#masked is moving around a lot so nutcracker can see him

[dotoil]

coilhead nutcracker staring contest (nutcracker is unconvinced that coil is real because they only see movement?) thinking masked got a sounboard or something

I had a little too much fun with this one thanks for this request.

[7spaceace7]

Ego Holiday Headcanons

Haven’t decided if I’ll make more after this, but here’s some festive headcanons for the Septic boys! (tagging as Yuletube for my submission for the past two missed days, hope that’s alright!)

Henrik Von Schneeplestein

-The host of the Septic Ego Holiday Celebration (est. 2017)

-STRESSED

-If he wasn’t stressed enough by being a doctor (and parent lmao), HE IS NOW

-Getting all the egos together for the holidays and making sure they DON’T kill each other?? Someone give this man an award

-Everyone keeping their limbs would be his only Christmas wish

-He does not get said Christmas wish (see: Robbie)

-Switches up his black coffee for coffee with peppermint creamer

-Chase eventually hooks him on peppermint tea instead, he knows the Doc needs sleep

-Can be found humming along to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy as he cooks holiday dinner

-Definitely has a “kiss the cook” apron

-Chase crossed out the “the” on it with “zhe” in sharpie

-Day 5, Schneep still hasn’t noticed

-Loves it, but still wears his doctor coat on top of it

-Gets very cold easily, so the fire is always burning

-Has a nutcracker collection

-It’s getting out of hand

Chase Brody

-Holidays are,,, hard for him

-Still sends his kids cards and presents, never actually knowing if they get them or not

-They do, I promise

-Wasn’t originally keen on celebrating with everyone, he has a tendency to self-isolate

-But once he gets there, he’s glad he did

-IMMEDIATELY tackled in a hug from Jackie

-”YOU’RE HERE!! Couldn’t start without you, dude!”

-Everyone else smiles and gives the appropriate hug

-(Anti does not, but no eye roll this time at least)

-Absolutely loves warm apple cider and has a good recipe to make his own

-Favorite Christmas movie is Elf, no I do not take criticism

-Has a soft spot for Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas though because of his kids

-Holiday puns, you CANNOT get this man to shut up with the puns

- “Where’s Anti?” “Up to SNOW good! There’s SNOW way we can REIN him in now!”

-Once it snows, this boy is sledding down every hill in SIGHT

-Teaches Robbie how to catch snowflakes on his tongue

-Marvin makes him a “World’s Best Dad” sweater

-He totally cries and does not take it off the rest of the season

Jackieboy Man

-Christmas is his favorite holiday

-Good luck getting him to sit still around this time

-Has super strength, so he doesn’t quite have the same “don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself” factor that everyone else does??

-Nearly giving Henrik a heart attack everytime he moves, but make it Festive™

-”Guys it’s snowing!!” “JACKIE GET ZHE FAHK OFF ZHE RAILING”

-Slides down the stairs anyway

-Marvin made him a whole ass “ugly supersuit” instead of just a sweater

-It is a w f u l, but on purpose

-Ofc Jackie adores the shit out of it

-Loves snowball fights!

-Always gets targeted by Anti tho

-Eventually it turns into a snowball war

-Pulls Chase over to tag team him, then discovers Marvin has an alliance with Anti

-They will be here a while

-Time to break out the reindeer-themed boxers

-They go along perfectly with his red and blue sweater-suit

-Eventually able to settle down when it gets dark out, bonus points if there’s hot chocolate involved (courtesy of JJ)

-Don’t forget the marshmallows

-Wants to help everybody out with their plans, always does his best

-Even if his best includes falling off a roof

Marvin the Magnificent

-Made everyone sweaters, even Anti

-Spent too much time on the design parts to make em perfect, so he had to rush getting them all sewn

-Uses his magic to sew like three at once

-December 1st, 12:00am is when the Christmas music starts

-Mariah Carey impressions that slowly get higher as the month goes on

-Performs a “Let It Go” rendition that could rival Idina’s during christmas karaoke night

-Switches his regular mask for his holiday one with snowflakes instead of card suits on it

-The decorating master, with JJ as his apprentice

-Favorite part is designing for the lights outside

-Learned a spell to make it look like it’s snowing inside

-Forgot to learn the spell to make it stop snowing inside

-Ended up just sticking with those paper snowflakes dangling on the ceiling

-Asks Jackie for help with the lights on the roof, not because he can’t easily do it himself, he just knows that Jackie likes to help and this is the one thing he knows he can’t break

-Did not expect Jackie to break himself by falling off the roof instead

-Ends up finishing the lights with his magic anyway (after he untangles his boyfriend from the lights, that is)

-Can and will destroy Jackie during snowball fights just because he can

Jameson Jackson

-THIS BOY oh this boy

-Brings out the classic holiday music and sets it up on the gramophone

-LOVES making up dances to the music

-May be a classic boy, but his guilty pleasure is Michael Buble

-(Robbie calls him bubbles whenever he comes on)

-Goes ALL OUT with the holiday baking

-Cookies of all kinds, homemade gingerbread for the houses, so many pies, even learns how to bake his own bread

-Everyone agrees that his pumpkin bread is the best

-Anti especially loves the cherry pie for “aesthetic purposes”

-Has a whole “Twas the Night Before Christmas” puppet show routine

-His job is making the decorations while Marvin sets them all up, it’s a great dynamic

-Definitely makes those traditional popcorn garlands for the tree

-for some reason puts an orange in his stocking?? The others are confused, but he’s so excited so they just let him do his thing

-Now everyone has oranges in their stockings

-They still don’t know what it means

Antisepticeye

-Die Hard is a Christmas movie, dammit!

- “Grinch Bitch” is what his sweater from Marvin says

-Secretly likes it, but fuck off

-Wears it to sleep every night in Winter

-You know that thing where cats get under Christmas trees and swat at the ornaments? Yeah that’s him

-Loves the white elephant gift game

-Ends up getting a present and it’s a turtle

-His name is knives

-KING OF SNOWBALL FIGHTS

-Fills his snowballs with fake blood so they explode on people

- (at least we hope its fake)

-If it doesn’t snow enough, he is the bitch who throws water balloons instead

-Henrik still has work leading up to Christmas, so Anti listens to him rant when he gets home

-Christmas patients are fuckin crazy and he loves it

-One time fell asleep and woke up with a red nose and antlers

-Chase was never safe after that

-Kept the antlers though, they jingle

-Saved them all from Chase’s puns that day

- “Where’s Anti?” *distant, staticky jingling* “Ah there he is”

Robbie the Zombie

-LIGHTS...pretty lights…

-He loves the lights, and will try to eat them if you’re not careful

-Says they’re static candy

-Doesn’t get cold because he can’t feel it, so he often wanders around in the snow

-One time he came home without his left foot and Schneep nearly had a heart attack

-Turns out it froze in the snow and snapped off his leg

-The Great Foot Search Party of 2020

-Please don’t forget to bundle this boy up before going out

-Anti has knitted him a hat and scarf for just this reason

-Henrik was the Proudest Dad that day

-Totally gets to put the star on the Christmas tree every year

-Marvin levitates him high enough

-Favorite holiday movie is The Polar Express

-One time JJ came out with his signature hot cocoa during the movie scene and Robbie was THRILLED

-Talking almost knocked him over thrilled

-Tries to sing along to holiday music, the lyrics don’t work out much

-Really good at keeping a beat though

-Marvin made him a sweater with bells on it

-Adores the bells, flaps the too long sleeves to make them jingle

Shawn Flynn

-Likes Christmas, but like lowkey

-He’s a toymaker!!! He makes adorable toys for all the egos as their presents from him!!

-Didn’t really have a family to go back to in his days at Joey Drew Studios, so he was used to spending Christmas alone, usually working

-NOT ANYMORE!

-Now he has Too Much Family (but in the good way)

-Absolutely gets nicknamed Scrooge at first, probably because he really likes A Christmas Carol and he’s a grump

-Often can be found being pulled off to dance by the gramophone with JJ

-He’s got two left feet, but JJ doesn’t really care

-If anyone still believes in Santa, even just a little bit, it’s because of him

-Has a giant red sack that he fills up with toys he’s made and/or the ones no one could sell back at the studios and donates them to orphanages

-Usually sticks to his old timey clothes, but when he does wear modern Christmas attire like the sweaters, he has,,,no idea how to match things

-It’s ‘cause he’s red/green colorblind

-once asked why Marvin had “yellow” hair

-JJ makes sure that his decorations have lots of blues so it’s not so much strain on his eyes

[reddielibrary]

The Dream During Halloween

Written by @heknewwellenough

Gift for @reddieforlove

Pairing: Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak

Word count: 3852

Rating: Teen

A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN BRI!!! i hope you enjoy this, and that it’s what you had in mind!!! mwah mwah

Richie doesn’t really believe in God, well, at least not to a certain extent. Okay, scratch that. He believes in something, he’s just not sure if it’s a God or a superior entity or some stupid shit like that. 

What he does believe though, at this exact moment, is that angels are real, and he just witnessed the king of the angels. Maybe that means the god of the angels or whatever, but he doesn’t exactly care about the correct terminology because he’s pretty sure this boy is a real life angel.

REO Speedwagon’s I Can’t Fight This Feeling is thrumming lowly through the speakers by the fireplace, and Richie really needs to find Bill to congratulate him on his music taste. I'm keeping you in sight is right, Richie muses indistinctly. 

“Rich.” He hears from his left, moving limply as he’s shouldered softly. 

“Yeah?” He mutters, keeping his eyes tracked on the boy across the room. He’s sitting by himself on the couch, painted light blue hands gripping a red solo cup weakly, lifting every once in awhile to drink. 

Bev shoves him a little harder, and Richie finally tears his eyes away from the angel on the couch. “Come on man, you’re being creepy. Stop staring at that poor kid. And you haven’t even seen his full face; his mask is covering part of it.”  

“Yeah, no shit Bev. You’d be surprised with what I can make do with having only half a face,” he says, his brows doing a little dance as he grins down at her. “Also,” he continues, reaching towards her headband, “can you start warning me when you want to talk to me? I’m not used to— this—“ he gestures to the dark hair curling right above her shoulders, making a grab at it, but Bev shoots his hand away from where it’s getting dangerously close to her headband. “I always think you’re someone creeping on me.”

Beverly grabs a black curl resting right above her shoulder, almost absentmindedly, and tugs on it loosely. She’s dressed as Snow White, and had dyed her hair with Richie’s own help two days ago. He’s still not used to it though, and it struck him this morning while doing his own hair how much they look like siblings now. 

“I can barely understand you,” she lifts her own solo cup to her mouth, taking a sip of what is presumably something non-alcoholic. “Take that stupid mask off and face me like a woman. Or go talk to the guy on the couch.”

Richie wriggles uncomfortably. God does he want to go talk to the boy with probably the best Halloween costume here. Better than Princess Diana and Prince Charles he’s here with, for sure. But he’s nervous. He only came to terms with this whole I-want-to-kiss-boys-like-a-lot-thing only recently, and even then he hasn’t even come to terms with it super well. The only reason Bev knows is because she’s Bev. His ride or die, his best friend, his platonic life partner, yadda yadda yadda. Same deal with Stan. He knows stuff about them that he’ll take to the grave, and vice versa. 

“I like the mask. It’s gives an air of… sexy mystery.” Richie slouches against the wall, turning away from Bev. His eyes make their way to the boy across the room, trying to pretend he’s not staring. He knows he’s not doing an entirely good job, but he thinks he has the right to stare when someone’s costume looks like that on them. 

“Not really— definitely not sexy. It’s kind of creepy. I can’t really tell where you’re looking at.” Stan remarks, saddling up next to them. He leans against the wall too, bumping his shoulder against Richie’s. His fancy blue prince pants look funny next to Richie’s black and white pinstripe pants.

“He’s looking over there— at zombie boy.“ Bev nods towards the couch across the room. “Where were you?” She adds, leaning to look over Richie towards Stan. 

Richie turns to Beverly, staring down at her sable head, astonished. “Do not just tell me you called him a zombie—”

“Getting water,” Stan says, lifting up the water bottle in his hands to show her, promptly cutting Richie off. Probably to save himself of a stupid argument. “Why don’t you go talk to him, Rich?” He suggests, loud enough to be heard over the music but not enough for the people around them to hear. He reaches over to Richie’s face and lifts his mask to sit on top of his head. 

Richie shakes his head vigorously, his mask flopping over and onto his face again. “Fuck no, Fresh Prince of Derry. I’ll just stare at Himeros for now.” 

Beverly snickers, but Stan looks at him, probably judging him. Richie sees his brows draw in the middle, and it sounds like he’s smiling when he says, “wouldn’t he be Anteros—?”

The sound of a shriek makes its way to Richie’s ears, and he gets the inkling that it’s probably a little more important than some girl getting teased or tickled or whatever the fuck off in the corner. He’s right, because when he looks over, Anteros is laughing at something Bill Denbrough is saying to him. “Oh my God. Did you guys hear that?”

