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hbyrde36 · 4 months

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Burnin' For You

(Pt 1 of 2) AO3

Written for the Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge

Hosted by @thefreakandthehair!

Dialog Prompt: “Who sets the fire alarm off at 3am in December?” / “Who runs outside without a coat at 3am in December?”

Ever since Steve's ex broke up with him and walked out on their life together he hasn't been able to sleep in their apartment on his own. For months now he's taken refuge in the space under his desk, in his /thankfully/ privacy office on the 8th floor of a high-rise on the edge of the business district. It was all going fine, really, until the night the fire alarm went off.

WC: 2,557 | Rating: E (for smut in pt. 2!)

The ear-piercingly loud siren of the building’s fire alarm jerked Steve out of an already fitful sleep. He startled awake, tried to sit up, and wound up banging his head against the underside of his desk hard enough to see stars.

Great.

Just what he needed, another knock to the head. As if the two concussions he’d picked up playing sports back in high school hadn’t been enough.

He laid there like an idiot for a moment or two, hoping it was a mistake and the grating sound would stop on its own, but the wailing of the alarm only seemed to grow louder the longer he was awake.

Shit.

What was he supposed to do now?

The obvious answer was to follow protocol and go outside to wait for the fire department to arrive, which he really, really, didn’t want to have to do. In his defense there was no smell of smoke or anything but seeing as it was the middle of the night and everything, there was basically zero chance that this was a drill.

He sighed heavily and reluctantly got up, shoving his feet into a pair of slippers he kept in his office for late night trips to the bathroom, or sometimes to the coffee machine in the break room when he really couldn't sleep, and grabbed his cell phone off the charger. He didn’t bother stashing his pillow or rolling up the sleeping bag, still hopeful that it was a false alarm and he’d be back in no time to resume what was left of his night on the hard floor with its all too thin commercial carpeting.

He walked on autopilot to the elevator, remembering just as it dinged and opened that if there really was a fire or some other emergency, he should be taking the stairs. He shuddered as his mind conjured up high resolution images of being trapped in there as the building burned down around him.

Thanks for that, brain.

He shook his head and quickly backtracked to the stairwell access door.

Steve shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as he crossed the street wearing nothing but red checkered flannel pajama bottoms and a white long sleeve t-shirt, his version of Christmas pajamas. Not that he felt very festive this year, but he was trying. At least he had something on his feet. He blamed sleep deprivation for the fact that he hadn’t thought to grab his coat off the rack on his way out.

He came to a stop next to the building that faced the one he’d just fled, chin tucked in tightly to his chest, slowly curling in on himself more and more as the cold seeped into his bones. It couldn't have been more than forty degrees outside. His teeth chattered and he wondered how long it would take for the fire department to arrive. Maybe he could just sneak back into the building for his coat. It wasn’t like there was anyone around to stop him.

The abrupt sound of a throat clearing loudly nearby made Steve nearly jump out of his skin. His head snapped up, locking eyes with a man who was leaning against the wall not five feet away from him. Steve knew with certainty that he’d never seen him before, even in passing. He would have remembered those deep brown eyes and gorgeous head full of long dark curls. He wasn’t sure how he’d missed noticing the stranger’s presence just now, his only excuse being that he hadn’t expected anyone else to be around at this time of night.

“Oh, uh. Hi.” Steve stuttered out awkwardly. “Were you in there too?”

“Yeah.” The man said, sounding a little nervous himself. Steve guessed he was also surprised to see another person.

“That’s odd.” Steve said, tilting his head to the side. “I didn’t hear anyone else in the stairwell.” And with the way his own footfalls had echoed on the steps he thought for sure he would have.

“Oh. I took the elevator.”

“That was pretty dumb, what if it got stuck?” It was a little tactless even for Steve, given that he’d almost done the same thing, but could he really be blamed for putting his foot in his mouth given the hour and the circumstances?

The stranger raised both eyebrows. “Wow, charming.”

“Wasn’t trying to be.” Steve grumbled.

“Okay, fine. If there was a fire it would have been stupid, but clearly… ” The other man trailed off, gesturing towards the building which sat whole, still, and very much not on fire in front of them, before grumpily pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

Steve swallowed hard. Smoking was a disgusting habit, or so he’d been trying to tell himself for the past six months since he decided to quit, but damn if this infuriatingly attractive stranger didn’t make it look hot. The way he raised one to his mouth and wrapped his plush lips around the end of it had warmth pooling in Steve’s gut despite the frigid temperature surrounding him.

Nope. He wasn’t going there. He needed to deflect, now.

“But you couldn't have known that. Unless… '' Steve paused, a thought occurring to him. Suddenly it clicked and he was livid. “Oh you absolute fucking asshole!”

It probably wasn’t completely fair, but it was easier to be pissed off at some jerk, cute or not, for being an idiot than it was to face the truth. He wouldn’t be in this situation if he could just sleep in his apartment like a normal person, but ever since Tommy left he couldn’t stand being there for any longer than it took to take a shower and change his clothes. It was supposed to be their home, their life that they were building together, until it all fell apart.

“What did I do?!” The other man squawked in reply.

Steve gave him an unimpressed look, gesturing to the cigarette in his hand and, more pointedly, to the smoke that was curling up and away from it.

“Shit.” He cursed, throwing the cigarette to the ground and stubbing it out violently with the toe of his boot, as if getting rid of the evidence now would erase it from Steve’s mind. “It was an accident, okay? It’s never been a problem before, I just blow the smoke out the window and it’s all good, usually, but I guess the direction of the wind wasn’t on my side tonight.”

Steve bristled. “Well thanks to your accident,” He began, using air quotes to highlight how ridiculous it sounded. “I'm stuck out here freezing my ass off. Who sets the fire alarm off at 3am in December?!”

The man smirked, an expression that somehow made his already stupidly pretty face that much more attractive, and crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke. “Who runs outside without a coat at 3am in December?”

Well, he had him there.

Still Steve glowered, willing a scathing retort to form on his tongue. But, before he could manage it the doe-eyed stranger was shrugging out of his jacket and stepping up to drape it across his shoulders. The leather was worn soft and smelled vaguely of tobacco and some expensive brand of warm, spicy cologne. Steve breathed the scent in deep and felt the beginnings of a blush crawl up his neck to settle on his cheeks.

“Better?” The stranger asked, voice gone soft in a way that sent shivers up Steve's spine that had nothing to do with the weather.

“Yeah, uh, thanks… “

“Eddie.”

“Eddie.” Steve repeated, liking the way the other man’s name felt on his tongue. “Steve,” he said, introducing himself in return before adding, “but, won’t you be cold now?”

Eddie shrugged. “I’ll be fine, I run hot.”

You can say that again.

Steve looked Eddie up and down as subtly as he could manage, taking in the way his newly exposed t-shirt was stretched tight across his body, accentuating lightly toned arms and a thin waist. He bit down on his lip hard, trying to snap out of it. He couldn’t remember ever being this attracted to someone at first sight.

“If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Steve asked.

“14th floor, Hellcheer studios. Do you know it?”

Steve nodded. He’d never visited that part of the building before, but he knew of the small yet successful startup production company that was housed above his own offices.

“I sneak in here a lot at night to record when inspiration strikes. I don’t like taking up time that could go to other artists. There's less pressure too, when no one else is around. Just me, my guitar, and a microphone.”

“Couldn’t you get in trouble for that?

“No, it’s, uh, let’s just say I know the owners really well.” Eddie chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “What about you? And don’t say working.”

“How do you know I’m not here burning the midnight oil, same as you?”

Eddie laughed and shot him a truly wolfish grin. “Well, for one, no one really works between Christmas and New Years unless they absolutely have to, and for two, you’re wearing pajama bottoms, sweetheart.”

“Oh, right.”

Steve deflated a little. He’d completely forgotten the state he was in and was instantly embarrassed at the reminder. He didn’t even know what he was still doing here. He was so stupid, standing on a street corner waiting for the fire department when really he should just get over himself and go home, be normal.

He slid his shoulders out of the leather jacket to try and give it back to its owner before he fled, but Eddie was having none of it. He wrapped it right back around him, only this time they were facing each other and Eddie had to move in extra close to swing it around his back. So close that Steve could feel the other man’s warm breath brush across his cheek as he spoke.

