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am-i-the-asshole-official · 9 months

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AITA for being "negative" about a bunny and refusing to apologize? I don't think I can really shorten this, so I'm sorry for the lack of a TL;DR :/ It's pretty long!! TW for animal death(and potentially animal abuse?)

My mom(42 F) has a habit of randomly bringing pets home. For context, she's a single mother with four kids, with me(17) being the oldest, alongside my sister("E",13) and my two brothers(7 and 4, not relevant to the story). My sister and I share a room and my brothers share one too. My mom works a job that involves sleeping at work and doesn't think it's worth it for us to rent a three bedroom, so she sleeps on the couch on her nights off.

The first time was mid-2020 when she brought home a feral kitten my grandpa found underneath his house. What was supposed to be a family pet quickly turned into a pet that was kept only to E's and my room. He had some sort of sinus issue where he snotted everywhere all the time, so snot was constantly needing to be cleaned and being found randomly on our things. The cat was eventually rehomed after a year because it scratched my sister really badly to the point that my mom was concerned she would need stitches(she didn't. the cat didn't like being pet / touched and my sister wouldn't respect its boundries).

The second time was another cat(2021) that followed my mom from her cat to her place of work. This was when I started getting frustrated with my mom randomly bringing home animals, since the same set up that happened last time happened again- except this time, the cat got old enough to spray, and my mom kept forgetting to get him fixed so our room just smelled fucking awful. This cat was also rehomed when I broke down after realizing it has sprayed all over my books. I told my mom he either needed to be fixed or she needed to get rid of him. He was gone the next week.

Then last year it happened again- except this time, with a puppy(2022). My aunt was looking to get a new dog and sent some puppy photos to my mom, which she cooed over and showed me. She told me she was considering bringing one home, which I instantly told her was a bad idea and went over all the cons. Mom seemed to agree. Then guess what happened to be an early Christmas gift.... -_-

My sister and I took charge on the dog. We got our brothers to agree on a name for him(anyone with younger siblings knows this is a BIG deal lmao), started attempting to crate train him(basically making sure he's okay with eventually being left alone without crying the whole time), and we were the only ones trying to potty train him. Our mom didn't stick to any of this(including choosing a new name??) and the dog still isn't potty trained, and I'm the only one other than my mom that doesn't refuse to clean up after him. The dog doesn't stay in our room like the other animals, but it took months for my sister and I to convince our mom to get a hook lock for our door so the dog wouldn't keep coming in and peeing. The dog didn't end up getting rehomed, but now regularly stays at our aunt's house way more than ours.

It's worth noting at this point that all of these pets were "family pets" according to mom, and she would get upset when me and E pointed out we were really the only one taking care of them. The dog evened out after a while and now it's mostly my mom and I doing the work when he's here, but the cats are still a point of tension for us.

And now. For the fucking bunny!! Jesus christ I'm sorry there's so much backstory to this!!

A week ago my sister comes into our room and wakes me up to tell me mom brought home a baby bunny. It was scary small(3.5 inches long not stretching, 2 weeks old), and wasn't moving much but was clearly alive. My mom said it ran into my Nana's yard after the dog next door scared it off, and it's pretty safe to assume the nest is destroyed. But instead of bringing the rabbit to a wildlife rehab or something, my mom brought it home and told my sister she could keep it. They then put it in a box with some grass and water and did no further research.

I was pretty livid, because 1. This is a WILD rabbit. That's a crime in my state, 2. I think it was insanely irresponsible for my mom to drop this on us, 3. This is not a pet and it's very likely it'll die in our care just from us not being experienced, and 4. On a very basic and selfish level, I didn't want to take care of this animal and I didn't want it in our room(which it had to be). But E has been asking for a bunny for years, so for once she wasn't on my side about a new pet being dropped on us. So I was pretty outnumbered.

I kept pushing for my mom to contact a professional at the very least to ask about its diet(it's very easy to kill baby bunnies by feeding them the wrong thing), and kept trying to get my sister to stop holding / petting it since rabbits can die of stress. My mom listened after a day and my sister never did. Tbh I also thought if my mom contacted a professional the pro would tell her to absolutely not keep the bunny? But it was never brought up in their convo, so I think my mom might have lied about it or something, idk.

I continued being "negetive" about the rabbit and my sister kicked me out of our room for it. I refused to care for it too, even though my mom kept insisting it was a "family" pet(without me it was just her and E taking care of it, and since it stayed in our room my brothers never really got to see it). To be honest I really didn't feel like I had a lot of options, and I thought if I didn't help then maybe they would get overwhelmed or something and decide to give it to a professional. But I still kept trying to give pet care advice, because I didn't want any harm to come to the bunny(for example, my sister likes our room to never have to ac on, but i made sure she was keeping it cool enough for the bunny).

Well... After four days, the bunny died. E was pretty heartbroken, obviously, and my mom was sad, but to be honest I'm just sort of bitter. I'm upset a rabbit died just because my mom wouldn't listen. For more context, I also thought bringing in the bunny was a bad idea because my sister recently lost her dad, and I knew if it didn't end well this would just add more grief to her life. I 100% don't think she's TA in this situation, even if she has frustrated me.

I'm still pretty pissed at my mom for all of this, so yesterday when she sat me down and told me I should apologize to E for how I behaved, I didn't take it well. She said my negetivity made it so E didn't fully enjoy her time with the bunny, and that if I had handled things differently maybe things would have tunred out better. I know E has been avoiding me, which started when we first got the bunny and she kicked me out of the room for being too negetive. I feel like she just needs time to process, and to be honest I don't think this is something I should apologize for, even if it is an apology just to make her feel better. It feels like that would be irresponsible of me? Idk. I told my mom none of this would have happened if SHE hadn't been so irresponsible and brought the bunny home to a grieving teenager, when there wasn't much of a chance of the bunny surviving with us in the first place, but tbh ever since her dad died I've been really trying to do right by E, so I second-guess myself a lot now.

So AITA for being negetive about the bunny and refusing to apologize? To be clear again I don't think E is TA here, but they're both upset with me so idk.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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poppadom0912 · 1 year

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Med Students

Characters: Jay Halstead x Reader, Will Halstead

Warnings: Brief mentions of surgery, gossiping/backbiting, scary attendings

Summary: Stupid students don't gossip quiet enough.

A/N: This isn't exactly what I planned. Not too sure if I like it but it is what it is I guess. I'm posting this in commemoration of the last day of Christmas break. I'm very much not looking forward to getting back to normal life.

*****

Strolling into the moderately quiet ED, Jay was pleasantly surprised at the volume and the lack of people sitting in the waiting room. Spying Will behind a computer doing he's not too sure what, he walked up to him, nudging him with his elbow.

"Hey, you know where Y/N is?" Jay asked, leaning his back against the desk as his eyes inspected the ED.

"Hey Will, how are you brother? How's your day? How's work? You good?" Will sarcastically replied, changing his tone as he imitated Jay. "It's good to see you too Jay."

"What's up Will?" Jay rolled his eyes, caving into his older brothers 'wants and needs'. He was on a schedule and it needed to be followed because if he wasn't back at work in an hour, Voight would probably have his head.

"Mrs Halstead is currently in surgery, she might be a minute but you shoulda seen the guy." Will started gushing, lowkey geeking out on the patient that was brought in. "He was pushed onto the road, had like threes cars max run over him and he somehow is still alive and breathing. Her and Connor have been in their for two hours now, who knows when they'll finish."

"Thanks man." Jay said, clapping Will on the shoulder but either brother made indication that they were moving, Will was doing his patients charts and Jay had nowhere else to be for the next hour.

"I've heard they're called the 'Amok'."

"But we're doctors?"

"I know right, that's what I said!"

"Omg, how could they let a dude like that teach a bunch of students?"

"I knew I should've gone to Lakeshore."

Jay rose his brow in suspicion and curiosity. Looking over at the small group of young adults, standing not too far from where the brothers stood since they could clearly make out their whispers. It was clear that were out of their league.

"And who are they?" Jay asked, crossing his arms, not realising that his action made his badge and gun stand out more than they already were.

Will looked up from the computer, following Jay's line of sight before shaking his head, huffing with some sort of smile. "It's that time of year again, we get sent a bunch of students and Y/N decided that she'd give them a try instead of Ethan. Something about doing it before he got here and missing teaching."

"Huh." Jay said to himself, not recalling you telling him anything about this. If you'd been this excited about teaching, he was sure you'd be gushing about it to him several times over most meals you shared.

"Maybe he's hot."

"Or he's old and a creep."

"What if he's a pedo?!"

"Then he'd be fired Janet. Have you seen Ms Goodwin, cause she's scary."

"What if the 'Amok' is a woman?"

...

"Maybe she's hot."

"Or she's really nice and totally not strict."

"We'll have this year in the bag, easy."

"What if she'd like a young doctor? Look around us and there's plenty of young docs."

"Are you trying to get into her pants? Ew dude!"

"Heck yeah man!"

Now, Jay was ticked. These kids were speculating and it totally would've been fine if they weren't making such comments, especially about his wife. Will also caught on, rolling his eyes, sharing Jay's frustration.

While the students were surveying the ED as they gossiped, they lay eyes on Jay and before any comment could be made on his gorgeous appearance, they caught sight of his gun and badge sitting on his belt.

"Shit, what's a fed doing here?"

"He's hot."

"Him next to doctor Halstead, my ovaries."

"Shh, you're so loud!"

"Anyways, back to the sexy doctor we were talking bout..."

Jay scoffed, more than ready to go up to the kids so he could give them a piece of his mind. Normally, he would've let such petty things get under his skin but these students caught him on the wrong day.

Before Jay could even take a step towards the huddled group, from the corner of his eyes he found the only woman that he loved more than life itself.

You were back in your maroon scrubs, your surgical cap still on your head since you just came back from giving the wife the good news. With the brightest smile on your face, so bright that it could brighten up the darkest of rooms.

The students were obviously doing worse at whispering then they thought. At the same time, you found Jay and the med students that would be shadowing you for the next year.

At the sight of your husband, your smile only got bigger, almost chuckling at your handsome man who looked so delicious but even with most the tension gone from his body, you noticed his crossed arms. Your brother-in-law, who stood besides Jay, wasn't looking in your direction but instead, was glaring at the young adults.

Following his line of sight, you beamed at the students, your excitement causing your smile to widen even further than it already was. Before you could introduce yourself, only taking a few steps towards them, you caught them mid through their conversation.

"50 she'll flirt back."

"You're on."

"Don't be such pigs. The name 'Amok' sounds pretty masculine to me."

"Either way, they're going to kill us."

"That surgeon is hot."

Your smile fell faster than a pulse would if burst a vessel. It seemed that by doing so, you caught the attention of nearly the entire ED, everyone somehow sensing the sudden drop in your mood; the air must've shifted or something.

"And she's staring right at us."

"Oh shit."

"That's it, we're fucked."

"Oh my Gosh, it's her."

"It's been great knowing you guys."

"No it hasn't."

Raising your brows, you inspected the group of students heavily, finding it funny how they shrunk under your scrutinising eyes. It was somewhat entertaining watching them squirm but you'd have a better 'punishment' for them later down the line for their gossiping.

"I want you guys to stick by Maggie's hip. She wants something done, it gets done beyond outstanding standards. I don't care if she wants you getting coffee, you do it. Understood?" You said sternly, leaving no room for any objections.

In sync, they all nodded their heads, instantly agreeing with you even if they weren't happy with their given roles for their first day on the job.

With a smirk, you watched them scurry away towards the charge nurse who was waiting for them. A knowing look in her eyes, a hand on her hip as she smiled and winked at you from afar. You'd find yourself listening to her retell their day at Molly's tonight.

With the students out of your sight, you spun around and your face lit up at the sight of your husband. Despite the dark colours he wore in comparison to your brother-in-law, you noticed and ran to him first.

"Husband!" You wrapped your arms around him tightly, sighing in content when he enveloped you in his, his cologne drowning your senses. You briefly heard Will say something along the lines of no one cared about him before he left you two alone, something about he knew how single he was without it being shoved in his face.

"Wife." Jay kissed your temple, tightening his arms around you. He would proudly say it any day that he was proud of you and found it amusing to watch you boss around the younger doctors.

"How long have you been waiting?" You asked, pulling away from him but not too far so he could still have his arms around you. Hopefully he hadn't been waiting too long and you could still have lunch together before it got too late.

"Long enough to hate those kids guts." Jay pouted slightly, squinting his eyes almost threateningly in remembrance of what was said about you. "Was this close to telling them your the wife of a detective so they'd back off."

"My hero." You pretended to swoon, cheekily smiling at his faux hurt expression. "What would I do without you."

"Forget to eat your lunch, that's what." Jay said, indirectly reminding you that lunch still needed to be eaten.

"Yes! To the cafeteria we go." You smiled, pecking him on the cheek before grabbing his hand, intertwining your fingers with his so you could leave the ED together.

From the corner of your eye, you could feel several eyes following you and Jay as you left and without looking back, you knew who it was. You were sure that tomorrow, you'd be spoken to with much more respect and wariness than what you witnessed today.

The students wouldn't make that mistake again, especially in front of your husband.

#chicago med #onechicago #one chicago x reader #chicago med x reader #jay halstead #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead x y/n #jay halstead x you #jay halstead x imagine

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be-dazzled · 4 months

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All Treats, No Tricks

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser October 31, 2023 Posted: Decemebr 26, 2023

Writer’s Corner: Months too late but I think the timing worked for me. The ending sounds and feels more wintery/christmas-y, isn't it? I don't feel like this one's good enough as compared to my Juvia Day entry so your honest feedback is very much welcomed. Help me improve!

All rights reserve to Hiro Mashima, original creator.

Masterlist

...

The cold season rolled in and seeped throughout the grounds of Magnolia. Its silent breeze knocked puny, tree branches against locked windows. It howled through the night, prowling the silent grounds of sleeping citizens. For those who made the mistake of forgetting to lock their windows, the October breeze pried into their room and wreaked havoc on all that it could carry. Easily targeted all that weighed close to none. Especially ripping off the pages on the wall calendar and revealing today’s date – October 31, Halloween.

After the fiasco that was the Fairy Tail Horror House of X791, that type of event was forever banned in the town of Magnolia. In its wake a new tradition was born where families were invited to decorate their homes to win lovely prizes, even encouraging them to hand out candies to children going around house to house, mage guilds included.

Rather than eerily quiet, Halloween in Fairy Tail was fun and lively.

The troublemakers – Natsu and Happy – had a good idea of wearing costumes to scare off the children who, in the words of Natsu the Demon King, “dared to enter my house of terror,” punctuating it with a high-pitched maniacal laugh that did not, at all, scare a living soul. But he was enjoying chasing after children who somehow believed Demon Kings existed and that they were ridiculously funny. Erza, wearing the shortest (skimpiest but no one dared to say it) witch costume, took up her sword and pretended to battle the Demon King. She was acting, she claimed but Lucy, the only writer in the room argued that it was an inaccurate depiction and didn’t make any sense plot-wise. Why would a witch have a sword when she had magic powers? But who would take a Leopard Girl seriously? Donned in a tight-fitting onesie that hugged her body like a second skin and accentuated all her dips and curves, Lucy the Sexy Leopard lost all credibility.

A certain ice-make mage, on the other hand, found it all juvenile. Yet, Gray was pursuing kids around the guild, the end of his tape costume riding the wind as he did. He wasn’t a scary mummy, he deduced, since instead of screams of terrors, the guild was filled with children’s ecstatic cheers and giggles. Well, half giggles and half scandalous because the end of Gray’s mummy tape got stuck on some pillar and pulled, making him a half-naked, pervert who happened to wear pants made of strip linen.

Erza smacked him on the back of the head.

So inappropriate.

But not as inappropriate as the thing that he was about to witness.

Juvia, Fairy Tail’s resident water-mage, wasn’t too comfortable with her assigned costume so she kept herself hidden backstage. She watched in the shadows as her comrades showed off their costumes, parading around the Fairy Tail building, welcoming their guests with booze (for the adults), colorful drinks (for the kids) and some imaginative snacks. She wondered how come the only thing that connected her decorated brassiere and the underwear that covered her nether region was just strings snaked around her torso. She asked Erza about it but the only answer she got was the mesh material on her head, some sort of see-through veil, its length reaching her waist but covered nothing. Plus, the heavy and expensive accessories around her neck, arms and wrists made the look less racy than it actually was. They lent her some air of distinct. She did a once-over in front of the mirror, twirling around to inspect herself and couldn’t help but think she might be missing a piece on her costume. Maybe a skirt to cover her lower body? Because she swore her bottom was hanging out.

Erza said the long veil on top of her head covered it enough and that she should stop worrying about it.

She really should worry about it.

