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nashibirne · 3 years

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Where The Wild Roses Grow - An August Walker Story - 3

You can find the previous parts on my masterlist

Pairing: August Walker x OFC (Fern) Summary: Don't screw the crew? This doesn't work for August Walker Warnings: Smut, Sex, 18+, NSFW, unprotected sex, rough sex, slapping, kinda soft August Unbeta'ed! English is not my mother tongue, so please be lenient with me

Disclaimer: I don't own August Walker (but he owns me...)

Pics for the header taken from Pinterest.

Taglist: (let me know if you want to be added or removed)

@lunedelorient @inlovewithhisblueeyes @willkatfanfromasia @hell1129-blog @mis-lil-red @agniavateira @kebabgirl67 @omgkatinka @legendarywizarddetective @summersong69 @taebfada @xxxkatxo @madbaddic7ed @artandotherdelights

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Chapter 3

Fern

So, today's the day. I'm going on a date. The first in I-don't-know-how-long. Two years, three years, I don't remember. After my long time relationship with Max went down the drain I didn't want to date and here in London there was just no opportunity. To be honest I'm quite nervous. I mean, I don't know much about Lucas and I haven't interacted with a lot of people since I'm in London. Actually just with my neighbor Sloane and her wife Jackie, who are very nice and we have a little chat from time to time and with Peter and August and our clients of course. But that's it. That's pathetic you say? Yeah, maybe you're right but that's just the way it is and it's okay. Basically I like my life the way it is, I love my work, I enjoy my affair with August but deep down inside I crave intimacy, tenderness and a life outside the office. So I'm really looking forward to this date and to getting to know Lucas a little better.

I'm sitting in my car right now. I'm ten minutes early so I have enough time to check my make-up -I think I look alright- and to straighten my clothes. I get out of my car and check my reflection in the metallic paint of my Classic Mini Cooper. I'm wearing a light blue summer skirt, a plain white sleeveless shirt and white loafers. I considered wearing the blue dotted dress but I can't wear it without thinking of August so it wasn't really an option.

I lurk around the corner and there he is. Lucas is waiting for me at the entrance of the museum, checking his watch repeatedly. He looks good with his blond hair and the blue eyes, not extraordinarily handsome like August but attractive. A John Doe but in a good way. Okay, guess it's time to go. Wish me luck!

There was really no reason to be nervous, Lucas is really nice and charming, the perfect gentleman. He knows a lot about art and I love how he shares his knowledge with me but never mansplains. He's not a bit arrogant or bossy, unlike many other men. August for example. Speaking of which, I think I spend too much time with him. When Lucas and I were walking around the museum I thought I saw August from the corner of my eye. Twice! I must be hallucinating or something.

Right now I'm standing at the souvenir shop waiting outside for Lucas who wants to buy a present for his son Milo who lives in Liverpool with his mum, Lucas' ex-wife. We're done with the exhibition and he asked me if I want to have a coffee with him in a cafe nearby. I said yes. I really enjoy his company and it feels so good to finally do something that has nothing to do with my work.

A loud noise suddenly startles me. It sounds like someone has dropped a glass that's smashed to pieces. I spin around quickly to localize the noise source and that's when I see him. It's really him. August Walker in the flesh, standing behind a pillar, watching me.

I stare at him, surprised, or to put it more precisely, stunned. What the hell is he doing here?

He gives me a nonchalant smile and strolls in my direction as if it was the most natural thing to meet me here.

"Fern. What a lovely surprise."

Is he kidding me? Lovely? He never uses words like this, they are not part of August Walker's vocabulary.

"August. What are you doing here?" I don't feel the need to exchange polite phrases.

"Enjoying the exhibition."

"Oh really?" I cross my arms in front of my chest.

"Yes. Why would you doubt it?" He smiles innocently and it makes me mad.

"Because you're not interested in art."

"Well, I am now."

"I took both tickets because you said you didn't want to go." I point out.

"I changed my mind and bought a ticket."

I take a deep breath and roll my eyes. I can't even explain why I'm so annoyed by the fact that he's here.

"So? Where's your date?" he asks en passant.

Now it dawns on me.

"Is that the reason you're here? Are you spying on me?"

August's face hardens and he looks at me with a frown. "I'm not spying. I'm just keeping an eye on you."

"I don't need a babysitter, August."

"You don't know anything about the guy, Fern. He could be dangerous."

He comes one step closer and is standing right in front of me now, our bodies almost touching.

"He's not dangerous. He's a teacher at a primary school."

"That's what he says." He almost whispers. It's ridiculous.

"Why would he lie to me?"

"Because maybe he wants to cover up his true identity."

I laugh out loud. "Like what? Like an undercover agent or something. You think he's after you?"

August gives me a death stare, his lips pressed together to a thin line. "Exactly. And he wouldn't be the first." His voice is only a low growl. "I mean, come on, Fern. He sees you for what -5 minutes maybe?- and asks you out? Can he really be that smitten by you?"

I stare at him, his words cut right into my heart, and I try to hide it by being even more sarcastic than usual.

"Oh, you mean you find it more likely that he's a spy, sent by the government to get to you, than the simple thought that he's attracted to me and therefore asked me out? Wow, I mean, that's flattering, August. So basically you're saying I'm so uninteresting that it's not a realistic scenario that a man meets me and wants to date me?"

"That's not what I meant, Fern. All I'm saying is…"

"Hi." I freeze when I hear Lucas' voice. I step back to bring a little space between me and August and turn around.

"Lucas. Did you find something for Milo?"

"Yes. I did." He gives August a funny look and things are getting pretty awkward. I clear my throat.

"Um, Lucas. This is my boss. August Walker. We just bumped into each other."

"Lucas Bellingham. Nice to meet you." Lucas gives August a nod and August gives him a forced smile in return.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

I can't believe he used to be an agent, since he's such a bad actor.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Fern, see you on Monday."

"Sure."

He leans in, grabs me by my elbows and kisses me goodbye french style. Two times. Right. Left. Mua. Mua. What the fuck? After the second innocent peck on my cheek I feel his breath hot against my ear. "You look hot in that skirt. Be a good girl and wear it on Monday."

His soft words sent shivers down my spine and at the same time I'm fuming with anger.

All he can expect from me on Monday is a cold shoulder and a lecture.

August

Okay, that monitoring operation on Saturday didn't go exactly as planned. I guess I'm a little out of practice. Of course Fern wasn't supposed to see me nor was her date. Lucas Bellingham. A boring name for a boring guy. I checked his record, of course I did. How, you ask? I'm sorry but I can't tell you. If I would I'd have to kill you.

Hey, don't be so shocked, I'm just kidding. Really. Relax.

Anyway, I have ways and means to do a background check on someone and Lucas seems to be legit. On first sight that means. I told Pete to dig a little deeper, just to be sure. He has his ways and means too. I promised Fern she'd be safe with me when I hired her and I'm a man of my word. I'm not going to expose her to any kind of danger. And no matter what she says, it definitely is possible that someone is sending an undercover agent to spy on me or Peter. Could be the US authorities or the MI5 or someone from my past, there's no lack of enemies, I've pissed off a lot of people and I know one day I will regret it. You know what they say. Karma is a bitch.

Well, here she comes.

"Good Morning, Fern."

"Morning."

Okay. A look that could kill and no skirt. Tight black jeans and a turtleneck sweater. All buttoned-up. Okay, woman, I get it. You're mad at me. She goes straight to her office and I follow her and sit down on the edge of her desk. She doesn't even look at me but starts typing something into her computer.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course I am."

"Really? You don't even look at me."

She takes a deep breath before her eyes meet mine.

"Just stay out of my way today, August."

I know I should take the hint and leave her alone but I can't. I don't take orders. Not from her, not from anyone anymore. I'm the one in charge, she should know that.

"What if I don't want to?" I give her a smug smile.

"I don't care what you want. Just fuck off."

"Woman." I growl. "Who do you think you're talking to? I'm still your boss."

"Then let me do my work. Boss." She holds my gaze and I know I'm going to lose any kind of staring contest with her so I decide to change my tactics. I hop off her desk and sit down in a chair.

"I just don't get why you're in such a bad mood." I try to smile and I have a feeling that it makes me look like an idiot. Fern furrows her brows. "Oh really. You have no idea?"

"Is this about Saturday?"

"Yes, you bloody genius, of course it is. Your behaviour was beyond the pale."

"My behaviour? I was visiting an exhibition. Just like you."

"Don't give me that, August."

I stare at her. What does she want from me? I did nothing wrong goddamn.

"I was just trying to protect you, Fern. You tend to trust people too easily."

Her eyes shoot daggers at me and god, that's so sexy. Why the hell isn't she wearing that bloody skirt like I told her?

"People like you, you mean?"

Ouch. That hurts.

"I don't need you to protect me, okay? Not in a situation like this. Fuck, August. It was just a date with a harmless guy in a public place. What was he supposed to do? Kidnap me? Murder me?"

I don't know how to respond to this so I just shrug it off but the way she looks at me tells me she expects me to say something.

"I was just trying to keep my promise, Fern. You know I guaranteed your safety and I guess you have no idea how many people want to see me dead. You never know what they are up to and when someone new appears on the scene I get suspicious. This has nothing to do with you. It's just me and maybe I overshot the mark." The next words are the hardest part but I know if I want her to wear a skirt or dress ever again I have to say them. "I'm sorry."

Her face softens a little.

"Just don't do it again, August. My private life is none of your business."

I nod and I really want to know if she's going to see him again but I don't ask.

The next few days totally suck.

Tuesday: blue jeans and a cold shoulder. Shit.

Wednesday: skinny jeans and distant behaviour. Goddamn.

Thursday: A jumpsuit and a little smalltalk but not much more.

She's driving me crazy and she knows it. If she keeps on acting so stubborn she must not be surprised if I don't want her anymore. Ah fuck, who am I trying to fool. Truth is I want her more than ever. I want to fuck that distant look off her face. I want her to moan my name. I want her to obey. To give in. To acknowledge that I'm in charge.

On Friday I don't expect much, but to my big surprise and relief she shows up wearing the blue dotted dress she wore when I took her for the first time. I give her a glance when she walks past my office with swaying hips and she returns it. She even smiles at me.

Okay, I have to get rid of Peter. Asap. I go to his office and close the door behind me.

"August?"

"Peter. Go home."

"Excuse me?"

"Leave. Work from home today."

He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms with a frown.

"Why?"

"Because I say so."

He snorts and turns to his laptop again.

"Fuck off, August."

I roll my eyes and sigh.

"Please." I say through clenched teeth. "I need some time to talk to Fern."

"Talk, huh?"

"We had a little fight the other day and now it seems she's willing to forgive me." I know I sound desperate and Peter looks at me again. "Yeah. I know about your visit to the museum. And you think you can get back into her pants today."

She told him about it? This takes me by surprise. But I don't say a word and he knows me well enough to interpret it as a yes.

"You know my opinion on your little affair."

"I do and you know it's none of your business."

"Right." He hesitates and scratches his chin. "Well, do what you think you have to do. I'm going to have breakfast in the little cafe around the corner and try to get the number of the hot waiter. You have an hour." He gets up and grabs his wallet and his phone.

"Thanks, Pete."

"I'm not doing this for you, August. I'm doing this for our business and my future. If you and Fern don't talk you can't do your job properly and this could ruin everything we have built up yet. So get your shit together and return to normal. Whatever it takes."

He leaves and I can tell he's pissed but well, he's gone and that's all that matters. I go straight to Ferns office and now that I'm standing right in front of her I'm so aroused and full of anticipation I feel like I'm about to explode with lust and I'm sure I look like a predator. She looks at me and slowly stands up.

"You've been a really bad girl." I growl.

"Is that so?" She bats her lashes innocently. Oh, her audacity.

"Yes." I murmur. "You kept me waiting for four days."

"You deserved it." Heavens, she's really a challenge.

"I'm gonna show you what you deserve, woman."

Two wide strides and I'm standing right next to her. I grab her by her waist, spin her around and bend her over her desk before I lift her dress and rip her panties into shreds. I press her down with one hand between her shoulder blades and unzip my trousers with the other. My dick is so hard it hurts. I don't waste time. I enter her without any kind of preparation or the slightest hint of foreplay. I wanna punish her by being raw and ruthless but she won't let me. She is wet. So fucking wet and she takes me as well as usual. Sighing with lust when I stretch her pussy. Moaning when I start to fuck her deep and fast. I let out a moan too. "You're so wet. You've been looking forward to this." I hiss into her ear while railing her so hard that the desk moves under us. "I've been all wet since the moment I put on the dress." Her voice is dripping with desire. "I've missed your dick so much."

I keep on fucking her with long, deep movements and when I slap her ass out of the blue she cries out my name. "August." She likes it, oh yes she does. She likes it a lot. I can tell by her moans that get even louder. I've never done this before though I wanted to, but I was scared she might not like it or think I'm a perv and tell me to fuck off. I move faster and we are both gasping and panting like never before. I'm close and so is she. I can feel it.

"Again." She begs. Oh how I like the sound of it.

"What did you say, pretty?"

"Again. August. Please."

"Do you think you deserve it?"

"Yes."

"You want it?"

"Yes."

"Say it."

"Slap my ass, August. Please."

She's a whimpering mess now and I slap her again. Harder this time. She shrieks and it sounds incredibly hot. I go on and on and after the fifth slap I feel her come. Her walls clench around me and her legs shake. "Fuck...oh god. August…" Her sweet little cunt milks my cock and when I cum too I throw my head back and sigh her name softly till my orgasm is over. I press a kiss on her back and give her ass a few gentle strokes to sooth the pain. I bet it stings, her cheek is crimson red. I pull out reluctantly. I feel the strange urge to stay inside of her but I fight it. She turns around and looks at me with a smirk. She licks her lips and it's obvious how much she's enjoyed this.

And so have I.

I enjoyed it and I've missed it.

I've missed her.

#august walker #august walker smut #smut #august walker x ofc #august walker fan ficiton #henry cavill #henry cavill fan fiction

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kuroosweakness · 3 years

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pouring rain | miya atsumu | pt. 1

summary: timeskip!atsumu: in which atsumu meets you for the first time

word count: about 1,900

a/n: my first mini fic without an established relationship :) i’d love love love to what you think of it!!

atsumu scoffs and skids his shoe across the sidewalk. small rocks fly up in the air and tumbles down back on the concrete. is he really off his game today? no, it just seems like his teammates couldn’t do their job and just score. oh no, he’s going back to the same toxic mindset he had in high school. only this time, osamu isn’t here to kick him back to his senses.

with a heavy sigh and hands deep in his pockets, atsumu reluctantly turns back towards the gym. his head hangs low as he feels people’s eyes staring at him in judgement. atsumu lifts his head to glare at them, only to find no one’s looking at him. he sighs again and slowly turns the door knob to the gym entrance. a wave of warm air hits him. he forgot how warm it is inside the gym compared to outside.

“tsum-tsum, you’re back!” bokuto exclaims, jogging over to him and giving atsumu a big pat on the back. atsumu narrows his eyes at him, trying to find some snarky remark to say but decides against it.

“yeah, i am,” he quietly says. his eyes dart around the almost empty gym. “where’d everyone go?”

“home. it’s said to rain soon and since the practice game’s over, they headed home early. it’s just hinata and i.”

right on cue, atsumu’s eyes find hinata waving at them while drinking water.

“we need a setter to practice with us-”

atsumu waves him off mid-sentence. “not today. i’m gonna head home.”

hinata dashes over and atsumu quickly puts on an even grumpier face to resist hinata’s cheery eyes.

“you usually always stay after practice,” hinata points out and starts doing high-knees in place, then arm circles.

“well, today’s different.” atsumu reaches down for his bag and slings it over his shoulder. he needs to get out of the stuffy gym as soon as possible. “see ya guys later,” he calls and pushes the gym doors open.

“see ya!” he hears bokuto and hinata call.

oh he can’t wait until he gets home. when he gets home? and then what? by ‘home,’ he means the little apartment he recently moved into that’s always cold and dark when he goes back. not a very welcoming place, especially not with today’s grey, cloudy weather.

atsumu trudges across the sidewalk and waits for the walking signal before crossing the street. a crowd of people walks towards him so he walks to the very right to avoid any contact. just four more blocks until he gets home.

the near distance is the main reason atsumu chose the apartment. the short walking distance between home and the gym is nice, especially after tedious hours of practice. what’s even better is the fact that ‘samu’s restaurant is only a couple blocks away.

oh, ‘samu! atsumu’s eyes widens as he straightens his posture. the thought of biting into a warm, delicious onigiri is enough to make his stomach growl and his mouth drool. only three more turns, he thinks, pacing his steps to avoid stepping on the sidewalk cracks. he suddenly remembers the way he’d laugh at osamu when they were children everytime osamu stepped on a sidewalk crack.

“step on a crack and break your momma’s back~” atsumu would say as he held his stomach in laughter. his laughter quickly died down when osamu calmly reminded atsumu that they have the same mom.

the skies are darkening. the clouds appears to be getting thicker. it’s only a matter of time before rain starts to pour down. good thing i beat the rain here, atsumu smiles and opens to the door to osamu’s restaurant.

as usual, he walks over to the very end of the store and settles himself on a stool. good thing no one has taken his spot. he places his bag on the empty stool next to his right gives it a small pat before hollering out for his twin’s name.

“‘samu! your favorite sibling is here~”

osamu’s figure appears behind the counters. he’s wearing a black shirt and black pants with an apron covered in flour placed over them. on top of his head is his usual black cap.

“and my least favorite sibling,” the cook chuckles before frowning at atsumu’s face. “why do you look so stupid?”

atsumu pulls back and huffs. “stupid? is this how you greet me after a long day?”

osamu’s lips slowly tugs upwards. he reaches down and dries a bowl with a grey towel. “care to tell me what happened?”

“let me have some food first.”

osamu rolls his eyes and places a plate with three beautifully wrapped onigiris on top in front of atsumu. atsumu’s eyes immediately glows as he snatches an onigiri and chomps down.

“you didn’t even wash your hands.” osamu sighs and reaches for another bowl.

“my sets weren’t so good today,” atsumu mumbles, setting his onigiri down and looking into the distance. “and so i got mad at my teammates for not scoring. they got mad at me and said that it wasn’t them, it was because of my sets. i don’t know why i’m not on top of my game like every day.”

osamu goes silent. his drying pace slows down. “...’tsumu, you haven’t taken any breaks since you joined msby. maybe you ought to slow down and take care of your health.”

to osamu’s surprise, atsumu doesn’t defend back. he just heavily sighs and takes another bite. “i guess so.”

“oh look,” osamu nods towards the nearest window. “it’s already sprinkling.”

“good thing i never remember to unpack my bag so my umbrella’s on me. gotta work smarter, not harder~ ” atsumu smirks and slowly steps out of his seat. “better get going before it rains even harder. bye ‘samu, thanks for the food.”

osamu nods. “i’ll see you later.”

atsumu slings his bag over his shoulder and heads toward the front door, only to see you also head for the door. who goes first...? atsumu awkwardly gestures toward the door. “you first.”

you take in the sight before you. a tall, muscular, blonde guy who looks ... well, a little weird. handsome? yes. also really dumb. it’s so cold today, yet he’s wearing a sleeveless top. you scoff, it’s probably because he wants to show off those arms, isn’t it?

from his frown, you realize your scoff was a little too loud. before embarrassing yourself any further, you give him a small nod and opens the door. as you step out, you leave a hand on the door to keep it open for him. he gives you a small nod as a thanks and steps out under the roof a few feet away from you.

the sound of pitter-pattering is all you hear. water droplets skids down the brown roof and plop, onto your shoes. at least it’s not pouring, you think as you pull your hood over your head, ready to dash into the rain all the way home.

as if right on cue, the swaying of the tree speeds up. the pit-pattering turns violent.

“i um, have an umbrella if you want to ... share.”

you turn to look at him in surprise. he unzips his bag and pulls out a small black foldable umbrella. with a press of a button, the umbrella opens.

“if your home is in walking distance, i can drop you off,” he says with a shrug. he places the umbrella over your head and gives you an awkward smile.

trusting a stranger to walk me home, what can possibly go wrong? you sarcastically thought. “you’re osamu’s twin, aren’t you?”

“so you’ve heard about me,” he says with a smug smile, possibly one of the most annoying smiles you’ve ever seen. annoying, because they’re hard to resist.

it’s hard not to when there are billboards with your face on them all around here. “yeah, i have. you’re... miya atsumu?”

“that’s right. and you’re ...?”

“y/n... maybe you can drop me off at a convenience store so I can buy an umbrella there and walk the rest of the way home. where i live is pretty far away...” it’s not that you believe he’ll murder you, but that he’ll have to walk all that distance and back just to drop you off. you can’t have a stranger go all that way for you.

