#i am consuming all of this content about as happily as i consume chocolate

[dmclemblems]

the fire emblem gods have fed me so good with all the new rodrigue content

#i am consuming all of this content about as happily as i consume chocolate #the content i have been living and dying for has arrived to me #like look i love the blue lions but sometimes there are just some conversations i don't care for #like a lot of the OG supports don't feel like they gave me much besides rly surface level stuff #and some of the characters both BL and otherwise like I could love them but not be interested in their supports #mainly bc their supports just weren't interesting #but to have a character I'm actually super invested in getting new conversations is so awesome #it makes it a little more special when you're rly invest in certain characters and you get GOOD GOOD content #and when rodrigue tries to show love for his sons and proves all those haters wrong I THRIVE AND FEED #felix rly do just be super tsun to all the ppl who love him the most like felix no that that that's not good honey #FELIX THESE PPL LOVE U AND THEY ARE TRYING TO DO ANYTHING TO HALT THE TSUN IN U PLS FELIX... #DCE Comments

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Silver Lining 2

Warnings: non/dubcon, speech impediment, bullying and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: silverfox!Bucky Barnes

Summary: You have an unpleasant encounter with an older man.

Note: I was going to add this to the bookstore au but realised Bucky is a side character in Steve’s and not old so….

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

You leave the cafe with your lukewarm cup. You were so anxious you'd almost forgot about the pepperminty goodness. You sip, slightly disappointed in the temperature. Still, it's yummy and you have your bag of books in hand. The day has been a mild success.

You walk along the icy pavement, the season nipping at your cheeks. Most people complain about the snow but it's your favorite. You don't drive so you don't worry for a slippery commute, you have your heavy-treaded doc martens and a downy coat.

You head down Ironwood hoping to catch a streetcar car only to find it skimming past. You sigh and drop your shoulders. You could use the exercise and it would be so bad as long as the path behind Jerry's Submarines isn't snowed over.

You cut through to the next street along a short alley and hop over the bank between the sidewalk and the road. As you do, you slip and stumble, a pair of headlights turning just as you fall into the street. I long fearsome honk blows in your ears.

You whip around to face the driver, raising your hand in an apologetic wave. Not the smartest move but the street isn't usually that busy. You brows pop up as you recognize behind the wheel. Oh boy. Not again.

You skitter away hoping he didn't recognise you too. That very same man who invaded your personal bubble and insulted your taste. Lisa doesn't believe it when you say you're cursed but it's hard to deny from your vantage point.

You get to the other side and keep your head straight, marching away without looking back. He drives by slowly past your peripheral and you dip onto the path, letting out a breath. Alright, no way you'll see that jerk again.

There's a blanket if snow over the path but not enough to deter you. You kick through the powder as you bob to the music in your earbud. You know, Mariah Carey's non-Christmas tunes aren't too shabby either.

You come out on Orchard, sipping your mellowed candy cane cocoa and swing the paper bag carelessly. You could start your podcast. You have more than enough resources now and the new books will be the cherry on top.

As you stride along Orchard towards Cornish, a car door opens and shuts. You don't see the figure before you until they step over the curve and nearly take you off your feet. You drop your cup, spilling what's left of the cold hot chocolate.

“Oh, oof, d-dude–” you sputter out as the liquid drips down your lilac docs.

“Dude?” The man grips the bag in his left hand, his other opening and closing in a tight fist. No way.

“Ew,” you let out the syllable without filter.

“Ew?” He eyes you head to toe.

“Y-yeah, y-y-you're following me.”

“Following?” He growls, “you girls sure do have quite the imagination these days.”

“B-b-but… you saw me….g-go down the path.”

“I wasn't even looking at you, doll,” he scoffs.

“D-d-doll?” You scowl.

“Oh, don't even--I could call you worse.”

“L-leave me a-alone,” you back up, gripping the wire handle of the shopping bag tightly.

“Happily,” he sneers, “I have a job so get out of my way.”

He shoulders past you, harshly. Your trads slip on the salted walk as you grunt and turn to eatch him strut towards the house just a few feet down. You rub the sore spot left by his gruff impact.

You shake your head a leave, thinking better of shouting ‘old man’ at his back. You probably shouldn't antagonize him. So you spin and tuck your hands into your pockets and carry on.

Your street is only a few blocks away. By then, you've almost forgotten about the strange encounters. The closer you get to the haven of your bedroom, the more excited you are to crack open your new books.

Your parents house is trimmed in bright coloured lights and the lawn decorated with plastic candy canes and full entourage of fake reindeer. The familiarity of your childhood home is both comforting and stagnating. You can't believe you're still here.

You go inside, leaving your wet boots on the mat as your mother calls your stepdads name from the kitchen. You unzip your coat and hang it on the rack mounted against the wall. You reclaim your bag of books and make your way to the front room.

“Dean,” your mom calls again as she appears in the hall, peering in after you, “oh it's you.”

“Just me,” you drone and continue towards the stairs. You stop at the bottom, “mom,” she keeps from retreating and looks back at you, “need help?”

“Oh, no honey, I almost got it figured out. So, how's the job hunt?”

You try to smile. Oh, that. You can't live off severance forever and the settlement is never going to happen.

“Good,” you lie, shifting the bag behind your hands.

Maybe you should be a bit more prudent. It's an investment, for your podcast. You just need to figure out how to record. And how not to stutter every other word.

You're only thirty. You have time to smooth out details. Don't you?

You turn and plod up the stairs and into your bedroom. The clutter greets you along with the nest of blankets tangled in your bed. What are you even thinking? You can hardly keep your room tidy.

It's not your fault. Your mom says so. Lisa too. But it has to be. You had it all, a good job, a nice apartment, independence. You blew it all. If you'd just kept your mouth shut.

But wasn't that the problem? Isn't that why you're getting therapy? So you can speak up next time. So there won't be a next time.

You sniff and sit at the desk, adding the bag to the mess. You hang your head in the darkness as the snow reflects the sheen of street lights through the window. It takes time, Lisa says, but you feel it running out.

#bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #drabble #series #au #silver lining #mcu #marvel #avengers #winter soldier

[fific7]

Dangerous and Divine - Part 20

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo is an itch you don’t want to scratch. But he’s all over you like a rash.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly fluff & lemon zest 🍋 Hopefully you’ve guessed by now that is my “Billy Russo Deserves Real Love AU” as I totally refuse to accept what happened in S2! The GIF is from Exposed, unreleased pilot show in case you’re wondering 😌... Billy vibes.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content including unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Some drinking & swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My GIF)

You’d just realised that - despite his little caveman episode earlier on - you didn’t ever want any man except Billy in your life.

Still gazing into his dark chocolate eyes, you heard yourself saying, “I think I’ll have that ring, please.”

You really wished you’d had your phone in your hand to take a photo of Billy’s face, because it was what they call ‘a picture’.

Never had you seen his mouth drop open so wide. He gaped at you for what felt like minutes, until he stuttered, “Th... the ring???” You nodded, “Yeah.”

He grabbed your hand and stood up, moving quickly out of the booth and dragging you along with him. Glancing at the waitress, who was looking very surprised, he said happily, “Sorry, miss. We’re gonna have to leave. Sorry ‘bout that.” She shrugged and turned away as Billy rushed to the door, you in tow.

Once outside you huffed, “Billy! Slow down! And what about lunch?!” “Nah, nah, nah. Lunch’s gonna have to wait!” “But I’m starving!” “Angel, I’ll get you lunch soon, I promise ya. Right now? I need to get you back to the apartment. Get that ring on your finger ‘fore you change your mind!”

He continued moving along the sidewalk at speed, gripping your hand tightly almost like he thought you’d try to get away. You were beginning to pant slightly as he was going at such a rate, his long legs eating up the sidewalk, and you laughed breathlessly, “Seriously, Billy, slow down!” He dropped back ever so slightly, “Nearly there, angel,” he grinned at you.

Eventually you arrived back at his apartment, Billy throwing open the door and then slamming it behind the two of you. Just as well he doesn’t have neighbours up here, you thought, otherwise they wouldn’t be very happy.

The next second, Billy’s mouth was on yours in a fiery kiss. He broke away, “Wait there, wait there!” He almost bounced over to the kitchen table and grabbed the ring box. Meanwhile, you were smiling at his goofy schoolboyish enthusiasm. Then he was back in front of you and dropping to one knee again, but this time looking happy as a clam. The ring box was held up towards you, open on this occasion, and its occupant sparkled at you as it caught the light.

A bit out of breath, he said your name in a serious tone before continuing, “....I’ve said all this to you before, but I’ll say it over and over again. As many times as you need me to say it. I want you in my life.... I’ll always want you in my life, angel. I love you so much it hurts, and I can’t be without you.” The dark eyes stared intently into yours, “Will you marry me? Please?”

This time you reached out and stroked the hand which was holding the ring box, “Yes, Billy.... I will.”

The smile which appeared on his face would’ve put the sun to shame. He leapt up, fumbling a bit as he took the ring out of the box, taking hold of your hand and sliding it onto your waiting finger. It fitted perfectly. How’d he manage that? you thought.

But when you met Billy’s eyes they were full of tears. You immediately reached up and stroked his face, “Billy.... you’re crying.” He sucked in a big breath and wiped a hand across his eyes, pulling you into his arms and just holding you close.

“Thank you,” he whispered next to your ear. “I really hope you don’t feel like I pressurised you into this, angel. It means so much to me that you said yes. But just ‘cause I wanted it so bad doesn’t mean I ignored what you said before. Hey, we can still get to know each other while you’re wearin’ that ring on your finger. I just wanted something that said to the world you’re mine.”

“Big sap,” you smiled against his chest. He chuckled, “Yeah, I’ve already admitted I am,” before tipping your chin up with one long finger. His lips hovered over yours, “You’re my fiancée now.” You nodded, “Yes I am.” His mouth gently met yours and he kissed you... softly, slowly, with love.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After a prolonged and passionate kissing session on Billy’s sofa, you two finally made it back out for lunch. Which mightily pleased you, as you were absolutely starving by now. Billy had your hand in his and he was happily swinging both your arm and his backwards and forwards as you two walked back to the same diner you’d been in earlier.

He’d asked if you wanted to go elsewhere, but you just couldn’t face going even a little bit further away - you were sure you’d faint from hunger if you did.

The same waitress looked round from where she was leaning on the counter as you and Billy went back in, and tracked you over to the same booth you’d occupied before. Whipping out her notepad and pen, she was once again drinking in Billy with her eyes and ignoring you so a bit pettily, you picked up the menu with a flourish so that the diamonds in your ring flashed as they caught the light.

Her eyes were drawn to it - as you’d expected them to be - and widened quite noticeably. Billy was smirking at you, as he knew exactly what you were doing. He repeated almost the same thing he’d said earlier, “And my fiancée will have.....”

You hid a grin and ordered steak and chips, and Billy smiled “I’ll have the same,” at the waitress, before switching his gaze back to you a millisecond later. She looked at you, her mouth set in an irritated line and turned on her heel without another word. “And two beers, please,” you called after her. “Okay,” she said over her shoulder. You grinned over at your fiancé - your stomach leapt as you thought of him as that for the first time - “Y’know, if she worked for me, I’d fire her.” Billy nodded, smirking, “I know you would, angel. And not just ‘cause she’s got the hots for your fiancé.”

You swiped the menu at his his head, and he ducked out of the way with a joyous chuckle. You could tell that Billy was almost incandescent with happiness, and you felt glad that you’d made him really smile again.

While waiting on your food, you had a ‘brilliant’ idea. With Billy watching on with an amused smirk on his face, you took a photo of your ring and sent it to Karen.

About 10 seconds later, your phone rang and you answered it to a long loud shriek of “Ohmygod-Ohmygod-Ohmygod!” “Hi Karen,” you replied, holding the phone away from your ear and smiling at Billy.

She took a breath before saying, “So you did it! What happened to slowing down and waiting a little bit, then?!” You laughed, putting the phone on speaker, “I came round to Billy’s way of thinking.” You heard a chuckle from her, then Frank’s voice in the background, “Whass goin’ on?” Karen filled him in on the new development, he yelled something unintelligible and then suggested you all meet up for a celebratory drink. “Did you hear that?” asked Karen, “Wanna meet up for a drink?”

You looked over at Billy with a raised eyebrow, he nodded, so you said to Karen you’d meet the two of them at a bar halfway between the two neighbourhoods.

After consuming your late lunch faster than the speed of light, you and Billy headed out from the diner (you couldn’t resist giving the waitress the brightest smile as she frowned over at you while Billy paid) and walked to the bar to meet your two friends. Just as you approached it, a body slammed into you and two arms got you in a bear hug. Initially freezing in shock, you relaxed as you heard Karen squealing into your ear.

You managed to extricate yourself and as you did so, she grabbed your left hand, pulling it up to her face and squealing again, “Oh...! oh my god, it looks so good on you!” Grinning, you replied, “Why thank you,” as you made your way into the bar. Heading to an empty table, Frank went to the bar and ordered a bottle of champagne, returning to the table with it in an ice bucket. “Didn’t really see Frank as a champagne kinda guy,” you whispered to Karen. She and Billy grinned as Frank said. “I heard that!” and you looked at him apologetically, “C’mon, Frank, when was the last time you drank champagne?” He smiled, but a bit sadly, “At my wedding.”

Oh no, you thought, feeling instantly guilty. However Frank laughed now, “But if this isn’t a good time to take my second hit of champagne, I don’t know what is!” He glanced fondly over at Billy, who seemed to have a permanent smile on his face, then back at you, shaking his head and smiling, “You two.... I can’t keep up with you!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After several pleasant hours of drinking, chatting and laughing, you’d all eventually left the bar and gone your separate ways. Billy was now mildly tipsy, and insisted on walking down the street with both arms wrapped right around you. Which was fine until you met people coming in the other direction, meaning you had to dodge round them in an awkward dance, pulling Billy this way and that while he just clung onto you like an extra-large koala bear.

Back at his place, you were amused to see Billy’s eyes beginning to close drowsily, so despite all the filthy promises he’d been whispering into your ear the entire walk back, you two ended up just falling into bed and going to sleep.

You weren’t sure how many hours later, but you started to surface from your deep sleep as you suddenly became aware of hands on your breasts and something hard between your legs. Your eyes slowly opened to see Billy’s big dark eyes looking down into yours and then his hand found its way to your ring finger, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. Billy had somehow managed to part your legs and manoeuvre himself between them while you were sleeping on your side. Realising that Billy was already inside you and beginning to thrust, you whispered, “Billy, you cheeky big devil!!! I’m not awake yet,” but you only heard a low laugh from him as he carried on making love to you.

He was nuzzling into your neck, kissing and licking so you decided to take what was yours and grabbed two handfuls of his hair, pulling on it. He laughed out loud, “I guess you get to do that whenever you like now,” and thrust extra deep, making you gasp. “Definitely,” you managed to say as he rolled you over onto your back and pulled your knees up. His lips moved to your breasts, and your head went back onto the pillows as his tongue did its best work.

Suddenly he hit your sweet spot, and you hauled on his hair like you were trying to rein in a runaway horse, hearing an answering “Ow!” from him. You were just smirking to yourself when your climax hit you, and your mind went blank as you became completely immersed in it. Billy kept up his fast pace until you felt him shudder and release into you, his mouth biting down on your shoulder.

He moved onto his back, but somehow managing to stay inside you for the moment even as he softened. “Sweetheart.... you know I’m happy that you like my hair, but I truly don’t wanna be bald!” he laughed as he tried to get his breath back.

“I’ll buy you a wig!” you replied, “...sorry, Billy... not gonna stop pulling your hair, you know I’m not.”

Billy smiled lazily over at you, eyes staring into yours as he pulled slowly out of you, saying happily, “Yeah, angel, don’t worry... I know you’re not!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After breakfast, which involved a certain amount of kissing as well as the food items, you said to Billy that you needed to go shopping. You were just finishing a catch-up text with Jake, and noticed Billy reaching for his jacket. “No!” you blurted out, and he looked over at you in confusion and with a slightly hurt look on his face.

Billy seemed to need to be physically attached to you right now; he couldn’t stop stroking, touching, hugging, kissing you (with some licking thrown in there for good measure), so he looked really disappointed that you were insisting on going on your own. “I’ve just got a couple of extremely boring things to pick up, poppet and I don’t want to inflict that on you,” you soothed, going over to him for yet another long kiss.

“Okay, sweetheart,” he grumbled, “...how long you gonna be?” You stroked his face, “Not long, I promise.” A slightly happier look on his face, he sprawled out on the sofa and switched on the TV, so you sang out, “Bye!” and made your escape, a satisfied little smirk on your face.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Twenty minutes later, you were in Harry Winston’s Fifth Avenue store. The sales assistant was looking at you as if you’d been let out of a psychiatric unit for the day. You’d just handed her a ring made of out of a sliver of Post-It note, rolled up and sellotaped together. She took it from you, holding it between two fingers as if it might bite her.

You sighed, and decided to explain the situation to her as otherwise you didn’t think she’d take you seriously. “Look, my fiancé got me this ring....” extending your rock-laden finger towards her, “... but it was a complete surprise.” She now gave you a warm smile, recognising one of their very expensive engagement rings.

“And I want to get him a ring,” you carried on, “...and I want it to be a surprise for him too. Had to pretend I was just idly wrapping scrap paper round his fingers while I was watching something on Netflix.” It did look like something a kindergarten kid might’ve made, but you were quite proud of your improvised way of finding out Billy’s ring size.

Now she was really getting into it, leading you to a display case of big chunky men’s rings. “I’ve got something in mind, but I’m not sure you’ll have it in stock yet.” She gave you a quizzical look, and you described a ring you’d noticed recently in a fashion magazine; a fairly thin matt black titanium band, with two ultra-thin strips of platinum running round each edge. You knew that one of those chunky ones just wouldn’t look right at all on Billy’s long, slim finger.

She gave you a huge smile, “We’ve just launched some new collections, and that’s one of them! - our Midnight range. Please wait here, madam, and I’ll be right back.”

Soon you were on your way back uptown to Lenox Hill, and this time you were the one with a ring box hidden away out of sight.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

As you let yourself into the apartment and hung up your jacket by the door, you noticed that Billy had dozed off on the sofa. You loved watching Billy sleep, so perched on the edge next to him and stroked back a couple of strands of hair which had strayed onto his forehead.

He awoke at your touch, smiling sleepily up at you, “Angel, you’re back...”

You took hold of his left hand, and scrabbled around in your bag for the ring box. “Billy.... you remember you said you wanted something to show the world I belonged to you?” He gazed back at you warily, as if he thought you might’ve changed your mind while you were out. “Uh... yeah?”

“Well, snap!” you said, finally finding the box, opening it and then sliding the black band onto his ring finger.

Billy’s eyes widened, and mouth opened in surprise. “Wow!” he said, sitting up and looking at it closely, “I love it!” You breathed a sigh of relief: some guys didn’t even like wearing their wedding bands, never mind an engagement ring. “So you’ll wear it?” you asked. He nodded, “Uhuh, course I will, angel!”

He turned his hand this way and that, and you admired how good the slim band looked on his finger.

His dark eyes met yours, and he gave a low chuckle, “Ha, see...? Now you’ve got me on that leash, sweetheart!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry

#ben barnes #billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfiction #billy russo imagine

[redisriding]

The Right Swipe - Chapter Five

A Court of Thorns and Roses Modern AU Fanfic

All character’s belong to the wonderful Sarah J Maas.

Tag List: @superspiritfestival  @duskandstarlight @perseusannabeth​ @courtofjurdan​ @omg-aelin​ @keshavomit​ ​ @rainbowcheetah512​

Azriel’s hands trembled as he punched the numbers into his phone. He had said he would call at this time. His promise, more to himself than her, the only thing holding him to actually going through with the call. Two hours ago he had told Cassian he was coming down with a migraine and had retired to his room. He had lay on his bed, as darkness slowly consumed the room, counting down the time until the call. Thinking up excuses to get him out of calling. Only to talk himself out of the excuses and into going through with it. 

There was one thing that Azriel wanted more than anything and that was to be in love. He often wondered that if the lie, the illusion of love he had lived for ten years had felt that good then what would the real thing feel like? When someone you loved, loved you back in the way they were meant to. 

There was a part of Azriel that thought he wasn’t worthy of such things, that there was nothing especially appealing about him that would make someone fall in love with him, the real him, not the fame and not the money. 

But another part of him, the logical part, knew that everyone was deserving of love. That everyone would find their person when the time was right. That included him. 

He also knew, however, that if he wanted to find his person, or let them find him, he needed to put himself out there and not cloister himself away in his apartment. No matter how safe he felt. 

So, hands shaking, heart hammering, Azriel pressed the call button and placed his phone to his ear. 

Time seemed to slow. The ringing in his ear going on forever. 

In reality however, she picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” She answered. 

Adrenaline spiked through Azriel. For all of his anxiety about making the phone call, he hadn’t actually thought through what he would say when she picked up. Maybe he hadn’t really believed that she would.  

He felt sweat prick on his lip, his heart now pounding so hard it threatened to break free of the cage that were his ribs.

They had called to have a conversation, to get to know each other better than they could over messages, and yet every single thought emptied from Azriel’s head. What on earth did he say to her?

“Hello?” She repeated. 

Say something Azriel he screamed at himself. 

“Ugh…hi.”

Smooth. 

“Azriel?”

He closed his eyes. Her voice was light and airy. Soft. Kind. His name sounded nice falling from her mouth. 

“Yeah…Elain?”

“Yes! Hi!”

“Hi.”

Silence descended between them again. Azriel desperately tried to think of something to say. To try and remember something from their Swipe conversations, and still he was drawing a blank. 

“This is a bit awkward, isn’t it?” Elain giggled. 

The sound was so light and infectious that Azriel couldn’t help but huff a laugh. “Just a bit…I, ugh, don’t really know that to say.”

“Me neither.”

“I’ve never done this before.”

“Called some random woman from Swipe?”

“Ugh…talked to someone I don’t know on the phone.”

