#huge shout out to doc for this ! <3

[captainlondonman]

Skin or not Skin

Jake remembered exactly the first day he got off on Skinheads. The day when Skins started to infiltrate his brain. He was walking down the High Street when he saw in front of him 3 Skinheads from the rear. Two were in tight bleachers which seemed moulded to their arses, the other was in camos. All had high boots with either red or white laces, the boots were highly polished. All wore Alpha bomber jackets. The taller was clearly powerfully built  and his green jacket had the sleeves pushed up to show off all his tattoos and Jake could see the spider web tattoo all the way across his neck. The other two guys were smaller, the chubbier one’s arse really filled out his bleachers he wore a black alpha bomber and the third guy wore green to go with his camos. They walked together in a threatening way and Jake could see people turning round to stare. He heard the tall one shout out

‘What the fuck are you looking at. Never seen a Skin before. Quit the looking or I’ll punch the living daylight out of ya.’

‘Who the fuck’ he turned to his friend. ‘We’re skins we own this fucking place. I take no fucking prisoners.’

Jake’s cock was rigid, he looked down at his trackies and Christ it was making a huge bulge. He quickly wrapped his jacket over his trackies to conceal it but he felt so horny looking at these powerful gays with their shaved heads. They oozed power and aggression. He was under their spell.

They walked off in a different direction but as soon as Jake got inside his flat he had his cock down his trackies, still rigid and now a large wet patch of precum showing. He flipped his cock out and leant back against the wall with his eyes closed  dreaming of especially the tall guy imagining what he looked like from the front, imagining that if his bleachers were tight on his arse then he would be showing a huge bulge inching its way down his leg. He wanted to be at the guy’s mercy on his knees ready to take the cock all the way down his throat. He wanted to feel part of the Skin. Jake’s decent sized prick was almost vertical it was so hard as he started to run his hand up and down the shaft his cock head glistening with precum. The more he rubbed he more he could almost feel himself under full control of the Skin, being a full sub to his top. He could see the full picture of the Skin and his mind was in overdrive as his wanking brought him to  ejaculate. He threw his body outwards, shouting ‘fuck me Skin let me be your slave.’ His spunk lashed out, the biggest wank and most cum he had had in ages. He was hooked.

Jake could not get the ideas of Skinheads out of his mind and he started trawling the internet for photos. Once he got on to Tumblr, there were photos everywhere, not just normal pics but Skins fucking and sucking each other. Jake had never wanked as much in his life. The more he looked at these sites he suddenly one day decided he needed to have some of his own gear that he could wear around the flat. Nobody need know but at least he could feel more like a Skin. He went on to eBay to see what he might get and sure enough he bought the long white socks, the Lonsdale T shirt and red braces. He went on to the Doc Martens web site and found the high boots with red laces. Under bomber jackets he found the green Alpha jacket just like the tall skin who even though he had not seen the guys face was becoming his idol. Finally there was a bleachers site and he looked to see what was available. He hardly needed to decide it had to be ones with the rear zip. He was impatient to have them all and each day hoped the postman would deliver the clothes he craved for. They duly arrived and he was ready to wear for the first time but he also purchased two other items to complete his pleasure.

Jake laid all his new clothes out and stood back to admire. It was all Skin gear and he could wear the things that Skins wore and feel like one of them even if he wasn’t. It wasn’t as easy as he thought to put it all on especially lacing up the boots but before he managed to step into his bleachers his cock was so hard and pulsating with pleasure. Just like his hero they were so tight at the arse but his thick cock was stuffed down his right leg making a bulge that he never knew he had. There was the beginning of a precum stain showing. He put on the T shirt and then attached the braces to the jeans. At first he pulled them up but then remembered his idol let them hang down and so he did the same. He put on the green alpha bomber last and stood with his legs apart staring at his new look in the mirror. OK so he still had his head of dark wavy hair but he looked like a God, almost a Skin. So he could act out the part he took his new piece of clothing out. A full rubber hood with eye slits and another for his mouth. He pulled it down tight and it was pressed tight against his whole face all the way down to the base of his neck. He then looked at himself. Now he no longer looked like Jake but like a Skin. He let his arms swing wide and staring into the mirror he shouted

‘I’m a fucking Skin mate, I’ll fucking kill you. You want a fuck well I’m a skin fucker. I take no shit.’

His cock was bursting as he felt himself become a skin but he needed the one final thing. From his bed he took up the 9” black rubber dildo and let a few gobs of spit roll over the shaft. Easing the rear zip down he let himself go into the squat position and pushed the dildo up the crack of his arse. Watching his reflection he carried out shouting ‘I wanna be fucked by a skin. Skin to fucking skin. A good sized dick up my arse. Only a skin dick.’

He could feel the dildo moving up inside him until it was all the way up to the hilt. He felt as if his idol was inside him. His skin idol fucking the living daylights of him and he also a skin.

Using one hand to push and pull at the dildo he undid his front zip and yanked out his boner, taking it firmly in his other hand.

‘That’s it mate fuck me you skin and let me cum.’

 The more he rammed the dildo in and out of his arse the more his hand gripped his shaft. He was hardly needing to wank such was his excitement at seeing himself almost a skin and with a black rubber dildo all the way up him.

‘Fuck me you fucking skin, take me, spunk all the way up me man.’

And with that he came his cum spraying across the mirror, running in thick globs down, white and thickly creamy.

That night Jake slept in his full skin gear feeling encased being a skin. He woke up every now and then to press his hand on his seemingly constant erect cock. He had never felt like this.

He had hoped to rush home from work the next day to get back into his gear but had to meet friends after work for a drink His mates asked him if he was Ok as he seemed on edge but it was only because he wanted to stand in front of the mirror and shout abuse at himself.

As he left the pub he suddenly caught sight of his Idol, again the rear view only. He was on his own and looked as if he was on a mission. This time Jake thought he did not want to let him out of his view so quietly managed to follow him. He went down the edge of the old railway sidings making it difficult for Jake to hide but he managed to keep on the other side of the old railway carriages. The Idol walked into the darkened tunnel and stood at the far end leaning against the wall. Jake could now see what he looked like and it was even better than he imagined with the shaved head, the cobweb tattoo and a scar on one of his cheeks. He had obviously been in many fights and his nose looked like a boxer’s having been broken several times. But to Jake he was all man and good looking. As Jake stared at him  his cock was hard and he started stroking the trousers as his breathing increased. Suddenly he was aware of a noise on the other side of the carriages. Crouching he looked under the wheels and saw a pair of high Doc Martens with white laces moving towards the tunnel. The guy stopped at the tunnel opening. The Idol turned round to see who was approaching and put his hand to his crotch stroking the full length of his shaft and arching his back out so they could see the full thick outline. The new Skin stopped and also stroked his bleachers. He was a muscle guy with just bleachers and vest and Jake could see the tattoos all down both arms. The Idol unzipped his flies and brought out his cock. Christ it looked huge and was glistening in the night light. He then took his hand and started massaging the shaft. The other Skin started walking down the tunnel until he was facing the Idol who put one  arm out grabbing the guys hand and placing it firmly on his cock, his other arm going round the Skin’s neck and pulling him in to tongue him. Jake thought he would cum without any wanking he was so excited.

Suddenly the Idol moved his arms and spun the Skin round so he was flattened against the wall of the tunnel. The guy put up his arms and moved his arse out into the Idol’s crotch

The Idol pulled down the rear zip of the guy’s bleachers and poked two finger into his crack, moving them around to widen the hole. Taking the finger out he let spit drop onto his prick and rubbed it gently up and down the shaft so his spit covered the full length of his tool. Placing one arm on the guys shoulder he used the other to guide his dick into the crack and slowly Jake could see him shoving it up the full length. The skins mouth opened in pain as he could feel the thick diameter force its  way up. But he clearly loved it as he pushed his arse outwards so he could feel the Idol’s pubes rub against his bum. With his cock fully up, the Idol put both arms on the shoulders of the skin and started to push and pull sliding his cock almost the whole way out and then ramming it back in with greater force. The more he pushed the more the Skin shoved his arse backwards. The idol gripped hard the shoulder blades as his pleasure increased. Jake could make out that he was nearing his orgasm. Jakes cock was so hard it was painful and though he put his hand into trousers  it was caught inside so he had to rub the denim. As the Idol shot his load so Jakes own cock exploded down inside some of the cum oozing out through the fabric the rest forming a long drip line. Jake was breathless. This was like a dream come true the only drawback was that it was not him with the Idol. The two skins zipped up and giving one another a good tonguing, went their separate ways. It was only raw sex they wanted and both had been satisfied.

For Jake this was almost a dream come true, seeing the Idol ‘s large prick and then seeing it ramming the other Skin. He hardly slept working out his next move but he knew what had to be done.

The next evening when it was dark he put on all his Skin gear apart from the mask and slipped out of his apartment with a long coat covering most of his gear up in case someone saw him. He drove down near the tunnel and parked up then got out to hide in the bushes. His heart was racing. Would the skin return looking for more sex. The mere possibility had his cock hard the bulge straining against his bleachers. He heard a noise and sure enough his idol walked past and into the tunnel loitering at the end where there was a glow of light.

Jake was terrified but he so wanted to have the Skins cock. He put on the rubber hood pulling it tightly down over his head and neck. No one would know he was not a skin as the hood was so tight. He moved out of the bushes and started to walk towards the tunnel, making sure he walked with a swagger just like a Skin his arms slightly out as though he might be ready for a fight.

The Skin saw him at the end of the tunnel and stubbed out the ciggie from his mouth to let his hand come down and stroke his bulge. In the dim light Jake could make out the long hard bulge. Jake let one of his hands rub his own dick in the hope the Skin could see that he was also well hung. Jake felt like a skin about to have a session with another real Skin.

Trying not to breathe too heavily he approached the skin and stood in front saying nothing but waiting.

‘Luv your fucking hood mate .It’s making me feel right horny. I’ve a boner and a half here and need a good blow job so quit the looking, get down in front of me mate.. I want to see you unzip me and get yer hand inside my sweaty crotch and pull me out. You’ll like what you see. I want you to take the full length.

Jake did as told and got down on his knees and put his hands up to unzip the bleachers. He opened the button so he could get his hand inside and pushed his hand down past the hairy balls. Shit it felt as if he had to put his hand all the way down the guys leg to pull it out.

‘Don’t yank at it mate it’s me fucking prick.’

As Jake pulled it out so he could see the large head glistening with precum. He lowered the bleachers more so he could also get the balls out, and they were well hung.

‘Glad you like the balls as well mate as you can pull them while you suck me off. Luv me balls being pulled. Now get some of yer spit onto me dick before you suck.’

Jake let a big gob of spit emerge through the slit in his hood. And putting one hand around the guys balls he took hold of the shaft with his other hand and moved it to his mouth. The Skin could see the cock head sliding past the rubber slit as it entered Jake’s mouth

‘I fucking love the hood mate. Luv seeing my dick going through the rubber.’

 At first Jake thought he might gag but all he wanted was to have the full shaft slide down the back of his throat. As he grasped the Skin’s bleachers so the Skin let his hands slide over the hood.

‘Fucking love your rubber mate makes me even hornier. Almost as good as a fuck. Love me hands on the rubber pushing my dick further and further into yer throat. Shit man you love cock the way you’re gobbling me. Now pull on me balls, yank them down let me feel some pain.’

Jake grabbed the balls even tighter and pulled hard.

‘Fucking hell that’s sore mate but feels fucking great. Now suck.’

As Jake pulled so the Skin holding Jakes rubber clad head pushed his head in and out towards his pubes. Jake’s mouth was so full of cock. This was real.

‘Shit man I’m gonna come so get ready to take all me spunk and swallow it so you feel me going all the way down into you. I luv yer fucking rubber.’

And with that the Skin exploded his cum into Jake’s throat, so much cum that it started to ooze out the rubber slit and down the  front.

‘Shit man what a fucking blow job, yeah man.’

Once he had come he pushed Jake’s head back and took his hand to wipe any left over cum off his dick before stuffing it back into his bleachers.

‘I need to see what you look like mate, you’re something else.’

As we went to put his hands on the hood Jake said

‘No man leave it as is you liked the hood so let’s leave it at that.’

‘Did you not hear me? I said I want to see what you look like. Do as I say or Ill fucking knock  you.’

The Skin leant over Jake who was by now terrified and slowly grabbing the base of the neck the Skin pulled the mask up and over Jakes head.

Jake could not move. The Skin stared hard at him.

‘You’re not a fucking skin. All that clothing is just a joke. That fucking mass nof hair. You’re fucking pretending. Nobody but a Skin has sex with me. I fucking hate someone like you who thinks he is  skin. It’s not just fucking clothes. It’s a way of life. You slimy little bastard.’

‘I’m sorry but I love skin clothing and I’ve seen you around and so wanted sex with you.’

‘I could fucking kill you trying it on with me and having me cum like this. Don’t think you are getting away with this so stand up, NOW.’

Jake was almost paralysed with fear and did as told. The Skin put Jake into a stranglehold, tightening his grip around the throat.

‘I’m sorry, I really am.’ Jake blurted out. ‘I just wanted to be like you.’

‘You don’t fucking piss with me mate. Fucking little bastard. I’ll teach you. I could fucking well strangle you now.’

Jake felt his breath was being squeezed out of him, was becoming more and more dizzy, the pain increasing as he tried to breathe. Suddenly it was too much and he passed out.

Little by little Jake could feel his eyesight returning. He was not dead. He was not standing and he could hardly move his head. He realized he was on his knees but his neck felt cold and it was as though his neck was in a brace. He had no idea where he was . It suddenly dawned on him that he was in a cage and his head was jammed into a hole in the cage but not just that as he brought his hands up to his neck he could feel a steel collar around his neck. As he managed to look in front him, unable to fully raise his head he saw a pair of bleachers in white laced Doc martens in front of him. The Skin was on a stool facing him.

‘Wondered when you’d fucking well come round. So how do you feel. You’re mine now and it’s up to me what to do with you. Only I can let you out. I see you pissed yerself when I choked you but at last it’s drying out. Anyway bleachers are best if they’ve got dried piss down them. Skins like their boots nice and shiy so you can start licking mine.’

The Skin put one of his boots up into Jake’s face.

‘Now let me see a few good gobs on them before you lick.’

Jake cleared his mouth and spat several times onto the boot.

‘Now let me see you fucking lick. Start with the sole until I tell you to do the caps.’

Jake could feel the dirt and mud from the boots come up into his mouth. He wanted to gag but knew he would be punished so he swallowed and got on while the Skin stared at him.

‘That’s right mate now get on with the cap.. Let me see your tongue go all over.. Stick your fucking tongue the whole way out so I can see.’

Jake extended his tongue and licked over the surface. Being in the cage and at the Skin’s total mercy, licking boots made his heart race and he could feel his cock inching down his bleachers.

‘Good boy, now lick me other boot but let me cover it with some of my spit so I can see you taking in all my gob.’

The Skin spat hard on the boots, thick slimy spit.

‘Bet you love me gob eh mate? That’s right really lick, let’s see whose spit is best.’

Jake wanted to swallow the Skin’s spit as though he was devouring the person and making him part of him. Jake let his tongue linger on the spit and slurped it on the toe.

‘Lovely stuff mate. You see you’re mine. So you thought you could get away being a skin with that fucking hair of yours did you. No Skin has any hair we shave every other day and make it nice a shiny. That way you know not to mess with us. We are hard men and that ain’t just our cocks. So you know what is coming next. That hair of yours is going and soon you can see it all piled up on the floor.’

The Skin got out a barber’s electric razor and started working it over Jakes head. Jake wanted to shout out to stop but he wanted his hair gone and the more hair that was shaved off the more aroused Jake became.

‘Bet you’ve got a fucking boner with all this mate. Once I’ve finished with the electric razor I need to take the hand razor to get it all off so will put some shaving foam over your head. It’s all coming off a fucking treat mate. Gone all that fuzz of yours.’

Once the skin had used the razor he took a wet towel and removed all the remaining foam off to reveal  a nice shiny bald head.

‘OK mate you keep the steel collar on but I’m letting you out the cage so you can stand up. No funny stuff about escaping cause I fucking punch the living daylights out of you.’

The gate was released and Jake crawled out slowly standing up to his full height in front of the Skin.

‘Now let me see you proper. He took his large hand and slapped it over Jake’s face a couple of times.

‘A few bruises makes you look the real stuff boy.’

‘Shit man you sure look a fucking good skin. You looked a right pussy boy before but now scalped you look fucking great. And what did I say?’

With that the Skin took his hand and grabbed hold of the outline of Jakes stiff cock straining at his bleachers.

‘I said you had a boner and not a bad one at that. I like me skins with big dicks and you pass the test. Turn round.

Jake did as told and then felt the skins hands moving across his arse.

‘Those bleachers of yours sure give your bum a nice tight shape. I love a solid arse and you know what your arse is for eh boy.’

‘Yes sir to be fucked,’

‘Too fucking right. What with that arse of yours and yer erect pole I fucking wanting to shag you and get my dick all the way up that arse of yours. So bend over the cage but first get that cock of your out and lemme see. Jake stuffed his hand down his trousers leg and pulled out his dick.

‘Let me get my hand around that boy. A good thick one you’ve got there. Might need to feel that up me at some stage but for now you are mine.’

Jake almost shivered as he felt his cock being squeezed by the skin and feeling his beery breath on his face.

‘So you’ve seen mine but have another look now before I get it up you.’

He pulled out his cock, and he was clearly feeling so horny it was almost vertical.

‘I’ll need to push this one down boy to get it up you as you’re making me feel right horny. So before you bend over bend down and let some of your spit on my dick. That way it’ll go up easier for you.’

Jake let two big gobs on to the thick shaft and bent over, the Skin unzipping the rear of the bleachers.

I always fuck a guy in gear. Naked ain’t the same. I like my guys in full skin.’

The Skin got down behind Jake and put his face up against Jake’s arse using his tongue to lick and with his hands he could spread Jake’s cheeks wide to let his tongue get up the first part.

‘Lovely soft arse you’ve got there. No taste of shit. Now get ready to take this. Spread your legs and you’ll find it easier to take my thick tool Jut that arse out as well.’

Jake was almost gagging to be fucked by the Skin. This is what he had wanted since the first day he saw the guy. As he stuck his arse out so he felt the skins head burst through the opening. For someone who was so aggressive in his way of life he was gently taking Jake knowing that his tool would hurt unless Jake was ready  receive it.

‘Like that boy?’

‘Its fucking great. A right monster you have there’

‘I like your use of the word “Fuck” boy as we skins use it all the time. Shows we mean business.’

‘Then fucking fuck me sir.’

‘Don’t worry once I get this up to the hilt in your arse don’t expect me to be gentle. Now that’s it in really push yourself up against me then you have all of me inside you. Shit man you’ve been fucked a few times before. That arse of yours has had a few cocks up them.’

‘Yeah but none like your cock.’

The Skin put his arms round Jakes thighs.

Now stand up so you can press your body against me.

As Jake stood up so the Ski put his arms around Jake holding him tight and then kissed his neck.

‘Shit man I want you and not just tonight. Seeing that neck of yours has decided me that tomorrow you’ll have a good tat put across the back. I wanna see “Skinhead” and in big letters and then on your shoulder you’ll have my name showing all the lads you belong to me. Now let me get my hand onto that cock of yours and we can both orgasm at the same time. You’d like that eh?’

 Jake gulped as the Skin rammed his cock in and out as he let his body go from tight against the Skin and moving it slightly out until the thick head was almost ready to pop out but he knew exactly when to stop and then force himself back against the Skin.

‘Fuck, wank me man let me cum in your hand. I wanna have your hand covered in my spunk. Go on fuck me man, fuck me hard’, Jake shouted.

‘Take my fucking dick, feel me deep inside you sliding that massive shaft of mine up and down that juicy arse of yours. I can feel that dick of yours pulsating ready to erupt.’

‘Just fuck me, cum all the way inside me and get the spunk all the way up me.’

‘You’re about to get it  I’m ready man. So you too man spunk away.’

‘I’m a fucking skin being fucked by a fucking great skin. Its fucking brill man that’s it fuck me unload that spunk now.’

And with one final push the Skin shot his load deep inside Jake’s arse and the Skins hand was covered with thick creamy spunk.

They sank back over the cage exhausted

‘That’s the fucking best shag I have ever had.’ Jake shouted.

‘You won’t get better than me.’

‘Here’s a towel, wipe yourself off and get that prick of yours back in your bleachers. I’ll zip up your rear. You’ll soon have a nice damp patch of my cum oozing out that crack of yours and everyone will know who done it. I’m taking you to the skin club to meet the lads but you keep that collar on for now. I want them all to know that you are mine and I ain’t sharing you out. They’ll all want a bit of that cock so get ready to be touched up but its only me that gets to use your arse.’

‘I don’t want anyone else. I am yours and only yours and I am a skin at last. No longer a dream thanks to you and the real thing. A skin and your skin.’

[kumquats-are-gay]

sparing with Johnny, and you pin him down only to find that he's rock hard, maybe some teasing/sex? idk idk

(TF YOU MEAN “idk”?? THIS PROMPT IS HEAT AND I’M ‘BOUTTA COOK!! 🔥💯😤)

Johnny Cage x gn!reader (SFW/NSFM)

NOTE: This will be a two-parter because I just couldn't wait to post what I had already, lmao. This first part only has sexual themes and foreplay, while the second part will have actual smut (also, while this first part is totally GN, the second part will be mentioning afab anatomy, but I will still be using GN pronouns). I'm sorry this took so long to get to; I've been working almost every day for the past two weeks and ya girl is tired, lol. Was super excited to write for this though! :D

ALSO I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE HOW ACTUAL FIGHTING WORKS I JUST MADE SHIT UP LMAO PLS DON'T COME AT ME

Pasted straight from Google Docs and NOT proofread, so please excuse any grammatical/continuity errors/syntax and formatting. I am also still VERY much an amateur writer so pls go easy on me <3

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51869623

Come On With a Come-on

         For a ‘professional’, Johnny Cage is about the least professional person you’ve ever met. Propriety must be a foreign concept to him with how frequently he flirts with you, especially on set—you know, in front of all of your colleagues and crew? The man was shameless in his relentless pursual of you, like a goddamn dog with a bone. And worst of all? You liked it, and this fact frustrated you to no end. 

         How could you possibly be attracted to someone who is so insufferably arrogant, loud-mouthed, and impossibly far up his own ass? An ass that, admittedly, you find yourself staring at whenever you think he isn’t looking. But, because you’re an actual professional, you’ve rebuffed his every attempt to seduce you thus far. Plus, you had a reputation to keep and dignity to hold onto; you weren’t sullying either when the likely outcome would involve your face and name on countless tabloids. 

         Without warning, his stupid, smug, and incredibly handsome smile invades your mind, and you suddenly find yourself wanting nothing more than to punch it off of his unfairly chiseled jaw.

         …or maybe kiss it off.

         “Grah!” you abruptly shout while burying your hands in your hair, momentarily tugging at the roots in annoyance. God, you had a problem. 

         Bzzt.

         “Huh?” You look down at your hip where your phone had just buzzed in your pocket. You pull it out and flick your finger across the screen to unlock it, then tap on the messaging icon.

         Johnny Cage: Hey, wanna spar later? 👊👊

         You raised a brow. You and Johnny worked in the same sphere for a reason. Action films were your guys’ bread and butter since the both of you knew how to fight as well as do your own stunts. 

