#my christmas special fic

[lunarharp]

pretty & cute witch men

[tachimichishrine]

ppssps..hey bae 😍😍😍❤️❤️🙈🙈🙈

cute and sexy request!!! IF YOU COULD WRITE A MISTLETOE CONFESSION FOR TACHI x READER THANKS U I LOVE UR WRITING KEEP GOING AND FEED ME ALL THIS TACHI CONTENT AS ALWAYS🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

heyyy babygorl 🤪😳🥵🥵😻🙉🙉 oh my god this is indeed extremely cute and sexy, just imagine...

tachihara around the holidays, a sense of nostalgia for something that never existed as he watches families with shopping bags in their arms. they look happy in the way he'd never felt with his own, and it's got him looking down for most of the season.

tachihara catching himself staring at you for too long, watching you give small gifts to the other members of the black lizard, even speaking with the nameless suits about their plans with their families like you really were a goddamn angel.

tachihara daydreaming about you in the middle of missions, distracting himself with the thought of you to the point where he accidentally bumps into santa cosplayers and has to threaten to beat them within an inch of their lives as soon as they start singing carols merrily at him.

tachihara who is stupid in love, head over heels even before you started asking him about his holiday plans and he begrudgingly admits that he doesn't talk to his family; you pouted sadly and promised that you'd try to make up for it, whatever that was supposed to mean.

tachihara strolling into his office, finding a small box of chocolates wrapped in a red ribbon with a note saying "from santa", even though it was obvious who it was from. it took him a while to stop blushing before he could stash the box in his pocket and pretend like he didn't just get shot by cupid's arrow all over again.

tachihara trying (miserably) to return the favour, having no clue what you like and needing hirotsu's advice. he made the old man swear not to tell anyone about this because if word spread through the black lizard that he was buying gifts for someone, he'd look weak and mushy and he didn't want you to know that this was what you did to him.

tachihara not knowing how to ask you out, painfully terrified that you were just being nice to him because that's who you are and not because you had any interest in him. he thought the mistletoe maneuver was cliché and stupid and soft and perfect for you.

tachihara using his ability to carry the mistletoe around with him, feeling dumb as he waits for you to stumble across him all the while trying to psych himself up to actually kiss you.

tachihara who turns around for one second to yell at an underling, leaving the mistletoe in the air as you, hirotsu and gin stroll in.

tachihara watching in agony as you point out the mistletoe above your heads and kiss hirotsu right in front of his eyes (you said that you would've kissed gin but she had her mask on).

tachihara giving up and heading home after a long day, the stupid thing in his pocket serving as a reminder that he's a coward and can't even do this one simple thing right.

tachihara hearing you call out "wait up!" while he walks home, hands in his pockets and about to throw the world's biggest tantrum at the sight of lovers holding hands and laughing at all the christmas lights put up around the neighborhood.

tachihara slowing down his pace but not stopping as you talk to him, saying things that he barely processes because your smile is so beautiful and you look so excited.

tachihara following you on your little detour, taking him to decorated squares and clinging onto his arm when night fell and it got too cold. he would've suggested buying you a hot chocolate but he didn't want you leaving his arm anytime in the foreseeable future.

tachihara's confidence slightly restored, taking a deep breath and looking around while you babbled about loving the spirit of the season, his eyes locking in on the mistletoe in front of a small shop.

tachihara suggesting to you that go in and explore the shop, then trying (awfully) to smoothly point out the mistletoe on the sign above. he swore that he was a spy, a trained, high-level spy that could infiltrate even the most dangerous of organizations, but you made him nervous and it came out wrong.

tachihara listening to you giggle, pointing out what a coincidence it was that this was the second time today that you found yourself under the mistletoe.

tachihara not believing it when you grabbed him by the front of his jacket and kissed him like it was nothing, not giving him any time to say how he really felt or process the feeling of your lips on his.

tachihara trying to kiss you back but the kiss was short and you were already giggling and ushering him into the shop.

tachihara yelling out "stop! just... wait. just wait," with a lot more desperation than he wanted.

tachihara unable to say anything coherent, describing his appreciation for your gifts and thoughtful words and time you spent with him spontaneously like right now and how gorgeous you looked and how your smile made him feel and just about a thousand other things he never thought he'd say out loud, to your face.

