#i drive by it a lot and go to certain shops but I went thru my old neighborhoods and a lot of places I haven’t been to in years

[bumpscosity]

Forgot what is was like to go to my home town damn I miss living there

[tvwolfsnake]

genuinely had to completely change how I approached covid stuff when I moved to tokyo because I went from a NEET life of:

driving a car and basically only going indoors in public for necessities like a weekly grocery run or occasionally food pickup (but most non-grocery food was drive-thrus), fear and frustration at the lack of masking

to:

riding the sometimes-very-crowded train everywhere, buying groceries on a daily basis, having to shop for stuff I didn’t have in my dorm, attending in-person classes, making friends and seeing them in person, eating food inside restaurants because there’s little other option away from home (short of finding somewhere outdoors to eat a bento), feeling relative calm at near 100% mask rates, lots of temp checks, higher vax rates, and policies that actually went “hey this would be mitigated by better ventilation” unlike the US

I may have also gone a little crazy from the Actually Having A Reason To Be Out In Public and overdid it. the rough thing about being in an active pandemic that was not contained because of fucking profit motive is that you’re forced to take on all public health responsibility as an individual, and it’s kind of an impossible situation. especially as someone who could stay at home and has a significant tendency towards self-denial, where it already felt Noble and Right to make myself as small as I possibly could. being like that it’s easy to avoid forcing yrself to be out in the world—which is good for you—because this is a genuine emergency. except it has been. for years. and at a certain point I was going to have to weigh my own mental health against that

weirdly I’m grateful that tokyo made that decision for me

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

Heatwave x female s/o?

Funny enough it's a certain someone's birthday today! Let's give a bitch one of her faves ;)

(Warning; SUPER long)

"Kade, hurry it up."

"Don't rush me, I'm almost done!"

Kade huffed. They had agreed that once a week, Kade was supposed to wash his alt mode. He had an especially muddy rescue today, Heatwave was always huffy after a mess, but today, he was especially finicky. It was why Kade was sitting there, buffing in the fresh coat of wax that Heatwave demanded he have on. He pulled away, and after seeing it was done, lightly patted his hood.

"Alright pretty boy, you're done. Imma go and eat a sandwich."

"Didn't we stop at a drive thru before we got here?"

"You whining makes me hungry."

Heatwave scoffed. He waited until Kade got into the house, before he helped himself out of the driveway, and pulling into the road. Just had to do one thing first, in case they came looking for him.

"Chase, you copy?"

"Yes, Heatwave, I copy."

"Good. I'm handling your patrol shift."

"But Kade isn't-"

"No one knows that. Look, I just need to let out some steam, Chase. You know how Kade is."

"...understandable. Keep me updated."

"Will do."

He hung up the call, sighing in relief. Good, they bought it. He made a left towards the beach, before he came to a halt, just before he made it to the parking lot. There she was. The reason why he wanted to look like a goddamn sports car today.

Brown hair that fell to her shoulders, fair skin, jewelry that dangled, and she was as glittery and stunning as a fallen star. He pulled up right in front of her, giving her just a small honk to get her attention. Her eyes lit up right when she saw him.

"Hey! I was just about to text you!"

He pulled down the window, giving the illusion that she was talking to someone inside.

"Sorry. Had to keep the hood looking nice for you. Like what you did with your hair."

She had gotten bored waiting for him, and had stuffed her hair full of little flowers. Alongside the glitter- this girl was far from boring.

"Thank you! I got you one too. Assuming you're gonna let me in?"

"Course, scoot into the driver's seat."

He opened his door, letting her hop into the driver's seat. She placed a little flower on the dashboard, before she buckled herself in.

"Sooo I take it this is the tour you promised me?"

She was from off island, so she was a little lost around here. He pulled out of the lot, and went back onto the road.

"Yeah, I'll show you around. You still got a week on the island, right?"

"Yep! I'm liking the sights so far. And the locals are definitely nice, and not just on the eyes."

Based on the way she strummed her fingers across his dashboard, she wasn't talking about the humans. He turned to the left, trying to remember to put on his blinker as he did so. She was, something.

"Well, we try to have some hospitality. Especially for tourists who just run into any ol' vehicle."

She huffed, arms folded across her chest.

"The door was open, and I've always wanted to see the inside of a fire truck."

Heatwave chuckled. What a story that was.

"Kade! Close the-and he's gone."

Heatwave groaned. Whenever he saw Hailey, that idiot always forgot the rules of the ride; shut the door when you get out. It was like coming into a closed room, and leaving without shutting it. Just plain annoying. He was about to shut the door, when there was a sudden weight in his driver's seat. He adjusted his rear view mirror. A girl. Tourist, given that he'd never seen her before.

"Cool! A real firetruck! I've always wanted to see one on the inside!"

Not a carjacker, thankfully. Just someone who was curious. He turned on his screen on the inside, and put on his best robot voice.

"Step away, citizen, this is official-"

He stopped once she tapped the screen, right at his nose. She looked fascinated by him, as if this is the first time she'd ever see technology.

"Woah! They have a computer in this thing- that's new! I'll only sit here, just for a second! I've been waiting for a friend."

She sat down in his seat, facing the outside and starting to mess with her phone. He was about to lay on the horn, when she sighed under her breath.

"Come on...I've been waiting two hours, guys."

She got ditched. He wasn't nuts about someone who literally just helped herself to his interior, but Heatwave wasn't sparkless. Not seeing Kade in the distance, he sighed.

"Input address."

"Hmm?"

She looked at the map he put on the screen. She hesitated for a second, biting her lip in thought.

"Uhm...I dunno where it is exactly. Its the uh, the hotels nearby, I think?"

Heatwave knew what she meant. He put the address on the screen, and turned on the light that signaled for a seatbelt. She looked around, as if she was doing something bad, before she grinned, and (finally) shutting his door, then put on her seatbelt. He tried to be quick about this (Kade was SUCH a whiner if he couldn't find Heatwave in the same spot he left him at), despite the fact that traffic was fairly heavy.

"That's so cool, you can drive yourself! Oh you are SO cool! I wonder where's the sirens on this thing?"

Heatwave shouldn't. Those were for emergencies. But traffic wasn't letting up, Kade would call and nag at him for leaving, and...well. She looked like she could use a pick me up. He let the button flash for her, and right when she pressed it, the sirens started to blare. She jumped in the seat, giddy as a sparkling.

"Oh thats so cool!"

Heatwave WAS pretty cool, when he really thought about it. She geeked out well until they reached the empty looking parking lot, then he put it in park.

"Please unfasten your seatbelts, and exit the- ow, the scrap is that?"

She stared at the face on the screen as she started to get out.

"What's...what?"

"There's something on the seats, it's...ITCHY."

She looked around at her seat. Glitter. She gave an embarrassed smile, before shrugging.

"I'm sorry, I got glitter on you. It's kinda my signature thing- wait. Is that...pre-recorded?"

Oh no. He tried to focus on the voice, rather than the itchiness.

"It's nothing to be concerned about-"

He sighed in relief when she dug her hand into his seat, easing that itch. She pulled away quickly, and he knew that face of shock.

"Oh my god. You're not...just a robot. Oh my GOD-"

"Shhhh!"

He pulled his shades back up, realizing it was too late to keep up the robo act.

"Look, okay, I'm not just a truck. But you NEED to keep it a secret. Do you understand?"

She stared at him for a second, trying to take it all in. She slowly started to form her words, taking a step back.

"Uh...are you gonna take over the world or something?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here with glitter on my seat."

She clearly had a million and one questions, everyone did, but he didn't have time to answer. He cut her off before he could speak.

"I just need to know if you can keep a secret."

"...i can. Especially since you helped me. I won't tell anyone, promise."

"Good. Now, I gotta hurry back, you stay safe. And uh- stop sitting in random trucks. Its kinda rude."

He shut his door, about to take off, when she gripped onto the door handle. He stopped, watched her as she scribbled on a napkin, before tucking it in his windshield wipers.

"In case you need me to say a proper sorry."

With that, she turned, and walked inside. He looked wround, and after making sure no one could see him, transformed, and looked at the napkin. A string of numbers that didn't make any sense.

Weird little human.

"Funny how after that you just couldn’t leave me alone, huh Heats?"

"I'm a rescue bot. Helping people is what I do. By the way, I'm STILL not over the glitter."

"You just mad because I'm cute."

She WAS cute, he'd give her that. He pulled up to a drive thru (the one Kade always went to), chuckling.

"Just order something, I don't want you hungry for where we're going."

"Oh sure, I got some spare cash-"

"No. I said I was going to treat you, and I meant it. There's a wallet in the glove box, use the cash."

She took it out, raising a brow.

"Who's 'Kade'?"

"Friend of mine. He owed me the money, so don't sweat it."

Well. He SORT of did, for dealing with him on a daily basis. After ordering fries, a shake, and nuggets, they were off. She raised a brow as she took a sip of her drink.

"Where ARE we going anyway?"

"Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?"

"Can I at least get a hint? Please?"

"Okay, okay. One hint. It's got more flowers."

She thought about it for a second, and he wanted to laugh. She had such a cute scowl when she was in deep thought. Wasn't even looking out the window to see where that they had in fact, stopped by now.

"Is it...a flower shop?"

"No, but good idea for next time. Look outside."

She looked outside, and he felt her cute little feet stomp on by his pedals in excitement.

"No way!! Let me out, I wanna see I wanna see!"

"Hold your turbo horses!"

He tried to make it sound like it was scolding, but the laughter betrayed him. He unlocked the door, and like a fresh sparkpubby, she bolted. He had found this spot, full of flowers, and secluded from most of the usual hiking trails. Someplace they could really, and honestly be alone.

"It's SO pretty here! Why aren't there more people here?"

He watched her use her phone to take plenty pictures, and in a way, it was sweet, knowing she HAD to remember this place.

"No one really knows. Small island, lots of mysteries. You grabbed the blanket right?"

She stopped, before taking off her backpack and nodded. It was more of a tarp, given the size, but she did bring it. She set laid it out, and after getting her food, she sat down on her knees, giddy as hell.

"So. Am I finally gonna see the real Heatwave? Mr 'rescue bot leader'?"

They had been texting a lot since they first met, she knew damn well that stuff like that made him feel a bit frazzled. She really saw him as this incredible being. If only he knew he saw her the same way. He took a deep breath, just as he learned in yoga.

"Okay. I can show you. But you need to keep calm, okay?"

"I can do calm!"

"I love the enthusiasm, but freckles, come on."

Her said freckled face scowled as her arms folded across her chest.

"Fine. I'll be calm. Promise."

He transformed, and knelt down, trying to make himself look smaller. It didn't really work. She gawked at him, little eyes wide and mouth open.

"I...get it. It's a lot, and it's weird and confusing-"

"You did NOT tell me you were hot."

It was Heatwave's turn to be surprised. She wasn't repelled him; she was ATTRACTED to him. Oh no. Oh no, he was tracking her eyes- she was giving him a total once over, clearly trying to take him all in. He cleared his throat, tipping his hat down to cover his optics a bit. She REALLY thought he was 'hot' (which he learned meant 'attractive' and not 'on fire').

"Could uh...could the hot mech take a seat with you?"

She scooted a bit, patting the spot next to her. He was careful with the flowers, before he finally sat down. Heatwave found it difficult to make eye contact again, they both did. What do you do when a girl you REALLY liked called you 'hot'? Do you say 'you too'? Or 'thanks'? He was apparently super obvious with his feelings, she opted to get the ball rolling.

"So? Tell me about yourself! All I know is your name, and that you're a firetruck."

He finally turned to look at her. He had not much to say, but he did have a lot to LOOK at.

"I'm Heatwave, leader of the rescue bots on Griffin Rock. I come from the planet Cybertron, and I help citizens of this island anyway I can. I do rescues. I've also been in a few parades, but I don't like thinking about that. Kid's have REALLY gross hands..."

She chuckled, clearly amused. The whole time he was talking, he was super distracted. Her eyes looked like stars, her hair was soft yet wild, like the ocean, and her...mouth. Humans always looked squishy to him, but this one had such soft lips. They were glossy, and they looked so precious as she ate. The way her tongue licked the salt off of her tiny fingers-

"Heatwave!"

"Huh? What? What's wrong?"

"You were staring kinda off into space? And you're steaming!"

Oh no. He really was. He checked his HUB, and sure enough, temperatures were above normal. He cleared his throat, shaking his head.

"Sorry, sorry. It uhm...happens."

"You sure you don't want me to like. Feel your forehead or something?"

He was about to say no, but the idea of her hand on his metal...well. One touch wouldn't hurt.

"If it'll make you feel better. Knock yourself out."

He lowered himself down to her level, and she pressed her little hand against his forehead. Oh she was so soft.

"Woah. You are WARM. Like a heater! Oh this is nice actually."

She put both hands on him, now at the sides of his face. Her smile was...so close to him. Her eyes were full of wonder and comfort. She felt comfortable with him. He wasn't self concious about his looks, but knowing that someone so pretty, so full of wonder, found HIM attractive- it made his processor spin.

"You...you got a lot more freckles than I thought. Don't think I could count them all."

"Sounds like quitter talk to me, Heats."

Oh the way he smiled at her. He felt joy plenty of times, but this. This was something so incredibly different.

"I don't back down from a challenge. One. Two. Three. Four. Five...six..."

He was losing track. She smelled prettier than any flower here, her breath was hitting his lips. Then, it happened. Her lips pressed against his, and his spark was absolutely thumping. He hadn't ever...kissed someone before. He never wanted to, up till now. He, as carefully as he could, even pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. It was so sweet, so soft.

Then Heatwave got carried away. He pulled her closer to him, steam hissing from his frame as his glossa kept rubbing against her lips. Her mouth was small, but he demanded entry. She was eager to give it to him, and his glossa got a taste of hers. Still sweet from the shake she just had, it was a taste he wanted more of. He held her in place, not wanting to let this feeling go. She tasted so good, she was so warm, so soft, and wet, and-

"What's wrong?"

He pulled away when he noticed it. She averted her gaze, cleaning the oral lubricant Heatwave had left around her mouth.

"What...do you mean?"

"You're warm. Really warm. And your legs are pressed together. Did I hurt you?"

"No! No, I just...uhm...okay, this is embarrassing. I uhm...forget it, it was just that kissing you and..."

He looked confused for a moment, before he gestured to her.

"If I made you uncomfortable or hurt you, I really should take a look at it. Unless you want me to take you out to see someone?"

Heatwave wasn't dumb. He just knew you shouldn't be poking around someone's bits unless you absolutely had to. She leaned back into his hand, spreading her legs apart, and giving him permission to look. He lifted her skirt up, and saw, to his surprise, that humans had a valve. Didn't have the biolights he was usee to, but still so soft, hot, and at the moment, wet. She groaned into her hand, totally embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I just. You had your tongue out and it just, uh-"

"Oh. You like my tongue?"

Heatwave decided to be bold. He lifted her up, and slowly ran his glossa alongside her folds. Oh the way her legs shook once she felt him. He pulled away, a huge smirk on his face.

"Aw, you good there, freckles? Lookin' a little shakey."

Her face was flushed, her frame shook like a helpless bolt bunny- she was precious.

"Can you just...a bit more? Please Heatwave?"

Who was he to say no to someone who damn near tasted like rainbows?(it was a saying Blades used here, he assumed he was using it right) he brought his mouth up to her again, and dove back in. Only this time, he savored her. He lapped at her little folds hungrily, glossa threatening every once a while to bury himself into her. He felt her little hands grab onto his helmet, felt her legs squirm as she whined for him.

"S-shit, Heatwave. You're...mmph!"

He looked up at her, seeing how she clamped her hand over her mouth. She was enjoying this so much, she was even trying to hump his glossa, desperate for more. With his free hand, he clicked open his spike panel, letting his hand slowly stroke his currently leaky spike.

"Keep making those noises. I like it. I REALLY like it."

She gave him what he wanted, moaning and whimpering helplessly as her fluids started to drip down his face. It felt so good, stroking his spike to the sound of her little mewls.

"W-wait, wait a second."

He pulled away, forcing himself to put his tongue back into his mouth.

"What's wrong?"

"I just. Didn’t want to finish like that. You deserve something too."

He let her go as she wanted to, before he found himself laying back, watching her as she faced away from him. He twitched upon feeling her hand at his sensitive metal, then her hot breath at his tip.

"Wait, I dunno if-"

Then her mouth was at his tip. Oh the way electricity shot up his spinal ridge.

"N-never mind. That. Keep doing it. Way more of that."

Heatwave couldn't just sit there and be lazy piece of scrap metal. He lifted up her skirt, and instead of using his glossa like earlier, he started to use his servos. He sat there, holding onto her cute ass, thumb rubbing in between her folds, all while she sat there, little tongue rolling against his spike, slurping and licking at the transfluids that came from him. He watched as heat rolled from his mouth and into the open air.