“No one?”

“At all.”

“What about when you order pizza?”

“I use an app.”

“What about when you have to call a plumper or your bank?”

“I have people for that.”

Elain laughed again “Ooooh okay Mr Bigshot? What do you mean you have people for that?”

“Ugh…well…I have an agent who looks after my affairs.”

“Oh wow, you really are a big shot.”

“No, not really.”

“So, are you some sort of Ward of the State?”

It was Azriel’s turn to laugh. “No, I’m perfectly capable of looking after my own affairs…I just don’t.”

Silence fell between them again, but there was less panic coursing through Azriel now. 

“Azriel,” Elain whispered after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to video call?”

“Eh—.”

“So we can actually see each other’s faces, it might be a bit…less weird?”

Azriel paused for a moment, considering. Actually, maybe it would be easier if he could see her face, read her expressions. “Yeah okay.”

“Okay. I’ll call you right back.”

“Okay.

“Okay.”

There was another pause, and Azriel was sure he heard Elain take a deep breath before the line went dead. 

He pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it. His world somehow seemed greyer after speaking to Elain than it had before. Like she was the colour and light he was missing. 

In an eruption of light, startling Azriel and causing his just settled heart to again pick up its hammering, his phone displayed and incoming call from a number he presumed belonged to Elain. 

He punched the accept button. “Hey!”

Elain’s face filled the screen. 

Azriel’s pounding heart skipped for a second. 

She was stunning. 

Soft brown-blonde hair fell in waves framing her heart shaped face. Her eyes were big and brown, doe-like. With high cheekbones and soft pouty lips her beauty was soft, adorable. 

Azriel felt the binds he chained around his heart loosen. 

“Oooh,” she squeaked, “You’re in the dark?”

“Oh sorry,” he said as he stumbled from his bed, to try and find the light switch.

“Azriel?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you not want me to see your face?”

“Ugh—.”

“Because your profile pictures seem purposefully obscured. You suggested calling rather than meeting up at first. You hesitated when I asked if you want to video call. Now your room is dark?”

“No, I—.”

“If there is something wrong with your face, if you have scarring or something, I don’t—.”

Azriel’s fingers found the switch, light illuminating the room. He grinned at Elain’s sweet face twisted in a frown, her expression then turning to one of surprise.

“Oh!” She whispered, “Very beautiful.”

Azriel only grinned wider as she caught herself, even on the screen he could see the pink blush that flooded her cheeks. 

“I mean,” she stumbled over her words, “Not beautiful, just that…well…eh…not that it's not beautiful, just that…there’s nothing wrong with—.”

“Elain?”

“I just mean that I don’t see why you would hide your face,” she finally exclaimed. 

“Thank you,” he said, chuckling at how flustered she had become. 

“Why did you hide your face?”

“Oh eh…”Azriel hesitated. 

Elain didn’t appear to recognise him. He didn’t want her impression of him to change if she knew what he did for a living. 

Then again, hadn’t he lectured Cassian only yesterday about how it was important to be his authentic self. And wasn’t Cassian, not having taken his advice on board, now sitting on Azriel’s couch watching endless reality TV and eating chocolate? 

“Yeah, I didn’t want to make myself too easily recognisable just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“So…I don’t really know how to say this without sounding pretentious so I’m just going to say it.”

“Okay?” There was a lightness to Elain’s voice, like she was laughing. 

“Do you know who I am?”

“Eh…aside from the guy I matched with on Swipe, no. I don’t know anything about you.”

“Good! That ugh…makes a change. See Elain, a lot of people in this town know me…I…do you like hockey?”

“Hockey?”

“Yeah.”

“Not especially.”

“So you don’t follow the Velaris Black Wings?”

“No.”

“Oh…well…I joined the team this season. It was kind of a big signing, publicity-wise.”

“Oh my gods!” Elain exclaimed. 

Azriel felt his stomach drop. This was going to go either one of two ways and both were bad for him. One, she was going to be wooed by his money and fame. To want to get close to him because of that. Not give a damn about him as a person. The second option, was that she would want nothing to do with him, because of the money and the fame. Not to be able to see past those things to the person he was. 

He held his breath waiting for Elain to say something further. To reveal which of the two she was. 

“You’re such a liar.”

His heart sank. 

Gods this was impossible. 

Maybe he should give up on the whole dating thing until he was retired and happily back hiding in the Illyrian mountains. Although from Cassian’s reports, there wasn’t much hope there either.

“Elain—.”

“You are a Mr Bigshot!” 

Azriel paused, the breath leaving him in a sudden rush. She was neither enamoured or repulsed���she was joking with him?

He smiled at her shyly through the screen. 

“I can totally see, why you would want to keep your identity private,” she continued. 

“Yeah, I just don’t want to attract a lot of attention if I can avoid it.” 

“Makes sense.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed back into silence. An easy one this time, as they smiled at each other. 

It was Azriel who broke it, “Nice plant.”

“Oh this?” Elain moved to look at the leafy thing that was sprawling behind her shoulder. “Thanks, I’m nursing it back to health.”

“Forget to water it?”

“No, I found it in my sister’s coffee shop, dying. I asked her to smuggle it out for me so I could save it.”

Azriel chuckled, those chains around his heart slackening once more. “You like plants?”

“I love to grow things. To see little seedlings emerge from the soil, so brave, to grow into trees big and tall, or flowers bright and beautiful,” she shrugged blushing slightly, “It’s nice.”

“Maybe I should get some plants to liven up my apartment, it’s pretty grey…minimalist apparently.”

“Oh you absolutely should!”

And with that Elain launched into a discussion about which plants did best in what environments and which ones might suit his apartment best. 

Azriel leaned back on his bed, head against the pillow, content to listen to her talk for hours. 

#The right swipe #acotar fanfiction

[heauxplesslydevoted]

Could’ve Been (Rafael x MC)

Title Inspo: Could’ve Been - H.E.R feat. Bryson Tiller

Summary: Casey realizes that letting go of a relationship is harder than she thought

A/N: 1) Me? Writing an Open Heart fic that isn’t about Ethan? Shocking. 2) This would’ve been up much sooner had I not started watching Real Housewives (quality hour of television, btw) and gossiping with my mom.

Tags: @drakewalker04 @canknot @akacalliope @senseofduties @badchoicesposts @ermidc @thatysn @paulfwesley @zodiacsign1 @choices-lurker

~v~

The rest of the city is calm, despite how she feels. Casey Valentine is exhausted. She just got off of a 36 hour shift at the hospital, most of her body feels like dead weight, and she wants so badly to go to sleep, but her brain refuses to shut off.

She rolls over, nearly colliding with Rafael. Her boyfriend is sound asleep, and she'd be envious if she wasn’t so content with the image of him. She’s never said it about a guy before, but Rafael is so attractive, he borders on angelic at times. His smooth brown skin is illuminated by moonlight, his long eyelashes curl along the apples of his cheeks, his lips are slightly parted, and she can hear his tiny breaths pass through as he breaths, the muscles in his arms and legs are loose and relaxed. Her eyes travel the planes of his body, loosely covered by her sheets, leaving little to the imagination.

Casey sits up in bed, ignoring the sheet as it falls from her body, and simply stares at Rafael. Moments like this, moments of stillness and tranquility are so hard to come by considering their hectic jobs and lives, and now that she’s stumbled into one, she doesn’t want it to go to waste.

Unconsciously, her fingertips reach out to touch the few strands of hair that are dangling in front of his face, and she gently grazes his forehead in the process.

He whimpers slightly at the contact and Casey freezes, hoping he doesn’t stir any further. It doesn’t work, as Rafael’s eyes flutter open slowly, adjusting to the world of consciousness. After a few dazed moments, his eyes settle on Casey and a smile forms on his face.

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You can wake me up anytime.”

“No, you were sleeping so peacefully. Trust me, I know how hard good sleep is to come by.”

“I can fall asleep again,” Rafael says, his voice still hoarse and thick.

“No need to brag about it, Superman,” Casey teases.

Rafael chuckles softly at the nickname. He rolls over and wraps an arm around his girlfriend’s waist and pulls her in closer to him. She revels in his warmth. He was always her personal heater, his body running warmer than she’s used to with other people.

“Why are you up, my little insomniac?” Rafael asks, running a hand through Casey’s hair. Craning his head slightly, he sees the time on the alarm clock. 2:18 AM.

“I can’t sleep.”

“What’s up? Is work okay? Is sad or outlandish cases plaguing your dreams?”

“No. I’m actually on a winning streak at work.”

She can’t put her finger on it, but she can’t shake the anxiousness building in the pit of her stomach. There’s no justification for the feeling, and that’s the annoying part.

“Do you think you’re nervous about officially joining the diagnostics team?”

While she still had a few more months left in her intern year, it’d be over before she knew it.

“Maybe.”

“Well whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon,” Rafael continues.

“Me too. But in the meantime, you need to get back to sleep. What time do you need to be up for your shift?”

“7:30,” he answers. His fingers find her back and he strokes the soft skin along her spine. Casey shivers at the contact and moves closer to him, as if that’s even possible. She swings her leg over his, the heel of her foot coming in contact with his calf, as if she wants to test out just how intertwined they can be.

Maybe it’s her nervous energy, maybe it’s because she’s bone tired and wants to be cuddled like a spoiled toddler, or maybe it’s a combination of both, but the urge to cling to Rafael is overwhelming. Not necessarily sexually—though she’ll never not have sex with him if that’s what it turned into—but she craves the intimacy of his touch, the warmth of his body, his scent, all of him.

The pad of her thumb touches his jaw, drawing lazy circles. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but you’re beautiful.”

“No one has ever called me beautiful before,” Rafael admits, and Casey can see a scarlet blush creeping onto his skin at the compliment.

“Well you are. I’m going to start saying it more.”

“I like it,” Rafael murmurs before capturing her lips in a kiss. She parts her lips, a silent invitation for him to deepen it, which he happily accepts. She hums in appreciation as his tongue finds purchase in her mouth, pushing, exploring, and his hands, simultaneously rough and gentle, finally settle at her side.

Her heart speeds up, and for a second there, she’s sure it stops beating altogether. Being with Rafael might be something she never fully gets used to. No matter how familiar he is, her body and mind still react like he’s something so pure and so rare.

After a while, he finally breaks the kiss, and she’s buzzing, dizzy and delirious, like she’s drunk on him. She doesn’t know how he has this effect on her, but she doesn’t mind.

After what feels like forever, Casey breaks the kiss and pulls back. They lock eyes and she’s pulled in, his brown orbs reminiscent of dark chocolate.

It’s in this moment that Casey Valentine realizes she’s stupidly and irrevocably in love with Rafael Aveiro. It’s all consuming and burns her from the deepest parts of her core, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

The confidence and security that comes with the realization tears at her defenses, lowering her guard. Whatever anxiousness she felt earlier dissipates as time ticks on. She doesn’t have time for that, not when she’s in the arms of the man she loves.

She must have a crazy look on her face, because Rafael gently squeezes her. “You okay? Why are you staring at me like that?”

The three words are on the tip of her tongue, but she swallows them. Instead, Casey kisses him once more. “Again, just admiring.” She yawns. “Let’s go to bed.”

“You think you’ll be able to go to sleep now?”

She nods and smiles giddily at him. “Positive.”

~v~

Casey startles herself awake, a cold sweat covering her skin. She pants, a hand flying to her chest to calm her beating heart.

“Raf, I–”

The words die on her tongue as she realizes that she’s in bed alone.

It comes flooding back to her. Sora came waltzing back into town, and Rafael broke up with her, saying he needed to see if there was still something there. She scoffs. Because stupid high school girlfriends still carry that much weight in your late 20s.

The memories cut Casey like a million tiny razor blades, piercing her skin and exposing her to the harshness of the real world. A chill settles in her bones, and she wraps herself in her thick comforter. It’s not enough, and it doesn’t compare to Rafael’s embrace in the slightest.

She’s done a decent job of compartmentalizing. She’s curt with him at work, she avoids group interaction, she got rid of all of his clothes shoved deep in her closet and her drawers. She doesn’t allow herself to think of Rafael.

And her stupid subconscious ruined it.

Now that the floodgates are open, he’s all she can think about. Where is he now? How are his grandparents doing? Do they like Sora? Do he and Sora pillow talk in the middle of the night, sharing secrets and talking about their days? Does he let her wake him up at all hours?

She should’ve told him she loved—loves, it’s still very much present tense—that night. If he knew how she felt, maybe they’d still be together. She should’ve had sex with him that night, if she knew it was going to be their last one together. She wouldn’t have done laundry and changed her sheets the next day because right at this moment, she’d do anything to smell him on her sheets again. Maybe that’s why she was so on edge: her intuition knew the breakup was coming, but the rest of her was blissfully unaware.

Casey allows the facade to drop, and the regret and ‘should’ve/could’ve/would’ve’s’ invade her brain for a minute. Up until now, she’s refused this, the mourning for her relationship with Rafael, because she knew she’d break.

Tears fall from her eyes quicker than she can blink them away. She doesn’t want to cry. She isn’t ready to open up that gaping wound the size of Texas that’s in the center of her chest because of this.

Before she can stop herself, she rolls over and grabs her cell phone, unplugging it from the charger. It’s incredibly late at night/early in the morning, but Casey doesn’t dwell on the time. Instead she scrolls through her contacts until she finds his name. There are no cutesy nicknames, no string of emojis, just a simple R. Aveiro.

Her thumb hovers above the screen for a long time, long enough for the doubt to settle in. She’s making a mistake, right? No one in their right mind is pathetic enough to call their ex in the middle of the night, especially sober.

Deciding she has nothing else to lose, Casey says fuck it, and calls anyway.

It takes 3 rings for Rafael to answer.

“Hello?”

Her breath catches upon hearing his voice. She just woke him up with this call, she can tell by the sound of his voice. Sleepy Rafael is easily one of her favorites.

She’s so caught up, it’s easy to forget that he’s still on the line and she hasn’t said a word.

“Hello? Casey, is that you?”

Casey counts silently in her head before nodding. “It’s me.”

“It’s almost 4 AM,” Rafael says.

Her cheeks burn at the statement. The embarrassment that she dismissed a few short minutes ago is present and in full force now.

“Is everyone okay?”

She misses when they were able to talk late at night with no pretense. There didn’t need to be an emergency with their friends. They were just Rafael and Casey.

“Y-yeah, everyone is okay,” she answers.

“Are you okay?”

No, she thinks. “I’m great.” Fucking liar.

“Okay.” 

There’s an awkward pause on the line, and Rafael yawns. He sighs heavily and she can feel it in her bones that he’s about to hang up on her. 

“I’m sorry for calling,” she starts, “I just...I don’t know, I guess I just missed hearing your voice.”

“And I’m sorry for unloading this all on you right now,” Casey continues. “But if I didn’t talk to you, I’d probably have a panic attack.”

“It’s fine, Case. I’m still your friend, you can wake me up anytime.”

Those are the same words he said to her during their last sleepover, and this time, she doesn’t try to fight the tears falling from her eyes. Maybe he said it on purpose, maybe it’s a sign from the universe that things will eventually be okay, or maybe it means absolutely nothing. Whatever the case, it sends her into a tailspin.

She wants to scream at him for being so dense. That's not good enough, it’ll never be good enough. She doesn’t want to be his fucking friend, she wants to be with him. She wants to fall asleep in his embrace, and wake up next to him. She wants things to go back to the way they were.

Her throat constricts and aches at the effort she’s putting into not sobbing into the speaker.

“Are you still there, Casey?” Rafael asks, concern laced through his voice.

“I’m still here.” If he hears her voice crack, he doesn’t bring notice to it, and she’s glad. “Again, sorry for bothering you. I have the early morning shift at work, so I should really get to bed.”

“Oh, of course.”

She’s caught in an awkward limbo of wanting to get off the phone as soon as possible, as if to save herself from anymore humiliation, but at the same time, she’s afraid to hang up on him. 

“Can you be the one to hang up?” She pleads. “I can’t bring myself to do it.”

Rafael swallows thickly on the other line. “Sure thing. Goodnight, Casey.”

“Goodbye, Rafael.” The finality of the words is staggering, and she’s shocked she actually managed to spit them out. She sniffles quietly.

But he doesn’t rush to end the phone call. Time drags on for a while and they both sit in comfortable silence. It becomes apparent that Casey isn’t the only one having a hard time letting go, and the fact brings her a tiny slice of solace.

But like all good things, the moment comes to an end. Saying goodnight once more, Rafael hangs up and the call ends with a resounding click.

And just like that, it’s over.

Whoever came up with the concept of closure is full of shit, because now Casey feels worse than she did before.

#playchoices #choices: stories you play #open heart #open heart 2 #rafael aveiro #rafael aveiro x mc

[soymimikyu]

Food in Netflix’s Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 3

It is over. I finally finished season 3 about 2 hours ago and needed the time to recover and process the ending. While I have only faint memories of the ending in the book, this ending seemed very different (and I want to say I liked it more? I just recall being let down by the way the books ended; however, I was quite young at the time...).

Here is the final set of food notes from the show. The final season was comparatively sparse, but there were some interesting culinary choices. I hope you enjoy!

(Also, since this is the final installment, if anyone enjoyed my rambling carefully curated notes on food in TV shows, I would happily take requests to do this for a different show in the future. It was fun and gave me much to think about in the kitchen.)

Today’s notes are brought to you by Glassworks - Opening played by Ólafsson (because that I what I’m listening to).

Food in The Slippery Slope

Sarsaparilla

What Olaf drinks and discards while driving. It is flat. The bottle helps Violet and Klaus determine which fork to take.

Coffee and Tea

What pretentious people drink according to Olaf

Absinthe

A random beverage that popped into Olaf’s mind.

Marshmallows

Made Brucie the Snow Scout Leader sick after eating too many.

I really want to make these! Gelatin is such a fun platform for cooking so many things! The real goal would be blooming marshmallow flowers with whiskied caramel hot chocolate!

Rutabaga

What the circus freaks plan on growing on their farm.

Hot Dogs

What Olaf’s cooks with this troupe.

Brandy Sidecar or Coffee

What Esme wants with Breakfast.

A Brandy sidecar is a cocktail of cognac, cointreau (orange flavored liqueur), and lemon juice. Sounds pretty tasty -- I think (I know next to nothing about drinks...).

Frozen Orange Juice

Found by Sunny in trunk.

She uses this to make Sorbet.

Salmon

Caught in the stricken stream by Hook-handed man and given to Sunny. She prepares Sashimi with this.

Hot Cider [X]

Quigley’s last meal with his mother. What saved him from the fire.

Canned Peaches

Quigley’s meal at Montgomery’s.

Montgomery had a lot of canned peaches (or just two cans) because the Hook handed man in season 1 is also eating canned peaches when posing as a detective. Nothing wrong with this -- canned peaches are delicious.

Poisonous Berries

Mr. Poe tries to help by finding Breakfast.

I often see poisonous berries as red in TV (I am thinking mostly of a specific seen in the Netflix Witcher series) and it made me curious if real poison berries are always red. Nope: nightshade (duh) is black, and several other harmful berries are also black/blue. Some are orange. Given the brightness of these berries I am going to guess they were Mezereon or Elderberry.

Granola Bar

Mr. Poe has these. Kit has some.

Poe always has granola bars.

Lox

Sunny’s idea for dinner

Pistachios

Lemony is saying something and thinks they are for everyone one.

Parsley Soda

What Sunny gets when she requests a fizzy drink.

Boysenberry Jam

The darkest Jam in the VFD fridge.

This really makes me want good jam or to try jamming. Roasted lamb and jam...not sure where I would easily source lamb right now and is likely to be a far greater headache than I care.

Olives

There were 5 green olives filled with pimento in the jar. It indicated the gathering was on Thursday.

Mustard

All I wrote is the last safe place. I don’t recall the details -- but it was probably a clue.

Mustard is my favorite condiment. I can (and have) eat it plain.

False spring rolls

What was prepared for a meal for Olaf’s troupe by Sunny and Hook handed man.

How did they get wraps on a mountain...maybe you can repurpose a part of a fish to use as wraps. The skin or various internal linings? Seems less appetizing / food safe.

Rutabaga (again)

What Olaf’s troupe wants to grow.

Food in The Grim Grotto

Chewing Gum

Phil only cooks meals with chewing gum.

Chewy Casserole

Chewing gum casserole.

In my experience heating gum or gummy like things often goes very poorly. You can add them towards the end of the cooking process to create some sort of layer -- but definitely not from the start.

Potato and Cod Chowder

Non-gum based meal that Sunny and Phil prepared.

Calamari

What Sunny thinks Olaf’s sonar symbol is.

I fully accept that the children are seriously smart, but where is Sunny learning all of this? Did the books have cooking books (I think so..)? I shall assume that Sunny demands to be read only cooking books as bed time stories.

Soft Pretzels

Olaf wants these. I do too -- I should make them!

Turmeric

In one of Esme’s evil laughs.

Cabernet

Olaf wants wine and gets lost in the octopus submarine looking for some. He pronounces it as Caber-NET.

Horseradish

Cure for the Medusoid Mycelium.

Taragon, Wasabi

Contents of kitchen cabinets while Sunny is sick.

The wasabi is what is used as a culinary substitute and cure. Interestingly, it is Mr. Bobby brand. Would anyone know if this has significance? Brand names in this universe are interesting.

Lemon Lime Soda, Gorgonzola Cheese, Birthday cake for Violet

Contents of the fridge while Klaus and Violet are looking for horse radish.

That is a damn impressive cake. Fondant is really well done. Can you make fondant from gum? Probably not, but Sunny is resourceful and likely found a suitable culinary substitute.

Sub Sandwich

Prepared by Hook-Handed man to delay Olaf form assisting in torturing the children.

Looks like a pretty standard sub on a softer baguette. It appeared to have sliced deli meat.

Chef Salad

Fernald’s analogy for people to emphasize that categorizing people as noble, good, bad, or evil is invalid.

Pig Eating Pork

Ok -- this one is not food, but I was amused by Olaf’s simile to describe his joy.