“No? What?” Stan says, looking around, intrigued. “What is it, Richie?” 

“I think I just heard an angel sing.” Richie sighs dreamily, slumping against the wall even further. 

“Actually, I think you mean a god sing—“

“Oh, just go talk to the guy!” Bev gestures to the boy on the couch with her drink, some of it sloshing out of the cup and onto the floor, splashing Richie’s chucks lightly. 

“And it’s not sing, dingus. It’s laugh. Maybe he shouldn’t go talk to him,” Stan continues, “he’ll embarrass himself.” 

“I don’t have to listen to this abuse,” pushing himself off the wall, Richie turns to the royalty behind him. “I’m going to get another drink! Is there anything your highnesses would enjoy from the area of feeding?” He pretends to bow, and snickers when he hears Stan mutter no, thank you, asshat.

Bev does what Richie could only describe as a soft karate chop on each shoulder— the name escapes him— and she giggles also. “I’d like an orange juice.”

“Even though I just suffered some verbal abuse from you not even five minutes ago—“ he calls, walking away, “I will get you your juice of orange. With bubbly water, you freak!” He calls, finishing her sentence before she even begins to start talking. 

“Fucking— bubbly water. Fucking disgusting,” he mutters, walking up to the makeshift bar in the kitchen. 

“Hey, man.” He nods to Mike Hanlon in the kitchen, smiling. He always liked Mike. And Bill, too, when he had been on the lacrosse team last year. The rest of the team fucking sucked— and so did the sport in general, if he’s being honest. He can’t count how many hallelujahs he said the last day of practice.

Mike tilts his head, squinting at him. He raises his hand in a slow, confused wave. 

“Oh,” Richie laughs, pulling his mask up and over his head. “Sorry, man.”

“Oh!” Mike chuckles, walking up next to him. He bades goodbye to the girl next to him, sliding up next to Richie and leaning against the counter. “I thought it was you, Rich. You know— cause of the hair—“ he gestures to the mess of curls on Richie’s head, “— but it looked shorter so I wasn’t sure. Also, your neck is super white.”

“You mean whiter than usual?” Richie cracks, mixing Bev’s monstrosity of a drink. 

Mike gasps out a surprised laugh.“Yeah. Okay, whiter than usual.” 

Not quite what he was expecting, a similar laugh makes its way out of his throat. “I got a sexy haircut, dude, that’s why you didn’t recognize me in my sexy costume.” He says, still chuckling. He punctuates his sentence with a pop of his hip, grinning over at Mike briefly before turning back to the mouth-sore in front of him. 

“Speaking of, I like your costume. That movie’s pretty cool.” 

“I know, but do you know how many oh, are you Beetlejuice’s? I’ve gotten tonight? You think the mask would be a dead giveaway. Or that Bill wouldn’t have invited such dumb fucking people to his party.” Richie rolls his eyes, smiling at Mike’s nice rumble of a laugh. “I mean— I knew half the lacrosse team had zero brain cells, but you'd think at least some of the art kids would be smart. This movie only came out a year ago.” He scoffs. He grabs a half-filled Coke bottle in front of him and the Fanta next to it, pouring them into a solo cup, stirring them together with a straw. He lifts the cup to his mouth and takes a sip, turning fully to look at Mike, from feet to the top of his head. “What’re you supposed to be, anyway? Wait— no! Let me guess, let me guess.”

Mike shrugs, gesturing at him with his own solo cup as if to say alright man, go ahead. 

Mike has got on a yellow blazer, a red scarf around his neck, and a toque. Richie has literally no idea what he is. 

“No-fence man, but what the fuck are you? I’m trying to come up with something funny but I’m coming up short.”  

Mike laughs, like he’d been expecting that, and says, “I’m one of the boys from the Rice Krispies box. You know? It’s a group costume, with Bill and Ben.”

Richie nods. He knows Ben; he’s in his Humanities class and was in his SAT prep class last year, and he thinks Friends is funny, but never mind that little drawback, because he’s also probably the nicest fucking person Richie has ever met. He’s been meaning to ask him to hang out or something, but it’s not quite something he’s gotten around to yet, for whatever reason. In short, he’s just cool, and he makes Richie feel good. Same deal with Bill, and Mike. He smiles. “I was wondering what the fuck Bill was. I thought he was the little Nutcracker boy.” 

Mike bursts out laughing, slapping Richie on the arm. “I can’t wait to tell him that,” he mutters, small hiccups escaping his lips as he continues to chuckle, “he’ll love that—“

“Hi, Mike. Can I get by?” A soft voice says behind Richie. Both him and Mike turn around concurrently, and Richie chokes on the drink he unluckily lifted to his lips only a moment before, because there he is. The Himeros. Or Anteros. Whatever it is, or was, Richie can’t focus, or remember. He feels as if his brain has melted straight out of his ears and onto the floor, or into his drink, or something. He has no idea. None of it really matters right now, anyway. 

Mike says something that Richie tunes out accidentally, and he slides easily out of the way. They start talking, but Richie has no idea what they’re saying. The thoughts in his own head drown out their talk, and the loud talking all around him, and the sound of the opening chords of Witchy Woman starting up, all to a dull murmur as he stares at the back of the boy’s head. He feels like he should be listening to what him and Mike are talking about— to maybe pick up on a few things or something— but he’s too far gone now, his thoughts wrapping around his mind like a telephone cord around a finger. 

Richie cannot understand for the life of him why he has never seen this boy around. He’s a fucking senior this year, for Chrissake, and their school isn’t even that big like one of those schools up in Portland or Bangor. About six or seven hundo kids, give or take. And it’s not like he’s an observant person. He typically likes to think of himself as pretty observant, actually, and there’s not a chance in hell this kid would not catch his attention. He hasn’t even had the honor of having this kid’s face grace his shitty vision, but he already knows it’s going to be an appealing face.

“—Richie?” 

“Huh?” Richie’s head snaps up from where he was staring at Himeros’ feet toward whoever said his name.

It was Mike, and he’s smiling crookedly, like he’s waiting for Richie to answer. “See you later, Rich?” He says, and Richie figures he’s repeating it by the way he’s smiling and the tone of his voice.

“Oh. Yeah, see ya later, Snap.” He nods, a grin splitting his face as Mike returns it, turning to leave.

And then it’s just him and the angel, he realises a few seconds after Mike’s trodden off to go talk to Ben in the corner of the kitchen. It’s quiet, and it’s funny because everyone around them is talking, and Richie has always hated quiet. He opens his mouth to say something, pretty much anything that comes to his head first, but the boy beats him to it. And it’s perfect for two reasons. 

“Hey, Bone Daddy,” the boy says to him softly— like, to him, directly— and he kind of smiles, laughing to himself.

It’s perfect because Richie had absolutely no idea what he was going to say, so pretty much anything could have run out of his mouth, which doesn’t always fly so well depending on who he’s talking to. That greeting knocks the wind out of him though, promptly knocking whatever embarrassing thing Richie could have said out of his mind, too, which he’s entirely grateful for. 

It’s also perfect because by the minute he’s being proven right about this boy being an angel. 

“Get it? It’s from the movie.” Himeros continues, almost uncertainly. Richie wishes he could see his face— the mask is partially in the way, and he’s ducked over his own drink that he’s making. 

“Yeah, I get it,” he says in a rush, voice cracking. He takes a deep breath, continuing, “I’ve seen it like a billion times, so.” He trails off. “It’s my favorite,” he adds after a moment. The word fuck bounces around his head, feeling like he’s embarrassing himself or being especially awkward.

“Mine too.” The boy responds, turning to smile at Richie briefly. “When I chose my costume, I thought it was weird not having a Jack to go with, but Bill told me it looked fine.” 

“It does!” Richie blurts, and okay, yeah, he doesn’t exactly have a filter, but there are times when he thinks maybe he should work on that. Like right now. “I mean— it does. Look fine. I mean— I went as Jack without a Sally, and it’s not weird, right? So a Sally without Jack is not weird.” He’s rambling, and the boy is giggling, and most of the anxiety drains from his body because this— laughter, making people laugh— this is easy. Laughing makes him easy. The tension drains from his shoulders, from his brows, the anxiety flooding his body evaporates as he continues, a smile spreading across his face as he says, “your costume is definitely the sexiest one here. Excluding the cheeseburger playing beer pong, of course.” 

Richie watches as a flush coats the boy’s blue cheeks, and it’s probably the most endearing thing he’s ever seen. “Of course. Naturally.” He agrees, nodding along with Richie. He’s finished making his drink, and he turns to lean against the counter to face Richie. “And we— well we found each other, so now there’s no lonely Jack and Sally.” The boy says, and he smiles again. He sounds kind of nervous, and it further confirms Richie’s idea that yeah, this boy is his dream boy. 

Richie grins down at him, and the brief thought of how short this boy is crosses his mind. He finally takes in the boy’s full appearance now that he’s standing right in front of him, face and all. Everything about him just screams cute to Richie, from the sewn patches all over his pants and shirt, to the black boots he’s wearing. Richie notices that his hair is spray-dyed a vivid red, and it’s done really well. He probably went through at least two bottles, Richie muses. His drawn on stitched smile is curved up even more so than it already is due to the boy’s smile, and it makes Richie smile. 

The boy is looking him up and down—checking me out, Richie thinks nervously, Gee-zus— just like Richie was a second ago. The boy can’t see his face— when did I put on my mask again?— and that is both a shame and a blessing. 

“Do you— um—” the boy starts nervously, looking down into his cup and then back up again, “do you want to go up to Bill’s room, or something? To talk more? I feel cramped in here.”

Richie nods, and then realizes it might look like he’s saying no because of the mask, so he clarifies verbally with a loud, “yes! Let’s go. Do that. Lead the way, Sally.”

Himeros-Sally laughs, shaking his head, and leads the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs right outside of the kitchen. Richie follows, not seeing Stan or Bev anywhere. He mentally thanks whatever deity out there is throwing him a bone, and climbs the stairs two at a time, lifting his mask as he reaches the top step. 

“So,” the boy starts, leaning against the door once it closes. He sounds nervous again, and it drives a lot of the remaining anxiety Richie is feeling out of his chest. “Can I um— can I do something?” He shakes his head, looking down at the floor and frowning at his feet. “Sorry. That came out wrong. Can I try something, I mean.” 

“Like— like what? Like smelling Bill’s underwear, or looking for his porn mags? Because I bet they smell like—“ 

“Shut up,” the boy says, and it’s not very serious, as he makes his way slowly to Richie, who’s standing in the middle of the room, feeling silly all of a sudden. He places his hands on Richie’s shoulders, and does this thing that Richie really likes where he smooths them over the expanse of his shoulder softly. He rises up on his toes and his face suddenly becomes a lot closer to Richie’s. From behind his mask and through the peepholes, his eyes are telling Richie that he can tell him to stop. Richie does not tell him to stop.

And then suddenly there are soft lips on his. Uncertain, but not unstable. Richie’s eyes are open the whole time, and now he definitely feels like a fool. 

The boy leans back slightly, and one of his hands comes up to take off his mask. He tosses it onto Bill’s bed, and then makes eye contact with Richie again, and Gee-zus, this boy is the definition of cute. He’s the end-all-be-all of cute boys. Freckles smattering his nose and cheeks. Crinkles next to his eyes from smiling at the moment. Long, pretty lashes. Thick, bushy brows.

 “I don’t know your name,” is what he says after a few moments of just staring at Richie, also. 

“Richie. It’s Richie.” Richie breathes out, “and yours—“

“It’s Eddie.” He says softly. 

“Well, Eddie-Spaghetti. I thought you just wanted to talk?”

The boy— Eddie— frowns for the first time tonight. “That’s not my name,” Eddie argues. His frown is almost as cute as his smile. 

“Not anymore. It’s Eddie-Spaghetti. Or if you don’t like that, I can call you Spaghedward. And if you’re not into pasta at all, Eds can work.” Richie rambles, and then Eddie is pressing his lips to Richie’s again. 

“I guess I didn’t come up here to talk. You sure did though,” Eddie retorts when he leans back again, and Richie can feel him smiling, and that is something he’s definitely into. 

Richie’s eyes are closed this time as he replies with a breathless laugh. “Where have you been all of my life?” 

“Here and there,” he responds vaguely. It’s very obviously a joke, and Richie can’t help but laugh again. After he stops chuckling, Eddie answers honestly, telling him that he’s just quiet, and points out that they obviously have had very different schedules.

They end up laying down on Bill’s bed on their sides while Eddie talks, Richie’s mask thrown up by Bill’s pillow next to Eddie’s. Richie realizes Eddie’s probably as much of a talker as Richie is himself as he rambles on about the organization of classes. “I guess the people who organize classes just hate us. You know, since we seem to have never shared a class together. You’re not taking any AP classes, right?”

Richie shakes his head. “No.” 