“No, please keep it on.” Eddie began, rubbing his hands up and down Steve’s covered arms, warming him further. He kept his voice low and gentle and the whole thing was so undeniably intimate that Steve thought he might actually swoon. “I can't have you freezing to death when it’s my fault we’re stuck out here. I’m sorry if I said something to upset you. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear. I was just… teasing, I guess, and maybe a little curious?”

Steve was too tired to come up with a believable excuse, if there even was such a thing.

“I, um, I can’t sleep in my apartment anymore. Ever since my ex left I just… it doesn’t feel right to be there alone?”

It was quite the admission to make to a perfect stranger on the sidewalk in the middle of the night, but despite his initial embarrassment, there was something about Eddie that made him want to open up. He felt strangely safe.

“I’m sorry, that must be rough. How long has it been?”

“A few months.”

“Oh, Steve.”

“And I know what you're going to say. I should be over it by now. That’s what everybody says.”

“Actually I was going to say, your poor back. I can only imagine how much it’s suffering sleeping on a cot or god forbid the horrible floors in that building.”

“Oh.” Steve said, looking away.

“Hey, you’ll get over it in your own time. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Eddie said, reaching up to cup his cheek. The hand was so warm on his icy skin that Steve was helpless to stop himself from nuzzling into the touch.

“Thank you.”

A beat of silence fell over the two men and by all rights it should have been uncomfortable, standing there wrapped up in someone he didn’t know, but Steve couldn't bring himself to care. Eventually the sound of sirens in the distance prompted him to speak again, knowing the fire department would be there soon.

“I kinda am, y’know? Over it, I mean. My ex… looking back I’ve realized he wasn’t the best person. I don’t miss the relationship exactly, I think it’s more like I miss what could have been.”

Eddie hummed in agreement. “I get that.” He said, and paused before asking, “why haven't you moved?”

“I think at first it was because I hoped he’d come back.” Steve answered, risking a glance into Eddie’s wide sympathetic eyes. “Pathetic, I know.” He murmured.

“None of that Stevie, you’re not pathetic for holding out hope.”

“After a while I realized it was for the best. Tommy… I don’t think he was ever as committed to us as I was. I don’t think he even liked me by the end, let alone loved me.” Steve sighed, closing his eyes against the memories that flooded his mind. “I was offered a promotion. It would have come with a huge pay raise but it also would have meant longer hours at the office and less time at home. I turned it down, there wasn’t any amount of money worth that, to me at least, and besides, I like my job. Tommy didn’t agree, he was furious.”

“I’m sorry, but the guy sounds like a dick.”

Steve laughed, cracking a smile for the first time in a long time. “Yeah, yeah I guess he was.”

A fire truck with flashing lights came barreling around the corner seconds later, coming to a stop directly in front of them. Eddie, to Steve's disappointment, let him go, explaining that he should be the one to talk to them since the whole thing was his fault, and stepped away to greet the handful of responders.

It was only a few minutes before Eddie came jogging back, a look of obvious concern pinching his face.

“I tried to tell them it was my fault, that it was a mistake, but their chief said he has to clear the building anyway and it could take a while. I don’t think we’re getting back in there tonight. I guess we’ll both have to head home for the night.” Eddie sounded sad at the idea, as if he were as upset as Steve was that their time together was coming to an end.

But maybe it didn’t have to.

“It’s alright, my apartment isn’t all that far from here.” Steve said, contemplating the best way to make his move.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said, grasping Steve’s hand and squeezing it. “I know you said you hate sleeping there alone.”

This man could not be real, Steve decided, he was far too fucking sweet. And something about that must have made him feel brave, because he looked Eddie right in the eyes and just went for it.

“I was sort of hoping… maybe I wouldn't have to sleep alone?”

Eddie raised a single eyebrow, face breaking out into a tentative smile. “Are you sure?”

In reply, Steve tucked a finger into Eddie’s belt loop and tugged him forward, closing the distance between them as he crashed their mouths together. Eddie let out a pleased hum as he deepened the kiss, and Steve was pleasantly surprised to find that his lips were even softer then he could have possibly imagined

Part 2!

Thanks and love to @penny00dreadful for being the best cheerleader and beta reader a gal could ask for! 🥰

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #spicysixwinterfanworkschallenge

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colie-nne · 11 months

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mystery solved

pairings: formula 1 grid x fem driver!oc

warnings: none

a/n: hello, this is the first fic of my Valiente series, there's more information about Valentina in my previous posts. Feel free to request or share some ideas, I would gladly do them if it fits.

December 21, 2020

Throughout the 2020 season, fans as well as media personnel are unable to comprehend Alfa Romeo’s plans for next year’s season. Rumours have circulated that an upcoming driver will soon join in on the race and would continue to break records as well as the news as long as they are seated. However, after a year of keeping information confidential, a legend in the sport had maybe managed to ruin their plans to surprise the world.

A video posted by Formula 1 themselves— F1 Drivers Look Back On Their 2020 Predictions!— gained massive attention after the statement of the one and only, The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen set the entirety of the association in flames.

Read more below

“It says that Mercedes will finish in first place,” Kimi had stated, showing the scribble filled card to the camera.

Entertained, the interviewer can only laugh, “Is that what it says?” Kimi who’s clearly just there for the entertainment went along, “ Yeah, it says finish- uhh Mercedes,” pointing at this writing one the paper to emphasize that he in fact predicted that Merceds had indeed won.

“Second is uhh- it’s there cause it will soon happen,” he nonchalantly says, which interested the interviewer to push through, “What does the second one say?”

“It says V’s seat confirmed and then a tick mark,” directly as he looks off to the side. “V? You mean by Vettel? Are you confirming a seat for Sebastian Vettel in Alfa Romeo for the next formula 1 season?” inquiring him, Kimi can only shake his head for a no.

“A-No, Not him. But I was still right, what a surprise!”

The clip not only added fuel to the fire but pictures of an unidentified fellow had also surfaced online. A person was reportedly seen attending to as well as entering Alfa Romeo’s garages and motorhome, they were also seen around the paddock with McLaren’s very own Lando Norris.

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown had denied the team's connection with the mystery person. Alfa Romeo's CEO has also chosen to not speak up about the rumours. However, pieces of evidence from the past month can serve as hints that this unknown person would be the new Alfa Romeo driver.

January 2021

Just in! Alfa Romeo confirmed the rumours that have been circulating since the beginning of late last year. The Formula 1 team also released the identity of their upcoming driver as pictures of them had been released at the end of last year.

Valentina Corbyn is known to be the one who won the 2015 European Championship, followed by the world title in 2016 and is the only female in the line-up during that time. Her future despite being unclear when she started her karting career, had flourished throughout the years and had managed to sign a contract with the Alfa Romeo F1 Team and would soon be driving alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

It may be surprising to some but the 18-year-old's contract had been ongoing for two years before her initial signing in early 2020. In signing with Alfa Romeo along with a seat in this year's season, the team has also confirmed that she will be replacing Antonio Giovinazzi, who will be the team's reserve.

In appointing her as the replacement for Giovinazzi, will her dreams lead her and the team to higher places or will it be its downfall?

#f1 x you #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 fandom #f1 fic #f1 imagine #f1 instagram au #f1 x reader #formula 1 #f1 series #formula 1 x you #formula 1 x reader #f1 fluff #formula 1 x oc #f1 x oc

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hlficlibrary · 10 months

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HL Fic Library 🤣 Fics With Humor

Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find the library's other recs here.

🤣 Just Me, You, And This Box of Matches by tomlinsunshine @tornlinsunshine (M, 87k)

Louis is fairly sure that his new neighbour is going to destroy him. And also their apartment building, and the dumpsters outside, and all the forests within a thirty mile radius. But. Mostly him.

🤣 Harry Styles Cooks… by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships (E, 61k+, wip)

In which Louis Tomlinson can’t cook, there’s a very special shower curtain, and Harry Styles used to be a baker.

Or: Louis owns all of Harry Styles’ cookbooks, and he never intends to cook a single thing out of any of them.

🤣 Frankincense-ational by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup (T, 31k)

Harry Styles works at the Hillsyde Library with his friend Zayn and best mate Niall. It’s December, which means Christmas, which should be the happiest month of the year…

Except Niall just broke up with his boyfriend, Zayn needs to let up on the rules a little, and the library is getting their fire alarm system replaced, which means that for the next few weeks there are going to be firemen patrolling the library ‘looking for fires’ while the system is down.

Harry almost hits one of them with his car right off the bat - and of course he’s the hot one.