Food in The Penultimate Peril

The Picnic Basket

I absolutely lost my mind with this scene. We only briefly see the contents of the picnic basket as Violet removes the top layer to reveal the concierge disguises Kit prepared. I paused and replayed this seen maybe 10 times to examine what was in that top layer. I then needed to cross reference some incomplete descriptions with two large pastry books (thankfully they have an entrement section...). I feel reasonably successful:

Millefeuille [X]

This is napoleon. Adding a flavor to the custard is a great way to modernize this dessert.

Cream Puffs (Might be a profiterole) [X -- I’ve done eclairs]

Choux pastry is very forgiving and a good entry point into fancier pastries. It forms the basis of eclairs, cream puffs, and, if you are crazy, croquembouche.

3 Layer cake

Unclear what more to say. Since these are all french pastries, perhaps the sponge is genoise?

Mini Opera Cake

Opera cake is layers of Joconde sponge (almond sponge) flavored with coffee syrup, layered with italian butter cream, and then topped with chocolate ganache. It was something I planned on making before everything closed down (I can’t eat it myself X.x).

Madeleine or Beignet [X]

Since this was a picnic basket, I am leaning in favor of Madeleines. They fit the other set of deserts better than a Beignet.

Nut Entrement

I think is this another cake, but it is unclear. I can’t seem to source this one either. Maybe it is carrot cake! That often has nuts around the perimeter.

Sauvignon Blanc

Olaf’s wine of choice

Aqueous Martini

Jerome’s drink of choice.

Indian Food

Larry, in his last waiter position, poses in an Indian Restaurant. Poe orders a glass of milk.

The Barking Gin Distiller Dry Goods

Interesting brand on the bag belonging to a lady on the trolley during the sequence when Justice Strauss is searching for the Children.

Tea

In flash back with Kit and Esme. Kit likes her tea as bitter as worm wood and sharp as a double edged sword.

Sausages

Crow meat and an analogy for learning the Law (you don’t want to know how the sausage is made, just like you don’t want to know how the law works).

Too much pepper and makes the court audience cough.

Food in The End

Root Beer Float [X]

Lemony has one. It is his thirteenth.

Waffles

Partially consumed by the man following Lemony at the diner.

Mixed Nuts

All that is left to eat on the boat. Sunny offers some to Olaf, but he knocks it into the sea.

Ceviche

Since the islanders don’t have any spice, they eat raw fish.

I have never had this, but recall reading in a book about sushi how it was integrated by some sushi chefs in South America into more traditional Japanese cuisine.

Fermented Coconut Cordial

I have no idea how you could get anything resembling an opioid from fermenting coconut water. Unless Ish is adding something, this seems suspect. Fermenting something sweet and earthy also does not really sound appealing.

Wasabi and Wormwood

Sunny’s suggestions on how to treat the Medusoid Mycelium.

Wormwood and related foods appear often.

Apple

Modified by Bertrand and Beatrice to contain the sugars giving immunity to the Medusoid Mycelium.

Chocolate Cake [X]

SQUEEE this was adorable. Sunny makes a cake for Beatrice II’s first birthday.

Salad

Shared by Fiona and Fernald.

Root Beer Float

Shared between Lemony and Beatrice II as she tells him the remaining story.

I want to believe that this is his 14th root beer float.

Black Bean and Mango Salad

Sunny makes this during the Finnish Female Pirates incident as told by Beatrice II.

This sounds amazing! Slightly ripe mango with a citrusy black bean mixture would be delightful!

#netflix asoue #asoue #food in asoue #food in television

[keelywolfe]

Drabble: If I Were Brave (baon)

Summary:  It's not exactly an emergency, but Edge knows how to handle it, anyway.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationship, Domestic, Hurt/Comfort, Stretch’s Minions

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

Read it on AO3

or

Read it Here!

~~*~~

"Mister Edge Sir!"

The child, Janice’s son, Oscar, was panting as he ran up, his long ears bobbing. Edge was barely out of his car, briefcase in hand as he turned towards the sound of his name.

"What's wrong?" Edge asked immediately. His hackles rose, magic coming hotly to the fore. The attack from those Humans was not so long ago that the children would have forgotten it, and if he’d seen something—

But there was no terror in Oscar’s face, only worry. He took a hitched breath, swiping his sleeve across his running nose. “Toby fell and he’s hurt!”

Toby was one of the children who often came on the weekends for Stretch’s ‘experiments’, one of the older children, like Oscar, and firmly classified as one of the minions.

“Take me to him,” Edge commanded. He left his briefcase leaning against the wheel well and followed behind.

He was forced to shorten his stride to match Oscar’s run, but they didn’t need to go far. Around the corner was a group of children all standing around Toby, who was crying loudly. His skinned knees were the only obvious injury, the culprit seemed to be the discarded bicycle laying on the sidewalk.

Edge crouched, inspecting the injuries carefully. He wasn’t overly familiar with the wounds of fleshy creatures, but the blood was only oozing and they didn’t appear deep. There were faint scrapes on the child’s hands, but no head injury, nothing that seemed to be urgent. Chances were a few bandages and perhaps a treat to stifle those tears would be enough. But what was the point of having magic and not using it? Monsters were getting into the habit of holding back Aboveground, wary of Human reactions. Hardly a necessary caution in New New Home and besides, it would take a while for even scrapes to heal. There was no reason to let a child suffer, even for a minor injury.

“Oscar,” Edge said calmly. The child stepped up, bouncing on his toes anxiously. “Please run back to my house to get Stretch. He’s better at healing than I am. Don’t trip and fall yourself, Toby is going to be all right.”

That was as much for the weeping child as for Oscar, who nodded so rapidly his ears flopped across his face. He shoved them back impatiently and dashed away while Toby sniveled, looking up at Edge with wet eyes, tears dampening his short fur.

“You’re going to be fine,” Edge repeated. He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed lightly at one knee. The clean white lawn blossomed crimson, and he held it there despite Toby’s wince. His tears were slowing into little hiccoughs. “There you ago,” Edge told him encouragingly, “You’re being very brave.”

“He’s cryin’.” From one of the other children. Edge glanced at them and it didn’t seem to be an insult so much as a worried observation. The other children were watching him closely, including Toby, who was scrubbing at his cheeks with the back of one hand.

“Well, it hurts,” Edge said reasonably. “Even a Royal Guard can cry when it hurts. But he’s very brave to let me look at it and to wait while Oscar got help, don’t you think?”

All the children nodded fervently, likely remembering past times when they’d had to exhibit such bravery. Before there were any other observations, a loud pop made all the children jump. Stretch and Oscar appeared almost on top of the discarded bicycle and wouldn’t that have been a tangle. But Stretch was already clucking his tongue in dismay, crouching next to Edge and tugging away the handkerchief. Edge was amused to see he was in his stocking feet. He supposed he should be grateful it wasn’t a bathrobe.

“ouch, buddy, that’s rough!” Stretch fretted. He set his thin fingers just over the wounds. “hold still, okay, this’ll feel really warm.”

“He’ll be fine,” Edge said firmly. He took one of Toby’s hands in his own and the child nodded, his little chin barely quivering as the green glow of healing shone from Stretch’s hands. When he lifted them, the scrapes were gone, leaving only pink, healing skin behind. A quick glance at his hands confirmed that those scrapes weren’t worth bothering with and Toby was soon on his feet.

“Thank you, Mister Papyrus Stretch Sir,” Toby said, a touch shyly. He shuffled his feet in embarrassment, peeking out from under his lashes.

Stretch grinned and reached out to ruffle Toby’s ears, “seriously, kiddos, just stretch is fine.”

“I, on the other hand, am perfectly happy with my title of Mister Edge Sir,” Edge told them gravely. He tucked the stained hankie into his pocket with a grimace and a mental promise to soak it. He considered the contents of his kitchen and added, “Now, how does everyone feel about cookies?”

A chorus of cheers rose up from the collected minions. Stretch grimaced and held up one foot, showing off a bright green sock with dinosaurs scattered across it. They appeared to be wearing cowboy hats. “i’ll meet you guys there, rocks and my feet? not good friends.”

“No need,” Edge said breezily, and before Stretch could vanish, he scooped him up and started striding towards home, ignoring his squawks as the children’s giggles rose behind them.

“bridal style? you shit,” Stretch grumbled, too low for little ears to hear. “You could have at least gone for piggyback.”

“Or I could have thrown you over my shoulder,” Edge told him. Stretch laughed softly.

“i would have enjoyed the view,” Stretch murmured. He slipped his hands around Edge’s neck, snuggling into his arms.

“They’re getting gooshy.” Came a low mutter from behind. A few wordless grumbles combined with a couple of titters was the only response.

Stretch’s head jerked up like a prairie dog and he glared over Edge’s shoulder. “what? this ain’t goosh, this is practical! edge can’t teleport like i can, so he has to play pack mule, instead.”

“But you could take him,” Oscar pointed out. The traitor. “You do with us.”

“yeah, but when edge teleports he—eep!”

“Yes, here we are,” Edge said loudly, even as he dropped Stretch lightly on the grass, cutting him off mid-word. His husband rolled to his feet with a snicker, dusting off his clothes.

“But what does Edge do when he teleports?” Piped up one of the other children. A half-dozen curious gazes stared up, up at them both, waiting for answers.

“tell you what, why don’t we have some cookies, yeah?” Stretch grinned. He minced across to the sidewalk in his stocking feet and into the house as Edge retrieved his briefcase to take inside. In no time, every child had three cookies, no more, no less, happily munching.

Edge sat on the porch steps with a cookie of his own, chocolate chip and delicious despite its simplicity. His curiosity rose as Toby sat next to him, one cookie already consumed and a second halfway done.

“It’s okay if you don’t like teleporting, Mister Edge Sir,” Toby told him, quietly earnest. “You’re still really brave!”

“Thank you,” Edge said gravely. Gingerly, he reached out and tousled the child’s ears with gloved fingertips, the same as Stretch had earlier. Toby scooted a little closer to him, leaning against him, and Edge let him, only finished his own cookie.

When he glanced up, he saw Stretch watching him from his spot on the lawn with the other children, and his smile was lopsided and soft.

Love you, he signed, and Edge returned the gesture. Soon the children would be off to play again, perhaps to add another skinned knee or two to the collection. For now, there were cookies and calm, and it wasn’t a bad way to end the afternoon.

-finis

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #by any other name

[franklyshipping]

Oh So Tempting ~ A Markiplier Ego Fanfic

THIS IS A SUPER SNAZZY ANON PROMPT WHICH I AM SUPER EXCITED TO WRITE BECAUSE I'M WRITING TWO EGOS THAT HAVEN'T INTERACTED IN MY FICS BEFORE! LET'S DO IT!

TAGGING: @bingy-switch and @yandere-ipli-ler

Yandere was very proud of herself, and for good reason. She had just baked the most beautiful, warm, delicious double chocolate cookies with mini marshmallows melted on top of them. One for each and every ego, all well calculated and all perfect. Of course, Yan had extra ingredients in case of errors so she knew she could make more later if anyone wanted more, but for the moment her first batch looked to be immaculate. She had just taken the cookies off their cooling racks and put them on a decorative platter on the kitchen counter, before scooting briefly to go and put her apron in the laundry basket.

This, my dear friends, is where things get interesting.

Yandere had intended for these sweet treats to be a surprise, and so far her plan had been going smoothly....until the scent of cookies traversed down a few corridors to where Bing's sensors picked up the scent. Bing, of course, had no choice but to find the source of the sweet chocolatey scent since he may or may not have tuned his sensors to detect sweet consumables more acutely than other scents. So, when Bing ambled into the kitchen with an eager nose and eager eyes....his jaw dropped when he saw the platter of cookies. There were so many....they were still warm....and they were all unattended. Bing couldn't help himself....he had to try one.

It was the best cookie that Bing had ever had in his life. It melted in the mouth, Bing's sensors were almost overwhelmed by the delectable flavours, textures and warmth that came from the sumptuous snack. So....Bing had another....and another. His eyes were bright and he couldn't stop grinning as he reached for cookie number four....but that one he did NOT get to eat.

'.....and just what....do you think....you're doing?'

Bing gulped....he knew that cool voice. That cool, steady voice that was always a prelude to somebody getting absolutely fucked up. With cookie still in hand, Bing turned around to face her, to face Yandere. Her hands were at her sides and were twitching, her jaw was clenched, and her eyes darted over the scene before her frantically. She wasn't upset, she could make more cookies after all....but it was the principle. The lack of forethought, the assumption that the cookies that she worked hard on for EVERYONE were just free to be taken. The glow of Bing's amber eyes paled in comparison to the fire in Yandere's, and his voice was far shakier too.

'.....t-...t-t-....j-just.....I-I....t-testing....uhm....'

Bing gulped and hastily put down the cookie he was holding, shivering as Yandere got closer and closer to him. Her upper lip was quivering as she growled.

'Would it have pained you....to simply ASK before you took? These were meant to be for everybody, including you!'

Bing was quivering, hugging himself as he started to feel honestly really bad about what he'd done; he stammered more as he looked to Yan with true, strong remorse in his eyes.

'I-I'm s-so sorry Yan, I-I-I don't know wh-why I did it! P-Please c-can you forgive m-me?'

Yandere honestly had to fight the fond look that was threatening to develop, she wanted to remain intimidating whilst at the same time she didn't want Bing to feel TOO bad. So she settled for giving him the subtlest of smiles, just to let him know her anger wasn't in too much earnest. Then her authoritative mode reared its head as she stood before Bing.

'Perhaps I'll forgive you....but....I have conditions.'

Bing felt like a weight had left his shoulders at the sight of that smile, but then he quickly nodded and became as attentive as possible; he was ready to do absolutely anything and everything to make all of this right!

'Y-Yes o-of course, a-anything you want just name it!'

Bing had his head cocked to the side as he wrung his hands together, making him look almost too adorable to handle as his eagerness embodied him. Yandere hummed in thought as she looked Bing up and down, obviously he had to be punished....and Yan smirked and mused in her reply.

'Well, first off you will clean the kitchen work surfaces and the oven before I get to work replacing the cookies you ate. After those are done then you can clean up the kitchen once more, making sure that you do the dishes to perfection....'

Bing nodded enthusiastically as he listened to Yan, knowing he would be able to do all those things with ease without overexerting himself or making any errors. His enthusiasm spurred him to babble a little.

'I-I'll d-do all of that p-perfectly I swea-'

Bing gasped and halted his spiel when Yan held up one of her hands, as a signal for silence. The crimson haired ego stepped closer to the jittery android until they were very nearly nose to nose, so that her next purr had no risk of being unheard.

'I'm sure you will...but before all of that....as compensation for the extra hard work I am going to have to put in with the extra baking, I need to de-stress first. So....I am going to tickle your bare, hypersensitive feet for as long as I please....and you will NOT stop me. Is that understood?'

An amber blush appeared on Bing's cheeks almost immediately as he processed Yandere's words....his feet were so deathly ticklish, and his reactions were always so wild and embarrassing. A punishment indeed. Bing could already feel the flusteredness creeping up on him, especially with Yan smirking at him like he was her prey. However....he knew that he deserved this....so he nodded, meekly mumbling.

'....I-I....I understand....'

Yandere gasped and giggled rather sadistically, and wasted no time in beckoning Bing over to the couch in the adjacent living room. Before Bing knew it he was lying on his back with his socked feet in Yandere's lap....he couldn't escape what was coming.

'Good boy....'

Bing whimpered at Yandere's croon, watching with wide orange eyes as he was stripped of his socks; he let out a breathy, surprised gasp when a well-manicured nail dragged up one of his soles.

'A-Ahah!'

Yandere nibbled her bottom lip with another sadistic giggle, happily now trapping Bing's ankles between her legs as her sadistic nails raked up and down Bing's poor, defenceless, ticklish soles. Yandere was starting to feel glad at Bing's actions.

'Oh this will de-stress me so perfectly....'

Yandere sighed with a contented grin as she watched Bing squeal, jump, and descend into crackly, hysterical giggles at the tickle treatment; the amber glow on his cheeks was also getting darker and darker by the second.

'AHAHAHA NOHO-OHMYHECK YOHOUR NAHAILS!'

Bing's eyes were as wide as they could go in shock from how tickly it all was; Yandere merely giggled once more.

'I know, aren't they pretty? So sharp and perfect for tickling naughty thieves like you!'

Yandere cooed, adoring how Bing couldn't hold back his ticklish squeals and sweet, adorable little babbles.

'IHIHIHI'M SAHAHARRY YAHAN!'

Yandere chuckled, as sweet as Bing's desperate apology was, it was WAY too soon to stop. She elected to spontaneously scratch nice and hard at the android's heels, her crimson lips spreading into a sneer as she locked eyes with him.

'Oh you certainly will be when I'm through with you.'

Bing let out a wondrous snort before hurrying to hide his face in his hands out of embarrassment, his wild, rampant giggling never stopping for a moment. Also, his cheeks were transitioning from amber to a rather lovely orange as he cried desperately.

'DOHOHON'TTEHEASEME!'

Yan raised an amused eyebrow at seeing Bing hide away so cutely, whilst also noticing him scrunch up his feet as tight as he could. She narrowed her eyes at the sensitive feet before her, before ruthlessly scratching deep into those ticklish wrinkles.

'....I hope you weren't trying to order me about Bingy....you wouldn't want me to prolong this to teach you a lesson, would you Bingy?'

Yandere's tone of voice during this particular reply was a little different....it was higher pitched and sharp with an underlying air of danger to it. That tone and the nickname combined told Bing that he had to be extremely careful, because he was on thin ice with his sadistic tickler. Amidst his cackles though, he thankfully managed to remember his manners.

'NONONOHOHO IHIHI WAHASN'T IHI WOHOULD NEVEHER!!'

Despite the tickling making him want to fight back and cry out censored language, he knew that politeness would be the best route in terms of earning mercy. Yandere smirked at Bing, adoring how desperate he was to stay on his good side. Her nails dug evilly into Bing's wrinkled soles as she purred with dangerous narrowed eyes.

'Of course you wouldn't....because you're a good boy, aren't you? You're a good boy who does what he's told, aren't you?'

Bing nodded frantically, whimpering into a couch pillow he held at his chest as his cackles got higher and higher pitched the longer the tickling went on for.

'YEHEHEHES AHAHA IHI'LL DOHO WHAHATEVER YOHOU SAHAY!!'

....Yandere was going to make Bing regret saying that. She giggled as ideas swarmed through her excited mind, whilst stopping the onslaught so that Bing could recover a little. Yandere watched Bing cutely gasp and blink frantically, before musing.

'Will you indeed....will you really?'

Bing looked to Yandere, and gulped when he saw the sadistic smile on her face. Nevertheless, he nodded, but was tensed with flustered embarrassment.

'I-Ihi prohomise....'

Yandere's sadistic smile now spread into a frankly feral smirk.

'Well in that case....uncurl and spread your toes....and keep them that way until I tell you otherwise....'

Yandere winked and giggled as she saw Bing's face practically glow orange as his eyes widened at hearing what she was asking of him. Bing had to take a few breaths to compose himself as his toes twitched....but he soon complied. Internally, he was actually rather excited to undertake the challenge. Thus, Bing nervously smiled as he spread his toes, exposing the undersides and his toes stems perfectly. This allowed Yandere to take a single manicured nail and start tracing under his toes.

'You must be such a strong boy....I know that this will tickle so bad for you. The undersides of your toes are always hidden usually, always safe....but not anymore....'

Yandere crooned with a joyful smile as she watched Bing start to whimper, biting his lip to repress desperate gasps as he shuddered with the effort to keep his toes uncurled. Yandere was right, it did tickle so....so bad. Just that simple tickly tracing was enough to have Bing almost breaking.

'P-Pleeeheheee-a-ahaha....n-nohoho....'

Yandere chuckled as Bing weakly giggled, blinking away saline fluid from his eyes as he whined too. Yandere simply traced and stroked the undersides of Bing's toes stems with her nails....nice and carefully....nice and slowly. There was no little hidden spot un-teased.

'Poor Bingy baby....so ticklish and exposed and desperate....I bet you want mercy huh?'

Bing nodded frantically, giggling and twitching and blushing hard as Yandere's feigned sympathy flustered him even more.

'Y-Yahahan....p-p-pleheheassssee....Ihican'ttahakeit.....'

Bing's voice was so pleading that it made Yandere's heart melt. Seeing him so blushy and desperate and wide eyed with flustered innocence just made Yandere want to hold him close and adopt him so she could protect him for ever and ever. However....the sadistic part of Yandere still had a little thing she wanted to do.

'Well in that case....I may have mercy. But....only if you can convince me how sorry you are for your actions.'

As Yandere continued her tracing, Bing's vocals almost broke the sound barrier with how fast his desperate, squeaky babbles came out of his mouth.

'I-Ihihi'm s-soho sohohorry, I-I shohould have thohought! I-I knohow you w-w-wohorked hahard ahand I'm s-soho sahahaharry!'

Yandere hummed, but smiled because honestly she had not expecting an apology so sweet and genuine from the adorable android. Of course, Yandere immediately had mercy and released Bing's feet, which Bing didn't hesitate to scrunch tight with a gasp.

'I forgive you my little orange blossom.'

Bing whined into a cushion, but smile and mewled when Yandere pulled him into a tight cuddle; he was also happy at that particular nickname but you didn't hear that from me. Yandere rubbed the android's back, giggling fondly at how he snuggled so instinctively.

'....y-you're so good at tickling a-and baking.....'

Yandere grinned at the androids little mumble, and purred smugly.

'I know.'

Yandere giggled as Bing snorted and giggled, before Yandere proceeded to cup Bing's cheeks and pinch them as she continued.

'Well since you ate those cookies I might as well ask you for feedback.'

Bing squeaked and batted at Yandere's hands, before replying with a sweet smile.

'They were awesome, y-you should be super proud.'

Bing let out a quiet, content sigh when he saw Yandere smile and bow her head bashfully at the compliment, and Bing made sure to give her many more when they went to bake more cookies together. They ended up baking around three more batches but c'mon let's be real, there's never anything bad about an abundance of cookies.

