#iynaf

[gggoode]

i have a thought for you. gigi + ikea furniture assembly

fun fact this is exactly 999 words long x call the police !

iynaf right after they moved in together era :)

~~~~~~

“I’m home!” Gigi singsonged as she clattered into the apartment. 

It sent a little flutter through Crystal. They lived together. “Hi!” she called. 

“Bonjour!” Nicky called. 

Crystal wandered into the hall to find them wrestling with a tall, skinny cardboard box. “Did you have fun?” 

“You know we did,” Nicky agreed. She threw a red bag of chocolates at Crystal and she caught them, hugging them to her chest. “Come with us next time. You’re missing out.” 

“It was super fun,” Gigi agreed. From behind the box she produced a big stuffed shark. “I got this for the sofa!” 

Crystal took it from her without question, petting its blue fuzzy head. “Cute,” she cooed. 

Nicky rolled her eyes fondly. “If you were any other couple I would have worried about her bringing home a giant shark but I knew you'd like it.” 

“Who wouldn’t like her?” Gigi asked, wrapping Crystal and the shark in a tight hug. 

Nicky hummed, clearly still unconvinced, but she stepped over to kiss them both on the cheek. “Do you need a hand building it?” 

“Nope,” Gigi said, popping the P and squeezing Crystal. “I think we’ll figure it out.” 

“Alrighty,” Nicky said unconvincingly. “Just call me if you change your mind.” 

She bid them goodbye and left, and Gigi insisted that they needed to go straight to the sofa to make the new shark feel at home so the box lay unopened in the hall for a few days. 

~~~~~~

“I’m home!” Crystal called as she let herself into the apartment. The first thing she noticed was that the box was no longer in the hallway. 

“I hate this,” was Gigi’s response. 

Crystal kicked off her shoes and jacket before following the sound of her voice to the living room. 

She was sitting on the floor in cycle shorts and a sports bra, her hair twisted into a tiny half ponytail. She was also surrounded by planks of wood in various shapes and sizes, a few of them joined together, and an enormous unfolded sheet of instructions. 

“Aww,” Crystal cooed, climbing over some wood to lean down and kiss Gigi’s forehead. “Do you want me to help?” 

“I wanted to do it myself,” Gigi sighed, looping her arm around one of Crystal's legs. 

Crystal played with her ponytail. “You’ve already done a lot,” she said, looking at the three pieces of desk lying wonky in the middle of the floor. 

“No. I wanna do it myself,” Gigi said again, sitting up straight. “Go and relax or something.” 

“Can I watch you make it?” Crystal asked. 

Gigi looked up at her. “No. You’ll try to help.” 

She wasn’t wrong. So Crystal left her to it and retreated to the bedroom, but she didn’t put on any music or anything. Instead she relaxed to the sound of Gigi mumbling to herself and the occasional turning of screws and pieces of wood sliding against each other. 

Eventually there was a louder scraping and Gigi cheered quietly to herself. 

“Can I come see?” Crystal called hopefully. 

“Not yet!” Gigi yelled back. “I wanna make it perfect.” 

Crystal laughed quietly. Gigi sounded more cheerful now as she moved around, singing to herself which seemed to drown out whatever other sounds she was making. 

“I’m ready!” Gigi called. 

Crystal went to peek around the door just as she was tucking the chair under the desk. 

She felt bad for being surprised but everything looked good. The desk was nice, and Gigi had put a lamp and Crystal’s lucky wooden frog on it. 

“Look at my nice smart girlfriend, making our furniture,” Crystal cooed, wandering over to admire the desk. 

“I know. Maybe I can become a construction girl,” Gigi said, brushing some dust off the top of the desk. “I hope it doesn’t fall down when we put more stuff on it.” 

Crystal slapped the desk hard. It made Gigi jump but the desk didn’t even shake, and Crystal beamed at Gigi. “Have a little faith, Geege.” 

“Crystal,” Gigi laughed, hands pressed over her chest. “What if it had fallen?” 

“It wouldn’t. You’re my construction girl,” Crystal reminded her. She put her hands on her waist and pivoted them around. “Do you wanna test it some more?” 

“How?” Gigi asked, snaking her arms around her neck. 

Crystal slid her hands down to the backs of Gigi’s thighs and gently pushed her back against the desk as she kissed her. 

Gigi sighed into the kiss and melted into Crystal, but she gasped when her feet left the floor and wrapped her legs tight around Crystal. “Wait, what if it can’t hold me?” 

“It’ll hold you,” Crystal said, squeezing her thighs. 

“Please can we kiss on the sofa instead?” Gigi asked, still clinging tight to Crystal. “Just in case.” 

Crystal got a better hold of her and hoisted her up to carry her to the sofa which made Gigi look at her with wide eyes, mouth agape. “What?” Crystal asked. 

“Since when were you this strong?” Gigi asked, tightening her legs around her. 

“You’re not heavy, Gigi,” Crystal laughed as she sat down. 

Gigi straddled her lap and stroked her fingers through Crystal’s hair. “Still. It’s hot,” she breathed. “Maybe we can kiss on the desk next time.” 

“I guess. But it wouldn’t be that nice to kiss you if you’re all tense like that the whole time,” she said, settling down with Gigi in her lap. 

“We can make out on top of the instructions if you wanna pretend,” Gigi suggested, snagging the big sheet of paper from the coffee table and putting it beside them on the sofa. 

