#homemade eggnog is a hell of a drink

[recovering-redditor]

26

Assuming this is the 70 horrible questions one:

What are you craving right now?

Boring answer, sorry (that’s the horrible part): nothing at all. I just sat down with a glass of homemade eggnog, so I’m having a great time.

[frestoniia]

“Eggnog is already one of my favorite things, but homemade is ten times better.” Yes he's offering Goldie a very large glass of homemade eggnog. -argonr (paraphrasing a little bc eggnog is one of those things that Runcle runs on so of course he knows how good the homemade is.)

B. DYLAN HOLLIS DIALOGUE PROMPTS [ PT. IIII ] || accepting

@argonr

" That is... A lot of nog. "

     To be honest, Craig had never really understood all the hype around eggnog. He'd tried it a few times in the past, and while it certainly wasn't awful, it also wasn't something he'd voluntarily drink if he had just about any other option.

     That being said, all of those other eggnogs had been store-bought. So maybe the homemade stuff really did make a difference. And besides, it'd be rude not to at least try it.

" Eheh, thanks. " he gingerly took the large glass from the other, taking great care not to spill any of it's contents. It smelled quite good, at least-- like the holidays.

     Upon taking a sip, his eyes grew wide with surprise.

" Bloody hell-- this is brilliant! " he exclaimed, expression brightening almost instantly. He appeared to be in disbelief. " Is this what eggnog is supposed to taste like? Man, I've been missing out! "

[i-drink-and-i-write-fics]

Family Man

Chapter 3: The New Family

Summary: Reader is hit by an important holiday.

Your room was getting darker by the hour, but you made no move to turn on a light. It almost seemed fitting to sit in the dark. Matched your mood.

How did you not know? You were always so good at tracking time. Always so careful. The holidays had been your job when it was just you and Josh. He would work like crazy and you would do the shopping and cooking. You preferred it that way. When your parents were alive, your mom always had tried to help you in the kitchen. And while you love her and missed her, it had always felt claustrophobic having someone else in there with you. As if they were always in your way no matter how hard they tried.

So Josh would work and you would cook.

You sighed as you leaned against your bed, your butt slowly becoming numb from sitting on the floor. It was the missions that had done it: made you lost track of the days. And sure, you were slowly starting to see the Avengers as friends. But holidays were different. The holidays were family affairs.

“No need to rush with the equipment, kid.” Tony had told you earlier that day. “Evil may not take a day off, but we do.”

“What are you talking about? We always have a few days off between missions, Stark.”

He stopped and blinked at you. “Are you- are you serious?”

You paused in your actions, taking in Tony’s shocked look. “What?”

Sam had popped up behind you and stuck a balloon to your head. This had been a running gag for the Three Stooges every since you had confessed to helping Nat and Clint that one fateful night.

“It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, Balloon Bandit!” He said with his signature laugh.

“Wait, it is?” Your jaw dropped.

“Yeah, didn’t you get the email?” Bucky joked as he walked in with Steve.

With that small exchange came the tightness in your chest. You put your equipment bag down and excused yourself, running to your room.

And there you had hidden since that morning, trying not to cry over your first holiday without Josh.

There was a knock on the door followed by the voice of your best friend. “Hey, Kiddo. We’re almost done here. Do you need a ride into town?”

You forced yourself to keep a steady voice. “No thanks, Hawkbutt. I’m staying here.”

There was a long pause. “You’re going to what?”

A sigh. “Stay here. I got rid of my apartment once your circus convinced me to stay.”

“Oh hell no. Nat!” His footsteps quickly ran from your door. You had no idea what thoughts sprouted in Clint’s head, but you didn’t think anything good would come from it.

You weren’t given long to contemplate before there was angry pounding on your door. “Get packed, Kiddo! We’re leaving in five!”

“Nat, I already told Birdbrain I’m staying here.”

“Like hell you are. Be out here in five minutes or I’m breaking the door down! And I won’t need Tin Man’s tools! So get packed! And bring a jacket!”

Of course, you weren’t stupid enough to argue with Nat once she got in one of these moods. So you quickly packed a weekend bag and grabbed your brown leather jacket. You had no idea where you were going, but you guessed it beat sitting in an empty compound for the rest of the week.

In the common room, it was clear everyone else on the team had left except Nat and Clint. “Alright, what’s this all about?”

Nat ignored your question. “Nice jacket. Very Indian Jones vibe.”

“Thanks. It was Josh’s.”

Clint and Nat exchanged a look before Clint spoke up. “Yup, this is the right choice. Let’s go, Kiddo. The Quinjet awaits.”

“Wait, what?”

No further explanation was given as the two dragged you onto the jet. The two remained cryptic during the entire flight, asking what types of food and drinks you liked, ignoring any questions you had on where you were going. And outside the jet, the scenery changed from busy cities to smaller towns, until finally giving away to farmlands.

Clint landed the plane in a field by a farmhouse that seemed cut off from everything else. “Ok, all you hitchhikers. We’re here!”

“And where the hell is here, Barton?” You stood up from your seat and grabbed your bag.

“You’ll see,” he winked as he and Nat exited the jet.

Sighing, you followed after them. Outside the air was crisp with the promise of autumn air, the trees surrounding the field halfway between orange, brown, red leaves, and some completely bare of any leaves. There was a barn off to one side where you could hear a few animals stirring, no doubt being kept inside to keep warm. The farmhouse was a faded yellow with a huge wrap around porch, with a porch swing on one end.

Clint was already at the door and Nat looked back at you from the porch steps. “Better hurry up, ____. Or there won’t be any food left.”

You furrowed your eyes in confusion but followed after. Inside the house was a chaos of kids running up to greet Clint and Nat as they stepped further into the house. You hung back as they got their hugs in before a woman stepped in to hug Nat and kiss Clint. This must be his wife, Laura. Which would make the brood his.

The room became awkwardly quiet as everyone finally noticed your presence. You cleared your throat and waved. “Hi. Sorry to intrude. I had no idea where I was being dragged to.”

Recognition flashed in Laura’s eyes. “Oh, you must be ____! I’m glad you were able to join us after all!”

You looked at Clint and raised an eyebrow. He looked away sheepishly. “They, uh, weren’t given an option. But I couldn’t leave them to spend the week alone.”

Laura just nodded her head and came over, her hand reaching out. “I’m Laura. I usually hug when I greet people, but Clint told me you may not be ready yet.”

You shook her hand as your face grew warm. “Um, yeah. Sorry again to intrude on your family time.”

Laura smiled. “Honey, you are family now. Nat comes to every holiday since she also doesn’t have any family and now you’ve been welcomed in. Clint told me everything and I can’t stand the idea of someone not enjoying any homemade food or family time.”

Your face grew hot and your eyes shot down to your shoes. “Uh, thanks. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Laura gently reached over and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Why don’t you come with me into the kitchen? We’ll get you a drink and maybe you can lend a hand with dessert?”

“Uh, yeah. That would be great.” In the kitchen, she handed you a glass of wine. “Thank you. What, uh, what did you need help with?”

Laura blushed. “I’m embarrassed to say, but I forgot to make dessert. Would you possibly make something?”

“Yeah, sure. I love to cook. Is there anything I should know?”

“Only one thing. Our youngest, Nathan, is allergic to pumpkin so as long as it doesn’t have that you’re fine.”

You smiled at Laura. “I think I have an idea.”

As you slowly moved around the Barton’s kitchen taking inventory and grabbing equipment, Clint sat at the table to have a quiet conversation with Nat and Laura.

“Sorry this was so last minute, Laura. We had no idea they didn’t have any plans until today. They still has a hard time opening up about Josh in regards to certain things.”

“It’s quite alright, Clint. With what you’ve told me about them, they needs all the love we can give.”

Nat smiled over her glass of wine. “Whatcha making over there, KIddo?”

You glanced up with a smile. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait for Thanksgiving tomorrow to find out.”

Clint’s jaw dropped. “Oh, that’s just cruel.”

That night, Laura lead you upstairs and into one of the bedrooms. “Sorry, we don’t have more guest rooms, but I promise the bed is very comfortable.”

The room was nice with one bed in the middle and a dresser across the room. A rocker sat next to the closet. It was very quaint.

“Where will Nat sleep?”

“In Cooper’s room. We’re having the boys double up.”

“Oh,” you put your bag down by the bed and felt embarrassed that you had caused one of the kids to move rooms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to misplace anyone by being here.”

Laura looked at you, her eyes softening. She slowly approached and placed her hands on your shoulders. “It’s nothing the boys can’t handle for one weekend. You’re family now and we want to give you the space you need to feel comfortable here at your own pace. Because this home is yours as well. Anytime you need space from the team, our door is open. No questions asked.”

Your face cracked and Laura instantly pulled you in as you cried. “But why? You don’t even know me.”

“I do. Because Clint does. He told me everything and if you hadn’t been an adult, I would have told him we were adopting you. I will not have a sweet person like you out there on your own. We can’t ever be Josh, but we hope we can fill the hole a little bit.”

You pulled back and Laura gently wiped your tears away. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Now get some rest. We have a big day of eating tomorrow.”

You laughed and then sniffed away the last of your tears. “Will do.”

The next day, Laura was busy in the kitchen and wouldn’t let you help, insisting you had done enough by making the dessert for later. So you wandered around the house until you ended up outside where Clint was teaching his daughter how to use a bow and arrow while his boys were chasing each other all over the vast field.

“Sleep well?”

You looked over to find Nat on the porch swing. Nodding your head, you sat down next to her. “Laura was right: that bed was really comfortable.”

Nat handed you a glass. “Eggnog?”

You raised an eyebrow but took the glass. “Isn’t it a little early?”

She laughed quietly. “First of all, there are no rules on a holiday. Second, this is the kid-friendly kind. We safe the bourbon one for after the kids go down.”

“Good call.”

Clint looked over to watch you both laugh. “Hey, is that the glass Laura brought out for me?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” You took a deliberate sip as you looked at him.

He narrowed his eyes as you and Nat busted out laughing.

The morning went quickly and soon you were back inside gathering around the kitchen and the dining table. You made your way over to Clint and handing him a glass of eggnog.

“Peace offering.”

He chuckled. “Accepted.”

“Thanks for dragging me out of the compound. I’d probably be sulking in my room right now, wondering if it was worth it to steal Bucky’s snacks.”

Clint belly laughed at that. “Not gonna lie, that would have been hilarious to hear about from Nat. And see the pictures of you running from him.”

“Traitor.”

“Seriously though, kid. I’m glad you came. You’ve become like a sibling to me and Nat and I would never forgive myself if we had left you alone.”

There was a pause from you. “I’m still not telling you what the dessert is.”

“Damnit!”

The meal went quicker than you expected and soon you were bringing out your contribution.

“A pie?” Clint looked at you incredulously. “You hid a pie from us?”

“Not just any pie.” You plopped a slice onto a plate and handed it to him. “Caramel apple. Our mother’s recipe. She would make this every year for us.”

It was quiet around the table before Clint spoke up. “Thank you for sharing this with us.”

You gave him a soft smile. “It’s like you said: we’re family now.”

[atmilliways]

On the 5th day of Dethmas this writer gives to thee…

Dec 17 - Putting up decorations!

Nathan had been thinking—a dangerous pastime, he knew, but it was either that or drink until he literally vomited out all the weird feelings swimming around in his guts, and that was a no-go because he’d already tried that.

Nathan/Charles to go with some stick figure art I drew, like, a decade ago haha.

~

This Is Very Unsafe

Nathan had been thinking—a dangerous pastime, he knew, but it was either that or drink until he literally vomited out all the weird feelings swimming around in his guts, and that was a no-go because he’d already tried that. Charles had given him a disapproving look for needing another liver transplant again so soon. That look, weeks later, still haunted Nathan.

The problem was that Charles was the problem.