Even if Mira and the already drunk Cana assured her that she would be the envy of the room and would surely get Gray the Half-Naked Mummy’s attention. The latter was enough encouragement though, which emboldened Juvia to come out of her hiding. That and finding her self-declared love rival enjoying her time with Mummy Gray, her beloved. She charged towards the two, about to bring hell to the Leopard Girl, when a soft breeze touched her exposed skin and Juvia had another think coming. But it was too late. She was out in the open now and everyone was hollering and whistling at her ensemble. As she watched her comrades strut around in their own Halloween costumes though – the moon princess Mira-chan; vampire Lisanna; Elfman and Evergreen in a couple’s costume ala Adam and Eve; the Thunder Legion Tribe in what appeared to be some sort of forest creatures (were they supposed to be Pokémon and was someone supposed to collect ‘em all?); and archery goddess Wendy – Juvia felt like she pulled the short end of the stick.

Because what the hell was she wearing?

It was a fucked-up gypsy dancer costume if you asked Gray. Beautiful, he’d go as far as saying it was nose-bleed-inducing, but definitely fucked-up. He wasn’t too happy about that.

Even Cana was modestly covered in her own fucked-up priestess costume.

People – ugly men, irritating old geezers, boys that weren’t Gray-sama – started coming up to Juvia with Macao and Wakaba in the lead. She made it obvious she wasn’t comfortable with their attention but the crowd had already gathered around her. She searched for the black spiky hair in it but found her precious Gray-sama still standing beside Leopard Girl. Summoning all her magic power, Juvia immediately fell into her fighting stance, about to tsunami all those perverts out of the way when her vision turned pitch-black.

“Eh?”

She extended her arm to feel for anything, anything at all, that could explain why she was instantly blinded, only to feel strong fingers grab her wrist and whiz her away from the complaining crowd.

“Eh!”

“I guess this is safe for now.”

She didn’t need her eyes to know who it was. Juvia could recognize that voice anywhere, even when it was broken by huffs.

“Gray-sama…”

“Oh, that’s right.”

He swiftly released his grip on her hand and Juvia pouted at the loss of contact. A sudden chill replaced the warmth that encircled her wrist. She didn’t like it.

“Sorry about that.”

“No!” Juvia cleared up, in case he might take it the wrong way, “Gray-sama shouldn’t apologize.”

The water mage wasn’t sure where they went or how far they had come from the guild. But wherever Gray was, she was always safe with him.

“You saved Juvia from the commotion.”

A commotion caused by her inappropriate appearance, Gray ought to say but decided not to. Instead, he said a terse ‘It was nothing’.

Her ears might have deceived her but Juvia could place a grin on his voice. She could imagine that small curve of his lips, wanting to see it with her own eyes but something was still blocking her view. Something soft and rather silky, heavy on her crown too. It covered her from head to toe. She clutched the unidentified veil in her fist and realized it was the same fabric as the covering of the long table back at the guild. Juvia tried to pull on the cloth, trying to get rid of the covering when Gray started speaking again.

“…something like that.”

The covering muffled Gray’s words. As she was trying desperately to uncover herself, Juvia only caught the tail end of what he was saying. She stopped for a moment, tipped her head to the side, deciding whether to ask him to repeat what he said, which would give Gray the impression that she wasn’t listening to him, or just pretend as if she heard him.

Sensing her confusion despite the wall of fabric between them, Gray repeated his words, this time a bit louder and very much clearer than earlier.

“Don’t wear something like that.”

It took her a moment to realize but Juvia caught on to what the ice-make mage meant. It was her scant costume. Remembering how some cloth and some strings strategically covered those areas, Juvia internally agreed with Gray. She shouldn’t be wearing something like that again, nodding her head furiously that she might just break her own neck.

“In public.”

He added before clearing his throat and inviting Juvia to walk around the neighborhood, not giving her an opening to say anything back about his last comment. Juvia had the tendency to twist his words, or rather, which was always the case, point out what exactly he wanted to say but couldn’t.

Don’t wear something like that in public.

He meant only to wear it for him in private, right?

Gray started toward the direction of the crowd, where most people were scattered in small groups. He was saying something Juvia was not able to hear through that thick white covering hanging over her. She followed where she assumed Gray was headed, straining her ears to listen to his footsteps whilst she blindly soldiered on through the veil-made darkness. The water mage was starting to get frustrated with the covering she’d been trying to get out of since earlier. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t find the beginning or end of that long, thick fabric weighing down on her with a smooth but consistent fall, much like her magic – a curtain of water.

Ironic.

And why was Gray not helping her at all? It wasn’t like he was busy keeping quiet since he had all the time in the world to run his mouth about god knows what. His talking was like a soft buzz in Juvia’s ears – a distant noise that didn’t make sense.

Despite the cold breeze and the fact that she was practically naked inside, her body was starting to feel hot. A sheen of perspiration started to form over her skin. The heavy covering not only successfully blocked her view but also any air in and out of her fabric jail.

“G-Gray-sama…” She called out but the thick veil separating them blacked the words out, “…help Juvia~”

Gray hadn’t paid her any attention (deliberately ignoring her or unintentionally forgetting, Juvia wasn’t sure) until the poor water mage kicked on an uneven terrain and tripped. She braced herself for impact, throwing her hands in front of her as she was about to fall on the pavement, face-first. But the impact never came. Instead, Juvia’s body was pressed against something hard. Not as hard as she remembered pavement should be though. Curiosity spurred Juvia to explore this not-a-pavement surface, flattening her palms on what turned out to be Gray’s firm pecs, the slightest bump giving her the idea that she might just be… touching on Gray’s...

She rubbed them just to make sure.

“Uhn… Ju-Juvia…”

And kneaded for better measure.

“T-that’s… he-hey…”

She was definitely right.

Gods do exist!

Juvia could hear the strain in his voice. And something else. Something she wasn’t familiar with. But worry bumped curiosity off first place. Gray sounded like he might be in pain and the idea horrified Juvia that she might be the reason for it. He did break her fall and she was comfortably using her as a human cushion. So, she slid her open palms lower, eliciting more low and strange noises from the man beneath her. She ignored the noise in favor of resting her hands over what she assumed was Gray’s abdomen, intent on pushing herself off him to free her poor savior from his distress. She was a little bit sorry that she had to use his body to do so. Which, unbeknownst to Juvia, was stirring something in Gray that should not be stirred. Not when they were in public like this.

Oh, if Juvia could see the ice-make mage’s reaction now – gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw.

She successfully leaned away, readying to pull her knees so she could prop herself up and fully get off of poor Gray when a cold breeze whizzed past them, magically finding the end of the frustrating veil and blew the hem of the fabric covering her body. Gray was a hero the second time when he slapped that cloth back to its rightful place. Saving the water mage from the embarrassment of public indecent exposure.

“Eeep!”

But bumping her to another level of embarrassment.

Gray only realized where his hands were touching when Juvia’s body wiggled and twisted above him. The force of his ‘heroic act’ slammed Juvia flatly on top of him again.

“G-Gray-sama felt Ju-Ju-Juvia’s bottom!”

She muttered, fidgeting at the heat that spread over both cheeks, either because Gray’s hands were still cupping her ass or the mere force of his slap, or both.

“So, G-Gray-sama was into this kind of… s-s-stuff?” She whispered to herself.

But that wasn’t a whisper. It was more of a loud musing because that one Gray heard through the fabric barrier between them.

“No!” He strongly denied it. “That’s… I’m not… hey!”

For a good minute, they were a tangled mess – him trying to, but very much cautiously, push her off of him, slipping on the fabric when he tried to stand up with Juvia still on top of him, and her trying to pull herself away from him, which proved to be a struggle since Gray just couldn’t stay still. It didn’t help that the thick cloth separating them from each other was too silky and slippery to the touch.

Gray could only cry how that freaking veil was the devil. The devil! And he quickly regretted whisking the long mantle off the table to cover Juvia with, until they finally detached themselves from each other. Both were breathless from the endeavor.

Passersby threw them ugly looks, which made Gray realize that covering Juvia with the table mantle was not one of his brightest ideas. He tried to rearrange the cloth, so that Juvia was still fully covered (her fucked-up costume hidden), but made it so that her head was popping out of the makeshift ghost costume so at least she could see where they were going and avoid another mishap. The water mage, thank goodness, stood still and quiet, as Gray secured the long textile around her neck with a knot made of his mummy tape. He smirked at his creation, proud of his quick thinking. Then broke into cackles he tried to suppress but couldn’t, scrutinizing her attire – a Juvia floating head. Now, that’s a true Halloween costume.

“Gray-sama shouldn’t be laughing at Juvia.” She bemoaned. “Not when he’s looking like that.”

Gray followed her eyes down his lower body to realize he was stripped down to his G x J boxers, using up what remained of his mummy tape costume on Juvia.

“Whoa!”

It was Juvia’s turn to laugh at him. But Gray took no offense to it and joined in, the both of them laughing together and at each other in their poor state. They were so stuck in their own world that Gray belatedly noticed the scandalized glare thrown at both of them – mostly on him – especially by children who were often told to wear something in public.

Gray scooped Juvia off the ground (which was totally unnecessary by everyone’s account) and whisked the water mage, a second time, away from the crime scene.

Young couples are too bold nowadays.

It’s probably because of the full moon.

...

Gray hid them at some back alley. He surreptitiously peeked through the corner, with an unusually quiet water mage still carried in both arms. Only after making sure no one was following after them, not the police or an angry mob, that Gray could finally puff a relief. He settled Juvia on the ground as gently as he could. And wondered why she was running out of breath when Gray did all the running.

“Are you alright, Juvia?”

“Y-y-yes.”

She stuttered. Round blue eyes were spinning like wheels on the run.

“Erm… are you sure?”

She sure didn’t look okay.

Gray was so accustomed to Juvia that he could read her like a book. Every word and every sentence he could easily interpret. And this reaction from her was probably caused by him bolting her away. He should have thought of his actions thoroughly because who knows what Juvia’s creative imagination must have conjured of him holding her in a bridal carry.

Gray and Juvia’s wedding? Them on their honeymoon, crossing the threshold into their master bedroom? Probably, both.

He settled a hand on her shoulders. The thick eyebrows on his forehead were knitted – quite bothered by the possibility that she could still slip into her imaginary land when she had the real thing right in front of her now. Unlike before, Gray had become more receptive to her feelings. And unlike before, he made conscious actions to show that he returned those very feelings. Had he not made it clear to her?

“Juvia…”

His coaxing willed Juvia back to reality, to where she and Gray were in a back alley hiding.

“Juvia is okay, Gray-sama.”

Her blue eyes returned to normal and Gray could slip a sigh of relief. Without a need to worry now, Gray retrieved his hand and suggested they come back to the guild when Juvia’s made-shift cloak started to come undone. Her Halloween costume – the brassiere connected with some barely-there knots – peeked through the opening and threatened to reveal itself in its full glory. Which was bad for Gray for the following reasons: a) Juvia was still half-lying on the ground; b) they were in some dark, back-alley; and c) they were alone in that dark alley.

And d) he was still just wearing his boxers.

“Ju-Juvia!”

But it was Gray’s fingers that yanked the edges of the loosening drape and clasped them together against her chest. Another bad idea of Gray’s now that his fists were pressed down against her breasts. Soft and quite big. Not that it surprised him. He was very much familiar with how Juvia’s breasts felt to the touch. Not that he openly touched them either. Opportunities just happened to present themselves to him. Oh how tortured and conflicted he was. That stirring inside his stomach earlier was rapidly brewing into something that shouldn’t be brewing.

“Uhn…”

What a cute voice!

Damn, it was like the universe was trying to tell him something.

Gray yanked his evil hands and put them back to his side. Away from Juvia’s soft mounds.

“S-s-sorry.”

But that lecherous costume was taunting him again, the deep valley of her breasts peering through the slightest opening. He ordered himself to look away but his sinful eyes did not stray even just a little. So, he chose to just fight the rising heat that burned his cheeks. If she asked, he could blame that one on the weather.

Gray cleared his throat. Thinking that by doing so, Juvia might not notice him ogling. He reached out his hands and started to tighten the mummy tape again around her neck. There was a crisp silence between them, which Gray appreciated. Juvia’s focused gaze at his hands was reason enough for him to struggle to steady his fingers as he looped the tape. But in the end, he was able to fix it.

“All done.”

She thanked him with a lovely smile – the kind that always followed him in his dreams. The warm smile that kept him company when he was alone. The low howl of the October breeze made him aware that they were in a dark alley where people scarcely passed through. It had a wicked way of conjuring today’s moments that the courteous Gray would rather tuck safely into the back of his memory – when Juvia stepped out of hiding in her inappropriate costume; when he unintentionally spanked and cupped her butt-cheeks; when Juvia rubbed her palms over his breasts; and when he fastened the ends of the cloth and accidentally pressed on her soft mounds. These memories he’d rather bury in the depths of his consciousness and only unearth them when he was alone.

Right now, he wasn’t alone. He was with Juvia, the star of those evoking memories, in a place where there was little to no chance of anyone walking in on them if Gray allowed some of his dreams to come alive. Clandestine. He stopped that thought and suggested they walk back to the guild. He needed the exercise.

Juvia pointed out to him his current state and Gray miraculously found some cloak flapping with the wind, hanging outside somebody’s window. It was black, a total contrast to Juvia’s white ones. He figured no one was going to miss that drabby old cloak.

As they took the route to the guild, Gray considered walking Juvia to Fairy Hills instead. But remembered he was barred from showing even just his shadow there. His ban has yet to run its course so the guild – the very place they left earlier – was the sensible place to go, especially since he and Juvia were just wearing make-shift coverings that could unravel anytime. They had to avoid crowds.

Gray was deep in thought when a flash of blue caught his eyes. He snapped his head in its direction, eyes widening in awe at what his vision revealed.

“Look Juvia!” He pointed the all-smiling, happily distracted Juvia to a decorated house where three or four children were walking up to its stoop. “It’s you.”

Juvia followed the direction of Gray’s pointing and scanned the surroundings for anything that resembled herself or whatever it was that reminded her beloved of the water-mage. Surely, it must not have been the waving tube decoration, flapping around something that, when you squint your eyes at the right angle, resembled arms. Or the scary-looking life-sized doll made of blue hay, wearing what appeared to be a blow-up replica of Juvia’s hat. That must not be how he saw Juvia, right?

Without receiving an answer to these questions, Juvia was suddenly yanked against Gray’s side. One arm hung over her shoulder; the weight pulled them both down to a crouch like they were hiding. Their cheeks were close, sharing a border, but not touching, not yet at least. They were just close enough for Juvia to feel his breath on her now-flushed cheek when he covertly spoke to her.

“That one. She looks exactly like you.”

Juvia caught herself gawking at him, at Gray’s face which was fully and resolutely turned to the direction where he was pointing her to. She felt slightly guilty about that because one, that wasn’t even the first physical touch they’d shared just counting the ones they had tonight (not the most daring one either); and two, Gray was heartily showing her something. So, Juvia summoned her focus and followed his direction – towards the girl who was giddily jumping at receiving tons of candies into her basket, the kid version of Phantom Lord Juvia. She was donned in Juvia’s blue winter coat, a teru-teru bozu hanging by the clasp of her collar, and a cute Juvia hat merchandise sitting neatly atop her little head.

Juvia felt a pang in her heart. It was her in the rolled hairstyle the water mage got rid of to forget about that version of her. As the little girl skipped down back to the main road, Juvia felt sorry for the little girl. No child should model after her. Back then, she wasn’t her best self. She was strong yet lonely. Isolated by her own rain. Physically attractive yet gloomy that warmth and fun were foreign concepts to her. A smile, a true warm smile, had never even touched her lips. Simply, ugly. If she could only keep that image to herself and tuck it away where no one else could find it, she would have done so.

The Juvia of the present, the Juvia after joining Fairy Tail, after finally being accepted and loved for who she was and who she was not, was unquestionably the best version of herself yet.

But that twinge was pushed away by the slight curve of Gray’s lips. Warm. Affectionate. Proud. He was still looking at that little girl, at kid Phantom Lord Juvia, with eyes full of interest. Never left her figure as she turned around and hollered at the other two girls on the walkway. Her other two friends looked like shrunken versions of other Fairy Tail members, slowed down by their argument about who collected more candies between them.

“There’s Erza and Mira-chan too.” Gray chuckled. “Brings me back.”

Juvia forgot all about her own thinking, dumbfounded by the look on Gray’s face. Even when the curve on his lips was subtle it was also telling. Because Gray could picture so clearly how the actual Erza and Mira-chan, when they were at the same age as those kids, would squabble over the smallest and silliest things. Much like the kids rounding up their group of three with Juvia-chan. His mind flew to that rare moment when all the kids in the guild were huddled up together in an unusually peaceful group waiting out the night. Simply remembering pulled the corners of his mouth into a small smile – not wistful, not longing, just… content.

Before he even thought of it, Gray was already starting on his feet, with Juvia following closely behind and then, naturally, fell beside him. Stepping into the same stride, the same pace as his. Juvia had caught up to him again, naturally. It had been like that between them for years now. Words have become so moot and inadequate. It was as if they were operating on feelings alone. Like it was the only way they could clearly and completely convey their inner thoughts. And so, with no invitation required, Gray and Juvia explored the neighborhood, feasting their eyes at the sight of scattered children in all sorts, shapes and colors of costumes.