tachihara breathing heavily after his rant, face hot enough to warm up half the city and unable to look you in the eye.

tachihara growing hotter once you grabbed his chin, tilting it so he would look at you, then you said "you know, we're still under the mistletoe... dontcha think we should kiss again?"

tachihara not believing his senses when you did just that, this time pulling him in deeply, hands on his shoulders and body twisting the slightest amount as you kissed him like he'd never imagined before.

tachihara feeling drunk on your lips once you told him that you followed him on his way home not just because you didn't want him to be alone during the holidays, but because you barely saw him today and missed his company, because you missed him.

tachihara getting himself dragged to your home that evening, condemned to plans of baking, house decorating and cuddling whether or not he wanted it. but you both knew that he did, more than anything.

tachihara walking with you like he was in a fever dream, your fingers intertwined while you occasionally kissed his cheek and watched him blush when you got closer to him or asked if he was the one who planted that mistletoe in the port mafia hq this morning.

tachihara making sure he discreetly tossed the mistletoe in his pocket in a garbage on the way there because he denied this morning's "accident".

and most importantly, tachihara getting spoiled the entire holiday season, especially since you made sure to hang dozens of mistletoes across your home and agreed that he would have to comply with each and every one of them, not that he was complaining.

[fake-destiel-news]

They just released two of the songs already!!!

I love the new version of What’s this with Johnathan Groff but If I could be with you is sooo cute🥺

This makes me want to get on a plane and fly 16 hours to see it and it’s not even out yet

[lightyaoigami]

teams • rated E

read on ao3 • part of alignment

Yotsuba Capital Partners works right up to the last minute before the holiday break, but its employees have checked out long before the last meeting.

OR

There are a lot of ways to fix a stuck standing desk. Most of them don't involve blow jobs.

[allbridgesburn]

fic: all your wasteland flowers [chapter v]

the ballad of songbirds and snakes; lucy gray baird/coriolanus snow; R, 5/?

Freedom. 

For the last few years, freedom has been nothing but a fantastical concept to her, a dream far outside her reach. A child’s tale, the kind she tells Mallory before bed.

But it is close now, so close. Almost at the tips of her fingers. Foolishly enough, Lucy Gray begins to hope again.

-

or: Lucy Gray Baird survives Coriolanus Snow. However, she's not the only one. [post-canon]

read @ ao3

[glendybluebird]

"MISTLETOE" Mirabel x Rafael Mini Comic 💙🎄❄☃️🎆🎇

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!🎄🎁 Yaaaaaas THEEEEEM😭😭😭 Context: Rafael was often left alone in the family mansion while his father travels around on business trips with his new wife. Being lonely back at the city, he decided to celebrate Christmas at Encanto where his new friends are, and where his old great aunt lives.

[middymod]

Dumb GotG headcanons

Gamora's hair becomes curly when she's happy (long term, not instant)

Zeihoberei do not have a term for facial hair (they don't have any). Therefore, Gamora refers to Peter's beard as "face fur".

Mantis uses her empath powers on others to get pumped up in battle

Gamora can see UV colors and therefore, could see how truly filthy Quill's ship was

Rocket sometimes ditches his clothes on Earth to pass as a raccoon and cause mayhem (untitled goose game style)

The first incident of Rocket pretending to be a raccoon on Earth was during the "Chicken Noodle Soup" incident.

Nebula constantly grows and loses teeth, like a shark

Since birthdays were not really a thing in the other Guardians' lives, Quill assigns them all birthdays at random dates (except Groot, his birthday is when he first started moving)

Peter and Gamora do some nearly acrobatic dancing when in private

Quill and Gamora both talk in their sleep. Sometimes, they end up having small conversations

Drax is colorblind

[maered613]

It’s Christmas 1976, and Luke Skywalker, singer/songwriter/bassist of the Grammy winning, multi-platinum certified band, the Rebellion has a problem that has nothing to do with their label, the paparazzi, touring or even their next record. He cannot, for the life of him, think of a Christmas present for his bandmate (their drummer), Mando, who he’s spending Christmas with.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band is heading back to New York for the holidays. Leia is dragging Han along to her parents’, Wedge is meeting up with some old friends, and Cass is trying not to think about several things at once, and failing.

There’s never a dull moment for the biggest band in the world, not even during Christmas.

