#so they needed to bake in a countdown timer on all the relationships

[professor-doc-emeritus]

I do not understand this bizzare narrative around himym thats formed in the decade since it ended claiming that ted mosby is a Nice Guy™. The trademark characteristic of the Nice Guy™ is that he never actually gets laid because he puts forth zero effort and feels entitled to sex just for Being Nice™. This could not be more antithetical to ted mosby's character. Aside from the fact that the man has a new woman on his arm every fucking week, the entire gag of ted is that he tries way too hard with every woman he meets and ends up getting in his own way. He has never once in his entire life rested on his romantic laurels. Plus, he has an iota of self awareness, and is occasionally capable of acknowledging when he has been/is being an asshole, something that is impossible for the prototypical Nice Guy™

Ted's actual toxic trait is that he created an imaginary perfect woman in his mind, and then projected the image of that perfect woman onto every single person he dated, and then resented them for all the ways they don't measure up to his fantasies. Then, instead of actually addressing the problems he has with his partner head on with them, or learning to compromise, or god forbid just quitting while he's ahead, he just ignores these irreconcilable differences, hoping they'll just one day magically go away, until inevitably everything boils over and he goes through a nasty breakup. EVERY serious girlfriend ted has on the show has a massive, obvious incompatibility with him, usually one that was abundantly clear from the millisecond he meet them, but he without fail ignores it, does everything he can to woo a girl he shouldn't be with, and then when everything goes up in flames he just chocks it up to "she wasn't the one!" and hard banks on this imaginary friend he's come up with for himself materializing into his life out of thin air. He'll work hard to get the girl, but he won't do anything substantial to actually keep her. He's so caught up in this fantasy of a perfect partner that he wastes the prime years of his life chasing after women that he pretty much knew from the jump would never want to be with him long term, in the hopes that they would change to fit his fantasies and everything would just magically work out because "destiny." But that doesn't fit into a 2-word soundbite so you don't really see much discussion of it online

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 15

first time reader - click here

TW/SUMMARY: Is bad humour a trigger? Cards against humanity. Loki in the wild. Chaotic Tony, chaotic Reader. Team bonding, a gag chapter lmao

My beta is babey 🥺 @miscmarvelwritings

If someone had bothered to ask me what kind of relationship I had with Tony, it would've made my brain glitch. In the weeks we spent fucking, sciencing and hanging out with the Avengers, it never once crossed my mind. We had fun and it was easy. Unlike both of our lives, it didn't require much mental energy for us to get what we wanted from each other. For me, it was easier to ignore my skin aching for Tony when he was already spending so much time on me. I wasn't sure if it would ever be enough, really, so taking exactly as much as he was giving was my best bet.

We built things in his workshop with Pete by our side and it wasn't awkward. The spiderling said he was happy as long as we were happy and didn't mind it too much when Tony got handsy. The man had at least some morals and stuck to kisses, ass-slaps and lewd comments which made Peter snort and fake-retch sure, yet the boy never displayed any real discomfort. It was endearing. He really became the little brother I never thought I would have.

The sex was fantastic, to say the least. We fucked on just about every flat surface on the residential floors. Steve caught us once, although I am almost hundred percent sure Tony staged it all on purpose. The good Captain didn't even blush, instead just silently closed the door behind him as I stared in his face, gripping Tony's head with my thighs.

The weather grew dreary yet both of my parents still stayed out of New York. Mother went back to Canada and dad continued his never-ending party on the West Coast, conquering California and living his best life. My house was dark and cold, and I started hanging around the tower more often than ever. If I wasn't with Tony, I was busy catching up Wanda and Bucky on pop culture, teaching Thor how to bake cakes and doing other meaningless, domestic stuff. The Avengers tower bustled with life at all hours and there always was someone...

I never felt lonely. It was such an unusual experience. Comfort and reassurance was always one room away. Be it Thor with his gratuitous amount of physical affection or his brother's incredibly witty, dark humor, I never had to stay one-on-one with my thoughts for too long.

