#i wish to use googly eyes and glitter glue...

[bepoucorp]

NEW FRIEND!

#fnaf security breach #security breach #daycare attendant #sunnydrop #moondrop #fnaf #this is my own personal designs of them LOL #i wanna imagine they have ball joints! #bepoucorp #i wish to use googly eyes and glitter glue...

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Can i request for a Platonic!Sun(drop/rise?) + lost child! stoic! Gn! reader that actually smiles the first time when playing with the Sun animatronic?

I've been searching for days to find platonic fics abt him so I've decided to request instead

"Oh new friend! We're sure up late, aren't we? Are we having a slumber party??? Where are all your friends?????"

You just stared at the yellow-orange jester animatronic who was dangling you over the ballpit you previous slid into. He carried you with great ease before setting you down on the colorful mat-covered floor.

Sun waited for your answer, but the longer you stayed quiet the more awkward he felt. He wasn't used to this kind of silence. Not even a hint of emotion was on your face; nevertheless, he kept smiling as he danced around you. Simply because that's what he did best. He was sure you'll crack a grin at any given moment.

"We can fingerpaint, tell stories, drink Fizzy Faz till our heads EXPLODE and then stay up all night!!! He babbled on and on about what activities you both can do together, while also mentioning the one simple rule of keeping the lights on at all times.

You really didn't know what to do. Some security guard was chasing you and you winded up in here by mistake. But at least he wasn't freaking out about you being lost or immediately turning you in. Maybe he wasn't aware that the mall had closed for the night.

For now you were safe here..or at least you hoped so.

"Heyyyy turn that frown upside down! You're in Superstar Daycare!! Where there's endless things to smile about!!"

"I'm not frowning. This is my usual face."

"...oh." Sun's voice fell abruptly flat at your response, watching you wander off to the tables and chairs. Though he was soon to follow you there, nearly stumbling as he tried catching up to you. "But hey! Do you want a puppet show?? I-I have glitter glue! You like glitter glue?? Googly eyes....?"

He was nervous. He's never dealt with a kid so silent and stoic before. It made him think he was doing something horribly wrong.

Of course, there's been a few kids who left his daycare crying, but...at least he knew what they were feeling! You, on the other hand, were difficult for him to read. He didn't know if you were sad, scared, bored, angry, or happy. Clearly you wanted to explore the daycare, though your face didn't show it whatsoever.

But he was determined to see a smile before you left.

So he gave you a can of Fizzy Faz (Sun edition with citrus flavors) and brought out his sock puppets that crudely resembled Glamrock Freddy and himself. You just sat and watched in silence as Sun-Puppet rambled to Freddy-Puppet about how he wished to meet him one day, occasionally stopping the show just to see your expression.

Nothing.

You just asked if he was lonely here and he decided to move onto another activity instead of answering that.

He gave you colorful construction paper, a bottle of glitter glue, and markers. The bells on his wrist jingled as he dumped a handful of googly eyes right in front of you, suggesting that you turn your feelings into a craft. He didn't mind if you weren't that talkative; art was good way for children to express themselves!

He briefly left to go rearrange some party canisters while you did the project, checking to make sure they're all stacked before returning five minutes later.

You presented it to him and...

You just spelled out your name.

"H-Huh? [Y/n]..oh, this is lovely! I like that name, too! But this doesn't really..erm...I-I-"

"You said to turn my feelings into art, right?"

"Y-Yes! I did! You're a great listener! But what I meant was-"

"I felt like telling you my name." You explained, standing up and wiping off the glitter glue on your hands with a napkin. "I still followed your instructions."

Sun felt like he was about to pop a vein--or a circuit, rather.

But then he got one more idea and grinned, putting the paper down as he hunched over the table.

"Oh hoo-hoo~! You know...the tickle monster's one weakness is smiling!" He cooed as he waggled his fingers near you. "C'mon..give you ol' buddy Sunny a big smile! Unless you want the evil-!"

"You just wanted me to smile?"

His fingers twitched in place, frozen. Once again you've baffled him. "I....uh...YEAH!! That's what I've been trying to do this whole time!! I wanna see your smile, [y/n]!" He insisted, looking down at the table, overheating with confusion and frustration and worry. "I'm doing everything I possibly can and...! And yet...!"

"You could've just asked me. I'm sorry, I...never have any reason to smile. But you're really cool, and since you asked..."

When you paused, Sun looked back up and saw your tiny smile. To other people it may have not been noticeable, but he could see it as clear as day.

He felt like he won the lottery.

"AWH THAT'S A REAL AWARD-WINNING SMILE!!! YOU'VE MADE ME A VERY HAPPY BOY TODAY!" He laughed as he jumped up and clapped his hands, running to the other side of the table to hug you, kneeling down. "So you're having fun? You like all the fun and games here? You don't wanna leave???"

"No, not for a while at least. Thanks for letting me stay here." You hugged him back slowly, feeling more at ease now that you knew he wasn't playing tricks on you.

