#and for me it's just like 'oh right that park in buffalo'

[captainjonnitkessler]

Eternal Flame Falls sounds like the coolest concept for a fantasy book. A path you follow down into a ravine until you find an ever-burning flame inside of a waterfall? That’s fuckin metal! But it’s not in a fantasy book it’s like an hour away from my house I can literally go see it any time! I remember it like once a month and lose my shit over it every time

#it trips me out because i'm sure a lot of people have heard about it online and have made plans to see it someday #and for me it's just like 'oh right that park in buffalo'

[thebiggerbear]

Kiss Me Again - Beau x Cassie - Prompt Response

A/N: Prompt from prompt list by @dumplingsjinson. Beau and Cassie are just too adorbs. I had to write this.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

“Quick, kiss me again, they’re coming back—”

<-->

Cassie shot Beau a look at yet another dad joke he had just told.

“What?”

“No, just no.” She shook her head, urging him to quit while he was ahead.

He gave her his most charming smile. “Admit it, you love it.”

She tried to keep from smiling, she really did, but failed miserably. So instead, she settled for an eye roll and then turned away so he couldn’t see her face. Because if he saw her grin, it would all be over. The dad jokes would be turned up ten notches and she couldn’t do that to Emily, or herself really. 

Beau laughed, knowing full well why she was suddenly so invested in Dewell & Hoyt’s current case board. “Yeah, she does.”

Denise appeared next to Cassie, handing her a packet of papers. “This is that report you asked for from the DMV. Em and I are trying to match the license plate right now.”

Cassie nodded her thanks. “Let me know when you have an address and I’ll take a ride over there.”

Before Denise could say anything, Beau piped up from behind them, “Something I should know?”

Denise glanced back and forth between Cassie and Beau, and then settled on Emily who was typing away on Cassie’s computer as her father sat next to her on the desk. “I’ll let Cassie fill you in on that, Beau-Beau. Me? I need some sustenance. Em, why don’t you come with me to the coffee shop down the street and we’ll pick up some sandwiches to bring back here?”

“Oh.” Emily looked surprised. “But I’m almost—” At Denise’s look, she nodded and slowly got to her feet. “Right. Okay, yeah. I’m starving, anyway.”

Denise gave her an encouraging smile. 

Beau reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, slapping some bills into Emily’s hand. “Lunch is on me. Do your old man a favor, though. Can you get me that buffalo chicken sandwich special they have? Oh-ho-ho yes. Thanks, kiddo.”

The older woman turned to Cassie, arching her eyebrows in question. She shrugged and settled on the easiest answer. “Same for me, too, I guess.” Denise smiled and gave Cassie a wink before leading Emily out of the office and down the block. 

Cassie turned to see Beau’s gaze trained on her. 

“Have I ever told you how good you look in that color?”

She glanced down at her light blue turtleneck before smiling up at him. “Thanks. I think.”

He tossed his wallet onto the desk beside him and turned to fully face her. “C’mere.”

Cassie rolled her eyes again but made her way over to him, not in the least surprised when his hands flashed out, gripped her hips, and pulled her in, his lips intent on hers. When he finally broke away to let them both get some air, she wrapped her arms around his neck, content to stay there with him as long as possible. It was rare that they got moments like this alone these days. Between the Bleeding Heart murders, whatever was going on with Avery, and the rise in cases in Lewis & Clark County requiring the full attention of the Sheriff’s Department, she and Beau didn’t get to see each other too often. And when they did, usually someone else was around like Jenny or Denise or now even Emily. Seeing as neither of them were ready to broadcast their change in relationship status to everyone just yet, this proved to be frustrating and slightly problematic. So any time Cassie could get with the Sheriff she cherished, soaking up every possible second before the bubble would be burst by whatever twist or turn the universe wanted to throw at them that day, she’d take it.

Beau’s arms snuck around Cassie’s waist and he placed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “Been a while,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. Between the murder in the park the other day, the whole Carla and Avery thing going on, and making sure Em is okay after what happened, I just haven’t been able to really get time to step away.”

“I get it,” she assured him. “You’ve got a lot going on. Us, too. We’ll get time. After.”

“Yes. We will,” he promised, giving her a soft smile. “Gotta say, I’ve been missing the hell out of you, though.”

“Same here.” 

Beau’s smile grew. “You’d think criminals would be more considerate. Realize we have lives.”

“Right? You’d think they’d take a holiday every now and then just to give us a break.”

He snickered and kissed her lips. “So selfish of them.”

“Very selfish,” she agreed. She then snuck a hand up to pat down his hair, her brows furrowing at the stubborn wayward lock that just wouldn’t go back into place. Every once in a while this would happen and Beau hated it. He swore that one of these days he would cut his hair to which Jenny would threaten to use the picture she took of the three of them from the last movie night they had, and have Poppernak upload it to the department website. Jenny would then receive a glare of the likes that Cassie never wanted to be on the receiving end of, though she was secretly amused at the constant bickering between the two. Beau had told her once that Jenny was like the annoying younger sister he never asked for. Cassie knew better, though; for all of his griping, he liked Jenny well enough and he secretly enjoyed their banter. It made things a lot easier on the workfront and Beau had confided to her that he had been initially worried that the two would keep butting heads after their first meeting. But all of that worrying had been for naught; they actually worked quite well together. Denise even kept referring to them as Helena’s own crime solving duo.

Cassie would never admit it but she liked Beau from the outset. His sexist remarks aside, he was friendly, personable, and she could sense there was a lot more to the Everything’s-Bigger-In-Texas-Darlin’ front he put on. It turned out she had been right, and looking at Beau now, she had never been happier to be right about a guy since Andrew. 

“Is it sticking up again?”

“No, it’s just…” She made a few more attempts and luckily, it worked. “There.”

“Damn hair. I swear I’m gonna cut it.”

Cassie laughed and cupped his cheeks, leaning in to kiss him. “No, you’re not.”

“I am. I mean it. And I don’t give a crap what Hoyt says. I’ll have a desk jockey strip her access from the website so fast it’ll make her damn head spin.”

She decided to tease him and dug her teeth into her lip, forcing his gaze down to her mouth. “But if you do,” she murmured. “Then I won’t have anything to hold onto.” His eyes flickered back up to hers and she could see the green darken slightly. Mission accomplished.

It wasn’t all that surprising when Beau loosened his grip on her to sneak his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, and squeezed. “Oh, I”ll give you something to hold onto, darlin’, don’t you worry.” He leaned in a little closer and his voice dropped in register, making an all-too familiar fluttery feeling appear in her abdomen. “You know, you really shouldn’t be teasing me like that when my daughter is about to walk through the door.”

She stared into his eyes, not giving an inch. “Is that a punishable offense, Sheriff?”

He tugged her in closer and squeezed her again. “You want to find out?”

Excitement coursed through her. Oh, she very much did, but he had made a good point. Denise and Emily were bound to return any moment now. The coffee shop was most likely not going to be that busy, not at this time of day. Everyone had already gotten their caffeine fixes about two hours earlier.

And as if on cue, Cassie heard the lock on the front door being turned. That surprised her; why would Denise have locked the door? She didn’t have too much time to think on it, though, because right then Beau swooped down to drop a heated kiss on her lips, the promise of later rippling through her. One glance into his eyes before she took a step back confirmed it.

Cassie didn’t get too far when Beau suddenly jumped to his feet and grabbed her again. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her up to meet him more fully. Placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, she could hear the door being opened and Denise talking. She was pretty sure this was not how Beau wanted Emily to find out about them. As a matter of fact, she knew it wasn’t. Beau had been pretty insistent that he wanted them to sit down and have a conversation with Emily when the time was right, same as she wanted to do with Kai. 

Remembering this, Cassie tried to step away but he held her fast. “Beau,” she warned. “They’re about to walk in.”

“You’re not getting off that easy.” He then murmured to her lips, “Whatever plans you’ve got tonight, cancel ‘em. You’re coming over.”

She went to speak when they both froze, hearing Denise opening up the front door again and saying to Emily that she thought she had dropped something on the sidewalk. They literally had seconds, if that.

Beau turned back to her, smirking. “Quick, kiss me again, they’re coming back—”

“Oh, ew, gross.”

Both Cassie’s and Beau’s heads snapped up, seeing Emily staring at them from the doorway, bags of food in hand. Denise appeared behind her, beaming and looking beyond happy, and then mouthing an apology. 

Beau slowly released Cassie when she attempted to move away, chuckling nervously and taking a step back. A faint tinge of pink dusted his cheeks and the bridge of his nose which at any other time would have been adorable, sweet even, but not now. Now, they were both in the hot seat. Cassie wasn’t sure what to say so she stayed quiet, willing to follow his lead on how he wanted to handle this. She had only started to get to know Emily herself once Beau asked her to keep an eye on his teenage daughter who had recently found the dead body of one of her fellow glampers in the woods. She hoped this wouldn’t undo any rapport they had built so far.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Em, listen…I—”

“You’re dating Cassie. Yep, I know. Already got the memo.”

The pink in her dad’s face turned to red and the tension in his body increased. Cassie felt for him; he was embarrassed and he hadn’t wanted her to find out like this. She felt guilty for teasing him; had she not, maybe Emily would have never walked in on them and she wouldn’t be the wiser. “I get that. But the bottom line is—”

“No,” Emily insisted. “Dad, I mean I know . It’s literally old news. I already knew about you guys.”

Beau was shocked and Cassie’s jaw dropped. Even Denise seemed surprised, turning to Emily in amazement. “You knew?”

Emily glanced back at the older woman with disbelief. “And you didn’t?”

“Oh no, I knew,” Denise confirmed.

“Wait,” Cassie interrupted, making them both look back at her. “You both knew?”

“Well, Cass, you two weren’t exactly being subtle.” This time, it was Cassie who was blushing. “The constant calls, Beau-Beau here coming by the office a lot recently and looking much happier than usual I might add, even right down to the way you two look at each other when you think no one else is watching. Of course it was obvious to anyone with eyes.” The older woman then thought for a minute, turning back to Emily. “I didn’t think you knew, though.”

“Oh yeah.” Emily made her way past the two slightly embarrassed but also dumbfounded adults standing in the center of the room, plopping down in Cassie’s chair and opening the bag of food to find her lunch. “They’re actually one of the main couples featured in my podcast.” Both Cassie’s and Beau’s eyes widened. “Originally, I was going to do my mom and dad, and then my mom and Avery, but this is much more interesting.” Emily gave them a devilish smile and proceeded to take a bite of her sandwich.

“Em, what…” Beau was sputtering, trying to process everything he just heard. “Wait, is this the summer project you were talking about?” At Emily’s nod, Beau’s jaw tightened. “Please tell me you haven’t put it out there yet.”

“And are we really being featured in it?” Cassie added.

“Well…”

Cassie’s nerves were skyrocketing. She didn’t want to think about how all of Helena and possibly the rest of the state — the rest of the country — now knew she and Beau Arlen were an item. Not that she cared what anyone thought; her relationship was her own and she cared deeply for Beau, she wasn’t ashamed for anyone to know that. But if this was made public in a very viral way, and if they were as obvious as Denise claimed, then that meant a certain blonde undersheriff must be seething right about now. She turned wide eyes on the sheriff and let out in a breath, “Jenny.”

Beau held out a comforting hand and went to speak when Emily cut him off. “Jenny? She’s the one who gave me the idea to feature you two instead of my parents.”

Just when Cassie thought she couldn’t be caught off guard anymore than she already had been today, she was wrong. “What?” Beau demanded.

Emily’s smirk was now gone, replaced by a sheepish expression when she realized that her father was anything but pleased at this information. “I was talking to her about the podcast and when I told her what it was about and who I planned to feature, she said you two might be a better choice than you and Mom.”

“Wait, what is the podcast about?” Cassie had to know. Why would she and Beau or Beau and Carla or even Carla and Avery for that matter be featured in a podcast of a high schooler? She was determined to ignore the knowledge that Jenny knew about her and Beau for now until she was ready to deal with it. 

Emily glanced over at her father who had his hands on his hips and was staring down at her expectantly. “Secrets and lies in relationships,” she mumbled.

“Oh, boy,” Denise whispered before hurrying over to her desk to sit down. 

Beau and Cassie exchanged a glance of disbelief and confusion before looking back at Emily. Cassie felt sick to her stomach; Jenny knew she had been quietly seeing Beau and based on this, she was not happy.

“Why are you doing a podcast on secrets and lies in relationships? And more importantly, why would you feature me or your mother?” 

“Because,” Emily started, obviously grasping for something to say that would keep her out of trouble. “Yours and Mom’s relationship had a lot of that.” Cassie noticed pain flicker across Beau’s expression before he crossed his arms, studying his daughter as she attempted to explain. Before this, she would have never reached out to him in front of anyone, in case they were watching. But now that Emily, Denise, and apparently the whole world knew, Cassie didn’t give it a second thought as she laid a reassuring hand on his arm, squeezing gently. His hand covered hers, squeezing back, but he never took his eyes off of Emily. Something that wasn’t lost on the young girl either. 

“You weren’t the only ones I was going to feature!” Emily rushed out. “I was also going to feature Luke and Paige, and Mom and Avery like I said, and—”

“Luke and Paige? You mean the guy who was accused of killing his girlfriend who is still missing? Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“But, Dad—”

“It’s an open homicide investigation, Em. Not to mention, I’m the sheriff. Did you think about that when planning this project of yours?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Of course, I did. I wasn’t going to mention names, I’m not stupid.”

Beau let go of Cassie’s hand and paced to the end of the desk, sighing and running a hand down his face. Emily glanced up at Cassie who gave her what she hoped to be a tiny reassuring smile. She was trying not to think about what the implications of Jenny telling Emily about her and Beau dating would mean: for her friendship with Jenny, for her relationship with Beau, for Jenny’s own relationship with Beau — all of it seemed much more complicated now than it was prior to this knowledge.

“You know what would make a great podcast?” Both girls turned to look at Denise. “One about UFO’s.”

Cassie bit her lip to keep from chuckling. Denise and her UFO theory. She had to admit it — it wasn’t a bad idea. One much more preferable than the podcast Emily was currently working on. 

Before Emily could say anything, the sheriff spun on his heel, hands on his hips again. “No more podcast,” he decided. Emily’s shoulders slumped and Beau gave her a look. “If you want to do one using Denise’s idea, then fine. But nothing about anything personal. Especially not about me and your mother. And especially not about people involved in an open investigation. Ever. Got it?”

Emily nodded, looking rather forlorn but knowing full well that she wouldn’t be able to win this one.

“Good. And by the way, you’re grounded.”

“What? Dad, come on. I don’t even live with you.”

Cassie didn’t need to glance at Beau to know how much that one hurt.

“That may be so but trust me, it’ll be a hell of a lot better to take your grounding from me than what your mother'll have in store for you once she finds out what you’ve been doing and that you’ve been airing out all of her dirty laundry.” Emily paled at this. Cassie still had yet to officially meet the former Mrs. Arlen, but based on what Beau and Jenny had said about the woman, she didn’t sound like she would be the understanding type if she learned her daughter was broadcasting all of the details of her relationships. Especially given the context of the theme for the podcast itself. 

“Okay, hear me out for a second,” Emily tried. “What if instead of grounding me, I spend more weekends with you in the tin can.” At Beau’s glare, she continued. “We can do whatever you want to do, no matter how much I’ve protested it in the past. And not only will I be the coolest kid ever and be good with you and Cassie dating, but I’ll let you tell Mom on your own and I’ll even throw in my vocalized support for free.”