“are ya sure? the umbrellas in convenience stores are always expensive. i’m not looking forward to heading home anyways so don’t worry about me.”

... “well, okay. my apartment’s across from ‘hug a mug’ cafe, if you know where that is.”

to your surprise, atsumu chuckles. “yeah i know where that is. i can’t but laugh everytime i hear their name.”

“it’s cute,” you defend. “you know, like getting a warm, toasty hug along with a cup of coffee.”

atsumu blinks at you and appears to what you said into thought. “i guess i should go to ‘hug a mug’ more often then, shouldn’t i?” he steps out into the rain and waits until you step under the umbrella to start walking.

“yeah, you should. business has been slow for them lately. every time i go, there are barely any customers.” you look at to avoid stepping in puddles, and to avoid walking too close to him. every time you inch a bit further from him, he just seems to center the umbrella with wherever your head is.

“i should recommend ‘hug a mug’ to my teammates then. i’ll have to go try it out first, of course, just to make sure i’m not recommending anything bad,” he chuckles along his last lines.

“...atsumu, your shoulder.”

“my what?” he whips his head in your direction.

“you’re not covering your shoulder,” you point out. water’s running down his right arm.

“it’s fine,” he replies, and leans back to peek at your shoulder to make sure it’s not like his. “osamu and i used jump in puddles and compete with each other to see who could make the biggest splash. whenever i made a big splash, osamu would pretend he didn’t see it.”

you softly laugh under your breath. the puddles ahead of you are quite tempting. but you know better not to jump in, for the possibility of splashing on his shoes and pants. who knows how much his shoes might cost? he’s a professional volleyball player, afterall.

“just one more turn, right?” atsumu asks. “oh look, the rain has slowed down.”

little droplets of water slides off the black umbrella in front of you. “yeah, you can drop me off here, i’ll walk the rest of way since it’s barely raining anymore-”

he huffs. “drop you off at a random corner? and what happens if it starts pouring again?”

... with a few more steps, you spot hug a mug across from the street and points it out to him. “see? we’re here. my apartment is just on the second floor. i’ll get going now, thanks for sharing your umbrella...” you give him a small wave before speed-walking up the stairs to your apartment.

halting in mid-step, you turn to see if he’s still there, only to see a bare sidewalk with water running down the drains. he must’ve left already.

as you unlock the door to your home, atsumu’s walking back home with a stupid grin spread across his face, finally letting out the breath he’s been holding in since he left his brother’s restaurant. if only if he had walked slower, then maybe the conversation with you would’ve lasted longer.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #atsumu x reader #miya atsumu #atsumu miya x reader #atsumu fluff #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu atsumu #haikyuu x gn!reader #haikyuu fanfic #haikyuu x gender neutral reader

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monabela · 3 years

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who wants some corny slice of life lietpol? the answer is me! because I had not written anything yet this year and it felt Bad. I might do more of these little..... moments, for other pairings. it’s a fun exercise in characterization.

sunshine (once again)

characters/pairings: Lithuania (Tolys)/Poland (Feliks) word count: 1800 summary: On a sunny spring day, Feliks can only be glad of where he is right now.

Feliks draws idle shapes on his sketchpad, tracing shadows as they pass through the sunlight. The shadow of the brim of his hat is the base—he imagines it’s the surface of a new planet that he can populate as he wishes.

Irrevocably, though, his eye is drawn away from what is supposed to be work and across the small tiled terrace in the backyard, to where Tolys is humming under his breath and kneeling amid the flowers, carefully digging holes for new ones and removing weeds. There is sunlight in the man’s hair, bringing out both the deep gold and emerging silver among the brown strands. His dirt-caked hands are careful with bulbs and flowers, and quick with weeds.

Looking back down, Feliks draws a vaguely humanoid shape on his sketchpad, which he really shouldn’t be doing because it’s expensive, professional paper, but, well, this sheet is already wasted either way, so he can’t do further harm. It’s relaxing.

Tolys interrupts his humming.

“Oh no, you don’t,” he says, gently. “Get out of here. Go home.”

He’s shooing the neighbor’s cat away when Feliks looks, waving his little spade at it.

“Come on, go on. No, I don’t have anything to eat for you.” Helplessly, he looks over at Feliks when the cat drops itself to its back without preamble as if it’s asking for pets. Feliks sketches an amused little wave and gestures at his nose. Tolys shakes his head, unimpressed but amused.

Well, it is true that Feliks doesn’t usually let his allergies deter him from petting any cat. Or dog. He’s not picky. He just doesn’t feel like getting up right now.

“Get,” Tolys tries again, to the cat. And then, “Well, fine.”

After he pets the cat for four seconds, the animal jumps up and races away, leaving his hand hovering in mid-air. Feliks snorts.

Then innocently looks at his ridiculous drawing so he only hears Tolys’s answering huff.

Before long, the large sheet of paper is just about full of nonsense—although Feliks made an effort at the last moment to at least do some experimental sketches of buildings one might find on this planet of his. Just as a thought exercise. He’s pretty sure the geometry doesn’t make sense on at least two of them.

Tolys, who has by now upgraded to whistling the same tune—or downgraded, maybe, Feliks couldn’t say—is patting the ground around the last sprout into place when he checks, reaching across the other flowers carefully. His sleeveless shirt shows off his shoulders, strong and tanned by the late spring sun. Feliks knows he has freckles there, which fascinates him because there are none anywhere else on his body as far as he’s aware.

A shadow falls over his paper.

“I thought you said you were working,” Tolys says, amused and standing in front of Feliks. He shields his eyes from the sun and tilts his head to look at the drawing.

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Feliks shrugs up at him, smiling faintly, and Tolys laughs brightly. When he swipes his hair away from his face, some dirt crumbles off his fingers to slide down his shirt, and he looks at his hands. Feliks shivers at the dirt under his nails. He can practically feel it.

“Remind me that we need gardening gloves.” Tolys picks at his fingernails.

“Got it.”

“I’ll go and wash this off, at least.”

Feliks nods, then puts his sketchpad on the bench next to himself and stands, pushing his hat back a little so he doesn’t hit Tolys in the face with it.

“Do you want some coffee after you’re done?”

“Yes, thanks!”

Waiting for him to take his old sneakers off outside and enter the house through the conservatory, Feliks follows him to start up the coffee maker in the kitchen. He stares absently at the gentle drip of fragrant coffee while the water runs in the bathroom, combing his fingers through his own hair where his hat has flattened it, until Tolys come back downstairs, wearing different clothes and with clean hands.

“Almost done,” Feliks mumbles. Tolys pulls their usual cups down from the cupboards.

When they both have their coffee, they go outside again. Tolys takes a banana as well, which he breaks in half to share with Feliks. Feliks, meanwhile, kicks his slippers off and sits cross-legged on the bench, turning his face to the sun for a moment before shielding it with the hat again.

“Are you done with the garden?” he asks Tolys.

“For now, yes.” He smiles at it over the rim of his coffee cup. “It’ll be beautiful come summer.” Resting his cup on his thigh, he flexes the fingers of his free hand, which, while clean, now look quite red and very dry. Feliks frowns, shoving the last piece of his banana into his mouth.

“Give,” he says, beckoning. Tolys startles and raises his eyebrows.

“What?”

“Your hands.”

“I’m holding—”

“One hand at a time.” Turning sideways on the bench, shifting the cushions on the wood a bit, Feliks grasps Tolys’s left hand, which is the one closest to him. The man doesn’t say anything, just smiles and cradles his coffee cup with his other hand.

Feliks tsks as he runs a thumb across the new calluses on Tolys’s index finger and palm, holding his hand between both of his own. Feliks’s fingers are small and pale compared to Tolys’s, graphite staining his left hand but the nails smooth and clean. He pushes his thumbs down gently at the base of the palm, sweeping one down over Tolys’s wrist, where his skin is soft and warm.

“I should really have some, ah, like, some hand cream,” he says absently, and Tolys smiles.

“This is good enough.” With the back resting on Feliks’s knee, his hand is limp while it is gently kneaded, only the fingertips curling inwards. Grinning, Feliks taps them with his own as if pressing piano keys, before moving on to Tolys’s fingers.

They’re always thoughtful, those fingers, gentle with flowers and sure with those old-fashioned fountain pens Tolys likes to use for work. They may not know how to play the piano or how to braid very well, but Feliks trusts them to touch him in a way he doesn’t trust many things to. Because Tolys knows when to stop, and Feliks has learned to tell him to do so in return. And to listen.

He warms Tolys’s fingers between his own in the sunshine until he’s satisfied that he’s comfortable and swipes his thumb over his wrist again.

“Let me guess, you want my other hand now,” Tolys says without looking at him, face turned to the sun and eyes closed.

“Well, you do use both of them.”

At that, he opens one mossy green eye to look at Feliks, inclining his head slightly.

“I use the right hand more.”

“All the more reason, then.” Feliks reaches across his body with both hands and grasps his right one, pulling it towards himself. Although Tolys laughs, it’s gentle, and he shifts just enough to be comfortable. He closes his eyes again.

Opens them.

“Don’t forget to drink your coffee.”

Oh, of course. Reluctantly, Feliks drops the hand to grab his coffee and drink it all quickly. He grimaces.

Tolys snickers, then closes his eyes again and looks perfectly innocent.

“Can’t believe you,” Feliks mutters, but he watches the smile curl around Tolys’s lips with warm affection anyway as he picks his hand up again. Despite the gentleness of the smile, it pulls at his cheek and the corner of his eyes, marking the skin with little lines that speak of something true.

“You keep drinking coffee,” Tolys says mildly.

“You keep buying this brand.” He ghosts his fingertips over the sensitive inside of his elbow, which makes him jump just a little, and laughs.

“Feliks.”

He just keeps smiling. It may be cheating a bit to tickle someone when being tickled himself makes Feliks extremely uncomfortable, but Tolys has assured him that he doesn’t mind, every now and then.

When Feliks is done with his right hand as well, Tolys opens his eyes again, looking a little bleary. He blinks, looking up at him from his slight slouch.

“Where did you learn that?” he asks, as if just now realizing what he was actually doing.

Feliks just shrugs. He honestly doesn’t know where he picked up half the things he knows—it just took him a long time to find his way in life, and he took a lot of detours to get there.

“Well, it’s nice.” Tolys turns his hand over to clasp his knee for a moment.

“I could do your head, too,” Feliks puts in, pretty sure he did a course where he learned about scalp massages once.

“Hm. You just want to get in my hair.”

“You like it when I do.”

In response to that, Tolys just smiles innocently. They’ve spent many evenings with Feliks silently braiding and re-braiding Tolys’s thick hair while he listens to music, the man’s head in his lap. Tolys will doze or read a book propped on his chest. It’s a kind of intimacy that suits them both perfectly, and gives Feliks’s restless fingers something to do.

“My head got quite sweaty, actually,” Tolys is saying now. “I meant to take a shower after dinner.”

“Then can I?”

He grins, nodding so that his hair sways against his jaw. Feliks doesn’t think it looks sweaty, but then, it’s harder to tell with Tolys’s dark hair than his own pale blond, which gets stringy very fast. He sometimes suspects that he is the main reason that Tolys keeps it at the length he does, which is fine by him.

Now, Tolys leaves his left hand resting on his knee and reaches over with the other to pick up his sketchpad. He holds it up as if inspecting the drawing.

“I’m quite curious about this, Feliks,” he says, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, so am I, really.” Looking at it again, it’s really just a mess, although those windows he drew in the corner are quite nice. Tolys laughs.

“I’m working, he says.”

“I made an attempt.”

“Hm.” With a lingering smile, Tolys hands the sketchpad over, drumming his fingers on Feliks’s leg once. Feliks plays an imaginary little tune on his knuckles in return.

The neighbor’s cat sits down right at the edge of the patch of new flowers, looking quite curious as well, but Tolys has closed his eyes again and doesn’t see it. Feliks puts his finger over his lips before pulling his pencil from behind his ear and adjusting his hat until it shadows the sketchpad again.

Maybe, he can get some actual work done before dinner.

#Hetalia #lietpol #aph poland #aph lithuania #pol's one of those characters I've started to appreciate more over time #I say that like there's lots of those #maybe den too #but yeah #these two have planted themselves p firmly on the ace spectrum in my mind #especially pol #he also got quite touch-averse compared to how I used to write him #but I feel like that fits him better #in other words he's me but instead of languages he knows maths #shrug emoji #w: 2500 #fin #u: human

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euphoriara · 4 years

Text

The Sign to Your Heart

genre : fluff

pairing : yoongi x reader

word count : 5,050

warning : swear words? other than that none? dogs?

strangers to lovers!au

a/n: finally!! my first piece for the bingo is finished!! it literally took me one month to finish this skdksld. also i was aiming for 2k and ended up with 5k instead,,, f but anyway here it is, enjoy!! also shoutout to miss joonary for sending me the message that gave me the motivation to finally finish this once and for all, miss nary thank you, ily. (and yes i know that’s not holly, yoongi doesn’t exactly take a lot of pictures with holly so,, just pretend skdksk)

The sun beats down on your back as you curse Jimin in your head for dragging you here with him. It's too bright, too hot to be outside today but he had insisted and bribed you with the promise of not one, but two ice creams.

You, a mere mortal, what power do you have to refuse the offer of ice creams, and for free at that?

But right now, sitting at the bench placed strategically around the dog park, you're starting to regret your friendship with Jimin. When you said strategically, you mean whoever placed these benches must hold a grudge for humans. None of them were placed underneath a shade, sun directly hitting your face. Sure there's a shelter in the middle of the park, surrounded by 4, beautiful, large trees that you can't remember the name of.

But the place is crowded right now, due to the fact that global warming is trying to remind you of humanity's sins. There's too many people standing there with their dog, and there isn't a single chair placed there. Besides, do you really have the will to move yourself all the way over there? You'd rather let yourself melt into a puddle over here instead.

You just want to know who designed this park. Do they not know the basics of functionality? Were they not thinking? Did they design this half-asleep after a long day designing the Target across the street?

You also take note of how there's only one gate, making it dangerous if a dog went out without anyone noticing. If you could leave a review on Yelp for this park, you'd give whoever it is a piece of your mind. You also remind yourself to tell Jimin to pick a better dog park to take his dogs to next time.

While you're still busy arranging the speech you're going to give to Jimin, a blur of white zooms in front of you, followed by two smaller blurs of brown and black, snapping you out of your reverie. At least the dogs are enjoying themselves.

Which reminds you, Jimin had asked your help to keep an eye on the dogs, since he's dogsitting 7 all at once.

"More dogs means more money for me." He had said, to which you replied, "More dogs mean more free labor from me."

The bastard had only said "Bingo!" to that, not even bothering to hide his intentions. But you guess he's generous enough to pay you with ice creams instead of letting you evaporate to the sky.

Pulling yourself out of your thoughts, you scan the park to see where the dogs had gone off to, and find yourself sighing in relief when you see all of them playing by the trees. One of them, you think he's owned by Jimin's neighbor, is trying to mount another dog, bigger than his size. "Damn, he's ambitious."

Unfortunately for him, his plan is foiled when another dog owner moves him off every time he even thinks about going near the German Shepherd. Kudos to him for trying though.

You squint while scanning the park, trying to locate where Park Jimin is but you don't see his pink hair anywhere in the park. Had he left you here by yourself? Did he trick you again? Oh he's in big trouble if he did. You know where he keeps his most prized possession and you're not afraid to use the information against him.

It's not like you meant to snoop around his room. It was his fault for leaving the box of- you grimace at the mental image, toys at the bottom of his innermost drawer of his closet. You were just trying to find your missing phone! Which granted, was probably not in there, but you couldn't leave any stones unturned. But even though you certainly did not want to see what's in the box, you're glad you have a backup plan for whenever Jimin screws you over again.

You feel something cold press against your left cheek and hiss, preparing to sock whoever it is with the book in your hand. You forgot you even had it in the first place. "Hey!" However when you turn around, you're momentarily stunned by the bright pink hair in front of you, coupled that with the sun, you have to blink back your vision a few times.

Jimin can use his bright hair to blind his enemy if he was a superhero. His power would be that he keeps changing his hair to bright colors until eventually he goes bald, which will become his ultimate weapon.

"I bought you some drinks," he says as he throws a cold bottle of sprite to your face. You nearly miss, dodging a bruise on your forehead by a millimeter. You look down at the bottle in your hands, face blank and deadpan, "You know I don't drink soda." He pulls his shades down and smirks, "I know."

You scowl at him, throwing the bottle back to him, which he catches easily. Would have been nice if he didn't, maybe the bottle would have knocked his stupidly expensive sunglasses off to the ground and one of the dogs would run off with it. "Where have you been? You're the one dog sitting but you leave all the responsibility to me? I should be the one getting paid then, give me my damn salary or I'll sue you for employee mistreatment!"

He raises one of his eyebrows, "Are you done?" You give him a look. "Like I said, I was buying you some drinks-" "Some drinks my ass, you didn't buy anything I can drink." "And getting you some lunch, but if you don't want it, then I guess I'll-" You snatch the bag from his hand and bolt to the other side of the park, the familiar brown paper bag fueling your instinct to protect your food. You ignore the confused stares of people and the group of dogs following you, they're either trying to steal your food or think you're playing with them.

Once you reach your destination, you immediately regret the decision. Now you're hotter than before, sweating buckets under your clothes. You hate yourself for picking a black shirt, so much for the aesthetic. You breathe in deeply a few more times before remembering that you don't have any water on you. You cursed this park and the other park that brought you here once again.

No matter, you'll just get some on your way back later, dehydration be damned. You see Jimin making his way towards you, looking at ease in his sleeveless silk shirt and basketball shorts, and start to munch on your fries faster. Instinct.

"Finish your food, we're going home, I'll buy you some ice creams on our way home, I know-" Jimin's voice starts to fade as you zero in on someone behind him. The guy is the same height as Jimin, wearing all black, much like you, but what made you stare at him is his hair. His bright yellow hair that almost looks white under the sun. It contrasts his clothes so much you have to stare to take him in.

And his skin is a bit pale, making you question if he had stepped outside and see the sun in a while. Is he perhaps a vampire? Maybe that'd explain his clothes, his hair and his skin? And the fact that he seems to draw you in with his presence? Will you finally be the one to prove the existence of vampires? Will you be famous?

You see him cross the street, now walking closer to the park, and finally get a clearer look of his face. You didn't wear your contacts today, not expecting to find cute boys at the dog park, you just wanted ice cream.

Which is precisely what he is. He has soft features, pouty lips and feline eyes from what you can see from his side profile. His focus is only on his phone and you muse momentarily at how one of these days, that'll get him in trouble. You see that he's allowing his dog to pull him whichever way it wants, thus resulting in him being en route to the dog park.

Jimin waves his hand in front of your face, frowning at your lack of attention, "Hey, are you listening to me?" You move his hand down and continue to stare at the boy. If your brain cells aren't hibernating right now, you'd realize you're being a little creepy by doing it. But you can't help it, you don't think you've ever seen someone with such a cute face before, aside from Jimin? Maybe? Anyway, he's wearing a mask that had been pulled down to his chin, revealing his lips and cupping his cheeks. You squeal internally at the visual, though your face remains blank.

Jimin was about to move in front of you again when it happened. The boy wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and his poor dog was too excited to notice it was leading him straight to the dog park sign. You cringe when you hear his head make contact with the metal, debating if you should go outside to help him. The sound was so loud that a few people whipped their heads around to see, including Jimin who turned to see what you were looking at.

The poor guy had dropped his phone and the leash, clutching his head in pain. You see his dog take one look at him and run into the park. Feeling bad for him, you decide to chase after his dog, leaving Jimin behind with a confused frown plastered on his face.

You catch the little guy just as it was about to run into the crowd of people, bouncing him in your arms and cooing at it, "You sneaky little thing, you just left your owner like that after leading him to his demise? You should apologize for that, but then again, it was his fault for not paying attention, huh?"

The little brown poodle barks as if it agrees, and you continue to coo and pet it while making your way to the guy still crouching outside, most likely from humiliation instead of pain.

Hesitantly, you call out to him when you hear him muttering curses underneath his breath.

"Hello." He looks up at you and for a moment, you swear you stop functioning. Maybe your eyesight is worse than you thought, you should probably schedule another appointment with your eye doctor because the guy looks even better up close. However, before you could make a fool out of yourself, you hurriedly hold his dog out towards him like you're giving him a box of chocolate, "You- you dropped this."

"I- I meant you dropped his leash and he ran inside without you and, are you okay?" You see the embarrassment on his face in the form of blushing cheeks, "Yeah I'm fine, it hurts a little but I'll be fine."

Damn, his voice. His voice is raspy and deep and soothing and would it be weird if you ask him whether he hosts a podcast and if he does, can you get a name so you can listen to it?