Then she came. All it took was a few quick, fast circles against her folds, and she cried out against his metal, dripping from her legs, down to his just waxed body. Suffice to say, hearing her little sounds, watching her as she she tried all she could to please him-it was too much for Heatwave. He overloaded right after, hand digging into the dirt underneath him. He wanted to sit there, basking in the afterglow, when he looked up. He didn't just stain his chest, he stained her pretty shirt. He sat up with a bit of a jolt, knowing he fucked it up.

"Fucking shit- I'm sorry, I'm usually messy but that was an-"

She chuckled, shaking her head, and wiping the bits of overload from her lips.

"It's just a shirt. Really, it's fine."

Heatwave wasn't a usually a 'no it's not' kinda guy. He usually believed when people left it at that. But something about the way she wiped her face free of his overload, made him think differently.

"Why don't I take you back into town, buy you some new clothes?"

"I mean....if you're offering and all."

Heatwave chuckled. Yep. He definitely had the hots for her.

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

"Kade! Heatwave is back!"

Dani called out from the kitchen. It was well into the night at this point by the time Heatwave pulled in. Kade rushed out to meet him before he made it into the garage.

"Where have you been? Chase has been trying to-"

"I kept him updated on the situation across town, so unless an emergency happened-"

"An emergency DID happen!"

Heatwave finally decided to hit the breaks and pay attention.

"What happened? Is everyone safe?"

"You drove off, and I left my wallet in your glove box- had to cancel MY date because you didn't come back."

Heatwave sighed in relief. It was stupid, sure, but at least it wasn't a real emergency.

"Alright, hop in and get it."

He opened his door, and Kade reached in to get it. Once he hopped out, Heatwave drove into the garage to explain himself to the rest of the crew. Then he heard Kade yell from behind him.

"HEATWAVE WHY IS MY WALLET EMPTY?!"

He should feel guilty. But remembering her smile? He absolutely didn't.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Just Swimmingly ch.7 (BAON)

Summary: Team Rescue is on the way...mostly. Look, they aren't good at names.

Tags:  Spicyhoney, Established Relationships,  Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Edge had been on worse car rides, but not many. In fact, he could only think of one; riding in the backseat of his own car with Stretch unconscious in his lap, his life ticking away in decimals as Edge desperately clung to Blue’s instruction that he should think of healing magic as similar to making a hollandaise.

It wasn’t ridiculous if it worked and sitting here in this silent car, hyperfocusing on the mostly empty roads with Blue next to him radiating grim determination and Antwan in the backseat, Edge found himself thinking of hollandaise again.

The mental picture of the saucepan was strangely easing, keeping his turbulent thoughts occupied. In his memory, Blue’s voice was preternaturally calm as he reminded them that all the butter couldn’t be added at once because the mixture would break. Edge followed the direction coming from his phone as the voice assistant instructed him in its robotic way to turn left, (you need to add the butter a little at a time) turn right, (whisk it in), your destination is on the left.

It was only when he pulled into the empty parking lot as directed that the real Blue spoke, his high voice uncertain over the confidence of his imaginary twin, “Shouldn’t the security teams be here?”

“No,” Edge said disgustedly. He threw the car into park and pressed a knuckle between his eye sockets with painful force. “because this isn’t the right place.”

The dilapidated sign over the empty storefront declared with a spooky if faded cheer to be ‘Spirit Halloween’ but the only spirits in this place were the ghosts of customers’ past.

“My brother’s sense of humor,” Edge said, “he’s sending us a message. We went trick or treating behind his back and here’s his trick.”

“Of course it is,” Blue muttered, sinking back in the seat. His gloved hands were tight in his lap, a mirror to Edge’s grip on the steering wheel. “Papyrus probably warned him hours ago that I’d left home. He would have been ready for something like this.”

Edge picked up his phone, his bare thumbs moving with cautious swiftness over the screen. “Yes, he would. Which is why we’re going to follow the other tracker now.”

“Other tracker?” Antwan leaned over the driver’s seat to look at the new directions scrolling up the phone screen. His laughter was uncomfortable, more nerves than humor. “How many trackers do you have on your brother?”

Not as many as he has on me, Edge did not say. “On a normal day, only one.” Edge pulled back out onto the empty street, following the monotone drone of the GPS. “Sans set it up for me when Red pulled his little disappearing act after California and then reappeared to wreak havoc on my kitchen.”

“He did what?” Blue asked and Edge winced internally, barely keeping it from showing on his face. He wasn’t at his best, that much was certain, spilling secrets out in a spreading pool, but caring about that would have to wait. There were only so many directions he could pull his focus for now and Blue was hardly going to take out an advertisement in the paper if he heard anything he shouldn’t. A bit of gossip when it came to office relationships and the local scandals aside, Blue was one of their diplomats and he was well able to use appropriate discretion.

Hopefully, his definition of appropriate did not include asking Red any uncomfortable questions at a later date.

“It doesn’t matter. As I was saying, I usually have one tracker on my brother just in case he gets it into his head to face something he shouldn’t alone.” Edge didn’t quite roll through a red light. Better to not get pulled over by the Ebott police if he could help it, Embassy security certainly had enough on their hands right now without having to handle minor traffic violations. “Except, as I said, Sans gave it to me. Which means it’s only as accurate as Sans wants it to be and he has an unfortunate tendency to match my brother when it comes to deciding he knows what’s best for other people.”

A certain sourness fell over Blue’s expression as he nodded. As both a younger brother and a diplomat he was quite familiar with the ongoing irritation of overprotectiveness, even as he often did the same to his own brother.

“Which is why tonight I added my own tracker to Red’s jacket,” Edge said, “I would have followed that one first, but I was hoping not to reveal it so quickly if I could help it.”

Blue hummed thoughtfully. “You don’t think he’d be expecting that?”

“Of course, but I think he’d have a harder time finding and disabling it. Stretch made it for me.” The memory of his maniacal delight when Edge told him what it was for was briefly allowed, as well as his satisfied triumph when he presented Edge with a device that was the size of match head, tagged with near-microscopic hooks reminiscent of Velcro that were made to catch and cling to any fabric with a mere touch.

His design was with the Research and Development team now, minus the tracking device, as they worked to find a use for it that would allow for them to sell it to Humans, along with a dozen other things he’d created. So many of Stretch’s designs ended up that way, patents in which he was not named used as bargaining chips to help keep their coffers full. Stretch always declared that he didn’t work for the Embassy and that much was true. Instead, he worked for all of Monsterkind, that clever mind of his working to get them the funds they needed establish a place in this world. Only a handful of people even knew it and while Asgore could be foolishly soft-hearted on occasion, he wouldn’t considering paying a large ransom for any citizen on the street, even if they were married to Edge. Stretch was important past his twitter feed and it would be narrow not to suspect that these kidnappers somehow learned about it.

This time the tracker was leading them to the other side of town, down on the north side where the neighborhoods were filled with condemned houses and boarded up businesses. The only industry that thrived there were liquor shops whose windows were barred, manned by cashiers who spent their days behind a thick layer of bulletproof glass. His car was going to stand out like a sore thumb, but it couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t about to waste anymore time by stopping at the Embassy to borrow something more discreet.

At least he could worry less about reprisals from rolling through stop sign; the Ebott police presence on this side of town was minimal.

They made their way through the empty streets without incident. It was late even for the criminal element and a glance down the alleyways they passed showed them filled with shadows that could have been trash cans or curled up humans sleeping amongst them.

Some of the children from the Y lived on this side of town. Actually, most of them did and some of them might well be sleeping on the street right now…no. He couldn’t think of that at this moment, one thing at a time. He couldn’t afford to have his attention ping-ponging around inside his head, not when their destination was in sight.

This time, there were plenty of cars parked in a semi-circle around the building, floodlights pouring from their windows and flashers circling on their rooftops. Embassy security teams were made up of Monsters and Humans, and there were plenty out there in their uniforms. The Ebott police were going to throw a fit about jurisdiction, of that he had no doubt, but that was going to be a tomorrow problem for the Legal department and their FBI connections.

One of the security personnel approached the car as Edge pulled up, both hands raised in a gesture that could either mean for them stop or for him to offer surrender. Edge rolled down his window and he ducked his head inside the car. “Sir, your husband and his friend are both fine,” he said without preamble. “This area is closed off, you should—”

“If you even suggest that I should leave, you’re going to be reassigned to the elementary school playground for the foreseeable future,” Edge said evenly.

To his credit, the guard’s expression did not change. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sir. I was going to tell you to park over on the north side,” He pointed to a clearing off behind the other cars. “Your brother is waiting for you up at the entrance.”

“Of course he is,” Edge muttered. “I’m sure we’ve kept him quite entertained with his version of hide and seek.” But he obeyed the direction.

He parked a fair distance away from the circle of the security vehicles and got out of the car, Antwan and Blue at his heels. No one else approached, the rest of the security team keeping a respectable distance away out of either direction from their leaders or simple self-preservation.

Standing near the warehouse entrance and out of the glare of the floodlights was Red, burrowed into his jacket with a Styrofoam cup in his hand and a cigar smoldering between his teeth. As if warned by his instincts or, more likely, through the curling earpiece that was stuck into his audial canal, Red turned to them as they approached. His grin was irritatingly knowing and familiar, pleased as a punch to have held them off long enough that everything was finished but the cleanup.

And yet, it was also such a comfort to see that smirk that Edge nearly went weak at the knees. He wouldn’t be smiling that way if Stretch or Jeff were hurt, even his brother’s sadism had its limits.

“what took you so long, you stop for coffee?” Red snorted. He held up the Styrofoam cup. “coulda brought me some, the shit they’ve got here’d give battery acid a run for its cash.”

“Yes, of course, we got stuck in the drive-thru at Starbucks," Edge snapped. “You’ll forgive me for not bringing enough for everyone!”

Before he could even demand a report, Blue went on past him. Parking lot gravel scattered under his booted feet as he stormed up to Red and swatted the cup from his hands. He paid no mind to the coffee sloshing out over their shoes, his small fists knotting into Red’s jacket front as he hauled him in close to snarl out, “WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”

Even through layers of forced calm, Edge could still appreciate the sight. It was certainly an unusual one. Blue was shorter even than Red and he wore no oversized jacket to give his small frame an illusion of bulk. The overwhelming visual was that of a tabby cat attacking the local tiger and if it were anyone else, Edge might have tried to intercede. It was possible he could have saved their lives, if not their limbs, had it been anyone but their innermost circle.

As it was, he tensed until his brother said mildly, “easy on the threads, baby blue, this’s my favorite jacket. my only one, too. they’re still upstairs. they ain't hurt, so we're lettin' 'em come down in their own time. ain’t no need to rush ‘em. think they needed a mo’ to catch their breath, s’all."

Blue didn’t wait for another word. He let go of Red and turned to the building entrance, running towards it. No one tried to stop him, though Edge noted with approval that one of the security team peeled away from the others to follow him at a discreet distance.

Antwan looked as if he was considering chasing after Blue, but he hung back. With the suspicious nature of a good lawyer, he asked Red, "If they’re fine, why aren’t you with them?"

"sweet that you think me bein' there would be some kinda comfort," Red snorted. "already saw 'em. head on up if you want, we've already cleared away the rest of the honey bun’s little scooby traps." Red offered them a vicious slash of grin. "your liability might need a new rating, he's damn creative when he’s got a hair laid across his ass just right."

That was enough for Antwan. He headed off in the direction Blue had, leaving Edge alone with his brother.

Edge waited until Antwan disappeared before he asked, low, "Where are they?"

Red only looked at him with mild reproach. “toldja, upstairs. what, you think i’d bullshit you on that?”

“I don’t mean them.”

Red was shaking his head before Edge finished. “nuh-uh, nope, not a chance. you ain’t gettin’ a look at those asswipes outside a courtroom. you’re keeping your toes behind the yellow line on this one, sneaking backstage ain’t happening, little brother.”

“I need to see—" Edge began heatedly.

“you fuckin’ don’t. you want to see and your wants ain’t on the list, not this time!” Red lowered his voice, “i get you wanted firecrackers and this is endin’ on a wet fart for you, but i ain’t explainin’ to the honey bun that i stood here and let you add a fresh shovelful of xp to your load on his account. so whyn’t you head upstairs now and go get your liability, huh? take him home and let us handle this, you can read the report tomorrow, yeah?”

Suspicion filtered through Edge’s strained temper, cooling it. Something of his brother’s little speech rang wrong to Edge; it was too consolatory towards him for their normal tastes, something was off here. Now that he was looking at it without his frustrations clouding things, there was also the matter of him leaving Stretch and Jeff alone; comforting presence or not, it was difficult to believe that Red would let them out of his sight unnecessarily. As shrewdly as he could still manage, Edge took a closer look at his brother.

Red did not have any LV but that certainly didn’t mean he had no trauma. His tells were subtle, unnoticeable to anyone who hadn’t watched them develop straight from the gutter. Eye lights slightly narrower than normal, his cigar clenched between too-tight teeth, the rare crackle of crimson magic arcing across his fingertips like a stray bolt of lightning.

There was something Red wasn’t saying, but there was no point in trying to fish it out now; he’d need better bait and Edge already had one in the net to deal with.

Better to leave it as it was. Even if the issue festered, his brother was unlikely to allow it to affect his work. It was difficult not to lay a hand on his brother’s shoulder, however briefly. Edge resisted the absurd impulse. It would not be appreciated. Unwanted concern was more likely to make things worse.

Instead, Edge nodded curtly and headed for the entrance. His boots clacked loudly on the cement floors. Security was milling in the hallways, others crouching over scorch marks and a strange overflowing mass of what looked like multicolored foam oozing down one side of the stairwell. Superfluous information, none of it mattered. He followed the subtle cues from the security personnel, the glances and occasional points that came without questions leading him up the rickety stairs to the second floor of offices and storerooms.

On the landing, a low sound caught his attention, a familiar voice crooning softly. Edge nearly skidded to a stop outside one of the rooms, looking in the open doorway to see the Swap brothers sitting together on the floor, holding each other tightly.

“hey, bro, shh, i’m okay. they didn’t hurt us, sans, i’m fine,” Stretch was saying. Blue was in his lap, clinging like the child he no longer was, and Stretch was rubbing a gentle hand down his brother’s back, leaving behind sooty streaks. He looked up, soft white eye lights catching on Edge still standing in the doorway. His cheekbones were wet, his wide sockets drowning in tears. Stretch scrubbed his face with the sleeve of a shirt that was not his own and managed a tremulous smile. "hey, handsome, miss me?"

He’d seen Stretch only hours ago, dressed in clothing stolen from Edge’s side of the closet and offering flirtatious kisses before walking out their front door. Now he was in baggy clothing that belong to neither of them, the shirt nearly hanging off his narrow shoulders and his bare legs sticking out from the bottoms of the too-short pants to leave the delicate bones of his feet filthy and exposed. All of him was filthy, his pale tears left clean tracks down his cheekbones and Edge did not know what Stretch had done to free them both, what he’d endured until he could., couldn’t begin to imagine it. Or perhaps he simply did not want to, and the precariously thin layer of Edge’s calm finally began to crack. All his desperate worries surged in through that first line of weakness to fill his face and then downward to soak into his aching soul.

"Don't—" Edge choked on the word, unsure what he was even going to say. Don't joke, don't dismiss this, don't ever leave me. He walked over and fell to his knees beside them, hardly feeling the warning jolt from his leg as he pulled them both into his arms rougher than he'd meant. Unnecessary, Stretch came easily, willingly, settling into his embrace exactly as if he belonged there, and brought his brother along for the ride.

"hey, i'm okay," Stretch said, pitching his voice for them both. He rested his forehead against Edge’s, settling a gentle hand on his sharp cheekbone with a sigh. "we’re okay, babe. it's okay."

"It is not okay by any stretch of the imagination,” Edge said hoarsely. His own hands were moving over Stretch, cautious of his lack of gloves even as he convinced himself that this was no dream, these well-loved bones were real. “And if you make a pun on that, you can ride home with my brother."

“wouldn’t joke about it, babe.” Then Stretch promptly made it a lie as he teased, “hope i get extra credit for not stretching things out, actually, ‘cause i sure didn’t get my ‘stay out of trouble’ badge tonight.”

“Pappy,” Blue moaned. His grip in the awful shirt Stretch was wearing twisted as if his disgust needed a physical outlet, “honestly, must you?”

Edge barked a laugh, hard and pained, but in his soul there was only giddy lightness. “No, you certainly did not. I would say any claim that you didn’t find trouble would be stretching things.”

Another groan from Blue was interrupted by a scuffing sound behind them. Edge jerked around, but it was only Antwan holding Jeff in his own tight embrace, whatever whispers between them too low to be heard. Edge hadn’t even noticed them when he first came in and the faint guilt from that was too small to be borne, already swallowed up in overwhelming relief.

Safe, they were both safe and unharmed, and Edge set his anger back, holding it in reserve. No matter what his brother thought, this was not over, and he would not be relegated to the injured group to recover, not this time.