“Did you just counter your grounding with various forms of subtle emotional blackmail of your father and his new girlfriend?” At Emily’s sweet smile, Beau gave a nod and chuckled. “Impressive.” He glanced up to find Cassie giving him a look and he straightened up. “And ballsy. Which does not work in your favor, young lady. You’re grounded for three weeks, all three weekends which you will be spending with me in the Airstream and we will be doing what I want, whether you protest or not. Which means we’re going fishing so yeah, be ready. I will tell your mother about Cassie and me when I feel it’s the right time. Right now, she…has a lot of other things on her mind and that’s the last thing she needs to be worrying about. Especially since you said you already knew we were dating and you didn’t seem to have an issue with it then. And you already are the coolest kid ever,” he finished with an affectionate smile. “But even the best kids get misguided sometimes and it’s my job to steer you back onto the straight and narrow, so… Three weeks.”

Emily didn’t appear pleased but she shrugged her agreement. “Okay.”

Beau shot a satisfied smirk over at Cassie who inclined her head towards the back room. Getting her meaning quickly, he clapped his hands together and glanced between Emily and Denise. “Well, since it is no longer a secret…”

“And apparently never was,” Cassie muttered.

“Cassie and I are going to have a quick chat in the back so talk amongst yourselves… Actually, maybe don’t.”

“Just don’t make out in the storage room again.” Cassie’s eyes widened and turned towards Emily. The tips of Beau’s ears were the ones that turned pink this time. “That was weird and totally uncomfortable. Not to mention, extremely gross.”

Cassie glared over at Beau who laughed nervously. She had warned him it would be too risky a few days ago, with his daughter only twenty feet away, but he had insisted, citing the lack of time they’d had together over the last week, and she’d eventually given in. He was hard to resist, even in the best circumstances.

“Kids. They say the damndest things, don’t they?” He shrugged sheepishly with an anxious smile on display. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw Denise biting her lip to keep from laughing herself. Emily, too. She was so glad this was so entertaining for everyone; and to think, here she had been mortified at not only her assistant knowing about their recent rendezvous but also Beau’s teenage daughter along with every busybody in this town. “Beau,” she called before walking into the back.

“Yeah.” Beau hopped to it and followed her inside, shutting the door behind him.

Cassie crossed her arms. “Cute kid.”

He was practically beaming. “The cutest.” When Cassie didn’t crack a smile, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I know this isn’t the way we planned for this to happen and I get how embarrassing all of…that was. I’ll talk to Em and explain to her that—”

She held out a hand to stop him. “Beau, I don’t care about that.” Relief saturated his features. “I’m more concerned about Jenny.”

His face darkened slightly. “Traffic duty. So much traffic duty is in her future.”

She ignored that. “A podcast about secrets and lies in relationships? Her telling Emily to focus on us? Not a coincidence.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing but hey,” He cupped her face. “I don’t want you to worry about this. Okay? I’ll talk to her.”

Cassie shook her head. “I appreciate it but that won’t matter. She’s going to want to hear it from me and based on what Emily told us… Beau, I know her. Better than anyone. She’s not happy.”

“Since when is Hoyt ever happy?” When Cassie didn’t laugh or say a word, only continued to look worried, Beau reassuringly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “Cass, it’s going to be fine. Look at it this way, it’s less people for us to tell now that—”

“The whole state knows?”

He winced slightly. “Yeah, pretty much.” He then pulled her in for a hug, kissing the side of her head and murmuring into her hair, “It’s all going to work out. Trust me.” She closed her eyes and melted into him. She did trust him but she also knew Jenny. And with their history… She dug her fingers into the back of Beau’s jacket and on cue, he tightened his grip on her just like she wanted. If she wasn’t so worried, she might have smiled at the thought that Beau had indeed given her something else to hold onto.

“You know, one of the perks of everybody knowing,” he breathed into her ear. “Is less sneaking around.” She nearly shivered when his lips brushed her ear lobe. “Which means more time for you and me.”

She gasped when he suddenly picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist on instinct. He grinned up at her as he started walking them further into the room, towards the back corner where a spare desk sat. As a rule, anytime he was in the vicinity, Cassie made sure to avoid that area. He liked it way too much, so much so that he put it to good use one night when she had been working late in the office by herself and he casually stopped by on his way home. “Beau,” she warned. “They’re expecting us back out there.”

“I know,” he chuckled. When they reached the desk, he gently lowered her down onto it. “But I told you I’d give you something else to hold onto, and darlin’...” This time, Cassie did shiver when his voice dropped into that deeper tone that he knew sent electricity up her spine. “Look around you because you’re gonna have a lot to hold onto later tonight,” he promised. His lips enveloped hers and she moaned when his tongue licked its way into her mouth. He kissed her deeply, silently hinting at everything that was to come when they were truly alone.

When he broke away, leaving both of them gasping for air, he put his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes. “Send Denise home early,” he commanded. “I’ll drop Em off at her mom’s. Then I’m coming right back here and you’re closing the office the second I walk through the door.”

Usually, Cassie didn’t care to be told how to run her business, but right then, his ordering her what to do was kind of hot. And from the bastard’s smug smile, he knew it, too. She nodded, panting, “Okay.”

His smile grew and his hands squeezed her hips. ”That’s my girl,” he hummed, dropping another kiss to her lips before starting to retreat.

“Get your ass back here, Sheriff.” Cassie tightened her legs around his waist and pulled him back to her which caused him to throw his hands out on either side of her on the desk to keep himself from falling onto her, making him grunt. The sound caused a fire to start in her lower abdomen and she forcefully pushed the images of all the other times she’d heard that noise from him away. It was that or she’d never let him leave the room, and the latter wasn’t happening under any circumstances. She lifted up, hovering near his mouth, “I wasn’t done.” 

He chuckled and it thrilled her when she saw his gaze darken even further. “Oh, you weren’t, were you?”

She threaded her fingers into his hair and whispered, “Nope.” She slotted her lips against his, kissing him as if her life depended on it. Cassie didn’t know what Beau did to her, but ever since they had shared their first kiss months ago, she struggled to keep her hands to herself whenever they had a moment to themselves like this. And apparently, so did Beau, since his hands were roaming everywhere .

The sound of loud laughter in the office broke them apart. They waited a moment, trying to determine if someone was coming in or not as they caught their breath. When no one rushed in, Cassie glanced back up at Beau and nearly laughed. His hair was sticking up in various angles; her hands had done their work well. She felt a lightness inside of her chest when she noticed him staring down at her, his smile warm and his eyes filled with something akin to adoration. She had seen that look often enough before they started dating though she never quite knew what it meant. Now she did, and she smiled back up at him.

He leaned down to place a soft kiss to her lips and then moved back, holding out a hand to help Cassie to her feet. She ran her hands through his hair, attempting to undo some of the damage she had done, and he groaned. “It’s sticking up again?” She snickered at his obvious irritation. “I’m telling you, I’m gonna cut it.”

“No, you’re not,” she laughed.

“Oh, I am. I’m going to the barber two blocks over, watch me.”

She shushed him and finished fixing up his hair as much as she could. His gaze was trained on her and when she stopped, giving him a once over and grinning up at him, his eyes softened and he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. 

More sounds of laughter and the teasing call of “Cassie…” by Denise had him frowning at the door while shaking his head. “We’re never living this down, are we?”

“Probably not,” she chuckled. 

He gave her a tender smile and placed his forehead up against hers, staring into her eyes. “Worth it, though.” 

Cassie returned the smile and cupped his cheeks, stroking his bearded jawline with her thumbs. He was right; it was definitely worth it, especially when they could get small quiet moments like this. She marveled at the fact that this man could literally go from teasing her like usual to successfully stoking the fire between them and being hot as hell while doing it to being soft and sweet and loving, all in a matter of minutes. But it was Beau after all, and as she had discovered the last few months that he had been here, there were many different sides to the county’s newest (and youngest as he always reminded her which then earned him another round of teasing) sheriff. And she loved every single one, even though she hadn’t quite told him that yet. 

She could feel herself getting closer every day to saying those three little words to him; she just wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the first to say it. While she had a pretty good idea of how Beau felt, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to open herself up like that only to be shut down. Not after what happened with Mark, Cody, Andrew, and…her dad. That had been why she and Cormac hadn’t worked; she wouldn’t let him in, not completely. But Beau…Beau she didn’t see coming. And he had been patient and kind and just there for her. He never once demanded anything of her that she hadn’t already been willing to give. Beau also wasn’t the type to play games or hold himself at bay (not with her anyway); he wore his heart on his sleeve, unashamedly letting her see everything laid bare, and she loved him for it. As a matter of fact, their dating one another had only been kept secret due to her request. While he wanted some time to tell Emily himself should they get serious, he had no qualms about anyone else being in the know. But Cassie had wanted to wait since she knew how fast word traveled around Helena. And based on the conversation with Denise and Emily earlier, the news of their relationship was going to spread at the speed of light. She tried not to think about how it already had thanks to the podcast Emily had come up with. 

Cassie’s smile grew when Beau groaned at hearing another set of giggles behind the door. “Guess we should get out there.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, kissing her once more.

A sudden loud pounding on the door had them breaking apart. “Let’s go, lovebirds.” Cassie froze at that voice. Jenny.

Beau was already there, a hand on her back rubbing comfortingly, and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Right here,” he murmured into her skin. “I got your back.”

She appreciated the sentiment but still she couldn’t resist teasing him. “Which means you’ll be using me as a human shield.”

“What? Never.” That feigned shock on his face said otherwise. 

She shook her head but the humorous moment between them had helped to ease her nerves slightly. “Right. Well, guess we should head out there then.”

Beau gave a nod, let out a heavy breath, and turned to leave. He then stopped for a moment, reaching back to take her hand in his. He grinned when Cassie intertwined their fingers, and opened the door.

They stepped out to find Emily smiling but with her nose scrunched up, a beaming Denise, and most surprisingly of all, a smirking Jenny sitting on Cassie’s desk. Cassie froze; there wasn’t a trace of anger or irritation in the blonde’s expression.

“So, it’s official.” Jenny nodded towards their joined hands.

“Yep, it is,” Beau confirmed, giving Cassie a quick smile. She cradled their hands with her other one, returning the affectionate smile.

“About time.” Jenny held a hand out towards Denise. “Pay up.”

Cassie watched with wide eyes as Denise begrudgingly held out a twenty dollar bill which Jenny snatched up. She glanced towards Beau who looked just as confused as she was. “Wait…you’re not mad?”

“Mad? No, if anything, I’m relieved.”

“But…Em’s podcast…secrets and lies…”

Jenny dug her teeth into her bottom lip, grinning, and turned to give Emily a high five. “Told you it would work.”

Emily nodded. “She did.”

Cassie and Beau exchanged a glance before he got serious. “Alright, you two. Now, Hoyt, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” Cassie squeezed Beau’s hand. Here it comes. She knew they weren’t getting away unscathed. “I kept asking both of you about each other and you either dodged the question,” She looked pointedly at Beau. “Or you played it off as no big deal.” She then looked to Cassie. “As if I didn’t know what was really going on.” Jenny then smiled. “You two thought you were being so sneaky.”

“We planned on telling you…,” Cassie tried to explain.

“When the time was right,” Beau added.

Jenny snickered. “Finishing each other’s sentences already?”   

Beau rolled his eyes. “Alright, Hoyt, so you knew. Great. Good to know you’ve been putting those investigator skills to use somewhere. So, what? You have a bet going with Denise or something?”

“Yep. Pop, too.” Cassie felt like she wanted to melt into the floor. Did everyone know? She should have known better; Emily might not have used names in the podcast but that didn’t mean Jenny, Poppernak, and those who knew them couldn’t put two and two together. 

“Bet on what? Us making it official?” Beau seemed less than entertained at the notion now that Jenny had mentioned Poppernak had been in on it, too. 

Jenny shrugged. “If Em mentioning her podcast would get you two to come out of the closet or not.” Cassie tensed. Wait…what? “Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say the storage room,” she teased, making Denise laugh and Emily mutter, “So gross.”        

“You told Em to mention the podcast?” Cassie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “To get us to admit we’re together?” Jenny could have some wild ideas from time to time, but this took the cake.

At Jenny’s shrug, Emily jumped in. “Yep. And don’t worry, after talking to Jenny, I decided to do my podcast on something else.”

“So you haven’t put out any episodes yet?” When Emily shook her head, relief flowed throughout Cassie’s body. So not everyone in Helena knew about her personal life or heard details about her relationship with Beau; she was very relieved.

Jenny gave Cassie a look that indicated she was owed a very big thank you. She gave her friend a grateful smile. Perhaps she had been wrong to worry over Jenny’s reaction once she knew Cassie and Beau had been seeing each other.

“So, wait, there’s no podcast?” Beau checked.

“Oh, I’m doing a podcast, it’s just going to be on UFOs like Denise suggested.”

Both Beau and Cassie looked to Denise who held her hands up. “I didn’t know about the Secrets and Lies one and just to clarify, the bet was on who could make you guys admit it first, not anything about mentioning another podcast.” Denise then sidled up to Jenny. “Which now that I think about it, your little ploy didn’t work. They had already admitted it before Em ever mentioned that little nugget.” She stuck her hand back out. “So technically, you don’t win.” Jenny rolled her eyes but gave Denise back her money. “Thank you.”

“Wait, so who forced them to admit it then?” Jenny wanted to know.

“No one. I accidentally walked in on them having a moment .” Emily made a face and sat back down. 

Jenny’s smirk was wider than it had been before. “Wow, that must have been scarring.”

“Traumatizing,” Emily agreed.

Beau, having decided he’d had enough, cleared his throat. “Okay so just to confirm, there is no podcast about Cassie and I or your mother and Avery or anything like that, right?”

“Right. So you can unground me now. Since, you know, it’s not real.”

“He grounded you?” Jenny asked in disbelief. 

Emily nodded, checking her computer quickly. “Three weeks.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

Beau glanced towards Cassie who gave him a relieved smile, and he nodded before his gaze landed on his daughter again. “Six weeks.” 

Emily’s head snapped up. “What? Why? Dad, that’s so—”

“Unfair? Yeah, well so is what you just put us through. Six weeks it is. And your mom is going to back me up on this when I tell her.”

Emily’s shoulders slumped again but she wisely didn’t argue. 

Jenny saw it and tried to reason with Beau. “Beau, that seems a bit harsh, don’t you—”

“Not another word, Hoyt. You’re already on traffic duty for the unforeseeable future. Don’t make it worse. Because if you say one more word about this, you’ll be cleaning the toilets at the station,” he warned.

Cassie fully expected Jenny to protest, to get angry and have some choice words for her boss, but instead she just glowered at him while keeping silent.

Beau gave a satisfied nod. “Thought so. Now, if you ladies would be so kind as to excuse my girlfriend and I so she can walk me to the door. Em, get your stuff. Let’s go.”

Emily grabbed her backpack and shut her laptop, making her goodbyes to Denise and Jenny. Cassie gave Jenny an uncertain shrug as she and Beau walked past her, following Emily towards the door. She smirked at Denise’s wink, now realizing why Denise had winked at her earlier and why she had locked the door when she and Em went to the coffee shop. She had been trying to give them a moment alone. 

Beau reached into his pocket with his free hand and passed his car keys to his daughter. “Why don’t you go start Pedro up and I’ll be out in a minute?”

Emily nearly rolled her eyes. “Sure. Bye, Cassie. See you tomorrow.”

Cassie gave her a wave. “See you tomorrow.”

“And don’t drive away.”

Emily did end up rolling her eyes. “Sure, Dad.”

Beau waited until the door was closed and he could see Emily get into the car through the glass before he turned, quickly glancing behind them, and then pulled Cassie to him, kissing her. 

“You good?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded. “Remember what I said,” he murmured. “Send Denise home. Get rid of Hoyt.”