Eddie frowns, “me neither,” he mumbles, biting his lip. “I don’t get why we’re not in any of the same regular classes, then.”

What he says goes in one ear and out the other. Eddie’s bitten lips have captured his full attention, and he wants to kiss them. Bad. So he leans over quickly and does.

Eddie splutters, seemingly caught by surprise, blush coating his blue cheeks again. “I— um— oh. Okay.”

“Sorry,” Richie hastens to say, shaking his head again, glasses getting pushed against his face and his hands under his head feeling uncomfortable. “I didn’t know if—“

“No! It’s fine,” Eddie shakes his head too, soft smile reappearing on his face. “It’s fine,” he repeats, softer this time. “I probably should have asked first, anyway. So I’m sorry.”

Richie scoffs, dramatic. “It’s fine. You’re fine. You did kinda ask, anyway. Besides, I wanted those cute lips on me, anyways,” Richie grins, laughing at Eddie’s bashful smile and the roll of his eyes. 

When Eddie doesn’t say anything for a few moments, Richie fears he made it awkward, but then Eddie looks into his eyes and cracks a smile, a laugh escaping his mouth. He starts to laugh even more, and then Richie starts to laugh, and then suddenly they’re laughing together on Bill’s bed in their Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween costumes at nothing. This is the best Richie has felt in a long time. He feels as if he’s known Eddie for years, and not just for two hours. 

Eddie wipes away a few tears from his eyes, rolling onto his back and staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars Bill has on his ceiling. “I’m glad I met you,” he says softly, in the Eddie-way he does that Richie is grown accustomed to in the past couple of hours. 

“Same here, Eds.” Richie whispers back. 

Eddie’s hand reaches over and threads through the hand Richie has resting by his face. Still on his side, and staring at Eddie’s face poised up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, Richie can’t help but think for the hundredth time that night yeah, definitely an angel. 

[okaybutlikeimagine]

Waltzes are for Happy People

(a little fic I wrote in response to this ask I received where someone asked what kind of classical music Billy would listen to. I got really carried away giving Billy fond memories of family members he doesn’t get to see anymore. ♥ I made myself hurt but also it’s fluffy too so no worries)

you can find it on AO3 here

tags: fluffy, angsty, a couple of OCs that I made real quick just bc I wanted to give Billy family.

Warnings: brief mentions of abuse

Words:  3730

----

Billy has an aunt on his mother’s side.

She lives up in the Bay Area. She saw Billy a little bit after he was born, more than excited about meeting the newest baby in the family. And then again when he was about 4 and she came down to visit with her husband to take Billy to Disneyland and buy him cotton candy and little Mickey Mouse ears and take him on a Small World and let him meet Mickey.

When Billy is about 8, his aunt comes back down to drive him up to the Bay Area for Christmas. It’s a long drive, a semi-long stay, and a lot of random circumstances that lead to his being able to go. Neil’s childhood friend dies, Billy’s mother catches a stomach bug and can’t take care of Billy while they’re at home, and neither of his parents want their son going to this funeral or catching sick for Christmas.

And Billy’s aunt has been begging and pleading his mother to see Billy again. See how he’s grown, take him out to the city, have some family over at her house for Christmas because her husband left a couple years ago and she doesn’t like being alone for the holidays.

So that’s how Billy ends up on a drive up to the Bay Area with his aunt, listening to jazz music Billy’s never heard. The car smells of Christmas trees- Billy’s pretty sure it’s from the pine tree shaped car fresheners.

“We’re gonna see a show in the city for Christmas, doesn’t that sound fun?”

Billy shrugs. He figures it’s a movie. He’s never been to a show that wasn’t a movie. “What show?”

“The Nutcracker. You know, your cousin is performing in it. She got us tickets!”

Billy didn’t know he had a cousin.

But he has a wonderful time up in the bay. She shows him all there is to see and feeds him every piece of Christmas candy Billy can even think of and makes him hot chocolate and sits down with him to watch a different Christmas movie each night. He gets spoiled. Billy has never been spoiled.

And so on Christmas day, after opening presents (he gets one that his parents sent down with him, but the rest are from his aunt. Lots of cool toys he’d never think to ask for and a couple of shirts he actually thinks look pretty nice. Might be a bit too warm to wear down in San Diego, but still) and watching the Rockettes on TV, his aunt tells him to put on a nice, light sweater he packed and some nice jeans and they head out to the city to see The Nutcracker.

And Billy has always been kind of an antsy kid. He doesn’t like to sit down for too long. His teachers get upset at him because he can’t focus very well. But for something that has absolutely no words/speaking in it whatsoever... this is actually very interesting. The sets are huge, the costumes are colorful, their faces are so lively, the music is interesting. His heart absolutely drops when the tree grows big and the large fireplace comes out.

And yeah, he’s a little confused about the story, but he thinks the dancing soldier is cool and he likes the music that plays while he dances. The Rat King is kind of scary, he flinches a little when he sees him, but they’re sword fighting and that’s not what he thought he signed up for when he agreed to come to this. And then...

And then.....

And then Waltz of the Snowflakes comes on.

Women, 2 at a time, are running and jumping and... frolicking? onto stage and once the 4th one comes on, Billy’s aunt pats his arm and points.

“That’s your cousin!” She whispers. Billy tries to memorize what she looks like, but everyone is dressed the same and they’re all running on and off the stage and there’s a lot of them and Billy’s head is kind of spinning.

But...

But it’s beautiful. The music is spinning along with them as they twirl and sparkle and the music has so many different sounds all at once and it’s almost overwhelming. But it’s beautiful and Billy keeps asking his aunt which one his cousin is because he wants to watch her. Billy memorizes her face a couple minutes into the dance. She’s beautiful, even though Billy can’t really see her face. It’s just the way she moves. Billy thinks she’s the best dancer on that stage, even better than the girl with the skirt that sticks out and dances in front most of the time. No, he’s not biased, his cousin is the best. She jumps higher and her faces are better and her hands are nicer and she’s just better, thank you. Of course she’s better, she’s his cousin.

And suddenly the music is amping up, then it’s swirly and his cousin is running to their side of the stage. Billy and his aunt are sitting in the front row, all the way at the end, and his cousin is coming towards them, stopping in the corner, posing and smiling prettily and Billy swears she makes eye contact with him and smiles wider and winks. Billy’s returning smile is involuntary.

And then the music stops. Everyone’s clapping. Billy tags along. He kinda wishes it could keep going, it was just so pretty and the rest of it has been cool, sure, but that was just... so pretty. Billy’s never seen snow before but now he wants to live in it.

But then there’s music underneath the clapping. Something low and almost threatening and-

It gets faster. His cousin looks like she takes a big breath before she runs away to join the rest of the girls, spinning and twirling and kicking and jumping. There’s voices singing now and it’s almost like the girls are singing and then there’s snow.

Like... lots of snow.

It’s a blizzard, all of the girls running and jumping and spinning and the music is rising and getting louder, impossibly louder and it’s inside Billy’s chest and he almost can’t see anyone through the snowfall but he can still pick out his cousin, he swears on it, and then-

It’s... quiet again. The music is soft. There’s probably story happening but Billy is busy watching his cousin and the girls around her, all of them breathing real heavy and he’s joining them because wow the music was so intense he felt it. And the snow is still falling and the little girl from the beginning comes and goes on some sleigh and they all pose and then the curtain is falling and... the lights come on.

“How did you like it?” is the first thing his aunt asks and Billy feels frazzled.

“It’s over?”

She laughs. “No honey, that was just the first act. Isn’t your cousin good?”

Billy nods. “Yeah.”

She leads him out to the lobby, buying them both a cookie in the shape of a Nutcracker to munch on before the next act starts.

And the rest of the show is pretty, the music is all so different and it all hits him differently, but he can’t stop thinking about all that snow. About the swirling sound of the music. About the way the people on stage were the music it was... it was something Billy’s never seen or heard and he’s floored. Still.

After the show, his aunt holds his hand (to his dismay. He is eight, y’know. He doesn’t need his hand held.) and walks him out of the theater. Everyone lingers around the front, chattering among themselves and shivering slightly in the cold, but his aunt leads him around the side of the theater and over to a rather large door that has a different kind of bustling energy. They stand there, waiting as people run in and out with an excitable and happy chatter surrounding them. When he looks up to her to ask what they’re doing, she leans down to tell him they’re waiting for his cousin.

And yeah... Billy was right, she’s beautiful. Billy feels kinda proud about it? He knows his mom is pretty, his aunt is also pretty, it makes sense that his cousin is just as pretty. Maybe prettier? Although she does have a lot of make-up on and crazy long eyelashes. They almost touch her eyebrows.

“Hey mom! Hey, you brought the kid!” She bends down a little bit to be at eye level with him, putting her hands on her knees. “What’s up, little dude, how’d you like the show?”

Billy just nods, a little amazed. Her presence is so large.

“Not too boring for ya?”

Billy shakes his head. She laughs a slightly raspy laugh.

“Good! I was a little worried when my mom said you were coming. I’m Margaret by the way.”

She holds her hand out to shake. Billy takes it.

“Billy.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Billy! I love your hair. It looks like it curls up, huh?”

Billy nods. She ruffles it a bit.

“I wish mine curled up like that.” She straightens out and smiles down on him before turning to her mom and asking how their Christmas has been. Having a little conversation with her, saying “I don’t have any more shows, so I can come celebrate with you. I don’t need to go to whatever party they’re having, not when my baby cousin’s in town!”

She ruffles Billy’s hair again. He scrunches up his nose at the use of the word “baby” and she just laughs at him before getting a mischievous look in her eye.

“Hey, you wanna see something cool?” There’s fire dancing in her eyes. Billy nods. She looks back at the stage door and then grabs his hand and presses her finger to her lips. “Shh. Come with me.”

She gives a small wave to her mom and tells her they’ll be back before pulling Billy through the stage door.

Past it is a river of people. Everyone rushing around and chattering and wearing absolute masks of make-up. They all leave trails of sparkles behind them and Billy’s pretty sure he has some in his hair that’s gonna be real hard to get out.

But Margaret is waving hi and patting people on the back and shoulder with her left hand and holding Billy tight with her right, breaking through the crowd and leading his way until they get up to a large door.

She turns to face him and puts a finger to her lips again. “Remember, shh! Alright?”

Billy nods.

She opens the door behind her and pulls him through and it’s dark. Real fucking dark, especially when the door closes. But she takes him around a corner and-

Someone stops them.

“Hey, Charlie! Just passing through.”

“No.” He says, not looking up from his clipboard.

“Come on, I have my baby cousin with me!” She pulls Billy forward. “He’s never been on a stage before! He drove hours up here to see me, you can’t let us out there for five minutes?”

The guy- Charlie -looks down at Billy with a cold look. Billy can read the situation and puts on his best puppy dog face. He knows his blue eyes can get him anything he wants. He’s done it plenty times at arcades and candy stores.

Margaret gestures to him. “See! He just wants to see the stage!”

Charlie sighs. “Fine. You have five minutes, alright?”

“Thanks Charlie! Love you!” Margaret says quickly before taking Billy fully around the corner and-

Woah.

In the darkness of the curtains and large set pieces, there’s what seems like a full room of light. From where Billy’s standing it looks like heaven. Like they’re walking into the light and they literally are but... 

“Whaddya think?” She asks as they walk out onto the illuminated stage.

The sets are massive. A lot bigger than they look from the audience. The ground is covered in this weird, yellow-ish, powdery stuff with confusing patterns in it and Billy is looking out into the rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of seats. Looks up at the balcony. Stares in awe.

“Uhm… woah.”

Margaret smiles wide. “I know, right? Isn’t it gorgeous? Oh! That’s where you were sitting, right?” She asks, walking over to the front right corner of the stage. “And this is where I was! Snowflake number four.”

She gives him a bright smile and then a shrug.

“They don’t actually give us numbers, but I like to call myself Snowflake number four.”

Billy laughs a bit.

“Sounds important.” Billy says quietly, kicking at the dusty stuff on the ground. Margaret laughs and shoves at his shoulder.

“You bet it is! If I don’t come out, the show can’t keep going.”

Billy chuckles, shakes his head, looks around the stage and watches the people bustling around, watches the sets get moved, watches the way Margaret walks gracefully around the stage, spinning a bit, like she’s dancing.

“Do something.” Billy’s voice blurts out before he can think about it. She turns to him with a laugh.

“Do something? Do what?”

Billy shrugs. “Dance?”

She nods. “Alright, I guess. But only if you dance with me!”

Billy’s immediately apprehensive, and it seems like she can tell, because she laughs and moves to stand right next to him. “Come on, it’s not too hard. Just put your foot out- yeah, there you go! Now stick your toes down… yeah! And jump a little… You got it!”

And she walks him through a few more jumps that for him are hops, and she holds his hand and spins him around, and then she says: “C’mere! I bet I can lift you, just stick your legs out.”

