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greensagephase · 7 months

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Thanksgiving (Nonviolent Communication One-Shot)

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x SpiderFemaleReader (colleagues to friends to lovers; currently in the friendship era, so no romance.) Summary: Thanksgiving at Miguel's. Word Count: 7,094 Warnings: None! Just a cozy Thanksgiving dinner with Miguel and the other spider members. Some Spanish included but translations can be found at the end. A/N: This is a one-shot for my Nonviolent Communication fanfic but can be read as a standalone. Masterlist

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! Happy Thursday to everyone else!

The air is chilly as you swing through the air. The city is busier than ever with Thanksgiving just around the corner. You spot people already buying groceries for their dinners. You hear of their plans as you swing above them, hearing how they’ll be picking up family from the airport or how they still haven’t decided what dessert to bake for dinner.

Hearing other people’s plans remind you of the times you had that, back when you still had your parents, Peter, and his Aunt May. The five of you would have dinner together at your parents’ place and it was always a great time but eventually Aunt May passed away. Then it was your parents and that left Peter and you. And now it’s just you ever since Peter’s death four years ago.

You swing onto a rooftop, staring down at the city’s streets below. It wasn’t until last year that you even celebrated the holidays. You just didn’t have it in you after losing your last bit of family with Peter’s death and cutting off friends from your universe years ago after Peter’s passing, however, ever since joining the Spider Society, things have changed. Last year you had friendsgiving with your spidey friends like Miles, Hobie, Gwen, and the rest of the group. Then, for Christmas and the New Year you were invited to Miles’s building party by the Morales, which resulted in you taking food to Miguel and spending time with him on both occasions.

Now, this is the second year of holidays with friends, and the thought alone fills you with an immense gratitude after spending three years on your own before joining the Spider Society. You haven’t talked with your friends about any plans for Thanksgiving since you’ve all been busy with missions and the spiderlings have had school but you’re sure by today you’ll be talking about it. Ever since last year’s holidays, things have changed between Miguel and you. He’s far more open ever since he almost lost his life back in the spring and then there’s the Saturday dinners at each other’s places. You can’t help but wonder if he’d be interested in joining you and the rest of the group this year, though you know it’s still hard for Miguel to be open around the others. Still, you hope at least the two of you can do something if he’s up for it.

With one last glance around your city to make sure everything is alright, you open a portal and travel to Nueva York, finding yourself instantly at HQ. You walk through hallways, nodding to other fellow spider members as they greet you on your way to the cafeteria where your friends informed you they’d be at. You finally reach your destination, taking a seat on an empty chair as the group talks. Being the last one to join, everyone turns to greet you.

“She’s finally here!”

You laugh and nod. “Sorry guys, morning patrol.”

“It’s alright, we were just talking about this week’s missions but now that we’re all here we need to talk about Friendsgiving!” Gwen says.

“Yeah, about that,” Miles says, smiling nervously. “We have family from mom’s side coming and I’ve been put in charge of showing my cousins the city for the next couple of days until Thanksgiving. I won’t be able to attend our little gathering this year. I’m really sorry, guys,” he says apologetically.

“I… Won’t be either,” Gwen reveals. “Ever since my dad and I made up after I revealed my Spider-Woman identity, he decided to reach out to other relatives and now we’re traveling out of the state to have Thanksgiving dinner with them in Montana. We’re leaving two days before, so I can’t make it either.”

“Gayatri has a three-day event she was invited to and she’s asked me to go with her. I can’t say no and disappoint her, so I’m afraid I cannot attend, too,” Pav adds with a frown.

And just like that, everyone had some kind of plan that makes it impossible to have Friendsgiving before Thanksgiving like last year.

“Wait, Y/N, what about you?” Miles asks with a frown.

You smile and shake your head. “I don’t have any plans but it’s alright.”

There’s an instant buzz around the table about the fact that you have no plans and that you’re going to spend Thanksgiving day alone. You get their attention, trying to calm them down.

“Guys, it’s fine. Please calm down. Friendsgiving doesn’t have an official date. We can do something afterward, it’s no problem.”

“But you’re going to be all alone,” Margo says with a sad expression.

“I’ll be fine,” you reassure them. “Seriously. I’ll make some dinner for myself and probably start watching Christmas movies or something.”

“That sounds nice,” Noir says, nodding.

“It is, Noir! So, you guys do your thing and we’ll plan afterwards, okay?” you reply, trying to reassure them once again that you’ll be fine, besides you still haven’t asked Miguel if he has plans, though you don’t mention him to avoid answering questions.

Your friends nod, a bit hesitant but there’s nothing else any of you can do.

“You should come over. You know mom and dad don’t mind. You’re the one that declined the invitation last week” Miles says, reminding you that the Morales family did in fact invite you for Thanksgiving but you were made aware that new family members would join this year.

“Miles, there’s going to be new people. It’ll save us having to lie about me being your school mentor but please thank your parents again for the invitation. I appreciate it,” you say, smiling.

“I guess that’s true. Plus, my cousins will probably pick up on something. My mom already told me to avoid my ‘actividades de arañita’ to prevent any suspicions,” Miles says with a frown.

You smile at him. “It’s better to do what Mrs. Morales says. You don’t want to upset her. Just enjoy the day guys! We’ve all worked a lot these past few days,” you say thinking about the multiple missions you yourself have been on only in a few days. “Rest and enjoy your time with your loved ones.”

About half an hour later after talking and convincing your friends that you’ll be fine on your own, you head to Miguel’s lab with two coffee cups in hand to get some work done. For months now you’ve been working with him on the society’s reports that always consist of the anomalies captured each week, along with information about planned missions and other duties that are assigned to members in order to keep the Spider Society running effectively. After working on the reports on his own for so long, well with some help from Lyla, Miguel asked you a few months ago if you were interested in helping with that after you helped over the few days he was recovering from his injuries. Since then, you’ve been working together on the reports with ease and it’s one less thing Miguel needs to do on his own now.

You reach Miguel’s lab, calling Lyla’s name as always so she can inform Miguel that you’re there. Despite your friendship and everything you’ve shared with each other over the last year since you joined the Spider Society, you’re still respectful of his space.

“You know, I don’t think Miguel really cares that you enter his lab without announcing yourself. You could just come in,” Lyla says, appearing out of nowhere, sitting in mid-air with a leg crossed over the other.

“Miguel doesn’t like it when members enter unannounced,” you reply with a smile. “You know that.”

Lyla grins before she disappears, appearing again a few seconds later. “But you’re not like the other members,” she answers, sliding her heart-shaped glasses down her nose, still grinning. “You know that... Go in.”

She disappears again, leaving you alone. You enter Miguel’s lab, walking by the many, many surfaces with organized tech pieces thanks to you since you’ve been organizing his lab for months now, until you reach the heart of Miguel’s lab. You find him standing on his platform with his back to you, arms moving as he slides screens around. Upon hearing you, he turns around to face you. A small grin forms on his lips.

“Good morning,” he says, softly.

“Good morning,” you reply as you approach him, cups of coffee in hand. “I don’t know if you’ve had coffee already but I brought you some.”

“I haven’t. Thank you,” he says as he accepts the cup from you, smiling softly as he notices you’ve brought him a large one. Somehow you’ve been getting him these large coffee cups from the cafeteria when he used to struggle to get them before. He specifically orders large cups for himself as the regular size cups don’t satisfy his caffeine intake due to his physique yet he was never able to get his hands on them in the past because other members got them before he did. Ever since he mentioned it months ago, you’ve somehow been able to get him these without issue. He still has no idea how but he’s not questioning it.

“Always,” you reply softly as you head to a desk that has become yours since Miguel set it up for you. You open a laptop, far more advanced since it’s from Miguel’s universe, and begin to work on the report starting with the anomaly section.

The two of you work in peace with Lyla breaking the silence ever so often to tell Miguel something while he continues to work on his screens. As you’re working on the report, your thoughts turn to Thanksgiving, wondering if you should ask Miguel if he wants to join you for dinner. You can’t help but feel a little nervous about it. Sure, the two of you have dinner every Saturday now, rotating from his penthouse to your apartment each week and cooking for each other. And yes, you spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with him thanks to the Morales family asking you to deliver food for him since he didn’t attend their party after being invited. Despite what happened with Miles and Miguel launching a multiverse hunt to prevent him from breaking canon, in the aftermath of it all, the Morales family care about him and that was why they didn’t want him to be all alone on Christmas Eve, knowing he has no one in his own universe. So, you were sent despite your nervousness only to find Miguel at his home cooking. He ended up inviting you to stay for dinner and even invited you for the recalentado the next day. The same thing happened for New Year’s Eve and since then, the two of you have grown closer but still, you can’t help but feel nervous about it.

You sneak a glance at Miguel, finding him working on his screens with the cup of coffee in one hand. You turn away after a few seconds, returning back to the report and telling yourself you’ll ask him once you take a break.

Miguel’s focus is on the multiple screens he has opened. There’s so much to go through especially as there were so many missions this week. His eyes skim through data all from anomalies captured to simple data retrieved from universes that indicate if there’s anomaly matter present. He brings the cup of coffee to his lips, savoring the taste and warmth from it. There’s so much to do but Miguel’s thoughts go to Thanksgiving. He’s been thinking about it for days, wanting to ask you but every time he tried, something popped up. If it wasn’t some anomaly detected then it was someone interrupting him or you having to return to your universe because of some emergency. Even on Saturday when you had dinner together, he was unable to ask you because Lyla showed up out of nowhere, taking his moment to ask you and after that, he just gave up as the conversation shifted to something else.

Now Thanksgiving is two days away and for all he knows, you might already have plans with your other friends or perhaps you were invited to Miles’s universe since he knows the Morales family have taken a liking to you ever since you were introduced to them. He sighs silently, thinking about the ham and other ingredients he already bought. He looks at you over his shoulder, noticing how focused you’re on the report, typing furiously on the laptop as you enter data. He can’t help but smile at the sight before he looks away, trying to avoid being caught staring but when he turns around, there she is. Miguel glares at Lyla, who only grins at him without saying a word. He tries to swipe her away but of course, she disappears before he gets the chance to, only making his glare intensify as she appears on the other side with a smirk. Miguel turns away to focus on the tasks at hand, deciding that he’ll talk to you about it once you stop working to avoid disrupting your flow of work, ignoring Lyla.

The two of you continue to work until an hour passes by. You stop typing and lean back on the chair, stretching. You’ve managed to finish almost the entire section on anomalies but decide to get up.

"How's the report going?" Miguel asks, stepping off his platform, trying to find a way to ask you about Thanksgiving dinner.

"It's going well. Almost done with the anomaly section. There's so many this time," you say with a chuckle.

Miguel nods, smiling. "I swear this always happens around the holidays. Hopefully it slows down," he answers, genuinely hoping so everyone can enjoy their days off since he's decided to give not only Thursday but also Friday off on top of the weekend.

You nod, stretching again, thinking about how to bring up the topic. You clear your throat softly and look up at Miguel. He seems to be looking off to the side with a thoughtful look on his face.

"So, I -" you start.

"Hey, I -" Miguel says at the same time as you.

The two of you pause, holding each other's gaze in surprise. You chuckle and Miguel grins, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, go ahead," Miguel says apologetically.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" you mumble, embarrassed.

The two of you stare at each other after you talk in unison once again.

"Should I decide who speaks first?" Lyla asks, appearing from thin air between the two of you with an annoyed but also amused look.

"No," Miguel immediately says.

"That's not necessary."

"Uh... Alright, then. Hopefully you guys actually have a Thanksgiving dinner with the way things are going. See ya!" Lyla responds with a smirk before she disappears again.

"Lyla," Miguel says with a soft scowl but turns to look down at you. "She's been in a mood today."

"Oh, I definitely noticed," you reply, laughing softly as you remember her comment from earlier about you entering the lab unannounced.

Miguel shakes his head. "She notices the buzz from the holidays and gets even more... sassy than usual," he says, looking away for a few seconds.

You smile and nod, guessing that he also wants to ask you about dinner.

"What I was trying to say earlier was if you... You probably already have plans with the others, so I'm probably very late in asking and you can tell me if you already do, so don't feel pressured to-"

"I was going to ask you the same thing" you say softly.

Miguel stops, feeling relieved that you've spoken up. He feels heat rise to his cheeks but smiles softly. "Yeah?" he asks gently.

"Yes. I was just... Trying to get some work done but I was going to ask if you wanted to join me for dinner on Thanksgiving," you reply confidently now that you know that Miguel was also thinking about it. "I don't have a fully established menu but there'll be ham, if that’s okay with you."

Miguel nods. "Have you bought anything yet?"

"Not yet but I'm going shopping tonight," you reply, already making a grocery list in your head.

"In that case, join me for dinner here in Nueva York. I already have everything, including a ham. You don't have to worry about buying anything" Miguel says. "Or cooking."

You frown softly. "That means you're cooking everything alone. I can help-" you start but Miguel shakes his head.

"I'm cooking. If anything..." Miguel says thinking before he smiles. "If you want to make some dessert, that'd be great since I just realized I forgot about that."

"I can do that!" you say with a smile, feeling better about him cooking everything though you know Miguel can manage on his own since he's a great cook.

"Great! Is six okay?"

You nod. "That sounds good to me,” you reply just as Lyla decides to appear again, clapping.

"Aww, you guys finally did it! Seems like there will be a Thanksgiving dinner after all. I'm proud of you two."

"¡Cállate!”

"You really are in a mood today, Lyla.”

🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁

Thanksgiving Day

You make sure everything is off in your kitchen one last time, even though you’ve already checked twice, before you grab your reusable bag packed with everything you’ve baked. In the end, you baked some cookies, two pies, and a large cheesecake. You take a quick look around your apartment, making sure the door of your small but homey apartment is locked. With the bag in your hand, you get ready to open a portal but pause when your eyes land on Peter’s photo. Your Peter. You put your hand down, staring at the photo for a few seconds as you’re greeted with his smile. You smile softly. It really has been over four years since his death; so many holidays without him or your parents.

Despite the years, you can’t help but reminisce on those days again, feeling thankful that these days you can look back at them in a calmer way, without too much sadness. You walk over to the wall to get a better look, finding another one with your parents.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” you whisper softly.

After a minute or two, you finally turn away and open a portal, stepping out into Miguel’s living room. You instantly feel the cozy vibes of his penthouse. The fireplace is on and there’s a few lamps on here and there, creating a soft and cozy ambiance throughout the space. There’s soft music playing from somewhere and of course, there’s the comforting and mouth watering scent of food filling the air. You can’t help but take a deep breath as all the lovely scents engulf you.

Your thoughts are interrupted as you hear Miguel’s steps, noticing him coming from his kitchen and dining area to meet you. You take in the sight as he approaches you, unable to not find it endearing as he stands before you with a small grin wearing a light gray sweater, dark pants, and an apron.

“Hey, you made it,” he says as he dries his hands with a towel.

“I did. Sorry if I’m a few minutes late,” you apologize as you did stop to look at your photographs for a few minutes.

“You arrived just in time. Here, I can help you with that,” Miguel says motioning to your bag.

“Oh, it’s not too heavy. I can carry it,” you say softly.

“Please,” he says, extending his arm and well, you cannot decline his help again so you let him take the bag.

“Thank you,” you mutter quietly.

“Always,” he replies gently, now holding your bag. “Come on in, dinner is almost ready,” he says as he motions for you to go first, always being a gentleman.

You thank him as you walk in, the scent of food growing stronger as you enter the kitchen and dining area. Just like the living room, this part of the penthouse feels warm and cozy and you can’t help but notice that Miguel even put a pumpkin as decoration on the kitchen island where there’s already utensils and napkins set, the place you always have dinner at.

You walk towards the chairs, moving out of his way as he places your bag on the counter to the side. He walks around the island, heading to the oven as you begin to unpack your containers, setting them out for later.

“The ham needs just a few more minutes,” Miguel says as he checks it.

“It smells amazing. As soon as I arrived, I was hit by the lovely scent of food,” you reply, smiling as you see him close the oven door. He moves to the stove to check on pans, looking as natural as always in his kitchen.

“Thank you, I hope you enjoy it,” Miguel says, turning around with a small grin before he walks towards the counter, standing across from you. He can’t help but notice how cozy you look in your outfit, thinking it’s always nice to see you outside of your suit. He remembers how almost a year ago, you saw him in normal clothes for the first time on Christmas Eve. He turns around, smiling as he recalls how hard you were trying not to stare at him since he used to wear his suit every day no matter what since he was at HQ around the clock. Now, so much has changed. Thanks to you. “Please go ahead and take a seat, I’ll get the drinks,” Miguel says as he retrieves them, setting them with everything else.

“Thank you, and I have no doubt I will. You already know I think you’re an amazing cook,” you reply, smiling.

Miguel smiles, for some reason always feeling happy when you tell him that and even more so when he sees that look on your face that tells him you’re delighted by the food he has cooked. “Well, we’ll see if you like this. I followed a recipe mom taught Gabriel and I before she passed away,” he says as he leans on the counter, unable to stop his flooding thoughts about family.