Ever since he’d died, Nathan had been drowning in trying to remember how the guy ran everything, hoping to somehow manage Dethklok himself and avoid replacing someone who, it turned out, was really fucking irreplaceable. No one else had any right to sit behind that desk, although Nathan had done it in the hopes of channeling some latent CFO wisdom to try and get his band out of the hole they’d dug themselves into.

Then, poof, Charles had turned out to be not dead after all. But nine months of drowning didn’t just go away; ever since their manager’s return, Nathan had felt as though he’d crawled from a bottomless ocean into a desert and now, ironically, was dying of thirst.

He’d been thinking, and thinking, and then thinking some more. He’d acted out by dating Trindle, to see if Charles would have any sort of reaction, but if he did then that was one hell of a poker face. After the explosion at Klokikon and taking approximately one hundred showers, Nathan had come to the conclusion that what he’d really liked about Trindle (aside from the rockin’ tits) was that she’d wrapped her entire life and identity around him—something hadn’t even begun to occur to until he’d grabbed an offered hand for help up the last couple rungs into the dethkopter, looked up, and realized that the hand he held was Charles’.

Every day, all the time, Charles was there. His life revolved around Dethklok so literally that he’d died and then come back from the dead for them. The only reason Nathan had let go of his hand was because his bandmates were right on his ass trying to climb to safety too, and he had to get out of the way.

The whole thing had caught him by surprise. For one thing, Charles did not have rockin’ tits.

After much reflection, he’d come to the conclusion that maybe that wasn’t such a dealbreaker. He was starting to get that feeling around the guy, like back in high school when he’d had a crush on the head cheerleader and whenever he tried to talk to her he either went non-verbal or everything came out sounding angry and sullen.

So . . . he had a crush on his manager. Great.

And it was driving him fucking nuts. Did Charles even like guys? If he didn’t, would he make an exception for Nathan Explosion? If he did, was Nathan Explosion even his type? Nathan liked to think that he was everyone’s type, being famous and all . . . but that wasn’t likely to impress a man who’d held his hair back while he puked blood onto yet another operating room floor after lying about when he’d last eaten again.

But Christmas was coming up, and the holiday season was all about having a good time with the people you didn’t hate being around and making . . . fond memories and cookies and shit. As tongue-tied and stupid as Nathan always felt around Charles now, surely the holiday could offer something to talk to him about. Even if it was just about—

“Christmas decorations,” Charles repeated. His right eyebrow eased upwards a fraction of an inch.

“Yeah,” Nathan growled in confirmation, standing firmly in the manager’s office. “All over the Haus.”

“What kind—”

“All of them. All kinds.”

“. . . Okay. All kinds of decorations.” Charles made a note on the legal pad on his desk. “Live greenery or artificial?”

Nathan barely avoided saying ‘Huh? ’ out loud, because he hadn’t actually anticipated any questions. He scowled hard as he thought faster than he’d ever thought before in his life. “Uhhh . . . live.”

“Alright, I’ll have a team of Klokateers—”

“No I’ll do it. I’ll tell them what to get, I know what Christmas looks like,” Nathan snapped, and wondered why he kept interrupting. Fuck. Charles was probably getting real annoyed somewhere behind that poker face.

Charles paused, then put his pen down. “I, ah, didn’t mean to imply that you don’t.”

“Well . . . good.” Nathan crossed his arms and shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling like he should say more in order to not sound like such a jackass. “Uh, I’ll take care of the live stuff. You can do the rest, if you want.”

“Hm.” With an unreadable expression, Charles picked the pen back up. “I’m assuming you’d like the same as previous years, then? Everything in red, black, and silver?”

Nathan nodded. “And lots of candles this time,” he added, because candles were romantic and shit. Made for good mood lighting and creepy shadows.

“Lots of candles. Right.” Charles wrote that down too. His eyes flicked up to Nathan again. “Anything else?”

That’s when Nathan’s voice decided to desert him again, and he shook his head. He left shortly after, tugging his dethphone out of his pocket and searching ‘live Christmas decorations’ since he’d just fucking given himself that job. The conversation hadn’t even been worth it, all he’d done was snap at Charles again. Scowling, he thumbed through the search results and found pretty much what he’d expected.

Evergreens, ugh. Sure.

Pinecones, painful with thrown. Acceptable.

Logs. At least those could get set on fire.

Cinnamon sticks? No, Pickles would get drunk, try to eat them, and then whine about cinnamon buns.

Holly, fuck no. Not since that year Murderface had tried to make “homemade cranberry sauce.”

. . . Mistletoe.

A slow grin spread across Nathan’s broad face. Mistletoe. He could work with that.

~

By the start of the week before Christmas, everything was in place. Mordhaus was practically dripping with evergreen garlands and there was a dedicated contingent of Klokateers in charge of going around and making sure all the candles were either relit or replaced the moment they burned out, round the clock. In the pre-noon hours before the rest of the band was awake, at Nathan’s signal, the mistletoe was hoisted over the living room hot tub with care.

This took several Klokateers to accomplish, as Nathan had decided that mistletoe, a parasite, would be much more badass if hung up while still attached to its uprooted host tree. He settled into the hot tub beneath it with a mug of spiked eggnog and waited. Charles always showed up whenever any member of Dethklok did something stupid; all he had to do was wait.

Charles entered the room about fifteen minutes later, which Nathan found kind of flattering. He walked in eyeing the suspended tree warily, as though it might fall at any moment, and only glanced down at the front man when he’d reached just a bit closer than minimum safe distance. “Good morning, Nathan. May I, ah, ask what you’re doing?”

Nathan shrugged, stretching both arms out to rest casually along the edge of the hot tub. “Hanging out.” His stomach was doing spins and somersaults, but he was determined to play it cool.

Charles’ mouth compressed into a thin line—not that Nathan was staring or anything. “Under a tree? Nathan, please. I know you wanted to have some creative control in the decorations this year, but this is very unsafe.”

“Nope.”

“. . . Excuse me?”

“I’m hanging out,” Nathan explained, “under a tree with mistletoe in it.” He waited a beat. “I’m under the mistletoe.”

At that predetermined signal, a listening Klokateer dimmed the living room lights down to a faint glow, accentuated by flickering candlelight that lit the edges of the cavernous room like low-hanging stars. There were no lower windows, but the upper ones were shuttered to add to the sense of ethereal gloom.

“Ah. . . .” Charles looked around, trying to determine why the light levels were changing, but the Klokateer had already ducked out per Nathan’s instructions. “What’s going on?”

Okay, here it was. Moment of truth. And hey, if it went badly he could always say,  Wasn’t me, it was the mistletoe and retreat to his room to get over this crush which would surely be smashed to pieces by robot-like rejection.

Nathan rose from the hot tub, knowing that the candlelight made his wet skin shine like one of those jacked dudes on the cover of romance novels. He automatically sucked his stomach in a little. “I’m under the mistletoe,” he said again, and his face felt warm but hopefully in the dimness it was hard to tell. “So, uh. That means you have to kiss me.”

“Kiss. . . ?” Charles started. He trailed off as Nathan took the first step away from the hot tub, black swim trunks dripping softly on the stone floor.

It was only one more step to reach the man, and Nathan took it. Took him by the shoulders, getting chlorinated water all over Charles’ expensive suit, and pulled him close, all but yanking him into a very self-conscious kiss in which Nathan was totally overthinking what to do with his crappy thin lips, eyes closed in concentration.

His eyes flew open when he felt Charles grab onto his arms and, instead of pushing him away, held on with completely unexpected strength. It was Charles who took control and deepened the kiss, maneuvering expertly until Nathan’s eyes drifted closed again, forgetting to be self-conscious and just . . . kissing back.

Fuck. Who knew that Charles would be such a good kisser? Totally worth it.

“Wow,” Nathan breathed when the kiss ended, their mouths still hovering mere millimeters apart.

Charles cleared his throat, not moving away either. “I second that. This was, ah, not what I was expecting when I came in here, but, well.” His gaze shifted pointedly towards Nathan’s kiss-bruised lips. “I suppose this sheds a new light on why you were so interested in decorating this Christmas.”

Above them, the hanging tree creaked. They glanced up at it in unison.

“Would you, ah, like to continue this discussion in my office?”

“. . . Yeah,” Nathan said with a slow grin. “Yeah, let’s do that.” He followed Charles, grabbing a towel along the way to dry off with.

Fuck yeah, mistletoe. Worked like a charm.

[babbushka]

I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

Flip Zimmerman x Reader ; 2.1k

The snow is snowing and the wind it is blowing

But I can weather the storm

What do I care how much it may storm?

I've got my love to keep me warm

 It’s the last night of Hanukkah, and Flip is in a bit of a bad fuckin’ mood. He doesn’t know why the hell he agreed to this, to the station party. Maybe because he was a rookie cop wanting to fit in with the big dogs, or maybe it was your holiday spirit being entirely too infectious, but he had agreed, and he was regretting it big fuckin’ time.

You just look too damn good, that was the problem. You look too good with your fashionable dress and hair all done up so nice for the holiday, and it’s driving Flip mad. You had insisted that you match, so Flip was wearing the only suit he owned, which happened to be the same shade of navy blue as your dress. He’s standing right next to you, has his arm wrapped around your waist as you laugh brightly at a joke Jimmy is telling you as you sip on homemade eggnog that one of the secretaries brought, and all he wants to do is kiss you, get you away to some secluded place.  

He’s got something for you, something that’s been burning a hole in his pocket for the past seven nights, something he wants to give you so desperately but every time he tries there’s some sort of fuckin’ interruption. He smokes his cigarette, wishes he had stayed home with you instead of mingling and socializing. He shook so many hands so far this evening he felt like he was running for mayor of Colorado Springs.

“Have you noticed how people are getting more blasé about these space flights all the time? Pretty soon this’ll be known as taking the 9:04 out of Cape Kennedy.” Jimmy is a hand-talker, and he’s talking with his hands around his cigarette, a cup of eggnog dangerously close to getting sloshed all over the place when he says, “I still can’t understand why it should cost a quarter of a billion dollars to send a man to the moon. What’s he going by—cab?”

You nearly snort into your drink at that, and Flip, despite his general grouchy disposition, finds that he’s shaking his head with a laugh himself.

It’s then that the music kicks up another notch. The station party wasn’t a big enough or grand enough affair for live music of any real kind, so they had brought in the big radio and had it plugged into speakers that one of the other beat cops had managed to borrow from someone he knew.

“Oh!” You gasp, when the big band crackles over the speakers, looking up at Flip with those big eyes of yours that have him so weak in the fuckin’ knees, eyes big and bright when you ask with a smile, “Can we dance?”

And Flip doesn’t really want to dance, isn’t really all that good at it, but you’re too fuckin’ pretty so he pinches your nose and gives your face a little shake before collecting your cup of eggnog and setting it down to be dealt with later, before you drag him onto the dance floor.

 I cannot remember the worst December

Just watch those icicles form

What do I care if icicles form?

I've got my love to keep me warm

 There’s no real formal style, Flip finds when he gets onto the dance floor – which is really just the bull pen but all the desks have been pushed away to the side to give enough space for people to show their stuff. Some of the file clerks are doing the twist, others the watusi or the mashed potato. Some were showing off their moves with the locomotion, others still were doing the pony.

You and Flip just moved and grooved to the music, and he spent most of the time twirling you round and round with his hand in yours, until his bad mood started to disappear. How could it stick around, when you were having so much fun?

“You know this song was written by Irving Berlin?” Flip asks as he pulls you right up close to his chest, and you pluck the cigarette from between his lips enough to give a very chaste kiss right square on his mouth, a kiss you laugh into because you’re still a little dizzy from the spinning.

“Not too bad.” You say, your chin propped up on his chest as you look up at him, “But I like the way Ms. Fitzgerald sings it.”

He grins at how cheeky you are, spins you around and around some more.

The trumpets are blaring and the saxophones are playing and Flip almost forgets all about everything, all about the little box in his pocket. He concentrates more on not stepping on your nice shoes, concentrates on not bumping into anyone, concentrates on the radiance that pours out of you.