The children walked up to houses. Their eyes shone at the treats dropped inside their baskets. Some ran out screaming in terror, receiving childish and mean scares instead of sweet treats. Others gleefully skipped along the side of the road while peeking inside each other’s loots. The two Fairy Tail mages, however, glowed in pride at the insinuation that the kids put Fairy Tail in such high regard to dress up like them, as members of the strongest guild in the whole of Fiore.

Wasn’t it that imitation was the highest form of flattery?

Out of nowhere, Gray and Juvia started a contest of whoever could spot and recognize Fairy Tail look-alikes more. They discreetly point the children to each other – finding a little Lucy with a mermaid Aquarius who can walk on foot in this version, or the entire Lightning God Tribe whose version of Laxus put on some balloons in place of the original’s muscles.

They spotted another Juvia, this one much younger than the first one they saw earlier, around five or six years old maybe, donning polka-dotted leggings. She had a long-haired older boy in her tail, who she addressed as onii-san, carrying her basket for her. It was quite a picture for Gray, the little girl scolding the older kid, who both Gray and Juvia agreed resembled an Iron Dragon Slayer. At least, even in make-belief, Gray got to see Gajeel being ordered around.

They strolled deeper into the neighborhood and found out that the wizard costumes were not limited to Fairy Tail mages. Gray even flinched at a spitting image of a young but much more handsome (in Gray’s biased opinion) Lyon Vastia. But Juvia noted his mood became even livelier when they met the Lyon impersonator, despite Gray-sama’s act and words of displeasure. At that, Juvia hid a chuckle behind her hand, which Gray noticed.

They hadn't walked that far from where they met and were greeted by a polite version of the fire dragon slayer, when Juvia noticed Gray’s mood turn sullen, even if he tried to hide it with a small but dry grin. She ha dan inkling why. They must have seen ten or twenty versions of Natsu but not a single one of the ice-make mage.

Even Juvia wasn’t happy about that.

“Gray-sama…”

“You want to go back?” He jumped in, not liking the way she looked and sounded worried.

Gray already knew what she was about to say. But it seemed he’d rather not talk about it. Respecting his feelings, the water-mage simply returned his smile, hers understanding and much more genuine than his forced one.

“If Gray-sama prefers.”

“Alright then.”

They turned around, about to take the path back to where they started when something round and hard hit Gray right at the stomach.

“Sorry, Oji-san!”

A small boy bumped into him with a force enough to sway Gray but not to make him lose his balance. He first checked that his basket of candies was intact before the little boy with messy black hair beamed up at him, his smile was pulled so wide that his eyes were almost shut. Cheeks all puffed and flushed and chubby and cute.

He probably got away with anything armed with that smile.

“Greige?!”

But like the other kids his age, the boy quickly abandoned the stranger he bumped into and caught up with his friends.

“Wait for me!”

Gray quickly spun around. A seed of hope sprouted within him, urging his feet to move. He wanted to follow the kid and confirm his suspicion but his own logic stopped him, rooting him in his spot. That would have been impossible. How would Greige cross over Earthland? That boy might have been wearing a zipped-up coat with fluffy collar, the same one Gray remembered Greige of Edolas was wearing, but how could he cross over to their world? Impossible.

Hope had sprouted into longing.

“Greige?”

Juvia’s confusion and Gray’s sudden realization that Juvia was still completely unaware of their child’s existence in another world, pulled him out of his reverie.

“Um… I said ‘engage’.” He quickly lied, feeling warmth rise to his cheeks despite the cold October breeze blowing at them. “I thought he was an enemy or somethin’.” Yet even to him, he wasn’t that convincing.

But how was he supposed to tell Juvia he saw a kid who could pass as a doppelganger of the son they would have in the future but who was already existing as the child of Gray Surge and Juvia, a version of them who were already married and lived and breathed in Edolas?

If Juvia knew about their Edolas counterparts, she would sulk all week and demand that they too get married and make a baby. They weren’t at that point in their relationship yet. They haven’t even kissed! Through no fault of Juvia, of course. Even though she had given her consent to it in no limited terms, Gray just didn’t… he just wasn’t… confident enough.

“Let’s go back, Juvia.”

“Oh, okay.”

He wounded a firm arm around Juvia’s shoulder and secured her at his side to stop the water-mage from looking back at the boy who reminded Gray of his future son. He chanced a last glance at him though and decided his hair was too spiky and a shade lighter than the boy in his memory. He was too tall and too animated to be his prim and proper little Greige.

His mind was probably playing tricks on him.

“Greige.” Juvia tested the name on her tongue. She liked the sound of it, she told Gray, making the man sweat a little.

“H-h-hey Juvia, I told you that’s not what I said.”

“He looked a little bit like Gray-sama, didn’t he?”

Gray couldn’t seem to understand, or rather that he couldn’t believe how Juvia’s soft eyes, that loving gaze that seemed to be only directed at him, had always been a source of comfort. He couldn’t at all wrap his head around the phenomenon of her smile shining so bright to the point that it was blinding, yet he was incapable of looking away.

“You think so?”

She just made a sound, a cute little hmm, eyes now glistening with that gentle mix of pride and joy. Gray couldn’t even fathom how Juvia could grow even more beautiful each day.

Gray glanced back at the boy reuniting with his friends, looking for his own qualities in him. Maybe his dark, unruly hair could be attributed to the ice-mage but the little boy was wrapped in a winter coat, and Gray was known for unwrapping himself from any clothing.

No harm in imaging it though, that maybe the little stranger was copying Gray.

He wasn’t.

Gray wasn’t imagining it when the boy with unruly hair pulled his elbows back to form some sort of hand stance. He definitely did not need to humor himself when he heard the kid say “ice-make…” and pretended like magic power was coming out of his open palms and attacked his friends.

Maybe if Gray got over himself…

“Juvia… are you cold?”

“Hmm?”

And step out of that darkness that was holding him back.

“My place…”

Then maybe…

“… is nearby.”

He didn’t need to imagine anything anymore.

“Yes, Gray-sama.”

#gray x juvia #gruvia #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #gruvia fanfiction #fairytail #fairytail fanfiction #be-dazzled #gruvia halloween

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barkhoffman · 5 months

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does anyone wanna see a preview of my hoffstrahm Christmas fluff fic too bad you're getting one

“So you’re a cop?”

“I’m a detective, yeah.”

“But you have a gun? Like a real gun?”

“Yup.”

“And you get to shoot it at people?”

“Uh—” Hoffman smiles awkwardly, fingers wrapped around the mug of coffee Henry handed off to him moments before. (It’s one of Marie’s holiday-themed ones, and says “Christmas calories don’t count” accompanied by a picture of a smiling, half-eaten gingerbread man. Strahm’s always found that one kind of morbid.) “I wouldn’t use the words ‘get to,’ but if the situation calls for it…”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” Ethan asks with the sort of wide-eyed stare little boys get when they’re really interested in hearing a violent answer to something.

“Okay, let’s not talk about that sort of thing,” Marie laughs from her spot on a recliner. Henry sits on the arm of it, hand on her shoulder, and she, in turn, has her hand pressed to his. “It’s Christmas. Happy questions, okay? Does anyone have any happy questions for Mark?”

Strahm wonders when this turned into “Grill Peter’s Spouse: The Game Show,” but Hoffman seems to be taking it in stride, smiling there beside him.

“Do you— do you— do you solve mysteries?” Liam asks, sitting on the floor at his mother’s feet, fidgeting with a plush toy she must have brought from home with her to keep him occupied.

“Yeah,” Hoffman says. “Real tough ones.”

Liam looks blown away, gaping up at him. “Like Sherlock Holmes?”

The adults all share a laugh, and Hoffman says, “Just like him.”

“Don’t give him too much credit,” Strahm scoffs. “When he can’t do his job right, they send in me to figure it out instead.”

“You’re a detective too?” Liam asks, reverent, because of course the kid he only sees a few times a year, who’s barely in school, can’t remember what his actual occupation is. Hell, it’s a shock Liam seemed to remember him by name this year, instead of last year’s Christmas gathering, when he was simply dubbed “The Scary Man.”

“FBI,” Strahm says, and despite how much he hates his shithole job sometimes, saying that still gives him just the barest hint of a swell of pride. The badge means something, when you use it right.

“That means he works for the government,” Sofia says with a grave nod. Sharp as a tack at nine years old, she’s also a bit of a know-it-all, but then, so was Strahm at that age. Does it count as being a know-it-all if you’re always right, he wonders?

“So that’s how you met?” asks Charlotte, Robert’s wife. “Through work?”

“That’s the long and short of it,” Hoffman says. “He came in, stole all my thunder, then stole my heart.”

That gets another round of chuckles, and even a few annoying “awww”s. God damn Hoffman for being so personable and easy to like. Can’t he see Strahm has sulking to do here?

#sorry for all the names #basically they're just all Strahm's family LOL it'll be easier to figure out if you read it from the beginning #but this is a middle section #idk just really excited for this one and want instant validation SUE ME #fic tag #Saw #Sawposting #Mark Hoffman #Peter Strahm #hoffstrahm #coffinshipping

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its-actually-minicika · 1 year

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Headcanons for the HotD!Main Three

Part 1? (Let me know if you would like more);;

Pairing(s): Aemond x Reader, Jacaerys x Reader, Aegon x Reader

Warnings: None, for once in my life;

Author's Note: just a couple of fluffy headcanons for your pleasure, to make up for the last part of the Yule Ball series;; they date back to your first meeting with the boys, and go as far as to touch close to the full-swing celebrations of the ball, during your 5th year at Hogwarts :)

Of First Meetings And First Crushes

☆ Aemond Targaryen ☆

There is a single, undisputable fact when it comes to your life at Hogwarts - you and Aemond go way back;

He bumped into you on your first ever ride on the Hogwarts Express. While you were discoursing with your new possible housemates, he was frantically searching for his old cat, Vhagar;

"I lost my pet. She is a Siamese cat with only one ear - answers to the name of Vhagar." He said stiffly to the cheery group of people, and one 3d year Ravenclaw snickered in reply: "Shit, little guy, I'd run away too if my name was Vhagar."

His group of friends immediately started laughing and it's safe to say you didn't like that;

After a short screaming match with the rude Ravenclaws (which you effortlessly won), you decided to help Aemond find his missing cat;

"You shouldn't have done that." He chastised you with a serious tone. "They could be your new housemates."

"There is only one thing I won't tolerate in my presence, and that is a bully!" The fire in your eyes made him smile - truly smile. "Now, let's go find your cat."

Vhagar ended up being in the back compartments, with all the other caged pets; she was trying to reach for your own cat with a shaky paw, but was failing miserably

Aemond grabbed her hurriedly and you made a joke that your pets should be best friends - he turned really red after seeing your wide smile;

For the rest of the train ride, you both sat together in an empty compartment - and when Aemond got hungry, you gave him one of your P&J sandwiches that you made for the trip;

"I also added chocolate chips. The secret is to add many, many chocolate chips."

He felt really dejected when you were sorted into Gryffindor, and he in Slytherin. He thought that was the beginning of the end for your sudden friendship - but you proved him wrong when you defended him time and time again whenever anyone made a nasty comment about his hair, his height, his gloomy disposition or his "ugly" cat;

He fell in love with you very quickly: how could he not, when you were so radiant and so good to him?

Your friendship was going steady, until the end of your 1st year, when he stopped writing to you mid-summer;

You were crushed by his silence, and eventually stopped writing as well;

When you saw him on the Hogwarts Express again, you understood why he ghosted you - his left eye was covered by a black eyepatch, and a deep scar cut from his brow to his lower cheek.

A lot of drama ensued between you two: Aemond tried his hardest to push you away, but you were very determined and head-strong. Eventually, your friendship won in the face of any argument or harsh words Aemond could throw in your face;

During your 3d and 4th year, he was COMPLETELY DEVOTED to you;

He was your shadow - wherever you went, he was quick to follow.

Some students made nasty comments about it (always behind his back, of course, because Aemond had that scary presence);

When he told you about the stinging comments, you assured him that you loved hanging out with him and it would really hurt you if he stopped being near you;

Aemond.exe stopped working for 3 working days after hearing you say that - yeah, he does loves you that much, HE IS WHIPPED;

That being said, Aemond's love language is acts of service and quality time;

He "helps" you with homework (a fancy word for "he literally does it for you even if you don't ask him to") and is always there when you need someone to listen and lend you a crying shoulder;

You invited him over for Christmas during your 3d year, and he was so nervous, he wore his best clothes when meeting your parents;

He looked really chill on the outside, though, and spoke really mechanically for the 1st half of the night, like he was applying for a job or something;

Little do you know he was applying to be your boyfriend EYYY--

Everyone knows you're in love. EVERYONE. It's really annoying to look at the two of you sometimes smh;

"JUST CONFESS AND GET IT OVER WITH PLEASE WE'RE ALL BEGGING YOU"

"Celeste, he doesn't like me like that..."

"YES BITCH HE DOES"

He's the main Slytherin Chaser and the Quidditch team captain;

What a surprise, omg!11!!1!

He's not even into the sport, he just wanted to make a point that even with his missing eye, he can still do anything everyone else can - and better;

Okay, Aemond, we get it, you're really cool;

You're also the Gryffindor Seeker (oh-oh, athletic rivalry???) and he ALWAYS comes to your games (when he's not directly playing against you, of course);

He won't be cheering for you while swinging a butterbeer in the air - but he will curse the other seeker out under his breath and smirk when you catch the Golden Snitch;

Your first ever game was against the Ravenclaws, and when he came to support you wearing all silver and green, you gave him your Gryffindor scarf;

"So you can blend in with the enemy!" You beamed at him so innocently;

He gaslit you into believing he gave it back and you just lost it;

You didn't lose it;

He stole it from you and now hides it in his trunk;

He takes it out when no one is in his dorm and sniffs it from time to time LMAO;

He bought you a new scarf from Hogsmeade, though;

Never give it to him during a game.

NEVER!

He will steal it again.

And buy you ANOTHER scarf;

And repeat the terrible cycle;

It just smells like you, okay???? It's not his fault, now leave him alone;

When you win a game, and you're not otherwise engaged, he celebrates with you in Hogsmeade;

He takes you to "The Empty Barrel" (literally the fanciest restaurant the little town has to offer);

"Don't even think about covering the whole check, Aemond!"

"Hmm."

No, he won't take you to Three Broomsticks. The tables there are sticky and he wants to do this right, god damn it...!

You feel bad that he always pays for those little dinners, when it should be you who covers the table;

So you shyly ask him if he wants to go celebrate one of his victories with you one day;

He wants to whisk you away and keep you all to himself with how adorable you're being;

Aemond accepts (how would he ever say no to you), but has to take an hour long cold shower after your proposition to cool off;

Anyway, you decide to take him to The Hog's Head!

You eat there and HE STILL COVERS THE DAMN CHECK;

"Aem. We agreed on something. Come on!"

"Did we now?"

"You're terrible. I'm never going out with you again."

But you do. And he knows not to take your cute threat seriously;

He gives you a small chuckle that makes your whole face burn in embarrassment over the things it led you to think about;

Despite the initial set-back, you do manage to one-up him that night, though! You tell him to wait in the empty Great Hall for you, and you return with a homemade apple pie and those horrible peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that you gave him when you first met;

"We never ate dessert! There's no way we can end the night without dessert."

He almost kisses you then and there, but gets scared you'll reject him;

The Portrait of Merlin ships you two. That's all I had to say.

No, but seriously, the most invested on-looker is the portrait of Merlin - he learns both your schedules every year and always keeps one of you busy with talking in between classes, so that you may "accidentally bump" into each other (see part 1 of the Yule Ball for a snippet of that);

The whole ass West Wing placed bets on who you'll end up with between Aegon, Aemond and Jacaerys.

Bonus: when you walk with Aemond, no matter the time of day, you have the biggest "scary dog privileges". NO ONE is getting close to bother you;

☆ Jacaerys Velaryon (Strong) ☆

You and Jace are also in the same year! But despite the fact that you guys have been seeing each other day and night since your sorting, you weren't really friends until your second year, when you suddenly got partnered up in so many of your classes;

You were excited to work with him, since he was so sweet to everyone, but you were also a little scared of rejection;

He came from a good family, he had a good last name, a million friends and a thousand extra-curriculars he partook in;

You half-expected to do all those projects wholly by yourself - to your surprise, Jace was incredibly serious, and the best partner anyone could ever hope for!

He never takes himself and his vision on things too seriously, and is more than happy to admit when he's wrong or when you have a better idea than him;

He smuggled pumpkin pastries into the Library for your first study meeting, and it ended up becoming tradition for the two of you;

How you never got caught eating in a forbidden space is beyond everyone at this point;

Although you never really started hanging out outside of class after your first couple of projects, you now called each other "friends" and always sat next to each other in Potions and DADA;

Unbeknownst to you, Jacaerys got into a fight over you and actually broke a Slytherin's nose when he heard him talk smack about you and your supposed weight;

"I dare you to say that again."