For the first time in your life, you had a reason to smile.

#clanask #anonymous #fnaf x reader #five nights at freddy's x reader #fnaf sb x reader #fnaf security breach x reader #fnaf sun #fnaf daycare attendant #child reader #platonic #fluff

[sppringtrap]

Chapter Three: Smile With Your Teeth

The room had a dollhouse feel to it. The bed looked tatty and old, kids sheets beneath a thin pillow. Alongside it, a rainbow table made of plastic with a singular chair. It seemed to be the only thing that fit him. In the corner of the room, plushies of the main 4 Pizzaplex animatronics, badly drawn art of them as well as self-portraits.

He seemed eager and excited to bring me here.

Sundrop began to cut cards with the safety shape scissors, gentle and focused. He kept looking up at me to make sure I was watching and learning. I tried to copy him with my piece of green card and failed dramatically. "Sun, I can't do this! This is hard." I whined, dropping my awful paper chain on the table. I bet kids half my age can do this shit.

For a second, he made no sound except his mechanical whirring, almost as if he was processing what to say. He leant towards me and gently placed his cold hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, you can do it! And even if you don't feel like it, that's okay. You can have mine!" He said, handing me the long line of paper people with a huge smile on his face. I smiled weakly back, taking my gift from his hands. He knew nothing about personal space, that's for sure.

"Why aren't you smiling with your teeth, friend?" He said in a tone I'd never really heard before. "Smile for me, sunshine! I wanna see those pearly whites!" He quickly reached to tickle me, and for fucks sake, I wish at that moment I was made of wood and not be the most ticklish on the planet. I erupted in laughter, pushing his hands off me as I kicked and squealed. "O-Okay, okay! Stop now! Jeez..." He stopped, hitting his head on the low ceiling as he stood up. He 'oww'ed and laughed it off awkwardly, embarrassed. I notice his cheeks begin to shine a light pink.

"Ahem, now that I've seen your big, lovely smile. I have to know... Why did you fall through the ceiling? We have doors, silly." He chortled, finding himself hilarious. I rolled my eyes and scoffed with a little laugh before tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Ha, ha... Very funny..." I responded in a sarcastic tone before, "I, uh, basically, well... I don't know if I can talk about it without getting upset." I laughed it off, a feeble attempt to stop the flood gates from opening. Moments later, tears began to well up in my eyes.

"P-Please don't cry, sunshine!" Sundrop hurried towards me, kneeling to be closer to my eye level. I couldn't breathe, it hurt to talk, so to try and get these thoughts and feelings out? Doesn't feel like it would happen in a day. Now that I think about it, I don't think anyone has ever noticed and cared that something felt off with me. Is it cause of his upgrades? Why was he so kind to me?

"Listen, whatever the problem might be, I'm here for you, pal! If you don't want to talk about it, we can just stick googly eyes on everything and cover the computers at the desk with glitter glue, make 'em look pretty. They always tell me no. No idea why!" He sat down, cross-legged and rocking back and forth gently, the spikes on his head retracting every once in a while.

"I came here cause I remember you from when I was a kid. My dad used to just drop me here when he didn't want to deal with me anymore. He randomly stopped bringing me here, I never knew why. Something about a kid going missing here, but that's beside my point." I slumped down and sat cross-legged with him, resting my forehead on his knee. He continued to listen, hearing the whirring again from earlier; it was almost as if I could hear what he was about to say.

"I just wanted a break. I needed time away from the yelling. I couldn't listen to it anymore. It's quiet here. You're here. I wanted to see if you remembered me... Do you?" I asked, looking up at him.

He grew close to me, grabbed me whilst his eyes flickered a bright blue, laser grids formed across my face. I blinked violently at the sudden light in my eyes, attempting to cover them with my hands. "Dude, not cool! Could've given me a warning or something! What are you doing?!"

His eyes flickered off again, lighting up back at their original white. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I do enjoy giving people a fright sometimes..!" The tall robotic sun gently patted me on the head, his whole hand covering the top of my head as he pet me for a second. I continued to blink, still dealing with the aftermath of being almost blind, realising how crazy it is I broke into this place. He tiptoed his fingers on my arm and up my shoulder to boop me on the nose, his oddly creepy head spinning gently. He continued to speak, "Anyway. As it turns out, you were on one of my guest lists 10 or so years ago, so yeah, I do remember ya! My memories work differently from yours though. It's hard to explain." He stood up and grabbed my hand, where we began to take a walk around the daycare.

"I'm real sorry kid. Nobody should have to hear or deal with it, you deserve happiness and kindness only, friend." He sat down beside me and looked at me with big, sad eyes. It felt like he was showing genuine emotion. Before I knew it, my face was cupped in his hands, where he gently wiped the tears from my eyes with his handkerchief over his thumb. He did this a couple of times before tilting my head towards him. "You're deserving of much more, friend. Much, much more. It will come to you, in due time - but for now, let me try my best to help you have a good day." As usual, he kept smiling at me. I nodded gently before giving him a genuine smile. I didn't feel alone at that moment.