Personally witnessing Bruce's coming out of his shell was the highlight of my life, no lie. I was so used to the quiet, mousy Banner that my brain refused to acknowledge his amazing sense of humour at first; I wasn't sure if he was joking or ... Or what? Truth to be told, Brucie-bear was as snarky as Tony,Loki and Stephen. The sorcerer had started visiting more often too, under the guise of tutoring Wanda, but all of us saw the way he lingered in the communal areas after their study time came to an end.

If loneliness was a sickness then the tower's inhabitants and frequent visitors were beginning their recovery journey.

"Have you guys heard about Cards Against Humanity?" I asked one evening once the movie credits began rolling. Wanda was squished into my side with her legs in her brother's lap; Clint laying atop both siblings like the trash bag that he was. And I meant it fondly.

On the other side of me, I had Bucky and Loki, who had begun to discuss their respective collections of sharp and pointy things once they deemed the movie lacked action. Legally Blonde and action, did they really think..? Nevermind.

"Yes, and if you're offering, the answer is yes," Clint mumbled, reaching for his second pack of Cheetos.

We gathered in a circle as I brought the shoebox that had the original deck plus a couple of expansions. This was beginning to look interesting. "So, I have the special Avengers edition right there..."

"Say no more," Clint even abandoned his snacks. "But I'mma put on the episode of Lucifer I missed. Multitasking," He winked, wrestling the remote from Pietro. We waited patiently as they finished the obligatory round of horsing before settling down for the game.

I explained the rules of the game, choosing to disregard Loki's scoffing and Wanda's doubt about the quality of the humor in the game. We played a few rounds with me explaining some of the deeper pop culture references. At a point where all of us were engrossed, laughing and poking fun at each other, more of the Avengers parked themselves on the couch.

Stephen, Tony and Bruce evidently had been sciencing, all three men having had their safety goggles perched forgotten atop their heads. Sam, Natasha and Steve - probably sparring. All three of them brought the smell of soap and laundry detergent to the room. All of the newcomers observed us with mild interest, periodically glance at the TV.

It was Wanda's turn to be the card Czar. I had to take a moment to finish my last giggling fit.

"Okay, the white card goes..." She paused dramatically. "I never truly understood blank until I encountered blank." With that, she poked the timer app on her phone. The sixty second countdown began.

I did a quick inventory check. Then I snorted. I had to quickly stuff two knuckles in my mouth, biting down, to attempt to silence the hysterical fit of laughter I was on the brink of. Loki was definitely going to stab me but the opportunity was too good to pass. No fear, we die like men.

"Ooh, she's got something," Clint teased, having noticed my shaking shoulders.

The timer beeped. Naturally, Loki went first. He wore a mildly disgusted smirk. "I never truly understood parting the red sea until I encountered third base," The trickster caved and began chuckling.

Somewhere behind me, Sam and Tony began cackling while Stephen and Steve groaned loudly in mild distaste.

"Press F to pay respects," Pietro clapped Loki on the shoulder with a sympathetic chuff. "I raise you - I never truly understood licking things to claim as your own until I encountered the clitoris," The young avenger struggled through laughter, followed by everyone else this time.

"That's a keeper, ladies," Sam's rich baritone quipped.

I laughed along, inwardly preparing for the inevitable. "Yikes," I whispered, side-eyeing Loki. "I never truly understood daddy issues..." I trailed off, hearing Bucky and Steve beginning to tease Tony. "... Until I encountered Loki, the trickster God."

The room drowned in a sea of laughter, Tony and Clint busting a gut so hard they fell over. Said trickster God was less than amused, however, glaring in my direction with the force of a pissed off bee swarm.

"Ow, that's cold, Princess, that's just cold," Clint squeezed out.

"Loki," I abandoned my stack of cards, crawling over Pietro and Bucky on all fours, settling prettily on my knees in front of Loki. Making my very best puppy eyes. "I love you, with all my cold black heart. And you're technically the patron saint of fun and shit, so that means you must approve of this very clever joke," I pouted, batting my eyelashes.

"Baby girl, I think you're laying it on too thick," Tony gasped, slumping on the couch, holding his sides. Everyone kept laughing, now at my feeble attempt at placating the upset Loki.

Who, by the way, looked a bit spooked. Subtly but surely, the raven-haired Asgardian leaned away from me.

"Don't be mad, I'm too cute to be mad at," I finally snorted, pat-pat-patting him on the shoulder. "It's okay, you can join my club. We have hot old dudes and cookies."

