#LIKE IT WAS NOT NECESSARY AT ALL FOR JOE AND CHERRY TO BE THAT CLOSE YET THEY DID

[terrible-leviathan]

Currently watching sk8 and this sport anime is somehow more gay than the actual gay sport anime

#LIKE BRO REKI WANTS TO PROTECT LANGA?? #JOE AND CHERRY HAVE THIS WEIRD LOVE-HATE THING GOING ON #LIKE IT WAS NOT NECESSARY AT ALL FOR JOE AND CHERRY TO BE THAT CLOSE YET THEY DID #im going insane and it's only the 5th ep #sk8 infinity #and yes im talking about yuri on ice

[opxscenarios]

you’re doing requests for sk8? :OO

May I please ask for some Cherry Blossom x fem! Reader x Joe headcannons? Literally just the two of them constantly bickering over your attention, perhaps by trying to impress you with their skills? :3

You are always free to ignore if you don’t want to! :D

HEAR ME OUT. I love Cherry. I love Joe. I love their relationship. And I love poly. So please, these requests are so cute, I screamed σ(≧ε≦σ) ♡ I had so much fun writing! I strayed a bit from the original request, but I hope you will still like it! Also, since it’s a bit long, I put the rest under the cut!

poly relationship with Cherry and Joe ♡

At first, Joe and Cherry may not notice that they have fallen for you. They enjoy spending time with you for sure, and seeing your face makes their day brighter but they thought nothing of it.

HOWEVER, one day, when Cherry caught Joe playfully flirts with you -a common occurrence-, it bothered him so much that he had to smack Joe's head for “not leaving you alone”. 

The thing is, it never disturbed him that much before. Sure, it was annoying seeing Joe so close to you, but he was used to it. He knew it was just friendly, and since it made both of you giggle as well -your and Joe's puns were terrible, he must admit- he was okay with that.

But this day? Oh boy, Cherry didn't know what came over him but he wasn't pleased. At all. 

“What's wrong with you?!” Joe shouted, massaging the back of his head. He was used to his bickering with Cherry but...this was new. He couldn't understand for god's sake what came over him.

You stared at them while they started yelling at each other, lips tightly closed so your chuckle wouldn't escape. As usual, they looked like an old married couple. 

“It's okay, Kaoru, I don't mind.” You confirmed when they stopped shouting to take a breath. At this, Joe sent Cherry a haughty smile. “But thank you for worrying! I appreciate it.” You added sincerely. Now it's Cherry who is looking at Joe with a satisfied smirk. 

Later that night, Cherry comes to Joe's restaurant as usual when he needed to talk. For once, Joe is expecting him.

“Care to explain what was that? I know you like to punch my beautiful face, but was that necessary? Unless you...” Joe stopped in his track, wide-eyed. “Don't tell me that you love-” 

“Don't start imagining things. I just don't like how close you are to them.” Cherry cut him off, and Joe rolled his eyes at that.

“And why so? It never bothered you before.” Joe asked, and Cherry's eye twitched. Why did he react like this? As much as he tried to come with a coherent answer, he couldn't. 

Joe took his silence as his win. 

“That's what I said. You love them.” Joe's snicker was starting to get on his nerve. Cherry could only respond with a glare. 

“But you know...this doesn't sit well with me. I think you're not the only one who has fallen for them.” 

Cherry's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he heard. Joe? Falling in love? That was a joke to make him mad, right?

“You truly are the worst, Kojiro!” Cherry shouted, leaping to his feet. “You never showed interest but when you discover that I...I like them...you say this?!” 

“You never showed interest earlier neither!” Joe replied at Cherry's outburst. 

“They could never love a gorilla like you anyway.” Cherry retorted, his voice more childish than he would have liked. Despite everything, he couldn't get truly mad at Joe. It was irritating.

“That's what we're going to see, four-eyes!”

After this? You're in a ride.

They will fight for your attention and their bickering will get worse than before.

Joe will show off his body and his skills as much as he can. Please, this man will only wear tight shirts around you, and of course, flaunt his naked chest every S race. If he catches you looking? You can be sure that Cherry will hear of it.  

His filtring with you will not stop. The only thing is that you always took it as a joke and played along. So he tries to be less subtle, to use more explicit lines, and seeing you blush makes him all fuzzy inside.

He will also hold doors for you, before closing it at Cherry's nose.

As for Cherry, he will be more physical with you. Subtle touches here and there, a hand on your lower back if he passes by you, and sometimes, even a soft caress on your cheek that leaves you breathless (seeing your face leaves him breathless too).

However, there's one thing they didn't expect: What's this warm feeling Joe feels when he sees you lean unconsciously into Cherry's hand? Why seeing the pink-haired man smiles softly at you make him melt?

And why Cherry can't stop thinking about how you giggle when Joe fondly pats your head? Why seeing Joe's eyes shine when he looks at you make his heart beat faster?

So they push it aside, too afraid to acknowledge these weird feelings. It only makes their bickering increase, if that's even possible.

Of course, they are eager to prove themselves. Even if you go to every of their S race, they still make sure you come to see them.

And as usual, you're there, greeting them with your bright smile. It only makes them more determined to act their best at the race.

As you're watching them, Miya by your side, you notice how reckless they are, and worry starts creeping through you. S is a dangerous race, you know it, and you also know that these two are professionals. However, lately, you can't shake off the feeling that they're going to get injured by how dangerously fast they're going.

Miya would be watching your troubled face from side-eyes. He knew why they were acting so imprudent. These dumbasses only wanted to impress you, but they didn't even notice how worried they made you.

And yet, you didn't seem to grasp the reason behind all of their recent actions.

Miya decided he would be the one to break it to you. How couldn't you see that they were head over heels for you?

However, once he told you everything -a mischievous smile on his lips at seeing your flushed face-, he was surprised with your answer.

“But...I thought they were already together?” It left Miya speechless.

Well, when he thought about it…You weren't entirely wrong. Every bickering, -even if they were centered around you-, every glance they send to each other, how physically close they are all the time could lead you to such a conclusion. The more he thought about it, the more confused he was.

“Honestly, I don't know what's going on in both of their head. But, I know for sure that they're always fighting about you. I don't know how you can miss that!”

You glare at Miya, but the tips of your ears are flushed, making him sticks his tongue out. Before you can even defend yourself, Joe and Cherry are coming your way. They are looking away from each other, and even if Joe tries to smile at his fans, you can see how troubled they are.

“Just go talk to these idiots,” Miya says. “You're acting incredibly wise for your age, you know!” You whisper to him, before jogging towards Cherry and Joe.

“What was that?” You begin, crossing your arms on your chest. “Are you trying to get yourselves killed or did I miss something?”

“You know that it's a dangerous race, (Y/N), we-” Cherry tries to respond but you don't let him, “Oh, don't try to play smart with me! I watch every of your race, and I know very well that's not your usual way of skating. You didn't even look like you were enjoying yourselves.”

They both look at you wide-eyed, not expecting your scolding. They send a glance at each other, knowing damn well that they couldn't hide their feelings any longer.

“(Y/N), I think we have to talk.” Cherry announces and you feel your heart miss a beat. You nod nonetheless.

“Let's go somewhere quiet.” Joe adds, and you know very well where you're going. Joe's restaurant.

When the three of you are finally alone, you're the first one to talk.

“Miya...Miya told me something earlier. He said that both of you liked me and that's why you were acting this way recently. I don't know if it's true but-” “It's true.” Joe declares, leaving you stunned. They looked at you with such intensity, with such care that you now realize how blind you were.

“I think we both loved you for a long time, now. Maybe we didn't acknowledge it, but it was still there.” Cherry continues seriously, making you flustered.

“I don't know what to say...” You whisper, feeling your heart hammering against your chest.

“Don't put too much pressure on yourself just because of us! No matters your answer, you're still a friend we cherish,” Joe replies, a warm smile on his face. “A friend we want to kiss maybe, but-” Cherry cuts him off by punching his shoulder. You laugh fondly at the sight, making them look at you with tinted cheeks.

“To be honest with you, it's been a while since I have fallen for the both of you.” You say, looking at your hand to avoid their gaze. “We spent so many times together, and I think I've never been happier than with you. But...I didn't want to say anything because I thought you were already a couple.” You finish, a frail sigh leaving your lips.

You dare to look up, only to be greeted with two astounded faces. You never saw them this red before.

“W-w-w-what? How did you come to that conclusion?!” Cherry shouts, and you had to refrain a snort.

“Well, just by looking at the both of you?” You reply, an amused smile on your lips.

They look at each other, and you can see the gears slowly turning.

All these confusing feelings and thoughts that they tried to push away suddenly made sense and now they felt like the worst idiots on the planet.

“Oh, sorry, I didn't want to break it to you like that...” You snicker, making both of them redder than ever.

“Look who's talking! If Miya didn't tell you, you would still believe we only acted as friends!” Joe yells, and sadly, you couldn't deny it.

Silence washed over the three of you. You were all thinking about how unusual your situation was and how you could make it work.

“I guess...we can just try. Nothing has to change that much.” Cherry declares, and Joe nods in agreement.

“Yeah, we only have to add some snuggles in there and we're good. That, and some other things.” Joe concludes, making Cherry rolls his eyes. You can only smile at that.

“Yeah, we can do that.” You say, heart filled with love for the two of them.

And needless to say, the three of you didn't have to try very hard!

To say it's exhilarating to watch both of them kiss while knowing that it's your turn after is an understatement.

Every time you go to Joe's restaurant within the day with Cherry, you can be assured that you'll be treated like royalty. He always serves you first while Cherry has to wait for his meal. He'll give you a peck on the lips before going back to work. (he'll also kiss Cherry's forehead when no one is looking, making him flush and grumble about how embarrassing it is.)

Joe is so glad that the both of you go visit him from time to time at work, it makes his day so easier. He's always sending a glance or two at your table, a smile on his lips. He loves hearing you snort a little too loud before covering your mouth in embarrassment while Cherry is trying so hard to keep his serious composure.

Also, every time you have something on your lips, Cherry will softly wipe it away with his napkin. Joe is always awestruck by this wonderful sight.

You go on so many trips together. These men already traveled a lot, so they know the best places (or so they like to say) and are eager to visit new countries with you.

“How the two of you haven't fucked before? I mean, you went to so many hotels together!” You declared one day, making Cherry choke on his food. To this day, you try to restrain yourself from asking these kinds of things. You almost killed the poor guy.

Also, every time you visit a new place, one of you is sure to get lost. If it's you? Joe and Cherry will blame each other, before worrying themselves sick. They're big softies, and knowing that you're lost all alone...

They try to keep calm and think of where they saw you for the last time, forgetting that they could just call you.

Fortunately, you're smart enough to call them yourself. Before answering, Cherry tries his best to act as if they didn't have a panic attack about you. However, you can hear Joe says “Tell them that I love them!” in the background, making you laugh.

Now, before traveling, you always wonder who's the one getting lost this time.

You and Joe have the habit to give each other the middle finger when you joke around. Because of this, you once gave Cherry the middle finger by reflex. You gasped so hard before apologizing profusely while Joe laughed his ass off. You hugged Cherry tightly, still mumbling about how sorry you were. To your relief, Cherry only scolded Joe. The poor guy was shocked at this preferential treatment.

Every time you have to sit on a chair, Joe wants to pull it out for you but he always put too much strength and you end up falling on your ass.

Also, Joe once slapped your ass so hard that you fell to your knees from the pain. The green-haired man tried so hard to apologize but he couldn't stop laughing. Cherry was the one to make sure you were still alive while rubbing your poor butt.

When Cherry and Joe's bickering gets too loud or too much, you end up scolding them. You tell them to “hug it out” and that you will not be satisfied until they do. Honestly, it's simply an excuse to see them hug.

They will try to argue about it, but you know the magic words: “if you don't, then no sex and cuddle for you, misters!”

They never hugged so fast.

Before sleeping, you all kiss each other. You'll be surprised how quick they are to remind you of their goodnight kiss if you ever dare to forget.

Also, Joe is so heavy that it makes the bed dip. Because of that, you and Cherry always end up in Joe's arms.

Joe is a big fan of touching your butt when sleeping. He calls it his lifeline. However, it already happened for Cherry to do it instead of Joe. But if you ask him, Cherry will deny it until his last breath.

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity #sk8 the infinity x reader #joe x reader #cherry x reader #joe x reader x cherry #kojiro nanjo #kaoru sakurayashiki #kojiro nanjo x reader #kaoru sakurayashiki x reader #sk8 x reader #kojirou nanjou #kojirou nanjou x reader #headcanons #sk8 headcanons #sk∞ #sk∞ the infinity #cherry blossom x reader #joe #cherry blossom

[bee-s-honey]

BEE'S MATCHUP EVENT

Wake up, new matchup event just dropped :)

In celebration of nothing in particular, I'm making another one of these bad bois. It's a little different than the other one for several reasons so read closely please.

Fandoms this is open for (you can request all 3):

Squid Game

Hunter x Hunter

Sk8 the infinity

How this will work:

☞Send in the fandoms you want, some information about you (read below for more info on that), and you will receive anywhere from 1 to 3 characters I've matched you with romantically or platonically. I choose how many characters I'll give you based on if I think you very strongly match with more than just one or if you requested multiple shows.

☞You must tell me if the matchups will be platonic or romantic, or I'll assume it's romantic. And of course tell be your sexuality/gender preferences for your matches if it is romantic, or I'll give you someone not caring about whatever gender you may prefer. I would like if you could tell me your pronouns/gender but I don't think I'll need it if you don't want to.

☞If you don't know what to tell me, here's some things that might help:

-I'm not gonna say that you have to give me your age, but if you don't and I match you with someone that makes you uncomfy then it's clearly not a matter of purposely making it like that on my end

-Your clothing style/aesthetic and if it reflects or relates to anything about your personality

-Your hobbies, interests, talents, and things you do

-Your love languages, both how you give love and which love language you value most or feel is necessary in a relationship

-Generally what you need/crave in a relationship or what attracts you to certain people

-Generally how you treat or interact with most people/the world (introverted, extroverted, friendly, stoic, optimistic, pessimistic, ect ect)

-character kins, personality type, zodiac signs, fave color and why

-Mental illnesses or disorders, or any personal issues/traits(ex- loneliness, shyness, fear of abandonment, literally anything)

All characters that could be potential matches

HxH: Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, Hisoka, Chrollo, Illumi, Machi, Feitan, Shizuku, Shalnark, Bisky, Neon

Squid Game: Sae-Byeok, Sang-woo, Gi-hun, Ali, Ji-yeong

Sk8: Reki, Langa, Cherry, Joe, Shadow, Miya, Adam

#hxh #sk8 #squid game #hunter x hunter #sk8 the infinity #squid game event #hunter x hunter event #sk8 the infinity matchup #hxh matchup #anime #matchups #match up event #squid game match ups

[pissfizz]

So I believe Miya is like extremely touch starved so here’s some headcanons cuz yay project onto your kins time :D

CW: touch starvation? Is that a trigger for some people? Idk I’m tagging it anyway

So we all know he didn’t have any friends before Reki came along

And I believe all his olds friends would’ve been the type of dudes that said “ew that’s gay” to any sentimental touch, and the girls were always like “ew you’re such a pervert!”

So this adds into the fact that he’s never had friends to provide him with physical affection

I personally believe his parents are assholes. I have no evidence, I just know they’re shitty fucking twats.

Which means his dad has patted him on the shoulder exactly one (1) time, and that was when it was announced that he was an official national team candidate

And he has no memories of his mom touching him. Surely she touched him when he was little...right? He probably just doesn’t remember it...

He has a pet cat and she’s his best friend and her name is Water Bottle (in English cuz he thought the word was fun to say) and shes...so so fluffy like so fluffy

Water Bottle is his source of hugs and is the reason he says his favorite animal is a fluffy one that’s nice to hug

But a cat isn’t the same as human affection because he is almost always the one initiating touches and he just wants to be held and cat interaction is not the same as human

So anyway when the gang comes along he kind of assumes they’ll be like everyone else and not want to touch him so he kind of does the job for them and doesn’t ever initiate contact with them unless necessary (or that time at the beach with Joe...although you could argue that that was necessary)

But the thing is, a lot of their love languages revolve around physical contact. Especially Reki’s.

Reki thrives on physical affection and is very very touchy, and he’ll hug or pat etc people whenever he has the chance

Miya pretends every time Reki touches him that he definitely doesn’t yearn for and cherish those touches (that feel all too brief) but it probably shows anyway how much he loves them

He also of course pretends he’s annoyed by stuff like this because he’s a big fucking tsundere

The others pretend not to notice how he leans into every touch they give him

Miya subconsciously makes record of all the things that he’s done that makes Reki praise him and repeats them because when Reki praises him he gives him head pats and hair ruffles and such

Everyone, Reki included, is aware of this and at first some of them wanted to mention it and tease him about it, but Reki put a stop to it and went along with it because it’s cute

Even though Miya craves being touched, he hates being touched by people he doesn’t know well/trust, and will go to any means necessary to avoid it

His favorite forms of physical affection are head pats and hugs (especially when he’s being held, but he’ll never admit that), and cuddles.

God he loves cuddles so much but he never gets any :(

One night they all have a sleepover at Joe’s place (probably against his will if we’re being honest) and it’s storming outside and it’s kinda cold

They’re all already huddled pretty close because Shadow is scared of thunder and Langa doesn’t like sudden loud noises in general, and it’s also cold and Joe didn’t have enough blankets for everyone to have their own

So of course Reki and Langa are sharing, and so is Joe and Cherry (and they’re pretending not to enjoy it), and Miya and Shadoe have the third one, but Miya had set himself a good distance away from Shadow, so that he’s almost at the edge of the blanket.

Shadow still jumps and grabs onto him every time thunder strikes tho. Miya pretends he’s irritated by it (well he is a little, but mostly because he gets no warning before Shadow is suddenly touching him)

Soon enough everyone is almost all asleep, and Miya, for maybe the first time in years, was starting to doze off before it was five in the morning (it was only two! Imagine that!! Fuck insomnia)

He was probably one of the first to conk out, along with Shadow

And if he was clutching his pillow like a life line, that was his business

Reki, however, noticed, and kind of thought it was sweet, and reached over to pull the blanket up a little more, but Miya ended up grabbing his hand in his sleep

At first Reki was kind of like ‘shit what do I do’ before deciding on scooting over a bit closer so he could lay comfortably without pulling away cuz then he’d feel bad

Eventually he fell asleep along with everyone else, and in the night Miya ended up ditching the pillow and cuddling up closer to him

Also Langa was definitely spooning Reki, that’s always how they sleep when they have sleepovers

And so anyway Miya is like. Burrowed into Reki’s chest and cuddling against him but he’s completely asleep so he doesn’t know he’s doing this

Reki wakes up because...what in the world is pressed up against him? Is it Langa? If it is, then whats pressed up against his back?

And so when he wakes up to see Miya cuddling against him he’s just. His heart clenches and he’s like “oh my god does this mean he actually likes me”

(Big brother Reki and little brother Miya is the best relationship in the whole show)

So Reki definitely does not hug Miya back and he definitely doesn’t stroke his hair (his sisters have always liked in when he does that, so of course Miya would too, right?)

And so Reki falls back asleep sandwiched between his boyfriend and his little brother and it’s just. So sweet.

Miya wakes up first and immediately pulls away out of embarrassment.

Both he and Reki pretend it didn’t happen (Reki more so out of respect for his wishes and to not let him know that he was awake)

That’s all I have for now sorry for the long post I’m on mobile so I can’t do the keep reading thing T-T

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 #miya chinen #touch starved #miya: *in Eddie Kaspbrak voice* DONT FUCKING TOUCH ME #also Miya: cuddles ? 🥺 #long post #headcanons

[snowflake-of-destruction]

~gives you an excuse to infodump about mermaid aus~

How does it feel to be my current favorite?

FIRST WORLDBUILDING, I SWEAR IT’S NECESSARY TO SET THE SCENE

Okay, in this world, merfolk and aquatic sirens are seen as two separate species. This is mostly perpetuated by the merfolk themselves who are peaceful versus man-eating and don’t have the same mystical vocal powers sirens use to hypnotize or paralyze prey. There are also other differences, such as jaw/tooth structure. Mermaids--many of them at least, may have sharp, interlocking, predator teeth, but sirens have a specific fang structure in the front of their mouth. Protruding fangs for causing wounds that will bleed the most with the least “effort,” the “puncture teeth” for quicker kills. There are also curved fangs for skinning/descaling prey. 

