#i haven't drawn for this au in a while. i set out to fix that

[sootnuki]

heartbreaker you are all that i see in my immediate future

[morningstargirl666]

hie!! obsessed with your fic and while (patiently) waiting for updates, i have THE biggest craving for fics with the same vibes as your fic & The Wolf by yokan. for instance, fics with caroline in NOLA with lots of mikaelson family dynamics and just her being around them or being considered as a part of their family. i'm lowkey a sucker for found-family kinda tropes if its not obvious lol.

i haven't read alot of kc fics yet so honestly just hit me with any fic!! popular or underrated everything works since i'm technically very new in the fandom! :D

thankyou for the recs in advance!!

Thanks so much! Specifically NOLA fics:

Blood and a Quick Murder (and isn't that how it always is) by KS_Caster

After a magical accident turns Caroline into a human, she discovers that her values don't match up with her friends' like she thought they did. She discovers that some choices are permanent - and some aren't. Oneshot - complete.

Whisper To Help Me Remeber by LaLainaJ

Put down by Tristan Klaus waits. And plans. Once awakened he's thrilled to set out and get revenge. A wrinkle forms when he hears news of Caroline, and is told that she's been working for his enemies. Klaus is determined to find out why, and soon learns that something is not quite right with her. He'll fix it, whatever it takes. Uses TO characters but ignores most TO canon.

Like The Sun Shines by LaLainaJ

"Klaus finds himself blinking down at his phone for an embarrassingly long length of time while he filters his brother's usual nonsense and the pertinent information sinks into his brain. Caroline is in New Orleans." It's an average Wednesday in NOLA until it isn't.

Fallen by klarolineepiclove

Caroline Forbes was a woman with a secret. Running from a shattered past, she settles in New Orleans, determined to disappear in the crowds and chaos. When her path continually crosses with the Mikaelson family, her plans go awry. When she finds herself drawn to the charasmatic Klaus, she begins to wonder: How far can you run before the past catches up with you? AU/AH Klaroline

Break Your Promise by Fearfrost

"What can I do?" He breathed. He knew in that moment listening to her fall apart hundreds of miles away he'd do anything she asked. "Break your promise."

Wicked Schemes by willowaus

Old family secrets lead Caroline on a journey of self-discovery and into the dark underbelly of New Orleans as Klaus works to reclaim his kingdom and rebuild the family he's slowly destroyed over the centuries. A TVD/The Originals crossover.

Someone's First Choice by unpublishednovelist

How many times can Tyler put their relationship on hold, ignoring her calls and hiding in the mountains of Appalachia, before Caroline finally snaps? He's pushing her away. Who could blame her for being pushed to something else? Someone else --- A rewrite of the TVD S5E1 scene where Tyler leaves Caroline yet another stupid message about how she's not the most important thing in his life.

throw roses into the abyss by marxandangels

Throw roses into the abyss and say: Here is my thanks to the monster who didn’t succeed in swallowing me alive. Caroline goes to see Klaus in New Orleans after her mom's death, humanity free. That choice changes her life from the foundations, every single brick of it --- I think that the whole humanity switch thing is the dumbest plot device in TVD, but also the most interesting. What is humanity, really? What are the edges of it? What would it /actually/ mean to be able to turn that on and off?

Not NOLA, but the Mikaelson family dynamics are off the charts:

not for him a watery grave by MyLadyElise

He's saved her life, more than once. Doesn't she owe him the same? An alliance, a rescue, a race against time. A possibility. Hope. AU after Season 3: Before Sunset.

Persistence of Memory by perfectpro

Caroline comes to New Orleans, nervous to see Klaus after their last argument. As it turns out, she doesn't need to worry about him being angry. He doesn't remember the argument. After all, how can he when he doesn't even remember who she is?

a vampire, a brother, and a pack of wolves walk into a bar by banazie

In which Kol angers a pack of wolves with moonlight rings, his girls’ night out with Caroline is ruined, and Klaus feels particularly dagger-y.

where the heart moves stones by darkness_shows_the_stars

Caroline’s planned college experience in New York, so far away from her magic-infested hometown, keeps getting interruped because the Originals have apparently decided that her dorm room is free game. Getting away from supernatural drama was so much easier in theory.

the fate makes for a lousy poet by darknes_shows_the_stars

It is not unheard of. Soulmates born too far apart to ever meet. Caroline did her research thoroughly. It’s just rare. And for all that she’d known her entire life that her fated other half was dead long, long before she was even a gleam in her mother’s eye … it’s unfair. --- Everyone is born with a soulmate. It just so happens that a millennium divides Caroline from hers.

