#maybe i will try traditional tomorrow it tends to help a little

[tortademaracuya]

girl i cant fucking draw

[cottonlemonade]

A Simpler Life [Part 1]

word count: 1585 || avg. reading time: 7 mins.

pairing: post-time skip Kita x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff, slice of life, mutual pining, slow burn

warnings: spoilers

synopsis: In pursuit of a calmer, simpler life you flee the city to move to the countryside - only to fall in love with your neighbor.

When you decided on a clean break and moved to the little country home, you finally got your long harbored wish of a manageable veggie patch as well as a few fruit planters, breathing clear fresh air that the city life had you only dream about for so many years. At first, of course, the people were suspicious of the newcomer - the foreigner-city girl who came to their part of Hyogo with no clear intention but when you greeted each of them warmly around town and offered an open door if anyone ever needed help, they soon treated you as one of their own. The grandmothers of the neighborhood quickly kept an eye out for any eligible bachelors because “it‘d be such a shame if a pretty girl like ya would be all lonesome in that house of yers“ but while grateful for their concern, you were happy on your own.

Although, that didn‘t stop you from falling for your neighbor as soon as you met him.

Your first impression of Kita was that he was polite, caring and warm but maybe a bit shy. He bowed his head with a smile when he passed by your front yard in the evening heading to his house, looking exhausted but satisfied. You wondered if he lived alone, too, because no one else seemed to be going in or out of the modest traditional nouka.

You were privately looking forward to the evenings when you could catch a glimpse of him and bask even for just a second in the sunshine of his smile.

This went on for a week or so of you two simply exchanging nods, waves and smiles until, “Good evenin‘.“, he greeted.

The buzzing of cicadas filled the air. You were tending to your garden, having opted to weed in the milder evening rather than the afternoon sun. A straw hat on your head, muscles already straining from the unfamiliar work, you straightened, trying to suppress a groan. “And to you.“, you replied, using the back of your hand to wipe the sweat off your forehead, smearing some soil on your skin in the process.

“It‘s really comin‘ together.“, he noted and nodded towards the healthy green surrounding your ankles.

Don‘t blush, you told yourself. “Thank you.“, you beamed, “I am worried about my tomatoes, though. They look a bit peaked.“

You pointed to some sad little plants on the end of your veggie patch.

With professional eyes he wandered along the fence to inspect them.

“Oh, yea, they might have had a bit too much sun and not enough water. Don‘t worry, happens to all of us.“, he smiled, “I have some extra starters in my greenhouse. Ya can have a couple if ya like. I always grow more in case bugs get to ‘em.“

“Oh, really?“

“Sure, come by tomorrow to pick ‘em up.“

“Thank you so much!“

“What else have ya got here?“, he now leaned on the fence post, examining the rest of the plants. You listed the few you had.

“Ya might wanna add sugar snap peas. They‘re easy to grow and the yield is really good.“

“Noted! But I might have to wait until next season, I don‘t think I have enough space for any more.“

“Ya can grow ‘em nicely in planters. I can build ya one. It‘s not difficult.“

Your heart did a little jump. “Are you sure it‘s not too much trouble?“

“Neighbors gotta stick together, right?“, he grinned and stood back up, “I‘mma let ya get back to it.“ and he made to leave.

“W-wait!“

He turned back to you.

“One of the grannies in town gave me a bunch of fresh greens and tofu today. My fridge doesn‘t work yet so I‘m worried it’ll go bad. Would you like to join me for dinner?“

He blinked. For a moment you weren‘t sure if you hadn‘t been too forward but then Kita nodded and walked around the fence to your gate. Oh my, somehow the fence had underplayed his handsomeness. As he stood right in front of you, arms tan and taut with lean muscles from a day‘s work and a towel tied around his neck you forgot to talk for a second.

“This way.“, you gestured to the front door.

“Don‘t ya wanna finish up weedin’ first?“

“But…“

“I‘ll help ya.“

“But…“

And he got to work. Of course, his practiced hands got the job done so much faster than you and where you had only managed a fourth of the patch he finished up the rest in no time.

Kita knelt on a seating pillow you had laid out around your coffee table, patiently waiting for you to plate up the hearty stew alongside some grilled tofu and rice. You figured he must be starving after all that hard manual labor. But to your surprise he ate slowly, chewed carefully and seemed to savor the taste.

“It‘s delicious.“, he said and let out a small content sigh, “I usually don‘t have much energy to cook in the evenin’s. This is great, thank ya.“

So he did live alone. How the masses of overzealous grandmothers in town hadn‘t flocked together to feed this man yet was a mystery to you.

In all honesty, Kita didn‘t agree with the people in town who said you were “pretty“. “Pretty“ didn‘t do you justice. He thought you were breathtaking. Because that‘s how he felt when he talked to you for the first time. Like his breath was stuck somewhere in his throat. Your genuine smile when he complimented your cooking now had a permanent place in his mind - framed it hung at the very top where he could always admire it throughout his day. Where his thoughts were usually busy with plans for the following morning or simply quiet, while his hands moved automatically through the water in the fields, they were now interlaced with you. Your twinkling eyes when he told you he would build you a planter, your cute protests when he offered to help you weed that tiny little veggie patch as if it was the most daunting task ever encountered and your voice, bright and lively as you told him about yourself upon his request. His grandmother had told him many stories growing up, about right and wrong, patience, kindness and fate. She told him when two people were meant for each other, their souls would recognize it and be drawn to the other by some unseen force. Back then, young Kita wasn‘t exactly sure what to make of it. It sounded very fantastical and without any data to back it up he thought it was another one of his grandmother‘s folktales. Now he wasn‘t so sure anymore because you were his first and last thought of the day.

He doubted that someone as beautiful and worldly as you would consider him as a match but he was merely glad to know he could be of help and make your life a little easier. After dinner the previous night he had told you he had some business in the city the next day and you could please wait for him at his place in the afternoon to collect your promised tomato starters. He had spent the morning making sure the little plants were in top shape, selecting the very best of the bunch. He was eager to get back home but as per usual, city traffic had other ideas.

Every couple of seconds he glanced at the clock on the truck‘s dashboard, hoping he didn‘t make you wait too long.

When he finally pulled into his driveway he spotted you sitting on his porch, his black and white dog lounging in your lap, getting his ears massaged.

A bundle lay next to you.

The dog‘s tail thwacked on the wooden porch as he approached.

“Ya look comfortable.“ He had meant it to his (guard) dog but somehow it seemed like your full cheeks got a bit of color.

“I hope I haven't kept ya waitin‘.“

“It‘s fine.“, you said simply, “I had great company.“ You petted the dog's head again who let out a happy huff.

Kita grinned and looked towards one of his greenhouses. “I‘ll go grab the tomatoes.“

You were brushing some dog hairs off your pants when he returned. Without meaning to, he searched your hands for an indication of a wedding band but shook his head when he caught himself.

He held out the tray with the starters.

“Thank you so much! They look great. And here.“, you bent down to exchange the tray for the bundle, “Since you said you wouldn‘t accept any money for them I made you dinner instead.“

His eyes widened. “Ya didn‘t have to.“

You shrugged. “I know, but it wouldn‘t feel right otherwise. And it‘s not like it‘s even close to an equal trade once these start producing.“

He was a little disappointed. After all, he had practiced inviting you to have dinner with him his entire drive back, but having more of your cooking was the next best thing, he supposed.

The following morning you found the bundle neatly wrapped on your doorstep, the large square bento box inside had been thoroughly cleaned and a note replaced the food “It was really delicious. Thank you very much. - Kita“.

Your heart stumbled when you stared at the neatly written words and grinning so hard your cheeks started to hurt, you pinned it to a little cork board next to the door.

a/n: thank you so much to @makkir0ll for helping me hatch this ostrich-sized brain egg 🌟🫶🏻

art: coloring done by @keiko-chan

[part 2]

[yakuzacanons]

Tanimura & Mine dating hc (sfw + notsfw) please?!

ANYTHING for my boys. Also, peeps who sent in Y6 asks, I SEE EM just ain't getting to em yet as I have yet to start Y6. Tomorrow is masterlist finalization day so that's been occupying my time but to my lovelies in my inbox, I see you and love you. Headcanons below the cut mine beloved, happy friday night!

Tanimura Masayoshi

Bouncing and smiling babey boy. Always happy to see you, even when he's dead tired. During earlier dates, he greets you by smiling and waving but later one he'll greet you with a hug or kiss on the cheek.

Loves hand holding the most. Values that more than kissing or even sex honestly. It's very cozy and intimate to him. Totally the type of guy to measure his hand size against your as an excuse for physical contact.

Since work keeps him so busy, in person dates aren't the most regular but you will hear from him every day by text or call. Will video call you on his busiest nights.

Expresses love with food, either by taking you out to food or just buying you snacks. Tanimura is a snack muncher himself so he keeps good notes on what you both like so when he buys something for himself, he grabs something for you too.

His go-to date is getting boba together and maybe hitting up an arcade. Honestly, he's open to anything though. The most chill of the boys when it comes to dates, he's down to just sit and talk anywhere as long as he's with you.

He's a little embarassed about it but in bed he does like to tie you up. He won't use his work handcuffs on you because of how painful they can be, unless you ask for it. It's kind of cute how much he blushes at the fact that all of his kinks totally align with his job.

Completely and totally a verse. He can top with the best of them or be the babiest bottom, it just depends on his mood and your preferences. Relatively down to explore new things in the bedroom.

Mine Yoshitaka

Strong and silent, which makes him hard to read at first. That's kind of on purpose, Mine honestly has trust issues and is too self sufficient for his own good. He tends to keep to himself so if he goes out of his way to ask you, he REALLY likes you.

If you ask HIM out, chances are Mine will say yes unless he absolutely thinks you aren't his type. Pretty down to date casually but when he catches feelings, he's down bad.

Leans to the more traditional side. Will ask you on dates most of the time, will pick you up, probably brings flowers on the fancier dates. However, don't mistake that for him being old fashioned. In fact, it kind of turns him on if you switch up the roles on him and ask him out or pick him up.

Likes a partner who is pretty self sufficient as he may not always have the time to dedicate to someone who is more clingy and would feel kind of bad for not being able to be there as much as a clingier partner would need. Kind of ironic given that deep down Mine himself can be kind of attached.

With Mine, it's the little gestures that matter. Things like holding the door open or bringing an umbrella to your place of work on days where it's downpouring because he knows you forgot yours at home. Very much a man to show rather than tell.

Super dry texter so try not to be upset if he doesn't sound enthusiastic in texts. Decent at holding conversation in person though and only gets better the longer he dates you. The amount he texts is normal though, he won't leave you with a one word response if he can help it. It takes time for him to get back to you sometimes though if he's rather busy.

After about a 6 month dating period, the facade drops almost scarily quickly and he gets a lot cozier and cuddlier. He starts realizing that this is actually happening and you're not just someone interested in him for his looks or money. It'll take a bit longer for him to open up about his personal past but he will become noticably more comfortable around you in ways he isn't with everyone else.

Freak in the sheets. Total top and total dom. King of using his voice. What he lacks in dating experience, he makes up for in bedroom experience. Has perhaps some of the most experience of all of the boys. Also a quick learner.

Absolutely loves to put his hand under your chin and tilt your face up to look at him. Sly as hell. Actually quiet in the bedroom though, never really makes a lot of noise. Whispers a lot too. Great at getting you turned on in public with just his voice. Particularly good with his hands. Will tie your hands up with his tie if you ask him but he won't default to that.

[ciaossu-imagines]

I have never used that marriage certificate website because I didn’t know it was a thing but now I wish I did!

But I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates the idea of walking down an aisle with everyone’s eyes on me. Even the idea of saying vows in front of others makes me want to light myself on fire tbh. Personally I would prefer a very quiet ceremony with just me and my partner (and maybe a witness or two) and then perhaps a more public reception with friends and family if that’s what they want. Thus, this is also what I imagine with my fictional other. Tho considering my fictional other is Reborn I feel like the reception will be extra rowdy. But I have a feeling it would be a good kind of rowdy ☺️

(Also!!! the idea of tattoo rings is so cute!!!)

- R

I had loved that site, which was myfconline, I found out, but it's been shut down really. Also, good evening my lovelies, I have survived the first of the four brutal shifts...barely. The fact we had over 200 scripts to fill when I left an hour ago and the walk in clinic was handing out narcotics like candy (which sounds good until you take into account that I need to double count every script for narcotics, and then the pharmacists need to count to ensure my counts were right, meaning they take twice as long to fill, on top of having to get into the safe to get them, which is a 5 minute time delayed opening and just...it's a lot). All of that is a problem for tomorrow me, not tonight me hahaha.

I am so with you on just that idea, everyone staring and so much potential of embarrassing myself, my future spouse, disappointing someone, messing up somehow so publicly...it's too horrific for my mind to really handle and I literally cannot imagine myself getting married because of that. It doesn't help that I tend to attract, like a magnet, these really attention-hungry people romantically who must have the hugest wedding, with all the people and formalities and drama and traditions. Saying my vows publicly...I hadn't really thought about that and that is a new wave of nausea, yep. I have a teensy, tiny little voice and nobody really hears me well and to be expected to shout to have everyone hear me, or stumble on words like I do....terrifying. But aww, that sounds like the most perfect type of ceremony. I really do love and enjoy seeing people do small legal ceremonies and then really have a party for everyone to celebrate afterwards.

And most definitely on the fact that, with Reborn as your spouse, you would have a packed crowd at that reception. You'd get the most amazing gifts, don't get me wrong, and so many people would be trying to get into your good books, and of course Reborn isn't leaving your side because this type of very large event leaves you very vulnerable both physically and emotionally, but I could see the honeymoon being a quiet one, at least at first, because you'll need a little breathing room after all that. Thank god Reborn knows and accepts that about you and already planned a couple quiet days together as a 'pre-honeymoon'.

And thank you! I got so used to, because of previous jobs, not being able to wear jewelry because of it being a huge risk factor around machinery and equipment, so wearing it feels weird to me. Having a ring on 24/7 would kill me with discomfort and I know a friend of mine who works for a factory who tattooed his wedding band on and I loved the idea of it a lot more than I thought I did because it sure showed up in my dream (also, point of pride, since I sit amazing for tattoos according to every artist I've been to, I did better at publicly getting my tattoo than my squirming, fidgeting, wincing husband did lmao, though to be fair, I have fatter fingers).

[keefwho]

March 11 - 2024 Monday

11:02pm

6.5/10

This morning I woke up with tummy troubles. I still went through with shaving my legs/face so that I can be super groomed for tomorrow's haircut. A decent amount of time was spent in the bathroom this morning, probably on account of the pizza and ramen I ate yesterday combined with some drinking. All I could eat for breakfast was a soup in the box.

I started work late and skipped warmups. I just worked on the current commission today. After work I did half my usual treadmill workout which was fine considering how little I'd eaten and how I still felt. I read the chapter on Acceptance in my ACT book again while walking. I took some time to bake myself in the shower and watch a little youtube. For lunch I made stew but I didn't brown it enough and added too many potatoes/water so it came out kinda bland and in large quantity but I ate it all anyways. I was SUPER full. The coke I had after hit hard because I really just needed water. I hung out in Bramble's server during work but wasn't really in a big social mood. I'm still glad I hung out there even if I wasn't really clicking with anyone at that moment. I left after doing today's request, working on a pic of Adora for an hour, and doing a little bit of Plaz's world. I updated him letting him know it is still happening just very slowly.

I took some time to just chill after work. I watching a very fascinating Cities Skylines 2 detailing video and then tried meditating on defusion for a little bit. I was doing the leaves on a stream exercise while laying my head in my arms and listening to water ambience. I was realizing the traditional version of the exercise where the leaves float downstream give me the impression that I'm meant to be getting rid of thoughts by putting them in the river. But defusion is never about deleting thoughts, its about seeing them as just thoughts. So I did a slightly different version where I imagined myself on a bridge above a still pond with every thought I had being represented by a leaf falling into the water but otherwise staying there. I gotta say I wasn't very successful in defusion "clicking" with me today but I knew it helped to try anyways.

I joined Daisy in Just Dance and SLAYED today. I did much better than usual and maybe it's because I was moreso having fun letting my motions be fluid rather than trying too hard to copy the moves and compensate for mistakes. Also changed my profile to a DOG but I might put it back to Hoss Delgado.

