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themonotonysyndrome · 3 years

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REDACTED verse - A special night

Prompt: Any Fandom | Any Characters/Pairings | Ordering a sweet treat to be delivered to the other person at home/work

Word Count: 2,136

Author/Team: LadyMonotone

Fandom/Original: Redacted ASMR (Gavin/Freelancer. Vincent Solaire/Lovely)

Rating: T

Triggers: NA

Summary: Having an Incubus boyfriend comes with many perks. The Freelancer and Lovely really should have seen it coming.

ConCrit: Y

Well, I guess this can be a sequel to my previous oneshot, REDACTED verse - Those that stood above the rest. I really wanted to write the Freelancer and Lovely interacting after their first, proper meeting so this oneshot suddenly comes to mind!

Exam week is the bane of every student, everywhere — even for the magical ones.

An uneasy atmosphere lingers around D.A.M.N as the current semester hurl the students into an intense week of revisions, study groups, and extra classes; all for the upcoming exams.

The seniors are frantically cramming for their final papers and projects under the watchful eyes of the lecturers. The Freelancer doesn't envy them one bit when they caught a Sonal Energetic screamed into his backpack for a solid ten minutes.

His scream shakes the student lounge, and the windows shattered.

Once he got that out of his system, he focused back towards his textbook, expressionless. The rest of the students around the Energetic hardly bat an eye over what just happened.

On that day, the Freelancer learned to avoid a large group of seniors until the exam week blows over.

"The tension alone in that lounge could make a Serenity Daemon hide underneath a bed." The Freelancer narrates their experience to Lovely. The two of them are currently having their own study session over at the Freelancer's apartment.

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and yet here they are - flipping through textbooks, reviewing and swapping notes and downing cans of coffee and Red Bulls from as early as 9 AM. "Even the janitor wasn't fazed by it. He just snapped his fingers, and the windows were good as new!"

That night after their proper introduction, Lovely and the Freelancer had become quite good friends, much to Vincent's annoyance and Gavin's pleased smirk when the Freelancer told him that Lovely would be coming over for their study session.

"Aww, look you, Deviant. Arranging a little study date with that friend of yours," Gavin teased during breakfast this morning. They both woke up early to prepare meals that could last the Freelancer and Lovely throughout the whole day. When his Deviant absentmindedly replied, "Uh-huh" as they were busy chopping the vegetables, Gavin couldn't help but plant a fond kiss on top of their head. "Anyway, I'll be popping into Aria for a bit today. A few of my, ah, older brothers and sisters called for a meeting. Can I trust that you two won't be having too much fun without me?"

The Freelancer stopped chopping to gave their boyfriend a deadpan stare. "Gavin, we'll be studying." They explained. "Our first paper is literally next week. So I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but there won't be any fucking happening." They then stop themselves. They suddenly recalled something. "I don't want to be on that Solaire Prince's hit list too."

Gavin just cooed at their disgruntled partner, as if the genuine possibility that the both of them being shred to pieces by Lovely's possessive boyfriend amused him.

Nonetheless, Gavin pulled his weight to ensure there was enough food and comfortable pillows and blankets in their shared apartment so that his Deviant and the Electro Energetic would be comfortable for their revisions.

An hour before Lovely arrived, Gavin kissed the Freelancer goodbye and Rifted into his home dimension.

And now we're back in the present.

"I think those students around that guy were his classmates," Lovely commented. They take a quick sip of the lemonade that Gavin prepared to refresh their parched throat. Even in a simple pair of slacks, baggy t-shit, and hair pulled up in a bun, they still look as breathtaking as ever. "They reacted as if it was like a regular Tuesday for them. It's so crazy to think that we'll be seniors like them soon."

The Freelancer pours more lemonade into their glass from the pitcher beside them. Their books, notebooks and snacks are spread all over the dining table. A large and fluffy pillow is propped behind the Freelancer so they can lean back on their chair comfortably. "Urgh, mood. I can already imagine the coursework we'll be forced to do in our final semester." They groan. Their brain is fried from all the information and notes they've been reviewing since this morning. On top of that, the thought that they will be getting even more work once they hit their senior year is starting to freak them out.

Seeing the Freelancer is having an internal crisis, Lovely quickly glance at the time on their phone and decides, "OK, I think we seriously need a break. You look like you're going to pull a stunt similar to that Sonal Energetic, and I don't think your boyfriend appreciates coming back to a half-destroyed apartment."

"Gavin can fix the apartment with his magic, don't worry." The Freelancer is quick to assure Lovely. "He did that after he and Vega trashed the place anyway."

"Uh, what? Who's Vega?"

The Freelancer snapped their attention back to Lovely once they realised the name that they accidentally dropped. "N-Nothing! I didn't s-say anything!" They laugh awkwardly, doing their best to brush off Lovely's concerned expression. "Anyway, break! Yeah! That's a good idea! Are you hungry? We can watch something on Youtube and eat in the living room. You're OK with that?"

Lovely gingerly nods; it's best not to comment or ask about this Vega person since the name alone made their friend jumpy. They push their chair back, stretch their stiff spine, and get up to help set the plates and cutleries while the Freelancer heats the lunch they made in the morning.

They then move to the living room with a tray of food and drinks, where the couch and coffee table are surrounded by pillows and blankets thrown around messily.

"You play video games, right?" The Freelancer asked after Lovely settle down on the couch with a blanket over their lap. "Do you want to watch a playthrough or something?"

"Sure! Do you and Gavin play video games too?"

"Gavin does, though he usually only plays those dating sim games for girls. It's a guilty pleasure of his."

"Oh, Otome Games? My respect for your boyfriend just levelled up. Has he ever played Hatoful Boyfriend?"

"Uh... I don't remember he ever mentioned that title. What is it about?"

"We're watching a playthrough of that game. Right now. You can watch it with me, but you can't tell Gavin anything, OK? I promise you're going to love his reactions."

Lovely's eyes light up with glee and grin widely as the Freelancer switch on the Smart TV. When thumbnails of pigeons with pink hearts in the background pop up on the screen, they immediately throw an incredulous look at the Energetic.

"That top playlist is good to watch. Come on, sit beside me." Lovely pats on the empty spot on the couch beside them, unperturbed at the look the Freelancer is giving them. "I think you're going to like Okosan."

The Freelancer press play on the first video and kick back on the couch with the Energetic. What's better than having a break after a long study session? Hanging out with a friend with some good food while watching a crazy romance video game about pigeons!

However, when the fourth video starts to play, the doorbell rings.

"Uh... are you expecting someone?" Lovely asks curiously; their head is tilting towards the door. Their plate of eggplant pasta and buttered abalones are polished on their lap. The Freelancer internally preened when they enthusiastically complimented on theirs and Gavin's cooking skills.

Anyway, the Freelancer moves their empty tray onto the coffee table and flip over the blanket to get up. "Not really. Gavin said he'll be coming back home at night." They explain and went towards the door when the doorbell ring once more.

A delivery man greets the Freelancer with a stoic face, an armful of flower bouquet, and a thick, rectangular item wrapped in hot red packaging.

"I, uh, think you got the wrong address?" They said, confused to hell and back.

The delivery man blinks, unfaze at the Freelancer's greeting. "Good afternoon. Delivery for..." He pauses to read the card attached to the bouquet. "Deviant? We received a request from Gavin to arrange a flower bouquet and some... special chocolates. He also left a message for you: My Deviant has been working so hard lately~ So I got you something to... help you relax. PS: give some of the special chocolates to that gorgeous friend of yours and their boyfriend."

The Freelancer could only gape when the delivery man finished reciting Gavin's message. From the living room, Lovely is also doing an excellent mimicking of a goldfish. Their stunned expression made the man sigh tiredly. "Look, I'm not going to judge your... bedroom activities. Just take the packages already. I still have more stops to deliver."

"O-Oh my god! I'm really, really sorry about my boyfriend!" The Freelancer finally snaps out of it and stammers an apology. Their face is bright red. They hurriedly accept the flowers and package, shoot a quick thank you and slams the door shut.

Lovely watches as the Freelancer stares into the bouquet with a mixed feeling, something between fondness and extreme embarrassment, before they scream into the large sunflowers.

They patiently wait for the Freelancer to get it out of their system before Lovely delicately asks, "So, uh, does Gavin do these sort of things often?"

"No. This is the first time ever." The Freelancer replies. Their voice is muffled because the flowers are still pressed onto their face. "That's what I get for dating an Incubus, I supposed..."

"Aww, don't be embarrassed, dude! I think it's super sweet how much Gavin loves you. Flowers and chocolates? Boy got some serious game; might even give Vincent a run for his money, and you should've seen how we first met."

The Freelancer peeks through the petals and is relieved to find that Lovely wasn't put off by Gavin's forward nature. In fact, they are very accepting of the Freelancer and Gavin's relationship.

Feeling the warmth on their cheeks slowly disappearing, the Freelancer made their way back to the couch. The rectangular package is tossed onto the couch, and the bouquet is on the coffee table. The Freelancer figured they could put the fresh flowers in a water-filled vase later.

"The guy said that Gavin sent you some chocolates?" Lovely reiterate as the Freelancer began to untie the ribbon and unwraps the box.

"Special chocolates, and knowing Gavin, I kinda have an idea of what kind of chocolates they are." They admit and make quick work of tearing the paper wrappings.

Apparently, Gavin ordered two types of chocolates for his Deviant. One box holds a fancy gourmet assortment of salted almonds dipped in rich Belgium chocolate, double chocolate raspberry truffles, vanilla pieces powdered with light matcha and some white praliné hearts.

Lovely whistle, impressed over the spread. "Your boyfriend really went all out for you!"

The box below it contains rows of heart-shaped chocolates, but the short message written on the card of said box proves it's anything but ordinary treats.

'These are homemade chocolates made by one of my close associates. She's a Succubus, by the way, and renowned for her aphrodisiac desserts. You can try some first if your Energetic friend doesn't mind being a voyeur.'

The Freelancer promptly throws away the card and cues them, and Lovely shrieking in embarrassment. Neither of them expects the second batch of chocolates.

"These are sexy chocolates? Like, legit aphrodisiac chocolates made with magic!? Oh my god, I didn't know they were a thing!"

"I didn't either! I was expecting sex toys below the chocolates!"

"Wait - didn't Gavin wants to give these to Vincent and me!? Dude, does he has a thing for Vincent? Because at this point, I should tell you: he noticed that Gavin was purposely riling us up when they first met, and he's been thinking that your boyfriend is out to get him. But, uh, not in the sexy way, but I'm thinking otherwise now. And if that's the case, then you can warn that Incubus to be ready and catch these hands."

The Freelancer groans and hides their face in their hands. "OK, you know what? I'm going to put the special chocolates in the fridge, and then we'll continue watching a few more videos from the playthrough and get back to studying."

"... You're in denial."

"I'm just trying to keep whatever sanity I have left. It's been a crazy year."

"Urgh, tell me about it."

That night, at Lovely's and Vincent's apartment:

"Vincent, baby? I'm back. Look what I got!"

"Welcome home, Lovely. Dinner's ready if you're hungry. Hmm? What's that?"

"It's homemade aphrodisiac chocolates made by a Succubus. Gavin and the Freelancer gave some to us."

"...I'm gonna punch that Incubus in his smug ass face."

"...Does that mean you don't want them in the bedroom tonight?"

"OK, I'll punch him tomorrow. C'mere, Lovely. I've missed you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

#redacted asmr #fanfic #they/them pronouns #gender neutral s/o #freelancer (listener)#lovely (listener)#gavin #vincent solaire

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sunflowerandco · 3 years

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After the Fact: Act VII - The First of Three

Hey everyone :) here's another chapter, and we're back in present times. i wanted to thank Andy@straighttxhell for being a bilingual queen and helping me with the Spanish dialogue in this chapter you saved me!!

I hope you all enjoy <3

Courtney had her head buried in her textbook when she heard Duncan arrive home from work. She didn't mean to sound defeated in her delivery. "Oh, good. You're home."

He headed toward her study nook. "Missed me that much? What's wrong, Princess?" He questioned her, her look of frustration apparent on her face.

"I just can't get past this scenario in my textbook for my criminal law class."

"Sounds like my thing."

Courtney scoffed. "Hardly..." Duncan looked at her in utmost offense. "Oh, don't get offended. I just consider you...retired."

"That's more like it. I retired for a life in peace with my lady."

Courtney agreed playfully to appease him. "Yes, definitely." He leaned down, pecking her on her lips.

"But, yeah, what was the problem-thing?"

She turned her head over her shoulder to explain the dilemma, eventually turning the chair toward him. "Basically, they're asking me if this scenario requires prosecution: Person A shoots Person B in an attempt to kill them. However, Person B was already dead before Person A pulls the trigger. My question is: where does the line between motive and convenience become blurred? When does the defendant become a total liability for the damage done?"

Duncan hadn't felt this lost since he attended his Pre-Calculus class on accident. All he knew was that he has been referred to as 'defendant' a couple times in his life. "Well, the defendant could still be a good liar."

"...What?"

"You said he'd become a liability? But, how could that mess up his ability to lie?"

She closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of his statement. "Duncan... that has to be the most incoherent thing I've ever heard you say." She shamefully side-eyed to herself. "Why was that so hot?"

"Oh?" He smirked, egging her on. He still had no idea what he was talking about, but he liked flustering her in any way he could. He couldn't keep a straight face as he continued on. "I'm serious, babe! I've been a defendant enough times to know about lying abilities."

Courtney shook her head slowly, unbuttoning her shirt, but didn't let it fall. "That was so stupid. Fuck me."

Courtney never had to say those words more than once. They became one, an unconstrained, vocal Courtney flush against the wall with her legs wrapped around Duncan's waist clawing at his back.

***

Courtney groaned at the very last task she and Bridgette needed to complete: setting the table for the dinner both her and Duncan's parents were invited to in celebration of their engagement. A good amount of time had passed since the news broke. But, it was still an opportunity for everyone to meet and spend some time together.

"I'm just so freaking tired. I couldn't get out of bed this morning." Courtney handed the other end of the table cloth to Bridgette. "Duncan had to carry me to the shower."

Bridgette and Courtney lifted the cloth into the air, one losing sight of the other. Bridgette spoke as it slowly rested on top of the table. "Is he really that good?" She smirked as she smoothed out the edges with her hands.

"Please. Like his ego could use any more inflation..." Bridgette still waited for an answer, making Courtney give in. "Yes. But, he never tires me out to that point."

"Maybe you've been too stressed lately?"

"I suppose so. Planning this dinner, getting our families to come together all on the same day sure did wear us the hell out." They were done setting the table when Courtney raised the question. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay for dinner?"

"I'd love to, but..."

"But?!"

"I'm starting my fertility treatment today. Geoff and I have been trying for over a year, and we need the extra help."

Courtney pulled her into a hug. "I hope everything goes well. You know I love you. If you need to talk about anything, I'm here."

Bridgette took in her words before changing the subject. "Thank you. I love you, too, Court. So, what about you guys?"

"What about us?"

"You know... have you and Duncan talked about babies?"

She and Bridgette each sat on a dining chair in unison; Courtney sighed louder than she meant to in exhaustion. "I mean of course! But, I have this three year plan: finish law school, become a prosecutor, get married, and move out all in three years."

"That's quite the plan."

"Oh, that's nothing. I haven't even gotten to the two-year within the three-year plan."

"You have a plan for your plan?" Bridgette's head spun trying to wrap her head around Courtney's obsession with organization. "Never mind, the word's lost its meaning."

***

After their parents had done their formal introductions to each other, they settled into their seats for dinner. Besides story exchanging and pleasant conversation, Courtney had to deal with an occasional all-knowing stare from her mother. She tried her best to ignore it for the sake of a successful dinner. She was also coping with the fact that she was still hungry after eating her serving.

"Are you gonna finish that, babe?"

"Uh... no. Here, take it."

She smiled, scraping the last of Duncan's pasta on her plate. "Thank you. I just haven't eaten all day."

Courtney's mother called from across the table. "Can you help me with something in the kitchen, honey?"

Courtney nodded, getting up from her seat. They walked in together while her mother pulled her into a closer corner of the kitchen, speaking in a hushed tone.

"¿Por qué no me dijiste?"

Why didn't you tell me?

Courtney gave her a confused look, encouraging her to explain further.

"Que estás embarazada."

That you're pregnant.

Courtney furrowed her brows at her incredulous statement. "Qué? ¡No estoy embarazada!"

What? I'm not pregnant!

"Conozco a mi hija."

I know my daughter.

"Mamá! No digas tonterías!"

Mom, stop talking nonsense!

"No tienes que creerme. Pero aléjate de la champaña."

You don't have to believe me but stay away from the champagne.

Courtney rolled her eyes as Duncan walked into the kitchen.

"Everything okay in here?"

"Sí, mi amor- yes, everything's fine. Mamá just wanted me to take out this stack of plates."

"They're too heavy, cariño-"

Courtney widened her eyes and spoke through gritted teeth, signaling for her mother to stop this in front of Duncan. "I got it."

They all returned to their seats with Courtney demanding everything to be resumed to normal without her mother's theories.

***

Courtney stood in front of the mirror assembling her outfit for her very first mock trial. While she still struggled with her energy level hitting a new low, Courtney had been looking forward to this assignment for weeks. She brought out her favorite suit jacket and skirt to match, trying to slip it on with ease when she hit a snag at the button on her waist. Courtney tried her hardest to slip the button through until it eventually popped, landing on the floor.

"Goddamn it!"

Duncan called from the hallway as he approached their bedroom. "What happened?"

"My favorite skirt... I popped the damn button. I must've gained some weight." Courtney knew it was nearly impossible to stay the same weight she was five years ago, but was still sad to see her skirt go.

Duncan shamelessly eyed her backside. "Maybe there are consequences for havin' a fatty."

Courtney sighed defeatedly. "Now what am I gonna wear?" He gingerly held her by the waist, his arms wrapping around her torso, and eyed her through the mirror when he reassured her. "You would look amazing in anything, babe."

A smile crept the corner of her lips as she held the hands he wrapped around her. He let her go after pecking her on the cheek and she settled for a newer pantsuit that aligned with her figure. She was seconds away from heading out the door when Duncan called out to her; she only used her head to turn back to him.

"Hey! You forgot something."

"What?"

His hand swiftly slapped her ass and she yelped. She would've kicked him if she wasn't already about to miss her train.

"I'm going to kill you later!"

"I love you, too, Princess!"

***

She figured if she distributed her energy into the testimonies she'd ace the mock trial with flying colors.

Her body had other plans by the end of the trial.

Courtney tried to muster up the energy she had to give her mock closing argument. She used her arms to lift her up from the chair and she sauntered to the fake jury.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the evidence lays out right in front of you: the bloodied bat, motive, and an eyewitness that places the defendant right at the crime scene. Do not let Alicia become a statistic. Put her sadistic killer rightfully where he belongs."

She took a deep breath before she turned around to head back to her seat. Her head spun and she tried to focus on the seat she was getting to until it was too blurry to see. Her eyes shut as she fell onto the floor. She fell in and out of consciousness as she heard fragments of voices around her.

...an ambulance!

...she have a pulse?

Stay with me, Ms. Courtney.

***

Duncan received a call from the hospital and rushed out of the tattoo shop without much thought. When he reached Courtney's hospital room, Duncan found her mother standing outside exchanging pleasantries with the doctor. He assumed she had just made it there as well.

"Now, you're Mom and..?"

"Boyfriend," Duncan answered.