🤣 the butthole series by @kingsofeverything (E, 24k)

a series of standalone fics with a central theme

🤣 That's How I Know by @allwaswell16 (E, 19k)

Louis Tomlinson has just landed his dream job, coaching soccer at Augustus University. When he moves into a new house near campus, he meets his very fit new neighbor, English professor Harry Styles. Although their first meeting leads to an instant mutual dislike, the more Harry gets to know Louis, the more he likes what he sees.

Or the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

🤣 Man, Deconstructed by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom (E, 13k)

Harry doesn’t need help getting laid and he certainly doesn’t need Niall to hire a professional to ‘sort him out’.

But when a gorgeous man turns up on his doorstep on his birthday to ‘lay some pipe’ in the back garden (who just happens to have the best arse Harry’s ever seen), his world is upended.

OR the one where a well-meaning best mate, a sculpture-worthy arse, and a heaping dose of misunderstanding combine to create sheer and utter chaos, and also, maybe, the best thing Harry’s ever found.

🤣 One Vote Can Rock the Boat by @2tiedships2 (M, 12k)

“Niall, I need you to come and vote with me tomorrow.”

“Lou, I know we’ve only been friends for about two years now, but I guess I’ve never explicitly told you I’m Irish?”

“You don’t have to vote, exactly,” Louis explained. “But I don’t want to go to a sex toy shop by myself.”

“Have I just entered an alternate universe? In what world does voting for the government correlate in any way to sex toys?”

Or the one where Omega Louis shows off his “I voted” sticker as one of the first 100 customers to get a free vibrator. The beautiful alpha behind the counter informs him that he’s customer 101.

🤣 autopilot by silkbombs (M, 11k)

Louis accidentally sends an unknown number a video of him giving a cockroach a funeral. The weirdest love story ensues.

🤣 Umbrielievable by nikogda / @cyphermedley (NR, 11k)

Three months ago they began to pick up a weak signal. They couldn’t decipher it and figured it was just a satellite they were picking up. Eventually, they were able to translate "Give us cheese" but the rest was still a mess. That message baffled them, and they immediately thought it may be a joke from another country.

Or, The one where Harry is an Alien from Uranus' moon, Umbriel whose inhabitants require cheese to survive.

🤣 Just Your Jinx by @larryatendoftheday (T, 10k)

Harry Styles may or may not have accidentally jinxed his extremely fit new neighbor, and it's not so easy to make things right.

🤣 For a day by bluegreenish / @greenblueish (T, 9k)

“While I appreciate that compliment - you’re right -, it’s not a prank. I swear. I tried calling Harry and Liam, but they aren’t picking up. And like, I don’t know what to do? I just woke up in Liam’s freaking body, and like, he’s a nice lad and everything, but I don’t want to be him?!”

Once again, tense silence fills the line for a second and Louis almost expects Zayn to hang up on him, but his friend speaks up again, voice urgent this time.

“You’re serious?”

“One hundred percent. I swear.”

or, the one where Harry wakes up in Louis' body, Louis in Liam's, Liam in Niall's, Niall in Harry's and no one picked Zayn.

🤣 Only Been Here One Time by alienharry (NR, 9k)

“Good morning, Liam. Harry.” Louis nods at them both and then cocks his head. “Are you aware you have four nipples, Harry?”

Harry looks down at his chest, suddenly worried. He doesn’t know how many nipples humans have, but four must not be a usual amount. “Should I have six?”

“Not unless you’ve a litter of kittens to feed.”

The Alien!Harry fic I was destined to write

🤣 Ain’t My Fault by @afirethatcannotdie (E, 7k)

“Liam, M4M is for sex! You posted in a sex forum about your missing jacket.”

“It is not for sex!”

“It is. Trust me.”

“Well, if it helps me find my jacket then I don’t really see why it matters. Besides, someone already texted me about it. This Styles guy’s coming over in a bit to get it.”

“You invited the avocado man to come get his jacket at our flat after posting on a sex forum. Do you see where this is going?”

“I really don’t.”

“Someone is going to have to have sex with the avocado man!” Louis screeches, and Liam covers his ears.

AU. Liam posts an ad on the wrong section of Craigslist, Louis is pretty sure they’re gonna get murdered as a result, and Harry’s missing an avocado.

🤣 Porn To Be Wild by @fallinglikethis (E, 5k)

As Louis Tomlinson writes his One Direction fanfiction in a quiet, isolated corner of the local library, the last thing he expects is for the subject of his story to interrupt him in the middle of a sex scene. But that’s exactly what happens.

🤣 Absolute Beginners by @taggiecb (T, 5k)

Louis would like to think that Niall can't surprise him anymore. He never knows what his friend will come up with sometimes. But when he calls Louis in the middle of the night and asks him to come and hit on his friend, Louis can't help but let curiosity get the best of him.

🤣 Only Reason by @letsjustsee (NR, 5k)

“We are so lucky to have with us one of the leading experts on beekeeping in the modern age, Dr. Louis Draper.”No. No, no, no… “I know I speak for many of us when I say that this man’s books have guided our practice, or helped us get started,” Harry continued, and Louis watched as the crowd nodded their heads in agreement. Oh shit. No. What? No. But then Harry was gesturing towards him, saying “Dr. Draper?” into the microphone, the crowd was applauding, and Louis found himself walking up the stairs to the stage.

Or, Louis is most definitely smitten with Harry from the second he sees him, but he is also most definitely not the world's foremost expert on beekeeping. He decides to roll with it anyway.

🤣 Catastrophe (Or Not) by grapenight (G, 5k)

Based on the prompt: "Harry's a crazy cat person and Louis is the vet he keeps bringing his cats to with minor concerns like "she's been acting weird lately" and "he didn't poop today so I'm worried" but it's really just excuses to keep seeing Louis everyday"

🤣 Anywhere With You by sweetums / @darlou (T, 3k)

“Do you want some gum?” Louis’ lovely voice interrupts his train of thoughts.

“No, thank you.” Harry responds quickly.

What? ‘No, thank you’? What was he thinking? If Louis Tomlinson offers you gum, you take it. If Louis Tomlinson offers you a vial of vomit, you take it.

“On second thought, gum would be perfection.” Harry actually considers just dying right there as he reaches over to pry the piece of gum out of Louis’ perfect little hand, eyes flitting over to the other man’s amused face.

Why did he say that? He could’ve said, ‘I’ll have some gum’ or ‘gum would be great’ or even a simple ‘thanks’ but no, no, for Harry, ‘gum would be perfection’.

He loathes himself.

AU where Harry gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Louis Tomlinson during a blackout. Inspired by Chandler and Jill Goodacre from Friends.

🤣 Oh Honey, Honey by @lululawrence (NR, 3k)

Louis hated honey. He didn’t like the flavour, he didn’t understand why some liked it in their tea, he hated when it was put on sandwiches or cake or anything really. But, standing stock still in front of a rather large display of honey in that 24-hour Tesco, Louis found himself grabbing the largest jar of “100% pure London-local honey” and adding it to his trolley, simply because he knew it would make Harry smile.

Louis always wanted to make Harry smile.

Or the one where Louis pines after Harry, Harry is passionate about helping save the bees, and a late night shopping trip gone wrong doesn't end quite as horribly as Louis imagines.

🤣 On the Go by @phdmama (T, 2k)

Prompt: ok so i saw a truck today and i thought it said MANSCAPE but it actually said MAINSCAPE and it was a landscaping company. but then i thought LARRY AU. where louis owns a landscaping company called MANSCAPE and harry thinks it’s some sort of in-home pubic hair grooming company, so he calls to make an appointment, there’s some discussion of whether he wants his bushes trimmed as well, and then when it’s time for the appointment, harry’s like half-naked waiting around in a robe or something and louis shows up with lawnmowers.

🤣 Zoey by wabadabadaba / @bigxrig (G, 2k)

Harry knew his first name, but he liked the way Dr. Tomlinson sounded more. Harry watched as Louis unclasped her harness and set it aside and pet her back and under her chin. Louis kissed the top of her head and murmured sweet nothings to her- mostly about how pretty she is and how well behaved she is. Harry wished it was him.

or Harry has a huge crush on his cat's veterinarian and finally decides to do something about it.

🤣 Stole My Heart by @haztobegood (NR, 2k)

“Oh my god, Niall.” The door slams shut as Harry rushes into the flat. He’s still panting from his rush to get away from the scene of his crime. “You won’t believe what just happened!”

Niall is sitting on the couch in their tiny living room. He looks up from his laptop. “What happened?”