Your last brain cell woke up just to scream "Yes!" so you decide to listen to her for once. Maybe she's on to something.

He stands up clutching his phone and takes the little brown dude from your arm. You see a long crack at the corner of his Samsung Galaxy, and grimace, upset on his behalf because he didn't have a screen protector nor a case. Bold or rich, you can't tell.

"Thanks for catching this sneaky bastard, he probably did that on purpose so he can reach the park faster." The dog barks in disagreement and you coo at it once again. You can't help the baby voice you use, "Nooo, I'm sure he was just trying to tell you to pay attention. Isn't that right? You were just excited for the dog park, weren't you?"

The dog wiggles in his hold like he's trying to reach you, smiling happily at the thought of an ally. "Yeah, I guess it's partially my fault for not looking at my surroundings."

You blink and resist the urge to tell him that it's entirely his fault for not paying attention but alas, you've been in his position before so you stay quiet. A silence passed between the two of you, before Jimin screams out your name to "Get your ass back in here, we're going home."

You don't understand why you need to go back inside if you're going to leave anyway but you don't protest in fear he might refuse to buy you ice cream if you sass him after ignoring him like that. You know how much Jimin hates being ignored. You nod at the stranger before jogging back into the park, shouting out "Be careful next time!"

He nods back, "Thank you!" and turns towards his dog, "No dog park for you today, we have to go home." The dog whines in his grasp but relents, knowing he's probably embarrassed to go in there now that everyone has seen him make a fool out of himself.

Inside, you help Jimin wrangle the dogs, holding four leashes while the prick holds three of the smaller dogs. You want to protest again but you know he'll dangle the promise of your ice cream if you do it. Good thing these dogs are well-behaved. That, or they pity you for having to hold four big dogs at once. Whichever it is, you're thankful to them.

The walk back home is uneventful. Jimin bought you ice cream as promised, watermelon, and you amused yourself with how feral the smaller dogs are acting, clearly trying to give Jimin a hard time. You love these dogs.

Half way through your walk, you remember you didn't ask for the stranger's name and pout. There's a possibility that you'll never be able to see him again. You wonder if he'll show at the same park next time, though you doubt it. Besides, you already pledge to not go into that park again.

Which reminds you once again, you need to tell Jimin about how much his park of choice sucks. And now that he already bought you ice cream, you can go back to nagging him.

You spewed out your carefully crafted speech about how much that park sucks and interrupted him every time he tried to cut you off until he relented and let you speak your heart away.

He finally gives in after your fifth point, screaming out "Okay! I get it lady, now stop talking!" Which caused you to smile smugly to yourself the whole way home.

***

Two weeks later find you sitting on a different bench, in a different park. Thankfully, this time the benches have shades and are scattered with the thought of dogs and owners in mind. This time around too, the weather had cooled off significantly than the last time you were out.

Jimin is sitting next to you, attention fixated on his phone, while you watch over the dogs. You don't know why he needs your help when there's only 3, but looking at him right now, it's obvious he just didn't want to work at all.

You tried to sneak a peek at what he's looking at on his phone, but everytime he sensed you, he'd immediately grab your face and turn you away. You scowl at him every time.

You were about to open your mouth and talk his ear off when you see a somewhat familiar looking brown blob fly past you, running from its owner. You see the guy chasing his dog around the park while screaming out its name, "Holly, get back here! We need to go home!"

And you see Holly, the dog, dodge him like a professional shop-lifter evading mall cops. You silently applaud the dog and its agility.

"Holly, do you know what time it is? We've been here for five hours now!" You see him run for another 2 minutes before he slumps against a tree, panting. You finally catch a good look of him and realize he's the stranger from the previous dog park.

Suddenly you feel a presence next to your leg and when you look down, Holly is happily looking up at you with his tail wagging. You coo at the cute dog before picking him up and setting him on your lap, "Hey little buddy! You're always causing problems aren't you?" He lets out a tiny woof before settling in your arms.

You stand up, making your way to the poor dude by the tree, while Holly happily accepts scratches from you. He's sitting on the ground now, obviously still trying to recover from the sprint.

"Sign guy!" You stand in front of him, smiling when you see him look up. Once he recognizes you, he grimaces at the name, mortified of the incident before. He scrambles to stand up, stuttering out a "He-hey. Hi," and wiping his palms on his jeans.

"Here's your dog! You were trying to catch him right? So you can go home?" You offer the dog to him, not unlike last time. "Oh! Uh, yeah, I was." He scratches the back of his neck before taking his dog from you, and he seems to be having a hard time making eye contact with you.

"Thank you, for helping me again." You see him struggle with saying that and chuckle to yourself. "No problem, your dog seems like a troublemaker, huh?"

He smiles at the mention of his dog, you can see how much he loves Holly. "Yes, he is a little rascal." He's fond and you're endeared by him. "Well, I should get going now, you guys were leaving right?" He straightens immediately, eyes slightly wide while you mock scold his dog, "Don't give him a hard time once in a while, okay? Give him a break." Holly barks an okay and you coo, petting his head once more.

"Well, by-" "What's your name?" He spoke so fast you didn't catch it. "Huh?"

He blinks a few times, "I- Uh. Your name. What's your name?" You blink a few times, name? He's asking for your name?

Oh! Name! Right! You didn't ask for his name too, last time (despite wanting to).

"Oh, my name is (Y/N)! What about you?" His shoulder slumps slightly in relief, "Yoongi, I'm yoongi." "Nice to meet you Yoongi!"

He smiles, a gummy smile, "Nice to meet you too (Y/N)." You're momentarily transfixed on his smile. He has a really really cute smile and would it be weird if you tell him right now? Probably, so you refrain. You see him quirks his head in question when you stay quiet for longer than necessary and snap out of your thoughts.

"I was wonder-" You hear a commotion from the distance, and when you look over, Jimin's dogs are picking a fight with another dog smaller than them. You gasp, looking for Jimin, but that gremlin had disappeared, leaving you no choice but to go intervene. "I'm so sorry, I have to go! Those dogs are mine! Bye!" You hurriedly run to the crowd, helping other owners separate the dogs.

Once all the dogs are calm again, you sit the three dogs in front of you and scold them, to which they seem remorseful. "Do not pick a fight with other dogs again or no park for you for a- no, two weeks! Got it?" They bark a single woof in understanding and you nod, satisfied at how well they listen to you. Maybe this is why Jimin always asks for your help, the dogs won't listen to him but they will listen to you.

After you let the dogs play again, you see Jimin strutting to where you're sitting with a popsicle in his hand, phone in the other. "Jimin!" You get up to scold him, and when he sees you alone, he quirks his head to the side. "Where's the run into a sign boy?"

You pout at his question, ready to talk his ear off. "I had to leave him because your dogs, the dogs you're dogsitting, not the dogs I'm dogsitting, picked a fight with a dog that was smaller than them! Three of them! Against one dog! One, small dog! What, did it owe them lunch money or something, they were acting like a bully trying to steal someone's homework but you weren't there to de-escalate so I had to intervene and now, cute sign guy left and I don't have his number, only his name."

The whole time you were ranting, Jimin just stood there, silently eating his popsicle with a blank face. You think he blocked you out at the second sentence and it's proven at how his eyes are glazed over, mind somewhere else despite staring at you. You frown and snatch the popsicle from him, finally getting a reaction "Hey! That's mine!" And yet he doesn't attempt to get it back.

You stare at the ice treat in your hand and debate on what to do with it, you're not gonna eat it, no, that's gross. You don't want to throw it away and waste food, but you don't want to give it back to him either. You wonder if this is dog safe. You were about to call the dogs when you realized you're holding nothing, popsicle back to Jimin's hand when you weren't paying attention.

His stupid smirking face is what you see when you lift your head, "Don't worry, sign guy will probably come to this park again with his dog."

"I don't know what time he comes here. What, am I supposed to come here everyday and wait for him or something?"

***

You hate Jimin. You hate Jimin with a burning passion. You can't believe he convinced you to go to the park everyday, and maybe that's on you for being Boo Boo the Fool but you hate him because he made you dogsit for him everyday.

"I mean you're going there anyway, right? Surely you can take them for a few hours?" Fool you once, shame on Jimin. Fool you twice, shame on Jimin again for taking advantage of your kind heart and making you do his work for him when you're not getting paid by his somewhat rich ass.

Free labour and hatred aside, you're actually starting to enjoy going out with the dogs. They're mostly well behaved, and this park really is nice, compared to that Target dog park. You needed the sun exposure, anyway.

You cross your legs when you see Pocky runs in front of you, not wanting to deal with him biting your shoelaces off, which Jimin said he likes to do. Pocky is a black Affenpinscher, notorious for being a master of mischief in the circle of dogs Jimin dogsit. You think you heard Jimin muttered "good luck," under his breath when you took Pocky from him but that could be your mind playing tricks on you.

Because Pocky is a very very sweet dog, you just need to get him to stay away from people's shoelaces. You see him zooms around the park and smile to yourself. You actually have a soft spot for the 10 years old dog, despite his age, he's still very lively and agile and his disobedience to Jimin is funny. You think about how nice and kind Pocky is but stop short when you see him next to someone's legs.

He stares at you and you stare back at him, challenging him to try you. He obviously doesn't care, and starts chewing, and when you look to see who it is, it's Yoongi.

Oh no, he's chewing on Yoongi's converse. Oh no.

For some reason, Yoongi only stood there, looking down at Pocky in confusion. When you see him start pulling his shoe, you go to stop him.

"Pocky!" He chews harder. "No! Stop!" You go to scoop him up but it's too late, Pocky already had a small string in his mouth. "Drop it. Pocky, drop it." He only looks up at you, and you gasp at how this is the first time Pocky disobeys you. So you change tactics.

You pout at the dog, giving him your best puppy eyes, "Pocky are you really not gonna listen to me? I thought you liked me better than Jimin? I'll be sad if you don't listen to me." He whines at your expression, dropping the piece of fabric to the ground and starts licking your chin in apology. You can't believe that work and smile to yourself.

You let him down to the ground, letting him play again after telling him to stay away from people's shoes. You see him run to his friends, making a U turn everytime he sees legs. You're proud of him. Wait until Jimin hears about this, he's gonna sulk-

Someone clears their throat next to you and you bring yourself back to the present, mouth agape when you remember who it is. "Yoongi! Hi! Hello! Oh, I'm so sorry about that! Pocky has an affinity for shoelaces and oh shit, he chewed it off didn't he? I'll replace it if you wan-" He waves his hand in front of your face, and you realize you were rambling again.

He smiles at you, and wait, did your heart just skip a beat? "No, it's okay. Holly sometimes chews on my shoes too, I don't mind really."

"Are you sure? If you need a string replacement, I'll pay you some money for it?"

Yoongi stutters, hands fidgeting in front of him, "You, you, uh you can," he coughs, "You can make it up by going to get coffee with me?"

White guy blinking gif, that's how you look right now.

You pull out your phone, offering it to him with no words because your brain is playing elevator music right now and if you speak, Yoongi will retract his offer. He stares at it in confusion, head quirking to the side. You managed to let out a strained "Number."

He perks up, a tiny "Oh!" leaving his pouty lips. He types in his number and you see him hesitate to send a text so he can save your number, but decided against it. When he hands you back your phone, you finally snap out of your stupor. "I'd love to get coffee with you."

He smiles his gummy smile and you have to resist the urge to coo at him again. "You can text me the details? If you want?"

Smiling back at him, you reply with a tiny "Okay!" You wanted to ask him if he wants to go get ice cream right now but before you can open your mouth, you hear your phone ring, and lo and behold it's Jimin. Jimin and his damn timing. It's always him. Bastard.

You pick it up with a sigh, "Hello?" and listen to him nag you, with a hum here and there. It's like when you're calling your mom. He finally hangs up after telling you about his plan for the night and you look at the distance like you're in the office.

"I'm sorry, I have to go, that was my friend and he wants his dogs home in 10 minutes so I have to hurry but I'll call you later!" You're starting to jog away when he calls out "Do you need help?"

You're surprised at his offer, but quickly accepts because you kinda do need help. "That'd be nice, actually." So he helps you round up the dogs and the process went faster than if you were to do it alone.

Once you're outside the dog park, holding all the leash safely, you turn to him, "Thank you so much for the help! That'd have taken a lot longer without you."

He smiles, eyes scrunching into crescent moon, "No problem, get home safely, okay?"

"Gotcha, thanks again, I'll text you!!" You're already being pulled by the dog by the time you finish your sentence, but you're happy anyway because you finally got his number and a possible-date-maybe-not coffee date.

***

And one possible coffee date turned into one actual coffee date which turns into a dinner date, until, "Can I kiss you?" He looks nervous, and this time you don't resist the urge to coo at him, you cup his cheeks between your hands, "You're so cute when you're nervous like that."

Pouting, he wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him, "Can I?" You smile up at him and nod, chuckling at his cute expression.

He bends down slightly to reach your face, slotting his lips between yours. You close your eyes and hug him close to you, savoring the feeling and memorizing it.

You're glad you went to that awful park and you're glad Holly pulled Yoongi to the same dog park all those weeks ago.

You hate to say it but you're glad Jimin convinced you to go to the dog park everyday, you're just thankful the feelings were mutual or else it'd have been weird.

Getting to know Yoongi brings absolute joy to you and learning about him makes your heart beat slightly faster. Just in the course of two weeks, you can feel yourself falling for him. Yoongi who loves writing music and fishing, Yoongi who wasn't a big dog person until he got Holly, Yoongi who can't raise his voice at people, Yoongi who considers piano as his first love.

Every bit and pieces of information you uncover only made you fall in love more and more with him. Every quirks and habits you noticed always bring a fond smile to your face. You pull him even closer to you, hand intertwine behind his neck, and deepen the kiss.

You're glad he ran into that sign all those weeks ago, because here, standing on the rooftop, with the sun setting behind you, Yoongi's arms around you and his lips on you, you feel home. And you hope he feels the same.

#btsghostiebingo #btsghostie #bts scenarios #bts drabble #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts fanfic #yoongi scenarios #yoongi drabble #yoongi imagines #yoongi x reader #yoongi fanfic #dear yoon #writings #im gonna try to be a little more organized with the formatting skjsksdksl

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rhetoricalrogue · 3 years

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31 Days of Halloween, Day 31

Prompt: Halloween Rating: G Words: 1,581 Characters: Unit Charlie, circa 2019 Summary: It’s Winona’s first Halloween outside the Facility. The three senior members of Unit Charlie are determined to make it a memorable one. Note: And that’s 31 prompts! Thanks for hanging out with me and Unit Charlie this October! I compiled a masterpost that I’ve pinned to my blog.

For the @31daysofwayhaven event.

October 31, 2019

“I’ve never had a real Halloween experience,” Winona said, cutting open a bag of candy and pouring the contents into a large plastic bowl. “What usually happens?”

Penny shrugged, spraying her hands with nonstick spray as she shaped sticky caramel popcorn into pumpkins. “It’s been a few years since I’ve had a chance to do this outside the Facility. Usually we’re on missions or no one really makes a big deal about it.”

“But this year’s different even though we’re on a mission.” Winona adjusted the headband she wore with the cute black cat ears attached. “I’m excited.”

“As you should be! Look at you, piccolina! You’re an adorable black cat!” Nicky came in to swipe some popcorn, darting out just in time to miss Penny’s hand smacking his. “Oh my god, Pen, this is fantastic!”

“And they’re for later!” Penny made shooing motions with her hands, chasing them both out of the little kitchenette of the Agency safehouse they were in. They’d been on a field mission to speak with a group of ghosts that were causing more paranormal activity than usual since thrill-seekers were on the rise around this time of year. Normally, they would have been at the site to ward off would-be ghost hunters, but this was Halloween. Cam had insisted on taking the night off to celebrate, and none of them were going to argue with their leader. Speaking with the ghosts and setting up physical barriers that made it look as if the road leading up to the place was closed for construction helped, and if that didn’t deter anyone, Penny had worked with a nearby coven of witches to provide wards that would make people forget the area was haunted, if only for a few days. It was a temporary fix, but one that had pleased the local spirits enough that Cam had been confident that they didn’t need to hang out to provide an Agency presence.

It was a nice change from doing paperwork or security detail, and the three senior members weren’t going to miss it for anything, especially since this would be Winona’s first time celebrating it outside the Facility. It was an unanimous, unspoken decision that they would make sure that this was the best party she’d ever been to. Penny had set Cam and Nicky loose in the grocery stores to fill a cart with candy and drinks while she and Winona spent an afternoon decorating. Cam won the rock, paper, scissors on making the main course or ordering pizza, so while they waited for delivery to show up, they scrolled though the local cable channels to see what sort of horror movies were going to be broadcast.

“I thought we were all supposed to wear costumes,” Winona said, brushing popcorn crumbs off her shirt. She’d gone for the typical black cat costume, but had put an 80s spin on it, opting to wear an all black outfit consisting of a bustier, tulle skirt, and black fishnets with black leather ankle boots.

“This is my costume, piccolina.”

She arched her eyebrow, looking him over. “Nicky, jeans, a black t-shirt, and a white hoodie don’t count as a costume.”

He grabbed a piece of candy from the bowl she set by the front door. “Uh, hello? Assassin’s Creed? Desmond Miles?” He pushed up his hoodie’s sleeve and exposed a bracer he’d strapped to his left arm. “Hidden blades?”

She shook her head. “No, not ringing a bell. Sorry.”

“Obviously we need to broaden your video game experiences.”

“Please tell me that’s not an actual spring-loaded knife strapped to your arm,” Cam said. “You’re going to stab yourself on accident.”

“Not like I’d need to be taken to the hospital for it,” Nicky retorted, sticking his tongue out. “Nice duds, Waldo.”

Cam tugged on a red and white striped beanie, pulling it over his thick, wavy hair. “I’m just glad I could find the sweater on such short notice.” He’d had the rest of the pieces to the costume, even the thick framed glasses that had been part of a disguise he’d used a while back. “What do you think, Pen?”

Penny took one look at him and shook her head. “Could you maybe not read my mind when it comes to costume choices?” she laughed.

“What do you mean?” He looked at the pair of black leggings and knee height boots she was wearing, the sleeveless turtleneck not ringing any bells on what she was supposed to be.

“I couldn’t wear the rest of the getup while making this, but the popcorn balls are done. Be right back.”

Cam popped a few pieces of unused caramel corn Penny had left in a baking tray into his mouth and closed his eyes in appreciation. It’d been years since the last time he’d had homemade candied popcorn and the sweet yet salty flavor was to die for.

“Five bucks she comes back as the perfect pair for a couple’s costume,” Nicky teased, scooting around Cam to the fridge to pull out a bottle of cider that Winona had insisted on buying because it felt more holiday appropriate than the beer Nicky had been putting in the cart. He popped the top and offered it to Cam, who took it, before grabbing another for himself.

“Nicky…”

He snuck another piece of caramel popcorn. “All I’m saying is that the two of you are basically a couple in every other way but one very important way.” He took a swallow. “I’m talking about -”

“I know what you’re talking about, Nicolo,” Cam said, taking a drink. “And don’t start.”

Nicky held out his hands. “I know, I know. Don’t go poking around and being a meddling old woman.”

Cam rolled his eyes. “Thank you. I appreciate…” He didn’t finish his thought because Penny had come back from the bedroom she and Winona were sharing.

“Well? What do you think?” She gave a little twirl to set the hem of her knee-length red trench coat fluttering and gave a tug to the oversized red sun hat she wore.

“You look great,” Cam said, giving her a lopsided smile before clearing his throat and awkwardly pushing his fake glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

She ducked her head and played with the yellow scarf loosely draped around her neck. “I couldn’t find a wig in time, so Carmen Sandiego’s going to have to be blonde tonight.”

“Believe me, donna forte, Carmen’s never looked better.” He gave her an appreciative whistle before grinning impishly. “Though we probably should have talked costumes through. Had we known, all of us could have had matching costumes.”

Penny blushed. “This wasn’t planned beforehand, though I guess we should have thought about that. I just wanted Winona to pick her own costume for the first time.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cam slapped a hand on Nicky’s shoulder, looking all the world like he was clapping him on the shoulder in solidarity, but really he was subtly squeezing down as a silent request to stop teasing. “I’m sure there’s going to be more Halloweens in the future to figure out a group costume.”

Nicky was saved from further torment when the doorbell rang. “I’ve got it!” Winona yelled, all but jumping over the back of the sofa where she had been sitting and flipping through channels before settling on the original Evil Dead. Penny grabbed the first batch of popcorn balls she had made and hurried over to the door to offer them to their first trick or treaters.

“What was that about not meddling?” Cam asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he leaned his hip on the kitchen counter.

“I wouldn’t meddle if I didn’t think that the two of you would be perfect for the other.” Nicky took another drink from his bottle and shrugged in defeat. “But okay, I hear you, I’ll stand down. For tonight at least.”

