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sapphiics · 3 years

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Didn’t we almost have it

a/n: I heavily suggest listening to Dammit by Jana Kramer while reading this, it is where I got the entire plot from.

dt: to my dear @morcias because who else just loves morcia so much. plus I asked her a million questions to help me figure out details for this.

word count: 3k

content warning: it’s angsty(?) and quite sad but with a very happy ending.

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God did Penelope hate driving through Illinois.

The only reason she was coming back was for the bridal shower of a girlfriend from college, otherwise she would’ve stayed in California, where she was at least a good thousand miles away from this place.

All it did was make her nostalgic, almost painfully so. The entire state serving as a physical reminder of her old life. One she had not a chance in hell of getting back.

The urge to race her car to the nearest ‘Leaving Illinois’ sign coming over her yet again, Penelope makes a right turn onto Commonwealth avenue. Christina’s house was only five minutes from where she was.

It was the walkway that first drew her eye. A stone path, small flowers lining it. She could almost hear his heavy footsteps getting louder as he jogs to greet her, meeting Penelope in the middle with a chaste kiss as she hauls grocery bags under her arms, enough food for four.

As she nears closer, her eyes travel up the length of the two-story building, it’s utter perfectness painfully pressing into her like a stab to the gut. It took every ounce of restraint that she possessed not to slam the brakes and just gawk at the vision in front of her.

That was the house.

The dream house. The one the two of them fantasized about back in college. Penelope can practically see the late nights they spent in her dorm, cramped together on her twin bed, their fingers intertwined. His free hand running over her head, pushing her hair back behind her ear and tilting her into his shoulder. Hushed planning of their happily ever after. She can hear his voice whispering in her ear, about how they would have two perfect daughters. He would be a FBI agent, and she would work for a nonprofit organization. He’d cook, she’d clean, he would take care of the lawn, she’d do the laundry.

That was the plan. Their own special, simple, linear plan.

Until real life happened, essentially taking those plans and throwing it off a cliff. That’s all it was now, a pretty daydream to keep Penelope from having to accept the fact that nothing in her life is going like she hoped, and she’s probably going to end up alone.

None of that stopped her from turning into the lot of the house, the door slightly cracked open. A large ‘For Sale’ sign hung on it.

Giving her the perfect opportunity to see what she could’ve had. To spend a few fleeting moments dreaming of the life she would’ve had with him.

Finally found that dream house, and yet the dream guy was long gone.

Her hands shakier than she would’ve liked, Penelope slowly steps out of her car, the two story home everything she ever envisioned.

The path up to the house was lined with daffodils, she could see as she passed them. The front door was a smooth dark brown. Solid wood, contrasting with the otherwise creme exterior of the house.

That would’ve been his touch. He always liked that building and renovating stuff, she could almost hear him begging her to let him remodel the place. To really ‘make it their home.’

The entrance didn’t nothing to deter her, the arching ceilings and oak floors straight out of her most vivid dreams. The arches reminded her of college. Charles Deering Memorial Library, to be specific. She had always liked the gothic architecture, and even he could admit that the towering building’s medieval influence was well executed. And that chill day in March, the ninth, to be exact, when they first met. She was working there part-time, and he needed something from the football archives.

It was his smile that drew her in, his eyes drawn up real small as he flashed her two rows of perfect teeth.

What she would give for one of those smiles right about now.

An embarrassingly loud gasp left her mouth as she walked in further. Ahead of her were a pair of large black couches, perpendicular to each other. A grand fireplace in front of them, an open space perfect for a nice big flat screen.

Hockey. That’s what would be playing. He was huge on the sport, and her mind drifted to an image of the two of them sitting on the couch. Him in a worn out jersey and his lucky socks, her in his beat leather jacket, feet propped up in his lap. She has headphones and her knitting, he has a beer she steals sips of and has a loose grip on her ankle, his fingers pressing against the small tattoo she got the day she turned eighteen. Just like old times.

Without even glimpsing at the side door that led to the kitchen, Penelope could already visualize him sitting on the counter. A soft white tee and some sweatpants, strumming on her ukulele and singing some old 90s ballad off key while she chopped vegetables. Later that night, after their girls went to bed, the two of them dancing together to her parents’ old record player. An old Bee Gees song softly in the background as they sway.

Her mind racing, she’s already thinking of summer barbecues. Her and JJ drinking margaritas in the shade, their children’s laughter bringing a grin to her face. Him talking it up with Rossi about god knows what as he mans the grill. The sun setting as he takes a seat next to her, tugging her into his side and placing a small kiss on the side of her head.

The overwhelming realization that Penelope is never going to get that future, never going to have the future she so desperately wanted with him, hit her harder than ever in that moment.

And next thing she knows she can feel tears running down her cheeks. Alone, in the middle of an open house in the one state, the one city she vowed to never return to, and she’s sobbing like a baby.

“Well Hello Miss!” ,a kind old woman steps out, shocking Penelope back to reality, “You here for the house?”

“Yes,“ she says softly, hastily wiping at her face, “Yes I am. Just a quick look around.” Her hands swipe at her dress, trying to regain even a semblance of composure, “You have a beautiful home.”

The woman casts her a sympathetic smile,

“Thank you. Me and Sarah have lived here for over forty years. We raised our five children in these very walls,” the lady beams, a smile coming over her face as she looks around the room,

“We figured that with them all gone and us not getting any younger, we could downsize just a bit.”

Penelope let out a polite laugh, but stayed silent otherwise.

“You stay for as long as you like! My name’s Carolyn by the way. Let me know if you need anything!”

“Penelope, and thank you,” she smiles at her, Carolyn returning to the back of the house.

Penelope’s eyes catch onto the grand staircase, passing over the perfect crème walls and carpet flooring.

Her feet moved towards it, the view before her so accurate to her vision that it was like somebody reached into her brain and pulled out the design themselves. She needed to have this place.

Right before she can take a step on the stairs, she sees Carolyn return, a dimmed smile on her face.

“I’d like to buy the house,” Penelope states confidently. She couldn’t possibly leave here without having it.

It didn’t matter that she lived across the country, with decent enough friends and a steady job. This was the house, and if she had the chance to get at least one part of the dream, she damn sure was going to take the opportunity.

Carolyn winces, a regretful look on her face. “I’m so sorry Penelope, we just had somebody place an offer for it.”

“Oh,” Penelope’s eyes widen slightly, and she can feel the tears pushing their way to the surface. For just a second, she let herself get entranced by the home, and it hurt more than she was willing to admit that she couldn’t have it.

“Are you looking for a similar house ? There’s one just in Fullerton Road, and I believe it is on sale.”

“No I… I just got caught up,” Penelope waves her hand around the side of her head, her cheeks turning red, “It’s okay, an amazing family deserves this home.”

“Actually, the young man who purchased the place is with Sarah in the back right now. He’s already thinking of renovating the place.”

“Sounds great,” Penelope mused, wanting to be anywhere but here. At least a loving family is getting this house. She just hoped they were as happy as she once imagined she would be.

“Here they are,“ Carolyn announces, adding to Penelope’s discomfort. She had to leave, and fast. The last thing she wanted to see was the happy husband who bought this place to catch her, essentially a random stranger, crying in his kitchen.

“Is your family nearby? Why didn’t they come?” A woman, Penelope could only assume was Sarah, Carolyn’s wife, was talking to the new owner of the house. Penelope stiffened, the awkwardness of the situation palpable.

A deep laugh comes from the other person, and she could hear the two people approaching. “Nope, I’m a single man.”

“What the hell did you need such a big house for then?” Sarah quips.

“Just,” the guy takes a resigned breath, “Just wishful thinking I guess.“

Penelope could hear her heartbeats, the sound thrumming loudly in her ears. She shut her eyes, squeezing them to the point of something akin to pain. This couldn’t be happening. This could just be a terrible dream, and when she opened them, she would be waking up in her apartment. Back home, where she was away from her old life here. Safely away from the love of her life, whose voice she just heard for the first time in five years.

“Sarah, this is Penelope. She just stopped by to look at the house.”

Penelope reluctantly turns, peeling her eyes open. To her disappointment, she was still standing in the swept sold house. Still back in her college town.

Still right in front of her ex-fiancé, one she’s just as irrevocably in love with as she was the day he proposed.

“Derek,” she lets out quietly, drinking in everything about him. He’s only gotten better-looking, and Penelope has always been attracted to him.

It was his face, his eyes to be specific, that captured her in this moment.

Because instead of the resentment and anger she had expected, she had deserved, all that was there was a small shimmer of hope. A sliver of hope that she almost cried tears of relief at seeing. Hope she had given up on ever having until she saw it in his face. The same look reflected in her own eyes.

“Penelope.”

His voice usually stern, she can hear the small waver in his tone. Like he’s just as affected by her as she is him.

Even after all these years, she can’t help but melt when it comes to Derek. It was like her innermost self just knew him, recognized that he, no matter how far apart they were, was always going to have a part of her heart. A power over her that she would never give to any other person.

Yet looking into Derek’s eyes, the only man to ever capture her heart, Penelope could’ve sworn he was feeling the same way she did.

“So, um, we’ll just leave you two for now,” Carolyn’s eyes clearly wide as she drags her wife outside of the kitchen, leaving the pair alone together.

Derek walks a couple steps closer to her, the smell of nice cologne wafting to her nose as he moves near.

He opened his mouth, almost as if he were about to start speaking, but Penelope catches his small sigh and the twitch of his hands.

They were so close, closer than they had been in years, yet that short distance felt wider than the thousands of miles she had made sure to have between them for the past half a decade.

The lack of touch. That’s what was halting them.

They were always touching one another. It was an unspoken language, just for the two of them to understand.

To be so close yet not touching, it felt so inorganic to Penelope, so abnormal.

Penelope looks just a little off to the right of him, his presence too overwhelming. He was examining her, and the quiet was anxious.

“Why didn’t you take the ring?” Derek spits out, his low voice subdued by the hurt she could just hear in his voice. “ I could handle how you left, no note or calls. But you left me your ring Penelope.”

She thought she was prepared for this, the anger he would have for her. But hearing the words in real time, from Derek himself, made her stomach turn. A ball of nausea tossed in her stomach, Derek’s pain something that never failed to physically wound Penelope.

“Derek...,” her heart breaking at how much she affected him.

“Did I,” he pauses, sucking in a shallow breath, “Did we mean that little to you?”

“No.” She locks onto his eyes at that, holding his stare. “You- us, that was everything to me.” A fierceness was in her voice that shocked her, and at the look of his slightly widened stare, she wasn’t the only one. The idea that Derek for a second could fathom the idea that he wasn’t the love of her life, her soulmate, was a stake to the heart.

“Was it marriage? Was it not wanting to be married? Because you could’ve told me.”

Surprising her own self, she moves in a half-step, her hands enclosing one of Derek’s clenched ones. Her fingers act on instinct, sliding through his, rubbing her thumb on the back of his index finger. Five years and his fingers still naturally close around hers .

Her teeth firmly sunk into the flesh on the back of her lip, she peers up at Derek, his expression unreadable. He was always better at the reading people thing, it was like second nature to him.

“I promise you, Derek Morgan, there is nothing I have ever wanted more than to marry you.”

Feeling his hand tighten around hers, glancing up to see his brows pulling together, she pushes on, needing to express to him her every feeling. “ You didn’t deserve what I did, and there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by when I didn’t feel like the luckiest person in the world to have such an amazing guy.”

“ I am so,” words that she’s been practicing for years suddenly getting clogged in her throat, making every word come out like a croak, “ so sorry for ever hurting you.”

Tears burning behind her eyes, nothing stuns her more than when Derek cups her face, his large palm enclosing her cheek as he runs his fingers lightly through her hair.

“Is it the house?”

Taken aback, Penelope jolts her head upward. “What?”

His hand now on her shoulder, he turns her to the right, giving her a wider view of the home.

“Is it the right house?”

“It’s the perfect house.” Her voice trailing off at the end.

She faces Derek, his lips pressed together like he’s trying not to say something.

“We could- we could still have it.” His eyes looking at their hands, in a way that was so unlike him, Penelope didn’t dare try to assume anything about what his words meant.

“Have what?” her attempt to keep her voice even failing miserably. Averting his stare, her eyes land on his neck, where a thin gold chain rests.

A chain that had something that looked dangerously similar to a ring hidden under his shirt.

He looks to where she’s staring, a bald-faced look on her face, and his fingers pull out the necklace to reveal a gold wedding band. The one she bought for him, with the special engraving on the inside.

Through the tears rapidly coming to her eyes, she could see Derek’s face. And the vulnerability and love that shined from him to her

Because he kept it. Even in his clear anger and hurt, the heartbreak she put him in, he kept her ring.

“The plan.” Derek reaches behind his neck, his fingers reaching to the clasp of the necklace. “The big wedding, the two girls,” He slides the ring off of the chain, twirling it round in his hand. “Our dream.” He finally places the ring in her hands, gently closing her fingers around it.

Her mouth falling slightly open, Penelope slowly blinks three times. The words that just came out of his mouth so unbelievable that her brain was taking some time to catch up. She pulls her lip sideways into her mouth, too nervous to say anything.

His hands come up on each side of her face, a tender clasp that lets him turn her head up towards him.

“I never gave up on you, on us.” He lets out a sad laugh, “ Hell, I’m here about to buy a house just to try and get a piece of that dream.”

Penelope bobs her head slightly back, the shock of what’s happening still getting to her. “You really still want it?”

And Derek, bless his sweet soul, just looks at her with a small smile resting on his lips. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing babygirl,” the sound of his old nickname for her better than anything she’s heard the last few years, “that I want more than to be with you for the rest of my life.”

A matching smile coming to her mouth, she brings Derek’s left hand down to her own, and slides the wedding band on to his ring finger.

A soft cry breaks from her lips, and she feels nothing other than pure joy when he leans down, taking her lips in a sweet kiss.

Maybe, just maybe, they can have it after all.

————

taglist: @alexandrablake @lavenderbau @suburban--gothic @altsvu @rem-ariiana @vhsrights @spelleaway @willlemonheadsupremacy @ssaevie @literatekayla @criminalswifts @hotchshoney @moreidsdaughter @reidtheprettyboy

#morcia #derek morgan #penelope garcia #penelope garcia fanfiction #derek morgan fanfiction #criminal minds #cm #grace writes #morcia fanfiction #fic rec #userchips #useryash #userjemilyology #userluthor #userablake

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violetmuses · 2 years

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Shattered - Finale || Rick Flag (A "Parachute" Drabble)

Author’s Note: Here’s the finale! Thanks so much for reading.