And so he lets her lift him and tries to stick his legs out as much as he can as she lifts him up a bit and sets him down on the right side of her, both of them full of giggles.

“Look at that! You could be our next Clara! Think I would make a good Nutcracker?”

Billy nods. “Yeah, I think you’d be pretty good.”

“Thanks, little dude.” She ruffles his hair again.

“The costume might be too big though. His head is huge.”

“Eh.” She swipes at the air. “I’ll wear shoulder pads.”

And they walk around and Margaret twirls and she shows him the tree and Billy wants to climb it and she lets him get in the sleigh and at that, Charlie shoos them away.

And so they run away in a fit of giggles, meeting back up with Billy’s aunt outside to spend the night on the city. They walk around and see all the lights. They go to the park and see a large Christmas tree all lit up. They tell stories and laugh and buy cookies at a little bakery on the corner and they head back home and watch Christmas movies all bundled up and Billy thinks this might be the most beautiful Christmas. Lights and warmth and music and all.

His cousin gifts him a little snowflake ornament.

“It’s me! Snowflake number four.” She’s excited and he laughs with her at that. “So you remember to come back and see the show again some time. They’ve got me locked up in a contract, so my ass is gonna be here for a while. You can bring your parents too! I’d love to see my Auntie Seashell again.”

Billy doesn’t know what she means exactly, but he smiles at her giggle.

She gives Billy a big, squishy hug and tells him- “I’m serious, little dude. You’ve gotta come back and see me! You’re good company.”

Billy promises. He’s adamant.

The drive back down is faster than he wants. Sadder than he wants. He thinks he’ll miss the jazz music but he doesn’t know why. He feels the temperature get warmer and misses the pinching of the cold air.

And of course, Billy doesn’t go back. Not before his cousin is done with the Nutcracker. Not before she’s done with her ballet career completely. Ballerina’s careers are short lived anyway.

Christmases in San Diego get colder. Far, far colder. His mother leaves and he’s there, freezing in their 70 degree house because nothing feels right. He only sees cold glares, the only touch he receives is the harsh back of a large hand and he’s… he freezes over. Christmas isn’t warm here like in the 35 degree weather of the city, holding the soft hands of two women who looked at him like they cared. Even with his new sister and new… no. Not even these new women in his life could feed warmth into the holidays.

She’s not my mom. He had growled at his new stupid sister before he pushed her over.

But every year around Christmas, Billy thinks of his Margaret. Thinks of his aunt and his cousin and all of the other family he probably has that he doesn’t know a damn thing about. About all of the people who look like him out there. About all of their talents. They’re the only memories that keep him warm. The thought that there are people out there who look like him. There are people of his flesh and blood out there who might love him if they knew him. If they knew he was here, freezing on the floor of a home that deems him unloveable.

He still has the ornament. He stopped putting it on the tree when his dad started getting more violent. More angry. After the one year where his dad knocked the tree over and caused more than a handful of ornaments to shatter, including the one that they bought for Billy’s first Christmas. The one they always made sure Billy put up every year.

Every year Billy thinks of going to see that show. Of how bright the city was. He hears the random Nutcracker songs they play on the radio and in Christmas commercials and he feels his heart light up.

The Christmases are a lot colder in Hawkins, but he still warms at the sound of the ballet.

And everyone is very very very confused when he buys a cassette tape of the Nutcracker.

But the first day it snows, the first time Billy sees it actually snow from the sky for the first time in his life, he hears the song playing through his head. He puts the tape in. He sits in the window with a mug of hot chocolate and he watches. No one understands.

Until he talks to Steve about it. One night when they get snowed in at Steve’s house and Billy is getting lost in the swirling snowfall, thinking he sees girls that look like his cousin dancing on the wind, even if they’re blurry and vague, and asks Steve for a mug of hot chocolate.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Billy feels his breath pull inside of him.

“My cousin.”

There’s a pause.

“I didn’t know you had cousins.”

“Yeah well…” I didn’t know it for a long time. Billy thinks. “Yeah. I do.”

Steve watches his boyfriend, sees his eyes track something outside like there’s something to see that isn’t just snowfall.

“What’s got you thinking about your cousin?”

Billy’s eyes burn a bit.

“She…She lives back in California. And when I met her… she was in the Nutcracker. In San Francisco.”

“Wow.” Steve sounds impressed. “Sounds cool.”

“Yeah, she was pretty fucking cool. She was really good. She uh… She was a snowflake.”

Steve sees the breath fill Billy’s chest and exit slowly.

“Snowflake number four.” He mutters before biting at his lip. It’s an anxious gesture.

“Sounds like an important part.” Steve jests.

Billy chuckles a bit at that, being pulled quickly into a memory, even for a brief moment. He feels he’s gonna get whiplash from it.

“Yeah.” he says absent-mindedly.

They sit. Steve watches the snow like he sees something now too. He doesn’t. He just sees snow. But if he thinks real hard, he can see a tiny figure dancing on the falling flecks.

He, too, went to a ballet once. With his mom and her friends and one of their daughters. It wasn’t a horrible experience, but it was definitely irritating being toted around like a trophy instead of a son. Steve had disliked the show just out of principle for hating the experience.

“Is that why you’re always listening to that tape you have? Of the Nutcracker?”

Billy laughs. “Yeah, yeah, it is. It was just… It was such a good Christmas. It was probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

Billy doesn’t want to say it was because they were his family and he felt a connection with them, but he thinks that’s why. He loves his found family, he’d die for them a million times over. He doesn’t even have to think about it. But…

Those two people were blood relatives of him. There was a connection there that made him feel a different kind of special.

Steve watches Billy yearn for something he can’t see. He pulls Billy into his lap and they cuddle up underneath blankets to watch the snow together.

Steve listens as Billy gushes. He put a little liquor into his hot chocolate, gets a little loose about speaking like he does when he’s tipsy, and tells Steve all about how pretty it was. How beautiful. How talented and gorgeous his cousin was and “Of course she was, she is my cousin.”

Steve chuckles at that.

And one Christmas, Steve gives Billy an envelope for a gift.

“Gee, what a special present.” Billy says with more confusion in his voice than actual disdain. Steve laughs anyway and waits for Billy to open the envelope.

He pulls out two strips of paper.

“Tickets to…? Really?” Billy asks, looking up at Steve with wide, confused eyes.

“In New York, yeah. I know they’re not in San Francisco and I know your cousin won’t be there but… I dunno. I thought it’d be fun. You seem to like the music at least and-”

Billy hugs Steve tight immediately. Squeezes him hard and buries his face in Steve’s neck and mumbles multiple thank yous.

Steve laughs.

(catch it on AO3 here)

[marvelous-writer]

Merry and Bright

Summary: Peter decides to surprise Tony by decorating his penthouse, in hopes to spread some much needed Christmas cheer.

Word Count: 2,252

Link to read on Ao3

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone!! 🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄

Thank you so much @whumphoarder for beta reading this and for being so amazing and kind!!

For: 1. “Did you break into my house?” “You refused to put up any Christmas decorations! What choice did I have?”

It’s late into the evening on December 23rd when Peter arrives at Tony’s Manhattan penthouse. Friday lets Peter in through the glass balcony doors, but the moment he enters, he notices that something’s missing.

There isn’t a single Christmas decoration in sight.

“Hey, kiddo. How was patrol?” Tony asks from his position on the couch, looking up at him from his tablet.

“Pretty good,” Peter answers, frowning as he pulls off his mask. “Where are your decorations?” he asks as he walks over to the living room area.

Tony raises an eyebrow at him questioningly.

“Your Christmas decorations,” Peter clarifies.

He sees something flash across his mentor’s eyes —maybe sadness— but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.

Tony shrugs, then stands up from the couch. “I didn’t put any up this year,” he says simply.

Peter frowns, watching him walk across the large space towards the kitchen.

“You hungry? I’m in the mood for some mac and cheese,” Tony says without looking back at him.

“Sure,” Peter agrees.

He makes his way over to the kitchen and takes a seat on one of the barstools at the center island, watching Tony move about the kitchen.

Peter wonders why Tony is acting like such a Scrooge this year. This isn’t like him at all; just last year, he threw a massive Christmas party at the compound, which had been one of the best days of Peter’s life.

He knows Tony well enough to know that something’s bothering him.

“Uh…” Peter starts, clearing his throat. “Are you… okay?” he asks hesitantly.

Tony turns away from the stove to face him. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“You just seem a little… off, I guess.”

Tony breathes out a sigh as he takes a few steps over to the center island. He leans his hip against the counter, arms folded over his chest. “Is this about the lack of decorations?” he asks, meeting Peter’s gaze.

Peter starts fiddling nervously with one of his web shooters. “Well, no—or, kind of. It’s just… you just—seem so… well, sad.”

Tony’s gaze drops to the counter as he lets out another sigh, reaching a hand up to tiredly rub at his face.

Peter thinks he might have pushed Tony too far with this. He opens his mouth to apologize but his mentor beats him to it.

“I guess I have been a little ‘off’ lately,” Tony admits, then pauses for a few long seconds. “Pepper and I… we-we’re taking a break.”

Peter’s heart clenches in sympathy at the news. No wonder Tony’s Christmas spirit is non-existent this year. From what Peter could tell, Pepper meant everything to Tony; he loved her more than words could express.

“O-Oh… I’m sorry,” Peter says.

Tony lets out another sigh, giving a one-shouldered shrug. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.” He turns back around to tend to the pot of boiling water on the stove.

Peter stares at Tony’s back, noticing the droop in his shoulders. Tony was sad and nursing a broken heart, probably blaming himself for whatever made them split up.

To top it all off, with Happy visiting his mom in Florida and Rhodey visiting his sister and her family in Jersey, Tony was now going to be spending Christmas alone.

An idea suddenly springs to Peter’s mind, causing the corners of his mouth to quirk up.

What if he brought Christmas to Tony?

…….

That’s how Peter finds himself grabbing all of the leftover decorations they had from home and bringing them to Tony’s penthouse.

Peter’s been planning this all day, ever since Tony told him about the charity Christmas gala he would be attending tonight. That should give Peter about five hours to execute his plan.

The penthouse is dark when Peter slips in through the balcony doors.

“Good evening, Peter.” Friday greets him. “Mr. Stark left a few minutes ago. Shall I let him know you’re here?”

“No, that’s okay!” Peter says quickly. “I’m actually here to surprise him by decorating. Can you not tell him I’m here?”

“Of course. I will let you know when he’s on his way back.”

“Thanks,” Peter says before pulling his mask off with a relieved exhale.

He makes his way over to the living room and takes his backpack off just as the penthouse lights kick on dimly to the personalized settings Tony made for Peter’s enhanced senses.

Peter opens his backpack, which is stuffed full of decorations and strands of lights, and starts unpacking it and laying everything out on the couch.

“Hey, Friday? Can you turn on some Christmas music please?” he asks, picking up a strand of lights that needed untangling.

“Certainly, Peter,” The AI chirps back happily, and Peter gets to work.

…….

It takes him almost an hour and a half to decorate, but when he’s done, the penthouse looks pretty great, if he does say so himself. Peter stands back near the kitchen to admire his work.

The fireplace mantle is decorated with garland wrapped in a string of red and white lights, there’s a nutcracker on each end table next to the couch, and there are two stockings hanging up from the mantle — one for Tony and the other for Friday.

But something’s still missing.

Peter’s eyes fall on a large, empty space on the left side of the fireplace. He knows just the thing that should fill it beautifully.

“Hey, Friday? Do you know where the closest Christmas tree lot of from here?” Peter asks, picking his mask up from the coffee table.

“Tim’s Trees is located approximately one block away from your current location,” she informs.

“Great.” Peter smiles as he slips on his mask, the heads up display coming to life.

“Hello, Peter. Where are we going tonight?” Karen’s cheerful voice fills his ears.

“We’re going to get a Christmas tree, Karen,” Peter tells her as he walks out through the balcony doors, making sure they’re locked behind him.

He turns around and breaks out into a sprint before he leaps up, sailing over the balcony railing and free-falling towards the street below. Peter shoots off a web to the closest building and swings off into the cold, snowy night.

…….

“This… was a very… very bad idea,” Peter grunts out as he continues to walk up the side of the building, hauling a six-foot Christmas tree over his shoulder.

Peter is used to finding himself in odd situations when he’s out on patrol as Spider-Man, but this certainly takes the cake. The fruit cake, that is.

On the plus side, the guy at the tree lot was nice enough to give him a ‘superhero discount,’ selling Peter the tree for only thirty-five dollars as opposed to fifty. The guy had been so generous that he even threw in a free tree stand too. The only thing he wanted from Peter was a selfie because he was such a fan, and Peter was happy to oblige.

“Just a few… more… steps,” Peter tells himself, seeing the balcony railing a few feet up.

He can only imagine the headlines tomorrow if someone’s able to steal a picture of him doing this. The Daily Bugle would probably blame him for being a Grinch and stealing people’s Christmas trees.