—-

Or; the Rebellion’s Very Own Christmas Special

(Spoilers for Love Me Like Music (and I’ll Be Your Song) abound)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52438942

[steelycunt]

an um. snippet. from me. for the first time since. july :-)

[neeeeeoposts]

heres the follow up to this post but i didnt finish the background yet

brrrrr im hungry rn bye guys

[neondiamond]

A Special Bond

1.1k | by neondiamond

Baby Lilah goes to see the Christmas lights with her Daddy Harry and her uncle Niall.

Read it now on Ao3!

[tachimichishrine]

Could I ask for a little Christmas special with Tachi x Fem!reader? With smut, the cherry on the cake could not be missing. Ñakañaka👀

<HAHAHA CANT BELIEVE IVE GOT A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL REQ,,, keep in mind i dont celebrate xmas so im pullin out a lot of clichés and i'm assuming it's a stereotypical northern hemisphere winter vibe just for funsies. ñakañaka to you too, dear reader>

"by the fireplace"

⫭◦⨝◦⫬

tachihara michizou x fem! reader {christmas special}

warnings: nsfw ; fingering ; cockwarming ; soft sex ; ooc tachihara bc i can ; playful cursing ; intended lowercase ; unedited as always

stupid. you are stupid.

stupid for getting so excited around the holidays. for using your day off to prepare your painfully small studio apartment with a bunch of decorations bought from the local store, anything that was cheap and shiny. you expertly coordinated the colours, the theme and the shapes, putting up zigzags of fluffy green boas on the walls of your kitchen and swirls of red streamers in your living room. you couldn't afford a christmas tree both financially and space-wise, so you took your local houseplants, covered them in random cut-out figures and makeshift ornaments, then allocated a small corner in their honour. it was cute, but there was no one to share it with.

stupid for getting your hopes up. you hadn't spoken to your boyfriend in so long, hadn't received a response to all your lovesick voice messages or texts, telling him how much you missed him and how badly you wanted him back home. chances are that the number you were contacting had gotten tossed, thrown in the garbage on a mission that was too high-risk for him to compromise your safety. it was worse when you thought about the fact that he was doing this for you; sometimes you wanted to track him down, show up to wherever he was spying and kiss him numb in front of whoever he was supposed to be infiltrating.

stupid for baking cookies. they were really good too— you picked whatever recipe online that you could find and made 2 dozen of them. you ate half, music playing on your speaker, sitting down on your sofa all alone. you wished you'd have someone to share them with.

the cold outside made this holiday season all the more unbearable, with the delicate snowflakes whisking around the frigid air outside. you were safe inside, snuggled up by the fireplace with a book and a blanket, but feeling incredibly lonely.

"you've probably tossed this burner phone by now..." you couldn't resist the temptation and pulled out your phone in order to leave him another voicemail, "but michi, baby, I miss you. I know I'm supposed to love all this me time or whatever, but... fuck, I made cookies and all I wanna do is stuff them in your beautiful face. man, I've gone crazy, haven't I? anyways... I miss you. I love you. I just hope you're safe and come home soon."

you had to get your mind off of things. you had to do something, anything to get out of your head. you were off work, but you didn't have the mind to concentrate on any activities at home by yourself, and all your friends were busy with family and loved ones.

you decided to go for a walk outside, in the freezing cold snow.

it did wonders for your head. you didn't even have your headphones in, which was odd, but instead listened to everything around. you snuggled further into your coat, told yourself that you should've worn more layers, been more prepared for the cold, but it was refreshing nonetheless. you didn't keep track of the time, instead visiting every corner of your neighborhood and just strolling around as you pleased. by the time your nose felt like it was going to freeze off, you were approaching the entrance of the building.

someone was at the door, in a familiar army-green coat with beige fur around the collar. you nearly tripped over yourself running over to the figure, excitement louder in your mind than the fear of accidentally trapping the wrong person in a bear hug.

to your surprise, you didn't hug a person at all. you were hugging a floating jacket that seemed to be carrying all its weight at four spots where small metal clips were positioned. you yanked the coat off of the clips, relishing in the faint smell of your lover, only pulled out of your happiness by a cold impact on your back.

you turned around to look at the son of a bitch who threw a snowball at you.

"aren't you cold?" you chuckled, seeing tachihara in only his v-neck long sleeved shirt you would tease him about and say looked like that of a school girl. "taking off your coat just 'cause you're dramatic as hell."