         You and Johnny hung out casually here and there, but the two of you had never sparred before. You sensed an opportunity in his proposal, though: an effective way to get your frustration out on the source of said frustration. Shrugging, you figure, ‘why not?’

         You: Yeah, I’m down. But I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into b/c I won’t be holding back!

         Johnny: Woah, don’t go threatening me with a good time ;) 

         Your stomach twirled in unbidden delight at the cheeky response, and you internally chastised yourself for being so easily affected by this man. You and Johnny sorted out the details of your meetup—his place, late afternoon—and returned your phone to your pocket. You would just have to kill some time until then.

~~~

         “Of course you would have your own gym, and of course it’s fuckin’ huge,” you joked with a bit of sarcasm, yet enough lightheartedness as to not offend. Though, you doubt Johnny could be so easily offended; he’s got way too much self-confidence (for better or for worse) to be put down that easily.

         “Oh, honey, you haven’t seen ‘huge’ yet,” he boasted with a smirk. The wink that followed did nothing to abate the heat that was slowly taking over your body, but you did your best not to let the effects show. Since when were easy, immature innuendos such a turn on for you? You just closed your eyes and shook your head.

         “Alright, I am definitely knocking you on your ass for that one.”

         “Hah, see if you can, sweetheart!”

         The two of you stood in your  respective corners and took your stances. One quick little countdown later, and the game was on. 

        You knew Johnny was a very good fighter being a martial arts expert and all, but you didn’t realize he was that good. In all honesty, you figured he was more bark than bite, and that you’d have no real problem going toe-to-toe with him. Unfortunately, it seems like you may have underestimated him. It turns out that Johnny Cage was one of the rare few you had met who could back up their arrogance. Bully for you.

        Furthermore, this shithead was fighting dirty! Well, okay—technically he wasn’t fighting dirty. He was just talking after all, and there’s nothing wrong or “illegal” with that. But it was a dirty tactic regardless, and it only infuriated you further with how helpless you were to try and block him out.

        You pivot sharply on one foot and  use the momentum to lift and swing the other around, aiming the kick at his head. You expect him to duck under such a high-reaching maneuver—maybe he’d follow up with a low sweep with your single foot planted on the ground—so you prepare yourself to counter this. See, before you went into acting, fighting was your primary activity; you won many tournaments and managed to make a decent living off of it. One of the main things you were known for were your notoriously powerful kicks; few would risk trying to outright block them rather than moving out of the way.

         You must have forgotten who you were up against; that was the only reasonable explanation for your short-sightedness. You were not distracted by him or anything like that, thank you very much. Johnny-fucking-Cage just lifts an arm and grabs your leg. With one hand. Like it was nothing.

         The impact creates a loud smack! that briefly leaves you dumbfounded; you felt the force of that blow against his palm, and it was enough to leave the skin there tingling unpleasantly. Johnny didn’t look phased in the least bit with a crooked smile dancing across his handsome features, just gripping your ankle. Casually. Like you weren’t currently being held in the near-vertical splits.

         Johnny took this fleeting opportunity to give you a quick once-over, and his smile only grew. “Nice legs,” he quipped, “bet they’d look a lot nicer over my shoulders.” You openly gaped at his brazenness, and he used your shock to his advantage, flipping you in one fell swoop. You grunted when your back hit the mat underneath you, but the heat that overwhelmed your person (caused by your anger and fury, obviously) had you back up in a flash.

         “Best two out of three,” you nearly seethed. Johnny had the audacity to appear as anything but intimidated. In fact, he seemed rather amused.

         “You know, you’re like, really hot when you’re mad.”

         You nearly flung yourself at him in a mindless bout of rage, but caught yourself only a split moment before you could make such a devastating mistake. A delightful idea quickly sprang to mind—two could play at this game. 

         You kept up the facade of indignation and outrage in order to trick Johnny into thinking that you actually were going to make that blind charge at him. You stepped off of your dominant foot, using the momentum to make a lunge for him. He braced himself to counter your head-on attack, but you feigned right at the last possible second, swiftly gripped his shoulder with your left hand, and brought your right leg in against the back of his knee to buckle it. Johnny was quick to recover, though, keeping enough of his balance to twist and grapple with you as his leg nearly gave out. 

         Ah, so it was time for plan B.

         Before he could finish off the move, you brought your face right up to his, making sure that the two of you were making eye contact, and looked at him with sensual purpose. It was almost enough to disarm him, so to ensure you had the upper hand, you threw him another curveball with a breathy, “I wonder if you fuck as good as you fight.” 

         That did the trick. Johnny’s mind was sent reeling with your seemingly out-of-pocket comment, and you jumped at the chance to knock him flat on his ass. Johnny got the wind knocked from him as he landed with a resounding thump. Not wasting a minute, you straddled yourself across his hips and held his wrists against the floor mat. While Johnny had more raw strength than you, you hoped that the KO would leave him dizzy enough to keep him subdued.

         “Ha! Gotcha!” you barked out in triumph. Johnny just blinked up at you in a daze as his response. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle the taste of your own medi-” you had cut yourself off when you felt something stiff beneath your pelvis. ‘What…? Wait, is he…’

         “Are you hard right now?!” you squawked incredulously. Johnny just shrugged his shoulders and gave you an audacious smirk, as if to say, ‘Uh, yeah I guess so. What about it?’ You were flabbergasted. “I can not believe you right now!” You released his wrists and made to get up, but he grabbed your hips before you could get away. Damn it, his body was so warm, and…holy shit he felt big.

         “Woah now, hang on just a tick,” he spoke like he was trying to soothe a startled horse. This fucking asshole! Why, just why did you have to fall for him? “It is very difficult not to pop a boner when I’m getting up close and personal to the most gorgeous person I know,” he spoke with an immense amount of charm and a surprising measure of sincerity. Your eyes widened comically before you squinted at him with a healthy amount of suspicion. 

         “Oh, really now? And I don’t suppose you’ve used that line with every other person you’ve taken to bed, hm?”

         Johnny just sighed like he was the exasperated one here. “Darling, I’ve been laying it on thick for half a year now. There’s no way I’d still be after you just to get into your pants.” He looked at you with this sort of ‘duh’ expression on his face, like he couldn’t possibly understand your confusion. “I mean, don’t get me wrong: you’ve got just the kind of body that I love,” he added, and you nearly clocked him then and there, but you relaxed again as he spoke further, “but I’ve come to really like spending time with you. There’s never a day that I don’t look forward to working with you on set, you know.” And, just like that, you felt like the stupidest person on the planet for denying yourself something that you evidently could have had for a long time now. 

         You hung your head low and shook it from side to side in disappointment of yourself. You fool. You buffoon. You absolute imbecile. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Johnny took this the wrong way, looking offended, and opened his mouth to say something. However, you were quick to shut him up with a short yet firm kiss of which he wasted no time in returning. He ground his hips against yours in short, desperate thrusts like there would never be another chance to do so, and you eagerly mirrored his movements like they might be your last. Without warning, he rolled the two of you over to flip your positions. Sprawled out beneath him with your hands held beneath his own, Johnny thought you looked like a dream.

         “By the way, I think you’ll find that not only do I fuck as good as I fight, but I fuck like I fight, too—hard n’ fast,” he intoned in a voice nearly an octave deeper. 

         You squirmed in anticipation at his words, and retorted with equal huskiness, “let’s see it then.”

[annievrse]

tonight you are mine

guitarist!eren x fem!reader —ᡣ𐭩 fic summary: sasha invites you to a gig with her new band, which leads to a certain guitarist taking an immediate interest in you. warnings: she/her pronouns, a little suggestive (not really), singing (yes, this is a warning). w/c: 3k a/n: i took this from my other blog, rewrote it for eren, and here we are. i will admit it was lazy of me, but i love that fic so much i had to have it for eren <3 [images from pinterest].

“I promise you’ll love them. They’re like brothers to me,” Sasha giggled. “This is gonna be awesome!” 

You smiled as she spoke over the sound of her Doc Martens slapping the concrete. Sasha carried a tote bag full of what you didn’t know. All you had was your phone and a lip gloss tube, clueless about why Sasha insisted on taking so many belongings to the gig. 

Sasha only joined her band as a lead singer last month, and you hadn’t seen them perform yet. After almost failing your mid-terms, you and Sasha met at a study group last semester. You were in different majors, so hang-outs weren’t as frequent, hence why you hadn’t met her other friends yet–save for Jean, who had ploughed into a study session and demanded Sasha’s attention one afternoon and ended with the three of you in a club. Only this semester did you actually share another class with Sasha and Jean, which allowed you to become closer. You had never met the other two original band members – Eren and Armin, and the rest of her friend group – Connie and Mikasa, who both had no musical bones in their bodies. 

Sasha had you listen to some demos over the few weeks she had been a part of it all, and you were beyond proud of your friend.

“I think there’ll be a huge turnout tonight. Eren told his college friends, and Armin invited his study group. But Mikasa is visiting her brother and Connie… I assume he’s gonna show up; who knows, though,” Sasha shook her head. “Anyway, I can’t wait to get out there,” She grabbed your arm, a wide grin on her lips. “Aren’t you so excited? I am. I want you to hear these songs so badly.” 

Your heart doubled in size as you listened. Sasha was completely enamoured with the band despite only being in it for a short period, and you guessed that’s what made the boys so grateful to have her around—she was just as passionate as they were. 

You smiled brightly at her and nodded. “I’m so proud of you, Sash. Soon, I’ll be waiting hours to get front-row at your concerts.” Then you widen your eyes jokingly. “I’ll have to fight teenagers to get tickets!”  

Sasha stopped you and turned toward you. She wore a giddy smile and shook her head. “You won’t be in line. You’ll be backstage. Duh.” Then she latched onto your other arm and shook your shoulders, both of you sharing the same elation, laughing together.

“Hey! What’re you girls doing?” A voice called from a car. You didn’t think Sasha’s smile could get any bigger until she peeked around you to wave at her bandmate. Jean sat in his beat-up Subaru on the curb. Sasha grabbed your hand and pulled you along toward the car. 

“Just discussing our future success,” She exclaimed, opening the passenger door and sliding in. You got in the backseat and watched Sasha yank the aux cord from Jean’s hand. Jean rolled his eyes and put his foot on the accelerator, pulling away from the sidewalk and back into the traffic. 

“Hi, Y/n,” Jean greeted, ignoring Sasha’s rambling about a new song she heard. 

You smiled at him in the rearview mirror. “Hey, you ready?”

Jean nodded, wincing at the volume of the music that started playing before he shouted over the music. “Born ready.” 

Sasha sang the lyrics to a song you’d never heard before Jean turned it down. “How did your date with Nic go? You never got back to me.” 

Sasha instantly reddened. Niccolo was a guy in her food technology class who had asked her out with beef ravioli and roses. “Good…” 

“That doesn’t sound very convincing,” You laugh. Sasha spun around in her seat, her grin wide. 

“Ugh, fine! Since you both want to hear about it so bad,” She teased. 

Jean shook his head. “Not really, I was just being nice...” He mumbled. 

Sasha ignored him as she spoke. “It was so perfectly incredible! The pasta was mind-blowing, and he brought this wine, and when I tell you, it was perfectly paired with the beef, oh! Everything was so perfect.” 

“Perfect, huh?” Your lips were pulled into a side smile at how often she used the word ‘perfect’. 

“It’s okay to be jealous, Y/n,” Sasha laughed, then she cupped her mouth playfully so only Jean could hear. “She hasn’t gotten with anyone for months.” Sasha threw you a teasing look and a cheeky smile before returning her gaze to the road. 

Your mouth opened and closed after hearing her, no words forming on your lips as Jean laughed. You sighed obnoxiously and turned your attention to your phone. The pair in the front shared a few whispers before Jean spoke.

“We’re sorry, Y/n. I bet there’ll be someone here tonight. There’s a lot of people coming.” He said, no hint of sarcasm in his tone. You met his eyes through the rearview mirror. “But I know Eren needs some, too, jeez!” 

Sasha slapped Jean on the shoulder. “No! I will not let him anywhere near my beautiful Y/n.” It was the first time since this morning that you’d heard her voice so serious. “She will not be his rebound.” 

“Yeah, I don’t want to be a rebound, Jean. But thanks, though.” You falsely smiled and looked out the window. The sun had started setting a half hour ago, and the sky was painted a deep tangerine. 

“Just saying! Ever since he broke up with Historia, he’s been so pissed off. Nearly had my head on a stick because I ordered tomatoes on his sandwich. He’s fucking crazy!” 

You had heard stories of Eren, mostly from Sasha. Tall, green-eyed, goofy, and moody. He intrigued you, yet you’d never seen him. 

“Okay, Y/n. Jean and I are going backstage for like 20 minutes. Will you be okay on your own? I don’t want to leave you alone, and I know you hate that.” Sasha explained as the car pulled into a parking spot behind the small venue. 

You nodded in approval and got out of the car.  “Yeah, that’s fine, don’t worry about me. Go be a rockstar.” 

You stood at the front of the crowd, securing the spot the moment you entered the doors of the building. As expected, the venue was packed. Knowing Sasha was beyond ecstatic, you didn't doubt she was a little nervous. 

Your mouth was sticky from the fresh layer of lip gloss you applied not 2 minutes ago, and you moved your lips together to ensure it was evenly coated. You wiped the corners of your mouth with your fingertips, and a short cough rang through the room, indicating one of the band member's microphones was on. You looked up and noticed an unfamiliar set of eyes focused on you. Your gaze quickly darted away to notice Jean already sitting at his place behind the drums and again to see another new face on the other side of the stage. A boy with blonde hair held a bass guitar. All who was missing from the stage was Sasha. 

Suddenly, the lights turned a deep purple, and the chords of ‘Monodrama’ started playing through the speakers. You looked back towards the first guy whose hair hung in his eyes as he plucked at his guitar strings, his body hunched over slightly. You watched him in curiosity and confusion. Were they starting without Sasha? 

But your question was soon answered when Sasha came running out on stage, a microphone up to her lips as she sang the first line. Your face broke out in a smile. As the song continued, you saw her become more comfortable in front of this many people. She pointed at you and jumped around. 

You nodded to the beat, mouthing the lyrics you knew before your eyes drifted to the brunette electric guitarist. Eren. As he played, his eyes met yours again. His dimples indented his face as he smirked, tongue poking his right cheek. You felt your face go warm, and soon, he leaned forward into his mic to join Sasha on the chorus. You were in awe of how well their voices went together. He knew what he was doing and wasn’t afraid to show it. 

Eren opened his eyes to see you staring at him after the chorus. Shivers ran down his spine as he watched you sing the words to the song he wrote. Sure, many girls had done exactly what you were doing, but the difference was he knew who you were—Sasha’s best friend. The girl who his bandmate never shut up about, and Eren had been eager to meet you. He continued your minor stare-off, grinning smugly to himself when you broke the eye contact, a smile of your own pulling at your lips. 

The lights had turned blue throughout the song, highlighting Eren's high cheekbones and jawline. You had to force your eyes away from him to gain control over yourself.

Once the fourth song ended, Sasha spoke to Eren before she went backstage for a break. Her shoes were killing her. Four songs of jumping around. Four songs of a game of cat and mouse to start between you and Eren. One would look away when the other glanced in their direction, and only thrice had you caught each other staring.

You watched as Eren walked up to the lead microphone, his Converse only feet away from you. Expecting a new song to start, you kept your eyes on the bass drum to stop yourself from looking up at Eren. You didn’t expect him to take a step forward and crouch before you. Your eyebrows raised when he held your gaze, his fingers moving in a lazy come hither motion. When you pushed onto your toes, he leaned down to your ear, his hot breath on your neck. His palm rested on the side of your neck, no doubt feeling your pulse racing.

“Next one’s for you.” He said. His voice was so thick you’d think this throat was lined with honey, golden and sweet, and the crowd around you faded as your ears rang. Eren pulled away from you and used his ring-clad finger to brush the tip of your nose. Your ears went hot, and you took a deep breath to control your racing heart.

Maybe being a rebound wasn't such a bad idea when the culprit looked like him. Sasha would have your neck for even thinking that.

The room turned green, and for a second, you thought you must've fallen into a dream. Eren towered over you, his teeth pulling at his bottom lip as he adjusted the microphone stand, maintaining eye contact with you. It was a sensual moment that should only occur in the depths of the night in a bedroom. His dimples and devilish smile were the cause of the butterflies in your stomach, and you had never felt under such scrutiny. But it was an illusive feeling to be the focal point of his attention.

You knew the song as soon as Eren started playing. Tonight You Are Mine. The sound brought you out of your daze. 

“This is a new song I wrote, like, last week,” Eren said before the crowd cut him off. His soft laugh echoed through the room as the noise died, his eyes finding yours again. “We’re gonna play it for you tonight if that’s okay?” 

Sasha gave you the demo of this one only four days ago, as she said you needed to hear it before tonight’s show. The song was one she was excited to learn, and who were you to deny her of sharing her passion? So you listened. And you listened and listened and told Sasha it was your favourite yet. And it was. The song was wholly sultry, and you returned to it each time you put your headphones on.

She must’ve passed on the news. 

In a sense, I'm such a mess watching you The air is cold, so hard to breathe Still, your breath is all I see

You could hardly breathe when he looked at you like that, played his guitar, and sang intimate lyrics to you. You were utterly entranced by his voice, hands, and smile. He looked ethereal on stage, like he was destined to be on one. 

Don't be so naive You know that you are all I see

To your disappointment and relief, he broke eye contact with you only a few times—you weren’t sure how long you could stand under his intimidating and dizzying gaze. 

But, it only spurred you on more. It made you believe you also had some power in this uncharted territory. You watched him sing through your eyelashes, the rasp in his voice making you warm. 

So let me slip inside your ultraviolet disguise The daylight holds you close But tonight, you are mine

Eren’s eyes were heavy-lidded as he played through the guitar solo. He knew it was inevitable that he would have to face you after the show; sometimes, the thrill of performing made him cocky. He hoped you’d still like him when you discovered he was reserved when he wasn’t in front of a crowd. Yet, none of his insecurities deterred him from wanting you. Because when you looked at him like that, he needed nothing more. 

After the song finished, Eren winked at you, and you desperately needed to get out of the crowd, go outside, and fill your lungs with cool, fresh air that would free you from the irrational thoughts in your head. You didn’t know the guy, but still, you wanted him more than anything. 

Sasha’s voice brought you back to earth.

“Thank you for coming out tonight, everyone! I hope you had a good night and liked our music enough to return.” She laughed. It was obvious everyone in the room had fallen in love with her personality throughout the night. Sasha carried herself with such self-assurance it was difficult to find why you wouldn’t like her.

The burning on your cheek was the only thing to pull your eyes away from her grand smile. Your eyes flickered to Eren, who stood off to the side with his guitar. His hair was now tied back in a half-up style, and you swore your knees almost buckled.

As everyone filtered out, you remained in your spot. Sasha came bounding over and jumped down to stand with you.

“Did you have a good time?” You could see she was nervous to ask.

“Of course I did! And you played my favourite song,” You replied, grabbing her hand in reassurance. Sasha smiled sheepishly. 

“Well, I didn’t play it. Someone else did.” 

“Well, someone told the other someone to play it, so.” 

Sasha wiggled her eyebrows, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I saw how he was looking at you. I knew he would like you; who wouldn’t?” 

You rolled your eyes, heat rushing to your cheeks. 

“But, you’re still off-limits. That wouldn't be fair until he gets over his ex,” Sasha rambled before she stopped and straightened up. “And that’s my cue to leave.”

You looked at her hesitantly, unsure why she would be saying that. “What?” 

“Bye, Y/n. Hey, Ren." Then she pointed him behind you. "Don't fuck this up."  You assumed he made a face at her from behind you because she laughed and walked backstage.

You’d never felt your stomach drop and your heart rate speed up in such synchrony. He was the devil in Converse and a black tee. 

“Y/n.” Your name on his lips was something you could get used to. 

“Eren.” You said, turning to face him. 

“So you do know me.” He was taller than you. A lot taller than you assumed, and it made your legs weak. “I was under the impression that you only knew Jean.” 

You shrugged. “Sasha mentioned you a few times, so I had to come and check out these band guys she was hanging around.” 

“Final verdict?” Eren’s mouth was pulled into a smile at the corners, his arms outstretched. 

You purposefully took your time to make a decision. Taking a step back, you sized him up. He stood still, bringing his arms to cross over his chest as you eyed his tied-back hair. You rubbed your chin in false thought and then nodded.

Feeling bold, you looked him in the eyes. “Yeah, you’re cute. And talented. So, I guessed you’re alright.” 

Eren’s cheeks were dusted with pink as he laughed. You smiled proudly, pleased you got the reaction you’d wanted from him. 

He then moved closer to you and leaned down so his eyes aligned with yours. “Well, I find you alright too. How’d you feel if I asked you to hang out in about…” He twisted his mouth in thought, his eyes flickering down to your lips. “Half an hour?” 

You bit the inside of your lip. “That would depend on what we would be doing.” 

Eren stood to his full height with an unconcerned expression as he uncrossed his arms and opened himself to you. “Whatever you want. My treat.” 

You tilted your head, studying him. “Tempting.” His lopsided smirk and tired green eyes were too easy to fall for.

“But, yes. I would like that," You said, giving up on the teasing.

His lips slipped into an easy grin, and he nodded, throwing this thumb over his shoulder. “Sweet. I’ll be back here in half an hour to take you on our date.” He winked.

You shook your head, laughing as he stepped up onto the stage. “Not a date!” 

Eren didn’t turn back to face you as he replied. “We’ll see!” 

Were you in too deep too quick?

songs mentioned: - tonight you are mine - the technicolors - monodrama - benches

[souldagger]

hi! i was wondering if you know of any nonbinary sci-fi authors? i'm taking part of a storygraph challenge and one of the challenges is to read a scifi novel by a nonbinary author so i thought maybe you'd have a rec! thank you and hope you have a great day <3 (btw do you still have the link to the doc you had of all the vintage lgbt scifi novels? thanks again!)

DO I!!!! :DDD

Sarah Gailey - The Echo Wife (domestic scifi thriller with gone girl vibes)

Ada Hoffmann - The Outside (cosmic horror)

S. Qiouyi Lu - In The Watchful City (mosaic novella with stories that range from scifi to fantasy)

Ness Brown - The Scourge Between Stars (scifi horror ala Alien, good for some low brainpower horror thrills) CORRECTION: while ness brown goes by they/them pronouns, i don't think they've actually confirmed if they identify as nonbinary, my bad!

Avi Silver - Pluralities (bit hard to categorize but i'd recommend this one if you'd like a weird scifi novella with gender and transness as a main theme!)

Neon Yang - The Genesis of Misery (science fantasy with mechas) (i haven't read it yet, but i'm a huge fan of neon yang's other work!)

Rivers Solomon - An Unkindness of Ghosts (generation ship scifi) (another one i haven't gotten around to yet, but it's by all accounts exceptional - though, note, very heavy from what i've heard - and i really enjoyed the author's fantasy novella The Deep)

and a couple more whose work I haven't read, but who are pretty high on my to-read list:

Emma Mieko Candon - The Archive Undying

Nino Cipri - Finna

Merc Fenn Wolfmoor - So You Want to be a Robot and Other Stories

Xiran Jay Zhao - Iron Widow (tbh i've heard some mixed opinions abt this one, but it is also undeniably the most popular book on this list)

Bogi Takács - The Trans Space Octopus Congregation: Stories, Power to Yield and Other Stories (i also wanna shout out eir reading blog, which has an absolutely incredible list of resources, including the trans and intersex fiction and poetry timeline and the neopronouns in fiction timeline!!!)

as for the vintage LGBT scifi doc: why yes of course. here it is in all its 150+ book glory <3

[ashtheketchum]

A new family Part 10

A/N: This is the final part of this story! But I'm already working on a few scenarios and other little stories with Daryl! (Pic from Pinterest!)

