#this is brought to you by my need for my own espresso machine so i stop buying lil treats

[suguwu]

when nanami gets an espresso machine, the first thing he learns to make is your favorite, not his

[jwirecs]

Recommended BTS Fics of February - March 2023💖

hello, hello! here are my bts recs of february - march! hopefully these beautiful stories get more recognition as well as the writers 💝

** anything in parentheses and bolded are my thoughts that can be disregarded if needed **

🔞smut || 💔angst || 💕fluff || ✅completed || 🔄ongoing || 💯favorite

Give Yourself A Try || @miscelunaaa​​ 🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ You’ve got an enormous crush on Yoongi, the machine tech, and, if Jimin is to be believed, the feeling is mutual. A broken espresso machine and a snow storm are all it takes to bring everything crashing down around you.

Pure Affection || @yooniful​💕✅💯

↳ jungkook falls in love with the most innocent person he’s ever met

The Airdrop Incident || @yoon-kooks​​​💕✅

↳ You accidentally AirDrop a racy photo of yourself in strappy lingerie to your hot and arrogant neighbor Min Yoongi.

Our Not So Secret Secret || @thvhoe​​​🔞💕✅💯

↳ When someone learns that Jungkook has been secretly keeping a puppy in his room despite not being allowed to, he turns to ask the only other person who knows about his secret for help. And suddenly you two—who had long been bitter enemies—get very close.

Spellbound || @yoonivy​​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ The only reason you agreed to do this magical ritual with Park Jimin’s Circle was for the sake of your own Circle - to strengthen your individual magic. Yes, that means you’ll have to fuck him, but no, you weren’t happy about it because you hate Park Jimin. Once again, you were only doing this for your Circle.

Care For You || @archivedkookie​​​💕✅

↳ Yoongi will always care for you, no matter what.

Cherry Lips || @guqwrvte​​​💕✅

↳ you start using a new lip balm and jimin loves the taste.

Happiness Looks Good On You || @peachywritess​​​💕✅

↳ (the title says it all.)

In Which.... || @onlyswan​​​​💕🔄💯💯💯💯

↳ (no summary, but if you want to feel soft and fluffy inside, this you should read their collection!)

Plan A Trois Gone Wrong || @peachypinkygloss​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ Jealousy is a bad flaw, Jungkook knows it, but was this threesome really a good idea?

Starboy || @thvhoe​​​ 🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ Jisung still has feelings for you, even though he'll never admit it. So when he starts dating someone who looks way too much like you, and then shows up unannounced on the same day that Jungkook does, well, let's just say Jungkook is done playing games.

Sweet Promise || @7deadlysinsfics​​​​ 🔞💕✅

↳ hoseok is a romantic. he adores all the cheesy, cringey things about love, especially valentine’s day. there’s one problem, though: you hate all the cheesy, cringey things about love, including valentine’s day. but you do love your boyfriend, and for him, you’re willing to put aside your aversion for the holiday, especially when he promises you something you’ve been dying to try with him

Enemy || @bonny-kookoo​​​​​💕💔🔄

↳ The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Or alternatively: Jungkook has no idea what to do with you.

Lavender Lemonade || @euphoricfilter​​​​​​💕✅

↳ you love spring and namjoon loves you.

Put Your Records On || @mysingularitybts​​ 🔞💕💔🔄💯

↳ (there wasnt a summary, but i do suggest you give this one a read!)

Secret Story Of The Swan || @purpleyoonn​​​💕✅

↳ You were staring into the stream, contemplating life when someone decided to take matters into their own hands.

Sugar & Spice || @bonny-kookoo​​​💕🔄 (not too sure on the genre quite yet)

↳ In which Jungkook really wants people to love you just as much as he does - or maybe not.

The Life Of A Tyrant || @euphoricfilter​​​💕✅

↳ it’s hard to hide you from the world when you’re on the run.

Enchanted || @purpleyoonn​​🔞💕💔🔄

↳ The realm under King Min’s rule had been under war for over. thirty years, a war within the inhuman species with origins no one knows. Your presence was brought into awareness when found by the king under the rubble of your home. You are plunged into a world you had only ever seen from the outside, and don’t know how long you can last.

Fight or Flight || @thvhoe​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ You want to disappear and sink into the ground—we're talking code red. As a result of the horrible events of accidentally sending your nudes to your best friend's brother, your life appears to change drastically. Beautiful, arrogant, and quickly developing into a star fighter—many factors should prevent you from falling for Jeon Jungkook. For years, you've kept your feelings for him a secret. Yet, ever since he has seen you in your underwear, it can become difficult to conceal your emotions when you see him practically daily.

Fxck A Fxckboy! || @yoongifis​​🔞✅

↳ where you sort of hooked up with one of the school’s biggest fuckboys but end up leaving him hanging and never contacting him because…well…why not? somehow the universe brought you two together and now you’re left with dealing with him because he apparently caught feelings for you.

Groupie || @joonsy2k​​🔞💕✅

↳ Your best friend Jimin invites you to see his band, painted duck, perform at your local bar. You didn't expect to end up backstage with the bands lead bassist.

Ivory Paws || @yminie​​​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ Winter time brings Christmas, and the snow outside brought you a stray cat. But your little companion is far more unique than meets the eye, and in a time of need, he becomes the biggest surprise and best holiday gift of them all.

Regroup || @drvmekoo​​​🔞💕💔🔄💯

↳ Living with a roommate isn’t always smooth sailing. Whether it’s being plagued by a history of conflict, having met under bizarre circumstances or simply falling in love with the one person you know you shouldn’t be falling for. Are you ready to put pen to paper and sign away on that room for rent? After all, “the fate that brings people together is not a cord so easily cut”

Room For Rent (Bangtan Collab) || @m-yg93​​​🔞💕💔🔄💯💯💯💯

↳ Living with a roommate isn’t always smooth sailing. Whether it’s being plagued by a history of conflict, having met under bizarre circumstances or simply falling in love with the one person you know you shouldn’t be falling for. Are you ready to put pen to paper and sign away on that room for rent? After all, “the fate that brings people together is not a cord so easily cut”

Summer Nights and Morning Dew || @jeonstudios​​​​💕💔✅💯

↳ “Look, I don’t care. You can’t trust people, and we need to protect what’s ours, okay? So do us all a favor and take off those rose-colored glasses.”

Wicked As They Come || @caelesjjk​​ 🔞✅

↳ you’ve been undercover at one of Min Yoongi’s many hotels in the city for the past week. you’re there because of the rumors that have been spreading regarding his vampire employees feeding off of his human guests. what you don’t expect to happen is Min Yoongi discovering your true intentions in his hotel and offering you a very interesting ultimatum: pretend to date the vampire CEO to help appeal to his human guests, or quickly find out just what kind of monster he can really be.

A Place For Us || @raplinesmoon​​​💕💔✅

↳ It’s always on the most momentous occasions that things fall apart - but with some luck, love is always enough to bring people back together.

Father and Son || @serendipitous-seven​​​💕✅

↳ moments with yoongi and his son while they enjoy a trip together

Vegas || @chimivx​​​​💕✅💯

↳ Dating Yoongi as an Idol used to be easy, and effortless, like pouring you two a glass of wine after one of his shows... However, after the birth of your surprise baby girl, those effortless days have gotten a little harder, you being unable to travel with your daughter. After one lucky doctor's appointment though, things seem to shape up...

Baby (You Complete Us) || @purpleyoonn​​​​🔞💕💔🔄💯💯

↳ you wear your bracelet for ten years, and finally give up the hope you would find your soul group, only for BTS to put theirs on and see what they were missing. (sorry theres going to be a whole lotta fics from this author. and the reason is....i just fcking love their writings)

Doughnuts and Shell Casings || @purpleyoonn​​​🔞💕💔🔄💯💯

↳ you finally gather the courage to leave your routine and do something different. your expectations are blown out of the water as you meet your soulmates in a less-than-expected way.

Iridescent Love || @imnotlauriane​​​🔞💕💔🔄💯💯

↳ From a fated meeting to a life filled with wonders, the path of discovery is much, much harder than what I had prepared myself for. Especially when my identity, the only one I knew of ends up being a total lie

Lies || @i-am-baechu​​​💕💔✅💯💯

↳ Being friends with a famous boy group is laughable but here is L/N Y/N, best friends with Bts. Years of friendship and trust but all of sudden they start acting differently and it makes her question everything

Sleeping Temptation || @yminie​​​​🔞💕💔✅💯

↳ From a fated meeting to a life filled with wonders, the path of discovery is much, much harder than what I had prepared myself for. Especially when my identity, the only one I knew of ends up being a total lie

The Little Things || @xddaengx​​​​​💕✅

↳ You've never been more glade to have seven men by your side to help with your recovery. Even when times get tough you know they have your back.

I Hate You, Will You Marry Me? || @bangtansmaus​​​💕💔✅💯

↳ you are just living your life. finally graduated college, living with your best friend, working your dream job as a choreographer. that is until you a get a text from someone you never thought you’d hear from again asking for a favor. he knows your secret and uses it as blackmail to get you to help him.

Nonsense || @muniimyg​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ jimin and oc know each others secrets. they’re virgins and make a deal to lose it to one another. after that, they keep hooking up and everyone can’t believe their eyes when they catch glimpses of the two getting along

Your Universe || @muniimyg​​​🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ regretting rejecting oc, min yoongi goes through a circus load of gestures and tasks in attempt to be loved again

How Long Will We Fall || @jiminrings​​ 💕💔✅💯

↳ if it’s fate, it should already be set onto your skin — that’s why jungkook’s initials are already on your finger. he’s always there for you, but not only for you. if you’re his fate, he’d rather not have it. alternatively, jungkook’s your soulmate, but he doesn’t want to be.

My Home || @purpleyoonn​​​💕💔✅💯💯

↳ It was close to winter, and your medicine was nearly complete for you to use. But when it came to, you helped another whose wounds were life threatening. Now, random items kept showing up on your porch, with each item bringing you closer to the creature you healed. And when he returned, he saved you. Now, with him, you felt like you were home.

Yoongi’s Lullaby || @jiminrings​​💕💔✅💯💯

↳ there’s two things you can conclude from yoongi’s shapeshifting service: a) it’s great for his wallet, and b) it’s crushing for your heart. alternatively, yoongi’s your best friend and soulmate, and you have to watch him fall in love over and over again.

Captivity || @jimilter​​​ 🔞💕💔✅💯

↳ Maybe you shouldn’t be so attracted to one of your kidnappers and maybe you shouldn’t give in to his advances – but Park Jimin is way too irresistibly sexy and persistent in his pursuit of you for his own good.

Goodbye To Hello || @vminity21​​​🔞💕💔✅

↳ After a devastating break up, you immediately move in with your sister, leaving behind the country life to relearn the ups and downs of the city. Adopting a cat and gaining a new job at a retail store part time, life seems to gradually bring happiness and healing, but you did not expect for it to become even more interesting when you stumble upon the enticing yet alluring tattoo artist, Jeon Jeongguk. Will this be an adventure of a lifetime? Or will hello always lead to goodbye?

Off-Screen || @thvhoe​​​​🔞💕💔✅💯

↳ Being a woman in the gaming industry is challenging, especially when all eyes are on you. What happens, though, when your biggest rival finds out that the well-known streamer who consistently wins games is not who people believe they are? Or You've spent your entire life pretending to be a guy online, so when one of the biggest steamers finds out, things get even more tricky.

Do check out all of the other BTS Fics that i have reblogged as well!!

** if there is any fics that you guys would like to recommend, please do! i am slowly running out of fics to read **

[chobani-flip]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged for tidbit tuesday by @tiltingheartand and @actuallyitsellie so I'm taking the tags as carrying over to wednesday and will be taking no objections to my impeccable logic here's three snippets for three prompt fics I'm writing for @wakeupnew @bucktheally and @apartmentsmoke (they can have fun guessing what is for whom���)

#1

In the aftermath, they’re sitting - a little stiffly - on Tommy’s couch, taking turns sipping from six different cups (sipping in Buck’s case, anyway; he’s doing his best to avoid describing the unholy noises Tommy’s making in order to "aerate his palate") as Tommy determines if any of the coffee samplers Buck brought are worthy of being dialed in on his espresso machine. All the while, Buck’s trying not to stew in the delayed embarrassment at his own knee-jerk overreaction and hypocrisy. He’s famously tried to walk off much worse injuries in the past, and after the lightning strike, he’s extremely familiar with how it feels to want to be left in peace and quiet for a while.

#2

He raises his head and opens his mouth the smallest amount to inform Tommy of his plans, but gives up half-way through when he feels his lips come into contact with tantalizing warm skin and downy hair. It’s only been a couple of months but already his body has adopted new unconscious rituals, automated motions; like grabbing the largest plate out of the cupboard for Tommy when they have croissants for breakfast because he likes to unravel them in a spiral and fling flakes all over the kitchen island, or like now when his lips make contact with Tommy’s skin, and the new directive his body obeys without thinking is to kiss, caress, taste…

#3

Evan Buckley arrived in his life on the wings of a Category 5 hurricane. Everything else follows from that. 

At least that’s how Tommy rationalizes the frankly insane decisions he’s found himself making in Evan’s presence and under the influence of his gorgeous blue eyes and smart smiling mouth. 

After the shitstorm that was the end of his last long relationship, Tommy was careful with his heart in a way that he never felt the need to be in any other aspect of his life. And yet with Evan, he found himself agreeing to meet his family after a single failed date, and asking the 90 engine driver to drop him off at the hospital to try to make it, and deciding to risk exploding his kitchen by experimenting with new recipes because Evan was coming over for dinner, and last time Tommy was over at Eddie’s, Chris mentioned how much Evan liked caramel sauce and then showed him a TikTok where a credible abuela insisted you can make the perfect dulce de leche every time out of condensed milk if you boil it in an unopened can.

all of these may be subject to change but MIGHT be ready before the episode tomorrow? anyone else who feels like it, consider yourself tagged, tag me and show me your fic snippets *grabby hands*

[favfics13]

Seventeen Recommendations Part 3 - 05/24 - ...

Dream Ride by @bambikisss

Summary: You haven't been able to sleep much lately, so you've been driving around at night to help ease your mind. However, you keep passing by the same jet black colored motorcycle every night, which then keeps showing up in your dreams. So when you stop one night to get gas and see the same motorcycle stopped nearby, you decide to meet the man under the helmet.

Have My Baby by @seokgyuu

Summary: When fertility clinics fail to give you what you want, you decide it’s time to take the matter into your own hands. And who’d be better for the job than Choi Seungcheol?

Always Only You by @honeyhotteoks

summary: the date was terrible, awful even, but you just can't call your brother to pick you up. you have to call his best friend instead.

Ode To You by @lovelyhan

Summary: if there's one thing you've learned from all the lives you've spent together, it's that jeonghan isn't always someone you'll end up wanting. he can be crass. he can be secretive. he can be nothing short of vexing. but in the end, he's everything you need him to be. or: 25 lives in which you find and don't find jeonghan.

I Think We Married In Vegas by @ressonancee

Summary: You and Jeonghan have always been friends, and friends go on a trip together, right? And somehow friends always end up marrying in Las Vegas right? And somehow friends become roommates as well right? That all seems very normal when Yoon Jeonghan has a weird addiction to doing the dumbest things ever just for shock value.

Lens Of Ice by @wongyuuu

summary: jeonghan has only one chance left to make it to the olympics. as he embarks on this decisive journey, you, a documentarist, are set to follow him as he seeks the ultimate glory.

Birds of a Feather by @onlymingyus

summary; You and Shua work together on a petition to get rid of the bird kid and then you fall in love.

505 by @lovelyhan

Summary: i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck; or i did, last time i checked.

Burnt Coffee by @highvern

Summary: Running a cafe hadn’t been as glamorous as you initially believed. You loved your job; the cozy aroma of the different roasts, the hum of the espresso machine, the foam art you tediously practiced until a cute bear face stared back from the surface of a cappuccino. But any new shop comes with quirks, like the fire alarm that goes off almost every morning. Luckily, the fire station is just across the street and you unknowingly have one of the fireman wrapped around your finger.

Homewrecked by @ncteez

Summary: Wonwoo doesn’t seem to realize that you’re giving him the best option out of a relationship that doesn’t even involve you. With a cheating best friend on one side, and a loyal Wonwoo loving her from two hours away on another, you decide that home wrecking isn’t always a bad idea.  or the one where wonwoo fights internal demons over wanting you bc he’s in a relationship that he doesn’t even realize is falling apart.

Play Again by @shuarush

Synopsis:  after ten years of not seeing your high school crush you find yourself partnered with him at the company you work for. Since you've been rejected before, you try your best to not let any feelings flourish, but Jeon Wonwoo's charms make that attempt especially hard for you.

Fuck The Neighbors by @sluttywonwoo

summary: curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back- at least, that's what they say.

Guinea Pig by @imloyaltoscoups

Work Me Out by @highvern

Hits Different (...'cause it's you) by @gyuswhore

SYNOPSIS: Kim Mingyu was the first friend your brother had brought home for dinner. Fast forward a couple years, his toothy smile and pierced ears would wedge their way into a permanent place in your heart. Nail to a coffin, never to escape. or; in which you get rejected by the only boy you've ever loved; a rejection you can't quite shake off.