J Krew: @nerdysuperchick @a-reader-and-a-writer @babblydrabbly @lacontroller1991 @shadowkittybucky @loverhymeswith @fairchildflag @justin-hammers @weallhaveadestiny

=====

2021

Lorraine Tucker-Flag

“I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” - Paulo Coelho

“Hey,” His voice rasped as soon as Rick reached out to caress my cheek. Quite some time had passed since we “surprised” Griggs down in Louisiana at Belle Reve.

“Hey, how’d you sleep?” I had woken up during another early morning to find the blankets rustling towards me, noting that Rick was still with me. Alive.

Despite the lies with madness around his survival, it was still a miracle and I’d stay thankful for the rest of my own life.

“Good. You?” Rick asked. The brief question to me was small, nearly coy.

“Good.” I repeated his answer.

“Uh-uh. Surgery or not, I know when you lie.” His brows furrowed, but he still held my cheek, forcing us to continue this eye contact. That perfect hazel gaze bore into my soul, immediately acknowledging my worry.

“Rick, I know that you’re fine, but what about Waller? She tried taking you down and could’ve won.” I dared to sit up against our pillows and leave his warm embrace.

“Karma is real, Lori. Let God deal with her, not you.” Rick assured, hoping that my own nerves would calm down in one way or another.

“You sure we can’t do anything?” I narrowed my eyes, facing Rick through blurred vision because I hadn’t put in my contacts yet.

“Yes, Lorraine.” Rick set his lips onto my shoulder and hugged me from behind. “The last thing I want is to survive this shit and lose you for real this time just because we’re mad at somebody else.”

“Damn, you’re good.” I almost fell back against his chest.

“I know. Now come back here.” His Southern accent showed up once more, teasing me as usual.

_____

“Late morning?” I messed with him while eating breakfast with Rick during one of my only days off from working at the diner.

“Late mornings are so much better than not waking up at all.” Rick drank from this glass of water, reminding me of his mother’s words.

“Amen. I'm definitely not complaining.” I cut into these waffles, noticing how light our backyard sparkled.

“Barbecue today? It’s warm enough outside.” It was long before he then prompted me to laugh.

“Hell yeah.” I said, knowing that he was already thinking of both lunch and dinner at the same time.

Here was my best friend. This man was one pure goofball who acted like a genuine sweetheart after taking off the uniforms and anger.

______

It wasn’t some kind of neighborhood affair. We strictly fired up the grill and hustled in that kitchen just to be “selfish.” After Rick spent so much time facing dietary restrictions Post-Op from medical staff, this “clearing” finally brought him back.

Yet, the highlight of that day was how he awkwardly danced around the living room while eating from this bowl of a Low-Country Boil. Learning his mother’s recipe was so worth it.

“I missed this so much! Momma would be so proud. Thank you, Darlin’.” He spoke up between bites and looked at me with the clearest expression of joy on his face.

“You’re welcome.” I nodded, watching as Rick adorably forked this piece from the bowl and ate once more, closing both eyes.

At that moment, I saw his mother, the same woman who smiled with tears in her eyes when I exchanged vows with her son five years earlier.

Her beautiful, upstanding, gracious son.

_____

“No meal prepping again for a while, girl. To be honest, I think we just cooked enough food for two neighborhoods.” He joked after we cleaned up this kitchen together and “restocked that fridge, sitting in the living room once more.

“Good. We could always send containers for people, though.” I suggested. Rick nodded, glancing between me and the basketball game playing out on television.

“Yep.” Rick said, holding my hand just when OKC Thunder lost the game.

“Shit.” I shook my head, but Rick turned off the television anyway and pivoted his attention right back towards me.

“Want ice cream?” He offered another childlike question as we stood together from the couch.

“Sure, but let me get this straight: Near-death scenarios and heart surgery won’t stop you from spoiling me, Flag?” I scoffed, humored.

“No, Ma’am. Cookie Dough or Rocky Road?” Rick let go of my hand just to reach into the freezer and lift two small pints.

“Haven’t had Rocky Road in a while. Hand it over.” I smiled once more, laughing when Rick took some Cookie Dough in return.

_____

“Baby?” He turned in bed later that night, shirtless and almost hiding my chest as we held each other close.

“Yeah?” I glanced down with barely enough room to run my fingers through strands of his blondish hair now.

“I’m out. I’m done. Soon, I’ll be resigning from Waller for good.” He sat up after allowing himself to leave my arms, but sounded determined.

“Are you sure?” I watched him.

“Yes.” He repeated himself from earlier this morning. “I love you too much to put up with this shit anymore.”

“All right.” I agreed with him by giving another kiss

****

Just days later, Rick walked down steps of one federal building in Midway, perfectly suited rather than armored to make his last good impression. I stood near flattened stairs that bottomed out, ditching my server uniform and dressed in heels this time.

“It’s over.” Rick smiled, opening both arms to give this embrace that rocked me back and forth.

We didn’t even care about onlookers who would’ve immediately asked too many questions.

“How’d she take it?” I asked, walking hand in hand towards the parking garage that loomed across this same street.

“We were professional, but I really don’t care.” Rick laughed once more as we climbed into his truck, blasted music, and drove off, never to see Waller again.

#parachute drabbles #shattered #lori and rick #black oc #canon x oc #oc x canon #rick flag #interracial

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kookie-doughs · 3 years

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Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader -Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 11: Prepare For Trouble And Make It Double

In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day. Which was actually what's happening. So there we were, Annabeth, Percy, Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses. Percy and I walked side by side with our hand still connected. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once. I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better. "All our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything." "Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—" "What did you want me to do? Let you guys get killed? I was not going to leave Y/N." "You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine." "Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine." "Shut up, goat boy," I said. Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans... a perfectly good bag of tin cans." We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry. After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to Percy. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave." "We're a team, right?" She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world." The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. Do you want to see?

Yeah that would be nice.

It was as if it was morning, I could see everything clearly. I wandered my head to make sure I could see everything. This is cool. "You okay?" Percy asked. "Yeah," Not really a fan of the current silence I turned to Annabeth. "You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her. "No... only short field trips. My dad—" "The history professor." "Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not." If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice. "You're pretty good with that knife," I said. "You think so?" "Yeah maybe you can teach me some tricks. "Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." Percy smiled. I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled. "You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you... Something funny back on the but..." Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured. "Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!" He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. Seeing a tree coming up I tried to pull Percy to avoid it but Percy immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on his head. I suppressed my laugh by covering my mouth which made Percy glare at me. After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food. I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill, where we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. This kid needed a double cheeseburger. >We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell. It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English. To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM. "What the heck does that say?" I asked. "I don't know," Annabeth said. She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too. Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken. I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers. "Hey..." Grover warned. "The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open." "Snack bar," I said wistfully. "Snack bar," Percy agreed. "Snack bar," Annabeth joined. "Are you three crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." We ignored him. The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" We stopped at the warehouse door. "Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters." I turned to look at my knife. It had a light glow emitting from it. Probably because it was sheathed. "I think there's monsters." I was now reluctant and sided with Grover. "Grover's nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?" "Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian." "You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.. "Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me."

"Percy, I don't think---"

"It'll be fine." Percy took my hand and went in. Be careful and don't look. Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman—at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady. >Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?" "They're... um..." Annabeth started to say. "We're orphans," I said. "Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!" "We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?" "Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area. We thanked her and went inside. Annabeth muttered to Percy, "Circus caravan?" "Always have a strategy, right?" "Your head is full of kelp." The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. I was anxious so I tighten my grip on Percy. It's stupid for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because we were hungry. For a child of Athena, Annabeth sure isn't making wise decisions. I mean yeah I agree, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair—it made everything else go away. But Grover's nervous whimpers, and the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, to add the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us. Made me more cautious. Sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front. "Please, sit down," Aunty Em said "Awesome," Percy said. "Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am." Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans." "Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said. Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, I had to turn to Annabeth to check if there was something wrong with her.. Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves. "Percy, I want to leave..." I whispered. "Just a few bites Y/N. Don't worry." He gave me a reassuring pat. Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries. I wasn't gulfing down my food like Percy was. Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat. Annabeth slurped her shake. "What's that hissing noise?" he asked. I listened, but didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head. "Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover." "I take vitamins. For my ears." "That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax." I don't like it here. I'm scared. Be wary of all things. Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, and I figured the least I could do was try to make small talk with our hostess. "So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested. "Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know." "A lot of business on this road?" "Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get. My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues. But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified."Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face." "You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked. "Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?" "It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price." Annabeth gave me a look of worry. I knew she realized something. "Percy?" I shook him to get his attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting." Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything. "Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those." She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly. "We really should go." "Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!" "Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?" "A pose?" Annabeth asked warily. "A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children." Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—" "Sure we can," Percy said. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" "Percy, I don't want to..." "It's just a photo guys." "Indeed it is just a photo Y/N," the woman purred. "No harm." I could tell Annabeth didn't like it as well, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues. Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girls in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side." "Not much light for a photo," I remarked. But joke's on her I could see quite clearly. Don't look. "Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?" "Where's your camera?" Grover asked. Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?" Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand." "Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear." She still had no camera in her hands. "Percy—" Annabeth said. "I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil...." "Percy, something's wrong," I insisted. "Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?" "That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped. DON'T LOOK. Annabeth turned to my direction, "Look away from her!" she then shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and and I pulled Percy with me. We were on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet. I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in another. "Percy, we have to move!" I shook him. But he was too dazed to move. Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. Percy was about to look higher then her hands and I instinctively covered his eyes. "Don't look!" More rasping—the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from... from about where Aunty Em's head would be. "Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers. "Percy we have to move please!" "Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she said soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up." "Percy please!" Percy pushed my hand away and looked to one side. I turned to look as well and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens— a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents. Aunty Em. Aunty "M." How did Medusa die in the myth? But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face. "The Gray-Eyed One did this to me," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this." "Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Y/N carry Percy!" "Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer. We won't even hurt, Y/N." I swung Percy's arm around my shoulder. But he was too heavy. "No," he muttered trying to make his legs move... "Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain." "Y/N!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, "Duck!" I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone. "Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!" I tackled Percy to the other side. Thwack! Then Medusa roared with rage. "You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!" "That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back. Pulling along an out of a dazed Percy we scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass. Ker-whack! "Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting. Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Y/N! Percy!" Percy jumped so high his feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!" Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. 'You have to cut her head off." "What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here." "Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You—you've got a chance." "What? I can't—" "Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?" She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster. Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—" "Would you speak English?" "I am!" She tossed him the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly." "Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!" "Roooaaarrr!" "Maybe not," Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch. "Hurry," Annabeth told him. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash." Percy took out his pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide showed. He turned to me and gave the glass then offered a hand. "Percy you can't be seriously bring her along!?" "I'll go with him." Taking his hand, we followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair. I raised the glass so I could guide us. I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her. Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!" Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!" We advanced on her. I had let go of Percy's hand to bring out my knife. So if she charged, I could help Percy. But she let us approach—twenty feet, ten feet. I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really that ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse. "You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't." I could tell he hesitated. From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!" Medusa cackled. "Too late." She lunged at him with her talons. I ran and raised my knife to block her talons, Percy then swung his sword, then we heard a sickening shlock!, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating. Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces. "Oh, yuck," Percy said. His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck." Annabeth came up next to us, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move." >Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice. "Are you okay?" Percy asked me, his voice trembling. "Yeah," I decided. "Why didn't... why didn't the head evaporate?" "Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you." Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head. "The Red Baron," Percy said. "Good job, man." He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun." He snatched his shoes out of the air. "I didn't know Grover got Luke's shoes." Percy recapped his sword. "I can't fly." He shrugged. Together, the four of us stumbled back to the warehouse We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak. Finally Percy said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him." "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa." Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'" "Forget it," I said. "You're impossible." "You're insufferable." "You're—" "You're both loud and stupid." I growled. "Yeah!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?" I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS! I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest, for getting us blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp. At this rate, we'd never make it to L.A. alive, much less before the summer solstice. What had Medusa said? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Percy and I shared a look. We got up. "I'll be back." "Percy, Y/N," Annabeth called after me. "What are you—" We searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden. According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket. In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins. "Found one." Percy called. We went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip: The Gods >Mount Olympus 600th Floor, >Empire State Building New York, NY With best wishes, PERCY JACKSON <3 Y/N L/N "They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent." I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop! "I am impertinent," Percy said. I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize. She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that we had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Great, well Fred and George," she muttered. "We need a new plan."

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UwU bb I'm just licherali rippin off now srry -kookie-doughs

Taglist?

@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000

#Percy Jackson #Percy Jackson X Reader #Percy Jackson X Y/N #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #luke castellan #Luke castellan x reader #Lightning thief #Y/N L/N #Y/N L/N and the halfbloods #Fanfiction #fanfictions #X Reader #Chapter 11 #Book 1

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aion-rsa · 2 years

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The Undemanding Joys of a Harlan Coben Thriller

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It’s no accident that Harlan Coben’s Stay Close lands on Netflix on the 31st of December. That’s a precision release strategy calibrated to hit the exact spot between viewers’ reduced mental capacity and increased desire to gaze upon luxurious marble kitchen islands on the last day of the year. A Harlan Coben thriller is succour to a weakened state. With their gentle, leafy suburbs and upper middle-class homes – every soft-close cabinet of which is squirming with secrets – they make a binge-watch par excellence. Nothing nails you to your sofa quite like a ludicrously unlikely drama about people with big houses and dark pasts.

From Safe to The Five, The Stranger, and soon, Stay Close, here’s what makes the English-language Harlan Coben adaptations addictive yet undemanding viewing.

They’re all essentially the same

20 years ago: a Thing! Today: that Thing has returned to haunt someone living in a well-appointed six-bed with double garage and curb appeal. Over the course of eight-10 episodes, a long-buried secret will worm its way to the surface, threatening to leave muddy footprints all over the protagonist’s Land Rover Discovery and De’Longhi coffee machine. Will they ultimately end up the better for the Thing coming out? Probably, yes. But will life ever be the same again? It will not.

The secrets!

Secrets are the perennial theme of a Harlan Coben thriller, which all take the stance that we can never really know anybody. That nice lady in the PTA? Once ran a brothel. Your kids’ badminton coach? Did a hit-and-run aged 18. The helpful receptionist at the gym? She’s actually your daughter. Pick up and shake any character and they’ll rattle with at least one secret that will work its way out by the end.

The plots are essentially updated versions of 19th century novels about well-to-do women hiding scandalous pasts and mayors who once drunkenly gambled away their wife and kids. Everybody is connected to everybody else through a sticky web of past events. And once you’ve got the hang of the lurid tone, there’s a relaxing predictability about it all, not dissimilar to watching a cooking show. Here are the many characters, all measured out in neat little bowls, now tip them into the pot, stir, heat and voila! Simmering secret stew.

The twists!

