#oh here comes the knight in shining armour lmao

[hauntingblue]

'You don't look like a criminal, buy me lunch after the combat' lmao rebecca is luffy approved

[d-for-donatello]

Parties aren't my thing.

Robin Buckley x reader

summary: robin doesn't like parties, but in this case, she's so glad she came.

word count: 1.4k

a/n: this is my first st fic /oneshot thing, and also very self indulgent lmao. this is also longer than i intended lmao.

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robin buckley does not like parties. she doesn't like them one bit. of course she goes to one every now and then, but on more that one occasion has been threatened by steve (lovingly of course) that he'd drag her by the earlobe so she can socialize. steve knows that she doesn't particularly enjoy being surrounded by sweaty, drunk and horny teens from all around town, but he also knows that once she's had a drink or two, she begins to loosen up and enjoy herself.

more often that not, the pair are joined by none other that eddie munson who knows that he isn't particularly liked by the masses, but won't miss the opportunity to get free drinks and to sell to the idiots inside who want to get high. he preferred to stick close by robin due to the fact that steve was usually off flirting with girls. that, and the two of them just got along incredibly well together.

this particular party is loud. and busy. and robin does not like it, despite having alcohol in her system. as she suspected, steve was nowhere in sight. and strangely enough, neither was eddie. they had all parted ways after leaving the kitchen with their first round of drinks and robin was yet to spot either of them.

she had quickly made her way through the crowd, still having no luck, and decided that she needs some quiet. so with that thought in mind, she heads outside and sits on the steps of the porch. its not exactly the quiet she was looking for, but the front door that swung closed behind her definitely did a decent job of muffling the music a bit.

and all too quickly, her solace is disturbed by the door opening, a short shuffling of feet, and then the door closing once more. robin takes no notice of whoever had disturbed her, instead leaning her arms on her knees and looking aimlessly down the street.

that is, until the person speaks up.

"are you okay?" the voice asked. robin knew that voice. sorta.

she turned around to confirm the belonged to who she thought it belonged to, and sure enough, she was right. stood behind her stood her knight in shining armour (not that the girl knew). except robin thought her less like a knight but of a princess, and her suit of armour was but a baby blue coloured summer dress and slightly dingy white converse. it took robin a few moments of staring at the girl behind her with wide eyes before her brain finally thought of something to say that wouldn't make her sound strange and her mouth caught up with her mind.

"huh? oh, yeah, i'm good. great. fantastic. thanks for asking. what about you? are you good? did it just get hotter right now?"

robin wills herself to stop talking. she locks eyes with the girl and gets a smile thrown her way.

"you sure you're okay?" the girl says with a smile as she steps forward to stand beside robin, before sitting next to her. the girl smiles at her again and takes a swig of the beer that robin hadn't noticed her holding until now. she can't think of anything sensible to say that would't cause her to start rambling, so she just nodded her head.

for a moment, the two sit in a comfortable silence, listening to the dulled down music, before y/n pipes up again.

"how come you're out here alone robin? don't you usually hang out with steve harrington?" at this, robin internally starts panicking. not only does this gorgeous girl know who she hangs around with, she she also knows her name! she takes notice of her. robin, slightly red faced, turns her head to look at y/n.

"he disappeared ages ago to flirt with pretty girls." she then added in a small voice, "you know my name?"

y/n laughed slightly, and robin decided she wanted to hear the sound all day every day.

"that seems very in character of him. i don't see why he isn't flirting with you then, because, if i'm being totally honest, between you and me, you are probably the prettiest girl here." she leaned to the side and rested on her palm, bringing her face closer to robins as if to make sure her point got across. "and why wouldn't i know your name silly?" she added with a smile.

robins face flushed a bright red. she was sure that even with the dim lighting that y/n could see it, and she thought it fruitless to try and hide the fact. y/n leaned away and placed her drink down on the step closest to the ground so neither of them would knock it over.

"um, how come you're out here?" robin was playing with the small rip in her jeans, hoping that the girl next to here wouldn't sense how nervous she actually was. y/n leaned forward slightly, and then back, swaying in the soft, summer night breeze.

"parties aren't really my thing. my friends dragged me here and gave me no choice in the matter since i flaked out on them at the last party invite. but, can i tell you something?" y/n turned to robin with a small, expectant smile on her face.

"yeah, of course." robin said, nodding dumbly.

"i'm actually kinda glad i came though, because i kinda got to know someone tonight. and it's an amazing feeling to talk with them because i've liked them for so long but i have no idea how to talk to them. but honestly, it just came so easy." y/n said with a wide grin, and upon hearing this, robins heart shattered a little.

"o-oh, let me guess, was it one of the jocks, nerds, maybe my boy steve?" she said, trying to put up a facade to not let the girl next to her know she had broken her heart slightly. she scolded herself for getting her hopes up, because of course a pretty girl like her was straight, and of course there was no way robins feelings would be reciprocated.

y/n's face softened a little, and she tuned her body to face robin. "can i tell you a secret?" as expected from her, robin nodded furiously, a hint of a supportive smile etching its way onto her face. y/n let out a slightly shaky breath, before her face fell and she became serious. "it's not any of the jocks, or the nerds, or your boy steve." she let out another breath, and robin was waiting to hear who her crush was so fascinated with.

"it's you."

the two words were uttered at barely above a whisper, but when they left the girls mouth, robin feels as though they had been shouted from the rooftops.

robins eyes widen. her face flushes. and she's instantly smiling, thanking the gods above that steve had forced her to come along.

"you like me? you, y/n l/n, like, me? like, like like or just like, like?i just said the word like too many times. i'm sorry, i ramble when i'm nervous! i don't mean to, i just, i like you too! like, like like but i thought you-" her rambling is cut off by y/n's hand being gently placed over her mouth.

"thought i was what, straight? no way, have you seen the guys here? like don't get me wrong they're definitely attractive, but have you seen you?" robin feels like she may explode as y/n's hand falls from her face.

"wow." is all robins brain can come up with.

"yeah. i'm sorry if i'm coming on a little strong, i just thought-" robin unintentionally cuts her off because she feels like her mind is thinking about things at a million miles and hour, and the one thought she can coherently say is,

"can i kiss you?"

y/n nods her head, and there, under the moon light, robin finally gets to kiss the girl she was convinced was unattainable. it's slow, and a little awkward, but to both of them, it feels heavenly. after a moment, the two finally part, smiling like a pair of idiots, and they rest their foreheads on one another.

" you know, parties aren't really my thing either, but i'm so glad steve made me come with him."

"i'm glad steve made you come too."

[tathrin]

i’m so in love with your AU, especially the parts where Gimli is being influenced / hearing the whispers of his ring!! i love hearing Gimli’s inner workings and thoughts as he’s further being corrupted. im not sure where I got the idea that dwarves are more resilient to the influence of the ring (not sure if this is from canon or fanon or just vibes ach) but it’s really fascinating to read your story with the thought that dwarves are resilient (ESPECIALLY GIMLI!!! the knight in shining armour who in the movies literally immediately tried to destroy the ring) and seeing just how far gone Gimli has gone to justify the corruption to himself. its like Gimli is an unmoveable rock and his ring Knows This, so it has chipped away at him slowly, until he withered away and has become something unrecognisable. given what it took for legolas to recognise gimli fully and completely (him taking off his ring) it seems this is already in effect!! but somehow though despite the corruption and the pain going on here i still Trust gimli, isn’t that insane? 😅 it’s like yeah he’s definitely being influenced by evil energy and yeah he’s committed war crimes but also he’s Gimli so that’s okay 🫶 no but in all honesty i feel like how legolas did first seeing him, couldn’t recognise him at first but once i did i flinched back in fear at the dark lord of erebor i saw!! (but also i just feel like when it comes to gimli i cant lose hope!) maybe he snaps out of the evil influence, maybe he falls further into its hold!! who knows what’s gonna happen in this AU? cant wait to read more! <3 (also many apologies for the HUGE chunk of text 😅)

Oh my gods don’t APOLOGIZE for this, I am flailing over it. I am writhing on the floor making happy screams. Thank you ahhhh I am so glad you like it, thank you! And I’m going to respond by rambling my ass off at you, so I hope you don’t regret it too much ahaha. But like. yes! Gimli IS the knight in shining armor! The unmovable rock! The incorruptible pillar! But now...

Well, now I have to justify a dark take on him in this weird-ass AU idea that bopped me on the head out of nowhere lmao. So I’m going to just gush my thoughts out at you incoherently, and see if I can A: get them a little more concrete in my head and B: see what you think! (This is what you get for engaging with me I’m so sorry. You stuck your finger through the cage and now I’m gnawing on it excitedly lol.)

You’re right about Dwarves and the Rings btw, the original Seven Rings couldn’t corrupt the Dwarves the way they did Men (no Ringwraithdwarves lol) they basically just gave them Severe Goldsickness, iirc. But! it’s not gold that Gimli wants! Over him gold shall have no dominion. So that wouldn’t be a very viable way of getting to his heart, silly Ring. So basically where my head went was, the Rings work by corrupting a person’s goodness not by just like. mustache twirling mwa-ha-ha evilness, right? They get to you by offering you what you want, not what the Dark Lord wants; that’s how they hook you, anyway, and then it shifts and drags you down with it into what It wants...but that’s how it starts.

With Frodo, the way the Ring got to him was through him showing Gollum mercy, basically: the whole “I won’t kill you, but if you attack me again you’ll be thrown into fire!” thing. Sure it was wearing him down all along in little ways, but that was where the Ring got its final major defining “in” with him. With Boromir, it was “hey do you want strength to defend your city?” and yeah, of course he does! Who wouldn’t? That’s a viable desire!

So with Gimli, Durin’s Ring has really been working with not a lot so far, tbh.

It’s certainly been enacting influence! Twisting, corrupting, cajoling; chipping away, as you said. A year ago, he wouldn’t have been able to bring himself to do X...but a year ago, he had to do Y. And doing Y makes doing X easier to bear; that’s how corruption works. And the Ring has certainly been working hard. But it just hasn’t been able to get much of a grip.

Because Gimli is compromising his sense of right and wrong for the sake of the greater good, sure; but that was less about the Ring on his hand luring him in than it was about the fact that all of Middle-earth has been conquered by a Dark Lord, so there are no good choices left. Do you defy Gondor and watch your people be slaughtered on the altar of your pride? Or do you bend your knee and try to keep them alive as best you can? Gimli chose the latter, and that’s led to a terrible (and slowly corrupting) struggle, because he has to side with evil “for the sake of his people” and accept, allow, and sometimes even order evil things done, and there’s no good way off that road to hell once you start walking it (especially in Tolkien) — but he hasn’t really needed (or wanted) the power of the Ring. Yet.

Now all of a sudden here’s Legolas in chains before him, and elves are the one thing in Middle-earth who don’t get the option of “bend your knee to the bad guy and live, or defy him and die” — for them, it’s just die. And of course Gimli doesn’t want to stand back and watch Legolas die. But maybe Gimli can save him! He’s the Lord of Erebor! He has a Ring of Power! He should be able to do something to save him...right!?

And that’s how the Ring is (finally!) getting its big “in” with him here.

He’s already compromised himself so much, he thinks; he’s already got so much blood on his hands, spilt to save his people. He’s watched children in Dale starve, because he doesn’t dare give them food the Dark Lord doesn’t think their people have earned. He’s watched Mirkwood burn and stood behind his walls and done nothing. He’s let elves be worked to death in his mines. He’s accepted a Ring of Power, and all it’s done has been to leave him even more powerless than before. He’s stood back while good people were executed, because nothing he said could have saved them and daring to try would have only made more trouble for the people depending on him. He’s pledged his allegiance, and that of his people, to a monster for the sake of making sure the dwarves who rely on him live to see another day. He’s already damned. So what else does he have to lose?

Well. Legolas’s life, as it turns out. And if the Ring can save him...well.

Gimli is such a good, strong person. He’s never wanted power for himself, or lordship, or anything like that. He just wants to save people, to protect them. And just like with Boromir, the Ring is going to offer him the power to do that, and that might be what pushes him over the edge from slowly damning himself by making the best of increasingly bad choices...to falling off the edge into total darkness.

But we’ll see! I have no idea where this story is going to go, so maybe it’ll be a story of salvation! Or maybe it won’t. We get to find out together. Yay?

[xhanisai]

Would you be willing to share your Mariblanc recs?

Sure! There's so many that I have read and enjoyed- but it would take me forever to find all of them. So, I've gone through my AO3 bookmarks instead. Below, here's a list of other people's mariblanc and Chat Blanc related fics that I absolutely loved and I'm sure you will love too.

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Blanc Skies (ongoing + SFW) - By 11JJ11

Little kitty on the rooftop, Not alone For he has his Lady.

(In which Chat Blanc was able to win.)

I really like how dark and angsty this story is. It's a what-if scenario that many of us often theories about and I'm super happy that this talented writer has started this fic. It's quite heavy and I really like the way that both Marinette and Chat Blanc are depicted here too. I personally can't wait for the next update~

A lovely read for those who enjoy reading dystopian like stories and love the build-up of dread and tension.

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Hello, My Old Heart (finished + NSFW) - By QuantumChickpea

Chat Blanc was first known as Adrien Agreste, but that name was dead to him now. He no longer cared to hear that name and if anyone chose to even so much as speak it, he would send them to the keep.

Adrien Agreste was a prince, a knight in shining armour, that obeyed his father’s every word and the only heir to the throne. But none of that mattered anymore when his father was long gone. Murdered and trialled for treason. (Blancweek2021)

This one is a royalty AU and turned out to be sweeter towards the end than I was expecting (and I liked that a lot hahah!). I really liked how Chat Blanc was first depicted as a cold, ruthless prince and it took Marinette's determination and love to bring him back to the way he was. It's a trope that I really do love and it works perfectly with the mariblanc dynamic. Although angsty at first, it has a happy ending.

A great read if you have a love for medieval/royalty AUs as well as some sweet, sweet lovemaking.

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a happy ending (finished, oneshot + SFW) - By maketea

Ladybug and chat noir have five minutes to talk after she deakumatises him.

Technically, although he's been purified, he was Chat Blanc so it counts lol. Regardless, it's short and sweet but each line still packs a punch and is quite powerful and emotional. I really liked the pacing and the bittersweetness but also, the hope towards the end was the cherry on top. Another what-if scenario that we wish that canon has tackled during the episode.

A nice read if you like seeing Ladybug slowly fall for her partner and mourning over what they could have had as well as some soft intimacy.

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freedom [doesn't come free] (finished + SFW) - By Bronte

You know that part where Nathalie just marches into the Dupain Cheng Boulangerie Patisserie with that smug little smirk on her face and literally supports our favourite father of the year as he threatens (I repeat, threatens) our fourteen-year-old protagonist?

Yeah, me too.

This is a Chat Blanc re-write.

Oh my God, when I say that this story cracked me up, I fucking mean it. It's witty, hilarious, pure serotonin for the body and it's basically everything we could have had! It's a really well-done rewrite with a balance of everything you could want and the author's tone throughout the chapters is consistently enjoyable.

An awesome read if you want to laugh your ass off and watch Gabriel Goosebutt-Haired Agreste get what he deserves whilst Marinette and Adrien have the happy ending they deserve.

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been here before (finished, oneshot + SFW) - By Boogum

The sight of Marinette with her hair down is a slip of ice on his spine. It's the little prickles that creep along his skin, whispering to his soul of familiarity. Of been here before. It's the haze of dreams and echoes of loneliness and ice, and it leaves him frozen.

Or, in which Adrien starts to remember the events of Chat Blanc.

Another what-if scenario that was so well written and just so enjoyable to read. The slow-burn of confusion and grief that takes over Adrien was conveyed brilliantly and the angst hits the spot just right. I really liked the pacing, the description and the ending bound the whole story together in a nice little bow.

A wonderful read for those hungry for Adrien angst and figuring out his feelings for Marinette.

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Blanc Figment Series (Ongoing? + SFW) - By True_InTha_Blue

Memories and Emotions are a magic of their own and Ladybug faces her fears once again when Sandboy returns. What should she do when her fears not only affect her but her partner when already their relationship is strained? What should she do, when blue eyes know what lies beneath the mask?

