning’ ‘that’s the one!’ and the most common one by the end of the trip; ‘please just pick a dress so we can go home and nap’. That one was from our very own black widow, her patience wore a little thin after 8 hours of staring at dresses.

You had gone through all the colours and styles while you were out, ranging from classy jumpsuits to figure hugging dresses that felt like a second skin. Wanda and Natasha had chosen their dresses and were eager to find you one, and what a mission that was.

“I promise you, we’re not going home until we find this dress, okay?”

“Wanda’s right. We’ll stay out until they all shut if we have to. But, let’s make that a last resort.” Natasha eyed you both warily.

You’d been walking around for hours now. Each dress you tried on had potential, but there was always something that didn’t sit right with you. It was either too baggy, too tight, the cut wasn’t appealing, the length wasn’t ideal, it was starting to feel hopeless. You’d even suggested just going in your pyjamas, but Wanda’s death glare had made it clear that wasn’t an option.

You and Natasha were both dragging your feet, Wanda still having a slight spring in her step as you walked into the final shop and picking up a couple of dresses before then going into the dressing room to try them on.

The first two were okay, but you weren’t a fan. Then there was the third one. The third one was a gorgeous Y/F/C dress that fell just past your knees, it had thin straps and the skirt was simple and loose so that when you spun around in it, you felt like a princess. You looked in the mirror and you adored the reflection, you still wanted the others opinions though, though you didn’t doubt that they’d feel the same way.

Pulling the curtain back and gaining their attention from where they were looking elsewhere, you smiled when you saw their reaction, more specifically, Natasha’s. Wanda was complimentary, walking up and feeling the fabric, gushing about how beautiful you looked, but you barely heard it, too focused on the redhead sitting in front of you, her eyes glazed over and her jaw almost on the floor, completely zoned out on you.

“This dress is it, Y/N, you have to get it! Nat? What do you think?” Her head shook, bringing herself back to reality and briefly meeting your eyes, only to quickly dart between You, Wanda and your dress in an attempt to compose herself.

“Yeah, I mean, wow, you look- wow.” Her hands flailed in your direction. You’d knocked the assassin speechless. Wanda rolled her eyes playfully at the interaction. She’d known about you and Nat’s feelings for each other for a month or two now, silently cursing the both of you when there was an opportunity to confess, yet never did. It was obvious to the rest of the team, why were neither of you picking up on it?

Keeping quiet, she ushered you back into the changing room, much to Natasha’s relief, both because she wanted to head back to the compound and she wasn’t sure how much longer she would’ve lasted seeing you standing there looking literally flawless. She always thought you looked amazing, but there was something about the way you looked in front of her just then that made her brain feel like a haze.

It was pretty safe to say,

You bought the dress.

Collapsing on your bed, dropping your bags to the side and letting out a loud sigh, you heard your door shut and someone fall into the chair by the window. You already knew who it was.

“I’m exhausted.” The woman groaned, rubbing her hands up and down her face to attempt to physically remove the tiredness from her body.

“Sorry for dragging you around for so long, I just-”

“Hey, no, don’t apologise for that. We all said we’d find the perfect dress, and it was worth the wait.” Heat rose to your cheeks at her words.

“You really think I looked good?”

Natasha could sense your underlying tone of doubt, unsure as to why you would doubt her opinion, she’d always been honest with you. Nonetheless, she heaved herself out of her seat and made her way to the end of the bed, kneeling down so that your now sat up figure could look down into her eyes, with her hands on each side of your face to focus you on her and her alone.

“I wouldn’t lie to you, okay? You looked incredible and I'm sure you’ll look even better at this wedding on Saturday, if that’s even possible.” You let out a small chuckle at her words as a smile made its way onto her face.

“You’ll be the prettiest one there.”

“Better not tell the Bride you said that, Nat.” She laughed, looking down for only a few seconds before looking at you again.

“We’ll make that our secret.” You nodded in silent agreement, grateful that she’d made you feel so reassured.

“Thank you, Tasha.”

“You’re more than welcome, sweetheart.” She replied.

You were so lost in her words, you hadn’t realised how close her face had gotten to yours, and how her eyes swapped between your eyes and your lips. You didn’t realise how she subconsciously had kept edging towards you, hands trembling a little with every inch closer she gets.

She wanted to kiss you. Every nerve in her body was almost electrified with the temptation to just move her lips over yours and become one. Her pulse raced, almost to prepare her for doing so. Which is why she wanted to kick herself with a pair of her highest heels when she uttered her next words.

“We should get some sleep.”

You broke out of your trance, jumping backwards slightly when noticing limited space between you both. You awkwardly coughed as she stood, heading back over to her chair to grab her bag and return to her room.

“Yeah, yeah of course. Big today, rest is probably a good idea.” You both nodded, she was already one foot out of the door when she gave you a small ‘goodnight’ and left, not waiting to hear you say it back.

Just like you hadn’t realised her actions early, you were oblivious to her hitting her head off of the wall in the corridor just outside of your room, wondering why she’d backed away. Where was Thor’s hammer when you needed to knock some sense into yourself? She thought before dragging herself back to her room where she would fall asleep, unable to get you out of her head.

_________________________

“Right! Headcount before we go in! And I want us all on our best behaviour Avengers, this is a wedding” Steve had completely lost you after ‘Headcount’. Not only are most of you fully grown adults, sorry Peter, but he seems to be oblivious to the fact that some of you were wearing high heels, and patience in high heels had an expiry date.

“Y’know, if he doesn’t let us in soon, I’m not afraid to threaten him with his own shield.” You heard a whisper just behind your ear, smirking at the comment.

“I’ll join you.” You answered, Bruce and Clint sharing a knowing look from afar when watching the two of you have your own quiet conversation, though short lived when they saw Natasha’s head move in their direction, their gaze coming to a halt so as to avoid any conflict with their teammate.

You guys could try to hide it all you want, but your entire team knows better than that, they just had to wait it out until you both finally admitted it to the other.

______________________

You and the Avenger’s were currently sitting at a guest table, now in the reception part of the evening. The ceremony was beautiful, the bride wore a crisp white ball gown with her makeup and hair done to perfection, the groom looking like a prince in his black tux and a look full of adoration towards his wife to be painted on his face.

Their looks weren’t the best part of it though. The clothes and the accessories were lovely, of course. But all you could focus on was the love shared between them as they shared their vows telling the other how they believed they were each other's soulmate, and that they promised to always be the other’s rock. You’d found yourself with tears in your eyes, barely able to appreciate the sight with how blurry your vision was now. They finally fell when they said their ‘I do’s’, feeling only happiness for the newlyweds.

Although marriage hadn’t been something you always thought about, you’d hoped that you would meet your special someone and settle down, retire from the missions, the battles, the superhero lifestyle and just be with your soulmate for the rest of your days.

Despite not being a couple, whenever you thought of the person you wanted to spend the rest of your time with, there was only one person that came to mind. And she stood right in front of you throughout the ceremony, comforting a sobbing demi-god while he was also trying to explain to Vision why he was in floods of tears.

Music filled the room, upbeat, but calm enough for the couples on the dancefloor to sway gently to the beat, soft lights occasionally shining on them as they danced, the bride and groom being one of them. You smiled gently at the sight, feeling dreadfully single with all of the love in the room, but grateful that you could see so many people look so content and in love with their significant other.

An elbow could suddenly be felt in your side, pulling you from your thoughts to instead be met with gorgeous green eyes and a bold red smirk.

“Penny for your thoughts?” She leaned in, curiosity clouding her mind.

“Nothing much up there really.” You glanced back at the dance floor quickly. “I’m just happy to see everyone so happy.”

Natasha followed your direction of where you were looking, an idea soon popped into her head. She was going to ask you to dance.

Her mouth opened to speak, but as if it was done on purpose, a ‘screech’ echoed in the ballroom, catching everyone’s attention, including taking yours away from hers.

“We’re taking a break from dancing for a minute folks, It’s time for the bride to throw the bouquet!” He announced, soon followed by shrieks and the sound of feet padding on the wooden floor, women all gathering in a small bunch, huddled together as if their lives depended on it as the men all returned to their seats, shaking their heads at the commotion.

Not really wanting to take part, you turned back around again.

“Sorry Nat, what were you-”

“Y/N!” Your head fell as you were interrupted by a very excited Maximoff.

“Y/N! C’mon! We need to do the bouquet toss!” She started to pull you up, refusing to listen to any excuse you could possibly conjure up to avoid having to take part.

Giving the team a desperate look, hoping someone will help you escape, you’re instead met with encouraging and amused faces, including Natasha’s a clear indication that not a single person was going to help you. Traitor’s.

With a half serious eye roll, you quickly grabbed your glass of champagne and kicked off your heels, heading towards the group of screaming women basically crawling on top of one another when the bride was barely up on the ‘stage’ yet. You let Wanda wander off into the group but remained towards the back, sipping from your glass and sending the occasional sneaky glare towards your table.

“You guys ready?” The bride yelled, only to be met with more screams and a faint chorus of ‘yes’ heard among it as they all threw their hands higher. Wanda saw you were just stood there, and subtly used her powers to raise your hand, earning loud laughs and cheers from the Avengers, taking great joy in the scene unfolding in front of them.

“Okay! Three...Two..”

You kept your arm up, pretending to be enthusiastic about the toss, when you realistically didn’t really expect much from these kinds of traditions. What you definitely hadn’t expected, was for your figure to stumble backwards as you suddenly felt petals and stems in your palm, a faint feeling of silk brushing against your thumb as your fingers wrapped around the item.

You almost spat out your champagne, eyes widening in shock as you looked to see the arrangement of flowers in your grip, looking up to see women both disheartened and elated at your catch. How the hell had you managed that? You were literally the farthest person away, and on your own! You must’ve been set up. Okay, a bit of a stretch, but still!

“WOOO, Y/L/N IS GETTING MARRIED!”

“WHO’S THE LUCKY SOMEONE Y/N?”

“Y/N CAUGHT THE FLOWERS, Y/N CAUGHT THE FLOWERS.”

The bride noticeably laughed at your friend’s cheers, she hadn’t meant to throw it that far back, her arm just kinda went full force, but seeing the reaction it caused, she didn’t regret it. She didn’t even regret it when she saw the look of embarrassment on your face, as it was soon replaced with a contagious beam as you walked towards them again, a very proud Wanda in tow,

“Guys! Guys! I’m not even in a relationship! I highly doubt i’m the next woman in this room to get married.” You joked

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Sam laughed “Romanoff, you got an engagement ring handy?” He yelped as a peanut from the centre of the table was thrown at him, and of course with being a trained assassin, Nat had hit him right in the centre of his forehead, earning a dramatic noise of pain to leave his mouth.

These guys will be the death of you.

__________________

After some teasing, the room had filled once again with happy couples dancing, now including some you were very familiar with, one being a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist and his CEO wife, and another being an Asgardian with his Midgardian girlfriend, both gently moving side to side in time with the music.

Letting out a content sigh, you were met once again with the flowers, however, this time, they weren’t on the table, but were held by a gorgeous woman in a flawless navy dress.

“So, I know we aren’t a couple, but, would the future bride like to dance?” She asked, you let out a content sigh, pretending to think it over for a minute.

“Y’know what, I would, thank you for your kind offer.” You took the hand she’d held out for you and led you to the dance floor. While her hands went to your waist, gently tugging you closer, your arms went around her neck, hands interlocking behind her as you, like the others you’d admired all even, swayed.

You’re unsure when it happened, much like a time before, but your head had made its way onto your dance partner's shoulder, your body following suit as it left no room between the two of you, though you weren’t complaining. Neither was the fellow Avenger.

It was peaceful for a period of time, the only sound being the slow music and a quiet chatter of people across the floor. It wasn’t long before you heard the red head above you whisper in your ear once again.

“You really do look amazing tonight, Y/N.” You raised your head so it was directly opposite hers, sending her an appreciative gaze.

“That future fiance of yours is lucky.” She winked.

“Hilarious” You scoffed, fully aware of her humorous tone.

“I know, sometimes I amaze even myself with my jokes.”

“Well, it really is funny, because I honestly don’t see myself getting married anytime soon.” Nat’s eyebrows raised in what could almost be described as confusion.

“And why is that? Do you not want to get married?” Her hands started grazing up and down your waist, like she was comforting you, but really she was bracing herself for what was incoming.

“No, no it’s not that. I just..”

“Just?”

“I don’t think the person i’m interested in, is necessarily interested in me.” Her heart dropped. So you did have someone of interest. She pushed the sinking feeling to the side quickly so that she could respond.

“Right, and why is that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen them make a move. I thought it’d be obvious. I think it has been to some others.” Your eyes wandered, lingering for longer than what was probably appropriate, on Natasha’s plump lips, wondering if you’d ever get to experience what it’d be like to feel them on yours.

This time, Natasha didn’t miss it. She would’ve blamed it on alcohol, saying that she must’ve just imagined it, but she had only consumed a few drops all evening, being too entranced by you didn’t leave much room for hydration. She hadn’t been more thankful, because it made a light bulb go off in her head as the pieces came together in her head of who you were referring to. She didn’t make a move the other night. It was obvious to the team. How could she have been so blind?

You didn’t see it coming, even when your chin was held in her grasp and you saw her face leaning in towards yours, the reality only hitting you when you finally felt what you’d been wanting to feel for the last months, right now. Your surroundings had just disappeared, the only thing that was running through your head, was the way her lips were moving against yours, and the way her lips tasted faintly of vanilla, and how she smelled like her floral perfume she wore for special occasions.

Whooping and cheering brought you both back from your bubble with just the two of you, your head falling just below her chin, her hand stroking your back as you could feel her chuckle bubbling where your head lay. Well, hid. Her arms had muffled their comments, but you had an idea of what they were, probably a mixture of ‘finally!’, ‘i knew it!’ and you’re almost certain you heard a ‘You owe me 20 bucks.’, that one making you shake your head.

Remaining in your hiding spot, that wasn’t very well hidden, but was keeping your bright red face to yourself, a pair of familiar lips lingered right beside your head.

“So, about that bouquet..”

You weren’t getting married, but by the end of the night, you definitely didn’t feel so dreadfully single as you had earlier.

taglist: @the-dumbass-that-throws-knives

[bemtevis]

This is really adorable in my opinion, dialog heavy btw and a douchebag misogynist is mentioned

"Hello." Andromeda said to the boy in the library.

He looked at her and smiled, "hi. Did you need something?"

"Are you from England?" She asked.

"Yes, my family's from London, but my parents are raising my sister and I at our grandparents house in Devon. Why do you ask?"

"Oh that wasn't what I needed from you, I just heard your accent and it sounded like my late father's. My question was when do you think you're going to be done with that book because I want to read it." The boy laughed, he covered his mouth with his left hand. "Did I say something amusing?"

"Yes. It's not every day a cute girl comes up to me and asks for a copy of Les Mis in the original French."

Andromeda blinked before realizing something, "are you flirting with me?"

He gasped dramatically, "what? How could someone like I flirt with such a beautiful princess?" He laughed again and handed her the book, "I've actually seen you watching me for the past two days, I finished the book on the first day but kept rereading it to see if you'd say hello, and you did."

She took the book from him gently and held it tightly to her chest. "My name is Andromeda, what is yours, watcher?"

"Sargittarius, but princesses like you can call me Sarg." He winked and a timer went off on his phone, "I have to go now. I hope we meet again fair maiden, maybe then we'll be old enough for me to ask for permission to date you."

"Grow 8 inches and I'll think about it!" She yelled at him as he left, getting shushed by the librarian right after.

~

"I can't believe you were such an idiot Sarg!" Andromeda screamed at her best friend as the healer starts patching him up. "Why on earth would you go and pick a fight with an upperclassmen!?"

"He-" Sarg grunted out as the healer cleaned his wounds. "You didn't hear what he was saying about you."

"So what? Are you going to pick a fight anytime some asshole says something bad about me? I don't-"

"Yes." He said immediately, "I will kill anyone who wants to do what he wanted to."

There was silence as the healer finished quickly healing the scrapes with magic, once he had gone, Andi asked, "what did say he wanted to do?"

"Forget it. I'm not going to taint your ears with his filthy words."

She reached over and cupped his face. "Tell me. I need to know."

"He said he was going to make you his bride, said pretty girls like you make the best sons." Sarg was glaring at the floor, practically growling at the memory.

Andromeda put her hand on his chin and forced him to look at her, "what you did today was stupid. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

She kissed his forehead before continuing, "you are my best friend, and I appreciate you trying to protect me from that, but I have been through things, I've heard and seen terrible things. I've done horrible things for good reasons. I don't need a bodyguard, I need my best friend."

"Is that all I am to you? A best friend?"

"Do you not want to be my friend?"

He paused for a moment before whispering, "I've grown more than 8 inches over the past 4 years." She suddenly remembered the day they first met. "You said you'd think about it if I grew 8 inches."

"If I tell you no, will you stop being my friend?"

"Of course not! I just, I can't help but fall more in love with you everyday I see you, and I want to know if there's even a slight possibility that we-" Andromeda cut him off with a kiss.

She whisper sang to the tune of 18 by One Direction, "I have loved you since we were 13." They both burst out into quiet giggles. The curfew bell rang after a few minutes of comfortable silence, letting them know that Andromeda needed to get back to her dorm before curfew set in. "I'll visit tomorrow, my knight in shining armor."

"Goodnight, my princess."

She may or may not miss curfew to kill the guy who hurt Sarg-

I'M SORRY TUMBLR DIDN'T NOTIFY ME OF THIS---

Ohhh I see a Brit in the distance 👁👁 ANDROMEDA AND SARGITTARIUS!!! ASTRONOMY NAMESSSS

‘she kissed his forehead’ you're feeding my touch-starved self and I THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Fanfic recommendations part two: Stories that take place during season 8 (canon divergence)

This is a smaller category than the previous one, but I promise that those stories are amazing. I’ve read and reread every single one of them, and I love them all with all of my heart. I hope this post is useful to you. Lots of love ❤️

(And yes, they are in alphabetical order. I wish I’ve done that with the post season 8 post too, but it’s up for a while now and it would be just too much work to edit the whole thing)

All These Things That I’ve Done by c00kiefic

Story based on the sexual tension between Jackie and Hyde during season 8.

This story is complete.

26k words, 9 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Don’t Stand so Close to Me by c00kiefic

A story when Eric came back way earlier than he planned to because his friends were being dumbasses and needed some direction. Gotta love Eric Forman.

This story is complete and it’s a super fun read, 10/10.

95k words, 24 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, background Red/Kitty

Fear and Loathing in Wisconsin by elphabacan

What if Jackie had decided enough was enough after the slumberparty with Donna and Sam and recruited Brooke to go to Vegas? And what if turnabout is fairplay when they run afoul a charming lounge singer named Jude?

Lots and lots of love for this story. It’s amazing and it’s complete.

42k words, 15 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Brooke/Kelso

Get Away From The Edge by BlueZeppelin

Jackie has been down for a while and it leads her to the Water Tower, alone and depressed. She wants to jump but will Hyde let her?

This story is kind of sad, but it’s still good. I just wish it gave us more details. Don’t read it if you’re triggered by depressive thoughts. It’s complete.

5k words, 3 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I Think it’s a Real Waste by Jaded

In which Fez and Donna are decent friends to Jackie, and Hyde knows he fucked up. There’s a lot of J/H, but the story also focuses on all the gang. This is a really good story, please read this.

This story is complete.

120k words, 13 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Brooke/Kelso, Fez/OC

Into the Woods by c00kiefic

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess with long raven hair and enchanting eyes, whose only desire was to be loved by the handsome, yet distant prince…

I absolutely adore this story, I really, really do. It reminds me of fairytales and it makes me want to cry at the same time. Also, both Hyde and Donna get an not so pleasant “wake up call”, that they rightfully deserved btw.

This story is complete.

41k words, 10 chapters.

Rated T

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde mainly, some background Eric/Donna angst

Pain Without Love by YouLivexYouDie

This story made me cry so hard. It has a happy ending though, so it was worth it.

Jackie Burkhart is about to experience something life changing. She will never be the same afterwards, nor will the people who love her.

This story is complete.

12k words, 3 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Confession by heavinly-vixen

After the torture Hyde had been inflicting upon Jackie since the arrival of his 'wife', Jackie just needs to talk to someone who's on her side.

This story is complete and it has a sequel! It’s called Reconciliation and it’s also complete.

12k words, 9 chapters.

Rated T. The sequel is rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Made Bare by MistyMountainHop

A heartbroken Hyde considers his relationship with Jackie kaput. Too bad Jackie sees it differently. She intends to get a proper resolution with him, but breaking through his hostility — and getting past his wife — may well prove impossible.

This story is complete.

50k words, 8 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Also available on AO3

Someone To Love by Bunny1

Hyde comes back from his 3 month bender to the unexpected.

This story is complete.

6k words, 7 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The Birds and The Bees by c00kiefic

Jackie’s pregnant and the father of her child is married to someone else. Amazing story, what I love the most about it is Jackie and Donna’s friendship.

This story is basically complete, the only thing missing is the epilogue.

22k words, 6 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

The Right Road Lost by zpplnchick

After a car accident, Hyde wakes up to a twisted version of reality he comes to find is actual hell and with no memory of how he got there, a hell that Jackie's been living in for the past few months. Set during Season 8, shortly after "Sweet Lady".

This story is complete.

43k words, 20 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The Road to Redemption by Hyde’s Bride

Jackie leaves the group because of Hyde and Donna's behavior. Eric comes back early to find how things have changed. When he forms a new bond with Jackie, will it force Hyde and Donna to fight for them? Or will they lose their loves forever?

This story is complete.

33k words, 12 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Jackie/Eric, Eric/Donna

When The Leeve Breaks by zeppelinandunicorns

What would've happened if Jackie and Donna left Point Place when Eric moved to Africa and Hyde married a stripper?

Donna and Jackie moved to Chicago once they realized that they've sacrificed themselves enough for the sake of their relationships with Eric and Hyde. Will it be too late to fix things once the boys realize what they're missing?

This story is a WIP.

So far, 125k words, 23 chapters. This story will be 54 chapters long so... yeah.

Trigger warning: Depression, past eating disorders, child abuse

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Zen Vision by Ultrawoman

A series of one-shots turning each and every episode of the horrendous Season 8 into a happy Jackie and Hyde love affair!

This story is complete.

37k words, 22 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

One-shots during season 8:

Being Here by UnfitWriter

Set in season 8, after Sam's departure. Jackie and Hyde can't stand each other, but when something horrible happens to Hyde, Jackie will try to console him in only way she knows how.

5k words.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Here Comes Goodbye by nannygirl

Sometimes you just have to say goodbye. Or not.

5k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Red/Kitty

Reconnecting by SerenitySparrow

During the party at WB's house in season 8. Jackie and Hyde hook up in a coat closet during the party.

3k words.

Rated M. Very M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Tipping Point by janus_74 (tanner)

How a different Perfect Man list could change the end of Season 8.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

So far, this is all.

I’ll repeat this at the end of every single post: speaking as someone who writes, it would be really cool if you guys decide to leave a review (or a comment, if the story is on AO3) in the stories you read, especially the unfinished ones. It really motivates the authors, and receiving a compliment is always a mood lifter. I’ve seen some authors updating stories after years because of nice reviews, so… yeah, this is just an idea.

If you think I left out a good story, feel free to reply to this post!

Next category: Season 7 fix-its.

[mmiraii]

'You should sleep'

Stray Kids Chan x feminine! dance major! reader

In which you run into a guy on campus.

Genre: fluff, strangers to lovers

Warnings: minor cursing

Authors Note: I'm really sorry that this is so late but when I wrote it I wasn't sure if I should post it or not.

It was a week before the christmas performances in college

The dance and music majors were collaborating in small groups and you had the luck to be with three of your friends from the dance major in a team

Minho, Hyunjin and Felix were your partners for the performance while the three most popular music major students were the producers of the song for your team

You only knew two of them personally, Changbin and Jisung. Chan seemed untouchable for you so you didn't ever bother to talk to him.

So the seven of you met after your classes to finally start working on your performance. "Chan already has some unused recorded songs to use for the performance. How about something more sexy since y/n is the only girl and we can make the theme of the performance into something more seductive you know? Like Minho and Hyunjin and Felix are gonna try to win her heart but she refuses in a sexy way.", Jisung spits out. "It's Christmas, not your puberty fantasies.", Minho smacks his head. "But I think it would be something cool to be honest. It could be something more refreshing to all the Christmas-themed performances. I heard from other groups that they're all gonna do similar Christmas performances so something like that would be cool. However, we should make the concept seem like a normal Christmas party and then the seduction starts, you know?", Jisung explained.

"Are you okay with something like that, y/n?", Chan asked you and you shrugged. "I mean it would be cool but I don't know what everyone else would think since so many parents are gonna be there and this is meant to bring everyone joy and not make everyone horny.", you explained and crossed your arms with a big sigh on your chest.