The station had decorated for the holidays, Christmas and Hanukkah coming so close together this year. It was mostly decked in reds and greens but that was okay, they had put out a menorah for the Jewish cops and staff members, and silver was abundant. The music had been mostly Christmas music, but that was okay too – none of it mattered much to Flip, he was just happy to be with you.

He’s glad to notice you aren’t wearing anything, any jewelry, around your neck. You’re wearing the diamond earrings he gave you for your one year anniversary, but that’s all, and it makes his palms sweat in a way that has you smiling at him, always so loving and finding all his nerves endearing.

“You’re doing wonderfully.” You assure him, and he huffs out a chuckle.

You think he’s nervous because of the dancing, or the party, or the being social, and that’s so sweet. He kisses you, thinks you’re the sweetest thing on the fucking planet.

Because you are.

 Off with my overcoat, off with my gloves

Who needs an overcoat, I'm burning with love

My heart's on fire and the flame grows higher

 Soon though, he gets more and more nervous. Fuck, he thinks to himself, he’s going to have to give it to you tonight – tonight’s the last chance he has for the holiday. He had been procrastinating all week, each of the nights when you’d been over at his house or he at yours, each night ended in hot and heavy make-outs in his dad’s car and then you going on your way, he going on his.

He needed to suck up the courage and do it. He was a cop now, he could do this! He could give you a piece of jewelry!

But it wasn’t just any old piece of jewelry, this was something special, something that he had no idea if you wanted or would like or even would wear. This was something he agonized over, saved up for ages for, put away a special fund from his paycheck in the bottom drawer of his dresser so his ma or pop wouldn’t find it, wouldn’t question him.

And looking at you, dancing with you, laughing with you when you accidentally step on his foot, he just can’t take it anymore, has to get you away.

Out of nowhere, he pulls you to the side of the dance floor, out and away from the public eye. He catches Jimmy’s gaze, and his best friend gives him a wink. Jimmy knew all about the box, of course. He was there to help him pick it out after all. Jimmy winks and Flip wants to bail, wants to just take you home and fuck you and kiss you and eat latkes and let that be that.

But you’re smiling and he loves you so fucking much, that he gives you hand a squeeze.

“Come with me for a minute?” He asks, tugging you in the direction of the back.

“Flip what – ” You ask, worried that something might be wrong with the crease in your brow.

“Just trust me?” He asks, pleads, and you nod.

“Lead the way.” You tell him, squeeze his hand right back.

  So I will weather the storm

What do I care how much it may storm

I've got my love to keep me warm

 He brings you through the station and out to the back. There’s a small courtyard that he knows about, a small little place where there’s picnic tables and a tiny garden for people to enjoy a smoke break or a lunch break or a sanity break from the mundanity of filling out paperwork.

It’s almost pitch black outside, from it being so late, and it’s freezing cold. You immediately curl in around yourself, and Flip, feeling stupid about not grabbing your coats before bringing you back here, pulls off his suit jacket and drapes it over your shoulders. He doesn’t mind the cold, is used to it from his lumber days – besides, the frigid December air feels like a blessing against his hot skin.

He didn’t realize how stuffy and warm it was inside the station until coming out here with you, and he nearly gulps down the crisp clean air.

“Everything okay honey?” You ask him, and his chest goes all warm at the way you call him that.

“Yeah ketsl, just.” He doesn’t know what to do, what to say, so he clears his throat and lights up another cigarette, the one he had been smoking accidentally dropped and stepped on in the throes of dancing.

“Just?” You prompt, reaching out a hand for him.

He takes it, walks you over to one of the picnic tables and sits you on top of it. With you seated up on the table, you’re almost as tall as he is, and he cups your cheeks in his hands and kisses you, real long and slow and deep. You’ve got half a mind to lay back on the table, he can tell, but he doesn’t want to fuck you here, not out in the open behind the station – you deserved better than that.

You deserved nothing but the best.

So, he steals one more kiss and, standing there between your legs back behind the station on that crisp clear evening on the last night of Hanukkah, he pulls out the small box that’s been jostling back and forth and all around in his pocket all evening.

Your eyes flick between the box and his, and he can see the gears turning in your head.

“Flip is this…?” You ask, wriggling your finger, and Flip feels so stupid he could smack his forehead.

“Huh – oh! No, no it’s nothing like that, not yet.” He assures you. He’s going to propose, he will, but he has a grand plan for that, a plan that doesn’t involve the station at all. That’s going to come later, but for now, “Open it, would you? You’re fuckin’ killing me here.”

Even more confused now, you waste no time in cracking open the box, gasping and covering your mouth with your hand.

“Oh, Phil,” You say, pulling out the necklace from where it’s been kept safe and secure this whole time, “It’s gorgeous.”

“You think so?” Flip asks, knowing that he did good by the way you said his name like that, his real name.

It’s a Magen David made up of butterflies that stick together with tiny magnets. In the soft light of the station windows and the moon, it sparkles and glitters and Flip is filled with so much pride at the way you keep shifting it back and forth to watch it shine.

“I do – put it on me?” You ask, grinning like the lovesick fool that you are, turning around and lifting your hair away from your neck so it doesn’t get caught in the chain.

“It’s real diamond and everything. Bubbe has one just like it, I made Zayde take me to the shop where he bought it for her, that was a fuckin’ nightmare and a half, but.” Flip’s hands shake when he puts it on you, leans down to kiss up the back of your neck, kiss across your shoulders, “It’s worth it, if you like it.”

“I love it.” You beam, and all of Flip’s anxiety rushes out of him, especially when you turn back around and collect him up in your arms, kiss him properly with an, “I love you.”

“Say it again?” He asks, just because he likes to hear you say it.

“I love you.” You indulge him, making him laugh, making you laugh, because the both of you are so enamored with one another.

He helps you off the picnic table, winds his arm around your waist once more.

“Not yet, hm?” You ask, looking up at him, a soft blush on your cheeks at the insinuation that one day, one day you can expect a different little box, one made of velvet and give to you with a grand declaration.

He just pinches your nose again and kisses you cheek, holds the door open for you like the gentleman his ma raised him to be.

Not yet, he thinks. But with the way you’re smiling as the two of you walk back inside the station, the way you immediately show off how gorgeous the necklace is, the way you keep looking at him and dancing with him and kissing and laughing with him, he thinks, not yet but soon.

 I thought you ought to know my heart's on fire

The flames they just leap higher

So I will weather the storm

Why do I care how much it storms

I've got my love

To keep me warm

I've got my love to keep me warm

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Tagging some Flip loving friends! <3  @dreamboatdriver​​​​ @kylo-renne​​​​ @callmehopeless​​​​ @kyloxfem​​​​ @formerly-anonhamster​​​​ @thepilotanon​​​​ @solotriplets​​​​   @fullofbees​​​​ @spinebarrel​​​​ @bourbonboredom​​​​ @driverficarchive​​​​ @rosalynbair​​​ @redhairedfeistynerd​​​​ @glitzescape​​​​ @adamsnacc-kler​​​​  @ladygrey03​​​​ @venusianmaiden​​​​ marvelous-blog-221 @edwardseyelashes​​​​ @softcrybabykid​​​​ @tinyplanet-explorers​​​ @magikevalynn​​​ @scheherazades-horcrux​​​ @whiskey-bumblebee​​​ @riseofkylo​

[bigfan-fanfic]

Party Time (Batdad Headcanon)

Requested by @eucatastrophichad for “ooh!! i thought about this in the shower earlier but like imagine when the justice league first formed and its like christmas time, everyone is telling what they're gonna do for the holidays and they ask bruce and he's all "spending it with my family" so hal or someone is like "since you know so much about us why dont we all get to know you?" so they have a christmas party at the manor and thats when they get introduced to batdad”

With Christmas only a few short months away, what better time to introduce a holiday party???

Holiday time is crazy among the Justice League, but the craziest time is the traditional Christmas party at Wayne Manor. It’s been a thing since the League’s first year.

That first year, everyone wanted to know what everyone else was doing.

Clark’s excited about homemade eggnog. Jonathon Kent makes the world’s best eggnog and he will fight you on this.

Diana’s picked up holiday traditions from all over the world from years past.

Barry’s excited to be with Iris for their first serious couple Christmas.

Oliver absolutely hates having to go to all the upper-crust Christmas parties in Star City.

Hal glances at Bruce, who is brooding in the corner like usual.

“So, what does the Bat do for Christmas? Huh? Or, you know, Hanukkah, or whatever.”

Bruce doesn’t react with his face. “Spending it with my family.”

They all look at each other.

Arthur narrows his eyes. “Ya know, you know all about us. Hell, you’ve probably run a background check on Barry’s girlfriend!”

Barry chuckles. Then - “Wait, what?”

“Your point being?”

“Maybe we should get to see this family of yours.” Arthur suggest.

Everyone else nods and agrees. Somehow, Bruce gives in.

And you decide to invite them all to a very special, super-top-secret holiday bash. With guests.

You and Alfred go all out with decorations, making the boys help. At this early point, it’s only Dick and Jason, so everybody needs to carry a stepladder.

Nearly everyone brings a significant other. Hal brings Carol, Barry brings Iris, Arthur brings Mera

Clark brings his parents. Hal thinks it’s lame, until Martha gives him an eyebrow raise and he immediately apologizes. “Sorry, Ma’am.”

Ollie and Dinah aren’t together yet, and they both come stag. 

Everyone is dying to meet you. They’ve all heard of you on the news and stuff.

Ollie’s already met you. He tried to flirt with you once at a party, and that did not end well.

“Hey, what’s a handsome fella like you doing all alone at one of these things?”

Bruce unfortunately arrived right at that point with two drinks in his hand and a very possessive streak in his soul.

You flashed your ring finger at him. “Sorry, Mr. Queen. Not alone after all.”

Bruce smirked. “Ollie.”

“Brucie.” Oliver returned, then looked at you. “You can call me Oliver, Mr. Wayne.”

You smiled. “Y/N.”

So suffice it to say Ollie’s not too eager for a repeat.

He’s courteous, and since he already counts you as a friend, he leaves you to others for the night.

You spend a while talking to the Kents, who are only too eager to share baby stories about Clark. You know he can hear because he goes bright red all the way across the room.

Martha and Alfred swap recipes and war stories about raising vigilantes.

Jason was grounded from patrol by Bruce the other night, so you’ve “punished” him by giving him the night’s most fun job - keeping Barry from eating everything on the table.

Barry’s a good sport and “steals” a cookie and has Jason chase him around the room.

Dick is a hit, although at first he follows Superman around shyly.

Eventually he and Dinah get into a big discussion about martial arts and gymnastics, and then Iris mentions she’s got a nephew about Dick’s age, if he might want to meet up.

Hal’s the kind of guy who likes to drag people into political conversations, so when he springs a policy question on you, you are grateful when Diana rescues you in the guise of taking you over to introduce you to Arthur.

Arthur, who is in the middle of an eggnog-drinking contest with Jonathon Kent, who is easily drinking him under the table. 

Diana is very impressed with you and asks for details about how you and Bruce met.

Mera is unimpressed with Arthur’s antics, and joins the conversation. Eventually it somehow turns to a discussion about battle tactics, and they are more than impressed by your contributions.

Bruce is more than a little jealous that everyone wants some of your time. He practically glues himself to your side all night just so he can be sure to get the most of you.

Clark is absolutely stunned when you ask if he can interview you. Mostly it’s to promote a charity of yours in Metropolis, but you both realize that having such a popular global figure be interviewed by him would be a major boost to his career.

You tell him he can always call you if he needs anything.

Iris is a total sweetheart with the patience of a saint, so you understand how she can be a perfect match for Barry. 

Everyone tries to make plans to see more of you. Ollie and Hal joke that maybe you should be the one coming to the Watchtower instead of Bruce.