"Boyfriend." The doctor reiterated while shaking his hand. "I'm Doctor Holt and I've been taking care of Ms. Courtney. She's going to be fine. We're just monitoring her blood pressure, making sure she's getting some rest. Fainting is a common occurrence in the first trimester."

Duncan nodded, accepting the verdict until he realized the last three words that came out of the doctor's mouth. He furrowed his brow in confusion and disbelief. He took pauses, stammered over his words as he tried to catch his breath the last three words stole from his lungs. "Th-the first trimester? ...Of pregnancy?"

"Yes...?"

"I knew it!" Courtney's mother exclaimed in victory over her intuition. Duncan whipped his head to the left of him in shock.

"You knew?!"

"Well, not knew, per se. A mother can just tell." This time Doctor Holt chimed in realizing his mistake.

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't ask her about the possibility of her being pregnant. She kept falling in and out of consciousness and I just decided to draw her blood for a test. I needed to know to care for her properly. If you don't know, then that means she definitely doesn't know she's pregnant."

"If it's not too much, I'd like to tell my daughter the news."

"I'm not against that," Doctor Holt declared. "I just need to be in the room when it happens. I'll be back in about five minutes to see if she's awake." He turned to enter another patients room down the hall. Lorena looked over to her future son-in-law being uncharacteristically silent, looking at Courtney through the door's window.

"How are you doing, Pobrecito?"

He didn't divert his gaze. The longer he stared, the more he was able to accept the fact. A small smile crept upon his face seeing his girl so sound asleep. For once, Duncan didn't feel resistant to change. When he looked at Courtney he didn't doubt either of their abilities; only relief took over as he ascertained that she was his partner in this journey. The only thing bringing him out of his thoughts were the angry exclaims from Lorena.

"Now you decide to show up after all these years?!" Duncan turned to see a tall man with graying hair in a suit.

Courtney rarely spoke of her father. Duncan had an idea why she didn't; the words exchanged between her parents confirmed his assumptions and her apprehensiveness when he asked. There were some things Courtney just didn't talk about with anyone and Duncan felt he needed to respect that no matter the circumstance. Her father answered, his tone devoid of any emotion. Every sentence suggested his presence was strictly business and contrasted her Lorena's emotional articulation.

"I'm still on her emergency contact card, so I'm entitled to know the status of my daughter's health."

"You can't just decide to be a father whenever you want! She and Kate are past the age of needing their father, if you couldn't tell."

"Because, of course, you're doing a fine job." He retorted, gesturing to Courtney's state.

"What happened to her is no one's fault. Not even her own." Lorena crossed her arms in frustration, defensive over him undermining all of her work. "Courtney and Kate have their mother. I knew I didn't give our daughters your last name for a reason!"

Duncan intervened when he saw Courtney staring through the window. "Please! Stop. She's awake." He turned to her father. He knew nothing about him, not even his first name. Still, he immediately wanted to diffuse the situation to diminish any stress Courtney could be feeling. Duncan tried his best to steer him away without revealing any information. "It's your best interest to leave. The doctor told us Courtney is fine and we've got it under control, but she doesn't need any more stress as it is." Lorena had the last word before her father left Courtney again.

"If she needed you, she'd call you herself."

***

Courtney's eyes fluttered open to offending voices. She knew she was going to the hospital from what the EMT told her while she lied in the ambulance. She just didn't know how much time had passed between then and now. Courtney enjoyed the feeling of being well-rested before she sat up, squinting her eyes to catch a glimpse of the arguing pair in the hallway. Her eyes widened when she witnessed her mom pointing her finger at her dad while he stood there completely composed and unbothered. Courtney froze and could only stare at them in their usual mode of communication.

It took her back to the little girl watching her father make his yearly visit, her mother denying him access for the emotional protection of her daughters. She remembered watching from the top of the stairs, hoping her sister wouldn't wake from the sound of their parents fighting. At the age of ten Courtney promised herself she wouldn't let herself feel that helpless ever again. That she'd never let her father ever make her feel unwanted.

Their yelling ceased when Duncan interrupted the both of them, signaling to them about her being woken up. The next thing she saw was her boyfriend inaudibly addressing her father rather seriously. His hand gestures and facial expressions indicated he was dismissing him. It seemed to work. Her mother spoke again, but she didn't want to ask her what was said. Whatever she said made him walk away. Courtney's stress levels seemed to be more manageable as she waited on her family to enter her room. No less than a few minutes later Duncan and Lorena entered her room with her mother attaching herself to Courtney in a worrisome hug.

"My baby! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay." She felt like she was comforting her mother more than anything. She patted her on the back as she gave Duncan a small smile while he let the two of them have their moment.

A doctor unfamiliar to Courtney followed along and introduced himself to her. "I'm Dr. Holt. Glad to see you're awake." He checked her blood pressure on a monitor before continuing. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine..." Courtney didn't feel comfortable with the diverse expressions strewn across the three of their faces. She turned to her mother who seemed to be eager to speak. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She couldn't tell the nature of her diagnosis that she hadn't received yet. Duncan seemed be to readying himself while her mother looked to the doctor for an 'okay' to give her the news. Doctor Holt nodded to confirm.

"Mija, you are pregnant."

Courtney looked up at her mom again, slightly embarrassed. She doubled-down on their discussion at the dinner party last weekend. "Mom, I told you to stop this in front of Duncan-"

"Baby," Courtney stopped and turned to him. He made eye contact with her and her face softened when his hand ran up and down her calf covered by the blanket. His eyes were reassuring as he tried to prepare her for his statement. "It's true."

Doctor Holt began to speak about how it's an early pregnancy, but any details disclosed by her doctor came and went as an abundance of thoughts pervaded Courtney's mind. She tried to pay attention to the advice he gave her. Manage stress, drink water, set a sleep schedule. She felt this news would be an added amount of stress to a mound caving in.

***

Courtney sat on a stool near Bridgette's kitchen island. She barely spoke out of nervousness, letting Bridgette handle most of the conversation.

"So, my test came out negative." Bridgette poured a hefty amount of wine into her glass. She held up an empty one to signal her offering Courtney some.

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Bridge." Courtney's nervousness raised after hearing the news. She noticed her nonverbal offer and tried to answer simply. "Oh, no thanks. I need to drink more water. Doctor's orders."

"It's okay. Maybe I was destined to have the exact problems my mom had. You know, I dread waiting for the results now. It's like I'm manifesting seeing only one line on that stupid, goddamned stick."

"Come here." Courtney pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back. The tears began to sting resting atop the brims of her eyes. Her initial reason for stopping by took a backseat in her mind. When they broke apart Bridgette immediately took to her defeated demeanor.

"I didn't notice before, but you look really worried. What's wrong, Courtney?"

"Nothing. I had something to tell you, but I don't think it's the right time."

"No... I ranted. Now it's your turn. It's not a friendship if only one person gets to unload their emotions." Bridgette reassured her. "Tell me."

"Okay." Courtney took a deep breath, instinctively clutching her stomach. "I just want to preface by saying I am in no means trying to make your day worse."

"...Okay..." Bridgette crossed her arms in confusion, but pointed to the hands on her stomach. "Are you...?"

Courtney nodded silently. Her expression became unreadable at her conflicting emotions. "Yes..." Tears started welling up into her eyes and she couldn't tell if she was happy or sad to bring those two words into her reality. She was practically whispering, hoping this change wouldn't bring any destruction to her realm. "I'm pregnant."

Bridgette smiled in shock. "Babe?? Congratulations!" Bridgette quickly brought her into a hug. Her reaction surprised Courtney given how upset she had been. "How far along are you? How did you find out?"

Courtney felt she should be smiling. She felt she should be incredibly happy at the fact. Instead a tear fell down her cheek. "A month. We just found out at the hospital." Courtney was adamant no one knowing about her stint at the hospital. "I only wanted to tell you, because I-I'm just trying to make sense of this and you're my best friend..."

Bridgette noticed Courtney was increasingly feeling less than thrilled the more she explained. "Are you keeping the baby?"

"We don't know, yet. Duncan was excited, but I'm just...- This was not my plan, you know? I haven't even finished school, yet. We can't afford a bigger place because I haven't started my career. This was supposed to come after. After the wedding, after school."

"I understand your feelings, and I'm with you no matter what decision you make. But, there's no set plan for life. Take a lesson out of whatever choice you make, and do what you think is best for all involved."

***

Courtney opened the apartment door and noticed a distinct smell coming from the kitchen. It reminded her of her favorite chicken her mother made for her and Kate when she got home from work early. She curiously walked into the kitchen to see Duncan in full chef mode. He greeted her

"Hey, babe. Are you hungry? I'm making this recipe your mom wrote down for me the other day."

She only stood still as she watched him stir the contents of the pan.

There was nothing Duncan could get out of Courtney after the news broke about their pregnancy. She had completely shut him out for the rest of the week, burying herself in her homework, studying, and whatever else she could distract herself with. She couldn't look at him when they talked and her answers were shortened to simple, one-worded responses, or sometimes none at all.

He opened the refrigerator door behind him to fetch her a bottle of water. "Did you drink enough water today?" He held it out for her to take.

Courtney dropped her bag and rushed into his arms crying. this time she's wailing. Duncan is purely shocked; he's never seen her so emotional. He spent the better half of this week trying to get her to speak. But, he didn't expect this kind of response from her. He placed the bottle on the counter and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he tried to console her in a hushed tone.

"Hey, hey, no... What's wrong, Princess?"

She was barely coherent, still sobbing over her words. "You're just... too nice. I haven't been nice at all ever since we found out. And you seem so ready and calm and I'm just neither of those things. What if I suck at being a mom? What if I can't make them happy?

"I'm calm because, one, I still wanted to treat you like I normally do. And, two, yes this is shocking news, but... it's you. if I'm gonna embark on this part of life, the only person I trust enough to do the best job is you." She faced him this time, still sniffling but calmed, and he continued.

"You're incredibly smart, ambitious, and beautiful. I'm cool, strong, and hot. Our kid wins the genetic lottery."

Courtney shook her head, half smiling. "Of course you'd point that out." She buried her head in his chest again, letting him run a hand through her hair.

"'Cause it's true," he said chuckling. "Whatever decision you make, I'm with you every step of the way. Okay?" She nodded and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. When they parted, he ordered her to relax in the living room while he continued cooking. In his mind, he knew everything would be alright; as long as he didn't burn the chicken.

A/N: hello and thank you for reading :) there will be more; hopefully soon. also

fatty=big butt don't worry duncan's not calling her a mean insult i swear lol

#duncney #td courtney #td duncney

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slowly-writing · 4 years

Text

I’ll Always Love You

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word Count: 1369

Requested by: anonymous

Warning: Angst, Major Character Death

The first time Wanda notices something is off you’re making dinner after getting home from work.

She walks up behind you as you’re stirring the pasta and wraps her arms around your waist. She notices you’re a bit skinnier than you were but doesn’t think much of it. You insisted the two of you start eating healthier when you moved into the compound with her. Her job often involved a lot of junk food and take out, and you were convinced it would send her into an early grave. So you both must just be getting a bit healthier.

“Hey, darling. How was your day?” You ask and she smiles, all of her worries forgotten.

“Tony lit Bruce on fire with an explosion in the lab. We almost had a code green on our hands after that one. So you know, just a regular day at the office,” Wanda says with a laugh.

“Please tell me nobody got hurt,” you say with a sigh and she places a kiss on your cheek.

“Nobody got hurt. I swear, they’re all okay,” she promises and you nod.

“Good. Dinner’s ready,” you give her a quick kiss before carrying the food over to the table.

“It looks delicious, my love. Thank you for cooking,” she says and you smile.

“Of course. You better eat up quick before all the other heathens come in and steal it,” you tease and she laughs.

“You’re right. I work with a team of animals.”

“Who are you calling animals? Oooo dinner,” Clint says, quickly proving Wanda’s point.

“There’s extra on the stove,” you offer, having known this would happen, and within minutes it turns into a full team dinner.

“Heard you got set on fire,” you say to Bruce who rolls his eyes.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Bruce yells and you laugh, pushing your plate away a bit as you engage in conversation. Wanda frowns at your almost full plate that you’re obviously finished with. She doesn’t like that you aren’t eating, but she’s not about to scold you for it. You’re a big girl, you can figure out how to feed yourself.

xxxxxx

The next time Wanda notices something is off is a few weeks later she was off for the weekend and you both decided to spend a lazy Saturday in. The two of you were sleeping in and Wanda woke up around nine. She glanced down to where you rested with your head on her chest and smiled, content to sit there and run her fingers through your hair as you slept.

After reading the book that had been sitting on her nightstand for a while she began to get hungry and gently removed herself from you. She frowns when she notices it was almost eleven. You never sleep in this late, but she decides to let you rest and get herself some food.

Around one Wanda made her way back into the bedroom and gently shook your shoulder to wake you. She frowns at how warm you are

“My love, are you feeling okay?” She asks softly as you open your eyes “you’ve been sleeping for a while.”

“I’m good,” you said with a hum, “what time is it anyway?”

“It’s a bit after one,” she says and you furrow your brow.

“Huh, I guess I was tired. It’s been a long week,” you mumble, climbing out of bed.

xxxxx

The next week Wanda was gone on a mission. She had been gone for three days and you were waiting in the hanger as her jet landed. As soon as she stepped off the plane you ran over, jumping into her arms. She laughed and spun you around before pausing. She never had an issue lifting you, she could throw a car across a field with the flick of her wrist, but it’s never been this easy to pick you up.

“Love, have you lost weight?” She asks gently and you tilt your head to the side as she sets you down, her hand settling on your waist.

“I….I don’t….don’t think so. Why?” You ask, slightly out of breath. Her hand tightens around your hip a bit and she sighs.

“You’re all skin and bones. You feel lighter than you used to. And why are you out of breath?” She asks and you cross your arms.

“Not all of us can be superheroes who can run miles at a time without getting tired,” you grumble defensively and she cups your cheek.

“That’s not what I’m saying, my love. You’ve been off for a few weeks now and I’m worried about you,” she explains and you shrug slightly.

“I just haven’t been feeling great. I might be a little nauseous maybe, but I’m sure it’ll go away soon,” Wanda frowns are your dismissive tone.

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“No doctors, Wan. I hate them. I’m fine!” You argue.

“Please, love. I’m starting to get really worried,” Wanda begs, tears gathering in her eyes and that broke you. You brush your thumb across her cheek before nodding silently.

xxxxx

“Okay, I’m going to have to do a bone marrow test,” Dr Cho says and your eyes widen. She had asked you a few questions and done a routine exam, and then made this decision.

“No you don’t! Why the hell would you need to do that?” You yell and Wanda takes your hand, standing next to you and letting you lean into her side.

“Your symptoms could be a lot of things, and I need to figure out what it is. I know you’re scared, but I need to do the test,” she says and you look up at Wanda, fear evident in your eyes.

“You’ll be okay, my love. I’ll be right here the whole time,” she promises and you nod, moving to lay on your side.

“You’re going to feel a pinch, and I’m gonna need you to stay still,” Doctor Cho says, sending a look to Wanda who places one hand on your leg and the other on your shoulder. You feel a needle enter your side and you go to flinch away.

“Hey, look at me. Look right at me,” Wanda says, holding you still as tears start streaming down your face.

“It hurts,” your voice comes out somewhere between a groan and a scream, and Wanda’s heart breaks.

“I know, love. Just a few more seconds,” she promises, holding eye contact in hopes of distracting you.

“I’m all done. You two can go, I’ll call you with results when I have them,” Dr. Cho promises after a few minutes and you nod.

“You feeling okay? We can skip movie night so you can rest,” Wanda offers as she leads you towards the elevator to leave the med floor.

“No, I’m okay. I just wanna cuddle up with you and relax, I can do that at movie night. Plus we haven’t gotten a chance to hang out with the whole team in forever and I refuse to be the reason plans fall through again,” you tease and Wanda chuckles.

“Hey lovebirds!” Clint teases as the elevator doors open to the common room.

“I take it back, we’re skipping movie night.”

“No! We’ve missed you guys. I promise I’ll shut up!” Clint begs and you roll your eyes.

“We have missed you though, it’s been a while since we’ve all hung out. How is it that we all live in the same building yet we never see each other?” Nat says and you smile.

“You guys always leave me to go off and save the world. It’s selfish really,” you say, unable to hold back your laugh as Wanda throws an arm around your shoulder, pulling you into her side as she laughs as well.

“You’re right. We really should think about others more,” Tony says and the team all breaks out laughing.

You spend most of the night catching up rather than watching a movie. Steve nervously tells you all about a date he went on and Clint shows you all pictures of his kids. Bruce and Tony talk about the lab developments they’ve made. Nat is halfway through a story about her last mission when your phone rings.

“Who is it?” Wanda asks and you glance at the phone.

“I don’t know, it’s not a number I have saved. I’ll be right back,” you excuse yourself and walk a few steps away before answering.

“Hello? Who is this?” You say, the others kindly quiet down so you talk.

“It’s Dr. Cho, we got your lab results back. I have some bad news, I'm afraid. We….my team and I believe you have lymphoma,” the rest of her sentence is lost on you as your phone slips out of your hand. The sound of it clattering to the floor draws Wanda’s attention back towards you. She glances over and sees you frozen, jaw hanging down slightly and staring at your friends, but not seeing them at all.

“Love, what’s happening? What’s going on?” She asks but you don’t respond, you just keep staring. She’s quick to pick the phone up off the ground, terrified of who could be on the other line. “Who is this?”

“What’s going on? Is somebody threatening you?” Nat asks, everyone immediately going into mission mode.

“No…no that was Dr. Cho,” Wanda’s voice is barely audible as she quietly pockets your phone and steps in front of you and tries to hold your gaze. She places her hands on your shoulders and ducks a bit to meet your eyes.

“Why are you both so freaked out over a call from a doctor?” Steve asks nervously. A threat from hydra they could handle, but he fears they may be way out of their depth here.

“I have cancer,” you mumble, the statement almost sounds like a question and your eyes are still glazed over.

“You what?” Clint asks, disbelief clear in his voice.

“I have cancer,” you say again, eyes meeting Wanda as tears begin to fall. You start to shake and she quickly takes you into her arms before your legs can give out.

“Banner, call Dr Cho up here. We’re figuring this out right now!” Tony calls before stepping closer to you, “hey, guys it’s gonna be okay. We can figure this out. I’m sure we caught it early and everything will be fine.”

The first thing Dr Cho asks when she gets to the floor is if you’re okay discussing this in front of everyone. You let out a shaky yes as Wanda helps you sit down.

“We ran your bone marrow through some tests and as I said on the phone, I have some unfortunate news. You have lymphoma-”

“But you caught it early. So she’ll be okay, right?” Tony cuts her off and Dr Cho sighs.

“Unfortunately, no. It’s quite advanced. It’s rare that we catch it this late, there’s usually signs. Fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, and fevers to name a few,” she says and you can hear Wanda take a sharp breath.

“No,” she says under her breath and all eyes are on her, but she’s only looking at you. “You said you were okay. You said….you said you just weren’t hungry. I thought you had a long week at work. You said you were fine!”

The pain is so clear in her voice and you feel your heart crack, “I thought I was.”

“How far along is it?” Bruce asks and you see Dr Cho shift uncomfortably.

“It’s stage four,” she says.

“Out of how many stages?” Steve asks quietly, scared of the answer.

“Out of four,” she tells him, and you can feel the tears falling down your cheeks.