But first, he was taking his love home.

tbc

[jalapeno-princess]

Room for Three

Mark X Pregnant Reader

Word Count: 1.7K

Genre: Fluff with a hint of angst

Summary: You and your husband Mark were currently shopping for baby furniture to prepare for the arrival of your baby when you stumble upon a pregnancy pillow that you’re so eager to have. However, Mark voices his opinion about how he’s not too fond of the idea and it is in that moment that you find out his concerns goes beyond just a piece of furniture.

A/N: I get inspired by the most randomest things and so I was on instagram scrolling through my explorer and then I saw a husband talking about how his wife bought a body pillow and how it took his place and now I’m sad because WHY AM I NOT MARRIED anyways please enjoy

“Here it is. This is the one all the other ladies were talking about in class the other day. Can you get the blue one for me babe?”

Your husband looked at the body pillow then back at you in disbelief. “Wait, what? You’re actually buying this thing? Where is it going to go?” You returned back a look of confusion before crossing your arms indifferently. 

“Uh, where else? On the bed with us.”

“Babe, there’s not going to be enough room on the bed for the two of us this thing is huge—“

“Well so am I! And whose fault is that?” You were currently six months pregnant with your first child and trying to fall asleep with your basketball sized baby bump was not the easiest thing to do. Both you and Mark attended a pregnancy class last week and your teacher recommended purchasing a body pillow. 

You did your research on where you could find one; not wanting to wait a week for it to come in the mail and that is how you and your Husband found yourselves at an IKEA just fifteen minutes away from your house. The two of you were currently walking around, looking at the different types of furniture you’d want to put in the nursery when you just so happened to stumble on a box filled with multiple body pillows specifically for pregnant women. You couldn’t help but get excited at the idea of finally getting some well deserved rest but seeing Mark’s negative reaction was beginning to ruin the mood. 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. But you’re at fault here too, I mean look at you! You’re so beautiful baby, and extremely fucking sexy. And now that you’re pregnant, you’re even more gorgeous. I didn’t think it was possible. You glow differently now that you’re pregnant. You’re also a little bit more crankier and extremely spoiled—ow! And abusive. I honestly can’t wait for our little bub to arrive. Not only am I excited to finally meet our baby, but I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe you’re so grumpy because we haven’t been intimate in months. It’s my turn to be inside of you—y/n, slap me one more time and I’m going to do the same to your cute little butt.” 

You rolled your eyes at his comment before taking matters in to your own hands and reaching out for one of the pillows. Mark however, was quick to stop you; not wanting you to drain your energy on any physical activity unless you really had to. Pregnancy was such a beautiful experience so far. The two of you have been wanting a child together for quite some time and when you got the news that you were pregnant only four months after your wedding, you and Mark were over the moon. 

Mark in more or less words was the perfect husband. He never failed to show you as much as he told you on a daily basis just how much he loved you. When you gave him the news that you were pregnant, he actually cried tears of happiness. Even before the two of you began dating, Mark made it aware that he loved children. He had three extremely adorable nieces and watching the way he would interact with them only made you excited at the idea of starting a family with the love of your life. With the way he would take care of the girls as if they were his own and how he never failed to make them laugh, you knew he would be such an amazing father when the time comes. 

Mark was already very attentive and doting whenever it came to you. However, he became clingier the moment you became pregnant. Whatever you needed, he’d get it for you before you could even ask. He was aware that pregnancy was a very tiring and frustrating process, so he wanted to be able to help you if and whenever he could. Although you hated having to bother him, especially because you knew he was probably tired from work; he made it clear that you weren’t going to go through this journey alone and you were extremely grateful and blessed to be able to call him your husband. 

You apologized many times for certain things that came with pregnancy; mood swings, weird cravings and your tendency to use the bathroom at the most  inconvenient times of the day. There were many occasions were your husband found himself at a McDonald’s drive thru at two in the morning because you were craving a sausage McMuffin and when he did the grocery shopping, he knew to purchase multiple pints of ice cream because you craved a different flavor every single day. 

Nothing ever seemed to bother Mark whenever it came to tending to your needs and even if there was something, he was good at not showing it. Unfortunately, this was the first time he seemed hesitant on doing something to help you. You made it known how hard it was for you to fall asleep for the last few weeks because your bump only grew bigger and bigger as the days went by. Mark was quick to agree with taking you to look at the different kinds of pillows there were to accommodate you once class was over, but you were too tired to go out that day. 

He was willing to purchase anything in order to make you more comfortable; but he didn’t think the pillow would be that big. Sure, the two of you shared a California king sized bed, but you already took up more than half of the bed with your growing belly to the point where Mark found himself on the floor a few times. If you were to get the pillow, he’d probably have to sleep on the couch. 

“Baby, you don’t need this pillow, you have me! I’m warm and I smell better than this thing. And as a bonus, I can actually hold you against my body—Aw come on, don’t look at me like that. You know exactly what your puppy dog eyes do to me—damnit y/n where am I going to sleep then?!”

“Mark, this pillow will be wrapped around me. It’s not as bad as you probably think it is. Don’t you want me to feel at ease? I’ve been so tired these days because I keep tossing and turning in my sleep; trying to find the right position where my bump isn’t in the way.” After releasing a frustrated sigh, your husband made his way toward you and found his place behind you, gently pulling you against his chest and wrapping his arms around your belly. He left a soft kiss in the crook of your neck before placing his chin on your shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, I’m being an ass aren’t I? I just—I already can’t hold you in the ways that I used to. I can’t make love to you, I can’t kiss you unless you allow me to because of the hormones. I miss you. I miss being intimate with you and I miss when we could do things together without having to worry about harming you and the baby. Wow, saying it out loud makes me sound so pathetic. Like, I’m jealous of our baby. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy to be having a baby with you. I’ve always dreamt of starting a family with you y/n. It’s just—I thought we would have a little more time to ourselves. You know what? Forget I said anything. Let’s get the pillow and then we can go—“

“Mark.” 

Once you turned to face him and saw the upset expression on his face, you couldn’t help but tear up. Hearing him talk about how he felt neglected make your heart hurt. Your husband did any and everything he could to make sure you were comfortable. He did things for you without being asked and not once did he complain. You didn’t even realize how much you’ve been taking advantage of his kindness and focusing more on your baby than you were on him. You felt like a monster. 

“Baby I’m so sorry—“ he shook his head before playfully squeezing your cheek and wiped away a tear that fell. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just being silly.” Your brows furrowed in frustration at the thought of how selfish you were being. Sure, you were pregnant and it was a lot to take in; but you were also a wife. Mark deserved love and attention too. How could you be so blind and not see the pain you were putting your husband through? 

“No, you’re not being silly—you’re being human. I’m sorry. I’ve been so focused on the pregnancy and what I need that I failed to notice what I was doing to you by pushing you away and mistreating you. There’s no excuse for my behavior. But I hope you know I’m very grateful for every single thing you’ve done for me and continue to do for me. I really don’t deserve you. If I’m being honest, I feel the exact way. I miss you too. So much. I’m sorry for being grumpy and emotional all the time. And I’m sorry for my bipolar mood swings. You’re wonderful you know that? You’re the best husband a girl could ask for. I’ll try to be better okay? For your sake. I love you Mark. I don’t think you understand just how much but I plan on spending the rest of my life both showing you and telling you every single day.” 

With the way he was looking at you with so much love and adoration after hearing your heartfelt apology, you were sure your heart was about to combust. Mark leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on the corner of your mouth. 

“I hope you know that I’m practically going to cling myself to you like a sloth once you start sleeping with this pillow.” You giggled softly before nodding in understanding. He picked up the pillow and placed it in the cart before taking his place behind you as you began walking away. “By the way y/n, I remember your teacher talking about how sex during pregnancy is actually very good for the baby. So maybe once we get out of here, you can show me just how much you love and appreciate me.”

[quarantinebreakup412081121]

Day 1: Long Story Short It Was The Wrong Guy (AGAIN)

After nearly a year of being miserable after my ex and I broke up, and about 8  overlapping months of attempting to date, I finally met someone.

He seemed genuinely nice.  He met me at my neighborhood park and we walked his dog, around and around and around for probably a couple hours.  We talked nonstop- about 90% of the conversation was about our dogs.  We left and he hugged me goodbye (I turned to the side because- COVID- and I wasn’t expecting it... but it turns out he was vaccinated already) and said we’d do it again.

The next time he came to my house, met my dogs, and we walked his dog around my neighborhood. My dogs aren’t up for more than about a half a mile walk, so they stayed at home.  We talked and talked, we ended up back at the house before we were finished, so we re-walked half of the route, then walked part of the neighborhood beside mine.  By the time we got back, we still weren’t finished talking, but it was getting late.  We attempted the hug again.  He was vaccinated, I was going to be vaccinated the next month.  His dog lunged when we were going in for the hug and it ended up being kind of a 101 Dalmatians, tangled hug moment.  It was funny and a but awkward, but definitely memorable.

He said we’d do it again.

Then he asked me to go to his apartment so he could cook for me; he called it a date.  It was a little fast, but I made the hour long drive and went over for shrimp and fake meat tacos.  We also watched a movie.  It was nice.  He kissed me on the way out.  It was sweet.  I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to happen so soon, but I left with butterflies.

The next few dates alternated between him coming here to do outdoorsy things and me going to his apartment for a meal and a movie.  It was beginning to feel like a real relationship.

Over the next 5 months, he introduced me to all of his friends and we went to game nights together, coordinated to play video games with his friends when I went over, attended his friend’s post elopement wedding party, and he had me sign the photo matte that they had in place of a guest book.  It felt real, it felt solid, it felt like it would be long term and like he really cared about me.  It felt like the opposite of what I had with my ex.

He had me meet his dad.  He came over and met my family.  He said he’d go to Disney with me and he asked me to go skiing with him and his family.  He said he loved the beach and that it was his favorite place to go- so I anticipated multiple beach trips over the summer.  He listened to Taylor Swift with me, we watched dumb movies together, went grocery shopping and made Target runs together- aka “couple shit” as he called it.  I loved it.  I never got to do everyday couple activities with my ex.  He’d cook for me, I’d cook for him, he’d make random Taco Bell stops for me and he knew my order.

A few weeks ago, I finally decided to open up to him about some of my anxiety and worries.  I thought that the person I’d gotten to know over the last few months would be a person I could talk to and be real with- something I could never do with my ex unless I wanted to be judged and then ignored about it.  He listened, and attempted to offer a helpful response- which wasn’t really helpful, but he TRIED.  That was much more than I’d ever gotten from my ex.  A few days later, I went over to his apartment for the night.  We had dinner, it was off.  The conversation was off.  The movie was uncomfortable- like we were just sitting through it to get it over with.  He went to bed early but I was so wide awake that I sat in the living room playing on my phone and watching the storm outside for another 3 or 4 hours so I wouldn’t toss and turn in bed and keep him up sine he had to work in the morning.  In the morning, I had to drive home at 7am on only a few hours of sleep. I was cranky from that and the way the previous evening had panned out.

I laid in bed for a bit and snuggled his dog.  She’s so sweet.  She loves me and I love her-- so do my boys.  I laid there thinking “this feels like it might be the last time I ever see her...  so I just scratched her head and took a photo to remember the moment.

The goodbye was awkward, and I texted him when I got home and apologized for acting weird the night before and that morning.  I told him things felt off for some reason and laid out some things that were on my mind.  I thought open communication would be a good thing and that it would help him to understand my headspace and show him that I felt comfortable enough with him to talk to him  about these things.

The next week, he avoided hanging out with me.  The week after that, same story.  I asked him to come to a concert with me on a Sunday night- he said he’d love to if it wasn’t on a Sunday.  Then I asked him about another concert on the following Tuesday night- I jokingly asked him to play hooky from work and come with me.  He said he couldn’t- but I understood that; it made sense. I went out of town for the weekend to visit my brother and he said that we’d plan time to get together once I returned.  I returned and he mentioned nothing about getting together.  I brought it up once and he didn’t acknowledge it, but he still talked to me, just a lot less than usual.

The conversations we were having sounded like repeats of previous conversations- and I honestly don’t know if he didn’t remember telling me some of those things, but he liked to partake in a beer or two or three... pretty frequently- so I’m not certain that some of the time he talked to me, he wasn’t 100% there.  But that wasn’t the point- he was just sending me pleasantries and fillers as texts. No real conversation.

I started getting worried because my mind went to the worst possibility.  He was checking out.  We were done- or almost done.  I asked him if we were good because it seemed like we weren’t.  He said he was good and that work was just really rough lately and he was basically working and sleeping all the time.  All of my worries melted away and I instantly felt a sense of relief-- I had been worrying for nothing!  So I asked him if he had time for an evening hangout on Friday or Saturday or a different night if those didn’t work.  I’d come to him and bring food and we could watch a movie and veg out for a bit.

That was last night.

This morning I woke up early to go to a sunflower field to take some fun summer photos.  With covid apparently flaring up again, I was trying to find safe summer activities to do before the season’s over.  Since I couldn’t get my guy to go with me to basically anything, I decided I’d do the things he didn’t want to do with me on my own and do the other things with him.  It wasn’t so much a compromise as it was me just learning to be okay with having someone who didn’t want to take part in activities with me.  My mom went with me an we got some gorgeous photos.  I kept an eye on my phone expecting him to reply to my hangout request, because once he said yes- I’d also ask him to go with me to visit my brother in a couple weeks an have a fun beach weekend.

On the way home, I went through the drive thru at the bank and while I was waiting, I noticed my phone blinking.

It was a text.  From him.

I don’t think we’re a good match for each other.  There has been numerous occasions where you’ve said or done something (even in the name of “joking”) that hasn’t sat right with me.  I’m sure there have been times you felt the same about me as well.  I don’t want to waste any more of your time either.  I hope you find a man who is a better match for you.

First of all, what the actual fuck.  Secondly, there *have* been numerous occasions.  Third- I have no idea what I said or did...  Best I can muster is that since I’m pro equal rights and pretty liberal, maybe it came across as offensive because I think he has family members who are... trump-esque.  I barely brought up politics because I didn’t want to make things weird.  He is a cop and I never made jokes unless he did first (he’d regularly joke about cop stuff and talk about how he isn’t a typical cop and how he doesn’t like hanging out with other cops or doing cop stuff or even talking about cop stuff outside of work.)  He gave me a whole spiel about he’s not a “cop cop” when we first met, like he was trying to sell himself to me-- which  he didn’t need to do, but I thought it was cute.

I asked him if we could talk for a few minutes later in the day because I wasn’t understanding what was happening.  I told him that I wasn’t trying to change his feelings about anything, but I wanted to talk.  He totally blindsided me.

He never responded.

It’s basically midnight and he’s had most of the day to respond.  Five months and he can’t even give me an explanation.

This is what I get for trying to trust people.

Tomorrow- or later tonight- I’m sending one last text and blocking him.  He knew that’s how my ex ended things and how insensitive it was and how wrong it was.  We had this conversation.  And after five months, he just strings me along for the last few months and then ends things with a text.  So goddamn insensitive.

I know I’m better off without someone like him in my life, but this hurts so much more than the last time because at least my first ex was a jerk and it was on brand for him.  This one... my second ex... he was supposed to be better than this.  He was supposed to be nice.  He wasn’t supposed to hurt me, not like this.

[purplesurveys]

1177

survey by joybucket

Have you _____ during this pandemic?