After her shower she read me a Monster High chapter in bed. I made another custom Connections puzzle for her to solve today thinking it was good but it was actually too hard for her. I think the terms I used were too generic to pinpoint any right off the bat which is usually a trait of a good puzzle. She did really well with today's actual connections and wordle though. Then I played a good amount of Kingdom Hearts 2 for her and did the whole Traverse Town tournament bit.

~~~

Today I was meant to be thinking about the topic of acceptance again. It's weird because the whole chapter covers specific kinds of trauma that I don't identify with but someone I know does. It makes me wish I could somehow use this knowledge and the understanding I do have to help out somehow. Not that I'm out here trying to magically fix something so complicated but I think I understand some of the topic and thats a good thing. Other than that, I think I did a decent job keeping myself on track today and accepting tonight for what it was. I understand that I can tend to reject good times simply because they make me think of the potential abandonment that will seemingly nullify it all. While that could happen, nothing would be "null" if it did. And it's much better and more helpful to be hopeful that everything will turn out okay in the end. I know it's not smart to be blinded by positivity but I do need to push myself from having a negative view of things to at least neutral. It'll help me appreciate the good things in my life while they're happening more often. It'll build me up.

3 things that made me happy today:

Watching otter stream with Bramble and friends during work.

Doing good in Just Dance.

Getting lost in Kingdom Hearts 2 for Daisy.

[chaotic-good-vampire]

a glimpse of us 

Pairing: Jonathan Levy x AFABreader (she/her)

Summary: Trying to deal with her husband’s affair, our protagonist takes a glimpse at their story, wondering if he ever loved her or if he just liked the idea of being loved.

“That's the thing about illicit affairs and clandestine meetings, it's born from just one single glance but it dies a million little times."

Word count: 3,500

Warnings: Angst, cheating, mentions of sex, no use of y/n, non-descriptive reader (but it’s kind of implied reader isn’t Jewish). Also, I'm not Jewish, so if anything related to their tradition is incorrect, please correct me.

Inspired by: Basically Taylor Swift's entire discography.

Other chapters: Chapter 2 · Chapter 3

Chapter 1: Shock & Denial

“I don’t understand.” The words come out of her mouth with a nervous giggle, the smile on her lips intact. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, don’t you find it a little suspicious?”

“No, why?”

Her confusion is legitimate because, at first, the idea of Jonathan and Mira even being in the same room together is absurd. Sure, they don’t hate each other– and for the most part– any kind of resentment is long gone, but they tend to avoid interacting unless Ava is involved. Whenever they face each other, there’s always a palpable tension in the room and, more than once, she’d feared their sarcastic and ironic remarks towards one another would turn into a screaming match or worse. Therefore, the only logical reason she can come up with as to why they’d willingly walk into a room alone, let alone a house, is that they had founded a secret underground Fight Club of something.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing.” Winona, her best friend, sounds as confused as her, but for another reason. “I didn’t mean to bother you; I Just thought I had the responsibility to tell you, that’s all.”

“Oh, it’s okay, no problem. Thanks.”

And for a couple hours after she hangs up, as she goes up and down the house cleaning and organizing, trying to figure out how to deliver the good news, it’s genuinely not a problem at all. She goes on with her night in a peaceful ignorant bliss, blinded by her excitement and good faith.

By ten, when she sits on the living room's couch with a cup of cocoa in hand and the biggest smile on her face, the weight of Winona’s words hasn’t quite settled in yet. She opens her messages with tingling fingers, a corny romance movie playing in the background, and she texts Jonathan with enthusiasm bubbling up her chest and hot cheeks.

«Thoughts on Italian? I have something very important to tell you.»

«Was thinking about that restaurant near Ava’s school, the one with the fettuccini you so much like. Maybe tomorrow night?”

«btw, I miss you. The house is so quiet without you and Ava :(»

Normally, she wouldn’t expect him to answer right away, especially considering he’s supposed to be mourning with his family. Still, she's so happy that she can't help but be a little impatient. So, after some minutes of scrolling through social media to distract herself, she ultimately gives in and calls him instead, heart on her sleeve. 

The phone rings for a while, much to her dismay, and she's about to hang up when his singing voice greets her from the other side of the line:

"Hey, sweetie." 

"Hello, handsome." She sings back, giggling, a mushy warmth blossoming deep in her chest. 

"Hi, baby." They both chuckle, and she can perfectly picture him smiling, messy curls falling over his glasses, a vision that makes her smile. 

"Why are you whispering? She whispers back jokingly. "Am I interrupting something?" 

"Oh, my mom fell asleep already, and I don't want to wake her up." He clears his throat, nervous, and while she knows he tends to do that when lying, she lets it slide. 

"Sorry for calling this late, my love, but I miss you horribly." 

"It's no problem." 

"How's your mom?" 

Even though she had offered to take some days off work to accompany him to his father's shiva, Jonathan had insisted on going alone. It bothered her a little, feeling it was her duty as his wife to be by his side in such a delicate moment. But ultimately, she accepted it after he told her he didn't feel like dealing with his mother's snarky comments toward her for seven days straight. However, she still called each family member to express her condolences and spent an entire night baking kichlach for Jonathan to take with him. When it came time for the funeral, she asked again to go with him, but he refused once more, claiming his mother only wanted her children and herself to be there. It hurt, but she wasn't about to disrespect the widow's desires, especially since she kinda abhors her. 

"She's fine. It's just... You know, the whole thing at the ceremony was really draining for her.

"Oh, my dear." She feels guilty for leaving him alone in a moment like this. Maybe she should try harder to build a relationship with his mother for the sake of their little family. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, don't worry, darling." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah. Well, you know how it is. It's like the... Being at the cemetery and then going to an empty house. It was a lot for her." 

"Of course, it must be terrible to lose your life-long partner." God knows, even if she had only been with Jonathan for three and a half years, she couldn't imagine a life without him now. "I'm so sorry, my love. Don't you want to stay a little longer? Maybe your mom would like that." 

"No, no, I gotta go back to work." 

"Okay." A huge smile creeps on her face at his words. "So you're coming back tomorrow?" 

"Uh, yes. Taking the 6:30 train out of Valley Stream, then the Amtrak from Penn Station." 

"I wish I could pick you up, but my shift starts at seven." 

"It'll be fine, sweetheart. I'll see you at home when you come back." 

"Ugh, fine." She bites her lip, trying to hold her excitement to not spoil the surprise. "Did you see my messages?" 

"No, I'm sorry. What they say?" 

"Can I facetime you? I want to see your gorgeous face." 

He laughs, but there's something hidden in the way in which he stutters before answering:

"Okay. Yeah. Just, uh..." She can hear him panting as he walks hurriedly, then a door closes. "Trying to connect here."

She hangs up, and not even a second later, his phone starts buzzing, her name displayed in big white letters on the screen. 

"Oh, look at you, such a marvelous sight." Her cheeks heat up, something she'll always be surprised by. No matter how many times he complimented her, he always managed to turn her into a giggly schoolgirl with his sweet-talking. "I love how that sweater fits you." 

"Only because it makes my boobs look bigger." 

"Oh, I like your boobs just the way they are, honey." There's an eco in his video. "I'll show you just how much tomorrow night." 

As she laughs at his flirty attitude, her eyes divert to his background, where she can see a strangely familiar tile. 

"Where are you?" A strange uneasiness suddenly overcomes her, a sign that her brain has already caught something her mind has yet to figure out. 

"I'm in the bathroom." 

"What?"

"I'm in the bathroom." 

"Oh." She tries to match the tiles to a room in his parent's house, but nothing comes to mind. 

"What did you want to tell me?" 

"Ah, yeah... Um..." She can't focus on her words, distracted by those damn tiles of unknown origin. "I have great news, amazing actually... So I thought we could celebrate in that Italian restaurant near Ava's school." 

"Basile?" 

"Yeah, there." 

"Uh, they have the best fettucini." He licks his lips, and she forces a smile, her mind rushing. "Seems good to me. May I have a hint of what we are celebrating?" 

"No, it's a surprise." 

The whole situation feels like a deja vú, from the way he's whispering to how he stutters every three words, anxious voice rushing through the conversation. It all takes her back to three years prior.

«Hey, how did it go?» 

«Are you okay?» 

«Hope it wasn't too bad.» 

«Wanna have breakfast together? I think I can make it before you leave for work.» 

Four innocent messages were all it took for Jonathan to blow up at her, even if she had only sent them because she was worried. 

When Jonathan had told her Mira was going to stop by their house to discuss the divorce, she became wary, but only because he'd been doing so well for the past few months, she feared her presence would trigger him. It took time, money, therapy, tears, and some inebriated late-night conversations, but his eyes had finally regained their light, and his lips remembered how to smile. It irked her to think a conversation with his ex could throw so much effort out the window in a matter of minutes. 

Thus, when he didn't call or text like he'd promised to, she immediately assumed the worst. And, as much as she wanted to drop everything and check on him, she had a duty at the hospital, so for now, she could only hope for him to answer the texts. 

Just as she was putting her phone away, it started buzzing, his name and photo illuminating the screen, making her smile. Even after months of dating, she felt like a teenager every time they talked or were together, a dozen butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the mere thought of him. 

"Hey." 

"Hey, hi!" She walked outside the emergency room and stood beside the entrance, watching the rain, to avoid getting in the way of doctors and patients. "How are you? I was dead worried–"

"Good, uh, yeah." He interrupted her, whispering in an irritated voice. "But, listen, it's not cool to, like, bombard me with–"

"Bombard you?" She tried her best not to match his tone, thinking he may have had a terrible evening and was just tense. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you; I just wanted to know how you were." 

"I told you I'd call you when she left." Suddenly, she went from a teenager to a scolded child with how he talked to her like she was stupid.

It took her by surprise, really; he'd never been anything but a gentleman with her since the day they met a little over a year before. He'd never been rude or condescending, not even in his worst days, and he always spoke to her with such tenderness she just melted on the spot. 

Why he's acting like a complete imbecile out of nowhere? 

"Yeah, I know, but it's almost midnight, and you–" It clicked then. "She hadn't gone yet?" 

"No, she hasn't. She's still here, okay?" 

"Oh, is everything all right?" Her blind fade was present there since day one. "Where is she?" 

"She's..." Out of all the possibilities, she certainly wasn't expecting him to say the next. "She's in bed." 

"She's staying in?" She really wanted to keep calm and be mature enough to not let jealousy invade her, but then a thought crossed her mind. "Wait, whose bed?"

"My bed." 

"And where were you before you called?" 

The line goes silent for some seconds in which she can hear him calmly breathe with nothing more to add. She waited for an explanation, anything that could soothe the turmoil of emotions tearing her apart from the inside out. Tears were already forming in the corner of her eyes, but she blinked them away as she bit her lip, troubled. 

"Why?" She inhales deeply, passing back and forth. "Jon, baby, I'm trying to understand you here, but you're not helping much. What happened? You were supposed to talk about the divorce and..."

"Listen–"

"Why is she in your bed? The same bed you made love to me just this morning..." He called her name, but she was so distracted in her ranting that she didn't listen. "And then you have the audacity to call me and complain about four text messages as if I was trying to control you or something." 

"We... we need to talk, 'cause this is–" 

The phrase sent her on a panicked rambling because nothing good ever came out of those words. She was shaking, the hem of her uniform getting wet as she mindlessly stepped on puddles. Her friends had warned her; they'd told her numerous times that dating an older married man wasn't the greatest idea, but she was already head over heels for him when all these happened. His gentle touch, sweet words, and ease with which he made her laugh and feel cared for; he was her safe space and vice versa. Or so she thought. 

"Yeah, of course, we need to talk. We're in a relationship, Jonathan, you kind of owe us some respect, you know? That means establishing certain boundaries with Mira..."

"This is really just not, uh...–" She kept talking over him, between upset and scared for what he had to say.

"We can talk about this over breakfast, alright? I'll pass by Starbucks on my way to your house, I'll be there by seven–" 

"I'm trying to tell you we should take a break because this is just not..." That's all it took to leave her speechless, a shaky sight leaving her lips as the first tears fell down her cheek. "Not working out for me right now." 

"What are you talking about?" Her voice cracked, anger boiling down her throat. "It was working perfectly fine this morning, Jon." 

"No, uh, uh..." He didn't know what to say, a part of him breaking at the sound of her crying, the other just wanting to hang up and go back to Mira. 

"Jonathan, what the fuck!? When I left this morning, you swore she would only be there an hour or so to start the divorce arrangements. You kissed me, we had sex, we ate together. Everything was fine, and now you just decide it's not? What the fuck is wrong with you?" 

"Okay, you know, let me just... Let me stop you here before you say something that you're gonna regret" It only made her angrier, the way he was avoiding talking about the subject and treating her like a child. "Look, I'm... I'm really sorry it has to end like this, but, uh... Honestly, I've been feeling for a while that–". 

"Bullshit, Jonathan!" Some staff turned to see her as she yelled, and her cheeks heated up at the undesired attention. She was a crying mess, and she felt ridiculous for falling that hard for someone in only a matter of months while he just pretended to feel the same. She breathes deeply and lowers her voice, trying to control herself. "Jon, listen to yourself. Five seconds ago you wanted some time, now you're breaking up with me over the phone?" 

"Well, you know, that–"

"Jonathan, I love you." He immediately goes silent. 

Neither of them had said it before, but she had been tempted to more than once. As she lay on his chest, intertwined bodies under the covers; as he drank his coffee in the morning, wet curls fell over his glasses; as he talked about his students and his job; as he and Ava played. She knew she could only suppress it for so long, but she was scared of freaking him out, of it being too big of a sentence for his heart. 

"I love you, I really do. I love you so, so much." She sobbed, internally hitting herself for her bluntness in a moment like that. "Please, we can talk about it, please."

"I'm not..." He wasn't sure of what to say, caught off guard by her confession and the pain in her voice. 

Did he love her back? He had thought about saying it more than once, but the words always died out on the tip of his tongue. Sure, he was scared of loving again, but mostly he didn't even know if he was ready or completely over Mira. He felt terrible because she was perfect: Clever, funny, gentle, and caring, and the sex was the best he had had in his entire life. Then why couldn't he bring himself to tell her what he was sure he felt? 

"You don't have to say it back, it's okay." Her heart was being ripped open inside her chest, but she wasn't going to guilt trip him for it. "I, just, um... Please, please, don't leave me." 

He pronounced her name in a breathy voice, blinking his own tears away. "I'm sorry, it's better this way." 

"Jon–" Her beeper goes off, and huffing, she checks the message as she roughly wipes the tears from her face. "I have to go, they need me here." 

"Okay, bye." He swallowed the lump in his throat, resisting the urge to take back his words. How could he after everything he just said? "I'm sorry." 

The tile is the same as the downstairs bathroom in his old house, the one he shared with Mira for over ten years. She comes to the realization with trembling hands, a tight pressure on her chest making it difficult to breathe. 

"I love you." Jonathan says with a smile, not noticing her entire world is shattering right beneath her because of him. "Can't wait to see you tomorrow." 

It took him so long to be able to say those three simple words that every time he pronounced them, she treasured them in the deepest of her soul. But not today, today they feel like the worst of burns. 

"I love you too." The words are bitter on her lips. "I'll leave you, you must be tired, and you still gotta travel tomorrow." 

"Okay. I'll see you at the restaurant at 8, is that okay? 

"Yeah." 

"Great, love you. Laila tov."

"Laila tov." 

He hangs up, leaving her alone with the TV voices and her inner turmoil. Her previous excitement is gone, and all she can think about now it's Winona's words:

"I saw him entering his old house with Mira, and they've been there for a while." 

“No.” She whispers for only the wind to hear. “Not my Jonathan, not him.”

My Jonathan, a conjunction of words so familiar to her tongue, it almost feels wrong to say one without the other. Yet, as she absently fidgets with the gold band on her finger, she wonders if they were ever true or if it was just her turning a blind eye to the obvious. She wants to laugh and brush the whole thing off as her being sensitive, but her inner voice keeps telling her there's something terribly wrong. 

Surely, this all has to be a misunderstanding, right? Jon, sweet loving Jonathan, wouldn't betray her trust and lie straight to her face with no remorse. Not when he knows how much it hurts and how much she loves him. And even if he did, he wouldn't be as stupid as to do it in his old house and with his ex-wife. Not when her best friend lives just down the street, with a perfect view of the master bedroom from the second floor. 

It's Jonathan, her Jonathan, and he'll never hurt her like that. 

She doesn't even realize what her fingers are doing until the dialing tones sound beside her ear. One, two, three, then a female voice picks up:

"Hello?" Elisheva, his sister, greets her softly. 

"Hi, Shevi" She's holding her breath, livid and a little nauseous. "I'm sorry for calling this late, I just wanted to check on you and your mom." 

It isn't a lie, she truly cares for them even if Myriam sees her as an intruder in her family. Besides, she doesn't take it personally; Mr. Levy's hostility isn't directed at her as a person but rather at her status as his son's second wife.  

"Oh, no worries. We're as good as we can be, thanks for calling." Shevi's always been friendly with her, making an effort with Arie to integrate her into the family after getting engaged. "Although, it's a shame Jon couldn't stay longer, you know? Maybe that could have cheered up mom a little."

"He's not at your house?" The surprise and distress in her voice confuse Elisheva. 

"No, he left right after the funeral, at four." No, it couldn't be. Jonathan had told her he'd stayed with his family until tomorrow, and even if he'd decided to leave early, he should have been in the house hours ago. "He isn't home yet?"

"Oh, yeah, I just remembered." She lies, holding her tears and embarrassed. "He said he was going to stop by a friend's house, he probably lost track of time." 

The conversation pretty much dies there, and after wishing her goodnight and promising to call in the morning again, she hangs up, feeling a hole in her chest. 

She blankly stares at the TV for some minutes, dismayed, convinced she'll wake up any minute, and he'll be beside her. Messy hair, soft lips slightly apart, and his chest rising slowly in rhythm with his light snores. She'll cuddle him, bury her face in the crook of his neck and leave a trail of kisses from his jaw to his lips; he'll wake up and return the gesture, and they'll have morning sex and have breakfast together, and everything will be just fine. 

This was all a nightmare. 

Just a nightmare. 

A nightmare. 

Then, as a bucket of cold water, the cuckoo clock on the wall chimes, and her inner hell unleashes. 

[weaselbrownie]

i was wondering if u could do one where draco fingers the reader under a blanket but like with people around

dw if u dont wanna write this ;)

underneath | d.m

draco malfoy x fem!reader

summary : draco fingering you while there are people around

warning : NSFW! smut, swearing, praising, voyeurism (?), female receiving

word count : 2.6K

a/n : this was messy :(

MASTERLIST

It was the last night of winter break, tucked away in the screening room of the Malfoy Manor sat you, Draco, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise. It has always been a tradition to spend winter breaks at the Malfoy Manor. With Mr. Malfoy away, Mrs. Malfoy has always found it quiet to spend Christmas with her only son, and so she insisted that he brings his friends to stay over during the break.

"So no horror?" Pansy asked as she went through the DVD display,

"We're not watching a horror movie just for you to crawl into our beds at night," Blaise answered, walking around the room as he made red sparks from the tip of his wand, waiting for Pansy to pick a movie.

"Zip it Zabini it was one time" She huffed before turning back to search for other movies, blabbing about how Blaise is being an ass for not letting them watch a horror movie.

You, Draco, and Theo walked into the half-lit room, greeted by Blaise who jumped off the couch to snatch the snacks off of Theo and the blankets off Draco before walking back to the spot of the couch to wrap himself in a little blanket cocoon.

"Y/N! Look at this, can we wat–"

"No Pansy, we will not watch Poltergeist because once we're back at school you won't be able to crawl into Blase's bed and you'll end up crawling into mine" You crossed both your arms over your chest, your brows lifting like a mother scolding her child.

"Ugh, you're no fun" She rolled her eyes before going back to the stack of DVDs.

Theo left to help Pansy pick out a movie, leaving you and Draco by the big doorway. You felt his hand slithering up your back, taking hold of your waist to spin you around– facing him. You looked up to see his bright orbs staring down at you, the corner of his lips lifting into a small smile "So... back at school tomorrow huh?" He said pulling you closer until your chest met his,

"I guess..." You smiled at him, your hand coming up to glide over his covered bicep and to the back of his neck, locking them there to hold onto him. "...just a few more months and we're done with this" Your voice quietened, just above a whisper as your face neared his.

"I know pretty girl" Draco closed the space in between, letting his lips devour yours as he held on to you, gripping your hips to bring you closer to him. It was nothing new, your lips moving with his as if it was a rehearsed choreography, chasing one another in the dark room.

"Aight enough, we're watching a movie, not porn" A deep voice called out from behind. You let go of Draco and turned your head to see Theo crossing his arms in front of his chest, huffing as he smirked, tending his weight on one leg.

"Well if that is your idea of porn, that's pretty sad mate" A higher-pitched voice chimed into the conversation. Theo's smirk completely dropped as he swung to look at Pansy standing behind him, stifling her laugh as did the rest of the group.

You poked your tongue out to him, laughing as you made your way to sit on the couch with Blaise who was already munching on the snacks. "Alright, now can we watch the movie?" Blaise asked, opening another pack of chips to pass around the room.

Everyone nodded in response, moving around the room to find a comfortable space to sit. Theo and Pansy took the carpet as they always do, building pillow forts for themselves so they can slouch as they watch the movie. You got up from the couch to grab some blanket off the floor before walking back to your spot just to see Draco sitting there comfortably.

Leaning back onto the couch and stretching his arms out to the sides as he spreads his long legs. You didn't mean to stammer but your eyes widened at his sight, Draco fucking Malfoy looking so good without having to do quite literally anything.

He knew you were looking, licking his lips before giving you a sly smirk. "C'mon" he mouthed, patting the spot on between his legs for you to occupy. This happens regularly, you sitting on his lap or the spot in between, so there shouldn't be any reason why you should be nervous... right?

You slowly moved towards him, smiling under your bright red cheeks before sitting in front of him. Draco's arms wrapped around you almost instantaneously, the strong scent of peppermint and citrus dancing its way to the back of your head. The light in the room went out as the big screen lit up, playing the opening of the movie Pansy picked.

You shuffled in his arms as you adjusted yourself and the blanket on top of you, moving left and right trying to get rid of a specific discomfort right on your lower back. "Draco..." You whispered as you turned around in your spot– facing him. "...why are your pockets always full?" You crossed your arms in front of you, glancing to the side to make sure Blaise is paying attention to the movie.

"What?" Draco's brows furrowed as confusion took over him,

"Your pockets" You gestured down to the pockets of his grey sweats, your brows lifting, waiting for an answer. Draco looked at you as if you grew horns, biting his pink lips as he tries to understand what you are insinuating.

All of a sudden the corner of his lips lifted, forming a devilish smirk as his cold lengthy fingers traced your hips. "My pockets are empty, darling" He muttered, bending down to meet you face to face.

It was your turn to look confused, you weren't imagining it, you definitely felt something on your lower back earlier, "If it's empty, then what wa-" You cut yourself off mid-sentence, gasping as you felt the air in your lungs disappear, the realization washing over you.

Draco didn't move, his eyes gazing at your lips as your face began to heat up. You felt the warmth of his hands leaving your hips before feeling them again on the side of your face, cupping it slightly to pull you in for a brief kiss. You met his lips once again for a swift kiss before he pulled away, turning you to face the screen.

"Watch the movie, who knows... maybe something will happen that'll surprise you" His lips lingered on the shell of your ear as his arms returned to wrap over you. You still felt it, his hard-on poking you from behind but you brushed it off as he gave you a reassuring kiss on the side of your head and his fingers laced with yours under the blanket.