Everyone in the room falls silent as they stare at each other. None of them know what to say, because what can you say to a girl who’s just been handed a death sentence?

xxxxx

“How are you feeling today?” Steve asks cheerfully as he sits next to you and Wanda on the couch. You’re curled into her side as she runs her hand through your hair.

“Bad,” you mumble, sinking further into Wanda’s embrace.

“She started chemotherapy this morning. It’s making her a bit nauseous,” Wanda explains, careful not to jostle you too much.

“A bit more than a bit,” you say grumpily, “I feel like someone poured acid into my stomach.”

“Technically there is already acid in your stomach,” Steve says, but your glare shuts him up, “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Is there anything I can do, my love?” Wanda asks and you look up at her.

“Do the magic,” you beg hopefully and she chuckles.

“You make me sound like Elsa,” she teases before bringing her hand to your temple. You close your eyes and smile as images start playing through your head. She starts by showing you memories of the two of you. You see your first date and the day she asked you to move in. Then it shifts to things that haven’t happened. You see Wanda in front of you with a ring. Next the two of you are in fluffy white dresses. You smile at the thought and suddenly you see you and Wanda, a sleeping child in her arms. The image fades away and you blink the tears away, smiling up at her sadly.

“I’m sorry we’ll never get to have that,” you whisper and she frowns.

“Don’t say that. Everything is going to be okay. I can feel it,” she says, cradling your face in her hands and brushing your tears away. “You’re going to get better, and the second you do we’re going to start our future together.”

“Wanda,” you say, voice cracking already.

“Just don’t,” she cuts you off, “please don’t.”

You nod. You know what the future holds for you, but she’s not ready to face that, and you can respect that for now.

xxxxxx

“Hey babe, are you almost ready?” Wanda calls from the hallway. The whole team is going out to the movies. Steve said something about it being good for public opinion if they saw the avengers doing normal human things. You’re currently standing in the bathroom, looking down and the clumps of hair in your hand that fell out when you were brushing your hair.

“Uh yeah. One second!” you call back, grabbing a beanie off your dresser and pulling it on.

“It’s really not that cold,” Clint teases as you walk into the common room and you falter a bit, shrinking into Wanda’s side.

“I just like this hat, okay?” you say softly and he furrows his brow but takes the hint to leave it be.

“Yo, what’s with the hat? It’s like 80 degrees out,” Tony teases as he walks in with the remainder of the team.

“My hair’s falling out, okay!” you yell, staring at the floor as the room falls silent.

“Hey, I think the hat looks awesome,” Nat says after a few minutes and you smile, wiping the tears from your eyes.

“So do I. I think you’re beautiful no matter what. With or without hair,” Wanda says and you nod, eyes still cast towards the floor, but you take her hand.

“Thanks. Can we just go?” you look up at her and she nods.

“Of course. Let’s get going.”

xxxxx

“Hey Nat,” you say softly, and she glances up from her book with a smile.

“Hey you’re awake, how are you feeling?” She asks and you shrug. Last week you permanently moved into the med wing. The treatments weren’t working and you were getting worse by the day. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time, even if they wouldn’t say it out loud.

“I’m fine. I need to ask you a favor,” you say and she sets her book aside.

“Of course. Anything you need,”she says, she has a smile on her face but you know it’ll drop off soon.

“I need you to take care of Wanda,” you say softly.

“I don’t-“ Natasha tries to stop you but you cut her off.

“No. Let me finish. We all know what’s coming. I’ll be lucky to make it to the end of the week, and I’ve never been that lucky,” you say with a slight chuckle, but there’s little humor in it. “When I’m gone she’s going to be a wreck and I love her too much to let this destroy her. She’s lost too much already, and I hate that I’m going to be another thing she’s lost, so please just promise me you’ll look after her.”

“I promise,” Natasha says, gently taking your hand. You both have tears streaming down her face.

“Thank you,” you whisper and she nods at you.

“We all love you both. We’re not going to let her slip away.”

“I love you guys too,” you say softly, “I wish we had more time.”

“We don’t know what we have left. So we’re going to cherish every moment until they’re gone. It’s the only thing we can do,” she says gently as Wanda walks back into your room.

“What’s with all the tears?” She asks as she sits on the edge of your bed, wiping the last tears from your face and placing a kiss on your forehead.

“Just, saying goodbye I guess,” you say and you hear Wanda take a deep breath.

“Could you give us a minute?” she asks Natasha who nods, placing a kiss on the top of your head before she leaves. “Love, you don’t need to say goodbye, because you’re not going anywhere.”

“Wan, I love you and I love your optimism, but it’s time to step back into reality. Everyone’s done everything they can for me. This was stage four, it was doomed from the start. I wish it was different but it’s not. These are the cards we were dealt and they’re shit, but it’s what we have to play with. I don’t have the time I want, and I have to accept that,” you say, holding her hand tightly as her tears begin to fall.

“I’m not ready for you to leave yet,” she says softly and you pull her into your arms. “Why are you so ready to go?”

“I’m not,” your voice is barely above a whisper, “I’m not ready to go. I have things I still want to say and every night I fall asleep and I’m terrified that I won’t get to say them. I don’t want to say goodbye, but I’m going to go whether I say it or not.”

“I have something I need to give you,” she says softly, “I told myself I was gonna wait until you got better. I had this whole plan, but I think I should give it to you now.”

She pulls out of your arms and reaches into the pocket of her sweatshirt and pulls out a little velvet box. You feel your breath hitch as she opens it.

“I had this whole speech. I was going to tell you how I love you more than anything in the world. How I want to spend the rest of my life with you. How we already have the ‘in sickness and in health’ part worked out and we could handle anything else life throws at us. I wanted us to move out of the compound, get a little apartment, maybe a farm like Clint, and start a family. I guess maybe none of that matters now, but I still wanted you to see it,” she says with a smile on her face. You have tears streaming down your face and so many emotions whirling around in your head. This was supposed to be the happiest moment of your life, but it wasn’t. All you could think about was everything you were missing.

“I would’ve said yes. I would’ve loved it,” you whispered and she wrapped her arm around your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your temple as you spoke. “Promise me you’ll move on.”

“Love, I can’t-“

“Yes you can. I’m not saying you need to go out and find someone else tomorrow. But don’t shut the world out. Let the team help you, let them love you. And I’ll be waiting, wherever I am,” you say and she smiles.

“I’ll do my best. I promise I’ll let them in. I also promise that I’ll never forget you, and I will love you for the rest of my life. I’ll always love you,” she says and you smile up at her.

“I’ll always love you too. I promise,” you whisper and she smiles back, helping you lay down and settling down next to you.

“Rest now, my love. I’ll be here when you wake up,” you look up at her again and she can see the fear in your eyes. The fear that you’ve worked so hard to hide over the last few months.

“What if I don’t wake up?” You whisper and she gently brushes her hand across your forehead, as if moving the hair that’s no longer present.

“Then I’ll catch up with you soon,” she promises and you nod, closing your eyes. She stays awake, watching you drift off to sleep and taking comfort in the gentle rise and fall of your chest. She holds you close as you rest, wishing she could keep you safe as the tears stream down her face. You look so peaceful, a small smile on your sleeping face as she gently traces her fingers up and down your arm. She lets that peaceful look comfort her hours later as the machines around her start to blare. She watches you slip away and she doesn’t try to stop the tears that fall as she’s ushered out of the room, looking at you one last time and saying a quiet promise “I’ll always love you.”

tag list: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @freerebel @prizmix-and-friends @m19friend @worlds-in-words @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

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sardonic-at-heart · 3 years

Text

Last Date

I wanted to make this the first chapter for the series related to Fragile where it’s all flashbacks of Sam’s memories with Mika, but then I wrote the end of this fic and said to myself, “Yeaaahhhh maybe not.” You’ll see why I changed my mind. Enjoy!

Summary: Tipsy Mika and steak eater Sam enjoy a night out together.

It was a comforting and delightful thought to know that even after two years of marriage, Sam was still captivated with his wife like the very first time he realized he fell for her. Her smile, her laugh, her blush. Every quirk she had he loved, because it all unequivocally defined Mika Anderson.

As he listened to her talk about her day now, he couldn’t help the smile creeping at the corners of his lips at her enthusiasm.

She stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes. “Why are you grinning? I’m talking about waiting in line for three hours just to get my driver’s license renewed.”

He chuckled. “You just look really great tonight, is all.”

And she did. She was wearing her lace plum dress, a recent favorite she bought a few months ago. He loved the way the skirt swished around her legs like a princess he saw her as. Her long black hair was swept in a loose ponytail, a few strands framing her face. Picturesque and effortlessly beautiful.

Any man would worship the ground she walked on and Sam didn’t mind swallowing his pride to do so if given the opportunity.

“W-wha—” There it was: that famous blush he enjoyed causing so much. And that cute stammering she did when she couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Sorry. Go on, I’m listening.”

“How am I supposed to continue after you caught me off guard like that!”

He smirked. “You thank me for being the best husband in the world and compliment me back.”

She huffed, lips in a pout.

“What else did you do today?” He changed the subject for her sake. Because he was the best husband in the world.

“I went grocery shopping because we were out of eggs.”

“Thanks again for buying it.”

“I didn’t mind,” she grinned. “It was a good excuse to also go out with my friends and try this new gelato place Suzu showed us. We need to go back so you can try it! The key lime pie flavor was very light and refreshing.”

He narrowed his eyes. “They were supposed to be getting ready for their flight to Italy today.”

Mika waved dismissively. “Naomi made sure Suzu packed a few days ago.”

Sam chortled. Suzu wasn’t exactly the type to plan anything. At all. Luckily her fiancée was a lot more responsible than her and kept her important dates in check.

They postponed their conversation momentarily when a waiter came to their table. He ordered well done steak (which always made his wife grimace at his “lack of taste”) and she ordered garlic shrimp pasta. She took a glance at the alcohol menu, and he grinned at how her eyes sparkled once she found white wine to pair with her dish.

“How was your day?” Mika asked.

“Don’t get me started,” Sam grumbled.

“Hey, I had my chance to rant about my day, so it’s only fair you do the same.”

He smiled briefly before it soured into a scowl. “A lot of paperwork. Again. That’s why I was late coming over here.” He paused. “Sorry for that, by the way.”

“It’s no problem. You don’t have to apologize.”

“You sure? How long did you have to wait?”

“Sam. I’m sure now and I’ll always be sure the next time you ask. And it was just five minutes.”

His expression twisted in guilt. “If I’d been here at least five minutes earlier—”

She let out an exasperated chuckle. “Sam. I’ve known for quite a while that your job makes you incredibly busy and I understand that you’ll be late sometimes. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

He measured her with a stare, taking in her relaxed smile and green eyes with an earnest gleam, and then conceded with a sigh.

Mika’s smile brightened knowing she’d won.

Their dinner and wine arrived then and, because Sam knew she always did this when it came to food and Instagram, he leaned back in his seat so she could take a couple pictures of their dishes. Or ten. She made sure to take them at different angles, even though it was the same freaking thing in every shot. He would have laughed at her ridiculous positions and silly expressions scrunched in concentration, but he was getting hungry the longer her photo session dragged on.

“Take your last shot right now or I’m going to eat your shrimp,” he threatened.

“Alright, alright,” she chuckled before she frowned at her screen. “Wait, that was a little blurry. Let me do it again—hey!”

He warned her, but she didn’t listen.

She finally put away her phone with a glare that lost its edge as she pouted. “If your steak wasn’t so charred I’d do the same.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” he cut a piece while snickering.

They talked a bit about their favorite band’s album that had been released recently while they enjoyed their food. There were rumors that one of their new songs would be featured in a video game Sam liked to play and he hoped it was true.

She showed him the pictures she took this morning for Sammy’s Instagram and he chuckled at how adorable the Rottweiler was curled up in his new bed. Once in a while Sam heard the sound of a camera snapping, but when he turned to his wife she acted like he was just hearing things. She was probably taking more pictures again. He let it go with a shrug and kept eating.

After they had finished a delectable chocolate mousse cake, Sam was quick to pay for the bill before Mika could reach for her wallet. Luckily she was tipsy enough to thank him with a noisy kiss instead of insisting she should take care of it like she always did.

He suggested they do a night stroll to gaze at the city lights and she happily agreed, giggling to herself at a joke only she could hear. When she was in this state it was best to have her walk around a few minutes until she had a clear head. He wasn’t planning to repeat the last time she drank too much.

She tripped a few times and he threw his head back and laughed while helping her up. To his relief she was able to walk like a normal person after ten minutes, but then she took out her phone and randomly recorded them together for reasons that were lost on him. He took note to keep an eye out for her newest post later.

Sam heard her light snores as he parked his truck in their driveway and he chuckled to himself. As much as he loved the sight of his wife asleep, he couldn’t let her anywhere near the bed with her dress and her makeup still on. Reaching over to unbuckle her seatbelt, Sam swept her in his arms and made his way inside. Their Rottweiler perked from his sleeping position when his owners entered the bedroom and yipped in an energetic greeting.

“Sammyyyy,” Mika groaned, opening her bleary eyes. “Inside voice.”

He kept yipping.

Sam placed her in their bathroom and motioned her to shower. “Going to take him outside. Don’t fall asleep in there, okay?”

She mumbled her response and closed the door. He made sure to hear the sound of the showerhead turning on before carrying Sammy to the backyard. It only took a couple minutes for him to relieve himself, and Sam spent an extra few minutes to clean it up and chase him around to expend all that excitable energy. It made feeding and refilling his water dispenser much easier that way.

He made sure Sammy’s paws were clean and dry and then let the little rascal run up the dog stairs at the end of their bed and over to where Mika lay, snuggling up to her side on the left. Eyes half open but still aware of what was going on around her, she cooed and petted him as Sam left to take a quick shower as well.

“Still up?” He asked when she glanced at him as he climbed into bed.

“I wanted to stay up until you joined me.”

“I’m here,” he lazily rested his arm around her waist. “Get some shut eye.”

She hummed her assent, leaning in to kiss him. “Tonight was lovely. Thank you for being the best husband in the world.”

“Anytime, doofus.”

“I should pay you back.”

“Wait, what—”

“Because you paid for dinner and I need to return the favor.”

“Mika, you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” she looked so determined that Sam didn’t have the heart to argue. “How about I bring you a home cooked meal at lunch time tomorrow?”

Oh, okay. He was fine with that. “Sure thing. Text me when you’re there?”

She nodded, closing her eyes. “Yup. Night, Sam. I love you.”

“I love you,” he pressed a kiss on her and Sammy’s forehead and turned off the lights, hoping to get enough sleep for tomorrow’s shift.

Want more? Read my fics here!

#seduce me otome #seduce me the otome #amnesia au related #sam aomaris #sam anderson #mika anderson #fluff #but is it?

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snowe-zolynn-rogers · 3 years

Text

Avatar Zuko Rewrite

Pairings: Zukka (pre-romantic, unrequited)

Word Count: 1687 Words

Summary: Lee somehow manages to win Sokka's heart without even trying aka he feeds him. Sokka doesn't even know how to process how cute Lee is.

Warnings: Injury Mention, Food Mention, Half Blind Character, let me know if I should tag something else.

Chapter 7

When they finally consoled Aang, they led him back to where Lee was in the Avatar Chamber still. It seemed they’d all left him there to continue with his intrigued study of the statues.

Finding him collapsed in front of the Roku statue was definitely not something they’d anticipated. It looked like some debris had flown here too from Aang’s emotional breakdown. None of it looked to have hit Lee but they all guessed it had somehow hit him in the head and made him collapse with a concussion.

“Hey, Lee. Lee, wake up.” Sokka shook the raven’s shoulder.

He gave a groan, waking up and he held his left hip, apparently that had hit the ground first and taken the most of the brunt of the fall. Lee pushed himself to sit up, other hand holding his head, eyes shut still and refusing to look at them. Finally, his gold eyes opened and he gazed up at them.

“What happened? I’m so sorry if I hurt you, Lee!” Aang hugged him.

“No, it wasn’t you. The spiritual pressure is just really strong in here.” He rubbed his left scalp with soreness from the fall, but thankfully, he didn’t seem too injured.

“Well you are right. It does feel like the pressure is stronger here. Maybe it’s the statues.” Aang told him, helping him up on his left side while Sokka helped his right. Sokka felt protective of the airbender, he was obviously weak and a bit hurt, he needed someone to look after him.

He helped him from the chamber, all four leaving it to let Lee recover. The airbender seemed to be getting better, all but his hip, however. But that just seemed sore too, and was obviously better the more he moved it and used it and wasn’t overstressing the muscle he’d hurt. Aang and Katara played air ball this time, Lee and Sokka sitting on the grass, watching.

“Do you think they’d mind if I looked around?” Lee asked.

“Why?” He asked the airbender.

“Food. You’ve been complaining nonstop, I figure shut your mouth with some food.” Lee told him, smiling broadly but also nervously. He was getting comfortable around people but he wasn't sure how to act.

“Nah, they wouldn’t mind. Just don’t get lost. Come back here after or I'm sure Aang might freak out that I lost you.” The raven nodded and set off the path on the left, slowly retraining the sore but thankfully healthy muscle in his left hip. An hour later, Lee came back with several things in his arms. He threw something round at him and he immediately caught it out of instinct.

“Found the kitchens and the gardens. That’s a pomelo by the way. They grew firebender fruit here. Who would have thought Air Nomads could simulate different climates?” He was smiling.

“What the hell’s a pomelo?” Sokka asked, peeling it curiously.

“A fruit. It’s like an orange but better. Don’t complain. I could have made you eat the durian fruit.” He showed him a large yellow fruit as Sokka took a curious bite of the fruit in his hands.

“Hey, I’m not a quitter. Let me try the other one.”

“Don’t complain to me then, water-boy.” He tossed the yellowy fruit at him. Sokka caught it easily. He used his dagger to cut open the durian fruit to come face to face with the yellow flesh.

“What? Scared?” Lee smirked, eyes smiling and Sokka, to all that knew him, was absolutely not one to back down from a challenge.

If anything, a cute boy staring him down to eat a fruit that intimidated him, yeah that was a challenge. He cut the piece sunk his teeth into the yellow flesh and was met with a bitter, sour taste in his mouth and immediately spit it out, spitting saliva in hopes the taste would go away. Lee took one of the unbitten pieces and bit into it easily.

“I told you. Water Tribe Boys can’t eat durian.” Lee teased.

“Well, Fire Nation Boys can’t eat sudachi.”

“I’m Air Nomad. But just the same. I don’t like Water Tribe food.” Lee finished his demon fruit.

“Smartass.” Sokka mumbled.

“Takes one to know one.” Lee sat back on the grass watching the game going back and forth until Katara and Aang finally both tied in a stalemate.

“Lee found the kitchens and gardens while you two were on your supervised date.” Sokka told them.

“Where are they?” Katara asked, blatantly mad. And then Lee did the unexpected again. He pushed upward with his hands and landed on his feet with only mild difficulty from his hip.

For a second, Sokka was sure that he was becoming a true demon like the fruit Lee had eaten with the way he’d been moving until he realized he was just a showoff. Katara rolled her eyes at the display and Aang snorted laughter at Sokka’s terrified yet shocked expression.

Lee made a small chuckle at his shocked expression too, already him and Aang leading each other to the kitchens and gardens, leaving Katara and Sokka to run to catch up again.

“Oh Gods, the kitchens smell heavenly.” Sokka drooled.

“I figured we’d all be tired and hungry after all that’s happened today. I started dinner before I left. It should be done in a few minutes.”