The fact that I stayed up all night to read both the prequel and the sequel in the series says a lot lmao. These fics deliver with the dread and memories of Chat Blanc throughout as well as feeding our Marichat needs. It's angsty, emotional but also full of comfort and it's unique with the depictions of the main characters. I personally loved the lore and usage of magic conveyed throughout the story and it doesn't fail to keep you intrigued.

A great read if you love to see both heroes falling for each other all over again as they tackle Chat Blanc who seems to have developed his own sentient power.

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Trouble in White (finished + SFW) - By imthepunchlord

Finding your soulmate is supposed to be uplifting, and amazing, and just... miraculous. But for Marinette, it wasn't any of that. Her soulmate, he... he was... What does one do when your soulmate is an akuma?

This is one of the first few fics I came across in the beginning, before Chat Blanc was introduced in canon and it does not disappoint. It has a good balance of angst, comfort and love and of course, has my favourite trope: Marinette changing Chat Blanc both metaphorically and physically through purification lmao. It's sweet, it's enjoyable throughout the chapters and the ending is satisfying.

A nice read for those who not only love soulmate AUs, but also a good slow burn romance with the dilemmas of angst in the background that comes to play.

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That's it for now- there are also many other wonderful Chat Blanc related stories in my bookmarks (and probably hundreds more that I'm yet to read) but right now I'm running out of time and have lots of work to do lol.

Feel free to add anymore more mariblanc/chat blanc recs to this post!

[raspberryranpo]

Would like to request 2+22 with my BL boys post time skip pls. 💙

fluff prompts 2 + 22

fire emblem three houses: blue lion boys

ayo.... could you please send your other prompt with claude in again as an ask because it’s come up as a submission 😭 i’m sorry for being picky lmao

also i didn’t know how to combine them so i’ve kind of done them separately :(( sorry

interlocking pinkies & kissing someone’s cuts/bruises/scratches

DIMITRI

i think dimitri would prefer to hold pinkies instead of holding hands

not that he doesn’t want to hold hands; he just thinks that he’ll crush your hands (no matter how small or large) with his stupid strength

and for that, he curses himself

he wants NOTHING more than to just hold your hand. nothing more.

so he just links pinkies instead and hopes for the best

it’s a very cute little gesture and it isn’t too over the top, so he can do it whenever he wants, post or pre timeskip

and everyone you walk past thinks you’re so cute & dimitri definitely notices their looks

doesn’t say anything though - but he’s very proud seeing everyone watch the two of you

also i have already done 22 for dimitri here :):)

DEDUE

oh no my uwus i’m dropping them everywhere ahhh

on a more serious note, please link pinkies with dedue

not only does he think it’s the cutest thing ever, but it is actually the cutest thing ever

his big ol fingers around yours brings joy to whoever looks on

dedude believes that you & him holding pinkies is much more romantic and intimate than actually holding hands

and also it’s easier linking pinkies when he has other responsibilities to take care of

speaking of being romantic and intimate... when the day is done and you & chef doodoo (i’m so sorry) are getting ready for bed

he loves it when you kiss all of his scars and his bruises, whether they be old or fresh

there’s something about you loving all of his little imperfections that just makes his little heart flutter

SYLVAIN

now this precious boy has probably held hands with many a woman before in his life, but linking pinkies??

he’s never had a girlfriend long enough to do the small and sweet things like that, so when you take his pinky in yours, his heart feels like it’s going to explode

always takes your pinky and pulls you close (by your pinky for some reason) and kisses your cheek as though there’s nobody watching

he’s so in love bless him

but kissing his scars? oh boy oh boy

the fact that you want to take time out of your night to do that just has him in a mess

makes sure to kiss all of yours right back after you’re done with his

it becomes a nightly routine for the two of you & he won’t rest knowing that your imperfections have been unloved, nevermind his

FELIX

he always ends up holding your pinky when you’re making your way to the next town on the quest to find edelgard

he’s got the biggest blush ever but he just can’t bring himself to let go

felix would probably prefer holding hands, but due to his stubbornness, he ends up holding pinkies instead

not that he minds though, but what he DOES mind is the teasing he gets from sylvain

sometimes dimitri joins in too and then felix actually loses the plot

just kiss him to calm him down

talking about kissing... when you kiss all of his scars that litter his back and his arms, he’s a mess

he’s mush. he loves it so much

he’s too embarrassed to kiss yours back but he’ll let you know he’s appreciative by kissing you for a long amount of time afterwards

ASHE

grr ashe is so wholesome

links pinkies with you ALL THE TIME and gets flustered when he does but ah well

every time he holds your pinky, all of his friends (without fail) aww at him & he loves it

he links your pinkies, lifts yours up to his lips and kisses it like it’s your hand (he’s trying to be your knight in shining armour)

show him that he’s your hero by making sure none of his scars or bruises go unloved please

he’s all flustered & he’s worried you’re making yourself uncomfortable but just assure him that you’re not

when you tell him that you want him to know that you love all of him, he’s a puddle on the floor

[celestialblushxoxo]

hiii! may i please participate in this game? my pronouns are she/her and my initials are MS. i'm so excited to hear from you! thank you so much for this and merry christmas! <3

Hey babie, hope you're having an amazing day/night💗 Here's your reading ✨

Knight in shining armour. The first thing I heard. He is this charmer, admired by many. Macho lmao. A total charmer. He is intelligent, witty, has good sense of humour, affectionate, he literally looks like a model lmao. Like he has that effect on people, the IT boy, men wanna be like him you know that kinda energy. Athletic, maybe involved in sports as well. Loves to party, celebrate anything literally, ambitious, sees his close mates as family, Life Of The Party energy, not at all an introvert. But ofc he has issues like everyone. Afraid of commitment and emotional intimacy. It's not like he never wants to be in a relationship or marriage or something. He does, he loves love but he is afraid and also has fixed opinions. He wants things to go in a certain way, he has this image of how a perfect relationship should be in his head and how a partner is supposed to be. He is afraid to share how he feels, afraid to be vulnerable. What I see is this makes him literally single like you maybe his first proper relationship (and only ofc). It's like he's had flings but he never had a proper relationship with them cause he didn't find that bond and didn't feel like they fit his criteria. The funniest thing I see is you are literally unexpected in his life firstly. Like your entry is unexpected. Secondly you literally aren't like the girls he had flings with or had in his mind. You're different. You change his perspective on love. You literally change his fixed opinions god😭🙌 go bestfriend 🙌 he won't know what hit him seriously. This was important to say hence the whole story. Moving on to his looks, he's this tall, dark and handsome. Conventionally really handsome. Dimples. Striking smile. Gorgeous hair. Oh god these adjectives keep coming in lmao, he definitely gets complimented everywhere. Turns heads where he goes. Strong, athletic and muscular, toned body. Inverted triangle body(SIS YOUR MAN ISTG🤤) , Has a good dressing sense, model like, beautiful teeth, may have dragon teeth on one side I hope it's called that you know the pointy canine. Smells good. Long limbs. Veiny hands. Dark features, hair, eyes etc. Maybe a latina or south asian or African descent is also what I see. His financial condition, well he is wealthy, I see family money. He may look after the family business or have his own. He is very loyal, someone who is very caring and also soft hearted like he may look like this party animal, carefree but he is a big softie hahaha awwww. What do others/his close ones see him as this gorgeous human being, who can literally charm anyone, get away with stuff, resilient, brave, someone definitely fun to hang out with, understanding, a good listener, a teddy bear at heart, he's good at giving hugs, Someone affectionate but also guarded and emotional at times as well. Right now I think he is in uni or higher studies, like he is still a student. The popular kid. Frat boy? He may have gone abroad to study or something but yeah he is having fun hahaha. With you, he'll treat you like a babie, he wants to protect you, he'll keep complimenting you and he'll always make sure you know that you mean the world to him. Big on cuddles and kisses. Gift giving is also what I see. Restaurant hoping, random and spontaneous date nights. A very playful and loving relationship.

Possible placements: Libra, Gemini, Taurus, Leo, Venus, Sun

Possible fashion aesthetic:

(sis you won, the images you got istg he is literally like this in person, he is so funny and cool like hahaha his energy is pure really)

Thank you so much for being so patient! Hope you enjoyed your reading love, do let me know if you liked it or not, it helps me improvise! Have a wonderful day ahead babie💗💗✨

[yourfinalbow]

Ack anon I'm sorry. Tumblr ate your ask and I'm 🔪 But I saved your ask to put on the Google Doc so don't fret! I have it!

“Hi Ghastie Ghast, I wanted to share a prompt with you lol. I decided to go more holiday theme’d because it’s never too early to get into the holiday spirit.

“Your favorite winter drink was back on the menu, so I decided to surprise you with it.”

Please enjoy this prompt lmao”

The nickname made me -_- but hi Little Gray Circle Dude With Sunglasses! Thank you for sending me this! I had fun writing it. I'm assuming you wanted a Destiel fic, so that's what I wrote! (Also bonus points for Saileen as a background ship?) I sort of strayed a little from the prompt and the tone gets heavier as it goes on… 👀 I also accidentally wrote more than intended, so you can read it on Ao3 if that's easier. (And maybe give it a kudos because you’re the best?)

Title: Black Coffee Derangement Syndrome

Ship(s): Dean Winchester/Castiel, Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy.

(Basic) Tags: Fluff, Slight Angst, Domesticity in the Men of Letters Bunker, Established Dean/Cas, Established Sam/Eileen, Using black coffee as a metaphor for hypermasculinity, With a whip cream style topping of internalized homophobia. *Finger guns.*

Warnings: Coffee gatekeeping and small sections of fluff that are as sweet as Cas’s Starbucks order. Also I’ve been to Starbucks once. Maybe twice? (Also a single mention of a drug that's commonly found as white powder, the non-descriptive comparison of Sam’s stupid health stuff with emesis, and use of the name that the figurehead for Germany in WW2 bore, just to be safe.)

Rating: T? Maybe? For language?

Word Count: 9k+

Quick thanks to my awesome beta @walksinstarllight! They are a poet and a writing sorcerer (wizard without a hat), and the only reason this fic even makes sense so please go shower them in kudos. (You can find their work here.)

Another thanks to @internetintroverts, who described a peppermint mocha to me in like 300 words because I drink black coffee and know nothing of anything ever. You can find their work here! (There's an Easter egg of one of their fics in this one hehe.)

The first thing Dean did when Cas got back from the Empty was give him coffee.

Okay no.

The first thing he did was fall into Cas’s arms and grip that stupid trenchcoat until his knuckles turned white. Shaking and laughing with hot tears streaming out of his eyes, he told him he was an asshole for leaving him like that. And to never, ever do it again. With blurry eyes and all other thoughts hazy, he told Cas he could have it, he could have what he wanted. Whatever he wanted. He told Cas he loved him too.

But then the next thing was coffee.

Caffeine is a hunter’s number one best friend, and since Cas was human again, Dean knew Sam was going to come at him with his stupid green health drinks and herbal tea. As Cas’s knight in shining armour, (a title used by Dean and Dean only), it was his duty to protect him from the disgustingly liquified rabbit food.

Now he expected Cas to like black coffee, you know, like a normal person.

But no, oh no. Apparently, he was dating a heathen.

Dean had to actually rub his eyes the first time he watched Cas fix his own coffee. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, mouth agape.

Cas was leaning on the counter, humming some song that Dean could neither recognize, nor would he approve of, thank-you-very-much.

(Ok it was Champagne Problems by Taylor Swift and it's entirely possible he's listened to it once or twice but he still doesn't approve of it, thank-you-very-much.)

He held his yellow and black striped, bee-themed ceramic mug Eileen had bought him in one hand, and the entire five-pound bag of cane sugar in the other. And there he stood, happy as can be, pouring it directly into his mug.

Dean rubbed his eyes again.

And not even like, a normal amount either.

He just kept pouring, and pouring, and Oh my god he’s still pouring. Dean thought. It would honestly be more believable if it wasn’t sugar at all, and instead was in fact Cas’s secret stash of cocaine.

Dean might actually have to put sugar on the grocery list after he was finished.

His thoughts traveled back to Ishim doing the same thing with his coffee, in the tiny little diner Cas had set up as a meeting place. Dean had barged in that day, not thinking of his brother mocking him, or the possibility of danger inside. His vision was as tunneled as his thoughts  focused only on Cas, not caring about anything else.

By that time the following day, Dean thought they were both going to die. The bloody and uneven sigil on the wall, Cas no more than ten feet away. Not quite within a comforting reach. The room was spinning from the blow to his head, and he could barely make out the words being spat from Ishim’s mouth.

“You blast me away, you’ll blast away every angel in the room. I’ll survive. Castiel, on the other hand, he’s hurt. He might live, or he might just end up a bloody smear on the wall.”

He almost lost Cas that day.

The blood rushed to his ears as his instincts sought out the mark on the wall. Ishim had told him to roll the dice, but in his head he couldn’t look past the chance of rolling a one. Watching the acrylic cube bounce until it decided Cas’s fate. There was no dilemma, there wasn’t even a decision to be made. He would always choose Cas over himself. Silent acts of care he could never vocalize.

An inability to speak formed from fear and cowardice. Like a lion in his stomach scratching at the words until they fell back down his throat.

And it was that inability to speak that led Cas to think he was nothing more than a tool for the Winchester’s to use.

He almost let Cas believe he meant nothing to him.

Dean cleared his throat. “Mornin’ Sunshine.”

Cas set down the bag of sugar and picked up the pot, the glass making a small clink as it hit the top of the coffee maker. “Goodmorning Dean. Would you like any coffee?” He greeted cheerfully, turning around like he hadn't just put enough sugar to make a pound cake in his coffee.

“Uh.” Dean was still caught off-guard by Willie Wonka over there. “Sure Cas.” He took the coffee pot from his hand and muttered a thank you.

“So,” Cas started while Dean reached into the cabinet for his own mug. “What ingredient do you suggest I put in my coffee this morning?”

“Uh...I don't know man. I drink my coffee black.”

“Yes I know you’re boring Dean, but you can still help me not be.”

“Black coffee isn't boring it's-”

“Dean, if you say ‘manly,’ I will sit you down and make you eat only spinach and kale for a week.” Sam said, walking into the kitchen, hair still spiked up from sleep. He used one hand to sign the words, his other one occupied by Eileen, who was sleepily shuffling closely behind.

Dean looked aghast. “I would starve.” He attempted to sign his indignant response, hands moving sloppily while holding both his mug and the coffee pot.

“I think that's the point.” Eileen said, laughing. She looked at Cas. “Is Dean gatekeeping your coffee aspirations again?”

“Yes.” He answered, ignoring Sam’s laugh and Dean’s huff of exaggerated outrage.

“Have you tried cinnamon?” Sam suggested. “You like Dean’s apple pie, and that has cinnamon in it.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Sam. Dean told me not to ever take cooking advice from you.“

“And I stand by that.” Dean interjected suddenly.

“I can cook!”

“Ehhh…” Eileen’s comment bought her a look of betrayal. “Though Sam may be right on this one, you might like it.” She shrugged.

“See.”

Cas pondered the thought for a moment. “Perhaps I will then.”

“Do we have nutmeg?” Eileen said, breaking away from Sam’s grip to check one of the cabinets. He walked to the other side of the kitchen, intending to look through the spice rack, knowing exactly what his girlfriend was getting at.

“You better not mess up my damn kitchen.” He said quickly. “Or you're organising them all next time.”

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing full well Dean would never let him organise the kitchen. Eileen looked through them, carefully turning the bottles around until the labels faced her. She pulled out the cinnamon and clove while she was looking for the nutmeg.

“Found it.” Sam called from the other side of the kitchen, walking over and putting a hand on Eileen’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” She said with a smile, grabbing the plastic spice jars.

She individually tossed each one to Cas. “Use these, it will taste like a pumpkin spice latte.”

“And don't forget the milk.” Sam added.

Cas scrambled to catch the spices, successfully grabbing two of them out of the air, the third one intercepted by Dean.

“What’s a pumpkin spice latte?” He looked at Eileen before snatching the bottle of cinnamon from Dean.

“It's a famous drink you can get at Starbucks.” Sam answered.