Warnings: Mention of rape, mention of abuse, mention of death

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

Masterlist!

________________________________________

PoV (Y/N):

We ran out of the lab until we were at the glass walls that would lead us outside. Again we tried to open those doors, but this time I helped. I took a metal bar and hit the glass. Daryl hit it with an ax, Tdog hit it with a chair, and Shane also hit the glass a few times. But nothing helped. "Rick, I have something that might help…" Carol suddenly shouted. We immediately looked at Carol, who handed Rick a grenade. Rick looked at her quietly for a moment before I ran past him. “Do it now, Rick!” And immediately the police officer at the time responded by placing the grenade there. "Everyone down!" Daryl shouted and we all laid on the floor. I laid over (D/N) and pressed us both firmly to the ground.

After just a few seconds, the grenade exploded and the glass wall shattered. I stayed still for a moment before (D/N) climbed up and pulled me up. “Come on, Mom…!” Before I could react, someone grabbed (D/N) and pulled me up. Daryl held (D/N) tightly against his chest and he brought us both out. Since there were still a lot of walkers out there, he pushed (D/N) into my arms and he cleared a path for us, just like Rick and Shane. We ran as fast as we could to our cars. "Mom, where's Dale!?" I heard (D/N) ask. "I don't know, honey…"

“Ge´ in the car, now!” Daryl shouted and he staggered us towards him. I hesitated for a moment before running over to him and pushing (D/N) inside. I climbed after her, then Daryl and he pushed us both as deep as he could. He lay protectively on top of us when we suddenly heard the huge explosion. The cars jolted and we felt a brief wave of heat before everything became quiet.

When we sat up again, we saw that the entire CDC was engulfed in flames. Black smoke rose into the air and the walkers moved towards the fire. (D/N) also looked out the window before gently shaking my shoulder. "Mom! There are Dale and Andrea!” She then exclaimed with relief. I immediately smiled happy when I saw the two of them running towards us. They got into the RV before Daryl then exhaled loudly and rubbed his face. "We have ta ge´ outta here…" And with those words, Daryl climbed into the driver's seat, I sat between him and (D/N) again.

We drove further and further away from the city before we had to take a break. It was far away from the city, but closer to the forest. Daryl stopped the car before looking at me and (D/N). I stared out the window as (D/N) looked away from Daryl. “Are ya okay…?” He then asked. He no longer seemed aggressive, but more concerned and gentle. But (D/N) didn't want to talk to him, she didn't make a sound. "Yeah… we're just… in shock…" So I answered quietly. "I'm going to Sophia and Carl." (D/N) said suddenly before running out of the car.

She slammed the door and ran to the RV, which was only four meters away. "Hey, don' just run away!" Daryl shouted, but before he could get out I grabbed his arm. (D/N) got into the RV before Daryl then looked at me confused. "You scared her…" I murmured quietly. "Wha´? She should be afraid of tha´ crazy doc, no´ me!” "You hurt her and reminded her of her father! I am her mother and I protect her, even from you!” I then snapped. Daryl looked at me in shock for a moment before looking out again.

There was a brief silence between us, but I hadn't released my grip on his arm. Daryl didn't scream, he wasn't angry, he wasn't annoyed. He was just quiet. "Wha´ do ya mean by tha´? Why did I remind her of her old men?” The archer then asked. I swallowed hard before exhaling loudly. "Your actions at the CDC… the aggressive behavior, the way you pushed her… everything reminded her of her father…" Daryl only now seemed to realize what he had done. He wanted to get out, but I grabbed his other hand. He immediately jumped and looked at me in shock. "Leave her alone for a while… she wants to calm down… it was all too much…" I then asked him.

My eyes looked pleadingly at Daryl and luckily he listened to me. He relaxed for a moment before withdrawing his hands and rubbing them over his face. "Wha´ did her old man do…? Wha´ did he do to ya to make her happy she killed him?” I stayed quiet again. Why did I hesitate? Her father was a terrible person. But somehow I couldn't let go. I kept thinking about him. "Her father… was a terrible person… I… was in the same situation as Carol… we were beaten every day, locked in, not given anything to eat… and he raped me…" I then murmured quietly.

Daryl remained silent, but I could see that he looked a little angrier now. "When the walkers came… he ate our supplies and kept sending us out to find more food…" I now looked Daryl deep in the eyes. But my eyes showed no remorse. Just sadness and fear. "We then left him to the walkers and fled… before he could even follow us, he was torn apart by the walkers. I saw it. And (D/N) heard it…" Daryl looked at me quietly before exhaling loudly. He looked out the car window before looking back at me. "How´d she react?" "Not the way she put it at the CDC…" I couldn't say anything more.

Daryl remained silent before placing his hand on the back of my head and pulling me closer to him. He put my head on his shoulder and kissed my head. "Tha´ sucks…" I had to smile for a moment, Daryl really wasn't good with words. But who could blame him? How else would you have reacted in such a situation? I wouldn't know it myself. "Give her some time… and then apologize… Please…" I murmured quietly before looking up at him.

His blue eyes looked at me uncertainly for a moment before he nodded. "I'll do it…" he just mumbled quietly. I smiled softly before gently pressing my lips to his. The redneck flinched briefly, but then kissed me back gently. I closed my eyes and melted into the kiss. When we leaned away, Daryl immediately looked away and I could see a slight blush on his cheeks. "Let's get outta tha´ car and hear wha´ Rick says…" He just mumbled before getting out.

PoV Daryl:

After Rick told us what we were going to do, we went back to the cars. (Y/N) walks up to me and taps me gently. She pulls me a little closer to her and whispers something in my ear. When she was finished, she broke away and then went to Lori and Rick and talked to both of them. I looked after her uncertainly before looking at (D/N), who was sitting with Carl and Sophia. I took a deep breath before I walked up to her and knelt down in front of her. Carl and Sophia looked at me briefly before getting up and walking away. (D/N) stayed still, but looked at the ground.

I cleared my throat briefly before looking away. "Hey... We have ta drive on straigh´ away… you wanna ride the motorcycle with me?" I then asked her. (D/N) looked at me uncertainly for a moment, her gaze briefly went to Merle's motorcycle and then to my face. She tugged at her shirt before looking back down. "I could show ya how fast tha´ motorcycle can go… and maybe I'll show ya a few tricks while huntin´…" I then murmured quietly. Now she looked up again and her eyes sparkled briefly. I gave her a brief, strained smile before she stood up and nodded. "Okay…" She then said quietly.

I stood up again and placed my hand on her head. I ruffled her hair firmly before leading her to the motorcycle. We put it out and I put her on it. "Wait a minute, where do you want to go!?" I suddenly heard someone calling. (D/N) and I watched (Y/N) as she walked towards us and looked at us suspiciously. She also crossed her arms. "Daryl wants to show me how to hunt and we wanted to ride motorcycles." (D/N) then said happily. It was good to hear her happy again.

(Y/N) opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Instead, she looked at me sternly and I pressed my lips into a line. "Ya mean´ I should apologize ta her with things I'm good at…" "I didn't mean anything like that." Her voice was stern and I looked back briefly at (D/N). The little girl looked at me pleadingly before looking down. "Well… okay, we'll go hunt a bit and I'll show ya at another time, ´kay?" I then suggested.

"Good." "Come on!" (Y/N) and (D/N) uttered at the same time. (Y/N) turned around and then went to Dale and Tdog to discuss the next step with them. My gaze stayed on her all the while before I heard (D/N) call my name. "Daryl!" "Hm?" I just grumbled quietly. "Why did you give up so quickly?” She then whimpered loudly. I had to snort in amusement for a moment before I lifted her off the motorcycle and stroked her head. "´Re ya crazy? I’m no´ arguing with yar mom when it’s about yar life.”

Even though (D/N) was pouting, I could see that she had to hold back her laughter. "Wha´?" “You’re a afraid of her.” She then laughed quietly. I hissed briefly before flicking her forehead. "No´ true. I just respect yar mom…" After I said this, I looked back at (Y/N) who was talking to Lori. I had to smile for a moment before I felt (D/N) grin at me. God, I couldn't be mad at either of them, but at the same time I could knock the grins off both of their faces. "…okay, maybe I'm a lil´ scared…but don' tell her anythin´, otherwise she'll allow herself to do too much." I then whispered quietly to (D/N). "I say nothing. Now let’s go hunting!” And with these words she ran towards the forest.

I chuckled briefly before stopping and running after her. "He, kid! Don’ just run awa´ like tha´! Damn it!” I then shouted after her, with my crossbow in my hand.

[marsmarauders]

As I work on my Marauders Era screenplay, I often visualize my face claims (let me know if you’d like to see them!) and spend a lot of time imagining their outfits and hairstyles. Since I have some (very little) experience in costume design for theatre, I thought it would be fun to share my ideas.

(I’m aware they spend most of their time in uniform, but I’m envisioning outfits for trips to Hogsmeade, vacations, and their other downtime).

I’m aiming to stay true to the era, but obviously, not everyone wore peak 70s trends every single day. I want to include some everyday casual wear like sweatpants, sweatshirts, t-shirts, jeans, and other things, so I’m also trying to include those as well!

Oh and shout-out to @idkjustlemmedrownlikerab and @taleofapart-timepoet for the feedback and assistance!

~

Some unnecessary disclaimers!

1: I’m pretty sure I fact-checked that everything mentioned was around in the seventies. If something is wrong, feel free to let me know!

2: These are my headcanons, and if you disagree with them, that is fine! I would love to hear your thoughts, but please be kind about it!

3: All characters are beautiful, no matter how they are depicted.

With that out of the way- let’s get started, shall we?

~

JAMES POTTER

Regarding casual wear, I think James opted for t-shirts, specifically graphic, bootcut jeans (or denim shorts, yes, you heard me), and a denim jacket. That denim jacket was his muggle item. Whenever Remus or Lily brought him to muggle cities, he always wore his denim jacket. If it was hotter, he'd wear a button-up shirt open over his t-shirt. He wore red Converse (with socks), red Crocs (with socks), and on a rare occasion, leather platform shoes. He’d also wear his Quidditch jersey everywhere. (He is number 18. What's 18 backwards? Oh-) His color palette mainly consisted of reds, blues, whites, and yellows.

His dark hair was always a mess. It was wavey and swoopy, and it’s what had half the girls (and Regulus) falling for him. He had bronze round glasses, and he was quite literally blind without them (he was nearsighted). He also loved bracelets. Marlene and Pandora made them together all the time, and he’d always ask for another one to add to his collection. He had his ears pierced at some point after Marlene and Sirius got a hold of a muggle piercer, but he let them close up not long after. When he got older, he grew a mustache and he was proud of it. I don’t think he had facial hair anywhere else on his face, as both he and Lily preferred how he looked without it.

SIRIUS BLACK

We know Sirius rocked the leather jacket whenever he could. Lily got him the jacket for Christmas, which is why it meant so much to him. It was authentically muggle. He also loved band t-shirts and had a huge collection of them. His favorite was a Queen shirt Lily got for him when she saw them live. (Lily loves buying clothes for people, okay?) He usually wore pretty classy muggle clothing under his jacket, like solid black slacks and a white button-up. (It wasn’t until after he got disowned that he started truly experimenting with his fashion. He started wearing more t-shirts, jeans, and just overall looser-fitting clothing). His first pair of Doc Martens from Fleamont and Euphemia in 76. He nearly cried. (And by nearly, I mean he did). His color palette mainly consisted of blacks, greys, whites, and reds.

He had long, curly black hair that his mom would force him to cut every time he went home. He never got to grow it out until he started living with James properly. It was usually down to his collarbone. He loved having his hair styled. He pierced his ears with Marlene and pierced his septum for his 21st birthday. (It closed up when he was in Azkaban). He paints his nails sometimes. He loved necklaces, bracelets, and rings. He preferred silver over gold. I don’t think he got too much into makeup, but he’d let Dorcas or Pandora do his eyeshadow occasionally. He had stubble (and a lighter mustache!), but never let it get too long. Oh, and he obviously had a ton of tattoos.

REMUS LUPIN

I’ve already written a whole essay about Remus and his relationship with all of his sweaters, so you can read that here if you’d like! As for hotter days, he’d usually wear a t-shirt (usually a band tee), with a lighter long-sleeved shirt underneath or a cardigan. On a very rare occasion, he’d wear the t-shirt without the long-sleeved top underneath, but only if it was boiling outside. He was very insecure about his scars. For bottoms, he wore corduroy pants or jeans and for shoes, it was either derby shoes or old-school vans. Sirius always described him as looking cozy. His color palette mainly consisted of browns, tans, whites, greens, and reds.

His hair was wavy. People always debate whether his hair was brunette or blonde, and I think it was more on the brunette side. It wasn’t very long, never reaching the bottom of his neck. He’d wear a necklace occasionally, but he wasn’t a big jewelry person. He was clean-shaven for most of his life, as he never really liked how he looked with facial hair.

PETER PETTIGREW

Peter sticks to sweaters, sweater vests, and t-shirts. (He gets cold very easily, which is why he tends to wear longer sleeves or heavier clothing). He has a lot of houndstooth in his closet. He usually wears jeans or jean shorts (depending on the weather). He loves wacky, goofy, socks. His favorite pair of socks have frogs on them. He wears loafers or sneakers, but he also has a pair of rat slippers that James got him as a gag gift. I think he probably rocked a flat cap every once in a while. Oh, and Peter loved overalls! He had at least five different pairs of them. His color palette mainly consisted of tans, blues, greens, and browns.

You know the Beatles members’ haircuts? Yeah, that’s the haircut Peter had when he was younger. He was a dirty blonde, 110%. I don't think Peter wore much jewelry, except for maybe a tag necklace now and then. When he started growing facial hair, he shaved it all the time, as he did not like how he looked with it at first. But, as he got older, he started growing it out a little bit and had light stubble.

LILY EVANS

Lily loved bell bottoms and flared jeans, but she would also wear skirts occasionally. She mainly wore button-up shirts, with sweaters or cardigans, or just a regular T-shirt. She also really liked those tie tops, you know the ones I’m talking about. She loved patterns and prints on her clothes, like floral, stripes, etc. I think Lily had a more conservative/modest style, and by that I mean she didn’t show her stomach or above her knees. If she did wear a shorter skirt or a dress, she’d wear tights underneath it. She loved Mary Jane shoes, but she also had a pair of Converse in basically every color. And obviously, she wore the hat. Her color palette mainly consisted of browns, oranges, greens, reds, and blues.

From the first year to around the fifth year, she had shoulder-length hair, and then after Severus and her fell out, she had one of those cliche quarter-life crisis moments where she decided she needed to grow her hair out and cut bangs. She liked to wear her hair in braids or a bun, but her favorite look was leaving it down and wearing a headband. She had a ton of flower earrings, some were made by Pandora, and she loved rings. She didn’t wear much makeup, other than mascara and like chapstick.

MARY MACDONALD

Mary loved anything flowy, poofy, and pretty. She loved tie-cardigans, cute tops with poofy sleeves, long flowy skirts and dresses, and anything knitted! (By Marlene of course). She wore Mary Janes almost exclusively (with frilly socks!) but would wear her Converse if she needed to walk a lot. She’s basically what any four-year-old girl who wanted to be a princess would dream of. If it was chilly out, she’d wear jeans and a fuzzy jacket. She loved flowers, bows, strawberries, Hello Kitty, anything that’s adorable! (I fact-checked! Hello Kitty was invented in 74!) Her color palette mainly consisted of pinks, whites, blues, greens, and some black accents here and there.

She loved to style her hair. Since it was afro-textured and long, it took a little longer for her to intricately style it, so she usually changed it every few weeks. She loved putting bows and clips in her hair! She painted her nails every week. She loved pearl necklaces and earrings. She was decently light on her makeup (mascara, blush, and lip gloss) but would go full out for events like Halloween or Quidditch matches. She had a multi-step skincare routine and had a special pink strawberry headband she used to keep her hair up. (I’m not sure if the housebound headband was a thing in the 70s, I couldn’t find any information on it, but if it wasn’t, then she made it herself!)

MARLENE MCKINNON

A lot of people will call Sirius punk, but I think that title belonged to Marlene. She wore graphic tees and tanks, ripped jeans and distressed shorts, and usually rocked Converse or Doc Martens. (She had one of Dorcas’s green Converse and vice versa). She loved fishnets. She had a ton of belts. She had a few leather jackets that she painted on the back of. (She has one with a lion on the back!) She also knitted a lot and would have fun mixing the knitted pieces with her more alternative style. Her color palette mainly consisted of blacks, whites, reds, and blues.

She had a mullet, (It might’ve been more of a wolf-cut). Her hair was super frizzy, probably from the fact that she bleached it all the time. (Yes, Marlene was a natural brunette!) In fifth year, she let her roots grow, in 6th year she had money pieces that she changed the color of all the time, and in 7th year, she dyed the bottom black. (During the war, she let it grow out properly and stopped bleaching her hair). She did her nails weekly with Mary. She pierced her ears, nose, and lip with Sirius and James. (She quickly realized that she did not enjoy the feeling of a lip ring. #sensoryissues).

DORCAS MEADOWES

Dorcas usually wore a turtle neck or a sweater, but she’d wear a halter top if it were hot. I like to think she usually stuck to skirts, and if it got cold, she’d wear tights with them. Dorcas rarely wore pants. (If it were freezing outside, she’d wear jeans). She loved combat boots and Converse. She wore vests over her turtlenecks. She had maybe fifty different pairs of sunglasses. Her color palette mainly consisted of greens, browns, blacks, and the occasional purple.

Dorcas had locs, 100%. Her favorite hairstyle was to put some of her hair in space buns, and then leave some of it down. She loved earrings. She had peace symbol earrings, cat earrings, and big circle earrings (no not hoops, I’m talking about those obnoxiously huge circle earrings). She had two ear piercings! She loved makeup. She’d wear really pretty eyeshadow, long-winged eyeliner, dark lipstick, and she always looked super cool. She had about 100 different rings that she would alternate between (her jewelry box was very organized and if you dared to mess with it, you would pay for it).

REGULUS BLACK

I don’t think his dressy style manifested solely because of the way he was raised, but I think Regulus just felt better when he looked nicer. He wore button-up shirts, dress pants, sweater vests (long or short-sleeved), and black oxford shoes. His more “casual” wear was the same thing but with sneakers. The most laid-back he was with his fashion was the occasional sweatshirt when it got cold, and if he felt really out there, he’d wear his quidditch jersey. (Sometimes, he’d even wear his uniform without the tie). His color palette mainly consisted of whites, greys, blacks, and sometimes green.

He had short, wavy hair. He never grew it out, partially because of his parents, and partially because he hated how it felt on his neck. He always kept it well-combed. He never wore makeup in public (Pandora would sometimes do it for him), pierced his ears, anything that could be deemed “feminine” by his family. (I do not think makeup or piercings are solely feminine things). He had a few rings (his first was from Sirius), and that was the only jewelry he ever wore. (In fact, the first necklace he ever wore was the fake Horcrux locket).

BARTY CROUCH JR

Barty lived the double life let me tell you. He could be the most classy, formal guy at a meeting but simultaneously be the most party-rocking individual at school ever. I like to call it the raccoon aesthetic. Cute and trashy. He wore button-ups but also tanks and hoodies. He wore holey pants but also holy pants. (Hah). He usually wore boots, no matter the outfit, but he had a pair of magenta Converse on standby if he ever needed them. His color palette mainly consisted of blacks, blues, reds, some whites, and some magentas. (Can you guess his favorite color?

His hair was wild and frizzy. He was a brunette, teetering on the edge of brown and black. He had piercings that he did himself with a needle and an ice cube. Pandora taught him how to do eyeliner, and he’d wear it whenever he was feeling particularly fancy. He was always clean-shaven and despised facial hair. He wore chains, bracelets, and rings, and none of them ever went together. He was, to put it simply, a hot mess.

EVAN ROSIER

Evan is a bit of a wildcard because I see him portrayed in so many different ways that I adore, so it took me a while to figure out how exactly I perceive him. I think I can narrow it down to one word for you guys. Comfort. He prioritizes comfort over anything. Hoodies, t-shirts, denim, sweats, vans, he just loves being comfortable. He always has a spare sweatshirt that he’ll throw on over his button-ups. (He and Pandora are always cold, so I like to joke that they run cold-blooded). He also loved beanies. He doesn’t care about being put together. His color palette mainly consists of blues, greys, whites, greens, and some tans.

His hair was ashy blonde, much like his sister’s. It was frizzy, wavy, thick, and extremely hard to maintain, and he just didn’t have the time for that. He 100% needed glasses (he was farsighted), but he hated wearing them, so he didn’t unless he was alone in his dorm and doing homework. (Being blind as a bat can kill you. Literally.). He painted his nails black and wore like two rings and one necklace max. He did have facial hair, but it was barely visible because he was blonde. He and Pandora had matching bracelets, and they wore them every single day until Evan ripped his apart when he and Pandora fell out after Regulus’s death.

PANDORA ROSIER

Pandore quite literally wore whatever the heck she wanted to. Overalls, flowy skirts, distressed shorts, patterned trousers, anything. For shirts, she’d wear anything from poofy sleeves to graphic tees. She always had a jacket or cardigan on hand, because she was always cold. She loved to wear socks, tights, leg warmers, anything to keep her cozy. She usually wore Mary Janes or sneakers, but when Uggs were invented in 78, those were her go-to's. Her color palette mainly consisted of every color that our retinas have ever seen.

Every single day, she had a different hairstyle. And she loved to accessorize with headbands, clips, hats, bandanas, flowers, she probably wore twigs in her hair at one point, just anything this girl could make work, she wore. She made all of her jewelry by hand, and most of her other accessories were altered by her in one way or another. She didn’t paint her nails, in fact, they were an utter mess. She loved makeup and would wear pretty pastel eyeshadow and thick eyeliner. I’m almost certain people would’ve mistaken her as a fairy.

~

That’s it! If you would like to see more character studies like this (about their music taste, room decor (I would love love love to do one on their room decor), etc), leave me some suggestions! Or, if you want a part two for some other characters like Severus, Alice, Frank, Emmeline, Sybill, etc, feel free to tell me! I would love to hear your thoughts!

[endhisbloodlineinmyesophagus]

[Headcannons] A Day At The Beach w/ The Ghouls & Ghoulettes

Cutesy lil fluffy thoughts that came to me at 3 am about my favorite band.

Thank you to my writing muse and fabulous goddess @sink-me-in-your-ocean for always proofreading my docs.

Bone apple teet (-‿◦☀)

ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕟

bolts straight for the ocean, manically laughing - he very delulu but so stinking cute

wears fish themed swim trunks with matching fishy arm floaties

anyone who dares enter his domain is in for quite the surprise…

he pretends to be a shark

playfully gnaws on your ankles under the water before yanking on your leg and pulling you under

finds pretty seashells and gifts them to you with the most heart warming smile

“Rain! Its time to leave! Lets go!” you annoyingly yelled into the void of the blue ocean, knowing for damn sure he heard you.

In the distance you spot a gray blob emerging from the surface of the water, “NO!” the voice echoed back to shore before disappearing once again.

…

The car ride home, Rain was sitting in the back row curled up in a ball, tears silently flowing down his cheeks as he aimlessly stared out the window. *insert Summertime Sadness by Lana del Rey*

You roll your eyes as you catch a glimpse of him in the rear view mirror, shaking your head in disbelief, he is such a drama queen…

𝕄𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟

he’s here for the good vibes and shade

paints a thick coat of sunscreen from head to toe

lounges under the umbrella with a paperback book of Twilight

ends up falling asleep within 20 minutes

could honestly sleep for eternity

In a hushed whisper, “M-mountain?”, you gently nudge his shoulder, attempting to awake him so you can pack up the car and leave.

No response.

Anxiety slowly creeps in, i-is he dead?

His neck is exposed and you take two fingers to take his pulse, as soon as you make contact he jolts awake, both of you screaming. Him with a high-pitched shriek of fear and you in shock that he’s alive.

“I thought you were a vampire!” he hysterically gasped.

𝔻𝕖𝕨𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡

hates despises water with a fiery passion (don’t get me started when it's time for him to bathe)

he made it his mission to dig the largest hole possible beside Phantom and Swiss who were on their separate crusade to construct the most glorious sand castle

starts clawing at the sand like a deranged dog, kicking the small particles in Phantom and Swiss’s face

gets scolded and growls at them before repositioning himself the other way

happily zens out in his proudly accomplished hole