“The worst thing. I’ll never recover. I just reached into a box of free samples outside that new chicken restaurant. Only it wasn’t free samples. It was a man. Holding a box of chicken nuggets. His chicken nuggets. I stole this man’s food, Niall!”

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sunflowervoltwentyeight · 4 months

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Happy 28th! Here is my December 2023 fic rec, organized by word count from longest to shortest. Enjoy!

Bitter Tangerine by purpledaisy / @daisyharry (119k)

Maybe it’s Niall, he reasons to calm his storming heart. Maybe he’s not actually gone for the holidays yet, maybe Harry got the dates confused. Slowly, he holds his breath and pushes the kitchen door open. The first thing he sees make him jump, a wooden spoon held out like a sword. Once his brain processes the sight in front of him, it’s less the sword that gets him than who is attached to the wooden spoon.

“Harry,” the swordsmen speaks before Harry can, his voice low and steady though confusion laces each word.

Harry’s breath catches. Every string around his heart, all the protection he spent nine months building, rips out and tears open all at once as he says, “Hi Louis.”

AU: Nine months after they break up, a twist of fate brings Harry and Louis back together at Christmas.

Summer’s In the Air and Baby, Heaven’s In Your Eyesby starryhaze / @starryhaze28 (71k)

“So we probably shouldn’t do this.” Louis says, and Harry knows he means staying like this, wrapped up in each other, and he nods, then lifts his head from Louis’ shoulder. His eyes are focused on the ground while he tries to will the tears away.

“We shouldn’t. I’m sorry Lou it’s just-“

“Hey it’s fine, baby.” Louis promises, gently rubbing this thumb over Harry’s cheek. Harry leans into the touch and blinks up at Louis.

“Not your fault.” Louis says, looking around before he presses his lips against Harry’s in a short but sweet kiss. “You’re like my dirty little secret now.” He grins wickedly and gives a wink, making Harry blush and bite his lip as he steps away.

⋆ .ೃ ࿔ *: ･

or a 70s tennis au filled with skirts, pet names and intrigue

Bring It Back That Old Feeling by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings (57k)

After six years together, Harry thought there wasn’t anything that he didn’t know about his husband, and no problem they couldn’t solve with a kiss and a snuggle. After a painful year of booze and heartache, he realizes some problems are much harder to fix, but the wait is always worth it.

Little Wings on My Shoes by juliusschmidt / @juliusschmidt (39k)

You have C Lunch?” Louis asks, peering over at Harry's work. The problem Harry’s just finished is printed neatly, the correct answer circled. Harry’s finger marks the next problem in his book as he copies it onto the page. It doesn’t look like he’s stealing the answers out of the back. Nice.

He’s dimpled and smart.

And probably gay. [The American High School AU in which no one is cool (except Niall) and Harry wears a rainbow bracelet.]

Playing To Win by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom (36k)

Big Brother UK alumni Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are selected for the UK vs Australia All Stars series with a massive one million dollar prize in the offing. They’re both fit and smart and would make a great alliance... if only they can stop their feelings from getting in the way.

OR the one where Louis really doesn’t want to like Harry, Harry is struggling to quell his growing fondness for Louis, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fight fate.

Big, Bright World by RealName (35k)

It really was just a little crush in the beginning, nothing to be worried about. Louis had never really liked anyone he’d worked with in the past, but he was sure he could control himself. Little did he know that over time his ‘little crush’ would develop into a blazing inferno of Hell-fire proportions. Every day, Louis’ feelings became more intense, more immediate, each little smile and gesture and silly flirtation mounting up into something palpable, with a life of its own. Louis felt it every moment they were together.

The only problem? Harry was engaged to someone else and had been from the moment Louis started working at Visionary.

Office AU (not based on the TV show).

Our Little Corner of the World by brownheadedstranger (29k)

AU. Louis is stuck in his mom’s diner for the summer. Harry is the line cook with a pickup truck.

Woke Up With a Boy (Who Looks Just Like You) by glitteredcurls / @kissyboystyles (26k)

Harry goes to sleep in his shared flat with Louis. He wakes up older and sharing something more with his best friend-- a bed. Harry doesn’t know where the past four years of his life have gone. There is quite a bit he’s forgotten, but still would have never guessed for himself. The only thing familiar is Louis, who seems to mean something different to him at his new age than he did before… Harry just can’t seem to place how.

OR snapshots of the week Louis and Harry jump four years into their (unknowingly married) future suddenly and have to gather their bearings without alerting anyone else.

Lapful Of Lou by hazzahtomlinson / @itsnotreal (2k)

Harry sighed, snuggling into his pillow. “You’re the best boyfriend.” He said, and then his eyes shot open. “I mean— you would be the best boyfriend.” His eyes flickered to Louis’ face, who was standing beside the bed, with a smirk on his face. “Not— not like my boyfriend. I mean— like. I wouldn’t mind if you were my— no.” He pressed his lips together to stop anymore words from barreling out. His face was flaming. And Louis was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, like he was waiting for Harry to finish.

“You done?” He asked with a little bubble of laughter.

Harry grimaced, “Just leave me here to die.”

Or they are both idiots and it takes a drunk Harry (with no brain to mouth filter) to get things going.

#28th appreciation #larry fic rec #fic rec #monthly fic rec #december fic rec #hlcreators #read

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apprenticestanheight · 4 months

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THE FIVE DAYS OF SMUTMAS QUEUE: DAY ONE

Bad Decembers - Adam Stanheight x gn! reader

OKAY!! I would not be me if I did not find a way to worm my love for the holiday season into my love for writing, so that's what the fics coming out in this queue are going to be—not all of them will be the pinnacle of the christmas season but all of them will at least be set in december and mentions of the holidays will probably worm their way into several, but the guarantees I can make are that the fics will either be close to or more than 1k words, and that there will, at a minimum, be snowy weather in the fics because we have gotten snow maybe twice where I am and I can't resist.

This one stems from a thought that I had on the sixteenth where I was like "okay angry and aggressive sex with adam, talk it out, then make up sex for round two yay" but it did change a little bit as things do when they start as ideas but get turned into fics! It's not that different from the original concept—the idea is the same it's just that round two is a little different than how I'd originally intended because I believe in my heart of hearts that Adam would be a fiend for giving oral so this fits that headcanon.

lastly, this fic is meant for audiences of 18+! Minors, DO NOT INTERACT.

Fic type- this is smut!

Warnings- adam is a guy with anger issues and they get the best of him (it is mentioned a couple of times that he punches a coworker in the face after he was provoked, and the work environment Adam is in is implied to be shitty anyway, as someone slapping someone else is also mentioned) the reader is gn for all intents and purposes but as I know the anatomy best, they're AFAB but referenced with gn terms and petnames (aside from the word pussy, which only gets used once), Unprotected sex, rough sex, reader is a masochist and Adam is kind of sadistic, oral sex (m! giving) bruises do happen because adam gets a bit manhandl-y and bruises and rough biting ensue, as does rough groping. Pet play is also in this one a few times (in use of the nickname puppy only, gn terms when smut writing aren't my strongest suit so puppy is for some reason my go-to)

December, despite all of the cheer and festiveness it usually carried, was just not your month, so it seemed.

Work was very, very difficult for you, which really shouldn't've come as a surprise come the last month of the year, but somehow always did.

Crappy coworkers always became the crappiest versions of themselves with the onset of the holiday season, and by December, amidst having to listen to your coworkers complain about how difficult their relatives were to shop for, several HR-funded Christmas parties where you and Adam would drink some of the cheapest booze and listen to your crappiest coworkers complain, and a Secret Santa gift exchange with a minimum—yes, a minimum, which to you seemed kind of ludicrous, though a max amount was certainly something you understood—spending allowance of $150 and a maximum of $380, you were angry and exhausted and looked forward to the nine days off you took between the twenty third and the thirty first like nobodies fuckin' business.

The only bright side to working in that company was the fact that you'd gotten the opportunity to get your secret santa—and one of the few decent coworkers you had in your offices, one named Claire who was actually breeching close friend territory more and more by the day—a bundle of things she'd mentioned really needing in those past few weeks thanks to the budget imposed by your offices.

You'd had the chance to get her a couple of the books she liked in addition to a couple of gift cards to grocery stores and gas stations as she was in a very tight situation with her mooch husband who refused to work point blank period. You'd gone over budget with her gift, actually, and it was the first and last year you'd ever do that.

