#gonna work on my holiday exchange fic for a little while that should cheer me up

[bangtanloverboys]

indented fingertips // myg

summary: you don't know much about your roommate, min yoongi. until one day you come home to see him strumming away at a guitar, maybe he could give you a lesson?

pairing - rooommate!min yoongi x female!reader

genre - fluff; roommate au

word count - 2.2k

warning - nothing

author’s note - this is fic is dedicated to the lovely @cinnaminsvga for the @btsghostiewritersnet​ holiday fic exchange! this was a bit of a challenge as i have absolutely no idea how to play the guitar thus i don’t know proper instructions but! i gave it my best shot and i hope you enjoy it!!

“Yoongi, I’m back!” You announced as you shut the door to your apartment. As you were pulling off your muddy shoes, you could hear the pitter-patter of rain against the windows accompanied by light strumming of a guitar. “Yoongi?” You called out as you made your way towards the music. You followed it until you were standing in front of the door of Yoongi’s room, the door cracked open a bit ever so slightly.

Peaking in, there your roommate sat on his bed, his back facing you, strumming away on a black guitar. Needless to say, you were a bit surprised. You didn’t know he could play! Then again, you didn’t know a lot about him since he moved in a few months back. Your mutual friend Seokjin introduced you to each other after you said you needed a roommate, and Yoongi to his word was the perfect roommate. He generally liked to keep to himself, which was nice considering you liked the quiet. But at the same time, you felt like you were living with a stranger. 

You watched in silence as he continued to strum at his guitar. Listening closely, you realized that you didn’t recognize it. Did he write his own music? What else wasn’t he telling you? You swung your head side to side as he continued to play, only freezing when he stopped playing. He repositioned his hands on the neck of the guitar before strumming again, letting out a couple small hums as he tried to get the note just right. He must be composing, you thought to yourself. 

You wanted to step in and talk to him about it, maybe learn a little more about him. But there was something itching you at the back of your mind, something Seokjin told you when Yoongi decided to move in, and that was not to disturb him while sleeping or working. You assumed working meant like work related stuff, this is what he must have meant. Biting your cheek, you silently began to tiptoe to your room. You wonder why he’s never told you, but then again, he doesn’t tell you much about himself. All you pretty much knew about him was he worked in accounting, is really cute, and apparently plays the guitar. 

As you shed your day clothes and change into some sweats, you can still hear him faintly playing though the wall. It brings a smile to your face, learning something new about your roommate. Once dressed, you made your way out to the living room and turned on the television. The faint sound of Yoongi playing ceased as you started to scroll through the service, looking for something to watch. As you clicked on an old comedy special, you heard footsteps come down the hall. 

“Hey Yoon,” you said nonchalantly as he appeared in your vision.

“H-hey, when did you get home?” He asked, scratching the back of his head.

“Few minutes ago,” you shrugged as the comedian was announced and walked on stage, “Just started this. Wanna join?”

“I’m good. . .” he responded as his hand dropped to his side, “Did you-” A loud clap of thunder interrupted him, the lights and the television going dark. 

“Ah shit,” you groaned. Looking at Yoongi, who looked mildly relieved yet at the same time annoyed at the inconvenience of the powering going out. “How long do you think the power is gonna be out?”

“Uhh, I don’t know. Couple hours maybe?” He sighed as he looked around. “Do we have any candles or anything?”

“Uh, should have a few in my room, hang on.” You pushed yourself off the sofa and trudged your room, pulling off the candles from your desk. As you made your way back to the living room, Yoongi seemed to have pulled out other candles from their long forgotten hiding spots, lighting them and placing them sporadically around the room. He handed you the lighter as you walked over to him, lighting the candles as you placed them down on the table. 

The room was filled with conflicted scents of different types of fruits and woods; a strange combination, but not all too bad as both you and Yoongi sat down on the couch. The continuous sound of rain was the only noise as the two of you sat in silence, unsure of what to do next. 

“So. . .” You started, “Any ideas to pass the time?”

“I uh, I don’t know.” He mumbled, as his gaze fell down to his hands, picking at his nails. 

“How about 20 questions?” You proposed, a way to pass the time and might as well use it as an excuse to get to know your roommate a little more. He gave a meek shrug, signalling to you that it wasn’t a no. Turning in your seat to face him, you clasped your hands together, “Okay. What’s your favorite type of cake?”

He looked at you with a confused look on his face before responding with, “Chocolate?”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I don’t know, I’m not really picky when it comes to cake.” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in confusion. 

“Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to press, I guess.” You murmured, “It’s your turn.”

Letting out a huff, Yoongi turned in his seat to face you. His tongue in cheek as he thought of a question to ask. “Uh, what’s your favorite. . .book?”

“It’s Frankestien.” You answered. You caught an interested glimmer in his eye, so you continued to talk about it. “I like the classic monster stories, plus Mary Shelly was pretty cool too.” 

“Wow, I-I didn’t know that. I’ll make a note of that for your birthday.” He chuckled; you felt your heart flutter at the sound of his laugh.

“I- yeah, uh,” you scratched your head, trying to distract yourself from the sound of his obnoxiously cute chuckle. The only thing popping into your mind was the image of him playing the guitar, maybe now was a good time to ask him about it? “Do you- do you play any instruments?” 

“I uh,” his gaze fell down to the floor. “Yeah. . . Guitar. . .”

“Oh was that you playing earlier?” You feigned surprise. “I heard a little bit, you’re really good!”

A shy smile pulled at Yoongi’s lips, “Yeah, but I’m not that good. I’ve only been playing a few months.” His eyes avoided yours, staring at the lit candle. 

“No no no, don’t talk yourself down!” You pouted, shoving his shoulder a bit. “From what I heard, you’re really good.” 

“You’re just saying that,” he waved you off. “Anyways. . .what about you? Do you play anything?” He asked, diverting the conversation onto you. 

“No, I don’t.” You answered, but then it hit you, a brilliant idea. “Maybe you can teach me!”

“Teach you?!” Yoongi was baffled at your statement. “No, I could never, I’m-I’m not that good of a teacher.” He shied away from you once again.

“Come on, Yoongi.” You pursed your lip out in a pout, “Please! What else are we gonna do until the power comes on?!”

“Fine, I guess,” he muttered as pushed himself off the couch to go grab his guitar. You let out a small cheer as he reappeared with the instrument at hand. “I only know how to play Highway to Hell, Brown Eyed Girl, and an IU song. Which do you wanna learn?”

“Could I learn the one you were playing earlier?” 

Yoongi’s cheeks reddened at your question, “That-that’s uh, that’s an unfinished song. . .”

“Teach it to me? Please?” You pleaded, clasping your hands together in an effort to make yourself look more convincing. “Just the chorus?”

“Mmm, fine.” He exhaled as he positioned the guitar in his arms. “First, the basic chords are E,” he positioned his fingers on the neck then he strummed. “A.” He moved his fingers again then strummed the note. He proceeded to show you the rest of the basic notes, making sure you pay extra close attention to the placement of his fingers. Once the basic introduction was over, he began to demonstrate his song’s chorus. “It goes, two strums of D,” he strummed, “two strums of C,” he strummed again, “and four strums of G.” He strummed again. 

“Alright, seems easy enough.” You were impressed, it sounded pretty good. Okay more than pretty good, it was great! Yoongi was really talented, if he ever decided to put his music out no doubt you were gonna be the first to download it. “Let me try now.”

Yoongi handed the guitar to you and you mimicked the way you saw him hold the instrument, there was a twinge in his eyes as he saw you hold it, but he didn’t say anything. “Okay, fingers to the D chord position.” He instructed, you placed your fingers on the neck, your fingers looking close to how Yoongi positioned his. You looked to him, silently asking if the placement was correct; he nodded, giving you a tight smile. “Good, now two strums.” You did as you were told, it didn’t sound quite the same as how Yoongi did. From the look on Yoongi’s face, he noticed it too, yet he didn’t say anything again. “That was good. . . now two strums of C.” You repositioned your fingers again and yet again it didn’t sound the same. 

“Are you sure I’m doing this right?” You questioned.

“Yeah, you’re doing fine.” He assured you, but there was that same twinge in his eyes. He knew it wasn’t right, why wasn’t he correcting you? “Now four strums of G.”

Deciding to test his honesty, you placed your fingers in a position that definitely wasn’t the G chord and strummed 4 times. You watched as Yoongi visibly flinched at the sound, yet remained smiling at you. “How was that?”

“Great, you did. . . awesome.” He said as he gave you a thumbs up.

“Yoongii,” you whined. “You know that wasn’t right! How am I supposed to learn if you don’t help me properly.” 

“I just, uh, fine.” He scooted closer to you, taking your fingers in his hands and repositioning your fingers on the neck. “That’s the D chord, strum.” You did so and it sounded a lot better than your first shot. He repositioned your fingers again, “C chord.” You strummed twice more, you watched as Yoongi’s lips pulled into a smile. “Good, good. Okay and this is the G chord.” He moved your fingers once more and let you play the chord and it sounded almost like how he did it! “Great! Now do it all together slowly.”

Carefully examining your positioning again, you began again. Despite the long pauses between the notes as you tried to place your fingers in the correct places again, it sounded pretty good! Not as good as Yoongi’s playing, but it was still good! “I did it!”

“Think you can speed it up a bit?” He asked, his smile growing wider.

“Let’s give it a shot,” you straightened your shoulders as you moved your fingers back to the D chord. But apparently it wasn’t quite right as Yoongi stopped your hand before you moved to play.

“Sorry, just, your finger should be right,.” He with his thumb and pointer finger, he lightly pushed your finger a bit to the side, “here.” He pulled away with a grin on his face. “Now play.”

And so you did. With Yoongi’s help, you managed to play the chorus of his song pretty okay. After a while though, your fingers began to ache so you decided to stop, handing the guitar back over to Yoongi. You thought he was going to take it back to his room, but instead he started playing a melody that you barely recognized. Leaning back against the arm of the couch, you watched Yoongi play; the light of the candles illuminating the outline of his face. Neither of you said anything, the only noise that was heard was the sound of the rain, the crinkling of candles, and the sound of Yoongi’s guitar. 

As he played on, you felt yourself grow more relaxed. You slowly started to shut your eyes, but as you did, the lights blinked back on. Yoongi ceased his playing as the TV blared to life again, the comedy special overpowering the sound of his music anyways. Sitting up, you grabbed the remote and turned off the television. “Thank you, for teaching me. And-and playing in general, you’re really good.”

He slipped the guitar from his lap, leaning it against the couch. “I’m still just trying to learn and work on the song, it’s nowhere near finished-”

“Yoongi,” you placed your hand on his shoulder, “it’s gonna be great. I know it.”

He relaxed under your touch and smiled at you, his cheeks flushing. “Thank you, Y/N.” 

“It’s no problem,” you returned the smile. Feeling a little bold, you leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks again for the lesson.” Yoongi tensed up at the affection as you leaned back. “Maybe I can teach you something in return, like bracelet making. I don’t know.” You laughed, maybe it wasn’t an equal type of lesson as a guitar one but it was the only thing you could remember from sleep away camp. 

“Yeah-” His voice came out in a squeak, clearing his throat before he spoke again, “Yeah, that. . . sounds good!” He spoke as he rose to stand. “I’m uh, I’m gonna go put this away now.” With that, he picked up his guitar and scurried away towards his room. 

You chuckled as he left, heart feeling full after having a small bonding session with him. You were happy that you finally got to know Yoongi a bit more, with any luck you’ll get even closer.

#btsghostie #bgwficexchange #min yoongi x reader #suga x reader #yoongi x reader #bts x reader #min yoongi fanfic #min yoongi fluff #bts fluff #bts #min yoongi #suga

[writingwithciara]

Take Me Home For Christmas ~Sebastian Stan~

summary: in order to avoid all the questions about his love life while home for the holidays, Sebastian seeks out help from his best friend. she agrees to go with him but she has no idea what she’s about to walk into.

word count: 3.5k

pairing: sebastian stan x reader

warning: crappy ending. sorry :(

note: the lyrics of Take Me Home For Christmas by Dan & Shay inspired this little fic. it was supposed to be part of my holiday contributions but i forgot about it. I kinda veered off topic a little at the end & i’m very sorry that the ending is gonna suck. I finished this on no sleep so I’m a little out of it.

masterlist

“Come on, Seb. Christmas is next week. Are you coming home or not?” Sebastian listened to his mom whine on the phone while we rushed around his room & packed.

“Fine. I’ll be there in 4 days.” he rolled his eyes as his mom continued to talk.

“Good. Your great-aunt Maggie says she has a pleasant surprise for you when you get here.” 

His great-aunt Maggie. His eyes widened when he heard her name and his stomach dropped. It’s not that he didn’t love her. He did. Everyone did. She was the type of lovely old lady who would go out of her way to make everyone happy. 

Sebastian just didn’t like the fact that every time he saw her, she would ask him about his love life.

“I think she’s bringing the granddaughter of one of her old bingo friends.”

“Mom-”

“You’ve met Judy, right?” 

“Mom, I-” Sebastian could not get a word in when his mother got to talking about his life.

“She’s such a sweet girl. I’m sure you two will hit it off.”

“Mom!” he raised his voice slightly, managing to get her attention. “I’ve actually got someone I want you guys to meet. I’m sure you’ll love her. She’s awesome.”

“Oh. Sweetie, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. You didn’t mention her the last time we talked. How long have you been together?”

“It’s coming up on 8 months right now.” he chuckled when his mom gasped, knowing that it was her happy gasp. “Christmas will be the 8th month mark.”

“Oh. I’m so excited to meet her now.” he knew his mom was smiling. “I gotta call Maggie and tell her to just forget about Judy. I’ll talk to you later, honey. Goodbye.”

Before Sebastian could say goodbye, the call had ended. He slowly sat on the edge of his bed and looked at his phone.

Although, he had lied about his girlfriend, he knew there was only one person who would be willing to go along with the whole thing. So, he hit the call button on her contact.

Y/n was at work, becoming increasingly bored when her phone lit up & Sebastian’s picture flashed on the screen. Not wanting to be too eager, she waited until the 4th ring before she picked up.

“Hey, Seb. What’s up?”

“You’re coming with me to New York for Christmas.”

“Do I get an option?”

“Yes, of course. But I would really love it if you came with me. My mom really wants to meet you.”

“What did you tell her about me that would make her want to meet me so bad?”

“Mhm. What did you really say to her?”

“Not much. Just that you’re awesome & I may have mentioned something else.”

“What did you say?” by now, Y/n was sitting up straight in her chair.

“She told me that my great aunt was gonna bring me a girl to set me up with so i told her that I was bringing a girl. Naturally, she assumed that it was my girlfriend so I went along with it.”

“Okay. Well, I gotta go. The boss is coming but I’ll be home in 2 hours so we can talk about this more. Goodbye.”

Once again, the call was over before he could say bye.

2 hours later, y/n walked into the loft apartment she shared with Sebastian, and was greeted with a lovely aroma. She set her bag down on the table and followed the smell into the kitchen. 

Sebastian was standing with his back to her as he moved from pan to pan, trying to cook up something good.

“That smells delicious.” y/n walked over to him and touched his arm. He nearly attacked her with the spatula that he was holding.

“You can’t just sneak up on a man when he’s cooking dinner. It’s mean.”

“I apologize.” she giggled and looked at the pans. “It looks delicious. What is it?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s some kind of beef meal.”

“Alright. I’ll take your word for it.” she smiled and began the get plates and cups out of the cabinet. “So, tell me more about what you and your mom talked about.”

“There’s not a whole lot left to tell.” he shrugged and looked at her. “But if anyone asks you, we’ve been together for 8 months.”

“So when we get to New York, we’re supposed to act like we’re in love & that we have been for 8 months? Should we create a story to the relationship?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll make it more believable.”

That night, as they ate, their story started coming together piece by piece and the next 2 days were spent memorizing every little detail.

The plane ride to New York was shorter than either of them had expected but it was fun. 

When it came time to walk into his old home, y/n looked at Sebastian skeptically.

“What if I mess it all up? What if I forget a detail or something? What happens if they don’t like me?”

“Will you relax? They’re going to love you so much.” he held her hand for reassurance as they knocked on the door. His mom quickly opened the door and smiled.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” she pulled her son in for a hug and looked over at y/n with a smile. “You must be, y/n. Sebby, she’s so beautiful. Where have you been hiding her?”

“You know how I am with my relationships. I try to stay as private as possible to protect her from the spotlight.” 

“Yes. I do remember you telling me that.” she smiled again. “Come on in. Everyone is already here and they’re all dying to meet her, especially your aunt Maggie.”

Y/n began to follow Sebastian’s mom but she was stopped when he pulled her back. 