Hyunjins laugh filled the practice room and after a few more minutes of planning the theme of your performance, you all agreed to still make a performance about winning you heart, but not sexy

Chan and Changbin were searching for the perfect song on Chans laptop, while you and your fellow dancers started stretching, Jisung standing next to you. "Yoooo, should we rap on the stage in the background while you perform?!", he suddenly shouted. Chan looked up from the screen and looked over to him: "How about you shut up for once." A bottle flew across the room and bounced from the wall to your back, making you stumble forward while you were trying to do splits. "What the fuck.", you said and looked around only to see a shocked Chan and a happy Jisung. "I'm so sorry!", Chan shouted to you.

You only made a thumbs up and started stretching again. Suddenly, loud music filled the room. "Here! Guys! Listen to it! It's gonna fit perfectly!", Changbin said.

Everyone agreed and you started working on the dance with Minho, Hyunjin and Felix while the producing trio made their way into Chans recording studio to work on the song and correct any mistakes and record Changbins and Jisungs parts or even rewrite some lyrics

"What do you think of Chan? I know that you don't really know him so I really wanna know your thoughts on him.", Felix said, sitting down next to you and drinking his water. "He seems nice. I think he's also really hardworking because he has a whole folder with so many songs that he already recorded, but he shouldn't have thrown the bottle, that was betrayal.", you said, the last part as a joke. "Come on, as if you're gonna be salty about the bottle.", Felix said, not understanding you joke. "That was a joke, asshead!", you said and flicked his head.

After a few more hours of trying to make a choreography with the boys, you went home, stopping by at a café

When you were in the line you looked around in the café a bit and spotted Chan sitting at a table in the far back, almost falling asleep infront of his laptop

You ordered a cup of coffee and and a cup of tea for you and started walking into Chans direction, heart beating faster than usually. You put the cup of coffee next to his arm, causing him to look uo curiously. "Oh, hi... I- uh didn't-" - "Drink up, it's on me. You're almost falling asleep.", you said with a grin and sat down infront of him, taking a sip of your tea.

"Thanks, y/n.", he said and took a sip of the coffee. "What are you doing?", you asked. "Oh, uh, only trying to edit the song perfectly and also trying to write lyrics.", he explained and smiled at you a bit. "You know, you shouldn't overwork yourself. I think you should go home and sleep early. Our teachers tell us how to take care of our bodies in order to show our best on stage. They also explain to us how to notice what kind of resting some people need and you need sleep.", you explained, taking a sip of tea again.

"But the performance... I can't just rest if something this big is coming up.", he said and sighed, masaging his temples. "Yes Chan, you can. You already have it produced and have a whole week to work on it with two other people. I always go a bit earlier to bed to get enough rest. My brain works so much better when I have enough sleep. Just try it.", you said, worry taking over your expressions. You have the need to squeeze his hand but refuse, you barely know each other.

You take one last sip of your tea and stand up. "Seriously, go to sleep earlier. You're gonna see how much more work you get done than working until late hours.", you said and give him a small smile. "Wait, I'll bring you home.", he said and stood up, packing his things and drinking the last bit of his coffee.

You both started walking to your small studio apartment, talking and finding out how funny he was. Your heart beating fast when he laughed. It was cold and you started shivering, cursing at yourself for not bringing a jacket with you and walking out of the building in a hoodie and pants with holes on your knees.

Chan noticed and gave you his jacket. "No, Chan, you're gonna have a cold!", you protested and wanted to give him his jacket back. "I don't care. You're gonna have a cold if you don't wear it and we need you. I can always lipsync, you have to perform.", he said and put his hands on your shoulder, smiling when he saw your face.

"Thanks Chan.", you said.

It was the performance day. Everyone thought it would be a great idea if you would do a dress rehearsal, so here you were, dressed in a red dress while Minho, Felix and Hyunjin dressed in Christmas sweaters and black pants. Chan was dressed as santa while Changbin and Jisung were dresses as rudolphs.

You saw Chan at the café since that other day more often. After your rehearsals with the boys to be exact. You loved spending your time with him, he was so nice and hardworking. Whenever you were around him, his heart started beating really fast and his cheeks got red when you touched his hand or when you just smiled. The same with you. You loved every second spending with him.

After the performance which you guys slayed btw you looked amazing honey Chan invited you to his studio. You agreed, not wanting to spend your time in a big room filled with drunk people and loud music. The afterparties were the worst in your opinion so you were glad that Chan remembered your little secret and invited you to his studio.

You arrived in his little apartment. His studio was a small room that was actually supposed to be a guest room or just a second bedroom but Chan made it look like a professional recording studio.

The both of you were talking a lot and after a while the sleep took over you.

Chan let you sleep on the couch you originally sat in and started working on a song again, keeping the volume quiet in order to not wake you up.

After a two hour nap you woke up. The room was only lit up by the screen of the computer and quiet melodies filled the room. You stood up and put your hands around Chans shoulders from behind, making him stop breathing for a second and a blush forming on his cheeks. "Chan, sleep. It's 4am.", you mumbled into the back of his neck with a tired voice and eyes closed. "Y/n, I'm fine, really.", he said with a raspy voice, the tiredness in his voice noticeable. He turned his chair to you and you collapsed on his lap, your arms still on his shoulders. "Chan, please. I want you to rest. You need sleep. You worked so hard on this song even though I told you to rest enough. Just please, come and sleep with me. I don't want you to overwork yourself.", you begged him, face hiding in his chest.

Chan sighed and picked you up in bride style, taking you to his bedroom. Just when he was about to leave, you took his hand in yours and said: "Chan stop. Come here and sleep." - "Don't worry princess, I'll just give you a shirt and I'll turn off my computer.", he whispered back and squeezed your hand.

You changed into the big shirt he gave you and sat on the bed again. After a few minutes Chan came back in some sweatpants and a shirt. He layed down next to you and put an arm around you.

"Chan?"

"Hm?

"I love you."

"I love you too, princess."

[real-fakedoors]

under leaves so green - CHPT 10 - Miraculous Ladybug

After the Dupain-Cheng family purchases a flower shop around the block from the Agreste mansion, Chat Noir frequents the spot in search of company from the manager-but-not-really Marinette. Beneath the mask, Adrien starts to struggle with how cute she looks in that green apron. (AKA: the not-really flower shop AU where basically everything is the same, but Marinette is extra stressed by her job and Adrien tries to be supportive)

Cross-posted on AO3 and FF.net

Chapter 10: Phalaenopsis Orchids and Easter Lillies

In which, Adrien is reminded that he is rich and has two bizarre conversations, and Marinette decidedly looks great in red and should really invest in a watch. As a pair, they enjoy ice cream, movies, and perhaps a little more.

Lying in bed, Adrien stirred  from an immersive sleep, filled by hazy dreams of warm cheeks and silky, raven hair, delicate fingers and hungry kisses. He groaned, rolling over slightly beneath the sheets; it should be illegal for a dream that lovely to be cut short.

Even so, as he blinked away the dreary bonds of fantasy that kept him a mile into his mattress, Adrien woke rather easily.

Lately, sleep was refreshing, but it was also a distant, cheap substitute for reality.

Everything was more vivid these days, his smiles and his laughs purer, his steps and temperament lighter. Marinette was filling up everything he had, everything he knew, like a viscous liquid that crept into the crevices of his world and rid each one of any memory that once stung with absence. His relationship with his father was already improving. He felt like he could be more honest with Nino, and they had talked via text or by phone almost every night this week about his… “situation.” Adrien had learned to appreciate coffee, what his own favorite flower was, and that an unbelievable amount of thought goes into planning a wedding, down to the fabric a bride chooses to accent her bouquet.

Stretching, the blond sighed contently as he sat up from the mattress and spotted his kwami, still sleeping just a few inches away. The eighth hour of morning was just slipping away, day brightening by degrees beneath an overcast sky. They didn’t have anywhere to be for nine hours... (and two minutes, thirty-eight seconds, not that he was counting), so Adrien began his day quietly to let his kwami sleep in.

He was certain Plagg would never admit it, but the green-eyed, camembert-loving little nuisance clearly liked Marinette too. He had been less irritable since Adrien had started spending time with her, and though there was likely some cheese-bread-bribery involved in Plagg’s evaluation, it was nice that his kwami supported his decisions. The longer they went between visits to the shop, the more Plagg slipped into his typical dyspeptic self - maybe the black cat just enjoyed the opportunity to slip out of Adrien’s jacket and hide in the bushes? Maybe he had a soft spot for flowers? That would make sense, because, as it turned out, so did Adrien.

The shop was a temple, and he was a worshipper unworthy of its delicacy. From floor to glass ceiling, the air emitted subtle, warming sensibilities in the shape of vines, petals, and a peculiar girl in a green apron. It made his heart flutter against his ribs to even imagine her, sitting in her stool and weaving a floral tiara like a mark of wild royalty. In those walls, Marinette was a princess of the metropolitan boscage, abloom with vibrancy despite the perimeter of concrete jungle. Anyone fortunate enough to wander into her wilderness was bestowed good graces by her kingdom, an unsolicited blessing to all the people of France.

Adrien couldn’t stop thinking about her, and she wasn’t even here.

How had Plagg put it again?

Girls got me down to a science, without even trying.

Yep. That was it.

Sure, in an academic context, Marinette’s performance last year in science class was, um… less than stellar . But in the complex balances and bonds of relationships? She was a master scientist, precise in her measurements and methodology. Marinette knew exactly how to love and tend to something while it grows, and blooms, and thrives.

Too bad Francious-DuPont didn’t offer plant pathology, Adrien thought with a shameless smile; Marinette would ruin the curve for the whole class.

Floating through his morning routine, the teen showered, dressed, and headed down to breakfast. While a predictably bland meal waited for him at the bottom of the stairs, he had no trouble finding ways to get excited. His withdrawal symptoms had him strung out, craving anything that might pass the time sooner, so he might see her again, hear her voice, admire the softness of her cheeks and the way her voice tinkled like a crisp bell on a wintery morning, sharp against the pillows of snow.

Adrien bit into his toast and tasted sunshine flavored by flora and loam, swallowing to the comforting thought of her.

He had barely been able to contain the desire until now, and knowing they would be together, just the two of them (well, and probably his kwami) with an evening charged by romance would be too much. Adrien knew he would not be able to deny himself anymore; tonight, he was going to kiss her.

Breakfast slowed while he thought about that prospect in particular, falling through the fantasies and questions and curiosities. He imagined their warm, languid breaths mingling together, but how might her lips tremble with his? Would she be excited, or nervous? Passionate and hungry? Gently, or fiercely, would she press back against his own advances?

Adrien gulped when he felt his phone buzz, realizing he finished eating several minutes ago.

  Nino (9:54 AM):

Sup bro? Ready for tonight?

 To say he was ready would be an understatement, and Adrien chuckled at how hopeless he had become.

  Adrien (9:55 AM):

Yes, I think so. Thanks for having my back with this, btw. How are you?

 His heart was in a far worse place than it had ever been with Ladybug. While the masked, elusive woman would always have a special spot in his heart as his first love, the way he felt with Marinette was different. The girl turned to a puddle of nerves when they spoke, which only made her more adorable when she shot bashful glimpses in his direction. If he smiled, her cheeks warmed, and the color was flattering against the piquant depths of her eyes.

There was a new, exciting part of this too, and it came in the form of a memory.

It was a feeling that had gone out the door not soon after his mother, flitting from his repertoire of fixed smiles and polite postulations that he’d learn to perfect over the years. Adrien had grown so used to simplex relationships that reciprocity was nearly a foreign concept, almost forgotten, but Marinette brought it back.

She made him feel wanted , for who he was.

Not what he was - model, wealthy, superhero, or a foot in the door to fashion. But who he was - Adrien. Just another guy she went to school with, who had been lucky enough to become friends with Nino, and then the girls by association. He, beneath it all, had some semblance of the life of any other normal teenager. He liked video games and fencing, he could eat sweets by the armful and he had an objectively perfect sense of humor. She had treated all parts of him - those that she saw through his civilian self or his inner-cat - with only respect and kindness.

Marinette made him feel wanted and appreciated, and it made him want to return the feeling. He wanted her to love him, he wanted her to fall in love with him.

As Chat, when they spent time together, everything was forcefully separated by degrees. He could never be too direct with his friendship while he was masked for the sake of her safety, lest Hawkmoth or someone else learned of their bond and treat her as a target. But even so, she demonstrated an unbelievable amount of care and sensitivity towards him beneath their ever-mirthful banter.

When Adrien’s phone buzzed again, he nearly dropped it from his daydreaming.

  Nino (10:04 AM):

np man, I’m excited for you too! Plus Alya won’t stop on it. I’m starting to think she ships you guys more than she ships us. Lol

 Adrien grinned at his phone and stood from the kitchen table, marching the ingrained path to his bedroom and typing a response.

  Adrien (10:05 AM):

lol that sounds like Alya… Did you still want to get together for lunch tomorrow?

 At the landing, the blond paused and returned to his messages with Marinette from the previous night. Their conversation cut-off abruptly when he called her, but reading back, he still found himself grinning a Chesire smile

  Marinette (Yesterday, 8:31 PM):

Sorry I got caught up w/ some design thing - did you still want to talk? I’m free now.

 The memories were so fresh, but strangely untethered to time and space even with the timestamp. They had gone to bed way later than either of them intended, and their conversation had been light and natural. Marinette laughed at his “dumb” jokes while Adrien defended his pride, and they talked about everything from Mecha Strike to piano, favorite holidays to the last time she redecorated her room. Minutes became hours, and his desire to be the one to elicit another laugh from her, to hear that euphoric music bubble at her lips in the form of an adorable giggle, was insatiable.

Adrien had noticed something the longer they spoke. If she laughed especially hard, Marinette would release the smallest, most delightful little exhale afterwards, and it undid any attempts he had of acting nonchalant everytime. It was a precious observation, just a tiny sigh of vulnerability, and it was more of those minute details he yearned for.

Nino texted him again, and the vibration roused him. He realized he had been inanely standing outside his bedroom, thumbing through his messages instead of entering his room like a normal human being.

It was borderline unfair, that the delight that came by a cheeky smile and pink lips had basically stripped him of nearly seventeen-years of common sense. Then again, nothing about Marinette was common, and nothing about how madly he wanted to see her was sensible.

Unfair, maybe, but Adrien was happy to accept this fate.

He entered the room and spotted Plagg, now awake, laying completely prone and staring at the ceiling from atop his camembert hiding place. Upon Adrien’s arrival, the kwami didn’t even bother to look in his direction.

“Breakfast cheese is the best cheese,” Plagg yawned, his lazy statement somehow sounding like a greeting.

Adrien rolled his eyes and strode towards his desk, sitting but not interested with his computer.

  Nino (10:08 AM):

Yaaaaaaassssss! But ill have to push back for like 1:30 instead. Working on some set stuff for my show on friday.

  Nino (10:09 AM):

but seriously - tonight? Im free basically the whole time so if you wanna talk post-date lemme know! You’ll kill it bro.

 Adrien wrinkled his nose, but smiled as he constructed a response.

  Adrien (10:09 AM):

I hope I don’t - if our first date ends with me killing her, then I have to imagine I’m doing something wrong.

 The joke seemed sufficient to stave off Nino’s questions, but it didn’t exactly rid Adrien of his own anxieties. This would be his first real date. He was a bit older than his peers to start dating - Alya and Nino got together, what, a year and a half ago? Ivan and Mylene have been together for longer, and Rose and Juleka revealed they’d been together for almost as long a few months ago, and those were just the people with established relationships. How many of his friends probably “dated around?”

Adrien bit his lip at the very teenage-worries that crept up to rattle his nerves a little further. It’s not like he was a sex-starved, hormone-driven mess of a high schooler, but the sort of “unspoken but known” truth that people around him were having sex and he hadn’t even gone on a date yet was… unnerving? Embarrassing? Strange, and uncomfortable to think about? All of the above?

As far as he knew, Marinette hadn’t dated anyone.

Adrien felt some comfort in that, his palms a little less clammy at the idea of slipping his fingers around her own, knowing she was just as green to this unnavigated world as he was.

Whatever expression had situated onto his face must have been amusing, because the silence broke with an abrupt cackle as a spot of black flashed across the room.

Plagg laughed at him, rather pointedly, and Adrien scowled.

“ What ?”

The kwami flew around him and landed at the nape of the blond’s neck, lolling backwards so his head hung over Adrien’s shoulder.

“You’ve got that look again, and it’s just my new favorite.”

Adrien pursed his lips. “For my guardian or guide or whatever, I feel like you bully me an awful lot.”

As if reiterating that same point, Adrien’s kwami poked his neck and added, “Maybe, but I know when you’re all up in your brain getting worked up over something dumb. Someone’s got to keep you grounded around here. ”

“Is that a pun?” He swatted at the presence below his ear. “Cause I’ve been grounded plenty thanks to you.”

Plagg scoffed and batted a hand. “Oh stop , would you just relax? You’re just lovesick and nervous about your date with your new girlfriend .”

Adrien swallowed, surprised by the arid desert that had replaced his throat. It was almost funny that a week ago, Plagg using that slang to refer to Marinette would have made Adrien roll his eyes or defensively fluster for an answer. Now, the teen didn’t mind at all. In fact, he blushed at the suggestion, but smiled dreamily at the possibilities attached to the label.

Another vibration in his hand captured his attention, and Adrien’s gaze flickered down to evaluate Nino’s response.

It wasn’t Nino.

Adrien shot up to standing so fast he gave himself a bit of headrush, and Plagg flinched backwards and almost rolled off his back.

“Ay!” The kwami protested in annoyance.

“Ah,” Adrien grimaced. “Sorry, Plagg. Just - Marinette um... “

Cat eyes narrowed up at him, but his kwami simply scrunched his nose and forced down whatever whining readied itself at his lips.

“Whatever, as long as you don’t keep me up all night tonight…” He grumbled, waving a hand.

Wearing a sheepish grin, Adrien glanced down at his phone and sat back at his desk (just standing in the middle of his room felt a little weird).

  Marinette (10:12 AM):

Welp, i overslept *and* i have some really wonderful bags under my eyes. Blaming both of these on you, im afraid.

  Marinette (10:12 AM):

… but I would be lying if I said I was sorry about it. See you tonight at 6:30…. “Anything.” :s

 Adrien pursed his lips, considering a response. He wanted to feel guilty, but much like Marinette said, he wasn’t at all sorry for keeping her up. (Okay, maybe a little , but it had been so worth it). He slipped into the memories of their conversation from yesterday.

    Propped up against the headboard, Adrien curled up on beneath his comforter with a pillow in his lap. He cleared his throat, twice, and studied the face of his phone. With a low exhale, he moved the device to his ear, and the ringing felt like it went on and on and on.

“Hello,” Marinette’s cheery voice answered, and he relaxed immediately. She was so easy to get worked up about if he postulated for too long, but just the smallest piece of her - a picture, her voice, even just reading her name pop up on his phone was enough to melt the tension right off him.

Adrien greeted her comfortably. “Hi, Mari. What’s the ‘design thing’ I interrupted?”

“Design…? Oh, no,” she laughed mirthlessly. “It’s just a gown I’ve been working on, but I’d much rather be talking to you.”

He felt his heart-rate pick up, and it was clear by Marinette’s reaction she hadn’t intended to be so brash this early in the conversation.

“I-I mean, talking to you is a way better way to pass the time than agonizing over this dumb thing.”

“Oh? And what’s dumb about it?” Adrien questioned. She always talked so fondly of the opportunity to have a needle in her hand, so her statement came as a surprise.

There was a pause, and Marinette’s voice was softer than before. “It’s just, I’m tired of it. I’ve been working on this for so long and it never seems to be right. Has that ever happened to you?”

“Mmm…” Adrien hummed, trying to imagine what she was doing right now. He was probably more frustrated than he had a right to be that he couldn’t picture it. Was she laying in bed? Standing on her balcony, or sitting at her desk?

Continuing to sit in silence might seem suspect, if not a little creepy when he considered what was occupying his thoughts, so Adrien coughed and tried to come up with a reasonable answer. “I… yeah, I think so. I’m not much of the creative type, though. But I’m sure you’re being hyperbolic. You’re an excellent designer from what I’ve seen, Mari.”

“Wel-well, thank you. I was the winner of that bowler contest, if you recall.” She giggled, and it sounded a little nervous. Somehow it only made her cuter, and Adrien was glad he had the chance to talk to her on the phone a little more before their date. Just listening to her laugh brought a suspicious rush of scarlet to his cheeks.

“Well, technically,” he challenged, a mischievous grin spreading. “I believe Chloe won, and you took the win right out from under her nose.”

That only made Marinette giggle harder.

God , he could listen to that sound forever. She just sounded so happy when she laughed.

“Yeah, that’s exactly how it happened. You know me, always sneaking in and stealing the win.”

He made his voice incredibly offended, though the curve of his lips would have given him away. “I know, right? First, the bowler hat, then Max’s video game tournament, and then you even took Wii bowling from me . You’re a monster.”

“Hey!” She remarked, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “It’s not my fault I have a natural talent for weird things, but I’m a total mess when it comes to literally everything else. Walking, talking, homework… that’s all blah. But you put a wiimote in my hand and bam . Hole in one.”

Adrien snorted, absently lifting a hand to scratch Plagg’s head. A tiny purr followed.

“That’s the wrong sport, Marinette.”

“See? Conversations… not exactly my speciality.”

He chuckled and shook his head, more than a little regretful he failed to ask her out sooner. They might be having this conversation snuggled in his blanket together, where he could see her smile instead of having to imagine it.

“You know, besides fencing and basketball, I’m really not even into sports.” He mused. “Yet, here we are. I’m beginning to think we don’t have anything else in common. Quick, tell me about your day!”

Marinette didn’t respond at first, and Adrien felt just the lightest echo of worry that he had made her doubtful. Of course they had more in common than that, but he knew if he started down that road he might lose his will and just sneak out to see her again. She was both magnetic and enigmatic, and it was like the more he knew about her, the less he felt he really knew her, and wanted to know even more. Marinette had become his favorite riddle, and if he tried to number the ways he’d fallen hard for her, he’d be up all night.

A crisp, kind voice interrupted his idle admirations, and he blinked as he struggled to pay attention. “It was… really lovely, actually. A little hectic because of the akuma, though. I didn’t make a lot of sales, but… that was still good. It gave me time to get the store in order so I’ll be, um, ready to leave in time… for, ah, tomorrow?”

Adrien wondered if she could hear his heartbeat in her ear, a quiet tremor of excitement rising at the mention of their date. He could certainly hear it in his own.

“I’m glad,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “I’m really happy you made time for this. For our date, I mean. This conversation, too.”

The voice that answered was saccharine and forgiving, a whisper of sincerity that turned his throat dry.

“I’m really looking forward to it, Adrien.”

Was that his name? He forgot for a moment. It sounded so different coming from Marinette.

Before he could respond, a snicker came on the line followed by a quip. “Oh, right. I was supposed to start calling you Trouble .”

Adrien laughed, wiggling his toes under the blanket and curling closer in on himself. Whatever this attitude Marinette had developed when they talked now was just… just... so endearing .

It was like the dark-haired girl had chosen him to share a secret with, and she was slowly and thoughtfully revealing more each time they spoke. The changes were subtle, and if Adrien didn’t have the blessing-and-curse of a double-life, he wouldn’t have been able to appreciate how much it meant to see the two sides of her come together.

Even better, when Marinette acted like this, Adrien knew she was flirting with him. The dynamic was different now, not just amusement or compassion, but sort of hesitant and temptatious, a small invitation to see if this was okay. The thought excited him that she wanted to flirt with him.

“ You can call me anything,” he flirted right back. “ But I can’t say I minded when you called me cute yesterday.”

She flustered a bit, and Adrien felt a small swell of pride.

“I’ll, um remember… that.”

It reminded him of when Nino had taught him how to play poker, and he had just raised her bet.

Once Marinette regained her wits, however, Adrien could not say he would have expected her to call his wager.

“Alright, Anything ,” her voice dripped with triumph. “I’ll be sure to update your contact in my phone.”

Adrien laughed outright, surprised and pleased by the simple joke.

It was unbelievable to him that his kwami was the image misfortune, because he felt like the most fortunate person in the world.

    Plagg smacked Adrien with his tail, a sting lashing his cheek.

His hand defended his face, and though it didn’t really hurt, it was more of an affront than anything. “ Ouch! What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me ?” Plagg parroted in a whisper. “The assistant lady is at your door, you nimrod. She’s been knocking for a minute straight!”

Adrien’s eyes grew wide with surprise, and true to his kwami’s word, a rapt brush of knuckles tapped on the other side of his door.

“C-coming!” He called, scrambling to standing up while Plagg flew away to hide. Almost stumbling to get to the door, Adrien shook his head and tried to focus.

“H-hi, Nathalie, what can I do for you?”