It was halfway through the movie when you felt his hand leaving yours, you didn't give it a second thought but it seems like his hand is sliding lower and lower until it came in contact directly in front of your heat– teasing you, knowing how much you crave for this right now.

It's wrong to do anything, your friends are in the room and not to mention next to you, but again you were covered with the blanket and it seems like they're focused on the movie. You seem to be in a battle with your thought, wanting to push Draco's hand away but you didn't have the stomachs to do so.

He picked up on this, bobbing his head to the side to see you staring off into the screen but not grasping anything that's thrown at you. "Can you be a good girl and keep quiet?" His breath hot, lingering on your ear as it sent goosebumps down your spine.

You slowly nodded, keeping your vision straight before you felt his warm hand slither past the band of your pants, resting them on your covered cunt. You kept quiet, not moving from your previous position as he continued his actions.

You felt him again, his middle and ring finger pressing into your clit as he drew slow circles through the material. "Seems like you're ready hm?" He murmured into your hair, feeling the wetness of your cunt through your underwear.

Your wet lips rolled in between your teeth, biting down on them to make sure nothing slips past, but he wasn't making it easy. By now he was rubbing rougher circles on you, pressing into your engorged clit as you tried to keep still.

His fingers continued their actions, moving to the base of your underwear to pull them aside, exposing your sopping cunt to him. "Stay still..." He whispered, his fingers leaving the piece of fabric to trace the outer lips of your cunt. "...I mean it" His fingers smeared the wetness around, making a mess inside your pants– more than it already was.

You slowly turned your head to the side, from another point of view Draco looks as if he was just cuddling you, wrapping you in his warm embrace as he enjoys a good movie. Whereas in reality, his fingers worked you, rubbing you in ways he knows you love.

"Watch the movie darling" He murmured, not breaking the eye contact he had with the big white screen in front of you. You turned your head back, leaning back onto him as you gripped his knee for support.

Draco used his middle finger to draw circles directly on your clit, the wetness of your arousal helping his finger glide easily. The warm and sharp feeling of pleasure started to build at the pit of your stomach, Draco drawing them out gently.

He continued his actions, rubbing until the grip you had on his knee tightens, signaling you were close. It was harder to keep your mouth shut, your chest slightly heaving up and down as you closed your eyes, getting ready for the pleasure to wash over you. It was right around the corner, your orgasm building stronger and stronger as Draco's fingers brushed fast circles on your clit, and before you know it,

"Y/N are you okay?" A voice pulled you out of the headspace you were in. Your eyes shot open and your head snapped to the source of the voice. Blaise sat next to you, his arms over his chest as he tilted his head to the side. His brows furrowed, trying to figure out whether you were alright or not.

Draco's fingers came to a halt as soon as he heard Blaise's voice, dropping the feeling of an orgasm that was about to hit. His head too turned to the source of the voice next to him. "You okay darling?" Draco asked dumbfoundedly, smirking as if he didn't just rub you in the same room as your friends.

Your mouth fell open, wanting to respond to a hundred different things at once yet none actually came out. "U-Um... yeah I–" You stuttered, your eyes wide open when you felt Draco's fingers leaving your clit to move down to your clenching hole. "...Fuck" You muttered to yourself when you felt him slipping his middle finger into you.

"You don't look so well" Blaise continued, reaching his hand out to place the back of his palm to your forehead. "You're a little warm Y/N, you sure you're ok?" His palm left your forehead to place itself on your cheeks.

You brushed it off, dodging his palm as you gave his hand a small smack. "I'm fine Zabini, don't worry about... i-it" Draco slipped another finger into you, driving it deep into your sopping cunt as you tried to hide the emotions on your face.

"Well, if you say so" Blaise shrugged, though he knows something is going on he quickly brushed it off, leaning back onto his end of the couch to shift his attention back to the movie.

You turned your head back as Blaise did, trying not to squirm as Draco drives his fingers into you, building your orgasm once again. You leaned back onto him as the both of you tried to move as little as possible.

"Good job angel" Draco whispered into your ear, his lips lacing with your cheeks as he gave your flushed face a small peck. His fingers started to drive into you faster, curling the ends of his digit to hit that spongey spot deep inside you at every thrust.

Your walls tightened around him, clenching unevenly as the tingling feeling returned to the pit of your stomach. "Dray..." You whispered to him, slurring out his name into a whine as it left your lips. The grip you have on his knee tightening, telling him you are close.

Draco's fingers slowed for a second, readjusting themselves as he rested the rough pad of his thumb on your clit, drawing circles as his other digits thrust inside you. Your breath started to become heavy again, his fingers working out a rhythm inside you.

"You wanna cum?" He asked, his lips lingering on the shell of your ear once again. You nodded slowly, not having the stomach to answer him– afraid to let out a moan for the entire room to hear.

You could barely hold it back, the euphoric feeling just behind his fingertips as he continued torturing you– making you wait for his instructions to cum. Your back arched slightly, lifting off his chest as you wriggled under his tender touch.

Tears started to gather at your waterline, immersing your sight as you tried holding back your upcoming high. Draco continued his actions, ramming his slender digits into you– making you feel all your emotions at once. "You wanna show me how me how you cum on my fingers angel?... go on" His soothing voice rung to the back of your head, permitting you to finally let go.

Your eyes fluttered close with his command, letting go of your high as the shiny gold stars danced on your vision, taking up the dark space. You wanted to moan out his name, show him how good he's been making you feel, but all you could do was bite your lips in silence, making sure to not let a single sound slip past your lips.

"There we go" His fingers slowed down, pulling you back to reality as you tried to catch your breath, your chest heaving up and down as he continued to run circles on your clit. "Good job angel" He continued, his whispers shooting butterflies through your body.

You leaned back onto Draco, letting him wrap his free arm around you as he stopped the movement on your sopping cunt, giving your clit a tap before placing your underwear back into place. You watched as his hand comes up from the blanket, moving slowly until he reached his mouth, letting his arousal-covered fingers slip past his lips– sucking them dry.

You watched him, wide eyes as he removed the blanket that covers the both of you, "Y/N isn't feeling too well, I'm gonna bring her up to bed" Draco announced to the group as he moved you in your spot, throwing your legs over his to pick you up bridal style.

"See, I knew it!" Blaise called out as Draco fumbles on the couch, readjusting the blanket to cover you again.

"Are you alright?" Pansy asked as she got up from her pillow fort in front of you, Theo following her movement as his face washed over in a confused manner. You hummed in response, your breath still slightly heavy as Draco got up from the couch, lifting you with his as if you weight nothing. The edge of Draco's lips lift up at Pansy's question, flashing his sly smirk to the confused and worried group,

"She'll be fine... I'll take care of her"

TAGLIST : @microwavedhampster @whenuwereyoung @o-rion-sta-r @willowmores @youreso-golden @mzmalice3 @desiredmalfoy @hyuckiesgf @yiamalfoy @acciodignity

[xsugarysweetsx]

Congrats on 2k mama sweet,,,!! :))

Since there is no sk8 requests yet how about option 2 - Kaoru x reader <3 Had this thought after reading ur arranged marriage fic... how about at the start of the marriage reader thinks that Kaoru is cheating on her when he sneaks out at night but after he tells her about S, reader feels kinda silly for thinking so.. next thing you know Kaoru is taking reader to all the beefs as his lucky charm. Reader even has a matching costume and the others start calling her "Lady Cherry" or smth,, teaches reader to skate (she's lowkey jealous of carla >.<) + some domestic fluff (what if reader finds out she's pregnant....) This doesn't have to be connected to the other fic & you can ignore the cheating part if u like... :-*

A/N: :0 Lady Cherry is a super smart name!

other fic here

Please enjoy~🍰

*******************************************************

There he went again...

The sliding door of your shared room altered you from your sleep. This was the 6th night in a row that he left without a word in the middle of the night. The first 2 nights you thought he was simply tending to business and was just busy. After the 4th day, you were suspicious and a bit hurt. He did tell you he didn’t want to hurt you and treat you right....so where was he going?

This was another night he had gotten up, so instead of staying in bed you followed him. 

“Carla, make sure to lock the doors when I leave“ he said to his AI

“Yes, master“ you scoffed. You had to admit the stupid computer got on your nerves. He practically loved talking to her and every time she answered him, he gets all giddy. You were really jealous but you wish he’d get that way with you.  

Just as he was going to leave you called for him

“Kaoru?“ he froze and turned around “It’s late...“ you said coming closer to him. That’s when you noticed what he was wearing, he was in a sleeveless yukata with a black mask over his face, and a...skateboard?

“Y/N I...um...“ being that he can’t speak about S he was contemplating whether to tell you or not. But you were his wife and he wanted to be open with you on everything. However what you said next caught him off guard

“...if there’s someone else please just tell me...“ and the way you looked when you said it just broke his heart. Did you really think he was cheating? Even though this was arranged, he couldn’t ask for someone better to be his wife. You were smart, shy but bright, not to mention beautiful.

“Y/N“ he walked to you and rests his hand on your shoulder “I would never cheat on you and I assure you there is no one else.”

“Then why do you leave at night?“ you ask

“*Sigh*....I go skating.“ he said bluntly. There was nothing to hide from you and it was all true

“...huh“ he lifted his board for you to see

“Some friends and I go skateboarding in a secret location for races and such. We only go at night so we go unnoticed.“ he held up a small pin “It’s called S..now that you know you can’t tell anyone. Now go throw something on, we’re heading out.“

Just as he said you were heading out in the dead of night. And of course you had to ride on Carla, every time he spoke to her it was like he was talking to his crush. As you approach a gate with two guards he gives you a larger sticker of the letter ‘S’. You show them to security and make it inside where people had started screaming. You knew he was popular among women but this was more than you thought

“Lord Cherry!!” one screamed 

“Kao-”

“Cherry” he interrupted 

“What?”

Getting his bike to a stop he helps you off and says “we don’t use our real names here for security reasons. Here I’m Cherry blossom.” 

So what he was telling you was true. You honestly felt a bit silly for jumping to conclusions so quickly. Before he was off to what he called a ‘beef’ he introduced you to JOE. You were surprised to see the popular chef here as well, although you knew they had been friends for years. The large screen in the area showed you just how goof he was at this. 

He was fast but graceful, sharp an precise on corners. The crowd only cheered louder than before. 

“So, you’re the one he’s been talking about huh?“ Joe asked 

“He’s been...talking about me?“ you asked

He nodded “He was gone for like 3 days in a row not to mention he was brushing off more women now. That’s when he told us there was someone he wanted to be loyal to.” okay, now you felt really silly. After the race was done and over with Cherry had made his way back to you. He comes and embarrass you and whispers in your ear

“You brought me good luck.“ you felt your heart skip a beat from the feeling of being close to him

“oooo, look at Lord Cherry with his lady~“

“Shut up you big oaf!!“

<>

During the next few months you had gone with him to almost every beef. You had even gained a name for yourself, ‘Lady Cherry’. You had become quite popular among some men there and even cherry’s female fans. He would usually bring you as his ‘lucky charm’, it was cheesy but sweet at the same time. They also had a habit of saying 

“The Cherries have arrived“ 

On his free time he would actually taught you how to skate, well he tried anyway. Balance wasn’t exactly easy and being from a traditional family, this was unusual for you. You’d be holding on to his shoulders while his hands held your waist

“Don’t let me fall“

“You’re doing just fine dear. Why don’t we try some tricks“ he offered  

“Are you sure you’re the man I married?“ you ask with a smirk

“The one and only dear“ he kissed your cheek 

It was honestly so cute to him. You’d have a scared but excited look on your face. Your cheeks would turn pink and it just made his heart fluttered. On top of all that you were willing to indulge in something he has loved from a young age. He always took you with him to each beef he attended. Both for showing you off an he is in love with the idea of winning every race for not just himself but for you as well.  

Although tonight you wouldn’t make it to the beef. He was going to race Joe but that was put on hold. You had been feeling sick all day and you just finished emptying your stomach. As much as you told him to go, he refused to leave.

“You’re my wife and you’re clearly not okay“ he said helping you up off the floor “you come before any beef or competition. Now come on, let’s get you to the hospital and get you checked out.“

A short drive to the general hospital was taken that night. No, he would not wait until tomorrow morning. He wanted to know that you were okay and didn’t have anything terminal. After speaking with the nurse and giving some blood and urine samples you both patiently waited. You leaned against him playing with the digits of his fingers. 

*Knock knock* “Ma’am we have your results” the doctor says holding up a couple of papers and even some medicine. “well, you’re clear for any terminal conditions or diseases. although you have some hormonal imbalances and some new ones kicking in.”

“Meaning?“ Kaoru urged him on

“Congratulations, you’re 4 weeks pregnant.“

“....“ you both sat in shock at the news. You were pregnant? Well, you two were active, and maybe Kaoru has his own little rituals. Either after or before a beef he’d get frisky and was set on pleasing you both. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that this would have happened, still it was shocking news

“These are some prenatal vitamins you’ll need to take for the month. Make sure to make an appointment to check on the baby alright?” giving you the vile of pills he takes his leave leaving you both in silence. What were you supposed to say? How were you going to deal with this? Were you even ready?

“-together.“ you didn’t catch his whole sentence 

“I’m sorry what was that?” you ask him

“We’ll this together alright?“ he took your hand in his “believe me I’m as shocked as you are but, we’ll figure this out together okay?“

“Alright“ you smile back 

“We should probably start with a bigger house for the three of us“

<>

“Kaoru, come on it’s just paint I can-“

“You are not moving a muscle“ he cut you off “I want you to rest all you can. You’re making a baby and that’s enough.“

To say he was strict during your pregnancy was an understatement. As soon as your belly started showing you were no longer going to beefs with him. You were currently 6 months along, and expecting a girl! Kaoru was over the moon to know it was a girl. he would have been happy with a boy too, but a little copy of you was like a dream. He couldn't wait to see the little girl that would look like you and act like him.

Today was nursery day, which meant painting, building and organizing. Kaoru had you only fold and organizing the clothes and things while he painted. Of course being your idea you had called the boys over to help. Joe was building some stuff along with Shadow. Langa and Reki were actually helping to paint the walls. 

“I appreciate you guys coming to help“ you smile 

“Hey it’s no problem, at least you told us about it“ Joe commented. Oh yeah, he also wanted to keep it a secret so that 

‘the idiot wouldn’t ruin your pregnancy‘ which made you laugh for a good 5 minutes. But they were very good help and made the process easier 

“Hey so what are you naming the baby?“ Reki asked 

“Well, Kaoru kind of wanted to associate it with his skate name so we agreed on Sakura.“

“AAWWHH“ everyone said out load slightly teasing him. Without turning from the wall he said

“....I just wanted a beautiful name for her was all.“ although he was cold at times they knew he meant well especially for his family.  A while late Joe made a small dinner for you all to enjoy. You thanked them for coming over and you were done for the night. You were putting on some lotion over your rounded middle when Kaoru came behind you. He wrapped his arms around and over your own hands and rested there for a moment

“Who would have thought we’d be here huh?” You whisper

“In all honesty I was hoping for it” he admired “before we married you were described as a caring and sweet woman. But you were so much more once we were married. You’re compassionate, intelligent, stubborn, beautiful, and absolutely perfect” he said kissing the side of your head “and now, you’ve given me the gift of being a father. Thank you”

Turning in his hold you wipe away small tears “oh Kaoru , thank you too. You’ve treated me like I’m the only person you need. On top of that you take care of me but still give me my freedom. I love you..”

“And I love you” he rests his forehead against yours as his fingers trace over your baby bump.

*******************************************************

I hope this was okay!❤️

[sword-brainrot]

I’m super glad to see you back and that requests are open. ^^ If it isn’t to much to ask, could I maybe get some relationship headcanons for Kogi and Kuwana (separately)? Welcome back and remember to take as much time as you need with requests! Lord knows life can get hectic and creators block can act up. So just be kind to yourself and go with the flow. ^^ 💜

I’m so glad to be back! It’s been a lot of fun writing since coming back. It’s also been super nice to have such kind people, like yourself, rooting for me and letting me it’s okay to take breaks! So thank you so much for the request and such kind words! ❤️

I hope these headcanons makes you smile!

Kogitsunemaru and Kuwana Gou Relationship Headcanons (GN Reader)!

♡  Kogitsunemaru is a very affectionate and loyal fox. Even before the two of you date and become a thing. He doesn't shy away from physical touch and actually really prefers it. It is the easiest way for him to get across his truest feelings. Every touch is gently and full of love. He does have a bad temper deep inside that he hides away but they would never come out towards you or grab you harshly. He would never be able to forgive himself if he accidentally hurt you.

♡  Kogitsunemaru does have a special spot that just makes him automatically relax, and that's his hair. If you play with his hair or brush it, he is putty in your hands. His eyes will close and he will lean back in your gentle, soothing motions. All his worries slipping away from him as the world begins to just shape around the two of you.

♡  He will also love to do anything with your hair! If you wish to him to wash, brush, or style it! He will feel so honored that you trust him so much to take care of your hair. Kogitsunemaru treasures hair very much. Not just his own. He will often comment how silky his fur is and how he often needs to groom it. In his mind, if you keep your fur(hair) clean and well kempt, you are a very good person in his mind. Also means he often shys away from those that do not take proper care of their fur(hair). 

♡  He enjoys laying on your lap as you softly stroke his fur. That is his favorite spot in the whole world. It's probably the fox part of him that transferred over in his human sword form. Affection like that just fills his heart with joy and he does not care who sees. Kogi will be overjoyed to have your attention and a permanent smile on his face as he enjoys your touch.

♡  The last thing he really enjoys, other than you, is fried tofu. You can very easily have him on the fence about something and wave some fried tofu in front of his face and his brain waves suddenly just stops. He will agree to almost anything as long as you have that in your possession. It is a double edge sword, however. He will be so happy that you made/got that for him and follow anything you say... but it also doesn't last long. He will sneak into the kitchen when no one is looking and start to munch on all the fried tofu in the citadel. It does not last long as long as Kogitsunemaru and Nakigitsune are around. The foxes are ferocious about fried tofu.

♡  It is very easy to tease this poor fox as well. He leaves his heart on his sleeve. The swords will often use it against him. They will mention how someone has the most beautiful eyes in the citadel and just wait until Kogitsunemaru suddenly sighs and goes, "Ah, Nushi-sama."

♡  They all give him a teasing smile and just look at him as he realizes what he just said and blushes. He doesn't talk to them after and avoids them. It's normally Mikazuki...

♡  Your relationship would never be able to keep in secret because Kogitsunemaru is way too much in love with you and lets it slip any chance there is. He is complimenting you to your face and behind your back. He can't help it! You are just perfect to him!

♡  Big fan of petnames! He loves to call you sir, dear, miss, sweetheart, or my beloved.

♡  If you are ever upset/have things on your mind, Kogitsunemaru will offer to dance for you. He will do a traditional dance and may even tell a story through it. Anything to take your mind off whatever is bothering you. He may even tell you the story of how the fox spirit found the sword smith and he came to be since it was a popular folk story told through dance and plays.

♡  If you prefer to be held instead, he would have no problem with that at all. He will often times open his arms to you while he is sitting just in case you want to sit in his lap instead. His arms naturally wrap around you in a very protective manner, no matter where you two are.

♡  At night he enjoys when you lay your head on his chest so he can stroke your hair as the two of you slowly drift off to sleep but if you want to be held more, he will have you sleep on top of him and just hug you tightly to him as you sleep. He won't let any bad thoughts get to you! His name might mean small but there is a reason they gave him a strong body as a human, and that is to protect the one he loves the most.

♡  Kuwana is a very quirky person, to say the least. He will say things that will not exactly make sense to you and he will not explain what he means by it. You will have to be very understanding and accepting towards him. He is a very gentle person who thinks everything he says makes total sense. So when he tells you that the soil/earth told him something, you will just have to roll with it.

♡  Unlike Kogitsunemaru, who praises cleanliness, Kuwana is the total opposite of that. It isn't like he wishes to everyone to be covered in dirt (maybe) but you will see him all dirty often. The only time you will see him completely clean will be after a bath and right in the early morning before he goes outside. That will be the only time. Sometimes he will forget to take a bath, so please remind him!

♡  He is a very big workaholic. Mostly with farming. You will not see him most days due to him being so invested in his craft and working hours on end. If you wish to spend time with him, you will have to go find him instead of the other way around. Honestly, even when you get out there, he may not notice you right away. He is constantly tending to the field and talking to the soil. If you offer to help, he will gladly accept your help and teach you everything he knows.

♡  Kuwana is someone who keeps to himself often and doesn't talk much unless talked to first but you will see him overzealous when he begins to explain everything about agriculture and tells you every little detail about any plant or flower you may take interest in. A smile on his face and he will ramble hours on end. He is just so excited that someone is taking interest in his hobby. This is what really gets him to start to open up to you.

♡  As the two of you start to get close, he will make groundless threats towards you if you tease him too much. If you happen to poke him too much to get his attention, he may say something along the lines of; "Ugh... if you happen to wake up tomorrow morning buried up to your neck in the dirt, don't blame me". He would never actually do it but it is just to throw you off your guard. Sometimes small things just happen to get under his skin a little and he jokes it off with a small threat. Don't be scared, he really is like a big teddy bear and would never harm you.

♡  Sometimes, Kuwana will not show up for dinner. If you go searching for him, you will always find him in the field under a tree, fast asleep. Sometimes the sun gets to him too much and he ends up taking a nap after he finishes most of his work. He is a pretty heavy sleeper when he is totally relaxed in nature. Be sure to wake him up gently. He will either wake up rather easily to you and tell you good morning, not even noticing the moon now in the sky. Or, if he is still very tired, might pull you down with him and cuddle with you. Congrats, you are now cuddling with a very tall teddy bear... and also covered in dirt!

♡  Kuwana doesn't mind physical affection that much. He doesn't initiate affection too often but isn't opposite to it either. Most likely he will take you out on a picnic date and hold your hand as the two of you adventure off into the forest.

♡  He is a great cook! Especially with fruits and vegetables. He will learn anything you like to eat and prepare it for you to show that he listens to you even if he doesn't say too much. He will make sure to get it just as you like it so he can see you smile.

♡  If you don't know how to make flower crowns, he will teach you! He will make you a flower crown of all your favorite flowers (or the flowers he thinks match you the most if you don't have a favorite), and he will proudly wear the crown you make, even if you may not think it is the best.

♡  He will show all his brothers after the date with a smile. "Look at what Y/N made me". He will wear it as long as he can because he treasures it a lot.

♡  It is not a surprise that Kuwana is very strong physically but he will not act it. Every touch will be gentle. However, he will easily lift you with ease. Often times putting you on his shoulders when the two of you are alone and hanging out.

♡  He isn't just gentle with you but also with other creatures. He loves animals and will feed them when he has alone time. He also really likes insects. If you are scared of them, he will quickly take them outside so you don't even see them. He doesn't want them to scare you!