Diana insists that you should know the inner workings

Jason helpfully chimes in that you’re mission control down here with Alfred, so you should be a great help to the League.

Bruce has no choice but to agree, but he makes sure he’s always near you or in contact with you. Ollie might be a good teammate, but he’s had a dislike for him ever since he flirted with you once.

In all, the annual party has become a much-looked-forward to event, and nothing stops you from hosting it. Not when the League’s numbers swelled and the party became too big for even the ballroom and had to be expanded to the whole first floor. Not when Wayne Manor was razed to rubble and you held the party on the grounds in stylish tents strung with fairy lights (even though I’m not European I love calling them that). And not even when Jason died, as the party was held in his memory and the socialization helped to draw you and Bruce out of depression.

Nothing much has changed other than there being more people.

Clark still always brings his parents. Arthur thinks that the older Jonathon gets, the better chance he has at out-drinking him. Martha and Alfred always share “look what he did THIS time” stories.

After they get married, Ollie and Dinah jokingly flirt with you and Bruce just to mess with the Bat.

Everyone always has a great time. No rivalries or beefs are allowed.

And afterward, Bruce never fails to thank you for being just so...perfect for him.

And also, every year, he jokes that Ollie and DInah are no longer invited.

[everlarkholidaystyle]

Thank you to @567inpanem​ for coming up with the prompts…so excited. 

The rules are simple chose a prompt write a story, draw a picture, make a meme, make a collage, or a music video, or even a soundtrack to the holidays. And submit it here starting on the Winter Solstice Saturday December 21, 2019 and extending to January 6, 2020 the End of the Holiday season…

Bake Off

*Peeta easily wins best baker title in his district with his special ginger bread recipe. But now he’s baking against the best of the districts! Will he be the Mellark that finally brings the grand title to 12? Intrigue! Deception! Sabotage! Bribery! It’s the grand quarter quell bake off has it all! Who will be crowned top baker and forever enjoy the special 25 yr title, fame glory and fortune! Your host Caesar Flickerman, with guest star taste testers including…Katniss desperate, agrees to work as secret agent, get close to Peeta, steal recipe and plans for a very special top secret gingerbread house, mess up his ingredients, make him oversleep after wild sex, anything necessary to keep him from beating the career district contestant! Will Peeta take home the big prize?

*Story of 1000 origami cranes in one year for luck or wish. Peeta makes 1000 (mockingjay) cookies?

D12 Fall Harvest

*Harvest Festival in D12 provides opportunity for all to not only celebrate bounty but also to give thanks, exchange gifts, participate in matching ceremony in anticipation of annual day of matrimony held on the winter solstice. Snapshot of Peeta and Katniss through the years? 

*Harvest Festival is competition like Olympics or Highland games? Winners awarded cornucopia of food for the coming winter?

D12 Parcel Day

*The way those Parcel Days could have gone to forge relationship between Peeta and Katniss if it was something more, if for example they had to work together on things like what goes in them (maybe start off cold, then argue over differences, then get to know each other, grow together).

Thanks Giving

First Feast in 1621 lasted 3 days, 90 native Americans Wampanoag and 53 Pilgrims, celebrated successful harvest - feast, games, military exercises, diplomacy. Only 4 of 20 Mayflower women survived to the feast! Men helped cook for the party. No oven. 1863 Lincoln declared holiday. Make Katniss either survivor of voyage or Native?

Christmas & Hanukkah

See Prompt Nine.

New Years

Old college friends dispersed after graduation, but the group meets up every New Years for a night of drinking and catching up on the year and reminiscing and resolutions. At least for a while. But then they drift apart, skip years… until one (ok, I just realized this is getting closer to the movie big chill with every tweak). Or st. Elmo’s fire. But I like the concept of Katniss and Peeta having something in college and kept it secret but something happens and there’s secret is exposed….

Peeta and Katniss have crushes on the other one, attend a masquerade and neither one tells the other what there dressed as and they meet at the party and they do not realize they are attracted to their friend; maybe this can be an arranged marriage effort to match people attracted to each other by personality, not appearance, and the positive match confuses them? Or attendance is a psychology course requirement? (My intro psych had 1,000 students.) 

Canon Based Non-Holiday Specific

something about coal…legend that La Befana witch flies down chimney, left gifts for good children, coal for naughty…Epiphany January 6 = end of Christmas season, day 3 wise men arrive manger BUT once Katniss is Victor, has $, sneaks buckets of coal for all the seam children to keep warm fire going, Peeta sneaks small raisin nut loaves? Or maybe this is parcel day beginning of legendary Mockingjay flies and delivers coal and sweet music. Maybe we can leave it like an open-ended thing parcel day in the and the districts how do you think each district celebrated partial day

 Prompt #1 A Dog’s New Year’s Eve Prompts -  

A dog living on a college campus in Columbia observed that paying cashier = get a cookie. So, for the last 5 years, dog picks up large leaf, carries to cashier, gets cookie, too. What if cashier is lonely baker Peeta? Stray dog actually belongs to Katniss. Because dog always snarls at Haymitch, he calls it “Katniss.” Peeta overhears, assumes the dog is “Katniss.” Haymitch doesn’t correct him.

Peeta reads horoscope for 2019 Year of the Dog: “For single people, they have a large possibility to meet some excellent friends of opposite sex and develop a romantic relationship with one of them.”  

Peeta needs to find a date for New Years Eve and is running out of time!  Hears Katniss over the radio reading the article he wrote “…Dog girls…need to pursue or express affection of boy dogs bravely. In addition, joining in more social activities on weekends is also an effective way to find true love…” Followed by a “BAHUMBUG Love is dead…dogs do not fall in love…hell like people dogs fall in lust’” Peeta wants to find this woman and set her straight…Love is not a Bahumbug. 

What if dog getting too heavy like Columbian dog, vet accuses Katniss feeding dog junk, Katniss follows dog, catches baker feeding her now overweight dog, confronts him. But, Year of the Dog! So, HEA magic.

Prompt Idea #2 (Cultural Holiday)

*Pliny the Elder, a Roman who was one of the world’s first known naturalists, thought the Druids’ beliefs about mistletoe (that “mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren.” and hung it over their doors for luck) were silly, but the reputation stuck thanks in part to a Norse myth: definitely something with mistletoe and drinking its properties to become fertile 

*Frigga, goddess of love and marriage, loved her son Baldur so much that she and Baldur’s wife teamed up to make all the world’s plants and animals to promise not to hurt him. Well, they got all the plants, except mistletoe. Loki, god of mischief, realized the mistake and made a spear out of mistletoe and killed Baldur. As Frigga cried over the loss of her son, her motherly tears turned into mistletoe berries. Those berries somehow brought Baldur back to life, so Frigga declared mistletoe to be a symbol of love. According to The Smithsonian magazine, “Mistletoe would come to hang over our doors as a reminder to never forget. We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur’s wife and mother forgot.”

Prompt Idea #3 Candy Land Hunger Games edition

Weird holiday hunger games - Arena is a winter wonderland of marzipan mutts, “Snow” monster, Peeta and Katniss are gingerbread, she reattaches his leg with frosting, in crystal candy cave he can’t stop from taking a nibble she’s so delicious, it rains lemon drops, it snows powdered sugar, watch out for milk lake danger… 

Prompt Idea #4 Misfit Toys

*On the Island of Misfit Toys, one new toy (Katniss?) perfect but with broken or lost heart, damaged toy soldier Peeta? determined to help with other toys (victors or tributes?) 

Prompt Idea #5 Holiday Dueling Booth 

Katniss and Peeta’s relationship has gone sour. For extra cash, Katniss opens a seasonal booth at the farmer’s market selling simple homemade baked goods, like apple cake, acorn flour scones. Peeta tries to get her attention by pushing her buttons, opens an upscale baked goods booth next to hers. 

Prompt Idea #6 Tim Burton Holiday

Too much eggnog, Katniss nightmare: Mad Capital scientist builds a “Edward scissorhands” boy mutt but with kitchen gadget appendages. D12 turns on him. Katniss goes on daring journey to find only person who can help. Dr Wires lives underground with oompaloompa-like helpers (former victor mutts). 

Prompt Idea #7 - Story Book Hero

Katniss is a working mom who doesn’t have time for all the school volunteer opportunities, but finds herself signed up for weekly storytime for December - The Story Book hero comes to life

Prompt Idea #8 Holiday Shopper

Wealthy Peeta and Finnick like betting on the stupidest things, each hires a professional personal shopper, tries to come up with Christmas shopping list item that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But Katniss desperately needs the money, resolved not to quit. 

Prompt Idea #9 -  Open Ended Holiday Prompt -be creative any HG Parring any and all works

Looking for perfect gift Hanukah / Christmas

Eight Days of Hanukah 

Office parties

School art projects

Deadlines 

Should old acquaintance be forgot

Singer / Caroling / Rock Band / TV Show

Resolutions -  

Snowstorms - 

Holiday show

Gift of the Magi

Let’s find your smile (like a treasure hunt, by end found happiness)

Secret Santa party games

Gift Exchange

Twelve days of Christmas 

New Years masquerade ball

Oh and one more thing don’t forget to #Everlarkholidaystyle2019

[fc5holidayexchange]

FAR CRY 5 HOLIDAY EXCHANGE 2019 FIC

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

Title: Gävlebocken

Deputy Mattie Covington/Sharky Boshaw- Mattie and Sharky reunite after a failed trip to burn the Gavle Goat

@ma-sulevin

Hi Kate! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, wherever you are and however you're celebrating! Hope the festive season is full of joy and magic! I had a fabulous time writing Mattie and Sharky together and I hope you enjoy reading it! xxxx

----------

“All I’m saying, shorty, is never leave a man behind. Marilyn Manson and Carly Rae Jepson wanted to go torch some Gävlebocken butt too, y’know? And who was I to deny them their Bejeebus given right as Incendiary-Americans?”

Mattie cuddled the red-cheeked pyromaniac closer into her chest as she eased his sorrows on the couch. He hadn’t stopped blushing since she’d collected him from Missoula International Airport, where he’d been marched from the building between the firm grip of two unforgiving, no doubt underpaid TSA officers, cuffed at the wrist and short two of his beloved (and musically christened) flamethrowers.

“... you know, they probably sell flamethrowers in Sweden. You could have got one when you got there. Or matches. Shit, there’s plenty of sticks you could have rubbed together too.” She mused, trying to make light of the situation.

Sharky Boshaw was having none of it.

“Nuh-uh, no-can-do. Had to be them, babe.”

“Only the best for the holy grail of goat effigies, I guess?”

He nodded and crushed his face into her.

She couldn’t tell if the residual ruby tinge on his face was from the trauma of his ordeal (though he was hardly a stranger to arrest), from the abundance of alcohol still in his system, or from where the ravenous teeth of a cold winter beast had nibbled at him. December had fallen, and the snow was up to their knees. The smell of evergreen firs and smoky chimneys and roasting meat and fresh gingerbread permeated across the county. Even the sickly scent of Bliss had subsided, the cold-sensitive Georgia peaches known locally as the Seeds having retreated indoors for the season.

Christmas was coming.

Boshaw Manor’s festive decorations were tacky and yet, made with love. The Christmas tree was a little scorched on the edges, and adorned with homemade ornaments that were just beer tops looped onto string. They twinkled rainbow in the glow from the string lights, and tinkled as they clinked against each other. Paper chains and worn tinsel in emerald and silver shades hung from every available surface, and though he had no fireplace, he’d dragged a metal bin into the centre of the living room so they could roast chestnuts and make smores through the long winter nights.

However, Sharky’s favourite holiday accessory was a slightly dusty Santa figurine. He had, at some point, made the toymaker his own little flamethrower from aluminium foil, and the rotund, bushy bearded fellow still clung to it with his moth-eaten mittens, ready to chargrill Rudolph. But truly the highlight of Santa’s unusual skillset, the crown jewel in his sleigh full of secret talents, was the voice recording feature.