That broke it. First, the corner of his mouth twitched. Then, Loki looked away. I saw the storm before it crashed; with a weird noise of his own and his cheeks puffed out, Loki joined in on the shit-fest, howling full volume and doubling over. I followed suit, until all of us were writhing around on the floor. We'd stop and then someone would make another remark and it would go into another round again.

"Menace," Loki scoffed at me, smiling. "And for the record, the hottest old dude, as you put it, would be me." That said, he went back to calmly waiting for his next turn. "I'm about a thousand years old."

"Thor's older," Bruce noted thoughtfully.

Loki scoffed. "That man cannot chew with his mouth shut. If that's considered attractive, I'm leaving this forsaken planet."

That struck a thought within me. One that was brewing a long time, to be honest. "Thor is the god of himbos," I said with the same tone as "Eureka!".

"Shit, you're right," Sam exclaimed, following with another, weaker fit of laughter meanwhile Bruce had to be the one explaining the term to the poor, poor, clueless members of the Avengers.

I need to find a way to award them some kind of points for learning the gen-z lingo. "Patrick" stars maybe, since they lived under a fucking rock?

"Princess, never a boring day with you around. You don't half-ass this shit," Tony's warmth reached me as he shuffled around on the couch, sitting directly behind me. I leaned my back against his legs.

"I'm not a clown," I shot back. Tony stiffened. Dramatically flailing my hand I announced: "I am the whole god-damn circus!"

As the game progressed, we found out that Clint was That Guy - meaning, the dude every CAH group had, the one who grossly overused the "Bees?!" card and made Star Wars references whenever humanly possible. The only even slightly funny joke was about a lightsaber up the ass, in the end all of us finding out that Bucky knew a little too much about modern sex toys - "Hey, I saw one on Amazon, I'll send you the link, Birdman" - to Steve's open-mouthed horror.

What Loki lacked in references he made up in wit. The play on "During sex, I like to think about genetically engineered supersoldiers" had Bucky scrambling to switch places with Wanda whilst Loki himself was attempting to shoot bedroom eyes at Steve. It was a mess.

Bucky's own play had Steve abandon all pretense at being in any way appropriate as he struggled for air. "The Avengers new rules prohibit using Mjölnir as a dildo." Me and Tony became somewhat of a messy guffawing octopus of limbs for a moment after the super-soldier said it.

"Don't. Tell. Thor!" Strange gritted out, hiding his laughter behind a palm, uncharacteristically having lost his stuffy attitude. By god's will the man was attractive when he smiled.

As time ticked, each one of the starting players had attracted a newcomer. There weren't enough cards for everyone to play (Tony had, of course, ordered additional ones but they wouldn't arrive until the next day) so people kind of whispered and pointed at what they thought would fit.

Natasha conspired with Wanda, Sam went to his bird-bro, Bruce was forcefully dragged by Bucky to his side. Surprisingly, Steve teamed up with Loki which made Pietro stick his nose up in the air and promptly declare he needed no backup.

I already had Tony on my side. The genius wasn't of much help, however, he simply annoyed me out of my skull by randomly giggling and making immature jokes. It should've alarmed me that Stephen was eager to join me and Tony - usually he just butted heads with anyone who had any opinion whatsoever.

I was left bewildered upon discovering the wizard liked drama as much as the Kardashian clan and was quite competitive at causing the most shit.

My clown crown felt threatened.

"This one," Tony poked at a card in my hand.

"If you think that's funny, your intellect is obviously overestimated." Stephen dismissively waved a hand. "This one," It was unmistakable whom the trembling finger belonged to. It pointed at a card on the other side.

"Wizards are just hilarious," Tony seeped sarcasm.

"Try me, Beyonce," Stephen murmured darkly.

That was just background noise to me. I had all my undivided attention on the TV, my last two functioning brain cells focused on the scene unfolding right in front of me. The Lucifer episode, the devil and his insatiable thirst for honey. The timer buzzed but I was still drawn towards Tom Ellis dipping two of his fingers first in the honeypot, then in his mouth, all the while looking like a damn snack himself. Illegal. I've never simped so hard for a fictional character.

A golden glow snatched a card out of my grasp, levitating it.