Cam sighed. “Thank you, my friend.” He was going to head to the living room to claim a spot on the sofa when he stopped. Digging his wallet out of his back pocket, he pulled out a five dollar bill. “Not a word,” he told Nicky, waving the money in front of him.

Nicky grinned. He opened up his mouth to say some smartalecked reply, but thought better of it. Instead, he flicked his left wrist, the blade at his arm springing out and impaling the bill. With another flick, the blade retracted, taking the money with it.

“You’re going to put someone’s eye out with that!”

“Okay, Mom. You’re just jealous that Waldo doesn’t have anything this cool!”

Cam sighed as he made his way to the living room. The movie had commercials, so he brought his phone out and opened up apps, scrolling through until he found the horror genre. The Agency had entertainment available to their agents, and he knew that he could easily connect his phone to the TV so they could enjoy things uninterrupted.

But first, to claim a seat for himself. They’d ultimately end up in a big pile together like they usually did, but he wanted a good spot to start out at.

And if he happened to find a spot right next to the big floppy red hat sitting on a cushion, he wasn’t going to admit it to anyone. He was down five dollars as it was, he wasn’t owing Nicky any more money tonight.

#31daysofwayhaven #my writing #Unit Charlie #huzzah we did it!#also crossed the 50K wordcount for a NaNoWriMo in October

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that-scouse-wizard · 3 years

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13) Glammed up

A/N: Day thirteen of @deity-prompts fluff challenge. Enjoy some more Rowan and Tulip, plus David being Rowan’s wingman.

“Don’t be soft.” = “Don’t be dumb.”

Word count: 919

Hogsmeade. 19th of March, 1988.

Whimsical Wizardwear, a shop in the village of Hogsmeade, essentially the more up-to-date version of Gladrags Wizardwear under the same parent company. Frequently visited by students looking for formal clothes for such events. Stocked with every sort of garment in any shade from garish hues of orange and yellow to more neutral tones of blue and brown. Two floors and a basement provided ample space for displays. Though thronging with students whenever there was a formal arrangement, at the moment, just two people occupied the shop aside from the proprietor.

David Willows and Rowan Khanna.

The two were best friends, ever since meeting just before they began their first year at Hogwarts. Throughout the years they had tackled the cursed vaults together, and regularly came to each other for advice in other matters. In this case, relationships.

It had been a surprise to David when Rowan accepted Tulip Karasu’s invitation to the Celestial Ball. Sure Rowan was partnered with Dennis, Tulip’s pet toad in the frog choir but he hadn’t expected it to go further than a friendship between the two. Though to be fair, he had the excuse of dealing with the curse currently afflicting the school to not notice.

Now that he had, well of course he was going to support her!

This particular visit to Hogsmeade was about preparing her for her first proper date with Tulip. It was only to Madame Puddifoots but Rowan wanted to get dressed up for it and not in her Celestial Ball dress, it needed to be a surprise.

She walked out of the changing room wearing a sleeveless, sea-green dress, the skirt of it reached her ankles. It was tied together with sash around the waist.

“So, what do you think of it?” David asked her honestly.

“Hmm,” Rowan hummed unsurely, “I’m not sold on the sash... but I’ll just get it.” She continued.

“What?” David exclaimed in surprise, “Don’t be soft Ro, that’s the first dress you’ve tried on. I once saw you sort through at least fifty different book bags and didn’t buy any of them because you thought the straps were too weak.”

“I come prepared with a lot of books, any book bag I get needs to be strong.” Rowan retorted, “Look, David I just don’t want to keep Tulip waiting.”

“You’re date is at half-three right?” He asked, Rowan nodded. David pointed towards a grandfather clock in an alcove of the shop, “It’s half-ten now, we’ve got time. At max, we’ll stay until one, take you to the castle for a quick brush up and then get you back here in time for your date.”

“Okay.” Rowan shrugged in defeat, seeming a little forlorn.

“Statistically speaking, how confident are you that your current outfit is going to wow Tulip?” He asked.

“... Thirty percent.” Rowan finally admitted.

“Then let’s get it up to ninety-nine at least, yeah?” David said encouragingly.

“Yeah.” Rowan said, her mood improving as a smile tugged at her lips.

“You’re going to surprise her, you’re going to impress her, you’re going to make Tulip Karasu say, “Wow, I’m dating the best-dressed witch at Hogwarts.”” Rowan had to laugh at David’s enthusiasm.

“Okay, until I’m ninety-nine percent certain, I won’t step a foot outside the door.” Rowan agreed.

----------

Tulip waited at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. Her date with Rowan was supposed to begin ten minutes ago, Tulip really hoped she was just running late. When Dennis had first suggested she speak to Rowan all the way back in September during the frog choir auditions, she had been sceptical.

Sure, Rowan was nice enough but the only time the two of them interacted was when they assisted David in taking on the Vault of Fear. Her ruse to get Madam Pince out of the way had been quick-witted but other than that she didn’t know why Dennis would suggest her.

That uncertainty had been shattered when Rowan had worked up the confidence to sing in front of her. She had the voice of an angel, then she had proved herself further by playing with Dennis.

Even after she acquired a spot on the frog choir, they wanted to hang out together outside of that. Rowan actually made her want to study properly and in turn, she helped Rowan enjoy a bit of mischief. After the Celestial Ball had finished, they had kissed. Tulip couldn’t help herself, they had sat down together in the courtyard, both still in their dresses. She had pushed a wayward strand of hair out of Rowan’s face, yet she kept her hand on Rowan’s cheek. She leaned in, hesitated and then the gap was sealed when Rowan. Their lips had met in a chaste kiss, Tulip smiled at the memories.

Now she wanted to take it further, make it known they were together but...

The ringing of the tea shop’s bell broke her from any negative thoughts, “Sorry I’m late!” A familiar voice exclaimed. Tulip’s breath hitched in her throat, Rowan looked beautiful. She was dressed in a dark blue suit, over a white shirt, a dark green tie and pocket square complimenting the other colours nicely. Her long, raven locks had been curled, yet still fell to shoulder length.

How silky smooth would it feel if she ran her fingers through Rowan’s hair?

“I hope I’m not too late.” Rowan said sheepishly, finally sitting down.

Tulip finally gave her a response with a reassuring smile, “Not at all, you’re right on time.”

#harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm #rowan khanna #tulip karasu #david willows #khannasu

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amyscascadingtabs · 4 years

Text

i’ll walk through hell with you

chapter 7. i’m gonna stand by you

read on ao3 here and read other chapter here!

the happy ending.

BONUS: i created fake social media posts for this! they’re here, look at them after or have them open in another window! you’ll get when it’s time - there are two instagram posts and a text conversation with rosa.

and when you decide, it’s your time to arrive

i’ve loved you for all of my life.

~ halsey, more

december.

Once Amy starts trusting that she is pregnant and the obsessive test-taking comes to an end, there’s the question of when to start telling people. There’s also the question of what to tell them.

“It just feels like I’m faking it,” she complains from the couch as she tries to write down ideas in her notebook. “It’s happy news, but it feels wrong to not even mention what we went through before getting here.”

“So tell people about it?” Jake shrugs, handing her the McFlurry she sent him out at ten p.m. to buy. “That's always an option.”

“I know, but how? How do I say hey, please be happy for us, but know that we went through hell to get here, without being overly dramatic or too personal?” She takes a spoon of the soft-serve, chewing on the mini smarties, and tries to stifle a moan when it feels like fireworks of pleasure are exploding in her mouth. “Oh my god, I love you.”

“Me or the ice cream? Never mind, shouldn't ask.”

“It's so good.”

“Can I try some?”

“You should have gotten your own.”

“You would have eaten that too,” he grins, taking his spot at one end of the couch and stretching his legs. “But I'm proud of you. McDonalds is at least an unhealthy craving. Grapes was just lame. You have the chance to eat whatever you want and blame it on pregnancy cravings, and you want grapes.”

She sticks out her tongue. “Screw you. Anyway - thoughts on a pregnancy reveal?”

“We make our own Die Hard-style short film with explosions and animations, the end slate says something like Peraltiago Baby number two, coming in June. Super badass.”

“Nope. We write everyone cards?”

“Lame and time-consuming. We have an announcement at work and one each with our families?”

“Maybe, but I still don’t know what to say.”

“We tell Leah and trust her to spread the news for us?”

“We definitely should tell her first, but counting on her to spread the news means they’re going to get twisted in some way. Remember when we went on vacation and she told all her teachers we were moving to Mexico?” Amy shakes her head. “It’s better if we say it ourselves. I don’t think I’m ready yet, though.”

“Okay,” Jake nods. “Let’s wait, then. Are you sure I can’t have any of that ice cream?”

“Not unless you want your hand chopped off.”

“Wow.”

Amy wishes they could hold off on telling people until she was sure she felt ready, but reality is quick to get in the way. The first-trimester nausea finally gets better around week thirteen, and suddenly the weight gain is a fact. She doesn’t mind it too much - she’s growing a human, all that matters is that they’re healthy - but it does make it increasingly difficult to hide. A size bigger uniform for work is easily solved and conceals the tiny bump rather well, but regular clothes are not as efficient. Her bras don't fit, her regular jeans won’t button, even the most flowy of shirts in her wardrobe seem to cling to the slightly rounded shape her stomach is taking. She’s running out of time.

With two days left until they're leaving to celebrate Christmas with the Santiagos, Amy realizes she has to give up. She's tried every possible outfit, considered whether she can just wear pajamas for the duration of the event, and very reluctantly accepted that it’s a bad idea. She's out of options. Both of her red dresses are too tight, she doesn't have any bras that work with anything sleeveless, and even the tasteful floral wrap dress she was hoping for manages to frame her bump in an obvious way. She tries on several blouses with a generous skirt, but it's still notable to the trained eye and her mom had eight kids. Amy’s screwed.

“This doesn't work,” she groans as she pulls off the blouse, throwing it on the growing no-pile. “I look stupid.”

“You look adorable,” Jake insists from his watching position on the bed. “I’d say go with the wrap dress.”

“It’s nice, but it shows off this.” She points demonstratively to her stomach, watching his eyes turn soft as he follows her hand. “This baby’s not hiding. I think we have to tell people.”

“Do you feel okay with that?”

She considers it for a moment. “I guess? I still don’t know what to say about the infertility stuff, but… I’ll figure that out.”

“It’s not like you have to make an official announcement, right? You could tell people privately, whenever you’re ready - if you want to.”

“That’s true. Maybe... it’s okay if we just enjoy these news?” She shrugs. “We are having another baby. That’s awesome. Seems fair for the world to know.”

Jake meets her tentative smile with a wide, goofy grin. “True that. So, how do we tell everyone? We’re not seeing the squad again until after Christmas.”

“We could take a cute picture with Leah and post it on social media? I know it’s cheesy, and a little impersonal, but it’s efficient and I can’t be bothered to plan an announcement.”

“I could totally work that Die Hard short film out -”

“No Die Hard.”

Jake grimaces. “Fine, fine. Your way, then. So, cute picture of Leah in a big sister-shirt?”

“Yeah, and she could be holding the latest sonogram pictures? And some short, sweet caption with that. We’ll think of something until tomorrow - that, and another thing.”

“What?”

“We have to tell her.”

Amy is, of course, overly prepared. She’s bought the pedagogical children’s books. She’s researched and taken notes on all the recommendations for how to manage the conversation and explain the matter in a way her three-year-old will understand. She’s made sure Leah’s not too tired, too hungry, or too grumpy for any other reason. Still, she’s never felt less prepared for a conversation with her kid, and she’s anxious as they take a break from playing with her toy dinosaurs - who either seem to run a bakery or catch criminals, or if it’s both, Amy can’t tell - to drink some water and subtly reveal the life-changing news.

Jake must pick up on her nervosity, because he’s the one to start the conversation.

“So, bumblebee,” he ruffles his daughter’s hair and laughs as she immediately pats it down again, “We’ve got something to tell you. A surprise, I guess.”

Leah shines up at the word surprise. “What?”

“Do you remember how miss Edwards at your daycare had a baby?” Amy tries to lead her on to the topic. “And her belly grew and got really big, and then she wasn’t at work for a while because she was at home taking care of the baby?”

Leah scrunches her forehead and pouts her lip in focus, but she nods.

“And you know how your cousin Maisie has a little brother, and Sarah and Samuel are getting a baby sibling soon?”

Another nod.

“Okay. Well, baby,” she says slowly, but her heart is beating fast. “You’re also getting a sibling.”

Leah looks around, as if the sibling in question would be hiding in her room somewhere.

“Oh, no, not today,” Amy adds, and the girl frowns.

“When?”

“This summer,” Jake fills in, “when it gets warm outside and you don’t have to wear a jacket anymore.”

“But where’s the baby now?”

“Right now the baby’s in here.” Amy pokes at the tiny bump, and Leah tilts her head as she tries to piece it all together. “It’s small, but it will grow, and then you can talk to it or feel it kick in there, if you want.”

“And when the baby comes out and grow bigger, they’re going to think you’re the coolest person ever and want to play with you all the time,” says Jake, catching Leah in his arms and tickling her neck so she giggles. “You two will have so much fun.”

“Like Anna and Elsa?”

“Well, we don’t know if it’s a sister or brother yet, but yeah. Like Anna and Elsa.”

“Okay!” Leah’s expression turns serious. “But I’m Elsa.”

Amy laughs. “Of course, baby, you can be Elsa.”

Leah accepts this, and insists they keep playing the dinosaur game which remains incomprehensible to everyone but her.

“I think that went pretty well,” Jake mumbles to Amy, and she nods, relieved.

“Dada?” Leah looks up from the dinosaurs.

“Yes, bee?”

“How did the baby get into mama’s tummy?”

Amy has never seen her husband look so uncomfortable before. His face goes from normal to beetroot in a matter of seconds as his eyes go wide, and she’s trying not to explode with laughter as she looks from Jake’s mortified expression to Leah’s curious eyes.

“We’ll read a book about that later,” Amy assures her daughter while Jake mumbles something about a very important call from the Captain as he looks at his blank phone screen and hurries out of the room. “I promise.”

Leah doesn’t seem particularly interested in changing from her Frozen-shirt or taking pictures with the sonogram print-outs she claims looks like a fish, mama, but then Jake promises her ice cream for dessert if she does and it’s a done deal. She tires after thirty seconds and she refuses to hold the pictures in any other way than in front of her face, but they get the shot and it’s good enough. It has to be, because only a minute later, their three-year-old has thrown off the sweatshirt and changed back into her t-shirt.

Amy types up the caption, presses share, and puts her phone in front of them on the kitchen table.

“Now we wait for Charles to call and yell at us for keeping this from him,” she states, and Jake snorts. “I’m betting four minutes.”

“I’m going to go with three.”

It takes one and a half.

It’s a great Christmas.

Sure, everyone is asking the same questions and she explains over and over that she’s feeling okay, better now that she’s in her second trimester, she doesn’t have any intuition as to what they’re having but Jake’s claiming it’s a boy, they’re excited, and they’re pretty sure Leah is, too. She clenches her fists underneath the table when her mom mentions how wonderful it is with a big family, how lovely it is that Amy and Jake finally decided to expand theirs, and she can see Jake do the same as he gets ready to defend her - their - honor, but she shakes her head and changes the topic before he has a chance.

She doesn’t want to be upset today.

There’s no point to being angry with her family all around. Not when Julian high-fives her and tells her good for her she keeps reproducing with those Peralta genes, not when Christian gives them actual useful tips on how to adjust from one to two kids. There’s no point in being upset when her brothers wives all tell her she can borrow maternity wear if she wants, or when Jake makes note of the mistletoe above their heads and kisses her so long and reverent that both Tony and Simon start wolf-whistling. There’s no point to being sad when Leah pulls at the edge of Amy’s dress, asking to go up, up, and Luis takes a picture of Amy and Jake kissing their daughter’s cheeks under the mistletoe.

She’s just happy.

She feels quick little flutters in her stomach throughout the day, a feeling she vaguely recognizes from the first times she felt Leah move inside her. They’re gone before she has the chance to lay a hand there, but she feels them.

Leah insists on sleeping in her parent’s shared bed that night, and even though it’s barely a queen-size and they’re all forced to huddle together with the three-year-old somehow taking up the most space, they give in. Jake and Leah both fall asleep in what seems like seconds, and Amy wants to join them, but her brain refuses. It’s not that she’s feeling anxious - her heart is so full from today, made fuller by her daughter’s face pressing into her shoulder and Jake’s hand reaching across her so he can rest it on the little bump - but there are some things she can’t stop thinking about.

Her mom’s comment about them finally deciding to expand their family, for example. All the congratulatory wishes streaming in after the picture - even Holt messaged them to give his well-wishes - that she can't fully take to heart, because no one sending them knows what she's gone through. She thinks of the shame and disappointment she’s felt throughout this year, of how much it would have hurt her to see a sweet announcement like this from someone else when she’d just had a miscarriage or another negative test. She wants to be honest - not just for her own sake, but also for the sake of a possible acquaintance out there who could be going through the same thing, feeling equally as alone in it as she did.

Amy grabs her phone from the nightstand, smiling at the mistletoe picture she's made her background, and tries out a few captions in the Notes app before settling on one.

She turns off the comments before anyone can react, not feeling like she needs anyone’s thoughts on this, and she's about to put her phone away again when she sees a single text from Rosa.

Proud of you.

Amy smiles.

She's just about to fall asleep when she feels the brief flutters again. This time, they don’t disappear right away, but repeat until she's certain of what they are.

She can't feel them from the outside yet, but she rests her hand below Jake's anyway, letting the reason behind the flutters know she's there.

“Hey there,” she whispers, lightly tapping her fingers against her abdomen. “Merry Christmas to you too, baby.”

The next little movement is right below her fingertips, and this time she can't stop herself from tearing up with joy.

february.

Everyone’s convinced Jake and Amy are having a boy. Jake claims he can feel it, and Amy believes him. She’s a Santiago, and two girls in a row are more or less unheard of in her family. Charles claims he can tell because of the position of her uterus, which grosses everyone out, but a vote is a vote. Rosa’s saying boy, as is Terry, as is Gina, as are all of Amy’s brothers and her parents. Karen Peralta invites them for dinner and talks for at least twenty minutes about how excited she is to have a grandson before Jake dutifully reminds her they don’t know the sex yet, and she waves it away and says she thought it was obvious.

The only person who doesn’t believe they’re having a boy is Leah. From the first time anyone asks, the three-year-old declares with absolute certainty that she’s having a sister, and doesn’t change her mind. Amy’s nervous about how they’ll manage the inevitable disappointment and tries to write down a pedagogical conversation plan in her head as they go for the anatomy scan, but she ends up never having to use it. It turns out Leah’s correct.

“So you’re going to be just like Anna and Elsa,” Jake tells her as he’s putting her to bed that evening. Amy’s secretly listening in on their conversation through the baby monitor - modern technology is the best. “How does that make you feel?”

She can see Leah holding up her hand on the little screen, doing what she thinks must be a thumbs up. Then her tone turns serious again.

“Dada, how did the baby get inside the tummy?”

“Uhm, didn’t you and mama read that book about it?”

“Tell it again,” Leah insists.

“Okay, okay. Cool, cool, cool. This is cool, Jake, you can handle this,” Amy hears her husband mumble to himself.

“What?”

“Nothing, bee, here we go. So, sometimes, when two people who are adults and love each other a lot, they decide they want to try and make a baby. So they take a part - cells, you remember? From both of them, and those, well, stick together? I guess. And sometimes that becomes a little baby that grows inside a mom’s tummy until it’s big and ready to come out.”

It’s pretty much an accurate description. Amy’s proud of him, but Leah doesn’t seem satisfied.

“But how do they take it?”

“You’ll learn about that when you’re older, bumblebee.”

“Like algebra?”

“Who told you about algebra?”

“Grandpa Holt.”

“That tracks. Ehrm, sure. Like… algebra.” Amy can see him grimace from a distance on the screen. “We’ll go with that. Anyway - all you need to know is that everytime it works, it’s a miracle. You were our first miracle.”

“Miracle,” Leah repeats, yawning. “Dada, can you sing now?”

Amy hears Jake take a deep breath of relief before he begins to sing the Tangled soundtrack.

“I’ll give it to you,” she tells him when he slinks into their bedroom ten minutes later, red in the face when she points to the baby monitor and he realizes she's been listening. “That was impressive.”

“You owe me big time,” he groans, slumping down on the mattress next to her, and she chuckles and kisses his forehead.

“Algebra, huh? Could you replace my X without asking Y?”

“If you had used that pick-up line on me, I literally never would have slept with you.”

april.