Worn a mask? I mean, of course. I put one on even when I’m only picking up deliveries from my doorstep.

got tested for coronavirus? Never. I also hope I’ll never have to go through this, I don’t want a stick up my nose and throat D:

known someone who died from the virus? Personally? Too many people at this point. 

gotten the COVID vaccine? Not yet, but I have many relatives who’ve already gotten theirs, my mom and grandmother included, so at least. I know my employer has a plan in place over the next few weeks or months, so I’m just currently waiting for updates on their end.

started a new hobby? Yeah, I started on embroidery late last year. I haven’t been able to keep it up, but I’m still very much interested and want to go back to it soon. I also plan on getting one or two new Klaypel kits so I can finally replace and throw out the ones Gabie gave to me as gifts.

hated being stuck at home? Yeah, especially during the start when there seemed to be no end in sight. When they heightened quarantine protocols again earlier this month, that also made me feel aggravated about being stuck at home indefinitely since I had already started going out on weekends for self-dates.

worn a mask someone made for you? No one has made a mask for me, but one of my uncles got me a supply of a certain kind of face mask that I didn’t initially use.

sewn your own mask? No.

purchased masks at the store? Not me personally, but my dad regularly buys a supply for the family to use.

purchased a KN95 or N95 mask? Again, not me. But we regularly have a stock at home, along with the blue surgical face masks.

complimented someone on their mask? I don’t think so. I barely pay attention especially towards mask designs.

protested mask-wearing? ????? My name’s not Karen.

complained on Facebook? Nothing mask-related, but I have definitely complained about the government’s negligence and lack of proactivity about this entire situation.

read a book? I started on Midnight Sun which my parents got for me, but I never finished it. I got busy immediately the week after since I got accepted into my internship, and it was also because I was dealing with my breakup and could not focus enough to read for more than 5 minutes.

had an event canceled you had been looking forward to? My college graduation, which I’ll forever stay bitter about.

stocked up on toilet paper? I don’t think so. My parents didn’t believe in panic-buying.

been to the store when it was crowded? I do remember the mall being packed when I went last-minute Christmas shopping. Not to a crazy extent, but there was still quite a number of people.

been to the store when the toilet paper aisle was empty? N/A. We don’t have toilet paper aisles, but all stores have hand sanitizers and temperature checks by their entrance.

lost your job? I didn’t have a job before the pandemic because I had still been a student when everything started.

worked from home? Yup, and still on an WFH arrangement until now.

still had to go to work? I’ve had to go two times, but that was because it was absolutely necessary to go to the office to get the work done. My employer is pretty strict about this anyway and if something could be done at home, they’d decline the request.

went to a protest at your state's capital building? Well we don’t have states so this isn’t really relevant to me. Should a credible org plan a protest against the government though, I’d be interested in going.

watched the news for updates on the virus? We keep the TV on during dinner, at which time the news is always on. Whether I want to or not, I always get updates on the Covid situation in the country.

wondered if you had covid? Yeah, when I got extremely sick in May last year.

not left the house for a week? Way more than a week.

watched YouTube videos? YouTube is pretty much a part of my daily routine, with or without the virus.

spent a whole day watching movies? I’ve only watched one movie since the beginning of the pandemic.

cleaned your house from top to bottom? Not me, but my mom.

ordered something online? Too much crap.

ordered a pizza? I’ve gotten pizza a few times for my family, yeah. I remember ordering from Pizza Hut, Motorino, and most recently, Yellow Cab.

prayed to God?

completely forgotten a holiday that you normally celebrate? Nah, I usually remember when holidays are because that means I get a day off hahaha.

voted in an election? There haven’t been any elections that have taken place since the start of the pandemic.

gotten to know your neighbors? Somewhat. I only say hi to them and greet them a good morning/afternoon when I walk the dogs, but I don’t initiate conversations.

sanitized everything in your home? We always do this, especially when a package arrives for someone in the family.

wrote someone a letter? Started one but never finished because I soon realized it wouldn’t be worth it.

wished this pandemic were over? Don’t we all?

been surprised this pandemic has lasted so long? Yeah, I definitely thought things would be normal by now.

worried about catching the virus? I think the worry exists for everyone. I just wouldn’t say I’ve ever gotten super anxious and panicky about it. I feel pretty resigned at this point and just want everything to be over, so I can finally have the life I was meant to have back.

stayed home because you didn't want to catch the virus? That, and because I was required to stay home to begin with.

been to church? We watch a service on YouTube every Sunday morning.

watched an online church service? ^ Yeah, that’s what I meant haha oops.

been stopped by a police officer? No, but there was one time I was cleaning up Cooper’s tray and there happened to be a village guard cycling by our street, and he just kindly reminded me to put on a mask or shield since I had forgotten to do it.

seen a lot of police cars patrolling the area? No. I would definitely be pissed off if this happened - especially in a residential subdivision - and share a pic on social media to alert everyone about the unnecessary mess that is the police.

had someone cough on you out in public? No. But again, this would also piss me off and I wouldn’t hesitate to confront the asshole who would do something like that.

has someone stand less than six feet away from you while waiting in line? Always. Some people here can still be unbelievably stubborn.

had to use an inhaler? Never needed one.

been to the doctor? Yeah, to have my blood and urine tests examined.

had increased asthma and/or allergy symptoms? I have neither.

felt like you were fighting a virus? Like I said, I got a bad fever sometime last year. Even though I didn’t show any of the common Covid symptoms (e.g. I had wet cough instead of a dry cough), I felt as if I was rotting away lmao. I could barely stand up and I felt like fainting the second I would raise my head.

been diagnosed with the coronavirus? No.

felt lonely? It’s natural.

went somewhere with a friend? Just a couple of times. I went to UPTC with Andi at the start of the year, then back in Feb I went to Perfy’s with several friends, well aware of our ignorance but badly craving for a sense of normalcy for even just a night.

attended an online event? BANG BANG COOOOOOOOOON. Best 8 hours of my life during the pandemic thus far.

had a business in your area close down? Like the people I know who’ve died from the virus, too many.

received a stimulus check? Hasn’t happened.

received food stamps? No, and I don’t think we have that system in place here. The government just lets the hungry go hungrier.

applied for disability? No, not applicable.

applied for food assistance? No, thankfully we haven’t reached this point.

visited a food pantry? ^

had a fever? Just back in May. Hasn’t happened again since.

believed a conspiracy theory about the virus? Cringe, no.

had to take online classes? When the whole world was still at a loss on how to handle a global pandemic, aka early March, I briefly took Zoom sessions for some of my classes. But it proved to be difficult what with many students struggling with internet connections or being stuck somewhere without their school supplies, so my university canceled the sem altogether not long after and gave everyone general passing grades.

ate at a restaurant? I did a few times. I frequented coffee shops rather than restaurants, though.

walked through a drive-thru? I’ve...driven through a drive-thru, but not walk.

had your mask fog up your glasses? Every damn time I get out of the car, hahaha.

had to go to the hospital because of covid? Nope, not for myself or for someone else.

had to go to the hospital for a different reason? For my fever.

used hand sanitizer? At least once a day.

felt encouraged, joyful, or blessed? Now, especially. Things are starting to look up, at least for my own life.

[mosylufanfic]

Closing Time

Happy Killervibe week, y’all! This first story is for the Coffee Shop theme.

Closing Time

Cisco shut the door behind the last wifi hound, locked it, and raised both fists in the air. "And we're done!"

Done for the night, done for the pay period, done forever. In two days, he'd be starting his grad program at the university and a TA-ship with it, and he'd never have to make another latte unless it was for himself.

"Not quite," his manager said. "We've still got to finish the closing."

"But done with customers," he said, coming around the counter. He started to clean the espresso machine, singing, "No more frothers, no more cards, no more Karens' dirty looks -" He paused. "Huh, you got anything that rhymes?"

Caitlin, already pulling the drawer, rolled her eyes at him and turned to go into the office where she would count the money and deposit it in the safe. Also her last time. 

Cisco hit the button for the cleaning cycle, shut off the canned Jitters-approved music on the overhead speakers, and pulled out his phone. "Requests?" he called into the office.

"You pick!" she called back, as she always did.

He decided it was an old-school cheesy hair band kind of night and put on Aerosmith as he started emptying the dishwasher, stacking all the cups and plates up for the next morning. 

He liked closing with Caitlin, because she always had them do all the little tasks and chores way before closing. He knew some of the other baristas bitched and moaned, saying there was plenty of time to take out the trash or do the pastry inventory after they were closed and she was just cracking the whip because she could. But Caitlin always got them out on time and also never left anything undone for the openers if she could help it. 

Also, it didn't hurt that he was kind of head-over-heels in love with her.

" - jonesin' on love, yeah, I got the disease," he sang as he wiped down the table where the last wifi user had been sitting, dropping crumbs into his keyboard until the bitter end. "Falling in love is so hard on the kneeeeeees -"

She was pretty and smart - she was going to med school! How hot was that? - and kind of funny, once you got her talking. In his year behind the counter, every single one of his favorite shifts had been with her. He'd even agreed to work closing on Saturday nights because that was her closing night, and nobody else ever wanted that shift so it was always just them hanging out as he cracked jokes and told stories and made up alternate lyrics to the music on the loudspeaker and generally acted like a third-grader trying to get the attention of his first crush.

Not that she'd ever reciprocated. Oh, she was friendly enough, in her reserved way. But though she would banter with him if there was nobody in the store, she'd never flirted back or texted outside of work, even when he would shoot her a what's-up every now and then to test the waters. She'd never even given him the look when they were alone and the store was locked up and he'd just made her laugh, and . . . 

Clearly he was a fellow Jitters employee and nothing more. 

He sighed, tossing the cloth into the laundry bag. It was probably good they were both leaving. Unrequited love was probably great for radio hits, but terrible for his self-confidence. Maybe he'd get lucky and lock eyes with a hot fellow TA during orientation, and if he ever ran into Caitlin around campus, he could smile and catch up without that tinge of longing pressing on his chest.

He checked the bathrooms, just in case that one last "no, I'll be five minutes, I really need the bathroom" guy had left a horrible present behind. 

Luckily, they were spick and span. Caitlin had cleaned them a couple of hours ago, so he could probably eat off the floors. He narrowed his eyes at the toilet paper holders and opened one. "For Chrissakes," he muttered.

Caitlin was rolling coins when he knocked on the door jamb. "Hey, Charmin' Hal hit us again," he said. "I need the keys."

She looked up. "What? When did he get in?" She handed him the key to the supply closet.

"Maybe when we had that drive-thru rush around nine? He got all three spare rolls." 

She shook her head. "What does he use them for?"

Cisco shrugged. "We don't have to care in -" He checked his phone. "About thirteen minutes."

By the time he'd replaced all the spare rolls, Caitlin was signing the deposit slip. "We good?" he asked.

"Just about. I have to lock up the safe.  Can you grab the pastry cart?"

"On it." He tossed her the keys to the supply closet, and she caught them. "Wooo!" he cheered. "A stellar catch from Snow on third!"

She smiled in a way that made his stomach all warm, but turned away and started gathering up all the stuff to go in the safe. He grabbed the cart and wheeled it out front to start filling the ruthlessly cleaned pastry case so it would be ready for the openers.

After a few moments, the safe thumped closed, the light in the office switched off, and she came out to help him with the last pastries. When they'd filled the case, she handed him a roll of bills, his share of the tip jar. "Oh, and this. It came on the truck today."

It was an envelope with something stiff and plastic inside. He ripped it open and found a gold Jitters membership card. "What's this? Some kind of comment on how much free coffee I drank in my tenure here?"

She smiled. "Every Jitters team member that leaves on good terms gets a lifetime membership in the loyalty program." She nodded at the card. "You were here for more than a year so you get gold."

And fifteen percent off Jitters drinks and food. "Nice!" Discounted caffeine was not to be sneezed at, especially in the program he was going into. "What'd you get? Titanium? Diamond-encrusted?"

"Managers get platinum," she admitted.

"For the kind of crap you put up with, you should get free Jitters for life, not just twenty percent off," he said. He'd personally seen her smack down entitled Karens, kick out jerks creeping on baristas, and call the cops on a dude who was flashing people in the drive-thru.

She shrugged. "It's still a good deal." She reached out and hit the lights, so the lobby went dim and quiet. 

More than once, he'd wondered what she would do if he leaned over and kissed her in the soft after-close darkness. The thought came up again. Why not? Last chance, right? She was so close he could smell the hazelnut syrup she'd spilled on her apron earlier. What if he just - 

But her silhouette had already turned and started walking to the back, and her voice floated to him. "Come on, let's clock out."

He cleared his throat. "Right. Yeah. Let's do that."

He'd cleaned out his tiny locker earlier, so all he had to do was whip off the apron and toss it in the laundry bag. Caitlin's landed on top of it, and she picked up her purse and the bag of things from her own locker.

"Have you got everything?" she asked. "I signed my key back to Tina earlier, so I wouldn't be able to get us back in."

He patted his pockets. Wallet, keys, phone. "Got it all," he said, grabbing the bag of stuff from his locker.

He clocked out, approved his time card, and then stepped back to let her do the same. The staff door shut behind them with a heavy, final thunk, the lock clicking. 

"End of an era," he said. "The Cisco and Caitlin closing show is no more."

"Yep," she murmured.

They stood in the tiny parking lot, the lights spilling down to form a pool around them, keeping the darkness back. On the other side of the building, traffic rushed by.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly awkward. "So, uh. This . . . this was cool. I liked working with you."

"Me too."

"Good luck with med school and all that. Maybe I'll, um, I'll see you around campus."

"Probably not," she said. "The med school is on the other end of campus from the engineering building."

He looked at his shoes. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"So maybe we should arrange to meet up sometime," she said.

It took a moment for the words to percolate, and then he blinked at her. "To - "

"Meet up," she said again. "For, um, for coffee or something."

Hang on, was this like a post-employment thing? Meet up with your manager afterward? To what, like, talk about work stuff? She was aware that they worked (had worked, past tense) at Jitters, not a Fortune 500 company, right? 

"Sure," he said slowly. 

She put her hands behind her back. "Only if you want. I know you'll be busy."

Something pinged in his brain. Maybe it was that bashful motion, maybe it was the angle of her chin as she looked away. Maybe it was the trace of a blush across her cheeks. 

He held up a hand. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Her eyes went big, and her cheeks went pinker. She bit her lower lip. 

"Oh my god," he said in wonderment. "You are. You're asking me out."

She looked utterly crestfallen for a split second, then rallied. "Okay, I can see I might have misinterpreted certain -"

He almost yelled, "I didn't say no!"

They both goggled at each other for a moment.

"What are you saying then?"

"I - yeah, absolutely, yes, let's -" Hook up? Date? Have a torrid love affair? Get married and have a succession of fat happy babies? Yes please, all of the above. "Let's do that. But - you - you knew I liked you?"

"You were kind of flirty," she said. 

"But you never - You acted like you weren't even the tiniest bit interested!"

"Cisco, I was your manager up to three minutes ago! That's like the definition of sexual harassment!"

"Not if I'm cool with it!"

"Okay, but if we'd started dating a year ago, every time I made a schedule, people would have said I was giving you more hours or better shifts or not making you do the icky jobs, even if it wasn't true. You know they would've."

"A year ago," he said. "You've had the hots for me for a year?"

She primmed up her mouth. "As you well know, you're very cute."

He felt his grin spread all across his face. "Damn right I am. I'm such sizzlin' hot stuff that you couldn't wait three minutes after you were officially no longer my manager to hit on me."

She went pink to her hairline. "I - I just - it seemed like a good -"

He almost collapsed into laughter. God, why had he never taken that into account? All his pining and longing and yearning, and he'd never once considered how conscientious Caitlin was. Of course she wouldn't have acted like the other manager, Ralph, who was nice enough but went through the cute new baristas like a hot knife through butter. And yeah, people did say that about whatever newbie he was swapping spit with.

When Cisco had chortled himself into silence, she stood shaking her head. But not in a "I changed my mind, you're a complete goober, no fat happy babies for us." More like, "I knew what I was getting into and I still think you're cute, God help me." She had a little smile on her face.

He wheezed out a breath. "So," he said. "We're doing this?"

She nodded, and her smile widened. "Sounds like."

"Just one request, okay?"

"What's that?"

He reached out and took her hand. It slipped into his shyly, but she didn't pull away. He said, "Let's do Slurpees and mini-golf, or hit the pizza buffet, or something. Just, anything but coffee." 

FINIS

[allyofthevalley]

50 questions game

I was tagged by @artisticgrroove thanks!!

What colour is your hairbrush?: it’s a tiny bamboo brush

Name a food you never eat: i won’t touch most kinds of beans; also mayonnaise

Are you typically too warm or too cold?: i’m usually too cold

What were you doing 45 minutes ago?: i was researching mechanical keyboards

What’s your favourite candy bar?: nestle crunch bar!

Have you ever been to a professional sports game?: i have multiple times

What’s the last thing you said out loud?: i told my dog to stop barking

What’s your favourite ice cream?: chocolate or cookie dough

What was the last thing you had to drink?: water

Do you like your wallet?: i do! i got it from the local zoo a few years ago

What’s the last thing you ate?: tiramisu mousse

Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?: i actually did. i got a couple hunter x hunter tshirts

What’s the last sporting event you watched?: i think it was a hockey game?

What is you favourite flavor of popcorn?: white cheddar popcorn, but only from a certain brand

Who’s the last person you sent a text to?: a friend of mine

Ever go camping?: never and i don’t really want to

Do you take vitamins?: occasionally, i should probably start more

Do you go to church every sunday?: i can’t remember the last time i went to a church

Do you have a tan?: only on my feet from gardening while wearing sandals last week. i don’t really tan though

Do you prefer Chinese or pizza?: i love both! but i think i prefer Chinese cause i feel less like shit after eating it

Do you drink soda through a straw?: not really. i’m not a big straw user

What color socks do you usually wear?: black usually if you can see them, if not then usually a cute pattern or color

Do you ever drive above the speed limit?: all the time

What terrifies you?: the dark, loneliness, spiders, etc.. 

Look to your left, what do you see?: my bag

What chore do you hate the most?: sweeping, yardwork that goes beyond taking care of my plants

What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?: they’re cute!