Cas tilted his head to the side and squinted at him. “What's a Starbucks?”

“You know, the coffee shop Alex and Patience drag Jody to all the time.” Dean said.

“I’m pretty sure Donna drags her there too.” Sam added. “Something about girl’s date night out.”

“The one Claire says is for ‘basic bitches’?” He lifted his hands, forming air quotes as he spoke.

“Yeah.” Dean answered, quietly laughing. “That's the one. She’s probably right, too.”

Cas carefully put the different spices in his coffee, eyeing the mug warily. His light brown coffee now had specs of...stuff in it.

(And unbeknownst to him, there was also a small pile of sugar at the bottom, the coffee so saturated it wouldn't dissolve any more.)

Eileen laughed at the look on his face. “It's good, I promise.”

Sam turned to look at her. “How would you know? Most of the time you get hot chocolate and spike it with bourbon.”

“You’re the one who gets a Pink Drink.”

Dean choked on his coffee. “What?”

“It's strawberry and coconut milk, and it's delicious.”

“Sure it is Sam.” Eileen jabbed.

“So what I'm getting here is that not only have you two been to Starbucks often enough to have a regular order, but Sam gets something called a ‘Pink Drink’?”

“No…” Sam started, trying to find a way to defend them. “Sometimes we…”

“...Make our own drinks.” Eileen snapped her fingers as she finished for him, attempting to save them from the endless stream of good-natured insults Dean would throw at them otherwise.

“Well you two are a real Martha Stewart, aren't you?”

“Yeah, except she's a convicted criminal.” Sam attempted to snark back.

“So are you!”

Before either of them could respond, Cas shoved his mug into Dean's face. “You have to try this, Dean. It tastes like pumpkin pie.”

Dean carefully grabbed the hot mug from Cas and took a sip. He was right, it did taste kinda like pumpkin pie. He took another sip, letting the pleasant flavor sit on his tongue. The different spices mixed perfectly together.

“I mean it's… okay.” He lied.

Dean contemplated his pumpkin themed food options. “Though I would rather just have pumpkin pie.”

Cas took his mug back. “Fine. More for me.” He said with a smirk, mimicking the look Dean gives him every time Cas says he doesn't want anymore bacon, before taking another sip of the makeshift pumpkin spice coffee.

Dean smiled at him, setting his own mug down and moving Cas’s out of the way to pull him into a kiss. He could smell the nutmeg almost as much as he could taste the cinnamon on his lips.

“Mmm we should bake pumpkin pie tonight.” He said, pulling away just enough so he could talk.

“I would like that.” Cas answered. “All four of us could make pie. According to the 'mom blogs', as you call them, it would be a good family bonding exercise.”

“That’s right. And if they want any pie, they gotta help make it. That means more for us if they refuse.” He grinned.

“A win-win situation, really.” Cas smiled before tugging Dean close so their lips met again.

“I love you.” Dean muttered.

“I love you too.” Cas said softly.

Behind their backs Sam and Eileen were fake-gagging at their sickly sweet interaction, but secretly just glad the two of them had finally gotten over their stubborn (and oblivious) selves.

Sam was honestly overjoyed to see his brother finally happy. He would even go as far as saying finally willing to be himself, too. (Not that he would ever say this outloud. Sam can practically see Dean’s eyes roll farther back into his head than should be possible at the words.) All four of them had gone through more shit in the last few months than any normal person would in their entire life. They were all just lucky to be alive, and with that, learning how to savour the little moments of overly sweet normalcy.

(And the pumpkin spice-life Dean had secretly been longing for since they were little kids.)

So of course they were going to help bake pie.

---

“I want to try Starbucks.” Cas said the next morning, both of them still in bed.

Dean groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Can I ask why, or is this one of those, 'I'll tell you later’ disasters like with the slime ingredients?”

“I want to try all the human things that I didn't get to try last time.” He said offhandedly.

Dean pictured Cas’s hurt face when he had told him he couldn’t stay, smile broken as Dean’s own heart shattered from the look the newly-human angel was giving him.

He wanted to tell him it was going to be okay, that Cas himself wasn’t the reason, but the lion in his stomach clawed the words down faster than even the thought of ruining Sam’s chances at survival could.

With a pang of guilt from the memory, Dean pulled himself closer to Cas and rested his head on the other man’s chest. He wrapped his arms around him, trying to preserve as much warmth and comfort as he could until they had to inevitably get out of bed. “Only if you let me sleep like this for thirty more minutes.”

Cas smiled. “Oh, are we making deals now?”

“I’d sell my soul for you.” Dean said cheekily, which earned a glare from Cas. “Believe me, I know.”

After a beat he went on. “Fine, you have a deal.” Before Dean could celebrate by tugging the covers over their bodies, Cas added another clause to their agreement. “But... in true Crowley fashion, you have to seal the deal with a kiss.”

Dean lazily threw his arms into the air. “Victory.”

He turned over, pulling himself upwards until he was just inches from Cas. Cradling the angel-turned-Winchester’s head in his hands, Dean placed his lips on Cas’s, melting into the touch as he felt the other man’s arms wrap around his torso.

When he broke away from the kiss, Dean found himself face to face with the most beautiful smile he had ever laid eyes on, one born from adoration and love. Cas’s eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, but for once it wasn’t a sign of confusion when met with some obscure eighties rock reference. It was a tiny expression of care, and it was one that was truly Cas. Not Jimmy’s, not even one Cas had picked up from him or Sam. It was completely and wholly Cas, and a completely and wholly human thing to do.

He realized Cas had been doing that long before the Empty stole his grace.

Dean smiled back at him, relaxed. Like taking in a deep breath after being under murky water for forty years. He brushed a loose strand of soft, brown hair into its place, before falling back into his spot and closing his eyes. “Crowley would be proud.” He whispered with a soft laugh, smile deepening as Cas joined him.

When their quiet laughter died out, there was a pause, air stagnant and in its own sleepy haze

“Oh and Dean?”

“Hm?” Dean turned his head to look at him, eyes not failing to glow with their unusually bright, green pigment. He took a deep breath, the lids of his eyes already started to slowly fall back down again.

“The slime wasn't a disaster. You enjoyed it.”

“I did.” He muttered sleepily, a loose smile forming on his lips as he drifted off to sleep. Cas laid there, running his fingers through the other man’s hair, contentment and admiration showing itself in every feature on his face.

This was more than he could have ever wanted.

---

“Dean. Dean wake up.” Cas was excitedly whisper-shouting in his ear like a kid on Christmas morning. It was exactly thirty minutes later, (he had counted), and Cas was ready to get moving.

“No.” He answered back, mimicking Cas’s tone.

“But you’re like a cat.” He teased. “You're on me and I can't get up.”

Dean sighed. “I can't believe I let you talk me into this.”

“It didn't take much convincing.”

Dean rolled over to give Cas a playful glare, but was met with the saddest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen, completely throwing him off his guard.

“I'm going to kill Sam for teaching you that.”

Cas just continued to give him that look.

“Fine.” Dean relented, sitting up with a yawn and thinking about how he will now never be able to win another argument.

“Get dressed.” Cas said excitedly. “We're going to Starbucks.”

“Hooray.” He gave a sarcastic laugh, but a smile creeped on his lips.

They walked out of their room together, heading towards the bunker’s library. Dean slid in one of the chairs, turning Sam’s still-open laptop around and waking it up.

Cas, meanwhile, turned to a random page of the lore book resting on the table and started reading in an attempt to pass the time.

The sound of Dean typing filled the air. “So, I just looked it up, and do we have to go to Starbucks?”

“Yes.” Cas said simply, not looking up from the book.

Dean groaned. “Cas there isn't one in the county, let alone Lebanon. That's probably why Sam and Eileen make their own.”

“Where's the closest one?” Cas asked, his blinding, blue eyes glaring at the back of Sam’s computer like he was trying to will the coffee shop to be near.

“I thought it was across state lines and in Nebraska at first, but it looks like there's a small one in a town called Washington. It's about 80 miles from here.”

“Let's go!” Cas excitedly straightened his trenchcoat and headed towards the door.

“Or, we could leave Starbucks to the fourteen year old girls.”

Cas turned back around and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure their entire demographic is fourteen year old girls, staff included.”

Alright, smartass. Dean thought, struggling to hide a smile.

Cas walked out the door, expecting Dean to follow.

“It takes an hour to get there, our coffee’s going to be cold by the time we get home, and it's freezing outside.” Dean muttered under his breath, but he grabbed his keys off the table and stood up, willing to follow Cas to the ends of the earth if it meant he would stay with him.

Not that he was going to enjoy this trip. In fact, he was currently doing the opposite of enjoying, and they hadn’t even gotten into the car yet. Starbucks. Starbucks. Really, Cas? Of all the places he wanted to go, it had to be Starbucks. He couldn’t want to explore humanity through Target or something?

Even Claire wouldn’t be caught dead in that place, with all the frou-frou toppings, elaborate drink mixes, and colourful, drizzled syrup. The people who go to Starbucks are the kind of people who like coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee. Teenage girls who might as well just be drinking whip cream, and that was without considering the seasonal drinks they fawn over.

Seasonal drinks that shouldn’t legally be allowed to be referred to as coffee.

Dean couldn’t believe he ever agreed to this, but still, he begrudgingly followed.

---

Using the GPS on Cas’s phone, (Dean said his insane directional skills helped out too), they found the Starbucks relatively easily once they were in the little town.

They parked the Impala, and Dean looked at the modern building. The green lettering contrasted with the tan plaster walls, spelling “Starbucks.”

He heard Cas get out, his feet making a crunching noise as they hit the gravel, and watched from across the top of the car as he started towards the coffee shop. Dean looked at the building warily, reluctance painted on his face.

Cas was telling him some random fact about a bird he saw, but Dean could only think about his reputation that was about to shatter like a vase dropping on tile floor.

Reputation with who? He didn't know.

Well, he had a vague idea, but chose not to let his thoughts wander that far.

It was okay. This was fine. He could swallow his pride and-

“Ooh. The peppermint mocha looks good.” Cas was reading the limited edition drinks on the drive-thru menu as they traveled across the parking lot.

Dean was going to barf.

They walked into the building, immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of excessive amounts of flavoured syrup indoused coffee. Dean glanced around the well-lit building, taking note of the many different people there.

(He wasn’t about to have any black-eyed minions reporting his Starbucks order to a very judgmental Queen of Hell.)

Cas pushed Dean’s protesting body into the line, looking pleased with the many different options written on the menu overhead.

He enjoyed the small touch of Cas’s hands on his back, moving him forwards to the line, but was grateful Cas was careful not to let them linger there too long.

He was still wary about doing… this, in public.

He knew Cas was patiently waiting for him to be ready, so he didn't know how to tell him that he might never be.

The teenager working the cash register interrupted his train of thought. “What will it be for ya?”

“I would like a peppermint mocha please.”

“Alrighty. And you?”

“I'll take just a black coffee.”

The barista looked unimpressed. “And your names?”

Dean grinned. “John and John.”

“No relation.” Cas added.

The barista just sighed. “How do you want me to differentiate the two of ‘em then?”

“Oh you can put ‘John Bonham’ on mine.” Dean replied.

“Comin’ right up.” Their tone didn't change, still just full of apathy that could only be perfected by the work of a burnt-out teenager.

Dean and Cas walked down to the end of the counter and towards the pickup section. “Now tell me, Castiel.” He stressed his partner’s name. “Who’s John Bonham?”

Cas sighed, but the corner of his mouth upturned in a grin. “John Henry Bohnham, affectionately referred to as ‘Bonzo’, born in 1948 and was most well known for being the drummer of the rock band ‘Led Zeppelin’.”

“Mmm very close, but unfortunately you forgot the word ‘best’ in front of ‘rock band.’” Dean smirked before leaning in for a chaste kiss.

“You should have said I was ‘John Bon Jovi.’” Cas said, smiling.

“Why? Because you’re only good at this sometimes?” Dean closed the gap between them.

As soon as their lips met, Dean pulled away instinctively, realization hitting him like a hunter with a bat as his eyes widened in terror. “I-I'm sorry, I didn’t...” His words faltered as he looked around at the people sitting in the coffee shop, all of which were paying no mind to them.

He felt sick, guilt gnawing at him from a pit in his stomach.

“Hey, it's okay Dean. You know I'm perfectly fine with public displays of affection, and no one else even saw us. There's no need to apologize.”

“Yeah-h.” He said shakily. Before he could figure out who he was apologizing to, a voice from behind the counter called.

“I have an order for a mister ‘John’ and ‘John Bonham’.”

“That's us.” Dean spat the words out quickly, turning around to take them from the barista’s hand. He rushed out of the door, the small tinkling sound of the welcome bell and the blood rushing to his ears drowning out the sound of Cas’s call from behind.

He sat in the front seat of Baby, knowing he was being childish. Dean took a shaky breath and tried not to think about it.

About what the hell he was thinking, kissing Cas out in public like that. The judgemental eyes- black or not- that were watching. He thought about what his father would say, mind instantly going back to a moment in his childhood he has tried to forget since it happened, wondering where he went wrong.

About the time John had caught him and Lee, ignoring the weak excuses Dean was stuttering out. Skipping town faster than they had done in years.

About how the left side of his face had been a yellow-ish purple for weeks following, and the sore spot on his arm from where he caught the pavement as he flew towards it.

About how he had told Sam he just fell on a hunt. “Don't worry kid, you should have seen the vamp when I was done with him.” He swung his fist around in slow motion, pretending to punch an invisible enemy as his little brother giggled in childish bliss.

About how John never looked at him the same. The disgust in his eyes, harsh words on his lips.

About how he vowed to never disappoint his father like that again, and their joint hatred for that part of him. Sometimes it felt like the only thing they could agree on.

About how somewhere, somehow, he had decided Cas was different. That he somehow didn’t count, and that losing him hurt so much, was such an egregious pain, he wanted as much of Cas as he was allowed to have. And how that was something insurmountable stronger than the twisted, sick feeling John had placed in his gut.

He remembered something Cas had told him once: “Hatred isn’t a natural trait, Dean, it’s a learned one. A baby isn’t born with the ability to hate, it’s passed on from one broken soul to another. Love, love however. That’s something different altogether.”

Cas’s hand on his shoulder pulled Dean out of his thoughts. “Hey.” He said softly.

“Hey Cas.”

“I love you.” He got in the passenger's seat, taking his coffee from Dean’s still frozen hand.

“I love you too.” He whispered absentmindedly, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing but thoughts from the past. His mind fighting an internal battle, logic telling him that what he had with Cas wasn’t wrong, and even though everything from fate to God had tried to wedge itself between them, it was still the most right thing he had. And he knew that, but his dad’s drunken, booming voice echoed throughout his head, telling him that he was dirty. Telling him the Winchester men had no place for someone like him.

“You better stop that now, boy. Bad things happen to you when you’re weak.”

At the time he had taken that as a warning, rather than a threat. But now Dean wasn’t so sure.

It’s not even that his Dad was particularly religious. He wasn’t told that it was a sin, or that he was going to Hell. Though it’s not like that particular statement would have been wrong. He thought with a bitter laugh.

While the thoughts in his head were screaming mercilessly, the drive home was in a simple silence. The only noise being Cas’s occasional sip, and the sound of soft fabric rubbing against skin as Cas moved his hand in small, comforting motions against Dean's back.

When they got to the bunker, Cas, who was genuinely impressed that Dean managed to drive them home without crashing into a tree, pulled Dean out of the car and gently shook him out of his self-imposed stupor.

“Your coffee's cold.” Cas said with a laugh.

Dean blinked a couple times, clearing the fog from his mind, before laughing along with him. “And who’s fault is that? You were the one who insisted on traveling across the state to get it.”

“Do you want some of mine?” Cas asked. “There's a little bit left, and I held it next to the heater. It should still be lukewarm.”

“No thanks, Cas. I can go make some in the kitchen.”

“But what if I want you to try it?” Dean glared at him. “Don't make me do Sam’s ‘puppy dog eyes’ again.”

“Okay, okay. You win.” He put his hands up, mimicking a surrender. “I'll try some of your stupid, Christmas cookie, candy-cane flavoured coffee thing or whatever.” They started walking towards the entrance to the bunker.