There's tons more. Search through my fic rec tag in my tumblr archive if you want more fic recs, or browse my AO3 bookmarks, I've answered a few asks like this one ✨

[al-the-remix]

Ghost!Tommy AU Brainstorming:

Okay I still have a fic to finish, but I've been toying with this idea for afterwards: set during season 6 where Buck returns from his coma dream with the ability to see ghosts. Once back at the 118 he starts seeing mild signs of ghosts everywhere: orbs and partial apparitions, more like echos of memories trapped at the sites of tragedies that full fledged spirits. The one exception is obviously Tommy who appears more realized to him than all the others. Tommy, who's been trapped in the firehouse for 7 (??? what is the timeline) years. 

I need to go rewatch season 6 to figure out some plot and character beats, but I like the idea that as Buck is struggling to come to terms with everything from the coma dream, and all the baggage that comes along with dying and coming back to life, he has this person to talk to that's–at least on the death side of things–been there before. I still want him to meet Natalia, and have a connection with her and they begin to date or are friends who are just hooking up casually (and have a lot more to talk about, lol). But at the same time Buck struggles with being drawn to Tommy like a magnet, this person who isn't even alive. 

I haven't quite settled on what Tommy's backstory is going to be beyond Chim not being able to save him in time during the gas explosion in season 2. But some of the things Buck fears the most are dying and people moving on without him and not remembering him. So when he starts seeing Tommy and realizes that he was part of the 118 and died and…no one ever talks about him? There could be so much potential connection there. (Obviously there's a deeper reason why Hen and Chim don't bring Tommy up, chiefly shame and guilt, but Buck doesn't know that quite yet.)

I don't know if I'd keep the sperm donor plot line. I'm not a hater, but I feel like recovering from dying, a death doula girlfriend, and a ghost boyfriend, is a lot for one guy to deal with all at once. Instead I think I'd like to bring Albert back into the fold in one way or another. I really enjoyed his friendship with Buck and was sad when he pretty much disappeared from the show. I just see this as a fic where the Buckley-Hans really lean on each other. 

I'd like to keep the tone of the fic not too heavy, and retain a good amount of humor even while Buck is thinking he's going a little insane seeing dead people and having a torrid, seemingly doomed, love affair with one of those dead people. 

One of the things I appreciate so much about the show is its ability to balance humor and angst, as well as developing this campy atmosphere where it's totally not out of the realm of possibility to have ghosts, and cursed bracelets, and magic fire truck that can drive you all over Los Angeles in midday traffic without the building burning down before you get there…

I'd prefer a happy ending, but I'll write a heartbreaking one if I think it fits. The difficulty with ghost aus, if you're going to have the love interest come back to life it's got to feel earned, and fit within the rules of the universe you've set up, and that's not always an easy thing to accomplish. 

I think if I wanted to bring Tommy back to life it could go two differently ways: either I could veer into full crack–which I'm not opposed to doing–but is really going to need the right set up (unless we're all cool with Buck and his hot zombie bf 🥰 )

But the more likely option is some time loop shenanigans as a fix-it. Buck is able to solve whatever preternatural puzzle I set up for him with his big brain and endless imagination, fixing whatever bad timeline they're in and making it so Tommy never actually dies. They say their goodbyes and Tommy ““goes back””--whatever that means with context–and Buck's all alone again. The firehouse feels so empty now without Tommy around. And the more days that pass by the more Buck worries that his big plan didn't actually work at all (maybe in here either everyone at the firehouse does actually forget Tommy ever existed for a little while because of yet to be established hand-wavey reasons or Buck's too afraid to ask about him/look Tommy up incase it didn't work and he really did lose him forever–preparing for that reality and living it are two totally different ball games–)