From the depths of Santa’s cookie filled belly, Sharky’s voice echoed:

“Burn baby burn… CHRISTMAS INFERNO”

And now, the jolly figure danced laboriously by the door, Boomer resting beside him, snoring along to the increasingly demonic rasp (Mattie made a mental note to replace the batteries).

Of course, this year, Mattie had put her own little touches on the place.

When he’d first taken her in, Earl had given her a little archangel statue, with beautiful, expansive wings, and a majestic flaming blade in it’s right hand, and her name engraved upon it. ‘Matilda means mighty in battle’ he’d explained, pulling her into a hug to assure her of just how strong she was. And last year, Nancy had knitted her a little yellow star, gold flecked through it, to sit atop the tree, and now it sat pride of place, shimmering like the true holy light.

It was slightly overwhelming, to see her things, however few, amongst Sharky’s.

To know that now, she and Sharky could make Christmas memories together.

That was the best gift of all.

And normally, snuggled together on a winter’s night like this, she’d be teasing him, slipping her chilled hands down the back of his shirt, or tickling his neck which made him squirm and giggle the most, or even sticking an icy naked foot into his face when he wasn’t paying attention. Or she’d be letting her hands wander into his pants, and they’d be making love and basking in each other’s glow until the sun came up.

But the sheer misery welling in his eyes, Christmas dreams obliterated and Hall of Flame pedestals empty, like a baby bird beak without a worm to sate it’s hunger, sent a pang of guilt ricocheting through every inch of her. One that made her stomach squirm and her lip quiver. He was her family, and though her dad back in Challis hadn’t exactly been the model of perfect, or even the model of good, she knew with all the certainty in her heart that families weren’t supposed to look so despairing at Christmas.

“What were you thinking, Shark?”

“I, uh… I wanted to surprise you.”

“And you thought running off to Europe to go burn down a giant goat was the best way to do that? I’d have taken socks instead, you know. Or a John Seed's head on a spike.”

She moved to hold his hand, fingers intertwining comfortingly, and he sniffed loudly in appreciation. Mattie felt so complete when her hand was nestled in his- who needed gloves to when you had a hand to hold?

"Just because Hurk nearly got Wicker-manned out in Europe, doesn't mean you have to."

He mumbled in reply, sheepishly resigned to his deeper urges- "I'm a Khaleesi. I go where the flame takes me."

She chuckled softly and teased:

“I know, babe. I know. Who do you think is the one who prints the posters? The whole station is more like a groupie's bedroom."

Mattie cursed the day she’d so catastrophically put her foot in it. A late night drinking and feasting up in the Whitetails, near Fort Drubman, out under the stars and the bleak winter moonlight. A slew of cultist corpses were ragdolled along the path behind them, definitely not having a Merry Christmas, and a skinned Judge or two had fallen prey to Jess’s hungry trapper knife. The pelts would make a fine coat for next year’s snowfall and the burgundy branding of Jacob’s chosen mutts was simply an added trophy for Mattie’s slightly feral friend.

There they were. Mattie, Sharky, Hurk, Jess, and Staci (who'd called in sick from his night shift), with Boomer and Cheeseburger at their heels.

Munching on fish from the iced over rivers.

Getting drunk out of their minds and trying to forget all the shit that the past months had wrought.

The topic of conversation had turned to (what else) fire. They’d just proudly set alight to the old lumber mill, and watched the Peggies scatter like roaches from the scene. Merry on Whistling Beaver beer, Mattie had hiccoughed and giggled after her umpteenth bottle, snuggled under Sharky's arm, and announced loudly:

“Did you guys know there’s a huge ass wicker goat in Sweden? They put it up for Christmas every year and it keeps getting toasted.”

Well, it’s not like she’d expected him to take off a week later towards the airport… after he’d downed probably somewhere near a keg's worth of homemade eggnog… all rum, barely an egg or a nog in sight.

But Charlemagne Victor Boshaw’s eyes had illuminated with possibility, and so had the eyes of the airport security officers at the sizable lethal and flammable weapons he’d packed into his luggage. Having the fuzz for a girlfriend, who could come flaunting an arrest warrant and claim jurisdiction over the prisoner was an absolute saving grace, it turned out. The TSA had handed him over with very little resistance.

And now, here they were, back home in the depths of the county, almost definitely up a couple of places on the ‘no fly’ terror watchlist.

Sharky sat up suddenly and rubbed at his slightly runny nose, a sudden determination taking root in his chest. Spring coming early as a flower bloomed there, petals of fury and vengeance and abject loyalty to his cause.

"We gotta get Carly and Marilyn back. We gotta Ocean’s Eight, Sandra Bullock the airport, po-po. You and me, Hurk, sure we can get Nick and Kim on the crew too, what are we up to, five, Boshaw’s five, Sharky’s five-?“

Mattie nuzzled her face into the top of his head. She was a hell of a lot shorter than him, but he’d sunk into the couch so deeply that she could now smell the scent of his Old Spice shampoo and see the bald patch where he'd thought wearing a crown made of sparklers at Thanksgiving fireworks was a good idea.

“Yeah, I’m sure a woman heavily into her third trimester is gonna really be up for a heist-“

“Kim? Fuck yeah, she can kick butt with a bump, her centre of gravity’s probably on kung fu master levels here. Ooooh, maybe the baby’ll come early and kick some airport ass too.”

“I think it’ll be more like she’ll kick your butt for not inviting me along to go torch the goat."

It was crazy, knowing that next Christmas, there would be a Baby Rye for Santa to visit. And that maybe, in the Christmases to come, there'd be a brood of Baby Boshaws too, ready to tear the tree down and hurl food at each other, giddy in their festive hysteria. She thought about sharing such a fanciful idea with him, and went to murmur a few sweet suggestions in his ruddy ear. Maybe they could make some new dreams tonight...

Sharky wasn’t listening though.

“Maybe we go Die Hard 2 instead… be in keeping with the ol’ time of year?”

“All the guys who break into the airport die in that movie, Shark.”

She sighed and stroked his cheek.

"I think, maybe, as much as it sucks, we just have to let this one go."

He went to open his mouth to protest or beg or maybe come out with another heist movie to take inspiration from, but the words seemed to fizzle away on the end of his tongue. He knew it was futile. She was right. His visions of making the headlines in every Swedish tabloid evaporated, his name destined not to be heralded by enthusiasts of the Gävlebocken legacy. His shoulders sagged and he seemed to want to disappear into his worn green sweatshirt, like a turtle burrowing back into its shell.

"Hey, y'know, who wants to go smoke the goat anyway, much better things to burn here. Seeds and shit."

He settled into moody, reflective, uncharacteristic silence and Mattie knew not to push the subject any further. And while searching her thoughts for a way to soothe his wounds and bring the hope and joy of the festive season back into his heart, she casually leaned over to the table and picked up his abandoned plane ticket, also slightly singed like everything else the man owned (what had happened this time, Mattie couldn’t even begin to guess). 

Her stomach dropped.

The rollercoaster was taking an unexpected plunge deeper into irony.

There it was, printed neatly under DESTINATION.

A final foil for the Sharknado that had sought to wreak havoc across the fjords of Scandinavia.

“Shark, babe…”

“Yeah?”

“The big ass goat is in Sweden, right? You know, next to Norway?”

“Home of the dancing queen an' the smorgasbord. Oooh, and the chef.” He proceeded to spit out a garbled string of vowels in poor imitation of the Swedish language.

Mattie sighed and for a moment, debated whether to just keep her mouth shut. To let his Christmas dreams, however shattered, maintain some form of dignity. But laughter pulled at the corners of her mouth, from the singsong Muppetry in her ear and the ridiculous error before her eyes and she just knew it would make him laugh too;

“... Shark, this ticket is for Switzerland.”

He gave her a little confused frown and she wrapped her arms around his neck, to press her forehead, and then her lips softly to his.

“God, I love you so much.”

He returned her kiss, sharing her warmth and the sweet taste of hot cocoa and a sprig of mint and melted marshmallow, running his hands through her wind-swept hair. They lost themselves in each other, forgetting the snow falling fast outside, and the bodies across the county buried deep amongst the icy grass, and the slowly fading tire tracks from their long journey home.

And wrapped in the comforting embrace of her best friend, Mattie’s imagination shone. 

A flame taking to the tinder, spreading until it burned so strongly, it could never be extinguished.

---------- 

"My extremities are getting real cold, chica, an' I'm too young to lose my junk t’ frostbite."

"Don't worry, you'll be warm soon enough."

"Heh heh, sounds like a party."

Mattie had led Sharky through the dark forestry, the trees naked and sparse like a threadbare patchwork blanket. They'd walked for some time, boots snapping the carpet of fallen branches and crunching in the deep snow and squeaking over patches of icy oil spills across the roads, until they'd reached a pasture south of the Henbane.

And now, in the early hours of the morning, he stood blindfolded, Mattie's hands protectively on his shoulders (although she'd been tempted to mischievously let him wander into a patch of shrubbery or two, but decided she didn't want to be pulling thorns and thistles out of his ass all night).

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

A few more steps, up a slight incline, the frozen grass snapping underfoot. 

“OK, you can look now.”

Sharky tore off the blindfold in childlike impatience and his eyes widened at the sight he beheld.

Before them, silhouetted by the amber light from surrounding torches and the staring full moon, stood a large wicker goat.

A Gävlebocken… well, a Hopebocken.

A warm earthy brown, as though the trees hadn’t perished weeks before, with bark flaking from it to make the fur seem shaggy, thick, truly like a majestic beast from the hills of Scandinavia, with fleece enough to shroud a Viking king. Horns magnificent upon its head, red and gold Christmas ribbons adorning them like Roman wreaths. His nose was round and his face was long and he stood watch upon the hill, noble, a guardian, a protector.

And at his feet were gathered the artists of this crudely fashioned idol. Nick and Kim, Hurk and Adelaide and Xander, Dutch and Jess, Jerome and Mary May, Virgil and Wade and Eli and Tammy and Merle… it seemed the whole county, faces beaming and hands willing, had stepped forward to play their part in Sharky's Christmas miracle.

Mattie watched Sharky take a stunned step forward.

"I wanted to surprise you." She whispered into his ear, taking his hand and giving it a little squeeze.

And there was that smile she loved so much. His eyes crinkled in the corners and a laugh catapulted itself from deep in his throat into the night air. It rose like a ball of light, and exploded into a thousand stars to light the county and every county beyond it.

"I… I…" He stammered, pupils dilated, entranced, and he turned back to face the love of his life, choking on the wonderment and the realisation of just what she had done for him. “I can…?”

“You bet.”

“And I ain’t gonna get arrested?”

“Like that’s bothered you before?” She grinned and watched as he jumped and whooped, punching the air. Overwhelmed with adrenaline. Crying her name to the heavens, unabashedly proclaiming how much he loved her and all who had come to give him this gift.

“Shark… Shark?”

His head spunt to gaze at her.

An almost breathless gasp escaped him.

And the look on his face made Mattie want to throw herself upon him and never let go.

In her outstretched arms, lay a new flamethrower, blue and purple disco graffiti emblazoned on the side, and a big red bow ornately tied along the neck. She carefully placed it in his hands, and he weighed it, mesmerized, feeling the perfect balance of the full canister of fuel, and the soon-to-be warmed steel. Tears bloomed in the corners of his as he grasped it. As he readied himself for the greatest bonfire of his life.

“Merry Christmas, babe.”

She placed a careful kiss on his lips.

“Now… go toast that goat.”

[nephilimeq]

John and Rodney finally kiss at the Atlantis holiday party...

John had been staring at Rodney from the corner of his eye all night. Rodney had dressed up a bit and it was...well, distracting wasn’t exactly the best word to use. He was wearing black slacks that clung to him very nicely and the suspenders only made it worse. His red tie was surprisingly cheerful...as was Rodney.