7 Days by @hannieoftheyear

Summary: During a seven-day vacation with your friends, you try to get over your feelings for one of them. Feeling alone, surrounded by people who seem closer to each other than you, you find comfort in the one person that you didn’t know before.

Office Hours by @seungkw1

Hit: Vernon by @smileysuh

Synopsis. You might not be great at taking the large bong your frat friends pass around at parties, but Vernon has at least one pipe you can handle ;)

Drive by @miraclewoozi

Summary: DRIVE -- or, the night you realise it's actually very hard to stay mad at the guy who shows up at your house, throwing stones at your window on a Thursday night, to try and fix something that was your mistake in the first place.

More Than One Member

Forbidden Fruit by @hoshiputa

Summary: “Who do you want to eat your pussy, princess?” “Why do I have to choose? Just let everyone eat.” You felt hands slipping inside your panties, and you just knew they weren't Jihoon's.

Game Over by @lovelyhan

Like We Just Met by @onlymingyus

More Than I Can Resist by @multi-kpop-fanfics

Summary: you love starting your day with your boyfriend and a freshly brewed cup of coffee. but your other boyfriend has a different idea of a perfect morning.

More Than I Can Handle by @multi-kpop-fanfics

Summary: the abundance of snow outside won't stop you and wonwoo from restocking your fridge. and it certainly won't stop seungcheol from getting what he wants from his girlfriend and boyfriend - their undivided attention.

[hayffiebird]

Taste of Strawberries, chap. 47

Hayffie Post-Mockingjay Multi-chapter, Rated M

Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie returns in to Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is renewed. Will it lead to something more?

Meanwhile Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something that will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming.

Author's note: You get a canon character returning in this chapter. Yay! Three guesses who? 😉

I hid the title of a young Woody Harrelson movie in this chapter, just for funsies. An Easter egg for you fans out there. Kudos if you found it! Tell me on the comments if you know which movie I mean!

Chapter 47, Tickled pink (or green?)

Ding!

The shiny doors slid open. With a steady hold on her coffee-to-go, Effie pushed the double stroller into the elevator.

There were many places to get coffee in a city like the Capitol. Any way you wanted it. Latte. Affogato. Café au lait.

But none of them, not even the pancake house, held a candle to the Forum’s long black.

It was a poor substitute for sleep. Obviously. But as of late: the only consistent fuel to keep her going.

She pressed the ground floor button. Glanced under the hood of the stroller. Amy and Ian’s sleeping faces, shadowed by the mosquito net.

Sweetlings, she thought, adjusting the boy’s arm so he’d lay more comfortably.

She’d pay for it dearly later. The fact that their nap routine was so out of whack.

The twins had had something of a regression ever since they left Eleven. They used to sleep through the night. Mostly anyway.

Now, that was hardly ever the case. Well, yes. They fell asleep. They just didn’t stay under.

And every day, without fail, business started at the crack of dawn.

Yes. She needed those espressos.

Sometimes, when the children were completely inconsolable, she brought them into bed with her.

Her own mother would have shuddered.

“They will grow too dependent on you”, she’d say. “Next thing you know, they won’t ever sleep on their own.”

But Effie dismissed her mother’s voice in her mind. You couldn’t over-coddle one year olds. She knew Haymitch felt the same way.

But when she lay there in the dark next to them, lips close by their silky skin. Hand against their soft downy hair, passing the time by listening to the little noises they made in their sleep – she couldn’t help but wonder.

Which most of them needed the comfort?

The twins or their mother?

She still waited for his call.

Haymitch.

A proper ring. One that counted.

“I’ll send over some money”, he’d told her answering machine. “Call me if you need anything. Anything at all.”

Need something? she thought to herself. How about my co-parent? My co-pilot.

The time registered on the machine, told her he left his message while she was still on the train.

She couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that it was not an accident. Him calling her when he knew she couldn’t pick up.

All so that he didn’t have to deal with anything she might say.

Apparently, he stayed over at Sae’s for now.

Made sense.

Wasn’t she doing the very same thing herself?

Pushed this stroller, up and down the pedestrian streets, because she couldn’t stand being at home.

The house. Those empty rooms. As morning turned into night and morning anew, they only seemed bigger. Vaster. While she herself grew small.

Downtown, at least there was the open sky. The green parks and gardens. Swans bathing in the glittering blue of the Barrage.

Those getaways, those … distractions, escapes, if you will – provided crucial pockets of air.

Space to breathe. Deep belly breaths as compared to the short, shallow ones that barely moved your chest.

Outside, it was so much easier to just cast off the dashed hopes – the constant disappointment – like a suffocating overcoat.

The ball’s in his court now, she reminded herself. When the need to speak to his children is greater than the need for a drink, he’ll call.

And while she waited for that moment to happen, she filled the twins’s days with love and attention and play.

Poured from every inch of her being – to compensate for the fact that their father wasn’t around.

The elevator slowed to a stop. Broke her thoughts. Well, paused them really. Like a bookmark of a particularly depressing must-read.

Her mind had no sooner registered it was not yet her floor before the doors dinged open a second time.

The young, plump woman hurried inside. Caught completely off guard, Effie all but started, instantly recognizing her, but the girl didn’t notice.

Distracted, eyes not on Effie but her own bulky purse she pressed the already lit button – all the while digging through her belongings with a stressed hand.

A stressed, green hand.

Standing so close, the scent of her perfume curled into Effie’s nostrils, bringing back vivid memories, despite months and months of no contact. No contact at all.

Octavia on the other hand, had yet to see her. The elevator resumed its journey downward and she sifted through the content of her bag, more and more panicky each time.

Hair ribbons and strawberry bubblegum. Tampons and bobby pins. Squares of wet tissues, breath mints, nail varnish the same beetroot color as her hair. They all passed through her fingers.

It wasn’t until her hand closed around a tube of mother pearl lipstick, still in the box, that relief flooded her face. Her brown eyes flitted up.

Looking straight into Effie’s.

Such Déjà vu.

Her former co-worker, her once friend, paled – then immediately blushed a basil green.

Same as last time they crossed paths with each other. That one time by the Fountains of Youth.

The prep team coming in one direction. Haymitch, herself and the twins from the other.

Meeting halfway.

A far-off glimpse of Amy and Ian – just a few weeks old at the time – buckled up in their car safety seats was all it took. The prep team had hurried ahead, eyes downcast, without saying hello.

She couldn’t run now. Octavia. Not instantly.

But not for lack of motivation. Her gaze dropped to the stroller, the twins sleeping inside, and she gave a small gasp. Turned her back, swiftly.

“Hello Octavia”, Effie said softly. She had to at least try. “How are you? It’s been a long time.”

Octavia pressed the button in response. Once. Twice.

“I just swung by to get a coffee”, Effie continued. “But really, we’re heading for the playground. The Children’s Castle, you know? The really big one.”

Now the girl was positively assaulting the button. Like one would a candy machine after it ate your money.

“I spent so much time there when I was a girl”, Effie said. “Climbing, jumping, going down slides. Proper little girls weren’t supposed to, mother and father told me, but I sneaked out anyway. This’ll be the twins’s first time.”

“We shouldn’t be talking”, Octavia whispered through pressed lips. “I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“Why not?” Effie slipped her coffee in the stroller’s cup holder. “I thought we were friends. Well … I always considered you one.”

Octavia’s bottom lip quivered.

“Things aren’t what they …”, she mumbled. “We can’t … I can’t …” She shook her head. Pressed a well-manicured fingertip into the ground floor button, desperately. Long and hard.

And the elevator slowed. Slowed, slowed, slowed to a stop.

Heavy-hearted, Effie waited for the ding. For the doors to slid open, allowing Octavia’s escape.

But they didn’t. And they still didn’t.

It was eerie how quiet the compartment had gotten.

Too quiet.

“What?” Octavia whispered. “No!” She tried the button again. Then a different one. It lit up at her command but that was it. No moving up or down. “No, no, please no!”

Ian moved sleepily, but Octavia didn’t notice. Breaths growing short, frantic, her eyes darted to the display above the door. The one with the current floor number.

Two.

“Oh God, this is not happening! It’s … we’re going to …” Her gaze darted around the elevator. As if searching for something to use for a ram. Coming up with nothing, she shrieked and dashed for the doors.

Tried to pry them open with her bare hands.

“No, wait.” Effie stepped forward. A gentle hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Don’t do that. Hold on.”

And she pressed her own finger against – not the floor buttons but the big yellow one. For emergencies.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Timmy”, a male voice barked on the other end. “I’ve told you a hundred times, stop messing with the buttons! I’ll tell your mama on you.”

“Um, hello”, said Effie.

“Who is this?”

“Me”, she replied and swiftly added, “I’m calling from the Forum. Seems like we’re stuck in here. The large one, close by the main entrance.”

“Uh-huh. How many are you?”

“Four. Two grownups and two toddlers.”

“Right.” A tapping sound followed. Like someone typing on a computer. “Don’t worry. We’ll send someone down as fast as we can, lady.”

And the line disconnected before she could say neither “great” nor “thank you”.

In the short span of time that Effie’s attention was elsewhere, the young beautician had backed herself into a corner.

Bag at her feet. Palms sprawled back against the cool surface of the walls, Octavia’s chest heaved. Fast. Way too fast. Nothing but short, sharp gasps. Catch-breaths.

“We will die in here!” she squeaked, so worked up the whites of her eyes showed. Eyes like a horse when a snake slithered across the sand. “Who’s going to feed my mice if I die in here?!”

“No.” Effie shook her head, hands up in a calming gesture. “No, dear. No one will die here today.”

But the words fell on deaf ears.

“They’ve sealed us in like a tomb! Just like Thirteen when they dropped those bombs on us!! The air … I can’t breathe!”

Ian squirmed by all the commotion and from the stroller came a piteous whimper.

Hand against the handle of the stroller, Effie bounced him, face still toward Octavia.

“It’s going to be OK”, she said, voice as tender as if she’d spoken to Amy or Ian. “Follow my finger. Do you see that?” She pointed high on the wall. “Vents”, she said. “That’s where the air comes in. All the time. Doesn’t matter if the elevator is operating or not. These things are built for emergencies. You’re safe here. Safe as can be.”

“That’s what they said about Thirteen!” Octavia gasped. “And they shackled us up. They beat us and they left us! They left us!”

Effie bounced the stroller. At a loss. Four seconds passed. Five. Her mother heart wanted to just wrap her arms around her. Hold her tight.

But she didn’t want to corner the girl. Frighten her more than she already was.

Her gaze dropped to the beautician’s bag.

“I really like the new lipstick”, she blurted.

Octavia stopped, mid-breath. The brown of her irises little more than pinpoints.

“W-what?”

“The tube of lipstick you just bought”, Effie continued, encouraged by the way in. Slim as it may be. “Such a lovely shade! I wish I could remember what it’s called. Peach? Um, apricot?”

“Mother of pearl?”

“Exactly!” Effie beamed. “I bet you have lots of gorgeous lipsticks and lip glosses at home. What are they?”

“What are what? I … I don’t know what you mean?”

“The colors. Which are your favorites?”

“I … I don’t …” Confused, scattered, her eyebrows came together. Cheeks still hectic, breathing still shallow. “Azure?” she said. “One’s azure.”

“That’s nice. What else?”

“E-eggplant.” She stumbled a little on the word, but her voice was growing stronger. “And … mustard: the perfect middle way between yellow and orange. Cinnamon of course. And magenta. I like magenta.”

“Me too.” She dared reach out her hands now. The girl’s palms were slick with sweat. They trembled. Just like Haymitch’s might, coming out of a nightmare.

Effie gave them a soft squeeze.

“You’re going to be OK. I promise. Try and take a big breath. You’ll feel better. A big, deep breath, like this. In … and … out …”

They did it together, hand in hand. Octavia’s eyes hung on to Effie’s, all throughout. Like a child not quite believing it but trusting you enough to follow suit.

“Good. That’s perfect. And again. Breathe in …”

Four breaths later, the beautician had visibly calmed. Eyes heavy-lidded. Hands slack and still.

“I feel a little bit better now”, she said. Voice small but steadier.

“So glad to hear it”, Effie said. “Why don’t we have a seat, you and me? While we wait for them to come get us?”

Octavia’s eyes immediately went to the floor. Her nose crinkled.

“It’s filthy”, she said. “I can’t sit where it’s filthy.”

So, Effie crouched by the stroller. Reach inside the storage basket between the wheels where she kept things like toys, food and the picnic rug.

She spread the latter over an empty spot. The pretty checkers facing up.

It wasn’t until they were already seated, sitting opposite each other, that Octavia’s eyes flitted back to the twins. As if now first remembering that they were there.

A shadow clouded her face, by the sight of their chubby legs sticking out from the stroller.

No, it was more than a shadow.

Wariness. A watchfulness so unlike her. Almost like … fear.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s the matter?” Effie said. ”It’s just us here.”

Octavia’s eyes fluttered her way, then down. She fidgeted with the hem of her orange dress; lights reflecting off her long, painted fingernails. She mumbled something.

“What?” Effie said. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“It’s dangerous”, the girl repeated. A little louder this time. “They’re dangerous.”

“Who?” Effie glanced to the stroller. “The twins?”

Octavia nodded.

“They’re one year old”, said Effie softly. “How can they be dangerous? They’re just children.”

“But they’re not”, whispered Octavia. “They’re no ordinary children. They’re cuckoo chicks.”

Effie was quiet. Absorbing this new piece of information.

“What are you saying?”

Octavia drew a deep breath. Spoke to her hands still, but she spoke.

Now, Octavia was no wall flower. Neither of the preps were. Effie had heard her speak from the heart plenty of times. Many dinners. Many train rides across the country.

Things that excited her. Fixer-uppers like Haymitch Abernathy or, for that matter, Katniss Everdeen. Their wells of latent potential – if only they would remember to bring a bucket.

Or her pet mice. She could talk about them for hours. How smart and funny and affectionate they were.

“And so different from each other!” she’d beam, eyes brimming with pride. “They have such distinguished personalities. All of them!”

Things that didn’t excite her. Like bodily odors, body hair or an especially anti-climactic party.

Yes. Octavia had opinions. Same as everyone.

But this … this was different.

The more she spoke, the more she sounded like – not a woman convinced, but a child reciting something in class.

A passage in a textbook, learnt by heart because someone told you to.

“The cuckoo birds are parasites”, Octavia said. “They look innocent enough. Soft and gray with a cute sound. Cou-cou! But at the core, they’re tricksters. Charlatans. Frauds who prey on others. Uses them for their own benefits.

Like the little reed warbler. She builds her nest, lays her eggs and what happens? The moment she’s elsewhere, the cuckoo bird arrives. Not to steal. Not to eat. No. She has only one thing on her mind. One plan: to lay an egg of her own.

She sneaks it in, hides it among the others. Just like her mother did and her mother before her. Not a single cuckoo bird has ever cared for their own young. They just make other birds do it for them.

When mama warbler returns, ready to sit on her eggs again, warming them so that they may grow and hatch – she doesn’t realize she’s been duped. That there are now four eggs in her nest instead of three. She simply can’t tell the difference between her own babies and the killer among them.

Because they are killers. From the moment they crawl out of their egg. It’s in their genes. Their DNA. Natural born killers.

Every time the mother flies off, looking for food, the cuckoo chick seizes the chance. This blind and weak, featherless little newborn now wiggles and squirms about the other eggs. Dead set on getting rid of the competition. Because she won’t share. Not the cuckoo bird. Not ever.

She tries again and again and she won’t stop until she’s forced all the other eggs over the edge of the nest.

Her own siblings. They plummet to their death and the mother … she doesn’t even understand what’s happened. Let alone who to blame.

She cares and nurtures and protects her children’s murderer, thinking it’s her baby. Someone just like herself, who will carry on her legacy.

But it’s not. And they won’t.

This poor mother, she feeds her and feeds her and feeds her but it’s never enough. And the chick grows bigger. And bigger.

In just a couple of weeks she’s almost four times the size of her foster parent. So large that the nest may even break apart from under her.

Even after she’s left her birthplace, old enough to care for herself, she still demands to be fed. And come Spring, she too will fly over the high grasses, the trees, looking for a nest to lay her egg in.”

Octavia paused. Maybe to catch her breath.

“That’s what’s happening right now”, she said. “All around us. Imposters, usurpers, are hatching left and right. Now that the borders are open, people from all around the country travels here and for one purpose and one purpose only.

To breed. District women sleep with clueless Capitol men and return home with babies in their bellies. District men seduce Capitol women with false promises of love and devotion, all so that they will carry and birth their offspring.

There’s a war coming, and they’re creating an army. Programmed to destroy us. Every man, woman and child who carries a Capitol pedigree. That’s their plan, their dying wish, and before we realize it, what they are capable of, it’ll be too late. Unless we do something. And fast.

We must throw them out, before they throw us out. We were here first and unless we close the borders – once and for all – with the biggest chains we can find, they will sack this city for themselves. They’ll torture us. Enslave us. Kill us.

Especially those of us who … who worked in the Games. Because they’ll never let us forget what we did to them. To their forefathers. And this new generation of people … they’re all so much more dangerous than any of us alive.

Because they have the wits and brains of the Capitol but the black hearts of the districts.”

It was very quiet, once Octavia finished. A lot to take in.

Finally, Effie wet her lips. Had to ask the question, despite being quite certain she already knew the answer.

“Who told you that?”

“Gloria Highgrass”, Octavia said.