“Aunt Maggie can be very critical but I wouldn’t be worried. She’ll love you, I guarantee it.”

The pair continued into the living room where the rest of his family was gathered. They all stopped talking when they saw Sebastian, quickly erupting into cheers and running to hug him. Y/n stepped back to give them all some room and she stood there quietly as they surrounded him.

When Aunt Maggie came into view, y/n visibly tensed up as she approached her. Everyone sent silent as Maggie looked her over.

“Sebastian, you idiot. You lied to us.” everyone froze as the woman turned towards all of them. “She’s way more beautiful than an angel.”

The family exchanged looks of relief as Sebastian joined his aunt and y/n. 

“Yeah, she really is, isn’t she?” he smiled and held her hand, causing her heartbeat to quicken unexpectedly. “She keeps getting more beautiful with every passing day.”

“Oh, stop it.” y/n blushed and looked around the room. “8 months later & he’s still as charming as the day we started dating.”

“Aren’t you two just the cutest couple?” Sebastian’s mom smiled and went back to the kitchen.

“Come on, love. Let’s go up to our room.” he pulled her towards the stairs and up to his old room. “Told you they’d love you.”

“Your family is wonderful, Seb. I can’t wait to get to know them better later.”

“You’re going to love our family traditions that last all week, I guarantee it.”

“Well, you’ve been right every time so far, so I see no reason to not believe you.” she put her bag on the bed and let his hand go. “What’s the first one?”

“Since there’s a bunch of snow, we split up into 2 teams and go out to the backyard, where an arena has been assembled, and we have a snowball fight. It’s so much fun.”

“I hope so.” she smiled and looked up at him. “What else do you guys do?”

“We decorate the tree, bake cookies, go caroling. Sometimes we go ice skating on the pond in the park. We also go to the annual Christmas parade & watch the kids in the neighborhood show off their talents at the talent show.”

“Wow. That’s a lot of stuff. When I was growing up, all my family did was go caroling on Christmas Eve. Then we’d come home, get into our matching pjs and drink cocoa while watching Christmas movies.”

“We do that too. And we also stay in our pjs all day on Christmas day.”

“I do that still.”

“I know.” he smiled. “I remember when we got snowed in the first year we lived together and when I woke up that morning, you were drinking your cocoa and you gave me those pjs that matched yours and when you told me what you did during the day, I thought you were insane. But I’ve enjoyed it every year since then.” he smiled.

“Every year? You’re telling me that you wear your pjs ALL day on Christmas?”

“Yeah. It makes me feel a little safer because I know you do it too when you’re with your family at Christmas. It feels like we’re together at Christmas.”

“Awe, Seb. That’s adorable.”

“Okay, you two. It’s time for the snowball fight. I’ve already put all the names on the board downstairs. Let’s go.” his mom squealed giddily before disappearing down the stairs. Sebastian and y/n followed quickly, curious to see what team they were on. They ended up being on opposite teams and the final two in the fight. And since, Sebastian went easy on her, it was easy for her to bring her team to victory.

As the week progressed quickly, but in a good way, all kinds of traditions were celebrated. 

It was now Christmas Eve and the family members who weren’t getting food ready for tomorrow, were out caroling. Y/n, Sebastian, his mom, his aunt Maggie, and his cousins travelled from house to house in the neighborhood and sang their hearts out. Y/n had heard Sebastian sing before but there was something different about him when he was belting out Christmas tunes. It was mesmerizing. When they were done caroling, Sebastian and his mom exchanged a look.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, we thought that since you didn’t go to Tulsa for Christmas this year, we’d bring a little bit of Oklahoma here for you.” Sebastian smiled.

“What’s that mean?”

“Well, darling, it means that we’re taking you to see our homemade version of the  Chickasha Festival of Light. We got a bunch of people from the neighborhood to help us set it up in the park. It may not be Oklahoma but we hope you’ll appreciate it just as much.” 

“I’m sure I will.” y/n smiled and walked alongside Sebastian as they talked with his mom. “How did you guys know about that?”

“Seb told us last week. He told us that he wanted to do something special for you this year since you’re always doing wonderful things for him.”

“You raised quite the gentleman.”

“Thank you.”

The group continued their walk to the park. In the middle of the walk, one of Sebastian’s cousins approached y/n & asked her for a piggy back ride, which she gave him. One of his other cousins asked him the same thing & jumped on his back. When they got to the park, the lights turned on.

“Wow. This looks really great.” Y/n smiled and looked around. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anyone who’s important to our little Sebastian is important to us. You’re family now, dear.” Aunt Maggie spoke kindly.

“I know it’s only been a week but I love you guys so much.”

They all continued to walk through the park. Y/n couldn’t help but shed a few tears as they continued their journey. Sebastian noticed this and held her hand tighter. When they got to the end of the light festival, they obviously stopped to take a picture.

Back at the house that night, after the younger kids and older family members were in bed, the adults were hanging out in the living room, drinking cocoa and talking about the events of Christmas day.

“I hear that Seb has something big planned for tomorrow.” his mom smirked as she nudged her sons arm.

“Mom, you’re making it out to be bigger than it is. It’s just a present for y/n that I know she’ll love.”

“I don’t think anything can top that light show. Honestly, being able to see it this year was amazing. I clearly have the best boyfriend ever and the best family here. I can’t thank you guys enough for everything this week.”

“No need to thank us, dear.” Aunt Maggie smiled. “We’re more than happy to do it.”

Y/n offered a smile in return and rested her head on Sebastian’s shoulder. When she yawned, he knew it was time to say goodnight to everyone.

“It’s been a fun night everyone but I’m afraid my sweet little baby here, is tired so I think we’re gonna call it a night.” He stood up and helped y/n to her feet. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

After the goodnights were exchanged, Sebastian nearly carried y/n up the stairs and set her on the bed.

“Do you want to change into your Christmas pjs?”

“I didn’t bring them.”

“I know. But, you see,” he paused and reached into his bag. “I did.” He held up the pair of matching pjs that she had gifted him the first year they lived together. When her eyes landed on them, she sat up.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best?” she smiled and grabbed hers from his hand.

“I don’t recall.” He smiled and began to change.

“I’m gonna go change then I’ll be right back to tell you.” She smiled and went into the bathroom to change quickly before heading back to the room. “Okay. You’re the best.”

“I know.” He winked at her and moved over to give her some room. She laid down and faced him.

“Thank you for inviting me here. I’ve had the best week pretending to be your girlfriend, Seb. And it’s all thanks to you.”

“You’re my best friend & if I hadn’t invited you, you would’ve stayed at home all by yourself. I didn’t want you to be alone on Christmas. Plus, my mom was starting to get tired of hearing me talk about you & she wanted a face to match the stories.”

“It’s so cute that you talk about me with your mom.” She smiled. “What do you tell her about me?”

“I tell her about everything. I told her how funny you are & how smart you are. I also told her that you’re super successful at work.”

“I work a crappy office job that pays less than it should.”

“Yeah but you’ve only been there for a few months & you’ve already been promoted twice. That’s incredible.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She smiled and began to play with the strings on her pants. “You know, I owe a lot of my good luck & fortune on you.”

“How’s that?”

“You push me to work hard & you’re a solid support system when I feel like everything is falling apart. I can’t count the times you were there for me when I needed someone. You drop everything whenever I call & I know I’ve pulled you away from a lot of dates with those calls.”

“I’m always going to be there for you. No matter what.” He smiled and pulled the blanket over them. A brief moment passed between them where there was no line between platonic and romantic. “We should probably get some sleep. The kids like to wake up early & wake everyone else up with their excitement so we should be well rested when that happens.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Seb.”

“Goodnight.” He kissed her head and faced away from her.

Morning came faster than expected and y/n woke up before anyone else did. Or so she thought. When she made her way down to the kitchen, Sebastian’s mom was already awake, preparing breakfast for the entire family.

“Good morning & Merry Christmas.”

“Oh, good morning dear. You’re awake early. Did you sleep well last night?”

“Yeah. I slept fantastic. Thank you for asking.” y/n walked over to the woman. “Do you need any help?”

“No, sweetie. You’re a guest in this house. You don’t have to help with anything.”

“I know but I want to. Besides, cooking breakfast for 15 people is probably exhausting. And I want to thank you for inviting me int your home with open arms. I’d be more than happy to help.”

“You are just the best. Thank you.” She looked around the kitchen. “There’s not a whole lot left to do, actually. Maybe you can help me with these dishes.”

“Okay. That works for me.” She grabbed a dish rag from the counter and followed her over to the sink.

When Sebastian woke up, he was surprised to find y/n’s side of the bed empty. He knew how much she loved sleeping in when she had an opportunity. He climbed out of bed and checked the bathroom first. When he didn’t find her in there, he went to the kitchen, figuring she probably got hungry and went to find food. He was not expecting her to be helping his mom with the dishes.

“Merry Christmas, lovely ladies.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“What’s going on here?”

“Your lovely girlfriend offered to help with breakfast, but I had everything done so we decided to do the dishes that I dirtied. She is a freaking saint, Seb.”

“She really, really is.” He smiled and kissed both of their heads. “Babe, when you’re done here, I got something for you upstairs.”

“Okay. I’ll be back up there shortly.” She returned to helping with the dishes while Sebastian went upstairs to look for the present he got y/n.

A few minutes later, she was in the room with him.

“What did you get me?”

“The first present is something I didn’t want to give to you in front of everyone else because they would’ve made a bigger deal out of it than it is.” He handed her a box and watched as she opened it.

“Okay,” she flipped the lid of the box and an evermee necklace was sitting inside. “Seb, this is amazing. I love it so much.”

“I already loaded it with a couple of our best photos together.” He helped her put it around her neck. “There. It looks beautiful.”

“This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever given me. Thank you.” She smiled and looked into his eyes. Before their lips would’ve met, Sebastian’s cousins came running into the room, ruining the moment they were having.

“It’s Christmas. Santa came. Come on. There’s presents.” They both shouted and  ran back out of the room.

“We should follow.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” y/n followed Sebastian down to the living room where everyone was gathered around the pile of presents. The kids went first and got toys, the adults went last and got stuff they wouldn’t break easily.

“Alright, I have an announcement to make you guys. And it’s a big one.” Sebastian stood up and looked over at y/n. “I’m sorry but I’ve been fooling you all. Y/n isn’t actually my girlfriend.”

“Are you sure? I know what love looks like & there’s no way that what you two have been doing all week, isn’t real love.”

“Well, she’s been my roommate and best friend for 8 years. I brought her here to see if you guys liked her and I didn’t want to be set up with a random girl. Especially not when I know exactly who I want to be with.” He walked towards y/n and pulled out another box. “The day you showed up to the apartment, I knew the connection we had would last forever. You are my best friend in every situation & I couldn’t ask for anybody else. I love you & want you to know that I will never ever let you go, if you give me the chance to try.”

“I love you too, Sebastian. Nobody knows me better than you do & there’s nobody I’d rather have by my side through all the troubles. You’ve helped me grow and become a better person. And I am definitely willing to put in the time with you so we can be together for the rest of our lives.”

“Wait, are you guys getting engaged or something? Because that’s what it’s starting to sound like & there’s a ring. Tell me I’m wrong.”

“We’re not getting engaged, but I do have a ring for her. It’s nothing fancy. Just a simple birthstone ring with the date we met engraved on the band.”

Y/n opened the box and smiled. “It’s beautiful, Sebby. I love it.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, you idiot. Weren’t you listening before?” y/n giggled and looked at the ceiling. “How convenient.”

“What?” Sebastian followed her gaze and grinned when he noticed the mistletoe. “So, does that mean-“

“Oh, just kiss her, you idiot.” His mom smiled while gently shoving them towards each other. Sebastian stabled them & looked into her eyes before finally pulling her close and making sure that this time, their lips actually met in a kiss filled with electricity.

#sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan #sebastian x reader #best friends to lovers

[thegayfromrulid]

Can you do a pov reader with SAO gang holiday special?

This was a fun challenge! I’ve only ever written ONE POV reader before, and it was an x Reader for a mutual’s birthday! I thought long and hard about how to fit the reader into this fic, and I think it turned out pretty decent! Let me know how I did! 

           As you’re walking home from school, your phone vibrates in your pocket. Since you’re on the train, you slip it out and check the notification, curious if it’s a friend texting or just your mom telling you what to do about dinner. To your delight, it’s a group text. You flip it open to see a few people have already responded to the initial message. It looks like Asuna’s invited everyone over to the log cabin for a small holiday party in ALO. Lisbeth spammed the chat with a bunch of excited emojis, and a few confirmations had already been sent from Sinon, Leafa, and Klein. You think about how much homework you have to do for a moment, and then, with a shrug, you decide that it’s just one day. You deserve to hang out with your friends, especially for the holidays.

           With your confirmation typed up and sent, you smile and pocket your phone just in time to get off at your train stop. If you hurry and get a decent amount of homework done, you won’t have as much to worry about when you head to the ALO party later. You speed down the sidewalk at a quicker pace than usual, already feeling excited to have some much-needed break time from all of the school stress. Racing into your home, you barely stop long enough to slip into your house slippers and then you dash past the kitchen to grab a snack before you head into your room. You check the time. You have a couple of hours before the party.

           In that time, you complete as much homework as you can, checking off each subject’s work as you go in your planner. You get a lot more done than you thought you would have; perhaps the motivation of the holiday party gave you more energy. When you’re finally closing the last tab on your homework readings, you breathe out a sigh of relief and turn your head to look at your Amusphere, sitting there on the headboard of your bed, waiting to be turned on. With an eager grin, you change into some more comfortable clothes for diving, crawl onto the bed after closing your door and putting a note on it for your family, and then you slip the Amusphere over your eyes. You say the two magic words that will take you to Alfheim, and before you know it, you’re materializing in the living area, receiving a smile from Asuna and Sinon, who are setting up the coffee table with little decorations.

           “Oh, you’re a little early!” Asuna says. “Good! Can you take care of some of the decorations? Lisbeth was supposed to be here by now, but she’s running a little late because her mom needed her to do something.”

           You’re eager to help, so you ask her what decorations need taking care of. As it turns out, they’ve purchased pretty much everything the game had to offer in the ways of holiday decorations. There were wreaths, decorative candles that burned in different colors to resemble holiday string lights, more traditional candles, lots of red and green ribbons and garlands, strings of popcorn, and candy canes. Asuna has even gone through the trouble of making everyone holiday outfits that fit with their ALO races. She gives you yours, and you equip it quickly to get in the spirit of the party.

           Decorating goes fairly easy in ALO. All one has to do is hold something up to the wall and then press a button on the menu to say that it was where you wanted it. You take care of the wall decorations; Lisbeth and Silica show up a little after you and insist on putting up a tree by themselves. Sinon catches your eyes and rolls hers as Silica accidentally wrapps herself up in tree garlands. You can’t help but giggle at the sight. You’re stuck between untangling Silica and possibly taking a screenshot. In the end, Klein shows up and takes care of the issue—only to get himself stuck.

           Alice and Eugeo are the next to arrive, closely followed by Agil. They get to work immediately, making sure everything is in place. By the time Kirito and Leafa arrive, most of the work was done. Sinon immediately accuses Kirito of trying to get out of sharing the work, and Asuna jumps to his defense quite calmly, saying that he wouldn’t have been much of a help anyways. Kirito looks as if he’d wilted. Eugeo pats him on the back, laughing and telling him that it was okay that he was late. Asuna shares the remainder of the holiday outfits with the latecomers, and soon, everyone is festively dressed.

           The little log cabin looks splendid. You give Silica and Lisbeth a thumbs’ up for how nice the tree looks. The coffee and dinner tables both look grand, and they’d been filled with holiday-themed goodies, both traditional and ALO-specific treats. Asuna and Kirito said they’d paid for all of it. You think about how much yrd this all cost, and then you immediately put that thought out of your mind. They wouldn’t want you to think about that—they wanted everyone to have fun and spread cheer.

           “Shall we propose a toast?” Agil suggests.

           Lisbeth picks up a champagne glass and holds it in the air.

           “Yeah, a toast!” she says. “To another year of successful questing!”

           Kirito nods and picks up a glass of his own. You follow suit, and the others aren’t that far behind.

           “It’s been a long year of adjusting,” he says. “But we’ve all come to appreciate this world as our own as much as the world we were born in. This holiday season, let’s just be grateful that we can be ourselves in VRMMOs freely.”

           Sinon rolls her eyes.

           “And cheers to the increased drop rate for the holiday event,” he throws in at the end.

           Lisbeth snorts and starts laughing.

           “Kiritooo,” she says. “Be serious!”

           Asuna jumps in before Kirito could make things any less serious.