“Peppermint mocha?”

“That's the one.”

Cas laughed at him.

“Oh just, give it here.” Dean said. He took a long sip from the disposable cup. He could taste a vague hint of whipped cream mixed in with the coffee, its light fluffy texture sticking to the last swallow of smooth liquid in the bottom of the cup. The chocolate and espresso rested on his tongue, and the peppermint was strong and refreshing. He took another sip.

“Does that face mean you like it?”

Dean looked at him guiltily. “No.” He opened the bunker’s door and started walking down the metal stairs.

“Yes you do.”

“No, I don't.”

“You took a second sip.”

Dean reached the bottom of the stairs first, and walked over to the War Room table to set both coffee cups and his keys down.

“So? I was trying to make sure I properly understood the flavour. Since when is that a crime?”

“You wanted to properly understand a flavour you didn't like?” Cas walked up to Dean and pulled the nearest chair out to sit down.

“What are you two arguing about this time?” Eileen asked from the library.

Cas clenched both of his hands into fists, putting the right one on top of the other. He made small, circular, stirring motions with his right hand. “Coffee.” He signed swiftly, movements fluid.

“Ah. That makes sense.” She spoke the words.

“What makes sense?” Sam asked, walking in from one of the hallways, making sure Eileen could see his lips before speaking.

“They're arguing over coffee again.”

Sam glanced at both of them, before his eyes reached the two cups on the War Room table.

“Wait a second… Dean?” He looked at his brother, before turning to face his best friend. “Cas?”

“Yes, Sam?” Cas answered.

“Did you two go to Starbucks?”

“I don't want to talk about it.” Dean grumbled.

“Yes, we did!” Cas sounded way too excited to be referring to coffee. “I got a peppermint mocha, and Dean tried some and liked it.”

“I did not.”

“I don't care what coffee you like, Dean. What I do care about is that you went all the way to Starbucks, and didn't bother to ask if we wanted to come.”

“Not cool Dean.” Eileen walked in, shaking her head and hiding a smile.

“I might have thought about buying you two drinks, but there was no way I was ordering yours with a straight face.” He looked at Sam. “And it's an hour away, they wouldn't have been hot or cold or whatever they're supposed to be by the time we got here.”

“Well then we'll just have to go back, all four of us.” Eileen put simply.

“It's an hour away.”

“We know.” Sam added.

“Let me say that again, in case you weren’t listening. It's an hour away. For coffee. That isn't even that good.”

“I beg to differ, Dean.” Cas said.

“Yeah I'm definitely with Cas on this one.” Eileen agreed while Sam nodded along.

“No. There's no way I'm getting back in Baby to drive all the way to Starbucks again.”

“Fine. We’ll go get our own.”

“With what car?” Dean said, very sure of himself.

Sam snatched Baby’s keys off the war room table, which in hindsight was probably something Dean should have expected.

“Let's hope Sam doesn't have too many shots of espresso.” Eileen said, faking concern. “I would hate for your baby to pay the price.”

“Fine. I'll drive you.” Dean grumbled while Eileen double fist-pumped her win.

Cas looked very pleased with the thought of getting to try more coffee.

---

They left shortly after, the drive over painful for everyone except Dean, who listened to the same four songs on repeat the entire hour.

(It’s their own fault, really.)

---

“Can we please listen to something other than Bob Seger on the trip home?” Sam complained as he slammed shut the door to Baby’s backseat.

“You’re just mad you didn’t get shotgun.” Dean said, closing his own door. “Besides, driver picks the music, everyone else shuts their cakehole.” Sam mouthed the words along with Dean, having heard the speech a million times before.

Eileen and Cas got out, neither one of them had any desire to input on their squabble, and were instead engaged in their own, quieter discussion.

Both brothers continued to argue until they walked into the Starbucks.

“Ah. There's the scent of overpriced coffee I missed.” Eileen joked as she took her first breath inside the building, using her hand to waft the smell towards her.

“What are you getting?” Cas asked Sam.

“I want my usual, and Eileen, what are you having?”

“Hot chocolate with espresso shots please. This place doesn't sell liquor.” She shook her head sadly and Sam laughed. “Good thing I brought my own.” She winked at them, opening her jacket just enough so they could see the inside pocket and showing off her flask.

“Oh, now that would be a Starbucks I would go to.” Dean said.

“You two wait in line.” Sam pointed to Cas and Dean. “We’ll save a table.”

Dean looked like he wanted to protest, but they walked away before he had the chance. Cas leaned over towards him. “Don't worry. I'll order Sam’s.” He very conspicuously winked.

Dean smiled at his attempts of regular human interaction, before over-the-top winking himself.

“Can you order for us? I need to talk to Sam about something.”

“Sure thing…” Cas had to think before finishing his sentence. “...buckaroo.”

Dean outwardly cringed. “Keep trying, you'll get there eventually.” He patted Cas on the back, which was slightly moving in a chuckle.

It was good to see Cas filled with so much simple joy. Face creased from laughter rather than stress, he seemed so much lighter. Happier. It was only a small sliver of what he deserved, but it was something. Maybe he could live with driving an hour to get what he assumed was half-decent coffee.

“What would you like?” Cas asked him, eyes still filled with a sparkle that only comes from gaining something you thought you lost.

“Uh.” He thought about it for a moment, almost considering branching out into the unexplored terrain that was the dark green menu with small, white text, before shuddering at the thought.

“I think I'll take that expensive black coffee I didn't get earlier.”

Dean was not going to turn into one of those people, if he had any say about it.

Cas walked into the line, leaving Dean to scan the room, furiously waving Sam over when his eyes found their booth.

“Sam.” He sounded like he was trying to whisper, but his volume raised far higher than that. The patron closest to Dean gave him a look before turning back to their work.

“Sam, come here, it's urgent.” His brother turned to look at him, rolling his eyes before getting out of the booth.

“What do you want?” He said once he reached Dean.

“Sam. Help. What do I do?”

“About what?”

“About what kind of coffee Cas is having.”

“Oh god, Dean let it go. He's not going to only ever drink black coffee. Contrary to popular belief, former angels do actually have souls.”

Dean ignored the implications that he didn't have a soul, too distracted by Cas. “But look.” He motioned his head towards where Cas was standing, next in line to order. “He’s eyeing the weird fruity drinks.”

“Dean. It's Cas. The man’s favorite food is PB&J. What did you expect him to have, taste?”

“Alright that's rich coming from mister Pinkity Drinkity or whatever the fuck.”

“You walked into a Starbucks and ordered black coffee, I don't think I'm the wrong one here.”

“Wait, wait. Shut up. Quiet.” He hit Sam on the shoulder in a childish attempt at getting him to stop talking so he could listen.

“Ow. That hurt.” Sam muttered, before turning to watch Cas, which Dean was already doing.

“I would like to try a…” Cas methodically scanned the menu again. “A ‘Passion Tango Iced Tea,’ please.” The barista took no mind to the excessive air quotes.

“It's not even coffee.” Dean said to Sam, clearly distraught. He turned to look back at Cas.

“And your name sir?”

“Lizzo.”

Dean threw his arms up into the air. “I can't believe this is the man I love.” His voice cracked like he was holding in tears of anguish from listening to Cas order.

Sam just rolled his eyes at the theatrics. Right, and he’s the dramatic one.

“Aw. You're in love.” Sam held his hands up, forming a heart and mocking his brother.

“Oh shut up. What are you, seven?”

“Is Cas your gay thing?”

“You shut your mo-”

“What are we gossiping about?” Eileen whispered, cutting Dean off and causing them both to jump.

“We're not gossiping.” Sam said indignantly.

“Sam started it.”

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

“This is where I call you two ‘asshats’, right?”

“It's ‘assbutt.’” Cas said, walking up to them and catching the tail end of their conversation. “And that's my line.”

Cas handed them each their drinks, before excitedly trying his own. He put the plastic cup up to his mouth, almost missing the straw. When he swallowed the cranberry-colored liquid, his face relaxed in pleasure.

“I know this one isn't coffee, but it's really good.”

“We didn't get coffee either.” Eileen said. “So don't worry, Dean's the odd man out here.”

Dean glared at her before trying his own coffee, and well, it was coffee. The point of buying expensive caffeine still went straight over his head.

The four of them went over to their thankfully-still-available booth and sat down. Dean and Cas sat on one side, both instinctively choosing the side that faced the door, with Sam and Eileen sliding into the seats directly across from them. They sat there, talking about nothing in particular, and certainly nothing of importance, before falling into the natural art of storytelling.

Aside from killing monsters, that’s what hunters did best. Sitting around and sharing stories. As tiring and dangerous as their lives were, some hunts were worth sharing exaggerated and hyperbolic versions of, especially over drinks.

Sam’s favourite story to tell changed every time, and one would almost be inclined to believe that most of it wasn't real, but the wildest parts also caused the most merriment. (Dean pretended he hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, sparing Sam by not telling the other two how it actually went down.)

Eileen shared of her time in Ireland. “Foreign country, foreign monsters.” She said with a wink, telling of creatures neither Sam nor Dean had even read about.

Dean’s favourite story to tell, aside from the fact that he killed Hitler, was the time he got to solve a mystery with everyone’s favorite talking dog. And yeah, all three of the people that sat at the table had heard both many times before, but that didn't matter, it was still enrapturing to hear them again.

Cas had millenniums to choose from, but always found the most interesting hunts to be the ones with the Winchesters. He also had many hilarious stories about his adventures with Crowley, but he was less fond of those.

“I remember once, Dean went on a hunt with Dad.” Sam started. “Nasty vampire, it got a hit or two on Dean. I think you guys went with another hunter. Young. About your age, actually. Uh…”

He snapped his fingers, trying to recall the name. “Lee. That's it.” Dean looked up from the coffee right as Sam said it. “Do you remember him?”

Something flashed in Dean’s eyes, but his brother didn't seem to notice.

Cas, who was used to admiring every minute detail of Dean's expression and posture, didn't miss the ever so slight, yet sharp, inhale. Or the way he swallowed before speaking, trying to clear the small lump from his throat.

Dean noticed too, internally rolling his eyes at his own reaction.

“Yeah it's been a while, but I remember him.” Dean was blatantly ignoring Cas’s burning stare from beside him, and the fact that he had stabbed Lee through the chest just last year.

Cas made sure no one was watching before gently placing a hand on Dean’s thigh. Knowing it would comfort him from both intuition and experience. Dean stiffened under the touch, but after realizing no one could see where Cas’s hand was, he visibly relaxed.

“What happened to him?” Eileen asked innocently.

“Oh uh, a hunt I think. Most of us go that way, I assume he was no different.” Technically Dean dealt the final blow, but it was the entrancing call of the monster, greed, and the life Lee and Dean had both secretly wanted, that caused his former-friend’s downfall in the end.

“Yeah.” Sam said solemnly, suddenly lost in his own thoughts, most of which were riddled with grief.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the weight of their many losses wash over them like a tidal wave.

One made of espresso and milk rather than the rough waters of the sea.

---

The ride back was more manageable, Dean allowing them one song choice each, complete with a warning to pick wisely.

(They all very cheekily chose the songs they knew would bother Dean the most.)

---

Full on coffee, cookies Dean bought for them at Starbucks, and brimming with contentment, (as well as the fact that they spent half the day in the car), Cas suggested to Dean that they “hit the hay” as they stepped back into the bunker.

They laid there in silence, breathing in scents of comfort, coffee, and each other, until Cas eventually drifted off to sleep.

Dean, however, continued to lay there. Thinking.

He remembered the first solo case John sent him on.

Something curled inside his gut.

They had been two nuns, their fate a product of hate crime. Put to death for simply being themselves.

Dean didn't blame them for coming back as ghosts.

He remembered the words - ones he would soon learn were slurs - that John would spit out like acid.

Or offhandedly toss like they didn't bear enough weight to shatter the window of a person's self-image.

It had taken him almost forty years to realize that very same window inside of him was in sharp, jagged pieces. Cutting anyone and everyone who came near.

It had taken Cas dying to start picking them up again.

He turned to look at the man next to him, relaxed and blissfully sleeping. His chest moved up and down rhythmically, and Dean slowed his breath to match until he fell into a surprisingly peaceful slumber.

---

When Dean woke up, the other side of his bed was cold.

He didn't panic, knowing full well that Cas probably ran to the bathroom, or was pouring another mountain of sugar in his coffee.

Losing Cas again to the Empty had ripped him apart, but months of spending every night with his partner left him with less nightmares and waking in cold sweats then he had since before Hell.

Dean also learned that his own presence was enough to fight off the demons of solid, black goo that plagued Cas’s head at night.

He was finally starting to understand why life seemed to lose all meaning when Cas was gone, and from there he could slowly start to rebuild both of them.

Dean heard soft padding noises as socked feet walked down the hall, and there was a knock on the bedroom door. "S'your room too, Cas. You don't have to knock." He laughed, words slightly slurred from just waking up

Cas walked in, wielding two mugs of coffee and a proud look shining in his eyes. “I made us coffee.” He said triumphantly, handing one of the mugs to Dean.

“I put chocolate and peppermint in your coffee.”

Dean fake-gasped. “You monster. Ruining the integrity of my drink like that.”

“I'm a human, you ass.” Cas responded, a smile tugging at his lips. “Besides, I know you liked mine yesterday.”

“I did not.” He said, discontentedly crossing his arms. “I only drink coffee that's as black as my soul. Darker than the night sky. Hotter than the bunker’s computer when it overheats. As manly as-”

“Oh, just drink your damn coffee.”

“Fine.” He groused. “But I'm not enjoying it.”

Cas raised an eyebrow at him, before setting his mug on the bedside table and sitting down behind Dean. The bed creaked underneath him as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist. “Is this why you and Sam never use umbrellas?” He joked.

Dean laughed.

Cas rested his head on the crook of Dean’s neck and whispered. “You know you don't have to pretend.”

“Pretend what?” Dean asked softly.

“You know.”

“That I don’t like flavoured coffee?” He said with a snort.

“Sort of.” Cas hugged him tighter. “No one’s going to think any less of you Dean. You’re allowed to like the things you like.”

“I know.” He resigned.

“John isn't here anymore.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” The words barely came out as a whisper, hot tears betraying Dean’s eyes as they silently leaked out and ran down his cheeks.

He tried to wipe the tears away, hearing his Dad’s voice in his head and knowing he was being stupid.

Dean couldn't help but think of himself as a small, living-room window, from an old, dilapidated house. Stained yellow with age. Cracking from wear.

He let the drumming of his Dad’s words in his head be drowned out by Cas’s voice.

He couldn't unwrap the fuzz from around him, so he didn't know what Cas was saying, ears seemingly filled with cotton. It was just the knowledge alone that he was there. That he was holding him and whispering comforting words into his ear. That even as a human he could heal Dean at his lowest points, and still see him as the brightest, strongest, soul.

You don't really know what a picture is going to be until it's done.

Maybe that window is a beautiful stained-glass portrait.

“Uh.” Dean cleared his throat. “What-what do you have?” He indicated Cas’s coffee by angling his head towards where it sat on the nightstand.

“I made iced coffee.”

Dean just looked at him, astounded, eyes widening. “You mean it’s not hot?”

“Yes, that's where the ‘iced’ in ‘iced coffee’ comes from.” He said very seriously.

They both sat in silence for the next hour, peacefully drinking their coffee and enjoying the presence of one another.

---

When they got out of bed and ventured into the rest of the bunker, they found Sam and Eileen in the library.

They were sitting in adjacent chairs, with Eileen laying her head on Sam’s shoulder and reaching for her water bottle on the table. They were reading a book together, but Eileen shook Sam indicating she had seen them walk in.

“Goodmorning.” She greeted cheerfully.

“Mornin’.” Dean pulled up a chair across from them, and watched as Cas did the same.

“What are you two reading?” Cas asked.

“The Men of Letters’s Bestiary.” Sam said.

Dean snorted. “Ah. Doing a little light reading are we?”

“We're thinking about filling in some of the pages.” Eileen added.

“Yeah, for all of the stuff they have here, it's surprisingly empty.” Sam continued flipping through some of the pages, most of which were blank.

“Heh. I should put you in that thing, Cas.”