50 points were taken from Gryffindor that day - it was a pretty big deal;

He ended up talking so much about you to his parents on Christmas break, that they invited you to celebrate the New Year with them - you accepted, although a bit confused by the spontaneity of it all;

His family is the sweetest EVER;

Laenor made you a beautiful maroon sweater with your name designed on the collar with golden letters;

Of course, Jace had a matching one and wore his almost every day when you guys came back to Hogwarts;

He loved the fact that you were twinning your fits - even if you did it accidentally;

During your stay with his family, you got really close to Baela, Rhaena and Luke! You felt really grateful - your second year was rough for you, with Aemond's ever changing mood, and you felt so happy to be surrounded by friends who cared about you;

Jace and Luke BEGGED their parents to buy them a phone to talk to you over the summer in a more conventional way;

And they literally called you every single day while they spent their summer away in Denmark, visiting relatives;

You can only imagine how much they had to pay for all those international phone calls...

Let's get one thing straight, Jace has always been adorable.

BUT HIM DURING YOUR THIRD YEAR AT HOGWARTS??

HELLO??

Puberty hits this boy LIKE A TRUCK;

He looks so soft with that short fluffy hair and THE CURLS;

He also grows taller than you with half a foot;

To your (and everyone else's) mind, he was literally perfect - unapproachable;

People started calling him the school's prince, AND UNDERSTANDABLY SO;

Third year is a busy time for both of you - the try-outs for the Quidditch team are in full swing, and Jace lands himself the position of chaser (Luke follows you shortly the following year as your new keeper);

He quickly becomes the star of the Gryffindor team;

Girls swoon over him and his "sexy dimples";

You make fun of him for that and he blushes profusely, saying that he "doesn't like anyone like that anyway";

He literally sucks at Charms and Transfiguration, and he uses that to his advantage to get closer to you, since you excel at those subjects;

HIS LOVE LANGUAGE IS PHYSICAL TOUCH AND ACTS OF SERVICE;

Jace is so, so respectful of you though, he drinks that women respekt juice every single day; he wouldn't dare touch you if you weren't comfortable with that;

If you are just as touchy feely as he is, he LOVES having a protective hand thrown over you;

He has his own insecurities regarding his paternity rumours - The Targaryens are the embodiment of those very old pure-blooded families who still believe that muggleborns and half-bloods shouldn't "mix and match";

This is why Rhaenyra is even married with Laenor (who is obviously gay, and in the same predicament as she is, due to his family - bless him) and not Harwin Strong, Jace's actual father;

He feels trapped in his own family heritage, and feels so guilty when he catches himself thinking about escaping it sometimes;

Due to all that, Jace has a tendency to over-work himself and try to be in too many places at once;

You manage to level him and bring him back to earth - when he's with you, he forgets about his worries and he's so, SO GRATEFUL;

He falls in love with you during your 3d year at Hogwarts, but doesn't realise it until the very end of your 4th year (denial is a river in Egypt...);

Speaking of your 4th year, you have a small fall-out with Jace during that time, due to the fact that he gets his first girlfriend;

She's an exchange student from Ilvermorny, and she doesn't approve of your friendship one bit (oops);

Jacaerys tries to be the perfect gentleman with both of you, and fulfil both his "friend" duties, and his "boyfriend" ones;

Unfortunately, the perfect balance he figures out is ruined the moment you come to him with an emergency, and he completely forgets about the dinner date he had with his girl;

She breaks up with him the next day, telling him that he shouldn't use people to get over others;

And he's so confused, bless his heart;

"W... That's not... That's not what that was about!";

He feels really guilty for making his ex feel that way, and eventually figures out a way to make it up to her enough to stay friends;

Jacaerys is honestly the perfect ex LMAO;

Don't hate the player, hate the game;

His face completely falls when they brew Amorentia in Potions class and the whole place starts smelling like you;

But he STILL denies it for a while;

Psh, please, so many girls in this school could wear your exact perfume.

Right?

... right?

Jace is a very, very determined person. And once he sets his sight on someone, it's on;

You can bet the moment he hugs you goodbye at the train station, he's gonna think all summer about you and your beautiful soft hair;

Bonus: Jace's Boggart is a random manifestation of his loved ones dying - the worst one for him to face is yours;

☆ Aegon Targaryen ☆

Aegon doesn't care much about you at first;

He knows you're his younger brother's and nephew's "little girlfriend", and honestly doesn't see what's so great about you;

That is until you have a heart to heart with him when he's drunk out of his mind in Hogsmeade one day, during his 6th year (and your 4th one);

He was passed out into the snow, and you - beautiful, angelic you - came to his swift rescue;

He feels your warm hands touch his cheeks and forehead, and your own trench-coat cover him;

You lead him to the castle, and give him your coughing syrup that your parents packed for a quick pick-me-up;

"What's this?"

"It's cough syrup. For when your throat is sore."

"My throat isn't sore."

"Yet."

He becomes completely obsessed with you after that - and shows it to you in the harmless ways that he knows how;

Endless teasing, big and small pranks, small anonymous gifts;

His love language is gift giving and physical touch, so expect a lot of both, even if you aren't comfortable with that;

He is so thirsty for attention - even more so for your approval;

But he'll never admit it;

Still, if he happens to overhear that you like boys with short hair, he'll cut his hair short;

If he hears you like that soft boy aesthetic, that's exactly what he'll aspire to look like;

Unlike his younger brother and your other suitor, Aegon doesn't play Quidditch;

He'd much rather watch from the sidelines, thank you very much, and cause trouble while enjoying a cold butterbeer;

And unlike his baby brother, Aegon goes crazy with cheering for your victories (and even your losses when he's very drunk);

"HELL YEAH, (Y/N), THAT'S MY GIRL, WOOOO!"

"You do realise we lost... right?"

"... Oh."

"And I'm not your girl."

"... YET!"

The latter doesn't happen as often as you'd think;

It's cheesy, but you really do change him for the better. Slowly yet surely;

His support and affection for you goes as far as denying support for his own house.

"BOOO, FOUL PLAY!! THAT SEEKER SHOULD GET A RED CARD, HE PUSHED (Y/N) INTO THE OLD ARENA!"

"Aegon, that's the Hufflepuff Seeker..."

"..."

"BOOO!! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THESE THINGS?"

It's kind of obvious to everyone that he's also in love with you;

Except for you, since that's a theme;

You take his flirting as just that - Aegon flirting.

He gives you flowers on your birthday and a very expensive necklace with his initial on the back? - Nah, that's just how Aegon is.

He asks you out? - Nah, that's just how Aegon is.

He only dates girls who have a resemblance to you? - Nah, that's just how Aegon is.

Everyone gives you judgy looks when you say those things;

Aemond and Jacaerys are the only ones who are sort of glad you don't realise the depth of his feelings tbh;

You can bet Aegon and Aemond fight a lot because of you LMAO;

Oh, I'm sorry, you thought their relationship was bad before you entered the picture? Have a look at it now that Aegon's also courting you;

"You are so spoiled."

"I'm sorry? It was just a necklace. I don't understand why you're so pissed off about it."

"You know I love her."

"Are you dating her?"

"Hmm."

snickering "I'll take that as a no, then"

"Why is it that you feel the need to go after everything I want?"

"Easy there, brother, she's not your property or something."

"She's mine."

"You've known her for five years and you've done nothing to court her."

"Not everyone sleeps around on the first fucking date."

"Some people go after what they want. I warmly suggest you start doing the same."

"You aren't worthy enough of her. You never will be."

"... We'll see."

Bonus: Aegon has a moving picture of you and him in his wallet and sometimes talks to it when his life at home gets too hard;

Now this could be cute and sad at the same time, if not for that fact that Alicent caught him reciting a love poem to it once and Aegon panicked so hard, he pretended he was schizophrenic so she'd leave him alone;

She didn't, in fact, leave him alone;

He had to go to three different psychiatrists over the summer, to confirm that he was okay;

#aemond targaryen #aemond x reader #aemond fanfiction #aemond imagine #aegon x reader #house of the dragon hogwarts au #jacaerys x reader

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darksiderscreations · 4 months

Note

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So it's canon that Fury and Death shared a room which means the Horsemen probably all lived in the same house or wherever the Charred Council stored them. How do you think an average day was with the Four living together?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!!!

Oh boy, this is a great question. I honestly just imagine pure, utter chaos. Especially with Fury and Strife under the same roof; playing DS3 was fun in the sense that you saw just how reckless and angry Fury was. And that's in the era of the humans post apocalypse, so I imagine a younger Fury under the council, or younger in horsemen terms, would be even more scary😂

Poor Death is like an over-worked single father. I'd imagine at the very beginning of the whole council ordeal, he'd try to keep to himself and see if his siblings would sort themselves out.

No dice. The poor guy just wants to read a book and enjoy a cup of tea. The curse of the oldest sibling.

We all know Strife would be a damn nuisance (and I say this with all the love in the world because I lOVE Strife) but that nephilim would literally cause chaos at every turn. He's bored? Time to poke the War Bear. Maybe piss Fury off with a million questions. Death I think would have to chase Strife down in many instances where he decided 'you know what? I'm exploring whether the council says it's okay or not'. Just lots of shenanigans.

Now, I think War is one of the most interesting siblings to think about. He ISS my favorite...but that's beside the point 😂 I just think he's interesting. I think maybe in the younger years of the council's enforcement, he'd have lots of questions. But at the same time, he's a strict rule follower. Just look at his actions during the genesis game. In a way, he has Death's responsibility. He just also has that youngest sibling mindset of the group; I think he'd make a lot of mistakes in his younger years and spend lots of time beating himself up for it, the poor guy. He'd never admit it, but thinks the world of his older siblings.

Now. Fury. Oh lord. I imagine many, MANY instances of storming out on the group. Again, another instance where Death would have to reel his sibling in. The girl holds a grudge. ALWAYS.

And then, amidst all the chaotic living...I think the siblings would occasionally find time to co-exist together in peace. Perhaps it wouldn't last long, but I firmly believe they have a strong sense of family in them somewhere, even if they'd never admit it. Those moments together are pretty nice.

...

And then it'd all go to chaos again! haha

Feel free to add your opinions! I'm curious what you all think as well

#darksiders #strife #war #darksiders3 #fury #darksiders2 #death #darksidersgame #the council

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headkiss · 1 year

Note

Happy Holiday season!!! Here's the prompt :

“Did you break into my house?”

“You refused to put up any Christmas decorations! What choice did I have?”

Happy writing!

hiii u didn’t specify a character so i went with my beloved peter parker, hope that’s okay!!! | 0.6k, christmas fluff

Peter loves Christmas. The lights, the trees, the stockings, everything. You, on the other hand, are more of a Grinch about the whole thing.

Every year of your friendship, without fail, Peter would be the one to make your heart grow a couple sizes. He’d be cheerful enough for the both of you, gifting you a thoughtful present, and moving on.

Apart from the scented candles and your fairy lights that stay up all year round, you never decorate, either. And so, like the sweet, holiday loving boy he is, Peter decided to sneak into your apartment and decorate for you.

Nothing major. Some lights on your fire escape and a tiny fake tree would do, he thinks. Because even if you act like you dislike the holiday completely, he knows it’s only because you aren’t used to having someone to celebrate with.

You have him now, and he wants to change your mind. He wants to be the good memories for you, enough so that the bad doesn’t stick out so much.

So, late at night, when he thinks you’ll stay asleep, he swings up to your fire escape and gets to work. The cold December air bites at his skin, leaving his cheeks rosy.

It’s not until he’s in your living room, knocking something over that you wake up with a jolt.

You hear another noise, and your heart’s racing. There’s someone inside, you think, and that’s scary. You reach for your phone and turn on the flashlight, then grab the heaviest book from your shelf as your weapon. It’s not great, but it’s the best your sleep-clouded mind can come up with.

His head snaps up when he sees your flashlight, and you’re about to throw the book at him when you realize it’s Peter.

“What the hell?” You ask, looking at the way he’s crouched next to a tiny christmas tree.

He plugs it in and smiles at you. That smile you love so much; it’s hard to move past it. “Hey, honey.”

“Peter? Did you break in?”

He stands up, shrugs shyly at you, “well, you wouldn’t put up your own decorations. What choice did I have?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe not scaring me half to death? I thought you were a murderer!”

“Right, and you chose a book to defend yourself?”

“Shut up,” you toss it on the couch.

You’re trying really hard to stay annoyed with him, but that proves to be difficult when you’re sort of in love with him, too. Not to mention the fact that you know his intentions are good. They’re never not good when it comes to Peter.

“How about a ‘thank you, Peter, for bringing in the Christmas spirit.’” You give him a deadpan look. “Yeah, okay, maybe not.”

Maybe Peter should have just asked you to decorate with him, but he wanted to do something for you. You’re his best friend and he loves you and it matters to him that you aren’t lonely during the holidays. Or ever.

It’s why he invites you to May’s for dinner, and why he shows up unannounced so often.

You trail your hand down his arm, give his hand a squeeze and hold it loosely. “This was really sweet, Peter, I just wish I didn’t almost have a heart attack in the process.”

He squeezes your hand back, “I just wanted to make Christmas special for you, ‘cause I know you don’t really like it.”

“Well, Christmas with you is a whole lot better than Christmas without you, if that helps.”

It does, he thinks. It helps a lot.

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theemporium · 1 year

Text

[1.4k] wendesday!reader, a secret santa draw and a very flustered and ambitious steve harrington for the first day of christmas.

At first, Steve Harrington was elated to draw your name in the Secret Santa.

It was the perfect set up really. He adored Christmas—despite the fact he often spent it alone—he loved the songs and the decorations and the lights, the happiness that just seemed to take over the month of December. He prided himself in being a good gift giver, with money to spare and people he cared about to spare it on, it was truly meant to be.

And you.

Well, against all logic of anyone in Hawkins, Indiana, resident sunshine boy Steve Harrington had fallen for you. What started off as an innocent crush on a local weirdo had become something more and there was no denying he was absolutely and completely enamoured by you.

It was a perfect Hallmark set up if it weren’t for the fact that Steve had no fucking idea what to get you.

“What about a necklace?” Steve pondered after a few moments, fingers a little sticky from the candy cane in his hand. “Girls love jewellery, no?”

“And you think she will?” Dustin scoffed, shaking his head adamantly. “You’re screwed, dude. Accept it.”

“No, I’m not,” Steve puffed his chest out. He turned to the boy in his passenger seat. “What would you get her then?”

“Does she even celebrate Christmas?” Dustin countered with his nose scrunched up. “It doesn’t seem like…her thing, you know?”

“Fuck, what if she’s Jewish?” Steve murmured to himself. “Do you think she celebrates Hanukkah? People get Hannukah gifts too, right?”

Dustin blinked at him. “I meant Christmas spirit and gift giving, dumbass.”

“You’re meant to help me out!” Steve exclaimed, a little frazzled now at the fact that maybe his whole plan wasn’t working out the way he originally planned too. “I thought that’s why you were here!”

“Oh no, I needed a ride to the mall to get my Secret Santa gift,” Dustin said and flashed the older boy a massive grin. “And to coerce you into buying me hot chocolate.”

Steve narrowed his eyes. “You’re a scoundrel, Henderson.”

“At least I have my Secret Santa sorted,” Dustin retorted which only made Steve’s scowl deepen.

“I’ll work it out,” he insisted.

Dustin only snorted in response. “Yeah sure, and I’m the Easter Bunny.”

As it turned out, buying you a gift that Steve was sure you would enjoy was a lot harder to come by than he assumed. He had flicked through magazines, went door to door through different stores in town, and had even gone as far as trying to ask some of the others for help (since Dustin was useless), his bet being none other than resident scary outcast, Eddie Munson.

“I don’t know, dude,” Eddie answered with a shrug, not looking up from the bass on his lap which he had been replacing the strings of since he shattered one in his last gig. Steve knew well enough that Dustin had bought him new strings for that very reason as a part of Secret Santa but kept his mouth shut. “Get her some…bugs or shit.”

Steve blinked in disbelief. “Bugs or shit? That’s all you’ve got?”

“Believe it or not, Harrington, but she scares the shit out of me too,” Eddie retorted with an easy grin on his face.

“She isn’t scary,” Steve defended with a small huff, hands placed on his hips as he stood a few feet away from the curly haired boy.

“Oh my mistake,” Eddie drawled out as he placed a hand over his heart, a mocking pout on his lips but the mischief glimmering in his eyes. “Forgot you’re in love with her.”

“Me? In love? Pffft, no!” Steve spluttered out, his cheeks quickly flushing pink as he waved his friend off. “You’re talking bullshit, Munson.”

“It’s the only other reason I could see for you to care so much about her gift,” Eddie stated as though it were the simplest explanation. “Either scared shitless or dumb enough to fall for her.”

Steve scoffed. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Eddie’s grin widened. “She is gonna rip your heart out for breakfast, Harrington. A pretty present wrapped in a bow isn’t gonna change that.”