           “Alright, everyone!” she says. “We’ve got the savory foods ready on the big table and the sweet ones are in here on the coffee table! Please, do, take as much as you like! There’s plenty for a few more rounds of completely filled plates! And drinks are in the kitchen!”

           Not a word more needed to be said. Everyone hurries to grab a plate, and you find yourself trying to decide what all to try. The traditional treats could be found offline, but they were sure to be great, since Asuna most likely made them with her high cooking skill. On the other hand, the ALO holiday-themed treats were probably unique and interesting in their own right, and you’d never be able to recreate those in the real world—at least, not without some help from a decent cook friend, that is. In the end, you try to take a little bit of everything. After all, your virtual stomach doesn’t fill up the same way your real one did. You’d be safe trying as much food as possible.

           You take a seat on the long futon in the living area, seated between Lisbeth and Sinon. Lisbeth, like you, has filled up her plate with everything she could fit on it, while Sinon has selected a few things and separated them evenly on her plate. You look across the room to see Kirito with an equally stuffed-looking plate in his usual place in the rocking chair, and Yui is seated on his head eagerly downing a gingerbread cookie. Asuna sits down beside them in the chair, and across from you, Leafa, Alice, and Silica take up the opposite futon. Klein and Agil have cornered Eugeo to ask him questions about life in the real world. Everyone seems excited and talkative.

           “So, are you ready for the big New Year’s Eve quest?” Lisbeth asks you.

           Nodding, you smile at her and tell her you’re making sure to have the whole night clear in order to come and complete it.

           “It’s gonna be great!” she exclaimes.

           Sinon chuckles and shakes her head.

           “I think the eggnog is getting to her head, don’t you?” she asks.

           You laugh and shake your head. Lisbeth is always easily excitable at these kinds of gatherings. You’ve been with this group long enough to know it’s just the spirit of being together that gets her going. You ask them if they’ve got any holiday plans with their families. Sinon is staying by herself. Lisbeth’s family is throwing a big gift exchange party, which apparently is mostly gag gifts for laughs. In turn, they ask you what you’ve got planned, and you tell them what your family plans to do and which parts you’re excited for and which you aren’t.

           Asuna comes over and asks you if you’d like a refill on your drink. You nod and thank her as she pours you some more. It’s warm and smells delicious. It isn’t what you were drinking before, but you’re excited to drink it. Bringing it to your lips, you taste something spiced with a little tinge of apple. It’s a bit like a cider. Lisbeth sees the look on your face and excitedly leans over to ask Asuna for some of the drink. The drink, which Asuna calls Undine Spiced Wine, is a big hit with everyone in the group. By the end of the night, there’s not a drop left.

           No one wants to leave, of course. There’s a bit of chatter—maybe on the actual date of the holiday, there’ll be a gift exchange. The rules are simple; the item has to cost two thousand yen or less. Kirito says everyone can meet at his house. Anyone who hasn’t been before should text him for the address. As your friends start to log out, you tell them to have a happy holiday as you tell each one goodbye. Finally, it’s just you, Asuna, and Kirito there. They turn to you and ask when you’re planning to log out. You tell them you don’t want the holiday party to end.

           “Don’t worry, it’s not really the end,” Kirito says. “We’re just pausing to sleep before resuming at my place in a few days. You’ve got the address, right?”

           You shake your head. You’ve only ever met up with them online.

           “Oh, my bad!” Kirito says. “I’ll text it to you as soon as I log out. I look forward to seeing you! Bring something really fun! I know I’m hoping Klein will open the gag gift I’m bringing!”

           Asuna jabs him in the ribcage.

           “Kirito-kun!” she says. “You bring something nice!”

           You laugh and thank him, telling them both that you’ll see them at school. You log out and return to your bedroom, hearing only the running heat. It sounds like your parents aren’t home just yet. You take off your Amusphere and roll over to see your phone lit up with the message from Kirito. It’s his address. You smile and clutch the phone to your chest.

           The holidays have only just begun.

#sao fanfic #sword art online #Fanfic Request #kirito #kirigaya kazuto #asuna #silica #lisbeth #klein #eugeo #agil #alice #sinon #leafa #reader #reader pov #one shot #ask #johnnytheepic

[zabiume]

So, @recurring-polynya is someone who’s fics I had the great fortune of stumbling across, earlier this year (and I still don’t remember how, but I am so glad I did). I was always a passive RenRuki fan, but polynya yanked me by the collars and said “you’re gonna love this ship. I dare you to do it, I want you to do it,” and I did! She’s so talented and her fics always cheer me up because she’s just That Good. And while I did promise her that one Renji-Byakuya Stranded in the WoTL fic (I AM WORKING ON IT!!!!), I did find this in my drafts and thought there is no one better to gift it to. Happy holidays, polynya, I hope you have an amazing and safe one filled with the happiest and nicest things <3!

Title: he’s making a list, he’s checking it twice!

Pairing: Abarai Renji & Kuchiki Byakuya (platonic)

Summary: For the first time in decades, Kuchiki Byakuya is stumped. The problem? He has to buy his impulsively loudmouthed, graciously dimwitted, exceedingly loyal adjutant... a Christmas present.

Post-TYBW, but pre-RenRuki being married. Awkard fluff, humor, 2.2k (Read on AO3).

It was perhaps his general discomfort with the holiday season, or with any Living World custom that made waves in Seireitei for that matter, that had Kuchiki Byakuya mildly uncomfortable -- bordering on perturbed -- one late December night. He found work meetings in general to be rather incommodious, rife with matters that were either frivolous or could have simply been a memo. Sometimes both.

But work meetings that were not work meetings at all...Byakuya had a certain bone to pick with those. Friday evenings were dedicated for an early night in with his sister, an intimate but distant enough activity he had rather come to enjoy. Fate so happened however, that the esteemed Captain of the Sixth and the newly appointed Acting Captain of the Thirteenth were now trudging back home, calves-deep in snow.

All because of the upcoming Captain-Lieutenant Gift Exchange. Byakuya would have liked to file an objection with whoever had come up with such a daft idea, but it had seemed that most Captains seemed utterly delighted at the mandate that they would have to give their respective lieutenants ‘Christmas presents’ this year.

Byakuya pictured himself buying Abarai Renji virtually anything, and it made him shrivel in abject horror. Was it not enough that he sparred with the man once in two weeks and rated his performance as ‘passable’? Was he absolutely required to submit himself to the mortifying ordeal of gift-giving?

He was.

“I mean, if you’re that opposed to it, Kuchiki,” newly-instated Captain-Commander Kyoraku had said, chidingly, “I’m sure you and your squad could always pick up extra recons with the Eleventh.”

Byakuya had shuddered. If there was anything that made him lose sleep more than the prospect of being vulnerable, it was the prospect of having to collaborate with the Eleventh over something.

He frowned at the thought. He had yet to raise his voice in complaint with Rukia, but he could tell from the way her eyes were glimmering with mild curiosity that she suspected he was not...too pleased with the latest developments.

"If you wish to ask me a question, you may," Byakuya pointed out, a bit petulantly.

Rukia's eyes widened, and if it hadn't been for her eternal struggle to keep up with his long strides, he was sure she would have stopped dead in her tracks. She cocked her head to one side to regard Byakuya, then said slowly, "I don't think it's such a bad idea for the Gotei to be a little more...involved with each other. With the war and everything.”

Byakuya was scandalized at this. His sister? Defending champion, only second to himself, in bricking herself off? Wanting activities that merited more involvement of the social kind?

Suddenly, he registered with a belated clarity that her tone had been slightly watery. Memories of death, the very brink of it that had threatened several of Rukia’s cherished ones.The actual death that had plagued her in grief so insurmountable she had taken to long evening strolls with his lieutenant, and avoidant hours of paperwork late into the night. Of course.

He arched a brow. “I find it untimely that the new Captain-Commander suggests such a frivolous activity at a time like this,” he said carefully, “Especially considering your workload is already quite full without the consideration of ice-breakers.”

Rukia shrugged, though there was a slight icy sliver passing through her eyes at his comment, not unnoticed by either of them. If there was anything Kuchiki Rukia detested, it was her skills and abilities being undermined. Even if it was out of concern.

She shook her head nonetheless as they rounded a corner. “I don’t have a lieutenant yet, technically, since I’m still just Acting Captain,” she said distantly, “so this doesn’t bother me either way.”

He found that to be a relief.

Rukia’s eyes, however, regarded him with tantamount amusement. “You have to get Renji something, though,” she said, seeming highly entertained by the notion. “Decided on what to get him yet?”

Scratch that. Byakuya decided a headache was coming on.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

On the lieutenants’ side, things were more or less the same -- for the most part.

“If the Captain gets me something, I might actually die,” Kira said flatly, then carried on quickly, “Again.”

Everyone pointedly avoided looking at the Hole, shifting and fidgeting to create space between themselves and Kira’s rather morbid attire.

“You guys are such buzzkills,” Rangiku said airily, taking a light sip of her beer before clonking it down. “It’s Christ-mas, what’s wrong with a little gift-giving?”

“Oh, hush, Rangiku,” Hinamori said, mimicking her. “You have it easy. Shiro-chan will probably get you vouchers for those stores you like and call it a day.”

“Or maybe even a gallon of booze,” Kira muttered under his breath.

“Ah!” Rangiku lounged in her seat, awfully cat-like as she rested an arm on Hisagi’s thick shoulder. “He knows me so well!”

“I think Captain Kensei’s gonna get me a motorbike,” Hisagi bragged hopefully, bouncing his muscle so Rangiku’s elbow bobbed up and down with it.

“You think or you wish?” Renji asked skeptically, as Hinamori nodded in agreement beside him.

“Does he know you’re calling him Captain Kensei?” Kira added, raising his brows. Hisagi was undeterred in his excitement, however. It was only in his wildest dreams that he had ever imagined his father fi-- respected idol to have to be put in this situation and he was unapologetic about it.

Before the conversation could carry on, however, Hinamori prodded Renji in his side with an elbow. “Abarai’s been awfully quiet,” she suggested curiously.

Renji’s ears burned as everyone suddenly turned their gaze on him.

“Oh, poor Abarai,” Rangiku wailed, and he wondered just how many beers had been passed around for her to get to this state of Extreme Concern. “At this point the most you can expect is like, a greeting card.”

“Or cash,” Hisagi added, then paused, “Though a bonus doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

Kira and Rangiku nodded along. Kira turned to Renji with a contemplative frown, “He is of nobility, though, so it’s very likely you might get a bottle of expensive, vintage alcohol worth your entire life savings,” he mused. “It’s a very uninvolved and easy gift. Nobles do that all the time for house-warmings and baby showers and such.”

Noticing Renji’s growing discontent, however, Hinamori added kindly, “It’s okay, Abarai. My Captain’s probably going to get something weird for me, too. At least yours won’t be insanely personal to the point of uncomfortable.”

Renji shook his head. “It’s not that,” he grumbled, crossing his arms. “The Cap’n’s very particular about giving out things. Things like paperwork, and extra drills and sparring are his rewards for good work.”

Kuchiki Byakuya did not hand out advice generously. And Renji quite liked having to earn his rewards through hard work. They had a system. It worked. It seemed like a horrible idea to have his Captain do the mental gymnastics to buy him a present.

Not to mention totally awkward.

He noticed everyone was giving him a weird look. “What?”

“I’m just glad we don’t have to get them shit,” Rangiku said, after a long pause where everyone had seemingly decided not to bother with Renji anymore. “Paycheck’s coming in a little low this year and the Captain is already so hard to shop for!”

The conversation moved on seamlessly, but Renji was still stuck on the one little detail.

It was going to be so awkward.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

“He’s your lieutenant, Kuchiki,” Hitsugaya grumbled, arms crossed as they stood by each other after a particularly long Captain’s meeting. “Don’t you know him at all?”

He did. Abarai Renji was a strange man, one who valued hard work and self-improvement almost as much as he did. His respect for regimen, for order and learning was – it was zealous, to say the least.

He could give the man twenty hours of extra paperwork and only receive minor complaining in return. What could one give to a madman like that?

“What are you giving your adjutant?” Byakuya enquired with a frown. If anyone accused him of floundering, he would have no qualms about firing off his bankai in polite company like the once sullen-tempered youth he had been.

Hitsugaya shrugged. “There’s that Living World boutique by District 21 that she likes,” he explained solemnly. “I am well acquainted with the owner, it should be no big deal to secure a voucher or two.” He tucked his arms behind his back and nodded at Byakuya with a cool seriousness in his eyes. “It will be alright. Abarai is not a particular man; I’m sure you’ll find something to his tastes.”

Somehow, Byakuya highly doubted it.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

Renji slid the door of the Sixth’s office and stepped in, the little ‘swoosh’ of the thin door sounding off behind him.

He immediately froze when he noticed his Captain still sitting at his desk, hunched over something. His eyes drifted to the clock. It was late. Renji had purposefully decided to return when it was. Why was Byakuya still here?

Upon closer inspection of the man’s pale hands, he noticed several brightly-colored, flashy pamphlets declaring all sorts of percentages off on…sunglasses, of all things.

Did Rukia put him up to this? Renji decided it would be so her to suggest her brother get him sunglasses in the dead of winter. He flushed. It was another moment before he realized he and Byakuya were staring at each other, like lost sheep in a herd clinging to each other for guidance.

Byakuya cleared his throat. “The Eighth has just signed the demand draft for equipment charges.”

Renji pretended not to notice the winter coat catalogue by his desk as he came up to his own. He nodded, wanting the ground to bury him. “That’s – that’s good, Captain,” he said. “I’ll have our guys secure the payment by Monday.”

There was a moment’s worth of silence. Then, Renji decided he was about done with this whole Captain-Lieutenant Exchange thing. He braced himself, then straightened as he spoke,

“You know, sir, with all due respect, you don’t have to get me anything.” He felt a wave of something as Byakuya arched a brow. “I mean, we already had our hands full with the Quincy War and everythin’ and I just think we should focus on getting the squad back in shape. Patchin’ the holes, fillin’ up expense reports – that sorta thing.” He paused, wondering why barrages of words seemed to flow whenever he was especially nervous. It was not a trait he really liked about himself. Besides, the Captain usually cut him off halfway anyway, so…

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Renji braved a glance at him. “I, uh, I’m not much of a gift guy so it’s – it’s okay.”

Byakuya’s expression gave nothing away about his inner predicament. Renji felt beads of sweat starting to pool down his forehead.

“I see,” he said, finally.

“Yep,” Renji replied, scratching his ear. He lifted the demand draft slip from Byakuya’s table, pretended his long fingers didn’t brush the ‘25% off, at Gin Tonbo only this weekend’ as he held it up. “Gonna mail this in.”

Byakuya nodded curtly.

As Renji began rushing out of the office again, he felt a swarm of heat fill his face. Would there ever be a confrontation with Kuchiki Byakuya that left him feeling like less of an idiot?

Verdict: unlikely.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

On Christmas morning, Renji traipsed up to his office with a new vigor. They had just discharged their last officer from General Relief, everyone finally had the required number of limbs to get back in training. The absolute icing on cake had been that he had the afternoon off and Rukia had picked some seedy bar that didn’t give a shit about Christmas but had plenty of beer to go to.

That worked for him. He had had enough with Christmas anyway.

All that was left was for him to inform his Captain he’d be leaving, and then clock out.

When he approached the mouth of their joint offices, however, it was empty.

Byakuya usually didn’t leave any notes to say where he was going, but Renji generally knew where he’d be and for once, he didn’t. When Renji saw a pot, meticulously wrapped with a bow in the distinct Kuchiki cross-knot style, however, his heart leapt to his throat.

He thought…but the discussion they’d had the other day ended all conversation about gift-giving, hadn’t it?

Renji gingerly stepped towards the table, like he was afraid of setting off a tripwire. When he arrived closer to the edge, he noticed that the pot had a spiral of tiny, purple specks straining and rising towards the sun. The plant had barely started flowering, but it was vibrant – distinct enough that the pleasant odour of its bloom pervaded his senses.

To his utter and complete shock, there was a note. Renji used two trembling fingers to peel it off the pot, then glanced around his shoulders once to see if anyone else was in the office.

At the subsequent vacancy, he unfolded the flap of the expensive-smelling card.

The catmint, as a species, is characterized by its resilience. Strong-willed and remarkably persistent, it can be found braving the harshest winters with an admirable economy. This particular cultivar has been groomed in the Kuchiki Estate. I hope you will find it to your liking.