You were working in marketing and sales and you made $2000 biweekly, which covered your half of rent and utilities, groceries and other bills with something like six hundred to spare to use as fun money. When you'd brought it up with Adam, who'd met Claire a good couple times at those Christmas parties and thought she was great for your morale, he'd supported you, said to go all out because you'd have the money back in your account two weeks from your latest paycheck anyway.

So, grocery cards, gas cards, books and around $100 in stowaway cash later, you'd gone over budget by $80 but had zero regrets because of how happy it made Claire at the end of the gift exchange.

For what it was worth—you were gifted a Nespresso and five boxes of Nespresso pods from someone who practically loathed you and probably wanted you to refuse it, but by the 21st you were so sick of work and people and everything else that you just faked a smile, said your thanks in a way that seemed just a little too sweet and definitely a bit too happy, and knew that you and Adam would cherish that Nespresso for all of the glorious coffee it made on your latest nights until it broke in the years to follow.

Getting home from the gift exchange at six, you were tired and angry at the world, pretty much, and it seemed—based on vibes alone—that Adam was much the same.

For Adam, though, it had definitely been work. After the trap, he'd switched from working as a glorified snitch for far less money than all of it was worth to working closely with a gallery that liked the shots he took enough to commission him for collections of photos. The commission money was certainly more than enough—from commissions, he got $3000 a month for 300 photos, which were typically displayed for six, eight, or ten months before he had to pick a new theme and the cycle repeated—but the gallery people he was working with were much like your coworkers in that they became the worst versions of themselves in the holiday season.

The collection he'd been trying to get together had been one part of a four hundred photo collection that captured Jersey in the winter which was due to start displaying on the 23rd and would stay up until the second of January the following year. He was working with three other people and the gallery staff and all of them were too stuck up to actually cooperate with him.

To that point, it had been twenty-one days of screaming matches, crappy coffee made worse by the bitterness Adam felt, and fighting day in and day out to keep his anger internal while he was in the apartment you shared because yelling at you, when he'd worked so hard to keep his anger issues in check? That was, under no circumstances, an option.

The first four months of your relationship had been spent with fights once every two weeks because Adam was still trying to learn how to keep his anger in check after letting it go unchecked for so long, and you'd been dating for five years. In those five years, after that rocky four months, you'd both found a balance and you both loved that balance. Adam wasn't going to fuck it up because he was angry at people who existed in a realm completely othered from the one where you were.

Well—he was going to try to avoid fucking it up for himself.

He's sitting on the couch, stewing in his anger when you come home. You grin at him, exhausted, and Adam leaves to the kitchen before you can get a word in—he'd been warned to expect a joint call sometime before midnight in relation to the collection that he had to take 100 photos for and he was antsy as well as angry, and he doesn't want you to see him like that, spiteful and angry at anything that breathes the wrong way.

He tries to make coffee with the pot you'd taken when you'd moved out of your parents place eight years prior, though the coffee machine seems to have a disagreement with Adams idea as it refuses to work, which causes Adam to snap.

"Fuck!" He shouts, hitting the coffee machine and regretting it because damn, plastic meeting knuckles is a horrible feeling. "All I need is some goddamned coffee, but no! The fucking machine—"

You step into the kitchen. When Adam hears your footsteps, he turns on his heels to face you, sees your grin.

"The coworker who loathes me gave me something that will definitely make your night a bit better," you say. "He probably wanted me to refuse but I figured we would need a new one soon anyway. It's a Nespresso, there are five different coffee types to choose from, and all you need to do is set it up. Shitty month?"

"Shitty is a fucking understatement," Adam grits his teeth. "I'm just so pissed off at the world right now, Y/N. I wouldn't be around me if I were you—when I get like this I am a flight risk because I tend to want to break things. Punched a guy in the face today and was reprimanded for an hour or three, which just made my day a lot fucking longer than it needed to be, and everything is shitty all the goddamned time and I'm sick of it."

You nod, further enter the kitchen and set the Nespresso up while Adam stews in his anger, trying to calm himself down in the ways he normally does only to find that nothing is working. He's frustrated with everything that's happened in the past three weeks, and the more he reflects on that time the angrier he gets.

And then, something happens. You accidentally sidestep onto his foot and the floodgates open, and he snaps. He screams for a solid five minutes about shit that doesn't even relate to you and you just—you just let him. You do fight back but it's like part of you understands that not all of it relates to you anyway so you just let him say his peace, and when he storms off, you don't follow him.

He goes to your bedroom, angry now with the events of the past three weeks, and the fact that he punched someone in the face, and with himself for snapping at you instead of just communicating, and he sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall and stewing within his anger until you're opening the door, poking your head in and meeting his gaze.

"You're still angry?" You ask, tone calm and even.

Adam nods, pursing his lips. He doesn't want to be angry anymore, doesn't want to do anything other than let everything go and apologize for all of the shit he berated you for, but he's still angry. Something within him isn't letting him let it go, even as much as he wants to.

"All right," you step into the room. "Would sex help? That way you can just get your frustrations out while also getting endorphins and all that other health shit."

Adam clenches his jaw. "No," he says. "We've never fucked while one of us has been angry, Y/N, and if I'm willing to punch someone in the face while I'm pissed off, I'm a little scared to find out how rough I would be willing to be with you if I did that while so mad I could smoke two joints and still feel it."

You shrug, leaning your back against the door to close it. "So be rough," you suggest. "I don't care, Adam—I think we've discussed it before, but I do like being manhandled. You can leave bruises, too. I don't care how rough you are with me, I just hate seeing you like this and if sex will take your mind off it and if it's something you're willing to do, I want to do it."

"I don't wanna leave you bruised," Adam says. He hates how obvious it is that he's half-lying. He doesn't hate the idea of you bruised—it's just how you end up as such—if someone else hurts you, he'll be ready to commit murder. But if he were ever to do that? He would feel immeasurably guilty.

"You're lying to me," you say, catching onto it immediately. "You don't want me bruised as in black eyes or punches or something else physical and abusive and you would never, ever do that to me so I'm not at all worried about that, but you would absolutely cherish the bruising on my hips and arms from holding onto me that tight during sex. I would cherish them, too, actually."

Adam tsks, "masochist," he says before biting on his bottom lip. He gets to standing, crosses the room and closes in on you, grinning as he feels your breath against his face.

"If I'm a masochist, you're a sadist," you whisper pointedly. Adams hands go to your hips, holding them tightly, thumbs pressing into your skin until he finds your hip bones and you moan just low enough for Adam not to hear it at the contact.

"Mhm," Adam whispers as he leans in so that his lips are millimeters away from your pulse point. "Gonna let me use you, puppy? Need an outlet for my anger, and you did offer."

"Yeah," Adam can't help but smile as he presses himself up against you and notices the way that your arms clench at your sides because you're physically trying to keep yourself from leaning into his touches, not wanting to give into it as quickly as you might've when he called you puppy. "All yours to use, Adam. Please. Don't want you to be angry anymore, and if using me is what it takes then go ahead."

Adams left hand moves from your hip to your face, thumb tilting your chin up and to the left so that he has better access to your neck.

"Good puppy," he whispers, this time close enough to hear the quiet moan that the praise pulls out of you. "That's all you are, isn't it? Just a good puppy, reliant on praise and my cock."

You haven't had sex since early November, so both of you are sexually frustrated, which is the icing on the fucking cake.

You moan in response, grinding your hips against him. He pushes his leg between your thighs as his tongue presses flat against your pulse point, the grip he holds on your hip remaining steady. The hand thats on your face moves down to your hip again, thumb pressing until it finds the bone.

"Mine to use," Adam says after a couple of seconds. The anger that's within him exists like a fire pit in his stomach, burning bright and burning hot and burning unrelentingly. "Right, Y/N?"

"However you want," You don't know how you're managing to speak. "As rough as you want, Adam—fucking hell. Please."

"You're perfect," he loosens his grip on your hips, kisses down your jawline until he's back at your lips again.

When he kisses his way up to your lips, the kisses he leaves in his path are rather sweet. His hands are groping aggressively at just about anywhere they can get to, and when his hands settle on your hips again, your lips are on his and the kiss he pulls you into, tongue sliding into your mouth as you open it in a quiet moan, is enough to leave your lips bruised.

Adam doesn't pull away until you're starting to and he's realizing that he can't really breathe. You press your forehead against his shoulder and take a deep inhale, arms settling around his waist.

Adam pulls away, cups your face in his hands. "Getting submissive on me already?" He asks teasingly, grinning at you a little. "Oh, Y/N. You're so easy."

