heretolurkandnothingmore · 10 months ago
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3...2...1... MIDNIGHT! I do not know who needs to hear this, or who will. But let us make 2024 the year we are kinder, the year we are better. Because there is always time to turn it around. You may not think you are worth it, but you are. With Love, HL
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svmjaeyvn · 9 months ago
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love maze, s.jy.
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chapter one pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: tbd (series)
masterlist
add yourself to the taglist here!
genre: college!au, mutual friends, fake dating, smut.
synopsis: an unfortunate encounter, drunken mistakes, and a sort of (definitely) stalker leads jake sim ‘dating’ his best friend’s childhood crush.
or, your life gets intertwined with a rich boy’s in attempt to not get sued by his crazy personal fangirl and like with all good cliches, sex overcomplicates things.
contents: smut, sort of strangers to fuck buddies to lovers pipeline, childhood best friend!jay, mentions of best friend! yunjin, curly haired & mixed reader, uni!au, rich nepo baby!jake, enha frat boys, lots of kissing, fake dating turning into fwb real quick, totally way too into it for it to be fake early on, big booty reader that’s jake’s obsessed with, partying and alcohol use, slight violence, he fell first and harder trope, stem bf & writer gf, (kinda overly) possessive jake, some angst to spice things up, daddy issues, hyper independent reader who struggles with her feelings, fluff and happy ending!!
a/n: hello~ i’ve never been a tumblr girly but i have went through my w*ttpad era back in 2018 so bare with me y’all. this will be a series but not that long (i hope) so pls look forward to it. warning tags will be placed before each “chapter” to specify what to expect. pls pls reblog and interact, i’d love to have feedback and see what your thoughts are. okay! yay, for now enjoy and thank you sm :D
MDNI, 18+
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CHAPTER ONE: PINEAPPLE
masterlist next
word count: 2.5k
warnings: alcohol, partying, creeper in a store, bestie jay, already stepping up to be a fake bf jake duhhh
a/n: short and sweet intro
"HEY SORRY, JAY's busy—”
"Hey baby!" You smile brightly, attempting to seem causal but emphasizing the conversation rather loudly. Wandering through the isles aimlessly, stopping to pretend to browse the selection of cereals while peeking through the corner of your eye, you keep watch on the unfamiliar man that seemed to be following you.
You've been at the store for 15 minutes, around 10 of those ago you noticed the same man over and over, passing by each other with first polite smiles which morphed into a sort of anxiety feeling on your end noting how he began to linger around more obviously, far enough away to not seem suspicious to those around but definitely setting off an alarm in your head to stay alert.
It was a Friday night, after finishing up with your last minute shift due to a coworker calling out, you decided it was time to finally grocery shop, something that you've been putting off all week due to laziness but now you wished you opted to eat eggs for the third day in a row rather than be here. Typically, you and Yunjin went to the store together, but with her out on a date, that left you alone for the night.
"We're still cooking for dinner right? I'm at the store right now picking stuff up," You continue after meeting confused silence on the other end. Due to the increasing gut feeling and you desperate for someone to come to your aid in at least knowing where you were if you did end up missing and on the news, you called the only person you knew in the area that would come. Jay Park, an extended family friend that you practically grew up attached to each others hips, had followed you along to the same Uni two years ago. With a three hour car ride being the distance to your home town, you and Jay depended on each other as a sort of familiarity and unspoken acknowledgment that there was support for one another.
University created a sort of distance in your relationship, both studying different majors and finding your own friend groups outside of one another but you still talked every other day through text and hung out occasionally. Jay, being a well know frat boy around campus, became a sort of gossip topic of him and his other frat members. His admittedly attractive looks that he grew into helping with his popularity along with his love for the party scene.
You on the other hand, were a home body more than anything. After your first year, you had moved into an apartment about 5 minutes away off-campus with your previous dorm-mate and newly founded best friend. You and Yunjin became close relatively fast and being able to get through freshmen year living together in the tiny space meant you'd work perfectly well moving in a place where you both got your own rooms and a private bathroom.
Thus, your routine consisted of lectures, homework, your part-time job, and sleep. It was quiet and comfortable. Not that you were opposed to a night out and getting drunk off your ass every once in a while but being a party girl didn't seem like your cup of tea to do every weekend.
"Sorry, ___ it's Jake. I don't know where Jay is, he just left his phone with me earlier," Jake speaks into the phone, making his way out of the booming house to better hear her. The muffled music and loud voices heard from his end causing a slight panic to rise in your stomach but also nearly face palm. It's a Friday night, of course he was partying.
You rake your brain to put a face to the name. You've met Jay's frat friends on occasion, though they mostly consisted of when you were all drunk so it was sort of a blur.
"Yeah I'm at Target," You nod, specifying your location and hoping that whoever Jake was, he was sober enough to comprehend that something was wrong and that he'd remember your words. "Do you want anything else specifically?" From the corner of your eye, you can see the man beginning to pace, seemingly growing antsy with waiting on you to move. Deciding it was best to make your way toward the front where more workers would be, you completely disregard your near empty cart and pushed it along while holding your phone to your ear.
"... Are you okay?" Jake inquires, his brows burrowed together in confusion but feeling the underlying feeling of the call. The only reason he answered was because he knew you and Jay were close, having met less than a handful of times but the contact picture Jay saved you under allowed him to remember who you were. The three spammed messages you sent prior to your call being unable to be read due to his phone being locked. He intended to only inform you of the reason the said boy wouldn't respond for a while but it ended up to this rather weird conversation.
"Uh... no I don't think so," You answer, acting as if you were responding to a question. Jake straightens up slightly, unaware if that was an actual answer or if you were still on the one sided random talk through the phone. He sort of hoped it was the second option for your sake. "Okay I'll look. I'm sure they have pineapple,"
Jay was an overprotective guy, especially when it came to those he cared about. Early on, whenever they'd go out, he told everyone that their emergency code word was pineapple. Jake, along with the other boys, found it utterly ridiculous and never once had to actually use it but he did remember the word loud and clear even months later. The conversation was far too random and specific for you to just casually be saying that, and thus Jake assumed the safe word was something Jay used universally.
"You're at the store in town right?" He asks, now heading back into the house, weaving his way through the bodies in search of his friends.
"Yeah," You nod disregarding that he couldn't see it. There was two Targets in the area you lived it, though one was undeniably farther away from the University. In town referred to the one you stood in, absentmindedly staring at the electronics assuming there had to be more cameras in this area. "Okay, well, I'll be home soon then,"
"Give me ten minutes," Jake said into the phone before handing up the call, not giving you time to respond. Scrunching up your nose, you felt significantly smaller without the comfort of another voice on the other line. From the opposite isle, you could see the man lingering around the corner, now staring directly at you but quickly looking away upon making eye contact.
With a slight pit in your stomach, you take a second to breathe. Attempting to seem inconspicuous, you glance over your items and visibly pale. The only things consisted of body wash, a bag of lemons, and ice cream bars that were now melting. You had circled the food department a near three times and hadn't picked up much even though you made it rather clear on the call you were meant to be getting dinner. Silently praying that the man wasn't keen enough to pay that much attention, you shake off the shiver that ran down your spine.
Meanwhile, Jake ran through the house collecting his friends one by one. Luckily, with it being only 7:30 and rather early in the night, no one was near hammered yet, barely started on a buzz when he interrupted. Not much was shared in the process, the urgent way Jake pulled them along was enough for them to follow but Heeseung finally questioned it once they were packed in the car driving away from their own party.
"Where we going man?" The eldest asked, running a hand through his hair lazily.
Jake, being the only one with less than half a bottle of beer in, was in the driver seat. He drove fast, weaving through the lanes occasionally but still safe enough to not seem suspicious.
He glanced back at Jay through the rearview mirror, said boy tilting his head back in confusion. "___ called you, she's having an issue. Said something about pineapple and wasn't having an actual conversation with me so I'm assuming someone was following her,"
Jay straightened up, leaning closer from his seat while the other two spared glances. "When?"
"Right before I went to find you, told her to give me 10 minutes," Jake answers, partially relieved that Jay seemed concerned by the matter meaning he interpreted the call correctly but that only meant you were actually in trouble. "It's been 6,"
"Drive faster," Was all the other boy said, the few shots of liquor seemingly gone as he sobered up almost instantly. Though, the panic and overwhelming anger that brewed in the back of his head indicated that he was being influenced by the intoxication. Not that it would be a problem, especially if you were in danger of some sort.
Heeseung and Sunghoon sat quietly as Jake drove, connecting the dots for themselves due to the conversation. A minute later, the four were barreling out of the car and into the building. The bright lights contrasted against the dark outside, the boys looking around for sight of the girl.
"Give me my phone," Jay tells Jake, holding out his hand expectantly while he pulls it out of his back pocket. Tapping through the screen for a moment, Jay hold up the device to his ear waiting for you to answer but it goes to voicemail.
"She was talking about food so maybe she was over there?" Jake offers, leading the way toward the back of the store which held all the groceries.
Jay tries once more, holding the phone up as it dials. This time, there's the faint chime of an incoming call that was further away. Sunghoon nodded in the direction it came from, heading toward the area which consisted of books, music, and other miscellaneous things.
"No, thank you, I'm alright," Your voice was recognized first by Jay. Speeding up his steps, he rounds the corner to see you backed away toward the far end of the isle, the cart in between you and an unfamiliar man who had his back toward the four. Your eyes widened seeing the familiar face, slightly relieved but still in a sense of panic considering the man that was following you grew the courage a minute ago to actually say something now, keeping you tucked away in the corner as he did.
Attempting to step away, you shift to the right but the man matched your movement, staying directly in your path and blocking it. Moving to your left, he matched that as well causing you to purse your lips. He smiled, seeming as if it were amusing to see you becoming undone with his actions which sent a chill up your spine. Aside from his creepy stalking, he seemed and looked like a regular guy, which made it even worse because of how normal he seemed upon first glance.
"Teenie," Jay spoke up, making his and the rest of their presence known, using a nickname rather than your actual one. The guy turned at the sound, his face morphing from the smile into one of annoyance, a  clear grimace on his features at the interruption. "Come here," The space between where you stood and Jay was a couple of feet, having to go around the man in the process as he had backed you into the wall moments ago.
Expecting for him to allow you to move without resistance this time, you go to step around him but he still continues to block your way. Going as far as grabbing hold of your arm causing your eyes to widen and pull back instantly. The anxiety that grew in your stomach elevated significantly, it was wishful thinking that having four grown and tall men would have the single one back down but it seemed he was crazy enough to not care about that.
"Stop being a fucking creep dude," Heeseung spoke up, growing rather frustrated and particularly peeved that he had the audacity to grab you. If they hadn't shown up he couldn't imagine what he'd attempt.
"We're not done talking," The man sneers, the tone of his voice causing the hairs on your neck to stand up, goosebumps forming along your skin though your body felt like it was burning up inside. "You the boyfriend?" He adds, nodding toward Jay who faltered, confused by the sudden question.
Jake lets out a small sigh, growing tired of the back and forth. Stepping forward, he holds out his hand to you without a word. Now a mere foot apart, he stares down the guy, almost taunting him in attempt to do something. Quickly, your hand latches onto his, albeit clammy from your nervousness but as he pulled you into his side, you felt significantly safer than before.
Tucking you behind him, Jake walks you both back a few steps, returning to the rest who had moved up closer. Still holding tight onto Jake's hand, you grasp onto his arm as well, holding it as if it were a security blanket and would make everything better.
"I am," Jake answers, taking the rest of you by surprise. His fib was believable, you clinging to his side playing the part and the boys merely went along with it. "We done here?"
The man didn't say a word, the silent stare down that occurred between Jake and him more than enough. Finally, he looked away, accepting there wasn't anything he could do to win in this. Whatever that was. Turning around, Jake began to lead you away, not bothering to look back as the other three followed behind, ensuring he stayed in place as they went.
You let out a shakey sigh, deeming it far enough away as you could see the exit. Feeling the ever-growing tears weld in your eyes, a few began to slip from the corners painting soft streaks down the apples of your cheeks. Silently, Jake allowed for Jay to pull you into his embrace, presuming having the one you were closest with to comfort you would be best.
A quiet sob slipped past your lips upon being wrapped into his arms. Jay let out a small shush, one of his hands rubbing small circles with his thumb against your back, visibly upset by how affected you were as he tucked his head down toward your ear, whispering words of reassurance that everything was okay and nothing would happen.
Heeseung tapped Jake's shoulder, nodding him along to give the two of you a minimal amount of space but also linger close enough in case the crazed man decided to have second thoughts and come back. Meanwhile, Sunghoon had made his way over to one of the cashiers, explaining the situation and how the female staff should be cautious until security had eyes on the man.
Jake glanced over as Jay had pulled back from the hug, his hands on either side of your face as he wiped away the tears that kept falling from your eyes. His heart tugged at the sight of you, looking utterly disheartened with a slightly red nose and your mascara beginning to smudge.
He's glad he answered.
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kerubimcrepin · 3 months ago
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An analysis of That One Moment from Wakfu OVA - Book 2, Ush
Technically, this post is a part 4 of my liveblog, but still...
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Today we will be talking about the interaction that I am most mentally ill about in the entirety of Wakfu.
Before I go completely off the rails: I think it's cute that despite everything, Keke still cares a lot about Ecaflip and Ecaflipus, and Atcham still cares about killing people for wronging him.
Things have changed after six centuries, but they're still just themselves. Anyway.
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There is so much happening here. SO much. Let me break it down point by point:
The most obvious one: by addressing them as kids, he pulls his "I am roleplaying as your father for these strangers who don't know anything about our weird familial situation, and you will obey me" card. This is important because:
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Kerubim and Atcham know how much Joris cares about the Brotherhood of Tofu and their opinions of him, to the point of going a little bit crazy at the thought of offending Yugo and Adamai.
So, even if him pulling the "I'm your dad" card is a bit egocentric, they can't say anything about that openly — because Joris would be so, so sad if everyone in this room knew he lives with his dad for 600 years now. He'd be so mad too, because "papychaaa, chaaaoncle stop embarrassing me in front of my friends!"
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We KNOW Kerubim cares about not embarrassing Joris — because in the Dofus MMO he won't shut the hell up about his 20-30 dead loved ones from 200 years ago, says a Singular Thing about Atcham, and absolutely nothing about his very much alive son/fake dad, at best managing a little "we all want someone small in our lives..."
In my opinion, while some families are built on mutual roasting, the Crepin-Jurgen household houses three people with very fragile senses of self-esteem, so anything resembling roasting is usually light, exclusive to when they're all alone, and never about things that they actually hate about themselves ("short, weird, ugly, hypocrite, weak, overthinker"; "ugly" (some bald jokes allowed, but it depends on the mood); and "narcissist who kept his son in a hazardous environment for the first 7 years of his life and gave him 30 mental illnesses").
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Besides the fact that Keke and Atch care about Joris making friends, — for the three of them (but especially Joris and Atcham), feeling belittled is the easiest way to ruin a relationship irreparably. If you insult them, it's just over. And I don't mean it in a funny-haha cutesy way. Sometimes, people actually dislike when they are insulted repeatedly about something they legitimately hate about themselves, and, y'know, hate everyone who hurts them this way? And you will not believe it, but people who actually care about them know and respect that. Because they love them.
So yeah, the three of them are all creatures of pride, and they respect that about each other, — which is why would never put each other in a position where they might get laughed at. (like suddenly revealing the Dad Roleplay and "600 years of living with his dad" sort of interpersonal lore)
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However, being creatures of pride, I don't think Kerubim and Atcham are happy about Joris doing this. Especially because of the next point: Joris uses his position as their roleplay-dad and Asocial Son/Nephew Who Needs To Impress His Friends to essentially force them to let him go into a battle alone. Essentially, this line is translated as "you have glass bones and paper skin. you can't follow me because I said so, and you can't protest without looking weird." into Normal Human Tongue.
Joris does this for a very simple reason: they are weak (though so is he), and he's scared — he loves them! It's normal that he doesn't want to see them be hurt! Even if they have multiple lives, but they're not infinite lives, and it doesn't make every time they die NOT scary and traumatizing! He wants Kerubim and Atcham to go and rest, and he's also excited that they're finally meeting his friends.
However, unlike them, he only has one life — and they hate to see him hurt just as much, if not more, considering how much more danger he's always in:
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They would really rather not leave their p'tit Jojo Joris alone with things they know are dangerous, — like Ush, — while Joris is weakened. No matter how much he wants to fight Ush one-on-one.
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So, they refuse and even joke about him in the most subtle and funny way: using his own little game to make fun of him, and completely refuse his offer of leaving to rest in Sadida Kingdom, — coupled with an overexaggerated little shrug, and rubbing their statuses as so-called "sons" and "father" in his face.
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These three come up with very elaborate rituals to communicate things that take normal people like ten seconds.
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gothichoi · 10 days ago
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⋆ 。⋆🦇˚— autumn leaves
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SYN: meeting the man you have been secretly in love with for the first time since he returned from vacation causes mutual feelings between the both of you
cw: light kissing ⚔︎ wc: 2,820 genre: fluff, school crush, friends to lovers, high school to college author's note: wow, this took me forever to write because life just will not let me focus on the things I love to do, but I have created a newish schedule for myself, and autumn is here so maybe I will get a little bit extra time. reminder, I don't want to include idol names because I want anyone to picture whoever. Now, I am off to focus on my main writing project until another idea pops in my head.
library ⚔︎ inbox
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MULTIPLE DEAD LEAVES scattered across the sidewalk as I continued to walk, my attention solely focused on the device I held in my hands, a ghost of a smile appearing on my lips when I recognized who decided to send a simple message.
Would you like to meet up at our favorite café?
The thought of seeing the man I have been in love with for the first time since he left for a month-long vacation as soon as we both graduated high school made my heart race and my walking pace to pick up when I realized the café was getting closer than it was minutes ago. The faint sound of a bell welcomed me as I stepped through the entrance, followed by a cheerful greeting from one of the workers behind the counter as they finished up an order for one of the few customers that were already patiently waiting for their drink or small snack.
I waved a little at the worker before my eyes began to roam all over the place.
“Y/N!” I heard a man call out my name, causing my head to turn towards a table that was placed in the far-left corner of the café.
The young man’s smile widened when our eyes met, and he lifted his hand up in a small wave before motioning me over. I returned his smile with my own before walking over to the table, nervously chewing on the inside of my cheek.
“Well, hello there, stranger,” I said with a small laugh at the end, causing a laugh to leave his own lips.
“Hello to you, too,” he said as he stood up and held both arms out to me.
The soft smile that was permanently on my face widens a little more at his gesture before taking a few steps closer and wrapping both of my arms around his waist, tightening my grip as he tightened his hold on me.
“It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages,” he said after a couple minutes of pure silence between us while pulling away from the long-lasting hug in order to look me in the eye.
“You can say that again. You don’t understand how much I have missed you while you were away,” I tell him with a small pout, which caused him to laugh softly and playfully poke my cheek.