Leah's feelings about becoming a big sister are fluctuating to say the least. Some days, she'll ask how the baby is doing and press her hands to the ever growing bump, laughing when she's able to feel a kick. Some days she doesn't want to talk about it at all, and they make sure not to force it on her. Some days - and those days are the ones that break Amy's heart - she's angry, shutting Amy out and wanting only Jake to take care of her because she's not sure how to handle the fact that her mom looks different and is tired and can't pick her up like she used to. It's after one of those days Amy has her first breakdown about feeling like she's not enough for two kids, that she was stupid to think she ever could be, and maybe this was a bad idea. She cries under a blanket as Jake puts Leah to bed because Amy wasn't allowed to, and there's a series of soft kicks like her baby’s trying to comfort her, but it only serves to make her more out of breath. Her eyes are all puffy and red when the door to Leah's bedroom opens and the girl peeks out, giving her a cautious look before tiptoeing out to the couch, climbing into her mother's arms and burying her face in her chest.

“I don't want to be a big sister,” Leah confesses in a quiet voice. “I want to be little, too.”

“You're always going to be my little baby,” Amy promises her in full honesty then, hugging the girl as close as she can. “Forever.”

Other days, it's easier. They try to keep her involved as much as she wants to, letting her choose what outfit they’re bringing in the hospital bag and asking her opinion on where she thinks the crib should be. The girl definitely has an interesting taste in baby fashion and Amy ends up vetoing the suggestion that her little sister should go home from the hospital in a baby Santa suit, but as long as Leah feels she's been part of the decision-making, it’s good. One night, they go through photo albums of what she looked like when she was a baby, making the three-year-old proudly exclaim that she was so cute.

“You really were,” Jake agrees, catching her in his arms and tickling her. “You think your baby sibling will be as cute as you were?”

Leah just shakes her head at that, making them all laugh.

“Well, she sure is confident,” says Jake when he returns from putting her to bed, finding Amy still looking through the albums. “Crazy to think she used to be that tiny.”

“Even crazier to think we'll have another one that little, and one day they’ll be a three-year-old, too.” She lightly strokes the top of her bump, feeling a sharp kick way too close to her ribs.

“So many levels of crazy.” Jake shakes his head in bewilderment. “I wonder when you get used to the thought.”

“Never?” Amy shrugs. “Sometimes I still think this is a dream.” There’s another strong kick at that, making her flinch. “Oof. Fine, very real dream.”

It takes her a while to fall asleep that night, with her thoughts and a wildly moving baby helping to keep her awake for longer than she’d prefer. She thinks of how they’re nearing a year since they started fertility treatments, when she fought through the needles and bloating and hormonal chaos because she was praying for something to finally work, and she wonders what her reaction would have been if someone had told her about what she’d go through in the next months.

The events of their struggle to have another baby and her eventual spontaneous pregnancy feel entirely separate in her head, two roads not intersecting. She’s still bitter over their struggle, still wishing she could have saved her energy and frustration, still trying to forget it more days than not. The infinite gratitude she feels over the fact that they are having another child hasn’t erased those memories. It’s mitigated the pain, made the flashbacks much less frequent and helped her towards acceptance, but Amy knows part of her will always remember.

In an odd sense, she’s happy about it. It reminds her it was never a guarantee.

may.

The cat plans have been put on pause indefinitely, but it doesn’t keep Jake from bringing the topic up. One day, he’s coming home with onesies that have patterns with cats on them or a stuffed animal that looks like one, one day he’s leaving web pages with sources for why it’s good for kids to grow up with cats open on her computer, and another day, he’s coming with new name suggestions from what seems to be out of nowhere.

“So for baby names, I was originally thinking Benjamin, but since that’s no longer on the table, I’m down to Meredith and Olivia.”

“That’s a weird combination of names,” Amy huffs. Jake looks the other way, tapping his feet against the floor and whistling in a way that’s probably supposed to come off innocent, but only succeeds in making his behaviour look more conspicuous. “They’re a reference to something, aren’t they?”

“Why would you say that?” Jake snorts. “That’s crazy!” His laugh is overly loud, and she shoots him a warning glare that shuts him up in a second. She’s nearly nine months pregnant now, so her don’t fuck with me-looks are pretty scary at this point.

“Tell me what they are, Jake. I know they’re not Die Hard-characters, and they’re not from Harry Potter or Ninja Turtles, so I’m going to make an assumption and say they’ve got some kind of relation to Taylor Swift.”

“Well, that depends on how you define relation -”

“Jake.”

“Fine, they’re her cats. But they’re nice names!” He wags his index finger in front of her, a childish grin on his face. “They work for humans!”

“Let the cat thing go, babe.”

“Nuh-uh, never.” He leans down, putting his face as close as possible to her bump. “Hey, kick once if you want us to get a cat ASAP.”

It takes a couple of seconds, and Amy almost thinks she’s won, but then Jake puts his hand on her shirt and instantly there’s a kick aimed against it.

“Traitor,” she mutters to the child still trying to play football with her ribs. “I’m the one growing you, you’re supposed to side with me.”

The cat conversation might be able to wait - Jake reluctantly accepts that a three-year-old, a newborn and a kitten would be a little much to take on at one time - but the name conversation’s more urgent. They’re having a baby in a month, maybe less, and even though Amy thinks it feels like forever as she waddles around with swollen ankles, unable to see her feet anymore, she knows it’s not. They need to make a decision.

“This is hopeless,” Jake groans as they look at their handwritten lists one night. They've each written down ten names, then switched with each other and crossed over ones they disliked, leaving them with exactly zero names. “How did we even decide on Leah’s name?”

“Technically, we decided on Leo as in Leonardo like Ninja Turtles, the painter and the actor, and then we found out we were having a girl and Leo became Leah.”

“I know why, I just don't know how. You said no to all of these!” He points at a scratched-out name on the list. “What's wrong with Luna?”

“Sounds too much like Leah.”

“And Abigail?”

“Too different.”

“Meredith?”

“You’ve got to let go of the obsession with Taylor Swift’s cats, man.” Amy massages her temples. “And too Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Fine. What about Olivia, then? Come on,” he says when he sees her pressing her lips together, “no one will know that’s where it’s from. It’s a cute, normal, human name. It’ll work with both our surnames and it goes well with Leah without sounding exactly like it.”

“I don’t know…”

“If we use Liv for a nickname, they’ll be Lee and Liv, which both sounds kinda badass and kinda adorable.” Jake tilts his head to the side, giving her the puppy eyes she swears were passed down straight to their first-born daughter.

He doesn’t entirely convince her, because she doesn’t want to give in to her principle about no Taylor Swift-related names, but she doesn’t hate the sound of Leah and Olivia. Really, the more she thinks about it, the more natural it sounds. She’s not giving him that satisfaction, though, so she tries to hide the smile on her face as she takes his list and writes down OLIVIA below the scratched-out names.

“This doesn’t mean I’m agreeing,” she warns him when his face lights up in excitement. “It just means I’m considering it.”

“Oh no, you’re definitely agreeing. Just like you will with the cat,” he grins, proud of himself, and she lets him have it for about three seconds before she whacks him in the shoulder.

(One evening - almost a year later - when they’re about to move into a bigger house with a garden, and their youngest daughter has started taking her first unsteady steps, Amy does agree to the cat. It’s a moment of weakness, she argues, but she never truly ends up regretting it.)

june.

Since Leah was born a timely two weeks before her due date, Amy’s hoping for the same thing to happen again. Everything is ready as can be for the arrival of their next family member, and they're just waiting, going day out and day in hoping today will be the day, but nothing’s happening. Leah asks every morning when she wakes up if today’s the baby’s birthday, and she gets equally disappointed each time they tell her they don't know yet. She also keeps asking about when she'll get to have her sleepover at uncle Charles’, which seems more of interest to her than the actual event of becoming a big sister, and she gets more and more upset for every day they have to tell her not tonight.

Amy enters her fortieth week of pregnancy, which is the most pregnant she's ever been, and time seems to move impossibly slower. She's swollen, achy, and tired, ready for this to be over and labor to start, but their baby seems to be enjoying herself in there, because the due date comes and goes without a single contraction. No more painful Braxton-Hicks than regular, no water leakage, no nothing. When the clock passes midnight on June 23rd and Amy’s officially past her due date, she’s getting seriously frustrated.

“This baby has to get out,” she complains as Jake rubs her feet that evening. Sometimes she’s pretty sure he’s an actual angel, but also, it’s what she deserves right now. “Starting tomorrow, I'm trying all of the tricks.”

“Or you wait a few days longer? You know she’ll be born eventually.”

“Nope. I need her out of me,” she says, feeling in the exact same moment how the kid’s trying to stretch out from her curled-up position, pushing her feet to Amy’s ribs and her head somewhere seriously uncomfortable, and Amy curses in pain. “Come on, kiddo. You’re clearly uncomfortable too. Don’t wait it out.”

She gets another kick in the ribs for that.

A quick Google search informs her there are many at-home methods available to try and kickstart labor, so she starts with the least terrible ones and works her way up. Sex isn’t bad, but it’s also sweaty and impractical and has no effect whatsoever. Walking is boring and makes her feet swell up like crazy. Jake suggests they go to her favorite bookshop in New York so she can walk around there and have an awesome story to tell if labor were to start in Strand’s Bookstore, but the only thing that happens is people give her sympathetic looks and she nearly cries when a book she wants to look at is on one of the lower shelves. The spicy Chipotle takeout they bring home just gives her heartburn. Pineapple makes her tongue hurt. The raspberry leaf tea tastes like chewing on grass. She saves the castor oil for last, wanting to avoid the distasteful liquid at all costs, but even that has little to no effect and Amy’s furious. On top of it all, Jake can’t stop laughing at her as she waddles around their apartment all grumpy and uncomfortable, and his laughter makes her even angrier.

(Leah just says Amy looks like a couch. That isn’t much better of a self-confidence boost, but it does, at least, make her laugh.)

When Amy’s three days past her due date with no changes, Leah decides she can’t take the anticipation anymore and throws a full-on tantrum. It takes them nearly ten minutes to figure out that the three-year-old’s not crying because she wants the baby to come out, but because the sleepover she’s going to have when her parents are at the hospital is never happening. They try to comfort her with promises of Disney movies and ice cream at home instead, but it doesn’t work, so they give up and call Charles to see if she can stay there an extra night. Charles also cries, because unfortunately, Nikolaj has gotten a stomach bug making them unsuitable for babysitting. After a moment’s consideration and consultation with their still-sobbing daughter, they call Rosa instead, and Rosa’s confused but accepts the request.

“And you're sure you know how to take care of kids for a whole night?” Jake asks when their friend stops by to pick up Leah, who is hyped to hang out with her aunt Rosa for an evening, and drags her into her room to show all her dinosaur toys the moment she steps inside the apartment.

“I assume there's instructions,” Rosa nods to the thick babysitting binder Amy's holding. “And I’ve taken care of my nieces. I’m pretty sure I can keep her alive for a while.”

“Solid. She eats pasta and she's supposed to go bed at seven, but that usually never works, so don't get too stressed about it.”

“Great.”

“Brush her teeth before she goes to sleep and don't let her backflip off the bed,” Amy adds. “There’s lots of information in the binder and we’re a phone call away if there's any issues.”

“Send us pictures if Jocelyn braids her hair!”

“Send us pictures anyway. Please update us.”

“Got it,” says Rosa and lifts up Leah on her shoulders, making the girl scream with laughter. “Pictures, pasta, no backflips. We’ll be fine. You guys enjoy your last night alone in forever,” she grins, pointing to Amy’s baby bump. “Text me if you go into labor.”

“I wish,” Amy groans, and then they’re the overly emotional parents who kiss and hug their oldest daughter goodbye until she begs them to stop.

Rosa leaves with Leah, and the apartment turns the peaceful but unnatural kind of calm they rarely experience at daytime anymore. She guesses it will be but a memory once their second baby finally arrives, but for now, she turns to Jake and asks,

“Wanna have a date night?”

And so they do.

Their last night on their own before life with two kids is gentle and undramatic - a shared bath, a takeout dinner in front of a Harry Potter movie they’ve seen a hundred times before, cuddling and chatting on the couch before going to bed at midnight with hope of a night’s undisturbed sleep.

Nine years they’ve done this, she thinks as he kisses her, and then the bump for good measure, goodnight. Nine, crazy, ever-changing years that have turned their lives upside down more times than she can count, and every day, she wakes up grateful that it’s him she gets to do this with.

It takes her upwards an hour to fall asleep. First she has to pee, then she can’t find a comfortable position, then her back is hurting and Jake has to get her heating pad. When she finally sinks into a dreamless unconsciousness, Amy’s so tired it feels like she could sleep for days.

She sleeps for an hour.

It feels like it’s only been seconds before a dull ache in her lower back and stomach wakes her up, mild at first but increasing steadily, reaching a truly painful point and then ceasing.

Weird, she thinks, and tries to fall back asleep. She’s too tired. She just wants to sleep. Whatever’s going on can surely wait until tomorrow.

A few minutes later, the same pain appears, a little stronger this time. She opens her eyes to glance at the alarm clock - 2.04 in the morning - and shifts her position in hope for that to help, but it doesn’t.

The next time it returns, her clock says 2.08. This time it’s real painful, worse than any Braxton-Hicks she’s felt before this, and it feels a lot, too much, like how she remembers the real deal from when she was in labor with Leah.

2.11, the same sensation appears again, lasting for a full minute and forcing her to breathe real deep to manage the pain. Her belly’s going rock hard for the entire time it’s lasting, too. Definitely suspicious, but she’s still too tired to reflect over it.

2.14, it happens yet another time.

Nope, is the only thought Amy can think when she realizes how close together they’re coming. Nope, nope, nope. She’s way too exhausted. She can have a baby in the morning, when she’s slept, and she’s not a fan of the idea of doing anything before then. This isn’t happening, she tries to convey to her body. This can wait until tomorrow.

2.17. This time, she can’t be still. She tries to find a comfortable position in their bed, but it doesn’t work, she needs to lean against something for support. She slides down to the floor and puts her crossed arms on the mattress, placing her head down and lightly swaying with the rest of her body as she breathes, breathes, breathes through the wave.

2.20. Another one. Amy’s fuming; she’s not having this right now, she’s tired, and no matter how badly she wants to meet this baby, she really wants to sleep before she does.

2.23, the same thing happens again.

2.26. She tries to muffle her groan in a pillow when it’s impossible to be silent. The pain is nearing what feels like an unmanageable point, and she hears Jake stirring awake at the other edge of the bed.

“Ames? What’s happening?”

“Nothing,” she says too quickly in an exhale. “Nothing’s happening.”

“Okay,” he replies in a skeptical tone, stretching himself over the bed and looking her in the eyes. “So you’re just doing that for fun, then?”

She doesn’t reply, but she's hyper-aware of him watching her scrunching her face in god-awful pain when the next contraction hits.

“Babe,” Jake asks, giving her a look of mixed worry and entertainment when it's over, “how many times has that happened?”

“Ten,” she hisses. “It’s fine. They’ll stop. I want to go back to sleep.”

“And how close together are they?”

“Three minutes. Two.”

His eyes widen with fear.

“No.” She shakes her head. “I need to sleep. This baby waited this long, it can wait until the morning.”

“I really don’t think that’s how it works.”

“It should be.”

Jake laughs nervously, stroking her hair. “Sure, but - maybe we should really, definitely, go to the hospital?”

“No, I want to go back to sleep.”

“How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“I don't know.”

“You know, if we go to the hospital, you could have the epidural like you did last time. Then you could probably sleep for a while.”

She stares him down. “Promise me.”

“Uh, sure. Promise.”

“Okay. Let's go. But only for the epidural,” she declares, and then another torturous contraction forces her to shut up.

A quick call to their doctor confirms they should be going in immediately if contractions are that close together, so Jake is rushing, running around the apartment like a chicken with its head cut off as he packs the final things for their bags. Amy tries to help, but she's pretty useless, because every two minutes she has to lean against the nearest piece of furniture and rock slowly from side to side until the pain subsides. She's not sure how she gets in the car, because each contraction makes her feel like everything else blurs and she can't think, can't speak, can't do anything but try her best to breathe and not faint when the pain radiates through her lower back and core, intense and demanding and so much worse than she remembered.

Only a year ago, she remembers as Jake squeezes her hand and tells her he loves her, they’d been sitting in this same front seat as she cried and cried after finding out their first IVF transfer didn't take. It feels like a lifetime ago, and at the same time, like yesterday. She wonders if she could have predicted this back then, and figures probably not.

“We're having a baby,” she whispers to Jake in a break between contractions, and he smiles so wide she thinks his face is going to break. “You ready?”

“So ready. You?”

“To meet her? Yeah. To give birth? Not really.”

“You're gonna kill it,” he tells her, and there's another contraction just then so she can't reply, only grit her teeth and squeeze his wrist really hard. “You're already killing it.”

“I really can't wait for that epidural,” she mutters through the pain, and Jake just laughs.

Amy's not sure how she gets through the twenty-minute car ride. It's absolute hell, because she can't move in any way, can't do anything except keep breathing and keep holding on to the thought of the pain relief she's going to get once they get to the hospital. She wonders why people willingly choose to put themselves through this without any drugs. She sure as hell isn't going to, not after having learnt the difference last time.

Jake gets them parked and grabs their bags as Amy maneuvers herself out of the car. She manages just in time, closing the door in the same second as there’s a sudden warmth down her thighs and she almost wonders if she’s peed herself before realising what’s happening.

“Water,” she tries to communicate to Jake, and he digs up a pink water bottle from her bag before noticing her wet leggings.

“Oh. That kind of water. Well, at least you didn’t get any on the seat? Very considerate.”

She just glares at him.

Amy guesses it’s meant to be something like a five-minute walk through the corridors, but when she has to stop every other minute for the contractions that seem to have increased fivefold in strength, bringing with them an uncomfortable pressure that she really does not like, it’s probably closer to twenty minutes before they can be guided into their room.

Their doctor - the same one she had for her first labor, an older woman with dark hair and a comforting smile who perfectly meets Amy’s rock-hard criteria for professional but nice - does a quick examination, which Amy can barely feel in comparison to how much pain she’s in by now, and then she laughs.

“Yeah, you’re having a baby tonight alright. Good job getting here in time,” she nods to Jake, who looks unsure if he should accept the compliment or freak out over the possibility of not having gotten there.

“Great,” Amy huffs. “So can I get the epidural? Because I want it now. Please.”

“Oh no,” Dr. Cowan laughs. “You’re eight centimetres dilated and this seems to be progressing quickly. My guess is you’ll be pushing in half an hour, so I’m sorry, but there’s no time for that.”

“What?”

“You could have the laughing gas, if you’d like, but anything else will just slow labor down.”

“You promised,” Amy hisses towards Jake, and he holds up his hands.

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t my fault.”

“You promised!”

“What are we fighting about here?”

“I don’t know,” she confesses, and then another brutal contraction washes over her, together with the realization that she’s going to have to do the rest of this unmedicated.

She’s not happy about it.

Really, Amy's not sure how she gets through it.

To say that it's bad is an understatement; it's excruciating, some kind of evil torture she genuinely can’t believe humans were made to be able to handle, agonizing to a point where she's nearly hoping it will render her unconscious because that means she wouldn't have to take it anymore. She tries the laughing gas, but it just makes her feel dizzy and out of control, so she powers through without it. Jake tries to tell her she's crushing it, that she's badass and strong and doing amazing, but she can't waste any focus listening and eventually she tells him - not very gently - to shut the fuck up. It makes her feel kind of bad, because she knows he’s trying to be supportive, but at the same time, she really couldn't care less about his feelings because she's pretty sure she's going to die every time the pain increases.

But somehow, she survives.

One good thing - and it's not even good, it's more like a band-aid on a gaping chest wound in comparison - about no epidural is that she's free to move around, trying different positions in hope for something to ease the pain. Nothing does, but some ways give her a little bit more power, a little more control over what's happening. Amy supposes it's worth something. She does love control, even if she’d trade it in a heartbeat for some sweet, sweet pain relief. She ends up standing sort of on her hands and knees on the bed, getting some help from gravity, and it feels like the last bit stretches on forever but later on she’ll learn it was really fast. It's scary, a surrealistic thing to feel how her body just takes over, like it knows how to do something her head definitely doesn't.

And then, right as she’s certain she's not going to make it even another second, it's over.

There’s a moment of petrifying fear that something's wrong, that her baby’s about to be taken away like Leah was for the first traumatic minutes of her life, but then she hears a sharp, gurgling cry and she's not sure what’s happening but suddenly there’s a baby on her chest and everything is so, so, right.

Her daughter's kind of purple still, a little slimy and a little bloody and completely perfect, and Amy's shaking with a mix of shock, adrenaline and tears as the newborn puts her tiny hand high up on Amy's chest and she can't help but grip it, whispering a gentle hi, baby, hi, as the child squeaks in return.