Seeing his piercing gaze darken once more, her heart started to beat faster. “Okay,” she whispered. Though she highly doubted it would be so easy to find an excuse to make Jenny leave. Cassie fully expected for the blonde to press her for details once Beau was gone, and she wouldn’t leave until she got them. “Though I seriously doubt I’m going to be able to get Jenny to go anywhere after this.”

Beau thought for a second and then yelled, “Hoyt, if you don’t leave in the next twenty minutes, you’re fired!”

Cassie’s jaw dropped and she hit his shoulder. 

“What did you just say?” Jenny snapped back.

“What are you doing?” 

The corner of his lips tipped up in a smirk. “Making it easier.” He then yelled again, “You heard me.” They both could hear Jenny making their way towards them and Beau straightened up. “I’m going to…yeah.” Before he could make his escape, Cassie grabbed his jacket to prevent him from leaving.

“And that’s making it easier? Now she’ll dig her heels in and never leave.”

He cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, eyes trained on hers. “I love you.” 

She froze, not having expected to hear that from him just yet. And then it hit her just why he was saying it. “Wow, those really are the last words of a dying man, aren’t they? You know Jenny is about to kill you.”

He shrugged, his smile growing. Guilty . “That and ,” He tenderly stroked her cheek. “I really do, Cass.”

Before she could respond or react in any way, she heard Jenny snap behind her, “You want to repeat that, Sheriff ?” 

Without missing a beat, Beau leveled the blonde with a glare. “I don’t need to. Be gone in the next fifteen or Pop gets your job.” 

Jenny started to retort with something but it was lost to Cassie because Beau immediately leaned in to whisper to her ear, “I’ll be back in less than an hour. And then it’s you, me, and that room. So you better be ready, sweetheart, because I certainly will be.” His lips brushed against her ear lobe and she shivered against him, making him chuckle under his breath.

He pulled back, grinning from ear to ear and his eyes glued to hers. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Hoyt. Just be out of here in the next half hour since Cassie’s closing the office early today. I don’t want to see you when I come back here.”

“Oh, you’re coming back after you drop off Emily at Carla’s, are you?” 

Cassie could hear it in Jenny’s tone; she knew why Beau wanted her gone. But right then, Cassie could care less. Especially when Beau’s smile softened and he caressed her cheek. “Damn right I am,” Beau quietly confirmed before leaning down and planting a steamy kiss on her.

When he pulled away, Cassie was left in a sort of daze. She didn’t even have it in her to be embarrassed or act all flustered or annoyed that he had kissed her like that in front of Jenny. Instead, she wanted to yank him back to her, everyone around them be damned. And from the smirk sitting on Beau’s face, the bastard knew it, too.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, using that voice. He gave her a wink and made his way out the door, leaving her staring after him and feeling as if she was on fire and going to melt into a puddle on the floor, all at the same time. Swinging from sweet boyfriend to sexy sheriff to her best friend and back…how did he do that? 

Jenny appeared next to her, watching with her as Beau drove away from the curb, giving them a wave. “So, you’re closing the office early?”

Cassie knew Jenny was fishing but she didn’t bite. “Yep.”

Jenny then moved into her line of vision, grinning wickedly. “You know I want details, and I’m not leaving until I get them.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and spun on her heel to head back into the office, determined to send Denise home. After that, Cassie was going to empty this office if it was the last thing she did.

#beau x cassie #beau x cassie fanfiction #big sky fanfiction #prompt response #beau arlen #cassie dewell #beau and cassie #cassie and beau #beau arlen and cassie dewell #cassie dewell and beau arlen #beau arlen x cassie dewell #cassie dewell x beau arlen #big sky #big sky fandom

[big-als-talk-time]

Wichita Falls, Texas. Known for being mentioned in King of the Hill (which I watch subbed). Also in a tom scott video about a tiny skyscraper.

There are various horse sculptures which allude to the fact there are real horses nearby. They are all pokestops.

Not that one though.

I was able to do 2 routes, the first I've ever encountered.

1. The L in Landmark

2. 10th church walk

The routes were fairly short, but they had many stops and it was nice to have some direction of where to go in the city.

I also picked up 6 gym badges

From right to left

1. Wichita falls public library

2. Wichita Theatre

3. First United Methodist.

4. St. Paul Lutheran Church

5. Harold Jones Park

6. 10 commandments

This is the biggest city I've pokemon went to so naturally this was the best experience i've had to far on my month using it. It was 107F (42C) which was probably dangerous but I drank a bunch of water at the public library so it all evened out. It turns out I was distracted by the fact that you can choose where a route starts as it turns out i missed the aforementioned tiny skyscraper by just a touch. Oh well. No terror attacks will hit it anytime soon. That would be too much risk for little reward.

I decided to eat at the nearby IHOP. I ordered a Buffalo Chicken Melt because it had a favorable calorie to price ratio. When it arrived the waitress asked if I wanted ranch. I replied "This should be good". The waitress was confused by this, asking a clarifying question. I took a moment to think, then realized that my statement is ambiguous and could be interpreted as a standalone idea about the quality of the meal, and not that this will be sufficient.

I replied "don't worry about the ranch" which was effective and I was able to continue with my minimally spicy meal. Once I had finished it the waitress returned and gave me a receipt before quickly walking away. Everything seemed in order so when she returned I stopped her to ask if I paid up front or what. She replied that I will pay her, but before I could proceed with that she walked away again. I assumed she was busy with other tables and that she would return.

After some time, a commotion from a table out of view occurred. A man was apparently upset that the same waitress had given the check to someone who had sat down to eat after this man, who reportedly "had shit to do" and "couldn't wait here all day". Consequently he threatened to leave without paying, and proceeded to do so.

At this point, it seemed like a bad time to bring up that I was tired of waiting. The waitress then returned to me. I figured that this would be the catalyst to my ability to pay. However she only asked if I wanted more water. After my 6th refill of the day, I was quite ready to stop and said as much. I was in the midst of switching to the topic of pay however she slipped away once again.

This caused the same situation to happen to me. For some reason this waitress had seated an elderly couple off to the side of me, they had finished, and then they were able to pay and leave before me. At this point I decided to stand up and ask to pay. The waitress then said "oh are you ready to pay now?"

I replied that there must have been some miscommunication because I wanted to pay for a long time. Since I asked about where to pay actually. Wordlessly our transaction was done. I did a standard 20% tip, slightly higher due to the fact it was paid in cash. Then I left.

#travel log #pokemon go #texas

[moonglittering]

Vi, how do you feel about Nicolas Cage

❝I think he’s sexy, but in a way that like… Walk with me, here. Okay, so, like. Imagine you go on a Tinder date, right? To a local restaurant, it’s probably like tapas or something. You look good. You’re wearing your favorite Nine West pumps. He sits across from you, candlelight flickering and Coldplay playing in the background. The Coldplay makes you wish you were dead, but it’s okay. He starts talking to you about how he collects teeth for his tea bags and once made a cake using toothpaste, cement, egg shells, motor oil, and putty. He details how he ate this cake. Gave the rest to his friends, who seemed to have mysteriously passed shortly after due to unforeseen circumstances. Your expression shifts a little, this conversation’s weird. Then, he starts talking about how one time he took a bunch of drugs in Nevada and had a hallucination at the Bellagio where he saw a pot roast singing showtunes at the buffet. Made him cry, like a vision of a deity. Holy. In passing, he mentions that his mother is a tree in the woods somewhere in Montana. He asks if Montana is even real, but you can’t answer.❞

Deep breath… Now, to continue. ❝He then says that he’s an arthouse director and that everything is an experiment to him. His last wife divorced him because he spent their savings on a fucking marble statue that’s literally just him but he’s cosplaying as Phil Collins. This conversation is weird. He hasn’t touched his tapas. Like, you ask why he hasn’t touched his food. He says that he doesn’t eat at night, he absorbs nutrients through the oxygen he breathes. He asks if you’d like having beef parmesan roll-ups eaten off your naked body in the middle of a public park during a mild spring morning, instead. You look at your watch. Oh, it’s only been thirty minutes since this date started. You eat your food and agree to sit in the parking lot. That doesn’t last long, because he tells you that he needs to go to his hyperbaric chamber and take a nap. You’re left mystified. Therapy is super interesting for you, that following Thursday. The next time you see him is near the frozen buffalo chicken pocket snacks at Trader Joe’s, he says nothing to you. You want him so bad and you don’t know why. You shouldn’t. The only thing you buy is some bananas and dish soap. In a daze. Anyway, he’s sexy like that.❞

#🌙 MAIN! IT'S YOUR LOCAL PRETTY BOY MOON DEITY. #anonymous #/ u ever just meet someone outta their fuckin mind and realize its Virote.

[untoterxhund]

Rules, tag 10 followers  you want to get to know better!

Tagged by: @fanaticist &lt;3 ​​

Tagging: steal it! just be sure to scream at me if you did steal it! wanna learn some facts about the mutuals

Name: rat

Star Sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′9 ( 175.25 cm )

Middle name: Marshal-James

Put your itunes/spotify/youtube on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs that popped up?

deep stone lullaby by Michael Salvatori

slims pickens does the right thing and rides the bomb to hell by the offspring

into the sun by the white buffalo

what the dead men say by trivium

lost by linkin park

gzdie jest viał węgorz by cypis

Ever had a poem or song written about you: not that I can remember?

When was the last time you played air guitar: a long time ago me'thinks, probably back in the barracks when I was doing corporal-work plunging toilets and obviously not doing the work I was told to do trying to stay sane on our desert air-strip

Who is your celebrity crush?: either ella freya or scar-jo when she has her red hair! i'm the biggest simp for red hair-- don't judge me.

What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?: i hate the sound of my tinnitus but as for a sound i do like? honestly the sound of firewood crackling, it scratches my brain the right-way tbh. that an the accents of Newfoundlanders, love their goofy little viking accents. 

Do you believe in ghosts?: sometimes tbh.

How about aliens: it'd be silly to assume that we're the only life in the ever expansive universe--  

Do you drive?: everything but a car lmao, need to get my eyes retested before I even attempt to do my first driver's test. i've driven glider-planes though, was going to work on my power license but dropped out of flight school due to bullying and my poor self-esteem at the time.

if so have you ever crashed: i've crashed plenty of lawn tractors, plenty of planes in VR back during my air force time .

What was the last book you read?: it was either Ender's Game, The Gunslinger or Metro 2034 iirc, it's been a long time since i've actually sat down an read an actual paperback book. 

Do you like the smell of gasoline: definitely killed some braincells back in the day being a dumb kid who liked the endorphin release of smelling gasoline. 

What was the last movie you saw?: that's a very good question tbh, i don't watch a lot of movies anymore but i think rightfully it may've been top gun maverick? either that or another annual rewatch of the last samurai. oh and bladerunner 2049 is still quite fresh in my mind so i'll add that as well 

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?: either being shot in the eyelid by a pellet gun or getting impaled in the arm by a branch, although my breaking my knee and tearing the muscles was also definitely pretty unfun- there's a lot of nasty injuries that come to mind, all of them not very good or fun to heal. oh, another one was getting 14 stitches in my right hand from shrapnel, the tip of my pinky to a few inches past my wrist.

Do you have any obsessions right now?: resident evil, monster hunter world, for honor & general emulator stuff- it's all gaming but that's just my way of passing the time, not a lot of other hobbies or obsessions that i can think of tbh. yakuza definitely used to be a massive obsession for me but being poor i couldn't get like a dragon: ishin so i haven't been able to keep up with that as of late

#010 //: out of character. #thank you for the lil' dash thingy!

[rhinozilla]

I’m a dumbass (affectionate). Here’s today’s example.

So on the way home from work I made an impromptu trip to the local grocery store to pick up a few things to make buffalo chicken dip tonight, because I was having an intense craving for it. I park right up in the front row, and I walk past a car that looks similar to mine, but I have buffalo chicken on the brain, so I don’t retain any of that observation (foreshadowing).

I go in, grab only what I need, and check out. I come outside, open (what I think is) my driver’s side door, and the door pops. Like “something wrong with the hinge” pops. I close the door and take a step back and look at it. The entire driver’s side fender on (what I think is) my car has been scraped and bashed in, extending all the way to the door, hence the popping.

Now, back in November a semi backed into my car while I was in it, and it took until literally May to get parts in and get my car fixed. So I’m staring at this damage and thinking “are you FUCKING serious? I JUST got my car fixed.” I walk right back into the grocery store and speak to the manager there, tell him I think someone scraped up my car while backing out, and request them to review the security footage.

They pull up the footage, navigate around to the time stamp and...I see (what I think is) my car pull up with the pre-existing scrape/bash damage, and some stranger gets out of (what is clearly their, not my) car. I immediately realized that I had mistaken their car for mine. I hadn’t gotten any farther than opening the car door and hearing that pop. If I had taken one tenth of another second to assess, I would have noticed the different interior, license plates, etc.

We reach the point in the footage where you see my dumb ass walk out, open the door, pause, stare at the damage, turn in a confused circle, dramatically sigh, and then waddle back into the store.

ANYWAY. So I point this out, and the manager walks out with me to make sure that my actual car is okay. Sure as shit, my car is parked literally two spots down from this other car, untouched. In my defense, it is identical in color, make, and model. Against my defense, it had distinctive bumper stickers and the damage was clearly rusted and did not happen that day.

We laugh at the misunderstanding and averted crisis. I apologize for taking up the manager’s time, and I leave.

So I’m currently riding the high of an emotional whiplash...from “woohoo buffalo chicken!” to “WTF is that sound?” to “oh, you’ve got to be FUCKING KIDDING me” to “dammit, I JUST FIXED THIS. Now I’m going to have to file a police report and do this all fucking over again” to “Oh...I may be stupid” to “oh thank god, what a relief” to “woohoo buffalo chicken!”

If had a nickel for every time I’d mistaken a stranger’s car for mine in a parking lot to the point of nearly getting inside it, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that’s happened twice now.

[jesssssah]

Fool Me Again 3/5

Fandom: Queer as Folk (US TV 2022)

Ship: Mingus/Brodie

Rating: M

Tags: No Major Archive Warnings. Post-Canon. Supportive Mingus. Vulnerable Brodie. QPRs. Angst. Hurt/Comfort. Christmas Eve. Holidays Fluff. Kissing. Happy Ending. Short Reads. Prompt Fills.

Summary: Brodie hates Christmas. But on Christmas Eve, after Noah extends a mistletoe branch and with a little fairy drag-mother tough love from Bussey, there might be something to love this year too.

Written for the MF Christmas Bingo! @mfbingo

Read the third chapter below the cut!

______

Chapter 3 - "Holidays mean family gatherings"

It’s been several hours now since Noah suggested an orphans’ Christmas but his closing statement to Brodie this morning about inviting Mingus to it is still running laps around the inside of Brodie’s head.

He stands outside the front doors of the Buffalo Exchange in Freret and stares through the window at a mannequin dressed in nothing but a blue beanie with white snowflakes knitted around the brim. It’s quite a nice beanie, he’d wear that in the snow. 

He pulls out his phone, eyes fixed to the screen, and wonders if he should text Mingus. Would that be easier than talking? Is Mingus even here? 

They sent a slew of Instagram selfies to Brodie last night but they don’t really ever send messages with the pictures. Brodie reacted with ‘eyes’ emojis to all the pictures he got because Mingus seems to like that but he didn’t call Mingus; their phone still goes straight to voicemail half the time and Mingus didn’t call him either, so the two of them haven’t actually talked. Brodie is just guessing-hoping they’re rostered on here today.

He’s about to wander inside and pretend to browse through something while really looking around for Mingus when of all the people in NOLA who could possibly walk out the store’s front doors then, Bussey does.

“You don’t look happy,” she says bluntly, but the assessment doesn’t end there. “Let me guess… You got invited to yet another Beaumont family Christmas that you don’t have the balls to decline the invitation to because you might be twenty-six? But you still haven’t learned that while holidays mean family gatherings, they don’t mean you can’t pick the family you gather with, right? How’d I do?”