“Cooking’s a girl thing! You can’t cook!” Sokka protested.

“Eat dinner or go try to make something yourself. The gardens are out the door, to the left, down a bit.” Lee walked away from him into the kitchens from where they were in the mess hall.

Sokka was impressed with how easy he seemed to act naturally around him and the others, like the three years on a Fire Navy ship had never changed his personality to the meek and scared boy he’d seen him the day prior. Though, it occurred to him that Lee could just be scared of his bending being destructive.

“He needs to get a handle on that talk of his!” Katara raged.

“He’s fine. I think he’s just getting comfortable around us.” Sokka told her as much. She growled at him to be quiet.

“I made extra.” And the two big bowls of first pasta then a black and lumpy mix got set on the table. Sokka poked it with his spoon.

“What is that?” He asked.

“Zhajiangmian. Fire nation food. Thankfully the not hot kind. Made vegetarian for our airbender.”

“Waterbenders need meat, Lee.” Sokka complained. Lee raised an eyebrow. He bit his tongue, Spirits dammit, why was that cute!? “But it smells good. I’m eating.” He put some of the noodles into his bowl. He looked at the dark saucey substance oddly as to what he should do with it.

“You put the zhajiang overtop of the noodles and mix them.” Lee spooned the mix over his own noodles, mixing it together with his chopsticks. Sokka mimicked what he’d done and brought a the chopsticks to his mouth, tasting the food.

“That’s pretty good actually.” His mouth was full but he felt the need to say it, wanted to see Lee's reaction. Lee laughed at his face that was obviously covered with the sauce. His heart melted a little bit, Lee laughing made his heart skip. Lee sounded happy.

“Wipe your face. You look like a rabid wolfbat.” He laughed, having to stop eating for a minute. Sokka wiped his mouth clean and continued eating, teeth crunching into what he assumed were vegetables.

“Ya know, that’s a good way to get Sokka to eat vegetables, Lee.” Aang told the other airbender.

“It’s better than him wandering off and maybe getting hurt trying to fend for himself.” Sokka was busy spooning the vegetables from his bowl to his mouth, too satisfied with the food to care much about the conversation.

“Katara, why aren’t you eating?” Aang asked. Indeed, Katara hadn't so much as touched her bowl, let alone fill it and eat anything.

“I won’t eat Fire Nation food.” She told them bluntly, eyes shooting daggers at Lee.

“Technically, this is the Earth Kingdom recipe. It’s not spicy like the Fire Nation makes it and there’s no meat added in.” Aang told her. Lee had folded in on himself when she’d made the comment, he was busy quietly eating, refusing to look up from his bowl. He wasn't going to defend himself, he probably felt he deserved it.

“'Tara, you’ve gotta try this. It’s so good.” Sokka urged her.

“I’m not hungry!” She snapped. Lee flinched at the tone but continued eating, seemingly unwilling to look up at her. Sokka could spot his eyes getting glossy with tears that the airbender was obviously forcing down.

“Katara, you’re being too hard on Lee. He’s not even Fire Nation, he’s an Air Nomad. Don’t you think he’s probably struggling through this war too? This war’s been hard on everyone.” Sokka told her. Lee was staring at him, wide eyed and looking a bit scared on his part.

Was he scared of something happening simply because he was defending him from his sister? Maybe it was justified, his sister was scary and it seemed a feasible fear from what he'd heard Lee say about his father. Being around that abuse so long, he probably learned not to defend himself for fear it would lead to him being beaten.

“Fine, I’ll eat. But you better not be pulling anything, Lee.” Katara told him, finally spooning noodles and zhajiang into her bowl and eating.

“Good, Katara?” Aang asked.

She simply grumbled what sounded like a 'yes’ past her food. Sokka smiled at Lee as the raven continued eating, eyes a bit awestruck toward him. It wasn’t a problem convincing his sister to eat, he would have had to make her eat eventually.

Aang went back for a second bowl, commenting that it was just like Xiu-Mei made it. Sokka had ended up having two and a half bowls while Lee only finished one and Katara finished two. Plus Sokka got to sit next to a cute boy he very much wanted to kiss.

Taglist: @darkrainbow333 @magic-but-its-green @the-lemonade-artist @a-chaotic-being @wasinotwantedatthisexactsecond @lgbtforeverything @brain-deadx0 @everythingisstardust @emoqueerpan @thatoneperson1967

#avatar the last airbender #atla #aang #zuko #sokka #katara #snoweywrites #avatar zuko #avatar zuko au #tw inury mention #tw food mention

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yayeetsonny · 4 years

Text

New Beginnings~Chapter 1

(Okay so if you haven’t read the imagine “Theatre Kid Problems” or the prologue I suggest you read those first so you aren’t confused)

1 month later...

Ryley PRO//

So here I am in the hospital because I fell off a ladder. Of course the whole story is more than that but I don’t want to have to relive the incident. The good thing about getting hurt now is that it’s after the Shebelives cup. Which we won by the way, the games against Spain and England were the most grueling. I really thought we would end the Spain game in a tie but JJ came through in the last minutes to give us the win. Anyways, I get to go home tomorrow, and by “home” I just mean back to Christen and Alex’s house in Utah. speaking of those two, they have been insanely protective since they got here. They hover more than usual and if they see even the slightest indication I’m in pain they bombard me with questions such as

“Is it your head?”

“Does your leg hurt?”

“Can you breath okay?”

“Do you want us to get a nurse or the doctor?”

I answer their questions as best I can and then they do everything in their power to make it hurt less. It’s very sweet, but sometimes a little much.

“Hey R.J., how you feeling kiddo?” Alex asks, entering the room with lunch for everyone.

“I feel a little tired, but I don’t have any pain.”

“Maybe you should take a little nap before you eat.” Chris says concerned.

“I don’t need to nap, I’m hungry” I say grumpily

“Well it sounds like you do, miss grumpy-pants” Alex says

“Nooo guys, I’m hungryyy.” I whine

“Okay, okay. Calm down, you can eat first and then you’re gonna nap okay love bug?” Christen says, running her finger across my eyebrow

“Do I have to?”

“Yes Ryley. You need to rest.”

“I’m really not that tired. I don’t need it.” I say hoping to get out of yet another nap

“Yes you do. Please just take a little nap.”

“No.”

“Ryley...”

“I don’t need to take a nap!” I snap

“Woah there, inside voice please.” Alex says, both her and Chris startled by my outburst.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. I’ll take a nap when I finish eating.”

“Thank you baby.”

After I’ve eaten and napped we decided to play uno, Alex becoming quite competitive. She was determined to win every round, even if it meant cheating a little.

“Alex stop looking at my cards!” Chris says exasperated

“I’m doing no such thing.” Alex says indignantly

“Alex...”

“Okay, okay. I took a little peek. I’m sorry babe.” She then gives Chris her best pout and puppy dog eyes, Chris of course giving in and forgiving her immediately. I roll my eyes playfully, she’s whipped. They share a gentle kiss that soon turns into a make out session.

“Okay, gross! Get a room.” I say, shielding my eyes. They’re cute but I didn’t need to see all that.

“Oh right, forgot about you for a second, sorry.” They pull apart, having the decency to at least pretend to be apologetic.

“Mhmm.”

After we finish playing uno we have dinner and then before I know it, it’s time for bed.

“Goodnight love bug. Sleep well. We’ll be right here when you wake up.” Christen says kissing me on the forehead and rubbing my eyebrow.

“Goodnight kiddo. We love you.” Alex says doing the same thing.

“Goodnight guys.”

The next day

I woke up this morning feeling really hot and then cold and it went on like that for much of the morning. I also had a cough but I did my best to hide it from Chris and Alex because I didn’t want them to freak out. But I could tell they knew something was off.

“Are you sure you’re okay Ry? You seem... off.” Alex says eying me suspiciously

“Yep! All good.” I say.

Right after I said that I shivered and went into a coughing fit. Chris looked up from her book, her and Alex share a worried glance and then they both looked at me giving me “the mom eyes”.

“I’m getting the doctor.” Chris says leaving no room for argument.

She leaves and not even 2 minutes later she returns, the doctor and a nurse in tow.

“Hi Ryley. I hear you may be experiencing a fever and that you have a cough. Do you mind if I check you out real quick?” Doctor Baker asks kindly

“Sure.”

He does a quick exam, taking my temperature, listening to my heart, taking my blood pressure and all that good stuff and then he comes to the conclusion that I do in fact have a fever and that it looks like I’m getting sick.

“Okay, so it looks like Ryley has a moderate fever and cough so I’d like to keep her an extra day just to monitor her vitals and make sure it’s not more serious than a cold.” He says reassuring Christen and Alex that there isn’t anything to be worried about. I know them, as soon as he leaves they’re going to start fussing over me. Oh man I just want to go home.

“I would suggest using a cool wet rag and placing it on her forehead to try to cool her down a little. I can get her one if you’d like?” The nurse says.

“Yes please that would be great.” Christen says, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

The doctor leaves, saying he’ll be back later to check in and just as I thought they begin asking me all their questions and fussing over me more than they were before.

“Here love, let’s lower your bed so you can lay down.” Alex says

The nurse returns with the cool rag and Christen puts it on my forehead and then takes a seat beside my bed, Alex doing the same on the other side. They each take one of my hands. We sit in comfortable silence until I break it.

“I want to go home.” I say, my voice shaking as I feel my eyes welling up with tears. What the hell why am I crying?

“We know R.J. and we will soon okay? You just have to stay an extra day and the we’ll be able to go home.”

For whatever reason, what Alex says causes me to become more upset. I start to cry loudly.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Shh baby, you’re okay. Just relax. I promise you- we promise you it’s okay.” Christen says, continually running her thumb across my eyebrow.

They both whisper sweet nothings in my ear attempting to calm me down and eventually it works, although I’m still confused as to where all that emotion came from. It’s just an extra day. Chris and Alex then resume babying me.

“Let’s get you some water so you don’t become dehydrated.”

“I’m okay, I don’t- ” I’m cut off when a cup of water is set in front of me.

“Drink a little bit please”

“Okay, okay.”

Do you want an extra blanket?” Chris asks, moving to stand.

“No thank you.” I say

“Okay well let us know if that changes.”

“I will. Promise.”

The next day comes and goes and after getting checked over by the doctor the following morning I’m cleared to go home. Finally

“You ready kiddo?” Alex asks, finishing gathering our stuff while Christen retrieves the discharge papers while also getting final instructions from the nurse and doctor.

“Yeah I am.” I say excitedly

I wheel my wheelchair over to the door more than ready to leave.

“Woah, hold on. Make sure you put on your sweater It’s cold out.”

“It’s not that cold Alex I’m fine.” She gives me an unimpressed look and with a huff I give in and put on my sweater.

“Mhm. Let’s go” she says

She wheels me out while somehow also carrying all of our belonging, which is really just a backpack full of clothes, and water bottles, and her and Christen’s purses but still.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to hold anything? I’m like your own personal moving basket.” I say, laughing

“I’m good, thank you.” She chuckles

We meet Christen out in the hallway and before I know it we’re at the car and they’re helping me in, making sure I’m settled and then we’re off the the airport. The flight from Colorado to Utah was short but it was easier than driving because of all my injuries. Even so there were several times on the flight I found myself in pain or bumping a part of my body that hurt. But finally after what felt like forever (it wasn’t) we landed and we were able to get off the plane and go home. Once we got to their house they made sure I was as comfortable as possible before leaving to the kitchen to make dinner.

Alex PRO//

“Do you think she’s okay out there by herself?” Christen asks, worrying about Ryley being alone for too long.

“Yes babe. She’s okay.” I say while wrapping my arms around her to comfort her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes my love.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

I kissed her gently before letting go of her to start dinner. We decided on a simple cheesy pasta. Certainly not the healthiest meal we’ve ever made but I thought we all deserved a bit of a break. Christen did her best to help me, although I’d never say this to her, she wasn’t a very good cook. But you didn’t hear it from me. After we finished making dinner I went to get Ryley from the living room. I walked in to find her fast alseep in her chair. Poor kid must be exhausted. I thought. I went over to try to wake her as gently as I could.

“Ryley?” I shook her gently but she didn’t wake.

“Baby love it’s time to wake up, dinner’s ready.” I said again trying to be gentle.This time she began to stir, she opened her eyes slowly and looked up, smiling at me sleepily.

“Hi”

“Hey there, you ready to eat?”

“Yeah”

I wheeled her to the kitchen table and Christen served up the food as we sat down to eat. After we ate we decided to just have a chill movie night. It took a while for us to decide on a movie but we eventually settled on the disney movie Up. After the movie, and many tears, that movie is so sad we decided it was time to go to sleep and that’s where things got a little tricky.

“R.J. do you... do you want us to carry you upstairs? Or do you want to stay down here? There’s a guest room just down the hall.” I say, slightly worried about leaving her by herself down here.

“Can you- I mean would you mind- Will you guys stay with me?” She asks timidly.

“Of course love bug. We’ll always stay.”

“Wow. That was deep Chris.”

“You know what I mean, goofball.”

Christen wheeled her to the guest room, I followed. We helped her change, giving her one of Christen’s Stanford hoodies, much to my dismay and a pair of my soccer shorts. We helped her into bed and after a lot of fussing, readjusting of pillows and lots of questions she finally convinced us to go change. We came back in record time and after triple checking that she was okay we climbed into bed cuddling her and smushing her in a chrislex sandwich.

“We love you Ry. You know that right?”

“We love you so much.”

“Of course I know that. Thank you for everything the last few days, and for always being there for me.” She said becoming emotional.

“Of course. We’ll always be there for you, always” I said lovingly.

We did what we always do, alternating between running our fingers across her eyebrows, running our hands through her hair and rubbing her back, trying to lull her to sleep. We also started something new, singing her a lullaby each night. I thought for sure she’d be too embarrassed to let us, saying something like

“I’m too old for that.”

But she seems to love it, she even likes to pick a different one each night but her favorite is the ittsy bittsy spider. You may wonder “why are you singing her lullabies? she’s not 5.” And to be honest I’m not really sure, we started to sing to her to help her fall asleep and then one night when she was extra sleepy she requested a lullaby, it’s stuck ever since. We love seeing this softer side of her, most of the time she tries to put up walls and only on rare occasions does she slip up and let us truly see her being vulnerable. Earlier at the hospital is an example of that, or when she called Chris mommy when she was first hurt. She hasn’t called either of us anything other than our names since. We can tell she catches herself sometimes but we don’t bring it up, she’ll call us mommy and mama when she’s ready. If she’s ever ready. We worry about her staying in that group home. We have our suspicions about her being mistreated but she shows no signs of being physically abused so we try not to dwell on our worries. We haven’t told her yet but when we first learned of the extent of her injuries and her recovery time we got a temporary foster license so that we are able to have her stay with us while she recovers. We plan to talk to her about it tomorrow and make sure she knows we aren’t trying to pressure her into letting us adopt her.

“Chris?” I whisper so I don’t accidentally wake Ryley.

“Yeah babe?” She says back just as quiet.

“Do you think tomorrow will go well? I ask referring to the conversation we need to have with her.

“I’m sure it will. She’ll be glad to not have to go back to the group home for a while and she’ll love getting to spend more time with us.”

“I just don’t want to scare her. I want her to ask us to adopt her if and when she’s ready, not because she thinks we’re trying to force it on her.”

“She won’t see it that way, I’m sure of it.”

What neither of us realized was that while we were talking Ryley woke up and heard everything that we said.

Hey guys! I’m not sure if this is longer than the prologue but it seems like it lmao. I’m starting a tag list so if you want to be tagged when I post new chapters let me know. Thank you for all the kind words about my writing! 💕 The rest of the team will appear soon, I promise! (This is mostly unedited. sorry for mistakes)

S/O to @takingthehighwayhome for the idea for this chapter!

-N

Tag list: @slow-dance-in-the-dark @messyheath

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the-daily-multi-fandom-post · 4 years

Note

Hai 🪐

May I please get Citizen Z (from Z nation) x reader? Like reader stumbles upon his compost (the one where he was the only human). Reader is freezing cold and passes out and Citizen takes care of them pleaseee ? Thanks heheheheehhe

Yes of course, here you go! 🖤 thanks for requesting!! So I’m on Season 2 I think so I’ll be writing from in between seasons 1 and 2. But still I hope you like it! ❤️

You’ve been trying to survive in this freaking cold place you had forgotten how you ended up there. You were in service for America. You have been in the military since you were 18. Luckily coming from a good background with the knowledge of guns and survival you were, in a way, prepared for the apocalypse. You just were prepared for the apocalypse on Antarctica.

You were bundled up in a giant coat. You had a handful of layers of clothes. You had just enough on to keep you warm from the freezing temperatures, but not enough to restrict you from being able to move quickly, if needed.

You were tired and hungry. You had ran out of food and water about four days ago. You knew you needed food and water. Your instincts were telling you to find shelter, find food and water. But everywhere you looked there was nothing but snow, Frozen snow. And it was way too windy to build a fire, even if it wasn’t windy you didnt even have the things to build a fire.

You were just about to lose hope when you came across something that was moving right quickly. At first you thought it was just a zombie, but knew a zombie couldn’t be moving that fast. You tried to call out, but your voice came out scratchy and broken from not talking for awhile.

You followed behind whoever it was to some type of military base. This is what you had been looking for. But by the time you had reached the doors the man pulled out a gun aiming it at you as you fell to you knees exhausted.

The man looked at you holding his gun and asked, “Who are you?!” Looking up at the man with your glove covered hands held up in a surrender, you showed the man you were not a danger to him. You looked at him and begged with a scratchy voice, “Please, I have been wondering for days. I need help.”

The man looked at you with squinted eyes. Debating on believing you or not. We’re you just a made up person in his head? We’re you real?

“What’s your name? And what’re you doing out here?” You looked at him as you spoke, “My name is Y/n L/n, I’m in the marines, well was in the marines. I was sent here on a mission. I was to help whoever was left here. I had a group but our plane crashed. I was the only surviver. The rest died and were turned.” The man nodded as he lowers his gun, nodding he walks over to you. Grabbing your gloves hand with his and helping you up.

“My name is Simon Cruller, I go by citizen Z. I’m gonna help you.” You nodded and smiled. You would’ve cried if you were so dehydrated. “Thank you.” You spoke and just as you said thank you, you started passing out.

You opened your eyes and felt warmth surrounding you, and the smell of steak. You sat up from what seems to be a pull out sofa bed to see a glass of water beside you. You lunged at the water, drinking it as fast as you could without getting sick.

“How long have you been out there?” You looked up seeing citizen z with a plate with three freshly cooked steaks. “Uhh, since about (random date).” Citizen z gawked at you. Surprised you had made it a month out there alone.

“Really?! I can’t believe it. I mean not that I don’t think you can handle yourself out there. I mean your beautiful and all I don’t- I need to stop talking.” You giggled as you looked up at him. “I-I uh. I fixed steak I hope you like it.” He smiled putting an extra plate he had in front of you and putting the steak on it. He put his in front of his. Then he moved around a desk with a giant computer monitored and put the last steak in a silver bowl.

You looked at him confused wondering why he out a steak in a silver bowl on the ground so you questioned him. “Do you have a dog or something?” Citizen z looked up at you and nodded. “Yeah, I have a dog he was around here somewhere. He likes to run around. I call him pup.” You nodded as you practically drooled at the smell of the streak. (If your a vegan or Vegetarian, I apologize. Lol)

“How long have you been alone here?” You asked him while cutting your steak and eating it.