Effie nodded. Of course. She should have known. Who else could create such a massive pile of hot, stinking garbage? As Haymitch would have said.

“Gloria says what she does because she's deeply unhappy”, Effie said. “She wants someone to blame for her own misfortune and it's a million times easier to just be furious than heartbroken.

But she makes things up, Octavia. She lies. The girl hasn’t set foot outside this city. Not once. I don't think she's ever even had a real conversation with someone born in the districts.”

She reached her hands out. Curled her ringless fingers over Octavia’s green, adorned ones.

“Let’s just think about this for a moment”, she said. “Like the sensible women we are.”

Two years ago. Well, almost two years, when the roundness of her belly left no space for further speculation, people had acted like fishermen around a sinking ship. Rowing their boats as far away as possible, so as not to go down with it.

The Peaseblossoms. Flora. Mrs. Q.

But Katniss’s prep team? After all their years together. After everything that happened. The revolution. The war. She was certain they’d stay. Certain. Octavia, Flavius and Venia wouldn’t stand idly by, while the wolfs tore her apart.

So, when they deserted her. When they joined the masses against her, just by staying quiet – it hurt. Hurt more than she could possibly imagine.

They may not spit or throw rocks or even slander her with rumors, as far as she knew, but in a way, them putting their head in the sand was all so much worse than anything the others did or said.

So, when she told Haymitch she couldn’t get through to them – not like Cinna – that wasn’t altogether true.

Not a lie per se, or if it was: she lied to herself as well.

She just didn’t want to. That was the plain, unpainted truth. Couldn’t deal with any of it. All that painful stuff. Not then. Post-partum. Still healing. With two babies so new, the carton of eggs in her fridge (bought before their birth) was still fresh.

But sitting with Octavia today. Right here. Right now. How different was it really, from sitting in a ring in class, talking with her students? Girls who had also been spoon-fed “facts”, based on people’s fear and ignorance.

She squeezed her friend’s hands.

“Come”, she said, with a nod toward the stroller. “Come say hello to my two little ‘warriors’ in here.”

Octavia paled.

“I … I don’t want to.”

“Please. I promise you, it’s going to be alright.”

Standing on her knees, Effie carefully brushed the edges of the mosquito net aside. Revealing their sleep-soft faces.

Half-hidden by Effie’s shoulder, Octavia peered at them. Still cautious. Still watchful. But at least she did it.

“Don’t worry, they won’t bite”, Effie said. “Well”, she added with a smile. “They might, but they hardly got any teeth yet so it’s mostly just wet and sloppy.”

She brushed a strand from her daughter’s forehead.

“Their names are Amy and Ian”, she said. “But I suppose you already know that. They just celebrated their first birthday, about a week ago. Back in Eleven. Lots of chocolate cake. Before the day was out, they were all but covered in it. Same as I was, a couple of years prior. As you’ve probably heard by now?”

“Naturally”, murmured Octavia, eyes locked on the twins. Like they were a couple of sharp-teethed dogs that might yet strike at any given moment. “It was all over town.”

“Yes”, Effie said. “Naturally.” Little crow’s feet appeared by her eyes when she smiled. “They carry both our names”, she said. “Trinket Abernathy. They haven’t said their first proper words yet, but they’re really getting the hang of crawling.

If I want to get anything done now, I must put them in the playpen or else they’ll shoot across the floor and not always in the same direction. Before I know it, they’ll figure out how to pull themselves to standing and it’s: goodbye potted plants.”

Octavia didn’t respond. Tense and awkward. A little crease between her elegant, plucked eyebrows.

“They love playing with letter blocks”, Effie continued. “Or when we blow raspberries on their bellies. They love bathing, peekaboo, dada playing them songs on the piano. They’re exploring their world, little at a time, and they do it without hate in their hearts.”

She hesitated.

”It is true”, she said, softly. “People on ‘opposite sides’ have procreated since the end of the war. Children with a Capitol father and a district mother and vice versa.

But I promise you, it’s not for the reason Gloria has you believe. It’s all just a natural consequence of peace. Of the way we people function. For the first time in forever we can travel around the country safely. Free to get to know people outside our own birthplace if we want to. Friendship and even love … they are bound to grow in such a soil.

If you read some of Haymitch’s history books, you’d find it’s actually quite common. Even in the middle of bitter conflicts, bloody wars that last for decades, people have a way of finding each other, finding common grounds, no matter what. Despite the fact that they’re supposed to be mortal enemies.”

She caressed Octavia’s hair and down her back.

“You’re so much wiser than Gloria”, she said. “And unlike her, you have friends from the districts. Think about the people you know. Katniss for instance. Does she have a black heart?”

Octavia’s brow furrowed. She shook her head.

“Of course not”, she said. “She saved us. After the people of Thirteen imprisoned us, Katniss got us out of there.”

“But she’s from the districts, isn’t she?”

“Yes. I mean, um …” Octavia wavered. “Yes, but … not when it counts.”

“How about Peeta? What can you say about his heart? Is it black?”

“Oh no”, Octavia said in a hushed voice. “Not Peeta. Peeta’s heart could never be black. It’s full of all the colors. Just like his paintings.”

“Well, that leaves Haymitch”, Effie shrugged. “If anyone’s got a black heart, it’s him.”

“How can you say that?” Octavia’s eyes welled up with tears. “You wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for him! How can you say something like that? And in front of them”, she whispered, pointing to the twins.

“But he’s district”, said Effie. “All three of them are. Same as Primrose. And Posy. Their species is so evil, they pass their bloodthirst down through their genes.”

“M-maybe not all of them”, Octavia said. Uncertain. “Some are different. Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch … they’re different.”

“But are they?” asked Effie. “Are they really? Or can it be that you just know them better than you did the other tributes?”

Octavia’s eyebrows came together, trying to make sense of it.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned these past few years”, Effie said, “it’s that we really aren’t that different. Not at the core. Capitol. District. You’d be surprised how much we have in common.

Sure, there are always people who will behave like asses. Every group has them. I can’t speak for everyone but this I know: When I was at the bottom, my absolute lowest, people were there for me. And some were from the Capitol and some were from the districts.”

Octavia’s eyes found the floor.

“It’s alright”, said Effie and she meant it. “But just think about it. Really think about it. If you met a man. A sweet, kind, thrilling man that you had a really great time with. Someone who made you laugh. Made your heart flutter.

A man who thought you were hands down the best, most wonderful girl in the world. Who never failed to make you feel special. Loved. Would you really care where he came from? If he was district, would it matter?”

Misty-eyed, Octavia didn’t reply. She brushed the edge of Amy’s footrest with an absent-minded finger.

“We didn’t have the twins as part of some greater scheme or plot”, Effie said. “Neither did Lysistrata Vicker’s grandson or his wife.

We never even planned it. I got pregnant simply because Haymitch and I made love, followed by a birth control mishap.

That’s all. And I’m so glad we did! Because I cannot imagine my life without them. Neither can Haymitch. It’s not about vengeance, Octavia. It’s about love.”

All throughout, Effie had kept her voice low – so as not to wake the two in the stroller. And she didn’t.

It was the silence that drew a reaction.

Ian stirred again. Stretched his little body as far as the seat allowed. From Octavia came another gasp, but it sounded more like being taken unaware than frightened. As if nervous, he might ask why she saw fit to break his slumber.

The boy blinked at them. No cries or rages. His gray eyes just moved between Octavia and Effie.

A gurgling sound came over his lips, and he reached for mama.

Effie clicked him loose and lifted him out.

“Hi handsome”, she said and kissed his cheek. “Did you enjoy your nap?”

She settled the boy on her lap and Ian’s face turned swiftly to the other grownup in the room.

“Buh?” he asked his mother, questioningly. Pointed his finger out, as always when something piqued his interest.

Effie kissed his strawberry hair.

“Ian … I’d like you to meet my very good friend, Ms Octavia Haze.”

Octavia’s lips curved into a nervous smile. She gave a small wave of her hand.

“Hello”, she said. “Nice to meet you.” Her eyes met Effie’s. “Goodness. He looks just like Haymitch, doesn’t he?”

Effie smiled.

“He does. So does his sister. Especially when they’re laughing. They have Haymitch’s smile.”

“Haymitch laughs and smiles?”

The question pinched her heart, but she nodded.

“Much more than he used to.”

Octavia’s gaze returned to the child. You could still trace a slight vigilance in her manners, but it was quickly melting.

“He … he doesn’t look dangerous. I mean, as far as I can tell. And I’m a great judge of character. Says Venia.”

“No, he’s not dangerous at all.”

“Gloria doesn’t know everything in the world.”

“No.”

Ian cooed. As if to second that.

Octavia’s eyes softened.

“Such a little jellybean, aren’t you?” she said. “Little guy.”

“Would you like to hold him?” Effie asked.

“Oh”, said Octavia, startled. “Well, I … OK. Yes.”

Effie helped the child over and soon the boy had settled on Octavia’s lap.

Ian wasted no time. With the bold, self-righteous hand of a toddler he grasped for her nose, her cheek.

“Oh!” Octavia gave a chuckle, somewhere between amused and alarmed. “What’s he doing?” she asked as he poked and kneaded her.

Effie grinned.

“Sorry.” She reached out, lowered Ian’s hands from Octavia’s face. “Got to be careful, sweetheart. Play nicely. I think he likes the green of your skin”, she said.

Octavia’s face brightened.

“He thinks I’m pretty?”

“You’re always pretty”, smiled Effie. “We tried our hands at finger painting a few months back”, she explained. “He was over the moon. And then there are the shiny things”, she added, when Ian grasped for Octavia’s earring next, nudging the pretty gemstones with his fingertips. “Haymitch says he was probably a magpie in a previous life.”

Octavia giggled. She gently removed the boy’s hand from her ear, but she didn’t let go.

“Well”, she said. “Let me just tell you, Ian: You have great, innate taste! This shade is called emerald green. I get it done at Aphrodite’s Beauty Spa.  She is pricy but she’s the best in town. Well, until the day Flavius and Venia and I have included it in our services, of course. But, I don’t think”, she added, unsure, “I don’t believe you’re allowed to get a full body tan if you’re just one year old. I can ask for you, if you want?”

Effie gave a brilliant laugh. Octavia looked up, surprised, then allowed herself a small smile.

“You hungry?” asked Effie. “I brought some for the park but since it seems we’re going to be stuck in here for a while … I’ve got pasta salad. Banana muffins. Some yoghurt with mashed blueberries. It’s not homemade but …”

“Yes please”, beamed Octavia.

When the repairman finally arrived to get them all out, Octavia sat with both twins on her lap.

It was with near reluctance she returned them to their mother.

Free as birds, the four of them headed for the main entrance together.

“I have to be at the salon”, Octavia said, once outside. The sun glinted in the purple of her hair. “Flavius and Venia are probably worried sick.”

“I get it”, said Effie. “Tell them I said hi.”

They kissed on both cheeks.

“If you ever feel like a visit”, Effie added, “you're more than welcome to come over by the house. Any time.”

Octavia nodded eagerly.

“I will.”

Author's note: I wish I could tell you I came up with the cuckoo bird metaphor myself but that's actually from the 2016 movie version of "The Jungle Book". The chapter words are all mine but I drew inspiration from one of their scenes that start with: "But the one you have to watch out for is the cuckoo bird. Do you know how the cuckoo bird survives? By preying on a mother's weakness."

As a writer, I thought it was an absolutely brilliant way to manipulate someone younger and/or more trusting and so I wrote my own take on the idea, putting Octavia in the role of the wolf pups and Gloria as Shere Khan. 😉

Lastly, this chapter would not have come to fruition if it weren't for a comment I received, about a year ago. I won't put the reader's name on here in case she (you) doesn't want me to but I'd still like to talk a little about the power of feedback.

This reader had a hard time seeing that sweet, loving Octavia (and the rest of the prep team) would treat Effie so poorly. Octavia's heart is just too big for all that and either way, it would instantly melt as soon as she saw the twins in person.

Now, I always planned for the prep to change their minds about Effie and the kids but: much further into the story. Near the end. I hoped that Effie's comments that someone unknown was manipulating them and "pouring poison into their ears" would be enough of an explanation until then but then I read this review and thought "Hm, maybe not. Maybe some more background info is needed."

So then it was back to the drawing board, fleshing out new ideas cause I love Octavia's character so much and HATE the idea of her coming of as cold or shallow or, for that matter, OOC.

This elevator scene came to mind and with it, several others that also included the prep.

So, thank you for the feedback! Now, instead of just two more prep team scenes at the end of ToS you get at least half a dozen chapters, several of them starting now. I hope you'll like them!

[caritobbg]

Coffee Disaster - P1

Bucky Barnes x Barista!Reader x Father Figure!Tony.

Summary: Tony and Bucky's feud has reached its limit of tolerance. What can happen when you leave a supersoldier and Iron Man alone for a few minutes? Answer: disaster.

A/N: well, this is my first Bucky's oneshot! This idea was a dream i had a couple of days ago 😅 I couldn't let it go, so I decided to write it. It might be a multi-chapter because of everything I've been writing 😅😂.

I hope you like it and enjoy it as much as I did while I was writing this story 🥺

TW: SO MUCH ANGST - Bucky&Tony being stupid - angry reader (yes, it's a warning) - sad Bucky - heartbreak

English isn't my first language. Sorry if there's any mistakes 😅

Tag: @ro-is-struggling @luciasimmer96 @themorningsunshine @mads-weasley @aquanova99 @alexsoenomel (if you wanna be tagged, just tell me 🥺❤️)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

"Y/N's Coffee Talk - CLOSED INDEFINITELY".

"Reason: ANTHONY EDWARD STARK - JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES".

Those were the signs that had all the people in the Avengers Tower furious. The tower's barista had decided to close her coffee bar because of a LITTLE INCIDENT a few days before between her father figure and the man she had fallen in love with. Although they didn't know what happened, they could imagine why Y/N was more than upset with them.

The enmity between them reached its limit for such a silly reason! They both wanted the best for her, but their differences did the opposite.

Neither spoke as they pulled out and threw away what was destroyed, each in their own mind carefully planning every step to take to recover that broken relationship and avoid every person in the tower lining up to have their heads as a reward.

Bucky: We should get to work - breaking the overwhelming silence and finishing throwing the last piece of broken wood into the dumpster - this has gone far enough.

Tony: I know - feeling just as guilty - Y/n had put a lot of effort into her work to get all this done.

Bucky: we'll have to do our best to reverse this situation.

Bruce: I want to talk to you two -approaching them with Nat- what did you do to leave the place like that? You know that y/n...

Tony: Yeah yeah, we know - rolling his eyes - that's why we're going to get to work right away.

Nat: Can we know what happened? Steve didn't give details, but even he's itching to rip your heads off.

Tony: It's a long story, but...

Bruce: start talking - impatient

Bucky: what happened was...

Flashback:

Y/N: Good morning James - opening the door and letting out the beautiful smell of freshly brewed coffee - the usual? -with her trademark smile -double shot of espresso with a spoonful of sugar?

Bucky: Good morning Y/N/N -smiling at him- yes, please.

Y/N: Funny so early in the morning here, I thought you were going for a run with Sam?

Bucky: I was -laughing- I needed a moment of peace before the birdbrain makes me kill him -she just laughed and shook her head- also...-dubiously- I wanted to talk something with you

Y/N: mm? What is it? -purging her machine to place the sieved filter holder in it

Bucky: I wanted to know if...

Y/N: Oh no -pulling out his phone-

Bucky: What's wrong?

Y/N: Steve promised to help me upload the new order, they brought beans from Ethiopia, they are some of the best and with an indescribable flavour! -anxious and happy- and it looks like it's already arrived because he just texted me to say it's downstairs.

Bucky: uh.. Ok, it can wait -giving him a warm smile- don't worry.

Y/N: -serving his coffee- are you sure you don't want to tell me now?

Bucky: really doll, don't worry. I'll tell you later and... You make the best coffees in the world

Tony: Speaking of coffee, how about my cappuccino? -looking at the scene before his eyes- I thought it would be ready by now.

Y/N: You're going to have to wait Stark, until I get back I'm not going to make you your beloved cappuccino -passing by his side and grabbing a list of the order-.

Tony: But...

Bucky: Leave her alone Tony, Steve's waiting for her downstairs.

Tony: Did I ask you something?

Bucky: Don't rush her, she's got to go get...

Tony: -ignoring him- come on girl, I need your cappuccinos- behaving like a little kid

Y/N: -hanging up her apron- Tony, wait for me in about... -looking at the time- 30 minutes and I'll do it. I'm not leaving Steve alone downstairs with the three bags of coffee at 3kg each!

Tony: Fine -annoyed- but you'd better...

Bucky: Yeah yeah, make your cappuccino when she's back. Leave her alone Stark

Tony: Shut your mouth Barnes, nobody asked you anything here.

Bucky: And what are you gonna do if i don't...

Y/N: OK YOU TWO -separating them- what did I tell you about arguing here?

Tony&Bucky: that you'll ban us from entering until we settle our differences.

Y/N: exactly -checking that nothing is missing- well, in 30 minutes I'll be back here. In the meantime -seriously- behave like the adults you are -leaving them and closing the door while putting up a "be right back" sign.

Tony: What are you doing here winter? -crossing his arms-

Bucky: None of your business, tin man - sitting down near the bar.

