#with my luck he has a secret tumblr and is staring in horror

[dear-ao3]

lando norris can take some of my wisdom teeth if he wants i have abt 4 too many

[sir-subpar]

Ejected (Part 1?) (Imposter Henry)

Fic below the cut!

**Note, the oc/fankid I made for this au (Astra, Henry's adopted daughter) is in this oneshot. Hope that doesn't cause too much confusion. People who follow my tumblr, deviantart, and Wattpad will probably have more context than those on Ao3. Also: I might write an alternate ending to this, but let's consider this the main timeline.***

____

Dread weighed down on Henry like an anchor. Blood dripped from his lips and claws, and Charles saw him.

Charles saw him.

Now he knows. 

The two stared at each other tensely. Unsure who would act first. 

Charles' face.. Henry had never seen a more betrayed and horrified look. 

Charles took a step back, Henry could see the cafeteria at the end of the hall behind Charles. 

The emergency button.

Charles bolted, and Henry gave chase. He couldn't let Charles out him to the rest of the crew! He didn't want to hurt the man, but he couldn't let him reach the button!

Henry was normally faster than earthlings, but Charles' military training made him a much harder target, not to mention he had a head start. Charles reached the cafeteria, luckily no one else was around to see, but he managed to reach the table, so Henry's luck was short.

They stared each other down, Charles hovered his hand above the red button. Henry looked at him pleadingly. Henry held his hands up, "Charles, please!" Henry took a step closer. Charles glared back at him. "Don't come any closer!" He ordered, his voice both authoritative and fearful. Henry halted. Charles began to well up a bit, his hands shaking. "How could you? I thought you were better! You told me you weren't like other imposters!" 

Henry said nothing. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could say to make this better. Charles continued. "I defended you. I told everyone you were a crewmate. I lied to everyone for you!"

Henry looked at the floor shamefully. "You killed Winston too, didn't you?" Henry nodded. 

Charles had tears running down his face. "First Winston… now Calvin.." 

Charles took a shaky breath. He seemed a bit conflicted, still hesitating to press the button. The button that could end Henry here and now. 

"I thought you were better.."

The alarm rang, and the crew came running. This was it. Henry couldn't get out this time. Dripping with blood, and Charles against him, there's no way out.

…

It wasn't surprising when the crew turned on him, but it still stung. They forced him into the airlock. A thick paine of glass separating them. The majority of the crew stared at him with anger and horror. Charles avoided eye contact. Henry's eyes darted around, briefly meeting his co-worker, Right's gaze. Reginald clung to Right's side. 

Captain Galeforce stepped ahead of the group, looking directly at Henry. "Stickmin." His stern voice, combined with the already vulnerable position Henry was in, struck fear into him. All it took for Henry to be launched into space was the press of the button, his fate lies with Hubert Galeforce.

That wasn't the worst part, though. Henry still had a secret from the crew, a secret that only Charles and Right knew. 

His daughter. He hid Astra in the vent in his room. What'll happen to her if he dies? Henry couldn't help but well up a bit. His mind raced. What should he do? He had to do something right? Could he? What should he do!? 

His claws dragged down the glass, scratching it. Usually he could rip through metal if he put in enough effort, the fact that he did so little damage unnerved him more. What kind of glass was this? 

"Pay attention Henry. I'm talking to you."

 His attention snapped back to Galeforce. Dammit, he had to keep his cool. He still has a chance. They haven't thrown him out yet, they might want him alive. 

"Good, you're listening. I have questions, Stickmin, answer them, and you might save your hide. So you might want to cooperate."

Henry resisted the urge to growl at him. He nodded, not having much of a choice.

 "I'm glad we can come to an agreement. First question should be easy. Are there any other imposters here?" 

Henry flinched. He couldn't rat out Right. But if he hesitates, then Galeforce will be suspicious. Henry went with the middle ground. He shrugged. "I don't know. I work alone." Galeforce squinted his eyes at him, suspicious. 

"Captain…" Charles began hesitantly. "You'll have your turn soon enough Charlie. I have plenty of questions to ask you." His tone changed when he addressed Charles, it went from authoritative to stern and disappointed. Charles wasn't off the hook either, it seemed. "That's not what I-! I just.. Captain, I need to show you something." He stammered. Galeforce raised a brow, genuinely intrigued, but still serious. "And what would that be, Charlie?"

Charles made eye contact with Henry, his expression a mix of multiple kinds of distress Henry couldn't quite recognize. And one he did. 

Guilt. 

"I'll grab it for you, be right back." Galeforce eyed him with suspicion. "Miss Rose?" She stood at attention. "Please accompany him to wherever he's going." 

"Uh, sure. I can do that." She replied a bit unsure, probably just surprised.

It took a few minutes, but when they returned, Henry felt his heart drop to his stomach. 

They brought Astra. Out for the whole crew to see.

Henry quickly pressed his hands to the glass, almost slamming them. The leftover blood on his fingers stained the clear glass. No no no! This couldn't be happening, Charles can't do this! Who knows what Galeforce would do to her!? 

The whole crew was stunned into silence when they saw little Astra in Charles' arms. Right shot a concerned glance to Henry. Charles broke the silence, "This is Astra, Henry's daughter. He brought her with him onto the ship.." As Charles gently handed Astra to Galeforce, Henry's panic only grew.

 He started banging on the glass. "Charles please! Don't give her to him! CHARLES! Don't let him hurt her!" Henry's assault on the glass continued. 

Galeforce shot him an unreadable look, his eyes darting between the panicked Henry, and the baby wrapped in purple blankets he held in his arms.

The captain's sternness returned. He decided to hold Astra with one hand, by her onesie. She started whimpering, uncomfortable by the mask of support as well as the sudden pressure on her neck and chest. She began kicking her feet, helpless to do anything as the action made her swing slightly. 

Seeing his daughter distressed made Henry's fear transform into primal rage, fuelled by parental instincts. He went from just hitting the glass with his hands to clawing at it, shouldering it, even running back and charging at it full-force. It did very little. 

"Oi, Captain! He's losing his shit! Do something!" Rupert yelled over the commotion Henry was causing. 

Galeforce approached the glass, Henry snarled at him with an inhuman noise. Suddenly, Astra was pushed against the glass. Her cheek squished into the surface. This only made her cry louder. "Captain, I don't know if that's a good idea.." Dave said nervously. "I gotta agree, he's already pretty pissed off." Rupert added. Other crewmates began to voice their concerns. Captain Galeforce raised his free hand, gesturing for them to quiet their worries. 

"Stickmin. If you want your offspring safe, I suggest you calm down." Henry stopped attacking his surroundings, breathing heavily, barely containing his rage. "That's better. Now I'll reiterate a previous question. Are there other imposters here?" 

Henry had to gather his wits. He wiped tears off his face, and took deep breaths. He had to keep his cool. He took a second to think of a response. "You already found her." He choked out, distressed but still keeping Right a secret. Not even Charles knew he was an imposter, so no one should suspect him. "I see.. Alright, next question. Why are you here?" Henry glared at him. "I had a job to do." Galeforce's brows raised in intrigue. "So you were sent." 

 The interrogation continued. Henry gave mostly vague answers, only cooperating for Astra. After some time, the crew turned in for the night, Galeforce would decide Henry's fate in the ship's time-simulated equivalent of morning.

With all the lights off, Henry was left in the airlock, his daughter still in the hands of Captain Galeforce. He couldn't sleep. He stayed curled up on the floor, the cold metal pressing into his cheek. He exhausted his energy trying to escape, now he was just tired. 

He was startled by a light tapping on the glass, he rolled over to look at who the culprit was. He was greeted by a familiar face. Right looked at him with a serious expression. 

" 'Ello Henry, care to chat?" Right asked, he sat down and leaned against the glass. 

"I'm sorry this happened. How're you holding up?" Right knew the question was dumb, obviously Henry wasn't doing well. Henry shrugged, "It's my fault, I got careless and Charles caught me. I doubt Galeforce will let me out of here." Henry's tone was dry, hopeless, even. "And I don't know what he'll do to Astra when I'm gone. I've doomed her, Right… I've doomed her.." Henry got choked up. The realization horrified him. His shoulders bobbed as he cried. He buried his face in his arms to muffle his sobs. 

Right's expression softened. He may not have been that close to his coworker, but he could see that Henry was a broken man. 

"Henry.." He began, "I won't let Galeforce hurt her. I'll look after you when you're… not able to." Right hesitated, though he and Henry were both killers, the word 'dead' hung in the air. They both have spilled innocent blood, but this was more personal to them. Too real. Henry looked at him with tearful eyes. "You.. You'd really do that?" Henry questioned in awe. Right nodded. "You have my word. Imposter or not, your kid deserves to live." Right's earnesty gave Henry a sliver of hope. Henry rested his head on the glass. "... Thank you.." He mumbled. Right nodded. 

"I should go, if anyone sees us talkin' we'll both be goners." They both bid each other farewell, and parted ways. 

All Henry could do now was wait.

...

The crew eventually woke up eagerly awaiting the captain's arrival, and his final decision. The crew chatted amongst themselves. Henry kept his back to them. He couldn't look. He didn't want to see their disdain for him. He had his space helmet at the ready. If there was a chance he could survive out there in space, he'd take it. 

"Attention, everyone." The crew all silenced to look at their captain. "After some careful consideration, I have come to a decision." Galeforce placed Astra on the table, she curled up into a little ball.

"Henry will be ejected." 

Henry flinched. He knew it was coming, but hearing it made it all the more real. "As for his offspring.. I have determined that she's harmless. If someone is willing to take the task of looking after her, speak now." 

Right raised his hand. "I'll do it." Henry let out a breath of relief. At least she had a chance. Another voice piped up. "I'll do it too." Charles's voice surprised Henry. "I know some stuff about what she needs. I can help." Henry muttered a very quiet "thank you" under his breath.

"Well, if we're at a consensus, then we should all attend to our duties." Galeforce approached the airlock. Henry slammed on the helmet, and turned to face Galeforce. Bakery glared at him behind the lense of his helmet. "It's a shame things turned out this way, Stickmin. You brought this on yourself." 

With a press of a button, the external doors opened. Henry hardly had time to blink as he was violently pulled back, the floor beneath him disappearing. He spun out wildly, the environment around him blurred into a mess of pitch blackness and white lines. A dizzying mess. 

He couldn't tell how long he was spinning, but thankfully he was able to stop spinning when he bumped into a large rock. He used his slowed down drifting to regain his bearings. It took a while to rid himself of the nauseating dizzy feeling that plagued him. He was glad that he didn't throw up in his helmet. 

He looked around, he already lost sight of the space station. The crew… Charles… Astra… Gone. Just like that.

There was empty space all around him. He was drifting endlessly. Nowhere to go. No one to help him. 

He was alive, but what could he do now? His oxygen tank could only last so long. Once again, he was stuck waiting.

…

All the waiting with no end in sight, it only made his loneliness all the more suffocating. All his regrets more present. He shut his eyes, deciding that getting some sleep was all he could do now.

…

Cold. Everything was cold. Henry was tired.

…

Henry slipped in and out of consciousness. Tired, cold, hungry, lost. The same feelings over and over.

…

Henry stirred, rolling over. Wait.. Henry startled, suddenly fully awake. There was a floor beneath him, bright lights above him, and blankets tucked around him. It looked like someone made a nest out of blankets for him. 

"Oh. Hey. You're up." A monotone voice caught his attention. Henry looked towards the stranger. The man had a black top hat and orange-ish brown headphones poking through it. He was carrying a cooler. 

"I was starting to wonder if you were even alive." Henry only stared in shock. He had no idea what to say. 

"Look man, I get it. You're confused, you got launched into space and now you're on a new ship with strangers. But you can chill, it's safe here," Burt paused for a moment, seeming to remember something. "Oh. And I got this for you." Burt took the cooler and placed it in front of Henry. He cautiously opened the cooler Burt gave him. 

Meat. It was full of raw meat. And the ice that kept it fresh, but more importantly, meat. 

Henry was practically drooling. He quickly snapped out of it and looked at Burt. How did he know? Apparently his expression was pretty readable, because Burt's response felt like he was a mind reader. "You're an imposter, right? A carnivorous alien one?"

Henry's eyes widened. "W.. Why would you bring me here if you knew I was an imposter?" Henry asked, his voice weak from not being used in a while. "Almost everyone on this ship is an imposter. Some are technically crewmates that were ejected and accused of being imposters, but whatever, it doesn't really matter anymore. Welcome to the ship of ejection survivors. You can meet everyone else when you're ready." Burt's tone indicated that he's said that speech many times before, his tone still monotone. 

Burt left the room, it was then Henry realized that this room didn't have an actual door. They trusted him enough to leave him in a completely open room? No locks?

Henry pulled a steak out of the box, wrapped his long alien tongue around it, and ate it whole. Astra would have loved a snack like this. She was so tiny and only a few of her teeth grew in, still she loved gnawing on things… 

And he was never going to see her again..

"Hey man, I just realized I don't know your name and Sven is chewing me out over it. What's your name?"

"It's… Henry."

"Cool. Welcome to your new home Henry."

[jaeheewillalwaysbemyfav]

[The following ask is just an attempt on my, Winter's, part to exploit a quirk in tumblr's code that keeps formatting from copy/pasted items when answering an ask on desktop as opposed to making a text post.]

MC is a Phoenix and Child of a Famous Magic User

A slightly modified request fill for @guardianoftheunderworld090! This ended up getting away from me a bit, and by a bit I mean a lot so uhhh Oops! Because of that, I didn’t end up doing the dateables+Luke, so apologies! But this is already probably wayyyyy off from the original request anyway.

Again, oopsie :3

Content Warnings: Temporary character death, spoilers for Lesson 16+, brief implication of immolation (but not really bc, y’know, phoenix), mild-to-moderate blood and injuries/violence

As soon as they learned their name, everyone knew of MC. While not quite on Solomon or the great witch Maddi’s level, their parents had made quite the name for themselves in the magical community. Their pre-existing knowledge of magic and the supernatural was therefore completely expected.

Less so was what happened when they died.

Mammon had been cradling their body when it happened, still too stunned to react to his smug younger brother gloating about taking out such a fragile, weak creature. The entire House of Lamentation was in shock: MC, the human they had come to cherish, was bleeding out right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

The Avatar of Greed’s breath hitched as he felt their pulse fade, watched the rise and fall of their chest cease…

And then he screamed as MC’s body burst into flames. They were scorching hot, but left no marks on him nor the surrounding area. On instinct, Beelzebub darted forward to pull Mammon away from the inferno, his protests weakened by surprise and grief. Belphegor was knocked backwards off his feet by the force of the flames, and they all watched as the fire raged on, until it began to take on a recognizable shape.

Not of MC, but of a brightly coloured flaming bird.

The phoenix cocked its head to the side, as though assessing its surroundings, eyes passing over each of the frozen brothers before rounding on Belphegor. It shrieked, puffed up feathers interspersed with jets of flame, and charged the youngest with its sharp beak and talons bared.

And suddenly it was no longer a bird.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” MC yelled as they continued to slash at Belphie. A large pair of bright flaming wings arched behind their back, threatening to torch anything they touched. “I LITERALLY RISKED THE WRATH OF LUCIFER FOR WEEKS TO HELP YOUR SORRY ASS GET OUT OF THAT ATTIC AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME?! WITH MURDER?!”

Blood pooled in Belphie’s mouth from a particularly nasty slash across his lip. He spit to the side before replying, “In my defense, most people stay dead when you kill them!”

“THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO—”

“...MC?” Levi said, voice small. “I-Is that really you…?” His tail swished behind him anxiously.

MC turned their attention to the rest of the brothers (one set of talons still embedded in Belphie’s leg, in case he had thoughts of running).

Beel was stock still, eyes pointed ahead but staring at something beyond the room. Asmo was crying silently, though his expression was neutral and wide eyed. The gears in Satan’s head were visibly turning even as he shredded the sleeves of his shirt with his claws. Mammon was misty eyed, with such an open expression of love and want and hurt that it made them want to cry as well. And Lucifer… The Avatar of Pride’s usual mask of stony superiority had crumbled into something lost and broken.

They looked back to Belphegor, who clutched at his leg, his own tears threatening to spill from his eyes. They slowly remove their talons from his leg and face the group, folding their wings inward until they regain their humanoid form.

“I guess I have a bit of explaining to do, huh.”

Lucifer

Too many things have happened so fast, he doesn’t even know how to respond.

Not only has MC apparently been having secret meetings with Belphegor, not only are the pacts they’ve made with his brothers just tools to free him, not only did Belphegor then betray them and attempt to kill them, but they’re also… A phoenix?!

Distantly, hysterically, he thinks, how in the three realms is that not on their file?

“Oh, I’m also not technically from this timel-”

Lucifer shushes them. He can’t deal with any other reveals right now.

Once… everything is dealt with, he allows himself to be curious about MC’s origins.

Have they always been this way? Were they adopted by their parents, a familiar given human form, or had something gone wrong one day with a spell?

He’ll never ask them though. He knows origins can be touchy subjects.

He grounds himself in the practical. Does MC know how to control their abilities? Are their needs being met? Are there any additional accommodations they require?

Sometimes, when their wings are out, he can’t help but be reminded of the similarly fiery wings of the seraphim from home the Celestial Realm and feel nostalgic.

His more possessive side also relishes the fact that they share a connection through association with birds, especially considering how some varieties of phoenixes tend to resemble peacocks.

It must be difficult for them to preen those large wings, do they need any help? No, it’s not that he wants to, don’t be ridiculous. But if they ever want his help...

Mammon

Once the initial shock of “holy shit the love of my life just BURST INTO FLAMES IN MY ARMS” fades, he’s just happy MC’s alive and well.

But he does put on a front of being upset that they never told him about their nature.

“Stupid hu— uhhh, phoenix, I worried for nothin’! Wait, no, I wasn’t worried at all—”

“Sure you weren’t,” MC retorts with a smile.

Seriously though, why didn’t they tell him? He’s their guardian, their First, he should know these things!

Do they think he’ll… try and take advantage of them because of their powers? He’d never!

Okay, maybe when they first met he might have considered it, but not now! Not now that he…

One night, Mammon and MC are up late watching some terrible Devildom romcom. MC has long since fallen asleep, and one of their enormous wings is draped over Mammon, pinning him in place.

The flames interspersed amongst their feathers are short and glow only dimly, like dying embers. Occasionally, a few will flare slightly or twitch as though a breeze has blown by.

“...I was really scared, you know,” he murmurs to their sleeping form. “I really thought you were gone. And I realized at that moment that I… I can’t lose you. I love you so much MC. You’re worth more to me than anything else in the Devildom, than anything in all the three realms. Please don’t scare me like that ever again…”

MC doesn’t stir, but the flames on their wing follow Mammon’s hand as he pets the warm feathers. They’re only pleasantly warm, with a smooth, silky texture to them.

He snuggles closer to them and drifts off himself, comforted by the heat of their body, human and avian anatomy alike.

Leviathan

Levi cannot believe his luck. He finally gets himself a friend he can really trust, and then his younger brother (who was trapped in an attic by the way, NOT in the human world like Lucifer said, because oh yeah, also Lucifer’s a liar) kills them, and now they’re—

It’s too much to process at once. All he can latch onto is that’s them, right? That’s really his MC, his Henry, the one person outside of his family who doesn’t dismiss him as some gross shut-in?

Once he’s assured himself that they’re safe, he’s immediately hit with the rest of the surprises to process. He hugs MC tightly against himself, whether to protect them from Belphegor or himself from… everything, is anyone’s guess.

It takes a long time for Levi’s newfound clinginess to dissipate. He refuses to let MC be alone around Belphegor under any circumstances, even if it means leaving his room more than he’s comfortable with.

In this time, he learns a lot about MC.

He learns that they seek to cool off the same way he seeks out warmth, and that this makes them excellent cuddling partners. He learns that they let out very adorable chirps of squawks when caught off guard.

He learns the hard way that a phoenix in love is a fire hazard.

But he also learns that he’d risk every item in his collection to see MC’s radiant smile.

Satan

Set the phoenix thing aside, Satan thinks to himself as he rushes over to inspect MC for injuries. Set it aside.

Once he’s sure they are unharmed, he turns his attention to Belphegor.

The Avatar of Sloth is lucky MC got to him first. Satan wouldn’t have stopped at a warning strike. Belphie knows from the murderous glare shot his way that it is only the presence of the others that’s stopping Satan from taking his revenge.

His fingers linger in their wings. MC’s feathers are all out of sorts, but there are no bald patches indicating any serious burns or other wounds. Still, Satan cards through them carefully, checking and double checking for any signs of damage. MC fidgets under his attention.

“Uh, Satan?” They’re blushing. “That kinda tickles.”

“Oh! Oh, um, sorry, I was just— you’re okay, right?”

They let out a small laugh and bop him gently with a wing. “Everything’s in working order, don’t worry.”

“That’s— Good, that’s uh, that’s great.”

“...Go ahead, you dork,” MC prompts with a smile. He blinks at them owlishly. “Ask your questions!”

He does, over the course of the next couple of weeks, in between therapeutic pranks against a certain youngest brother.

Asmodeus

As MC is born again from flame, Asmo learns the true horror of love.

He had always been the one to invoke passion in others: to seduce loyal partners and drive others mad with desire, to twist their love into lust and unleash its destructive potential. Despite this, he never really understood the feeling himself, why something as ephemeral as a feeling could drive humans to such extremes.

But seeing MC wounded and bloody, watching the light in their eyes dim, the Avatar of Lust had felt the call of blood and rage and grief and love for the first time. And watching MC dust themself off as they explain their unique heritage, Asmo realizes that those feelings would have destroyed him. He would have done anything and everything to bring MC back to him, given up any part of himself just to see them one more time.

So forgive him, MC, if his movements ever slow to a stop while preening your wings. If he sometimes stares at you with awe, or holds you tight enough to bruise.

His heart has never been anyone’s but his before, and he is so very afraid of getting burned.

Beelzebub & Belphegor

Oh this is Not bringing up good memories at all.

Something about seeing MC and Belphegor, bloody with the scent of fire and death in the air jumbles his senses and suddenly they’re not in the House of Lamentation but the battlefield and she’s been struck down, he was too slow, he chose his twin over his sister can he live with that? Can any of them? She’s falling she’s falling and he’s falling and they’re going to—

When he snaps back into awareness, Beel is restraining a hissing and spitting MC as they scratch and claw at him to get to Belphegor, the one wing Beel didn’t manage to pin down flapping about erratically.

Their movements only stop when they feel hot tears on their back. MC calms down and shifts more gently in Beelzebub’s grasp, turning to face him.

“Beel, it’s okay,” they say, cupping his face with a bloody, taloned hand. He smells the blood and lets out a sob.

Belphegor moves to comfort his twin, but MC’s wings snap open, shielding the pair in a ring of fire and feathers.

“I— I…” He can’t form the words. You died, my brother killed you, he’s here, you hurt him, why is he here, why did he hurt you, how did— “Please,” he says, finally.

MC frowns, hesitates. But slowly, they lower their wings and step aside, letting the twins reunite. As they embrace, Belphegor shoots them a look, but it’s not hateful. It’s not regretful or apologetic either, more of a profound confusion.

Despite demons’ regenerative abilities, Belphegor remains mostly bedridden for quite some time. It seems a phoenix’s wounds negate most healing factors, and the 5 pronged gash in his leg is particularly stubborn in its refusal to close. He jokes that the slow recovery must be because MC will never forgive him for what he’s done. Beel chastises him and says they’re more forgiving than he thinks.

Still, Belphie is surprised to see MC join Beel when he comes to change the youngest’s bandages. They hold out their hands, revealing 10 strange, press-on caps over their talons as they assure Belphie they won’t hurt him.

Where Beel is overly cautious and gentle, MC is practiced and efficient as they inspect, clean, and redress his wounds.

“Is this your way of apologizing?” Belphie can’t help but ask, earning him a stern glare from his twin.

“For attacking you after you killed me, not knowing it wouldn’t take? No,” they reply around a mouthful of medical tape. “It’s an excuse to talk.” They gesture for Beel to move his hand from the gauze pad so they can tape it down.

“You want to talk with your would-be murderer.” MC gathers up the garbage and old bandages to toss them in the trash.

“You’re not the first person to try, you know,” they remark as they dust off their hands.

“What?!” the twins shout in unison, Beel nearly dropping the scissors he was putting back into the first aid kit.

“I’ll tell you about it if you tell me why…” MC gestures broadly to Belphegor, “this all happened the way it did.”

This exchange of stories does not repair MC and Belphegor’s fraught relationship. That is not how wounds heal. But nevertheless, some weeks later, the House of Lamentation has a movie night. And sandwiched in the middle of the familial cuddle pile is MC, Beel, and Belphie, each tucked under one fiery wing.

[trashyswitch]

Two Minds Think Alike

Vanny had just welcomed this stranger, William, into her head: a beige bunny with a shady past. As she tries to understand who they are and what their motives are, she discovers a fun little secret about her new bunny friend.

This fanfic was suggested by @trashylever on Tumblr. This is my first lee!Glitchtrap fanfic! So trashylever, and everyone else, I hope you enjoy!

Vanny was still trying to get used to there being more people in her head than just...herself. He kinda just introduced himself, said ‘I need a home’ and embedded himself into Vanny’s brain without a proper introduction. She didn’t even know who he was. And yet here he is: living in her head. If she’s gonna learn to live with him, she’s gonna have to get to know him.

Vanny closed her eyes and pushed herself deeper into her head. There, she saw the bunny being that had joined her head. Vanny decided to start off like all exchanges do: with names.

“So...Do you...have a name besides Glitchtrap?” Vanny asked. “Or something less mysterious than…’Malhare’?” Vanny asked, using quotations.

The being turned to her with a tired, bored face. “...Afton.” He replied.

Afton? Wait...Why did that name sound strangely familiar?

“Is that...a first name? Or a last name?” Vanny asked.

The bunny groaned and got up. “William. William Afton. Happy?” they spat at her.

Vanny raised her eyebrows. This person’s got quite the attitude. They sound pissed...over a need for a name. “Yes, thank you.” Vanny shot back.

The being looked at her before looking away.

“Are...Are you gonna ask me for a name? Or am I supposed to just give you a name?” Vanny asked.

The guy...William...looked at her from the corner of their eye and looked back down again. “You’re a teenage girl. That’s all I need to know.” the person said.

Vanny sighed and sat down on the ground. “Great...I’m expected to live with THIS-” She pointed to the bunny in front of her, “-For the rest of my life.” Vanny muttered out loud.

The bunny sighed. “Life isn’t fair, sunshine.” They muttered.

Vanny widened her eyes and turned to the bunny with a frown. “Excuse me?!” she walked right up to the bunny and pushed them down with her foot. “Just who do you think you are?!”

The bunny looked up at her with a frown. Then, they scoffed. “Try looking up my name. That’ll give you a pretty good idea.” they spat with a dangerous look in their eyes. Vanny growled and left her mind.

Vanny opened her eyes and hopped onto her phone. She typed the name ‘William Afftin’ into the search bar.

[A-f-t-o-n. AfTON.] the bunny corrected.

Vanny sighed and fixed the name. ‘William Afton’. She clicked the search button and watched as tons of links showed up right away. Tons of links about ‘child killer’, ‘The Man Behind The Slaughter’ and ‘Fazbear Entertainment’ came up. Vanny’s expression turned from annoyed to surprised in a single second. Child killer? Child killer?

She clicked one of the links. This brought up pictures of happy kids, and blurred images of their corpses beside the happy images. They were mostly aged 5 to age 10! Names of previously missing children filled her brain as she read them: Charlie...Cassidy...Fritz...Gabriel...Jeremy… And Susie.

[They were interesting kids. Somewhat ignored by the adults there. No one even noticed they went missing until they got home. Stupid people…] The bunny told her.

Vanny widened her eyes. Holy...How did he-

Vanny scrolled down and looked at the other pictures that came up. There were photos taken of...suits?

[Animatronics. Big robots with endoskeletons and programming designed for anything you want. In this instance, they were disguised as animals and made for kids entertainment. We were the talk of the town at the time! Freddy Fazbear and the Band. Kids loved it.] The bunny explained.

Freddy Fazbear- WAIT A SECOND! “That VR Video Game was based on real life?!” Vanny reacted.

[Yup. That game itself was Fazbear Entertainment’s way of saving their tarnished reputation of child-killing machines. Every entertainment spot the Fazbear company opened, ended up with at least one child or person killed from robot malfunctions.] The bunny explained.

Vanny frowned as she looked at the missing kids. “It wasn’t just robot malfunctions...It was murders too.” Vanny mentioned. “You were the cause of those murders! You killed up to 5 children!” Vanny reacted.

[Yup. Indeed I did.] The bunny replied.

Vanny huffed as she put her phone down and went into her head again. “Why?” She asked. “Did you know them personally? Why would you specifically choose to kill them?” She asked.

“Does it matter?” The bunny asked as they stood up. “I just did.” they replied.

Vanny looked at the bunny. “You’re not a bunny. I wanna see what you really look like.” Vanny told them.

William sighed and closed their eyes. “There’s plenty of images on the World Wide Web to give you a good picture.” they told her.

“I don’t want to use the internet. I wanna see you. The real you.” She told them. “That is, if your former self was programmed into your code.” Vanny mentioned.

William rolled his eyes. “I have no former self anymore. This is it. I’m a glitch shown as a bunny.” William explained.

“You know technology has advanced enough to change your appearance, right?” Vanny mentioned.

William gave her a dirty look. “Well maybe,” William walked closer to Vanny. “Someone didn’t put that into account when programming me into the fucking game!” William spat at her. Then, he leaned his head back a bit. “I’m afraid this is as close as you’re gonna get.” William turned around and walked away.

Vanny let out heavy breaths as she processed the words hidden under his overwhelmingly rude attitude. Despite not actually being responsible for how William’s brain and personality was handled, Vanny still felt hurt by his words. This man, who was once a physical being, is now stuck inside a girl’s head. Even worse: a teenage girl’s head.

Vanny closed her eyes and frowned as she looked at him. “Why…”

William hummed and tilted his head as he looked at pictures hidden in her head.

“Why choose me...of all people?” Vanessa asked.

William smiled a little at that question. He turned around and looked at her with purple, glowing eyes. “Because your curiosities can lead you down a really dark path if you let it.” William told her. “...And maybe I can help you with that.” William offered.

Vanny widened her eyes and stared at the bunny in both horror and awe.