Crystal looked between it and Gigi's face, unable to hold back a laugh. “You’re the smartest girl in the world.” 

She lay her back against the sofa to kiss her, the instructions crinkling below her every time they moved. 

The next day, Crystal didn’t have the heart to tell Gigi that she’d installed the drawers wrong and they were impossible to open.

[giupdatecorner]

it’s international day of rereading iynaf international iynaf rereading day time to reread if you need a friend by mushroomeater @gggoode aka the loml. and also rereading the side stories prom and building ikea furniture and christmas and gigi getting her ears pierced and others probably

[thecollectionsof]

comparing and contrasting crygi in two of my favorite aus

let's talk about crygi in aus for a sec (using @lady-assnali's baby model au and @gggoode's fic if you need a friend. because of course i'm always looking for an excuse to talk about the worlds they've created but shhhhh).

i've been thinking recently. i've read so many crygi fics and have written... a good few at this point, so it's really interesting to see how different people writing crygi will imbue the ship with their own characterization and favorite tropes. when thinking of these two aus, while the tone of the aus are both very sweet, warm, and comforting, it's how they portray crystal and gigi and their relationship that's interesting to me

(and it got long again so it's under the cut <3)

ok so!! like i said so many things are similar in the overall tropes and themes, but it's how these things are portrayed that's different. here are some examples:

pining: both fics feature a long, almost gut-wrenching pining that feels like a confession is at the tip of their tongues for so long (a great example of this is baby model au crystal telling jan "I don't think I can be her friend like this much longer"). the way this pining is explored is unique yet similar: both of them being mainly from crystal's pov so gigi's infatuation is less obvious, a friends-to-lovers format, their connection and how they seek comfort from each other. we get to watch this grow in iynaf but we're thrown right in with the baby model au, where they are infatuated with each other from the moment we first see them.

confidence vs. uncertainty: in both aus, crystal is left confused/concerned because of gigi pulling away for some reason, and though the severity (for lack of a better term) and length of time differs, the assurance that she had in their friendship is now cast into doubt. also, it'd be remiss to not mention gigi being trans in iynaf (a huge enormous plot point) and how it affects this. there are many spots of confidence and uncertainty that are explored through gigi being trans, be it emotional or physical. these are important to the relationship between her and crystal both in huge ways (gigi ghosting her, the fight before ffs, etc) and small ways (gigi spotting pictures of them in high school and crystal being scared that she wouldn't like that she still had them up, crystal not writing gigi's deadname on the paperwork at the hospital until gigi asks her if she forgot her name). all of those things are important to iynaf and i'd hate to make an entire post on the similarities and differences between these aus without mentioning that pretty big one, as of course baby model au doesn't have gigi's transness as a part of the fic

comfort: both aus stress how comfortable crystal and gigi are with each other, but they do it in different ways. gigi choosing to come back to new york and stay with crystal between gigs in baby model au, iynaf crygi expecting each other to be there and spiltting cookies under the stairs together in high school—both of these routines scream comfort and coming to rely on each other to me. they establish the pairing as having these small, easy moments together and it's important to the development of the characters and the future comfort moments that happen further in the plot of the aus (iynaf crygi settling back into their routine of trading off who buys food when they reconnect at their old favorite cafe, baby model au's "are you embarrassed of me" discussion happening at a movie night between the two of them)

gigi's characterization: i think i wanna look more at this in a different post, but there seems to be more of a shift from crystal being the goofy, silly, "weird" one of the two to gigi taking the title and leaving crystal as the person who is confused and delighted, if not also equally silly herself. this is mostly down to who's writing her—both @gggoode and i tend to write gigi this way, as did beloved ao3 user cherubcheeks, but as the main people writing crygi right now i think it counts as a notable shift. but you can see the biggest differences in the baby model au gigi and iynaf gigi in how silly she is: baby model au gigi is sincere and heartfelt, iynaf gigi is a weirdo (affectionate) and sweet. one is not better than the other (i love both iterations of gigi so dearly), but it is an interesting difference to mark this shift

time apart: of course, both aus deal with crygi spending time apart, albeit in very different ways. while both of them talk about how inseparable they are when they're together, they also talk about how the other is constantly on their mind when they're apart, whether it be for baby model au gigi's modelling gigs or iynaf gigi's journey of self discovery. the nature of this time apart is an easy distinction but an important one in my opinion, as they both bring about tension (the lasting effects of the fight and then gigi ghosting everyone in iynaf and the miscommunication about nicky and gigi in the baby model au. we can see some resolution of this in iynaf but not quite in baby model au yet. yet. 👀👀)

and i don't know, there are definitely more that i can't remember right now. but these things are not unique to just these aus, but they're just things that are done so incredibly well in these two aus, so that's a really big reason for why i chose these two aus specifically to dissect and have some little musings about :) (among other reasons. i'll probably do this again maybe but i think i'll try to keep it to newer fics/ones where i know the writer so nobody comes back like "who the fuck and what the fuck is this please stop :/")

and ok i'll stop before it becomes a full length novel but :) here it is, something nobody asked for! i will claim it's for an ask game but that is a lie :) i've been working on this for a while and that was just the catalyst to finish it <3 if you read all of that. woah?? why?? and also i'm in love with you feel free to chime in if you have any thoughts or any other fics that fit this because lord knows i have so so many thoughts

also @gggoode @lady-assnali i love you and your fics im kissing both of you on the mouth (consensually ofc) thank you for writing fics that are so lovely and comforting that i can't help but think about them 24/7 <3<3

[444names]

Names generated from Chinese cities written backwards, excluding the letter "G"

Adnaixiyuf Afehc Afehcnauy Afiew Ahcnauhc Ahiqihs Ahsiur Ahzed Aijoahsiy Ailahcniq Ailuhc Aixiebiab Aixnemuhs Aixuful Aixut Aliuhzihz Alrohcuohz Aluhieb Amijuhnuy Amuhz Atnaim Auhiew Auhneh Auhsihc Auhsihznan Auhsuw Auhsuy Auhsuyab Auhznaix Auhznehiem Auqaiqiq Auyoab Auyouh Auyoul Auyud Auyuf Auyufniy Auyup Auyuw Ayoaixuf...