John was still nursing his glass of eggnog, but he knew that Rodney was finishing off his third, which seemed to annoy Radek, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He thought he’d be more amused, because John was well aware that Radek had spiked the punch with his homemade Czech moonshine, which made American moonshine look like a kid’s drink.

Rodney was flirting openly with practically everyone, all loose-limbed and smiling, and he was slowly destroying John with every single flash of that brilliant smile of his.

Flirting with practically everyone.

As in, everyone except for John.

John had even worn one of his nicer blue shirts and kept it unbuttoned, but Rodney had managed to avoid him the entire evening, leaving John very much alone, or talking with either Teyla or Ronon, neither of who seemed all too interested in the festivities.

But now, as it wound down towards just after midnight, he finally meandered his way over to John, leaving in his wake many flushed and confused scientists and soldiers behind him. That was another thing he’d learned tonight: Rodney didn’t care if you were man or woman, you were equal opportunity.

Just...not John.

He glanced up from his drink as Rodney stumbled into him and then reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, take it easy there, Casanova,” he drawled, trying to swallow down some of the faint resentment that he wasn’t flirt worthy. “Unless you’re planning on charming everyone at once and having an orgy, you might wanna slow down on the eggnog.”

He said it a bit more biting than he should have, but Rodney, in his state, didn’t seem to notice it and said, “What? It’s just eggnog Sheppard. I had Zelenka give me some that wasn’t spiked.”

He lifted his drink towards him in a small salute...and John, not believing him, leaned in and sniffed.

Wait...what? There wasn’t even a breath of alcohol on his breath. Did that mean...

“What the hell, McKay?” he snarled, unable to keep the frustration from his tone. “You’re telling me that you’ve been flirting with everyone all night and you’re sober?” 

Rodney nodded.

“Yep.”

Feeling equal parts the urge to kiss him and to punch him in the jaw, he ground his back teeth and turned to walk away, but then Rodney grabbed him by the upper arm and tugged him back towards him.

“You don’t honestly think I’m interested in any of them, do you?” he rhetorically asked, and then added, “It’s easy to flirt with people you don’t actually care about. It’s all about pressing the right emotional buttons and triggering certain chemosignals, and it’s all ridiculously easy when it’s coworkers who know that you’re going to treat them just like you did before. Besides, I needed the practice because it’s completely different when it’s about someone that you care about, someone that you don’t want to mess around with in a casual way, but in a--”

Unable to stop himself, John dropped his drink and reached up and slid his fingers around the base of the scientist’s neck and drew him in for a kiss.

Rodney gasped, but then leaned into it, one hand slowly coming up to John’s jaw and sliding down to his neck.

It was brief, but both of them were completely out of breath as their lips slowly pulled back. John kept his fingers on Rodney’s neck, lightly squeezing, and rested his forehead against his.

And then he whispered, finishing Rodney’s sentence, “In a serious way?”

Rodney nodded and swallowed.

“Yeah...exactly...”

They stood there for a moment and then John said, “I’m guessing we have an audience. Wanna take this back to my quarters? Oh, wait, yours, I guess, you need your mattress for your back,” but Rodney shook his head.

“No, your quarters are fine. You’re the one who’s gonna be on their back all night, after all. Or, you know...your front. Whichever way you prefer,” he murmured in a low voice and John felt his knees buckle.

Hell, yes.

Ignoring the smug looks sent in his direction, he dragged Rodney behind him by his infuriatingly red tie and didn’t let go of it until they were inside his room, and then he ripped it off.

Feeling his own smug grin stretch across his lips, he tied the silk to the outside of the door.

The instant the door closed, he smiled.

Happy Christmas to him.

[daddyslittleangelsrp]

Bio/Canon Verse || Adam Novak

Adam has always been bashful and soft-spoken. He was born and raised in Abilene, Kansas by a loving mother and father. Because his mom was renowned for her French apple pies and berry tarts he wanted to learn too. In his opinion, all other baked goods were amateur in comparison to hers. It didn’t take long for baking to become his passion. Seeing the joy on someone’s face when they ate something warm and homemade was the best.

His life was fairly average growing up besides being closeted. He got along with others and was teased for not dating anyone but life was okay until high school. Jason, his best friend at the time kept setting him up on date after date, determined to know why all Adam did was give his dates flowers and leave. In a small town as conservative as they were, Adam couldn’t afford to come out. It would ruin him and after a sleepover with Jason in which he accidentally came out, it did. His parents were lectured, he couldn’t find work after graduation without being reprimanded for his “sinful evil ways” and he couldn’t wait to get out. He worked hard for a year, planning his escape from hell.

He didn’t get to leave without another visit from his ex-best friend though. Jason showed up on his doorstep Christmas Eve with liquor, eggnog and a duffle bag like it was old times. Against his better judgment, Adam let the boy in and it almost felt like old times. While Jason got sloppy Adam held his own, only having two drinks. Drunken words were spoken and confessions were made just before Adam lost his virginity. In a hungover rampage late the next morning Adam was cussed out and left in confusion when Jason flipped. It was the worst Christmas ever. He was one payment from securing what would be his new life in LA. Luckily his parents had a trust fund for him and handed it over after the new year. He was sad to leave his parents but knew he couldn’t continue life this way. Not in this town.

At age 19 he left and built a new life. Eight years of making friends and building a new dream and he’s currently on the verge of starting his own bakery with all his own recipes. He’s still close to his parents but only goes home once a year because of the tension from townsfolk that still remember him.

[nakamoto-papoyaki]

NCT 127 Kissing Under Mistletoe

Part 1/2

Taeil

Taeil decided that pulling on a prank on you at the Christmas party would be the best idea to try to get a kiss from you. Although being dowsed in glitter from a glitter bomb present wasn’t your best moment, you just knew that it was going to be hell trying to get that out of your hair. You weren’t one to be grinch and not take a little Christmas prank, but you thought the guy who did it was kinda cute so you decided to try to get him back. And by doing so you completely overreacted about the mess, making it seem like it was a stupid prank just to get him to feel bad so he would have to come over and apologize. You stormed over to the other room just pausing under the doorway. Right on cue Taeil comes over to apologize for the prank as he didn’t mean any harm, he thought everyone would get a good laugh out of it. Not to mention giving you a compliment in your glitter ensemble to put the cherry on top. You giggled giving him the understanding that he was forgiven but he was picking up what you were putting down. He asks how he can make it up to you and you point upwards. He gives a shy smile and goes in for a kiss. ‘And might I say you look absolutely ravishing tonight’.

Johnny

Johnny was the guy you had a really short but really meaningful and comfortable conversation left about an hour ago. The super handsome tall guy that you felt like you’ve known for years just from one simply conversation over how bad the homemade eggnog was and where he got his horrendous Christmas sweater. Once his other friend called him over to help him reposition the star on the Christmas tree, you carried on mingling with the other people at the party. Although conversation just seemed pretty bland with everyone else. It was the same simple small talk of your name, your occupation, and how you know the host. Nothing really stimulating like with Johnny where you could just talk for hours and have it feel like 30 minutes have passed. You ran out of people to small talk with so you found yourself leaning against the doorframe sipping your bubbly cider, not realizing what you were under. You hear a voice behind you, belonging to none other than Johnny. He makes a sly comment to get you to laugh not really understanding the full extend of what he said. So you respond ‘sure’. All of a sudden his lips meet yours, only to melt into each other a moment later once you realize you’re under mistletoe. ‘Have you been waiting for me babe?’

Taeyong

He’d probably had to get a few drinks in him before he got the courage to even talk to you, let alone kiss you. To him you were the prettiest girl at the party, it would be a miracle you even noticed him. But once he saw you walking under the doorway he just went for it. Walking up behind you and tapping your shoulder for you to turn around and face him. It’s the guy you’ve been staring at the entire night, just hoping he would come up and talk to you. But past his slight rose tinted cheeks, he’s so much more handsome up close. Before you can even say ‘hi’ he moves in for a kiss. Catching you off guard but I mean you aren’t against it. It’s soft, warm and only lasts for about 2 seconds before he pulls back so see your eyes wide open. He apologizes furiously realizing what he just did which you just think makes him cuter. You both pull off to the side as he tries to explain his embarrassed self as you just giggle at his shy demeanor and talk the rest of the night away. ‘Uh...crap...I’m really sorry...I was trying to get the nerve to come and talk to you but I kinda panicked and saw my chance when you walked under the mistletoe’.

Yuta

As soon he entered the room you immediately knew who he was. He strong confidence and charisma made him hard to forget amongst the other people at the party, not to mention he was insanely handsome. For pretty much the entire night he was only set on flirting with you, hardly engaging with anyone else he knew what he wanted and he made sure you knew that too. His obvious pick up lines made you roll your eyes but you got a kick out them too. He was still pretty charming, whenever you would laugh at his terrible lines it made him smile. And oh god that smile. It got to a point where you were leaning against a wall and he started being more forward with you. If that was even possible lel. But something about him was just completely intoxicating you couldn’t say no. His way of talking to you became smoother, almost as if he wasn’t even trying earlier and it was all an act. Whatever he was doing it was working. He starting slinking closer to you, showing that slick smile as he says he noticed something on the corner of your mouth. He move further back onto the wall almost as if to grab hold of something. Yuta looks up and to the left for a brief moment before grabbing your arms, spinning you under the doorway and dramatically dipping you so you can see exactly what he was up to. Positioning you close enough to the mistletoe just so he could kiss you. His kiss is deep, sending tingles through your body. Just as you feel your body relax into him he pulls away to flash a smile with a quick wink, just to fill you both with laughter at what just happened. ‘Who knew keeping Christmas traditions alive would be so satisfying?’

Doyoung

Doyoung was the guy who was not shy in the slightest. When someone suggested Christmas karaoke he almost bulldozed 5 people just to grab the microphone. I mean it wasn’t hard to see why, he was incredibly talented. Almost a bit disgustingly talented... Once he got tired of belting Christmas classics, he retired to the back of the room where you resided. You make a sarcastic and almost flirtatious comment towards him. To which he responds ‘Oh I was just doing that to impress you’. Well shit. You don’t really know how to respond since you hadn’t even talked to him before now, and you definitely were not expecting that. He goes on to say that he noticed you as soon as you walked in, how could he not. And he’s not really strong at anything else other than singing so that was a perfect opportunity to try and get your attention. Well that sure worked. You’re pretty flattered from his confession, that’s not a simple thing to say to a complete stranger. You offer him to join you to grab a drink from the kitchen. He happily obliges visibly shocked that his efforts actually paid off. As you make your way to the kitchen he stops you just under a doorway, where you clearly see mistletoe hanging down and you know what’s about to happen. ‘Okay I’ve been pretty lucky so far so I’m just going to go for it now, I’m going to kiss you now so I hope you’re prepared’. He even tasted sweet.

[capncapnk]

Holiday ask meme thingy

Was tagged by @driftingglass!

Name/Nickname: K! Often called Capn too

Gender: Well gang, looks like we have another mystery on our hands

Favorite Cold Weather Drink: EGGNOG. God I love eggnog. Let me soak in a tub of it.

White or Colored Holiday lights: Both. All. I’m not one for decorating, but I love how the city looks around the holidays 😭 some people put up full trees on their stoops. It gets really extra.

Favorite Winter sport: I’m not much for sports tbh but iceskating looks cool

# of blankets I sleep with: One very nice comforter

Preferred Holiday Confection: My partner’s uncle makes this rly good ricotta cheesecake every year so I usually look forward to that. But I like that shops and bakeries make more spiced things (gingerbread, pumpkin spice etc) and use more peppermint flavors.

What I’m currently wearing: dark grey sweater, black shorts w black leggings underneath and Doc boots. Goth even around xmas

Preferred snowy weather activity: A nice, post snow walk :3 Then city looks nice for only like, a day after snow before it turns into grey slush hell.