Tony: Uh-huh, right. You never miss your morning jog with Sam or Steve, something brought you here early.

You see, Tony considered Y/N like a daughter. Ever since he met her in that coffee shop in downtown NYC and, months after learning that she was out of work and that her parents had died -years before- in an accident, he swore he would protect her with everything in his power. And that protection included keeping a certain super-soldier away from her.

Bucky: I told you it's none of your business - texting Sam.

Tony: What do we have here... -pulling out his phone and checking it

Bucky: HEY! STARK, GIVE THAT BACK TO ME -chasing him all over the place until he stopped abruptly-

The big ironman couldn't believe his eyes. He kept seeing those messages over and over again.

{SW} AND? Did you tell her? What happened?

[BB] No, not yet.

{SW} Why?! Buck, you have to invite her! Don't waste your time!

Tony: Really Barnes?! I told you to stay away from her! You were going to ask her out!?

Bucky: so what? -putting his phone away- yeah, I want to ask her out, is there a problem with that?

Tony: I'm not going to let you....

Bucky: What you're not going to let? A retired, recovered assassin asking out his best friend?

Sure... "best friend." Since the day they met, Bucky can't get her out of his mind. Y/N was amazing, someone he could spend hours and hours talking to about whatever was on their minds, the one person who could calm him down when his nights were plagued by nightmares of his stormy past. His love for her reached a higher level where he loved her as more than just his best friend.

Tony: I told you, stay away from her -pushing him away-.

Bucky: Stark, I'm warning you -threatening- don't provoke me. You're not her real father.

Tony: Uhh that's scary, -mocking him- and no, I'm not her father, but I'll do anything to keep her away from the monster that...

A fist connecting directly to his face prevented him from speaking any further. Indeed, his provocation brought out the worst in the supersoldier. Tony landed on one of the tables, knocking it completely off and leaving only splinters.

Tony: -still giddy- that's how you want to play it, huh? -slowly getting up and wiping away the small drop of blood that was falling on his lip- we can fix it.

Bucky: Do it

And the fight began.

They both dodged all the blows of their nemesis with speed, though some of them landed on their bodies. They used EVERYTHING there was to defend themselves: chairs, tables, cups, anything they saw was a "weapon".

Bucky: come on tin, it doesn't have to end like this - throwing himself on top of Tony and putting his legs in a headlock on his neck.

Tony: I'm not going to let you beat me, Terminator.

Out of nowhere, a turbine noise is heard coming through the window.

Bucky: You're a... -One of the suit's gloves hits him and sends him flying to the bar where moments before Y/N was preparing the coffee.

Tony: -going to Bucky grabbing him by his clothes- now I'm going to give you what you deserve.

The door opens at that instant and they both go pale.

Steve: What the... -leaving the roasted coffee to one side and unable to believe what was before his eyes.

Y/N: Steve, what's wrong? -appearing from behind him- what...

Her eyes couldn't believe it. Her coffee shop, the place she had staked all her savings and dreams on, totally destroyed. From all the furnishings to the crockery and...

Y/N: m... My... My cafeteria... -looking all around- no... Nononono... WHAT DID YOU DO! -noting that Bucky was right on top of her espresso machine- YOU DESTROYED MY CARIMALLI! -looking at them furiously- DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SAVED TO GET IT!!!!?????

Looking around, the two realised how much trouble they were in. Regret and shame at their behaviour were the first emotions they felt.

Tony: Y/N/N...

Y/N: - turning totally red - Anthony and James, I told you to behave like adults, not to fight like the two little boys you are, but it seems that every time someone asks you to do that, you ignore it - raising his voice even more and getting closer as they backed away and Steve was only an observer of the situation and enjoying every second - I told you I'd be back in 30 minutes, you promised me not to do anything, what did you do? DESTROYED WHAT MADE ME MOST HAPPY, -pushing them both, although it didn't do much to hurt them any more than they already were.

Anthony and James. Their full names. Steve slowly approached his side to avoid further altercations between the trio in front of him and to call for help in case something happened to Y/N.

Bucky: Doll, we're sorry. We made a really big mistake and....

Y/N: sorry isn't going to fix anything James - walking away with her hands shaking, eyes teary and agitated - this.... There's no turning back

Bucky: are you okay? -scared to see his condition

Y/N: No... -trying to breathe- I don't want you talking to or looking for me...either...both of you.... -her anxiety was reaching its peak- I need to leave. Steve... I don't... I don't feel well

Tony: princess, please -seeing her get out of there as fast as possible

The three men stood alone looking out over the war territory. Steve was disappointed that Bucky was letting Tony's provocations get the better of him, he knew this was going to happen someday, but not a fight on this scale.

Steve: -watching them for a moment- really? Bar fight?

Tony: Rogers, we know we screwed up and let the grudge get the worst of us, but I wasn't going to let Barnes make her suffer. It's HIS fault for starting this.

Bucky: MY FAULT? You started provoking me and treating me like something I'm not anymore.

Tony: Sure, you didn't throw the first punch, did you?

Steve: OK, ENOUGH! -seeing Steve angry wasn't an everyday occurrence- you have to fix this mess now and it better be soon. This ends now

F.R.I.D.A.Y: Captain Rogers, Miss Y/L/N needs your help.

Steve: What's going on?

F.R.I.D.A.Y: I detected that her stress levels are very high and she can't breathe. She is in her room.

Steve: tell her I'm on my way - scrubbing her face with his hands - clean up and start doing something. Now.

Tony: Now we're screwed.

______________________________________

Tony: And after that we saw Steve take her to the medical wing because her anxiety was getting worse and worse - feeling guilty about what caused that situation.

Bruce: You've got to be kidding me -in disbelief- did you really fight over her?

Bucky: Yeah -embarrassed- we realised too late what we did and ended up hurting her in the worst way.

Nat: By ignoring her and breaking her trust in both of us over a stupid argument?

Tony: Ouch.

Bucky: That hurt, but.... Yeah - wiping the dust off his hands - we'd better start now, there's no time to waste.

Tony: Yeah, but where do we start? -heading with everyone to the tower- we destroy her dream coffee shop.

Bruce: What does she like? -helping them a little, he felt sorry for these two- there's got to be something that you know about.

Bucky: -getting on the elevator- umm... one of the renovations she always wanted to do was to change the current colours for brighter ones and the chairs and tables for ones that...

Tony: well, that's a start - clasping his hands together - let's go to the lab to plan....

The doors opened and they found Y/N in the living room. Nat approached her slowly and placing a hand on her shoulder and only gave her a faint smile that faded as she saw Bucky, as Tony continued on his way to his office in the lift.

Bruce: Nat, I need you to help me with something, - understanding what was about to happen- now

Bucky: Y/N/N... -seeing that they were all alone as they disappeared through the kitchen doorway

Y/N: my dream was always to have a coffee shop of my own -sighing- no matter the place or the people, I always wanted that, besides starting college -the painting she was holding in her hands ended up broken in the trash before he could say a word- now I know that what everyone said was true.... I'm never going to be able to fulfil it. All thanks to you two

That broke Bucky.

Bucky: doll, don't say that, of course....

Y/N: no "doll" - annoyed - you let the provocations get to your head when I told you over a million times to ignore it!

Bucky: yeah, I know, I just didn't...

Y/N: I thought you'd changed James, that you weren't letting anger consume you anymore -disappointed

Bucky: what? -speechless- of course I don't let my past bring out the worst in me anymore, don't say those things, please.... -taking her hands- I wasn't thinking about what I was doing and...

Y/N: James. Stop it. - turning away from him with teary eyes - I asked you not to make a big deal out of it. You did the opposite. Everything's changed now. Oh, God! I even thought that... -biting her tongue- enough, it doesn't matter now.

Bucky: what did you think? -in a whisper and annoyed with himself- tell me

Y/N: nothing, it doesn't matter -getting up to leave

Bucky: don't go -taking her by the arm- please, tell me

Y/N: James, no, that's it.

Bucky: please, - locking his stormy eyes on hers- I want to know and I'll stop bothering you until I come up with a solution.

Y/N: -taking a deep breath- I liked you -letting go of his grip- I wanted to tell you that very day, I had worked up the courage. It's all gone now. -leaving him alone with his thoughts

He couldn't believe what he heard. Y/N, his best friend, had the same feelings as him, she reciprocated! On the one hand he wanted to jump up and down and scream with happiness, on the other hand he wanted to beat himself up for what his anger accomplished.

Slowly he walked to the bin where the picture was and curiously picked it up and was stunned. It was the collage with all the pinterest pictures they had taken together at the bar one night when neither of them could sleep. It took him a couple of minutes to react and go to Stark to start executing the plan.

Sam: Wow dude - bumping into him in the hallway - what's up?

Bucky: She likes me -shaken from running- she likes me and I ruined everything -showing him the painting- but I'll fix it.

Sam: - confused - and this is it?

Bucky: this is the dream coffee shop that Y/N always wanted - walking next to him - I'll do my best to recreate it in reality and make her happy - more than determined-.

Sam: so -crossing his arms- where do we start?

_________________________________________

Tell what you think guys 🥺 I will be uploading the following parts soon ❤️

[littleliquor]

When Daylight Fades (pt. 5)

Note: I’m still in the process of merging my plot to the original plot. It’s quite a challenge because I’m still trying to find a way to kind of alter the original plot without completely setting its direction astray. But I’m heading there. HOWEVER, though I have a good idea of how the story ends, it could either be a happy ending or a sad ending and I haven’t decided between them, yet. 

Background: Reader ran into Wednesday’s visit to Weathervane while receiving a deeply upsetting news that brought her to the verge of losing control. After the exhausting attempt to regain control, reader sought comfort from Tyler. The reader’s own history and trauma slowly unravelled as the story proceeds.  

Warning: light fluff (once again, I stopped right where it’s supposed to stop because I’m about as bad as a first time parent talking to their kid about the bird and the bee)

Part 1  Part 2   Part 3  Part 4  Part 6  Part 7

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I took a short detour into the town of Jericho for my usual afternoon coffee. Indulging in Weathervane’s over-roasted coffee scent had become a part of my everyday routine. I would sit for an hour, waiting for the end of Tyler’s shift. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my new classmate’s haste entrance into the cafe. Wednesday took no time to quickly spewed out her order to Tyler. Right in the untimely malfunction of the espresso machine.

“A quad over ice. It’s an emergency.” 

Before I could make a decision on whether or not to strike a decent conversation with Wednesday, my phone rang. 

Margery Calling… 

I picked up the phone, expecting the bright voice of the young apprentice. Instead, I was greeted by the low, clear voice of the Supreme herself. 

“Y/N…” 

“Just because I’m not picking up your calls, doesn’t mean you should call me on Marge’s number.” I interrupted her sentence with as much hint of annoyance as I could possible give out. 

“That’s not why I’m calling. Marge is dead.” Joy delivered the worst news I’d heard in the entire day. Without saying a word, my first instinct was to run outside of Weathervane. An overwhelming mixture of emotions engulfed the entirety of my mind, confusion, sorrow, rage… 

“How?” I rubbed my thumb over the nail on my middle finger, trying desperately to distract myself. That was when I realized my hands were shaking. A soft light glow bleed from my index uncontrollably. I shoved my hand inside my pocket frantically, hoping no one would catch my hysteria. 

Marge was only an apprentice, far too weak to wield her power fully. It was a little harsh of me to say it but she was an easy target. She was kind, perhaps too kind for her own good. I found her passionate, bright perspective with others to be annoying, but she could’ve been so much more. Marge didn’t deserve this. 

“Steel bullet to the heart. Apparently, she was tied down with a chain before her killer shot her.” Joy said, solemn and stern. Deep down, I knew she was worried about another witch hunt. It would be the worst nightmare for a lot of us. 

“Cowards.” I pursed my lips, trying my hardest to keep my voice from cracking. 

The killing of a wielder using steel chains and bullets was not a spontaneous murder. It was a deliberate, well-planned murder most often seen among witch hunters. With our information all over the internet, we had become more vulnerable than ever. 

A loud thudding noise from the cafe brought my attention back to the surroundings. As I turned back to the glasses, I caught the glimpse of Wednesday’s impressive stunt to take down three teenage bullies two times her own size. 

“Be careful out there, Y/N… I’m worried for all of us.” Joy took a deep breath. “Promise me you won’t go looking for whoever killed her.” 

“Joy, you need to warn everybody and fortify the Coven…” Before I could continue, I saw Tyler walking out of Weathervane towards me. “I need to go now. Later.” 

I slipped my phone back inside my coat hurriedly. The world of witches and warlocks were a more complicated and dangerous than people imagined. Tyler’s Hyde identity had brought enough on his plate already. He shouldn’t have to deal with my issues as well. 

“Hey, you don’t look so well. What happened?” Tyler pressed his finger gently in between my eyebrows. I noticed I’d been frowning the whole time. 

“It’s nothing really. Just some… family business.” I tried to smile at him. Somehow I made myself looking more nervous to him. 

“I’m off in a moment. Do you want to go get a burger and talk about it?” Tyler brushed his hands on his apron, asking carefully. 

My heart was racing but it wasn’t because of him. The chaos was slipping out of my control as my panic took over. It was screaming in every drop of blood that ran through my veins, enraging, threatening to burst out from my pores. 

“I… I actually need to tend to something. I’ll meet you back at your house, okay?” I left him a light kiss on the cheek and ran off to the woods separating Nevermore and Jericho on my foot. 

I sprinted through the wood full speed ahead. The rustling of the trees and the whistling of the wind accompanied my every hurried steps. It was sharp and loud. I couldn’t keep track of how long I’d been running but I didn’t stop until my lungs began to give out… or until I tripped over the long stretch of a tree’s exposing root. 

I knelt down on the ground, all fours pressing over it. The air was treacherous with a cold danger somewhere. But at this very moment, at least, I was all alone. The red glow that had showed its sheer presence before had grew stronger with a bright red color, now leaking through my whole body. 

I wished I could pretend that the death of my Coven member meant nothing to me. Reality was that it had brought back all the memories that I’d die to forget. My mother’s scream in the town square in the middle of the night, my sister’s cry as the flame from the pyre beneath them consumed them whole. Starting from the fabric of their dresses, until their voices stopped. 

They’d taken away my family once… They’d do it again… 

With a deafening scream, the glow swept through the woods around me in a violent storm. I managed to minimize the scope of its explosion at the last second, but the poor trees standing meters from me had all been turned to dust, drizzling in air like they never existed. 

I struggled to pick myself up from the ground while containing the chaos under my hold. I had always suspected that this youthful flesh was not enough to keep all the chaos under control. I only hoped it will ease up as I grow older. After the cathartic explosion, it felt as if I had exhausted my body. Every step seemed to be heavier and heavier. I dragged my legs towards Tyler’s house slowly. 

It was almost past midnight when I reached the Galpins’ front porch. Sheriff Galpin was out of sight, again. He took the truck with him. I lowered my entire body in utter lassitude, slamming my entire hand on the doorbell. As the door opened, I laid all of my body weight over Tyler, holding onto him by his shirt. Before he could tell a word, I pressed my lips over his in an ardent kiss, breathing in his scent until it filled my lungs and my mind.  

Tyler’s hands crawled along my spine to the back of my head, holding me even closer to him. With a small opening of his lips, I slipped my tongue into his mouth, enjoying, but not satiated by his reciprocation. I couldn’t stop myself from the intoxicating taste of him. I pulled away for a gasp of air, but he immediately caught up to me. It wasn’t enough. I wanted more, a lot more. With a soft moan leaving his mouth, we stumbled into his bedroom. @sarcastic-sourwolf​ @snips-501​ @gayandfairycore @o-the-o-grim-o-reaper-o​​​​

[cosmicanamnesis]

he tastes like chocolate pt. 7

[part 1] [part 6] [part 8] [read on ao3]

December 31st, morning

It didn’t matter when Steve fell asleep, he couldn’t sleep past six in the morning. Usually he was up by five, really, six was sleeping in according to his circadian rhythm. 

He woke up in an unfamiliar place and started to panic before his brain caught up to the rest of him. 

It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. His phone was on the nightstand and he was wearing his own clothes, but through bleary eyes he could barely see his surroundings, not to mention he wasn’t wearing glasses. Not that he ever really wore his glasses. They looked stupid and Robin always teased him about them so he made do without them when he wasn’t at home. This practice, unfortunately, didn’t help him figure out where the hell he was. As he tried to steady his breathing, the smell of the room hit him and he remembered.

Oh.

Oh yeah.

He’d stayed the night at Eddie’s house. He slept in Eddie’s bed. He grabbed a fistful of bedsheet and brought it to his face, trying to ground himself with something. The sheets smelled like weed smoke and nicotine and someone else’s sweat and all Steve could think was that he hoped his shirt had absorbed some of it. Was that weird? It felt weird.

He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his phone, dismissing the notifications he didn’t care about, finally landing on the ones he did.

Robs

ugh remind me to never let dates stay over if im covering ur shift

how do u do this every day

its so early im fucking dying over here

wake upppppp cmon steve i know u dont sleep in

unless ;)

Hey, you dug your own grave. Lie in it. Also, good morning.

i hate u

so how did last night go ???

Fine. We didn't really do anything, just ran some errands for his uncle. And he slept on the couch, let me sleep in his bed.

what a gentleman

Right? I am in way too deep, Robs.

could be deeper

What?