Baqnaix Baqnauhnut Baqneb Baqnem Dulix Dumahsel Duohz Ehciab Ehcil Ehcnahsuw Ehcnal Ehcnan Ehcnay Ehcnuy Ehcul Ehcuw Ehieb Ehiemara Ehner Ehoaix Ehzoarab Ehzoaz Ehzouh Eliah Eliuhs Elixiew Elnehcnup Esiak Esihz Esiynay Ezehciy Iahcam Iahciy Iahcnaix Iahsihsulu Iahsnas Iahzuhznew Ialuhnil Ialuhnix Iatnaynahs Iauhcus Ibehoh Iboahuw Iboaijnahs Iboail Ibrab Iebiyial Ieboait Iefiew Iehne Iemut Iemutyup Iewiy Iewnay Ihcus Ihcuw Ihsak Ihsel Ihsiauh Ihsihc Ihsihcnil Ihsij Ihsil Ihsnal Ihsnil Ihsuyuk Ihznauhc Ihzniq Ijaix Ijibrab Ijiehciuhc Ijiuzial Ijnaijuq Ijuqus Ilehzoadum Ileij Ilelnahs Ilieb Ilnilix Imnijib Imniy Imoamial Iqniboab Isuyilix Iubnuk Iubnup Iubnuy Iuhieb Iuhius Iusiahs Iusialum Iuska Iuskailil Iuziyam Iuzob Ixiat Ixiewuw Ixiqoahs Ixiquf Ixiuh Ixiuhc Ixiur Ixiuzed Ixneh Ixnehieb Ixnil Iyial Iyieb Iyius Iynaf Iynuk Kudieboah Ladnaix Larakud Mahcoaitup Maijnahsel Naadül Nacatob Nafaw Nafihz Nahciauh Nahcihsof Nahcil Nahcna Nahcnehcul Nahcnem Nahcus Nahcuw Nahnew Nahnil Nahsiur Nahsneme Nahsnixiz Nahsod Nahsulnet Nahsum Nahuh Nahzed Nahzihs Nahznahs Nahzuhc Nahzuhsof Naidamiahz Naidief Naiehsuy Naijehnud Naijieb Naijihs Naijil Naijila Naijnah Naijnahs Naijnaij Naijnail Naijnait Naijnan Naijnialu Naijnil Naijuq Naijuwiy Naileij Nailix Naiqnauhc Naiqnijuw Naixic Naixijnix Naixiuz Naixnaij Naixnehc Nakra Nalad Namaij Namiy Namiyiauh Namut Nanaid Nanaijnix Nanaim Nanap Nanas Nanaxrab Naniq Nanix Naniy Nannaijnan Naprutnaij Nasak Nasaluoh Natiq Natohzieb Nauhc Nauhcnahs Nauhcnan Nauhen Nauhiab Nauhiemaij Nauhiquf Nauhnil Nauhoaij Nauhs Nauhsak Nauhsal Nauhsoahis Nauhuw Nauhziah Nauhziat Nauhzipiur Nauhznahc Nauyiab Nauynuz Nauyup Nauyuw Nayad Nayatieb Nayed Nayehcnin Nayeitup Nayeuy Nayiak Nayiew Nayihz Nayihzuij Nayij Nayil Nayilu Nayiy Nayiz Nayna Naynahc Naynan Naynanohz Naynehc Naynut Naynutiq Nayoahc Nayuw Nefeh Nefius Nefnin Nefnut Neful Nehciy Nehcna Nehcnan Nehcnauh Nehcnuhz Nehcuw Nehoahnuh Nehznac Nemara Nemeit Nemiy Nemnan Nemutra Newiy Nidam Nidieb Nijehs Nijila Nileijuqad Nileit Nilnehc Niluoh Nilül Nimahcnil Nimnil Nininil Nipel Nipiuhniq Niqne Niqoaz Niqup Nixed Nixneh Nixniy Nixoahuhz Nixuh Nixuwoaij Nuhoaz Nuhuwoam Nuhzur Nutna Nutyuf Nuyoul Nuziy Nuzouluh Oahciuh Oahseh Oahsieb Oaijnuziur Oaixnibihs Oamaij Ouhcus Ouluh Ouluohzoul Ouzoul Riuhc Runnail Runnaitup Rutyup Salrokeh Soaij Sodnaynay Toahs Toaijnauhs Toamut Tohcnaiq Tohzauh Tohznah Tohznij Tohzuf Tohzuh Tohzuquf Uaciy Ubnuhz Uhcat Uhieb Uhiew Uhihc Uhihs Uhnil Uhoaiq Uhsnay Uhsof Uhziahieb Uhzoad Uhzur Uijnaixnij Uilad Uiliahiew Uilül Uixijil Uixnip Uohciy Uohcneh Uohcnuh Uohcul Uohcuw Uohhohziuh Uohnehc Uohnew Uohnij Uohnijnahc Uohnil Uohnip Uohnix Uohniy Uohnuh Uohseka Uohsiahcuy Uohsum Uohzadul Uohzehc Uohzehciy Uohzehcus Uohziahcam Uohziemuh Uohziew Uohzipis Uohzipnef Uohzir Uohznahs Uohznaidam Uohznaix Uohzned Uohzneh Uohzniluy Uohzninix Uohzniyuy Uohzoahs Uohzoara Uohzoaz Uohzoul Uohzoulu Uohzouz Uohzuhciab Uohzuhcuh Uohzuhsehc Uohzuiq Uohzuskaij Uokaijiuh Uokehc Uokiahs Uokiauynay Uoknahs Uoknahz Uoknan Uoknay Uokuf Uokux Uonaynim Uotnas Uotniy Uoyaimnil Uquij Usihs Uwoam Uyeup Uyihcnul Uyiyiab Uynauh Uyoaz Xuwiat Yaixufniq