-       Kuchiki Byakuya

28th Head, House of Kuchiki

Captain of the Sixth, Gotei 13

#byakuya is horrible at this #renji abarai #i refuse to have a byakuya tag #myfic #bleachmas 2020

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange Masterlist 

A huge thanks to every person who signed up for our gift exchange, we got 18 really wonderful fics! For anyone who isn’t sure what this was all about, this was a double blind gift exchange where each of our eighteen (18!!!) writers were assigned four tropes from an anonymous recipient, and were tasked with writing a fic that fit our holiday theme, and included all the tropes. The only guidance from their recipient were a couple of brief notes they included during the sign up, and both the writer and recipient were revealed when we shared all the fics! These fics, as with all our Chopped fics, were creative and unique, and found ways to utilise tropes that may seem so simple in really spectacular ways! If this gift exchange, or any of our other Chopped events, have sparked your interest, keep your eyes peeled on this page for some future events we have planned, and sign up to join the fun! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these wonderful holiday fics!

Love to everyone who participated, Bailey and Sara <3 

Let it Snow (And I’ll Get Sentimental) [G] (Memori) 

Written by @mylifeiskara, for @hostagetakerandhistraitor​. The four assigned tropes were 1) friends made a bet, 2) one character kisses the other and the one who got kissed is shocked still, 3) amnesia AU, 4) ark AU (or any other AU where the story takes place in space).

All John Murphy wants for Christmas is for Emori to remember who he is.

Won’t let you go [G] (Clurphy) 

Written by sapphictomaz, for @vmreed​. The four assigned tropes were 1) childhood friends-to-lover, 2) grounder au, 3) tattoos, and 4) body painting

There is nothing shared in Clarke and Murphy's lives. They come from opposite clans who have a history of warfare between them. She lives in the jungle, while he calls the mountainside home. She celebrates the holidays by dancing the year away, and he does so by claiming dominance on another year that has passed.

They meet, anyways, and realize that sometimes, you have to make your own traditions.

Contained Constant Chaos [T] (Murven)

Written by @vmreed, for sapphictomaz. The four assigned tropes were 1) Post-Apocalypse AU (different from canon), 2) Found Family, 3)Hurt/Comfort, and 4) "You're an asshole to everybody else, but you're nice to me"

“Please don’t kill me.” He said, stupidly.

She raised an eyebrow, saying nothing, but offering him a box of tampons.

and i’ll die by your side if you want me to [T] (Memori)

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman​, for @justbecauseyoubelievesomething. The four assigned tropes were 1) based on a tv show (author chose Timeless), 2) soulmate AU, 3) fake dating, and 4) timeloop/groundhog day AU.

Murphy got tapped to come work for a special project after he was arrested for stealing a military vehicle right off of the base (long story). Turns out the special project... involved time travel... so theres that. About 6 months after he signed on, it all went horribly sideways, and now they were chasing their friends across history, trying to stop them from making a horrible mistake.

Thats how they end up in the middle of World War I France on Christmas day in 1914. Thats how she dies.

And then... somehow... the day begins again. Can he figure out a way to stop The Blake Siblings from wrecking history forever and also save the girl?

This Christmas, You're All That I Want (Just Don't Tell Anyone) [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @bellarkestitchdelena​, for @captaindaddykru​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Joke kiss turned serious, 2) The main ship must share something (can literally be anything), 3) Two characters giving extremely biased flashbacks to an event, and 4) Secret Relationship.

It all starts trying to prove Murphy wrong

Season’s Grievances [G] (Multi)

Written by @hostagetakerandhistraitor​, for @teeandsnowflakes​. The four assigned tropes were 1) a terribly loud crash and one of the characters yelling ‘IM OKAY’ from another room, 2) huddle for warmth, 3) found family, and 4) one character is ‘icy’ and slowly defrosts. 

Bellamy and Raven have been best friends for over 3 years. They found each other at their low points and bonded to turn each other into better people. But when Bellamy starts dating Raven's ex, Echo, things get icy. This is a story of family, friendship, romance, betrayal, culinary inaptitude, with a slight zest of things I wanted to be canon. Also a Blake family Christmas party.

Kiss Me Babe, It's Christmas Time [M] (Bellarke)

Written by @eyessharpweaponshot, for @shen-gong-oops​. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character has a child, 2) Characters are not together but are mistaken for a couple, 3) Terribly loud crash and one character goes ‘oops’ in a casual voice, 4) Two characters giving extremely biased flashbacks of the same event.

How long have you been in love with him? Seven years now?’ ‘Eight’ Clarke corrects him, her voice muffled through her hands as she cups her face. She’s still trying to calm her heart rate down. Murphy simply laughs, his amusement of this clear as day. ‘Don’t know what you’re laughing at. You were in the same boat with Raven’ Clarke reminds him. ‘Not for eight years, I wasn’t.’ Clarke rolls her eyes. She should never have told Murphy. The results of too much wine and being the last ones standing after a night in Grounders a couple of years ago. ‘Look, all I’m saying is it might be worth telling him’ he shrugs, leaning against the broom in his hand. Clarke gives him a pointed look. ‘Nobody is telling Bellamy anything.’

Christmas time, a harbouring secret and a festive get-together. The perfect combination.

where the love light gleams [T] (Murven)

Written by @teeandsnowflakes, for @kuklash​. The four assigned tropes were 1) meet cute, 2) first kiss, 3) surprise proposal, 4) pregnancy AU.

Raven hadn't been home for Christmas in four years, but the one year she did, she met Murphy, new in town since she had last been there, and learns a very important lesson about the holidays.

i know you can feel the magic we don't need to talk about it [T] (Bellarke)

Written by @captaindaddykru , for @eyessharpweaponshot​. The four assigned tropes were 1) exes, 2) jealousy, 3) protectiveness, 4) modern au. 

Christmas eve, Clarke's sort-of-ex shows up at her door in the middle of an awkward family dinner and so she ends up flashing him. Holiday spirit and all.

Dance Your Way Home [T] (Becho)

Written by @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​, for @dylanobrienisbatman​. The four assigned tropes were 1) historical AU (1920′s or earlier), 2) almost kiss/interrupted kiss, 3) holiday party, and 4) sunrises.

“We need to get you home. You’re freezing.”

Home. She has no home.

Everyone Telling You Be of Good Cheer [G] (Clurphy)

Written by @kinetic-elaboration​, for @hopskipaway​. The four assigned tropes were 1) amnesia, 2) found family, 3) oblivious pining, and 4) and mistletoe kiss.

“Merry Christmas, by the way,” Clarke adds, which settles that.

“You too. Merry Christmas.” He takes down Bellamy’s NYU mug without thinking, tries to shake the feeling that he’s no more than an extra in Clarke’s amnesiac version of Groundhog’s Day. That this is, somehow, normal. That he is not wondering, the thought like an invasive little jingle in his ear, what she thinks yesterday was.

The day after Murphy, Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven return from disappointing family Christmases, Clarke wishes that they could have spent the holiday together instead. A fall down the stairs, a bout of amnesia—and suddenly it’s Christmas again. And again. And again. Reliving the day puts even Murphy into the holiday spirit, and helps him learn to open his heart to his friends, and to the possibility of love.

3 Times Murphy Lost a Fight, and 1 Time He Didn't  [M] (Clurphy)

Written by @kuklash​, for @mylifeiskara​. The four assigned tropes were 1) 3+1, 2) Oblivious Pining, 3) Work Party, and 4) First Kiss.

Dec. 20th, 2003

"This party is gonna fucking suck, Clarke."

"Of course it’s gonna suck, Murphy, but if you want this job you have to schmooze," the blonde said with an eye roll. "The best place to schmooze is the company Christmas party."

A Little Brighter [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @shen-gong-oops​, for @bellarkestitchdelena​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Rivals to Lovers, 2) Arranged Marriage AU, 3) Pregnancy, and 4) Sunsets.

Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Clarke. "If I were to take up your father's offer for knighthood, please know, I do not wish to be the knight to the princess of all Arkadia."

Or: Bellamy takes a really long time to realize he's being a hypocrite.

when i’m feelin' alone (you remind me of home) [G] (Clurphy)

Written by @hopskipaway​, for @probably-voldemort​. The four assigned tropes were 1) royalty au, 2) marriage pact, 3) clumsy character, and 4) roommates. 

Within the walls of the palace, Princess Clarke of Arkadia lives a quiet and lonesome life.

That is, until John Murphy waltzes into her life and changes it forever. She’s not complaining.

sweet dreams of holly and ribbon, mistakes are forgiven, and everythin' is icy and blue, and you would be there too

make my wish come true [T] (Murven)

Written by @probably-voldemort​, for @kinetic-elaboration​. The four assigned tropes were 1) almost kiss / interrupted kiss, 2) holiday movie (as in being in a holiday movie), 3) friends with benefits, and 4) band au. 

It's been ten years since the Delinquents went off air, so clearly it's time for a reunion in the form of a Christmas special. Yeah, it sounded like bullshit to Murphy, too, but he hadn't seen the crew since Raven's wedding a few years back, and he'd managed to convince Kane that his character should have a dog, so there was no way it could be all bad.

Right?

Last Christmas [NR] (Bellarke)

Written by @bellarkeshoe​, for @hiddenpolkadots​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Exes, 2) Fake dating, 3) Kiss under the mistletoe, and 4) Modern Au.

Bellamy Blake never thought he would see Clarke Griffin again in his life. At least, not after the way things ended. He wished that things had gone differently because well, he cared about her. He loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He never even really got the chance to tell her that.

Everything happened so fast. One moment he is as happy as he can be, enjoying his life as a professor with an amazing girlfriend, and just like that, his world came crumbling down and over one huge misunderstanding.

But when they ended it, they both said some things they didn’t mean, or well he hoped she didn’t mean what she had said, he knows he didn’t.

But that is all in the past now, he can never forget about her, he still thinks about her everyday, but there is nothing he can really do about it. Clarke hates him for some reason and he doesn’t know if he’s totally over the fact that she ended things.

He is sure she had a good reason to. I mean at least that’s what he hopes. If the love they felt for each other was genuine and real than she should have had a very good reason to end things, right?

your eyes outshine the town, they do [T] (Bellarke)

Written by @hiddenpolkadots​, for @thelittlefanpire. The four assigned tropes were 1) magic au, 2) competing businesses, 3) secret relationship, and 4) kiss in the snow.

“I’m going to make you enjoy Christmas,” she tells him, her confidence in herself almost overwhelming. “I can’t do anything about the weather but I’m pretty sure I can handle the rest. By the time the season is over you’re going to love Christmas.”

“I highly doubt that,” he says, staring at her hard. “I may just tolerate it at best.”

“I’ll take it,” she says, “Bellamy Blake, prepare to have the best Christmas of your life.

or, sometimes christmas is you and your rival falling into a snowbank together.

Taste of Arkadia [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @thelittlefanpire​, for @bellarkeshoe​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Rivals to Lovers, 2) Character A catches Character B crying, 3) Modern AU, and 4) Competing businesses (author’s choice).

Before Christmas, the Chancellor of Arkadia charges his son with the task of repurposing the city’s warehouse district into a cool, hip hub for commerce and camaraderie.

At its opening, an impromptu competition among the many businesses in the area begin for the best spot in the ARK.

Take a read! Leave a kudos/comment! These fics are so unique and fun and the authors worked so hard on them. Thanks so much!

#chopped: holiday gift exchange #chopped: holiday trope exchange #chte2019 #bellarke #becho #memori #clurphy #murven #linctavia #masterlist

[fullsunhyuckie]

lost in osaka(’s beauty)

uber driver!yuta

in which you needed a plus one for a work event and yuta was conveniently there to aid you,,and maybe even more.

a/n: i’ve officially gotten out of my slump (i hope hehehe) so this is pretty long. oh and i swear this fic sounds better than you think. enjoy!

12.19am

if anyone knows you, they’d know how much your work means to you. everything else comes second to your work. your family complains about how you take it too seriously most of the time and that you should consider taking a break. so when the day comes that you finally decide to bring yourself on a vacation, they might as well mark it as a public holiday.

as you were packing for your trip in the two hours you had left before you had to depart, you received a call from your boss. a part of you was glad because maybe you could, in fact, ditch this trip and get back to work. the other part of you was a little disappointed because you did plan the whole trip by yourself.

'' y/l/n, i need you to stand in for me at the Japanese Media Conference in Osaka, the night after tomorrow.'' your boss ordered casually. ''and do bring a plus one. that should suffice. you'll need to prepare a sum of money enough for a pair of outfit for you and your plus one. please be there by 8 and dress nicely. thank you.'' he added only to hang up abruptly.

though you were shocked, you were more frustrated because how in the world are you going to find a boy willing enough to go to a conference all the way in Japan. just as you were about to deliver the news to your parents, you saw them come in with a bag of medication and toiletries with wide smiles on their faces.

so when they asked you, " where's our baby going? you haven't told us yet!", you softly replied to them, "i guess i’m going to japan!" they cheered and your anger washed away. it was one thing to have tiny accomplishments celebrated by yourself, but to see your loved ones do it, they seem ten times more valid. so without complaints, you rushed out the door waving to your parents, with the boarding pass you printed at most 20 minutes ago.

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5.48 pm.

pacing about door 27, you were frustratingly waiting for your uber that was said to have arrived 5 minutes ago. well, whoever Nakamoto Yuta was, he should have a valid explanation as to why he was late. but in that exact moment, you saw a black sedan car appear in front of you.

the windows of the car were rolled down and you see a man with purple hair greeting you with a rather attractive smile but you had to keep your cool.

"are you miss y/n?" he flashes you the smile once more.

"yes and you're late. i'm rushing for something here." you responded almost simultaneously to which he nodded and rolled up his windows. but before he did it fully, you stopped him.

"aren't you going to help me with my bags? i cant possibly carry it myself.” you gave an exasperated sigh. he chuckled and rolled the windows back up, with no intent of helping you out. 'asshole', you thought. but the truth was that's what yuta thinks too, because he was sure your screen said arriving in 5 mins...but sure he'll let you have it.

you took the seat diagonally behind him and sat quietly for at least 20 full minutes through the ride, occasionally looking at his prettily coloured hair. he was the one to break the silence.

"so your bag isn't that heavy after all?" he mocks you.

"well, isn't it basic courtesy to have a driver help you with your bags?" you heard him huff in an annoyed manner, causing your ride continue its silence until you arrived.

upon arrival, you immediately changed out to your more appealing outfit so that you could head to the pub, in search of a plus one. but the longer you stayed at the pub, you remembered exactly why you’d rather be a workaholic. so you gave up and decided to book an uber back home. too tired to bother, you went into the car that stopped in front of you, hoping that it was the right one.

"must be a tough day for a prissy princess like you, ey?" you hear a familiar voice from the driver's seat. your head shot up and you saw from the rear view mirror, the last face you'd wanna see. "oh piss off, nakamoto."

"call me yuta."

"i'm not in the mood."  you replied, before glancing to the front to steal a peek.

if you were being honest, you were really bothered by yuta on the ride home. you began noticing the little details about him. like the shape of his button nose, and how his hair isn't just purple, it's a really pretty ash purple. 'he's okay looking, huh?' you processed. and then it hit you. a decent looking man, who by chance you have been acquainted to, who is also a fluent japanese speaker and ,fortunately, owns a car. a sleek one in fact. and so you made a decision.

as he drove to the front of your hotel, you stayed still in the car with no intent of leaving. he turned around and lifted his eyebrows at your antics. you took a deep breath, thinking 'here goes nothing'.

"i have a proposal to make in which i am expecting you to accept. i need someone...okay looking, especially with a car, to be my partner for a day...or a few." you started. "you dont have to do much. just sit still, look pretty."

"why would i need to help you? i'm working tomorrow. besides-"

"i'll pay you."

"i'm all ears."

" i know you need the money, considering this job," he narrows his eyes at you. "so i'll give $600 for this event you attend and you get to keep the suit." his previously narrowed eyes now widened all the way at your offer. you gestured for him to give his phone. "i need you to pick me up tomorrow by 8am so we can go get your suit and my dress. don't be late.”

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8.07 am.  

of course he's late. even though you were afraid he'll decide not to turn up, you had to remain cool. but exactly 5 minutes later he arrives, in a floral print shirt with light brown bermuda shorts and a pair of slides, hair unkempt. ugly, you thought. but as you thought so, he winks at you and it crossed your mind, well maybe not at all.

"you're seven minutes late. how am i supposed to trust that you'll reach on time tonight?" you complained. he just shrugged and proceeded to lead you into his sedan car.

the both of you headed to the nearest shopping district to run your errands. after a few hours of shopping, your hands were filled with shopping bags yet you still weren’t sure what yuta picked out. he insisted that you should trust his sense and let it be a secret. yuta was leisurely walking with just a bag of items while you were struggling to balance with all the stuff you bought.