William chuckled at her reaction. “The internet has offered you endless chances to satisfy your curiosities and yet…” William looked at their own hand. “You stop yourself.”

Vanny bit her lip and lifted her head up. “W-Well...that kind of job takes a lot of work to clean and cover up.” Vanny admitted. “And I don’t want the police finding out about my internet searches. They could see me as a suspect.” She added.

William chuckled at the last part. “There are always incognito modes.” William reminded her. “And as a guy who’s been there and done that, I will help you through all the steps. But only if you agree…” William offered.

Vanny’s awe-struck face shrunk down as she backed away. No...No she shouldn’t! She’s worked this hard trying to make a life for herself! She can’t ruin that now!

William hummed and waved their index finger. “Mmm...there’s that doubt. There’s the part of you that’s trying to return back to normal life.” William pointed out. “But that normalcy will not satisfy that instinct inside you. I’ve tried. Eventually, it found a crack and broke right through it. You’ll be better off starting early than spending your life trying to hide it. After all: Therapy always teaches you to let it out rather than shove it inside you.” William explained.

Vanny considered correcting him, but realised that he was still staying true to the facts. So, she let him talk more.

William walked closer to Vanny and gave her a charming, yet sadistic kind of smile. “You and I have something special in common: you and I both wanted to know things only the dark part of the web could provide you.” William said. “I’ve already answered all my curiosities. But you...You’re waiting to get your full answers. The world tells you to stay true to the law...yet your instincts tell you otherwise...” William explained. He started taking steps back.

“Besides: you gotta remember that everyone only has one life. It’s why I’ve been prolonging my life for as long as I have!” William explained. He spun himself around, sprinted up to Vanny and grabbed her shoulders. “Look at me! I’m in my triple digits now! I should be long dead! But I’m not! I’ve cheated death!” William declared with genuine excitement. “And now I have a chance to restart my killing spree...with a new body, and a loyal partner...something I lacked the first time.” William said eagerly.

Vanny smiled at the thought.

“So:” William held out his hand. “Will you be my new partner in crime?” William asked.

Vanny’s smile grew. It was a hard offer to resist. She’s been wanting to do this for so long. And now, she actually has the chance! Finally, after some thought, Vanny nodded and shook his hand. “I’d love to.” Vanny replied.

The two of them spent some time determining their action plans. With just a few google searches, William and Vanny were able to find a new Fazbear Mall that was opening up. And as luck would have it, they were hiring! So, Vanny pulled up her resume. With William’s previous business experience, he helped her sort out her slightly jumbled resume and cover letter. Before they knew it, the resume and the cover letter was sent to the business email. Now, all they had to do was wait.

While they waited, Vanny snuck back into her brain and looked at the bunny with curious eyes. “So...William Afton.” Vanny walked up and poked his shoulder. “What’s your little secret?” She asked.

William looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean ‘secret’?” William clarified.

“My deep secret is that I like really dark things. And I know you do too. But do you have another little secret you’d like to share?” Vanny asked.

William raised their eyebrows and smiled a little. “Like I’d ever share any secrets with you…”

Vanny frowned a bit. “Well, it’s only fair.” She told them. “Plus: we’re living with each other. I gotta know at least a few things about you.” She continued. “And specifically you...not just your history.”

William raised an eyebrow. The bunny had to admit she was stubborn. “Well...Okay.” William took a moment to think. “I was a father of three kids...all who I’ve outlived because… circumstances…” William admitted with a chuckle.

Vanny looked down with wide eyes. “Yyyyup...may or may not have found that within your history search.” Vanny admitted awkwardly.

William let out a laugh. “Wow! Okay.”

Vanny walked up to him. “Did you ever get tattoos when you were younger?” Vanny asked, grabbing his arm and looking at it.

William widened his eyes. “Uuuuuuhhh-” William pulled his arm out of her grip. “No. Even if I did, you’re not gonna see it on me now.” William mentioned.

Vanny looked down at the middle of his bunny tummy and gasped. “Look!” Vanny poked a visible light green little circle. “You have a bunny belly button!” she cooed.

William yelped and doubled over, wrapping both his arms around his belly. “HEY! No touching.” William warned.

Vanny raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Why? You ticklish?” Vanny asked. “Is de bunny wabbit ticklish?” Vanny teased as she tried to poke his belly.

“No!” William yelled back, slapping her hands away. “And stop that! I am a grown man!” William yelled at her.

“Hmmm…” Vanny leaned over and stared at the bunny’s side while poking it a couple times. “Maybe a grown bunny…” She gave the belly a squeeze. William shrieked and slapped her arm away. “But a grown man?! There’s NO way!” Vanny teased, sticking her tongue out.

William growled. “Bite me!” he shouted with visible teeth.

Vanny stared at him with starry eyes. Even though William was trying to scare her into stopping, his bunny image didn’t help him at all. If anything, it just made things worse! Vanny giggled and snorted at his attempts to frighten her. Lastly: Vanny brought her index finger up to William’s nose and…

*Beep!*

William squeaked and held his nose in surprise and...almost fear. He made his eyes go cross-eyed as he tried to look at his nose, which only added to the cuteness. The moment Vanny let out an excited squeal however, William shot her a glare out of the corner of his eye.

“Don’t even THINK about pulling those stupid, childish-” William yelped as his backside was poked.

“OMG! Your back is ticklish too?!” Vanny reacted. William tried to turn around, but was caught by one of Vanny’s arms around his shoulders. With her free hand, Vanny started crawling her fingers slowly up his back. William’s eyes widened almost immediately as his lips formed a wobbly and crooked smile.

“Oooooh! I see it’s not just your spine…” Vanny started scratching the back ribs. “The sides of your back are ticklish too!” Vanny reacted.

William let out a muffled yelp and shook his head. “SSSTAHAP-!” He yelled at her.

“OH! I’m close! I’m cracking your wall down!” Vanny teased excitedly.

Then, Vanny moved one hand up to the rabbit ears. “I wonder…” She started tickling the inner ear just as a small test. The moment William moved his rabbit ear away and wheezed, Vanny IMMEDIATELY covered his ears with tickles! It was so hard to resist not going for it, when the perfect opportunity had come up!

Now Vanny was tickling his ears menacingly and listening to every laugh, squeak, titter and giggle that left his mouth. It had actually surprised William just how well the programming managed to replicate his laughter as well! Things have REALLY changed since he was younger.

“VAHAHANNYHYHY! THAHAHAT’S EHEHENOHOHOUGH!” William tried to tell her.

“Hell no it’s not! We have tons of time! I still have a response to wait for from the Fazbear company that YOU used to work for. So now I’m just quickly waiting! And while I wait…” Vanny started tickling the base of William’s bunny ears. “-I can see just how ticklish you really are!” Vanny declared.

“NOHOHOHO! UHUHUN- AAHAHAHA-! UHUHUNFAHAHAIR!” William yelled at her.

“Oh I KNOW it’s unfair. But wanna know something else that’s unfair?” Vanny asked rhetorically. “Refusing to tell me a secret of yours after you found out about mine!” Vanny replied to her own question. “Now THAT’S unfair! And just downright rude!” Vanny added.

William shook his head, flapping his ears around as she attacked the vulnerable base of his ears. “NAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHE! COHOME OHOHOHON VAHAHAHAHANNY!”

Vanny smirked. “Whaddaya mean ‘come on’? Are you challenging me?” Vanny asked.

William shrieked and turned himself around to get away. Sadly, this just didn’t work. Vanny quickly wrapped her sneaky arm around William’s back and waist, and used her arm to dip him backwards like they had just flashbacked to the 20’s.

William yelped and giggled quite bashfully at this sudden turn of events, but was immediately thrown back into his frustrated frenzy the moment Vanny tickled all over his belly. “NoHO! VANNY! IHIHIHI’LL KIHIHILL YOHOHOHOU!” William threatened as he fell into another hysterical laughing fit.

“Ooooooh! I see…” Vanny said to herself while she poked and prodded at the green circle that highlighted the bunny’s belly button. “You don’t really have a belly button! Just a little green circle that sticks it out from your tummy.” Vanny explained to herself.

“YEHEHES! YOHOHOU HAHAVE YOHOHOUR AHANSWEHER! NOHOW LEHEHET MEHE GOHOHOHO!” William ordered.

Vanny rolled her eyes with a smile and continued to tickle his belly. “Ever heard of manners? Even dogs develop better manners than you!” Vanny teased.

William growled through his laughter and started to push her away. Vanny sighed and stopped tickling his belly. William went limp in her arms as bits of sweat started to fall down the bunny’s face. Was...was that just an overexaggerated emotion?! Or was William actually able to ‘sweat’? “Ohokahay. Can...can you put me down?...pleeeease?” William asked. His attempts to be polite sounded very childish. But, it somewhat worked.

Vanny smiled and laid William back down. “I-Thank you. Though, you didn’t need to lay me- HAHAHA! HEHEHEHEY- YOUSONOFA- EEEEEHEHEHEHEK!” William accidentally interrupted himself. It turns out that Vanny couldn’t resist sneaking a tickle or two onto his ears again.

“No more statements, Giggly Willy. Just a thank you will work well.” Vanny told him as she stopped fully this time.

William grabbed onto his ears and curled up into a little ball on the floor of Vanny’s mind. It was...Quite hilarious to see a tough, put together man doing such a childish move.

“I...Am content with wo-working with you, but…*huff*...C-Could we keep the tickle attacks to a minimum?” William asked.

Vanny hummed as she thought. She finally sighed. “Fine. Once a month.” she told him. “I’ll tickle you once a month.”

William looked up at her and uncurled himself. “Wanna move that to twice a month?” William asked.

Vanny blinked in surprise. “Bi-weekly?! I thought you wanted to keep the tickling to a minimum.” Vanny reacted.

“For-forget that. I don’t mind them.” William admitted casually.

Vanny did everything in her power to not throw her hands in the air and shower him with tickles. But she knew one thing for sure:

Vanny is never letting William live this down!

[earliebirb]

it’s a small world after all

This is a fic written for my dear friend Jen ( @ishipallthings​ ) who sent me this prompt. I am making a new text post because Tumblr doesn’t allow me to insert the “Keep reading” link properly when replying to an ask :( 

it’s a small world after all

steve/tony, meet cute, pre-slash, au: no powers, 2054 words 

“Great speech.”

Smiling at the compliment, Tony turns around. “Thank y—”

And nearly drops his champagne flute.

His world comes to a stop. The light chatter of the mingling guests fades away, all of his senses zeroing in on the man standing before him.

They had only spent a night together—one unforgettable night a year ago in London—and didn’t even manage to catch each other’s last names, but Tony would recognize those baby blues anywhere.

It’s Steve.

Steve from Tony’s London business trip. Or, as Rhodey has become accustomed to calling him after months and months of Tony bemoaning his own profound stupidity of letting the perfect London stranger go without giving him so much as a phone number—The Soulmate That Got Away. 

“I— What— Steve?” Tony blinks and shakes his head, just to make sure that this is not some weird hallucination his brain has conjured up out of a severe case of lovesick pining.

No matter how many times he blinks, Steve stays there, standing in front of him, dressed in an elegant navy blue suit that shows off his insane shoulder to waist ratio.

“Tony,” Steve says and maybe Tony is imagining the way Steve sounds a little bit breathless, like maybe this moment is just as overwhelming for him as it is for Tony. How Tony has imagined this scenario happening a thousand times in a thousand different ways—meeting Steve again, hearing Steve call his name.

“What— What are you doing here?” Of all the places he thought he would run into Steve again, his best friend’s wedding is definitely not one of them. Tony sets the glass of champagne down on a nearby table before he actually drops it. His hand is definitely not trembling. 

“Uh, my date is a friend. Of the bride’s.”

“A friend of Carol’s?”

“Yeah. She went to get a drink, but—”

Before Steve can finish his sentence, someone approaches him from behind, hooking her arm through his with the kind of easy affection that only comes from knowing each other for years. 

“Steve, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” the woman chides, but there is no mistaking the fond note in her voice. Her blonde hair falls just slightly below her shoulders. She is clad in a long dress whose shade of blue matches Steve’s suit. 

“Sorry,” Steve says, squeezing her arm lightly as he turns to her with a soft smile. To his horror, Tony feels his own heart sinking. As much as he wants to, he finds himself unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of them standing side by side in front of him.

Loathe as Tony is to admit it, they look lovely together.

Tony doesn’t know why he is disappointed at all. After all, he is just a stranger with whom Steve has spent a night with. Granted, it was a wonderful night—one that started with them fighting over the last croissant at a coffee shop near Tony’s hotel and ended with pillow talk that was way too deep for someone Tony had just met a few hours prior. 

Just because Tony had maybe—okay, definitely—fallen a little bit in love with him, however, it doesn’t guarantee that Steve would feel the same way about Tony. 

To reiterate once again, they are just strangers. Acquaintances, at best. Acquaintances who spent a night being physically and emotionally intimate with each other on the day of their first meeting. The sex had been more than satisfactory, but if Tony were being honest, the part of that fateful day that had secured Steve a special place in his heart was the part where they spent the rest of the night cuddled up in bed, sharing secrets and stories about their very different lives until the early hours of the morning, pretending that they weren’t sleepy before eventually drifting off in each other’s arms. 

Up until minutes ago, Tony wasn’t even sure he would ever see Steve again. It is beyond ridiculous for him to maintain the foolish hope of Steve returning his feelings, the hope that Steve had somehow also waited for him or tried to look for him all this time. 

There is also the fact that Steve isn’t the one who had woken up in bed cold and alone after a night too well spent. 

“Oh, hey! You’re James’ best friend, right? The best man. I’m Sharon.” The woman offers him her hand, a warm smile on her lips.

“Tony. Nice to meet you.” He shakes her hand, returning her smile.

There is a beat in which Sharon seems to take in the situation, looking back and forth between Steve and Tony.

“You guys know each other?”

“Yes—” Steve says.

“Well, not really—” Tony answers, at the exact same time.

Both of them fall into silence upon realizing their opposing answers. Sharon blinks, eyebrows furrowing.

“We’ve met before,” Tony manages eventually, giving Sharon what he hopes passes for an amicable smile. All the while, he feels Steve’s eyes on him. 

“I see.” Sharon nods, but her smile is disconcertingly knowing. “Well, I think I saw some of my friends over there, so I’m going to leave you boys to catch up. It’s nice to meet you, Tony.”

With that, she leaves them alone again, her heels clicking away. 

An awkward silence settles between them. After a few heartbeats, Tony takes a deep breath and makes a valiant attempt at small talk:

“So, how long have you guys been to—”

“You never called.”

“What?”

“I, uh.” Steve’s eyes flit down to his feet before meeting Tony’s. His smile looks slightly strained at the edges. ”You never contacted me.”

“You— You left without a word. I had no way of contacting you.”

“What?” Steve’s eyebrows crease together.

“You did!” Tony exclaims, extremely confused as to why Steve seems to be confused. “I woke up and you were gone. No goodbye. No nothing. How was I supposed to contact you?”

“I— I had to catch a flight, but I didn’t want to wake you, so I did leave without saying goodbye—”

“That’s literally what I just said—”

“—but I left a note!”

“...Huh?”

Steve stares at him with bewildered eyes. “I left you a note on the nightstand. I tore a piece of paper from the hotel notepad, wrote you a note, folded it, and left it there for you to find. I wrote down my phone number and everything.”

“No, you didn’t,” Tony insists, indignant. “I would’ve found—”

Except Tony now remembers that although when he woke up in bed that day he realized that Steve was nowhere to be found, he was also immediately struck with the realization that he was late for his 10 a.m. meeting with a client—the main reason he had been in London in the first place. He then scrambled to get ready and was out the door in a record time of ten minutes. 

He didn’t even glance at whatever note Steve had supposedly left on the nightstand.

When he came back to the hotel later that night, his room had been cleaned up by the hotel staff.

“What?” Steve blinks at him. 

Tony lets out a sharp exhale in disbelief. He tries to breathe through the wave of disappointment that hits him upon realizing that Steve had wanted him to call, and that both of them are just victims of an unfortunate set of events.

Steve is still staring at him, desperate for an explanation.

“I just realized that— Um. You see, that day, the morning after we… met, I woke up late for my meeting.” Tony smiles at him, sheepish and apologetic. “So I rushed out the door in a hurry. When I came back, the bed was made and the room was all tidy. There was nothing on the nightstand. My guess is that the hotel staff must’ve cleaned it up during the day, while I was gone, so…”

“So you never saw the note,” Steve finishes, a myriad of emotions flitting through his eyes.

“I never saw it,” Tony confirms, gazing wistfully at Steve, his heart constricting at the unfairness of it all. They could have started something, if luck had been on their side. Steve had waited for him to call. Now, however…

Steve clearly belongs to someone else now and whatever chance Tony had back then, it certainly is long gone by now. 

Suddenly, someone calls out Tony’s name. They both turn to see the groom making a beckoning motion from across the room. 

“Tones, let’s take a picture!” Rhodey shouts. He is flanked by Carol and Pepper. All three of them are staring at Tony, expectant smiles on their faces.

Tony nods at them with a grin before turning to Steve. Sweet, beautiful Steve whom Tony never got around to having a proper date with.

“Sorry, I have to go,” Tony says regretfully, heart heavy. “It’s really nice seeing you again, Steve.”

He takes one last look at Steve before turning around to join his friends.

Before he manages to take more than two steps, however, Steve catches his wrist.

“Tony, wait.”

Tony turns to see Steve staring at him with a weirdly intense expression on his face, like he is working up the courage to say something. 

“Yeah?”

“Before you go, can I borrow your phone?”

Tony blinks but complies readily, fishing his phone out of his pocket. Maybe Steve wants to keep in touch, become friends. 

Steve types a phone number into Tony’s phone. When he is done, he hands the phone back to Tony. The new number is saved under the name “Steve Rogers”.

“That’s my phone number. Don’t lose it this time,” Steve says, a sweet and lopsided smile on his face. He then swallows, shoving his hands into his pockets. “And, uh, listen… If it’s all the same to you, I would still very much like to go on that date with you, the one you promised we would go on once we’re both back home in New York. I know it’s long overdue, it’s been a year. But I would still love to go for coffee with you, if you’re willing.”

Tony stares at him, uncomprehending. Steve seems to take Tony’s silence as a sign of rejection, because then he licks his lips nervously and says:

“Only if you want to, of course. Only if you want to, only if you’re comfortable with it, and only if you have time. You really don’t have to if—”

“But,” Tony shakes his head, “I thought you and, uh, Sharon? Aren’t you two…?”

Steve pauses at Tony’s question. The second he registers what Tony is getting at, his eyes widen almost comically.

“Oh. Oh. Oh, no. No. We’re not like that. We’ve never been like that.” Steve breaks into a relieved chuckle. “I don’t think her girlfriend would like that idea very much.”

“Oh,” Tony breathes. He feels a rush of giddy hope, so strong and sudden that it leaves him a bit dizzy. “So, coffee?”

“Yeah.” Steve stares at him, nervous and expectant, light pink dusting his cheeks. “If that offer still stands.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“How does next weekend sound?”

Steve beams at him, smile radiant. “Next weekend sounds amazing.”

“Okay,” Tony says, stepping back slowly. “I’ll call you.”

Steve nods before ducking his head bashfully, biting his lip to suppress the growing grin on his face. 

Turning around to finally walk away, Tony feels the ends of his lips climbing up into a helpless smile, so wide it could split his face in half. 

Later that night, he calls Steve. His heart is pounding in his chest as he waits for Steve to pick up, phone pressed up to his ear. 

“Hello?” Steve’s voice comes from the other end of the line.

“Rogers. It’s Tony. Tony Stark.”

A pause. “The Tony who stole my croissant?”

Tony grins. “I didn’t steal anything. That croissant was rightfully mine.”

“I got there first. I saw it first.”

“But I ordered it first.”

“I rest my case.” Steve laughs, the sound sending warmth running through Tony’s body. “I’m so glad you called. Thank you for calling.”

Tony smiles. It’s only right that he gives Steve a call. 

After all, even though Tony had stolen Steve’s croissant, Steve managed to steal something much more valuable: Tony’s heart. 

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 7

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 20,116

Chapter Rating: PG-13...ish! Me being the very easily flustered writer that I am, I can tell you right now that no OVERLY graphic sexy things happen and there is a fade to black at the end, so it is all still fairly tame. But still, there is a lotta sexy innuendo and talk of sexy, ahem… ITEMS. Just wanted to drop a heads up since the rest of my story up to this point has been fairly PG for the most part, so didn’t want to blind side anyone!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Baby, all I want for Christmas is you."

Rayne stumbled a bit as she pushed the double stroller along, blowing out an amused little pft through her teeth. "Please, please tell me he did not actually say that!"

I sighed, hanging my head as I kept stride next to her, "He did. When I asked him for gift ideas, those were his exact words."

Anna erupted into laughter beside me, gripping my arm for support. "Dear lord, have I ever mentioned what a friggin' cliché, cheesy cornball your man is?"

"Not to mention no help at all," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "This is like Lea's birthday all over again. I mean, I know the stuff he likes, but honestly... what do you get for the man that buys everything and anything he wants for himself the second he sees it?"

"Don't worry, pumpkin," Rayne reached over to pat a comforting hand to my shoulder. "We wander around here long enough, something's sure to jump out at us eventually!"

"I hope so," I grimaced, not feeling so confident myself as we pressed onward through the crowded mall. I'd just gotten off my morning shift at the Ice Palace not too long ago and was still in my uniform minus the hat. It seemed I wasn't the only one who had to do some last minute holiday shopping, for that was the exact reason my sister and best friend had met up with me here as soon as I'd clocked out. With Christmas only a week away however, Dusk Town Center was understandably packed nearly to bursting. Merchandise was all but flying off the shelves in every store. Even if by some miracle I did manage to find the perfect gift here today, with my luck it'd probably be completely out of stock and backordered for months.

Gah, I shouldn't have kept putting this off for so long! But I had been racking my brain for weeks now for what to get him and had come up with zilch. Still had zilch. Ugh…

Last-minute-panicked-impulse-shopping don't fail me now!

Anna suddenly gasped and stopped walking. I took a few more steps before I slowed as well, glancing back at her with one eyebrow quirked. Her eyes weren't focused on me however as a slow grin spread across her face. "...what if we took Lea's words literally?"

Rayne and I exchanged a quick look. She shrugged, seemingly just as in the dark as I was. As mall traffic kept flowing unperturbed around us, my gaze settled on Anna once more and I snorted with a shake of my head, "What, you mean just put me under the tree gift-wrapped with a bow for Christmas morning?"

"Something like that, Sis," she giggled, suddenly latching on to my arm once more but now with a surprisingly strong grip.

Uh-oh… that impish gleam in her eye was making me nervous...

"Oh-ho, I see where she's going with this," Rayne sniggered before shifting the stroller over to be in front of me instead. "Here, take this." I blinked, my fingers automatically closing around the handlebar. Then she had seized hold of my other arm.

Oh gosh, her devilish little smirk was making me really, really nervous…

The ladies nodded at each other in unison in some unspoken agreement then without warning took off sprinting. I gasped and tripped over my own two feet, but managed to stay up right as I was dragged along with them. The sea of people parted for the stroller bearing two laughing infants like they were a friggin' pair of tiny Moses and we had zero trouble getting through, making a beeline straight for-

My eyes widened, "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" Anna cackled, tightening her hold on my arm.

I futilely dug my heels in, trying to put on the brakes. "No, no, no!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Rayne answered in glee.

There was no use fighting it. This was happening. Like it or not, I had no choice but to charge headlong into a little shop known as…

...Esmeralda's Secrets.

I had just been forcibly manhandled into literal Underwear Hell. Everywhere as far as the eye could see, things were lacy… things were silky…

...things were fluffy.

Egads, the horror. The fluffy, fluffy, neon pink, leopard-printed utter horror.

I squeaked, squeezing my eyes closed and burying my face into my hands. I was almost surprised my palms didn't burn from how badly my cheeks were roasting.

I heard a chuckle from Rayne as I felt her trying to gently pry my fingers away from my eyes. "Don't play coy, sweetie, we're all grown-ups here! You act like you've never been in an adult happy fun-time store to buy some lingerie before!"

"Maybe because I haven't!" I dropped my hands to fix her with a hard stare. Instead, the recipient of my said stare turned out to be a mannequin in something skimpy, leathery and with far too many buckles. "Oh dear," I muttered, somehow managing to blush even harder as I looked away and held a hand up to block my line of sight to it.

"Really, Sis? You've never been in one of these places? Not ever, not even once?" Anna snerked, shaking her head. The sheer disbelief coloring her voice led me to believe that she had been in this type of store before. This was not a realization I was comfortable with. "But you're so…" she whistled, winking one eye shut as her hands traced an hour-glass figure in the air before me. "...and Lea's so…" now she trilled her tongue against the roof of her mouth, eyebrows bouncing as she mimed pouncing with curled, wriggling fingers. "...ya know what I mean?"

...was it sad that I did in fact know exactly what she meant?

Scrunching my eyes shut as I pressed my fingers between my eyebrows, I puffed out a low sigh. Then, rather awkwardly (scratch that... very, very awkwardly), I explained, "...while it's… true that we're quite, er… active in that, hrm… department… we, uh… r-rather, that is to say, lingerie is a particular… bedroom... adventure we've yet to have as of, um… as of yet."

I couldn't believe this was actually a conversation I was having with my baby sister.

She brightened. "Well then thank your lucky stars cuz I've just handed you the perfect Christmas present on a silver platter! You're welcome!"

I tipped my head to one side with a dubious frown. "...really?" Plucking a hanger bearing an intricate, ruffled bra from a nearby rack, I wrinkled my nose at it before putting it back. "Doesn't seem like it'd be the most meaningful, heartfelt gift…"

"Please!" Rayne batted a hand through the air with a snort. "It's not like it's an anniversary or anything, it's Christmas - a consumer holiday glorified by the big corporations to weasel as much munny as they can outta us! Not every gift has to be thoughtful and profound, you're allowed to just have a lil fun with it sometimes!"

"Still… I don't know…" I said slowly as my gaze wandered against my will towards a nearby case filled with… ah, hm… shall we say, recreational items? I quickly averted my eyes.

"How 'bout we just peruse a bit, 'kay? No harm in that!" Rayne grinned as she steered the stroller further into the store.

"Yeah, Sis, just let us peruse!" Anna beamed as she linked her arm in mine once more and tugged me into a stumbling walk.

I pressed my lips together into a thin line and said nothing as I let her guide me along. I mean, did I even have a choice? Really? Maybe the sooner I stopped arguing, the sooner we could get this whole embarrassing ordeal over with and leave.

As I let my eyes idly drift from one frilly garment to the next, I did have to begrudgingly concede that Anna and Rayne might actually be onto something here with the lingerie idea. Don't get me wrong, Lea had never made me feel pressured to, er… "dress up" for the occasion or anything like that. It was never even really a conversation we'd ever had, so honestly it wasn't something I'd particularly given much thought to before this very moment. That said, I could hardly see him being exactly opposed to the idea either. Far from it, in fact…

Thus why it might just make the perfect Christmas surprise.

Anna abruptly pulled us to an unexpected stop in front of another customer, drooping her eyelids at the individual as she informed him, "You know that'd be more of a Christmas gift for you than for her, right?"

The gentleman in question paled, choking back a startled, "Huh?" and looking rather guilty as he stood there with the sheer, sparkly spaghetti-strapped thong dangling from his fingers that'd he'd been mulling over.

Rayne stepped up beside us, parking her stroller with it aimed directly at the guy as she deadpanned, "For shame! My babies judge you!"

He blinked, glancing down at the infants. Cayde and Aria squealed and burbled back. Turning bright red and dropping the underwear, he made a hasty retreat out of the shop.

"Haha, yes! That was too fun, Ray-Ray!" Anna snickered, giving her a high five. As I pinched the bridge of my nose with a tiny shake of my head, Anna asked, "What?"

I grumbled, "Being in a lingerie store by myself would be mortifying enough, but it's just now dawning on me how utterly ridiculous it is that I'm in here with my sister and a mom who brought her two babies."

"Psh, they're fine with it," Rayne brushed off, redirecting her gaze to someone nearby who seemed to work here. "Excuse me, Miss, you're fine with my tots being here, right?"

The woman turned to face us with a warm smile. She had long, wavy raven hair, eyes as green and sparkly as emeralds, and the kind of figure that would probably be pictured in a dictionary next to the word "voluptuous." In short, exactly the kind person any boss who ran a lingerie store would be positively thrilled to hire as an employee. She hummed a soft laugh as she waved a finger in greeting to the twins, "Of course! I actually have a kid of my own back home… Djali looks to be just about their age, maybe a few months older. Anyway, I completely understand and have no problem at all with you bringing them in here."

"Told ya," Rayne smugly razzed her tongue in victory at me.

And this prime example of maturity was a parent, folks.

Rolling my eyes but fighting a grin, I then glimpsed the worker's name tag and furrowed my brow. "Wait… you're Esmeralda?" I blinked a couple times. "...that's not just a fancy name they put on the store sign?"

"Nope! I own and operate this lil business," the woman smiled proudly now.

"Well then, Esmeralda, I hafta ask…" one corner of Anna's lips turned up as she leaned to whisper conspiratorially, "What's your secret?"

A little snort escaped her nose before she gestured back towards the front of the store, "Not letting creeps like that get to me."

Looking out the shop windows back into the mall proper, we now all spotted a rather sinister-looking old man standing out there who seemed to be… protesting? He was holding up a sign aimed directly at this little boutique bearing in big, bold letters the words (and I kid you not): SINNERS, REPENT. Other mall shoppers were giving the man a wide berth as he just stood there a few feet away from the entrance into here, glaring. Gosh, how had we not seen him on our way in? Maybe he'd arrived after us.

"Ugh," Rayne scrunched up her nose in distaste at the sight of the man. "What's ol' Skeezy McSkeezerson's problem?"

"He's just some religious nutjob who thinks my little," up came her fingers to provide air quotes, "den of iniquity here is ruining the wholesome, family friendliness of the mall. Ignore Frollo, he's harmless."

Anna raised an eyebrow, "You're chummy enough with that gnarly bag of bones to know his name?"

Chuckling, Esmeralda shrugged, "Kind of hard not to know it, what with him harassing me every morning when I come to open shop and every night when I lock up. Luckily, he's not brave enough to follow me inside, probably too afraid he'll fall victim all this sin and debauchery hanging on the racks. This place is my sanctuary," she glanced around with a contented sigh. Then she clapped her hands together once, flashing her best customer service smile now. "But that's enough talk about that! Is there anything I can help you lovely ladies out with today?"