Some thrillers are content with just one big twist, delivered right at the end. Not the Harlan Coben genus. The sheer density of secrets per character results in an average of three to five twists per episode, including a cliff-hanger. Once things really get going, not ten minutes will go by without somebody shouting “You’re my dad!” or “I left you for dead!” Value for money.

The Stranger Review: A Binge-Worthy UK Thriller

By Louisa Mellor

Netflix’s The Stranger: What’s Been Changed from the Book

By Louisa Mellor

The unexpectedly weird bits

It’s not all lacrosse team barbecues and corpses in the boot of company SUVs. Every so often in the translation between these novels’ US origins and the UK adaptation by Danny Brocklehurst and team, arrives a pleasingly bonkers element. The Stranger featured a beheaded alpaca named after a member of Take That, and Stay Close has a pair of weirdo villains named Ken and Barbie who feel as though they’ve drifted in from another show entirely. And speaking of surprises…

Unexpected comedy highlights

You may not expect to find actual Jennifer Saunders or actual Eddie Izzard among the casts of a UK TV crime thriller, but find them you will, and a delight they are too. Saunders plays cafe owner Heidi in The Stranger, and Izzard (whose drama back catalogue is pretty extensive by now) plays a high-functioning addict and pro-bono lawyer in Stay Close. Both are great, as tend to be the female police officers in these series. Siobhan Finneran, Amanda Abbington, Jo Joyner all play no-nonsense coppers that, dark secrets notwithstanding, you’d happily invite on a mates’ night out.

The houses

If anything will teach you that money and a massive house won’t buy you happiness, it’s a Harlan Coben thriller. That said, the massive houses in leafy expensive suburbs where women answer the door in luxe workout gear saying things like “Sorry for the outfit, I’m doing boxercise” are relaxing to look at in the extreme. See-through kettles, over-sized arty glass bowls, Italian marble kitchens and bi-fold doors leading onto sunny terraces… it’s like flicking through a copy of Homes & Gardens in the dentist’s waiting room: drama and pain are on their way, but first enjoy this tasteful patio set.

Answers are guaranteed

The three states of watching a Harlan Coben thriller are: confused, suspicious, or asleep. Viewers though, can rest assured that after devoting hours of baffled dozing suspicion to a series, there will be concrete answers. Tony-Soprano-in-the-diner ambiguity is not the game here. These thrillers are assiduous about providing an explanation for every little mystery, even if that does tend to turn the dialogue into a shopping list by the end.

The same dogged approach is taken to character. Everybody can be explained in their entirety by up to three defining incidents from their past, including but not limited to: murder, accidental murder, murders they thought they committed but it turns out they didn’t, and murders they did commit and are now currently investigating in their job as a police detective. It all runs along nicely uncomplicated lines: guilt either makes people turn bad (they run a bar) or turn good (they volunteer for a charity). No, none of it quite plumbs the depths of human experience, but there’s something satisfying about the black and whiteness of it all.

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Harlan Coben’s Stay Close comes to Netflix on December 31st.

The post The Undemanding Joys of a Harlan Coben Thriller appeared first on Den of Geek.

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rmg91 · 4 years

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It Shouldn’t Be This Hard

(To Propose To Your Girlfriend)

LOOK! I WROTE SOMETHING! I AM NOT DEAD! Just still distracted by the RP with Autumn. It's too fun, can you blame me? We have such a cute universe happening. Anyway, the muses finally spoke to me and I've been wanting to do a 5+1 for a while now and the right idea came to me. And while this may be a little late it's also my Broppy Day submission. Although when you ship Broppy, everyday is Broppy Day XD

So without future ado, enjoy!

AO3/FF.net

~*~*~*~*~RMG~*~*~*~*~

This was it. This was the night Branch Hawthorn was finally going to propose to his girlfriend of two years, Poppy Meadows. Everything was going to plan and for that Branch was grateful for as he was nervous enough as it was. Both he and Poppy had been able to leave their respective works early to get ready, although Poppy just believed tonight was a fairly normal date night. Then, looking their best and with clear starry night above them, they gotten to Trollington's best restaurant, Chez L'amour, with minimal traffic interference and their reservation had not been lost or given away, things Branch had worried about. Now, with their belly's full of warm delicious food and wine -though Poppy was always quick to assure Branch his cooking was still her very favorite- and dessert on the horizon, Branch was ready to take the plunge.

The mood was perfect, candlelight gleamed and a soft melody was echoing around them and Poppy was looking so beautiful with her bright pink hair pulled up with some strands framing her heart-shaped face and her freckles lit up by the flickering candles and her own bright smile. And her eyes, those beautiful, amber eyes that he just loved to get lost in, were shining with warmth and love just for him. And that was something he still couldn't get over, after all those years of pining and yet so sure he didn't deserve her, he had gotten the girl of his dreams and she loved him. And he hoped she accepted what he was about to ask.

Reaching out across the table, Branch took her hand in his as he returned her smile and hoped the nervousness he felt wasn't obvious. He must have been doing a good job of hiding it so far but he didn't want her to notice now before he had a chance to ask. And maybe it was a little cliché to ask in a romantic restaurant setting but he had spent weeks thinking about this and building up his confidence and he wasn't about to chicken out now. Given her hand a squeeze, he took a sip of his water to wet his throat before speaking, “Enjoy your dinner?” Start small, don't jump into it. All part of the plan.

His gorgeous pinkette grinned and nodded, “Yup! And I can't wait for dessert! I have been dreaming about their triple layer strawberry chiffon cake all week!” She took a sip of her wine before returning his squeeze of their hands before a playful smirk overcame her face and she cupped her chin in her head as she leaned over the table, “You know...You never did tell me why you decided this would be our date destination~ What made you choose the fancy place?”

Branch chuckled and hoped it sounded normal, it sounded off to him, but he simple shrugged and tried not to look away from those wonderful and curious eyes, “What? Can't a boyfriend treat his girlfriend to a fancy dinner once in a while? Plus I know how much you love to dress up, thought it be nice.” And he had a small square box burning a hole in his pocket, just waiting to be pulled out. Absolutely nothing unusual going on. Nope. “And have I mentioned just how beautiful you look tonight? Because you do, absolutely stunning~” He even raised her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles softly to complete his statement.

“Stooop~” She giggled, that perfect sound the best kind of music to his ears as a light blush dusted her cheeks, “Keep talking like that and you might get lucky tonight~”

“I'm already lucky~” And he was. So, so lucky that this brilliantly bright and bubbly woman had not only healed his torn soul and made him want to live rather than just survive but had given her heart fully to him to hold and cherish. Something he did every day so thankfully and would hopefully get to do well into the future together with matching rings on their fingers. Taking what he hoped was a subtle deep breath, for this was it, he wouldn't get a better time to, Branch opened him mouth to begin his speech, something he had been working painstakingly on for months, pretty much since he decided he was going to propose, but was interrupted by the sound of applause.

He and Poppy, who took her hand back to turn around, looked at the reason for it at another table where another couple sat. A brunette man down on one knee was slipping a ring on the happily crying blonde woman's finger as the other patrons clapped for them. Poppy bounced in her seat, adding to the applause, cooing before she spun back around, “Isn't that sweet?! I'm so happy Oak finally proposed! Oh, Daffodil must be so happy! Isn't that great, Branch? Our friends are gonna get married!”

“Y-yeah..Super great.” Branch hoped beyond hope he wasn't being obvious on how he really felt. Of course! Of course the universe would do this to him! It was all going so well! But then of course something had to happen to ruin his plans! Yes, he could still ask Poppy. No, it wasn't Oak's fault for asking his own girlfriend just before he could but he didn't dare take the spotlight away from the other couple. Poppy was right, they were their friends, and while he was sure neither would mind it still felt wrong to Branch to ask Poppy now after somebody else had beaten him to the punch. Sighing, confidence now deflating as he slumped slightly in his chair, Branch decided he'd just have to try another time. It was fine. Completely fine! That decision made, not that it made him happy, the blue-haired survivalist resolved himself to finish off the rest of this night as best he could. Not that Poppy had any idea, she was far too excited to think anything was wrong with him as she pulled him over to congratulate their friends.

And maybe this was for the best, maybe his second attempt would go better?

A few weeks later, some more planning, a few personal pep-talks and Branch was ready to try again. They were currently in her father's backyard, surrounded by all their closest friends, even Gristle and Bridget who managed to make it down from Bergenville, having a simple summer barbecue. Branch was manning the grill, keeping half an eye on the food and the other half on Poppy as she fluttered around their friends, having fun playing games and jamming out to the music Suki had brought along. And perhaps this would be a better proposal anyway. While Branch would have must prefer to propose in a more private setting, which made him wonder why he even thought of the restaurant version in the first place, Poppy would probably enjoy it more if it happened surrounded by the people she loved most. And she deserved everything that made her happy.

Adjusting a few hot dogs so they wouldn't burn, he closed the grill just as his barefooted beauty came skipping over, a cheery smile gracing her lips. Setting down his tongs, Branch easily and happily welcomed her into his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck and gave his nose a fond nuzzle, “Mmm~ Everything smells amazing! Can't wait to eat!”

Branch chuckled warmly, nuzzling her back as he rubbed circles with his thumbs over her hips, leaning closer to her, “Should be ready soon. I know everyone's getting hungry. But first...” He then closed the minimal gap between them, giving her a soft kiss that had her sighing and relaxing in his arms. Sharing a few more soft kisses, and ignoring the wolf whistles from Guy and Smidge, Branch subtly glanced at the grill and decided the food would be okay for a moment. Because he figured now was a good time to pop the question to the queen of his heart as he had her undivided attention. Subtly guiding her away from the barbecue, he distracted her with words and some more gentle meetings of their lips, “Having fun, I take it?”

She giggled, that wonderful, tinkling sound that always spread warmth through him and nodded, “You know it~! I'm so glad everyone was able to make it! It feels like forever since we last did something!” It really hadn't, the Snack Pack was still just as close as they'd always been but Poppy was always one for exaggerating when she could. And well...maybe it had been a few weeks since they'd gotten a chance to just relax and hang out without work or other engagements in the way.

Speaking of engagements....

Branch stopped the careful migration a few feet from the hot grill, in a good spot where everyone would be able to see what was about to happen and carefully nuzzled his and Poppy's noses together, hoping she couldn't feel the sudden rapid beating of his heart, “So I wanted to ask you something..”

“Hmm? Yeeess~?” She hummed, watching him with those sparkling eyes he really did drown in every time he looked into them.

“Well I-”

And for the second time his very important question was interrupted, this time by the back gate slamming open and a familiar voice shouting, “Sup, Losers!!! The party's just arrived!”

“Barb!!!” Poppy screeched happily, tearing herself away from Branch to run and jump into her cousins hold with a very enthusiastic hug. One the punk-rock queen caught easily before swinging the bubblegum princess around, laughing loudly.

“Sup, Popsqueak?! Came to see if I couldn't liven you and your sugary-sweet friends up a little!” The red-pink mo-hawked band leader said, finally putting the other woman down as her right-hand band mate and drummer came up beside her, in a much more subdued manner. “Yo! Boy-Toy! Add a few extra burgers cause I'm starvin'!”

“There's plenty!” Branch cried back as Poppy and the Pack swarmed Barb for greetings and playful jabs. He then sighed roughly, ran a hand through his hair and returned to make sure nothing had burned. It was fine. No big deal. There was still plenty of day left for him to try again. There was just an extra few people around to watch now. As he checked on the food on the grill, moving a few things around and taking the vegetable skewers off, Riff came over after getting his own excited hug from Poppy.

“Sup, man. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything's fine.” Okay, mostly fine. But having been around Poppy since they were kids, Branch knew to try to look for the silver living. He'd get another chance later that evening, he was sure. “Just weren't expecting you guys. Little surprised.” More like a little annoyed at the interruption but he'd get over it.

The dark hair drummer chuckled softly, “Yeah...but you know the boss lady. Loves to make a entrance. But hey! We brought beer!” He lifted up a large case of beer as a peace offering. Branch gestured to the cooler behind him, telling him to add some to it and thanked him, mind half on the cooking, half on thinking about when he'd get that second chance to talk to Poppy.

...Sadly for poor Branch, that chance never came.

Having spent the rest of his time at the grill, catching up with Riff, he had soon let everyone know food was ready and the group swarmed up for the delicious smelling entrees. Then as everyone are and laughed and enjoyed, Barb and Riff regaled everyone with tales of shenanigans and adventures of their world tour. Describing the pounding energy of their concert in Brazil to their little hot spring mishap in Japan after a show. Poppy was thoroughly entranced by her cousins tales and completely distracted from Branch's attempts to gain a little attention long enough for him to get the question burning in his throat out. Then of course the pop/rock duo started the karaoke with a bang, which as fun as it was, just distracted Poppy more and didn't give Branch a chance to regain any sort of romantic mood. By the time the sun was long set but the energy of everyone was still high, Branch had given up for the night. There was no way he going to propose tonight, especially after Barb convinced everyone to go clubbing.

They say third times the charm, right?

A week and some brooding later and Branch was ready to start planning again. He needed to come up with a good one too this time, something where they'd be alone, without anyone around and where he'd have Poppy's undivided attention. However he, himself, was slightly distracted and prevented from doing any sort of real planning as he and Poppy were currently passing Saturday night as they were prone to do. Snuggled up on the couch, lights dimmed and watching movies. There was even a light pattering of rain outside to add the cozy atmosphere they found themselves in.

A Rom-com Poppy had been wanting to see was currently playing, the screen flickering image's by as the main character's flubbed another love confession and Poppy snuggled up close to his chest. Branch's head rested on the arm rest, arms wrapped snugly around his girlfriend, rubbing mindless shapes where his hands rested on her waist. He knew as soon as the movie was over they would probably have to move to bed, sleeping on the couch was not that comfortable nor good for them after all, but right now he was in no position to move either of them. Bending his neck, he buried his nose in her pink locks and inhaled the fresh strawberry scent of her favorite shampoo, nuzzling gently. That was when it hit him, they were alone, there was no one or anything to interrupt him and he'd have Poppy's full attention. Yes, his inner romantic cried at the lack of romance but he had learned from Poppy to take the opportunity when it was presented to you, not to shy away. So, taking a subtle breath to calm his suddenly beating heart, Branch got ready to take the plunge.

Starting simple, he murmured softly, “I love you~”

“Mmm~ Love you too~” The pinkette responded in a light and airy voice, settling as deep as she could into his embrace.