[gggoode]

posted the iynaf prom chapter xxxxxxxxxx

[gggoode]

wouldn’t it be crazy if I posted new iynaf x

I think the new chapter is ready but here’s a snippet :) couldn’t find a place for it in the new chap but she’s cute so xxxxxx

~~~~~~

People kept telling Crystal she’d get over the honeymoon period, but Gigi had been her girlfriend for nearly two years now and she still found herself running up the stairs of their building whenever she got home just so she could see her sooner. 

She almost dropped her keys in her rush to unlock the door, but she paused when she actually managed to get it open. 

Gigi was talking to someone and laughing. 

Crystal wasn’t a suspicious person, especially with Gigi, but she usually mentioned it if she’d invited people over. 

Probably because of the one time Crystal had tried to surprise her by stripping at the door and she’d been watching a movie with Jaida, but Crystal was still trying to forget about that. 

She toed her shoes off and hung up her jacket, then followed the sound of Gigi’s laughter to the living room. 

At first she thought Gigi had lost her mind, laying flat on her stomach by herself and giggling, but then something dashed out from beneath the sofa. 

At first Crystal couldn’t work out what it was, but then it climbed onto Gigi’s back and settled there. 

It was a dog. 

A tiny dachshund, probably still a puppy by the looks of it. 

Crystal loved Gigi more than anything else in the universe, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for a surprise dog. 

If it had been a cat maybe she’d be on board, but this wasn’t what she’d expected. 

“Gigi?” she asked from the door. 

Gigi tilted her head to look up at her, cheeks red from whatever she’d been doing. “Crys! I didn’t hear you come in,” she said. 

The puppy scrambled off her back and ran to Crystal, who bent to scratch its little head. Even if she wasn’t a dog person she had to admit it was cute. “Who’s this?” 

“This is Nancy,” Gigi said as the dog ran back to her, holding her hands out to scratch her sides. 

Crystal came to sit beside Gigi, rubbing up and down her back. “She’s very cute,” she said, then hesitated. Even if she was hesitant about having a dog, she didn’t want to make Gigi sad or make her think she hated Nancy. 

Gigi propped herself up on her elbows to look at Crystal. “The neighbours just got her. They had to go out and asked if we’d look after her for like an hour.” 

“Oh,” Crystal said, shoulders dropping with relief. She petted Nancy more enthusiastically now, laughing when she started twisting to try and lick her hand. 

Gigi pushed herself to sit up properly. “Crystal Elizabeth Methyd,” she said, curling her hand around Crystal’s thigh. “Did you think I got a puppy without asking you?”

When Crystal looked up at her she was smirking. “Maybe,” she admitted. “I didn’t really know why else there would be a puppy running around our apartment.” 

“She’s so cute. Maybe we should abduct her,” Gigi said dreamily, scooping Nancy into her lap and laughing brightly when she started trying to climb her front to get closer to her face. 

“I think they might know it was us,” Crystal said, running her fingers down the length of Nancy’s back while she tried to scale Gigi. 

“We could go on the run,” Gigi suggested as she lay down again to let Nancy clamber over her. 

Crystal snorted. “That does sound really fun.” 

Gigi whined when Nancy stepped on her boob, lifting and pivoting her to put her weight elsewhere. “How is she so tiny but it hurts so much when she stands on you?” 

“She knows exactly where to put her feet,” Crystal said, laughing when Nancy stood on Gigi’s tummy and made her whine again. She scooped the puppy into her own lap, tickling her tummy. 

Gigi rolled onto her side to watch, a little smile on her face. “Maybe we should get a pet.” 

Crystal brushed her hair back from her face, letting her hand linger on her cheek. “What kind of pet would you like?” 

“I think I’d like a cat. Then we don’t have to take it for walks in the rain,” Gigi said, reaching over to worm her fingers up and into the leg of Crystal’s overalls. 

“I’d like that,” Crystal said softly. Nancy had settled nicely in her lap now and Gigi gazed at her, fingers rubbing absently against Crystal’s leg. 

“Maybe when we’re a bit older, though.”

Crystal petted Nancy with one hand and stroked Gigi’s hair with the other, heart fluttering. “Yeah? Are we gonna be a stereotypical old lesbian couple with ten cats?” 

“Crystal, we’re not getting ten,” Gigi mumbled. “Imagine the cat hair all over our clothes.” 

“Ten hairless cats?” Crystal suggested. 

Gigi snorted. “Maybe. But I think we should limit it to two. Maximum.” 

“Five minutes ago you wanted to abduct Nancy and now you’re telling me to be sensible?” 

“Oh, but we’d have to feed it that gross smelly cat food. My mom used to take me to help feed her friend’s cat when I was little and it smelled disgusting,” Gigi was saying, seemingly to herself. “And we’d have to scoop cat litter. That’s nasty.” 

Crystal laughed and let her hand smooth down to Gigi’s back, pressing lightly between her shoulder blades. “We can wait until we’re older to have a cat. Maybe one day we’ll feel ready to scoop cat litter.” 

“We have to be careful, our biological clocks are ticking,” Gigi said seriously, shifting to rest her cheek against Crystal’s thigh. 

“You’re ridiculous,” Crystal said fondly. “I bet we’ll be a cool old lesbian couple. You’ll be such a milf.” 

Gigi looked up at her with wide eyes. “I thought you didn’t wanna have kids?” 

“You don’t need kids to be a milf, Geege,” Crystal said, stroking her hair again. “It’s a state of mind.” 

[gggoode]

a tiny tiny little christmas thing I started to write then stopped bc it was too sad then cleaned up and posted anyway :) hope ur all having a lovely Christmas if u celebrate and if not, hope ur having a lovely day!

“What did you do for Christmas last year?” 

Gigi kept looking into her coffee cup. She knew Crystal really liked Christmas but she didn’t think she’d ever had a Christmas she’d really enjoyed.  

The word Christmas didn’t fill her with festive cheer. She associated it with awkward visits with grandparents, family fights, her or her mom crying. Not her favourite holiday, all in all. 

Crystal didn’t seem perturbed by her lack of response. “I didn’t know if you’d be visiting your grandparents again but it was right after you told your parents about being trans, right?”

Gigi nodded and Crystal reached over to squeeze her hand, linking their fingers together. 

They’d become girlfriends just that weekend and Gigi had been a bit terrified that things would change between them but it was only Tuesday and they were already out for coffee, just like always. 

The only thing that had changed was Crystal kissing her cheek in greeting and holding her hand, and Gigi liked that. 

“It was,” she agreed. “I spent it alone with my mom. And spent most of the day crying.” 

“Oh my god, Gigi,” Crystal cooed, shifting closer and wrapping an arm around her. “Why were you crying?” 

Gigi shrugged and rested her head on Crystal‘a shoulder. “I felt like I’d caused mom’s divorce. And I missed you, and I kept thinking about how you invited me to spend Christmas with you the year before and how much I wished I was there.” 

“You should have just come over,” Crystal sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

Gigi glanced up at her and scrunched up her nose. “I was really a mess.” 

“I would’ve been happy to see you,” Crystal said anyway. She held onto her for a moment before moving onto the question she’d clearly been leading to. “What are you doing for Christmas this year?” 

“Probably the same but hopefully with less crying,” Gigi said. 

Crystal squeezed her tight. “You know my order still stands. My parents would love to have you.” 

Gigi sighed and tilted her head to kiss Crystal’s cheek. “I don’t wanna leave my mom by herself.”

“Bring her. My mom loves her too.” 

Gigi bit her lip. “They have to cook extra food for us.” 

That made Crystal laugh out loud. “There’s three of us and they already cook enough to feed like ten people. We eat leftovers for weeks.” 

Gigi thought about it for a moment. “It would be nice to spend Christmas with my girlfriend,” she said, which made Crystal beam at her. 

“Ask your mom. And don’t try and be polite about it because my parents will be so excited if you both come over.” 

Gigi didn’t really care about politeness at this point. She’d had enough shitty Christmasses at this point that she thought she deserved a good one with her girlfriend. 