doesn’t realize the high tide was coming in as the day went on, causing the shoreline to sneak in closer and closer

A small stream of water trickled into his territory but he ignored it, not thinking much of it at all and resumed his rest, leaning up against the high wall with his arms crossed. Dozing off after a laborious work day.

SWOOSH! A huge tidal wave of water crashed in, submerging him in salty depths, ultimately scaring him. He yelped and frantically tried to climb out of the overflowing pit. You rushed over to rescue him, pulling him up, his body shivering from the frigid temperature.

Once he secured his bearings within your arms, he angrily turned back to see the catastrophic wreckage. Madness ensued - every hair in his small figure shooting straight up and his tail viscously whipping side to side, creating dents in the soft sand.

Oh, he big mad.

This wasn’t the first time he’s lost his cool and most certainly will not be the last. He aggressively launched himself towards the evil aqua, nothing but pure rage fueling his very fiber. You swiftly caught him by the waist, wrapping your arms around him and digging your heels into the ground for proper anchorage.

He violently hissed and swatted his arms about like a mad man, you held onto him for dear life, shouting, “Dewdrop! Stop it!” over the savage snarling and profanity spewing out of his tiny mouth.

(home boy really thought he could physically throw hands with water).

ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕞 & 𝕊𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕤

true definition of bromance

begged and pleaded for you to buy them the “Super Duper Crazy Mega Plastic Sand Castle” building kit (as advertised on TV). Equipped with every tool in the shed to assemble the perfect castle of your dreams!

they damn well knew how to abuse their power of sad puppy dog eyes and pouting lips

so of course you caved into their ridiculous yet adorable request

They scouted the vast sandy land, personal privateers carrying out the Dark Lord’s decree. Dewdrop tagged along behind them as they paced back and forth in this vigorous expedition for the “perfect spot” to declare ownership.

Swiss grunted in annoyance, “That’s too far of a walk from the water, we need it to dampen the sand.”

Phantom sighed, pointing to the area Swiss had fallen in love with, “The rocks are going to get in the way, it's too close.”

The two continued to butt heads, both equally stubborn and childish.

Dewdrop stood in the middle of them, his head whipping between who was speaking. Bored with the endless bickering, he plopped down on the cushiony sand, tracing a phallic symbol in the pale dirt, “What about right here?”

They exchanged a mischievous look with one another, mirroring a brow raise at the fascinating offer. In unison they shouted, leaping in the air to tackle down poor little Dewdrop.

“LAND HO!”

𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖

fashioning the cutest teeny, weeny, polka dot bikini

sprawled out her towel on the pillowy ground and laid facing down

basking in the sun's scorching hot rays

much like a cat, she loved to lounge in the sun any chance she got

its ultraviolet rays recharging her energy- utter bliss

She stretched her limbs far out as she could before turning over to roast the front of her body, exhaling a deep yawn and placing large rounded shades over her eyes.

Her face scrunched in frustration at the commotion coming from Phantom, Swiss and Dewdrop hooting and hollering - it was disturbing her well deserved me time and she will not have them ruin it!

She propped up on her elbows, lowering the shades to the tip of her nose to gander at what the fuck was going on, “Aye!”, she roared loud enough for everyone within a mile radius to hear, “Shut up over there! I’m trying to relax!”

All three immediately stopped to stare at her with wide, fearful expressions, knowing from past experience she would definitely give em a good bop on the head for pissing her off.

In a stink eye glaring standoff with the Ghouls, she slowly pushed up the frame of her sunglasses -not breaking contact- to re-cover her eyes and reclined backwards to lay.

“Idiots…” she muttered to herself.

ℂ𝕦𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕦𝕤 & ℂ𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕦𝕤

life of the party

verybody wants to be em or fuck em

baddest bitches

matching skull patterned bikinis and fancy floppy hats

love checking out the locale mom and pop shops lined up along the beach

buys trinkets/souvenirs for the other Ghouls

*insert shopping spree montage*

The ultra plush sand squished and practically swallowed their feet as they struggled to walk back to the group, hands full of bags from the shopping haul that they kindly charged to Papa’s credit card.

After settling in at basecamp, they began to unload the many items from chic clothing pieces to varying sizes of memorability that were neatly bound in gift wrap and topped with a colorful bow.

Cirrus used her thumb and pointer finger to whistle, calling the unruly herd to gather. The Ghouls' faces lit up in excitement as they sprinted to welcome the Ghoulettes. As Cirrus distributed the presents, Cumulus unboxed a package of ice cream sandwiches, letting each individual Ghoul pick out a flavor as they approached.

Today was a great day for the beach.

[blackberrysummerblog]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

Hey all! Thanks so much for tagging me @wellbelesbian, @aristocratic-otter, @valeffelees, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @ivelovedhimthroughworse and @iamamythologicalcreature! You’ve all correctly determined that I am procrastinating writing.

1. 🐬Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s)

I actually don’t have any that are named at this point. Titles and tags are really difficult for me and I put both off to the last minute and second-guess myself into hell

2. 🍄Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___=___”

Popular movie retelling + flying goats = Baz and Dev have A Spot of Bother

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your wip(s) need if you intend to share it?

Wraaaugugh, see #1 :P. I don’t know, in seriousness, I think the WIP mentioned above will end up getting a tag for sexual harassment or something like that given the nature of one necessary scene in the movie it’s based on. It’s not going to be worse than the source material, which is PG-13

4. 🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?

Oh, to have so many ideas for titles that there’s ever an alternative lying around to spare :(

5. ⚠️Which wip your most likely to finish or update next?

I’m pretty likely to finish a sequel to Field Trip of Dreams (SEE WHAT I MEAN about titles?) this week. The eighth years are off on another field trip—this time it’s a weekend training excursion with the Mage. Baz and Simon have been dating for the short time that’s passed since FToD, but they manage to get in a fight on the bus trip to Scafell Pike, and when it turns into a sort-of-tussle the Mage mistakes it for actual animosity and sends them off to a secluded cabin to bang (I mean work🙄) it out. Absolutely everybody but Davy—including the other teachers—knows exactly how much of a “punishment” this is

6. 💾 What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you've saved it as)

Practical magic au

7. 🖍️Post Any sentence from your wip

“Shut up, Gareth!” we shout as one, Snow adding a few brutish threats as Gareth pales and turns back around in his seat.

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP

I actually can’t remember. I don’t plot my writing out very extensively so in a sense there’s hundreds of little scrapped thoughts rather than anything huge. I’m eliminating a lot of things with my crucible marriage fic, but it’s hard to say right now what’s actually gone or just being moved around. I know a major one I’ve been battling with is that prior to getting dragged off to Pitch Manor by his new husband Baz, I want Simon to have been living with Penny in a flat of their own, but for another aspect of the story I want him to have been living with the Mage in Watford (which is an au mage’s settlement in the fic) as well. There’s ways to work around it for the results I want, I just haven’t written it out yet.

9. 🤔What's a story you'd love to write but haven't even started yet?

I’m pretty sure I have at least a few lines written down for everything I want to write

10. 🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?

Oh, man…actively, probably the field trip one and my COBB. Somewhat less actively: a reverse COBB fic, a sequel to Monsters Under the Bed, a sequel to After Hours where Simon makes good on his promise to despoil Baz on his office desk, and my unending crucible marriage fic. Less active than that: a fic response to a prompt for Simon being the one kidnapped and Baz has to rescue him. There’s probably (cough*definitely*cough) some pretty messed-up OOC smut stuff lying around in my docs as well, that I add to when I’m in the mood and have zero plans to ever post

11. 🛠️Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

I keep telling myself to just write and stop worrying about this for the moment, but I’m kind of bumming myself out worrying about whether I want to use first or third person, as well as past or present tense, for my COBB. I think the issue is that some scenes are bound to play out better one way while others would be better served differently. This is not usually a thing I struggle with.

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

🥰

This was fun! (Once I stopped putting it off, lol). No pressure tagging (and sorry if I get anyone who’s already done it): @cutestkilla, @mooncello, @artsyunderstudy, @prettygoododds, @drowninginships, @hushed-chorus, @bookish-bogwitch, @thewholelemon, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @youarenevertooold, @ileadacharmedlife, @facewithoutheart, @imagineacoolusername, @ic3-que3n

[ryoko-akari]

Oh man I have to actually advertise, fear

Hiya! I posted a thing for Curtwen Week for today's prompt, Roleswap! Heavily based on on @dr-docktor au that we've been building together

Huge shout out to Doc and @uhhhitsme for beta reading and for Mars helping me come up with how the heck to end this thing. So without further ado! Staircase scene for the swap spies!

Hope you enjoy!

Tw for suicidal ideation mentions, please read the tags (I promise it's okay but I get real dark with this I'm sorry)

[opsidecrewsclash]

One Piece Side Crews Clash - Round 1

Members and Propaganda under the cut

Blackbeard Pirates

Members:

Marshall D. Teach

Jesus Burgess

Van Augur

Doc Q

Stronger

Lafitte

Shiryu

Sanjuan Wolf

Catarina Devon

Vasco Shot

Avalo Pizarro

Kuzan/Aokiji

Camel

Maki

Tori

Kikipatsu

Associates/Allies:

Peachbeard Pirates

BIG Pirates

Propaganda:

The truest pirates in the series, got everything they have by cheating and stealing

C'mon, their introduction was HILARIOUS and so outrageous that you'd think they were just some one-off characters before the big reveal that they're the reason why the Summit War at Marineford even happened in the first place. Becoming such huge villains in the story while also maintaining an air of mystery to them is terrifying. Based on that first interaction alone you would've never guessed what they could possibly be capable of or just how relative to the overall story they'd be

One Piece is notorious for having their definition of pirate be “anyone with a ship” and not having anyone do any actual piracy so kudos to them for finally having one of the only more traditional pirate crews who are opportunists and sorta gravitate wherever chaos is for their own gain

Kid Pirates

Members:

Eustass Kid

Killer

Heat

Wire

Bubblegum

Mosh

Uk

Pomp

Emma

Hip

Hop

Pampas

Boogie

Quincy

Dive

Propaganda:

Oda did them so dirty, they deserve it

Because they look like they're all outcasts, they have a punk ass ship, and they obviously care about each other a lot.

Kid causes so many problems and I love him. Then you’ve got Killer who is there to get him to chill for like 2 seconds.

listen have you seen them. have you seen these crazy kids and their punk theme. their dedication not only to their captain but to the aesthetic? these guys fucking rule. like Kidd and Killer obviously slap as characters, and it’s really fun to see a captain and first mate combo who are so dedicated to each other, but then they also have a whole crew who are as dedicated to them?? incredible. they went and fought a yonko for funsies and survived! also special shout-out to heat for his overall Frankenstein’s monster look <3

[qveerthe0ry]

Hi you! 🍓 🥤 & 🪐 for the ask game pls?

Hello friend! <3 Thank you for playing ilysm

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

This one is wild. It was a long, long time ago, probably around 2008 or maybe a bit earlier. I was an absolute emo rascal in middle school, very into Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco and the likes, and as one does, I was taking those "which member of Fall Out Boy is your soulmate" quizzes on QUIZILLA. Remember that site? And I believe that's when I stumbled upon my very first fanfiction. Probably Pete Wentz/Ryan Ross, if I had to make a wild guess. And I had always been into writing stories, like as early as 2nd grade I remember. So the next logical step was to write about emo boys kissing, obviously. The rest is history. I like to think I've come a loooooong way since then lmao

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

This is rude, Gideon. There are so so SO many. I think I'd like to shout out @ezrasbirdie and their fic Bright Lights ft. Dieter and nd!reader because I just finished reading the last chapter recently and I am so extremely obsessed. Bridie's writing just hits me SO hard in the feels every time, as everyone knows I'm also like, the #1 Catalyst stan. The way I actually feel all the emotions deep in my chest when I'm reading her fics is just INCREDIBLE. I can't get over it.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

1.) I'm going to an NHL game for free tomorrow!!

2.) I'm finally taking care of my health after a lot of anxiety around going to the doctor, I got the meds I need and I'm eating healthier and going on walks after work - which leads me to my third thing ->

3.) I have NEVER been more motivated to write than I have recently. Like I pumped out that threesome fic in RECORD time, I'm a chapter ahead of LATK, and I'm steadily working on my WIPs that are clogging my google docs. I really think I owe it mostly to my daily walks. I work from home and it's very easy for me to just not leave my apartment for DAYS, but these 30 minute walks every day have been a huge way to reset after working and also think about smut plot and organize my thoughts. Also I obviously owe it to Pedro too, and you and @perotovar and @for-a-longlongtime for letting me yell at y'all about my ideas <3

[darkjanet2]

Sonic Adventure 2: Sonadow

Chapter 28: Welcome Home, Sonic.

3 months later, the nurse removed the bandage from Sonic's abdomen and sighed with satisfaction. The wound was healing quickly and looked healthy enough. She then wiped the stickiness from Sonic's fur.

"All right, your skin is clean of infection. You have a good chance to recover," said Nurse Daisy.

"So I'll be okay?" asked Sonic.

"Yes, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it too much," she smiled reassuringly, "the doctor says you're doing really well."

"Thank you," replied Sonic with a huge smile. He couldn't wait for the day when they could finally take him home. It had been 3 months since he was hospitalized after the battle with Eggman. That time he almost died. But now he felt much better. Not only did his wounds heal faster but he also felt better than before! He didn't remember much of what happened after waking up in that strange place, though some memories were left over.

"The doctor will be here for a moment and check how you're doing," announced the nurse as she exited the room. A minute later the door opened again, and Dr. Harrison came to the room carrying a clipboard.

"Hello, Sonic," said Dr. Harrison with a friendly smile.

"Hi, Dr. Harrison," greeted Sonic as he stood up from the bed. "It seems like my wounds are all healed!"

He flexed his arms to demonstrate. Dr. Harrison chuckled and nodded. "I'm glad you are feeling well. Now let's see if we can find out why your body has decided to give you these wounds..." She began scanning Sonic's body with his stethoscope. She took note of every injury. "Well, there doesn't seem to be any obvious cause for this. Your internal organs are fine, so there aren't any problems there, either..."Dr. Harrison moved around and continued her exam.

After completing her examination, she stepped back. "Your health looks great, Sonic. You're free to go," she smiled.

"Great, thanks Doc!" exclaimed Sonic excitedly.

"And I don't want you to rush back into action. Just make sure to rest, eat, and drink a lot," she said as she wrote down a note. "And here's the prescription for some painkillers. They're mild enough that you should feel no pain once you take them." She handed Sonic a note. Sonic thanked her again. As soon as she left, Sonic went to the first floor straight down to the pharmacy and got his prescription.

As he exited the hospital, Rouge was out there waiting for him. She was standing behind her

white Lamborghini while she was surfing her phone. She looked up and grinned at Sonic. "Hey there, blue boy!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hiya, Rouge," said Sonic as he approached her car. After opening the passenger door and getting inside, he sat down next to her. Rogue started driving and departed from the hospital.

"So how are you doing?" asked Sonic.

"Oh, I'm great. How about you?" asked Rouge. Sonic shrugged, "It was boring. I'd been in the hospital for 3 months," he said. "I did some physical therapy during those three months until my belly recovered. It wasn't so bad at first, but it kinda wore me out, even though there weren't any injuries on my body."

"So you're all better?" asked Rouge.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see my friends again!" exclaimed Sonic happily. "I miss 'em, Rouge. I can hardly wait to get home."

Rouge smiled softly. "I know you miss them. Let's go to your house," she suggested as she drove in the direction of Sonic's house. A few minutes later they arrived at the address. Rouge parked her car and they hopped off of it. As Sonic walked to his door, he unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a very crowded living room. They set up "Welcome Home" decorations along with streamers and balloons.

"SURPRISE!!" shouted several people at the same time. Sonic jumped in surprise. The group had surrounded him, congratulating him. "Mr. Sonic! We missed you!" cried Cream. He returned their hugs. Amy and Tails hugged him as well.

"We knew you'd come back! Mr. Sonic, we made cookies! We hope you like chocolate chip!" said Cream.

"Aw, you made those for me? Thank you, Cream!" he said, smiling brightly at the little girl. She smiled back.

Just then the green crocodile named Vector approached him with a big grin. "Hey, Sonic! I heard you've been in the hospital for 3 months and I thought it would be nice to celebrate by having fun together!" He pulled Sonic into a bear hug. Everyone cheered as Vector hugged Sonic tightly. Sonic laughed and returned the hug."Glad you're doing alright, Sonic!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, man," said Sonic with a big smile. "I'm happy to be home again, just glad to see you guys again," he added. They released each other. Vector put his arm over Sonic's shoulders and the others followed his lead."Let's go to the kitchen, guys. We've got lots of snacks ready!" said Amy.

They had cake, pizza, chips, cookies, juices, and soda. As everyone ate, they talked. There were many things to talk about. They turned on the music to listen to Christina Aguilera singing the song "Genie in a Bottle" as they were dancing to the beat of the music.

Sonic walked to the hallway to see Knuckles leaning against the wall and watching the party. When he noticed Sonic walking toward him, he smiled. "Hey there, blue guy!" he exclaimed happily.

"Hey, Knux!" said Sonic as he greeted Knuckles. Knuckles walked toward him and hugged him. "How's everything going?" he asked. Knuckles shrugged. "Everything's fine. It's great to have you back, Sonic. I missed having you around," he answered. Sonic laughed. "You say that like I was never gone in the first place." Knuckles chuckled and shook his head. "Don't remind me. That was hard to live without you, blue pal."Knuckles nudged shoulder affectionately.

"You know, I'm glad Eggman's in prison. He won't hurt anyone ever again," commented Knuckles.

"Yeah, I guess he'll never touch another piece of property ever again," agreed Sonic. He glanced back to look at the kitchen where the party was happening, "Say, Knux, where's Shadow?" asked Sonic.

"He went outside on the patio," Knuckles pointed with his thumb in the direction. "He didn't feel like dancing or joining them. Maybe he wants to be alone." Knuckles' voice sounded concerned.

"Well, I'll go talk to him and see if he's okay," Sonic said, as he headed out the door. He walked through the garden until he saw Shadow sitting on one of the benches. "Shadow?" he called out softly. Shadow looked up at him and frowned. "Hey, Sonic," he said monotonously. Sonic took a seat beside him.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

Shadow shrugged, "Nothing. I just... wanted some fresh air," he replied calmly, trying not to show any emotion.

"You okay?" asked Sonic.

"Of course, I am," said Shadow.

"You seem awfully quiet. I mean besides your usual cold attitude," said Sonic with concern.

Shadow shook his head, "It's not that. It's just... I'm not the type of person to enjoy parties and such. Parties are loud, and people tend to talk too much. I prefer to stay quiet and watch from afar," explained Shadow quietly, still looking ahead and away from Sonic.

'Man, he's pretty anti-social,' thought Sonic.

"Well, it wouldn't be very polite to stay out here all night anyway. If you don't feel like mingling with the partygoers, then why don't you join us inside instead? It looks like everybody else is enjoying themselves, so you can do the same," suggested Sonic.

Shadow shrugged again, "I suppose so."

They paused for a moment, both lost in thought. Shadow seemed slightly more relaxed, and Sonic was staring at the ground, kicking his legs slightly back and forth. Then Shadow broke the silence.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Sonic as he turned his attention to Shadow.

"Why are you being so kind to me? After everything I've done, I would have expected you to hate me and throw me in jail. But you haven't done anything of the sort," Shadow stated curiously.

"Maybe because I respect you. You may have tried to kill me before, but now you've changed. You've gotten rid of the villain persona you've always had. I think you're an amazing person, Shadow," said Sonic.

Shadow nodded, "Thank you. I appreciate your honesty." They fell silent after that. Neither spoke as Sonic kicked his feet back and forth a few more times. Soon Sonic broke the silence.

"Shadow?" he questioned.

"Hm?" responded Shadow.

"Um, you know I can't keep this a secret forever, right? And I need to know how you feel about me," stated Sonic.

"How do you feel about me?" asked Shadow. Sonic smiled. "I love having you around. It's nice being able to have someone who understands me," he said. Shadow raised an eyebrow at this, "Understands you? Like, what do you mean by that?" asked Shadow.

"Well, you're the only one I know who knows about my powers and all that stuff. I just feel comfortable when you're around me," said Sonic.

Shadow smirked and gave a small chuckle, "That is true. But then, you must have known that I'm an Ultimate Lifeform, too."

Sonic sighed, "Yes. But there's something different about you. Like, you're not just a criminal; you're a hero. A real hero. You saved me from Neo Metal Sonic, and you saved my friends. And you know what, you're a good person," said Sonic earnestly.

Shadow blushed slightly under Sonic's words. He hadn't expected such compliments from Sonic. "Thank you, Sonic. I appreciate your honesty," replied Shadow, still blushing.

Sonic giggled lightly at hearing the response and smiled widely, showing his canine teeth, and making Shadow blush even more.

"Sonic?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah, Shadz?" he responded.

He leaned forward and kissed Sonic's lips briefly. Sonic closed his eyes and held Shadow close to him. Their kiss started getting deeper and they soon became closer than ever. Shadow caressed his cheeks with his thumbs. Sonic grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. Eventually, they stopped kissing and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. Sonic smiled and rested his forehead against Shadow's. He looked at Shadow, still holding him by the sides of his neck. The two boys embraced each other once again. Suddenly, the two-tailed fox came outside of the patio.

"Hey, Sonic, we're leaving the party soon. So, maybe we should go in and finish celebrating," he told Sonic. Sonic nodded and reluctantly let Shadow go. Sonic stood up and brushed himself off, grinning. "Come on, let's go inside," he said. He offered Shadow his hand helped him get back to his feet and went inside.

After the party, they started cleaning up his house and they started to leave. They waved goodbye to each other. "Bye, Sonic. See you soon," said Amy and she went outside the house with the others. Sonic waved as well.

Shadow was about to leave, but he had to tell Sonic something. "Oh, um, before I go, I have this brochure in my mailbox," he handed this brochure to Sonic, he opened it, and read the contents.

"Shangri-La Hotel?" Sonic repeated, "Isn't that a resort hotel or something?"

"It is," affirmed Shadow, "but I think it would be fun to stay at a place like that. What do you think?"

Shadow asked Sonic with a little smile.

Sonic looked into Shadow's eyes and smiled back, "Yeah, that sounds great!"

"Great, I'll hit up the front desk and arrange transportation," said Shadow excitedly.

"Thanks, Shadz. I'll rest up for a couple of days until my pain is gone," said Sonic.

Shadow nodded and kissed Sonic's cheek, "See you later, Sonic."

"Later, Shadz," smiled Sonic. He watched as Shadow left the house, he closed the door and went up to the bathroom. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and went to bed to sleep it off.

[cupidsdescendant]

you should totally definitely write about your babygirls’s reactions to reader putting making up on them or wanting to put makeup on them

Medic's Response to Makeup !

huge shout out to my good friend @lem0n-t33th you are the silliest bean in the stalk and I love love love love love YOU !!

-Medic would be a little stunned when you first ask him "I uh- Excuse me...?" He says adjusting his glasses

-"cmon...Let me yassify you!" Y/N excitingly says as they hold their makeup brushes up. "Y-YASSIFY?!?" Medic says in even more confusion

-"Aw just try it' doc, lookat me!" Scout would chime in with his beautiful full caked face

-"Yeah, cmon doktor! It's very fun." Heavy says after Scout, his lips sparkly and him blinking innocently

-The rest of the girlboss gang all join in to entice Medic with their pretty pouty lips and their long fake eyelashes.

-"ehrrrr..Vell I don't see vat's the problem?!" He chuckles and shrugs it off as everyone and Y/N cheer in the background.

-At the beginning he'll giggle a little to being touched by the brush "hoo hoo! Zat Tickles~" He'll try to keep it in but it stimulates him well

-His favorite colors would be Blue and Purple, you let him choose from a matte or a sparkle and he chooses the matte.