“I’m sorry if you thought I left you behind while I was away, darling, but you know how my family is sometimes,” he said, taking a sip of the hot drink that was sitting directly in front of him.
I slowly nod my head in understanding while placing both of my hands around the warm mug in front of me, immediately replacing the icy chill with warmth. Releasing a sigh of relief, I take another sip of my hot drink and bite my bottom lip faintly.
“So, do you have any stories about your trip to tell me?” I ask, lifting a brow while looking at the young man.
A hint of a sparkle appeared in his eyes and the soft smile on his lips transformed into a wide grin at my question. “Oh, I have a lot! We would be here for hours if I told you everything,” he said.
“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” I tell him while nonchalantly stirring the remaining of my drink.
“Well . . .,” he said before clearing his throat and diving right into his first tale for this chilly Autumn morning.
×
“YOU KNOW, THIS is my favorite time of year,” I say as we stepped out of the café and headed towards our favorite park.
“I know, and I love seeing the way your eyes light up every time around this specific time of year,” he said with a soft and sweet smile, causing me to smile back at him.
Children laughing nonstop suddenly break through the silent air the closer we got to our destination.
“Where would you like to sit?” I hear him ask while entwining his hands with my own.
“Well, since we both forgot the picnic blanket, let’s go over there,” I answer while pointing to one of the abandoned benches that were scattered throughout the entire park.
Gently, he squeezes my hand in a silent response before guiding me over to our designated spot for however long we both wanted to stay.
“With all of the activities you and I have been doing over the years, I think hanging out at this very park with you is by far my absolute favorite,” I start saying to him, “we have made so many wonderful and fan memories here together that whenever we do decide to make a little park trip, all of our past memories together flood back immediately.”
When I turn my head to look over at him, I catch a huge smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye as he watched me.
“What?” I stared back at him in confusion.
I watched as he shook his head and removed his hand from mine. Before anymore words left my mouth, he was gently cupping my face in both of his hands.
My eyes widened at our close proximity, and I tried my best to pull away gently, but stopped my movements when I heard my name leave his parted lips in a whisper.
“Why are you trying to pull away from me?” he asked.
The unfamiliar tone of his voice causes me to stop moving and look back at him, our eyes meeting once again.
“No reason,” I tell him, the tiny lie leaving my mouth so seamlessly. “What were you planning on doing exactly?”
He chuckles softly which causes me to raise a brow up in curiosity.
“No reason. I just—I just wanted to get a better look at you after being away from you all of these months,” he said while quickly releasing his hold on my face.
I watch as he placed both of his hands back into the pockets of his jeans. What is the real reason behind this odd behavior? He has never done that in the years I have known him. The thought came and went before I was able to digest that train of thought.
“What’s on your mind?” I hear him ask, causing me to blink my eyes slowly before meeting his curious gaze.
I shook my head. “Just our memories, that’s all.” The small lie left my lips seamlessly, which caused an unfamiliar discomfort in the pit of my stomach. I chewed on my lower lip faintly before bending down to the ground and scooping up a small pile of leaves.
“Try to catch me if you can,” I said while throwing the pile of leaves directly at the young man, laughing in triumph as I took off in the opposite direction. I could hear his surprised shouts the closer I got to the playground.
When I got to the top of where the slide was located, I spotted the man looking up right at me when he finally reached the semi-empty playground.
Two children ran past my best friend while he stood at the bottom of the slide, both of his arms were folded across his chest and his lips turned into a soft smirk.
“Are you planning to stay up there the whole time?” he shouts in order for me to hear him clearly.
I bit my bottom lip while I thought of my answer to his question. “Possibly, but, are you going to stay down there?” I asked with a faint mischievous smile.
The boy returns my mischievous smile with his own before jumping onto the small amount of stairs the park placed in this little playground. A playful scream left my mouth the closer he got to where I was standing which made him chuckle softly.
“What? Are you scared of me now?” he asked, playfully pouting.
I shook my head in response and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. “You are so easy to trick,” I tell him.
Before I’m able to take off, I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist. “Quit running away from me,” I heard him say as he got closer, which led me to turning my body around to look at him directly.
The playful glint in his eyes vanished and was replaced with something softer, making my heart stutter within my chest. “What’s the matter?” I asked, trying my best to keep the tone of my voice calm.
I carefully watched the expression on his face as he nonchalantly pulled a couple loose leaves out of my hair. “They must’ve trapped themselves in your hair when you were running away from me,” he said while I began to fix my own hair.
A faint blush dusted my cheeks, which led to the entirety of my face to heat up. I thought he was going to do something else, I thought. “Oh,” was all I could say. “Thank you.”
×
THE LONGER WE remained in the park, the darker the sky became. “Can I give you a small gift before I’m forced to take you back home?” I heard him ask in a soft whisper while we were lying on the picnic blanket he pulled out of his bag moments ago.
I turned to my side and met his gaze, noticing the ghost of smile that was appearing at the corners of his mouth.
“Of course,” I respond, smiling at him softly.
He mirrored my smile with his own before sitting up. I sat up as well and watched as he moved over to where his bag was sitting comfortably at the edge of the picnic blanket. I faintly furrowed my eyebrows as he returned to where I was sitting.
“What is that?” I asked, suspiciously looking at the black velvet box he was gently holding in his hands.
“A little something for you to have me with you at all times after today,” he explained, holding the box out in front of me.
My heart makes a small leap within my chest, causing me to swallow the bundle of nerves back down my throat.
“You didn’t have to get me anything. Just being able to see you after so long is the best gift I could ask for,” I tell him.
He shrugged his shoulders faintly. “It’s just a little something I wanted to have made for you,” he said. “Go ahead and open it.”
I softly smiled at him before opening the small box after snatching it from his outstretched hands. Both of my eyes widened when I realized what I was currently looking at.
“Did you seriously buy the necklace I was looking at a few days ago when we were at the mall?” I asked him, my eyes refusing to look away from the beautiful pendant.
He chuckled softly and took the necklace out of the velvet box completely. “The moment I saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw this at that jewelry store, I knew I had to give it to you as a surprise,” he explained.
The small smile on my face grew bigger as my heart began to melt at his words.
“You are the sweetest,” I say before allowing him to place the delicate chain around my neck, the smile never leaving my face.
“Now, I will always be with you when I can’t be here physically,” he said in a soft whisper soon after he gently placed the necklace around my neck, squeezing both of my shoulders faintly before I face him once again, a small sparkle appeared in his eyes as he returned my huge smile with his own.
“Can I give you a gift as well?” I asked as my heart began to quicken just by looking into his eyes.
I watched as he blinked his eyes before giving me a soft and gentle smile. “Of course you can,” he said.
I swallowed the nerves that began to form in the pit of my stomach before automatically wrapping both of my arms around his neck, causing his own arms to wrap around my waist in a comforting hug.
“What has gotten into you all of a sudden?” he asked, raising a brow up in pure curiosity before chuckling softly.
“Did I ever tell you about a crush I had on someone back in high school?” I asked, watching his facial expression closely as his brows began to furrow, and his head moved side to side slightly.
“No, but I also didn’t mention my little crush during high school either,” he responded with a faint shrug of his shoulders.
Instantly, my heart stopped beating at his words. “On whom?” I ask.
The edge of his mouth turns into a gentle smile while he pushes a couple strands of my hair back behind my ear. “Someone who I am extremely close to and have been since the start of high school,” he told me.
I furrow both of my eyebrows a little as I let his words settle in the air between us. He patiently watched as I thought of the meaning behind his words.
“I was always with you when we were in high school, and I never saw you hanging out with any other girl besides myself. . .” I said, breaking the comfortable silence between the two of us.
He chuckled softly and shook his head before lightly grazing his teeth against his bottom lip. “Think harder, darling,” he said while faintly brushing his shoulder against mine.
A heartbeat later my eyes began to widen once his words registered in my head.
“Are you—do you mean me?” I ask him while pointing to myself and watching him with wide eyes.
A huge full-blown smile broke across his face before lifting me up in the air and twirling around in a circle once, causing a playful scream that turned into a joyous laughter to leave my lips.
“Well, now we both are even, I guess,” he said with another light chuckle.
The corners of my mouth twitch up into a soft smile before pressing my forehead against his own.
“Now, it’s time for me to give you my gift,” I whispered softly.
He mirrored my soft smile with his own before opening his mouth. “What kind of gift?” he asks.
Instead of answering, I closed my eyes and lightly brushed my lips against his lips, faintly twining my fingers through strands of his hair. I could hear him inhale a surprised gasp before removing one hand from around my waist and cupping the side of my jaw gently as the kiss became deeper.
After a moment, I pulled away from the passionate, yet sweet, kiss and smiled at the man while pulling my face away from his completely. The soft smile on his face widens as he brushed the pad of his thumb against my cheek faintly.
“I am the happiest I could be since I left for that silly summer vacation months ago,” he said while letting his arm fall to his side before placing it back around my waist like before.
I furrow my brows a little at his words. “You didn’t have fun while you were away?” I ask him.
He shook his head and bit his lower lip. “Not exactly. If you were able to tag along then I might’ve had way more fun than I did,” he said, his bright smile reaching his eyes.
I laughed softly and shook my head. “I wouldn’t have minded that at all.”
He smiled once more before finally realizing how quiet our surroundings were. “Shall we continue our little walk to your home? Your family must be worried about your whereabouts at this hour,” he said when he noticed how dark the sky was becoming.
I shrug my shoulders faintly. “They know I was meeting you and you know how much they trust you,” I said while pulling away from the warmth of his embrace.
The soft smile returns to his lips. “I know, but I don’t want that to change just because I kept you out longer than they expected you to be,” he explained while starting to lead me in the direction that was all too familiar to the both of us—my childhood home.
With a defeated sigh, I followed right next to him, our fingers slowly entwined with each other.
“Do you promise we will have more comforting walks just like this one when college begins for the both of us?” I softly ask.
He removed his hand from mine and placed his arm protectively around my body, pulling me closer to him, letting the warmth that was radiating from his clothes wrap around my own frame, melting my pounding heart instantly.
“I promise,” he whispered against my cheek before kissing the corner of my mouth.
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© 2024. gothichoi, all rights reserved ❀ do not plagiarize my work!
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woncon · 2 months ago
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𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒.
feel free to give your opinions and ask questions!
-> CURRENT PROJECT: preparing for halloween
𝐎𝐍𝐄-𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒.
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title: the case of the missing boyfriends
pairing: poly!stray kids x gn!reader
Last time, your cookies were missing. Now six of your boyfriends are. Or would it be more accurate to say that they are hostages to evil clowns? Or not? What is the truth?
genre: mistery
warnings: mentions of kidnapping, anxiety, evil clowns, horror house
status: writing
progress: ▓▓▓░░░░░░░  30%
a/n: takes place in "the case of the missing cookie" universe, but can be read as a stand alone.
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title: make a wish (from a competent star)
pairing: skz family!stray kids & babysitter! gn!reader
Sometimes the stars are like genies. If you don't say exactly what you want, they interpret it freely. Do you wish for an exciting day? You got it! There's just going to be some big changes…
genre: crack, magic gone wrong-ish, parallel universe
warnings: gender switch (fem!minho, fem!jeongin, fem!felix, fem!hyunjin), family drama
status: outlining
progress: ▓░░░░░░░░░  10%
a/n: basically the boys turn into their skz family personas from that lil series because i NEED to write with auntie lina and hyunjin or else i'm going mad
𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒.
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title: hybridz
pairing: hybrid! poly!stray kids x hybrid!reader
Desert fox hybrids believe that there is a road ahead for everyone. If they follow it, they will reach the oasis. But the path is not always straight. It's full of twists and turns, tempting obstacles that drop you into the sand. You have to wade through the branches, back on the right path, to get what you want. Jisung wants to go unnoticed, to keep his secret in his desk drawer but his colleague finds it out. You want independence, then an unexpected relationship to get over your unrequited feelings for Jeongin.  Jeongin agrees to accompany Seungmin to a predator therapy meeting and realizes what he really wants: you.  Seungmin wants to help Chan and find him a job where he will be treated properly despite being a wolf hybrid. Chan doesn't want to be a wolf hybrid. Minho wants Seungmin, but only in bed. Changbin would prefer to hide the fact that he's a rabbit. Or to gain more confidence. Or both? Hyunjin wants a super video series for his YouTube channel. Felix doesn't want to be any less important than a video series. It could also be, the foxes say, that by the time you reach the oasis, you realize you didn't get what you wanted, but what you really needed. As your paths cross at more and more points, this statement becomes more and more true.
genre: hybrid!au, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, smut
a few tropes: meet-cutes, mutual pining, friends to lovers, fuckbuddies to lovers, strangers to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, unrequited love, exes to lovers, fated mates (i am fate so i know it) ... and a lot more!
warnings: blackmail, trauma, panic attack, hybrid religion & lore, racism against predators, prejudices, emotional infidelity, many povs
status: outlining & writing
progress: ▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░  50%
a/n: this story is in many ways a first for me. the first i've done for nanowrimo, the first to develop a diversified polyamory relationship, the first to exceed 50k words. it also contains my longest smut ever. although, as hybridz stands at the moment, i may even beat that :3
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title: a melody of daggers and scales
pairing: pirate!san x merfolk! gn!reader
Mama Tulla finally declares you a mature savior. You can go out on the open sea to guide sailors and help castaways like the other golden finned mermaids, not just help wounded dolphins. And almost immediately, the opportunity falls right into your fin when a boat breaks up on a rock near the island right in front of you. You dive in to save them. But taking them to the island is not enough. A hungry siren lurks nearby, and the island is small and uninhabitable. You want to protect the sailors somehow. Especially the prettiest one, the one they call Captain San.
genre: fantasy, forbidden love, enemies to lovers
warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, minor character death, merfolk & siren lore
status: outlining
progress: ▓░░░░░░░░░  10%
a/n: based on this timestamp
... and a bunch of timestamps and request!
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piastrinorris · 2 years ago
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busy streets and busy lives • ralph penbury x reader
A strange day at work gets even stranger when you meet a man who claims he's from 1926. With no certainty as to when he can get back, you decide to take him in until that time arrives.
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masterlist | prev. | next
Tags: Timewasters (series), modern!au, slow burn, mutual pining, idiots in love™, fluff, some angst, swearing and mentions of adult themes throughout, eventual adult content, alcohol content, drug content, penbury is a fanon surname
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Word count: 14.2k
A/N: Jesus. H. Christ. Thank you for your patience. This chapter broke me. Goodnight.
(Also please note there is a new content warning in the tags! There is slight drug use in this chapter.)
PS i know, it's a lot of angst, and you guys are here for the cute fluffy timey-wimey boy. i promise next chapter is far nicer, i just didn't want it to get boring, is all. <3
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It had been so long. He’d been doing so well. You thought you could just happily leave Ralph at home and he could stay out of trouble. But several missed calls from your friends alerts you to the incident that the group chat were talking about:
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With a heavy sigh, you text your co-manager, asking them to cover for you so you could leave for what you call a “family emergency”. Thankfully, you’ve had to do it often enough in the past that they just assume you’ve got a really chaotic younger sibling or something, but it still gets a little frustrating that it’s his third month of living with you and you’re still having to be on call 24/7 for him. Surely by now, he could have googled whether it was safe to microwave a whole egg. And how on earth do you accidentally go live?! There are steps to it, it’s not as though it’s a button he can accidentally press. Only Ralph, honestly.
Still, you can’t stay mad at him. Not when he’s sat on the kitchen floor, muttering to himself in exponential anguish as he reads every cleaning product label to try and determine which one is best for the task at hand.              
You spot his phone still resting on the counter and look at the screen in confusion. “How are there still three and a half thousand of you watching my wall?!” You ask into the camera.
Ralph sits up on his knees to look at his phone, too, and you hold back laughter at the camera’s shot of just his hair and eyes above your kitchen counter. “What do you mean, watching?”
“You’ve been broadcasting for hours, mate. Say goodbye to your followers!” You chirp as you hover over the button to end the feed.
Ralph sinks back to the floor with a defeated, “Oh, fiddlesticks,” and you stop the livestream.
You look at the bottles he has surrounding him and hold your hand out, “Here, gimme the green one.”
He hands it over to you, and gets up quickly, moving over to sit on the sofa in silence. You sigh in resignation, looking over at him as he hugs a cushion to his chest. Quickly wiping down the inside of your microwave, you tidy up the rest of the kitchen after him and sit on the other end of the couch, cross-legged. “Hey.” You crane your neck to try and catch his gaze, but he refuses to. “Hey. You know I’m not mad at you, right? It’s just all the stuff I’ve had going on today all balled up into one big outburst. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”
“I suppose you shall be on your way back to work now,” he mutters into the cushion.
You shake your head, “Nah, already forfeited the rest of the day as unpaid because the other manager’s covering. Usually I’d swap it for another shift, but we’re going away next week, so…” You shrug. “No chance there.”
Ralph looks up, the pillow obscuring everything but his sad puppy-dog eyes. “G-going away? Wher- who wi- how lo-”
“Where, Brighton,” you tap one finger. “Ever been?” He shakes his head. “Ah, you’ll love it.” You tap another finger, “Who with, please, like I have any other friends,” you scoff, “so don’t worry, you won’t be meeting anybody new -”
Ralph’s eyes widen in a double take. “Wh- I’m going, too?”
“Well, I clearly can’t leave you here with me, can I?” You ask pointedly, jerking your head behind you towards the now clean microwave. “At least the sofa in the Brighton house pulls out into a proper bed size. How long,” you tap a third finger, “we leave here tomorrow afternoon, leave Brighton next Saturday morning.”
Ralph suddenly finds all his energy, “And just when were you planning on letting me know to start packing?!”
“Well, tomorrow morning, I thought, it’s just a case of shoving some clothes in a bag for a week. It’s not like we’re going to the Ritz or anything,” you shrug. “But we’ve got time to get a head start now if you really need it.”
“If I need -” Ralph scoffs at you as he leaps off the sofa and into the bedroom. All you can do is sigh as you watch him sprint across the room.
~~~
You probably should have figured out, with six of you taking three cars, that it wasn’t going to just be six of you. Grace’s new boyfriend - who you barely recognise yourself until Ralph, of all people, informs you that they’d met on his first night out with you all - and Scott’s partner, who Ralph is thrilled to be reunited with.
It does raise some questions to you about everyone’s sleeping arrangements, since usually Grace and Anna share the biggest room, leaving the three other bedrooms in the house for the rest of you. You’re about to suggest that you sleep on the sofa here, too, to give Ralph the bedroom, when instead you watch Connor throw his bag down on it.
You frown, “Oh, I was gonna stay down here to give Ralph a-”
“No, no, absolutely not,” Anna interjects, shaking her head. “I already worked out, it’s better if you two take the biggest bedroom, the two couples share a bedroom each, and then I tried to fight my case for the sofa, but Connor insisted on it.”