HOPE YOU LIKED THIS FIC LEMME KNOW IF YA DID WOOOOO LUV YOUS XX

#markiplier #markiplier egos #yandereiplier #yandere #bingiplier #bing #platonic #sfw #ego fic #ego fanfic #tickle fic #tickle fanfic #prompt #tickle #tickles #tickling #ticklish #luv these bubs

[boogiewrites]

Reports & Repertoire 13

Characters: Eddie Brock x Venom x Candace Miller (OFC)

Word Count:  7100+

Summary:   Venom romances Candy in an attempt to seduce her to get her to sleep with them. It works.

Warnings/Tags: Explicit Sexual Content: Threesome with Venom giving oral sex. Fluff. Flirting. Seduction. Romance. Venom being very into rom-coms. Eddie being a gorgeous dumb ass. Venom’s understanding of romance is a bit cliche, but his (Eddie’s?) heart is in the right place.

Click on my icon then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. (Had to do this since Tumblr killed links, sorry.)

Candy and Venom had been taking into consideration their discussions about sex, trying to get to a place of comfort and mutual validation with each other. It gave Eddie some time to breathe as far as Venom talking constantly in his head. He'd been reading up on human relationships, what was healthy and not, as Candy liked to always say communication was the key to a healthy one. Venom knew healthy was a good thing and he wanted to have their relationship running as well as he did Eddie's body.

They had many texts while they were apart about sex. This was crucial to their, very specific situation. They talked about what they liked, what they didn't, what they had or hadn't tried before and Eddie hadn't ever been with someone who actively wanted to know about his sexual history. Candy told him she wanted to know so she could help him overcome this shyness he seemed to have about what he liked. Her openness led to deep dive discussions on taboo's, society and culture expectations and Venom was enthralled.

Once Venom felt like he had enough data to approach the situation delicately, which is what he had been told would be best, he moved onto the part he had already learned the most about. Romance. Venom liked romantic comedies. He didn't understand the appeal of the tragic ones, not understanding why people would want to feel sad while intaking entertainment, but he watched everything he could find that he could get to.

"Eddie," he says one evening, being full of human remains and just having watched an 80's rom-com. "I have realized something."

"Oh yeah?" Eddie says, eating out of the Tupperware container he'd taken of leftovers from the last time he and Candy cooked together. Or rather, the last time she tried to teach him how to cook and she and Venom had made him look like he couldn't even boil water.

"You and Candy have established your fondness, your coupling in an official capacity." he begins.

"Thought you were all about romance right now? That's the least sexy thing I've ever heard." he chuckles.

"Shut up Eddie, listen to me." he turns his hovering head to his hosts face. "I have not done that. Even though you and I...we are one, she does not see it that way. I think that I, as a singular being, need to tell her these things myself." he stares at Eddie with rounded eyes.

"Couldn't hurt." he says supportively.

"I want us to be romantic Eddie. We could woo her now. We understand making love, the emotions, the tenderness, the connection." he continues. "We could be together with her and consummate this relationship."

"Woah, bud, I know we like her but I don't think proposing is the right way to go right now." he says with a hesitant frown.

"Marriage? I did not say marriage." Venom tilts his head.

"Isn't that what consumers means?" he wonders with narrowed eyes, as if he were asking himself, and on a technical level, he was.

"Eddie. You are handsome always and dumb sometimes." he says, nuzzling against his cheek.

"Hey..." Eddie pouts.

"It is is a term not exclusively used to mean marriage." he explains.

"Alright. So you wanna ask Candy to be your girlfriend too?"

"I think it would be beneficial. Do you?"

"Worth a shot." he shrugs.

"I will need to teach you about romance Eddie." Venom says, perking up.

"I think I know what romance is, bud." he rolls his eyes.

"I am inside your brain Eddie. You do not." he informs flatly.

"Says the alien...the not human alien...to a human male who has had relationships before." he purses his lips at his friend.

"All have failed. With the exception of Candy. And I am trying to stop that from happening."

"Ouch." he says, his chin pushing into his neck.

"It's true."

"Yeah but...shit, you don't gotta come for my neck like that." he shakes his head and sighs. "So if I don't know about romance...what exactly are you plannin' on doin' then huh? Teddy bears? Flowers? Candy's a smart woman, you're gonna have to go beyond a box of chocolate."

"There will be all those things," he says, looking around the room. "But lucky for you..." he says, swooping into Eddie's face. "I pay attention...I know what she likes."

"Okay so what's the plan?" he says putting the empty container on the coffee table.

"First, we need to look at our bank account..."

"Oh jesus..." Eddie grumbles and rubs his temples. ---------------------- Candy was out a business dinner and fighting the urge to look at her phone. Not that it would help the time go by faster, but she knew Eddie was at home waiting for her and she hadn't seen him in two weeks and she was going through withdrawals. She remained vigilant, being feminine and approachable for the network higher-ups as she spoke in sound bites and vague but ambitious goals for what she wanted for the show.

She had grown up having to learn how to eat a lot of shit from men with power. Being from a small town with a mostly religious population she was used to being told to act like a lady and behave herself. She hated doing both of those things when forced, but she was thankful for the practice as she performed hyper-feminine for these monkey's in suits, telling them what they wanted to hear. With what she felt where borderline inappropriate cheek kisses, lingering too long with audible sniffs. Hands on her ribs and lower back that there certainly inappropriate enough to warrant her dropping her smile and moving away quickly. She got to watch the men leave in their chauffeured, all black gas guzzler and decline an offer to go back for drinks to their suite.

As they faded out of the distance, she sent Steph a picture of her rolling her eyes, saying she was calling an uber and getting the fuck home. She takes her foldable flats out of her purse, switching from the high strappy heels she'd been wearing and sits on a bench to change them. She puts her blazer over her tight dress before moving to text Eddie. She hears a rumble of a motorcycle and doesn't think anything of it. She's texting him that it went well and she'd be home soon.

"Hey, there gorgeous. Need a ride?" Eddie flashes her a charming smile, helmet sitting in his lap as her eyes rise to instinctively to tell whoever it was to fuck off but her face softens as soon as she sees him.

She gives him an entirely charmed closed mouth smile, rising quickly, her heels in her hands, as she rushes towards him, wrapping her arms around him and his worn leather jacket.

"Hey baby," he says in a deep voice that makes her sigh. His phone dings. "Hold on just a sec. This is probably my girlfriend, gotta get this," he says, gently pushing her away as she rolls her eyes and laughs at him. "Ah. Yep. Looks like I can't give you a ride, toots, my old lady needs me back home." he jokes and gives her a dopey smile.

"You idiot," she says with a soft giggle, leaning in to kiss him. "I missed you," she whispers against his lips. Her phone dings. She pulls away and pulls it from her purse. "Hold on. This is probably my dumb ass boyfriend." she smiles and kisses his cheek, looking to the phone to reveal a response of "k". "Oh you know I hate it when you do that." she shakes her head and narrows her eyes playfully.

"I do. But I plan on makin' up for it tonight." he shifts his brow suggestively.

"Oh you do?" she says with an impressed tone. "What's the plan Mr. Brock?"  she asks with a coy smile, taking out the helmet that was designated as hers and replacing the empty space with her heels.

"We both have a nice night planned for you." he says in a much more sincere tone.

"What have my boys been doing with that key to my place? Not messin' it up I hope." she grins and takes the flannel from the other saddle bag, Eddie watching her ass as she bends over the bike to reach it.

"Just a little." he jokes. "Nothing a few thousand in property damages won't cover." he shrugs.

She ties the flannel around her waist. "If I'd known you were coming I would've brought leggings or something."

"We wanted to surprise you."

"Well you did, good job." she gives him another kiss to the cheek, getting to smell that cologne and clean laundry combination that her brain had trained her body to react to. "Good thing I wore panties, huh?" she snickers. "Gonna try to not flash everyone. Last thing I need is a Britney and Paris a 'la 2006 flash shot getting out on the internet." she laughs, snuggling up to Eddie.

"Well they're doin' just fine now," he says supportively. "Imagine the boost in ratings!" he says with a laugh.

"Come for the pussy, stay for the news. That old saying." she snorts. "Take me home, babe, I wanna snug up with you," she says putting her hands under his jacket, feeling his warm stomach under her hands. She feels Venom move over her hands while they're concealed. "You too Venom. Get us home." she sighs happily.

---------- Eddie rolls his bike into the small space available in the garage Candy shares with the family that lives in the other half of the house she lives in. "Don't go in yet!" he calls out, shuffling out the garage, closing the door as she jingles her keys in her hand.

"You were kidding about the property damage weren't you?" she asks flatly.

"Yeah! Yeah." he nods and takes her hand, taking the keys from the other "We just wanted to surprise you." he says with that dopey smile that makes her want to kiss his big soft lips.

"Surprise me?" she questions in an unsure tone.

"Yeah, close your eyes...lemme get ya inside." he mumbles, pulling her forward and then releasing her hands. "Just a minute! Promise!" she hears his boots hitting the floor and heading into the kitchen. "Just stay right there!" she hears his voice moving, and clasps her hands together.

She takes a deep breath, wondering what on earth these two were up to.

"Kay...kay..." he mutters, moving back towards her. "Follow me. NO peaking!" Eddie says. She feels Venom cover her eyes and she places her hands over him.

"You ask me not to peak I'm not gonna." she says defensively.

"No chances." Venom's voice hits her ears. She's pulled in the direction of the living room, and Eddie places his hands on her shoulders.

"Alright." he says looking over to the symbiote. "Count of three?" he says optimistically.

"One...two...three." Venom counts slowly, nervously, as he pulls his hand like shaped goo from her eyes.

She blinks them open to find a dim room. As she adjusts, the candlelight from white pillar candles dots the room. There's every sort of romantic cliche she's ever thought of. A giant teddy bear in her reading chair, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne on the coffee table next to a large bouquet of roses.  Eddie taps his phone screen and music starts playing throughout the house.

"Wh-" she begins, a huff of air pushed out in confusion but gratefulness. "What's all this for?" she says with a much sweeter turn to her words.

"We wanted to do something nice for ya." Eddie says subtle shrug, motioning to Venom who was moving from behind her to in front of her.

"We wanted to woo you. You deserve it." he begins, his face showing much less angular, more human shaped with rounded eyes to make himself less look intimidating.

"Boys..." she lilts and pouts. "You didn't have to do this." she insists and lets out a soft laugh.

"You are worth the trouble." Venom states as he watches her wide eyes taking in the room.

"Besides, Venom has this thing... where he can store things inside himself so... he stole a bunch of this." Eddie rubs the back of his neck and laughs.

Candy looks to him and he nods and she lets out a warm laugh that eases his nerves. "I like your style." she nods in appreciation.

"Thank you. You like it?"

"I love it, it's entirely too sweet and adorable, seriously." she coos, moving to put her hands on either side of his face. "Thank you Venom, this was all very thoughtful of you." she strokes the side of his head lovingly and his eyes shut for a moment. He seems so harmless like this. Such a lovely body of goo and space matter, with a metaphoric heart of gold. She wondered if perhaps it was Eddie's softness that leads him to want to be so affectionate to her. She figures she should repay him. "Can I give you a kiss to thank you?" she says softly and his eyes go round like a cartoon and she chuckles at him.

"Yes. Yes." he nods. She plants her lips to his forehead and pats his cheek. The warm but quivering mass moving underneath her mouth.

"Thank you, you big sweetie." she coos.

"There is more." he says quietly. Eddie watches the interaction, feeling elated himself, as Venom had his heart fluttering at Candy's approval.  He glides a tendril out of sight and retrieves a box from within himself.

"What's that?" Eddie and Candy both ask. Eddie had told him no about buying a ring, he wanted to date her not scare her off by going too hard too fast. It wasn't like it hadn't crossed Eddie's mind, but he was trying to refrain himself from moving too fast. Which was something he had the tendency to do.

"A gift." Venom responds with a teasing tone, nudging it towards her.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" she asks with a pout.

"Because we want to romance you." he rasps out. "Eddie has had his chance to become your boyfriend," he pauses and takes the top off the small box and holds out a gold heart locket to her. "I would like to be as well. I thought if I asked you formally and showed you how I...we care for you with grand gestures you would be inclined to say yes to me. As you did Eddie. We are one...but you see me as another person and I want to show you that I care for you just as much as Eddie does." he puts the locket around her neck as he speaks, fluffing her hair back in place, gentle strokes to her cheek and neck with warm and soft limbs before he draws them away.

"Venom, sweetheart." she replies happily and reaches down to touch the gift. "You...ugh..." she lets out an exaggerated breath and moves to wrap her arms around him, he forms a more human shape, shoulders, and arms to embrace her back. "You're going for boyfriend of the year, huh?" she sighs happily. "He's really showin' you up here Eddie." she teases and kisses the side of the symbiote’s head.

"I mean I helped..." he shrugs and smiles. "What's in the other rooms was my idea though." a more mischievous look comes over his face.

"What's in there?" she asks, looking to Venom.

"Quit it Eddie. Me first. This is equally as important to the process." Venom gruffs at him.

"Process?" she asks an uncertain expression.

"Candy." he returns his voice to something softer. "Look." he says, flicking open the locket. Inside was a tiny photo of himself in one side and Eddie in the other.

"Oh my god." she laughs. "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen." she covers her mouth to hold in a laugh because the picture of venom, although tiny is well shot. The picture of Eddie looks like it was taken while Venom was bothering him, his face annoyed and smashed. "You seen this?" she asks Eddie with a grin.

"No. I had no idea about the necklace," he admits, leaning in to see. "What the hell, dude?" he says shoving Venom.

"I got it. I made the decisions." he grins and closes it gently. "She can remember me fondly."

"And I look like a pile of angry mashed potatoes?" he says with raised brows.

"If you'd gotten her something you could've picked out the picture." he sass's back and they both look at Candy as she sighs loudly, a warm smile appearing on her face.

"You two are ridiculous. I love it." she says with a shake of her head.

"He is ruining the mood." Venom says reaching out a hand to put to Candy's cheek, causing her to blink rapidly at the affectionate touch that felt almost human. "I wanted to show you we are capable of romance and worthy of being with. I thought if I did this, you might be inclined to be with us again." he mumbles the last part.

"Sexually?" she says with a deep turn of her voice and a playfully raised eyebrow before Eddie let's out a small snort in amusement.

"To be honest...yes." he admits.

"You askin' me to be your girlfriend too?" she clarifies with a polite smile.

"Yes." he nods.

"Okay..." she says thoughtfully. "This is very romantic, you did a really good job." she begins. "I've already considered myself your girlfriend. You and Eddie are a package deal right?" she shrugs.

"Told you." Eddie says with a much more supportive fist to the symbiote’s shoulder.

"But you asking means a lot. And yes. I consider you to be my partner too." she says with a hard nod. "That's why I bring you chocolate and pills when I bring Eddie beer and food," she explains. "I don't want one of you being left out." she looks to both of them. "It's been super weird and hard at times to come to terms with this. But we've come a long way." she nods enthusiastically. "I care about both of you, you know." she pats the hand that lingers on her shoulder.

Venom moves in slowly, and she does not flinch, but watches him with curiosity, not seeing fear in her eyes makes his body soften and sends a shudder through Eddie. He nuzzles against her face and neck, up under her hair and lets out a purring sound. "Thank you, Candy. I am glad you are ours. Eddie was very lucky to find you." his voice is soft and deep, not having the monstrous gravel as it used to have so heavily.

"And you were lucky to find each other." she says with a smile. "I don't have to worry about him as much with you around. I know you've got his back." the affectionate rub of her thumb against his hand makes him purr again." So let me get both by big soft boys in here, huh?" she says with a big smile, holding out her arms. "I've got two arms, c'mon. Plenty of room for both of ya." she chirps.

Venom wraps around her to her back, nuzzling over one shoulder while she wraps her arms around Eddie's neck. Venom encases them both in a warm embrace, the long tendrils stretching, wrapping and spreading around them and squeezing. "Aw, this is nice." Venom says quietly.

"Who picked the music?" she asks with a subdued laugh.

"We both kinda did." Eddie murmurs as they pull away from the embrace. "He found some 90's r & b playlists that were just a bit too...sexually forward in my opinion." he says defensively.

"Music made for having sex to makes sense to listen to when you have intentions of having sex." Venom states obviously. "You humans like to seduce each other with it."

"So you are trying to seduce me?" Candy smirks and crosses her arms.

Venom’s head moves back to her quickly after defending himself to Eddie. "Yes. The gifts act as a mood setter to show you we care for you beyond the physical. But the physical...we want that too yes." he nods.

"So...what's in the other room, huh? You plan on seducing me...next step is the bedroom right?" she says with a confident shake of her head.

"Bedroom is the third step. Let me begin the second one." Venom states as he stretches in through the bedroom door.

Candy turns to Eddie, her face at ease, eyeing him up and down. "You have anything else in there you know I like?" she asks with a tilted head and more suggestive smile as he gestures to the phone in his hands.

"Sam Cooke." he says with a charming smile.

"Mmmm." she nods approvingly.

"Marvin Gaye." he adds with a smirk.

"Oh you're lookin' for trouble, huh?" she playfully scolds and laughs, leaning in closer to him.

"Lots of 70's rock ballads. I know you like those slow jams." his voice dips lower and gives her the slightest bit of tease.

"I do love some good dad rock." she chuckles. "I'm from the country, I can't help it." she shrugs shamelessly.

"Also!" he says, with a raised finger, getting distracted by one of the gifts that were his idea. He moves towards the bedroom. "This is a new system," he says proudly. "I'll put it on your phone later." he beckons her closer with his hand. "We got these speakers and they play the same song through the whole house." she can hear music coming from her bathroom as well as the brightly colored pod on her dresser.

"It's called synced Eddie." Venom says, poking his head out from the bathroom.

"Yeah, they're synced up." he mumbles, scrolling through the playlist they'd made.

She hears the bath running and looks with a lowered brow towards the sound. "What's step two of the seduction of Candace Miller?" she smirks.

"We knew you had that meeting tonight. And you'd not been looking forward to it so I thought tonight might be a good chance for us to help you relax...put you in a better headspace y'know?" Eddie says with a subtle shrug, eyes soft and voice the same.

"We wanted to help facilitate us all being together. We know what relaxes you the most." Venom's deep voice comes as he slithers from the bathroom, a limb extended to pass through Candy's hair. "Can we help you relax Candy?" Venom asks, his head hovering near her face. She feels a slight thrill run through her at the suggestion.

"I went and got your favorite things from that fancy soap store too." Eddie begins, walking over to the bathroom door and opening it. They'd set up a romantic scene in there as well, candles carrying from the bedroom to the bathroom.

"Lush?" she asks, seeing the bubbles in the tub.

"Yeah. I know you like those fizzy things so we got some 'a them and bubble bath." he offers shyly, holding his hand to her. Venom wraps around her shoulders, a gentle push towards Eddie.

"They're called bubble bars." Venom corrects.

"Yeah." Eddie frowns at him for only a second before turning his eyes back to her. "We wanted to suggest that you have a good soak and tell us how your meeting went. Get it out of your system? So we could... y'know... maybe spend the night together?" he offers with a face that shows his hopefulness.

She takes a slow breath, looking around the pale colored room with the warm rosy tones of candles flickering. With the smell of jasmine in the air, she runs her fingers over the lip of the tub, her face indifferent and trying to let go of the reservations she'd been holding onto. She told herself she'd try anything once. She hadn't expected that to be this exactly,but here she was.

"This is about you." Venom says, appearing over her shoulder. "Whatever you want of us. We want to do that." he clarifies, an inky black hand shaped limbs rubbing up and down her arms to ease her.

"Okay." she nods and exhales in a breathy voice. "I'll get in the tub and tell you when to come in, that work?" she turns to look at the over her shoulder. "Let me get my head in the right place?"

"Yes." Venom says with enthusiasm, a slight squeeze to her arms before he pulled away.

"We'll just be in here." Eddie says as his head pulls out of sight as he pulls the door to.

She takes in the ambiance, and they really had done a wonderful job. She hears the music switch, some mood setting rock and she grins. They were a bit eager, but then again, if her racing heart was any indication, so was she. She settles into the tub, her hair piled and pinned on top of her head messily. With painted toes wiggling on the rim, hands slow and pushing about mountains of bubbles she sighs and rests her head back. "C'mon in." she calls out.

They both appear, Eddie now in just a thin t-shirt as he'd stripped away some layers. Venom a soft blob on his shoulder.

"Hello boys." she greets with them her chin in the water, hiding an evocative smile.

Eddie gives her a soft look, one side of his lips tugging back farther than the other with those soft hooded eyes at ease at the sight of her wide-eyed in the bathtub. "I figure, Venom can get your feet, I saw those heels you were wearin' before I pulled up at the restaurant, I know you won't turn down a foot rub." he grins,  moving to the end of the tub behind her.

"You'd be right." she smiles, watching Venom settle at the other end, opposite Eddie.

"I read about how to do this." he says, tube-like extremities now picking up and moving her feet, starting to touch and manipulate them, the pressure growing firmer each time, a pleasant weight as the soft nubs at the end of his arms rub circles into the balls of her feet.

"Yes you have." she exhales contently, moving her arms to the rim of the tub. "What'd you doin' back there babe?" she asks Eddie, turning her head to the side to get a glimpse of him.

"Well I'm gonna take the top half here." he says in an amused way as his hands move to her shoulders.

She sits silently, having never had the attention of two people at once before, it makes her feel powerful. A faint flush across her face from the heat of the water and her thoughts becoming indecent. Two guys were supposed to be like a 'thing' right? She thought. As her neck and feet got rubbed simultaneously she was starting to see why.

"So how did the meeting go?" Eddie suggests, his wide, square-tipped fingers rubbing at the caps of her shoulders.

"It was fine." she sighs out, shutting her eyes and letting her head all forward. "The rating are good. Steady. They like my direction, want to focus on the younger demographic, political trends, protests...that sorta thing." her words aren't articulate as usual.