These latter fangs are important for more than hunting. The siren society has a culture of scarification. Each family has a crest, with individuals therein creating their own variant when they come of age. Who you are is branded/bitten/scarred into your skin, and then you mark your mate and children. There can also be specific circumstances for marks, such as a lifelong debt. For the most part though, you only bare 1 to 2 marks (depending on if you keep your family crest and make your new tattoo separate or if you bare both a mate and an individual mark) and these are taken super seriously in both who you are and who belongs to you until the day they die.

READ MORE FOR LENGTH

Sirens dwell in the deeper trenches of the ocean for the most part and have adapted for it, and who are known to not only drown humans and eat them, but to even sometimes sneak up on a merperson swimming alone, drag them to depths where the pressure starts interfering with their ability to fight back with a clear head, overpower them, and turn (basically) cannibal. 

Why do I say basically cannibal? Because the sirens are taught that really they are one common people, just adapted differently as the merfolk denied some of their true nature and excommunicated those that did not want to live oppressed. There are subsets of mers who have all sort of different tails, sizes, and talents and are still called merfolk, so why should those that “have the song” (and the taste for more than fish) be treated differently? They would also say that more merfolk (senselessly) kill sirens than the opposite, and this hate combined with the fact that Sirens hunt the surface less and less as humans grow more creative and vicious, means they are dying out.

Humans (the ones that have seen these sea creatures and believe in them at all)  just know pretty-half fish= probably dangerous and don't distinguish between merfolk and sirens at all. If you’re close enough to study their teeth it’s probably too late.

Adam and Tadashi= sirens

Langa and Shadow=mermen

Miya- Either a merman or just straight up I make him a salt-water catfish to be funny. He is identified as “sidekick” more than an actual species in my mind so far

Cherry, Joe and Reki= human sailors

Oka= a human but not a sailor, someone who runs a store in a port the Matchablossom ship often restocks and Reki's former boss before he left to sail with Joe and Cherry

ARE YOU WITH ME SO FAR? GOOD, BECAUSE HERE COMES PLOT PREMISE[

THE BACKSTORIES

So we have Adam and Tadashi when they were but tiny things playing around, exploring where they were not supposed to go, and they get attacked by some other dangerous sea creature with things only getting worse when they almost get caught in a net when they flee to the shallow. The net gets very badly wrapped around tiny Tadashi’s throat and he suffers vocal cord damage and loses his main power as a siren before he even grows into it--a consequence of curiosity, Tadashi views it, and though he escapes the net, does he ever really?

Adam learns zero lessons, and a bit later in life he dabbles in a Little Mermaid type narrative with Cherry and Joe when they were younger and dumber...until they discover Adam  luring more weak minded sailors to their doom and prove some people just aren't down with murder for fun and food.

PRESENT DAY

 Captain Kaoru and first mate Kojiro (Though Kaoru and Kojiro keep saying Carla, Kaoru's really fancy nautical compass is the first mate, and Kojiro is just hanging around) take on the plunky Reki as a new crew mate. Reki spots Langa or vice versa and the love at first sight strikes hard. They continue to find ways to interact, but mostly moon over each other in typical teen star-crossed fashion. The “true” Little Mermaid narrative vibes begin. Joe and Cherry find out about their little meetups and warn Reki about the “dangers and demons of the deep” but Reki can’t fathom Langa being like the stories they tell. 

Langa’s mother would not be thrilled with him revealing himself to a human, but the real danger for Langa, though he doesn’t know it, is when Adam hears Langa happily singing to himself about a day spent with Reki. He becomes convinced Langa has “the song” and can bend the world to his will, and runs far with the implications, convinced that he’ll somehow unite mer kingdoms, bringing the sirens out of the depths to the more hospitable merfolk territory and plentiful hunting grounds. 

The only thing standing in the way is Reki and all that needs to happen is to get rid of him or have Langa do it through a little bit of trickery in saying that if Reki's love is true when Langa sings he'll grow gills.

Well, not the only thing, because then we have Matchablossom, already feeling like it's their burden to kill Adam.

And maybe I have some other tricks planned, but I feel like this is enough of an explosion of info.

Unless anyone wants to ask more questions...

#sk8 siren au #renga #matchablossom #lovematchablossom #ainosuke shindo #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #and on and on all the characters #Anonymous #infinite depths

[jubesy]

Could I get no.40 for matcha blossom 😅 if it’s not to much Trouble I don’t want you to over work yourself

Aww, thank you, anon! Yes, I’m trying my best to take breaks so I don’t burn out, haha. And this one is so cute!

You’ve got it, anon! Thanks for the ask~

Matcha Blossom #40 “I could hold you forever.”

Also available on Ao3.

Request a drabble here!

The calibration had been off. That was it. A simple error. Frustrating. But not the end of the world.

Cherry sighed and stared up at the night sky above, his back flat on the dirt. He winced slightly as he turned toward his board, which had landed a few steps away. “Carla,” he began.

‘Yes, Master?’ 

“Make the necessary adjustments.” 

‘Yes, Master.’ 

“Kaoru!” Joe’s voice sounded high and panicked as he approached, audible even over the rumbling of his bike’s engine and the crunch of the gravel beneath its tires. Joe skidded to a halt and dismounted, falling to his knees at Cherry’s side. “Shit, Kaoru! Are you all right?” 

Cherry took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m fine.” 

Joe looked him over, large hands surprisingly gentle as he searched for any injuries. “Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, a bit calmer now. 

“Just my pride,” Cherry answered, shifting his gaze over toward his childhood friend as he sat up. “Carla needs a bit more work before she’s perfect, I think.” 

Joe simply stared at him before letting his shoulders drop, a shaky breath escaping his lips. “You asshole,” he said and then pulled Cherry into a tight hug. “Don’t scare me like that.” 

Cherry blinked and tried to force his way out of Joe’s tight embrace. “Have a little more faith in me,” he wheezed. “I’m not so fragile.” 

“You fell off a cliff,” Joe replied flatly, though when he pulled back, his face still showed concern.

Cherry couldn’t help it. He reached up and softly pat Joe’s cheek. “What kind of skater would I be if I couldn’t handle taking a tumble from time to time?” He wet his lips, trying to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks. “But I’m sorry for worrying you, I suppose.” 

“You suppose,” Joe echoed with a snort. “All right, let’s get you back home so you can fix your robot girlfriend.” Before Cherry could object, Joe had scooped him up into his arms. “You can ride with me.” 

Cherry wriggled in his hold. “Kojiro, put me down!” 

“Nope,” Joe replied. “Actually, do you think you’ll be able to sit on my bike?” he asked. “Did you fall on your butt?” He hummed. “That could be pretty uncomfortable.” 

As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough to be held in Joe’s arms, he didn’t need the other to be going on about -- the rapidly forming bruise on -- his backside. 

“Maybe I should just carry you all the way home,” Joe suggested.

Cherry scoffed. “As if you could.” He rolled his eyes. “Put me down.”

But Joe shook his head. “You barely weigh a thing,” he supplied as if giving an explanation. “I could hold you forever.”

Again, Cherry’s face flushed, his ears burning. “Ugh, just shut up and put me on the damn bike.”

Joe laughed and Cherry spent the entire ride with his face pressed up against the other’s broad back.

They were drinking after hours. Joe had brought out the good wine. Cherry’s favorite. It had been a very busy week and it felt good to just...relax.

“Hey,” Joe said suddenly, his cheeks rosy. “Remember that time you totally ate it on that corner?” His eyes were shining. “Before you had Carla all…” He gestured vaguely with his hand. “Perfected or whatever.” 

Yes. Cherry did remember. “I didn’t ‘totally eat it’,” Cherry mimicked, his face growing warmer. “It was a simple miscalculation. And that was years ago.” He took another sip from his glass. “Besides, you’ve ‘eaten it,’” he used his term, “Far more often than I have.”

Joe narrowed his eyes, but he was still smiling. “Maybe so.” He lifted his glass to his lips, but missed his mouth. “Oops.” He wiped his chin with the back of his hand, the animal. “Guess that’s enough for me.” 

“Hmm…” Cherry hummed in agreement. 

“Wanna go upstairs?” Joe was suddenly right beside him, his lips brushing against Cherry’s ear as he spoke.

Cherry didn’t answer, his heart hammering in his chest at their sudden close proximity. Blame it on the wine. Instead, he posed a question of his own. “What made you think of that all of a sudden?” he asked and when Joe cocked his head to the side in confusion, he clarified, “Me ‘eating it,’ as you so eloquently put it.”

“Oh.” Joe scratched his cheek and gave a sheepish little grin. “I was just thinking, I could probably still carry you now.” He lowered his hand. “Actually, it’ll probably be a lot easier, since I’m much stronger than back then.”

Cherry gave that some thought. It was probably unwise to let a tipsy Joe carry him up the stairs. But Cherry had downed a few more glasses than Joe had and he wasn’t sure his legs could carry him. And it was only seventeen steps. And Joe was strong…

Without his permission, Cherry’s gaze lowered to Joe’s chest, barely concealed by the button-up shirt. Were those buttons for show? Did he not know how to close them all properly? 

“Kaoru?” Joe’s voice broke Cherry from his thoughts. “I can’t let you drive home.” 

Again Cherry hummed and then bobbed his head. “I bet you can’t,” he challenged.

“Bet I can’t…? Let you drive?” Joe furrowed his brow.

“Carry me,” Cherry corrected, his head fuzzy and warm. How many glasses had he…? Or maybe it was just having Joe so damn close. “I bet you can’t carry me. I’ve gained several kilos since then.”

At that, Joe grinned, his eyes flashing. “Oh yeah?” he asked, sneaking an arm under Cherry’s knees and using the other to support his back. “So have I.” He lifted him up like he weighed nothing. “See?” he teased. “Light as a feather.”

The flush on Cherry’s face spread down his neck to his chest and he burrowed into Joe’s shoulder to hide it. “Let’s just go upstairs,” he mumbled against the fabric of Joe’s shirt, warmed by his skin. “Before you drop me.”

Joe chuckled, the sound reverberating in his chest. “Please, Kaoru.” His voice softened. “I could hold you forever.”

And Cherry couldn’t ignore the way his pulse jumped at that. Stupid gorilla.

Request a drabble here!

#matcha blossom #nanjo kojiro #sakurayashiki kaoru #sk8 the infinity #sk8 #answered #anon #drabble #quote drabble #quote drabbles #carla #i love carla #she should be in every fic haha #drinking #tipsy

[andromeda612]

Too short!

Ok, I'm into Sk8 The infinity and Renga as much I'm into Nathmarc which means the fanfic ideas are flowing... here we go. This may have some spoilers!!! 📢🚨

Also idk if this count as a crack but the thing is I'm done with the angst so I came up with this silly idea.

So this is a canon divergence in which they boys get to talk about their problems and have the reconciliation they deserve and need.

They understand each other better, Langa even started to pay attention to all the rude things some people say about Reki and is ready to assure him when necessary.

Though.... there are some assholes that are just well... assholes.

Like this guy we will call Yoshio... maybe I'll come up with another name when I actually write the fic. Btw, Yoshio is their age and a jerk, he tried to get close to Langa because being friends with Snow would be cool and would gain him some points, however Langa was not interested, the guy was... not friendly, besides the friends he already had (Shadow, Joe, Cherry, Miya and of course Reki) are more than enough for him, especially Reki.

And well Yoshio can understand why Snow would prefer the company of people like Joe , Cherry and Miya, even Shadow but that slime redhead? At least Yoshio has his own name in "S" but that guy was just a nobody, so he didn't understand why the big Snow was so eager to spend time with with such a nobody, the genius even looked like he was looking forwards to just be seen by the redhead, why?

Of course since Yoshio is a jerk he doesn't think and gives his opinion on the matter. In a rude way.

"I don't get it. Why waste your time with a lowlife like him? What does have that nobody that I don't? At least people here knows my name!"

Langa is not a violent boy, he usually don't get mad or angry, but right now he just want to punch this boy until he backs off his words. The only reason he didn't was because Cherry and Joe interfered, but he did give him a piece of his mind. Fortunately Reki didn't let those words get to him.

For some time Yoshio leaves them alone, but he really wants to humiliate that slime, so he would finally understand his place.

Then he comes up with an idea which is at best childish, but it would make what he wants: humiliate Reki in front as much people possible.

So he challenges him into a beef. The loser would wear a dress chose by the winner.

Yeah, childish and kind of retrograde is XXI Century please.

Reki honestly doesn't think much about the beef, is just a dress, though they are not his style. Yoshio will bother him until he agrees. Reki was about to win but Yoshio plays dirty, even dirtier than Shadow, and what he did was actually dangerous, Reki lost and ends up with more bandages on his left arm and right knee.

Again, the only reason Langa didn't beat the shit out of Yoshio was because Cherry and Joe stopped him.

Now Reki has to go to "S" wearing the dress Yoshio chose for him. That day the gang meet at Joe's restaurant so Reki can put on the dress, they all decided to wait until he wear it to see it, so it was a surprise. But Reki was feeling very uncomfortable wearing it and was seriously considering to not set foot in "S" ever again or deal with whatever shit he had to face if he decides to not keep with the beef.

"Everything alright kid?" Joe asked outside the room Reki was changing.

"Y-yeah... I just... I'm not sure I want to do this"

"Uh, are you ashamed for using a dress? I honestly thought you didn't give a shit about it"

"Language!" Cherry corrects Miya, but he had a point, they didn't thought Reki really cared.

"Is not that, I mean is just a piece of fabric and is stupid to say is just for girls, but that is not the matter..." Reky replies a little hesitant.

"What's the matter, Reki?" Langa asks soflty.

"Well... I didn't take on account Yoshio would chose something so... revealing"

"What do you mean with revealing?!"

Shadow already bored with all that just junked the door open revealing a blushing and startled Reki wearing a pink dress that seemed taken of some magical girls anime, it had ribbons and sparkles and just like Reki said... it was kind revealing. The neckline was pronounced, if Reki were a girl... you have an idea, and the skirt was way too short. It gained different reactions.

Shadow and Miya explode in laughter, Cherry and Joe's parental instincts kicked in and were internally ranting about how their child won't wear that in public and thinking in ways to make anything that may happen to Yoshio to look like an accident.

And Langa... Langa felt for the first time what a gay panic was.

He knew he liked his friend in a romantically way, after that talk he had with his mother the night he lost against Joe in the tournament, it was like an ephiny and it didn't took much for him to accept it. He knew he was gay since he was like 12 and Reki was just the sunshine incarnated, it was hard for him to understand how people would not like him.

He always thought he was handsome, cute, adorable, gorgeous and even sexy... he is a teenager and he has hormones okay?! Don't judge him!

But this?

Yeah, he has seen Reki shirtless (which made him flustered) but it’s just... the dress and he looking so freaking cute and flustered, that is making things to his heart... and to another parts, not gonna lie, his legs look amazing and he can't help but appreciatee how the dress embracess Reki's frame so nicely.

"Ugh, close your mouth you are about to drool" Miya whispers to him while elbowing his ribs.

Langa snaps out his trance, Miya is watching him with a smile too knowing for his like. Langa can't help the deep blush spreading over his face

"Jeez! I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff, and you looked so wholesome" the kid tases him shaking his head, for once the Canadian is speechless at his young friend, if for what he implied or the fact he talked about it despite his age he doesn't know and doesn't want to know either.

He tries to justify himself but all that comes out his mouth are stammered words, Miya just laughs at him, he glances at Reki who is too busy yelling at Shadow to stop laughing to notice their little interaction, good, he feels too embarrassed and he doesn't need Reki to notice.

"Absolutely no! There is no way you are going to "S" wearing that!" Cherry states immersed in his parental figure mood. Joe immediately agrees, for once with the man.

"But what about the beef? I get he feels uncomfortable but Yoshio won't let this pass" Miya chimes in, right that is a problem.

"But we can have Reki walking in a public place looking like that! Who knows how many creeps or homophobes are there!"

The people started to talk about what to do, but Joe's words keep floating in Langa's mind.

Creeps and homophobes.

Right, if Reki goes to "S" everybody will see him like that.... Langa's chest tightens at the idea in a mix of concern and, even if he is ashamed of the last one, jealousy.

In one hand both the creeps and homophobes have him worried for Reki's safety, he doesn't want him to be harassed or assaulted.

On the other hand he doesn't want anybody to see him like this, he doesn't want anybody to see how stunning Reki looks, is he jealous? He doesn't have a problem with their friends but... Joe and Cherry are pretty much their parents, with Shadow and Miya there is an age gap and even if that wasn't a problem, they are like brothers for Reki and him(Miya is like their cat son when Cherry and Joe are not present), so he is pretty sure they don't count, buy anybody else? Yeap, he doesn't want them to see this side of his dear best friend. It sounds selfish? Maybe. He cares? Pfff no. He is thinking about this when an idea crosses his mind.

"Shadow, borrow us your cape"

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

"What is this?! Where is the dress!" Yoshio all but barks at the redhead, the Canadian can't help growl under his breath.

"Actually I'm wearing it, under the tunic" Reki explains with a smirk and even opens the tunic a little to show that indeed he is using the damn dress, he quickly closes it again.

"This was not the beef slime! Take off that cape or..."

"Or what, brat?" Shadow appears suddenly and glares at Yoshido, who gulps and steps back.

"Also, the beef was for the loser to wear a dress chose by the winner, you never said the dress had to be seen by everybody so technically Reki is receiving the punishment" Cherry adds as he puts a hand on Reki's shoulder, Joe and Miya also appear besides them.

Yoshido, outnumbered has no other choice but back off.

That night Reki decides to just watch to avoid any accident that would reveal the dress, Langa decides to keep him company, practically attaching himself at Reki's side, just in case.

Though, at some point, in which he sees Yoshido by himself, he ask Cherry to take care of Reki saying he wanted a drink.

After 15 minutes, a long time to go for a drink, Langa returns without drink but with a very satisfied smile.

Reki doesn't miss it.

"What did you do?" But Langa ignores it.

"Mom will make poutine for diner on Friday, wanna come?" He asks instead.

"Hey answer my question!"

"I'm sure mom will love to have you there, she adores you"

Knowing he won't make Langa talk Reki just sighs and says he will be there, Langa will tell him if he thinks is important.

Needleless to say, after that day Yoshido never bothered Reki again and every time he saw Langa he would look away scared and just avoid any contact with the two best friends.

Reki, Cherry, Joe, Shadow and Miya are sure Langa did something but, they are not complaining, the guy was pain in the ass.

"As far as he didn't do something we wouldn't do" is Joe simply state.

As for Langa? He is just grateful skirts and dresses are not Reki's style at all, otherwise he is sure his poor heart couldn't handle it.

This is a draft, the actual fanfic will come soon 👀

#skate the infinity #sk8 #reki deserves love and happiness #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #renga #fanfic #lenga x reki #cherry blossom #joe #miya #shadow

[starglossie]

two ducks in a pond

renga bday fic for the girlies <3  rating: g for general audience baby!  summary: reki realized he couldn’t call himself langa’s bff if he didn’t even know his birthday. so he goes: “hey langa when’s your bday” and langa goes “oh. today.” and reki’s like “haha rad... HELLO? HELLO WTF? HELLO?” and thus, a bday party is planned <3 what are the vibes of this fic? bday cuteness, some pining, some asking sk8 dad joe for advice, some reki being so in love with langa it’s ridiculous, some first kisses hehe. 

can also be read on ao3 and below the cut. 

Reki sniffed, ripping off another piece of bread and chucking it into the group of ducks below in the pond. “Yo, Langa?”

“Huh?” Langa grunted. He tore a piece of bread for himself before throwing one down to the ducks. 

“Stop, that’s for the ducks!” 

“I know. But I’m hungry. We can share.”

Reki rolled his eyes and nudged Langa with his shoulder. “I’m convinced you have, like, ten stomachs.”

“Fourteen.”

“Anyways! My question,” Reki leaned closer, noticing how Langa always allowed him into his space. And, in this moment, how he always allowed Langa into his. “When’s your birthday? I realized we never talked about that!” 