~~~~~~

Gigi woke up on Christmas morning to someone stroking her hair. 

“Crys?” she mumbled, shifting in the bed. It still felt weird waking up in Crystal's childhood room.  It always kind of made her feel like a teenager again, but in a good way. Like she was safe and had nothing to worry about. 

“I’m not usually awake before you,” Crystal said cheerfully, kissing the back of her neck. “Merry Christmas, Geege.” 

Gigi couldn’t help smiling. “Merry Christmas,” she murmured as she rolled over. “This is already the nicest Christmas morning I’ve had.” 

“Me too,” Crystal whispered, pressing a kiss to her lips. “I love waking up with you.” 

Gigi could already hear voices downstairs. Usually that would make her anxious but today it was just Mateo and Linda talking and laughing with her mom. Gigi hugged Crystal tight and sighed. “Thank you for having us over,” she whispered. 

Crystal squeezed her. “It was selfish of me. I just wanted to have you here for myself.” 

“So selfish, wanting me to have a nice Christmas,” Gigi agreed sarcastically, brushing her fingers through Crystal’s hair. 

“Do you want some presents?” Crystal asked brightly, sitting up and dragging a stocking up the bed. 

Gigi tucked herself up against Crystal and smiled to herself, watching as she dug some presents out. “You’re such a cutie,” she mumbled. 

Crystal hummed. “I dunno. These are the presents I didn’t wanna give you with our parents watching,” she said, putting a couple of small wrapped gifts on her chest. 

“Is it naughty?” Gigi asked, sitting up a bit straighter to look at the presents. 