"Girl, what the hell?" Wanda saw my face and attempted to revert me back to earth. "Someone turn off the TV, there's not enough water in the tower to quench her thirst."

"Hey, did you two just - don't ignore me!" Tony whined, managing to tug on my hair and attempt to reach for the card now held in Stephen's grasp, simultaneously.

"I don't blame her," Clint mused. "That right there is one very fine dude."

I shook my head, clearing any untoward thoughts. Focus. "First of all, Bird, you're a dude. That there," I pointed up at the TV. "Is a man. A Man." I emphasised, getting a jealous poke in the back from Tony. "Second of all..." I turned towards Stephen. "The quaffle, the snitch and the AUDACITY OF THIS BITCH!" The last of my sentence was pitched. The sorcerer had raised his arm, clutching the card, and I struggled to reach it.

"What... What did you just say?" Stephen was laughing, not at all phased by me climbing him like a tree to take hold of what's mine. Tony was actively helping - or, trying to. One-handed. The other hand attempted to snatch the rest of the cards from my grasp.

"And that's an F on teamwork," Bucky's sarcasm was complemented by Steve's famous Captain America Is Disappointed In You look.

"Uhh... Guys? What's going on?" Peter's timid voice leaked confusion.

"Hello, friends," Thor boomed, drowning out the boy's questioning noises.

"We're playing a game. Cards Against Humanity."

Wordlessly, Peter towed Thor along with him to find a spot amongst us. And even if Thor didn't get any of the references, he still was good fun. His laugh was infectious. The way he cheered for every winner was incredibly wholesome. Golden space puppy. The urge to immediately pet Thor and give him endless pop-tarts was strong in me.

Loki was one dramatic, vengeful bitch. "Women get turned on by the Devil himself"? I was ready to throw hands with the trickster. Everybody's laughter drowned out any cursing I might or might have not directed towards Loki who looked far too satisfied with himself. I was going to substitute the sugar for his tea with salt one day, mark my words.

I wouldn't admit it over my dead body, but the way he got back at me for the daddy issues joke was kinda funny. Okay, very funny. It was fucking hilarious. I admire a clever man.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby

[anistarrose]

Counting the Days (Gravity Falls)

AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/24739027

Summary: Ford stops acknowledging his birthday during his time in the portal.

Characters: Ford Pines, Stan Pines, Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines

Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines, Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines

Warnings: some morbid thoughts about aging and death, general angst but there’s a happy ending

Been a while since I returned to my “angsty GF one-shot with a happy ending” roots, huh? And there’s no better day than June 15th to change that :)

@thestanbros, I guess this counts for Week 2: Birthday!

***

Ford carefully counts the years he spends traveling between dimensions — he has to, he’s decided, in order to stay sane. He can’t lose sight of what he’s fighting for, or how long he’s been fighting for it. It’s his anchor to reality in an infinite, incomprehensible multiverse — he could be (and has been) lost in space, but he will never be lost in time. He could be marooned in the abyss at the bottom of an alien sea, but he’d still never lose sight of his goal or of everything he’s accomplished so far.

It’s been five, ten, fifteen years since the betrayal, since the postcard, since falling — and each year further reinforces his resolve. He’s survived this long, he has to make it worth something.

But somewhere along the line, Ford stops acknowledging his birthday.

It’s not because of a grudge against Stan. He’s angry, he thinks he’ll always be angry, but he was angry with Stan throughout his early adulthood on Earth, and he still celebrated his birthday back then. He tried to separate the date of June 15th from his thoughts of Stan, failed more often than not, and blamed the sickening lonely feeling in his gut on eating too much cake, but he acknowledged it nonetheless — until now.

“Now” is somewhere around the time his hair stops being brown with a few streaks of gray, and starts looking more gray with a faint hint of brown, when he stops celebrating the passage of the years. It’s somewhere in his late forties when he looks in the mirror on the morning of his birthday, and a thought hits him like a neutrino blast to the chest — his age and his experience are working for him right now, but they’ll be working against him soon.

His mission to defeat Bill is running against an invisible countdown timer, manifesting not in numbers, but in the aching of his joints and the slowing of his reflexes. At best, he figures, he has about twenty-five years before the last few silent ticks of that timer close in on him — and that’s only the most generous of estimates.