Yeah it was a random question but Reki was curious. He’d grown close to Langa in incredibly quick fashion but the simple things! He had no idea when his best friend was born and that was utterly unacceptable. This had to be changed immediately. 

Langa ate another piece of bread. Chewed. Swallowed. Stared distantly into the horizon before turning back, quickly. His eyes widening a fraction in surprise. “Today.” 

“Oh ok!” Reki accepted and then shuffled back a bit until his answer really hit him. “EXCUSE ME?” and he’s right back. All up in Langa’s space. Nearly onto his lap as he gripped Langa by the shoulders and shook him several times. “What do you mean today? Hello! Hello, why did you not let me know this sooner!”

Langa, still unphased by the bomb he dropped, answered in his same, even tone that’s quickly driving Reki up a wall. “You never asked.”

“What do you mean!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!!” 

“I forgot, honestly.” Langa explained as if forgetting his birthday was the same thing as forgetting where you put your tv remote. “Ah, but my mom said I shouldn’t stay out too late. Since she wants to celebrate. Something small.” 

Reki felt himself age several years. Tired, but determined, he pinches Langa’s cheeks instead. Ignoring the “ow ow ow!” Langa made every time he pulled. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! I can’t believe I didn’t know until now! I have to get you a present.”

“It’s not a big deal, Reki.” Langa said, patting Reki’s hand that held onto his cheeks. “I liked spending time with you today. That can be your present.” 

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Reki released Langa’s cheeks. He stood up and kicked up his board, grabbing it and holding onto the end with his hand. “You go home and celebrate with your mom! I’m gonna go prepare something! Something epic. Something totally rad!”

“I was already going to do that…” Langa frowned. “Reki, seriously-”

But Reki was far too stubborn and ridiculously determined to make things right. Logically, he knew that Langa didn’t care. How would Reki have known today was his birthday? Not his fault! But that didn’t matter. Not to Reki. Not when Langa, who was so far from home, who made Reki’s world a little more colorful and bright and… no. He had to. He couldn’t go to sleep in peace tonight knowing he hadn’t done something for Langa. 

Reki kicked off onto his skateboard and turned around, “Keep your phone on ring tonight, ok? Cause I’m gonna call you later! Don’t forget!” with a wave, he kicked off. Chucking the last pieces of his bread into the duck pond. 

Langa watched Reki skate off, then turned with a sign. Back to the pond as the ducks happily descended upon the discarded piece of bread. A small smile grew on his face. As color rose to his cheeks. He shook his head and threw his last piece of bread too before heading home. 

 -

 “JOE! I NEED-Oh,” Reki stood at the door he opened (without knocking mind you). Eyes wide as he stared at Joe and Cherry. Joe with his arms around Cherry’s waist and Cherry’s gripping Joe’s shirt as the two stared back at him. Lips red. Cheeks flushed. “I. Can’t you do that at home?”

“Kid can’t you knock ?” Joe laughed. But there’s no real heat to his words. 

Cherry on the other hand gripped Joe’s collar harder before pushing him back. “You said the door was locked, you beefhead!” 

“I said I thought it was locked.” Joe’s laughter grew louder even as Cherry gripped him up ready to throttle him.

It’s not like Reki was surprised to see Joe and Cherry mid make out… he always wondered. But to actually see that happen in real time-he cleared his throat. Cheeks still hot. Willing his mind to not take that one step further considering what if that were him and Lan- 

“I’m sorry! Next time I’ll knock.”

“There won’t be a next time!” Cherry howled. 

“Yeah ok,” Joe rolled his eyes. His arms wrapped around Cherry’s waist. With a tug, he turned him back into his arms and rested his chin rather boldly on to his shoulder. “We’re not exactly subtle. It was about time someone found out about us. Reki,” Reki jumped to attention, clutching his skateboard. Joe grinned, “Whatcha need, kid?”

“Too close!” Cherry growled, attempting to break free at the same time as Reki responded, “Uh… right! Right! Today’s Langa’s birthday. So I wanted to ask a favor!”

“Oh?” Joe said. “What’s the favor?” 

“I was wondering if we could like. I dunno. Make him a cake! And, uh-have everyone come by! Shadow and Miya and Oka… just everyone!”

“That’s pretty last minute. Your breath is gross. Stop breathing on me, Joe!” Cherry pushed Joe’s face away who only laughed and held him tighter. He huffed, seeming to give up on breaking free from Joe’s hold anytime soon. Reki held back the urge to laugh because Cherry’s temper was foul and Reki did not want to be at the receiving end of that anytime soon. No that could 100% go to Joe. 

“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Joe said. “But the cake’s gonna take a few hours. Less, if I have some help.” 

“I’ll help!” Reki was already setting down his skateboard by a plant and rolling up his sleeves. “I’m pretty good around the kitchen. Just tell me what I need to do.” 

“Loving the enthusiasm. Cherry, be useful and text Clowny, Shortstack, and Oka, yeah?”

“Who do you think you are bossing me around, huh?”

“You’re so cheeky you know that? Would it kill ya to just listen to your elders.”

“We’re the same age!”

“I’m bigger-”

“Ok!” Reki jumped in. “Party. Langa’s birthday. FOCUS!” 

Joe detached himself from Cherry-much to Cherry’s visible appreciation and Reki’s well… he’s just happy this is working out better than anticipated. Joe made moves towards the kitchen and told Reki to follow him while Cherry grumbled, pulling out his cell phone to make the necessary calls. 

It was a very last minute plan. And by pure luck alone was Reki able to get the gears going. His heart raced, imagining the end goal. The restaurant filled with Langa’s friends and the cake and maybe they could get some juice! Reki could make a playlist while they baked. And Langa. He hoped he could see Langa smile. 

The thought made Reki’s heart squeeze as he slipped into the apron Joe handed him. 

“Alright kid,” Joe smirked, tying the knot for his apron behind his back. “Let’s get to baking. 

 -

 “And… finished!” Reki wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow as he placed the icing down. The words, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANGA!!!, were neatly drawn onto the cake in light blue icing. It had taken all but 30 minutes and complete concentration but Reki was nothing if not a perfectionist. 

“Looks good, kid.” Joe leaned over to inspect the cake. Baking it took about an hour. Decorating it another forty five minutes or so. Meanwhile, Shadow, Miya, and Oka had arrived with some decorations. Shadow refused to have a birthday party that did not have a banner, streamers, or some sort of fun confetti. 

“You can bake, slime?” Miya had asked when he popped his head back into the kitchen to see what was happening. “I thought you were just a skatehead. Who would have thought you could do more than one trick, slime.”

“Slime this, slime that, but when everyone gets a slice of cake but you, we'll see who the slime is then!” Miya only laughed. 

What mattered was that the cake was finished. He pulled out his phone to check the time and saw that he had two missed texts from Langa. One was a photo his mom took of him in a party hat eating cake with his same absentmindedly pleased expression. The next was a text from about ten minutes ago: rdy whenever for whatever u have planned. 

Reki zoomed in on the photo of Langa eating cake, a goofy smile curling onto his lips. 

Joe peeked at the smile. Untying his apron, humming. “You got it bad, kid.”

“I!” Reki started, his cheeks coloring to nearly the same shade as red as his hair before deflating. His smile is not so goofy but warm, complacent. “Yeah. Yeah I do.” No use fighting what was, to Reki at this point, inevitable. 

He’d been this way ever since he saw Langa fly amongst the fireworks. 

Joe smiled in sympathy, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “I get it. You gonna tell him tonight?”

“Uh… I, dunno?” his eyebrows furrowed. “I hadn’t really thought about telling him… at all really.” He thought about what would happen if Langa didn’t feel the same way. If their closeness was just a matter of sharing a secret, born from forced proximity, and nothing more. He liked their friendship. Loved it. 

Wanted to protect it and cherish it till the day he died. Langa was his best friend. He finally had someone he could share what he loved with. And never had Langa made him feel silly for being so excited over skateboarding. He embraced it all-his theoretical jabber, his hype over nailing a move, his joy over building and designing a skateboard. All the things he desperately wished to share with someone, Langa took it all without question and gave back all the same. 

How could he not develop feelings? It still didn’t make much sense to him. He’s never really liked someone romantically before-especially not this strongly. And never a guy. But Langa was… Langa. And that conclusion was so simple and settled so firmly in Reki’s heart, there couldn’t be any other answer. 

But he’d rather eat dirt than lose Langa and his friendship over unreciprocated feelings. 

Joe seemed to read the confusion and warring feelings on Reki’s face. Because he ruffled his hair again and gave it a good pat before heading back towards the front of the restaurant. “No worries. You don’t gotta rush it. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.” 

As Joe’s about to leave, Reki stops him. Text message thread with Langa still opened because he hadn’t finished replying yet. “You and Cherry. How did you-Did you confess?” 

Joe folded his arms and got lost in thought for a few minutes, “I think so? It was kinda messy. We were arguing one second, calling each other names, and then the next minute we were kissing.” he opened his eyes and grinned, “Pretty on brand for us though. I’d recommend not arguing with Snow before you confess.”

Reki snorted, “Yeah… ok.” he looked back at his phone and fired off a text. 

b there soon! keep the hat on :P

 -

 “Wow you actually wore the hat.”

Langa’s eyes shot upward. He poked the point of his hat while Reki snickered. “You told me to.” he said with a frown. 

“Haha, I know! I know. It looks good,” picking up Langa was quick and easy. Langa’s mom was near tears when Reki popped up at the door to take Langa out for a surprise. 

“Langa you’re growing up faster than your mother can keep up!!!” she pressed her tear stained cheeks against Langa, who had a tiny blush on his cheeks despite his near vacant expression. 

They took their boards to the streets after that was the only way to go around. And were walking up to the front steps of the restaurant now. Reiki’s heart rate kept escalating with each past second. Sudden doubt washed over him. What if this was lame? Or Langa didn’t like it? Maybe he shouldn’t have brought everyone together and they should have just skated off to see the sunrise or something. Or maybe he should have- 

“You ok, Reki?”

Then Reki took one look at Langa. Blue party hat and all. Looking concerned with the way his lips pulled into a frown and his eyebrows knitted together. Reki’s heart burst, but for completely different reasons now. 

“I’m great,” Reki smiled brilliantly. All his nervous energy gone and replaced with giddy excitement. “Here, no peeking.” He stepped up behind Langa, covering his eyes with his headband. “Don’t take it off until I say so!” 

Langa gave him two thumbs up. 

With a nod, Reki pushed open the door and gave everyone a finger to the lips to be quiet. His heart kept pounding, because the restaurant looked really good. The decorations were simple, with some candles and lights strewn. Balloons blown up and a giant banner that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SNOW!” with the yeti from Langa’s board painted crudely on it. How they managed to do that in such a short time, Reki couldn’t even wrap his head around. But it looked good. And there was this indescribable pool of warm curling at the bottom of his stomach. He hoped Langa liked it. No, he hoped Langa would love it. 

“Okay… and… go!” Reki pulled off his headband and took a step back. 

“Happy birthday, Langa!” everyone cried out. Standing around the table that was set with Langa’s birthday cake on it. 

Reki threw an arm around Langa’s shoulder, and grinned. Electric and vibrant. “Hehe! Surprise!”

Langa didn’t say anything for a minute and in that minute Reki thought he was going to go through the several stages of grief and depression all at once. But then Langa smiled. It was brilliant. His eyes widened in the same way they did when he flew in the sky, or landed a move. He turned to Reki, eyes still wrought with surprise. 

“You did all this… for me?”

“Of course! Is that even a question?” 

“Slime got us all together so we could celebrate,” Miya said, cat’s smile in place. 

“Now why didn’t you tell us sooner your birthday was today, Snow? You really that far out in outer space you can’t remember what’s down below!” Shadow asked. 

Joe snorted, “Snow’s got nothing on the brain but skating and food. I’m not surprised.”

“Not to rush the moment but I’m starving. Joe, start serving the food like you’re supposed to.” Cherry said. 

“Huh? Is this your birthday party now? Are you in charge here? Is this your restaurant?” 

While the two started going at it Oka went ahead and lit up the cake. “Come over and blow out your candles while those two flirt it out.”

“We’re not flirting!” Cherry yelled at the same time as Joe said, “This is not how we flirt-” which was a lie. 

Langa seemed overwhelmed. In a good way? Reki hoped. But he walked over to the cake and they all sang happy birthday off key and not a lick of tune to be found. Langa laughed and blew out his candles. Reki took 300 photos alone of the blowing, the cutting, and the eating of cake. 

The night went on with the adults busting out the drinks and the kids having juice! Sparkling juice, because it was a fancy affair and such matters called for such things. Of course. Reki kept looking at Langa to gauge his expression. He was happily eating cake while Miya was showing him a new mobile game he was into. 

“You can make food?”

“Out of everything I told you, that’s what sticks out?”

“I think it’s cool…” 

Reki laughed behind his glass, sitting off by the bar while he watched. This felt right. And good. And it was wild how in just a few months his whole life had changed since Langa entered it. He wondered if Langa felt the same. That their lives had turned completely upside down in such a short amount of time. Now here they were, hanging out in a restaurant after hours with people who Reki may not have ever gotten to know if things had panned out differently. 

“Reki.”

Reki looked up from his glass. Langa was staring down at him, face blank. “Sup? Having fun?”

Langa nodded, “Yeah. I was going to step outside for a bit of air. Wanna come with?”

“Yeah sure!” Reki put his glass down and the two headed outside. They sat down on the steps of Joe’s restaurant. Shoulder to shoulder. Knee to knee. The streets were quiet. Not many people were out and about. But through the door Reki could hear the makeshift sounds of their friends chatting and distinctively, Cherry’s yelling (most definitely annoyed at Joe). 

“You okay?” Reki asked after a few minutes of silence. 

Langa hummed. “Yeah. I’m okay. It’s… a lot. But good. I’ve never spent a birthday with so many people before. So this is, new.” 

“Yeah? Well I’m glad you could get to experience something new! And that it was good. Everyone jumped in ready to go once I told them it was your birthday.” Reki put his head in his arms resting on his knees, smiling softly up at Langa.  “You’re really loved.” he said quietly. 

Saying that word out loud didn’t really hit, and probably wouldn’t hit for Reki, until much later. But something shifted in Langa’s eyes. Something bright, and before Reki could ask Langa had moved forward. Dipped his head down so their lips brushed just a measure. 

Reki gasped into the kiss. His eyes wide. Langa pulled back, his cheeks burning with the same vibrant intensity as Reki’s. 

“Thank you.” Langa said softly, in English. He wrapped his arms around Reki, hugging him close.

Reki forgot how to breathe in that moment. Forgot what it was like to see stars in the sky when all the stars had conglomerated in his vision. Dousing Langa with such bright light, he was nearly supernova. Reki moved on impulse. Gripping tightly onto the back of Langa’s shirt. Holding him for all he was worth and then more. 

“Anytime.” Reki whispered fiercely. “ Anything for you.” 

They pulled back, but only slightly. Never fully dislodging from the embrace. Reki brushed back some hair from Langa’s face. “The hat looks good on you,” he said cheekily, poking the tip of the hat. 

Langa huffed, “It’s just a hat.”

“Yeah, but you look cute.” Reki smiled even more at the smile that got him. Then, because the little barrier between them was dissolved, Reki slipped in for another kiss. A few more kisses. Several pecks, at the most. “Happy birthday, Langa.” he whispered after they parted. 

Langa pressed their forehead together, smiling softly. “Yeah. Thank you.” 

#renga #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #langa hasegawa #reki kyan #my fics

[im-a-star-boy]

Charity Gala

Another parksborn fic!!! Yes I know I need a new fandom!!! Will I search for one? Absolutely not!!!!!

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Summary: Peter Parker-Stark, the adopted son of Tony Stark, is brought to his first Charity Galaand he doesn’t enjoy it. But things manage to take a turn for the better when he meets another boy, named Harry.

Word Count: 8,446

Date Of Completion: Thursday, January 9th, 2020 (First fic of the New Decade my guys!!!)

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Peter tightened the tie around his neck. “Is this really necessary, Dad?” He called from the bathroom. 

Tony Stark stepped into the bathroom and scoffed at the sloppy bowtie, before stepping over to straighten. “Yes, it is Pete. I know it sucks, but we gotta keep up appearances and you,” He emphasized by tapping his nose lightly, “need the experience.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen galas before though, Dad! They’re really boring.”

“You’ve seen them but you’ve never been to one.” He chided lightly before stepping back. 

He analyzed his handiwork on the bowtie before smiling in satisfaction. “Trust me kid, it isn’t that bad.”

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

It was that bad. It was so definitely that bad. All the smells, sounds, and sights collided at once, giving Peter a massive headache. Pepper had noticed his suffering and had guided him over to the bar and ordered him an iced lemon water. He had very much appreciated it as he laid back and watched the party continue. There wasn’t much going on, just investors talking to one another. After a moment, a young man approached him. He may have been young, but he was in his late 20’s at best. “Hello there young man, you’re Tony Stark’s kid, right?” He greeted happily.

Peter internally cringed before nodding. “Uhh, yeah? Who’re you?” 

The man perked up. “I’m Gaige Thomas, I’m with Perkinson��s, we were hoping to speak to your father if-”

“I don’t know where my dad is. If you wanna talk to him, go find him yourself.” Peter muttered, turning away from him.

“Excuse me?” He forcefully turned Peter’s chair around. “You need to-”

“Hey, screw off!” An unfamiliar voice snapped.

Peter looked up to see a somewhat familiar figure. It was a young boy, around his age. He was tall, black haired, blue eyed, somewhat muscular, definitely good looking. Peter watched as the boy stood in front of him, staring dangerously at Mr. Thomas. The man hesitated before scowling and turned around and walked away. “You okay?” The boy asked, turning to him. 

Peter felt his face flush slightly, before he nodded. “Um, yeah. Yeah I’m- I’m okay. Are- are you? Are you okay? I’m- I mean-”

The boy laughed. “I’m fine. That Thomas is a sketchy guy, kind of an asshole. Sorry about him.”

Peter shrugged. “He’s the one being an ass, not you. Thank you.”

The boy sat down beside him. “You’re welcome. I’m Harry.” He said, extending his hand.

Peter smiled. “I’m Peter.” He replied, shaking his hand happily.

Harry grinned. “Two shirley temples, please!” He called to the bartender. 

The bartender smiled and nodded, pouring two with an amused grin. He tossed the drinks to them. Harry smiled as he took a sip. “So what’s a cutie like you doing here?” He asked, an amused look on his face.

Peter turned bright red and scooted backwards slightly. “UM-! I-I came here with my dad actually, what about you?”

“Same here.” He replied, an amused look crossing his face.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment, drinking the shirley temples. “So what’s your dad do?” Harry asked, finally breaking the silence.

Peter looked up. “Science stuff, mechanical engineering and all that jazz.”

Harry nodded. “Same here. Do you like doing that stuff?” He asked.

Peter nodded. “I like engineering and chemistry, but my favorite is definitely biology. There’s so much that we’re capable of if we figure out how to use our bodies to their full potential. Like being athletic! The only reason people are more athletic, faster runners, stronger physically, is because of their mitochondria count. Cells have thousands of mitochondria- people really underestimate how much is actually packed into our tiny cells. But the more mitochondria you have, the more your body can handle, think of them like batteries! Hundreds of batteries, more power to your device, hundreds of mitochondria, more power to your cells, you know?” 

Harry chuckled at his rant. “Yeah, I get it. You’re really into this stuff.” He chuckled.

Peter shrugged. “It’s mostly because of-” He paused for a moment before shrugging. “Nevermind. What about you? Do you like doing this stuff?”

Harry hesitated. “I like engineering, that’s fun to say the least. But I’m always reaching a goal I don’t think I’ll ever achieve.” 

Peter laughed gently. “Well you won't get there with that attitude. Keep your head up and you’ll get there eventually!” He encouraged. 

Harry smiled slightly. “Thanks.”

Peter grinned. “No problem.”

The two sat in silence again for a moment before Peter straightened up. “So what do you like? Other than work stuff and all that.”

He hummed for a moment. “I like milkshakes.”

“Oh my god you’re lame! What shows, movies, video games, ANYTHING!” Peter shouted playfully.

Harry laughed loudly as Peter sipped his drink. “Okay, well how about this. I like Star Wars.”

“There we go! Progress! I do too.” Peter replied firmly. “What else?”