“Hey, Karen? Ca-Can you find out if Tony’s back yet from Friday?” Peter asks, pausing just below the metal railing.

“Certainly, Peter.”

“Thanks,” Peter says as he adjusts his grip on the tree. While he waits, he looks through the window below his feet at another luxurious condo below Tony’s.

He’s met with the sight of two little twin girls, probably around six or seven, who are staring at him with wide eyes, their mouths agape.

Peter smiles under his mask at them, even though they can’t see it. He nods his head in greeting since he doesn’t have a free hand to wave at them.

“You are all clear to enter, Peter. Mr. Stark is still at the gala.”

Peter breathes out a relieved sigh, continuing his way up the building. When he reaches the balcony, he grabs onto the top railing and pulls himself up with a groan, carefully dropping the tree down on the balcony.

After hauling the tree inside the penthouse, Peter gets to work on setting up the tree on the stand, as well as filling it up with water.

He spends a few minutes untangling the extra strand of multi-colored lights, before he can wrap them around the tree. The only problem is that he doesn’t have any ornaments to hang up, but the tree still looks pretty without them.

“Hey, Friday? Can you turn off the lights for a sec?” Peter asks as he takes a few steps back from the tree to make sure the lights weren’t crooked.

The lights turn off with a soft click, engulfing the room in semi-darkness, except for the soft glow of the tree and the garland hanging over the mantle. Peter smiles to himself as he surveys the decorations and twinkling lights.

Peter is jerked out of his peaceful trance when the penthouse lights suddenly turn on and he hears a sharp inhale from behind. Peter spins around, only to see Tony standing in the entryway, decked out in a tuxedo with a shocked expression on his face.

“T-Tony! You’re home early…” Peter says, giving him a nervous smile.

“Yeah… the gala got boring towards the end so I ducked out early,” Tony says as he steps further in the room, his eyes focused on the tree. He raises an eyebrow at Peter. “Did you break into my house to… decorate?”

“N-No! Well yes, but… I was just…” Peter trails off when Tony raises his eyebrows further. “You refused to put up any Christmas decorations! What choice did I have?” he forces out, his shoulders slumping as he lets out a sigh. “I wanted to surprise you with this. You’ve been so sad lately and… I just wanted to cheer you up.”

A small smile finds its way onto Tony’s face. “You did all of this for me?” he asks.

Peter silently nods in response, and before he knows it, Tony’s crossing the rest of the distance between them and pulling Peter into a hug.

“Pete… I don’t know what to say. I absolutely love it, kid.” Tony tells him.

“Really?”

“Really. The best Christmas gift ever. Thank you,” Tony says, sounding a little choked up.

Peter’s lips spread into a small smile, hidden against the man’s shoulder as he lets himself melt into the hug, eyes closed. “You’re welcome.”

They stay like that for a few long moments before Tony pulls back, Peter swears that he sees tears in his eyes, but he doesn't say anything about it.

“How did you even get this thing in here?” Tony asks, gesturing to the Christmas tree.

“Uh, through the balcony. I kinda just… walked it up here.”

Tony turns to him, brows raised in surprise. “You walked it up the side of the building?”

Nodding, Peter gives a sheepish smile. “Yeah. I’m sorry that it’s not decorated. I didn’t have any ornaments and I wasn’t sure if you had any.”

“I think I have a few boxes around here somewhere. Wanna help me find them?” Tony asks with a smile.

“Only if that includes hot chocolate.”

Tony breathes out a laugh, grinning. “Of course. You can’t decorate a Christmas tree without hot chocolate.”

…….

After Peter changes out of his suit and into a pair of comfy pajamas, he heads back out to the living room to find that Tony is also wearing pajamas, along with his MIT hoodie.

There’s a large cardboard box on the coffee table, as well as two steaming mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and what looks to be drizzled chocolate sauce.

“Ready to get started?” Tony asks. He opens the box to reveal a bunch of ornaments of all shapes and colors.

Peter nods, smiling as Tony hands him an ornament, a shiny red and gold striped bulb.

It takes them over an hour to decorate, but by the time they’re through, the Christmas tree might as well be straight out of a Balsam Hill commercial.

At the top is a beautiful golden star that shines peacefully, pairing perfectly with all of the twinkling lights and red tinsel that’s wrapped evenly around the tree. The ornaments glow in the light, illuminating all of the greens, reds, blues, and golds. There’s even a red and gold tree skirt on the floor below it all.

Peter and Tony are now sitting on the couch with the lights dimmed to their lowest setting, taking it all in. They’ve been quiet for some time now, allowing them to hear the sounds of the busy New York traffic in the streets below. Yet, it’s peaceful in a sense.

Tony speaks softly, breaking the silence, “Thank you for this, Pete.”

Peter turns his head towards him as their eyes meet, Tony’s smile finally reaching his eyes.

“What would I do without you, kid?” Tony says.

The corners or Peter’s mouth quirk up. “Well, I don’t know…” He exhales dramatically. “You’d probably be sitting here in the dark watching reruns of FRIENDS without me.”

Tony breathes out a laugh, grinning. “Probably true,” he agrees. Then after a few moments, he sobers, his eyes going back to the Christmas tree. “Thank you for this, Pete.”

Peter feels a warmth flow through him at his words. “You’re welcome, Mr. Stark,” he says softly.

[hajimesh]

The Nutcracker

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 4.6k

Summary: nutcracker au

A/N: this is my first time writing for bucky, i enjoyed it a lot so expect more of it in the future ;) also, a big thank you to @writingsoftheloser for beta-reading this, i already told u this but dude, you were super helpful and kind and i can’t thank u enough. aaand it just happens to be her BDAYYY! happy happy birthday Vi!! i hope you have an amazing day, sending you lots of love and hugs♡ 

let me know what you think, feedback is welcome :) *gif not mine*

Masterlist

Snow falls in front of you as you stare outside, leaning on the window. It’s Christmas Eve and the whole family is currently at your home. A giant Christmas tree sits in the corner of the living room and all the lights of the house are off, the only light is coming from the candles placed all over the place. The adults are in the dining room chatting and drinking while you are stuck babysitting the younger kids in the other room.

Suddenly, you hear the door open and another guest comes in. Once you see who it is you feel your mood lift to the skies.

“Drosselmeyer!”

You catch his attention by exclaiming his name. He turns his head slightly to the side to look at you and once he sees you, he opens his arms. Getting up from the windowsill, you run towards him and embrace him in a tight hug. He has been a friend of your parents for a long time and you consider him an uncle. He is the sweetest man you have ever known and he is always so attentive and kind to you.

“Hello, child.” His gruff tone welcomes you and you release your grip on him.

He begins to search something in the giant bag he’s carrying with him and once he finds it – whatever it is the he was looking for – he puts it behind his back and turns to the rest of the kids in the room.

“I brought gifts for everyone, would you like to see them?”

He quickly catches their attention and he’s attacked by them. Loud cheering and shrieks are heard as Drosselmeyer hands them toys and trinkets. A loud scream echoes in the room as one of your cousins lifts an impressive replica of a train with rails included.

You stand there watching the kids play with their new toys and you frown as you realize no one thanked Drosselmeyer for the presents.

“Why the long face?”

Getting you out of your thoughts, Drosselmeyer stands before you with a gentle smile on his face. You smile at him and dismiss his statement. He seems to know what’s bothering you because a second later he’s searching in his bag again but this time he hands you a present.

“For you, my child.” Resting on your hands there’s a beautiful nutcracker.

It’s carved in wood and it seems to resemble a soviet soldier. He has black clothing and boots, and a black mask on his face as well. You launch yourself into Drosselmeyer’s arms and thank him. You hear whining behind you and you turn around.

“Why does she get a nutcracker and I don’t?”

Your cousin, who has just received the impressive train, is whining in front of you. His face is contorted in displeasure and quickly rips the nutcracker from your grip.

“Hey! What are you–”

You’re suddenly cut short by an ugly snapping sound. Your cousin stands there, eyes wide open as he holds the nutcracker with one hand and one of its arms in the other. He freaking broke it and it has just been given to you.

Not believing your eyes, you blink again and rage begins to fill your body. Your cousin, sensing the change in your demeanor, flees the scene leaving the toy on the floor.

You kneel and pick it up, trying to piece back the arm to no avail. Drosselmeyer watches you silently and it isn’t until he sees the tears forming on your eyes as you gaze at him, helplessly, that he embraces you in his arms comfortingly.

“It’s alright dear, I think I can fix it.”

Lifting your head to look at him, you clear the tears from your cheeks. “Really?”

Nodding his head, he fishes for his tool box in the bag and begins to repair the toy. You stand by his side trying not to bother him and after a few minutes he’s done.

“Well, it’s doesn’t look like it used to but I think it looks even better. What do you think?”

Handing you the nutcracker, you examine it and sigh. He placed a new arm on it but it was made with a different material so now your toy had a metal arm. It’s not like it doesn’t look good, it certainly does, but you can’t help but feel sad about getting it broken in the first place.

With a squeeze on your shoulder, Drosselmeyer leaves the room to finally go with the adults in the dining room. You sigh and sit back on your spot by the window, looking at the snow fall.

Hours pass by and most of the guests are gone by now. Your parents retire to their room and you and your cousins are instructed to go to yours.

Falling on your bed, you sigh and close your eyes. Looking after a hoard of kids was hard work and it took a toll on you. Suddenly remembering the incident with your nutcracker, you open your eyes and sit up. Concern sits at the pit of your stomach and you wonder where you left it.

Okay so after sitting by the window you placed it next to you, on the windowsill. But when mom and dad came to tell you to go to sleep, you stood up and left.

You left it on the windowsill.

Groaning to yourself, you walk to the door and yank it open. The hallway is dark and you can’t see a thing, but you can’t let something happen to your nutcracker again. Tiptoeing, you make your way to the living room and once you’re close enough you see it sitting where you left it.

Bingo.

You relax and walk towards it, picking it up and examining it. Taking a seat, you lift your legs on the cushion and minutes later you're fighting to keep your eyes open. With the nutcracker still in your hands, your breaths even out as you fall asleep leaning on the window, a gentle smile gracing your lips.

*     *     *     *

The clock strikes as it reaches the midnight.

Yawning, you stretch your arms over your head and groan at the sound your back makes. Blinking slowly, you try to focus your sight but a yawn interrupts you again. Rubbing your eyes, you slowly realize you fell asleep on the windowsill and as you look down, you notice the nutcracker on the floor. 

Standing up to stretch some more, you turn towards the tree, admiring the twinkling lights and ornaments but your brows furrow when you notice something strange.

Your eyes focus on a sudden movement between the branches and you take a step back. Keeping your gaze on the tree, you begin to circle it, trying to find whatever it is that’s in there but the sudden sight of the tree expanding in front of you sends your mind into overdrive.

Gasping, you watch as the tree towers over you and the ornaments grow to the size of your body and that’s when you realize that the tree didn’t expand, you are the one who shrunk. This is a dream, you think, it can’t be real. Looking down at your own body, you notice it looks the same and when you lift your eyes again you can’t help the scream from escaping your lungs.

Your nutcracker is… moving? It is as if it has come to life!

You watch as he moves his metal arm, staring at it. You see his lips move and you’re too flabbergasted to connect it with the sounds coming out of it. It isn’t until he stands before you that you’re brought back from your stupor.

“Miss! Are you alright?”

His long hair falls like a curtain on his face but his blue eyes pierce through it and catch you off guard. He gives you a concerned look and gently tries to catch your attention.

“Miss?”

You realize you are probably making a fool of yourself and advert your eyes, looking away from him as you tuck your hair behind your ears.

“Sorry I–” your mind goes blank. What are you supposed to say? Hi! I just saw you come to life but it’s all good!

Hell no.

He must have noticed your hesitation because after a few seconds without you talking again, he decides to cut in.

Offering you his hand, he introduces himself. “My name’s Bucky, I mean no harm.”

You take his hand and shake it slowly, still unsure about the whole thing. You tell him your name and he sends you a smile, making fine lines appear beside his eyes. Cute.

As you realize the way your thoughts are going, warmth settles on your cheeks and you lower your head trying to hide the blush from him.

Bucky’s eyes can’t seem to leave your face. He marvels at how soft your hair looks and he finds himself itching to feel it. You gaze is fixed on the ground but he remembers the wonder in your eyes and your brows raising in utter astonishment. Adorable, he thinks, but before he can act upon it a loud fuss catches your attention and your mind can only focus on one thing.

Mice.

A big horde of mice is making its way to you, all of them seem to be armed with swords and battle armour. You see Bucky take a gun from one of his pockets and he turns to look at you.

“Get some shelter!” Your heart is pounding and your eyes widen at his words. What is happening!?

Noticing your presence still behind him, he turns one more time to yell “NOW!” And this time you obey him.

You run towards the couch, thinking that climbing it and staying on top of it might keep you safe but you stop to a halt when you see an army of toys making their way to you. Your breath catches in your throat in a failed gasp and you close your eyes, bracing yourself for your imminent death but, they pass you by.