"Perhaps you can assist my beautiful bestie here by helping her pick out some sexy underwear for her to show off to her man," Rayne beamed, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "You'll hafta forgive her, she's a tad clueless cuz she's a bit of a lingerie virgin."

"Hmmmmm," Esmeralda slowly circled me as she tapped a curled finger to chin. I felt a heat rising to my face once again under such scrutiny and I began fidgeting with my braid. "...yes, I can already picture a few of my items that could suit you perfectly. But first, tell me a little about your beau - do you think he could handle being subjected to some of our more…" she paused, a sly little gleam flitting across her eyes now as she smirked, "...risqué outfits?"

Forget him, I don't think I could handle being subjected to some of their more risqué outfits!

Before I could respond however, Anna chimed in with, "Oh don't worry, Lea can handle them! Trust me, he's as red blooded and virile as they come!"

"Anna!" I gasped, horrified as I strangled my braid harder.

She gave my shoulder a light, playful shove, "C'mon, Sis, you think I can't friggin' hear you two going at it whenever I spend the night on your living room couch?"

I nearly tore my braid straight out of my scalp.

Face? What face? No, I no longer had one and in its place now was nothing but a raging inferno.

"I- He- We- Tha-" I spluttered and stammered, unable to complete a coherent thought, much less sentence.

"Aw, I think you broke her," Rayne cooed with a little giggle, patting me on the head.

Esmeralda had already set to work, drifting from one rack to the next, seemingly knowing exactly where to find each thing she was looking for as she quickly and efficiently riffled through the garments, plucking up hangers here and there to toss over her arm before moving to the next one. Before long, she'd returned to stand in front of me with an assortment of delicates neatly stacked in the crook of her elbow. "I've picked out a few options for you for starters, just let me know if you see any you'd like to try on." With that, she held up the first one.

...I did not understand what I was even looking at here. Like, at all. Was she holding it upside down?

Though I made no comment, my expression must have told her everything. "Alright, not your cup of tea. Moving along," she smiled good-humoredly as she set that one aside and lifted up another one for me to look at.

Good lord, was that supposed to be lingerie or a net? The thing was more holes than fabric. Just how many limbs did they think I had?

Tucking that one away as well, she laughed, "Take it that one's a no too. Don't worry, I have a good feeling about this next one." She showed it to me and…

...actually? It wasn't too distressing.

No, it was actually a rather classy and tasteful kind of sexy, with its silk and its hint of lace and its overbust corset in a deep, rich blue.

I hesitated with a thoughtful frown before reaching a hand out to gingerly take it from her. Cheeks still simmering away, I pursed my lips to one side as I considered it for a few seconds longer, then mumbled, "You said something about being able to try them on?"

Esmeralda smiled brightly. "Follow me, I'll take you to a fitting room."

As she started leading me towards the back, I was suddenly halted in my tracks when I heard, "Sis! Sis!" My eyebrows knit together as I turned my head towards Anna's voice. I spotted her over by one of the wall shelves, holding something up high over her head and waving it about with an almost manic glee as Rayne smothered snickers into her hand beside her. "You should get this for Lea too!"

It took me a second to realize what it was she had in her hand, but when I did, every last drop of blood in my body came hurtling up into my face.

"No!" I shouted across the store. "No way! I am not buying that!"

I bought it.

But only because Anna wouldn't stop pestering me about the stupid thing until I did.

I hadn't been able to bring myself to gift-wrap it with the lingerie that I'd also ended up purchasing. Heck, I'd barely been able to bring myself to wrap the lingerie itself, but what exactly else could I have done? Surprised him with it by just walking into the bedroom wearing it? Please, as if I could ever be so bold - I'd practically burst into flames from all the blushing I'd been doing just wrapping the dang thing. As for the other thing, I'd just panicked and hid it away wedged between the bedframe and underside of our mattress for the time being until I could figure out something else to do with it.

Thankfully, I'd also managed to come up with a second gift to give Lea. In a sudden surge of inspiration out of the blue, I'd gotten the idea to get him a vintage movie reel projector. I could just picture him getting all excited about collecting all of his cheesy classics he loved so much in their original format so we could watch them "the way they were meant to be watched" or something like that. Finding one used online hadn't been all that difficult or expensive, not to mention thank goodness for overnight shipping! The device itself was big but not all that heavy, almost shockingly so - I'd easily been able to lug it around myself for getting it all wrapped and whatnot.

So there my two presents sat in the living room as Christmas Eve dawned, beneath a tiny yet festively decorated tree that we had to constantly keep Marshmallow from trying to eat. It was hard to blame the giant fuzzball though really - now almost fully grown, Marshmallow was bigger than the dinky little pine so was it any real wonder that he seemed to consider it his new favorite chew toy?

In any case, me getting Lea more than one gift seemed to have worked out for the best as it hadn't slipped my notice that he'd also gotten me a couple things that were currently nestled there at the base of that tree. Our small cluster of presents were really only there for the sake of appearances at the moment. We weren't going to be here on Christmas day itself. We were in fact just a few minutes away from hitting the road to spend the holidays in my family's sizable cabin tucked away up in the snowy mountains surrounding Arendelle. Luckily, the only actual relatives that would be there were Anna and Saïx, with the rest of the guest rooms being filled out by a handful of our friends we'd invited to join us for the holidays. In any case, all we had left to do before we departed was finish getting dressed, wrap up packing with a few last minute supplies, toss the presents into the car trunk, wrangle Marshmallow into the backseat and then we'd be off.

Thus my mild surprise when just as I'd finish rinsing my dish from breakfast, I felt Lea wrapping his arms around my waist to hug me from behind as he nuzzled my neck and whispered, "Hey, how 'bout we each open up one of our presents a day early? It'll be fun, whaddya say?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him and he flashed me a cheeky little grin. I blinked a couple times, then peeked over towards our teeny tree in the living room. More specifically, at the gifts beneath it. At one gift in particular.

You know… that gift.

I hastily averted my gaze, feeling my cheeks warm.

Drat, had he noticed which one my eyes had zeroed in on?

Clearing my throat as I set the dish in the drying rack, I asked casually, "Do we really have the time? We're already running a bit behind, we should've been on the highway ten minutes ago."

"We're already late, what's a few extra measly minutes?"

I tried again, "But today? Right now? ...it's not even Christmas yet."

"Pfft, what, like the holiday police are gonna bust us for bending the rules a lil?" he chuckled low as he gave my ear a playful nip before pulling away, spinning me around to face him. "Misbehave, live a lil! Being bad never felt so good! 'Sides, I'm just dying to know whatcha got me. C'mon, it's just one present each, we'll still have others to rip open on jolly ol' Saint Nick's Day tomorrow."

I had to resist the urge to look at that gift again.

Damn it, girl, be cool.

Instead, I smiled and relented with a small sigh, "Alright, fine. Only one though, got it?"

"Course!" he beamed, before gesturing a hand towards the living room with a slight bow of his head. "Ladies first."

I walked past him, exiting the kitchen and approaching where our tree stood guard over its little horde of presents. I considered them for a few seconds before picking out a bright red, flat-ish one decorated in nutcracker soldier printed gift wrap. Then I moved to the couch, making room by easing Marshmallow over a bit where he laid conked out in a deep sleep (on his back and with his tongue lolled out) before I took a seat on the middle cushion.

As I watched Lea approach the pile of gifts now to pick one out for himself, I couldn't help a small twitch as I suddenly began to regret every poor life choice I'd made that'd led up to me buying that stupid lingerie. I mean, seriously, what had I been thinking when I'd let Rayne and Anna talk me into getting that silly thing? What would I even possibly say when Lea unwrapped it? How would I- no, shush, relax, Elsa, it'll all be fine. Lea probably wasn't even going to pick that one. He was probably more curious about whatever the bigger, flashier-looking one could be - it was probably the whole reason he'd even suggested opening a couple right now. Yeah, that had to be it! There was no way he could be interested the measly, smaller, less fancy looking pres-

Fudge, he'd picked the lingerie.

Jerk probably had caught me staring at it.

"Are you sure that's the one you want to open now?" I blurted out before my mind could catch up. Noting the slight tremor to my voice, I cleared my throat and gave a tiny nervous laugh, my fingers absently picking at the tape on my own present. "The other one's bigger. Clunkier, you might even say. Could be a lot of work hauling it all the way up to the cabin, then hauling it all the way back. Maybe it'd be better if you just opened that one here instead."

"Nah, I don't mind lugging it back and forth," he laughed as he plopped down onto the sofa on my other side opposite of Marshmallow, settling the abomination that was my gift into his lap. "I could use the workout anyhow! This glorious physique don't just happen on its own, ya know!" he grinned, flexing one arm and kissing his bicep.

I gave a soft snort. "True, I suppose you have to burn off all that ice cream you consume by the gallon somehow," I poked a gentle fingertip to his belly.

"Hey now, maybe I wouldn't eat so much o' the crap if the girl working at the Ice Palace weren't such a cutie," he leaned towards me with a wink.

"Oh-ho, no," I waggled a finger in his face. "You were a sugar junkie long before I got a job there, so don't even try to blame your sweet tooth on me."

He smirked. "Who said I was talking 'bout you?"

I smacked him in the face with one of the couch's throw pillows.

"I mean, obviously I was talking 'bout you, babe!" He reached over to tweak my nose, "You're the cutest chick who works there, no contest! ...literally, cuz you're the only chick who works there, so that's not even really saying mu-"

I whacked him with the pillow again.

"I kid, I kid, c'mon, you know I think you're the most gorgeous creature in all of creation! Gimme that thing before you fluffily bludgeon me to death," he snerked, confiscating the cushion from me and tucking it away between the armrest and his hip before nudging my shoulder with his. "Now go on, open up my present to ya already!"

With a tiny shake of my head at him, I redirected my focus to the nicely wrapped gift in my lap and began carefully removing the tape. Once I'd made enough of an opening, I liberated a thin box from within. Raising an eyebrow, I lifted the lid off to discover two long, green slips of sturdy paper inside decorated with a logo on one half and lots of teeny printed text filling the rest of it. I picked them up with a little frown, squinting as I read them, then gasped and shot up to my feet, the box tumbling out of my lap down to the carpet. "How?! How did you manage to get tickets?! This musical has been sold out for months!"

"I have my ways," he sighed smugly, slouching down more comfortably into the sofa cushion. "We should be able to squeeze it in before the end of winter break, so figured we could take in the show, spend a few days in the big apple, make a whole trip outta it, ya know?"

"That… that sounds amazing, that-" I cut myself off, suddenly at a loss for words. Broadway was currently running my favorite musical - the one that song was from that I'd chosen to audition with for our community theater's Wicked tryouts. I'd been dying to go and Lea knew that, but tickets had been impossible to get. Not so for him, it seemed. I hastily sat back down, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and yanking him over to me to kiss him thoroughly. Smiling against his lips, I then drew back just enough to whisper, "Thank you… this means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it," he murmured back, gaze hooded as he nudged the tip of my nose with his. Then he pulled away, eyes lighting up a bit as he eagerly rubbed his hands together over his own present now. "Alright, my turn!"

I paled, heart all but flatlining in my chest. Crud, I'd completely forgotten. Here Lea had picked out something super sweet and thoughtful for me, and what had I gotten him in return?

Underwear.

Nay, not just underwear.

Friggin' frilly underwear.

"No!" I yelped, lunging for it just as he'd ripped some of the wrapping paper off one corner. Managing to snatch it out of his hands, I scrambled to stand and get it away from him. He stared blankly at me, one eyebrow quirked. Eyes darting wildly about, I said, "No, this… you don't want to open this one! This one's, er…" I hid it behind my back, biting my bottom lip, "...it's nothing really, it's- you know what? Let's get you the other one! Yes, that's the one you want, and this one you can open, er… never? Yeah, let's say never! In fact, let's just completely forget this one ever existed and I'll go get you the other-"

Just as I'd turned to make my way back over to the tree, Lea snaked one arm out and snagged the gift back with a chipper little, "Yoink!"

"Hey!" I tried to steal it back from him, but he'd stood up to his full height, holding it high above his head where it was easily out of my reach.

Curse him, his stupid tall self and his stupid, stupid long arms!

He chuckled as he pressed a quick peck to my forehead, "Now I know this is for sure the one I wanna open. With you getting all flustered over it, whatever it is has gotta be good!"

"But-"

"Ah-ah!" his finger booped me on the nose before he plonked back down into his seat on the couch. "Ya know it only makes me wanna open it more the harder you fight it, right? Just let it go, El, it's happening."

My lips pinched sourly before I huffed and sat down as well. I grabbed another throw pillow and hugged it tightly to my chest, burying my face in it just enough for me to peek out anxiously over the top.

Alright, fine. Let's get this impending trainwreck over with.

But I swear, this is the last time I listen to any advice Anna and Rayne give me ever again.

I tried not to flinch with each little tear he made in the gift wrap, the cartoony frolicking reindeers and elves printed on it seeming so deceptively innocent now when you considered what scandalous secrets lay hidden beneath them. All too soon, he was balling up the tattered remains and tossing them over his shoulder before opening the box, shifting the neatly folded tissue paper within aside and-

His whole body went still. Then he blinked once. Then twice. "Huh," was all he said at first. Then with a bemused little upward curve to one corner of his lips, he was delicately lifting the lingerie up out of the box in all its salacious glory. "...babe, I'm flattered, but blue's not really my color."

...oh god, the big clueless dope thought I'd given it to him as a joke for him to wear. He didn't realize-

Fudge, now I had to spell it out for him.

Having to wonder how my brain was not melting straight out of my ears at this point what with how badly my face was broiling, I set the pillow aside, folded my hands in my lap, sat up a little straighter and opened my mouth. Then swiftly snapped it back shut, cheeks cranking up the heat even further.

How… do I even put this?

Taking a deep breath, I tried again, "But it is… my color..."

He dropped the garment, eyes growing round and expression slack. "Oh." A pause. Then, "Oh, so you'd be the one who'd- oh." Picking it up again, a huge, lopsided grin spread across his suddenly rather flushed face as he eyed it in a whole new light now. "...oh, I see."

Fingers strangling the life out of each other in my lap, I looked away as I went on, "I know it's not as nice or as… sincere as your gift to me was, but I promise my other present is much better and-"

"No, no, none of that now, it's- I- this is-" Apparently struggling to find the right words to do justice to what he wanted to say, he instead settled for schooling his expression to be almost comically stoic as he gave big, emphatic nods with a thumbs up that then shifted into forming an O with his thumb and forefinger, signaling his approval.

I perked up a little uncertainly. "...you mean you like it? Really?"

"Oh yeah, trust me, I like it… really, really like it." Lea then cleared his throat, knee bouncing up and down as his fingers idly traced back and forth over the lace embroidered into the silky fabric. "Sooooo, heh… when do we take this baby out for its first test spin? ...now? Or say, I dunno, uh…" he shrugged, clearly trying (and failing) not to sound too eager as he repeated, "now?"

Down, boy.

I bit back a tiny smile. "No, now we should be on the road and making our way towards the cabin," I said as I rose to my feet to head towards the bedroom, snatching the lingerie from his grasp as I moved past him.

"Hey!" He vaulted himself over the backrest of the couch in the flash, hot on my heels. "That's mine!"

Crossing my arms as I spun around to face him, I said, "Yes, but I'm simply taking it to pack it with my things so we have it for the trip."

"Oh." Lea was grinning so big again now, it crinkled his guyliner. "I'll allow this."

"How very magnanimous of you," I snorted, turning to continue my journey to the bedroom once more. "I'm going to go finish packing and getting dressed, while you-" Just as I'd stepped through the door, I glanced back to discover he'd followed me in here. "...just where do you think you're going?"

He hunched down to my eye level, eyebrows bouncing over his half-lidded gaze. "To help ya get dressed, of course."

"Uh-uh. No," I planted a hand firmly to his chest, forcing him to walk in reverse and back out of the room. "I know that look. We don't have time for that look, we're late enough as it is. You stay out here, clean up the trashed wrapping paper, and get the rest of the gifts and Marshmallow out to the car."

"Aw c'mon, El, ya gotta lemme in there so I can help you," he insisted.

I gave him a flat look. "...do I? Do I really? Enlighten me then, please… why do I 'gotta' let you in here?"

"Er… cuz I'm a charming, lovable scamp with devilish good looks that you just can't say no to?"

I drooped my eyelids at him. Then I shut the door in his face, locking it for good measure.

Charm your way through that, scamp.

My cheeks puffed as I blew out a long breath, taking a second to fan my still very heated face with my hands. I then crossed the room, tossing Lea's gift next to where my almost fully packed suitcase laid open atop the bed. I set to work grabbing whatever else I needed - things like my charger and whatnot - and stuffed them into my travel case.

I then paused in a brief moment of indecision before sighing, rolling my eyes, and sticking my hand under the mattress to retrieve the other thing that Anna had made me buy from Esmeralda's Secrets. I frowned at it, then turned and held it up as I asked, "What do you think? Should I take it along?"

Bruni blinked back at me from inside his terrarium, cocking his head. Then can you guess what the little salamander did next? Go on, take a wild guess.

If your answer involved his tongue, his eyeball, and/or the swiping of said tongue over said eyeball, then you'd be correct.

I snorted. "You know, we really need to get you some new talking points as I feel you've pretty much said all you can say with that one at this point," I told him as I double checked he had enough food in there with him to keep him amply fed while we were gone. Then I gave the thing in my grip one final glance with a tiny shake of my head before tucking it away inside my luggage, burying it deep beneath several layers of clothing. Chances were good it'd never see the light of day, but why not bring it just in case? I mean, the lingerie had been such a hit and we hadn't even gotten to the fun part with it yet. I could imagine this thing would probably be met with equally rave reviews from Lea as well, should I muster up the courage to actually bring it out.

Now all I needed to do was pack the lingerie, get dressed, and go. I picked it up, dangling it before me as I considered it for a moment. My lips pursed to one side.

...an idea was beginning to take form in my mind.

A little wicked one.

A supremely stupid one.

One that was only asking for trouble.

Honestly, I don't know what possessed me to do it.

But I did it anyway.

"Everyone else is there already. I can't believe we're actually going to be the last ones to arrive," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the text message from Anna on my phone.

"Bah, don't sweat it," Lea chuckled as he sped his car down the highway. We'd been on it for about twenty minutes now. He glanced over at me, tipping his aviators down just enough to wink over the rim, "Just means they'll have our hot cocoa ready and waiting for us in a couple o' steaming mugs by the time we get there."

My throat gave a small, noncommittal hmph. "Just be glad Anna's insisting on saving the master bedroom for us instead of calling dibs on it for her and Kristoff," I told him, pocketing my phone once more. Then I said, "I still think it was silly of Saïx to drive out ahead of us on his own instead of carpooling with us. He would've been able to sleep on the ride over."

He flicked on his blinker as our lane began to merge with the next one over. "Think he plans to bail on our lil holiday bonanza a day or two earlier than the rest of us. 'Sides, pretty sure he wasn't too keen on the idea of being the overstuffed fleabag's snuggle buddy on the whole drive over," he sniggered as he stretched a hand behind him into the backseat without looking to give Marshmallow a couple of affectionate pats to the head. "Hey!" he quickly snatched the hand back when his love was reciprocated with tooth hugs.

"Well then, his loss." I grinned as I twisted around in my seat to give the dog scritches under the chin, cooing, "Isn't that right, Marshmallow?"

Did that sound like an invitation to come sit in my lap? Because apparently to Marshmallow, it did. In the blink of an eye, he'd excitedly squeezed his way through the space between our two front seats to crush me under the mountain of white fluff that was him, tail thumping away at a mile a minute against the dash. Quite a feat considering there was barely enough space in the car seat to accommodate the colossal canine alone, much less the both of us. To this day, I'm still not quite sure how Marshmallow had managed to wedge himself up here with me.

After much cackling from Lea and wheezed coaxing from me, Marshmallow was finally persuaded a few minutes later to clamber back into the backseat once more, though not without a healthy dose of whining and puppy-dog pouting. Able to breathe again, I inhaled deeply as I began to straighten myself back out - the assault of doggy cuddles had left me in a bit of a disarray. I swept the few stray pale tendrils of my hair that had escaped back into my bun, smoothed the rumples out of my off the shoulder button-up blouse, and-

"Holy shit, is that... Under your clothes, you're already wearing it?!" Lea fumbled with his shades, perching them atop his head as his suddenly wide-eyed stare was now in a tug-of-war between my leg and watching the road.

With a start, I glanced down to discover that Marshmallow's little snuggle ambush had caused my knee-length skirt with a side-slit to ride up a bit, revealing the lacy garter (complete with a little blue bow) wrapped around my thigh that was holding up my black sheer stockings. Blushing furiously, I hastily jerked the hem of my skirt back down to hide it again and awkwardly avoided his gaze as I crossed my legs, mumbling, "...maybe."

Yes.

I was already wearing it.

"It" being the lingerie.

Which, by the way if you hadn't guessed by now, was the supremely stupid thing I'd decided to do.

Lea said nothing, just continued to gawk at me.

Gosh, if my cheeks burned any brighter, Santa would be asking me to guide his sleigh tonight instead of Rudolph.

Talk. I needed to talk. To fill this silence that was making me fidget restlessly under his gaze. Go on, mouth, just move and make with the words already. Any words. "...it's... actually rather comfortable." ...okay? "The lingerie, that is." Oh good. Thanks for clarifying the obvious. "Wouldn't think it would be. Would've thought it'd be more designed in favor of being, ah… aesthetically pleasing at the expense of comfort." Oh dear, where was I going with this? "I mean, I tried it on before buying it. Of course I did, it'd be silly not to at least make sure it- but, you know, I only had it on for a grand total of a minute in the fitting room, not really long enough to tell if- but now that I've had it on for an, er… extended period, I can say that it's, uh… it's quite comfortable. The silk is real nice, real… smooth against the skin." I take it back. Stop talking. Stop talking this instant. "Fits like a glove, as the saying goes, not… tight or restricting at all like I'd imagined it might be. The whole thing's really quite flexible with a plenty of give, actually…" Your license to speak has been revoked, mouth, you hear me? Zip it! "I shouldn't have any problems bending or twisting into any sort of posi-"

The car beside us suddenly blared its horn - apparently Lea had been a little too preoccupied by my line of discussion and in his distraction had begun to accidentally drift into the next lane over. "Fuck," he hissed, swerving us back into our proper lane. Clearing his throat as he shot the other vehicle a quick, apologetic wave, he told me, "Love, I'm dying to hear the end of that sentence, trust me, I'm highly invested at this point, but we're gonna hafta put a pin in it and circle back round to it later cuz this is a dangerous conversation to be having with a man while he's driving."

You heard the man, mouth. Friggin' cram it.

Pressing my lips firmly together, I tugged at the hem of my skirt again and gave a single curt nod, making no further comment.

We drove in silence for a minute as the trees of the forest around us blurred past our windows. Lea's eyes kept flicking to me out of the corner of his peripheral. He coughed into his fist and vigorously ruffled his fingers through his hair before returning his grip to the wheel. His knee began to jiggle up and down. Then, "Hey, uh… how 'bout we make a pit stop somewhere?"

I glanced towards him, my head tipping to one side. "A pit stop?"

"Yeah, so we can, ya know... stretch our legs… and other things," he wickedly smirked as he reached over the center console for my hand and brought it up to his lips, bouncing his eyebrows at me over my knuckles as he pressed a kiss to them.

A noise that was half laugh, half scoff escaped me. "There's not another rest stop for miles."

He shrugged. "I'm not picky. I'm sure a nice thicket could do in a pinch."

I gave him a flat look. "...a thicket? Really?"

"What? I'll make sure it's a romantic one! A classy one!"

"And how, pray tell, do you make a thicket classy?" I crossed my arms under my chest, arching an eyebrow at him.

"By keeping our pinkies raised the whole time!" Lea beamed, holding one hand up and wiggling his little finger.

Snorting, I shook my head. "No stops until we get there, understood?"

A harsh little huff emitted from his throat, "Fine." Then his foot pressed down harder on the gas and the engine thrummed louder as we started passing the other cars more quickly.

I hummed a soft laugh, "Oh sure, now you're in a hurry to get there."

"Well yeah! Ya said it yourself: we're late. Just trynta make up for lost time!" One corner of his lips quirked up as he added, "'Sides, the sooner we get there, the sooner I can unwrap my present."

"You know you're not allowed to open the other one until tomorrow morning," I tutted.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he not so subtly eyed me up and down, leaving zero doubt as to exactly what he meant.

Suppressing the urge to squirm, my hands swiped the nonexistent wrinkles out of my skirt as I dropped a casual, "Goodness, all this fuss and you haven't even seen part two of your gift yet."

He shot me a double-take. "Jesus Christ, there's a part two?!"

I'm with him, there's a part two?! Mouth, what are you even-

...oh dear, I was talking about the thing tucked away in my luggage between my dresses and my nightgown, wasn't I?

Damn Anna to the bloody ninth circle of hell for ever making me buy that infernal thing!

Alright, mouth, we can still get out of this. Remember the three B's: backtrack, backtrack, backtrack! Just go on and work your magic.

"Guess you'll just have to wait until later tonight to find out."

...mouth, you're fired.

Lea gave a low whistle and grinned big. "Somebody musta told Santa that I've been a very good boy this year," he murmured, his gaze drifting towards me again. Then traveling downward. Searching. As if he could somehow catch a glimpse of the lingerie hidden beneath through sheer force of will alone.

"Hey now, eyes on the road, mister," I chided.

He pouted, but did as he was told.

I snorted, "What's with the face? It's not like you can see anything anyway, you don't have x-ray vision."

"And I curse my goddamn maker every day for such a heinous oversight," he grumbled under his breath as he slipped his aviators back down onto his face.

We ended up making it to the cabin in record time. It wasn't currently snowing, but a thick glittering blanket of white had coated everything around us, from the ground to the trees to the cabin itself. Lea parked us next to the other cars and as he shut off the engine and the heat with it, I shrugged into my long heavy coat. I probably didn't really need it, the walk to the door would take less than ten seconds and I'd never been one to freeze easily, but it would be one less thing to carry.

Marshmallow was making it abundantly clear he was ready to no longer be trapped inside the car as he pawed at the back door and whimpered. Chuckling and telling him to hang on, I reached back to clip on his leash before exiting the vehicle myself, my knee high boots sinking into the snow as I let him out. He nearly ripped my arm out of my socket when he tried to bolt to investigate his new strange surroundings with all its new strange scents, but I managed to keep him in check if only just barely. Lea, having wrapped a black and red checkered scarf around his neck and donned his own thick jacket, took it upon himself to grab our suitcases seeing as how I pretty much had my hands full maintaining control of Marshmallow.

"We're here!" I called out as I opened the front door and let Marshmallow pull me inside, Lea following us and kicking the door shut behind him before dumping our things on the floor. As I knelt down to remove the leash once more, Marshmallow's nostrils suddenly flared with a big sniff before his ears perked and he went very still, his eyes intently focused on the hallway that led to the main sitting room. Oh-ho, I knew who he smelled. The second the leash was unclipped, the big wall of fur excitedly charged off deeper into the house.

I shook my head with a tiny grin as I slipped out of my coat and folded it over the banister next to the entrance. Before I could follow in my dog's tracks however, I felt Lea's hand closing around mine. He gently tugged me back and spun me around to face him, backing me up against the banister as he planted his hands on top of it to either side of me, trapping me between it and his body. Then he was leaning in real close, eyes hooded as his nose brushed alongside mine, his breath tickling my lips as he purred, "Ya know what I was thinking?"

I gave a low hum, reaching up to straighten his collar before resting my hands against his chest, absently smoothing out any creases in the fabric as I asked softly, "What were you thinking?"

His eyes crinkled slightly as he dipped his head, nosing the sensitive skin just beneath my ear and making me shiver. "Was thinkin' you should help me take the luggage to our room."

Translation: he was eager to "unwrap his gift."

A smile tugged at one corner of my mouth. "I see. Well, here's what I'm thinking…"

"Mm-hm," he prompted distractedly, straightening up just enough to try and go in for a kiss.

He probably thought he could seduce me to our bedroom with the power of his lips alone. And you know, he might have been right. He was a really good kisser.

Which is why I clamped my hand over his mouth at the last second, grinned sweetly up at him and said, "I'm thinking I know how much you love being a gentleman and I would simply hate to rob you of this ideal moment of chivalry by offering any sort of help with our suitcases. You're welcome." I lightly patted him on the cheek before trying to slip free of his arms. I didn't make it far however before he'd snagged me around the waist, pulling me up against him. I sighed, "Come on, Lea, the others are waiting for us."

"And they can wait a lil bit longer while we…" that wicked curve to his lips resurfaced, "settle in. It'll be fine, we'll see them later tonight." A thoughtful pause before he waggled his eyebrows, hooking a finger under my chin as he began to lean in once more, murmuring, "Make that tomorrow."

"There you two are!" Anna suddenly came bursting into the room with her signature bubbly laugh. "Was beginning to think you got friggin' lost!"

Whew! Saved by the baby sister!

Don't get me wrong, Lea was making a tempting offer. More than tempting. It's just that we hadn't made the trip all the way up to this cabin only to just lock ourselves in a room together for god knew how long. No, I'd come here to spend time with my friends and family. It was rather rare that I actually chose to spend time with a large group of people, but something about the holidays brought that out in me I suppose. There would be plenty of time for that other stuff later after everyone had turned in for the night. Lea would just have to wait his turn.

His shoulders slumped and he sulked a bit at being interrupted, but Anna hardly noticed as she snagged my arm, "C'mon, everyone's in the living room!"

"Hold it!" Lea hadn't let go of my hand yet. "El's gotta, uh… help me find our room first!"

"Oh! Up the stairs, first one on the left, you can't miss it!" Anna happily chirped, not wasting another second to drag me off.

He reluctantly let my fingers slip free of his this time as he released a low, grumbling huff. I glanced back at him as I let myself be towed along, crinkling my nose in amusement. He crinkled his back, though his was oozing snark. Could a nose crinkle even be snarky? Because if it could, his was decidedly so. With that, I lost sight of him as I was yanked around the corner and down the hall.