Harry put his hands up in surrender before humming. “I like musicals, and most of the books by Rick Riordan.” 

Peter straightened up. “Have you read the Red Pyramid?”

“Duh, that’s one of my favorites.”

Peter grinned. “I started reading that one a while ago but I haven’t finished it.”

“Have you been to Cup of Joe?” He asked curiously.

Peter shook his head. “No, what is it?”

“It’s a nice coffee shop and lounge. One of those places that has a library in it- god what’re they called-”

Peter shrugged. “A college dorm?”

“Hardy har, they have an actual name, I just cant remember it.” Harry replied sarcastically.

Peter laughed for a moment. “But yeah no, why do you ask? If I’ve been to Cup of Joe?”

“I hang out there a lot. Its a nice cafe, they have good food and drinks.” Harry explained. “I go there to relax for the most part.”

Peter hummed. “Sounds nice there. Maybe I’ll have to hijack your days off.” He joked.

Harry laughed. “I don’t have a problem with that, you’re cute.”

Peter blushed again. “Well you aren’t half bad looking yourself, Harry.” Peter attempted.

Harry made a face before grinning, as the bartender approached. “Refills?” He offered.

“Yes please!” The two replied in unison, before looking at each other and laughing.

The bartender laughed and refilled their drinks. He stopped as he looked at the cherry jar. Most of the juice was out but a few cherries remained. He shrugged and looked at Peter. “Want them?”

Peter nodded excitedly as the bartender laughed and dumped them into his drink. Peter happily reached for a toothpick and stabbed at one, putting it in his mouth happily. “I love maraschino cherries.” He said happily. 

Harry laughed as Peter stabbed another one. He pulled the toothpick out with a happy smile. Harry grabbed his hand, catching him off guard, before biting the cherry off the toothpick with a grin. Peter’s face turned red as Harry moved backwards. “Hey, you got all the cherries, you gotta share.” He teased.

Peter flushed and turned away, looking into his drink red-faced. Harry chuckled. “Hey, whaddya say we ditch?”

Peter’s eyes widened as his head snapped up. “W-what?!”

“Oh come on, it’s okay. I ditch these things all the time, nothing bad will happen.” He promised.

Peter stared at him wide-eyed. “Wh- but- my dad, he’ll-”

“Relax. If he gets mad you can blame me. Come on, if you come with me you won’t regret it.” Harry said, a grin crossing his face.

Peter hesitated for a moment before sighing loudly. “Let me finish my drink.”

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Peter hesitated at the doors. Harry stood outside in the crisp autumn air. He had a massive grin on his face and was staring at Peter. “It’s now or never, Pete.” 

Peter hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and following Harry out. “It’s now or never.”

Harry grinned and took Peter’s hand. “Are you ready for the night of your life?” He asked, a smirk crossing his face.

Peter felt his face turn red. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever you want it to. But let’s start with ice cream.” Harry said, pulling him along.

Peter yelped, but followed after Harry with a loud laugh. “Wait up!” 

He ran down the streets, racing Harry to the nearest subway stop before nearly falling down the stairs in an attempt to get to the station before Harry. He laughed loudly and leaned against a pillar, catching his breath. Harry was wheezing beside him, holding his sides and gasping for air as he attempted to recollect himself. Peter gasped and sat up straight. “Oh my god that- that was- that was fun.” 

Harry laughed. “And the night is just beginning!”

Peter grinned at the taller boy before taking a deep breath as the next subway pulled up. “Come on.” Harry called, stepping onto the subway.

“What? Where’s it going?” Peter asked, running after him.

Harry shrugged. “Haven’t you listened to don’t stop believing? Midnight train going anywhere baby!” He shouted.

Peter laughed, somewhat in hysterics. “You’re kidding! We’re just on a random train?! This thing could be going to Jersey!”

Before Peter could get off, the doors closed, locking them in. “Then we’ll screw around in Jersey Peter, it’ll be fine.” He replied firmly. 

Peter stared at him for a moment. “God you’re insane!”

Harry laughed and sat down, motioning for Peter to follow suit. “Who’s your dad anyway?”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “What caused a question like that?”

“Well he must be a stickler to give you this much anxiety.” 

Peter shrugged. “It’s Tony Stark.”

Peter watched as Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh shit.” He said aloud.

Peter raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Oh fuck well this just became much more complicated.”

“What do you mean?” Peter asked, feeling a bit of anxiety.

Harry laughed awkwardly. “My dad’s Norman Osborn.”

Peter froze for a moment before he began to laugh. “Oh my god we are so fucked!”

Harry began laughing as Peter ran his fingers through his hair. “If this is gonna be the last night of our lives, we may as well make it a good one!” Harry yelled decisively as he stood up.

Peter smiled. “I vote ice cream.” 

Harry nodded while grinning. Peter stopped for a moment before realizing where he recognized Harry from. Magazines, posters, billboards, news articles, how had he not recognized him before?! He shook his head, deciding not to think about it too hard, before turning to the attractive Osborn beside him. He was much more different than Peter expected him to be. He watched him quietly, before turning to his phone and idley scrolling through Instagram. He wondered if his dad was looking for him, or maybe Pepper. He silently debated on calling her, until the subway came to a stop and Harry spoke. “Come on, let’s see where we ended up.”

Peter looked up to see Harry standing in front of him, with his arm extended, and a grin still plastered on his face. “You don’t ever stop grinning, do you Osborn?” He asked amused, taking his hand.

Harry pulled him up. “Not when I have someone to impress.” 

Peter raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed that you have enough confidence to ditch like this. I’ve heard your dad’s a bit of a… control freak.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t mind if I ditch so long as I show my face a bit and don’t cause trouble.”

Peter stared at him as the taller led him off the subway. “Doesn’t he worry? It doesn’t look like you have an escort or bodyguard. Doesn’t he worry that you’ll get hurt?”

Harry glanced over his shoulder at him, a curious look on his face, before he let out a sigh. “Like I said, he doesn’t care so long as I don’t do anything stupid.” 

Peter frowned. “Sounds like he doesn’t care too much.” He mumbled.

Harry turned and gave him a hard glare. Peter put his hands up in surrender. “Woah- I-I didn’t mean to offend you- I just-”

“It’s okay. I get where you’re coming from.” Harry interrupted.

Peter hesitated but nodded. “Okay…”

Harry stopped at the entrance of the subway and pulled out his phone. “Hey siri, directions to the nearest ice cream shop.” He said into the mic, changing the subject.

His phone dinged, before directions appeared. “Hey we’re close to one!” Peter yelped, looking over his shoulder at his phone.

Harry laughed slightly. “And see? We haven’t even left Manhattan.” Harry replied.

Peter stuck his tongue out playfully, before looking at the time. It was 10:30. “Is the ice cream shop even open?” He asked.

Harry nodded. “Yep, one of those late night date places from the looks of it.” 

Peter flushed slightly at the idea. It was a date place? He shook off his blush and smiled. “Sounds good!” 

The walk there was comfortable, the two telling jokes on the way there and making fun of the names of some businesses. Peter walked aimlessly, rambling on about Star Wars, when Harry grabbed his collar. “We’re here.” 

Peter looked up to see a large colorful building with the name “Scoops of Love” plastered onto the front. “Oh.”

Harry chuckled and opened the door for him. “Cuties first.” 

Peter raised an eyebrow at the flirt. “Then shouldn’t you be going in?” He attempted.

Harry laughed, a light pink dusting his cheeks. “Wow that was awful.”

When he didn’t budge, Peter rolled his eyes and gave in at the prospects of ice cream. He stepped into the building. It was comfortable, not hot but not cold either, there was a display case with several different flavors of ice cream in tubs. There were booths along the sides of the building and a few two seated tables here and there. There were two girls in the corner chatting, their fingers intertwined as the talked quietly, and a boy and a girl sitting on the other side of the shop. The boy’s eyes were red and he looked like he was holding back tears as the girl comforted him quietly. Harry stepped up to the counter looking at the different ice creams. “C’mon, Pete.” He called softly.

Peter looked up and followed quickly, standing beside Harry wide-eyed. He looked at all the different flavors as Harry made his decision quickly. “I’ll get a bowl of vanilla and carmel please.” He requested politely.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Way to pick the lamest option.” 

Harry laughed and nudged him gently. “It tastes good!” He defended.

Peter put his hands up in surrender, before looking back at the options. “Can I get a bowl of chocolate fudge please?” He asked, reaching into his back pocket.

The woman nodded. “Of course, what size?”

“Large.” Both boys replied in unison. They exchanged surprised looks, before chuckling.

Peter pulled out his wallet and began opening it when Harry grabbed his hands. “Stop, I brought you here, I’m paying.” He said, fishing his own wallet out of his pocket.

Peter opened his mouth to argue, but Harry grabbed his wallet and held it over his head as he attempted to fish his debit card out of his own wallet one handed. “Harry!” Peter yelped, jumping up to grab it.

Harry laughed and took a step back. “I’m paying!” He shouted, grabbing his card with his teeth. “Back off!” His shout was muffled as he dropped the card onto the table. “Scan!” He shouted quickly, as he began playing a game of keep-away with Peter’s wallet.

The cashier laughed and quickly scanned his card. When the deed was done, Harry returned Peter’s wallet. “Was that so hard?”

Peter glared at him. “You’re a bad person.”

“All this over what, $20? $10?”

“$15.” The woman cut it, an amused look on her face.

“See? You’re losing your mind over $15. Both of our dads are literal billionaires. Relax.” Harry teased, poking his nose lightly.

Peter moved his head back and barely refrained from hissing at Harry. Instead, he made an irritated face and turned away. “You’re a bad person. A very bad person.” He repeated, a pout on his face.

Harry laughed as the woman handed handed him a receipt and began working on their bowls of ice cream. The two watched quietly as she scooped swiftly, and handed them each the bowl and a spoon. “Caramel Vanilla and Chocolate Fudge.” She said happily.

Peter smiled as he took the styrofoam bowl of chocolate ice cream from the woman's hands. “Thank you!” He replied.

Harry took his bowl and led Peter to a booth beside the windows. The two slid into opposite sides of the booth and grinned. Peter immediately took a spoonful happily. Harry watched amused as Peter dropped his spoon back into the bowl and made a face before swallowing. “Goddamn this is good.” He said, taking in another spoonful.

Harry chuckled gently. “This place has four stars so I’m glad to see it lives up to its reputation.” He acknowledged. 

Peter nodded. “I think that review is missing a star.” He snorted, taking another bite.

Harry laughed and began enjoying his own ice cream. Peter sucked in air to say something, but began coughing as he inhaled some ice cream in his mouth. Harry watched him, beginning to panic slightly as Peter coughed loudly and began laughing. "Too much air-"

Harry laughed as Peter leaned back and coughed again, before he cleared his throat. "Are you okay?" 

Peter nodded. "Yeah, just dying."

Harry chuckled before smiling. "Hey, if we're gonna keep in touch we should exchange numbers." He sneered. 

After a moment of recovering, Peter looked up. "Do, ahem. Do you think that's a good idea? What with our fathers' feud?"

Harry shrugged. "Who said our dads would know?" 

"What if they search our phones?"

Harry watched him. "Does your dad search your phone?" 

Peter shrugged. "Not really but sometimes. Yeah every now and then…" 

Harry frowned. "That's not cool." He replied. 

Peter looked at him. "He just does it because he's overprotective."

"Still that's not okay." He repeated. 

Peter hesitated and turned away, before looking up. "I mean… maybe. But still I-"

"Let's, let's just forget that for a minute… If your dad catches you it'll be okay. He won't, he wouldn't hurt you, right?" He asked. 

Peter stopped and stared at him wide-eyed. "What?! No! Never!" He yelped. 

Harry nodded. "Okay that's good, I got worried for a second."

Peter shook his head. "Yeah no, dad would never hurt me." He promised. 

Harry nodded quietly as Peter gave him a hesitant look. "Your… your father doesn't hurt you? Does he?" Peter asked quietly. 

Harry hesitated but shook his head. "No, I wouldn't say that." 

Peter watched him carefully. "He… does he say things?" 

Harry didn't reply, but took a spoonful of ice cream. Peter took that as his answer. He stayed silent as he shoveled another spoonful into his mouth. After a few moments of somewhat uncomfortable silence, Peter sat up. "Let's go to Central Park."

Harry looked up and raised an eyebrow. "What now?"

"I've heard Central Park is beautiful at night. Dangerous, but pretty. I can defend us if we get mugged." Peter ranted happily. 

Harry laughed, thankful for the change in subject. "You? Defend us? Sorry babe but if you're our only defense, we're gonna die."

Peter laughed, ignoring the comment, and raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

Harry rolled his eyes. “Not much what with your size.” He teased.

Peter felt the hairs on his neck raise and a part of him wanted to punt Harry just to prove a point. “You wanna throw hands, Osborn?” He threatened playfully.

Harry chuckled. “I’ll take you on, Stark.” He sneered.

The two boys laughed, an unusual comfort rolling over them. The joking, it was like they’ve known each other forever and they’ve only just met. It didn’t take Harry long to realize it was because they were treating each other like normal human beings, and not the kids of billionaires. If they had started with the godawful formalities, or introduced by their parents, Harry was certain they wouldn’t get along like this. Harry didn’t think about all the times he’d heard his father cursing Stark’s name for whatever reason, and Peter didn’t think about all the times he’d heard his dad complaining about Norman’s manipulative behavior. Right then, it was just the two of them laughing, and enjoying an ice cream together.

Harry looked up to see Peter grinning at him. “Well, come on! These ice creams are in styrofoam bowls, plastic spoons, we already paid, lets go Harry!” He yelped, as an excited look crossed his face. 

Harry sputtered as the brunet stood up. “Wait what?! You’re serious?!”

Peter nodded firmly. “You took me away from that stuffy Gala, I’m taking you away from an ice cream shop. Come on, I trusted you, return the favor!”

Harry laughed ridiculously. “You are insane!”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Are you coming or not?” 

Harry stood up. “Hell yeah.” And the two were off.

Peter led him to the subway station, happily eating what was left of his ice cream. Harry watched the small brunet fondly as he skipped ahead of them. Peter walked with an extra bounce to his step as he made his way towards the station. Harry followed him closely, eyeing him down happily. Harry was carefully eyeing Peter’s figure. Not only was the boy good looking, he was incredibly kind and smart too. Harry would be lying if he said he wasn’t developing a small crush on him. Even if he’d just met him. “Harry!”

“Hm?”

“You got a little distant there, something on your mind, Osborn?” Peter asked playfully.

Harry shook his head. “Nah, just thinking about something.”

“Well share with the class, what were you thinking about?” Peter pressed.

“That you’re insane for going on a walk in Central Park at,” He paused to check his watch, “11:00 at night.

Peter laughed. “Oh come on. You’re gonna love it, it’s beautiful.” 

Harry raised an eyebrow. “You talk like you’ve been there before.” 

A smirk crossed Peter’s face. “Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.”

Harry shook his head. “God it’s a miracle you aren’t dead yet.”

Peter laughed. “You can say that again!”

“It’s a miracle you aren’t dead yet.” He repeated.

The two laughed good naturedly as Peter stepped onto the subway. Harry followed him with a grin. They sat down and smiled, engaging in small talk, occasionally laughing as they ran out of conversation topics. Finally, the train pulled to a stop. The boys were up and off the train in an instant, running to the top of the stairs. “Come on, it’s just a short walk from here.” Peter said, leading the way.

Harry followed happily as Peter began humming a soft tune happily. It was familiar to Harry, he wasn’t quite sure where he’d heard it, but he’s heard it somewhere. As Peter stepped through the gates to Central Park, Harry couldn’t help but pause to admire him. The sky wasn’t clear, it never was in New York City, but the moon had managed to burst through just enough to create a silver halo around Peter, who smiled. He looked up at the moon and Harry felt his entire body shiver. It was like a picture out of a magazine, or a comic, or a photo gallery. Something almost impossible, but yet, here it was. In front of him. He couldn’t help but stare on in amazement.

It was dark, but the moonlight provided a blue-silver glaze over the scenery, as yellow lights from the nearby lampposts cast shadows onto the trees that swayed gently in the wind. In the center of Harry’s vision, stood Peter who was staring up at the moon, a large, gentle smile on his face. The silver moonlight reflected off his fluffy brown hair and his bright green eyes, as his dark smaragdine suit with a dark sapphire vest. He was standing up straight, a kind and confident look on his face. It was like a scene from a movie, and Harry felt breathless.

After a moment, the thick clouds and smog that often covered up the sky took their place in front of the moon, darkening the scenery, breaking the illusion. Peter frown slightly, before turning around. “The moon was really pretty.” Peter said smiling, as he took the chance to throw away the styrofoam bowl and plastic spoon.

“Not as pretty as you were just now…” 

Harry froze as he realized what he said, before he flushed and turned away. Peter looked up, and saw his bright red face, and felt his own face begin to burn. He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. “Uh- heh… umm… thank you…”

Harry’s face turned an even darker shade of red, as he meekly replied, “You’re welcome.” Before stuffing another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. He wasn’t quite finished, since he was a slow eater.

Peter, attempting to shake off his flush, shook his entire body before straightening up. “Come on, I know a really nice place by the lake.”

Harry followed Peter who began treading the walkways, an embarrassed flush still gracing his features as he found the spot he was looking for. He jumped off the path and onto a large rock and began pulling himself up to the flat surface of it, as Harry approached the side. “How the hell did you even do that?!” He shouted, looking over the rough surface.

Peter glanced down before taking a sudden deep breath. “I come up here a lot, I’ve got a technique down.” He replied after a brief hesitation.

Harry raised an eyebrow, before nodding. “Alright then,”

Peter leaned over and reached his arm out, as Harry jumped to place his ice cream on the rock. “Do you trust me?” 

Harry stopped half way. “Did you just quote Aladdin?”

Peter began laughing as Harry stared at him ridiculously. “I SWEAR TO GOD STARK, DID YOU JUST FUCKING QUOTE ALADDIN?”

Peter laughed harder and nearly fell off the rock as he grabbed his sides, wheezing. Harry began laughing with him, seeing his hysterics. He rolled his eyes. “Oh my god what the HELL!”

Peter looked up and Harry could see tears of laughter cascading down his cheeks. “OH MY- OH MY GOD YOUR- YOUR FACE WAS-” Peter shouted as uncontrollable laughter erupted from his lips. 

Harry laughed as Peter gasped and coughed. “I can’t, I literally can’t. Oh my god, that was priceless.”

He rolled his eyes. “Help me up there you nerd.” He teased playfully.

Peter choked out one more laugh, before reaching over the side and helping Harry up. As Harry was pulled up onto the boulder, he couldn’t help but stop and gaze at the view. It wasn’t very tall, but you could see clearly over the entirety of the lake, and the bright NYC lights that pierced through the veil of trees reflected beautifully off the surface of the water. “This is…”

“Beautiful?” Peter murmured as Harry trailed off. “Yeah… it is.”

Harry turned to say something, but realized Peter was looking at him, a dark blush on his face. “S-Sorry! I-I-”

Harry shook his head. “No, i-it’s alright. I don’t mind.” He stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth as a weak attempt to cover up his blush.

Peter nodded and avoided his gaze. There were a few moments of silence, before Harry took a breath. “You know, you never gave me your number.”

Peter looked up in surprise. “And you never gave me yours.”

Harry smiled and held out his hand expectantly. Peter rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket for his phone, before handing it to him. Harry handed Peter his own phone so he could put in his number. The two punched in their numbers, when Harry froze. “Your dad’s calling.” He quickly said.

Peter quickly dropped Harry’s phone into his lap, and snatched his own phone back. He fumbled for a moment, before answering the face time. “Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark where the hell are you?”

“Uhhh… hi dad-”

“Where are you.” His father emphasized every word.

To say he looked upset was an understatement. He felt a cold chill run up his spine, before he turned to Harry. “Ummm… I ditched.” He admitted, turning back to his dad.

A startled look crossed his father’s face. “Are… you mad?”

“Not mad, just… surprised, and- YES ACTUALLY I AM MAD!” He shouted, after his confused expression disappeared. “YOU SHOULD’VE TOLD ME THAT YOU WANTED TO LEAVE! WE WOULD’VE LEFT! YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE GONE OFF ON YOUR OWN, YOU COULD-”

“Tony, calm down.” The familiar voice of Pepper broke through. “He’s taking after you.”