She's imagined the sensation of holding her just-born baby in her arms since the first day she started thinking of having another kid, and yet all the fantasies pale in comparison to the explosive, unyielding love she feels when the newborn opens her eyes, gazing carefully at the world for the very first time.

“You know what time it is?” Jake asks her once when they’ve been moved to the recovery room, trying to fathom what just happened. “It’s five-thirty. She was born at four-thirty. When did you say you woke up?”

“Two a.m.,” Amy mumbles, and he shakes his head.

“So you did that in, what, two and a half hours? Man, you’re insane.”

“Thanks.” She chuckles, stroking her fingers over the thick, dark hair that appears to be a dominant trait for Santiago-Peralta children. Their newborn daughter is blinking at them as she tries to figure out the whole breastfeeding thing, seeming pretty exhausted from the events of the morning but not really wanting to sleep, either. “It was awful.”

“But worth it?”

“Yeah,” Amy nods without tearing her eyes away from their hour-old miracle. “Worth it. I’m not doing it again, though.”

Jake grins and kisses the top of the newborn’s head. “Very fair. I mean, we literally have the two most perfect kids the world has ever seen, so it’s not like you have to.”

“She really is perfect, huh?”

“For sure. You really are,” he whispers to their baby, running his thumb over her round cheeks and tiny nose. “Just like your sister.”

“Leah,” Amy bursts out, sitting up a little straighter and instantly regretting it because she’s sore and ungracious in every way. “We need to tell her! We never even told anyone we were going in! Fuck, I gotta text Rosa. Can you get me my phone?”

Jake brings it to her, and Amy carefully transfers their daughter over to his chest so she can have her arms free. The newborn whimpers at first, not too happy about the move, but then Jake softly pats her back through the pink and blue hospital blanket and lets her grip onto his thumb with her fist, and she’s at peace again. Her little head snuggles into his chest as she relaxes, and Amy just watches, barely making an attempt at wiping away the happy tears.

It’s been an obvious feeling to her, to hold her children for the first time and know that they are hers in some miraculous way, that they were part of her - but it’s another unique and indescribable feeling to watch Jake hold them and know they are his just as much, always safe and loved in his presence. Although she could never have predicted the sensation, she’s always had an inkling of it - a deep conviction and a ceaseless, rightful confidence that he would make the greatest dad. It keeps being proven correct.

“I forgot how small they are,” he mumbles, and there are tears in his eyes, too.

“She’s like a pound and a half bigger than Leah was.”

“Doesn’t feel like it. Do you think they look the same?”

“A little?” Amy tilts her head. “Same hair, same nose. But so different, too.”

“I think she looks a lot more like you than Lee did,” Jake smiles, stroking the little fist holding onto his thumb before kissing it. “I’m fine with that. You look like your mom, kid. Oh, don’t look so upset,” he says when the newborn scrunches her face together, “it’s a great way to look. Would you rather have my nose? Yeah, right. I didn't think so.”

Amy laughs, letting them continue their exchange as she snaps a picture of them and then sends that and another one of the first baby pictures to Rosa.

Rosa’s reply is as instant as it is shocked. She congratulates them, tells Amy she's crazy, promises them they can talk to Leah once she wakes up and even offers to drive her there later in the afternoon “if it means she'll beat Charles to meeting this baby”.

Amy figures she should probably text more people to spread the news, but the important thing is Leah knows, or at least will know, so she puts her phone on the side table and turns back to Jake.

“Rosa’s going to call us when Leah’s awake,” she says, unable to keep herself from leaning over and kissing their baby’s cheeks when she squeaks a little again.

“Great. You want to get some sleep before?”

“Oh, so bad.” Her exhaustion faded away somewhat in the chaos, pure adrenaline and a cascade of hormones keeping her awake, but it's catching up with her now. “Promise you two are good?”

“Olivia and I are great,” he promises, and his smile and their daughter’s softly blinking eyes makes her certain he’s right. “You agreed to that name, right?”

“One condition.” Amy yawns. “You are never allowed to tell her she’s named after a cat. Ever.”

She thinks she can hear him mumbling something about not making promises he won’t be able to keep, but she’s falling asleep before she can protest.

Leah’s and Olivia’s first meeting doesn’t start out great.

Amy’s trying to be methodical and gentle, making sure Olivia’s in her bassinet and she can have both arms free to hug her three-year-old, but then the infant starts wailing the moment Leah enters the room and she gets terrified, immediately trying to run out with tears streaming down her cheeks. Jake has to chase after her while Amy tends to Olivia, who’s decided she needs to eat right this second and not a moment later, except she’s literally ten hours old and not very good at nursing just yet, which only serves to increase her frustration before she calms down enough to figure it out. When she does and Amy can take a deep breath, Jake and Leah return. Leah’s calmed down a little, but she’s still red under the eyes and skeptical to even say hi to her mom and her sister. Amy’s heartbroken as the girl wraps her arms tighter around Jake and turns her head away, and there’s a second where she wonders briefly again why she thought this was a good idea.

But then, Jake asks if Leah wants to see the gift Olivia brought her - a nifty trick Amy found on some Instagram account - and the three-year-old squeals with happiness as she unwraps a singing Elsa doll, and it’s upwards from there. She dares to climb into the hospital bed and first look at the baby, then carefully pat her head, then laugh as Olivia finishes nursing and makes another squeaking noise. Amy figures Leah won’t want to hold her sister at first, but once she’s told them all about her sleepover with Rosa - it seems to have included gymnastics, a Disney movie and cake - she’s looking at the baby with a little more interest, and then she asks the question all on her own.

“Can I hold her?”

They put a pillow in her lap and a pillow behind her back for support, and Jake holds his hand under Olivia’s head throughout, but they let her. It’s the best thing Amy’s ever seen in her life. Just when she thinks it can't get better than this, Leah leans her head down so her cheek is touching her little sister's, and Amy has no way of stopping her happy tears.

She’d never thought people were lying, per se, when they’d described how your love just doubles when you have another child. She’d been certain she would love another baby just as much. It had been part of the reason she fought so hard to have one, but she realizes now that she was never even close to understanding the full meaning of double the love. The power with which she loves Leah has grown exponentially for every day, reaching infinity and still becoming stronger, and today, it's like her love for Olivia has clocked in at the same level, stretched out a hand and increased in tandem with the love for her sister. Amy wonders how it makes sense, how it’s possible for a heart to grow that big, but she's accepted that it’s one of many questions about motherhood she’ll never know the answer too.

Instead, she just makes sure she takes a series of pictures to document the moment, and then she meets Jake's eyes for a second to mouth a silent I love you.

They get to go home the next afternoon. Amy was expecting it to feel more natural with their second child, less like they’ve stolen someone else’s baby and is pretending to know what they’re doing, but it feels just as absurd as the first time when they secure her in the car seat and carry her outside.

The sun seems to be shining particularly bright as they drive, but Olivia sleeps for the whole way home.

She does not, however, continue with that for the rest of the day. Rather, she wants to eat for most of it. Which is fine; Amy knows and remembers that’s what it’s like at first. Still, it’s exhausting and far from painless while they’re both trying to figure it out, and it keeps her stuck to her corner of the couch for hours on end. This gets Leah jealous, making her throw a tantrum because she wants Amy to play with her in her room and she can’t, and there's a moment where everyone except Jake is crying at the same time before Leah calms down and accepts the suggestion of everyone watching a movie on the couch and ordering pizza for dinner. Partly to celebrate, partly because no one has the energy to cook.

There's going to be an adjustment period for them all, Amy figures. She’s certain it will come with a cavalcade of challenges, but as Leah insists on being Jake's helper as he changes a diaper and shines with pride as she hands him too many wet wipes and picks out Olivia's pajamas, she can already tell it's going to be more than worth it.

When it’s time for Leah to go to bed, she claims she wants everyone there to read stories. Amy asks, just to make sure, if that means her sister too, and Leah nods. She’s very intent on storytime taking place in her bed, though, and so Amy ends up squeezing herself to fit in the toddler bed with Olivia on her chest and Leah on her side. Jake has to sit on the floor.

“This is unfair,” he grumbles, and Leah laughs and snuggles closer to her mom, pressing a kiss to her baby sister’s head.

“Read the story, dada.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.”

They read two different stories, both of them yawning through the second one. Amy’s pretty sure Leah’s about to fall asleep, can feel the little arm draped across her stomach going heavier, more relaxed, but as Jake closes the covers to the second book, there’s a whisper.

“Another book,” it comes out in a yawn, and Jake laughs.

“Are you sure, bumblebee? I think you’re getting pretty tired.”

“No.” Leah shakes her head. “More stories.”

“Fine.” He presses a kiss to her forehead. “One more. Just for tonight.”

He begins to read, and a few minutes later, Leah’s sleeping. She has her mouth open, one arm still resting on Amy as if to hold her in place, her other arm hugging the stuffed lion animal she still sleeps with.

She seems so big in comparison to her little sister, yet so innocent and peaceful as she’s sleeping, and entirely magical to watch. Every day, Amy thanks her lucky stars that she gets to watch this child grow up and take on the world, and it blows her mind to think she’ll get to do the same with the baby curled up on her chest. It seems so far away to picture this tiny infant growing up and becoming her own unique individual, too, but she knows it will happen, and she cannot wait for the rollercoaster ride she figures raising these two children will be.

She’s squeezed into a far from comfortable position in the narrow toddler bed, she’s still sore and in pain after the nightmare that is childbirth, she's sleep-deprived and figures she's looked better after a 48 hour work shift than she does right now, but both her children are sleeping so close to her, and she's never been happier.

There’d been a time, not long ago, where she thought she’d never get to experience this. A second child had seemed like something the universe wasn't willing to give her, until it was, and now she’s living the reality she once feared would remain a dream.

She knows she’s never going to see her infertility journey as something beautiful, because it wasn’t. It was heartbreaking, soul-crushing and lonely even with Jake by her side, and the few comments she’s heard about how it must all have been worth it, though have made her want to punch someone. It was a curveball life threw her, an unfair challenge she had to go through for some reason, and she’s happy she survived it but she’s not grateful it happened. She’s simply accepted it. In the end, her life also gave her this; two objectively perfect children who are the best thing to ever happen to her, even pushing their father down to a still close second-place position. Her gratefulness for them still doesn't erase the painful experiences, but it makes them fade into the background, to a point where they’ll eventually become but a faint shadow of a memory. Amy figures that is the most she can ask for.

It takes her a moment to realize she has no idea how she's going to get up from this position. She’s closest to the wall, and she gets now that it was an unwise choice. Leah’s holding onto her arm, Olivia’s sleeping lightly and already stirring, and Amy has strong doubts in her own ability to get up without waking anyone.

She looks to Jake, hoping he might be able to help her, but finds that he’s fallen asleep on the floor using a stuffed animal as a pillow and holding his thumb between the last pages of the book they were reading. It looks ridiculous and deeply endearing at the same time, and even though it means she’s so screwed and she’s going to have to wake him somehow before Olivia starts screaming bloody murder, she can’t be mad about it.

All she can do is laugh.

and at last, i see the light

and it’s like the fog has lifted

and at last, i see the light

and it’s like the sky is new

and it’s warm, and real, and bright

and the world has somehow shifted

all at once, everything looks different

now that i see you.

~ i see the light, from tangled

#my writing #b99 #brooklyn 99 #brooklyn nine-nine #peraltiago #jake x amy #b99 fic #brooklyn 99 fic #brooklyn nine-nine fic #b99 fanfiction #brooklyn nine-nine fanfiction #jake x amy fic #jake x amy fanfiction #peraltiago fic #peraltiago fanfiction #iwthwy

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ladywinterwitch · 4 years

Text

Silver

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Summary: You and Sebastian have been dating for a little over a year, and hwen he asked you to be his date at the Avengers: Endgame premiere, you couldn’t be happier. Now the only thing that’s missing, it’s the dress.

Warnings: None except fluff, two ofc, some cursing

Word count: 1651

A/n: Nothing elaborate, but cute nonetheless. Ps: I know that the gif is from TWS premiere, but I needed that suit color.

(Gif not mine)

-Hey sweetie!- you turned around, seeing your two besties coming towards you with an excited face.

-Finally! Ugh what took you so long?- you hug them both to greet them. Lily huffs.

-Traffic was a bitch.- Carol rolls her eyes, opening the boutique's door.

-It's not true, I had to wait for her to finish her damn make up.-

-You never change.- you laugh shaking your head. The guilty girl gives the other a slight nudge with her elbow.

-Thanks a lot.-

-Always honey.- Carol responds with a fake smile.

-Hello girls, can I help you?- a nice woman, probably in her forties, approached them. She was wearing a black jumpsuit that looked as elegant as the rest of the shop. That was all Sebastian’s fault. He insisted to pay. You didn’t want to spend a fortune for a dress, but he said to choose whatever you liked.

A fortune for him that you weren’t a mony grabber or someone who spends a lot in general. And he trusted you.

-Yeah, I'm here to find an evening dress.- you responded. She nodded and smiled politely, inviting the three of you towards some fancy leather couches with a few changing rooms nearby. The tent was open, showing a quite wide space and a full body mirror, both outside and inside the room.

You would've expected to explore the shop, but you soon understood that it was one of those places where you had to be followed by a shop assistant at every step.

-So, what's the big occasion, if I may?- she asked, offering champagne to the three of you. Your friends almost had their eyes out of their head at the sight. None of you was really used to this fancy shit.

-A premiere.- her eyes widened a bit.

-Wow. We really need you to shine then, don't we?- you gave her a shy smile and she chuckled. Then she made you get up to go take a look at the dresses. Carol and Lily immediately started to look and comment on each one.

-So, just to get a more specific idea. Did you have something in mind?-

-I'm sure about a long dress. Something elegant, not too tight maybe?- you didn't have a precise idea about what you wanted. All you knew was that you didn't want to appear raunchy nor ridiculus with something too stravagant. It wasn't your style. Also, it would’ve been your first public appearence with Sebastian, and your first time in front of the paparazzi ever.

It had been a fight sometimes to keep your relationship under wraps, and knowing how much Sebastian valued his privacy, it surprised you when he asked you to come to the premiere as his plus one. He was giving you trust, and you wanted to prove to him that you were worthy of it, because he deserves it.

-Okay, I think I got it. Why don't you go in the changing room while I bring you a few to try on hmm?-

The lady, which you later found out to be named Ines, brought you five different dresses. Your friends gawked at you every time, tellin' that you looked great, but the gowns didn't really convinced you, even though they were beautiful. The first was a sleeveless blue dress with a silver embroidered top with a very deep neckline, the second had a basically identical cut to the first, but the neckline was more covered and the color was a very light, almost greyish blue and the whole dress was embroidered, the third was embroidered, rose gold and had long sleeves, the fourth was plain, violet and was covering just one shoulder, and the fifth and last one was emerald, with the upper part separated from the skirt kinda like a crop top but longer, decorated with stones and sleveless but with a collar attached, while the skirt was made in soft organza and had two stripes covered in stones at the waist.

They really were beautiful. The problems were that one didn’t fit your taste, or it didn’t convince you. In any case, you wanted to look around for yourself, to avoi wasting both yours and the lady’s time.

-Can I take a look around?- you ask with a smile, still wearing the fifth dress.

-Yes sure, that way.- she pointed to your right. You went around, barefoot on the soft moquette, your wavy hair picked up with a large pin.

-I don't understad why you don't like those dresses. I mean, you look like a damn princess even right now.- Lily said, following you. You shrugged.

-It's not that I din't liked them. I just didn't liked them enough.- you look at a few more dresses, then you stop, picking one.

You look at it for a few seconds and smile, then you turn to Ines.

-I take this one.- you announce with convinction.

-What? So fast?- Carol says shocked. She look at Lily, which just shrugs.

-You may want to try it on first, Darling? I'm sure it'll look great, it's just a precaution.- the shop assistant talks sweetly to you.

-Alright, but I'm buying this.- you answer while you close the tent of the changing room.

You tried it on, and it fitted you like a glove. You paid, a quite reasonable prince surprisingly, and then went home after two full hours of searching.

-Honey, I'm home.- you called out while you closed the door to your shared apartament. Sebastian came out of the kitchen in his full glory. A tight black t-shirt, gray sweatpants, freshly washed fluffy hair and a delicious scruff. He smiled at you widely.

-Hi baby.- he placed his hands on your waist and pulled you close to kiss him.

-I missed you too.- you chuckled, caressing his cheek.

-Did you find what you wanted?- he asked, leading you to the kitchen where he was making dinner. Kind of a miracle, considering that before meeting you he never even tried to learn to cook.

-Yes. Mmh, it smells amazing in here.- you mix the boiling sauce with a spoon.

-Thank you. And?- you raised an eyebrow, leaning against the kitchen counter.

-And what?- you asked, he got closer, starting to kiss your neck, cheek and collarbone.

-Can I see it?- you moaned slightly, biting your lip so suppress a smile.

-Nope.- he backed away to face you.

-Why?- you give him a quick kiss and then you went to the kitchen stove to turn the sauce off.

-I want you to see the whole package the day of the premiere.- you answer.

-I don't care about the 'whole package'. You, stark naked and without make up are a whole package for me already.- he resumed to kiss your neck.

-Okay lover boy. But I'm not changing my mind. Also, it's still at the boutique, I'll go fetch it the morning of the premiere.-

-You're cruel.- he pouted sitting at the set table. You placed his plate in front of him giving him a kiss on the head.

-Evil.-

A week later, it was the day of the premiere. You went to collect your dress in the morning and now, Sebastian's hairstylist, which brought along a friend of hers who was a make up artist, was applying the last touches to your face. You decided to go for a grey bright smokey eye which made your eyes magnetic, some blush and a medium red matte lipstick. You didn't do anything special with your hair, you just curled them in natual beach waves and pinned two locks in the back of your head, fixing them with a silver and diamonds star shaped pin.

Finally, you put you dress above the black lace lingerie, which you knew Sebastian would appreciate later on. Carol and Lily were there too to help you get ready. They fixed your dress and checked your make up for the last time.

-Perfect.- the first said.

-Sebastian's gonna love it, y/n.- you smiled at her.

A sudden knock on your door interrupted your conversation.

-Baby, the driver will be here in ten minutes, are you ready?- your boyfriend's voice spoke through the door.

Your friends looked at you excitedly and you huffed out a breath before going to open the door.

You were welcomed with the sight him in a classic black suit with a black shirt and tie. His scruff was gone and his hair were a litle shorter and styled upwards.

When you were done checking him out you saw that his mouth was slightly agape and his eyes full of love.

-You're stunning baby.- he finally said. You smiled sheepishly.

-You look handsome. I'm kinda jealous.- you laugh a bit placing your palms on his chest.

-You shouldn't be. You look brighter than a star.- he smirked, then frowned a bit looking again at your dress.

-Are these...for me?- he asked referring to the silver stars adorning your black dress. You smiled widely, happy that he understood it.

-The winter soldier's colours. Black, silver and red.- you marked the last word with a featherlight kiss on his lips.

He didn't say anything for a few seconds and your smiled faltered a bit.

-You don't like- but before you could finish you sentence he grabbed your face by your cheeks and kissed you. You placed your hand on his wrists and closed your eyes.

-I love it. And I love you.- he whispered on your mouth. You smiled fondly at him, while you locked gazes.

-Sorry to interrupt, but it's better if we go now.- Carol said startling you a bit. You forgot that they were even there.

-Oh sure. Thankyou girls, for everything.- you hugged them quickly.

-Don't mention it sugar. You both look fantastic, so if you'll excuse me now I'm going home to cry with a bottle of wine.- Lily said in a dramatic tone making you all laugh.

After a few minutes the driver arrived and you got in the car.

-Are you okay?- he asked kissing your hand.

-Just a little nervous.-

-Don't be, you look beautiful. Also, you already know half of the cast. It's going to be alright.- he soothed you. You smiled feeling a bit reassured.

-We have arrived, sir.- the driver says.

-Let's go out there.- you say confidently while a smile creeps on his face.

Hope you liked it. Feedback is always appreciated :)

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lemonadeswift · 4 years

Text

Zoo Baby - Luca 23 Months

“You ready to go to the zoo?!” Sebastian asked excitedly,

“Yeah!” Luca shouted, throwing up his hands. Sebastian laughed happily at his antics. Chris walked ahead of them and loaded the stroller into the back of the car, Sebastian meanwhile fastened Luca into his car seat, since turning 23 months old, Luca had suddenly become more active than ever, the “terrible twos” kicking in before either of his dad’s were ready. But they took it in stride.

“Luca, you have to sit back,” Sebastian told him, Luca squirmed around, trying to see what his dad was doing in the trunk of the car,

“Papa!” He called,

“Yeah bean, I’ll be right there, listen to daddy,” After Luca had popped his head over the back seat and gotten a good smile back from his papa he finally settled down and let Sebastian buckle him in. Once Sebastian was sure Luca was set he closed the door and went to get into the passenger seat,

“Zoo!” Luca shouted,

“Yup! Off to the zoo to see all the animals!”