Of course, it’s hard not to. Just like you, he always thinks about his family but there’s no denying that the thought of family is especially present during these days of festivities. It’s on days like these that their absence is felt stronger. Miguel sighs softly, looking around for a few seconds before his eyes land on you. This is the first year that he’s celebrating in a while. He had the opportunity to celebrate with Gabriella one time but before that, it had been many years in which the holidays had felt like any other day after Gabriel passed away, too.

Now he’s here, cooking dinner once again and he’s joined by you, who sits in front of him, also looking like you’re lost in thought. Miguel knows you well enough now to recognize that look on your face; the one you get every time you’re thinking about your loved ones.

Both of you look over at the oven as the timer goes off. Miguel approaches the oven, grabbing oven mitts from one of his counters to pull out the ham.

“Do you need any help?” you ask but he shakes his head, his back to you.

“Thank you but don’t worry, I got it,” he says softly as he takes out the ham. He turns around and you get a glimpse of it for the first time, noticing it’s large enough to feed a whole group of people. As if hearing your thoughts, Miguel smiles sheepishly as he places the tray on a counter where he has a set up for it. “You’re probably thinking this is too much and I agree,” he says, removing the oven mitts. “When I went shopping there weren't any smaller ones. Believe it or not this was the smallest one I found and that was after checking a few stores.”

“It’s quite large,” you say with a chuckle. “If we had planned sooner, I could’ve looked in my universe, too but I will say - it looks delicious.”

Miguel grins, thinking, and perhaps he shouldn’t but he can’t stop himself. “If you’re up for it, next year we’ll know to plan better… although, I’m not complaining about this year” he says softly, meeting your eyes. He really can’t complain, even if he’ll have a whole lot of extra food after he packs some for you to take home because he plans on it. No, he cannot complain after everything that’s happened over the last year, Miguel realizes to himself. He smiles, feeling excited to dig in at last. “Ready?”

You happily nod and so, your Thanksgiving dinner begins. Miguel lists everything he cooked as sides. Even though you approach the stove to see everything and serve yourself, Miguel serves you, asking how much you want of each item. At last, the two of you sit side by side, sitting on the same chairs as always. You enjoy the food and chat while there’s still soft music playing in the background. You talk about the food and compliment Miguel which you notice makes him blush slightly. He eventually asks about your childhood and the holidays, specifically about Thanksgiving, so you tell him about that and he listens intently, nodding and smiling softly when you smile at your own memories. Miguel is about to ask you a question when your gizmo goes off. Right after yours rings, so does Miguel’s, which sits on a counter. You stop talking once his goes off, too, notifying him that he’s received a message. Miguel is about to tell you to go on but just then, the gizmos go off at the same time, making the two of you raise your eyebrows in confusion.

“Excuse me,” Miguel says, putting his napkin off to the side before standing up. “Let me check that.”

He walks over to the counter, hoping it’s not bad news though Lyla would’ve already appeared if that was the case but still, he hopes that nothing has popped up elsewhere. He retrieves the gizmo and turns around to head back to you as he scrolls just as you check yours.

You raise an eyebrow just as another message arrives, noticing it’s from Miles. You open the thread, taken by surprise when you see that Miguel has been added to the group chat. You look up at him, now knowing why both your gizmos went off. The gizmos start going off as more messages are delivered.

Gwen: “Happy Thanksgiving! And happy day to those that don’t celebrate!”

*Miguel O’Hara has been added.*

Miles: “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Pav: “Happy day, guys!”

HoBiE: “What’s this about?”

Margo: “It’s Thanksgiving, Hobie… Also, Happy Thanksgiving!”

Noir: “Happy Turkey day!"

Porker: “I love me some turkey! Happy Thanksgiving, guys!

Peni P.: “Happy day from me and SP!”

Peter B.: “Hey, guys! Happy Thanksgiving from us! Also, Miguel is on here now?”

Gwen: “Where is Y/N?”

HoBiE: “Who added Miguel?”

Miles: “Does it matter? ¡Hola, tío! ¡Bienvenido al chat!”

You look up at Miguel who seems to be reading the messages as they arrive. You can’t help but smile a bit as you see his furrowed eyebrows. He looks up at you with a questioning look on his face. You shrug.

“I don’t know who added you,” you say, still smiling and wondering if he’ll reply.

Another message arrives, pulling your attention.

HoBiE: “I doubt he’s going to reply.”

Margo: “Where is Y/N? Has anyone heard from her?

HoBiE: “I’ll check on her.”

Gwen: “Already did. She’s not at her apartment.”

Miles: “I thought you were supposed to be in Montana?”

“Seems like they're looking for you," Miguel says softly as he comes back to your side, taking a seat.

"Let me respond really quickly. I don't want to let this amazing food get cold."

Y/N: "Happy Thanksgiving!"

HoBiE: "There she is"

Gwen: "I am in Montana but I decided to check on Y/N."

Miguel O'Hara: "Happy Thanksgiving."

HoBiE: "The whole government name..."

You look up at Miguel, finding him shaking his head, which makes you want to smile even more since he actually responded.

"The whole government name," he repeats under his breath with an amused tone before he puts the gizmo in front of him. He takes a drink from his glass and looks down at you. "I was thinking it was an emergency, thankfully it's not."

"I thought so, too. I'm glad we can keep enjoying this meal."

Miguel smiles warmly down at you, seeing that delighted look on your face as you bring food to your mouth. He continues eating but a thought comes to his head.

"So, you didn't mention dinner to them?" he says as casually as possible, though he can't help but feel off by the fact that you didn't tell your friends.

You nod, looking up. "I mentioned having Thanksgiving dinner but didn't tell them about you hosting. I knew they'd probably ask questions about your place and you know," you answer, leaving out the part that you've noticed that nobody else at HQ seems to know where he lives nor has been invited.

Even people like Jess or Peter B., people who you consider are close colleagues to him, don't seem to know. You came to that conclusion back when you stayed for a few days while you were looking after Miguel until he recovered. Jess and Peter B., who stepped up as command during that time, communicated with him through gizmos once Miguel was discharged and sent home after they had gone out of their way to meet with him in person when he was at the infirmary. Your guess was that they knew his home was off limits or they simply didn't know where he lived to meet him in person.

Miguel nods, understanding now. For a moment he thought you didn’t want your friends to know about you being here with him for another reason but no, as always, you're thinking about him and his boundaries.

"I appreciate that," he replies softly. "Some members have asked me before. I'm certain they'd do nothing but I do like my privacy."

You nod. "I know what you mean. That's why I opted to keep our plans as vague as possible."

Miguel smiles, feeling grateful to you as always for being respectful to him. "Thank you, Y/N."

You smile back at him. "Always," you answer gently.

The two of you keep eating, resuming your conversation from earlier and simply enjoying each other's company. It's not until Miguel gets up to get seconds that he looks at all the food he cooked again. There's going to be a lot of leftovers. He thinks about your friends, a random thought popping to his mind as he sits again.

"How would you feel if once we're done having dinner - you invite them over?" Miguel says, making you turn your head in surprise as it doesn’t take long to put two and two together about who “them” is.

"Well, it's your home," you reply softly with a smile. "If you want to."

"But are you okay with it, not being just… us?” Miguel asks.

“I don’t mind if you don’t mind,” you reply with a chuckle, noticing the food. “You’re also thinking about how much there’ll be left, aren’t you?”

Miguel grins. “Yes, I am. I think a couple of teenagers and Peter B. might help.”

You grin back. “Then you have a plan. And there’s plenty of dessert, too.”

“About that…” he says with a sheepish smile.

“I baked a pie just for you,” you tell him, which instantly makes him smile because you’ve realized over time that Miguel has a sweet tooth. “I’ll hide it.”

You finish eating dinner while chatting about the spiderlings as you’ve come to call them and shortly after, Miguel and you get the kitchen ready. At last, he asks if you can let them know on his behalf, which you agree. It doesn’t take long before the string of messages arrive all ranging from being surprised that you’re at Miguel’s to the fact that they’re going to see his place for the first time.

In a matter of minutes everyone, except for Peter B., are standing in Miguel’s living room, thrilled to see his place and talking about what a great view he has of the city and, of course, they talk about the scent of food as they enter the kitchen and dining room area.

You chuckle quietly as you hear some of the spiderlings say they ate a few hours ago but the smell of food is making them hungry again. Miguel and you serve them plates and before either of you know it, Miguel's dining table, which you guys have never sat on since it's too large for two people alone, is full with your friends chattering about their day.

Miguel and you sit next to each other, listening in and responding when talked to directly, adding to the conversation here and there.

Miguel can't help but look around the table slowly, feeling a bit nostalgic as he remembers the days his mom, Gabriel, and other friends used to gather around the table for the holidays. He feels as though he's back to those days, just with different people. There's still music playing in the background, thanks to Lyla who said it'd set the mood earlier when he was cooking, and the sound of a group conversing filling the air in Miguel's penthouse, once again.

Miguel looks over at you subtly, finding you talking to Hobie who sits on the other side of you. He smiles faintly, realizing today would've been just another day like so many years before, working at HQ all day and night while everyone was off if it wasn’t for everything that’s happened over the last year.

You talk with Hobie but eventually look around the table as well, thinking. Last year you were invited to Peter B.’s universe and it was great. It was the first time you celebrated the holidays in three years but this year feels different. You feel lighter, like you’ve really moved forward after Peter’s loss. Your eyes end up on Miguel, who’s already looking your way. You hold each other’s gazes, smiling to each other discreetly before you turn away.

Upon learning that you brought dessert, everyone jumps at the chance to eat something sweet. The pie and cheesecake are sliced and the cookies begin to disappear one by one. Peter B. shows up at last, carrying Mayday.

“You guys, I’m sorry. I couldn’t slip out earlier. Too many family and friends around but MJ covered for us. Is that cheesecake? Did Y/N make cheesecake?” Peter B. asks, noticing Pav and Gwen eating a slice each.

“I did,” you answer before you take a drink from your glass, smiling.

“You should’ve mentioned that earlier, I would’ve found a way to get out sooner,” he replies.

You cut him a slice, which he immediately starts eating.

“Best dessert I’ve had all day,” he mumbles, giving Mayday some to try.

You grin and lean back on the counter with Miguel standing nearby until Miles and Hobie take him away to his living room, apparently impressed by his sound system but before he walks away he gives you a look, as if telling you that he’ll be back soon. You nod back, watching as he walks behind Miles and Hobie. You sigh softly and look at the others as they follow them into the living room, leaving you, Peter B., and Mayday alone. He finishes eating his slice, wiping his mouth and Mayday’s.

“Seriously, best dessert all day. You should’ve seen some of the stuff MJ’s family brought,” Peter B. says with a bit of a frown, making you laugh quietly.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. You can take some with you since there’s still plenty left. I think MJ might like it, too,” you reply as you walk over to the windows.

Peter follows you, carrying Mayday. “He has a great view.”

You nod, staring out at the city.

“So, you and Miguel…” Peter starts, which immediately draws your attention back to him.

You look around to make sure no one is around, thankfully seeing that everyone is in the living room. Miguel is showing Miles some remote and you faintly hear him call “mijo” to Miles.

“What do you mean?” you ask, quietly.

“Oh, I don’t mean it like that, though I - Never mind. What I was trying to say is that…” Peter trails off, staring out a window. “It probably sounds cheesy, especially because of the day but I’m thankful to see you and him doing this.”

You look up at him, eyebrows furrowed. He looks down at you with his Peter B. signature smile before it fades as he thinks of previous years.

“What I mean is that… I was there when everything happened with Gabriella. You know, I met Miguel before he discovered that universe and he was already so closed off. I don’t know much about his past. I don’t think any of us do, actually. Perhaps you’re the exception now and I’m not asking if you do know or don’t but he shut everyone out. Anyone who tried to reach out was always pushed away. Then he found Gabriella’s universe and well, you know what happened. He was happy in a way that none of us who were already part of the society had ever seen him. After Gabriella - he closed off twice as much. Jess and I wonder if he’d ever recover. If he’d ever let anyone in.”

Peter pauses, looking down at Mayday and fixing her hair. There’s a frown on his face as he turns to face you again.

“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you. You were alone for three years in your universe, with no friends or family. The first day I met you after Jess recruited you and Miguel accepted your enrollment, I could see how you were closed off, too. Not the same way as Miguel. It was different but you were closed off nonetheless.” Peter pauses and then smiles. “I’m just thankful to see two people I really care about move forward and have each other to lean on. I’m glad you have each other, and that you’ve allowed us to take you in as part of our little family. And it seems that Miguel might be on the same path, hopefully,” he says, looking behind you.

You turn to look in that direction, finding Miguel surrounded by everyone as he shows them some other advanced device from this universe. You can’t help but smile at the sight, taking a mental picture of it to save forever, though you have your suspicions that Lyla is probably already taking care of photos, considering she has a file that consists of random members’ photos. Appropriate ones, of course. Or so she claims.

You sigh softly and turn to Peter B., who’s already staring out the window thinking about your lingering gaze on Miguel just moments ago yet, he says nothing about it and holds Mayday closer. You look up at Peter, feeling appreciation and love for one of your dear friends, as you remember your first day at HQ and how he introduced you to the group once you were accepted into the Spider Society. You can’t help but wonder if you would’ve become friends with this group had he not introduced you. The thought alone makes you a bit sad but it’s replaced by gratitude for him and for what he did. You rest your head on his arm softly.

“Thank you. For introducing me that first day to everyone,” you say quietly.

Peter smiles. “There’s no need to thank me but you got it, kid. Thank you for accepting us as your friends.”

Miguel is with the other members, still talking about some device when his eyes find you leaning on Peter’s arm. He continues to talk but his eyes keep watching until you step away, laughing at something Mayday did. The image stays present in his mind the whole time, until it’s just you and him again and everyone has headed home for the night. It’s almost midnight but here you are once again, leaning sideways and looking up at the moon and constellations with mugs of coffee, the kind that Miguel always makes for you now when it’s his turn to host dinner on Saturdays.

He can’t help but think about how you were leaning on Peter B. so comfortably earlier. He knows between the two of you, you’re far more accepting of physical touch than he is ever since losing Gabriella yet for some reason, seeing you lean on Peter B. has had him thinking. You’ve touched each other before, of course, like back when you were helping him recover after almost losing his life or the brushing of fingers here and there but nothing like how he saw you and Peter B. earlier or the way he’s seeing you hugging your other friends. As he looks up at the stars with you in silence, he seems stuck on this but he says nor does anything about it. For now. He takes a drink from his mug before breaking the silence, looking down at you.

“Thank you for coming today,” he says with a soft smile. “I enjoyed today. Every part of it.”

You smile, noticing the last part as you know it still isn’t easy for Miguel to open up to everyone else but today he went out of his way and invited your friends.

“I enjoyed it, too. Thank you for inviting me. The food was amazing,” you answer quietly, meeting his gaze.

“I’m glad you liked it,” he replies, truly feeling happy that you enjoyed dinner. He can’t help but wonder about the rest of the holidays for the year, remembering that last year you came over. He silently plans on asking you about it next week, with plenty of time but for now, he decides to enjoy the present.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Y/N,” Miguel says, grinning down at you. You smile up at him in a way that makes Miguel silently give thanks for you, like so many times before.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Miguel.”

🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁

Translation for italicized Spanish words: Actividades de arañita - spidey activities Recalentado - word translates to "reheated"; this is the act of inviting your closest friends and family the day after you host a party to eat the reheated leftovers, it's supposed to be a smaller tight-knit situation and less formal because it's with close family/friends Cállate - shut up Mijo - short for "my son"; an affectionate term; doesn't have to be used between a parent and their child

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lolahasmoxie · 7 months

Text

Friendsgiving (E.M.)

Sequel to "Thanksgiving"

This version of Friendsgiving is based on my college days. In 1999, during my first year in college, my friends and I had "Poor Students Thanksgiving." About 7 of my friends arrived at my house the day after Thanksgiving with all their leftovers. We pigged on food and watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Meet the Feebles." We did that for a couple of years, and I loved how it grew every year. These gatherings are, to this day, some of my favorite memories from my early twenties.

(p.s. I'm immediately going to write filth after this because balance. Specifically, it's about how Eddie's cums too much in you.)

WARNINGS: fluff, casual intimacy, implied sexy times (sexual talk because I can't write just plain fluff anymore, it's gotta be dirty.)

"Bye everyone, see you boys for Hellfire next weekend!"

Eddie smiled as he listened to you usher the last of your guests out of your home. Since Steve hosted last year, the two of you offered to host Friendsgiving this year.

Your first guest arrived at noon. Dustin came with his mom's beef stroganoff, smiling as he and Eddie greeted each other. Eddie was planning to do a quick dungeon for the boys, and you had heard the two laughing and teasing as they prepared for the group while you put the pies in the oven.

The dinner had been a smashing success. Everyone feasted like kings and queens before moving to the living room. While Eddie and the kids did their dungeon crawl, you caught up with Steve, Nancy, and Robin while eating pie.

You closed the night out with movies, Monty Python and Elm Street, before everyone clambered into cars and returned to their homes. The weather was frigid, leaving no doubt that snow would be coming soon.

"Great evening, huh, babe?" Eddie asks as he joins you in the living room to help you clean up.