"if only someone was gentleman enough to help me carry my stuff especially since this man beside me, isn't one." you said it a little too loudly in hopes that it'll embarrass him.

yuta laughed it off, completely unphased by your actions. so you continued walking at a fast pace until you heard him jog towards you and felt his hand brushed against yours, causing you to pause. he somehow managed to maneuver the shopping bags so that it would rest on your interlocked hands, so it looked as if the both of you were carrying the bags together. he brushed his thumb against your fingers, which made your heart do a thing. he gave a smug look and you let go, leaving him to carry it instead.

you got in the car, avoiding any form of conversation with yuta, but on the way back, he kept stealing glances at every stop he took. his actions made you nervous, which wasn't super abnormal as you're never usually affected .

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7.48pm.

you could tell it was him by the way he knocks on the door. you opened the door slowly and-  

holy freaking grail.

he was stunning. oh so beautiful. you were in awe. he wasn't lying about his sense of fashion. maroon velvet suit with black innerwear which complements your black seude midi dress. his hair parted just enough to showcase his glowing forehead. earrings, 3 on one side and 2 on the other, contrasting his well-groomed look with a little bit of rebel. how intelligent.

"aren't you gonna let me in or are you not done ogling me?"

"n-no let's just uh- let's leave now. we're..ahem.. we can just be early..." you stuttered, pushing him out.

you arrived at your destination 20 minutes later and was astounded by the beauty of it. you turned to your left to look at osaka’s skyline, what a beauty. you turned right to look at yuta and you started to wonder, maybe everything in Japan is stunning. yuta offered you his arm and you slid into it like it was made just for you.

the whole conference was pretty boring but you had to keep yourself awake for your boss's sake. it wasn't until the dinner when you actually had a lot of fun. although yuta wasn't exactly a gentleman that night, you could tell he was trying. like when he took his food, it was a portion just enough for two. or when he pulled the chair out from the table intending to sit there but acting as if it wasn't a good enough spot so he offered you instead. you appreciated the subtlety more than you expected.

you noticed the speaker from earlier approaching your table and you stiffened.

"you know if you keep doing that, the whole hall will be able to tell that i'm a stranger to you." yuta whispered.

before you could answer him, you felt his hand rest on the crook of your back. he knew you were nervous so when you felt him caress your back gently, you appreciated it. he left as you were speaking to your boss’s clients, taking down notes for his future plans. the night wasn’t that bad, here and there you heard whispers about how gorgeous your boyfriend looked unlike you, but thats about it. after your exchange session, you searched high and low for yuta, silently hoping he wasn’t somewhere trying to hook up with some woman 10x richer or better looking than you are.

after searching for a good 15 minutes, you saw him near the fountain talking to someone. although you felt obligated to get annoyed, as your plus one, you felt warm. he looked way too engaged telling a story to a 7 year old girl. he turned to see you staring at him. he waved at you, at the same time getting the little girl to do the same. she didn’t seem too keen to do so.

“i think we can leave now. we need to prepare for tomorrow’s event.” you said, grabbing a hold of yuta’s elbow.

the little girl tugged at yuta’s sleeves and she whispers, “i don’t like her very much. mr nakamoto, can you continue the story?” to which you frowned and rolled your eyes, unintentionally. your actions caught yuta off guard and he burst out laughing at your child-like behaviour. or cute behaviour but yuta wont admit it

“i’m sorry, princess, but my grandmother here has forced me to leave with her or i won’t be able to return home for tonight. i’ll see you around!” the little girl chuckles and wave at yuta, not before giving you a glare.

“i hate kids.”

“are you jealous because a seven year old has more game with me than you do?”

“don’t flatter yourself, nakamoto.”

“count yourself lucky that i think you’re cute.”

well yeah, that stuck on your mind the whole night.

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9.36am

who in the right mind would have a formal event at 9 in the morning? there you were half awake, engaging with 10 people at one go, when its barely noon while yuta was at the back treating himself with the pancakes served. he was dressed formally as if he was supposed to attend a Sunday morning tennis match, when everyone else was in a polo tee and jeans. you’re sure he bought that outfit just so he could use it for another day, knowing he was able to keep it.

on that particular morning, you met johnny, the son of the CEO of a well-known entertainment company in Chicago. he’s tall, lean, very attractive, funny and the list goes on. if you weren’t married to your career, you’d so be into him. but you want to know who isn’t? nakamoto yuta. the moment he heard you burst a giggle instead of a laugh, he lifted his previously buried-in-pancakes face to scan across the crowd, seeing you with johnny.

he almost immediately threw away his half-eaten pancake and strut his way towards you but before he could do anything to get at johnny, you and johnny part ways much to yuta’s relief. throughout the whole event, you could feel his eyes on you, unconsciously looking out for any competition. it was funny though because when you try to look back he’d act as if he’s much rather be somewhere else. what a fool.

the event took up more than half of your afternoon so when you returned from it you were dead tired. yuta sent you to the door but seeing how GONE you were he needed to make sure you were fully awake while cleaning yourself. you took more than an hour as he waited on the sofa, he did sleep though. you sat beside him and watched him peacefully. his hair covering both his eyes, you were so tempted to touch it. purple never looked so good on a man. despite hesitating, you brushed his hair behind his ears, causing him to rest deeper into your palm. a soft smile crept up your lips as he did so.

“you should smile like that more often when you look at me. my heart does things when you do that.” he says with his eyes closed.

stunned, you pulled your hand away, forcing him to scram. he left with a smile on his face, satisfied with how flustered you were.

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7.49pm

“what do you mean you cant make it? it’s the last event. i need you to be there with me-“

“i need to run some errands. i’ll try my best and make it in time.” yuta replies.

you weren’t gonna lie but a huge part of you grew dependent on him so when you were forced to attend it alone, it felt foreign.

and indeed it was. the entire time you were there, you started missing him. when things got awkward you realised there was no one to turn to. or when the speaker said something unfunny, you’d laugh, thinking about what yuta would say in response. it was as if the entire night revolved around him and you hated it because you only realised his importance when he wasn’t around.

as you were eating, you felt someone approach you, deeply hoping it was yuta. but as you turned, you saw johnny. he was dressed in a sleek black suit with a bow tie. what a heartthrob.

“where’s your lover boy?”

“he’s busy running some errands. such a momma’s boy.” you said while unintentionally sulking.

understanding that you were bored at the event, johnny decided to accompany you. for a moment you forgot about yuta and you were thankful for that. but as you were intending to grab a quick bite with johnny, you heard johnny saying something and before you could ask him to repeat, you peeked behind his tall figure to see a good looking japanese man looking at you. seeing that you were comfortable with johnny, he approached you and gave you a kiss on your cheek, lingering longer than expected. to say your heart skipped a beat would be an understatement. it was as if it your heart entirely stopped and then you were resurrected by the touch of his lips.

“you smell...nice. i’m sorry i’m late.” he pulled away and wrapped his pinky around yours. “oh, johnny! didnt see you there. if you dont mind, y/n and i have somewhere to be.” and then he led you away.

“why didn’t you call me?”

“surprise, isn’t it? i was intending not to come but i knew someone would want to hit on you.” he replied casually, pinky still wrapped around yours. “let’s get out of here while we can.”

as the two of you walked out, he put on a jacket, that smelt like him, on you. you gave him a look of bewilderment.

“yuta, it’s 30 degrees. i dont need your jacket.”

“just take it. this is in case i need an excuse to see your face again in the future.” you heartily laughed at him.

you would think he brought you to somewhere romantic, as you ran away from a formal event. instead he took you to a nearby fast food restaurant, claiming that that was the essence of a japanese trip. as he indulged himself in the cheeseburger, you felt a pang in your chest remembering how your journey with him had to end in a few hours. it was as if he could sense that you felt down. so being yuta, he tried turning the atmosphere around.

“this cheeseburger would taste wayyy better if someone wasn’t staring daggers onto the top of my pretty head.”

it didnt work, in case you’re guessing. it just made you feel worse because, damn you’re gonna miss this idiot. so in response, you shoved your milkshake away and groaned, so loudly it’s possible that the whole diner went silent because of you.

you peeked up and you saw him staring down at you with an eyebrow raised. you were so close to risking it all and confessing your feelings towards him but your ego wouldn’t let you do so. instead, you calmed your face and pretended as if nothing happened. it’s hard to do so especially when you saw how comfortable your legs intertwined under the table. even your sub-conscience wanted the both of you close.

the whole night was a blur. you remember subtle hand touching and embracing from both parties but nothing major happened. to be honest, you were beyond grateful. just a few more seconds before the coast was clear. you waved your goodbye to him. you tried to shut the door before you did anything stupid. but...you were too late.

3

2

1

“seriously? our last night together and that’s how you end it? do you have no heart or-“

“i’m sorry excuse me?”

“i think i was being pretty obvious with how i feel about you. i wouldnt have let you hold my hand for a prolonged period if i didnt like you, dont you think? if you expect me to give you a heartwarming confession, about how i’d love to spend more time with you and how i wouldnt mind if you’d like to date me, then you thought wrong.” you said in one breath.

“...”

“an ‘i like you too’ would help me not feel like an idiot.”

“urm, look, there’s a lot of things that i do like about you but i just dont think i can respond to your confession right now. i’m so sorry.” yuta replied softly.

and he left. this time he wasn’t late to leave.

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1.27pm

you still felt like an idiot. the moment you woke up, as you ate your breakfast, when you packed your luggage, the whole time you felt like one. and you couldnt blame anyone but yourself. when you looked around, it was as if japan was stripped off its beauty, now that the one thing you associate that with is no longer within your reach.

even as you were on the way to the airport, you felt like a complete fool. when you arrived in japan and got your uber, the first thing you saw when you lifted your head was a pretty shade of purple. your uber back to the airport had a view that was an awful scene of badly dyed hair. how in the world were you going to forget the fact that you ever met nakamoto yuta?

as you arrived at the airport, you were so reluctant to leave. every step you took felt like there was an anchor weighing you down. of course, you were being dramatic because all you did was give him a confession. but believe me, because its someone with an ego like yours, it’s the end of the world.

you were waiting for the lift when a man with blonde hair grabbed your luggage from your hands. and he began saying something incomprehensible. so you let out a loud ‘hmm?’.

“i need to return some of your things and take back what’s mine.” you hear a familiar voice. you didnt want to believe it but the minute you turned your head, there he was. nakamoto yuta. but being you, the first thing you responded was, “why are you blonde?”

he groaned and pulled you to the side before you could say anything else. instead of responding he returned the suit that you gave him, as well as the sportswear and even his headband. he took out his wallet to return you the money you paid him for the events. he rummaged through his bag to ensure he returned everything you gave him and then he paused, as if trying to process whether he was going to do it and he gave the look of surrender. he opened up your suitcase to take back his jacket and a part of you broke. you felt as if he didnt want to see you again.

but before you could even begin to feel sad, you saw him crouch in front of you, hands on your back and your calves. suddenly, you were lifted. you hit yuta’s chest and he calmly responded.

“i told you i’m taking back what’s mine.”

“did you suddenly watch a rom-com last night and decide that this is the best way to win back my heart? because it’s not working.” you sulked but he gave you an innocent look. you finally understood what being wrapped around someone’s finger felt like.  

as you were nearing the exit, he put you down and held you with one hand, the other on the suitcase as he led you to his familiar car.

“i have a proposal to make in which i am expecting you to accept. i need someone...okay looking, who doesn’t need to have a car, to be my partner to introduce to my family.” yuta mocked. "you dont have to do much. just sit still, look pretty, so you might want to try a little.” then he looked at you and gave you his biggest smile as he mouthed “i’m sorry. please be my girlfriend.” there was no way you were able to say no.

and so he drove into the city of osaka, and you looked around only to realise, japan had never been stripped off its beauty. all that you saw was filtered by yuta, causing it to look ten times as beautiful. but thats the beauty of getting to know yuta because now life has never been more full of colour.

fin.

#nct scenarios #nct au #nct imagine #yuta scenarios #nct angst #nct fluff #nct 2019 #nct 127 #nct #yuta #nakamoto yuta #nct fic #yuta fic #ahhh i'm back!! #please give me love and enjoy this #i'll be back with more #thank you loves

[headcanonsandmore]

A Romione and Rarry AU set in fourth year;

Hi everyone; here’s that Romione and Rarry AU fic I ended up writing to spite Steve Kloves. 

Hopefully, I haven’t been too harsh on Hermione in this. 

Hope you all like it!

@vivithefolle @hypherionheights I seem to recall you both liking the idea when I mentioned it the other day. 

Harry wasn’t sure when it had happened. Ron had always been there for him, ever since they’d first met. Ron was kind, caring, and always had Harry’s back. He was his first friend his own age, and easily the person Harry felt closer to.

So, when had things…. changed? Well, that was a misnomer; Ron hadn’t changed, he was still as wonderful as ever. But Harry had changed.

Whenever Ron was around, Harry felt happy… warm…whole.

Yes, Harry had developed feelings for his best mate.

Those few weeks where they hadn’t been talking after Harry had become Triwizard Champion has been almost unbearable. Harry could feel his heart aching whenever he remembered that they weren’t speaking.

But now they were friends again. Harry had never felt so happy.

Which had clearly been obvious, because Hermione had noticed. Harry had discovered- much to his own horror- that his OTHER best friend had become his romantic rival for the heart of the redheaded Weasley boy.

Then, the Yule Ball had been announced, and all-out war seemed to explode between the two H’s over Ron. Both wanted to ask him to the ball, but it was complicated.

Things got to a head after a long Charms lesson, which had included Harry and Hermione eyeing each-other suspiciously whilst Ron looked on in bafflement (‘why are you two fighting?).

The adorably-oblivious redhead couldn’t begin to fathom why his two best friends were arguing. He was too sweet and too insecure to realise what their true feelings were.

‘Harry, I swear; if you ask him…’

Ron had spun round to look at his friends as they bent their heads conspiratorially in the corridor.

‘Why are you two-?’

‘STAY OUT OF THIS, RON!’

‘You don’t both have to yell…’ Ron muttered, looking a little hurt. He leaned against a nearby wall, his hands in his pockets.

The two H’s resumed their argument.

‘Hermione, you could have easily asked him earlier! Don’t try and blame me for your own cowardice over this-’

‘Cowardice?!’

‘Yeah! You heard me!’

Harry and Hermione were vaguely aware that Ginny had walked up to Ron, followed by a blonde Ravenclaw that they didn’t know.

 ‘Hi Gin,’

‘Hello,’ Ginny said, before pointing to her friend. ‘This is my friend Luna.’

‘Oh, nice to meet you,’

The Ravenclaw smiled, her cheeks a little pink.

 ‘So, I’m a coward for holding off until Ron’s emotionally mature enough for a relationship?’ Hermione whispered angrily at Harry.

‘What kind of lame excuse is that?’ Harry hissed, feeling offended on behalf of Ron. ‘It might have escaped your notice, Hermione, but Ron’s no slouch when it comes to emotions! If you’re actually using that as an excuse not to make a move, I’d say you were the emotionally-immature one…’

 ‘So, Ron…’ Ginny was saying. ‘Luna was saying earlier that she’d really like to go to the Yule Ball. But she can’t go on her own, since she’s not fourth year…’

‘I see your point,’ Ron replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. ‘Maybe you should ask an older student to go with you? How about Dean Thomas; he’s a nice bloke…’

Ginny chuckled, giving Luna a side-glance, before nudging her slightly in the side.

‘Actually, Ron….’ Luna chewed her lip nervously. ‘I was wondering…’

 ‘It’s not an excuse, Harry!’

‘Well, if you’re not going to be so immature about this; I’m gonna ask Ron to the ball!’ Harry spat angrily.

‘Not if I ask him first!’ Hermione replied, going a little red. Then, she began to walk towards their redheaded friend. ‘Ron! I was wondering…’

‘Yeah?’ Ron asked, blinking down at her with his enormous blue eyes. Ginny and her Ravenclaw friend had already disappeared along the corridor.

Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times, but no words came out.