"How do you feel about that?" Eddie asks, hunching over on the footstool, his mouth now close enough to her ears she could feel his breath over her.

"You my therapist or you tryin' to fuck me?" she gets out before she laughs, the bubbles jiggling with her body in the water.

He blows out a raspberry and kisses her head. "Sorry for showin' interest in ya feelin's. We won't' do all this extra stuff and lovin' on you first next time." he chuckles.

"You know I'm just bein' stupid." she smiles and hums.

"Yeah I know." he mumbles into her hair.

"I gave them vague answers. I'm gonna keep trying for expose''s. You know that stuff really butters my biscuit." her shoulders heave slightly with a silent laugh.

"Does this?" Venom asks, fingers still working away, turning her ankles and swiping up her calves. It reminded her of getting a massage with a pedicure, her legs getting added in on the treatment.

"Yes, god yes, boys, this is..." she nods and lets out a groan. "You're gonna spoil me with this." opens her eyes slowly and gives him a smile.

"Do you recall me telling you about how this sexual encounter would work?" Venom asks, both still working away at her damp skin, Eddie rubbing the back of her neck with his thumbs, making her grunt.

"Remind me." she sighs out, lolling her head to the side.

"He said you wouldn't have to worry about him. Remember babe?" Eddie whispers and the sound of his voice low and suggesting anything sexual started a familiar ache between her thighs. "Me 'n you can just... be together like we used to." he rests his cheek against the side of her head, his hands moving slowly from her neck to her collar bones. "You do remember that don't ya, Candy?" his voice stays breathy and even, making her take a deep inhale.

She hums contently. "Yes I do." she smiles, shutting her eyes again, taking in the softness of his voice she loved, the way it never sounded harsh when it spoke to her like this.

He finds himself getting distracted, the low light bouncing off her chest, her nipples just visible, pinked and hard at the surface of the water. He runs his hand down her breasts, her thighs shifting as he did so, an audible exhale as he cupped them in his hands. "We can... touch and... kiss..." he adds placing one to her exposed neck. "Just like we used to." he clarifies, the water lapping against her as his thumbs move to brush across her nipples, drawing a soft moan from her.

"I will be there to bring us closer together." Venom chimes in, making her eyes flutter open to see him with a slightly parted mouth, a monstrous tongue peeking from behind teeth that were starting to gather drool in their anticipation, taking in the feelings Eddie was having as he touched her, watching every sign of arousal come across her face that he'd read about. "I want to add to the pleasure." he elaborates. "With me..." his voice becomes more rumbly, a hiss at the end of his words as he mimicked the heavier breaths of Eddie in her ear, his nose tracing the outline of her ear as Venom spoke to her. They communicated as one, executing their plan as discussed, able to tell each other what they wanted to do next to her. "We can all three experience things we otherwise couldn't." His eyes close just slightly, that long tongue unfurling out of his mouth, a slap lap against her feet that she didn't expect.

She'd had her toes sucked on before, but only in the middle of fucking and she'd never paid much attention to it. There was a warmth that was pleasurable about it. And with his agile and precise tongue, the way it lapped at her lovingly, as if he was enjoying it himself, she was finding herself not minding it in the least. His tongue started to venture away from her feet and with Eddie as his accomplice, her body didn't leave her with much of an option but to give over to it. Her mind fired on all cylinders with this new experience, it didn't read into her eyes as Eddie's plush lips moved across her neck and shoulder, thumb and index fingers rubbing her nipples between them she let out her first truly audible moan.

"He and I.... we both know how to work as a team now, babe." Eddie explains between kisses. "I know what turns you on... he knows what turns you on too." his voice is quiet, the pops of his lips catching against her skin as he spoke. "We'll be gentle. We want you to enjoy this, remember?"

"We want you to want us as much as we want you." Venom adds, face rubbing affectionately against her ankles. "I would not hurt you, Candy." he purrs out with a slow blink of his opal eyes.

"I wanna show you what it's like," Eddie whispers directly in her ear. "We wanna make you feel so good." he rasps out, causing her to shudder. "It's been so long, Candy." he groans. "You miss me as much as I miss you?" he kisses the shell of her ear before moving back to her neck.

She whines and her lashes flutter. She'd never felt so thoroughly seduced before. Every mans' talk had never led to anything that would make her not call them a liar afterward. But they really could give her something no one else could. And she wanted it. She reaches one hand out of the water, clumps of bubbles on her wet skin as she gently caresses the side of Eddie's head.  "I've missed you so bad, babe." she whispers, causing him to moan against her skin, hands tightening on her chest.

"Candy?" Venom hisses. The black web-like body of him moving in waves from her feet where it had been settled, slow and steady as it traveled up her calves, disappearing into the water. "May we taste you?"

She feels his body moving across her thighs, making her muscles twitch with anticipation. She nods before her mouth opens, half-lidded eyes connect to the symbiotes as it's chin rests in the water. "Yeah." she manages to whisper out as her fingers card through Eddie's hair, his thick lips still against her skin.

Venom disappears beneath the bubbles and she is left with only his touch to guide her as to what is happening under the surface. He parts her legs with gentle pressure. "Open up for him, babe." Eddie asks for him, hands wandering to her stomach, fingertips gripping into the soft pliant flesh of her body as he and Venom's hunger feeds off each other. She puts her ankles on the rim of the tub, feeling the tickle from Venom's body moving over the back of her thighs.

He begins with slowly oozing forward up her inner thighs, touching into places she wasn't used to being touched, seeping into every crevice, the crease of her thighs, against her lips, then between them as she feels something pressing against her thick lips. With a brief touch, her breath catches as he grazes over her clit. With Eddie taking in her reactions above the water, Venom knows what to repeat under it. Another flick, before she feels pressure push against her. It wasn't like Eddie going down on her, there weren't the luscious lips to create delicious suction, a busied little pink tongue wearing itself out against her. This was like a toy, she equated it to. And if he was to be an addition to the sex between her and Eddie, then the association seemed entirely reasonable.

He works against her, a hard but giving body against hers, flicks against her clit, circles and brushes and tugs that make her thighs tense and her back arch. She feels a more familiar texture, his tongue start moving against her, lower, taking in the wetness her body was giving him.

"You taste so good, Candy." Eddie groans against her throat. She moans and lets her eyes roll back at the words. His fingers hold tight and fast to her nipples, a firmer grasp against them as Venom teases around her entrance. "You ready for him?" he asks, her hand gripping into his hair.

"Yeah." she whimpers out, breathing fast and her other hand gripping the edge of the tub. He was gentle, as promised. The slender tip of his tongue sliding into her, giving way to a thicker and thicker stretch as he inched inside her. With a stuttered gasp, she grips Eddie's hair, fingers slipping on the edge of the tub from the water. Eddie watches as her head falls back, a moan leaving her mouth as his hand strokes upwards on her chest, slick against her neck as he kissed her cheek. She can feel the pressure of him inside her. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before, such a foreign sensation of having a muscle capable of so much delicate movement inside her. She could feel him fill her up, the pressure of his face against her inner thighs as he explored her, bubbles escaping to the top of the water.

Eddie watches her face, looking her over, letting Venom see what he was doing to her. He hisses and hummed and groaned into Eddie's mind. A new experience for all three of them. He tells Eddie how wet she is, how ready she is for them both. How he can feel the pulse of her against him as he envelopes her clit, massaging away at the area around it, direct attention given to it in gentle laps just as he'd seen in Eddie's head before. He tests her willingness to try something she hadn't with Eddie before, a brief stroke over her lower puckered hole with his reaching tentacle-like growths. She tenses and hums, a brief stop to the moans that he could hear from beneath the water. He adds gentle pressure slowly, keeping his promise to not hurt her. He feels her swell beneath him, the blood gathering between her thighs, beneath the skin to make every sensitive and tight. Her clit hard and her insides swollen with arousal as he begins to hone in on the spot that wasn't elusive to him and his shapeshifting form.

Above the water Candy grows desperate, Eddie's hard, pressing against his jeans, watching her pant and swear, her sounds of need growing louder and more familiar, recognizing the patterns with Venom's help. "Eddie," she whines, her lips trembling and turning her head to his. He asks her without words, a simple glance to her lips with those blue eyes gone dark and dilated under their heavy hoods what she needs. "Kiss me," she whispers, pulling him closer to her. "I'm close." she confesses in a heavy exhale against his lips before they meet for a harsh and hungry kiss. He lets his own noises battle against hers, moans as they hold each others heads, neck muscles tense and stretching as they work quickly against each other.

Venom knows from the twitch in her muscles before  Eddie's brain relays the information back to him that he's about to make her come. He amps up his movements, more pressure, faster speed as he rumbles against her, eager to please. Her toes squeak against the tub as they curl, her legs starting to shake. "Oh fuck," she whispers, barely audible. "Eddie," she whines and he moans at the sound. "I'm gonna come." she nods against him, voice weak and small, not the usual roar he was accustomed to. But he understood the intensity that Venom brought with him, he would've been surprised if he hadn't rendered her almost speechless.

Eddie feels her body start to tremble, holding her face to kiss her through it as he knows she prefers his face close to her when she comes. She breaks away to take a sharp inhale, moving to kiss the corner of her mouth as her lips part and her mouth drops open. A broken whimper grows into squeaks, her body convulsing in the tub, Venom drawing an intense orgasm from her greedily. Eddie's eyes roll back to match hers, hearing her, feeling her, the taste of her in his mouth again makes him painfully aware of how hard he is against the rough fabric of his jeans. He sees her face go from tight and looking pained to wide, gasping and full of surprise, knowing the peak had passed. As she was about to ask him to stop, growing far too sensitive to keep going at such an intense pace, Venom ghosts away from her. The small rapid movements stop, a slow slither away and off of her remains gentle afterward, a slow retreat of his tongue from her body, leaving her legs to sink back into the tub, thigh clenched together and jerking with aftershocks.

He rises out of the water, reminding her of old Godzilla movies, water falling off of a fearsome face. His eyes were slanted and looked aggressive, his tongue still slithering back into his mouth as Eddie panted next to her, lips pressed to her head as he watches Venom appear through piles of bubbles that still remain through their weak thrashing. Venom sees her damp and sparkling, pink, kiss-swollen lips that rest open and wanting, her chest heaving, the light dancing across it, making her looks delicious.

Without grace, the ability to conjure up any other response, or just the lack of there being an appropriate response to such a thing, she groans out, "Holy shit." as the muscles in her face begin to work again, moving from slack to engaged.

"Really is something else, isn't it?" Eddie says with a huff of breath that makes the corner of her mouth tug back into a smile.

"Yeah...is it." she nods, words still breathy as she caught her breathing back to normal.

"Candy." Venom rumbles, parting the sea of bubbles to move near her face, body moving behind him in the water like some sort of shredded sea monster. "Would you like to do that again?" he inquires,  smoothly moving from the water, disappearing into Eddie's back, only his head remaining as she looked up to them both.

"But with me this time?" she can see the need in Eddie's face as he asks politely.

"With us." Venom clarifies, a smiles that shows his teeth growing. She wonders how he hadn't bitten her in the process of going down on her.

She blinks up at them, glistening with drops of sweat and a veil of steam settled onto her skin. She nods and swallows noisily. "Yeah." a breathy response with a slow nod. "In the bedroom?" she asks, an enthusiastic smile growing across her face, glowing post orgasm.

Venom moves, thick tendrils into the tub, moving under her and slowly lifting her as she squeaks and reaches around Eddie's neck as he rises. "We got you babe, don't worry." he chuckles lightly against her neck.

"After that..." she gulps and nods, arms tight around him. "I'd say you certainly do." she says with a soft smile, meeting his eyes so they can both be sure to know the sentiment behind the words.

@hardygal69 @marvelgirl7 @emerald-bijou @negansdirtygirl22 @brianaisasongbird @vale0413 @izzy-the-ginger @chortletortoise @onomatopoetic-aesthetic @anrm1 @jademox @nightcraver @venomous-possibiities @tinastarkandco @chipster-21

#eddie brock #eddie brock x reader #eddie brock fic #eddie brock imagine #eddie brock fanfic #venom #eddie brock x ofc #eddie brock x oc #eddie brock fluff #eddie brock fan fiction #eddie brock fan fic #eddie brock smut #venom x reader #venom fanfic #venom fic #venom fluff #venom fan fic #venom smut #tom hardy #venom au #eddie brock au

[peraltasames]

christmas eve will find me where the love light gleams

Nochebuena, the night before Christmas, has always had a special place in Amy Santiago's heart.

read on ao3

1992

December 24th

Outside a big white house in a small suburban community in New Jersey, snow is falling peacefully on the ground and creating a scene that looks like something out of a painting. There are two sensible, fuel-efficient cars in the garage and one cheap pickup truck recently purchased by the eldest Santiago boy parked haphazardly in the driveway. At eight o’clock that evening, the front door was locked until the following morning when dozens of extended relatives will pile into the home, three generations of family members spending the better part of twenty-four hours together.

Inside, the scene is less calm - an eight year-old Amy Santiago is excitedly begging her father to tell her and her seven brothers another story, some of whom are arguably too old for story time but begrudgingly sitting around the fireplace with the rest of their family.

“It’s almost time for bed, mi amor,” Victor tells Amy firmly, yet with ever-present kindness in his eyes.

“Please, Dad. It’s nochebuena!” Amy pleads, her cozy plaid pajamas sliding against the hardwood floor as she shifts closer to her father on her knees, hands clasped together.

After a shared look with his wife, Victor sighs and admits defeat - he’s incredibly partial when it comes to the little girl before him, his one and only daughter.

“Oh my god, can I go call Jen now?” Nic exasperatedly asks his parents, throwing his head back in annoyance when Camila shakes her head. “Mom, I’m seventeen.”

“You have to wait until story time is over and we put cookies out for Santa, those are the rules,” Amy demands, crossing her arms and looking up at her older brother.

Nic opens his mouth to say something, but a pointed glare from Victor stops him before any sound can come out. Knowing the argument is already lost, he settles back into his chair with a small sigh.

With the satisfaction that she’s gotten her way, Amy curls up next to her mother and waits eagerly for her father to begin one of the many Cuban fables and fairytales that she loves so much. The one he tells tonight is new to her, a story about a beautiful girl and a handsome prince that ends, as many of the stories do, with happily ever after.

“Mama?” she mumbles sleepily as she’s being tucked into bed a few minutes later, eyes already closed. “Am I gonna find my prince one day?”

Camila smiles, her fingers combing through her daughter’s soft, dark curls.

“Of course, honey,” she promises, earning a content smile from Amy. “He just might not be exactly the type of prince you’re expecting. Your father certainly wasn’t royalty, but he’s always been my true love.”

“So I should marry a police officer like daddy?”

Camila laughs, shaking her head. “Not necessarily, my love. What’s important is that he treats you with respect and makes you happier than anything in the world.”

“Happier than cookies? And books?” Her mother nods. “Even happier than nochebuena?”

“Even happier than that.”

At eight years old, Amy can’t quite grasp the concept of true respect or someone being “the one”, but she promises herself that she’ll wait for a prince that makes her feel as full of joy and peace as she does while falling asleep in her cozy bed, dreaming of presents and sweets and happiness.

-

2014

December 24th

“You look like you could use a drink.”

Amy’s snapped out of her thoughts the moment her brother begins his sentence, looking up from her phone for the first time since she sat down on the couch opposite the tree a few minutes ago.

Her parents are in the kitchen preparing food for tomorrow’s celebrations, her brothers and their wives and children dispersed through every room of the house, occupying nearly all the space the six-bedroom home has to offer.

She reaches out to accept the large mug of Cuban hot chocolate. Her older brothers let her in on the magical secret ingredient - their father’s expensive, 100-proof rum - around her sixteenth Christmas Eve.

“Thanks, Alec,” she mumbles, taking a long, very much needed sip of the warm beverage in her hands.

Her brother plops down next to her, folding his arms behind his head. “Are you bummed about the breakup with Freddy?”

Amy narrows her eyes. “It’s Teddy, but...no.”

Frankly, she should probably have been a little upset about the end of an eight month relationship, but the absence of Teddy Wells in her life is far from the greatest worry whirling through her troubled mind.

“Then what’s got ya down, sis? You love nochebuena.”

She knows she hasn’t been herself tonight, and she saw the worry in her mother’s eyes when she didn’t want a second helping of pork and the exchanged glances between her brothers when the smiles while playing with her nieces and nephews didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“It’s, um...a different guy, actually.”

She realizes the moment she’s said it that she’s never actually talked to anyone about Jake before. She’s always been dating Teddy and too consumed by guilt to admit her feelings for another person. Even Jake (and Teddy and Sophia, unfortunately) currently believes her feelings for him to be a thing of the past, and is blissfully ignorant of the fact that said feelings are eating her alive at any given moment of every single day since he told her he liked her and left for a six-month undercover mission.

“Who is it?” Alec raises an eyebrow, looking at her intently.

She braces herself for the reaction as she says, quietly and a little embarrassed: “Jake Peralta.”

His mouth hangs open, eyes widening a little as he processes this revelation.

“Your coworker, Jake Peralta? Like, the one that eats candy for breakfast and has only read fifteen books in his entire life?”

Amy laughs humourlessly and takes another gulp of hot chocolate, the rum burning her throat. “That’s the one.”

She doesn’t know when the innocent crush on her partner spiralled into a full-blown obsession, prohibiting her from successfully dating anyone else, but she despises that he’s somehow able to ruin her night even when she’s in another state. Although, technically he didn’t ruin her night - she blames that on the unfairly adorable picture Sophia just posted of the two of them skating at Rockefeller Centre.

“So, what’s his deal, married or gay? Because there’s no way any sane man would pass up my little sister.”

“Neither,” Amy answers, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. “But he has a girlfriend. She’s beautiful and smart and…I missed my shot with him. It’s my fault.”

“That’s not necessarily true. Maybe they’ll break up.”

Amy doesn’t reply, staring down at her mug. She refuses to spend any more time praying that her friend’s happy relationship will come to an end just in case she’s maybe able to work up the courage to tell him how she feels.

Alec shifts a little closer to her and places his hand on her arm. His deep brown eyes - the same shade as hers - are wide with unexpected sincerity.

“Look, I don’t know much about this guy, but I know that you never pass up seconds of mom’s cooking. Like, not even when Ryan broke up with you. Not even when you lost the sixth grade spelling bee to Elizabeth Beeker.”

“Any idiot could’ve gotten prospicience, it’s hardly a winning word-“

“Ames, trying to make a point here,” Alec cuts off a ramble that likely would’ve lasted an hour - Elizabeth Beeker really was a bitch - and resumes his serious expression. “If you really like Jake, don’t miss your shot next time. If you get the chance, just tell him.”

The possibility of telling Jake, which could lead to the even more frightening possibility of dating Jake and falling in love with Jake, is just about the scariest thing she can imagine. In all her years of police work, all the boys she’s admitted her feelings for, all the chances she’s taken - this is by far the greatest risk (and, she supposes, the greatest potential reward).

Her phone buzzes with a text just before she can brush off the conversation to go attempt to help her mother in the kitchen and inevitably get turned away.

Jake Peralta

hey ames, happy notchabueno (def butchered that sry) hope ur having fun with the fam. see u back at work on monday :)

“Is that him?” Alec inquires, raising an eyebrow.

Amy nods sheepishly, her eyes lingering on the display picture he set of himself making a goofy face.

“I bet he doesn’t text all his coworkers on Christmas Eve.”

She doesn’t let herself dwell on her brother’s (probably true) statement, simply shutting her phone off for the remainder of the night and hoping to enjoy some time with her family and discuss a plethora of other topics not concerning her love life. In perfect timing, one of her nieces comes running in asking for Amy’s help braiding her hair.

As she obliges and gets to work on the curly dark hair of the young girl in her lap, she tries not to think about what next Christmas Eve could be like if she only had the courage to swallow her pride and take a leap.

2015

December 21st

The first few moments Amy’s awake, the only thing she’s able to register is how cold she is, how annoyed she is that it’s so cold, and the imminent importance of making herself less cold.

She seeks the nearest source of warmth, pulling the blankets further up her body (naked other than underwear and a loose t-shirt, not helping her temperature) and then moving on to the second source, the warm body only a few inches away from her. As always, he’s somehow abundant with warmth despite his bare chest being completely exposed to the chilly air of his apartment.

Her head nestles into his shoulder, her arm wraps around his waist, and it takes only a moment before his arms are subconsciously circling around her and pulling her into a tight embrace. She smiles contentedly, pressing a little kiss to his warm skin and falling into a state of complete relaxation, enjoying the few minutes until they have to get up for work-

-until her eyes land upon the window across the room.

“Jake!” she exclaims, slapping his chest probably a little too hard and sitting up abruptly, gracelessly jerking his arms away from their hold on her.

“Babe, what the hell-“ Jake grumbles, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s snowing!” Amy’s grin is wide as she walks over to the window and feasts her eyes on the beauty of the streets of New York covered in a sheet of white for the first time that winter.

“You grew up in Jersey! It snows every year!”

“Yeah, but it’s the first time this year!” She turns back towards him, still beaming with joy, and his initially irritated and confused expression melts in an instant. She’s aware of her effect on him at this point, but she still relishes in the look he gives her after she’s kissed him or laughed at one of his jokes or, in this case, woken him up fifteen minutes before his alarm because of snow.

The cold of being out of bed quickly catches up with her, and she crawls into his side of the bed and pulls the blanket back over both of them, draping herself over his chest. His hands rub up and down her goosebump-covered arms, transferring warmth to her.

“So, I never asked you, do you have any plans for Christmas?” She tilts her chin up to wait for his response.

“Probably the usual, Die Hard and takeout. Maybe I’ll go to the bar with Charles and Gina if they can escape Boyle family Christmas after dinner.”

It’s not that he seems upset by these extremely underwhelming plans, and she understand that the holidays have never been as significant a part of his life as they are hers, but there’s a part of her that despises the idea of Jake sitting at home alone on Christmas.