What’s your favourite soda?: i’m not a big pop drinker but if i do i like root beer or melon soda

Do you go in fast food places or just hit the drive thru?: i don’t really eat fast food

What’s your favourite number?: 4

Who’s the last person you talked to?: my mom

Favourite cut of beef?: idk i don’t really eat beef

Last song you listened to?: BBHF - Nani mo Shiranai

Last book you read?: 2ha, I’m still reading it

Can you say the alphabet backwards?: i might get a good start and mess up pretty quickly

Favourite day of the week?: sunday 

How do you like your coffee?: if i drink coffee then it’s usually with a lot of milk or creamer and sugar (though i’m trying to use less)

Favourite pair of shoes?: any of my doc martens, also my black creepers

Time you normally get up?: if im working than between 5 and 5:30, if not then like between 6 and 7:30

Sunrise or sunsets?: sunrise

How many blankets on your bed?: right now 2, but usually 3-4

Describe your kitchen plates?: they are brightly colored Fiestaware

Describe your kitchen at the moment?: it just got cleaned and food just finished cooking

Do you have a favourite alcoholic drink?: i prefer sweet, fruity wines

Do you play cards?: not really

What color is your car?: bright blue

Can you change a tire?: nope

Your favourite state/province/country/etc.?: that i’ve been to? state might be Arizona because i like the desert, for country - Japan

Favourite job you’ve had?: my chocolate shop job

How did you get your biggest scar?: my dad dared me to go down a hill in a parking lot on one of those two wheeled skateboards when i was 13-14. i lost control and the skateboard went one way and i went the other and busted my knee

I’m tagging @bl-fan @earthfluuke @ilsanlights @yihwas

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

The Nual’ Family Onion

Title: The Nual’ Family Onion

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Destiel 

Rating: Lemon

Warnings: minor character death

Summary:

     Dean had lived in Lawrence, Kansas his entire life. Born and raised. In his twenty-six years in the beautiful city, he lived a wonderful life surrounded by the amazing people who lived there, many of them becoming family over the years. After high school, he started working for his uncle Bobby at his mechanics shop and fell into a comfortable routine. He still lived at home with his parents, John and Mary Winchester, and for the foreseeable future, Dean had no intentions of changing that. Until he saw him.    

AO3

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1                 

    Dean had lived in Lawrence, Kansas his entire life. Born and raised. In his twenty-six years in the beautiful city, he lived a wonderful life surrounded by the amazing people who lived there, many of them becoming family over the years. After high school, he started working for his uncle Bobby at his mechanics shop and fell into a comfortable routine. He still lived at home with his parents, John and Mary Winchester, and for the foreseeable future, Dean had no intentions of changing that. Until he saw him.

    A slight change in Dean’s daily routine of get up, go to work, lunch at the food truck down the road, and go home, had him coming face to face with someone he had never seen around town before. When lunch time came around noon for Dean, his day was suddenly sent flying off the hinges when the regular food truck that usually parked itself down the street from his uncle’s shop, wasn’t there. Which meant that he had to get in his car and actually drive into town for something to eat.

    After looking around and driving past several drive-thru restaurants, he decided to pull into the local park. He remembered as a kid his mom would take him to this park everyday after school for ice cream, and on weekends she would treat him to his favourite, a pulled pork poutine and cherry pie on the side. He hadn't had food from here in years and thought today would be a good day to revisit that incredible poutine. And it turned out to be a better day then he had ever anticipated.

    Dean got out of his car and walked over to the small building in the centre of the park and got in line. He only waited for a few minutes before it was his turn to order and he was called up to the counter. “Hi, can I have a large pulled pork poutine, cherry pie on the side, and a bottle of coke to go, please.”

    “Sure thing, honey.” Dean smiled at her as he handed her a twenty and told her to keep the change, and he was sure that she was the same lady who had worked the counter even when he was young.

    Once he was settled, he stepped off to the side to wait for his food and pulled out his phone. A few people after him had ordered, but there was a certain voice that pulled him out of his thoughts, a gravelly, deep voice he had never heard before that sent a shiver through his whole body.

    “Hi, can I get a bacon cheeseburger with fries, and a large black coffee.”

    At the sound of the strangers voice, Dean looked up and was met with a handsome man. Dark ruffled hair, sharp features, blue eyes. And before Dean could even so much as stop himself, his mouth spoke before his brain could interject.

    “If you like burgers, you should try the Roadhouse.”

    “I’m sorry?” The man turned to face Dean, and his eyes seemed even bluer at this angle.

    Dean stepped closer to the man, his brain still not able to catch up and stop him, “The Roadhouse. It's an old bar that’s owned and run by a family friend of mine, and the owner makes the best damn burgers I've ever had. Don't get me wrong, food here’s good, but Ellen takes the cake for sure.”

    “Oh,” the man nodded, “perhaps I shall have to try it someday.”

    The man nodded once more in thanks, then turned away from Dean to face the counter again.

    “My names, Dean,” he stepped forwards again to stand beside the man this time, “Dean Winchester.”

    The man eyed him for a moment before taking Dean’s outstretched hand, “Castiel Novak.”

    “If you want, I could take you to the Roadhouse sometime.”

    The man’s eyes, and Dean’s for that matter, both went wide at his words as the man stuttered, “Did… did you just ask me out?”

    “I…” Dean shifted his eyes around nervously, did he really just go for it, just like that?! “I think I did, yes.”

    “Well, thank-you but no.”

    Dean was taken aback by the sudden and outright rejection. He knew he couldn't really expect much especially since he seemed, at the moment, to be having some sort of outer body experience and suddenly had no control over his words, and he literally just met the guy, but it did still sting a little.

    “Castiel! Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a large coffee!”

    Castiel stepped away from dean and took his bag and coffee from the counter, then turned back towards the door. Dean stepped in front of him, intent on demanding a reason for the harsh let down, but was only able to get out a measly, “why… why…”

    Castiel fixed him with a stare that had Dean suddenly frozen in place, “I do not have time to date right now and I have a lot of responsibilities that require all of my attention. So, thank-you, but no thank-you. Have a nice day, Dean.” And with that Castiel moved past Dean and left the building.

    He stared after him for a moment, a voice behind him shouting, “Dean, your orders ready,” only vaguely in the back of his mind. Before the voice was shouting even louder, pulling him from his trance, “Dean, sweetie, your orders ready!”

    Now finally seeming to have his brain and body on the same page again, he grabbed the bag of food and quickly ran out the door after Castiel. And with a quick look around the park and parking lot, realized he was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    Castiel arrived home later that afternoon. Work was as boring as it always was, being the accountant for his father's construction business was not always the excitement he had hoped for in a job, but it was a good job nonetheless. And working for family had its perks.

    “Cassie, is that you?” a voice called from within the house as he placed his coat in the closet and shucked his shoes.

    “Yes.”

    “We’re in the kitchen, come join us,” a slightly accented voice called this time, “Gabriel is making tarts!”

    He shuffled his way down the hall and found two of his brothers in the kitchen, one making tarts and the other sitting at the counter eating them equally as fast. He took a seat at the barstool and grabbed one for himself.

    “These are delicious, Gabriel.”

    “Why, thank-you, baby brother,” he beamed as he started rolling the dough for more tarts, “though I wish someone would think of the others that live in this house and stop eating them all before anyone else has a chance.”

    Castiel looked to Balthazar who was shoving yet another tart in his face as he mumbled around a mouthful, “I can't help it, they are so good!”

    Gabriel just shook his head, knowing there was no arguing or stopping him, then turned his attention back to Castiel, “So, how was your day, little brother?”

    “It was a normal day,” he shrugged around a bite of his second tart, “but I did get asked out today at the park while I was getting lunch.”

    “What?!” Gabriel's eyes were so wide they looked like they might explode, and Balthazar actually choked on his tart. “Cassie, that’s great! Did you say yes?! Tell me you said yes!”

    “First things first,” Balthazar placed a hand on Castiel’s knee once he finally stopped coughing and seriously asked, “was he handsome?”

    “Yes.”

    “So, you said yes then, right?” Gabriel leaned over the counter expectantly.

    “I said no.”

    “Why?!” both brothers asked in unison.

    Castiel looked at them and sighed, “I have far too much responsibility right now to even think about the possibility of dating someone.”

    Balthazar sighed beside him, “Castiel, you can't keep using this as an excuse to avoid having a life. It's been three years now, you are entitled to go out and have fun, you don’t have to push yourself aside.”

    “And were here too, Cassie,” Gabriel motioned between himself and Balthazar, “and Dad, and Gadreel. You know we are always willing to help so that you can date someone, you deserve it.”

    Castiel shook his head, “No. I cannot ask you to take on the responsibility that I agreed to, just so I can go on a date.”

    “But what if it's not just one date?” Balthazar shook the knee where his hand still remained, “What if this guy ends up being the man you fall in love with, your happily ever after, your knight in shining armour who will ride you off into the sunset on his noble steed?”

    “That, I definitely do not have time for.” Both brothers looked as though they were about to protest the idea again when Castiel grabbed another tart and stood from his chair, “I appreciate your concern for my dating life, but I am perfectly fine with the way my life is right now.”

    And with that he left the two brothers to exchange frustrated looks.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    It had been a few nights since Dean had met Castiel in the shop at the park, and despite the fact that the food truck had returned to its original spot, Dean continued to go out of his way to get his lunch at the park. He had not seen Castiel since.

    He had planned on trying again, or at least getting a better answer out of Castiel as to why he had turned him down, but it had so far been a disappointing week. So, his friend had decided that he needed a good old night of drinking, pool, and poker to get his mind off of the handsome man in the trench coat.

    It was a good idea, and one that usually worked when Dean was feeling a little down or deflated, but it wasnt so much working tonight. He had played a few games of pool with some buddies from his uncle’s shop, and took the pot for the first round of poker. But had since then decided to bow out and was now sitting on the couch alone, staring aimlessly into his beer bottle.

    A body then sat beside him, arm wrapped around his shoulder bringing his attention back to the present, “You okay there, buddy?”

    “Im fine, Ash,” he lied, though he already knew ash could see right through it, “I just don't know why he rejected me so fast.”

    “Dean, you asked the guy on a date after he only knew you for a matter of two minutes,” Dean nodded, “maybe if he knew you it would have been a different outcome.”

    “Probably,” he agreed, “but I can't even find him to put the offer out there. It doesn't even have to be a date, but the chance to at least get to know each other, I just want him to talk to me. But since the other day hes promptly vanished from the face of the earth.”

    “I’m sure you’ll bump into each other again, buddy, just give it time.”

    “I hope so,” he said as he swirled the last remains of his beer then decided to place it on the table, “but I should go.”

    Ash watched as he stood and made his way for the door, confused, “It's only eight.”

    “Yeah,” he nodded, “but let’s be honest, I’m just bringing the mood down and I don't wanna ruin your night. You guys have fun and thanks for the beer.”

    “I wish you’d stay,” Dean just gave him a look that asked him not to argue, and Ash put his hands up in defeat, “but if you’re sure, then I’ll walk you out, good buddy.”

    After saying a quick good night to the rest of the guys, Dean grabbed his shoes and headed out the door with ash at his side. They stood beside the impala for a moment, chatting about the new food items Ash’s mom was planning on adding to the menu at the Roadhouse, when a noise to Dean’s left had him turning his head.

    A figure in the dark was walking slowly down the driveway, pulling the garbage bin behind them, and when the figure walked out into the light of the street lamp Dean nearly had a heart attack.

    “No way.”

    “What?” Ash asked, trying to see exactly what dean was looking at, but seeing nothing exciting.

    “That’s him, that’s Castiel.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Monday, Castiel always hated monday. It was the worst day of the week. He usually worked from home and took the weekends off, but his dad’s construction company definitely did not have weekends off, in fact they did most of their work on the weekends. Which meant come monday, Castiel had a pile of work orders and other paperwork littering his desk and so monday’s were the only day he actually went into the office if he could help it. The only upside about having extra work during the day was that it always made his monday’s go by exceptionally fast, and before he knew it he was heading home.

    When he walked in the door, his brothers were in the same place they always were, with Gabriel baking some kind of sweet thing in the kitchen, while Balthazar hovered and ate them as fast as he could make them. Their other brother, Gadreel, who worked on their father’s construction crew, always got home later in the day and so Gabriel would have to hide a separate container for him, or else Balthazar would leave none for anyone else.

    And as he usually would around this time on a monday, Castiel placed himself at the counter with his brothers, beside Balthazar and across from the still baking Gabriel, and indulged himself in today’s treat. Sugar cookies.

    He grabbed one with the most icing he could find, and shoved nearly the entire thing in his mouth and asked between bites, “Was everything alright here today?”

    “It always is, Cassie, you honestly worry too much.”

    “Balthazar is right,” Gabriel added as he rolled more dough, covered in flour from head to toe, “everything is always fine, every monday. And you know, you could probably go back to working at the office full time if you wanted to. I’m here all day, my bake shop doesn't need me most days, and Balthazar doesn't open his club until midnight. So between the two of us-”

    “Gabriel,” Castiel raised a hand to stop him, “I appreciate that but I won't put that on you and Balthazar.”

    “You’re not putting anything on us, Cassie,” Balthazar reasoned, “we are offering to help because we are family, it's what we do.”

    “And I know that dad always loves having you in the office to help out, and working from home for all but one day of the week isn’t good for you. You need to start getting out and actually having a life. You’re not the only one in the world in your current position and I-”

    Before Gabriel could finish the doorbell rang, all three boys snapping theirs heads in the direction of the door, and with a sigh Balthazar stood from his seat.

    “I’ll get it,” he said, then tossed over his shoulder, “and don't you dare think this conversation is over, Cassie.”

    By the time Balthazar had reached the door, the person on the other side had already rang the bell a second time, and before he answered the door he muttered to himself, “Someone’s impatient,” and when he opened it he was met with… flowers?

    “Um… can I help you?” he asked, unsure of exactly who he was talking to behind the bouquet of lilies.

    “Yes, sorry,” the man behind them chuckled nervously as he lowered them, “I’m looking for Castiel, is he home?”

    Balthazar took in the handsome man before him, looking him once over, before a cheshire grin covered his face and he turned to yell back into the house, “Cassie! There’s a gorgeous man here to see you!”

    Castiel got up from his seat, brows furrowed, with Gabriel tight on his heels. When he opened the door wider and walked past Balthazar he stopped so fast at the sight he nearly fell over.

    “Hiya, Cas!”

    “You…” Castiel didn't even know what to say.

    “Look, I just wanted to talk to you, I-”

    “How did you find my house?”

    Dean smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck, “I… I know this might seem a bit creepy, but my friend Ash lives across the street from you. I was there the other night with some friends from work and I saw you taking out the garbage when I was leaving.”

    “This,” Castiel began and shook his head slightly, “this is very odd, Dean.”

    “This is Dean?!” Both Gabriel and Balthazar tried to burst past him to get a better look at dean, but Cas held them back as he stared dean down.

    “I just wanted to talk to you,” Dean pleaded, “I saw you at the park when we ordered food and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since. And I know I may have jumped the gun by asking you on a date, but I just want to get to know you. So what do you say?”

    “No,” and before he could say anything more he closed the door.

    Both Balthazar and Gabriel stood there, jaws on the ground as Castiel just calmly walked back to his seat at the counter and took another cookie. When they were able to gather themselves, they rushed into the kitchen and instantly bombarded Cas.

    “Why did you turn that gorgeous hunk of a man down?!”

    “And he seemed so sweet,” Gabriel pulled the tray of cookies away as Cas went for another, trying to ignore them, “he doesn't even want to go on a date, he just wants you to talk to him.”

    Cas gave them a steely glare, “I already told you, I don't have time to date or get to know someone.”

    “Cassie,” Gabriel sighed, pinching his nose, “this is what we were talking about. You need to have a life, you need to go out and meet people, go on dates, even just make friends!”

    Cas reached over and grabbed another cookie while Gabriel wasn’t looking and stood from his seat, “I have too much responsibility right now, and besides, once Dean found out the truth he wouldn’t want to date me anyways.”

    And with that he left Gabriel and Balthazar to stand frustrated in the kitchen once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    For the next week Dean showed up at Castiel’s house everyday like clockwork. Same time, four pm, with a fresh bouquet of flowers and the same proposition of getting to know one another. And everyday dean got the same answer, a firm no with the door shut in his face. Yet, he returned everyday without fail, until finally Cas decided that perhaps it was time to let the truth come out and maybe that would stop Dean from his persistent acts of desperation.

    Four came around all too quickly for Castiel and at the sound of the doorbell ringing right on time, he got up with an exasperated sigh and slowly walked towards the door. Both of his brothers were there today, lined up and waiting for him.

    “Can I help you two?” he asked as he passed them to get to the door.

    “Gabe and I want you to give Dean a shot.”

    Cas merely rolled his eyes.

    “Hear us out, Cassie, before you shoot us down. Just go on one date with him, and if you really don't like him then fine, at least you tried, but you need to get out there.”

    “I really don't, and now I am going to put an end to this once and for all.” The two boys looked to him with worry and confusion as he opened the door and was once again met with Dean and a fresh bouquet of flowers, today it was daisies. Dean opened his mouth to ask the same question he had been asking all week, but Cas raised a hand and stopped him before he could, “Before you say anything or try to futilely ask me on a date again, there is something I want you to know.”