Harry sighed; he didn’t have the heart to tease her over this. He’d have to wait for a while before he asked Ron.

~~~~~~

‘Hello, Ronald!’

Harry looked round. Hermione, Ron and himself had been doing some studying for Charms in the library. Hermione had insisted that it would be nice to get some of their holiday homework out of the way, and both Ron and Harry had agreed that it would save them time later.

Ginny’s blonde Ravenclaw friend was walking towards them. Harry was struck by how cheerful she looked, and by her enormous grey eyes that seemed to bulge slightly.

On closer inspection, her hair was dirty-blonde, and she appeared to stuck her wand behind her ear for safe keeping.

‘Oh, hi Luna,’ said Ron, putting his quill down. ‘Harry, Hermione; this is Luna Lovegood; she’s Ginny friend.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Hermione said politely.

Luna turned her enormous eyes on Harry and the lightning-bolt scar half-hidden under his hair.

‘You’re Harry Potter.’

‘Yeah, I know I am,’ Harry said, feeling a bit self-conscious. He hated people staring at his scar.

‘And you’re Hermione Granger.’ Luna said, cheerfully. ‘Ginny’s told me a lot about you all.’

‘E-er… what kind of stuff has she told you?’ Ron said, his ears turning pink.

Luna smiled at Ron, her cheeks dimpling.

‘Just how nice you all are.’

And with that, she skipped away, humming softly under her breath.

Harry and Hermione exchanged startled looks.

‘Lovegood? As in… Xenophilius Lovegood, the man who runs the Quibbler?’

Harry shrugged. He didn’t really follow the wizarding newspapers.

‘Well, that would explain why she’s like that, then.’ Hermione said, dropping her head back over her work.

Ron, who had been staring after Luna with a politely-baffled look on his face, turned round in his seat.

‘Like what?’ he asked, sounding confused. ‘She seems nice enough.’

‘Yes, I’m sure she is, Ron,’ Hermione said, not sounding like she was paying him any attention whatsoever.

Ron bent over his parchment, looking grouchy.

~~~~~~

 It was now getting very close to the Yule Ball, and neither Harry nor Hermione had asked Ron.

Harry was seriously debating over lunch whether he should ignore his promise to Hermione and just ask Ron whenever he was next alone with him, when his bushy-haired friend sat down opposite from him on the Gryffindor table.

‘You wouldn’t believe who Lavender asked to the ball!’

‘Er… who?’ asked Harry, confused as to why Hermione was taking an interest in gossip, something she normally had little time for.

‘Ron!’

‘What?’

‘Yes; I was shocked too!’ Hermione said, and Harry was surprised to see her mouth grow into a smile. ‘She said it was because he’s always been funny and kind to people. But apparently he said that someone had already asked him.’

‘Something tells me you think he was lying about that?’ Harry said, slightly taken aback by Hermione’s satisfied expression.

‘Obviously!’ she exclaimed. ‘I mean, Lavender’s my room-mate, but she can be a bit silly at times. She even commented that he looked really sad when he told her he couldn’t go with her.’

Hermione started to chuckle to herself as she said this, earning her a reproving look from Ginny, who was sat in the seat next to Harry

‘What’s so funny?’ Ron said, as he sat down next to Hermione, and pulled a plate of bacon sandwiches towards himself.

‘Nothing,’ Hermione said hurriedly, as Ginny opened her mouth to explain. ‘Just about this Yule Ball business. Everyone’s behaving like fools over it…’

Harry shot Hermione a look that said “that’s rich coming from you”, and then turned to Ginny.

‘Ginny, are you going with anyone?’

‘Neville.’ She said, taking a bite out of an apple. ‘We’re just going as friends. I think he asked me so I could have a chance to go.’

Ron nodded approvingly and began to chew on his sandwich. Harry guessed that Ron (being an older brother) was happy that Neville was being so nice to Ginny.

Hermione, on the other hand, turned to Ron, looking a little nervous.

‘Lavender’s right, Ron; you are a boy, after all…’

‘Well spotted,’ Ron said, a little grouchily.

‘Well, then you can go with me… I mean, if you want to…’

‘No, I can’t,’ Ron said, looking down at his place, looking embarrassed. ‘Someone already asked me…’

‘No, they didn’t! You only said that to get rid of Lavender!’

Ron’s eyes narrowed.

‘Oh, am I lying?’ Ron said, quietly. ‘Just because it’s taken you three years to notice, Hermione, it doesn’t mean that other people haven’t noticed I’m a boy!’

Hermione’s confusion changed to alarm. But then her mouth stretched into a smile.

‘I know you’re a boy, Ron. Come on; will you go with me, now?’

‘I already told you; someone-else already asked me.’

And with that, he got up and strode off, continuing to eat his sandwich as he did so.

‘He’s lying.’

‘He isn’t.’ Ginny said, loyally.

‘So who he is going with?’

‘Never you mind. That’s his business.’

Hermione turned to Harry.

‘No, I didn’t ask him!’ Harry said, sincerely. ‘When would I have gotten the chance to?’

‘Well then, what was all that about?’

Harry sighed and began to cut up his pie. He had a horrible feeling this was all going to go pear-shaped…

~~~~~~

‘Er… I got asked to the ball…’

Hermione had just sat down beside Harry in the common-room. She had returned from the library, carrying a large stack of books under her arms. She looked like she hadn’t quite overcome the shock just yet.

Harry raised his eyebrows.

‘By who?’

‘Viktor Krum.’

Harry’s mouth fell open.

‘You don’t have to look so shocked…’ Hermione muttered, crossing her arms. ‘He sat down next to me in the library. Apparently, he wanted to ask for a long time but couldn’t work up the courage. He’s meeting me down in the entrance hall.’

She didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

‘Well, I’d have thought you’d be pleased to be going with Viktor Krum.’

‘I am! I mean, I should be… only...only…’

‘He isn’t Ron.’ Harry finished.

Hermione nodded her head sadly.

‘Well, I ended up asking Parvati…’

‘She’s nice.’  

‘Yeah… but she’s not who I’d prefer to go with.’

The two friends lamented their bad luck; sure, the people they were going with were fine enough, but they weren’t Ron Weasley. And that was the sticking point.  

~~~~~~

Hermione had disappeared off to her dormitory during a snowball fight. Ron seemed especially confused as to why it would take her that long to get ready for the ball.

A few hours later, Harry and Ron had changed into their robes. Harry was mildly pleased with his; they were pretty much the same as his school robes, aside from being trimmed with green material.

‘Er… Harry… I’m meeting someone down at the great hall…’

Harry quelled the twinge of jealousy in his stomach. He was not going to ruin Ron’s time at the Yule Ball over this; even if he couldn’t be Ron’s date, he could at least be his friend.

And friends looked out for each-other. Especially if one of them was saddled with appalling robes. Had there really been no other robes she could have got for Ron? Harry remembered Fred and George getting decent-looking robes from Bill and Charlie, so why was Ron saddled with the ones that looked like a lacy dress?

Harry still thought Ron looked gorgeous, though. Even when he was wearing an awful set of maroon robes that clashed with his hair, and with stray bits of lace hanging off the cuffs after the redhead had used a severing charm on them. Harry really had fallen hard, hadn’t he?

‘Okay, mate.’

‘Er, Parvati seems nice.’

‘Yeah, she’s alright.’

‘You don’t sound very enthusiastic.’

‘Shame about Cho Chang, but never-mind, mate.’

Yeah, Cho. Harry had used that as an excuse for why he hadn’t asked anyone until the last minute. He had neglected to inform Ron that his old crush on Cho Chang had disappeared over the past few months.

‘Ron, who are you-?’

‘Time to go, lads!’ Seamus said, poking his head round the door.

‘Okay, mate,’ Ron said, pulling out a stray piece of lace on his sleeve. ‘We’re on our way.’

Harry tried to disregard the feeling of jealousy in his stomach. It was so unfair.

‘Harry, you okay?’

Ron had stopped just in front of the door, his eyes full of concern.

Harry smiled; even if Ron didn’t see him that way, the redhead was still the best friend anyone could have. Things could be a lot worse.

‘Yeah, I’m fine, Ron,’ he said, smiling softly. ‘Come on, let’s get going; our dates are waiting….’

~~~~~~~

‘Hi Harry.’

Parvati was stood in front of him, looking very pretty.

‘Hi…’ Harry mumbled, feeling very awkward. ‘You look nice.’

‘Thank you,’ Parvati said, looking as awkward as Harry felt.

The three of them walked down towards the entrance hall. Parvati was chatting about the defence lessons so far that year, and Harry was thankful for this, since it took his mind off wondering how Ron was meeting with.

Harry and Parvati parted company with Ron, who walked into the great hall.

‘Hi Harry! Hi Parvati!’

Hermione was appeared next to Viktor Krum, after having just walked down into the entrance hall. She was wearing a pretty blue dress, and her hair was sleek (Harry now understood why she’d left so early to get ready; Hermione always complained about how difficult her bushy hair was to tame).  

She ducked her head conspiratorially towards Harry.

‘Any idea who Ron is going with?’

Harry shook his head.

~~~~~~~~

After making awkward small-talk with the other champions and their dance partners, the enormous doors of the great hall opened, and the champions.

Harry immediately started scanning the crowd, looking for Ron’s vivid red hair. Walking a few feet in front of Harry, Hermione was doing exactly the same.

Harry’s eyes finally found the redhead. Under the lights, he looked even more lovely than usual, despite the appalling robes he was having to wear.

Harry saw the girl standing next to Ron. His jaw dropped.

It was Luna Lovegood.

She was dressed in a set of bright yellow dress robes that complimented her dirty-blonde hair. She was smiling widely, and her eyes kept getting drawn back to Ron.

Harry’s eyes flicked over to where Hermione was walking.

Upon seeing Ron standing with Luna Lovegood, Hermione’s mouth had fallen open, and her eyes widened in dawning shock.

Harry let out a sigh. He had a horrible feeling the evening was going to make everything complicated for the three of them…

~~~~~~

After the first dance, Harry and Parvati sat down next to Ron and Luna.

‘Hi mate,’ Ron said, as Harry gulped down some water. ‘You two having fun dancing?’

‘Bit knackering…’ Harry said, before adding quickly ‘It was a really fast one.’

Parvati chuckled.

‘You two not bothering with dancing up there, then?’

Luna shook her head.

‘There’s a lot of Wrackspurts over the dancefloor, I thought it best to avoid getting too close.’

Harry and Parvati both raised an eyebrow.

‘They’re creatures that Luna’s researching at the minute,’ Ron told them, matter-of-factly. ‘Er… Luna’s Ginny’s friend, Parvati; she suggested Luna go with me for this, since she wouldn’t be able to otherwise.’

‘Oh, I see,’ Parvati said. ‘I love your robes, Luna! They look lovely!’

‘Thank you very much!’ Luna smiled, her cheeks dimpling. ‘My father suggested them; he said bright colours are good for parties.’

‘Ron, did you compliment Luna’s robes?’ Parvati asked, raising her eyebrows in a knowing way.

Ron rolled his eyes.

‘What do you take me for? Of course I did!’

Harry couldn’t help but notice how Luna’s cheeks went slightly pink as Ron said this.

‘Oh, I like this song!’

Her face still pink, Luna stood up and began to revolve on the spot, humming softly and with her eyes closed. Smiling slightly, Ron stood up and did the same thing.

If Harry hadn’t been so tired from dancing earlier, he probably would have suggested to Parvati that they do the same thing (as Parvati was staring at Luna and Ron with a smile on her face).

Harry also noticed that Hermione and Krum had sat down at a table across the room.

Hermione was moodily glaring over at Ron, who was now dancing with Luna as she did a weird twirling motion with her eyes closed.  Harry personally thought it was very sweet, but he had a funny feeling Hermione didn’t see it that way.

As much as Harry tried to, he found it impossible to dislike Luna. She was a sweet girl, and Harry couldn’t besmirch Ron his nice evening, even if Harry would have preferred to be dancing with the redhead instead of Parvati Patil.

Harry the platonic was in control.

~~~~~~

After she and Ron had finished dancing, Luna went to get drinks. Ron caught Hermione’s eye and motioned for her to come over. Looking as if every step closer was causing her intense mental anguish, Hermione approached where they were sitting.

‘So… Krum then, Hermione?’ Ron asked, attempting to keep his voice light as Hermione sat down. Harry couldn’t help but notice how Ron’s ears were going red. ‘How come you didn’t say anything?’

Hermione didn’t respond. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked like she was biting her tongue.

‘Er, you okay?’ Ron asked, looking concerned. ‘Listen, I’m sorry for getting short with you when you asked me about going. I thought you were…’

‘You… you thought I was joking about that?’ Hermione whispered, her eyes narrowing in anger.

‘Well…. yeah…’ Ron admitted, looking a little sheepish. ‘Also… I thought you’d take the mick if I mentioned I was going with Luna…’

‘Oh, so it’s Luna, now?’

Hermione’s face was now lined with fury. Ron seemed to shrink slightly, looking bewilderedly at Harry for some sort of explanation. Harry shrugged.

‘Well…that’s her name, Hermione.’

‘You know fully well what I mean, Ron!’

‘No, I really don’t!’ Ron urged, now looking offended.

‘All it takes is some giggly girl to bat her eyelids at you, and suddenly you’re all sunshine and roses!’

Ron’s mouth dropped open in apparent shock.

‘What are you on about?’

‘I… I…. you- you should know exactly what I’m on about! When you… when I…’

Hermione spluttered into red-faced silence.

‘What’s Luna ever done to you?’ Ron demanded. ‘She’s Ginny’s friend, and she’s sweet, and she’s been lovely this entire evening-’

‘I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT LOONY LOVEGOOD’S LIKE!’

Harry’s mouth fell open again. He understood that Hermione was upset, but he was shocked that she could say something so horrible due to jealousy, especially towards someone she barely knew.

Ron looked personally offended.

‘Don’t call her Loony!’

And with that, he stormed off.

Harry exchanged startled looks with Parvati, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to get away from this uncomfortable situation.

‘Er…Parvati… maybe you should go and see what Lavender’s doing…’

Parvati nodded, looking wary of Hermione, before jumping out of her seat and wandering over to wear Lavender was standing with Seamus, Dean and several other Gryffindors nearby.

‘Er… did Ron go off somewhere?’

Luna Lovegood had appeared, looking mildly confused, and carrying two drinks.

‘Yes.’ Hermione spat irritably. Harry directed an apologetic look at Luna over Hermione’s shoulder.

‘Oh,’ Luna said, as she looked around the great hall. She didn’t seem hurt by Hermione’s rudeness at all. ‘Well, I’m sure he’ll appear again. Maybe he saw a build-up of Wrackspurts…’

Luna drifted off, in the direction of the band.

Harry frowned at Hermione. Sure, he was jealous of Luna too, but he didn’t think it was fair of Hermione to be so rude to her.

‘Herm-own-ninny?’

Viktor Krum had returned. Hermione hurriedly arranged her mouth into an un-convincing false smile.

‘Oh, thank you, Viktor,’ she said, taking the drink he had brought her.

‘Vould you like to dance again?’ Krum asked, motioning to the dance-floor, which (by that point) was largely made-up of closely-dancing couples, many of whom were swaying slowly to the music.

‘Er… no thank you,’ Hermione said, shaking her head. ‘I’m a bit tired from earlier.’

The next dance ended, and neither Ron or Luna returned.

~~~~~~~

After what seemed like several hours’ worth of uncomfortable silence later, the ball ended.

Viktor Krum bade Hermione goodnight (she awkwardly pulled away when he tried to take her hand to kiss), and Harry followed his bushy-haired friend out of the hall.

Harry couldn’t help noticing that Krum looked decidedly disappointed as he exited out of the main doors. Deciding that it was probably not the best time to tell Hermione this, Harry instead commented on how well Neville had been dancing.

Hermione did not respond, instead choosing to moodily walk in silence.

As they were walking up the grand staircase, Harry and Hermione saw Ron standing with Luna at the entrance to a second-floor corridor. From their distance, they could just about make out what they were saying.

‘I had a really nice time this evening, Ronald; thank you for agreeing to bring me along.’

Ron shrugged, looking a little awkward.

‘It’s no problem. Glad I could help.’

Luna chuckled.

‘You’re very sweet, Ronald.’

The Ravenclaw girl stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed Ron on the cheek.

Harry felt his stomach turn to lead.

Damn it… keep it together, Harry, The platonic voice inside his head urged, so what if she kissed him on the cheek? Are you really going to get angry at your best mate just because someone-else realising how wonderful he is?

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by a squeak from Hermione. Turning, he saw the bushy-haired witches’ eyes had grown wide, and her face was turning an angry red as she stared at the blonde-haired Ravenclaw.

Luna smiled sweetly at Ron, before giving him a parting wave, and skipping down the corridor towards where Harry guessed Ravenclaw Tower was.

Ron began to walk back up the staircase, a small smile on his face.

Hermione’s pace increased, and she sped up the staircase, no doubt to catch up with Ron.

A sinking feeling developing in his stomach, Harry sighed and followed.

~~~~~~~

Harry didn’t see either of his best friends on the way back to Gryffindor Tower. He was beginning to wonder whether they had missed each-other on the way back, but then (as he turned the corner towards the Fat Lady’s portrait) the sound of raised voices reached his ears.

Harry sighed again; he knew those raised voices very well.

Resigning himself to his fate, Harry spoke the password and, as the portrait opened, he found Ron and Hermione stood; not just in the middle of the common-room, but also in the middle of the blazing row.