Beyond the frame, to so-name woman stood poised, her hand still curved to a fist in midair as she halted her knocking. Nathalie raised a brow, looking over his conspicuous smile with a doubtful one of her own, but refocused her attention to the tablet in her hands.

“Your father is requesting you in his office,” she chirped dutifully, and Adrien tried to hide his grimace. While things were less tense between the two, he wasn’t particularly thrilled by any opportunity for them to argue again. Status quo was working just fine, and anything else threatened to ruin that.

“Sure, thank you -- ” He began, starting into the hallway and closing the door behind him. Nathalie took a step back, but she continued to flick through what was probably his schedule.

“Oh,” Adrien paused, tapping his chin. “I just remembered. I am supposed to see Nino tomorrow for lunch?”

Nathalie’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, but she nodded without looking up.

“He texted me and asked if we could push it back to… 1:30?” Adrien half-asked, half-informed his father’s assistant of the change in plans, double-checking his messages to be sure of the time.

The woman’s lips pressed together thinly, and her hands flew along the keys as she made adjustments.

“That is acceptable,” she eventually said. “You have a photoshoot and interview tomorrow afternoon, and you are expected to be there at four, so just be finished and ready to leave from Monsieur Lahiffe’s house at 3:30 PM.”

Adrien smiled, always glad when Nathalie could be accomodating for sake of his friends. It was sort of distant, but he imagined the woman cared in her own strange way, and he followed a pace behind her as she led the way down the stairs to the foyer.

“Before I release you, there are some things on your agenda for today. First,” Nathalie cleared her throat. “Your date with Mlle. Dupain-cheng is at 6:30 PM this evening, so your car will be ready at 6:00 PM promptly.”

“That’s great,” he replied honestly, hoping the pink tinge to his cheeks wasn’t obvious. It was getting easier to speak about Marinette to other people after the proverbial verbal assault he faced at the photoshoot yesterday, but it was all still a little awkward for him.

Adrien began to turn when they reached the bottom step, eyeing the grand doors to his father’s office wearily. Nathalie, apparently, was not finished, and the words that followed were sharp, reverberating off the cold marble walls.

“And you have an appointment at Le Grand Paris with Mlle. Bourgeois today. Once you are finished with your father, we will head to the hotel.”

Processing that, Adrien furrowed his brow.

“Wait, what? I didn’t know I was supposed to see Chloe today.”

He wasn’t mad, not exactly. Just surprised.

While the blonde girl was not particularly fond of Nino, Alya, and especially Marinette, Adrien still valued her friendship. It was one forged from time rather than commonality as they grew older, but there were certain things he could only relate to with her - growing up with money, under scrutiny, and raised by some of the most famous men in Paris. They still saw each other outside of school occasionally, and he really didn’t mind if the conversation stayed clear of his friends, but Adrien at least expected her to text him first.

“She gave your mobile a call on Saturday,” Nathalie paused, and understanding rushed to greet him. So Chloe did reach out to him, but it was while he didn’t have his phone. It was a little disconcerting to think of Nathalie or his father answering it on his behalf, but that was a conversation for another time. “Your father gathered it had been long enough since you saw your friend, so he arranged for the meeting.”

“Umm… okay, yeah, that’s fine. If one of you would just let me know ahead of time next time, I would appreciate it.”

The woman gave him an amused look, but did not comment. She had in fact let him know on Sunday, but he had been so wrapped up in the excitement with his new “friend”  that she assumed he had forgotten.

She would let it go, just this once.

“Certainly. Now, your father is waiting,” she gestured towards the door, and Adrien affixed an award-winning smile and followed his marching orders. The crisp notes of Nathalie’s heels could be heard rescinding in the other direction, and Adrien cleared his throat before knocking.

“Father?” Adrien spoke carefully, pushing open the double doors slowly and peeking around.

As expected, the man was glaring down at his designscape, studying something on the screen with reverent attention.

“You wanted to see me?”

His gaze flickering up for a moment, Adrien felt himself pale a bit under the intensity. Clearly his father was angry about something, but the focus he had dedicated to the screen instead of his son at least suggested he was not angry with him.

Hopefully...

“Yes, come sit,” beckoned an even voice, and Adrien tried maintain his cool while he shut the door and did as his father bid.

Once seated in the pit around the runway, Adrien took a slow breath and stared at the wall vacantly, trying to remind himself he had only a few more hours until he would see Marinette for their date. Surely he could survive an hour or so with Chloe and whatever this conversation was about to be, Adrien reassured himself.

Though his palpitating heart was a disconcerting milieu to his internal voice, and the mixture of the two did not add up to a very convincing pep-talk. After a few minutes, Adrien started to squirm.

Finally, after a lifetime of anxiety compounded in only a few minutes, his blond hairs popped up to the sharp click of his father’s dress shoes against stone tiles. The sound was a pinch to his nerves, and Adrien unknowingly started to bounce his leg as his father approached.

“Let’s discuss your plans with Mlle. Dupain-Cheng,” his father instructed, taking the seat across the pit and crossing his legs. The man squinted at Adrien’s jittering thigh, and the boy placed a hand on his knee in an effort to stop the bouncing.

Adrien agreed, not exactly sure what he was getting himself into. “Yes, Father?”

Pursed lips appraised him for a moment, and his father adjusted his glasses.

“I want you to cancel them.”

A silence followed, but it was loud as a raging overture. Adrien gripped his knuckles so tightly the skin drew taut, turning white in his sudden anger. He was angry, of course, but he felt more disappointment than anything; he knew something had to go wrong. No way things were working so well in his favor - it was just building up his anticipation so the fall might be twice as hard.

Across from him, Adrien’s father raised a hand and a brow simultaneously. “Let me finish. It’s not what you think.”

Seething, Adrien spat a few words. “Go on, then.”

His father’s jaw clenched, the disapproval clear in the lines of his face. “Don’t get an attitude, son. I said it’s not what you think.”

Adrien just pressed his lips together to keep from saying something else that would surely land him in trouble, so he was resigned to simply lean back and await the lecture.

Sighing, his father met his son’s hardened stare. “Assuming you don’t have a secret life you’ve been keeping from me, you haven’t dated.”

The man tilted his head to one side, smiling slightly when Adrien choked. Surely, his comment was intended as a joke, but Adrien could only hope his father didn’t read into his caustic reaction.

Managing a weak nod, Adrien tried to pay attention as his father continued.

“I want you to enjoy yourself, but I would be lying if I wasn’t worried. She seems… like a good match for you, and clearly you’re excited. As long as you’re happy, I would support your decision if you choose to pursue a relationship with Mlle. Dup -- er, with Marinette .”

That made Adrien redden unexpectedly. It was hard to tell what was more surprising, that his father was being so straightforward, or by the his earlier demand to cancel his date and then his sudden contradictory suggestion.

Adjusting his posture, the stern man continued. “I know you have an evening planned - was it dinner and a movie?”

Adrien considered correcting him - a movie, yes, but dinner, no - but decided to keep his face blank.

“Well, while I wish it wasn’t so, there will be press involved eventually. I don’t expect you to go out with a hood on. That would be unfair to you, and to her. If you are genuinely interested in this girl, I want you to be able to pursue her honestly and openly.”

There was a waver in his father’s typically severe voice, and Adrien eyed him carefully. Looking away instead of forward, he was gazing the portrait at the end of the room. Adrien’s focus followed, coming to rest on the picture as well. His mother was perpetually smiling down at the both of them, her features captured as a sepia phantom beneath flecks of gold. She was obscured, separated from the corporal by burning questions that would probably haunt them both forever.

Sighing, Adrien bit his lip and looked back to his father. He had been thinking about this a lot himself, remembering what Macey had said to him at the photoshoot.

“I thought you said you would let me go on this date. We talked about this all already - and I’ve already told Marinette we’re going out…” Adrien inhaled, refusing to let his voice crack, and continued. “With all due respect Father, I’m going to see her tonight whether or not you’ll allow it.”

A familiar sneer crossed his father’s expression, but Adrien did not back down.

“Of course I’m not forbidding you from seeing her. All I’m asking is you cancel your movie and dinner. Invite her here for dinner, or see if there isn’t something you can do out of the public eye. You could even see if you could rent out a restaurant instead, I don’t mind the bill.” His father’s lip twitched slightly as Adrien’s own mouth had dropped to a comically perfect ‘o’.

Standing, Adrien’s father strode around the pit. His voice softened as he sat beside the teen, placing a hand on the boy’s knee. “Fame is a burden and a gift, son. I... met your mother before our celebrity, but you’ve been born into this. I know you want for it all to be... normal , with your public schooling and your friends, but a relationship is going to be very different. I won’t be able stop the press from making outlandish stories from nothing.” He paused, and Adrien watched him quietly.

“I imagine somewhere more private for your first date might be best. I don’t want you to have to hide anything, especially not because of me, but I also don’t want your chances at... happiness with this girl to be stricken by our name.” His father gulped and drew his hand back, folding it neatly with his other into his lap.

Adrien was decidedly speechless, stomach twisting into intricate knots as he absorbed the words in silence. Macey’s suggestion yesterday had left him with some worries, but Adrien had just figured he would deal with it when he had to. That his father was so concerned that he offered to buy out an entire restaurant for them? That he seem genuinely worried about his ability to have a decent chance with Marinette? That he brought up his mother at all?

This was rather a very elaborate and cruel joke, or an episode of the Twilight Zone: Agreste Edition, because... what the heck was going on ?

“... Dad?” Adrien said eventually, not really sure what else to say, but his father did look up at Adrien’s call.

A beat of empty observation passed, both considering the other in an oddly comfortable silence. Adrien didn’t really feel like speaking, and it seemed his father had said everything he wanted to say.

“I... ” Adrien began, breaking the stare as he leaned over his knees, tracing patterns in the marble with his mind’s eye. “... thank you? I mean, yeah… thanks.”

Clearing his throat, the teen tried to figure out something else to say. “Well… you know, I guess I’ve thought about it too. I don’t want reporters to track her down or demand questions from her… I really, really do like her. I don’t want to mess this up.”

His father’s expression turned strange, a cross between a frustrating scowl and a knowing flash of pride. “Your mother received threats, you know.”

That gave Adrien pause, and his attention flickered back towards the painting on the wall. They hardly ever spoke about Mom, but then, who was he to question the chance to remember her outside the confines of his own memories?

Slowly, he ventured a line of questioning. “I never thought about… what did you guys do?”

Beside him, his father appeared thoughtful with a hand at his chin. “ I didn’t really do anything, though I might have wanted to. Your mother handled herself rather well.”

Adrien snorted unexpectedly, the image of his mother wacking a reporter or a crazed fan with an umbrella coming to mind. She had been a model and an actress in her own right, but neither were famous when they met.

His father wore only a bemused smile and got up, but did not ask what was funny. For some reason, Adrien thought he might already know.

“Well,” Adrien said, leaning back and smiling down at his lap. “I guess I’ll talk to her and see what she would like to do. The plans were her idea, so I’d rather not make the decision for both of us, and I had been planning on asking her about… that whole paparazzi part of this anyways. I’m not sure what else we’ll do, but...”

Now standing on the other side of the runway, his father glanced at his watch. “Yes, that’s acceptable. You’re supposed to see Mlle. Bourgeois shortly, so just let myself or Nathalie know when you decide what you intend to do.”

Adrien rose to his feet, scowling slightly. He had almost forgotten about seeing Chloe, which would cut into his time to figure out something else to do with Marinette if she allowed it.

As he bid his father farewell, the fashion icon called his attention a final time.

“Adrien?”

His name sounded strange coming from his father’s mouth - they rarely addressed each other so informally. Adrien turned on his heel, a foot from the door.

The man had already stepped back up to his work station, peering at his screen, but he directed his voice towards his son. “Your interests in Mlle. Dupain-Cheng are your own, so you are free to do as you please. But…  if you would at least keep me updated, I would like to know how things are... going.”

A smile came to his lips, so wide that it actually hurt. “Y-yes, definitely! Thanks… thanks again, Father.”

“You’re welcome.” He replied simply, hands already moving over the designscape again, indicating Adrien’s dismissal.

Stepping out of the office, Adrien felt slightly dazed by the dip in adrenaline he didn’t realize his heart was compensating. The hush of stone shuddered behind him, grounding his awareness slightly into the foyer, but he was feeling shaken by the conversation. Not in a bad way, necessarily, but it had just been entirely not what he expected. His stomach felt twisted, but his heart fuller, and Adrien barely noticed that Nathalie was beckoning to him.

The woman was already standing by the front door, opened wide to a breezy morning. What had begun as overcast skies lined by pewter clouds had grown to smoky billows, a dark preview of another summer storm.

Adrien frowned when the woman called his name and began to wave her hand out the front. “Adrien, let’s go. The car is waiting, and I’d like to beat the rain if we can.”

“R-right,” he cleared his throat. “Let me just grab a jacket.”

Leaping the stairs, Adrien flew into his room and whispered heatedly for his kwami.

“ Plagg, c’mon! We gotta go .”

A narrowed pair of green eyes peeked out of his camembert cabinet while Adrien grabbed his olive, rain-resistant jacket from his wardrobe.

“Only if I can bring a snack.” Plagg countered, already hauling two sizable chunks of cheese through the air as Adrien fixed his collar. The blond had only time to roll his eyes before exiting his room again, not bothering with verbal consent as Plagg had already claimed a spot within the layers of fabric.

The drive was slow, for which Adrien was thankful. He needed some time to collect his thoughts after a conversation like the one he had just shared with his father, switching gears to mentally preparing himself for Chloe’s… um, temperament.

Adrien sighed longingly as he thought about yesterday, stopped at a light when he spotted ebony pigtails moving down a familiar street. Marinette had been sitting only a foot away, and one of her delicate hands, stained by dark soil up to her wrists, had been resting on the center console. He could have easily locked their fingers together had he not been so captivated by her animated storytelling or the entirely general distraction of her presence.

Tonight. He tried to remind himself, and glanced at his phone to check the time. It was almost 11:30.

Unsure of how long Chloe might want to hang out, Adrien figured this was the best opportunity he had to contact Marinette.

  Adrien (11:29 AM):

I’m looking forward to it too! But I did want to ask you about the plans… maybe we could do something besides movie + ice cream? It’s a long story.

 He had to imagine she wasn’t terribly busy, noting the first few drops of rain spattering the windows like tears of relief, dripping from the clouds that strained with their mass. At some point during their phone call, she had mentioned rain kept window-shopping customers at bay, which seemed reasonable. Only loyal or intentional shoppers would brave the weather for a day-trip to a flower shop.

(Well, a loyal shopper, an intentional shopper, or Chat Noir. He’d gone to the shop many times when it was raining if he didn’t feel like heading home, ever-tempted by the opportunity to tease and bicker with his Princess.)

  Marinette (11:31 AM):

Super busy atm - but thats np! You pick and just let me know. I gtg.

 The text was so simple, yet the reassurances coursed through him like a stimulant straight into his veins. Adrien felt himself relax in the backseat just by seeing her name flicker across his screen again, but he still felt a twinge of guilt while he tucked his device away. His suspicions in relation to the weather had been wrong, and he hoped she would be okay there by herself for the next several hours.

Adrien rested his eyes, a watery Paris streaming by outside. Of course she would be fine. Marinette had turned down Monsieur Declair right in front of him, and who knows how many men before that. She opened the store in the morning and closed it in the evening, managing everything alone and with an impressive show of grace and knowledge at every turn. The shoulder injury had been more his, Nino’s and Alya’s fault in surprising her, and it was almost alarming how easily she could haul massive planters around without batting an eye.

Still, still , in spite of all that, Adrien worried for her, just because he wanted to worry.

Marinette wasn’t his to worry about.

Not yet, anyways.

It seemed silly, and he knew if he verbalized it to anyone it might sound downright insane, but just having some tiny bit of right to worry for her felt nice. If she would be okay by herself, if other people might think to themselves, “Wow, I wish I could take her on a date,” if she would be lonely during the slow hours or if she missed him a little bit. Adrien knew he missed her, more than a little bit, and again he tried to imagine what she might be doing. Making a sale, chattering happily through tales of taxonomy? Or maybe she would be building a bouquet with nimble hands, analyzing every piece of the creation like it was the symbol of posterity for whoever might purchase it. Then again, she might be heaving a watering can high above her to offer respite to dried roots and withering flowers…

No sooner did Adrien decide he would stay in his daydreams all day, soothed to the soft splash of rain against the side of the car, did Nathalie announce their arrival.

“You can call when ready. We will be in the neighborhood. For sake of your date...” The woman paused and glanced at the clock. “Please be no later than 5 PM.”

“Sure,” he agreed, baffled by the idea of spending five solid hours with Chloe. Even having been friends as long as they had, the idea of spending five hours with almost anyone sounded exhausting.

“I’m guessing it’ll be closer to two.”

The doors unlocked and Adrien bid them farewell, throwing up his hood as he marched into the front doors of Le Grand Paris hotel.

He nodded at the doorman, needing no formal introduction for his arrival, and quickly walked through the rotating golden doors.

Flicking some rain from his hair, Adrien blinked at the blinding light as he removed his hood.

Le Grand Paris sparkled, a sun in its own universe. A model of opulence, the foyer was as magnificent and excessive as ever. Ceilings, walls, and faces painted golden, the furniture of the lobby varied between tones of somber maroon and rich purple, embodying the essence of aristocracy. Where his home was cold and subdued, this place stifled the senses with bright, bold decor that, in his totally unprofessional opinion, was almost gaudy.

More than ever, Adrien was craving the perennial, refreshing air of the greenhouse; truly, it was the only place in Paris he felt like he could breathe normally. Everything else was too much or too little. He’s fallen into the Goldilocks complex, he mused, and Marinette was his in-between.

Idly running a hand over the velvet face of a couch to his right, Adrien’s attention snapped up at the call of a familiar voice.

“ Adrikins! ”

A whip of blonde hair smacked his face a moment later, Chloe throwing her arms around him in one of her characteristic bulldozing hug. She squeezed him around the shoulders, so Adrien exhaled and hugged her back.

“Hey, Chlo’,” he greeted as they stepped apart. “How are you?”

She examined her nails while her other hand rested at her hip, smiling while she answered. “I’m great, actually. Really great! I’ve been so busy since school let out, but I’m really glad you found some time to catch up.”

Adrien grinned easily, resting his own hands in his coat pockets. “Me, too,” he began honestly. “I feel like it’s only been a few weeks and everything is already so different.”

“Oh?” She quirked a brow in his direction.

Adrien felt himself pink slightly and looked at the furniture he had previously been admiring. Maybe jumping into the topic that burned his throat could wait until they got out of the lobby.

“Y-yeah. Nathalie mentioned you wanted to do lunch?”

The blonde eyed him dubiously, but chose to dismiss the flicker of curiosity that flashed across her expression. Instead, she pulled out her cell phone and began to march towards the elevators.

“Yes,” she paused to make sure he was following, and resumed texting in time with her words. “Daddy’s letting us have Le Bar for lunch today; there aren’t any events scheduled or anything, so it’s no big deal.”

“Got it,” he said as they stepped into the elevator.

Adrien pressed the button for Mezzanine since Chloe was preoccupied with her phone, a little relieved to hear their destination. The storm outside was intensifying, accented by rumbling claps of thunder; seeking a restaurant outside the hotel seemed like a foolish undertaking.

Le Bar was housed just above Chloe’s room, and it offered a marvelous view of Paris in all directions. It was a frequent choice of theirs for dining if it was just the two of them, and Adrien enjoyed the privacy. Unless reserved for an occasion, the restaurant did not allow reporters and the price of the menu kept away most other Parisians.

Adrien recognized that it was sort of awful and pretentious for him to think that way, but it didn’t make it less true. By way of necessity, the extravagance of Le Bar exluded most fans and cameras, and it was a nice opportunity to relax without the nagging fear of being recognized and swamped by the media or by well-meaning but admittedly creepy women, often much older than he was.

A blessing and a curse , his father had said. These sorts of moments reminded him why.

Chloe’s signature yellow sweater was tied round her waist today, which he guessed was her outward expression of distaste for the humid weather. Adrien still wore his jacket, unphased.

They spoke in polite pleasantries while the host brought them to a table (Chloe’s favorite along the Western side of the building). Save for a group of Chinese men in suits discussing something quietly halfway across the room, there was no one else in Le Bar today. Adrien caught an occasional piece of their conversation in Mandarin, but otherwise, they were as good as alone.

“So,” Adrien began while Chloe took a long sip from her Pellegrino. “What’s new with you? You said you’ve been busy?”

“Oh yes,” she nodded seriously, setting down her glass. “Daddy’s been giving me some projects, and the reception on Saturday is my baby. I’ve been working myself crazy over it.”

Adrien arched a brow.  “Oh… really?”

He knew Chloe was starting to take on more responsibility with her the hotel, and as far as he could tell, she actually rather enjoyed the “party-planning” aspect of things. Still, to hear her sigh and talk about “work” was… weird.

The blonde took her phone out and glanced at it, only to quickly tuck it away a few moments later. “Yes. And, don’t mind that,” she gestured towards the pocket containing her cellphone. “I’ve got Jean on the line about some atrocious selections someone made for Saturday. I feel like I have to do everything myself with this party.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m waiting on a few messages myself,” Adrien replied, hand subconsciously going to rest on his jean pocket. “What’s Saturday?”

Chloe scowled at him while taking another drink. “What do you mean ‘what’s Saturday’? It’s La Nuit des musées ! Duh, you’re coming, aren’t you?”

“Riiiiight,” Adrien responded, adopting a scowl of his own. “Nino and Aly… er, Nino mentioned that to me too. Nathalie said I had something already on my calendar.”

“Uh,” she crossed her arms. “O f course you already have something on your calendar. It’s this . You agreed to it months ago.”

He pursed his lips, now trying to remember. Had he mentioned what he wanted to do with Nino and the girls when asking Nathalie about his schedule? Adrien reached for his phone and flicked through to his schedule

...Apparently, he must not have mentioned it, because Chloe was absolutely right. A big block of time was set aside on Saturday, coded yellow - in his calendar, that usually meant another “social outing” arranged by his father. Adrien was more than a little embarrassed that he didn’t put two-and-two together, but then, he supposed this was also good news. Now he definitely could go with Nino and the girls; he just never expected to already have the time set already aside in his agenda.

“Huh. Yep, I guess I will be there,” Adrien shrugged and put his phone away, noting a little sadly that he hadn’t gotten any new messages while he did so.

“Well, good . I at least want someone I know to appreciate all the hard-work I’ve put into this.” Chloe pouted, and Adrien just smirked and shook his head when the waiter appeared.

“ Bonjour , Mlle. Bourgeois, Monsieur Agreste. What can I get for you?”

“Usual for me,” Chloe snapped her menu closed, and Adrien wondered why she even opened it.

“Um… something light for me, maybe just a coffee? Cream and sugar, please.”

The man nodded and dashed back to the kitchen.

“Just coffee?” Chloe narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You better be eating right, Adrikins. I heard the rumors about modeling.”

“Trust me, I’ve been eating plenty.” He bit his lip, trying to fight a smile. Marinette and her parents had basically provided free food to him almost everyday as of late. “And I’ve gotten a taste for coffee recently, thank you very much.”

Judging by the face she made, Chloe could tell there was more than he was letting on.

She vocalized her suspicions as the waiter reappeared with his coffee. “So what, then? Have some big fancy date you need to be hungry for later?”

Chloe’s probably-innocent quip had been so spot on that Adrien nearly choked on the first sip of his drink.

Needless to say, if that hadn’t given him away, then the incriminating crimson that bloomed from beneath his collar would have certainly done the trick. Adrien felt his coat along the back chair sashay slightly, and he imagined Plagg was having himself a good laugh.

“ Whaaaaat? ” She gaped, both hands gripping the table. “You do have a date! Adrien, why didn’t you say so?!”

“Ahh,” he rubbed his neck, trying to will away the embarrassment. “You know, it’s… just supposed to be low-key. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it.”

“But this is your first, first date, right?” She leaned forward, more excited than he would have expected her to be.

Bashful, he merely nodded.

“Then it is a big deal!”

Adrien chuckled a bit and cleared his throat. “I-I guess it is?”

“So, do I know them? How did you meet? Tell me everything.” Chloe’s voice was demanding, and this was the part Adrien knew was going to be a little more difficult.

“Ah… Yes, you do know her.”

Her lips thinned. “ Well ? How do I know her? She better be up to standard.”

Scratching his cheek, Adrien let out a low sigh. There was a whole consortium of ways he could imagine Chloe reacting - a blank stare, an annoyed scowl, an aggravated lecture. Hostility of some sort was basically a given, so Adrien was absolutely prepared to defend Marinette if he had to. He didn’t mind Chloe, but he wasn’t going to sit by and let her insult Marinette if she reacted deleteriously.

Adrien tried for patience, but his underlying excitement unraveled into a mess of gushing words.

“She’s not just ‘up to standard’, Chlo’. She’s… smart, charming, and so, so pretty - I feel really lucky to even have a chance to take her on a date. So please, don’t freak out? It’s Marinette.”