Taking a moment to rub her shoulder and place a gentle kiss on the top if her head, Branch began a speech that he'd crafted and re-crafted hundreds of times already it felt like and it never felt perfect. Hopefully though now, he'd find the right words. “I...can't tell you just how lucky I am to have you in my life. You are...the greatest thing to ever happen to me and I am so, so grateful you took the chance on this ragged, broken and gray soul and made life bright again. You...Heh, you are my sunshine, making my days brighter and fuller and more fun than ever before. And yeah, you're crazy with your scheme's and your scrapbooking and leaving glitter everywhere but I wouldn't trade that for the world. Bring on the cupcakes and rainbows because I'm ready...ready to spend the rest of my life with you beside me. Call me selfish but I...I don't ever want to go back to the dark and dull existence. I want you and your sunshine to wake up next to until we're old and bent over and you're still rocking that pink hair. Poppy...I love you so much and if you'll have me, it would make me the happiness man in the entire universe if you agreed to be mine forever. So...I ask you, Poppy Meadows, will...” Deep breath, “Will you marry me?”

There, he'd done it, he finally asked Poppy to marry him and now all that was left was for her to answer and then he could go get the ring from it's place and he could finally see it on her finger. But as the minutes ticked by and he got no answer, Branch was beginning to worry. Had he fucked up? Did he say something wrong? Did she not want to? Was she in shock? Was she trying to find a way to turn him down gently?! Trying not to panic, and failing just a bit, Branch carefully turned his head to look at the woman in his arms, “Poppy?”

And found she was asleep, breath's even and deep and completely dead to the world and the proposal he had just cited.

Biting back a silent groan, Branch tilted his head over the arm rest and stared at the ceiling. Of course, why wouldn't this happen?! The universe truly must hate him if it had allowed him to finally ask Poppy only for her to be asleep and having missed the entire thing. Great, just effing great, now he would have to get up the confidence to try again and after three failed attempts he was starting to think maybe he shouldn't. But, as the beautiful girl in arms would tell him, he needed to get back up again and not give up. And it said something about her impact on him when he knew after a little time moping about the newest failed attempt he would do just that.

Besides, he couldn't fail four times in a row, right?

Another few weeks later and Branch was in the midst of planning something the would surely be his best plan yet when Poppy had decided a spontaneous camping trip up in the mountains would be fun. Unable to deny her but secretly lamenting the lost chance of being able to ask her under the fireworks display that was happening that weekend, Branch had agreed. So they packed up the car and drove off for a weekend spent in nature. Which normally would have thrilled Branch but he was still sort of disappointed in the loss of another romantic plan.

However, even though she had no idea she had off railed another proposal attempt, Poppy still managed to cheer him up with her natural exuberance and joy. And the more he thought about, a proposal under the stars with nothing but the quiet sounds of nature around them would be better anyway. He wouldn't have to compete with the sounds of the fireworks and worry about whether Poppy would hear him correctly or not. Yeah, this would be far better and far more romantic. So by the time they reached the campsite, Branch was in a higher mood then when they left, plans already formed around what he'd cook and how he would go about creating the perfect mood.

Arriving at the campsite in the late evening, Branch decided he'd wait until the following night to enact his grand plan, he'd waited this long after all. So he and Poppy went about building their campsite, throwing up the tent and while she piled the sleeping bags, blankets and pillows they had brought into a proper nest, he went to find them some firewood. Soon they had a nice cozy fire to sit by and after a quick meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they were cuddled up in Branch's chair, Poppy having abandoned hers in favor of his lap. And having his loving, cheerful, kind girlfriend snuggled up in his lap had almost made Branch abandon all plans and just propose right there, he stopped himself. Waiting one more day wouldn't kill him, plus Poppy was already half asleep and he didn't want a repeat of his attempt on the couch. So, picking her up and carting her off to get settled in the tent, he quickly doused the flames before joining her, falling asleep with her in his arms and images of tomorrow night dancing in his head.

Too bad he hadn't foreseen the incident that had occurred the next day.

After a morning spent cuddling, flirting and in all good mood, something Poppy made sure to tease him about saying she had been right that the trip would be a good thing, his pink whirlwind had suggested a little hike after lunch. The day was perfect for it, sunny, a little breezy with fluffy white clouds drifting by in the sky, so Branch had agreed. Never mind that he was looking forward to the evening once the stars came out. So packing up some water bottles, trail mix, a few energy bars and gummy candies, they had set off on the local hiking trail.

Poppy of course either filmed or took pictures of anything she saw that she liked, which was almost any flower or butterfly that passed by and Branch was content to just let her be herself, in far too good a mood to be his usual sarcastic self. Well, almost, he did try to act normal as to not tip Poppy off. But she had still noticed something and when she asked him what had in such a good mood, he simply replied with why wouldn't he be with her by his side? Which had earned him a giggle and few kisses as she called him a flirt. Which, really, he wasn't going to deny that because he was flirting, the thought of finally, finally asking her to marry him making him almost giddy. Yes, he was still nervous as hell but this was the forth time he was trying and he'd be damned if he was going to let that stop him again.

Eventually they had arrived on top of a cliff overlooking the forest, the sight rather breathtaking. After a moment of admiration, Poppy was back to taking pictures and talking about nice everything was and Branch nodded and smiled back at her but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help as he watched Poppy gush as she was prone to do but to imagine the future, with her walking down the aisle in a gorgeous dress made by the twins, veil fluttering behind her as all their friends and family watched. And then she'd step up to him and exchange vows before they were dubbed husband and wife and he just knew she'd jump into his arms for that kiss as everyone cheered for them. Of course that little daydream soon came to a bursting stop with the next following of events.

There had been a rustling of bushes and before they knew it a deer was jumping out and running off, making both of them jump. Poppy had let out a little squeak and unfortunately for Branch, as he jumped back shocked out of his fantasy, he had gone a little too far and part of the cliff broke from under him, making him off balance and tumbling down to a lower ledge.

“Braaaaanch!!!” Poppy's scream echoed in his ears as he groaned, trying to regain his bearings.

“Branch, are you alright?!” Poppy cried down at him, worry clear in her voice.

“Y-yeah..I'm fi-Aaagggh!!!” Branch groaned, barely having sat up before having to clutch at his arm. Carefully pushing himself up, he pulled his hand away to find it covered in blood and groaned again as he covered his wound back up to stem the bleeding. Great, just fucking great. He was injured. And all because of a stupid deer. At least Poppy was okay. Looking up to check on her, his vision swam briefly and another moan of pain escaped him. Great, he probably had a concussion too.

“Branch! Branch, are you okay?!” Poppy was asking again, having wiggled her way down the steep incline to kneel beside him. She made a noise of distress of seeing him hurt and carefully cupped his jaw in her hands, “Hey. Hey, what can I do to help? Are you hurt anywhere else?!”

“I-I don't...” He hissed as pain pulsed through him, “Don't think so...Might have a concussion though...” He cursed under his breath before telling her to look in his bag for bandages, taking that brief moment of distraction to pat the inside pocket of his vest to make sure the ring was still safe. Which it was, so at least there was that.

Poppy quickly dug into his backpack, finding his first aid kit and pulling out the gauze roll. “Can you move your hand?” She asked softly, cringing at the sight as he did so, “Oh dear...That-That looks really bad....” She sniffed and Branch was about to start comforting her, telling her it probably looked worse than it was but she began to carefully move his sleeve away, causing another hiss to escape him. “Sorry...” She mumbled, wrapping his arm as quickly and gently as she could, sniffing and blinking back tears.

“Hey...” He said, squinting at her because damn his head really hurt, “It's gonna be fine. Please don't cry, Sunshine..”

“I know, I know...I just....that was so scary.” She wiped at her eyes and sniffed again, making Branch want to hold her and comfort her until she calmed down but it hurt to move just about everything. So he did the only thing he could at the moment and carefully brushed his knuckle over her knee, murmuring it was going to okay.

It was about then that someone was calling down to them and they looked up to see a forest ranger had found them. After Poppy explained what happened and that they could use a little help, she quickly finished wrapping his arm up. The next series of events happened rather quickly, at least they did for Branch who's consciousness was starting to go in and out a little and he struggled to stay awake. The ranger had help them off the ledge before helping Poppy carry him back to their camp, where she quickly began to pack everything up. The ranger assured her that he'd keep anything that was left behind and they could come get it later and that getting Branch to a hospital was most important. So then began Poppy's slightly frantic drive to the nearest hospital as Branch had continued his battle with staying awake.

In the end, everything was indeed alright. Branch had to have a good fifteen stitches in his arm and had to stay over night for observation because of the concussion but other than a few other scrapes and bruises, he was fine. But the incident had once again derailed any proposal plans that once he was patched up and allowed a moment alone, Branch had cursed the universe for. Couldn't he have one attempt not go awry?! Yes, sure, there had been other times he could have asked but damn it all, he wanted to do it right! He wanted a romantic scene to ask the love of his life to be his wife and not have it be an off hand mention or after a serious injury!! Was that too much to ask for?! Apparently it was.

So, slumping back into his pillows, Branch stewed and cursed the universe. And eventually started planning attempt number five.

And it had to work, it just had too!

Once it was apparent that Branch was fully healed and recovered about a month later, Poppy suggested another weekend trip to celebrate, though this time it was to the beach. Branch wasn't completely set on the idea, worries of how another proposal attempt could be ruined swarming his head, but once again he really couldn't deny Poppy anything. And she was so excited to go see the sea and enjoy the scenery, ever after he pointed out that the weather wouldn't really be right for any swimming. But ever the optimist, Poppy had said there was lots more to do than just swim and so they made reservations at a hotel and went off for a weekend by the sea.

And as he predicted, the weather had been on the cooler side and slightly overcast but that hadn't stopped Poppy from convincing him to travel around all the shops the little ocean town had to offer. And he had to admit, once again, that she was right. It hadn't been all bad walking along the boardwalk and stopping by whatever little shop or stand caught her attention. Plus her excitement was so genuine and true, Branch couldn't help but eventually relax and have fun too. So they spent the afternoon slipping in and out of various stores, some with pointless, cute nick-knacks, some with clothes and accessories that he and Poppy threw on for selfies or she modeled for him, other with oddities such as seaside myths. They had enjoyed some sea-salt ice-cream at some point before dipping into a little hidden book store and then they stopped for a dinner of fish and chips.

Now they were walking down the beach, hand in hand with Poppy happily swinging their arms between them as the sun sank slowly over the horizon. And Branch had to admit, now would be a pretty good time to try again. They were alone, the few other people on the beach far enough way that they wouldn't somehow get in the way, the setting was calm and relaxing with the sounds of waves gently lapping at the shore as the setting sun painting the sky beautiful pinks and oranges, and Poppy was none the wiser to burning the question that had been lodged in his throat for months now. And nothing was going to stop him now. So, stopping and playfully swinging her around so he could pull her into an embrace, Branch pulled her close for a soft kiss.

When they parted, Poppy giggling lightly as her eyes shone with love, Branch calmly stated, “I love you~”

“Heehee~ I love you too~” Poppy giggled, leaning in for another kiss that Branch was happy to return before the slowly parted once more.

“So there's...something I wanna say...” And ask but he didn't want to give it away just yet. And boy did he hope she didn't notice how his heart had started pumping in his chest. This was it, he finally going to ask Poppy to spend the rest of their lives together and even though this was his fifth attempt, the nerves had returned like it was that first try again.

“I'm all ears, My man~” The pinkette said with a grin, nuzzling her nose against his as she settled her arms around his neck.

Deep breath and ignore the flush that came anytime she called him 'her man', “Well...you see..” Please don't let her notice just how stuttering he was becoming, “You are...the greatest gift I could ask for and I-” And before any more could be said a loud, long horn of a boat sounded, causing both to jump and to look toward the ocean where in the distance a ship could be seen. Huffing, and not about to let one measly horn blast stop him, not this time, Branch tried to continue as Poppy giggled lightly, “Right. As I was saying...” Another deep breath, he could do this, “I love you so much and-” Another three blasts of the horn stopped him again and he glared at the ship as Poppy started to laugh quietly. “Anyway. What I'm trying to say, Poppy, is-” And another long, drawn out horn had him groaning before calling out toward the sea, “Oh come on!!!”

Poppy was now full on laughing, laying her head on his chest as he stewed about the stupid boat, before getting a slight grip on herself. Reaching up, she cupped his face and ran her thumbs over his cheeks, “Branch. Hee~ Branch, it's okay! Let me guess, you have a new poem for me?”

He did but that wasn't what he had been about to say. Still he grumbled, looking off to the side, “Maybe...” He also had a proposal he just couldn't seem to get out before something went wrong.

“Then...~” Poppy started, bringing his face back towards her so she could nuzzle their noses together again, “Why don't we go back to our hotel so you can tell it to me where we won't be interrupted? And then you can tell me all my favorites as you...do other things to me~” She then sealed her offer with a deep kiss. One Branch sank into with a sigh but not without lamenting silently the derailment of yet another proposal. Sure, he supposed he could always try again later that night but something in his gut told him it wouldn't be the right time. He just wanted to propose to Poppy in a romantic setting without anything stopping him! Was that too much to ask for?! Apparently...

“Come on,” Poppy murmured, eyes glazed with want as she pulled away, “We can go take a nice warm bubble bath as you recite your newest piece to me~”

Branch hummed and let her take the lead back to their hotel, still brooding over his latest failure. This was five times now he had been stopped and it was starting to wear down his confidence that he'd ever be able to ask her. Which meant it was probably time to ask for help from her dad and possibly Suki and Smidge if he actually wanted to succeed. Sighing quietly to himself, he squeezed Poppy's hand and hoped that the next attempt would finally be the one.

He could only hope, right?

+1.

Poppy hummed a joyful tune as she walked down the hallway to her apartment, another day of party planning behind her. She still couldn't believe some days that she got to do one of the things she loved most for a living! And she was her own boss! Well...sort of...Sky Toronto was still sort of her boss, sort of her partner but that didn't matter! She got to help people plan out their very best parties! And it was soooo satisfying! Especially after long days like today when her clients had a specific vision they wanted done. Which was fine because everyone deserved to have whatever they wanted to be happy with the party they were throwing but boooy, did it tired her out! But that was fine too because she was now home where her wonderful boyfriend hopefully had dinner waiting for them.

Coming up to their door, and smiling as she always did when she caught sight of their door plaque she'd made, she opened it up, singing proudly, “I'm hooooome~!” Before a fantastically delicious scent hit her nose and she groaned. “Ooooh my goooosh~!” She quickly dropped her purse and came around to the kitchen as her stomach gave a rumble, “That smells amazing! Did you make enchiladas?!”

Branch chuckled, that warm, fond sound that always melted her insides a little as he finished pulling the dish out of the oven, “I did. I even made them...chicken enchiladas like you said you wanted.”

“Yeeeessss~!” Poppy hissed happily, “Yes, yes, yes! I am starving!” She excitedly through her arms around him once his hands were free in a tight hug, “You are the best boyfriend ever!” After pulling him down for a quick, grateful kiss, the pinkette pulled away for a little happy dance. “Oooh, I can't wait to dig in! What else did you make?!”