Last thing you baked: I made a dairy free pumpkin cheesecake that came out okay but before that was a chocolate bourbon pecan pie that was a hit. I gotta think of what I need to bring to xmas this year actually hmm

Homemade gifts or Store bought Gifts: Either? I like receiving either and it depends on the person for giving. I usually make custom cards tho

Favorite Christmas/Holiday Movie: Prometheus - lol no um. Hmm. I don’t know actually? I mostly rewatch the xmas episodes of shows I like. We watched The Office xmas episodes last year

Open Presents Morning or Eve: Both? Basing this off my last few years of going to my partner’s fam’s house lol

Favorite Holiday Song: I’m a basic binch for Mariah Carey. My partner recorded this really dumb song with our friend that I love. Does the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack count? Bob Dylan’s xmas album is so bad it’s good. Look I have like no xmas traditions bc they’re all over the place every year.

Gonna tag @xenophonspeaks @ninannarambling @auriadne @sensiblysilly @dreams-of-the-morrow @liusyss @plasticcrack but u know only if u wanna

[im-the-king-of-what]

Christmas Eve Reminder

Winter is always cold, but not always white. It had been a long time since Johnathan had seen a white Christmas, and today was his lucky day. He sat by the window, a smile plastered to his face as he watched the snow fall. He was warm and cozy with his over sized baby blue sweater his sister had bought him last year, and fluffy green "elf" socks, as Luke calls them. The soft glow from the fire place illuminated his small living room, and soon a glow of green and red would help. He took a sip of his hot chocolate, a homemade recipe sent by his friend Evan, and sighed contently. He'd have to thank the Canadian later. Johnathan sat the mug down on the end table beside him, and pulled his knees closer to his chest. Something soft and woolen rubbed against his cheek and before he could investigate the object that rested upon his shoulders he felt soft lips kiss the top of his head, and a familiar chuckle to follow. "Don't be gay." Johnathan smiled.

"You're gay." Johnathan looked up meeting the gaze of his life long best friend. Luke. "You gonna help me decorate the tree so we can cuddle by the fire sooner, or you gonna sit on that lazy ass of yours and stay all toasty warm?"

Luke walked out from behind the couch and sat beside the youngest. His arms laid comfortably on the back of the couch, and Johnathan couldn't help himself but to cuddle into his friends side. Taking the warm blanket with him of course. Luke wrapped a protective arm around his brother, smiling while staring at the properly decorated fireplace. "Well when you put it that way."

Of course Luke couldn't bring himself to pull Johnathan off his ass, Hell he couldn't even bring himself get up. He was too damn comfy. "Feels just like it used too." Luke smiled down at Johnathan. "Just you and me fucking around enjoying the little things. Almost reminds me of when you moved in with me. Our first Christmas together you had absolutely no idea on what to do."

Johnathan giggled, grabbing Luke's hand and playing with his fingers. "The first step to a good Christmas is cutting down you're own damn pine." That quote had been said almost eight years ago, and Johnathan repeating it only made it better.

Luke didn't laugh instead he looked proudly down at his younger brother. "Exactly." Luke studied the room eyes glued to the mantle. Two candles were lit on top of the smooth surface. A ritual John had kept for a year now. Likes eyes wandered down staring at four unique stockings. One was a plain red splashed with glitter glue, and the name Michael written in chicken scratches. The next one beside it was pink with white snowflakes decorating it, and the name Elle written in Johnathan's neat handwriting. Hanging from both ends of the mantle were both Luke and Johnathan's stocking. All of them were stuffed full of goodies no doubt. "It's a shame you don't have the kids this Christmas." Johnathan sighed he could have gone without that subject being brought up. "Would of been Elle's first snow."

Johnathan used to be a proud father. A proud husband for that matter! But now...now he can't bring himself to even mention he had a family at one point. "L-Luke, let's not discuss this."

Luke's arm tightened around Johnathan. "I'm sorry...I thought since you hung their stockings. You were gettin’ better."

Johnathan pulled himself from his brother's grip and stood. He didn't dare look at Luke instead his eyes studied the hardwood. "Let's just decorate the tree, so we can go to bed."

And so the night went on. Carols were sung by Luke, he more so rapped them, causing Johnathan to giggle. At one point Johnathan buried himself in garland and Luke began hanging ornaments on him instead of the tree. That is until he fell over laughing. But in the end, even after throwing popcorn and fake snow at each other, the tree looked as beautiful as ever. Once or twice Johnathan had caught himself admiring the tree while waiting on Luke to bring eggnog and a fuzzy blanket. Johnathan had long forgotten of his Christmas eve reminder, and would prefer to keep it that way. So he did. Today he would spend happily for his children, because he loved them more than the world itself.

"I wanna give you a Christmas eve gift. You know what that is right?" Luke handed Johnathan his eggnog and gave him the blanket. In response Johnathan simply nodded his head and took a sip of the heavenly drink. "Alright stay here, I'll be right back." With that Luke ran upstairs to an unknown destination leaving Johnathan to himself. Johnathan wrapped himself tighter into the blanket and scooted closer to the fire.

His peach skin warmed and seemed to glow in the soft flickering light. His blue eyes reflected serenity and pain, telling the fire his story. A story he wished he could forget. A story he wished he never had. The fire seemed to listen contently to his eyes, or in Johnathan's imagination it did. He buried himself deeper into his blanket and blocked out the sounds of Luke's feet making contact with the stairs as he walked down them. A fairly large pink box was set in front of Johnathan. Instantly Johnathan jumped back trying to crawl away from the box only to find his way into Luke's arms. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to hid himself away from the harmless box, Luke simply held the man rubbing soft circles onto his back. "I know. I know, shhh. It's okay." Luke kissed the top of Johnathan's head and tried to calm the hysteric man. "It's harmless. I promise. I promise. It's a normal gift. I promise." Johnathan buried his face deeper into Luke's shirt. "It's okay. I promise."

Luke scooted them both a little closer to the box and Johnathan continued to silently protest. Once close enough the man gently pulled the ribbon he had wrapped around the box nearly a year ago and set it aside. He took Johnathan's hand in his and eased it to the pink wrapping paper "Elle insisted on the pink wrapping paper. I tried to wrap it in blue for you but she tore it all up and tried tapping little pieces of pink on it." Reluctantly Johnathan's fingers tore into the wrapping paper pulling it away and once it was gone Johnathan began to cower into Luke. "It's okay. I promise." Yet again Luke took Johnathan's hands in his own and lifted the lid of the box off. "Look inside." Cautiously Johnathan opened his eyes and looked inside the box.

Once his blue eyes met with the brown button eyes of a blue teddy bear tears flowed down his cheeks, and they weren't stopping anytime soon. Johnathan instantly pulled the teddy bear out of its cardboard home and cradled it like he would a young child. He used to hate those stuffed bears, but his son Michael loved them. And of course he'd never tell his son how he felt about them, instead he found himself pretending to love them just as much as his son did. Now he loves them almost as much as he does his son. Johnathan didn't realize he was on his knees rocking back and forth, not until Luke wrapped his arms around his waist causing him to stop. "Thank you Luke."

"There's more." Instantly Johnathan looked into the box not letting go of the bear as he did. Inside he found a card, that he'd read later, and a t-shirt that said world's best daddy. His baby girls pink hand prints on the back of the shirt. Tears seemed to flow harder at the sight of his babies tiny hands. He pressed his hand, which nearly quadrupled in size, to the tiny baby print. "It was rough trying to get her to hold still, once her hands were painted so was everything else in the house." Johnathan hadn't noticed Luke himself was slowly falling apart, until he heard the man choke on his words.

He brought his older brother into a hug which was quickly returned. Johnathan could hear Luke sobbing into his shoulder, he hadn't realized he was just as hurt as Johnathan is. "Thank you...i-it means a lot to me. S-so t-thank you." Johnathan was quickly falling apart and it hurt. It hurt so much.

Luke squeezed him a bit tighter, and before Johnathan knew it Luke's sobs had vanished and the man pulled away. "Read the card." Luke reached behind Johnathan grabbing the envelope and handing it to Johnathan. He opened the envelope and pulled out a goofy looking Santa Clause card that Michael no doubt had picked. Once he opened the card he didn't even bother reading the joke, but instead his sons chicken scratch that said "Hapy Chrismis DaDDy." His and Elle's names were scribbled underneath the writing. A year ago John would correct his sons spelling, but now he'd cherish it more than any gem. "Merry Christmas John."

Johnathan looked up at the clock that hung on his pale walls. It's was midnight. He smiled softly looking back down at gifts. "Merry Christmas Luke."

-Table of Contents -

-Next Chapter-

[calorieworkouts]

Situations That Sabotage Your Weight Loss

1

Your Family - Just how Your Family members Can Undermine Your Effective weight loss

Every couple of months, my spouse announces his intention to drop weight. I made use of to roll my eyes, figuring he would become a health and wellness nut for a week prior to providing up. He directed this bent on me as well as I understood that I wasn't doing him any type of favors by not taking him seriously. As a matter of fact, by not supporting him, I was hurting his possibilities for success.

You might have experienced something similar. Sometimes it's subtle--- an eye-roll or a sarcastic comment. In some cases it's more damaging, creating a setting that runs counter to what you're aiming to accomplish.

Some signs of sabotage:

Your partner brings house a seven-layer delicious chocolate covered to commemorate your 10-pound weight loss

Your other half giggles when you tell her you're going on a diet and spokens, "You? Stick with a diet? Excellent one!"

Your companion, recognizing you're on a diet regimen, takes you to a restaurant that only serves deep-fried cheese and beer

Your mother-in-law frowns when you refuse her homemade sauce, stating, "My other son-in-law loves my gravy.”

Your mommy hands you a plate of lasanga and also claims, "You're as well slim as well as I spent hours making this just for you."

Most member of the family may not realize they're sabotaging you. They may feel intimidated by a thinner you or fretted that your new diet regimen as well as exercise routines could disrupt a life they fit with.

Stop the Sabotage

Communication. Speaking with your partner, the same way my husband chatted to me, might suffice making her knowledgeable about just what she's doing.

Ask for support. People will often react far better to a request for aid rather than an attack.

Use your strength. If you can't obtain assistance, make use of your very own strength to keep entering spite of it. Keep a food as well as workout journal and advise yourself of your goals. In the end, you're in charge of your very own options. People can make those choices harder for you, yet they cannot make them for you.

2

Your Pals - How Your Pals Can Sabotage Your Effective weight loss

Have you ever had that friend that evaluates your meal at a restaurant, cocks a brow as well as spokens, "Are you sure you want to eat

that

?" We've all well-known people like that, yet these people can also finish up sabotaging your fat burning. Simply like member of the family, buddies could often feel intimidated by your weight loss, terrified that you'll look better or that you'll carry on to a different circle of close friends. They may even feel jealous that you're transforming your life as well as moving on while they're standing still.

Some things a screwing up friend might spoken or do:

"Boy, I feel fat today. Do I look fat?" The trouble? She's thinner compared to a toothpick while you're numerous pounds overweight.

You're at a restaurant and also your good friend goes into a juicy burger, spokening, "I don’t know how you could consume that salad. I would certainly merely die if I needed to eat that all the time."

You reference you're signing up with a health club and also your pal says, "I listened to that workout could really make you fat. Oh, you haven't heard that? Well, I make certain it will not occur to you."

You go to a bar and also mention you're on the wagon to slim down. Your good friend yells, "A round of tequila shots, bartender! Hey, simply one beverage won't hurt, right?"

You're en route to the gym and also your buddy calls with an unexpected emergency. You miss your workout to aid, only to discover her 'emergency' was not wanting to watch American Idol by herself.

Stop the Sabotage

Have a heart-to-heart. Like your household, your friend could unknown just what he's doing. Informing him that you require his assistance to drop weight may make him much more supportive.

Distance yourself. If your friend does not transform her behavior, you could should relax from that relationship.

Find support elsewhere. Whether it's a support team or one more buddy who's aiming to slim down, find people who are on the same page and could aid you maintain those healthy habits.