...

The girl blinked a few times, face comically blank.

“... Oh.” That seemed the extent of what Chloe could manage as far as a verbal response.

“And listen,” Adrien leaned forward, feeling his nerves start to untether under her scrutinizing gaze. “I know you and Marinette never really got along very well… or, at all, really. But she’s been an important person in my life since I started school, and it would mean a lot if you just… tried to be happy for me? I mean, I don’t even know if she’d want to date me or be my g-girlfriend,” he cringed, hating that he stuttered saying the world outloud. “Since tonight’s our first date and all. But I think I have a chance, and I… I just want this to work. I really, really want it to work. So… yeah.”

Clearing his throat, Adrien adopted some facade of confidence and forced himself to meet Chloe’s hardened stare. He brow was drawn together, and the way her focus flickered over his face seemed to suggest she was thinking very hard about something.

Eventually, she formulated a response.

“You like… Marinette.” It was slow and deliberate, like she was trying to test the words on her tongue before believing them.

Adrien sucked on his teeth, annoyed. Was that much not obvious?

“Yes. I do.”

After a tense thirty-seconds, the waiter appeared with Chloe’s meal. They both bristled slightly to mind their manners with the server, but once he scurried away, Chloe’s eyes had turned to dangerous slits, and the way she clicked her tongue seemed venomous.

That being said, when she spoke again, her voice was surprisingly flat.

“Okay.... Okay . Well… good for you, I guess.”

It could have been taken as sarcasm, but it didn’t sound like it to him. Chloe simply picked up a fork and began to eat, and Adrien watched her carefully while he sipped his coffee.

“You’ll give her a chance?” He said, trying to measure her reaction. After she finished chewing, her tone was just as brisk and judgemental and as perfectly-Chloe as ever.

“I mean - ugh, sure . If you really like her then I can’t do anything about that. I think you could do way, way better, but…” She shrugged and returned to her meal.

Adrien glowed, savoring the warmth of his drink with another sip.

“Well… thanks, then, Chlo’. I appreciate it.”

The girl grimaced but just focused on her food, and their quiet was interrupted shortly by her long-awaited text from Jean regarding the reception for Saturday.

For the remainder of their meal, Adrien mostly listened as their conversation returned to the La Nuit , Chloe’s current list of annoyances, and the akuma attack on her father. They didn’t comment any further on his date with Marinette, and he was somewhat grateful. He wasn’t in much of a mood to talk, but if given a chance, really feel like talking much, he knew he wouldn’t be able to help but rhapsodize on about her if asked.

    Marinette’s timing had always been a bit off.

Whether it was attendance for class, setting her alarm, knowing what to say or when to say it, or even just trying to sync up the clocks in the bedroom, she just could never get things quite right. Always walking up and descending escalator, she was never as on top of things like she wished to be.

That being said, Marinette still tried her best, though fate always tended to be on the side of Father Time.

At least, in the confines of her greenhouse, she could always rely on Mother Nature.

It was Tuesday.

Tuesday evening.

Thirty-two minutes past six, to be exact.

Her date with Adrien was starting exactly one-hundred and twenty ago, and she had no idea.

The skies that evening were carved from obsidian, hard and flat for the expanse of the skyline. The majority of the rain stopped about an hour ago, but the whole of Paris seemed lulled to sleep by the aria of droplets that rang out through the day. Everything was quieter, softer, and darker for the rain.

Bent over a sea of pallid lilies and creamy orchids, Marinette sighed and readjusted the cramp settling between her shoulder blades, rubbing away beads of sweat along her cheek only to replace them by smudges of dirt from her toiled fingers. Her apron tickled her neck, hair secured in a bun around the collar of her favorite jumper.

For an evening on the cusp of summer, it was chilly. Marinette had misjudged the weather and taken out several plants for a “streetside” display when she opened the shop that morning. Her intention had been with a hope to attract some passersby before the storms moved in, a little bristled by her recent review of their “books.” The business was barely in-the-black, and that made her nervous.

Even so, the heavy clouds, seemingly wrought from iron with their weight and might, had other plans for her plants. Marinette was pelted by sheets of rain in the trips outside early in the afternoon, dragging back in as much as she could as fast as she could, not wanting any of the sweat, blood and tears she had soaked into her plants to be wasted by the ravaging winds.

From that point on, Marinette had deemed her hair as a lost cause and put it up as neatly she could. She managed a good spirit through it all, amused by the idea of coins falling on her head instead of rain. Fighting akumas had given her a strange source of context.

The precipitation really hadn’t slowed until the day was almost over, and the dreary weather was apparent even in her private world. The shop felt damp and heavy, none of her heliotropic plants rising to follow the arc of the sun; there was no light to guide the way on a day like this. Had the skies not been so cast by a charcoal impressionist, Marinette might have noticed how late it had gotten or the fact that she hadn’t even begun to close the store yet.

Saying goodbye to Alya at 5:30 should have been the final nail in her proverbial coffin, but Marinette remained blissfully unaware of her own impending fate. An order to accompany a much more literal coffin came just after midday, and with the funeral order any pretense of preparedness had been dashed. Arraignments, and subsequent arrangements, had taken her attention, and she tried to throw herself into work so she might not have to think too deeply about death.

Doubled over, Marinette began to carve some sort of path around the back office (every surface was basically covered by planters and stands and pots for the funeral). Straightening to take a deep breath, her attention came to rest on her familiar travel mug.

For all that Alya was - outgoing, supportive, friendly and perhaps a tad pushy - she was ultimately a caring person and a valued friend. Marinette smiled fondly at her favorite mug, recalling the rush of pleasant surprise when Alya brought her a surprise second burst of caffeine, extra-large-and-extra-sweet, in the form of a spare thermos. The brunette claimed to have carried it all the way from her parent’s bakery. She had even gone so far as to pour the liquid reassurance back into Marinette’s regular cup from the morning, creating the ultimate illusion of comfort and support.

Marinette walked over and gripped the subdued steel exterior, flexing her fingers around the comforting weight of the drink before taking a vigorous swig. She found a foothold of confidence in the stifling heat of cream and bitterness, returning to the memories of that afternoon.

    Alya stood with a proud smile on her face, arms crossed as Marinette took a meek step out of the bathroom. “You’re going to do great , girl,” the brunette said, resting a hand on each shoulder. “Adrien isn’t going to know what hit him - and let’s be honest. You look damn hot in that outfit.”

“Alya!” Marinette whined, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t know if I can do this…”

“Sure you can,” her friend said, throwing an arm over Marinette’s shoulder and strolling towards the front of the store. Thank goodness there were no customers at the moment.

“Just remember to breathe and be yourself. Even if that’s stuttering-blushy Marinette. Because frankly, if you keep blushing like that it’s only going to make your skirt pop even more.”

At that, the dark-haired girl all but pushed the reporter out of the shop, stomach flipping all the while. “OKAY-BYE-AYLA-THANKS-FOR-YOUR-HELP!”

Once the bell stopped ringing, Marinette’s shoulders slumped. A sympathetic Tikki, camouflaged in her Banks’ roses, flew down to appraise her charge.

“Alya’s right, Marinette.” She smiled gently. “You look very pretty, and I’m sure Adrien will be impressed. But that doesn’t matter, anyways - the important thing is that you have a good time!”

Chewing her lip, Marinette sulked as she collected what was essentially the last of her Easter lilies and returned to the back of the shop.

Tikki stayed a step beside her as she set down the plants, marching straight back to the bathroom; she was more than ready to change back into sensible clothes. Alya had demanded to see a preview of Marinette’s date outfit, and it had earned her the “Alya Hotness Stamp of Approval.” The thought was both flattering and horrifying.

“Gahh, I just wish I knew what we were doing now.” Marinette wrung her hands, and Tikki frowned. “What if I’m too dressed up? Not dressed up enough? Maybe I should keep this on, just in case.”

“You should wait until your done with work, Marinette. It would be a shame to get dirt on your special outfit,” her kwami offered gently.

Marinette stuck her tongue out in frustration, but she knew Tikki to be right. In the back, the dark-haired girl had prepared an extra bag to store her change of clothes, along with makeup, deodorant and some other back-up supplies.

Spotting her reflection in the exterior glass windows, Marinette fidgeted with her appearance, considering herself. Would Adrien find her bare legs to be too daring?

The passing thought only made Marinette feel more nervous.

Attuned to her concerns, Tikki giggled at her chosen through their reflections. “I know I’m biased, but I think red is a great color on you.”

That made Marinette smile, and she entered the bathroom. She freshened up briefly, taking only five minutes to change back into her work clothes (and to apply some deodorant) before carefully packing away the clothes again.

The skirt had been a daring pop of ruby, and it brushed along Marinette’s pale thighs til about an inch above the knee. The fabric was light and moved with her, sheer but thoughtfully constructed in layers so as to maintain some modesty. She intended to pair it with a cozy sleeved shirt, horizontal stripes of classic black and white that were loose but comfortable against her skin.

For the time being, Marinette returned to her responsibilities, ladened by her work uniform and topped by her favorite jumper in the softest shade of pink. She had brought the extra layer originally to help ward off the morning chill, and right now it felt like a comfort blanket that she feared to take off.

With a quiet exhale, she slipped the apron back over her head and tied it firmly round her waist.

    “Marinette?”

Tikki was flying an inch from her nose, and the girl flinched in recognition. She had been leaning against the desk, staring down at her coffee in silence for several minutes.

“Are you okay?”

Marinette offered her kwami a strained smile “Yeah... thanks, Tikki. I know it’s just nerves… I just am so worried I’m going to do something wrong and blow it.”

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki sighed, floating over and settling on the desk. “Don’t talk like that. Even if something were to go badly, which I know it won’t, you know Adrien is just excited to spend time with you .”

“Right,” Marinette replied, sounding not-at-all convinced. She took another drink from Alya’s support in the flavor of almond syrup and caffeine, stopping to shake out her ebony mane. Marinette began brushing through the tresses with her fingers, spilling her concerns to a quiet audience of sympathetic flowers and a patient kwami.

“I just wish I wasn’t so nervous. It’s like I’ve taken one step forward and fifty-thousand steps back. I’m… oh, no, w-what if he tries to kiss me?! Oh Tikki, I’m so doomed .”

Marinette’s cheeks flared scarlet by the end, so bright she could have passed for Ladybug.

Tikki merely shook her head. “Well, do you want Adrien to kiss you?”

Eyes blew wide, Marinette gulped painfully but managed a tiny nod.

“Then why are you saying it like it’s a bad thing?”

Marinette ducked her head and fiddled with the thick sweater, too afraid to check the time. If it was close to 6:00, she might lose her lunch; if she had to wait much longer, she might pass out.

“I don’t know, I don’t know! I just… w-what if… what if I’m bad at it? A-at kissing, I mean.”

A shameful lump lodged in her throat, and Marinette tried to hide her face in the collar of her jumper. On Tikki’s part, it was difficult not to laugh at the dark halo of raven hair peeking through the neck of the light pink sweater, but that would be hurtful and that was not at all the little red being’s intention.

Tikki measured each word carefully, her eyes bright with reassuring pride. “You’re a special, beautiful human being, Marinette. Inside and out. And Adrien is a kind person, but even more, he’s your friend. I think the only reason he wouldn’t enjoy himself is if you don’t enjoy yourself. A kiss is supposed to be special only because you want it to be; if you decide that’s not something you’re ready for, you don’t have to kiss him.”

Swallowing roughly, but feeling a little better, Marinette could still feel her heart lodged in her throat. The only way to breathe again would be to get it out at this point.

“Thanks, Tikki.” She exhaled slowly. “This is just… sort of unreal? I’ve loved him for so long, it’s hard to try to imagine what tomorrow will look like. I’ve dreamed of today, and now it’s here, and I feel both somehow completely under and over-prepared for it.”

Tikki followed her as she moved around the room, but Marinette paused when bluebell eyes locked with her own. She exhaled her fears, and managed to inhale some small amount of courage.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset or anything. I’m actually really happy, I promise.” She offered, and Tikki seemed to relax at the honesty coloring her chosen’s tone.

Marinette studied her hands, still cupped around the dark exterior of her thermos.

Really, she was happy. Incredibly happy. So happy, in fact, that it hurt, and her stomach had started to churn at the thought that, by the time the day was over, she would have gone on a date with Adrien.

“I just… don’t want to disappoint him.”

Adrien’s texts throughout the day had been increasingly cryptic, and it was starting to make her worries multiple. First there had been a change in plans, then the suspicious questions, and now just silence . Marinette’s pulse surged with uncertainty, trying to riddle through what he could be planning.

Still, she smiled dreamily. “I don’t think he’s ever had a girlfriend before, and I’ve not really dated anyone… I don’t know how any of this works, but I guess neither does he?”

Gazing up, chosen and kwami wore matching grins, and Marinette added, “I’m just… I’m going to stick to what we agreed on. Like fighting an akuma. A plan.”

Tikki bowed her head and smiled. “I know you can do it, Marinette. Remember, just be thoughtful, and I’ll be with you every step of the way!”

Marinette’s smile dimpled and she shut her eyes, taking a few steady breaths before replying.

“Thanks, Tikki. You always know just what to say.”

When her eyes opened, it was to the hackneyed call of a bell at the front door, calling for her attention. Marinette looped her hair elastic along her wrist, and stretched while calling around the corner.

“I’ll be right there - just one second, please!”

Tikki disappeared with a wink, and Marinette awkwardly high-stepped her way around the garden of white silken petals.

“ Bonjour , my apologies…. ap-ap-ap…” Her brain stopped working, a record catching at the end of an oldie, and she mouthed the same sound over and over at the sight across from her.

A crown of platinum hair stood out like a sun breaking the dawn against a dark backdrop, night having settled outside. Green eyes and a confused expression were all pointed in her direction, but both succumbed to a smile so beautiful it made her breath hitch.

Adrien had his phone in one hand, presumably about to call her, but he quickly tucked it away when their eyes met.

Marinette felt her knees go weak and her mouth gaped in shock, so she firmly closed her lips and tried to present her warmest smile, cursing madly at herself internally.

You… you… you idiot! How did you lose track of time! What is the matter with you, you klutzy, luckiest-unluckiest, lovesick stupid girl?!

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Marinette crossed the counter. “H-hi, Adrien,” she greeted meekly, trying not to stare. He’s mastered the look of “nice-but-not-too-nice,” dressed in perfectly fitting jeans and a nice, clearly Gabriel-brand shirt over a plain shirt. The neck dipped slightly, exposing a line of his collarbone that drew her eye. Marinette was finding it very difficult to remember a single word of French.

“Hi, Marinette. I hope I’m not, uh, interrupting? Did work get very busy?” He spoke carefully and glanced at his watch.

Damn this beautiful, well-mannered boy. Of course he would try to absolve her of any of the guilt she was absolutely due to have.

“I… um, I’m sorry,” Marinette took a step forward, keeping her voice low and head lower. She could feel her cheeks burning in shame. “I just got lost of time track - I mean, uh, I lost track of time.”

When he didn’t respond, she blurted, “Someone died.”

“Oh, my god, I’m so sorry.” He took another step closer, immediately sympathetic. “I wish I had known - were they someone you were close to?”

Marinette snapped her eyes to his face. Her tongue felt felt slow and encumbered - how was she supposed to respond to that? Why in the world was he blushing?

“N-no! No!” She waved her hands, practically yelling. He blinked in surprise.

“I… ugh, okay. Let me start over.”

A long, slow inhale followed, and Marinette closed her eyes. Across her tongue, a dance of musky humid air and the taste of flowers mingled together, a remind of the primordial presence she had grown here. Besides the quiet patrons of petals, it was just Adrien here. Adrien, her long-time crush, but more importantly, Adrien her long-time friend .

And the exhale.

When Marinette opened her eyes, she already could tell her cheeks bloomed with the color of embarrassment, but her contemplative action had the intended grounding effect. She was able to meet his gaze a little easier, and the bemused, pure smile that waited for her carried her through what was a very necessary explanation.

“I’m sorry, Adrien” she said, wearing a shy smile. “Time got away from me today. The person who died - I mean, there was an order for a funeral . It wasn’t someone I knew personally, but… yeah. I guess I probably shouldn’t have started out by talking about death. Nothing like jumping right into the heavy stuff?” Marinette finished with an awkward laugh.

To her surprise and greater relief, Adrien chuckled, and she joined in with a growing giggle of her own. The whole ridiculousness of the situation caught up with her, and the respite helped her to unwind.

“I like to think I’m pretty creative when it comes to jokes,” Adrien said with a grin. “But not a lot that have to do with death that wouldn’t be in poor taste. You’ve effectively silenced my funny-bone for the moment, Marinette.”

Her stomach fell through the floor when he said her name; it sounded so much sweeter coming from his tongue.

Coughing, she tried to meet his eye. “ Well , I want to say that’s something to be proud of, but this whole conversation has turned really macabre. Speaking of,” she tapped her chin. “I can wrap this up really quickly, if you can just give me a few minutes. Do you mind coming to the back with me?”

At that, Adrien raised a brow but nodded, and Marinette lingered at the front to lock the door and flip the sign to closed. She acted without much thought, and when she flipped the overhead light off the room became shockingly dark.

“Oh,” Adrien breathed quietly, clearly a little surprised. Illumination poured through the opening to the back of the store, outlining his broad shoulders and slightly tousled hair in shadow. Marinette, unable to see his face, tried for boldness and reached for one of his hands to lead him through the darkness.

A soft pressure ran through her fingers, and his fingers intertwined with hers easily. In the pewter light, shadows cast by a small forest, she was glad he couldn’t see her smile.

“C’mon,” she said gently, tugging him a step behind her towards the brightness across the room

It was a short walk - hardly even worth the hand holding - but reason was out the many windows now. This was unchartered territory, a sea with no compass, with only instincts and emotion to guide her.

Marinette didn’t drop his hand when they walked through the back, and she felt a little smug by the way his mouth fell open. “ This ,” she raised her other hand. “Is what I’ve been working on. The only thing that brings more people together than a wedding is a funeral.”

“Mari,” his voice seemed breathless, and she felt her grip turn to putty in his hand. “This is amazing. You did all of this today ?”

Shyly, she nodded, and forced herself to release his hand. She really needed to finish this if they wanted to get any further than the door.

“Thanks, let me...” Marinette began to carefully scoot something around, clearing a path to the chaise so he might be able to sit down. For a designated employee lounger, it seemed like Chat and Adrien used it more than anyone else.

He was quick on the uptake and began to help her shift the two larger displays out of the way, and their close proximity caught up to her more than once.

After another minute, they had divided the white ocean to create something resembling a walkway, at least maneuverable enough so that Adrien could get to the chaise and Marinette her desk. Almost immediately, she sank into the chair and pulled some papers forward, the ink bleeding through another day the shop held her here.

“Twenty Phalaenopsis blumes,” she murmured, brow creased. “And every last Easter Lily I have. Meh.”

“I love these,” Adrien commented off-handedly, and Marinette looked up to see him leaning over one of the orchids.

She smiled and turned back to her work. “Oh, me too. Orchids are probably my second or third favorite of all flowers.”

“Really?” The suggestion seemed to amuse him. Marinette merely nodded and kept her head forward, trying to use this as some approximation of what sort of inventory she was going to need. A lot more Easter lilies, clearly, but her orchid stock was actually probably okay. A regular order of them should do her fine, but she would be sure to change her preference to white.

“One of the things I love most about this job,” Marinette offered after a moment of silence, feeling guilty to make him wait for her. The least she could do was try to keep up some conversation. “Is the way people never act the way we expect them too.”

Adrien’s tone was quiet. “Oh? What do you mean?”

“All of this… these whites are so pretty, so pure, you know?” She lifted her shoulders and gazed around the office momentarily, stopping to meet Adrien’s curious gaze. “When I think of funerals, it’s all black and sadness. It’s almost hard to imagine human beings associating Phalaenopsis blumes - the orchids - or Easter lillies with death, but here we are.”

The blond smiled, and the purity of the gesture put each lilly and orchid to shame.

“I’ve never been to a funeral, but I think I can imagine,” he said, voice so soft it was like silk wrapped around her skin, and she was glad for her sweater at the moment or else he might have noticed her sudden gooseflesh.

“Yeah… it’s something about the color. Other colors mean, you know, love and romance and never ending happiness. Blah blah blah,” she waved a hand, and he smiled at her. “But when it’s soft, gentle like these - this white - it means something totally different. Sympathy. It’s sort of beautiful, don’t you think?”

“...Yes.” He responded after a pause. “It is beautiful.”

Marinette blushed and lowered her head, completing the bare minimum work she needed to so as not to come in tomorrow to an utter nightmare. After another few minutes she pushed away carefully from the old mahogany desk, spinning to face him.

“Your hair looks really nice like that,” Adrien offered when it was clear she had finished. Beaming, Marinette murmured a thanks. She had forgotten taking it out of her bun, and now the waves were loose around her shoulders.

“You really… you, uh, don’t look half-bad yourself?” Marinette felt a rush of confidence when he laughed, so she tried for a casual voice and asked a question.

“So, what is this mystery date you’re taking me on?” Risking a flicker of attention to his face, her heart swelled to see his lips turned up in an unbearably cute smile.

“Ah, right,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Mystery might be putting it a little strongly. That makes it sound like I planned something elaborate. It was more of a… Hail Marinette than anything.”

She snorted. “Please tell me you didn’t cancel our plans just to accommodate a joke.”

He grinned widely, and there was a flash of mischief in his eyes. “Oh, I wish. But, eh, I said earlier it was sort of a long story. Guess it’s better we discuss it now.” The choice of words should’ve been cause for concern, but Adrien’s voice was calm and reassuring. Marinette couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at him, and crossed her arms.

“Okay, then, what’s the stitch?” She asked, eyes lingering over the mass of deliveries next to the desk. Adrien followed her gaze, and his furrowed brow looked curious.

“First of all, there’s one very important thing I need to know. Was that a Kim Possible reference?”

“Um, of course?” Marinette could feel the second-dosage of caffeine starting to prick her brain, turning her typically reasonable mind to a hyper, giddy mess. Great.

Adrien laughed, eyes sparkling as he leaned over his knees. “Wow. You are something else.”

“Pfft, don’t even. Kim Possible was a great show.” She stuck out her tongue defiantly.

Across from her, he blinked a few times and reached for his phone. Curiously, Marinette scooted a little closer and tried to see what he was doing, but stopped when he turned up the volume.

“There’s a reason I always keep my phone on silent,” he commented. The room was still for a moment until she heard it - Adrien played his text tone.

Doop-doop, da-doop .

“Oh my god,” she placed a hand over her face, giggling madly when the realization hit her. “You really are a dork.”

The blond bit his lip through a smile, tucking his phone back into his jeans. “I thought you were the one who just initiated a conversation saying what’s the stitch ?”

“I did,” Marinette agreed between chuckles, trying calm herself. “But I also happen to want to be a designer, so I get a free pass to use ‘stitch’ conversationally.”

Adrien laughed and shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

Beaming at her tiny victory - of what, she wasn’t even sure - Marinette felt her cheeks pink when he met her eyes. For someone who spent most hours of the day within the walls of a green wonderland, his eyes made it all look like a cerulean afterthought.

“So…” she tried to keep the waver from her voice, and Adrien smiled when she coughed slightly. “What’s the plan? I assume you didn’t want to talk about Kim Possible all night?

Adrien tapped his chin. “As tempting as that sounds, I think we should try to stick to something at least reminiscent of a date. Any ideas?”

Marinette smirked. “I’ve never dated before, so your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well…” he began slowly, keeping his attention to his fumbling thumbs. If she didn’t know any better, the ravenette thought he looked a little sad, and it made her chest ache.

“I guess… honesty is the best policy. So, yeah, today I had a talk with my dad about - um, us .” Marinette tried to keep her gaze steady, nodding politely. That seemed to help him gather his thoughts, and his expression turned impish.

“And I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m actually sort of famous,” his smile widened when Marinette rolled her eyes. “So basically, I thought the movies and ice cream would be low-key enough so the press might not, you know, harass us? But my father seemed to think that was a bad idea, and, I guess I’d rather play it safe than sorry. I was hoping we could do something more private. If that’s okay?”

By the end, her brow came together, and Marinette thought about his concerns seriously.

It made a lot of sense. In fact, a tiny, terribly petty part of Marinette’s brain had already accounted for the fact that reporters might see her with Adrien, and she sort of felt exhilarated by the idea of being photographed with him on an actual date (not like that whole fiasco a few years ago when his bodyguard was akumatized). The romantic fantasy of dodging the paparazzi with him, trying to hide their faces while photographed was just that, though - a fantasy. The longer she thought on it, and the more thoroughly she studied the dip in his brow, the serious downturn in his lips, and the hardness in her eyes, Marinette recognized it was just a pipe-dream waiting to become a pipe-bomb. Sure, the imagination of holding hands or gripping to his arm while some camera person yelled questions at them seemed a bit endearing, it was also something that Adrien had to deal with every single day. If anything, it meant that he was taking this rather seriously to take steps to avoid that, and the thought made her heart flutter furiously against her ribs.