He thinks of the people he’s met across the multiverse, the people he’s promised to save by assassinating their triangular, demonic dictator. He wonders what they’ll think if unbeknownst to them, he dies of old age (or reflexes that fail him, or a wit that’s not quite as sharp as it used to be, or an infection he would’ve easily fought off as a younger man — it’s all the same, in the end). He wonders what they’ll think after putting their faith in him for years, only for freedom to never come. If they’ll think he’s just given up. If they’ll feel betrayed. If they even realized the implications of Ford being a human, short-lived among the smartest species of the multiverse, or if they even knew how short human lifespans were in the first place.

He stops acknowledging his birthday, once he starts wondering those things.

***

Worlds away, but on the very same June 15th, a man weathers out a thunderstorm in the basement of his house, navigating the laboratory by candlelight and praying the power surge and subsequent blackout haven’t damaged the portal.

He thinks (hopes) that he’s in the clear, because he thankfully doesn’t see any blown circuits, but he can’t be sure. He’s never been sure how the workings of the portal are supposed to look when operational — that’s what all his biggest problems boil down to, in the end.

Stan rests the candle on his desk — in the blackout, he hadn’t been able to find his usually-reliable gas lantern — and pulls out the journal. He winces as he sees his reflection in the golden hand — more shadow than face, thanks to the flickering candlelight, but Stan has spent enough time looking in mirrors to fill in the gaps.

He hopes Ford is aging better than he is, wherever Ford is. At this rate, they’ll both be decrepit by the time they see each other again…

If we ever do.

Stan’s spent enough nights alone in the basement with his fears to know that this train of thoughts isn’t going anywhere good, but it’s already accelerated past his ability to halt.

Stan hasn’t seen a doctor in decades. There is a realistic chance that Ford, despite facing unimaginable peril in an alien dimension, will still outlive him. And if Stan can’t reactivate the portal before his health fails him… then what will Ford think?

Will he assume Stan had tried his best and failed, even the most basic principles of the portal’s operation flying completely over his head? Or will he just figure Stan had abandoned him, giving up at the first sign of difficulty, and in the process betraying his brother once again?

Stan looks at his watch, barely readable in the dim light, and realizes not just that it’s past midnight, but that it’s already been the 15th for several hours.

He trudges into the portal room, holding the candle at arms length and the journal close to his chest, then sits down on the cold earth floor, the muffled roar of thunder sounding off overhead.

“Happy birthday, Sixer,” he whispers, and blows out the candle. “I’m trying my best, I promise.”

He sits there in the darkness for a long time, until the storm outside calms and the lights finally flicker back on.

***

Stan and Ford are heading into the living room, carrying reels of film and other family memorabilia, when Mabel ambushes them with a confetti cannon in one hand and a can of silly string in the other.

“Happy birthday, you two!”

“Whoa, what?” Stan brushes silly string off the photo album he’s holding. “Our birthday’s in June. Who told you it was today?”

“If anything, you should be saving this confetti for your own birthday festivities,” Ford adds.

“We know it was in June,” Dipper speaks up from the other side of the room, from which he’s carrying in a precariously balanced tray of cupcakes, “but Mabel and I were talking yesterday, and we realized you guys missed out on spending a whole bunch of birthdays together.”

“So we’re fixing that!” Mabel explains. “Today is the first of your many Bonus Birthdays, which you get to share because you’re actually in the same house and the same dimension and everything!”

“Any day from now on could turn out to be a Bonus Birthday,” Dipper adds with a grave nod. “Bonus Birthdays have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect them.”

Ford slowly shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “And who gets to declare whether a given day is a Bonus Birthday or not?”

“That’s our job, of course!” Mabel answers. “We might not be able to bake you cupcakes once we’re back in California, but I’m sure we’ll still be chatting online, so we’ll keep you updated on when you need to drop everything and celebrate together!”

“Kids, I —” Stan’s voice fails him. “I can’t believe — you didn’t have to —”

Ford wipes his eyes. “It’s okay, Stan. They already know you’re a sentimental old man.”

“You’re one to talk, Sixer.” Stan sets down his photo album to hug Mabel, and Ford does the same to hug Dipper.