I could hear the rumble of chatter and laughter growing louder as we drew near before we stepped into the large family room. Everyone was seated cozily around the large roaring fireplace. Sora had little Cayde (or at least, I thought it was Cayde… I was still getting the hang of telling them apart) settled in his lap while both he and Kairi laughed and made goofy faces for the baby. Riku was nearby, keeping his watchful dad eye on them while holding a conversation with Kristoff at the same time. Rayne and Aria were nowhere to be seen, but I suspected the latter had probably been in need of a change and so had been taken into another room to have that dealt with.

Marshmallow was exactly where I expected him to be - sprawled across Saïx's lap, whether Saïx liked it or not. It looked like there might have been a bit of a kerfuffle for Saïx seemed slightly ruffled, but in the end he'd apparently just accepted his fate and currently had his laptop settled on Marshmallow's back as he typed away at it, a mildly miffed expression twisting his face behind his glasses. Roxas and Xion were seated in armchairs close to him, snickering and shoving each other's shoulders over something.

"Look who I found!" Anna announced as she brought me further into the room. They all looked up and I was met with a round of boisterous greetings. Giving my arm one final squeeze before releasing it, Anna said, "Have a seat! I'll go bring in the snacks now that we're all here!"

I began, "Oh, I'd be happy to help with-"

"No, that's fine! I really only require the assistance of one big, handsome, strapping gentleman and I have just the perfect one in mind..." As she spoke those words, Kristoff perked up and turned his head towards her with a huge smile. "...Sora!"

"Huh, wha?" Sora froze mid-squishing his cheeks together for Cayde at the sound of his own name, blinking a couple times. Kristoff looked positively crestfallen.

Anna snerked. "Kidding! Of course I was talking about you, you big dummy," she planted a quick peck to Kristoff's chin, which seemed to mollify him. Then she gathered both his hands in hers with a chipper, "Now c'mon!" before tugging him off towards the kitchen.

I grinned after them before glancing around for a place to sit. Saïx and Marshmallow were the only ones on their couch and though my beloved four-legged friend did admittedly take up a lot of space, the two of them were on the far side of it and it was a long couch so there was still plenty of room left. I eased myself down on the opposite end from them beside where the "kiddos" had seemingly picked up their conversation right where it'd left off.

"'Lemme copy your homework, Xion. Do all the work on the group project, Xion,'" she was reciting in a voice that I believe was a mock imitation of Roxas's. Then she gave a scoff, albeit in good-humor, "I swear, Rox, I'm nothing more than just a puppet for you to boss around."

"That's right, dance on my strings, puppet!" Roxas cackled back, waggling his fingers in the air above his head as if to manipulate said imaginary strings and earning himself yet another shove to his shoulder.

I listened with half an ear, momentarily distracted as my eyes scanned the room. Where was it? I knew it just had to be here somew-

Ah-ha! There! Dangling from the archway Anna and I had just come through a moment before.

Mistletoe.

I silently filed away its location for later. It'd be useful. Trust me.

"Just be grateful winter break arrived in the nick of time to save your punk ass because I was this close to throttling you," Xion sighed, rolling her eyes before flashing me a long-suffering smile. "I tell ya, Elsa, one of these days this doof will no longer have me around to cover for him and he'll be a total wreck without me!"

He looked aghast, clutching his chest. "No! Xion, you could never abandon me!" A beat. "...who else will I have ice cream with?"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Lea's voice suddenly piped up, drawing our attention. Apparently all done toting our luggage up to our room, he now came striding in, mussing up both Xion's and Roxas's hair by way of hello as he passed them, "Look who got here early."

Roxas swatted his hand away, "No, you're just late."

Lea placed a palm on the back of the couch, catapulting himself over it to land heavily in the spot between me and Marshmallow. Slipping an arm around my shoulders, he declared, "The life of the party is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

"I'm sorry, why are you talking about Sora now?" Xion slyly teased.

"Yeah, he actually showed up on time unlike your late ass," Roxas sniggered before releasing a tiny, hissed "ow" when Lea delivered a swift kick to his shin.

Rolling his eyes, Lea sighed, "So what were you squirts talking about before I got here?"

Xion smirked over at her blond friend, "About how lost Rox would be if he didn't have me around to carry his lazy butt all the time. And we're talking completely lost. Bet he wouldn't even know who he was anymore."

He shrugged, "Psh, what are you talking about? I am me, nobody else."

"You're a chimp is what you are," she poked him in the cheek. "You're lucky you even know your own name, much less how to spell it. If it weren't for me, you'd of flunked outta college ages ago."

"Ooo, we're talking about college?" Anna chimed into the conversation as she came bustling back into the room precariously managing four mugs of hot cocoa, two in each hand. Kristoff was right behind her bearing a couple trays of Christmas cookies and pastries. One of the cocoas was sweetly delivered to me before the others were distributed and Anna sent Kristoff back to the kitchen to continue ferrying in more after he'd left the snacks on a coffee table. Happily flopping down into a nearby armchair, she popped one of the sweets into her mouth before continuing, "I can't believe I have less than a year before I graduate! Unlike some people…" Her eyes smugly drifted to Lea.

"Hey now, rude! Shit, why the drive-by? I'm working through my credits as fast as I can," he grumbled as he accepted one of the cocoas Kristoff had returned with and blew on it. Then one side of his mouth quirked up at he told Kristoff, "My my, she's got ya trained good, huh?"

His only response was a hand gesture that was less than PG. Lea just snorted at that.

"What are your plans after college? I don't think you've told me yet," I asked my sister, hazarding a slow careful sip. Mmmm, chocolate! I cradled it close in both hands, enjoying the warmth seeping into my fingers.

Anna grabbed a handful of holiday truffles, tossing one up in the air and catching it in her mouth with a huge grin before answering. "Thinking of going to work with dad at the company!"

I choked on the second sip I'd just been taking, coughing a bit. "R-really?"

I could picture Anna doing a lot of things. Some stuffy corporate politics job? Not so much.

"Don't act so surprised!" she laughed. "You know I've worked there every summer practically all my life! I like it, and I'm actually pretty good at it too! I think maybe I could run that place one day!"

"Ah, so good to see that the archaic practice of nepotism is still alive and well," Saïx dryly drawled, not looking up from his screen nor pausing in his typing.

My sister huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "Shush, you! It wasn't handed to me, I've worked my sweet friggin' little butt off for this! Am still working my butt off, thank you very much! And I'll have you know one day when I'm handed the keys to the kingdom, there's going to be some changes around there! I think I could do some real good in the world once I'm in charge! So you can kindly shove it," she razzed her tongue at him before slipping three more sugary treats into her mouth with as much lofty dignity as anyone could do such a thing. It was actually rather impressive.

Saïx merely gave a low hmph at that, fingers still tapping away. Lea drooped his eyelids at him before shifting his leg over to nudge his brother's shoe with his Converse. "Oi. You seriously working right now, dude? C'mon, man, it's Christmas! Quit being such a scrooge, have a heart and let loose a lil!" As he spoke, I could feel his thumb idly tracing light circles in the hollow of my bare shoulder, probably missing having my braid to fiddle with.

"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter," Saïx muttered, squinting at his screen with a thoughtful frown before pressing the backspace a couple times.

"Don't be silly, course you have a heart!" Roxas beamed and shrugged. "Small and shriveled, yes, but it's there!"

Xion rose, moving to instead take a seat on the armrest next to Saïx. "Yeah, you're not a scrooge, you're a grinch! We just need to give you some hugs and eggnog and that heart'll grow three sizes, you'll see!" she giggled, throwing her arms around his shoulders and squeezing hard.

"Ugh, will the intrusions never end?" Saïx huffed, trying to pry himself free of her vice-like embrace but to no avail.

"Shh, you know you love it!"

I had a growing suspicion Lea's interest in the current conversation had waned, for I could sense his intent gaze on me now as I bent forward to put my half drunk cocoa down on the coffee table and reach for the nearest snack tray. As I settled back more comfortably into my seat, he brought up a hand to tuck a stray wisp of my hair that had gotten free back behind my ear before ducking his head to trail feather light kisses down the slope of my neck that left little tingles in their wake. I turned my head to look at him through lowered lashes and he grinned, moving to close the distance between our lips and-

-I crammed a christmas cookie in his mouth.

Nice try, bucko, but you're not going to trick me up to the bedroom that easily.

"Ah! You two made it! Finally!" Rayne came into the room just then, toting Aria on her hip. "Yeesh, took ya long enough!" she smiled as I stood up and we hugged each other. Then she was offering me the baby with an abrupt, "Here, hold this."

I tensed, blinking a couple times, my hands twitching but making no other movements to accept the burbling infant from her. "I… er…"

"Here, I'll take her," Lea muffled out around the mouthful of cookie he was still choking down thanks to me, reaching up to pluck Aria from Rayne's hands and sitting her down in his lap.

I released a silent sigh of relief. Could you believe it had been weeks since the twins had been born and I had still yet to actually hold either one of them? Some godmother I was turning out to be. But dammit, babies were just so squishy and fragile! What if I accidentally broke one of them?

Uh-uh. No. Not on my watch.

Just keep the babies away from me and my klutzy hands. Really, it'd be in everyone's best interest.

"So, uh… have you finished getting their nursery all set up at long last?" I asked as I settled into my seat on the couch once more.

"Yes, finally!" Rayne grinned as she squeezed into Anna's armchair with her and my sister rested her head on her shoulder. "Since Cayde was an unexpected surprise, hadta do a lot of scrambling getting a second crib and other such things for him. Plus it took goddamn ages scrubbing and bleaching every last inch of your old room."

"Bleaching?" Lea echoed curiously, bouncing a laughing Aria on his knee. I couldn't help but notice however that his gaze had drifted to where the mistletoe hung, seemingly just now having noticed it. I could all but see the wheels turning behind those crafty green eyes of his.

My ex-roommate gave him a flat look. "Red, please. You used to spend the night over. A lot. No tykes of mine are gonna be playing somewhere you two used to do the frick-frack constantly without it being properly and thoroughly disinfected and sanitized first."

"Ah," was the only response he made to that. As Rayne then got momentarily distracted by her husband coming over to give her surprise smooches, Lea leaned closer to me, muttering low out of the corner of his mouth so only I could hear, "Take it we're not gonna tell her 'bout their living room couch then?"

Feeling heat creeping up the back of my neck, I cleared my throat and shook my head, answering a quick but just as quiet, "No."

"Or the kitchen countertops? Or that one time on the dining table? Or-"

"No. No, none of it," I hissed, face full on roasting now.

What can I say? Lea could be very, ahem… persuasive when it came to having his way.

"Oh!" Anna suddenly straightened up in her seat excitedly as it seemed she'd just remember something. "You auditioned for the Spring musical, right? Have they announced who got what parts yet?"

Grateful for the subject change, I eagerly nodded, "Yes, actually, they just posted the cast sheet yesterday afternoon." A surge of giddiness filled my chest as I bit back a grin. "...I got the lead."

"Wha- Seriously?! Oh my friggin' god! Sis! Congratulations! And you're only now telling me? You should have said something sooner, this is a big deal!"

Lea glanced up from blowing air raspberries for a happily squealing Aria to say, "That's what I kept trynta tell her."

"I'd hardly call community theater a big deal," I self-consciously brushed off, the pleased smile I was fighting growing wider despite myself. "...I am really excited about it though."

"And you should be, sweetpea!" Rayne reached for my hands in my lap, covering them with her own. "Community theater it may be, but the people there still know their shit! They've recognized your talent and are trusting you with more responsibility! Your first official lead! That's huge!"

"Today, community theater… tomorrow, Broadway… the day after that, the world," Lea intoned in a dramatic whisper.

I rolled my eyes with a small grin, "That's not exactly how it w-"

"Too late. Already said it. It's happening."

As I shook my head at him, Anna hopped up to her feet, struck a finger up in the air and declared, "This calls for celebration! Be right back with something to spike the cocoa with!" With that, she blurred out of the room back towards the kitchen.

I shyly accepted a few more congrats from everyone else before conversation gradually turned to other topics and I just contentedly listened for a bit. The chit chat began to fade into the background however as I glanced towards Lea.

Gosh, he was so good with Aria. How did he make it look so easy? Not to mention there was something so pure and comically endearing about seeing this absolute behemoth of a man with his mess of untamed red hair, guyliner, and black nail polish being so gentle as he played peek-a-boo with the tiny baby. I know I'd already thought he'd make an amazing father one day, but thinking it and actually seeing him in action were two completely different things. Watching the two of them right now-

Oh dear, it was doing things to me.

You know. Stomach butterflies, knees going weak, insides turning into mush kind of things.

Things that must have been as plain as day to read on my face for Lea happened to look over at me, blink a couple times, then quirk an eyebrow as his gaze flicked back and forth between me and Aria while he put two and two together. Then he smirked. Turning the infant to face me now, he took on a high-pitch, munchkin-like voice as he began guiding Aria's arms into flourishing gestures as if she were the one talking instead of him, "Come, m'dear, and let awesome, suave, studly Unkie Lea whisk you away to the bedroom to ravage you and introduce you to whole new worlds of pleasure."

I gave him a blank stare. "...are you seriously trying to seduce me with a baby right now?"

His grin turned toothy. "Depends. Is it working?"

Kind of.

Sort of.

Yes.

"No."

Liar.

Pretty sure he knew it too, what with the way he was squinting at me with that crooked little half-grin of his. His lips parted, but before he could utter another word, Anna practically bounced back into the room.

"We got Crème De Menthe," she held up a long, skinny green bottle in one hand, "we got Kahlúa," her other hand waggled a smaller brown bottle, "we got it all, take your pick! But first, I took a look out the window while I was in the kitchen and now I have a very important question for you." She set the booze down on the table, stood in front of me with both hands firmly planted on her hips and gave me her most serious expression as she stared down her nose at me. Abruptly, she broke out into an ear-to-ear smile, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Sora finally tore his attention away from Cayde to enthusiastically shout across the room, causing Kairi to smother a snicker behind her hand.

"I'm in," Roxas was already on his feet and making his way towards where his warmer outerwear had been carelessly tossed onto some of the other furniture.

Xion was not too far behind him with a, "Me too! Bet my snowman will totally kick your snowman's frozen powdered ass!"

"Oh, it's on!"

Humming a small laugh, I nodded at Anna, "I'd love to."

Before I could rise from my seat however, I felt Lea's hand grabbing mine. "You sure about that, babe? You're not really, ya know…" his eyes briefly flicked down to indicate my clothes. More specifically, what was concealed beneath my clothes. "...dressed for cold weather and ya might catch a chill. So whaddya say we get you upstairs and-"

"Ah-ah," I pressed a fingertip to his lips, silencing him. "I'll be fine. You know the cold never bothered me anyway. I just need to snag a pair of gloves and go grab my coat from the foyer." I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before standing.

I'd barely managed to take a step however before Lea'd hastily dumped Aria into Saïx's unsuspecting hands and charged past me to stand in my path, right smack dab beneath the-

"Hold it!" he held his palm up in my face, then smirked, propped one shoulder against the inside of the archway he occupied now and pointed up with a smug, "Mistletoe."

I narrowed my eyes at the little sprig above his head, then crossed my arms as my eyelids drooped. "And I suppose you're expecting a kiss now?"

"Tradition demands it and who are we to scoff in the face of tradition? 'Sides, you wanna get your coat, you'll have to get through me first. So pucker up, schmoopsie-poo, cuz these lips aren't gonna kiss themselves!" He stretched a hand towards me, adding a low, "C'mere."

I considered his awaiting hand for a moment. Then I met his gaze, one corner of my mouth quirking up before I snagged the nearest thing - or rather, nearest person, which just so happened to be Roxas as he was running by. "You heard the man: those lips aren't going to kiss themselves!" I winked at the blond before giving him a little push towards Lea.

"You ready, big guy, because here comes some sweet, sweet sugar!" Roxas cackled as he latched onto him and made kissy noises.

"Get off, ya twerp!" Lea growled, planting a hand on Roxas's face and trying to wriggle free of his stranglehold.

"But, dude!" he muffled back against his palm. "Tradition demands it and who are we to scoff in the face of tradition?"

"I believe it's now someone else's turn to hold the infant," I suddenly heard Saïx dryly announce and I glanced back towards him to see him looking quite unamused as he held Aria upside down by one ankle at arms length. She giggled in delight as she reached for Marshmallow, who obliged her with a curious snuffle of her fingers. As Rayne gasped and rushed to take her from him, I shook my head with a grin and quickly slipped past Lea while he was still busy trying to extract himself from Roxas's grapple and thus was unable to stop me.

And to think… the holiday shenanigans had only just begun.

"Welp, that's game!" Lea declared with a clap. Rising from the couch, he pulled me up with him and tried to drag me off as he hastily added, "Was fun guys, but we're gonna call it an early night. C'mon, El."

"What?" I laughed softly, digging my heels in and bringing us both to a lurching stop. "That was just the first round. We haven't even scored yet," I chided as I started leading him back towards the sofa.

He let me, huffing out a low sigh as he grumpily plopped back down into his seat and muttered under his breath, "Whaddya think I've been trying to do this whole time…"

I narrowed my eyes at him, pinching his arm for the comment.

"Oo, the foreplay's starting early, huh?" he waggled his eyebrows at me.

I pinched him harder.

"Babe, ya know you're only encouraging me at this point, right?"

I snorted, shifting tactics and shoving the notepad and pencil into his hands, "Just figure out the points please?"

"Fiiiiiine," he made an exaggerated show of rolling his eyes before scratching the pencil across the paper, tongue licking one corner of his lips as he worked. I shot the rest of the group a tiny apologetic smile.

It seemed Lea was getting a bit antsy for his gift.

I suppose he had been being rather patient for a while now. We had all spent several hours out in the snow - for the record, Xion's snowman had indeed kicked Roxas's snowman's frozen powdered butt. Lea had tried to corner me once or twice out there for some, hrm… snogging, but a well-timed handful of snow to his face did wonders for cooling that fiery passion of his down if only for a moment. Several snow angels and snowball fights later and we'd all finally had our fill and come back inside to warm ourselves by the fireplace once more. We were well past lunchtime now, but we still had plenty of snacks to tide us over until dinner. In the meantime, we'd decided to get a game of charades going at Anna's request.

At least, that's what we were attempting to do…

Of course, it'd help if the scorekeeper was actually doing his job correctly.

Or, you know… at all.

"Alright, lessee here…" Lea mumbled, pencil still furiously scribbling away. "You, my love, have four points, I have negative seventeen, and looks like Riku's won with… hm, carry the one… one million points. Now that's game! Shucks, too bad, so sad, let's go, El." Dropping the pad and pencil to the couch cushions, he snagged my hand and hopped up to his feet once more.

"Sit," came my simple yet firm command as I yanked him back down next to me. Pushing the pencil and notepad squarely into his chest, I told him, "Do it right."

As Lea released a sigh through his nose, Riku snorted from where he sat in another couch snuggled up close with his wife. "Do you even know the score? Have you been paying attention at all?"

"Course I know it! Got it memorized up here in the ol' noggin," he poked the pencil's eraser to his temple with a grin. However it quickly faded into a frown as he squinted down at the paper, tapping his writing utensil against it a couple times. "...but, I mean… if anyone else'd wanna compare notes and tell me what they think the point totals are, I'd only be too happy to let 'em know if they're right or wrong."

"But I thought you already knew the score, Mr Got-It-Memorized," Kairi sniggered, mockingly tapping a fingertip to the side of her forehead.

"I do. That was a test, and one ya just failed, princess. Minus fifty points for Kairi," Lea razzed his tongue at her as he wrote that down.

Sora groaned, "I want a new scorekeeper!"

"And that's minus one hundred points for you, bucko!"

Oh dear. We'd given the doofus way too much power.

"I'll take over keeping track of points," Rayne volunteered as she smiled and shook her head at my boyfriend's antics.

"Treason! Minus one thousand points for Raindrop for the villainy, attempted mutiny, and-"

I snatched the notepad from his fingers and smacked his shoulder with it before tossing it to Rayne who chirped a little "thank you!" at me as she caught it. I tried to confiscate the pencil as well, but he held it up high and away from me. As I stretched across him to reach for it, he took advantage of my new close proximity to plant a small peck to the tip of my nose.

I drooped my eyelids up at him.

Fine then. Keep the pencil, you big dork.

Anna piped up now, "Alright, we'll just call that first round a warm-up! Points start now!" She glanced over her shoulder and called out, "You're missing out on all the fun, Saïx, you sure you don't wanna join us?"

He'd moved some time ago to a table on the other side of the room far away from the rest of us, still hard at work on his laptop with Marshmallow curled up at his feet. "There's nothing I'd hate more," came his flat reply.

"So sayeth Mr Holly-Jolly himself," Lea muttered, staring up at the ceiling now as he balanced the pencil on his nose. I tried to swipe it, but he was faster in grabbing it off himself and once again keeping it out of my reach.

"Since we're starting off fresh, how about some new teams? Gals versus guys?" Xion suggested. She then bumped her shoulder into Roxas's with a goading smirk, "Unless, ya know, you're too scared of getting your asses handed to you by a buncha girls."

He snerked, bumping her back harder. "Bring it!"

As the others began weighing in as well on the new arrangement for the teams, I felt it. This tiny tickle against my thigh. I glanced down to discover Lea trying to use the eraser end of the pencil to covertly lift the side slit of my skirt for another discreet peek at the garter.

I lightly slapped his hand away and stood up, quickly saying, "You know, girls against boys sounds like an excellent idea. I think I'll go sit with my new teammates over here." I squeezed into the other couch between Anna and the armrest, edging Riku out from the opposite end and forcing him to find another seat. Across from Lea now, I shot him a pointed look with one eyebrow arched and a small smirk.

He just sulkily slumped further down into his own seat, knee jiggling up and down as he began gnawing on the pencil.

Oh yeah. Definitely antsy.

But no need to pout there, buddy, you and I both know you secretly love the torture of being forced to wait.

...was it wrong of me to actually be kind of enjoying this newfound power over him so much?

"Alright! Now that that's all settled, let the games begin!" Anna beamed before her blue gaze settled on me. "Sis, why don't you start us off?"

I stiffened. "Wha- me?" I bit down on my lower lip, eyes darting to the left as my hands began to fidget with each other in my lap. "...are you sure? Maybe it'd be better if someone else-"

"Elsa," she interrupted me, placing both hands on my shoulders. "Sis. I love you. You know I do. But you royally suck at charades."

"Hey!" I narrowed my eyes at her.

She shrugged, "Don't you 'hey' me, it's true!"

My face pinched sourly. "...okay, fair. But still… cheap shot."

An unapologetic grin pulled at her lips. "So now that we've got that established, don't you think getting the absolute travesty that will be your turn out of the way first so the rest of the team can help us finish strong might be the best call?"

I fixed her with a dull stare. "Gee, thanks for sugar coating it."

"No prob!" she giggled before her eyes turned expectant. "Sooo…?"

"Fine, just give me my word and let's get this over with," I relented with a sigh and held my hand out. Anna's face lit up and she offered me the basket full of tiny folded bits of paper. I plucked one up without much consideration and rose, stomping a few steps away.

We all remember what a "fan" of charades I am, right?

Not.

Ugh, the things I do for my sister.

Was it too late to be dragged off by Lea so he could have his manly way with me instead?

Releasing another sigh as I took my spot, I turned to face the others with a steely look of determination now. I'd show Anna. Time to put all those acting classes I'd been taking to good use! My team was going to guess my word so fast, they wouldn't even know what hit them. I was going to own this word. I was going to charade the hell out of this word! But first… alright, you stupid word, let's find out what you are. I opened the little slip of paper and squinted down at it.

…ice?

…

What the frick was I supposed to do with ice?!

"All set?" came the sound of Kristoff's voice and my head shot up, eyes wide and skin drained of color. Does this look like the face of someone who's 'all set'?! "Good! Timer starts in three…"

Wait.

"...two…"

No.

"...one…"

Stop!

"...GO!"

Fudge.

He flipped over the small plastic hourglass and I…

...just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You got this, Elsa!" Anna called out to me. Oh sure, thanks for the vote of confidence now. Too little, too late, Sis. "...any time." No really? And here I was just standing around doing nothing on purpose because I figured that's how you win. "Just… just do it with your body!" Gah, I'm trying!

Okay, think, Elsa, think! Ice… how do I get them to say ice… Ice, ice, ice… ice...berg? ...Icicle? ...ice, ice, baby? Oh come on, Elsa, stop being silly and focus! Ice…

...cube!

Ice cube! Yes, I think I could work with that!

I suddenly snapped into action, my hands blocking out a large shape in the air.

"Oh, oh, square!" Anna said excitedly.

Rayne tipped her head to one side, asking, "A rectangle?"

Kairi chimed in with, "A box!"

I twirled my index finger sideways, indicating for them to keep going before I began outlining the same shape again.

"Television box!"

"Lunch box!"

"Juke box!"

Gah, move on from the infernal word box already, people!

Xion squinted and gave a doubtful, "...microwave?"

"Crate!"

"Toaster!"

"Croaster!" Anna shouted, bouncing up and down in her seat before freezing with a frown. "Wait… that's not a word…"

Despairing and not knowing what else to do, I kept miming the same shape in the air, just more frantically now.

As if doing it faster would somehow help the situation.

"Cube!"

Oh wow, it actually had!

I clapped and nodded vigorously, hopping on the balls of my feet. Alright, onto phase two, which…

...there was no phase two.

Crud.

I had zero idea how to get them from cube to ice cube.

I did not think this through.

Alright. Forget cube. Cube was stupid. Cube is out the window. New plan!

...got it! Okay, no, this was good. They were going to get it for sure this time. It was so obvious, I should've thought of it sooner. When you think of ice, you think of…

...ice skating.

Smiling and sure of myself now, I spread my arms out wide to either side of me and balanced on one foot, like a skater gliding on one blade across a frozen pond.

"Oh, ah… ballerina!"

"Tightrope walker!"

"Er… a tree? Maybe?"

A tree? I looked down at myself. How was this a friggin' tree?!

I locked gazes with Anna and stretched my pose out further for emphasis. Her face was scrunched up in deep thought. Come on, Sis, help me out here. You've seen me ice skate before, you know what it looks like. You got this. Two sisters, one mind. Suddenly her face brightened and she jumped up to her feet. Ha, there it is! I knew she'd get i-

"Michael Jordan!" she yelled, stabbing a finger in my direction.

...nevermind.

Kairi abruptly rocketed up beside her, "Gandalf!"

Anna shook her head, "Pffft, like Gandalf Cube is a thing!"

"And what, like Michael Jordan Cube is?"

Oof, I really shot myself in the foot with that whole cube thing earlier, huh?

As the girls began to bicker amongst themselves while I continued to wobble and sway on one foot, I glanced over towards the boys who were all quietly snickering at our expense. Well, almost all of them. Lea instead seemed rather fascinated by the way I'd stretched and arched my body into its current pose, his eyes half-lidded as they travelled down my curves, his head slightly tilted and teeth still idly gnawing that pencil.

I smirked, a new idea forming inside my head. The girls needed more clues, after all. Planting both feet back on the ground, I bowed at the waist as if reaching down to tie the laces on my imaginary ice skates. As I bent forward, I made sure Lea got just enough of a glimpse down the front of my blouse to give him a hint of something lacy.

He bit the pencil in half with a loud crack!

Okay, I really was enjoying teasing him way too much now.

I think all this power was going straight to my head!

The all-corrupting power of the lingerie...

A gasp suddenly tore out of Anna and she started pointing back and forth between Lea and me, "I saw that! You two secretly communicated! You're working together! Double agent! Cheater!"

My head rocked back and I stammered, "Wha-?! I- How would that even- I am most certainly not-"

"Ahhnnnt!" Kristoff loudly and obnoxiously made a buzzer sound.

"Oh come on, I can't be out of time already!" I told him, crossing my arms.

"You talked, and there's no talking in charades, so consider yourself disqualified," he chuckled, then added, "PS: you actually ran out of time ages ago, we just let you keep going because watching you epically fail so hard was too funny."

Blowing out a tiny huff through my nostrils, I returned to my seat where the rest of the ladies gave me pats on the back and shoulder squeezes to console me. As Anna side-hugged me with one arm, she said, "There, there, Sis, I'm sure the word you got just sucked. Lemme see it," she took the little scrap of paper from me and unfurled it, read it, then blinked. "Ice?!" she snapped incredulously. "You couldn't get ice?!"

I sunk further down into my seat with a groan, pinching the bridge of my nose and making no further comment.

Surprisingly, the game ended in a draw. What I lacked in being able to communicate a concept without the use of words, I more than made up for in my ability to guess what my teammates were acting out. And while I may have been my team's handicap, turns out Lea was theirs. Normally he'd have been one of their stronger players, but it seemed his head just wasn't in the game. Not if the way his eyes kept distractedly drifting over to me while the rest of the boys had to constantly yell at him to focus was any sort of clue.

A couple hours and several rounds later brought us to a point where more than a few stomachs were suddenly loudly grumbling. We decided it was high time to break for dinner, seeing as how cookies and candy canes just weren't cutting it anymore. As everyone else started making their way towards the dining room, I excused myself so I could go freshen up real quick.

As I finished up in the bathroom, I turned the faucet off and flicked my hands a few times to shake away the water before reaching for the towel. Fingers now dried, I took a moment to eye myself in the mirror before straightening my bun and smoothing out my skirt. With a little satisfied nod, I turned, opened the door and-

-came to a screeching stop, looking up and blinking a couple times. "...can I help you?"

Lea smirked back down at me from where he stood in the threshold blocking my exit. Without uttering a word, he just smugly pointed up. My gaze followed his finger and-

Fudge.

Guess what we were both now under?

That's right. He'd moved the mistletoe.

My eyelids drooped at him. "Well now, that's just cheati- mmph!"

His warm lips were suddenly on mine as he grabbed my face in both hands. Unconsciously, my body leaned into his, my hands grasping at his shirt and wrinkling the material as he kissed me long and slow and we just stayed in the doorway there for a few heartbeats, his thumbs tenderly grazing along my cheekbones. Then there was a shift. His breathing turned ragged, his lips more urgent and demanding as a low growl emitted from his throat and Lea started backing me into the bathroom once more, kicking the door shut after him. Without breaking the kiss, he fumbled a hand behind him to lock it then was pushing me up against the sink counter. Lea wasted no time lifting me to sit on top of it, situating his hips between my knees as he hooked his hands beneath them and pulled me up against him roughly. He then wrapped my legs around his waist, fingertips caressing along the stockings, up my thighs and hiking my skirt a bit.