For a brief moment, she considers inviting him to her parents’ house, but she quickly reasons against the idea. He hasn’t met any of the Santiagos aside from Lucas, who showed up at her door unexpectedly while he was in the neighbourhood and she was in the shower, leaving Jake to talk to him for a solid fifteen minutes only a few months into their relationship. Luckily, they hit it off immediately and now text what she considers to be disturbingly frequently. A week into an ongoing text discussion about cool cop stories, Luke being the only other one of her siblings to follow in their father’s footsteps, Amy’s brother texted her something along the lines of mom told me you were dating another white dude but i didn’t know he was a COOL white dude this time! nicely done sis.

Regardless of his stamp of approval from one of her seven brothers and neither of her parents, though she thinks her mother is just happy she’s finally found a man she really, truly likes (loves, though the word has yet to be uttered aloud) she’s still skeptical of introducing him to her family at an event as crazy and hectic as Christmas. Ideally, Jake’s interpolation of the Santiago family will be gradual, painless and one family member at a time.

“What’s your mom up to?” Amy asks after a few seconds of quiet contemplation.

“I think she’s having dinner with some friends. I was there for Hanukkah last week, we haven’t really done anything for Christmas since my dad left.”

Again, there isn’t any real indication in his tone that he has a problem with his plan of watching Die Hard alone in his little apartment, by definition a perfect night for Jake Peralta. Her idea of the holidays, however, involves spending time with loved ones, and she’s come to realize recently that she loves Jake more than nearly anyone else in the world.

Her mother, to her surprise, is not upset in the slightest when Amy calls and says she’ll be coming on Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve this year.

“You’re not mad?” Amy says, voice low enough that Jake won’t hear her from the shower.

“Of course not, mi amor. I know how much you love nochebuena, I’m happy you’ve finally found someone you want to share it with.”

Three days later - December 24th

Jake’s fingers are tightly interlocked with hers the whole way home in the backseat of Captain Holt’s car. Since the unprecedented display of affection she initiated upon spotting him outside the store after an agonizing twenty minutes spent unsure of his safety, she’s been trying to reign it in a little, but maintaining some form of contact is vital for her breathing to remain steady.

He kisses her temple halfway between the crime scene and his apartment, burying his nose in her hair for a few moments before continuing the conversation between Rosa, himself and Charles while Amy and Holt remain mostly silent.

They eventually make it home and walk upstairs hand-in-hand, as they probably would have around this time even if he hadn’t been caught up in a hostage situation and nearly killed.

“Please tell me you’ll consider watching something other than Die Hard considering you just lived it,” Amy pleads as he lets her go to unlock the door.

He pauses to think. “Hmm, I could probably be talked into Die Hard 2.”

“Not really what I meant, but-“

He pushes the door open, revealing his apartment in a state in which she’s never seen it before - clean. There are a few other key changes, too, like the string lights hanging around the kitchen, the table already set for dinner with a bottle of Spanish wine in the center, and a crockpot she’s never seen him use on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, shit,” Jake blurts out before she can say something. “I completely forgot, between Charles’ gift and then the whole, ya know, situation…”

“What is all this, Jake?” Her eyes are glimmering with awe as she follows him into the kitchen.

He opens the lid of the crockpot, cursing as he realizes whatever he’s left in there is definitely burnt well beyond the point of being edible.

“Crap, I really wanted - I just, I felt bad that you were missing Christmas Eve with your family because I know it’s, like, your favourite holiday and it’s a big part of your childhood and your culture and everything. So I called Luke and asked what you guys would normally do at home so I could try to recreate it. I mean, it wasn’t gonna be perfect - does your mom really cook a whole pig?” Amy nods, still staring at him with complete reverence, leaning back against the counter across from him. “Well, anyways, the closest I could get was pulled pork. Which is totally ruined now.”

She closes the space between them and grabs his face, kissing him much more slowly than earlier that night. His hands, once again, come to rest on her waist over her NYPD windbreaker, pulling her up against him.

“Babe, that was…so sweet,” she murmurs, pecking his lips one more time. “You’re amazing.”

His smile, the adorable, relieved grin of which she’s the world’s biggest fan, compensates a million times over for the ruined dinner. Honestly, she isn’t even hungry. After the events of the last hour, she just wants to be close to him and relax. She’s even more grateful now that she’s not in New Jersey; the moment she received Jake’s texts that evening, getting to him as quickly as possible was a priority she was willing to brave freezing cold waters for. She’s not sure she could’ve handled a two-hour drive.

“Merry Christmas, Ames,” he whispers, forehead resting against hers.

“Merry Christmas, Jake.” She wraps her arms around his waist underneath his jacket and presses her cheek to his chest. “I really was worried about you tonight. If something happened to you...”

He tightens his grip on her, one hand leaving her back to stroke her hair. “It’s okay. I’m safe.”

She allows herself another minute to breathe him in and remind herself of the beating of his heart, just below the stretch of hoodie her ear is pressed up against.

“I know,” she finally says, pulling away to look at him with a bit more composure than before. “Thank god for Charles yippee-kayaking the crap out of those other buckets.”

Jake’s smile fades. “That is still not funny to joke about!”

She laughs, releasing him to grab an ice pack for his concussion and drag him to the couch so she can continue warming herself up under several blankets and with his arms wrapped around her.

-

2016

December 24th

They don’t make it through the entire Christmas carol before Jake, much less concerned with politeness than the Boyle family is, is begging them to spare their ears. Charles, in turn, invites them all inside for a drink to escape the subzero temperatures.

Somehow, the whole squad fits into the small living room, though Amy ends up sharing an armchair meant for one person with Jake to conserve space. She’s annoyed for a split second until he pulls her onto his lap rather than leaving her squished beside him and circles his arms around her.

They exchange stories of the night, leaving out some details for the benefit of Nikolaj (“the criminal could only sing when he had a lot of, um…hot chocolate”; “the guys that had the only Captain Latvia in the city also had a bunch of packages of…candy?”) and drink some weird wine Charles made at home that tastes surprisingly good and is dangerously strong.

“We should go home,” Jake mumbles against the back of Amy’s neck, sending a familiar shiver down her spine, after Genevieve has gone to put Nikolaj to bed, Scully and Hitchcock have departed for the diner around the corner, Terry and Holt have left to spend time with their families and only Rosa, Charles, Gina and themselves remain seated around the coffee table.

She agrees instantly, bidding their friends farewell as she finally gets to her feet and realizes she’s a little tipsy, relying on his hand on her back to keep her upright.

“Babe, it’s so much colder out here,” Amy groans as soon as they’re back out on the stoop.

The roads are now lit only by the street lights and the overarching glow of the skyline, the snow still falling on their shoulders as they begin the two-block trek to her apartment.

His hand tangles with hers and her other arm wraps around his, her cheek leaning against him while they walk at a pace a little slower than they normally would. They’re both enveloped by the postcard-like scene, she almost feels like she’s the protagonist of a horribly cheesy lifetime movie (it doesn’t matter to her that it’s cheesy, she refuses to apologize for being the happiest she’s ever been).

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Amy asks, her voice a little muffled by his jacket. Although she’s more excited than anything else, a part of her is nervous for Jake’s Christmas at the Santiagos’ - mostly because she hopes it’s the first of many.

“So ready. All of your brothers and your mom love me.”

She brought him to a family dinner shortly after the Thanksgiving fiasco with her father, instructing him firmly to just be himself. To Jake’s surprise and her relief, that plan actually worked.

“My dad will come around too, he just hasn’t realized how amazing you are yet.”

Jake kisses her head, conveniently located on his upper arm, and she can feel his smile. “Babe, you’re sappy on Christmas.”

She kisses his cheek in return and resumes their walk at a slightly increased speed, the warmth of her apartment tantalizing her as the building comes into view.

When they’re curled up on the couch in pajamas ten minutes later, she braces herself for the horrified gasp when the Netflix title she selected begins to play on the screen of her television.

“Love Actually? Babe, it’s Christmas! What about Die Hard?”

She sighs in her spot next to him, lifting herself out of his arms.

“This is much more a Christmas movie than Die Hard is,” she argues. “Besides, we watched that last year. And, like, every other week since then.”

“But...it’s tradition.”

“I know, Jake, I just thought...we’re making new traditions, right? Together?”

He pauses, and her heart aches for a split second, but the warm smile that graces his face a moment later eases her worries.

“Yeah, okay,” he concedes, his tone softened. “Now get back over here.”

She settles back into him with one arm wrapped snugly around his torso and revels in being able to enjoy her favourite Christmas movie for a change, hoping it makes the cut to become an annual thing.

The look on Jake’s face when Hans Gruber shows up (and as a bad guy) makes her think she may just get her way.

-

2020

December 24th

Amy Santiago on maternity leave means a lot of things: their apartment is always immaculate, their laundry is always done, there’s always some food prepared in the fridge to varying degrees of edibleness. With no work and a newborn baby who is surprisingly easy to take care of at this stage of her life, she has way too much time on her hands, which also means their apartment is decorated to the nines for the holiday season.

There’s a huge Christmas tree that Jake and Charles struggled to carry up the narrow staircase, dozens of presents underneath from Amy’s many online shopping binges. Garlands and menorahs and wreaths and dreidels cover every inch of space available for decor. There’s a lingering smell of pine and peppermint in the air at all times, the faint sound of popular carols constantly playing from a speaker in the kitchen.

Jake doesn’t comment on the fact that coming home is the equivalent of going to the Macy’s at Herald Square during December, or that it’s all kind of pointless since they’re going to her parents’ for the entirety of the Christmas holidays as they have every year since their engagement (Amy’s aware of these things too, she’s just really bored).

It turns out her efforts aren’t completely futile, as Christmas Eve brings the worst snowstorm on the east coast in twenty years. Perhaps in previous years she would have risked the drive to visit her family, but neither she nor Jake are willing to take their baby girl out of the safety of their apartment as long as the storm persists.

“Okay, she’s asleep-“ Jake pauses halfway through the living room. He really thought he had seen the last of the insanity of Amy wrapping their daughter’s presents, yet the floor in front of the tree is once again littered with wrapping paper, tape and ribbons. “What’s going on in here?”

“Found one that I forgot about buried in our closet,” she mutters, busily wrapping the rectangular box. “Last one, I swear.”

Jake sits down on the floor next to her, his hand reaching for her back to rub small circles while she works. He’s been incredibly sympathetic while she’s on leave, understanding firsthand how difficult it is to be away from their job for that long. She’s an amazing mother, but that much time alone with an infant would take a toll on anyone.

“Babe, you know we’re the ones who will be opening these gifts right? And she won’t remember what they look like?”

Amy shoots him a brief glare before returning to the task. “I know, Jake. But Christmas was always perfect for me when I was growing up and I want Abby’s to be perfect too.”

“It will be.” He puts his finger down on the centre of the box so she can tie the ribbon, well-versed in assisting her after six years of Christmases.

Finally content, Amy places the gift under the tree with the rest of them and her shoulders drop with relaxation.

“There. Perfect.”

Jake takes her in, dark hair cascading in waves over a bright red sweater and face lit up by the coloured lights on the tree. She’s glowing with warmth and joy. He previously thought it to be impossible, but he thinks he loves her a little bit more now.

“You’re perfect,” he says with a smile, leaning in to kiss her forehead. When he pulls away, her eyes are wet with tears.

“Babe, you know I’m too hormonal for you to be that cute!” she exclaims, hastily wiping her cheeks.

Jake laughs, tugging her hand until she climbs into his lap, her back against his chest as they look up at the tree she spent eight hours flawlessly decorating.

“Merry Christmas, Ames.” He breathes the words into her hair, her hand covering his squeezing as he speaks.

“Merry Christmas, Jake.”

They’re interrupted by the sounds of their daughter’s cries - they’re both able to identify it as her hungry one, so Amy scurries off to get her. After a few minutes, Jake can faintly hear the sounds of Amy speaking in Spanish from the next room over. He understands very little of it, but he thinks it might be a bedtime story.

Later, when he asks his wife about it while they’re curled up in bed, she tells him it was her favourite fairytale growing up.

“What’s it about?” he asks, absentmindedly tracing her skin.

“A princess.”

“Let me guess, she lives happily ever after?”

Amy beams at him, kissing him softly on the mouth and shifting even further into his embrace.

“She does.”

#merry christmas y'all #b99 fic #otp: you're not allowed to fall in love with me #peraltiago #this is hella cheesy #and equally festive #myfics

[shazyloren]

Back To You

Summary:  Five Years after she last looked into those eyes, repressed memories and hurt bubble under her skin. She never stopped loving him, she never thought he would feel the same too.

Notes: As you know, I am taking part in a challenge on tumblr by user @JonerysFic and @mhysaofdragons in which for seven days from Valentines day I am uploading a new one shot. The prompts have been provided and the stories have all been written and I gotta say you're in for a lot of Jonerys content. So Day 4, 17th February, which is when I'm uploading this, the prompt I chose was 'Break up'. This was hard to wrote, and just a warning, ya'll gonna cry.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17827928

----

The face was very familiar to her, the haunted soul she’d once loved, the one if she was honest with herself never stopped loving, standing across from her on the other side of the cake aisle. His hair was still dark as a Raven’s wing, his eyes still deep enough to get so completely lost in and skin smoother than the pick-up line he’d used when they first dated.

All the stars in the universe never amounted to you , she thinks to herself as a lonely part of her aches to be held by his arms once more, even all these years later.

A large plethora of men had followed him, but none ever compared. And how could they? They never held her when she was lost and furiously upset over her parents divorce, they never bought her donuts from the bakery with the rainbow sign at the front, they never knew her so intimately that she’d cum from just talking dirty.

No man would ever come close.

“How have you been?” He asks her and she finds something, deep and rooted in her heart that wants to tell him exactly how she feels, that the day he walked out was the day she really died. There’s something in his eyes, it tells her that he’s feeling some kind of way to this interaction, and she hoped in her heart of hearts that he felt the same.

“Fine” She can’t look at his eyes anymore, she’s feeling her emotions bubble up to the surface, feeling lust and fear and heartbreak and loneliness all threatening to consume her body, in this supermarket.

She hadn’t expected to find him shopping here, after all the years that had passed, somewhere so trivial just didn’t seem right. She expected to meet him again, if she ever did, when she was finally over him and happily married with someone else. But the truth is that’d just mean she’d never see him again, because she’d never be happy without him.

“Big night?” He asks politely, looking in the trolley in which it just had seven bottles of wine and chocolate so far. Cake was about to join the roster, and then perhaps more wine if this conversation went on any longer.

“I hate Valentine’s day” She shrugged. They both know why, and the way he tenses up as she speaks those words signifies that they both hate it, that it’s something so repressed within themselves that even acknowledging it to each other brings out feelings of bile and upset.

You left me.

You left me at my most vulnerable moment.

Death of an unborn child, that’s what had started this meteoric fall out between the two of them. One minute they were in love and lust and happiness at the prospect of a child to call their own. But then, cruelly, she miscarried and that fact caused the ruin of their relationship.

He did give her time and space, but she never recovered, even still to this day she wondered frequently on what she had lost all those years ago, both the baby and him subsequently. They just fell apart, one of them stuck in the moment, not being able to let go, the other urging them both to move on and be in love.

I couldn’t mourn her if I moved on.

“I best go” He sighs, and she finds herself cursing everything about this whole damn situation. She wants to be polite and say it was nice to see him again, and it was, it was almost heavenly, but it was gut-wrenching in pain too and so she couldn’t function, her mouth wouldn’t move, she just watched him give a half smile and walk away.

--

Sitting on the sofa, drinking wine and eating more cake than is considered healthy, a perfect way to not think about things and forget my troubles .

It was later that evening and she was ruing her chance to tell him things that she’d long wanted to say to him. She never blamed him, only herself, he’d loved her with everything he had and she knew it. But somehow she still expected him to stay, even after giving everything he had, she expected there to be more.

She’d gone to so many meetings with therapists just to be able to control the fits of anger, to learn to put her fear and regret away in a box, to not think on the little girl she almost had. It had worked for a while, but the edges of the box seeped out slowly and then all at once and she’d just collapsed in on herself.

Now she was just a machine almost, going to work, coming home, crying and drinking, going to work, coming home, crying and drinking. Five years and she was still a sorry mess over everything that happened, still wishing that nothing would’ve split them apart, that they could’ve had their child and watched her grown and love and learn.

I love you, I still do after all this time.

She missed the way he said her name when they made love, like a whisper on water, pure and joyous. She missed the way he wrapped his arms around her, his strength and firm love gave comfort and protection whenever she needed it.

Mostly she missed him, just sitting next to him on the TV watching random rubbish, laughing until all hours and laughing entrances on talent shows. She missed his intelligence, his companionship, she freaking loved him with every fibre of her body and soul and five years still couldn’t chance that.

She drank the wine more and more until a whole bottle was gone and she was nothing more than a crying mess on the floor, that she was a person of regret and ruined mascara. She eyed her phone on the table and wished there was someone she could talk to.

Him, talk to him.

The forbidden thought lingered in the recesses of her mind before she acted on it. Telling her she was being equal parts foolish and brave, her mind tried to think of every excuse to stop her and yet almost autonomously, she reached for the iphone on the table.

She wondered if he still had the same number, as she never deleted it from her phone, hoping that one day he would call her and be all sentimental and want her back the way she does him. She dialled it…

Voicemail.

Does she leave one?

The beep happens and she finds herself unable to hang up, wanting to say so many things and not even knowing where to start, feeling so completely fearful of repercussions but also needing closure. Something needed to happen, words needed to be spoken.

“I never told you enough, how special you were. I never told you enough that I’d move ocean and land for you. I never told you, how much I fucking love you and still do after all these years” She’s shaky, her eyes threatening to leak at any moment. “I’m so in love with you, Jon”

She is unsure of how she should speak, wanting to make this call a moment in which she can look back on and say she tried and it gave her some form of closure, that she did everything in her power to let him know all her card on the table.

“She would’ve been five this week, beautiful skin and dark curls like you, all mystery and wonder and love and curiosity and devotion. She would’ve loved the rainbow sprinkled donuts from the bakery on Dorne Street. She would’ve loved Ghost and played with him from sunrise to sunset. She would’ve l-loved you, just like I do.

I- I don’t know what to do Jon, I’m so broken and lost and fragile and scared. Life has broken me, nobody has protected me from that, and living alone hasn’t either. Solitude has broken me with it’s yearning and I’ve realised that we have to love, it’s why we’re here on the planet. You have to risk the heartache and being swallowed up by the bullshit that happens, because without love, there’s nothing to stop you from being swallowed completely. And that’s what’s happening to me now, I’m losing myself with every day that passes.

I don’t know why I’m calling, seeing you in front of me, in that shop, made me feel such hurt and fear and longing. But I know that I love you, that this heart of mine aches for you every waking second, that so many men have tried to worm their way into my life and I can’t let them, I can’t risk it, when my heart is still entirely yours”

She fully sobbing now, salt rolling down her cheeks and shuddering hurt vibing through her skin. She wants to scream, to throw shit around her house and mourn for the life she once had. She hangs up, unable to face the phone anymore, wanting nothing than the ringing in her head to stop.

In a rageful fight, spurred on by sorrow, she throws her phone at the wall and is surprised when it doesn’t smash. She slides off of the sofa and hits the floor with a thud. Her heart and stomach and mind were sick, she was in pain everywhere and the gut-wrenching hurt within her came out in choked screams.

She’s crying, and crying and crying and it feels like it’s hours before she stops, not that she does, she’s sniffling as she drags her limbs to her staircase, unable to face the climb and just sitting on the bottom few, her heart in pieces and her own self completely lost within her.

I wish you was here…

--

She doesn’t know when she fell asleep, but she was sore and stiff when she awoke to the ringing of her doorbell a few feet in front of her. She never got up the stairs, just laid on them in self-pity and shame at what had happened in her life.

The doorbell is ringing furiously and half of her thinks perhaps she’s missed work, that it’s Missandei trying to find her and wonder where the hell she was, but her bleary eyes focused on the hall clock and saw it was only two in the morning.

Pulling herself out of the strange slump she was in, she used the bannister to stand and straightened out her appearance to the best of her ability. Her mascara was all down her face and her eyes themselves were puffy and red. Her head throbbed and the constant ringing of the doorbell made her mind shake almost.

I’m coming.

She fumbles for her keys in the bowl by the mirror and find the one for the front door. She pushes the key in the lock and clicks the mechanism so it unlocks, her hands shaking as she makes for the handle to open it. She pulls the door open with her shaking strength and rubs her eyes to see who is standing there.

Him.

She feels panic and grief and love and devotion and want all bubble under the skin’s surface. His eyes are red too as if he had the same grief stricken feeling inside them both. There was trepidation in them both, unsure of how they go about talking to one another.

In a frenzied fervour their lips were on one another's and their arms were fully embracing and supporting each other’s bodies. The kiss was sad impassioned and yet there was a warming hope within it too, as his soft and full lips traded with her small and dainty ones. He tastes exactly the same, forest and fire and smolder as he sets her lips alight with need and passion.

It’s urgent, apologetic, wilful, fearful and somehow makes them both hungry for more as if incomplete. Her mind is a racing car, speeding at 200 miles and hour while it tries to make up from the years of loneliness so deep rooted within her skin. It was completely insane, how sad but hopeful the kiss was, both of them feeling complete and utter emotion course through them.

His hands are on her neck, warm and supporting, touching skin that was fire and cooling it with his devotion. Their tongues collides in a hauntingly beautiful movement, slow and serene but also fast and chaotic. Her heart was clamouring in her chest, wanting him to love her again, wanting him to be the one to feel the pain she had done without it.

When their lips parted, and his head rested on her forehead, the expression of love that followed would be something she never forgot. “I love you, Daenerys Targaryen, with every single fibre in my existence, and I am so sorry for what I did”

Hearing those words leave a completely euphoric feeling coursing through her veins. She cannot believe that this man is here, professing his love five years after walking out, five years after the loss of their baby girl, five years after giving up on each other.