    “Whatever it is, I don't care,” he stepped towards Castiel with a new found glimmer of hope in his eyes, “I will take you as you are, no matter what, and I-”

    “I have a son, Dean.” Dean stopped cold and just stared at Cas, “I am a father.”

    Dean didn't say anything, just tilted his head, and with a final nod Cas closed the door. He then turned a knowing look on his brothers beside him and said, “And that is why I won’t give him or anyone else a chance. As soon as they find out you have a child, everything changes. If someone doesn't have time for my son, then I don't have time for them either.”

    He walked away and left them standing speechless in the hallway again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    The next day Cas waited with baited breath as four pm came and went. Obviously he was right about Dean and that would be the end of the flowers and propositions. After a hard days work in his office, he made his way out to the kitchen to see what kind of treat Gabriel had made today and stopped when he saw his brothers leaning up against the wall by the front door.

    “What are you two doing?”

    “Waiting for Dean,” Balthazar said, matter of fact.

    “He is not going to show up,” he said crossing his arms, “once they find out you have the responsibility of a child, all interest disappears. And besides, he has been here everyday at four, it is now almost four-thirty and he is not here-”

    Just then the doorbell rang and all three held their breaths before Cas huffed out, “It's not Dean, more than likely someone trying to sell something.”

    “Why don't you open the door and find out, baby brother,” Gabriel waved a flourished hand at the door and Cas walked over and opened it. It was the least he could say to say that he was shocked to see that it was in fact Dean standing at the door, again with a fresh bouquet of flowers in his hand. Today’s choice, roses.

    “Dean, I…”

    “Sorry I’m late, but I spent almost twenty minutes standing in the toy store trying to decide what a little boy would like to play with, and I settled on this,” he lifted his other hand and held out a blue gift bag and Cas found himself reaching out to take it, and Dean beamed when he did rather than rejecting it, “I wasn’t sure what he liked, or even what his age was, and since we are around the same age I guessed maybe five, no more than seven?”

    “three, he’s… he’s three. I…” Cas found he was only able to stutter broken sentences at the moment, “You got him a gift?”

    “Of course,” Dean nodded with a smile, “I couldn't leave him out!”

    “Why?”

    “Cas, I want you to like me, to give me the chance to show you that I am a good man, and that includes your son. He has to like me too in order for this all to work out.” Cas just stared at him, mouth gaped. “I told you I would take you as you are, that also means your son, and I love kids so it's all the better!”

    A short moment of silence passed between them when Gabe’s voice was heard from somewhere behind him shouting, “Marry him!” and Cas laughed, snapping out of his daze.

    “So what do you say, Cas? Will you give me the chance to show you that we belong together? Will you go out with me?”

    “I… I thought after yesterday that you would stop doing this when you found out that I had a son, but you have pleasantly surprised me, Dean.” Dean smiled, and even blushed a little. “And I want to say yes but I have no one to look after my son. It's too late to call a sitter and my family all work and have lives of their own-”

    “No! No we don't!”

    The door suddenly opened further and both Gabriel and Balthazar came bursting out, and Gabriel placed a hand on Castiel’s shoulder, “We don't have any plans, we will watch the little guy and you two can go out!”

    “I can’t always ask you to give up your time to watch my son.”

    “Cassie, we are family, he’s our nephew, of course you can. And we would absolutely love to watch him,” Balthazar then turned to Dean with a smile and said, “come back in an hour and he’ll be ready.”

    “Sounds great!” Dean was all but beaming rays of sunshine as he held the flowers out to Cas and he took them with a face red enough to match the roses. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

    And Cas and the boys watched him leave the house, practically skipping down the driveway and to his car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                        NEXT

A/N: SOOOOOOO... I am in love with this fic and this idea, let me know what you guys think of it XD And thanks for reading! <3

[secret-rendezvous1d]

D E C E M B E R  4 T H

REQUEST What if the missus gives Harry a gift on December 1st and it’s like an advent calendar but each day is a new position/place to have sex up until Christmas.

This is quite a short little something; I apologise. 

I didn’t have too much time to write this one properly and I’ve got a few busy days coming up so I need to write a lot of other stories  for Blogmas so that I can post them on a queue without needing to be here - there may a chance that a few more of the stories will be short and sweet but straight to the point in what was requested. 

My mobile masterlist also unlinked all my links so I’ve got that to work on, too, so I’m all a bit rushed around. There will be a new masterlist coming that you will be able to access as soon as possible; you just need to bear with me on that.

Feedback is welcomed, as always - please let me know what you think of my pieces, send me any constructive criticism you think would help out, any ways to make my writing better, anything. It really helps me and keeps me motivated to write and we get to work as a team to make things better, for me to write and for you to read.

Enjoy! x

D e c e m b e r  1 s t  2 0 1 8.

The sweet smell of cinnamon filled the air.

And there was a distinct smell of fragrant dates and fruity currants and a thick scent of rum that had been mixed together in a bowl, baked in the oven and laid to rest underneath a thick and white-fondant marzipan, packing in a tin and ready to be devoured on Christmas Day with cream or custard. Every moment he took a deep inhale, his belly seemed to rumble from just how gorgeous their home smelt.

This time of the year was his favourite time of the year; it always had been, ever since he was a little boy and old enough to understand what the spirit of Christmas was and just who Santa Claus was to the world. He loved when the weather got colder and he could bundle up in warm jumpers and wear woollen socks around the house to keep his toes warm, without someone commenting on why the hell he was dressed so warmly; when the nights got longer and the sun set in the afternoon and gave the atmosphere a certain darkness that was dark enough for people see the Christmas lights decorating the high streets; it made him feel feel so warm and cosy and brought out the best in him; the weather made him feel happy and excited to be able to spoil his loved ones with gifts that showed his affection. And when it came to his wife, he loved that he could spoil her with all of his love and all of his affection and he could give her any length and any type of cuddle during the day and could have all the intimacy, in the world, that always seemed to spike when this time of year came around - the cold always did something to their hormones... but they weren’t complaining. Christmas meant he was surrounded by his friends and his family, Jeffrey gave him weeks off of work to be there in the cold heart of London, and he loved that he could take advantage of that.

Time off meant he could do the things he had always dreamed of doing with a partner, for his own home, to celebrate the holiday that they were planning to spend together. Christmas-tree shopping in garden centres and taking the tube to see the lights of Oxford Street whilst doing some window-shopping along the way, jumping in the car and singing Christmas songs on the drive to a 24-hour drive-thru that they had been craving and hopping on a train to head down to Surrey so they could spend time with the ones they didn’t see so much and could devour a roast with his aunt and uncle, gathering with their friends and hitting Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland for the night... with a busy schedule all year around, it felt nice to have the end of year to recuperate.

Evie purred on his lap as he nudged the tips of his fingers into the top of her head, rough but gentle enough, as the feline idly smiled with delight. Her tiny, black and white paws pawing at the polyester of his plaid pyjama bottoms and her claws catching the threads as she pushed against his thighs to find a comfier position; her ears twitching every so often when the tinkle of bells filled the silent living room, after having echoed around the kitchen, from a radio station that YN had switched on to use as background noise whilst baking a variety festive goods. Her whiskers tickling the underside of his wrist before she curled up in the dip where his thighs met. Socked feet kicked up on the arm, slippers kicked off and paired together underneath the coffee table, and the blanket, that was previously tucked up around his body to keep him warm, was thrown over the back of the sofa.

“Surprised you’re not out in the kitchen with your mum whilst she’s got all the food out. Forever trying to nick the currants from my porridge in the mornings, little lady,” he hummed, catching Evie’s drowsy face, giving her head a blurring shake before resting her chin on the pudge of his stomach, “did you just fancy a cuddle with daddy, huh? Fancied watching the telly? Or are you here because I give you too much fuss? You’re a spoilt little darling. Spent far too long with your Nana Anne, haven’t you? Whilst mummy and daddy were off travelling the world on tour. Demanding lots of love.”

“Will you stop talking to the cat? She won’t ever respond,” he heard from the room adjacent to him, a hint of a smile in her voice, and he dragged a curled finger down the cheek of Evie’s furry face, “and, now that you’re awake and no longer milking how tired you are, will you come and help me with this? It’s difficult to take photos along the way and I can’t keep switching between mixing and kneading and taking photos. My camera is getting all mucky. You’ll have to buy me a new one for Christmas.”

“Would you be so upset if I said that Elf has just started and that I want to watch it so badly because I’ve been looking forward to December for this exact moment?” His attention drifted to the television screen that brought up a scene of Will Ferrell dressed in a bright green elf-costume, with yellow accents, and looking to be the tallest in a situation that he just he didn’t belong in amongst the other of Santa’s helpers; it had been his favourite film for as long as he could remember. One that he liked to curl up and watch when his school day had finished, eating a fresh batch of muffins that his mother had made during the morning. One that he liked to watch with his sister on Christmas Eve whilst drinking hot chocolates and chucking marshmallows at one another as the quoted the most iconic lines. One that he could recite off by heart and would drive his father insane because he just couldn’t help himself. And it was the one film that he wanted to show off to his children in the future - to sit down with his wife and his own children and eat treats that they made and drink hot chocolates, together and as a whole family, as they snuggled beneath a blanket and sat before the fire... and to know that YN, who was once the girlfriend that he had willingly shared the tiny glimpse of their possible future, loved the film almost as much as he did. “You know how much I love this film.”

“You know how much I love Elf, too,” he heard her huff, “why can’t we record it and then watch it later on? When we’re not doing anything and get to be lazy? We can order in a takeaway pizza and then drink hot chocolates with the tiny marshmallows that I have left over.”

“Can we eat whatever you’re making?”

The house had fallen silent and he only realised once he heard her slippers scuff along the floor, brushing her hands on the front of her, already dusted with flour and the odd flecks of dough, apron. A picture of an elderly lady, with thin-rimmed glasses and grey hair, who identified herself as Mrs Claus, was printed on the front with the words ‘Have Your ‘Elf A Merry Christmas’ - which had made him chuckle when he saw it in the store and had thought of how she would enjoy the pun just as much as he did - in beautiful, candy-cane coloured script that arched above her head. Her upper body leaning over the back of the sofa.

“Not all of what I’ve been,” she grinned, “there is a lot that I’ve made since you’ve been asleep and we don’t need your dicky tummy playing havoc over the next week or two-” she have the side of his belly a pat and got a side-eye from Evie who looked displeased at being woken from her sleep. “-I’ve got one box for us to share and then the rest I’m going to give to my parents when we see them this weekend, your sister and Michal when they come round tomorrow for lunch, your aunt and uncle when we go to their Christmas party next week, and your mum to take home when she comes up in a few days.” She ran a sticky hand over his forehead and brushed his fringe away from his forehead, little amounts of flour catching between the strands. “You look very cosy.”

“I would feel a lot cosier if you took a break from whatever you were doing and came and cuddled with me. It’s cold, I’m tired and me and Evie want you to come and take some time out,” he looked down at the cat, who was now purring and sending tiny vibrations through his belly, “she would agree if she was awake.”

“I’m sure she would,” his wife giggled and brought her hand from Harry’s flushed forehead to Evie’s soft fur. Stroking the patch between her two ears and digging her fingertips into her skull; her purrs sounding so loud and vibrating through her body, toe-beans flexing as her way of showing how pleased she was, “give me a few minutes. I’ll get my last batch in and cool the one that is in the oven and then I’ll be in.”

“Could you make some tea and bring that in, too?” He asked and she scoffed at his cheekiness, pinching his nose as it scrunched up and brought his eyes to a squint, “please? Mine went cold when I fell asleep.”

“Fine,” she sighed, “make some room for me.” She spun around and walked back towards the kitchen, halting abruptly in her path and turning her upper body to look over her shoulder, shooting him one last statement before she went back to her baking. “Oh, I have an important present to give you later, by the way. Don’t let me forget.”

And god, he didn’t forget.

‘An important present’ was all she needed to say to him to make sure that her instruction, on not letting it go forgotten when she didn’t remember, was handled correctly.

Okay, he may have forgotten until later in the evening... but, hey, he still remembered!

Stretched out upon the sofa, his ankles rested on YN’s thighs, crossed and with feet clad in the warmest of socks (that had been a tradition to wear, on the first of December, every year), his attention diverting between the television and the book held in his hands. Glasses on the bridge of his nose. She was busy scrolling through her phone, casually sipping on a glass of wine, his own glass sitting on the coffee table and a distinct difference from the tea he’d been sipping on throughout the afternoon. On the telly, someone had exchanged a gift to another and that was what had prompted him to remind her.

“S’this important present you need to give me?”

She gasped and almost spat her gulp of wine, holding her glass under her chin as she looked him, eyes wide and her hand in a rush to push his feet away from her. The soles hitting the floor as he swung his body around and sat up, closing his book and dog-earing the page, placing it on the shelf beneath the glass top, upon a pile of magazines and newspapers.

“Christ, yes. I forgot,” she muttered, setting her wine glass on the table and standing to her feet, leaving her phone behind on the sofa cushion as she darted in the direction of the stairs, “thanks for reminding me!”

“Couldn’t forget,” he snorted.

Through the floorboards, and the ceiling above him, he could hear her enter their bedroom and have a quick rummage around something - that he presumed to be the vanity drawers... - to find what she had hidden away from him. Skilfully, of course, because he used those vanity drawers and had yet to stumble upon anything that looked out of place. A wrapped present definitely being on that list.

She was quick back down the flight of steps, with something rattling in her hand, and he slipped his glasses back up his nose. A grin, that he tried to diminish but couldn’t because he rather excited to see what she had, sitting on his red-painted lips, teeth having turned purple around the gums from drinking the wine they’d cracked open, as his green eyes watched her every move.

“Someone spoke about this in a problem-page in a magazine I read at the hairdressers the other week. It was a suggestion on how to have better sex, and I know that we have great sex and it’s always adventurous and we get up to a lot, but I liked the idea and I thought it would be something you’d want to try out,” she smiled. A big in length, thin in width box was held in her hands, her eyes holding nerves as he took it from her, “it’s an advent calendar. Just, not the usual kind of advent calendar you would expect. No chocolate in it or anything.”

“An advent calendar that isn’t chocolate?” He gawked in disbelief, the wiggling of his fingers apprehensive as they picked at the flap and pulled it from within the cardboard, “what kind of awful advent calendar did you buy me?”

“It’s not awful!” She cried out.

“It has no chocolate. It’s awful,” he teased. Her body collapsing to the space beside him, with a heavy huff being pushed out powerfully from her lungs, with a frown on her face and her arms folded over her chest. She tried not to watch him as he opened it; it definitely wasn’t an awful present, let alone an awful advent calendar, but he was teasing her and she had to show how ‘frustrated’ that made her. But she couldn’t help but let her vision hide in the corner of her eyes, watching him discreetly as he pushed the cardboard to the floor and set the calendar on his lap. “It’s just... plain?”

“Open number one.”

His finger dragged along each closed door as he read each bold number that his tip passed over, stumbling upon number one and wasting no time in breaking the seal and opening the flap. The word ‘cowgirl’ in black cursive sitting heavy on his tongue; what on earth was this advent calendar and why did YN buy it for him, knowing he would ‘like it’? His green eyes homed a look of confusion as he looked between the white cardboard and her intrigued face, looking curiously as him, watching the cogs turn in his head as he tried to figure out what the hell she had gifted to him.

“Wha-”

“It’s a sex advent calendar,” she clarified, sitting up and leaning forward, elbows resting upon her knees. A cheeky grin on her mouth as he let out a scoff and laughed, cheeks flushing pink and looking back at the word printed on the small, square-shaped door. “You open this up, every day, and it tells us what position we should have sex in. Sometimes we can never decide and,” she reached over and squeezed his knee, “this way, it decides for us.”

“Like some strange magic-8 ball that decides people’s choices?” He snorted.

“Exactly like that, yeah,” she nodded, giggling sweetly as he shook his head from side to side with absolute disbelief, “not such an awful present now, is it, hm?”

He placed it on the coffee table and slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his chest and pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her temple, groaning happily into her ear before falling to the sofa cushion and squeezing her to his body. Her legs curled up and her knees collided with his chest as she hugged him back with a tight grip.

“I take back all that I said. The best early-Christmas present, ever.”

[alengthyread]

Draft Memories

In my opinion, music is an inspiration, I think it’s impossible to do music if you’re not inspired over it.

Especially when you’re starting, you start because certain artist(s) created this life-changing, and as a boy Whitney Houston was that person, obviously I was also around hymns having my parents go to a Baptist church.

But it can be interesting what I went through in The Philippines, because I’d sing hymns @ church, and when I walk back up to my house, I would hear the barrio play La La La Bamba, and that opened up my secular music.

Jodeci was an inspiration in highschool, so was D’angelo, and when I got older, I continued to buy cds, and I came across American IV by Johnny Cash, and I started singing baritone.