At last he broke the kiss, redirecting his attention to nibble down the side of my throat. Breathless and face hot, I whispered, "Lea, maybe we shouldn't-"

My neck suddenly seared in intense pleasure as his teeth bit down hard at just the right spot and I gasped.

...okay, maybe we should.

He huskily chuckled against my skin, lightly kissing it now as he murmured, "You were saying, Love?"

Desperately trying and failing to unscramble my brain, I began, "I… I was…"

"Mm-hm," he prompted absently as his lips and tongue continued to trail a path down my neck while his fingers pushed the hem of my skirt up a tad further.

"...was saying that… that we, uh…"

"Mm-hm," Lea hummed again, pulling back slightly now with a sly gleam in his crinkled eyes as he reached a hand back over his shoulder, grabbed the back of his tee, and-

Oh wow, there goes the shirt. On the floor. Just like that.

Should.

Lea had just made an extremely compelling argument for should.

I'd mentioned how persuasive he could be, right?

I dazedly watched as he took my hands in his, pressing my palms to his bare chest now as he leaned in to hungrily kiss me again. My fingers took on minds of their own as they began to drift and roam, slowly tracing down the lines and contours of his leanly muscled torso. I shivered as I felt his fingertips skim over the hollow of my shoulder and along my collarbone before settling on the top button of my blouse, tugging to undo it and moving down to the next-

"Elsa!" Several loud, frantic bangs against the door abruptly startled us apart. It took me a second to recognize Sora's voice coming from the other side as he whined, "Hurry up in there, I really, really gotta go!"

"Occupied!" Lea shouted over his shoulder before grinning as he hooked a finger under my chin and bent forward, his lips brushing mine once more.

"...Elsa? Why does your voice sound funny?" Sora asked uncertainly, causing me to snort against Lea's lips. His shoulders slumped and he hung his head, cursing under his breath. The spell had been broken. We both knew it.

I gently pushed him away, scooting myself down off the countertop and snatching his shirt up off the ground to hand to him. Then I took a second to fan myself in a futile effort to cool my face before opening the door and immediately saying, "This isn't what it looks like."

Sora blinked at me. Then his gaze darted to where Lea stood behind me, eyeing Sora sourly as he pulled his tee back on.

...okay, it was exactly what it looked like.

But Sora didn't need to know that!

He blinked again, "Um…"

Deciding to save him from having to come up with a more sophisticated response than that, I simply took Lea's hand in mine and left the bathroom towing him along after me, his dark scowl never leaving Sora as we pushed passed him and headed towards the dining room.

On the way there, we bumped into Rayne in the hallway who was bouncing Cayde in her arms in what seemed to be an attempt to get him to settle down. She arched an eyebrow at me as we drew near. "I thought you were freshening up."

My brow furrowed at her. "...I did."

She eyed me up and down, then snerked. "Sure ya did," was her only remark as she wiggled her eyebrows, shifted the baby to rest against her shoulder and disappeared through the door to join the others for dinner.

I tipped my head to one side, then glanced in a decorative mirror that was hanging on the wall to my left. To say I'd been disheveled would have been the understatement of the century. My skirt was rumpled, my blouse skewed, and I was still bright red from practically head to toe. To top it all off, my hair was free of its bun and positively wild.

"When did you do that?" I narrowed my eyes accusingly at Lea as I did my best to gather and throw it back up into a haphazard bun.

Alright fine, I knew exactly when he did it. I just hadn't even realized he'd done it.

He pursed his lips to one side, shoved his hands into his pockets and gave a tiny shrug as I finished righting my clothes. I then noticed his eyes flick down, suddenly seeming highly fascinated by something. I followed his gaze to spot my top button of my blouse still undone and flashing a scandalous little sneak preview of the lingerie. Blushing harder (the exact opposite of what I wanted to be doing right now, dammit, cheeks!), I hastily re-fastened the button while Lea grinned wolfishly. I pinched his arm, wiping the smirk off his face before taking his hand in mine once more and leading him into the room.

Everyone was seated at the long wooden dining table already and were all too busy laughing and talking over each other to pay much mind to our entrance. As I quietly took a seat, I noticed most of the dishes of piping hot food had already been brought out to the table. Kristoff was bringing out the last of them with my sister's help.

"I'm so happy my man knows how to cook," Anna delightedly chirped as she set down a bowl of yams before giggling and pressing a smooch to Kristoff's cheek. "That way, I don't have to!"

I smiled at the two of them while Lea plonked down into the chair beside me. He laced our fingers together, his thumb idly rubbing along my knuckles as he settled his other elbow onto the table, heavily propped his chin in his palm and heaved a long, drawn out sigh through his nose. His eyes narrowed on Sora as he returned from the restroom and happily crossed the room to take a seat between Riku and Kairi, totally oblivious to the daggers my boyfriend was glaring at him the whole way. Lea then looked away, petulantly huffing out a second grumbly sigh.

It seemed somebody was still a bit pouty over our little interlude in the bathroom being interrupted.

We couldn't have that now, could we? Not on Christmas! Let's see what we can do to perk his spirits a bit.

I shifted ever so slightly in my seat, casually bumping my knee into his as if it were by accident. Lea glanced over at me, quirking an eyebrow. One corner of my lips turned up as I took our still intertwined hands and moved them under the table, releasing his so it could settle on my knee instead. He sat up a little straighter in his chair, his other eyebrow rising to join the first. I grinned coyly, averted my gaze and said nothing, merely waiting for him to take the hint as I reached for the cup of hot cider already waiting for me next to my plate.

Slowly, tentatively, his hand started to slide up my leg, brushing my skirt up with it as he went until he reached the garter. There he paused, his fingertips exploring, grazing over its soft delicate embroidery and toying with it. I could see Lea's face heating as he brought his other hand up to bite down on the knuckle of his curled finger. I just sipped my drink and smiled politely at the conversation the others were carrying on around us. The perfect picture of prim and properness. As if nothing even remotely untoward were happening under the table in the slightest.

Eventually, his hand began tracing the garter down to my inner thigh, discovering where one of the straps connected to it. His fingertips trailed circles over the clasp a couple times before then attempting to follow the strap further up between my legs.

That's when I snagged his wrist, stopping it dead in its tracks and shooting him a flat look.

Sorry, bucko, but that's as far as this little adventure at the dinner table goes.

His muscles were tense. His left eye twitched. But then Lea closed his eyes, released a low, shaky breath and his posture relaxed somewhat as with what appeared to be a considerable amount of visible effort, he willed himself to take his hand back.

"So hey!" Kairi suddenly piped up over everyone else, causing the chatter to die down a bit as all eyes turned towards her. "I brought a buncha Christmas movies with me! You know, all the classics. I was thinking maybe it could be fun for all of us to watch a couple after we finish eating. How does that sound?"

Lea cleared his throat, raking his fingers through his hair as he began, "Actually, El and I had other-"

"What a wonderful idea!" I chimed in brightly before turning to plant a swift peck to the corner of Lea's jawline. "We'd love to, isn't that right, Lea? Since we all know what a fan of the classics you are."

He pressed his lips together into a thin line and simply fixed me with a dull stare.

Oh yes.

No doubt about it.

I was definitely having way, way too much fun teasing him.

It was late. Little Ralphie Parker's father had just thrown aside fistfuls upon fistfuls of packing to liberate the infamous leg lamp from its crate in the movie. A quick glance around the dim room, lit only by the soft glow from the TV screen, revealed everyone to be cozied up together in one way or another as they enjoyed the film.

Rayne was curled up with Riku under a blanket, him turning his head to press an affectionate kiss to the top of her head. Sora was using Kairi's lap as a makeshift pillow, their hands joined and resting atop his chest as they watched. Anna was occupying an armchair with Kristoff seated on the floor before her, using her knees as a backrest while her nimble fingers plaited hundreds of thin, tiny braids into his short blonde hair. Roxas and Xion were taking their turn for some snuggle time with the twins who, even though it was now well past their bedtimes, were being quite obstinate about going to sleep.

Even Saïx had a cuddle buddy, although he was too busy snoring to realize it. It seemed being up during the daylight hours to power through getting all his work done had finally caught up to and taken its toll on him. Back on the couch once more, his laptop lay forgotten on his lap with the screensaver running while he'd conked out nestled into Marshmallow's plush fur beside him. Marshmallow's tail thumped quietly against the couch cushions as he too began to drift off into dreams.

Grinning, I returned my gaze to the movie and settled more comfortably into Lea's side as I laid my head against his chest once again and my arms hugged more tightly around his waist. I could feel him fiddling with a stray lock of my bangs that'd gotten loose, looping and twiddling it between his fingers. Then his hand diverted its attention to instead trail lightly along my bare shoulder, his fingertips drawing invisible patterns there against my skin. It tickled and I involuntarily squirmed against him a bit.

I heard him suck in a soft hiss of breath, shifting in his seat as he hastily removed his hand, fingers splaying and flexing before closing into a fist that he planted firmly on the sofa backrest behind my head now. His knee started furiously jerking up and down. I turned my head to look up at him. His whole body was rigid and his jaw set tight, the very fires of determination seemingly burning in his eyes currently as he focused hard on the movie (perhaps a little too hard), though his gaze kept flicking to the clock hanging on the wall every few seconds.

Frowning, I brought a hand up, brushing my knuckles tenderly over his cheek. Lea stiffened, his whole body suddenly going very still. I altered course to stroke his hair, gently running my fingers through it. His breath hitched as his eyes slowly closed and I could feel him quivering slightly. Then he abruptly snatched my hand, disentangling it from his mess of untamed hair.

I blinked at him.

He pressed a lingering kiss to the back of my hand before settling it on his knee as he ducked his head, bringing his lips right next to my ear as he half whispered, half growled, "Love, it's taking every last ounce of restraint I have not to just throw you on the coffee table and take you in a primal cavemanly fashion, so unless you want to give our friends a bit of a show, I suggest you stop."

...oh dear.

It seemed I'd made him wait a little too long and he was dangerously close to his breaking point.

Thus I decided to finally and at long last take pity on him.

It was time.

Time to let him unwrap his gift.

I stood up, spinning on my heel to face Lea. He stared up at my quizzically, probably leery of getting his hopes up at this point. Smiling sweetly, I reached down, taking his hands in mine and pulling him up to his feet as well as I announced to the rest of the room, "If you'll excuse us, Lea's not feeling too hot, so we're going to head to bed now." His hand still in mine, I led him out of the room and towards the stairs as the others called out a chorus of feel-betters and goodnights after us.

Reaching the second floor, I stepped through our door ahead of him and cast a brief glance about as I stood in the center of the bedroom, taking it in. The traditional rustic wooden walls decorated with a couple small pieces of hanging art here and there. The pair of plump armchairs in one corner next to a homey little fireplace, currently unlit and cold but with plenty of logs just waiting for a spark. The antique wardrobe and dresser off to one side, the door off to another leading into the adjoining private bathroom. The king-sized bed stacked high with blankets and quilts for fighting off the chill later on in the dead of night.

The muted click of Lea shutting the door behind us caught my attention, but I didn't turn to look at him, merely waited. There was a pause. One that was so long and quiet, I almost began to wonder if he'd left for some reason. But then I could all but feel him standing behind me, feel the warmth practically radiating off his body just a few short inches away from mine, sending a tiny chill up my spine and a small flutter through my chest.

His hands found their way to my hair, a simple tug pulling the bun free once more and sending my platinum locks cascading down my back. I shook it out a little more, resisting the urge to shiver at the pleasant tingling sensation brought on by him slowly, almost reverently combing his fingers through the strands. Then his fingertips were trailing along my shoulders and ghosting lightly down my arms where they came to settle comfortably on my hips. I could feel him nestling his face into my hair, pressing a kiss into it as he inhaled deeply, humming low in pleasure as his grip on my hips tightened and his body pressed more firmly up against my back.

At the gentle insistence of his hands, I turned and faced him now. Gosh, he was so tall. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I wasn't. It was moments like these - moments where no words were spoken and there was so little space between us - that reminded me just how tall he truly was. Not to mention how handsome he was or painfully gorgeous those startlingly green eyes of his were, especially while they were hooded and swirling as darkly as they were now. My pulse couldn't help but pick up the tempo beneath his heated gaze.

The air felt charged between us, nearly unbearably so. I was almost surprised Lea hadn't simply pounced the second we were alone. The slight tremble to his hand as he brought it up to stroke my cheek suggested that might be exactly what he wanted to do but was holding himself back. Perhaps he was going slow because he was wary of this moment being snatched away from him yet again like they all had been so far today. Perhaps he simply wanted to take his time and savor this. Whatever the case may be, as his fingers tangled themselves in my hair and he leaned in now, there was no doubt in my mind all that was about to change. I knew the second his lips met mine, all bets would be off. That last shred of restraint he was barely clinging on to would snap and all that pent up frustration he'd been keeping in check all day would be unleashed and given free rein. My face burned and my heart hammered as he closed the distance, so near now that I could feel his breath warming my lips as he murmured my name and-

"TOOTHPASTE!" I suddenly blurted out loudly.

He jerked back, eyes wide and both eyebrows skyrocketing as if to ask, Um… sorry, who what now?

Which honestly? Couldn't blame him.

So, mouth? Care to explain yourself?

I stammered nonsensically for a bit, wringing my hands together before finally pointing a thumb over my shoulder towards the restroom and managing to get out, "For brush teeth… make m-mint fresh in mouth."

Ah yes, clear as mud now. Thanks, mouth. Your gift for gab never ceases to amaze and astound.

My oh so eloquent words hung in the air between us as we just stared at each other for a few seconds. Then I bolted into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and locking it behind me. Pressing my back to it, I buried my face in my hands and slid down to sit on the floor.

Smooth going there, little Miss Casanova. Just really know how to set the mood, huh?

I groaned and banged the back of my head against the door.

Oh god, Lea was going to think I freaked out because of him. That I didn't want to, hrm… be intimate with him. But I did! I loved being intimate with him! It was something he was very good at! Very, very good! Amazing, in fact! But what did I go and do the second I had a chance to do exactly that with him?

I'd panicked and choked, that's what!

Because this time was different.

This time, lingerie was involved.

Putting it on and teasing him with it was one thing. But lingerie had implications. It set expectations. You were supposed to, I don't know… act sexy… be sexy… you know, that whole feminine wiles things! And my feminine wiles? Still a work in progress. Sure, it was something I'd gotten better at since Lea and I had started dating, but trust me, I still had a long way to go. And yet here I'd gone, riling him up all day and now that the moment had finally arrived where I had to deliver the goods, I'd…

I'd gotten a bit of stage fright, okay?! So sue me!

...maybe I was just being silly. Overthinking all of this. Putting too much pressure on myself for no reason. This was Lea we were talking about here, after all. I could go out there and do the least attractive impression of a sloth in a negligee doing the chicken dance while yodeling and he'd still probably find it sexy. (...dear lord, the fool honestly might. Not even joking anymore.) The point was that he loved me and I loved him, so this shouldn't be such a big deal. One teeny bit of silky, lacy fabric shouldn't be a big deal. Yeah, this was supposed to be fun.

So, missy, you march your little hiney back out there and have fun, dammit!

Nostrils flaring, I pressed a hand to the door behind me and pushed myself up onto my feet once more, turning to look at myself in the mirror. My reflection had fists balled at her hips, her shoulders squared, her head held high, and a look of ironclad resolve flashing in her blue eyes. I leaned forward, planting one hand on the sink countertop and using the other to jab a finger up against the mirror surface as I hissed, "Now listen up and listen good, me! You're going to go out there and… and… knock his friggin' socks off!"

She blinked back at me, visibly gulping with a tiny frown.

My shoulders sagged. "...I think."

Atta girl, that's the fire and can-do attitude we like to hear!

Face hardening once more, I gave myself a firm nod, straightened up and gingerly began unbuttoning my blouse. Once I'd shed it and tossed it to the floor, I slipped out of my skirt as well. Then I stood in front of the mirror inspecting myself, cheeks surely roasting hotter than the fires of Mount Doom. My lips pursed to one side. I awkwardly settled a hand against my right hip. Then I swept my hair forward over one shoulder. Only to brush it back again a second later.

Couldn't decide which way had a more 'come hither' look to it.

Narrowing my eyes, I whisked it forward again.

Then back.

Forward.

Back.

Fo-

Ugh, forget it and move on already!

Just then, I remembered something. Hesitantly, I turned my head, my eyes drifting almost unbidden towards our suitcases cluttered together in one corner of the spacious bathroom. Not really sure why Lea had put them in here when he'd dropped them off earlier. Maybe I'd asked him to and it'd simply slipped my mind. Maybe he'd just been looking for a place to stow them where they'd be out of our way in anticipation of tonight's activities.

Whatever the case may be, they were in here with me now. And that meant…

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I approached them, locating mine and unzipping it. Flipping the lid open, I stared inside and paused in a moment of indecision. Then I grit my teeth and plunged my hand in, digging down deep past my clothes in search of the thing.

You know.

That thing.

The one Anna had made me buy.

I felt my fingers bump into it and I closed them around it, holding my breath before pulling it out. Then I stared down at what I now held in my hand.

A riding crop.

You read that right.

A friggin' riding crop.

Did I have the first clue what to do with it?

Not really, no.

Was I going to bring it out with me anyway?

...sure, why not?

I mean, I was already a bit of a nervous wreck over this whole ordeal, so it was hard to imagine this could make it any worse.

Go big or go home, as they say.

Heart pounding in my ears and insides twisting into a billion, quadrillion knots, I turned to face the door, chin hitched and back straight.

Slinky lingerie? Check. Riding crop? Check… apparently.

Operation Sexy Time was a go.

Let's do this.

I bravely charged forth.

And by that, I mean I opened the door just enough to cautiously poke my head out for a peek.

But I bravely poked my head out cautiously, dammit!

I spotted Lea dejectedly lying on the bed now, sprawled out on his back and smothering his face with a pillow. Heh… off to a good start here. Opening the door wider, I quietly crept a few steps into the room. With how high my blush had cranked up to at this point, it was a wonder I hadn't burnt to a crisp already. My empty hand stiffly found its way to my hip once more. I swept my hair forward again. Then grimaced, pushing it back. Then forw-

Gah, quit fussing, you stupid hands, and just get on with it already!

As Lea still seemed unaware of my presence and with me at a loss for how else to get his attention, I anxiously cleared my throat.

He didn't budge, just groaned into the pillow and muffled out, "What new way have you come to torment me with now, devil woman?"

Such a drama queen. Shaking my head, I began, "Lea-"

"Is there even really lingerie under there or is that just more of your cruel, twisted mind games to string me along and torture me?"

I rolled my eyes with a tiny huff of a snort and tried again, "Lea."

Face still under the pillow, he struck a defiant finger up high into the air, "Well not this guy! Nu-uh, no siree bob! I am done dancing to your sadistic whims! Begone, devious succubus, and tempt me no more with your-"

"Lea!" I snapped exasperatedly, unconsciously smacking my crop against my leg.

Oof, that'd stung a bit.

But it seemed to be what finally caught his attention. He hooked a thumb beneath his pillow now, lazily hoisting it up just enough for him to lift his head and look at me. Then he bolted up into a sitting position, back ramrod straight and eyes all but popping out of his head as the pillow tumbled to the mattress behind him. His wide-eyed gaze met mine. Then darted down to the lingerie. Over to the riding crop in my hand. Then he was madly scrambling to the foot of the bed, sitting on his knees there with his hands gripping the edge of the bedframe hard enough to turn his knuckles white as he heavily and rapidly breathed through his nose.

I just stood there, flushing more furiously and resisting the urge to self-consciously shift my weight from one foot to the other.

OhgodwhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdowhatdoIdowhatdoI-

In a state of mild panic, I abruptly thrust the crop towards him and blurted out, "Shirt. Off."

...sure, that works.

Not missing a beat and faster than should have been humanly possible, Lea yanked his top up over his head and chucked it across the room. Then his eyes fastened on me once more, seemingly eagerly awaiting my next instruction.

Uh…

Nowwhatnowwhatnowwhatnowwhatnowwhatnow-

"Knees," I pointed at a spot on the floor in front of me, "Now."

In his haste to comply, he stumbled and fell out of the bed, crashing into the floor but was quick to recover and prop himself up on his knees before me.

Fudgewhatnextwhatnextwhatnextwhat-

Swat your thigh with the thingie again!

...I'm sorry, brain, do what now?

Well, I mean… it seemed to be highly well received just a second ago, so…

Pulse racing, I hesitated for a split second before piercing the air with another sharp thwack of the riding crop hitting my skin. His muscles visibly grew taut and tense, but he stayed put, his throat emitting an impatient whimper.

...was it really this easy?

...this actually was kind of fun…

Feeling some of the nervous tension start to ebb from my body, I slowly began to circle him now, lightly tapping the lash of the crop into the palm of my other hand as I murmured, "Now… what, oh what am I going to do with you?"

Lea released a deep, throaty chuckle. "...I might be able to think of a thing or two…"

Coming to a stop in front of him once again, I bowed down to his eye level, using the riding crop to lift his chin as I grinned at him. "I'm listening."

For the record, zero sleep was had that Christmas night.

The lingerie did not survive Lea's ravenous onslaught.

We may have also slightly broken that antique dresser.

Oops. Guess they just don't make those things as sturdy as they used to.

Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR! And based on this chapter, have another (belated) merry Christmas xD Figures that my longest chapter to date had to be the friggin' lingerie chapter xD I am almost ashamed of myself… BUT NOT REALLY! No regrets, yolo! Lol, I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had fun writing it :D

Fun Fact: This was actually the first bonus chapter idea I came up with for this story. It came to me about a year ago while I was still working on chapter… 17 I think? I wanted to immediately start writing it, but I restrained myself, wanting to finish the main story first. But having a whole year with this one-shot in the back of my mind is probably why it ended up being so long, cuz I kept coming up with more little ideas to squeeze into it xD Then of course, I started coming up with the ideas for the other bonus chapters that came before it, forcing myself to wait even longer to write it but aaahhhhhh, yay, I finally got to this one! And did I include Esmeralda's Secrets all the way back in chapter 19 specifically with this bonus chapter in mind? Yes, yes I did x'D Of course, I knew this whole time Esmeralda herself was gonna be making an appearance, but Frollo turned out to be a last minute addition that came to me as I was writing the chapter. But including him made me realize I had a missed opportunity: on one of Lea's and Elsa's many visits to the mall's clock tower which has BELLS, they should've bumped into a certain hunchback who's in charge of maintaining said bells xD Ah well, even tho they never saw him in the story, I've made it canon now: that is officially Quasimodo's job in this AU xD And he's always embarrassed about his adoptive father protesting with his picket signs outside the store of the cute girl he has a crush on xD Poor guy!

So many lines I snagged from the video games and the movies as references this chapter, I wonder if you guys were able to catch every single little one I slipped in? xD And obviously Elsa's fave musical that's playing at Broadway is Frozen 2 (since that's where Show Yourself that she sang back in auditions was from) but I didn't want to CALL it that in the story, but had zero ideas for a clever replacement title, so it didn't get a name xD And while I gave a few details here and there, for the most part I left the lingerie Elsa purchased vague on purpose - I figure some things are just best left to the imagination ;P Lea doesn't usually have such a one track mind as he did this chapter… or maybe he does and he's just usually more tactful about concealing it xD Either way, Lea ALSO isn't usually presented with the possibility of his very hot girlfriend dressing up in sexy lingerie for him, so can ya really blame the guy for being a bit of a horndog this chapter? I think not xP Worry not however, he'll be back to his normal, (slightly) more classy self next chapter xD You can bet tho that now that he knows Elsa has been to the dirty store in the mall, that he has since dragged her back there on more than one occasion now so they could make a few purchases as a couple, hehehe :3 But like I said all the way back at the very beginning, despite the main subject of the chapter, it was still all fairly tame, right? I haven't yet crossed THAT particular line… I may come right up to the line, dance wildly and with reckless abandon on top of the line, but not cross it xD I dunno if I'll ever be brave enough to write a full-on lemon, but maybe one day…. Hehehehe…

Anyhoo, tis with a sad and heavy heart that I must announce that this will probably be my last update for a while. Don't worry, there's more to come! I still have at least 3 more bonus chapters for this story planned! However, I've been working on almost nothing but this story for over a year now and I've finally hit a point where I need a break xD I think I'm gonna take a few weeks and have a breather from writing in general, but trust me, that won't last for long before the itch takes hold of me once again and I'll NEED to scratch it! When that happens, I'm not sure what I'm gonna work on next - it'll be Axelsa, without question, that's just my brand yo, it has bewitched my very SOUL xD But WHICH Axelsa story is the question! Will I update one of my older incomplete stories over on FFN/AO3 or will I get back to work on that new story I have the first 3 chapters written of that I've yet to share with you all? Guess we'll seeeeeeeeeeee xD I might eventually start posting some of my older stories here on tumblr too - they’re all incomplete currently tho and I was hoping to finish them before I started sharing them here, but I might not be able to resist in the end. I have commissioned a couple artists recently, so hopefully you’ll be seeing those soon! I’ll have more of my own personal fanart to share too in the hopefully near future, I just need to wait for my hand to recover as I sprained it being the irresponsible dope that I am and have had to put my doodling on hold while it recuperates xD All of that is to say, you’ll be hearing from me and my Axelsa obsession again in some form or another in the near future, you can count on it!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

[atlasfreak]

hell is hot from your mistakes

chapter two; Tumblr edition

The afterlife is a mess of time and space. Dream got the brunt end of that mess, of time, and bad luck follows Tommy even in death. Dream is mere seconds too late reviving him.

Tommy wakes up in a familiar, unfamiliar world in a familiar, unfamiliar body that looks so much like an old friend of his, and yet he remembers everything when really, he shouldn't His brother's voice guides him, the Nether is blistering heat and dust and his hands are hoofed.

ArchiveOfOurOwn link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073104 or THIS

Life as a piglin isn't so bad. Tommy decided that a week or so ago.

He wakes up in their little cave. Tommy's brother will headbutt him until he gets up and plays - they chase each other around the netherrack. Sometime later the big piglin, their mother, cracks open her eyes with a tired rumble. It feels so childish, Tommy feels so childish, playing games with his brother while he knows that bad things are happening in the Overworld, in his home - that he messes around with a dumb piglin friend while Tubbo and Quackity and Sam Nook and Techno and the DreamSMP have to deal with his mess, his rivalry, his death.

Then his brother barrels into him, and he feels Dream's phantom fist in his face, and he gets up, and he runs faster.

Their mother watches with approval.

That's what she does when they play - she watches. She doesn't move, not even when Tommy is thrown too far and doesn't get up for a moment (not again not again not again I'm not going back there I don't want to die). Then she will leave them there, alone in a big red cave, and she will come back a few hours later with food. She'll watch, watch them eat, then watch them play, and then it's time to sleep and she will watch them sleep always standing guard, protecting.

Sometimes she takes them out into the forest, like the day Tommy woke up. They stick close to her side when she does.

It's not rare that, when she came back to them, she'd be bleeding. They know it's from the hoglins - Tommy remembers the bruises they left across his human body. Their mother always tried to hide the blood from their eyes, but they had seen it before. He was torn - part of himself chastises, a soldier never flinches at blood, and the other is yelling, screaming for mercy, but Dream never showed him mercy. Never.

His brother was equally as desensitized, but that's how it was as a Nether mob. Even a baby like him has seen horrors here.

Their mother brings back hoglin meat and leather and she sharpens her golden sword on a beastly tusk. It makes Tommy feel ever so slightly sick - the hoglins look like piglin brutes and Technoblade is a piglin brute and always, always the worry bubbles up that somehow, somehow Techno was killed. That Tommy will arrive in a very different DreamSMP than he knew, one with more spirits and less living, breathing bodies.

Mama piglin will notice him staring at his food oh-so-blankly. She'll nudge him with silent eyes. He shakes his head and he ignores his worst thoughts and he eats. It's usually raw and tough and chewy, but it's good. When they have a stroke of luck and hoglins step too close to lava or fire, they eat cooked pork. Very rarely does the piglin mother give them rotten flesh to eat and Tommy is glad, but god if he can't help but miss the carrots he was used to in the SMP, or the sweeter golden carrots Techno always gave him, or even the dusty potatoes of Pogtopia.

That's how it always was. He would let himself enjoy something, and then his brain would remind him of what he's seen and done and suffered, of what's waiting for him when he finally finds a way home.

(He wishes this could be home, but he was never meant for safety, he thinks. He has to go back.)

Wilbur always goes quiet when he declares that he will make it back to the DreamSMP, and yet he always whispers "I'm sorry, Tommy " when the once-human boy goes still, lost in thought, in reminiscence - when he misses what he had what feels like eons ago, but enjoys what he has now, here, in a red cave in a red forest in a red world, when he thinks it doesn't feel right, to miss a metaphorical hell but enjoy life here, in literal hell. Wilbur apologizes.

Tommy knows he's lucky. He's never been lucky before, but right now he's lucky, because- because his guardian is kind and skilled and strong. He's seen other piglins die; he's watch her kill them. And still she always brings them food, still they live as well as the Nether allows and it's all thanks to her strength. Without her, Tommy would be dead, and he knows it.

He's so very very lucky and yet he still misses his last life.

So Wilbur apologizes. Tommy doesn't know why, but part of him whispers If he hadn't come to the DreamSMP, you would still have every life. It's his fault. Of course he's apologizing. He decides that he'll never let Wilbur hear that voice

Tommy likes Wilbur now. He liked L'manburgian Wilbur and he hated Pogtopian Wilbur and he likes Ghost Wilbur and he hated Death Zone Wilbur and he likes Nether Wilbur.

Of course, he was nervous - nervous that Wilbur would go mad again, that he would put that final nail in the coffin, that Tommy would be stuck with the ghost of everything bad in Pogtopia murmuring into his ear. But Wilbur didn't - he hasn't. He's as sane as he was when they laughed together, when life was kind. Wilburs leaves when Tommy asks him to go, Wilbur jokes and he laughs and his voice is always fond now. Tommy can trust him, finally. He trusts here, somehow - despite everything, he trusts. He trusts his new mother and his new brother he trusts Wilbur. He trusts him more than he did by his right hand in a revolution built on drugs and blackstone walls, far more than he ever did as a bystander to madness in a desperate hideout, a ravine.

Wilbur Soot has been there always, through everything, but only now does Tommy trust him. Only now does Wilbur act like family does, like a brother should.

(Are they family now? Tommy hopes they are.)