‘Well, Hermione, you know what the solution is, then?’

‘Oh, really, Ron; and what’s that?!’

Hermione’s sleek hair was now coming out of its neat bun, and Ron’s face had turned an angry red.

The redhead’s eyes were awash with confusion, anger, and (most of all) hurt.

‘The next time there’s a ball, ask me before someone-else does, and not as a last resort!’

Hermione’s mouth fell open in utter shock, as Ron turned on his heel and stormed off up the staircase to the boy’s dormitories.

‘Well… that just shows…’ she spluttered, her mouth flapping open and shut like a fish. ‘He… he completely missed the entire point…’

But, as Harry climbed up the stairs to the dormitory, he inwardly thought that Ron had gotten the point a heck of a lot better than Hermione had.

Thank you for reading! Hope you liked that, everyone!

#romione #rarry #harry potter fanfiction #fanfiction #warning- strong language #romione and rarry #rarry and romione #harron #did luna lovegood fancy ron weasley #did luna lovegood have a crush on ron weasley #did luna fancy ron #did luna have a crush on ron #yule ball #the yule ball #alternative yule ball #alternative universe #harry potter alternative universe #au #harry potter au

[majessteck]

Home for the Holiday

This is for @zacklover24 for the small ffxv gift exchange.

(God, I’m still rusty in my writing skills and also may have gone a /bit/ over the limit. Just to make things easier, I’ve decided to go with the alternate ending in Episode Ignis as canon in this little ficlet. If you haven’t seen it yet, then all you need to know is that all the chocobros live. Also I kind of made up a holiday with the help of a friend. There’s not much to it and it’s pretty much described in the fic. Enjoy and happy holidays!)

“Happy Sivatia!” A chorus of voices cheered as Ignis opened his door. He smiled and returned the greeting, stepping aside and letting the chocobros in. They were all dressed in blue and white, carrying various gifts in their hands.

“You got the goods?” Prompto asked, trying to sound sketchy, but ultimately failing. Noctis snorted and shouldered him, making his way to the living room to set his box of things on top of a line of other boxes in the room.

“Yes, they’re just about done and waiting.” Ignis smiled and took a box off the top of Prompto’s stack. The group moved into the almost bare living room, and began to unpack the boxes.

“What in the six’s holy ass is this?” Noctis pulled out the oddest glass figurine. “Is it supposed to be Shiva?” He carefully examined the misshapen form before tossing it to Prompto’s grabby hands.

“Who knows.” Gladio shrugged, “We just pulled these decorations from some old storage in the citadel’s basement.” Prompto carefully inspected it, turning it in his hands and trying to wrap his head around the monstrosity.

“I’d call this a rude gesture to Shiva herself. We should smash it!” Prompto scrambled to his feet.

“Who’s gonna deal with the mess?” Ignis raised an eyebrow, setting a framed picture of the Glacian in a makeshift shrine the boys created. Realization seemed to dawn on the blond boy as he sat back down, and tossed the figurine back to Noctis. “Looks like we’re just about done. What say we move on to our offerings?” The others nodded their heads and reached for the boxes they had brought in.

“What’d y’all bring as an offering?” Prompto asked, stretching to barely grab his box without having to move from his spot.

“I brought some fish from the market.” Noctis pulled out a sealed plastic bag with some cut up fish in it. Ignis visibly blanched. “Hopefully Shiva will let me have some time to actually fish in the coming year.”

“Please tell me, you aren’t taking it out of the bag. I don’t need my apartment smelling like rotting fish.” Ignis grumbled.

“I make no promises,” The king smirked, but tossed the bag onto the shrine. Ignis let out a disapproving grunt. “What about you Gladio?”

“Don’t laugh, but I brought a piece of rock from the old wall.” He lifted the hefty rock from his box and turned it around in his hands. “I’m praying for the protection of Insomnia while we try to figure everything out.”

“Aw, how cheesy,” Noctis teased.

“I think it’s a cool sacrifice,” Prompto offered as Gladio swatted at Noct.

“I believe it’s mainly the thought that matters,” Ignis reminded them.

“What about you?” Prompto asked, getting jittery. He clearly wanted to share his item, but wanted everyone to explain their sacrifices as well. Ignis smiled as he pulled his item out of a black box. It was a black ring.

“I’m praying for the prosperity of Noctis’s rule.” He muttered quietly. The room seemed to attain a somber atmosphere, but it was almost a revenant silence. However, the serious tone shifted a bit. “He’s going to need all the help that the six can give him,” Ignis chuckled.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Noct instinctively got defensive.

“Well luckily the six gave sleeping beauty here us.” Gladio got in his revenge, Noctis simply huffed in neither agreeance nor disagreeance.

“Well, MY item is something I’ve been wanting to do for ages,” Prompto grinned, hiding his item in the box dramatically. “Tah-dah!” He whipped out a collection of photographs from back before the ten years of darkness, when they were fighting to get the crystal back. Everyone’s breath seemed to be taken away.

“Prom, are you sure about that? We are taking these sacrifices to the temple later.” Noctis settled a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, leaning in to see them.

“It’s fine, these are just copies of the originals.” He laid out his selection for the others to see. “I’m praying that Shiva will give us more time to hang out again. Like we did before…” Prompto’s soft tone trailed off as the four relieved their memories. Back when everything was easier. After a while, Prompto set the pictures on the shrine and the four sat there reflecting on everything.

“Hm, now that I think about it. It seems that one of these sacrifices is not like the other,” Ignis said, unable to hide the smile in his voice. Noctis instantly knew what he was talking about and groaned.

“Sorry, I didn’t get the memo,”

“Seems like Noct’s got a pretty selfish prayer in comparison to the rest of us,” Gladio pointed out.

“Aw, didn’t think of us when deciding on a sacrifice?” Prompto pushed his shoulder against the prince’s. Prompto put the back of his hand on his forehead. “I’m hurt! Offended! Maybe a little hungry? But that part’s not your fault… Ignis.” The boy looked at Ignis with hope in his eyes. Ignis got up to go into the kitchen, leaving the rest of the group to continue poking fun at their liege.

In no time at all, the royal advisor came back with a bucket of shaved ice as well as bowls and flavored syrup. He set the wide array of flavors down as Noctis read some of them out.

“Cherry, of course… Butterscotch? I remember liking that when I was little. It doesn’t actually taste like butterscotch.” He made a face and picked up a different bottle.

“Oh? What’s this?” Gladio picked up a yellow bottle. “Cheesecake? That doesn’t sound remotely good.” Gladio tossed it haphazardly back on the table. Prompto scrambled to pick it up before it rolled onto the floor.

“Hey! Don’t knock it till you try it!” He set it back on the table.

“What would you like, Noct?” Ignis scooped some shaved ice into a bowl, and twisted the bottles so that their label faced the raven haired boy.

“Hmm, I think I’ll have some raspberry and cotton candy, first,” He mused, flicking his selected bottles over. As Ignis drizzled the flavored sugar on the ice, the other two made their decisions. When they had all gotten their ice, the group sat back and simply enjoyed each other’s company. They complained about all the work they had to do, and spoke about the grand plans they had for the city. Ignis wanted to improve agriculture first and foremost to get the best cooks around to come to the city, but Gladio protested and claimed that the city clearly needed some good entertainment. While Insomnia was still broken and healing, at least the chocobros had each other. This holiday, they had finally gotten some much needed catching up done along with some much needed teasing and fooling around. Hopefully Shiva and the rest of the six would continue to watch over them as they began a new chapter in their lives.

#ffxv #final fantasy xv #ffxvsmallsecretsanta #zacklover24 #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum

[ohpapiseo]

the ways in which i show i love you [V]

@taetaetrashhh

Hi Momo! I’m your Secret Santa from the fic exchange hosted by Kait and Candi! I’m so sorry I’m a day late, but I have written you a small(ish?) story that I hope you’ll like! It’s cute, heartwarming, slice of life, it has it all. I hope you like it! Merry Christmas <3

pairing: V x Momo (reader) genre: romance, college!au, christmas with bts, slice of life, baking cookies, christmas trees, i tried to do most of the prompts

22nd December, 2017

Momo and Taehyung were at the place where the Christmas trees were sold. This year, the both of them wanted a tree that was slightly bigger than last year, one they ended up having to pull through the snow to get to Hoseok’s truck that was at the other end of the street.

“Oof! This is- too- heavy-” Taehyung wheezed as the rope began to burn through his gloves and cut into his fingers. Pulling a tree for almost half a mile down to their ride was not a good idea.

“Babe, can’t we just call Hoseok to come over or something?” Taehyung had muttered as he dropped the rope, his arms already feeling so tired.

“No, where the heck would he park? Look at all the cars!” Momo looked at him as she gestured to all the cars parked along the sidewalk. There was no way Hoseok could park his truck here, and Taehyung sighed as he realised that she was right.

“Come on, just a little further, Taehyung!” Momo whined, her breath coming out in white smoke. It was far too cold for them to be having this conversation, and they had heard of a snowstorm approaching during the Christmas weekend, but they hoped that it would ease up.

With the current rate of snowfall, though, that possibility seemed slim.

As the two reached the orange truck, Hoseok stepped out to help them load the tree onto the back, the three of them grunting as they lifted it. Thankfully, some people on the street were kind enough to give them a hand.

“You’re definitely going big this year, huh?” Hoseok helped Taehyung tie the tree into place, and Momo laughed, patting his back.

“Are you working again, Hoseok?” She asked, and Hoseok had nodded but with a bright smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m going to stay at the retirement home with a few others so we can take care of them and help them have a wonderful christmas.” He smiled kindly, as they got into the vehicle. “That snowstorm seems very likely and I don’t want it to be a situation where staff can’t get in so we’re all going tonight.”

Taehyung smiled at him as he fastened the seatbelt. “You’re very kind for spending your Christmas with them, Hoseok.” “They need someone too, if their families can’t come and take them home. Sadly, that’s the case for a lot of them.” Hoseok smiled wryly, and the car was filled with silence as they pulled out onto the street.

“I guess you guys need to go to the supermarket to buy some stuff?” Hoseok had asked, and Taehyung nodded, instructing them to pull over at the superstore once they passed it.

Now armed with a week’s worth of groceries, Momo and Taehyung were ready to take the weekend head on. They were hoping that it wouldn’t snow as bad as the weather station was telling them, but it was always better to be prepared.

“I really wanted to go to the ice rink, it had better not get worse.” Momo huffed as Hoseok drove them back home.

“How come you both waited so long to put up a tree? Most people do it at the beginning of December.”

Momo sighed - it was only because the both of their courses had become so demanding that there wasn’t any time to properly prepare for Christmas. Now that university was over for the holiday, they had some more time to relax.

“Uni.” They both replied monotonously. Hoseok could only laugh.

“You’ll miss it when you’re both working for yourselves.” Hoseok chuckled as he turned into the road that went up to Momo and Taehyung’s house. “Or you won’t. I love my job, so…” “Perhaps.” Taehyung chuckled, and the conversation ended there as they reached the house.

Once Hoseok had helped the couple to get their tree inside their house, he left quickly, saying he had no time to waste and really needed to get a move on. Momo thanked him for his help, sending him off with some muffins she had baked that morning.

“Well, looks like we’ve got a tree to decorate.” Taehyung grinned down at Momo as he put an arm around her, the both of them watching the car disappear into the main road.

“How does a hot chocolate sound before we get down to business?” Taehyung bent down to kiss Momo’s cheeks, cold and turning pink from the chilly weather. “Let’s get inside and warm up, muffin.” “Yes, Taetae, let’s.”

A few minutes later, they got to decorating the tree, carefully (or in Taehyung’s case, clumsily) putting up the tinsel and fairy lights, and other decorations. A lot of this involved wrapping tinsel around their necks and belting out to christmas classics that were bursting out through the stereo. Taehyung even had the brilliant idea of putting some of the hanging decorations around his ears, which he forgot about until they both sat down for dinner.

(Momo promised to never let him live it down).

“Who’s going to put this up on top?” Momo asked, holding onto the angel figure in her hand. Taehyung rolled his eyes, before turning to her with an obvious look.

“Of course you are. Because you’re my angel.” He laughed, and Momo turned towards him with a blush on her cheeks.

“Don’t just say stuff like that!” She hit his arm in embarrassment as she looked away.

“But it’s true. Come on, baby, do the honours.” Taehyung nodded at her eagerly, and Momo smiled as she walked closer to the tree, standing on her toes to be able to put the angel on top.

“What a beautiful sight.” Taehyung held his hands out to make a frame with his fingers, focusing on the tree and the sparkling lights, before he moved his hands to capture Momo, admiring her through his ‘lens’.

“Stop being so silly…” Momo turned away, the blush on her cheeks more prominent. “I-It’s getting really warm in here, I’m going to turn down the heating!”

Taehyung simply chuckled as his girlfriend rushed out of the room on the pretext of ‘heating’ problems.

Christmas Day, 2017

It was a cold morning, which was no surprise. Taehyung got out of bed, immediately looking for the jumper he wished he had worn to bed the night before. He picked up the present he had bought for Momo from under the bed, trying to noiselessly carry it out of the room and place it under the Christmas tree.

As he opened the curtains of the living room to look outside, all he could see was snow, more snow, the faint outline of the houses and trees and… more snow.

“This was supposed to get better today, it’s still the same as last night.” Taehyung sighed, knowing what this meant - him and Momo were basically boxed in for Christmas.

But knowing his girlfriend, she would be cheerful and optimistic about it, imagining it now he knew she would say something like “Oh, don’t worry, Tae, at least we’ve got the heating on!”

“Taehyung?” He heard her sleepy voice, and the sound of Momo coming down the stairs. With a sleepy grin, she walked over to him, standing on her tiptoes to peck his lips.

“Merry Christmas, my angel.” Taehyung smiled, kissing her forehead gently. With a shy smile, Momo wished him back, before she turned towards the window, seeing the storm outside and falling quiet for a minute.

“Looks like we’re stuck in here, babe.” He mumbled, glancing towards her with a frown, however, like Taehyung had predicted, she was not upset, and decided to take it as a positive experience.

“We still have the electrics working. Let’s make some cookies today.” Momo’s eyes lit up. Taehyung knew how much she loved baking. With their busy university life, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for Momo to make cakes and the likes, but now with the holiday season, Taehyung knew she wouldn’t pass up on the chance.

“Gingerbread?” Taehyung grinned, and Momo nodded excitedly.

“I even bought piping bags and icing sugar to decorate them! If they turn out nice, we can give them out to the kids on the street.” “Woah, there. If we work on the cookies, then who’s going to cook the turkey? And the vegetables? We’re supposed to go all out this year, right?” Taehyung raised his brows, wondering how they would do everything in such a short time. It was nine already.

“Taehyung, why are you being so pessimistic?” Momo frowned. “You’re usually the one that says ‘It’ll be okay’ first…”

Taehyung pouted, holding his arms around her as he pulled her close to him. “I just wanted this to be a perfect Christmas, baby. I know how excited you were to go skating on the ice rink, and now there’s so much snow we can’t even open the windows.” “Taehyung.” Momo shook her head, slowly kissing him. As they parted, she gave him a loving smile.

“It’s alright, darling. You’re here with me, and that’s the most important thing right now. I’m most happy when I can spend Christmas with you.”

Now it was Taehyung’s turn to blush, but he soon smiled the familiar boxy smile that was unique to him.

“There we are. You’ve been too stressed out over a perfect Christmas. Loosen up, okay? Let what happen, happen.” Momo grinned, before she turned to make her way upstairs. “I’m gonna take a shower. You should get the stuff out and start prepping.”

That morning was spent baking the cookies - Taehyung was insistent that he was following the recipe to the dot and that Momo shouldn’t worry so much and trust him a little. Taehyung had also learned not to burn the cookies after the first batch came out awfully wrong.

Once the icing was ready, Momo decided to leave Taehyung to do the honours while she prepared the turkey for stuffing. She almost regretted the decision upon inspection, but Taehyung looked like he was having so much fun regardless, it looked like he had become a little kid again and he had an intense determination in his eyes.

Momo couldn’t bear to take the fun away from him. Her heart warmed at the sight of Taehyung, and she went back to preparing the Christmas dinner, a smile on her lips as she thought again about how much he was enjoying himself.

However, Taehyung surprised both her and himself at the end of the decorating the cookies, the last five batches were much better than the first five.

“You did good, Taehyung. Do you want to try some?” “I thought you’d never ask.”

Momo snorted as Taehyung took a couple of the cookies and began to munch on them, his face lighting up as he looked at his girlfriend with bright eyes.

“Wow, this is delicious. You’re amazing, Momo. I almost don’t want to give them to the kids and just eat them all myself.” He looked at her pleadingly. Momo firmly shook her head, holding her hands on her hips as she frowned.