;)

I’m moving back in with my parents.

nuhuh

No, you’re right. I could never.

Robin didn’t respond right away, which meant the morning rush had started, and he wouldn’t hear from her for another two or three hours. He scrolled through social media for a while, letting himself enjoy the quiet morning for as long as he could let himself relax before needing to find something to do. 

Finally he got up, changed back into his regular clothes and gathered his stuff. He made Eddie's bed out of habit more than anything and left his stuff in a pile on top of the blankets before heading to the kitchen in search of breakfast and something caffeinated.

Eddie was still asleep when Steve came into the kitchen. He could see him stretched out on the couch, one arm up over his head, one leg dangling off the side, snoring away like he'd never slept better. Weirdo. 

Quietly, Steve began rummaging around in the kitchen until he found something. He thought he'd seen it last night as they were putting groceries away, and sure as shit, there it was. A tiny countertop espresso maker, covered in dust and hidden on top of the fridge behind several bags of cereal. It didn't look like it had ever been used. He set to work wiping it down before crossing his fingers and hunting through cabinets for… Perfect. They had an unopened tin of Bustelo hiding on the top shelf of a cabinet that also had pancake mix in it, so double score.

He was startled by the door opening, cold air blowing in behind Wayne as he shrugged off his coat.

"Morning," Steve said quietly, announcing his presence. Wayne nodded at him and then looked over at Eddie on the couch, unmoving like nothing had happened.

"You know how to work that thing?" Wayne asked, pointing to the espresso machine. Steve almost laughed.

"Did Eddie not tell you what I do for a living? I work at the coffee shop down the block from his apprenticeship."

"Ah," Wayne nodded. "Won it at a work thing one time. I don't know how to set it up, and the boy doesn't drink coffee, so. Figured I'd get rid of it one day, just never got around to it."

"I'm glad you didn't. Thought I was gonna have to go bug my roommate at work to make me coffee on my way home," Steve said, breaking into the long-ignored coffee tin. He’d probably go bug Robin anyway, since he had a whole day to kill. "Here, grab a mug, I can show you how to work it."

It wasn't an especially complicated machine, nothing like they had at work, but it got the job done. Wayne followed along, seeming to mentally take notes as Steve showed him what all the parts were and how to use it, even taught him how to make hot chocolate with it for Eddie, and how to clean everything after. Somehow, through all of their talking and noise, Eddie still didn't wake up. Steve sipped his coffee, leaning against the counter as he watched Wayne bring Eddie the hot chocolate.

Wayne set the mug on the coffee table, next to the pile of Eddie's rings, and patted Eddie gently on the arm. He grumbled something Steve couldn't hear and swatted Wayne's hand away.

"Eddie, you gotta get up," Wayne said, nudging Eddie a little more forcefully. More unintelligible mumbling. Steve smiled as he watched. "You gotta take Steve home, son."

That woke Eddie up. God he hated being up early. There was barely even sunlight filtering in through the blinds, and Wayne was trying to get him up now? Eddie was prepared to fight him about it a little longer until he said the magic word - Steve - and Eddie's sleep-addled brain finally figured out what was happening. He sat up in a panic, feeling his hair hold its wild bedhead shape as he made eye contact with Steve, who was smiling at him from the kitchen. 

"Morning," he said softly. "Made you hot chocolate." He glanced at the mug on the table and Eddie followed suit, reaching over for it as Wayne sat down and turned the TV on.

"Thanks," Eddie took a sip and smiled back up at Steve. It tasted like the ones Steve made him at work, fancy and creamy and a far cry from the powdered cocoa mix he usually made do with. Steve turned to put something away in the fridge, finally giving Eddie a clear line of sight to the espresso machine on the counter. Mystery solved.

“Breakfast?” Steve said, holding up the half empty pancake mix. Eddie blinked, surprised, and set the hot chocolate back on the table.

“Steve, you don’t have to cook for me, I’m an adult,” Eddie said, slipping his rings back on. He saw Steve shrug out of the corner of his eye and start hunting around in the kitchen.

“You bought me dinner, I’ll make you breakfast. ‘S only fair.”

Eddie looked over at Wayne, who barely glanced away from the morning news. The silent conversation they had went something like,

Can you believe this guy? Making me breakfast in my own house?

You sure know how to pick ‘em.

Wayne, make him stop.

The kid made me coffee, Ed, he can do whatever the hell he wants.

You’re unbelievable.

Eddie rolled his eyes and grabbed his mug, heaving himself off of the couch while Wayne stayed put in his recliner, looking entirely too smug, the bastard. He stretched as he stood and joined Steve in the kitchen, rubbing the leftover sleep out of his eyes.

“Ehh, fuck off,” Steve said, waving a spatula in Eddie’s general direction. 

“Relax, Stevie, I’m not gonna take over,” Eddie said, leaning back against the fridge. “Just… supervising.”

“Yeah, ah huh. Sure.” Steve turned away and grabbed a pan out of the dishrack, spinning it in his hand with a flourish before setting it on the stove.

“Huh… Where’d you learn to do that?” Eddie asked, sipping his drink.

“Do what?”

“The… flippy thing,” Eddie said, which was almost even vaguer coupled with a spinny sort of hand motion.

“Oh!” Steve started laughing, and demonstrated again with the spatula before turning his attention back to the pan, swirling a glob of butter around until it melted. “Dunno. I’ve just always done it. Drives Robin nuts. Started doing it when we worked at- Y’know that summer job I was talking about? Ice cream parlor.”

“That’s still a thing? Ice cream slinger is still a job you can have?”

“Apparently. Anyway, used to do it with the ice cream scoops all the time. She hated it, thought I was gonna throw ‘em at her on accident.”

“Did you?”

“Not on accident,” Steve chuckled.

They chatted in the kitchen for a while as Steve made breakfast for the three of them. All three of them. He made coffee and pancakes for Wayne. Because of course he did. Because of course this very pretty, very funny, exceedingly kind man would teach his uncle to use the espresso machine that he hadn’t touched since he got it and then make him fucking pancakes. Eddie was pretty sure that if he didn’t lock Steve down and soon, Wayne was gonna try.

Eddie and Steve returned to the living room with breakfast and made small talk with Wayne while they ate, all very "So Steve, where are you from," and such, getting to know each other. As Steve and Wayne, who was being uncharacteristically talkative that morning, fell into a conversation about baseball that Eddie could only kind of follow, he decided to see if the Hellfire group chat had any updates for him.

Microwave: so when is everyone getting here?

Garebear: That’s kinda up to Eddie since we need the van.

Dustpan: so any time between 2 and 6:30 is what I’m hearing

JIF: Yeah pretty much

Leia: max is gonna be here at noon to help set up. erica will be here whenever she wants to be.

Dustpan: naturally

Dustpan: mike, will, any word from el?

Dustpan: wait was that her that just came in?

Dustpan: jesus yes it was, she just scared the shit out of me in the kitchen

Dustpan: never mind I guess

good god how do you all function this early

Garebear: Why the hell are you awake?

gotta run a couple errands

i have a cute boy to impress

Leia: knock em dead, tiger

anyway gare ill come drop the van off at yours once im done and ill be back for the party at… whatd we say 7 right?

Garebear: Earlier if you can be, I’d like to not have to sound check without you

JIF: Again

Garebear: Again

Garebear: Hey I was gonna say that

JIF: Sucks to suck

Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed, shoving his phone into his pocket so he wouldn’t have to watch everybody talk over each other. There was a reason he always kept his phone on silent. If he had to hear his stupid messages go off every thirty seconds, he would probably lose it. Gareth understood, but insisted that he be in the group chat anyway so he would, quote, know what was going on and not have to make Gareth be his personal messenger, Jesus Christ Eddie could you join the 21st century please.

No, no he could not.

"Alright, if you two nerds are done… bonding, or whatever," Eddie said, tapping Steve's shoulder and making a grabby hand gesture to take his empty plate. "I got shit to do, so we should probably get you home, yeah?" He collected Wayne's plate as well and headed back to the kitchen without waiting for a response. 

"Uh, alright," Steve said, brain struggling to change gears as he was jerked from his conversation. "Well, guess I'll be around," he nodded to Wayne as he stood up to follow Eddie to the bedroom so he could grab his stuff. Or, he tried to follow Eddie into the bedroom.

Eddie had caught himself, stuck still in the doorway when Steve all but ran into him, jolting him back to reality.

“Sorry, didn’t realize you stopped,” Steve laughed, sneaking in past Eddie as he stayed firmly caught on the doorframe, gaping at nothing. Steve tucked his small wad of belongings under his arm and turned back to leave the room, but Eddie still hadn’t moved.

“Hey, man, you good?” he asked, waving his free hand in front of Eddie’s face.

“Uh, yeah,” Eddie blinked hard and nodded, coming back down from… wherever he was in his head. “Sorry, I, um… sorry.”

Eddie slid past Steve into the room to pull his boots back on, sitting softly on the very edge of the bed like he was trying not to mess the blankets up, even though Steve had barely done more than shake them out to lie flat across the mattress.

Once Steve was gone and Eddie could hear him chatting with Wayne in the living room again, he took a moment to pull himself together, running his hands over the smooth bedsheets. No one else had ever made his bed for him, except for Wayne the day he had moved in. Shit, Eddie never even made his bed himself, either. But here was Steve, pretty kind funny and apparently a bit of a neat freak, and he had made Eddie’s bed.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but he couldn’t let the question linger much longer than realizing he didn’t know how he felt, because he knew if he let Steve and Wayne talk any more, he’d never get Steve out of the house. Not that it was a bad thing, just… inopportune. He had other moves to make first, and unfortunately it meant Steve had to go home. For now, at least.

He shook his head again, trying to clear his brain like an old etch-a-sketch so he could focus on the task at hand, and forced himself up. He didn’t bother tying his boots; they were on his feet and that was all he needed, so he grabbed his coat and ventured back out.

“Ready?” he asked, knocking his shoulder against Steve’s as he came up behind him.

“Yeah,” Steve smiled. “Thanks, again, for letting me stay,” he said, looking between Eddie and Wayne as Eddie started pulling him out the door. Wayne nodded to Steve before he was completely dragged outside.

"So," Steve said as he and Eddie situated themselves in the van. "I know you said no dress code, but like… What should I wear, actually?"

Eddie smiled, looking behind him as he pulled away from the trailer.

"I dunno… Do you own anything other than polo shirts?"

"Yeah! This is just what I wear to work, dude, I don't dress like this all the time." 

It was a little bit a lie. In reality, that was how he dressed more or less always, but it's not like his closet was comprised entirely of shirts that looked like his mother picked them out. 

"Hm… In that case, wear something that if you wore it to work you'd get written up. Got anything like that?"

"I'm sure I can find something." Okay, maybe his clothes did all sort of look like his mother picked them. Whatever. He'd have Robin help him. He'd have time after she got off work.

Eddie stayed in the parking lot across from Steve's apartment for a minute before moving on with his day. He pulled his phone out, ignoring the Hellfire group chat's constant stream, and texted Barb instead.

B:

he made my bed

is that a thing people do?

Make their beds?

make OTHER PEOPLES beds after they stay the night

Aww, he stayed the night?

yeah. turns out that coworker i thought he was dating? they do live together but shes gay and apparently had a hot date over

anyway back to my question

Did he sleep in your bed?

yes

…

Did *you* sleep in your bed?

no jesus b i slept on the couch what kind of man do you take me for

Well, I mean, I've never had anyone do that for me, but I guess that it's not, like, outside the realm of possibility.

he also made breakfast. for all of us.

Wayne too? That’s cute.

Sounds like he just wanted to be nice.

i think waynes more in love with him than i am

Did you tell him you know Nancy?

no uh. it never came up

You should probably tell him at some point.

i dunno. feel like that might freak him out

Yeah, maybe.

Eddie rested his forehead against the steering wheel for a moment, collecting his thoughts. It’d be fine, he told himself. Steve was being nice. He’s just a nice dude. Super nice. He definitely wouldn’t care that Eddie was friends with Nancy. Shit, they weren’t even really friends. Friendly, sure, but friends? Nah. 

Get it together, Munson. He’s just a guy.

------

i think i'm a little behind schedule so pt 8 will go up here in a couple hours and both parts will be on ao3 once i'm off work

tagging: @original-cypher @avacrebs @dangdirtydemons @rainydays35 @changenamelater @phantypurple @alienace @renaissan-vvitch @krazyperson @steddiereid @kittsu-makes-glass @i-must-potato @jaywhohasthegay @henderdads @mightbeasleep @straight4joekeery @sharingisntkaren @micheledawn1975 @thehumblefigtree @goodolefashionedloverboi @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @potentialheartofdarkness @dreammetheworld08 @steveisabicon @biatcgh @alittlegreyfish @r0binscript @estrellami-1 @shitnshit

[justplainwhump]

Coffee To Go

Adrian and Blanca go to the park.

A little filler scene, because the next one is going so slow.

[pet safety masterpost]

Content (warning): BBU, some behind the scenes peeks on pet lib organisation

There were several coffee stands littered over the waterfront park, most serving cheaper coffee than the little bike with the green roof that Adrian was strolling towards. Most served better coffee, in fact. Joana didn't put a lot of effort into growing her customer base.

Joana's effort went into privacy.

"You cannot be serious," she hissed, as she handed him his usual - a large caffe latte with hazelnut syrup. Her dark eyes flurried between him and Bea by his side. "You can't stroll around here with a fucking runaway, there's controls everywhere. You have a fucking death wish?"

"She's not a runaway," Adrian replied evenly, and handed his coffee over to Bea.

"What because she dresses like a girl clone of yours one should assume she's not a pet? I've done this for longer than you have, my friend, and she's-"

"Owned," Bea said softly. "I am an owned pet. I belong to Adrian Delgado."

"What the-" The second paper cup slipped from under the espresso machine and Joana hissed as the coffee spilled over her pants. "Fuck!"

She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the coffee on her legs, still cursing.

"Why, Adrian? How?"

"It was the only way," he said flatly. "Can I help you with anything there?"

"Not risking everything we do would be a start." She looked up at him grimly. "Of all the things that could go wrong, you buying a Romantic was not on my list. Do you..." She clicked her tongue. "Use her for her intended purpose? Fuck, I really hope you don't."

Adrian flinched. "That's none of your business," he said.

Next to him, Bea stood perfectly still, holding her untouched coffee between two fingers, only her eyes moving between them as they spoke.

Joana stared at her. "Did he? I'll get you out of this, right now, if he laid a finger on you."

"Master Adrian doesn't hurt me," Bea replied with a soft tilt of her head. "He saved me from someone who did."

"Well, I guess that's something." Joana emptied the espresso grounds and started anew. "I still don't like it."

"I figured." Adrian grimaced. "I'm not here for your advice though. Can I speak to our boss somewhere private?"

"She's at the gallery this afternoon. But I..." Joana gestured at Bea. "I won't be the one to tell her about... this."

"But we can go see her?"

"We? You want to bring the pet?"

Adrian smirked. "Bea is a person, Jo, I thought we agreed on this."

"Fuck you, Adrian." She slammed the full cup onto the counter. "Here. Six dollars."

Adrian gave her a bill. "Keep the change."

She leaned in, brought her mouth close to his ear, as she hissed. "You're a fucking idiot. You can't trust her."

Adrian shrugged. "I have to."

"She just used your full name in front of me."

"Come on, Jo. You know my full name."

She clenched her jaw and inhaled deeply, replying only with a boring stare. And she was right. She was fucking right, apart from Joana there was only a very select handful of people in the movement who knew about him. He'd phased out, built up an intricate web of lies about why he wouldn't be part of the movement any longer. He'd pushed away most of the friends he'd made, in order to protect his cover, communicated mostly via Joana or very secretive personal meetings.

Bea put all that at risk. He'd not be able to hide his sympathies from her; he'd failed at that in the last 24 hours already. At the same time, she'd be the first one to be questioned should his employer ever suspect he betrayed them. Bea shouldn't know anything about his private life, much less about the movement. Still, he refused to leave her alone. She needed help.

They both did.

And there was only one person he could think of to provide that.

Adrian lifted the cup in a mock farewell. "I'll tell her you said hi."

Joana shook her head, exhausted. "Don't."

---

-

Pet safety taglist: @gottawhump @flowersarefreetherapy @whumplr-reader @highwaywhump @tauntedoctopuses @pigeonwhumps @whumppsychology @labgrowndemon @whumpinggrounds @somewhumpyguy @whumpzone @tragedyinblue

[cantuscorvi]

There was just a deep sigh escaping Gabriele's throat when he observed Raum preparing his coffee. After another glance, he eventually brought his own small cup to his lips and remained silent, despite the looming judgement. There were things that would potentially start a world war right in the morning, and he wasn't ready to tell Raum he was, again, doing something wrong. (hello I just sit with you in your inbox)

@distopea

“Tsk. Stop it.” The words were flat and low while Raum kept his eyes firmly down at what he was doing. His back was turned to Gabriele, yet the heavy silence behind him spoke volumes as to what he was thinking. Even for someone like Raum, who brushed others’ opinions off with relative ease, the feeling was oppressive.

“Your thoughts are too fucking loud.” Raum scowled down at his mug, running a hand through his bed hair. His patience was always limited first thing in the morning — and after a late night previously, he didn’t feel in the mood for that Italian nonsense Gabriele was often starting with. Raum rolled his eyes to ceiling. He could almost imagine the tirade before it began. This is the tradition, that is wrong, yap yap yap.