“This means… this means so much more than I even think I could explain,” Ford murmurs. “Thank you for doing this, kids.”

[thirstyfortom]

how about MC couldn't get a present for the twins (probably because they didn't tell her it was their birthday), so MC puts on a bow and tell them she will be their gift? it's up to you if this is smutty or not?

Countdown to the Cake: 2

MC as a bithday gift

Saeyoung

“Oh MC~~you missed a spot!” Saeyoung points and smiles teasingly.

“Saeyoung,I’m tired, I’m hungry, my clothes are wet and I look like a mess. Don’t youthink it’s enough?”

“MC… I’mkind enough to help you clean my babies in my birthday and that’s how you payme? Oh… I guess people like me aren’t meant to have a happy birthday after all…”he says dramatically, you roll your eyes.

“You’rejust taking advantage of me! I told you I was gonna be your gift, not your maidor…” oh no, you should not have used that word, you look at him and his eyesgleam mischievously.

“Yes, you’reright… and your clothes are all wet, maybe you should change? I might have somespare clothes for you…”

How did youend up here? Oh yeah…  it was thismorning, you dropped by to grab the HBC bags he promised you and smelled somethingburning in the kitchen.

“Shit! Mybirthday cake!”

“Why wereyou doing birthday cake?”

“For mybirthday, obviously!”

“Your birthday?When is your birthday, Saeyoung?”

“June 11th”

“Do youmean today?” he nodded, then sighed in frustration, looking at the amount ofblack burnt dough. “Now what will I have for my birthday?”

You feltbad for him… “Well, you…  you can haveme!” you stated, smiling nervously and hoping he wouldn’t take this in thewrong way… “I’ll be… you birthday gift! We can do whatever you want!”

When yousaid that, you were expecting he would want to hang out in the amusement parkor in an arcade, how could you imagine he would want you to help him wash hiscars? And how could you imagine he would turn into this sadistic evil littlemonster throwing water in you on purpose?

So now,here you are changing to a freaking maid costume, of course those would be theonly spare clothes he would have for you! You just hope he doesn’t ask fornothing weird like speaking in a French accent or something like this.

“Come out,MC! I wanna see you…~” he smiles teasingly, but his smile fades away as youtimidly step out of his room. “MC… you look…”

“Pathetic,I know.” Not what he was thinking of at all… oh god… you looked adorable and…sexy… and the tiara with a little bow on it made you really resemble a birthdaygift.

He looksaway, blushing. You look down, feeling ridiculous. Why this silence right now?You two never have a problem finding interests in common and subjects to talkabout, the deepest and meaningful conversations or the silliest and weirderst ones, you two can always feel a true connection.

“Can wefinish polishing the cars?” you ask, finally gathering some courage to look athim.

“Y-yeah,le-let’s do it…” he doesn’t look back at you.

Thepolishing is torture, he is trying to focus, but it’s impossible as you bentdown in one of the cars to polish its hood, your skirt is so short! His handsworks in circles, but only then he realizes there is no car, he is polishingthe air, looking at you, his mouth ajar.

“I finishedthis one, Saeyoung, do you want some help?” he is still staring and doesn’tanswer. “Saeyoung?” you look at him, curious.

“It’s good,MC… you did a great job… you look… great, you… are… great…” he gulps when you startwalking towards him.

“I… am?”you tilt your head and smile. “Saeyoung?”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’tyou tell me it was your birthday before?”

“I… I don’tknow. I’m just very used to spend this day alone. I… didn’t know if I couldtell you, I still have these habits of not telling much about me to people I…like.” your heart flutter, is he trying to confess? Oh… You knew there was more behind this tease sadistic side of him.

“You couldhave told me. I would have known what to do for you.” You come really close, hecan feel your breath against his face.

“I thinkyou know exactly what you’re doing right now, MC.” He says, his eyes followingyour lips with lust.

“Only ifyou know what to do next.”

He smirksbefore attacking your lips, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling youeven closer. Your tongues dance together as you two trip in your own feet till theback of your knees meet the car’s hood, making you sit.

His tonguetravels down you moth to your jaw, making you spread your legs to bring himcloser as he kisses your neck, the hand which was holding you tight against himgoes a little up, reaching for the zipper in the maid dress.