Something about his overflowing joy, the encouragement he gave and his big goofy smile made everything feel okay. Well, I say 'okay'; I knew it would help me ignore the negativity in my life. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. Safe from my feelings and my parents. He had an aura that made me feel whole. A new friend, I guess.

#sundrop x reader #sundrop #daycare attendant #fivenightsatfreddys #springtrap #fnaf x reader #fivenightsatfreddyssecuritybreach #fnafsecuritybreach #fnaffanart #five nights at freddys #glamrockfreddy #securitybreach #fivenightsatfreddysfanart

[argylemnwrites]

Celebrate Me Home

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment universe, set almost 25 years after Why Are We Still Waiting?)

Word Count: ~2000

Rating: PG-13 (brief language)

Summary: This Christmas comes with some new traditions for the Walkers, but others will always stay the same.

Author’s Note:So, instead of finalizing my next chapters of WAWSW? and FoF, I got bit with the holiday fic bug hard. So, both of those fics will be properly back in January, but until then, I hope you all will enjoy a FoF New Year’s fic next week and this Christmas fic set in the very distant future of the ICWAM universe. As mentioned above, this story is set 25 years in the future, so there is some tech mentioned that I don’t think is possible at this point, but hey! It’s the future - it could be a reality in a couple of decades, right hahaha?

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, or if that isn’t your December holiday, a calm and joyous time with family friends. I know that the world is in a rough place for most of us yet again, but I hope that you all had a moment or two that were worth celebrating.

Riley wasn’t usually one for sentimentality. It just had never been her style. But as she took in the array of decorations spread out on the card table in front of her, a wave of holiday nostalgia and memories washed over her. 

There was the box of assorted cheap ornaments that she and Drake had picked up that first Christmas they had space for a tree after they moved to Brooklyn. The remaining glass balls had heat stains, any glitter had long since rubbed off, and probably only about a quarter of the ornaments were even left at this point, but they’d always found a spot for them on the tree. Then there was the wooden star topper that Drake had made for their first Christmas as a married couple, cut and sanded and stained bit by bit during trips down to the ranch. Next to it was the Christmas tree skirt that Hana had sewn and embroidered herself, names of family and friends shaped into evergreens.

Of course, Jackie’s creations took up the majority of the table. From her early childhood creations involving construction paper, glitter glue, and popsicle sticks, to her school-aged crafts including a cabin made out of pipe cleaners and a felt reindeer that had long been down to one googly eye, up to her teenage experimentation with different mediums ranging from sculpted clay Santa hats to beaded snowflakes to enamel on metal candy canes. It was a little like seeing her daughter grow before her eyes, both as a person and an artist. Twenty years of her work, evolving bit by bit, year by year.

She didn’t know why she was feeling so sentimental this year. This had been their family tradition for decades, Jackie even making them promise they wouldn’t decorate the tree until she got back starting her freshman year. And sure, they were down in Texas now, but it’s not like they never spent the holidays here when Jackie was growing up. Things weren’t that different.

Except they were. Before this year, none of these decorations had been anywhere other than Brooklyn. Hell, most of them had never left that two bedroom condo that was now another family’s home. It was like packing for the move all over again, and the emotions just hit her in an unexpected way. As she picked up a folded paper sled Jackie had sealed to preserve a few years back, she felt a tear slip down her cheek. 

“Are you sure you don’t need any help, Riley?” Bianca asked as she entered the room, leaning slightly against her walker.

Riley quickly ran her free hand over her cheek, grateful that Bianca’s eyesight wasn’t what it used to be. “No, I’m good. Jackie likes to help with the ornaments since she doesn’t have a tree in her apartment. I’m just getting things ready for her.”

“If you need more ornaments, I think Leona has a couple of boxes in the attic.”

“Yup, Drake and I got them down yesterday. We unwrapped them already - they’re over there,” she said, pointing to the coffee table covered with glass balls, various colors of bells, and a few ornaments that had to have been Savannah’s or Drake’s creations many decades earlier. There were a few of Jackie’s pieces there as well, gifts created for her grandmother and great aunt over the years.

“Oh, yes. Well, we have some Christmas lights you could use if you want some more.”

Riley suppressed a frown. Drake didn’t want to admit it, but his mother was definitely forgetting more things than could be attributed to just her age. “The wires were frayed, remember? So Drake threw them out and bought some new ones.”

“That’s right. Of course he did.”

The silence that followed was slightly awkward. Even after months of living here, it was still hard for Riley to find things to talk about with Bianca. And Riley knew that as strange as it was for her to be living on a ranch in Texas, it had to be so much weirder and harder for Bianca and Leona to have them there. Decades of daily rhythms thrown straight to hell with two extra bodies around the house. Having to face the fact that with aging, independence and self-reliance whittled away, to the point where your son and his wife had to move in with you.