There were a few moments of silence as Tony was staring off-screen, whispering violently and looking very unhappy. “Peter, where are you. We’re coming to pick you up.”

Peter hesitated for a moment. He was having fun, he didn’t want to go! Not yet… “I-I’m staying the night at Aunt May’s.” He finally lied. 

“Who’s with you?” Pepper asked.

Peter perked up, slightly surprised. “W-what? N-nobody, why do you think someone’s with me?”

“You keep glancing off screen, you’re with someone.” Pepper pressed playfully.

Peter hesitated, before turning the camera to Harry, who was mid-bite of his ice cream. “Uhh… hi.” He said through the mouthful.

“Peter is that Harry fucking Osborn.”

“Uhhh… in my defense I didn’t know it was him when I first met him.”

“You left your very first Charity Gala, with an Osborn.” His father replied slowly.

Peter hesitated before nodding. “Yeeesssss?” 

“Peter, tell me where you are, I’m having Happy drive you home.”

Peter gave Harry a panicked look, who just shrugged, looking alarmed. In a rush of panic, Peter hung up. He stared at his phone for a moment, before screaming. Harry’s eyes widened as Peter struggled to turn off his location, as he looked up wide-eyed. “Please tell me you have a pocket knife or SOMETHING.”

Harry stared at him in disbelief. “Why?”

“I NEED IT!” Peter wailed.

Harry scrambled to reach into his pocket, before pulling out a nail file. “Will this work?”

Peter quickly grabbed it and opened up the back of his phone, pulling out the battery, and taking off the secondary casing, revealing the circuit board. He searched in a panic for a moment, before using the nail file to wrench out a small chip. He dropped it in his hand and returned the casings back to his phone, and chucked the chip into the water. “What the hell was that?” Harry asked as Peter let out a loud sigh.

“My dad’s gonna be tracking my phone, come on, we gotta run before he gets the suit. I just took out the tracker.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “You have a tracker in your phone?”

“Every phone does. My dad just has access to it even when it’s offline.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Overbearing much?”

“We gotta run before he gets here- come on!” Peter shouted, leaping off the rock.

Harry shouted in alarm, grabbing what was left of his ice cream, and running after Peter. The two began sprinting away. Harry dropped his finally empty bowl and spoon into a trash can as they fled the scene. “Where do we go?!” Harry screamed.

“ANYWHERE BUT HERE!” Peter yelled happily, running through the gates with a carefree and amused look on his face.

Harry laughed loudly, attempting to keep up. “YOU WANNA GO ON A DATE?” He shouted loudly as the two reached the streets, but continued running down the walkway.

Peter gasped at the question but nodded. “OKAY!”

Harry ran to catch up with Peter, who was far ahead of him. After a bit, Peter nearly collapsed against a wall, gasping for air. Harry staggered to his side. “God, for a small guy you can RUN.” Harry shouted through his laughter. 

Peter laughed along good-naturedly, but it sounded more like a wheeze than a laugh. Harry laughed and smiled at Peter. “I was being serious.” He managed to get out.

Peter smiled back. “And so was I.”

The two stopped breathing for just a moment to stare at each other, before laughing happily in unison. "So when… when do you wanna go on a date?" 

Harry shrugged. "Right now?"

Peter laughed. "Wait, seriously?"

Harry shrugged. "Sounds like your dad's gonna kill you the second he sees you, I wanna be able to do this before you're six feet under." He teased playfully. 

Peter shook his head. "You know what? This night has already been a chaotic mess. What's the worst that could happen." He decided. 

Harry grinned. "Plus it's not like he'll tear down a movie theater to find us."

"Oh, so we're going to the movies?" 

Harry nodded. "Cliché, but fun nonetheless." He replied.

"That's true." Peter resigned. 

Harry chuckled lightly before going silent to finish catching his breath. After a few moments, Harry stepped forward and grabbed Peter's hand. "Come on, let's go see what the theaters got." 

Peter flushed lightly as Harry squeezed his hand lightly and pulled him along to the nearest theater. It was a relatively long walk, but Peter didn't mind. Harry's hands were unusually warm for the chilly air. It was comforting and Peter couldn't help but trust him wholeheartedly. When they arrived at the theater, Peter smiled. Harry led him to the counter where a girl, probably just a year or so older than them, looked up from her phone. She straightened and smiled. "Hey, how can I help you two?"

Harry smiled and looked at the screen that was displaying the movies and their showtimes. The only one that would be on within the hour was Frozen 2. He nudged Peter lightly. “Wanna watch Frozen 2?” He said in a joking tone.

Peter laughed. “Anything to avoid dying by my father’s hand. Sure.”

Harry snickered. “Two tickets to Frozen 2 I guess.”

The girl sighed and printed the tickets out. “Do you want anything to eat?”

Harry looked to Peter. “Still hungry?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I was planning on eating at the Gala, but you pulled me away you jerk.” 

Harry laughed at the comment. “Fine, what do you want?”

“Pretzel.” 

“Alright. We’ll get two pretzels then, with cheese, a large bucket of popcorn,” He glanced momentarily at Peter, before chuckling, “four bags of twizzlers, and two drinks.” 

Peter’s eyes widened. “Why are we getting four bags of twizzlers, Harry?” He asked in a deadpan tone.

“Snacks. If we’re facing death we may as well die happy.” He remarked.

Peter stopped. “You have a point. Order away.”

“Well if you’re gonna be like that, we’ll also get four bags of skittles.” 

Peter began giggling as the girl stared at him in disbelief. “Wha...what drinks do you want.” She finally said, after recovering herself.

“I’ll take a root beer. Peter?”

“I’ll get an orange soda please!”

The girl shook her head, before turning to her coworker who was laying in the back. “JEFFRIES!” She shouted, catching the boy off guard. “We got an order!”

Peter pulled out his credit card, attempting to pay, when Harry smacked his hand away again. “Stop! I asked you out, I’m paying!”

“But-”

“It’s my dad’s card anyway, relax, it’s okay. Let me pay.” Harry demanded.

Peter hesitated, about to argue again, before remembering what Harry had said about his father before. “Lets get so much shit his card gets cancelled.” Peter decided aloud.

Harry began laughing. “We are not driving my father’s business into the ground.” 

Peter laughed along as the girl and her coworker, Jeffries apparently, began working on their ridiculously sized order. After a few minutes, they had all the food handed to them. Peter couldn’t help but laugh as he stumbled into the showing room and found a good seat. The room was relatively empty since how late it was. Peter made himself comfortable in the cold room as Harry settled down beside him, distributing drinks, candies, and pretzels with cheese. A chill ran up Peter’s spine. It was colder in the theater than it was outside and Peter wasn’t enjoying that. 

As the movie began, Peter found himself gravitating towards Harry and pressing into his side, enjoying the warmth. He smiled as he snacked on the twizzlers first. By the end of the movie, the two were practically cuddling, with Harry’s arm wrapped around Peter’s shoulder as he rested his head on top of Peter’s, who was as close as the chair would allow him to be. When the credits appeared and the lights turned back on, Peter felt himself burn at the closeness of him and Harry. Harry released him after a moment and laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I-”

“It’s okay, i-it was cold anyway.” Peter interrupted, his face bright red.

Harry smiled and looked down awkwardly. “We still have a few snacks leftovers. Wanna get refills and watch another movie?” He asked.

Peter smiled. “Okay.”

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

The two boys had watched two more movies after that, before realizing it was 4 in the morning. Peter had decided to go to Aunt May’s house, just like he told Tony he would, and Harry was walking him home. Harry walked beside him. They had taken the subway, but now they had to walk to a bus stop and take the bus. Peter sighed fondly. “Harry Osborn, that was one of the best nights of my life. And I have lived through many nights.”

Harry chuckled. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Peter. We should definitely do it again.”

Peter snorted. “Agreed.” 

The two walked in silence as they sat down at the bus stop. “So, on a scale of 1 to 100, how upset do you expect your father to be when you get home?” Harry asked.

Peter immediately laughed. “Somewhere in the upper 7,000 range.” 

Harry chuckled along with him, before sighing. “Damn, and I was hoping for a second date.”

Peter flushed lightly at that. “Well then I guess I’ll have to systematically avoid him for as long as it takes for him to calm down.”

Harry looked up and chuckled as a bus pulled up to the stop. The two stood up and boarded the bus, sitting comfortably in the front seats. There was nobody there other than one or two businessmen preparing for the day, looking tired. Peter leaned into Harry, it had become somewhat of a habit over the course of the night. Harry looked down at Peter. “You know, I think this has also been one of the best nights of my life too.”

Peter felt a grin grow on his face. “Is that so, Osborn?”

Harry chuckled. “That it has. I think only one thing could top this night off.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”

Harry turned to him slowly, a small smile crossing his face, before leaning forward. Peter felt his heart jump as Harry’s lips connected with his own. He almost forgot to kiss back as the realization set in. He began kissing back, slowly at first, before deepening the kiss. He felt Harry cup the back of his head with his hands, before the two pulled away for air. Peter took a deep breath and he felt Harry’s breath on his lips. “Damn you’re a good kisser.” He whispered.

“You are too…” Peter whispered back.

He had barely gotten the sentence out when their lips were connected again, the kiss being much more hot and heavy this time. They were leaning into each other, hands trailing over each others bodies as the kiss grew deeper and deeper by the moment. 

The two were finally pulled out of their imagination when the bus stopped. Peter jumped and looked around, wide-eyed and flustered. The two were gasping for breath as the doors opened and Peter cursed. “This is my stop.”

Harry stood up and helped Peter off the bus. Peter began leading the way back to his house, and stopped in front of the large building. “I’ll walk you the rest of the way…” Harry stuttered, embarrassed from their makeout session.

Peter nodded, still flustered, before beginning to show him the way to his house. After reaching it, Peter laughed awkwardly. “Uhh, you know, umm… It’s pretty late and… your father… do you, umm… doyouwannastaythenight?” Peter squeaked, flustered.

Harry felt his face burn bright red and Peter saw his somewhat stunned expression. “NO NOT LIKE THAT- I MEAN- IT’S LATE OUT AND I’D HATE FOR YOU TO GO HOME AT THIS TIME!” Peter yelped, his face turned even redder.

Harry laughed, feeling his own blush grow. “Y-yeah! I mean, yeah, I’ll just… I’ll just stay for a bit and I can… go home later.”

Peter nodded. “Okay… Yeah, okay.”

He unlocked the doors and let Harry in first, his flush never disappearing. Peter stepped upstairs before sighing loudly and rubbing the back of his neck. “I, umm… I have some t-shirts and sweatpants you can wear, I’d hate to let you sleep in these stuffy suits.”

Harry nodded. “Alright, thank you.” He replied, as Peter began digging in his drawers. He pulled out a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants and handed them to Harry. 

“The bathroom is down the hall just before the stairs to the left.” Peter mumbled, trying to hide his blush.

Harry nodded and thanked him, and quickly made his way down the hallway. He changed and was somewhat alarmed at how comfortable the clothes were. He found himself nestling into the clothing. They were soft and freshly washed by the smell of them. He picked up his suit, folding it neatly, and exited the bathroom, making his way back towards Peter’s room. He knocked lightly and heard a small, “Come in.”

He stepped through and froze when he saw Peter standing there in a light blue t-shirt and a pair of oversized sweatpants that he would almost certainly trip over. He blushed at the sight and smiled lightly. “Hey there…” He whispered.

Peter smiled, a flush crossing his face that was thankfully hidden by the shadows. “Hi…” 

He coughed as a weak attempt to hide his embarrassment, before moving towards his bed and patting beside him lightly. Harry stepped towards him and smiled. “Are you sure this is okay?” He asked, setting his suit down on an empty space on the dresser, before sitting beside him.

Peter smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s alright.”

Harry smiled and flushed, before looking down. “Alright, umm…” 

Harry felt Peter touch his cheek, turning his head, and press a kiss to his lips. Harry felt a jolt of electricity run through him and kissed back. The kiss quickly deepened and Harry found himself gently pushing Peter down, pinning him to the bed. Peter moaned softly into the kiss as Harry rubbed his crotch gently with his knee and straddled him, deepening the kiss even further. Harry stopped when he felt Peter’s hand press against his chest, pushing him back lightly. He pulled away and looked down at Peter. He was flustered and obviously embarrassed, avoiding his gaze. “I-I think… I don’t think it’s a good idea to do...that. I mean I-I just met you today and-”

Harry immediately pushed himself off of Peter. “Oh my god I’m so sorry- I didn’t realize what I-”

“It’s okay- it’s not that I didn’t like it I just-”

Peter and Harry both went silent, staring at each other with flustered expressions. “I’m sorry.” They both replied in unison.

Harry straightened. “Don’t you dare apologize, I was the one pushing you to do… that. It’s okay if you don’t want to, I did just meet you earlier today.”

Peter nodded. “I was the one who initiated the kiss. It's alright.” He said, trailing off quietly. Finally, Peter began laughing and hiding his face. “Oh god this is so weird now.” 

Harry laughed awkwardly beside him. “I mean, do you want me to sleep on the floor?”

“No! We can still share the bed, I just-- god. I’m sorry if I made it weird.”

Harry immediately shook his head. “Stop apologizing, I don’t wanna do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

Peter smiled lightly. “Thank you.” He murmured.

“It’s okay. And if you don’t want me to sleep up here, I’m just fine with moving to the floor.”

Peter shook his head. “No, I don’t mind, just no touching in weird spots.”

Harry smiled and nodded. “Those are terms I can comply with.”

Peter let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The brunet chuckled softly. “So, shall we sleep?”

Harry chuckled along. “We shall.”

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Peter felt himself begin to wake. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked rapidly. It was dark in his room, the curtains were drawn shut and the christmas lights that lined the walls were off. He took a deep breath through his nose and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his palms for a moment. He looked around his room and did a double take when he saw Harry asleep beside him. He felt his face begin to burn red and he turned to his alarm clock, which read 12:43pm. He rubbed his eyes again, checked his phone, and felt his heart sink. 132 missed texts from several people and 59 missed calls. “Oh my god I am actually going to die.” He stood up, careful not to wake the sleeping Osborn, and crept across the room to the hallway.

He closed the door quietly and stepped out of the room. He stepped down the stairs and saw Aunt May in the kitchen on the phone. She looked up and smiled knowingly. “I gotta go, bye.” She hung up.

“So? How was your night out?” She asked playfully.

Peter felt his face burn. “It was… It was good. How- how was- how was your day?” He stuttered.

May grinned lightly. “My day was fine. Your father got a little worried when you threw away the tracker.”

Peter buried his face in his hands. “He’s gonna kill me, May. Please don’t let him end my life.” He wailed into his hands.

May laughed. “Don’t worry Peter, he’s just worried about you. I called him and told him you made it home safe. And no, he doesn’t know anything about Harry Osborn sleeping next to you.” 

Peter sagged with relief. “God I’m actually going to die May, he’s gonna kill me!” 

May laughed. “Go to Pepper first, she’ll be able to calm him down. It’ll be fine.” She reassured.

Peter whined sadly before looking down at his phone. May pat his head lightly. “I’m glad you woke up before I went to work.” She hummed lightly. 

Peter smiled softly. “I’m glad I did too. You have a good day Aunt May.” He said as she kissed his cheek, before leaving the house. 

He stared after her, smiling, before turning to the cabinet. He pulled out a box of wheatcakes and a bowl and began making them. Peter hummed softly as he mixed the batter and dropped a bit onto the greased pan, which sat over the burning flame. He quickly turned and grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and returned to the stove, flipping the wheatcakes. He hummed a soft tune as he made cooked all the batter into something like 23 wheatcakes. He laughed at how overboard he had gone, but he didn’t mind much as he stored several of them in a tupperware and put them into the fridge to reheat later. 

He heard footsteps behind him and looked up to see Harry standing there, looking slightly confused and curious. “Hey Harry.” He said, waving the spatula with a smile.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Hello there?” He said, seeming confused. 

Peter laughed and pointed to the wheatcakes. “Breakfast! Well, lunch. Brunch!”

Harry laughed. “You made pancakes?”

Peter glared at him. “Don’t you dare ever utter those words in front of me ever again.” Peter warned.

Harry sputtered. “What?! What words!?”

“Pancakes! Never say that cursed word ever again!” 

“What?! Why?” Harry demanded playfully.

"Its awful! They're called wheatcakes." Peter demanded firmly. 

Harry stared at him in disbelief. "They're pancakes, Peter!" He shouted. 

Peter whipped around and chucked the spatula at him. "HUSH!"

Harry mock-screamed as the spatula bounced off him onto the floor. He gasped loudly. "Did you just throw a goddamn spatula at me?!" He screamed in faux anger. 

Peter glared at him, barely biting back a grin. "Yeah? What're ya gonna do about it?"

"We're breaking up." 

Peter slapped his chest and yelled, "Noooo! The only relationship I've ever been in!"

The two stopped and laugh, a light blush crossing both of their faces. "How many do you want?" Peter asked, turning to the plate. 

Harry smiled. "Three please."

Peter smiled as Harry sat down. Peter smiled and used a fork to put three wheatcakes on the plate. “Butter? Syrup?” Peter offered.

Harry smiled and nodded. “Yeah, both please.”

Peter used the fork to cut a slice of butter and threw the slice onto the wheatcakes, and handed him the syrup, before leaving the fork on his plate. “Enjoy.” He said grinning, before getting his own plate.

Harry thanked him as Peter made his own plate. After placing 5 pancakes on his plate, he drenched them in syrup and sat beside Harry and began eating happily. Harry raised an eyebrow at his large plate. “How do you eat so much and keep that figure of yours?” Harry asked teasingly. 

Peter flushed and replied, “I have a fast metabolism,” He explained.

Harry nodded and continued eating. The two engaged in small talk, learning more about each other, and chatting lightly, before Harry sighed. “I should probably head home.” He said, taking his now empty plate and rinsing it off in the sink. “It was really nice to meet you, Peter, and I was hoping, maybe we could have a more official date, say, this upcoming Friday?”

Peter felt his heart jump in his chest and he nodded. “Alright, yeah, that sounds great!” He said, a smile crossing his face.

Harry grinned. “Alright, let me go get my suit and I’ll be out of your hair.”

Peter smiled and watched him disappear upstairs. He pulled out his phone and tapped the familiar icon. His phone rang for a moment, before he heard a familiar voice answer. “Hello?”

“Hey Pepper, do you think you could help me with something real quick?”

#parksborn #parksborn fanfic #fanfic #fic #irondad #iron dad #iron dad fanfic #MSM #msm 2017 #marvels spiderman 2017

[contrabandhothead]

hii can i get a ship? i’m 5’4, black hair and black eyes and i’m mixed (brazilian w chinese dad). i’m very easily stressed and usually get pretty quiet and irritated when that happens. i snack way too often, there’s never a time when i’m not watching a comedy sitcom (like b99, community...), and i’m quite introverted

Joe Toye

you and Joe have vaguely similar personalities

Joe loves watching sitcoms with you (they’re his guilty pleasure)

he gets mad at the TV whenever a character makes a dumb decision

he starts yelling at the TV

Joe understands that you get stressed easily (he does too)

wraps you up in warm blankets when you get stressed, pets your hair, gets you water so you stay hydrated, etc.

Joe’s favorite type of kiss: hand kisses

do i have a basis for this theory? no.

will kill any spider for you

likes to bake with you

will wipe cookie or cake batter on your nose and then lick it off 

you celebrate Joe Toye Day together 

he eats all the stuffing before you even get to look at it 

y’all are both always eating 

like all the time 

loves it when you bring his lunch to work for him 

also gets to show off his girl to his friends, so that’s an added bonus

Joe sometimes feels like he’s not good enough for you, especially since he lost one of his legs 

he’s always asking, “Why would you ever want to date a cripple like me?” 

and you’re like 

Joe 

it’s a leg, it doesn’t matter to me if you have it or not, I’ll still love you the same 

when you guys get mad at each other, it’s bad 

thankfully it doesn’t happen often 

you’re both opposite sides of the same coin when you get mad 

it happens easily for both of you, but when you get mad you get quiet 

Joe on the other hand...