"It was perfect. It's always nice when we can all get together."

"Listen, I want to talk to you about something."

"Look, if it's about the other night, it's normal to sometimes finish faster than usual. So you had a hair-trigger night; I was flattered and still had a good time." You glance back at Eddie, who looks confused, cow eyes wide with shock. Whoops.

"Uh, not at all what I was gonna say, but we will circle back. It's about Thanksgiving." Eddie approaches, and he takes your hands when he stands before you. He runs his thumbs over the backs of your hands, brow furrowed as he thinks about what he will say.

"Hey," you tell him quietly. You can't help smiling when his gaze meets yours. "You're scaring me here."

"It's good, I promise. It's just that Thanksgiving is when you're supposed to tell the people in your life that you're thankful for them, and I need you to know that I am. You make my life so much better by just being here. You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I'm thankful that I get to call you mine every day, and I'm sorry I don't say it more."

"Oh, Eds," you say before leaning up and kissing him softly on his plush lips. Eddie responds by cupping your face and tilting your head so he can savor you more. When he pulls away, he leans to rest his forehead against yours.

"Love you, Princess."

"Love you too, babe. But you show me every day you care even if you don't say anything."

"What do you mean?"

"You show me all the time. You show me by filling my tank when you notice I'm low. Or how you get up super early to warm my car before work. You have dinner ready on the nights I come home late. You picked up the newest book by Stephen King for me when I was stuck at work!" Eddie chuckles as he pulls you into a hug.

"Of course I do that; I want my girl safe and happy."

"And I am. I'm thankful for you, too, and I hope we get many more holidays together." You kiss him again and then return to cleaning the living room and kitchen.

When Eddie returns from taking out the trash (and probably leaving leftovers for the raccoons), he finds you putting the last dishes on the drying rack.

"Hey Princess, is that everything?"

"Yes, sir, our castle is now more or less back to normal."

"Good." You shriek when he comes barrelling at you, and with a strength you sometimes forget he possesses, hauls you over his shoulder and starts walking down the hallway.

"Eddie, you're gonna drop me!" His response is a quick slap to your butt, which causes you to let out a whimper which is music to his ears.

"I'm about to show you how thankful I am for you, doll. I also need to make up for the other night. Can't have you thinking I'm some two-pump chump." He drops you onto your bed and immediately begins undressing. You feel your heart catch in your throat as he climbs on the bed and crawls to you, pressing you back until he's hovering over you.

"Eddie, I said it was ok."

"Nah," he says with that panty-dropping smirk. "Ok isn't good enough. In honor of the holidays, I believe I'll start by spending the next 20 minutes or so feasting on my favorite piece of pie."

"20 minutes!" you say with a start as Eddie's hands begin pulling down your skirt along with your panties.

"And that's just to start. Don't worry though, if you're a good girl for me, I'll give you your own cream pie at the end of the night. More than one if you're really good."

"Whatever you say, Eds."

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you

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velvetfoxgames · 2 years

Note

Hi Anna!

If all the guys were at Thanksgiving 🦃 together (it’s coming up quick) who would bring what to dinner, and how would it go?

Hope you and your team had a great week!

At Brooklyn's house because space.

Alexei - Cornbread casserole, butternut squash soup. Sets the table, brings crafts.

Brooklyn - Pecan, pumpkin, and caramel apple pie. Gives directions in the kitchen for cooking/heating stuff up until he realizes no one can take directions.

Leo - Mashed potatoes, bread rolls. Calls it "Friendsgiving." Tries to get everyone to say something they're thankful for as well as accompany him to a turkey trot.

Milo - Turkey. Watches football.

Rory - Green bean casserole and roasted sweet potatoes. Watches the Macy's parade and is the only one left helping Brooklyn.

Tobias - Store-bought cranberry sauce. Initiates football game with everyone but Brooklyn and Alexei.

#infinite blue #ask #main six #alexei #brooklyn #leo #rory #milo #tobias #velvet fox games

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fahrni · 7 months

Text

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

Fortune

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told ABC News that he had “minor but real stroke” while attending the World Business Forum in Mexico City, confirming reports from Wednesday

Here’s hoping for a full and speedy recovery!

The Iconfactory

The latest update to Linea Sketch is now available! From textures to thumbnail cropping, version 4.3 is packed with clever new features to make sketching on your iPad easier and more fun than ever.

By now I think you all know about my deep love for The Iconfactory. They are the brains behind Twitterrific — may Ollie rest in peace — and Wallaroo. But they also make this amazing drawing app called Linea Sketch!

The Iconfactory also does design work and consultations. They recently did the artwork for Stream’s feature in the App Store . They’re extremely talented and so easy to work with. Give them a shout if you needs some design work!

If you’re an artist you should give it a try and see how you like it.

Thanksgiving FYI

Hi, I’m Jim, an enthusiastic and dedicated home cook with more than a dozen Thanksgivings under my belt. I’ve hosted everything from small friendsgivings to giant multi-family affairs in foreign kitchens and I’ve assembled some strategies to help make the day great.

Jim is an internet pal and extremely nice fellow.

Thanksgiving FYI is Jim’s Thanksgiving newsletter chock full of tips and recipes for, you guessed it, Thanksgiving!

Who doesn’t like a good thanksgiving recipe?

I’d imagine you can still sign up and get everything he’s already published if you’d like and at $5 it’s a real steal! You even get access to a Slack so you can chat with others about the big day! 🦃

John Scalzi

FYI, I’m Writing a Film Column For Uncanny Magazine

I didn’t know it but John Scalzi was a reporter for the Fresno Bee at one time. Wild!

It’s incredible to me how much work this man churns out in a year. Here’s hoping his column is well received and long lived.

Kevin Purdy • Ars Technica

It’s not quite the end of Tumblr, but when management is supposedly sending memos with the Lord Tennyson quote about having “loved and lost,” it doesn’t look like there’s much of a future.

I’ve had a Tumblr account for years and years and I cross post to it, like I do Mastodon, but I’ve never used it as my primary blog. I’d considered it multiple times but I was never happy with their fixed taxonomy. I like to publish my posts in a Y/M/D format and Tumblr doesn’t support that. They also don’t publish static HTML which is another strike against them.

I’m bummed out by the possibility of it disappearing. It’s one of those internet properties I’d like to see stick around. It’s also looks like they’re gonna drop ActivityPub. 😔

Jason Snell • Macworld

There’s no real way to gloss over the fact that Mac sales went down 34 percent versus the year-ago quarter. And yet, for some reason, Maestri and Cook got out their Tom Sawyer paintbrushes and got to work.

At some point hyper-growth will stop. It’s just the way it is. Of course Apple offsets this by raising prices, which isn’t a surprise.

I got my first M based Mac early last year and didn’t unwrap it and start using it until early summer because I felt that my x86 Mac was fine. Luckily I decided to take the plunge to M2 land because I went from being a Director back to being a Software Engineer.

For me I’d guess this M2 could easily go for five years before it feels sluggish, and who knows, maybe beyond that?

As I like to say. I’m not compiling Photoshop or Microsoft Word. I’m just compiling iOS Apps. Even big iOS apps written in Swift build super fast. I’d even wager an M1 MacBook Air would blow the doors off my old x86 based Mac. They’re fast!

Marc Anthony Lopez • abc30.com

The founders and co-CEOs of failed tech company Bitwise have been charged for a $100 million fraud scheme following a federal investigation.

This one hurts. I know Irma — Irms as everyone calls her — and Jake. I’m having a difficult time believing they’d do something illegal like this and I still want to believe it was a horrible blunder. 😔

Emma Roth • The Verge

Disney’s combined Disney Plus and Hulu streaming app is on the way. As part of its fourth-quarter earnings results, Disney announced it’s going to launch the new app in beta for bundle subscribers in December, with the official launch coming in early spring 2024.

We are Hulu subscribers, Kim loves it. It makes me wonder how much it’ll change or will it literally be merging what Hulu offers directly into the app? So far Max seems to be fine with this strategy, although I’d prefer to have HBO content front and center instead of the mix of items we have today. Here’s hoping they do a great job combining the properties. I think they will.

Jonathan Lamont • MobileSyrup

Telus has joined Rogers in offering an online tool for customers to manage their eSIMs.

Telus is the grandparent company of WillowTree so I had to share this news.

Mark Frauenfelder • Boing Boing

Trump plans to deploy military on Inauguration Day, seize government agencies, and purge critics

This doesn’t surprise me. I fully expect his next term (he’ll never leave) in office to be a full on MAGA revenge tour. Our democracy will fail under the strain. We cannot let this guy become President again.

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dindjarindiaries · 4 years

Text

Winter

gif via @damerondjarin

summary: You spend the winter falling in love with Frankie.

series parts: summer, fall, winter

pairing: frankie “catfish” morales x f!reader

warnings: fluff, celebrations of thanksgiving (friendsgiving, i should say) and christmas

rating: T

word count: 6.154k

masterlist

The first snow is falling heavily the day you meet Frankie.

It’d be hard not to notice it, since you’re driving home on roads that definitely haven’t been salted yet—thus putting you on the highest level of caution. You’re already going the speed limit, and even then, you’ve still found yourself slipping a few times. You figure it’s time to finally get the snow tires back on, but what makes your car a problem isn’t your tires or even the snow. It’s the engine heating up so badly that you can almost see the smoke coming out of the hood, and with a curse, you pull the car over to the side of the road.

You stop the car and reach for the gloves you’d tossed so carelessly on the passenger seat just before you left work, pulling your coat a little tighter to your body as you step out of the car. You walk around to the hood and lift it, coughing a few times when some of the trapped smoke finally escapes. Thanks to years of having to deal with your own car troubles, there’s many things you can fix on your own, but this one’s got you beat. Snow sticks to your hair, body, and lashes, causing you to have to blink them away multiple times as you try to find out what’s happening. You’re at a loss, and you can’t help heaving out a sigh as you reach into your coat pocket for your phone.

No service. Great. The idea of using back roads to avoid the post-work traffic used to seem great—until you realize that you’re left out here with no signal at all, stranded and having to wait at the mercy of a stranger.

Who comes much sooner than expected.

You’ve just started to cross your arms and consider your options when the red pickup truck pulls over behind you. Your eyes narrow thanks to the brightness of their headlights, but they soon shut off, and immediately your eyes are drawn to the man who hops out of the truck. He’s got a forest green puffy winter jacket keeping him warm, paired with a baseball cap that one of his gloved hands tips on his head as he approaches you. As he comes closer, you meet his dark brown gaze, eyes that study you closely with genuine concern as he notices your predicament. You can feel the heat already rising in your cheeks as you look down at your feet in the snow. He’s much more prepared for it with jeans and a pair of boots versus you in your work slacks and the pair of heels you forgot to exchange for your own boots.

“Everything okay?” the man asks, his voice a slight rasp that’s much more gentle than you’d been expecting. He stops in front of you, hands coming to rest on his hips as he looks from your car back to you. “I know this is the worst kind of weather to break down in.”

You offer a small chuckle as you give your head a shake. “Well, actually, my engine’s overheated,” you explain, walking back to the open hood. The man follows you, his gaze investigating the area as you gesture towards it. “I can’t find out why, though. I didn’t want to keep driving in case, y’know…”

“Yeah, that’s a good call,” the man assures you, giving you a nod of approval before he leans over more to look around for you. After a few moments of silence, his brow lifts in interest, and he offers a brief ah before he stands up straight and looks over at you again. “It’s your radiator.”

You frown. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s cracked, and now it’s leaking.” You heave out a heavy sigh, clapping your gloved hands together as you grimace even further. “Don’t worry, it’s not a huge issue—for now. You’ve just gotta use a coolant on it to get the engine back to a normal temp, and then it’ll be fine.”

You look up at the man with a furrowed brow. “I don’t have any coolant.”

The man gestures with his gloved thumb towards his truck. “I have some, if you’re alright with me using it.”

You don’t hesitate to nod earnestly in response. “Yeah, of course! That’d be really great.” You give him a smile and he returns it. “Thank you so much…” you trail off, waiting for him to fill in with his name.

He seems to understand as he holds out a gloved hand to shake. “Frankie,” he tells you, his smile only growing as you accept his hand. “Frankie Morales.”

You respond with your name, watching as he hurries back to his truck and opens the door to search for the coolant. Frankie’s quick with it as he jogs back over, and you step away to let him work as he loosens the cap and then pours the coolant gingerly into the reservoir. As he works, you talk about how you both ended up on these back roads. You explain your reasoning of avoiding the traffic on the main roads after work, while he says he’s seen one too many disasters for his liking and he often sees people get stuck on these roads—so now, he drives them so he can help whoever’s in need. Frankie’s evident kindness warms your heart immediately, and you can’t help smiling throughout his entire explanation, though you discover not everyone’s as good about noticing it as you are.

“I’ve had a lot of people not want my help,” Frankie’s saying as he starts to tighten the cap back on. “I mean, I don’t blame them. It’s kinda weird for a stranger to just pull over and offer their help, especially if it’s a woman by herself—because I’m sure you know how a lot of men sadly just aren’t trustworthy these days. I don’t wanna freak them out, you know?” Frankie looks over at you, and for a split second, a small look of horror crosses over his features. “I’m not freaking you out, am I?”

You can’t help but laugh because you haven’t gotten an inkling of anything other than pure friendliness from Frankie. “No, Frankie, not at all,” you assure him, even daring to leave a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’re nothing but very kind to me. I’m surprised that others can’t see that.”

You think your words might’ve made Frankie blush just judging by the way he ducks his face away from view for a moment, distracting himself as he pulls down the hood of your car for you. “Well, thanks,” Frankie says in a voice even softer than before. “I just, y’know, I wanna see people get home safe.” He tucks his gloved hands into his coat pockets as he speaks.

Your smile continues to grow as you shake your head. “We need more people like you in this world. I can’t thank you enough.”

Frankie returns your smile. “Please, it’s the least I could do.” He then hesitates, and you watch one of his hands free themselves to tip his hat again before he speaks. “You can feel free to shut me down completely on this, but do you mind if I, uh, if I follow you home? Just to make sure you make it safe? I know that sounds insanely creepy, but I just want to make sure the coolant’s working, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I found out—.”

You cut him off with a laugh and another reassuring hand on his shoulder. “That’s fine, Frankie. I think that if you really were a creepy stranger, you would’ve made your move when my car wasn’t working.”

Frankie laughs with you, giving you a nod as you both start to make a move for your cars. He first helps you into yours, obviously having noticed the situation with your now snow-filled heels as he opens your door and offers a hand for you to take as you balance and kick the snow out of them. Once you’re all settled, you watch in the rearview mirror as he heads back to his truck, and you wait until his headlights are on to pull back onto the road—pleased to notice that the engine’s temperature has returned to normal.

The drive home to your townhouse isn’t too long from where you’d been stranded, and in just under ten minutes, you’re pulling into your half of the shared driveway. You make it into the garage, hoping that Frankie hasn’t driven away yet. Thankfully, when you step out of your car, you notice he’s still there, having pulled up along the street. You bite back a smile as you hurry down to where he’s parked, watching as he opens his window to talk to you.

“Does everything look alright?” Frankie questions, and you can see a concerned furrow in his brow.

“It looks great,” you assure him, glad to see the knit in his brow straighten out as he gives you a nod of approval. Before he has a chance to speak again, you keep going, knowing that you’ll sound ludicrous but feeling unable to stop yourself. “I can’t thank you enough, and I’d really like to be able to do something. Do you want to come in quick, just for a mug of hot chocolate or something? I mean, it’s okay if you don’t, you probably have places to go.”

Frankie smiles at you. “I think that sounds really nice,” he agrees. “Should I park here, or—?”

“You can pull in the driveway, if you want,” you tell him, and he nods before you give him the room to move. There’s a warmth in your chest that sticks there and you can’t exactly place it. All you can do is focus on retrieving your work bag from your car as Frankie parks his truck and hops out again, following you to the door and making sure he kicks all the snow off his boots before he enters behind you. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not much,” you begin to apologize as you watch him look around the house, taking his coat for him once he shrugs it off. “It’s not very ready for guests, either.”

“It’s great,” Frankie assures you with a kind smile. “It’s very… I know this isn’t technically a word, but it’s very homey.”

“Actually, I think that is a word,” you confirm with a giggle, inviting him to sit at your kitchen island as you get out a saucepan and pour some milk into it. You turn to face Frankie with an eyebrow raised. “Wait, you aren’t lactose intolerant or anything, right?”

Frankie chuckles and shakes his head. “No, I’m fine.”

You breathe a sigh of relief and continue with what you’re doing, getting the hot chocolate mix out from a cabinet beside the stove. “I just have the mix, I hope that’s okay. I know it’s pretty sugary, but I don’t usually have a lot of time to make it from scratch.”

“Hey, don’t worry, really.” Frankie’s tone is gentle yet stern, as if he’s trying to get the point across to you very thoroughly. “I appreciate the fuss, but I promise, it’s not necessary. I’m not picky at all.”

You smile to yourself as you set out two mugs, finally turning back towards Frankie and standing across from him at the counter. In the lighting that hangs from your ceiling just above the counter, you can more vividly see his face, the kind twinkle in his dark eyes and the scruff that graces his jaw and upper lip. You hope your admiration isn’t so obvious as you shrug at him. “I know, I just… you were so helpful to me, and I just want to return the favor.”