“For a couple months now. I’ve had pup go keep me sane. But looks like now have a humans company now.” He answered with a smile on his face. You honestly didn’t know if it was because you hadn’t seen a human for a month or if he had practically saved you, you really thought he was cute. So hopefully you can get to know this, Citizen z.

“Yeah, well I’ll stay here as long as you keep me.” You said with a smile. Citizen z nodded as he ate his steak. “Thank you for taking me in. It must’ve been weird to see a stranger around here.” Citizen z laughed and nodded. “It’s no problem.”

The two of had been staying together in the base keeping each other company for the past year when the two of you were eating lunch together. You had fixed some of your famous pasta when your first time meeting came into topic.

“You know I still am thankful you took me in. If not I would’ve froze to death.”

Z nodded while he looked up at you and said “Yeah, Me too. When I first seen you I thought you were practically frozen. I wasn’t really sure if you had froze to death or not. But I just did it because I felt like it was the right thing to do. I mean it would be stupid not to. I mean a cute girl like you shouldn’t freeze to death.” He blushed at his own words. Sighing thinking he was pushing younaway. But You blushed looking at the man shyly. Placing her warm hands on top of his warm ones. “Don’t worry, I think your cute to.” The two didn’t know who kissed who first. But one way or another their lips landed on the others. There had been a connection between the to for the past few months. They would shyly flirt, but this was the first time someone had made a move. Hopefully there would be something more than a friendship between the two.

Something short in fluffy. Hope you like it! ❤️😘

#z nation #Z nation citizen z #z nation citizen z x reader #z nation request #z nation murphy #z nation doc #z nation 10k #z nation warren #z nation addy #z nation x reader #z nation reader

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cesabutterflywrites · 4 years

Text

Prince in the Storm: Chapter Four

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Virgil was sensitive. Most people saw him as some “spooky, broody dude”, when in reality he was just a private person. Teachers tried to open his mind up with a figurative crowbar. Everyone tried to get him to open up. Well, everyone except his best friend Talyn. They were the only one who understood his personality and inner workings just enough to be his friend. However, they haven’t seen his Marking. No one other than his parents have.

Contrary to popular belief, Roman was sensitive. Most people saw him as a fanciful, dreamy, somewhat egotistical thespian who wanted nothing but to be the best of the best. Everyone cheered him on in his performances. Everyone praised his original works. Anything he made others enjoyed. People would whisper about his Marking, wondering where it was and when he would reveal it. He had a whole circle of friends, yet no one except his best friend Joan understood him. Joan was the only one who saw Roman’s insecurities.

As students of Kingston High School, with zany principals and try-hard superintendents, it is up to Virgil and Roman to stay alive enough to fulfill their destiny. Ao3

Word Count: 2007

Chapter Warnings: panic attack

Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter FIfteen

Bonuses: Immune to Change

Chapter Four

Virgil shut the front door of his house rather loudly. He was in a bad mood. A very, very bad mood. All he wanted was to go upstairs to his room and sleep until the sun went away. Instead, he settled for dropping his backpack on the floor by the door. He wandered to the couch and plopped down on it, sighing in relief to be finally sitting on a plush surface. He leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

Ever since Virgil could remember, he liked finding shapes on walls and ceilings. He would stare at the surface looking for the grooves, cracks, layers. He would then make shapes out of them with his eyes. Once he had the shape, he would make a story for it. Sometimes it was an apple being smashed by a foot. Sometimes it was a crowd of people at a carnival. Making the stories took time. It was something that always got him to calm down, and oh, he needed some calm. Some peace, and quiet, and rest.

Soon the shapes started to get blurry. Virgil closed his eyes and laid down. Maybe a little nap wouldn’t hurt.

When Virgil woke up, it was dark outside and inside. None of the living room lights were on, not even the entryway lamp that was usually kept on all the time. The only light in the living room was from the street lamps shining through the window. He looked around curiously. Usually his dad got home just an hour after him. It took Virgil a moment to realize that he had a blanket pulled over him. A small smile tugged at his lips. Even though it could be unbearable sometimes, his father was always considerate.

Virgil sat there for a minute scrolling through his phone. The only notification he had on his phone was a message from Talyn, and it was just a meme. Nothing he needed to respond to right away. Then he smelled it. Spaghetti. The wonderful, amazing smell of his favorite dinner food.

Almost as if on cue, his stomach growled at him. Virgil looked up the hallway to see if the kitchen lights were on. Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. There was light, but the door had been closed. Something twisted in Virgil’s chest. His dad was trying his hardest to care for him as a single dad, and Virgil had been dismissive of him this morning.

God, I’m such an arrogant asshole.

He shook his head, trying to dismiss that line of thinking. Instead he let himself succumb to his hunger. He stood up, steadying himself after getting a head rush from standing too quickly. He recovered quickly, then made his way to the kitchen.

As he got closer he realized his dad was talking to someone on the phone. Virgil, being a bit nosy, just stood by the door to listen. He tried very hard to quiet his breathing.

Patton’s normally cheerful voice sounded frustrated. “Yes, I understand that he’s your nephew, but-...No, I don’t think you understand...Do you want him to have a target on his back? Cause that’s what would happen if-” he sighed, and waited a bit before he spoke again. “Fine. Just make sure you’re there to do your job. Don’t distract him, he’s been distracted enough lately.” With that, he hung up the phone.

Virgil waited two breaths before entering the kitchen. He saw Patton leaning his hands against the counter, his shoulders tense from the strain. Virgil saw the pasta has already been mixed with the sauce. He also smelled the garlic bread still baking in the oven. His dad must have been in deep thought because he didn’t acknowledge his son until Virgil spoke up.

“Hey, dad. You okay?” he asked. Virgil noticed that his own voice was scratchy from sleeping for so long.

He wanted to ask who it was on the phone, but he suspected that he already knew. No one really upset his dad except for one person; Uncle Thomas. There were so many questions running through his head, but he used up most of his mental strength to shove it all aside. His dad was upset. So that meant Virgil needed to bring him back into the moment. Which, Virgil admitted to himself, is what Virgil needed as well after the day he had.

Patton quickly spun around at the sound of Virgil’s voice, startled. The shock was only brief, then replaced with his goofy grin that he had when he wasn’t alone. “Hey, kiddo. I didn’t hear ya wake up. You hungry?”

Virgil just nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak aloud without accidentally admitting he’d been eavesdropping. Virgil didn’t like lying. He felt slightly disgusted with himself for listening in on what was obviously an intense and private conversation.

“Why dontcha set up the table while I finish up here, kiddo?” his dad asked, noticing Virgil had zoned out.

“Y-yeah, sure thing, Dad.”

He went to the cupboard above the sink where the plates were. He had just pulled two of them down when the timer for the garlic bread went off, startling him. He tried to stop himself from dropping the plate but he was still a bit uncoordinated after his midday nap. With a crash, the plates shattered onto the floor.

Virgil bit his lip to hold back the tears threatening to leak from his eyes. The day had been full of accidents and mishaps. He just wanted to do something right for once. He got down on his knees to pick up the bigger pieces.

“Virge, don’t touch those pieces, you could cut-”

Virgil shouted out,”Fucking shit!” and gripped his forefinger. Patton rushed over to look him over.

“Oh, kiddo. I’m sorry. Why don’t we stand up to get you a bandaid?”

Virgil shook his head as the tears fell freely from his face. He was tired, and emotional, and a bit hungry. He had a long day and just wanted some freaking dinner. Was it too much to ask that he had a reprieve from the bad luck he seemed to accumulate throughout the day?

He leaned into his dad’s shoulder while cradling his bleeding finger. He felt stupid for crying over a tiny cut. Stupid for not being able to do something as simple as grab some plates. Stupid for not watching where he had been going and crashing into someone as popular as-

“Smell the flower for me, son” his dad requested softly. Virgil was tucked in his dad’s arms. He felt his dad’s hand rubbing circles on his back. Virgil had been spiraling in his head too much to notice his dad scooping him up at first.

He just grabbed his dad’s blue shirt and shook his head ‘no’ against the solid chest he was leaning against. It was getting harder for him to breathe. He felt his chest tightening as he tried to gasp for air. He was sobbing too hard. All he could feel was his hands going numb. A lump was growing in his throat, as if he had swallowed a golf ball, but it was growing. He was dying. He knew he was dying.

Patton shifted to grab his son's face, but gently. Virgil kept his eyes closed. He didn’t want to open them cause more tears would come out. He was still hyperventilating but the pressure on his chest wasn’t as intense.

“Virgil, c’mon buddy, I’ll do it with you. Smell the flower,” they both took in a deep breath, “Good job. Now blooow out the candle.” Virgil did as he was told.

After a few times of smelling the flower and blowing out the candle, Virgil opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his dad’s soft, warm, brown eyes behind thick glasses. They were filled with concern, but Virgil sighed in relief. Dad was warm. Dad was caring. Dad was safe.

Virgil wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck. They held the hug for a minute before Virgil’s stomach growled.

“Okay kiddo. Let’s get you a bandaid and some food. I’ll clean up the mess, don’t sweat it.”

Virgil stood up and made his way to the bathroom where the first aid kit was. When he reached the doorway, he paused. He turned around to say, “I love you, Dad”

Patton smiled warmly at his son. Virgil reminded himself that while he may seem tough and rough and mean to the outside world-there was comfort knowing he had someone as pure and kind for a dad.

---

As far as Roman was concerned, the first week of school had been a breeze after the first day. He had gotten the hang of his new sleep schedule. He found a way to fit in a quicker, but more effective, face moisturizing routine in the mornings so he could get 10 extra minutes of sleep. He had applied to the theater club- a formality, as this point-and settled into his classes. All of his teachers loved him or tolerated him. His friends still hung around, and he even made a few new ones.

He was doing great, really. He played the part he needed to. The part everyone needed him to. He was friendly, perfect, and personable.

So why did he still feel so empty?

Roman couldn’t quite understand it. Was it that he needed a different schedule? Did he need to put his focus on more creative pursuits? If so, he just started doing theater club, meaning he’ll be able to find his center.

With his eyebrows crinkled together, contemplating, he walked into his technical theater class. It wasn’t his first choice or backup choice for an elective his senior year, but it didn’t hurt to learn the techie side of things. In fact, it could be useful to him. Theater was his passion. What a better way to become more intimate with the stage than by learning how it all works?

He wasn’t exactly paying attention to where he was going, so naturally, he suffered the consequences by bumping into the last person on God’s green earth he wanted to run into.

They both stumbled but the other caught his arms. “Hey, there, handsome. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

Roman pushed him off and wiped his hands down the front of his shirt. He was not in the mood for this. “Yeah, well, you’re the one who hasn’t been paying attention!” Roman snapped, a bit more aggressively than he needed to.

“Ha, we both know that you’re too busy thinking of new ways to get everyone to pay attention to you. How do I know you’re paying attention back for once?” Virgil smirked.

“Well at least I don’t creep everyone out! You...creepy cookie.” Roman was sputtering. “What’s the deal with the aggression today? I thought we worked out our issues earlier this week!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “Of course you thought that. Everyone loves you, right? Well, maybe, for once in your life, consider the idea that I don’t care about you or your popularity.”

It was a stab to Roman’s heart. He couldn’t understand why this guy was so mean… and so right. However, he had a part to play. He did the only thing he could think of to keep himself from breaking. “Whatever, Jack Smellington,” he snarled out. Then he walked away to join the friends in class he had made.

“Roman, what was up with you and Emo Nightmare?” one of the girls, Rachel asked.

Roman smiled and tried to shake it off. “Nothing. Just can’t stand the guy. I tried to give him an honest chance on the first day of school but he just can’t stand how popular I am I guess…” Roman took one last glance over his shoulder to see Virgil glaring at him. He turned back to the group and tried to ignore the heat of Virgil’s glare.

Well, if you don’t like me, then I don’t like you.

Let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist for this story!

#prinxiety #prinxiety fic #soulmate AU #high school AU #romantic prinxiety #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sympathetic Remus #sympathetic deceit #chapter four #Prince in the Storm #Prince in the Storm AU #Mama Cesa writes

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wishingpoodle2004 · 4 years

Text

A WHOLESOME STEREK REC LIST

(Scroll to the bottom to see my allstar list)

•A Simple Life by Survivah

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12227445/chapters/27777660

Summary:

Derek plans to spend the rest of his life holed up in the woods after Laura dies. Then he meets a stubborn young fox, and the stubborn young fox meets an urn of Deaton's magic powder, and his plans change.

My Rating: 10/10

Simply Excellent

•The Boy and the Beast by Duran Sudis (dsudis)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/751583/chapters/1403203

Summary:

In which events in Beacon Hills go rather differently from the start, and a Beauty and the Beast (ish) story ensues. (Scott is not a teacup and no one sings about their feelings.)

My Rating: 9/10

Great story. Would liked to see the Human! Derek x Human! Stiles develope a bit more

• Good Behavior by theSilence

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8460571/1/Good-Behavior

Summary

The God Awful Courting Tactics Used to Woo Stiles Stilinski by Derek Hale.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Absolutely hilarious, Stiles and Derek at their finest (not). Only fault is that it’s short and the people need to know what happened after date 3.

• headlong (I’m falling in a) by hito

https://archiveofourown.org/works/295390/chapters/472650

Summary:

Kink meme fill: When Stiles goes to college, for some reason, he has to share an apartment with Derek, which sucks, because Derek still hates him the most. They fall in love.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Love Stlies and Derek learning to share breathing space and getting walked in on by the rest of the pack . Warning⚠️ Lydia is bonkers and power hungry.

• You Feel Like Home by thestreetballet

https://archiveofourown.org/works/383108

Summary:

"Derek, don't bully Mr Stilinski. He's had a bad few days."

My Rating: 9/10

I love love love Harry Potter AU sterek. Young Derek is desperately trying to look out for his newly found mate (young Stiles) while balancing prefect duties, pack life AND trying to keep said mating a secret from everyone including Stiles. This is part of a short series, read it all to get it. Warning ⚠️ Alpha Peter is bananas, lots of interspecies conflict.

• Can’t Take The Heat? by Ilovesocks_24

https://archiveofourown.org/works/810771/chapters/1530771

Summary:

“Hi, I’m Stiles, and what I have for you today is…”

“Stop, just stop.” Grumpy Eyebrows interrupted. “That is honestly the worst looking Pasta Primavera I have ever seen. I don’t even want to eat it, it looks so bad.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. No one insulted his creamy bacon carbonara without even trying it. And no one insulted his creamy bacon carbonara after they tried it either.

“It’s actually a Creamy Bacon Carbonara, asshole,” Stiles snapped. “And for the record, it’s supposed to look like that.”

Or the one where Stiles is a new sous chef at Full Moon Steakhouse and Derek is the Gordon Ramsay of all head chefs. So of course they fall in love.

My Rating: 8/10

Pretty good. The story was more focused on Stiles journey as a chef so not as many fluffy moments but still pretty satisfying.

• Permanent Fixture by linksofmemories_archive

https://archiveofourown.org/works/518387/chapters/915659

Summary:

Derek is Scott's older brother. Stiles is Scott's best friend. Derek is falling in love with Stiles. This is a bit of a problem.

My Rating: 9.5/10

This story WILL make you CRY. I had a hard time rating this because it’s very slow burn with lots of angst but you can literally feel every emotion in the story so I had to give it the extra 0.5. Spoiler: Claudia called it.

•Fly a Little Faster by mirrorkill

https://archiveofourown.org/works/900839

Summary:

Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindless manpain?

Well, if Marty McFly can do it, so can Stiles Stilinski. All he has to do is get Derek and Paige to fall in love before he gets pulled back to his own time. And before he makes anything worse. That's easy as pie, right? Right?

My Rating: 8/10

Such a creative. I only wish they had gotten to spend more time together in the past.

•Pack Up; Don’t Stray by the_deep_magic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/644874/chapters/1171121

Summary:

AU – Werewolves are an enslaved underclass, collared and tagged by human masters. Detective Stilinski’s on duty the night they bring in an untagged stray.

My Rating: 8.5/10

I like this story because their love was based on trust and respect. Just two people who needed each other, found each other and fought for each other.

•In the Solstice of our Hearts by raving revolution

https://archiveofourown.org/works/971008/chapters/1907773

Summary:

"You're not putting that up your butt," Scott told him flatly and Stiles couldn't stop the pissed off whine he made, but his friend continued. "Stiles, you can't put that up your butt, you know that. Your butt won't be ready for anything to go in it until-"

"Okay, okay!" he said, flailing his hands to stop his friend's lecture. "Message received, no butt stuff until I'm pounced on by some freaking animal in the forest and ravished to within an inch of my life. Got it. Thanks, Scotty, I mean heaven forbid I actually try to take control of my life and give myself a fighting chance or anything."

"Not all alphas are animals," Scott said quietly.

Maybe he was right, but Stiles wasn't holding his breath.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Interesting story but I wanted more fluff.

• No Homo by orphan_account

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148039/chapters/2864236

Summary:

Stiles' sophomore year starts something like this:

3 FourLokos

+ 1 peer-pressuring cat

- 1 best bro to end all best bros

= 1 Craigslist ad headline that reads "str8 dude - m4m - strictly platonic".

Derek is the fool who replies.

My Rating: 9/10

This is one of my all time favorites. The author’s summary doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Firstly homophobic Stiles is just hilarious and adorable. Secondly this story is sooooo Hot🔥, bottom!Derek is amazing. Thirdly, just read it!!!!! You won’t regret it

• tongue of dog and blind-worm’s sting by Zercalo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4896598/chapters/11229727

Summary:

In order to keep the identity of the teacher he's been seeing a secret, Derek's been withdrawing from his pack and family. Cora, frustrated with his alienation and a little lonely, clings to the first nonjudgmental person who offers companionship – which happens to be that odd Muggleborn Revenclaw who's always hanging around the Gryffindor common room.

She hasn't befriended Stiles for Derek's sake, but Derek just might reap the benefits anyway - if he pulls his head out of his ass and quit the stupid self-sacrificing act.

My Rating: 9/10

This is another Hogwarts AU where Cora is the best friend we all need. Derek’s dug himself into a pretty deep hole with Kate but Stiles might just get him out of it. Cute teenage courting ensues and once again we all need a Cora in our lives. Oh, and no biggie but there’s a mass murderer on the loose. Note: This story is part of a series.

• Rare Books and Special Collections by orphan_account

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192954

Summary:

Derek Hale hates libraries.

Unfortunately, not all books can be ordered on Amazon.

(Or: in which Derek is a grumpy omega writer, and Stiles is an annoyingly attractive alpha special collections librarian.)

My Rating: 9/10

I love Omega! Derek. He’s an anti social writer who we just want to scoop up in our arms. Stiles’ idea of flirting is giving Derek books and library tours. Adorableness and Cluelessness ensues.

• Cornerstone by Vendelin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1725518/chapters/3678122

Summary:

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

My Rating: 8.5/10

I see this fic EVERYWHERE and it is pretty good but because it’s a pretty serious story it doesn’t have as much fluff. Derek’s got serious issues and Stiles is blind. However, I did love how Stiles shared so much of himself with Derek and how Derek slowly learned how to return the favor. I really appreciated the reality check.

•Pink Is For Pining (You, You, Nothing But You) by clotpolesonly

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15177281

Summary:

“You know you could just ask him out, right?” Scott asked.

Stiles stuffed the toast in his mouth and hoped he wasn’t blushing. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you have a ginormous crush on him.”