“I hope you don’t mind that we’re putting out our decorations, too. We don’t want to-”

“Of course that’s fine, dear. More decorations just make things more festive! Hell, even Leona gets into the holiday spirit this time of year, and we both know that’s saying something.”

Riley smiled at her mother-in-law. At least she was still sharp enough to make some little quips.

“Anyway, I mainly came in here to let you know that Leona has a pot of her spiked cider going in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Bianca. I’ll probably wait until Jackie gets here. Drake messaged that they should be back in just a few minutes.”

“Oh, wonderful! Well, let me know when she gets here, dear. We’ll get her a mug, too.”

Riley watched as Bianca shuffled down the hallway. She wasn’t sure if she was trying to put on a chipper face for the holidays, or if she was more at peace with Drake and her living there than she had been originally. Regardless, Jackie’s presence would probably put everyone in better spirits. Even Leona had warmed to her over the years. Last time she’d been down to Texas, Riley had found the two of them hate-watching cooking shows together late at night, snarking about anything and everything.

Truth be told, Riley was feeling a little guilty about Jackie having to come down here for her holiday break. It was the first year that Jackie didn’t get to go “home” for Christmas, or at least not to the only home she’d ever known. And sure, she was gaining independence, moving off-campus for her junior year, renting an apartment, lining up a graphic design internship for the summer. Riley knew that it wouldn’t be long before Jackie had her own place she considered “home.” But right now, she was still a college student, and Riley just worried that the move was unfair to her daughter, leaving her feeling adrift and homeless, even if it really was their only option.

Lost in her own worries, she was startled by the flash of headlights in the window. Just a few moments later, Jackie strode through the door, wearing a loose flannel shirt and some light wash jeans. Her puffy brown winter coat was shoved in the top of her duffel bag, which was dumped by the door with her laptop bag as she threw her arms around Riley. Riley clutched her tightly, reaching up slightly to run her hand over the back of her head.

“Hey, Mom.”

“It’s so good to see you in person. How was your flight?” Riley asked as she pulled back, guiding Jackie onto the couch.

“Fine, napped most of the way,” she said as she leaned back, tossing her hair over her shoulder, the red streaks glowing warmly from the Christmas tree lights.

“Finals go okay?”

Jackie nodded as Drake walked through the door, the rest of her luggage in his hands. “Don’t leave your stuff where anyone could trip on it, kiddo,” he said, nodding his head towards her hastily deposited bags.

Jackie rolled her eyes, but pushed herself off the couch. “You gonna show me what room I should put my shit in, old man?” she teased as she bounded over and threw her bags back over her shoulders, prompting Drake to roll his eyes as well. 

“Just because I didn’t know some of the musicians on your playlist does not make me-”

“You knew none of them! Not one! It was so pathetic, Mom.”

Riley chuckled as Jackie followed Drake up the stairs, teasing him as they went. A minute or so later, Drake came back downstairs, sinking onto the couch next to Riley with a sigh.

“She called you out on not keeping up with the latest musical trends, huh?”

Drake shook his head as his hand landed on Riley’s knee. “Among other things. Next time, you can pick her up from the airport. I swear she saves up a list of things to tease us about for months.”

“Who could have ever predicted that your daughter would be snarky and sarcastic?”

He chuckled as he gave her knee a squeeze. “Seeing as those traits come from you just as much as me, Liu, I think it’s only fair you share some of the payoff here.”

“Well, as soon as you finish teaching me to drive stick, that’ll be an option. But for now, I’ll just have to settle for her teasing here. Is she coming down soon? Bianca will want to see her, and Leona has cider going in the kitchen. Spiked, by the way.”

Drake nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. But yeah, she said she just had to grab something, and that she’d be right down.”

Sure enough, a few moments later, Jackie came racing down the stairs, a white box clutched in one hand. “So, I know I didn’t add any ornaments to the collection the last couple of years, but I figured this year deserved one. So here, before we start decorating,” she said, passing the box to Riley and Drake.

Riley opened the box and slowly pulled out a beautiful glass ornament, patches of green and blue that almost looked like-

“Is that a globe?” Drake asked, clearly seeing the same resemblance that Riley had noticed.

Jackie nodded. “Uh huh. This guy in my History of Media Art elective is mad into glass blowing, so I had him help me make this. But look.” Jackie reached down and flipped a switch along the ornament topper, illuminating several fiber optic strands. One glowed in eastern Europe, close to the Mediterranean, clearly in the vicinity of Cordonia. Two were close to each other in the northeastern United States, obviously representing New York City and Providence. And one last fiber lit up central Texas.

“Yeah, I thought it would be good to represent all the key locations for our family. And if I move somewhere else when I graduate, I have an extra cable strand in there that I can wire into the battery pack.”

Riley felt Drake clutch her knee a little tighter as she swallowed, trying not to cry. “It’s spectacular, sweetie.”