Joe will scream, and yell, and break things 

he’d never hurt you of course, but his anger can get explosive 

especially when he remembers the war, he gets so mad that he lost his leg and over the men that lost their lives on the battlefield 

just give him a day to calm down and you’ll be fine 

even though he gets mad, he’ll always get you flowers afterwards once he’s calmed down 

he’ll also give you a heartfelt apology 

but don’t tell anyone else that he does that 

how you two met

I don’t think you and Joe met on the battlefield 

actually, you guys met while he was in one of the recovery facilities 

Joe was already mad enough that he had lost his leg 

but this man... istg

he wouldn’t let any of the nurses help him 

he was closed off and fuming most of the time 

it eventually started to get out of hand, especially when he began to fight the doctors and nurses that would try to give him the proper medication 

Joe insisted he didn’t need it 

but he did 

most of the nurses gave up 

but you weren’t taking his shit 

at first, Joe was confused when you entered his room 

“What the hell are you doing here? Get out.” 

you just continued on with your business, gathering the necessary needles to inject him with from the cabinets 

“Hey lady. Don’t you know that I don’t need that stuff?” 

you rolled your eyes, grabbing at the medication and needles neatly placed on the counter

you rolled up one of the chairs, now sitting right next to him 

“want and need are two very different things.” 

he argued with you for a few more minutes before finally giving up 

you had brought no other nurses or doctors into the room with you, so he knew that they weren’t going to try and hold him down 

like anyone could hold down Joe Toye

he would only let you administer the meds, no one else

they’d be sent out of his room immediately 

you’d give him the medications, calmly explaining to him what each one was and what it would do while you gave them to him 

Joe soon found himself enamored with you, and soon enough, you were the only nurse allowed in his room 

eventually though, the time came where Joe was healthy enough to leave 

he’d be transferred to a physical therapy ward, before finally being sent back home to the states with a honorable discharge from the paratroopers 

When you told Joe that he’d be leaving, the fight that happened was explosive 

there was no way he’d just leave without you 

he was so mad, he didn’t talk to you for 3 days 

you didn’t even bother trying to go into his room 

after a few days, you went in with a small cup of cherry Jell-O, Joe’s favorite 

he was sitting on his bed as per usual

you sighed when he turned away, but you set the cup down on his bedside table anyways, sitting down on the edge of the bed 

“Joe, I know you’re not happy about leaving, but it’s for your own good.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to decide what’s good for me?” 

“Joe. You can’t just stay here forever. You have a family back home, and friends, and people that truly care about you. It won’t do you any good to lie in a hospital bed for the rest of your life.” 

he didn’t respond, just shifted more so he could face the wall

you left of course, allowing him some privacy 

the Jell-O cup was empty when you came back to do your rounds checking in on the patients 

“You’ll write to me when you get there? Right?” 

“Of course.” 

Sorry this took so long! I had a lot on my plate so I had to take a small break from requests. I hope this makes up for all that lost time though! ♡

~ Ky

#joe toye #joe toye headcanons #ship requests #band of brothers

[angrylizardjacket]

strangest night of our lives {Joe Mazzello/OC}

Summary: Cate’s 10 year high school reunion is coming up and Joe agrees to go with her, except that she had a garbage time at high school, and the idea of seeing those people again stresses her out more than she cares to admit.

A/N: 5354 words. Self indulgent cate/joe fic that is neither of the things i promised. i write this shit to make myself happy because there’s v few people who actually care lmao ANYWAYS enjoy (thanks, i will) no smut, but i put it under a readmore because it’s a long one.

Cate doesn’t get stressed, it’s one of the great things about the Taylor family, Joe had found, they’re very loud but very chill, they each had their own outlets for rage and stress; Barney boxed, Astrid worked in her garage and drank whiskey like it was her job, and Cate had her music and her daughter. So, to say it was strange to see Cate frantically pacing back and forth beside the craft services table liked a caged lion, phone to her ear, frown adorning her brow, was an understatement.

“Rowan, this is import-” whoever’s on the other end of the line cuts her off and she stops pacing, squeezing her eyes shut and sighing deeply, “I get that that’s important too- listen to me - if I find someone else to go with, will you look after Claud?” There’s a long pause and Cate finds herself nodding along, “yes, I know she’d love to come with you, she loves playing with the sound desk-” another beat and her eyes snap open, exasperation written all over her face, “well then you tell her to stop playing with the faders, I can’t astral project myself to-”

Joe’s fidgeting now, feels like he’s intruding on a private moment, and when Cate finally spots him, finally meets his gaze where he’d stopped on his way to grab some food between takes, her smile is tight.

“I’ll drop Claud off on Thursday, okay?” She says into the receiver, gentler this time, and there seems to be something akin to relief flowing through her as the tense set of her shoulders eases a little, “okay, take care, bye.” And she hangs up, sighing heavily. Scrolling through her phone with one hand, the other reaches out to take one of the egg and lettuce sandwiches being offered on the table beside her, and Joe feels less like he’s intruding.

“Everything alright?” He asks tentatively, and Cate grunts around her sandwich, before finishing her mouthful and heaving yet another sigh, her third in what feels like less than a minute.

“Everything’s fine, just had all my plans for this weekend completely fucked,” she turned off her phone and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans, putting down the sandwich and opening up a bottle of water, downing a third in a few quick gulps.

“It’s Tuesday.” Joe frowned.

“Yeah, and I’ve had these plans for almost a month; just like Rowan to fuckin’ screw all this up,” she grumbled. This came as a shock to Joe, who’d never heard of her ever speaking ill of anyone; everyone in her family, Cate had always been equal parts the rowdiest, and the most sincerely kind, whoever Rowan was, they must have really screwed up.

“And Rowan is…?” Joe prompts, and the tension in Cate’s shoulders cracks a little.

“Claud’s dad; my ex,” oh, “he was meant to come with me to this high school reunion thing this week but he’s - surprise - found out he’s working.” She rolls her eyes. She looks tired, which is, again, an uncommon look for her, and she pulls out her phone. “You wouldn't happen to know someone willing to spend the weekend in London putting up with me and and a bunch of asshole private school grads for a weekend-” And Joe's about to make a suggestion, but she keeps talking, still looking through her phone, “you know, Barn would go if I begged him, but fuck it'd be pathetic to turn up to my high school reunion with a brother who's objectively more successful than me, and Trid has been banned from all further reunions last time I heard-”

“Wait, why?” Joe frowns, half laughing, and Cate grins.

“At her reunion she ended up hooking up with the biology teacher she had a crush on in her final year, and it was a big scandal because when you go to a terribly fancy private school, everything's a scandal-”

“I'm free this weekend.” Joe finally interrupts her, and Cate's mouth snaps shut and she turns slowly to him.

“I- no, dude, no, you're busy as shit, don’t- no.” Cate's shaking her head, finishing off the last of her sandwich, and washing it down with another gulp of water, trying to ignore the way her cheeks are heating up at the suggestion, “Dude, you don't need to do that.”

“Wow, alright I get it, I get it,” Joe laughs, though it's a little off, he actually seems a little hurt by such a thorough rejection, and Cate's ears turn pink as she finally turns to him.

“No, I just mean - like it's a lovely offer, but I don't want to be a burden and I'm sure you have better things to do with your time, I can find -” she's floundering, flustered, fidgeting with her phone, and this time when Joe laughs, it's genuine.

“Cate, seriously, we're-” he hesitates slightly, “friends, and all I was gonna do this weekend anyway was lay around in my hotel room and maybe practice the bass for a bit,” he says, and Cate's eyes glaze over a bit.

“God that sounds nice,” she murmurs under her breath, and in that one moment, she looks so tired.

“Come on, let me tag along, it'll be a nice change of scenery.”

“You sure?” She asks tentatively. Joe nods, clapping her on the shoulder.

“It'll be fun; we'll make it fun.” He assured her. For just a moment, there’s an unfiltered look of relief that washes over Cate’s face before she throws herself at Joe, wrapping him up in a hug.

“Oh thank God, I really didn’t want to ask my brother to come with me.” She laughs gently, hugging him tighter than was probably necessary, though to be fair, Joe wasn’t even close to complaining as he hugged her back.

They meet on Friday, the day before the reunion, at the hotel in the middle of London where it was taking place according to Cate, and the moment Joe steps into the lobby and sees her wearing her black jeans and leather jacket, draped on a gilded sofa that wouldn’t have been out of place in Garden Lodge, that he realises what type of people she must have gone to school with, and how absolutely ‘fuck-off-wealthy’ that makes her family; he’s actually a little humbled. He’s also never been so grateful to see someone so out of place as Cate. in that moment.

She’s twitchy, fidgety in the uncomfortably fancy elevator ride to their floor, carrying a black duffle bag and a garment bag on a coat hanger.

“Seriously, you can run away now, I’m not going to stop you,” she offered quickly before the elevator doors open, and she can’t bring herself to look at him. Joe’s got his own suit in a garment bag slung over his shoulder, and he can feel the nervous energy radiating off her in waves almost. The doors open.

“Not going anywhere,” he chanced her a look, a half smile, but she just looks doubtful, and steps out ahead of him, “what’s got you so worried?” He asks, and Cate visibly sighs. It’s so strange to see her like this, she’s usually so bright and outgoing, seeing her tense and nervous is almost uncomfortable to witness, and if he wants to help her try and relax, Joe knows he needs to find out why she’s so tense in the first place.

“High school didn’t agree with me,” Cate says, glancing at the numbers on the doors as they walk past, slowing down in front of 2318. She opens it with the key card and when they step in, she moves about the luxurious spacious room with an almost practiced ease, hanging up her garment bag and pulling off her shoes, “it’s a school for trust-fund babies who have more money than sense and aspire to be bigger, richer jags than their parents, or trophy wives, or both.” She flops back on the bed, gazing up at the roof as Joe takes his time putting his things away before moving to the window.

“So are we trying to mess with them or are we trying to get on their good side?” He asks, and when Cate laughs, he can’t help but grin in return, looking from the spectacular London skyline to her, smiling for the first time since he’d arrived.

“I’d tar and feather them if given half a chance, but honestly I’m just out here trying to rub it in their stupid faces that I actually amounted to something.”

“High school really wasn’t kind to you,” Joe winced, and she gave him a wry smile, but doesn’t disagree. It’s when she sits up, suggests getting dinner, that something clicks in Joe’s head and he hesitates before he answers her; “yes on dinner, but there’s- uh,” he can see Cate’s a little amused by the way he’s turning faintly pink, but it’s her turn to get a little flustered as he voices his next thought; “where will I be sleeping?”

The bed was enormous, could easily fit two people, could probably easily fit at least four, but the last thing Joe wanted to do was make her uncomfortable when she was already so stressed about the upcoming reunion.

“I- here, Joe,” she makes a face like she doesn’t quite understand why he’s asking, patting the bed, while her voice is so painfully casual it almost stings, “we’re adults, dude.” And with that she breaks away, scrambles across the bed to the bedside table where a menu was waiting by the phone. “Room service?” 

They eat their room service dinner in bed, and Cate does her best to catch Joe up on any gossip that may be important knowledge for him to have before he ‘walks into the hornet’s nest’ as Cate put it.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the saying,” Joe snickers, but Cate waves him off, mouth full of pork chop. 

“Whatever, dude, the point is, these are the kids of bankers and lawyers and fancy athletes and stuff like that; they’re exactly like their parents, just as awful as they were in high school, at least according to their facebooks, and none of them like me.” She picks at the salad at the side of her plate before eating a cherry tomato and avoiding Joe’s gaze. 

“Are- really? How can you know that?” He asks, tone light, mostly convinced she’s joking, but she shrugged.

“When I clicked that I was coming on the event, I was added to a group chat for it that it turns out most of the rest of the year was already in, apart from like the, you know, the ‘weird kids’, the kids they assumed weren’t coming.” The mood is quickly dropping, and Cate takes a deep breath, forcing a smile. There’s a beat of time in which Cate’s smile is already slipping, and Joe sort of wants to ask why she’s even going, but then all he can think about is how good it would feel to rub Cate’s success in the faces of those assholes, and he gets it. He leans in conspiratorially.

“You wanna go egg their cars?” He asks with a grin, and there’s an indescribably relief and amusement written all over Cate’s face that just lights up the room, and Joe just wants to be able to bottle that emotion so he never forgets how damn happy her smile makes him. He’s sort of been thinking that a lot lately, if he’s being honest, but he tries not to think about it to hard; he’s not here to worry about himself, he’s here to support Cate.

“Literally nothing would bring me more joy,” Cate sighs wistfully before shaking her head, “but I’m trying to be the bigger person.” And there’s a moment where Joe can’t help but marvel at her; if what she’s said is true about these people, she has every right to be the pettiest person in the world, but she’s trying to rise above it, trying to put it behind her.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Cate admits, snapping Joe out of his thoughts, and she moves her mostly empty plate onto the table and flops back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling again, “seriously, I owe you.” Joe puts his own mostly empty plate beside hers, joining her, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“No you don’t, there was no way I’d let you go to this alone.” He assures, and Cate is strangely quiet, her hand still clasped in his. When he looks at her, he’s surprised to see her looking back at him, expression a little unreadable, a little awed, and she looks like she wants to say something, but when his gaze meets hers, it’s as if he can see her hesitate, and she just gives him a soft smile.

“I appreciate it.” Is all she says, voice uncharacteristically soft.

It’s much later that night that Joe learns that Cate sleeps on her side, curled up, with blankets all tucked up around her, doing things on her phone until well past midnight. 

[go to sleep] Joe messages at about twenty past twelve, grinning to himself. He hears Cate’s message tone go off and he suppresses a little giggle, but is surprised to hear Cate herself snicker, though she doesn’t turn around. After a beat, he hears start typing.

[u first.] [hypocryte.] [*hypocrite] She sends in rapid succession, and Joe doesn’t even try and hide his soft laughter at this.

[not tired]

[neither am i] She’s quick to respond, and she shifts to get more comfortable on the bed.

[guess we’re at an impasse] He sends, and there’s a long moment of silence before she slowly starts typing out a response.

[that spelling doesn’t look right.....] [impass] [impasse] He hears her make a little, thoughtful huff, and there’s a long pause before she starts typing again. [no you’re right]

[i know 😂] He’s shifted from where he was leaning on his headboard to laying on his side facing away from her, and the with the two of them both engrossed by the other’s messages on their phones, in the middle of the night, in the same damn bed, it feels like a high school rom-com. It makes Joe feel a little giddy, a little warm inside like he doesn’t quite want to admit.

They get donuts from Seven-Eleven at one in the morning at Cate’s behest, and she admits it was her favourite part of high school. Sitting at the bus stop outside the store, Cate takes only the barest moment to lament her lost youth around bites of donut, but quickly thinks better of it.

“I eat better because of Claud, I gotta set a good example, you know?” She’s sitting probably too close, leaning against him, but he’s not complaining. The night is cool enough that they’re both wearing jackets, but it’s otherwise calm, even in the inner city. “I want her to be healthy and strong, and yeah like I’m not a hardass, like I’m not a hypocrite, you know,” and she takes another bite, before taking a swig of the milk she’d bought to pair with it. Joe is quiet, just looking out at the street, unable to help the fond smile that was caught at the edge of his lips, “but I miss like, being on tour with dad, god we’d eat absolute garbage after the gigs had finished. Whatever was open late was dinner; there was like a week in Japan when I was sixteen, where I just survived on dessert crepes.”

It’s little moments like that, where she says a lot without saying much at all, how she’d been afforded indulgences, perhaps at the expense other parts of her life. He asks if it was in the school holidays; it wasn’t. She goes quiet. She leans her head on his shoulder and eats another donut, and they watch the cars pass by in easy silence. 

This time when they get ready for bed, Cate plugs her phone in to charge and puts it on the bedside table, ready to actually sleep, and Joe finds himself doing the same. 

The space between them on the luxurious bed feels like miles, feels too far away. There’s a beat of hesitation before Joe turns, wants to say something, wants to reach out, but Cate is already facing him, arm outstretched, surprise written all over her face, and though he can’t see it in the darkness, she’s quickly turning red.

“Hey,” her voice is soft, a little nervous, and she retracts her hand quickly, but doesn’t turn away, doesn’t look away, just smiles, a little bashful.

“Hey,” Joe can’t help but grin back.

“This bed is huge,” she laughs a little in the darkness, and Joe hums in agreement, and then she’s shuffling over, propping herself up, “hey I- contact makes me less nervous, would you mind if I?” There’s a little bit of reservation in her voice, like she’s not sure how he will react as she holds her hand out to him, going to lay down beside him, but something in Joe’s heart softens and he huffs out a laugh.

“Come here,” and he opens his arms for her. Even in the darkness, he can see her visibly relax as she rests her head gently on his chest, arms tucked carefully to her chest as he wraps an arm around her shoulders. It’s all very tentative, like they’re both hesitant to get to close, but her shampoo smells like something fruity and she’s surprisingly cool to the touch and something about holding her, even gingerly like this, fills him with some sort of contentment. “You have nothing to be nervous about, you know; you’re gonna make this reunion your bitch.” 

Cate is quiet, but he feels when she tenses at his words. It lasts only the barest moment before she relaxes, and shifts against him, uncurling one of her arms to drape across him and pull him a little closer. He holds her a little tighter.

Joe wakes first, on his side, one arm beneath his head and his pillow, the other slung over Cate, who’s also facing him where she’s sleeping on her side. One of her hands is curled loosely in the fabric of his shirt, and when he moves to get up, her grip on his shirt tightens just a little and she makes an unhappy noise in her sleep. Joe considers his options for a moment, before shrugging and settling in to go back to sleep, at least for a little while longer.

Cate’s in the shower when he wakes up, and she stays there for a full half an hour before he calls out asking if she’s okay. He gets a tentative and unconvincing ‘yes’. Not five minutes later, the water shuts off and Cate comes barrelling out clad in a bathrobe and her hair dripping onto the carpet.

“This was all a mistake; I should go home.” She announces, sitting at the edge of the bed. Joe, still in his pyjamas, having not left bed at this stage, frowns as he sits up. “They don’t want to see me.” She says softly, voice so raw, and Joe’s heart breaks for her, just a little.

“Absolutely not, you’re successful as hell, you’re a kind person, and an incredible mother,” and he wants to add something else, to wrap it up, something about being better than any of them could even hope to, but Cate looks at him and there’s something in her expression, the same thing he saw last night that was unreadable, followed again by a hesitation and a smile.

“You’re too nice,” she brushes off the compliments easily and Joe sighs, rolling his eyes.

“You’re just nervous.”

By the time Joe’s gotten out of the shower, Cate’s got her hair wrapped up in a towel and is frantically chattering away to someone on a video call. There’s a small fortune’s worth of makeup scattered on the bed, and she’s rifling through it with something akin to nervous irritation.

“Mickey, I don’t know what the shit a cut crease is or how to do it,” Cate sighs, and the person on the other end of a video call, dark haired and exasperated, pinches the bridge of their nose.

“That’s why I’m here, don’t worry.”

Mickey turns out to be Cate’s brother’s partner, professional makeup artist and part-time Taylor-Sibling wrangler so it seems, judging by their endless patience and exasperation. It’s a little awe inspiring, Joe thinks as he watches quietly, moving about the room, ordering lunch, passing makeup brushes and pallets when asked to. 

“How’s this look?” Cate turns to him once she’s finished putting a pretty impressive wing on her eyeliner. The rest of her eyeshadow is in shades of rich, blood red and shimmering pink, but Joe doesn’t have time to answer before her gaze catches on the bowl of wedges he’s got sitting between them that had arrived not long ago, though Cate had been so immersed in her work that she hadn’t noticed.

“It looks lovely,” Joe assures her, and her thanks is spoken around where she’s crammed three wedges into her mouth.

“You’re a menace,” Mickey informs her.

“I’m hungry!” Cate protests, mouth still full of food, and there comes a secondary voice from Mickey’s end; it’s Barney, asking what she’d done this time.

“Speaking with her mouth full,” Mickey sighed, looking incredibly put upon as they moved from where they’d presumably been sitting to join Barney on what looked to be a sofa, the two of them in frame as Cate flipped them off.

“Watch it, grub,” Barney warned, and Cate made a horribly gross noise as she opened her mouth wide and showed all her half chewed food. Even Joe, though he was amused, made a noise of disgust at that.

“Wait, who’s that? ‘that Rowan?” Barney asked, frowning through the screen, and Cate made another face, shaking her head as she swallowed her food. Joe takes that as his moment to make an entrance, maneuvering about the makeup on the bed to sit by Cate, popping into frame and resting his chin on her shoulder. Seeing who it actually was, Barney’s face lit up.