Another one of those warm, fond chuckles came from the blue-haired hottie she had a claim on and he gestured to the stove, “Some Mexican Rice and..” He led her gaze to the table where some different dips and chips sat, “Some sides.”

“Aaaah~! Yes! Your guacamole is the best!!!” Poppy scurried over and took a chip full of green dip, humming in delight at the tangy taste and did another little happy dance as she stuffed another chip into her mouth. “Gosh! D'ish ish shooo goood~!”

“Do you maybe want a plate full or do you wanna continue dancing in place as you eat over the table?” Branch asked, amusement ringing through his tone.

“Oh, haha!” Poppy responded, hands on her hips, “I can't help it! I told you I am staving! Mrs. Sparks ran me all over town looking for just the right party venue and I barely had time to eat lunch. But I did!” She added quickly knowing he would scold her for not eating lunch. “Anyway, once we finally found the right place, I started throwing out ideas for decorations and food and I think we've got a nice solid base now!”

“Sounds like you a had a busy day.” He grinned as she nodded, stuffing another chip into her mouth, “Also sounds like you might need a margarita.”

“You made margaritas?!” Poppy cried, excitedly, looking at him with wide, happy eyes. Oh, she officially loved this man!!! “Can we have them blended?!” She asked, bouncing happily when he nodded and turned to get the pitcher out of the fridge, telling her to get the blender out. “Yeessss~!” She cheered, already halfway to the cabinet to pull out of the appliance. As she set it out on the counter and watched him place the pitcher on the table before getting in the freezer for ice, the thought that this was her life, that she had such a wonderful, thoughtful and sweet boyfriend by her side made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And that she wanted this for the rest of her life. She wanted to come home after a long day to dinner or even surprise him in return with the same, she wanted long, cuddly movies nights and lazy mornings in spent in bed. She wanted picnics and romantic date nights, days spent at home filled with laughter and singing or the occasional quiet as they both worked on their respective hobbies. Games nights with friends and maybe, just maybe...one day an adorable child that looked like the two of them. Poppy wanted it all with Branch right by her side in every way possible. So without really thinking about she suddenly said, “Marry me.”

“WHAT?!?!” Branch sputtered, pulling out of the freezer with a wide eyed, shocked expression, staring at her like she had lost her mind.

It took a moment for her to actually realize what she'd said but then she was beaming and nodding, bouncing over next to him, because yes, she very much wanted to marry this man, “You heard me! Marry me!!”

Branch stared and kept staring and eventually he hid his face in a hand as the freezer door closed and Poppy was beginning to worry when his shoulders began to shake. At first she thought maybe he was crying but then the quiet chuckling came which soon turned into full blown laughter and he was leaning against the fridge to support himself. Poppy pouted at him and crossed her arms, “I'm serious, Branch! Don't laugh at me!”

He tried and failed to say something a few times, each times getting cut off by more guffaws then before, before he gestured for her to stay where she was and turned to go down the hallway. Poppy was very confused, and a little hurt, that he was laughing because she meant what she'd said but she didn't have time to think much more on it as he came back, still chuckling. Standing in front of her, he finally got a grip on himself and grinned at her, stray snickers still coming and going as he reached out to cup her cheek, “I'm not laughing at you, Sunshine. Promise. I'm laughing because...” He took a deep breath before cupping his hands around something and bringing it into her view, “Because I've been trying to ask you the same thing for months.”

Poppy gasped, hands flying to her mouth, as she saw the small velvet box opened on his palm containing the prettiest ring she'd ever seen. A golden band that held a round, sparkling blue topaz in it's center, flanked by two smaller pink gems, the metal band twisted around them to hold them in place. “Oh Branch...” She sniffed, grinning behind her hands, because of course that was the reasoning behind his sort of off behavior the last few months, before crying, “Yes!”

He smirked at her, blue eyes twinkling, “Pretty sure that's suppose to be my line. You did ask first.”

“Oooooh!!!” She growled, well and truly starting to cry now as she grinned winder than ever before, ��Just-Just shut up and put that ring on my finger!!”

“So demanding.” He cooed, smile just as wide and eyes damp as he did just that. Giving her hand a look that said he was finally happy to see that ring on her finger before he brought it up to lay a kiss on it.

Then they were both laughing and Branch was scooping her up and twirling her around, hugging her close. Poppy cried as she laughed, burying her face in his shoulder, the unbelievable feeling that she was engaged coursing through her as Branch spun them around. Soon he stopped and she lifted her face to see he was crying and grinning she as she was and she felt another giggle come before they both leaned in for a kiss. Kissing him with all that she had, they stood there, her in his arms as they moved their mouths against one another's as their tears mingled. Pulling back, both breathless and smiling and so, so happy, Poppy looked into Branch's eyes and chirped, “I love you~!”

“I love you too, Sunshine.” He grinned, the expression lighting up his face like she loved to see, “And I will for the rest of our lives.”

“Good~ Because so will I~” And she pulled him for another celebratory kiss and another and another before they were both laughing and twirling again. And eventually they got to that dinner, now a celebratory one, and made plans to tell everyone the following day but for now...for now they were just going to bask in the haze of excitement and happiness that surrounded them as they looked toward a very happy and bright future together.

~*~*~*~*~RMG*~*~*~*~

Always gotta go full cheese at the ending right? Anyway, this was obviously done a tad differently than I normally do just because I tried to keep within Branch's perspective and then Poppy's when I normally write both in conjecture to each other and it was a bit of a challenge but I'm really happy with how this came out! And I hope you all enjoyed it too!

Until next time!

#Dreamworks Trolls #Branch #Poppy #Broppy #Fanfiction #Trolls #Fluff #Five plus one #Human AU #I WROTE SOMETHING

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etraytin · 4 years

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Quarantine, Day 215

October 12 Today was a day for cooking and cleaning, so that was at least a change from the last couple of days, plus my parents got to town, very fun! First thing this morning I went down to the big food bank and offloaded all of the stuff that was still in my van, including a surprise ninth case of Takis that I hadn't even noticed before. They did accept it, though I don't know what exactly they plan to do with it. Maybe if they can't give it away they'll just put it in the breakroom or something. But now I have my van back, full of lots of room for future unwise decisions! Yay! Last night I stayed up super late because I was too tired to clean but too keyed up to go to bed. I mean I did clean, I cleaned the kitchen pretty well at least and that was the big job for the night. But then I decided that the broken recliner really, truly, absolutely needed to go, but it was too big, so I got out a scissors and used some elbow grease to rip the arms right off that sucker. Not as impressive as it sounds, since "semi-detached arms" was the biggest single symptom of brokenness already, but it did make me feel strong! The back of the chair came off without needing to be destroyed, which was less fun but much easier. Tonight my husband carried down the smaller pieces himself, and then he and I worked on getting the still-extremely-heavy center mass portion down the stairs and into the truck. I wound up sort of scooting down on my butt and hanging onto the back bar of the chair while he guided from the front, my mind filled with visions of the thing sledding down the stairs and running him over flat. But we got it done, so now we just need to take it out to the dump and rid ourselves of it forever. Hopefully the truck will still start when we turn it on. My folks decided to go with an AirBnB about 20 minutes away from us for this trip, and it is super gorgeous. It's at least the size of our apartment with two bedrooms, a large living room/kitchen, and a center room devoted to a pool table. The kiddo is very excited about the pool table. We went down there and took them supper this evening because I had to go to election official training this evening and they didn't want to have to drive themselves back in the dark their first night here. Only trouble was, their place doesn't really have a kitchen, just a sink, microwave and fridge. No problem, I broke out the crockpot and the emergency second crockpot I got at an auction and spent much of the afternoon cooking. I made butternut squash soup, a perennial favorite I already talked about, and pulled pork. I was in a hurry because I got started late, so I splurged on a boneless pork loin, cut it into fist-size chunks or a little smaller, then seasoned them with rub and seared them with butter in a skillet till the outsides were brown and had little crunchy bits on them. Then I piled them into the crockpot and deglazed the pan with a sweet onion and a couple tablespoons of jarred minced garlic. Once those were soft and translucent, I added four cups of water to the skillet, stirred it around, and then poured the resultant broth into the crockpot as well. A little bit of liquid smoke, four hours on high, and voila! On a sesame roll with a little barbecue sauce, it was excellent. I showed the kiddo how to use a spiral pineapple cutter to turn a fresh pineapple into a hollow tube, and that made a pretty good dinner. It's so good to see my folks again! I haven't lived in the same state as them for well over a decade now, but I still miss them a lot and we try to visit as often as we can. My sister lives much closer to me than to the old homestead and we have tried convincing them to move closer to us, but their house is so full of so many things, I doubt it will ever happen. Plus they like where they are and have many friends there, which at least makes me feel less guilty about being so far away. We only got to spend a couple of hours with them tonight, but tomorrow I'm springing the kiddo from virtual learning so we can hang out with them all day. It'll be fun! This evening was election official training, this time at the auditorium at the middle school to provide lots of social distancing room. I have been to training several times before, but this is the first time I've gone to the advanced training. For this election I've been tapped as the procedural specialist for my precinct, which means I am responsible for reading the manual better than anybody else so that when weird stuff happens, I know what to do. This is especially important in regards to provisional and absentee ballots, which are usually not a big deal but may well be a HUGE deal in this year's election. Apparently nearly a third of the active voters in our county have already voted this year, with three weeks of early voting still left, so we will likely not have the huge surge in election day voters that a presidential election usually brings. But there are 4000 absentee ballots that have been sent out and not returned yet, and each of those is a potential hiccup on the big day. Even back in June during the absolute nothingburger of a Republican primary that we had, we got a couple of people trying to bring in their absentee ballots, or vote despite getting one and not bringing it with them. Virginia has taken the sensible step of making every voting precinct also a drop-off point for absentee ballots on election day, so people will be able to hand-deliver with no problems. But a lot of people don't understand that once they get their absentee ballot, that's it, that's their ballot and they can't have another one unless they give back the one they've got. If they really want to vote in person, they can, but they have to bring in their absentee ballot and spoil it (fill in all the circles) and then give it to us in exchange for an in-person ballot. So if somebody with an absentee ballot comes in to vote without their ballot, they will have to vote provisionally, and I will be in charge of making that happen. I'll also be working the pollbook again, which means face mask and face shield. Ugh. I had been hoping they were going to set up some kind of barrier system, but apparently not. Anyway, I've read through the most salient parts of the manual already, but I'll be doing most of the rest in another ten days or so. I can become an expert on just about anything, but the expertise doesn't last very long before it is overwritten with new information. I'd hate to learn all that stuff only to forget it by November 3.

#quarantine #election 2020 #recipe #furniture disassembly #you think that is bad?#one of my first apartments we used a sawzall to chop my sectional sofa into four pieces #so we could fit it into four different dumpsters at my apartment complex #which did not allow any trash that didn't fit in a dumpster #it was a little messy but it worked

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Galaxia de Primavera

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hi, everyone! Here’s the story for Day Two of ShikaSaku Week Hanami, prompt “Of Stardust and Galaxies!” Please enjoy~

If spring were a galaxy, it would exist in her eyes; the pale green of new life blooming into existence, planets of new leaf shoots and stardust of swirling white petals, cosmic waves of rippling grasses and starlight filtering in with beams of white… They were a universe of themselves, those spring-green irises of hers, and he always felt like a wayward astronaut spiraling further and further into their endless depths anytime they locked onto his own. They had so much gravity that he couldn’t help but be drawn in; she pulled him into orbit without even realizing it, into a spring galaxy of stardust green where he could spend his entire life in contentment. Such raw power did the eyes of Sakura Haruno hold.

Not that Shikamaru ever told her anything like that. It was all poetic and shit in theory, but he would make a bungle of things if he ever tried to formulate something like that into actual words. Instead, he just hovered just outside her solar system, a dying star in desperate need of gratification but too unwilling to do much of anything about it. How long had he been in love with her now? Since before the Great Ninja War, surely, and it was going on a year after that debacle. He could never bring himself to be honest with her about what he was feeling. Truthfully, he himself didn’t even know how to describe what exactly he was feeling; it hurt to look at her but he never wanted her out of his sight, he both feared and revered her insurmountable, goddess-like strength, the sweet smiles she tossed him on the street both made him feel like he was walking on air and like he had been stabbed right through the heart with a rusty serrated knife. He had always known women had been a drag, but he never would’ve thought that falling in love with one could be as massive a drag as this. Cheek leaned into the palm of his hand, he watched her through the barbecue joint window as she sat in a café across the street, munching on some sweet dango with more delicacy than would be thought of the tomboyish girl.

“Hey, Earth to Shikamaru.” He grimaced as Ino knocked on the side of his head, and his dark eyes flickered to meet her own baby-blue ones with a gruff “What?” “What do you mean, ‘what?’ If you want to go talk to Sakura, would you just do it already? Your pining really makes barbecue nights kind of a drag,” she sniffed haughtily as she crossed her slim arms over her chest. A blush bloomed from the base of his neck to the tops of his ears; he hadn’t even noticed he had been staring at Sakura this entire time.

“I’m not pining,” he muttered under his breath, tearing his face away from the window to instead stare down at the smoldering coals above which Choji was eagerly searing his cuts of steak. Shikamaru glanced up as the burly man’s chopsticks appeared in his line of vision to flip the half-cooked meat over.

“Shikamaru, it’s kinda obvious.” So, his best friend wouldn’t cut him any slack either. With a soft “mmmh!” Choji pushed a few juice-covered nibblets of meat into his mouth. “Y’know, you can’t wait around forever. Sooner or later she’ll be snatched up by somebody else, and how would you feel then? I’m sure you’d regret never saying anything.”

“He’s exactly right!” Ino shouted, banging her fist loudly on the table. The salt and pepper shakers jumped into the air at her assault, and Shikamaru reflexively reached out to grab them before they spilled their contents all over the place. Cleaning all that up would be a drag, and they gave the busboy enough trouble with all the plates and cups they always accumulated. Ino waggled her finger in his face as he set them down a safe distance away from her boisterousness. “Y’know what Sakura told me? She’s not even sure if she’s in love with Sasuke anymore! Now’s your perfect chance to slide in and make her yours!”

Despite himself, a tiny ember of hope flared to life in his chest. Sakura had been in love with Sasuke since they were little kids playing ninja in the Academy and had still loved him even after all the crap he had pulled. To hear that her feelings could be waning, even just a little, could mean that Shikamaru had a shot… But did Shikamaru really have a chance against Sasuke? Not that he put the guy up on a pedestal like everyone else did, but there was something to be said about how fiercely and unequivocally girls loved. It wasn’t as easy as sidling up to her and announcing “Hey, be in love with me instead of that jerk!” With a low groan, he slumped down in the booth and side-eyed his pretty teammate.