“What a gent,” you comment jokingly. You wonder if Ralph saw it that way, but daren’t look in his direction, in case he takes that the wrong way and assumes you want him to react. 
“So - so this bedroom that we’re staying in, is - is there -?” Ralph stammers, his eyes squeezing shut and opening at a rapid pace. You’ve been able to recognise that as a nervous reaction of his.
“Pretty sure there’s one bed, yeah. But if that’s too scandalous for you, I’m sure I can get a fold-out or something,” you explain, but Ralph’s eyes quickly look around the room before he shakes his head. He can’t quite make eye contact with you.
“No, no, it’s quite… Nothing wrong with being bedfellows, right?”
You shake your head, “Sure, whatever you say. Let me take our bags up - Connor, since yours are there, why don’t you show the newbies around the house and the rest of us can get our rooms set up?”
Connor agrees and you sling the strap of your duffel bag over your shoulder and pick up the suitcase Ralph’s using to take them both up the two flights of stairs to the biggest bedroom in the house.
You really should make work on unpacking yours and Ralph’s clothes for the week, or at least getting your toiletries out, but the bed calls to you like a siren from the deep seas. Throwing the bags on the floor, you launch yourself onto the bed. Oh, sweet spongy mattress! An actual duvet that covers all of you and then some! Pillows without an armrest digging into the back of your head!
The drive down was tiring enough that you can feel your eyes getting heavy. You try to get up again, to fight the urge to sleep too early and miss out on your first night traditions.
You’re awoken by a gentle pressure shoving your wrist down into the bed. And then your elbow. And then your shoulder. You eventually figure out that the sound that accompanies it is Ralph calling your name. “Ah, you’ve awoken! Welcome back.”
You sit up suddenly, “Oh Christ, I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to do that, oh god, what time is it?!”
“Not to worry! Everybody is waiting to go to dinner, they said this is the time you all go anyway,” Ralph assures you. You notice that he’s stood bolt upright, but with his head turned almost upside down to look at you. You let out a sleepy chuckle as you start moving out of the bed, and Ralph quickly darts out of the room. You try not to read into that too much.
You’re greeted with a chorus of, “Alright, sleepyhead?” “It lives!” “What time d’you call this?!” You flip your friends off and fake going back up the stairs before running ahead to the front door.
Once you’ve all got your food, you sit where you always do - a bench that overlooks the pier, all its illuminations making it obvious against the dark sea beneath it. Knowing you’re finally on holiday, surrounded by the people you love most in the world, in your most favourite place, enjoying one of your favourite traditions as your lap cradles the bundle of warmth that is your portion of fish and chips as you hear the gentle crashing of waves. Knowing that all your troubles are currently almost a hundred miles away. You feel a sense of contentment, a rare zen moment. You can’t remember the last time you felt this calm.
And then, ironically, a voice laced with disgruntlement interrupts your train of thought. “Is this really any way to spend a night? You can barely see anything, this is by far the least dignified way to eat, and I fear I may come down with pneumonia before the night is through,” Ralph complains.
“Eat quicker, you’ll warm up quicker,” you prompt him. “This is why I wanted to get you a hat, but you didn’t ‘trust me’,” you mock with a smirk.
“That’s ’cause I’m your favourite to shop with, innit, Ralphie?” Connor calls from further down the bench.
“The guy who bought him clothes that feature an Angry Birds and Star Wars crossover does not deserve bragging rights,” you scoff, to laughter from most of the others.
“Ignore that lot, mate, here, have mine for now!” Connor takes his hat off and puts it on Ralph’s head. There’s something rather endearing about Ralph wearing a hat with ear flaps, but even more so when they’ve folded back on each other enough that they stick out to the sides.
“Are you quite sure?” Ralph asks, eyes wide and pleading.
“Yeah, shoved my hand in my pocket earlier and realised I had a beanie in here, too,” Connor grins as he puts another hat on his head. 
“You’re such a twat,” Grace laughs, and Connor acts offended.
“Excuse you! I was merely looking out for my best mate here!” Ralph’s face lights up at those words.
Trying not to focus on how cute that is, you grin, “Did you wanna share the bed with Ralph, then?”
Connor’s mood shifts at that. He suddenly shakes his head and goes quiet as the others hurriedly change the subject. They tell Ralph about how you’ve all hired out the same house from Airbnb for years now, how the tradition of visiting every year came to be, asking Ralph if he’d ever been to a beach before. He vaguely recalls going to “a sandy beach” when he and his sister were very young, for a few years. You’ve had a few heart-to-hearts with Ralph about his father’s death and his mother’s admission to rehabilitation, but he doesn’t bring it up to the group. You still give his hand a gentle squeeze, to let him know that you understand if he’s getting upset. He wriggles his hand against yours until your fingers interlock, and he squeezes back, using his free hand to pull the ear flaps of his new hat down to cover his.
You keep hold of Ralph’s hand as you walk back to the house, just to let him know that you’re still there for him - though you’d be lying if you weren’t also letting yourself indulge in the idea of you both taking a romantic late-evening stroll along the beachfront, just a little. Of course, usually when you allow yourself these small delusions, it ends up warping the little grievances the two of you have into something far more infuriating than they probably actually are - something’s got to bring you back to reality, after all. But you can’t see any reason why you’d possibly get far enough to snap while you’re on holiday.
Once you’re back to the house, and you and Ralph are making your way upstairs, you tell him to get himself changed in the bedroom while you do so in the bathroom. You grab some pyjamas from your bag, as well as your washbag, and head in to get yourself ready for the night. A quick silent pep talk with your own reflection to remind yourself that your walk back with Ralph was strictly platonic, and you’re ready to go back out to the living room for some games with your friends before bed.
As you step out of the bathroom, you hear a short, shrill shriek. Your eyes dart immediately to Ralph sat on the side of the bed who, despite the fact that he is wearing an undershirt, still censors his chest from view with his pyjama shirt, staring at you with wide eyes.The shade of his ears is unusually deep compared to when he’s usually surprised. Assuming you’re paying far too close attention to such a minor detail for no reason, you snort out a laugh, tell him to meet you downstairs and go to meet the others.
Though Ralph doesn’t understand a lot of the games you all play that rely heavily on pop culture knowledge, he’s a big fan of those that rely on skill and/or general hilarity, since his cluelessness usually helps him there. You advise that he take a backseat upon the suggestion of Jackbox, much to the others’ chagrin - you just feel as though he isn’t quite ready for that, yet. You’re proven right when he constantly asks you for clarification on just what makes a particular answer funny, or when his ears burn up at a particularly racy answer. Connor had expressed interest in showing Ralph the ropes when it came to some games, and you tried to encourage him to go over there, but Ralph insisted on you being his teacher. You assume it’s because you know better than anyone how to explain things to him, but internally your imagination is  playing a very dangerous game.
When you awaken in the bed the next morning, Ralph is still sleeping soundly next to you. He’s almost at the edge of his side of the bed, back turned to you. You slowly make your way out of your side and sneak past him, out of the room and down to the kitchen.
“No Ralph?” Scott asks as you walk in.
“Hello to you, too,” you jokingly flip your friend off and he smiles sweetly in return. “Nah, he’s still sparko. Dunno why.”
“Didn’t he sleep well?” Anna frowns.
You shrug. “Couldn’t tell you, I slept like a log!”
Ralph stirs from all the way upstairs, assuming from the open door that you’d already left the room but still staying still just in case. He slowly starts to roll around to look, allowing himself a sigh of relief as he sprawls out on the bed. He’d only slept once he’d finally exhausted himself from trying to stay as deliberately far away from you as possible. 
His mind would wander, of course. How peaceful you must look when you sleep. How wonderful it would be to awaken with his face a mere touching distance from yours. On occasion, he’d hear you take an extra deep breath and he’d get giddy at the realisation that he was breathing the same air as you!
That’s when he’d rein it in. Stupid Ralph. That’s exactly what scared Lauren off. It’s been months since that week, and still he hasn’t learned. In the present moment, Ralph pushes the heels of his hands into his eyes and bares his teeth in frustration at himself. Desperate to think of anything other than the thought of waking up next to you just as the sun shone against you in the most perfect of ways, making you appear even more radiant than usual. Of your eyes slowly opening as you wake. Ralph finally gives into temptation and indulges himself in the idea of your sleepy smile, in this dream universe where you’d be happy to wake up to see him. And what a perfect sight that would be.
He takes himself to the bathroom, picking up his razor and twirling the handle around between his fingers and thumb, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. He’s already shaved his facial hair clean off on several occasions. It keeps him remembering who the real Ralph Penbury is. You and your friends always complain when he does it, though. They tell him that he’s not Our Ralph when he looks like that. He’d love nothing more than to be Their Ralph. Especially to you. What was the point of being the other Ralph? Going back to a penniless, friendless, loveless, overall fruitless life?
But you’re always reminding him, this isn’t his era. This isn’t permanent. You’re always preparing him to go back to his own time at any point. A part of Ralph - the stupidly optimistic, nay, deluded part - hopes that it’s simply a fear of the unknown, that messing with time in such a way could cause devastating effect. Though what a stupid thing to think, in what universe would Ralph have such a massive impact?! 
With a heaving sigh, he tidies his facial hair up to a minimum while keeping it intact. A part of him still hesitates, still debates going further. It's what you'd want. Except also it isn't, because you always tell him he looks better with it. Ye gods, you're a confusing one.
Ralph gets himself dressed and makes it downstairs in just enough time to catch breakfast being dished up. You whisper something to Scott as soon as Ralph approaches, and Scott hands him a plate with a warm smile alongside everyone else eating, before setting everything up to make another portion for you. Ralph wants to frown, but he doesn't want to draw attention to himself, either. Why would you immediately sacrifice your breakfast for him, when he's the one who came downstairs later? Why would you see him being fed first as more important? Why not let him make that decision? He would have been happy to wait.
You feel Ralph's eyes boring into you as he scarfs his eggs down, but the one time you try and look back at him he acts as though he's trying not to get caught. You wonder what he could possibly be thinking, until Anna starts talking about the day's itinerary. This is good, this is distracting from the awkwardness, this is what the holiday is all about.
All wrapped up for a brisk November morning, you all head out to the pier, as per tradition. As Ralph gets face to face with the rides, he looks up at them, horrified, and you frown. "Are you scared of rides, or something?" He looks back down at the pier floor, watching the waves crash beneath a gap in the planks, with more fear in his eyes. "Hey, hey," you soothe, "eyes up." Ralph eventually tears his gaze away to look at you. "I promise it's all safe. It's not like those travelling funfairs where everything gets wheeled in and out, everything's built to stay here. Alright?" He still seems distracted, and before you can stop yourself, you blurt out, "Wanna hold my hand again?"
Stupid. What happened to not feeding the delusion? What happened to distancing yourself? What happened to being realistic? You know exactly what happened. Those damn baby-cow eyes. Hopefully Ralph'll say no. It'll be too scandalous for him to hold hands in public with people all around, surely.
But no. His fingers very carefully slide between yours yet again as he squeezes your hand gratefully. You keep both of your hands relatively tucked away from the others' view - they've already got you two sharing a bed, the last thing you need is having to constantly try to convince them all that you and Ralph aren't an item. Despite the fact that it would certainly be a good thing for you, a constant reminder to you that it can never happen, you know your friends well enough by now to know that they’d only take it as denial. That they’d keep pressing to ‘uncover’ whatever they believe you’re hiding. And you’ve gone this long keeping your one big secret from them, what if they keep digging until they find that out?!
Your train of thought is interrupted by a loud giggle from Ralph. He sees the photo op cutout of a cop and robber chase scene and he’s delighted by it. “Wanna pose?” You let go of Ralph’s hand to take your phone out and hand it to one of your friends as you both run behind the photo stand. Ralph finds the resulting picture absolutely hilarious. 
“I always wanted to do one of those,” he muses as the pair of you hang back for him to once again hold your hand, to your own chagrin. Why couldn’t you have offered to link arms? That’s friendly enough. Can’t really be misconstrued. His smile, small but contented, melts your frustrations away, if only to add to them later on as you’re walking with him.
“Did they not have people taking your photo for you, even, in those days, then?” you ask quietly, so as not to be overheard.
Ralph half-shrugs, “There were cameras, you know. Far bigger than those little pocket ones everyone has now!”
“Yeah, I think I know of them. Big box things, someone would have to stand under a curtain and hold out a thing to press to take it, right?” you ask.
Ralph holds back his laughter as he replies with amusement, “By a thing to press, do you mean a button, by any chance?”
You pull a sarcastic face at him. “I’m leaving you stranded here,” you joke, tugging him in a particular direction to show him you’re not serious. “You’re spending too much time around me, I think. Starting to sound like me and everything,” you shake your head.
“Is that such a bad thing?” Ralph asks in a small voice.
Trying not to overthink what else that could mean, you shrug, “Well, I s’pose if I’ve a part to play in you being able to tell your sister to shove it, then not really. But using my own brand of sarcasm against me?” You tut, again shaking your head. “I’ve created a monster.” Ralph laughs gently at you as everyone stops at their first ride: the Turbo roller coaster. 
Everyone laughs at the shade of green Ralph turns. “I promise you, mate, it’s far scarier down here than it is up there,” Connor tries to reassure him, but Ralph is fixated on the loop in the track.
“Honestly, Ralphie babe, that is the tiniest loop you’ll ever go on. It’ll be over before you even know it, and by the time it is over, you’ll love it, promise!” Grace holds her little finger out to Ralph, who stares at it with fearful eyes for a few beats before linking his own, to everyone’s cheers.
You allow your hands to be a little less obscured, under the guise that Ralph is only scared of the ride and so you are providing a temporary comfort. Anna also rests her head against Ralph’s arm, and Scott places a comforting hand on his shoulder, at your invitation. “The more of us that comfort him, the better, right?” you explain. “Plus, if there’s any… Prying eyes…” You look around anxiously. “At least they can’t assume that Ralph and I are dating just ’cause we’re stood together,” you roll your eyes exaggeratedly. “I don’t need that sort of attention, it’s bad enough on socials.”
You don’t see Ralph’s change in demeanour. What was a quiet excitement mellowed amongst the fear of the ride, turns to full-blown dejection. Of course you’d be embarrassed to be associated with him. Who wouldn’t be? No matter what era he’s in, he’s still Ralph.
Anna interrupts his train of thought by rubbing his arm, “You alright, Ralph?” He nods, pushing a smile up his cheeks. “Nervous?” She asks, and he nods silently. She hugs his arm tight. “Honestly, there’s nothing to it.”
“Yeah, you’ll be a thrill-seeker like the rest of us in no time!” Scott grins before nudging you and Ralph each. “You two should get a photo on the Crazy Mouse for the flat!”
You shake your head, “Come off it, like either of us would want a photo of us being flung around like that! Right, Ralph?” Again, he nods without saying a word. Your brow furrows, “Are you okay? Did you want to sit this one out?” He shakes his head. “Sure? We can just go get food if you would rather watch this lot go round first and then we can go later,” you offer, but he shakes his head again.
“Besides, it’s not like it’d be the worst photo of him out there,” a completely strange voice from the other side of the queue barrier makes you jump.
“Excuse me?!” Scott exclaims.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you all! We just saw Ralph, and then you, and really wanted to get a photo, if that’s okay?” They ask you. They seem innocent enough, just asking for a picture, but you still can’t help but stand there awkwardly.
“Oh, I’m not really into that side of things, I only got my socials to make sure people are being normal about him,” you shrug them off before adding, “and to reward you all with some extra content if you’re all behaving!” They laugh, and you turn to Ralph. “What do you say, do you wanna take a photo with some of your fans?”
Ralph approaches the barrier and leans over it to pose for the photo, pressing his lips together into a smile as he holds an arm around his first in-person fan. “My friends and I just think you’re absolutely hilarious!” They smile up at him.
“Oh, please,” he laughs, flustered. Though he has his new hat on, you can guess what’s happening beneath it. “My lack of knowledge of technology doesn’t necessarily make me hilarious, anyone could do that.”
“Nah, there’s a sort of… Natural charm about you. Plus, I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, but you’re really cute. Even in that photo that’s going around.”
Ralph sputters nervously as the rest of you exchange glances. You manage to hide your seething rage from your friends, though you feel it boring through your eyes as they fixate on this person. “Ah, don’t be so silly! You’re far too kind. Um, is that your friend over there waving you away?” He asks as someone approaches, thankfully dragging their friend away while talking about spotting a Twitch streamer as they head in the direction of some poor sod wearing a black and white face covering. You wonder whether that’s their ‘thing’ or if they’re doing it to avoid detection. You wonder if you’ll have to do that with Ralph at some point. His internet fame is becoming less and less of the laugh it first seemed to be with every day.
“You alright?” Anna again checks in with Ralph, who looks slightly bewildered still.
“Should I have responded differently there?” He asks.
You’re quick to answer, “No! No, I think you did the right thing, there.” You then hurriedly follow it up with a, “I mean, dating fans is never a good idea, right?”
“Yeah, not gonna lie, that made me uncomfortable,” Connor cringes. “You handled it way better than me, mate.” Ralph feels a sense of pride at his words. The line starts to move and soon enough, you’re all getting into carriages yourself. 
You make sure you and Ralph are in one near the middle, so he feels safer. Once you’re all strapped in, and the attendant is sure Ralph is, too, you see him already squeezing his eyes half-shut in anticipation. You poke him gently and hold your hand out again. “It’ll be here if you need it, okay?”
“Oh, it’s quite alright, I wouldn’t want to be a -” Ralph starts, but as the coaster jolts into motion he quickly grasps your hand tightly.
Ralph’s half-laugh/half-scream serenades you throughout the whole ride, especially at the loop. Once the ride brings you back upright again, you look over at him. “Was that so bad?”
“Boy, that was exhilarating, wasn’t it?!” He beams, and everyone else cheers for him from their own seats.
“You did it, Ralphie!” “We’re so proud of you, babe!” “Reckon we’ve awoken the thrillseeker in you?” Ralph’s too giddy to answer any of those. 
You can barely get him to stand upright without his legs turning to jelly, unless you get him to hold your arms while you hold his. He falls into your arms with a giddy laugh, and you gently shove him onto his own gait. “Easy, tiger!” You giggle. “God knows what you’re gonna be like on the other rides.”
Once he sees the Crazy Mouse coaster in action, that green hue in his skin returns, so you decide to build his courage up a little more. His face simply turns white when he sees the ghost train. Scott notices and rolls his eyes, “Oh my god, Ralph, don’t even worry about it, this is literally the least scary ride on here.”
His partner pipes up, “Yeah, there’s scarier creatures on the merry-go-round than there are in there!”
“I wonder if they’ve put the face back on that animatronic from last year or not?” You ask, before looking over to Ralph, who looks horrified. “It’s unintentionally the scariest thing there, and it’s not even that bad. Trust me. Remember?” You hold your hand out, wiggling your fingers. “If you need it.”
“What if… People assume?” Ralph asks, trying not to spit the word out with the venom that wants to follow it.