-"Alrighty, Medic! What do you wanna look like? Cute? Fierce? Sexy?!?!" Y/N says with a biggggg grin on their face. Medic thinks about it "Hmm. I'd like to be....fierce! "

-2 hours later Medic's face is SNATCHED. contoured, foundation, blush, EVERYTHING. His eyeliner is sharp and long, and his makeup is very reminiscent of drag queens. (specifically Trixie Mattel lololol)

-Afterwards Medic would be completely stunned with the finish product, gripping the mirror Y/N gave him and admiring his beauty "Y/N... jou made me so... beautiful!!!" He starts blushing.

-He can't help but kick his feet like a little girl and laugh to his pretty self <3

-At the end everyone dresses Medic up in a sparkly purple mermaid dress with a hot pink boa. 6 Inch heels and he became the star of the fort for that night

-You all laugh and dance and put on a little fashion show and Medic obviously wins.

-At the end of the night you both are passed out sleeping on the couch after a long night of fun

I was originally going to make a whole fic but I realize the headcanon format would be cute for this! Thanks again to my friend @lem0n-t33th for such a cute idea! I'm glad to write again <3

[spacesquidlings]

Enchantment In The Snow

Description: Gavin springs a sudden surprise on Rowan for her Christmas gift, spiriting her away for a vacation in a cozy cabin in the woods. They spend their days exploring a private winder wonderland, and they spend the frigid nights tangled in each other's arms

Pairing: Gavin Bai x MC / OC (Rowan)

Warnings: Some mild suggestive content

A/N: Hello!!! I was going through some drafts and I found this buried in one of my Gavin docs!!!! It's so cute and I remember having so much fun when I was writing this fic. I know Gavin is supposed to be very scary and intense and commanding, but I think he would be SUCH a sweetie and really go out of his way for his partner, especially trying to make some sweet memories together during the holidays because he is just a huge dork!!!! Special shout out to my friend @otherlandshark who gave me the first seeds for this fic and who is just always the best <3 To anyone reading this, I hope you love this fic as much as I do, and I hope you have a happy holidays <3

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

“Can I take the blindfold off yet?”

“No, pumpkin, just wait a little longer.”

Rowan had woken that morning to Gavin pressing kisses to her face, gently coaxing her from her dreams and back into the real world. He’d murmured that they’d had to get up, he had a surprise for her. She’d been too tired to really question it, doing little more than groaning when he heaved her from the bed, helping her to get changed and making the bed before carrying her downstairs.

Rowan should have been suspicious, but she’d been too tired, content to be snuggled into his arms when he’d held her in his lap while they’d eaten breakfast.

It had still been dark when he’d woken her up, not even the watery light of dawn breaking through the midnight sky.

“It’s just very early,” he’d whispered when she’d tried mentioning it between bites of egg. “Your surprise is somewhere we have to drive to, and we need to get a headstart.”

Now that should have made her even more suspicious, but Gavin had always been particularly skilled at distracting her, and her sleep-addled mind had been quickly redirected when he’d kissed her again.

He’d even gone so far as to bundle her into the car, tucking blankets around her as their breath fogged in front of them, the freezing air biting at the exposed skin of their faces.

“Just a moment,” he had promised, vanishing back into the house before dragging out two suitcases and a few packages and depositing them into the trunk.

She had been half asleep again as he’d slid into the drivers seat, snuggling one of her favourite plushies into her arm before buckling himself in.

“You can sleep now, pumpkin,” he had promised, squeezing her hand. “It’s a bit of a drive.”

He hadn’t elaborated, and Rowan hadn’t asked, falling asleep once the car had merged onto the highway.

She’d awoken an hour later, the car stopped while Gavin had gotten gas.

He’d smiled when he’d seen her eyes open, waving from outside the car. She’d wiggled her hands out from beneath the blankets to wave back, offering a small smile.

He’d poked his head into the car when he was done, a blast of cold, wintery wind following in his wake.

“I was going to get some snacks, did you want anything?”

She had in fact given him a laundry list of snacks she’d wanted, and he’d been laughing as he’d closed the door, heading for the little convenience store connected to the gas station.

He’d emerged a few minutes later with nearly everything she had requested, asking if he could have a kiss in compensation for how much he’d spent.

She’d given him many kisses, although she’d nearly melted into her blankets when a car had honked at them to move out of the way.

After that she’d been mostly awake, chatting with Gavin and listening to the playlists she’d started putting together as they’d drove.

She’d tried asking him where they were going, but he’d kept mostly silent, redirecting the conversation, or taking her hand and scraping his teeth against her skin until she’d dropped her questioning, too flustered to continue.

It had come as a bit of a shock when Gavin had requested she put on a blindfold. At first she’d balked, still a little disoriented from their early morning departure. But he had insisted, promising that it would make the surprise seem a little more magical.

So Rowan had allowed him to wrap a blindfold around her eyes after pulling over to the side of the highway, mountains and green forests cloaked in snow rising on either side of them. She had felt beyond disoriented, the car moving, but her unable to see even a little bit.

But Gavin had reached out periodically to squeeze her hand, rooting her to the present, promising that she was safe.

Now she sat, still squeezing Gavin’s hand as she felt the car slowing. She could tell they had driven from the highway, turning down a much slower road now. She wanted to pull the blindfold from her face, or at least peek out from beneath the cloth to see where they were. But she didn’t want to make Gavin sad, even as her curiosity exploded like a wildfire threatening to turn her to ash.

“How about now?”

Another laugh. “Just another minute, love. We’re almost there.”

“But I want to see!”

“You’ll see soon enough!”

She slumped in her seat, pouting.

“Aw, don’t be like that, pumpkin.”

“I can’t even see!”

She heard him sigh, imagined the way his shoulders slumped when he did. Her heart stumbled a bit, the silly expression of resignation he usually wore when he sighed so deeply popping into her mind.

She wanted to kiss his cheeks and run her fingers through her hair as she teased him, wanted to make his face turn the beautiful pink of a sunset sky.

But she could not, and that made her pout more.

She turned towards the window, although she could not see out of it, and again Gavin chuckled, reaching for her hand and drawing it up, his lips brushing against her knuckles.

“Just a little longer.”

True to his word, they did only drive for a little bit longer. She felt them slowing as the car turned right, the engine grumbling as she felt the front of the car tip up, like they were driving uphill. The road turned bumpier, and she imagined a dirt road or a little forest path, rather than a fully paved mountain road.

Finally, after turning around and around on curving roads for an eternity, Rowan felt the car pull to a stop. Gavin’s hands found their way to her face, undoing the blindfold with such gentleness it was like he thought she was porcelain.

The blindfold fell away and Rowan blinked, greeted with golden, late morning sunlight.

The first thing she saw was the little cottage, a beautiful little house with an enclosed porch. The house was adorable, but it was not the main attraction, and Rowan’s eyes quickly slipped past it, towards the view just beyond.

She couldn’t make it out perfectly, but she could see the glittering expanse of a frozen lake stretching out from beyond the cottage, the morning light making it shine like it was made of diamonds and pale sapphires.

On either side of them there was forest, deep green and awash in ivory snow, untouched but for the little footprints of small animals passing by.

It looked like a painting, the light hitting the lake just right to make it glow, the deep muted colours of the forest in contrast to the pallid blues and whites of the rest of the world.

The air smelled crisp, fresh, heavy with the almost-sweet smell of pine needles and sap. Although each breath stung her nose and pierced her lungs, she could not seem to breathe deep enough as she took it all in. There was only the trees, and the slight tang in the air from the lake, and the packed snow beneath her feet.

Gavin stepped up beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist, enveloping her in his warmth.

Now the air was tinged with a little of Gavin, too, the spices in his soap staining the crisp air.

“What do you think?” He asked, leaning his head against hers. “Worth the blindfold for ten minutes?”

“It was way more than ten minutes,” she said, snorting. But she leaned against him too, wishing she could be closer.

“The GPS said it was only ten minutes.”

“Well it felt like ten years.”

He chuckled, guiding her forward towards the door. “Why don’t we go inside and take a look? It’s been a busy morning so you can relax now.”

Gavin pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking the door to the cottage, flicking on a light on the side of the wall before ushering her in.

Inside was just as cozy as she imagined a sweet little cottage like this would be. There was plush carpeting a few feet away, the uncovered ground hardwood that creaked beneath their feet. A hallway led off to her left, and she was pretty sure she saw a sliver of what was likely the kitchen. There was only a wall to her right, although directly in front of her the rest of the cottage expanded into a cozy living room and TV room, the entire back wall made of glass so you could peer out over the great expanse of the lake.

There was a ladder pushed against the wall far ahead, and if she tilted her head up she could see it led to a loft, where she imagined the bedroom was. There was another door just next to the ladder, and Rowan figured that was the bathroom, or led to somewhere else in the cottage.

“Come on,” Gavin murmured, taking her hand and guiding her deeper into the cottage.

There was a fireplace nestled across from a few plush couches arranged in the living room, and after helping her with her coat and shoes, Gavin settled Rowan onto the cushions, tucking blankets around her before turning towards the fireplace.

“You know I can do some things myself,” she said, the blankets pooling around her as she leaned forward.

“I know,” Gavin said, turning to look at her over his shoulder. “But I wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”

“What about you?”

Fire bloomed in the fireplace and Gavin stood, the firelight lining him in gold, like a figure in a painting.

“I’ll be comfortable in just a minute. I want to bring everything in first.”

She didn’t have a chance to stop him as he crossed the room, pausing long enough to press a long, slow kiss that melted her thoughts away.

When he pulled away, heading back to the car to get their things, all Rowan could think about was how she wanted him to come back, to kiss her longer, to hold her in his arms.

He was fast, though, bringing in their suitcases and then the other packages he’d brought along, setting them to the side as he pulled off his boots and shrugged off his coat.

“What are those?” Rowan asked, pointing to the packages.

Gavin grinned, his eyes bright as liquid sunshine. “They’re your Christmas presents.”

She blinked. “You mean coming here wasn’t it?”

He shrugged, stacking the presents into his arms and carrying them to the other side of the room, arranging them near the massive floor-to-ceiling window. “It’s part of your gift, but I wanted to get you some other things, too.”

She pouted, pulling the blanket up around her head. “But I didn’t think to bring your presents.”

He laughed. “That’s okay. I wanted this to be for you.”

“But what about you?!” She whined.

Gavin settled on the couch beside her, drawing her into his lap. “All I want is to see you happy. And,” he kissed her nose. “Spend some time just the two of us.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder, trying to rearrange the blankets so they would cover him too. “Well, what did you want to do right now?”

He hummed, fingers tangling in her hair. “Right now, I think I want to take a nap. Would that be okay?”

She nodded, beaming. “That would be the best.”

Gavin kissed her brow, smiling. “I’m glad.”

***

Gavin had driven them up to the cottage a week and a half before Christmas, and after they had napped most of the afternoon away, and then gotten up to make something to eat, he let her know that he’d rented it out for two full weeks.

Two weeks with just her and her Gavin, two weeks to spend together for the holidays, far away from the busy-ness of the city and from the demands of his job.

She smiled as they sat at the little table, warm food steaming in the air. Two weeks to do whatever they wanted to do together. She wondered if the lake was safe to skate on, if the ice was thick enough. Or if the forest was safe for hiking, if the snow wasn’t too high for them to walk.

“What are you thinking about?” Gavin asked, nudging her with his foot.

“Just how nice of a surprise this was,” she said, nudging him back.

He laughed, eyes closed for the briefest of moments. She leaned forward, snatching up one of the strawberries on his plate, biting down on it before he could stop her.

“Did you just steal my food?” he asked, reaching across the table.

Rowan smacked his hand, pulling her plate out of reach. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can see half the strawberry on your plate,” he said, pointing to the offending piece of fruit.

Rowan popped it into her mouth before he could say anything else, grinning as he gaped at her.

“I’ll get you back for that later,” he said, mischief in his eyes. They danced with the sunlight pouring in from the massive windows, shining like gold.

Rowan gestured to the windows, to the lake beyond it as she curled herself around her plate, narrowly dodging another attempt from Gavin to steal her food. “Do you think we can skate on the lake?”

He shrugged, folding his forearms on the table and leaning forward. “I hope so. The website I made the reservation on said the ice is normally thick enough to skate, and I brought our skates just in case.” He tipped his head to the side, watching a squirrel scamper across the porch on the other side of the window. “But we should be careful just in case.”

Rowan wiggled in her seat, imagining what it would be like to skate out across the glittering ice of the lake, beneath that clear, golden sunshine that seemed to make everything glow.

“We can also do some hiking, if you’d like,” Gavin continued, setting his fork down on his plate. “There are some trails nearby that we can take.”

She narrowed her eyes at that, remembering the last time Gavin had taken them hiking.

It had been an exhausting affair for Rowan, although not for Gavin who, although he had certainly broken out in a sweat on the steep, winding path that hugged the side of a mountain, had been all smiles and energy the entire day. She, on the other hand, had become a bedraggled mess almost instantly, hair glued to her face, arms scratched by rocks and branches, face burnt lobster red.

“Is it going to be like last time?” She asked, eying him warily.

Gavin smiled, all sweet innocence. “I looked up the trails online in advance and it looks like they are very beginner friendly.”

“Not like the last one?”

He shook his head. “Not like the last one.”

Rowan set her plate on the table, heaving a sigh of relief. “Well that’s good to hear, at least.”

“And,” Gavin continued, getting up and rounding the table to be closer to Rowan. “There are some other things we can do, too.”

She covered her plate with her body, sensing an incoming attack. “Like what?”

Gavin leaned down, hands hovering dangerously close to Rowan. She narrowed her eyes, wondering whether he was going to try and tickle her.

It was absolutely something he would do, a fitting punishment for the misdeed of stealing one singular strawberry from his plate.

“Like,” he said, his voice dropping dangerously low as his lips grazed the shell of her ear.

She shivered, realizing he might be thinking of other activities they could do together. She felt a tightening in her belly as she felt his teeth against her skin, as his breathing turned heavy.

“Like?” She pressed, her voice squeaking.

He hummed, the sound making her clench her legs together on instinct. “Maybe I shouldn’t say. It can be a surprise.”

She felt like she was made of jelly, no strength in her body as another shiver raced down her spine. Surely she would melt into a puddle at any moment.

“I thought you were all done with your surprises,” she said, voice crackling like kindling.

She would have cursed herself had Gavin’s hands not slid around her, beneath her, lifting her from her chair without so much as a grunt.

“Babey,” she said, voice shaky. “What are you doing?”

He grinned, teeth scraping against her ear. “It’s a surprise.”

***

They spent the first day tangled together, warm as the world outside the cottage was gripped in winter’s frigid hold.

The blankets on the bed were heavy and soft, and Rowan couldn’t find an excuse to crawl from the nest of blankets and pillows if she didn’t have to. They stayed there until dinner, and then returned after they had eaten, content to spend their time together.

She woke the next morning with a dull ache between her legs and in her lower back, Gavin’s arms still wrapped around her waist. She felt his breath against her shoulder, the even rise and fall of his chest against her back, the slight rumble of his snore in her ear.

She smiled, yawning, eyes still heavy with sleep. Perhaps she would go back to sleep, nestled in his arms until the sun had well and truly risen. The bedroom was graced with a floor-to-ceiling window much like the main floor, and she imagined the entire room would turn gold with the late morning sun. It would surely be something to behold, especially if it meant Gavin’s abs would also be painted in gold.

She stretched her arms out, reaching for her phone, propped on the nightstand next to the bed. Maybe she would check if she had any messages, or maybe she would read a chapter or two of a comic she’d just started.

But she had no sooner turned her phone on and flicked to the app she wanted that one of Gavin’s hands yanked her phone from her hand and tossed it across the room.

She gaped as her phone landed squarely on the chair in the corner of the room that was piled with clothes she had only half-unpacked the day before.

She twisted in his arms, prepared to chastise him, but was met with a sleepy glare. His eyes were lidded, little more than the amber of his eyes visible, seeming to glow in the hazy light of the dawn.

She blinked, momentarily stunned as he sighed, the arm still wrapped around her pulling her closer. He gripped her chin between the forefinger and thumb of his other hand, watching her with those golden eyes.

“What was that for?” She asked, recovering her senses as she poked her finger against his bare chest. “I was about to read something!”

A frown tugged at his mouth, and his lips parted, just barely, before he was pressing them against hers.

Her eyes flew wide from the shock, his tongue sweeping into her mouth for a moment before he drew her bottom lip between his teeth.

She gasped, hands pressing against his chest, fingers curling as he tilted his head to the side, groaning as he kissed her harder. Harder. His whole body pressing against her.

The hand holding her chin slipped down her back, squeezing her ass before hooking around her thigh and drawing it around his waist.

Gavin broke the kiss, moaning as he traced his lips over the curve of her jaw, teeth scraping against her skin.

“I don’t want you to focus on anything else,” he murmured, hand squeezing her thigh, fingers digging into the soft flesh. “Only me.”

“You were asleep,” she said, gasping for breath, struggling to find her words.

“Well I’m not anymore.”

“What do you want me to do, then?” She asked, biting her bottom lip as the hand at her thigh slipped between her legs.

He rolled her onto her back, lowering his mouth to her throat. “Focus on me.”

***

Rowan had been right, Gavin had looked spectacular in the light of the late afternoon sunshine.

The entire room had been awash in gold, and it had lined Gavin’s form, the gold sinking into the lines of his muscles so he seemed to glow as he moved. Sweat beading on his forehead and chest glittered as it had caught the light, and Rowan had been unable to look away from him, her attention fixed wholly on him. Like he was a work of art in a museum, like he was a god come down to earth.

Everything else had faded away in his wake, only his eyes and mouth and hands and legs.

She had practically melted into the sheets, panting as Gavin had laid down next to her.

He’d traced his index finger around her navel, up the side of her torso, around the swell of her breasts.

She’d smacked his hand away, although it had been a half-hearted attempt, and Gavin had simply taken her hand in his, fingers tangling together.

“Don’t be like that, pumpkin,” he’d murmured, lips against the side of her throat, his words tickling her skin.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to muster up her words. “Like what?”

He chuckled, and for a moment she was furious that he seemed to have so much energy still, while she was so spent she doubted she could move even an inch.

He kissed her throat, moving his lips lower over her collar, her breasts.

“I’m just admiring,” he teased, pinching her side.

It took all of her strength to roll over, and she squeaked at how her body ached when she moved.

“Don’t hide,” he said, laughter still heavy in his voice. “I wasn’t done.”

She pouted, pulling the blankets over her even as her core grew tight. “You’re teasing me.”

He laughed. “No, I’m not.”

She huffed, pulling the blankets over her head, curling into a ball as he tried peeling them away from her.

“Come back!” He whined, tugging helplessly at the blankets. “I miss my wife.”

She wrinkled her nose, biting back her smile. “No, I think I’ll stay right here.”

“Are you mad I threw your phone?”

She was definitely annoyed, especially considering she’d been so excited to read that comic.

“Maybe.”

“You can’t blame me, I wanted your attention on me!”

“You were asleep!”

“You should have woken me up!”

She laughed, her grip loosening on the blankets. Gavin took the opportunity to tear them away, arms wrapping around her and tickling her sides.

“But you woke up without me!” She gasped between laughter. “I didn’t have to!”

“I knew you weren’t focused on me!”

“I just wanted to read!”

They continued like that for a while, Rowan struggling to squirm from Gavin’s arms as he teased her, unable to escape with only scraps of her strength remaining. Eventually he did let her go, gently lowering her back against the pillows, a wide, goofy grin on his face.

“Do you want some breakfast?” He asked, stroking her side.

Rowan struggled to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling like ocean waves. Some part of her knew that she was certainly hungry, but her fatigue was winning, and all she could think about was how heavy her body felt.

“Maybe.”

Gavin arched a brow. “Maybe?”

She shrugged, eyes falling closed. “I might be hungry.”

He snorted, pinching her side so she would look at him again. “No falling asleep, not yet.”

She pouted at that, wishing she had the strength to cross her arms over her chest, wishing they didn’t feel like they weighed a hundred pounds each. “And why not?”

He cupped her cheek, smiling softly. “We need to get you cleaned up, and you need something to eat.”

“You know you were singing a very different tune an hour ago.”

He nuzzled his nose against her cheek. “Well I think you should eat now. To get your energy back.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Energy for what?”

His grin turned sheepish as he pulled away. Colour blossomed across his cheeks and the tips of his ears, and he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Babey?”

He stretched his arms above his head, standing from the bed, and for a moment Rowan forgot what she had been asking. She couldn’t help it as the blankets fell away from him, his body on display.

She didn’t know how many times she had seen him like this, and yet she doubted she would ever tire of it.

He tapped her cheek, drawing her attention to his face. “My eyes are up here, pumpkin.”

Now it was Rowan’s turn to blush, and she looked away, staring at a speck on the wall as hard as she could, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Gavin only laughed, the sound like music as he scooped her from the bed.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, and then I’ll tell you.”

***

Fingers still wrinkled, skin still flushed from the heat of the water in the bath Gavin had drawn for her, Rowan sat huddled on the floor, lego instruction manual laid out before her as Gavin bustled around the kitchen.

“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” She asked, pulling the blanket tighter around herself, drawing her knees up to her chest.

“I want you to relax,” he called, although his response was immediately followed by the sound of pots and pans crashing together.

“What are you making in there?” She shouted, struggling to pull herself to her feet.

She really ached, her body stiff as she tried to move it.

Gavin poked his head out of the kitchen as if he sensed her moving, glaring when he saw her standing. “Sit down. Let me make you some tea.”

She pouted. “I’m not a porcelain doll.”

“You can barely walk.”

She wrinkled her nose. “And whose fault is that?”

His smile was nothing short of pure smugness as he made his way towards her. “You need to sit, Rowan.”

She felt a little like a petulant child, the urge to stomp her feet nearly overtaking her. She wanted to help, especially since it sounded like a disaster about to happen in the kitchen.

Not that Gavin would let her, not as he gently settled her on the couch, wrapping her in so many blankets she could hardly move.

“I can’t even start on the lego set,” she groused, frowning at his sunny grin.

“That’s okay,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her brow. “We can start it together once I’m done.”

She sighed, wriggling herself out of her blanket prison. “Can I at least have my phone back? You left it upstairs in the room.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, murmuring softly. “As you wish.”

A few moments later, and he was setting her phone on her lap. “For you, my love.”

She rolled her eyes, pinching his side as he walked by. “Can I have some tea, too?”

“Anything for you, my love.”

She rolled her eyes again, although she could feel the blush that was creeping across her face.

Gavin returned a few minutes later, steaming mug in hand, settling it in Rowan’s hands in exchange for a long, slow kiss.

“I think you need to retract your earlier statement,” she said, blinking as the headiness of Gavin’s touch threatened to send her into a daze.

Gavin blinked, his brow wrinkling. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll do anything for me, as long as you get a kiss out of it,” she smirked, peering up at him from the rim of her mug.

He snorted, pinching her cheek. “You don’t want to kiss me?”