"you're spunky for someone who left me about a million sappy voicemails in the past week," he retorted in a sassy tone. despite the words exchanged, you dropped his jacket on the snow and ran over to him like you were a housewife waiting for him to come back from war, which you might as well have been. he caught you hurling your body at him and gave you a twirl around while you giggled and peppered his face in kisses.

when he finally set you down, you had your hands wrapped around the back of his neck, his on your hips, and you pulled him in to feel his lips on yours. "you really are dramatic as hell."

"and you love me." his gloved hand balanced your chin on his curled index finger and brought you back in for another kiss. "m'sorry I was gone for so long this time."

you shook your head, holding him tighter as if he would dissipate and float away if you let go. "you're here now. that's all I care about." your grip tightened and you hopped up so that you could wrap your legs around his hips. "now carry me inside and make it up to me."

"oh, she's demanding, ain't she?" he chuckled, holding you up by your thighs. "I haven't even been back more than two seconds and I'm getting ordered 'round."

"shut up, you know you love it," you giggled, trying to climb off of him so you could walk into your home but his grip was firm and he didn't seem intent on letting you go. "baby, I was joking, you can put me down now."

"hm? if ya say so."

and he tossed you onto the ground.

you weren't expecting that, but laughed in the snow as you processed what he'd just done. in retaliation, you kicked out his ankles and he collapsed right next to you. obviously, you both knew that he could've dodged it, but he let himself fall by your side and lay his arm across your waist. he shivered, his barely covered torso coming in direct contact with the cold snow while snowflakes fluttered onto his lashes and hair. he laughed again as he rolled onto you, trapping you under his weight while you looked up at him dreamily.

"I missed you," you whispered seriously, saying those words for the thousandth time today, "a lot. I'm glad you're back."

he struggled to formulate a response, blush almost as red as the tips of his frozen ears or his hair, instead letting his body drop onto you and kiss you on the forehead. "I missed you more than you could ever imagine. almost got caught daydreamin' about you a few times on the mission."

"is that so?" you perked up a brow, amused. tachihara finally got off of you, offering his hand to help you up while the other brushed off the melting wetness on his back and knees. "what kind of daydreams?"

he pulled you up once you took his hand, leading you inside the apartment building while he shook his head to loosen the water droplets at the tips of his hair— almost like a dog. he leaned into your ear and whispered, "the kind I can't say out loud."

"how 'bout a more visual description, then?" you offered innocently, and he chuckled. once you reached the front door, you'd completely forgotten all of the loneliness you'd been feeling when you'd initially left. you barely made it inside the entrance when he had your back pressed against your decorated walls, knee slotted in between your legs and lips back on yours.

you took off your jacket and other garments, trying to toss them in the closet without breaking the kiss. only, once you'd finally kicked off your boots, you remembered his jacket.

"fuck, it's still outside, my bad," you murmured against him, "should I go back down and get it?"

"no need, just open up a window."

you did as he asked while he got settled, warming up by the fireplace and munching on the now cooled-down baked goods. the place still smelled like the sugar cookies, so he commented on how incredibly festive it all seemed. you just shrugged and said you had free time, but quickly admitted you were a little lonely lately. he noticed your frown and unconsciously mimicked it.

"anyways, are you gonna tell me why I'm opening a window when it's freezing outside?" you asked, turning towards him.

"close your eyes," he instructed. you felt a twinge of excitement as you complied.

a few moments later, you heard some clattering outside. barely resisting the urge to peek, you stole a quick look outside and saw the floating jacket, again. you rolled your eyes, placed a hand on your hip and scolded him for acting so melodramatic again. he just chuckled, but his laugh was enough to get your heart thawing out. he brought it inside and you closed the window behind it, but told him to levitate it to the closet. meanwhile, you had to drag him to the bedroom to get him to change out of his soaking wet clothes.

you watched him pull his damp shirt over his head while you got yourself comfortable on the bed. with his torso bare, you stared just a little too long at him, shamelessly, and tsked when he reached for the drawer for a replacement.

"hey, I'm still fuckin' frozen," he explained himself, but you jumped up and grabbed his wrist to stop him from putting anything on.