“Whatever,” Steve grumbled as he grabbed his jacket that laid on the stool, shrugging it on over his shoulders as he made his way towards the trailer door. “You are useless.”

“Just accept defeat, Stevie!”

“Fuck off, Munson!”

And then the day of the exchange came, and Steve truly could not think of a day that matched his nerves as this one did. His stomach had been fluttering with some weird mix of anxiety and butterflies, his heart was seconds away from beating out of his chest and he swore he would explode if he had to wait any longer.

One by one, they went around the circle until they finally landed on you.

The words were already tumbling out in a rambling mess the second Steve stood up to hand you the present, but that just seemed to be the effect you had on him. His eyes were fixed on the half-ass job he did in wrapping the box and the messy bow tied around the gift. Even the tag with your name scribbled on it with his messy handwriting looked a little too illegible now, and Steve was suddenly left wondering if maybe the others were right.

Maybe he should have just accepted defeat.

“It’s just something small, not even that big of a deal if I am being honest. It’s just something I thought you would find practical and I was already in the next town over doing…something completely unrelated and I saw the store and thought—”

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“Just hand me the box.”

“Yeah, okay.”

His nails were digging into the skin of his palm as he watched you effortlessly tear through the taped up paper, your calculating eyes fixed on the familiar logo on the box. You paused for a moment—an action so brief that barely anybody would notice but Steve did. Your hands quickly moved to lift the lid.

“I know you like those shoes a lot and there isn’t a store here and I saw them in the window…” Steve trailed off, the insistent need to fill the silence battling his need for you to say something before he exploded. “And I remember you said your boots were being worn down so—”

“I never said that,” you stated simply as you lifted your head, eyes finding his in the room and the existence of the others didn’t seem to matter much at that moment.

But it was true. You had never once told him or anyone that your boots had worn down. You had never even hinted at it. It was just something Steve himself had picked up on because he was pathetically in love with you and his attention was glued to you whenever you were in his vicinity.

You wore those damned boots everywhere you went, no matter the weather or the occasion. You had worn them every day Steve had known you and he noticed how scuffed out they looked. He couldn’t imagine they were doing you any good anymore, especially as winter hit Hawkins a little harder than it had done the past few years.

New boots were practical, Steve had reasoned with himself. It wasn’t just some cheesy gift you’d roll your eyes at and hate him forever for.

“Right,” Steve cleared his throat. “You didn’t.”

He didn’t know if it was the mulled wine or the heavily spiked eggnog, nor did he know if the delusion and lack of air getting to his brain was finally affecting him as he tried not to think about how close you were to him now. But Steve could have sworn he saw your lips twitch, just the slightest amount that it was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Thank you, Steve,” you said as you closed the lid of the box and placed it down beside your feet.

Steve stared at you, a little dazed and it wasn’t until Dustin kicked his shin that he finally snapped out of his thoughts. “Yeah, no problem. Anytime.”

His answer seemed to amuse you.

He found himself catching glances at you throughout the rest of the night, something quite like adrenaline and excitement buzzing through his veins at his successful Secret Santa. And sometimes he would catch you staring back, albeit a lot less flustered and bashful than he was.

And maybe—just maybe—the Secret Santa was all Steve needed to realise his feelings weren’t as hopeless and unrequited as he thought.

#steve harrington #stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fic #steve harrington one shot #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things x y/n #stranger things fic #stranger things one shot #wednesday!reader #wednesday!reader x steve harrington

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girl-next-door-writes · 1 year

Text

More Than You Could Ever Know

Characters: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Steve becomes your knight in shining armour, but things start to get a little too close to the truth for comfort.

Word Count: 1763 words

Prompt: #19: Fake dating to appease the parents but it turns real.

A/N: The lovely @zaramarrogers chose this prompt for the wonderful Mr. Steve Rogers, and I think it is super cute.

Steve looked up from his sketchbook as you burst into the room. “Okay, which of you fantastic, amazing, kind, wonderful, handsome men are prepared to be my fake boyfriend for an evening? I can offer a free three course meal at a nice restaurant and free drinks. Though not enough for you to get drunk because you need to impress my parents.”

“I would love to offer my services, but I think Pepper would kill me.” Tony grinned, leaning on the back of the sofa.

“Yeah, your ‘playboy’ days are long gone, Stark, but thank you for the hypothetical offer.”

“Don’t take Barnes,” Sam smirked, “He’ll scare the crap out of everyone with that murder stare of his, and his resting bitch face.”

“Hey! I’ve not got resting bitch face.” Bucky frowned, utilizing his murder stare.

“Look, I don’t care which one of you steps up here, I just need someone because I cannot sit through another Christmas family celebration with all my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my parents, everyone, and have that same damned conversation. The one where everyone tries to work out what’s wrong with me because I’m still single. Just once, I would like to just have a nice night, so will someone do me a solid here?”

The fact you didn’t care who did you this favour made Steve’s stomach drop. He had been hoping the two of you had been moving towards being closer, that you might have sort him out to ask this favour of him, but that wasn’t the case.

“Well, Hope wouldn’t be overjoyed about Scott playing that role. Bucky is too scary, Clint is too grumpy, Tony is too under the thumb, so I guess...” Sam grinned, watching Steve out the corner of his eye.

“I’ll do it.” Steve blurted out, not wanting Sam to offer first. The thought of you pretending to be with anyone, or even really being with anyone, made his blood run cold. He wanted you more than you would ever realise, and if this was as close as he was going to get then he would take it.

“Really?” Your face lit up with a smile and you practically bounced over to him, kneeling on the sofa beside him and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. “You really are the best, Steve Rogers. Total life saver. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” You enthused and Steve basked in your happiness, watching with a goofy smile as you bounded out of the room to get ready for the family gathering.

“Thought you were gonna fumble that one, man.” Sam smirked. “Now go show the girl how good you would be together. Take the shot.”

Steve was nervous and as he stood beside you outside the restaurant, he tried to swallow down his anxiety. This was a huge amount of pressure. What if your family didn’t like him? What if he did something and you saw him differently? When your hand slipped into his, he looked down at you and gave you a reassuring smile. He was here for you, to give you a nice evening, everything else didn’t matter.

“You ready? You remember the back story and everything?”

“This isn’t my first mission, doll. I can do this.”

“Right, well, here we go.”

He held the door open for you and as soon as the two of you entered you were engulfed in hugs by women of various ages. The warm welcome caught Steve off guard, but he smiled and returned greetings, even blushed at the compliments that came his way.

“Come, come sit. We’ve got the large table at the back. Now then, Steve, I can see why she kept you all to herself, she obviously didn’t want to share such a fine young man.” Your mother teased as she hooked her arm through his and led him off to the table. Steve looked over his shoulder at you, a hint of panic in his eyes.

“You’ve got this.” you mouthed, giving him two thumbs up as you followed behind.

By the time everyone had made their way through the starters, Steve was feeling much more comfortable. His arm rested on the back of your chair, and he made sure to keep you close. He joked with your grandfather, talked sports with your father, even shared some stories about life outside of missions. Every few minutes, he would glance at you, checking in, and make sure you were okay and enjoying yourself.

Leaning into Steve as you talked to your aunt across the table, you couldn’t help but notice how easy this all was. He made you laugh as much as Bucky did, was as interesting as Bruce, could weave a story as well as Tony, in fact, he was pretty much the perfect boyfriend. Fake boyfriend, you mentally corrected yourself. This was all pretend after all, there was no need to get caught up in thoughts of what could definitely never be.

You tuned back into Steve’s conversation as dessert was placed on the table. It seemed that someone had asked about when he realised you were the one for him. A sense of panic washed over you, this was not something you had covered in the extensive backstory you’d concocted.

“You know, people talk about these big moments, all dramatic and emotional. It wasn’t like that. I was coming back from a workout late one night, I couldn’t sleep, and I headed to the kitchen to grab a drink. She was sat at the counter wearing a huge hoodie that drowned her, hair all disheveled from sleep, pillow creases still on her cheek, and her hands wrapped around a warm mug. She looked all sleepy and on the verge of falling asleep right there on the counter. I had this overwhelming urge to just pick her up and carry her to her bed, tuck her in and just be with her. Not that I told her any of that because I was fairly certain I didn’t stand a chance. I mean, look at her, she’s amazing. So, there I was, just looking at her like some love stuck teenager or something, and she rubbed her eye, yawned and then fell backwards off the stool. I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast in my life! I caught her, made sure she was sitting securely, and she looked up at me and said, ‘Hey Cap, didn’t see you there.’ That was it. As if she just knew I’d stop her from falling even if she didn’t know I was there.”

Your cheeks grew warm. You remembered that night, it had been so long ago, and you were surprised that was the moment he’d chosen to share. Watching his expression, you suddenly began to understand how much that moment had meant to him. Replaying all your interactions with Steve, it felt as if a floodgate of realisation had been opened. Innocent interactions now held so much significance. Small touches, the times you caught him looking at you, the words that hung in the air between you unspoken.

“And what about you, dear? When did you realise Steve was the one?” Your Grandmother asked and you felt all eyes on you, expectant.

“I, erm, I needed someone to help me with this thing, this mini mission, and Steve was the first to offer to help. He put so much work into it, made sure it all went perfectly and he always seems to surprise me. I never really thought about it before but he’s right, I know he will always be there to catch me, and I want to be there for him too. There have been so many little moments, helping me with tree day and dancing to cheesy Christmas music. He is... he’s wonderful, and I am very lucky to have him in my life.” You glanced up at Steve who was looking at you as if you hung the stars.

The moment was broken by the cheers as the last of the desserts arrived and everyone could tuck in. Steve found he wasn’t all that hungry. The butterflies in his stomach took up more room than he would like, and his mind was whirling. Did you mean what you had said? Was it part of the pretence? Did you like him too? It wasn’t as if he could ask you any of that in front of your family, so he kept quiet, indulging in small talk and trying his best not to get his hopes up.

Steve managed to hold in all his questions until you arrived back at the compound. As you trudged up the gravel driveway towards the main door, he tugged at your hand, silently asking you to stop. Once you entered the building then the evening would be over, the pretence would be done with, and he needed just a few more moments.

“Tonight was...” he began, trailing off as he got distracted by your eyes.

“You were a big hit. I think I will have to bring you along to all future family gatherings or I’ll never hear the end of it.” you chuckled.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” he said softly, running his thumb over yours.

“No?”

“No. I could very easily get used to being your boyfriend.”

The lack of the word ‘fake’ hung between you, the silence loaded.

“So, if this was a date then what happens next?” You asked, your eyes darting momentarily to his lips.

“Well, I would escort you to your door, thank you for a wonderful evening, and...”

You surged up and pressed your lips to his before he could finish his sentence. It took him a moment to catch up with what was happening, but as soon as he did, he was kissing you back eagerly. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close as if you might evaporate or vanish like a dream. When he eventually pulled back a little, he rested his forehead against yours.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He said breathily.

“Then maybe we should make up for lost time.” You hummed, cupping his face and bringing him in for another kiss.

#Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers x reader #Steven's greeting #gndw fic

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iamafule · 4 months

Text

I think the reason people are using dreamworks to hate on Disney is because Dreamworks relies on more of a fantasy element where there's magic and fairies and it's all set in the past or in a magic land where everything's interesting whereas Disney relies on pixar and Marvel to make shitty movies that all have the same character tropes and the same morals that are all set in the modern world or the future

Dreamworks can acknowledge that people don't really like the present because of the whole screen addiction thing so they stick to a timeline and a theme where screens are rarely and sometimes never necessary while Disney likes to focus on being inclusive so they modernise all their stories.

Also Dreamworks is more open to experimental work and the animators have more creative freedom to draw things in different styles or give the characters different features and personalities and details and little mannerisms and habits (Take Hiccup for example: handicapped, left handed, talks with his hands alot, adventurous, smart but stupid about it, very peaceful) while all Disney's characters are hollow and a sort if copy and paste theme.

Dreamworks takes more risks to put out movies with plots and characters that no ones ever seen before while Disney just takes stories they've already done, changes up the characters a little bit and them adds a message about generational trauma.

This leads to my rant about how much I hate httyd 3.

The soundtrack was too melodramatic. And the visuals were all bright and colourful to get the attention of 2 year olds. The light fury design was pathetic. The only reason the light fury exists is to be Toothless's girlfriend. Then they went against everything they'd worked for within the first 2 movies. In the first 2 it was all about how Hiccup and Toothless are bestfriends and stick together no matter what. That was even the moral in the 2 shows, first Christmas special and one of the short spin off films. But the third movie went against all of that and made them separate. It ruined the trilogy! The second movie however. The soundtrack fit perfectly for each scene and the colour scheme was perfect. In the scenes where Hiccup discovered his mother and the bewilderbeast nest the colours are appropriate and bright while not bombarding the screen with flashing lights and colours while the scenes featuring Drago had a more dark and sinister colour scheme, as well as the music becoming more heavy and ominous. Where as in the hidden world the colour scheme always had bright colours which made it feel less dark and scary. They modernised the Viking age so that it would be more appealing to younger generations. But the thing about the how to train your dragon fan base is that it mostly consists of people aged 12-27.

#httyd #how to train your dragon #dreamworks #dreamworks animation #disney #dreamworks vs disney #httyd 3 #httyd the hidden world #httyd thw #how to train your dragon the hidden world

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gracieheartspedro · 7 months

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Somewhere With You ~ a sneak peak

so here's a lil snippet of part 4 of How Long! I am still working out the kinks and shit. I'm not 10000% when it'll be posted, and these parts may be reworked, but it's coming SOON. I promise. but I'm giving you two lil snippets. I know you guys have been waiting forever. so here's a little bit of what's to come! pardon if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes btw!

here's a cute gif of smoochie too!

Here's a lil snippet of the beginning of the chapter (:

“You talk to your Mama lately? She still likin’ Maine?” It wasn’t a question you were expecting coming from Joel. You had told him about your mom around the time that she moved away, however long ago that was. You truly didn’t expect him to even remember. “We talk every week, she likes it there. Wants me to come experience a winter there, so I may go up for Christmas,” You explain, remembering back to conversation you two just had last week. She wanted you to feel what fluffy snow felt like and maybe go skiing with her. It makes Joel’s heart sink a bit. Not because you would be visiting your mother, but instead you would not be here to spend Christmas with him and Sarah. He had already planned on making a spot for you at the dining table. “That’d be nice,” He licks his lips, contemplating if he should say what he really wants to say, “‘M bettin’ she misses seein’ your beautiful face everyday.” You smile, your cheeks burning hot at Joel calling you beautiful. You knew you had to throw him off and give him a sarcastic response to keep him on his toes. “Gonna freeze my ass off there. May have to borrow some of your flannels.” He chuckles, tilting his head towards you, “You already havta’ have about four of my t-shirts, now that hoodie. You wanna raid me some more?” “If I’m remembering correctly, you said I just had to “get with you” to get clothes,” You’re whispering, leaning into him. You don’t want Sarah to hear the words you’re speaking to her father, “How many times do we need to go at it before I get one of those denim jackets you own?” He peers over at you. You smirk, quirking one eyebrow up. “You with me to get my clothes or somethin’?” “That and other things,” You tease, pulling away, leaning your back against the seat again. Joel peers into the rear view mirror. Sarah is asleep, her headphones blasting her favorite pop album. He tilts his head towards you, his eyes not leaving the road, “You’ll havta remind me of those other things when we get home.” He could get used to always having you in his passenger seat.

and then the part you all have been waiting for (;;;;;

“What is going on here?” His voice scares you. You don’t even want to turn around in Joel’s lap to face him. Joel slowly helps you out of his lap, his eyes never leaving Tommy’s. When you finally turn to face Tommy, his eyes are wild and bright red. He looks like he hasn’t showered in days, his longer hair greasy and standing in all sorts of directions. It’s not his appearance that scares you, it’s the energy he’s brought into Joel’s living room. It’s the same scary tension you experienced when he lashed out on you before. Joel finally speaks up, clearing his throat. “What do you mean?” But Tommy isn’t talking to Joel. He’s looking at you. “Are you fuckin’ my brother?” He’s pointing at you, his finger waving at you like an adult who’s scolding a child. You open your mouth, but you can’t say anything. Your throat is dry, the shock and terror taking ahold of your vocal cords. “Tommy, we aren’t doing this.” Joel puts himself in between Tommy and you, ensuring he does not creep closer to you. You want to believe Tommy would never get physical with you, but the way he looks now, you are not one hundred percent positive. “That’s not what I fuckin’ asking, Joel. Are you two sleepin’ together?” His voice is booming, bouncing off every corner of the room. It makes you shrink three sizes. Joel places his head up, warning him silently not to get any closer, “Tommy-” “Answer the fuckin’ question!” You want to curl into a ball. You knew this would fucking happen. You knew he would go insane. You look at Joel finally. You realize your eyes were trained on Tommy in terror, unsure on how to console him. Joel licks his lips, rolling his eyes a bit. You just nod, trying to answer Tommy’s question without saying anything. You did not want him to realize how shaky your voice was. Once he gets confirmation, all hell breaks loose. He’s pushing on Joel with his chest, screaming expletives at him. “You’re a fuckin’ asshole! You fucked my girl-“ Before he can even finish the statement, Joel becomes a brick wall. He’s staring down at Tommy now, all the while snot is running down at his little brother’s face. He looked pathetic. As he nudges Joel’s chest, he hardly moves a millimeter. Joel does not even hesitate when he says the next words. “Not your girl.”