You shrug, “I think your face justifies your need to have someone hold your hand. If you’d rather, you can sit with Connor or Anna, I was just suggesting -” He takes your hand again in silence, and you walk him over to queue up at the ghost train.
The moment the ride takes you into a dark hallway, Ralph buries his face in your shoulder, and you pat his cheek comfortingly. However, as he starts to see the quality of the animatronics (“Was that one being held up by -” “Duct tape, yes.”) and experience how poorly timed the “jump scares” are, he relaxes far more. 
You take him on the twister next, which only ends up throwing your body into his at every convenience, a consequence you’d forgotten in the year since you’d last been on it. Still, he seemed too invested in the adrenaline rush that came with being thrown around in circles to notice your proximity.
After a quick pit stop to eat, and reassurance to Ralph that you weren’t going straight back onto any rides, you go into the arcade. Ralph’s face lights up along with all the games as you explain what ones are. He excitedly tells you that he recognised the fortune teller machine and a strength tester game from his own youth. 
You let the others go on ahead as you and Ralph pay for a go on the fortune teller. It tells you, “A smile is worth a hundred frowns in any market!” You look at Ralph with the biggest smile you can muster, and he returns with one of your favourite expressions of his, the big fake animatronic-style smile that could rival the fortune teller. “And lucky for you, the great Zoltar sees much happiness ahead for you!” You bite your lip at the irony. Does that mean Ralph's happiness, that he’ll be returning home soon? Your happiness, that he’ll be staying? Or is it just a randomly generating machine?
It prints off a fortune and you read it together: You may be riding the winds of change. Things may at times seem to be out of touch. Soon they will come to a better order. As the blessings of health and fortune have a beginning, so they must also find an end. Everything rises but to fall. To make sense of all this, you will find the answer is to be found in how well you relate to people. Looking at the big picture will help shape your long range plans. If things are not always smooth remember that he who could foresee affairs but three days in advance would be rich for thousands of years.
You blow out a long breath of disbelief at how weirdly on the nose that seems to be for you both and quickly pocket it to find the others. Grace is trying to get her new boyfriend to win her a stuffed toy on the cranes. Scott is trying to finesse a coin-pusher game while his partner and Connor play a dance mat game behind him, and Ralph leaves you to watch in awe as Anna plays a pinball machine. She tries to explain the mechanics of it all to him, but it seems to be going entirely over his head.
You play your favourite game for a while, trying to win as many tickets as possible, when Ralph soon joins you as well. “Any luck with pinball?” You ask, and Ralph shakes his head.
“I wasn’t sure how to play it, I didn’t really seem to be doing anything, rather just pushing an awful lot of buttons for the sake of it,” he answers. 
“Sounds like you were playing it right to me!” You laugh. “What do you wanna do now?”
“Well,” he says, excitement obvious in his voice. “I saw one of those photo booths around there…”
You gasp, “Yes! Let’s do it!” before looking around with disappointment. “Ugh, how are we gonna fit everyone in, though?”
“Perhaps we can get individual ones with people across the week?” Ralph suggests.
“Alright,” you nod. “Wanna get some practice in, just us?” Ralph nods back at you, and you both head into the booth.
Once you’ve paid for it, Ralph asks, “Now how does it all work, again?”
“Right, it’ll tell you when - oh, for fuck’s sake,” you groan as it takes a photo of you mid-sentence, and Ralph stifles a laugh. “Okay, quick, when’s it taking anoth- ahh!” Another snap takes you by surprise, and Ralph doesn’t attempt to hide his amusement this time. You throw your hands up in disbelief, “Well, this is a waste now, isn’t it,” before collapsing into laughter yourself.
“I am sorry,” Ralph frowns at you once all four are taken, and you wave him off. 
“Don’t be! I should have set us a game plan from the beginning.” You decide on your poses: a normal, smiley one; a goofy-grinning one; one with both your tongues sticking out; and one where you kiss his cheek. You promise him that it’s not at all scandalous to pose in this way, and that between Grace and Scott, at least one of them would want a photo with him like it anyway so you’re simply getting him geared up for that. You’re promising yourself that more than him, if you’re being honest with yourself.
You end up posing for the first one with your heads touching as you smile gently into the camera. He’s not giving his usual uncomfortable smile, or his disappearing-lip act. It’s just a nice, natural smile. Which is immediately replaced with a fake smile so big, he has to hold himself up on the bench with both of his hands to hold himself at an angle worthy of the grin on his face, which you mirror. When you tell him, “Tongues out!” yours pokes straight out towards the camera, but he lets his loll out to show off the flat of his tongue to the camera instead. You remind him to look ahead for the last one by pointing at the screen, and then holding the cheek furthest from you to push it closer to you, feeling his freshly trimmed down stubble scratch at your lips as you feel them press against the warm flesh of his cheek beneath.
Once all four are done, you quickly get out to make sure both strips are still there to collect. Thankfully, nobody else has seen them, and you pick them both up to study them. You try not to focus on the bottom photo of the second strip, instead looking at the total disaster that is the first strip. Most of them are blurry and far from flattering, but the final one. What is it with the last photo with you two?! You’re laughing, as is Ralph, but the way Ralph is angled, you could just as easily fool yourself into believing that he’s looking at you as though he’s madly in love with you.
As he emerges, he asks, “So, were those first ones completely unusable?”
Quickly tearing off the bottom photo to pocket it, you crumpled up the remaining three and throw them in the bin. “Yeah, pretty much! Here, hold onto these ones, though, and we can put them on the fridge when we get back home.”
Home. Do you mean that to mean your home is Ralph’s, too, or are you speaking on your own terms? Neither of you know, to be honest.
Your friends reconvene around you, and you tell them of yours and Ralph’s plan for each of them to get a mini photoshoot with him, what with it being his first time on this holiday with you all. Everyone happily accepts getting their own photo ops in with Ralph, and you love watching how everyone poses with him. Your personal favourites are Anna teaching him how to throw up deuces as they pull funny faces, Connor teaching him how to make hand horns as they stick their tongues out, Scott and his partner both kissing each of Ralph’s cheeks, and Ralph’s feigned disgust as Grace drapes herself over her boyfriend.
After all that excitement, you decide you’ll return to the rides another day. Instead, you find a nice little Italian place to eat that’s taken over an old cafe you had used to love coming to, but this new restaurant has an even better vibe than its predecessor. That, and Ralph learning how to eat spaghetti through trial and error is hilarious, especially when he decides that the best way is to simply find the ends of as many strands as possible and slurp them all up. The rest of you make a game of picking a strand each and seeing which one lasts the longest.
On the way back, Ralph gets recognised again. Thankfully, this person knows better than to flirt with a total stranger, though Ralph still seems astounded at the whole experience. This fan says something about being able to replace their icon from “the explosion photo”, and so, remembering the one from earlier mentioning an unflattering picture, once you’re all back at the house you look through Ralph’s follower list and burst into laughter. 
It seems as though his fans have taken a screenshot of his disdain after microwaving the egg and made it their profile pictures. Some have left it as is, with your kitchen in the background. Some have added further explosions and other phenomena in the background. Ralph is the only one who doesn’t see the funny side, the disappointment returning to his expression.
With a sigh, you promise him, yet again, that there is no need to be upset. You’re not upset with him, the flat was easily cleaned, the microwave remains functional. You understand that this comes from years of being raised poorly, but having to constantly remind Ralph that you aren’t mad at him, is ironically the thing that frustrates you the most about him.
The next day, after again waking up to Ralph practically on the edge of his side of the bed, you decide to go to the Lanes to explore some of the vintage shops. Mostly, for your own amusement, you want to watch Ralph react to what is considered “vintage”, but you know you’re going to have to rein it in around everyone else. The day flies by in a montage of trying on ridiculously old clothes, ones that even Ralph turns his nose up at, trying to find the most cursed old toys in every shop, and Ralph trying desperately to stifle his excitement every time he recognises something from his own time period. Ralph gets recognised again by a young, tall blonde boy and his shorter brunette friend, though those two soon get accosted themselves, which allows you to get Ralph away to the safety of a quieter shop.
After your shopping excursion, you return to the pier to play some more games, this time from the attractions around the pier. Thankfully, Ralph seems far more confident walking on it, so there’s no need for you to offer any hand-holding services - although it does already feel strange walking around with both hands empty. You manage to win a stuffed animal on a throwing game, and Ralph decides his skill set is best utilised playing hook-a-duck - though he throws the person running the game off of their rhythm when the prize he asks for is to keep the duck itself, as Ralph personally has no use for stuffed animals. The person running the game, totally baffled, ends up letting Ralph keep the rubber duck, which he seems thrilled about, placing the hook over his finger and letting the duck swing from it with great delight.
“I think I get why cats like him so much,” Connor comments from where he’s stood just behind you as you watch Ralph. “You know how you can buy them all the expensive toys they want but they just wanna play in the box?” You snort with laughter in agreement. “He’s just one of them.”
While Ralph insists on everyone referring to the duck by its name, Clarence, he apparently draws the line at your joke of offering to pay for him to shoot a photo booth reel with his new friend. He looks at you with disapproval at that one.
You still utilise Clarence in his own way, though. Everywhere you go from that point onwards, you take a photo of the duck in that area, and then post it to Ralph’s Instagram story for him, though you only do so once you’re no longer in that place, for obvious reasons.
That evening, at the house, Connor tells Ralph he’s got a surprise for him, and to close his eyes and hold his hands out. Your heart swells when you see that Connor, who had excitedly spent the best portion of an hour in a music shop, has bought Ralph his own ukulele. Ralph looks close to tears at the gift. “Oh, Connor, I couldn’t possibly -”
“None of that, you can and you will,” Connor states simply while pointing at him, and Ralph shrinks down in defeat, opting instead to look at the ukulele with marvel. You all spend the night listening to Ralph play his chords, everyone occasionally offering lyrics to the tunes he was playing. God, he fits in so well with you all. It’s going to be so heartbreaking to tell them all when it’s his time to leave.
You wonder if the window of opportunity will only be open while you’re away. It’s a risk you’ve had to take to make sure he stays safe, since he literally only proved days ago that he still can’t be trusted unsupervised. What if you miss it? Would he resent you? Would it cause some insane rip in the time-space continuum? There’s really not a lot of solid research into this whole time travel business.
The next morning, you’re shocked to awaken to Ralph’s face dangerously close to yours as it rests on the inner half of his pillow. You could count his eyelashes, they were that close. You could connect his freckles, they were that close. His lips twitch ever so slightly in his sleep as you’re studying his face. His face that’s so close to yours. His lips that are -
You quickly take yourself out of that trance and practically throw yourself down the stairs, you’re that quick to leave the room, and those thoughts.
Ralph awakens, sadly, from a dream where you’re happy to have him in your arms to find himself near enough in the middle of the bed. He wonders exactly how he got there. You’re already awake, because of course, you always are. You don’t lie awake for almost an hour every night trying desperately to stay as rigidly far away from the centre of the bed as possible.
When Ralph arrives for breakfast, the group have already decided that today is more of a lazy day. They’ll go out later, of course, but there’s no rush. Just a day spent at the house, playing more board games and listening to both Connor and Ralph playing the ukulele as Connor teaches him how to teach himself actual songs. You even post Ralph’s first photo dump to his Instagram account:
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As fun as it is to get out and experience another city, especially getting to do so with Ralph for the first time, you make just as many memories on this rest day. Memories like Ralph not only playing Jackbox for the first time, but somehow winning several games. Memories like watching Grace and her boyfriend playing board games as if they’d been married for years, even though she wrongfully accuses you and Ralph of playing the same way.
In the last hour of sunlight, you realise something. “I haven’t found my rock for this year, yet!”
Ralph looks at you strangely. “Your what?” Before answering his own question. “Do you mean that shelf full of stones in the bedroom has a purpose?”
“Yes! Every year, I find myself a cool-looking rock to take back. It’s tradition,” you explain with a gesture. “Plus, it gets us all out of the house at least once.”
“W’re all goin’ out la’er,” Connor groans from where he lays across the sofa he’s been sleeping on, beneath a mountain of crisps he’s been making his way through.
“At least twice then, lazybones,” you comment, but almost everyone else is happy to stay home.
Everyone except Ralph, who hurriedly gets his shoes on. Of course, it’s just you and Ralph. Alone. Far away from home. Nothing could possibly go wrong, here.
Thankfully, you’re on a mission, here. You can distract yourself with the task of finding the best looking rock on the beach. It can’t just be the first cool rock you see, oh no. It has to be the best one. That’s always been your rule.
Ralph tries to help, but honestly, a puppy would be less excitable. He keeps grabbing the first rock he can, running up to you to ask, “Is this useful?” to which the answer is almost always “no”, and so he simply throws it back to the ground and looks again. There are three separate occasions where he shows you ones he’s already asked you about. But he’s having fun, and he looks adorable, and maybe tonight you’ll be able to delude yourself into a happy little dream where Ralph’d be happy to do anything for you. Though perhaps not quite anything, that sort of dream would have to be reserved for a time when you’re not sharing a bed with him.
You thump the side of your head with the heel of your hand, as though you’re trying to knock the idea out of your brain. There is absolutely no time and place for those kind of thoughts.
At one point, Ralph sees a young child throwing rocks one at a time into the sea, with great delight. Ralph also seems highly entertained by it, and when the kid looks over at him, he decides to join in by grabbing a whole handful of rocks and throwing them all into the water at once. The kid thinks this is the most hilarious thing they’ve ever seen before. Ralph seems happy enough to keep doing it until the kid’s parents take them away. You’re happy to just sit back on the ground and watch Ralph, taking photos and videos of this moment. 
 Ralph soon joins you where you sit, laughing breathlessly. “Oh, what a joy that was!”
“You certainly looked as though you were having a blast,” you simper. “Though if you threw away the ultimate rock amongst all of that, I may never forgive you,” you add in a sarcastic deadpan.
“I would completely understand,” Ralph nods back, unable to keep up any monotony for any amount of time before snorting with laughter. He looks out at the horizon, pointing out how the sky looks now that the sun is starting to set. “Don’t see that very often in London,” he frowns.
You shake your head, “Nah, it’s usually too cloudy. Not that different here, we’ve just caught a good moment. Looks nice, doesn’t it, all reflecting on the water and that?” You cock your head to the side and sigh happily. “Could sit here for hours watching it.”
Ralph tenses up, trying desperately not to think of how your head just rests against his arm, the weight of it still pressing down on the padded sleeve of his coat enough for him to feel it. He swallows hard, “Yes, it’s too bad that the sunset doesn’t last long at all, isn’t it?”
“You’re telling me,” you add with a soft smile before sitting up. “That’s why I wanted to try and get to the beach now, to get to see it at least once. ’m glad you came with me,” you muse before suddenly realising you’re treading into dangerous territory here. To save yourself, you quickly add, “Y’know, so that you get to see it too, while you’re still here. Since you were saying you haven’t been on a holiday like this since you were a kid. Maybe you can go on more of them once you’re back.”
“Maybe,” Ralph replies emotionlessly.
You sit in relative silence as you watch the sky together. You get a “golden hour” selfie with Ralph, mostly to teach him about it, though he says that he doesn’t see much difference between that photo and most of the others you’ve taken in the past. After realising that he’s brought it with him in his pocket, too, you spend a good few minutes laughing along with Ralph as you try to find the most photogenic angle of Clarence the duck to add to his photo collection.
Once the view stops being quite so aesthetically pleasing, you stop off at the pier again to buy some sugared doughnuts to share with Ralph as you make your way over to the pub that you plan to meet your friends at. You love this pub as another of your holiday traditions, because Wednesday nights are karaoke nights. You wonder whether Ralph’ll feel confident enough to sing along to any modern songs. The mental image of Ralph taking to the mic to sing along to Taylor Swift with his entire chest is enough to make you laugh out loud, which confuses Ralph, but you opt to not tell him, merely shaking your head and covering your mouth instead.
To your disappointment when you get there, the pub no longer does karaoke, but Wednesdays are now pub quiz nights. You still stick around for dinner, and after a couple of drinks, you end up signing up for the quiz, for a laugh. None of you expect to get very far, but Grace’s boyfriend really pulls through with sports questions, and even Ralph ends up answering the question that ultimately wins the whole quiz for you, one about a specific style of shoes that had rendered the rest of you clueless.
Everyone ends up watching your group celebrating Ralph. The leaders of the second-place team, an older blonde man and a dark-haired woman he refers to as his wife, even join in with their own congratulations.
 A pair of young women offer to buy Ralph a drink, to which Connor starts encouraging Ralph to go with them. You very quickly make conversation about the rest of the week’s plans with Anna and Grace to distract yourself, but Ralph doesn’t seem interested, much to your confusion. You look around at your friends, who all seem to be exchanging their own looks to each other, but none of them seem to want to look at you. You shake your head and make your way to the bathroom, scoffing indignantly at the two men who barge past you to get to the door next to you.
After a few minutes of silent pep talk to remind yourself that you have no right to feel bad if Ralph expresses interest in someone else, Anna comes in specifically to find her. After promising her a full eight times that you’re absolutely fine, you both head back out to the group, where Scott had brought along a game from the house that you can all play together. You notice Ralph isn’t there, but you don’t bring it up. You’re not his keeper, after all.
~~~
“Ah, ladies, this is quite an honour, obviously, but I am out with friends and it would be rather impolite to just leave them!” Ralph explains hurriedly to the two women who have approached him to congratulate him on his efforts.
“I dunno, your mate there seems pretty keen for you to come over,” one smirks in Connor’s direction.
“I must insist, I could never live with myself for taking advantage of such generous women as yourselves, though I am deeply grateful that you should wish to spend your night in my company! I’m afraid I’m very much not from around here, and so I would get frightfully lost without my friends to guide me home,” Ralph blabbers, getting more and more flustered.
“Maybe you can come back to mine, then?” The other asks, looking suggestively at him as she touches his arm. It’s a gentle contact, but it electrifies Ralph at high voltage as he yelps, pulling it away.
“Truly flattered, but I am a gentleman first and foremost and so I simply must decline such an offer, and I shan’t be staying long enough to court you appropriately, but I wish you both very well in your endeavours!” Ralph practically shouts as he turns on his heel and quickly makes his way to the toilets. 
Ralph walks in on quite a sight. Two men, reasonably bigger than himself, bent double over the sinks. “Pardon me,” Ralph calls out, with the intention on simply throwing some water on his face as a wake-up call of sorts, but the men jump up in surprise at the sound of his voice.
“Ain’t nothing to see here, mate, jog on,” one says, trying to square up against Ralph.
“Sorry, gents, just wanted a quick go at the sink, and then I’ll be out of your hair, I promise!” He smiles brightly, completely oblivious. He catches sight of a line of white powder along the counter and chuckles to himself as he recognises it as cocaine, thinking back to previous parties he’d held at Penbury House.
The first man growls, “Find something funny?”
“Oh, just reminiscing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen… You know,” his eyes flash over to the substance on the counter. “Just fondly remembering old times.”