Frankie raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s it?” His tone contains a hint of teasing in it. He’d obviously caught you in the act of observing him.

You scoff playfully, looking down at your hands that rest on the countertop. Your fingers are folded together as your thumbs fiddle with each other. “Well, I guess I also thought you were cute, too.”

You look back up and bite back a smile upon seeing Frankie’s cheeks reddening a bit. He tips his hat—which you figure, by now, is a nervous habit of his—and see a small smile of his own tugging at the corner of his lips. “Then it’s not weird for me to say that I thought the same thing about you, right?”

You laugh and shake your head, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks as your gaze never breaks away from his. “I guess it’s not. Every great romcom starts with something breaking down, right?”

Frankie laughs with you, his eyes crinkling up a bit in a way that has your stomach erupting with butterflies. “Or canceled flights,” he adds, “and that’s really down my alley.”

You feel curiosity fill you at his words, and you encourage him to elaborate on that. Frankie begins to tell you about his piloting experience, including the job he has at the local airport teaching flight lessons. He explains that’s why he said before that he’s seen a lot of disasters, because flying can get really tricky sometimes, so he’s always looking out for people’s backs. He includes this with his time spent in the Delta Force, especially with his group of friends who he’s always had to watch out for thanks to their enthusiastic yet reckless behavior. He keeps going even as you finish heating up the milk, preparing the mugs and handing one over to him.

Frankie encourages you to talk more about yourself as well, and you go on about your desk job you have right now and your day-to-day life that pales in comparison to his. Still, Frankie’s interested in every detail, his brown eyes completely alluring as they look into your gaze with such genuine interest. You tell him that you’ve moved far away from family and he tells you the same thing—a commonality that warms your chest more than it probably should. You go on and on in such an easygoing conversation until you realize Frankie’s been here for two and a half hours now and both your mugs have been empty for half that time.

“I should probably go, now,” Frankie admits, which is what causes you to whip around and read the time on the digital clock of your microwave. You gasp lightly and start to apologize for keeping him so late, but Frankie holds up a hand to stop you as he gets out of his chair. “If I wanted to go earlier, I would’ve. I actually would stay longer, but I’ve got a flight lesson early tomorrow.” You smile at each other, and Frankie starts to reach into his pocket. “I’d love to keep this going, though. Do you mind if I…?” Frankie trails off as he hands you his phone, which is open to a new contact.

You agree without hesitation, entering your name and number and letting him do the same in your phone. He leaves with a warm smile, one that only grows when you ask him to text you when he’s gotten back safely. Frankie does exactly that—along with a request to take you out later in the week.

That’s how you end up hopping out of Frankie’s truck at the local outdoor rink, receiving a helping hand from Frankie after he’s already opened the door for you. You’d warned him that your ice skating skills are even worse than the average person and he’d told you not to worry—that you could drag him down with you if you needed to. He looks over at you as you walk in, his gaze observing your winter apparel for the cold night as he smiles softly.

“You look warm enough,” Frankie says softly, “but I have some extra stuff in the truck in case you need it.”

You smile up at him. “Thanks, Frankie. I don’t think your thoughtfulness ever ends.”

Frankie simply shakes his head, but you don’t miss the small blush of pink across his cheeks as he leads you inside to the counter. He—of course, and much to your own protests—pays for not only the time spent skating but also your rentals. He’s got his on in record time but you take a bit longer, which he doesn’t seem to mind at all. As soon as you stand up, you already start to wobble a bit, instinctively reaching for Frankie’s arm to stabilize yourself. You look shyly up at him afterwards, feeling embarrassed.

“Sorry,” you nearly squeak out, starting to loosen your hold on his arm.

“Don’t apologize,” Frankie insists, placing his gloved hands over both of yours to encourage you to keep them there. “I told you, I’m your anchor—and I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

You nod, trying to hold back a smile as he helps to lead you onto the ice. He holds you by both your hands to get you safely inside, and once you’re gliding, you’ve resumed your position of holding onto one of his arms with both your hands. Frankie’s easily the one guiding both of you as you go along, looking over at you every once in a while to make sure you’re hanging in there. You find it easier than you thought it’d be, and you smile up at him in delight. “I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

Frankie raises an eyebrow with a gentle smile. “Yeah?” He watches your feet glide beside his. “I think so, too.” He gently begins to tug upwards on his arm, encouraging your hands to meet as he entwines your gloved fingers together. “Just in case.”

You beam up at him. “Just in case,” you echo his words, letting the sarcasm drip into your voice as Frankie nudges your shoulder with a chuckle. The movement causes you to trip just a step, but instinctively you wrap your free hand around his arm again, throwing Frankie into a fit of laughter as you give his arm a tighter squeeze in playful anger. “So much for keeping me safe!”

Frankie shakes his head and gives your hand a squeeze. “I would’ve caught you,” he assures you softly. His words have already made your stomach flutter, but then he leans down to press a gentle kiss to your cheek, which truly makes your heart practically fly out of your chest. You bite back a warm smile as you hold a gaze with him, pulling yourself closer to his side as you continue gliding together.

You keep going around in circles as you talk about the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving, detailing each other’s plans and what you usually do with the inability to travel out to your families—and the lack of desire to, thanks to flight costs, risky weather, work hours, and family drama. The rest of your conversation flows just as easily as it had the night you met and during all your other text or phone conversations ever since. You also can’t help noticing the eyes you draw as you keep skating together. It’s mostly the teenage girls whose stares linger the most, whispering to each other with hands over their hearts as if they’re deeming you both as the model relationship. It makes you feel flustered at least a hundred times, yet you can’t help feeling the same thing they are each and every time you look over at Frankie and meet his caring gaze.

They’ve kept the retractable ceiling above the rink open for the evening, and so once snow starts to fall gently from the sky, you get to watch it come down around you. Not feeling affected by the cold thanks to the warmth of your clothes and Frankie’s close presence, you don’t mind it at all, and he doesn’t seem to either. At one point, though, he does slow your skating to a stop, letting you both step to the side out of other people’s ways as you try to blink away a large snowflake that’s settled on your lashes. Frankie laughs softly as he gently reaches a gloved hand forward.

“I got it,” Frankie assures you, and his gloved thumb moves carefully to brush the snowflake away. But now, you’re both realizing how close you are to each other, the heat of each other’s breath warming your faces. Frankie’s hand settles onto your cheek and the other slips out of your grip to meet your other cheek. You watch his gaze drop down to your lips and then back up to your eyes, seeming to ask you if it’s okay to keep going. You reassure him with a warm smile and the same gesture, your gloved hands pressing against his chest for stability as you let him press his lips against yours.

The kiss is so soft and slow that it feels like you’re melting together in the same way the snowflakes start to melt on your warm cheeks, somehow so full of passion while simultaneously remaining gentle. For this moment, the rink and the people filling it disappear completely, and all you can conceive of is the man you’re drawing yourself even closer to. Frankie pulls away after what feels like so long yet somehow also doesn’t feel long enough, and the second his gaze meets yours again, you both smile wider than you think you ever have.

You swear you can feel gazes practically burning through you, so you look to the side and see the same group of teenage girls from before. They’re practically swooning at the sight of you, and you can’t help giggling with flustered cheeks as you look back up at Frankie. He raises his brow at you with another small smile.

“I think we’re drawing some attention,” you whisper to him, despite the fact that the girls are standing rather far off. Frankie follows your gaze as you look back to them, and they finally seem to notice as they duck away with gloved hands containing their laughter.

Frankie looks back to you with a soft chuckle, his hands moving from your cheeks to your hands as he takes both of them in his. “I guess we should go somewhere more private, then,” Frankie suggests, giving your hands a squeeze before he helps to guide you both off the ice. He keeps one of your hands in his as you walk back to the truck, him once again opening the door for you before he gets in on his side. Once you’re setting off to your home once again, you take his hand in yours, exchanging a smile with him. “I hope you had fun.”

“Of course I did,” you assure him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “I mean, once I learned how to actually skate.”

Frankie chuckles. “You did great.”

You continue to make small talk until he pulls into your driveway, yet again being as chivalrous as possible as he opens the truck door for you and walks you up to your front step. Frankie stops once you’re there, taking both your hands in his again as he looks at you with nothing but pure admiration and warmth. You can’t stop yourself from leaning close to him and giving him a soft kiss, butterflies erupting at the natural way his mouth moves against yours. You pull away with eyes that you’re sure have just as much admiration as his.

“I hope this means we can have another date,” Frankie says, chuckling when you laugh at him.

“And many, many more,” you insist, giving his hands a squeeze. Frankie’s eyes brighten at your words. “All I can say is that I’m really glad my car broke down.”

Frankie laughs at that. “Yeah, but we’re gonna get that fixed for good, alright?” You nod at him, beaming when he presses a gentle kiss to your forehead. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” you remark, and he gives your hands one last squeeze before he steps away. As he walks back to his truck, you call after him. “Text me when you get home!”

Frankie turns around and tips his hat on his head. “I was already planning on it!”

You bite back a smile and nod, turning around with a warm heart to let yourself into your home. You and Frankie spend the next few weeks seeing each other as much as possible, whether it be going to dinners out or just staying in at one of your homes—including one night spent at Frankie’s place watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. That night, you end up accidentally falling asleep in his arms on the couch, and you wake up in the morning just to laugh along with Frankie. Thankfully, it’d been a Friday night, and neither one of you had work that morning.

On Thanksgiving—or, rather, Friendsgiving as you both called it—you’re with your group of friends but constantly hold a text conversation with Frankie. He tells you about the antics going on with his friends as you tell him about the way your friends are absolutely pelting you with questions about Frankie. You ask about dessert and he tells you that his friends definitely don’t know how to put desserts together, so with the permission of the friend who’s hosting, you invite Frankie over. He comes and draws the immediate attention of your friends, who openly admire him and his friendliness in a way that has your heart swelling with affection and happiness.

One of your favorite moments comes when you get to meet Frankie’s friends. You’ve been together for well over a month, now—though it practically feels like forever. Christmas is coming around the corner and Frankie tells you that his buddies are doing a little get-together and they’re very eager to meet you. You, of course, accept the invitation, and you soon find yourself with your hand tight in Frankie’s as you walk up to his friend Will’s house. Before you enter, Frankie stops you, giving you a soft yet serious look.

“I know I’ve told you this before, but they’re… a little much,” Frankie says with a laugh. “If it becomes too much, just let me know, okay? I’ll have them get off your back.”

“I can handle it,” you assure him, giving his cheek a kiss before you gesture towards the door. Frankie nods with a smile and moves to open it, knowing it won’t be locked as he does so. You’re both met with loud cheers and a blur of hugs and warm handshakes. You can already tell how the group acts like a little family, a thought that makes you smile as you continue holding Frankie’s hand and follow him into the living room.

Will hands you and Frankie a drink, and you cuddle a little closer into Frankie as he keeps his arm wrapped around your shoulders. You see the guys giving each other looks upon seeing it, and you look up to Frankie with a giggle to see him simply shaking his head at you. They ask if it’s okay for them to practically just interview you, and you laugh as you agree and start answering their questions with honesty and grace.

“First kiss?” Benny asks, going on the countless round of questioning as his eyes glitter with mischief yet friendliness.

“While ice skating on the first date,” you answer, earning a dramatic aw from your “crowd” that has Frankie rolling his eyes.

“Fish’s best feature?” Will questions with eyes narrowed in focus.

“His eyes,” you say.

“Really?” Frankie asks, and you look up at him with a nod.

“Obviously,” you retort, watching his cheeks flush red and tapping his nose just to make it a little worse. He pushes your hand away playfully as you laugh and face the boys again.

“Fish’s worst feature?” Tom dares to ask.

“His lack of self-care,” you insist. When Frankie gives you an incredulous look, you shake your head up at him. “You need to care for yourself as much as you do for others, babe.”

Frankie simply shrugs in response, hiding yet another blush by sipping his beer. You snort and turn to face the group.

“Alright, alright, I think we’ve overwhelmed her enough,” Santiago insists, drawing a laugh from you as he moves to stand up. “I think it’s time for some of these gifts.”

Frankie tells you that they do a Secret Santa every year amidst the panic of you definitely having not brought anything, but you’re both surprised when Santiago hands a little wrapped box to you. They make you open it last, wanting to soak in your reaction as you do so. When you unwrap it and open the box, you can’t help the wide smile from taking over your features as you pick up a dog tag necklace.

“It’s engraved with Fish’s details from back in the day,” Santiago explains.

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” you say, but there’s so much warmth in your tone as you admire the sweet gift. You hand it to Frankie, who looks at it with just as much awe and admiration.

“Of course we did,” Will insists with a smile. “But don’t thank us just yet.”

You furrow your brow. “What do you mean?”

Suddenly, there’s a quiet jingling sound from above your head, and you and Frankie look up simultaneously to see Benny standing over you with a mistletoe hanging from his hand. The group laughs as your realization sets in, and you both shake your heads before you lean in for a quick kiss that sends them into utter chaos. Benny walks back to where he’d previously been sitting and deals out high fives with the guys while you and Frankie just sit there and laugh at their dramatic reactions. By the end of the night, you truly feel like a part of their little family.

But your favorite moment of the winter comes on Christmas Day, when you’re having a little celebration with just Frankie at your place. You decided to spend it together, much rather having the comfort of each other rather than the panic of trying to get last-minute flights and time off to visit your families. You’re sitting on the couch in front of the small fireplace, watching as he unwraps some of the gifts you’ve given him—including the new, leather watch he instantly straps on his wrist. You can tell, though, that Frankie’s much more excited for you to open yours, and you go through a few nice things before reaching the last box. Frankie’s eyes are set completely on you as you open it, your lips parting in beautiful awe as you observe the silver necklace laying within. It’s a small snowflake with a diamond in its center, and when you look back up at Frankie, you can see the same glow of the diamond within his gaze.

“I know you have the necklace from the guys,” Frankie says, “but I saw that you put that on your car mirror instead, and I just—I really wanted to give you some sort of, you know, promise necklace, I guess. And I picked a snowflake because we met during the first snowfall of the season, and then our first kiss was because of the snowflake on your eye.” Frankie stops his rambling to search your gaze with a bit of concern. “I hope you like it.”

“I love it, Frankie,” you assure him in a hushed voice, thanks to your sudden emotion from the sweet gift. When you get lost in his gaze, you feel a bolder part of you emerge as you swallow hard. “Actually I… I think I love you.”

Frankie’s dark gaze glitters as brilliantly as you’ve ever seen it, and you watch his lips part in disbelief for a moment before he smiles wide at you. “I think I love you, too, baby.” With that, his hands reach for the sides of your face and pull it to his in a kiss more passionate than you’ve ever received from him. The heat radiating from both your beating hearts rivals that of the fire you sit in front of as your mouths move in perfect and graceful sync, your shared confessions being translated in this physical expression before you pull away with heavy breaths and wide smiles.

Once you’ve caught your breath, you pick up the box again, handing it to Frankie. “Can you put it on for me?” you ask, and Frankie nods earnestly as he takes the necklace out of the box and clips it in place around your neck. His touch lingers there for a moment, his fingertips brushing over the skin as his lips soon follow. Frankie leaves a few gentle kisses there that make your skin erupt into pleasant goosebumps, and instinctively you lean forward to give him more access. His arms settle on your middle as he pulls you closer to himself.

“You’ve given me a lot of great things today,” Frankie mumbles, his breath fanning over your neck as he does so, “but I think the greatest gift was the words you just spoke to me.”

You smile as you spin your head around as best as you can, reaching a hand back over your shoulder to hold his cheek. “I might be able to think of something a little better,” you hint in his same hushed tone, fingers dancing along the skin of his cheek as you try your best to bite back the growing smile.

Frankie’s gaze glitters with desire yet concern as he brushes some of the hair away from your face. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

You spin around to fully face him, straddling his lap as you rest your forehead against his. “I promise,” you begin, taking his hat and tossing it to the side so you can thread your fingers through his hair, “as long as you’re okay with it, I’m very much ready to prove what I said before.” You press a gentle kiss to the corner of his lips. “That I love you, very much.”

Frankie finally gives in with a smile that melts against your lips, his hands gliding over your sides and making you warmer than any fire ever could. By the end of the night, you’re wrapped up in Frankie and the warm blankets atop the couch, donning nothing but the necklace he’d gifted you with a heart that’s fuller than glasses of eggnog left untouched on the coffee table.

Before you know it, New Year’s Eve rolls around, and you and Frankie are spending it at a lively bar with the boys—though all your attention’s solely focused on each other. The countdown begins when you each get a glass of champagne in your hands, but not without Frankie murmuring something about oh, so fancy! that makes you laugh into the button-up covering his chest. You join in with the crowd as you look up to the TV that shows the glowing ball in Times Square, counting down each second until the clock strikes midnight. There’s a joyous cheer that’s drowned out the moment you and Frankie share a kiss, pulling away to press your nose against his with a smile.

“Happy New Year, my love,” you say in a breath barely breathed, your smile growing as you watch his dark eyes sparkle in that favorite manner of yours.