One day he'll ask what happened in those long years Wilbur spent dead. How had he changed so much? But for now, he'll let Wilbur keep his secrets; he doesn't want this to be ruined.

But no matter. Tommy is grateful and he finally, finally trusts Wilbur.

Where is Wil, anyway?

Tommy lets his eyes flutter open. He glances up at the warm red roof. He's curled in on himself - he'd been ready to sleep. He waits for a quiet Tommy? or a groan from the voice in his ears, but Wilbur's gone, he's silent. Probably asleep. (Can you even sleep in the Afterlife? Tommy hadn't tried.)

He looks back down, eyes scanning the cave.

His piglin brother is snoring softly to his right, dead to the world like Technoblade always was when he slept. Tommy thinks about Techno a lot, thinks about how Techno must have done this, too; survived the Nether. He looks at his hoofed hands and he thinks of his old friend.

He's distracted again. Tommy shakes his head and turns to his left.

Mama piglin is laying there, in her spot, watching Tommy and his piglin brother. Her eyes never leave them as she licks a small, bloody gash on her shoulder, cleaning it almost like a cat. Tommy stares at the red as it drips down and stains her soft fur, and he only blinks when she presses hoglin hide to it, soaking up the rest of the crimson, waiting for it to scab. Her eyes are on him purely now, curious.

Tommy moves to lay his head back on the ground. He and his piglin brother sleep on a little patch of soft soul soil, his mother by the entrance but just out of sight of the outside. Wilbur's voice always comes from the right of him, by where the other piglin sleeps. It's cozy; it's nice.

She tilts her head as he shifts, squeaking at him. He still can't quite talk like them - he's got a piglin's body and his human memories and thoughts and those memories and thoughts are wired for English. But he understands what she says.

"Are you ok?"

Tommy grumbles back. She gets up and sniffs at his head, like she always does. Checking that he's ok.

"I fuckin'- I miss my home," he tells her. His English is improving, and he's excited to use it on a person, a player. But for now, he uses it at a piglin; a piglin who doesn't understand. She's used to it by now, her odd son. She's used to his odd speaking and his odd movement and his odd thinking and she still protects him with her life. Still, it's typically tough love, with her. She would sacrifice herself for them, yes, but she so rarely lets them curl up to her.

Right now, though? She lays her head by Tommy's, puffing air at him and quietly murmuring comfort.

"I miss the fuckin' SMP. I want to go back home, but I like it here with you, too. I don't know what I'm gonna fuckin' do."

She licks at his face with a worried warble. It's just a low grunt, and yet Tommy still understands.

"Sleep. Sleep! Worry is not good for piglets. Worry is not good for you!"

Tommy closes his eyes. "Ok. Ok, I'll- I'll sleep. On it. I'll sleep on it. Goodnight, piglin mother. Goodnight."

He hears her get up to go back to her spot, and while she doesn't understand his words, she understands his point.

She rumbles, almost purrs as she goes back to watching.

Tommy could practically hear her voice wish him "sweet dreams."

It's been two weeks since Tommy woke up with hooves; seventeen days, sixteen nights. He takes his mother's sword and cuts nicks in the wall for every day.

Piglins are odd mothers. More protective than anything Tommy's ever seen, and yet so relaxed about when their piglets live or die, whether they're safe or hurt.

Mama Piglin (as Wilbur has dubbed her) watches with an eagle's eye, but she lets him use the sword with little protest.

It's hard to count the days in the Nether. There's no sun to wake him up, and there's no moon to tell him to sleep. There's only his piglin brother to shake his shoulder, wake up, come play! and his piglin mother to croak at him, time for sleep. Wilbur has been telling him when an Overworld day is over and when an Overworld day has started.

Tommy will never admit it, but Wilbur has been his savior, his anchor in this red world. Someone who speaks like him and thinks like him and knows how he speaks and knows how he thinks. Wil's mellowed out, half the madness he had when he died, and he instructs and guides Tommy and god, most importantly, he keeps Tommy company.

And right now, Wilbur is keeping too much company.

I don't see why you want to go back. Wilbur grumbles. It's nice here. Just stay a Nether piglin, Tommy. You have Mama Piglin to keep you safe and Brother Piglin to play with. What's the DreamSMP got?

They're following Mama Piglin through the brush. Tommy fidgets with a red tendril he'd nicked hanging from a small tree while Wilbur's voice saves him from sheer boredom. "Well, it's got Tubbo," Tommy grumbles.

Wilbur sighs. His voice comes from somewhere behind Tommy. Didn't Tubbo exile you?

"Lads on tour, lads on tour," Tommy hums instead, staring at the ground. I'm not heavy enough to leave hoof tracks, he notes quietly. "Do you remember being Ghostbur, Wil?" You changed the subject, but yes. I still am Ghostbur, Wilbur mutters. How do you think I know when it's been a day?

"I dunno. Thought you like, counted."

Counted the seconds in a day?

"Seems like a you thing."

Mama Piglin pauses and Tommy nearly runs into her. She chirps quietly at him and Little Piglin as he appears on Tommy's left, then turns around.

"Stay," she's saying, Tommy decides. He sits. The other piglin glances at him and then copies. When she nods approvingly, Tommy sticks his tongue out at his brother.

Don't be rude, Tommy, Wilbur scolds as the piglin's ears flatten.

"'e's a prick."

So are you.

"Wh- hey!"

Watch Mama Piglin, Wilbur interrupts suddenly. His voice is rapt with excitement. She's gonna try and kill that hoglin.

Tommy glances around, intrigued. He catches the other piglin staring into the trees after their mother, so he follows its gaze. The big piglin is, in fact, creeping up on a grazing hoglin, golden sword unsheathed and held at her side. It's an awful beast, chewing on the red grass, facing away from Mama Piglin (Tommy and his brother, hiding in the thicket.)

"Nononono, wait." Tommy whips his head around, trying to peer through the trees aroudn them. "Wait, she's gonna get herself killed, Wilbur. Wilbur, Wilbur- Wilbur, don't hoglins come in groups?"

Wilbur is silent. Tommy is alone with his thoughts - his worries. "No, mama piglin! You're gonna die!" he screams in his painfully inhuman scream.

She glances over. Almost if understanding, her eyes are wide. Confused, almost fearful. She grumbles lowly, asking "Danger?"

The baby piglin beside him has wide eyes, as if he understood his English.

"Yes! Danger! Mama piglin, lots of danger! Lots of fuckin' danger!"

Tommy, shut up! Wilbur spits, almost frantic. Shut the fuck up! You're gonna alert the hog!

Too late.

The hoglin looks up as Tommy shuts his mouth, eyes wide. Mama piglin starts backing up slow, slowly. The hoglin looks around, searching for the source of the noise, and it locks eyes with her.

Her ears fall flat.

Oh, fuck. Wilbur whispers.

The hoglin rears with a bloodcurdling roar, slamming its front hooves into the ground. Tommy can't feel his legs; he's stapled to the ground, forced to watch the horrible swine as it grunts, as it charges.

The other baby piglin squeals as the hoglin slams its tusks into their mother - the impact sends her flying. The other child smacks at Tommy frantically - "GO! GO!" -and runs towards the hoglin.

"NO! NONONONONO! NO, COME BACK! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY! YOU'LL DIE! NO!" Tommy screams, pain lighting his throat ablaze.

Wilbur is deathly silent in his ears, but Tommy can hear his shaky breaths.

The hoglin roars as Tommy's piglin brother stumbles through the red grass. Tommy and Wilbur both know what awaits him there.

Tommy hears the thud of more hooves, and yet he still can't move. He feels panic shoot through every one of his veins like snow slush under wheels and he can't move. He feels like he's sitting beside himself, watching his hooves shake. They're alien to him - part of him knows that even if they were skin, not fur, he still wouldn't recognize them.

Wilbur's voice finally, finally cuts through the fuzziness.

THESEUS, RUN!

Tommy looks up. Soon there will be blood staining long hoglin tusks. Three more have arrived. His brother is screaming, and Tommy is broken out of his stupor as he feels himself get scruffed.

His mother - she's grabbed him, tugging him away. Her eyes shine with something distant, familiar.

It's grief.

They're leaving the other child behind.

"No, we can't!" Tommy shrieks. "No! Mama, we have to go back! We have to go get him!"

Deep down, he knows his piglin brother is already dead, crushed under dirty hog hooves. That doesn't stop him from sobbing as his mother holds him close, afraid to loosen her grip lest she lose a second son.

"Wilbur!" Tommy's voice shakes. "Wilbur! Wilbur?"

He's silent, and so is Tommy's piglin brother. There are no more heartwrenching screams, only sick silence. Tommy still feels the fear rushing through him as his mother runs, and Tommy knows if water could exist here, he would be crying harder than he had in a very long time.

Dry your tears. Soldiers don't cry.

(But he's not a soldier here, he's just a child. He's always been just a child.)

The cavern he's come to see as his home feels so fucking empty without his brother, and his ears feel so blank without Wilbur's voice, his gentle humming. Tommy hopes that he'd taken the piglin child to the afterlife, and he hopes even more that Wilbur will come back, that he won't be trapped in the dead zone. That he won't leave Tommy alone, so terribly fucking alone.

His mother doesn't place him in his spot on the soul soil today. She instead grabs him and draws him to lay by her side, and she's shaking. God, she's shaking like a leaf. She swallows her sadness down, lifts her head to shake away her pain and Tommy watches her in horror as she turns to him and she puts her effort into comforting him. Sniffing at his head as she always does, making sure he's still alive and well. Holding him close, so nothing will harm him. Reassuring him, reassuring herself. It.. it's nice, Tommy decides. If he has to be a baby piglin, he has a good mother, at least.

"Mama piglin?" he murmurs.

She doesn't respond.

He looks to his right, where his brothers used to sleep - both of them. His piglin brother and his human one - they always sat to his right. Whether soft fur or a quiet voice, they were always at his right.

"Wilbur?"

He doesn't respond.

Tommy sighs and lets his head fall. "Goodnight, mama piglin. Goodnight, Wilbur. Goodnight, Nether." His voice breaks.

"Goodnight, brother piglin."

When he dreams today, it's so much more real. So much more horrifyingly real.

He's back in the prison. His own body lays in a shaky ring of blood, looking broken as it felt to live in it. Dream is sitting against the wall, head tucked behind his knees, hidden behind his arms. He's not wearing his mask, and his knuckles bleed. Red stains the wall above his head as well. Tommy winces as it trickles down, into greasy blonde hair.

Funny. Even after dying, after being reborn as a stupid little pig, Dream still haunts his - well, dreams. Fitting. Tommy could almost laugh at the irony, but he doesn't. Tommy doesn't move at all, actually. He's standing in front of the lava, stock still. He doesn't think he could move if he wanted to; he feels like his feet are glued to the ground. He looks down, as though to check.

He takes a sharp breath. His eyes shoot up immediately, waiting for Dream to whip around and smile at him, waiting for the haunting "Tommy, welcome back!"

But no matter how long Tommy holds his breath, Dream doesn't react.

Tommy looks down again.

He doesn't have the little hooves he's used to, no soft fur. He notices now that there's no tail following him, and he's taller than he should be. Way taller.

He's human.

He's a ghost.

Tommy shakes his head. His hair flops around like his ears used to, and he hates it. Somehow, somehow, he misses being a piglin. There's no more fluff to cover up the bruises on his skin, and it's bittersweet. He doesn't like this.

The splash of water echoes in his ears. He glances up. Food is falling into the water pool at the edge of the cell. They're not raw potatoes, they're carrots.

"Hello, Sam," Dream murmurs, lifting his head out from behind his arms. "I still won't help you."

Immediately, Tommy knows he's missing something. He's an eavesdropper, listening to an old conversation he's new to.

Sam sighs. "It's not a bribe. I ran out of potatoes."

"You didn't."

"I did."

Silence stretches out before Dream yawns. He doesn't move to grab the food, just stares. "You ever gonna come get this?" he says, nodding at the body.

"They're for you."

"Not the carrots. Tommy."

Tommy jolts as Dream says his name, a spike of frantic anxiety, but Dream is glaring at his corpse. Not him, not his apparition, not his face.

"Dream," Tommy calls. Against all his better judgement - he has to know. "Dream?"

No piercing green gaze turns to bore into gray eyes. Feeling returns to Tommy's legs. Shakily, shakily, he creeps forward.

"Dream?"

He nudges his former cellmate - his hand passes through. But Dream jumps and looks around and Tommy's heart drops. Dream's eyes don't find him. He raises an eyebrow, turns away. Tommy sighs. He's safe. Dream can't touch him.

Dream is back to glaring at the carrots. "Sam?"

"Dream."

"So? Are you gonna come take his body, or..?"

"I-"

What are you doing, Theseus?

He nearly jumps out of his skin, Tommy's so startled. "Wilbur?"

Tommy! A grey hand pokes out from the wall. Ghostbur. You're not meant to be here, Tommy. Come with me! Dream can see me, we should go.

Tommy casts one last weary look at Dream, then he sighs and he shuts his eyes and he takes Wilbur's hand. Wilbur tugs.

When Tommy opens his eyes, his hands are hoofed and he sees red again. The red is comforting. Red has never been comforting before.

"Wilbur?"

Tommy! Good morning.

"I dreamt about you. And Dream. And Sam."

A pause. Oh, Tommy.

"I was- I was afraid," he whispers. He doesn't want to wake Mama Piglin, he really doesn't. "I was afraid Dream would see me, so fuckin' afraid."

Ignore it, Tommy. Wilbur's voice echoes in his ears. You weren't meant to see th- you're not meant to have nightmares here, it's safe. No Dream here. Ignore it. It'll only upset you. Ignore it. Go back to sleep.

"..okay," Tommy murmurs. "Ok, Wil."

...

"Wilbur?"

Theseus?

"Will you- nevermind."

No, it's ok. What is it?

"Uh- why don't you sing? I haven't heard you sing in awhile."

There's a moment of silence. Do y- do you want me to sing to you?

"No- no, I'm-"

Awww, Tommy! I'll sing to you, it's ok! Tommy!

Tommy grumbles, but Wilbur's voice drifts around, soft and sweet as ever. He can almost forget the thunder of hooves, the bubble of lava, the roar of explosives - all of it, he could almost forget as Wilbur hums.

Almost.

But when Tommy's eyes flutter closed and his breath evens out, Wilbur Soot frowns.

Somewhere across the map, there's a portal. Through that portal is a stone black room and stone black creeper eyes and a stone black cell and in that stone black cell, Dream could've sworn he felt a hand on his shoulder.

[queseraone]

Secret

From a Tumblr prompt: "Jay is a doctor and Erin is a nurse. They are married but nobody knows they are in a relationship and their coworkers find out." I put my own spin on this idea, hopefully you like it!

Thanks to my lovely ladies @suttonbradyy and @halsteadpd for putting up my millions of questions and all of their input.

Obviously I know nothing about medicine, sooooooo…

(Also thanks to Grey’s Anatomy for lots of inspiration - you might recognize a few things I borrowed from that show! And some Med characters too!)

Jay sighed, flopping back on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling. “I just don’t understand why you don’t want to tell people?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell people. I just… it’s different for me.” Noting the look of confusion on his face, Erin continued. “Okay look, if people find out that you’re sleeping with a nurse, they’ll high five you or think you’re a stud or some other sexist bullshit. But if people find out that I’m sleeping with a doctor? I can already hear the whispers—Lindsay is screwing a doctor to get ahead. That’s why Lindsay got that promotion. Lindsay is cheating the system. I just want people to see me for me, to respect what I bring to the table.”

“I can appreciate that,” Jay stood up, reaching for her and taking her hands in his own. “And I know how important your job is to you. It’s just going to be really, really hard for me to see you in the cafeteria or pass you in the halls and not be able to touch you…” Jay’s fingertips danced along her skin, trailing up her arms before settling on her face, drawing her ever closer. “…or kiss you senseless…”

Erin smiled against his lips, savouring the moment before reluctantly pulling back. “I know. I feel the same way, but—”

“It’s okay babe, I get it.” He pressed his lips against hers one more time before taking a step back and sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as she got ready for work. His girl in scrubs might just be his favourite sight. She looked strong and powerful and so damn sexy. He would never get tired of that sight, thanking his lucky stars that their paths had crossed in the first place.

It was a total fluke that they even met. He was fresh from Afghanistan, completing his residency in trauma surgery at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital, and she was on loan there from Gaffney Chicago Med, helping to cover when most of their nursing staff was sidelined by a particularly brutal bout of food poisoning. Jay still liked to joke that a bad pot of chili was the best thing to ever happen to him, because it brought her into his life.

They were assigned to the same case—a woman was brought in with life-threatening injuries after being impaled by a falling icicle—and later found themselves seated side-by-side at a nearby bar after shift. After unpacking the intensity of the day, their conversations shifted to more personal topics as they laughed and drank together. It was no surprise that the night ended back at her place, and they had more or less been waking up together ever since.

There had always been an element of competition between them, playfully arguing about whose hospital was better. Sure, Lakeshore got high-profile cases and tons of publicity, but Gaffney had a state-of-the-art emergency department that rivaled some of the best hospitals in the country. And now that Jay was starting his fellowship at her hospital, Erin was excited for him to admit that she’d been right all along.

Jay was just looking forward to seeing more of his girlfriend. Working at different hospitals—often on opposite shifts—sometimes meant going days without seeing each other. So even though he agreed to keep their relationship a secret at work, he was still thrilled to be closer to her.

“You know,” he began, his face lighting up with a mischievous grin. “This whole sneaking around thing could be kind of fun.”

Erin laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, crossing the room to playfully swat his arm. “I’ll see ya.” She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

*

Collapsing into an empty seat at the nurses’ station, Erin was thankful to finally have a few minutes to update her patient files and hopefully wolf down a granola bar. She noticed that a couple of the other nurses were deep in conversation, throwing furtive glances across the ED. “What are you guys whispering about?”

“Have you seen the new trauma surgeon?” Doris asked, her voice hushed as she leaned closer to Erin.

Knowing full well who they were talking about, Erin pretended to be engrossed in a chart, casually shrugging her shoulders in response.

“Oh my god Erin, look at him! He’s so hot!” Monique gushed.

Erin stole a quick look across the ED, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to hide her reaction to the sight of Jay. ‘Hot’ did not do her man justice. She watched the fabric of his scrubs straining against his biceps as he worked on a patient, and if she listened close enough, she could just make out the sound of his voice as he gave orders to an intern.

Trying to remain calm—her plan to hide their relationship wouldn’t exactly be successful if she ran across the ED and jumped his bones in the middle of shift—she just shrugged again. After taking a long swig from her water bottle, she continued, her tone much more relaxed than she felt. “Yeah, I guess he’s kind of cute.”

“Kind of cute?” A wide-eyed April chimed in incredulously. “Erin, you need to get your eyes checked or something. That man is fine as hell!”

Fighting the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes—Jay’s ego was already big enough, she could only imagine how that kind of comment would go straight to his head—Erin continued, “Whatever, I have a boyfriend. So it doesn’t really matter if I think the new guy is cute.” She stood up abruptly, more than ready for the conversation to be over. “Anyway, don’t you guys have work to do?”

*

“I have been wanting to do that allllllll day,” Jay murmured against Erin’s lips after pulling her into an empty exam room.

Erin sighed blissfully, her eyes fluttering shut as his lips moved lower, kissing a trail down the column of her neck. Before she even had time to fully appreciate the feeling of her boyfriend’s muscular body pinning her against the wall or his strong hands roaming her body, they were interrupted by an obnoxious beeping.

“Son of a bitch,” Jay cursed under his breath as they both fumbled around for their pagers.

She groaned, knowing their moment was over before it even started. “You or me?”

“Me,” he grumbled, pausing as he read the message. “Incoming trauma.”

Erin wrapped her arms even tighter around his torso, burying her face in his chest and inhaling his familiar scent. “Noooooo.”

“Gotta save lives babe,” he grinned, leaning in for one last kiss. “Love you.”

*

“I think I’m going to go for it,” Monique proclaimed out of the blue a few days later.

They were gathered around the nurses’ station, taking advantage of a rare moment of quiet to load up on coffee. After all, five quiet minutes usually meant five hours of crazy was on the way.

April’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “Ooooh, really?”

“Go for what?” Erin’s brows quirked up in confusion. Clearly she was out of the loop on something. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Monique is going to ask Dr. Halstead out.” And then, somehow mistaking the look of sheer horror on Erin’s face for misunderstanding, April continued, “Dr. Halstead is the new trauma surgeon.”

“The hot one!” Monique added with a wide grin. Grabbing a compact from the pocket of her scrubs, the young blonde nurse quickly surveyed her appearance in the mirror. Apparently satisfied with her reflection, she immediately popped it back into her pocket and faced her colleagues again. “Wish me luck!”

And then it was like a car accident—try as she might, Erin just couldn’t look away. Her eyes were trained on Monique, watching as the younger woman crossed the ED to where Jay was standing, reading through a patient file and jotting down some notes.

He looked up when Monique stopped in front of him, offering her a small smile. “Hey, did you need me for a consult?”

“Um, actually,” Monique began, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. “I was sort of wondering if maybe you might want to… go out with me some time?”

Jay was completely silent, his mouth hanging slightly open as he tried to find a way to respond.

Erin swore she could feel his eyes on her, practically burning through her skin from across the ED. It took every ounce of self-control she had to stop herself from making eye contact with him. She focused on keeping her head down, feigning interest in whatever was on the computer screen in front of her.

She couldn��t react. She couldn’t say a word. Not without giving everything away.

It had been over a week, and despite a couple of close calls—like the time Erin instinctively reached out for Jay’s hand after a particularly emotional case, only remembering at the last second and awkwardly covering by knocking over a stack of files, pissing off the charge nurse in the process—they had been doing a pretty good job of keeping things under wraps.

But in that moment, standing there watching as her colleague hit on her boyfriend? All Erin could do was wonder what the hell she was thinking wanting to hide their relationship.

Still refusing to look up, she could hear Jay clear his throat loudly, and in her peripheral vision she watched as his hand moved up to rub along the back of his neck—a nervous tic of his. Even from a distance she could faintly hear him hemming and hawing, tripping on words as he tried to apologize and find a way to let Monique down easy.

After another minute staring at the computer screen, Erin saw Monique dejectedly plunk herself back down in an empty chair.

“He turned me down,” she explained sadly. “Apparently he has a girlfriend.”

*

Word about Jay’s relationship status spread quickly around the hospital—not that it mattered. It seemed like the entire nursing staff was infatuated with him, regardless of the fact that he was off the market.

And it was driving Erin absolutely crazy.

She knew it would be a challenge to work so closely with him while keeping their relationship a secret. But she never could have anticipated that it would this hard.

When she wasn’t being driven mad with lust—seriously, could he stop looking so damn sexy all the time?—she just wanted to scream for her colleagues to back the fuck off and stop ogling her boyfriend.

It was getting out of hand. She had never been the jealous type before, but there was just something about having to stand there and listen to everyone talk about how attractive Jay was (as if she didn’t know that already) that was making her lose her mind. One of these days she honestly thought she might smack someone.

*

She came awfully close to actually smacking someone a few nights later. Working overnight always brought out an interesting set of characters, and that night was no exception. After treating a sweet little boy who had fallen out of his new bunk bed, Erin headed into the next exam room, cringing inwardly at the smell of cheap alcohol and cigarettes filling her nostrils.

The middle-aged man waiting there was beyond drunk—it smelled like he’d bathed in booze—and he was practically falling off of the hospital bed. He glanced up at the sound of the curtain opening, looking her up and down.

Figures she’d get the creepy drunk again.

She’d only been in this man’s proximity for a few seconds, and Erin already felt like she needed to shower. Doing her best to hold her breath—his stench brought back memories from her childhood that she had no interest in thinking about—she approached him, plastering a fake smile on her face as she tried to ignore him leering at her.

“Hi there Mr.,” she paused, scanning the intake form for his name, “…Lowery. Is says here that you were found passed out on a park bench? Little too much to drink tonight sir?”

He managed to tear his eyes away from her body, looking up at her with a sleazy grin. “I’m fiiiiiiine,” he slurred. “Better now that you’re here sweetheart.”

Erin bit her tongue, fighting the urge to give him an earful. “Mr. Lowery, I see there’s a note here that you were bleeding when you came in, that you might have hit your head? I’m going to need to take a look and make sure you don’t need stitches, okay?”

She reluctantly took a step closer to him, pushing his greasy hair aside to examine the nasty gash across his forehead. He was definitely going to need stitches. She was just about to step away when she felt his hand reach around and grab her ass.

“Get your hands off of me!” she hissed, ready to deck the guy as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

“Hey!” A male voice shouted, loud enough to startle Mr. Lowery.

Jay.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he spit out, a look of blind rage on his face. “You’re here to be treated, not to manhandle our nursing staff!” Taking a deep breath—which Erin knew was in an effort to calm himself down—Jay turned to her, his face immediately softening. “You okay?”

She nodded quickly. It wasn’t the first time a patient had gotten handsy with her, and unfortunately it probably wouldn’t be the last. “I’m fine, Ja—um, Dr. Halstead, nothing I can’t handle.”

Jay knew she could handle it; he just didn’t think she should have to. “I don’t have anything right now. I can take him from here.”

Erin nodded again. “Thanks,” she added quietly as she ducked out of the room, leaving Jay to stich him up.

*

“Hey babe,” Jay smiled feebly at her when they met at the L station around the corner from the hospital an hour later. It had been a long night, and they were both eager to get home and rest.

“Hey.” Erin was silent, keeping her head down as she fell into step alongside her boyfriend. Neither said a word as they climbed the stairs leading to the tracks.

When they reached the top—the train wouldn’t arrive for fifteen more minutes—Jay sighed, grabbing Erin’s hand and pulling her closer to him. “I’m sorry about before. I know you can take care of yourself, but the security guard was off doing who knows what and I just couldn’t stand there while that asshole put his hands on you.”

“I know.”

“But you’re still mad.”

“No, it’s not that,” she began, pausing as she pulled Jay with her to sit on an empty bench. “I just—wasn’t that kind of… I don’t know… making things—us—a little bit… obvious?”

“Fuck. I didn’t even think of that.” He leaned back against the bench, feeling foolish for not realizing how his actions may be interpreted. Despite wanted to shout from the rooftops that Erin was his girlfriend, he respected her desire to keep their personal life separate from work. He hated to think he might have compromised that. “I’m so sorry babe. But you know, I honestly would have done the same thing if it was April or Monique or Doris or any of the other nurses in there. It’s such bullshit that scumbags like that think they can manhandle you guys.”

Erin nodded. It was true, Jay was one of the good ones. There was no doubt in her mind that he would have intervened for anyone, it just so happened that she’d been stuck on that case. She smiled softly as she rested her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“We okay?” When he felt her nod again, Jay leaned down to kiss her forehead.

*

When Erin returned to the hospital for her next shift, she discovered that her concerns were in vain. Sure, the ED was definitely abuzz with talk of Jay stepping in with a bad patient, but miraculously there was no mention of her name.

Of course, Jay’s heroic behaviour only made the nursing staff that much more infatuated with him.

Frankly if she heard another word about ‘Hero Halstead’ she thought she might throw up.

*

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Erin cursed under her breath, slamming the refrigerator door.

It had been the shift from hell—scratch that, the week from hell—and as far as she was concerned it could not be over soon enough.

A terrible late-night car accident had brought in a slew of victims, overwhelming the ED. Within a few hours, most had either been treated and released, or admitted and sent upstairs, so things were finally starting to quiet down a little—at least enough for Erin to get something to eat and catch up on her charting.

At least that’s what she had thought two hours earlier.

But instead of getting off her feet, she’d been running around like a madwoman. Apparently every single patient had banded together to drive her absolutely crazy. She had just cleaned up vomit for what was probably the twelfth time, only to get to the nurses’ station to discover that someone had eaten her turkey sandwich.

She just wanted to scream. Or throw something. Preferably at the asshole who stole her lunch.

Normally she wouldn’t get that upset about someone eating her food, but she and Jay had been on opposite shifts, which meant they had spent all of about five minutes together all week.

She was tired and cranky and missed her boyfriend.

And then right on cue, the elevator doors chimed and she looked up to see said boyfriend striding into the ED in his street clothes, looking happy and well-rested and sexy as all hell.

He smiled and said hello to a few people before glancing over to the nurses’ station, no doubt looking for her. They made eye contact for a split second—just long enough to say I love you, I miss you without words—and then he turned the corner toward the doctors’ lounge and was out of sight again.

Erin sighed dramatically as she headed for the vending machine. She leaned her forehead against the machine for a minute—internally debating between Doritos and a Hershey bar—before jabbing her finger at the buttons. The chocolate fell with a satisfying plunk, and she quickly snatched it up, taking a big bite as she made her way back to the nurses’ station.

When she glanced out the window on the way, she was appalled to see flakes of snowing falling from the sky. It was October. Some days she really fucking hated Chicago.

By the time she returned to the desk she had managed to rally a bit. She kept reminding herself that she only had to get through one more hour. Just one hour until she could go home and hibernate under her fluffy duvet for two whole days.

Her moderately good mood—if you could even call it that—disappeared immediately. There were a few other nurses at the station, and every single one of them was openly gawking at her boyfriend. Again.

He was chatting with his attending as they updated the OR board, and those bitches—bad mood was back in full swing—were drooling over him like he was a piece of meat.

Erin couldn’t deny that he looked damn good in his scrubs. He always did. But that day was like a whole other level of hot. Maybe it was just because it had been a while—damn the long hours and opposite schedules—but whatever the reason, she could already feel her blood pressure spiking at the sight of him.

Yanking her phone out of her pocket, she stormed down the hall in a huff.

*

Erin was pacing around the on-call room when there was a gentle rapping at the door. Before she had a chance to respond, the door creaked open and Jay poked his head around it.

“Hey,” he greeted, carefully closing the door behind himself. “You paged me? What’s wrong?”

“I need you.”

“Babe, you paged 911—do you need a consult or something?”

If she wasn’t so wound up, she probably would have laughed at his question. “No, I need you,” she breathed out, her voice husky with desire as she wrapped her arms around his neck and smashed her lips against his. Her hands moved lower, grabbing the drawstring of his scrubs to pull him closer, her fingers quickly slipping beneath the waistband.

Jay grabbed her wrists, removing her hands from his pants and taking a deep breath as he stepped back. “Erin, we’re at work.”

“So? Haven’t you seen Grey’s Anatomy? People fuck in on-call rooms all the time. It’s practically what they’re for.”