“Oi, ain’t no way this toff’s a user,” the second man shakes his head.
The first one snarls with a smile, "You a copper?"
"Heavens, no!" Ralph laughs. "Not to worry, gentleman, I'm no telltale, your secret is safe with me!"
"I'm not buying it," the second one looks at Ralph with an upturned nose. "I reckon he's a snitch."
"Well, only one way to prove it, innit," the first one grins uncomfortably at Ralph as he gestures towards the counter. "Care to join us?" he asks in a voice that mocks Ralph's.
“Well, if you insist, I - straight from the counter?” Ralph asks in disgust, but the chorusing snarl answers him quite adequately. “I suppose beggars can’t be choosers!”
Just as he finishes the first line, he’s interrupted by a loud, “RALPH! Fucking hell, get your head out of there! What the fuck is wrong with you two dickheads?!” Connor grabs Ralph by the back of his jumper and throws him back. “You alright? How much have you had?”
“Oh please, it was barely even a full line, it’s nothing,” Ralph insists, to both Connor and Scott’s baffled expressions.
“We don’t have time to unpack that right now,” Connor throws Ralph in Scott’s direction at the emphasis, causing Ralph to trip over his own feet through both of the steps it takes to get there, and Scott catches him, trying to get a good look at his eyes. Connor turns to the two men. “Alright, look.”
“Don’t know that I feel up to much talking,” one snarls.
Connor pulls a sarcastic expression. “Oh yeah, beat a guy up in the same room your coke’s still out for the world to see, good one(!) Shut the fuck up, yeah? We didn’t see anything, neither did you. Just - I mean, what the fuck were you thinking, giving your shit away for free, to him?!”
The man shrugs, “Had to call his bluff, innit? Thought he was a narc.”
“Well, you thought wrong, didn’t you,” Connor sneers, remaining sarcastic as ever. “Just… Clean up and get the fuck out of here, yeah? C’mon,” he gestures for Scott and Ralph, who’s already starting to bounce on the balls of his feet, to get out.
~~~
Once you finally see all three boys re-emerge from the bathroom, as you’d asked the other two to check on Ralph, you notice something off amongst them. Ralph seems in far higher spirits than the others. You get up to meet them halfway and notice something white and powder-y on the edge of Ralph’s nostril. “The fuck is that?!” You ask incredulously.
Scott looks over and quickly pulls his shirt sleeve down to wipe at Ralph’s nose with it. “Nothing!” He lilts, though his expression as he flashes his eyes at you confirms your worst fears about it. Scott mutters, “We need to get him to a hospital.”
“No!” You and Ralph chorus loudly. You shush the man and hurriedly lie, “No, you’ve not seem him in a hospital, he’s fucking useless, faints the second he gets in, he hates it all, honestly. Give him here, just - I’ll take him back to the house, I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“I promise you all, I am fine, I’ve done far more than that in my years!” Ralph states. “Can we please just return to our night?”
“Respectfully, mate, you don’t know what this shit’s been laced with,” Connor warns. “I’m with Scott, I think hospital’s the best place.”
“And I’m telling you, it really fucking isn’t,” you hiss back at them. “He just needs to get back home so he can’t make any more bad decisions.” Ralph frowns at your words, but you ignore him.
“Alright, we’ll pack up,” Scott starts, but you stop him.
“No, no.” You sigh, “Look, it’s still your holiday, too. I’ll take him back, I’ll keep you guys updated, but you lot just enjoy the night without us, okay?”
“We really don’t mind,” Connor shakes his head, but you persist.
“Honestly. Just…Hang on a second.” You return to the table, spinning a tale of how Ralph’s got a migraine and so you’re going to take him home as you put your outdoor clothes on. Everyone still at the table calls out well-wishes for Ralph as you make your way back to him, informing the boys of what you’ve said, and you lead Ralph out of the door into the brisk evening air.
You walk in silence, not knowing what to say. You’re concerned about Ralph, obviously, but you’re also just so mad at him for doing something so stupid. Who accepts some rando’s offer of coke off a random pub sink?! What the fuck was he thinking?! And now, everyone else is enjoying their holiday while you spend it the way you spend every single day - babysitting a 25 year old man who acts without consequence because he doesn’t bear them, you do. You may as well be at home with him.
“You know,” Ralph finally breaks the silence as you walk up the street that the house is on, “I’m not a child. I knew what I was doing.”
You sigh, “Free drugs is a massive red flag, Ralph. You could have gotten into some serious shit.”
“Well clearly not if we’re just going straight back to the house,” he points out.
“Okay, Ralph, what do you want me to say when we get to the hospital? ‘Hi, I’ve got a man here who needs drugs pumped out of his system. Name? Ralph Penbury. Date of birth? February 1st 1901. Oh, what’s that? You’ve got him marked as being dead for the last 96 years? Then what’s he doing stood here?!’” Ralph goes quiet up until you get to the front door, where you press your hands into your face and groan. “Ugh, I’m sorry, Ralph. I shouldn’t have snapped like that, that wasn’t fair. I know you can’t help… That bit. But you can say no to drugs, surely?!” More silence. With a sad sigh, you unlock the door and let Ralph go ahead. “Want me to make you a cup of tea?” You ask, and he nods before running up the stairs.
You kick yourself internally for upsetting Ralph before then arguing with yourself. Why should you be apologising? You were right. It’s your holiday, too, and he should have thought more carefully. You have every right to be upset, yourself. But you’ll forgive Ralph for that, the way you always do, because you already know you’re going to lose him at some point, and that’s going to be painful enough, and if you can put it off for as long as possible, you’re going to. 
He pads back into the kitchen in his pyjamas, looking at you with his big doe eyes as you hand him a hot mug full of tea. “It seems to be the ordinary stuff,” he states, “because it’s only just about affecting me. Same way it always does.”
“Did you… Do it often?” You ask slowly. “To cope with stuff?”
“Heavens, no, it’s no coping mechanism!” He shakes his head. “Cocaine’s always been a staple at Penbury socials. It’s… Acquiring and using it was always the thing people liked having me around for,” he explains quietly as he takes a big sip from his mug. “It barely affects me these days, just makes me… More likeable, I suppose.”
Of course there’s a dreadfully sad story to go along with this. Just more fuel for you to feel bad about snapping at him. You walk over to him and wrap your arms around his shoulders as he continues drinking. “You know how much we all like having you around the way you are, Ralph. I mean, we might be able to make a citizen out of you yet if we just claim you as Scott and his partner’s adopted child!” You joke, and Ralph lets out a small, breathy laugh. 
“It’s… Hard to believe, still. Sometimes. Sorry,” he mutters, leaning down to rest his head against yours.
“You have to trust us, Ralphie,” you squeeze him gently, “that’s part of having friends. You like having us around, right?” He nods violently. “Right! So part of making sure we stay around is knowing we want to. If you don’t trust that people wanna be your friend, they’re gonna assume you don’t want them to be.”
“Is that what Scott and Connor will think of me, now?” he asks sadly.
“Well no, because they don’t know… That, what you’ve just told me.”
Even more quietly, he asks, “…Do you -?”
“Are you really asking me if I want you around?” You ask, raising your eyebrows at him. “Have I not done enough to prove my case there?!”
“More than,” he admits, still quiet. He takes another long sip and asks, “Does the TV here have all the films that we would have back at home?”
“Wanna watch Little Shop of Horrors while you come down?” You ask, amused, as Ralph nods in response. You let him curl up to lay his head on your lap as you both watch the film from the sofa Connor’s been sleeping on, Ralph’s foot tapping against the arm of it along with each song.
The rest of the gang return just before the movie ends, and they’re all happy to see that Ralph looks in relatively good condition. The pair of you retire to the bed soon after. Too tired to change out of your day clothes, you simply crawl into your side and sleep, forgetting to wish Ralph goodnight in your exhaustion.
You all decide that Thursday shall be another day on the pier, with Friday being a packing-up day due to the night out you have planned, so that you don’t have to worry about packing with a hangover and can head back as soon as you’re feeling well enough to on Saturday.
You start the day out in the arcade again, firstly making sure that you, Anna, Grace, Scott and Connor get your annual photos in the booth as per every year for as long as you can remember. You show Ralph and the others photos you have on your phone of reels from years past, to which they take great delight in seeing you all in younger years. “It’s nice to have friends that last,” Ralph smiles, and it makes your heart sink. Comments like that help your brain to justify keeping Ralph around regardless. He needs to be here, with his friends, with the people he loves and who love him. There’s been no major consequence so far. You start to wonder if there ever would be.
You quickly pull yourself from that train of thought, instead opting for the certainty of being out with your friends. Grace pulls Ralph towards the dance mats, itching to teach him, and you allow yourself to stand back with Grace’s boyfriend to watch them. Ralph may stomp on each arrow with such force that the ground shakes beneath you, but there’s no way you can comment on that when his face is lit up that much.
You lose track of him when Connor pulls him away to show him a shooting game, instead opting to go for one of the coin-pushers yourself. It seems as though Ralph also didn’t last long with that particular game, nor does he have the patience to wait for your tactical plays as he starts grabbing coins from your pot and placing them in the slots from behind you excitedly. You giggle uncontrollably as he keeps putting coins in and smugly adding the occasional, “See?” when a whole pile drops.
It’s only when you feel your back collide against his chest that you’re brought back to your senses, and you tug at his arm until you’re standing beside him instead, trying to keep your tone playful with an, “Alright, then, if you wanna play that way, don’t let me stop you!” as you find another game that’s easy ticket fodder.
Eventually, you tell Ralph that it’s time for him to face his ultimate fear, that you’re all going to ride the Crazy Mouse roller coaster. He nods, still agreeing to go on it with you all, though he remains quiet. Once you’re in the line for it, you try and brush your hand against his again to let him know you’re there for him, but he makes no attempt to hold it. You hope it’s because he’s getting braver, but his stoic expression doesn’t exactly give you that impression.
Since today is warmer than the others, none of you had really decided to wear hats today, which makes the state you all end up in after being spun and thrown around the roller coaster track all the more hilarious. Ralph’s curls especially are in full force, sticking up in all directions, which the fans who recognise him today point out a lot. You notice there are more today than ever before and check his name on Twitter to see your suspicions confirmed - people are starting to publicly announce sightings of Ralph in the wild, which is leading to people congregating with the sheer hopes of seeing him out in the wild. You’re not sure how many more of these appearances you can take.
You return to the hook-a-duck stall so that Ralph can proudly show off Clarence to the man running the stall. A young man with a mullet pouts about how he was told that he wasn’t “allowed” to keep a duck, even though it matched the red beanie his friend is wearing even today. The man behind the stall simply explains that Ralph was more charming, to the hat-wearer’s amusement.
You go back to playing more games until the people working the arcade inform you that it’s nearly closing time. All of you band your tickets together and divide them fairly to redeem a prize each, though Ralph insists that he doesn’t get a share. He is more than happy with Clarence alone. If only you’d known sooner that the best way to placate Ralph would be to stick a hook in a rubber duck’s head.
Connor picks a box that contains fuzzy car dice, “for a laugh”. It certainly does raise a lot of laughs when he opens the box to find that the ones he’s ended up with are pink, but he shrugs it off. Scott and his partner pick out as many Pokémon cards as their tickets will allow them to, Grace gets a toy monkey with magnets in its hands and feet while her boyfriend picks out an inflatable guitar. Despite having already won a rather large teddy at the can game the other day, you take pity on another soft toy that clearly looks like it got into a fight with the manufacturer and came out losing, opting to take it home with you. Ralph looks at it fearfully, and you shake it at him jokingly.
Friday holds the weight of being the last full day away. Everything feels as though it's happening in slow motion, that it isn't in real time. It doesn’t entirely help that the day is filled with the mundane act of packing until the real thing to look forward to later tonight, which now feels eons away.
 When it finally reaches lunchtime, you talk the others into getting delivery. “Whatever happened to the ‘we should get out of the house, lazybones’ mentality, eh?” Connor teases.
“Do you feel up to being there while Ralph gets accosted by fans again?” you ask bluntly. “Besides, you should see Twitter today, it’s obsessive,” you pull a face of disgust as you scroll through posts to show your friends.
“These people need Jesus,” pipes up Grace’s boyfriend.
“You said it, babe,” Grace herself adds. “Surprised they haven’t realised he’s staying here and started camping out.” Scott tentatively looks out of the window, but nods in relief to confirm that nobody’s waiting out there.
You decide to make it the feast to end all feasts, each of you ordering food from different places and all sitting amongst your plethora of food to talk about your highlights of the whole trip, compare photos and overall just enjoy each others’ company. Even Ralph seems to perk up, which you’re glad about. He’d been pretty reserved all morning, which makes sense given how dull the day’s events have been, but you’re glad to see that there isn’t something else keeping him quiet.
Finally, the night is upon you. Everyone’s promised that they’ll all be on watch in case anyone tries to approach Ralph, either weird fanatic or potential danger, so that you can just switch off and enjoy your last night before returning to London.
You feel as though you may get to really enjoy it when you catch the attention of a man who’s far from unattractive. He keeps making eye contact with you from where he’s stood at the bar and flashing his eyes in invitation. After a few pep talks with the girls, who seem a little hesitant at first but soon warm to the idea of you having a night where you finally get to flirt and be flirted with, and just get to feel special for a night. And who knows, maybe that’ll be all it is. Maybe you won’t even spend your last night back at the house. After all, what’s a holiday for if not to live totally differently to how you would at home?
When you finally approach the bar, he smirks, “Look who finally made a decision!”
“Look who’s already blowing their shot!” you reply in the same lilted tone, making him laugh. You exchange names and he offers to buy you a drink. This is everything you’ve been needing to fill your confidence gauge - mostly banter, with the occasional ice-breaker question and the more than occasional compliment thrown your way. And honestly, the way he already matches your wit without you constantly needing to explain yourself, or reassure that you’re joking, just makes him even more attractive in the moment.
Ralph watches on from a distance, absolutely seething. Of course, you deserve to be happy. He knows that. He knows that you clearly wouldn’t be happy with him, and that’s why you’ve been keeping him at arm’s length, constantly putting the time travelling situation between you and him. But Ralph absolutely cannot stand to see it happening in front of his eyes. And so, with nothing stopping him, he marches over to you and taps your arm. “Hello!”
Not expecting any interruptions, you jolt, “Jesus, Ralph, you scared the shit out of me! Uh, yeah, this is Ralph, my - flatmate,” you explain.
“That’s right, we live together back at home as well as here!” Ralph beams falsely at the other man. “So, what are we talking about?”
The man laughs awkwardly under his breath as he shuffles in place and you say through gritted teeth, “Uh, Ralph, do you think maybe Connor wants to talk to you?”
“Oh, heavens, no, he’s got a pair of young women on the go himself, the dog!” Ralph scoffs.
“Seems as though two is an awful lot of people for just one of him to manage. Think you could take one off his hands?” you ask, again trying to make it very obvious that you want him to leave.
He doesn’t seem to be taking the hint, though. “Oh, I’d only interrupt them!”
“How terrible that would be.” You deadpan, before addressing the man you’d been talking to. “I’m so sorry, I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here,” he tips his glass to you. “Don’t forget, it’s your turn to buy the next round!”
You shoot him a flirtatious smile and grab Ralph’s wrist to tug him away. “Listen, Ralph, mate, I think maybe… You should spend tonight more around one of the others, than with me. Yeah?”
“But what if I slip up and mention something about… The situation at hand?” he asks, gesturing at himself.
You tut exasperatedly, “I dunno, then maybe… Just really try not to bring it up? It’s not that hard, you haven’t done it yet. I just… I really needed this, Ralph. Please?”
“Are you going to leave me in the bed alone tonight?” he asks quietly. Sadly.
You sigh. “I dunno. Maybe? We’re all adults here, Ralph, you’ve spent long enough being able to sleep in my bed by yourself, I’m sure someone else’s won’t be too different.” You find Grace, who’s with her boyfriend and Anna, and park Ralph with all of them before returning to your date for the evening.
Ralph’s only half-listening to whatever everyone else is talking about. His attention is laser-focused on that man. His hair is the same colour as Ralph’s, and it’s curly just like his, but there’s more of it. His eyes are the same colour as Ralph’s, but they’re obscured with glasses. He’s taller than Ralph, and he makes you laugh more than Ralph does, and if the cup he’s holding was made of anything other than glass, Ralph would have certainly squeezed it out of shape by now, if not broken it entirely.
While the girls take a momentary bathroom break, Grace’s boyfriend nudges Ralph. “You alright, mate? You look like the nerves are taking over. Wanna do a couple shots with me? It’ll take the edge off.”
Ralph agrees, hoping that perhaps the blanket of numbness over his brain that only alcohol causes will keep it quiet. Grace’s boyfriend has already paid for the shots when Ralph looks at them in horror. The last time he saw a shot glass filled with clear liquid, it resulted in all kinds of emotions. Still, perhaps it’s another clear spirit. Perhaps it won’t make Ralph feel the way he did that night.
Or maybe this is also vodka, and once both the shots that Ralph takes hit, perhaps he’s on his way back over to you. “Hello, again!”
You look at your date with resignation. He looks back at you with sympathy. It’s him who regards the new third wheel in the conversation, “Alright, mate? Ralph, isn’t it? How you doing?”
Ralph pays him no attention at all. “I fear I have once again gotten myself into a predicament,” he tells you.
“You’re a big boy, I’m sure you can get yourself out of it,” you flash warning eyes at Ralph to get back to literally anyone else.
He shakes his head, “No, no, it’s, um. It’s something you had explained to me. What are the different drinks that make me feel different things, again?”
You hold your hand to your head. “Ralph, mate… Do you feel as if something’s been put in your drink, or…?”
“I’m not sure what that would feel like,” he frowns, “but you know these things better than I do!”
“Here, look,” the man you’d been talking to stands up straight. So tall. “This has been great. Really great. But I think your flatmate needs you tonight, so… I’ll see you around, yeah?”
You shake your head dejectedly. “We literally go back to London first thing in the morning.”
He frowns at you sympathetically. “You’ve got a phone though, right?” You take it out to find that it’s out of battery.
You curse internally, “Knew there was something I forgot to do tonight. I’m so sorry.”
“Well. Perhaps in another time. It was lovely meeting you.” He looks Ralph up and down with a slight look of jealous defeat. “You too, mate,” he adds to Ralph through gritted teeth before stroking your arm once more, letting it linger for as long as possible until he walks away.
Something in you finally snaps. Every part of you is just… So done with Ralph right now. And he has the audacity to perk up again once it’s just the two of you?! “What the fuck was that about, Ralph?!”
“Well, I was just going to say that Grace’s… Gentleman friend had bought me some of those shots and I think they’re the sort that have the effect on me that you remember better than I,” Ralph explains with a slight shrug.
You shake your head. “Nah, nah, there’s more to it than that. I made it very clear that I was hitting it off with him, and I just wanted a night where I could -” You cut yourself off, but Ralph feels the tension, soaking it in himself.