Sebastian had his sunglasses on, baseball cap shielding his eyes from the sun, Chris had his own pair of sunglasses on and he was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt with a large print of Winnie the Pooh on it. Sebastian made fun of him endlessly for it but Chris wore it with pride.

“Pooh!” Luca had exclaimed when he saw it, pointing to the shirt and then holding up his Eyore stuffy. Chris had happily exclaimed back, “And Eyore!” Pointing at Luca’s stuffy,

Luca was currently in his stroller, leaning half way out of it. as he tried to look around at everyone. Luca wasn’t used to being around so many people at once. It was a nice spring day and the Zoo was busy. The gates alone were packed. Chris had a backpack slung over his shoulder filled with all the essentials for a day of fun at the Zoo. His arm stayed at the small of Sebastian’s back the entire time as they slowly moved towards the front of the line.

“Daddy!” Luca said,

“Yeah bean?” Sebastian answered.

“Bird!” He pointed up at the top of the gate way that had ornately carved animals in it, the section they were waiting under had a large parrot carved in it.

“Yeah! It is a bird, that’s a parrot, we’re going to get to see one, a real live one soon!” Sebastian told him enthusiastically,

“Papa!” Luca said, pointing, “I see,” Chris said happily, “What do birds say?” He asked Luca,

“Tweet tweet!” Luca said back,

“That’s right!” Chris reached forward to ruffle the tufts of hair on Luca’s head. Luca finally sat back and played with the toys Sebastian had attached to the stroller. After buying tickets and grabbing a map they went without incident into the Zoo. They stopped just inside the gate as Chris opened up the map.

“Where to first?”

“I don’t know, let’s ask Luc,” Luca looked up at the sound of his name and Sebastian smiled down at him,

“What animal do you want to see first?”

“Lion!” Luca shouted, throwing his little hands up, “Roar!!!” He let out the most adorable little roar, Sebastian grinned and roared back at him, Luca happily clapped and laughed at his dad’s antics.

“Alright, well that’s in the Africa zone, this way,” Chris pointed down a brownish orange path, and Sebastian followed.

They saw Lions, meerkats, a warthog, gazelles, and elephants, two of the elephants came right up to where Sebastian and Luca were standing, a keeper of there’s was nearby and gave the okay for Luca to reach out and touch. It was a really special and unique experience and Luca was fascinated as he touched their long trunks. Sebastian and Chris were quite impressed with the whole ordeal, never having seen an elephant this close before. The elephant’s name was Sasha according to the information plaque and photo matching the elephant with a chunk missing from it’s ear due to an accident in the wild. She was very friendly, her trunk came up to explore the top of Chris’s head and side of his face, Chris laughed happily but held still and let her explore. Luca giggled at how silly it was,

“Daddy she’s gonna eat you!” He said,

“Nah, Elephants don’t eat people,” Sebastian said, “Remember, they eat plants, like your book said!”

“Oh yeah!” One of the other elephants trumpeted from farther away and got Sasha’s attention, she turned and slowly walked away, but not without looking back for a second and seeming to wave with an ear and trunk to them and the other onlookers who had gathered around.

“Bye bye bye!” Luca said, waving as she left them.

“What do you want to see next?” Chris asked Luca, putting him back into his stroller.

“Bird!” Luca said, Sebastian nodded, and Chris pulled out the map to see where they needed to go,

“Oh look, they have a demonstration with Macaw’s in fifteen minutes, I bet we can make it if we hurry!” And so they were off, the bird sanctuary was filled with all kinds of colorful species, both big and small, outside of the indoor dome there were a few large cages surrounding it holding a few rare species of vultures and outdoor birds that needed a bit more room, including a bald eagle and her babies.

“God bless America.” Sebastian muttered into Chris’s ear as they stood in front of the bald eagle enclosure. Chris snorted.

“Surprised they never brought one of these into the Cap movies to be honest,” Sebastian said, Chris snorted,

“And where exactly would they have put one?”

“I don’t know, flying majestically behind you or something while you were kicking ass,”

“Ass!” Luca said, Sebastian’s eyes widened,

“No! Luca, don’t say that word,” Sebastian chastised.

“Ass!” Luca repeated, out of all the words in that sentence he chose to repeat that one.

“Ass, ass, ass, ass ass!” Luca said, shaking one of his dinosaur plushies around as he said it,

“Hey, no, Luca, we are going to go home if you don’t listen to daddy.” Chris said firmly, “That’s a bad word, daddy shouldn’t have said it, and he won’t anymore, you don’t say it either,” Luca seemed to understand, and he went quiet again. They began to move again when from quietly under the hood of the stroller they heard Luca whisper “ass” and giggle to himself. Sebastian turned to Chris biting his lip to hide his smile, Chris just rolled his eyes as they continued on.

The Macaw demonstration was interesting. The birds were bright and colorful and when the keeper was finished Luca loudly exclaimed to Sebastian,

“I want one!” Sebastian laughed and patted his head, “Sure, you can have whatever you want when you’re an adult and can pay and take care of it yourself,” Luca frowned as he narrowed his eyes at him before sitting back again in the stroller. They decided to get lunch next, they were near a rainforest themed restaurant and they stopped in. Chris was pleasantly surprised at all the options they had available,

“Luc, what do you want to eat? They have pizza, burgers, wraps, tacos, or spaghetti,”

“Getti!” Luca shouted happily, again throwing his arms up in the air, Chris sighed, the messiest option, thank goodness they brought extra clothes. Chris got in line at the Italian station and Sebastian went over to the wraps and taco station, getting his and Chris’s food while Chris waited to get Luca’s. They grabbed bottled sparkling water for Sebastian, a carton of milk for Luca and for Chris, since he wasn’t on a movie diet currently, grabbed a Coke.

“I hate you,” Sebastian said. Chris laughed. One thing people didn’t know about Sebastian is that he had a hankering for sodas, he loved fizzy drinks and since going onto his movie diets, sparkling water had done the trick, but every once in a while he’d really be craving the sugary goodness of a Sprite or a Coke, and currently, since he was filming another Marvel movie in two months, he wasn’t allowed to have anything but sparkling water, grilled chicken, boiled chicken, vegetables, and whole grain or whole wheat breads. It was a bland diet, but what had to be done had to be done. Sebastian sat down at a table with his sad meal and Chris and Luca sat down as well, they pulled Luca’s chair up to the end of the table and Chris pulled out an empty sippy cup from the baby bag. He poured some of the milk in and handed it over to Luca who began to drink it down fervently.

“Someone’s thirsty,” Chris commented.

“Me.” Sebastian said. “For Coke.” Chris rolled his eyes,

“Papa?”

“Yeah?” Luca pointed to the spaghetti “It’s coming, hold your horses.” Chris got some on a tiny fork that he also pulled out of the bag and twirled the pasta around it, bringing it up to Luca’s mouth,

“No Papa! I do it!” Luca said, Chris sighed, but he handed over the fork and Luca stuck it in his mouth, smearing marinara sauce all over his face in the process.

“Meatball, peas,” Luca asked politely holding out the fork, Chris cut one of the two large meatballs in half and speared it before handing it back to Luca, Luca was happily occupied with the meatball for a few minutes allowing Chris to shove a few bites of his steak wrap in his mouth.

“More?” Luca requested, and Chris gave in, just placing the plate of cut up spaghetti and meatballs in front of him, Luca happily grinned and began to feed himself messily, Sebastian couldn’t help but chuckle at the mess he was making,

“Don’t know what you’re laughing at, you’re the one that’s gonna change him, I’m the one that’s feeding him. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Chris but nodded in fairness.

“So Luc, what animals were your favorite so far?”

“Lion!” Luca said, “Roar!” He roared loudly, holding his little hands up like claws, his fingers red and covered with sauce, Sebastian laughed and roared back at him, as he reached forward to clean off his hands a bit with a napkin,

“Those were cool, the big lion, he was just laying out there on his rock in the sun, he looked like he was having a great time. “And the baby lions were all playing together cool, they were pretty neat, what else did you like,”

“Penwin!” Luca said,

“The penguins! Those were awesome, they were sliding around on the ice, and one of them did a dive into the water, remember that one? The one with the silly hair?”

“Like Papa!” Luca giggled, Chris looked mock affronted,

“Like me? I have better hair than that penguin, take it back,” He reached over from where he sat to tickle Luca’s neck,

“Take it back,” he said again with a smile, Luca giggled even harder, “Swwry! Swwry! Swwry! You look pwetty papa!” He said, Chris grinned as he stopped tickling him, reaching to have another sip of coke.

“Thank you, you look all messy,” he said with a wink. Suddenly a hush went over the entire café and the squeak of a microphone was heard. They all looked over to see a man in a blue suit on the stage that was set up,

“Welcome to our sing along in the rainforest! Our afternoon show is recommended for people of all ages! Feel free to let your kids come up and dance and sing in front of the stage, we’re going to have a great time! Let me introduce to you our pals for the afternoon!” Music blared through the speakers and Luca wiggled around in his seat in excitement, well, Chris guessed they’d be staying for an unplanned show. A few moments later a group of people came out dressed as different animals, a jaguar, a toucan, a frog, a monkey, and a tapir. They proceeded to introduce themselves with songs based on their animals to to the tune of mary had a little lamb, ba ba black sheep, I’m a little tea pot, and the wheels on the bus. Luca was happily wiggling along in his seat,

“You want to go up there and dance buddy?” Sebastian asked, Luca nodded and Sebastian helped him out of his seat, he walked with him over to where other kids were dancing and jumping around in front of the stage, he took a seat to stay close by and and let go of Luca’s hand so he could join in. Luca quickly found another little girl and they twirled around and responded as best as they could to the call and response singing. Suddenly, a loud thunder clap sounded through the café, and all the animals went to hide behind various props or hide in on themselves, an evil laugh was heard before a regular looking man in a tacky rainforest explorer outfit appeared with binoculars, followed by a cardboard bulldozer and two men dressed as construction workers.

“Here, this is a wonderful spot to put up my state-of-the-art tree house and science lab, but first, we must cut down all these trees to make room for it!”

“Oh no! They’re going to try to cut down the tree that toucan is living in!” Said the tapir, The sound of the bulldozer was heard over the speakers, and the people with the cardboard bulldozer moved closer to the tree, Toucan was raised up on wires to look as if they were sitting in the tree. The tree began to wobble and shake, and toucan cried out, afraid.

“We’ve gotta help toucan before she gets her home cut down! Let’s all sing to tell the workers how important the rainforest is to us! Come on everyone!” The music started up again and the Jaguar took center stage, beginning to sing about how the trees were her home and how she relied on them to lounge in and climb for exercise and sleep. The frog explained that he needed the cover of the canopy and leaves so that his environment would stay dark and damp, the monkey sang about how he loved swinging from branch to branch and how he got his food from the trees and the forest around him, eventually, the toucan went last, singing about how this tree in particular was her home, together they all finished off with a few lines about how the rainforest was an ecosystem that was hurt when it was disturbed, and how there wouldn’t be anything for the man to study in his lab if he cut down the rainforest around him. The show ended with the animals convincing the workers and the explorer to build their treehouse and lab elsewhere.

All the children cheered as the animals continued to dance around and celebrate as confetti fell from the ceiling onto the stage, the animals all came down and danced among the children for a few minutes as the music faded out, Luca got to dance with the tapir in particular, and he had the biggest grin on his face as he did. Sebastian took his phone out to capture the moment in pictures, it was too cute. After they finished and the animals left the stage and the lights came up Luca came stumbling back over to Sebastian, excitedly falling in to his lap and grinning,

“Did you see! Did you see me! Did you see me daddy!?”

“I did! You got to dance with the Tapir, did you have fun?”

“Yes!” Luca said, jumping up and down, Sebastian grinned, lifting Luca up into his arms to bring him back to the table, Chris was sitting there with a lazy smile and love in his eyes as he watched them come back to him.

“Alright buddy, let’s go get you cleaned up and changed and then we can see the North American part of the Zoo, what do you think?” Chris asked him.

“Okay papa,” Luca said, and he accepted Chris’s hold on him easily, Sebastian began to clean up their trash while Chris walked off with Luca’s backpack to the bathroom.

“Alright bud, I want you to go try to use the potty now, okay? Because we’re gonna be out for at least another hour and a half and you drank a lot of juice and water so far, okay?”

“Ok,” Luca said, and they both entered the handicapped stall together. Chris helped Luca onto the toilet and praised him with a smile when he used it correctly,

“Great job buddy! I’m so proud of you, that’s twelve times you’ve been to the potty this week! Only three more and we can go get a prize!”

“Yay!” Luca said, throwing his arms up. “Papa,”

“Yeah buddy,”

“Are we gonna see bears?”

“I don’t know, I know they said they had some here, we’ll see if they’re out in their encousure when we get there, hopefully we will,” Chris helped Luca button his pants and then the two of them left the stall, he lifted Luca up so he could reach the sink to wash his hands and then told him to stand behind him while he used the urinal.

“Papa when can I use that?” He asked on the way out, pointing to the urinal,

“When your aim gets better,” He told him, Luca scrunched up his face, not understanding the response, and Chris just laughed, “When you’re bigger,” He replied instead. Surprisingly, Luca took that answer,

“Daddy!” Luca threw his hands out as if he hadn’t seen Sebastian in weeks Sebastian turned from where he was situating the stroller with a smile.

“Hey bean, you ready to go?”

“Bears!” Luca shouted in glee,

“Oh yeah, the bears, let’s go see them!” Sebastian said.

Along the way to the bears they saw a number of other animals, first were the Otters, they were happily swimming around in a giant river, a few of them would dive up out of the water and some of them would swim up to the glass of the underground viewing enclosure to see the people.

Luca waved to one with a smile and in return the otter did a flip under the water before swimming away. Luca peered around the stroller to smile at Chris and Chris grinned back, it was turning out to be a very eventful trip for Luca and he was happy the animals were out and interacting with people as much as they did.

The next animal they saw was the American Badger, the badger was farther away in it’s large enclosure but Luca was eventually able to spot it with help from Sebastian who lifted him out of his stroller and pointed to it. Luca waved frantically when he caught sight of it, fortunately not too upset when the Badger didn’t react.

They next entered the North American Reptile and Insect dome, inside were a variety of giant bugs, a turtle and a tortoise who was 89 years old, a Gila Monster, two species of rattle snakes, the corn snake, the Arizona Mountain King Snake. Three species of lizards, three giant toads, and two frog species were also housed inside the dome. Outside the dome were a few other interesting animals, such as hedgehogs, who were on display with a keeper to pet if one wanted to, and two three banded armadillos. Luca especially liked the King Snake, the hedgehog, and the giant toads. To every animal he said hello and goodbye, waving animatedly and even getting a picture with the hedgehog who snuffled at him adorably.

“He’s cute isn’t he?” Sebastian said, as he pet the hedgehog too, it was a pretty neat experience. Finally, they came to the third to last animal before the Bears, this one was the American Red Fox, immediately Luca strained from his stroller at the sight of one who was close to the front of the enclosure.

“Fox!” He shouted and pointed excitedly, but to both of his parents surprise, the word didn’t come out as “fox” more like “fucks” Instead.

“Daddy look! Fox!” He pointed again, Sebastian nodded, trying not to laugh,

“Yes buddy, that is a red fox he pronounced the word carefully. Surprisingly the fox wasn’t scared away by the loud shout Luca had let out and continued to sniff around at whatever it was interested in curiously.

“Daddy! Look! Baby fox!” Luca pointed again, still pronouncing the word wrong, Sebastian felt his face heating up as the family next to them had looked over at hearing the mispronunciation, sure enough though there were four little baby kits approaching who must be their mother,

“Yes, baby kits, you’re right, they’re cute aren’t they,”

“Fox! Fox! Fox! Fox!” Luca shouted, Chris couldn’t hold back anymore, and he started cackling. Sebastian swatted at him in aggravation, “It’s not funny,” He hissed,

“Yes, it is!” Chris said, having to bend over at the waist to catch his breath.

“Fuck you,” Sebastian hissed under his breath at him, this only made Chris laugh harder, Luca peered around his stroller again to look at his papa,

“It’s okay honey, papa just thought of something funny, let’s go see the wolves and then the bears, what do you say?”

“Bye Mr. Fox!” Luca called out as they left, Chris choked out a last snort as they walked away, much to Sebastian’s annoyance.

The wolves were amazing and majestic looking, there were pups in the enclosure there as well, they wrestled, and play fought in plain sight while the mother lounged near by and the others could be seen through the trees. Two of the pups got curious and came closer to the front of the enclosure, one let out an adorable little attempt at a howl in response to the people around, the mother didn’t let them linger for long though, coming up and herding them back to where the other pups were at.

“They’re so cute aren’t they?” Sebastian said, as he knelt down by Luca’s stroller,

“Can you howl like a wolf?” He asked Luca, and Luca let out a high pitched attempt at a howl, much like the pup had earlier, Sebastian just laughed and praised him, patting him on the head and asking him if he was ready to go yet. This time Luca wasn’t, in fact, he wanted to get out and get closer, so they let him, after a few more minutes where Sebastian watched Luca stare at the wolves from right up next to the glass and while Chris walked around reading about the wolves, they finally decided it was time to go,

“Come on Luc, time to go see the bears!”

Luca’s eyes lit up at this, and he quickly toddled back over to Sebastian who lifted him and put him in the stroller, Sebastian pressed a kiss to his cheek as he set him back in, not bothering to buckle him since Luca knew how to unbuckle himself and since the seat itself kept him from sliding out.

They walked down the path following other families and couples for a few minutes. Sebastian was guiding the stroller with one hand while his other was firmly grasped by Chris. Finally they turned down the path that boasted the bears ahead, Luca got excited when he saw the carving, pointing and leaning out of his stroller.

“Papa! Daddy! Look!”

“I know, we’re almost there!” Sebastian said back enthusiastically, they finally arrived and Luca was practically climbing out of his seat.

“Hold on, hold on,” They were surprised to see that they were one of the only ones around currently. It was still around lunchtime and this was the end of the park. They’d made it through in under three and a half hours arriving at 9AM. Inside the enclosure though were three keepers, and to Luca’s absolute joy, they were luring the bears out for mealtime.

“Daddy look!” Luca practically squeaked as he pranced in place in absolute joy.

“I see, look at them! They’re grizzly bears!” There were five of them, a giant male, two females, and two cubs. Another could be seen far off in the back, but it looked like it was sleeping. Two more keepers came in from the side. One waved to them and began walking over, the enclosure itself was massive and was gated off by rock orifices with barbed wire and glass.

“Hi, I’m Mark, you guys came at a great time! We usually wait to feed the bears around this time because not many people come through,” He waved as another family came up as well, welcoming them,

“What are your names?” He asked the children who were part of both families, the second family’s kids answered first, Leslie and Adam, and then Luca,

“Are you guys excited to see the bears?” The keeper asked,

Luca nodded, jumping up and down, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Well, since there’s only a few of you right now, would you like to come around to the side, I think you’ll be able to see them better while we feed them,” Luca continued to jump up and down as he turned to Chris and Sebastian,

“Can we? Pwease! Daddy, papa!”

“Sounds great,” both families followed the zookeeper’s directions to the side viewing alcove, when they arrived, there was a green door that needed to be opened, it soon was by Mark and the families went in.

“Alright, you guys watch here, I’m gonna see if I can get one or two of them to come over,” He told them as he left through a second door that went into the enclosure.

“Alright, so we have seven bears here right now, three females, two males, and two cubs who were just born last month, I think we’re gonna let the mama and baby bears eat over there, she doesn’t like her babies to be bothered, she’s very protective, but I think I can get Lucy, our youngest bear to come over, now Lucy is an American Grizzly bear, she’s three years old and she came to us because there were people who were bringing her around to show off, kind of like we do here, except for they kept her in this tiny enclosure that was about as big as a shed and she couldn’t move and was kept on a chain, They were showing her off as a baby because she was little and cute, but once she got too big, they didn’t want her anymore.”

“That’s sad,” the little girl, Leslie, said.

“I know, and dangerous, she came to us here because she had an eye infection and her growth was stunted. Females, or girls, can get up to 450 pounds, but she’s only 230 and she’s probably not going to grow anymore, she’s also blind in her left eye, but she’s very sweet and fun, and a very good eater. She likes to show off for people too, so let’s see what happens,” Mark called out to another keeper and with a pat on the head, Lucy was sent over to them with the other keeper following close behind.