Marinette smiled and focused her attention to his face, forming words slowly. “That… is just fine, Adrien. I don’t mind going out with you, like, in public. Like, with the cameras, I-I wouldn’t be angry being, um, ‘spotted’ with you. Isn’t that what you famous people say?”

His natural smile returned, and it spurred her to continue. “But I wasn’t married to the idea of the movies or ice cream anyways. It was… Alya’s idea, to be honest. We can do anything you want, and I’d be happy.”

Ducking her head, Marinette was surprised to hear his weight adjust on the lounger, the sound of shifting fabric indicating he was moving. Adrien came to kneel in front of her in the desk chair, occupying the small amount of space in a meadow of emerald and ivory. The lines of his face were etched from the most benevolent watercolors, soft and sensitive as he appraised her carefully.

“Speaking of being spotted ,” he began, brushing a tender hand across her cheek. “You have dirt on your face.”

Marinette’s felt her eyes widen, every nerve abnormally responsive to the caress of his fingers as he rubbed the smudge from her pores with a light pressure.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

Marinette.exe has stopped working.

Adrien was leaning terribly close, and his presence was intoxicating. She drank in every detail of him, complexion warm and soft, lips pressed in a line of focus as he studied her cheek, blond hair pushed away from his sparkling eyes. His breath reminded her of eucalyptus leaves and sunshine, and she could feel his light exhales brush her fringe along her forehead. Careful and surprisingly gentle, his thumb stroked comforting patterns along her cheekbones, and she was certain he could feel them grow warmer by the second under his touch.

Marinette could hear Tikki in her mind, the kwami’s voice steady and reassuring.

Remember, just be thoughtful.

Right. She needed to unwind herself from him, but god if it wasn’t hard.

Offering a coy smile, Marinette tilted her head slightly to catch his eye. When their gazes met, Adrien blushed the color of roses, and he smiled sheepishly while drawing his hand back.

How easy it was to get caught up in each other, Marinette mused. She even dared to question - to hope - did he adore touching her face as much as she wished he would continue?

An affectionate smirk played at Adrien’s lips - god , if he wasn’t so handsome -  and he leaned back on his knees.

“S-sorry,” he mumbled. “I think I got most of it.”

She touched her hand to her face, the skin beneath ablaze with warmth. “Thanks…”

Trying to focus on anything but his face, Marinette settled on the one of the fixtures of lillies to his back, and it was easier to string together words again as she studied the familiar waterfall of powdery petals, simple smiles of cream beneath their window-paned twilight, occupied only between two nervous sets of eyes and a wistful expanse of silence.

“Anyways…” Marinette cleared her throat. “I’m done here now, so maybe we can finally get around to, I don’t know, something date-y?”

Adrien bit his tongue, smiling. “Date-y, huh. Well…” he started to stand up, careful not to knock into any of her meticulously prepared arrangements. “Are you hungry?”

Her hands went to her belly at the mention of food. “Always.”

Amused, he offered a hand to help her stand, and she was probably a little too eager to accept. He didn’t let go of her, collapsing their fingers together, and the action was thrilling. “Well, then we’d better get you some food. Can you wait here while I get the car?”

She smiled and gave him a mute nod.

Adrien squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’ll be right back,” he managed a swift salute and was out the front door before she could do much but blink.

On cue, Tikki flew out of nowhere and squeezed Marinette’s cheek.

“Wow! That was really romantic, Marinette.” She giggled happily as the bluenette just blinked dreamily, covering her heart with both hands.

“You should finish closing up the store so you can go when he gets back! I’ll be in your bag…” The kwami zipped away, and the flutter of air as Tikki brushed by her ear was slightly rousing.

“Okay… okay .” Untying her apron, Marinette threw it over the back of her chair and pulled the pink sweater over her head hurriedly.

Practically sprinting around the store, the girl hastily closed up everything else she could without making too much of a mess. She locked the register and brought the cash to the back, turned off the last of the lights. Of course, she would have preferred Adrien not seen her at all in her her sweaty work clothes and dirty jeans, but this opportunity actually worked to her advantage. With impressive speed, Marinette was shimming into her second change of clothes, packing away her worn work ensemble into her bag. She shared a quick, desperate glance with Tikki before resuming her mad dash around the shop.

She used the few moments she had to freshen herself up and pop a mint into her mouth, disturbed by the possibility that Adrien had suffered through her coffee breath, and paused at the exterior glass windows again. Alya had brought her a fire-engine red beret, a practical icon in the world of French fashion, and she affixed it to her hair perfectly off-centered.

For a moment, she looked every part the classic Parisian young woman, but the thought was fleeting as Marinette remembered a certain blond was waiting for her.

She scurried out the front, readying her keys to lock the door behind her. Adrien was already there, standing under the front awning and looking up at the billowing night sky quietly while she finished up. As the bell chimed, he turned and visibly brightened at her reappearance.

“I hope you don’t mind that I changed,” Marinette said absently as she locked the door, gesturing towards her outfit. “I know you waited long enough, but I figured I could at least pretend to clean myself up...”

By the time she spun back to face him, she caught him very pointedly, um, looking over her outfit. It was hard to say who blushed more at being caught, and they both smiled and looked away. Alya’s voice echoed in her head -

If you keep blushing like that, it’ll just make your skirt pop even more.

Adrien cleared his throat, still looking away. “N-Not at all - I think you look, really, wow? You know? Beautiful. For a florist, you sure floor- ed me.” They met eyes and he winked, clearly enjoying the chagrin that replaced her shy smile.

In a fluid motion, Adrien stepped forward her and wrapped an arm around her waist. They both paused when the sudden movement elicited a squeak from Marinette’s lips, and the blond seemed prepared to step away out of fear of invading her personal space. Instead, Marinette fumbled to cling to his jacket, trying to wordlessly reaffirm that, not only was this okay, but she wanted him to know that his touch was welcome.

“I s-should hit you for that joke,” Marinette teased, and Adrien grinned shamelessly.

“But it’s true! You look so pretty, it’s made me dai-zy.”

“Ugh,” she groaned, dropping her head while he enjoyed a warm giggle.

Under her breath, she muttered, “How can someone so cute have such a bad sense of humor?”

“What’s that?” He cooed in her ear, and Marinette’s hairs stood on end. “Did you call me cute again?”

She could practically taste his cologne on her tongue as they started walking down the street, and Marinette tried to keep her focus on the familiar silver sedan parked a little ways from the store. If she didn’t, she probably wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from collapsing further into him, to run her hands over his chest or grab his collar and capture his lips with ravenous kisses. That would probably come on a teensy bit strong, she wagered.

Marinette noticed Adrien bobbing his head, lips pursed in her periphery. He appeared to be in the middle of some sort of internal debate.

“Hmm,” Adrien hummed, stopping outside the car. The vehicle was running, and through the tinted windows Marinette could see his driver in the front seat.

“Something on your mind?” She offered, quirking a brow up at him. “If it’s another pun, you can just take me home right now.”

“Actually, yes to the something, no to the pun,” he mused, leaning down to get the door for her. “Since our plans changed, should you notify your parents? I don’t want them thinking I abducted you.”

Probably louder than was appropriate, Marinette erupted into laughter. Without thinking, she slipped a candid remark. “Oh, please. My Mom’s about ready to start planning our wedding.”

“Oh?” Adrien’s face spread into a wicked grin. “Does that mean I’ve already got your mother’s approval?”

Mortified, Marinette flustered and reached for the door, pushing his hand aside to let herself in so she wouldn’t have to answer. She grumbled to herself while putting on the seatbelt, cursing that annoyingly handsome, knowing grin he sported while he joined her in the back seat.

Quietly, she leaned over to him while his driver locked the doors and put the car in gear. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”

“Maybe I wanted to surprise you,” he responded coyly, having the audacity to wink at her for the second time tonight. It made her heart flutter, a net capturing her voice in her throat.

Damn, damn, damn this adorable boy.

Petulantly, Marinette crossed her arms in the backseat and ignored him for the rest of the car ride. When she did chance to glance in his direction, he had his phone out and was texting with a scowl on his face. If she looked for too long, his attention would snap over to her and she could tell he was going to say something, but she simply pointed her chin a bit higher and turned back to the window.

If he was going to submit her to horrible jokes for the whole night, then she was going to treat him to some silence.

After about ten minutes of driving, Adrien made a casual announcement. “Okay, we’re almost there.”

Marinette studied their surroundings, sucking her teeth. She had some choice questions the boy beside her, and she almost wondered if he was doing this to get on her nerves.

They were still in the same neighborhood, driving aimlessly. They’d even passed the flower shop again. The dark streets of Paris swept by under muted lamp-light, subdued in an evanescent haze. The energy that usually brought civilians to the streets was banished, and the world felt very empty but for the two of them (and, well, their driver).

Once they circled the street for a third time, Marinette had begun to fidget. She couldn’t suppress her burning curiosity, so she picked at her skirt and whispered in his direction.

“C’mon, what’s this about?”

Instead of answering right away, Adrien leaned all the way across the seat and whispered in her ear, causing her face to burst with color. His voice was surprisingly husky, and it knocked her heart into an irregular rhythm of the most lovely palpitations. She made a mental note to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist once this was all over.

He countered her question with a question of his own.

“Close your eyes?”

Swallowing, Marinette complied wordlessly. Just barely, she managed a few words through her dry throat. “I’m guessing no peeking?”

This was insanity. That’s what it was. Adrien had reached out and took her hand, and began rubbing circles into her skin. She shivered visibly, and Adrien hummed a quiet agreement.

“No peeking,” he repeated, and she could hear the smile behind his voice.

After another few minutes that felt like the entirety of this unforgiving mortal coil called life, Marinette felt his hand draw away, and she had to fight not to open her eyes.

“Okay, can you keep your eyes closed? I’ll come around and let you out.”

“If this is some convoluted attempt at chivalry…” She warned, tone playful as she bit her lip. Adrien snickered quietly, and Marinette heard him get out of the car, closing it firmly behind him.

Feeling a little awkward, she whispered to the driver. “Thanks, um, for doing this.”

She didn’t expect a response, so it was a surprise when she heard a grunt of acknowledgment. It was sort of nice, and it was definitely one of the first times he’s ever made an intelligible noise that she could recall.

Before she could do much else but smile, she felt a brush of cool night time air brush her face, and the door was opening.

A soft, strong grip found her hand, and she blushed furiously when she realized he was unbuckling her seatbelt, leaning entirely in her personal space. Marinette had to hold her breath to keep from shrieking, sighing, and squeaking all at once.

“Okay, here we go,” he said evenly after the belt was relieved from her pelvis and shoulder, and Adrien gave her plenty of support while getting out of the car.

“You know as well as I do that I can barely walk with my eyes open, Anything .” Marinette pointed out, gripping to his arm with both hands and squeezing her eyes together. “So take this as me trusting you with my life.”

“I’m honored,” Adrien answered. “We’re about there, but keep your eyes closed .”

Marinette wrinkled her nose but did as she was bid, and an old story jogged her memory while they walked.

“When I was in the third grade,” she mused softly. “I went to a summer camp where we went on field trips all around Paris. I imagine your parents didn’t allow anything like that?”

“Not even a little bit,” he replied, and Marinette detected a bit of tension in his mannerisms. She dared herself to brush a little closer to him before continuing.

“Well, maybe that’s for the best. This story doesn’t have a happy ending.” She scoffed. “I don’t even remember where we were going, but on our way back to the bus I closed my eyes and let my camp friend guide me back. One thing led to another, and I ran into a telephone pole and got a horrible nose bleed.”

Marinette scowled when she heard Adrien start to laugh, but she pushed on. “It was terrible! One moment, I’m walking with my friend and then bam, literally. Blood everywhere in front of all the other kids, counselors, everybody . I think Nino was there - I bet he might even remember. All I really remember was the blood and crying a lot.”

“Aww, Mari,” he said, voice a mask of sympathy. She could hear him trying to keep from laughing, and the notion made her giggle lightly herself.

“So… you know, take it as a compliment! After Paige Curtis jacked up my nose in the third grade, I don’t trust many people to guide me like this.”

As she finished her story, they stopped walking. Marinette felt him step away and the absence left her colder than she anticipated in a catching breeze, shuddering and flattening out her skirt anxiously.

A lot of things happened at once, leading to Marinette opening her eyes without express permission. That being said, Adrien appeared ready to give the cue anyways, and his eyes sparkled in the dark as her expression morphed to one of shock.

His voice was soft, and features animated.

“Um, surprise?”

A loud bell, and a creaky, familiar door.

Candles, flickering little orange lights everywhere.

Glass reflections of dark juniper leaves, constellations of rainbow petals dotting the canvas of her flower shop, awash with marigold shadows that flickered with the flames.

“What… the…?” Marinette mouthed, walking forward with her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t even care to close it at that moment - what had he done ?

She struggled, looking up and around before resting her eyes on a shy, smiling blond as he closed the door behind her.

Never had the bell sounded so bright, tinkling in her ear like a childhood secret. Marinette swallowed uselessly, eyes coming to rest on a simple folding table in the very center of the store.

A big cooler was on the floor, along with a large laptop and a stack of assorted DVDs.

Adrien rubbed his hands together, evidently nervous that she had nothing to say.

“W-well, you know, I felt bad that we had to switch up the original plans… so I thought I could bring the movies and ice cream to you, since we couldn’t go out because of me?”

Marinette just stared, wide-eyed as he took a hesitant step closer. A tiny part of her brain wondered what the heck her face could have looked like, but the rest of her attention was torn between studying his expression and trying to puzzle together how he could’ve pulled this off.

She was entirely surprised, of course by the picturesque scene he built especially for her, but even more so by his reaction .

Marinette had never seen Adrien like this - not even when he asked her out. The searching, almost worried look in his emerald eyes, wide and sensitive, and the way they studied her face for a hint of disappointment; the way his hands fumbled to reach for her own when she continued to say nothing, linking their fingers together with clammy palms; his glowing cheeks, twinged pink and orange beneath the lights he had somehow so carefully organized around the shop.

If she didn’t feel about ready to pass out, Marinette would have kissed him right then and there.

She wanted to, desperately, but her body was stuck just like that.

Adrien, apparently, was only growing more nervous. He started to ramble, and Marinette just watched the way his lips moved, mesmerized by how soft they looked.

“I-I know, you know, work is probably the last place you want to spend your free time, but… I thought it would be private enough, and I can only imagine you’re sick of it here, but it’s my favorite place in the whole city, Marinette. Anytime I come here my day is ten times better, because I get to see you. I h-hope… I hope this isn’t all too weird for you?”

Bowing his head, Marinette followed his gaze. He was staring at their hands, but when he spoke again, his focus was on her face. The glimmer of his eyes peered out from beneath his blonde fringe, obscuring his face ever-so-slightly.

“Are you… surprised?”

“Surprise is…” Marinette licked her lips, trying to keep her voice from cracking. “Definitely one word for it.”

His posture straightened slightly, emboldened by her encouraging words. “Would ‘pleasantly surprised’ be a possible substitute?”

“... Let’s just say, being a florist, you have successfully floor -ed me.” Marinette smiled and dropped his hands, but only to wrap her arms around his middle and hug him carefully, troubled by how absolutely inadequate the gesture felt to convey how much she appreciated his surprise.

He froze for a moment while she hugged him, but he wrapped his arms around her after a pause and she could feel him smiling into her shoulder. It gave her chills to feel his jaw brush along her bit of exposed skin, and Marinette was starting to regret not kissing him.

Still, she sighed comfortably. “Thank you, Adrien. This is really beautiful.”

He didn’t say anything as they seperated slowly, but he was wearing an amused look on his face.

“What’s that look for?” He questioned, and Marinette realized she was squinting over his shoulder at the flickering orange lights.

Bemused, she moved around him to confirm her suspicions. “These are… LED candles, aren’t they?”

Adrien blushed slightly. “Yeah… I thought actual flame inside a place filled with plants was probably a little hazardous.”

She giggled at that, and he shot her a look.

“I didn’t want to be playing with fire .”

“Adrien, why?” She groaned, slumping her shoulders. “We were having a moment!”

“I made the moment better,” the blond argued, standing up a little straighter. “Come on, let’s sit. The ice cream won’t stay forever.”

Marinette let him pull out her chair, although not before sticking her tongue out at him. At that, Adrien beamed and sat down, situating his own folding chair right beside her (as opposed to across the table).

“Ice cream is a rarity for me,” he commented as he pulled forward the plastic cooler. “So I just sort of bought anything that sounded good, and grabbed some spoons. I figured we could share?”

Marinette peered in the insulated plastic contraption and had to bite down at the urge to laugh, managing a stifled little snicker instead. It was your standard beach or party cooler, and it was packed from top to bottom with probably twenty different flavors of pint-sized ice creams.

“A man with manners, yet he eats from the container…” Marinette noted, looking slyly in his direction. Adrien shrugged and offered her a spoon.

“What can I say, I’m a man of mystery.”

“ That ,” Marinette said severely, trying to hide a smile. “Is the most honest thing you’ve ever said.”

“That seems to imply I’m a liar. Do I deceive you often, Mari?” He teased back, setting out six flavors to start and grabbing the pile of DVDs.

Marinette was smiling so widely it was starting to hurt, but she didn’t care. “I can’t even count the ways.”

He snorted. “You’re unbelievable sometimes.”

In lieu of a response, Marinette popped the first scoop of the night into her mouth. “Mmm, ‘ooo goo’th.”

“Gooth?” He raised a brow, and Marinette punched him on the arm with her spoon-hand, cheeks filled with cinnamon bun flavored ice cream.

“‘On’th mathe ‘un of me!”

Adrien heeded her mumbled warning, biting his tongue to keep from laughing. Instead, he gestured down towards the movies.

“Okay, so, what’ll it be? I called the Hail Marinette, so I figure the least I could do is let you pick the movie.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes in the low-light, leaning forward to better read the names.

“These…” She paused, checking the selection a second time just to make sure. “These are all Disney movies.” “I like Disney movies,” he stated matter-of-factly, and the cheeky grin he gave her made her heart beat a little faster. Awareness washed over her, her skin turned hyperaware of his proximity - arms practically on top of each other, their legs were touching under the table. There wasn’t an inch between their chairs, and Marinette was almost sorry it wasn’t one long seat… but she was getting ahead of herself.

Marinette coughed. “I like Disney movies too, but I haven’t heard of half of these. Oh, but you’ve got Studio Ghibli…”

Working on opening a tub of frozen dessert of the banana chocolate variety, Adrien nodded seriously. “Of course; Disney Japan. Miyazaki is a genius.”

She pursed her lips, biting down on the urge to confess her love to him right then and there. Why did he have to be perfect in every conceivable way?

Movies, Marinette. Not “marry me and have my children.”

“How about Castle in the Sky? I haven’t seen that one in ages.”

Adrien’s eyes sparkled, clearly thrilled by the suggestion. “One of my favorites.”

As he worked on setting up the movie, and Marinette used the opportunity to snatch the ice cream he had chosen and seize the first bite.

“You are pure evil, I swear,” Adrien muttered, the smile at his lips betraying any real anger. Marinette just hummed merrily, demonstrating with unnecessary enthusiasm how absolutely incomparable it was to savor the first bite.

“I’ll get you for that,” he swore. Marinette used the little rush of victory to muster a wink, turning her attention to the opening credits.

Studio Ghibli films were infamously long for animated features, but the time passed easily. Adrien, true to his word, waited for Marinette to crack open the next flavor and stole back the first bite, grinning triumphantly when she pouted. After another couple flavors and passing around the containers, Marinette declared she needed a break from the richness and Adrien packed the ice cream away; they had barely dented the haul he had brought, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit to enjoying the opportunity to sample. It was like the window-shopping of the dessert-world, and growing up in a bakery, it was nice to be on the other side of the glass for a change.

Once their melting distractions had been stored away, both blond and bluenette were sucked right into the movie. The soundtrack was a marvel and the animations were beautiful and dynamic, emblematic of just about every creation marked by the Studio Ghibli seal, and the plot was more compelling than Marinette remembered. Perhaps it was a product of nuance, appreciating film differently as you aged, or from the the unsung irony that she, like Sheeta, had a magical artifact that gave her inexplicable powers. In either case, Marinette was pulled right in, empathetic to the girl’s capture, identifying with her struggle to resign her power in exchange for Pazu’s safety.

Thank goodness Chat Noir had never been captured; she wasn’t sure what she would do.

More than once, Marinette found herself more of an audience to Adrien than the movie. His eyes lit up as Pazu orchestrated his plan with the Dola pirates, he scowled in time with Sheeta’s ongoing struggle, and he admired the beauty of Laputa once they discovered the magical island.

Occasionally, he would make a passing comment about the film in the form of an curious bit of obscure knowledge only a true fan might know.

“Oh, and that - the ‘aetherium.’ That’s something they added for the dub. I think it’s originally called volcite, or volucite… something like that,” he murmured, flickering his attention from the screen to her face. Marinette had been clearly caught staring, and it made her blush furiously.

As the ending neared, Marinette took a slow breath and tried to force some courage. Her hand slid from the table and sought out Adrien’s (he had both hands folded under his chin, rapt attention directed towards the screen). At the gentle introduction of her fingers, he blinked and glanced in her direction, wearing a small smile. She tried to return it steadily, and instead of accepting her offer directly, he cupped her fingers delicately between his hands and brought her hand to his lips, whispering secrets into her skin.

“I almost cried when I first watched this. I thought Pazu and Sheeta died.”

Marinette felt herself pink, the sensation of his warm breath dancing along her wrist, and he tugged her hand slightly to draw her closer. The chairs made it a little awkward, but she ended up propping her elbow on the arm rest while Adrien cupped her hand in both his own, brushing his lips over the valley of her knuckles absently. It was hard to tell if he was doing it on purpose or if he had been that deeply pulled into the movie, but Marinette was totally unable to focus on anything but the hypnotic pattern of his breathing, cresting over and between her fingers.

At some point, she closed her eyes and nearly fell asleep to the sensation; she didn’t even notice the movie ended until he said her name.

“Marinette?”

She flinched so suddenly that her knee smacked the table, and a slew of florist’s curses followed.

“ Mother of flowers, ” the girl spat, gripping her knee and hissing. “Damned daffodils, Lazy freakin ’ Susans.”

Adrien’s voice was amused, but he placed a delicate hand on her injury. “How do you go without breaking your arms and legs everyday?”

“It’s…” she peeked through her lids, gulping at the sight of his hand on her exposed skin, all of her nerve-endings on fire. “An art, I think.”

“It sure is.” Adrien murmured, moving his hand away. Marinette’s skin burned where he touched her, aching for the electricity she felt flow through his fingertips.

Standing, Adrien put back together his DVDs and closed the lid of his laptop, stacking everything carefully. A black duffle bag appeared from beneath the table, and he grinned sheepishly.

“I’m not going to let this ice cream go to waste,” he said as he stored away the cooler. “Maybe you can come over and help me finish it sometime.”

Marinette had begun to stand, but froze halfway through the motions. Adrien seemed to catch himself, and when their eyes met she admired the rosy tint that colored his cheeks.

“I mean, if you… if you’d want to do something like this again. I had a lot of fun, though I am sorry it wasn’t Andre’s ice cream.”

Adopting a soft smile, Marinette stopped him in his tidying up by placing a hand over his.

“I would… I would love that, Adrien. I don’t have really anything to go on - except that one time we dressed up in disguises and went to the movies,” she paused and smiled when he made a face. “But I can say confidently that this was the best date ever. Thank you.”

Chairs pushed out, they stood in a darkened room, quiet but for their breathing. Marinette was angled towards him, and he was mostly facing the table, one hand on the DVDs, another hesitating over the plastic surface with her own trembling fingers. A shotgun in the silence, Marinette heard him gulp more than she noticed the action, her own attention drowning in the viridescent depths of his keen, bright eyes. The flicker of false-candle light followed his features as he turned to face her properly, and she watched as his attention flickered from her eyes to her lips.

Marinette could feel the hunger in his stare, and it caused a maelstrom in her stomach of her unfamiliar, wanton curiosity.

Adrien’s gaze went back to her eyes, and Marinette felt weak beneath his mesmerizing stare. His nose was close enough that she felt the light brush of skin against her own, and his presence was like pure adrenaline coursing through her veins.

“Marinette?” He breathed, and she could barely hear him over the raging storm of her pulse, pounding in her eardrums.

“Can I kiss you?”

The best she could manage was a tiny nod, and her lashes fluttered closed when the inches grew to centimeters, and millimeters, and then air was forgotten, a memory of something to be savored between their tongues.