“Happy New Year, baby,” Frankie responds before he captures your lips with his again, seeming to completely forget your surroundings—but so do you.

By the time the snow starts melting away that winter and the buds of flowers start to peek out, you and Frankie are moving into a townhouse of your own. You’re about to reach for another box when you watch birds soaring above, returning back from their winter homes. You look to Frankie who’s just joined you at your side, watching as he tries to find the source of the look of wonder in your eyes. “I can’t believe the winter’s over already,” you confess. “I don’t even remember it being cold for that long.”

Frankie chuckles softly, wrapping you into a warm embrace and placing a kiss on top of your head. “That’s because spending the winter together made it feel much warmer,” he insists, pulling away from the hug to instead watch you roll your eyes at his cheesiness and join him in a sweet kiss.

And as cheesy as the words might’ve been, you know there’s truth to them—and you know that winter’s bound to be your favorite season, now, thanks to Frankie.

series parts: summer, fall, winter

permanent tag list: @mikahidalgo @bestintheparsec @stilllivindue2spite @givemethatgold @xbrujita @mandalorianspace @blushingwueen @sevvysaurus @myakai13 @thisis-theway @beskars @rachelloveseveryone @theindiealto @hiscyarika @wickedfrsgrl @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @bookwafflefangirl @charliepeaceout @cable-kenobi @ezraslittleblondestreak @hdlynn @your-pixels-are-showing @b0n-chann @javier-djarin @nettyklecan @mistermiraclee @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @smellssharpies @catfishingmorales @badassbaker @wille-zarr @kaetastic @saltywintersoldat @agentpike @mrsparknuts @readsalot73 @yespolkadotkitty @mandhoelorian @lilangeldevil006 @cyaredindjarin @roxypeanut @phoenixhalliwell @hail-doodles @randomness501 @this-cat-is-dea @hopplessdreamer

seasons with frankie tag list: @abuttoncalledsmalls @agirllovespasta @kindablackenedsuperhero @iellaren-uodo-rian @havenforafrazzledmind

frankie morales tag list: @themandadlorian @chibi-liz05

#frankie if you're not careful i'll marry you #right now #and ESPECIALLY when it's winter #frankie morales #catfish morales #frankie morales x reader #triple frontier #dindjarindiaries

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blursed-ninjago-ideas · 4 years

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The Walkers always wanted a big family, but they were both only children with no extended family to speak of.

They lowkey were hoping Jay would find someone with a big family and were just a BIT disappointed to hear that Nya was an orphan.

But that just meant she definitely had to come have the holidays with them, so not all bad.

They told Jay he had to bring Nya home for Thanksgiving. Kai came with Nya. Lloyd came with Kai. Zane decided he had nowhere else to go anyways and came. Wu went with them too. Cole went to avoid his dad (saying he was having a friendsgiving with his classmates)

They had to have it outside.

The following years the Walkers couldn't host due to the number only getting bigger and the scrap yard not being very accommodating, but the do show up as early as they are welcome and help make all the food.

It's been held in Garmadon's Monastery and Lou Brookestone's house when the ninja couldn't host it at their home base.

Dareth makes cranberry sauce no one but him really eats and brings all the pies.

Zane has claimed authority over the Turkey and mashed potatoes (since they have to be made with the Turkey to do it right)

Kai makes the green beans since Nya and Lloyd both refuse anyone else's.

Ronin found his niche in bringing all the refreshments.

Lloyd is banned from the dessert stations because he will steal raw ingredients and uncooked sweets.

Misako has a few things she gets fussy about and it's best to let her make her stuffing.

Cole sets the table and decorates.

Lou makes his great grandma's mac amd cheese.

Pixal has the important job of keeping her father away from the cooking. (Cyrus is entirely too experimental and they just can't have the extra chaos in the kitchen)

Maya makes spiced carrots.

Ray, once the decision is made that they needed two turkeys, makes a smoked turkey to go with Zane's roasted one.

Try as Wu and Misako do, they can't replicate Garmadon's coffee bread and everyone misses it.

Skylor has to include noodles, her Thanksgivings always had noodles.

Karloff brings the densest fruitcake every made every year. He starts making it by hand every new year.

Milton Dyer wound up showing with a bottle of generic wine the first time he came and felt embarrassed. (Also Ronin pulled him aside and made a big deal about how HE did the refreshments. Milton didn't know what it was about exactly but didn't bring any drinks again.)

Scott brings homemade brownies.

The Walkers are very happy with it every year and keep making stupid napkin rings and center peices to bring.

-Ivy

#Mod Ivy #lego ninjago #ninjago #blursed ninjago ideas #wow #go off i guess #I got carried away #but it was fun

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artificialqueens · 3 years

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Galactica, Chapter 52 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Violet learned more about Sutan, Courtney got spoiled, and Katya turned her kitchen into a Thanksgiving factory.

This Chapter: Adore gets an unexpected invite, Violet experiences a relatively functional family, Fame hides out, and Courtney makes a bold move. (Thanksgiving Chronicles 3 of ??)

***

Adore stared at her phone as it rang, trying to get over her surprise and figure out what to do. Even Courtney looked shocked, eyebrows raising to her hairline.

“Are you gonna answer?”

“Uh...I dunno.” She stared for another second before curiosity finally got the better of her. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Pearl said and ugh, she sounded as sexy as ever.

“Uh...what’s up?”

“Um…” Pearl cleared her throat uncomfortably. “I was just like...thinking about you, and...uh…how are you doing?”

Adore smiled to herself. In spite of everything that had gone down, she still had a soft spot for Pearl, a very tiny and distinct hope that maybe they could work things out. She knew how hard it must have been for her to make this call. Maybe it was a sign?

“I’m alright.”

They exchanged small talk for a minute or two as Adore walked beside Courtney, back into Bianca’s building.

“I might lose you soon, we’re almost at the elevator-” Adore began.

“Wait!”

Adore stopped, brow furrowed, holding up a finger to Courtney, who nodded and stopped walking, leaning against one of the lobby’s giant marble columns.

“Yes?”

“I just...I really hated how things ended and I...would really like to see you again.”

“You would?”

“Yeah! Of course. I think we should talk, And, um...we’re doing this whole Friendsgiving cocktail party thing tonight. Maybe you wanna swing by? Everyone misses you, so...but I know you’re at your sister’s, so don’t feel like you have to-”

“Well I guess…” Adore took a deep breath, trying to slow her pounding heart. Did Pearl want to get back together? “I guess I could head over for a bit. We’re done eating here.”

“Okay, awesome! Come anytime, it’s just like an open house party thing.”

“Sure, see ya soon.”

Adore hung up, a little conflicted about the whole conversation. As much as she wanted to see Pearl again, she wasn’t so sure that it was the best idea.

“So...what did Pearl have to say?” Courtney asked, and Adore had to hand it to her for keeping her face entirely judgment free.

“She wants me to come hang out. She sounded...sorry?”

“Well, that’s good, right? I mean, she should be sorry.” Courtney linked her arm through Adore’s as they walked into the elevator. “Losing you would make any rational person sorry.”

“Not that you’re biased,” Adore chuckled, dropping a kiss to the top of Courtney’s head.

“Not a bit.”

“...Do you think I should go?” Adore bit her lip, still trying to get her hopes up too much.

“Do you want to go?”

“Kind of. I just feel like...even if we can’t like, make the relationship work, it would be good to be on better terms...” She didn’t voice the next through out loud. That maybe, just maybe, they could make it work.

“Then it probably makes sense to see what she has to say.”

“Yeah...you won’t feel abandoned, will you?” Adore asked.

“Um, no. I’ll probably just help Bianca clean up and then take off. Back to my own palace,” she joked, making Adore giggle, since her apartment was the literal exact opposite of a palace.

As they stepped back into Bianca’s foyer, she pulled Courtney in for a tight hug.

“You’re honestly the best, you know that?”

***

“Anybody want more coffee?”

“No thanks.” Violet shook her head, a smile on her face as she watched Sutan walk around the small kitchen table, pot of coffee in hand. Violet was absolutely stuffed, though not as much as Raven, the model asleep on the couch in the den after three servings of pie.

“More pie Violet?” Murni held up the pumpkin pie, Sutan pouring another cup for Raja.

“No thanks.” Violet shook her head. “I don’t think I could eat another bite.”

“You should be proud Bunda,” Sutan smiled, taking a seat next to Raja. “I can’t remember Violet ever eating this much.”

“Sutan!” Murni shot him a look, and Violet felt herself blush, warm rising in her cheeks. “Manners.”

“Sorry,” Sutan grinned, and Raja giggled too.

“He’s right though-” Violet didn’t know what came over her, but she didn’t want this tiny woman to think badly of her, didn’t want to seem ungrateful in any way. “You’re a very good chef.”

Murni’s cooking had been absolutely delicious, the Thanksgiving meal the best one Violet could remember ever having. Sure, they were served chicken instead of turkey, Raja smiling her way through the story about how Murni had first made the mistake when they were children and they all liked it too much to let go of the tradition, but it wasn’t the food that had made Violet eat so much.

It was the mood around the table.

Violet knew a lot of people saw her as picky, that Sutan probably thought that way of her too, but she wasn’t, she simply got nervous and then retreated back to the foods she knew.

It had been so nice to sit down with someone who felt like a family, to feel like she was actually genuinely welcomed at the table.

“Thank you sweet girl,” Murni smiled, her dark eyes filled with a deep warmth.

“See Sutan?” Raja turned to her twin, nudging her elbow into his side. “It isn’t that hard to bring home someone who isn’t a raging bitch.”

“Raja! Don’t talk like that!”

“Sorry,” Raja smirked, grabbing her coffee cup. “But she was an absolute cunt.”

***

“Darling?”

Patrick opened the door to their bedroom, waiting a second as he looked around. Fame had gone missing after dessert, giving some quick excuse about checking up on Charles, but when Patrick had actually found their dog happily munching away on his chef-arranged plate of leftovers, his wife was nowhere to be seen.

The bedroom was dark, and Patrick was just about to leave, when he noticed a sliver of light coming from underneath the door to the walk-in closet.

“Fame?” Patrick walked inside, closing and locking the bedroom door behind him, an unsettling sensation growing in his stomach.

His family was downstairs, watching football and grazing on the last of the several desserts Fame had ordered, his mother making a snide comment that if she couldn’t cook, at least she knew how to hire a chef.

Pareick grabbed the door to the walk-in closet and slid it open, catching sight of Fame, who was sitting on the floor, apprentently rearranging her sunglasses drawer, a glass of wine at her side.

“.... Fame?”

Fame looked up, only just noticing him, and Patrick realized how right his gut feeling had been.

“Patrick,” Fame raised her hand, quickly drying under her eyes, but it was too late. Patrick had already seen the streaks, his wife's ever perfect makeup marred by what could only be tears. “I didn’t see you-“

“What’s wrong?” Patrick sat down on his knees, not reaching out to touch.

“I’m fine.”

“Nothing says fine like rearranging your 2003 Guccis.”

“They’re not-“ Fame cut herself off and Patrick had to hide a smile, the sunglasses obviously Chanel, but if Fame was rising to the bait, whatever mood she was in was salvageable. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s never just nothing with you darling.” Patrick leaned back against one of the many closet doors. “Now tell me.”

“It’s just,” Fame picked up a pair of sunglasses. “I just needed a break from the accusations of robbing your mother of her grandchildren.”

“Ah,” Patrick cringed. He had always been clear to his family about not wanting children, but it seemed like his mother had gone deaf since her friends started having grandbabies. They had busy, fulfilling lives - their friends, their dog, their work. They simply didn’t want children. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Fame wasn’t looking at him, her blue eyes focused on the drawer. “I just wish… I wished she wouldn’t constantly tell me I’m not enough for you, that I’m the one who-“

“Hey-“ Patrick reached out, grabbing Fame’s hand. “You’re my forever Famie.”

“Patrick.” Fame looked up, and Patrick turned her hand in his, making sure she could see the sparkling diamond on her ring finger.

“You are,” Patrick squeezed her hand. “And we’re the ones who don't want kids. Both of us. Together. Unanimous decision.”

“You’re such a lawyer.” Fame smiled, leaning forward to place a sweet kiss against his lip.

***

Bianca’s reaction to Adore’s plan to see Pearl was slightly different from Courtney’s, her spine going rigid and teeth clenching at the news.

“If that’s what you want,” she said tersely, snapping the lid shut on a tupperware and shoving it into the fridge.

“B…”

Bianca looked up, giving a resigned sigh and opening her arms to her sister.

“Come here.”

Courtney watched from the doorway, a smile tugging on her lips as they hugged.

“Do what you gotta do, pussycat,” Bianca murmured, finally releasing her with an insincere, “And give Pearl my very best!”

“Will do!” Adore laughed, blowing Courtney a kiss as she headed for the door.

Courtney stepped into the kitchen, her hands full of the last few glasses that had been on the dining room table. Secretly, she was thrilled that they were now alone together.

“Where can I…”

“Oh, just stick it right there.” Bianca gestured to the huge pile of dishes next to the sink. It was hard to believe that the three of them had created this big of a mess.

“Can I help you clean up?” she asked.

“Uh...sure…Most of it can just go in here.”

Bianca opened the giant dishwasher and beckoned Courtney over.

“So…” Courtney bit her cheek, doing her best not to sneak glances at the lacy black bra visible through the slit in Bianca’s top, turning her attention instead to the apparently 47 glasses they’d gone through. She picked them up one at a time, carefully placing them in the top rack of the dishwasher. “Not a Pearl fan, eh?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Uhhh...yeah,” Courtney giggled.

“I just...I know she’s gonna hurt my sister again. Why? You think she’s great?” Bianca asked, the last word loaded with bitterness.

“No, I think she’s a cunt,” Courtney said bluntly, and Bianca let out a cackle of agreement, eyes sparkling with delight. “But...Adore really liked her, and it sounds like she feels really bad about how things ended, so...maybe it’s good that they’re gonna talk some more. Maybe they can even work it out.”

“You’re naive.”

“Possibly, but I prefer optimistic.” Courtney flashed a sunny smile, Bianca returning it slightly before shaking her head and reaching for her wine glass.

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t deserve your optimism. And she doesn’t deserve Adore.” She drained her wine glass and then stuck it into the dishwasher with the others, turning to the plates.

“I think it’s really cute how protective you are,” Courtney said softly, fingertips brushing against Bianca’s shoulder.

“I’m not, usually,” Bianca explained with a chuckle. “But I know Pearl, and she’s...a player, you know? She goes through women like Kleenex, and I just don’t buy that she’s capable of any kind of meaningful commitment, which is what I know Adore wants.” She looked up and caught Courtney’s amused smile, adding, “What?”

“You know that’s what people say about you, right?”

“Yeah, and they’re right!” Bianca barked, eyes hard, and Courtney took a small step back. Bianca’s face fell, immediately looking regretful, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s okay,” Courtney said. “I know you’re just worried about her.”

She went back to the dishwasher, now trying to Tetris in the various bowls and coffee cups.

“Who’ve you been talking to about me, anyway?” Bianca asked, the gruffness softening slightly.

“I’m not gonna reveal my sources!”

“Multiple sources, huh?”

“Perhaps,” Courtney twinkled, twirling a stray wine glass by the stem before putting it into the rack.

“Hm. Well, I’d ask around about you, but nobody knows who the fuck you are, so…”

“That’s true. I’m shamefully irrelevant in this city. Just another small-town kid trying to make it in the Big Apple.”

“Teasing you is no fun. You always agree.” Bianca’s voice was low and husky, dimples appearing for a brief second.

“Sorry, I’ll try to be less agreeable,” Courtney shot back, stomach flipping as Bianca leaned towards her.

“Good idea,” she proclaimed, picking up a serving dish from the pile and putting it into the sink.

“So...since nobody knows who I am, I guess you’ll have to just judge for yourself, eh?”

“I suppose so.”

“Well…” Courtney swallowed, not entirely sure she was prepared for the answer to her question, before turning around to face her and bravely venturing, “What do you think?

“I think...that one day you’re gonna look in the mirror and own how absolutely extraordinary you are. And then you’re gonna be fucking unstoppable.”

It certainly wasn’t what Courtney expected, and she inhaled sharply, eyes glued to Bianca’s. And suddenly it was all too much. The lingering glances, the brief touches, the heated silence. Kiss me, Courtney found herself wishing, searching Bianca’s eyes for a sign…any sign, that she felt the same way.

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me…

Bianca leaned in and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes, and Courtney gripped the edge of the sink, an ache growing in the pit of her stomach. She desperately wanted to close the distance, to taste Bianca’s plush ruby lips. She could feel her heart pounding in her throat as Bianca cupped her cheeks.

“This is probably…a very bad idea,” Bianca said.

“Okay.” Courtney nodded slowly.

Bianca stroked her cheeks, leaning in closer. “I told you to stop agreeing,” she whispered.

“Right…” All Courtney could think about was the warm breath on her face, Bianca’s perfect curves so, so close.

“Fuck,” said Bianca softly, finally leaning in all the way, pressing her against the counter, letting their lips touch.