You hum your agreement. "You always manage to make quick work," you murmur, moving to lay down on the bed that you share. Adam stops you, unbuttoning your work shirt and tossing it into the farthest corner of the room before you can go any further. You lay on the bed as Adam takes off the granddad sweater he'd chosen to wear after having absolutely nothing else in his closet during what would later turn into a laundry evening, happy to stare at the ceiling while you wait for your beloveds next move.

His lips are on yours again seconds later, one hand roving over your chest while the other is near your face after he'd bent his arm at the elbow to hold himself up.

After he's kissed you sufficiently, he moves his lips down your neck, kissing and biting and sucking at the skin mercilessly. You wonder, for a second, if he wants to draw blood and decide that if he does, you'll let him because the pain feels so good.

Adam laughs after he's bitten down on your collarbone particularly harshly and you've moaned lewdly, rolling your hips against his half hard length without thought.

"You're such a slut for pain," he nips at the skin again gently. "I really do think that I could cut you to pieces and you'd thank me for it, Y/N."

the thought of it makes your core wet, and so you give an embarrassed nod. Adam just laughs again, lifting your hips while still maintaining an aggressive hold on them and releasing that hold to take off your pants and underwear, leaving you completely open and bare in front of him.

You shiver as a gust of cold Jersey air gets through the room through the slightly opened window, nipples hard as pebbles from Adams ministrations, and watch him take his own pants and boxers off.

"Want me to wear a condom?" Adam asks.

You shake your head. "I can take a plan B pill," you respond. "Just--please. Please don't make me wait. Need you."

"Good puppy," Adam breathes. He goes back to kissing you before his lips move to your chest, biting and sucking at your nipples in the way he knows makes you melt the quickest. "Gonna let me do whatever I want, mm? Even if it means you're in pain?"

"Adam," you moan as he presses his cold tongue flat against your warm skin. "Fuck—mmm, whatever you want. Please, just—please don't stop. Please don't—"

"Pain slut," Adam laughs a little. "You love this, yeah? Love me using you, manhandling you, not giving a fuck if you get bruised up?"

You moan, pressing the back of your head into the pillow.

"Speak to me, baby," he murmurs, pressing kisses down your navel.

You whimper, bucking your hips against Adams shoulders and Adam repositions himself so that he's eye level with you again, holding your chin lightly.

"Use your words for me, baby," he says. "I know you love how this feels, yeah? I know you love it when I bite you because you like the pain that the biting draws out, but how am I supposed to know you want me to keep going if you don't tell me? How am I supposed to know you're not whimpering, not squirming, because the pain is too much?"

"Adam," you moan, rolling your hips against nothing. "Adam, it—you—oh my fucking—" you moan again, and Adam smiles.

He moves back to where he'd been before kissing down your navel to the place where you needed him most, kissing back up to your lips again and wetting his dick with the wetness from your folds before he thrusts into you in one fell swoop.

He gives you maybe three seconds to adjust to his length before he sets a quick, aggressive pace, one hand on your hips to keep you steady while the other sits on your breast, first finger and thumb pinching your nipple with as much force as he can muster. He needs the anger to be gone, needs it to be replaced by the comfortable, airy feelings that come with sex and post-sex glory, needs to get his anger out of his system before he's at risk of snapping at you again.

He thrusts with as much fervor as he can, trying to rid the anger from himself with each thrust. It works, for the most part, and when his hand finds your throat and presses on the sides but is careful to avoid the front, most of the anger goes out of his system completely.

You lean up into his touch, and Adam laughs at it.

"Pain slut," he whispers, leaning down to bite and suck at your nipples.

Adams release triggers yours, and Adam thrusts through the aftershocks before he pulls out, falling to your right and wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you close.

A few minutes pass by. You get up to use the bathroom and return to Adams embrace, press a kiss to his lips and look at him like you want to talk.

"You've been angry for three weeks," you say. "If you're in a talking mood, let's talk, yeah?"

"I know that photography is what I'm good at, and normally I love it but I think I have something of an independence issue with regard to working there," Adam admits, moving the hand that's on your waist up to your face. He just wants to kiss you senseless, kiss you until he forgets his own name and how to speak words other than yours, but he knows he owes you a conversation—an explanation, mostly, and an apology. "I just can't do it. I can't work with other people. Three people on this project besides me and all of us are in conflict day in and day out because we're all apparently averse to compromise, and yeah, I punched Harry in the face but he smacked Kelce the other day because he didn't agree with one of Harrys ideas. It was payback, which I know doesn't excuse it for shit, but—I just—"

You press a kiss to Adams forehead. "I'm sorry that work has been so terrible," you murmur. "Soon as you get this installation done, though, you'll be able to work on your own again. Gotta practice a bit of optimism, baby. Gotta see the bright side and all that."

Adam laughs. "There is no light at the end of the work related tunnel," he says. "I'll be due in to work with the same group of people in the spring, and then in summer, and then in autumn. I've been told I'll have to do my own installations on top of that, which will mean picking more themes, dealing with more disagreements."

He props himself up on his elbows, presses a quick peck against your lips.

"I'm sorry," he says, green-blue eyes meeting yours. "About earlier—snapping at you like that? It was a dick move, and with the coffee—I flipped my lid in a way that was completely unfair. I'm sorry you had to get screamed at like that, everything just boiled over and taking it out on you is the last thing that I should've done."

You nod. "It was a dick move, and you do kind of need to work on talking it out with me before the shit hits the very angry fan, but you're forgiven," you grin at him. "If it helps, work hasn't been a picnic for me either. Never is during December."

Adam groans. "You work in an office," he notes. "How many of your coworkers complained about how difficult it is to buy gifts on their salary?"

"Everyone who had anyone willing to listen," you laugh. "Claire liked the gift I got her for the Secret Santa gift exchange, though. Glad I was hers—were it Leon, I fear she would've gotten a book on being a housewife or some shit like that. James was the guy who got stuck with me, which means we have a Nespresso. Bastard probably wanted me to reject the gift, too, because he scowled from the window at me while I loaded it into the back seat of my car."

Adam laughs. "Good thing the old coffee machine broke when it did, then," he pecks your forehead, feels the desire to kiss you senseless evade all of his senses. "A broken coffee machine turns into a Christmas miracle! Oh, glorious day."

You laugh, hand moving up Adams shoulders until your cupping Adams face, hand resting against his jawline.

"Was my apology good enough?" Adam asks, dipping his lips to your neck as your hands slide back down his and you let your arms drape over his shoulders.

"Why do you ask?" You know why he's asking, but you want to hear him say it. He had his angry fun, and now you get a shot to have a bit of fun of your own.

"There's something that I haven't tasted since early last month," he kisses until he's at the center of your collarbone. "Miss it, is all. Had a bit of a craving lately too, if I'm honest."

You spread your legs on impulse, already weakened and ready to let Adam give in to his whims. It makes him laugh because of course the bastard notices the movement, and he nods.

"You're amazing," he presses kisses down your chest, careful to kiss lightly over the places where light bruising has started because of how aggressive he was with his groping, kissing delicately over the places where the bite marks remain. You hate how quickly he can get you hot and bothered but admire it all the same, hate how you thrive off the feeling of his wet kisses and his perfect tongue moving down and across your torso.

"You're depraved," you try to say it, but it comes out as a moan, and you feel Adams smile against your navel. "Absolutely fucking depraved, Adam."

"Well, if you weren't so fuckin' ethereal, I might be less depraved, but every time I look at you all I see is perfection. Can't help it, baby."

He kisses across your lightly bruised stomach to your hips, careful to kiss lightly over the already-forming bruises that match the shapes of his thumbs.

"'M sorry about these," he says. "Sorry about all of it—the bruises and the bite marks. I didn't mean to hurt you this bad."

"It doesn't hurt," you assure. "And even if it did—I like the pain, Adam. The pain is good, I promise."

He kisses the bruises on the sides of your hips, too, nods. "I momentarily forgot about the masochism," he admits. "They do look nice, but I just can't help feelin' bad about being that rough."

"Focus on how nice they look," you hope it comes out reassuring. "They don't hurt, Adam. I promise. If I tell you not to worry, will you listen?"

Adam hums, kisses along your stomach to your other hip and takes his time there as well.

By the time Adams gotten to your thighs, you're wet and aching and just about ready to start clenching around nothing. He's got you needy and wanting, which is what he wants, and he loves it.

He turns his gaze to yours as he presses his tongue flat against your clit, loving the way that you writhe, clenching around nothing in response.