“Grizzly bears are omnivores, meaning they eat meat and plants, today we’ve got melon and some fish for her, we’ll see which one she goes for, I’m gonna leave the melon there and I’ll hold the fish,” The large bear came lumbering over to them, her ears twitched and her snout snuffled as she scented the food. Her left eye was indeed cloudy from what Sebastian could see. Luca and Adam were almost right up against the wire fence of the enclosure but they weren’t touching it, they both watched on fascinated as Lucy sniffed at the melon and batted at it with one of her paws, her claw piercing it before she decided to leave it alone and instead go for the giant fish Mark was holding, she took it right from his hands with her teeth and Mark let go of it before standing up, he then dumped out the remainder of the fish from the bucket onto the ground for her to eat before turning back to them,

“Fish it is, she’ll probably take the melon back to her sleeping spot and eat some of it later,” Lucy then butted into Mark from behind with her snout and he laughed,

“Good girl Lucy, sorry girl, but that’s all you get for now, you can have some more for dinner,” he gave her a scratch behind the ear and she snuffled and snorted, only seeming slightly upset that she wouldn’t get more.

“She’s a good bear, but remember don’t ever approach a bear if you see one in the wild, they are very dangerous, in fact, the best thing to do if you see one in the wild is to quietly and slowly walk away while avoiding eye contact. We don’t see many around here, but if you’re ever in bear country!” Mark said,

“Alright, well, I’m gonna finish feeding the others but you guys are welcome to stay and watch, say bye Lucy,” Lucy just snuffled at his feet again in reply. Luca giggled as he whispered and waved,

“Bye Lucy,” Mark smiled up at him and waved himself, before turning to go, Lucy following him while the other keeper watched Lucy’s movements from behind.

“Daddy that was so cool!” Luca said, vibrating out of his skin and jumping up and down, Sebastian chuckled, picking him up and setting him on his hip,

“It was, very cool.

“She’s so big!” Luca said, stretching his arms out to convey how large she was,

“And they get even bigger can you believe it?!” Chris said,

“You ready to go bud, or do you want to watch more?” Luca looked over to see that the bears were mostly at the other end of the enclosure now and not within view,

“Go home,” He said,

“Alright, sounds good, it’s almost your nap time anyway,”

Chris went to put Luca back in his stroller but he whined in protest.

“Oh alright I’ll carry you for a little bit, but then it’s back in the stroller you go,” He told Luca, Luca just snuggled into his neck. Wrapping his arms around Chris as he did so.

“Love you bubba,” Chris told him softly as he turned to follow Sebastian out, dropping a kiss into Luca’s hair as he walked. They ended up getting all the way back around to the entrance of the zoo, which was a good half mile or so, with Luca still in Chris’s arms.

“You wanna visit the gift shop?” Sebastian asked, Luca was already half asleep in Chris’s hold, half of the reason why he hadn’t put him down,

“Yeah, it’s his first time here, we should get him something.” Sebastian nodded, leaving the stroller outside and grabbing the backpack he headed in, the giftshop was rather large, having a second floor and two separate adjoined spaces. T-shirts, bags, hats, sweaters, onesies, frames, and fragile kick-knacks on glass shelves were in the first area, then came the checkout counter and the second room which was full of stuffed animals of every kind. The upstairs was filled with more, toys, games, puzzles, posters outdoor decorations and even a small section for Christmas ornaments. They decided to get Luca a shirt and then to let him pick out one other thing he wanted from the toys or the stuffed animals.

“Luc, buddy, can you wake up?” Chris asked him, rubbing his back and gently shaking him, Luca slowly lifted his head up and looked at Chris with a tired expression,

“Hey bud, I know you’re tired but we’re gonna get you something since it’s your first time here, which shirt do you like better?” Sebastian held out two options for him, one was filled with African animals and the zoo’s name and the other had snakes slithering over the letters of the Zoo’s name. Luca pointed to the one with the snakes on it,

“Good choice, now, if you want to you can pick out one more thing here, they have stuffed animals in that room and toys upstairs, do you want to look or are you too tired?” Luca squirmed in his hold, wanting to get down, Chris let him down and Luca quickly padded off to the stuffed animal section, Chris in his wake. His eyes lit up at the vast array of stuffed animals around them. He went straight over to a stuffed Tapir,

“Papa! Look!”

“I see, that’s nice, is that what you want?” Luca didn’t answer, just looking around, he went over to a stuffed elephant and giggled as he felt the soft ears, but he moved on from that one pretty quickly, he bypassed a section of snakes and lizards and frogs and paused for a second in front of the otters, they were pretty cute, but inevitably moved on. His little brow seemed to be furrowed in concentration, Chris was just about to ask him what was wrong when he gasped and took off, dropping the Tapir to the ground as he ran over to a giant grizzly bear plush. He tugged on it from where it was on the shelf, and it toppled out, it was almost as big as he was, he hugged it around the neck, a huge grin on his face,

“Daddy! Papa! Look! It looks like Lucy!”

“It does,” Chris agreed, but in his head he was thinking oh no, that bear is huge, well, they had said one thing… and they hadn’t specified.

“Is that the one you want,” Sebastian asked him, Luca nodded fervently.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look at the toys? And what about Mr. Tapir?” Chris asked, Luca gasped again, dropping the grizzly bear and running to take the tapir out of Chris’s hands, he hugged it close,

“Swwy I drops you,” He told it, petting it’s head, Chris smiled,

“So the Tapir?” He asked, Luca looked between them, far too stressed and confused for any two year old. He clutched the tapir to his chest and walked over to the grizzly bear, petting it and hugging it too. He looked between them, a frown etched into his features. He looked like he was about to cry. Sebastian caught Chris’s eye from where he stood and he inclined his head foreward as if to say,

“Are we really gonna make him choose, come on, he loves them both,” While Chris responded back with a stern head tilt of his own as if to say “We can’t just give him everything because he looks sad and cute,” Luca was still looking between the two stuffed animals, he sighed, kissing the tapir and saying, “Sorry” to it, and that was it, yeah, they really were gonna give in because he was sad and cute,

“Luc, do you want them both?” Sebastian asked with a sigh, Luca’s eyes widened, his face brightening immediately,

“Can i? Can I really have them both daddy?”

“Just this once, come on, let’s go before you find something else!” Luca dropped both stuffed animals as he ran into Sebastian’s legs,

“Tank you, thank you, thank you thank you!” He said, Sebastian smiled as he patted his back, Chris picked up both stuffed animals and they headed up front to pay. Chris carried the grizzly bear stuffy as Luca held onto the Tapir and his hand, While Sebastian put the t-shirt into the stroller and the family exited the zoo together.

Alright, here’s your bear, and your tapir, you’re all buckled in,

“All buckled!” Luca said, giving Chris a thumbs up, Chris had laid the stuffed bear over Luca’s lap and Luca held the tapir in his hands. Chris checked again to make sure he was fastened in well before closing the door and climbing in the passenger seat. As they drove off, they heard Luca talking to both stuffed animals,

“What are you gonna name them?” Chris asked, as they got to the exit of the Zoo to turn onto the main road,

“Tete and Lucy!” Luca said proudly,

“Alright, tete and Lucy, is Lucy the bear and tete the tapir?” Chris asked for confirmation,

“Uh huh…”

“Great choices.” Chris said, although he wasn’t sure where “tete” came from… kids. Soon enough Luca’s soft mumblings to the stuffed animals petered off, at a stop lught Chris looked back and his heart swelled at the sight. Luca was sleep, cuddled up with both of them.

“Seb, look,” Sebastian glanced back and his heart warmed as well, a soft smile stretching across his face.

“Now that’s precious, take a picture,” He told Chris, and Chris did.

Today was a success. A tired out toddler and a nice family outing for the books.

Luca’s stuffed animals Tapir & Grizzly Bear

#Luca Evans #YMMLY series #Evanstan

19 notes · View notes

eldritchsurveys · 4 years

Text

792.

What would you call your body type? >> I don’t call it anything. Most of the time I’m trying to forget I even have a body.

Are you a morning person? >> Yeah, something like that. Particularly on sunny mornings.

Have you ever been to Target? >> I’ve been to Target many times.

Do you like iced tea? >> Sure, as long as it’s not loaded with sugar.

When is the next time you'll be at work? >> ---

Do you have a savings account? >> I do have a savings account. There’s rarely anything of note in there, though. The only reason there’s a goodly amount in there now is because of the stimulus check -- I took an opportunity to put in the amount of one month’s payment for my computer, just in case my finances got fucked up one month or something.

Has anyone ever hacked your accounts before? >> Not to my knowledge. If so, it was probably an account I’d already abandoned.

What color bedsheets are currently on your bed? >> Grey.

Have you ever been to Disney World? If so, how many times have you been? >> I’ve never been.

Does grammar and capitalization mean anything to you? >> Sure. All forms of language need some kind of rule system in order to be effective, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to communicate with others at all. Even the dialects that people deride for not being “proper” have grammatical rules -- as becomes painfully obvious when non-Black people try to use AAVE lmao. As far as capitalisation is concerned, I use the proper forms of it on surveys (I don’t know why, I just always have) but an “improper”, casual form almost everywhere else on the internet. My familiarity and ease with the English language is pretty well demonstrated by all the different forms of it I switch between on a regular basis, and I enjoy playing with and learning the variations of language like this.

Are you good at wrapping gifts for others? >> Yeah, I can wrap a gift pretty well.

Do you have a dirty clothes hamper in your room? >> No, the hampers are in Sparrow’s room (her room is just bigger, lol).

What would you say is your favorite television show? >> I wouldn’t, really. I like a lot of shows.

Do you enjoy big holiday dinners? >> I don’t really have a feeling about them. They’re not something I care about, but I’m not necessarily averse to them either.

Is your vision good? >> It is.

Is there any piece of jewelry you're constantly wearing? >> Just the jewelry in my piercings.

What is one thing you desire as of now? >> It’s complicated.

What kind of phone do you have? >> Moto g6 Play. The only reason I remember this now is because my headphones always announce the name of whatever it’s connecting to.

If you could move anywhere, where would you choose? >> Somewhere southerly.

Do you have any obsessions? >> I mean, maybe. I just don’t notice anymore.

Do you blog a lot, if at all? >> Not formally. I just reblog stuff on tumblr and sometimes make an original post. Also, I do this.

Is your present hair color, natural? >> Yeah.

What makes you the most angry when it comes to people? >> I just hate how contemptuous other people can be of stuff they don’t understand. Instead of just being like “eh, I don’t grok it, it doesn’t jive with me” it becomes “that’s so sad that people do [x]” or “I’m not a loser, I don’t do [x]” or whatever. Even when it comes to calling people “stupid” and “disgusting” for their opinions or their lifestyles. I am far from being a particularly kind person, but every day I try my best to evaluate people’s actions for what they are and how they affect me instead of just labelling them inferior for not being like me; but people who will call themselves kind in a heartbeat are the first people to just tear into someone for not upholding whatever standard they’ve got built up in their heads for humanity. I’m just sick of it, and it’s why I don’t really get involved with people all that much. There’s always going to be that moment when they say something judgemental, and as it goes, eventually that judgemental attitude is going to be turned on me.

Describe your current outfit? >> It’s just a pair of harem pants, an undershirt, and a thin sleeveless top with a weird design on the front, heh. I don’t know where I got this top from, but I need about 15 more of them. It’s so comfortable.

What was the last thing you ordered online? >> I think the last thing I ordered was a new nightstand.

Have you ever felt as though you were drifting apart from a best friend? >> No.

What color are your eyes? >> Dark brown.

Have you ever worn color contacts? >> Yeah. My first pair were violet, and later on I wore white ones (or one white one, Marilyn Manson-style).

What's the best thing about a hug? >> I don’t know. I don’t receive any of the benefits of hugs. (Inworld hugs are very nice, though. They feel warm.)

Biggest fear? >> Some vague hyper-imaginative stuff about death.

If you have a significant other, how long have you been together? >> Can Calah has been here for about 9 years, I think, and with Sparrow it’s been 8 years. My general idea is that Can Calah was here for about a year before the thing with Sparrow started, so that’s how I measure it.

Do you know any genuinely friendly people? >> Sure.

Do you buy your friends gifts? >> Not usually.

What was the last thing you plugged in? >> My laptop.

How old are you? >> This is my last day being 32.

What color headphones do you own? >> Black.

Have you ever shopped on Urban Outfitters? >> Nope.

Where do you buy the majority of your clothing? >> I don’t really have a place that I buy the majority of my clothing from.

Would you rather wear necklaces or earrings? >> Necklaces.

Do you consider yourself fortunate? >> Sure, in some cases. Not so much in others.

Do you enjoy watching fights? >> No.

Have you ever been in a physical fight? >> Yeah.

Do you tend to talk badly about people? >> No, if there’s one thing I consider myself committed to working on, it’s how I speak about and treat other people -- like I was discussing in an earlier question. I guess it makes up for my lack of emotional attachment.

Where are your parents as of now? >> ---

Does your computer cooperate most of the time? >> Yeah, my machines have always gotten along pretty well with me. I try my best to treat them well and I like to think they operate at their best because of it.

Does your family have any cheesy traditions? >> ---

When did you last go to a book store? >> Whew, good question.

What's the closest book store where you live? >> Maybe Schuler’s.

How much money do you have on you right now? >> I don’t have any money on me, but there’s like five dollars in cash in my wallet-thing.

Favorite personal feature? >> ---

Are you wearing make up at the moment? >> No.

Favorite television channel? >> I don’t have one. My favoured streaming service is Hulu.

Describe any piercings or tattoos you might have? >> Ehhhh I feel like I do this constantly.

Have you ever been fired from a job? >> No. Unless Second Life jobs count, lmao.

Are you currently losing a best friend? >> No.

Describe the worst day of your life: >> ---

Do you play any video games? >> I do.

Would you say you hate anyone? >> I would not say that.

Do you think freckles are cute? >> I don’t have a feeling about them one way or the other.

Last time you went to the mall? >> God... December?

Name something that's your favorite color: >> This cool ring I have.

Have you been to Red Lobster before? >> Yeah, a long time ago. I nearly lost my mind when I tasted a cheddar bay biscuit for the first time.

Do you judge by appearances? >> Judge what, exactly? There is some information I process through appearance, yeah -- like, I assume that a person wearing a Behemoth t-shirt and black jeans with a chain wallet is probably a metalhead. Or that a person with impeccable hair and nails and makeup is probably really fussy about their appearance. The thing is, these are still things that I could possibly be wrong about, but it’d be harmless.

Do you follow a certain religion? >> No.

Who is your role model, if you had to choose? >> I don’t have to choose, and there’s no one I would choose.

Would you rather have nice hair or lips? >> What...

What are you most self conscious about? >> Just... existing. I don’t like being observed at all most of the time.

Do you have any family members who live out of town? >> ---

Do you consider yourself short? >> No. I mean, I am short in comparison to a lot of people, but it’s not something I think about like that.

What room are you in? >> Mine.

Hoodies or jackets? >> Hoodies.

Are you outside a lot? >> Not a lot, no. There’s nowhere to really go, especially nowadays. I’d sit outside more often if I didn’t live in an apartment complex. Like, this would be a great day to just lounge about in a yard.

Have you ever been dumped via text message? >> No.

Do you like dreamcatchers? >> I mean, they’re pretty.

Favorite crayon color? >> ---

What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? >> V. (I don’t know why I have a favourite letter of the alphabet when I don’t have favourites for so many other things. It just be like that.)

Do you hate repetitive people and things? >> Er... like, not as a rule, I guess. But there are some repetitive things I hate, like certain sounds.

Do you think autocorrect is a blessing or curse? >> It’s neither to me, I just don’t use it.

Do you believe in any particular curses? >> I don’t have any experience with curses.

Ever play a Ouija board? >> No, I never got around to making one and now I just don’t care anymore.

What movie scares you the most? >> ---

What was your bedtime as a child? >> Damned if I remember. Probably like eight.

Reason why your favorite holiday is your favorite: >> I just enjoy the vibes. Also, I’ve got a thing for old St Nick.

Do you work with any close friends? >> ---

Do you consider yourself spoiled? >> No.

Do you listen to any country music? >> Sure.

Have you ever taken a keyboarding class? >> No.

Favorite high school teacher: >> ---

Do you ever get drunk? >> I’ve been drunk many times, but it’s not something I get into much these days. I like a good buzz, but anything beyond that is just overkill.

Have you ever had highlights before? >> No.

Favorite number: >> 9 / 19.

Do you still sleep with any stuffed animals? >> I sleep with way more stuffed animals now than I did when I was a child, actually.

What is your biggest regret in life? >> ---

Do you enjoy social situations? >> I enjoy ones I have explicitly chosen and that I have some measure of control over. Not like, control over the conversation or anything, I just mean the interaction is happening in an environment I find comfortable and/or I can leave whenever I feel the need, stuff like that.

Would you say you think you have a mental disorder of some kind? >> I don’t care about whether I have a mental disorder of some kind, I just care about learning to live with myself without punishing myself for not being “normal”.

Are you normally an independent person? >> I have a disordered attachment style which makes me feel like I need to be independent all the time, but I cognitively know better than to think humans really work like that.

Do you have any paintings? >> Yeah.

What is one clothing fad you wish never existed? >> ---

Do you like to be organized? >> Yeah, I really do. It makes me feel peaceful to see an organised space.

Have you ever failed a class before? >> Probably. I also got no credit at all for one class, which is probably worse.

Ever been judged because of your weight? >> I mean, probably, even though I’ve never been particularly over- or underweight. People will judge anything.

What is your favorite breakfast cereal? >> ---

Ever had a wish come true? >> ---

Do you regret meeting any of your exes? >> Nah. It’s not that deep. (It’d probably be that deep if any of them had been, like, violent abusers or something like that. But nah, they were just... people. With all the flaws inherent thereof.)

Do you own any coloring books? >> Yeah, but I never use it anymore, lol.

What's the meanest thing someone's called you? >> I don’t know.

Have you ever bullied someone? >> No.

Do you ever watch Lifetime? >> No.

Ever tried to intentionally sabotage someone's grade? >> No. How would one even go about doing that?

Do you own any brown clothing? >> Yeah, I have one Dark Tower shirt that’s brown. I hardly ever wear it, though, it just fits weird.

What color are your walls painted? >> Off-white or whatever.

Last thing you drank: >> Water. (Wourder.)

Have you ever seen a tornado in person? >> Nope. I hope to see one one day. (hope it isn’t the last thing I see, hah)

Do you have an inground pool at your house? >> No.

What is the first digit of your phone number? >> 6.

What's the prettiest town you've been to? >> *shrug*

Do you tend to sleep a lot? >> Nah, my body seems to err on the side of sleeping less rather than sleeping more.

Silver or gold jewelry? >> Gold.

Do you sometimes celebrate holidays early? >> No.

Have you ever been in love? >> I don’t know.

What's the best gift you've ever received? >> I don’t know.

When was the last time you showered? >> Monday afternoon.

Would you consider yourself attractive? >> No.

Has anyone made you mad today? >> No.

Favorite smell: >> Oh, who knows. There are a lot of good smells in the world.

Are you afraid of insects? >> I’m knee-jerk afraid of some. Like anything that makes a buzzing sound (wasps, bees, flies, whatever), because the sound startles me badly and triggers my flight response. But I know I’m not just overall-afraid of bees or anything because I love bees, love watching them, and I’d totally let a bee just crawl around on me without feeling the same impulse. It’s just that damned sound.

Do you have any children? >> No.

If so, what are their names? >> ---

Would ever consider having children in the future? >> I’ve considered it. And I’ve concluded that I’d rather not.

Have you ever lived on a farm? >> No.

Ever played any sports? >> Briefly, in school.

Do both of your parents have jobs? >> ---

Where is the best place you've been on vacation to? >> New Orleans.

Are you afraid people won't accept you? >> What people? Generally, I’m not fussed about being accepted by just... random people. But I’d want, like, my friends to accept me...

Are you, for the most part, an honest person? >> Yeah.

Did you make prank phone calls as a child? >> No. My father definitely would have whooped my ass for that.

Do you like to make donations? >> I don’t make donations.

Favorite movie at the time being: >> The Fountain.

What is your current ringtone? >> I have no idea what the default ringtone on this phone is, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.

Meet anyone from your past lately? >> No.

Have you ever called a teen suicide line? >> No.

Have you ever caught something on fire? >> On purpose, sure. Like a cigarette or a candle. Not anything that shouldn’t be aflame.

Ever been obsessed with a show? >> Yep.

What type of perfume or cologne do you use? >> I use a roll-on oil.

What's the last book you read? >> The last book I finished was The King In Yellow. Well, I finished the good stories, anyway.

Dream career: >> ---

Have you ever climbed a mountain before? >> Yeah, but not like, the whole thing.

At what age do you plan to get married? >> I was married at 32.

Ever been in a car accident? >> No.

#surveys #survey #random survey #almost lost this whole shit because i didn't realise my isp was doing maintenance and the internet was down #yeesh

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