It was strange to wrap his head around at times, the idea that the Taylor family all collectively seemed to like him. It wasn’t something he’d expected; apart from Undrafted, he had never found himself close to the, for lack of a better word, source material for a film. Roger himself, and Astrid to an extent, were probably the most distant, but he half-jokingly calls Ash ‘mom’ on set, and Cate and Barney are always there, Barney because he’s in between projects and helping out Ash, and Cate because-

“Hey,” Joe’s frowning, looking in the mirror as he does up the buttons of his dress shirt, while Cate’s in the bathroom curling her hair, “I never actually asked what you do.” The video call had ended almost half an hour ago, and by now they were both a little antsy, getting ready in different parts of the room.

“What do you mean?” Cate calls back, tone blithe, followed by a yelped swear.

“You okay?”

“Burnt myself on the curling iron, I’m fine.” She assures quickly, and Joe goes back to the question at hand.

“Like, for a living, or study, or, I don’t-”

“I’m Queen’s social media coordinator.” She says it likes it’s the most obvious thing in the world, cutting him off before he can even finish his thought. In the silence that follows, Joe makes a noise of interest, though it’s clear he wasn’t expecting it. “It’s not-” Cate hesitates for a moment, and once more Joe hears her sigh, “okay, it’s almost definitely nepotism, I get that, I’m not blind-”

“I didn’t-”

“No, not you,” Cate gives a humourless laugh. “I know how it looks from the outside, but I do have a Masters in Public Relations.” The fact hangs in the air for a moment as Joe takes the time to process it, before his frown deepens, and he’s moving through the hotel room with ease to find her standing in the bathroom. She’s frowning at herself in the mirror, though it’s closer to scowling, and even when she catches sight of Joe in the reflection, her expression doesn’t change.

“And you’re worried about tonight? Cate, seriously-” 

“Stop it, stop being so fucking nice, okay?" She snaps. Joe physically recoils, eyebrows raising in surprise as he watches her turn on him. It’s as if the air itself is crackling with the hostile energy she’s radiating, tense and angry, though he’s not sure what he’s done to warrant it. “You don’t have to pity me or whatever, I got practically everything handed to me, I get it.”

Its in this moment that Joe sees the way she’s not really looking at him, the way she’s looking through him and projecting her old fears and frustrations on him, and he gives her a thin, understanding smile.

“I think you need some time to get ready,” he says softly. There’s a beat before her expression shifts, cracks and falls, and she turns back to the mirror, nodding quietly and picking up the curling iron again. He leaves the hotel room, sits in the lobby and rests his head against the wall for a very long time.

[Hey Ma Rocket, I need some advice about Cate.] He deletes the text before he even sends it, has no idea what to ask or how to ask it, thinks that he might be overstepping his bounds to go to her mother about this. Something about this whole event has Cate acting so out of character to him that it’s jarring; Roger and Ash have told a few stories about her high school days and early days of uni, and this, whatever this version of Cate is, seems to best align with those.

[hey so i think cate’s mad but not mad at me but im not sure] Instead, he talks to Barney, who only waits half a minute before just ringing Joe.

“I told her it was a terrible idea to go to this reunion. She gets so shitty about high school.” Barney sighs, so blase that it’s almost committal as he forgoes a greeting.

Though he doesn’t go into details, from what Barney does say, it’s clear that ‘high school didn’t agree with her’ didn’t even begin to cover it. More than anything, Joe’s heart just aches for her; she was a kid. He wants to go to her, let her know that it’s okay, wrap her up in a hug and keep her away from the assholes who convinced her that she’d never be able to earn anything in her life.

“Mumma, you look like a princess!” 

When Joe gets back to the hotel room, the first thing he hears is Claud, and without even taking a step over the threshold, there’s a relief that washes over him as he hear’s Cate’s laugh.

“I feel like a princess, sweetie,” Cate’s smile is clear in her words, and as Joe closes the door behind him, Cate looks over and gives him a soft, apologetic smile from where she’s sitting back on the bed, still wearing her bathrobe, holding up her phone, “are you having fun at daddy’s work?” 

“It’s loud,” Claud says, and Cate beckons Joe over with a smile, “but sometimes I can push the things and,” the little girl giggled, “sometimes I push them when he’s not looking-”

“Claudia,” Cate says, her voice taking on a surprisingly Scottish lilt as she gently reprimands her daughter, sounding so much like her mother it’s a little hilarious, “what’s dad told you about playing with the faders when he’s not looking?” 

Claud is sulking by the time Joe is sitting beside Cate on the bed, and the moment she spots him, her whole face brightens into a grin.

“Joseph!” It’s always amused him how the little girl would always insist on calling him by his fugll first name, and he’d always respond in kind as it made her smile. Cate grew quiet, content watching Joe and Claud talk and joke around, leaning against him as she held up the phone; she seemed far more at ease than she had for most of the past twenty-four hours, and for that Joe was grateful.

“You okay?” He asks softy once they hang up. Cate hums and nods, taking a deep, slow breath, centering herself in the moment.

“I don’t wanna go to the reunion.” She finally admits, and Joe wraps an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t have to prove myself to anyone, and-” she pauses for a moment, looking up at him, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I’m actually really glad you’re here.”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” he gives her a warm, fond smile, and she looks for the barest moment like she’s going to brush it off, but it hits her how sincere he is and something in her chest tightens.

“You’re too nice to me.” But it’s not dismissive this time, it’s soft, it’s that same unreadable something that Joe had seen on her face last night, and she’s smiling back at him. “You actually like me as a person, don’t you?” She sounds so bewildered at the concept, searching his face for some hint of a dissenting opinion, but he just frowns in confusion.

“Of course, you’re awesome, Cate.” 

Her answering smile is blinding. It’s as if she’s found a whole new energy, jumping from the bed and tugging Joe to his feet.

“Let’s do whatever; ditch this shitshow reunion and just-” she laughs a little, throwing open the closet, “I don’t know; let’s do anything, everything.”

“In a suit?” Joe asks, a little hesitant, but still smiling. Cate pulls out her garment bag and opens it, revealing an exquisite, red, cocktail dress.

“We’ll paint the town red,” she enthuses, before she falters for a minute, expression falling slightly, “I mean, if you want to, don’t feel obliged or -”

“Oh, I’m always down for an adventure; it’s Saturday, baby, let’s tear it up away from these,” he pauses for a moment, grinning, “what did you call them, jags and trophy wives?” 

Cate is elated as she swans over to the bathroom to get changed, and Joe pulls on his suit jacket, tying his bowtie when Cate throws open the bathroom door and strikes a pose in her dress. 

“You look pretty damn good,” Joe grins, trying not to let it show how the sight of her had left him a little out of breath. Cate’s grinning and laughing, making her way over to him, nudging his hands out of the way to fix his bowtie.

“Same to you; cute penguin suit,” voice dropping to soft and amused, Cate’s eyes were fixed on her tying efforts as she continued, growing more serious, “I am really sorry I yelled at you, I- this whole thing had me fucked up and I got in my own head about it, and about how fucking hard it is being the bigger person this weekend, and I just thought-” 

He gently places his hands on her shoulders and Cate freezes, words dying in her throat as she looks up at him with her big, surprised eyes. 

“You worry too much.” 

“I have to, I’m a mum.” Her voice is quiet as she says it, expression softening to a smile that he returns easily. 

“Not tonight; Claud’s safe and happy, you don’t need to worry about her. We’re going to go out and kick some ass, or egg some cars, or maybe we just catch some live bands, but Cate?” And she nods in acknowledgement, half amused, “It’s gonna be fun; we’re gonna make it fun. I promise.”

With that, she bounces up onto her toes and kisses him like it’s most natural thing in the world, and he kisses her back, smiling against her lips. Her grip on his bowtie loosens and in a oment she’s got her arms wrapped around his neck, and he’s holding her close, pulling her to him, lifting her up just a little. With a soft laugh, she breaks the kiss, holding him tighter until he puts her down again, though they don’t let go of one another.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re here.”

#joe mazzello #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello x oc #ask your destiny to dance fic #cate x joe #queen #queen imagines #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #bo rhap #borhap cast #borhap cast imagine #the angry lizard writes

[redskull-fanatic]

Reasons to Love the Red Skull

Now, I know what you're thinking. I know all of it. All the reasons you hate him, all the justifications, all the go to sayings that make you say "Fuck the Red Skull." However, I'm here to celebrate this character.

I am a woman who loves villains. Villains are my passion and pride, and honestly Red Skull is just the best villain I've ever had the pleasure to stumble across. Many call him a Nazi, an asshole, and such. I, however, am here to put a different prospective on the character. Why those who love the Red Skull do, and why in such a horrible, nasty man, we find joy in him.

Feel free to disagree, to scream and call me names. I honestly don't mind. I'm just trying to tell others why I adore the Red Skull, and why he's my favorite marvel character in history. Bring him in a light that many won't consider.

Btw, I also love Steve Rogers so that should give me some credit, right?

Appearance. Now, I don't remember how exactly I saw The Red Skull, but when I did, I fell in love with his appearance. I really like skulls and skeletons, so his face was already beautiful to me. His whole dictator look is also very nice, and skeletons mixed in with the army is my favorite aesthetic. Red and dark greys also look nice together(I'm an artist so I love color schemes), and I love how he and the captain reflect history! I'm a big history nerd and World War Two is fascinating to learn about. Skull just makes it a lot more fun, just to see him with something from the 40s. Plus, he does bring awareness to the holocaust. Keeps it fresh in people's minds so we don't forget.

Obsession with Power. Skull is basically the definition of "Dictator." He strikes fear into his Hydra army, has a fucking cool symbol for his empire(don't know why it's a fucking octopus if its for an empire called Hydra, but okay Skull), got a salute and everything. However, a big trait about this character is power hungry. We all know he joins the Nazi army, but why? Well, I'm new to Marvel and going off a fandom wiki so cut me slack He met Hitler and talked about his theories of myths being science. Adolf was intrigued, wanted to learn more, and Heinrich Himmler recruited him into the SS. He had his fun there, until eventually.. His views started to change. He believed he was rightfully the superior race, he used any means necessary to obtain a central position in the army. That was, until the serum in his veins made him believe he was greater than Hitler and started to plan to overthrow him. Schmidt doesn't believe Germans are the master race, but rather the superior man has yet to be made. He never personally cared to follow the slaughter of Jews, he was too busy hell bent on overthrowing the entire Nazi party and reforming them into hydra. He used the Nazis from the very beginning, he used them for their resources and getting his name out there. That sir, is top tier villainy.

Attitude. His attitude is the best, to be completely honest. He's determined to get what he wants, he's resourceful, and doesn't take no for an answer. This man takes risks, when he first got the tesseract, he ignored safety, shoved Zola out of the way, and went straight for the controls. And the transfer succeeded. He easily kills off his enemies and adapts quickly to situations. As soon as the Americans out matched Hydra's forces, he simply blew up the fucking place without a care in the world. How much he doesn't care is hilarious. He always looks disappointed and unamused, so whenever he smiles it's the best thing ever. Skull speaks super matter-of-factly, and has the best lines: "I am surrounded by incompetents!" "I would curb that sharp tongue of yours, Taskmaster. Lest it cuts your throat." "And here I wanted to watch Captain America's will bend like a weed beneath my boot... No matter." "You are failing! We are close to an offensive network that will shake the planet. And yet, we are continually delayed, because you cannot outwit a simpleton with a shield!" I mean, these lines are hilarious and great, don't lie. Also, the scene where Zola and him talk about the finding out of Erskine's whereabouts is hilariously awkward. "Shall I give the order?" "... It has been given." "... Good-" I mean, that scene cracks me up. Mix that with the fact Skull was standing there for a portrait and was blasting Opera just makes it more hilariously amusing.

Obsessive in Nature. This guy.. is obsessive. Very obsessive. In my most favorite Marvel movie of all time, he's borderline obsessed with Captain America. He has a need to control him, make him Captain Hydra and be his second in command. I love obsessive villains, and Schmidt honestly fits the criteria. He's been obsessed with the tesseract for awhile, is currently crazy over taking over the world, what's not to say he gets obsessed with the captain? The two are similar enough(one parent dies when they're at a young age, both being an in orphanage, both getting bullied, beat up, and yelled at, both becoming super soldiers, and both becoming icons and symbols in the eyes of the public) so what's not to say Skull gets a little possessive over his enemy? Researches in such depth to learn how to control him, own him, kill him, which ever you prefer. All I know is, Skull is one big control freak, and I love him. He has such a need to be in control that he goes to extreme lengths to make sure all the power belongs to him. What a determined little man.

His Name. Johann Schmidt legit translates to John Smith. That is hilarious to me. It's so generic, like Steve Rogers.

Intelligence. This man is fucking smart, and I love it. He has plan after plan after plan. He has such detailed plans that it's ridiculous. Whenever he is about to act on the plan, he has the pause and explain the whole damn thing. He's so proud of him accomplishments, he has to fucking rant about them to further show off his superior intelligence. He goes to such lengths to accomplish his goals, that I'm surprised he doesn't get a headache with all that over planning. He even has to plan on unpredictable actions to surprise Steve. This man is plan crazy. He's so smart that he sets everyone up as pawns, and lets people do the mundane stuff so he has more time to plan. Anyway, this man.. He's so smart. He immediately knew the tesseract decoy was fake, he's able to see beyond appearances and managed to see the truth behind myths. He created a fucking ray that disintegrated people. He easily cut ties with the Nazi army, and always managed to stay a few steps ahead of the Americans. This man is a genius, you can't deny it.

Subtle Weaknesses. His main two weaknesses are: his temper and his slight insecurity of his face. He gets livid if you use "Red Skull" as an insult, and point out the deformity of his face. Expressing dislike over it is simply a death wish, and honestly I find it endearing he's insecure about it. Another thing is, his temper. He gets so mad, so mad over nothing. The slightest thing can make him go from his usual, calm and unimpressed nature to a fucking angry monster who smashes the window in. It's hilarious how mad he can get, and watching him try to control his anger is the cutest thing to me. He's trying so hard! ;w;

View on Magic. His belief magic is a science is super interesting to me! He even makes his belief a reality, and that's so satisfying!! He even researches mythology, and I love mythology! He proves people idiotic by showing them how real his theory is, and it's perfect. Johann blasting those fuckers calling him mad was one of the most satisfying scenes in the Captain America: The First Avenger.

His Personal Tastes. He likes the finer things in life. He listens to Opera, has a sweet fucking car, did you see how nice the Valkyrie was? Plus, he was getting a portrait done! Pretty sure he was drinking some sort of wine in the movie too. This man has wonderful tastes, and honestly makes his character even better to me.

Subtle Actions. He has some subtle acts of kindness, to me at least. In Captain America: The First Avenger, he was very calm with Zola and didn't really raise his voice with him. Schmidt is honestly very polite at times!! He even tried to be friendly with his first meetings with Captain America, expressing a liking towards his films and trying to understand what "made the captain special." Sounded like he just wanted a genuine conversation, or something of that nature.

Dialogue. Did I forget to mention how great is dialogue is? His taunts with Captain America are so funny and cute at times, like legit they go back and forth: "Don't be a fool, Skull. You can't control that thing! It'll bring the whole mountain down!" "Yes... On you." "You just don't give up, do you?" "Nope!" "It's time to stop playing army, Skull." "You have yet to see my army! Or should I say.. Our army." Like, these two dorks. Their taunts are the best.

He's an asshole. I know he's a dick, but it's funny as hell. He's like an ex, arrogant and bitter. Such a show off too. He's a wonderful villain.

His past doesn't affect him. So far, his past never seems to pull any strings at his heart. That's interesting. He went through such a traumatic series of events(his mom died during birth, his dad tried to kill him, his dad abusing him, trying to kill him again, then eventually committing suicide. Schmidt then was sent off to an orphanage where he was abused and beaten, he ran away at the age of 7, resorted to stealing, was taken in by the same doctor who delivered him, and ended up killing a woman.) He seems to have moved on from his past, or at least bottles it up. It's interesting..

He was inspired by a cherry. I'm not making this up, Joe Simon saw a cherry on his sundae and was like: "... That looks like a skull-" and the rest is history.

Vormir sort of mellows him out. He's very calm, distant, and legit doesn't give a shit on Vormir. I hope his old spirit comes back, but this stone keeper Skull is pretty funny and sort of tragic. I like him lots. ♡

He was created alongside Captain America. These two have been together for years. Fighting each other time and time again, and I only wish to see it continue. Sure, I prefer the more goofy side of heroes and villains. The two having stupid taunts, yet entertaining adventures.

Now, I doubt that is all the reasons I love Johann Schmidt. However, I only summarized all I can think of. I hope my fellow Red Skull fans would come out of hiding and express their love for this character. He's one of the best villains I've ever seen. I can go on and on about how much I adore this character, but I'll stop here. If anyone wants to see my favorite adaptation of Schmidt, and my favorite Marvel movie, feel free to check out Iron Man and Captain America: Heroes United. Its on Netflix. All you Red Skull × Captain America fans will get a big kick out of it, and it's a universe I like. It's more goofy, it's animated in a beautiful style, and so much love was put into it. Came out in 2014!!

Anyway, hope I opened your eyes to a few reasons why this character is great. He's determined, hard working, intelligent, spiteful, and overall so much fun to watch on the big screen! His lines are funny, his personality is interestingly layered, and he's such a great character! A part of me wants to see him succeed, since he's done so much! I'm a loyal villain fan, I'm sorry xD

In villains, we get guilty pleasures from them. I love how powerful Skull is, and his determination is admirable. He's doing a bad thing, but he's doing to super well! If you love villains, I hope you get my point! I also like the subtle things in Skull that make him human, his love for Opera, his fascination with Mythology, his politeness, it's all so charming for a villain fan!!

I don't see many Red Skull fans speak out, so I'm glad to do it! Just a friendly Red Skull fan who wants to appreciate my boy. I'm acting like a proud mom, but I do hope he gets further attention, it's been far too long.

Thanks for reading, Hail the Red Skull. ♡

#red skull #marvel #captain america #marvel comics #johann schmidt #hydra #hail hydra #the red skull #just a red skull fan wanting her voice heard #hail the red skull #rambles #rants #reasons to love the red skull

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/2VfQ9Na #

The Russo brothers might return to direct another Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, and here are some options for what it should be (if it doesn’t get canceled). Anthony and Joe Russo are among the most accomplished directors in the MCU’s history. They’re the only ones to direct four movies, and each one continued to raise the bar in terms of spectacle and box office earnings. Avengers: Endgame was the cherry on top of their Marvel run as it earned rave reviews and became the highest-grossing movie of all time until Avatar‘s re-release reclaimed the record.

It has been only a few years since the Russos took a break from Marvel to direct other films, such as Tom Holland’s Cherry, but their MCU return is already being discussed. The directing duo has always expressed an interest in returning to work with Marvel Studios down the road. However, there is some doubt around the Russos’ MCU return after Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney for Black Widow‘s Disney+ release. This might not seem like it has anything to do with the Russos at first, but they are reportedly questioning how their next MCU movie would be released and how they would be paid. Although the Russo brothers are no strangers to making movies for streaming services, they likely received huge paydays from their Marvel movies due to them shattering box office records. They would want to be fairly compensated if their next movie debuted on Disney+ in any capacity.

Related: Why Scarlett Johansson’s Lawsuit Hurts Disney More Than It Does The MCU

The Russo brothers’ impasse with Disney about their MCU return will likely be resolved at some point, though. If the Black Widow lawsuit reaches a conclusion where Scarlett Johansson is paid what she believes she is owed, then the Russos should close their own deal to direct another Marvel movie. Reports of their possible return didn’t reveal which project could entice them to come back after Avengers: Endgame. But, there are many realistic options based on what the Russos have discussed in the past and Marvel is developing or building towards. Here’s what the Russos’ next MCU movie could be.

If there is one movie most likely to get the Russo brothers back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be an adaptation of Secret Wars as an upcoming event movie. There are two versions of the Secret Wars story in the comics, but both revolve around bringing characters from across the universe/multiverse together to fight on Battleworld. Jim Shooter wrote the original 12-issue series in the 1980s, and Jonathan Hickman engineered the 2015 reimagining that combined Earth-616 and the Ultimate Universe. The Russo brothers are fans of both iterations of the story and have openly discussed that a Secret Wars movie is what they would want to do next for Marvel.