Any hesitation on Jay’s part went out the window as soon as her hands found their way back, stroking him through the fabric. “Fuck,” he groaned as she pushed him down onto the bed, throwing her leg over him and straddling his waist.

The bedsprings creaked obnoxiously as they moved together, so when Erin climbed off of him to strip out of her scrubs, Jay took the opportunity to pick her up and push her back against the wall. As he thrust into her, he kissed her deeply, swallowing the cries of pleasure spilling from her lips. She wrapped her legs tightly around him, locking her ankles against his lower back, driving him to go harder, faster, deeper.

She came with a wild moan that sent Jay over the edge right along with her. Her body went lax in his arms as they both struggled to catch their breath.

“You’re going to kill me,” Jay panted, peppering soft kisses across her bare shoulder. “But wow, what a way to go.”

They were almost dressed by the time Jay’s pager started beeping incessantly. He straightened his shirt as he looked at the screen. “Shit, this really is 911!” He crouched down to tie his shoelaces before jumping up to kiss her quickly. “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta run babe. I’ll see you at home.”

*

They had developed a pretty perfect system to keep their personal and professional lives separate. When they worked the same shifts, they rode the L to and from the hospital together—usually with Erin half asleep and resting her head against Jay’s shoulder—then held hands until they were a block away from the hospital. She took the elevator; he took the stairs.

So despite the occasional close call or near miss, they had managed to keep their secret pretty well.

Until that day.

Jay had been in surgery for hours—the way bullets flew around in Chicago, he might as well be back in Afghanistan—and was just getting ready to close when an intern burst into the operating room. “What’s going on Schmitt?”

“Dr. Halstead, they need you in the ED,” the intern explained, unable to hide the shakiness in his voice.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”

“Yes, I know, but… shots were fired.”

Jay’s blood ran cold at Schmitt’s words—Erin was on shift. “Was anyone hit?”

“I’m not sure. It’s locked down.”

Jay turned to the junior resident who had been working alongside him. “You okay to close up?” Before the young woman could even finishing nodding her head, he was already rushing out of the OR, yanking off his gloves and mask and running toward the ED.

Even though he knew it was on lockdown, he was still taken aback by the police presence. The halls were filled with officers, most dressed in full tactical gear as they gathered together to hatch out a plan of action.

He whipped his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through countless messages and notifications, desperately looking for any word from Erin. His heart pounded in his chest as he read her messages—she was in there. He didn’t know if she’d be able to answer, but he quickly typed a response asking if she was okay. He needed her to be okay.

When his phone vibrated in his hand a few seconds later, relief washed over him.

I’m fine, but Monique was hit. She’s losing a lot of blood, Jay.

Jay rushed forward, pushing past the throngs of people to where the police had blocked off the ED. “You need to let me in there!”

“Halstead,” Goodwin piped in, holding up a hand to stop him from going any closer, “you need to take a step back and let the police do their jobs.”

“I’m sorry Ms. Goodwin, but I can’t do that.” He turned to address the officer in charge, trying to keep his voice steady. “I need to go in there. There are innocent people back there—patients, nurses. And at least one of them is down.”

“Dr. Halstead, I assure you we have the situation under control,” the sergeant explained.

And then another round of gunshots rang out.

While most of the other people gathered in the hallway ducked or screamed, Jay pressed on. “With all due respect, it doesn’t seem like you have anything under control! There’s at least one person in there who’s bleeding out right now. I’m a trauma surgeon, I can help.”

“Sir, this is more than just a medical emergency. We can’t just put a civilian into a live and clearly dangerous situation. It’s against CPD protocol.”

“Fuck your protocol, my girlfriend is in there!” Jay bellowed, no longer caring who knew about their relationship. He just need her to be okay. He’d transfer to another hospital if he had to. Or flip burgers at a fucking McDonalds. He’d do anything, he just couldn’t lose her. “I’m not a civilian, I was in the military. I’ve been trained for these types of situations—and for worse ones. Now let me through!”

Maybe it was the desperation in Jay’s voice, or maybe it was just because they didn’t have any other options, but the police managed to negotiate with the shooter. He was just a scared kid, no more than fifteen years old, desperate to get treatment for his sick mother. Knowing he didn’t want anyone to die, they convinced him to let a doctor—Jay—come in.

“You sure about this?” The sergeant asked as he fastened a bulletproof vest over Jay’s scrubs.

Jay nodded resolutely as they held the door for him. He had never been more sure about anything in his life.

He entered the ED slowly, his hands held up in front of him, showing the shooter that he was not a threat. His eyes quickly scanned the room, taking in every detail of his surroundings. Most of the exam room doors were shut with the curtains closed, as was standard practice in a volatile situation. But he saw a few patients and staff members sitting in the waiting area, visibly trembling in fear.

But there was no sign of Erin or Monique anywhere.

“Where…?” Jay asked the shooter.

The boy didn’t speak; he just waved his gun at the desk.

When Jay finally saw Erin, he wanted take her in his arms and never let her go. But she was otherwise occupied, her hands busy pressing against Monique’s abdomen, applying pressure to stop her colleague from bleeding out. Falling to his knees beside them, Jay lifted Erin’s hand from the wound, squeezing it in his own as he assessed the injury.

She definitely needed surgery. And soon.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Jay quickly explained to Erin what they needed to do to stabilize Monique. When his girlfriend nodded in understanding and began following his instructions, he turned his attention to the shooter, his hands once again held in the air as he spoke. “Hey buddy, my name’s Jay.”

“Shut up!” The kid yelled across the ED, waving the gun around.

Jay wasn’t phased by the weapon in front of him, he just continued, figuring that as long as the kid was talking, he wouldn’t be shooting anyone else. “Listen, I know you’re worried about your mom, but this isn’t the way.”

“She’s going to die!” He cried, tears flowing down his cheeks. “They couldn’t help her! It’s not fair!”

“I know. I lost my mom when I was about your age, and it sucks. But buddy, trust me when I say she wouldn’t want this for you. I know you’re scared, but I really need you to put down your gun and let me to get this woman into surgery.”

“No, no one goes anywhere!”

“If we don’t operate soon, she’s going to die. Killing this woman doesn’t help you or your mom. It doesn’t make things any better.” Jay could see the boy’s resolve breaking. “Please.”

*

Jay watched as they wheeled Monique to the OR.

He had managed to convince the kid to drop his weapon, and the police breached the ED seconds later, cuffing the kid as hospital staff checked on the other patients. Fortunately, no one else had been hurt.

Jay knew he needed to get down to the OR too, but before he followed Monique’s gurney, he turned to Erin, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly as he captured her lips with his own. It was the kind of kiss that said more than any words ever could—how much he loved her, how scared he was of losing her, how relieved he felt that she was unharmed.

And in that moment, even Erin didn’t care who saw.

*

“So you’re the girlfriend,” Monique stated, smiling sheepishly as Erin entered her hospital room the next morning. She had only been awake from surgery for a couple of hours, and news of Erin and Jay’s relationship had already spread around the hospital.

Erin nodded her head as she settled into the chair beside Monique’s bed, taking the younger nurse’s hand in her own. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before.”

“Well I’m sorry I hit on your boyfriend,” Monique joked, wincing as pain shot through her side. “You’re a lucky woman.”

Erin nodded again, smiling as she glanced out the room and into the hallway where Jay was hard at work reviewing a chart with an intern. “I really am.”

*

As nice as it was to finally stop worrying about hiding their relationship, they did find themselves missing the added layer of privacy. It had been nice to have one thing that was just theirs.

So when Jay got down on one knee and asked Erin to be his girl forever, it was in the comfort of their own home, dressed in sweatpants on a quiet Sunday evening.

And when they got married a few months later, it was a quiet ceremony at city hall, with just their families present. Rings would get in the way at work anyway, so they wore them on chains around their necks, keeping their love for each other close to their hearts, safely hidden away under their scrubs.

Their little secret.

[marie-lamb-b]

@trashboatprince HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Marie Lamb here was your dear Secret Satan!!!

I hope you enjoy this ^^ Because sending you those asks so awfully written really hurt me :’)

Anyways, taking what I thought was your dearest request, here you have it!!

Enjoy it and Happy Holidays!!! ^♡^

(Tumblr version under the cut)

(Trigger Warning: Body horror)

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH--!” Was her last, enraged shriek right before it was abruptly cut due to a cold, sharp pain that took the air out of her chest.

Dreadfully slow, feeling as that mimic of blood raised by her throat, she dared to look down, only to find the tip of a sword, the sword that... that... that impostor used to carry around.

She stabbed her. She tried to kill her! She inserted that foul, sinful weapon through her chest, rejoicing on her fear and silent panic, to later remove the sharp object from her—the only thing that ironically helped her to still stand on her feet, making her collapse onto the ground in a thump.

And as the inky blood run through her by routes that shouldn’t, clogging her lungs, dripping by her mouth, nose, and eye socket, and filling her ears with a deafening ringing, she saw them. Saw the impostor claiming her errand boy; saw the mangled wolf complying the silent orders of the fake angel, diving over the man and knocking him out in a swift movement; saw them picking the unconscious body of Henry up. And with steps that no longer needed to be furtive, they left, leaving her in solitude in the middle of the debris filled ballroom, waiting for the malicious ink to claim her, to finish the job and leave her for dead.

No... no, No, No! She was so close! After ages, she had finally found it! the heart of the most perfect Boris so far... Every other Boris she found and harvested, all grotesquely flawed with twisted muzzles, mangled arms, tails that shouldn’t be or even extra fingers; none of them worthy, none of them stable, their insides never did more than prolong what seemed inevitable. That, until she saw him.

His only flaw might have been the eyes –notches pointing to the wrong direction. And still, he was stable, he was strong, he could stand next to the demon itself and still prevail as immaculate as if taken right from the old reels.

He was the one. He was the closest to perfect. His heart could fix Alice at last! His... His heart...

She didn’t even have the chance to experience it, to prove that it was indeed the final piece, to see the results of all that has been her hard work! She didn’t...

Oh, Alice... She was so close, so almost perfect... even if she already was, she’d never have the chance to see it by herself, not anymore.

Did she achieve it? Was she at least stable enough? Would she even forgive her for all the atrocities she did to obtain what she desired most?

Black viscous tears trickled at the edge of her good eye as more questions roamed through her mind in her last moments. Hardly could differentiate whether they were real tears or just more of that cursed substance menacing to take her away from inside out. Not like it made any difference at this point.

She closed her eye, unwilling to see what she was about to inevitably feel. Only the ringing in her ears filled the deafening silence that solitude was.

She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t! She was just trying to fulfill what was promised to her. It wasn’t Alice’s fault to be so imperfect, it wasn’t! They... no. He. He was the one at fault. He was the real guilty! He made her that way... if only he’d have given her a chance instead of ditching her right away...

But now it didn’t matter anymore. She would never see her perfect face –if she even managed to make her perfect.

Did it worth it? So much hard work for... for... Nothing? Was she daring to doubt it?! How could—Of course it worthed it! Even if she’s not there to see it herself...

Soft, rhythmic thumps started to take place along the ringing in her ears. So quiet at first, she wasn’t really able to notice them at first. Only when the weak light that shone through her eyelid felt disturbed, she realized of the stop of that thumping sound, which ended with a rather abrupt stomp right next to her.

Something grabbed her arm, lifting it. Something solid it was, or at least more solid than she was in that moment. Her hand was pressed against something warm, rubbing its back, and drips hit her fingers; they felt so different, so alien to her own melting skin, warmer than her at first, but turning colder as they slithered through her arm until they became part of her own ink.

Was that a sob, she heard?

Slow, painfully slow, she struggled to open her eye. The dull light felt so blinding, even although there was something obtruding it from her sight, but was enough to engulf the figure right before—above her, backlighted, like a halo for a true angel.

Her features so delicate and soft, with a beauty only seen in the old cartoons, yet so very much real, so very much... angelic. She was so close to perfection, so close to be the true and only Alice Angel, as she should have always been. But even if she was close, she saw, still there was something off, something missing. However, it didn’t deter the smile that warily yet gleeful started to spread through her face.

“My sweet... little angel...” She hoarsely whispered, weakly reaching with her free hand to her face, thumb stretching in attempt to wipe away those tears made of ink from her face.

But her unstable, dying body felt too much the strain of that simple action, as ink clogged her so useless respiratory tract, sending her to a cough fit and spasms all through her body, quickening the ink claims over her, melting more and more.

With hurry in her mind and panic in her heart, the angel in desperation held her up in a sitting position, engulfing her with her arms, afraid of letting go, of losing her so soon. All the while her sobs hitched and jerked her body with every grasp of air.

“No... please, stop...”

“No, you stop!” Was the anguished answer she got, as inky tears streamed unstoppably, drenching the angel’s cheeks. “We... we’re supposed to do this... do this together. You weren’t supposed to... You shouldn’t have...” But the lump on her throat didn’t allow her to articulate any of her thoughts.

The woman in her rubbery arms tried to reach once again for her, but stopped midways, stare locked in her mournful face, on the frown that shouldn’t be there. But she’s the one at fault for upsetting her.

“I’m...” She reached again, thumb wiping away the angel’s tears, as she leaned on her hand, holding it with one of her own. “I’m sorry, Alice.” Was what she managed to hoarsely say, as her face softened, eye filling with reluctant acceptation and smile stretching in feeble reassurance.

“No... Susie, please, don’t--!” Panic filled the angel’s voice, making it quiver in her plea. “I don’t--... Don’t want to lose you, Susie, please...!” She managed to shout in a whisper, voice betraying her bleak attempt at bravery.

And so the angel curled over the fallen one, her body quaking entirely between sobs and gasps, holding Susie as tightly as she could, but afraid to squeeze too much, as she already felt the woman’s body dripping between her grasp.

Despair was not something she ever desired to see placed in her beautiful, sweet face. Yet there they were, feeling useless on how to comfort her little angel as she was the reason such despair took over her.

With all her insignificant might, she lifted again her gooey hand, intending to stroke some lose tuffs of hair off her face, but didn’t do much than just stick it together behind her ear with her dripping fingers.

What else could she do? the more the time passed, the closer she was to... to leave her... The ink was claiming her as tribute of her own death, and she knew that only would bring more suffering to her poor angel, leaving her alone, at her own luck in this hell she wasn’t meant to belong. She didn’t deserve this...

Treasuring the warm she gave her as her own heat faded, Susie let her head to limply tilt forward, placing it right on her shaking chest, feeling the soft, rhythmic beats of the heart that lied within her, as her eye closed while she only focused on them.

How many more would have she needed? She was the closest to perfection she ever was...! They were so close...

It was soft, but determination was gleaming through her half-lidded eye. Her angel was suffering, might not have been stable enough to resist it, and she was dying, would be lucky if any bit of her conscience blooms in one of those pathetic half-formed shapes; that would be too much to ask.

“My an... gel...” She hoarsely called her, pulling way too gently her chin so she could look at her. “I need... to ask you--”

“Susie, stop. Stop talking.” Alice begged with fear leaking through her quivering voice. “Don’t waste your strength. Please...!”

“No... Alice...” She was breathing raggedly, holding back coughs that tickled her throat. “Please, I need... I need you to listen...”

The fear in her round eyes had no right to be; she should be cheery and happy as the angel she was! Then again, hell was no place for angels, and she failed to take her out of there...

She had to do it. She needed her to be safe somehow.

“Alice... please...” Susie gently held her hand, the one engulfing her, and in a slow motion she placed the angel’s hand on her chest. “I need you... to take my heart.”

“What?!” She recoiled in shock, taking her hand away from the organ; some ink tendrils flying away from the fallen one due to the suddenness of her movement. “Susie I-- I, no! Susie, I can’t--!”

“You have to!” She winced at her own command, feeling the ink raising in her throat but containing it as best as she could, though a couple of coughs escaped before she was able to keep talking as weakly as before. “Alice, you have to. I... Alice, I’m not... not going to make it. If you don’t take it, the ink will claim it...!”

“But... Susie, if I do that, you... You won’t--...” Inky tears welled up in her black rounded eyes all over again, a knot in her throat was stopping her from verbalize the so dreadful thought: the total loss of her angel on hell.

Although even if grief was glistening in her golden eye, she already made up her mind. This was for her, even if the angel didn’t want to see it that way.

“If you don’t take it...” She pauses, slowly trying to reach for her hand, though her fingers were mostly melted by now, more like stubby shapes of what could have been fingers as they kept dripping more and more. “...then, Alice... I’ll be lost. No guarantees... of me returning as I am...”

“You don’t know it!” She protested, gently squeezing her hand back. “You... You already did! You can! You can come back!”

“What if I don’t?” She begged, her eye wide in a plea that, despite all her courage, couldn’t hide the growing fear of being lost in the darkness of the ink. “What if... if I become... one of those wrong, hideous monsters?!” Desperation drowned her voice. “What if I’m back as one... only to not recognize you... and attack you, hurt you?”

Alice was at loss of words. Denial wouldn’t let the possibility to down in her.

“No! Susie, that won’t happen!”

“How can you be so sure?” She defied, her hoarsely voice a stark contrast to the angel’s strong yet trembling voice. “What makes you believe... something like that won’t happen?”

Alice clenched her grasp around her fallen angel, as the hand she was holding was no more than a shapeless slime.

“Because...Because I know you, Susie.” She shook her head, as some drips of her own unstable and stressed ink flew around. “That won’t happen. You’ll be back as you! And... and then... Then we’ll be back together! And we’ll work our way out of here, just... just like we said!” With hollow hope she tried to reassure herself, giving away a cracked smile in a vain attempt to convince herself. “You’ll be back, Susie. You will. I know...!”

“And how long will it take?” The question froze the angel in her empty reassurances. “Do you remember... how long it took last time...? When I found you... you were almost a shapeless slug... unstable...” She paused, her voice just a thread from the knot in her throat and not from the ink. “I... I almost lose you...!”

“But... Susie, no. I’m more stable now. I can wait for you--!”

“No, you can’t!” Susie cut her off rather harshly, and painfully. “My angel, you’re... You’re not stable enough. The demon still can hurt you. You are spilling already your own ink...! And you still need... the hearts...”

Silence filled their space as Alice tried to think about it for a couple of seconds.

“I-- I'll stay out of sight! He can’t hurt me if he doesn’t find me! And... And I’ll harvest them! I can do it! I’ll just—just--...” She couldn’t keep talking, as the fearful yet disapproval stare of Susie relied on her widely.

“Do you realize... where those hearths come from? You can’t step... into his territory... Is too dangerous... and the ink...!” She tried to shift a little in her hold, to rub away the tear-like ink drips that flow from her good eye, finding rather difficult now that she didn’t have any remnant of legs. “Please, Alice... take it... Take my heart!”

“No...” She tightly shook her head, never breaking eye contact. “No... Susie, no. I can’t--...! I can’t...”

“You have to.” Was her final resolution, as she once again reached to grab Alice’s hand, this time with both of her shapeless, stump-like slimy rest of hands, and placed hers tenderly on her melting chest. “The ink... is already claiming me... Don’t let it take me away...!”

Between hiccups and sobs, she takes her hand away once again to wipe her own tears, hiding her stare as with a clenched jaw, she jerkily shakes her head in a painful and reluctant nod.

Were her body a bit more defined, she’d have slumped her shoulders in relief on her acceptance.

“That’s my angel.” She said, accompanied by a lovingly smile she still was able to muster.

Still jerkily, Alice placed her hand on her chest once more, spreading her fingers around the place where her heart was meant to be, pointed nails taking their position, rotating her wrist in hopes it would make it swift and smooth, and she bit her lower lip trying to gather enough courage to do as commanded.

“Alice...” Her whispering voice stopped her tracks, face jolting to her fallen angel’s. “Be strong for me, alright?” Her answer was a more assertive nod, biting her inner cheeks as tears fogged the las sight she had from Susie. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Susie.” Alice said with a cracked voice, as she leaned forwards to have one last kiss from her fallen angel.

Fear, sorrow and passion blended together as she pressed against the lips of her true, although fallen, angel. Dark tears ran down by both set of cheeks, yet Susie ones merged with her dripping ink altogether.

No much of her body was left as they still were unable to part away for an eternal farewell. Her hair, which Alice still held with her hand behind to straight her up, wasn’t more than a gooey mass that fell off in chunks as it joined the ever-growing pool of ink that used to be Susie’s body. She had no legs to stead her up, no arms to engulf her, but still her face, her lips, and her chest remained as solid as they could, at least to allow the angel to still embrace her fallen love.

Lips still pressed against each other and with closed eyes, she set her hand and fingers on her chest, readying herself to do as requested. She pressed hard, as much in her hold as in her kiss. And with a flick and a twist of her wrist, she drilled her way into her already soft chest, wrapping her fingers around the still beating heart, ripping it off her body right before the ink decided to claim that part as well.

And with no more to hold onto, she dared to open her eyes, only to see the still lingering face of Susie before the ink took her away definitively. She looked so relieved, so... peaceful, with a smile that actually reached her once scarred side with the purest sincerity. She was at peace, she would, now that she was sure her angel would be safe.

The angel stayed there in the deafening silence of the ballroom. The ink puddle that used to be Susie already gone, taken away by the malicious substance that keep them all trapped. And Alice stayed there; quiet sobs filled the emptiness that now resided in what used to be her domain, and with blurred sight she stared at the organ she left behind in hopes to save her.

The heart still beat, soft rhythmic thumps only audible for her. This was all that’s left of the sweet fallen angel, and she couldn’t do more than hold it tight in her embrace, afraid to let go, afraid to lose her at all, as the sobs grew louder and louder in the middle of her mourning.

And yet she already knew well what she must do with the heart. Susie gave it to her to protect her, to save her. Maybe not now, she wasn’t ready. But she had to. After all, this would accomplish what she always wanted, what she always worked for her. It was for Susie, to become her perfect angel.

[be-dazzled]

#SIYC

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser FFnet link: click here Tumblr link: explore here Genre: Multi-chapter, Romance, Comedy Rating: M for sensitive content and language

Summary: Gray Fullbuster is a player both in love and in life. He plays Professional Basketball and is being groomed to be in line with Basketball Legends Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. There’s just one problem, Gray Fullbuster is a play-ah. His life is a giant mess of crazy parties, waking up with random women and waking up in random women’s apartments. Just living the life. 

The opinion of the public on him is waning. To save the million-dollar endorsements in the verge of disappearing, Gray needs to change his image. Therefore, Gray Fullbuster, Fiore Knight’s Team Captain and Most Valuable Player, will be in the next season of “My Star Can Dance”. 

There’s another problem: it seems like his star isn’t that bright since his partner, one of Fiore’s prominent ballerinas, doesn’t know him? His billboard is hanging in front of her dancing school! And it was a good billboard since all he was wearing was his six-pack and an Aztec bandana. How come she didn’t notice?

…

I've been stung All this chemistry has got me falling I'll be alright I'm definitely high

– GOOD, Erin McCarley

…

Juvia dashed to the living room. Alas, it was too late. The can of worms had been opened. There was no escaping now.

Juvia caught his father seated in the middle of the living room, an open album spread over his lap and a curious Gray leering over him. Gray hanged on Julian’s every word; his midnight eyes glued on the pages of a photo album. Times like this that Juvia wished she was an athlete rather than a dancer. The resentful ballerina dropped down the couch next to Gray, accepting her fate. She just wished it wasn’t ‘the album’ every girlfriend prayed would never see the light of day.

 “Here’s my little girl in her first pink tutu. She was four and she never took it off.” Julian beamed. “Here she is in her first recital; she played the young snow white, my little princess.”

 The doting father pointed at each photo as he recounted the momentous events in Juvia’s growing years. He glanced at her with pride and love every now and then. Juvia received her father’s gazes with a smile. Yet, the ballerina was on guard. At the back of her mind, the nervous girlfriend wished nothing embarrassing would come out of the album.

 “Oh.”

 But fate was a mischievous one. As Juvia’s luck would have it, a single photo fell out of the album when Julian flipped the page.

 “How did it get here?”

 That rhetorical question never meant any good for any one. Girlfriend instinct forced Juvia to grab the polaroid, beating Gray to it, before the man had a good look at baby Juvia naked in the tub.

 Why do baby pictures always have to be them butt-naked?

 “I’ll take that.” Juvia ran out of places to hide the photo and decided to keep it inside her brassiere. For sure, no one would dare look in there.

 “Hey, I wanted to see that.” Gray protested.

 The moment the words escaped his lips, Gray realized the possible confusion that his statement may bring. Before they eventually make him lose his standing as Juvia’s favorite boyfriend, he quickly turned to Juvia’s father to clear things up. “I meant the photo, Sir. Not… not your daughter’s… braHey how about this one?”

Gray hurriedly flipped the album to the next page before the now suspecting father held him accountable. His fingers slowed down and ultimately stopped at a single page. Something else caught his attention. Words failed him, his breath hitched in his throat. The corner of his mouth turned up to the slightest degree which did not escape Julian’s studying eyes.

 “That’s Juvia in her Fairy Tail jersey.”

 “Wow.” Gray said breathlessly staring intently at the photo. He memorized the photo with a gleam of awe in his eyes.

 “I have no place in Ballet.” The older man felt the need to get into detail. “She probably felt bad for me. So, Juvia came with me for every Fairy Tail Game, even though she hated it.”

 “I didn’t hate it, dad.” Juvia gently corrected.

 Gray turned to the woman who apparently shared his love for basketball – proud and beaming and happiness written all over his foolish smile.

 “I didn’t know you liked basketball.”

 The affection in his eyes was met with recognition. Juvia wasn’t trying to hide it or anything. There was just one little detail she would like to keep to herself – take to her grave if she could. If Juvia started talking about her like of basketball…

 “Liked it? Juvia loved it!”

 Olivia chose that moment to walk in and release the Kraken. The socialite set the chocolate mud pie on the coffee table. Then, she sat on the arm rest, snaked an arm around her husband’s shoulder before the diplomat rested his arm on Olivia’s lap in return. It was the most natural sight.

 “She almost became a basketball groupie.”

 “What?” The surprise widened Gray’s eyes but it failed to hide the glint of excitement and a little bit of mischief he felt over the information.

 To Juvia’s horror.

 “In High School, she almost quit ballet to become a cheerleader. And it’s not even for her school’s team.”

 The couple shared a laugh that bounced around the living room. They reminisced the good old days like it was yesterday.

 “I remembered her and that little friend of hers, what was her name?”

 “It was Levy, darling.” Olivia offered, referring to the now assistant show-writer from the dancing show.

 “Oh yeah, Levy. Every weekend they’d take the train to watch basketball events in all parts of the country.”

 Julian did not notice the warning look shot his way by none other than his only daughter.

 Really. ‘All parts of the country’ was a bit of a stretch.

 “There was even one time; her grades were failing so we had to ground her.”

 Juvia knew where the conversation was going but her efforts to change the subject were futile. Her warnings were ignored. She couldn’t help but think, “Was there like a rule that tells parents to embarrass their daughter in front of their boyfriend that she wasn’t aware of?” Because the next part of this story was…

 “But her favorite basketball team was playing so she snuck off and climbed the gates.” Julian had to wipe the tears off the corner off his eyes.

 “Okay, dad.” Juvia stood from the couch, planning on collecting her parents for a nap or something. Anything. “Story time is over.”

 “Wait. Wait.” He said between pants. “Here’s the best part…”

 But that wasn’t the end of it. Juvia braced herself for the grand reveal.

 “Her clothes got stuck on the fence and her mother and I had to take her down.”

 A chorus of laughter erupted in the Lockser living room with one voice missing. A picture of the young, delinquent ballerina dangling on the fence would have been a sight to behold. Not for Juvia. Yet, when she thought the worst part was over, her mother opened up her mouth.

 “She got so mad she wasn’t able to watch the Magnolia High basketball team. She didn’t even talk to us for a week.”

 Juvia felt the urgency to put a stop on the conversation before Gray…

  “Hey, that’s my High School team!”

 Gray received a knowing smile from Olivia. Finally putting two in two together, he turned to the blushing ballerina beside him. “You’re a fan of my team?”

 “Oh, she’s a fan but not entirely of your team.”

 “Mother.” Juvia shot the older Lockser her last warning. If the woman wouldn’t keep quiet, it wouldn’t take Gray long before he uncovered a little embarrassing information that Juvia buried a long time ago.

 Olivia raised her hand in the universal sign of conceding. She left the armrest and picked a slice of the sweet dessert.

 “Oh!” It was Julian who exclaimed, remembering every girl-to-girl talk he was never a part of. “Is he Captain Cutie?”

 “Dad!”

 “I’m Captain Cutie?” Gray pointed at himself, half-amused and half-surprised at Juvia’s apparent nickname for him.

 The cat was finally out of the bag.

 Juvia didn’t address Gray. She deflected the issue by putting the blame on her mother; the latter invoked deniability.

 “I can’t believe you’re the Captain Cutie we’ve followed around the country for basketball competitions.”

 Again, ‘followed around the country’ was such an overstatement. The farthest she went to watch Gray’s game was Oaktown which was a two-day ship ride away. But it didn’t stop the corner of Gray’s lips to quirk in pride, pleasure and something else.

 “You followed me around?”

 Juvia stood up from the couch, all flustered and ready to jump into the beach and never come up shore.

 “In my defense, I was really young and you were really cute.”

 Until the very end, Juvia remained defensive. The reason she didn’t want Gray to find out about “Captain Cutie’ was exactly because of how he’d use the fact to tease her, to no end. It was going to be an endless discussion of who liked who first.

 “Well, you kids might want to talk about this whole ‘Juvia was your biggest fan and she had a big crush on you’ thing while you get me some pack of burger patties.”

 Julian’s voice broke the tension. He coyly gave her daughter, who now had her eyes narrowed at him, a smile. But she couldn’t keep the frown on her face.

 “C’mon, Gray.” She walked over the key-holder to grab the keys to her father’s convertible. “I’ll show you around town.” She walked past her folks, dangling the keys in front of her father as punishment.

 Two could play at this game, dad.

 “Not, not the… not the Ferarri.”

 Julian reached out to grab the keys from his daughter’s hand but Olivia kept him where he was standing.

 “Let it go, honey.” Was his wife’s comforting words.

 …

 All the way from the car to isle fourteen, Gray barraged and teased the ballerina, as Juvia had suspected, about that little secret he luckily stumbled upon.

 “I knew you were a fan but I didn’t realize it went way back in High School.”