“Oh, go on and get it over with, won’t you?” Ralph asks, once again playing the sad card. “It’s obvious there’s things you want to say to me, just say them to my face, please.”
“Okay, you know that’s not fair when you pull that shit, because then it makes me feel bad when I am allowed to be pissed off at you!” you snap. “You want me to say it to your face?! Alright, how’s about this, then. Having you at my ankles 24/7 is fucking exhausting, Ralph. I can’t even go on one night out and talk to one person that isn’t you, I - I didn’t sign up to be some random guy’s mother -”
“I do not see you like I would Mother!” Ralph defends, offence very obvious in his expression.
“Then why am I the one always cooking for you, always cleaning for you, always fucking working overtime because I’m paying for your bills and your food and your clothes -”
“Because, as you keep telling me, I’m not a real person here!” Ralph hisses through his teeth.
“It’s not just that, though, it’s the attitude that comes with it. You are so used to your little rich boy life that you don’t see how much I’m going through. My back is in constant fucking agony from months on that godawful sofa. I don’t get a single day off to myself anymore. I mean, fuck, you’ve had more dates than I have since you got here! I supported you putting yourself out there, even though it was one of the stupidest risks you could have taken -”
“Well, it’s a good job that didn’t work out then, isn’t it? Because once again, nobody wants anything to do with Ral-”
“Here it is again. I can’t just feel something, you have to also be feeling it twice as hard so that you’re the focus here, I - I can’t have anything for myself anymore!” you shout exasperatedly. “Not even one night where for once, I get to feel wanted. I - y’know, everyone fucking falls at their feet for you, you’ve even had people ask you out while we’re here! And nothing was stopping you if you wanted to! But the moment I want to indulge in the idea that maybe someone out there would show an interest in me -”
Ralph scoffs, “That man was only interested in one thing to do with you, and it’s much too vulgar. You deserve to be courted in the appropriate -”
“We’re not in the 1920s anymore, Ralph!” You press your fingers to your temples. “It’s not a bad thing for someone to just… Want you like that. And even then, let’s hash this out. Let’s say I could have been courted by him. You think someone like that is gonna think I’m worth sticking around for when I’ve got another man constantly in my shadow, fighting for my attention? I mean, fuck, what are you gonna do without me when you go back, eh?”
“Ah, again with the going home!” Ralph’s voice is audibly slurring by now. “It’s all you ever want to talk about with me, just tell me the truth already, it’ll hurt less. Tell me you can’t wait to be rid of me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Ralph, I don’t want you gone! Far fucking from it! But I’m not gonna mess with shit we know nothing about, and putting everything back where it was is logically the best thing to do.”
Ralph looks on the verge of crying. “So, that’s it, then. I’m not even worth a -one, I’m just a -thing now.”
“No, that’s not -” You take a deep breath. “Look. We’re going off on tangents that don’t even make fucking sense now. I’m going back to the house. To the bed, don’t worry your fragile little head, I’m not gonna go stand on a street corner like the harlot I am,” you pull a face, blinking back your own tears. “Thank you for ruining the one week a year I actually look forward to.”
You storm away from Ralph, though you find most of the group congregated together at the bar. You stop by them to explain that you and Ralph got into a fight, that you don’t want to talk about it but could they please just make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. They promise that they will, and so you head out of the bar, straight into one of the parked taxis and finally let yourself cry as it drives you back to the house.
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The Terrifying Ordeal of Falling in Love with Leon Kennedy
CHAPTER 13
Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Reader (female reader)
Series Warnings: Minor injuries, Leon teases reader a lot, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Drinking, Drinking followed by driving, DO NOT DO THAT THIS IS FICTION, Anxiety, Leon S. Kennedy has PTSD, Leon has an anxiety attack, Anxiety Attacks, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Nightmares, Leon S. Kennedy has Nightmares, Cuddling & Snuggling, Probably incorrect medical talk, Strangulation in one tiny little scene, Reader's brother was a cop who was KIA, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Grief/Mourning, Christmas Fluff, Mistletoe, Fluff and Smut, Eventual Smut, Arguing, Love Confessions, Looking for Alaska is mentioned, Inconvenient Love Confessions, Penis In Vagina Sex, Dirty Talk, Dirty Thoughts, Oral Sex, Cunnilingus, Leon loves eating Pussy change my mind, Shower Makeout, romantic smut, Desperate Leon S. Kennedy, They are both desperate for each other tbh, They say I love you as they come, Scar Kissing, Enthusiastic Consent, Always pee after sex, UTI PREVENTION, POV First Person, No use of Y/N
Words: 5.1K
Masterlist
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December 2004
I want you to know that I’m never leaving
Cause I’m Mrs. Snow, til death we’ll be freezing
Yeah you are my home, my home for all seasons
So come on, let’s go
-Snowman, Sia
“I thought you were going home for Christmas?” Leon asks as I step back in through the door to our apartment. Snow clings to my eyelashes from the light flurry outside, flakes landing on my cheeks when I blink, only to melt instantly. My skin is darkened in a blush, most likely due to the cold air and the sight of Leon lounging on our floor in nothing but a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms.
“I am. Pack your shit,” I order, and Leon actually seems surprised.
“Sorry?”
“I am going home. But I’m not leaving you here alone. Come on.”
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Stepping inside the family home, the relief washing over Leon is almost tangible, the smell of vanilla and peppermint meddling together in a beautiful Christmas scented concoction. My mom giggles inside the kitchen straight ahead - cheeks pink with her braid’s strands falling loose - my dad’s strong arms wrapped around her, his stubble tickling her jaw, along with his red scratchy sweater rubbing against her bare arms as well. She continues to smile and laugh until her bright blue eyes land on us coming in the door.
“Oh, it’s my baby!” Tugging herself out of my father’s grip, she rushes to us, wrapping my shoulders in a tight hug and her flyaway strands brush against my nose.
“Mom, I’m not a baby anymore,” I giggle, her excitement contagious. She pulls back, hands cupping my cheeks to look at me with a stern smile.
“You will always be my baby.” Her gaze drifts behind me, and she releases me easily, walking toward Leon and pulling him into a hug by the shoulders, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so surprised since I met him. His right arm is holding his duffel bag, his grip tight enough that I’m sure he has white knuckles beneath his black cotton gloves. His left arm comes up, hesitantly resting on her shoulder blade, like he doesn’t quite know how exactly to hug someone. She pulls back, cupping his face the same way she did with mine. “Welcome to the family, Leon.” I watch the exchange hesitantly, unsure of how he’ll react to my mother’s unwavering need to share as much love as possible, but my attention is pulled to my dad as he walks toward me.
“How you doing Squish?” My dad comes up, arms coming around me as I roll my eyes.
“I’m good, Dad. Been really busy lately,” I explain, trying to justify my lack of phone calls. He removes his arms, never having been one for physical affection, but very talented in showing his love in other ways, like remembering something as silly as my dislike of tomatoes or that I hate the color ‘pea green’.
“That’s alright, Squish.” His attention goes to his wife and Leon, who are still chatting quietly, although Mom has decided to give Leon his own space by now. “Leon, right?” He offers Leon his hand, voice calm and relaxed unlike the first time Leon met James. Leon takes his hand confidently. This he knows how to do.
“Yes, sir.” Dad gives it a firm shake before releasing him.
“Please, Matthew is fine. If Squish was willing to bring you, then you’re definitely family by this point,” he pointed out, clapping a hand against Leon’s shoulder quickly, a friendly gesture for him.
“Do you two wanna go get settled?” My mom asks, gesturing to the duffel in Leon’s hand and mine on the floor.
“Yeah, thanks Mom.” I reach down to grab my bag, but am beaten to it when Leon’s hand grips it instead, picking it up before gesturing forward with it with a little swing.
“Your old room, okay, baby?” I nod, leading the way up the stairs, Leon following leisurely following behind me. I don’t realize how embarrassing that will be until I open the door and flick on the lights. The walls are still painted a light shade of pink, and while the walls are barren now, my desk is covered in pictures that mom clearly didn’t quite know what to do with, and I reach over, shoving them into the drawer hastily before closing it with a scrape.
“Hiding something, sweetheart?” He smirks, setting the bags down with a smirk, ocean eyes locked on me.
“Just old pictures that you definitely don’t need to see,” I mumble before eyeing the bed. “I hope it’s okay that I didn’t ask my mom for the air mattress? I still can if it bothers you-” I stutter, fingers twisting together anxiously.
“Sweetheart, I sleep in your bed at least once a week. I think I can handle it.” There’s that cocky attitude again. I roll my eyes before raising my hands in defense.
“I was just offering,” I defend, a giggle breaking at the end as I lift my duffel bag onto the bed. It’s not much smaller than mine at the apartment, but the sheets are a dark pink with a blue flannel comforter resting on top of it and I feel my cheeks tinge the same color as the sheets.
“Seems like you really liked pink, sweetheart.” Leon follows my actions, setting his duffel next to mine before removing his gloves and jacket. He sets them on the desk behind me, and I focus my vision on the snow falling out the window. Thank god she didn’t take out my light blocking curtains. I jump as Leon’s hands land on my shoulders. “Sorry, didn’t realize you were zoned. I was gonna take your coat.” I unzip it and shrug it off with Leon’s help, his fingers grazing against my sweatered arm, but it feels like he’s raking his nails down my bare skin leaving fire scorching the tender flesh.
“Thanks, Leon.” He hums behind me, and I turn to him as he sets my coat down. His expression is unreadable and I immediately feel the need to apologize. “Leon, I’m really sorry about my mom, she can be a bit-”
“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all,” he admits, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “I should have though, given how much you love hugging me,” he teases, burying the rest of the conversation beneath his joking smile. I slap my arm across his arm playfully. I open my mouth to reply when I hear the door open downstairs, followed by Natalie’s joyful cries.
“Looks like Nat and James are here,” I mumble, the teasing energy in the room disappearing beneath the cries of my little sister downstairs.
“Sounds like. We should head down.”
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3 glasses of wine in and I am giggling like there’s no tomorrow. My mom is at my side, just as much liquor in her system. My dad looks on in amusement, and my eyes flit over to Leon and find him locked in a conversation with James, his own glass resting on the table with his fingers wrapped around it. I’d like to have his fingers wrapped around me. He has calluses all over his hands. Would they feel rough against my skin, like sand between your fingers at the beach? Or would they feel softer than they look, pressing against my stomach as he buries his face between my-
My mom gasping pulls me out my dirty thoughts, and I look at her quickly, uncaring of the blush on my cheeks. They’ll think it’s the wine.
“I’m going to grab the scrapbook!” She yelps as she gets up from the table in a flurry, not unlike the snow outside, followed by a chorus of ‘Mom no!’ She comes back in, a dorky family photo covering the front. One with Keegan still on the cover. “Okay, so the only one in this room who hasn’t seen this is Leon, so he needs to come sit over here.”
“Um, he absolutely does not!” I shout, covering the chair my mom vacated so he could sit between us. I look up and see his shit eating grin, crystal glass in his hand as he walks over.
“You gonna move, sweetheart?” I shake my head, and by this point, I know my entire face is the color of a tomato. “I can just pick you up?” A glare tossed in his direction. A silent ‘you wouldn’t dare’. Apparently, he would dare. He lifts my upper body like it’s nothing, and I don’t know why I’m surprised. What if he lifted me for something else? His hands gripping my thighs, my back pressed against the wall, his bare and sweaty chest pressed to me as his lips explore mine. He plants himself next to my chair, and I sink into the chair, arousal pooling in my panties and making my whole body thrum on the wooden chair. God, he smells amazing. His arm rests on the back of my chair, heat radiating from him and sending shockwaves down my spine.
The book crackles as it opens, and much to my dismay, there is a tiny version of myself looking back out, face pulled back into an almost too large grin. Talk about pouring an ice cold bucket over my arousal. I couldn’t have been any older than 4. I grimace at the face, suddenly acutely aware of Leon chuckling beside me. He doesn’t need to look like that while laughing at me.
“Oh, this one right here?” My mom points at a picture of Keegan and myself at the community pool. I was barely walking, maybe 2, while Keegan was 8. He had me in his arms, and the wide smile on my lips actually makes me smile this time. My brother was my favorite person in the whole world. “This is the first day we took the kids to the community pool. We took our eyes off of her for 2 minutes. Mistake.” Oh, fuck. No.
“Mom, we really don’t need to tell this story,” I try and reason before Leon reaches forward, grabbing my wine glass and handing it to me. “What is this-”
“You need to drink a bit more cause I definitely need to hear this one.” You fucker. He looks back at my mom expectantly. My mom giggles before continuing.
“Well, Squish had never swam in a pool that wasn’t at home. We took our eyes off of her, and by the time we looked back, she was completely naked!” Maybe if I melt into the floor, this will be easier. Leon can have the apartment and just keep my melted corpse in a jar so that he can claim I still live there. I’m sure he can access my bank account. Leon is laughing like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard, and my mom and Natalie giggle like they always do. I am going to be the star of the embarrassing stories tonight. I should never have brought him. He’ll never let me live this shit down.
“Oh, Mom!” Natalie yelps, reaching forward to the book, flipping pages until she finds the one she is searching for. “You gotta tell him the caterpillar story!”
“I actually already spilled that one,” James admits, taking a small sip from his can of sparkling water. “But the picture of them looking at it before disaster struck makes it funnier.” My mom points to the picture taken from the side of Natalie looking on in wonder at the little white, black, and yellow speckled caterpillar that rested in my small palms. I was 6. Natalie was 4. Her wide eyes stare at the small bug in amazement, as if she had never seen anything more precious. My own gaze is fascinated, if not a little smiley, the tickling of the insect on my fingers.  I have a vivid memory of the tears that spilled from my eyes at realizing it had been squished, and mom threw those purple shorts away, given the hysterics it sent me into every time I saw them for the next month.
“I’ve never seen you look at anything like that,” Leon jokes, and I don’t have the heart to tell him that that’s because everything that I have ever looked at like that has died.
“She cried for weeks, she was so upset about this little bug,” Mom utters, almost confused.
“Sounds like she was never cut out to take lives, just to heal them.” He says the words so matter of factly, as if there’s no doubt in his mind. Only heal them.
“That’s a perfect way to think about her, honestly.” She flips the pages absentmindedly, searching for more memories to embarrass me with, presumably. She flips past teenage angsty years, and stops at the picture of the whole family on my graduation date. Purple robes, holding my diploma like it was my whole life on a plate. Oh, how naive. “This was the day she graduated from nursing school.” I feel tears spring into my eyes. He was supposed to be on the day shift that day, but he had to switch with someone, taking the night shift. So he could be at my graduation. I lean back, arms folded across my chest. “We were so proud of her. Keegan was so proud of her.”
“It is quite the accomplishment.” Leon has the decency to seem impressed, and maybe he actually is, and I feel my heart swell. Keegan was proud of me, and I remember reveling in that. My big brother, who meant everything to me, was proud of me.
“Keegan was always my biggest supporter throughout school, even let me practice nursing techniques on him whenever I had an exam or something,” I say without thinking, eyes glancing at the photo again.
“Squish, that pressure is a bit too tight,” he says, pulling the wrapping a little more loose around his fake injury.
“Sorry, I didn’t-”
“Stop panicking. You got it out now. So you’ll ace it tomorrow, yeah?”
“He seems like he was a great guy,” Leon comments, placing a hand on my shoulder as he notices the tears brimming in my eyes. One slips out as I blink, and as I move to wipe it away, I can’t help but release a sad laugh as I speak.
“He would have loved you.” Then my head is in the crook of Leon’s neck, warmth encasing the sides of my face in an embrace. More tears slip out as I wrap an arm across his stomach, holding his side gently.
“Okay, maybe it’s time for bed, yeah? Amelia, will you put that away hon?” Dad mutters, hands slapping down on his thighs as he stands, taking the final sip of his drink. My mom rolls her eyes, but agrees by closing the book. 
“I’ll bring it out again tomorrow and show you the time she decided to fingerpaint herself and the whole hallway,” she promises with a wink and I gasp.
“Mom, n-”
“I can’t wait,” Leon adds, smile turning the corners of his lips upward.
The family retires fairly quick given it’s going on 11:30pm. I wobble slightly on the first step up the stairs, and, deciding it’s not worth risking, Leon’s arms scoop up under my knees and behind my back, carrying me up the carpeted steps bridal style, and it seems like I weigh nothing to him. Maybe I don’t? Setting me down gently on the bed, he reaches into my duffel and pulls out a comfortable shirt and some sleep shorts before turning away, giving me the privacy to change while he rifles through his own clothing.
“Leon, why were you encouraging my tipsy mother to tell you all of my dirty secrets?” The tease is evident, or at least I thought it was.
“Cause I don’t remember hardly anything like that from my childhood. I guess it’s kinda nice to hear that you did.” I turn toward him at his reveal of this information, and am met with his muscular back. He’s already clad in sweatpants, the same flannel ones he was wearing before we left the apartment, and he holds the tee shirt in his hands, glaring at it as if he was deciding whether it had personally wounded him or not.
“You don’t remember your childhood?” He circles around, seeing my sight already locked on his figure. He chuckles, tossing the shirt in his duffel before climbing into the bed, sliding under the pink sheets, and I giggle at the sight of his wrapped in dark pink jersey fabric. Hesitating, I wrap my arms around myself, thinking I may have asked him something that wasn’t a sharing topic, and he whistles to catch my gaze.
“Turn the lights off and get in here.” Then his arms open up. Flicking the light off quickly before darting across the old room in the mostly darkened area, save for the faint moonlight peeking in, Leon’s warm embrace is always welcome. An arm goes around my shoulder as my nose presses to his sternum with a content sigh. It’s hard to miss the way he chuckles at my quick wiggle to adjust myself into a comfortable position. The arm around my shoulder tightens, moving until his fingers are able to card through my hair softly. When he speaks, it’s into the crown of my head, whispers dancing across the strands and skin there.
“No. I don’t. My parents died when I was really little, and there was a cop that took me in, given the amount of trouble I was getting into, but he couldn’t actually adopt me, so I spent most of my childhood bouncing around foster homes in that area before I hit 18. As soon as I graduated, I went to school to get my associate’s degree in law enforcement, and then thankfully, got accepted into the academy the first time I applied.” I give him a soft squeeze, silently thanking him for sharing more about himself with me. My tipsy brain is in awe of him, and I know without a doubt, that my sober brain is too. God, he’s incredible. He chuckles, the sound rumbling in his chest and my heart flutters at the sensation. “I think you got that backwards, sweetheart.” I look up at him confused and he places a sweet kiss against my forehead, the skin lighting up like the lights on the christmas tree. “You’re the incredible one.” Oh god, I said that out loud.
“Leon?” The words are whispered now.
“Yeah?” Leon easily matches the tone of the room.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For always coming back. When you leave, you always come back. I know you can’t always control it, but… I’m glad.” The admittance turns my cheeks a dark shade, and I am thankful for the darkness of the bedroom.