"we have a fireplace for that reason, love," you retorted.

that was just an excuse to get him naked for you in any way you could, and he let it happen. you cuddled with him on the sofa, his head buried in between your tits with your hands roaming all over his skin. under the covers, you got greedy and began sliding your hands under his pants. he let you take them off, but took your shirt off as well. heavy breathing into his mouth distracted you from skilled fingertips tugging off your pants next.

"I... mmm..." you hummed softly against him as you let him pull you on top of him. you sat down on him, legs parted on both sides and throbbing in between them hard to control. "haven't felt you... in so long..."

it was a request, and he knew it. your fingers couldn't do the trick, not once you had gotten used to his own, skilled and rough and so knowledgeable in understanding every spot and nook that could have you sighing on his knuckles. and he was just that; knuckle-deep in your soaking pussy as you spasmed around his fingers and felt him curl them around inside your walls.

"someone missed me a lot," he remarks with a smug grin while he looked at your eyes tightened shut and jaw slacked open as you rode his hand. you placed your hand on his neck, both steadying yourself so you could fuck yourself harder on his hand and choking him lightly so he would shut the fuck up.

you lowered your chest so you could kiss him heatedly through the fingerfucking, and whispered sweet nothings in his lips while occasionally gasping and panting for air.

"still cold?" you asked cheekily in his ear, licking around the shell and biting down on his earlobe. "or d'you want me to sit on that pretty cock of yours?"

he really was frozen; you felt his frigid skin as you pulled down his boxers and his cock sprung free, familiar pulsating as he grunted through the sensation. you lowered yourself onto him, slow and relishing in his pleasurable whimpers, and rocked into him even slower. it was just the two of you, by the fireplace, gently fucking while you smothered him in kisses.

you couldn't have asked for a better christmas present this year.

[ghostbustermelanieking]

for anyone who follows me and writes, fanfiction or original stuff... is it normal for pretty much no one in your personal in-person life to be interested in your writing? like i've got people who might read the odd short story i wrote, but usually if i ask someone to read something they just never do, and i never have anyone asking me about it, so like... is that normal?? does the average person not care if their friend or family member is working on a novel?

[liass-21]

WAHOO!! ALL THE CHRISTMAS FICS ARE OFFICIALLY FINISHED AND READY TO BE POSTED!

given that i sent the request for prompts on dec. 12th, and it’s now the 21st, i think it’s safe to assume i’ve written seven fics in ten days, totaling nearly 12,000 words! god damn!

if you don’t want to miss the ultimate christmas gift going live on ao3 sometime on christmas (whenever i wake up) then subscribe to my user profile! it’s gonna be epic. trust me guys.

[tunastime]

Cream of Turkey and Wild Rice, by VintageBeef

this is a gift for our lovely 🍂 anon, of whom i learned was their birthday today! i learned this yesterday. from laurie. thanks laurie. anyway—i hope you enjoy!

(1886 words)

(read it on ao3!)

Etho huffs out a warm breath and he can see it in the air in front of him. There’s a blanket of frost covering nearly every surface of the spruce forest he’s found himself in. The snow in the banks below is knee deep, and it covers the top half of the trees above him. Wedging the last of the brown mushrooms free from the coarse, gravely dirt below him, Etho stands. He brushes falling snow from his shoulders, pulls his hood a little further over his head. Luckily, his face is covered by a patchwork-colored scarf, tucked around his head and ears, a warm barrier between the cold and him. Bdubs insisted on it—it still smells like the pine tar soap he used to wash it.

Trekking out of the treeline, Etho makes his way back through the packed snow, careful not to punch his boots through anything loose. The bag on his hip is full of brown mushrooms and wild onion, the few bits of wild garlic he was able to find, chicken of the woods, bundles of pine straw for kindling. He marches back through the snow, reaching a ridge where he slides down, onto frost and dirt, rather than more snow. In the distance, over the patchy field and hills, he can see the monolith. The sun’s still 3/4ths of the way through the sky, with a bleak, white cast through the clouds.

The monolith is a warm shape against the horizon, despite it being stone. Maybe it’s the off-white shade of aged and weathered diorite, the flecks of other minerals intermixed. It fills his chest with something just as warm as the idea of stepping into the foyer of the house. He crests another hill and tries not to crush viola or primrose under his boots. The field along the edge of the birch forest usually hosts lily of the valley and tulip and daisy, but the snow’s all but snuffled them for now. In the spring, Bdubs’ll want to plant more. But for now, he points out the purple flowers every time he passes, and Etho stops to look.