♡  Kuwana might not know exactly how to express his feelings towards you because he doesn't give too much verbal affection towards anyone but will subtly compliment you. "The soil says that you are very pretty and the soil would never lie."

♡  He also eats soil, please stop him if you see him trying to eat the dirt.

[kerikaaria]

Where You Belong

Vampire!Jungkook x Reader (Oneshot)

Genre:  (PG15) Fluff with a bit of angst

Warnings: Mentions of death and blood

WC: 5.6k

Description: It took Jimin three weeks to convince Jungkook to spend the holiday break at his family’s house. Why he conceded at all, he had no idea because Jungkook knew it was a bad idea not only with what he was, but also since he had the biggest crush on you, Jimin’s sister. He had a feeling that whatever happened, he wasn’t going to make it out of this quite the same.

A/N - Written for the Secret Santa exchange with @thebtswritersclub​ for @jungkooksbroski​! I really wanted to have this done by Christmas so I’m sorry it’s late :( But I had a goal to at least have it done before the deadline tomorrow, so at least I succeeded with that! I’m sure if you’ve kept an eye on discord you probably know why I wasn’t able to get this out sooner. And it might be a little more angsty than you hoped for, and I also apologize that I don’t write smut XD And I hope you don’t mind it being mostly Jungkook-centric :)  But I hope you still like it! Merry belated Christmas!

“Fucking Jimin,” Jungkook mumbled under his breath as he stood outside the front door to the Park residence. “Why did I let him talk me into this?”

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself before entering, but realized too late that that was a mistake. You must have been close to the front door, seeing as he could practically taste your sweet scent. Which of course only made him berate himself once more for letting his best friend get his way.

“Yo, Jeon!” Taehyung called from behind him, dragging his own suitcase as he approached the house. “What are you doing just standing there? Knock!��

At least Jungkook wasn’t the only one Jimin somehow convinced to spend the holiday break at his house. Granted he was sure that Taehyung only needed to be offered once before happily agreeing, while Jungkook took weeks of convincing to come around to this.

Jungkook raised his hand to the wood, giving it a few knocks before Taehyung could complain again.

“Coming!” you cheerfully called, footsteps approaching the door.

Jungkook’s heart would probably feel like it was jumping out of his chest, were it still beating.

You opened the door with a big smile on your face. “Welcome!” you happily greeted your brother’s friends, stepping aside for them to enter.

Taehyung nudged Jungkook from behind when he didn’t move, still feeling all too nervous about spending the holiday break here. But he quickly gathered himself and finally walked through the door.

Christmas was just a few days away so your house was already littered with holiday-themed decorations, which Jungkook happily noted included extremely few religious items. You could blame mostly your mom and brother for that—they went crazy every year, super excited for the holiday. The only thing that was left to do was decorate the tree, which was purposefully held off until everyone had arrived so you could do it together. "I know Jimin is around here some-" you started before said boy came running down the stairs.

"Taetae! Kookie!" he exclaimed, throwing himself into their arms. "I'm so happy you guys are here!" The way he acted, you would have thought it had been years since they last saw each other.

It had literally only been two days.

Taehyung's deep voice rumbled in a chuckle. "Of course we're here, Chim! How could I pass up the chance to spend Christmas with the family who knows how to celebrate it right?"

Jungkook was much less enthusiastic in his response, which was of no shock to you. You knew (because of how often Jimin would complain to you about it) that it took a lot of convincing to get him to come. But even so, he didn't look miserable. From what you gathered, he just wasn't nearly as excited about the holidays as your family tended to be.

"Come on, let me show you guys to the room!" Jimin said, practically dragging them toward the stairs.

They barely had enough time to react, let alone grab their suitcases, so you took them instead, following behind the three boys. You knew your brother, and you had seen the antics the trio had gotten up to together, so you could only expect that this holiday break was going to be one of the most interesting ones you'd had yet.

"I still don't get why you were so adamant about not wanting to come," Taehyung said to Jungkook when it was just the two of them in the guest room, going through their suitcases.

Jungkook looked at him blankly. "Seriously? You should know why."

"What?" Taehyung pouted in confusion.

"Well, I don't exactly want anyone to know about what I am, do I?" Jungkook whispered.

"Spending a few days at Jimin's isn't going to get you caught," Taehyung said, shrugging. "Unless you think it'll be harder to control or something when you're around Y/n."

"I don't know, it might be." Jungkook sighed. "You know how flustered I tend to get around her. And I guess it's probably instinct or something that sometimes I just have an urge to-" he cut himself off and took a steadying breath, trying to not already get himself worked up when he had been here for barely ten minutes. "And besides, remember how quickly you found out about me? We were roommates for only a few days before I slipped up."

"Yeah, but you have me to come to if you have any problems. I'll keep you in check, don't worry!"

Jungkook eyed the other suspiciously, unconvinced.

"What? I will. Promise. If your fangs pop out or something and you don't notice I'll tell you."

"Don't say that so loud!" Jungkook whisper-shouted.

Taehyung chuckled. "Hey, stop stressing out so bad, huh? It'll be harder to keep it under control if you stress."

Jungkook closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. I'll try."

Silence fell between the two for a few moments before a thought occurred to Taehyung. "Oh! Did you bring some with you, by the way?"

"Some what?" Jungkook asked, more than used to Taehyung's vagueness and random questions, but still confused nonetheless.

"Blood," Taehyung specified, making sure to keep his voice low this time.

"Of course I did." Jungkook even pulled out the small bag where he was keeping his stock to show him. "I wouldn't be dumb enough to go on a vacation somewhere without bringing enough with me."

"Just wanted to check. You know I can always help if you need it."

"We've talked about this, Tae. I'm not drinking from you."

"I just mean that it's an option if you ever need it is all. I trust you not to hurt me."

"Well, that won't be necessary. But thanks, I guess."

"Anytime," Taehyung said, and Jungkook would almost think he was naïve with that big smile of his and what he had just suggested, if he didn't know any better.

The first time Jungkook should have noticed Jimin was up to something was when the four of you were decorating the Christmas tree together. Apparently it was family tradition for the "kids" to be the ones to do it, something Jimin was more than ecstatic about but you seemed to be doing more or less to make your brother happy.

Not that you hated it by any means. No, Jungkook may have been Jimin's friend first, but he knew you well enough to be able to tell you were enjoying yourself. You just weren't as enthusiastic about the holidays as the rest of your family it seemed, merely riding the flow that they set for you.

Jimin was basically instructing you on where to place each ornament, where he felt they would fit the best with the array that had already been placed. It was of no surprise to Jungkook that you followed along with his directions with no complaints. You not only were more than used to Jimin's personality, but also found your own enjoyment by making sure your brother was happy.

He wouldn't have paid it any mind normally, if it wasn't for the fact that everywhere Jimin pointed out for you to place one of the decorations seemed to be dangerously close to Jungkook. The amount of times your arms brushed together, or you bumped into each other during the time spent adding ornaments to the tree was probably more physical contact than he had ever had with you before.

And that was absolutely not doing Jungkook any favors. He was already nervous enough coming here as it was, being this close in proximity to you for so long and in a much more personal setting than usual.

But maybe he was imagining it. Maybe, it really was just a coincidence.

One look at Jimin and the triumphant smirk on his face proved otherwise.

The second time was the next day when you and Jimin were supposed to be baking cookies together. It was your mom's homemade recipe that she had taught to both of you years ago when you became old enough to make them without her help.

Jungkook recalled Jimin mentioning before that it was one of the things both of you loved doing together this time of year. So he found it rather odd when Jimin ushered Jungkook into the kitchen and insisted that he be the one to bake with you.

"But isn't this your thing?" Jungkook asked.

"I have something I need to take care of today, so I thought you could take my place this year," Jimin said. He wasn't a very good liar.

Jungkook turned to look at you, silently checking if you seemed okay with this. When you smiled at him and lightly shrugged, he relaxed. While he was starting to feel suspicious that Jimin was up to something—although he couldn't quite place exactly what just yet—he knew it was pointless to fight it. Even if being alone in your kitchen, baking gingerbread and sugar cookies with you made him feel extra nervous.

You really knew what you were doing, easily instructing Jungkook on each step. There was a reason this was your favorite holiday tradition, and it was because you really enjoyed baking. Doing it with your older brother was an added bonus, but there was just something about all the ingredients coming together to make something delicious and sweet that was so fun and satisfying.

So you focused on that instead of how much you wanted to strangle Jimin. He just had to overhear you telling your friend about how frustrating it was to be crushing on your brother's best friend a month ago. And now he was doing everything in his power to get the two of you close, trying to play matchmaker.

Which to be honest was completely the opposite of what you expected to happen. You thought he'd be mad, tell you that Jungkook was bad for you and you should just forget about it. But instead he was thrilled. Not only did he get more material to tease you with, but he also decided he was going to try to set the two of you up.

He felt like he was doing you a favor, and you felt like he was making you suffer.

Although, you had to appreciate that Jungkook was a complete gentleman. Even though working together to bake required staying in close proximity with each other a lot, he was being very careful about keeping a comfortable distance between the two of you. And if you were being honest with yourself, you couldn't deny that this was actually really nice.

"This stuff smells so weird," Jungkook said as he measured the molasses. You had already put the sugar cookies in the oven after cutting and chilling them so they'd keep their shape, and now you were preparing the gingerbread mixture.

"Yeah, it does," you chuckled. "But gingerbread cookies wouldn't taste the same without it. I promise it'll all come together."

"If you say so," he said before his nose scrunched in displeasure when he got a particularly strong whiff of the sickly sweet yet sour smell.

You laughed at his reaction, taking just a moment to admire Jungkook's handsome looks while he was distracted with scraping as much of the thick liquid from the measuring cup as possible.

For a moment you let yourself think that maybe, just maybe, the reason Jimin was trying to push you two together was perhaps because Jungkook felt the same? But then again, would he have even told him that? You were sure that any conversation that included, "by the way, I have a crush on your sister" would have been just about as awkward as if you admitted to your brother that you had been crushing on his best friend.

Maybe you should just ride the flow of whatever your brother had planned. If something came of it, then that would be great. And if not, you could put this crush behind you and move on.

You decided at that moment that you would just trust your brother this time around, even if his track record wasn't that great.

The third time was so painfully obvious that Jungkook could no longer mistake what it was Jimin was up to.

Jungkook was sitting in the living room on Christmas day. It was the afternoon, having already opened all the gifts that morning. Which was a rather interesting ordeal. Despite knowing their personalities, seeing Taehyung and Jimin act like literal five-year-olds on Christmas morning who were overly excited when opening their presents was still incredibly amusing. Now that it was the afternoon, things had calmed down to a pleasant buzz and Jungkook was actually feeling really happy that Jimin had convinced him to come.

It had been a long time since he had last spent time with other people like this. The Parks were nothing if not welcoming, and he could almost fool himself into believing that this was normal, that he belonged somewhere—with people.

But he had to reel in that thought and remind himself of who he really was. The fact of the matter was that he didn't belong with people. He was a monster, and people were his food source. He couldn't let himself believe anything other than that, even if it was something that he wished were untrue with all his being.

So when Jimin came into the room, dragging you behind him and getting you to sit on the couch right next to Jungkook and then sitting next to you, he kept that reminder ringing through his head. He had to ignore that light feeling you just naturally gave him. He couldn't let his non-beating heart run away with fantasies.

And then Jimin was up to his tricks again, keeping you distracted from what he was doing by chatting up a storm about his thought process behind why he bought you the gift you received from him today. But Jungkook saw it plain as day.

Jimin was attempting to discretely place mistletoe that he must have stolen from another room's decorations on the wall behind the couch, right between you and Jungkook.

That was when Jungkook realized what Jimin had been doing the past few days. Making you constantly bump into each other when decorating the tree, baking cookies together when it was usually something Jimin did with you, and now putting mistletoe above you?

Park Jimin was trying to set you up with Jungkook.

And it almost made him want to smack him upside the head because Jimin was being an absolute idiot if he thought trying to set Jungkook up with his sister was a good idea. It wasn't. it was a stupid, stupid idea.

But then again, he couldn't blame him all too much when Jimin was clueless to Jungkook's true nature.

He realized, that was something he was going to have to amend—right now.

"Jimin, can we talk for a minute please?" Jungkook asked, completely interrupting Jimin's spiel.

"What?" he asked, eyes going wide when he looked over and realized Jungkook noticed what he was doing. "I mean, yeah, of course. What's up?"

"In private," Jungkook emphasized, trying to sound as stern as he possibly could.

"Why would you need to talk to me in priva-" Jimin was cut off when Jungkook quickly got up, yanking him off the couch and dragging him upstairs to the guest bedroom, leaving you behind on the couch and very confused.

After shutting the door behind him, Jungkook firmly stared down Jimin. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Jimin asked, his heartrate increasing—whether out of fear or nervousness Jungkook couldn't tell. "W-what do you mean?"

"Are you trying to set me up with Y/n?" Jungkook asked more directly.

It was then that Jungkook realized it wasn't just the two of them in the room, when he heard a very surprised Taehyung almost comically scream, "What?!"

He took a quick look around to make sure there was no one else in the room who couldn't hear what Jungkook was about to admit, what he thought he would never purposefully tell anyone. Once confirming that it was just the three of them in the room, Jungkook continued.

"Is that what's going on?" he pressed. "You're trying to push us together, aren't you?"

"Wh- I mean," Jimin started, clearly very flustered. "What's so wrong about that, huh? I could have sworn that you were into Y/n by the way that you look at her with those googly doe eyes of yours."

Jungkook sighed. He didn't realize he had been that obvious, and especially in front of Jimin of all people. "Jimin, I can't. You don't want me to date your sister."

"Well it's not up to me, is it?" Jimin asked, starting to get defensive. "I don't get to dictate what she does and who she dates. So what if I'm trying to help her out? And what's wrong with dating my sister? What, is she not good enough for you or something?"

"No! That's not what I mean." Jungkook ran a hand down his face, pacing for a moment while he gathered the courage he needed to tell Jimin who—what—he was. "Jimin, you don't understand. I'm the problem. I can't date your sister, even if I wanted to. I'm-"

Jungkook was cut off when Taehyung leapt off the bed and stood next to Jungkook, firmly digging a hand into his shoulder. "Kook, what are you doing?" he harshly whispered.

"I'm telling Jimin what I really am," Jungkook replied, voice still at normal volume. "I can't exactly let him think that I'm a good idea for Y/n."

"Are you sure you want to do that? You don't know how he'll react."

"What is going on?" Jimin asked, getting more confused by the second. "What do you mean, Jungkook?"

Pushing Taehyung's hand off his shoulder, Jungkook braced himself to potentially lose one of his best friends. "I'm not human, Jimin." When Jimin very rightfully just stared at him confused, Jungkook added, "Well, I mean I used to be. But I'm not anymore."

"What the heck are you talking about? That doesn’t even make sense,” Jimin said, taking a step back from him. “You sound crazy right now, Jungkook.”

“I know how it sounds. But I can prove it to you. And if you don’t want anything to do with me afterwards, I understand. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. But I just can’t- I need you to understand that your sister shouldn’t be with me, or even interested in me. No one should be.”

While Jimin still couldn’t understand what his friend was talking about, he had enough respect for him to hear him out so he remained silent while Jungkook grabbed a small bag from his suitcase.

“I used to be human,” Jungkook repeated, voice small. “But sixteen years ago my life ended, in more ways than one.” He unzipped the bag, pulling out an even smaller pouch of what Jimin could have sworn looked like blood.

"I had been on my way home alone late at night after going out with some friends," Jungkook continued. "I was dragged into an alleyway, and it was so dark I couldn't see anything. Except for a pair of bright red eyes. Next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain in my neck and I could feel my body going cold as he drained all the blood from my body."

When Jungkook paused, Jimin couldn't help but interject. "Wait. Are you telling me that you got attacked by like, a vampire? Vampires don't exist, Jungkook."

"I didn't think they did either, until I was left for dead by one." The sadness in Jungkook's eyes over recalling the memory felt like it was piercing into Jimin's soul. "I had to piece this part together later since I obviously don't remember it, but I was found the next morning. Buried just a few days later. Before they had covered my coffin though, I had woken up. But I wasn't human anymore."

By this point, Jungkook looked on the verge of tears. Taehyung was still next to him, now comforting Jungkook with a gentle hand on his lower back. "I don't remember much about my first moments as a vampire. All I know is that I was so hungry and I just went wherever my feet took me. I don't think I ended up hurting anyone, at least. When I started to come to, I was in the woods near the cemetery with a deer lying beside me and blood dripping from my mouth."

Jungkook paused, letting Jimin absorb the information.

"Wha-" Jimin stumbled over his words. "But you were dead? I thought- I mean- in stories or whatever, people don't die before they become vampires, right?"

"In some, I guess," Jungkook shrugged. "I've met other vampires since and have asked about how that worked. And from what I've been told, if a vampire feeds off of a human but doesn't drain too much blood, the human will be fine. When the human is completely drained, then obviously they die. But sometimes, the vampire doesn't completely kill them. They think they've drained all their blood and leave them, but there's actually still a little bit of life left in them. That's what happened to me.

"I was so close to death that everyone thought I was dead. But there was still barely that tiny sliver of life left in me. That's how a human becomes a vampire. Kind of messed up if you ask me, that it's usually unintentional."

"So, what you're saying is that you're a vampire," Jimin very smartly summed up. "And you're telling me because I was trying to set you up with Y/n and you think that's a bad idea because you're a vampire."

Jungkook nodded. "Yes, exactly."

"And you knew about this, Tae?" Jimin asked. When Taehyung nodded, he further asked, "How long have you known?"

"I found out the first week we were roommates at school," he responded. “Jungkook hadn’t fed in too long and I saw it.”

Jimin’s gaze snapped back to Jungkook. “Show me.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened, a bit taken aback at the sudden command. He expected Jimin to want proof, but to be asked so suddenly was unexpected. Once he gathered himself, Jungkook nodded. He opened his mouth just enough before letting his fangs extend, making sure Jimin saw it happen. Once they were fully extended, his eyes turned an unnatural bright red—a warning of danger.

Jungkook could sense Jimin's heartrate speed up once more, a natural reaction to being so close to a monster like him. But in true Jimin nature, he was quick to control himself, forcing his heart to calm down.

"You really are..." Jimin marveled as he slowly stepped toward Jungkook. The latter stood as still as possible, not wanting to make any moves that would scare him off. "I can't believe vampires exist."

"We do," Jungkook said, sounding almost solemn. "I don't belong with your sister. I don't belong with anyone. I haven't for sixteen years and I never will ever again."

"Aren't there, like, vampire communities?" Jimin asked, remaining a lot calmer than Jungkook expected.

"There are," he confirmed. "But I haven't found one that I'm willing to be a part of. The ones I've come across all enable each other to be violent and not fight their instincts. I don't want that. I've been told I'll grow out of it, that most vampires are like that at first but they all give in at some point."

"And how long do they say it takes other vampires to do that?"

Jungkook shrugged. "Usually by ten years or so."

"But you still don't want that," Jimin clarified.

"Not at all. I can't even imagine hurting someone. And I have met one other vampire who is like me. Seokjin-hyung has been around far longer than me and he has a way of getting blood safely, without hurting people. He's how I get these." Jungkook lifted the packet in his hand, which Jimin could no longer question what was contained in it. "Others say it's unnatural, that there's nothing like getting food from the source, but this satisfies me perfectly fine."

"And Tae, you've never been scared of him?" Jimin asked.

"I mean, at first I was a bit sure," Taehyung answered. "I didn't know what was going on and I kind of freaked out. But I've never once thought he would hurt me. I trust him."

Jimin locked eyes with Jungkook. a serious expression on his face. "Then I trust you," he said.

Jungkook's eyes widened in surprise, a tentative smile growing on his face. "Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Jimin assured him. "And I know what you mean about Y/n, I understand why you wanted me to stop trying to set the two of you up. But you do like her, don't you?"

Jungkook broke their eye contact, too embarrassed to admit something like that while looking at her brother. "I mean, I do," he whispered. "I couldn't help it. But, you don't have to worry about that! I won't try to pursue her or anything, I swear."

Jimin walked toward the door as he said, “I did mean what I said earlier. I don’t have any say in what she does or who she dates, even if I am her big brother and want her to be safe. So as long as I trust that she’d be okay, I wouldn’t stop her from doing anything.”

Your eyes widened when your brother opened the door in front of you.

“Why don’t you come in here instead of eavesdropping from the hallway, yeah?” he asked.

You looked at the ground as you stepped forward, embarrassed that you had been caught. You really hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when you had passed by the door on the way to your own room, you heard them talking about you so you stopped. And then Jungkook started talking about not being human and... Well, before you realized it you were listening in.

Your thoughts were all over the place after hearing Jungkook's story. You were overwhelmed with the idea that vampires existed, angry at that man—vampire, you corrected yourself—for what he had done to Jungkook, and sad for Jungkook and what he had gone through. You could only imagine how lonely he must have felt. How lonely he was still feeling.

One thing that he said kept repeating itself in your head. 'I don't belong with anyone. I haven't for sixteen years and I never will ever again.'

Once you were inside the room and Jimin closed the door, you lifted your head and met Jungkook's gaze.

His fangs were visible and you could see a red hue to his eyes, but only for a moment before Jungkook seemed to realize that he hadn't hidden them yet and quickly retracted them. In a split second he once again looked like the Jungkook you were familiar with.

But should you have been worried that seeing his other nature didn't scare you one bit?

"Y-Y/n," Jungkook stumbled out. "I didn't know you were listening... How much did you hear?"

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," you said. "I didn't mean to, I just- when I passed by you guys were talking about me and then you started talking about your story and I just-" you bowed your head in shame. "I shouldn't have listened in. I'm sorry."

"So you heard everything then?" Jungkook quietly asked.

"I think so," you admitted.

"I can leave tomorrow," Jungkook suddenly said, making your head snap back up.

"What? Why?" you asked.

Jungkook's brows furrowed. "Why would you want something like me here? Knowing what I am now, why would you want me staying in your house?"

"Jungkook," Taehyung whined, a frown on his face.

You saw Jimin glance at you out of the corner of your eye. "We never said we wanted you to leave," he said. "It'd probably be best not to tell our parents, but there's no reason you should have to go."

Jungkook looked even more confused. "But, I-"

"Deserve to enjoy the holidays with people who care about you," you finished for him. He looked at you, clearly shocked. "It sounded like you've felt so lonely. I could only imagine how you feel. Not fitting in with others like you and feeling like you shouldn't belong with people like us. But there's no reason you shouldn't be here. When was the last time you spent a holiday with someone before today?"

Jungkook was speechless for a minute before his expression softened. "Not since I died. I couldn't exactly go back to my family after that. I haven't seen them since and have always reminded myself since then that I don't belong."

"But you do," you insisted, taking a step toward him. "Just because you're different than us doesn't mean you can't belong."