“I’ll always come back to you.” A reassuring squeeze. A kiss placed against soft hair. In the silence of the room, it almost comes out.
I love you. I am terrified, but I am in love with you, Leon Kennedy.
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“Wait, wait. Are those matching PJs?” Leon’s face is confused, staring at the red and white plaid pj pants in my hands.
“They are, but you absolutely do not need to wear them. I just thought it would be fun because my family always wears PJs all day on Christmas Day. You don’t-” I’m rambling at this point, words stuttering together like my tongue has decided to suddenly stop working.
“Give ‘em here.” Did he just reach for them with grabby hands? I hand them over regardless and I stare at them in his hands for a moment before him clearing his throat catches my attention. “Did you wanna watch me change, or did you wanna turn around?” He asks the question with a smirk, teasing while twirling his pointer finger in a circle. I suck in a breath before turning quickly, trying so hard to hold the blush away from my cheeks by pressing my cool hands against them. It’s hard not to let my imagination run wild at the sounds of him shifting around behind me, mind conjuring up plenty of dirty images of turning around to find him wearing, well… nothing. Imagine the smirk he’d fucking wear. The way he’d tease me over the obviously surprised face I’d make. That confident stride as-
Stop. Stop sexualizing your best friend.
“You done back there, Superman?”
“Yeah, you’re good.” I turn on my heel, and for a second, my heart stutters in my chest. He changed his shirt too, so we actually match.
“Ready to celebrate Christmas the right way, Kennedy?” I offer my hand, and he hesitates, looking at it like it could reach forward and bite him. “Hey.” His eyes find mine, nerves still swimming in those baby blues.
“Yeah?”
“Do you trust me?” He nods.
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“So when her father and I walked in, there she was covered in red paint! When I asked her what she was doing, she just giggled and yelled ‘I’m a strawberry, mommy!’” The table erupts into laughter, and I can feel the heat on my cheeks, from the embarrassment or the spiked eggnog, I can’t tell. 
“You wanted to be a strawberry?” Leon is practically wheezing by this point, and I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever seen him laugh this hard. I can feel the slightest giggle break through my smile as I explain.
“Listen, I really liked strawberries!” This only serves to make the man beside me laugh even more, his hand resting against his abs as if he was holding them to prevent them from splitting.
“Oh my god, that’s adorable!”
“I’m adorable, I know.” The sarcasm drips from my words like melting snow.
“You are.” His arm is there then, slung over my shoulders, not even the back of the chair this time. Straight warmth of his bare arms seeping through my thin white tee shirt. Ugh, he can’t just say shit like that.
“Um, do you want another drink, Superman?” I ask, stuttering a bit without the intention of doing so. His smile still glows, and I can practically feel myself slipping deeper and deeper in love with him.
“Sure. Thanks, sweetheart,” he thanks, handing me his mug when I gesture to it.
“Yeah.” Once I’m in the kitchen, out of sight, my lungs suck in a gasping breath. Chill out. You are being terrifyingly obvious. A deep chuckle sounds from the entry and I turn to the sounds quickly.
“You doing okay in here, Squish?” My dad asks, a teasing lithe in his voice as he pours warm eggnog into his mug before reaching toward me, gesturing for mine and Leon’s, which I hand over easily, noting the shaking of my hands.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Dad,” I remark, palms rubbing over my arm in some unsuccessful attempt at self-soothing.
“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” There’s more he wants to say.
“What Dad? You obviously have something else to say.” The sound comes out much more exasperated than I originally intended. He hands the mugs back to me, the sudden warmth oozing through my veins like some sweet kind of drug. A Christmas drug. Gingerbread flavored ecstasy? The thought makes me laugh at myself.
“I know what you told Mom. I know what you told Nat. Hell, I can tell what you tell Leon. What I wanna know is what you tell yourself.”
“About what?”
“How you feel about him.” Even Dad has noticed.
“Dad, he’s my best-”
“Your best friend. I know.”
“Then what else is there to it?” He wants me to say it. He wants me to acknowledge the feelings he knows are there.
“Listen, sweetheart. I can’t make you admit things. I just want you to know that any man who has the honor of having you love him? Well they’re one lucky s-o-b.” The tears well up in my eyes and the look my dad wears, it says more than any words I could muster up. I set the mugs down on the counter and wrap my arms around his middle, his palms running through the strands of my hair as my tears fall freely, catching on the scratchy red fabric of his customary Christmas sweater. “I know you’re scared, but it’s okay. It’s okay to love someone, sweetheart.”
The sounds of quick feet and fast thumping up the stairs draws our attention, and I wipe my cheeks before grabbing the still-warm mugs. Stepping back out into the main dining room and I’m met with something I thought I’d never see.
Molly’s tiny body is tucked into Leon’s forearm, the muscle tensing in anxiety as he cradles this small human. Her head is tilted toward his chest and her eyes are wide open. She inherited her mother’s bright green eyes. Holy shit he’s holding a baby. I think my ovaries are exploding. His face is passive, and if you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t think he was phased. Too bad I know better.
“You okay there, Superman?” I tease, setting the mugs down before plopping myself down into the chair next to him.
“Please take her,” he whispers, as if raising his voice any louder will break Molly’s carefully maintained peace. She tilts her head slightly before her lip drops into a small frown. “She’s gonna scream please, I don’t know what to do.”
“You’ve never held a baby before?” I ask, setting my hand on his arm. He’s as warm as normal, and I feel the hair on his skin stand on edge as my fingers graze against it. He shakes his head with fervor, fear lighting up the blues of his iris’.
“Sweetheart, seriously. She’s about to cry.” I shake my head with a giggle as I stand to help the big strong government agent. Instead of taking her though, I shift her in his arms so she is settled comfortably in the crook of his elbow, her head cradled while her body is supported by his arm as the frown fades from her tiny features. His other arm sits on his thigh, twitching in anxiety.
“You weren’t holding her right, that’s why she was so upset. Here, take your other arm like this,” I say, tenderly grabbing his hand and placing it against her belly, where she reaches for his hand. Molly’s little fingers wrap around his, one hand gripping his pointer finger while the other holds his pinky, and he releases an almost inaudible gasp as he notices this. “You okay?” I ask before I glance up at his face. Leon’s got tears in his eyes, and for a second, I worry that I overstepped. He asked me to take her. Why didn’t I just listen when-
“She’s so… tiny…” There is wonder in his tone, voice whispy and awe-struck. “How does something so precious and small turn into…”
“A person?” He nods in response. “Through a lot of love and TLC,” I say with a chuckle.
“Well that explains a lot about me,” he mumbles. His parents. I give his arm a quick squeeze before resting my cheek on his shoulder; I can feel the muscles tense before relaxing beneath my jaw.
“I think you turned out to be a great person, Superman.”
“Thanks.” It’s whispered, and I wouldn’t have heard him if I wasn’t sitting so close. The silence is comfortable as Molly’s eyes begin to drift closed, grip still tight on Leon’s much larger fingers.
“So, ever want any?” I question, a teasing smile on my lips even though Leon definitely can’t see it.
“What, kids?” I nod against his shoulder muscle. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’ll ever be in the cards.”
“Why?” Pulling back to look at him, confused.
“Have you seen what I do?” He lightly shakes with laughter. “I’m not exactly father material.”
“I think you’d be a great dad.” The words come out unconsciously. For a beat, not a sound passes between us besides our breaths and Molly’s hushed cooing as she slips into a presumably warm slumber. Leon shifts slowly so as to not stir Molly, and when I turn to look to see what has captured his attention, our noses brush. Completely sober. Wide awake. He just looks at me. If I blink, I’ll miss the look in his eyes. The fleeting longing. The quick glance at my lips. Without thinking, my tongue darts out to wet them.
“Just…” he whispers as the distance between us shrinks, and it takes a pause for me to realize we’re both leaning in. His breath brushes against my lips, a slight chill skimming them from the moisture left from when I wet them. Lids sliding shut, heavy from the weight of anticipation. For a fleeting moment, they brush.
“Leon, thank you so much for taking Molly-” Natalie rushes into the room and we fly apart as if lightning has struck both of us, straight through our spines. “Oh, am I interrupting something?” Quickly mumbled ‘no’s follow before Leon passes Molly back over to her mother before she falls into too deep of a sleep. Bright red cheeks, huffed out breaths. When I finally manage to meet his eyes, the contact doesn’t last. We almost… Was he going to…
Hours pass, a Christmas movie playing in the background as I catch the agent’s attention, gesturing to the dining room with a jerk of my head, and without a word, he follows.
“What’s up, sweetheart?” He plants himself in a chair, and I follow suit, perching in the chair next to him.
“I know we said no gifts, but…” The small rectangle is wrapped in red paper that is decorated with pictures of Frosty the Snowman, and I press it into his hands without further question.
“Sweetheart-”
“Just… Just open it.” He sighs before digging his fingers into the flimsy paper, revealing the gift inside. “It’s not much, but you made a comment about not having anything personal on your desk at work, so…” The frame is made of simple black wood, but the picture inside is what matters. It was over the summer. He was home for a few weeks, and Claire insisted on us all going to the beach. We were all at least 3 shots of tequila deep when this picture was taken. A silly piggy back ride that I attempted to squirm free from after I realized his intent was absolutely to drop me in the chilly ocean water. My hair is in a swirl around my head, strands of it even sticking to Leon’s sweaty skin. Bright grins from both of us, and for a moment, it’s easy to forget that he has seen hell and back. My eyes are squeezed shut as I wheeze from laughter, and his are locked on my face beside him. My swimsuit is barely visible, mostly covered by my hair and Leon’s bare chest. We look happy. He looks happy.
“This is…”
“I know, it’s not great but I just-”
“It’s perfect.” He looks up at me as he leans forward, arm winding around my shoulders to tug me into an overheated hug that causes me to start sweating immediately. “Thank you.” The air feels brisk once he lets go, the sudden warmth vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Rising from my chair, I offer him a hand.
“Wanna go finish that movie, Superman?”
“Not so fast!” Natalie yelps as she rushes in from the living room, and Leon and I both freeze in place, both of us standing by this point, looking at her with confused glances. She points up with her finger and my eyes follow the gesture.
They put mistletoe in the fucking dining room? I can practically feel the blush crawling across my cheeks painfully slow, and I drop my eyes to the floor as my arms wrap around each other. Light footsteps rush out of the room, and I realize Natalie has bolted out of the room. BITCH.
“We don’t have to actually-” his hand slides under my chin, tilting my head up and before I can even process it, his lips press to mine. It’s short-lived, but it’s impossible to miss the subtle taste of eggnog and rum. The warmth. Spearmint. His lips are chapped, although that hardly matters at the moment, heart fluttering against my chest as he pulls back, just enough for our noses to brush again. I am never going to be able to forget this.
“Thank you.” Neither of us have opened our eyes, almost afraid to break these precious seconds.
“For what?” I whisper back.
“For everything.”
Leon: @house-of-kolchek @bonnibuckets @athanasia-day @muffimtv Everything: @chaosandbubbles @kassiekolchek22 @akiramoon8088
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galacticxangel · 5 months ago
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Wait I saw your comment on the meeting your mutuals/stranger danger post. You said you married your mutual? That's so cute. Have you shared that anywhere and if not would you share it here?
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared it passively, but I never shared the full thing just on its own, so I’ll do that here!
So back in Ye Olde Days (13 years ago), Ask Blogs were a big thing on Tumblr, and also, so was Minecraft! And wouldn’t you know it, I was running a little Minecraft ask blog. And then I came across another, which had amazing art and characters and I adored what I was seeing, so I followed, they followed back, I sent little asks, and we communicated that way! The blog I found was run by two people, @cosmic-anchor (Silvia), and her friend Lazzy (boyo where’s your blog). He’s still a mutual bestie today, as are a few other folks we met via ask blog shenanigans, like @knightlymoon and @ragnarode .
ANYWAY. We get to playing on a server together (we actually use a Minecraft version release date as our meeting anniversary, because it was right around the prerelease of Beta 1.8: September 9, 2011. How do we remember? Well, that’s when they released Endermen! And anyone familiar with Minecraft aakblogs knows just how popular those are today. But back then? HOLY crap. Everyone and their grandma has a Sexy Broody Enderman or a Sexy Broody Enderman Hybrid. It was. A lot), take to each other like a church on fire, and become besties! We have a little house together.
Long time passes, and we’re on pretty much daily communication, still playing games, etc. I went through basic training and she was one of the folks I sent letters to while I was there. We played D&D together (This was an entire fiasco where we lost one bestie due to an abusive relationship. She’s back now tho! Love you Lynn <3). Even in the military, when I got DEEPLY depressed, she was there for me and helped me out (I credit her for being alive today. I’m not sure I’d be here if she hadn’t talked me down and convinced me to see a mental health specialist). I get out of the military, get my own little apartment, and go ‘wait a minute. I can do what I want. I have a best friend I’ve known for like six years now. Let’s invite her down!’ And so we start planning our first
‘Down’ is an understatement. See, I live in Texas. She lives in Kentucky, literally a thousand miles away. And while I’ve got all my documents and paperwork and driving skills and travel under my belt, she… doesn’t. As the older sibling of a special needs person, and not from a very high income household, she didn’t have this stuff. So it’s up to me, and I’m too fired up about taking my bestie to a renaissance faire (yah we. Really nerdy lol) to consider anything but!
We get her costume ready. Her plane tickets. Her ids and everything, sorted. It comes to like. Two weeks before the flight. And I get a call at work. It’s Via. Now, this is weird. Over the years, we’ve kinda fallen into a system. Common communication falls into just a message (Skype at the time iirc, Discord didn’t exist just yet). Something kinda urgent gets you an alert ping (like @ing someone). Dire is a call. And my phone’s ringing.
Not good.
So I hurriedly excuse myself from the office to take it, and she’s in tears. Her dad’s gotten cold feet, and won’t take her to the airport like he promised because ‘what if I’m an internet predator’. I mean. I get it. I have a Southern Style family, too (This will come up later). But damn it, she’s an adult. We’re BOTH adults. Also, I just bought a round trip plane ticket! Also, at this point I know more about her than he does. He still thinks she’s straight. But he won’t take her because we’ve never met face-to-face.
It’s Wednesday. I look at my office door. I have my best friend, current queerplat partner on the line, sobbing apologies.
“Hey. Tell him to pick a place to eat. Dinner on Friday. My treat, okay?”
“What?”
“Tell him to pick a place for dinner on Friday. I’ll see you then.”
Thus begins the trek that cements me as ‘most unhinged friend when others need something’ in our friend group to the day. I go into my office, spinning a sob story about how some nondescript family member just passed and funeral and blah blah I need to go but I’ll be back on Monday.
Green light acquired.
I go home, and immediately go to sleep. I wake up around midnight, pack my bags into my little Kia, and off I go. 1000 miles. Now, remember when I said my family would come up later? Here’s later: I didn’t tell them. There was NO WAY they were going to just sit idle while I drove a thousand miles, ALONE, to meet someone I’d never met in person. I’d never driven quite that far, either. Not to say no one knew, I would plot two hours on my gps, send the path to Lazzy and Via, and check in when I hit the next stop. If I didn’t check in, they were told to call my parents if I was over an hour late. Which, obviously, I never was, because I’m typing this and not like, dead or anything.
I roll up to her local Cracker Barrel at 8pm on Friday, after easily one of the best experiences of my life (was out between cities on a clear, late summer night, got to see the Milky Way for the first time, got ‘adopted’ by a bunch of truckers at a truck stop I paused for a nap at). My hair’s a bit frizzy and I’m wearing a shirt that says ‘Watch Closely: I’m About To Do Something Stupid’. But her dad gets the firmest, friendliest Texan handshake I can give, and a bright smile.
Apparently, he never expected me to show. According to Via, I humbled him that day. I don’t pay for dinner, despite offering. I even stay the night.
She’s on a plane for Texas two weeks later.
(Bonus: it’s at the point I send a picture of the big ol ‘Welcome To Kentucky’ state line sign to my parents. This. Was not a good idea lol. But I had my big Texas meat swangin my ego and I was damn proud to be functionally unhinged. My dad scolds me and then gets me a hotel room in Little Rock, DEMANDING I stop half way on the way back. My mom calls me, yells at me, and then hangs up on me. Calls back an hour later to apologize because she wasn’t mad I went, she was mad that I was right when I told her ‘you’d have tried to stop me’. Ultimately fine, in the end).
There’s at least one other travel adventure (much easier this time! We were supposed to go to PAX South but were too lazy that morning so we ate pizza and played video games.
I move out of my apartment and start renting a house. I have extra room. And I think about my friend, who’s only left her tristate area twice now, both because of me. And I think ‘that’s my best friend! I wonder if she wants to move down here!’
Another 2k miles on my poor little Kia (who’s STILL KICKING BTW), and she now lives in Texas. This was about five years ago. We live in my little granny house that’s older than both occupants combined. You heard that right, though. Oh my god, We Were Roommates.
It’s about this time that apparently Via starts Getting The Feelings but BLESS HER she’s being SO GOOD because at this point I’m defining as Aro/Ace. Turns out it was just some anxiety/aversion because my previous relationship was turbo unhealthy! But I really like this chick, and I’m like ‘you know what, I’m scared I’ll mess up our friendship, but I’ll try these things. We already go on ‘dates’ and I buy you flowers occasionally just because I was thinking of you and we already snuggle every night because it helps us go to sleep’ yeah I was. Hm. Dense.
Anyway it takes off HARD and within the year, we’re married on the coast where I took her to see the ocean for the very first time, on September 9, 2023.
Our first anniversary is soon. 💕
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peachymaryobrien · 11 months ago
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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals, followers and all the wonderful people on here! 💖
Back in the day, I really wanted to radiate this dark energy that a lot of people like, and i made myself into thinking that i dont like anything really. But growing up, I realized that's just not me at all. There's so much in life that you can explore and learn and perceive. So that's why I really love this question!
1. People. Even tho I'm really introverted and struggle with social anxiety a lot, I learned that every person needs a person. Family, friends, just a good chat with someone, a nice word or a smile from a stranger - instant love and happiness.
2. Music. Maybe it's a basic thing to say, but it's always been there for me, no matter what place my mind and body have been in. I play a few instruments and sing, i'm so passionate about it and it makes me truly happy.
3. Comfort. In people, in myself, in life. I really value the wish to explore new things, but it gets too loud sometimes, and being able to just slow down, breathe, and feel safe - pure happiness.
4. Buying things. I'm just a girl😔🎀 when you get something you really wanted, even if it's not necessary - i love it!
5. Living. I'm just happy to be here, you know. Sometimes, it doesn't feel that way, but at the end of the day I'm just happy to exist and to think that maybe I'll have a little positive impact in someone else's life.
Thank you for asking!✨️
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justalilpearlie · 9 months ago
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Introduction/Fun Pearlie Facts
Was abt time I did one of these.