“Open them and see,” Crystal said innocently, wrapping her arm around Gigi. 

Gigi smiled at her for a moment longer before starting to open the gifts. One of them was a little set of flavoured lubes which made her snort. 

“I thought the pumpkin spice might be good,” Crystal said, tapping one of the bottles lightly. 

Gigi laughed. “Sounds delicious,” she agreed. “I’m glad you didn’t give me this in front of our parents,” she said softly, tucking the lube bottles in between them. 

“I just know my mom would have asked what it was,” Crystal agreed, kissing her temple. “Then she probably would have wanted to open them to smell them or taste them or whatever.” 

“A lovely family sharing experience,” Gigi mumbled. 

“I definitely didn’t want them seeing these ones,” Crystal said, putting two more little wrapped squares on Gigi’s lap. 

She opened them carefully. One was a bra and the other was a pair of lacy panties, and when she looked at the label it was from a very trans-friendly company she’d been following on Instagram for a while. 

“These are expensive,” Gigi breathed, running her fingers over the material. 

“You kept saving them to your wish list on Instagram,” Crystal said. “I wanted to treat you. And treat me because I get to see you wearing them. If I’m lucky.” 

Gigi pulled her in for a kiss. “Thank you, Crys,” she mumbled. She dug out her presents for Crystal, putting them on her lap. “If you don’t like them I can get you something else.” 

“I’m sure I’ll like them,” Crystal laughed. She tore open the first gift, which was a little bundle of vintage patches Gigi had been collecting for a while. She seemed delighted as she flicked through them, snuggling up against Gigi. “Where did you get these?” 

“Here and there,” Gigi said fondly. “Even when we weren’t talking. I just got them when they made me think of you.” 

Crystal grinned as she tucked them in beside the bottles of lube. “Because you knew we wouldn’t always be apart.” 

“Exactly,” Gigi agreed. She gave her a card too, looping her arm through Crystal’s. 

It was silly. It was a picture of both of them from the Christmas party Jaida had hosted a couple of weeks ago, and Gigi had written ‘Merry Crysmas’ at the bottom. 

“To Crystal,” Crystal read aloud. “Thank you for everything, I can’t wait to spend all my Christmasses with you for the rest of my life,” she continued. 

Her voice broke halfway through the sentence and Gigi pressed her face into her shoulder. 

“All my love, Gigi,” Crystal finished. She set the card aside and turned to wrap Gigi in a cuddle, rocking them back and forth gently. “I love you so much,” she whispered tearfully. 

“I love you too,” Gigi murmured. “But I don’t think my presents are quite as exciting,” she said apologetically. 

Crystal kissed her cheek. “They’re perfect, Geege. You’re perfect.” 

There was a knock at the door as they cuddled. 

“Come in,” Crystal called. 

It was Linda, because of course it was. She beamed at the sight of them and came over to the bed, perching on the edge and pulling them both into a hug. “My two girls,” she said softly. “Merry Christmas.” 

Gigi was busy tucking the lube and lingerie beneath the duvet. “Feliz navidad,” she said, only hugging Linda back when they were hidden. 

Linda squeezed her tight. “You just come down whenever you’re ready, we’re having coffee so there’s no rush,” she said. 

“Thanks, mom,” Crystal said cheerfully. “We’ll be down in a bit.” 

Linda kissed both of their cheeks before standing. “Okay! Just take your time,” she said fondly as she left the room. 

Gigi shifted to sit up straighter. “Shall we go?” 

“She said there’s no rush,” Crystal said airily, pulling her back down to lay against the pillows. Gigi had a second to grin before Crystal was kissing her, making her sigh. 

~~~~~~

Christmas with the Methyds was very different. 

Gigi tensed whenever there was a disagreement, expecting it to blow up into a huge argument that would ruin the day and make everyone cry. 

But it didn’t. Of course it didn’t – when Mateo and Linda disagreed on how they were supposed to cook the turkey, they didn’t fight about it. 

They’d started laughing about a previous Christmas when they’d overcooked it and it had been dry, and another Christmas when they hadn’t defrosted it in time and it hadn’t been edible at all. 

She’d spent the day trying and failing to offer help in the kitchen. Her mom was helping Linda and Mateo but they kept sending Gigi back to the living room to sit with Crystal, insisting that they should enjoy their first Christmas as a couple. 

And that they did. They drank a lot, ate a lot, and spent almost the entire day cuddling. 

It was perfect. By the end of the night she was full of food and more than a little bit drunk, and she couldn’t stop smiling even as she snuggled into bed with Crystal in the new pyjamas Mateo and Linda had bought her. 

“Do you like Christmas now?” Crystal asked, holding her close and tangling their legs together. 

Gigi hummed. “I dunno. I can see why you like it so much,” she murmured. She tilted her head to kiss Crystal, sliding her hands up and under her shirt to touch her back. 

“I love you,” Crystal whispered. “Just wait until I take you to spend Christmas with the rest of my family in Mexico.” 

Gigi gasped. “Yes please,” she agreed eagerly. “I’ll even practice my Spanish if it means Christmas in Mexico.” 

Crystal snorted and rested their foreheads together. “Just wait until you meet my cousins. And you’ll get interrogated by my aunts and uncles.” 

“Worth it to spend Christmas with you,” Gigi whispered, tilting her head until she could kiss her again. 

[gggoode]

a little iynaf snippet for funsies :) set after the reunion but before they became gfs …

~~~~~~

Crystal still wasn’t over having Gigi back in her life. 