Finally rounding the backside of the monolith, Etho stops at the threshold of the front door. He knocks the snow from the bottom of his boots, shakes it from the hood of his jacket, and pushes open the door.

He was right. The warmth floods him almost immediately, sinking into his bones.He unwinds his scarf, feeling the warm, dry air hit his face. No mask–the scarf had been enough as is. Plus it’s only Bdubs here, right now. He shrugs off his jacket, hanging it on the rack. His bag stays on the floor until he’s unlaced his boots enough to toe them off. As he does, he calls up to Bdubs.

“Bdubs?” he says.

“Etho?” Bdubs’ voice carries down the stairs. “I’m in the kitchen!”

“The kitchen?” Etho repeats. He cocks his head to the side, as if Bdubs can see it.

“Yeah!”

Etho snorts.

“Why?”

Bdubs sounds a bit defensive when he replies. Etho starts up the winding stairs, tracing the banister with his hand that isn’t supporting the bag.

“What’s it to you?” Bdubs says.

“What’cha makin’?” Etho asks as he pauses at a threshold. “Smells good.”

“Well come up and see!” Bdubs taunts. Etho rolls his eyes.

“Okay!” he calls up. Then, quieter, to himself, laughing a little. “Okay…”

He winds his way up the stairs, following the curve, until he meets the shrouded kitchen. He pushes past a particularly friendly vine and into the kitchen. Bdubs is standing at the stove, brow furrowed over a large pot on the burner. It smells fantastic. Onion. Chicken. Some other spice he can’t place. He sets his bag on the counter, rubbing his hands together to warm them.

“Hey, stranger,” he says. Bdubs turns. His face lights up all at once, softening as he sees Etho. Etho pretends like a pang of longing doesn’t stab through his chest. He laughs it away. Bdubs sets the spoon in the soup.

“Hey, you,” he says, smiling as he wanders over. Etho’s smiling, too, eyes crinkled at the corners.

“‘S cold out there,” he jokes. Bdubs snorts.

“Don’t I know it, sweetheart. C’mere—”

Etho draws himself closer to Bdubs. Bdubs’ hands come up to cradle his face, slotting around his jaw. Etho’s hand falls to Bdubs’ hip, the other gracing the back of his head. Etho leans down to kiss him. Just once, rather quickly. But he stays when they pull back and smiles at him and scrunches up his nose.

“Hiya, B.”

Bdubs laughs. He pulls away, patting Etho’s cheek.

“Hey,” he laughs, drifting back to the stove, but not without his hand around Etho’s wrist, pulling him with him.

“So,” Etho says, peering over his shoulder at the pot. He swears his stomach grumbles. “What’re you makin’?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s Beef’s recipe—” he gestures to an open cookbook next to the stove. The pages have all been handwritten, handbound by Etho and Bdubs themselves. Some of the older pages are starting to come unsewn, and they’re clipped in with pins and paperclips. Etho glances over.

“It’s not his pumpkin soup he stole from me, is it?” He reads it over, just a cursory glance. Carrots, onion, oil, celery–it’s not, not that he knows of, unless it’s changed that dramatically.

“No, no,” Bdubs shakes his head. “It’s chicken and manoomin.”

“Oh—” Etho blinks. He has a memory of sitting in a clear patch of snow, canvas tarp pulled taut next to a tree. Pause is sitting next to him by the fire. Beef is asleep under the tarp, burrowed in his bedroll. Pause is writing on the back of a scrap of paper, spoon in one hand. He waves it a little.

“What’s in it?” He asks. “Chicken, milk, that wild rice we found…”

Etho hums. “Broth.”

“Well duh, Etho—”

“Onion and parsley,” says Beef, voice heavy with sleep.

Etho snorts. He leans his head on Bdubs’ shoulder.

“I remember this one.”

Bdubs shrugs. Etho’s head moves with him. Bdubs turns his head and his nose bump’s Etho’s cheek. He laughs a little, especially when Etho leans into him and buries his face in his shoulder. His arms coil around his ribs. Bdubs leans back into him reflexively.

“I knew you would,” he says, patting Etho’s hands around his sternum. “That’s why I made it.”

Etho laughs against his shoulder.

“Ah, you caught me,” he says. Bdubs laughs, too.