The soprano came about when I was “inspired” by Leona Lewis, because her voice was so high that, “It was still effortless.”

And eventually, it became salsa with Marc Anthony, and that’s because I find the genre very dynamic.

Now, I had all these aspirations for music, and obviously when the health scare occurred, I depended on doctor’s opinion, and I wasn’t too much of a fan of getting gigs, I was still working at Canada Post, and I was still doing my “appointed” ushering @ CLC, but I knew things have changed.

My last contract with an Oakville depot with Canada Post was tough, but I knew that if I just endure it then I go off on this hefty vacation.

My parents and I liked to go to this drive in Lancaster, PA, and that’s because it’s not too long, and the country side with all farms are beautiful.

There’s a broadway in this Lancaster city, and we’ve watched at least three on three different summer, or spring.

But it’s really the shopping I was after, because stores in the U.S. were different.  And a lot has to do either, “This mall is upscale, or lower one.”

And I got Merrell’s, with the lower scale, at around forty dollars, I would get bargains for that price.  It isn’t like the upscale where you’re expecting Polo, Nike, and Nautica, and they’re pricey.

Actually, I heard some reports that Dress Barn in the U.S. is doing well, and this is what I mean when the lower scale has to be dealt with, because the country is always in a recession.  And lower scale doesn’t have to be bad, I actually find that the fashion is more glamourous.

But that’s only in the U.S., here in Canada the market is really Nike, Polo, and what have you.

I think Canada get so marketed that, and I see this for myself, higher end become the norm.  Like if I should look thru eyewear, brands like the Armanis get considered.

And it’s dangerous, because these products are expensive.

Anyway, when you’re going through a recession, just take it one day at a time, Biden has already said that he’s increasing taxes and gas prices, and that’s what’s happening now, gas prices went up ten cents after the U.S. election.

So just be careful with the market, I know we can only deal with what’s presented to us, but look beyond it, it doesn’t have to be the upscale mall, I think there are chances for not-so-popular brands.

[dreamsanddreams88]

We bought chickens AND bunnies at the same time, really hectic,I was tryna cuddle the bunnies but they would bite sometimes. At one point, in AC origins game trying to hide in a house full of Roman ppl from one of the phylakites that was killing everyone indiscriminately, very scary. I was female character, did the cool thing where i cut ropes on a chandelier and rode the other rope up onto something, one handed. Then i was in airport with alex, we had gone to Japan but then I got freaked out cuz of Corona and we both forgot towear masks

I was in a thrift store and didnt like any of the stuff I grabbed so I went to put it back n leave cuz I was only on lunch break anyway, the shop girl made snide remark about my hair needing to be dyed? She was like, thanks for coming in, come back when ur hair doesnt suck or something. I said fuck you and your orange hair, cuz it was dyed red and faded, but I stuttered n she made fun of it. But then she followed me cuz we all had to go to some meeting? N she was a little nicer. Sat at these tables waiting for alex, we were about to see a show with a drag queen. It was in a mall or something

Was at west again but getting lost, then was back in 4th grade maybe? Looking for new class? Then I was starting to date alex but someone else like jenna was in the room with us, he was spooning me but trying to be secret, jenna thought we were fucking, also I took a shower w him but needed another one, I had taken like 3 showers that day. I was staying w my family somewhere in hotel maybe. Then saw this girl I thought maybe was his ex katie, creeped on her instagram she actually was mixed black girl w blonde hair, was cheerleader n basketball player, really badass and mean. Brian lemaster was in there somewhere. Ar some point I started drinking juice boxes filled with milk before remebering I was lactose intolerant

Dreamed I was signing up for a matchmaking service to get married? It was via snail mail, and it was all girls who were mostly indian I think, or maybe bosnian. One girl was named Imina and sent me some of my writing that she edited, I found it very snooty and rude. Also had accepted someone else before seeing I had a letter from her. Also something with different video games that were scary, but all took place in the same house. One was 5 nights at freddy's themed, one was victorian ghosts, etc.

Was going on charter bus with work and other ppl, were leaving my old house. Kept forgetting my earbuds, went back in to see maids deep cleaning the whole place. Bus went out into cold winter wilderness? I made friends w bus driver, guy looked like william h Macy a little bit. Then i was Rey, kylo ren had captured me and was gonna make me squirt bleach into my eyes so I'd be blind, fought him off and escaped thru the back of a cupboard. He was on island surrounded by stormy sea, freezing cold, and big blocks of calcium formations kept crumbling into it. Force ghost Luke Skywalker appeared to me to tell me death was real but I could escape. Then I was with jenna or sarah, went to hotel looking 4 my parents, nice old ladies were telling me they saw my lost mittens or something? I brushed them off super rude

Was in big house with mafia family. Lots of cars n helicopters falling out of sky, crashing thru glass ceilings. Trying to leave the house, calling business guy when a car falls on him owned by one of the mafia guys. Smthn with a chef from the house, hes really strict when teaching kids how to cook, indian food cant have lemon juice in it? I was licking the glaze off raw chicken and salmon

Was in Laos in war zone, Belgians were bombing the shit out of it and these rare plants called dragon plants were burning, it was way sad. Then it was xmas at parents house but also dads bday, had to help mom take down all xmas decor temporarily until we could open dads presents. Also I didnt trim my zucchini plants and one was like 12 feet tall. Then at work taking break on some huge metal train. Also something about being in some state or royal building, running or hiding from someone

Was with alex in old doornbos house, he was asking me who was in my "network" meaning who had I slept with. I said a bunch of people and he got mad, I was high and tried to explain it was in the past not current. Then I was in theater at the high school across the road, had an improv scene with abby thomas but hadn't rehearsed at all. Went to rehearsal, everybody from hs was there, dawson was teacher, saw shelby drive past. Then smthn about walking bay in the mountains, were super high up in the snow and saw other ppl walking dogs

Something about having traded bodies with ian brauer when we were younger? Or not even traded, I had somehow accidentally possessed him and then had to go to school and pretend like I was him, and then only when I concentrated really hard I went back to my own body which was passed out on the floor of my room.

In a school, had brought imhotep back 2 life n he brought back his gf so we tried running and hiding. Then he was darth Vader and he caught me. Then dream about being on wild ferris wheel kinda ride with mom and Lauren who was sometimes aunt ellen, then in a family of talking dolphins whose step mom was a whale, the dad was joking about how him and the mom might perish at the bottom of the ocean. Then something about a demon possessed lady

Scary dream 1st where I was out walking at night in the forest, looked kinda like lower area of ECOS. The light in a street lamp didnt work, had to use flashlight. Alex showed up with bay who was now a white shih tzu, a frat guy in skeleton costume ran over to scare us. Then I lived in this village/tribe, everyone had hotel rooms kinda. I was back in town going to everyone's rooms, my mom had a room next to mine but she was gone somewhere. Then we were playing guitars, I picked up someones weird acoustic base to try and play. Then I got invite from JC, him and his friends were having a joint wedding in 2026, invite looked like DND character sheet. I was in the forest when scary evil ash cloud exploded out from the ground, kinda like in neverending story or moana. Ran back to village and was safe inside this like, sacred circle? It meant that I was actually the next in line to be the tribal chief. The tribe purposely kept everyone's parentage a secret so it was like the whole village was our parents, but this meant my dad was this one rando young guy who wasnt even the chief? Anyway he hugged me and it was emotional. It meant I had this prophetic duty to defeat these creepy evil eels like in the little mermaid. The water/ocean was this weird quad, with each quadrant being a different depth and color blue. I had to scuba dive to the bottom on a certain date to fight them, matthew/mikey was gonna hold my breathing tubes or something? If I tugged twice he could pull me back up.

In world where mr bean guy was a king n had lots of bodyguards, he was taking on corrupt religious mormon police like in Utah who rode camels and abducted like 500 people for slavery.

Had private teacher lady for something, 8 of us. I couldnt concentrate on test. She gave me spare key to let her dog out, i go in her house and the skylights are open and room full of snow. Then she has dinner party with me, snape, Adonis, michelle/jenn, and a doctor. Ends in screaming match, I'm mad cuz Michelle keeps flirting w Adonis by dropping shit on purpose and making him pick them up. Then I go to doc about weird vaginal discharge and being depressed, hes kind of a quack and doesnt help or listen. Then I was trying to get job at restaurant but all the servers had been at the party and thought I was crazy. Also smthn bout seeing a concert and shawn goggins was in it, jc and elliot were there and I started laughing at him about how that was a girl he cheated on me with but she turned out to be a trans man so he had sex with a dude

I was in world like video game level, in a class w people. Started in weird castle that had secret passages, and then onto these floating balloons above black holes. Tried to jump from one to the other without falling, very scary. Then with alex in a hallway, waiting for some event to start. We climbed up to ledge where there was like a gem/ring stockpile, I started stealing them. Mcgonagall was there and saw us, I was too afraid of heights to climb down. Then event was starting but it was some creepy cult wearing animal masks, I had to pretend like I knew what was happening

[purplesurveys]

1105

surveys by seachaange

What do you do when someone is talking to you about something you don't care about? I listen and try to ask questions or add my own input so that they can see that even though I personally don’t care about the thing they’re talking about, I’m invested in them.

What is the best pizza place in your neighbourhood? Erm, we don’t really have a lot of independent pizza joints, actually. Most of the ones I see are chain restaurants like Pizza Hut and Domino’s. The best pizza I’ve had is from Vu’s at Marco Polo, but it’s been a whileeeee since I’ve had their food. Mama Lou’s pizza is also good.

Do you have Photoshop installed on your computer? I do but I only had it installed for school. I have no personal interest to learn it.

Are there any teachers you have that you are close with? I wouldn’t say that. I’m kinda chummy with one of my English teachers from high school - like he knew about me and Gab and supported us, I show my support for his art, we greet each other every now and then, etc - but we’re not ‘close.’

Do you have friends that play field hockey? No.

What about soccer? Not friends but I do know a number people who play football, yeah.

Do you think homosexuals are leading a bad lifestyle? This question aged like milk, didn’t it...

What do you think of the iPad? I remember when it blew up like crazy. It was such a revolutionary thing back when it was new, so much so that my dad even felt the need to buy one. It was fun when the hype lasted; but nowadays I don’t know people who would still seek out an iPad other than artists and law/med students, lmfao.

Do you put lotion on after you get out of the shower? I don’t.

Do you have any concerts on dvd? A lot, but they’re of concerts from a time when DVDs were still a thing. I haven’t had a new DVD in around 7-8 years.

Do you still have a VHS player? I think my parents have thrown theirs out already.

Has anyone ever given you a promise ring? No.

Do you send postcards to people when you go on vacation? I don’t. But aw, this made me remember when Jo did a summer exchange program in London and she sent postcards to Aya in the few months that she had been away. I thought that was sweet.

What do you think is the most comfortable shoe? Out of the pairs I have, my Onitsuka Tiger shoes for sure.

Have you seen Lady Gaga's music video for Telephone? That was suuuuuuch a big deal when it came out. Yes, I definitely have and I must’ve watched it a thousand times. Also rude, Beyoncé was in there too lol

If so, what do you think of it? It was so creative and a lot of fun to watch, especially for 2009 when artists weren’t exactly daring with music video concepts yet. I can’t believe they never collaborated again since.

What do you think of the septum piercing? It’s great.

Do you frequently skip class? Depends on my interest in the class/the professor, OR how tired I am that week. I skipped my psychology elective a lot because I didn’t think the instructor was all that great; and as much as I loved every single one of my history classes, there were a few sessions I voluntarily had to skip because I wasn’t doing mentally well. It really depends.

--

When you're really thirsty, what do you enjoy drinking most? Water. Anything else wouldn’t be able to quench my thirst as well.

What do you find inspirational in the world? I think it differs based on what I need to see at a given time, I guess. At this point in my life, I like hearing from people who have risen from their trust and abandonment issues, because it’s what I’ve been going through as well. I probably never would’ve found something like that inspirational, say, 6 months ago, so it really depends.

When hanging out with your bf or gf, what do you like doing most? I’m a very ‘let’s spend time in silence’ type of person. I cherished it the most when my ex and I would go to a coffee shop and work for hours, in complete and comfortable silence; or when I would be driving and no words would be exchanged for nearly the entire ride. Even though I stay quiet, in those moments I’m actually very happy. Of course new experiences are great too, but I personally enjoy the conventional ‘boring’ stuff the most when with a partner.

What do/did you think of your high school? Teeming with homophobia, bigotry, and just your typical Catholic gatekeepy judgmental environment. I look back at high school fondly because of the friends I made, not because of the toxic environment they nurtured in there.

What is the dirtiest rap song you have ever heard? I don’t listen to a lot of rap. But as an 11 year old listening to Nicki Minaj’s Itty Bitty Piggy, I was immediately traumatized lmao. I still can’t listen to that song.

What about a dirty song in any other genre? Uhhhhhhhhh probably Drunk in Love?? Lmaoooo I’d die for Beyoncé a million times but I always skip that song. My asexual ass just can’t deal.

What is a genre of music you simply can't stand? One of them is techno.

What is, in your opinion, the best way of dealing with a break up? Being kind to yourself.

What flavour of Doritos do you like best? I’ve only ever tried the nacho cheese flavor, but I love that one.

Where do you do your grocery shopping? I don’t do the grocery shopping in the family but my parents usually do it at SM or at this local store we have nearby.

Would you ever go to a comedy club? Yes, with a friend so I’d be more comfortable.

Do you think Victoria's Secret is overpriced? I haven’t been in one of their stores in a while, so I can’t really say.

Do you still have a VHS player? Again, I don’t think so.

Do you have a tumblr? :))))))

Why is it that photography is becoming a trend? So this survey was made in 2010 and I can definitely confirm it was a crazy huge trend lol. Even I got into it and asked my parents to get me a DSLR back then. Anyway, I think it was because during this time, DSLRs had been slowly becoming a thing? and they were kiiiiiiiinda cheap - at least cheap enough to be accessible to a large amount of people - so it allowed people to play with different styles that were very unfamiliar at the time, like light painting, fisheye, close-ups, etc. And then at one point everyone had DSLRs and it just wasn’t as enjoyable anymore because everyone was doing the same kinds of trendy shots lol.

What is the funniest movie you have ever seen? I’m gonna go with The Proposal - Sandra Bullock was gold in that movie.

Did you watch American Idol this past season? No. Do they still air new seasons of that?? I stopped watching when the same guitar-playing, country-singing white men kept winning.

If so, how did you feel about the winner? It’s been more than a decade since I last cared for the show.

Don't you hate it when one of your earbuds stops working? Sure.

Do you have a normal landline, or do you use MagicJack? Holy shit I have not heard of MagicJack in a goddamn WHILE lmao, what a throwback. We had one, I’m pretty sure...but I never knew what it was for.

Do you even use a house phone anymore? Landlines are still common in the Philippines. Are they not in other countries? Hahahaha.

Would you ever consider dating someone who lived across the country? If I loved, trusted, and was committed to them enough, yes.

What was the most expensive restaurant you've ever eaten at? I wasn’t able to track the name but I’m pretty sure it was the fine dining restaurant in our cruise trip that my parents treated me to for my birthday.

Do/did you take foods classes in high school? My school didn’t offer such a class, but we had home economics and we were occasionally taught how to cook and bake certain dishes.

Do you have a tattoo? No, not yet.

If you do, describe the pain you went thru when getting it done. Eugh this is what I’m scared of :((((

Do you enjoy making hemp necklaces and bracelets? I’ve never tried.

Have you ever watched the show Strangers With Candy? I’ve never even heard of it before, I’m sure.

What is your favourite bookstore? Fully Booked, because their collection is expansive, always complete, and they let you take a book of the shelves and read it if you’d like.

Have you ever used torrents? Mostly throughout high school. I did use a torrent to download Midsommar recently, though.

How can we tell if you are in a bad mood? I go quiet.

How are you when you're in a really good mood? Complete opposite - I will be bubbly and chatty, especially in instances when I’m not really expected to be.

Are you nice to everyone, even people you don't like? Yes.

When you're bored in class, what do you do? I seldom found myself bored in class because I’m constantly furiously taking notes. But if the prof themselves are very boring and there’s nothing to take notes about, I go ahead and check my social media either from my phone or laptop.

--

Would you rather go to Lollapalooza, Warped Tour, or Bonnaroo? As a teenager, I had always wanted to go to Warped Tour. As I’ve gotten older, though, the lineups for Lollapalooza have appealed to me more. Plus it’s in Chicago, soooooo a million more brownie points for that.

Do you have anything that is autographed? By who? Yeah, I have an autographed poster of AJ Lee. It was my most prized possession and I even placed it on a big picture frame and had it up on my wall for yearsssssssss, and then my mom had to take it down because of course it’s my mom and of course she had to do it.

Can you sleep when it's really hot? Welcome to summer months in the Philippines.

Do you know anyone who works at McDonald's? I think Carley does, but idk if that’s changed in the last few months. I don’t stay updated about her life, haven’t been for years.