Every time she texted it made her grin like an idiot. Every time they met up and she saw Gigi waiting for her, or she got to wait for Gigi and see her speeding down the street to get there faster, she wanted to scream. 

Now they were in Gigi’s apartment, Crystal sprawled on the bed choosing music while Gigi was on the floor trying to cut the pattern for her latest sewing project. 

“When did you get your ears pierced?” she asked out of the blue, and when Crystal looked up she was peering at her over the edge of the bed. 

“How long were you watching me like that?” Crystal asked. She might die if she’d been caught smelling Gigi’s pillow. 

“Just a minute,” Gigi said with a shrug. “When?” 

“I was really little,” Crystal said, sitting up to watch Gigi more easily. “Why?” 

Gigi sighed. “I wanna get mine done but I’m scared I’ll faint or puke or something.” 

Crystal bit back a laugh. “What makes you think that’ll happen?” 

“I hate needles so much,” Gigi said seriously. “And for a piercing it’s going all the way through so that’s worse than getting a shot. It’s scary.” 

“Come on, you can’t even feel your earlobe,” Crystal laughed, reaching over to tuck Gigi’s hair back and pinch her ear. She squeezed hard, raising her eyebrows when Gigi didn’t react. “See?” 

“But that’s your fingers. They’re nice and a needle isn’t,” Gigi said mournfully. 

Crystal let go of her ear. “I really think you’d be fine, Gigi. You’re a big girl. And you know what Fergie always says.” 

“That’s not even what that song is about,” Gigi said, waving a hand. “I dunno how people get other parts of their body pierced. Like I know ears don’t really feel anything but imagine getting your nipple pierced or something.” 

Crystal opened her mouth then closed it again, pursing her lips. 

“Why are you making that face?” Gigi asked, narrowing her eyes at Crystal. 

“I might have…gotten a piercing. Not on my ears,” Crystal said sheepishly. 

Gigi scrambled up on her knees, eyes wide. Her eyes flicked up and down her body once. “What did you get? Where?” 

“Nipple,” Crystal squeaked out, weirdly tempted to cover herself with her hands. Her face felt bright red but she tried to keep looking at Gigi even as she looked so scandalised. 

“Oh my god,” she breathed, hands on her arm. Her first question was, “does your mom know?” 

Crystal laughed. “God, no. I don’t wanna know how she’d react.” 

“She’d wanna see it,” Gigi said seriously. 

“Well, she’s out of luck,” Crystal said, brushing one hand self-consciously over her chest. “I took it out because it kept catching on my clothes.” 

Gigi made a gagging noise and folded her arms across her own chest as if she could protect herself from any rogue piercings. “Why did you do it?” 

Crystal shrugged. “I just wanted to see what it was like,” she said, shifting to squeeze Gigi’s elbow. “Don’t be scared of getting your ears pierced. If baby Crystal could do it without crying, I think you can.” 

“Did you cry when you got your nipple pierced?” Gigi asked as she shifted to lay down beside Crystal, apparently forgetting about her pattern on the floor. 

“No! It just hurt,” Crystal laughed. 

Gigi was quiet for a moment. “Did you really get rid of it?” 

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I was also constantly terrified of it getting infected. And I really value my nipples,” she said. She lifted a hand and was about to press it over her boob when she remembered she was with the woman she has the world’s biggest crush on and that was embarrassing, so tucked it behind her head instead. 

“I wish I got up to more exciting stuff when we weren’t talking,” Gigi mumbled. 

Crystal swallowed. They hadn’t really talked about their time apart, and she was so curious about what she’d been doing but didn’t want to interrogate her. “What was the most exciting thing you did?” she asked. 

Gigi hummed and shifted to lean against Crystal’s shoulder. “Me and my mom burned a bunch of my dad’s stuff in our backyard. That was fun.” 

“That does sound fun,” Crystal agreed. 

“It was good until we got nervous about poisoning ourselves with the smoke and tried to put it out but the water bucket got too heavy and we just dropped it on the kitchen floor.” 

Crystal snorted and pressed her nose into Gigi’s hair. “Did you have fun cleaning that?” 