Courtney thought she was going to faint. Somehow, she’d expected the kiss to be like Bianca - aggressive and strong and maybe even a little bit scary. But it was the softest, sweetest kiss she’d ever had, the light and teasing brush of her lips making her crazy before finally deepening. She melted into Bianca’s arms, letting the whole moment envelope her as the edge of the counter dug into her lower back--the only thing keeping her grounded.

One of Bianca’s hands slid down, and now it was on her waist, fingers on her skin sending shivers all up her spine, a soft whimper falling from her lips as she arched forward into the touch.

Then, without any warning, Bianca sprung back, leaving her trembling, chest heaving.

“I’m sorry,” Bianca said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

It was a battle for Courtney to connect with her addled mind, her skin still tingling from where she’d been touched, and when she did, she still couldn’t make sense of it all.

Bianca continued to apologize profusely, even adding a regretful, “You’re not the first straight girl to get caught in my web. I’m...I’m really sorry.”

“I…” Courtney tried to respond, but it felt like her tongue was paralyzed.

“Um...why don’t I call you a car?” Bianca said.

“That’s not...you don’t have to-”

“No, I insist. It’s dark and you’re...you should take some food!”

“What?” Courtney shook her head, pangs of regret making her chest hurt, trying to understand what went wrong.

“Yeah, um...I gotta go out of town tomorrow and I don’t want it to go to waste, so-” She turned to the fridge and began pulling containers out, filling a Neiman Marcus bag she grabbed from a nearby cabinet.

Courtney still didn’t know what to say, so she just followed her numbly to the door, slowly putting on her jacket and scarf while Bianca called whoever it was in her life that made towncars appear. She finally stepped into the elevator, arms loaded with two shopping bags of food, watching her fantasies dissolve as the doors shut.

Downstairs, both the concierge and the doorman were expecting her, directing her to the black sedan waiting outside. It had gotten dark since she’d been out with Adore, the damp air somehow far more bitterly cold now. She took another step towards the car before hesitating, looking back longingly at Bianca’s building.

***

Bianca closed her eyes. The bewildered, stricken look on Courtney’s face as the elevator doors slid shut would be burned into her brain forever, she was sure of it. Along with the feeling of being absolute fucking garbage.

Flirting was one thing. Flirting was harmless fun for everyone. But the fact that she’d taken advantage of one moment of weakness--and with Adore’s best friend, no less. Adore’s straight friend. What the fuck was wrong with her?

In the moment, it had seemed so right: the softness in her eyes, lips parted, head tilted--it looked so much like an invitation, practically a dare. But it was a dare Bianca should have resisted. She knew better. Even at the time, she’d known better, known that she was making a reckless and irresponsible mistake. She’d done it anyway, though, hadn’t she?

She groaned, heading to the bar. She needed something much stronger than wine right now. She searched through the shelf, finally finding some Kentucky bourbon and picked it up, briefly considering taking a swig right from the bottle before pulling down a heavy glass and pouring herself a generous double shot. Possibly triple, she wasn’t measuring.

The liquor burned her throat, stinging her eyes. She pressed her palms to the top of the bar, blinking slowly, hoping the gross feeling she had would dissipate. It didn’t. She still felt Courtney’s petite body, shaking like a leaf under her hands. She headed for the stairs, thinking that a Silkwood shower was probably her last hope when her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Del Rio,” Carson’s syrupy voice came on the line. “I have Ms. Jenek here. She seems to have left her phone in your apartment. Shall I send her up to fetch it?”

“Uh...yeah, that’s fine.”

Bianca hung up, looking slightly bleary-eyed at the dining room table, which was empty save for the massive vase of Fall flowers, and then moved onto the kitchen. Where else could it be? Den, maybe? She was about to go search when she heard footsteps in the foyer, the dogs bursting into excited yips as they ran to greet Courtney at the elevator. She followed, shaking her head apologetically.

“Hey, I’m not sure where your phone is. Maybe we should check the-”

She was cut off as Courtney rushed forward, dropping the bags in her hand, the containers inside clattering to the floor. And before Bianca knew what was happening, Courtney had flung herself into her arms, pulling her into a desperate, heated kiss.

#rpdr fanfiction #thedane #veronica #galactica #adore x pearl #vitan #bitney #adore delano #courtney act #pearl liaison #violet chachki #raja gemini #miss fame #bianca del rio #lesbian au #m/f au #fashion au

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cloveroctobers · 4 years

Text

GENEVIEVE ALIU —

IG info/bio: @/genevealiu1 | 19k followers | currently on a journey as a junior doctor living in 🇦🇺🤎 | blm.card.co🖤 | sk💛

26 years of age

Born and raised in Glastonbury, England

Pisces sun? + libra moon?

Mother is Guyanese and works for a non-profit organization

Her father is Nigerian and works in property management

has one older brother who is a Prosthetist and resides in Nigeria with his pregnant fiancée

She can’t wait to be a auntie!!!

And a younger sister who is a medical laboratory technician

To say the least, their parents were happy that their children fell into the medical field. Based on their cultures it was a honor to have their children in these professions

Vieve grew up with a sassy demeanor and her parents have old videos on their camcorders to prove it lol, it never fails that the pair brings out the embarrassing vids during the holidays but vieve genuinely appreciates them

Although thanksgiving is a RACIST American thing, vieve never misses the opportunity to share what she’s thankful for in life and counts all of it as blessings! But it’s still fuck the pilgrims

Has held a friendsgiving before, loves any moment where she can host gatherings or attend them! either is quite fine. She loves being around people

the only time she likes to look back on the past is to see how she and her family carried themselves then and how the evolved into who they are now, it’s interesting to see

Loves “how it started vs how it’s going” posts and might have participated in a few

Always knew from a young age that she wanted to help people in some way, she was always doing something to help around the house and especially her aging/sickly grandparents

Felt offended that many people around school that she thought were her friends would stab her in the back labeling her as this “fake saint” since she rather spend her time volunteering instead of going to house parties in hs

Don’t get it twisted, she still went to those too & had her fun but definitely felt like it was the same routine and nothing ever felt fulfilling at these functions after awhile

Well known with all the cliques around school but had her own group of friends that fit into many of those cliques but she never felt obligated to stick to one social group. If you were nice and cool with her, she was the same to you, if you weren’t? Depending on her mood, she’d ignore you/say things under her breath or be “fake nice” as a form of being the bigger person

Has a curly hair routine that she consistently follows (after struggling to find the right products to make them flourish) and gets annoyed with if her curls don’t turn out the way she knows they can, it’s always frustrating when things don’t turn out the way you want them to but isn’t afraid to at least try

Three times is the charm! Is one of her mottos

loves bright colors, flowy attire, big hats, brimmed hats, bucket hats, berets, etc...

Has faced racism/prejudices and bullying growing up in public spaces—mostly school/uni & some of those same hatred actions online now that she’s dating seb

Because of that there were times where she felt insecure but deff grew to forgive, heal, and rise above the hate, she knows her worth

Has never been happier in a relationship than she is with seb, he’s her “moody long-haired, soft-hearted bby”

they’re both complete fools for each other and vieve is more vocal about her being in love/finding her soulmate whereas seb doesn’t mind showing it rather than speaking it—even tho he’s on a podcast but we mind our business okay?!

Seb is thinking of moving to Australia with vieve, he’s ready to risk it all for this woman, HIS woman 🤩

canon: gives more than she should/taken advantage of/not reciprocating in relationships... ex) how she dated a guy that she did everything for! especially financially and also struggled to find her worth but once she did? Her aura shined brighter than before— Ik chill out there Rocco

Also believes in loving yourself first to attract what you need in this world and found that in her career and seb. I hope they’re endgame! Since they’re the only couple I rooted for this season? Except for tai & ciaran maybe? They’re probably not endgame but whatever

They still get nervous/shy around each other even tho they’ve been together for months now + are in a long distance relationship which is too cute! I think since they’re in this for the long game they can look back on moments and still feel the way they felt in that moment. You know if you get the chance or have already heard elderly people talk about their relationships and how they get all starry eyed? That’s vieve & seb, that shit gets me right in my feels ew

Vieve’s love language is quality time, it’s what she shows and likes along with acts of service from her partner

Makes the best jollof rice & her fav dish is Metemgee

Trying to be on a plant-based diet only but will have her cheat days on occasion—mostly when she’s drunk and forgets her diet plan lmao that’s me getting double cheeseburgers or anything with dairy drunk af

now living in Australia, she tried to like vegemite but...the it’s a no for her, respectfully ofc! She never wants to disrespect anyone

besides the food, the atmosphere is much nicer since she feels like she’s on a holiday almost everyday and that there’s much more to see and do when she has the time

Loves the beaches and is thinking about surfing lessons

yes she enjoys those doctor shows and can agree that most scenarios are not the same as rl ofc but great question!

Since she’s a junior doctor now, and on her way to graduation! She feels so accomplished and having this chance to complete what she’s wanted her whole life in a different place, makes her super emotional

All those stressful all-nighters will be worth it. She mostly did it on her own but is nothing but humble and Is thankful to those that have helped her along the way, what kind of person would she be if she didn’t mention them?

and when COVID hit, she was one of many already on the frontlines. Her studies became altered but this wouldn’t stop her for her mission on this earth, this was her purpose and she knew we would conquer it all—but definitely has empathy and gets angry with how it’s being handled from time to time

She’s been exposed to it first hand which aboustely worries her parents, seb, her friends, and friends from the villa

Keeps up to date when all medical news, has a whole app dedicated to health

Learning French with some of her free time and is doing well at it

It was only natural for her to become closer to elladine since their men are homies and have a podcast together

They’ve hung out a few times on a double dates before the boat vacation & once just as girls before vieve left to Australia

Vieve is always offering advice but knows that every relationship is different and what works for her and seb won’t work for elladine and Nicky, she loves them together and knows everyone has bumps in the road

feels there’s some sort of tension between her and Harry now? Which she found a little off putting since they were supposed to be friends but she realizes that Harry has a condition but it’s also not an excuse for him to treat her shitty sometimes which he does and feels like it comes out of nowhere most times but he always apologizes yet vieve is slowly getting tired of this unhealthy habits

So they’re talking less these days, which he notices!

She wants Harry to find his happiness too! If he hasn’t found it in mc first that is

has met Tim— he’s a great laugh and seems like a nice guy—they follow each other, talia and jake in person when she was out with seb—they were also super nice and congratulated them on their win, she went up to miles once on a night out—he’s still a arsehole, priya reached out to her via dm about her new boutique that she wanted her to model in someday, Hope was just as stunning in person along with Siobhan, Chelsea & mc s2 were also kind, and a couple of the guys also wished her and seb well

She’s also noticed some of the shit talking coming from Elisa, Allegra, Lucy, and mc s1 (subtle shade from mc, basically about how vieve reacted if mc decided to give Harry a go but that was only brought to her attention thru fans) online but again, vieve peeped it and felt majority of it didn’t require a response. She was too happy in life rn and she had a man and they don’t

Plans to get a komondor, thinks they’re super cute! — seb does not “if you love me, you’ll love our child.” “It’s a bloody mop dog! And I’m a cat dad, you know that!” “Don’t talk about him like that, he’s got feelings just like your cat babies!”

I feel like she’s a matcha & Frappuccino lover, tries to keep her drinks simple and feels guilty when she has to make adjustments but the heart wants what it wants

Mini Countryman owner, she also drives like a “granny” better safe than sorry! She hates fast drivers, there’s absolutely no need for it!

Minimal makeup: eyeshadow, moisturizer, & a nude lip and she’s good to go

Secretly obsessed with among us, second life, and SIMS!!!

Celeb crushes? Heath ledger, Tyler posey, KENDRICK SAMPSON, Jordan fisher, Algee smith, Donald Glover, Mack Wilds, Khleo Thomas, Robert Ri’chard, Tahj Mowry, & Hasan Minhaj

Listens to: DaniLeigh, ABIR, Mary J. Blige, TORI KELLY, Us the duo, 11:11, Jacob Latimore, fifth harmony, joya mooi, & Greentea Peng, etc...

Anthem: The Cheetah Girls — Cinderella

#litg #litg3 #litg s3 #litg genevieve #litg moodboard #litg headcanons #litg headcanon #litg seb #litg Harry #litg mc #litg oc #litg elladine #litg Nicky #idk if I did her justice but my apologies to her and y’all if not lol #litg Tim #litg talia #litg jake #litg priya #litg hope

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thedeaditeslayer · 4 years

Photo

Crash Palace Interview: Catching Up with Dana DeLorenzo.

This interview briefly brushes over Ash vs Evil Dead and Dana’s latest projects.

Even though it has been over two years since Ash vs Evil Dead has been on the air, fans still clamor for their favorite badass, Deadite slaying heroine, Kelly Maxwell. Dana DeLorenzo, the actress behind her is equally adored and cherished by admirers of the Sam Raimi legendary horror franchise.

So, as always, I was thrilled to speak with her about life after Ash, her latest movie, the heartwarming holiday comedy, Friendsgiving and what she has on the horizon. Welcome to the Crash Palace Interview with Dana DeLorenzo…

The Denouement of Ash vs Evil Dead Crash Palace: Thanks for speaking with me, Dana. It’s always a pleasure. Let’s talk about life after Ash vs Evil Dead. As you know, Lee Cronin is helming the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise, Evil Dead Rise. Fans were hoping that the Ghostbeaters would be a part of that venture. While we know it is going in a different direction, do you think Kelly Maxwell could show up some time in the future?

Dana DeLorenzo: One can dream, right? Let me take this moment, right off the bat to say something I say often because I mean it, and I can’t say it enough. People who know me know this is not fan service. I say it when I’m not doing interviews; I say it to my closest friends and my family on the regular.

I am so grateful to the fans of Ash vs Evil Dead and the Evil Dead franchise all over the world. They have truly been my Jiminy Crickets throughout this insane, bizarre year that is 2020. They have gotten me through so many of the toughest days, just by keeping the bloody love alive. With every year that passes, even though we haven’t filmed a season of the show for three years, it feels like it’s fresh because of the fans .

So, to all you Ghostbeaters out there: I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope I get to meet all of you someday. But I can’t convey enough how your passion and love of the show has gotten me through this 2020 roller coaster; thank you for keeping Kelly’s ass-kicking spirit alive! On that note, I have really missed the show, I’ve missed playing Kelly. I posted some things recently about Ash vs Evil Dead, photos I hadn’t looked at in a while. I miss it a lot. I like to keep hope alive that someday, somewhere, the Ghostbeaters will be reunited. Even just for a quick Ghostbeaters fist bump.

Is Kelly Maxwell going to show up in this film? No. I won’t say never, but from what I understand, this is an alternate universe for Evil Dead Rise, separate from Fede Alvarez’s movie with Jane Levy and it’s separate from Ash vs Evil Dead. It’s a new adventure in the Evil Dead universe. And I can’t wait to see the new blood and guts journey Lee Cronin takes us on. I would like to think in the Ghostbeaters’ universe, we’re still kicking it and we’re still fighting evil. But I am loving that the fans are clamoring for it! They can keep pestering Rob, Sam and Bruce the way they have for twenty-five years before Ash vs Evil Dead came to be — their persistence is what got me that dream job.

So, if they want to continue to pester to bring us all back, I won’t stop them! Because we know the fans have the power to persuade. It might take another twenty-five years. But I am always down to play with those guys and our great crew.

CP: Do you keep in touch with anyone from the show?

DD: Yeah, I try and keep up with what everyone is doing and shoot them a message to tell them I miss them like the sap that I am. I just miss seeing their faces every day, you know? I miss Lucy’s face pretty hard, and not just because she’s ‘Lucy Flawless’! She’s got new shows left and right, she never stops! Ray and I randomly text Pablo and Kelly’s catchphrases to each other. “How are you holding up? / What is happening?!” We said that pretty much every episode so it still makes me laugh. Arielle and I chat often even though she lives in Australia, she’s like my little sister! Bruce often responds “ in character” with the latest Snapchat filter. He loves those — just check his Twitter feed — and it’s all my fault. I showed him how to make them while filming Season 3. He could probably do a show solely with Snapchat characters — I’d watch.

Fall from Perpetual Grace

CP: Let’s shift gears for a moment and talk about another series that you appeared on. You had a great run on EPIX with Perpetual Grace, LTD working with the talented Jimmi Simpson, Luis Guzman and of course, Jacki Weaver and Sir Ben Kingsley. There was some talk about a possible movie to tie up all the storylines after the show ended. Do you know if that is in the works?

DD: I have no idea, but I really hope that happens. Steven Conrad is a genius and so was that cast. If you haven’t seen or become a part of the cult following of Patriot on Amazon or Perpetual Grace, you should. But the people he casts and the stories he writes and the beauty of the cinematography, all create a piece of art that is in its own category. He has such a strong point of view, aesthetic and vision, you always know when you’re watching a Steven Conrad show.

I’ve been very lucky to be part of two shows where both casts were like extended family. Like Luis Guzman. We talked recently, I adore him. Side bar: I feel like in a crazy, crossover world, Luis could be Pablo’s other uncle because of his giant heart and comedic delivery. Anyway, we’re both working on my friend Joe Ahern’s indie comedy, The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood, which he co-wrote with Doug Mellard. And I can’t wait for people to see Luis slay the screen, yet again. The filming process is pretty innovative during COVID, where everyone but the two main characters filmed their parts at home using an app. These guys were doing it before anyone else, so kudos to them.