Hello everyone, my name is Pearl, Pearlie or Sam/Sammy if you're feeling like it. Friends also call me Martini sometimes.
I am a minor, my labels... we dont talk about them (fem presenting ftm gay/mlm + trying out gendervoid and verinix + bigender??) uhmm and I go by He/She, tho mostly He/Him by strangers- I can She/Her myself and close friends/mutuals are allowed! (I also go by neos: Void/Moon/Sweet/It/Fluff/Love/Fizz/Paw)
I'm from Argentina, born and raised, never moved. Speak fluent english and spanish.
I got the 'tism and the adhd, aswell as BPD and a few other things I wont list right now! But yeah I'm psychotic (ooo scary word.. lmao)
- -🌄-📀-🌙- -💚- -💛- -✨-🌄-✨- -💛- -💚- -🌙-📀-🌄- -
I'm an IRL of many, mainly c!Pearl (mcyt), Samuel Emily (fnaf [games canon]) and Shin Tsukimi (yttd). If you don't like it you can leave, block me, or whatever, cause you aint gonna change my life or how I am. I'm in therapy, which unlike random hate and harrassment online, does help me :)
I like to roleplay, draw, sometimes make playlists or moodboards.. And my biggest interests right now are Life Series (+ evo + new life), Empires1(+ a bit of e2) and FNaF! (i dont rlly like the books tho lol..)
I use kin tags for reach cause I'd love interaction from any fellow lifers or empires ppl, hermits aswell!! Tho I havent finished s8 or s9 yet...
Fictionkins, therians and traumagenic systems all welcome!
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DNI prefferably:
- Basic DNI criteria (proshippers, homophobes, transphobes, racists, TERFs, ableist, etc)
- Endos/non-traumagenic "systems" DNI. block me if u want, i wont argue abt it in the comments/reblogs. or interact if u want but im not gonna follow u back or anythin shrugs.
- reality checkers or anti-IRLs DNI. I aint "romanticizing" shit, I'm existing and living my life, if thats a problem to you too bad cause my psychologist aproves of what I'm doing, since I aint harming anyone and I myself am doing dandy.
- anti-kin also DNI cause most of my friends are fictionkins and if you talk shit abt my fellas idk i wouldnt like having u around much
CCs interact at your own risk. This is my domain, cyan man & moon lady. /hj
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"Disclaimer"
- I talk about MajorMoon (Scott x Pearl) a LOT, if u didnt notice by the acc theme. These are my romantic memories, its a gay ship, not woman/gay man, so if it makes u uncomfortable or u hate it or whatever then ur probably not gonna like my content lmao. COUGH, consider joining us if you do like what you see... /nf We're a small comunity of supporters.. just me.. and a few of my peeps... that was a joke, sir. /ref
- This isn't roleplay, its my main acc where im ""unapologetically"" myself, but if u do wanna rp life series/empires u can always shoot me a dm and maybe I'll give u my discord.
- I talk about myself (c!Pearl) using 3rd person in many posts tagged with main fandom tags. This is to cause less confusion to casual fans slash ""normies"" (lhj) that well.. don't know what IRLs are! Also that way I feel safer and don't have to worry as much abt getting harassed and such for my identity.
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Special People Mentions!! fps = * (1 or more.. wouldnt say in a priority sorta order but. more or less yea)
Family! <3 🌼@pehpurr* SISTER!! super duper cool, her art is great and you should check it out!! YOU. You're the brightest little girl (i say like ur not older than me) I'VE EVER MET ACTUALLY! You're so passionate and loving I freaking adore you!! I love you so much Scar, you're one of the best things to ever happen to me, Kanny &lt;3 ⚙️@gentlexmadman DAD!! you are my daaaad, you're my dad! woogie woogie woogie! ANOTHER amazing artist! mr "I know that guy-", very funny, Henry "Autism" Emily... the copper king, my father. Speaking to you is always comforting. Love you so much papa, you're amazing :)
Simply special <3 ☕@insomniac-coffeehouse** You're all simply so very special to me. I love spending time with you guys and playing stuff together, you mean a lot to me and I'm so glad I met you. I hope we're still close for this year and many more! You're incredibly talented, not only at art, at everything you do. You spark joy in my brain and my heart <3 From the bottom of my heart, I'm in love with the hope you bring to this world. 🍊Jack***, oh my dear Jacky, where do I even begin, sport... you really are my other half. Mi media naranja if you will. haha.. I love every second we spend together, I love your voice, I love your eyes, I love your smile, your laughter. I love your use of words, the way you speak, your humor, your seriousness and goofiness. You stiff fuck, you were made for me and I was made for you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You're my everything, mi vida, mi luz, mi estrella. Mi amor, mi mundo. <3
New friends! 🍓@strawberrystarfield I know we met fairly recently but you're all incredibly fun to talk to, your art is also amazing, your accent is real pretty (cough for a bri-💥), you're real sweet and I love reading all your thoughts and critiques about things :} (love ya Aspen /gen) 🏜️@fagdykegtws My right hand man! I know we just met through the rarepair server but oh my god we're in the same brainwave!!! You're so fun to vc and chat with and you got the best ideas ever fr fr, love ya Chewy, you're real sweet even w how lil i know you ;)
That's it folks, love yall and see you around!
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richincolor · 1 year ago
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Title: This Time It’s Real Author: Ann Liang Genres: Contemporary, Romance Pages: 352 Publisher: Scholastic Review Copy: Purchased Availability: Available now
Summary: When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep.
Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?
Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.
But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?
Review: [THIS TIME IT’S REAL contains a very brief mention of a stalker and a few scenes featuring online hate comments.]
If you’re looking for a pool- or beachside read this summer, THIS TIME IT’S REAL by Ann Liang would be an excellent choice. This is a cute contemporary romance with a lot of heart—after all, who doesn’t love it when two lonely people fake date their way into real feelings?
Eliza, our heroine, has been traveling all over the world with her family thanks to her mother’s job. At this point in her life, she’s no stranger to watching the vast majority of her friendships fade with distance and time, so she hasn’t put much effort into forming anything lasting at her new school. She has her family, and she has one best friend, and she’s otherwise just trying to hang on. And it’s Eliza’s loneliness that makes the first real (awkward) interaction between her and Caz resonate so much: for a second, she realizes he’s alone in his own way, too, despite his stardom.
Fake dating can be done for comparatively shallow/short-term reasons (e.g., a family event, a school reunion), so it’s fun when an author can build something with more longevity. I cackled at the scene where Eliza first proposes a mutually beneficial, time-bound relationship between her and Caz—there were some great comedic moments in that scene and throughout the rest of the book. I also appreciated that the author crafted the setup in such a way that I felt it was a fair deal between the characters, even if Eliza was the one who was desperate enough to propose it in the first place. Caz being in charge of much of their “chemistry testing” (or, date fodder for Eliza’s essays) helped make it feel like they were invested on equal grounds and was definitely a point in his favor when it came to wanting the two of them to get together.
Of course, the best part of fake dating is when the characters catch real feelings. I won’t go into much detail about that, but just know that I felt the payoff was very much worth it in my opinion. Eliza’s reactions to her own growing feelings were very well done, and I liked how Eliza’s emotional journey played out and how her and Caz’s relationship ended up against the backdrop of a slightly messy ending.
Recommendation: Get it now if you’re a fan of fake dating and related tropes. THIS TIME IT’S REAL is a great summer read for anyone looking for a contemporary romance with a lot of heart, and I’m very happy I got my hands on author Ann Liang’s latest book.
Extras:
Q & A with Ann Liang
Ann Liang shares how she managed to publish two YA books before age 23
Q&A with Ann Liang, Author of This Time It’s Real
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blossom-adventures · 1 year ago
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Bad Things Happen Bingo!
I love writing these types of prompts! What does that say about me 😅 but anyway… I’m very excited to do this and I’d love it if some of my followers and mutuals would throw suggestions my way as to what you want to see ☺️💙
This is my Bingo Masterlist, I’m going to list the prompts underneath the card with links to each story and also state a couple of rules, please respect my terms for this, thank you 🌸
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If you want to do your own grid you can find out more about it on their tumblr page here ☺️
Rules:
1. I will be writing for Skyrim & Final Fantasy XV (15, for those like me who have to think too long about Roman numerals 😅) please don’t request anything from a different fandom
Obviously some lean more heavily to FFXV and some to Skyrim, but most I like to think most could be used for both ☺️
2. When you request a prompt, please specify which game it’s based around, I know my mutuals well enough to know which they’d want, but I don’t want to assume. And also specify if there is a particular character or ship you want to see. I am most comfortable writing the prompts within the stories I’ve already established and the Masterlist will be colour coordinated accordingly: Far Horizons & Ancient Stones (My LDB x Ulfric long fic) The Blood Prophecy (My Dawnguard Protagonist Long fic) Guard & Glaive (Including Cor x Drautos & Nyx x OC) Ardyn x Reader One Shots
3. If someone requests the same as someone from the other fandom, that’s OK! I don’t mind doing a story for both
4. No Smut, please
5. Please be patient! I have a lot of writing projects on the go at the moment as well as family commitments, reading in my own time, working on my cosplay, playing games and work, so it may take a little while to get the prompt done
Thank you all for your understanding ☺️💙🌸
Prompts: (When a prompt has been requested I will put it in Bold for FFXV and Italics for Skyrim, but as I said in my rules I am more than happy to do the same prompt for both fandoms)
1. Animal Attack
2. Bloodied Knuckles - Home From Work
3. Broken Nose - The Return of a Friend
4. Caught in an Explosion
5. Cradling Someone in Their Arms - Don’t Go
6. Falling Through the Ice
7. Go Through Me - A Request for Aid
8. Gunshot Wound
9. Hidden Scar - Bracelets
10. Hospital Stay
11. Hurts to Breathe
12. Nightmares - A Vision of the Future
13. Not Afraid of you Anymore - Ruins of Insomnia
14. Outnumbered in a Fight - I am Your Sword and Shield
15. Pinned Down by Wreckage
16. Poison/Venom
17. Shaking & Shivering - The Dragonborn’s Curse
18. Shot With an Arrow
19. Slammed into a Wall - Chaos in the Citadel
20. Stranger in a Familiar Land - Home at Last
21. Thrown Down the Stairs
22. Thrown From a Horse
23. Tied to a Chair - Taken Off Duty
24. Trying to Wake Them Up
25. “Who Did This to You?”
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found--family · 1 year ago
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So I have a few weeks until my new job starts and I want to work on something in that time. I'm not sure what I feel like writing (I'm kinda in hibernation bc it's winter rn and the last time I felt motivated to write was on-the-job in summer). I have dozens of wips and outlines to choose from but these ones are top of the pile bc they're fun..
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[1] Nursery AU: Paradise Nursery
Dean is grieving his recently deceased mother. He's in his early 30s and was her carer for the better part of a decade; he has no friends and no life to turn to for comfort or distraction. He needs a new job and to learn to navigate his loneliness. He ends up working at the garden nursery where his mom worked decades ago. Dean meets Cas and falls for him but also makes new friends in Charlie and Jo and Bobby and others.
Cas is the newly appointed manager of Paradise Nursery™ and he's not enjoying it; he misses the small minutia of everyday plantcare and loathes the pressure, office-based and people-interactive duties, and trying to find a buyer for the business his father left him in charge of. Cas is a single parent to Jack and guardian to Claire and gave up on finding love long ago, instead focusing on his children and the work he's passionate about. But then he meets their newest seasonal hire Dean who becomes a bright spot in Cas' workday.
As they become tentative friends and try to suss out whether their feelings are mutual and how to go about them, Dean is dealing with his problematic father while Cas is dealing with his arch nemesis - fresh-cut flower farm owner Crowley - who wants to purchase Paradise to eliminate Cas as a competitor while expanding his own empire.
Boss/Employee. Mutual Pining. Alternating POV. Misunderstandings. Familiar Faces and Friendship. Slow Burn (legit). Strangers to Friends to Lovers.
A/N: this one is close to my heart as it's inspired by my own experiences; every day I worked I was inspired to write something for these two. Still not sure whether to keep this one contained at the nursery or follow Dean as the season dies off and he finds work elsewhere? Endings are hard and I'm still living mine, so.
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[2] Dan In Real Life AU: Here Comes The Sun
Based on the movie but with its own flavour. Dean is a late-30s widowed songwriter and single father to young Audrey. The whole extended family is spending two weeks at Grandma Mildred's lake house for some quality time together before Autumn settles in. On his solo drive to the house, Dean meets Cas. There's chemistry and Dean thinks maybe there's something between them.. but he arrives at the house to discover Cas is dating his oldest friend Benny. Things are rocky at first but during their time together Dean and Cas grow closer until they can't deny their feelings any longer.
This one has intial Cas/Benny with some open relationship vibes but also cheating. Still trying to decide whether to write some explicit Cas/Benny scenes. The plot is heavily inspired by the movie but goes its own way. The whole two weeks will be covered day and night with alternating POV but mostly Dean and Cas.
RomCom with Family Dynamics. Lots of Familiar Faces. Papa!Dean. Alternating POV. Mutual Pining. UST. Strangers to Lovers. Happy Ending (for everyone, I promise).
A/N: I started writing this in.. 2020? It was my comfort fic but life changed so much that year I just couldn't stick with it. I've tried going back to it multiple times but kept getting caught up on how to finish the next chapter. I've done a bunch of art for this and would love to get it finished, but there's a lot of plot to still figure out (sometimes filler stuff, sometimes main events of the day).
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[3] Movie AUs: numerous!
I love subpar action comedies (and romcoms) because they're such easy fic fodder for Destiel. Simple, readymade, perfect practice for writers to work on our skills but don't have the time or brain capacity to work on plot.
I have outlines of a few I really want to Destielify: The Lost City (a fun little adventure with unique plot I'd love to give our guys), Knight and Day (made before algorithms it's overlong and full of secondary locations - better off as fic), Red Notice (terrible twists but it had some fun ideas so I'd tweak the plot in various ways), Ghosted (subpar with bare bones I'd like to put a bit of meat on), Quantum of Solace (the most straight-forward Bond flick, a filler in the franchise and easiest to create a standalone au with).
A/N: if you haven't checked out SPNMediaBigBang go do that now. I'm terrible at bangs but I'd love to write a few fun movie fics and post chapters every week.
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[4] Gotham Knights AU: make it Destiel
(GK being cancelled is another blow for queer rep and spncast stans but I hope it motivates fans to create more fic for this awesome show!)
The AU I've been working on is 'inspired by' not straight copy. It features batman-inspired Dean and harvey dent-inspired Cas with turner-inspired Jack.
Cas goes from being Jack's uncle to his guardian after his father was killed by the city's vigilante saviour The Hunter - who Jack once idolised but now thinks is a villain; naive Jack is out for revenge, to reveal The Hunter as a badguy and see him taken down. And he's not the only one looking for The Hunter's true identity. Meanwhile, friends and longtime mutual piners Dean and Cas finally act on their feelings for each other - but then shit goes down.
Friends to Lovers. Guardian/Single Dad Cas. Vigilante Dean. Heroes & Villains. Mutual Pining.
A/N: I started drafting the outline for this halfway through s1 of GK. It utilizes the darker vibes we get from Jack in season 14, which I love. And no, it's not related to my Destiel AU gifset series, sorry!
⮑ with all that in mind..
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wolficake · 7 months ago
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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers 🤍🖤
ppl don't reblog stuff from me, but if anyone sees this and wants to do it pls feel free, ilu all sm and want to see your fave things, so here are five things that make me happy!
1. My spouse. We've been married since 2021 and I've never been happier. @vampicake is my entire world. 🥺🥺🥺🥺
2. Anything cherry flavored. Cherries are my favorite fruit and my favorite flavoring. Tho, weirdly enough, I am VERY picky about cherry pie. For some reason it always tastes bitter to me, not sweet or even sour. But I love cherries.
3. Farming games, especially Stardew Valley. I don't get a lot of peace and I could never afford to live on a farm, despite that being my optimal choice for living, on a communal farm with all my friends and family. (Who am I kidding, my friends are my family, I would also absolutely let strangers live on my farm.)
4. Plants and gardening. Seriously, I just gotta dig my hands in dirt. I need it. I need the soil. Give me dirt. Bury me.
5. People. I love people. I love this world so much. I love all of you. Like. I wake up every day with more and more hope than I have ever had in my life.
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bildads-shoes · 9 months ago
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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers :D
Ooh this is so cute, thank you Joy! <3
1. Spending time with my lovely family and friends! I would be a fraction of the person I am now without my loved ones; I'm so lucky to have them ❤️
2. Maybe an odd one but I love watching strangers connect - walking down the street and paying attention to all the people laughing with their friends, hugging etc. always makes me really happy
3. Words, I guess? I love coming across beautiful sentences that absolutely stop you in your tracks, and I love writing too
4. Music!! It really sets my imagination off + fills me with good vibes
5. My favourite characters + stories of course! They've absolutely shaped me as a person and helped me through a lot in life <3
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annwayne · 1 year ago
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Hi!! I love it when you pop up in my life (timeline, lol).
Would you like to share three current thoughts you have about life in general?
Three thoughts about anything Star Wars related?
And any piece of fanart or fanfic that has lingered in your mind for ages after you first saw it? 😘
Awe well thank you! Your excitement is always fun to see, I think it's safe to say you've given some fresh life to the tcw/tbb fandoms.
Hmm. 3 thoughts about life...
I recently finished watching Midnight Mass and that got me thinking lots about the cult I was born into-what that did to me and where I am now. Also how bad people twist religious texts for their own benefit and how good believers tend to stay quiet until it's too late because of the culture.
No one's asked and I hate the whole "coming out" thing, but I learned about histrigender recently and feel in love with the term. Nonbinary and agender are sufficient to use with friends and family, but the most important person in my life knows what this term means and I'm happy with that.
Kinda lighthearted compared to the last two-but god I miss movies/tv shows that were willing to chance the viewer not following the story or noticing everything. I loved that Blackout was better the second, third time I watched it. I loved that I picked up on background dialogue that gave me exposition that I missed first time around.
Now 3 thoughts about Star Wars Oft. That's a dangerous game.
This might be controversial, but I'm not the kind of person to like every single clone. They are supposed to all have unique personalities (tcw couldn't fully flesh out every single clone so many of them feel underdeveloped imo) which means that there are clones that I don't care much for. I have my favorites, those I have noteworthy appreciation for, and then clones I don't think anything of. (go on and try to guess my fave I bet its impossiblleeeee xD)
Crosshair's story is meaningful to me because of my background in a cult. I probably think more in depth about his story than was originally intended to come through lol. The parallels though.. Especially a cult preying on insecurity? On loneliness, on the concept of worthiness?
Old republic star wars is the best star wars timeline opps sorry it's just too damn cool. (I like the space wizards)
Just one?
Mutually Assured Destruction by rubbergooseworks
The Price of Truth by Star_Killer01
Strangers in a Strange Land by sailaway
Violence-With-Respect by maskedbeliever
And this comm I got from skeltrr
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