Opening your eyes slowly, hands still on top of your head, you see the army of toys join Bucky and place themselves beside him. Looking a bit further, you watch the mice still running and, on the front line, there’s a bigger and darker-looking mouse with a crown on his head, like some sort of king.

Your attention is brought back to the army of toys and Bucky as you hear a battle cry. They begin to run, meeting the mice halfway through and then the fight begins.

Sword against sword, both armies fight with what you can tell is mighty force. A few seconds in and there are already some fallen soldiers. You shiver and your eyes scan the place in search of Bucky. The pounding in your heart intensifies with each second that passes by without him on your sight. The good news are that you find him still alive, the bad news… well, he’s fighting against the Mouse King.

Bucky looks tired and weak, for each punch that he manages to dodge he receives two more. You wince as another blow hits his face and you begin to feel helpless. He snatches a dagger from one of his pockets and aims it at the king but the latter dodges it easily. In a quick movement, the king manages to catch a fist of Bucky’s hair and brings him down. He seems to say something to him but you’re too far away to hear it. The king turns around and with a single hand movement his army quickly submits the toys under their power and the battle stops.

We lost.

You watch as the mice bring the toys with them, walking away from the scene. Looking back at Bucky, you see the king pushing him forward and then kick him on his stomach as he falls to the floor. Your body suddenly fills with rage and anger. How dare he?

With big strides, you make your way towards the king who’s too busy kicking Bucky on his ribs to notice you. As you're walking, you pick a hammer that lies on the floor next to your feet and once you're right behind him, you smack it against the king’s head.

He falls on the floor with a loud thud and you’re left panting with adrenaline coursing through your veins. Bucky’s eyes widen in shock at the unresponsive body next to him. He looks back at you and then back to the mouse, still not believing his eyes.

You drop the weapon and offer him your hand. Wincing, Bucky stands up and you help him by flinging one of his arms over your shoulders. Looking at his face, your gaze grows concerned at the many wounds on it.

“Are you alright?”

He moves his head in order to look at you and smiles dashingly at you. He has got to be joking, you don’t understand how he manages to still look good even with a bloody and sweaty face.

Shrugging his shoulders, he gives you an innocent look. “I’ll survive.”

You roll your eyes and this time he can’t hold back his laughter. You give him a weird look and he only shakes his head. “M’ fine doll, don’t worry.”

You’re pretty sure the way your heart is pumping isn’t normal anymore. His words make you feel some kind of way and the blush is back on your cheeks. Fixing your gaze somewhere else so he doesn’t notice, your eyes fall on the mice dragging their King’s body away, the toys free from their grasp.

“I guess it all worked out in the end.” You let out a sigh as the last mice escapes from your sight and the previous adrenaline rush begins to die down.

“It’s all thanks to you, y’know.” You whip your head back at him and your words falter.

His eyes are fixed ahead of him, but he seems to be somewhere else. A gentle smile graces his lips and he brings his gaze back at you.

“You’ve set me free.” A thankful grin settles on his face and you mirror it, even if you have no idea what he’s talking about.

Before you can question him about it, a soft glimmer engulfs him and you gasp, completely thrown off guard. Bucky lets go of your shoulders and gently signals you to step away from him. After a few seconds you can’t see him anymore, he’s totally engulfed by the bright light and you don’t know what to think of it. Worry fills your mind.

What if he’s hurting? He seemed calm about it but still. Another thought clouds your mind and this time, you feel scared. What if it’s the ‘light’ and he is being sent away from here?

You’re about to step in when the light suddenly fades. Letting out a sigh, relief flows through you: he’s still here. But once he steps closer, your eyes widen in surprise: he looks– well, different?

His clothes are no longer black and bloody, they’re replaced with a nice tux and he looks clean. Like your very own prince charming.

He notices you ogling at him and chuckles lightly. Offering you his hand, he waits for you to accept it and you do, gingerly placing yours on top of his. His eyes are fixed on yours and you find it impossible to look away from them. He starts walking, dragging you along but he stops briefly when he feels the hesitance in your movements.

“C’mon doll, there’s something I want to show you.”

The soft smile on his lips captivates you once again and you nod absentmindedly, his fingers tracing lightly the top of your knuckles.

Screw him and his stupid smile.

*     *     *     *

It has been a while since you left home.

Bucky went through a small opening in one of the walls and assured you that you had nothing to fear. Minutes later you were facing a long trek covered in snow and flanked by large trees. Still holding your hand, he led you through it as you made small talk and after a while you just walked in silence, content with each other’s presence.

You feel the muscles of your legs and your feet aching in pain and you’re about to tell Bucky to stop when he suddenly turns to you, a wide smile on his lips.

“We’re here!”

You frown at his words and start looking around. There’s nothing. “Are we?”

He looks back at you and sees the confusion on your face. His brows furrow and you watch as they slowly raise and his mouth opens before letting out a laugh.

“Shit, sorry doll. I forgot.” He claps his hands twice and you jump, startled by the sudden noise.

You’re about to question his sanity when a soft, pinkish glimmer appears in front of you and seconds later it reveals a big castle with candy adorning it.

Okaaay, this is getting ridiculous.

Looking back at Bucky you see him making a gesture towards the castle as if nothing happened. You narrow your eyes and shove him away, secretly amused by this new playful side of him. He laughs loudly and beams at you.

“What’s the matter, doll?”

He’s trying to annoy you but you only roll your eyes and start walking towards the castle. He gives up and quickly catches up to you. Both of you are facing the monumental, wooden doors in front of you as they slowly open; revealing what it seems to be a hall flanked by chocolate soldiers.

You’re too caught up staring at the weird ‘people’ in this place that you don’t notice Bucky calling out your name. It isn’t until he places his hand on your shoulder that you finally turn to look at him.

“Huh?” Your head tilts to one side and you frown at him.

He smiles and squeezes briefly your shoulder. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Oh dear, more surprises? You nod your head hesitantly, wondering if it was a good decision to follow him here.

Reaching the end of the hall, another set of doors looms over you. Bucky nods at the guards in front of you and in return they open them. Loud chatter immediately fills your ears and you are met with quite a sight.

The giant room in front of you is decorated with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a high, gold staircase at the back of the room and many, many people dancing and drinking in extravagant clothing. Your mouth is slightly ajar and you have no time to adjust before Bucky drags you across the room.

You stop once you reach a woman with wavy, dark brown hair and a – very puffy – lilac dress. He taps her shoulder and she turns around, gasping. She immediately engulfs Bucky in a hug and your hear her squeal.

“Oh goodness, it’s you!” She sounds excited and you see her embrace him tightly again.

A weird feeling creeps up on you and you don’t notice the tensing of the muscles in your jaw as you smile sourly at the scene in front of you.

They separate from each other, finally, and Bucky turns to you with the brightest smile. “Doll, this is the sugar plum fairy.”

He introduces her to you and this fairy finally looks your way and widens her eyes.

“What is your name, dear?” She looks genuinely curious and you look at Bucky once again.

He gives you a soft nod of his head and you turn your eyes back to her, introducing yourself. She beams at you and steps forward, holding your hand in hers and bringing it to her chest.

“It’s so lovely to meet you!”

She catches you off guard. Pleased to meet you? Deciding to shrug it off, you force a smile.

“The mouse king was defeated thanks to her.” Bucky suddenly exclaims proudly and he manages to catch not only the fairy’s attention but also from the people around you.

Her gasp is loud and she starts clapping like a mad woman. “This deserves a toast!” She looks at you and steps closer. Once she’s inches away from your face, she softly whispers “Thank you, for finally freeing him.”

The smile she gives you this time feels rather warm and you feel bad for thinking badly of her. She takes a few steps back and turns to the band sitting on a stage at the back of the room. Giving them a signal with her hand, they begin to play a beautiful melody. The fairy scurries away, finding her own dance partner.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

Bucky’s voice gets you out of your previous thoughts and you turn to look at him, mouth and eyes open. His hand is stretched before you, waiting for you to take it. Looking back at him, you nod your head and place your hand on his.

He walks the both of you to the centre of the room and once he places his other hand on your back, you begin to dance.

The way his blue eyes shine under the candle lights is mesmerizing. Instinctively you turn your gaze somewhere else and it just happens to land on his lips, which look softer and rosier than ever. A blush tints your cheeks and you look away, focusing on the orchestra on your left.

The sound of the violins dominate the room and it gives you goosebumps while the gentle melody of the harp contrastes against the trumpets. Somehow, the room feels colder but your whole body feels warm and ablaze from the soft contact of your body against Bucky’s chest.

He twirls you, making your hair fall on your face and once you’re back in his arms he can’t help himself from tucking it away from your face. Once again you’re captured by his lovely eyes and you smile.

Letting out a sigh, he slows down a bit your pace and places his mouth on the shell of your ear.

“Can I tell you a secret?” His tone is deep and it vibrates through your whole body.

Swallowing, you try to wet your suddenly dry throat and you nod your head. He moves a little bit away from you, just enough for him to see your face again.

“I kinda owe you my life.”

There it is again. A frown settles on your face and you’re ready to finally ask him what all the fuss is about.

“Yeah, I was wondering what you meant by that. And she,” Pointing with your eyes at the fairy. “said it too.”

He chuckles lightly, his breath fanning over your face making you dizzy. He’s going to be the death of you.

“When I was a little kid, a witch casted a spell on me by the mouse king’s orders. He wanted to ensure his ascension to the throne so he had to get me out of the way first.”

Still rocking you side to side, he sighs softly and you look at him with concerned eyes. His gaze looks distant, brows furrowed tightly.

With a tight lipped smile, he continues. “She turned me into a nutcracker, making it impossible for me to fulfill my duty as a prince. Thankfully, the sugar plum fairy took care of me, protecting me from the ones who wanted to hurt me until I was able to fend for myself.”

You heart breaks for him, this was horrible! You can’t begin to imagine how painful this must’ve been for him.

“Isn’t there a way to break the curse?” Staring straight at his eyes you ask, trying to find a solution. It’s not fair that he has to go through such a terrible thing like this.

You watch as the corners of his lips lift up in a smirk and a heartbeat later he’s dancing again.

“This is where you come in, doll.” His eyes are twinkling again, the playfulness back on his gaze.

“The only way to break the enchantment is by the Mouse king dying at the hands of a commoner.”

A loud gasp escapes your mouth and you look at him offended. “Rude.” You pout, turning your face away from him and crossing your arms in front of you.

His head tilts back as he laughs, his cheeks turning pink. Once he recovers, he looks down at you again and circles you with his arms, bringing you closer. Still holding your gaze, he smiles and traces a fingertip on the side of your face.

“And now, thanks to you, I’m human again.”

His words send your heart in a frenzy, making you warm and giddy. A giggle escapes your mouth and his smile widens.

Oh, how beautiful you are, he thinks.

Not caring anymore, he closes the space between the both of you and places a kiss on your, still flushed, cheek. He joins your foreheads and sighs dreamily, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest.

“My sweet princess.”

*     *     *     *

You open your eyes and blink rapidly trying to get the sleep out of you. Once you realize what’s going on you sit up abruptly and turn you head in all directions only to realize you’re sitting on the windowsill of your home. You look down at your hands and there he is.

Bucky, but as the nutcracker.

You feel you heart sink and sadness engulfs you. This couldn’t be happening. It all felt so real; him, the fight, the dancing… the kiss. Your eyes begin to fill with tears and a sob threatens to escape from your body. You turn your face to the tree and stare, longing filling your chest. Minutes pass by and you keep your eyes fixed on it until something catches your attention.

There’s a white envelope sitting between the vines of the tree, peeking slightly. You frown and rush towards it. Grabbing it, you realize it’s not an envelope but a box, hiding between the ornaments. You make your way back to the windowsill and you feel your heart pounding on your chest. Opening the box the first thing that catches your eye is a shiny thing and, once you pull it out of the box, you gasp.

There, laying in your hands, is a beautiful tiara adorned with the most precious gems. You study it briefly and then decide to keep checking the box. This time you feel something soft against your hands and grab it. A note.

Scanning your eyes quickly across it you feel your eyes water again, clouding your vision. Your heart constricts and a sob finally makes its way out of your mouth. You cover your mouth with your hand and close your eyes. A few minutes later you feel yourself calm down a bit and you read it again. And again. And again.

Warmth fills your body and you sigh both in contentment and anguish.

It has been such a pleasure and a privilege to share this adventure with you. Know that my heart belongs to you eternally, no matter what. I will always be looking out for you, my princess.

With love, Bucky.

Your tears are dry by now and you see the sun creeping up behind the curtains, lightly casting its light through them and showering the room with it. Yawning, you decide to make some tea to calm and wake yourself up.

A knock on the door stops you and you groan. Making your way back, your bare feet pad around the wooden floors and once you’re in front of the door you try to make yourself seem presentable by gliding your fingers through your hair. Yanking the door open you’re met with a familiar pair of blue eyes.