“It really is, kiddo.”

There wasn’t much else to say. Jackie was their daughter, and much like both of them, she was never going to be one who liked to sit around talking about emotions and feelings. They were all basically of the opinion that actions speak louder than words and whatnot. But this ornament said so many things that they all were feeling about the move. And while she missed their life in New York and knew that Jackie probably missed having a home to go back to there as well, they were still connected, bonded no matter where they were living. And as the light in Cordonia reminded them, the bonds of love and family had always bridged wide distances when it came to their lives. Texas was just another piece in the puzzle.

Drake pushed off the couch and wrapped Jackie in a hug as Riley stood and gently placed the newest ornament on the card table, one more snapshot both into their daughter’s growth and the lives they had built together. She hugged Jackie as well, then slung an arm across her shoulder, guiding her towards the kitchen.

“Come on, let’s have you say ‘Hi’ to your grandmother and Aunt Lee before we start decorating.”

“Thanks for waiting for me with the ornaments.”

“Of course, Jackie. It’s our family’s tradition.”

And so, the three of them moved down the hall. This Christmas was going to be different from what they were used to, that was for sure. But they were together, and at the end of the day, that was the truly important part.

Perma: @mom2000aggie @octobereighth @kingliam2019 @lovingchoices14

TRR/TRH: @iplaydrake @princessleac1 @twinkleallnight @gkittylove99 @ladyangel70 @marshmallowsandfire @axwalker @sirbeepsalot @iaminlovewithtrr @forallthatitsworth @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @hedgehogs-dilemmas

Drake x MC: @walkerdrakewalker @petiteboheme @mskaneko

ICWAM: @sunnyxdazed @thequeenofpixels​

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr au #trr au fanfic #the royal romance #trr fanfic #choices fanfiction

[mollymauk-teafleak]

On taking relationship advice from kindergarteners

I wrote a little thing for @oversaturated-ocean and our Alex/Eliza teacher AU! It follows on from their amazing fic, Staples and involves over enthusiastic kindergarten teacher Mr Hamilton attempting to start a relationship with the very kind and very pretty Nurse Schuyler. Which is a little tricky given that the last time they interacted, he fainted...

Most adults who met Alexander Hamilton, who knew him from his college days or bumped into him at the bar or at various rallies and marches and demonstrations would describe him as volatile. Argumentative. Hot tempered. And they wouldn’t exactly be wrong. Alex lent himself that brand from a single glance, with his wiry frame and his dark, dramatic eyes and mouth that was usually twisted in a frown and always ready to espouse opinions. Every inch of him, every brief conversation (as few people got away from Alex without hearing his sharp, animated voice) left most adults commenting that he was an angry man. A loud, brash and forceful kind of man who wasn’t particularly good at or bothered by getting people to like him.

These adults would probably laugh aloud if they were then told what Alex actually did for a living.

 The embittered, impulsive liberal scholar was how most people knew him. Unless of course they were one of the five year olds he taught kindergarten to at King’s Elementary.

Those little kids all knew Mr Hamilton to be one of the sweetest and kindest and funniest teachers there ever was. The guy who taught them geography by proudly sporting an old explorer’s hat he’d bought from a thrift store and took them on a grand Jules Verneian tour of the world and math with such patience and attention that no kid felt left behind or confused. The guy who always made time for a story at the end of the day, telling them with huge theatrical gestures and a whole cast of different funny voices, pacing around the room until every little set of eyes was on him. The guy who never, ever raised his voice when he was angry, he’d always sit and explain and listen and talk until following his word just made logical sense. The guy who accepted every flower and bottle cap and feather he was brought after playtime with a huge smile and a hug of thanks. Who tried to implement a Gold Star chart, with tiny stickers awarded to each child for good behaviour, but his definition of ‘good behaviour’ extended so wide that within a week there was no more room for any stars by anyone’s name. The whole thing was full up. So, he’d let the children go home on Friday afternoon with the gold stars decorating their cheeks instead, alongside huge smiles. To the kids, Mr Hamilton was the teacher who peppered his lessons with a little Spanish, who gave them all personalised nicknames, who let them sit on his knee and dry their eyes on his sleeve when a scraped knee or a too hard piece of homework or something at home made them cry. He would never press for details, not until the kid had them freely to give, the hugs and the tissues and the cheer up high fives always came first.

With his funny ties with cartoon characters and brightly coloured hair ties in his pony tail, his bright grin and his bouncy attitude, to his class Mr Hamilton was a hero.

 It had taken Alex a whole evening to decorate his classroom for Valentine’s Day; even after pulling a begrudging Peggy away from the secretary desk to help, it had taken hours until there were enough red streamers and craft paper hearts and pipe cleaner roses for Alex to be satisfied. The looks on the kids’ faces in the morning had been well worth the many paper cuts on his fingers and having to yet again explain to Principle Washington, yes this is vital for the children’s learning, no I won’t go overboard again like last year, yes, I’ll restock the stationary cupboard with glue.