“Jesus christ, Bussey,” Brodie groans. “So, when was someone giving you your own TV divination-come-advice show again? Was that next week? Or the one after?”

“That’s funny,” she says drily. “Let me divine you this too, then. If you’re here looking for Chickie, I overheard Reggie send her to lunch. Truth be told? She’s probably out in the car park taking pictures to send to you later. And if you want some more free advice, well, you could go surprise her. I know for a fact she’d like that.”

“What’s weirder? That you know all that or that it doesn’t worry me that you do?”

“She tells me a lot about you, Brodie. I’m just doing what any drag mother worth her bulk glue stick subscription would.”

“Who says I’m looking for her anyway?”

“Who needs to?” 

Brodie sighs in defeat. It’s pointless trying to hide things from Bussey, especially when the things are to do with Mingus. “I can’t hang around. I have somewhere to be.”

“Oh, yeah?” she challenges, sounding like she believes that about as much as if he were to suddenly tell her that he’s changed his mind about enjoying the thought of spending holidays with the Beaumonts. “Where’s that?”

“Well actually, Noah invited me to Christmas dinner tomorrow. Ruthie and Shar and the kids will be there too, so I guess I need to go and buy kid presents.”

“And you can’t find kid presents here? Do you know how many second-hand toys are inside that store? If there’s one thing people donate year round, it’s kids’ toys.” Bussey glances across the street and Brodie follows her line of sight to a café. “You know, I hear more about you from Chickie than I do from you these days. We haven’t talked since before Halloween. Come get some lunch with me, Brodie. Me and Reggie go over there all the time to talk business. They make excellent toasted po’boys. The service is fast. It won’t take long.”

Brodie stares at the café. “Hey, by the way, when did we get paper bendy straws at Babylon?” he asks, thinking back to the last time he was there on the night after his birthday, when Julian had insisted he go, the last time he saw Mingus in person.

“Few months back,” Bussey answers. “You know, if you’re interested in stuff like that, I could sure use some help with general logistics. I have enough to do with the venue and bookings. If you want one, there’s a job for you in general management. And that would be one less position we’d have to cover as an overhead too. By taking that on, you’d be saving us money.”

“I could be interested,” he says evasively. “I guess I can’t sponge off Brenda forever. It used to be easy to sponge off Winston but since she got everything it’s… I dunno, it doesn’t quite feel so right, I guess.”

Bussey sighs. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” she says. “I’m gonna assume this dodging you’re doing of my question is because you don’t want to have lunch with me, but that you’re too chickenshit to actually say that you don’t want to, and that’s fine. I can still give you some more of my flavour of third degree right here on the street. So, how’s the loft? You haven’t invited me and Bobby up there in a little while.”

“I didn’t realise you were gunning for an invitation.”

“Poor choice of words, Brodie.”

“Sorry.” He rubs the back of his neck, an uncomfortable feeling of guilt raising its head inside him and peering around a little shamefully. “I mean, if I’d known you wanted to visit me, well, I’d have asked you to come up and visit me. But you should know that I’m still organising my stuff up there. There are a whole heap of boxes for the club still up there too, by the way. Before Thanksgiving, Ruthie and Shar were there, and… I don’t know, I kind of realised what a mess it’s in. I finally got a bed.”

“You didn’t have a bed?” She looks a little horrified. “Brodie—”

“Don’t panic,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I did have a bed, it was just a temporary thing, that’s all. And, like I said, I have a real one now. Mingus helped me get it from here.”

“I know.”  

Brodie scoffs. “Love so much how you pretend not to know shit until I admit it.”

Bussey puts her hands on her hips. “What have you got against me caring, Brodie? Is it because Mingus actually talks to me? You know what? You want them to talk to you too? How about you be available to talk to them once in a while?”

“Hey! The reason why—”

“I don’t mean just talking about any old shit, Brodie. I mean really talking… People talk and then they talk, don’t you know? Be nice to hear something about you from you for a change, but I never do. You don’t really talk to me either. You got to get over yourself, Brodie. Get over the excuses you still use all the time. Nobody is gonna do it for you and I have told you this before, you keep sending the same message? One day someone’s gonna finally get it. That you will try up to a point but then it all just gets too hard. For fuck’s sake, you’re still just a baby too. Twenty-six is far too young to have a heart as hard to get to know as yours.”

She gives him a last weary look and then turns away to walk down the sidewalk towards the car park at the back of the building. 

“By the way, about the job,” she adds, stopping but not turning around to look at him. “There’s a form you’ll need to sign if you’re serious. I’ll give you some time to think about it. I got a couple of things to do this afternoon but I can be at the puppet theatre by six.” 

“Email it,” Brodie says. 

“Can’t,” Bussey answers. “It’s a paper form and our scanner at home is broken.”

“Scan it with your phone then.”

“Can’t do that either. The camera on my phone is broken too.” 

Brodie frowns. “Look after your stuff.” 

“I‘m trying to, bitch… Meet me at the theatre at six o’clock. If I’m not there right on the dot, then wait, I won’t be far. And you can now take note of what I need for Christmas. Holidays mean gifting, Brodie.”

______

Archived here on AO3!

Or start from the beginning here!

#queer as folk 2022 #Mingus/Brodie #queer as folk 2022 fan fic #post canon #mf christmas bingo #mild language

[nebulein]

Patrick and Johnny just going for a walk in the winter at night. They stop under a lamp post and Patrick keeps on talking about whatever he is blabbering about and Johnny just takes the times to admire Patrick. In winter, Patrick’s cute nose will get red on the tip. His eyes look magnificent because the falling snow will make his eyelashes wet and glimmering. And his lips, oh his lips. His lips become chapped in the winter. They become chapped and paler. But Patrick will will start it bite his lips and run his tongue over them making them glossier and a darker shade of red

“…like honestly I can’t believe he did that,” Patrick scoffs breaking Johnny out of his trance

“Uh, yea completely out of line,” Johnny replies back. Before Patrick could say another word, Johnny interlocks their fingers and they continue on their walk.

Adaksdjaknsdj nonnie please I don't know what you need me for, you just wrote the perfect snippet yourself!! 😍❄️👁️👄👁️

Kaner totally gets grumpy when he gets cold, which is hilarious for a guy who grew up in Buffalo and spends the majority of his life in ice rinks. Jonny doesn't freeze easily, running hot even in winter, the scarf around his neck tucked loose. Which means it's perfect for Pat to bury his face in there. His nose is a fucking icicle.

"Jesus, Pat!" Jonny jumps.

Kaner hums, eyes furtively glancing around before burying his face deeper into the crook of Jonny's neck. his cold nose running across Jonny's tendons sending shivers down Jonny's back. "Why are you always so warm? Huh, Jonny?"

"You mean I'm hot," Jonny jokes, because he's lame.

"That, too." Kaner's working on Jonny's coat buttons and now it's Jonny's turn to look around, but there's nobody else in sight, at least not close enough to be a problem. It's just them in the somewhat dark corner of this park. Them and the snow.

Jonny drags Pat closer, one arm around his shoulders, broad in his navy coat that cuts a devastating silhouette but isn't really made for snow. Pat's hands are just as cold as his nose and Jonny has to stifle a little yelp when they manage to burrow under Jonny's layers, settle right on his hips. "How the hell do you survive hockey?"

"Why do you think I need new gloves every break?" Kaner shoots back, humming happily as he runs his hands over Jonny's torso, sliding them up his back. Jonny wraps him closer, presses them together.

"Maybe we should run back, get your blood pumping."

"And break our necks on a patch of ice? Stan would have our hides." Pat draws back to look at Jonny, and for a moment it takes every ounce of willpower Jonny has to remember that they're in public. An embrace is one thing, easily explained as friends, as Pat getting cold. A kiss is another. Stan would have their hides for that, too.

"Let's go home." He brushes a curl away from Pat's face, wet with the snow, tucks it back under Patrick's toque.

From the way Pat looks at him, Jonny's pretty sure they're thinking the same thing. Pat smiles, a secretive little thing, tip of his tongue poking out, eyes sparkling. "You gonna warm me up, Jonny?"

Jonny growls, disentangling them to drag Kaner in the direction of their condo, his footsteps crunching in the snow. "Home. Now."

He can hear Pat's laughter behind him, and then Kaner's jogging a few steps to catch up, his hand squeezing Jonny's before it falls away as they turn onto the crowded street. Jonny buttons his coat, pulls his scarf tight around his neck again.

He's gonna stick Pat in the shower, or run a bath, or maybe shepherd him straight into bed. Jonny digs out his cellphone, pulls up the app and cranks the heat in their bedroom up a few degrees. Yeah, he'll warm up Pat alright.

#nonnie this was lovely! #i need you to know i wrote this in 30°C heat 😂 #winter can't come fast enough #1988 #hockey husbands #neb writes #nonnie asks #these prompt things have been so much fun #reblogs welcome #hockey baby

[afr0-thunder]

[Poor Chronicles Pt. 22]

*STARBUCKS EDITION*

The last batch of wings came out fantastic. Juicy, spicy and so hot they were falling off the bone, almost. Better (lighter) seasoning. Still had to apply sauce during and after for not only making full use of the sauce, but to completely taste the Buffalo BBQ. Never making traditional wings again, realized I don’t even like traditional wings.

I picked up a shift for my former favorite coworker last night. My female coworker and the assistant coach who says, “Nigga” were girly popping it up the whole shift. I’m surprised they didn’t say “Nigga” the whole shift. I swear he did though while singing a song…AGAIN!

I had a dream during my nap earlier. These two girls invited me to this party at their mom’s house. I had my car again, told them I got a flat when I got there and would need some help getting home after. Their friends were all lying on the floor in the living room. There wasn’t very many people there. There was like 13 to 27, not sure. The strange thing about dreams is you can’t imagine new faces, you had to have seen them at least once before, so I’ve seen these girls (only remember one from the dream) and this one tall black guy on the floor. They are all strangers or they’re all friends and I’m the only one who doesn’t know any of them. This also made me realize, house parties are a dying trend. I would like to throw a party, but they take so much effort to prepare. Long story short, if I ever see these two girls again, I think they want me to have a threesome with them. I’ve never had a threesome, but I don’t really want one either (anymore). Something about gay bitches and potential awkwardness don’t sit right with me.

I left for about an hour early to get some extra walking time. I explored west in the River North area. I was walking so fast I almost missed this girl who looked almost exactly like the girl I described from the Tik Tok. At the last second I saw her waist before I looked up. Not as tiny, but still a small waist, also a bit thicker. Didn’t quite see her face, but her hips made me look over my shoulder like 30 ft later. Ass was STUPID! I’ll most likely never see this woman again and will only recognize her for her small waist and ridiculously fat, ass. Amongst the Top 5 asses I’ve seen in the last 2 months, possibly Top 3 in the last 2 weeks. Could be #1, haven’t been ranking. I saw these other two women. They saw me and almost stopped their entire conversation. This happens often, fucking women’s thought process up mid-conversation. These downtown bitches are fucking rich. Blonde one with her hair in a ponytail/bun had a big ass fucking YSL (Yves Saint Laurent, for the broke) purse.

The female coworker may need some time to formulate her game. She looks like a distant cousin of my ex though, just skinnier. I may need to seek other options. I considered someone I knew, but you know how hard it is to get some white bitches from the suburbs to come to the hood? Something is telling me, “There’s a college up the street.”. Fucking Illinois Institute of Technology. Bitch do I fucking look like R. Kelly? We’ll see though, may be some bitches with a fat ass (doubtful) or some fine, skinny, cool, nerd bitches. Also, on my way to McDonald’s today this sexy dark skinned girl was parking her car at the building behind mine. We made eye contact and I said, “…I would fuck her”.

There IS another girl I went to college with who lives in town. I forgot. She’s from the suburbs though, does cocaine, very much an alcoholic and 1000% sure she’s racist. Still would suck my dick (unfortunately). Racism’s worst enemy, this dick.

I remembered this girl from high school (among others), but this one really stood out though. She was really pretty with SUPER big titties and a fat ass. Her little brother was annoying, but that won’t stop me from wanting her throat to meet this dick. Super sexy. I also want that one Cavinder twin. The one with the sexy big lips (Hanna).

Oh, this has taken a raunchy turn NOT because I’m horny, but because my income has been shifting and my daily occurrences have been thought provoking. We’re hitting a cooler season and our sales are expected to continue declining, so I will become poorer again and resume poor talks, but for now I’m trying to figure out who is going to alert my housemate of who’s ending racism

In short, I don’t like traditional chicken wings. Those who say “Nigga” while not black, have an unspoken bond. Dreams about strangers are very interesting. Power walks in the downtown area may become my new favorite hobby. Need to find a bitch who’s always bored. Racist hoes still will suck a black dick. I’m going back to being poor and I think I’ve said enough about sexy bitches I encounter for the foreseeable future, no guarantees. Back to our regularly scheduled POOR-gram.

- MH (2023)

[10/18/2023 - 11:45PM]

[10/19/2023 - 12:53PM]

#personal #poor chronicles #poor #poverty #life #lesson #life lesson #life lessons #guidance #struggle #chicago #2023 #LilMark #PUNKAssMark #afr0-thunder

[pointreyesjournal]

An Exceedingly Bad Idea : ep160 

10AM Friday Morning

Damn it feels good to sleep in and have no agenda for the day. Cheyenne is curious about, and equally disgusted by Floody’s “Breakfast of Champions” coffee drink, so she pours it down the drain while I make a second round of “good old fashioned” cappuccinos. I try to make the little pine tree art in the foam but it just looks like a moth scattered across the windshield of a Peterbilt. But it tastes good so who gives a shit?

Cheyenne: Do you know what would be great?

Me: What?

Cheyenne: If you had a little salt and pepper shaker full of cocoa, so we could put just a tiny little dash of mocha on the foam.

Me: Well, my birthday is coming up. Maybe you can buy me a pepper shaker.

Cheyenne: Hahaha, you’re an idiot! I’m not buying you a pepper shaker for your birthday.

Me: Too expensive? Maybe you can steal the one from Bovine Bakery for me.

Cheyenne: Seriously, just stop talking. You sound like you have an alien controlling your brain. Hey, I have a great idea.

Me: Oh?

Cheyenne: Let’s go sailing!

Me: Sure! Have you been on my little boat yet?

Cheyenne: Nope. I think we should spend the night on it.

Me: Oh Shy, that would be an exceedingly bad idea. Have you seen my boat?? It’s a day sailor.

Cheyenne: It’ll be fine!

Me: Imagine camping on a motorcycle. But at night, you have to sleep sitting on the actual motorcycle. That's what it’s going to be like spending the night on my boat.

Cheyenne: Would you stop worrying about me, I’m tough. We’ll make it through the night. It’ll be “an experience.”

Oh it’s going to be an experience all right. I pull a notepad out of the junk drawer and hand it to Cheyenne.

Me: Make a list. Cooler, ice, lunch, dinner.

Cheyenne: Dessert, alcohol, warm clothes, the new blanket, candles and lighter.

Me: Silverware, paper towels, a trashbag, sunscreen, Beats Pill.

Cheyenne: Anything else?

Me: Camping stove?

Cheyenne: Let’s just do cold sammies and charcut.

Me: Great. Done.

Cheyenne: Not forgetting anything?

Me: Nope. I think we’re good to go. Oh, sunglasses and a hat! Don’t forget sunglasses and a hat.

Cheyenne: Noted.