“I do not, shut up,” Stiles hissed as well as he could around a mouthful of toast.

“Your pink hair says differently,” Scott sing-songed at him.

***

In which Stiles is a supremely socially awkward metamorphmagus with a crush, Derek is a quietly pining werewolf, and Scott and Lydia are done with their stubbornness and stupidity.

My Rating: 9/10

I had to end off this rec list with Pink is for Pining and (surprise surprise) it’s another Hogwarts fic. This one is always in my top 3 because through Derek’s love, Stiles learns to love every part of himself. Alright, maybe I’m hyping this fic up too much (it’s REALLY short) but I’m a believer that one paragraph can make all the difference 😁

My Allstar List

1. A Simple Life by Survivah

https://archiveofourown.org/works/749767/chapters/1399097

2. Pink Is For Pining by clotpolesonly

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15177281

3. Permanent Fixture

https://archiveofourown.org/works/518387/chapters/915659

4. No Homo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148039/chapters/2326073

5. Rare Books and Special Collections by orphan_account

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192954

Thanks for Reading!

I hope you enjoyed this Rec list. Please send me any you think I’ll enjoy or that would be a good addition to the list. Happy reading!

#sterek #stiles x derek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #teen wolf #fic rec

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cocochannel00 · 5 years

Text

Cuddle Me I’m cold

In which all Harry wants to do is cuddle but (Y/n) is busy

You were starting to reconsider some of your life choices right about now. Like why you chose a job that required you to work 12+ hours on most days or why you had said yes to helping Gemma plan her wedding. I mean sure you were thrilled to help and you absolutely adored Gemma more than anyone but you now understood why people had wedding planners. You had promised that you would help her with getting the decorations all in order but you underestimated how hard it was going to be to get everything organized and ready in the little under two months you had till the wedding.

You had spent the majority of your time at work trying to figure out how you were going to arrange the centerpieces when you got home. Your lunch break was spent on the phone with the local florist trying to order the hydrangeas for the centerpieces. Harry had texted you saying that four large boxes had arrived at your house this morning. You assumed it was the intricate handblown vases Gemma had picked out. They were beautiful with their delicate blue tones that made it look as if a wave was crashing on the surface. When you got home you would have to fill them with the small blue crystals you had ordered, as well as fairy lights that you prayed, had come today too. You wanted to get it all done today so that you could check at least one thing off Gemma’s list. She had been more and more stressed about the entire event as the big day got closer so you were hoping getting them finished would give her some peace of mind.

You had just finished up your shift at the hospital and had already changed into the comfiest and warmest clothes you could find so you braved the cold London snow when Gemma called.

“(Y/n) everything is a mess” Gemma stated in distress.

“Gemma, what’s wrong? What happened?” you asked frantically as you got into your car and turned the heater on.

“My dress came in today and it's too big! They said they weren’t sure if they could fix it and then the bakery called asking if Michael and I were coming in for the cake testing but Michaels on a business trip and that is the only day they had open for it.” She said on the verge of tears. You sighed quietly before putting the call on speaker and pulling out of the parking structure.

“Gemma, everything is going to be ok. Breathe for me, ok? Relax everything can be fixed. I’m sure the dress shop can do the alteration and if they can’t I can have Harry give Lou a call and see if she knows of anyone that can do them. You could wear a paper bag down the aisle and I’m sure Michael would still drool over you. As for the cake, you know what kind of sweets he likes and I’m sure your mum would love to go with you to try all of the samples. She’s probably more excited than you are for the wedding.” you reminded her as you made a left turn onto your street.

“Ok, ok you’re right. It’s all going to work out. Thank you for being amazing and helping me with this. I couldn’t do it without you (y/n)”. You smiled at her words as you pulled into your driveway.

“Of course love, however, I do have some good news for you. Harry called and told me the vases are here so I’m going to finish them up hopefully tonight. I also called the florist today and your order of blue, pink and yellow hydrangeas is all set and ready to be delivered the day before the wedding” You mention as you grab your untouched lunchbox from the passenger seat and locked your car.

“Oh my god, I’m so excited! Thank you, thank you! Ok, I’m going to let you go so I can call my mom about the cakes tomorrow. Tell Harry I said hello for me, bye (y/n)” Gemma yelled through the phone as you replied with a quick goodbye before she hung up the phone.

You chuckled softly as you fumbled to get your key into the door. The smell of homemade tomato sauce greeted you as you closed the front door behind you. Fleetwood Mac played through the house as you made your way to the kitchen to find Harry swaying his hips as he stirred a pot of what you could only assume was pasta.

“Hey, handsome” you spoke as you placed your lunchbox on the counter and draped your scrubs on one of the island chairs.

Harry quickly turned around before smiling at you and opening his arms. You collapsed into his embrace and placed a chaste kiss on kiss collarbone before turning your attention to the stove top. You carefully dipped your pointer finger into the red sauce and placed it into your mouth. You moaned from the taste as Harry chuckled behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his chin on top of your shoulder.

“Hungry love? Pasta is just about finished” he whispered as he placed a kiss to your temple.

“Mmm starved but I’m glad you know the way to my heart Styles” you replied back as you dipped your finger in the sauce once more.

“haha I’m glad the carbo load still has its charm” he laughed as he moved away from you to drain the pasta in the sink.

You took the opportunity to try and discretely put away the salad you hadn’t eat today. You were just about to close the fridge when Harry spoke out.

“Did you not have lunch today?” he asked, a bit of worry in his voice. Harry has always been worried about you working yourself. He had seen how it affected your mind and body so whenever he was home he tried to pack your food because he knew you wouldn’t do it yourself.

“I was a bit busy. I had to call the florist for Gemma. The wedding is freaking her out and I rather not add to the stress. She says hello by the way” you mention as you set two plates down on the counter.

“(y/n)...” Harry stated sternly as you gave him a cautious smile.

“I know, I know, but it was one time. I’m fine, now can we please eat this amazing pasta that my lovely boyfriend made. I hear he’s pretty good at cooking” you stated as you tried to butter him up enough for him to drop the topic.

“Fine, but only because you look so cute and I’ve been wanting to cuddle with you all day” he mumbled back as he reached for two wine glasses off the shelf as you grabbed your favorite red wine from the fridge.

“Your cuddlings going to have to wait a bit longer. I promised Gemma I would finish the centerpieces for her tonight so she could come pick them up tomorrow” you announced as Harry served you some pasta before serving some for himself.

“Baby why are you doing this to me” Harry groaned dramatically as he leaned his head onto your shoulder.

“I know bud, it's a tough life but I think you’ll make it through” you countered back as you placed a quick kiss on his cheek and began to dig into your food.

“Fine” he huffed under his breath as he began eating as well.

The two of you talked quietly about your day while you ate dinner. Every now and then Harry would tug your chair closer to him so he could cuddle your arm as he finished his meal. You laughed at his antics but let him continue to rub his face up and down your neck like a cat. Once you were finished Harry took your dishes to the sink as you went over to the boxes pilled in the corner and began to open them up. By the time Harry was done you had placed all twenty-eight vases on your dining table.

“Wow how many did Gem need” Harry mumbled as he came up behind you and passed you your wine glass.

“I got two or three extras just in case she invites any last minute guests or one of these breaks,” you reply as you take a sip of your wine and begin to untangle the fairy lights.

“Look at you being all prepared. Let me help you, maybe we can finish it faster?” he urged as he placed his hands on your hips.

“Oh no Harry Styles you will not get me this time. Every time you try to so-called “help” it either ends with me taking twice as long or you distracting me and not getting anything done.

“That’s the goal love” he whispered back as he placed a quick kiss to your lips. You shook your head.

“No, no, out Harry. I need to do this and you're not going to help in any way. Go watch tv or something while I do this for your sister's wedding” you stressed as you pushed him towards the living room.

“But I want to cuddle you” he mumbled as he plopped his body on the couch, nearly spilling his cup of wine on himself.

“I know but you can cuddle me after” you replied as you made your way back to the vases.

You spent the next fifteen minutes trying to untangle the dread fair lights and making sure each set worked properly. You could hear Harry fiddling with the record player as you continued to work on the vases. Harry put on a Beatles record before sighing loudly. He was trying to coerce you to the couch by playing one of your favorite bands but you weren’t going to fall for it. You had begun to pour the small blue crystals into the vases when Harry came in singing “Hey Jude”.

“And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain Don't carry the world upon your shoulders...” he sang as he made his way towards you again, wrapping his arms around your waist and swaying you back and forth, causing some of the crystals to fall on the floor.

“Harry” you groaned as you placed the bag on the counter a turned around to look at him. He smiled down at you as you scowled.

“Hey Jude, don't let me down You have found her, now go and get her Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better..” he continued as he hid his face in your neck and continued to sing as you two swayed back and forth.

“Harry I really need to finish these” you mumble into his chest as he squeezes you just a bit tighter.

“Shh love. Come cuddle, I can finish them tomorrow. Come cuddle me, been missing you all day.” he grunted as he ran his arms up and down your back.

“Harry I don’t-”

“Baby, please. I promise I’ll get it done by the time Gemma comes and gets it. You can even leave me instruction, I’ll send you pictures too. Come up and cuddle with me in bed, you must be exhausted” he whispered as he coaxed you by leaving gentle kisses on your temple.

“You promise?” you questioned as you stared into his bright green eyes. A small grin appeared on his face before he leaned down and placed a longing kiss on your plump lips.

“Of course love now come on let's go up” he replied as he guided you upstairs, turning off the record player on the way up.

The two of you spent the night cuddling under the sheets, whispering loving words to each other until the two of you fell into a deep sleep.....

#harry styles blurb #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles preferences #harry styles #harry styles stories #cute harry #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #Harry Love #harry styles fluff #harry fluff

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astra-obligant · 5 years

Text

a very barrows christmas

Caisey Barrows, Gemma Watts Barrows, Penny Thomas, Liyana Barrows (Mentioned)

@gemmafckinwatts @birussianspy

949 words

written: mar 19, 2019

set: dec 26, 2010

A crash was heard from the kitchen, followed by an exclamation of ‘shit!’ that had Penny jumping up in concern.

“Oh -- are you okay?” Gemma shook her head at Penny’s reaction, mumbling just leave them to it and stopping Penny from getting up.

“I’m good -- shit -- ‘s all good.” A quick reparo fixed the dish, but not the pasta that was in it. Caisey returned to the doorway of their small living room, leaning against the frame. “Well, there goes dinner. Sorry. I can run out and grab something instead, I’m kind of a shit cook anyways.”

“Don’t worry about it, Penny’s parents made us eat before we left. We can go out later.” Penny nodded her affirmation, straightening out the skirt of her dress awkwardly.

“So, Penny. You’re not into Quidditch like Gemma, right? What do you do?” Caisey pushed off the door frame and dropped into a chair, glass of wine in hand.

“Well, um, I’m going to be a historian after I graduate, working for the Ministry…?” Penny gave a small smile -- this was a little uncomfortable for her, but if there was anything she was always comfortable talking about, it was history.

Or she was, until Caisey let out a sharp laugh at her words. Penny turned bright red and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear uncomfortably.

“Oh, sorry -- I mean, history is cool, that was my favorite subject in school. Look where it got me.” They gestured to the torn up chair they were in. “Not much work for people looking in the past.” A pointed look from Gemma had Caisey clearing their throat. “I’m, uh, sure you’ll be fine, though, you seem really smart.”

“She is,” Gemma said. The room was painfully quiet for a long, painful moment, and Caisey took advantage of it to take a long drink of wine. “So, dinner?”

“Thought you weren’t hungry,” Caisey said, setting down their glass.

“I lied, I’m starved. What’s around here?”

“There’s this sushi place not far from here, it’s pretty good and the couple that owns it has no family so they’re always open. We could go there.”

Penny and Gemma looked at each other in confirmation and nodded.

“You two are adorable,” Caisey said, raising their eyebrows at the couple. “You always like this? I bet your parents love her, don’t they. Did you tell them what a neat freak she is? Lives here for two months and rearranged all the cupboards, I still can’t find shit.”

“Don’t listen to them, I just moved out all the stuff they never throw out,” Gemma rolled her eyes, fishing in her pockets to see if she had everything. “Ready to go?”

They ended up bringing the food back to Caisey’s apartment -- eating at a nearly abandoned sushi place the day after Christmas seemed a little too sad, even for their ragtag “family” dinner. They ate quietly, Caisey half listening to Penny and Gemma talking and half listening to whatever talk show was on the radio -- Which Witch, some kind of “reunion show,” which they didn’t understand, considering that it was only a one person show, and not a very interesting one at that.

“Uh, thanks for coming by, you guys. Gave me an excuse to not work today -- bars are depressing as hell on Christmas, it’s either happy young couples or lonely old guys, and when alcohol is involved, neither are very fun. Oh --” they downed their wine and set the glass down, laughing. “Last Christmas some guy kept trying to hit on me -- stayed at the bar until the minute we closed, the hung around outside, smoking, like smoking for an hour is normal?” They paused to roll their eyes. “Liyana ended up threatening the guy, wand out and everything. Being a teacher definitely didn’t calm her down.”

“No, it really didn’t.” Gemma finished her own glass and leaned back into her chair with a sigh.

“She would’ve been so happy for you to be here. Both of you, I guess -- you’re one of her favorites too, right?” She raised an eyebrow at Penny. “Were, I guess.”

“Um, yes, well -- I wasn’t nearly as close with her as you two were, but she did some extra tutoring and, she is -- was, sorry, very inspirational. I’m sure it’s hard without her.” Penny shifted a little uncomfortably -- she never really was close to Professor Barrows, but Penny was in the Alliance, and Barrows had meant a lot to Gemma.

“She should be here. If she weren’t such an idiot with a hero complex, maybe she would be.”

Penny’s jaw dropped at that and she automatically looked at Gemma, who was glaring at Caisey. Caisey stared steadily back.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about --”

“I sure don’t, do I? I didn’t even know she was dead until you told me. Of course I didn’t.” They stood quickly from their chair and crossed the room, the wood floors creaking under their feet. The picked up a stack of envelopes from a box -- at least three dozen, all opened, with their contents stuffed back inside carelessly. “People still write me, you know, ‘what happened to Liyana? Do you have any news?’ I have a collection of her obituary, now, people keep sending me it, asking when she’s coming back from ‘being in hiding’. Do you know how much it sucks explaining to grown ass adults that not even the great Liyana fucking Barrows can come back from the dead?”

Gemma and Caisey stared at each other, both waiting for the other to say something, before Caisey finally dropped the stack back into the box.

“Maybe we should go.”

Caisey glanced at the framed picture near them -- them with Liyana, the fifteenth of June, after Caisey’s final year at Hogwarts. They’d gotten in a terrible fight that day, ending with Caisey staying with a friend for the three weeks Liyana had off before going off to Spain, or Italy, or wherever she was working now.

“Your parents would be so proud of you, Caisey, I know they would.”

“They’re not here because of you.”

“Why would you say that?”

“You told them they needed to fight, you got them involved in the first place, and they died because of it --”

Caisey cleared their throat and turned away from the picture, moving over to roughly hand Gemma the little present they’d gotten her. “You can use my floo.”

#caisey #ft. gemma #ft. penny #liyana

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ghoulboyboos · 6 years

Note

Prompt for your amazing blog which I only just discovered and are now in love with: Ghoulboys being domestic and soft unknowingly and when someone points it out, they either 1) freak out and try to deny it/ avoid each other until someone else like locks them in a room or something or 2) carry on being soft and make it “official” but don’t tell anyone so someone is like “why don’t you just date already” and they’re like “we are, haven’t you noticed?”

Oh god nonny you are too much!

On top of that, letme use this moment to mention that if you’re a boy in a close andin any way physical relationship with another boy, that doesn’thave to be a “gay” thing (But if it is it’salso chill ofc.) . Before I transitioned, I cuddled with myfemale friends all the time and we didn’t end up lusting after oneanother, neither with me as a girl nor a guy. It’s fine if you wantto hug your male friends or have any physical contact for them.Humans are made to seek out that kind of stuff.

That being said (lol), this is absolutely going to be gay, becauseI’m queer AF and need this kind of stuff in the world.

Thereare a lot of things that show that Shane and Ryan are best friends.Their banter is one of them, evenif it gets a little harsh once in a while.Sometimes, a fewof their fans get a little concerned sometimes and leave questionsabout if the two of them really are friends. But just as often, thereis a fan of the show laughing and talking about all the times theyargue and banter with theirfriends in a manner that would make someone on the outside questionif theirfriendship was true.Whether it’s Ryan or Shane who finds the message first, both theghoulfriends will end up giggling about it at some point. They neverquestion their friendship and dedication to each other. It isn’tjust Unsolved or the “kernelhead” solidarity. Ryan feels saferwhen Shane is with him on location. Shane feels more energized whenRyan is around him whenever they work. It’s the trust that comeswith knowing someone a long time that helps them chill out.

Theyare comfortable with each other.

Theydon’t quite notice yet,that some people think they might be “too” comfortable.

One night, Shane and Ryan are out at a bar with some colleagues. Ryanasks if it’s cool to invite a couple of people he knows, because hegets a text message asking about a good location to spend Saturdaynight. Everyone encourages him to invite his friends over and half anhour later, four people wander into the bar, looking a little lostuntil they spot Ryan. Introductions are made and Ryan, Shane andtheir colleagues shift at the table to make room for the peoplejoining them. It gets a bit cramped in the corner booth and Shaneuntangles his arm from where it’s squished and throws it over theback of the seat, right behind Ryan’s shoulders. Nobody who issober enough to check sees any indication that Ryan is uncomfortable.The arm eventually settles around his shoulders, holding him upwardsafter Ryan nearly falls into him, obviously drunk.

Shane shakes him awake and laughs when Ryan grumbles at him.

“I think the little guy had enough. What do you say, Ryan? Wanna gohome?”

Ryan opens his eyes a little and glares at him, but eventually, thelook softens and he closes his eyes and nods. Shane chuckles and letsgo of him to pull out his wallet and put some money on the table.People shift around and vacate the bench so Shane can slip out, onehand holding onto Ryan’s wrist until Ryan stands, a little wobbly.Shane pulls him against his shoulder and waves at everyone stillsitting.

“That was fun, we should do that again!” He jostles Ryan ever soslightly. “Ryan, say goodnight to everyone.”

Ryan works his eyes open and gives a smile and a half-hearted waveand Shane chuckles. He nods to the table before turning and pullingRyan along. His arm stays around the shorter man, maneuvering themsafely out of the bar.

One of Ryan’s friends turns to TJ. He looks a little confused.

“I didn’t know Ryan was dating… Shane was his name, right?”

TJ takes a sip from his drink and shrugs.

“He isn’t, to my knowledge.”

The other man raises an eyebrow and looks after the two. Then heshrugs as well and returns to the conversation on the table.

Taco Tuesday means that Ryan spends his entire break eating, becausehe adores tacos. It also means, that he’s usually not that hungryon Wednesday, suffering from a “food-hangover”, as he calls it.Ryan has been poking at his mac’n’cheese for the last fiveminutes, not really eating much. He mostly pushes the food around onhis plate. Jen takes a sip from her coke and shakes her head.

“Ryan you look like a toddler, stop that.”

She snorts as he gives her a playful look and scoops some of thegooey pasta on his fork, pretending to catapult it in her direction.

“I said stop acting like a toddler, jeez!” She giggles andlooks up.

“Shane! Help me! Ryan wants to bombard me with cheese and noodles!”