"I could hurt you! Why aren't you afraid of me?”

“Because we know you wouldn’t hurt us,” Taehyung said. “If you wanted to, you would have a long time ago. And you wouldn’t have been so hesitant in coming here.”

“And you wouldn’t have admitted a secret that could have ruined our friendship just because you were concerned about my sister’s safety,” Jimin said. “Out of everything you’ve said today, there’s one main thing that I understand—you’re still the same exact Jungkook I’ve known for the past few years. None of this changes that.”

Tears brimmed at the corners of Jungkook’s eyes. “It should," he almost whispered.

“I can’t understand how you feel,” you said. "I couldn't even begin to try. But I think you're scared because you've been telling yourself that you don't belong anywhere for so long. You could belong here if you wanted to. Do you want to?"

His eyes met yours, tears now falling down his face. He took a moment to think before softly nodding. "I do," he admitted.

"Then you do," Jimin said, stepping up next to you to place a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. "You don't have to leave. Not now, and not in the future."

"If I haven't abandoned you yet, you can expect I'm not ever going to," Taehyung added.

After a moment of silence between the four of you, Jimin gave Jungkook's shoulder another squeeze. "Tae, I think you and I should probably leave so these two can talk," he said.

Taehyung nodded. "Good idea." He gave you a knowing smile as he followed your brother out.

When the door closed once more, Jungkook was the first to talk. "You don't have to-"

"I like you too, Jungkook," you said.

He looked at you in surprise for a moment before saying, "Y/n, you know what I am now. You really shouldn't."

"I don't care." There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in your voice, and Jungkook didn't sense any change in your heartrate, assuring him that you were telling the truth. "When I heard you talking, I felt a lot of things. But fear wasn't one of them. Even when I saw your fangs and your eyes, I wasn't scared. Not one little bit. You're still Jungkook, my brother's best friend who I've had a crush on for an embarrassingly long time," you chuckled.

Jungkook's gaze on you had softened to something much more tender, a sparkle in his eyes that you were now realizing you were strangely familiar with. "Do you realize what that means though?" he asked. "A crush is one thing, but what if it becomes something more, Y/n? I'm not going to age with you. We couldn't stay together because before long, I'm going to look more like your son than a friend or boyfriend. And I'm for sure going to outlive you, unless someone does me in before then. Is that really something you want?"

"I think that's something that we should have the chance to decide together," you said. "If this continues to something more and we want to keep going with this then we can decide what we want to do from there. If we care about each other enough to make it worth it, or not. All I know is that right now, I really like you, Jungkook. And if you like me the same then I want to give this a shot. I trust you."

Jungkook felt like he was about to cry again. He had hope at one point soon after his death that he might get lucky to find people like Jimin and Taehyung, maybe even possibly someone like you, but he had quickly lost that hope. That feeling coming back, even in the smallest amount, was overwhelming and it made him want to go along with what you were saying.

Before he could let himself think too hard and talk himself out of it, he carefully nodded. "Okay," he whispered. "If you think you can handle being okay with making a decision like that in the future, then I trust you too."

The smile you graced him with was blinding, and it made all of his insecurities about the situation fade away. He managed to smile back at you, but only for just barely a moment before you placed your lips against his.

It was the first of many kisses that the two of you would share for many, many years to come.

If you’d like to donate to my Ko-fi, feel free! Absolutely no pressure though :)

[fuckyeahimafangirl]

So what if Kara has put mistletoe right above the spot on the couch where she and Lena tend to cuddle? If she needs a little Christmas courage to finally kiss her best friend is nobody's business but their own.

Ever since she came back from the Phantom Zone they've spent most of their time together.

At first, Kara needed a friend. She needed Lena’s heartbeat close to help her fall asleep and her embrace to keep the nightmares away. Then it was mostly about making up for lost time. For the time they spent apart as well as the time Lena didn’t really know Kara's real identity.

And then… after coming out to the world as Supergirl, Kara felt truly free for the first time since she arrived on Earth. So she finally realized something someone should've let her know sooner (she's still a little angry with Alex because of it, okay?): There's already one person in her life she connects with as her whole self, there's one person she feels at home with.

Lena.

She’s always admired the way Lena gradually opened up to her. The way she got to the point to be completely vulnerable with her, telling Kara her deepest fears and darkest secrets. She’s always wanted to be able to do the same, and ever since she came back and they finally let the past in the past, she’s been doing just that. And Lena listens, comforts her, pushes her to keep going, reminds her who she is when Kara gets so low that she loses herself…

Lena stays.

Lena is, quite simply, amazing with her.

And Lena is her perfect partner at game nights.

She’s also a genius, and she’s gorgeous. And her looks don’t even hold a candle to how beautiful her soul is. She’s a good person who’s constantly trying to be better. Which, having been raised by people who were the very definition of the word villain, well… It's undeniably exceptional.

So, yeah, it took her a while to realize it. But she can’t stop seeing it now, okay? Kara is utterly and completely in love with Lena.

She’s pretty sure she’s always been in love with Lena.

And she’s always been a coward. No matter what the world thinks. Sure, she can fight an army of bad guys, she can lose her entire home planet and survive the Phantom Zone twice and still face a new day (with a smile even) and a new threat.

But she can absolutely not, under any circumstances, risk losing Lena Luthor again.

She can’t risk their friendship.

So a Christmas party and a little mistletoe give her the perfect excuse to test the waters. It can be a first step or she can just play it off as a silly tradition.

But.

She doesn’t take into account the Lena Luthor foundation ruining her plans.

“I am so sorry, darling,” Lena says from the other side of the phone. “I tried my best to push it until after the holidays but the investors are not playing around. I guess they want to see how committed I am or something. Or maybe they don’t have families or hearts. I don’t know.”

read on ao3 or

“Ugh. I understand. I’m sorry, I know you were looking forward to this year’s holidays too.”

“Yeah…” And the sigh that follows is so sad that Kara almost flies out the window to just go hug her. “The worst part is that I have to leave now.”

“What?!”

Her phone crashes onto the floor, forgotten as she flies away and follows Lena’s heartbeat all the way to her private airport.

Lena is standing a few feet away from the plane, still with her cellphone in her ear, looking at the sky, as if she knew this would happen.

Kara lands right next to her. “Right now?”

“Right now. I’m sorry.”

“What if I go pick you up tomorrow for the party?”

“Kara, it’s Tokyo. You can’t fly at high speed with a human, it’d be hours.”

“I know the portal-watches are out of the question since you found out the extra damage they do to the environment but maybe you could try a spell–”

“I would if I could, haven’t found a spell for this yet, though. I promise I hate this even more than you do. I’ll be alone, Kara.”

Good point, maybe she should stop being selfish. Lena was thrilled at the idea of having a family to share Christmas and New Year’s Eve with again. To be able to celebrate with people she truly belongs with for the first time. And now she’s going to be alone because a bunch of workaholics can’t do a few Zoom meetings or take a break during the holidays.

Kara is still a superhero, though.

“Can I come visit you at least?”

“I’d love to. Not during the parties, though. Don’t miss out on family time because of me. Please.”

“You’re family, Lena.”

“I know, and I’d feel terrible if you leave my goddaughter’s side for one second during her first Christmas with you guys.”

She pouts. “Using Esme like that is low, Lena.”

Lena smirks. “Still a Luthor, darling.”

That smirk makes her completely weak, but she’s used to it by now so she manages a laugh – probably sounding more nervous than she intends to, but whatever.

Lena hugs her then. “I’ll see you soon. Please, tell everyone I'm sorry and tell Esme I love her.”

“Will do. Don't buy her too many presents or Alex will kill you." Lena raises an eyebrow and it's obvious she's taking it as a challenge. There's no way she won't buy that little girl everything she sees. Kara loves it. Loves her. "Let me know when you land.”

It’s hard to let her go. Then again, it’s always hard breaking away from Lena’s embrace.

She waits for the plane to start moving and then she flies for a bit next to the plane during take-off, making silly faces and poses just to make Lena laugh and relax. She's happy when all the signs she can see and hear through the window tell her it works.

Lena sends her a text when she lands, thanking her with an array of cute emojis. There are too many hearts for Kara not to have hope.

Between Lena's schedule, the parties, and Supergirl duties she only gets to go see Lena a couple of times.

It's January 10th when Lena's finally back in National City and Kara is not disappointed about the fact that Lena didn't go straight to her place. She's not.

She's definitely not jealous of her own niece as she sees her hugging Lena tightly – neither of them wanting to let the other go, it's adorable, she definitely does take a picture of the moment.

Lena asks Kara to fly her back to her penthouse that night. And they don't even need to speak to know that Kara is gonna be staying.

Almost 20 days without sleeping in each other's arms were more than enough.

Those days she focused on Esme's heartbeat to fall asleep and, while effective, it wasn't quite the same (it didn't give her the reassurance that Lena was okay).

She sighs contentedly when her back touches Lena's very comfortable –and very expensive– mattress. And, seconds later, she smiles with her whole face and her entire heart when Lena curls up into her.

Work keeps them both busy the next couple of days and they don't see each other.

Until Lena surprises her with her presence and potstickers at her apartment.

"Hey you!"

"Hi, I saw the fight. You okay?"

"Yeah, nothing that 5 minutes under the sun lamps couldn't fix."

"Oh, I thought you needed these to recharge," she says waving the bag with the food around, "but I can't take them–"

"Don't you dare!"

She doesn't try hard enough to get the bag out of Lena's hand because that wouldn't be playing fair. Lena does make an effort to keep it out of her reach but of course she knows it's pointless. They laugh and their bodies end up way too close and their eyes lock for a few more seconds than it'd be considered normal. Until Lena visibly relaxes and offers the bag to Kara, pushing it to her chest, effectively putting some distance between them.

They sit on the couch and eat while catching up. Naturally, the distance between them shortens with every move they make as they talk.

It's as easy, fun and light as always.

And then Kara says something that she doesn't think is all that funny but Lena laughs with her entire body and throws her head back and–

Suddenly looks extremely confused.

"Is that mistletoe?"

Oh.

Right.

Well…

So what if it's the middle of January and she let the mistletoe up specifically waiting for this moment? (So what if she forgot because she wasn't expecting to see Lena today and she doesn't know what to do now?)

"Pfft, that's–" she tries. She chuckles, she knows she's a nervous wreck right now but she's trying, "I– huh. Probably forgot to take it off. Always happens with some Christmas decorations. Silly me."

She brings both of her legs up to end up cross-legged and starts to float towards the ceiling very, ridiculously slowly.

She may not know what to do or say, and she will take it down if she reaches it and she doesn't come up with anything. But she can stall.

A hand on her knee stops her.

Lena clears her throat. "I mean, it's still bad luck if you take it down without us having kissed, right?"

She's obviously trying to keep it together, Kara can tell. And she's actually doing a pretty good job. If Kara wasn't Kryptonian she probably would be missing all the signs showing her how nervous Lena really is.

She doesn't let her eyes leave Lena's as she gets back to the couch. Sitting even closer than she was before. She puts her hand on the one Lena still has on her knee.

"We can't risk it."

Lena leans closer. "Our luck, right?"

She thought she was talking about their luck but… But maybe she's still a coward.

"Lena…"

"Did you kiss anyone under it?"

She's grateful Lena's having the courage she lacks.

And it’s good that Kara promised to always be honest with her after everything. "I've been avoiding the couch while other people were around."

Lena squeezes her hand and notes, "You didn't avoid it tonight." Lena is gazing straight into her very soul and it burns in the best way. Her other hand goes to stroke Kara's cheek. "Did you really forget to take it down?"

A breathless, "no," escapes her lips before she leans in completely, finally kissing her.

Slowly.

She takes her time.

And she takes advantage of her enhanced senses to savor her new favorite taste.

She's careful not to press too hard, and not to bite too hard when she captures Lena's bottom lip and has the urge to just take it. It's not easy but Lena moans in pleasure instead of pain so she knows she's successful.

Lena's on her lap now, her tongue brushes Kara's lip and she almost loses all control. But she opens her mouth and pulls Lena closer to her. The world could be burning and being invaded by hostile aliens and Kara wouldn't be able to care at all.

It's all about Lena. How soft and hot she feels under her touch, how exquisite she smells, tastes and sounds. And how stunning she looks – but that's only whenever Kara opens her eyes to steal a glance.

But it's also the way she knows she's safe in Lena's hands. The way she feels completely loved – for the very first time in her life if she's being honest.

She has no idea when she ended up fully laying on top of Lena on the couch, but she also takes advantage of the position and moves her mouth to Lena's delicious neck.

"Kara…" Lena breathes out as Kara's leg presses in between both of Lena's. "Maybe we should… move it to the bedroom."

Kara stops, lifts her head so they can see each other properly, and smirks. "The mistletoe?"

Lena laughs, pushing her playfully and Kara floats up a little.

"We would have gotten here without it, right?" Insecurity drips more and more off Lena with every word and Kara can't believe this woman.

"I mean, I'd like to think so, eventually… I just couldn't wait any longer but I was scared…" She trails off because Lena knows, Lena gets it.

And Lena smiles sweetly at her. "I love you, you dork."

Kara breathes again, she doesn't know how long she has spent without breathing. Maybe she never properly did until now. "I love you too."

She only takes the mistletoe down when Alex gets there the next morning and wakes them up with a delighted scream as she sees their clothes on the living room floor.

[nesswritings]

kita shinsuke (27) rice farmer. he knows his craft well after several years of doing it and the knowledge his granny had passed onto him. when to harvest, how to plant, how to refine the grain down, and how to sell it. what he wasn't sure how to deal with were ducks, finding a small group of them in one of the paddies in the early morning. quacking, making a mess, the yellow of their feathers contrasting sharply against the green of the rice stalks. he looks at them with confusion, accepting their presence before carrying on with the rest of his day.

they stuck to him though, following him to each paddy to splash around and help with...something. kita was familiar with the traditions of ducks used with rice farming, but this wasn't something he had tried before. and as long as the plants went undamaged, there was no need to fuss. they would be gone before he knew it, and he wouldn't have to worry about them again.

oh, how wrong he was, finding them waiting for him after he had stepped in to eat dinner for the evening. at least they left the vegetable garden alone, his thumbs fumbling over the smartphone his friends insisted he needed. someone had to know something, and he was willing to find that information.

kita finds himself sleeping outside when night hits, if only to keep the ducks quiet and happy. there was also the additional step of lifting them up onto the wood, but they had settled in quickly to the nest of old towels he made. someone would come tomorrow for the ducks, and then he could continue living his life. spending his days in the fields and working on repairs, weekends spent in town and being social, and no need to care for the baby ducks.

the sun was already high and the morning well on its way by the time kita finally wakes, the ducks around him restless in their small nest. the crunch of gravel beneath tires forces him to sit up, his arms reaching to catch any of the ducks that threatened to fall to the grass. out came a woman, the shock already setting in. hadn't he talked to a man last night?

"y/n," you greet, ignoring the disheveled state. the ducks were your main interest, or at least you father's main interest. take them to your own farm and help them adjust to the other ducks, and use them to keep the rice paddies free of pests. "it's nice to meet you.."

"shinsuke. sorry, i'll help the ducks down. why don't you come in for tea?"

there was a rush, with him only stepping out of the main room to put the kettle on and to throw on a fresh pair of clothes. the sound of the ducklings could be heard through the open windows, though it was somewhat ignored for the quiet conversation and the sipping of tea. "shinsuke, do you mind showing me around? i'd love to meet the ducklings."

maybe he was growing too attached to them, or maybe it was different seeing you try to interact with them. running after the strays who ran away as you approached, picking up the little ducklings and looking them over, the way you seemed to delight in how the ducklings knew how to dig through the paddies to get the pests. or maybe he enjoyed the company of another human as he went through some of his daily chores tending the rice.

"so, they're cute, but i think they've imprinted on you," you state. it was obvious from the second you had showed up, with how attached they were. kita was their mother, and no one would ever replace it. "i would love to take them, but they won't be as happy as they are. they should be self-sufficient and grow, but i'll stop by weekly." you hand your phone over, the smile bright and stretching your cheeks. "put in your number, i'll call you later tonight in case you have any more questions. but, until then, see you next week!"

the days went by slowly, with kita mentally counting down the nights until you would return. the weekly visit was a source of entertainment and joy from him, watching you play with the ducklings and check on their growth. sometimes it extended to eating lunch together as you fed peas to the ducks, and occasionally you were there for the entire day. you look less lonely, aran had remarked over a phone call, you sound less lonely too.

happy was the word suna dared to use, though kita was unsure if he would go that far. you were a friend, and he simply enjoyed the company. no amount of heart racing or anticipation or wanting things to be perfect would change any of that.

as the ducklings changed into ducks, there were fewer visits. longer, sure, but the end of season was approaching. you were busy, and kita was busy, though he would sit and wish for the distraction of your laughter as you ran after the ducks, the wrinkle of concentration on your forehead as you measured the tea, the smile as you-

no, he was getting distracted in his own thoughts. kita looks over the calendar, noting the date. a team lunch tomorrow, and no amount of pining would distract him. a crush, that was all this was. silly, pointless, and he knew he wouldn't see you again once the season ended.

but the team was the same, even if he did need to keep them away from the ducks. they were working ducks, he reminds, taking in his old teammates. everyone changed more each year, and they were hardly the juniors and teammates he had left behind. "lunch is ready, help yourselves an-"

"shin!" your voice rings throughout the empty farm, the bag hitting your hip as you ran closer to the cozy home. your eyes were focused on the farmer, breath heavy as you finally reach the steps. "hey, who are all these people? i'm not interrupting, am i?"

"no," kita insists, ignoring the whispering between the twins. they had always done that, and it was nothing new. he stretches his hand out, a way of offering to take the bag off your shoulder. "there should be enough for another plate, come in and i'll introduce you to everyone."

their standard yearly lunch, along with a guest. no one seemed too bothered, though looks were exchanged. a silent agreement emerged between them, with aran already staking his claim on helping kita clean up the dishes to talk sense to him.

"he likes you, y'know," atsumu speaks first, his voice low. the walls were thin and they could see the older mens' backs towards them. it was hardly a secret, but it needed to stay that way.

"who? shin?" you ask to clarify, with suna nodding from across the table. "no, i think you're mistaking, we're jus-"

"he told us himself," osamu interrupts, a casual shrug following up his statement. "always talks on and on about his ducks and this duck girl who came to visit them. must be you, y/n."

"i don't think so. he could have another."

suna snorts, his phone finally in his pocket. line, hook, and sinker. a three part plan, one the second years had been perfecting for years to make kita's granny happy. kita could be stubborn, and this was her promoting his happiness. "trust us. y/n, was it? kita doesn't just let anyone into his life, you just need to set the date."

you glance over at the kitchen, catching his eye. a small smile appears on his lips, your heart fluttering at the gentle action. you were in deep, and everyone knew except you two. "i can think of something, don't worry. i have to go, but tell shin i'll call him, okay?"

it was two weeks before kita saw you once more, the knock on the door catching him off-guard. it was his day off, his hand finding the remote to click the tv off before standing. you were on his doorstep, the typical cheerful smile on your face and a small box in your hands. "y/n? can i help you? your father already helped me with the duck hutch, i don't need anything else."

"well, i brought some other things he wanted to give you anyway." a poor excuse, the weight shifting as you adjust the box in your arms. "can i come in? please?"

"shin, shin look!" kita was more than happy to comply to the small demands, the spring breeze blowing softly. he steps closer, an arm wrapping around your waist to pull you close as he watches the ducklings, toddling in messy lines behind their parents. "looks like we won't have any imprinting mistakes like last year," he notes, his lips turning to press against your hair. "do you want to name them?"

"i've already named them, you're late." you stick your tongue out at him playfully, taking delight in the chuckle as you carefully pick up some of the ducklings. "we have atsumu, osamu, suna, aran, yumie..and.." you struggle around the ducklings, finally picking up the one you wanted. "shin-chan. cute, huh?"

"adorable, just like you," kita murmurs, stepping to pick up one of the unnamed ducklings. "this one is y/n. not nearly as cute as you are."

"better put y/n down before they imprint on you. because i won't sleep outside with you." a light threat, but you watch the ducklings catch up to their parents in the fields, your arms wrapping around kita's waist. "i'm so happy those random ducklings imprinted on you. i love you, shin." "i love you too, y/n."

[thechekhov]

Hey, so I have a crush on someone who’s non-binary but it’s very confusing for me. I just wanted to know what your explanation of non-binary is because I’m quite confused by it and I’m not sure how to feel about liking a non-binary person? Like what sexuality would that make me, you know. For context, I’m a guy and I’ve been trying to stop liking people other than girls but it obviously ain’t working, and I’m just trying to know more about it I guess, but I don’t wanna offend them?

The fact that you want to learn more about the person you have a crush on and care about their gender enough to ask is, first of all, super kind of you. I wanted to mention that. As a non-binary person who ended up with someone who ISN’T nonbinary, let me tell you… having that person respect your identity and presentation feels like a warm blanket around your shoulders every day. 

Okay, now onwards to the actual explaining. 

I think you probably are already somewhat aware but as a general blanket idea, non-binary people are people who don’t feel like their gender identity fits within the gender binary. 

The gender binary is a word we use to refer to the two.. hm… for lack of a better word ‘traditional’ genders - men and women. 

Everyone sees it a little differently, but personally I subscribe to the theory that gender IS a social construct. That isn’t to say it’s not real - it IS. But gender is not a set standard in society. Never has been. The roles, expectations, social status of men and women across the years has always been in flux. (How does each gender dress? What is ‘expected’ of each gender? etc) And across a variety of cultures and communities, humans have always had gender identities that HAVEN’T been ‘men’ or ‘women’ but instead identified as something else - either something in-between, or something removed from that binary altogether.

Since gender is a socially constructed and maintained identity, some people DON’T fit into the ‘traditional’ parameters and prefer to define their experiences in their own way. 

What this means, simply speaking, is that you MAY have grown up, been raised in the identity of ‘boy’ - and that feels comfortable for you. You are satisfied that other people view you as a guy, you are set in this part of your identity and it (presumably) affects how you act with other people and what you expect from yourself. Maybe that means being masculine. Maybe it means being a good boyfriend to someone and cooking them meals. Maybe it means moving to the countryside and raising sheep! Who knows. 

In the case of non-binary people, this default gender they are assigned at birth (the one based on genitals) is not actually in line with their personal expectations of themselves. They don’t identify with the blanket idea of being a ‘man’ or being a ‘woman’. They don’t feel like the label of ‘man’ or ‘woman’ defines the role they want to take in society accurately. 

There’s a sort of ‘mind game’ many people use to think about gender and stuff that goes like this - “Imagine you’re a guy and you wake up tomorrow in a woman’s body. How would you feel?��

It’s meant to put you into the shoes of transgender people and make you think about how society interacts with you when your gender identity and body don’t match. And it has some value….. to an extent. 

Personally I feel that it’s more accurate to put it this way: 