#how long part 4 #gracie writes #joel miller fanfic #joel miller x reader #joel miller being a hot dilf and fighting for you #joel miller fic #joel miller smut #joel miller #gracieheartspedro

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 3 months

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Am i the asshole for not inviting a friend to my birthday event?

For context, my birthday is in the week between Christmas and NYE so as a kid, I always had to celebrate with my friends either before the holidays or after because everyone (including me) would be travelling to see family at Christmas.

Since my late teens, the only thing I've done for my birthday is have lunch with my family and then dinner with my best friend. (Not the friend this story is about.)

In the past year, I've made four new friends: A, B, C, and D. In 2023, they all invited me to their birthday events (all in August) and I went.

In September, I asked all four of them if they wanted to do an escape room. (Not for my birthday, but just for like something to do on a Saturday.) A and B declined because they didn't like the idea (fair enough) so I went with C and D.

All three of us had agreed to do it again and I'd mentioned it to another friend, who also wanted to go. So I thought we could go for my birthday.

I didn't invite A and B because they said they didn't want to go to an escape room in September and I couldn't imagine that their feelings had changed in three months. Plus, you can only have a max of four people for the room that I wanted to do.

Now, I did try to plan a meal with A, B, C, and D but when I asked in early December, none of them were really sure when they could make it because they didn't know when they were working that week or when they were seeing family and I asked for them to let me know.

However, but the time everyone could let me know when they were free, I had injured my my arm and was on a lot on painkillers. It was a pretty scary time but I didn't want to worry anyone going into Christmas, so I just said it was too complicated to arrange stuff that week and we could sort it in January.

After Christmas, A suggested a date for my birthday meet up in December. It was a date that B couldn't do anyway, so I told the group chat about the injury and that I wouldn't be up for meeting up until I was better.

I also messaged C, D, and my other friend to tell them that I would have to let them know on the day if I could make it because of my injury. Because the deposit for the escape room was non-refundable and I could manage to get about, I decided to go. Although, it would have been more fun if I hadn't been hurting.

Then, I stopped taking the stronger tablets because you're only allowed to take them for so long. And I spent the rest of the week and the first week of Jan in the house resting as much as possible. I even felt confident enough to make birthday plans for mid-January.

However, I never told A and B that I did go out for my birthday with C and D. I never actually told them that I had these plans because I didn't want them to think that we were making plans and not including them. (for context, I've definitely previously made non-birthday plans with both A and B without including the others.)

A was feeling bad for me about me not celebrating my birthday. (I didn’t tell her that I hadn't done anything but it's a reasonable assumption.) She didn't say this to me though. She said it to C, who reassured her that I'd enjoyed my birthday at the escape room.

Now, C did tell A that the reason I hadn't said anything about it is because I knew A and B didn't like escape rooms and C thinks that A understood.

But A isn't responding to my texts now and I'm guessing it's because they think I was excluding them from my birthday event for no reason, like I didn't want to have them at my birthday.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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shinoposting · 6 months

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You are one of the few quality Shino blogs on here and I just wanted to get this off my chest (since he’s my fav character)! Everyone seems to think Shino’s favorite animated movie would be Disney’s A Bug’s Life but I honestly see him liking Roald Dahl’s/Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach or Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind much MUCH more. Do you have any HC’s for the types of media content Shino would like to watch/read in a more modern setting?

The Bug's Life jokes are classic flanderization. Happens to side characters all the time, I just try to ignore it now.

Honestly bug boy has VERY gothic sensibilities. I see him liking a lot of tech-noir media. Naruto is a bit anachronistic but for the most part the setting is based on Kishi's 80s childhood, meaning that Shino could have easily seen early tech-noir movies. I think Shibi is into classic noir films, so it sort of fits in with this theme of...wanting to be like his dad, but also his own person. If that makes sense.

As for KIDS' media? Before finding his niche I think he would be drawn to underrated and strange, dark fantasy, things that other kids might find too scary like The Black Cauldron. Ironically though, not a fan of Nightmare Before Christmas. Come on, why's the guy who's full of bugs gotta be the villain? For that reason a lot of media involving insects or arachnids are off the table; he's quite easily offended when it comes to bugs.

I have not seen Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind myself but on a cursory google search these bugs definitely look like something he would be interested in. I can imagine him filling a whole notebook with ideas and diagrams....

Printed media...we know he likes shonen manga, and western comics are also implied. It seems like Shino preferred Marvel and Torune preferred DC?

I can't talk much on books really, I haven't been able to enjoy a book for many many years (personal reasons) so outside of YouTube reviews of known trash fires I really have no idea what's going on in the world of words on paper.

And for shows, Nat Geo and the like are a given, but I also have a longstanding headcanon that Shino really likes Gundam. We've never gotten to see his room, but I think he would have a whole glass case of custom-painted models. My only basis for this is that it was popular at the time and Shino is a big fucking nerd, detail-oriented, content to work with forceps...and robots are a lot like bugs, if you think about it (but not too hard). Maybe he watched the show with Torune when they were little.

Oops. That was longer than I intended it to be. Well, I hope that answered your question!

#naruto #naruto headcanons #shino #shino aburame #aburame shino #long post?#headcanon zone #askbox

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storiesbyrhi · 1 year

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Angel of the First Degree - Chapter 13: Pretending

Eddie Munson x Chubby!Reader 5158 words Series Masterlist

Warnings: Anxiety; fatphobia including internalised; drug use; bullying; body issues; discussion of body function and fluids; period shame/stigma; disclosure of sexual assault (chapter 2); disordered eating and thoughts of food; shitty/abusive/critical parents; porn magazines; smut; reference to suicide (specifically Virginia Woolf’s); no beta; grief/mourning; verbal fighting; warnings updated each chapter

Synopsis: When Eddie Munson finds you in the midst of a panic attack, it is the beginning of something. A fic featuring body and sex positivity, Eddie in a dress, soft small moments, scary big truths, and all the usual special feelings you’d expect from one of my stories.

Chapter Summary: Tis the season to be sorry. Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la. Deck the halls in boughs of worry...

Author’s Note: I honestly didn’t purposefully leave you on a cliffhanger for this long. Life and motivation got in the way, you know? But, we’re here now, and we’re heading into the final chapters. They’ll probably be posted slowly too, BUT I am working on something new. It’s a Witch!Reader x Eddie one. V. excited for it.

The large metal drum hadn’t held oil in over a decade. Instead, it was alight more often than not, acting as a constant destroyer of trailer park trash. You tended to avoid it because of the smell. It got bad when people put rubber or roadkill in the flames. All your senses were drowned out by fear and pain though. You couldn’t even smell the smoke that plumed from the drum as your college acceptance letters burned.

Neighbours had been keeping an eye on the commotion that began with the loud voice of Eddie Munson, apparently yelling at his girlfriend. Some thought, that would be right. Others, the ones that knew him better, were confused. Then, it had been Eddie tearing from his trailer and skidding out of the park.

Your sobbing was louder than Eddie’s yelling had been. It went on for what seemed like forever. The silence was short lived, for not long after you appeared and stalked through the park. Past the cheap Christmas lights some residents had strung along trailers and mobile homes. Past the playground and the picnic benches.

At the trash fire, they watched you stand motionless after throwing in a small handful of paper. When you didn’t leave immediately, just stood still and sad in the early evening cold, they stopped watching.

…

When Eddie came home, it was close to midnight. You were back in bed, knocked out by three valium and a badly rolled joint. Wayne had tried to get you to eat, tried to tell you that it would be okay, but you just mumbled something about not being hungry and being sorry, then disappeared back into the bedroom. A sense of small wretchedness and scent of fire was left in your wake.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Wayne demanded, standing as soon as Eddie was through the door.

“I know-”

“No. No, you fucking don’t Eddie. I’ve cleaned up some fucking messes before, but this… What were you thinking?! Were you even thinking?”

“I shouldn’t have said-”

“No. You shouldn’t have. But, fuck… Just leaving her like that? She was in there crying her eyes out for hours. Ran out with her letters. Think she went and burnt them in the pit. Came back smellin’ of smoke… Eddie…”

The disappointment in Wayne’s voice was worse than the look of judgement on his face. Eddie felt like shit, which wasn’t an entirely new state for him, but this was easily the worst it had ever been.

As soon as he left the trailer and hit the road, all the anger had dissipated from Eddie. Shame and regret washed over him. He drove around for hours trying to sort his head out, come up with a good way of explaining himself. There was so much to unpack in his reaction to the acceptance letters, and he lacked the tools to know where to begin.

“I’m sorry,” he told his uncle weakly.

“Not me you should be apologising to,”

“I know… But I am. You shouldn’t have to deal with this shit. I’m not a fuckin’ kid anymore,” Eddie said.

Of course, a twenty-year-old will think they’re not a child, but it was more than clear by Eddie’s outburst that he was still a kid, terrified of being unloved and traumatised by abandonment. Wayne took a breath.

“You two never talked about next year?”

Eddie shook his head. “I don’t fuckin’ know… Think we both just avoided it?”

“Fat lot of good that did… Girl that smart, working that hard… Did you think she was just gonna get a job at the diner and stay here?”

Yes.

Maybe.

No.

Eddie didn’t know.

“Never again, Ed. You don’t talk to her, or any girl like that. Ever again. You hear me?”

“There’s not…” Not going to be any other girl. It was just you, if he could fix what he’d done.

Eddie nodded and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. His eyes were bloodshot and lips drying, cracks threatening to appear by morning if he didn’t steal some of your lip balm. Wayne thought he looked like a drowned cat, a pitiful creature in need of empathy.

“Come ‘ere,” he said, stepping to his nephew and opening his arms for a hug.

Eddie quickly accepted the invitation, sniffling into Wayne’s collar and trying not to cry again.

“I fucked up,”

“Yeah… But the damage is done. Ain’t nothing you can do ‘bout that now. The future, Eddie. Gotta think about the future,”

“Yeah… Yep. Uh, is she up?”

“No. I checked in on her ‘bout an hour ago. Dead to the world. Think she might have got into your stash, but she’s alright.”

Leaving Wayne in the lounge room, Eddie made his way down the hall and slipped into the bedroom’s darkness.

It was never truly pitch black in the room; the trailer park lights were ever illuminated, and despite the curtains and canvases, Eddie couldn’t keep the light out. In that moment though, he was grateful. He crept over piles of clothes and other things without tripping and slid onto the bed next to you.

You were deep in the throes of a REM sleep nightmare. Eddie could see your eyes move behind your eyelids and your bottom lip quiver. He wanted to wake you, save you from it, but he knew that it was a chemical sleep that would be hard to pierce, and that you’d probably not consider it saving at all.

Eddie laid and watched you for a while. Tears rolled down his cheeks, making the pillow beneath him wet. What would he do if you didn’t forgive him? What would he do if you left in the morning, disappeared to Chicago, and never spoke to him again? The thoughts swirled, making him nauseous and deeply ashamed.

By the time the sun rose over Hawkins and the blackbirds were singing, Eddie had accumulated about an hour of sleep. Minutes caught over the hours. Restless minutes. Cold sweat. Itchy eyes. By 5:00 am, he gave up.

Out in the trailer, he checked in on Wayne. His uncle was sound asleep on the fold-out bed, his usual snores providing the only comfort Eddie had felt in a while. After chugging some orange juice from the jug in the fridge and a visit to the bathroom where he avoided eye contact with himself, he returned to you.

Eddie wanted to snuggle into you. He wanted to wrap himself around your waist and bury his face in your soft tummy. He wanted his girlfriend, the person he loved more than he thought he was capable of. But, he knew he had to wait.

He couldn’t pretend yesterday hadn’t happened.

When your eyes fluttered open, it had just gone 7:00 am. Eddie had picked up a magazine and had been flipping through it for over an hour. The letters kept jumbling and words seemed foreign. The best he could do is stare at the photos. The movement beside him made him freeze.

For a couple of seconds, you had that new day amnesia. Everything was normal for one… two… three… four… oh.

Stretching out, you shook off sleep and sat up. You squinted in the morning light then looked over at Eddie. His big brown eyes were already watching you, waiting for impact. The tension was thick, but rather than it feeling volatile and angry, the room felt miserable.

Slowly, you repositioned yourself to be sitting cross-legged facing Eddie. He was leaning against the wall, a pillow softening the pressure. Although you weren’t sure the best way to say it, you did know what you wanted. Eddie had always understood your vagueness before, so you just hoped he would again.

“Um,” you started but stopped to clear your throat. It felt dry, worn from hours of sobbing.

“Baby-”

“No, just- Um, let me go first,” you interrupted.

Eddie nodded, although shutting up felt bad.

“For my whole life, I’ve just been waiting to get out of Hawkins… Because of, you know, Mum and Dad. And it was like that at the start of the year. College was the best way to get out. I’m smart. I could do it. They’d see it as a good thing. So, that was the plan… But then… this happened and I didn’t need to get out of Hawkins anymore. But I’d already applied for colleges. It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you. We can just… just pretend nothing happened.”

Eddie couldn’t pretend yesterday hadn’t happened. You, on the other hand, most certainly could.

Eddie’s heart broke, for real that time. “Angel… Babe, you don’t have to explain anythin’. Don’t have to say a fucking thing. This is my fault, not yours. You haven’t done anything,”

“No, you don’t get it. I don’t… I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do a weird saying sorry conversation or whatever. I don’t want to go. I don’t want anything to change. So, we’re just gonna pretend, okay?”

Your expression was pure desperation. Eddie felt sick, but he nodded anyway. You let out a deep breath.

“Can I at least say that I’m sorry? I was an asshole. I didn’t mean-” Eddie tried.

“No. ‘Cause nothing happened. I’m fine.”

It wasn’t how Munsons handled their shit. The bad ones, they fought it out. The good ones talked it out. Regardless of the road taken, the destination was the same. At the end of the day, it was all out in the open.

In your house, discretion and secrets were the way of life. All you had known was concealed emotion and folding to avoid conflict. It was so ingrained, that you didn’t really realise it was what you were doing. You knew you loved Eddie and that he was your top priority. In your mind, pretending the day before didn’t happen made sense.

“Okay… Uh, nothing… happened. But you should still think about college,”

“It was only ever a way out,” you said, clearly annoyed that you needed to repeat yourself.

Eddie wanted to cry, but he clenched his jaw and nodded. He was so sure you were going to leave him for Chicago, then leave him for being cruel, so he’d swallow the lie if it kept you close.

“…’Kay… I love you. I’d do anything for you. I’d go anywhere with you. You know that, right?”

“Mmhmm,” you answered, moving onto your knees and wriggling closer to him. “I love you too.”

Finally, after hours and hours and hours, he had you in his arms. Eddie pulled you into his lap and held you tight. When you leaned in against his chest, he rested his head on yours. He could smell smoke in your hair, bitter and telling.

…

The following day, it genuinely felt as if the prior few days happened weeks, months, if not years ago. You’d locked it away entirely, and Eddie was processing his shame in secret minutes here and there. It helped that Wayne had moved on, talking and acting like he hadn’t tried to scoop you back together and hadn’t seen his nephew at his worst.

Wayne’s truck pulled up around 7:00 am. You listened to him put water on for tea and unfold his bed with a metallic creak. Eddie was still asleep, curled around your back with one arm under the pillow your head rested on, and the other lost somewhere between your body and his. He didn’t wake when the shower turned on, the pipes shaking in the walls.

This was Wayne’s routine after a night shift. Shower. Tea. Sleep. Sometimes, like that day, he would softly knock on the bedroom door to check on his kids. The door opened and Wayne’s tired face appeared.

“Anyone awake?”

“Yeah,” you whispered.

“Hey, kid,” Wayne greeted. “You guys got plans today?”

“Uh, Eddie was going to go see Liz about doing some work for them,”

“Who’s Liz?”

“She owns the music store. Not the new one in the mall, the other one,” you told him.

If you were at Starcourt 2.0 Eddie would happily spend time in their music store. The guys knew him. It was as good a place as any to buy manuscript paper or guitar strings. However, Eddie much preferred the shop tucked in one of Hawkins’ shitty strip malls. He claimed it was something about it being a family business and that they knew their stuff.

Wayne snorted. “He’s on nickname basis now is he?”

“Don’t,” Eddie’s croaky voice warned, rising from the sleep-dead.

Wayne chuckled. “Gonna go see your girlfriend today, huh?”

Eddie sat up. “Fuck off.”

You had met Liz. She was older than Wayne, late fifties early sixties. Confused, you asked, “What?”