She tears the page from the notepad, and in the blink of an eye, we’ve gathered a few essentials from the kitchen and grabbed the cooler from the garage and we’re on our way to the little grocery store in Point Reyes Station. Shy picks out a nice selection of cheeses, crackers, olives, figs, and berry preserves for lunch. I go with a “lowbrow” selection of cold fried chicken and potato salad for dinner. Shy says she’s “feeling gangsta” and picks up a couple of bottles of 19 Crimes red wine (you know, the one with Snoop Dogg’s picture on the label) and we both get a chocolate vanilla swirl cone of the water buffalo ice cream.

We’ve got the groceries loaded into the Tahoe, and the next stop is Shy’s house for some clean clothes. Just before we pull out of the parking lot, Shy stops me, jumps out of the truck, runs across the street to Bovine Bakery, cuts in front of the line, and then two seconds later comes running back across the street at full speed, hops in the Tahoe and says “Drive drive drive!!”

I feel like the getaway driver in a bank heist, but I have no idea why.

Me: What the heck was that all about?

Shy hands me the pepper shaker filled with cocoa from Bovine Bakery.

“Happy Birthday baby!”

#novel #sailing #san francisco #first person narrative #point reyes station

[kumkaniudaku]

Prompt Request : “I’ve never wanted to lick the buffalo hot wings sauce out of someone’s mouth but here we are.” Reader x Damson Idris 😊

Dating for Damson was complicated. Star power had its drawbacks, and not dating like a normal 30 year old was at the top of the very short list.

He wasn’t afraid of the often talked about gold digger or meeting an overzealous fan. He was terrified of not living up to the expectation many women had concocted on internet forums and in his private messages. As charming as he usually was, the pressure to always entertain was stifling. He just wanted a good time. A chance match on an dating app had him hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

She was a cute girl. The prompts on her profile painted her as an ambitious geek with a passion for baking and Call of Duty. He doubted the last one, but struck up a conversation solely based on a pair of Prada heels in one of her photos. The words flowed effortlessly for two weeks until she extended the invitation to a mini golf attraction. Standing in front of the building while a Spring chill in Atlanta tried to cool off the muggy evening, he was starting to believe that she’d pulled the greatest vanishing act he’d seen thus far.

“Damson?”

A pleasant Southern drawl caught his attention before bringing him face to face with the woman of the hour.

“Oh wow,” he uttered louder than intended. When her expression showed a bit of confusion, he straightened up and extended his hand. “I meant, yes. Damson. Alicia, right?”

“Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you get my text?”

Confusion came before his embarrassment. Had he carried both of his phones, he likely would’ve received what ever explanation she’d sent. But the absence of his business phone killed any chance of that.

“Uh, no. I left my other phone at my place and-”

“Damn, I’m in the fake phone? We startin’ on the wrong foot already,” she laughed. When Damson let off an awkward chuckle in response, she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m joking. If we’re gonna be out tonight, you gotta loosen up. I didn’t touch up these braids for nothin’.”

“Oh so, that’s why you were late? And here I was cancelling my hair appointment to be on time for you!”

Their shared laughter rang out in the crowded parking garage, drawing attention that only made them laugh harder.

Easy energy kept the conversation light as Damson and Alicia rolled through rounds of indoor mini golf. Her competitive streak led to back and forth tales of their days as athletes between lessons on British slang. For the first time in over a year, Damson felt comfortable enough to drop pieces of his public persona and slip into a more comfortable version of himself. Talking to her felt like second nature. Each corny joke and song lyric reference had him wondering what she’d be like on date two, three or more.

“So, how you likin’ the city?” Alicia asked after wiping hot wing sauce from her mouth for the 100th time.

“Eh, it’s alright. It’s not Peckham or LA, but it’ll do.”

Alicia studied Damson’s sideways grin before rolling her eyes. “You like seeing me fired up, huh?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because ain’t no way you’d blaspheme my hometown and not think that I won’t pipe up.”

“Ooh, pipe up. I’ll add that to my Urban Dictionary research list.” He watched her roll her eyes again with a laugh. “One thing I will say is that wings here are top 10 in the world.”

“If we don’t do nothing else, we gone fry and sauce a wing! Stick around long enough and I’ll take you for some at one our local gourmet establishments.”

“Local gourmet? Is this a steakhouse or…”

“I’m sure they can throw a steak on for you down at The Flame or Magic.”

“The Fla…” Damson’s voice trailing made Alicia giddy with anticipation while he slowly came to a slow realization. “You’re trying to take me to a strip club.”

“And a couple other places if tonight goes as planned.”

The pair shared bashful stares across the table before diverting to get a look at their surroundings. Damson felt the long forgotten flutter or butterflies in his gut and chuckled at himself. Feeling for a random dating app link wasn’t in the plan. But Alicia felt like a change of pace that he was willing to explore.

“So, we sh-”

“Is it cool if I-”

Laughter took over the conversation to cover their embarrassing blunder.

Damson nodded to give Alicia the go ahead. “Ladies first.”

Alicia released a shaky breath to steady the words on the tip of her tongue before speaking. The corners of her mouth turned up into a flirtatious smile.

“Look, I don’t believe in beating around the bush. I’ve been thinking about kissing you all night. And I feel like we’re on the same page about that the way you keep looking at my lips, but let me know if I’m wrong about that.”

“I have been looking at your lips,” Damson admitted. “But mainly because you are smashing those wings and you have sauce all over your mouth.”

Alicia’s face morphed into a horrified expression while she rushed to get a look at her lips in her phone’s camera. Before she could finish the motion, Damson carefully gripped her wrist.

“I didn’t say entirely. I’ve never wanted to lick the buffalo hot wings sauce from someone’s mouth before, but here we are.”

The world around them seemed to slow as they searched for reassurance in each other’s eyes. A tentative move forward from Alicia led Damson to mirror her actions until there lips met and electricity made them tingle from head to toe.

Damson was the first to break the kiss and smile.

“Okay so, there are two things I like about Atlanta.”

#damson idris imagine #damson idris #request

[bemusedlybespectacled]

What was the dumbest way you almost died?

Oh God this is embarrassing.

Okay, so, for the record, I want it to be clear that I am ordinarily a very good driver. If anything, I am an overcautious driver to the point that it annoys passengers.

So, I was driving zrayak to get one of his COVID shots (the first or second, I don't remember) an hour and a half away in Buffalo and was following the GPS. I pulled off the highway to a T-stop. The GPS voice said "turn right." However, the GPS map pointed left. So I got really anxious and turned left... which was actually into oncoming traffic. So zrayak is screaming at me to get out of the oncoming traffic (understandable), meanwhile my brain is on autopilot out of sheer panic. So, I had the genius idea to pull off the road, and so I cut a left turn, again across incoming traffic, through a red light, and pulled off into a side street leading to an apartment parking lot.

Now, keep in mind that while all of this is happening, A POLICE CRUISER WAS DIRECTLY BEHIND ME.

So, imagine you're in traffic in a relatively quiet area of the city, and you see a car 1) swerve onto oncoming traffic, 2) blow a red light, and 3) swerve to the left again and turn onto a random side street. The whole thing took maybe thirty seconds.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

No one even honked at me.

The police cruiser just went on by like I hadn't just broken three or four traffic laws directly in front of them.

I don't know if this is just normal for Buffalo or if it looked like I'd suddenly lost control of my car and wasn't to blame or WHAT but literally nothing happened. I just cried really hard for like five minutes and then finished the drive.

#personal #askbox

[sunmoonandeddie]

feelings are fatal (23/24)

pairing: bucky barnes x reader, past steve rogers x reader

word count: 3,018

summary: After the events of Endgame, you struggle to come to terms with what you’ve lost, though you’re learning that you still have something to gain.

chapter warnings: swearing, violence, funeral

masterlist

a/n: this little chapter drop!!!

The funeral was three days later.

You’d taken it upon yourself to stay in the Stark cabin, licking your wounds and mourning the loss of the man you’d spent almost a decade of your life with. You’d mourned losing him before, but this was different.

This was permanent.

There’d be no more chances to go see him in Buffalo. There’d be no more watching him paint in his home studio, seeing the life he built for himself.

You hadn’t seen Bucky since you left the hospital.

You had walked out of Steve’s room, tears rolling down your cheeks. It felt like a death march as you had to face his family, had to face Peggy, the daughter that was named after you. “He’s gone,” you’d said, hands trembling. “I…”

“Oh, honey,” Peggy had whispered, moving to hug you as her own pain welled up in her eyes.

“I have to go,” you had insisted as you quickly slipped out of her grasp, speeding down the hall. You’d left the members of your little family in the waiting room, knowing that they’d gotten to talk to him before he’d passed but still feeling so guilty because you were the last one he’d seen. The last one he’d talked to.

You hadn’t even stopped when Bucky and Wanda had called out your name. You had the car keys in your hand, since he’d given them to you at some point in the blur of the day.

You’d left him there.

The pain was unbearable.

You’d spent the past three days at the bottom of a bottle, blasting all the playlists that Tony had saved. At some point, it had switched to a playlist full of old jazz music from the forties.

You’d thrown the bottle against the wall and watched it shatter.

Sweeping it up while absolutely plastered had been… an adventure. You had the bandages on your feet to prove it.

But you’d gotten it all swept up and into the trash before moving onto the next bottle.

You’d turned off your phone after the fourth phone call and the eighteenth text.

But Bucky didn’t show up. He didn’t come banging on your door like you hoped he would, swooping in and kissing you like the prince in a fairytale.

It was monumentally disappointing.

When you arrived at the funeral, you’d thrown the car into park and then sat in the lot outside for at least forty-five minutes. You’d shown up early entirely because you knew that you’d need time to gather the courage to go inside.

You’d had to order a black dress and heels with express shipping, since you hadn’t exactly thought to pack them when you and Bucky had gone on your little vacation and you didn’t really feel like going out to go shopping.

Your mistake.

It had taken a lot of effort to actually shower and do your hair and makeup. Your ankles felt like they’d give out any moment as you slammed the car door shut and headed inside.

“Hello.”

You almost tripped over your own feet as you heard a feminine voice call out to you. “H-Hi,” you said as you finally came face to face with the woman who had your name. “I’m—”

“I know,” she said, before getting a weak laugh. “Me, too. I’ve heard so much about you. My dad… uh… He really, really loved you.”

“Thank you,” you said, voice a little stiff. You hadn’t done much talking the past few days, unless screaming out lyrics counted.

Yeah, it counted.

Sorta.

“Um… H-How is Peggy—I mean, your mom—doing?”

“She’s handling it about as can be expected,” she said with a smile as she glanced to where the Brit in question was. It was strange, seeing the woman that was named after you. She was older than you by a few years, and had a few gray hairs. But she looked so much like the perfect mix of Steve and Peggy… “But dad was getting up there… more so than any other man. They both knew it was coming. I just don’t know if mom will be able to hold on without him much longer.”

Great. Because that’s exactly what you wanted to hear.

“Here, let me introduce my siblings!” She said, calling them over before you could say no.

By the time the actual service started, you’d met far more Rogerses than you had ever wanted to.

It was exhausting. They were all so… kind. Despite everything, despite the fact that you were literally their father’s ex girlfriend, despite the fact that you were the last person their father spoke to before he died, and not his wife.

“My husband, Steve, has always been what his best friend called him. A punk,” Peggy said as she stood up before everyone, letting out a weak laugh as she glanced back at the open casket. “But he was so many things. Brave. Outspoken. Generous. Stubborn…”

Your eyes stayed on her, even though you stopped hearing what she was saying. You didn’t have the energy to listen to a eulogy.

That is, until she said your name.

“Huh?” You said, suddenly on high alert. Some part of you was aware that your team was sitting in the front row, including Bucky. You’d been too busy speaking with Steve’s children to talk to them, not that you minded that. You weren’t sure if you were ready to face them.

“Would you please come up and say a few words?” Peggy asked gently, getting down and holding out her hand to you.

“I…” Fuck. You couldn’t say no. It was a god damn funeral. “Okay,” you said after a long moment, placing your hand in Peggy’s and letting her lead you up to the podium. The sea of people staring at you made your blood run cold, your hands trembling as you gripped the wood. “Um… H-Hi…” You introduced yourself, you voice cracking. “I’ve known Steve… since I was eighteen years old. And we were together for almost a decade.” You snorted, shaking your head as you glanced back at the casket, your heart stopping for a moment when your eyes rested on his face. “I know… most of you are probably wondering why the hell I’m up here. Why the hell anyone would want their husband’s ex girlfriend speaking at their funeral, but uh… Steve helped make me the person I am today.” Your heart was hammering inside of your chest, threatening to break your ribs. “He taught me when to push myself, how to trust my instincts.” Also all things that Bucky taught you. You could feel his seafoam blue gaze on you, pinning you in place. “I know it’s cheesy… But he taught me what it means to do the right thing, even when it means standing up to someone you love and telling them so. He taught me how to keep going even when my world was crumbling.” Your heart was shattering as your eyes met Bucky’s. “He taught me to chase after what I want the most in the world, and to accept nothing but the best.” Tears were starting to roll down your cheeks. “Steve was a bright light in the world, even when he was in his darkest moments.” You gave a watery smile, your hands clammy. “Steve was not the shield, and those of us who knew him personally know that. The shield was Steve. He made it into the symbol that it is. A symbol of what every person can be, what they should be. What we should all aspire to be.” Your throat was starting to close up. “But he was showing us that even before the serum, wasn’t he? Because it doesn’t matter how small you are, or where you come from. You can make the choice everyday to make the world a little better.” Sniffling, you swallowed around the lump in his throat. “And I know I’m rambling, but I really didn’t expect to be speaking here today, so please forgive me, but I just… I never thought he’d die like this. There were hundreds of missions where I thought… this is it. This is where I lose him. I always knew he’d fight until he couldn’t anymore. The fact that he got the honor of passing like he did… what feels like a million years old and surrounded by his loved ones in a hospital… just like any other man… I can’t think of a better happy ending for him.” You took a deep breath. “But there’s someone who should be up here more than me. Someone who knew him from the beginning. From playground to battlefield and beyond, right?”

Bucky’s entire body was trembling as he slowly got to his feet and walked up to the podium. But before you could leave, his hand slipped into yours and squeezed, a silent question being asked.

Stay?

And how could he ever think you’d leave him?

You squeezed his hand back, staying by his side as he slowly started to speak. He spoke about the first time they met, all the fights he broke up.

Until the end of the line.

You guessed it really was the end. The grand finale of a life that wasn’t always easy, but was always worth it.

Watching Steve’s casket being lowered into the ground felt like a hallucination. How could it possibly be real?

The feeling that you’d gotten in the hospital was washing back over you like a tsunami. The overwhelming feeling of despair, of disbelief.

Of anger.

You wanted more time. There wasn’t ever enough time and now he was gone.

You slipped away after the funeral ended, getting into your car and just… driving. You knew you’d eventually make it back to the cabin, but you needed to roll the windows down and just feel the icy cold wind in your hair, on your skin.

Making you feel alive.

When you got back to the cabin, the sun had set, stars twinkling overhead in a brilliance you’d never see in the city.

You held your heels in your hand as you stumbled into the house, tossing them to the side as you headed for the kitchen. “FRIDAY, put on some music,” you said quietly.

“What playlist would you like?”

“Read the room, Fri,” you said simply, sighing as you grabbed a bottle of wine from the kitchen. She started to play music throughout the house, and you bit your lip as she started to play a blend of your favorites. Mostly Black Pumas and The Teskey Brothers. “Fri, can you turn on the fireplace?”

Warm light filled the living room and kitchen, flickering softly.

You didn’t bother changing as you collapsed onto the fur rug with just your wine and your bottle opener. “Dumb… cork…,” you huffed as you worked to get it open.

You were about halfway through the bottle when you heard a car pull up, followed by the slam of the door. Your mind was fuzzy as you watched the front door open and Bucky walk in. “Hi.”