Of course, Alex still taught them their usual lessons in the morning, helping them learn how to tell a triangle from a square and how to count to ten without using fingers and how to get a capital S the right way around. But he did do the whole thing with flashing love heart deelyboppers waggling away on top of his head, so he reckoned he was still on theme. But after lunch, the formalities were out of the way and the kids could really get into the spirit of things with making their own Valentine’s day cards. Of course, Alex made sure to explain that their cards could be for anybody, that there were lots and lots of different kinds of love for different kinds of people and they could celebrate any kind they wanted today.

Now usually during craft time, Alex would be weaving his way through the tables, picking his way around the mounds of glitter and growing swamps of paste and so many scraps of brightly coloured paper it looked like someone had fired off a confetti cannon. He’d be full of smiles and appreciation, oohing and ahhing and every little creation he was proudly shown, not minding in the slightest when he ended up with red finger paint prints on his shirt.

But today, he stayed at his desk, with his own little stack of card and pot of glitter and coloured pencils, frowning and concentrating so hard his tongue was poking out of the side of his mouth. Which of course caught his students’ attention immediately; when did their teacher ever sit still willingly?

“Mr Hamilton? Mr Hamilton?” one of the bolder girls called out, waving a pudgy little arm in the air.

Alex’s eyes flickered upwards briefly, “Need some help, Ruthie?”

“No, sir,” the little girl’s braids bounced as she shook her head, “Whatcha doing? You making a card too?”

Her question came with a dozen different interested little murmurs from the rest of the kids.

Alex actually blushed a little, another very unusual thing for him, “I, ah…I might be, sweetie.”

“Who’s it for?” little Julio asked, adding brightly, “Mine is for my dog!”

Alex gave him a crooked smile, though his blush got deeper, “That’s great buddy, I’m sure he’ll love it. Um…mine isn’t really for anyone, not in particular. I just thought I’d, ah, give it a go?”

Now, the children were young but not so young they couldn’t spot an obvious lie like that.

“Do you have a girlfriend, sir?” Ruthie pressed.

None of the children missed how their favourite teacher jumped a little at that question and was suddenly fidgeting, “No! No, I don’t! I…I don’t.”

“Do you have a boyfriend then?” little Yolanda asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose like she had to do about a thousand times a day.

“No, mija, I don’t have one of those either,” Alex answered a little more easily this time, very pleased they’d listened to him when he’d explained that their cards could be for boys or girls.

“Then why you making a card?” Ruthie still demanded, “If it’s not for anyone?”

Alex had to marvel at their tenacity but he was eager to steer the conversation somewhere else, “I’m not sure I really am making a card, apparently, arts and crafts isn’t my thing…”

He showed the students the evidence, a pretty pathetic looking piece of pink card with a wonky heart drawn on the front. Sure enough, he got a lot of little wrinkled noses in response and disapproving shakes of the head. Sometimes Alex found it hard to appreciate the honestly of small children.

“Sir, that’s not very good!” Julio told him plainly, “Don’t give that to anyone.”

“Well, I’m trying…and it isn’t for anyone, I told you!” Alex defended himself with a small smile, “I’m just not super creative like you guys are…”

“Oh, we’ll help you then!” Yolanda offered, her smile shy and sweet.

“Yes!” Ruthie jumped up onto the chair eagerly, no matter how many times Mr Hamilton begged her to be careful, “We’ll help you, sir!”

Twenty other little excited voices rose in a clamour until Alex was chuckling, holding up his hands in defeat and coming to join them at the craft table, pulling up a chair that was so small his knees almost came up to his ears when he sat on it.

“Alright, alright, I’ll let the experts show me how it’s done,” he smiled.

 The bell eventually rang for the end of the day, surprising them all. They’d all been having so much fun, they’d barely noticed the clock hands going by. There hadn’t been too many incidents, save half a tube of red glitter ending up in David’s lap, Jasmine insisting on sticking googly eyes on her own eyelids much to the amusement of everyone and a hair-raising moment when Mr Hamilton accidentally drank a mouthful of the water they’d been washing the brushes in rather than his coffee. But a card had been successfully made, the kind of very loud, very glitter covered, very…unusual Valentine’s day card that twenty kindergarteners and their teacher would put together. It could probably hang in the MoMA, Alex thought mildly, without raising too many eyebrows. The crudely drawn crayon dinosaurs could represent capitalism, the many googly eyes could mean government censorship…

Alex just hoped it would do the trick.

“Okay guys, that’s home time! Off you go…” he jumped up at the bell, steering all his little students towards the coat room, getting them as cleaned up as humanly possible, making sure nothing got left behind (he’d once had to drive to Yolanda’s house to return a much-treasured stuffed rabbit she’d left at school, knowing fine well she’d never be able to sleep without it). He did his usual thing of standing by the door and high fiving each one of them as they filed out and wishing them goodnight before the classroom door swung shut. There was always that one moment at the end of every day, where Alex would lean against the door and sigh tiredly but happily, knowing he’d successfully completed another day and relieved to have silence back in his life. Only for a moment though. Then he’d miss the kids.