Until one day they have to call in air support at an emergency and suddenly Chim yells “Hey, there's Tommy!” and when Buck whips around sure enough there he is. And Buck's all like “can you introduce me to your friend? 👀” to Chim and Tommy's all like “have we met before? I feel like I know you from somewhere 🤔”. Tommy doesn't remember Buck (right away?) but here's this man who is SO CUTE and hot and smart and funny, and weirdly, like, super into him? And he pulls Chim aside like “why haven't you introduced me to this man before? Have you been holding out on me? What about my romcom happy ending?” And Chim is like “I didn't even know that he was into men!!” Meanwhile, Buck’s just hovering in the background full heart-eyes mode waiting to woo the fuck out of his man (the best he can without sticking his foot in his mouth)...

They exchange numbers and agree to meet for a drink after their respective shifts end and at the bar Tommy asks how Buck knows what beer he prefers, and Buck's all cocky like “I guess I have good taste in more than just my men 😏” and Tommy is caught, hook line and sinker. 

After that it's happily ever after for them, and Natalia is one of Buck's "groomsmen" at the wedding (they're all bffs now.) The end. 😌

[stoutlandchild]

I told myself to hold this in Until I finished the transformation sequence (which is fully sketched out it just needs to be cleaned up, its not fully animated but its real :D) but unfortunately I love Precure and Magical girls and @fourphoenixfeathers AU has transfixed me so your getting AU Thoughts: -Emmet and Ingo are a duo transformation ala Nagisa and Honaka. They cannot transform without each other and transforming involves them holding hands.

(Look Emmet and Ingo are literally black and white and it's also the Precure Anniversary. I need to reference the OGs)

-How Precure work in this universe is basically me mashing what I've heard about Happiness Charge (haven't watched it yet but have heard about its setting) into the pokemon world. So there's International Precure and they help the legendaries out but they aren't given powers by Them. In my head I reasoned that Precure just...seem out of Arceus jurisdiction so there is now Something Else giving people Precure powers. But legendaries can call on Precure if they need some help. That's what Kyurem did for Emmet and Ingo (and then later what Arceus did just without properly asking)

-While Emmet and Ingo are a bit outside the usual age range there not the only adult Precure. I haven't really thought of who else would be one except like...N. (he's 20) I'll think about it a bit more but the point is Anyone can be a Precure.

-Emmet and Ingo first became Cures around the start of BW2, they help out with Kyurem and the Dna splicer situation. Before that the plot of BW was mostly handled by Hilda, Bianca, Cheren and then the Midseason Cure N. There still here but Emmet and Ingo being there lightens the load a lot so it goes a bit smoother...Kyurem fusion still happens though! Both Dragons get fused! It Does Not Go Well! They fix it but that involves a secret special mode I haven't drawn yet (for people who know what Infinity Silhouette is, its that, but Emmet and Ingo get a weaker version of it in the middle of the season, it's there power up :D)

-Legends Arceus however is mainly dealt by Ingo and Emmet until midseason cure stuff happens. They go together because of the aforementioned Duo Situation. I imagine its possible to force them into a situation where they are forced to transform alone. However their Cure forms would probably destabilize and be a lot weaker than it would be if they were together.

-It's simply just not worth it unless you want to purposefully weaken them and and even then an unstable Cure is a bit of a risky situation. If Ingo was amensia-ed in this AU it would be Bad for Everyone.

-Cures overall have a pretty tight-knit community, usually there all really busy but if there in the area/its a really bad situation they'll help out.

-Pokemon can become Cures in the same way Fairies can become Cures. There's not a lot of them but there around. I'm mentioning this because i have plans for other regions (most notably Galar and...if Ash Ketchum ever gets brought in, Kanto.)

-A not insignificant amount of the Nimbasa City population has connected the dots between Emmet and Ingo and Cure Truth and Cure Ideal. It's an unsaid agreement to not say anything, they did however freak out when they found out that they existed in Hisui.

On another thing that's not in-universe AU content:

I love magical girls, so of course when I heard this AU my brain started to think about why Ingo and Emmet work really well as magical girls. Because they really do! I think it's mostly because both of them in there game dialogue are just really sincere and don't hold anything back. The sincerity and earnestness of there personality lends itself well to magical girls to me. I have more thoughts on that but I'm tired, but yeah my point is they work well together.