“Well we can’t have that.” Shane says, clearly amused. He haswalked over, possibly curious what the fuss was about. “Food wasteis a terrible crime.”

Ryan shuffles to the side so Shane can sit next to him. He’s onlycarrying his water bottle.

“Do you want the rest of my food?” Ryan asks as a greeting.

“Sure.” Shane reaches out for the plate, but Ryan suddenlyhesitates.

“It probably got my saliva in there, though, now that I think aboutit.”

Shane snorts.

“I don’t care, Ryan. I’m cool with soft germs.” With that, hepulls Ryan’s plate in front of him, picks a fork out of the cup onthe table and shovels a bite into his mouth. Ryan looks at him,shaking his head, but he is smiling.

Jen lifts an eyebrow, looking between the boys. When Ryan catches herstaring, she pretends to zone out.

Kelsey I. thinks that Shane is probably one of the weirdest people atBuzzfeed and that’s saying something. At the same time, he isreally funny so hanging out with him during the break is a lot offun. He is trying to explain to her what the hell is happening in theHot Daga at the moment, but she still doesn’t understand how thehell he even ended up writing a story about anthropomorphic food inspace.

“You know what, let’s just sit down in the lounge and I’ll showyou season one and you can tell me what you think.

“Isn’t that all part of your postmortems? Are you going to skipthrough a bunch of videos now?”

Shane laughs.

“Oh no, don’t worry. Someone on Youtube has made a mastercut ofthe complete seasons.”

Kelsey blinks. She wants to ask why the hell someone would dosomething like that, but it’s Youtube and there are weirdercompilations out there. So instead she just says:

“Of course someone has.”

The lounge is almost empty, except for Ryan who is leafing through astack of papers, probably a script, considering he is holding a redpen, ready to mark things on the page. He is sitting with his back tothe armrest of one of the sofas and his legs stretched out over allthe seats and he doesn’t look up when they enter. However, whenShane gets closer to him, he pulls his legs up to his chest and makesroom. Shane sits down without a comment and reaches out to pullRyan’s legs on his lap. Ryan doesn’t even look up and simplystretches out over Shane’s legs. Shane doesn’t address it in theleast, he simply pulls out his phone and looks to his right. There isa two-seater, perfect for Kelsey to sit down and watch the stupidanimation on his phone… and she is wondering why he didn’t justsit down there. She looks between him and Ryan and can’tquite hold back a little smirk. He looks up, clearly confused why shestopped in her tracks. She gives a little, meaningful nod towardsRyan and he glances over, looks back at her and… frowns. As if hedoesn’t get what she is insinuating.

Kelsey decides it’s none of her business in the end, even thoughshe’s curious. She sits down on the two-seater and allows Shane toshow her the madness that is the Hot Daga.

Snow on location is always a hazard. The crew has to take care ofboth their equipment and themselves, driving required extra care andwalking through a forest could get a little dangerous sometimes.

They are not filming at the moment. Mark has enough shots of themtaking in the landscape and they are all cold and want to get to theactual location as quickly as possible. Shane rubs his hands togetherto keep them warm. He keeps teasing Ryan, who takes the cold muchworse than him and Ryan snaps back about the snootiness ofMidwesteners, when he suddenly slips. Shane grabs his wrist andhoists him up, preventing Ryan from slamming into the ground. Ryanfinds his footing again, blushes a little because of the surprisedyelp he let out and pats himself down. Shane is laughing, but stillasks if Ryan is okay.

They don’t dawdle for long. Once Ryan is sure he found his footingagain, they press on. Shane is still holding onto Ryan, his graspslowly migrating to hold hands with the shorter man. Ryan doesn’tseem to mind, he even entwines their fingers as they walk on.

Behind them, TJ tilts his head to the side in confusion. Mark shootshim a questioning glance and TJ shrugs, not sure if he should commenton it. He doesn’t.

Ryan drops on Shane’s couch and kicks his feet up on the coffeetable. He grabs the controller of Shane’s PS4 and enters hispassword without even having to ask. While Netflix loads up, hescrolls through instagram, eyes widening at some of the fanart he hasbeen tagged it.

“Holy Shit Shane, we got some really talented fans. There is somuch!”

Shane carries a bowl of popcorn into the living room and sits downnext to Ryan, glancing over his shoulder.

“Oh yeah. Hey, I think I know this artist.”

He points at a take on “Demon!Shane”, which depicts him withblack eyes and the shadow of something big, winged and horned behindhim. Ryan chuckles and double taps the piece.

“I have to make a new fan art appreciation post, soon.” He musesand Shane hums in agreement.

“Hey, want to take a selfie to send them some good vibes?”

“Sure!”

They shuffle closer together. Shane puts an arm around Ryan and holdsup a thumbs up while Ryan leans his head against Shane’s so theyboth fit in frame. They take the picture of both of them squishedtogether on the couch, smiling widely and Ryan posts it with acaption:

“Hanging out with the one and only @shanemadej for movie night andthe ghoulfriend and I got distracted by looking at all the amazingart you guys are creating! Keep being awesome, we really appreciateyour support!”

He locks his phone and drops it on the table in favor of grabbing thecontroller and picking the movie. Shane sinks in the couch and kicksup his feet as well. Two pairs of legs stretch out in front of them.Shane’s arm hasn’t moved from around Ryan’s shoulder and onceRyan puts the controller aside and places the bowl of popcorn on hislap, he settles into it.

They don’t see the amounts of heart eye emojis and screaming theirinsta has until the movie is over.

“Ryan… uh, can I ask you something personal?”

Ryan is sitting next to Steven and they went for coffee on theirbreak. He shoots him a suspicious look that drags from the tips ofhis hair down to his shoes and back up again. Steven almost laughs.

“Sure..?” Ryan sounds very careful.

“Are you and Shane… a thing?”

“A thing.” Ryan repeats, deadpan. “Like, what thing?”

Steven huffs.

“You know what I mean. Are you two dating?”

Ryan groans and rolls his eyes.

“Not you, too. People keep asking me that. Why do people always askme that?”

Steven makes a face. It looks like he’s a bit done with Ryan’sshit.

“I don’t know. Maybe because you hold hands? Share food? Go hometogether when one of you is drunk?”

“How do you even know all this stuff?” Ryan says, a littleincredulous.

Steven just shrugs. “I don’t know, people. People talk.”

“Apparently they do…” Ryan rolls his eyes. “But no, we’renot a thing.”

Steven shoots him a look and Ryan sputters.

“I’m not lying to you, Steven!”

“I didn’t say that! I just- you guys go on movie dates-”

“They’re not dates. We both love movies and watching aloneis boring!”

“You walk around holding hands-”

“So do you and Jen sometimes and nobody asks if you are dating.”

Steven sighs.

“You know what? Maybe it was stupid of me. Forget it.”

“Already forgotten.” Ryan huffs and pulls out his phone.

He’s lying.

He can’t forget it now.

“Shane?”

“Hm?”

Shane looks up from the book he’s been reading. He is lying on hisbed with his head in Ryan’s lap. Ryan is sitting on the mattress,legs crossed and scrolling through social media. His hand is inShane’s hair, occasionally scratching the scalp.

“Are we… dating?”

Shane closes his book and looks up at him.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Oh good.”

Shane frowns a little and Ryan laughs.

“Not- Not like good, I would hate to date you, just like…people asked me if we were and I assumed we aren’t.”

“No, Ryan. We aren’t dating. If we were, I would actually takeyou to restaurants, not head for the nearest Drive-thru.”

Ryan pouts.

“But I like fast-food.”

“Well then.” Shane says, opening his book again to find the pagehe stopped at. “Then, I guess, we’re kind of dating. Maybe?”

Ryan frowns at the air in front of him.

“Maybe?!” He echoes. “I think we should know if we are or not.”

Shane closes his book again. He sits up and Ryan’s hand drops outof his hair. Shane shuffles around till he’s sitting and facingRyan.

“Do you want to? Date, I mean.”

Ryan pauses and thinks.

“Not just… because people think we are, right?”

“No.” Shane chuckles and puts his book away. “I’m askingbecause I like you. And I think we would be a great couple.”

“Really?” Ryan asks, not sure if he’s surprised or not.

Shane shrugs.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. But… I kind of want to,if I’m honest.”

“Huh.” Ryan says, blinking. He thinks for a moment, with Shanepatiently waiting in front of him. Then-

“You know what? I like the idea.”

Shane smiles.

“Alright.” He says softly. “I guess that means we’re datingnow.”

Ryan laughs. “What, just like that?”

“Sure.” Shane shrugs. “What else is there to decide you’redating?”

Ryan eyes him up and down for a moment.

“Well, I guess we could try and kiss, for a start?”

Shane smiles.

“I’m into that.”

Ryan’s face splits into a grin.

“Cool.”

Shane shifts a bit till he sits right next to Ryan, their hipstouching. He places a hand on the back of Ryan’s neck and Ryan putsa hand on Shane’s knee as he’s pulled in. They meet in themiddle, their eyes slipping shut as they kiss and one of them makes asoft humming noise before they part.

“Shane?”

“Hm?”

“Let’s not tell the others just yet. I want to…”

“See them squirm?”

Ryan throws his head back and laughs. The sight causes Shane towheeze and drop to his side, propped up on one elbow. Once Ryan hashimself under control again, he leans in and braces himself over theother man’s body.

“Yeah. I kinda want to see them try and figure it out for a while.Is that too mean?”

Shane chuckles and rolls on his back, Ryan moving with him until he’sbracketing Shane with his arms.

“Never. I love it.” Shane admits with a slightly sadisticgrin and Ryan grins back, tongue pocking out between his teeth.

“Alright!” He says and leans down to kiss Shane again. Shane humsand smiles into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Ryan.

They post to instagram that night, with the single goal to mess withpeople. Ryan is sitting on Shane’s bed, legs crossed and lookingrelaxed and surprisingly chill for having a plush figure of one ofthe Hot Daga characters on his lap. Shane is taking the picture,sitting on the floor in front of his bed, with his back leaningagainst it. He gives an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The caption reads: “We got em!”

Not even a third of the comments address the issue of Ryanappreciating the Hot Daga. The reactions are occupied with differentthings. Including the very visible hickey on Ryan’s neck.

#shyan #Anonymous #ask #skeptic believer #domestic shyan

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ohnohetaliasues · 6 years

Text

1+2p Hetalia High {Ch.3}

(Kat)

let’s delve into some more madness.

{Kat}'s POV

It was getting late so I drove home. I took in all of the bags and set them down. I sat on the couch and held the cupcake in my hand. It wouldn't be a good idea to eat it. He wouldn't blow his cover by poisoning the cupcake.

I mean probably not, but I dunno man.

Right? I decided against eating it and put it on my counter. I went upstairs and changed into my pajamas. I flopped onto my {Purple} bed.

My bed isn’t purple but okay.

Friday. The day I can sleep in and not worry about homework.

Um.

You have school on Friday.

I fell into a deep sleep. I woke up to loud knocks at my front door. I moaned grumpily. I was so close to eating a giant marshmallow.

None the less I walked downstairs with my messy {Brown} hair. "I'm coming! Stop banging on the door!" I said. The banging didn't stop. I sighed and opened the door. Standing there were the allies along with the axis. "What are you guys all doing here!?" I asked surprised. A lot of them had notable blushes. Shit. I remembered i'm only wearing short shorts and a tank top.

No bra in front of many men.

I closed the door enough to cover everything except my face. "Okay now what do you want." I asked blushing slightly. "W-Well sorry to intrude. But we wanted to make sure you were okay." Arthur said still having a large blush.

Why wouldn’t I be fine?

"I'm fine. Like I told those three yesterday." I said pointing at the axis. "Do you mind if we come in love?" England asked.

Stop calling me that.

I nodded and opened the door letting them in. "I'm going to get changed." I said running up the stairs. I came back a little later with a t-shirt that said "fries before guys" and longer shorts.

My sister has a shirt like that.

I also had combed my hair. "Okay i'm back." I said walking down the stairs. The countries were looking at the flags I had on my walls. "You like flags love?" Arthur said looking at the British flag.

"Yea. I love countries actually." I said smiling. "Kesesese I see the frau (girl) has good tastes in flags!" Gilbert said looking at the Prussian flag.

Sure, I just casually hang a flag from a dead nation on my wall.

That’s normal.

I stood next to him "Well Prussia is the most awesome country in existence." I said also looking at the flag.

IT WAS DISSOLVED IN 1947 IT NO LONGER EXISTS IN 2018.

Gilbert blushed "Ja! Exactly!" Gilbert said trying to hide the blush.

wAI.

I heard loud scrambling sounds as my dog ran into the living room jumping on, and knocking down Ludwig. He started licking his face all over.

I laughed as Ludwig smiled and pet the dog while it was still on him. "Mantequillas! (Butters!) Down!"

Still a weird as heck name for a dog.

I said making him get off of Ludwig. He sat at Ludwig's feet. Ludwig gave him a belly rub. "Hey what's that on the table?" I asked pointing to some dishes of food. "We all made you some food to say thank you!" Feliciano said smiling. "Oh you guys didn't have to!"

I like how they just casually pamper me.

I said. Wait something's missing. Where's the cupcake from last night!? I saw Arthur holding the cupcake with a horrified look on his face.

We can address your irrational fear of cupcakes later, Arthur.

"I meant to throw that away! Just give it to me Arthur." I said trying to take the cupcake from him. He wouldn't let me have it. "{Kat} where did you get this from?" Arthur asked sternly. "I got it from a bakery." I said half telling the truth. "Did a man with strawberry orangey hair give it to you? Did he look like me? Did you eat any of this?" Arthur questioned getting in my face.

"U-Um…" I gulped. "Dude what's wrong?" Alfred said looking at Arthur. Arthur was distracted for a second so I was able to take the cupcake away from him. I ran and threw it in the trash. "There it's gone. Happy?" I said looking at Arthur. He looked guilty "Sorry love.

StOp.

I didn't mean to get into your face about it." Arthur apologized. "It's fine Arthur." I said smiling again. I turned my head towards the counter. I knew it. One of the plates had the black rocks I knew as England's scones.

Oh go figure.

Arthur noticed me looking at them and picked up the plate. "T-These are my best batch yet. I-It's not like I made these specially for you. I just had extra that's it."

And now he’s being tsundere. Which is normal.

He said turning away and blushing. Well I guess I had to die at some point.

Wow.

"I-It's okay Arthur i'm not hungry." I lied. My stomach gave me away by growling. "You don't want one do you?" Arthur said looking crushed. "No one ever wants one." he said sadly. Great now I have to do this. I grabbed a scone from the plate.

Welp. I guess I’ll die young.

The rest of the group gasped. "I w-would love to have o-one!" I said trying to smile. Arthur looked hopeful as I brought the death scone closer to my mouth. "{KAT}! NOOO!" I heard Alfred scream as he tackled me.

America is quite a bit larger than me, so--

Ouch.

The scone fell to the floor making a black mark on my tile. America landed on me hurting the bruise on my stomach. "AUGH!" I yelled as the bruise got hit. Ivan ran over and threw Alfred off of me. "Sunflower are you okay?" Ivan asked.

WHY DO YOU ALL HAVE NICKNAMES FOR ME?!?!

I held my stomach while on the floor. I had a few tears in my eyes. Ludwig ran over and tried to help. "Where does it hurt!?" he asked worried. I was starting to calm down "M-My s-stomach…." I moaned.

Well, I mean, America weighs around 190lbs seeing as he’s around 5′10″, so yeah. Me, at my 140lbs body weight, would have been crushed if he’d just launched himself onto me.

Matthew kneeled down next to me and lifted my shirt enough to see my stomach. The group's eyes widened as they saw the huge bruise the bully had left. It covered about half of my stomach.

Dude bruises don’t form that fast.

"That bastard!" Lovino yelled. I tried to get up but Francis picked me up. "Don't move mon cher (my dear)."

Thanks?

he said putting me on the couch. The pain eventually subsided. "T-Thank you Francis." I said. "THAT BASTARD HURTING YOU LIKE THAT!" Lovino yelled angrily. "It's alright Lovi." I said. Wait shit he hates that nickname. Lovino blushed "IT'S NOT ALRIGHT. I HOPE HIS MARINARA SAUCE NEVER STICK TO HIS PASTA!"

Why the heck are they all babying me so much?

I hate it.

Lovino said ignoring what I called him. Feliciano gasped. I laughed out loud. Eventually the group left.

They left fast.

I had to put all the food I couldn't eat away. I feel so freaking full. I think I may have eaten twice my weight. I needed to take a walk to help my digestion. I lived fairly close to some woods.

I put on my hiking boots, grabbed my outdoor bag,

Outdoor bag? You mean like a backpack?

What does an indoor bag look like?

and walked out the door locking it behind me. I stuck on the path until I heard some growling mixed with whimpering. I walked off the path to find where it had come from.

I followed the sound until I found a wolf trapped in a bear trap. It growled and snarled at me. I slowly approached it stopping at a safe distance. I let him smell me. He calmed down and started to just whimper. I walked up to the trap.

Stay away from wild animals, kids.

They can carry diseases, no matter how cute they are.

Also, where do I live? Alaska? Montana? Canada? The state I live in has no wolves. All we have is coyotes. And possibly foxes.

I found a large rock and started hitting the trap. Eventually it released. The wolf tried to run away but it's leg

Its*

Putting the contraction of ‘it is’ makes no sense in this sentence.

was too badly injured from all the struggling it was doing. I took out some bandages from my pack and wrapped it around the wolf's leg. It stopped the bleeding and the wolf limped away after licking my hand.

Injured wild animals will attack.

This is a known fact.

I smiled. FUDGE YEA! {KAT} HEALER OF ANIMALS! I yelled in my thoughts. "You healed it pretty well." someone said from behind. I jumped and turned around in a fighting stance. SHIT. Not another one! Standing in front of me was 2p! Canada. "Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm James."

James?

No.

2p! Canada’s name is Matt or Mattieu.

It was given to him by Himaruya.

he said holding his hand out. I hesitated then shook it. "I see you helped that wolf." James said. "I couldn't leave the poor thing like that." I said truthfully. James smiled and smirked. "Hmph. Hot and likes animals. My type of girl." James said eyeing me.

Why does this happen to me. I heard someone scream "JAMES YOUR BEAR GOT OUT!"

That’s casual.

someone screamed as a giant polar bear ran towards us. CRAP! I tried to get out of the way but the bear pushed me down to the ground. The bear bit the collar of my shirt and picked me up.

Welp. I’m going to die.

He sat down and dropped me onto his belly wrapping his giant arms around me like I was a plushy. His fur is so soft! "What the hell." James said confused. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A BLOOD THIRSTY ANIMAL NOT CUDDLING RANDOM GIRLS KUMA!" James said trying to pry me away from his bear. The bear growled and James backed off. "Great. Just great." James said sighing. "Oh my god he is so cute." I said with fluffy bear arms around me. Another man walked up next to Canada. FOR THE LOVE OF THE FROG UNIVERSE.

The what now?

Standing next to 2p! Canada was the bat wielding man 2p! America. I was not having a good start for the weekend.

Oh, this is just fantastic.

I’ll review the next chapter soon.

I’ll see you guys later.

~Kat

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purplesurveys · 3 years

Text

1237

disclaimer I’ll be taking into account the last 24 hours for the first part because it’s 3 in the morning and I haven’t really done anything yet lmao anywho

survey by chasingghosts

Have you today?