He pulled the classroom together as best he could but it was inevitably going to be another day when the janitor was going to greet him with an exasperated look. No matter, he’d apologise profusely but for now, Alex had a job to do before he lost his nerve.

“No harm in trying,” he told himself firmly, looking at the pretty garish card in his hand before sighing and starting to stride down the hall.

 Alex probably made more visits to the nurse’s office than any other teacher, for several reasons. One being that his students were the youngest so inevitably ate more unusual objects without thinking, walked into more doors than others, tripped over tables more. Another was that Alex could maybe, possibly, potentially admit he was a bit overprotective when it came to his class, bundling them in his arms and taking them down to be seen to when maybe the need actually wasn’t too great?

But recently there had been another reason why Mr Hamilton seemed to be haunting the school’s little sick room, why he seemed to be making excuses to hang around there and knock on the door, why his playtime duty always seemed to take him down that particular corridor. A reason he hadn’t been able to admit to himself at first, only after his friends in the staff room had told him quite plainly that he needed to grow some balls, it could be seen from space, for God’s sake!

It was the same reason he was shaking with nerves as he pushed back the door, decorated with the little plate that read ‘Nurse E. Schuyler’ and flowers that she’d painted herself.

“Uh, Eliza?” he called out, hoping his voice didn’t shake, “Its me.”

Eliza swivelled round in her chair, her heart shaped face lighting up, “Alex! Hey!”

God, that smile could knock the breath out of him, Alex thought as he grinned and came in, leaning against the examination table with the card hidden behind his back, where it might stay depending on how his nerves held up.

He was a little gratified to see that Eliza had decorated for the holiday too, with strings of heart shaped bunting around her office and she was wearing a smaller string of them around her neck, even though they clashed with her pale blue flowery scrubs. Take that Mr Jefferson, it wasn’t just him being ‘a childish idiot’…

“So how was your day?” he asked, attempting a casual air, like he’d just dropped by for his usual chat. Like there was no potential awkwardness between them at all. Like last time they’d talked he absolutely, definitely hadn’t accidentally let slip about his huge crush on her while under the influence of pain meds she’d given him, after he’d accidentally stapled his hand…like he hadn’t passed out immediately after so he hadn’t been able to gauge her reaction…like he hadn’t also thrown up in front of her a bunch…

“Not too bad,” Eliza allowed, getting up and automatically going for two mugs to start making coffee, apparently on board with the ‘pretending that everything is all fine’ plan, “Poor Elliot had another asthma attack but he’s okay…Mr Madison got another nosebleed, scared the living daylights out of his fourth graders, he is okay, no matter what you hear from him…had lunch with Angelica and Peggy…so yeah, pretty good! One sugar or- wait,” her hand froze on the tin of coffee beans, she turned and eyed him suspiciously, “How many have you had today? Be honest?”

Alex grinned sheepishly and shrugged, “You got me. Sixteen.”

Eliza shook her head in mock despair, “Apple juice it is then…”

As mildly annoying as Eliza’s new ‘Mr Hamilton can only have fifteen coffees per day’ rule was, Alex would gladly have drunk anything if it meant he got to sit with her. And surely it showed she cared about him? That was a good sign, right?

“So how about you?” Eliza asked, eventually handing him a juice box. Her eyes travelled upwards to the little love hearts still merrily bouncing around on the springs on his headband, her grin getting brighter as she reached up and tweaked one, “You got into the spirit of things, I’m guessing?”

Alex went red, covering it up by taking a long pull on the straw, he’d forgotten he was wearing the damn thing still…

“Good!” he nodded, “Really good, the guys loved it…um…actually…while we’re on the subject, I have something for you?”

Now or never. Do or die.

Eliza blinked, tilting her head a little, “Oh?”

Alex bit his lip and nervously produced the card from behind his back, offering it out to her, “Happy Valentine’s day?”

Eliza’s jaw dropped a little at the sight of the card, still dripping glue and shedding craft feathers, but she had the grace to get over it quickly, showing nothing but delight, “Oh, Alex!”

“The, ah, the students helped me,” he confessed, her positive reaction encouraging him, “But I…I wrote the inside myself…”

He let her take it, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched her open it and read his careful handwriting.

Second date, you and me? Friday night, coffee after work? From, Alex

Eliza read the words a few times just to make sure that it said what she thought it said, her smile growing wider, willing herself not to giggle like a complete love struck idiot.

“Second?”

“Well,” Alex rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Seeing as the first was technically you driving me to the hospital to get a staple pulled out of my hand and to check I hadn’t given myself a concussion by passing out. Sorry about that by the way.”