Friendsgiving: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

CP: I had the pleasure of watching Friendsgiving the other night and it was an enjoyable holiday film. You had some hilarious bits as Kat Dennings’ wise cracking sister, Barbara. What drew you to the project?

DD: Thank you for watching the film and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s the kind of original comedy we all need right now.

I knew I was auditioning for Kat Dennings’ (Abby) sister Barbara, whose part of Abby’s Jersey-Italian family. Within the first two lines of that family exchange, I was cackling. I’m drawn to anything that grabs my attention on the page and holds it for the entire sitting of reading the script. Those lines of dialogue, the way the family members are unapologetically who they are, and the fact they mean well but are constantly giving you their two cents when you don’t want it or ask for it, hooked me. And that kind of art-imitating-life comedy held up for the rest of the script for me. Nicol Paone hit it out of the park, both on the page and behind the lens. And I’m pretty sure it’s loosely based on a Thanksgiving that Nicol and Malin Ackerman shared.

The subject matter was also relatable. I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving with my family as well as a couple of Friendsgivings. And the bottom line is, the holiday is just dysfunctional, always. It might be a lot more fun with your friends but it’s still going to be dysfunctional.

That concept makes me laugh. It’s not funny when you’re the one going through the stress and drama of Thanksgiving. However, it’s very funny watching someone else go through it. It’s cathartic. That’s why I loved it.

CP: With so many talented actors in the cast, do you have any behind the scenes anecdotes?

DD: There was a lot of laughing in between takes. It’s always a good sign when the crew laughs. Abby’s (Kat Dennings ) Jersey-Italian family was cast perfectly, and the actors were so damn funny! Rose Abdoo plays our mom, Nadya Ginsburg as Aunt Anna and Johnny Williams plays Uncle Sal. Like I said, it was already funny on the page, and Nicol being a New Jersey Italian herself really captured the essence of those family conversations. The actors brought Nicol’s words to life, and on a few takes she let us riff. In one scene the Aunt Anna character was telling the scripted story of a sexual gesture; I remember laughing so hard at her adlibbing additional euphemisms for that particular act by referencing Italian food.

One of my favorite things Nicol did was add some of the funniest ad-libs and bloopers in the end credits. I love seeing those! Now everyone who sees the film will get to see those behind the scenes moments.

The Show Must Go On

CP: When we were coordinating this interview, you told me that you were going into the studio to do voiceover work. Can you give us a hint about this upcoming effort?

DD: The show features a cast of familiar faces that might have worked together recently. I just realized what everyone is probably going to think when they read this.

CP: Sorry everyone, it isn’t Ash vs Evil Dead. However, you have more work on the way. According to IMDb, you have completed a short film called PCH. What else can your fans look forward to?

DD: The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood which I mentioned before but we’re still filming that. I am so excited about this voiceover project because it’s completely original in every way, it really hasn’t been done before. And of course, Friendsgiving is out now in select theatres and VOD. It’s the perfect film to watch this Thanksgiving when we can’t celebrate as we usually do. You can laugh at the characters’ holiday drama and maybe even be grateful to take this year off.

CP: Will you be appearing at any virtual conventions like Bruce and Ted are doing for Wizard World events?

DD: There are a couple in the works. But in the meantime, I’ve teamed up with this new platform called, Real Talk Live, which is both an app and on the web. It’s like a virtual convention where you can live video chat one on one, basically like a Zoom call. You can schedule the video call in advance or whenever catch me whenever I’m live. I think it’s a great solution, and personally I’m really looking forward to connecting with Evil Dead fans this way until live events pick back up. And it’s accessible worldwide so this will be great to finally see the amazing fans I hear from overseas. I miss interacting with them in the flesh, hearing their stories and seeing their badass cosplays! And do I miss pose-punching them in our epic photos. So I end with this, because I can’t say this enough: “Thank you, Ghostbeaters! I love you more than Ash Williams loves his Delta!”

Many thanks to Dana DeLorenzo for spending time with me at Crash Palace. For those of you that haven’t had the chance to catch Friendsgiving, it is available online by buying or renting it as a video-on-demand on iTunes, FandangoNow and VUDU.

#Crash Palace #Dana DeLorenzo

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uzumaki-rebellion · 4 years

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Happy Friendsgiving & Thank God We Still Here Day...

I don’t recognize Thanksgiving personally, but I recognize the need to break bread with people we love. I hope people are staying safe and not made to feel guilty if they opted to protect their health and not go visit family and friends with all the capitalistic pressure and emotional blackmail this day brings on everyone.

Some of us don’t have family who are good for us and had to create “found families”, so blessings to you. I’m going to cook for my Mom and sister because it gives our Mom comfort even though she knows our Mississippi Choctaw roots suffered because of colonizers who try to act like this day is holy with their historical and contemporary bullshit. (In Indian Country, every day is Custer’s Last stand, lol)

Shout out to my African ancestors who survived that trip over here. Shout out to my Native ancestors and living relatives who are still here and still dealing with shit in 2020, and shoutout to my European ancestors cuz I know summa y’all was aight I guess. (I don’t want to make them feel too bad in front of the rest of the relatives in the great beyond, lol!)

Eat well today if you can. Do self care today if you can. Read some fanfics with a warm blanket and tea if you can. Somebody in the past thought it was best to hold on a little while longer and now you are here and they can smile in heaven and know it was worth the fight.

Bless up.

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one-more-offbeat-anthem · 4 years

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(felt kinda sad-weird when promptober ended so now I'm doing a wintry prompt list! may not be every day, but whatever. we need softness and fluff rn :) I'm using this list) (also if you have a specific prompt you want make sure I get to, drop it in my ask box!)

36. you knit me a sweater for christmas and i realize i am in love with you

“I wish there was a better name for this...” Cas mused, “Like how we call our Thanksgiving ‘Friendsgiving’? What’s our Friend-mas called?”

“You’ve gotta quit it with the air quotes, man,” Dean replied, turning the corner, “Or I’m gonna just leave you on the side of the road and pick you up after I’m done at Charlie’s.”

“You always say that, and you’ve never left me.” Cas’s tone was smug. “Seriously, though. This needs a fun name.”

Dean rolled his eyes. Since college, he, Cas, and their other friends had been doing their own Thanksgivings and Christmases--and once, an incredibly ill-fated Valentine’s Day that ended with Dean drunkenly kissing Cas and then pretending he didn’t remember it the next day.

(Honestly, Dean was surprised he had only done that once, since he and Cas lived together and there was the constant temptation.)

“Who do you have for secret Santa?” Dean asked. He had been trying to figure it out for weeks, but Cas had just kept shutting himself in his room. Cas preferred to hand-make gifts, and he wanted them to be a surprise for everyone, so this was normal, but Cas would also usually give Dean hints as to who he had.

(Dean, for his part, had their friend Benny, which was easy enough--a cookbook devoted solely to nachos did the trick.)

Cas smiled at him serenely and then resumed staring out the window.

“Alright,” Dean said, “Be like that.”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Cas replied, “Patience, Dean.”

“Ugh.”

When they got to Charlie’s house, Dean was nearly attacked by her enthusiastic hug.

“Jesus, Charlie! You saw us a few weeks ago!”

“But I always miss you guys when you’re gone.” She turned her attention to Cas, her red curls bouncing, “And how’s everyone’s favorite angel?”

“Not an angel,” Cas said, but he was smiling. It was true, Dean thought, Cas was sort of angelic--way too nice and forgiving, especially to Dean himself.

“Everyone else is already here,” Charlie continued, “Apparently Benny took it upon himself to pick everyone else up.”

The group was small-ish, but cozy. There was the aforementioned Charlie, who was a video game developer, Dorothy, who was Charlie’s girlfriend, Benny, who worked with Dean at the auto shop, Jo, who was nearly done with law school (and was going to be a kick-ass lawyer), and Ash, who wasn’t doing much these days but was having a good time.

And, of course, Dean (mechanic) and Cas (librarian), who had been randomly made roommates freshman year and had been inseparable ever since.

After a rousing round of drinks and a disaster of a cookie-decorating session, it was time for secret Santa. Dean accepted the lumpy package that had his name on it and squished it slightly, wondering what it was.

Benny, as Dean predicted, loved his cookbook, and proposed that at their next get-together he would cook for them (”Then I just won’t eat,” Jo had said, causing gales of laughter). Cas got a leather-bound set of Paradise Lost books from Dorothy and Dean thought the guy was gonna break down and cry.

Then it was Dean’s turn.

He slowly unwrapped his gift, but the guessing game ended as soon as he saw a patch of knit.

“I don’t even have to try,” he said, holding up the forest green sweater, “Cas?”

“You got me,” Cas said, his cheeks coloring slightly.

“Dean, we can match!” Charlie said, pointing to a hook by her door where the scarf Cas had knitted her the year before hung.

“Thanks, man,” Dean said, smiling. Inside, though, his stomach was flip-flopping.

Cas had knitted him a sweater.

Dean was in a daze for the rest of their...”Friendmas,” Jo and Ash concurred with Cas, “I think Friendmas is a great name.” They watched Home Alone and got fantastically drunk--drink every time Kevin thwarts the robbers! Drink every time you see a Christmas tree!--and all ended up bunking at Charlie’s, too inebriated to drive home.

Dean and Cas were relegated to the pull-out couch in Charlie’s basement, as per usual, while everyone else made use of the guest room, the couch, Charlie’s own bed, and a blow-up bed she had tucked into a hall closet. Dean and Cas didn’t mind bunking together, so they usually ended up here.

Dean felt himself starting to drift off when Cas whispered, “Dean?”

“Hm?”

“I hope--I hope my gift was sufficient.”

Dean rolled over to face Cas, able to barely see the outline of his face in the dark, “Dude. It was awesome. Your talent at that stuff always amazes me.” Cas didn’t answer, so Dean asked, “Something on your mind?”

“I just--no, nevermind. It’s nothing.” “Doesn’t sound like nothing.” Dean tried to keep teasing out of his tone, but it was hard.

“Dean, I don’t really want to--” Cas sighed, “It’s not like it would change anything. I just feel how I feel.”

I just feel how I feel.

Dean recalled how Cas’s cheeks had turned pink when Dean had complemented his work earlier, how comfortably they had fallen together during the movie, like they always did--their lives were molded around each other, it happened so easily.

I just feel how I feel.

“Hey,” Dean whispered, “Remember a few years ago, when we tried to do Valentine’s Day?”

“Yeah.�� Cas’s voice sounded heavy.

“I lied, then.....I remember kissing you. I just thought...you hated it.”

“No, I...just didn’t want to be an experiment, or something. We were drunk. We kind of are now.”

“But...” Dean reached out, found Cas’s shoulder, hoped it was okay, “We’re not drunk all the time, are we?”

“Are you--” Dean interrupted Cas’s sentence by leaning forward in the dark and kissing him, missing his mouth at first, lips over his stubbly jaw, until he found Cas’s lips and then Cas was kissing him back, slowly at first, before Cas started really putting his jaw into it.

Dean eventually pulled back, leaning his forehead against Cas’s, “I love the sweater.”

“And me?” Cas asked, a hint of mischief in his tone.

“And I love you.”

#drabble #deancas #destiel #spn #prompt lists

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ventureswithbooks · 4 years

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“Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker.” - A Court of Wings and Ruin . . 🌟QOTD: do you have any plans for today? . . Happy Saturday friends!! I am loving this weekend off thing!! Even if I’m not doing anything it’s nice to have this time to wind down from the craziness!! I’m going to finish making the Thanksgiving cards for the tiny humans and hopefully get some reading in because I haven’t been able to for a while!! I also have to say how much I looooove this pin!! When I first saw it I KNEW I had to have it and am so so lucky it made a come back!! The colors are just so beautiful and I love the stained glass look it gives off!! Swipe to see a closer photo of this gorgeous pin!!! I hope everyone has a great Saturday!! . . #WildAdventuresNov20 - Tricia Levenseller: books about your fav mythical creature #BookCoasttoCoastNov20 - favorite color combo #NevernightNovember20 - Jonnen Corvere: complicated sibling relationships #FandomBookishNov20 - #stacksaturday #ReadinginNovember20 - friendsgiving: favorite bookish friendships . . #dustandpages #acourtofthornsandroses #acourtofmistandfury #acourtofwingsandruin #sarahjmaas #sjm #ventureswithbooks #rainbowbookshelf #rainbowbooks #rainbowshelf #bookdragon #bookflatlay #bookblog #booklovers #readingtime #readingismagic #bibliophilelife #bookrecommendations #allthebooks #bookobsessed https://www.instagram.com/p/CH24gxvA_Pf/?igshid=17mtevd0tpdxb

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tired-college-student-writing · 5 years

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A Little Giving

Summary: Malcolm had never heard of a Friendsgiving before let alone been invited to one.

____________________________________________

Dani was giving JT an exasperated look when Malcolm arrived at the Police Station on Wednesday morning. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, though it was missing the fond undertone it usually had when dealing with JT, not to mention the man was refusing to look in Malcolm’s direction.

They had been talking about him then. He fought back a grimace as he tried to think back to anything he might have done in the last few days that might have done that was… more noteworthy than normal.

“Hey, Bright,” She called over, “Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

His mind blanked for a moment as he had been expecting… well, anything else honestly. Since when do they ask about what he was doing?

“Not that I can think of…” He answered eyebrows furrowed, “Should I be?”

“You are now,” She answered, “JT has been trying to figure out how to ask you over to his place for our Friendsgiving for a week.”

Malcolm was really thrown for a loop now, he was being invited to something? When was the last time he was invited to something?

“What’s Friendsgiving?” He felt himself asking, mind settling on the first question that popped up.

The pair blinked at him.

“Friendsgiving,” JT said slowly, “You know, Thanksgiving but with your friends instead of family. Considering the majority of the teams' families is too far from the city now for us to visit without taking time off so Tally and I invite the crew over for dinner. Dani, Gil, and Edrisa all come.”

Thanksgiving, but with friends… Do they see him as a friend? Well, he knew Dani did, but he thought JT still hated him, especially since he crashed his date with Tally.

He vaguely heard himself agree and thank them for the invitation, earning himself a grin from JT as the older man clapped him on the back and told he was going to be texted an address and to be there by 11 am the next day as dinner would be at 1, before Gil called and they were heading off to the crime scene.

____________________________________________

Malcolm had just gotten home when his phone rang, caller ID proudly showing that JT was calling.

He had seen the man less than thirty minutes ago why was he calling?

“Everything okay, JT?” He asked the second he answered. There was a light chuckle on the other side.

“Actually,” The familiar female lit filled his ears, “this is Tally.”

“Oh hello,” He greeted, heart returning to a normal rhythm, “Why are you calling me on JT’s phone?”

Her chuckles vibrated the phone, “JT told me that you agreed to come tomorrow, but didn’t figure out any details with you so I stole his phone while he’s in the shower.”

Details?

“I didn’t realize there were details to figure out,” He apologized, “Should I bring something for tomorrow?”

“Oh honey, no,” She brushed off, “I was just hoping to get more details on how to make you comfortable.”

“Make me more comfortable?” He echoed, mind scrambling to keep up again. Why couldn’t he keep up?

He could practically hear her eyes roll, “Yes, You are my husband's friend and everyone that comes over for Friendsgiving is going to be comfortable.”

He struggled to swallow around the lump that formed in his throat.

“Okay,” His voice creaked but did not break, “What do you want to know?”

“Well for starters,” She hummed, “How do you feel about dogs?”

“Dogs?”

She snorted, “This is like talking to an echo chamber, but yeah dogs, we own a sweet bullmastiff named Diesel.”

He tilted his head as he thought for a second, "While I never met a dog larger than a golden, I've never had a problem with them before so I don't think I'd have a negative reaction to him."

"Great, Edrisa likes when Dies lays on her, but she'd have understood if he gave him to our neighbor for the day."

He raised an eyebrow, "Even if I did have an issue with dogs, there would be no reason to go out of the way for me, Tally."

"Don't be an idiot," She countered, "No guest tomorrow is more important then the other, if you had an issue with dogs then Edrisa could just come back another night to cuddle my big lug. Now, JT mentioned you have some issues with food. Anything I should look out for?"

He felt the heat rising into his cheeks, "Now there really is no reason to-"

"Do not start," the woman cut him off, "I will call Gil instead, I just thought you might like to give the details instead of having him do it behind your back."

He could stop himself from gaping at the phone, even if he couldn't see her. She had met him once, once in a disastrous double date he hadn't informed the other couple what he had planned. And yet...

"Spices give me the most trouble," He admitted, "and really rich or sweet things like most gravies and cranberry sauce."

She hummed, low and thoughtful, "We usually under season the turkey anyways as JT goes a bit crazy with the stuffing and gravy if we leave all the fixings off that and the potatoes, would that work? We're also going to have fresh green beans and salad with a few dressings that might be easy on your stomach."