[itsaary]

This will be entirely out of context because I cannot seem to get a comprehedable summary of the AU down without accidentally adding another few details, but a Roleswap AU that has Luz in the position of the Collector, Lilith as Empress and Edalyn as Amber Guard.

Luz is not completely faultless when it comes to blood on her hands.

-

"Come on, it'll be fine! You can do all this crazy stuff I have no opportunity to try, I just have to see how this one turns out! Lilith is out to attend some random meeting, she won't be around before evening."

"I don't know, Luz. She won't be happy with me if she does find out, and I'd hate to disappoint her."

"Good thing she won't then! Come on, last one's a Slowpoke!"

"Hey, not fair, you can literally teleport!" Regardless of her earlier hesitance she broke out into a sprint, catching some odd glances from patrolling guards. "And stop making references I can't understand!"

...

It couldn't have gone more wrong. The meeting was cancelled, she'd caught them setting up small silly traps all over the place, harmless pranks meant to entertain, and of course she was furious. Marilyn had carried the equipment, unable to react quickly enough to activate an invisibilty glyph with her arms currently full. So while Luz could simply slither out of vision to avoid detection, blending in with regular shadows, her buddy in crime remained plain in sight.

Not to say Lilith was foolish enough (Believed her project so utterly failed) to think her niece had come up with the plans by herself. She does not mention this, though, expression blank as she wordlessly drags the Grimwalker towards the chamber designated to make new ones, deliberately telegraphing where they are headed. Of course, only Luz knows the place as what it is, upon realizing what is going to happen reappearing in a flash, admitting to everything, to tell her it was her fault alone and her sister doesn't deserve this she did nothing wrong-

Her eyes narrow, because while she suspected, annoyed, they harboured some kind of connection, this was her and her sibling alone, clone or not. How dare she claim herself part of their perfect family? Was she not utterly out of reach, the Empress would have very well struck her down right then and there, made her suffer through her worst spells for the false accusation. But she remains calm, reminding herself she is a necessary asset to her plans. Besides, she has a much better idea of how to punish her, anyway.

This is the most gruesome death any of the constructs have had to live through, intentionally drawn out, as painful as possible. The chamber is soundproof, however, screams falling on deaf ears. And Luz can only look on in horror as she watches it all play out. (As she begins to doubt that this could be love)

Tone sweet as appleblood she turns around, noise finally beginning to quiet as her artificial life flows out of the woods fibers. "I am sorry this had to happen, Luz, but you know my sister cannot be flawed. I do not blame you for reaching out, but let this be a reminder. You were given a chance and you messed it up, this is ultimately your fault. Go ahead if you want to try again, however, be warned I won't be as merciful next time. Now excuse me, I have to fix your mistakes."

She took a week to make a new one. There's nothing quite as painful as meeting the eyes of one you used to love, still love, and see no recognition spark in them. Nothing worse than watching your big sister your friend live a happier life, unaware you exist.

The next time they interact by chance, she introduces herself as Nightlight, staying as distant as possible.

-

Does it truly matter if there would be a dozend more called by the same name, sharing her face? Does it truly matter if she has never physically touched her at all?

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

I apologize for the quality of writing, it is not really a final version. There is technically a whole AU to this, we just haven't figured out what to name it yet. My personal favourite, other than Collector!Luz (somewhat) is actually the starchild in place of Vee, of course tweaked to some degree.

If I've accidentally imitated anyone elses AU I apologize, such was by no means intentional, I simply love coming up with and telling stories.

[qqueenofhades]

The photo set you reblogged of Yusuf and Niccolo helping throughout time just filled me with so many happy feels and it made me realize that it seems so common in media with immortal couples that they take breaks from each other and reconnect after a few decades. Which is a great trope but seeing these two that seems to have been attached at the hip since the day they met just fills me with all the heart eyes.