Cas let out a laugh. “Right. Because I’m a good example of an angel.” The sarcasm was masking something else in his voice.

“If it makes you feel any better, you’ve always been my favourite angel.” Dean only realised how sappy he sounded after it came out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I’ve heard the rest of them are dicks.��� Eileen added.

Cas smiled at that, seemingly back to normal.

“Right, well you three can do that, I'm off to the Dean Cave.”

“Or…” Sam started.

“We could go back to Starbucks.” Cas finished, nodding his head enthusiastically.

“Yeah... that's not where I was going with that, but I like where your head’s at, Cas. We should definitely go back.”

“Eileen?” He asked.

“Hell yeah.”

“Dean?”

Dean pressed his mouth into a thin line and glared at him. “Yes, sure, fine. But we're not making this a daily thing.”

“That's fair.” Cas agreed. “It's probably not very healthy.”

He went to grab his wallet and keys before Sam could start his speech on the nutritional value of green things, and Eileen snatched her water bottle off the library table as they all got up to leave.

---

Dean gave up on letting them choose the music after snickering and requesting “Friday” by Rebecca Black for the third time in a row.

(It wasn't even Friday?)

---

Dean stepped out and closed Baby’s door in the parking lot of Starbucks an hour later, kicking the loose pieces of gravel on the asphalt for the third time in two days.

“We might as well just live here.” He said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“I wouldn't make that offer if I were you, Cas looks like he’d be totally on board.” Sam laughed.

Cas went and stood beside Dean as they started walking towards the building, smiling.

“What?” Dean asked, question genuine and free of all malice.

“Nothing.” Cas answered, smile not faltering.

His eyes revealed nothing but pure devotion for the man he was staring at. A silent promise, one without pressure, that he would be standing there, and Dean could take the leap anytime he wanted.

Dean was slowly inching towards the end of the diving board.

---

“I think I'll just drink my water.”

“Oh that's exciting.” Sam joked. “If I got you a lemon to go with it, would you be able to handle that?”

“Don't talk to me about my drink, when yours is a vivid green puke colour.”

“Hey, at least it actually has a colour. And a flavour at that.”

Dean couldn’t believe those words were coming from the same man who drinks exactly a hundred and one ounces of water a day. (Which, according to Sam, is the recommended amount for males, as stated by the Institute of Medicine.)

(Dean didn’t care.)

“Fine then.” She turned to look at Dean. “Get me the strongest thing on the menu.”

Dean laughed before turning to Cas. “Let's just go get in line before we suffer at the hands of the Leahy like Sam.”

Sam and Eileen went to look for a place where they could all sit again, playfully bickering the entire way.

While he was standing in line with Cas, Dean looked over at his brother, and found him and Eileen sitting at a small table in the corner.

Cas was still helping him learn ASL, so he caught parts of their conversation.

“If Jack is in every drop of rain, do you think he's in your water?” Sam signed, trying to contain his laughter.

Eileen pushed her water away with a look of disgust. “You’re lucky I love you.” She answered back.

“I know I am.”

He watched her silently laugh before turning back to look at Cas.

They really did have it good, didn't they?

“What are you ordering, Dean?”

Dean stood there silently, contemplating. He internally weighed his pros and cons, mind leaving the menu entirely. While there was still a lot of shit he had to work through, (shit he had been actively not working out his entire life), there wasn’t much of a decision to be made.

He would always choose Cas.

“You know what?” He reached out and grasped Cas’s hand firmly. “I was thinking about being less boring. What ingredients do you suggest I try?”

Cas smiled warmly, reaching the crinkled corners of his eyes. “They have a cinnamon flavoured one. That’ll be almost like apple pie.”

“Will it really?” Dean’s tone was dismissive, but there was a smile on his face.

“Yes, Sam told me.“

“Not that I trust Sam’s judgment, but okay, I think I’ll take one of those.”

“I'm going to have a real pumpkin spice latte this time.” Cas seemed very pleased with the aspect of buying something they could make it home, but Dean wasn't going to fault him for it.

The patron in front of them finished ordering, clearing the way for Cas and Dean. The barista from the first time they went caught sight of them and made a face. “Wait a minute. I think I know you two.”

“Yes, we came here yesterday.” Cas helped. “Well, we actually visited twice, but you weren't working the second time.”

“Right... John and John, how could I forget?”

“This time we're ordering for four though.”

“I would like a…” Dean squinted at the menu, looking for the cinnamon flavoured coffee. “‘Cinnamon Dolce Latte.’ And my devilishly handsome friend here will take the pumpkin spice version.”

“And what are the other two drinks and names?”

Dean whispered something in Cas’s ear. “I'll drink the coffee, but I won't budge on this one.”

“That's okay Dean, you’ll get there eventually.” He whispered back.

The barista looked unimpressed with them. Again.

Dean cleared his throat. “Ahem, sorry. The tall one with the stupidly long hair,” he pointed towards Sam, “is getting…” he trailed off before looking to Cas for help.

“I don't know, man. It was something sickly looking. Cold? Green? Possibly tea?”

“And Iced Green Tea Latte?” The barista suggested.

“That's the one. His name is Jimmy.”

“And the lovely lady sitting next to him would like the strongest drink you have. Her name is Robert.”

“Her name is Robert…?” He slowly pointed towards Eileen, sounding unsure of himself.

Or them.

“Yup.” Cas said.

Eileen gave a little wave from across the room.

He gritted his teeth in a very clearly fake smile. “Coming right up.”

They paid for their coffee and picked it up, taking the travel cups across the room and towards Sam and Eileen.

Cas took a sip from his pumpkin spice latte, gleefully smiling. “As much as I like trying different drinks, I think I might start just getting this one. It's my favourite.”

Sam leaned over to Dean, neither one taking their eyes off of Cas. “Should we tell him the drink is seasonal?” He glanced at Sam, before staring back at his partner, whose face was beaming like a literal ray of sunshine.

Dean’s face softened. “Nah. Let’s not ruin his moment.” He took a sip of his cinnamon coffee and damn, it was delicious.

Nothing at all like apple pie, but still delicious.

Cas walked over to him, making eye contact in a silent question. Dean nodded with a small smile, and Cas took his hand.

“I love you.” Cas whispered.

“I love you too.” He whispered back.

They didn’t whisper to hide, and it wasn't because he was ashamed. It was because that exchange was just for them.

Dean leaned in and softly kissed Cas.

Now that was to tell everyone in the shop that his devilishly handsome friend was spoken for.

Slowly, the sun would come out and shine through the stained-glass window, shadow portraying the picture of an angel.

And alright, fine, Dean could admit that he enjoyed the peppermint mocha.

He thought about it for a moment, before giving a light chuckle, realising something.

“What?” Cas asked, turning to look at him with a soft smile resting on his face.

“Nothing.” Dean whispered, squeezing Cas’s hand in his. He took a sip from his coffee, relishing in the warm and cozy flavour enrapturing his tongue.

He was only thinking that maybe, just maybe,

Cas had changed him too.

---

Bonus Epilogue:

Dean held the glass door open for the other three, and they all walked out onto the asphalt, laughing, and making their way towards Baby.

The street lamp overhead flickered, and all four of them froze.

“Did anyone happen to get the salted caramel macchiato?” Dean whispered.

---

-This fic on Ao3 (Kudos and comments would be greatly appreciated.)

-Writing Tag

-Ao3

-Request fics/drabbles/ficlets. (Please)

[marvelfansince08love]

Secret Love

Word Count: 1720 

Pairing: Tammy x Female!Reader 

Prompts “I can’t live...not without you” “Wait, say that again?” “How could you be so irresponsible?!”

Warning: Some mention of injuries, angst with happy ending. 

A/N: For anon, thank you for sending in the request! Sorry for the slow posting I’ve had a hectic week and finally got to see my girlfriend after 14 weeks! I should be posting a lot more this coming week so enjoy! :) 

Also Tammy’s husband is called Hank in this.. if you know you know. Since we don’t know what he’s called and what HER LAST NAME IS Lmao

Permanent Tags: @waitingfortheendtocome​ @natasha-danvers​

Thank you @imnotasuperhero for reading over this, a diamond always💛

I do not own this gif! 🖤

Prompts 17,18,20

"Oh, my god! Y/N, what happened to your face?!" Tammy exclaims, her face distraught at the sight of your cut up lip and bruised face as you walk through the door of her suburban home. She races forward and tenderly reaches out to touch the hot skin making you flinch away from her touch before muttering.

"I'm fine Tam, the guy got lucky and managed one good hit. I'm okay," you reassure her while gently removing her weary hands away from your face. She wrenches her hand free from your grasp and paces angrily in front of you while the others awkwardly filter into the house and head towards the kitchen area, leaving you with the angry blonde in the hallway.

“What the hell happened?!” She exclaims hands placed on her hips, a worrying frown in place. 

"Look me, Lou, Deb and Daph were out in a bar and some guys tried hitting on Debbie and Daphne, so Lou and I tried stepping in to get them to leave them alone. Turns out, some guys don't like being told to back off by a pair of "girls" and you know I bruise like a peach," you murmur, wincing slightly as the cut on your bottom lip rubs against your top lip as you speak. 

"How could you be so irresponsible?!" She exasperated wearing a hole into the floor from her pacing. You watch as Tammy's big brown eyes scan every inch of you with worry making you squirm slightly under her tense gaze. Her eyes finally meet yours and soften at your lost puppy, doe-eyed look.

"Come on, let's get you seated in the living room and cleaned up, maybe get you some pain killers. Are you hurting elsewhere?" She asks softly, gently wrapping an arm around your waist, pulling you close. You bask in her warm embrace for a moment, loving the close contact before stepping away slightly realising your place.

She's married Y/N, get over yourself.

She frowns confused at your quick retreat but focuses on getting you seated and grabbing ice from the kitchen. You hear low voices arguing between one another from the kitchen area making you grin softly, knowing that Tammy is probably scolding Debbie and Lou for bringing you back in this state. ‘Ever the mother hen of the group’ you smile to yourself. 

A few moments later Tammy renters the room, alone.

"Where are the other two? You haven't sent them to their rooms, have you?" You tease trying to ease the tension, it seems to work a little as a small smile spreads across her face making your heart flutter at the sight.

God, she's beautiful.

"No, I've sent them to the bottom step so they can think about what they've done.” She jokes before continuing “I’ve sent them home actually. I’m sure I can take care of you by myself," She teases back before taking a seat on the leg rest in front of you and making quick work at cleaning your cut lip. She gently daps at the dried-up blood making you wince causing her to hush you softly.

"You were big enough to get into a fight, so you can brave me cleaning your lip." She chastised.

"Hey! I didn't just get 'into a fight' Tam. He started it, I was just defending Daph- "

She laughs out loud humorlessly and shakes her head interrupting your defence. 

"Why am I not surprised that as soon as Daphne bloody Kluger is in a spec of trouble you come running in like the knight in shining armour. That guy could have seriously hurt you Y/N." she mutters, finishing up her work. You quickly take hold of her wrist stopping her from continuing. You lean back enough to meet her eyes as she tries to avoid your gaze.

"What do you mean by that, Tam? You just expected me to let them hit on her or worse? And by the way, I was defending her and Debbie, not just her." you retort, suddenly feeling angry at her accusation. You stand up abruptly making Tammy mimic your stance, confused at your sudden change in mood.

"Why do you care so much Tam? One minute you act like you don't give a shit about me and then all of a sudden you're like this overbearing jealous lover which I'm sure your husband loves by the way.” You pause for a breath, unable to help the following words. “Speaking of, your deadbeat husband shouldn't you be out on date night or something?" You grumble all too aware of the late-night phone calls you have been receiving from the blonde lately, complaining about his lack of interest in her and the kids, always out later than needing to be with a mysterious brunette. You’d sit and listen to her worries while reassuring her through truthful subtle words while secretly biting your tongue from saying what you really think of the asshole and that she could do so much better. You, more specifically.

“Trust me Tammy he’d be an idiot to cheat on you, you’re the best thing that guy has apart from your two beautiful children.” 

“Thanks, Y/N. I appreciate you staying up and listening to me moan on,”

“Not the usual moaning I like to hear at 2am but I guess since it’s you,” you teased one late night, while lying in your king-size bed alone wishing to have the woman currently on the phone in bed with you. 

You're brought back from your thoughts by a loud scoff. 

“Oh, please Y/N. Stop being such a child!” She reprimanded making you gape at her in shock, pointing a finger to your chest.

“Me?! I'm a child! You're the one who’s acting like a jealous girlfriend right now. I mean Daphne? Really Tammy?” You dumbfounded. 

“Of course, Daphne! Ever since you joined the team last year she’s been onto you like a dog in heat, I’m surprised you haven’t slept with her yet with the way you two look at each other. And now look at you, all bruised up for some airheaded brunette.” She spats an ugly frown in place. 

“Again, I’ll ask why do you care so much?! And before you call her an airhead, remember she’s your friend too, Tammy. Besides, you’re still over here pretending to play happy families with a guy who couldn’t care less about you. So before you go judging me for my relations, think about your own first.” You retaliate instantly regretting your remark as you watch her worry her top lip while folding her arms across her chest, guarding herself. A deafening silence falls across the living room for a moment before Tammy speaks again, her voice low and trembly. 

“Of course, I care about you, trust me... I care so fucking much about you. If anything bad had happened to you tonight I… I would have never forgiven myself. I’m sorry for going at Daphne like that… that was cruel of me. You mean so much to me Y/N, ever since we were introduced on that heist last year I knew there was something there between us that connected us, you know? You lit something inside of me that made me feel alive again.  I haven’t felt like that since… for a long time.” Tammy rambles, stepping closer to you trying to reach for your hand making you step back needing the space.

“In case you have forgotten Tam, you're married and my single ass can do what the hell it wants but I choose not to go around sleeping with any woman especially my friends, Tam!  Daphne and I are just friends nothing more nothing less.” You reassure, your voice trembling slightly feeling the truth boiling inside of you. 

‘No woman compares to you,’ You secretly confess internally, huffing in frustration. 

“Well, what if I don’t like those roles very much.” She whispers, her eyes filling with unushered tears and a small sad smile.

“What are you saying?” You ask dumbfounded. 

“What I’m saying is, I’m sick of this pussyfooting around, these longing looks between us.  I can’t stay in a loveless marriage anymore. Not when I’m so in love with you,” she cups your cheek. “Me and Hank, we… we’re getting a divorce Y/N, that’s why he isn’t here tonight. He moved out last week. I’m waiting on the papers,” 

“Wait, say that again?” You demand quietly, needing to make sure you heard correctly. Your heart beats rapidly, hoping that you heard her right. 

“Hank and I are getting a divor-”

“No, the other thing.” You rushed, needing to hear her say it again. A soft smile appears on her full lips.

“I’m in love with you Y/N. And if you’ll have me, I’d like to make something between us work. I don't care how long it takes, I… I just want you.” She vows.

 Without a second thought, you launch forward just as she does. Lips clashing hard against one another as you cradle the sides of her head softly with both hands, wincing slightly from the aching pain on your bottom lip making her pull away slightly only for you to pull her closer needing to savour the moment. Her arms wrap tightly around your waist resting against your back. The feeling of those soft lips that taste of cherry chapstick makes your heart burst with love and passion for this wonderful human being that you’ve been secretly longing for all this time. 

You both pull away simultaneously leaning your foreheads against one another as you both catch your breath, you laugh breathlessly finding this whole situation surreal. 

“I can’t believe all this time and I-” Tammy hovers her slim finger against your lip carefully to hush you.

“Just promise me one thing?” She asks quietly.

“Anything,”

“Promise you won’t get into another fight like this again? I can’t live...not without you,” She teases towards the end but the seriousness behind those sparkling brown eyes speak differently, making you nod in acknowledgement placing a light kiss to her forehead. 

“As long as I have you by my side Tam, you’ll never have to worry about that.” You promise.

With those secret love confessions said and done you seal that last promise with a kiss.