“It’s no trouble,” Eliza laughed, her eyes bright and wide as they met his, “Second it is. I’d love to, Alex.”

The urge to whoop and punch the air was strong but Alex managed to resist. Just about.

“Great!” he jumped up, suddenly animated, like her yes had flooded him with energy, “We’ll go to that stand by the gates at central park, the one that you said does the right amount of cinnamon and then we can walk or we can sit or whatever, anything, whatever you want!”

Eliza watched him, grinning, “Sounds utterly perfect.”

On a complete impulse, seizing a whim, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, brief but so sweet and so gentle, it froze him in place. She had to laugh a little at his expression when she pulled away, he looked like he’d been shell shocked.

“Don’t faint again,” Eliza implored, springing his deelyboppers again.

 Alex managed not to, he even managed to keep his feet for another kiss before they parted. He manged not too as he strode back to his classroom, feeling so light on his feet he wasn’t completely convinced he wasn’t floating.

He wasn’t sure if he should tell his students. He wanted to thank them for their help, after all, but if they knew that Mr Hamilton did in fact have a girlfriend and it was their beloved school nurse, Ms Schuyler, well, they’d have the wedding planned before playtime.

#hamliza #ficlet #teacher au #elementary school au #fluff #cute #alexander x eliza #my friend has the best aus guys seriously

[jacobtail]

A Shoelace Alternative to Remake Your Sneakers

What do Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Jessica Alba all have in common? More than a couple of things, actually, so I’ll clue you in on the particular similarity in question here:

What do Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Jessica Alba all have in common? More than a couple of things, actually, so I’ll clue you in on the particular similarity in question here: all four of these iconic women are fans of Hickies, a new kind of shoelace developed from high-tech elastic that’s switching up the way sneakers are worn by people of all ages, genders, and lifestyles. You might assume it’s because they have more important things to do with their time than worrying about unravelled laces. To that, I say you might be on to something.

The idea of a no-laces-necessary approach to sneakers is one that, for me, gets more exciting the longer I sit with it. Never having to risk falling flat on my face while on a morning run or, more commonly, sprinting for the bus again? You had me at hello. Once Hickies are fastened to a pair of shoes (they work with any kind of footwear, so long as they have eyelets) they are ready to go forever, with their modular design giving the wearer ability to use different lacing styles on the same shoe based on desired tightness and fashion preferences. Hickies come in a whole rainbow of colors – everything from ivories and lavenders to electric blue, neon pink, and multicolor options – and, to maximize personalization, the brand’s website even provides a series of videos to advise Hickies fans on the right lacing method for their lifestyle.

And if you’re thinking that a set of Hickies would be the perfect gift for the child in your life who would rather run than walk, you couldn’t have it any more right: Hickies Kids are made for children ages four to eight. Softer than the brand’s other variations (Kids Hickies use a thermoplastic elastomer blend, as opposed to the pure kind, as used by the adult Hickies line), they are easy to fasten, shorter in length to fit smaller feet, and just plain fun to look at. Younger Hickies wearers can also avail of Doohickies, an array of customizable shoe charms that clasp onto Hickies laces. They can be jazzed up with everything from glue, to markers, to googly eyes, to glitter. It’s almost enough to make you wish you were six again…

But Hickies provides the grown-ups with plenty of opportunity to glitz their sneakers up, too. The brand have teamed up with the internationally-renowned Swarovski crystal company to design what they call “the ultimate statement accessory” – and they’re not wrong. With custom Swarovski crystals embedded in each clasp, this particular line of Hickies (which go for $60 a pop) can bring a touch of glamor to any spin class.

How, you ask, did a concept for the eradication of the traditional shoelace snowball into a brand successful enough to partner with a gemstone giant? The answer lies in the hard work of Hickies founder Gaston Frydlewski, who, growing up in Argentina, was that one kid we all knew who never tied his shoes. At just 22, he tried to fund his dream project – and was shot down over and over again.

“I had this in my system, and I just needed to make it happen or get it out of my system,” Frydlewski told Forbes. “I was a little obsessed with the idea. It was such an obvious opportunity I just couldn’t get it out of my mind, and I didn’t want to have a what-if in my mind the rest of my life.” Determination won out. Frydlewski, now 35, has sold over 2 million pairs of Hickies in 45 countries.

The Hickies lacing system is one size fits all, with each lace measuring 115mm long. Each pack (which, for the non-jewel-encrusted variation, costs roughly $16) contains 14 laces, more than enough for any pair of shoes. The thermoplastic elastomer material is entirely free of latex and toxic materials (so you never have to worry about the health of a family pet with a shoe-nibbling problem) and are completely snap-resistant to boot (no pun intended).

Excited? Then don’t hesitate. At this relatively early stage in the undoubtedly long life of Hickies, the company is offering free $1 U.S. shipping on any two-plus pack purchase, as well as buy three, get one free and buy four, get two free deals. Yes. Seriously. No trippin’.