He stopped in the entryway, still wearing the all black suit he’d donned at the funeral. “Hey,” he breathed out. He couldn’t help but snort as he saw the bottle of wine in your hands. “Yeah… It has been that kind of day, huh?”

When you held it out to him, you couldn’t tear your eyes away as you watched his pink lips wrap around the bottle and he took a swig.

Fuck, you had it so bad.

“How are you feeling?” You asked as you watched him stand by the end of the sofa. “It’s been… a rough day.”

“I’ve been better,” he said simply as he took another drink. “But I know I’ll feel better once you and I are speaking again.”

Your heart squeezed inside your chest as your eyes met, your cheeks flushing. “Right… I… I think we were both… frazzled… But I’m so sorry.”

Pain and Misery by The Teskey Brothers started to play over the stereo, filling the house with soothing R&B. It was one of your favorite songs in the whole entire world.

“I've been in love, honey, you know it's true… Was since that day I first laid my eyes on you…”

“Malen’kaya,” he said as he set the bottle on the coffee table, holding out his hand to you. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Could you forgive me for how I acted?”

“Love is a crazy game, baby… It's how I feel… It makes you oh, so high, but it takes so long to heal…”

You nodded after a long moment, slipping your hand into his and squeezing as he tugged you to your feet. “I can. I do,” you said, the wine making your head fill with bubbles.

“So, please, yeah, yeah… Won't you stay with me? 'Cause since you gone, it's all pain and misery. Honey, please, yeah, yeah… Won't you stay with me? 'Cause since you gone it's pain and misery…”

Something inside of you clicked back into place as he pulled you close to his chest, the two of you immediately starting to sway. Falling back into step with him was as easy as breathing, you were finding.

Perhaps even easier.

“Sometimes I curse that day of when you came along… I was happy but it's been pain now for so very long… Oh, I'm begging you, honey… Please, won't you stay? 'Cause I been so lonely since you gone away…”

“I don’t like not talking to you,” he said quietly, his lips pressing to your forehead. “Feels so wrong… Like I can’t breathe.”

Funny how you’d just had almost the same thought.

“Everyday is pain… In the end, it's hard to see… Every fateful day is oh, so sad, now that I've lost the best friend that I ever had…”

He was so warm, so comforting. Like a teddy bear.

“I don’t like not talking to you either,” you admitted as you nuzzled closer to him, breathing in the musky scent of his cologne. It was intoxicating. “Can we please never do it again?”

“Honey, please, won't you stay with me? 'Cause since you gone it's all pain and misery…”

He grinned against your forehead, his hand moving from your hip as he slid his arm around your waist to pull you even closer. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Honey, please, whoa please, won't you stay with me? 'Cause since you gone it's pain and misery…”

“Jamie…,” you whispered, your voice cracking as you tried to gather the words you wanted to say.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” He asked, resting his head against yours.

“Hey, I'm begging you, honey… Whoa… I want you to love me… Yeah, I want you to love me… I need you so bad…”

“What does this mean?” You asked as the song ended and it shifted to another. “For us, I mean?” You were starting to panic, anxiety welling up in your chest and causing you to word vomit. “Because I can’t do this back and forth, I can’t. I won’t. I won’t survive it. I can’t keep pretending like we’re just friends and that the way you make me feel doesn’t make me… doesn’t make me…”

“Doesn’t make you what?” He asked quietly, not letting you move away from his secure embrace. “Please… Because I can’t keep acting as though you’re not my everything.” He held the back of your head, his fingers gently massaging your scalp. “Please… Please, tell me you love me. Because I…” He rested his forehead against yours, a tear rolling down his cheek. “The love I have for you has rewritten every piece of DNA in my body,” he said. “It’s in my blood, my bones… You are written in my heart, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. And…” He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “And if you don’t love me the way I love you, that’s just fine. As long as I have you in my life… I’ll be whatever you need.”

“Jamie…,” you said with a weak laugh. You were openly crying, though you weren’t sure when you had started. “Oh, Jamie… Do you really think I could ever not love you?” Your nose nudged against his as you wrapped both of your arms around his neck. “If you don’t kiss me, we’re gonna have a fight.”

The smile that split open his face was blinding. The kiss he planted upon your lips was absolutely filthy. A mess of teeth and tongue and grins and giggles, a tangle of feelings pent up for so long that you were sure you’d never get them all out. You’d spend the rest of your life unraveling all the ways he made you feel, and you’d do it with a smile.

“I love you. I love you so fucking much,” you said as you pressed yourself against him. “I never wanna be without you ever again.”

“You never have to,” he breathed out as he nipped at your lower lip. Without further ado, he reached down and slipped his arm under your thighs. You let out a squeak as he scooped you up, carrying you bridal style up the stairs. “I’m gonna love you so good,” he said with a growl.

You almost hit your head on the door frame as he carried you into the guest bedroom you two were occupying, squealing as he tossed you onto the bed. “Jamie!”

“Yes, malen’kaya?” He asked as he shoved off his suit jacket, toeing off his dress shoes at the same time.

“Nothing,” you said, giggling as you started to strip down, too. “Nothing at all.”

When you two finally finished hours later, the wine had worn off, and he was asleep. You’d curled up on top of his chest, his cool vibranium hand resting on the small of your back, helping you cool off.

“Jamie?” You murmured, testing if he was asleep. When he grunted, you smiled, intertwining your fingers with his flesh hand. “I love you…”

“I love you more, baby.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x y/n

[hobicomeholla29]

Soulmate- Drabble - PCY

Pairing: Vampire! Chanyeol x Reader

Genre: Soulmate AU! /Fluff /Crack

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13

A/N: Well look who has returned from her semi-hiatus! xD This is a small drabble I had saved in my WIPS and decided to give it a little life. Unedited, please bear with me. This is my attempt to get back into writing, hopefully, it works lol.

Summary: Sleep doesn’t want to come to you tonight, but a phone call with your favorite person might do the trick.

♡¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡*¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡*¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡

You tossed and turned in your bed, not sure why you couldn't bring yourself to sleep. It was way past the appropriate bedtime for someone who wanted to be a responsible adult on the following day.

It didn't help that tonight, it seemed to be one of those cold nights, where no amount of clothes and blanket layering made you feel warm enough.

You considered abandoning the little warmth you had finally achieved after hours, thinking you could maybe get Sehun to entertain you until you felt sleepy since he loved being active so late at night. But you remembered -One- that he lived a mile and a half away and -Two- he would probably send you right back home and to sleep, so you opted to stay put.

Running out of ideas on how to get yourself to finally sleep, you stared into the darkness of your room, ready to accept that you would walk into your office with bloodshot eyes the following day. That was until a buzzing sound coming from your nightstand startled you.

Rolling around in your bed to get in a more comfortable position, you answered your phone without checking who it was. "It's 2 in the morning, why are you still up?" you croaked.

There was no need to check the caller ID, only one person would call you this late at night and that could mean a couple of things, but mainly either his thoughts were running rampant again or he was hungry.

"I can't stop thinking about you, but also I don't require sleep," he answered, voice matching the grogginess in yours due to not speaking for hours.

The way he decided to answer your question had you chuckling involuntarily.

How can he confidently say stuff like this, when it's so difficult for you to even show him proper affection yet.

"Well, you better stop and try to at least get some shut-eye, I'm sure everyone expects you to be at your best tomorrow, no bags under your eyes."

You were pretty sure you heard Junmyeon say something about a show tomorrow and that he needed Chan to be well-rested for it.

"Tell your mini-you to stop running tracks in my head then." he requested, laughing a little. Funny how, even though you could only hear him, you could easily picture his sharp canines peeking out from the corners of his top lip.

Shuffling could be heard on his end of the line and you assumed he was more than likely also laying in his bed.

"Mini-me, get out of my Chan's head now! He needs to rest; tomorrow is a busy day for him, and you aren't helping." You barely noticed your slip of the tongue by calling him yours, yet you didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"That's all I get? Wow and here I was expecting a title or something a little more...endearing. Dang." He mused.

You knew what he wanted to hear, you just liked playing dumb once in a while.

You and Chan had known each other for a while now, however, just recently did your relationship turn into a romantic one, as it wasn't always so.

"Oh~ you mean something like my SUPER BEST FRIEND Chanyeol?" You teased; knowing perfectly well you were more than that.

"We're not JUST friends and you know it. Plus I don't think Sehun would want me to compete for that place in your life." he answered so quickly, you were sure you even heard a slight snarl escape with the sentence. He knew you were teasing him, but you were sure he was pinching the bridge of his nose to not let it get to him.

"I know nothing Park Chanyeol" you smiled to yourself.

There were a couple seconds of silence before he sighed deeply and took another approach.

"So, tell me, baby, what does an undead man have to do, so his ex-prey/ex-friend understands that she is no longer either of those and has escalated to soulmate?"

"If people knew that, they would probably come to the conclusion that I developed Stockholm syndrome."

It was an old inside joke, you both knew that. However, it wasn't too far away from the truth.

Chanyeol was a vampire, and you were once his prey, simple as that. Yet if anyone knew how your relationship with Chanyeol began, they would think you were either masochistic or probably crazy.

"We've had this conversation and we aren't going back to it." He defended jokingly.

"I've said nothing that's untrue, but, back to your original question on how to make me understand that we are now 'soulmates' or whatever that means..."

He scoffed at that, knowing well that you were more than likely making air quotes for the word soulmate, because you really didn't believe in that crap, yet study sessions with Sehun said otherwise.

"Hush! You may prove yourself to be my soulmate by feeding me with a delicious food bouquet."

He laughed a little too loud at that one, leave it to you to make a dent in Chanyeol's bank account by getting him to buy you food.

"First of all, did you just hush me?" he seemed much more awake the longer you bantered, however, the whole thing was lulling you to sleep.

"Yes, so…?”

You heard a deep sigh and slight grumbling coming from him, probably complaining about how you think about food 24/7 but not about him, when he was suddenly back on the phone.

"Anyways, Buffalo or BBQ?"

"Half-and-a-half please and thank you."

"Your wings bouquet will be at your office tomorrow at 12."

"Thank you~" You could feel yourself fully relaxing and losing consciousness, sleep now finally reaching you and you hated to admit that maybe it did have something to do with the soulmate thing.

Both lines remained silent for a couple more minutes, none of you ready to hang up on the other until you finally decided to speak.

"I love you... soulmate" your own heart skipped a beat after the word left your lips, something you won't admit to Chanyeol ever, yet somehow, you felt like he already knew about it.

"I love you more baby. I think I can go to sleep now."

"Mm-hmm, me too." You answered half yawning.

You have no idea who ended the call, but you did recall hearing his deep chuckle before slumber took over you and you just had to accept that his laugh was one of your favorite sounds in the world.

♡¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡*¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡*¤▪•°°°•▪¤*♡

I hope you guys enjoyed the little drabble.

#chanyeol x reader #exo x reader #exo x poc #exo x woc #chanyeol x woc #chanyeol x poc #exo fic #chanyeol fic #vampire chanyeol #exo vampire au

[fishnets-fingers]

Six Months - Part Four

Summary - Layla desperately needs a vacation and her Aunt and Uncle come to her rescue. So, at twenty two, she packs her bag and jets off to America. Harry took a break from education and is now a full fledged content creator on OnlyFans. At twenty, he makes more money than almost all of his friends. What ensues when these two meet and realise the windows in their rooms face each other? How will paper airplanes bring them closer together?

a/n - Please reblog! Come say hi! This is becoming a slow burn.

Word Count - 5839

Warnings - smut (not what you think). fluff. just two idiots that won’t admit that the like the other.  one minor confession from one said idiot.

Masterpost (find previous parts here)

Layla opens the door to see Harry with a wicker picnic basket slung on his shoulder. He was wearing lilac trousers and a white shirt. He had his top buttons undone and his shirt was slightly see through. A cross was hanging on his neck and he had a soft smile on his face. Layla could make out a few tattoos on his torso, she wondered how many he had.

“Hey, you ready?” Harry stays as he steps into the house as Layla moves to the side.

“Yeah. Gimme a minute, I’ll go fetch the blanket. The sandwiches are on the counter. It’s guacamole swiss cheese. I also made some buffalo cauliflower. I hope that’s okay?”

“Sounds perfect. I made some lemonade. I have strawberries and watermelon. I also have a slice of chocolate cake.” Harry puts the sandwiches in his basket.

Layla comes into the kitchen with a picnic blanket folded on her forearms. "All set. Ready?”

“Yeah. You look beautiful, by the way.” Harry says shyly and Layla can feel her face heating up. She was wearing a white tennis skirt with an oversized black t-shirt tucked in. Her hair was in two boxer braids. She had put on some lip gloss, some eyeliner, and some sunscreen.

“Thanks. You don’t look too shabby yourself.” She says and walks to the door to lace up her shoes.

They both walk to the park in silence. Harry kept stealing glances at her ass and her legs as she walked a little in front of him. 

The lake comes into view and Layla walks towards it a little faster. “Oh, this is stunning. I love love love water bodies,” she says looking at Harry with a giant smile on her face.

“Yeah. It’s a decent view. So, what do you say we set up shop here?”

Layla nods and spreads the picnic blanket on the grass a little further from the water. They both kick off their shoes and get settled on the blanket. 

“This is nice,” Layla says. She stretches out her legs and throws her face back towards the sun. Her weight is mostly supported by her arms. “It’s sunny but you don’t sweat that much. It’s humid back home because of the beach, so you just sweat bullets immediately when the sun hits you.”

“Where is home exactly?” Harry says. His legs are bent at the knees and his arms hug them.

“Chennai. It’s a great city. It’s home and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You’re from London, right?”

“Hmm… born and raised. Unlike you, I’d trade it for some sunshine. It’s so bleak and gray all the time but it does have it’s charm. I’ll tell you that.”

“So… how does a twenty year old end up posting pictures on OnlyFans?”

“Wow. Jumping straight for the juicy part, huh.” Harry laughs.

“Sorry. I’m not one for small talk. Also, I’m slightly nosey.” Layla smirks. “You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”

“Nah. I don’t know really. I just got home from a year long internship in the Arctic circle. A week or so later my parents told me they were gonna split up. A lot of money went into that. Mum decided to move here, and that burned a hole into her savings. I really didn’t wanna burden her or go into debt and I just stumbled across the site. I decided to give it a shot. Not a lot of boys in skirts and tights. I saw an opportunity there and here I am, I just hit 40k followers last night. I charge 20 dollars for a subscription each month. I don’t do the whole pay per view. Taking pictures, coming up with concepts, buying stuff, and editing is a little exhausting. Clothes are just clothes, you know. I have an Instagram - that you found- and a twitter for promo. I’ve already saved up quite a bit of money. I’ll head back to college after I've hit my target savings.”

“That sounds like a full- time job. I’ve always thought it was easy. You post a picture here and there and bam hundreds and thousands of dollars. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

“So, Layla, what brings you here?”

“Burnout. Total fucking burnout. Definitely want to get a PhD though - behavioural neuroscience. Just not now. I want some peace.”

“So what? Just roll on the bed and watch TV for a few months. Sign me the fuck up” Harry says.

Layla laughs. “Not quite. I’m planning to write a paper or two. I already have an idea - how gender studies in psychology are rooted in a binary system and why they need to look at it as a spectrum. I have a few reading materials bookmarked. I’ll sub in for one of my professors mid November. But other than that, yeah, roll on the bed, watch TV and explore the country a little.”

“That’s not a break! You are still doing a lot.”

“Not really. I really want to write something for ecopsychology. Definitely would help to have an environmentalist by your side.”

“Consider yourself lucky,” Harry smirks at her.

Layla raises her eyebrow.

“Mostly did science and environmental science for my A levels. Interned with one of Britain's top climate scientists.”

“That’s impressive! Will you help me, if need be?”