“If I want to put cream and sugar in my coffee, I’ll put it in,” he grumbled. And he started to do exactly that, regardless of the invisible daggers he felt in his back. In fact, he was putting a copious amount of icing sugar and cream into the double espresso. When he put it all together under the steamer, the squeal of the machine was gratingly loud.

By the time he was finished, he had a glass of blond coffee that was so sweet it might as well have been hot ice cream. He sat with it at the table across from Gabriele and snorted at the look on his face.

“—What? You want to try it?” He asked, already knowing the likely answer. He sneered a little before he took a sip. The caffeine and sugar hit was exactly what Raum needed. He dabbed the cream off his upper lip with his tongue, then grinned.

“And you have the nerve to call me pretentious. Pull your jaw back in before we go out today, yeah?”

[inscrutable-shadow]

Mediwhump May Day 8 - Scared of Blood

@mediwhumpmay

Cassiel belongs to @painful-pooch! Based on the fact that I broke my wrist in fifth grade, treated it as a sprain even though it def wasn't (no fracture on the x-ray so guessing it was a hairline) and then developed a ganglion cyst ten years later lol my wrist is still fucked up it's so fun (i went over my self-imposed word count on this one ack) Content Warnings: needles, minor surgical procedure

Another transfer case. The Doctor was considering making it look like they’d retired to avoid these. At this point, it was usually minor outpatient procedures that were incredibly annoying to perform and even though they could charge the insurance their usual “nameless doctor” rate (which was still less than other doctors would have), having to deal with legal processes at all made them want to spend an afternoon performing unsavoury experiments on a corpse. Not that they didn’t always want to do that. 

Between that and the fact that the espresso machine had broken down and they’d been forced to fuel their morning on drive-through coffee, they were already in quite a bad mood when their patient arrived, all shyness and deference and looking out of place, and they couldn’t bring themselves to demur back. 

“Mr Belanger, I presume? Do come in. I do not have all day to waste. The outreach programme has sent you over, no? I do wish that they would not send their excess to me…” “Oh, I can just… I dinnae have to…” Cassiel was slightly shorter than the Doctor, and despite his broad shoulders appeared to shrink back into the doorframe. They identified his accent as Scottish, though pulled at and smoothed over around the edges by proximity to other regions like the Doctor’s own mostly-English, sometimes-Swedish intonation.

They sighed. “My apologies. That was unprofessional of me. Just an annual physical, yes? Please, have a seat. I shall have you in and out in no time.” 

He hesitantly took his seat on the examination table while the Doctor pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. “It’s… you dinnae need money frae me, right?” Yes. He did not appear to be the sort of person who could afford them: his clothes were in tatters and his shoes full of holes. They were used to a clientele with large amounts of ill-gotten gains. 

They raised an eyebrow. “Correct, my compensation is covered by an agreement with the clinic you came from. Verify your name, date of birth, and medical history on that tablet over there, will you?” They rolled over the cart with the medical supplies on it while he did so, frowning and exchanging one tool for another just to kill the time. “Any particular complaints?”

Cassiel watched them warily as they brought their gloved hands up to check his lymph nodes. “Nay, nothin’ I can think of…”

Liar. “Oh? And does it hurt when I do this?” They bent his right wrist forward at a completely reasonable angle, which made him flinch and a spark of vindicated mischief flare in the Doctor’s chest. “That is what I expected. How long have you had the ganglion cyst?”

Cassiel blinked. “The what?”

“Ganglion cyst. A pocket of fluid found on the top or bottom of the wrist. Cause unknown, though they are common for patients who perform repeated wrist motions or have a history of wrist trauma.” They held up the hand, running a gloved finger down the scars on his arm. “You engage in some form of martial arts, no? I assume you fractured your wrist at some point in the past, perhaps a hairline, and you treated it as a sprain. This is quite a lot of fluid, I am sure it hinders your daily activities. How long have you had it?”

“Oh, er… Couple o’ years, I think… Is it dangerous? It does bother me a bit…”

“Not dangerous, no, but if it is impeding your activities, I do recommend aspiration, especially if it is multiple years old and has not gone down. It is a minor outpatient procedure, I could have the whole thing done for you before you leave today.” They rolled over to the supply cabinet to begin withdrawing the materials even before receiving an answer.

The colour had drained out of the man’s face by the time they turned around again. “H-hold on, wait… what’s… aspiration?”

The Doctor was too busy comparing needle gauges and deciding which one would be appropriate to really pay this any mind. “Quite simple, needle goes in, fluid comes out. Local anaesthetic is all that will be necessary. Just take care with the hand in question for a couple of days.”

“It… doesnae have to be a needle, do it? I, er…” Oh. Needle phobia. How annoying.

They tilted their head at him. “Well, I could excise instead. A bit more involved, I would need to use the scalpel, but should still have you in and out in an hour or so.”

He seemed to like that idea even less. “No, ah, it’s… all right, ye can, aspirate or wha’ever it is…”  

“Very good.” They began preparing the implements. “To reduce anxiety during the procedure, you can feel free to talk about whatever you would like. Keep your eyes on the chart on the back wall, yes?” 

The patient was silent for a moment as the Doctor began swabbing the site for the lidocaine injection, but eventually, he took a breath and blurted out, “I thought yer voice didnae match ye, when I walked in.”

“What?” The word came out strangely, as if their voice didn’t know how to behave when attention was called to it.

“Ye didnae seem like a purple person. I can… I see sounds.”

“Ah. Chromesthesia. Continue.”

Cassiel swallowed hard. “Is that… blood?” They tracked his eyes to the barrel of the syringe, which was now drawing up fluid.

“No. I told you to keep your eyes on the wall, did I not? If you stress yourself into syncope, I will not be pleased.”

He shifted uncomfortably, but relaxed after moving his attention. “See? That’s it. I thought ye’d be redder, but yer purple is very blue.” They didn’t really know how to respond to that. “Chromesthesia rarely has any tangible logic behind it, though I have been described as ‘cold’ and ‘rigid’ repeatedly by others in the past. I prefer to think of myself as efficient. There we are, all done. Not so bad, was it?” They’d done the steroid injection without him even noticing, and all that was needed now was the splint.

“That was… fast.”

“Like I said, I am efficient. Now, let us continue with the examination, yes?”

[mrspasser]

2. Traffic jam

After a long night on the job detective Gavin Reed and his partner RK900 get stuck in a traffic jam just outside the city of Detroit. When their car gets hit they find themselves in a situation that is very different from their usual job as homicide detectives. They deal with death on a daily basis, yet now they have to help a young woman give birth.

Cover made with fanart by @donlemefo​

Coffee. He needed coffee. A double espresso. Or an extra large mug of the regular black gold that came from the coffee machine at the precinct. Ever since they had lobbied for a new - decent - coffee machine last year, Gavin no longer had to bring coffee from home. He only brought his thermos now when he went straight to a crime scene from home, like he did last night. That thermos was empty now, discarded somewhere in the back seat of the car.

It had been a long night; a drugs related shootout gone horribly wrong, with two civilian casualties. Usually Hank and his pet Connor dealt with the Red Ice cases; the gang involved tonight had been on their radar for some time now, but with the civilian deaths Gavin and his partner got called in too. Or rather, RK900 had shown up on his doorstep, saying it was more efficient for the detective to go straight to the crime scene instead of going by the precinct first.

Gavin was already dressed to go out and he didn’t question the android for his impeccable timing. In the six months they were partners now Gavin had learned it was easier to roll with these kind of things instead of fighting the inhuman perfectionism of it. That didn’t mean he blatantly followed the plastic prick; he still went his own way, he just didn’t pick a fight about it anymore. That shit was tiring. And humiliating, in some cases. Gavin did not need to be bent over his desk with his arm twisted to his back in the middle of the fucking bullpen again, thank you very much. Besides, there were better ways to annoy the android. So he just turned around after opening the door to his partner and calmly walked back to the kitchen.

“Detective Reed?” From the sound of it the android was still standing outside his door, ready to go.

“Tin can?” he echoed innocently, filling up his coffee maker.

“What text?”

A moment later the android appeared around the corner, silent as always. Stealth had a new meaning when it came to the RK-series. Where Connor knew to make some kind of sound to make up for his silent footfalls, as not to startle every one of his colleagues when he walked up to them, RK900 didn’t bother with that.

The android took one look at the coffee machine and said: “I take it that you haven’t read my text.”

“The one I sent you exactly twelve minutes ago, detective. To make sure you could fill up your thermos before I arrived here.”

Like how the RK900 was already cross-referencing the sparsely available footage from the security cameras around the crime scene, sitting in the passenger seat of Gavin’s car. It would save them quite some time at the bureau, although they still had to fill in the necessary reports before Gavin could finally go home and roll into bed. RK900 could do what he always did after Gavin left the precinct: stand in a corner of the storage room and stare at the wall. Or something like that. Gavin didn’t want to think too hard about that lately.

Gavin didn’t need to look at his phone to know the text was there. It was creepy how well the RK900 knew his habits and schedule, from the way he drank his coffee - black, strong - to the way he prefered to go about analyzing a crime scene - silence, Gavin needed silence. And for everybody to get out of his fucking way.

RK900 didn’t make himself scarce when Gavin looked around a crime scene, taking in the details. Instead, the six foot plus android performed his own investigation, including that gross way of dipping his finger in blood and sticking it in his mouth for analysing. Those CyberLife designers were fucking perverts. Period.

However, the android did stay silent until Gavin was done surveying the crime scene, waiting to combine their observations into one concluding image. Gavin wasn’t that much of an asshole to not admit - silently, in his own head - that they worked well together. They were closing cases at a much faster rate than the detective duos that consisted out of two humans. They even gave Hank and Connor a run for their money on some days. And although Gavin prefered to work alone, working with a walking, talking supercomputer did have its advantages.

He glanced over at his partner, sitting up stiffly in the car seat. With his eyes glazed over and his LED reflecting yellow in the car window, he looked more robotic than ever. His hands were placed neatly on his thighs; strong hands with slender fingers. Neatly trimmed nails and perfect cuticles, all designed in the labs of CyberLife. Hands that could snap your neck as easy as breaking a pencil. And at the same time those hands were capable of deftly plucking a single cat hair from Gavin’s sweater. After which he put that cat hair in his damn mouth and announced that Gavin had an American Shorthair at home, with traces of the Siberian cat in its DNA. Gavin had snappishly corrected him there were two of them, from the same nest. Plastic prick.

The car beeped to alert him of slowing traffic in front of him, pulling Gavin’s eyes back to the road. He always liked to drive himself, even though the car was capable of automatic driving. Even after a long night like this he still refused to surrender this little piece of control to a machine. As long as he was capable of doing it himself, he would. Getting his driving license was a proud day for young Gavin, giving him a sense of freedom.

An alert on the screen in the center console told him there were roadworks up ahead, with risks of traffic jams. Rows of red lights in front of him turned that risk into a fact. Gavin sweared violently and hit the wheel with both hands. He searched the GPS map for possible exits, only to find out he already missed the last exit and was now stuck on the last stretch of highway that lead to the city center.

“Something wrong, detective?” Grey eyes were now alert and fixed on Gavin, LED no longer yellow but a steady blue.

“Yes, something’s wrong, dipshit!” Gavin hit his steering wheel again and waved his hand at the traffic jam ahead of them.

“Fuck you and that non-existing humor module of yours,” Gavin grumbled. “I’m sitting next to the supposed best CyberLife has to offer and you couldn’t even warn me of a traffic jam?!”

RK900 glanced at the scene in front of them. “The sun is coming up?”

He looked back at Gavin with one of his eyebrows marginally raised. The RK900’s range of facial expressions was a lot smaller than that of his predecessor. Connor was made to assimilate, RK900 to assassinate. Gavin knew when he was being made fun of though.

RK900 didn’t answer. He only moved his hand over the screen of the center console and the warning of roadworks came to the front again. “It looks like the car already did that for me.”

He was jolted awake by a hard bang. The car moved sideways, almost hitting the car in the lane next to them. Gavin should have been jostled in his seat, possibly hitting his head, were it not for his seatbelt and the steel beam of android arm that held him upright instead of slumped against his window.

Gavin made a face and slumped back in his seat. Behind them more and more cars were lining up. No movement up ahead. It looked like they would be here a while.

“Fuck this! Wake me up when shit starts moving, yeah?”

He pulled his hoodie over his head and rested his head against the window, not willing to deal with this any longer.

“Yeah,” Gavin gasped. “What the fuck was that?”

RK900 moved his arm away and quickly looked him over. Probably even threw in a scan for good measure.

“Are you okay, detective?”

“A car came up over the emergency lane and suddenly swerved. It hit the right side of your car.”

“I think your car door needs to be replaced,” the android answered.

Surely the passenger door was now warped, the window broken. The android’s lap was covered in tiny bits of glass. Gavin sweared loudly, leaning over to check the damage. He fervently hoped the other party was well insured for this shit.

“Something damaged?” he asked, looking at his partner.

“I meant you, tin can,” Gavin sighed. “Are you… you know, hurt?”

“All systems in check,” came the answer. “No external damage either.”

“Of course not, you’re built like a tank,” he muttered, unfastening his seatbelt.

“Come on, let’s go see who was stupid enough to hit a cop car.”

“We have a situation, detective,” RK900 said apprehensively, peering into the back of the car.

Gavin quickly got out of his car, followed by his partner who had to climb over to his seat to get out. Despite his considerable height he managed to make it look easy.

Showing his badge to get curious bystanders back in their car Gavin made his way over to the other car. The driver was turned around in his seat, fussing over something or someone in the back of the car.

He rapped his knuckles on the window. “DPD! Step out of your vehicle, sir!”

“No shit, tin can,” Gavin deadpanned, eyes focused on the driver. It was a kid, probably barely had his learner’s permit. The boy looked at him with large, round eyes, white as a sheet. Gavin pulled the car door open, gesturing for the kid to get out.

“What the hell did you think you were doing, kid?!”

As the kid tried to stammer his way through an explanation, a loud howl came out of the car.

“What the fuck?”

“Hospital,” she shouted in a broken voice. “My baby… is coming!”

The kid sweared as well, trying to get back in the car. Gavin yanked him back by his shoulder and looked inside himself.

In the back seat was a young woman, sweat dripping from her face and clearly pregnant. She gripped the back of the seats with such force that Gavin thought she would rip the upholstery.

Gavin shot upright, nearly bumping into his partner as he stepped back.

“We’ve got a situation, indeed.”

A few minutes later they had a plan in action. They pushed the car back to the shoulder of the road, out of the way from traffic. Gavin quickly put his own car to the side too and put down a warning sign a little down the line.

RK900 had requested an ambulance, yet their ETA was severely pushed back because of the traffic jam in combination with the morning rush hour. They were on their own for now.

“I’m not the father,” the boy said in a wavering voice. He was shaking like a leaf, Gavin feared he might drop. “She’s my sister.”

RK900 was checking on the woman while Gavin did the same with the young man.

“You okay there, buddy?” he asked carefully. “You’re about to become a father, that must be exciting.”

“Then you’ll be an uncle, that’s cool too,” Gavin amended, having no experience of either himself.

The boy nodded, becoming even paler. He must be in shock, Gavin realised.

“I think you should sit down, kid. You don’t look too hot.”

“She has contractions every two minutes or less,” RK900 stated, his eyes fixed on the woman in front of him. “Her water broke before they got in the car and the baby is already descended.”

With the kid leaning against the front wheel of the car, drinking from a bottle of water that Gavin found in his glovebox, he returned to his partner and the soon-to-be-mother.

“How are things looking up - Woah!”

Gavin turned on his heels, planting his back against the side of the car. Looking in there had been a bit too much of looking in there.

“Meaning?” Gavin gulped, starting to feel a little out of his depth. He was a homicide detective for fuck’s sake!

Gavin followed the android’s instructions, getting him a bottle of water and the first aid kit from the car. They sure lacked when it came to supplies, but it would have to do until the paramedics came.

“The baby is coming,” his partner answered matter-of-factly. “And I need your help.”

Another loud moan interrupted him.

“Quickly.”

He stopped by the boy, who still looked pale, but had stopped shivering. “Wanna see your nephew or niece get born?”

The boy shook his head firmly, his nose scrunched up.

“Yeah, right… I wouldn’t wanna see that much of my sister either,” Gavin chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair before he walked away.

“I can’t hold it much longer,” the woman panted. “I need… to push!”

Careful to keep his eyes trained on less intimate parts of her body - RK900 was keeping an eye on the other stuff already anyway - Gavin came to stand next to his partner. The android was sitting on his knees, one hand on the inside of her knee to keep her leg up where it couldn’t find purchase on the edge of the backseat, the other being squashed in her fist.

“You’re doing great, Allison,” he encouraged her, taking deep simulated breaths to guide her.

“I understand,” RK900 said. “You’re nearly ready. Just hold on a little longer.”

The android looked up to Gavin, his face earnest.

“I need you to help her, detective. Get in in the backseat behind her, get her comfortable.”

“I downloaded the necessary protocols. Unless there are complications, we should be fine, detective,” his partner answered.

Gavin blinked owlishly before his senses returned in full again. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

For once, RK900 didn’t call him out on stating the obvious. He nodded solemnly.