(I haven't read your fanfics for them yet. I know I'm a bad fan but if it helps I havent been able to read anything since all this started but while writing this ask I got the feeling that all this rambling I spewed out is a big theme)

Hush. Bad fan nothing. We all are coping with this stupid, awful year in different ways, some of us by escaping into fandom and some of us being unable to engage with it and some of us doing both or anything else. You certainly don’t owe me or anyone any obligation to interact with our content, fic or otherwise. So just to have that there on the top. You’re good, hun. :)

ANYWAY, thank you for giving me a chance to meta a bit on the boys and their relationship and to have a window into what my brain looks like pretty much 24/7 these days. (I blame them.) I keep thinking about all the ways this couple is depicted in the TOG film and how lovely it was and how unusual it is for me to have an OTP where I actually love them in canon and don’t need to violently disavow it in order to create AU fan content with just the characters. (See: Timeless, Game of Thrones, pretty much any show I’ve hyperfixated on at some point.) I love AUs anyway, because that’s the way my brain works, but the fact that I can also enjoy canon just as much is rare for me and for a lot of us. I saw a post somewhere remarking on how the fanfic for Joe/Nicky isn’t fixing anything, which is usually the point of transformative fanworks: we take something that canon atrociously fucked up and fix it. But in this case, all our interpretations are based on actually appreciating the way they’re presented in canon and wanting to enjoy that and uphold it, and that -- especially with a couple like this one -- is shocking??

Like. Despite my historian gripes about the occasionally incongruous details for their graphic-novel backstories (which are the only things I HAVE fixed in my fics), I’m just... deeply appreciative of the care which everyone, writers and actors and all else, put into depicting Joe and Nicky and their relationship. And god YES, one of the things I love the absolute MOST is that they’re a loving, faithful, committed, happy married queer couple over centuries, and that seems to be the case for as long as they’ve known each other/ever since they got together. (See Booker’s “you and Nicky always had each other.”) These fools can’t sleep apart from each other even when they’re stuck on a freight train in the middle of nowhere, they flirt like teenagers at dinnertime and even when they’re strapped to gurneys in a mad-scientist laboratory, they make out to enrage bad guys and also because they’re just still that goddamn into each other after all this time.

I think it was Marwan Kenzari who pointed out that there’s simply no way to truly state the depth of their knowledge and devotion and commitment to each other. They’re 950 years old. They have known each other since they were in their thirties; they’ve been husbands for literal centuries. There is no way anyone else in the world could possibly come close to replicating the kind of bond they have with each other, and neither of them have ever had any inclination to look, because why would they? Especially with the fact that queer couples in media, even otherwise sympathetically portrayed ones, often have Drama and Third Parties and Promiscuity and whatever else (because of the tiresome old canard that Gays Equal Hypersexualized!), and Joe and Nicky don’t need or want ANY of that. There’s no urge to make their relationship a cheap source of soap-opera conflict. It’s the rock and the center and the core of both of their lives, and everything they do stems from that.

There have been some great metas/comments on how neither Joe and Nicky are sexualized, they dress like stay-at-home dads during quarantine (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are both objectively gorgeous men, and they’re out there looking like that, god bless), and the viewer is never invited to goggle at or fetishize their relationship. There are no leering or exploitative camera angles on anyone, and their expressions of love aren’t posed or intended to titillate the audience, they’re just solidly embodied and natural and lived in. It’s never bothered to be stated clunkily in dialogue that they’re a couple; we just see them exchanging looks and smiles in the early part of the film, and then we see them spooning on the train after the mission in Sudan, which confirms it.

At every turn, the narrative celebrates the kindness and love shared by the Immortal Family, the individual characters, and Joe and Nicky, especially and explicitly in queer form. The villains of the film are also defined by how they react negatively to that love. @viridianpanther​ had a great meta on how Keane as a villain is especially set up to menace Joe and Nicky as the narrative representation of toxic masculinity, aggressive heterosexuality, and the usual “Kill Your Gays” trope that we’ve all come to wearily expect. But instead, after that scene where Joe and Nicky fight Keane, Nicky is shot and comes back to life in Joe’s arms rather than dying permanently like we probably all momentarily expected, and then Joe gets to FUCKIN’ BREAK THE NECK of the guy who enacted that violence.... good GOD. The first time I watched it, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. (This goes for the whole film, but especially that scene.) Like... when do we get that?? When do we EVER get that???