"So wet for me," he says, kissing along the outside of your pussy. "Good God, you're perfect."

And then he's licking at your folds, eating you out like he's a man starved, and you're not even trying to be quiet because of how consumed you feel by his lips and his tongue.

He moans against you, clearly getting off from getting you off, and can't help but buck your hips against his face.

He laughs, pulling away for a second. "You're so fuckin' needy," he says, bringing one finger to your gaping hole and slowly pushing it inside you.

You clench around the digit, moaning. "You're the reason. You and your perfect tongue, your amazing lips," you moan, arching your back off the bed for a split second.

He brings his lips and tongue back to your clit, thrusting into you with one finger, doing as you wish when you start begging for a second and a third.

"Adam," you moan, "fucking hell—Adam,"

Your orgasm crests, and you feel Adam moan against you with his own release as you cum over his fingers.

Breathless, your gaze moves up to the ceiling as you feel Adam pull his hand away. You turn to him as you hear him get up, watch him make something of a show out of licking your cum from his fingers.

"Just as good as I remember it," he grins teasingly at you, leaves to go to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, he's telling you that a bath is ready and you're leaning against him as you walk to your bathroom, sinking into the hot water and pressing your back against Adams front.

"I'll get better at communicating before it boils over," Adam murmurs, pressing an open mouthed kiss to your shoulder. "Promise, baby."

You hum, leaning against him. "We can work on it together, yeah?"

Adam nods. "That sounds like a nice idea," he says.

Silence lapses, though its comfortable. You get out of the bath tub and stumble back to bed because of how jello-y your legs feel, which Adam laughs at even though he knows he's to blame, and when you steal a pair of his boxers and one of his button up flannels, he doesn't object, merely pulls a pair of boxers and sweatpants on himself before joining you in bed and pulling you close.

The two of you fall asleep early that night, curled up together in the quiet of a Jersey evening in the tail end of December. Adam sleeps through the call from the gallery and you sleep through the call that Claire tries to get to you to talk about the aftermath of the Secret Santa gift exchange, but the sleep you get is so good that the missed calls feel entirely justified.

#adam stanheight #adam stanheight x reader #saw (2004)#saw posting

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hgwellsmykabering · 5 months

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Bering and Wells Advent Calendar

A bit spontaneous, but this is a fanfic collab event we just came up with today on the discord server, us being @birdofdawning (idea for the fic) @lavendelhummel (advent calendar idea) and myself (collab idea):

24 days of Bering and Wells ficlets, creating a (semi-)cohesive getting together fanfiction! If you want to write for one of the days, sign up in a reblog addition or ask, and your name will be put on the list! You write your ficlet and aim to post it on the corresponding day of December, but as long as it’s posted some time in the month it’s fine. If you can coordinate with the people who post the days before yours, maybe tell us your planned summaries so everyone can adjust accordingly, that’s cool, but if the ficlets don’t fit together perfectly that’s alright, we’re just here to have a fun B&W advent time!

“Never get involved with a roommate!” The fanfic idea is: each day’s title is something Myka tells herself not to do in order to avoid getting involved with Helena, and of course ends up doing anyway.

Update: all fics now linked here!

No minimum wordcount - you can write a drabble as long as it fits the theme!

The setting we came up with on discord is an AU in which Helena and Myka live in the same apartment - less baggage than canon, but just as many feels! More details to it can be found here!

The daily prompts are below the cut. If you have ideas for what else Myka might want to avoid doing but don’t want to write it yourself, feel free to send in the prompt!

As apparently tumblr no longer shows the most recent version of a post when clicking under the readmore of a reblogged post, please check with the original post to see which days haven't been chosen yet!

For the readers: you can find all entries under #BeringWellsAdvent23!

We can still rearrange most of the prompts! If you want for example prompt 4 but don't think you'll finish it in time, tell me another (still free) day with your sign-up.

#1 moving in together - @lavendelhummel is taking on this one

#2 Never have a crush on your flatmate - chosen by @purlturtle

#3 Never be alone with the housemate you have a crush on - Charlie @akittennameddaisy is taking on this one with the idea that Helena tries to cook, creates a chaos in the kitchen and Myka ends up alone with her after all!

#4 Never tell her how much you like her hair - chosen by @viharistenno

#5 Free Space - @lilolilyr is doing ‘stop staring at Helena!’

#6 never let Helena persuade you to watch a movie with her - chosen by @purlturtle: "because forced prolongued proximity in a dark room and WHO EVEN KNOWS what kind of movie Helena might pick!"

#7 Never borrow Helena's clothes - claimed by @jesstrel

#8 Never let Helena wear your clothes - chosen by @lilolilyr "I think seeing Helena in her own clothes might feel even more intimate to Myka than wearing HG's clothes"

#9 Free Space - @purlturtle chose 'don't let her convince you to go to the swimming pool / gym with you'

#10 Never let Helena give you a back rub - by @purlturtle

#11 never watch Helena eat ice-cream (the lip-licking will drive you insane) - chosen by @purlturtle

#12 Don't let Helena read poetry to you - chosen by @sallysetonbw

#13 Don't use her shampoo, that's weird -chosen by @lavendelhummel

#14 never borrow that blanket she keeps on the back of the armchair - chosen by @violetren

#15 Never listen in to Helena when she's on the phone - @purlturtle

#16 never sit right next to her on the couch - chosen by @lilolilyr

#17 Make sure you're not the only one laughing at her obscure jokes - chosen by @thiakerrigan

#18 Never fall in love with your flatmate - chosen by @lilolilyr

#19 Don't let her see you in your pyjamas - @lilolilyr

#20 never go on a road trip together @purlturtle

#21 Free Space @tryingthisfangirlthing

#22 @lavendelhummel Never go to the Christmas market with Helena

#23 Never match your flatmate on a dating site - chosen by @lavendelhummel

#24 Never kiss her on the lips - @lilolilyr

Post your fics to Ao3 in the BeringWellsAdvent collection and/or on tumblr with the hashtag BeringWellsAdvent23! If you want to use a header for example for a tumblr post, you can use this made by @viharistenno and @purlturtle:

Some other ideas to fill the 'Free Space' days with:

- don't let her convince you to go to the swimming pool / gym with you

- don't imagine Helena naked

- don't suggest to cook for her (because Myka would get so caught up in her perfectionism that she'd spiral and feel so bad about what she's setting in front of Helena)

- don’t share a room/bed with Helena

- STOP STARING

- never masturbate to thoughts of your flatmate

- don’t share a drink with Helena

- Never give her a gift or accept a gift from her

- never lend her your car

- Never lend her money again

#bering and wells #warehouse 13 #femslash event #warehouse 13 advent calendar #bering and wells advent #advent fic challenge #bering and wells advent calendar #bering and wells christmas #helena wells #myka bering #bering & wells #beringwells #warehouse 13 AU #w13 #fanfic idea #mine #pinned #beringwellsadvent23 #BeringWellsAdvent

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zahri-melitor · 9 months

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Playing with the Dick-Jason-Tim age timeline again because playing with “can I fit Dick being 8 at the circus and Tim also being there” is enrichment for my brain.

Using Batman: Year 3 and A Lonely Place of Dying as the starting point this time, being that they are the ORIGIN of the timeline dilemma that nobody can quite square, and I have a solution to offer for the timeline up to LPoD (highly dependent on ‘if the pre-Crisis fact doesn’t fit, that’s because it’s pre-Crisis’ and ignoring future retcons. I’m building this from the original scaffold)

Dick is 8 at the circus. Tim is 3. We will establish this via Year 3 (“almost 10 years” since the Graysons died/the orphanage) and Tim’s canonical age in LPoD (13).

Given the fuzziness over when Tim actually turned 14, we’re going to run with Dick being close to his birthday when LPoD occurs. Using the 20 March birthday for Dick and the 19 July birthday for Tim, this gives us a 5 year, 4 month age gap and makes Tim about 3 ½ at the circus, which is a little older than I like him to be (I have so much more flexibility with dates if I can claim he’s 2, damn you Year 3 for using ‘almost’ rather than ‘approximately’), but we’ll live with it because I really need Dick to be almost 19 on the day Tim appears simply to try and cram as much pre-Crisis late-Robin and Nightwing history in as possible. This contradicts Dick being 20 prior to Jason’s death, but Dick can’t both be 20, have the circus 10 years ago, and be 8 years old for his parents’ death. However, squaring this with Janet Drake’s burial date of Christmas Eve is difficult, because Tim still being 13 at her funeral becomes impossible. Alternatively, if we use the 24 October birthday for Dick and still place Haly’s Circus and LPoD in the period before Dick’s birthday (maybe some time in September/October), we can come out of this with “about to turn 19” Dick and “13 and a bit” Tim, with a 5 year, 9 months gap between them, plus giving Tim a 3 month training period before he debuts as Robin on 24 December. In either case, choose whether Dick being born on the first of Northern Hemisphere Spring or Janet Drake being buried on Actual Christmas Eve is the more important fact in your heart to determine which option you use here.