“Ino, I don’t think this is as easy as you make it out to be. It sounds like a massive drag to me.”

“Shikamaru, you need to be more of a go-getter! You’ll never be Naruto’s advisor if you can’t even work up the nerve to ask a girl out!” she scolded him hotly, and Shikamaru’s grimace deepened. Way for her to him it where it hurt. With a snort, she suddenly leaned her entire upper body over him to try and fiddle with the window.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” he cried and shimmied further down the booth seat, so far that his back was pressed down against the seat, because Ino’s endowments were just bouncing all in his face. He tried to focus on her face, blush raging even fiercer than before, right as she unlatched the window and pushed it open. “There! Now, go get her, tiger!” she giggled.

Shikamaru released a sound somewhere between a choke and a squeak as she grabbed him by the collar of his issued uniform vest, wrenched him up the booth seat, and promptly threw him out of the window. Ino had a lot of force to back herself up too, but not nearly as much as Sakura; he coughed painfully as his stomach crashed down against the windowpane, digging harshly into his skin and making him feel nauseous. Before he could recover, her high-heeled foot met his backside and pushed him all the way through the window. He landed on the dusty ground in a crumpled heap, eye twitching excessively as he tried to refrain from jumping up and socking her, female or not. “What a drag,” he grumbled as he righted himself so he was sitting cross-legged under the window, rubbing the area of his neck that was now pulsing with a dull pain. By happenstance, he happened to glance across the street where Sakura was still sitting on the bench enjoying her dango, and froze.

Those spring green eyes of hers were closed, scrunched up with laughter that she was hiding with a hand lightly hovering in front of her mouth. The dango wobbled a little in her other hand from how hard her shoulders were shaking. Shikamaru smiled in embarrassment. Man, Ino just had to make him go and look so uncool… But, it was always good to make girls laugh, right? He craned his head back just in time to see the window click closed. Ino was serious. “What a drag,” he sighed once more before picking himself up and brushing himself off. Slipping his hands into his pants pockets, he strolled casually across the street to stand in front of Sakura.

“Hehehe,” she continued to giggle lightheartedly, “did you and Ino have a disagreement?”

“Something like that,” he answered with a lop-sided smirk. Her thick lashes parted, and those orbs of brilliant green peeked out at him like twin suns appearing over the horizon, and his heart instantly twisted in his chest. God, was it possible for eyes to be that gorgeous? With a thick swallow, he tugged at his wire-mesh undershirt, suddenly hot. “A-Anyway… It’s a little late for you to be out by yourself, don’t you think?” he stammered in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation at least a little natural. She cocked her head slightly as she bit down on the end of the dumplings, the soft flesh of it yielding to her teeth.

“I suppose it is. I lost track of time.” She plucked the last colored dumpling from the stick before tossing the sharp skewer into the pile she had accumulated beside her. “I was just thinking about things, y’know?” Her smile was so pure and innocent. It was hard to believe sometimes that it concealed such a cunning and clever mind. He liked that about her, though. He much preferred an intelligent, capable woman to a total airhead. His body stiffened slightly as she abruptly stood up to peer up at him, body curving and eyelashes fluttering with just the faintest sense of demure. “Care to walk a girl home?”

Those eyes again. Shining ethereally in the starlight, the stunning pale green of lichens clinging to hardy oaken trees accented by the emerald of its stubborn leaves. All it took was one simple glance and Shikmaru was locked into their gravity; no amount of attempting to pull away would yield his escape. He would simply have to suffer through her atmosphere and crash-land somewhere, though he knew not where yet. A blush sprinkled like stardust over his cheeks.

“Yeah… Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The night was filled only by the scuffing of their sandals against the dirt road. Sakura strolled alongside him with her hands clasped behind her back, while Shikamaru’s were buried deep into his pockets. The silence was suspended between them like the crescent moon hanging low in the night sky; the tension strummed in tune with the twinkling of the thousands of stars, their brilliant light muted by the village lights. Shikamaru mused on whether or not if they were far away, in the wilderness where no man-made light could mask them, the stars above would even come close to the galaxy held within those eyes of hers. He figured not. Gradually, his gaze shifted from the path in front of him to her, those miraculously beautiful eyes and the way they caught the starlight just right to shine with springtime’s brilliance.

“So… I heard something interesting from Ino.”

“What’s that?” Her cherry-blossom hair bounced around her chin as she turned inquisitively toward him. He scowled and pawed at the back of his neck again. The question he was about to ask was so personal and awkward; did he really have the right to be prying? Then again, if he turned back up at the barbecue place empty-handed, Ino was liable to whale on him. It was simple self-preservation… right?

“Well, uh… She kinda mentioned that, uh… You didn’t have feelings for Sasuke anymore.”

“Oh.” A shiver crawled up his spine at the even tone of her voice. Was she gonna whale on him instead? Shikamaru didn’t know if he could take one of Sakura’s punches; it was only thanks to Naruto’s impossibly thick skull that he survived his frequent whackings. Sakura’s fists did not curl, nor did she make any indication that she was angry. She stopped walking, gaze falling to her feet, which shifted as her knees turned in a little. “I’ve been thinking about it… For a long time, but even more recently since he’s been gone for so very long,” she sighed wistfully. Those green irises danced around in the sea of white, but never trained on him. “I think it’s just finally sunk in, that’s all. That it was always just a childish, one-sided crush.” Shikamaru looked at her in concern. To hear her say it that way just sounded so sad, and even though she was smiling, that smile couldn’t mask how much pain she was obviously in. He didn’t know what to do though, because frankly, Shikamaru knew jack shit about girls, let alone comforting them. “Why do you mention it?” she asked with false cheer in her voice. She finally looked up at him. He jumped as those spring galaxies suddenly blazed against his own dark nebulas.

“Oh, uh, I was just, you know, wanting to make sure if you were okay about it. I mean, you’ve liked him for a really long time; it’s not easy for girls to get over stuff like that, right?” he laughed nervously. Man, if he kept rubbing his neck like that, he was liable to leave a mark. She blinked as her pale pink eyebrows crept up her forehead; then, she laughed, sweetly and with feeling. It sounded like shrine bells in a gentle breeze, melodic and invigorating.

“Oh. That’s sweet of you!” The silence drifted down between them again, like a curtain falling upon the closing act of a play. Shikamaru stood stiffly in the middle of the street, waiting for her to take up walking again, but she didn’t. The tension stretched thinner and thinner, threatening to snap any moment. It made him sweat a little. “Oh, um, this is my house,” she clarified with another anxious chuckle.

“Oh.” Duh, Shikamaru, he thought begrudgingly. He ought to bid her goodnight and leave her to her devices. His feet had other plans, rooting him to the spot and keeping him there like an idiot. He just stood there, fingers nervously kneading into the seams of his pockets, while those green eyes of hers watched her with an emotion he dare not name, lest everything come crashing down in an asteroid storm around them. It looked like leaves were dancing in cosmic tempest in her eyes with how intently she watched him, face drawn low in an unreadable expression.

“Shikamaru? What are you thinking right now?” Her face remained stony, indecipherable. Shikamaru had no idea what was running through her mind right now. Did he need to? There had to be a reason she was still goofing off with him outside in the middle of the night, right? Shikamaru was dense with girls, but even he still recognized that this was a good of a chance for him to be honest as he was ever going to get.

“I was thinking… that if spring were a galaxy, it would be in your eyes.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned red from head-to-toe and whirled around, bristling. His hands were clamped over his mouth to keep him from saying something else so incredibly stupid. That didn’t even make any sense! Oh, she was probably laughing at him right now, but the blood was roaring so loudly in his ears that he couldn’t hear the sniggers she was probably struggling to hold back. His ass should’ve just marched right on home. Why did he have to go and embarrass himself like this? He never should’ve have let Ino get to him. I’ve really done it now…

Every muscle in his body petrified as her hand landed on his shoulder. His hands dropped from his mouth and his arms flopped loosely in his arms in defeat; he knew he was still wildly blushing, but he simply couldn’t resist as her hand slowly trailed up to tug at his chin, beckoning for him to look at her. She was gonna be laughing, he just knew it. Compulsively, he squeezed his eyes shut…

And then he felt her lips, soft and light, brush over his own. It was a ghost of a comet trail at first, sprinkling of stardust to his nerves, but they soon sparked to life to spur his body into action. Drawn in by Sakura’s gravitational pull, he melded his lips to hers. They were so perfectly pliable under his own, and the faint aroma of strawberry lip gloss wafting up his nose sent him blasting off into the stars. His mouth merely rested over her own in a chaste kiss, but Heaven and Hell, it had Shikamaru’s head reeling. After a moment, he moved back, just barely. If he’d wanted to, he could kiss her again. His eyes snapped open at the realization of what had just transpired to see those eyes like a spring galaxy glimmering brighter than he had ever seen.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Her cute little purr of approval had the blush creeping back to Shikamaru’s ears again. God, did she know what she was doing to him? She totally did, because she stuck out the tip of her tongue at him with a teasing giggle. “Also, thanks for walking me home. See you around.” She gave him one last peck on the cheek before she was gone, hopping up the steps to unlock her front door and disappear inside. He saw just one last flash of those eyes of hers, and even long after she was gone they burned in his mind like two suns of green fire.

It took a long time for the pleasurable high to wear off him; when it did, he realized he had wandered back over towards the barbecue joint. Ino and Choji had seemingly grown bored of waiting for him and were just walking out of the building.

“There you are!” Ino called, and it was her voice that finally brought him out of his stupor. He ran a hand over his face, still lightly burning from flush, and wondered if what he had just witnessed was all but a fever dream. He then thought of those galactic springtime eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, where the faint scent of strawberry lingered.

No. Not a dream.

“Well, well?! What happened? Did you make your move?” she pestered as she scampered over to him to hug his arm and tug on it. “Tell me everything! Come on, come on!”

“Come on, Ino, don’t bug him so much,” Choji frowned from his other side. “He probably spent the whole time watchin’ the clouds.” Shikamaru tilted his head back to observe the thin, wispy gray clouds trawling over the night sky, blotting out the stars with their fluffy bodies. He smiled wryly.

“No… Not the clouds- the stars.”

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

#shikasaku week #shikasaku week hanami #shikasaku week 2020 #shikasaku #shikamaru nara #nara shikamaru #sakura haruno #haruno sakura #shikamaruxsakura #shikamaru x sakura #sakuraxshikamaru #sakura x shikamaru #naruto fanfiction #naruto fanfic #naruto #naruto shippuden

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junkercrush · 5 years

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Okay, okay, so I'm Australian and I would love to see some interaction of Junkrat discovering traditional Aussie food. Like Fairy bread, lamingtons, vegemite.

Oh my goodness! :D :D :D

My dear, you have no idea how much fun I had working on this short piece. Researching Australian food made me super hungry though lol.

Here ya go!

*~*~*

Junkrat Discovers Aussie Food

Rating: SFW

Words: 1,419

You were stuck in the middle of the hot, forsaken Outback on a mission. However, you were glad to work with somebody who can freaking cook.

“There.” Hog grunted as he passed an oozing grilled cheese sandwich to you. It wasn’t much, but it was something. You bit into the gooey sandwich in an instant. Damn, it was cheesy heaven in your mouth.

Originally, you, Hog, and Junkrat were supposed to be spying on a group of Junker rebels to report back to Headquarters.

Of course, things got out of hand. Junkrat got too trigger happy, and the original stand you guys stayed burned to the ground. Miles away from your old post, you finally found an abandoned road café. Luckily, the food was still fresh.

“Is it good?” Roadhog asked you. You answered with a thumbs up.

“It’s fantastic, Hog! Jamie’s gonna love this!” You replied. “Where’s ‘Rat?”

“He went to the bathroom.”

“But that was half an hour ago.”

Roadhog sighed and leaned over the sizzling stove. He had more grilled cheese on the way. “Can you see if he’s out in the back?”

“I’m on it.”

You hopped out of your bar stool and exited the café.

“Junkrat! We got sandwiches!” You yelled as you walked to the back where two garbage bins stood. You heard rattling and mumbling in one of them.

“Rat?”

You tiptoed to a bin and slowly lifted the lid. Junkrat was covered in filth, digging through open trash bags.

“Junk? What the–?”

“Oi, hey there, (Y/N)! I found some good treats in here!”

“Hog made us food. You don’t need to go through the garbage.”

“Meh, there’s nothing good in the kitchen.”

“Rat, please get out of there.”

Before you know it, Roadhog’s muscular arm reached into the trash bin and yanked Junkrat out. “Rat, what the fuck did I tell you about going through the trash?!” Roadhog barked.

Junkrat only hissed at him. Roadhog grabbed a water hose and sprayed Junkrat with it.

“NOOO!!!” Junkrat wailed.

You could only stand and watch, trying not to laugh too much. This was the most entertainment you had since you came to the Outback.

“Digging through trash, smelling like shit,” Roadhog muttered. He turned off the hose and raised the drenched Rat to his feet. “Now go dry yourself. You have some grilled cheese. EAT!”

Junkrat whimpered at Roadhog’s last order and scattered to the kitchen. He gave you a puppy-eyed glance before entering the building.

Your heart responded. Empathy was pouring in. Roadhog placed a heavy hand on your shoulder.

“He’s not used to eating like a normal person, huh?” You asked Hog. Hog shook his head.

“Not quite. I caught him doing the same thing back at base. He’s not used to food handed to him, you know?”

An idea popped in your head.

“Maybe we could do something for him once we return to Overwatch?”

“What are you thinking?”

“You know how to make potato cakes?”

*~*~*~*

Junkrat entered your apartment, looking around and already touching things.

“You have a cozy little place.” He said.

You barely recognized the Aussie in your home. His hair (was left of it) was slicked back, he smelled like sage, and he was actually wearing a shirt for once.

“I gave him a bath.” Hog said to you as he followed Junkrat through your doorway. He wore a t-shirt with his fiery pig belly poking out and a pair of camo pants. Hog still wore his pig mask, and his hair was loose from its usual ponytail. He too smelled like sage.

You pulled Hog aside as Junkrat hopped onto your couch in the living room. “Thanks for helping me out.” You whispered. Hog gave you a thumbs up.

“No problem.” He replied.

You walked to the living room and found Junkrat all nestled up on your couch. He looked like he was about to go to sleep.

“I didn’t invite you over for a sleepover,” You chuckled. “Food’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”

Junkrat stood up. “What’cha got?” He asked.

You pointed to your kitchen archway. “Go ahead and find out.”

Junkrat paced to the kitchen. “I need something! Damn Hog wouldn’t let me eat all day!”

You and Roadhog exchanged glances and followed Junkrat into the kitchen.