“I’ve been takin’ him to that store since he was, what, ten? Eleven? Liz was the love of his life for a couple years there,”

“No! She was just nice… Took me seriously!” The high pitch tone in Eddie’s voice was incredibly revealing.

You giggled. “So, this is why you like that store better,”

“It was ‘Eliza says I’m gonna be a rockstar,’ ‘Eliza says my song is good’ all day, every day,”

“Yeah, alright. If we’re fucking done here, I gotta piss,” Eddie mumbled, rolling away from you and getting out of bed. He softly pushed Wayne from the room on his way out.

“What’s she got you doing anyhow?” Wayne asked, the volume of his voice rising to make it through the bathroom door.

“Guy that normally services the guitars is M.I.A. Just gonna look at a couple until she finds someone new,” Eddie called back, shrugging off the thought that a lot of people went M.I.A. in Hawkins.

“Services, huh?” Wayne mocked, looking back into the bedroom to make sure you were in on the joke.

“Ha fucking ha. Grow up, old man.” After the sound of the toilet and sink, Eddie reappeared in the bathroom doorway. “What do you want anyway? Why you hassling me so early?”

“Hassling you? You’re getting’ softer every day… Was just gonna ask if you two had thought about Christmas?”

That gave Eddie pause. No, he hadn’t thought about Christmas. “Babe?” he called.

“Yeah?”

“Christmas?” he repeated, moving to the threshold between the hallway and bedroom.

“Yeah?”

“First Munson Christmas, we going all out? Or, ah, Grinching it?”

Christmas had always been a big deal in your family. Not in a joyful way where everyone got together to exchange thoughtful gifts and eat gingerbread and be filled with merry love. More in the sense that if everything wasn’t perfect for the extended family, you’d be responsible all the way through to New Years. There were expectations about gifts, rules about food, and general misery.

“What do you normally do?” you asked them.

Eddie smiled softly and looked over at Wayne. “We’ve got a few traditions,”

“Okay. Um. Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”

With a grin on his face, Eddie nodded and climbed back into bed.

“Today then-” Wayne started.

“AH-HAH!” Eddie yelled, almost deafening you in the process. “I knew you wanted something!”

Wayne ignored him, leaned against the door frame, and addressed you like you were the only adult in the room. “If you’ve got some time up your sleeve, might as well head on out to the tree farm. While you’re there, grab an extra for John and drop it off to his. He reckons they don’t fit in his car,”

“Are the kids coming for Christmas?” you asked Wayne, weirdly invested in co-worker John’s life.

“Says he’s ‘negotiating’ with Cath about it,” he replied, making air quotations. “Anyway. The van’s got space,”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll do it,” Eddie agreed.

“Thanks, bud. Gonna go catch some sleep. I’ll see yous later, alright.”

You smiled and nodded, and Eddie said, “Yep, goodnight.”

Eddie pulled you closer as Wayne closed the door, curling himself back around you, re-heating his cold toes and fingers. He kissed your shoulder blade once then twice.

“I’ve never been to the Christmas tree farm,” you told him.

“Really? Thought your parents would fight for the biggest one,”

“No. Mum said having a tree inside was dirty. Like, the sap was sticky and the needles got everywhere. We’ve only ever had the plastic ones. Then she’d just burn scented candles. The ones that smell like the forest or whatever,”

“There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.”

…

The air was so cold your breath was visible. Bundled up in the Fangoria hoodie, scarf, and gloves, you still couldn’t stop your teeth from chattering. Undeterred, you jumped from the van and fell in line next to Eddie as you entered the Christmas tree farm.

There were a few families there, and some lone fathers allocated this job and this job alone. Eddie nodded a silent greeting to the man wearing a fluorescent orange vest. He was standing next to a huge table that looked like one solid piece of wood. Saws and power tools were scattered around.

“It smells so clean,” you noted, looking around in awe. You’d never seen so many Christmas trees in one place. They were planted in neat rows, each reaching a different height but all in the same ballpark of household appropriate.

“Wayne didn’t say what size John wanted, did he?”

“Nope… But I think if we get him a small one and the kids do end up coming, he’ll freak out?” you replied.

Eddie snorted. “Fuck. Men and their Christmas tree size insecurities, am I right?” he said, shooting you a silly grin.

The smile on your face filled Eddie with the type of warmth that felt like love. Or maybe it was love that was so deep and visceral, that it took on physical warmth as it flooded his body.

“We only need a small one,” you stated.

“Uh-huh. I’m totally secure in my masculinity. We can get a baby’s first real tree.”

Eddie asked the guy in the vest to cut an average sized tree. You watched as the guy and his sons, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere like bored Indianan teenaged Christmas elves, load it into the van.

The guy seemed disinterested when Eddie said you’d take a little longer to pick the second tree because it was the special one.

“What about this one?” Eddie suggested.

You’d walked the rows once to get an overall sense of what was on offer. The recon lap, Eddie called it. Then, the second time around, you stopped at any trees that had the right vibe, as you called it.

“I don’t like the bark on it,”

“The bark?”

“Yeah,” you said. “It’s like… slightly too… crumbly. Like it makes me want to pick it off. But it also makes me feel gross. I don’t like looking at it.”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, alright. Fuck this tree and its gross bark… Onwards!”

Another fifteen minutes in the cold and you found the right tree. It was shorter than most of the others in its row – small even by small standards. You and Eddie stood side by side and stared at it.

“It’s small,” he said.

“Yes,” you agreed.

“It has a bald patch,”

“Look,” you pointed at the base. “It’s so sticky looking.”

Eddie crouched and poked at the sap. “Confirmed. Will fuck up the carpet,”

“We can put something down,”

“We’re good with that,” he quipped, looking up at you and winking terribly.

You pulled a face that made him laugh.

“Nobody’s gonna want this one,”

“Guess he’s ours then?” Eddie asked, standing up with a sigh and putting his hands on his hips.

“Uh-huh,”

“Alright. I’ll go get the guy and the children of the corn.”

The van smelt like pine and you felt a bubbliness you weren’t familiar with. “I think I might be excited for Christmas,” you told Eddie as you looked for a good radio station.

“I draw the line at carols and holiday music, if that’s what you’re doing.”

You waited in the van as Eddie knocked on John’s door. Through the fogged glass, you watched them converse. When that got boring, you drew hearts and other shapes into the condensation.

“So, it would just be Cath and the kids, you know? Eve’s keeping the bar open, so she won’t be there. Their parents will still be on their cruise. So, the way I see it is that it makes sense for them to come here, you know?” John was mid-speech when Eddie opened the van’s back doors and began to unload the tree.

“Who’s Eve?” Eddie asked, mostly because he couldn’t think of anything else to say and he generally didn’t agree with people for the sake of it.

“Cath’s sister. Nothing like Cath. Chalk and cheese, you know? She’s, ah, always done her own thing. She’s got a bar in Chicago. Real unsavoury place, you know? Wouldn’t want the kids hanging around there,”

“Right,” Eddie replied, huffing a little when John didn’t take the lead on carrying the tree inside.

“Anyway. Reckon I’m in with a good chance of getting them. The kids, I mean. I’ll do the right thing, invite Cath. Maybe they’ll see what I’ve made of the place, you know, with the treehouse Wayne helped with,”

“Sure,”

“Anyway. Let’s get this inside. I’ll show you where I want it. Oh! Who’s this?! Hello!”

John caught you peaking around the seat to see him in all his divorcee glory. You waved.

“Wayne said you found yourself a nice girlfriend. Good for you, son.”

Eddie threw you a look and you just shrugged at him. It took another ten minutes for Eddie to get the tree inside and then escape the clutches of John’s external-internal monologue.

“Jesus Christ! I don’t fucking know how Wayne does that?!” Eddie exclaimed when he got back behind the wheel. “What the absolute fuck?”

You laughed. “Yeah… Like, Wayne probably just sits there and tunes out?”

“Yeah. Jesus… Fuck, alright… Home. Let’s get this sticky baby home.”

…

“So… Are we gonna talk about it?”

“About what?” you replied, playing dumb. Gaze set firmly on the deep purple colour your freshly manicured nails were being painted.

“Eddie told Jeff…” Esther paused, waited to see if that would prompt you. Nothing. “About the acceptance letters. And how you’re saying you don’t wanna go,”

“I don’t,”

“Right. Sure. The thing is though that nobody believes that,”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going.”

The nail tech told you to put your nails under the UV lamp to cure. Glancing over at Esther, you smiled at her Barbie pink nails, then watched her sigh. She was pretty used to your stubbornness. Maybe not to the same extent as Eddie, but like him, she understood you were doing what you were raised to do.

“You know that you’re going to regret this, right? And one day you might blame Eddie,”

“Why would you say something like that?” you asked, wounded.

“Because that’s what happens. I mean, shit, how many of us have parents that are still together and are actually in love? All the mums hate the dads for getting to have a career while they were stuck at home. All the dads hate the mums for not being twenty-one anymore… Seriously, if there’s even a tiny part of you that wants to go to college, and you don’t do it, you’ll grow up and be old and wonder why you chose a boy over yourself.”

Your mind went on the defense immediately. What did Esther know about unhappy marriages? What did she know about you or Eddie or any of it? Even through that though, you knew she was right, but you stuck to the safety zone of denial.

“I get it, Esther, but that’s not me. That’s not what’s gonna happen. And Barnes & Noble are opening at the mall, so I’ll apply there. I love books so it’s perfect. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

With your nails finished, you and Esther headed out the salon door and walked the sidewalk half a block to get to the hairdressers.

The conversation grew lighter, focusing on your upcoming nineteenth birthday. You’d always hated birthdays, the parties your mother threw fake and self-serving. The gifts from so-called friends unfitting and void of real love. Maybe 1986 would be different.

“So, what are we doing?” the hairdresser asked after she’d washed your hair, massaging her fingertips into your scalp with expert pressure.

Esther was perched on the empty chair next to you. She looked from her reflection, from her dark coils and volume to you, eager to hear your decision too.

“A change,” you announced. “Something different.”

A good daughter had her hair the way her mother wanted it to be. A good daughter never asked her father for permission to get anything different. A good cheerleader looked like the girls in the magazine. A good girl didn’t get something different.

The hairdresser made a happy squeaking sound. Hawkins wasn’t known for its radical hairstyles and she was grateful to do anything other than perms and tints. “Let’s do it!”

…

He’d been at it for almost an hour. Nervous that you’d come home early, Eddie was standing in the trailer pacing the small circle the phone’s cable would allow. After someone accidentally hung up on him, he’d had to start the process all over again.

Finally,

“Yes. Still here… … No, no, I’m not- Uh… … Sorry, but… … No, she already got accepted… … Yes! … Yeah, yeah, she got the letter and everything. It just got… um, misplaced. My fault. Spring cleaning, you know… … Actually, can you send it to a different address? We’re, um, in the middle of moving…”

It was the first step in a plan he wasn’t sure he could pull off, but he’d die trying.

…

After nails and hair, you and Esther tried the new Japanese restaurant. “Sushi places are everywhere in Chicago,” she’d told you, showing you how to use chopsticks.

The rest of the day was spent in Esther’s bedroom, where you watched her go through her entire wardrobe. “The deal is if I donate five things, they’ll get me something new.”

Esther and her family remained a fascinating case study for you. They were forming part of the blueprint in your mind for what a cohesive and supportive unit should be – underpinned by ethics and culture, willing to compromise, and above all else, full of unconditional love.

Esther dropped you home around 4:30 pm, leaving you to pull yourself onto the little porch and use the second entrance to go inside. Wayne was asleep in the lounge room, getting some rest before his night shift.

A small knock on the bedroom door to announce yourself, and you found Eddie sitting on the floor, notebooks and paper surrounding him. He looked up at you and smiled wide, taking off his headphones that were plugged into the amp.

“Woahhhhh,” he said in awe.

“Good woah?”

“The best. You look fuckin’ awesome,”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, angel… It’s very you,” Eddie added, scrunching his nose and smiling. He held up his arms and twinkled his fingers at you. Happy, you dropped to your knees and crawled into his lap. He ruffled your hair with his hands. “You smell fancy,” he commented.

“Salon shampoo,”

“Smells like… flowers.”

Eddie smooshed his face into your hair, then pressed a messy kiss to your cheek. For a while, you stayed on the floor, watching Eddie’s hand drawn music notes dance across the page. When sounds of Wayne became audible, you both ventured out into the lounge.

“This sad little thing’s been sitting here too long. ‘Bout time we decorate it?” Wayne asked.

The Christmas tree had been sitting in the corner of the living room for a couple of days, waiting until all three of you were home at the same time. As it happened, it was the first of December and Wayne had a few hours before he needed to head off.

Eddie sat at the base of the tree, handing you ornaments from the one box of Munson decorations. A majority of them were handmade and from Eddie’s childhood; you listened to Wayne talk about them while he untangled string lights.

The crowning jewel of the tree was an angel. Its dress was a cone made of cardboard. Messy glitter glue had been painted across it. Her head was a foam ball with a terrifying smile drawn on it by five-year-old Eddie.

“I love her,” you said, holding the precious thing in your hands.

“My second favourite angel,” Eddie joked.

You laughed and placed her on top of the tree. “What’s next?”

Lights and tinsel, then the tradition of taking some of the mug collection down to replace with the Christmas themed mugs.

“I get him one every year,” Eddie explained.

You counted ten, then imagined ten-year-old Eddie picking one out for his uncle.

“That first one was from the second hand place over in Lafayette. Said he wanted to get me something, so I gave him five bucks and sent him in. Came out with that all wrapped up in old newspaper,” Wayne recounted fondly.

As you sat on the couch and watched Eddie and Wayne try to put the mugs in chronological order, arguing about Christmases gone by, your mind drifted. No doubt, there were arguments happening at your old home too, but they weren’t about memories and love.

You were grateful to be where you were. Grateful and safe. Safe and happy. Happy and loved. It was all too much to risk. Even if the risk was one of a better life beyond Hawkins. All those thoughts were getting buried deeper each day. And yet, it was still only a shallow grave.

…

“Have you tried just telling them the truth?”

Eddie rolled his eyes at Wayne, who was quick to take the cap off his head and throw it at Eddie.

“Hey!” Eddie picked the cap up off the floor and put it on. He looked ridiculous. “My lies are good. The truth sounds like I’m just some insane stalker trying to control her whole life.”

Wayne raised his eyebrows.

“Fuck off,” Eddie deadpanned and threw the cap back at his uncle. “I have a plan… It’s just… a lot of moving parts, alright?”

“Yeah, well, here’s my part.” Wayne fished a piece of paper out of his pocket. “John says the best time to call is afternoon. After lunch, before knock off,”

“Okay,” Eddie said, taking it and looking down at the phone number. “Eve,” he read.

“Yep. John said I owe him for making him ask Cath a favour,”

“John said you owe him? Starting to see why Cath left him,” Eddie replied, a smirk on his face.

Wayne just shook his head and headed off down the hall for a shower.

Eddie scoffed again. Goddamn John finally coming in handy for once.

Next Chapter: 14 - Nineteen

End Note: What is our dear Eddie up to? So many phone calls? A plan? Moving parts? I’m letting you in on small snippets of what Eddie’s doing while you’re out and about. Consider them breadcrumbs, and ones much more reliable than a Netflix profile pic’s background colour or the name of a show’s episode…

Fic Taglist: @ajeff855 @b-barnes04 @eddie-munson-is-a-sweetheart have you changed your URL? @nerd-squad-headquarters @word-wytch @harrys-tittie @munsonsmel0dy @sidthedollface2 @eddiethesexy @bardicfrustration @orpheusredux @munsonsgirl71 @a-time-for-wolvess @eddieswifu @rosaline-black @thegirlwhohides @emotionaldreamer @e0509 @briasnow-blog @kiyastrf94 @erinsingalong @rainylana @thescarletangelsstuff @mrsdollardog @tayhar811 @chickennug90 @b-irock

Eddie Taglist: @solomons-finest-rum @ruinedbythehobbit @munsonlives @sweetpeapod @depressooo-expressooo-blog @thorfemmes @hawkins-high @corrodedhawkins @grungegrrrl @lilzabob @mymoonisalways-in-scorpio @averagemisfit03 @ches-86 @ilovecupcakesandtea @onehotgreasymechanic @hazydespair @lacrymosa-24

#Mine #Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson Fanfic #Eddie Munson Fanfiction #Eddie Munson x Reader #Eddie Munson x You #Eddie Munson/Reader #Eddie Munson/You

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kptssecretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas, @dr-lemurr!

Dr-lemurr, it was a pleasure to write this for you. All your prompts were delightful and it was super hard to pick! I hope you have a wonderful festive season, and a wonderful 2024.

TAGS: BigTae, corset, skirt, unrequited feelings, getting together, frotting, blink and you’ll miss it but it is there, handjobs, happy ending, both kinds I guess

*****

Heartbreak In A Short Skirt

“Ah, Big, there you are! Tae needs your body,” Tankhun cried. Big, who had only just opened the door to his rooms, froze just inside the doorway and stared at Khun Nu in disbelief. He had, for a long time now, dreamed that one day he might be lucky enough to hear something similar, but in his secret daydreams, Tankhun was never there.