“You know what you’re doing?” Gavin asked, keeping his voice down to keep the woman from overhearing. Not that she was paying much attention to them, too much engrossed in the powerfull workings of her body.

To the casual onlooker the android might look unmoved, yet Gavin could see the minute tells of tension in his face. He patted him firmly on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine, Nines. Let’s do this.”

Ignoring the look of surprise on his partner’s face for his use of the nickname, he quickly walked around the car, shedding his jacket and hoodie. The woman was drenched in sweat already, if he had to get up close and comfortable with her, he’d be smart not to wear multiple layers.

As Gavin climbed in the car behind the woman, RK900 - or Nines, why not? That name sounded not too bad, actually - was talking to her encouragingly again.

“You’re doing great, Allison. My partner is gonna sit behind you, help you relax. Once you’re dilated fully you can start to push.”

Together they helped the woman get in the most comfortable position possible, which basically had her leaning against Gavin’s chest, his arms around her to keep her up. She had one hand on his arm, digging her nails in his skin whenever she got a new contraction. With her other hand she gripped the headrest of the nearest front seat.

Soon, sweat was pearling on Gavin’s forehead, the temperature in the car climbing now the morning sun was fully over the horizon. They were lucky they didn’t have to do this in the Detroit winter, that would have sucked majorly.

“Where’s John?” she grunted.

Digging up every nice and encouraging word he could find, Gavin took on the role of supporting partner, while his work partner concentrated on the more medical side of things. To be fair, the woman, Allison, was really doing a great job; considering she was having a baby in the backseat of a car, with the help of two strangers. He had already found out her husband was away for a business trip, making his way back to Detroit right now, probably breaking every speed limit. The baby was a little early, two weeks at most; they had figured he still had time for the trip.

“You’re a real trooper, Allison,” Gavin told her, wiping her hair from her sweaty face as well as he could. “You can do this. We’re with you.”

“Your brother? Right outside the car. He is… he doesn’t -”

“Chickenshit,” Allison interrupted him, digging his nails in her skin as a new contraction came in. Gavin was pretty sure his arm would be covered in marks after this was over, yet he laughed anyway.

Sooner than expected Nines gave her the green light to push and Gavin was amazed by the primal forces Allison showed. His friend Tina always said women were stronger than men and Gavin was prone to believe her now. Not that he would tell her that. Ever.

It went faster than Gavin thought. Or maybe he just lost track of time. Nines said things like ‘the baby is crowning’ and ‘I need you to breathe through your next contraction, no pushing’. And then there was a head out, invisible for Gavin, but somewhere in the cradle of Nines hands. Then shoulders and suddenly a whole baby slithered out, leaving Allison sobbing and panting in his arms.

The whole world stopped for a second as the baby started crying.

“It’s a girl,” Nines announced, the relief clear in his voice. He leaned inside the car, carefully placing the baby on her mother’s chest. Gavin helped her secure her child, a small pink bundle, trying out her lungs for the first time.

“Congratulations, Allison, you’re a mom.” Gavin gave her a little squeeze, his head filled with emotions he didn’t bother to name. Relief was probably the biggest one.

Movement in front of him caught his attention. Gavin stared as RK900 removed his jacket, hung it over the open car door, and started to pull up his black turtleneck sweater. Pale android skin became visible, covering the smooth, hard planes of his stomach and chest. He had beauty marks there too, sprinkled here and there, just as unnecessary as the ones on his face, though equally as attractive. The android reached forward and gently covered the baby with his sweater, tucking her in against her mother.

The sirens of the ambulance sounded, Nines came back dressed in a sleeveless gym shirt that was too tight on him, the brother crawled in the front seat to admire his new niece and the world started spinning again.

Gavin was still staring when RK900 inspected his jacket, frowning at how the sleeves were dirty with blood and other body fluids.

“I have a bag with gym clothes in the back of my car,” Gavin suggested, feeling weirdly embarrassed by his offer. It didn’t help that his partner caught his eyes, locking on them for just a second too long. The android nodded slowly and then disappeared around the car. Gavin concentrated back on the mother and her newborn in his arms. It felt safer to focus on their intimacy than on the well built torso of his android partner.

***

The ride back to the precinct was a silent one. Gavin had trouble voicing his thoughts about what they had experienced and his partner seemed equally occupied. They stopped in the parking lot of the precinct when the android spoke up, making Gavin’s world stop momentarily for the second time that day.

“I think I like it when you call me Nines.”

He got out of the car without looking back, leaving Gavin gaping and waiting for the world to gain some traction again.

It was a quiet morning at the bureau when officer Person walked up to his desk. “You’ve got visitors, Reed. The Kennedy family?”

“Who?” Gavin turned around in his chair to catch a glimpse of who was waiting by the front desk.

A few desks over, Connor raised his head, his LED circling yellow for a short second. Then he smiled. “Oh, I think you’ll want to see them, detective.”

Gavin made a face at the smug android, but he waved his hand dismissively at officer Person anyway. “Just send them back here, will ya?”

He couldn’t remember the name Kennedy from any of his recent cases and he didn’t have friends called Kennedy either. He didn’t have much friends outside of the job anyway, nor on the job for that matter. So it was a mystery as to who would visit him here. It was a dull morning, with nothing else to do than file away evidence and typing up reports, so a visit was a welcome distraction.

“Good to see you too, Allison,” Gavin managed, his brain quickly catching him up now he saw the woman from up close.

Across the bullpen walked a man and a woman, the man carrying a baby carrier in his right hand. The woman searched the room until her eyes fell on Gavin's face. She smiled and steered her husband in his direction.

“Detective Reed, how good to see you again!” she said, taking his outstretched hand and immediately moving in to kiss his cheeks.

The man moved the baby carrier to his other hand and shook Gavin’s hand firmly. “Detective Reed. My name is Robert Kennedy. I wanted to thank you in person for helping my wife and daughter when I couldn’t be there.”

Allison chuckled. “We had to get a new one.”

“It’s no problem,” Gavin assured him. “Your brother-in-law knew how to get our attention.”

Now that he thought about it, Kennedy had also been the name on the insurance forms, taking care of the damage of his car.

“What about your car, by the way?”

Her husband made a face. “With the damage to the front and the crooked front axle, it was going to be an expensive repair already. And then there was the ruined backseat…”

“Where’s your android partner, by the way?” Allison asked, looking around her. “Nines, I think you called him?”

Gavin chuckled. “Yeah, the upholstery was quite a mess.”

Childbirth was a nasty business, he had learned that day. Gross and beautiful at the same time.

“Oh please,” the woman laughed. “You’ve seen my snatch from up close, you can call me Allison.”

Gavin didn’t miss Connor’s smirk, nor Lieutenant Anderson’s devilishly raised eyebrows when they heard the woman mention the nickname. With his attention on them he jumped when the android’s smooth voice suddenly sounded from right behind him.

“Mrs. Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy, what a surprise to see you here.”

“I’m sorry, sometimes she doesn’t have a filter between her brain and her mouth,” her husband apologised quickly, trying to hide his amused smile.

Gavin didn’t bother hiding anything; he laughed out loud when he saw Nines’ bewildered face. Granted, on any other person that face would be called ‘mildly confused’, yet on the android it registered as one of the most extreme expressions Gavin had yet seen on him. The android was quick to cover up, though, asking Allison how she was and asking after the baby.

“We’re doing great! She is such a sweetheart!”

Gavin leaned over the baby carrier, checking out the little baby girl inside it. She was looking around her with wide eyes and she looked completely different from the first time he had seen her, her face all smoothed out and with round cheeks.

“Do you want to hold her?” Allison asked from by his side.

He hesitated, but Allison was already unbuckling the baby from her seat and before he knew it there was a little, warm bundle in his arms. She fit right in the crook of his elbow, her little head resting on his arm, his hand folding around her bum. When Gavin stroked his finger over her little fist, she grabbed it, holding tight and not letting go.

“Her name is Reese,” her mother said warmly. “That name was already on our list and well… because of your surname and because of the RK in your partner’s designation, we thought it was fitting.”

He looked up in surprise, finding both parents smiling like it was the most normal thing in the world to have a child from strangers named after you. His partner’s expression fit his own feelings a little better, Nines also seemed to think this was a big deal.

“That is a great picture,” Allison said, looking at the screen of her husband’s camera. Gavin had missed the thing coming out. “Now Reese can see who helped her into this world when she’s grown up.”

The android stood at his side, almost leaning against him, looking down at the baby in his arms. “Reese Kennedy,” he said slowly. “It’s a beautiful name.”

Nines carefully extended his hand, two fingers gingerly smoothing out the creases in Reese’s tiny sweater. The baby made a contented sound, waving her little arms around. A camera clicked.

Her husband turned the camera towards them, showing them the picture. Gavin didn’t need to see it to know what it would look like. He only had to look at Connor smiling like a proud big brother, or Hank smirking like the cat who ate the canary to know him and Nines looked way too domestic and intimate like this. Hell, it felt that way too.

To his surprise he didn’t hate that.

Fuck.

<< 2/10 >>

DBH Partners masterpost

[verysmolspams]

Yippeee :)

I forgot to to this a while ago, but thank you to everyone who previously voted on my poll!

(This is for my tf2 peeps, so if you are not a tf2 fan, you can ignore this, thanks 🙏🏻)

My Merc OC, Cupid, is here!

TW!: her backstory involves murder and infidelity, so if these are sensitive topics for you, you have been warned!

Full name: Everli (Ever-LEE) Rose Peterson

Nickname: Eve

Age: 24

Class category: Support

Best support class: sniper

Hometown: Chicago suburbs, USA

Previous occupation: Barista, college student

Height: 5’2”

Hair: medium brown, short length, wavy, down to her neck

Eyes: pale, silver blue (for reference, she is closest to A60) https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/8437h5/whats_your_eye_color_number/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

Class nickname: Cupid (female sniper lol, plus she’s petite and adorable so this is normally what other mercs do when calling out to her or joking around)

Personality: she’s a kinda gal who takes weeks to open up to a potential friend, but once she knows she’s safe, she lets loose her more wild, chaotic half of her. She’s sweet, loyal, and will absolutely fight a bear for you, even if she isn’t going to win (because she holds those she loves close to her, she’d literally die for them). She’s witty with jokes, and is highly observant of what those around her like/don’t like. For the people she’s closest to, she has a mental list of their favorite things like food, drink, music, and their interests. She’s an animal person: she has a dog at home who she misses very much. If it can be helped in good timing, she will avoid hurting animals unless they prove to be an immediate threat (like the Yeti at Yeti park, she’d absolutely tranquilize that mf to keep it from hurting her merc friends)

Backstory: Everlei was a college student hoping to graduate from a local college in her state, when she discovered her current boyfriend was cheating on her with a popular girl she was repeatedly told not to worry about. Under the pressure of being a once perfect girl in her home, her school, her life in general, she snaps, and steals a rifle from her veteran neighbor. She shoots both her ex and the other woman, only killing her ex. The other woman survives and a warrant for arrest is put out for Everlei. She keeps the rifle, runs across the country, and flees any sort of place that may turn her in. It isn’t until she reached the Badlands that she is discovered by accident, when Sniper mistakes her for an animal, and shoots her with a tranquilizer dart from the Sydney Sleeper. Upon being discovered she is brought to the base, and after healing, interrogation, and a test of mercenary skills, she is eventually accepted as an additional RED mercenary, one who can act with high proficiency in the support role. From her time spent working in a coffee shop on espresso machines, she has enough engineering background to act as an assistant to engineer, when he needs it. It is also found during the events of Scream Fortress, that her grandmother, Gwen, knew Merasmus. They did not get along, so Eve is aware of this when Merasmus comes to visit, and Merasmus can see Gwen’s features in Eve’s face. Merasmus awakens the witch powers within Eve that are passed down from her grandmother, but she refuses to join Merasmus in his conquest because she thinks he is a lunatic, and she is well-allied with her mercenary group. She instead uses the awakened witch powers to fight back against Merasmus and offer advice on how to deal with magical effects, as many mercenaries are navigating on their own how to deal with and combat them.

Love interest: Sniper

There is more on that last point later! Stay tuned my tf2 friends ;)

[redinkcircle]

W. I. P Introduction : Coffee with a side of murder

Word Goal: 1,444/100,000

Chapter Goal: 1/35

Plot: Clementine Colby, a.k.a "Cee-Cee", is a high school student working part time at Petit Paris, a coffee shop of questionable reputation. After a prank leaves her mopping floors on Halloween, she decides to take the matters into her own hands... and accidentally commits murder. While she struggles to prove her fake innocence, she has to investigate who is truly running the town, but as secrets are brought to light, not all is what or who they seem.

Main Character: Clementine Colby, 16F, sophomore, part-time barista, self appointed head writer of the school’s newspaper (which only has two people in it). May or may not have killed the victim via anaphylactic shock, but in her defense, it was just a prank.

Victim: Ambrose Reese, 18M, senior, cliché bully football star, dead af, may or may not have dealt drugs (tEcHnIcAlLy he wasn’t paid for it), he prob should’ve made better choices, like not cheating with his bff’s girlfriend.

Killer: That’s only for me to know so far ;)

A random excerpt from what I’ve written so far:

The call bell rang impatiently, snapping her out of her stupor. Graham waved wildly at her, pointing silently at the espresso machine as if he didn’t have the hands to use it. “Can you please wait a minute? I need to talk to my coworker.”

The pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/cullhajsindi61/coffee-with-a-side-of-murder/

<3

[mandelirious]

Brown Eyes

2: The Reveal

modern din x reader; coffee shop au

word count: 2.6k

a/n: part 2 is here!! i’m having so much fun writing my own little rom-com so i hope you’re enjoying it as well!! as always, comments and reblogs are much appreciated 💕

series masterlist

It was another week until you saw him again. You’d be embarrassed to admit it, but you’d been waiting for him to walk in for days–eyes snapping up to the door every time the bell rang only to be disappointed when you weren’t greeted by soft eyes and messy curls.

It was another break in the stream of customers and you were crouched on the floor, head fully inside one of the cabinets as you tried to sort out the mess the morning crew had made. Someone clearly hadn’t taught the new hire how things were organized and you weren’t going to wait until the middle of a rush to be hunting down the lids for your large cups. Your coworker, Keira, was handling any of the customers that came in while giving you an impromptu lecture on plant care. Keira was your favorite coworker and so effortlessly cool that you’d be self-conscious around her if she wasn’t so nice. She brought in clippings from her own plants to decorate the shop’s back wall of shelves–random shoots and leaves suspended in mason jars of water that she somehow kept healthy and growing. You’d killed every plant she had gifted you over the years and she was refusing to let you give up and buy plastic ones instead.

The bell at the door rang during Keira’s explanation of how to water perennials that you were only half listening to. You were still wedged in the cabinet, having almost gotten everything in its proper place when you heard a familiar, gruff voice.

“Uh, Americano with cinnamon?”

Your head popped up reflexively at the order–right into the top of the cabinet.

“Shit,” you hissed, rubbing the top of your head as you extricated yourself and looked up. There he was, watching as you crouched on the floor holding your throbbing head. This wasn’t the second impression you’d been hoping for.

“You good?” Keira was also looking at you now, head tilted in concern.

“I’m great,” you answered as you straightened up, trying to figure out when exactly you’d gotten out of breath. “Actually, I’ll take this one.” Your failure at sounding nonchalant was obvious as Keira's eyes flicked between you and the new customer, but she just shrugged and went to rearrange pastries.

“Are you okay?” His eyes were trained on you, that small smile on his lips, and you remembered why you’d been so eager to see him again.

“Oh, I’m fine.” You waved away his concern and hoped he couldn’t read the embarrassment on your features. He didn’t need to know that you’d literally jumped at the chance to talk to him. Your eyes fell on him again, taking in his features as quickly as you could before it became staring. He looked a little more rested this time, eyes brighter when they met yours. His hair was just as messy as before, but that might have had something to do with the motorcycle helmet he had tucked under one arm. You quickly compartmentalized the mental picture of him on a bike for another time. “Brown Eyes, right?”

His grin chased away any shyness you might have had at saying the nickname he’d inspired. In fact, he looked so pleased that you wondered if he’d been expecting you to forget about your exchange the week before. It was so endearing that you started on his drink to save yourself from grinning back at him like an idiot. A silence was stretching out, broken only by the sound of the espresso machine pulling his shots and the soft instrumental music that Keira played over the intercom during her shifts.

“I’m sorry.” You glanced up at his words, glad he had broken the silence when you couldn’t. He was looking at the counter and then letting out another of those self-deprecating laughs. “If I was a zombie last week, I was going on no sleep. I promise I’m not always that spaced out.”

“Yeah, I thought you looked better today.” You made a face right after the words were out, realizing how they’d sounded. Luckily, he was still smiling as you opened your mouth to backtrack.

“No, it’s okay. I like getting insults with my coffee.” There was a glint in his eye that let you know he was anything but offended. You rolled your eyes at his teasing and hoped the blush wasn’t evident on your cheeks.

This time when you set the drink on the counter in front of him, you wished you had picked something a little more complicated to keep him around longer. You also wished, for the first time, that this was a coffee shop that asked for customer’s names when they ordered. Calling him Brown Eyes in your head was starting to feel far too sappy. The butterflies you were starting to feel when seeing his smile weren’t helping either.