The Russos returning to the MCU for Secret Wars would make a lot of sense. They are already familiar with handling a project with a massive scale, and that is necessary as Secret Wars could be even bigger than Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Marvel Studios wanting to put this story in their trusted hands is understandable. The Secret Wars movie‘s cast could include all current MCU heroes, many MCU villains, alternate versions of characters through the multiverse, and even bring back actors from the Fox X-Men movies or previous versions of Spider-Man. With the multiverse set to be a big part of the MCU’s future, it will only be a matter of time before Secret Wars is made as a movie. If this is what the Russos are planning to do for their MCU return, then it could happen sooner than later too.

Outside of Secret Wars, the Russos have made it quite clear they wished they could’ve used Wolverine during their previous MCU films. The possibility of them returning could allow them to be in charge of his MCU debut. There have been plenty of rumors about Marvel Studios developing a Wolverine-focused Disney+ series, but a solo movie is just as likely to happen with him first. The Russo brothers could be part of the beginning of a Wolverine movie being developed if they want to direct it. This could even give them a chance to bring Wolverine’s fight with Hulk from his comic debut, which they love, to the screen. Meanwhile, the MCU would hand them a possible new franchise and entrust them with crafting a fresh take on Wolverine that can stand apart from Hugh Jackman’s.

Related: Hugh Jackman Is Right About His MCU Wolverine Return (Why It Can’t Happen)

If a Wolverine solo project is destined for Disney+, the Russos could also potentially get their hands on the character and the full X-Men roster by doing the MCU’s first X-Men movie. Kevin Feige previously confirmed they are developing a movie with the mutants, but no details on what it will be have surfaced yet. The Russo brothers could be viewed as the safe choice in such a scenario, but Marvel won’t want the first MCU X-Men movie to be anything short of a hit. They know how to handle the team dynamic inherent in the X-Men, which could give them a chance to go slightly smaller in terms of scale while still delivering on plenty of spectacle.

If the Russos want a big event film for their MCU return and Marvel Studios isn’t ready to make Secret Wars already, Avengers vs. X-Men could be another option. The 2012 comic event was created by Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, and Jason Aaron. A proper adaptation of Avengers vs. X-Men would take years of movies and Disney+ shows to get the MCU in a position to tell this tale. But, the MCU could use it as a framework to pit the Avengers against the X-Men without dealing with as much setup. The Russos already know what it takes to make a compelling movie about heroes fighting other heroes after Captain America: Civil War. Avengers vs. X-Men could be their chance to bring the new look Avengers together to square off against the first iteration of the X-Men and set them up to be allies moving forward.

The Russo brothers’ possible secret return could also be tied to the secret project reportedly in the works that will bring Chris Evans back as Captain America. Less than two years after Steve Rogers grew old with Peggy Carter at the end of Avengers: Endgame, reports surfaced that Chris Evans was in talks to make his MCU return. He and Kevin Feige have indicated that this is premature, but perhaps that’s because the Russos would direct it. Captain America was one of the main characters in all of the Russo brothers’ prior MCU movies, so them coming back tell more stories with him makes sense. It could even explain why they once teased that Chris Evans’ time as Steve Rogers wasn’t over. No matter what this secret Captain America project is about, there’s a chance Evans might only want to return if it means working with the Russo brothers again.

The Russos’ next MCU movie could also potentially be Thunderbolts. After spending so much time focusing on the biggest heroes in the MCU, this could be the opportunity for them to handle an ensemble led by some of its most prominent villains or anti-heroes. They already are familiar with possible leaders like Baron Zemo or Bucky Barnes too. Thunderbolts could even be a chance for them to tell a slightly darker story more in the vein of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Whether the Thunderbolts team is assembled through villains taking on new identities to pose as heroes or as a more Suicide Squad-type team of reformed foes, it would be fun to see the Russo brothers take on a different type of MCU team-up movie next.

MORE: Marvel’s MCU Thunderbolts Movie Cast (As We Know It)

#marvel #avengers #marvelcomics #spiderman #mcu #ironman #comics #captainamerica #thor #avengersendgame #marvelstudios #xmen #dc #marveluniverse #art #cosplay #tomholland #hulk #disney #comicbooks #dccomics #peterparker #tonystark #blackwidow #marvellegends #endgame #deadpool #marvelcinematicuniverse #loki #bhfyp

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#Undertheinfluencerd

[sussex-nature-lover]

Monday 8th February 2021

Still Snowy Here

Through the Hall window

It didn’t seem to stop snowing yesterday and it’s still snowing very gently now, although a fair bit disappeared in the night.

We were about to close the curtains last night against the dark, when we noticed visitors again. The quality of the photos isn’t great as the lamps were on inside

Every now and then they looked in at us, but we were keeping very, very still.

There were visitors after the curtains and blinds were closed as well, or very early this morning.

The outside table

Outside it’s been a very black and white day. The Rooks have been agitated and on the move all morning and at one stage absolutely peppered the garden and hoovered up all the seed. I tried to get a photo but as soon as I approached the window they took off in a massive black cloud.

‘Joe’ Rook in the snow. I’m sure Joe Root (the cricketer after whom we name all the Rooks) is feeling much warmer out in Chennai!

More black and white from this Blackbird who was very interested in some fresh lamb fat that we put out.

and finally for a bright splash of colour, I’ve included this Blackbird and Robin combo because it looks strangely like Robin is levitating.

KITCHEN NOTES:

The lamb fat that Blackbird enjoyed so much was trimmed from a leg that I cooked yesterday. It’s one of the easiest Sunday meals I ever make and yields enough for three sittings for us.

In a large roasting tin I stud the lamb with sliced cloves of garlic pushed into the meat and then rest the seasoned joint on a bed of all kinds of everything. Yesterday it was new potatoes, celery, cherry tomatoes, chunks of carrot, fennel, chopped preserved lemons and some red onion. To that I add a big jug of stock and at least half a bottle of wine, two tablespoons of red currant jelly go in as well. If you have herbs you can throw some in as well. I would normally add a couple of Bay leaves and sprigs of Oregano, but I wasn’t going out in this weather. Cover with foil and slow cook at about 140-150° (not fan assisted) for around five hours, although you can get away with less.  Yesterday I found half a bag of frozen ratatouille as well so that went in as well to use it up. 

All you have to do is take it out of the oven a couple of times and baste adding more stock if necessary. It’s very much use your own judgement. The stock thickens to a most delicious gravy so it’s a complete meal cooked in one the tray. If you want some crunch, serve with roast potatoes instead of adding new ones to the recipe - that depends on having a separate oven for high heat though.

Take it from me, apart from being really tasty, it’s so much easier than pie - either the baked kind or the maths formula.

SPOTTED TODAY:

Heart Warming Rescue Story

#nature naturephotography gardenbirds snow deer easy cooking

[jubesy]

Could you do 20 for matcha blossom please these docs are curing my depression istg

Aww, thank you, anon! I’m glad you’re enjoying them~  I went the sick!fic route with this one. I hope that’s okay!

Matcha Blossom #20 “I’ll protect you, no matter what...even if it kills me.”

Also available on Ao3.

Request a drabble here!

Cherry was not some fragile thing. He just wasn’t as...robust as a certain thick-headed gorilla he knew. But even so, when Cherry needed help, he wasn’t so stubborn as to not ask for it. If it was completely necessary, that was.

So, the fact that Joe hadn’t even messaged him to alert him to his current condition was...troubling. Especially considering Cherry wouldn’t have even known about it if he hadn’t shown up at Sia la luce unannounced, as usual, breezing through the dining room to sit in his favorite spot by the bar. It wasn’t until he’d been seated for a few minutes -- without a single word of greeting from his childhood friend -- that he grew suspicious.

“Called in sick,” Cherry muttered to himself as he climbed the steps to Joe’s apartment. One of the servers had timidly approached the bar and informed him as much. “He could have at least sent a text.”

It wasn’t like Joe had bailed on him, exactly. This wasn’t a date, for heaven’s sake. But Cherry did tend to swing by after work and Joe… Well, Joe never missed work. Never got sick, actually. So, he must have been feeling particularly awful if he’d abandoned his staff -- That wasn’t true. The assistant manager was plenty capable --  but Cherry had overheard the regulars wistfully sighing when they received the news that the head chef was out for the evening.

Cherry shook his head as he reached the door, his fist raised and poised to knock. He rapped once. Twice. And by the third time, he was annoyed. Annoyed and...something else.

“Kojiro!” he called, knocking again.

What if...what if something had happened? What if Joe had tried to take a shower and go to work and slipped and hit his head? Once when they were in high school, Cherry had gotten a fever so awful that he could barely move, but he didn’t want to miss class -- despite his appearance, his attendance record was flawless -- and he’d done the exact same thing. If Joe hadn’t caught him…

“Kojiro!” he tried again, but received no answer.

Perhaps Joe had tried making himself some soup. Maybe he’d burned himself in his weakened state. Or he’d fallen asleep while it was simmering and it boiled over. Or what if the heat was too high and the kitchen had caught fire?

Cherry shook the ridiculous thought from his head. Joe was grace under fire, though some wouldn’t believe it. Every time Cherry was sick, including the time he’d passed out during fifth period, Joe had always been there to take care of him. In fact, his soup -- his grandpa’s recipe -- was a cureall.

Still, Cherry was...concerned. So, seeing as Joe still hadn’t shown himself, he reached under the mat for the spare key and made to unlock the door, but rolled his eyes as he jiggled the knob. 

“Idiot ape,” he muttered as he let himself in. “Leaving the door unlocked.” 

But that only worried him further. Was Joe in such a state that he’d wandered out? Or maybe he had someone over?

Something acrid bubbled in Cherry’s belly at the thought. Was Joe playing hooky? Had some girl come over the night before and stayed? Anger swelled in his chest. To think, he was worried about him!

But even as that thought crossed his mind, deep down, Cherry knew that wasn’t the case. Joe was a frivolous, flirtatious, and feebleminded oaf, but not when it came to things he took seriously. Like his career.

So, taking a deep breath, Cherry padded down the hallway and opened the door to Joe’s bedroom. It was dark inside, but the light pouring in from the hall illuminated a lump on the mattress, covered in the duvet and surrounded by wadded up tissues. There was an open bottle of cold medicine on the nightstand, the measuring cup stained, but empty beside it.

Well, at least he was present enough to take medicine. 

“Kojiro,” Cherry called again, softly this time.

A large, hand clawed its way out from beneath the comforter, drawing it down to reveal a mess of curly hair and a flushed face. “...Kaoru?” 

Cherry bit back a fond smile. “Yes, it’s me.” He drew closer and took a seat on the edge of the mattress. 

“You came?” Joe blinked up at him with bleary eyes. 

“Yes,” Cherry said again. “Even though you neglected to tell me you were sick.” 

Joe had the decency to look sheepish. “I conked out after I called the restaurant,” he confessed. “What are you doing here?” 

“One of your servers informed me of your condition, so I came to check on you,” Cherry replied, heat rising in his own cheeks at the admission. He covered it up with a jab. “And here I thought idiots like you couldn’t catch colds.” 

Joe chuckled and then coughed into his fist. “S’not a cold,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’m dying.”

Cherry rolled his eyes. “You’re not dying.” He moved closer, pressing a palm to Joe’s forehead. “I am surprised, though,” he added. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never gotten sick.”

Joe nodded, closing his eyes and nuzzling against Cherry’s cooler hand. “I overdid it at work,” he admitted. “We had a health inspection and then not one, but two--” he paused to sniffle, “--food critics and then…” he trailed off with a deep, shaky breath. “Lots of call-outs. Must be going around.”

With a soft hum, Cherry nodded. Joe was awfully warm. Perhaps it was more than just a cold, after all. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his spare band, placing it around Joe’s wrist. “Carla,” he said and his own wristband illuminated. 

‘Yes, Master?’ 

“Read Kojiro’s vitals,” he ordered.

‘Yes, Master.’ The other band glowed softly. ‘Temperature high. Temperature high.’

“I thought so…” Cherry sighed.

‘Skin temperature thirty-nine degrees Celsius. Approximate core temperature thirty-nine point four degrees Celsius. Heart rate one hundred and sixteen beats per minute.’ 

“What is this?” Joe asked, eyeing the wristband. 

“Continue to track, Carla,” Cherry said instead of answering. Then he looked at Joe. “Why didn’t you call me?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Joe groaned, rubbing his face. “I told you, I fell asleep--”

“You always take care of me when I’m sick and you thought I wouldn’t do the same?” Cherry narrowed his eyes. “You think I’m incapable?”

Joe furrowed his brow. “...no?” 

Cherry sighed. “I’ll go fix you something to eat.” He made to get up, but Joe caught his wrist.

“Kaoru,” he said and then winced, bringing a hand to his throat. “You should leave.”

The anger from earlier began rising again, but for a different reason this time. “I can heat up a can of soup, Kojiro!” he snapped. Of course, Cherry wasn’t entirely sure Joe had any in his cabinets. He was a ‘from scratch’ kind of guy. Maybe Cherry could run to the store and--

“No, I mean…” Joe swallowed. “I don’t want you to get sick, too.”

Cherry fixed him with an unimpressed look. “You’re just thinking about that now?” 

Joe shook his head. “No.” He wet his lips. “I didn’t fall asleep right after calling work,” he said. “I could have messaged you. I wanted to,” he added, looking up at Cherry with large, watery eyes. “But I didn’t because…I didn’t want you to catch it.”

There was a beat that passed then, as Cherry digested what Joe had said. He was definitely sick. Joe was typically more honest than Cherry on the regular, but he was being extra honest. Sickly honest. Like Cherry tended to get -- or so Joe would always inform him afterwards.

“I’ll be fine,” Cherry promised. “I’ll make sure to take some supplements after I leave.”

Joe’s lower lip trembled then. “You’re...leaving?” 

Cherry bit back an aggravated growl. “Didn’t you just tell me to leave?” 

Joe blinked. “Oh.” His lips curved up into a smile. “Yeah, I did.” 

“Then--”    

“But I don’t really want you to leave, Kaoru,” Joe interrupted. “But you should.”

Cherry wanted to pull his hair out. Was this how he acted when he was sick? Had he shamelessly voiced every thought as it occurred to him?

“I wanted you to come, but I didn’t want you to come,” Joe said again. “Because Kaoru gets sick so easily…”

“I do not--” 

“So, I’ll protect you, no matter what,” Joe vowed, his face completely flushed and his eyes cloudy. “Even if it kills me.” 

‘Heart rate elevated.’ 

“Yes, Carla,” Cherry said, without glancing at his wristband. “That’s because of his fever.’

‘Apologies, Master. Not Kojiro’s. Yours.’ 

Cherry’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. That damned gorilla… “I’m going to see what you have to eat,” he said through clenched teeth, finally pulling his arm free from Joe’s weakened grasp. “If there’s nothing I can heat up, I’ll run to the convenience store.”

Joe cocked his head to the side, giving Cherry a dopey smile. “Okay.” 

“I’ll be back shortly,” Cherry informed him, standing up. 

“Kaoru?” Joe called just as Cherry reached the doorway.

He looked back over his shoulder. “Yes?” 

“Then you’ll stay?” he asked, voice raspy. 

The corner of Cherry’s lips twitched as warmth blossomed in his chest. “Yes,” he said. “Someone has to make sure you take your next dose of medicine.”

Request a drabble here!

#matcha blossom #nanjo kojiro #sakurayashiki kaoru #sk8 the infinity #sk8 #carla #answered #anon #drabble #quote drabble #quote drabbles #sickfic #sick fic

[bakingwithgrandma]

Plain Jane Apple Cake

If your imaginary grandma looked like mine—chunky around the waist, with a vintage apron trimmed in rickrack, and no desire to ever leave the house—this apple cake could become a family heirloom. Not from your original family perhaps, but the warmer, cozier one you are presently creating with your kids’ kids.

I learned this quick-batter cake or French clafoutis in the 90s when I picked up a book with about 800 recipes called Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. When he said, “stick a bookmark here,” because this will become a standby, I took him literally. In fact, this recipe is so good I never tried another one in that book—my philosophy being that if you find three great recipes in a collection, that’s enough. For nearly forty years, it has been my go-to cake for fall Jewish holidays, for warm winter breakfasts topped with yogurt, and to bring to last minute brunches.

To backtrack: The real Baking Sessions have been conducted every other Sunday, over Zoom, since early Covid times. In each morning meeting, my grandaughter Piper, an 8 year-old living in Austin, Texas and I, bake a beloved pastry from a repertoire gathered over nearly forty years in the food business—as a cookbook author and ghostwriter to celebrity chefs. The impetus for these bi-weekly classes, or course, was Covid. I was looking for a way to connect from Los Angeles with my son and his family during the crisis. Her parents were looking for a way to catch a break. Plus Piper’s father Joe, her kitchen assistant and my son, is an excellent cook who grew up on these heart-tugging goodies. Piper and I have been baking together a long time. It's something we both love!

Regarding recipe selection, strict guidelines were adhered to: a recipe had to have stood the test of time (made by me too many times) and be the kind of baked good that people are haunted by. Since I am a minimalist when it comes to cooking and baking, recipes had to be efficient. Like the French, I believe that fancy cakes and technical wonders should be made by bakers in bakeries. Not those who have something else to do.

An equally important project of mine during the pandemic has been studying French—a language I have been perfecting since junior year of high school. Over the last 10 years, as I approached retirement, my passion for all things French gathered momentum. Since I finally had nothing but time, I immersed myself in travel to France, language lessons, podcasts, cinema, music, fashion, cuisine, contemporary literature, you name it. Continuing to study during Covid has been de rigueur, absolutely necessary for my sanity. In the Sunday sessions, I like to toss out a few mots (words), since the love of cuisine is so closely linked for me to France. Not to brag too much, but Piper lived in London for a few years, so visits to Paris and munching on macarons will always be embedded in her gorgeous little head.

Back to the cake: As enthusiastic as I am about this overgrown pancake, I knew it would be a challenge to drum up excitement with 8 year-old Piper. I could read her thoughts: no frosting, no sprinkles, and too much fruit. “Granny is so old she calls that a cake!” So I pitched it as a chance to practice her knife skills (nearly perfect) and an opportunity to work by hand, without too much parental intervention. She played along. 

In another sign of strange times, I experienced a destabilizing moment when I went to buy apples.The produce section of the market had experienced an extreme makeover. Overnight, the sad mealy peaches and plums of late summer were banished to the back of the store. Meanwhile the front looked like a Disney cornucopia of pumpkin patches, scarecrows dangling Halloween candy we could no longer hand to children, cackling witches, and too-good-to-be-true autumn leaves. Plus every kind of heritage, chi-chi apple known to upscale Americans. I stuck with old school Granny Smiths. Their tart flavor and firm consistency are great for baking, and besides they’re named for Grannies!

French mots:

French Clafoutis, simple baked desserts of fruit and pancake batter, are rarely seen on American menus these days. Considered cool in Julia Child’s day, this easy technique (traditionally made with cherries) has been tossed in the dust bin along with Jello salads. 

Pommes are apples in French, and they show up everywhere. In desserts like Tarte Tatin and matched with meats like duck and veal in major plats and savory stuffings.  

RECIPE 

3 medium tart apples like Granny Smith 2 tsp lemon juice ¾ cup plus 3 Tbsp sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 1 ½ sticks butter, 6 ounces 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup flour, sifted Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 10-in round pyrex or ceramic pie plate with butter or Pam.

Peel, core, and thinly slice apples. Toss them in a big bowl with lemon juice, 2 Tbsp sugar, and the cinnamon. Mix by hand to evenly coat apples. Dump into pie pan and evenly spread to the edges.

In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat, refraining from stirring. In about 7 minutes, white bits will appear on the surface. Carefully skim white off the top and discard. Pour the melted butter into another mixing bowl.

Gently whisk in ¾ cups of sugar. When smooth, gently stir in the eggs, and the flour until just blended. Pour batter over the apples in the pan, smoothing the top till batter spreads evenly to the edges. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of sugar over the top.

Bake until golden and crisp, about 45 minutes. Serve warm topped with ice cream, whipped cream, creme fraiche, or plain yogurt. Delish!

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