“I’d love to.”

“Alright, enough talking. What do you say we get some food into our bellies?” Layla asks.

Harry pulls out the sandwiches, the cauliflower, the lemonade and the fruits. Layla eats some strawberries, and Harry takes a bite of his sandwich.

“Mmm… this is delicious.”

“Thank you,” Layla says as she blushes. 

Harry watches her as she bites into the strawberry. His cock twitches at the sight. “So um,” he  clears his throat. “Have a boyfriend or a girlfriend back home?”

“Lol nope. Never really been on a date. Never really liked anyone. I’ve never had the chance to too. All girls convent. Women’s college for my Masters and Bachelors. The only boys in my life are my cousin’s and my friend’s boyfriends. What about you? Special someone here? Back home?”

“I’m a single pringle as the kids say. Had a girlfriend in high school. Broke it off in my senior year.”

Layla takes a bite of her sandwich and Harry sips on his lemonade. “Harry, I’ve been meaning to say. I love your nails. I really like the colours you’ve picked.”

“Thank you.” Harry was red. No one has really complimented his nails before. He usually got a few stares here and there every time he wore something other than black. 

“I’m curious. How many tattoos do you have? When did you start?”

“I really don’t know, to be honest. Lost track. More than fifty, I’d say. Started when I was seventeen. Once I got one, I just wanted more, you know? What about you?”

“No tattoos. Although, I really want one. But my mom would kill me. I have a couple of ideas in mind. I like the small ones artistically. I do have a few piercings though. I have one on each lobe. Pretty standard. I got my helix done on my left ear when I was 20. I know what you mean with wanting more. Once my helix healed up, I just wanted another and another. Restraining myself has been a bit hard. Are you done having tattoos? Or would you want more? I personally do not love a sleeve but I think you could pull it off.”

“I think I’m done. It’s expensive to maintain. I still have to go once in a while and get it retouched.”

“Oh, almost forgot.” Harry says. He takes out a small box with a big slice of chocolate cake. Here he says handing her a spoon. 

Layla takes a bite, throws her head back and moans with her eyes closed. “Fuck! These are so good! Where did you get it?”

“I made them,” he says shyly scratching the back of his head.

“Jesus fuck. They are scrumptious. Perfectly moist. You have a gift.”

“I used to work in a bakery as a teenager. If you want I’ll bake more and bring it over to your place.”

“Thank you. Another reason to get more fat? Sign me the fuck up!”

“Layla, you are not fat.”

“Eh. So? What kind of movies do you like?”

“Um,” his cheeks heat up. “I like rom coms.”

“Oh please! That’s not the truth. I bet that’s what you say to impress all the girls.” Layla laughs. “Really! What do you like?”

“I’m not lying! I love The Notebook. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve watched it.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. You are the first boy that I met that likes rom coms.”

“What about you?”

“Sci Fi. Horror. Love me some good gore. I also love Disney movies.”

“They are two opposing sides on the spectrum.”

“What can I say? I’m a walking contradiction.”

Harry laughs.

They keep chatting while eating the cake. Some chocolate smears in the corner of Layla’s mouth. Harry absentmindedly reaches over and wipes it off with his thumb and puts it into his mouth to suck the chocolate off. Layla blushes profusely and thanks him. They stay there for an hour or so. Layla takes a spray on sunscreen and reapplies it on the exposed parts of her body.

“Here,” she hands the bottle to Harry. He raises his brows. “Do you not reapply your sunscreen every three hours?”

Harry laughs. “I barely remember to apply it once.”

“That won’t do. Put this on.”

Harry does so. They both fall into a comfortable silence as they lay beside each other and watch the sunlight reflect off the water. As promised, Layla puts on her ‘slut song’ and passes Harry a headphone. Harry giggles at the English translation. “Hey, if you make fun of it, I’ll end you.” They settle back into silence. The sunlight glints off the water making it seem golden. They are both startled by Layla’s phone buzzing. It was Heidi on Facetime. 

“Sorry, I’ve got to get this. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Harry says as he sits up.

“Hi.” Layla says as she accepts the call.

“Hey, Lails! You busy? I need a small favour.”

“Not really. I’m having a picnic with my neighbour Harry.” She turns her phone, so he’s in frame.

“Hello.” Harry says and waves.

“Oh, hi there.” Heidi grins. “So you asked h-”

“Okay. Why did you call?” Layla says and whips the phone back to her.

“Okay. My professor wants us to read and review this paper for like 500 words. I really don’t understand it. I’ve read it twice now. Can you just go over it and help me figure out what they are trying to say? Please.”

“Okay. Send it to me and I'll send you a voice note in say four/five hours.”

“Alright. Thanks. Bye, Lails. Bye, Harryyyy.”

“Bye, you idiot.” Layla hangs up.

“She seems fun. So, Lails, huh?”

“Hmmm.”

Harry takes a few pictures of Layla by the lake. She mostly just awkwardly stands there smiling and throws up  peace sign. Layla takes one of Harry smiling, and then pulling a goofy face. A couple who were walking together offers to take a picture of the two of them when they see Layla taking a selfie of the two of them. Layla gives them her phone and Harry throws an arm around her shoulders. She slightly leans her head on his chest and they both smile at the camera. Layla thanks them and they both pack up and walk home.

////

“So, you wanna come over to watch a movie?” Harry asks.

“I’d like that.”

Harry keys into his house and they both sigh when the cool air from the central hits them. “Umm.. There's a bathroom down the hall to the left, if you wanna use it.”

Layla nods and walks towards the bathroom. Harry quickly runs up stairs to his room to use the bathroom. He finds Layla on the couch scrolling on her phone when she gets back. 

“I’ve sent the pictures to you,” she says.

“Thanks. So what do you wanna watch?” Harry pulls up Netflix on the TV.

“I’m not really in the mood to watch anything new. How about Enchanted?”

“Never heard of it.”

“Okay now you HAVE to watch it! It’s such an underrated Disney movie.”

Harry puts it on and curls up on the couch next to her. Halfway through the movie, he notices Layala shiver slightly.

He opens the ottoman and pulls out a knit blanket. He scoots closer to her, drapes it over her lower half and puts some on him. Layla smiles at him. Harry feels butterflies in his tummy. She mouths the word to the songs and Harry can’t help the smile on his face as his eyes drift to her every so often. She is so fucking adorable, he thinks.

They get towards the end, where Gisele shows up to the ball and they take her coat off.

“Wait a damn minute!” He says as he pauses the movie. “She makes such pretty, intricate dresses and she shows up to THE ball wearing THAT?”

Layla laughs. “I know right! Such a travesty.”

The movie ends. “Thank you for today. I had so much fun. I should get going,” she says as she stands up.

“No problem. I had fun hanging out with you,” he says as he follows her to the door.

“What’s this?” Layla points to a whiteboard that has a calendar drawn on it with some writings.

“Oh. Mum always puts up our schedules on the board, so we can keep a track of each other. She has a 24 hour shift today. See!” Harry points.

“So, Anne won’t be back tonight?” Harry shakes his head. “What will you do for dinner then?”

“I can whip something up. It’s no problem,” Harry says.

“Hey. Come over for dinner. It’s Dosa night. Have you had a chance to try one?” Harry shakes his head. “Then you have to come over. It’s a sin to not let your taste buds have that experience.��

Layla says as she pulls on his hands towards the door and pouts with puppy dog eyes. It’ll be a sin if I pass up this offer when she’s being so cute, he thinks. He makes his way towards the door with her.

“Yay!” Layla says as they make their way towards her house.

////

Layla comes down the stairs after sending voice notes to Heidi as promised. Harry had a good time at dinner with her Uncle and Aunt. He now declared himself “a masala dosa convert.” She sees Harry helping her Aunt with the dishes. Her Uncle is cutting up some cupcakes and putting them in a plate with some fruits on the kitchen table. She joins him and helps him to plate the cupcakes.

“So, Lails, how was your picnic? Did he try anything?” Her Uncle whispers.

“Oh my god, stop it. Why would you even say that? He did not. He’s been super respectful.” She whisper screams. “I’m sure he doesn’t even like me.”

“Oh, that boy likes you alright. He smiles like a loon every time he looks at you.”

“We’re just friends.”

Harry and Abi walk into the living room. 

“Desert’s ready.” Your Uncle says. 

You guys play Pictionary and soon the house is filled with laughter. Harry leaves around 10 and you all head to bed. 

Layla finishes her nightly routine, gets into bed and calls her parents. She hangs up and gets comfy on the bed and starts researching and reading some articles for her paper. She puts her phone on ‘do not disturb’ and puts on some songs on her laptop and puts her headphones on. 

////

Harry tidies up around the house and goes to his room. He can see Layla’s legs on her bed and suddenly has an idea.

“Layla,” he says going near his desk. 

“Laylaaaa,” he says a little louder. No response. He doesn’t want to scream and wake the neighbourhood. 

“Layla. Layla. Lails!” Again, no response.

“Ugh,” he says in an exasperated tone. He tears off a sheet of paper and gets to work.

////

Layla has nasty on full blast. She’s really enjoying the new Positions album. She’s busy highlighting some text and taking down notes when she feels something land on her feet. Startled, she puts her laptop aside and crawls towards the end of her bed to find a paper plane. She looks over the window to find Harry standing by his desk pointing to the paper airplane.

She looks at it and turns it around. There was a note: ‘Do you wanna walk around downtown tomorrow?’ 

She smiles and walks over to the window. “Your penmanship is horrible,” Layla laughs. 

“Oi! No, it’s not.”

“This is the definition of chicken scratch,” Layla cracks up. 

“You know what they say intelligent people have terrible handwriting.”

“No one says that.”

“Answer the question. Yes or no.”

“Yes!” She says enthusiastically. “What’s with the paper planes?”

“I’ve been calling your name for a couple of minutes and no response.”

“Sorry.  I was doing some research and I had my headphones on. It’s impressive that it landed on my bed, it’s like fifteen feet or so.”

“I’m sure you can do it too. It’s all in the wrists.”

“If I did that, it’ll definitely flop.”

Harry laughs. “Maybe we can communicate like this, when we know the other is in the room. This way you can practice making a paper airplane fly fifteen feet.”

“Alright. Never hurts to learn a skill. See you tomorrow. Good night.” 

“Night,” he says. They both shut their windows and draw their blinds. 

////

Layla and Harry had a great time exploring downtown. They each had a soft serve they were furiously licking before the sun could melt it.  They walk towards the flower shop and see Earl changing the sign. 

“Hi!” They both say. 

“Goodness! Look who we have here Harry and the gorgeous Layla,” he says. 

“Earl! I told you already. Your efforts are futile. If only you were two years younger,” Layla laughs. 

Earl lets out a hearty laugh. “Can’t blame a man for trying. What are you two up to?”

“We went exploring. Layla picked up some paints at the crafts store. We’re heading home for lunch,” Harry says. 

“Well, I’m just closing up the shop for my lunch break. Come on up. We could have lunch together,” Earl says. “And before you two protest, I insist,” he adds. He opens the door and ushers them inside. 

They walk upstairs to his house. It’s quaint and mostly light wood.  It’s spacious. 

“Do you live here alone?” Layla asks. Harry throws both their tissues that came with the ice cream in the bin. 

“Yup. My children and grandchildren come over every Christmas. I go over to Florida to one of their houses for Thanksgiving. They pop over here during spring break sometimes.”

“Earl, can I use your bathroom?” Harry asks and walks over to it as Earl nods. 

You and Earl walk towards the kitchen. “So, how would you like a sandwich? Or some salad? I can whip up something pretty quick,” Earl says. 

“No no. I’ll cook. You just sit here on this island and give me company. It’s the least I could do after you invited us to eat. I insist. You can help by chopping up some veg?” Layla says. “Please I love to cook,” she says with a small pout. 

“Alright, can’t really say no to that face,” Earl says and sits down and Layla gets to work. She finds the ingredients to make some Arrabbiata pasta. Harry joins the two of them in the kitchen. 

Harry and Layla cook in tandem while Earl tells them a few stories from his childhood. They were laughing and having a jolly time. 

“Layla, this is delicious! Can’t believe you made that sauce from scratch.” Earl says after he swallows a bite. 

“It’s no biggie.”

“She always does that you know Earl. Does not know how to take a compliment.” Harry gives her a slight nudge. 

“So, you two out on a date earlier?”

Harry and Layla both choke on their food. Layla starts coughing and Harry immediately hands her a glass of water. 

“No. We were just- we were just out and about,” Harry says as she drinks water. 

“Yeah. Just out and - out and about,” Layla says coughing slightly. 

The rest of lunch goes by quietly. Harry and Layla wash the dishes and Earl dries them.

“I’m gonna use the restroom. Excuse me,” Layla says and walks over. 

“You know, Harry. I’ve known you for a year now.”

“Yeah?” Harry says. 

“All I’m saying is that life is short. And that girl right there, she’s perfect for you, lad. I don’t know what you are waiting for. Or her for that matter. Just ask her out, will you?”

“I’ve been trying to. I don’t know if she likes me like that,” Harry says quietly. 

“Excuse my crudeness but the fuck are you saying?!? The sexual tension between the two of you is almost palpable.”

“Sexual t-“

“Harold. I’m 72. I know sexual tension when I see one.”

Harry is about to say something but stops when he hears the bathroom door shut. 

“Alright. Thanks for lunch Earl. I’ve put some leftovers in the fridge. I’ll swing by next week with all the ingredients. I’m so excited to learn. I can’t believe you lived in New Orleans and learnt how to make gumbo.”

“I haven’t made it since Christmas. I’m excited  too,” Earl says. 

The two of you walk towards the door. 

“Thank you so much for giving this old man some company. It was nice. The house is quiet most of the time. This was a nice change,” Earl says. 

Layla hugs him. And Harry does the same. 

“I’m gonna take a nap. I open the shop only in the evening. There’s a spare key in the drawer near the till. Lock up when you leave. Keep the key. I have more spares. This way you can let yourselves in when you want,” he says. 

“Okay,” Harry says and the two of them head downstairs. Layla finds the key and the two of them let themselves out. She locks up and pulls on the door to check for good measure. 

They both walk home in silence. 

“Hey, Har.”

“Hmm.”

“I think we should hang out with Earl whenever we can.”

“I was thinking of the same thing. We could visit him every other day.”

“That’s a good plan,” Layla says. 

Their arms brush each other and Harry jumps a little. She looks at him, clasps his hand and intertwines their fingers. It was quite a bold thing for Layla to do. Harry looks down at their hands and smiles. He’s beat red. Layla smiles. They both walk home all giddy. 

“Well, I had fun today,” Layala says as they reach their house. She turns to look at him.

“Me too. Do you wanna come over later? We could watch a movie or do whatever?” Harry says scratching the back of his head.

“I’d love to but I’m sure you mum will need some peace and quiet when she gets home after her shift. I also have some stuff left to do for my gender paper. See you in the morning for a walk?”

“I’d like that,” Harry says. Layla bounces on her feet nervously and looks up at him. Neither wanting to leave. Harry really wants to kiss her but doesn’t want it to happen in front of their houses. He wants it to be somewhere special. Layla deserves something special, he thinks. He hugs her and they both go into their houses.  

////

The next few weeks go like that. Harry and Layla hung out together almost every single day. They’d watch a movie, read a book, or Layla would paint Harry’s nails. When Harry offers to paint hers, she declines saying that she’s too anal and would lose her mind even if there's a small chip or she would chip them off herself. They became fast friends. They’d constantly laugh whenever they are together. They’d go around exploring nearby areas in Harry’s car while singing around to whatever was topping the charts. Harry learnt that Layla was the kind of person who does not like creating playlists because she never went back to them. So she’ll carefully make a queue by meticulously searching the songs at the start of any drive based on her mood that day.  They went for karaoke night at the local pub and Harry was surprised to see a slightly tipsy Layla flawlessly spit out Lose Yourself. 