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

do you think dan loved/ saw the real Blair. or did he only like Blairs good qualities or the character he created? In 5x24, he says "I thought she had changed" what do you think that line meant?

hi!! i dwelled a LOT on question 1, as you’d probably expect, and there’s a bit on your second question at the end of the ask. i didn’t want to put this under a read more, but... i probably have to, hahaha. oh well... 

a lot of people think that dan liked the version of blair he created (i’m not sure why - maybe because of the way derena played out, or maybe because of “inside” & the fact that he definitely was dreaming of her?) but i personally do not agree with that or buy that at all. i’d argue, even, that dan has never had any illusions about the kind of person blair is.

the first time we really get to hear dan’s thoughts on blair (that i can remember, at least), is in 1x04, when he’s complaining to rufus, and he is downright scathing. he hates her! he has a long list of adjectives about how much he hates her!! 

in the end of s1, he and blair even team up to get revenge on georgina because of the shit she put serena through - that gave me so many feels, the first time i watched it, and i’ve actually been thinking abt that a lot - the parallels between 1x18 & 4x10/4x11 and these two being knights in shining armour for serena. maybe i’ll write a fic about that, later (im getting distracted!!) 

in s2, dan says the very iconic “google revenge and you’ll get blair waldorf dot com” thing to vanessa, who wants to help nate. and this makes perfect sense to dan, because he’s definitely schemed with blair to help someone he loves before, and he knows that when it comes to her best friends, she’ll do anything. stuff like this, to me, is the heart of the dair dynamic (along with a 101 other things, blah) because like... dan can see the good parts of it - the fierce loyalty, the “if you want to help nate, blair’s your best shot, because of how she protects and fights for the people she loves,” while also being cynical about it, like, “oh yeah, blair? she’s schemey, she’s mean, she could probably kill someone and show no remorse.” like... .this is one of the most balanced perspectives on blair, ever. i feel like he really understood both sides of her - the part of her that loves so much and so deeply, and the part of her that can be cruel and causes destruction (i would even say that dan himself sort of operates like this - he can be really kind but he can also be really mean, and. yeah idk i just find it fascinating, how much they have in common.)

he even acts on the wrong instinct at times, like, when he’s expecting her to sabotage him at W so he sabotages her first? like, i don’t think there’s really ever an instance where dan is looking at blair and seeing someone who isn’t there? he might read her wrong sometimes, but i feel like he understands her.  they both understand each other! this jibe is one of my favourites because... i think nads @mysteriesofloves said it perfectly here, specifically, the part where she says:

“serena isn’t there to see him, and she won’t be, and he’ll miss his interview waiting for her to throw one glance at him over her shoulder, the way he always has. he says that whatever scheme blair is plotting is going to backfire. and here’s the thing! they’re both completely right - but it has nothing to do with prediction and everything to do with the fact that they know each other better than they know themselves.”

their entire relationship is a gradual building up, and it definitely has its roots in that, you know? like, dan and blair aren’t the people they were in high school, sure, they’re growing past it, but they knew each other back then, they understood each other back then. dan has seen blair at her best, at her romantic and enthusiastic and intellectual opinionated self (whom he vibes with immensely, remember that pretentious sleepover), and he’s seen blair at her worst, and he loves the part of her that schemes and causes problems (she ruined his award nomination thing in despicable b and he was ready to work through it with her!  i know i talk about this episode a LOT but it just really makes me feel things. why would he forgive her for this, if he didn’t understand/accept that side of her???) 

now, for your second question. i honestly do not really remember (or vibe much) with that episode, but i think the whole “i thought she had changed” had to do with like... blair seeing him as an equal, and not just as some poor boy from brooklyn or whatever. blair is pretty canonically classist early on in the series, and she very openly scoffs and looks down on the humphreys due to like, status & wealth & all that jazz (jenny gets it soooo much worse than dan, but. that’s dan’s sister, he’s allowed to be pissed off.) so i would read this as like.. “i thought she and i really connected as two people who had a lot in common, who had common interests and common life goals and who were able to be honest and open and sincere with each other... but i guess that she still looks at me as that nobody from brooklyn, and she’d much rather date a billionaire who’s been terrible to her, than me, who’s tried my best to support her even when she hurt me.” 

i do think there’s ample canon evidence to support this, too, but i can’t think of what to link and show you here that isn’t...... the whole dair arc, lmao. i just think it was very... dan knew that dating him was out of blair’s comfort zone or dream future / ideal future. so i think that’s the context of “i thought she had changed.” like, a paraphrased “i thought i had a chance.” 

oh damn, now i’m sad. :’)) time to listen to new york city by among savages on repeat again!

[littlepurinsesu]

V Watches MagiReco - Episode 13 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 13*

(This review will focus on Episode 13 only. I will be writing a separate review for the anime season as a whole!)

I have so many mixed feelings about this episode that I honestly don’t even know where to start LOL xD There are some parts that I hated and some that I loved, and so many reactions ranging from “WTH WAS THAT?!?” to “UH OKAY...” to “OMG YASSSSS!!!!!”

I’ll going to try my best to unpack my thoughts as coherently as possible, but this review will probably still end up being the most incoherent of them all because of all my mixed feelings for all the changes the anime made xD

To start, Mifuyu is definitely more antagonistic in the anime compared to what I remember of her in the game lol. And honestly I feel cheated that they always seem to tease us with some kind of confrontation between Yachiyo and Mifuyu, but the latter always summons that giant moon and escapes before anything can happen. It’s honestly a little anti-climactic and a bit of a waste, what with all the tension they’ve been building between these two, but then again, it doesn’t really happen in the game, either, so I guess it’s not really the anime’s fault for not “delivering” haha :P

Alright, since I’m going in chronological order, may as well get the biggest disappointment out of the way first: Iroha and Yachiyo’s argument. I don’t think I can even begin to put into words how utterly disappointed I was with this part, seeing as it was one of the most crucial plot points in the game and definitely one of Iroha’s most shining moments. Firstly, the way Yachiyo revealed her wish lacked emotion and impact for me. The music didn’t even change, and there was no sense of this being the revelation of a huge secret/mystery that the story has kept under wraps all this time. At least they added a nice flashback sequence to show Yachiyo’s past and the reasoning behind her wish, rather than having it all just come out of her mouth verbally, so props to them for that, but I was still quite unimpressed with the way they went about this pivotal moments.

Next up in my complaints is the Rumour. I was so, so, so ready to see my girl Iroha finally standing up and holding her own in a battle, especially considering how weak she’s been portrayed throughout the past 12 episodes. I was expecting an intense fight with the Rumour--some struggle, some more determination, anything. But no, another case of what I call the “one-shot curse”. Iroha literally just ran up to the Rumour, aimed her arrow, shot, and BAM it’s gone. One of the most crucial battles in the story lasted about 20 seconds in total (yes, I was so petty and pissed off that I went back and counted lmao), and the way Iroha suddenly “powered up” so drastically made no logical sense to me at all. We never even saw her gradually increase in power or fighting capability throughout the story so far. Heck, she’s hardly even done anything in the past battles, and suddenly she can one-shot a Rumour all by herself? How. Pray tell, how.

And the final major complaint that follows on from this chain of unhappy ranting: Iroha and Yachiyo solidifying their friendship. I did like the way the screen melted away to reveal Iroha standing in front of Yachiyo, almost like a mirror image. Sadly, that’s the only thing I liked about it LOL. Iroha getting angry at Yachiyo was such an important development and such a huge moment for our protagonist, but here it just... doesn’t happen? She’s still the same smiling and gentle Iroha we always knew. Which is nice and all, but in my opinion, we really needed to see kindhearted and soft-spoken Iroha truly snap. We needed to see Iroha speak up and tell Yachiyo to cut her bs and to declare herself the leader. And the way Yachiyo accepts so quickly and hardly even tries to put up an argument is just... I don’t even know what to say anymore apart from constantly question why they had to rush so many crucial moments, to the point where they had zero emotional impact. I often wonder if I’d still have these complaints if I didn’t play the game and have expectations of how I wanted/wished/expected certain things to be adapted. So I dunno, maybe I wouldn’t have a problem with these things at all if I went into the anime blind ^^;;

Oh, and another thing that made zero sense to me was how Iroha went from being perfectly normal to unable to walk or talk within the span of about two seconds. Logically, I get that she probably used up too much magic one-shot-ing that Rumour just before, but they could’ve at least had her show some signs of physical strain during her talk with Yachiyo so that the sudden transition of her physical state doesn’t feel so abrupt and out of nowhere. I guess this is a minor detail that I can let slide, but it just reminds the viewer again and again of the problems that come with rushing. And rushing for what? Well...

The second half of the episode is an obvious answer. They were clearly rushing these game-story moments to fill up the rest of the episode with anime-original content. And while I’m still bitter at what the cost was, I will ironically say that the second half of this week’s episode had some very pleasant and interesting surprises! (Apologies for all the salt and negativity so far ^^;; Finally, onto the positives!)

I’d been wondering for a while if we were going to meet Holy Mami this week, even though the anime had already established Mami as a member of the Wings of Magius earlier on. And I did genuinely like the way they portrayed Mami in this scene. She legitimately looks out of her mind at some points, and it’s clear that the truth about Magical Girls has taken a huge toll on her mentally. Her mini battle with Yachiyo was short but sweet, with lots of nice movements and imagery, especially this shot right here:

The ribbon concealing her eyes and her Soul Gem (aka her soul and her actual self) is a really, really nice way of depicting that Mami is not really in her right state of mind, and that her current actions aren’t really her. I know a lot of fans didn’t like the brainwashing thing in the game, and even though it looks like they’re still keeping that in the anime (judging by Mami’s behaviour, she definitely seems brainwashed to me), at least they’re portraying it in a nice way. By the way, I applaud Yachiyo for being able to defend herself against Mami for so long with a whole person on her back xD

Sayaka was probably my favourite thing out of the entire episode. Again, like with Holy Mami, I was really hoping we’d get to see her this week ^^ I loved how her entrance parallels the way she saved Homura from Mami in Rebellion, and I’m sure hardcore fans will pick up on that before her identity is even revealed ;) Sayaka was never my favourite character out of the Holy Quintet (even though I still liked her a lot!), but oh my gosh she was amazing in this episode. I think it’s something to do with the cape? Maybe it’s the cape LOL but gosh she really did seem like a knight-in-shining-armour askjfha;sj (♥ω♥*)

And back to Mami... that part with her losing her mind (literally) after Sayaka shows up was creepy but also perfect. I like that she seemed to temporarily regain her sense of self when talking to Sayaka, but then just the talk of her guilt and shame and everything just comes back to haunt her again, and we see her succumb and lose herself once more. I didn’t think her transformation into Holy Mami would be portrayed in this way, but this is better than what I imagined. You actually get a sense of how painful the process is, and feel how much against her will it is to fall to a point where she’d hurt her friends and other innocent people. The whole idea is disturbing, but each time I think back on her reaction to finding out the truth in the original anime, this really doesn’t seem too far-fetched at all.

That entire battle between Mami and Sayaka/Yachiyo was kind of cool and kind of weird at the same time xD Honestly I can’t imagine Sayaka and Yachiyo to be able to run around freely with that many bullets flying all over the place, much less repel all of them, which Sayaka is shown doing at one point xD Iroha using her Doppel again is another thing that I didn’t really like, though. I just really don’t like how Iroha is always shown to be utterly useless fighting in her Magical Girl form and always has to end up relying on her Doppel to do anything. (Except for that previous battle with the Rumour that I discussed just before. Let’s not get me started on that again lmao.) But it’s nice to see Yachiyo using her Doppel as well (it looked really cool!), and I really liked that minor detail about how easy it is to lose yourself when using your Doppel. It’s not something we think much about when playing the game because of the game mechanics, so it’s always interesting to think about what the Doppels entail from a story perspective :) Anyway, despite some logical inconsistencies and Iroha resorting to her Doppel yet again, I did really enjoy this battle, and it definitely made up for the lackluster “battle” that we got with Iroha and the Rumour. We can really see where the budget went this week, huh xD

I also really loved how Touka literally just sits there sipping tea and ignores all the chaos happening around her. She shows no desire to help Mami or step in just in case something happens to her (since Mami’s on their side now and all), which, to me, really goes to show how purely cold-hearted Touka is. Or has become. (Shhh game spoilers xD)

And while we’re on the topic of Touka, I’m going to talk about how much I absolutely adored that final scene. It’s hard to visualise it while playing the game, so seeing the scale of the Wings of Magius was possibly frightening. We’ve always known that there are heaps of Feathers, but just seeing them all packed together in one big creepy dark hall, all cloaked and hooded, really goes to show the immense size of this cult. It’s not just some small club created by a few girls. The scale of this cult is insane. As for Touka’s speech? Inspirational. And I say that with full knowledge of the Magius’ crimes and wrongdoings. Honestly, with the way she speaks, I can’t imagine many Magical Girls being able to say no and walk away if they knew The Truth already. Touka is one amazing and charismatic speaker, and even though we’ve always known that she had to be to some extent to get so many Feathers, seeing it in action was truly a different experience. Terrifyingly persuasive and frighteningly charismatic, that child.

And that is why I applaud Rena. She’s able to stand among so fellow Magical Girls, listen to someone preach about salvation after literally just finding out the truth and learning about her own inevitable fate, not know of the dark side of the Magius, and still be able to walk away. Rena gained a new level of respect from me with that one simple decision, and I already loved her heaps before this. And Kaede really did join the Wings of Magius, huh :O We even got a shot of Kuroe! Welcome back (?), girl! xD

I quite liked how they showed the rest of Team Mikazuki joining in such a subtle way. It’s much more impactful to tease it like this rather than straight-up showing you the process of them joining right from the get-go. The way they end the season like this leaves a very haunting and unsettling feeling, especially considering that Iroha gets taken away from Yachiyo as well! Now that definitely wasn’t in the game!!! xD I was expecting the season to finish with Iroha and Yachiyo back at Mikazuki Villa alone and swearing to save the rest of the team, so this definitely came as a HUGE surprise to me. I’m really curious as to how they’re going to go about this change, as well as the change with Kaede joining up and the obvious Kuroe thing. (Btw Sayaka literally sweeping Yachiyo away like Prince Charming almost had me swooning LOL Sayaka was seriously SO COOL in this episode!)

And finally, we have Alina. I’m honestly still pissed off at how they handled her introduction, and wonder if anime-only fans can even tell that she’s a Magius and not just a Feather or some other kind of position (like Mifuyu), but I did enjoy the final scene of her. I think it makes it quite clear that Alina is going to be one of the Biggest Bosses, even among the antagonists, and the way she name-drops Walpurgisnacht was not what I expected but a pretty good decision, in retrospect. Anime-only fans will definitely feel that sense of familiarity they want just by hearing that name. Since this Witch is so iconic to the original anime and we probably won’t be seeing her until the very end of the next season, I think it was a nice idea to drop the name here to keep those anime-fans who expect lots of explicit PMMM references happy and hooked. In fact, the combination of Holy Mami and Sayaka’s appearance and the mention of Walpurgisnacht all in one episode makes me think they packed them all into the season finale to ensure that these anime-only PMMM fans will be back again for the next season (since us game players will almost definitely be back anyway haha xD).

Oh, and that ending song is so good! I loved “Alicia”, but this song was a really nice way to end the season and had a definite kind of “season finale” feel to it.

So yeah, that basically sums up my thoughts for this jam-packed episode xD Lots of stuff I feel could have been handled A LOT better, but also a lot of stuff that was absolutely amazing. The second half was significantly better than the first; that fight with Holy Mami and the ending with Touka and Alina were definitely the best parts.

I’ll be writing up another review post for the season as a whole and posting it separately, so I’ll end this one here and save my overall impressions for that one ^^ If you’ve read to the end, thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you there as well ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

[13eyond13]

Hi 👋 What if Light and Misa swap minds for whatever reason what would they do? Just for fun, (Thank you for reading.)🙏

Oh my god... imagine it happened right when they both lost their memories, how much more would this panel be relevant:

It’s hard to know where to even begin! I don’t really know where to slot this into the canon timeline. But generally I feel like Misa would probably be a little creepy about it somehow, in that she’d finally get to own Light’s bod like she always wanted to, in a way? So after the initial shock wore off maybe she’d be like “ooOooh I’m literally inside Light’s body and operating it right now, I can learn so much about him!” or something to that effect, lmao. But I could also see her throwing a tantrum in some way and being very vocal about how she wants her old body back because SHE doesn’t want to be Light, she wants LIGHT to be Light so he can be her sexy knight in shining armour again. 