Imagine you wake up tomorrow, and nothing changes. You get dressed in your regular attire and go about your day to run errands or go to work, but people keep casually referring to you as ‘Blue’ and commenting that your clothes are odd and aren’t the right color. You go into a store and people give you weird looks. Some old lady comes up to you and says ‘Why are you out in public wearing green and khaki? Don’t you know you’re giving other Blue children the wrong idea?’ 

You feel confused - you just put on a shirt that’s comfortable, and it happened to be green. Other people around you constantly talk about their assigned ‘color’ and what it means to them. You have no idea what anyone is talking about, but you quickly figure out it has something to do with your eye color being blue. You try to go along with it for a while but it ends up being exhausting. You want to wear and do things you like, you have a personal connection to, but almost everything is influenced by your being ‘Blue’. 

Colored contacts are an option, but they bother your eyes and they’re expensive - plus if someone noticed you wearing them, they tend to get violent. Some people even suggest that if you don’t identify as blue, you could get eye surgery and change your eyes to green or brown. But you don’t want that either - it’s dangerous, and besides, you ultimately feel that none of these colors fit you, specifically. 

This is kind of a metaphor, as I’m sure you guessed, but it’s what I’ve personally felt like since I was a young child. I’m agender (part of the nonbinary crew) and I personally have NO idea what the fuck gender feelings are about. I know people HAVE them - I know people care about gender a LOT. People have tried to get me to adhere to the standards of my assigned gender since I was little and have been emotionally devastated on my behalf when puberty did not ‘gender me up’ as much as had been expected. And despite all this, I feel no sense of belonging to either of the binary gender roles. If I woke up tomorrow in a body with completely different genitals I wouldn’t give a single shit beyond the obvious logistics of like… having to change information on my driver’s license. I would feel absolutely no more ‘at home’ than I currently do. 

Your non-binary crush MAY or MAY NOT experience the world this way. Maybe they have different feelings about it. Thinking ‘this person doesn’t want to be identified as a man or a woman’ is a good place to start, but it’s not the end-all-be-all.

So what does that mean for your sexuality?

Well, that’s up to you! If you’re worried about not being straight, that’s fair (I feel like that’s honestly a given in a society that STILL associates non-straightness with a variety of negative stereotypes). But remember - just because you’re attracted to a non-binary person doesn’t mean to HAVE to reinvent yourself. You’re still you, you still have the same preferences - you maybe just discovered that your attraction scope is a bit wider than you thought. 

You can define your identity in a variety of ways - straight with some exceptions, bi-curious, pansexual... I know many people jump to say ‘if you’re in a relationship with a non-binary person that relationship is already NOT STRAIGHT, YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT’ but I personally see no positive benefits to defining people’s relationships for them.

I’d gather that for the time being, the best thing to do is to keep getting to know your crush - not as a gender, but as a person! See what they’re into, see what they like - how they like to spend time, what they prefer to be called, what they want out of life. Don’t focus on their gender unless they want you to. If and when the time comes to discuss your attraction and define it, then you can ask them to help you figure it out. :) 

Unfortunately necessary disclaimer: As I’ve mentioned, all things here are my own personal experiences, and are not meant to be statements defining of the community. If you disagree with how I parse gender, feel free to make your own post and explain YOUR ideas! Please be kind in the comments - we’re all just trying to make it to the end of the decade. :) 

[punkpoemprose]

Single Bells- A Kristanna Oneshot

Rating: G (General Audiences) Universe: Modern AU, Librarian Anna, Single Dad/ Firefighter Kristoff Length: 8239 Words

A/N: Merry (day late) Christmas Val! @val-2201 I’m sorry I got a little bit behind. As per the usual the word count got away from me a bit so I ended up needing a little time to finish, haha. You said you enjoy single parent AUs so I hope you enjoy this little piece about single Dad Kristoff needing to solicit assistance from a very nice red headed librarian!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that your New Year will be full of joy!

Anna wasn’t supposed to still be at work, but if there was one thing she couldn’t say no to, it was a kid with a research project. Especially a first grader with beautiful blonde ringlets dragging her frazzled looking father to the information and research desk that Anna had been staffing for the day. Normally she worked only as the children’s librarian, but since two different librarians were out on maternity leave, she’d been willing to shift gears and wear many hats.

They’d come to her desk within the last five minutes of her shift, but Anna hadn’t mentioned it. It was two weeks from the last day of school for the winter holiday, and if her suspicions were correct, the father and daughter were working on a particular project for which she’d assisted four other families in the last few days.

Teachers loved to assign festive work before the holidays, but sometimes she wondered if they really thought through the fact that heavily parent involved projects were sometimes more stress than they were fun. She'd helped quite a few families try to determine what their ancestral traditions had been. Some, she was happy to report, did have legitimate plans to include them in their celebrations after the project conclusion. That at least made her feel like some good was coming out of the stress.

“I have a presentation to do!” the little girl announced with a smile that revealed a missing front tooth.

She was dressed in the brightest green coat she'd ever seen and her little hat, that she'd already pulled away to reveal static filled curls, was made to look like a reindeer. She couldn't help but feel that this was going to be another kid who insisted upon celebrating a newfound tradition. If she was, in fact, working on that project.

Anna grinned in return, noting the child’s enthusiasm for the project she was in the library to work on. She’d said it perhaps a bit too loudly for some of the other librarians’ tastes, but for Anna there was nothing like the boisterousness of young children. She supposed there was a reason that her office and the children’s area in general had been relegated to the basement. Being upstairs still felt strange.

“That’s due tomorrow,” the father said, sounding a bit miserable but looking mostly defeated.

He had a bit of scruff to his chin, and the bags under his eyes told Anna that he probably hadn’t slept well in weeks. It was a common sight with parents around the holidays, exhaustion and uncharacteristic scruffiness. Not that she really knew whether his scruffiness was uncharacteristic, having never seen him before in his life.

“Uh oh!” Anna said, directing her attention at the child rather than the father, knowing that she was much better at working with kids than adults, “We’ve got to work fast then, huh? What’s the presentation about?”

The little girl nodded, “It’s about Christmas traditions! I told Daddy on Monday that we needed to do it, but he forgot.”

When Anna looked toward the father out of the corner of her eye, she saw him flush. It was Thursday, so she imagined that they’d had some time to complete it. She wouldn’t judge him for the timing of course, she barely could keep herself on a schedule somedays, let alone a six-year-old. She also made a conscious effort to not judge any of her patrons, even the ones who came in asking about unique topics.

She’d once had a woman come in asking for an entire book on just Guinea pig costumes, and she wasn’t sure whether she should be more concerned for her guinea pig or that the library system had not one, but six books on guinea pig costuming. Last minute project fell somewhere toward the bottom of the judgement list.

“I didn’t forget,” the dad said, sounding very tired, but not particularly upset, “I’ve just been busy, and I didn’t realize it was Thursday.”

Anna smiled and then looked at the dad, “It happens to all of us. Can you two narrow down the kind of Christmas traditions you’re looking for?”

The dad looked embarrassed again.

“She needs to pick a specific country to look up traditions from and she wants to pick the one my family’s from.”

“Oh, that’s easy enough,” Anna said with a nod, “Where is your family from, and we’ll go from there!”

“That’s kind of the problem,” the man said with a sigh, “I don’t know.”

***

They were in the children’s area, on one of the library’s iPads at one of the kid sized tables. The little girl, Ivy, was in her glory. She’d spent more time commenting on the posters on the walls and snowflakes on the ceiling than she had focusing on the task at hand, but Anna didn’t really mind. It was easy enough for her to hold a conversation with both the girl and her father as she searched for clues about the man’s heritage. Really all they had to go on was his last name.

  Bjorgman. Kristoff Bjorgman.

“I think that my parents were maybe immigrants. I was adopted when I was just a little older than Ivy, but I’d been in the system since I was maybe two or three? I don’t remember them, and I was never given any records. My birth certificate was created when I entered the system, so it doesn’t have either of their names on it. Just mine, and that was just because it had been pinned to my shirt when someone dropped me off.”

Anna couldn’t help but feel as though that was terribly sad, but the man, Kristoff, and his daughter didn’t seem phased by it. It was just another detail of life for them she supposed, but she couldn’t imagine not remembering her parents. All she had of them now was memories, and a few knick-knacks that had managed to be saved after the house fire.

She tried not to think about that though, and it was easy enough to direct her attention back to the man sitting across from her.

He was much too large for the table, and he made the child’s chair he sat in look comically small. He was handsome, and by Anna’s estimation, not much older than she was. He was maybe 26, tops, and she couldn’t imagine having a kid of her own.

“Your adoptive parents don’t know anything?”

He shook his head, “No more than I do. The information just doesn’t exist I guess.”

“She didn’t want to do her Mom’s family’s traditions?” she asked, fishing only a little bit. 

She thought that maybe given the level of flustered he seemed to be exuding might be indicative of him being a single dad. She hoped not on the one hand because that was such a difficult position to be in, but also he was the first cute dad she’d run into that wasn’t significantly older than her. So she wanted to make sure if she was ogling him in the chair it was something that she could do with a clear conscience.  

“No, and even if she did, we don’t really know anything about hers either. She’s passed on. It’s just us.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry…”

He shook his head, “It’s alright.”

He looked over at his daughter then, smiling at her softly as she pushed her little chair back and walked over to the bookshelf to grab something out of the easy reader bin. She’d looked bored for a little while and was now clearly determining that this was grown up work that she didn’t want anything to do with and therefore was free to explore.

Anna couldn’t help but grin when she saw her pluck out a Mercy Watson book. She loved those. She must be reading a little beyond her age group to be reading it for fun.

Turning her attention back to the ipad, and away from the little girl who was eagerly plopping herself into a beanbag, she looked at the search results she pulled up with his last name. The information on the screen was pretty much what they already knew. His first and last name were Nordic of some kind.

“So we’re looking at Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, or Iceland. We can make an educated guess based on where you lived when you were a kid based on the census data from that area as most immigrant families move to areas with other people from the same country, or where there’s a strong presence of the culture they’re familiar with.”

“Well… I was born here, I think. Or at least this is where I got put into the system, which is why I moved back here a few years back.”

 Anna lit up, she didn’t have to do any more searching. Any vaguely Nordic last name in their town generally meant one thing.

“I can say then, with 90% certainty, you’re Norwegian. Not that it helps right now, but have you ever thought about taking a DNA test? Kids tend to just have more heritage questions as they get older and if you both take one it can help with any genealogy research."

"That's a lot of certainty for just a last name and a town," he said, looking surprised as he met her eye.

"Oh, well I mean Arendale was named for the Arendelle family and was founded by Norwegian immigrants so most of the population is descended from Norwegian families. Most immigrant families from Norway still settle here when they come over from the states. I mean there’s a little Norway downtown." 

"Oh," he said, "You just knew that? I guess it's probably something that comes up often…"

"Yes, but well also I'm an Arendelle. It's been drilled into me since I was born. We turned the family manor into a museum a few years ago. I used to give tours when I was in my master's program."

"That's…"

"Extremely boring,” she interrupted, not wanting him to trouble himself to find something nice to say, “Except on field trip days. Which is how I decided working with kids was for me. Adults, eh. No offense of course."

"None taken,” he replied, grinning, “Why do you work at the research desk then?"

"I'm actually a children's librarian," she said happily, glancing over at his daughter who had looked up over her book at them with interest as they talked about information valuable to her project again. Anna motioned with her hands like she was opening a book and then gave her a thumbs up which the girl returned with a grin.

"I'm just helping out because a few of the librarians are out on maternity. If you want to see what I usually do you should come for my ornament making sessions. I'm doing them every day after school and then in the mornings on the weekends until the day before Christmas Eve."

He looked almost impressed.

"Daddy! We have to!"

"Now she's tuning in," he said with a sort of shy smile that was quickly accompanied by a shrug. "Come here sweetheart, you have to pick a tradition. We're pretty sure I'm Norwegian."

"And I know so many traditions!" Anna told the girl brightly, "we don't even have to search!"

“Hooray!” she said with a grin, carefully sliding the book’s ribbon bookmark into the page she had marked with her thumb before running over to where her father was seated.

She crawled up on his lap, book still in hand.

“Can we pick one that talks about food?”

He laughed and as he tucked the little curly head under his chin he mouthed, ‘bottomless pit’.

Anna couldn’t help but feel that before she left for the evening, she’d be processing a minor and adult card sign up and checking out a Mercy Watson book and perhaps even a Norwegian cookbook.

“No! Wait! One about ornaments! I love ornaments!”

Maybe, she thought, a craft book too.

The dad rolled his eyes playfully from up above where his daughter could see and Anna did her best to stifle a giggle. These were the moments where she loved her job most.

***

They'd come for her craft time the next day, and Ivy had told her how well she'd done at her presentation and how she'd been proud to already know a bunch of the other Norwegian traditions other kids had shared.

Now though she was busying herself with playing with the other kids, the usuals that Anna had introduced to her by name.

Her blonde head was bobbing along in a conversation as the kids built a large block tower together, and she could see her dark little eyes gleaming with mischief as they discussed knocking it down when they were all done. Anna had never in her life been more grateful that they had foam instead of wooden blocks.

“She looks just like you."

Her hair was just a little lighter than his, and her eyes a little darker, but there was something in her features, her expressions that was an identical copy to her fathers. Even only having met them the day before, she could tell that she definitely took after him.

“I hear that a lot, and it’s funny… Not like really funny, I mean, it’s just interesting because Ivy’s not mine,” he said quietly as the little girl played with the other children.

Most of the other parents had been content to talk amongst themselves. They were regulars and they were comfortable together, being mostly moms. Anna noticed that they were occasionally glancing back and forth between the two of them surreptitiously. Or at least as close to sneaky as a group of nosy 30-something women could be.

“I usually don’t tell people that. I don’t know why I told you that.”

“It’s par for the course for librarians. We’re like bartenders, just with books,” She replied a bit too quickly.

He looked down at his feet for a moment then met Anna’s eye again, smiling a bit nervously, like he’d worked something out in his head, and then took a deep breath.

“I mean legally speaking she is mine, just so you don’t think I stole a kid. After her mother died, I adopted her. Genetically she’s got another Dad out there somewhere, but her mom, Evelyn, she never mentioned him. I don’t think he was ever involved.”

“Oh,” Anna said, feeling her face grow hot at the misconception, “I’m sorry. So Evelyn was your…?”

She knew she was probably just digging herself a deeper hole, but she felt a warmth flutter to life in her heart. He’d mentioned before that Ivy’s mom had passed on, but she’d assumed that he was her biological father and that was why she called him Dad. That he’d been adopted, and then he’d adopted a child after meant a lot. That made her realize that her interest in him, regardless of how new and how impossible, was rooted in more than looks.

“Neighbor,” he said quickly, like he was afraid of her saying anything else.

She stared at him, surprised by the answer, watching him blush under her gaze.

“Sorry, I’m just used to people thinking we were… you know, together. She was just… she was so young. I wouldn’t have been with her like that, she was just a neighbor and a friend. I think she had a rough life. She didn’t talk about it much, but when she moved in next door to me she was working a bunch of odd jobs with crazy hours and Ivy was two. Evie was eighteen. I think her parents might have kicked them out or something, so I would watch Ivy on my days off because Evie didn’t have anyone and it was just me and my dog anyway, so I had plenty of free time."

He took a breath. Before Anna could find the words to say, he kind of sighed and shrugged, deciding to say more. Anna just focused on his eyes while he talked. There was a deep love there and she could tell it was for Ivy.

"I started taking extra days off here and there with my vacation time because Evelyn started to not feel well and she would go to the clinic a lot. Sometimes she would wait for hours for someone to tell her she was stressed or whatever. When they found out it was cancer it was too late. It was less than a year before she was gone. When no family came forward for Ivy, I did. She was three then. I’m the only dad she knows. The only parent she knows really. I didn’t have many pictures of her mom, because she was my neighbor and I didn’t think to take some when we found out she was sick, but we talk about her.”

Anna thought she might cry.

She was no stranger to loss, but she’d never heard of anyone doing anything like that before. She tried to step up for strangers and community members a little but each day. She donated to charity and worked with the economically disadvantaged, but she’d never changed her life forever just to help someone else. She’d never been able to see herself stepping up that far.

“You adopted your neighbor’s kid.”

She let her eyes tear up, her throat felt tight.

She could certainly see that beneath the sort of gruff exterior he first offered, there was a kindness that ran through him. She could see it now, as she had before when he’d been focusing on helping his daughter. He had a lot of love in him, and it was obvious when he glanced back over to where Ivy was playing and smiled.

 “Well I fostered her first, but yeah. I mean my parents did it for me, and I guess I didn’t want to roll the dice and hope that someone else would be as kind when I had the means… at least financially. I’m three years in and still working out the rest. I just feel lucky everyday they let me adopt her with my work schedule and everything.”

“I think,” she said quietly, trying not to cry, “I think most parents are. Even the ones who’ve had their kids from the start.”

“Thank you for saying that. I don’t know many other parents, so it’s always a guessing game about whether I’m doing the right thing.”

 He looked back from Ivy and caught a glimpse of Anna’s expression. She saw him frown and look genuinely concerned. She wanted to tell him not to worry, but he found the words quicker than she did.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, sorry. I’m not great with people.”

He held a hand out to her, paused for a moment like he was wondering what he should do, and then rubbed the back of his neck with it.

Anna shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, giving the moms staring at her openly her best and most polite look of “it’s fine, but also mind your own business”. They seemed to get the picture well enough, returning to their own conversations with only a mildly mischievous and conspiratorial gaze at each other. Anna was sure she’d have plenty of texts later from the library mom chat asking what she and the “hot dad” had been talking about.

“No, you’re fine. I’m kind of an emotional person. I’m just happy for you two. She loves you so much, I can tell. She deserves to have someone who loves her just as much.”

He smiled softly and then nodded, putting his hand back down at his side and appearing to relax slightly now that the topic was back to just Ivy. He still looked as tired as he had the day before, especially now after she’d accidentally worried him.

“She’s a special kid. She’s not like me very much, even though I’m raising her. She’s so optimistic and brave and sort of stubborn… which I suppose she could have gotten from me, but really she’s great and I’ve been so lucky to have her."

Anna nodded in return, wiping the tears away on her sleeve.

“Yeah, I can see that. And I don’t mean to pry but… you look a little tired. I hope she didn’t make you pull an all-nighter on that project.”

He sort of chuckled at her lame joke, and she appreciated the attempt at acceptance of her levity. She was never particularly good at intentional humor. Most people just laughed when she accidentally tripped over something or had chocolate on her face and didn’t notice.

“No, no all-nighter. I’m just exhausted.”

“I hear parenting does that to a person.”

He nodded and then sighed, giving her a sort of nervous look before looking beyond her to Ivy.

"I don't mean to tell you my life story. Even though, I kind of already did, but… I just feel bad when I can’t give her the world, you know? Like, I finally wanted to do a big at home Christmas for her this year. We were going to go home to see my family like usual, but my Dad just had some pretty serious back surgery and even though he loves the kids my sisters and I agreed not to flood the house while he’s recovering.”

She nodded along some more, knowing that he probably didn’t have anyone to vent this sort of thing to. She wasn’t a parent herself, but working with so many young children meant that she talked with plenty of parents, and she at least comprehended a bit of what it was like. She couldn’t pretend to understand fully, but she didn’t mind listening to parents when they needed to breathe. She particularly didn’t mind listening to Kristoff.

He looked back at her with a sort of exasperation that she was familiar with. He looked like he’d just run a marathon in his head. He looked like her after inventory day.

“You know I never realized how much my mom did for us for the holidays, you know? It’s one more week of school, and then I have to find a babysitter for the days I’m not off during her winter vacation. I barely managed to negotiate for Christmas off at the firehouse as it is, let alone to find all that time. The guys are great and sometimes I can bring her to work if I don’t have anyone to watch her because someone usually stays behind or one of the guys will have their wife or older kid there for a visit, but around the holidays… there’s a lot of fires you know. Not really a place to bring a kid. I have shopping to do, wrapping, we have to get a real tree because she really wants one, and then there’s cookies to bake, and God I’m just glad she hasn’t asked about those elf things because I don’t think I could pull that off too.”

“That seems like a lot.”

“It is, and that’s not even the half of it. We have to get a wreath to bring to her mother’s grave, and it’s so hard to find in the snow because it’s just a small grave marker so it’s really a whole day affair. I don’t mind, but I don’t want to run out of time to do everything else. She wants to go caroling and see santa and make ornaments… which thanks for this by the way, it was nice. She’s very proud of her star. It’s just with work and everything it feels like there’s not enough time.”

Anna nodded. It was a common concern with the other parents, but most of them had more hands to help, less work, and more practice at it.

“I can help.”

She didn’t think before she spoke. She was absolutely shocked by her own words even as she said them. They were practically strangers, and he was venting about his difficulties as a single dad while she was trying not to notice how perfectly chocolate brown his eyes were, or how easy it would be to imagine him in a firefighter’s calendar. Or rather, trying not to let herself wonder whether AFD had plans to put out a firefighter’s calendar this year.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You weren’t,” she said, watching as some of the moms began to get their kids ready to leave, knowing her window of opportunity to get her thoughts out was closing by the moment, “I offered. I’m great at wrapping and I love to shop. If you’re looking for help I’m happy to give it.”

He looked at her for a long moment, until Ivy ran over and pulled on his pant leg.

“Daddy,” she said, “Can I have some candy? Danny’s mom brought candy canes and she said I had to ask you first.”

He looked to Anna for a moment, and she understood the concern in his eyes.

“Oh, you mean Mrs. James! She’s so nice. She brings candy for us all the time. She’s been bringing Danny here for storytime and crafts since he was just a little baby.”

She could understand his concern. She was always a little worried herself when the parents brought things to share, especially if the parents were fairly new. It was one of those fears that was mostly irrational, but one really never knew.

He looked back to his daughter and gave her a stunning smile that made Anna melt on the spot.

“Yeah sweetheart that would be fine. Please and thank you, right?”

“Always!” she said, running off in the direction of Danny’s mom who was waiting with a cheeky smile, staring again at Anna and offering her a wink.

“Were you serious?” Kristoff asked, breaking her concentration as she tried to give Mrs. James a ‘please don’t interfere’ look in return.

Not that it would do her any good.

“About Mrs. James? Of course. I’d never encourage anyone’s kid to take candy from a stranger I couldn’t personally vouch for.”

“No, I…” he was flushed again and Anna realized that she’d missed a point. She was making him ask her, just like she’d said he didn’t have to.

“I meant about the help.”