“H-Happybirthday, Saeyoung…”

“Oh, for the very fisrt time in a long time, itwill be…” he says breathlessly, making you lie in the car’s hood as his bodykeeps pressed against yours.

Saeran

Saeyoungwas busy for the day and asked you to pick Saeran in the therapy. He usuallywould get back quieter than usual after the sessions. Although it concerned youand made you wonder if the therapy was really helping, you wouldn’t sayanything in order to get him even more nervous.

“Hey, howwas it?”

“Fine.” Yes,that’s what he usually says.

“Okay,wanna get some ice cream?”

“No, nottoday.” Oh… that was weird… he never turned down ice cream.

“Okay… so I’lltake you home.”

“I wanna goto your place.” He says, looking away, you can’t help feeling surprise. “What?Something wrong?”

“No, not atall. It’s just… you never want to go to my place without Saeyoung.”

“Today it’sdifferent.” Then he looks at you, and even though you don’t know why, how canyou say no?

You gethome and tell him to make himself comfortable. He sits in the couch and startsmessing with his phone.

“So, uhm…your therapist… how is she?”

“She’sokay, I guess. Why?”

“I don’tknow, it’s just…  I don’t know much abouther, that’s all.”

“She’sfine, she says some weird stuff sometimes, but I don’t hate her.” Wow, okay, somaybe he likes her, that’s good. “Do you have cupcakes? I want cupcakes.”

“I don’t,but… maybe I can try to make a few. Do you want to help me?”

“Fine.”

You put onyour apron and help him with his, he looks slightly embarrassed when you almosthug him as you tie a bow in the apron. You start working on making thecupcakes, and and now you are waiting to take it out of the oven.

“So… if youdon’t mind me asking, why cupcakes? Why not ice cream?”

“She says Ineed to do different things in special days, so I can feel the difference andknow what’s special and what’s not, some bullshit like that.” Some bullshit he’slistening to.

“Oh… sotoday is a special day, huh?” why could that be?

“Yeah,Saeyoung even got me a present. Though he’s always giving me presents, I don’tknow what changes just because it’s our birthday. Can you put sprinkles in the frosting?Will you do some frosting?” you blink a couple of times, staring at him. “Iguess not, then…”

“Saeran…today it’s your birthday?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Oh, it’sjust… I didn’t know.”

“Of courseyou didn’t, I didn’t tell you.” Well, yeah… that’s the point. You look reallyembarrassed, clearing your throat and avoiding his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“I…nothing. I… am sorry, I didn’t know, I… didn’t get you anything. I thought thiswas just a regular day. I mean, I’ve been wondering when your birthday would beand what could I get you, but… I could never imagine it was today…”

“It’s fine.So, uhm… what did you think about getting me for a gift?”

“I… here’sthe thing, I… couldn’t think of anything, so I was… wondering about offeringmyself as your gift. You know… going to anywhere you want to go, do what youwould like to do for the day, stupid cheesy things that, now that I come to thinkof it, are awf…” he grabs your chin and makes you look at him.

“I’ll takeit.” You blush, so does he. Now you wonder how long it’s gonna take for him tolet you go and get all flustered and weird, but… he doesn’t. He keeps lookingat you, and his face is getting closer, and closer… you close your eyes inanticipation and… the timer dings, indicating the baked cupcakes are ready.

You two getaway from each other, both really embarrassed and giving these quick glances toeach other. Well, maybe this is a sign to not make bold moves like that, he’snot ready for this kind of relationship.

You two startworking on the frosting, he’s so focused and dedicated, it’s absolutelyadorable. He looks at you, mimicking everything you do. It’s been like this inalmost everything, he’s always looking up for you in order to act as normal aspossible. Your eyes lock to his, and you’ll think t’s going to be one of thosemoments, but he starts chuckling, you look at him confused.

“It’s just…you have something in your face.” Oh yeah… there’s some frosting in your cheek,you didn’t bother to clean because you were trying to finish this. “Let me getthat for you.” You think he’ll wipe it off with his fingers, but your breathhitches when he leans closer and licks it off your face. “Yummy” he says,smiling softly. Today really is a different day, huh?

You can see the other days here!