Obviously, there are so many stereotypes, whether visually or in behavior or character traits, that could have been assigned to a gay Italian character (excessively dramatic, effeminate, fashionable, etc) or a gay Arabic/Muslim character (explicitly announcing He’s Not Like Those Muslims, having to actively reject his heritage to make him more palatable to westerners, being tormented over being gay, etc) and Joe and Nicky subscribe to none of those. I get very emotional about Joe referring to Nicky as the moon when he is lost during the truck scene partly because it’s SUCH a common motif in Arabic love poetry. To call someone your “moon” is a beautiful way to say they’re the light of your life, and since the Islamic calendar is obviously lunar and the holidays, months, and observances, are set by the phases of the moon, this also has a deeper religious significance.

I don’t know for sure if they did that on purpose, but it it’s a lovely and subtle way of showing us how Joe clearly doesn’t have an issue with being both queer AND Muslim, and is able to draw on both facets of that identity in a way that a lesser narrative would have denied him. And that is just really wonderful. Yes, we’re seeing these characters when they’ve had centuries to settle into themselves, but there are plenty of writers who would have forced those conflicts artificially to the surface, rather than letting them be long in the past. It’s the same way when you watch a film set in the medieval era, it wants you to know that it Is Set In The Medieval Era. Cue the filth, misogyny, racism, violence, etc! Rather than it being a lived-in reality, it has to be jarringly drawn attention to, and I’m just so glad they didn’t do that with Joe and Nicky. And for them to have met in the crusades and fallen in love??! Come on. That’s just rude. Rude to me, personally.

Anyway, this was a rather long-winded and feelsy way of saying that these characters are constructed, acted, and written organically in such a way that you hate to even THINK of them being separated, and it’s not because they can’t function without each other, but because they are two halves of a whole. We also see that the characters themselves can’t stand being forced apart: Joe’s freakout in the truck scene when Nicky briefly won’t wake up, Nicky making sure to tell Joe that he’s glad he’s awake in the lab, the whole post-Keane fight scene that I talked about above, the way Nicky fights ferociously to get to Joe when Merrick’s stabbing him, etc. For that to be given to the queer couple, where the strength of their love and devotion is reinforced as one of the emotional goals of the story, and for that queer couple to be written in the way that Joe and Nicky are, both individually and as a unit, is just so very rare.

Because yes, there’s plenty of drama and angst and pain in their lives, but there’s none at all in their relationship, and that’s what fans keep telling TV writers the whole time: they WANT to see the couple confront things as a unit, rather than being kept on tenterhooks the whole time and forced to go through manufactured or artificial drama. It would feel especially wrong for Joe and Nicky, who have known and loved each other for 900 years. The fact that their respective actors also put so much care and love into them is very obvious, and makes me feel even luckier that they’re played by people who clearly get them and honor them and know what they’re doing.

Basically: of course Joe and Nicky have been with each other the whole time, and of course we’re all drowning in feelings over it, and I feel very blessed that this ship exists, and I very much need the sequel ASAP. Thanks.

[nish-s-random-writing]

Yo dude I haven't read some good gumlee in a while so could you write me a meet-cute??? Ty ily

(a/n): Hmmm meet-cute, huh? Haven’t done one of those in a while! Let’s do a little AU, shall we?          Uhh… okay 1,700 words. This turned out to be more of a one-shot than a drabble. So enjoy!~

also on FF.net

WARNING for, um, some suggestive stuff. *wink wink*

Gumlee Human!AU 

Marshall Lee had been a tailor at Abadeer Suits for just about the past two years of his life. It was a good-paying job with minimal stress and the bonus opportunity of getting up-close and touchy-feel-y with many a dashing young man’s body. 

So there he was, one sweltering hot summer afternoon, sitting behind the counter with his upper half plopped over it. The shop’s AC had stopped working and, according to the electrician’s he’d just phoned, wouldn’t get a good fix until three days later. For now all Marshall could do was keep all four electric fans on high, keep a big glass of lemonade nearby, and roll up his sleeves because he was sweating bullets. 