Careful and sweet, his lips were soft and warmer than she could have ever imagined. Marinette was drunk on his taste, sweet like ice cream but hot like a summer breeze. She grabbed his collar and pulled just so, trying to express how much she wanted this. It made her heart explode like fireworks on Bastille’s Day, illuminating her spirit with sensations that were somehow both new and yet familiar.

She had never kissed anyone - save for Chat Noir, once, under very exacting circumstances - and this was entirely different. Not a duty, but a request, his lips were a guide and the hands that cupped her cheeks - when did those get there, anyway? - were an invitation.

It was very difficult to pull away, and her tongue felt greedy. It wanted to taste his mouth entirely, to explore and probe how his breath tasted. She wanted to let her hands roam, to explore more than just his collar, but Marinette’s lungs reminded her that she needed air.

When they pulled away, she was practically gasping. Her skin was flushed ruby, and he appeared to be in much the same state.

Once she felt her voice crawl out from their forgotten cavern, Marinette managed a small, lame reaction.

“Wow. So that’s what that’s like.”

He grinned smugly, clearly pleased with himself, and started to pack up the remainder of the table. “Wow, indeed.”

Adrien folding the table in half and it collapsed relatively easily, and Marinette started to gather each of the fake candles.

The silence was… maybe a little awkward, but mostly because it was sparked by electricity that Marinette had never known before. It told her to go back, to kiss him again with twice as much fervor, to give into her baser instincts, but her brain remained stubborn and focused.

A mantra helped.

Candle, grab, flip the switch. Candle, grab, flip the switch. Candle, grab, flip the switch .

By the time the shop was completely restored to the way Marinette had left it, she hesitated in handing him the final candle.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, lowering his hand when she clutched the plastic thing to her chest.

“N-no,” Marinette said, ducking her head. Her shoes were somehow much more interesting than his face right now, especially since every part of muscle memory was telling her to pay attention to his lips again. “I just… I was wondering if I could keep one? This was special, so… I’d like to remember it.”

Adrien’s feet entered the frame, and Marinette quivered like a leaf in a dry breeze.

“Of course,” he answered gently, lifting her chin with a hand. The lustful hunger that had crept into his eyes earlier was replaced by his usual gentleness, and he smiled so beautifully Marinette hiccuped.

Like a true gentleman, he didn’t comment on the sound for sake of her dignity. Instead, he stepped around her and held open the door, the bell tinkling above their heads.

“Let me take you home,” he offered, and Marinette nodded briskly and scurried after him, locking the door in the damp Paris air.

The ride home was quiet, Marinette’s hands a jittery reflection of her internal catastrophe. They tapped, danced, pinched and flexed along her skirt and the center console, the need to text Alya or cheer to Tikki or splash water on her face all useless in the silent confines of the sedan.

By the time they idled in front of the bakery, Adrien flashed her a grin and spoke for the first time since leaving the shop.

“Can I get the door for you?”

He usually didn’t ask - he rather insisted, or acted petulant when she refused. His tone hinted at something deeper, and it was just like when he asked to kiss her. For once, Marinette agreed.

Rolling her eyes, she replied with pseudo-exasperation. “ Fine .”

Beaming, Adrien let himself out and walked around, opening the door for her and offering a hand. Marinette could see the lights on upstairs, but the base of the bakery was merificully dark. She half-expected her parents to be standing in the store with signs and t-shirts ready, welcoming him into the family.

“Sooo…” Adrien began, rubbing the back of his neck not at all casually as they reached the front door. “About that offer to come have some ice cream again…”

Marinette snickered and covered her mouth with a hand. For once, she didn’t care about how silly she might sound. She didn’t care about being too eager or blushy or awkward.

Adrien had kissed her - he had asked if he could - and right now, she was on cloud-nine.

“Yes, you absolute dork. We can go out again, anytime.”

Blond brow’s raised, he leaned forward with an eager smile. “Really? You mean it? Er, does that… are you saying you’ll be my girlfriend? N-not that you have to be, we could just go on another date sometime. I just really enjoyed tonight, and… you know, I would love if you would be my girlfriend.”

Marinette smiled and crossed her arms. “Seriously, Adrien, if I was any more obvious, I’d have to hit you over the head with a sign that says, ‘ YES! DATE ME ALREADY!’”

At that, he laughed and the sound was pure euphoria.

Without hesitation this time, one of his hands went to her face and his other found her hand, pulling her close and pressing their lips together. This kiss was a little rougher, a sort of eager enthusiasm not muddled by hunger or questions or hesitation. It was just as delicious, but temptation was replaced by unbridled happiness. She could feel him smile through the kiss, and it made it that much sweeter when he pulled away, breathless.

Adrien’s smile reached his eyes, and the streetlamps cast tiny shadows in his dimples. “I hope you know, you’re signing up for lots more puns. And no take-backsies.”

“Take-backsies? Seriously ?”

“Yep.”

Marinette pursed her lips and stepped back, appraising him seriously. “How bad are we talking with the puns?”

Adrien, bouncing on his heels, studied the Dupain-Cheng Bakery sign above her head.

“Crumb on, you donut really want to tempt fate, do you?”

Marinette put her hand on the door, refusing to let out the laugh that bubbled to her lips.

“Go home before I call take-backsies anyways.”

Bonus Scene: Earlier that day...

“And don’t forget to tell your parents!” Tikki called as she disappeared into the folds of Marinette’s overly-large tote bag.

“Ahh…” The girl groaned, facepalming. Marinette had definitely been avoiding the subject with her parents, not wanting to make a big deal of things, but since she wasn’t going to be home for dinner there was no hiding it any longer.

Setting her jaw, Marinette descended the stairs and tried to appear casual as she entered the bakery. Maman was in the back, washing her hands, and Marinette could hear her father’s voice mingle with those of customers, carried from the front of the store.

“Good morning, honey,” greeted her mother. Marinette smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but firmly closed it again when she felt herself blush.

The silence caught her mother’s attention, so the woman furrowed a brow and turned to her daughter. “Marinette? Are you alright?”

She sucked her teeth reluctantly, which only further enticed her mother’s curiosity. The woman dried her hands and moved in front of her daughter, placing a hand on each shoulder.

“Alright, spill it. What’s happening?” The woman’s voice remained soft but firm, and Marinette tried to delay the inevitable by sipping her beverage again.

She was vaguely aware of the sashaying at her shoulder strap; Tikki’s encouragement needed no words to speak volumes.

“Maman,” she began, voice unusually husky. Marinette cleared her throat. “I won’t be home for dinner tonight. I’m… going out.”

“Oh,” the woman smiled warmly and dropped her accusatory stance, moving to a cooling rack of croissants and splaying them out platter, playfully swatting her daughter’s hand when she moved to steal one. Marinette blew a raspberry and her mother laughed, but not before shoving  another buttery, fluffy pastry back to her daughter.

Marinette chewed happily, and her mother just kept her focus on the task at hand.

“Well, don’t be too late. I’d like to have you back by, say, 9?”

“That sounds great,” Marinette hummed the words through satisfied bites, and her mother began packing together some additional pastries in a brown paper bag.

“And what are you kids doing tonight? Going over to Alya’s?”

Marinette licked her lips, her mouth feeling rather dry. “Um, no, actually.”

Just - just say it! Get it over with.

Her mother tilted her head curiously, and Marinette managed to bulldoze on.

“I’m going to the movies. With Adrien. On a… on a date.”

At that, her mother paused and looked up, meeting her daughter’s gaze with humor in her eyes. “Adrien, from school?”

Marinette bit her lip and nodded, but was surprised when her mother’s face spread into the most dazzling smile. “Well, why didn’t you say so? It’s about time! Why don’t you extend your curfew ‘til… 10:30?”

“W-wait, what?” Marinette blinked, surprised her mother was so lenient.

The woman simply shook her head and laughed lightly, handing the bag of treats to her daughter.

“A mother knows these things, sweetie. And this is great for me, if you waited until next month it would be me instead of your father doing laundry for the next three weeks.”

Probably loud enough that every Parisian in a ten-mile radius heard, Marinette howled at her mother.

“YOU WERE BETTING ON THIS?! WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH MY LIFE?”

Her mother patted her back soothingly, and rested her head along Marinette’s arm. “He seems like a nice boy, Marinette. Just be careful and don’t be afraid to set boundaries. And if you guys run out of things to do with the disappointing turn in the weather, you’re welcome to come back here for a while.”

At that, Marinette released a good-humored groan and patted her mother’s head. “Thanks, Maman. And yes, Adrien is nice… I’m, heh, I’m actually a little nervous.”

She ducked her head, as if the action would hide her disquiet from her mother; the woman seemed to know all.

She wrapped her daughter in a quick hug, and Marinette felt some tension in her muscles fade.

“You’ll do great, I just know it. You’ve grown up to be so smart, and confident, and beautiful. So don’t worry, dear. And if it helps, your father and I already approve… so, you know. Go get ‘em!”

“Maman!” Marinette ran a hand down her face, in part to hide her rosy cheeks but mostly from exasperation.

The woman leaned a little closer, dismissing her daughter’s irritation, and whispered.

“And if you can find a way to sneak in a kissing session, your father will be doing the laundry for two months straight! I’m rooting for you!”

The shriek that came from her mouth could not be aptly described as human.

[realexotrash]

Cabin//pt.2

(gif not mine, credit to the owner. Btw this is a good ass gif I applaud you)

genre: smut (not in this part, in later parts), fluff, friend!au, skinny dipping

warning: skinny dipping, graphic smut (again in later parts. in the next part you ask? idk, guess you’ll have to find out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), Baekhyun is a fuckin tease just like how he is in real life.

length: idk man pretty long

Authors note: I want to thank you all for all the positive responses I’ve received for cabin, it really means a lot because I literally wrote it just to write it and now you guys are messaging me the nicest stuff so thank you. Btw I kind of changed up my writing style in this one, so instead of the huge block paragraphs everything is spaced out a little better. Anyway, here’s cabin pt. 2, enjoy.

(I didn’t really know what to do with pt.2 so I don’t know if I’m entirely happy with it so if you guys wanna leave requests or ideas for later parts in my ask box it would be awesome because I want to see where you guys want me to take this.)

pt: 2 ___

“So I guess it’s just you and me till Friday.”

It was like every cell in your body started to reek havoc. Friday? That’s another 5 days alone with Baekhyun, not to mention that you had literally just watched him touch himself to the thought of you no longer than 5 minutes ago; and now you would have to spend 5 days trying not to attack him.

“That’s 5 days. What are we going to do for food?”

Baekhyun put his phone down onto the island that stood in the middle of the kitchen, “I guess my mom left us $200 in emergency money, so that should be good enough, right?” The last word left his lips a little shaky.

“Yeah that should be fine.” You started to walk towards the window, trying to hide the fact that your face had turned a bright shade of pink.

You heard Baekhyun take a deep inhale in, and then his footsteps heading in your direction until he was standing right beside you, looking out towards the lake and many trees.

“Is… Is that okay?” Baekhyun questions, “Because if it isn’t then I understand, I can call my mom and tell them to come home immed…”

He was cut off by your words “Baekhyun it’s okay, I promise. I could really use 5 days to get away from my mom’s constant dancing and blabbling and my Dad talking about golf literally 24/7” you giggled turning to see that Baekhyun was laughing along too.

“Yeah and my Mom’s terrible songs she makes up when she’s doing random tasks,” he starts to tap the glass of the window “or how my Dad literally falls asleep everywhere that he sits for more than 10 minutes.” the way he laughs is only making you laugh harder, “and don’t even get me started on my brother’s constant ‘I’m an athlete mom, not a housemaid’.” he says in the deepest voice he can possibly manage. He sighs “Let’s just make these next five days fun.“ he says turning to meet your eyes, and once again you find yourself melting by the sight of his smile, it really is your favorite thing about him.

You turn back to the window, "Agreed.”

Baekhyun stops tapping on the window and puts his hand down, accidentally brushing yours. You fight the chill coursing through your body.

You turn on your heel to head to the various cupboards displayed across the kitchen, “well first we have to figure out what were gonna eat for lunch.” You shuffle through the various canned items.

During your search for at least something that could possibly work to eat, you felt Baekhyun’s hands on your hips behind you, you freeze. He looks over your shoulder as if this was an innocent act.

“Why don’t we have some ravioli?” His grip on your hips loosened till they were no more.

“Yeah…” with shaky hands you grab the two cans “…sure.”

Baekhyun takes a seat at the island, “Is everything okay?” He asks with fake confusion in his face, he knew what he was doing.

“Yeah I’m fine. Uh… do you want orange juice or canada dry?”

“Canada dry is good.” He sits up straight. “So about the room situation…”

You turn to face him.

“I think it’s too cold at night for us to… sleep apart.” You flush at his words.

You turn back around so you could finish making the food, “Yeah, it really was freezing last night.”

“I felt like I was gonna get frostbite.”

“Yeah I could tell, you were strangling me.” you laugh.

“YAH at least you were warm!” he smirks, “You were enjoying the sight too.”

You flush. “Shut up!” You throw an ice cube at him from the freezer.

He throws his arms up in defeat, “Okay okay, you were just strangled… totally not staring at me while I slept.”

You had no words. Glaring, you threw another ice cube at him.

“Hey! Stop that!” He laughs covering his body to block further cubes.

You place the Ravioli in front of him, “Your majesty.” You say with a bow.

“Thank you my humble servant.” Baekhyun says returning your bow.

You two sit at the island. “Weren’t we supposed to have PB&J’s?” Baekhyun asks turning to you.

You laugh “I totally forgot.” ___

You find yourself laying on the couch, reading Fahrenheit 451. A pouty Baekhyun enters the room, “y/n I’m bored.” He lifts your legs from the couch and sits, placing them in his lap.

‘This little shit’ was all you could really think.

You sat up, legs still in his lap. “Well what would you like to do?”

He pauses, thinking for a second “Hold on.” Baekhyun takes your legs off his lap and stands, placing them back down on the couch, and heads into your shared room. He returns with his portable speaker and stands with his phone in hand, trying to connect it. Out from the speaker blasts Strawberry Afternoons by Lonely Benson.

He holds out his hand, “Dance with me?” he asks with puppy dog eyes. You sigh, placing your bookmark back in your book and putting it on the table to stand. You take his hand and he starts swinging you, twirling you, and moving all over the cabin with you. You both are laughing as you dance together. Just as Baekhyun goes to twirl you, within an instant both of his feet fly up from beneath him as he lands on his back. You couldn’t contain your laughter and had to get on the floor as you held your stomach, tears streaming from your eyes trying to ask if he was okay through your cackling. Baekhyun groaned but as soon as he saw you he started laughing too. Soon you both were rolling around on the floor laughing so hard it had almost become painful.

“That was” you heave “the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” still on the floor. Your abs and face hurt.

“Shut up.” He smiles, pushing your shoulder.

Brushing some loose strands of hair out of your face You sit up, “What time is it?”

Baekhyun sits up for a brief second to look at the clock on the stove, “2:07am″ he lays back on the floor, massaging his cheeks from the laughter.

You stand, “come on, I wanna show you something.” You put out your hand. Hesitating for only a second, he takes it, allowing you to lead him.

You climb the wooden ladder that leads into the loft, with Baekhyun right behind you “your brother showed this to my sister and I a couple years ago and made us promise not to tell you about it.”

He pouts, “What, why?”

“You were being a quote ‘little asshole’ that day I guess.” You giggle, finally reaching the loft. You head towards the little walk in closet just to the right of the room. Walking inside you look up, a small trap door placed in the middle. You turn to Baekhyun, “give me boost will ya?” Giving him your leg, he cupped his hands and hoisted you up. You grabbed the little latch on the trap door and pulled it down, a wooden staircase falling down with it.

“What the hell” Baekhyun whispered.

You started to go up the stairs, until you climbed into an attic. It was small and smelled of dust and who knows what from over the years. The room was shaped like a triangle with a window to the left and various boxes that covered the floor.

You turned around to see Baekhyun studying the room, “why did you bring me up here?”

As your answer, you opened the window. “You trust me?” he nods, “then come on.”

You climb out of the window. The view is absolutely stunning; the moon shines on the still lake perfectly, and you could see all the lights going down the mountain, lighting up the forest just a bit.

“This is the roof.” Baekhyun states after climbing out the window too.

You nod, “Your brother used to take my sister up here when he had a crush on her Junior year.” You laugh a little, still staring at the scenery around you.

He turns to face you. “What now?”

You sit, and look out, your hands finding the wood beneath you to fiddle with the broken off pieces and Baekhyun takes a seat right next to you, “So tell me about life…” you blink up at him. “You know your favorite things, how life’s going, where you want to travel. You know things like that.” He adds, waiting for some sort of answer.

“Well, life’s pretty good. I’m top 2% at our school and I just got offered a scholarship for Golf from NYC and an Art scholarship from UCLA.”

“Besides focusing on school every second of your life, what do you like to do?” Baekhyun presses. When you look at him, his attention is fully on you, he actually wants to hear about it.

“I don’t know, I uh… I like to draw and paint, and music is sometimes my everything. I really like plants so I care for my garden. And writing, Oh I could write or read, or maybe even both for hours,” you babble “and I really really like to watch movies.”

Baekhyun smiled, “Which movies?”

“I don’t know there’s so many,” You look up at the sky, thinking. “I fall in love with practically every movie I watch. I guess mostly 80′s movies.”

Baekhyun lights up, “Really? Me too!”

You smile at his enthusiasm. “My Dad and I always watch 80′s movies, like hmm… The Karate Kid, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Rocky 1-a friken million, Full Metal Jacket, Pretty Woman. All those movies.”

“Or The Outsiders, Back to the Future, Pretty in Pink, Ghost Busters, A Christmas Story, The Goonies…” he continues with his eyes closed trying to think. “Oh! or the Princess Bride, Stand By Me.”

“Yes! All those!” You squeal.

Baekhyun smiles and you shiver, half from it being like 15 degrees outside, and from his goddamn smile.

“It’s cold.” You murmur, hugging yourself.

Baekhyun stands, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Disappearing into the attic. He reappeared about a minute and a half later with a thick flannel blanket. “It’s the thickest one I could find.” He sits as close to you as he can and wraps the blanket around both of you. You melt into his warmth as you both sit in comfortable silence, looking out at the lake.

“Hey,” Baekhyun breaks the silence. “I just.. Look. I’m sorry for being so mean to you all these years. I know that I was cruel and you don’t have to forgive me, just know that I’m sorry.” He’s looking up at the stars, trying to avoid eye contact.

“Baekhyun,” He looks down at you. “I forgive you. I knew it wasn’t the real you.” You smile sweetly at him, giving him reassuring eyes.

“Thank you.” He says before wrapping his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into a hug. “So what kind of music do you like?” ___

You can see the sky turning different shades of pink and blue, the signs that the sun is about to rise.

“What time is it?” Baekhyun asks, he had his head on your shoulder playing with the fringe at the end of the flannel.

“Erm…” You take your phone out of your pocket. “Approximately 5:43am.” You state, tucking your phone back into it’s previous place.

Baekhyun shifts so he can look at you. “Are you tired?”

“Not really.”

You and Baekhyun had spent hours just talking about life in general, about people, about the world, everything. It was nice to finally see him for him.

“Do you wanna go swimming?”

You look down at him, his head still on your shoulder. “Right now?” he looks at you and nods. “But isn’t the water freezing?”

Baekhyun sits up, “So, it’s freezing all day, what’s the difference? Please please please.” He implored, giving you those puppy eyes again.

You give a long dramatic sigh, “Fine, I guess the sunrise will be beautiful from the water.”

Baekhyun shoots you a toothy grin before grabbing both the blanket and your wrist to drag you downstairs.

As he starts to walk towards the door you stop in confusion, “Wait. Are you not gonna get your trunks?”

Baekhyun turns around, “No” a smirk is played across his face.

Dear god.

You walk out the door and follow Baekhyun as you reach the lake. There’s a small wooden pier that Baekhyun takes you to the end of.

“Do you want to go first?” He asks as you look down at the water.

“Were going in fully clothed?” You ask confused.

Baekhyun looks at you, you watch as his fingers hook underneath the hem of his shirt before he pulls it off. “No, were not going in fully clothed.” And there it is again, that damn smirk that you can’t seem to get away from. Baekhyun continues with his shorts as you watch, frozen. It wasn’t until he was about to pull off his boxers you turn the opposite direction, until you hear a splash. You turn around to see a happy Baekhyun swimming in the light blue water. “Come on y/n, it’s almost sunrise.”

Shit. You start with your shirt, crossing your arms to pull it over your head. You close your eyes praising yourself for deciding to wear a cute bra today. Next you unbuttoned your shorts, pushing them down your legs, kicking them off when they reached your ankles. You turned away from Baekhyun to unhook your bra, letting the straps fall down your arms and then throwing it aside, covering yourself with your right arm. You look behind you to see Baekhyun’s eyes trailing up and down your backside.

“Hey turn around!” You scold, blushing at his intrusion. When he turns around you pull down your panties and try to slowly ease your way into the ice cold water. It was just shallow enough so you could stand, but also deep enough to cover your chest. As you refocus your gaze, you see Baekhyun turned away from you, looking at the pink sun just now peeking out from behind the trees. The sky was a beautiful mixture of pink, purple, and light oranges. You hike up the courage and swim till you’re standing right beside him. Suddenly Baekhyun puts an arm around your bare waist, constricting so that you’re close to him, your entire body heating up with something close to embarrassment. His hand travels up and down your side, feeling your skin beneath his touch. You’ve never experienced anything like this before, his touch, the feeling of his flesh pressed against yours is driving you over the edge. As you look down you can see his cock below the water, inviting you to touch, to taste. Your mouth starts to salivate knowing that he can probably see you just as well as you can see him, making you press your legs together as you remember the way his cock looked in his hands yesterday. You blush at the dirty thoughts that flood your mind, at how hard you’re pressing your thigh together. Just as you thought he was going to make a move, he swims in the opposite direction.

Goddamnit he’s such a tease.

“Ah I’ve never felt so free.” Baekhyun dips his head below the water, wetting his hair. “Y/n, this is the best idea I’ve had in ages.”

You start to swim around too, splashing Baekhyun occasionally when he decides to be an ass. ___

You rush inside going straight to the bathroom so you could peel off your cold wet clothes. You start to panic when you realize you don’t have any extra clothes with you and both towels are currently in the wash.

“Baekhyun.” You peek your head out from behind the door.

He comes out of the room and stands in the hallway, laughing lightly at your appearance.

“Can you bring me some clothes?” You ask trying as hard as you possibly could to not let him catch a glimpse of your body behind the door.

Baekhyun smiles a mischievous smile. “Sure.” He heads into the room and you could feel his smile radiating through you as he entered the hallway and gave you the small wad of clothes in his hand.

“Thanks.” You say high pitched and fast as you close the door almost too fast. When you unravel the wad of clothes you see that it’s just a large white plain t-shirt and a pair of pink panties. “Are you fucking kidding me.” you whisper to yourself. But its all you’ve got, so you put them on, tugging down the hem of the shirt as you walk out of the bathroom.

When you walk into the room Baekhyun is laying down on the bed, scrolling through something on his phone. When he looks up at you he smiles and opens his arms for you to come and lay down next to him, “C’mon, let’s at least get a couple hours of sleep.” You smile, crossing the room to crawl into bed with him, forgetting entirely about your lack of clothing. Baekhyun wraps his arms and legs around you just as he did the previous night, and you found yourself falling asleep faster than you had anticipated. ___

You wake up to an empty bed. Grabbing your phone from your nightstand you read 12:57pm. You stretch your limbs and think about the events that took place yesterday and this morning. It’s so crazy how literally a couple days ago Baekhyun was just the guy that hated you, that always made it certain that he didn’t care for you, the guy that you avoided to spare your own feelings.

You’re knocked out of your thoughts by a couple noises coming from the kitchen. You unwrap yourself from all the blankets and go to your suitcase to look for some shorts and a clean bra to put on. When you’re finished dressing you head out to the kitchen where you see Baekhyun sitting peacefully playing on his laptop at the dining room table.

He looks up to see you standing there “hey.” he says, standing to walk towards you. As he reaches you he places both hands on your waist and looks down at you, your face beet red as you stare up at him. Jesus Christ, what’s with him always grabbing your waist if he’s not gonna do anything further.

He smirks and lets go of you, walking into the kitchen to open up the fridge. He pulls out a Canada Dry and a string cheese. Still smirking he turns to face you. “You know you sleep talk.” ________________________________________________________________

Authors note: Thanks for reading! Please please please, if you have any requests or suggestions for what you want to see in Part 3 please don’t be afraid to leave them in my ask box also with other request for senerios, smuts, drabbles, reactions, etc.