“I love you, Jon, I love you so much I’ve never stopped. Even though it’s killed me, I couldn’t move on, I just couldn’t” She sobbed, both of them with tears in their eyes. “You loved me with everything you had, and I was so closed off and fearful and I felt gross and dirty after we lost her and I couldn’t control it”

“It’s okay, it’s okay baby girl” He cooed, stroking her hair, holding her to him in a moment so tender, she couldn’t and didn’t want to leave it forever. “I’m not leaving you again, it’s going to be tough, but I’ll do it for you, I’ll do anything for you”

She let him in the house, and they talked for hour about what they do to go from that moment on. They decided between them both to see a grief counsellor together, as it was revealed he too, had broken down several times about the loss of the little girl they didn’t have. It was to be a long and rocky road ahead of them, but they both knew they needed to walk that road, together.

We walk together.

#jon snow #daenerys targaryen #jon x daenerys #jonerys #fanfic #game of thrones #jonerysvalentine #mhysaofdragons #omg #i cried #and i wrote it lol

[ikonislife]

Tiny Surprise.

-Donghyuk x Reader

-Christmas Drabble.

This was not what you had signed up for, all alone struggling with a cart filled to the brim and still browsing, correction, fighting your way through the aisle of the supermarket for grocery. If you have to argue with one more person about who was in line first, you will lose it, murderous rage lose it. The mall, the outlet, hell, even the dollar store should be packed but why is the supermarket feeling so much like black Friday at this moment. 

Wasn't it the norm to leave grocery shopping for holiday party till the night before Christmas? Isn't that why you took 3 days off ahead of time to shop? What perhaps even more annoying than the middle age woman that had been glaring daggers your way for grabbing the last pack of discounted plastic cups, the fact that your dear boyfriend nowhere to be seen despite promising left and right to help you prep. After all, it was his idea to have all of iKon gathering at your new home for a holiday party, a house warming of sort and to ring in the holiday season. You hadn’t think much about it, Donghyuk cares for his brothers more than even himself and it makes you happy to have someone so compassionate as a life partner. Of course you said yes in a heartbeat especially when he so lovingly promised to be there every step of the way to help. Except when time come for the hard work to be done, Donghyuk is everywhere but here, dissipated into thin air and even phone calls from his desperate girlfriend couldn't reach him.

After about an hour queuing to pay, you're just about done with life, just that much closer to cancelling the goddamn party altogether. You officially hate Mariah Carey after ‘All I Want for Christmas’ played for the 15th times, not even exaggerating, 15th times by the time you had left the store. 

Who care if all the boys had been looking forward to this all month, you're simply exhausted. Not even the bright blinking lights adorn by every possible objects along your way could cheer you up, not even the giant blow-up penguin cutely smiling with the Santa’s hat on, not even that. To make matters so much worse, your longing for a simple cup of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallow denied because apparently everyone else in this city also wanted the same thing. You’re not about to wait in line another hour, uh uh, not today. 

Yet another call missed by Donghyuk and your eyes beginning to flare red from frustration. If he didn't want to do the tedious task, at the very least picking you up would be greatly appreciated. Yet the reality is far from what you hope for as you continue to struggle your way to find a taxi, up to your neck with the holiday crowd and grocery bags.

By the time your body collapses onto the comfort of your couch, grocery bags litter their way like Hansen and Gretel breadcrumb trail, the golden sun had bowed out for the day leaving a darkening cloud of glittering snow dusting the Earth, leeching the gleamers of the plentiful holiday lights proudly worn by all the houses. A tired sigh left your lips, the cold slowly lulling your eyes to flutter shut as the couch consumes you into this warm embrace, never mind the fresh produces needing to be refrigerate... This must be what heaven feels like. 

When aching body finally risen from the place it had remained for a good 2 hours, the moon’s silvery gleam has beginning to reach its arms through your curtain. Groggy and completely sluggish from perhaps the best yet worst nap you’ve ever had, your body feel much like it had been hit by a truck, throat scratchy from screaming over the crowd at the market and well, your head hurts like a bitch. Needless to say, the moment your eyes were met with the sight of Donghyuk happily chomping down on a big piece of cake, the fire within your heart reignited, all the frustration of the world come raining down on your aching body and melted mind. 

“Where have you been?” Sounding off your grieve as patronizing as a drowsy, half asleep person could, you stand there with hands on your hips glaring to the best of your ability at a smiling Donghyuk.

“Baby, you’re awake” He cheers out, near running to your side for a big hug but his step halted at your flaring nostrils, probably looking much like a dragon about to blow. “I was going to carry you to the bed, but you looked so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb-”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Y/n...” Guilt, guilt written all over his handsome features as his gaze casts onto your wrinkled clothing, padded jacket still enveloping your body in its confinement, scarf barely hanging onto dear life. You had been so tired that the snow covered jacket has no chance to be hung as your body thrown itself into sleep. 

“NO, don’t Y/n me. And don’t you dare tell me to calm down. Are you being serious, Donghyuk. You promised me, you promised you’d be home to help me shop and wrap present. But where were you? None of the presents are wrap because I spent the entire day, THE ENTIRE DAY, Kim Donghyuk, fighting by way through the markets.” Arms flailing, fingers roughly carding through your knotted up hair, you didn’t know how else to express yourself aside from loudly ranting and making yourself as big as you can as if fighting off a bear. “I am so tired... Everyone else had their spouse with them and I, I-”

Before you could even finish the sentence, Donghyuk already has his arms around you, soft shushing and gentle hand petting away all the exasperation weighting down your smile away. His eyes tear up at the thought of you struggling all alone down the cold street of the city, wondering, waiting for him. 

“I just wanted to know if you were alright... The road is so slippery and, and there was an accident and you didn’t even answer my call. I just wanted to go home and see you but my taxi stolen, TWICE,  by jerks and I had to walk for so long... Some lady wanted to murder me for plastic cups, Donghyuk, plastic cups.” That’s it, you’re crying now. You didn’t want to cry because as angry as you were, it’s not his fault. God know how unpredictable his work schedule could be and no one could really control how long it would take for that perfect recording. With the comeback just around the corner, you should be thankful he’s even home every night to tuck you in and chat your insomnia away with his honey dripped voice. “I’m so sorry... It’s not your fault, baby. I shouldn’t have yelled. I was just frustrated.”

“Sweetheart, don’t apologize. I should’ve been there to be your snowplow through the market so you don’t have to and fight to death to defend your plastic cups.” What’s the deal with the plastic cup is, Donghyuk has no idea, all he knows is right now you just need a shoulder to cry on and for him to be there. “What do you say we spend the rest of the night watching movies and wrap present. I’ll help of course but I need to put together the tiny tent I bought for our new baby first, then I’m all yours.” 

“Okay... thank you for being here.” It took you a full thirty seconds before what he said even register... Did he just said new baby? “Donghyuk... What is that carrier over there?” And a full minute before you realize there, right by the couch where your comatose body had been, was a small grey plastic carrier, the kind that you’d put a small animal in. 

“Why don’t you go see for yourself.”

Hesitation lacing itself with every step you take, you crouch down to examine the small thing with great care before the most adorable sound known to mankind chimes through your home with its sweetness. The tiniest meow emanates out and your heart nearly stops, Donghyuk was now sitting just beside you with the brightest smile on his lips.

“Surprise” He mewls out softly, a delicate kiss upon your cheeks before he gently picks up the tiniest kitten you’ve ever seen. “I wanted to surprise you but the trip to pick up this little guy took longer than I thought. I completely forgot about holiday traffic and well, now you know why I didn’t make it home.”

You’re crying again but for a whole different reason, the tiny little ball of fur wiggles in your boyfriend’s arms, pawing lightly at his sweater, and melting your heart a bit more with every meow it gives. 

“Baby... I- How did you, I’m so happy.” 

“You’ve been talking about a kitten for so long and I just thought it was time. Wanna hold him?”

Before you could reply, Donghyuk already placing your tiny baby right on your lap. His fur incredibly soft and you imagine this is what cloud would feel like. He’s black as the night sky but the little white patches on his chest and face give the little guy just enough quirk to fit right into your little family. His tiny little paws white with milky pink paw pads as if he’s wearing tiny little socks, and the way his legs struggle to keep up just melt your heart away. 

For the next hour, all could be heard was the sound of amazement whenever the tiny one does something cute, which is everything, even if he’s just sitting there breathing. Donghyuk has settled himself on the couch, watching as you quite literally crawl on the floor as the little one runs amok. 

A soft content smile remains on his lips for the rest of the night and on his mind, the thought that one day right along side with your little furry companion, a baby of two will fill your lives with laughter and happiness. But for now, having you and the kitten is enough to make his heart swell. 

#ikon #ikon scenarios #ikon drabbles #ikon holiday #ikon donghyuk #donghyuk #kim donghyuk #donghyuk scenarios #donghyuk drabble #donghyuk imagines #christmas #ikon christmas

[weekorchid21-blog]

This keto diet: Its highs and lows plus 5 recipes

My friends Mike plus Robin have been about the keto diet with regard to a couple of years. That they lost a bunch of weight, and many people look fit and cut — superior to I’ve ever before seen all of them, and I have personally known these individuals more when compared with 30 years. Their the desired info is not unusual. The keto diet generally leads for you to rapid weight loss. Typically the trick lies in keeping it off. Mike and Robin have done it well, nevertheless a number of people can’t. And therein lies a problem, according for you to Jennifer McDaniel, a registered dietitian as well as owner regarding McDaniel Healthy eating plan Therapy in St. Paillette. “While Taking the keto diet: your five recipes to try might gain positive aspects within the short term just simply like any some other hard to stick to diet, most people — like, 90% of often the people — have trouble staying with it. Any time they lose the body weight and they can’t maintain the weight which they attained, honestly, that is just another been unsuccessful diet plan, ” she said. Often the keto diet is actually a high-fat, low-carbohydrates diet — “it’s like the Atkins diet plan on steroids, ” McDaniel stated. People on this diet strive to eat 70% to many of these of their very own calories through fat, simply because little as 5% by carbs and the remainder through proteins. This will help us lose weight since it forces our bodies in order to reduce fat for energy as an alternative of the preferred gas, sugars. McDaniel recommends that her buyers not go on the keto eating habits. The diet changes this microbiome in their physiques (the bacteria, fungi and more that reside inside us). It is difficult for people on the diet to help consume adequate fiber, which often can lead to obstipation and other stomach nastiness. And because carbohydrate food hold on water, people on typically the diet are often dried out, she said. And still, like Robert and Robin the boy wonder in addition to thousands of other individuals can confirm, it is effective. So I thought we would test some sort of few tested recipes to be able to see how they tasted.

CONTENT CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN The guidelines of the keto diet are really restrictive, which will can make cooking difficult. You need to steer clear of fruit, glucose, grains, coffee beans and legumes, rice, potatoes, candy and even liquid. Components to be encouraged include meat, fatty fish, ovum, butter and ointment, cheese, nuts and plant seeds, selected oils (olive, avocado, coconut) and low-carb fresh vegetables — most green greens, garlic, onions, peppers and stuff like that. It is very a good lot to absorb, therefore I began with some sort of simple totally wonderful recipe involving Citrus-Marinated Olives. These kind of are the marvelous cure, combining often the heady earthiness of olives with shiny notes connected with orange in addition to lemon. Although the flavor are imprudencia, they operate surprisingly properly together. Very best of all, you make these individuals in mere a few minutes. Another victorious one was Keto Egg Cups of coffee, a plate that concisely presents everything that is good concerning keto cooking: Little cups of made from prosciutto hold eggs mixed with cream, spinach, roasted red potatoes and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. A fresh delightful corporation of high-fat goodies of which come together into a hand-held snack. And it’s merely as fun at space temperature as it will be warm. 2 entrees came next. First, I required a menu for Instant-Pot Keto Cities Chicken and made it some sort of recipe ingredients for Keto Mediterranean and beyond Roasted chicken Without an Instant Pan. It only took regarding a few minutes longer than often the Instant-Pot variation, and it was deeply satisfying. I can admit, though, i always could not devote to whole keto cooking with this specific a single. As written, the formula calls for searing six chicken thighs plus then cooking the recipe in the resulting excess fat. My six thighs rendered out a new half glass of fat. I just could not do it. My partner and i couldn’t make with — and My spouse and i certainly could not eat — that a lot fat. We know the keto diet requires precisely what appears to be like a shocking level of fat to work, nevertheless I couldn’t see the idea. I poured out fifty percent of the fat, along with the dish still felt dirty to me. ARTICLE GOES ON BELOW ADVERTISEMENT NEWS E-NEWSLETTER The day's top news right in your mail. E mail My spouse and i am above thirteen many years of age, and consent to sending policies. SIGN ME UPWARDS Privacy Policy Gazette Marketing and advertising THE JOURNAL BUSINESS HONOURS NOMINATIONS The particular Gazette Enterprise Awards honor local businesses, organizations and individuals that have demonstrated impressive accomplishments in business enterprise in often the Souterrain between June you, 2019 - May thirty-one, 2020. KNOW MORE Oily, although delicious. Meaty rooster thighs and leg are paired having olives, capers, oregano plus a cutting splash of vinegar. It’s presented with a fresh-tasting yogurt sauce, generating a good impressive presentation. I would happily eat it any time, specifically if I poured away all but a single tbsp. of of these fat. Typically the other entree, Keto Breaded Chicken Cutlets, isnt terrible — but I’d just make it again if I were on the keto diet program. The chicken is dredged through salted peanuts flour ahead of frying, which offers it a good duller flavor than wheat flour. Having wheat flour, the same recipe would be outstanding, if familiar. If youre for the keto diet, salted peanuts flour is definitely often the way to go. Just simply be sure to work with a lot of salt. Often the last plate I made was a a treat named Black and White Keto Fats Bombs. Seriously, that certainly is the name, and seriously, honestly, that is what exactly they are. They are chocolate-and-vanilla candies that are made with coconut oil in addition to almonds, and also low-carb, powder sweetener, sugar-free vanilla get and unsweetened cocoa powder. How would they taste? Not poor, actually, or at a minimum quite good. Nevertheless the structure was so that oily together with off-putting that the majority of taste testers threw apart their selections. One mentioned it has been like eating spread. When you’re on the keto as well as you’re looking for an extra infusion connected with fat, then I’d state to go ahead and make it. Usually, this particular is one to keep away from. My friend Robin assures by the keto diet together with says she is interested in it. Her health indicators are all great, plus she states that she features higher vitality and alertness. And even though the diet program is definitely restricted, she loves precisely what she can feed on: mozzarella dairy product, olive oil, butter, nut products and dark chocolate. The greatest thing she yearns for is fruit, but the lady will not miss the forty five pounds she lost. After that again, I use an additional close friend, Roger, who else lost 65 pounds. He / she just eats more healthfully and mindfully, and strolls every single moment. That appears easier.

#best keto box

[estuarries]

baby’s first liveshow commentary

hello lads i have decided to attempt doing @nihilist-toothpaste​ inspired video commentary/write up/review thingies!!!! welcome to ramble-y fun time

phil’s liveshow on august 10, 2017

his smile in the first minute makes my heart so happy i love him so much

i love the eye-tongue-eye emoji stop being mean to it

he’s a bit late bc he just finished filming a new ap vid!!! it took him longer than he thought it would to finish filming bc he was rambling. this is a #relatable brain thing

“i just said goodbye and now i’m saying hello again!” wrt filing and then doing a liveshow makes me rly happy bc i wouldn’t have thought abt it that way. i love phil’s brain

new vid clues: paper bag(?) and bubble wrap. amazingphil asmr part ii??

dan’s not joining the liveshow bc he has a headache but phil’s gonna hop into dan’s next one

closed eyes and happy gesticulation whilst telling sleepy-morning “unexpected window cleaning man frightened me” story

phil’s fight/flight/freeze response is freeze

“imagine if i had decided to make breakfast naked! ...if i was that kind of person…” its okay m8 we know u like to make nakey bro brunches w danyul

are the emoji pants the only pair of graphic pj pants he has now ??? why are they being featured so prominently lately ???? phil IS an emoji is the only phnnie conspiracy i can support now

in the ap vid phil did SCIENCE and REACTED TO THINGS (chemistry . reaction . hehe :3)

he’s out of tv shows to watch ….he and dan have watched so many series together over the years ..... i am emotional

phil hasnt watched in a heartbeat EITHER !! BLASPHEMOUS BOYES!!!

re: rick and morty. i strongly agree and it makes me so nervous that rick burps all the time i cannot focus on whats happening in the show bc rick gives me so much anxiety

he misses the cherry blossom tree in thehowlter’s front yard and they are hopefully going to put it in when they have money

“you’re all like dan! not everything has to be symmetrical!” thank u for these affirmations that not everything has to be perfect thank u for being chill. a chill phil. 

“i dont mind a little bit of wonkiness!” “i’m at a bit of a wonk!” “is the entire house wonky?” the only real phil branding is ~WOnKy~

phils hands are so beautiful???? i love them?????? @ 8:50ish

him trying to figure out his best side and saying “one? or two?” as options like at the optometrist when ur getting ur eyes checked. 

someone in the chat: “both!” phil’s cheeky grin/”don’t flatter me!!!” response

someone in the chat: “side three!” i snort laughed along w phil this is truly Good Content. dark!phil RISE

phil doesn’t think he really has a bad side and his easy neutrality wrt his physical appearance is dreamy. i love him and i love that he’s comfy w himself like this

phil had an eye infection and this is the first day he’s been without glasses…… why does he glasses-bait us like this …..

it’s really hard for him to concentrate with dilated pupils so that’s why he was being a wee bit wonky in the last liveshow

his eye is no longer infected and is “white and ready to see!”. the tone of his voice, his accent, and the phrasingof that reminded me so much of my british grandma who i havent seen in a few years and now i want to call her i miss her

wicked was “as the kids say...Wicked.” I SNORTED AKLHFAEIHKF

also i cannot believe that he and dan used the same silly phrasewhen talking about their opinions of wicked. is it still #copyrightinfringement if its your bf blatantly enterprising ur intellectual property?

phil was feeling a bit meh going into wicked but now he’s converted and a fan

he loved defying gravity :(

phil: every audience is important! me: crying

phil loves coming-of-age/college/highschool aus … Me Too

phil remix: the top fans to the tune of mad world “all around me are familiar faces...lillyphanstuff, joteleena…”

he’s had “mad world” and also that fuckin. ditty song stuck in his head

“...is one thicc bih - NO!” is the best thing ive ever heard

im so sad that phil hasnt experienced the joys of ditty. apparently he doesn’t have it downloaded and doesn’t really know what it is

14:07 is my new ringtone (he sang the ditty tune in “doot doot doot”s)

“bandicussy” IM DEAD

phil thought it was a good family activity to see dunkirk but it made his parents very emotional bc his maternal grandad was in the war

making your entire family cry is apparently the phil way to entertain

neither he nor dan understood the timelines of dunkirk upon first watch

after filming his ap vid he sanitized using vanilla cupcake hand sanitizer

he watches zoe’s bath and bodyworks candle/lotion hauls??????? ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

apparently b&bw has some ~priiiicey~ candles. phil is the coupon clipping, consumer reports reading dad

he said that livestreaming games on dapg would be “dope”. i am reminded for the millionth time that he is a 30 year old white man. i am moderately uncomfortable.

jk it was someone in the chat who said it he was just reading the comment

“hi to the ‘phan’s moving boxes’ group chat”

facterino according to the nature man on tv: in england nature has decided that it’s autumn already. this is evidenced by blackberries coming out in august. because fall isstartingso early they’re expected to have a harsh winter but its fine bc he is excited for snow!

some climate change discourse

he’s not a big doctor who fan but his fav doctor is david tennant

he’s excited for the “lady doctor” and i’m uh. not a huge fan of that wording

23:02 pre-sneeze noises and hand motions are Delightful

apparently it’s southern england peeps who pronounce scone with a hard o (scOHne) and northerners pronounce it with a soft o (scAWn). phillu doesn’t know which pronunciation he uses

my mom grew up in cornwall (and moved to america when she was a teen. i’m american btw!) and pronounces it the northern way. we’ve had the scohne vs scawn debate!! lots of #britishfamilythings in this liveshow

philly homework motivation song @ 24:52

his first response to ppl being sad about school starting in a week is to calculate how many seconds are in a week so they can re-frame their time left in a way that feels more plentiful. i love this ???

i also really love how he tries to read premium messages from different people every time. idk that’s just really thoughtful and as a fan i really appreciate it

he knows that black makes him look good …. GOodBYe

today is world lion day!

phil is the one who puts the funny/random holidays on the dnp calendars. of course it was but im still so happily surprised  

doinganap’s sicth/sixth discourse

he’s reading people from the chat’s bdays and telling them what funny holidays are on their birthdays! i love how he finds different ways to get ppl in the chat involved every liveshow. i appreciate him so much !like yeah i know its a marketing thing but let me pretend its solely phil’s care for us

he wants to go back to japan

he can’t read or edit and listen to music at the same time! me neither

someone asked what a good pet would be and phil went on a lil tangent about how it’s important to have enough time to take care of the pet you choose!! dont get an exotic pet or a breed of non-exotict pet that requires a lot of time, money, or energy to care for it if you’re not at a point in your life where u can take care of it to the best of your ability! <3

hedgehogs are one of the most common animals in the uk??? what the heck?

he can’t remember whether or not he’s seen a hedgehog irl so he texts mum lester to ask <3 why is this the sweetest thing in the world . like seeing a hedgehog irl would be an experience that his family facilitated or even if he was moved out when it happened it would have been so exciting that he def would have told kath about it. so any way it happened she would know about it. my heart is Warm.

he’s not a huge summer candle burner but as soon as it’s september he’ll be on the pumpkin spice train

mum lester texted back and apparently his grandparents had a family of hedgehogs in their garage and his granddad built them a little hedgehog house to hibernate in :( wow!

phil might play shelter 2 … with dan. No Thank You. let us have some phil-only time plz 

shelter 2 is more of an autumnal game so he might do it later when he can cozy up with some cocoa and herd the badger babies

he feels a coffee buzz after five (5) chocolate-covered coffee beans. r u sure u even drink coffee phil????

rye bread is worse (in phil’s opinion) than regular bread and is ”claggy”. i busted out laughing and texted my mom IMMEDIATELY bca LOOOONG time ago we were at a family christmas party with my dad’s extended family and all of the Adults were playing scrabble. my mom ended up spelling claggy and everyone else was like THATS A MADE UP WORD WHAT THE FUCK!!!! and my mom was like ???? no its not? my dad’s family is from the eastern us and had never heard the word claggy before and i remember my dad giving my mom shit about it for YEARS afterward because she caused such an uproar. idk if it was a regional thing or if americans just don’t say claggy but REGARDLESS. my mom and i had a good laugh over this description of rye bread and we both love phil

he’s nervous abt what dalien is going to look like and become as he grows up. phil’s general reaction to dalien has been one of caution and nervousness and idk ?? someone more thoughtful analyze that please

his advice for making the most of the last bits of summer: do something you haven’t done before! immediately after bestowing upon us this Wise Advice he giggles and becomes self aware of his parental tone. Our Dad Is Becoming Self Aware

he doesnt swear around his parents?????? my mom says fuck all the time :0

2018 calendar and season two pastel plushies are in the works!

he’s singing another song to list the top fans. suggestions include toxic, the ditty tune, and the tetris theme. he goes with the ditty song and starts laughing in the middle of it so makes a seamless musical transition to toxic

if everything recorded properly with his new vid we should see it in the next few days!

he hopes that we have a lovely weekend and that whatever we end up doing brings us a bit of happiness :( i love him thank u phil

tiny little bonus song after he covers up the camera. schrodingers phil.

all in all i love phil’s liveshows and this has been the highlight of my day. thank u for reading!