Shortly after he’d put the phone down and let his upper body fall over the counter top, Marshall felt a hovering presence block the weak breeze of his precious electric stand-fan. He looked up, squinting through the florescent lighting, to find his spunky blond co-worker Fionna, glaring down at him, seething with annoyance and sweating like a farmhand. 

“Hey,” He grinned and gave her a little wave.

Fionna only huffed and set her hands on her hips. “What’d the electricians say?” She demanded.

Marshall sighed. “Won’t get a check-up until Monday.”

“Oh my glob, three days?” Fionna groaned, letting her arms fall as she mock-sobbed in misery. 

At that moment the little bell over the entrance door rang, signaling another customer entering the shop. Both tailors’ heads snapped to attention at the sound, then Fionna sighed and slid Marshall an expectant look. 

“I just took care of the last one,” she said, making her way behind the counter. “This one’s yours.”

Marshall Lee wasn’t feeling in the mood for bodily contact at the moment. The shop was too hot and the sweat was sticky underneath his silk-like button up shirt. Sure, the uniforms weren’t too hot when the AC was running, but without the precious cool air, it was hell on the body. 

“Can’t Lumps do it? Or Cake?” Marshall whined. Fionna only shoved him off the swivel chair and took his place plopped over the counter. 

Marshall landed with a lazy thud to the floor, before standing, brushing himself off, then shooting his co-worker a death glare. “Fine,” he mumbled. Fionna responded with a satisfied grin before planting her face down on the linoleum. 

Meanwhile, Marshall begrudgingly rolled down his sleeves and straightened his tie in an attempt to look somewhat presentable. He made his way through the numerous shelves of clothing, and then began his mandatory greeting as he rounded the last corner to the shopfront. 

“Welcome to Abadeer Suits! I’m Marshall Lee, may I take your–ow!” 

Apparently, the new customer was a little impatient and decided to delve into the maze of shelves the exact moment Marshall stepped out. The tailor collided with another flailing body, and before he knew it, fell backwards into a rack of expensive suits sending limbs, fabric and coat hangers flying everywhere. 

After the initial chaos, Marshall shoved an expensive white suit off his face to find that the heavy warmth over his lap was, indeed, the new customer. Marshall could tell he wasn’t a regular because they’ve never exactly had a pink-haired businessman as a customer before–and if they did, he would’ve recalled. 

He also probably would’ve recalled those broad shoulders, fine-looking ass, and distinctly handsome face that was, unfortunately, glaring daggers at him at the moment. 

“Uh, watch where you’re going, dude,” Marshall said unintelligibly. 

The pink-haired man only sputtered in shock, then immediately scrambled to get up from Marshall’s lap. The tailor, in turn, couldn’t help but snort. 

“What?” The man snapped, glaring down at him. 

This time, Marshall decided to be a little more polite. “Sorry, uh, I’m Marshall Lee, and, heh, welcome to Abadeer Suits!” He grinned, spreading his arms to gesture at the array of now-wrinkled suits scattered around the floor.

He thought he saw the mans lips quirk up, just a bit, before they settled into a neutral blank. He looked around, eyes scanning over the mess of suits and the fallen tailor, before focusing on Marshall. 

“I’m sorry. I suppose I should, um, pay for the damages?” He asked, stretching an arm out. Marshall took the hand and shook his head. He brushed himself off for the second time that day. 

“Nah, it’s alright. Accidents happen!” He offered a cheery smile, not quite letting go of the man’s hand yet. “Anyway, you’re my client, so let’s just go and get you a suit, huh? But not, you know, these ones.”

“A-are you sure? I mean, even though this was totally your fault, I do still have quite a bit of–”

“No, really, it’s alright,” Marshall waved him off again. Silently, he was drinking in the sight of the man’s form. He was lithe. The pinstripe suit he wore was an extremely tight fit, showing off his slim athletic figure and a little extra skin above his wrists. Yeah, Marshall was going to have some extra trouble with the heat this time.

“What’s your name, sir?” He asked, casually trying to keep his eyes on the man’s face, not that that was such a hard thing to do.