“Oh, yes! Of course I meant it! I love the holidays and I’ve been working a little more than usual but I still have plenty of time.”

“Your boyfriend wouldn’t mind? I’d hate to take time away that you could be spending together around the holidays.”

“I… I don’t have a boyfriend.”

She was almost certain that there was a look of interest in his eye when she said it, but as quick as it was there, it was gone.

Maybe, she thought, she wasn’t the only one interested.

“Then I’d love the help,” he said with a nod, “For Ivy’s sake.”

***

Anna wasn’t sure she’d ever enjoyed anything so much as she did being Kristoff’s personal Christmas elf. She’d given him her mother’s family recipe for Norwegian butter cookies, an answer to Ivy's now rampant desire to learn about those traditions, and she’d picked up stocking stuffers and amazon packages and bits of this and that. She’d wrapped gifts and brought them to the fire station for safe keeping. Somehow, she’d managed to mostly do so when Kristoff was out on a call, or when he wasn’t working at all.

It was unfortunate as she wanted to see him, so she was pleasantly surprised when five days before Christmas she’d received a text message from Kristoff inviting her to help him and Ivy go tree shopping. She’d seen them at two separate decoration making events before it, so she supposed that it was only right for her to help them select the canvas on which to display Ivy’s beautiful work.

Ivy had, of course, been on a mission during the trip.

“Color, smell, and needle retention,” she’d said in her little, but very certain voice.

Anna had later learned that she didn’t actually know the meaning of the word retention, and that she’d learned her tree picking skills from a YouTube video, but she had been nevertheless impressed.

She’d helped Ivy pick, and then she’d helped, with mixed results, to strap the six-foot tree to Kristoff’s car. He’d mostly brought it inside his apartment himself, but when Anna had turned to leave, Ivy had caught her hand, and Kristoff had shyly offered her some hot chocolate. They'd sung Christmas carols, lead by Ivy and decorated the tree together with some ornaments that his friends from the firehouse had given them and the ones that Ivy had made herself. Anna wished she had her old childhood ornaments. Ivy, she knew, would have loved one.

The rest of the week passed much the same until, two days before Christmas, Anna found herself finishing her last ornament and story session with the kids before the holiday. It was a bittersweet thing, being swept up in the excitement of children looking forward to Christmas but knowing that she wouldn’t see them again for a while after.

Ivy, who had been in attendance, was busy playing with her new friends, and Kristoff, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Anna for the whole session, was speaking with her again.

Anna couldn’t help but note how quickly they were getting to know each other. She couldn’t help but blame the holiday in part. Not only was she doing more story and craft sessions in the evenings than she normally would, but she’d also been helping him make the holidays for Ivy. She supposed it was inevitable that they would talk, and in their conversations get to know each other a bit better.

The topic of conversation now, was a wrapping accident on one of Ivy’s “little” presents, a slime kit. It was from Santa, but Anna had accidentally wrapped it in the paper she’d set aside to wrap gifts from Kristoff in. The tag though, still said “from Santa”.

“So you’re sure you don’t mind,” she said quietly, low enough that they kids couldn’t hear her, “I know some kinds are just really perceptive, so I don’t want her to see that dad and santa have the same paper and realize what happened.”

“If she notices I’m just going to tell her that Santa accidentally ripped the wrapping paper coming down the chimney and had to rewrap it in some of my paper to keep it a secret until Christmas morning.”

She nodded. It was a brilliant plan.

“That’s so smart,” she was thoroughly awed, “I come up with a lot of little fibs around the holidays to keep the magic for the kiddos, but that one’s just genius.”

He laughed and shook his head, “Maybe I’m better at this than I thought.”

“You really should give yourself more credit.”

His smile softened then, “As should you. I can’t believe that you just offered to help a stranger put Christmas on for their kid and then actually followed through with it.”

“Need I remind you that you adopted a neighbor’s child without hesitation? What I did was nothing in comparison.”

He was close to her and stepping closer. She could practically feel the eyes of the moms as they lingered in the room, just to see what was going to happen. Her eyes drifted down to his lips and she felt herself flushing at the thought of kissing him, even though she told herself that they couldn’t, that it wasn’t going to happen. His previous stubble, the ball he’d had to drop to keep his daughter on schedule was now even more pronounced, but in an intentional sort of way. She could imagine how it would scratch against her.

“I wouldn’t call that nothing,” he said quiet, so low that she could barely hear it. “To us, it’s everything. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”

She focused for a moment on breathing as she’d realized that she’d been holding her breath ever since he leaned in. It was easy, she thought, to let him take her breath away.

And then the giggling and “goodbyes” of children broke Anna’s focus, and she turned her head to see moms giving her subtle thumbs up, and kids donning coats.

Ivy was skipping towards them, candy cane in one hand and her popsicle stick star in the other. Glitter was flaking off the craft as she bounced towards them, and Anna knew she’d be spending at least the next hour vacuuming. She almost felt bad for the parents who were about to have their houses covered in poorly glued sequins, glitter and foamies.

Almost.

“Ms. Anna!” the little girl said with great excitement, “What are you going to do for Christmas?”

The question caught Anna off guard. The kids had asked her before, but it had never felt like a big deal to tell them the truth. Kids understood more than adults most of the time, and they felt things stronger and they were more open with it, so Anna was more open with them. With Ivy and Kristoff though, just having gotten to know them, and having all sorts of confusing feelings in her chest for him, she wasn’t sure she could take the pitying eyes.

“Well hon,” she said quietly, waving to the other parents and kids as they drifted out as both a politeness and a distraction, “I’m not doing anything. My sister is my only family and she lives far far away.”

“Oh,” the little girl said, looking sad.

Anna couldn’t look at Kristoff, but she could tell he was giving his daughter the soft but chiding look he’d given her a few times in the two weeks she’d known them. The look that said he wasn’t mad at her, but that she’d said too much or her manners were lacking. She thought it was a nice way to remind kids of their behavior and had filed it away for her own use.

“Like Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Yeah,” Anna said in response, “But it’s okay, I’m used to being by myself. I’ll read a book and make myself dinner.”

She knew she didn’t sound particularly believable. She wasn’t even buying it herself. Truth be told her whole apartment was decorated for Christmas, complete with a tree, and she always made herself sad around the holidays thinking about how she’d had so much fun as a kid, but now spent them alone. She always thought that there was an unfairness in showing that to a child though, in showing them that the holiday was anything but magical for some people, so she tried to keep a stiff upper lip.

“That’s okay Ms. Anna,” the little girl said, grinning broadly at her with little tears sparkling in her dark eyes, and stepping close to grab her hand, “You can have Christmas at our house!”

She felt like crying again.

“Oh Ivy that’s so sweet,” she said, her throat feeling tight, “But it’s your family Christmas. You don’t want a stranger there.”

 “You’re not a stranger,” Kristoff said softly, reaching for Ivy’s other hand and giving it a soft squeeze that made the little girl’s smile brighten.

She seemed glad for her dad’s backup.

Anna forced herself to meet his eye, and she found in it a sort of shyness. He looked at her like he was uncertain, but also like he was excited by the prospect. She noted the twinkle in his eyes despite his furrowed brow, the gentle upturn of his lips as he looked at her for an answer.

“I don’t want to intrude…”

“You wouldn’t be. Ivy invited you as her guest. I’d… I’d also like you to come as my guest if you don’t mind. I know you’ve only known us for two weeks, but I think we’d both really like it if you came. Right sweetheart?”

Ivy squeezed Anna’s hand tightly and then nodded, bouncing a bit on her heels as she did so like her whole body was agreeing with her dad.

“Well then,” Anna said quietly, “How can I refuse?”

***

Her arms were full of presents and chocolates when she came to his door, so she had to tap the wood twice with the toe of her boot to knock. She’d been battling herself the entire drive over, trying to decide whether this was the right thing to do and whether she should really be feeling as giddy about the whole thing as she was.

She was basically crashing someone else’s holiday, and she knew that she should feel bad about taking them up on an offer made out of kindness and sympathy, but she didn’t. She didn’t feel bad because she really liked Ivy and wanted to help make Christmas a little more special for her this year. She didn’t feel bad because she really liked Kristoff and even the idea of pretending for a few hours that he felt the same made her heart flutter.

She’d never fallen for a patron before. Nor had she ever been so sure that she loved someone so quickly. She’d had bad luck in the past with similar feelings, but this time she had faith in the rightness of the feelings and the positivity of the situation. Kristoff Bjorgman was a good man, and whether anything more came from it, she was happy to be his friend and to share his Christmas.

She thought maybe if she could have written a letter to Santa though, she would have maybe wished for more. If it wasn’t too much to ask.

She hadn’t so much as put her foot down after tapping the door than Ivy opened the door and ushered her in. Kristoff was watching from just a few feet back, letting her know with a smile that Ivy had been so excited to open the door that she’d been waiting for the knock. She wondered if she’d been waiting for her since she called to let them know she was arriving.

“I waited to open my presents from Santa until you got here Ms. Anna,” the little girl said with zeal, “I wanted you to see!”

Kristoff stepped forward then, helping Anna with her parcels while telling her quietly that she hadn’t needed to bring them. He whispered into her ear about how excited Ivy had been about Santa and how she’d been even more excited to wait for Ms. Anna.

She thought that her heart might pound out of her chest. Less at the thought that Ivy had wanted to wait for her, and more at the fact that Kristoff hadn’t told her not to. That he’d just whispered in her ear, and that he was making it extremely evident that he wanted her there from the very start.

“Ivy that’s so sweet. I can’t wait to see what Santa brought you!”

“I hope I got a Pokémon stuffy!” she said excitedly, running towards the tree that they’d decorated together.

It felt strangely domestic, like she belonged there because her touch was in the tree. Like she was family, and not just a new friend they’d invited to share their holiday.

“You know what?” Anna asked, feigning ignorance, “I don’t know if he did, but I’m sure you’ve been so good this year that you deserve it.”

Kristoff raised a brow at her, and Anna got the message. “Good cover.”

In fact she knew that Ivy had two Pokémon plushies under the tree, one from Santa, one from her Dad, and Anna also knew that there was one more in the box Kristoff had taken from her labeled with the little girls name and Anna’s own.

Being an elf had its perks.

“But first… if you don’t mind, I have a couple special gifts for you two to open.”

“You really didn’t have to,” Kristoff said, giving her a soft, but appreciative look that she knew she would treasure in her memories for as long as she lived.

She knew that she didn’t have to. But they didn’t have to share their Christmas with her either.

And also, she’d already fallen in love a little bit with them both, and she knew that for now presents were a good way to demonstrate that.

“I have a special present for you too Ms. Anna!”

“You do?”

“Yes!”

She looked over at Kristoff, who looked almost as surprised as she did.

“You mean the one we got her at the store yesterday sweetheart?”

“Nope! A special one! I made it, Mrs. James told me how!”

“Huh,” he said with a shrug, “I guess I’ll be as surprised as Ms. Anna then.”

“Would you mind if I gave you yours first?” Anna asked, excited to know what Ivy had made her, but more excited to give the little girl and her father the special gifts she’d gotten them first.

“Okay!” she said excitedly and ran into the apartment proper as Kristoff and Anna managed the process of her removing her outerwear, hanging it up, and him helping her bring in the gifts and treats.

Once Ivy and Kristoff had settled themselves on the small loveseat near the tree, and Anna had brought them their gifts, she settled into the well worn high back chair that served as the only other Livingroom seating.

“Okay. I have some other presents for you guys too, but these are the most important ones, so I want you to open them first, alright?”

Ivy was already tearing into the paper on the box. Not needing to be told twice.

She held up a little soft ornament, and then held it to her chest.

“It’s Mama,” she said in the quietest littlest voice she had ever heard her manage, and Kristoff quickly looked between Anna and the ornament.

It had been easy enough really, to look up Evelyn Taylor. She had a Facebook before she passed, and some friends on the page who mostly lived out of state. There wasn’t much that Anna could find on the page without sending a friend request that she knew, sadly, would never be answered, but there were a handful of photos that she had access to. One of her and Ivy, confirming that she had the right Evelyn Taylor in the first place. The little girl had been two or so at the time the picture had been taken, but her little face had even been then, so strikingly like Kristoff’s. Evelyn even looked a bit like him she thought, like a cousin. The others she’d found included some pictures of the girl with high school friends, a few shots of her looking brave in photos where she’d moved into her apartment, a photo or two of her without hair when she’d been going through chemo.

Anna had gotten them all printed, every single one she could find, and put them in a small box that was under the ornament. The ornament had been a last-minute project. She’d run to the store and picked up printable iron on paper and felt. She printed the photo of Ivy and her mother onto it, ironed it onto the felt, and did her best to channel her mother’s creativity to make a small Scandinavian style embroidered felt plush ornament. It was shaped like a heart, and on one side she’d managed to layer on felt and little stitched snowflakes, while the other held the image on white felt.

She felt a bit bad, of course, about not asking Kristoff if it was okay first, but she thought that the soft look he was giving her may be proof that sometimes it’s better to try for the surprise.

“How…?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she said before Ivy could even get to the box below, “You still have a box to open.”

He looked between her and Ivy for a long moment, like he wanted to say something else as the little girl was excitedly hugging her little ornament, but ultimately, he looked down at his own gift.

“Go on,” she said, eager to see if her surprise gift for him would be met with such excitement.

He opened his gift with less speed, but with equal interest.

She held her breath as he pulled out a small box and a small book.

“Is this… is this a DNA test?”

She felt tension return to her body. He didn’t sound upset really, just surprised, and she hoped that she hadn’t just crossed a line.

“I mean… it’s just… you know, if you ever want to. They’re expensive usually so a lot of people don’t do them, but my sister is in business and she happened to know a guy who knew a guy so I was able to get it for you for nothing. So it’s just if you want to dig in and do some research. You know because I’m a librarian and all. One track mind.”

“Anna…”

“I’m sorry if I crossed a line, I just thought…”

“Anna.”

She looked at him and saw he was smiling, a little bit teary eyed.

“Anna, thank you. I was going to buy one after the holidays. That project Ivy did… it made me realize that I want to know where I came from.”

“Oh… good. I’m…” she sighed, letting the tension leave her, “I’m glad, because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

He smiled, and then looked at the book.

“But… uh, what’s Hygge?”

She laughed at that, feeling happy in a way she hadn’t ever remembered feeling outside of work, and she saw Ivy smiling brightly too, hopping down from the couch to go grab something from under the tree.

“Hygge is a Norwegian and Danish concept… it’s just, you know, since I hope you’re Norwegian like me. Hygge is just that cozy mood that we can’t put into words. I think you feel a lot of hygge when you get a moment to breathe when you’re with Ivy, and I thought you’d like the book. There’s another one I ordered you too, but it won’t come in for a while. It’s all Norwegian fairytales. I thought you might like to read them together.”

He grinned broadly and stood from the couch, walking over to her and taking her hand, “Anna this is…”

But Ivy cut him off before he could finish.

“Ms. Anna! I have your present, are you ready?”

“Of course! I’m so excited,” she said, giving Kristoff an apologetic smile and turning her attention towards the child who was holding something behind her back.

The little girl grinned in response and held up a picture she’d drawn in crayon. There were little green leaves and little white berries. It was immediately obvious to Anna what it was meant to be, and depending on how things turned out, she was either going to ban Mrs. James from the library, or send her a fruit basket.

“Is that?” Kristoff started.

“Mistletoe.” Anna finished.

She felt her face go hot, but then when she looked over at Kristoff, his hand still in hers, she saw him clearly doing some internal negotiating.

“May I… may we?” He asked.

“It is a tradition,” she said quietly, looking over at the little girl and giving her a bright, if not a bit embarrassed smile to let her know that she did in fact, love the drawing.

And before she could say anything else he was helping her off the chair and into his arms. She giggled when he kissed her, his stubble, now an almost beard tickling her skin.

Ivy, ever the encouraging an delighted audience, was jumping up and down.

“Santa must have gotten the letter I hid under the cookie plate last night!” she said delighted, “I knew Daddy liked Ms. Anna!”

Kristoff, ended the kiss a bit abruptly to look over to his daughter, a deep blush on his cheeks that Anna was sure was mirrored in her own.

He didn’t release her though, still holding her close, his touch tender but firm.

“Santa didn’t get a letter under the cookie plate last night,” he whispered low into Anna’s ear as Ivy took back off toward the tree, leaving her drawing on Anna’s chair.

Anna couldn’t help but giggle at his bewilderment. She thought that it was most likely that Ivy had simply dreamed writing the letter. Some kids her age had a hard time remembering what they had and hadn’t done when they woke in the morning.

“Well either the big man is more real than we thought, or Mrs. James has more connections than I thought. Or you know, she just dreamt the whole thing.”

He grinned broadly.

“Well someone must have gotten my letter too,” he said, a little louder, “Because Ivy is right. I do like you. I know it’s fast but…”

“I like you too Kristoff,” she said quietly, “And we can take this slower from here, but for now…”

He leaned in again, kissing her gently. She let her hand slide up, her palm cradling his stubbled cheek.

When they broke the kiss, they rested their foreheads together, the sound of tearing paper and Ivy’s excited cheering behind them.

“Merry Christmas Kristoff.”

“Merry Christmas Anna.”

She’d never been so grateful for a reference desk query in her life.

[swiftlymoniquesblog]

Safe House- Tom Felton x Reader: Chapter 2

A/N: Hello friends! I’m so sorry I haven’t updated anything in so long; life has been CRAZY! But guess what? Yours truly just finished up all her training at the Police Academy so I am now fully a 9-1-1 dispatcher (or 0-0-0 for my Australian friends or 9-9-9 for my UK friends!) In our spare time between calls, as long as we’re still available to take calls, we can do pretty much whatever we want so I hope that means I can still write and update! Unfortunately, I do have to work on Christmas Day this year but I’m still excited for the day! 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and I hope 2021 will be 1000000 times better than 2020! And don’t worry, this isn’t the last holiday update I have up my sleeve! ;)

Xxx M

Warnings: FLUFF, pining, longing, Tom being super adorable! 

Word Count: 4,500

Previous Chapter| Holiday Masterlist| Masterlist of all Masterlists

Even though you believed you were going to be in some serious trouble when you got back to work, you were glad you stepped into that car. You were Tom's assistant and he requested your help in a task, so you weren’t really breaking any rules, right? And Tom said you were still working and that he would clear all this up with Mr. Harrington, so why were you still nervous? Was it because you left the property of your place of work still in the clock? Or was it because you were sitting with a rather attractive man inside his car and trusting that he wouldn’t try anything weird, like kidnapping you? Whatever the reason may be, you couldn’t ignore the feeling that you seemed to be taking a ‘leap of Faith’ with going with Tom, yet it all felt right. The subtle sound of Christmas music came from the car's radio and the heat from the vents provided a warming feeling deep within you. It surprised you to know that he had chosen to play Christmas music because you assumed with his schedule, holidays weren’t as important anymore. However, that proved to be untrue as a certain sparkle appeared in his eyes when he pulled into a parking spot, he jumped out of the car and rushed over to your side to help you out.

“Come on love, we have a lot to do if we want to make that tree look less sad!” He exclaims and tugs on your arm, much like a child would do with a parent. You laughed at the tall man, who beamed with a bright smile on his lips, as you struggled to keep up.

“What should we get first?!” He says, enthusiastically to you.

“Maybe more ornaments?” You suggest and his excitement only grows.

“Yes! And then we should get garland to wrap around the ornaments! And the presents!” He bounces on his toes, ever so slightly, but you notice it and think to yourself, how can a 33-year-old be this excited?

You follow him over to a section of the hobby store that was entirely dedicated to Christmas. Shelves were lined with garland, ornaments, lights, light-up statues, everything you could think of to make the holiday one to remember. Both you and Tom began pulling things off the shelves, anything to make his hotel room look more festive for his guests. A part of you wished you were able to be there to enjoy some of these decorations but you knew you were just ‘the help’ so you kept that thought to yourself. When your shopping cart was fully loaded to the rim, you decided to check out. Reaching into your purse for your wallet, you pulled out some cash but Tom put his hand out, indicating you to stop.

“Oh, don’t be silly love, I got this. This is my hotel room we’re decorating and this was my idea, so I’ll pay for it,” He says.

“Yeah, but it is my place of work so it’s only fair I pitch in,” you fight back but it proves to be useless when the total rings up and he already had a credit card inserted into the bottom of the reader.

“Maybe next time,” he shoots you a wink, causing your cheeks to redden before he slips the card out of the reader and back into his wallet. You help grab the bags and load them back into the cart as you head back out to the car. The drive back to the resort was quiet, aside from small talk, which was rather pleasant. Speaking with Tom in a quiet setting was beautiful and calming, something a lot of people don’t get to enjoy if you weren’t in his inner circle. A part of you was felt like any other fan, excited about being in an intimate setting with him, but the other part of you knew you were just doing your job. Gathering the bags in your hands, you follow Tom back into the hotel and into the elevator, where you two were forced to stand nearly squished against each other, thanks to a large number of guests flocking to the car before the doors shut. You felt your cheeks heat up at the close proximity you were to Tom but kept your lips sealed and your thoughts to yourself before the doors opened to the penthouse; everyone else left you sooner.

“Thanks a lot (y/n) for helping me with this. I don’t think I could’ve done it all alone plus it’s more fun to decorate with some company,” Tom says, as he sits the last ornament on the tree. He takes a few steps away from the tree, to take in the glorious sight before him, with you coming to stand beside him.

“It’s my pleasure and this tree looks so much better now,” you comment.

“I think it is because of you, my dear. You are the one who picked out the ornaments so you made this tree this beautiful. Beautiful people tend to make everything around them beautiful too; makes sense if you ask me,” he says, smiling softly at you, eyes glistening in the lights from the tree. His bluish-grey eyes turned another color as they reflected the lights, making him that much more attractive and leaving you in a trance of sorts. It felt like a scene from a movie; no sound, no movement, just you and him staring into one another’s eyes, until being saved by a ringing phone. He swallowed and slowly backed away from you before saying,

“I should probably get that.”

You couldn’t help but frown at his departure but you had to shake the sadness away; you still had a job to do. Looking to the bedroom, you saw him pace back and forth, obviously anxious about something, so you figured that you should go. Finding a scrap piece of paper, you scribbled on it before placing it on the coffee table in the center of the room and grabbing your belongings, leaving the room without him noticing. What am I doing? I work for the guy! How could I be so stupid as to think someone like him would be remotely interested in someone like me? I’m just a hotel worker; not even a fucking manager! You scold yourself as you sliver to the elevator and ride back down to the lobby, where about a dozen or so guests were waiting to check-in. Wishing you had your old job back, you stop to watch the guests wait to check-in, excitement and wonder coming from their faces. The children were why you chose this job. The look of their little faces was the purest form of innocence that you hoped they never lost sight of, but you knew that most of them would lose that wonder as they grew older. The magic of Christmas always fled from the youngest and truest believers as time went on and it hurt your heart. Why couldn’t Christmas be as magical for adults as it was for kids? Sure, the belief of someone flying over the world and delivering presents to every child in one night was gone, but what about the feeling? The excitement you would feel seeing the tree go up or the lights outside? How about all the traditions? When did that all go away and why did it have to?

----------------------֍------------------------------------

Tom’s POV