3

Yourself - Exactly how You Could Undermine Your personal Effective weight loss

While family members and also buddies could in some cases intimidate your weight loss goals, your hardest doubter is most likely yourself. A lot of us are difficult on ourselves as well as more critical compared to we would ever be with anybody else. Being too restrictive and ruthless could in fact backfire. All of us have to have a little wiggle space and also taking that adaptability away can make you feel like you're being hurt instead of enjoying your workouts or healthy and balanced diet plan choices.

Some methods you might undermine yourself:

Having unrealistic expectations: "I should start on my diet plan today if I intend to shed 50 extra pounds in the next three weeks."

Following an overly limiting diet: "Lemon juice and also chili pepper for every meal? Perfect!"

Doing way too much exercise ahead of time: "I should have the ability to manage working out for 2 one hours on a daily basis at 4 a.m., right?"

Overbooking yourself: "400 cupcakes by tomorrow morning? Oh, hell, I can do that if I avoid-- well-- everything."

Giving justifications for not following up: "I would've done my workout however that sock cabinet won't organize itself, will it?"

Setting difficult effective weight loss goals: "My goal is to be the exact same weight I was before I had six children."

Stop Sabotaging Yourself

Set realistic goals. Offering yourself permission to reduce weight slowly and also securely will aid you concentrate much less on outcomes as well as even more on the crucial choices that will obtain you there.

Ditch the excuses. We all could think of some excuse for not exercising, but there are also much more needs to follow up. Invest your power thinking of just how to obtain relocating instead of exactly how to prevent your workout.

Give up on weight loss. Concentrating on a slow-moving scale could be irritating. Turning your focus to various other, a lot more significant goals, might motivate you much more while assisting you lose weight.

4

Vacations - Exactly how Your Getaway Could Undermine Your Weight-loss

Sometimes it's a person that sabotages you and also, various other times, it's a circumstance --- like a long holiday where anything goes. As well commonly, we consider a vacation as license to ditch every healthy actions we have actually been adhering to. Nevertheless, isn't really a vacation expected to be about taking pleasure in life? That intends to adhere to a diet or workout on getaway? The trouble with that said kind of thinking is that you could quickly blow all your difficult job and, while it might be fun at the time, you could regret it when you obtain back.

Some ways you might sabotage on your own:

Eating every little thing visible. It really feels good not to need to count every calorie, or eat a salad when you 'd a lot instead have the fried cheese sticks.

Drinking everything in view. Vacations make it all of a sudden appropriate to drink in the center of the day-- as well as the afternoon-- and all night.

Too much lounging. Relaxing could be a good idea, yet a number of us use a trip as a reason to do a lot nothing that also walking from the hotel room to the beach feels like an effort.

Stop the Sabotage

Plan ahead. Strategy points that are both energetic and fun between your lazy days. Long walks on the beach, bike rides or a snorkeling journey can be great for walking around without really feeling like you're exercising.

Try short workouts. There are a selection of brief exercises that will certainly keep you fit without reducing right into your getaway time.

Think moderation. Exotic drinks like piña coladas have lots of calories. If you do consume alcohol, go lighter with wine, light draft beer or alcohol with no-calorie mixers. Take pleasure in excellent food, yet treat yourself to merely 1 or 2 high-calorie selections a day, making your other foods a lot more healthful.

Plan for a little weight gain. Also if you do make excellent options, you might put on weight just since you're off you're regular regimen. Usage that as inspiration to get back on course when you get home.

5

The Holidays - Just how the Holidays Could Sabotage Your Effective weight loss

Staying fit and staying clear of weight gain is hard enough without adding the free-for-all attitude that comes with the holidays. Even even worse, a number of us go through lure for weeks at a time. Add in the anxiety of food preparation, purchasing, socializing and individuals and also you barely have the power for your exercises, a lot less the time.

Some circumstances you may run into:

You show up at an individual, prepared to forage on carrots and also tree bark. You look across the room and-- wait-- is that your ex holding on the arm of a person a lot better looking than you? You black out after nosediving into the treat table.

You pledge to have one beverage at your workplace celebration to conserve calories. Three shots of tequila later on, you understand dancing on the conference space table is an excellent way to burn those additional calories.

You're so hectic, your most extreme exercise entails circling around the shopping center for a parking space.

You look up exactly how several calories you could shed covering presents as well as learn you should wrap 5,416 presents just to burn that cup of eggnog you had last night.

Stop the Sabotage

Prepare yourself. Holiday celebrations will take place as well as they will certainly always consist of high calorie foods. Set up a celebration program in order to help you stay on track: Consume a light meal in advance, pick a couple of treats to indulge in at the individual, consume a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage as well as stay as far from the food as you can after you've eaten.

Keep exercising. Regardless of how hectic you are, make time for workout, also if it's simply ten minutes at a time. You'll manage your stress while keeping some semblance of order among the chaos.

Find some support. If you're having problem saying no to temptation, enlist a buddy in order to help guide you far from bad decisions. Have her fulfill you for workouts or obtain in between you and the buffet table at the next party.

6

The Workplace - Exactly how the Office Can Sabotage Your Weight Loss

Tiny, airless work area? Examine. Hours of tedious deal with an irritating employer? Check. Box of donuts available in any way hours of the day? Check.

The office could be one of the worst places for fat burning sabotage. Also if you enjoy your work, you're bound to get tired and tired, leading you to that mid-afternoon requirement for a pick-me-up. Add that you're sitting for a lot of the day, and you have a dish for weight gain.

Some scenarios you might deal with:

Parties. Birthdays, a person's new baby ... there constantly appears to be a factor for cake and also you do not wish to be a party-pooper, do you?

Meetings. It’s possible to endure a monotonous meeting without consuming among those 2,000-calorie cinnamon rolls, yet it scents so great as well as you're so hungry and your boss is droning on. Simply one will not hurt, will certainly it?

The donuts. In my office, we always had that a person individual that brought a box of fresh, steaming Krispy Kreme donuts daily. Even donut-haters couldn't resist.

The sweet dish. Walking by the receptionist's workdesk, you can feel the magnetic pull as well as a handful (or three) of delicious chocolates doesn't appear like a big offer at the time.

Eating out. When everyone orders the deep-fried dual cheeseburger unique, it's easy to follow along under the concept that, if you all do it, it does not count.

Stop the Sabotage

Keep healthy snacks. Fruit, instantaneous soup, popcorn or oatmeal will satisfy your cravings as well as maintain you away from the junk.

Bring healthy foods. I used to bring fruit to several of my conferences as well as captured a whole lot of flack for it. Better that than an added 5 lbs.

Ask for help. Inform your co-workers you require aid reducing weight as well as they might enjoy to move the donuts elsewhere or quit bringing them entirely.

Stay active. If you're innovative, there are methods to work out at job without your manager understanding about it. Attempt this workplace workout or these stretches right at your desk.

7

Exactly how Dullness, Solitude and also Anxiety Can Sabotage Your Weight reduction

Of all the consuming we do every day, emotional eating could be the most awful for undermining our weight reduction. When we feel bored, lonely or worried, the kitchen area is typically our initial refuge as well as we usually aren't grabbing the carrot sticks.

Food, specifically of the junk selection, can be an organic pick-me-up when you're sensation down, however it can conveniently include added pounds, making you really feel even worse concerning yourself. Even worse, the ideal laid healthy and balanced plans can go right gone despite stress or boredom.

Some scenarios you might face:

You invest an entire day working on a presentation about synergistic restructuring of customer-based initiatives. Hrs right into the task, you're so bored you've used all your modification to get candy bars from the vending machine. When you run out, you think about panhandling for more.

You're residence alone enjoying bad fact TV as well as feeling lonesome. You're nearly determined adequate to call your mother to talk, but realize you'll obtain less sense of guilt if you breathe in a bag of Doritos as well as a container of wine.

After a long day, you're exhausted but established making a well balanced meal. The pizza delivery kid drives by and also, prior to you can quit yourself, you're facing the street, swing a $20 expense and also howling for him ahead back.

Stop the Sabotage

Keep a food diary. Repeatedly creating down exactly what you're eating makes it much easier to discover just what activates emotional consuming as well as assist you avoid it.

Have a backup plan. Make a listing of points you can do when you're burnt out or lonesome-- take a walk, call a buddy, clean your teeth, clean out the scrap drawer, and so on. When you desire to consume making yourself really feel better, do just something on your list and you could bypass the urge.

Explore new options. Think of things you can do on a normal basis to reduce tension or beat dullness. Make food your last resort as opposed to your first.

[thegodthief]

if you had a tarot deck where every card related to a food, what kinds of food would each suit signify, for you? (er, if you have time and energy for something silly like this. i can't get it out of my head, and i'm curious what someone else would do with it.)

Hmm... 

Wands = Spicy, light-your-ass-up, make you pray at 2am on the toilet even if you’re an atheist, foods and/or condiments. The Ace would be that homemade bowl of reactor core that your great aunt from the islands ate every day to cure her arthritis even though it has pitted the glass jar it is stored in and you’re sure it’s dissolving the little steel serving spoon that goes with it. Because it would be your choice if to put a little or a lot. (Note the boundary is measured in micrograms.)

Cups = Drinks. “Soft”, “hard”, or “otherwise”. Hot chocolate, eggnog, tea, coffee, beer, cocktails, and/or liquor as appropriate for the meaning of the card. The Ace would be Everclear 190 vodka, because it is your choice if to use it to clean (read: sterilize) your equipment or to run a erasure program on your mental storage devices. (That stuff is 95% grain alcohol and is considered a munition of war in some USA cities.)

Swords = Light tasting and/or high-snob foods. Dishes you must be this educated to fully appreciate in the spirit and refinement of the Michelin Star Cook™ who supervised its creation. The Ace will be Vanilla Ice Cream. Really. Look up how much shit goes down in cooking contests over vanilla ice cream. To have anything better than the store brand that always seems to be on sale is hard as hell, because if you’re starting with whole vanilla beans, you can’t just measure a gram of the pod and call it good. Vanilla varies from pod to pod, so making a batch of High Froo Vanilla Ice Cream requires Serious Skills™. It is then up to the reader how much effort they want to make.

Pentacles = Comfort foods. Stews, cornbread, dumplings, that pot of beans that simmered all day long, that beef shank nurtured in the slow cooker all night long. The Ace would be a bowl of chicken noodle soup with the open can barely visible in the background. Because it is up to you if you just wanna make the minimum effort but at least you have something hot, or use that as a start (cuz who can make chicken stock from scratch now, right) to simmer up something more tasteful and fulfilling.

That was fun! ^-^

[fashiontrendin-blog]

7 reasons to embrace being single at Chrismas

http://fashion-trendin.com/7-reasons-to-embrace-being-single-at-chrismas/

7 reasons to embrace being single at Chrismas

Yes, all the Christmas movies may teach you to wander around a Christmas market on the arm of someone dashing, exchange gifts like loved up teenagers and snuggle up to one another in front of a roaring fire with a cup of homemade eggnog but, c’mon guys, we all know Hollywood is bullsh*t. You need to embrace being alone AF this festive season because y’know, it’s actually pretty damn fantastic. Here’s why:

You don’t have to waste your already depleting funds on some crap like a VR headset. Keep that dollar honey, you earned it.

Hell, you can go as wild as you choose because that’s right, you’re an independent woman and damn right, you’re in the game.

You don’t have to spend awkward Christmas drinks with their weird family. Three cheers for that.

In fact, you just get to spend all the time in the world with the people you like.

There’s no danger of you being secretly really disappointed by their gift (so symbolic, they don’t get you at all, right? *rolls eyes*)

You can partayyyyyyy whenever, wherever and with whoever you like.

Gone are the days of those pointless AF arguments. No one’s spoiling your festive cheer this year, AMIRITE?

See. We told you you’re better off just the way you are. Merry Christmas y’all.