As for what Light would do, I can’t see him being too happy about it. It would be kind of hilarious to see his mannerisms and seriousness coming out of Misa instead, for sure. I think he’d be really afraid of what Misa would do while controlling his body, so his main priority would be figuring out how to get their minds swapped back again as soon as possible. It might be interesting to see either one of them attempt to masquerade as each other in order to achieve some sort of goal? Lol... I don’t really know where to go from here with this scenario, but it could definitely be entertaining in a fic or something like that!

[angstars]

the suggestive position thingy with hokuto and leo please? :0

sure sure!! these two boys are legit 0-100 in the spectrum lmao. leo can be found here!!

And remember, get calcium!♠

Hokuto

When you were invited to watch Hokuto practice his play for an upcoming theatre act, you were ecstatic!

He never really invited you to watch him practice much; his constant excuse was that he didn’t want you to get smothered by Wataru’s shenanigans, but you knew better. The boy was clearly shy.

Packing an entire snack box, one would say you’re ready for a picnic, but actually you were just going to watch your boyfriend stand on stage.

And it’s a different kind of stage all together, even the performance is different. And that’s why it was so exciting, you have never got to experience Hokuto’s ‘poetic’ side, if you can call it that.

Towards the theatre club room you go, where he told you he’d be preparing and wearing his costume before heading to the auditorium for a practice mock up of the stage play.

You knocked on the door and stepped inside, and heard some rustling and movement behind the changing curtain.

“Hokuto, is that you?” You inquired outloud, worried if you walked in on someone else changing. How awkward would that be.

“Oh! Yes it’s me, please wait on the couch, I’m almost done.” He spoke up, and you saw his school jacket get tossed over the head board of the curtain.

Relaxing the instant you heard his voice, and knowing you two are the only ones in this room as it seemed to be, you felt like you can let loose and be yourself.

You found the couch under a pile of large sheets, and have rolling them up all together and tossing them to the side, you relaxed on the old yet comfortable cushions. You noticed that it was a rather large seat, as you felt yourself slightly sinking into it; perhaps the dip was because something was missing under it.

A few minutes lapsed before the curtains were pushed to the side and Hokuto steps out, dressed in a princely costume. His cheeks were burning up red, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he reluctantly continued to step forward, his eyes fixated on the ground, embarrassed from seeing him this way.

How cute, he’s acting like he was caught red handed stealing from the cookie jar.

“Erm…how…how do I look?” He asked meekly, his voice was falling so much in volume you failed to hear it properly if you didn’t concentrate enough.

Smiling to yourself, you stood up and approached him, appraising his attire before fixing his jacket’s collar for him adoringly. “I say, you look wonderfully handsome.”

His face turned stark red, a shade darker than what it already was and you couldn’t help but think that he probably blew a fuse in his head as he froze completely. No matter how long you two have been dating, you never fathomed how bashful he can get when it came to you.

“So you’re the prince this time too?” You brushed your hands on his shoulders to tidy them up a bit better, straightening out the cloth further then resting your hands on your sides again.

“Yes, it’s another old play, so it only makes sense there are princesses and princes involved.” He explained, regaining his composure and walking past you to put away his folded school uniform neatly in his bag.

“How charming,” you cooed, “I get so jealous of Tomoya sometimes, I wish I was the princess you get to save… I want you to be my knight in shining armour.” You confessed, letting out a lonesome sigh. It was true, often times watching their school plays; you wished you were there on stage, taking part of it along side Hokuto.

It looked so much fun, active and it would definitely allow you more time to hangout with your boyfriend; and most importantly, the lines being exchanged, were so surprisingly romantic, you wished to be the one to hear him flatter you so.

He either didn’t expect that or didn’t think you were serious, for he turned around with a startled expression. Seeing your downcast expression, his features slowly changed to concern.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” He approached, the rehearsal schedule now in the back of his mind.

You shrugged, keeping your gaze down. “No not particularly, there’s nothing we can do about it anyway. I just wish I can take part in your acting sometimes, it looks so much fun to wear those extra frilly dresses, and be the one you kiss her hand.”

It’s not like Hokuto treated you badly, in fact, he’s like a saint in this relationship, and can be rather romantic and sentimental when he wants to be. But you had an odd craving to just for once be on the receiving end of the exaggerated romantic gestures.

“I see…” he mumbled, standing now in front of you. He gently took your hand in his, moving his fingers up delicately to slowly take your entire hand in his and hold it tightly. “I…had no idea. I never thought you were interested in acting and felt so strongly about it.”

You shook your head, “it’s not the acting, it’s just taking part of your activities. And besides, I didn’t bring it up so… it’s not your fault.” You smiled softly and looked up at him, to lock eyes with his worried puppy eyes.

His eyes searched yours for anything else, any further hidden truth, and finding none, he steeled his resolve on an idea and whirled around. He pulled you along towards the couch, and letting go for a moment, he reached for one of the large sheets you earlier put away and pulling it with one strong swing, he raised it above the couch and carefully lowered it to cover the couch once again like a small parachute.

Turning his attention back to you, he looked as stoic as ever while your face contorted with confusion.

“Lay down on the couch, and pretend to be a fair maiden asleep.” He instructed, like what was happening just now was the most normal thing ever.

You chortled at that, “fair maiden?”

His face heats up as he cleared his throat, “sorry, it’s become habit.”

“What’re we doing exactly?” You probed further.

“Acting.”

You beamed at that remark, smiling brightly as you looked at him in disbelief, feeling light headed and ticklish in your heart, mirth bubbling in your stomach as you immediately took your place in laying down on the couch, no hesitation in laying down as fancy as you could, hands clasped together over your chest.

Hokuto smiled softly at the cheer joy that was evident in your features and actions, finding it touching and cute. “You already got the pose down so well,” He praised, kneeling down beside you.

You closed your eyes in excitement, “This pose is literally in every fairy tale.” You snorted, and he hummed in agreement.

You sucked in a deep breathe and your heart sped as you felt him lean in closer, the couch dipping on where he sat and anchored his hands on your sides, it creaking under you both as he moved slowly.

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.” He quoted, whispering the fine tuned words to your ear in a breathy hush, it sent goosebumps all over your body, you couldn’t help but open your eyes just a crack to watch him.

His face was all serious as he hovered atop you, inches apart, a slight push was all it takes to kiss.

That’s when the door flew open, and Wataru stepped in, completely and entirely destroying the ambience that was set by the robust entrances he’s known for.

“Hokuto? Oh young Hokuto where are you? Oh!” He exclaimed when his eyes landed on you both laying together on the couch, “Oh my! It seems that I, your one and only Wataru Hibiki, has done an appearance at the wrong moment, how shameful of me! Especially as a magician! I was searching all over for you Hokuto, I thought you forgot you had practice today! Tell me, were you two reenacting Romeo and Juliet?”

Did this man swallow an entire tape box? You thought, albeit a bit too aggressively after being interrupted from a moment you’ve been dying for.

Hokuto looked at you apologetically, and with a sigh, got off the couch and stood up, tidying his uniform once again. “I didn’t forget, I was just busy practising some lines for today’s rehearsal anyway.”

“I see! Understandable! Yes indeed, doing it with your beloved girlfriend would be much more believable and romantic. Alas! Your teammate Tomoya awaits on the stage in his very cute princess dress, so we must be off!”

How unfortunate, as you watched the two of them leave the room, Wataru as bubbly as ever and Hokuto slightly dismayed.

You sat up and sighed, and that’s when it occurred to you.

“Wait! I’m supposed to come with you!”

[fullsundh]

Fairytale! NCT Dream

Okay so here’s a few short headcannons for each dream member! Inbox me the dream member you’d want me to write a full fairytale au on!!!

Prince! Mark: (here)

The most humble prince out there!

Everyone in the kingdom loves him more than any other ruler/heir they’ve had in the past

Sticks up for everyone and will do anything to keep his people safe and happy

Gets embarrassed when treated like royalty so he makes sure all of his workers in the castle just call him mark instead of ‘your highness’

Although he isn’t king just yet, he has so many bright ideas for the future of his kingdom and promises to bring a bright future for all :’)

Ghost! Jisung:

(I know it’s TECHNICALLY not a typical fairytale creature but oh well)

because jisung can get pretty shy and flustered easily I can see him being the ghost of the group

he probably gets sad at the bad rep ghosts get through horror movies so don’t be a meanie to him or be scared of him he needs a friend :(((

uses his ghost abilities to his advantage though

when he sees a cute person all my jisung stans ;) he instantly gets shy and fades into invisibility to avoid embarrassment

don’t be surprised if one day you just see two floating red patches bc he’s probably gonna find you so adorable, his blushing cheeks will ruin his invisibility.

Will also 100% pull pranks on the people who he doesn’t like or his human friends just for the laughs.

Mermaid! Chenle: (here)

I’m not saying that chenle would be the perfect mermaid/merman bc of his ‘dolphin’ laugh, I’m saying this because this boy is the only one that would have the energy to explore the entire ocean

Like for real one minute he’s just chilling by the surface making some new friends or spying on human life (even though he’s not meant to visit the surface)

Then the next minute he’s exploring the dark depths of the Atlantic Ocean for the lost city of Atlantis.

His bubbly personality out-bubbles all the bubbles that surround him underwater lmao

He’s an excited bby so he’s always up for an adventure (if you can find a place he hasn’t already explored!)

100% over-exaggerates stories on how he found his sunken treasures to his fish friends

“You see this??? Yeah I almost DIED getting this. I gave that shark a good fight though!!!” (in reality he probs just flashed a cute smile and got given the treasure anyways)

Wizard! Renjun:

a smart and witty boy so he’d be PERFECT as a wizard!

knows basically every spell in every book and can master any potion if he puts his mind to it

renjun would be that bitch that won’t hesitate to cast a nasty or whacky spell on you if you’re annoying him

he definitely pulls so many pranks on his friends (ESPECIALLY his non magic friends)

Loves to show off all his cool magic just to impress you :’)))

This softie would magic you up all your fave things just to see you smile

takes you on late night rides on his broomstick so you can admire the stars above and the bright city below uwu

would probs make mermaid! Chenle a potion that allows him to have legs for a day so he can go and visit ghost! Jisung when he’s in a good mood lmao

Knight! Jeno:

Jeno would be so so so serious and mature when it comes down to actual work but boy has a secret goofy side that only his friends would see

Has a reputation of being the best and most fierce knight in the area however as soon as he’s hidden in the walls of the castle with people he’s close with, he’s just the usual Jeno.

Let’s be honest the entire kingdom highkey lowkey has a crush on him

Like he looks so amazing stood up along side prince! Mark looking all serious in his armour how could you not like him?

Tries to act extra serious in front of his crush but probably ends up tripping over or something and needs help bc he can’t move very well in his heavy armour

Forest Fairy! Haechan:

was chosen by the sun to protect and create natural beauty

without sunlight plants can’t grow and thrive so that means hyuck has to thrive with sunlight so he can do his job!!

that’s why when he smiles his skin starts to glow a little with the sunshine that’s coursing throughout his body :)

obviously he wears a flower crown atop of his fluffy dark brown hair uwu

he can shift his size and his wings so if he comes across a human in the enchanted forest he can go from looking like a lil fairy to a normal boy

when he first meets you, he shows you his magic by opening his palm and displaying that he can grow your fave flower from it, and then gives it to you with a cute smile on his face.

You always know where donghyuck has been as he leaves glowing golden footprints behind him because of the sunshine inside him.

His favourite activity is to lie under the moonlight and listen to the calming buzz of the crickets hidden in the grass with his eyes closed.

While he does this his entire body glows golden and slowly his magic spreads throughout the dirt making it shine too. Flowers and other beautiful plants start to sprout and flourish around him :’))

Lmao is it obvious who my ult is aha

Pixie! Jaemin:

Jaemin would be a kind pixie however, like most pixies, he’d have his mischievous side to him

You’ll always find him near forest fairy! Haechan as fairies tend to need the help of pixie dust to fly

Also because they both share the enchanted forest as their home.

Pixie! Jaemin also has a tinker side to him so he often visits mermaid! Chenle to see what old and forgotten treasures from shipwrecks he can use to create new things!

He’s a warm-hearted creature that would help look out for animals and plants however when he’s feeling mischievous he’ll trick people

Lost while in the forest?

Don’t worry Pixie! Jaemin will help make you even more lost! :):(:):(

[fitmydaydream]

Chaos & Beauty

Prompt: Y/N and Shawn have been distant lately and try to mend the ongoing situation into a good one.

Word count : 1.4k

A/N: Hello people! This is my first ever shot on imagines. I debated a lot with myself whether to publish it or not because I'm an amateur but decided anyway to post it although it is trash lmao. I'm glad you stumbled upon this and read this so thanks a lot. Feel free to tell me what you think about it. I would love to hear your opinions ♥️

Y/N was standing on the shore of the Navagio beach, probably one of the most beautiful beaches around the world, after a trip she and her boyfriend has planned after months of chaos and promotions which were a consequence of Shawn releasing a new album.

Y/N was standing with her feet partially dipped in the cool water washing her feet every now and then and winds gushing against her face making her feel a lot calmer than the previous months. She stood there with her eyes closed while thoughts of Shawn and her having a hard time kept running in the back of her mind. Her eyebrows drew in and she frowned a bit.

Shawn watched the love of her life standing with her shoulders slumped, eyes closed and a slight frown on her face.

Nothing has been easier for him too. While he was months away from Y/N , always upto something regarding his album, he always feared that he might be losing her a little due to the lack of communication between them. He didn't get to tell her how beautiful she looked in her morning gown everyday. He didn't get to hear the giggles which echoed through his ears when he would throw a poorly humoured joke at her and soothed him inside out. Most of all, he didn't get to tell his lady love how much he loved her with every bit of his soul and how badly he craved her touch everyday.

He let out a deep sigh and started taking steps towards Y/N. Five years into the relationship and Y/N still used to smell him somehow even before she saw him.

She feels Shawn approaching her and humming Still The One. Her heart flutters on the image of Shawn singing this very song when they locked eyes for the very first time in Brafen's Cafeteria 7 years down the lane of some beautiful memories.

A pair of strong arms is stretched behind her, engulfing her from behind while Shawn lets his chin rest on her forehead. Shawn lets himself place a sweet kiss on Y/N's hair as he breathes the same tropical fruity smell from her hair and lets his hands draw circles on her tummy underneath her shirt. His touch tingles her. He lights on fire. After all the spark was still there.

Both stand there taking in every emotion and beauty of the moment with him still humming the song. It has been quite a long time since they experienced such an intimate moment.

Suddenly low sniffles start to leave from Y/N's mouth. Shawn was quick to react. He gently turns Y/N around and places his hands on Y/N's cheeks, pulling her closer. More tears start to well up in her eyes and she blinks away the tears from her eyes by looking the other way.

"Baby what's wrong? Look me in the eye baby please." Shawn stutters.

"It's nothing." Y/N replies fighting back tears and putting up a fake smile.

But of course it was too late because they both knew what was wrong. Shawn's eyes too begin to water saying "This is my fault isn't it Y/N?".

Y/N suddenly comes into action when he cries even harder and holds his face in between her tiny hands and cooes "Shhh baby shhh. It isn't your fault. It's just we're having some bad days isn't it? It's gonna go, love. I'm sure" and looks him in the eye, her voice breaking with every word.

Shawn takes her hand in his and places kisses all over it whispering sorry after every kiss. "Y/N baby, I know I've messed up. I've messed up big time. You don't need to defend me this time because I know this is my fault. I neglected you for so many days. I went on days and fuck even weeks! What was I even thinking Y/N!" His voice is low but angry like he's annoyed with himself.

"No it isn't your fault because Shawn I too have to realise that this is not a fairytale! This is not a fucking fairytale where you have to be there for me all the time, telling me you love me. I'm not a princess Shawn. We are grown ups for fuck's sake! You have a passion that you need to follow and I have to support that. So don't worry we'll work this through and I - I - I'll be fine Shawn" her voice croaks at the end.