 “Quit while you’re ahead, Gray.” Juvia warned as she pushed the cart along the meat aisle. Juvia stopped when she hit something. Apparently, it was a 5’9 chunk of a man with a petty smug on his bright face.

 “You had a big crush on me, didn’t you?”

 Juvia rolled her eyes. She didn’t know if Gray was stupid or acting like one. Following him around her entire High School life did spell ‘big crush’.

 “It was a momentary lapse of judgment.” She hit him again with her cart and shifted it to push ahead of Big Head.

 Gray caught up with her picking up a pack of twin burger meat. Apparently, his girlfriend was still pouting. Sensing her irritation, Gray thought of a way to lighten up her mood.

 “Well, if it helps, I really have a big crush on you, now and I’m sure I would have if I’ve seen you in one of those cheerleader uniforms.”

 “Don’t be creepy.”

 Juvia stopped inspecting the packed meat and turned to him, a small smile tugging on her lips. Gray had a way with words and made it hard to ignore him anymore. She told him to continue that she might like him again.

 “And actually,” Gray held her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. The corners of his eyes creased with his smile. “I am kind of whipped by you.”

 This time, it wasn’t what he said.  It was how he held Juvia’s gaze, the way his eyes adored her. Those dark midnight eyes had the power to entice and she bet her money on it, many had fallen for them, including her.

The two became suddenly aware of their surroundings and the voice of someone clearing up her throat ruined the moment. They whipped around to see a large woman around in her late fifties, in Gray’s rough estimate, throwing them a nasty look.

 Man, they really were not a popular couple among the forty to fifty demographic.

 …

 Gray and Juvia spent the whole afternoon going around town, meeting the people in Juvia’s life, visiting the places monumental in her growing years. Some of the townspeople recognized them from the show and requested to take photos. There were also who were fans of Fiore Knights and commended the MVP’s performance in the last season.

 When they passed by the town plaza, Gray had a good laugh at the giant tarpaulin with Juvia’s face on it. The woman did her best to hide her face from the public. She didn’t like attention even though her beauty did demand it. The upside of it, Gray said, was that the photo they used looked really pretty.

 Walking down Juvia’s memory lane, Gray had a glimpse of the ballerina’s childhood. He enjoyed it immensely. He liked sitting at a corner both of a local diner, enjoying the unhealthy but classic combination of burger and fries. He loved listening to her friends in town talking about embarrassing things Juvia did when she was young. In every story, in every person, in every place, Gray made new discoveries.

 When they came home late that afternoon, Julian Lockser threw himself at the red Ferrari, embracing the luxurious car as much as his long arms allowed. Juvia swore she heard him apologize to it (for letting his daughter drive it) even if she returned the luxury car unscathed.

 Olivia suggested that they give the man a moment with his car and hinted the idea of inviting Gray down the beach for a stroll. The boy agreed quickly but not before he saw a tear escaped Julian’s menacing eyes.

 Why was Gray even scared of that guy?

Writer’s Corner: Hi guys! So, I am a little behind uploading here. I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT CHAPTER 9. I really thought I already posted that one here. Anyways, hope you guys like this one. We are finally on Chapter 10 woot woot.

[gh0stgurl]

Dropping Quick

Characters: Dean X Reader, Sam

Word Count: 2,091 (sorry this kinda got away from me)

Warning: language, a little bit of violence, Diabetic Episode, a little Angst, insecure reader, a fluff end

Summary: Being a hunter is not the easiest life to have. Your always on the move. Late nights, chasing down monsters and all the frustrations that come with. For Y/N it has been a little bit harder. She has a secret that until now hasn’t been a problem….

A/N: This fic is one that is going to be very close to home. For this one the Reader is going to be Diabetic. Parts of this story is actually going to be taken from personal experience.

Tumblr Masterlist

3…2…1…

*Beep* 

100 popped up on the little screen. On a normal day this would be a good thing. unfortunately today wasn’t one of those days.

“Dammit” you sighed, trying to be quiet knowing that Dean and Sam were just on the other side of the door. You sat on the floor with your head in your hands for a few seconds. the silence was broken by a knock on the door.

“Y/N? Are you alright?” Sam said. 

”Yeah I’m fine.”

“We found where the nest is. Dean went to pack the trunk, he wants to leave soon.”

“Okay, I’m almost done Sam. just give me a few minutes.”

“Alright hurry up.”

You put your meter back into your backpack, and quickly changed clothes. Five minutes later you emerged from the bathroom. Sam and Dean nowhere to be found. You quickly went to the kitchenette and grabbed a bottle of orange juice. Opening it and taking a drink, then shoved it back into your backpack as you walked to the door.

You walked outside to find the boys in Baby waiting for you. You got in quickly. Dean pulled out of the parking lot, headed to the middle of nowhere. There was a old rundown building, windows were boarded up. It looked like one of the houses out of your favorite horror movie.

“Why do vamps have to have a hideout in the middle of the woods? Like can they not find a place closer to the city? Stupid vamps” you stated while getting out of the car. Dean opened the trunk, you guys started gearing up.

“Because that would defeat the purpose Y/N. They want to snatch people up and not get caught.” Dean said. He started dipping knifes into dead mans blood. He handed you yours, then you strapped it to you leg sheath.

“I know that, but seriously could they be anymore stereotypical vampires. Learn something new.”

“I wouldn’t count on that happening anytime soon sweetheart.”

“Yeah Yeah, Lets go.”

Then you guys start walking towards the house. While you were walking you started to feel off. This can’t be happening now… you thought trying to keep the boys from seeing you starting to shake out your hands. We need to get though this fast.

Sam slowly walks up to one of the windows peaking through the crack in the boards. “I count at least 6 in here, lets check the other windows to see if there are any more. then we need to find a way in.” He said in a hushed tone.

Only one other room had a few more vampires in it, but what you did find was a small window to the basement. so you had a way in, not so much the boys. You knew the they weren’t going to like it, especially Dean, but he needs to deal. You came back around the house to where the boys were standing trying to figure out a way in.

“Hey guys, I found a way to get in.”

“Where I didn’t see a way in?” Dean turned to look at you. You waved for them to follow you. Showing them the window. Dean stared at the window a few seconds before talking. “Y/N you do realize none of us are going to fit through there right?”

“No, you guys won’t fit but I will. I can go in here make my way up to one of the empty rooms and get the boards off the window and let you guys in.”

“That’s not happening.”

“Seriously? We don’t have time for this little speech right now Dean. I’m going in and that’s final.”

“No, I’m not letting you do this.”

“Letting me?!? You’re not the boss of me. you don’t get to let me do anything.” You bent down using your knife to unlock the window, then pulled it open.

“Y/N… that’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Dean, just let her do this. she knows what she’s doing, its not like she’s new to this.” Sam said to stop the argument before it escaladed.

You put your legs through the window first. Before you got too far you flipped over so you were on your stomach. Slowly you lowered yourself down, before you just let go and dropped a few feet to the floor.

When you landed your head started spinning, the bad feeling in your stomach was getting worse. You started shaking your head to get the feeling to go away. When it did you looked up to see two concerned faces looking back at you.

“You okay?” Dean said as he stared at you.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a weird landing. I will meet you guys upstairs in a minute.” You turned away from them and started walking toward the stairs, pulling your knife from its sheath. You gripped it tight like your life depended on it, because at this point it did. 

You got to the top of the stairs before Dean told you to be careful. Turning the knob slowly, you looked around before entering the main part of the house. making as little noise as possible you started walking to one of the rooms in the front of the house where you remember an empty room being. 

Unfortunately luck hasn’t been on your side today. You felt a hand grab your bicep and whipped you into a wall, making you drop your knife.

“What do we have here? A little girl playing hunter. Aww that’s cute.” the vamp said with a cocky grin. ”Too bad this is where playtime ends.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that twilight.” With all the force you could muster up, you knee him in the groin. Making him double over, in this instance you grab your knife and swing it cutting his head off.

You take a quick look around. Then you move quickly too the bedroom. The boys were already there. You pull the first board off easier than you expected, before you can grab the second Sam yells at you.

“Y/N! Behind You!” You turned around to see two vampires rushing you. As soon as the first one gets close to you, you swing taking her head off. Turning to swing on the second but you miscalculated, your arm just kept going. The vampire took this opportunity to Sparta kick you back into the window. Shattering the glass all over you as you went down.

Just after you hit the ground, Dean was already climbing through the window. He sliced the vampires head off. Sam was in the window right after Dean, he immediately went to check on you. Dean joining seconds later.

–Small Time Jump–

Walking back to Baby, you were super tired. You were about 10 feet from Baby before all the bad feelings came back in one giant shock. All you needed to do was get back to the car, where your orange juice was waiting.

You needed to get something into your system before you crash. You feel like your going to pass out any second. Next thing you know your vision starts to get spotty. You stop and grabbed your head trying to get it to go away. 

Dean turned just in time to see you going limp and falling to the ground. He grabbed you before you hit the ground, kneeling with you on his lap. “Y/N!” He started tapping your cheek to get you to open your eyes. “Sweetheart, look at me. Come on y/n.”

Your eyes flitter open, not really focusing on anything. “Bag, I need my bag.”

“Sam, get her bag.” Sam took off, grabbed your bag and ran back to you and Dean. “Y/n what do you need?” Dean opened your bag, seeing a bottle of orange juice, a sweater, one of his flannel shirts and a small case he’s never seen before.

“Juice.” Was all you could get out, your breathing was all over the place. You tried to get out of Deans arms but his grip on you was the tightest it has ever been. or maybe its the fact that you were weak.

Dean grabbed the juice. he opened it and put it to your lips, you drank it in small bits. slowly you started to feel better. Eventually you were able to sit up on your own. Dean still had an arm around you just for support, and he didn’t want to let you go.

You grabbed your bag, grabbing out your meter. You opened it up and started to get everything ready to test with. Dean looked confused while you were doing all of this.

“Y/n what are you doing?” You just ignored him, you had to do this fast just incase something else happens.

*Beep*… 89

“Guys we have to go now. I promise I will explain later but we need to get something to eat before it happens again.” you said, looking down at your meter because you were to scared to look at either of them. You were not looking forward to the conversation that you had to have with them.

“Okay, let’s go.” Sam said as he extended a hand to help you up. You took it, getting to your feet you were still having some uneasy feeling but you knew that you just had to last a little longer.

The drive back to town was obnoxiously quiet. Dean sat in the back with an arm wrapped around you while Sam drove. You couldn’t read his face at all. That absolutely terrified you. Normally you could read him like a book, but now you got nothing. 

You started to feel like you fucked up. Your brain just started to wonder. Dean and Sam weren’t going to want you around anymore. You were a liability to them. Dean was going to leave you and not come back. They would kick you out of the bunker, and you would be on your own again. Tears started to fall from your eyes. You turned towards the window so the boys wouldn’t see them. You wiped away the evidence.

Sam pulled into a diner parking lot. You guys got out, walked inside and sat down. The Waitress came up and took your order. Sam got a salad, Dean got a bacon burger, and you got a sandwich, some more orange juice and peanut butter with celery. She came back with your drinks, then went to tend to other customers.

“Okay Y/n what’s going on?” Sam broke the silence that consumed your booth.

“I’m a Diabetic. I have been for a very long time. its never effected the job before. The fact that we were on the move all day yesterday combined with the fact that I didn’t really eat a whole lot, kinda screwed things up.” You said staring at your hands, once again afraid to look at them.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Dean said.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want you to treat me differently. Or maybe its the fact that I thought that you guys wouldn’t want me around if you knew.”

Something in Dean changed, he sounded hurt by what you said. “Why would you think that? Do you honestly believe that we would just do that to you?”

“No, I don’t know what I was thinking. I have become a liability. What happens if it happens again and your too busy worrying about me to cover yourself. I’m not going to be that person. I just won’t.”

“Y/n, that’s not going to happen. Now that we know we can make sure you have what you need before a hunt, and any other time of day. Sweetheart, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, and I’m sure as hell not letting you go.” Dean snaked his arm around you waist and kissed your temple.

“Your not a liability. Whether you like it or not your stuck with us. We aren’t going to let you get away that easy.” Sam said trying to give you a reassuring smile but you still wouldn’t look up from your hands. 

 Once the food arrived, the tension seemed to ease away from you. You guys ate in silence for a little bit before Dean spoke up again.

“So now that this is out in the open, can I ask you to do something?”

“What’s that?” you finally looked up at him.

“Educate us, on all of this so that we can better understand it.”

“That’s something I can do.”

[attract-mode-collective]

Ready To Wear, Ready To Play

As previously noted, there’s been yet another change in direction for the Attract Mode blog… which I have dubbed Version 2.8 Final CE EX Λ Core Plus Alpha. BTW/FYI. But yeah, been posting on Twitter, a lot. So much so that you may have missed something, so here’s a recap!

Note: was originally going to cover everything tweeted throughout the month, but because there’s so much to cover (and February’s short)… am guessing bi-weekly might be the way to go. Am also going to present things mostly in order.

K, enough chatter: at the very top is another fine example of a Famicom being the ultimate in fashion accessory (via nintendu). And here we have, not designer threads but designer plastic (via gamefreaksnz)...

Speaking of plastic, Sega (or someone who got Sega’s blessing, or maybe not even) made Super Monkey Ball figures? Guess so (via magimacaque)...

I was under the belief that, if I truly wanted to make an impact with the relaunch of the Attract Mode Twitter, I couldn’t just post one single piece of Klonoa fan art, but two... 

And I only have one example of Cuphead fan art, but it’s the one that counts (via jothelion)...

It was Kyle who helped kick the Attract Mode Twitter’s rebirth into high gear, with the reveal of his Nintendo Power covers. So to help replay the favor, I must insistent that everyone purchase the hard copy of RPG_Friends (which I first mentioned here)...

Nothing makes me happier than seeing such a dense assortment of Japanese game stuffs (via peazy86)...

... Yet that being said, I also believe less can be more, plus a nice breeze while playing Secret of Mana is... well... nice (via sixteen-bit.tumblr)

These gamer chairs perfectly embody Japanese sensibilities when it comes to furniture, plus are a total 180 to the junk they peddle in the US (via shmups)...

Time for another excellent toco toco vid, this one features your fave old school Capcom illustrator, and mine, Akiman…

There's so much I love about this interview with the creator of Hong Kong 1997, whose goal was "to make the worst game possible”. Though this picture of the guy is near the top of my list... 

I love these kooky kids, thinking they could possibly get away with  stealing an entire Final Fight arcade cab (via videogamead)...

Yeah, I feel the same way kid (via tvgame)...

"This is Jesus. He lives inside my Neo Geo MVS cabinet. He was there when I got it. He is glorious." (via arcadephile)...

The pathos that is Sub Zero at the bat, in four modded screenshots(via lanceboyles)...

The pathos that is the Kachō interacting with kids, in just three YouTube screengrabs (via gaijira)...

And the pathos that is Splatoon 2, via two screengrabs and the piece of fan art that resulted (via lunaticobscurity)...

Though in addition to pathos, Splatoon is also filled to the brim with intensity (via thewaragainstgiygas)...

Welcome to VIOLENT CITY (via shmups)...

Also, STAY CHILL (via paperbeatsscissors)...

Not that any band in which music is performed via guitars hooked up to Famicoms is all that typical to being with, but this one is most definitely not typical (via miki800.com)...

This "what the hell is going on exactly" illustration has motivated me to finally Wario Land a spin at long last (via it8bit)...

Remember Absolutely Rose Street, the Beverly Hills 90210 meets Degrassi meets Wayne’s World-esque show that was actually an infomercial for the Sega 32X in disguise that I wrote about a little whiles ago? Well here's ad for it (via oldgamemags)...

I'm a total sucker for old Japanese video game mags, primarily ones featuring models/statues on the cover (via miki800)...

Another cover to an old Japanese game rag, this one featuring the very first Metal Gear; I wonder if this slightly cutesy take helped to inspire the Metal Gear we meet in Snatcher (via mendelpalace)...

Here we have a page from an 11 page comic, done in a single sitting, for an event that celebrates various pairings of Solid Snake/Otacon, one that's called Snot Week for whatever reason (via millionfish)...

I want this woman to be my mom (via cyberfights)...

Am obsessed with this image of a man playing Xevious in the middle of a desert that's clearly fabricated and clearly from the 80s (via shmups)...

mendelpalace sez: "This picture gives me anxiety" and I feel exactly the same...

This is comparable to my own morning commute, except for the lack of floating cherry blossom petals and various other differences (via tightenupthe)...

Spring is almost here, which means it's time for a new wardrobe, which really means it's time to get new PaRappa attire (via miki800.com)...

If a glitched Nintendo logo when booting up a Game Boy looks fashionable to you, you're in luck (via gameandgraphics)...

Tho if a glitched Game Boy Advance start up is more your style (via corruptionasart)...

Has anyone received this Mega Drive/Genesis chiptune album on a cart (described as a "16-bit VMU") yet? (via catskullelectronics)

Ever wonder what a 3 part symphony, one performed via 5 different Nintendo DSs and 5 different copies of Electroplankton, sounds like? Well wonder no more (via mendelpalace)...

And ever wonder what an Italian-based, US-born R&B, blues and disco singer (which is how Wikipedia describes Ronnie Jones) thought of video games in the year 1980? Again, wonder no more (via aestheticoftheday)...

The new DDR, which will record your performance and also add snazzy video effects, is my early contender for GOTY 2018 (via @Sega_AM2)...

I will never grow tired or bored of watching this run cycle, ever (via shmups)...

What appears to be a Nier motion study (via sixteen-bit)...

Sakura-ha (via rosscountertv)..

To commemorate the discontinuation of the Kinect sensor (via prostheticknowledge)...

Google Translate took the original Korean & translated it as: "Ittsumi! Maria", which @NotLikeFreddy re-translated as: "It's-a me, Mary-o"...

The medium of video games most certainly has many mountains to overcome yet, but there's little denying that we've made some progress nonetheless (via videofame)...

"I have to go now. My planet needs me.” (via sixteen-bit)...

Cuz it's been a while since I shared a gif from Sin & Punishment (via n64thstreet)...

The SNES & Genesis had cool accessories and all, yet I often wonder what it would have been like if 3D printers & Etsy were around back then...

Pretty much the cutest lil thing you'll see all day is this Genesis CDX hooked up to a 5″ Sony PVM (via decideweapons)...

“'Club Sega during the Snow' is a top-tier aesthetic, I think." (via pr0jectneedlemouse)

I love old VG sound team photos, especially when they double as old band photos, like Capcom's Alph Lyra here (via videogamesdensetsu)...

You all have no idea how happy I am to finally see a decent sized version of the flyer for Deadly Sport... again, no idea (via melvanainchains)...

Here's an illustration of Terry Bogard eating a hot dog (with the rest of his Fatal Fury posse chowing down as well)...

... Turns out, Terry's affinity for hot dogs is somewhat of a thing (via busterwolf)....

... Or, perhaps SNK as a whole are simply huge fans of hot dogs? (via meldowiseau)

I absolutely love this familiar, yet thoroughly refreshing take on Samus (via lady--peaches)...

And nothing new to report, as it pertains to @deimosremus's Metroid redesign, so am just going to continue staring at this some more...

Love Hultén is mostly known for their handheld creations, like the Pixel Vision, though I mostly dig their full-sized cabinet, the Kabin 1...

"Damn Tecmo never let Microsoft live that design down" (via sixteen-bit)...

Cuz I recently began replaying Breath of the Wild...got the Switch version for the gf on her birthday... some fan art (via it8bit)...

I've seen my fair share of comics with Sonic & Tails, but never one that addresses the debug mode from the original Genesis games (via vg-libary)...

Here we have two cats, from the game Jingle Cats, occupied with the fridge (via obscurevideogames)...

And here we have just one cat, from the Sailor Moon anime, occupied with an arcade game that I am unable to identify (via sailormoonreblogs)...

Can you believe the music video for @MissyElliott's Sock It 2 Me is over 20 years old? Crazy, I know...

Speaking of Mega Man, I guess I need to finally check out Mega Man Zero, cuz apparently X goes through some kind of religious conversion or something (via omnilunary)...

And here we have Cut Man, the one we all know (and love) from Mega Man meeting his Captain N doppelganger (via mewymarsher)...

I absolutely need this on a shirt or jacket (via @buzz_clik)...

It's always a thrill, seeing a fighting stick made out of tupperware in the wild for the very first time, isn't it? (via @silva_hime)

Yes. Fighting Layer is that game in which you jump off a folding chair to smash another one on the head of a gigantic falcon (via lordmo)...

Tonight’s episode: PINBALL ALCHEMIST (via tonights-episode)...

Here we have a Tumblr thread giving suggestions on how to access a seemingly inaccessible area of a hotel lobby; my fave, for perhaps obvious reasons, is the ring path/light speed dash combo from Sonic Adventure...

Am kinda hungry atm and feel like slicing & dicing some celery & onions, plus making some Julienne Fries; anyone got a copy of Sonic 2 handy? (via sonicthehedgeblog)

A. thanks to this fan art, I now know you can also play OutRun in Hokuto no Ken PS4! & B. great piece & all, but...still a shame that Alex Kidd is missing (via inspiredfatty)...

I've legit been staring at these rotating NES and SNES gifs all day long (via 3d-bear)...

These photos from the Dreamcast Mobile Assault Tour, circa the late 90s, right before the system's launch are very... and I mean VERY... 90s (via posthumanwanderings)...

"What will your next dream be?" (via 081594)

You know that UK/US reality show Undercover Boss, in which a billionaire CEO disguises himself as the new mailroom guy? Well there's apparently a version in Japan, with an episode starring the president of Taito (via @MMCafe_Prof)...

On Valentine's Day I came across a horror movies blog that presented various horror movie Valentines, including one for Jason Voorhees that references Friday The 13th for NES (via cameraviscera.com)...

Also, for Valentine's, my girlfriend made me pixelated chocolate; the pic does the blue hearts in particular zero justice, which look like plastic toys, but most assuredly are made of milk chocolate...

... And that’s it for now! The rest of February coming up in a few!

[dont-hate-relate-pls]

You’re Okay, I Guess

Pairing: (platonic) Jughead Jones x Reader

Summary: Jughead helps the Reader out in a run-in with her ex by the most unexpected methods

Warnings: nah, not much to say

You swirled the thick straw in between your thumb and index finger, staring gloomily at your half-drunken cookies and cream milkshake, not really having the appetite to down the milkshake, despite it being one of Pop's more popular specialties. Honestly, it would be a miracle if you ended up feeling better by the end of the day, seeing as today was as shitty as days get.

First off, your mother had, earlier today, told you that if you wanted to continue living under her roof, you were to find a part-time job and try to 'support the family'; and by 'family', she meant her debilitating alcoholism. What with you being in the editorial board, plus running for track and being in a band, there was absolutely no way you could even indulge in the idea of working part-time seeing as your social life was non-existent and your actual life was hanging on by a fraying thread. Then of course, today marks a week since the Break Up with your ex Reggie, whom you recently found out through Kevin Keller that he had been sleeping around with other girls even when you were still together, which added more salt to the wound, as if more salt could ever be rubbed in that particular, still-healing injury.

So there you were, taking up an entire booth at Pop's, wallowing in self-pity as you picked aimlessly at the crumpled tissue where you had wiped your mouth earlier, thinking of the tissue as a metaphor for your life, when the door to the burger-and-milkshake-serving diner opened, and in came a rowdy groups of guys you knew went to Riverdale High with you. How could you tell? It was probably because Reggie was smack-dab in the middle of the group, laughing and fooling around with his equally nauseating friends, shoving at each other as they made their (unwanted) presence in the otherwise peaceful shop known.

Of course, you had immediately ducked your head and pretended to fiddle with your phone to try to hide from Reggie and his puke-inducing gang of friends, in case they decided to make your day a living hell more than ever, practically having bile rising up your throat, trying to calm yourself down by sipping lightly at your milkshake. Through your eyelashes, you saw that some of the guys had crammed inside a booth, but to your horror, Reggie and one of his cronies had sidled up to the counter less than 7 feet away from you to pick up their order like they usually did after school when you tagged along, talking rather loudly about something you didn't care to listen in on. Thankfully, they didn't seem to have noticed you, and you were intent on things staying that way for as long as they were here, but of course, luck seemed to have abandoned your side completely as Reggie's friend had scanned the diner and his gaze landed on you, where you tried to pretend you were typing away into your phone. Out the corner of your eye, you saw the friend nudge your ex with his elbow and not-so-discreetly whispered, "Well, look who it is, Reggie." to him, making your ex turn and glance at you.

Of course, he didn't say anything, just gave you that judgemental, 'you-are-all-beneath-me' look and rolled his eyes at you. "I can't believe you tapped that, I mean what was she like? Isn't she like, a neurotic loner or something?" His friend pressed on.

"Trust me, biggest mistake of my life." Reggie played along, knowing full well that you heard every word, trying not to break down and yell at that smug bastard for being a petty dipshit. "I mean, look at her, she's hoarding an entire booth for her fat self and she's so pathetic, she doesn't even have friends to share-"

"Hey, sorry I'm late." A vaguely familiar voice cut through the dissing Reggie and his friend were doing at your expense, and to your surprise, a raven-haired guy in a grey beanie sat down next to you in the booth, forcing you to scoot over reluctantly, despite not being aware you had agreed to meet anyone up at Pop's today. Not that you had that many friends to hang out with in the first place...

Before you could ask the guy on why he was sitting there with you, he said, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.", glancing pointedly at you with his back towards Reggie and his friend, dark eyes instructing you to play along when you realized who he was; Riverdale High's resident Emo McEmo, Jughead Jones.

You recalled seeing him a few times at school, him mostly keeping to himself with headphones practically surgically attached to his head, the quiet, mysterious type of guy that probably knew everyone's deepest, darkest secrets just by silently observing his surroundings and gathering information unnoticed. He was an intriguing guy who seemed to have way more going on in his mind than most kids in Riverdale High combined, a person who has a deeper understanding on the human emotion and yet rarely shows any emotion other than boredom most times. But still, it didn't answer your earlier inquiries on why the hell did he think you both were friendly enough that he could just barge into your booth and make himself at home when your bully of an ex and his similarly brute douchey friend were less than 7 feet away from you both.

"The freak and the slut, a perfect pair, yes?" Reggie's friend nudged at the former, him looking a little put off by Jughead's arrival. Everyone with a brain knew of the beef Reggie had with Jughead, so it was understandable why Reggie tensed up a little when Jughead appeared, under the pretence that you and him were somewhat friendly with each other. Whatever, it's not like he has a hold over me, you thought, sending a steely glare at the two.

"Leave her alone." Jughead spoke, a low but dangerous tone, one that surprised you. Surely he wasn't actually...sticking up for you, was he? Jughead Jones, Defender of the Bullied? As far as you knew about him (and it wasn't much), he was more of a sidelines guy, keeping out of trouble by staying under the radar. This, however, was totally out of character. "Don't you asshats have something better to do than pick on people who did nothing wrong against you?"

"Oh-ho, look, the freak speaks! Defending his lady now, is he?" Reggie's friend sneered.

"I did (Y/N) a favour by hooking up with her sorry ass." Reggie spat spitefully, upturning his nose at you as if you were dirt under his shoes. "But in the end, she wasn't even worth it." He smirked when he saw both you and Jughead shift in your seats at an almost identical position, clearly ruffled by his words.

Before you could tell him to go shove a cactus up his ass, Jughead once again stepped in and told him, "No, it was (Y/N) who did you a favour by going out with you; I mean, who would even want to hook up with a guy like you?" This comment caused Reggie's friend to turn pale, a bad sign, seeing as not many dared to talk shit about Reggie...to his face.

"You're one to talk, Hannibal Lecter, when you've never even gotten past first base with a girl!" Reggie said angrily, just as their order arrived, his friend momentarily diverting his attention to the food.

"At least I'm getting laid." Jughead replied calmly, and then, as if it was no big deal, turned towards you and pulled you into a kiss, one hand cupping your cheek as his mouth moved slowly against yours, a clear sign that he wasn’t used to kissing. Too surprised to even function, you noticed the disgruntled sounds of disgust coming from the two, and when you finally let Jughead take control, you heard them moving away from near your booth, defeated.

"Um..." You pulled away from the dark-haired boy once they were out of earshot, eyes wide at the realization that a guy, whom you barely spoke to in the past years you've been in the same school as him, had just defended you and kissed you despite not even owing you anything. "Wha...What was that for?" You asked him nervously, eyes darting to where the group of guys were, all of them already halfway out the door, not noticing the two of you.

"You wanted them to stop bugging you, right?" He asked you, following your gaze to the door that shut behind the group, you nodding slowly. "That should do the trick." He added, referring to the kiss.

"But...why would you...why would you kiss me?" You asked him, confused.

"I, uh..." For once, Jughead didn't seem to have a proper answer.

"Are you...are you gay or something?" You squinted at him, trying to squeeze out the truth from him. "I won't judge you or anything-"

"No, no, it's quite complicated, really..." He readjusted his grey beanie before continuing to speak. "I'm not attracted to girls. And guys. I'm not attracted to anyone, really." Oh.

"And they've been harassing you about that?" You caught on quickly enough, recalling how hurt Reggie looked when Jughead told him he was getting laid. I will never understand boys and their over-inflated egos, you sighed inwardly.

He nodded, looking, for a split second, as if he was going to say something, but he didn't. "Well hey, at least your plan worked!" You nudged him optimistically, coaxing a small smile from him, just the faintest twitch of the corner of his lips you were kissing a few minutes ago. "I'm cool with platonic kissing."

He quirked an eyebrow at you. "This doesn't mean I'm attracted to you or anything, I just..." You gave up trying to justify your words. "You're not...you're okay, I guess." You mumbled feebly.

"Well, the feeling is mutual, (Y/N)." Jughead smiled, a proper smile, one you've never ever seen before. "If I had to choose a girl to willingly kiss for the rest of my school year, it would be you."

"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." You grinned, before both of you burst into laughter.

@bananakid42 @multifandomlove2002 @negansgrimes 

Yeah, I know I’m a Supernatural fanfiction account but like a lot of people on Tumblr, we were thrust into the world of Riverdale when we watched it, so it’s understandable. 

Anyway. 

If you like Supernatural (especially Rob Benedict/Chuck Shurley/Gabriel/Richard Speight Jr) then you can go check out my masterlist. If you want more of Jughead one-shots like this, feel free to request me anything that isn’t smut because I respect ace (aroace?) Jughead (c’mon guys, it’s canon). All you gotta do is send me an ask!