“Get the kettle down before you get comfy, okay?” He gestures to the cabinet with his spoon. “I want a cup of hot chocolate ready before I go anywhere with you while the soup finishes.”

“With me?” Etho says, lifting his head. He unclasps his hands as Bdubs beckons him forward to try the soup. Let me know what it needs, it says. It’s good—more flavor than Beef ever put into it. He wonders if it’s sauteing the onion that helps? More salt and pepper than Beef would use? He hums, frowning.

“Yeah,” Bdubs says, not about the soup, but to answer Etho. “I always figure you have some idea in your head.”

Etho snorts. “It needs more parsley. It’s missing the base flavor.”

Bdubs nods, eyebrows raising. 

“Snowball fight?” Etho says, after a beat. He’s moved to fetch the kettle, filling it in the sink. He sets it on the stove-top and makes sure the burner isn’t on. He’ll put it on when they come back, himself triumphant, and Bdubs covered in snow.

“Of course you would–” Bdubs snorts. “Yeah, yeah, alright.”

Etho watches him untie his apron and set the ladle next to the soup. When he meets Etho’s eye, he grins, then shoos him off down the stairs. Etho bolts—he can’t help the excitement that’s just decided to chug through his veins. He skips a few steps, but he makes sure Bdubs is following him as he trails down. 

He’s halfway to putting his coat on when Bdubs finally gets down. Bdubs moves around him, pulling on his coat, lacing his boots. He steals Etho’s colored scarf, twisting it around his neck, before he finds another, and motions to Etho to lean down to wrap it. He tucks it around his nose and mouth. Effectively masked.

Etho smiles at him from under it. Bdubs takes his hand. And now he’s pulling them out the door and into the backyard of the Monolith, where the snow cover is a bit thicker. He leaves him for a moment to trail a few steps away, so that his vantage point is better. He’s making sure not to step on any flowers peeking through the snow when—smack.

Snow falls down his open collar. He yelps.

Bdubs is laughing.

“Bdubs!” he gasps in mock offense. Bdubs snorts.

“Gotcha!”

Etho gapes at him. Then he leans over, packs a snowball, and chucks it. It whizzes by Bdubs head. Damn it!

Bdubs yelps in glee.

He’s packing another one. So is Bdubs. Bdubs throws and misses him by a long-shot. Etho throws and just barely clips his shoulder. He sprints side to side, trying to get him to miss. Bdubs is giggling like nothing in the world could be better.

They keep missing. Nothing’s really colliding aside from the one Bdubs managed to smack into the back of his head. They keep ducking at the opportune time. Etho’s fingers are pink with cold, starting to stiffen as he rolls another snowball in his hands. He peers with his good eye, tongue caught between his teeth, aims, and throws. 

It hits Bdubs smack in the chest, enough to catch him off-guard at the least, before Etho dissolves into laughter. Bdubs falls over backward, dramatically, as the snowball hits him, falling into the half packed snow with an oof.

“Etho!” he drawls, his complaint full in his voice. Etho giggles. 

Bdubs pulls him down. He flails, swinging his arms and legs out before he collapses next to him, nearly face first into the snow bank. Bdubs cackles, swatting at him as Etho’s arm and leg pin him in place. He sounds like he can barely breathe. 

“Etho!”

“Bdubs!” Etho says, incredulous and out of breath. He’s laughing, too, unable to unstick himself from his wedged place next to him. Bdubs thwaps the back of his head.

“Ow!”

“That’s what you get,” Bdubs says, but his expression softens as Etho weasels his way up to kiss his cheek.

“Sorry, B,” he says, apology dripping with triumph.

Bdubs snorts. Then he kisses him, still covered in snow. His lips are cold.

He lies there for a moment, still pinning Bdubs into the snow, when Bdubs shivers, and Etho feels the snow in the back of his hood start to melt down his neck. Ick.

“Can we go eat soup, now?” he asks, mostly into Bdubs’ cheek.

“Only if you help me up,” Bdubs complains, whacking his shoulder. Etho giggles.

He does. And he helps him knock the snow off his shoes, and he helps stick paper into them so they dry, and he helps finish the soup (and definitely doesn’t taste it again), and he sits across from Bdubs at the table, his heart full to bursting.

There’s still snow in his hair. He decides he doesn’t care.

[katyobsesses]

I think my glee obsession is returning in full force