[scrawnydutchman]

O.K.K.O: Let’s Be Heroes! Series Review

Now HERE’S a show I’ve wanted to get a chance to sit down and watch forever. O.K.K.O: Let’s Be Heroes! is the rare show that comes along every once in a while that immediately sparks my interest upon seeing some previews. The show is just everything I love as a person. It’s back to good ol’ hand drawn frame by frame, it’s got both fun physical AND well written humor, and it features some of my favorite people in the industry around like members of the animation team behind the also fantastic Steven Universe and the guys behind some of the most phenomenal animation on the web, Studio Yotta, which fans may know created most of the music videos for the band Starbomb.  As if the show was literally made for me it also premiered on my birthday no less. It’s centered around one of the coolest concepts ever . . . FIGHTING. Yeah, I know that recently we’ve been getting pretty tired of violence in the real world and for good reason. The controversial shit is really getting to a lot of people. But there’s two types of fighting: that which is propelled by maliciousness and hatred, and that which is for sportsmanship, adrenaline and honest to God fun. This show is the latter type of fighting through and through, and it is AWESOME. Naturally this show did not disappoint me. I binge watched a whole bunch of it to get caught up and had a big ass grin on my face the whole time.

PLOT SYNOPSIS:

 K.O is a spunky, ambitious and good hearted little kid (Think Steven Universe and Goku from DBZ mashed together, and a bit of Ryu from Street Fighter) who wants to become a hero like the people around who inspire him, such as the towering musclebound badass of a plaza boss Mr. Gar. To do this, he ends up getting employed at Lakewood Plaza Turbo and works alongside Radicles, the pompous macho alien man with the levitation beam who’s secretly hiding a sensitive side (think Lars from Steven Universe but more endearing and less of a pain in the ass), and Enid, the snarky, sarcastic ninja who gives no fucks. They go on some misadventures, learn some lessons about themselves, occasionally Lord Boxman and his goons cause some trouble but they’re never threatening, and once in a while we get some clues into Mr. Gar’s past and how it’s tied to K.O’s mom Carol.

STORYTELLING:

I’ve gone on record before in saying that the best show premises are the ones just broad enough to go in all sorts of different directions with creative storytelling, and this show is thankfully no different. It’s got a great memorable setting with an expansive likable cast, great recurring jokes and a refreshingly fun tone about it. You can definitely tell the Steven Universe team worked on it because that and O.K.K.O have very distinct similarities, especially early season one of SU. The main difference to me though is the level of drama and the quality of humour. It’s a relatively new show that promises to introduce some drama down the line so comparing that to SU doesn’t feel fair at this point in time, but I’m very confident in saying O.K.K.O is funnier. SU has decent jokes, don’t get me wrong, but something about O.K.K.O just got me to laugh more consistently at it’s ultra bizarre humor. My favorite jokes tend to be the ones about Enid hating having to deal with entitled customers, but my favorite joke in the whole show thus far involves a certain coffee pun making mughead named Joe Cuppa. It’s a reveal that is so surreal and so bewildering that I can’t spoil the surprise, but damn if it isn’t funny.

In terms of both storytelling and animation, despite being an action show first and foremost, O.K.K.O’s greatest attribute is it’s humor. The wild faces, the great comedic timing in the cuts, the bizarre movement of the characters at times, plus the combination of both surreal and poignant lines make for a consistently clever ride. There’s one particular episode that I think really captures the harsh reality of fandoms that’s relevant to an eerie extent, and it can all be summed up by this one line by Radicles.

“Who knew people could be so dumb about art they love so much?”

ANIMATION:

Now, being an animator myself, one of the biggest attractions to this show for me was the fact that it was a return to classic Hand Drawn 2D animation. In a time where the vast majority of television programming is either passable but uninteresting character rigging or bland, texture lacking 3d animation, a return to what is in my opinion the most organic, spontaneous and therefore the most consistently interesting animation style is always welcome. The show even references it’s animation style at 24 FPS in one of the lyrics sung by Rebecca Sugar in the credits, which I adore.

“Every second that you see is 24 connected pieces. Thank you for coming. Thank you for staying. Thank you for watching the show.” - Rebecca Sugar.

Really, that lyric should be a pretty good indication about the kind of passion put into this show. When this show gets going, it’s got some of the most consistently satisfying and creative animation I’ve seen in a long time. The characters feel unbound by typical design conventions which allows for more flexibility in their expressions and their poses, and it makes for both very effective comedy and some of the most dynamic and well choreographed action scenes you can find on TV right now. A large contribution to the studio being able to pull this off is the simplistic art style. Every character is often times sketched pretty roughly with some proportions being askew at times, hands turning into little spheres, backgrounds lacking big details and so on. But what the art lacks in consistency it more then makes up for in fluidity and spontaneity. I’m actually glad they don’t care as much about the little details because it gives them the freedom to put more time into creating the kind of epic grand scale fighting we like to see. It really does feel like they put a lot of heart and soul into how this show looks. The intro and outro alone are hype as hell to watch.

Now that said, the animation isn’t without it’s problems. Sometimes it’s really obvious where they put in minimal effort to save time, especially in large cheering crowd scenes, and I’ve noticed more then a few awkward cuts and transitions unfortunately when I could easily think of something that would have looked better and could be done in the same amount of time. But you can’t win everything I guess. All in all, I dig the way this show works and it has it’s priorities in check.

Acting

This show has a great cast that really fits each character. K.O. has a voice that’s kiddish and endearing, but it never gets annoying or grading, which is a flaw a lot of child characters have the unfortunate tendency of having. Chalk this up as another way in which K.O. is better then Steven Universe btw. Enid has a great voice for articulating a snarky give-no-fucks attitude but it’s also always great whenever she needs to be genuine. Radicles is the macho alien man so naturally he has a great voice that’s a combination of every surfer dude and college fratboy you ever heard of. He’s a pompous egotistical jerk certainly but he’s several times more endearing then characters of his archetype because he’s shown to not be completely heartless or needlessly cruel to people close to him. Mr. Gar is great and more often then not gets the funniest lines in the show. Carol is the sweetest most charismatic badass mom in all of cartoon history and I gush whenever she and K.O interact. All the supporting characters do great, there isn’t a single voice in the show I find unbearable. Also this show consistently gets awesome celebrity voices like Keith David, and, more notably, the dude who says “INCONCEIVABLE!” in The Princess Bride.

Sound Design

Not a whole lot to say here other then it’s definitely serviceable. They sneak in some appropriate cartoon sound effects in there. The sound effects for the fight scenes like the crashing and exploding are pretty good. The intro song is fucking amazing. Like literally, I can watch the intro to this show over and over and be consistently entertained, it’s great. That’s the true sign of a promising show; when you can always sit through the intro and not get tired of it.

Art Design

I’ve already touched upon this point in the animation section, but as I mentioned before the art style is very minimal at times. But that’s totally fine. It acts in the shows favor more often then not because it gives the animators freedom to put their best work in the places that matter. Plus the character designs are great and memorable, they cover the bases for character design 101. You can tell who each character is in silhouette. Their inspirations are pretty plain to see like K.O. is so obviously modeled after headband clad fighting dudes like Street Fighter or Double Dragon. Enid is so obviously a Naruto inspired character. Radicles is probably some alien marvel character, idk. Point being, everyone is distinct and they communicate their personalities through how they look. You know everything you need to know about K.O. through a single picture of him.

*fun fact: K.O’s character design was the inspiration for the design of Ruby in Steven Universe.

Conclusion:

O.K.K.O: Let’s Be Heroes is everything I hoped it would be. It’s got a lot of heart, great surreal humor, intense and well choreographed action, great memorable characters and overall just leaves me with a simultaneously light/pumped up heart and a smile. The only thing I can really think of that’s wrong with it is it’s weird editing choices and select moments where cutting corners in animation was obvious, but that’s pretty small fry issues. I can’t wait to watch more.

STORYTELLING: 2/2

ANIMATION: 1.5/2

ACTING: 2/2

SOUND DESIGN: 1.5/2

ART DESIGN: 1.5/2

OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10

[little-red-2404]

As You Wish (Cisco x Reader) Part Three

Hey everyone! Here’s part three! I’m tagging @dontwishonme @twentyjuanpancakes and @ameteorrain at their request! If anyone else would like to be tagged, please message me or inbox me and let me know! I’m really glad you guys like this!

Request: Could I please request a Cisco X reader where the two of then are both in denial about their feelings for each other, so music Meister steps in, but instead of being trapped in a musical they end up in a fantasy adventure movie like the princess bride. And they have to follow the story and confess their feelings to escape? Thank you! <3  

BTW, I get these videos from Youtube and they ARE NOT mine. Just songs I love <3 This one is a cover of It’s a Hard Life by Queen. And lyrics used in the chapter are in BOLD.

Chapter 3

 You don’t remember ever closing your eyes, but when your eyelids fluttered open, you found yourself lying on a cot in a small, musky corridor. The walls and floors were made of cold stone that you felt on your bare feet when you swung your legs over and stood up. You noticed the ragged clothes you were wearing and the dirt smudged on your hands. However, you couldn’t for the life of you remember how you got to where you were. Wherever you were.

There was random hay scattered all over the floor and there were no windows to further explain your surroundings. So, you exited from the only wooden door in the room to find yourself down a dark corridor.

You walked for a while, wondering if the halls of this odd place ever ended. You tried to calm the pounding in your chest, pay attention to the turns you were taking… Had you just gone in a circle? You were trying your hardest not to panic when you bumped right into someone.

“I-I’m so sorry!” You gasped out, stepping back a bit before looking up at the girl you had bumped into. You mind went spiraling into confusion when your eyes met her.

You knew her, or at least, knew of her. You had just seen her face on the big screen the night before. Wrapped up in Cisco’s arms, lying on the couch, you watched Buttercup and Wesley confess their undying love for one another, almost wishing the young man holding you could do the same to you. So… Why were you facing this fictional princess now?

Buttercup seemed almost as startled as you, as if she had been in another world and by bumping into her, you brought her back to reality. Your mouth opened and closed several times, forming words to perhaps apologize again or squeal in a way any fangirl would when they meet their favorite movie character, but any sounds you could normally produce failed you in the moment.

However, the shock wore off when you saw her facial expression droop to complete sadness and her head hung low to peer down at your feet. You hated how you weren’t wearing shoes to cover your dirty toes at the moment.

“I-is there something wrong? Have I hurt you?” You blurted out another apology before she shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing in the process.

“No, you have done nothing of the sort,” she confessed with a sigh. “You are not the cause for my displeasure.”

“Oh…” There was an awkward pause, almost as if time had stopped moving altogether as you stood, unsure of what to say or do. Until you stuttered out the most basic question, “What’s wrong…?” As odd as your situation was, you hated to that unhappy look on anyone’s face, so you had to ask.

Maybe I’m just dreaming… You wondered before her voice snapped you back.

“It’s my love.” She told you. “This place… I hate this place.”

You looked around at the stone walls you stood in between, once again, wondering where you were. And then, the blonde girl took you by surprise when she opened her mouth and instead of speaking, a tune had begun to escape her lips.

“I don't want my freedom. There's no reason for living with a broken heart.” She sang as she headed down the hallway once more. With no idea of what else to do, you followed quickly behind her. “This is a tricky situation, I've only got myself to blame. It's just a simple fact of life, it can happen to anyone. You win, you lose. It's a chance you have to take with love… Oh yeah, I fell in love. But now you say it's over and I'm falling apart!”

She led you to a small garden outside of the dark hall you guys were once in. You peered upwards to see the very castle from the movie and you had to take a deep breath to steady yourself. Buttercup, the random singing, the actual castle from the movie…

What is going on?!

“Yeah, yeah. It's a hard life… To be true lovers together, to love and live forever in each other’s hearts. It's a long hard fight, to learn to care for each other, to trust in one another right from the start. When you're in love…”

Her voice was beautiful, you couldn’t deny; although, you were very distracted, trying to remember if there were any musical numbers in The Princess Bride. However, you knew that movie word for word, and unless you were forgetting a whole entire scene, you couldn’t think of anything. You didn’t have too much time to mull over it before another voice cut off her singing entirely.

You both jumped as he stepped forward, invading Buttercup’s space and grinning down at her with a smile that sent an awful chill up your spine. Prince Humperdinck earned the right as the most annoying character ever, in your eyes.

“Darling, did you miss me?” He asked, using an overexaggerated kind-voice as if she was some child he was trying to reason with. His question was answered with her cold stare and no words were spoken. He then shot a dirty look in your direction. “Is this peasant bothering you? Shoo, you worthless piece of dirt! Go clean something like you are supposed to.”

You opened your mouth to give a snarky remark, wanting so badly to slap the smirk off his face, but he didn’t give you the time. He grabbed Buttercup’s elbow a little forcefully before saying, “Come, my future Queen. Let’s get out of this rotten air, poisoned by the breathing of this low--.”

Buttercup snatched her arm away before he could finish with a huff and stomped away. He was right on her heel, leaving you standing there in shock, confusion, and displeasure.

You were almost about to speak your obvious question out loud, still pondering over where you were and why, when you heard another voice directed at you.

“I love this movie, I won’t lie.” You spun around to find the man who calls himself The Music Meister, standing there and looking out over the garden with a (favorite flower) in his hand. No surprise, your favorite flower. Your annoyance with Prince Humperdinck was nothing compared to how this man was irritating you. He continued to stare down at the flower as he admitted, “I have to say, it disappointed me on the musical aspect, though. I do love a good song every now and then.”

He gave you a grin and held the flower out for you. However, you didn’t take it. Glaring at him, you asked, “How did you do this? How did you put me in some rendition of my favorite movie?”

He shook his head. “Oh, I didn’t. You did.” When your eyebrows shot up in confusion, he went on to explain, “We’re in your head, Y/N. We are in The Princess Bride simply because that’s what you thought of before I put you under.”

“Put me under? What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not complicated, really.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Just help finish the movie. Participate in the movie and you’re free. Easy, right?”

“Uh…”

He held up a finger to interrupt, “But, there is one problem.” You sighed. “You die here, you actually die. Like, for good.” You could have sworn your throat went dry as he continued to just smile at you as if he had told you something as simple as the recipe to macaroni and cheese. “So, like… Don’t die, yeah?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” You growled. “What is this all about, anyways?”

“Feelings.”

“Excuse me?”

“Feeling,” he repeated. “Don’t worry, I’m not making you play the game alone.”

“What do you--?”

“Y/N?” You heart jumped at that familiar voice. Turning around once more, you saw Cisco appeared threw the very door you had followed Buttercup out of. When your eyes met, his smile grew twice over. “Y/N!”

You didn’t hesitate to run forward and meet him halfway in a bone-crushing hug. Burying your face in his shirt, you breathed him in, relieved that his warmth and scent was calming your racing thoughts for a few seconds. However, feeling his arms envelope you and pull you closer was indeed not helping your racing heart.

“How did you get here?” You gasped, not letting him go right away.

“Well, Caitlin called Barry,” he began to explain, “She said something happened to you while you were with her at Jitters. When Barry brought you to STAR Labs, you were unconscious!” He held you back at arms-length, his soft brown eyes taking in your appearance. You flinched, self-aware of the clothes you were wearing and the dirt that you were covered in, but he didn’t look bothered by it, even for a second. “Then some man came in—Like, just walked right in!—and he was talking in weird riddles and--.”

“Let me guess, he was wearing a dress shirt with a red pocket on it?”

One of his eyebrows almost touched his hairline. “How’d you know?”

You looked back to shoot a glare at The Music Meister, but sighed when you saw he had disappeared completely. “Just a lucky guess…”

[leescoresbies]

junopeter & princess bride au pls? (love your fics btw you're such a great writer!)

my brain went DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS BUT IN SPACE so that’s what you get

the dread pirate roberts leaves no survivors, everyone knows that because it gets plastered all over every coms station whenever he waylays cargo ships coming and going from mars; juno suspects his story won’t ever make it onto a feed and that’s fine by him because he doesn’t know who would believe this or even what he’d say. 

even pirates get stranded by faulty engines, and juno moves fast enough to put out the fire but not fast enough to stop the whole thing from overloading. even so, a pair of bright eyes turn his direction; “good luck charms come in all forms,” says the dread pirate roberts. “apparently mine comes in ‘petulant detective.’”

so an s.o.s. signal, a bottle of whiskey, a secret. 

“nobody would be afraid of the dread pirate peter,” says the dread pirate roberts, those eyes and that smile and long fingers taking the bottle back from juno. “the man before me wasn’t named roberts either. his name was mag and he inherited the title from the previous roberts when he retired.”

“why are you telling me this?” juno asks. “your name. peter.” 

“because i like to gamble, detective,” says the dread pirate peter.

“didn’t think you won by showing all your cards.” 

peter kisses him, not long after that, the kind of kiss that stays with you for the rest of your life. a win is a win, even if it’s fleeting. 

“we could go anywhere,” peter says. “you and me and the whole galaxy, authorities always right at our heels and adventure before us.” 

“yeah,” juno says. he could. his world begins and ends with the outskirts of hyperion city and that kind of imagination, that kind of life – he doesn’t know if someone like him deserves it. 

“at least consider it,” peter says, optimism on his face. 

juno takes a deep breath, and he thinks, maybe, that peter knows what his answer is. “as you wish.” 

[taniasinel]

Nancy Meyers Comes Home Again

It’s that time again.  About every few years a new movie by Nancy Meyers comes out and it soon becomes my “all-time favorite movie EVER!!!”

Nancy Meyers at home.

In 1980, when I was a young, single, twenty-six year old, I went to see “Private Benjamin” with my best friend.  We spent the entire movie elbowing each other, saying “this movie is so us!!!!”  Of course we were never in the armed forces, but, we were Jewish American Princesses and we only wished we could find a gorgeous Frenchman to marry, like Goldie Hawn did in “Private Benjamin.”

Nancy Meyers wrote Private Benjamin with her then husband Charlie Shyer (above.)  Since she is about five years older than me, Nancy’s movies often mirrored my own life and yours too, I’m sure.   She either wrote, directed or produced Father of the Bride, Baby Boom, The Parent Trap and more.   And then came her juggernauts:  Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, It’s Complicated and The Intern.

The Juggernaut Kitchens

Those last four movies together, as a set, are incredibly perfect.  One is better than the next one – it’s impossible to pick a favorite out of the four.  Whenever one of those films turns up on cable, it hooks me in and I’ll sit and watch it, yet again.

Nancy Meyers is the voice of a certain age of woman.  But there is more.  While her scripts are always wonderful, her movies might be more well known for their sets.

Her houses are so well designed and so integral to the movie, it’s obvious that Meyers must be into interior design.  Her own house in California was shown in “In Style” and it confirmed that Meyers loves to be surrounded by beauty.   In an interview, she said that her mother was an interior designer and growing up she was surrounded by antiques and pretty interiors.  It’s that background and basic love of design that makes her movies so attractive to other devotees of interior design.

 Nancy’s Pacific Palisade’s charming dining room.  Blue & white Bennison fabric, shades of things to come? 

The Hamptons beach house in “Something’s Gotta Give” is still considered one of the prettiest movie houses, ever.  Thousands of houses were inspired by that movie set. 

At that time, it was thought that Nancy could never top that beach house.  But, with “The Holiday,” she proved us all wrong: 

In “The Holiday,” Meyers showed us not one, but two beauties – a cottage in the English countryside and the Wallace Neff house in the middle of LaLa-land.   For her next two movies – “It’s Complicated” and “The Intern,” it seemed like Meyers was toning it down a notch.  Was she worried her movie houses were the stars and she wanted to change that perception?  The house in “It’s Complicated” was pretty enough but it wasn’t The Hamptons beach house.  “The Intern’s” sets were in filmed in Brooklyn and with that movie Meyers went in a completely new direction:  it was all industrial millennium chic. 

About interior design, Nancy said  "It’s my thing. It’s something I like, though I think it overshadows the work a little bit sometimes."

Well, I’m here to say, let it overshadow the work!!!

Enter Mark Sikes.  And Reese Witherspoon.    Add a sprinkling of Nancy Meyers movie making. 

Expect magic!

When uber-designer/blogger Mark Sikes book “Beautiful” came out, the surprise was that Nancy Meyers had written the foreword.  She told the story of going shopping with her newly married daughter, Annie, when they were busy furnishing Annie’s new house.  They ended up on La Cienega watching a young, handsome man dressing the windows.  They noticed he was using some of the same fabrics they had just chosen.  That man was design’s superstar Mark Sikes.  He walked outside and helped them with their fabric collection and he and Nancy bonded (this“meet-cute” scene needs to be in a movie!)

Sikes was hired to redo Nancy’s house and Nancy hired Mark to help on The Intern’s sets.  He even had a cameo part, along with One Kings Lane honcho, Susan Feldman.  After the movie shoot was over, One Kings Lane sold the props from The Intern’s set.

Wait a minute.  Back up.    

Did I just say that Mark Sikes is doing Nancy’s house?  Is it in his book?

I don’t think so.  I’m not sure he is actually through with the project.  But, come on – this is a partnership made in heaven.  Imagine Mark Sikes watching “Something’s Gotta Give” for the first time – all those blue and white stripes?  Mark must have thought he had died and gone to interior design heaven!!  I can’t imagine anyone better than Mark to decorate Nancy’s house. 

Nancy showed these two images on Instagram that seem to imply the decor work might still be ongoing.  

This past March, Nancy Instagrammed this photo showing what Sikes brought to their meeting.  OK.  Isn’t this the best idea – having a separate LL Bean bag for each client?!? Monogrammed no less?   Why didn’t I ever think of this?!?!  Hmmm.  Probably because I was too cheap???  lol.  Someone left a comment on this Instagram photo reporting that Gil Schafer Architects used the same LL Bean bags for their clients.   I feel like such a loser!!  Do ALL successful big-time designers use personalized LL Bean bags?!?!?!

P.S. I recognize that rug in her bag!

 AND…

Then there was this photo that Nancy Instagrammed:

Here, she posted a classic white paint choice test.   So, I’m going to assume Nancy’s newly decorated house by Mark Sikes is not finished and is not in his book….yet.    Maybe the next one?

BTW, which white paint sample is your favorite?  I vote for the first sample of the bunch.

And then there is Mark and Reese Witherspoon, the fresh faced actress from Tennessee.  Reese hired Mark to design her new stores – Draper James -  in Nashville and Dallas and Lexington – so far.   Mark is also designing her large colonial house in Nashville.  The Draper James stores are gorgeous due to Mark’s designs, of course. 

Is there anything this man can’t do!???!!

I mean, how darling is this?  Glossy navy blue doors with a scalloped blue and white striped awning with a lantern mixed in?

Inside Draper James  - Reese Witherspoon’s shop, designed by Mark Sikes.  Hmmm.  Does this remind you of “Something’s Gotta Give?!?”

Draper James by Mark Sikes.

It’s a triad of blue and white and stripes – Reese and Mark and Nancy. 

While Mark is busy designing Reese and Nancy’s houses and businesses, Reese and Nancy are busy making a new movie about an interior designer, newly single.

“Home Again”

Nancy Meyers is the Producer of the film.

The director AND writer is her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer.

Hallie and her mother and partner Nancy

“Home Again” stars Reese Witherspoon as a new divorcee and Candace Bergen plays her mother.  Three very young men move into Reese’s guest house and hijinks ensue, especially when Reese’s ex husband, Michael Sheen, shows up.  Mix in Reese’s two young daughters and a few friends – and it sounds like a great Nancy Meyers movie!

Hallie as the cute, little flower girl in “Father of the Bride” along with her older sister Annie.

Hallie grew up on her parents movie sets.  She had cameos and small parts in many of their films but this is her first big splash and the pressure on her to succeed must be intense.  It looks like Nancy was a very involved producer – on the set every day.  But who can blame her?  She must feel terrible anxiety as a mother, wanting her daughter to be successful in the field that she has soared in. 

Nancy with Hallie in their kitchen, shown in InStyle Magazine.

Hallie is young.  Very young to be directing a major motion picture.  But, making a movie is a formula and Hallie seems to have it down pat.  It must be in her superior genes (how lucky is she to have such a cool mother?)

The trailers for “Home Again” look adorable, the movie looks funny and sweet, and beautiful – exactly like a Nancy Meyer movie should be, even if it really isn’t Nancy’s. 

Let’s face it.  I’m rooting for Hallie BIG TIME.  And I bet all of Hollywood is too.  Nancy is very well liked in a town that finds fault with everyone and I can’t imagine anyone not wanting this movie to be successful.   I want this to be the start of a new dynasty like the Barrymores and  I’m hoping that one day soon, people will be saying “Nancy who?  Oh, you mean Hallie’s mom?”

OK.  Enough of all that. 

What about THE house?

I have a big scoop about THE house.  A BIG scoop!

But first….

Why DOES Nancy care so much about the décor of her sets?

She said:  "If you’ve spent a chunk of your life writing a character and someone puts them in the wrong clothes or in a bed with sheets you know she would never own … it’s like somebody has added dialogue into the scene. Sometimes you pick up more from what you’re seeing than hearing.”

Oh, is that it?

On the studio lot, Nancy, Reese and Hallie – looking too adorable in their Mark Sikes inspired blue & white stripes and jeans!!!  Seriously, which one is the movie star here?  Do YOU have your blue and white striped shirt yet?