“Oh my god,” Tae muttered in English. Big tried not to show how much he liked the sound of the phrase, the way Tae’s voice curled around the words before letting them go. “Khun, that is not what I said!”

Tae rose gracefully from the couch and crossed to stand in front of Big, who tried to keep his face respectfully neutral even while he longed to breathe deeply and lose himself in the heady scent of Tae’s perfume.

“I’m sorry about him,” Tae said, rolling his eyes in Tankhun’s direction before smiling at Big as if they were sharing a secret. As if they were the sort of friends who could share a secret. “What he meant to say was - do you remember last month, you came with Kinn and I to that art gallery?”

“Of course, Khun Tae,” Big replied politely. He wouldn’t have phrased it that way - he’d been working that evening, not accompanying them like a friend or guest, but he did remember the gallery. The exhibition hadn’t been to his taste, but he’d enjoyed the evening anyway.

Big always did, when Tae was there.

“Well, I was showing a friend some of the photos I took that night, and they saw you in them - just, you know, hanging around the artworks, it wasn’t - I didn’t take pictures of you - anyway, the thing is, they’re a fashion designer and they’ve got a launch coming up, and they - well, we - thought you would be the most perfect model for their new line.”

“I see,” Big said carefully. He shot Tankhun a look over the top of Tae’s head, in case he had an Opinion(™) about that, but he just looked bored.

“I said I’d ask you, anyway, and of course you can say no if you don’t want to, only you’d be saving their skin if you said yes.” Tae paused and looked up at him; he looked happier than Big had seen him in a long time. Certainly happier than he’d looked since he’d finally shaken Khun Time loose. “They’re a good friend of mine, so I’d consider it a personal favour.”

“Yes?” Big said. It was closer to a question than he’d meant it to be, but Tae didn’t seem to mind.

“I - oh! Yes?” Tae asked, looking at him eagerly. “Yes, for real? Oh, Big, thank you, I owe you such a massive favour! Whatever you want, just let me know.”

Big thought about the favour he’d really like to ask for, and bit his tongue, and smiled politely. And that was how, with a calm and respectful nod, and his true feelings locked tightly away where no one would ever find them, he became a runway model.

***

The show was packed, Big was alarmed to discover, peeking around the curtains that hid the manic, messy, chaotic backstage area. He hastily tugged the curtain back into place and turned to see Tae watching him carefully.

“Are you ok?” Tae asked kindly. “If you have stage fright, you know, you can just look at me. I’ll be in the front row, near the end of the catwalk. Just pretend I’m the only person there. After all, you’re not scared of me, are you?”

“No, who could be scared of you, Khun Tae,” Big said nervously. “You’re too kind to be scary.” He didn’t add that fear was so far from how he felt about Tae that it might as well be another country.

“Oh, that’s sweet of you,” Tae said with a smile. Like so many of his smiles, it didn’t quite reach his eyes, but Big thought he looked a little less sad than usual, today. “Ok, off you go and get changed. I have to find my seat. Good luck, and remember, I’ll be the only person out there.” He patted Big on the arm and left; the touch of his hand lingered on Big’s skin as long as the scent of his perfume lingered in the air.

Big changed into his first outfit mechanically. He’d spent a long and frankly boring day at Kamon’s atelier earlier in the week, being fitted for the three outfits he’d be wearing at the show today, and at the time he’d been annoyed at giving up so much of his time for such a seemingly useless cause. Now, though, he was glad of the practice run; his hands shook slightly and the silk belt he was trying to fasten kept slipping loose.

The first walk was the worst. Big had practised everything, but he hadn’t remembered about the noise; the show had loud, thumping music playing at a volume that made it impossible to hear his own thoughts.

Maybe that was for the best though, as the moment he stepped out from behind the curtain, all he could see was Tae. And for all that Tae had told him to look at him and him alone, it didn’t feel right. Big was sure that he would never have suggested it - would never have given Big permission! - if he knew how Big felt when he looked at Tae.

In any case, it certainly wasn’t the cure for stage fright that Tae had thought it would be. Big could feel his heart pounding, far faster than it ought to have been for such a simple walk. As he reached the end of the catwalk and paused, dropping a hip diligently the way Kamon had shown him, the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears finally blocked out the terrible music and Big risked a glance at Tae.

Looking directly at him was a mistake. Tae was the sun, shining brightly as though he were the one under the spotlights, as though he were the one in the bejewelled silk dress that glittered like a galaxy when he moved even the tiniest fraction. Big stared at him, pretty and lovely and everything that he wanted and could never have, and wondered how it could be possible that all the eyes in the room were on Big when Tae was right there.

Tae gave him an encouraging smile, sweet and hopeful, and then gestured discreetly with his chin. Big shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned on his heel. The walk back down the runway felt longer, somehow.

Outfit two was more of the same; Big’s palms sweated a little less and his heart rate dropped out of a worrying range, but otherwise it was loud and awkward and he felt ridiculous in the oversized suit Kamon put him in. (Why, he wanted to ask, did you spend so long measuring me, just to dress me in a shapeless tent? But he bit his lip and did his little walk for them, and pretended Tae’s soft smile meant things it didn’t, just to fortify himself for the walk back.)

It wasn’t until Big was halfway down the catwalk in his third outfit that he realised how he felt. This look, with its miniskirt and long leather boots, and tightly-laced leather corset to match, had been his favourite when trying them on; moving in it was something else altogether. He felt almost drunk on the feeling of power the added height gave him, the way the heels made him change his posture to keep his balance, the way that even the people in the front who had eyed him with disinterest a few moments earlier were now leaning forward in their seats to get a better look.

As he approached the end of the runway, Big prepared to turn one last time. He took one last step, dropped his hip, looked down at Tae and nearly fell on his face. Instead of his encouraging smile, Tae was staring at him with his mouth agape, the corner of his tongue poking out to one side, and his hands were gripping his knees, bunching up the fabric so tightly Big was sure he must be giving himself bruises. Big almost opened his mouth to ask if he was ok, before he remembered that he was currently occupied, and he didn’t think Tae would thank him for fucking up his friend’s important show.

Frowning, Big turned on his heel and headed backstage for the last time. As his head snapped round, he saw Tae standing up and walking away out of the corner of his eye. The sight distracted him and he nearly missed his step, only just catching himself in time to avoid tumbling to the floor.

“Was that ok?” Big asked Kamon the second the curtains cut off the sight of the audience. “I thought - it felt ok, but then Khun Tae left, was something wrong?”

“I don’t think he left because anything was wrong,” Kamon said, in a tone of voice that suggested Big was being very dense. “But why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“Ask me what?” Tae said, behind Big. He spun around on his heel - he was good at that now, he noticed, but then he’d always been a quick study - and found Tae staring at him again, with that same shocked intensity. “You wanted to ask me something?”

“I just wondered if something looked weird,” Big mumbled. “You were staring at me, that’s all. I mean, everyone was, it’s not… it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry, Big,” Tae said quickly. “I, um. This outfit looked even better on the runway than I expected, that’s all.”

“Ah, Tae, I meant to ask you,” Kamon interjected. “I have to check on the rest of the models, but Big mentioned he has to get back to Kinn soon. Could you give him a hand changing out of this outfit? The corset can be tricky to unlace alone, and I don’t want to risk scratching the leather.”

“Oh, I don’t need -” Big started to say, but Tae was already nodding and giving his friend solemn assurances that the corset would be in the best, most careful hands. Big felt a small, warm hand on his wrist, and before he knew it, he was being dragged into another room.

“That,” Tae said quietly, once they were alone, “was amazing. You looked amazing, Big - oh, you still do, of course. You look - I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but I just… oh my god.” Tae’s hand was still clasped gently around his wrist; Big hoped he couldn’t feel how fast his heart was beating, a frantic rhythm that gave the lie to his cool demeanour.

There were so many things Big wanted to say to him. He settled on part of the truth, if he couldn’t give him the whole thing. “You never make me uncomfortable, Khun Tae,” he said quietly. “I was just worried something was wrong with the outfit, or… I don’t know. I didn’t want to ruin Khun Kamon’s show, I know it’s important to you.”

“It is,” Tae said distractedly. He couldn’t seem to meet Big’s eyes; instead, his gaze hovered over the corset, darting back and forth between the tightly-cinched waist and the top of the leather, where two straps stretched past his collarbones to wrap around his neck. “It’s - thank you, I should say that now, in case Kamon forgets later, it’s so busy in there.”

“It’s been a pleasure,” Big said. He almost stopped there, kept silent still, but the lust in Tae’s gaze was as clear as the best gin and twice as strong, and it made him bolder than he would normally dare to be. “I’d do anything for you, you know.”

That was enough to win back Tae’s attention. His eyes snapped up, meeting Big’s gaze with shock and desire writ clear on his face. “Big?”

“I don’t mean to overstep. I hope that wasn’t too much,” Bug murmured. “But you’re so - so lovely, and I thought you should know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Tae took a step towards him and reached up, sliding a finger across the edge of the corset, tracing the shoreline between leather and skin. “I thought you didn’t notice me at all. You’re so cold, and the way you look at me… I thought I’d never hear you say anything half as nice to me.”

“You really don’t mind? Because there are so many other things I could tell you, I could say how pretty you are, or how kind,” Big said, feeling flush with bravery, as though Tae’s touch was filling him with courage and quelling the part of him that always held himself back. “I could tell you how I’ve seen you for years, and wished I could make things better for you, or how I - mmmph!”

Big’s confession was interrupted, but he didn’t care at all, because Tae was kissing him and it was everything he’d dreamt it would be, and more. He wanted to stop and tell him, but the thought of breaking away, of ending such a magical moment by choice, of voluntarily letting his lips leave Tae’s, was unthinkable.

The decision was made for him by Tae, who pulled back but then immediately came close again and kissed him in the centre of his chest, halfway between the straps that had so entranced him. Looking up at him with eyes blown wide with lust, he traced their path with stuttering fingers, beside the straps, up the side of Big’s neck, along his jaw.

“Can I take this off you?” Tae asked.

Big didn’t trust himself to speak; he nodded roughly and turned around, bracing himself against the wall, and shuddered when he felt Tae step up behind him. With gentle hands on his hips, Tae nudged him into position, and then reached up to unbuckle the strap around his neck, fingers moving achingly slowly. When that fell loose, he untied the laces knotted at the base of his spine. It wasn’t until he exhaled that Big realised he could feel Tae’s breath on the back of his neck, gusting shakily over his skin as nimble fingers loosened the cords cinching him in tight, caging him in Kamon’s leather shell. As Tae freed him, Big felt he was shaking off a second skin, or bursting forth from a cocoon, born anew under Tae’s tender touch.

Big nearly jolted out of his skin again when Tae kissed his back, a hot press of his mouth to the nape of his neck. He worked his way down, kissing along Big’s spine and stroking along his ribs. It wasn’t until he stepped away and turned him around that Big realised what he was doing; kissing down the centre of Big’s torso, his fingers traced up and down the lines the corset’s boning had left on him, light red depressions that stood out starkly on his pale skin.

“You like them?” Big asked, covering Tae’s hand with his own and dragging them together from his nipple down to his waist.

“I do,” Tae whispered, intrigued and sounding almost ashamed of his fascination. “Do they hurt?”

“Not even a little bit,” Big told him. Tae nodded thoughtfully and kissed his chest again.

Cupping Tae’s chin, Big tipped his face up gently and kissed his mouth, savouring the taste of him as much as the eagerness with which he opened up for Big. His desire made him soft and pliable, until it was easy to imagine that he wanted this as much as Big did, that this was more than a convenient if unexpected encounter that he’d forget about as soon as it was done.

With a low, short growl, Big spun them round so Tae was pressed up against the wall, pinned by the weight of Big’s body. He wrapped an arm around Tae’s waist and slid his hand down the small of his back to rest there, just where his spine began to curve away into the swell of plump and perfect cheeks. With their bodies flush, he could feel Tae’s cock, firming up and pressing against his thigh; with his free hand, he tugged up his skirt and then jammed a leg between Tae’s thighs so he was grinding against bare skin.

“Do you want to take these off?” Big asked, hooking a finger into the waistband of Tae’s leather trousers.

Tae shook his head quickly, looping his arms around Big’s neck. “No, no, they take forever to get on and I can’t - I don’t want to wait, I just want - here, let me -” He undid the button on his flies and yanked the zipper down, giving Big just enough room to slip a hand into his pants.

Big curled his fingers around Tae’s cock, his grip gentle at first, but firmer as Tae gasped and ground his hips into the touch. His eyes closed slowly and he tipped his head back, so that Big had the most perfect view imaginable of his pretty face with its gorgeous cheekbones and soft pink lips, glossy and slightly parted.

“Ahh, fuck,” Tae whispered, and then Big felt fingers dig into his shoulders as he clung on to him. “That’s - yes, yeah, yes, that’s it, I - fuck, Big, I can’t believe you want me, you want this. Tell me you do? Tell me you want me?”

Big inhaled sharply; he understood the words, but their meaning felt unbelievable still. “I do, or course I do. I want you so much. I told you already, anything for you. Anything you want.”

Tae’s eyes flew open and he stared up at Big, something deep and charged in his gaze. “Do you - ah! Do you mean that?” he asked, voice catching halfway through when Big ran a thumb over his head.

Big thought of the years spent in Tae’s orbit, shadowing Kinn and feeling like his heart was being torn this way and that with the two of them, both so bright to him, and himself so invisible to them both. He thought of the casual cruelty in Time’s disregard and the looks of unbearable sadness that occasionally flashed on Tae’s face, before he plastered an unconvincing smile over top of them. He thought of the way Tae had lit up when Big agreed to do him a favour, and the naked lust on his face when Big had walked out onto the runway in his now-discarded corset.

“I did,” Big told him. “I do.”

Tae came with a cut-off gasp, slapping a hand across his mouth to muffle his moans as Big jerked him through his orgasm. He wanted to keep talking, to heap on some of the praise he’d been storing up for years, but the set of Tae’s shoulders, the shaking of his frame, suggested it might be too heavy a burden to bear.

“Oh fuck, Big, that was - wow,” Tae murmured a moment later, face still buried in Big’s neck. “Can I… will you tell me what you like?”

“Anything, anything,” Big muttered; if he’d been less turned on he might have been embarrassed of his answer, but he was so far gone already and he thought Tae ought to know how close he was.

Tae bit his lip, then licked one of his palms before running his spit-slick hand up under Big’s skirt. “Oh,” he whispered when he realised Big was wearing nothing underneath. “Oh, were you - the whole time, on the catwalk?”

“Kamon said it would ruin the lines,” Big bit out, wrapping his hand around Tae’s and encouraging him to a faster pace. “I didn’t want to ruin anything with bad lines. I don’t even know what they are - yes, please, that, please! - but I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted you to be pleased with me.””

“Astonishing,” Tae murmured, stroking him faster, hand curling tighter under Big’s grip. “You’re something else, Big.”

“Mm, please,” Big gasped, rocking his hips forwards to try and get a little extra friction. “Please, take pity on me, have mercy…”

“Oh my god,” Tae said in breathless English. “Oh, fuck, you sound so pretty when you whine. Oh, will you let me do this again some time? When we could take it slow? I want to drag it out, see how long I can make you whine before you can’t even speak. Would you like that, Big, darling? Would you let me tease until I’d fucked all the words out of your head?”

Tae’s words killed him, in the best way; the Big who had got dressed up a few moments before was well and truly ended, making space for a whole new person to inhabit his skin. He came silently, the hand wrapped around Tae’s clutching tight as he spilled over their tangled fingers. Tae turned them around one last time so he could slump against the wall when his shaky legs threatened to turn to jelly completely, and then he carded a hand gently through Big’s hair.

“Oh my god,” Big said eventually, echoing Tae. “I didn’t - where did you learn to talk like that, fuck.”

“Did you like it?” Tae asked him, not quite meeting his eyes, but not pulling away either. Big swallowed and nodded, and waited for the warm press of his body to disappear. “Because I… I meant it. If you wanted to do this again… that would be ok.”

Big wished he were better with words, that he could somehow find a way to explain to Tae that the last few minutes of his life had been the most extraordinary thing possible, and that even if he never got to experience Tae’s touch again, he’d die a happy man. The thought that it would be ok to see him again… his heart was beating a quick, angry rhythm in his chest.

“I, uh. I would - that would be ok with me, too.” A thought occurred to him, and Big reached up to stroke Tae’s hair gently, in case he ruined everything and didn’t get another chance. “Do you think,” he asked carefully, trying not to jostle Tae where he was leant against him, “do you think your friend would let us borrow the corset again, another time?”

Whatever else he might have said was lost in the kiss Tae gave him, fierce and hot and perfect, so perfect that Big wondered how he’d survived so long without it.

#dr-lemurr #kptssanta23

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