Do you have a debit card? Yes.

What bank do you (or your family) use? I am not sharing that lol.

Would you ever hitchhike? I think I’m mostly open to it, though I will say I’ve read enough stories about murders that involve hitchhiking that make me a little scared of the idea, hahah.

Have you ever been kayaking? We did a boat thing in Palawan a few years ago but I’m not sure if that was kayaking or canoeing. Anywho, the experience was breathtaking.

Do you have a problem with swimming in a pond or lake? In the context of my country, yeah, because our natural bodies of water aren’t exactly...the cleanest, lmao. I’d feel much more comfortable swimming in a private beach.

Does anyone in your family go hunting or fishing? Nope. But maybe some of my relatives living in the US do?? Idk for sure.

What do/did you do when someone you barely knew asks you to sign their yearbook? We don’t really practice that. Only the really expensive, bougie, international schools here that have foreign students to begin with do that, I think.

In high school are you/were you in the plays and musicals? No.

Do you have a birdbath in your yard? No, we don’t.

Is the house you live in old or new? It’s fairly new; we had it first built in 2005 and we officially moved in 2008.

Where do you go when you need a new pair of sneakers? Depends on what brand I’m in the mood to buy.

Do you make New Year's Resolutions, or do you not even bother? I typically don’t.

Most annoying commercial? Haven’t been paying attention to them lately.

What does your favourite bathing suit look like? It’s just a simple black bikini but its overall shape and design is super cute and chic.

Do you like Silly Bandz? No.

If you do, how many do you have and what are your favourite shapes?

What do you think of My Super Sweet 16? I never watched it because I feel like I’d only get stressed if I did.

Do you have mini-blinds in your house? I have pull-down window shades in my room, not blinds.

Do you rent your home or do you own it? My parents own it.

What is your favourite song right now? Trigger by Hayley Williams.

Do you use Firefox? Nope.

Do you have a pool in your backyard? We don’t.

Do you have a gym membership? No.

Favourite field trip you've ever been on? Freshman year of high school when we went to two museums :)

[aljerards]

Extra Post #3: back (11월27일17년)

a concrete jungle post (lol)

I started this already at 12:10 A.M., because I’m still at my hype state even if we need to go already at 8:30 P.M. and wale up at 7:00 A.M. (another sleepless night with me).  I danced to Red Velvet’s Peek-A-Boo to EXO’s Power (that’s how energetic I am). But anyways I passed out at 12:30 P.M.

I took a bath at 7:30 P.M., and got already done and on the road at around 9:40 P.M. Our first destination at was at Dau, Pampanga at around 10:40 A.M. My father bought an air gun scope for the first destination and it costs at a bit of a hefty price.

Fast forward to 11:03 A.M. where we got to the mall that we’re going to. Before we went inside the mall, I already said to my mom that I’m already hungry (even if we were still on the road because I didn’t ate breakfast today — you don’t want a food a fighter to get grumpy and irritable right? just joking lol). We first start to go at variety store in the mall to buy different things and stuff for our house (like I get it, we like to buy stuff but it is a need rather than a want). We had an early lunch at a smorgasbord place in the mall to get started early on the shopping. The menu of the smorgasbord place is all good and easy so I got my money’s worth fortunately (a food fighter has summoned I’m sorry).

I started shopping on our Monito Monita which is a well-known Christmas Filipino tradition. The names or codenames are written in pieces of paper and you’ll give a gift to whoever the person you got. The gift may vary in different categories such as something sweet, memorable, long etc. I bought a hand cream to the person that I’ll give and it’s the same scent that I use which is the Green Tea one (yaaaaas my fave!).

We went inside the department store to buy (again) stiff and things for our house (shop till we drop kind of thing — I’m sorry). My dad bought a shirt and my mom bought polo shirts for themselves. As we ventured out in the department store, we left our father to the lounge to let him rest for the whole walking. We went to buy clothes at two fashion retail stores but the one is usually for tops and the other one being for bottoms. The thing when I shop for clothes is that I want bigger and breathable in any way but I can be very meticulous when picking since I like Asian fashion rather than the Western one. Japanese fashion is a lot more reserved and “chill” while Korean fashion tends to be more trendy, creative and experimental in a certain way (one example is that dress shoes DON’T go with jeans and your bottoms shouldn’t be scrunched up by the shoes that you’re wearing). I bought two tops and a bottom and that’s about it since I’m very particular with my fashion.

We picked up my dad from the lounge at around 2:30 P.M., and he felt rejuvenated from his sleep. We got into our car and went to a duty free to buy some imported goods (most especially chocolates and chips) and drive thru in McDonalds after. I cracked up since the roads of the shop we went is so quiet and there are just few to no cars passing by us (weekday shopping is the best since there aren't a lot of people — the smell of introvert-ness).

At around 4:25 P.M., we got to the exit toll gates and it was clearly traffic because it was a long line of waiting cars. We went to one of my cousin’s house that is bring renovated to make it new. Their progress makes me happy because it is all coming together perfectly (me is very enthusiastic with achievements of other people whether small or big).

We drove back home at already 5:35 P.M. and rested for a good 40 minutes before we ate dinner. And you can check the vlog here!

[bunnikook]

✧・ﾟyoonkook fic recs (pt. 2)・ﾟ✧

Hello, it’s me again! I have brought you more sugakookie recs. Again the *** show my personal favorites. Also if you love bangtan or sugakookie, how about following me on twitter, i use it 1000x more than tumblr

The Sound Of Winter

Yoongi has a lot on his plate, but when his pack discovers a small pup in their territory, he finds that he's about to have a lot more.

Capturing Passion***

Min Yoongi was a simple guy living the simple lifestyle in university with his relatively normal friends. However, his simple lifestyle wasn't enough to pull him out of his artistic slump, which was dragging him down a dark and lonely path.

Of course, this is all until one drunken evening and he comes across a beaten kid, and decides to take him in for the evening.

In his drunken state he didn’t notice the pair of tall, soft black ears that came from the top of the kid’s head, and he certainly wasn’t sure what to do when he woke up next to them the next morning.

the nights really were for saying things you can’t say tomorrow***

"you know, the fact that my rap puts you to sleep should be insulting," yoongi says wryly.

all your curves, and all your edges

Tumplr prompt:

In which Yoongi is a traveller who collects memories of people. Up until he meets a boy who makes him realise that this time he wants much more than a simple journal entry.

future tense**

Jeongguk was born with wings of blood and bone, broken beyond repair. It was Yoongi who had stitched feathers to the seams, promising that they would fly away from here, as far as they could possibly go.

I got a feeling (got a feeling, got a feeling) about you**

Min Yoongi is not sure about a lot of things, but if there’s one thing he can be sure about, it’s definitely: he wants to spend the rest of his fucking life with a certain Jeon Jeongguk.

Cerulean and Malachite***

tumblr prompt from anon: "You said you take requests on here on your ao3 and I'm here with a request! How about a SugaKookie soulmates. After that, you can do whatever you want with it, but if you could add some smut, that would be nice. :) Thank you!"

bless you, precious sugakookie anon.

Ever since Jungkook could listen, he’d been watching. Watching the streets, the crowds, watching the people pour on and off the trains. Jungkook had watched for the flash of color that was said to indicate the instant when one found their Soulmate. Under normal circumstances, in everyday life, an aura would be invisible to the eye; but when two Soulmates found each other, it was said that they would see the color of each others’ auras. Jungkook spent his entire life with his eyes wide open, searching around him, waiting; watching and waiting. Jungkook became impressively good at observation.

the collection

a collection of all my tumblr shorts and prompts!;

(my notes: all of these are amazing but #22 is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL)

Distance makes the heart grow fonder (said by someone stronger than me)*

"He had no clue how long he stood there, waiting for a single foot to step out the gate. All he was aware of was people moving around him and his legs turning to jelly underneath him. His heart pounded and his knuckles turned white from the strain of his grip on the roses. Yoongi had never been this nervous in his life. The pain of being far from his love was hard before, but now it was unbearable. His boyfriend was on that plane, getting off of it right now, and those minutes of waiting were absolute pain. He had half a mind to rush onto the plane and kidnap the boy right then and there, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t go over well.

When the first person stepped out of the gate, he found it harder to breathe. The people began pouring out of the gate, painstakingly slow, families pushing past Yoongi and talking animatedly to each other, somehow not hearing the thunderous beating of his heart. It was torture, standing there waiting for a sight of the boy he’d been thinking about for months. It wasn’t until the stream of passengers died down that Yoongi caught a glimpse of fluffy brunette hair and doe eyes, and suddenly, Yoongi couldn’t breathe."

 off the record

“Hyung, I think you might actually be fucked.”

There’s a phone being held offensively close to Yoongi’s face, opened on an article with a bolded title: ‘POP IDOL JUNGKOOK ENLISTS THE HELP OF UNDERGROUND HIP HOP PRODUCER MIN SUGA FOR UPCOMING ALBUM’. There are a multitude of pictures beneath it, one of him and Hoseok from two or three years ago at university, and an equally unflattering and familiar one from outside of his own studio.

(be)a(witch)

five moments between slytherin house sixth year min yoongi and third year transfer student jeon jungkook.

(five long drabbles according to the words spell, potion, spirit, fantasy, and witchcraft.)

You Stir Up A McFlurry In My Heart

Jungkook is completely and utterly screwed the moment he develops a crush on the voice behind the McDonald’s Drive Thru speaker.

what’s in a name?

Yoongi's mind is racing with thoughts of bills and lack of money and want of something better and his heart is in the hands of a (freshly turned) nineteen-year-old who is currently at his parent’s for a rare weekend of family bonding and ignoring his inquiring texts of how it’s going and driving him crazy.

(part 2 of the tattoo au I’ll never fully write)

 kiss me, kiss me

Jungkook normally exudes an aura of maturity, always fighting his youthful image to make sure people treat him with respect. He works out consistently, puts his heart and soul into dancing and never complains about pulling late nights and early mornings. But sometimes he’ll say things like “I want kisses” and it’ll remind Yoongi just how young and innocent Jungkook really is.

 (part 3 of the tattoo au I’ll never fully write)

( ✓ read 10:18 p.m. )*

 By the time Suga got back to him with the name of the sample, Jungkook was sitting in class. He’d never been an in-class text-er. He listened well. He followed rules. He gave professors the attention they deserved. But if Min Suga texted him, Jungkook always found himself texting back, attention 100% on his phone. Maybe it was because messaging the stranger felt as informative as half of his classes. Suga gave good advice. He’d caught himself thinking over the weekend that maybe he actually did owe Jimin some coffee.

 hello, maintenance calling

 it's completely fine to call for maintenance about once every two weeks... right?

 Sweaters

 yoongi has been into sweaters lately, jungkook notices.

 read 04:46 a.m***

 "tall americano to go, please."

 kkt (5 new messages)**

 [jungkookie] [00:08] keep me company?

 semantics ***

 semantics is the study of meaning; it focuses on the relationship between words, phrases, signs, and symbols and what they stand for.

 so far away (don’t fall away)

 “The spare to the heir, Joon-ah,” Yoongi drawled through the buzz of two glasses of whiskey he’s already admitted to having before Namjoon showed up. “That’s what I am. The spare. Married off.”

"Elizabeth II was a spare, you know."

(arranged marriage sugakookie that no one except me asked for HAAHHA)

 if i could (for just one day)

 Yoonkook Week, Day 2: Favorite AU (1/2)

Harry Potter AU (~2k words)

 witches petals

 "is there anything i can help you with?"

(or: yoongi has an affinity for cute witch florists)

 you and me are like peaches and cream

 where jungkook is the new employee at the ice cream shop where yoongi works, and yoongi really, really didn't ask for any of this.

(or, jungkook is pretty and yoongi is weak)

 fools (fall) ; a collection

a collection of drabbles from a canon point of view about falling in love.

seven: wrong/right

wrong is a five letter word. so is right.

(or: yoongi is whipped. jungkook might be, too.)

Watercolor

 tumblr request from peach-blossoms: It’s for Sugakookie (yeah I’m a hardcore shipper now): In which Jungkook is a tattoo artist who barely makes ends meet but still continues his line of work because he loves it (most of the designs are original, unless the customer brings their own), loves the drawing, the technical aspects, the myriad characters that enter his store, their varying reasons for getting a tattoo(s), not always disclosed but some are more prone to talk than others. Yoongi comes in as a customer one day, his reason for getting a tattoo simple but embarrassing (for him)–to give his image an edge, to make people stop underestimating him for his small frame and slightly feminine cat-like looks.

It’s a man, he realizes, his hair a muted shade of mint, like the pebbles that rest at the bottom of the water fountain outside of Taehyung’s dorm. He’s not the tallest, but people seem to give him space, so he’s easy to observe, despite his black on black outfit, a t-shirt tucked into tight denim.

Why Jungkook Won’t Leave Yoongi Alone *

The members of BTS have never been shy about being affectionate with one another. They hold hands, hug, and just generally touch each other a lot. It’s all innocent, really, except that recently Jungkook won’t leave Yoongi alone. Even the other members have started to notice. At any opportunity to embarass his hyung, he takes it. Any opportunity to praise him - mock him - argue with him - honestly, it’s all getting a little tiresome. But this is Yoongi, the non reactionary member of BTS who will not be so easily defeated. Herein lies the problem.

not just (pretending)

Yoongi agrees to a fake relationship with Jeongguk to get Jieun's attention. It doesn't go as planned.

Fucking Date Me

On his birthday, Jungkook messages Yoongi:

i'm eighteen

fucking date me

I.-x.

Yoongi agrees to go on a blind date with That Guy from Jimin's English class. When he develops a crush on him, it's strictly between himself, Jimin's unwilling ears, and apparently Jungkook, when he's pretending to be asleep.

most of all

beauty is beauty in whatever form it happens to take.

scraping the skies with our fingertips

Yoongi gave Jungkook his leather jacket and it all went downhill from there.

Take a Picture, It’ll Last Longer

It’s not that he thinks Jungkook is attractive...he just really wants to have the weekend off.

—In which Yoongi has been friends with Hoseok for years, so he should have known this bet would be stupid.

(part 2. Jungkook is good at a lot of things, but flirting is definitely not one of them. Thank god he’s got Taehyung and Jimin feeding him advice through an earpiece...)

too sober for this

after they finally get a night off, the members are at a lost of what to do with all their free time, and resort to drinking. even that doesn't help, but after some brainstorming and turned-down ideas, they settle on truth or dare. jungkook was expending it to be more fun than it was.

‘til the stars come out

he came in once a week around midday, always sat in the same booth by the window and always ordered the same thing.

let me love you

jungkook lets out a breathy giggle, “what was that for?”

“shhh…” yoongi hushes him, shakes his head. “let me love you.”

Just Missed It

In which everyone seems to know about Jungkook and Yoongi before Jin

when i think of you the sun comes out

Yoongi ends up taking Jungkook back to his apartment– not because he’s feeling generous, but because there are no fucking buses at four o’clock in the morning and the kid doesn’t have any money, doesn’t even have a wallet on him. It becomes evident that he’d been mugged by the guys that decided to use him as an impromptu punching bag.

Cerulean

Yoongi learns that stealing isn't always so bad

It’s February 13th

Jungkook is 14, not stupid. He understands the basics of Valentine's Day, Step 1: Buy a card, Step 2: Confess your feelings. How on earth is he screwing this up so badly? Maybe because his crush is Min Suga, also known as his best friend who's been living with his family since they were kids. Yeah, that can be an issue.

Sweater Weather

"Yoongi being cute in oversized sweater and Jungkook being overly possessive"

bunny boy

Somehow, they both ended up with animals tattooed on their wrists without even realizing it.

(i guess that we did it) on purpose**

in which yoongi and jeongguk work at a pet shelter and are bad at feelings.

Hand Holding and Misconceptions

Grabbing Yoongi’s hand in both of his Jungkook pulled him towards his door. “Come in for a while, hyung?” He swayed back and forth with a soft and eager smile on his lips. He wasn’t up to anything mischievous he just wanted to spend more time with his boyfriend. The blank expression was back but Yoongi shift his gaze and Jungkook couldn’t see it anymore. After a moment of silence, Yoongi took his hand back and put it in the pocket of his leather jacket. “I don’t think-“ His face fell immediately and dropped his arms by his side. “What did I do?” This got Yoongi’s attention and he looked up at Jungkook and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Letting out a scoff, Jungkook’s eyes hardened as he stared at the one person who wasn’t supposed to lie to him no matter what. “Don’t lie to me. I saw your expression when you stopped by the studio, the same one you gave me just a minute ago. I’m not dumb, something is wrong.” Before he could stop himself he reached out a hand to Yoongi but the elder flinched just enough for Jungkook to notice. That was more than the last straw. He didn’t know previously how to approach his boyfriend about the issues he’s been having but now he was forced to.

This.

This hurt.

the little things

the little beauty spot beneath jungkook's bottom lip becomes one of yoongi's favourite places to kiss.