  Go:  HERE

And while Nancy’s movie houses are all so beautiful,  what many people don’t realize is that it’s all a façade.  The famous movie houses are not all that they seemed.

For instance….

The fabulous dining room from Something’s Gotta Give.  Those slips were to die for.  I had a client who called me from the movie and said – “I want my house to look exactly like this movie I just saw.  Especially my dining room.”  I asked her what movie she had seen.  It was the opening weekend of the film and I had never heard of it.”

Movie Magic:  Here is what the dining room really looked like – on a sound stage.  The circular tract allowed the camera to move effortlessly around the table. 

While the houses looked so real in the movies, they were just a façade.  The Something’s Gotta Give Hampton’s house was located in the Hamptons, but all the interiors were filmed on a sound stage far away from the Hamptons.   Nancy has said that she looked at over 50 houses in the Hamptons trying to find one where she could film the interiors, but no one would give them their permission – so she built the house on a sound stage.

All the interior sets were filmed on a sound stage, including its courtyard where they built the swimming pool.   Meyers said that crew and visitors used to want to hang out at the swimming  pool.

The Holiday featured not one, but two of the best movie houses ever.  The charming and tiny English cottage was actually built in a field just for the movie.  All the interiors were built on a separate sound stage.  The Los Angeles house was an original Wallace Neff  house in L.A. , while the interiors were, again, built on a sound stage.

Here the English cottage is being built – it took only two weeks to erect the façade.

The “stone” wall around the house was also built for the movie. I wonder if the house still stands today?

Photos thanks to:  Hooked on Houses HERE.

For  the movie “It’s Complicated,” the exterior was a charming house in Thousand Oaks but the beautiful flower/vegetable garden was created just for the movie, and all the interiors were built on a sound stage.

The entire front façade of the house was recreated on a sound stage in New York.  You can see the trees on the right were actually a mural.  This seems such a huge expense that only a mega hit like a Nancy Meyers movie could afford.

The Intern was filmed in Brooklyn – in a townhouse (!) where people truly lived;  the loft office was created on at Brooklyn stage.

Which brings us to today’s topic, “Home Again.”

I would assume that filming on a sound stage can get very expensive.  You have to build a house – that can’t be cheap.   Is it less expensive to film the interiors and exteriors at the same location instead of having an actual, real façade and a separate sound stage set for the interiors?

  While Nancy is a well-seasoned and proven movie-maker, Hallie is new to the game and “Home Again” is her first movie. Would the studio give Hallie as much money to spend on sets as they would if Nancy was also the director/writer and not just the producer? I don’t know the answer.  But, I assume budgetary concerns were an issue, as they always are with films.

Judging by the trailers, the sets do look like as expensive as a Nancy Meyers movie.  They even hired A list stars for the top three roles:  Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, and Candace Bergen.   

In an ironical twist, Reese was originally set to star in “The Intern,” a role that eventually went to Anne Hathaway instead, which freed up Reese to star in “Home Again.”

Even the poster says – “first class.”  Just recently released, the movie’s poster is all pink and red, shades taken directly from the color palette mood board created for the movie.  Reese wears this red dress in an important scene in the movie.  I love the poster!!!

Reese’s role was originally to be played by Rose Byrne.  She is a great comedic actress too, but I think Reese looks perfect for the part.

Here is the mood board created for the movie’s color palette.  It shows the colors and decorative style for “Home Again.”  Notice the blue and white tiles.  You will see those again – AND also notice the bedroom.  That, too, shows up again, later.

Production Design:  Ellen Brill

Art Direction:  Brianna Gorton

Set Decoration:  Nicole Cates

This photo is from the set – the family room where Reese/Alice has an office.

Can you guess her profession? 

Notice the cute curtains and chair.

And from the movie, Alice hard at work. 

Yes, she looks like an interior designer working on her board!!!

OMG – now I REALLY can’t wait to see the movie!!!!!

A Nancy Meyers moving starring an Interior Designer!!!!!

And here, Alice leaves her house holding what appears to be a mood board created for her interior design client.  Seriously y’all.  I’m about to burst!!!

A Nancy Meyers’ movie about an interior designer!!!!!

The House

The house where Reese/Alice lives is very reminiscent of the “It’s Complicated” house – a one story, Spanish styled, stucco vision.  In fact, at first glance you might even think it was the same house...

But it’s not.

Here is the “It’s Complicated” house where Meryl Streep lived.  Nancy altered the façade by adding new landscape to soften if up.  Read my story about the actual house in “It’s  Complicated” HERE.

And here is the house where “Home Again” was filmed.  It has the same Spanish Californian look that the “It’s Complicated” house had.  Look how pretty this house is.  It is actually much prettier than the “It’s Complicated” house. 

And, this house has a much more important pedigree.  

It is significant that the interiors for “Home Again” were filmed in the house itself, as opposed to on a sound stage.  It will be interesting to see if the feel of the movie will be more realistic because of that – or will it not matter?

So far, two trailers for “Home Again” have been released, along with a host of Instagram photos.

Here’s another view.  Past the gravel driveway is the courtyard with a fountain.

Here is the gravel driveway that leads up to the courtyard.  The crew is getting set for the day’s filming, so they put down plywood to make it easier to move equipment on the gravel drive (I suppose!)

Here’s an aerial view of the house.  A gate closes off the driveway to the street, while a stucco wall completely encloses the entire property.  Past the gravel driveway is the courtyard and to the right is the sweeping front lawn that leads up to the house with its tall chimney.  At the left rear, there is an outdoor fireplace and terrace and along the back is the swimming pool.

Now, what every photo doesn’t show is the guest house – which drove me a little crazy trying to find it. But I finally found it!!

There!  The same view, just larger.  The guest house is right off the street, on the front lawn facing the main house where the tall white chimney is.

The view from the back of the estate, which is over an acre.   Each garden is separated from the others which make them all very private.  In this view, you again can’t see the guest house.  The master bedroom is where the tall white chimney is.  The guest house is across the front lawn and faces the house where the master bedroom is.   To the right of this photo, where the white umbrella is, is the kitchen/family room terrace with its own outside fireplace.  And in the middle of this photo is the large living room terrace that shares the space with the guest room.

Here is the same view from the back that shows the guest house, which is right next to the street.  It shares the front lawn with the master bedroom.

Why is the guest house so important?

Because,  the entire premise of the movie revolves around the guest house.  In “Home Again,” Reese aka Alice turns 40 and has just moved to L.A., newly divorced with 2 daughters.  She meets three young filmmakers who end up living in her guest house while they work on their movie. 

So, Nancy and Hallie had to find a house to film in which also had a guest house.  That detail must have made the search all that much harder, but it looks like they chose a great house!

This aerial view shows the gravel driveway with the white stucco wall with a wood gate that separates the front driveway from the yard.   And again,  the guest house is cut off in the photograph.  But it is at the very right of this photo, on the front lawn.

OK. NOW.

Does the house look familiar to you at all?

The house was on the market a few years ago and by sheer luck, we have the real estate photos.  Here is the view from the gravel driveway leading up to the courtyard and house.

You can see that on the right, the white stucco wall is now covered by ivy.

Real Estate:   photos of the house before it became the set of “Home Again”

“HOME AGAIN:”   Notice the pretty lantern high in the tree and the fruit on the trees!!   Isn’t this charming?!?!   The movie was filmed in winter, but this California and it is always blooming.

During filming, the courtyard fountain was dressed up with lily pads and flowering plants and everyone posed around for Instagram. 

From the movie’s trailer – Reese takes a call out in the courtyard.  From the trailer, it looks like a lot of the action takes place outside the house – by the fireplace terrace, the courtyard,  and the pool.  Inside,  a lot of action takes place in the kitchen and dining room.

In the courtyard, during filming: the producer Nancy Meyers with the director/writer, her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer.   The cutest!  Notice the winter coats.

REAL ESTATE:  The walkway from the driveway to the main house.

Reese with Nancy and Hallie and two of the younger men who star in the movie.  The two little girls play Alice’s daughters.   The gentleman on the right is the cinematographer – the highly respected Dean Cundey.  Dean was nominated for an Oscar for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and he won two Baftas for Roger Rabbit AND “Apollo 13.”

Dean also has worked with Nancy before - on The Holiday, The Parent Trap, and What Women Want!!

So, what’s my scoop? 

Does the house look familiar to any of you? 

Remember this décor book?

“Elements of Style” by Diane Doreen Saeks – the book showcased the work of Michael S. Smith, the decorator of the Obamas.  Sigh. 

This book was written some years ago, in 2005, and it featured a house owned by Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber, which Michael had decorated.  That house is the same one in “Home Again.”   Additionally, Elle Décor did a story on the house. 

Cindy Crawford, one of the original owners of the house in “Home Again” standing in the front courtyard, surrounded by mounds of lavender!!  I wonder what happened to all the lavender?

But Cindy isn’t the only celebrity to have lived here.

Right after Cindy and Rande moved out, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner moved in.  Shown here in 2005 – around the time they moved in.  The couple later moved into the famous Cliff May ranch house that Brian Grazer once owned.   Look how happy and in love the now divorced couple once were.

The house where “Home Again” was filmed is only 3,850 sq. ft.  It’s original to Brentwood – built in 1929.  It has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms and 14 rooms in total.  In 1936, the house was renovated.

Also, Cindy Crawford added on a new kitchen and the fireplace/terrace outside the kitchen. 

After filming was completed 3 building permits were issued for the house: 

1. Convert garage to habitable and build a carport.  (I wonder where?)

2.  Add:  1,152 sf of new living quarters and deck  (Again, I wonder WHERE?)

3.  General remodeling.

I’d love to see the finish project!! 

  On the one acre property, the house is surrounded by groves of olive trees, many of which were planted under Cindy’s direction.

Perhaps the new 1,152 new sq. footage will be added onto the front lawn?

THE KITCHEN/FAMILY ROOM GARDEN:

2002:   The prettiest aspect of the house is all of its private gardens.  Here is the outside fireplace with terrace as it looked in Elle Décor when Cindy Crawford lived there.  This is what Cindy and Rande built.

REAL ESTATE:   And here it is when it was sold a few years ago.

HOME AGAIN:  How the house was found, before it was decorated for the movie.

HOME AGAIN:  The décor for the movie is starting to come together.  Outdoor table and chairs, umbrella, pillows and votives were added.

HOME AGAIN:  A dinner party on the terrace off the family room.

Notice the blue and white vases with red and pink roses – just as was presented on the color palette-mood board.  Shades of the Something’s Gotta Give infamous dinner!  This looks like a great scene!!

HOME AGAIN:   Reese/Alice at her dinner party. 

HOME AGAIN:  Filming at night on the kitchen terrace.

And turning night into day.  Or vice – versa?!!

HOME AGAIN:  The three young filmmakers are living in Alice’s guest house.  They obviously grow very close to the two little girls.

Reese as Alice Kinney

Michael Sheen plays her husband

Pico Alexander – next to Sheen – plays Reese’s handsome love interest, in his 20s.   Hey – it’s good enough for the President of  France!!! 

Pico is going to be the breakout star of the movie.  He is GORGEOUS!!!

THE SWIMMING POOL GARDEN:

Real Estate Photos.  The living room overlooks the swimming pool and there is another stone terrace off the living room and guest bedroom.

I hate to say this but the neighbor’s roof looks so unattractive next to Cindy’s beautiful Spanish tiles.    Thankfully there is the tall stucco fence that separates the properties, along with lots of lush landscaping.

2002:   Elle Magazine, Cindy Crawford’s swimming pool.   The scalloped umbrella is darling!  The colors in this styling for the magazine are the exact same ones used in the film – reds, pinks, and blues.

Real Estate Photos.  A view of the living room window and the swimming pool.

Real Estate photos of the pool.

“HOME AGAIN” A view of the pool set for the movie.  Notice the large olive jars in the background and the lantern.  At least the swing set is gone…I think!

HOME AGAIN.  From inside the living room, showing the pink daybed – looking out the window to the swimming pool. 

The pink repeats the color palette-mood board for the design of the film.

THE LIVING ROOM/GUEST BEDROOM TERRACE:

Real Estate:  Photos from the living room/guest bedroom terrace overlooking the swimming pool.

Real Estate:  Photo from the living room/guest bedroom – overlooking the terrace.

THE FRONT LAWN GARDEN:

And we are now back to the front of the house – with the master bedroom terrace looking over the front lawn.  Steps lead from the terrace down to the lawn.   You can barely see the blue from the spa at the left of the terrace.  I do wonder if this bedroom was added on to the house at some later date – its stone roof looks a little newer.  And of course you can’t see the guest house in this photo.  But it’s at the end of the front lawn.

BEFORE:  From Elle Décor & Elements of Style:  Cindy Crawford’s master bedroom  leading down to the front lawn.  The hidden spa is off to the left of the terrace.  Beautiful.  In an interview, Cindy said she loved driving up to the house, closing the gates and feeling like she was in a European countryside.  Eventually, she and her family moved completely to Malibu. 

HOME AGAIN:  Yoga classes on the front lawn, off the terrace.  Large rattan chairs were used to decorate the terrace.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      REAL ESTATE PHOTOS:  Here is the guest house with its arches and terrace.  It leads to the front lawn and faces the master bedroom.  The swing set is between the guest house and the master bedroom for some odd reason.  It’s probably been removed now.  I hope!!

                                                                                             HOME AGAIN:  Night-time outdoor movies shown by the guest house.

The bright blankets pick up the mood board color palette’s orange and pink and blues.

HOME AGAIN:  Nancy relaxes on the outside “set.”

HOME AGAIN.  Uh-oh.  Who’s waiting at home on the gravel courtyard?  The ex-husband!! 

Ready to go inside the house?

THE ENTRY:

2002:  Cindy Crawford.  The front door with the peep-door and beautiful Spanish tile floor.   That lantern is still in the house today.  Notice the air grate.  So beautiful!   What a pretty entry.

HOME AGAIN.  The front entry with the same paneled door.   Decorative baskets hang on the wall instead of an antique mirror like Cindy had.

THE LIVING ROOM:

2002:  Cindy Crawford decorated by Michael S.  Smith.  The sofas are covered in Bennison.  The large window overlooks the pool, the doors on the right open to the terrace.  The family room is to the left, on the other side of the fireplace.

I love the way Smith decorated the house, but this is my least favorite room of the lot for some reason.  I’ve never cared that much for what he did here, but the other rooms are wonderful. 

Maybe it’s those leather chairs I don’t care for?

The cover of the Elle Décor from 2002.  Do you remember this story?  The living room looks prettier in this photo.

2002:  Cindy Crawford.  Tramp art mirror over the fireplace.

Here the family posed in their living room.  Cindy actually gave birth to both her children at home, right here in this very house!!!  Presley is absolutely gorgeous and her daughter is now her doppelganger!!

REAL ESTATE:   The wood ceiling is now painted stark white as are all the beams.  These curtains remain in the house today.

HOME AGAIN:  The curtains are from the previous owners.  They used simple slip covered furniture with seagrass and a pink rug layered over it.  At the window is a Moroccan rug and the hottest item of the year – the rattan day bed.

Candace Bergen!!  I can’t wait to see her!!!!

Candace dressed in soft pinks from the color palette mood board.  Doesn’t she look wonderful?!?!

THE daybed.  No sitting allowed except for during filming.

This daybed at Serena and Lily is the must-have décor item of the year.  Of course it would be in a Nancy Meyers movie!  HERE.

The pinks pick up the color from the mood board.  Darling pillows.

I’m sure they will take professional photographs of the rooms, neatly styled for all the magazines, web sites and blogs.  Speaking of blogs, Nancy told Elle Decor that her favorite decor blogs are Habitually Chic, Remodelista and Belgian Pearls!

Oh, to be named on that list!!! 

The movie is due out Labor Day weekend, so it’s still a few months away for all the PR press.

Movie props!  That clock is darling!!

THE FAMILY ROOM:

2002:  Cowtan and Tout fabric on the sofa with Brunschwig and Fils on the shades.  Stone floors.  This room is on the opposite side of the living room.  I love the décor in the family room – this is so classic Michael S. Smith.

HOME AGAIN:  The Family Room.  I love the curtains used on this set.  

Alice talks with her ex-husband played by Michael Sheen.   Alice doesn’t look too thrilled her husband is back.   And I just noticed he has a band-aid on his forehead!  He gets in a fight with one of the three young men!

                                                                                                                                                      The door leading to the kitchen is off the front courtyard.  The little one’s cute face!!

The door to the kitchen is right next to the dining room.   The sconces are from Cindy’s day.

One note.  These iron framed doors/window are so “on trend” today.  But, these have been used in older houses forever.  Remember, this house was built in 1929!!  I would paint them black though – I’m not crazy about the rust colored paint.

Another view of the kitchen next to the dining room.  The wooden double doors leading into the dining room are Spanish. 

THE DINING ROOM:

2002:  The original Michael S. Smith décor for the dining room as seen in Elle Décor and Elements of Style.  I absolutely love this room as  Smith designed it.  He used Bennison’s Dragon Flower fabric for the curtains.  And notice the classic chandelier that Smith chose for Cindy, it is still in the house today.  

Through the opening is the breakfast room.

           REAL ESTATE:  The dining room today.  You can see the wood Spanish double doors leading to the kitchen.  To the right is the breakfast room.  And notice Cindy’s chandelier and sconces remain today.

HOME AGAIN:  The view from the courtyard walkway, looking into the dining room and through to the breakfast room beyond it. 

  THE KITCHEN:

2002:  Cindy Crawford’s kitchen as seen in the Elements of Style and Elle Décor.  Cindy and her husband Rande added on the kitchen and the outside fireplace.   I’m sure a new kitchen was needed since the house was built in the 1920s.   Today, the kitchen is painted white, not cream.  AND, it looks like there are new blue and white tiles in the movie.  Not sure if they are permanent or if it’s slight of hand.    Cindy’s open cabinets were later closed in by a former owner.

REAL ESTATE:  It looks like the only change was the kitchen was painted white and a new textured shade was added.  Across from the kitchen is the dining area with the wonderful light fixture placed by Michael Smith for Cindy. 

HOME AGAIN:  The main change is the new blue and white tiles that are much more vibrant than the previous ones.  Also, there are new Mark Sikes-type of blue and white striped linen shades at the windows.  

Maybe the darker blue and white shows up better on film than the mostly white tile with some blue that was there before.

The view of the new blue and white striped linen shades.  In the adjoining room – the cute breakfast room, it looks like the original shades were retained.

The gang congregates around the kitchen island.

Food for filming.

The dining room looking into the kitchen – the blue and white china matches that on the color palette mood board.   And, I love how Michael Sheen is wearing a blue and white striped shirt ala Mark Sikes.

Notice how the art on the wall really matches the mood board with its orange and pink stripes – it all coordinated.

The other side of the dining room, with the painted cabinet. 

I have to say that I do prefer Michael S. Smith’s décor in this room.  It seems more fitting with the house’s architecture:

                I know the table and chairs used in the movie are “on trend” – I just prefer a more traditional approach like these antique French chairs and table.   I think Michael Smith’s décor here is so classic and will be beautiful for the ages.

By the way, the small breakfast room is really cute, but there aren’t many photos of it!!  There is a marble top table, like a Saarinen, along with a linen striped fabric, a banquette, and rattan chairs.  Here’s a peek at it:

It looks like a Saarinen table with rattan chairs and striped cushions. 

And past the kitchen – is this tiny peek into the breakfast room – it shows a banquette with linen fabric and rattan chair(s.)  I think!  It’s hard to tell.

And one more tiny peek at the breakfast room from the dining room – I wish we could see more!  Oh well, September will be here soon enough.

The Master Bedroom:

In 2002:  In Elle Décor and  Elements of Style.  The master bedroom with a beautiful raised ceiling and a hanging Moroccan styled lantern.   The gorgeous antique screen is a focal point.  On the bed is a suzani, once the textile du jour for Michael Smith.  Two French doors flank the fireplace, which lead to a terrace and the front lawn.

OK. 

This reminds me of why we all have loved Michael S. Smith so much over all these years.  I love how he thought to put a screen against the long wall!  I love that lantern and wonder if it is still there now?  We might have to wait for the movie to find out.

Real Estate:  The master bedroom today.  Looks a bit different!  Not nearly as pretty as when Cindy lived there!   The two French doors lead out to the terrace and the front lawn.  At the end of the large lawn you can just barely see the guest house where in the movie Alice puts up the three young filmmakers. 

AND…notice there is a door on the left wall.  So…THIS is the reason why Michael Smith had the brilliant idea to put the screen there – he was hiding something!!  LOL

HOME AGAIN.  And here is the bedroom as seen in the movie.  There is a sort of foyer into the room as you can see to the right of Reese.

And as the room was decorated for the movie.   The colorful headboard follows the color palette mood board.  In fact, that headboard looks exactly like the one that was shown on the board:

The color palette mood board.  Notice the photograph of the bedroom that was source for the movie.

Here is that exact photo:

This photo from a magazine was pinned and then put on the color palette mood board for the movie “Home Again.”  It appears the Production Design found a bed very similar to it, but without the canopy.

The master bedroom headboard, which is very similar to the one on the mood board. 

And from Instagram, the director Hallie Meyers-Shyer goes over lines with the star, Pico Alexander.   I think Pico is going to be a huge heart throb after this movie.

REAL ESTATE:  The bathroom is quite attractive with a standing sink and with a marble & paneled wood surround on the tub.  A large window opens to the garden.  I love the old fashioned medicine chest.

HOME AGAIN:  Reese has a crying scene in the bathroom where there is now a shade at the window, but otherwise it looks very much the same.

Here she cries in the medicine chest’s mirror.

The Guest Room:

2002:  From Elle Décor and Elements of Style.  The guest room is quite fantastic with a canopy bed, Oriental rug, antique chair, chest, and porcelain lamp.   Another suzani is placed on the bed.  Beautiful and classic Michael Smith.  This door opens to the back terrace that it shares with the living room.  Beautiful, full, striped curtains – classic Michael S. Smith.

Another photo from the guest room shows the opposite side of the room, with a desk and antique mirror.

REAL ESTATE:  This shows the guest room and how it shares the same terrace with the living room and the swimming pool beyond it.

SECOND GUEST ROOM:

REAL ESTATE:  This photo shows the second guest room. 

HOME AGAIN:  And here is the second guest room used for the younger daughter’s bedroom.  It looks like they didn’t even have to repaint the room.

THE GUEST HOUSE:

REAL ESTATE:  As mentioned before, the guest house is located at the front of the property, right off the street.  It faces the front lawn and the master bedroom.  Here is how it looked when the real estate photos were taken a few years ago.

HOME AGAIN:  And here it is, shown during a movie night.  So cute!

HOME AGAIN:  Inside, the guest room is furnished in creams and white with touches of deep blue.  I only see one bed, not sure where all three slept?  It looks like there is either a laundry room or kitchenette included in the guest house.

I guess the three boys are happy just to have a place to stay! 

Here they have a fight over Alice  –  you can see the terrace that overlooks the front lawn.

In this scene, it looks like perhaps Alice Kinney was once in a movie.  You can see the actor’s chair with the name Kinney written on it.  And there is a poster for a movie “Lola In Between” which Hallie Meyers-Shyer actually wrote the screenplay for when she was still in high school.  It looks like she resurrected that screenplay to be a part of this, her first motion picture.  Since the boys are filmmakers, is Alice sharing her cache of film reels and scripts with them?  Notice the actress starring in “Lola in Between”  is Lillian Stewart.  Candace’s name in “Home Again” is Lillian Stewart, so there is some connection between Lillian and Alice and movies and the three boys.  

There also seems to be another sub plot involving Alice’s oldest daughter acting in a play and the boys coaching her?

Who knows?  It’s hard to tell an entire script from a 2 minute trailer, but I tried.

All I know is I can’t wait to see Home Again!!

And finally:

For everything you need to know about the “Home Again,” go HERE.

My friend Linda Merrill has a story on her blog about “Home Again” if you want to read more!  HERE.

AND…..

Since Hallie, Nancy and Reese are all connected to Mark Sikes with his love of blue and white stripes..

here are a few things I found that can give you that fresh blue and white look:

LOVE THIS CHAIR!  It comes in a lot of different fabrics, but the check is fabulous!!!  HERE

Have a white Slipcovered sofa?  Add some blue & white striped pillows for an immediate change HERE.

Bar cart:  HERE

OK, how cute is this???  Blue & white striped headboard.  HERE

Great bench HERE.

Bench – so cute in red & white check.  I love to mix in red or pink with the blues.  HERE

How about just a touch of Mark?  Cutest dog bed!!  HERE

And magazine bins, plant boxes, whatever you need:  HERE

and finally, this throw, which can be used to place over a sofa back cushion, be used on a bed,  tossed over a chair, cover a table – any way you want to bring stripes to the décor.  Plus there are many different colors and patterns.  HERE.

See you at the movies!

from COTE DE TEXAS http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2017/07/nancy-meyers-comes-home-again.html