Your breath hitches and you can’t help but gasp. He smiles and winks at you.

“Hello princess.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

help me with a comment or reblog if u enjoyed it :)

[theacrobrat-blog]

I just want to dance like a motherfu-

I wanna go get down You wanna come with me? My moves are world-renowned So good, you won't believe Oh, oh, oh Dance with me, dance with me, please I'm gonna shake my butt, yeah, that's a guarantee My moves are such good luck, you'll win the lottery Oh, oh, oh

Now Playing: Boogie Feet by Kesha ft Eagles Of Death Metal

Dina had been back in class for just a few days but it was like she had never even left. After a lot of explaining, her teachers minds were put at ease and they welcomed her back with open arms. Okay, almost all of them; Madame Jones had her doubts that she could catch up in time for exams and the redhead was hell bent on proving her wrong. She wasn't miles ahead of her class but she had been top of her class and being gone for weeks wasn't doing her any favors. She had to work her way back to the top yet again.

Her new nickname around the school was ‘Car Crash’, it was kind of in poor taste but she positively loved it and she didn’t want anyone to stop using it. It was way better than the last one. Dina had many masks, not just the one she used to wear while actually fighting crime but everywhere and the one place she had where she could forget everything and remove them all was right here.

If you want to see the real Dina Mary Grayson you have to watch her dance.

She doesn’t notice it herself but she lights up when she’s dancing, she can forget the world for a few minutes and let herself get lost in the performance. Whether it’s executing the Nutcracker flawlessly or just goofing off in the studio she always seemed to radiate happiness.

Sitting on the floor in a long sleeve leotard and leggings that hit her knees she had one leg outstretched to the side and she was leaning over to grab her toes with the opposite hand. She was done with pointe for the day and now she was supposed to be practicing one of her final routines but her partner was still MIA.

“Madame Jones was on the frickin war path earlier. What did you do this time?” A loud exaggerated whisper came from behind her and she stopped stretching momentarily to cast her narrowed gaze onto the blonde steadily sucking on a Blow Pop.

“I didn’t do a damn thing!”

The girl immediately burst into giggling, “It’s still so weird to hear swear words come out of your mouth. You clotheslined yourself on the barre when we were kids and yelled ‘son of a cabbage’ at the top of your lungs.” She gave a wistful sigh with an expression that showed she was thinking back on it, “...I will never forget that moment.”

Clear blue eyes narrow a bit more as she muttered, “More like you’ll never let me forget that moment. That was almost ten years ago.”

“Yeah...you’re right. When it’s truly hilarious it’s completely timeless,” the slightly younger girl grinned while she teased the redhead.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal a boy with dark hair and a grin of his own playing on his lips, “Are we discussing Grayson’s childhood acts? Do you remember that year at camp when we all went skinny dipping and she refused? She sat on the dock and when we weren’t looking she ran off with all our clothes.”

“Only to get caught stealing all of our clothes so she still got in trouble.” The two immediately broke out into even louder laughter than before. “She had to do all of our laundry for the remainder of camp.”

A finger was pointed at the blonde, “Cami...shut the fuck up and you.” Her finger moved to point at the boy as her expression stayed one of minor irritation but she couldn’t hold it and within seconds she was squealing, “Shawn! I missed you!”

Catching her effortlessly the older of the trio let her wrap her limbs around him like a spider-monkey with no complaints. His own arms wrapped snugly around her waist as he returned the display of affection and human emotion. “Missed you too. We thought you had really died this time.”

They had no clue.

“You being gone forced him to have to pair up with Natasha.” Upon saying the girls name Cami’s voice changed and she put on an overly fake russian accent, her hand resting under her chin as the other two rolled their eyes.

If you thought Dina took dance way too seriously then you’ve never met Natasha. That girl thought she was God’s gift to ballet and she hated Dina with a fiery passion. It got so much worse after she had landed the lead in Swan Lake but Dina just ignored her and carried on with classes. “Oh my God, Shawn. I am so so so sorry I left you with Cruella.”

“You should be. If I don't graduate because of you I'm gonna break your ankles. Both of them.”

“Shush.” Dina shoved his shoulder hard, catching a whiff of his shampoo she found her eyes closing as she leaned in…her fangs… then she was quickly climbing off of him, “So, how's class been? Doubt I missed much in hip hop but I know that's your thing so…”

While they had been talking Cami had gone over to the stereo in the corner and plugged her iPod in, within seconds music began to play and she started to dance terribly to it. “You know you're wasting time, guys. You only have the studio booked for a few hours. Better get on with the practicing.”

“Oh! Yes.” Dina clapped her hands once before they came to rest on her hips. “Any ideas on what you want to do? We've already done Romeo and Juliet.”

Cami chimed in while still dancing, “And Swan Lake. The look on Nat’s face during that performance was priceless.”

An impish smirk briefly crossed Dina’s face before she dissolved into giggling, “She looked positively green with envy.”

Shawn merely shook his head, a small smile of his own flitting across his lips as he spoke, “You two are terrible.” He paused. “It was pretty great wasn’t it? How about we put our heads together and think of a piece ourselves? Do our own work?”

Grabbing him by his hair she stood up on pointe to rest her forehead against his after bringing his head down a bit. “Like this?”

Cami stopped swaying long enough to ask, “What are you doing for your individual solo, Car Crash?”

“Yeah, what did you pick?” The male asked while chuckling at her childish antics and trying to lick her nose.

Dina released her dance partner and swatted at him, “You’re nasty and it’s nothing big, just…” She paused for dramatic effect and Shawn began a drumroll on his thighs with his hands which prompted another round of giggles from the redhead. “The Red Shoes.”

“Excuse me? I’ve been your partner since we were ten and you don’t tell me you’re dancing the Red Shoes until now!?”

“Damn, Dina. You really are trying to piss off Natasha!” The blonde laughed, but there was excitement in her eyes. This was a performance no one was going to want to miss. “Did you buy the shoes yet? I wanna see ‘em!”

“Me too, where are they?”

“Calm down. Calm down. You’ll see it all in time.” The redhead grinned devilishly before beginning to swing her hips to the time of the music still playing, swaying in an almost seductive manner she crooked her finger at her childhood partner. “Come on Shawn. Dance with me. No one else will.”

“What a shame. They don’t know what they’re missing...” The male suddenly darted forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, hoisting her into the air as she erupted into squeals. The two of them had a relationship that could only come from working so intimately together for nearly half of their lives. They’ve seen each other at their worst and best, they’ve had to pick each other up after rough critiques and there was a love like one had for a sibling. Dina was comfortable with Shawn and it showed in the way she acted around him. Lifting her into the air Shawn muttered, “We could always do the Dirty Dancing dance.”

Cami began to aw, her hands clasped to her chest as she practically cooed. “That would be so cute and...awww! I don’t think that’s what they're looking for though.”

Elbowing his shoulder to get him to release her she chuckled, “I agree with Cami.”

Releasing the redhead Shawn shook his head and murmured, “Their loss. We’d crush it.”

Flicking the tip of his nose Dina laughed with a small smirk. “We always crush it.”

The rest of the afternoon and well into the evening after Cami had to finally leave them to go home and spend time with her family and you know, eat dinner was spent trying to think up a routine. By about two in the morning they finally had a decent foundation and she felt pretty good about it. It would be a beautiful piece and surely worthy of passing marks. Sweaty, panting and grinning like she’d won the lottery she waved bye to Shawn with a towel in her hand, which she then used to wipe the sweat from her brow before returning to the barre which she grasped in her right hand and began practicing the moves she knew by heart but couldn’t bring herself to admit were already perfect.

She had to be the best, no, better than the best and no one can be the best without pushing themselves to the brink and then even further and go beyond that brink. Dina no longer needed to sleep and so she pushed on. Pushed until her feet bled and blisters formed but they simply healed and so she kept right on going until an hour before classes were to start and only then did she stop and finally hit the showers. She desperately needed one and to change clothes and as she let the unbearably hot water cascade over her shoulders she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the wonderful silence of the morning.

[stars-that-shine-at-night]

If the Shoe Fits Park Jimin x Reader Ballet Au!

1  2  3  4  5  6

Miju shifted nervously in her seat at the cafe she was sitting at with Kang Dahui. What if her mother saw her? Or any staff member that worked with Yoo family, they would for sure tell her mother. It has been two days after that night with Jimin, and when Kang Dahui messaged Miju late at night. 

“What is it that you want?” Miju snapped, Dahui looked up from her drink.

“Now you want to know huh?”

“I’m not here to play games Kang Dahui.” 

“Well the other night I happened to see Park Jimin and dandelion maker together. He was leaving her house.” Miju scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Please Jimin was getting his costumes, and just so you know this is a horrible way of getting my attention. Instead of fabricating lies, try to catch my eye on the stage.” Miju was about to get up and leave, but Dahui snatched Miju’s wrist and yanked her back to her seat. 

“I’m not done yet…” Dahui pulled her phone out open to her photos and on the screen was the back of your body carrying Sehwa into the house with Jimin following you. Miju took Dahui’s phone and started swiping left. There was another picture of Jimin leaving your house, with you waving. Miju didn’t want to believe any of this, Jimin couldn’t be getting distracted, they were so close. She even wanted to practice that night, but he said he was out getting the costumes. 

“This isn’t Jimin, it could be just another boy who looks like him. Dandelion could have a boyfriend.” Miju said, making up an excuse. Dahui reached forward and continued to swipe left, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t believe me,” she stopped on a picture that captured his blue Spirra from the side and his license plate.

 “So I got a picture of his car. I know you can recognize his car and license number Yoo Miju, and if that doesn’t prove anything to you I looked up that number, and found out that this car is registered under his name.” Dahui pulled out a printed document that had all of the information about Jimin’s car, registration, and his license. There was even his DMV picture in the top left hand corner, and his name printed under it.

“Where did you get all of this?” Miju asked. 

“Well if you tell your police officer father that you are interested in a boy, a profile of him is bound to show up.” Dahui answered simply. 

“So what was your goal of you telling me?” Miju fake laughed, there was still hostility in her playful tone. 

“I want you to get rid of dandelion, and I know if you were pushed far enough you would, and this is what you needed.” 

“Why would you ask me? Aren’t I competition for you?” Miju asked. 

“I know you too Yoo Miju. I know that your family ‘gets rid’ of other people easily, and no one will ever know. I’ve seen all of the documents, my mother is one of your father’s attorneys. She gets rid of all of these dirty documents, because of course there mustn’t be a stain to the Yoo family. I know what your mother said about getting rid of dandelion, and how she’ll make sure you aren’t caught.” Miju squinted her eyes, how did Dahui know all of this?

“And how do you know about what my mother said?”

“Madame Yoo must learn how to speak with an inside voice.” Dahui said sweetly. 

“If I get rid of dandelion you won’t tell anyone?” 

“Why would I if my goal is for her to be gone without anyone in trouble? How you get rid of her is up to you, I don’t care as long as she is gone.” Dahui said, and left leaving Miju in the cafe. For a girl who was only fifteen years old, she was super scary, she knew a lot, and how to find the things she wanted. Miju sat and thought if she really needed to get rid of you, the way you acted with Jimin seemed like it was enough. She remembered how you reacted Jimin helped you, it didn’t seem like you appreciated his favor, 

                                                            ~

Jimin sighed as he threw his bag down, where was Miju? She was never late for their pair practices. He pulled his phone and sent her text.

Jiminiie:  Where are you? I’m in the practice room 

Miju: I’ll be there soon, I had an unexpected appointment, sorry. 

Jimin sighed when he read Miju’s text, they only had so much time until the show, and they also had to start rehearsing for ‘The Nutcracker’. ‘The Nutcracker’ was only going to be in two months in December, and then after that it was audition season, he badly wanted to get into a company as a third year, not spend one more year at Etre. He had to get out now, or Jungkook might get out before him. Jimin started to practice the pas de deux on his own, without Miju. He would only imagine her figure, coming across the stage, as he would spin to meet her. He imagined his hand on her hips, but in his mind he was met with kaleidoscope eyes. Green and blues swarmed around the deep brown background that were her eyes. It was no longer Miju he was seeing, it was you in the pale pink costume. Hot pink roses that went up the bodice, and across the collar, extenuated the jutting of your collar bones and soft tones of your skin. Your princessy smile sparkled, just like the floral hair piece against you (h/c) hair. Jimin just kept dancing, he felt this new surge of passion in him as he danced. He moved more smoothly and elegantly as he danced with what he thought was you. When it was time for the lift he felt more confident coming into the lift, he imagined holding you above his head, your legs were crossed as you clenched every muscle in your body, keeping everything tight, and keeping your body up with your own pure strength. 

“Wow I’ve never performed the first awakening like that.” A voice shattered the illusion of you in front of Jimin’s eyes. He looked up and saw Miju walking in with her bag. She sat down and started to prep her feet and put her pointe shoes on. 