She eyed the red marks and bruises already blooming along his throat, could imagine ones on his shoulders and chest doing the same. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Maybe,” he murmured, voice a dangerous whisper as he leaned down. “I just can’t help myself around you.”

Rowan would have smacked him had it not been so hard to move her arms, and had he not stepped out of the way so quickly.

She tried shouting after him, but he only laughed, promising breakfast was soon, and that he would be back to help. Rowan had only glowered in response, her annoyance piqued for all of five seconds before she remembered she finally had her phone again and could go back to what she’d been wanting to read before.

Although Gavin did try the same trick when he returned with two steaming plates, setting them on the floor before trying to swipe her phone from her hands. But this time Rowan was ready for his little trick, and she quickly turned onto her side, hiding her phone between her and the back cushions of the couch.

Behind her, Gavin huffed, and she could practically hear his pout as he stroked her side helplessly, asking her to pay attention to him, please?

She couldn’t handle the way he was whining, the urge to squish his cheeks between her hands too much to bear. She tucked her phone into the pocket of her pajama pants before rolling back over, throwing her arms out and drawing Gavin against her chest.

“I love you,” she sang, scattering kisses over the top of his head. “You’re so cute, you’re so funny, I love you!”

Gavin choked, and she could imagine the shade of red his face was turning, got a glimpse of that burning crimson as she spied the tips of his ears, stained a fiery red that matched the sky at dusk. She lowered her head, grazing the shell of his ear with her teeth just as he had done that morning.

“I love you, babey,” she murmured, kissing the side of his head. “You’re so cute.”

When she finally did let him go his face was a brilliant red, the colour seeping beneath his hair as he looked away, amber eyes trained on the food sitting on the floor.

“We’d better eat,” he mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck. “Before it gets cold.”

“It’s so far away though, and it’s hard to move,” Rowan whined.

He chuckled, helping to unpeel the layers of blankets he’d wrapped her in before drawing her into his lap. “I’ll help, don’t worry.”

Once Rowan was settled with her food in her lap, Gavin switched on a movie on the television set above the fireplace. It was a Christmas film they had already seen, but they weren’t really paying much attention. The flush in Gavin’s cheeks had begun to dissipate, and their focus had turned to the lego set before them.

Gavin had brought two new sets, and he’d been sheepish as he’d presented them to her, saying that he really liked putting them together with her.

Rowan hadn’t been able to stop herself from smiling as she’d chosen the set she’d wanted to build that day, Gavin’s own face blooming with sunshine.

The truth was that she liked building them with him too, loved sitting and talking to him while something played in the background, trying to sus out which pieces went where, working together to complete the different pieces of the set before putting them together.

He always acted a little nervous, a little shy, when he asked if they could build one. It was a new interest for him, something he had done sparingly as a child, but that he’d grown more interested in as he’d gotten older. And he always seemed happy when he worked on one, when he told her about the few ones he’d put together before they’d met.

And his smile, his happiness, meant the world to her.

She always said yes when he asked, and she’d found that she loved building them with him. There was always a soft glow in his eyes, a childlike joy that made her heart trip over its own beat. That made her feel happy, too.

And she’d found building them to be relaxing, all the anxieties that chase after her day-after-day, all her worries about work and projects vanishing like smoke in the wind. It was like her mind would grow quiet, like everything was dimmed other than the pieces in front of her and her most precious person at her side.

It was no different now, picking at their food, their main focus on the set.

It wasn’t anything too complex, just a lego model of a plant. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but she loved watching as the loose pieces clicked together, slowly forming something more and more reminiscent of a true plant.

“We should get another of the bouquet ones,” Rowan said, a leaf sprouting in her hand as the pieces clicked together. “It was so pretty and then we can decorate with them.”

Gavin hummed, pulling the instruction manual towards him and flipping a few pages forward, to the project he was working on. “I’ll order another when we get back home.”

Rowan set her collection of leaves and stalks to the side, beaming at him. “Can you order another orchid too? That one was my favourite so far.”

He snorted, peeking up at her for a moment. “As you wish, pumpkin.”

She poked his side, laughing. “You’re so dorky, Gavin.”

“But you love me, right?” He asked, covering his side like it was a wound.

“I do love you,” she murmured, passing him the pieces he needed. “With every part of me.”

He pressed a little plastic flower into her palm, one he must have skipped ahead to make. “And I love you.”

***

It didn’t take them that long to complete the set, and soon enough they were leaning back on their hands, beaming in triumph as they gazed upon the finished model.

“So what kind of plant is this?” Rowan asked, peering curiously at the box.

“It’s a bird of paradise,” Gavin said, tipping his head to the side as he assessed it. “It’s a tropical plant, I think.”

Rowan hummed in assent as she looked at the box again, flipping it over to read the back. “These look really cool! Wouldn’t it be fun if we were able to get a real one?”

They were both silent as they considered her question for a moment, imagining taking care of a large, tropical plant.

It was only a few seconds before they both wilted, having had a little too much experience trying to care for fussy plants and failing miserably.

“Maybe the model is good enough,” she said, nodding to herself as she leaned back.

“And it’s more special,” Gavin added, scooting up beside her and drawing her into his lap.

“Why’s that?”

“Because we made it together,” he said, burying his face against her shoulder. “We shared it.”

She laughed, running her fingers through his hair. “You’re right, that does make it more special.”

He hummed, idly tracing a finger over her arm as they watched the ending of their movie. It was sweet, a cupcake shop owner marrying her true love and adopting an abandoned puppy. The exact kind of thing Rowan wanted from a simple Christmas film.

When it was over she leaned back, brushing Gavin’s bangs back. “What should we do now?”

He hummed, taking her hand and threading his fingers with hers. “Well what would you like to do?”

“I’m happy to do anything, as long as it’s with you.”

His voice lowered, turning to a gravelly rumble as his eyes darkened. “Anything?”

She pinched his cheek with her free hand, trying to bring him back from whatever he was thinking of. “Anything within reason.”

Gavin laughed, batting her hand away. “Well how are you feeling? Do you think you’d be up for a little hiking?”

“Maybe,” she mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “You’re sure the trails are beginner friendly?”

“Positive,” he promised, kissing her temple. “What do you say?”

She stretched her hands above her head, considering for a moment. “Promise to help me get ready? And make me something warm when we get back?”

She swept her up into his arms as he stood, so quickly the world spun around them.

“Promise.”

***

True to his word, the hiking trails were beginner friendly, although Rowan would have considered them intermediate if only because they had not been touched by a shovel in what looked like years.

The snow was so thick and piled so high on the paths that she kept stumbling, tripping and falling against Gavin when her boots sank a little too deep and got caught on a tree root she hadn’t known was there.

They’d only been walking for thirty minutes at most and Rowan was already building up a sweat, so hot beneath all her layers that she felt like she was on fire.

Gavin, for his part, seemed perfectly fine, his cheeks flushed the perfect pink, snowflakes tangled in his bangs. He walked with ease, not struggling through the banks of snow as Rowan did.

She was simultaneously burning with jealousy and in complete awe of him, of the grace he somehow managed to show as he hiked, all while Rowan was struggling to put one foot in front of the other.

“Rowan,” Gavin said, waving at her to look at where he was pointing. “Take a look.”

She crept closer, peering around him to see a small family of squirrels trading food back and forth, scampering around on a patch of ground that wasn’t covered in snow.

“Aw, they’re so cute,” she cooed, clinging to his arm.

“It’s weird that they’re out, though,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “I thought they hibernated.”

“Maybe they’re taking a Christmas vacation, just like us!”

He patted her arm, drawing her further down the path. “Maybe they are.”

Rowan laughed at the thought of a squirrel family celebrating the holidays. “What do you think they do for Christmas?”

Gavin hummed, squeezing Rowan’s gloved hand in his. “They probably share dinner together, and then play some games, and then maybe have a snowball fight.”

She giggled leaning against his arm. “Is that what you would like to do?”

He nodded. “I think that would make for a very nice day.”

Rowan let go of Gavin, letting him walk ahead a few paces before he turned back, realizing that she wasn’t following him any longer.

“Rowan, what are you-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his question as she lobbed a snowball at him, cheering when it landed square in the middle of his chest.

Gavin blinked at her, at a loss for words as she tossed another snowball at him, giggling as snow exploded over his stomach.

“You said you wanted to do what the squirrels were doing!” She called, throwing another snowball, although he dodged it this time, and it vanished into the snowbank behind him.

His eyes slid to the little group of squirrels, frozen in place now, noses twitching as they sensed Gavin and Rowan moving around  so close to them.

“And you said they were having a snowball fight!”

He stared at her for a long, long moment. Rowan wondered if the cold had finally gotten to him and frozen his thoughts, frozen his body too. But then Gavin moved faster than the blink of an eye, and Rowan was tumbling into the snow beside her as he tackled her.

She squealed, trying to shove him off. But Gavin was far stronger than she was, and she was still tired from their hike and aching from that morning and the night before. So all she could do was wriggle helplessly, hands against his chest as he laughed, squishing snow against her cheek.

“Gavin!” She gasped, trying and failing to swat his hand away. “It’s so cold!”

He laughed, brushing snow from his pants as he straightened, taking a step back.

Which was a mistake, since he let his guard down, thinking that the threat had passed.

But the threat had not passed, and as he leaned down to offer his hand to Rowan, she grabbed his arms with both hands, yanking him back into the snow.

“Got you!” She screamed, scrambling to her feet as he fell into the snow.

She threw more snow at him to slow him down, shrieking as she stumbled forward, scooping up an armful of snow to turn into ammunition.

“You’re not getting away!”

His laughter rose in the air, far above the glittering frozen branches of the trees. Snow shifted in one of the trees, showering over them in an ivory veil.

It would have been beautiful, had Rowan not been very focused on trying to escape Gavin as he made chase. The snow made it harder for her to see, and she found she was blinking back snowflakes, the world turning to quicksilver around her as she was momentarily off-guard.

She did not escape Gavin for long.

***

Rowan was pouting as they emerged from the trees, flexing her fingers, her damp, snow-crusted gloves tucked under her arm.

“They hurt,” she whined, waving her red-tipped fingers in Gavin’s face. “This is your fault.”

He snorted, taking her hands and pressing kisses against her fingertips. “I wasn’t the one who started throwing snow.”

“Well you didn’t have to tackle me!”

“You didn’t have to drag me into the snowbank!”

She scowled at the ground as she trudged beside him. “I guess.”

Another snort, his hands rubbing against hers now, trying to create friction to warm them. “We’re going to have to deal with this.”

She perked up at that. “With warm food and blankets and soft clothes?”

Gavin pressed another kiss to the back of each hand. “Yes, exactly, my love.”

An hour later and Rowan was the bright pink of a cooked lobster, the windows of the cottage foggy from the heat of the bath she had taken.

She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she followed behind Gavin, a warm mug clasped between her hands. He had a few boxes tucked under his arms, and laid them all out across the floor before the television, much like they had with the lego set that morning.

Only this time it was a collection of different games, simple board games, card games, and a fake murder mystery that they had to solve.

She tapped on the fake murder mystery, earning a wry smile from Gavin as he hunted down all the pillows and blankets in the cottage, making a comfortable nest for the two of them.

“You want that one?” He asked, bemused as he turned on another movie, crossing his arms as she nodded furiously. “I thought you said I had ruined it last time?”

She pouted, clutching the box close to her chest. “Well last time you solved it before I could finish reading the first document!”

He returned the pout, crossing his arms as he collapsed onto the pillows next to her. “It’s not my fault it was so simple.”

Now she was glaring, remembering all the documents and clues that she had strung together on her own.

It had taken hours.

Not exactly what she would have called simple.

She clutched the box tighter, turning her nose up and pretending to focus on the movie. “Then why did you bring it?”

Gavin stretched out on the floor beside her, propping his head up on his hand. He peeked up at her, mischief dancing in his eyes. “Because you like them so much, and the face you make when you’re reading the clues is so cute.”

She nearly smacked him with the box, but held herself back, instead turning her head away so he couldn’t see the blush rising in her cheeks. “Then you shouldn’t complain when I choose it!”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

She did turn to look at him then, scowling over her shoulder. “Then what were you doing?”

He grinned, rolling onto his back, folding his arms behind his head. “Teasing you.”

Rowan’s eye twitched, and she scooted away from him, huffing in annoyance.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t want to be teased!”

She could hear the pout in his voice as he whined, hands reaching out to grasp at her sides, trying to draw her closer again. “You’re so far away.”

“That was on purpose!”

He snorted, fabric rustling as he sat up, dragging her closer. “I don’t want you far away.”

“Then don’t tease me!” He laughed, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Okay, okay, no more teasing. Will you let me see the game now?”

Rowan handed Gavin the box, letting him open it and take out the documents and clues. Fake animal claws wrapped in plastic and brochures and a little metal flask clattered to the floor, followed by more odds and ends that Rowan couldn’t quite place as Gavin searched for the explanation of the mystery.

“There it is,” he muttered, eyes scanning the sheet while Rowan began sorting through the assorted paraphernalia they would use to solve the mystery. 

Copies of journal pages and newspaper clippings and crime scene photos ripped lanyard and torn notebook were all spread over the floor in front of them as Rowan organized everything. She fiddled with a fake file folder, pinching the corner of a page that was labelled as autopsy results.

“Wait here just a second,” Gavin said, setting the introduction page down and standing. “I’m going to go get a notebook.”

Rowan scrolled through her phone as she waited, reading another chapter of her comic before Gavin returned. He immediately tried swiping it from her, but she stuffed it under her blanket, smirking as he pouted.

“Fool me once with that trick,” she sang, poking his side. “But never again!”

He rolled his eyes, flipping to the first page of the notebook, a pink pen in hand.

“Is that my glitter gel pen?” She asked, pointing to it.

Gavin flushed, but didn’t deny it. “It was the only pen I could find.”

Rowan beamed, squeezing his arm. “It’s my favourite pen, you know, you’d better take good care of it!”

He laughed, leaning over to brush a kiss against her jaw. “I’ll protect it with my life.”

“You’d better.”

More laughter as notes were taken, as they slowly began working their way through the clues. Rowan made sure to organize everything carefully, and pinched Gavin if he started getting a little too far ahead.

She could see the way his mind was whirring, piecing the puzzle together faster than she could blink. She knew he already had a strong suspicion of who the murder was, but he kept his mouth shut, instead playing along as they went through the clues and wrote down important facts.

Their movie ended and a new one began. The tea in their mugs grew cold and Gavin stood to microwave them, returning with a bag of candy covered popcorn tucked under his arm.

Aside from the “evidence” and the clues included in the game, there were also a few ciphers, riddles and puzzles that they had to put together to reveal another clue that led them closer to the final answer.

With the puzzles Gavin was a little slower, and they worked together on those, trying to figure them out. Rowan had the notebook balanced on her lap, blanket pulled up over her mouth as she struggled to decipher the new puzzle they had hit. She looked up as Gavin returned, accepting the re-warmed mug of tea and a scattering of kisses over her brow.

“Any luck?” He asked, setting the candied popcorn between them before taking the notebook to peer at what she’d written.

She shook her head, dejected. “Nothing. I don’t think I’m really cut out to be a detective.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” he said, eyes flicking between the notebook and the cipher before he jotted something down. “I know far too many detectives who would be twice as stumped as you are. At least you’ve gotten half of it figured out.”

She threw herself back on the pillows, arms splayed out on the floor above her head. “My brain hurts.”

He chuckled. “If you’d like we can start on dinner and then come back to it.”

“That might be the best idea.”

So they set down their things for a little while, focusing instead of cooking a warm, hearty dinner to bring back the energy that was stolen in the frigid winter air.

Gavin pinched Rowan’s side when she balked at how much food he’d brought, chiding her for trying to eat smaller portions lately, reminding her how unhealthy it was.

She crossed her arms as he reprimanded her, muttering that she knew, but that her favourite dress was starting to feel tight around her waist.

“Then I’ll buy you a new one,” was his only answer as he took her hands, steering her away from the fridge and the pork belly he was planning to cook that night.

They split up the kitchen duties of making the sauce, peeling the vegetables, rinsing and boiling the rice, cooking the meat. Tasks that altogether would have taken Rowan an hour at least. But with Gavin beside her…

It still took pretty close to an hour, neither of them particularly adept at cooking.

Although they were certainly getting better, and they worked well as a team, and were able to move around each other with ease in the small kitchen.

And even though it took a while, Rowan couldn’t say that she didn’t enjoy the time she spent with him. Cooking was a task that was usually tedious and exhausted her before she’d had a chance to taste the food she’d made herself. But she didn’t feel the same way with Gavin, who made her feel bright and rejuvenated, made her feel like the time was precious, if only because it was shared with him.

Once dinner was done they settled into their nest once again, reruns of a mystery show they both enjoyed playing now. To add to the atmosphere, Rowan said, as Gavin laughed.

Although they didn’t start right away, Gavin insisting they eat first. He didn’t want the food to get cold, and he knew a little too well that Rowan would forget it entirely once she was absorbed in the game once more.

So they ate, and watched their show, and talked a little, and finally once they were done Gavin gathered the plates and set them to the side before pulling the clue notebook back out.

“Okay, so where were we?”

They continued working on the game well into the night, until Rowan’s eyes were so heavy she could hardly keep them open. She felt a little like she was dreaming, her body weightless as she was lifted into the air. Gavin’s heart beat a steady rhythm against her cheek, lulling her mind until there was nothing but a foggy shroud over her thoughts.

There was only the strange weightlessness, and the beat of Gavin’s heart, and the soft feel of his sweater. And then her body was weightless no more, blankets drawn up around her as she was settled onto something soft, something warm.

She tried to ask what was going on, tell Gavin not to go to bed yet, they weren’t done. But she felt the dip of the mattress beneath his weight, heard the rustle of fabric as he stripped away his shirt and pants. His arms wrapped around her waist, legs tangling with hers.

And that was the last thing she remembered before she drifted off to sleep.

***

They passed their days much like their first few. Warm and tangled together in the morning, Gavin acting very clingy if Rowan so much as tried to roll over. And then they would have breakfast, and play games, or put together a puzzle, or build the second lego set Gavin had brought.

And then maybe they would watch movies, snuggled together as they watched snow drifting across the world. Or they would peek out the windows to see the deer and squirrels wandering aimlessly around the cottage, unbothered by their presence among them.

Then they would go out, perhaps to hike again, or to try out skating on the lake. The ice ended up being thick enough that they were able to skate soundly, and they even ran into a few other people in cottages nearby, also taking advantage of the frozen lake.

Rowan wasn’t much of a skater, but Gavin took to it as quickly as he did most things, and while Rowan struggled to glide across the frozen surface, Gavin skated with ease. He did, of course, not skate too far ahead of her, instead coming back and offering her his arm so they could skate together.

It was so silly, and so absurd, and she couldn’t help laughing as he took her hand, helping her along. She stumbled over the bumps and ridges in the ice, the surface not perfectly flattened the way skating arenas were, feeling a little like a kid that could barely stand. But after a few days out on the ice she started getting the hang of it, even skating away from Gavin’s side, waving her arms as she spun around, rejoicing in her newly developed skill.

She even challenged him to a skating race, thinking that since they were both beginners the playing field would be even. But Gavin was much faster than she was, and within a few seconds she realized that she stood no chance of winning.

So instead, after losing miserably, she tried skating figure eights, and when that got boring she tried spinning like the professional skaters did. She’d seen a few skating programs in her time, and she’d always tuned in to the skating segment during the winter olympics, if only to see the sparkling, beautiful costumes they skaters wore.

So, in theory, she was certain she knew how to spin.

In practice, however, it was a completely different story.

The first time she tried to spin, she stumbled and fell on her butt. She’d shouted, her voice echoing in the vast emptiness of the frozen lake, and Gavin had been beside her in an instant, checking to see if anything was broken.

The second time she tried, Gavin was close at hand, watching her curiously. She fell again, this time on her side, and again Gavin was on her, cooing gently to soothe her as he checked her for any pain or broken bones.

The third time she stumbled, but she didn’t fall, which she considered a huge success. And Gavin had even given her a little kiss for it.

But then on the fourth try she fell again.

It went like this for a few hours, until her body was so bruised that it was relatively easy for Gavin to drag her from the lake and back inside.

Then there was lunch, and more games. Although after the first few days they had started exploring the rest of the cottage, and quickly found that the covered porch was insulated against the elements, and it was heated.

Rowan had been obsessed immediately, so many plush couches scattered around, with plants dangling from the ceiling and crystal worked into the glass surrounding the porch, so that kaleidoscopes of light and rainbows danced across the cushions and the heated floor when sunshine danced across the glass.

It was beautiful, and she insisted on eating out on the covered porch if they could.

After getting dragged inside from skating, and enjoying a nice lunch, Rowan dragged Gavin onto the covered porch, another game tucked under her arm. The sun was just so bright, and she wanted to feel it washing over her like a golden wave.

Gavin smiled when she suggested it, letting her drag him from his comfortable place on the couch inside. He laughed as she explained, his smile like its very own star, warming the galaxies in her heart with its light.

“Hold on, hold on,” he laughed as she began setting up the game on the floor. “We need blankets.”

Rowan paused, looking around the porch, realizing for the first time that although it was filled with pastel coloured couches overflowing with mismatched pillows, there wasn’t a single blanket.

“I mean, it’s not too cold,” she said, even as snow began cascading from the sky, stray snowflakes catching on the glass surface of the windows before melting away.

Gavin arched a brow in bemusement. “Really? And you won’t get cold in the next few minutes?”

Rowan shivered, as if on cue. He smirked in response, his eyes shining with a silent ‘I told you so.’

“I’ll be right back,” he murmured, disappearing back into the cottage.

He returned moments later, as Rowan finished setting up the game on the floor.

“I wish we had heated floors,” she groused, standing as Gavin began laying out blankets and pillows.

He laughed, pinching her side. “I doubt I’d ever get you to sit on a couch again.”

“It’s just nice for my feet! And it’s nice if we’re playing games so we’re not cold from sitting on the ground.”

He drew her closer, nuzzling his nose against her throat. “How could I ever be cold with you?”

“Well,” she drawled, wrapping her arms around his waist, and then slipping her hands beneath his shirt, smacking her freezing palms against the bare skin of his belly.

Gavin gasped, eyes wide as he tried wriggling away from her. “Hey!”

She slid her hands up, giggling as he continued to squirm. “I thought you said you couldn’t be cold with me!”

He snorted, grabbing her wrists and yanking them from beneath his shirt.

“That,” he gasped. “Was a dirty trick.”

Rowan only batted her lashes as innocently as she could, feigning confusion at his words. “What do you mean? You said you could never be cold with me.”

He lifted her hands, blowing warm breath on them, amusement shining in his eyes as he peeked at her over her knuckles. “Maybe I should have been more specific.”