“Hooley Dooley!” Junkrat gasped as he circled your dining table covered in Aussie delights. There were meat pies, potato cakes, pavlova, lamingtons, chicken parmigiana, barbecue snags, and so much more!

“Is it my birthday?” Junkrat asked you. “How did you know?”

“Uh…” You turned to Roadhog. He only shrugged his shoulders. “No, Jamie, it’s not. Hog and I wanted to introduce you to some authentic Aussie cuisine.”

“Not garbage.” Hog added.

Junkrat circled around the table, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “Some much to choose…” He said.

“Why don’t you sit down?” You offered him a chair.

You sat beside him and watched him pick up the largest meat pie from the meat pie plate. It was decorated with toothpicks with little Australian flags. Junkrat pulled them out and sank his teeth into the pie.

“Mmmm!” He moaned. “The hell is this?”

“Meat pies.” You answered.

“I made the really big one.” Hog pointed out.

You and Hog watched in delight as the Rat consumed the rest of the pie and the remaining ones from the meat pie plate. For such a thin man, his appetite surprised you.

“Whoops,” The Rat said. “You guys didn’t want any of those meat pies, did you?”

You shook your head. “It’s fine. We made them mostly for you.”

Junkrat smiled. “Thanks, mate.” He looked around the table and pulled the plate of small chocolate treats towards him.

“Those are lamingtons,” You said. “Hope you like chocolate and coconut.”

“Ooohh.” Junkrat bit into one chocolate delicacy and gaged. Roadhog immediately placed a paper towel over Rat’s mouth to spit it back out.

“I never knew what coconut was,” Rat said. “Now I know, and I don’t like them!”

“Try this.” Hog offered a slice of pavlova to Rat.

“It’s so pretty,” Junkrat said before popping a piece into his mouth. His eyes lit up. “Give me the whole damn thing!” Junkrat ordered.

Hog pushed the pavlova cake to Junkrat. Junkrat splatted his face into the cake. You laughed.

“Ahh fuck, this is good!” Junkrat shouted, his face stuffed with cake. Note: Junkrat loves pavlova.

“How about this?” You offered Junkrat a toast covered in sprinkles. “It’s fairy bread.”

“Fairies made this?” Junkrat started searching around the room. “Where are the little winged buggers?”

“They aren’t any here,” You snickered. “Try the bread!”

Junkrat wiped leftover pavlova from his mouth with his arm and bit into the fairy bread. He nodded. The Rat liked the fairy bread too.

“What else can I eat?” The Rat asked. He froze as he laid eyes upon a jar of vegemite. “Is that…” He picked up the jar.

“That’s veg—” You said.

“I know, mate.” Junkrat opened the jar and stuffed his noise inside, inhaling its contents. He closed the jar and placed it on the table, staring at it.

“Don’t like it?” Hog asked.

Tears started swelling up in Junkrat’s eyes.

“Rat?” You wondered.

Junkrat sniffed and let the waterworks flow.

“What’s wrong with him?” You mouthed to Roadhog. The Hog was just as clueless as you were.

“I haven’t eaten vegemite since I was a boy. I used to eat this for brekkie with me mum.” He sighed.

You gave Junkrat a plain toast and a butter knife. “Eat.”

Junkrat took your toast, spread it with loads of vegemite, and chowed down.

“Oh God!” Junkrat cried. You wiped his tears with a napkin. He hugged you, bawling on your shoulder.

“Thank you, (Y/N), thank you!” He turned to Hog. “You too, you big oaf.”

Hog only snorted with approval.

An hour later, Junkrat was ultimately stuffed. Roadhog had the sleeping Rat over his shoulder.

“This was a good idea.” Hog said to you.

“Definitely! I’ll see you two tomorrow for ‘brekkie’?” You asked.

Roadhog chuckled. “Maybe. I’ll let you know if this Rat’s up for it.” Hog turned to the door.

“Wait!” You hissed. You ran to Hog and stuffed two packed of Tim-Tams into Junkrat’s pockets. “He’ll like those.”

You could feel Hog smiling at you through his mask. “I’m sure he will.”

Hog and Rat were finally gone from your apartment.

Damn it! You forgot to ask Hog to help you with the dishes.

THE END

#overwatch #junkrat #jamie fawkes #overwatch sfw #junkrat x reader #jamie fawkes x reader #masterlist #stories #jamison fawkes

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birdsthatsingaftermidnight · 4 years

Text

So, we’re watching Return of the Jedi

The alarm going off has nothing to do with the force field being down and everything to do with Darth Vader arriving. AWOOOGA AWOOOGA WEAR LOOSE COLLARED SHIRTS SO AS NOT TO GIVE HIM IDEAS.

- - -

"I hope so, Commander, for your sake. Don't make me promote you to Admiral so I can kill you and promote someone else to Admiral in your place!"

- - -

"Ne wanga wanga" tentatively translated as "We don't buy at the door."

- - -

"Look, R2! It's Captain Solo! And he's no longer frozen in carbonite! Now he's stored in a massive Irn Bru bottle as a conversation piece!"

- - -

Enter Princess Leia - Space BADASS. Seriously, I watched this when I was five or so and she made such an impact on me.

- - -

Whatever language that is, it doesn't half make "yoto" work for it.

- - -

It's Lando Calrissian! Cunningly disguised by covering his chin. Well DONE, Lando!

- - -

Han Solo falls to the ground, blind and shivering. "I can't see." "Shh. You’re over-reacting to the flu. Take some paracetamol and GET UP."

- - -

"Ho ho ho!" "What's that?" "Oh no! It's SANTA!"

- - -

Chewbacca: "Rarrr!" Tentative translation: "It's only a COLD! Will you PLEASE stop going ON!"

- - -

Luke's not doing anything to the Space D&D Orcs - they're just painfully shy and don't like being pointed at.

- - -

Luke's soft voiced instructions and Bib Fortuna repeating them is great.

- - -

Why doesn't Huttese have words for "Old", "Mind" and "Trick"? I can buy not bothering to translate "Jedi" but otherwise it's just plain lazy.

- - -

I always felt sorry, even as a kid, for the Rancor keeper. I mean, yes, he does enjoy watching the beasty eat people up, but he's SO SAD that his pet is dead! I hope he got a puppy or something to keep him company.

- - -

And where on earth are they going to find a shoe box big enough to bury him in the sad patch behind the shed?

- - -

What makes the Sarlak all-powerful? It's a toothy hole in the ground. It's not like he's going to come over there and get you if you don't stop talking shit.

- - -

Han Solo's dialogue from "I think my eyes are getting better" to "he'll get no such pleasure from us. Right?" is beautiful.

- - -

Bobba Fett - terrifying bounty hunter or space idiot? YOU DECIDE!

- - -

PRINCESS LEIA.

SPACE.

BADASS.

- - -

"Let's go. And don't forget the droids. And somebody lend Leia a t-shirt."

- - -

Yoda: "Twilight is upon me. Read them I have. Will to live lost. Mmmm."

- - -

Why does Luke have to confront Vader again in order to be a Jedi? It seems so arbitrary. Luke: "Instead of confronting Vader, can't I do like three moderately difficult things instead? Drain the swamp. Give you a mani-pedi. I don't know, bake you a cake?"

- - -

Luke: "You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father." Obi-Wan: "Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. Because he was a twat."

- - -

Luke: "Leia. Leia is my sister... but... we..." [Luke vomits in swamp.]

- - -

Mon Mothma, in a haunted voice: "Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

"Maybe we shouldn't have written it on Bothan hide."

- - -

General Madine's fake beard is INCREDIBLE. Do you think he's on the run and thus in disguise? If so, I really hope Madine's not his real name, because if it is Mon Mothma just outed him to EVERYONE.

- - -

I love that Han and Chewie bicker like they're a couple on a road-trip and one of them wants to stop and ask for directions.

- - -

"We're all in camouflage, blending in superbly with the Forest Moon landscape. This is excellent! No one will spot us! Let's just remember to bring our pessimistic, anxiety-ridden, SHINY GOLDEN droid with us! That will help us blend in YET MORE BETTER STILL!"

- - -

Finally, a Stormtrooper that hit something!

Seriously - you're going at a MILLION MILES AN HOUR on the Forest Moon of Endor, which is stuffed with Giant Redwoods. WHY WOULD YOU LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF YOU? WHY? That guy is now the poster child for speeder bike safety.

- - -

"Take the squad ahead! You don't need leaders! We're not necessary! You do your thing and we'll go rescue Leia from the Space Bears."

- - -

"Freeze!" [Leia removes poncho. It’s cold on that there moon.]

- - -

Space Bears, sir! THAAAAAAAZANDS OF THEM!

- - -

Why is Princess Leia not getting cooked? Because, as previously discussed, she is a Space. Badass.

- - -

Ewoks: "We think he's a god. Just a really rubbish one."

- - -

"Now, C-3PO, if someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!"

- - -

By the look on Princess Leia's face, she's just remembered the few times she kissed Luke.

- - -

Emperor: "You want this, don't you?" [Strokes lightsaber suggestively.] Luke: [shudders]

- - -

Emperor: "You, like your father, are now MINE." Me: "It's all going a bit Hugh le Despensers in here." Him: [Knows better than to risk an impromptu history lesson by asking.]

- - -

Everything Admiral Ackbar says is golden. Everything.

- - -

Darth Vader: "It is too late for me, son. Several books I took out of the Naboo library are twenty years overdue and I can't afford to pay the fines. The Emperor is not generous with his pay scales."

- - -

Imperial Officer, thinking: “We’re winning! But ooh… hang on. Ooh, no. The rebels are scary and they have guns and… hold up! I’ve got Stormtroopers! STORMTROOPERS! ADVANCE! Get them surrounded. More surrounded… bit more… Point your guns at them! Oh my good gravy, yes! YES! They’ve surrendered! NOW’S MY CHANCE! Imperial Officer, out loud: "You rebel scum!” Imperial Officer, thinking: "I AM THE GREATEST MAN ALIVE! YESSSSSS!!!!!"

- - -

Lando: "Only the fighters are attacking. I wonder what those star destroyers are waiting for?" [Cuts to star destroyer] Officer: "I wonder what we're waiting for?"

- - -

Alternatively: Lando: "Only the fighters are attacking. I wonder what those star destroyers are waiting for?" Emperor: "You may fire once peak electricity time is OVER, and NOT before!"

- - -

[Speculatively]: "Do you think Stormtroopers are like tortoises? It's not that the Ewoks are so mighty that pushing people over kills them, it's just they can't get up again."

- - -

I don't know why Darth Vader doesn't go down the route that Palpatine did when converting him. It worked well enough to convince him to do any number of rotten things!

"Give in to the dark side, Luke! WE HAVE COOKIES and the Emperor lets you stay up ALL NIGHT if you want!"

- - -

The saddest part of this movie is when one ewok tries to wake the other ewok then realises the other ewok is dead.

- - -

The Emperor does brilliantly evil enunciation.

- - -

The Emperor: "Your feeble powers are no match for the static generated by my polyester robe!" [shuffles feet on carpet; zarks Luke.]

- - -

The guards the Emperor sent away when Luke arrives, peaking around the corner 1: "It's okay, Darth Vader will protect the Emperor. Yup. There he goes. Oh. Oh, he's lost a hand! Oh, no! It's okay! The Skywalker chap's given up! Oooh! Tough break with the lightning! It's okay though, I reckon we can relax. Darth Vader's not going to grab the Emperor and throw him down that- oh. Oh buggery fuck." The guards the Emperor sent away when Luke arrives, peaking around the corner 2: "Reckon it's time to join the Rebellion, Pete." The guards the Emperor sent away when Luke arrives, peaking around the corner 1: "Yup."

- - -

Darth Vader: "Do you think killing the Emperor is enough to get those library fines taken off?"

- - -

When is an A-Wing not an A-Wing? When it's suddenly a flaming Ford pick-up truck slamming though the window!

- - -

...do you think Darth Vader has to take vitamin D supplements in order not to get rickets?

- - -

Luke's plan: "Look everyone! I saved him! He's back to the light side!" Everyone else: "That's... Darth Vader." Luke: "Yep! And he's a goody now! Isn't that BRILLIANT?" Everyone else: "...um..." Luke: "Let's have a PARTY! Then we can find something for him to do! Isn't this GREAT?" Leia: <facepalm> Darth Vader: "I'm good with children. I have experience. Any you want getting rid of?" Luke: <beaming happily> Everyone else: <stunned silence> Darth Vader: "I'm good at making sure they don't get out of hand."

- - -

Luke: <sadly sets fire to Darth Vader.> Han Solo, downwind: "Could anyone else really go some barbecue right now?"

- - -

Ewok playing music on stormtrooper helmets: "There is a more than zero percent chance that we cooked and ate the previous inhabitants of what is now my new xylophone."

- - -

Force Ghost Obi-Wan: "Wait a minute. How did he get to come back as a young, handsome version of himself? WHY DIDN'T I GET TO COME BACK AS EWAN MCGREGOR?!"

#Star Wars #Return of the Jedi #RotJ #Leia Organa #Princess Leia #Luke Skywalker #Darth Vader #Anakin Skywalker #Obi Wan Kenobi #Han Solo #Emperor Palpatine #hilarity

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onepdumpsterfire · 4 years

Text

I’m gonna start my own AU 2/4

This is just a get to know them type of thing before I start writing the stories. I’m thinking of making it as a continuation of my first story that I posted here. The one were the reader ends up with Sabo.

all things for this series will be tagged as #modernlivingau

Sleeping position

Luffy- splayed out like a starfish. Moves a lot in his sleep.

Chopper- soldier, stomach down and hand under his pillow.

Usopp- on his back, one leg up other stretched out and arms open.

Nami- loose fetal position

Zoro- a hand on his stomach other under his head, one leg bent the other straight.

Sanji- starts off by sleeping on his side with a hand under the pillow end up in a fetal position.

Brook- on his back, both hands under the pillow

Jinbei- soldier on his back

Robin- soldier on her stomach

Franky- starfish

Obsession since childhood

Luffy- really got into soccer thanks to Coby.

Chopper- medicine to help his sick adoptive father because doctors couldn’t find what was making him sick. He died when Chopper was in high school. (Chopper ended up pursuing the field to not have the same thing happen to somebody else.) loved reading comics about superheroes and had a collection. Loves Dark Horse Comics and Marvel.

Usopp- anything creative (i.e. drawing, painting, origami, building replicas, resin, etc...)

Nami- fashion, has a collection of fashion magazines and has started collecting vintage jackets.

Zoro- superhero movies and different types of fighting styles which is what later got him interested in kickboxing

Sanji- learning to cook so he could make his mother who ended up bedridden good meals for the rest of her days. (he didn’t know she was sick until after she got bedridden) he ended up not pursuing cooking.