He paid for his drink this time, plus a nice tip that you pretended not to notice when you flipped around the iPad that served as your cash register. There was silence again, but not uncomfortable. His face looked as though he was thinking something through and you gave him the moment to figure it out. Those beautiful eyes flicked over to the other end of the counter, where Keira was putting out more chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery you partnered with and pretending not to listen to your conversation.

“Do you work Thursdays?” His attention was back on you, the question blurted out like he was afraid he would lose his nerve.

You bit your lip to stop what would be an embarrassing smile. “Usually.”

“Maybe I’ll see you then.” He was ducking his head again as he started for the door, but you could see his grin when you managed to get out a small word of agreement.

The door swung shut behind him and you looked over to see Keira’s eyebrows halfway up her forehead. You crouched again and hid your flaming cheeks back in the cabinet.

Two days passed far too slowly until you found yourself once again checking the door constantly on a sluggish Thursday afternoon. You were determined to be confident and casual this time. Not even the shop’s owner stopping in for a surprise visit could throw you off your game. Greef Karga had opened this place a decade ago and was the most hands-off supervisor you’d ever had. He knew you had the day-to-day things under control and only handled a few behind-the-scenes tasks on his own. Every once in a while he would decide to hang around for what he referred to as ‘quality control’, but was really just an excuse to drink coffee and chat. Greef called Nevarro Coffee House his ‘semi-retirement project’, though you had no idea what he’d actually retired from except that he’d apparently done very well at it.

You glanced over your laptop screen where you were pretending to write to see the older man still poking around the supply closet. God, you hoped he wouldn’t still be here when Brown Eyes showed up. Greef was nice, but you didn’t need your boss as an audience to your awkward flirting attempts. Not awkward, confident, you reminded yourself. A phone call thankfully took him out of the shop a few minutes later and you breathed a sigh of relief. It was perfect timing now–only a few hours left in the day for your favorite customer to show up. Plus, closing by yourself ensured that no other coworkers would be in the shop to ask you questions afterward about a man you knew nothing about. Questions like all of the ones you’d dodged from Keira a few days ago.

For once, the universe was listening to you and the door was pushed open for a head of dark curls to poke through. Had he gotten more handsome? Maybe it was just the scruff now lining his jaw that hadn’t been there before.  

“Hi,” he greeted. His face looked adorably relieved to see you and his warm smile as he approached the counter was already making your stomach flip.

“Hi yourself.” Confidence, confidence, confidence, was playing like a mantra in your head, but you were feeling anything but. You hadn’t been this frazzled around someone in a long time and you still couldn’t quite explain why he was the one having this effect on you. It was more than his handsome face and perpetual bedhead. It was the small smiles, the shyness, the expressions he was clearly bad at hiding. It was something to do with the way his eyes followed you, curious and sincere–patient even when you’d been watching him without saying anything for too long. Which you were doing right now. Shit. “The usual?”

“Please.” He had the motorcycle helmet in his hands again and set it down on one of the stools in the middle of the counter. Its rounded surface wobbled slightly and you could see leather gloves tucked inside as well. Did setting his stuff down mean he was staying? Apparently so, as he was now settling on a stool at the counter halfway between you and the display case. The butterflies in your stomach were suddenly swarming.

“Hanging around today?”

He shrugged at your question. “I’ve got some time.” Glancing over your shoulder, he was immediately reminding you of the first time you’d made him this drink. The all-consuming exhaustion was gone from his eyes, but he was leaning his elbow on the counter the same way, watching you curiously with his head on his hand.

“Are you usually busy?”

“More than I’d like.”

You’d thought he came into the shop at odd times, usually early afternoon when most people hadn’t gotten out of work yet. From the charming grays in his beard, you guessed he was a few years older than you, but not old enough to be retired. Whatever he did, it must have odd hours. You were just about to ask when he pointed to the coffee grounds in your hand.

“What do you use for this drink?”

The question threw you off a little, but you looked down at the bag in your hands, sealing it up before pushing it down the counter towards him. A tanned hand plucked it off the light wood and flipped it around for his inspection. All of the beans you used came from a local roaster to ensure they were fresh. Hands off as he was, Greef knew good coffee.

“Trying to replicate it?” you teased, enjoying the smirk it brought to his lips.  

Shaking his head, he slid the bag back over the counter. “I don’t think I’d make it as well as you.” It was obvious flattery, but you were happy to let him get away with it. You tapped out a perfect line of cinnamon down the middle of the finished drink and handed it over.

He inched out of his stool and you were worried for a moment that he might be leaving, but it was only to grab his wallet. Even though you were pretty sure you knew the answer, you glanced at his left hand while he was paying. Nothing, not even a tan line on his ring finger. Although he did look far too pleased with himself when you looked back up. He had to have caught you checking, but smug looked so good on him that you couldn't find it in yourself to care.

“I wanted to ask…” He was having trouble meeting your eyes now as he spoke and your heart was very suddenly in your throat. “I know you’re at work so please feel free to stop me whenever, but…would you like to go out for a drink sometime?” The last part was pushed out of his lungs in a hurry, much like the way he’d asked before if you would be working today.

The butterflies in your stomach had reached a crescendo and then dissolved into a pleasant buzz. You bit your lip to keep your grin from reaching embarrassing proportions and nodded, falling a little in love with the way his eyes lit up. Quickly grabbing a napkin, you scribbled down your first name and number. He took the napkin from you like it was something precious, eyes roving over the curls of ink. Then, your name was coming out of his mouth in that deep gravelly voice and you thought you might melt on the spot.

The pair of you had to look like two idiots grinning at each other like this, but you couldn’t help it. “Do I get to know your name?”

He looked confused for a moment and then cringed at himself, like he’d completely forgotten he even had a name. “Shit. Sorry, I’m D-”

“Din Djarin!”

Both of your heads turned to the back door where Greef was entering with a wide smile on his face–effectively breaking the bubble that had settled around the two of you. Din looked just as confused as you that your boss was calling his full name until recognition clicked in his eyes a split second later. “Karga?”

They were giving each other a handshake and then a hug, and you were left to cluelessly look between them wondering what exactly was happening. At least you’d gotten his name. Din–it suited him.

Greef seemed completely oblivious to what was going on when he entered, but you noticed Din carefully fold the napkin and tuck it into his back pocket.“It’s been months and no one’s seen you around. Let me get you something.” The older man clapped him on the shoulder and moved behind the counter. Seeing Din’s drink already paid for, he gestured to the display case. “Pastry?”

Din glanced over at you but you both seemed just as lost as to how the situation had changed so quickly. He focused back on Greef and scanned over the available treats, pointing hesitantly to a croissant.

“Nothing more exciting than that? We’ve got these peanut butter bars that will change your life.” You hadn’t noticed how boisterous your boss was until this moment–in sharp contrast with Din’s low tones.Giving over to his mysterious friendliness, you stepped back so he could have full run of the counter space.

Din was chuckling again, but this time it was in familiarity. Your curiosity was running wild. “No, it’s okay,” he was saying as the other man boxed up a croissant, “I’ll end up giving some to the kid, he wants everything I’m eating right now.”

Wait, did he say kid?

Din seemed to notice what he’d said right as you did and looked over at you nervously, but Greef was grabbing his attention again.

“How is the little gremlin? Keeping you busy?”

Okay, he definitely said kid.

“You have no idea.” Din was still looking like he’d let something slip that he wasn’t planning on and it was sending your imagination into uncomfortable spirals. The blissful excitement of just a minute ago was being doused by reality and you didn’t even have a chance to talk about it.

Greef was still chattering, too busy making his way back out from behind the counter to notice the slight panic creeping into Din’s eyes. Before either of you could say another word, Din was being ushered out of the door with an arm around his shoulders ‘to catch up’. He quickly grabbed his helmet off of the stool, shooting you a look that felt a lot like an apology before he was gone and you were standing alone in sudden silence.

[littlefreya]

Vanilla Milkshake

Summer: Henry and a long time friend hangout at their usual spot when things turn chaotic because of an innocent misunderstanding...

Prompted by:  

 Oooh Freyaaaa I just *need* some scene featuring Henry and ofc drinking milkshake. 

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Unamed OFC (no description of ethnicity or body type).

Word count: 1.7K

Warnings: RPF, major fluff, friends to lovers, sexual innuendo, mild seduction, sex talk, an unwanted boner, Henry being a boomer, Henry having a meltdown. 

*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it, ideas or parts it and claiming it as your own.*

A/N: So, first thing first, thanks @agniavateira for quickly beta’ing my work! And of course thanks @the-soot-sprite for bouncing ideas with me and being an emotional support. Decided to go with friends for lovers because I live for that stuff. Also, I am aware that “Milkshake” can be interpreted in several ways but for the sake of the story I went with that particular reference. Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics

Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed.  🖤

Title: Vanilla Milkshake

“I swear, this diner looks like Barbie had an orgasm all over the place.” A whimsical grin sliced between Henry’s marble cheeks. Eyeing the pastel-esque surroundings, he huffed scornfully and adjusted the cap over his nest of unruly curls. 

“Remind me again why we always meet here, young lady?”

Staring at the beastly man who barely managed to squeeze into the plastic-pink faux leather booth, she couldn’t help but chuckle. Henry carried himself with something that was both eloquent yet unmistakably feral, reminding her of a burly forest creature. Sturdy tree trunks stood for limbs, torso, and shoulders—the widths of icy mountains and a blanket of thick fur coated the entirety of his body, deeming him a dangerous bear. 

No wonder he preferred himself clean-shaven. The sharpened edge of a razor kept him a cut away from becoming ‘Henry the Barbarian’. 

Seeing him surrounded by pastel and sparkly fairy dust brought far more joy than she could ever imagine. The utter look of contempt gleamed on the surface of his shifty eyes. 

Oh, by God, how much he hated glitter!

“And what would you know about Barbie’s orgasms?” she teased with a crooked eyebrow and a comical suspicious glare. 

Readjusting his cap over the messy mane of chocolate curls, Henry offered a terrible wink and shrugged, “a gentleman never tells.”

Her fingers rapped on her thigh while she contemplated whether to allow this naughty joke slide, but then the urge to provoke him was far too great. After briefly chewing on the inside of her cheek, she broke into a wicked grin.

“Is that… like a role play you have with the missus? She’s Barbie, and you’re G.I.Joe? Because I kinda don’t want to hear about it, but then I kinda do.”

Henry’s smile gradually faded along with the playful glee in his eyes, his melancholic gaze dropping to the sparkly table. He slumped into a heavy sigh, “If by missus, you mean ‘Miss Hand’, then no… not really.”

Dumbfounded, she frowned at Henry with confusion when then it struck her; a sense of incredible embarrassment drained the blood from her head to her gut.

“Oh…”

“Yep.” Henry blurted and grabbed the menu, pretending to be incredibly interested in the kids’ meal options. 

Just in time to rescue them from a prolonged awkward silence, the waitress arrived with their order, serving Henry a hot cup of double espresso while she received a tall glass of a luscious vanilla milkshake. 

“Enjoy your drinks, guys!” the waitress smiled sweetly and kept her eyes glued to Henry as she walked away. But the gloss of the waitress’ flirtatious excitement was lost on him; drenched with greed, Henry’s blue sapphires were fixated on the generous scoops of ice cream and the dark chocolate swirls that decorated his companion’s dessert. 

“Henry, my eyes are up here!” she provoked and grabbed the straw between two fingers while throwing an amused glance at his simple cup of coffee. Henry followed her gaze and scoffed before raising the cup to his mouth and blowing to cool his drink.

The way his lips pursed together and his finger stroked the ceramic surface did not escape her observation. A sudden tingle swam down the length of her spine once it resonated in her mind that kind, charming, and beastly Henry was now single. Here they were, long time buddies, but now sitting together felt less comfortable than before. Her limbs felt like pins and needles while staring directly at his eyes was as risky as staring at the sun.  

“Cheers,” Henry mumbled and took a sip from his cup. 

Almost jolting in her seat, she stiffened and then grabbed her straw.

“Cheers.”

Giggles came from the other side of the diner. Among the retro gumball machines and rounded plastic bar stools, the waitress and a colleague leaned against the counter and stared at Henry, who turned his head for a brief moment and tipped his head.

Their giggles turned even louder.

She frowned. 

“So, have you been single for a while?” she heard herself asking with a rather urgent tone. Right away, a look of contrition crept on her face as she regretted her verbal onslaught and lack of sensitivity. 

Henry directed his gaze back to her and watched as she slowly sipped from the milkshake and then suckled the cream off her mouth. 

Absentmindedly, he licked his lips. “Since May. How about you, weren’t you with…?”

“No, ended, dodged a bullet.” she spat and pumped the straw up and down the thick beverage. “My milkshake brings all the boys… except it doesn't.” she sighed.

Henry frowned and shook his head with confusion. “What? You never told me you make your own milkshake. How come I never had some?” 

Her face abruptly froze, her eyes rounded with surprise before she snorted so loudly the waitresses stopped their whispering.

“Umm… Hen?” she called out, trying to hold herself from bursting into chuckles as her friend accidentally asked for a very sexual favour, “you honestly don’t know what ‘milkshake’ is slang for...?”

“Uh…”

“Omg, you’re such a boomer.” 

“No, I was born in ‘83! I’m a millennial. But please, indulge me.” he begged and crossed his arms together.

Clearing her throat loudly, she did her best to fight the wicked grin that stretched on her already painful cheeks and wrapped her fist around the straw. “So you know... how… certain male bodily fluids are sometimes white and creamy...? And when you perform a certain motion it’s like you’re shaking it…?”

Henry blinked and became silent. An unbidden rush of blood pooled at his groin as he watched her thumb graze over the tip of the straw and her fist pumping it into the smooth liquid in a slow, gentle motion. Wickedness glazed her eyes, but he tried to dismiss it as nothing but their usual playful banter; yet his adam’s apple bobbed up and down while his shoulder tensed at the oddly arousing sight of her performing a sinful act on a milkshake. 

There was an unmistakable stir in his cock and for once, he was thankful for narrow spaces as it hid his predicament.

Leaning forward, she opened her mouth and swirled her tongue around the straw. She went deliberately slow, making him watch while she playfully licked and suckled the tip until finally wrapping her lips around it and taking a generous sip.

Henry gawked utterly smitten, unaware that his jaw was nearly at the floor.

And to make things worse, she moaned—not too loud—but definitely enough to make his shaft harden more.

She wasn’t sure what stirred this whimsical boost of confidence, only that seeing the large, handsome man pale at her provocations made her feel like the most powerful woman on earth. She also gathered she’d regret it forever and a day once they’ll part ways, but it was too late for that now.

Gingerly she pulled back, though not before allowing a single drop of cream to trickle down the corner of her lips.

“Oops,” she smirked casually, wiping the cream with her fingertip and sucking it clean. 

“Please stop…” 

It was then when she noticed that Henry’s playful mien was all but gone. Far from amused, he glowered with a clenched jaw. “If you’re going to keep doing that, I’ll have to leave,” he stated matter-of-factly. 

A rush of panic made her freeze in her spot, the same needles that pricked her skin were now setting jolts of electric bursts. “I’m so sorry, I crossed the line,” she said and covered her mouth with shame, “did I offend you? Do you want me to leave?”

“What? No, no, not at all.” Henry’s voice softened right away, and he reached a hand in the air, as if trying to stop her from leaving. The last thing he wanted now is for her to think he is angry with her. If anything, he wished they could spend more time together, not because of his obvious arousal, but because for the first time in a long while, he was having fun.

Still, she looked at him so utterly distraught.  

“Then…?” 

Henry scanned the diner as if trying to make sure no one was staring or taking any photo and then shifted in his seat uncomfortably. His eyes altered between his spread thighs and her several times, trying to signal toward his… trouble.

“Oh...” she gaped. 

An odd sense of pride began to permeate her chest, battling over the burning embarrassment that flamed up her neck and cheeks. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel, only that it was definitely the most awkward hangout they had to date. 

Problem was, she never knew when to shut up. 

“Is little Henry hungry?”

Hearing those words, his brows dropped to an irritated sulk. “There is nothing little about it.”

“Ha! Prove it!”

It was as if the entire diner and perhaps the world fell into silence. Had the clatter of the dishes being washed in the back kitchen not rung their ears, she would have thought she grew suddenly deaf. 

“I didn’t mean it… sorry, I’ll stop,” she mumbled slowly and pressed her fingers to her mouth while shaking her head at her stupid behaviour. That was it, this was to be the last afternoon she would ever hang out with Henry and right now, she couldn’t even bring herself to look at him.

Henry chewed onto the inside of his cheeks, trying to stop the words that came faster than his thoughts.

“You didn’t?... Because I’ll definitely be up for proving...”

She blinked at his words and tilted her head, hoping that he won’t notice the wild tremors that shook her limbs, “What was that?” 

“I... yes? No?...I… fuck!” 

Henry lowered his head and slapped his palms across his face, rubbing back and forth with an utter meltdown while mumbling, “Forgive me,” a couple of times. He couldn’t care less of what the waitresses or whoever was watching would think of him; all he cared about was to make her feel comfortable around him again and maybe… even make her like him?

“Henry?”

Soft and warm her voice called to him, slowly pulling him from his anguish like a sailor being rescued from a sunken ship. His blue sapphires shone, an ocean of confusion and anxiety still pooling within while he peered back at her face that was now smiling at him a mixture of comfort and exhilaration. 

“Would you like some of my milkshake?”