She huffed as she tried to pull her hands from his, squealing when he just drew her closer.

“Can’t play around now, can you?” He asked, his tone light despite the teasing note ringing like silver bells.

Rowan pouted, refusing to look at him. “You’re not being very fair.”

“And you were?”

“I’m your wife!” She exclaimed, again trying to wiggle her hands from his grip. “I should be allowed to put my cold hands on your stomach!”

“Then I’ll be cold!”

“You’re always warm!” She cried. “Always! I want to be warm too!”

Laughing, Gavin pressed her hands against his chest. “Here, you’ll warm up like this.”

“But that’s not as fun,” she pouted, wishing she could scoot away from him.

His voice was soft as a lullaby as he ducked his head, lips brushing against the backs of her hands. “It is for me.”

Rowan would have scowled, mind whirring as she tried to come up with a clever rejoinder. But there was a tapping on the window, a chittering that drew her gaze.

A little squirrel perched on the windowsill, little claws scratching at the glass.

It was impossibly round for a squirrel, its fluffy tail crusted with snow, reminding her a little of a small ghost.

“Aw, look at it,” she cooed, getting to her feet. “It’s just a baby.”

Gavin had an arm wrapped around her in less than a moment after he stood, clutching her to his side as they peered at the little squirrel.

“Isn’t it cute?!” She asked, waving to it as it watched them with dark, depthless eyes.

He nodded, squeezing her closer. “Yes, it’s very cute.”

“We should give it a treat!”

He didn’t have a chance to stop her as she dashed inside, coming out with a handful of pumpkin seeds.

“Rowan, you really shouldn’t feed the wildlife,” he warned, but she only waved him off, cracking open the door to lay the pumpkin seeds out on the snow.

“It’s winter, they’re probably not much to forage for,” she said, shivering as she closed the door. “And maybe it’ll bring them back to its squirrel family!”

They watched as the squirrel cocked its head to the side, tail twitching as it sniffed the air. Then it hopped from the windowsill, racing across the snow to gather up the pumpkin seeds and race away, disappearing into the trees.

“Look how happy it is!” She sang, clapping her hands. “I bet we just made its day.”

Gavin pouted, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Will you make my day, too?”

She patted his cheek, snorting. “And what is it you’d like?”

He mumbled something near incoherent against the side of her head, and she smiled a little wider, guiding him back to their game. “I think I can do that.”

***

Although for the most part they spent the mornings outside, and occasionally their early afternoons, by late afternoon Rowan always found herself being dragged back to the cottage before the sun could sink below the horizon and set the world ablaze.

Gavin always insisted they were inside well before dusk had settled across the sky, and that was something Rowan was not about to argue with him about. The forest seemed to burst to life as night began its quick descent, and she could swear she heard something on the trails behind them sometimes, whisper soft footprints in the snow.

There were nights, too, where she would wake up to the howl of wolves, as though they were surrounding the cottage. Gavin would wake with her, curling his body around hers, humming gently until she fell back asleep, cradled in his arms.

So they did not stay out late, the cold and the creatures of the night not things they wanted to be acquainted with.

Instead, they played games, or they cooked, or baked, learning new holiday themed recipes they found online. Sometimes they read quietly, shoulders pressed together, sharing the gentle quiet like it was a warm blanket wrapped around them.

But as Rowan stirred a pot of wine she was warming the day before Christmas, a sachet of spices and dried oranges on the counter next to her, ready to get tossed in, Gavin popped his head in, eyes alight.

“I nearly forgot,” he said, stepping into the kitchen, scratching at the back of his neck.

“What is it?” She paused her stirring, free hand hovering over the sachet.

He looked sheepish, eyes flicking to the ceiling. “I forgot to tell you, I brought Christmas decorations. I had thought it would be nice to decorate together.”

He winced, as though she would be mad at him. But Rowan couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed across her face, the first touch of spring in the midst of winter.

He had brought their decorations! He had thought it would be fun to decorate together. He had taken the time to pack up their decorations even though the cottage wasn’t theirs, even though they would have to tear everything down at the end of their two week stay.

She paused for a moment, confused. “Wait, but what about the decorations we’d already put up?”

He shrugged, even as a line etched itself between his brows. “I might have bought some extra decorations just for here.”

She threw her arms around his neck, the pot of warming wine forgotten. “Oh babey, that’s one of the sweetest things you could have done.”

She felt the flutter of his lashes against her cheek. “So… You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because I forgot until today.”

She pulled away, sandwiching his face between her two hands. “Gavin.”

The line between his brows deepened. “Yes?”

“You surprised me with this wonderful vacation. You cheered me on when I fell on the ice. You let me shove snow down your shirt this morning when we were hiking-”

“-I didn’t let you,” he amended, patting her hand. “You were just faster than me.”

She narrowed her eyes, refusing to believe his words, despite the honeyed tone. She knew how fast he was, if he’d wanted to stop her he would have.

“And you bought new decorations just so we could put them up together. So we could celebrate Christmas here.”

She drew his head down so she could press a kiss above that wrinkle, smoothing it away. “I’m so happy, babey. I’m so happy I get to share this all with you.”

He let out a nervous chuckle, although he did not move, and Rowan pressed another kiss to his brow. And another. And another. And then she was showering kisses on his face as surely as snow was showering on the world outside the cottage walls.

His laugh turned genuine, sweet, a melody that resonated deep within her bones. She imagined it sinking into the walls of the cottage, threading itself into the fabric of the pillows and blankets and cushions. Staining the windows like fog, slipping out into the world and burying in the snow like seedlings primed for the day spring awoke the world once more.

“I would love to decorate with you,” she murmured into his hair, the soft strands tickling her cheeks.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the warm, simple smell of her Gavin. His shampoo and soap were simple, but they had an evergreen smell, a woodsy smell, with some spice she couldn’t quite place. Like she was standing in the middle of a fantasy story, in the midst of an enchanted wood, on a quest to find an enchanted object.

She hummed, reminded of a barbie movie with a similar plot. She wondered if she could get Gavin to watch it with her; she’d certainly gotten him to watch similar movies with her before, so perhaps this wouldn’t be any different…

“Rowan?” He asked, spearing through the frothing ocean waves of her thoughts.

“Hmmm?”

“I think the wine is boiling over.”

She screamed, spinning around to grab the spoon and stirring furiously, scarlet foam and bubbles nearly boiling over the rim of the pot. Steam rose from the wine, blurring the kitchen and everything in it.

“Oh no oh no,” she whined, teeth clenched together as she stirred furiously. “I hope it doesn’t burn to the pan.”

She felt lips against her temple, Gavin at her side, his hands scooping up the sachet of spices and dried fruit and dunking it into the wine. “I’m sure it will be okay. But we’d better start mulling this now.”

She smiled wryly, stirring the last of the bubbles away. “Or else?”

“There might not be any wine left to mull.”

He earned a smack for that, although Gavin didn’t even bother flinching. Instead he just rubbed his arm, laughing before stepping from the kitchen.

Mulling wine didn’t take much time, and once Rowan was satisfied the spices had been steeped long enough she removed the pot from the heat, continuing to stir as steam poured from the wine.

Gavin popped his head back in as she was taking out two mugs from the cabinets, something tucked under his arm and yet another sheepish look on his face.

“What is it now?” She asked, feigning annoyance as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Gavin held up a horrendous looking Christmas sweater. The colour was garish and she was certain there was real tinsel hanging from the sleeves. “I got you an early Christmas present.”

She blinked at the sweater. “Oh my.”

A snort, the awkward light in Gavin’s face fading away. His lips curled up, mischief written in the lines of his face. “Do you like it?”

“Do I?” She asked, although it was more to buy herself some time to come up with the right words to express how she felt about… Well, about that.

He grinned wider. “What if I told you that I have a matching one.”

“I’m obsessed,” she took the sweater from his hands, pulling it over her head.

The inside material was soft, and it was surprisingly warm. Although it did feel awkward and bulky from the tinsel sewn to the sleeves and the miniature ornaments dangling from the front of the sweater.

“Where’s yours?” She asked, narrowing her eyes as Gavin scratched at his neck, phone mysteriously in his free hand.

“I didn’t want to wear it in case you hated it,” he mumbled, his expression void of any shame.

“Well then, you can go and put it on since I would like to match,” she said, nose sticking up, as though she were a prim young lady addressing a poorly mannered gentleman.

Gavin chuckled, and Rowan pushed him from the kitchen, unable to stop laughing, their voices twining together like the opening notes of a song.

“Go on! Go put it on! Or else I’m not letting you have any of the wine!”

He arched a brow, bemused. “Rowan, I don’t think you should be drinking an entire bottle of wine on your own.”

“I will! Don’t think I won’t!”

He pouted. “Rowan, that’s not healthy.”

She shrugged. “I’ll just have some water, too.”

“That’s not- that won’t help if you’re having an entire bottle.”

Another shrug. “I’ll just eat something, too.”

Gavin spun around, grasping her hands, a crease forming between his brows. “But what if you still get sick.”

She disentangled her hands from his to pat his cheek, grinning. “Then I guess you’d better go get that sweater on.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” he sighed, shaking his head. “But how can I say no to you?”

“Exactly,” she sang, giving him another shove. “Now go! Before all the wine is gone.”

While Gavin was getting changed, Rowan considered how much wine she could drink in one sitting, but decided against it. Although the spices made the warmed wine smell delicious, like winter in a mug, cradled between her palms, it was far too hot for her to drink quickly. She also wanted to savour it before the alcohol went to her head and her basic reasoning skills slipped from her grasp.

Gavin returned, his expression full of worry until his eyes fell on Rowan curled on the couch, the mug of wine in her hands.

“Did you save any for me?”

She let her head fall back against the back of the couch, smirking. “Why don’t you go see for yourself?”

The concerned expression was back, and he all but sprinted into the kitchen, only for the deepest, longest sigh to fill the air.

Gavin emerged from the kitchen a few moments later, steaming mug in hand, pinching her cheek as he passed. “You really had me worried there, pumpkin.”

She swatted him away. “As if I could drink a bottle of wine that quickly.”

“Well, there was certainly less than a bottle left after it nearly boiled over.”

“That was partly your fault, too,” she whined, wrinkling her nose as he hefted a box under his arm and carried it closer to the couch. “You can’t put all of the blame on me.”

He dropped the box on the floor before the couch, lifting one hand palm out in surrender. “Okay, okay, I'll relent.”

“Good,” she sniffed, warm spices overwhelming her tongue as she sipped from her mug. “I am your wife after all.”

Gavin settled on the couch beside her, leaning close as though to share a whispered secret. “Come closer.”

Curious, Rowan obliged, scooting closer to Gavin. “What is it?”

He smelled of cinnamon and cloves and oranges and the slightest touch of honey as he leaned so close their noses bumped together. “I love you. I’m so happy you’re my wife.”

Although the words were quite familiar to her ears, still Rowan found her breath catching in her throat. Gavin’s lips brushed against hers in a chaste facsimile of a kiss, sending her heart into a frenzied beat that made her head spin.

Oh why did he always have to tease her?

His lips hovered over hers for another long, aching moment. And then he was pulling away, his expression all innocence as he sipped from his mug, even as Rowan struggled to draw breath.

She did down her mug of wine then, as Gavin’s face filled with smug delight as she struggled to control her composure. Her mouth and throat burned, the spices so strong she could feel their sharp burn in her nose.

The nerve, the absolute gall.

Her stomach twisted, an aching knot forming deep in her belly, and she stomped back to the kitchen to refill her mug, trying to ignore that near painful ache.

When she returned, finally able to control her breathing just a little better, Gavin was beginning to sort through the box he had brought over. THe lid had been set aside on the floor, unveiling yards of Christmas lights, and glittering blue and silver tinsel, and plush figures that sang, and tiny wreaths laden with pine and ribbons and fake pine-cones and red berries.

“What do you think?” He asked, lifting a pair of embroidered stockings into the air, wiggling them so they flapped against each other.

She blinked, the wine already beginning to seep into her blood. “I think it’s marvellous.”

He laughed as he stood. “Then should we get started?”

She sipped her wine, watching him through the steam curling from the dark crimson liquid. “Are you going to tease me again?”

He shrugged. “You’ll have to find out.”

Rowan did in fact find out, but only after she’d teased him back herself, the wine making its way to her mind now, drowning out any of her inhibitions.

She poked and teased him nearly as shamelessly as he did her, earning blushing cheeks and the sweetest stammers from Gavin as he struggled to counter her mischief.

The wine grew cold in their mugs as they decorated, and it was Gavin who went back to the kitchen to reheat everything, leaving Rowan to string up the lights along the floor and walls, a delighted smile shining across her face.

He pinched her when he returned, getting her back for her last bout of teasing before pressing her mug back into her hands.

They chattered as they worked, giggles erupting from both of them as their conversations dipped and spun and devolved. Animals passing by the windows to build-a-bear stuffed animals to questions like ‘what if there was a movie about singing squirrels.’

‘Isn’t that just the chipmunks, Gavin?’

‘The who?’

Or debating whether they could make an entire sweater of the tinsel he had bought, or trying to guess the plot of the movie they had put on and how it would end.

“They’re going to open a cupcake shop,” Rowan said, sipping the dredges of wine from her mug before Gavin took it. “They’re both bakers, it makes sense.”

“No no no,” he shook his head. “The last one we watched they opened a cupcake shop. They’re going to take over her family’s diner.”

“But she’s never even worked in the diner! They opened it after she left for New York.”

Rowan followed at Gavin’s heels as they bickered, a miniature wreath around her wrist like a diamond bracelet. She yanked on the tinsel tossed around his throat like a scarf, and the ends tickled his cheeks until he snorted, turning back around to face her.

“Perhaps you should be the one who writes the next Christmas movie,” he suggested, setting their mugs on the counter. “I think you could make something wonderful.”

She snorted, running a hand through her increasingly tangled hair. “What gave you that idea? When I said they were making knock-off Mcdonalds or when I thought that the love interest would turn out to be a secret prince?”

He frowned down at the empty pot for a long, long moment before turning to the cupboards, searching out another bottle of wine they had brought along.

“You were close,” he said, uncorking the wine bottle and pouring the contents into the pot before going in search of more of the mulling spices. “He was a duke.”

She wrinkled her nose, tapping her cheek as she watched Gavin scoop far too many spices into a sachet. Not that she was going to correct him. Her whole body felt warm and heavy, her head like it was cushioned on a cloud.

“Sounds more like that comic I was reading.”

A laugh as he turned the stove on. “Which one? You’ve been reading so many.”

“It’s not my fault they’re easy to read!”

He shook his head. “You stay up until 4 sometimes reading those things.”

She pouted, crossing her arms. “I don’t mean to.”

He laughed, stepping away from the pot to draw her into his arms, wine dripping onto the floor from the spoon still clasped in his hand. “It just means I’ll have to come up with a good reason for you to stop reading and come to bed.”

Her face flushed, so hot it felt like a match had been struck beneath her skin. The flame caught in the alcohol in her veins, setting her entire body ablaze as she caught Gavin’s meaning.

He pulled away, smirking as she struggled to find something to say. “Well? How does that sound?”

She looked away, muttering that he should focus on the pot more than her, lest it boil over like before.

Rowan stomped away as Gavin continued to laugh, grinding her teeth together as she scooped up another armful of decorations, moving around the room and hanging tinsel and wreaths and settling little figurines on as many surfaces as she could.

He was just so handsome, and he was usually so sweet, and he made her knees feel like jelly when he lowered his voice the way he had, even when she wasn’t drunk. And his eyes… His eyes were like what she imagined molten gold was, dark and bright all at once, burning with such fire that she would melt into a puddle in mere moments beneath his gaze.

She froze, hands hovering over the squirrel in a Santa hat figurine she’d just set on the mantle beneath the television.

She had to go outside. She had to go outside right now.

Rowan would certainly admit that her reasoning skills left much to be desired, particularly now that she’d drunk at least half a bottle of wine. But she considered her decision to go stand in the snow in nothing but her socks to be a very, very intelligent decision.

She even grabbed a handful of pumpkin seeds from the bowl she had placed on one of the little side tables next to the couches in the covered porch.

She needed to cool her brain down, needed to stop thinking horny thoughts. They were decorating for Christmas, she didn’t need to be thinking about his eyes, how they darkened. About his hands at her waist, sliding down to her thighs to-

She threw open the porch door, all but tossing herself into the closest snowdrift.

She shivered, snow seeping through her socks and freezing her toes almost instantly. She danced from foot-to-foot, tossing the pumpkin seeds out before her, watching as they scattered like rain.

She smiled; now the squirrels would have a little treat for Christmas.

Although her plan had been to sober up a little in the freezing air, Rowan quickly found that standing in the snow did little for her inebriated state, and even less for the heat in her belly.

Perhaps she should throw herself fully into a snowdrift, submerge herself in the snow. Maybe that would be a good enough shock to her system.

But before she could take more than a step further into the snow, a hand shot out, wrapping around her wrist.

“What are you doing?” Gavin asked, his voice stained with concern. “It’s freezing out here, you’re going to get sick.”

She wrinkled her nose, throwing her arm out to gesture to the pumpkin seeds she’d tossed. She didn’t want to reveal to Gavin that she’d gone out with the express intent of stifling the arousal he had sparked in her blood.

She knew exactly what that would lead to, and she wanted to finish decorating before they did anything else.

“Feeding the squirrels,” she said, offering him a small smile. “I thought they might want a Christmas gift, too.”

He sighed, shaking his head, scattering snowflakes as they were flung from his hair. “What am I going to do with you?”

She lifted her arms up, silently imploring. He only shook his head before lifting her from the snow, cradling her in his arms like she were a treasure, like he had held her after their wedding, carrying her around like he had no intention of letting her go ever again.

“You’re going to catch a cold if you run around outside like that,” he chided, frowning as she dripped frozen water into the cottage.

“Will you protect me from it?” She asked, clutching at his shirt. “If I catch a cold?”

For a moment he looked lost, bemused, but in the next he was laughing, kissing her face until her cheeks burned. “I’ll do my best.”

He settled her on the couch before finding her a new pair of socks, handing her a warm mug of mulled wine.

“What were you thinking?” He mumbled, seeming unable to let her moment of foolishness go.

“I was thinking about the squirrels,” she said primly, taking a delicate sip from her mug. “They deserve to have a Christmas celebration, too.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have given you more wine.”

She clasped her hands around her mug, clutching it to her chest. “Says you! Your face is red from all the wine!”

They bickered back and forth, laughing as they returned to decorating, until the thread of their teasing was long gone, lost among the snow and the pumpkin seeds that had been tossed into the air.

Once they were satisfied with their decorating they both slumped onto the couch, tired and drunk, heads stuffed with cotton, arms wanting to just hold the other for a moment. For a long moment.

But the long moment quickly slipped away, and they ended up dozing until well past when they normally ate dinner. A dull throb in Rowan’s temple roused her from sleep, the burning dusk replaced by the velvet darkness of the night sky. No fiery sunlight still spilled through the windows, instead only silvery starlight, casting strange shadows along the walls.

She tried to disentangle herself from Gavin to turn the lights on, but he was awake in an instant, rubbing his eyes as he came to.

“Stay there,” he murmured, stretching as he stood. “I’ll go get us some water.”

“We’ll need something to eat, too,” she said, barely able to stifle a yawn.

“How do eggs sound?” He asked, blinking as he switched on a lamp, then another, the living room awash in gold. “And some of those cinnamon buns we tried making yesterday?”

Rowan stood, shuffling along behind Gavin. “We could do omelets! We have tomatoes and peppers and some bacon leftover, I think.”

His smile was soft, sleep still clinging to him as he spoke. “That sounds perfect.”

Unlike when they were decorating, there wasn’t much banter as they cooked, both of them sinking into a warm, comfortable quiet. Omelets weren’t particularly difficult to make, and Rowan cooked while Gavin cleaned up after her, leaving the kitchen nearly spotless and two fresh, warm omelets steaming on their plates.

Gavin settled a cinnamon bun on either plate, and then they trudged back to the couch, focuses slipping between the movie they chose to watch at random, and other distractions.

Rowan, for her part, couldn’t decide if she wanted to watch the movie or read, and so she did a little of both, her attention flitting between the two as her interest rose and fell like ocean waves.

Beside her, Gavin split his attention between the movie and a game he was playing. It was an older one, something she had given to him on his birthday months ago. She peeked over his shoulder to get a look at the tiny rectangular screen, watching as the little character dodged and rolled and swiped at the legs of a giant mechanized monster.

She didn’t notice Gavin’s attention flitting to her face, her poor attempt at snooping on what he was doing unveiled.

“Do you want to try?” He asked, making Rowan squeak in surprise, her heart hammering so quickly she was sure it would tear through her ribs.

She pouted once her momentary shock wore off, crossing her arms as she leaned back. “Don’t tease me. Last time you did that I didn’t even come close to winning against the boss.”

He laughed, scooting closer, moving the console so it hovered in the air between the two of them. “This is different, I promise. And I can help you.”

She took the console from him hesitantly, the controls warm from where he had been holding them.

In her defense, the kinds of games Gavin played were usually not the ones she played. She liked to think out her moves beforehand, while Gavin was much better at in-the-moment attacks and split-second decisions.

It was also worth taking into consideration that she was still very, very drunk, and her reflexes were slowed even more than normal.

So when Rowan unpaused the game and immediately died as the mechanical robot smashed its arm into the player character, she tried not to get too annoyed at herself. Although she was a little annoyed, as Gavin tried and failed to stifle a chuckle, as she reset the battle and began it again.

Gavin did at least keep his promise of helping her. Or trying to, anyways. He gave suggestions on where to move the player character, and what attacks to use and when. It was still up to her to actually land the hits, and to dodge the monster’s attacks, and to not die in the first stages of the battle.

They sat like that for a long while, Gavin offering encouragement as Rowan stumbled her way through the boss battle. And once she’d finally won he helped her through the next stages, letting her wander around some of the areas in the game to help complete minigames and collect plants to brew potions and strengthen their weapons in the game.

Neither of them realized they were falling asleep until it was far too late, the console falling to the side as they slumped together on the couch, asleep in each other’s arms beneath the warm Christmas lights strung around the room.

***

Rowan awoke on Christmas day before the sun had fully risen, a throbbing headache rousing her from her dreamless sleep.

Her neck and back ached, and after a few disorienting moments she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch with Gavin, both of them slumped over in awkward angles as they’d tumbled into unconsciousness.

Gavin’s eyes fluttered open the moment she tried to shift, his arms sliding around her waist and drawing her against his chest. He mumbled something incoherent against her hair, sighing when her arms slipped around him in kind.

“Babey,” she murmured, patting his back. “Babey, we fell asleep on the couch.”

He murmured something else she couldn’t hear, his arms tightening around her.

“What was that?”

He pulled away to press his brow against hers. “I said merry christmas, my love.”

***

The rest of the day was a quiet affair. They both stood from the couch, groaning, bodies aching from the strange positions they had fallen asleep in. They bathed together quietly, talking in soft voices, their fatigue still clinging to their minds, before changing into soft pajamas and stumbling into bed.

They slept late, until the sun had well and truly risen and the entire cottage was once more bathed in gold. Rowan’s headache still persisted, so Gavin got her water, encouraging her to rest while he made breakfast. She wasn’t about to argue, the headache making the world tilt and whirl like a carnival ride.