They’d have lunch with Anne if she was home. Anne loved having Layla around, he was happy to see Harry enjoying himself with a friend. Layla started painting again. Harry would sometimes stay over at Layla’s and have game nights with her folks. They would go over and spend some time with Earl, either cooking or hanging out with him at the shop while helping him tidy up. As promised, Earl taught Layla how to make gumbo. She picked up all the ingredients at the farmer’s market and went over to Earl’s in the evening. Harry couldn’t join them as he was busy taking pictures, editing, and queuing them up for his OnlyFans. They had so much gumbo that Layla had to ask her Uncle to give her a ride home because she couldn’t walk home carrying that giant pot. She gave some to Harry and Anne, too. 

Layla’s Aunt has been feeling a bit off lately. She was tired and had a few dizzy spells. She would work remotely from home, when she was extremely tired. Layla would sometimes curl up next to her in the master bedroom and work on her paper. She was close to finishing her first draft.

Their trip to smoky mountains was this weekend. Harry was over at Layla’s one evening. They both put on the newer version of Evil Dead, after brainstorming a few topics for their paper, and were curled up on the couch. Layla had her head on Harry’s shoulder and his arm was thrown around her.

“I really don’t understand how you can still eat while watching so much gore.” Harry cringes when the girl slits her tongue open into two with a blade.

“Like this,” Layla says as she scoops a huge handful of popcorn and stuffs it into her mouth and makes a show of chewing it. “Don’t shit on one of my comfort movies.”

“I say this with utmost care, but Lails, you are fucked in the head. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Layla laughs. “You think I’m cute?” she says with a pout.

“You know I think you’re cute,” he says as he tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. He leans in slightly towards her.

Layla looks up at his lips. As she leans in, the door opens.

“Hey, kids!” Her Uncle and Aunt say in unison.

They both jump apart.

“Umm.. hi,” Layla says. 

“You okay Harry? Look a bit red. You want me to turn the AC up a little? ” Abi says with concern.

“No. No. It’s okay. It’s the movie,” Harry lies pointing to the TV on the wall.

“Oh no. Please don’t tell me she has you watching Evil Dead. Lails! It’s not a fun thing to watch. Remember when you forced your cousin and he puked on the bed?” Her Uncle says.

“It’s not my fault he’s a wimp.” She crosses her arms. “Anyway, why are you both late today?”

“We went to my friend’s house-”

“We hit a drive through-”

They both say at the same time. Layla narrows her eyes at the two of them

“We went over to a friend’s place and I was craving a McFlurry and we stopped on our way home.” Abi says.

“Oookaay.” Layla says unconvinced.

“Alright, I’m gonna head back home. Thanks for having me. Lails, no thanks for the movie, "Harry says and Layla flips him off.

As he heads to the door Layla’s uncle calls his name.

“Harry, we got talking yesterday and wanted to ask you if you would like to join us on the trip on Friday? We booked a couple’s massage and we don’t want Layla saying ‘gross’ every five minutes while getting them done. I know she’ll be fine to hang out by herself but we just thought it’ll be more fun if you tag along. Don’t worry about the money. We got it covered. I’m gonna ask your mum tomorrow if she wants to join as well. What do you say?” Vasanth says.

“I’d love to, Vasanth. It’ll be fun to explore; I’ve never been. I don’t know about mum’s schedule but I know she won’t have a problem with me being away for the weekend. Thank you.”

They nod at each other and leave.

After dinner and a movie Layla heads upstairs to find a paper airplane on her bed. She smiles and reads the note: ‘Looks like you’ll be stuck with me this weekend. You wanna go to a club tomorrow night?’

Layla quickly gets a blue pen and starts writing on the other side. ‘Who do you think suggested that it’ll be fun if you came along? ;) Also, yes to dancing at the club but are there any here?’

She tries launching it to his bedroom but the paper plane falls short of the window. Layla rolls her eyes, closes the window, draws the curtain, and texts him the same.

Harry: oh can’t get enough of me huh? ;) there’s one in Raleigh. you couldn’t just send me the paper airplane back huh lol

Layla: trust me i did. It’s on the walkway below your window :( We’ll leave around 7:30 tomorrow? I won’t be out for a walk tomorrow. I have a video call with my professor about the paper. Soz.

Harry: lol i just saw the paper plane on the ground. Looser. :( for the walk but :) for the club.

Layla: goodnight. 

Layla goes to the bathroom to take a shower. She texts the girls for an update.

Potatz: Almost kissed tonight. We were on the couch, watching a movie and he brushed some hair away from my face. At least that’s what I think it was. My Aunt and Uncle walked in and he left, he was flustered a bit. Maybe we’ll talk tomorrow when we are going to the club. Maybe I’ll jump him when I have some alcohol in my system.

Potatz (Grace): Girl, you just need to woman up and ride his dick.

The others liked Grace’s message.

Layla groans in frustration and drifts off to sleep.

////

Harry gets into bed and sighs. Why did her folks have to walk in at that moment? He wonders how soft her lips would be. Would they have stopped with just a kiss or two or would they have made out? He really wanted to taste her. Her scent was intoxicating. It was a tiny bit floraly with an undertone of a woody musky scent. Sometimes when they cuddle, in a totally platonic way, he closes his eyes and takes a whiff off of her perfume. He groans as he looks down to find a tent in his boxers. He was not in the mood to jack off tonight, especially to the thought of Layla, when she’s just a few feet away. 

////

Layla and Harry are back at the lake. She’s wearing her white tennis skirt and a see through top. Harry could make out her nipples that were pebbled because of the air. 

She bites into a strawberry and offers him the rest by bringing it up to his lips.

Harry takes a bite of the strawberry and gentles bites into the pad of her thumb.

Layla moans, a throaty moan. Harry cups her cheek and brings her close to him. She leans in a bit and suddenly they are kissing. 

Their teeth clash. His tongue invades her mouth. He bites down on her bottom lip. They were softer than he could ever imagine. She tasted like the strawberries they were eating. 

Harry cups her breasts and her hands palm him through his pants. His breathing hitches. 

He lifts her and places her on his lap and she starts grinding on his crotch. Whimpers escape from each other. Harry runs his hands up her thighs, his nails scratch up from her knees and the snake their way into her panties. 

She  is wet. He teases her clit by rubbing slow circles, barely touching her. Layla throws her head back and Harry uses the opportunity to start planting open mouthed kisses on her neck.

“I need you inside of me, Harry, right now,” she says, almost in a whiny tone. Her palms cupping his cheeks as her dark brown eyes stare into his green orbs.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He flips her over, slides her panties down her legs and tosses them on the grass. He lowers his pants so his dick springs free. He snakes his hands under her shirt and cups her breasts with both his hands, he leans down and kisses her as he thrusts in.

They both let out a sharp cry into each other's mouths.

////

Harry wakes up with a start. He feels a bit disoriented when he looks around to see the familiar surroundings of his room creeping in. His body is laced with sweat, he looks down to find a sizable wet spot on his boxers.

Great! A wet dream. What am I thirteen?!? He thinks as he walks over to his bathroom to get rid of his boxers and to clean himself up.

As he walks back to bed, he looks over to see Layla’s window shut and the drapes closed. He sighs. He is disappointed that it was a dream and that he was not there by the lake with Layla ravishing her. He’s disappointed that their moment was interrupted earlier. He’s disappointed that he didn’t get to feel her lips on his.

“We really need to talk tomorrow. Maybe we can on the drive to Raleigh.” He mutters and gets into bed. “I’m losing my mind.” 

Harry’s never been this way around a girl before. He usually takes them out, fucks them, treats them right, and finds another. He’s never wanted someone so bad. Not just sexually. He wanted all of Layla. Her laugh, her love, her wit, her sarcasm, her humour, her intellect, her view of the world, and her willingness to jump in and take care of others. He’s never felt this way about another person before, not even his highschool girlfriend of seven months. 

Harry Styles was fucked. And the reason he was fucked was fast asleep in her bed just a few feet away from him. 

#harry styles #harry styles fics #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles series #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x oc #harry styles yn #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #onlyfans!harry #indian!oc #fem!reader #six months #fishnets-fingers #come say hi #please leave tags if you reblog

[yeastma]

Snow Date

Male MC x Asmo, fluff

This piece was done in collaboration with @sempaksiete , and the corresponding art can be found here!

“Emmy, you’re going home for the holiday, aren’t you?” Asmo caught Florian’s gaze over the top of his mug and posed the question before taking a sip. Ever since it had started getting cold out as winter began to set in, Florian would make hot chocolate for the two of them. And maybe it was due to Florian’s culinary skills, or maybe it was because it’d been made by the man Asmo loved, but something always seemed to make the drink taste so sweet.

Placing his mug on the table, Florian nodded. “My mother wants me to celebrate Christmas with my family as we always do. I’d love to bring you to meet them but...” He reached across the table and intertwined his hand with Asmo’s. A soft, sad smile graced his face as he rocked their hands back and forth on the tabletop. “I suppose it’s a little too soon. They might not understand.” Asmo reached out his free hand and caressed his boyfriend’s cheek, holding Florian’s face as he leaned into the gesture.

“You’ll only be gone a few days, right?”

“Yes. For Christmas and Christmas eve, and possibly a few days after. I’ll be able to get some of my winter clothes and be back before New Year’s eve for sure.”

A pout fell across Asmo’s lips. “I’ll miss you.” Florian turned to nuzzle his face into Asmo’s hand, placing a kiss on his palm.

“And I’ll miss you just as much.” As their hot chocolate sat unattended and began to cool, they spent a tender moment in silence. Florian relished the warmth of where their hands met and the feeling of his lips being traced under Asmo’s thumb.

“Oh, how about this?” Asmo pulled back his hands and touched a finger to his cheek in thought. “The two of us could celebrate a little early and go out in town! We don’t celebrate Christmas here in the Devildom, but the idea of going on a Christmas date with you makes me feel all giddy inside, you know?” He giggled, squirming a bit in his seat before glancing back up at Florian through his eyelashes. “We don’t have enough time today, but since you’re leaving so soon, how about tomorrow?”

His lips formed a tender smile as he replied, “Of course. I would love that,” and sealed the deal with a quick kiss.

- - -

Soon the afternoon of the next day was upon them, and the two men prepared for their date. They met in the foyer of the House of Lamentation, where Asmo finished donning his fleece lined boots as well as wrapping a pink buffalo check shawl over top of his pale pink sweater.

Pulling on his tan, suede gloves, Asmo asked, “Aren’t you going to be chilly like that?” He tilted his head quizzically as he glanced over Florian’s outfit: a red velour, sleeveless turtleneck lined with white sherpa which he wore over a black, long-sleeved tee and black jeans on bottom. Florian wore his brown hair up in a ponytail today as opposed to his usual braid, which at least looked like it would keep his neck warm.

“I think I’ll be okay,” Florian replied with a soft smile. “Besides, the cold can’t bother me when I’ve got you by my side.” Florian’s words sparked a happy squeal to rise from Asmo, who threw himself to Florian’s side as he clung to his arm and rubbed against it. The two leaned in to quickly rub the tips of their noses together, and, with Asmo still holding onto Florian’s arm, they headed out.

Their date started with a stroll through the park. It was Florian’s first winter in the Devildom and Asmo was eager to show him the sights. They walked arm in arm, gazing across the snow-covered greenery while Asmo narrated about his memories in the park. And as Florian gazed out serenely at the scenery, Asmo couldn’t help but glance up at his smiling face, Asmo’s cheeks turning rosy from more than just the brisk air.

Florian caught Asmo’s gaze peeking up at him. “Have you had enough sightseeing? If you’re bored, we can start heading into town.”

“Oh, no, I was just caught up in your gorgeous smile, Emmy!” Asmo giggled as Florian booped his nose with a cold finger. “But I do think it’s a good time to start window shopping.” And so they followed the walkway as it led towards the city.

Shopping was something Asmo had always adored – he loved looking for clothes and accessories to mix and match for himself. But when he was with Florian, he always seemed to be thinking about his boyfriend. Instead of wondering which top to go with which bottom, he would instead consider matching outfits for the two of them. And Florian was just the same; he’d humor friends in the past and give the best answer he could when asked his opinions on this shirt or that shirt, but he was always doing it for them. Now he found himself giddy with anticipation as he waited for Asmo to present himself to him, twirling in his new outfit with a laugh. It was moments like these where Florian felt himself unable to hide his grin, his mind full of how adorable he found Asmo and how grateful he was to have him at his side.

Time passed quickly as they browsed plenty, though having bought only a few things by the time they left. The two left the main stretch of boutiques and headed further into town.

“I think I’m getting a bit hungry. What about you?” Florian asked.

Asmo nodded. “Me too. I heard that one of the bakeries in town added some grilled sandwiches to their menu, so why don’t we get some of those?”

“Sounds good. We could find a bench and look at the sights as we eat.”

As they entered the bakery, Asmo thought he felt the muscles in Florian’s arm relax suddenly. Confused, he glanced up at Florian, trying to figure if something was bothering him. Florian noticed his stare and simply smiled back, and Asmo was left with only an idea of what could be bothering him before they stepped up to the counter to order.

Their order was ready in no time at all. With sandwiches in hand, the two soon found a bench to sit on and set out their food. The paper bag sat between them as they ate and shared bites of their meal, commenting on the taste and flirting between bites. Though many passersby threw a smile their way upon seeing the happy couple, the two were lost in their own world as they dined.

They finished their sandwiches, and Asmo finally confirmed his suspicions. As he leaned against the taller man, he felt him shivering underneath his touch; the thin long-sleeved shirt Florian wore had been no match for winter’s bite.

“Oh, Emmy, you are freezing!” Asmo threw his arms around Florian in a tight squeeze to share his warmth. Then as he pulled back, he unwrapped the scarf from his own shoulders and placed them around Florian’s.

“Wait right there – I’ll be right back!” Asmo said as he hopped up from the bench and skipped off. Florian remained sitting, confused. But given a moment by himself, the cold finally caught up to him. He rubbed his arms to try and warm himself, and, as he shivered, he noticed his breath turn white. Asmo returned before long with a shopping bag in hand.

“I’d much rather give this to you all wrapped up and pretty, but this will have to do. Ta da!” He reached into the bag, pulling out a pair of red, fuzzy earmuffs with a black band, displaying them proudly for Florian to see. “I wanted to get something that would look nice on you and you could use everyday. Here, let me put them on you! –Oooh, Emmy, you are just so cute!” Asmo took in the sight of Florian smiling shyly as he wore his new present, before once again taking his place next to Florian. He took a second pair out – these ones pink instead of red – and placed them on his own head. Slipping the scarf around Florian’s shoulders around his own head, he popped his head out the top so that the two of them were snuggled securely together.

“I’d say you’re the cuter one, Asmo.” Though it wasn’t evident in his voice, Florian was overjoyed with the sentiment of matching with Asmo. His heart was accelerating due to their lack of distance and his growing delight. He wished he could say something, anything to express how he felt accurately, but with his mind overflowing with thoughts of love, he could only stare breathlessly at his boyfriend. Asmo, however, could see the emotion overflowing in Florian’s eyes. Pulling Florian closer, he squished their cheeks together and pulled out his D.D.D. to snap a cheery photo of them together.

“Is that for your Devilgram?” Florain asked.

“Nope. This one is just for the two of us,” Asmo replied as he rested his head on Florian's shoulder and nuzzled into his side. “Hey… Emmy?”

“Hm?”

“Merry Christmas. I love you.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me! #obey me swd #om mc #obey me male mc #obey me asmo #obey me asmodeus #male mc x asmo #obey me fanfic #Emmanuel Florian #Flomo