“That was the second most exciting thing I did,” Gigi agreed, and Crystal could feel her smiling against her shoulder. 

~~~~~~

[10.35am] do u have plans today?? 

no!! U wanna do something? [10.39am]

[10.40am] can u plz come with me to get my ears pierced plz 

[10.41am] I made an appointment then couldn’t sleep last night bc I was nervous :( 

[10.41] but I know u won’t let me chicken out 

Omg yes!!! [10.42am]

Just tell me where and when :) [10.43am]

“It’s gonna be so quick,” Crystal assured her as they sat in the waiting area, bumping their shoulders together. 

Gigi wasn’t wearing a wig or extensions today, and she looked gorgeous. She’d tied the top part of her hair back in a cute little ponytail and the rest curled around the nape of her neck, and it was everything Crystal could do not to play with it. 

“What if I vomit?” Gigi mumbled. 

“Nobody will judge you,” Crystal said. “They’ve always seen worse, I promise.” 

Gigi opened her mouth to respond but the receptionist called her name and they were sent through to the back. 

The piercer was nice, and didn’t bat an eyelid when Gigi immediately started telling her about how worried she was about the whole thing. 

She directed Gigi to sit in the chair, gave her some water, and told her to take as much time as she needed. 

“Feeling okay?” Crystal asked, leaning against the chair beside her. 

“Is it weird if I take my jacket off?” Gigi whispered. 

Crystal tried not to laugh. “That’s not weird, Geege. I’ve already taken mine off.”

Gigi shrugged hers off too, leaving her in one of her tiny vest top bralette things that had been regularly distracting Crystal for weeks. 

“You want me to hold it for you?” Crystal asked. 

Gigi looked at her jacket for a moment. “Please can you hold my hand?” 

Crystal should have expected this. Gigi had been much more tactile since coming back into Crystal’s life and she loved it, but sometimes it made her more flustered than she wanted to admit. 

But she could never say no to Gigi. She held her hand out for Gigi to take, squeezing her fingers. Gigi squeezed back, holding their hands close to her chest, 

Crystal just stared. Gigi’s fingers were long and pale against her own, and the material of her top was soft whenever she brushed it. Which was all fine until Gigi shifted to rest her cheek against Crystal’s arm. 

Crystal didn’t understand how she was so soft. Her own skin wasn’t like sandpaper or anything but Gigi felt like silk no matter where she touched her. Maybe it was something to do with the little clump of fancy-looking skin products that was always sitting on the edge of her sink. 

She didn’t get much time to think about how soft Gigi was or whether the rest of her body felt like that because the lady came back over to see if they were okay and Gigi decided she was ready. 

Crystal could feel her tensing up as the lady prepared her equipment. 

She squeezed her hand and tried not to think about how close their hands were to Gigi’s chest.  

“Maybe you should let go of me in case I do puke,” Gigi whispered, although she showed no signs of loosening her grip on Crystal’s hand. 

“It’ll be fine. Just don’t get it on my nice jeans,” Crystal teased, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles. 

Gigi laughed a bit, so Crystal counted it as a win. 

The lady came over to press an ice pack against Gigi’s ear, so Gigi had to sit up and stop leaning on Crystal. Which was fine. Obviously. 

“So this is your first piercing, honey?” she asked as she held the ice against Gigi’s ear. 

“Uh-huh,” Gigi agreed. Her eyes were closed now. 

“Would your mom not let you get any when you were younger?” the lady asked sympathetically. 

Gigi shrugged. “I’m trans. And my dad said piercings were for gay boys so even if I wanted one I wouldn’t have gotten one.” 

“I see,” the lady said. “Well, it’s never too late to do it. Maybe you’ll get a taste for it and get more!” 

“I don’t think so,” Gigi mumbled. “I’m terrified of needles. I put off getting hormones for ages because I didn’t wanna inject then ended up with pills anyway.” 

While Gigi was talking and distracted, the lady had gotten on with the first ear. 

She didn’t react, and the lady seemed satisfied. “Okay. If your girlfriend can switch sides and I’ll do the other one?” 

Gigi’s eyes flew open. “What?” 

Crystal’s heart sank a bit. She didn’t think Gigi would mean it personally but she wasn’t going to enjoy listening to her shooting down the idea of Crystal being her girlfriend. 

“You already did it?” Gigi asked.  

Oh. 

“Yes, honey,” the lady laughed. “Can I get the other ear?” 

Crystal managed to worm her hand free and move to Gigi’s other side. She wasn’t sure if Gigi would want to hold her hand again but she grabbed it as soon as Crystal was within reach. 

If Gigi was happy for the lady to think they were girlfriends, Crystal wasn’t about to correct her. 

This time she was looking at Crystal’s hand while the lady iced her ear. “Can I do your nails for you?” 

“They’re done,” Crystal said, wiggling her fingers in Gigi’s grip as if to show off the seven chips of nail polish still on her nails. 

Gigi looked up at her flatly. 

“You can do them,” Crystal told her. “But I don’t want those scary claws you sometimes have, I dunno how you get anything done.”

“They’re not that bad,” Gigi said, stretching out her fingers to look at her own nails. 

“Not right now. But last week they were insane, Geege,” Crystal laughed. 

Gigi hummed and linked their fingers together again. This time she kept her eyes open while the piercing happened, and grinned up at Crystal when it was done. “Maybe I’ll get a nipple piercing next!” 

The piercer turned away to hide a laugh. 

Crystal didn’t try to hide it, but she did let Gigi swat at her for laughing in her face. 

[gggoode]

new iynaf!!! :) posting her NOW so i don't have the chance to say 'oh i'll post it later :)' then immediately fall asleep x

[gggoode]

I have posted a new chapter and I have remembered to insert the link :) peace and love on planet Earth 🐛

[gggoode]

she did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bet u didn't think she'd do it but she did!!!!!!!

[gggoode]

posted chapter woo hoo

[gggoode]

since when did you need to click "insert" to make the links work on a tumblr link post . saw that my post from this morning did not in fact have a link attached and thought haha silly me early in the morning forgetting to paste the link !! but it turns out tumblr have given me a new hoop to jump through?!???! or perhaps i am just quite stupid

all that to say . new chapter :)

[gggoode]

well well well it's that time again !!!!! new iynaf and tonight it goes out to @thecollectionsof the icon that is GI it's your birthdaaay happy birthday

[gggoode]

posted new chapter !!!!! It’s new year for the girlies :)

[gggoode]

i have a pinterest widget on my phone which i have set to show me a different picture of gigi or crystal every hour

funny that she should show me this one x on the day when i may or may not post chapter in which gigi wears this very outfit x