Blessedly, it began to dissipate once she’d begun to eat, still curled up in bed next to Gavin. Although her stomach did churn after the first few bites, even that too began to abate, until she felt well enough that it was like she hadn’t drank anything at all.

It was early afternoon by the time they dressed, although Rowan was sure an exception could be made for Christmas. Especially since they had both been out of sorts that morning.

Gavin insisted she open the gifts he had brought for her, although guilt gnawed at her belly for not thinking to have his gifts brought along as well.

“It’s alright,” he promised, as he’d pressed a small box into her hand, so neatly wrapped she was sure he must have practiced for hours to perfect his skill. “There is something you can give me later.”

Heat crawled beneath her skin at his words, at the way his voice dropped, growing whisper soft as he lowered his mouth to her ear.

She was also not surprised in the least when she lifted the lid off one of the gifts to find a pink, lacy confection neatly folded inside.

Although the heat in her face grew hotter, until she felt like she might catch flame, like dry kindling laid too close to a campfire.

She set the box to the side, ignoring Gavin’s smug smile as she scooped up one last present, focusing all of her attention in slowly tearing the wrapping paper apart.

She did not want to meet his gaze, not yet. She was sure if she did she would fall apart completely, giving in to whatever plans he’d been concocting secretly.

“Thank you,” she said, settling the last gift to the side before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “These have all been wonderful gifts. I just wish you could have unwrapped something, too.”

His eyes sparked, and she could already hear the words he was planning to say before he said them.

Something to the effect of ‘well there is one thing I would like to unwrap.’

Not that she was going to give him the satisfaction of saying that.

Yet.

Not yet.

“Why don’t we go sit on the porch,” she suggested, ignoring the way the world spun when she stood. “It looks so pretty today.”

Gavin opened his mouth, then closed it again, reminding her a bit of a fish out of water as he struggled for a moment. But his bemusement quickly fell away, a knowing light filling his eyes. He nodded, gathering up their books and game console they’d left on the couch the night before as he followed her.

They were met with a strange sight once they stepped onto the porch, a little group of squirrels peering at them from the other side of the windows, dark tails swishing in the breeze.

“Oh Gavin, look!” She sang, running to the window. The squirrels flinched, but didn’t run away, watching them curiously with dark eyes.

“It’s because you’ve been feeding them,” he said, settling their things on one of the couches. “You need to be careful or else they’ll expect all humans will feed them.”

She pouted, crossing her arms. “Maybe they’re just really friendly.”

Gavin was about to say something else, to argue with Rowan further, but she was no longer listening as she scooped pumpkin seeds from the bowl on the table, opened the door, and gently settled the seeds onto the windowsill a few feet from the squirrels.

She watched as they tensed, little noses wiggling as they sniffed the air, worried that she meant danger.

But the moment she closed the door, coming back inside to stand next to Gavin, the squirrels descended on the seeds, grabbing them with tiny paws and stuffing them into their cheeks.

“Look!” She sang, clapping her hands. “They’re so happy!”

Gavin hummed in response, pulling her against his side. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Well I hope you continue to love me,” she groused.

His laughter was soft as he lowered his lips to her temple. “That was never in question.”

“Then you can sit with me while I read,” she said, smiling when she felt his lips trailing down the line of her jaw. “My book is at a very interesting part.”

He hummed as she shuffled to the couch, Gavin clinging to her side.

“Do you want me to tell you about it?”

Another hum, although this time he did allow himself to be disentangled from her so they could sit. Rowan pulled her legs up onto the cushions, leaning back against some of the pillows stacked against the arm of the couch as she balanced her book in her lap. “You know, now you’ll be a step closer to defeating the final boss in your game since I helped!”

Gavin laughed, switching on his game console. “I can’t imagine what I would do without you.”

She nodded. “Everything would be incredibly difficult for you. Especially that game.”

A snort, his hand flying up to cover his face as he laughed, curling over himself for a moment.

“What’s so funny?”

Gavin heaved a breath before shifting closer, patting her leg. “I’m just so happy I get to spend today with you.”

“Even if we’re hungover and we don’t do much?”

“I don’t need to do much,” he said, shaking his head. “Just getting to spend today with you makes me happier than I could ever imagine.”

Rowan covered her face as heat seeped into her cheeks. His words weren’t anything she hadn’t heard before, but every time he said something sweet she felt like she was melting. Like she would soon be a Rowan-shaped puddle on the heated floors.

“I love you,” he breathed, taking her hand and drawing it towards him, so he could brush his lips against her palm. “I love you entirely, with all of me.”

Rowan couldn’t stop the giggle that spilled from her lips. For a moment Gavin reminded her of a knight from a fairytale, or a chivalrous prince declaring his affections for a princess. Taking her hand to press a kiss to her skin, to murmur his love against her palm.

She could see it as clearly as a scene in a movie, as a drawn out description in a fantasy novel.

He blinked, his lashes catching the light and turning gold as they fluttered. There was a smugness to the curve of his lip, and although part of Rowan’s mind told her to withdraw her hand at once, she found that she couldn’t. His hand was too warm, and she liked being held by him too much.

“What are you thinking?”

She shrugged, flipping open her book with one hand. “Just this scene I’m on in my book.”

“I thought you were going to tell me about it.”

She looked up, slowly withdrawing her hand now so she could readjust. “Are you sure you want me to tell you about it?”

He nodded, propping his head up on his hand. “I do. I want to hear about the stories you like.”

She smoothed her hand over the page she had last read, collecting her thoughts for a moment. “Well, it’s inspired by the myth of…”

They spent the rest of the day on the porch together, talking, reading, passing the game console between them as Gavin moved up in levels and Rowan helped collect materials for potions and completed minigames. Sometimes they shifted between the couches, trying to find the best place to sit. Sometimes wrapping blankets around their shoulders or draping them over their legs.

Gavin finished his game by the time evening began to settle over the world, while Rowan had started on another book Gavin had gotten her as a gift. They paused long enough to make themselves dinner before returning to the covered porch, this time with a new board game to play together.

And when Gavin won they built a fort with the cushions and blankets. It had been a joke at first, Rowan boxing herself into a corner with pillows, feigning misery at three losses in a row.

“I want to watch ‘Legally Blonde’ to cheer up,” she had whined, right before Gavin had torn the pillows away and started building a much larger fort with them. He’d said something dorky, something that had made her cheeks burn and her heart stumble and her mind draw blank.

And once they had exhausted themselves making their fort, snuggled beneath the blanket ceiling to read a new book and start a new game, they went back inside. There was dessert to be had, and Gavin had promised they could watch any movie Rowan wanted that day. In repayment for his unbeatable winning streak in any game that they played.

Although they didn’t get more than halfway through their movie, night cloaking the world in its shadow, pallid light shimmering from the stars illuminating the darkness, before Gavin got to unwrap his own Christmas gift.

***

The second week of their vacation passed by in a blur of tangled limbs and nearly burnt meals and afternoons spent in the brisk winter air.

The day after Christmas they both felt like they needed to move, and after a small breakfast had agreed on skating and then hiking down one of the trails they hadn’t followed in the past. It curved to the left, rather than to the right like the path they normally took, and both Rowan and Gavin found themselves curious as to where it would lead.

But as they made their way outside, skates slung over shoulders, they were greeted by a small host of furry creatures. Squirrels gathered near the front door of the cottage, watching them in a silence that could have been disquieting in normal circumstances. But before Rowan could feel any amount of unease, Gavin was stuffing his hand in his pocket and tossing out a handful of pumpkin seeds, scattering them to the group of squirrels patiently waiting before them.

“I thought you didn’t want to feed the squirrels,” Rowan said, curious as she followed Gavin down to the frozen lake.

He shrugged, taking her gloved hand. “But you’ve been doing it for the last few days. And it’s made you happy, so I thought I would feed them too.”

She leaned against him, warm despite the freezing winds whipping against her face. He was sweet as spun sugar, as soft as down. She was so happy he was part of her life.

She shared her sentiments with him as they laced up their skates, earning a flushed-face Gavin who stammered over his words.

She adored this side of him too, she thought as she took his hand and began to glide across the frozen surface. The sweet, awkward side. The one that blushed when she told him he was cute, that he was precious, that he was sweet as candy that made her teeth ache.

They spent about an hour on the ice before Rowan’s stomach began to rumble, their small breakfast not doing much to keep her energized. And when they headed back to the cabin they were once more greeted by the group of squirrels, perched on the windowsill now, watching them curiously.

“I think they’re looking for a little lunch, too,” she mused, settling some pumpkin seeds on the ground a few feet away.

After a much heartier lunch, one that Gavin promised would keep her warm, the squirrels had vanished from the front of the cottage. But as they made their way down the snowy forest paths Rowan could have sworn she heard chittering in the trees, the forest seeming much more alive than it had the last few times they’d gone out for a hike.

The squirrels grew braver after that. Each morning when they went out, whether to lounge on the porch or step out for some fresh air, the squirrels would be waiting. Noses twitching, little paws poised to grab onto any food they set down for them.

One day Rowan and Gavin even decided to set out a small bowl just for the squirrels, so they knew exactly where the food would be. Like a little feeder just for their new furry friends.

After setting down the bowl a bit earlier than normal, Gavin suggested heading down to the lake one last time. They only had a few days left, and the weather was poised to turn strangely warm. So while they could still hike as the snow puddled beneath their feet and the icicles melted away, they would not be able to skate on the ice safely if it began to melt.

Rowan had wanted to perfect her jumps, or perfect her attempts at jumps. Gavin had been cheering her on, going so far as to film some of her best attempts, telling her how proud he was of her.

She’d tried to get him to skate with her, too. Like the couples’ skaters she’d seen on television, too. But while Gavin was quick to adapt to the ice, he still struggled to dance, falling over nearly as many times as she did.

But he always smiled, sometimes dragging her down with him, both of them laughing as ice and snow dusted their clothes and their hair. And still he tried, once he grew more comfortable, some of his nervousness released after the tenth or eleventh time he’d tumbled to the hard icy surface.

So they’d grabbed their skates, Rowan resolving to get Gavin to dance with her for at least ten minutes before they stumbled and fell onto the ice. And she resolved to try to land one jump perfectly, without stumbling, without falling on her ass.

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, in chattering away at Gavin, who always nodded and hummed as she spoke, she almost didn’t notice that they were being followed.

In fact, it wasn’t even until they were wobbling onto the ice, trying to once more get used to the strange feeling of gliding on thin blades, did Rowan notice the chittering and rustling behind them.

She turned, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, as a group of squirrels paused at the edge of the lake. She could swear that she saw consternation on their tiny faces as they studied the lake, then turned their dark eyes on her and Gavin.

“Babey, look,” she said, grasping his arm and pointing towards the tiny hoard. “Look at all our friends! They’re here to cheer you on.”

He arched a brow, gaze moving from the small creatures to Rowan’s face. “I don’t know if I want an audience.”

She squished his cheeks between her gloved hands, hoping the smile she gave was equal parts teasing and comforting. “Gavin, you’re wonderful in everything you do. And,” she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial breath now. “I don’t think the squirrels are going to judge your ice dancing abilities.”

He smiled then, his lips curving up like a crescent moon. “You might be right.”

“I am right,” she insisted. “And it’s not about being good, just about having fun, right?”

He pinched her side, the corners of his eyes creasing as he smiled wider. “Weren’t you the one who was out here saying you had to do those jumps perfectly?”

She wrinkled her nose, frowning at the horizon. “Well, they definitely won’t be perfect unless I take professional lessons, so I’m trying a new tactic.”

Another laugh, followed by his lips against her cheek. “Alright, I’ll follow your lead, then.”

The squirrels slipped to the back of their minds as they skated around for a while. Rowan stumbled on some of the bumps in the ice, but she’d grown used to them by now, and was able to correct herself before she fell over and smacked her face against the ice. Again.

And maybe she just wanted an excuse to hold Gavin’s hands, to catch the shy look that crossed his face as he tried something he wasn’t used to, something that he was a little clumsier at. It was usually followed by the sweetest expression, one of soft joy like sunshine creeping across a dawn sky, when he did something right.

The squirrels, for their part, continued to chitter and wander around the edge of the lake. A few even dared to skitter across the surface, sliding on their bellies when their paws slipped from under them.

Rowan watched, after falling so hard on her ass she saw stars swimming in her vision, three little squirrels struggling to right themselves as they slid across the frozen surface, squeaking as their tails flailed wildly.

She watched as Gavin took pity on the poor creatures, scooping them into his arms and depositing them back into the snow. They tensed when he drew near, but they were already far too frightened to do much else, and they let him lift them up and gently settle them back on the snow with the rest of their friends.

Rowan couldn’t help biting on her bottom lip as she watched Gavin help the wayward squirrels, warmth spilling from her heart like an overflowing glass. Like joy was a fizzing wine, and its warmth was spilling through her veins.

Catching sight of his gentle expression, the line between his brow and the cadence of his quiet murmurings as he calmed the stressed creatures as he carried them to the edge of the lake, her chest felt like it might burst. She wanted to hold him in her arms as tight as she could, wanted to run her fingers through his hair, wanted to squish his cheeks between her hands again.

She paused, humming as she flexed her fingers. Slowly drew herself to her feet before skating towards him. She could ignore the cuteness aggression. But she could also not, and she didn’t really want to ignore it right now. Not with the addition of all the layers he wore, and the dorky hat pulled over his head that made his bangs messy and cute, and the chunky scarf wrapped so high around his neck it almost hid his face.

“Babey!” She called, skating as fast as her wobbling legs would allow. How long had they been on the ice, anyways? The had long since felt the first bite of cold seeping through her clothes, and her body was just a little too numb for her liking.

They should probably go inside soon.

Although not yet.

He hummed, brows raised as he moved towards her. “What is it?”

She reached out her hands, smacking them on either side of his face, squishing his cheeks. “I just wanted to do this.”

He looked confused, lips sticking out in what might have been a pout, although she wasn’t entirely sure since she was pressing his cheeks with such force his mouth was squished along with them.

But after a moment his confusion melted away, muffled laughter and snorts spilling from him. His eyes squeezed shut, shoulders shaking as he laughed, mirth washing over his smushed face.

Rowan started giggling too, his face so cute and his laughter so delightful and silly that she couldn’t help herself. She dropped her hands, wrapping them around her belly as she snorted, gasping for breath as she laughed more.

Gavin took her hands then, bringing them up to his chest. There were red marks on his face from her hands, and he was still chuckling. “Happy now?”

“Yes, very.”

He squeezed her hands tight. “Good. Then we should probably go in for a bit. We’ve been out for a few hours and should warm up for a bit.”

Rowan let him drag her towards the edge of the lake, back towards the cottage. “Can I squish your face again?”

A small sigh passed his lips, and he looked at her over his shoulder, his gentle smile undercut by the mischief in his eyes. “You can do whatever you’d like.”

***

The next time they went hiking the squirrels were far less subtle about following them.

They didn’t hide in the trees, scampering around just out of sight, blending in with the muted browns of the forest.

Instead, they followed at Rowan and Gavin’s heels, chirping and chittering as they clung to the tree trunks closest to them, watching curiously as their whiskered noses twitched.

“I think we’ve made some new friends,” Rowan whispered, peeking over her shoulder to see a little black squirrel hopping through their boot-prints in the snow.

Gavin snorted, squeezing Rowan’s hand. “They probably just want more food.”

“No, no, they love you,” she insisted, ducking beneath a low hanging tree branch in their path. “You rescued a bunch of them from the lake. They’re obsessed with you now.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I doubt that. They’ve probably already forgotten.”

Watching the squirrels that followed them around the forest, Rowan wasn’t entirely sure Gavin was right. If they just wanted food they likely wouldn’t be following so closely. Or they would surely be trying to paw at them for food, the way Stella sometimes did when she was begging for treats.

“You’re like a disney prince,” she continued, removing her hand from his to wrap her arms around his waist. “They love you.”

Another eye-roll, a snort. “Should I sing to them next?”

“Well,” she drawled, squeezing his side. “I wouldn’t be opposed to you singing.”

She didn’t have to look at his face to know he was blushing. His ears, tucked beneath his heavy winter hat, were surely crimson by now.

“My voice isn’t that nice.”

“Well I think it’s wonderful.”

He sighed in defeat, patting her arm. “I’ll sing for you when we get back.”

“What about the squirrels?”

He chuckled, eying the squirrels practically dangling from a tree branch nearby. “I only like singing for you.”

She pinched his side, but only lightly, just enough for him to laugh as he pinched her back.

“You’re a dork, Gavin,” she teased, arms falling away to take his hand once more.

“But you love me?”

“Of course. How could I not?”

***

It wasn’t the watery morning light that drew Rowan from sleep, or the creaking sound of the cottage’s front door, or even the burst of cool wind that swept through the small building as the door closed.

Instead, it was the absence of Gavin’s arms. His soft breathing. His gently humming when he was trying to coax her awake.

Rowan sat up, eyes still blurry with sleep. She winced at the light, quickly scanning the room to see if Gavin was getting dressed, or perhaps on his way back from the bathroom.

But the bathroom was empty, and Gavin’s pajamas hadn’t been set to the side they way they were when he got dressed. There weren’t any sounds from the kitchen either, which meant he wasn’t trying to put together breakfast yet.

Rowan drew a soft blanket around her shoulders before descending from the bedroom into the main room of the cottage, sweeping her tired eyes around, frowning at the shadows in case Gavin was tucked away in one of them.

It took her tired mind a long, long moment to remember the sound of the front door opening and closing, the creak of the rusted hinges.

And it took her another long while to notice that Gavin’s boots were missing from the rubber mat near the door.

Rowan padded across the room, stuffing her feet in her own boots before trekking outside. She paused as she stepped onto the porch, the sunlight so much brighter with all the windows and crystals embedded in the glass casting miniature rainbows across every soft surface.

She narrowed her eyes, a soft melody seeping through the glass. She turned in the direction of the song, catching sight of Gavin’s figure through the windows.

Hiking the blanket higher around herself, Rowan shoved open the door, stepping out into the freezing morning air. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, sleep still clinging to her mind like ivy to an ancient home.

Gavin stood a few feet away from the door, his back turned to the cottage. A bowl of pumpkin seeds was in one hand, the other scattering seeds across the snowy ground. Squirrels surrounded him, a few even perching on his shoulder. And he was singing, one of her favourite songs, the melody warm and sweet as sun-warmed honey in his voice.

He turned at the sound of the door opening, his amber eyes, nearly gold as they caught the light, widening when they fell on her.

Rowan pulled the blanket tighter around herself, the urge to hold him tight in her arms nearly overwhelming her again.

“I was right,” she sang, before a yawn stole her voice for a moment. “You really are a disney prince.”

He smiled, soft as spun sugar, equally as sweet. “Does that make you my princess?”

She pressed her lips together to stop from smiling wider, rolling her eyes as heat crawled up her neck. “Perhaps, Gavin. Perhaps.”

He laughed, one of the squirrels pawing at his side, seemingly annoyed he had stopped singing, or feeding them treats. Or perhaps both.

He held out a hand towards her. “Then why don’t you join me, my princess.”And standing beneath the rising sun, his quiet singing still lingering in the wind, eyes shining, limned in light like something out of a fairytale, he really did look a little like a prince. And he was her prince. And how could she refuse?

[mrpuppeteer]

Chapter 3 - The Situation

As I looked across the papers on the wall, Emily explained to me the situation that was happening within this place. "I'm assuming you have seen the... bloody sets?" I paused and looked at Emily, "Yeah.." I replied. "That was the doing of "The AI".. A being that lives in the studio's electrical system... TVs... security system... etc.... We don't know for sure what happened but.. The theory is that The AI possessed some kind of electrical box in that room and... slaughtered all the humans there..." I looked at the papers, then back at Emily. "There were humans here?" I brought up. "Yes... This place was once a recording studio for a kids puppet TV show called "Our Wacky Life"... But once... that happened... this place was locked up... no one can get in.. or out..... We have no clue what the show was about or... anything like that... Or why The AI did what it did... All we have is speculation.." I paused and looked around. "Do you... Know why WE are alive?" I asked. "As I said.... We know almost nothing... All we really have to do is survive The AI's creations..." Emily replied. I thought about it for a moment, taking it all in. "Is there a... creation that has spider legs?" I asked. "You mean The Carpenter? Did you encounter it?!" Emily blurted. "...Yeah?" I replied, with a bit of worry. "How did you survive?! Nobody encounters The Carpenter and survives!!" Emily shouted. "I... kind of caved it's skull in.. with a wrench?" I cautiously replied with. "This is huge... You can help us!" Emily said. "Help you with... what exactly?" I said with confusion. "Well... Escaping!! Duh!! Oh and... figuring out why we are alive and all that... so yeah!" Emily shouted with excitement. Emily then ran into the stage area to tell Doc and Theo. I stayed in the paper covered room, looking at everything. It was so confusing... yet.. I understood at the same time... such a... weird feeling.. I looked at the big table in the middle of the room.. and I saw a paper saying "SO MANY QUESTIONS!! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!" With a picture of the bloody set from when I was chasing that "Carpenter" thing. I looked at it for a bit, trying to piece together things. It just... doesn't make sense... But still... nothing makes sense... I then went into the stage area once more, and saw Emily, Doc, And Theo celebrating me as their new team member. I felt... happy.. I'd never been loved like this before, nor have I ever been loved. Doc then called me over, I made my way over to the group and Doc said "I want to give you something." Doc then lead me to a new room, called the "Weapons Room" Doc then explained "These are weapons you can use to defend yourself. Not to brag but I made most of these with my own two hands!" Doc chuckled, he then handed me a fire axe with a little cylinder metal container attached to it. "This is a "Smoke Axe", It's just a regular Fire Axe with a smoke bomb mechanism attached to it. Use this to defend yourself if you ever are in a pickle." I looked at my new weapon, and then looked back up at Doc and said "Thanks for looking out for me." Doc then smiled and said "Anytime! It's my job after all." Doc then led me back to the stage. Emily then said "Nice weapon! Hey wait a sec.. Doc how come Oliver's first weapon is really sweet while my first weapon was a flimsy old knife?" Doc then chuckled and said "I didn't have a lot of experience back then." Emily rolled her eyes and snickered. Theo gave me a thumbs up, and I gave another one back. "Anyway, we should get down to business, Oliver, Follow me!" TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 4

[lionsvow]

THOUGH       ALL       BEFORE       ME       IS       SHADOW                  yet     shall     the     maker     be     my     guide.      i     shall     not     be     left     to     wander     the     drifting     roads     of       THE       BEYOND     !     for     there     is     no     darkness     in     the     maker’s     light     and     nothing     that     he     has     wrought                               SHALL       BE       LOST     !

CULLEN       RUTHERFORD     / /      PRIVATE    &     SELECTIVE     / /     TOLD     BY     DES.     ©