"Yeah..." He breathed, curling up on his couch as his chest felt oddly tight over the care she was pouring into the ideas, "I should be able to handle that."

____________________________________________

Tally opened the door with a large grin as knocked at exactly eleven. Behind her, Malcolm could hear Dani’s laughter over Gil and JT arguing over something in the kitchen, gravy from the sounds of it and he could see Edrisa sitting on the ground a great big black and white mastiff half laying on her as sipped her beer. The nervous tremble in his hand lessening slightly.

“I told you not to bring anything,” Tally commented with a raised brow at the two bottles of scotch he brought.

“My mother would skin me if she knew I did that,” He teased back as she let him in, calling to those gathered that he had arrived.

As warm greetings from around the apartment floated towards him, he couldn’t stop the grin from climbing onto his lips. Maybe he could get used to being so off-kilter if it meant they made him feel like this.

#prodigal son #malcolm bright #jt tarmel #dani powell #gil arroyo #edrisa tanaka #Tally Tarmel #friendsgiving #Malcolm needs a hug #Give the Tarmels a dog

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celestianstars · 5 years

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Spontaneously decided to host a Friendsgiving with Big Nasty 2.0 and his dudes and my girls. (It's just a nice dinner No turkey). It's nice to have everybody around before the craziness of the holidays begins and I just love how everyone gets along so well. It's a good group of people and I love them very much. Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving to my squad 😘😘😘 and if you're not celebrating I still hope y'all are doing great and have a good time!

Aww that’s sweet!!! I hope you and him and all your friends had a wonderful time and happy holidays/thanksgiving to you tooooo!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Tell your manz the squad says hi and that we love him and think he’s so good for you and we hope he realizes he’s lucky af cause you’re a total sweetheart!!! Which I’m sure he absolutely does 💖

#big nasty 2.0 saga

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hellas-himself · 5 years

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Crack Ship Holidays

Friendsgiving Pt. 1

Soooo this is starting off where we left our two dorks last. This is going to take place before, during, and a bit after thanksgiving Friendsgiving because I don’t celebrate but I do love the day off with my loved ones (and my grandma’s food but that’s besides the point) November is also Rhysand’s birthday month so NATURALLY that’s going to come up. major shout out to @bookloveaffair for letting me drop this crack ship on yall no shame.

I hum along to one of the songs playing on my phone as I tap my pencil against the counter. I have three different budget options laid out in front of me and none of them work. The first one, I pay the rent and my car insurance but not my phone. The second, I pay the rent but not my car insurance to have my phone active in case the school called me. The third- I laugh. I can’t not pay rent. The bar had sent its last check but it was not enough. I was screwed. I only have until the fifth to pay my rent before my asshole landlord starts bitching about kicking me out.

When I hear the front door unlock, I gather my bills and the envelopes I wrote on and put them into a pile. Cassian steps into my apartment and pulls off his hat.

“Can you believe it’s already snowing?” he asks as he closes the door.

“I hope it sticks,” I reply as I slide off the bar stool to greet him. His coat is wet and cold when I hug him but I don’t care. Not when he kisses me the way he does.

“Ready to go?” he asks and I smile.

“Let me go get my coat.”

He kisses me again before I hurry to my room. I grab the bag I packed with more clothes as well as the big bag full of my art supplies. Cassian had said I should have it just in case the school called me so I could just leave directly. His optimism is touching.

Cassian is leaning against the counter when I step out. He looks pensive but once he notices me, he grins and pushes himself off to take the bags from my hands.

The car ride to his house is quiet, but Cassian holds my hand the entire way. Every time he looks at me, I blush. Once we get to his house, I bring Valo outside while Cas carries my things to the bedroom.

“How was work?” I ask when Cassian comes to stand beside me. He puts an arm around my shoulder.

“It was great. Az and I got to work on a piece together. I wish you would’ve been there to see it.”

“Maybe next time?”

He presses a kiss to my temple.

“Yeah. We aren’t done by a long shot.”

“I can’t wait then.”

“What about you, bunny?”

“Well. When I wasn’t texting you, I was cleaning up the apartment and finishing up on laundry. I got my last check from the bar so I deposited it in the bank. I saw Aelin,” I say. “She was on her lunch break. I can’t believe we’d never run into one another before.”

Cassian chuckles.

“Oh and the groomer called to confirm Val’s appointment tomorrow. I told her I’d be there.”

“Thank you, bunny.”

I shrug and call our giant puppy over. Valo runs right into me and I don’t fall thanks to the arm Cassian has around me.

“Hey! Be careful, Val!” Cassian reprimands. Val whines and walks in a circle around us before bumping his head against my hand.

“It��s okay, baby. You’re happy I’m here, huh? I am too,” I say and kiss the top of his head.

Cassian lets me go and walks over to the small bin in the corner of the porch and pulls out a ball. He whistles to get Val’s attention before he throws it. I’m surprised it didn’t go over the fence by the force of it. Val barks and takes off after it.

“Will you be alright?” Cassian asks me.

“What do you mean?”

“With rent and all that?”

Oh. I blush and shove my hands in my pockets.

“I’ll figure it out.”

I don’t have to look at Cassian to know that he’s not satisfied with that answer. But he puts an arm around me and kisses the top of my hair. When Val comes back, I take the ball and Cassian laughs when I throw it. It doesn’t get very far but Val is thrilled.

“Why don’t you go pick a menu from that drawer in the kitchen and pick something for dinner? There’s cash in my wallet.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I would rather spend the next forty minutes with my beautiful girlfriend and our oversized lap dog than have to go inside and cook today.”

I giggled. “Alright. I’ll be right back.”

I give him a quick hug before I walk towards the door.

“Oh, and bunny?”

“Yes?” I stop and turn to look at him.

“I’ve got you,” he says. “Don’t worry about anything.”

I realize he isn’t talking about paying for dinner.

“Feyre’s here. I’ll call you when I get home… I love you too, Az.” Elain smiles at whatever Azriel is saying to her on the phone before she hangs up and slides the phone into her back pocket. She pushes herself off her SUV and opens her arms to me.

“Hey, you,” Elain says as I give her a hug.

“Hey! I hope you weren’t waiting long. There was so much traffic coming here from the dog groomers.”

She kisses my cheek. “No, I just got here. Besides, it makes me feel like I’m in high school again when Az and I talk on the phone. I like it.”

Elain gives me a wink and when she grins, I already know what’s on her mind.

“You look happy.”

I know I’m blushing as Elain links her arm in mine.

“I am.”

“Az says Cassian has been smiling like an idiot lately. I wonder why.”

I roll my eyes but I can’t help the smile on my face.

“He asked me to be his girlfriend, El.”

“He did? When?”

“After the Halloween party.”

“About damn time,” Elain mutters and lets me go to grab a cart. She pulls a list out of her pocket and hands it to me. “Iliana’s been pestering me about you two, she’ll finally leave me alone.”

We share a laugh as we step into the store. Elain’s grocery list is divided by groups and despite the glitter gel pen used, this is Azriel’s handwriting.

“Your husband is so organized,” I say as we make our first stop.

“Well. Since I’m in charge of Rhysand’s birthday cake this year, I figured I’ll get some stuff now so closer to the date I’m not running around. With my luck, I wouldn’t find what I want if I leave it for then.”

“I agree with that wholeheartedly.”

“Speaking of which, I need your help designing it.”

“What’s the theme?”

“Lucien has no idea how to top Mor’s Harry Potter theme last year. The only thing Rhys loves more than that is The Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings.”

“Oh! I can work with that.”

I hand Elain the list and pull out my phone.

LUCE!!!! Wheel of Time or LOTR? I can do either or. Or both. I hit send and slip my phone into my back pocket. We talk idly as we make our way down Azriel’s perfectly organized list.

“Cas and I take forever to do this,” I say as I grab a tub of ice cream from the freezer. “I might have to steal Az’s idea.”

Elain snorts. “That’s because you two are children. How does Cassian even fit in these carts? I don’t know how you’re still allowed to shop here.”

I smile and push the cart for Elain as we head towards the cashiers to pay. I feel my phone vibrate and pull it out of my pocket.

“I wonder what he decided,” I say as I unlock my phone. But it isn’t a text from Lucien. But from my bank. I don’t realize I’ve stopped walking until Elain tugs on my sleeve.

“Feyre?”

I breathe in sharply and let it out. I clear my throat and shove my phone back in my pocket.

“It’s nothing. It wasn’t Lucien.”

“What’s wrong?”

I shake my head and try to keep going but Elain stops me.

“Feyre. Is Tamlin still bothering you?”

I don’t like the way his name still pierces my heart and makes me feel afraid.

“No. It isn’t him… It’s just…” I stop and look away, needing to keep myself from crying. “Stupid car insurance already took the payment and so did my phone. I’m so fucking screwed.”

“Hey… If you need help, you know Az and I can take care of it.”

I shake my head with a sniffle.

“No. I’ll figure it out.”

Elain puts a hand over mine and nods her head.

“Let’s go pay for this,” she says. “I’m bringing Az lunch today. We can surprise Cassian, too.”

I nod and return her smile.

I don’t see Cassian when Elain and I step into the tattoo shop. But Az notices us and is already making his way over. He kisses Elain as though he hasn’t seen her in forever, leaving my sister blushing. Rhys has gratefully come to sweep me off my feet, literally.

“Hello, darling,” he says with a grin. When he sets me down, Az comes to give me a hug.

“Hungry?” Elain asks, and holds up his Marvel lunch box, a beat up, metal lunch box he’s had since grade school and Iliana had found at her grandmother’s house last summer and he’s used ever since. Az looks at his lunch box and then looks at Elain with a smile.

“I’m starving.”

“Stop it,” she whispers loudly and lets Az lead her away.

“What about me?” Rhys whines and I laugh.

“We both know Lucien is bringing you something.”

Rhys is beaming. “Aurelie is sending left overs.”

Rhys puts an arm around my shoulder and guides me to the break room. Cassian is walking inside from the back door when we step into the hallway.

“Bunny?”

“Hey, Cas.” Rhys wiggles his eye brows at us before he goes off to pester Elain and Az. “Elain made lunch so I brought you some.”

By some weird coincidence, my pink bento box was in Elain’s kitchen cupboard. It’s covered in purple butterflies and blue bunny rabbits. Cassian closes the space between us and takes it from my hands with an amused smile.

“Now I know I didn’t lose your lunch box,” he says and gives me a kiss. “When Lia stayed the night for their anniversary, I packed her school lunch with this.”

“That was months ago, Cas.”

He shrugs and I roll my eyes. I take his hand and lead him into the break room where everyone stops and stares at us. I have to let him go to take off my coat but once it’s hung up, he takes my hand again.

“Finally,” Az says and bites into his sandwich. Elain slaps his arm which seems to amuse him further.

Cassian sits down in his usual seat and pulls me down onto his lap. He slides an arm around me and uses one hand to open the bento box to pull out the sandwich Elain had made. I’m content to lean back and listen while he and the boys talk about their morning. Their plans for the evening.

“What’s wrong?” Cassian asks softly. I shake my head. “Did you eat?”

“Yeah… El and I ate before we left the house.”

“Valo still with Amanda?”

I nod. “He should be done soon.”

I can tell the others are trying and failing at pretending they’re not listening to our conversation despite having their own.

“I’d go with you to get him but I’ve got someone at one.”

“It’s okay,” I say and press a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll walk him over later so we can ride home together.”

Cassian smiles.

After lunch, Cassian shows me the tattoo he’s working on. It’s a full sleeve.

“Bunny,” he says and puts his arm around me. “You zoned out. You didn’t even notice Az’s joke.”

“I did?” Fuck.

“What’s wrong?”

I let out a sigh and lean into him.

“The fucking car insurance and my phone payments went through this morning but that was rent money and I can’t believe I forgot to ask them not to use the auto pay this month.”

“Hey… hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”

“Cas…” I want to cry. I hate how much I want to cry.

“We’ll talk about this when we get home,” he says and pulls me in for a hug. “Just… consider it. Please.”

I nod. “Let me get out of here,” I say, though I do not wish to be anywhere but here in his arms. “Val should be done soon.”

Cassian kisses me softly. “I love you,” he says.

“I love you,” I say back, and force myself to leave.

My arms are around Cassian’s neck, holding onto him as he kisses me ardently. His grip on my thigh is almost to the point of pain and I know it’s going to bruise. I don’t care. He’s panting when we stop to breathe, and I meet his gaze when he looks at me and I smile.

“Holy shit,” he says breathlessly and adjusts himself so that he’s merely laying on top of me. I don’t want to move. I’m not sure if I could if I tried. “That was…” He whistles.

“You’re carrying me around for the rest of the night,” I manage and he laughs.

“My pleasure.”

Cassian goes quiet as I run my fingers through his hair.

“Bunny,” Cas says, his voice like gravel. “Move in with me.”

I pause. “What?” My voice is no better than his.

“I’ll break the lease.”

“No… I mean. You’re serious?”

Cassian pushes himself up to look at me. The look on his face makes me want to kiss him.

“I don’t want you stressing over something so easily remedied. You practically live here anyway. The apartment isn’t anything more than storage.”

“But Cas…”

“When you start working, you can fight me on bills.”

I scowl and he leans in to kiss me.

“If it’s too soon, I’ll pay the rent.”

I shake my head, hating that there are tears in my eyes. Cassian panics but I reach up to pull him against me again.

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay?”

“I’m sorry I’m crying… I’m just so overwhelmed and-” Cassian interrupts me with a kiss. He rolls us so that he’s on his back and I’m on top of him. My hair falls over my shoulders, and he reaches up to tuck some of it behind my ear.

“You’ll move in with me? Like for real?” He sounds the way he does on Christmas morning and he’s about to get his present.

“Yeah. For real.”

He sighs with relief and then his expression softens. I close my eyes and I feel him brush away the tears still falling from my eyes.

“Don’t apologize for how you feel. Least of all for crying.”

“I know, I’m-” I stop and open my eyes to look at him. I blush. “I’m trying.”

He places his hand at the nape of my neck.

“I know, bunny… I know.”

I smile. “You are the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Though he flashes me a cocky grin, he’s blushing.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

“Bunny…”

“Yes?”

“You’re making me blush,” he says in a rather conspiratorial tone. “I have a reputation.”

“But I like it when you blush,” I say with a pout. It’s so hard not to laugh.

“Fuck my reputation,” he declares and kisses me in such a way, I know we’re not going to bed anytime soon.

“Can I have this?” Mor asks and I look up from where I am sitting on the carpet. She’s holding up a red sweater I’ve never worn before.

“Sure.”

I go back to unscrewing the bedframe. Mor had taken the liberty of going through my dresser and closet while Cassian, Az and Rhys moved the heavy furniture downstairs to put in Cassian and Azriel’s trucks. I am giving it all away. Lucien has been changing my address online most of the morning, he even submitted the form to the post office for me.

“Hello, hello!”

I look up to find Aelin standing in my doorway.

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugs and walks over to where I am sitting. I give her a hug when I stand up.

“Rowan had wanted to go to the gym with Cassian but he said he was busy moving his girlfriend out of her apartment and into his lovely home,” she says and pokes my side. “When did this happen?”

“Just a few days ago.”

“That’s unacceptable. I gave you my number, right?”

I shake my head, and she groans. With a laugh, I unlock and hand her my phone. She takes ONE selfie and saves it for her contact picture.

“In one try?” I ask, completely taken aback.

��It’s all about knowing your angles,” she says proudly. “I can show you.”

“Uh… Yeah. Maybe once I’m all settled in.”

Aelin beams at me and hands me my phone.

“Now you have no excuse. I want to know everything. I need to know else I’ll die.”

“Ignore her. She’s no better than Tinker Bell.”

Rowan walks into the room with Cassian right behind him. He comes to hug me hello and he keeps an arm around my shoulder before reaching out to pinch Aelin’s cheek.

“So. Tell us what to do. We’re all yours today,” Rowan says.

“Damn babe. I thought you were kidding when you said you wanted-” Rowan silences Aelin with a glare that has her cackling.

“Uh… My bookshelf? I have a separate bin for the fragile stuff.”

Mor peers out of the closet. She looks like she’s up to no good.

“Let Rowan do the shelf. Come help me get these clothes sorted,” she says to Aelin who wriggles her eye brows as she walks off to join Mor. Rowan follows her and says hi to Mor before shrugging off his coat.

Cassian makes his way towards me as Rowan grabs himself a cardboard box and unfolds it before the bookshelf.

“You alright?” Cas wraps his arms around me. I bite down a shiver from how cold his sweater is.

“Yeah… You?”

“I ordered pizza. Elain is on her way over here with Iliana.”

I smile and give him a kiss.

“Perfect.”

“I’m leaving with Az to drop the furniture off. But call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Cassian kisses me, earning a sound of disgust from Mor. When we look at her, she stops and sighs.

“God, I love you guys,” she says and before I notice, she’s got her phone out and I am blinded by the flash.

#crack ship holidays #friendsgiving #cassian x feyre #part one of four #or five #I don't know yet #self indulgence #cuz yall aint ask for this #Feyre is stubborn af #and cassian is the cutest fuckin dork #I love them both so much #Feyre archeron #cassian #also having aelin and rowan here is fun

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