“Don’t be selfish, I’ll make more of these tomorrow. We have so much dough and icing left anyway.” Momo suggested, and Taehyung agreed with a small smile, though she knew that he’d much rather keep these for themselves nonetheless.

Later that evening…

“Dance with me, angel.”

Taehyung held his hand out to Momo, who looked up at him in surprise. After about an hour of just dancing to and singing Christmas songs, Momo was quite worn out. She wasn’t expecting to have to dance so soon

A slow number began to play through their music system, and Momo remembered it to be the first song her and Taehyung had ever danced to together, when he had taken her to the Christmas ball in high school, as his date. The same song to which he confessed his love to her, and dance that consummated their relationship to one another.

Taking Taehyung’s hand, she stood up and brought herself to Taehyung, putting her arms around his neck as he waltzed them around the living room, moving gracefully to the song and losing themselves in each other’s eyes.

“Momo.” Taehyung mumbled, gathering her attention. “I love you, you know?”

She let out a hesitant laugh. “Of course I know? Why are you telling me this again, baby?” “So there won’t come a time where you don’t feel like you are loved.” He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering. Taehyung was quite sombre during moments like this, as opposed to his generally eccentric, excited self. This was a side to Taehyung only a handful of people, including Momo, got to see.

“You are loved. And you matter to me, so much, and I love you, Momo, I can’t say it enough. I do.” Taehyung whispered, now bending down to kiss her lips. Momo’s eyes shut slowly, and she kissed him back, the both of their hearts, their never ending love overflowing into their kiss.

“With all the horrible things that happened in the world. With people not understood, people in despair, in pain, who feel like they have no one… I want you to know you have me no matter what, baby. Okay?” Taehyung said quietly, reaching out for another kiss.

Momo nodded, her heart swelled with affection for her boyfriend, who had matured beyond his years, it sometimes felt like. They were both still young, though adults. And Taehyung by her side was only proving to be a strength, someone she could rely on, someone that loved her no matter her imperfections. To him, Momo was beautiful, inside and out.

And Taehyung was beautiful to her too, for the same reasons. He never failed to bring a smile to her lips when she was down or thought too hard.

“I love you too, Taehyung.” Momo said back as they slowly danced to the music, now nearing a close. Her mind flashed back to their first dance once more. She had fallen so deep for Taehyung by that point, and that day had proved her wrong in thinking that she could not possibly fall any more in love with this wonderful boy.

And today, on Christmas Day again, Momo was proven wrong. As they danced and laughed, Momo found herself falling in love all over again.

#bts #bangtan boys #bangtan sonyeondan #beyond the scene #bts scenarios #bangtan scenarios #v #bts v #bts taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung scenarios #v scenarios #fluff #christmas day #christmas scenarios #kait and candi's secret santa content exchange #secret santa #merry christmas momo #i hope you like it!! #and i hope we can be friends too soon :D #merry christmas! #taehyung x reader #v x reader #bts x reader #bangtan x reader

[maniibear]

My stony holiday exchange fic! Based on that backsmith outfit saga on AvAc, starring Sam, Nat, T’challa, and Loki :D

Word Count: ~2500 Warnings: None

Steve is not jealous, he’s curious.

It feels like a natural enough reaction to have upon spotting Tony Stark on the Avengers Academy quad, dressed in a pile of leather straps and little else like a…a—

Steve must look as curious as he feels because Tony lifts his chin proudly and exclaims, "I’m a blacksmith!"

And Steve, who by now is past curiosity and well into nosebleed territory at the sight of the outfit to properly think, replies with, “That was my second guess.”

He’s immediately mortified, of course, but if Tony has any opinions about such a forward turn of phrase, he doesn't say. If anything, he seems more excited to share his plans for the new students. “Odin asked me to make some awesome iron armaments for the new recruits!”

Ah. Steve’s met some of these recruits; he likes She-Hulk already, and Thor’s great, despite Loki’s complaints to the contrary. Loki had also said something about Malekith’s elves being vulnerable to iron, so what Tony is doing makes sense. Tony never hesitates to be on the front line every time the Academy comes under threat, and Steve is actually immensely proud of his initiative— right until he catches up to the mention of Odin.

“Did he ask you to wear that outfit?” he asks Tony in what he hopes is a level and reasonable tone. The All-Father is not particularly trustworthy, Steve decides on the spot. Really. Loki might be their resident chaotic evil, but Loki also wears all the motives of a surly megalomanic teenager on his perfectly tailored sleeve. Odin is far too clever for that, which always points to a level of shadiness, in Steve’s opinion.

So, when Tony says, “No,” Steve’s excessively relieved, only to be further distressed when Tony adds. “This is all me.”

“That’s good,” he manages. “I thought I was gonna have to alert the authorities.”

It’s not a total lie; Steve would have done his civic duty and called someone to scrape Odin’s remains off the ground if the answer had been yes.  

Tony, unaware that he’d held the life of a god in his clever hands for a moment, just nods and bounces a little excitedly on his feet. “Well, I’ll catch you later, Capsicle,” he says with an ironic little salute. “Gotta go bang these things out.”

Steve, immediately deluged by visions of Tony bent over the anvil, newly exposed muscles straining and glistening in the light of the forge, nods dumbly. “Ok.”

Steve is not jealous, he’s thinking.  

It’s been hours since his little run-in with Tony. Since then, he’s been on a mission with Sam, trained with Mockingbird, and even spent some time with Peggy before ending up at Club A for some pool. Steve likes shooting pool because it’s good training to spot ricochet angles, but tonight, he can’t stop thinking about that damn outfit. Did Tony really design it himself? When? And why didn’t Jan object? If anyone, she should have seen how useless it is as a blacksmithing costume. Two crisscrossing leather straps and a whole lot of bare skin weren’t any sort of protection from molten metal and flyaway embers in the forge.  

Steve doesn’t realize he’d said it out loud until Sam replies, “Actually, it’s not forging in the traditional sense.”

Natasha raises her eyebrows in a gesture that might have been agreement. Beside her at the bar, T'challa merely takes a long, thoughtful sip of a startlingly neon drink. Sam goes on providing educational reassurance, probably because, Steve suspects, he’s glad they’re talking about something other than training, fighting HYDRA, or all the reasons to not go to work for Fury.  

“Asgardian iron ore is pretty easy to craft with just repulsor tech," Sam lines up his pool stick, takes his shot, and stands up triumphantly when the cueballs scatter faithfully in all the right directions. "Its real power comes from enchantment. Or that’s what Amora said, but I dunno, I always feel pretty weird when I’m around her...”

That doesn’t sound quite comforting. If anything, Steve broods more at the thought of Tony now running around with smarmy sorceresses, learning magic, and generally moving further and further beyond Steve’s reach. Asgardians, he thinks uncharitably—actually, maybe just one Asgardian in particular. Odin is a god and King of Asgard, ergo, the Frost Giants were his problem. Steve doesn’t understand why he doesn’t just take care of them with a pointed strategic offensive. Instead, he has to make a production out of the whole thing, and litter campus with bedazzled sky cycles and besaddled wild animals.

Yeah, Steve's seen the armored polar bear. It’s cute, but where's it going to go once winter is over? What would it eat? Did Odin think about that before shoving improbable gifts at Tony? No, the All-Father only thought about himself.

“Cap, you ok?” Sam pokes his elbow. “You look kinda mad.”

“What? No, I’m fine,” Steve assures him even as his own shot fails spectacularly. He eyes Sam as the young man moves around the table.

“Weren’t you saying something about your jetpack needing a fix?” Steve asks casually. “I could take it to Tony for you.”

“Actually, I’m going to fix it myself,” Sam replies with blithe cheer. “I realized I can’t keep relying on Tony for everything.”

“Right,” Steve deflates. Just as he’s about to say something encouraging to his friend, an unholy screeching noise reverberates over the loud music. Steve whirls around and comes face to face with T’challa’s cool, dark eyes. When did he sneak up?

“Excuse me, Captain,” the Prince of Wakanda says smoothly, but the glint of his vibranium claws are flagrant. As are the three deep gouges across Steve’s shield. “It appears your shield requires maintenance. Perhaps Tony Stark can help."

“You know Tony,” Natasha quips when Steve does his best impression of a goldfish out of water. "Tall, dark hair, loves his bots. Who's working in the Ice Palace right now. Alone.”

She gives him a significant look. “Could probably use some company."

Night falls and Steve is still not jealous. Not until he runs into Loki, anyway.

After his usual repartee of insults and vaguely monumental threats, Loki smugly fills Steve in on his latest partnership with Tony to make enchanted weapons.

“It was the All-Father’s idea,” he sniffs. “Between you and me, he could have easily banished the frost giants, but he thinks this fight will create some sort of bond between myself and my fellow students. Joke’s on him: Armor-man and I are already close.”

There’s a…twinge of some sort in Steve’s chest, that’s been getting steadily tighter with every mention of Tony running around with Asgardians, but this is the last straw.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he barks, folding his arms. Loki can easily match him for height, so Steve finds his satisfaction in the way the shadow of his shield looms over the sorcerer.

“It means that when I rule Midgard, I promised Armor-man that he will be the last to fall,” Loki replies breezily, then he smirks and slyly adds. “Say, America-man, are you jealous?”

Steve scowls thunderously. “I—no.” he denies.

“I think perhaps you are,” Loki counters. “And if not of my superior good looks and majestic hair, it must be because I’m working with Tony Stark against the Dark Elves while you are…not.”

Guilt curls around his stomach and Steve folds his arms tighter. “I’m doing other things,” he mutters, wondering why he’s explaining himself to Loki of all people.

“I’m sure you are,” Loki agrees unconvincingly. “But if you’re in between recruitment trips and that infernal dancing, perhaps you should check on Armor-man’s progress. I would do it, but I must see a witch about a bird.”  

“You mean, you're going off to scheme with Amora,” Steve accuses. He’s just thinking he should probably keep an eye on those developments when he hears Loki’s next words.

“We don’t need any more weapons, but he keeps making them. I suspect he’s doing it for the compliments.”

“Compliments?” Steve echoes.

Loki rolls his eyes. “Yesterday, the All-Father has deemed Stark as excellent as the dwarves of Nidavellir,” he groans. “And Stark ate it up. Probably because Bumblebee-woman is the only one to praise him otherwise.”  

Loki gives him a look that echoes Natasha’s back in Club A. “Go on, America-man, I suspect you'll find him in the Ice Palace.”

“Got it, thanks,” Steve replies. “I mean, I don’t know why you’re helping me, but—“

“Oh, your mortal drama bores me, true,” Loki sighs haughtily. He’s back to his petulantly guarded self again, looking at Steve disdainfully over his shoulder. “But you and Armor-man deserve one joyous holiday before I take over Midgard and you are all annihilated where you stand.”

The Ice Palace is marvelous, there’s no denying. It’s also surprisingly warm and while Steve logically knows it’s not literally made of frozen water, he’s still ridiculously glad he doesn’t have to go inside to find Tony’s workshop. He arrives at the courtyard where the anvil is just in time to watch Tony get distracted by his own flexing biceps, misfire his repulsor, and take a turret clean off its foundation.  

Steve grunts loudly as he braces himself against the turret to keep it from falling.  

Tony immediately yelps, “Cap!” and rushes over to help. Between them, it takes a bare minute to restabilize the turret back on its foundation and Asgardian enchantments take care of the rest.

“Are you ok?” Tony asks. He lands just a few feet away and glances up so fretfully that Steve feels bad for distressing him. He opens his mouth to assure Tony that he’s fine when Tony cuts him off with another horrified squeak.

“Steve, your shield! What happened?”

Steve winces and glares at the metallic rifts on the shield like they're responsible for dragging Tony’s attention away. “It was T’challa.“

“You got in a fight with Black Panther?!” Tony demands incredulously. His fingers hover disbelievingly over his mouth and Steve wonders if he should feel slighted at Tony’s apparently low assessment of how well he would fare in a fight with the Prince of Wakanda.

“No, I didn’t,” he replies. “We were at Club A and T’challa thought—“ he stops himself before he says something that might demand an even more awkward explanation. “…it wasn’t a fight.”

It takes a moment, but Tony seems to accept it. A strange silence descends, wherein Steve grows a hundred percent more aware of the blacksmith outfit, which is still…the way it is… only now with the added bonus of Tony being all flushed with exertion and tension and...

Steve bites the tip of his tongue, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Tony grins, abruptly sunny. “I just made a batch of new weapons. Odin says I’m really good!”

And the twinge in Steve’s chest is back. It claws its way out of him sharp as nails, “You don’t need Odin to tell you you’re good, Tony!”

“You want me to say no to street cred on Asgard?” Tony asks, like he’s scandalized at the suggestion. “They love blacksmiths! I mean, I think it’s because they don’t have internet up there, which is tragic, but y’know.”

Tony shrugs, and Steve isn’t stupid--he can see Tony's eyes dim behind that plastered smile. “They can keep their blacksmiths,” he says. “We need you, Tony.”

Tony chuckles, in a heavy kind of way that makes Steve’s heart clench. “No need to flatter me, Capsicle, I’ll take a look at your shield. I got some free time since Falcon just took a raincheck on fixing the jetpack.”

“That’s not—“ Steve starts and grinds to a halt. He returns the shield to his back, scratches and all, and reaches out to touch Tony’s shoulder instead. “It’s not about the shield. Or Sam’s jetpack, Tony, I just want…”

Tony’s brows arch, intrigued, and Steve sighs. He drops his hand from Tony’s shoulder and scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “I’m being really bad at this, aren’t I?”

“Maybe,” Tony drawls tentatively. “But hey, you’re kinda perfect at everything else so…”

“Not perfect,” Steve reminds him instinctively, but keeps his voice gentle. He doesn’t want to ruin the mood any further, so he considers his words before speaking again. “You do a lot, Tony. For us, for the Academy—we don’t tell you that enough, but the truth is, I’d miss you if you weren’t with us.”

“You’d miss me,” Tony echoes wondrously.

“I’d miss you like crazy,” Steve affirms. “There wouldn't be Avengers Academy without you; and even if there were, it wouldn’t be half as much fun.”

Tony wears an expression that wants to be pleased, but is not quite, so Steve wastes no time bringing a palm up to cup his face. Now, Tony goes wide-eyed and slack-jawed, but he doesn’t resist—not even when Steve leans in, ever closer until their skin touches. The kiss is awkward and off center, a tentative brush of Steve’s lips against the corner of Tony’s mouth because if he were to be honest, fighting a war is easier than being this vulnerable.

“Oh my god,” Tony breathes when they part.

“Is this OK?” Steve asks softly, still holding on and unwilling to move further away. “Please say it’s OK.”

Tony laughs. It’s barely a whisper above the winter breeze, but it’s genuine. “Oh, it's more than OK,” he says, and Steve doesn’t waste any more time. Their second kiss is less shy; it has more heat and Steve shudders under the wave of want that blooms behind his ribs when he feels Tony clutch at the nape of his neck.

Steve echoes the sentiment of before, “Oh my god,” he shivers at a sharp sensation on his lower lip. “Tony.”

“Cap,” Tony returns, sounding faraway even though Steve can feel him so close. His fingers drag, yearning, down the sweep of Steve’s throat. “Are we…?”

Steve nods. “Yes,” he replies hurriedly. “Anything, whatever you want from me.”

Tony grins. “Good,” he says, and Steve thinks, forget magic. Forget enchantments and iron and armors. If the sunshine delight in Tony's eyes ever turned toward the campus walls, the Frost Giants would be long gone.

“Honestly, it wasn't my intention when I first designed it, but hey, if it bought you running, I'm glad for every strap.”

Steve scoffs. There's no heat behind it; there can't be when it's a bright new day at Avenger's Academy and he's walking along the quad, holding on to Tony's hand like letting go is some unimaginable travesty. “Running is maybe a strong word.”

"No, it isn't," Tony replies happily and leans into Steve as they round the Archives. "Really, you're pretty spry for an older fella."

"Gotta keep up with you somehow," Steve sighs.

"I can't believe you thought Odin made me wear it." Tony snickers, even if Steve can't help but protectively tighten his hold. He's calmed down these days, really--barely any comment about lecherous god-kings and their various underhanded motives.

"You do see the irony in accusing the All-Father of being a shady old perv when your second guess was 'blacksmith', right?"

Steve barely resists choking on his own breath. A high pitched squeak escapes his lips instead.

For his part, Tony taps a quick pitying kiss on Steve's cheek, but gives no quarter. “Because I remember what said you said that time,” he teases. “Come on, Captain my Captain, what was your first guess when you saw what I was wearing?”

#superhusbands #stony #my writing #bymani #cap-im holiday exchange