“Bubba Gumball, Kingdom Corps,” He stated, flashing a small business card from within his breast pocket, which was immediately tucked back in as soon as it appeared. “Ah, sorry, rehearsed introduction. You may call me–”

“Bubba, huh?” Marshall mused. His face lit up with an amused smirk. “I’ll just call you Bubbs. It fits. Sure, Gumball is cute, but I like Bubbs better.” 

In a moment, the man was blushing again, bringing a pink tint to his face which almost matched his hair. Marshall decided that he liked that. 

“I-I-don’t–Oh, please stop cutting me off!” The businessman sputtered out. For some reason, he still hadn’t drawn his hand back. “Listen, um, Mister Lee–”

“Marshall. Call me Marshall.”

“Marshall, I just need a suit, alright? I’ve got an important presentation for Monday and I really need something to replace, um, this. As you might have noticed, it’s a little…”

“Tight?”

“Yes. So if you would be so kind as to get me a suit, I’d be grateful.”

Marshall gave him a welcome smile. “But of course, sir! Come on, this way.”

Using the hand still clasped in the businessman’s, Marshall tugged him through the multiple coat racks, passed Fionna on the counter who gave them a questioning stare, and made their way to the fitting rooms. 

“So what’s with the pink hair?”

“I like pink, and I wanted to dye it pink. I keep it gelled back anyway so it can pass for formal.”

“Hmm, I like it.” Before Gumball could get another chance to sputter unintelligibly, Marshall asked, “So what kind of suit do you want?”

The man only wanted a simple, pinstripe suit which matched his own, only a bit bigger for a better fit. It had a few kinks, of course, which needed to be tailored in a very specific manner, so Marshall listed them out on his carry-on notepad. He then took out his measuring tape and began to take his measurements. 

He made quick work of the arms, but took his sweet time adjusting the tape around the man’s neck. His let his fingers fumble around his chest and midsection a lot, seeing if the slips of his fingers were noticeable at all.

“H-hey, isn’t it a little hot in here?” Gumball breathed. 

“The AC’s broken,” Marshall replied, casually letting his measuring tape slip a bit too tightly over the man’s chest. “Won’t be fixed ‘till Monday.”

“Oh. Ha ha, I thought it was just my suit.”

“Mm, maybe.” Marshal knelt down, ready to take the measurements for his lower half. He dragged the tape around his hips, letting his hands hang a little lower in the middle than necessary. Glob, that suit was extremely tight. “You know, your suit does look really hot.”

“Oh yeah?” Gumball’s breaths were a bit heavier, and the sweat on his forehead was bit more noticeable. Marshall Lee wasn’t doing any better either. 

“Why don’t’cha take off at least that jacket, hmm?”

“Yeah, sure,” 

Marshall stood and set his hands on the buttons, popping them open one by one. He could have been nose-to-nose with the man, he felt his heavy breath grazing over his cheek. He dragged the heavy jacket down, letting his hands trail down Gumball’s arms. He liked the way the man’s blush seemed to deepen. 

“It’s… really hot in here,” Gumball said.

“So it is,” Marshall replied. His eyes darted down for a brief moment, then he smirked. “Is it me, or has the rest of your suit gotten a bit tighter, huh Bubbs?”

The man’s blush was on full-force right now, a shade of red that far surpassed his hair. “You’re doing this intentionally aren’t you?”

“Tell you what–you take the rest of the suit off, and I’ll give you a little discount.”

Gumball seemed to ponder the question for a moment, letting his eyes dart around the small, confined space of the fitting room. Finally, his gaze met Marshall’s and a small smile graced his own lips. “How about you take off your suit, and I’ll give you a hearty tip?”

Then, from outside the fitting room, an amused voice screamed, “How ‘bout no one takes their suits off, you pay for it normally, and you two find a hotel somewhere?”

“Globdamit, Fionna!”

To Marshall’s surprise, Gumball actually laughed. He honestly didn’t expect that from someone who initially seemed so stuck-up. Then again, he didn’t really expect those previous advancements either.

“Alright,” the businessman said. “How about we finish up here, then we go get some coffee, hmm?” 

Marshall smiled back. “Sounds like a plan.”

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(a/n): Aaaaand there’s another drabble that I’ve turned into a full-on one-shot. Sorry this took so long, I was still finishing up on some school projects. X3 Hope you enjoyed!!