“I guess, I was only trying my best to practice by myself.” Jimin replied, he was already sweating. Miju hadher shoes on and was ready to dance.

“If you could redo what I just saw you do I think we can nail the lift. You looked really strong going into the lift.” Miju squeezed Jimin’s shoulder. All Jimin could feel was the pressure of Miju’s grip, it wasn’t electrifying like yours. He couldn’t feel the lightning effect that sent his skin racing or the booming thunderous feeling in his ribs. You caused a storm in his body, that clouded his mind, but also cleared it at the same time. He couldn’t say why, but it felt perfect whenever he was with you, touching you, even wearing the shoes you made for him. He felt like he was dancing with you, well in a way he was. His maker, his partner, in a pas de deux no one will see, the bond between shoe and foot. 

Jimin and Miju set up in their correct positions for the pas de duex. Jimin closed his eyes for a second and tried to imagine you in Miju’s place. He spun in sync with her as the reached the middle stage, there were small lifts in between where he held her firmly. Jimin came down to Miju’s waist, and lifted her over his head, just like he would if he was holding you. Miju felt secure and safe, like she would never fall. She trusted Jimin, she had to, she couldn’t panic it would put the both of them in danger. 

                                                              ~

Jimin picked at his salad in the dining hall, pushing the boring greens around his plate. One by one all of his friends started to sit with him. 

“I can’t wait for the show, I’m super excited, we have been practicing so much.” Sori said as she was sitting down. Sori had the role of Carabosse, the wicked fairy who places princess Aurora under curse. However, Sori was quite the opposite of Carabosse, Sori was an excellent actor. She was a very sweet girl who was usually quiet, but she could portray evil characters very well. 

“I know, I just love the costumes.” Chaerin said, thinking about her tutu that was multiple shades of purple tulle layered on top of each other. She was the Lilac Fairy, the one who saves princess Aurora by turning her curse from death, to a deep sleep. 

“Lucky you…you’re not Puss in Boots.” Hoseok grumbled. He was a little cranky about his role because of his cat like pas de deux with a girl who wasn’t Chaerin, and the costume was pretty ridiculous. He had to wear ballony pants, with a ugly cat mask that covered half of his face, and to top it off he had to wear a powdered ginger wig. 

“Haha poor hyung.” Jungkook teased. Jungkook got the role of Gallifron, Florimund’s tutor and Prince Charming. 

“Yah, watch it, before I stabbed you.” Hoseok threatened, pointing his salad fork at Jungkook. Namjoon, Jin, Yoongi, and Taehyung were the four suitors; Cheri, Charamant, Fortune, and Fleur de Pois. 

“By the way is dandelion coming to watch?” Taehyung asked. 

“I don’t know, but someone was supposed to ask her.” Hoseok said, as he nudged Jimin.

“Why do I have to ask her? She’s your friend.” Jimin said. 

“Because you’re the one who won’t shut up about her. You always ask Hoseok and I questions about her, and never ask yourself. It’s time you do it yourself.” Chaerin said, cutting in. 

“No way hyung has a crush on dandelion?!” Jungkook said. Jimin’s cheeks started to burn. 

“There is no way where I could ever like her. She’s like a female Yoongi.”

”Do you have a problem with me brat?” Yoongi said, raising a brow. 

“No offense, but I wouldn’t date you Yoongi,” Jimin stated plainly eating more salad. 

“Just go and ask her already.” Hoseok pushed. 

“Why are we even inviting her?” Miju sneered. 

“Because we all wanted her to come.” Namjoon answered. 

“Well not me.” Miju said.

“Um, you did say ‘okay’.” Chaerin said, Miju shot Chaerin a dirty look. 

“When did I ever say that?” 

“When we were talking about it the other day.” Chaerin said plainly, “we all planned to take her out to dinner.” 

“Well, Sehwa might make her go.” Hoseok added. Jimin perked at Sehwa’s name. Sehwa did whole true to her name, she was a bright and shining child.

“Who’s Sehwa?” Seokjin asked. 

“Sehwa is dandelion’s little sister. You might like her Jin, you two can be princesses together.” Hoseok teased. 

“Aw, she’s got a little sister?!” Taehyung squealed, “come on Jiminnie get dandelion to come. I want to see her little sister.“ Taehyung whined, tugging on Jimin’s white shirt. 

"Fine I’ll do it.” Jimin said, yanking away from Taehyung. “I’m doing it right now.” Jimin pulled out his phone to prove that he was going to text you.  

Spoiled Siegfried: Hey, come to ‘Sleeping Beauty’ next Saturday 

(l/n) (y/n): I am coming or else Sehwa or Chaerin will kill me. Whoever gets to me first… 

Jimin smiled at your witty text, your humor was slowly growing on him. 

“She’s coming, so now don’t bother me anymore.” JImin said, wiping the smile off of his face, and putting his phone away. Chaerin noticed the small smile, and she knew she was right, only if you just listened to her. She pulled out her phone and texted you. 

Riniie: Make sure to wear something nice to ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on Saturday. Don’t dress how you normally dress….

(y/n)iie: Why? What’s wrong with how I dress? 

Riniie: You just wear the must boring stuff. Wear something more girly with more color please? We’re taking you out to dinner after the show. 

(y/n)iie: Just because we are going to dinner after doesn’t mean I have to wear a dress. Who said I have to go to dinner after anyways. 

Riniie: (y/n). It’s. Free. Food. 

(y/n)iie: Damn it…you drive a hard bargain. But no dinner if I don’t dress huh? :\

Riniie: Bingo 

(y/n): Fiiiinnnnneeeee I’ll wear a dress. 

Riniie: Yay! You’re the best I love you <3 

(y/n)iie: You better remember that you brat, I am your unnie >:)  

Right after you done with your conversation with Chaerin you got another message. 

Jaejung: Come to Billion Dream Saturday, that’s when we’re filming the video for the choreography I made, 3-5. It’s gonna be fun~ :) 

Your teeth tugged at the your fleshy lips, both performances were the same day, and close to each other. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was five to seven. Maybe you could get into Etre and little bit after five, yeah, that was your plan. 

Darling: Yeah, I can make it. I can’t wait to see it!

Jaejung: Hey maybe…. 

Darling: Maybe…? 

Jaejung: Maybe we could hang out for the rest of the day if you don’t mind? 

Darling: ): Sorry I can’t my other friends and I made plans to get dinner after. I won’t be able to do it. 

Jaejung: Don’t sweat it darling, it won’t be the only opportunity we’ll have  to get dinner. 

Darling: I would love to get dinner on another day ^//-//^ 

                                                                 ~

After lunch Jimin and Miju started to rehearse the wedding pas de deux. Jimin’s father and Miju’s mother volunteered to help them with the role. Jimin’s mother, however, didn’t volunteer to help the pair. She didn’t want to see her older son, she was too focused on the younger Park boy. Park Byungchul was a principal dancer at the Korean national ballet, but before that he was a second soloist at Mariinsky Theater, one of the greatest companies in the world. He never got a chance to become a principal because he came back to Korea after he proposed to Jimin’s mother. He didn’t want to be in Russia while his wife had to take care of their future family. It would have put Park Jueun with no career or time to dance.

“Lady and gentleman are you ready?” Master Byungchul asked. Miju and Jimin nodded. 

“This is you final pas de duex for this show, and you might be tired from before, but please try your best to maintain the youthful glow Aurora and Florimund has.” Madame Sujin said, “remember to keep a smile, and please act like a happy married couple.” Miju and Jimin nodded once more, and began to practice. Miju was already wearing a practice tutu for when she had to wear the wedding dress. The routine required a lot of balance from Miju and support from Jimin. Jimin had to make sure he held onto to her, and made sure she was never off balance. The hardest part was the hand less fish dive. Jimin had the squat low enough to support Miju on his quad and Miju and had use her legs to make sure she held onto Jimin’s back. She also needed tight and strong abs to hold her body up, and not look like a limp noodle on him. With all of that strength being used they had to make it look all too easy to do, like they weren’t in pain or tired, they had to look like they were in love with each other, and smile widely. Jimin had to spin Miju while keeping her balanced, his hands on her hips; then you would have to lift her high enough where he could catch her by her thighs, and then lower himself and her into the dive position. 

“Mister Park keep your center of balance lower so Miss Yoo has more surface to balance on.” Master Byungchul pointed out. With a small grunt Jimin lowered himself slowly offering more of his quad for Miju to lay herself on. Jimin sucked his lips into his mouth as he chewed on both his bottom and top lip. 

“Mister Park do not make that face, it is ungraceful, smile or keep a blank face please.” Master Byungchul said. Jimin pursed his lips out, and forced a smile onto his face.

“Miss Yoo please tighten your core some more I need you to look up at the audience, not looking at the stage floor. Your legs also need to hold on to Mister Park tightly, do not let them shake. If you think people can not see it, they can.” Madame Sujin said, correcting her daughter. Jimin and Miju made the adjustments according to their parents and held the position. 

“Perfect, try to attain this position when you perform, practice will help you find it more easily.” Madame Sujin said. Jimin slowly got back into the standing position while lowering Miju, but he was so tired she landed loudly. 

“Mister Park please do not drop Miss Yoo you might hurt her toes.” Madame Sujin said. 

“I agree, we do not want anyone injured.” Master Byungchul agreed. Jimin blew his black bangs out of his sweaty face, partly out of the heat and the frustration he was feeling. He was already tired from practicing this choreography, and lifting Miju. She wasn’t heavy, but after a while she did start to feel heavy. Jimin closed his eyes as he walked to his bag for his water. He took a drink and felt the cool water wash down his throat. He started to think what if you were doing this pas de deux again with him. 

‘Just think about her, just think about her, just think about her....’ Jimin repeated in his head, as he walked back to his starting position for the pas de deux. Even though he was looking and Miju, he started to replace her with with the illusion of you. You were standing there in the white and gold tutu, the beautiful shimmering tiara in you neat hair. While Jimin danced his father noticed that he was dancing with a new passion that he didn’t have when he started this rehearsal. He move more elegantly, he was light on his feet, balanced, his smiled glowed while he dance with Miju. He was able to keep her balanced perfectly as he held her arms. Madame Sujin noticed it too, there was such a big difference from how he was dancing, where did he find this ability withing him. This quality of dancing was different from how he usually was, yes on his own he was an excellent dancer, but it seemed like he didn’t have much of a reason to dance. As a ballet dancer you can not just dance, acting the role you were given without saying a word was required of you. Jimin was never a good actor, that’s what he lacked the most, but now he was able to portray with aura of Florimund.

 Jimin lifted Miju, and sank into the squat easily, he didn’t tremble as he lowered himself and Miju. ‘I am not going to drop her.’ Jimin thought, as he clenched every muscle that he needed to make sure Miju could balance and hold on him. When Jimin thought Miju was anchored onto him he pulled his hands away from her hips and positioned them elegantly in the air. Miju did slip from Jimin’s body, he was low enough, but he was balanced enough to have her stay on him, even if she wasn’t doing a good job herself. 

“Miss Yoo tighten your legs around Mister Park, I see your body sliding down. Mister Park can not do all of the work.” Master Byungchul said as he massaged the bridge of his nose. Jimin put his hands back on Miju hips so she could unwind her legs from around Jimin so she could stand back up again. 

“Master Byungchul is right Miss Yoo, but right now practice is over, go to your next class, and don’t forget to take care your bodies. Now that your show is coming closer do your best to not injure yourselves, make sure not skip any steps your care regimens.” Madame Yoo said dismissing the couple. Madame Yoo and Miju left the room first leaving only Jimin and his father. 

“I saw that last dance-”

“-yeah, and?” Jimin cut his father off while he took a gulp of water. 

“That was some pretty advanced dancing. It was very different from how you usually dance, what were you thinking about?”

“About not dropping her.” Jimin wasn’t exactly lying her was think about his partner, if his partner was you.... 

“Jimin are you telling me the truth?” His father lowed, Jimin nodded his head up and down. “Well if that’s the case then keeping thinking that thought because that was the best performance during this whole rehearsal. Byungchul knew Jimin was not telling the whole truth, but right now he didn’t want press because of how fragile everything was back at home. 

“You know you can always come home once and while to see Jihyun, you two only have each other, and he does miss you. I know you miss him too. Jimin didn’t say anything, he looked down at his black leather slippers and waited for his father to leave him. Heart broken, Byungchul slowly stepped out of the dance room. When Jimin heard the door shutting he picked up his bag and flung it across the empty room with whatever energy he had left. towels, clothing, water bottles, and protein bars were scattered on the hard wood floor. He was now hyper ventilating now, he turned and looked at himself in the mirror. There he stood, in black sweats, black tank top, his muscular shoulder hunched over. He couldn’t help but open his jaw widely and let out a scream from his vocal cords. He could feel inkling soreness in his voice box, as he lowered himself into a criss cross position. He was alone, with no one, but his own eyes staring back into themselves