Shawn is amused of the fact that she's not angry but is sad which only breaks his heart more as she has already accepted the things he was thinking about altering and making it right all over again. Shawn sees through her. He sees a broken soul who once used to be happy.

"No Y/N this is where you are wrong my love " he says with softly running his hands over her cheeks and through her hair.

"I don't know about the fairytale part but you sure are my princess baby. You're the love of my life. I want to tell you how beautiful you are every second until I annoy the shit out of you!" He owns a slight chuckle from her. His heart skips a beat at the sight of this.

"I want to be able to hold you in my arms whenever you're feeling lonely and sad. Whenever you're insecure about any thing I want to tell you that you're my world baby and I don't need anything else other than you in my sight. I love you. I love you. I love you so much Y/N. Fuck I can even tell you that a million times and still not be satisfied. My love for you has no bounds Y/N. I want to be there for you every fucking time but seems like I've been a shitty boyfriend in the past months and I hate whenever I think the cause of your disappointment is me."

"You were never shitty okay and stop swearing so much" she says smiling lightly.

"God! Stop defending me Y/N." he says with a bit of defeat in his tone.

"No Shawn. It's high time that I understand your profession too. God knows how do you carry yourself throughout your hectic schedule everyday. I can't imagine how tired you must always get at the end of the day. I just want you to be happy. I was just scared about losing you Shawn that's it because I don't want to come between you and your passion. I- I'm sorry baby" Y/N says holding herself strong, not letting the fresh tears flow down because that'll only make Shawn feel more distressed.

"No stop that Y/N. You, my dear love, have been with me at every stage of my life and you're my motivation to get through the day Y/N. You're the beauty and the best thing about the relationship we share honey. If anyone that should be sorry here that person should be me because I hate myself right now for letting you feel that you're not my first priority because YOU ARE Y/N! You're my sunshine. My knight in shining armour. I've been so observant of your flaws Y/N that I'm fucking ready to judge others. I'll fight everyone who tells you otherwise and I promise you to not leaving you hanging anymore. I love you until my very last breath baby. I'm gonna tell you how beautiful you are, remind you why I love you because there are probably more than thousands reasons why I'm crazy in love with you and wanna let you know all about it before I take my last breath and what I'm upto everyday. When I sleep, when I eat, when I poo-"

"Shawn stop it you filthy and cheesy dork!" she says laughing. This sound was all he wanted to fill up his ears with.

"But I'm your idiot right?"

"Right dumbass"

"Hey don't call me that!"

"Okay I won't call you DUMBASS which for the record you are but it's okay" she says teasingly.

"I hate you" says Shawn with a pout playing on his lips.

"Oh c'mon you love me!" she says hitting Shawn's chest playfully.

"You bet your ass I do." Shawn giggles and places his lips on hers and kisses her passionately which was long due both whispering I love yous and sweet nothings in between. And after all the trip hasn't been that bad as they both imagined it to be.  🌸

xx

Feedback is cool. MASTERLIST

[stenbrovgh]

"CATCALLS AND ROCKWARS? WHAT A PERFECT MIX!"

Request ⇾ Hi I was wondering I I could request like a Drabble type thing (I don't know if it is exactly that) were everyone is older like 16-17 and the reader is new to Derry she is very shy and quite, doesn't make friends very fast and Henry takes a liking to her (he wants her to be his) he tries to be really smooth with her and when the reader rejects him he gets really mad and starts screaming at her saying things like do you know who your talking to and you don't get a choice I run this school and the losers club sticks up for her? (I would also like it to be a Richie x reader and mike REALLY likes the reader but she like Richie?) I'm sorry if this is to much..but I would be really happy if you did this request but it's fine if your busy or don't want to 😊❤️

Warnings ⇾ swearing, sexual advances, Henry being a dick, that comes without saying though, near enough to sexual assault I suppose, think that's it??

A/N ⇾ I left the bit about mike out as I wasn't sure how I'd incorporate it, I hope that's okay! also I had NO clue what to do for the title so it could change lmao

-

"Hey! You! The new girl!" Y/N heard as she turned her back to notice the four boys catcalling her from behind. Instead of responding she simply put her head down further and averted his, leering, gaze. What she didn't realise was that wouldn't be enough to put off one of the schools biggest flirt. He soon followed after her, his friends trailing a little behind, and grabbed Y/N's shoulder, almost forcefully turning her around to look at him.

"Don't you know it's rude to ignore people?" He questioned while she fumbled to say something coherent.

"I didn't think you were talking to me," she still wouldn't look up, terrified that he would notice she was terrified. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

She took that as her cue to leave and turned around to walk out of the school gates. Still annoyed, Henry continued to follow her, not liking what message it was giving off. If he was following after a girl, it would make him look weak to onlookers and he wanted to look anything but weak. If someone was to question his masculinity, that would definitely set the troubled boy off.

Mean while, all Y/N wanted to do was to get away from him. She didn't know who he was but the way he so dominantly jerked her body around, causing her slight shooting pains, told her all she needed to know.

"I'm not done talking to you."

Y/N felt her heart drop and stopped dead in her tracks, terrified he would do something if she didn't.

"I'm Henry."

She turned around so she was facing the boy and flickered her eyes down to her fumbling hands, in an attempt to distract herself.

"I'm Y/N."

"It's nice to put a name to your face, now, considering you were just 'The New Girl' before."

Unsure of how to respond, she simply nodded and gave him a small smile. His calm and slightly, nice, words were a complete oxymoron for his attitude and actions, so Y/N didn't exactly know what he was doing talking to her.

"You know, if you ever need someone to hang with, you can always hang with us." He said, motioning to his friends who were stood a couple feet away. Far enough that they couldn't hear what he was saying, but close enough that they knew he said something about them.

"Oh, I'm fine, but thanks anyways."

"And you know, if you ever need a little bit protection," He slowly walked towards Y/N as she backed into the brick wall, he put his arm to the side of her head and practically trapped her. "I can always help out with that, I'd be more than willing." He smirked before using his free hand to obnoxiously grab his crotch.

Feeling uncomfortable and anxious, Y/N simply shook her head, muttered a small 'no thanks' and tried to push his arm away that was the only thing standing between her escaping.

"What did you just say?"

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but didn't want to let them fall, she didn't want him to know she was scared, that he held all the power in this situation.

"I just said no thank you. C-can you please move your arm? I need to be getting home?" She nervously spluttered out.

"I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I'm telling you that you're going to hang with us and that I'm going to be there for you, for all of your needs. What do you not get?"

"I just–"

Y/N was cut off by the sound of her fellow classmate, Richie Tozier, throwing a rock off of her predators face.

"The fuck?" Henry muttered to himself before motioning to his friends to advance and take him down.

"Leave her alone, now. I'm not fucking around, Henry." However confident Richie sounded in that moment, he sure as hell didn't feel that way and in fact, was very close to pissing his pants, but somehow he managed to keep his dignity.

Henry put on an over exaggerated faux laugh and motioned back to Y/N, "He's just like you, doesn't understand the gravity of situations." He then made a fake sad face and began walking towards Richie.

He was soon stopped as the rest of Richie's friends, The Losers Club, approached behind him and all picked up rocks of their own. The first to throw was Beverly Marsh, followed by Ben Hanscom. This initiated the 'Rock War' as Richie shouted, to which Henry and his friends began retaliating.

As Y/N's hands went to cover over her face, as a defence mechanism, Richie ran over to her and pulled her away from all of the mess that was going on behind them.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!"

He interlaced his fingers with hers and pulled her off to safety, away from Henry.

After that, Y/N joined the Losers Club and ended up developing quite the crush on Richie. To her, he was her knight in shining armour.

[magpiewritingthing]

where the girls run

Series: flowers

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Summary: With her twin missing in the Henbane, the second Junior Deputy steps foot back in Faith’s domain.

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Warnings: mentioned past child abuse & sexual assault & harassment, nongraphic violence, canon character death, one use of the c word

Other notes: not entirely sure on Faith's voice here tbh lmao 8);;;;; concrit would be welcomed in that area mostly

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Jemima remembers nothing of prayers, only the fear she used to feel when the old man used to rant and rave and the old man’s wife would only sit with indifference (or fear, she doesn’t know, and doesn’t care, anyway). Mom and Dad are agnostic, and raised her and Jason that way, instilling a sense of polite scepticism; at the very least, they were polite with Jerome and Joseph equally -- before they’d left to see Mom’s sister in Indiana for the week. Thinking of them now, as she steps a booted foot into the Henbane River, she hopes they’re still there, and didn’t return early to this hellhole.

The sickly-sweet stench of the Bliss irritates her nose. She sneezes, and does her best to wipe her nose, keeping her eyes beady. Hallucinations are likely, which she knows well, Solomon’s image outlined with hazy and glittering green imprinted on her brain for the foreseeable future, as long as her memory never starts to deteriorate. A baby’s cry hurts worse, of course.

She knows that Jason came here not long after returning from the Mountains, blood having formed patterns on his shirt. The Resistance had trusted him to take care of Faith, after having dispatched the Whitetail region of Jacob (despite the deaths of several Whitetail Militia, and especially their leader, Eli Palmer, staining his shirt and his hands just as much), and Jemima had to focus on John, and getting Hudson out of that rathole bunker. Jemima had finished with John (and would’ve taken the Baptist’s head -- for herself, for Mary May, for Nick, for Kim, for Carmina, for Joey, for the entirety of Holland Valley, for her brother, and God, if there is a God, she’d swear by that cunt’s hypothetical existence that she would’ve taken Jacob’s head, too, if Jason hadn’t told her to stay far away from the mountains), and had immediately set off in search of her brother who no-one had heard from in two days. Complete radio silence conjured up nightmares of Jason as an Angel, and more of him shooting himself in the head.

A Bliss bullet hits her in the leg. Natch!

Faith scares her. Joseph does too, in a way, with his hold and influence, a human epicentre of doom and disaster. John -- oh, John enraged her more than she could be scared of him, but she was, and was scared of Jacob although she never met him. The potential of their power (those that were alive) was something that gave her pause, made her think about wanting and wishing to turn back, redo this arrest business, get the National Guard involved, for fuck’s sake -- but one has to be brave, be very brave, to fight evil things. Oh yes, like a knight in shining armour fights a fearsome dragon. Of course, of course, Jemima is that exact kinda knight, isn’t she? Delusions of grandeur! It was a toss-up between PRIDE or WRATH on her chest -- the latter won out. At least later, if she survives long enough, she can turn it into something cool. Easier to minimise these horrible things rather than to face them with real bravery, she finds.

“Hello, Jemima.”

“Hey, Faith. Girl time?” Just two young women hangin’ out in a bunker, ya know.

“Sure! That’s why you came back, right?”

She doesn’t like the way that’s phrased, but then again, Faith scares her the most out of the Seeds. Ah, your would-be sister. She needs to stop thinking like that, in wistful would-bes and coulda-beens, but it’s difficult with the Bliss starting to take a real hold. The after-effects, the way it still lingers after the initial shot.

“I guess.” Playing along, and slurring just a touch. She’d come here for that? Or to kill Faith? And upset Joseph some more? If he even gives a flying shit about Faith, and not just what she means to the Project. But then the same might come into question about his brothers. Her mind’s going to fast to pin these thoughts down and pump them full of that sweet-ass coherence juice, though. Shame. If she weren’t drugged up to the eyeballs, and drowning under it still with every minute passing, she’d probably be able to outline a neat little essay-style thing about it all. Arguments and counter-arguments and all.

Faith seems to be enjoying this, of course, kicking her legs off the desk. Yeah, of course she’s the kinda girl to sit on desks. Jemima would to, if she weren’t tied to a rather sturdy chair (without wheels!) and starting to slouch in it. Does this Bliss shit just jellify your bones? The fuck?

The sister laughs. Faith (or Rachel?) or Jemima or both (all three), it’s not immediately clear, but Jemima is smiling because she heard it and it sounded good. “Did I say that out loud?” she asks.

“Yes, you did. And you should know already,” Faith says, slipping off the desk and booping Jemima on the nose, which is kinda annoying because now it feels like she has to rub it but she can’t because she’s tied up and wow! that's annoying! But Faith keeps talking, like her brothers: “It doesn’t turn your bones to jelly, but it can do that to your mind if there’s too much.” Angels. Ah. For a moment, she’d forgotten about the real horror of what can happen, having been lost in a good ol’ laugh with Funny Faith.

“Oh yeah,” she says quietly, then asks, suddenly panicking as a spark of memory stabs through green fog: “Where’s Jason? And Sheriff Whitehorse?”

And now Faith looks disappointed. It makes Jemima want to shrink into a ball. Reminding Faith about Whitehorse brings up what he’d said before, and what everyone else had regurgitated before him: that Faith was a liar and a manipulator and nothing she said could be trusted. Tracey, she thinks, is the only person closest to the truth about Faith, but even then, that was more about Rachel Jessop from before. A manipulator and a liar -- Jemima believes that, but it can’t be about everything. Not when she knows about that kinda truth.

Not personally. Or at least, not close enough to count it as such. Or is it? If it were anyone else who's heartrate spiked up when someone had presumed enough familiarity or boldness or confidence to not face consequences of any kind, Jemima would argue so. A hand on the hip -- what is that? Just flirting. It’s only ever “just flirting”. It’s the only most-dangerous thing anyone had dared try with her. College: what circle of Hell is that? Jemima counts herself lucky that she could choose, that she chose Solomon. Sweetest Solomon, too good for her, too kind, too understanding, and he would’ve been all that still if she’d chosen the other choice. She might’ve still had him.

“They’re elsewhere.” Short answer, and she worries more about her twin than about her boss (a girl is a liar only, and a girl is dispensable, it’s only trouble not worth getting into, only lies and manipulation and attention-seeking from a little girl with glaring bruises in a nice house and a nice town and a nice fucking county), but Faith’s recovered with a smile that Jemima will pretend she’s not questioning. “I heard you were coming to see me,” her voice is sickly-sweet, the sound translation of the smell of Bliss, “so I made sure they weren’t in the way so we could have our little girl talk in peace. Boys, you know?” Hands clasp on the arms of the wooden chair, and the stench of Bliss is so strong this close-up it makes Jemima’s eyes water, and she turns her face away to avoid looking the other girl (woman, she’s an adult woman now, she’s older than you for fuck’s sake, barely but still) in the eye. “They take up your time, they waste your time, they want to make your time all. about. them.”

Is this Faith? She is so angry. It’s not very Faith-like to be angry, is it? Not so viscerally.

“They do,” Jemima agrees, finally meeting Faith’s eye again, knowing and remembering several who fit the bill from school and college. Some of the guys at the station, too, come to think of it. Then she blurts out, “I believe you.” It seemed important to say, because Faith knows what everyone else is saying, and has said, and will continue to say about her, from way back then until the day she dies. Faith is not blind nor deaf to this.

It makes Faith lean back, looking more like Rachel might when faced with someone taking her side for once (Tracey did, Tracey tried, you must remember this, you are not unique to knowing Rachel and Faith), before it washes away again under a plaster smile, pearly teeth on display. “I know you do,” sounds like I knew you would, and it sounds like relief, but not quite trust. Forehead-to-forehead, she repeats, “I know you do.” Jemima closes her eyes then, leaning into this physical contact that Faith's allowing, because Faith might need this, something soft even if momentary.

Peace is spoiled by a baby’s crying, and Jemima whips her head away, this way and that, raw panic strangling her as she pulls and rattles at the rope that’s tight around her arms and torso. “Where is she?” she shouts, starting to cry and thrash in her chair.

Faith looks at her with odd fascination, like watching an insect. Then there’s more noise outside -- gunfire -- and Jemima howls because she can’t find her, and then Faith is gone yet again, and Jemima is left with Rhoda’s screeching cries in her ears, and fear for Jason's safety.

                                                                                     ---

Jason couldn’t bring himself to kill again, not even now when he was still wearing the same clothes unwashed. Not even a smart remark would seem to snap him out of his seemingly lasting stupor. It’s the shock, she tells herself. So it’s Jemima who takes to drowning instead. She’s not sure it’s worked, because when she turns to look back at the body, it’s disappeared. She has an hysterical thought: maybe Faith was never real.

She decides it doesn’t matter, since Joseph releases two barrels full of Bliss in front of the church.