#mine #commentary #amazingphil #phil lester

[necromancerluna]

25 days of Reylo, Count Down to the Holidays 2! 

Decorating for Us.

AN: This should have been posted on December 2nd but I fell behind. Here is day two of 25 days of Reylo Countdown to the Holidays!

No Trigger Warnings.

This is Modern AU, Ben Solo and Rey. Established Relationship and Christmas fluff. The theme is opposites attract and domestic love in Christmas Decoration.

Happy Reading!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rey woke up to the helpless squeaking of Ben's cat Darth Squeaks. Squeaks was a large fluffy black cat, who for being blind, knew exactly where Ben's nose was to pat him with his paws. The black haired giant of a man, mumbled to himself, batting the cat away. Rey giggled and shook his shoulders, “Someone is hungry, you feed the furbaby and I will get us breakfast.” she kissed his temple. He sighed but obeyed. He pulled their dark purple comforter and lavender cotton sheets off and swung his legs over the bed and into his black slippers. Squeaks chirped happily as he jumped down and trotted to his food bowl on the carpet by their closet. Rey gawked at him, he was only his his black boxers, his toned body on display for her. He grabbed the cat's food bowl and went to the kitchen.

Rey got out of bed, her pajama pants were snowmen and shirt had a penguin with a santa hat on. She dressed into black leggings that had snowmen and snowflakes on them and a thin grey sweater. She put her hair up in a sloppy bun and placed on her Christmas lights necklace. She slipped into her penguin in ugly sweater slippers and met Ben in the hallway. His eyes were still half down, he smiled at her and then made kissy noises so Squeaks would follow him back down the hall. Rey made them beacon and eggs with toast.

“I made the bed, we should change the sheets tomorrow.” Ben's voice was husky with sleep, he had his semi-rimless black glasses on, a plain navy tee and his paint stained work jeans. He saw his black mug with black coffee sitting next to a plate of scrambled eggs. He smiled and kissed her, taking a seat next to her at the island countertop in their Kitchen. “Thanks for breakfast.”

With over easy egg on her toast in her mouth she nodded and with her mouth half full said, “Welcome hun, tank yov for makin da bed.”

He bit back a laugh and opted for their topic of the day, “Well, Squeaks is fed, we're about to be fed, it's Saturday morning on December 2nd, why don't we decorate for Christmas?”

She licked her fingers but paused at the last part of his sentence. Her eyes went wide and brightened, she gasped, “Yes! Yes, November just slipped by so fast I didn't even think! I'll go get my stuff from the shed.” they finished their meal in comfortable silence. Ben taking their plates and places them and the frying pan into the dishwasher. Their cat jumped nimbly onto the island and laid onto his back to receive belly rubs from Rey and Ben.

They went to their shed in the backyard. It was mostly Ben things, childhood toys, photo albums, note books of old writings, his high school and college year books and other memorabilia, then there was the Halloween decorations and Chritmas. Ben had one large plastic container and Rey had a shoe box. It started hitting her as Ben closed and locked the shed and went back inside with her that she didn't have a lot. He placed his large box down, opened it and got out white icicle lights, a 4ft plastic Christmas Tree, a shoe box that had very childish handwriting that said, 'Ben Organa-Solo's Ordaments'. She stifled her laughter at the misspelling and the image of a small Ben with ears he didn't quite grow into yet scribbling this onto his box. There was a few more things, wrapping paper and bows as well as bag for gifts, a small musical merry-go-round and his Christmas Stocking that was hand knitted by his mother.  

He turned to her, gesturing for her to open up her box. It was mostly ornaments, pictures of her and Poe when they were teenagers, another of her Finn and Poe in University. She had a cloth calendar in the shape of a Christmas tree with red pockets and toys drawn on the pockets- there was even a little stuffed Santa that kept the date while peeking out to see if you're bad or good. Ben sat there at her attention, asking her about her things and letting her put them where she'd like.

The tree went first, on the coffee table in the living room, he put sliver tinsel around it to make it fuller. They carefully arranged their ornaments, heed taken to not over crowd. He let Rey twist the Merry-go-round music and put it on the island of the kitchen as a center piece. It played jingle bells a little faster than she thought it would. Outside with ladders and laughs they hung the icicle lights. In the windows they used command hooks to get blue lights in the large living room window that faced the street.

Ben, content with the minimal décor, poured water into her red kettle and placed it on the stove top. He busied himself with getting the coco mixes and marshmallows. Rey tried to keep smiling, there was nothing that separated the L-Shape of the dinning room, kitchen and living room, she stood at the glass dinning room table and stared around. It didn't look right. When she lived with her adoptive brother, Poe, the Dameron's house was full to the brim with decorations. The tree was huge and real, there was a tree skirt, signs that said things like 'This House Believes' on every surface of wall space, over mitts and wash cloths all Christmas themed.

He noticed. The kettle screamed, he turned the heat off, poured their coco and placed Marshmallows in hers and two in his. He squirted caramel twice in his and she absentmindedly asked him to put whip cream as well as caramel sauce on top. She took it from him and peeled her eyes away to narrow in on the only Christmas item in the kitchen. Ben cleared his throat to get her attention. “What's the matter, Sweetheart?”

“This doesn't seem very Christmasy- it's our place but with a tree, some lights and three trinkets.” she mumbled.

He pried, “What makes you say that?”

“The Damerons had so much, Poe and I felt like it changed to some sort of winter wonderland over night.”

Ben paused, he thought of his words carefully, “As you know, I'm a minimalist, and as you know I usually only go all out for Halloween-” he glanced her way to see her attentively listening, “Christmas can leave a bad taste in my mouth, it wasn't always happy for me- Mom tried her best, over doing it in some ways. Mostly to make the both of us feel better when Han ditched us. In fact the Christmas when I was fifteen, I spent it holding my mother as she sobbed. My mother wanted marriage counseling, my father told her he'd sign the divorce papers, he wasn't good enough for her.” the bad taste was in his mouth then, “He was right, he's not good enough for my mother, but I wish he would have listened to her- because as much as it pains me to say it they work in their own sort of strange way and he made her happy at some point.”

“I'm sorry Ben.”

He scratched the back of his head and rubbed his neck, “Sorry, that was much to heavy for this morning and I lost track of my point, my point is- we're not my parents and do you want to go Christmas shopping?”

Her eyes light up brighter than the light they hung. “Yes!”

“Let's go to Target then.” he grabbed their mugs and deposited them into the dishwasher.

“Won't that get expensive.” He glanced at her, “I am the author of four New York Time best selling novels and working on a just finished one of a three part series that Armitage says is going to be another, and my mother is a Senator, I think I can handle a trip to Target.” he bragged. “Besides, with all the work you're putting me to, you could buy us dinner.”

“Hawiian BBQ?”

“You know me so well.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chicken, pulled pork, and beef with white rice and veggies. The smell was savory, making both their mouths water. They split the food, Rey guzzling her orange soda and Ben with his Dr Pepper. There was a small army of target bags at their feet and the afternoon seemed to have gone away, the sun would set soon. Once bellies were full, Rey sprung into action. She was replaced the over mitts with red ones that had cute snowmen, a kitchen towel to match. In the bathroom, which normal held a grey and purple theme was slowly transformed into a pink, rose gold, Christmas corner, a gold glittering Reindeer on the counter with the sink, rose gold Christmas Trees and cream colored towels. The dinning room received a tiny black tree decorated with old school game console controllers. Signs with cute sayings and sweet pictures were put up with command hooks. Another tiny green Christmas Tree was put in the living room with the HO HO HO red pillows on their chocolate brown couch. Fleece throws over the two lazy boys, one being beige in color with black cats in scarves playing with colorful yarn balls the other one black with little dogs in hat playing with balls. Gold, red, and sliver tinsel everywhere. And last a velvet rich red tree skirt. Squeaks sniffed the tree skirt and then jumped onto the coffee table and snuggled under the tree for a nap. Ben took a picture on his phone, “Squeaks seal of approval.”

She smiled down at the feline, she turned to Ben, “This could just be my Christmas gift this year, you spent a lot on me.”

“I spent a lot on us, seeing your excitement is enough.” he blew her off.

She grabbed his hand, “No, really, thank you. Don't get me anything else for Christmas.”

He glanced at her and kissed the back of her hand, “I am driving for us now, not me, besides, you really made this place feel like a Hallmark movie.”

“You hate Hallmark movies.”

“I'd watch this one.” he said with a wink.

She smirked and then glanced at the tree. She played with one of his Ornaments, she giggled and thought to herself 'ordaments'. She then realized she didn't really appreciate the decorating of the tree. A knot twisted and sunk in her stomach. She had been so consumed with how much decorating was that she forgot just to slow down and enjoy it with him. She started taking them down. He seemed disgruntled when he asked, “What are you doing, Rey?”

“I want a redo, can I have that?” she snapped- she winced then, she hadn't meant to snap. “Sorry, I got embarrassed. I spent so much time thinking about Christmas with The Damerons that I forgot this is our Christmas.”

“Hmm...” he eyed her before he nodded with a smile.

She laid them out into a pile of his and hers. He picked one up, it was of a crown. “What's with the crown?” Rey asked.

“My maternal grandfather called her his princess, so when I was born she told me I was a prince.”

she snorted, “Started your ego young I see.”

He chuckled, “Your turn.”

She picked up a Saguaro that had a Santa hat on it, “This is from when I was 13, they adopted me around Christmas time and did this to remember where I came from. Arizona was a rough place but I came to live here in Washington it really was greener on the other side, but I was to remember where I came from.” she put it just above his crown on the tree. “You next, but only the ones that mean something.”

He picked up a one of a Sword and Shield, “Han gave this to me before the real problems began between him and my Mother, he told me that chivalry didn't die with me.”

She grabbed an airplane, “Poe gave this to me after he came back from his first deployment.”

He picked up the last unique ornament on his end, the others simply being glass orbs of red, gold and clear with glittering white. It was of a Quill, “Mom gave this to me when I published my first book.”

She grabbed her last unique ornament that wasn't red and green plastic orbs, it was a gold glittering key, “Dad gave this to me when I graduating University, he said this was the key to the world of possibilities I opened myself up for. “ She placed it next to his quill. They hugged before finishing the redecorating.

It was going on seven at night, Squeaks stretched on the tree skirt and began to beg. Jumping gracefully from the coffee table and onto the couch with them. Bumping their hands with his cold little wet nose and demanding their pets. “Someone is hungry.” Ben said, picking up the fluff ball and cooing to him. Rey left to feed him, mixing in his beef wet food with his dry food. Squeak wiggled desperately out of Ben's arms when he heard his meal being prepared. He trotted down the hall after Rey, leaving Ben alone with his thoughts.

He spotted Rey coming back down the hall. She stretched her arms up and asked him if he wanted some coco. He agreed and watched her. He thought to himself, this was going to be the Best Christmas.

#reylo #reylo fandom #reylo fanfic #reylo trash

[ra-veela-claw]

Devotion (Part V)

Part V yayyyy!  Again, the character of Cassandra inspired by the lovely @seriouslyblacklikemysoul ❤️  A little more heartache in this one...BUT HANG IN THERE IT’LL GET BETTER!  Thanks for reading!

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Remus woke with a start, only to find the beds around him empty and dim sunlight trickling through the windows.  His bedside clock indicated it was just before four in the afternoon, and the lanky boy sat upright to rub his eyes and ensure they weren’t playing tricks on him.

I’ve slept near through the entire day.

He ran a hand through his tousled hair and searched the room with his adjusting eyes.  Eyebrows furrowed, he remembered the fair girl he’d fallen asleep next to.

I’m sure she’s gone to class…she’s probably done at this point, you lazy dog.

Remus smiled to himself as he thought of Aileen, just before Sirius entered the room in a flurry of his regular flamboyance.

“Oy!  You finally up then, Moony?” Sirius smirked and strode towards his friend.  Remus’s eyebrows raised and he gave a small smile, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he chuckled as Sirius plopped at the foot of Remus’s bed.

“’Bout time,” Sirius scoffed and laid back, hands behind his head.  “How are you feeling, mate?”  

Sirius looked to the scarred boy, who nodded thoughtfully.

“I’m alright I suppose…no worse than usual.  Aileen actually stayed a bit this morning to help…she fixed my lip,” his fingertips ghosted over his lower lip and his cheeks flushed.  Sirius swallowed.

“Ah yes…I’ve heard she’s quite good with healing charms, that one,” he droned absentmindedly.  Remus rolled his eyes.

“I told you that, Padfoot.” Sirius couldn’t help but grin and shrug.

“I hear a lot of things, Moony.”  The two chuckled together before settling into a brief silence.

“Ehm…speaking of Aileen,” Sirius began unsurely, though he tried hard to keep his voice level and nonchalant.  Remus chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“…suppose I’ll just come right out with it: do you like her, mate?”  from his reclined position at Remus’s feet, Sirius looked up to Remus in time to see the heat rising to his cheeks.  Remus coughed and looked away.

“Of course I like her, she’s a wonderful friend.  Especially now that she knows everything…I owe a lot to her,” he said quickly.  Sirius pursed his lips and sat up.

“Moony…you know what I mean.”

Remus shifted uncomfortably before meeting Sirius’s steady gaze.  Sirius offered a small, reassuring smile.

“Well…I don’t know, Sirius.  She’s amazing…” Remus sighed.  “She’s intelligent, she’s patient, she’s caring…and what’s more, she accepts me and devoted her time to help me recover.”

Sirius was nodding.

“And she’s beautiful, of course,” Remus continued to blush but fell silent for a moment.  Although Sirius mirrored his feelings towards the girl exactly, he remained quiet and willing to listen.

“I know you like her though, Padfoot.”

Sirius’s eyes snapped to Remus.  He cleared his throat uncomfortably and ran a hand through his dark locks.

“Don’t be silly…she had only been waiting for you to come back last night. I was only keeping her company,” he said softer, eyebrows knit together as he stared back down into his hands. Remus stared down as well and spoke steadily, his heart aching with every word.  His own acceptance surprised him.

“You don’t think I see the way you look at her every time she walks by?  And when she speaks?” he explained.  Sirius now stared at his friend.

“It’s…well it’s the same way I must look at her.  And I think a great deal of her,” he continued, saying the last part slowly and quite calculated, blushing to no end.  Though the ache in his heart ran deeper, the love he held for his best friend overshadowed any pain.

“But who am I kidding, Padfoot?  I’m her friend, and I know I’ll never be anything more than that.  I don’t know why I even try to indulge myself, especially when I see the way she looks at you too.”

Sirius bristled.

“Don’t say that-“ he nearly snapped, not liking at all how his friend was speaking of himself.  “I hardly know her that well, mate.  Not like you.”

Remus shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Sirius was quiet and sat looking puzzled and perplexed.  He knew Remus was hurting; he could see it in the boy’s eyes. His own heart beat uncontrollably for his friend.

“Remus, I don’t want you to-“

Remus waved him off, offering a small smile.

“You should go see her.  I’m sure she’s wondering where you went this morning.”

Sirius was practically stunned, his throat was dry.  Trying desperately not to make his friend feel anything but content, Remus reached to ruffle Sirius’s hair, prompting a small smirk to break into Sirius’s features.

“Don’t touch the hair, mate,” he chuckled and took the lanky boy into a chokehold, messing his hair hoping for a laugh.  

Remus’s laugh rang true, though quiet, as the boys poked fun at each other.

“Merlin, it’s about dinner time, yeah?  Let’s get some food in ya, mate,” Sirius stood, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling out of the air.  Remus gave a genuine, toothy grin and nodded.

“You go on, then.  I think I’d like a shower first.  Meet you all down there?”  He stood, pulling his shirt over his head.  Sirius nodded.

“Suit yourself then.”

Without another word, he chuckled and slipped out of the room.  Remus shook his head.

“By the way!”  Sirius poked his head back in as Remus unzipped his trousers.  He blushed as Sirius smirked.  “Nice abs.”

Remus chuckled as the door shut finally.  He smiled quietly to himself as he undressed, pushing the many nagging feelings of uncertainty and sadness deep into his subconscious.

The soft glow of the lonely, waning moon shone against the deep chocolate color of Cassandra’s hair as she leaned against the railing of the astronomy tower. She looked thoughtfully to the heavens above, and breathed in deeply the sweet, cool scent of the spring night. The book tucked in her arms seemed to call to her and she happily obliged to its wishes, sinking down against the railing and thumbing to her favorite excerpt.

Life seemed simpler this way, easier, as she relished in her solitary learning and growth.  Still, as she read on, she couldn’t shake the quiet, nagging loneliness of these nights. Cassandra so wished she had someone to share in her daydreams, her endless, mindless thoughts.

As she flipped the page of her book, she sighed.

“Is someone up here?” a hoarse voice called unsurely.  Cassandra started a bit, clutching the book to her chest. Her hazel eyes were wide.

“Y-yes sorry,” she piped, clearing her throat.

Remus, lost in the thoughts which threatened to consume him altogether with heartache, breathed a welcoming sigh of relief at the sound of the familiar lyrical voice.

“Is that you, Cassie?” the lanky boy smiled softly and stepped from the spiral staircase into view.  Cassandra’s fairy-like features broke into a kind smile, and her heart positively fluttered.

“Oh, hello Remus,” she chimed.  “A bit late to be wandering the castle, isn’t it?”

Remus sniffed a laugh and sunk down against the railing beside her.

“Suppose I could say the same to you,” he shrugged and grinned at the petite girl.

“Suppose you could,” she giggled quietly.  As the two looked to the stars, Cassandra couldn’t help but sense Remus’s tension.  He tapped his foot and wrung his hands, his mind obviously preoccupied.  She quirked her head.

“What brings you to the lonely peoples’ hideout?” she mused curiously. Remus gave a small smirk and chuckled.

“To be frank, I’m not sure.  I thought I could do well with some air,” he leaned back on his hands, looking rather exhausted despite the 12 hours of sleep he’d gotten.  

“Head needed some clearing after…well,” he looked to Cassandra who was watching him intently.  He continued: “Just some girl stuff I guess.”

Cassandra almost immediately jut in:

“You mean about Aileen?” she bit her lip.  Remus’s eyebrows shot up and he looked to her, surprised.

“Yes actually…how did you-?”  He suddenly blushed and he got quieter, looking away.  “Has Sirius said something?”

Cassandra’s heart ached, fearing she hit a deeper nerve.

“Oh, no no Remus.  I just…” she searched for cohesive words.  “I suppose I’m good at reading people, reading relationships.”

It was her turn to blush.

“I hope I’m not being intrusive, I apologize…I just have seen how you interact with Aileen, how you seem to see something more when you look in her eyes,” her voice got quieter as she wished he would see the same in her eyes.  Remus sighed.

“It’s alright, Cassie…there’s no need to apologize.  You are very intuitive, I’ll give you that though,” Remus smiled into his lap and opened up a bit more.

“I know she doesn’t feel the way I do…I know she fancies Sirius.”

Cassandra smiled softly, sympathetically and hesitantly reached to put a hand against his shoulder.

“She does love you though, I hope you know,” she said softly.  “Aileen will always be on your side…she’ll be your biggest supporter, caregiver, and your fiercest friend.  I know from experience.”

Remus nodded and seemed to almost relax under Cassandra’s slight touch.

“I know…she’s my best friend.  And so is Sirius…I love them both too much to risk making either of them unhappy,” he vowed, staring up at the moon that so often plagued him.

Cassandra nodded knowingly and felt a small spark of hope.

“You are incredibly devoted to your friends, Remus…that’s something truly admirable, and you should be proud of that,” she expressed genuinely.  Remus’s mouth turned upward ever so slightly at the corners and he nodded.

“Thank you, Cassie,” he murmured gratefully.  Though no words could completely console his aching heart, he found Cassandra’s willingness to listen quite comforting.  This enchanting girl made the pain he harbored feel less of a burden, to his relief and surprise.

Cassandra smiled and looked to the moon with him.

“Beautiful…isn’t it?”

Remus pursed his lips and glanced at Cassandra and the way the light shone off her bright hazel eyes.  He nodded.

“It is.”

#harry potter #harry potter imagine #sirius black #sirius #sirius black x oc #sirius x oc #remus lupin #sirius black imagine #remus #remus lupin x oc #remus lupin imagine #devotion