Looked in a mirror? Yeah I took a shower earlier so I couldn’t really avoid the mirror in the bathroom.

Watered a plant? I don’t do plants. Can never take care of them to save my life.

Worn denim? I did, actually. Some package came for me earlier today and I didn’t really look the most decent, so before heading out to meet the delivery guy I grabbed the first jacket I saw, which was denim.

Washed your hair? Yes, when I took said shower a couple of hours ago.

Been in pain? Yup my back and shoulders feel like hell from sitting on my ass all day while at work.

Had a nap? Kinda, I guess? I fell asleep at around 9, 9:30ish...woke up at around 1 AM, and here I am now. I don’t plan on sleeping anymore.

Brushed your teeth? Yup.

Kissed someone? Just my dogs.

Used a cheese grater? No, I don’t think I’ve consumed any cheese today either.

Eaten something sweet? Nah, it’s all been salty/savory for me today.

Spoken to a stranger? Sure.

Dropped something? I drop my vape pen at least once a day, so yes.

Felt upset in some way? UGH yeah. Our internet disappeared at around 2 in the afternoon and it still hasn’t come back, and our service provider’s social media has been unsurprisingly unresponsive and useless. I’ve been using data since then and I’m just worried about how long this would take because I don’t want to keep spending just for extra load. I also have my Korean language classes this afternoon which will for sure require a lot of data :/

Drank coffee? I have a full mug of it beside me right now.

Walked for more than thirty minutes? LOL no, I’ve only stayed indoors.

Signed up for something? Hmm I don’t think so.

Travelled in a car? See two answers above this.

Opened a can? Nopes.

Thought about doing something crazy? Just me thinking about dropping another couple thousands on merch until I mentally slapped myself and told myself I’d be fucking stupid if I spent on one more piece of stupid merch.

Listened to a new song? Yes, I tried listening to Love Shot by EXO over dinner since my sister had started humming it. It was okay but I quickly shifted back to BTS right after hahaha.

Written in a notebook? No. I only do so when I practice my Hangul but I have yet to work on that today.

Fed an animal? Yes, I have pets.

Checked your emails? I mean that’s kind of the standard in my job lol I have my Gmail tab up throughout the 8 hours.

Told someone you love them? No.

Made a phone call? No, I’m rarely the one who makes the call.

Have you in the last week?

Travelled on a bus? I’ve never ridden a bus solely for commuting by myself. I’ve only been on them when it’s the arranged vehicle, like for school field trips or our family vacations. Our public buses are quite bleck and unsanitary and the drivers maneuver the buses like it’s their last goddamn hour on the planet, so I don’t get on them myself.

Washed your face? I mean yeah, when I take showers. I don’t really have a skincare routine though, if that’s what you mean.

Used a blender? We rarely have a use for a blender at home so we don’t even have one.

Received a phone call? No. My biggest pet peeve is when delivery riders call me up once they’ve arrived at our place just to say “I’m here,” but fortunately the one assigned to me today to deliver my package knew how to use the doorbell.

Talked to someone you dislike? Yeah I have to deal with a client I absolutely fucking despise everyday.

Consumed alcohol? I’ve thought of it, but then I thought of how sleepy I get whenever I drink alcohol and decided against it because I wanted to stay up tonight.

Eaten pasta? Yeah, my dad made Filipino-style spaghetti for dinner the other evening.

Planned for an event? Not an event per se but sure, I made some plans? Punk is slated to make his debut on AEW/return to pro wrestling next weekend or sometime soon, idrk - and this is a big fucking deal omg, 15 year old Robyn has arisen from her grave - and Andi and I made plans to watch it together so we can freak the fuck out.

Asked someone for a favour? Yes. I borrowed cash from my mom since the delivery fee for my packaging earlier was apparently cash on delivery.

Watched something funny? I mean I watch BTS clips pretty much everyday and a gigantic chunk of them are hilarious.

Trimmed your nails? No, but I did bite on them multiple times.

Browsed Reddit? I did actually! After a super long time of not doing so...I just decided to randomly check out r/bangtan to see what’s going on there. It’s mostly Americans though so idk if I’ll make a habit out of browsing.

Talked to yourself? Oh this happens a few times a day.

Purchased tickets for something? Nope.

Felt like you were annoying someone? Just about everyday.

Cleaned a toilet? I have not.

Reminisced about the past? Not really. I’ve made references to the past with friends, but we didn’t ~reminisce.

Used headphones? Yeah I always use my headphones when playing Rhythm Hive so I can hear the beats better.

Laughed with a friend? Many times. Always just virtually, though.

Cooked dinner and then didn't feel hungry? I don’t cook.

Written a list? LOL yes. My period had been coming and I noticed I was crying over the smallest, stupid things, so I started a list of the things I cried over the last week. The funniest item on the list is probably an ad that was shown to us during a campaign briefing...

Played an instrument? Nope.

Felt jealous or envious? I will sometimes feel the tiniest tinge of envy and wistfulness when I see my friends in happy and fulfilled relationships, but it passes in a second.

Ignored a text message on purpose? So many hahahahahahah

Congratulated someone? Yes!!! Graduation season was last week so I congratulated a shit ton of friends.

Have you in the last month?

Made a piece of art? Making art was never made for me, so no.

Rewatched one of your favourite tv shows or movies? Yep, I rewatched Friends a couple of weeks ago.

Called a plumber? Nope.

Been to a see a doctor? I mean, technically I guess yeah? When I had to get my vaccine shot.

Finished a book? I haven’t done that in a while.

Had a crush on someone? Just celebrities but I won’t count those.

Travelled on a train? I haven’t.

Worn heels? Haven’t done this either.

Been to a friend's house? I’ve been to Angela’s house semi-regularly, yup.

Shared a bed with someone? Nah.

Been to see a movie at the cinema? I haven’t been to the cinema in like a year and a half.

Paid attention to celebrity drama? Erm not really. I also haven’t been up to date with that, especially with American celebrities hahaha.

Felt anxious? Maybe not anxious but nervous.

Taken an elevator? Yeah in Mega since that place is so goddamn big.

Given someone the cold shoulder? Yep, my mom when she is being extra annoying/condescending.

Purchased a new book/game/movie? I guess you can say that? I bought a subscription pack on Rhythm Hive because I was using it regularly anyway.

Applied for a job? I already have a job, so no. I did get a job proposal on Linkedin a couple of weeks ago with another PR firm, but I took a look at their clients just to see if the offer was something I could sink my teeth into - and even though their brands were quite high-profile, they were in industries I didn’t particularly find interesting.

Used a printer? Nah.

Had lunch in a park? No.

Gotten a manicure or pedicure? I have not.

Made an appointment? Just for my shot but that’s it.

Had a blood test done? Noooooo not another one of those plz.

Suffered from a major bruise? Not a major bruise but a huge bloody gash on my thigh after a particlarly rowdy play session with Cooper. There’s still a very visible scar on me.

Researched a topic in-depth? I do this quite a bit in my work, yes.

Have you in the last year?

Been to the beach? No, I’ve mostly stayed at home since July 2020.

Visited someone in the hospital? I haven’t. Too risky.

Played pinball? No, it’s never interested me.

Travelled on a plane? I haven’t. :(

Worn a costume? Sure, for Halloween last year I went as Dora.

Been thrift shopping? Not that I can recall, no.

Thought about getting pregnant or got pregnant? Definitely not at this point in my life.

Made a big life decision? Uh yeah this past year was both the worst and best rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since that shitty breakup...

Changed a lightbulb? Nope.

Framed something and put it on your wall? No but I have been meaning to do this for months. I just never get around to buying some actual picture frames lol.

Been stargazing? Not the professional kind of way with a telescope and all. I’ve just lied on my back at the rooftop to gaze at the night sky and the stars.

Made a new friend? So many!!! Reena is probably my bestestestest new friend <3 I mean we’ve met a while ago, as Angela’s mutual - even had a few drinks or so together - but we didn’t become closer until just a couple of months ago.

Added to a collection? I’ve had merch that arrive every week or so these days because I bought a ridiculous amount of shit between May and June when I was a new Army. I’ve substantially calmed down now, but I should expect to receive my running list of ordered merch up until September LMAO. At first I used to bitch about the really long shipping period considering all the products come from Korea, but after 3 or 4 fulfilled orders you kinda get used to it.

Been to the dentist? No.

Broken up with someone? Yessss. I didn’t know it at the time but it would turn out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Held a baby? Nah.

Created a budget? Yeah...doesn’t mean I’ve been successful. I always go over, hehe.

Confessed feelings for someone? There isn’t anyone to do that for.

Had surgery of any kind? Nopes.

Quit a job? No and I have no plans to anytime soon.

Been in a car accident? Nah but my dad has, c/o some stupid and unattentive motorcycle driver.

Purchased something worth over a grand? So in US dollar conversion, around P50,000? Hell no.

Been on vacation at least 500km/300mi from home? No. :( The farthest we’ve been to was Tagaytay and I think that’ll remain the same for a while.

Applied for an academic course? Yes, my Korean class.

Had your photo taken by a professional? No, it’s been over a year since my last professional shoot for my senior photos.

#survey #surveys

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overdrivels · 6 years

Text

The Way to a Heart (2)

You all underestimate how much I love this character. I also want to thank @dickbutt-writes-again for listening to me freak out so patiently, and giving such concise advice. It’s really helpful.

<<Chapter 1

Your day starts whenever your customers demand it, whether it be seven in the evening for Reinhardt's warm milk or three in the afternoon for Ana's 'tea parties'. The three main meals of the day are also ad-hoc as the agents are always coming in and out of the base at unpredictable times, work through their mealtimes, and (perhaps the worst offense of all) just plain refuse to eat.

Your day ended whenever all agents have retired for the day (or night); those days are few and far between. It wouldn't do to be unavailable when an agent is going hungry, so the time in between orders are filled with other tasks: cleaning, prep work, checking inventory, attending and scheduling remote meetings, planning menus, updating ledgers, maintaining the kitchen tools, etc. The days of twenty chefs in the kitchen at its peak hours (six at its lowest), everyone with a specific responsibility, are long gone.

Sleep came in the form of naps that pass in a blink. A proper night’s rest was impossible with agents like McCree, who is constantly haunted by nightmares and seek the companionship of alcohol to keep them at bay, and Agent D.Va, who refuses to sleep at an appropriate time and wanders often into the cafeteria in search of a late night snack (and some interesting, albeit one-sided, conversations).

Mornings, however quick they come, bring about the need to double check inventory to ensure that no one has come into the kitchen and filched anything. While Athena keeps the place under close watch while you sleep and will alert you of any intruders, she's not omnipotent.

You bite your lip as you go through the numbers, slipping in and out of the walk-in freezer, counting up near-empty containers, meticulously labeled in blue tape and sorted by category.

It shouldn't surprise you so much since the growth of the organization would naturally come with the growth of appetites, but whenever Agent Hanzo orders, the food supplies deplete rapidly. At first, you had chalked it up to malnutrition from being on the run for so long and not having a proper meal, but it is beginning to wear on your limited resources. It’s lucky he’s not at the base often, having to get shipped off with other agents for various missions. (Though, the demands for seconds never fails to make you smile and your heart swell—nothing is better than to know your customers have a healthy appetite and enjoy your cooking.) Between him, Agent Zarya, Agent Reinhardt, and Agent Roadhog, it’s impossible to predict just how much food you’d need without over-ordering.

"Athena. Stats, please."

From one of the screens high above the kitchen, once (and still is) used to show the incoming orders, the statistics of how many calories each agent has burned and a rough estimate of how much they consumed (and lost) within the past twenty-four hours are posted for your scrutiny.

You thin your lips and pace the kitchen, tapping the notepad in your hand. Agent Soldier: 76 has been at the top of the charts lately, and returning his food only half-finished and cold hours later. (It’s painful in more ways than one when you have to scrape off the crusted remains; it makes sleep even more difficult to come by). There's also the matter of Agent Symmetra's dietary restrictions; Agent Mei’s lactose intolerance; Agent D.Va’s preference for spicy food; Agent Reinhardt’s health; the list goes on and on.

As disappointing as it is, it's also a blessing that some agents do not require food (like Agent Zenyatta, who politely passes by your window with a gentle greeting and a friendly wave that you would return shyly. Agent Winston, on the other hand, refuses to eat much beyond peanut butter related delectables and takes the combined effort of Athena and yourself to convince him to eat something different.

You flip through your list again, already mentally trying to piece together a menu for today's meals and snacks from the limited ingredients. There’s always an abundance of rice, so you may have to stick with that again. Maybe some congee for breakfast with some shredded ginger on top (extra ginger for Agent Solider: 76 to open up his appetite). That could help with the rationing, but it’s not necessarily something that all agents would enjoy. Maybe oatmeal should also be given as an option today. But then it’d require toppings that you don’t have.

You turn a page, pursing your lips.

Perhaps the flour reserved specifically for Captain Amari's cookies may have to find its way into everyone else's food. (It's a secret stash of ingredients specially ordered for the woman's afternoon tea gatherings. You took great joy in watching these sessions from the screens in your kitchen, oven still hot and kettle at the ready in case more provisions were needed. You had watched friendships forged over the buttery, crumbly treats, and several relationships mended from a single cup of tea.)

You shake your head of the thought. No, you could never do that to her. The old Head Chef would have your head (but not before Captain Amari did).

Perhaps from another source...

Your sigh echoes in the cavernous kitchen.

The notepad is placed onto an empty counter, and you roll up your sleeves.

It's four days until the next shipment, almost all agents are present. Running out to buy more ingredients is plausible, but risky, and funds were being allocated elsewhere at the moment. If you’re careful and creative enough, you can stretch the current inventory over these remaining days.

And the health and well-being of the agents always came first.

You'll make this work somehow.

Two days have passed.

You chew some mint leaves, the soothing taste counteracts the slow burning in your stomach that is slowly crawling up into your chest that you steadfastly ignore.

‘Captain Amari prefers this without sauce and a lemon wedge,’ you remind yourself as you finish plating the fish. You reach into the garnish counter with shaky fingers and place the citrus slice beside the well-seasoned, pan-roasted sea bass fillet with blistered asparagus and grape tomatoes. Two slices of thick bread (no butter), her tea (dark like the night with mint), and her appetizers are at the ready on the tray.

You deliver it to the window where the woman waits—you didn’t even have to ring the bell.

The woman slides the tray over to the side, leaning in and down onto the counter. "Have you eaten yet?"

The insides of your stomach prickles and aches at the question, and you have to resist the urge to press down on it. Captain Amari is far too sharp for a woman of her years.

You thread your fingers together to disguise the trembling.

A thick french accent rises from your memories, sharp and loud, "Chefs do not eat until their customers have eaten." It echoes in your mind, stabbing itself into your stomach repeatedly.

"I will," you lie. "After, after I have served everyone." The paltry numbers of today's inventory flashes through your head.

She huffs, disbelieving. "In that case, I will not be having my cookies today."

"You...won't?"

Your mind betrays you and immediately begins concocting recipes that could make use of the eggs, flour, butter, and sugar that the sniper's cookies normally call for. Tortillas, pancakes, velouté sauce, pretzels, soufflés--the possibilities stream in like a torrent at the behest of your aching stomach. It's enough to make you salvate just a bit.

"No, I believe I've had my fill for now."

Integrity shocks your mind out of its gluttonous stupor of handmade pasta, puff pastry, vol-au-vent, and pierogi, and you slap your hands against the counter in alarm.

"Are the, the cookies no longer to your satisfaction? Do they require adjustment? Too much sugar? Too little sugar? Should I change the flour?"

She chuckles, one bony hand resting firmly atop yours. You jerk back, but her grip is too strong. She leans down and pokes her head through the window to peer at you with her single eye. You lean back and look away--her gaze is too sharp, she can likely see the weariness beneath your eyes and the crackling of your lips. You run your tongue over them self-consciously.

“Feed yourself,” she chides firmly, wagging a finger. “Do not make me come in there.”

It is against the rules for non-kitchen staff to enter this sanctuary, but even so, you took her threat to heart. “Yes, madame.” Your voice is barely above a whisper.

"Close the kitchen for an hour, and eat." Without giving you any room for argument, she picks up her tray and walks away, the tail of her jacket flowing behind her.

The quiet holds you for a moment before you look up at the screen. It's blank, but the clock is nearing noon. Closing the kitchen now would mean that the agents would have to wait until you're finished, and that wouldn't do. Maybe you could get by with chewing on some more mint until after lunch is served.

You suddenly grab your midsection when the fire in your stomach flares up angrily as if to protest your decisions, dry coughs disappearing into the sleeve of your elbow. It takes a few moments for you to compose yourself, but by then, your vision is swimming with dots of blues, greens, and whites.

Maybe you should heed Captain Amari's wisdom, after all.

When Ana comes for her afternoon tea, before you hand off her order, you ask again, “Arre you absolutely certain you would not like to have your cookies, Cap--Agent Ana?”

Granted, it would take half an hour to make them at this point, but the nagging in your mind remains.

"I'm very sure," she assures you. “Have you eaten yet?”

Embers still burn in your stomach, but it's bearable--not worth a mention.

“I have, thank you."

It’s the spare heads, fins, and tails of the seabass you have served everyone made into a broth over some leftover rice, but was still a meal that placated your stomach. (You had decided to save the ingredients Captain Amari so generously offered for another occasion—maybe make her some aish baladi—Egyptian bread. It’s not your strong point, but it was something you were willing to attempt for her.)

"Good. You must keep yourself in good health, we are counting on you.”

“Yes, madame.”

She scoffs, muttering something fond under her breath as she hefts the tray. "Now, I don’t suppose you could join us today?"

It’s not the first time she’s asked you to join her for tea. But what if someone orders and you're not there to receive it? What if they see you sitting around, joking, laughing, and making merry with the other agents while they stand at the terminal, waiting?

Your hands fly to your face and you inhale sharply. No, that won't do. Eating with your customers is something you can’t do. A chef does not eat before or during their customer’s meal times without someone there to cover.

“Thank you for the offer, but—I couldn’t.”

The older Amari hums contemplatively. "We'll get you to join us one day."

“Please enjoy your tea,” you say, pretending that her comment was just kind teasing and not a threat.

“Where are the cookies?” is the immediate reaction from Hanzo, who has started to become a regular member of these little get-togethers.

"Why, is that all this old woman is good for? Are the cookies the only reason you keep me company?”

“I--no, you are mistaken.” Hanzo looks away, crossing his arms tightly against himself.

“I’m just teasing,” she says warmly, placing the tray of cups and kettle on the table. Hanzo grunts, acknowledging the sentiment, but still indignant.

"Oh, let me." Mei is quick to lay out the cups and pour the tea while Ana takes her rightful seat. Hanzo looks irked that he would not be having Ana’s specialty cookies today, but a quick pat from the senior sniper on his arm changes that.

"Don't pout. We'll have some next time."

"I do not pout. Do not be ridiculous."

She gives him a smug look over the rim of her cup that he tries to pointedly ignore with a loud slurp of his tea and winces at the taste--just a little too dark, doused far too heavily in sugar and mint.

From the kitchen, you stifle a laugh behind your hand as you watch Hanzo's reaction from the screens where the orders normally appear, jotting down in your notepad to make up for this lack of cookies, and that Agent Hanzo dislikes Koshary tea.

Chapter 3>>

#my writing #please let me have enough discipline to keep going #now that chef has been introduced #onto the actual story #which is still being developed because I don't know where I'm going with this #hanzo shimada #reader #twtah #the way to a heart

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