“Sorry about that, (y/n) that was just…” I let my thoughts trail off as I notice the emptiness of the hotel room and the piece of paper folded in half on the coffee table. I go to pick it up, feeling my heart race in my chest as I read;

Tom,

Thank you for today. I had a really nice time and I’m glad you’re happy with your room now. I forgot I…. had a prior engagement I said I would be at so I had to leave; hope that’s alright. I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning with some breakfast and you can give me a rundown on all your plans for the day. I am so sorry incredibly sorry.

Have a goodnight,

Y/N

I swallowed a lump that had appeared in my throat and crumbled up the paper. So that was it? She only saw today as a requirement for her work? Is that how she saw me? Just as her boss or something? Because she was certainly more to me than just a hotel worker or an assistant; I thought she could tell. Why couldn’t she have just come and talk to me if she had a problem? Did I say something that offended her? Did she not trust me? These questions and more haunted my subconscious as I sigh and get myself ready for bed. I turn off all the lights in the living room before going to brush my teeth. I take out my phone and open my photo gallery, quickly finding the photo of (y/n) I snuck. She looked absolutely beautiful as she was holding a light display, the colors and glitter from the decoration reflecting onto her face. It just slightly illuminated her delicate features and I remember I had sucked in a breath of air, as she had taken all of mine out of my lungs. I smile to myself as I thought back to that moment and now? She’s gone and I can’t imagine why. I decided just to go to bed and I figured I would come up with a solution to getting (y/n) back sooner.

The next morning, I woke up rather early to get ready for my friends. Daniel had called me last night before (y/n) and I…well whatever almost happened with us, is irrelevant now. Finally, after being stuck in Denver for 24 hours, he had called to tell me that he and everyone else were on their way to the resort. Somehow, the former “Golden Trio,” as they were infamously known as, all had no plans and were able to fly out to Colorado for Christmas. Now, we all knew how risky this trip might go, with all of us together around who knows how many fans are staying at the resort, but we hadn’t been together in nearly 20 years. I was glad to be having some of my friends with me again. Because when you work on a project with the same people, every year for 10 years, you gain friends for life.

“Tom, good to see ya, mate!” Daniel said, when I opened the door after hearing a knock on the door.

“Hey guys, glad you all could make it! So sorry to hear about such a delay, though!” I try to sympathize with my friends but I’m sure it fell on deaf ears because they shared a similar look of annoyance as if to say, “like you have any idea what we’ve just been through.”

“Well, it was certainly a nice, warm, welcome to the State of Colorado,” Emma said, sarcasm dripping off her tone of voice.

I smile sadly, trying to avoid further awkwardness, hugging the girl as I feel her sigh, tension dissipating from her muscles.

“Wow Tom, this place is so well decorated! Did you do this by yourself?” Rupert asked as he took in the festive environment of my room.

“Oh no, of course not. I’m not good at decorating at all! I had some help,” I say, smiling at the not-so-distant memory of decorating with (y/n).

“Wait, you hired someone?” Emma asked.

“Not exactly. The resort sent me a…personal assistant of sorts,” I try to explain to the three actors who just had blank expressions on their faces.

“Why would the resort send you an assistant?” Daniel asked.

“I’m not sure, she said it was because the resort wanted to offer their services 24/7,” I explain what reason (y/n) had given me.

“Who’s she?” Rupert asks a light of cheeky demeanor glistened in his eyes.

“Oh (y/n), my assistant,” I say, a grin showing itself on my lips.

“Wow, (y/n) what a beautiful name! She must be really special,” Emma said.

“She is and I’ve only known her for 48 hours. She’s supposed to be coming back today to help out but, now I’m not sure if she’s going to,” I frown, really not sure what was going to happen with (y/n).

I wasn’t quite sure what I felt for (y/n) but I knew I wanted to get to know her better and I wanted to make sure she knew she could trust me. Just then, there was a knock on the door. My heart drops, hoping it was her.

“Good morning, Mr. Felton. I’m here for whatever you need me to help you with,” (y/n) greeted me when I opened the door. What was she saying? I told her she could call me Tom; where is this Mr. Felton crap coming from. Oh, her note. Maybe this is what she was talking about. Maybe she thought she needed to stay professional whenever she was around me; was that why she left suddenly?

“Good morning, Miss (y/l/n). Yes, please come in,” I say, standing to the side so she could come in the room.

“Thank you, well I brought some coffee and a selection of our best food for breakfast from our…” She suddenly stopped talking and she seemed to be frozen in place.

“(y/n) are you alright?” I say, standing closer to her. She was looking directly at the “Golden Trio” that was currently sitting in the living room, chatting away. They all stopped and looked up at her, and smiled at her.

“Hello, you must be (y/n) Tom’s told us all about you,” Emma says, standing from the couch where she sat with Daniel, to shake (y/n)’s hand.

She still seemed to be in some sort of trance until she saw Emma’s hand extended to her.

“Oh yes, sorry, I got a lot on my mind. It’s really nice to meet you, Miss Watson,” (y/n) kept up with the politeness.

“Oh please, call me Emma. Makes me feel so old hearing my last name first,” She says as we all chuckled.

“Well Emma, this is an honor. I am a rather a big fan of your work,” (y/n) complimented.

“Oh, thank you, that’s so sweet,” Emma says, seemingly still not believing she’s as talented as people make her up to be. Sure, she knew she was a talented actress, but she was always humble about it, ever since we were kids. One of the many things people tend to love about her.

“Hey now, you never said you were a fan of mine!” I try joking with my assistant, her cheeks turning red as she avoided my eyes set on her.

“You didn’t ask,” she said, before greeting Daniel and Rupert and telling them how much of a fan of theirs she is.

“Hold on, is this like a Harry Potter reunion?” (y/n) asked, finally letting her guard down a bit.

We all starting laughing as the resort worker just stared at us.

“You can say that,” Rupert said.

“Wow, this is, how long has it been since the four of you have been together for more than just a day” (y/n) asked.

“A good twenty years. We’ve seen each other since then obviously, but in more than just passing than really spending time together. After the eighth movie wrapped up, we all went our separate ways. And considering I was getting into some trouble with fans back home, I decided to get away from all the craziness and I wanted to invite some friends to spend some time with me, so I wouldn’t be alone, you know?” I say, giving the whole background story so (y/n) could fully understand why I was here and why the “Golden Trio” was here, too.

I could tell, just by looking at her, that she was trying hard not to freak out; she really is a big fan, then. It was rather adorable if you ask me. She was biting the corner of her bottom lip, quite harshly too, and her eyes would bounce between the three actors around the fireplace.

“Well, the Harrington Ski Resort is thrilled to have all four of you here, but why did you make the reservation for ten?” (y/n) questions me.

“Well, we have teams of security so they all their own rooms, and then I have a few more friends coming tomorrow so I wanted to make sure everyone had their own space,” I explain.

“Alright, so what plans do you have for today, Mr. Felton?” (y/n) asks and I’ve about had enough of her formalities.

“Um about that, may I speak to you in private please?” I ask and she nods timidly.

“If you all would give us a minute, help yourselves to some food,” (y/n) says, just as a waiter came in the room with carts of food for everyone to share.

“What’s going on, Mr. Felton?” (y/n) said, when I shut the doors to the bedroom.

“First of all, please, just call me Tom. Second, I read your note last night; what was that about?” I go straight to the point.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tom.”

“Oh, I think you do (y/n). Yesterday was amazing; I haven’t had that much in so long and we seemed to have been getting on really well. And then we have…well I’m not sure what exactly happened in front of the fireplace but I wouldn’t mind that happening again. But then you just up and leave? And leave a note with a lack of proper explanation. Did I push you into something you weren’t comfortable with? Did I offend you somehow? If I did something wrong, please tell me, so we can try and work it out,” I say, almost pleading with her.

“No, it’s not that,” she says, pacing on the opposite side of the room than me.

“Then what is it? Do you not trust me? Are you uncomfortable being around me?”

“No, it’s not any of that!” She says, a little more frustrated than before.

“Then what?!” I say, just as she had.

“I can’t tell you,” she says, avoiding looking or getting close to me.

“And why not? I don’t understand why you left so suddenly last night or why you can’t even look at me right now,” I say, hearing my voice crack as I grew more desperate for an answer.

“Because how I feel about you right now, is going to get me in trouble. I felt something last night by the fireplace and I can’t allow myself to continue to feel like that. I am your assistant and while I’m here, that’s all I can be. I don’t know what I felt but I know it’s dangerous and I know I can’t keep feeling like that as long as I work for you. Mr. Harrington would surely fire me if he ever found out and I really need this job because I want to become something more than what I am right now. Do you understand?”

Wow, I definitely didn’t expect her to say that now. But she felt something between us last night too? And that’s why she left! She was scared of what she felt at the fireplace last night. I don’t blame her; I felt it too. But she needs to know she can allow herself to feel things.

“Look (y/n) I’m so glad you said something. I felt something last night too and it scared me too. I don’t know what that was either but I liked it and I want to feel that again. As for your job, I know this is so important to you, so I won’t do anything that would jeopardize whatever plans you have for this job; I promise. But, may I suggest something?” I ask and wait for her approval. She simply nodded.

“How about we don’t tell anyone about…whatever we may from this? I want to explore whatever last night was, but only if you want to of course. I think we should start off as friends, a little more intimate than just boss/coworker but I want to really get to know you before we decide to take anything further. Although, I don’t believe we’re going to learn anything about the other that won’t make us want to go further with a friendship, but just in case. How’s that sound?” I reason with her, nervous about how she was going to react. I figured with her confession of some feelings for me, she must agree with my idea.

“I think that sounds perfect, Tom,” she says, smiling up at me. I mirror her expression, finding a smile of my own.

“Would it be weird if I just hugged right now?” I ask, still unsure what to do with this, new information.

“Of course,” she says, slowly moving closer to me until she stood just inches from me. She craned her neck to look up at me. I slowly move closer to her, my arms making their way around her waist. She stood on her toes to grow a few inches higher so she could wrap her arms around my neck. I sighed, content with the feeling of her in my arms. She smelled like peppermint; it reminded me of a candy cane. Her skin was so soft and her hair was sprawled across my face but it didn’t matter. We stayed like that for a while, just staying close to one another and enjoying the warmth from the other until we felt completely content. Pulling away from one another, I smiled at her, her face showing the same happiness as mine had before she spoke up.

“I have a question and you can say no if you want.”

“You haven’t even asked it yet,” I say to her as she nervously wraps some of her hair behind her ear.

“Right, okay, well I wanted to see if maybe since Daniel and Emma and Rupert are here, could we watch some Harry Potter? I know it’s been a long time since any of you have seen the films, but I have so many questions to ask,” she says, pulling on her bottom lip.

“Well, I would love to answer all your questions but we’ll have to ask the others if they’re up for it,” I say fondly to her.

“Oh, wait, work. Do, do you need me to do anything for you?”

“What I need you to do is watch the Philosopher’s Stone with me and my friends,” I grin at her.

“As long as they say it’s okay,” she adds.

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t say no to you, much like I can’t seem to,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck.

Her cheeks tinted pink, just a bit, but I caught it before it disappeared.

“What about work?” She asks.

“Well, I’ll talk to Mr. Harrington and tell him some chores I need someone else to do for me. I’ll make sure you won’t get in any trouble,” I say to the girl, who’s eyes just light up. I guess I was starting to make an impression on her.

“That would be amazing, Tom, thank you,” she says, coming to me for a second hug. It wasn’t as long as the first one but it meant just as much. They have just been hugs but for me and (y/n) it was our way of expressing our feelings for each other; it was perfect.

We walk back into the main living area where we see the “Golden Trio” deep in a conversation about what the last twenty years have been like.

“Hi guys,” Emma says, looking over to me and (y/n).

“Hi, so (y/n) here has something she would like to ask you guys,” I say, looking to my right to the girl who somehow grew more nervous than I’ve ever seen her.

“Sure sweetheart, what’s on your mind?” Daniel asked, bringing all the attention to (y/n).

“Well, I know you all are probably annoyed with all the questions you’ve gotten over the years about Harry Potter, but I was wondering if you all wouldn’t mind if we watched the first movie together? I have a lot of my own questions I would love to have answers too but if you guys don’t want to go down memory lane again, I completely understand,” (y/n) asks, rather quickly, but I think she still got her point across.

“You’re right, I don’t think any of us have seen those movies in such a long time, and yes, we do get kind of tired of all the questions. We still get asked questions about the film series, even after all these years. However, any friend of Tom’s is a friend of ours, and if you really want to ask questions as we go through the film, then I don’t see what harm that’ll do. It might be embarrassing for us to see ourselves twenty years younger than we are right now, but it might still be fun,” Daniel said, grinning at the other members of the Wizarding World around him.

(y/n) just squeals a bit in excitement and it surprised all of us. “Sorry, I’m just really excited to finally be able to ask all the questions that I’ve had for so many years,”

“Hey, it’s okay. And hell, it’ll be wild seeing ourselves so young. I bet we can still say a lot of the spells too,” Rupert added.

“Oh man, that was going to be one of my questions,” (y/n) said, frowning, before Rupert shot her a quick apology.

“Does someone have the films with them right now?” Emma asks.

“I do,” I say, walking over to the entertainment center that sat under the television.

“You travel with them, don’t you?” (y/n) teased.

“Of course, I do! You never know when you’re going to need to see these!” I say, proud of the work and character I did in those films. It launched a career for all of us and opened so many doors for so many other films or shows. We owe all our credit to our success as actors to those films and if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what we would be doing now. I couldn’t speak for the others, but I was happy with being able to go back and watch the work we did for so many years, especially having so many people joining the fandom nearly 10 years after the last film was released. I will forever hold Draco in my heart and be grateful that people still respond to him, even in negative ways. I always laugh and apologize when people say they hate him and his attitude because he is the exact opposite of me and I still hope people stick around to know the real me.

Tags: @tloveswriting @angelinathebook @lunalovecroft @hobby27​ @slutforfics​ @thinkinghardhardlythinking​ @to-my-beloved-fandoms-2​

[the-moon-prince]

The Last Of us~Kurapika x Reader ~Chapter III

 AN: Hi my lovely fellows!

I finished the third chapter! Made with love and care for your enjoyment. I know this one is shorter, and I'm sorry. But I trust you will like it despite that detail! I made it extra fluffy, after the angst of the anterior, we all deserve a sweet.

I wish you a pleasant read, and I hope you’ll enjoy the new chapter of my story.  (Chapter I) (Chapter II) (Chapter IV coming soon!)

Paring: Kurapika Kurta x GN! Reader

Word count: 2 111

TW: None!^

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

It was clear something changed in Kurapika after that night. It didn't go unnoticed by Melody. She noticed in the rhythm of Kurapika's heart that the man's grief was lighter. Not to mention discreet short glances the young man sometimes gave (Y/n) when they were in the same room or how he tended to stay closer to them. Kurapika's heart longed in the days when (Y/n) was not at the Nostrade mansion. 

And for Kurapika? He was neither oblivious of that change. He taught about how (Y/n) would serve him tea or coffee each time they did for themselves. He noticed the characteristic small manias no one else appeared to remark about (Y/n); like the silly way they stood with their hands in front of their chest when nervous, they touched their hair when they were concentrating on their work. Or even their nervousness around crowds. Despite the warmth that thoughts about (Y/n) gave him, they also filled him with doubts and fear. That person saw a side of him that very few had seen. On one hand, it made him feel less lonely, and he shared the burden of his soul with someone who, seemingly, comprehended him. On the other, it was his ugliest side. Don't get me wrong, at no point did he believe his cause was erroneous. It was the fear of lowering his defenses further, which had allowed him to survive so far, to at the end losing someone dear again.

There laid the dilemma. 

~

On Saturday evening, as was customary (Y/n) went to "keep her company"-as Neon referred to her therapy. Neon, her bodyguards, and (Y/n) were in the girl's room; while she just played with her stuffed animals. Neon being herself, talked a lot about her pastimes and trifles. And then it happened. The trigger pulled. "You know, (Y/n) you're dumb sometimes." Neon said directly in the face of the mentioned. Kurapika did not appreciate the insult to his "darling"- Being his boss he couldn't face Neon directly nor punch her, although the desire was not lacking. In the end, Kurapika ended up saying, with a slightly irritated tone, sincerely "Neon, it's time for the pause, we'll all go take a breath" Without Neon giving any value to the subject, she permitted everyone to go. (Y/n) sticking to their routine, headed to the employee kitchen to prepare coffee, and began to boil water. Kurapika also followed, aspiring somehow to comfort them-only something lost in how- stated "That was rude. Are you upset?"

(Y/n) turned to see him, inclined their head, smiled, and denied "No at all! She's right. When I was a child, someone throws a rock at my head, and I ended up like this." - responded teasing, possibly to relieve Kurapika's worries- "Plus, it's not her fault... I mean... she said it, but she's entirely unaware of the impact of her actions on others... Not because she's mean, I'm not trying to be impolite."- they added, gaining a disconcerted look from Kurapika.-"Neon has a dissociative disorder. She has lived in her distorted bubble all her life. Consequently, she disconnected from the consequences that her actions may have!"- (Y/ n) explained excitedly to Kurapika. Their enthusiasm, more than their tone of voice, was also reflected in small movements that (Y / n) made with its hands. Inadvertently, Kurapika smiled, considering their enthusiasm adorable. To finally recognize how charming (Y/n) was to him. 

~

Kurapika was sure he wanted to decide the whole condition with (Y / n), but he was still confused about what to do. He inferred that the wisest choice was to request advice. Next, he led towards the only other person he recognized as his friend in that place. Melody knew that Kurapika was young and inexperienced after all.

"I'm unsure about what to do, Melody. They've greatly helped me with something crucial to me, and I'm appreciative. (Y/n) is charming to me. They're so patient, thoughtful, and kind. I enjoy their company.

But what if it's not worth the trouble? It's illogical; we have known each other for roughly three months. They might not accept it or disappear. I can't permit myself to get disturbed." -Kurapika voiced all the insecurities he had. After a moment of meditation, Melody replied.

"I believe you like them. (Y/n) appears to make you happy, that's true. When they helped you, did they judge you, did they left?"-Melody tried to make Kurapika question his insecurities.

"Not at all; they were pretty reliable."-Kurapika answered, staring away. Melody gave him a sweet smile and continued-"If they proved themselves trustworthy, they merit a chance. I think you deserve to allow yourself a chance. I believe it will do good for you."

"Thank you, Melody." And he returned a sincere smile.

Likewise, Kurapika decided to take his chance. 

~

Already 7:30 pm and the workers of the Nostrade house were leaving. (Y/n) was preparing their bag when they felt a slight touch on the shoulder. Kurapika quickly took a step backward when (Y/n) instinctively shrunk in surprise at his touch. They promptly looked at Kurapika, who cleared his throat before speaking. "(Y/n) do you care to stay a little longer. I require to tell you something."

The mentioned one gave their sign smile as they hummed and nodded-"Sure!"

"Accompany me to the kitchen please, it will be quieter." request (Y/n) fulfilled. Already in the empty room, Kurapika took a deep breath. So many details made him nervous at the minute. He doubted himself. He had no idea how to approach sentimental topics.

(Y/n) 's gaze was on him, but without meeting his eyes. Which caused him to not decipher what they were thinking. He had no idea if they would reciprocate, get angry, or react. If there was something that intrigued and delighted Kurapika, was (Y/n)'s way of being. For him, it was mysterious and transparent at the same time. Genuine but selective in what they showed. And he wanted to ascertain more.

"(Y/n), since our time together has been relatively short, this may seem illogical to you. However, for me, it has been remarkably important and enjoyable. So I reasoned: I like you." 

(Y/n) still without seeing him in the eyes and without changing their smile, blinked a pair of times and sang, tilting their head "Thank you! I like you too; you're quite nice as well!"- Maybe they were a bit foolish after all...

"No, no! It's not that... I mean... I also do like you. I alluded to like you romantically." the young man amed to the person in front of him. Whose eyes widened making and making an O with its mouth. And while a flush creeped their cheeks , also rectified. "I do... too... like you romantically."-(Y/n) proceeded to put a hand on their forehead, the face visibly darker and embarrassed, to tremble-"I... That is much more logical... I am very sorry...I'm truly ashamed. I'm not good at those subjects!"

As (Y/n) felt bad, Kurapika also felt bad. He raised his hands, shaking them and little in denial "It's alright, it's alright. Worry not!" It was an embarrassing disaster. But they were a disaster together.

After some shame whines, (Y/n) sigh and continued "In this case, please allow me to invite you to morning tea tomorrow. It's the last I can do. I beg you." In an attempt to not make things more awkward, Kurapika quickly but joyfully added -"It would be splendid!"- to obtain a -"Marvelous!"- from his newly obtained sweetheart. They both went home ashamed. If something is clear, it is that neither of them stopped thinking about that event throughout the night. Also that the more they reflected on it, the more fortunate they felt.

~

The date was settled! The sole issue was that, due to the embarrassment, they both forgot to arrange an hour. And they both felt ridiculous. 

Kurapika wondered what time would be proper to present, to ultimately arrive at 9:30 a.m. While (Y/n) was waiting for him since 8:30, worried they were going to be late. Since (Y/n) always wore some kind of embroidered floral ornament, Kurapika assumed they liked flowers. And showed up with a bouquet, plus it was the first time (Y/n) saw him with his traditional Kurta clothing.

"Good morning (Y/n). I bring you these, I hope they'll be of your taste." Kurapika greeted, handling the flowers. The (h/c) gladly accepted them as they made a sign to come in.

"Greeting Kurapika! They're splendid. Please come in and get comfortable." they told. Kurapika sat on the couch, and (Y/n) arrived with two cups, a teapot, and a kettle. "Do you prefer tea or coffee?" 

"Tea, please." followed by the answer, (Y/n) poured tea into the cups and sat next to Kurapika. As if it were a silent understanding, neither mentioned anything regarding the incident on the schedule.

"I like your clothes. They are gorgeous!"- a little remark that touched the boy, who muttered a gentle -"thank you." Kurapika reflected a lot about his choice to confess, but he never repented it. The warmth he felt in that moment was pure for him. 

(Y/n) raised his hands to their chest and, fidgeting with their fingers, modestly asked -"I apologize if my inquiring is stupid, but... are we lovers?"- They had their gaze concentrated in their hands. The first thing that people usually think of when meeting (Y/n) is that they were a serious, refined, and intelligent character. This was partially true, but it had a somewhat childish side, more intimate, and it was what Kurapika was witnessing at the time.

"Naturally," he answered.

"I'm sorry if I don't fulfill your expectation for me. You are the initial lover I have. In fact, also my first friend." Despite being a relatively sad statement, (Y/n) had their grin stamped on their inclined face. That smile. That it always seemed the same regardless of the emotion her voice conveyed, with certain narrow exceptions. Kurapika felt the obligation to if they were blue, comfort (Y/n). Just like they had done. 

"I discerned that you invariably smile, and the smile is identical. Can I request an explanation?" He asked, knowing what his goal was. His partner was a bit uncomfortable with the question and shrugging their shoulders uttered.

 "It's quite complex to elucidate... I have some challenges expressing emotions to others. Not because they are not explicit to me.  Just my facial expressions don't mirror my sentiments.

Regularly, in addition to smiling, I can take a serious aspect. It does not cause me much trouble, since people consider me as someone friendly- not that I am not. Though may cause others to judge me uncanny. I'm sorry if it's the case." 

"Do not apologize. It doesn't appear eerie to me." Kurapika assured with a sweet smile. (Y/n) looked him in the eye again, showing their happiness in their distinctive way.

"You are a kind person, thank you." following their remark, the room fell into a comfortable silence. Kurapika and (Y/n) were two shy souls enjoying each other's company. Although everything happening was alien to both of them, they appreciated it.

They needed a little kindness and company, which they seemed to have finally gotten.

Who could have guessed? Neon did something helpful for once!