Brook- trading card. Any of them. Pokemon, Digimon, baseball he didn’t care he just wanted them. Mainly because he saw that other kids were really into them and he thought that if he emulated them then he could make more friends, but no one wanted to hang out with him because the family business was mortuary work.

Jinbei- animal, he had a lot of pets as a kid, still does.

Robin- history, wildlife, books. She has a collection.

Franky- cars, has a collection of toy model cars.

Strange habits

Luffy- other than picking his nose all the time he also takes food off of other people’s plates without asking, no matter who it is.

Chopper- listens to rock/jazz instrumentals while studying.

Usopp- when sorting out his thoughts he talks out loud to himself but feels embarrassed if he finds out someone was listening in on him.

Nami- has a small weather kit in her yard, whenever asked what she’s doing by passersby she says something ridiculous. (i.e. praying to the old gods or defeating the sun a weather prediction at a time.)

Zoro- weaves things when stressed out. Usually has some plastic strings on him to make simple four-way key chains. (scoubidou, I think its called.)

Sanji- hums and sings to himself, immediately shuts up hen someone comes in.

Brook- OCD about his instruments. Needs them nice and tidy, no one else can touch them. He polishes them and cleans them routinely.

Jinbei- pretends his animals talk back to him, gives them weird voices too. Though he doesn’t do it in front of people.

Robin- tells morbid jokes even in inappropriate times and even if there was no one there.

Franky- other than wearing shorts, even in the wintertime, he is way too friendly and will approach anyone that is in need of help without a second thought.

Favorite warm-weather activity

Luffy- soccer and go-karts

Chopper- staying indoors and going to the pool. (he really hates the heat, but the pool is bearable with friends.)

Usopp- soccer with Luffy and painting scenery.

Nami- window shopping and hanging out with friends.

Zoro- hiking and hanging out at the pool. Mainly with Chopper.

Sanji- barbecuing

Brook- sets up near a peer or a city corner and plays his instruments. He doesn’t do it for the money just for the love of music and anyone with a mourning soul searching for companionship.

Jinbei- gives swimming lessons

Robin- hiking

Franky- driving around, windows down and music blaring.

Favorite cold-weather activity

Luffy- campfires, making s’mores

Chopper- snowboarding if there’s enough snow or looking at the frozen and still nature.

Usopp- making his famous hot cocoa for people, movies and snuggling

Nami- absolutely hates the cold, will do anything to get out of it.

Zoro- hiking, going for runs, campfires

Sanji- doesn’t particularly like the cold but at least he can practice making hot drinks and soups.

Brook- spending time with people he cares for. The band he used to be in crashed because of a snowstorm during a tour and all the members died, being with others keeps his mind from wondering. He doesn’t hate the cold but would rather not be out in it if can be helped, though there are times that he goes out just for the melancholy.

Jinbei- indoors, probably hibernating sleeping

Robin- having a hot drink while reading

Franky- other than stubbornly putting on something other than shorts, at home working on a project

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ninetailednaru · 4 years

Text

The Mother of My Child. [Minato Namikaze]

cw: oral sex, impregnation/slight breeding kink, suggestive themes/content, crying, super fluffy smut/lime

Summary: Minato is ready to start a family with you.

A/N: I got really in the mood for some soft, fluffy Minato (basically him 24/7) but I made it spicy? Not really, lol, it’s super soft and sweet.

Another thing— I think it’s important to mention that although “name substitutes” aren’t used in here (ex. [(Last) Name], [Y/(L)/N], etc.), your last name is implied to be Uzumaki. You’re married to Minato, and if you couldn’t tell from the title, warnings, tags, and summary, you’re trying for a baby.

That is all. :))

P.S. This is sort of self indulgent and since I’m pretty shy and a bit insecure, so is the reader.. Minato just seems perfect for this scenario. There’s not enough shy reader spice out there that fit my personal standards either, so I decided to do one myself. It shouldn’t be too bad, though. And for anyone out there wanting to read the straight fluff aspect, I put a 💘 to symbolize when the fluff ends. :)

————

Minato was so glad to be home.

A sigh couldn’t help but escape his lips as he stepped into the apartment, kicking off his shoes and shedding most of his ninja gear all the while. He stretched out his muscles, groaning at the pleasant sensation as his day’s duties melted away.

Finally gathering his thoughts, he felt the faint vibration of music coming from the other room. He smiled to himself, knowing you were in there; having had awaited his return all day.

He stepped into the kitchen, the music getting louder and louder the closer he got— but not loud enough to the point where he could no longer hear the sound of your voice singing along with the song.

You were completely oblivious to his presence as he rested his chin is his palm, his arms resting on the kitchen counter right behind the place where you were cooking at the stove. He watched with admiration and love as you swayed your hips to the music while scrambling whatever was in the pan in front of you.

The only thing he could think about at this moment was how he got so damn lucky.

To believe that he got somebody as amazing as you— a powerful shinobi in your own right who worked their ass off around the clock, but utilized their hard earned day off to make your home spotless and cook a meal all for him.

You did so much for him, and it felt like he did nothing at all.

He thought he wasn’t worthy of you— worthy of such kindness.

He came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder. When he felt you jump at the sudden contact, a soft chuckle reverberated in your ear.

“Relax,” he said as he nuzzled further into the crook of your neck. “It’s just me.”

He felt your body relax in his arms when he revealed his identity. “So,” he started, “what’re you cooking?”

“Just some barbecue pork and hibachi rice. Simple, really. No big deal,” you said, shrugging best you could with his hold on you.

You could feel him smile against your neck.

“You could give me anything and I’d eat it without question if you were the one who made it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple dish or a complex one, my love.”

He glanced over at the pan and smiled even wider against your skin. “Is it done?”

“Yeah, I just have to plate it.”

“That can wait.”

💘

Minato unraveled one of his hands from around your waist to turn the knob on the stove to where it said “off” in big, bold letters. In a heartbeat, Minato had spun you two around with your lower back pressed flush against your marble kitchen island.

“Minato,” you whimpered out.

“Jump.”

Heeding his orders, you wrapped your arms around the blonde’s neck and jumped up, only to be pushed backwards onto the countertop.

His hands slid around from your sides to the curve of your ass, resting there delicately as though if he handled you too roughly you’d shatter like fine china. He pressed his forehead against yours gingerly and looked into your eyes.

“You do so much for me. Let me take care of you for a change.”

He began to slowly push up the bottom of your skirt along with your apron, stopping just as it was about to come all the way up and switching to kneading the skin of your thighs instead.

“Please?”

You couldn’t help but look away, your cheeks burning with embarrassment and flattery. “But that’s embarrassing..”

Your words came out in a strained, high pitched whisper that made him smile.

“You’re perfect. Absolutely gorgeous.”

He pulled away from your face to sink down to his knees, gently parting your legs as he went.

“You know,” he began, “you’re the most beautiful woman I‘ve ever seen.” He spoke in between teasing, lingering kisses he placed to the inside of your thighs.

“I can’t wait till you’re pregnant with my child... it’s giving me butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.” His kisses got closer and closer to your womanhood.

“And I’ll do all I can to help you out.”

He stopped right in front of your aching core; still covered slightly by your skirt and apron, along with your dampening panties. “Let me make that happen.”

Your eyes widened. “R-Right now?”

He nodded.

The heat in your face that had subsided once before came back full force. Out of habit, you averted your eyes away from him again but we’re forced to look back when you felt him lick a long stripe onto your clothed pussy.

“Got your attention now, I see.” He grinned up at your red face. “So, will you let me?”

You bit your lip and tried to swallow down the overwhelming sense of embarrassment that rinsed over your body. The hokage, one of Konoha’s finest men and shinobi— both in looks and skill— was on his knees in front of you, saying he wants to put a child inside of you.

You were shy already, and Minato’s unabashed forwardness and confidence while voicing his desires didn’t make it any better.

You nodded shallowly. “Okay..”

The smile that followed after your blessing was blinding. “I’ll do all the work. Don’t worry about a thing, okay?”

You nodded once more.

He lifted your hips up just enough to pull your soaked-through panties down and off your body, letting them drop onto your tile kitchen floor.

The way he looked at your arousal could only be described as predatory if anyone else saw it. But, it didn’t scare you. In fact, you knew Minato better than that, and the look in his eyes was possessive, and hungry, and loving— not dangerous. Not in this context, at least.

His eyes flickered up to meet yours and he slowly wrapped his lips around your bundle of nerves, lapping and sucking. You couldn’t help but let a whine escape your throat as you met his gaze; his response only being him grabbing your hips and locking you against his mouth.

“Hah, Minato—!”

Despite the urge to shove the back of your hand into your mouth, you found yourself bracing the cold surface with whatever remaining consciousness you had left that wasn’t swallowed by the immense onslaught of pleasure that Minato was supply you with. Minato was truly a god when it came to oral, and you knew from the countless years you’d been together that there no place he’d rather be than on his knees and between your legs.

His eyes never left your face as he ate you out so graciously. He was so eager— so eager and desperate to make you see how much he really cared about you; to see how much he loved you. He was addicted to you. You body, your personality, your taste— everything. He couldn’t get enough of you, or that bright smile that graced your features everytime your eyes landed upon him. He was so proud to be able to fight along side you everyday and protect the Leaf, but also, he was so proud and honored that he could call you his.

One of his hands left your waist to slip between your legs and gently push inside you, thrusting in and out in tandem with his tongue as he continued his assault on your clit.

A hand that you were supporting yourself with left your side and found purchase in his spiky blonde locks, gripping harshly as you quivered underneath him. You were completely at his mercy now.

He growled at the sensation of you tugging on his hair so harshly and his brows furrowed together. The number of fingers had increased to two, and the overall speed of them had increased as well.

A loud moan tore itself from your throat as you bit your lip so hard it was bound to draw blood. You clenched around him, cumming on his mouth and fingers. Minato’s movements gradually decrescendoed in speed as he helped you ride out your blissful high to the fullest before pulling away and popping his middle and ring fingers on his right hand that were inside you into his mouth, cleaning it of your essence and standing up while wiping his mouth and chin on the back of his hand.

He couldn’t stop smiling.

The after shock of your orgasm caused your body to twitch every so slightly as you and Minato stared at each other silently, soon breaking out into sweet laughter and giggles. He pulled you into a tight bear hug and tapped twice onto the small of your back, signaling for you to wrap your legs around his waist. You complied and he walked towards your bedroom, your laughter and giggles never seizing.

Until he placed you down on the bed and stood in front of you, you hadn’t realized how hard he really was. You had been together for ages, and married for a good chunk of that time, yet you’d never seen him so riled up and rearing to go.

Yet, instead of tearing into you (especially for his sake), he was taking his time and pleasuring you.

He slowly clambered over in your direction, mounting himself on top of you and between your legs as he pressed his plump lips on every centimeter of skin your face had to offer.

His kisses spread from your nose, to your cheeks, to your lips, forehead, and chin before gradually moving to your jaw and neck.

He tugged at the hem of your skirt as he kissed you, silently asking for permission to undress you. You moved to undo it yourself, but found your hands to be grabbed as soon as your thumbs found themselves on the inside of your waistband.

“Didn’t I tell you I’d take care of everything, silly?”

You felt yourself blush for the millionth time that evening. “Sorry.”

He pecked your lips again.

“Don’t be sorry.”

His hands replaced yours as he slid your skirt down your legs and tossed it haphazardly onto the floor, your blouse and apron (which you hadn’t taken off yet) going to join it soon after.

Your arms instinctively shot up to cover your body (as if he hadn’t seen you naked plenty of times already), but living up to his name of the Yellow Flash, his hands shot up and grabbed them fast as lighting.

The look in his eyes was stern and reprimanding, but laced with a puppy like adoration. He really thought you were a work of art— something to be worshipped and praised. He could stand that you couldn’t see that, too.

“You don’t have to be scared. You’re beautiful to me.” He tilted his head with a small smile on his lips.

You glanced in his direction. “It’s not that I’m scared.. I’m just.. nervous..”

He raised a brow.

“Oh? Why is that? It’s not like we haven’t done this before. What’s so different now? my babygirl?”

Your heartbeat had doubled in speed.

“Well, we’re trying for a baby. A new member of the family! I’m.. I don’t know.. scared.”

He frowned slightly. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want too. You know that. I don’t want to make you—“

“No, no,” you interjected. You brought up his hands in front of his chest and laced your fingers inside of his, pushing against his palms playfully. You finally met his eyes for what you were sure was the longest time you had that night.

“It’s not that, dear. Just.. what if it doesn’t work out? What if it doesn’t take? What if I lose them, or worse? I don’t want to disappoint you, Minato.”

His gaze softened even more as he looked at you. He lowered both your hands and began running his thumbs along the back of them, caressing in soothing circles and patterns.

“You could never disappoint me. You’re willing to give me a child— to make me a father! That’s all I could ask for. More, even. Besides, if it doesn’t take or if we lose them, we’ll just try again.”

He met your eyes again.

“We’re in this together. I promise.”

You felt hot liquid come flooding out of your eyes as your vision blurred and your face contorted into that of joyous sobs. He was so nice to you. So cute! And now, after all this time, he was ready and willing to start a family with you.

He truly was the sweetest person on the planet. It almost gave you a toothache.

You felt large, calloused hands come up and cup your face, wiping and kissing your tears away. “Don’t cry,” he spoke. “It’s okay.”

His voice immediately calmed your nerves; the soft tone and rumble filling you with warmth and putting your scattered mind at ease.

“I’m sorry. I’m so shy and sensitive..” A sniffle followed your words. His gaze softened even further.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. It makes you easier to relate, too— easier to read. I never have a doubt in my mind that you care because of how you wear that beautiful heart of yours on your sleeve. And most of all, all the effort put it makes it more worth getting to know than others.”

You sniffled again but nodded against his hand.

“Hm. Now that that’s settled...”

He tilted your head up to look at him.

“How about we make a baby?”

You couldn’t stop the smile from breaking across your face with a giggle; the sight causing a goofy grin of his own to emerge on his. “Alright. Let’s make a mini Uzumaki-Namikaze.”

He smiled even wider and he tackled you down to the bed, trapping you in a tight embrace before finally coming to a stop— him on top, and you on the bottom staring at each other wordlessly.

The air felt charged with electricity. It felt like you were falling in love with him all over again—the goofy, brave, and incredibly fast Fourth Hokage.

The night was filled with smiles and grins, laughter and giggles— and most of all, love and passion. You couldn’t wait to bring a miniature mix of both you and the man you loved into the world. You still had a lot to figure out about becoming a parent, and Minato reassured you he’d be there with you the entire way. But, as of now, you were sure of two things.

One, the name would be Naruto Uzumaki.

And two?

That kid was going to do some incredible things one day.

#minato namikaze #naruto #not sfw #fluff

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