Timeline markers:

Dick therefore does not debut as Robin until he is 9. He was Robin from 1940 to 1984, a period of 8, almost 9 years using ye olde 5 real years to 1 comics year rule. This actually matches fairly well with the date I want to give as when Dick stops being Robin – at some point when he’s 17. Yes, I have to give up the semester at Hudson University still happening while Dick is Robin not Nightwing, but that’s pre-Crisis. The Bruce and Dick fight where Bruce benches Dick, Dick storms out, and heads off to New York to be his own man (and changes his name to Nightwing) all happens at some point when Dick is ~17. Dick’s schooling is a bit of a black hole given his childhood and the contradictory birthdays (and the fact I’m not great on northern hemisphere school year dates and start dates). I THINK the October birthday is better for this in that we just have to pretend he was the youngest in the class, and can say Dick finished school still 17 and before he becomes Nightwing. March birthday I think if the fight happened while Dick was still 17 and at school, our lad was commuting from New York to school for the final few months (good thing his best friends include a speedster and a flyer, I guess). Or it happened when Dick was 18 and 3 months on approximately the exact day after Dick finished school, and the timeline suddenly gets VERY tight.

I like Dick being 17 when he becomes Nightwing if we can wrangle it for the simple fact that it gives a nice parallel for when Tim is 17 (and also loses the Robin title). Dick having gone through his big growing up moment before he entered legal adulthood makes the way the same mistake echoes down over the years more poignant (everyone has to grow up too young). I also would really like Dick to have finished his high school education before he becomes Nightwing simply because it makes a more coherent growing up narrative (and figuring out how Dick finished his education if he was living in New York is a headache we can then avoid).

In any case. Dick’s had his fight with Bruce. Call it June-July. Bruce, feeling lonely, decides the next sad teenager he meets who is trying to steal his tires is a great prospect to be the next Robin (son). Hello Jason. Jason is also 13. He is about to turn 14 the first moment possible. His birthday is apparently 16 August, which works really well for the fight going down right after Dick finishes school. Bruce makes Jason Robin. We are now on a hurried countdown. Jason turns 14. He was Robin from 1983-1988, which is right on 5 years, so approximately 1 comic year. Jason canonically dies on 27 April according to one picture of his tombstone. This would make him 14-nearly-15. This works great for October Birthday Dick and terrible for March Birthday Dick. If we have October Birthday Dick, Jason was around for ~10 months before he dies in April. If we have March Birthday Dick, Jason was around for anywhere between 7 months (Dick fired at 18 in June, Jason dies around January the next year) and a year (Dick fired before March still 17, Jason appears immediately after, and again dies around January/February the next year) while we ignore that April death date.

This works well on a meta level. One, there’s simply not that many Jason-as-Robin stories. Every time people stretch his period from Batmobile-tyres-to-death out beyond 20 months or so, you start hitting the point where you have more timeline than story to fill it, a problem seen practically nowhere else in comics. Jason has been cited as having 6 months of training before he went out on the streets. You can keep all of this if you want a very short period with Jason in the costume, you can call this comics time and shorten it if you’d prefer Jason to have longer in the costume. But Jason-as-Robin only lasting under a year lines up with everything about how we approximate the passage of time in comics. Secondly, Jason being Robin for only a short period matches the fact that he has very few interactions with Dick and the wider hero community. He has, what, ONE team up with the Titans? The one ski trip with Dick? Checking the Events timeline he had COIE (which he doesn’t remember), plus Legends and Millennium, for 3 Events during his tenure. He appears on page for all of these, but not in a manner where he’s interacting with heroes outside Gotham in any way he’d remember. He’s pretty isolated, but also there really isn’t any TIME to give him wider connections.

Also during this period, the majority of the NTT stuff prior to LPoD occurs, and Dick hypothetically does his single semester at university before dropping out (probably due to the amount of stuff going on in his life making studying hard). He may even have dropped out of university DUE to the drama surrounding all of this depending on which birthday timeline you run with. Tim is a lil bean at boarding school.

In any case, Jason Todd died. He wasn’t even 15 yet. It’s very tragic. Bruce immediately starts going off the rails with grief. October Birthday Dick (seriously, this just suits the timeframe here so much better) then gives us anywhere between 3-6 months of Bruce grieving and getting steadily more unstable before 13 year old Tim Drake decides Something Must Be Done, We Need A Robin. He then heads off to find Dick Grayson at any point between July and October, make this gap however long-short you want. March Birthday Dick we probably cram death-until-realisation into under 2 months, but we’re working with even more of a sliding scale given it’s just harder to anchor known stuff in this timeline.

Ta da!

Conclusions:

if I want this to work I am gonna run with the 24 October birthday for Dick, just because it makes pinning dates down easier. Sorry, 20 March birthday fans.

Ages: Tim is either 5 years, 4 months or 5 years, 8 months younger than Dick. Tim is 23 months younger than Jason. Jason is either 3 years, 3 months or 3 years, 7 months younger than Dick.

Cass is 2 years, 6 months older than Tim. She is 5 months older than Jason. She is either 2 years, 10 months or 3 years, 2 months younger than Dick.

Steph is about a year older than Tim and about a year younger than Cass.

Damian, who is extremely indirectly affected by anything in this timeline, is 6-7 years younger than Tim and 12 years younger than Dick. He was definitely conceived while Dick was Robin.

Incidentally: Tim figuring out Dick is Robin happens when he is 9. With this timeline, Dick was 14-15 when Tim worked that out. Tim therefore spent at LEAST two years fanboying Dick!Robin, and then saw Jason!Robin for at most a year, realistically closer to 6 months. “Jason was my Robin” doesn’t exist

(Also tragically for me, The ‘Tim is 3’ reading of the circus means that Tim was definitely born prior to Bruce’s return to Gotham. There’s this lovely little wrinkle that if you use a timeline where he’s 2 at the circus, he was probably born right around when Bruce debuted at Batman, which is just a sweet little note for a character so tied to other people’s origin stories)

(Seriously though if you allow Dick be 10 when he is orphaned, it lets him be Robin until 18-19, he can turn 20 before Jason’s death, frees up so much timeline kludging around the Jason period, even if it does create a bigger age gap between Dick and Tim)

#dc #playing with timelines #dc meta #post-crisis is pretty consistent in age progression #but 8 year old Dick Grayson actually sacrifices JASON’S timeline more than Tim’s #timeline shenanigans

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ver33stappen · 2 years

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M. Verstappen || Christmas presents

In which: Max and family celebrating Christmas trying to convince y/n to get their daughter and kart and it’s all just fluffy

Genre: fluff

Requested: yes - no

Warnings: mentions of Christian Horner, max being too cute for this world, pregnancy , abortion, Jos verstappen

DECEMBER 24TH 2022

When max had found out you were pregnant 8 months into your relationship it had been a rocky path for the both of you. The questions on wether to keep it and wether we would be good parents as max travels around a lot for his job. It was a lot to take in.

Max’s career was only really just flourishing and making the decision had to be one of the toughest things. Jos hated the idea, believed it would ruin max’s whole racing career but considering max was madly in love with you he mustered up the courage to say he wants to keep it just as you were about to drive to get the baby aborted

But looking back on it you’re extremely happy that you’d decided to keep it. On June 3rd 2019 Amelia Jane Verstappen was born and the 2 of you couldn’t be any happier.

“Mummy mummy” you looked down to see a girl with dirty blonde hair and y/e/c eyes, starring right at you.

“Yes schatz? What’s up” you kneeled down onto the kitchen floor moving a strand of Amelia’s hair behind her ear

“Can we make Chrissy cookies for Santa tonight” you giggled at the fact she wasn’t able to make out the word Christmas but nevertheless went along with it

“Of course we can my dear, we also have to make some for the reindeers” you smiled picking her up and lifting her onto the kitchen bench where she sat cross legged

“Okay, can you please pour this cup of flour into the bowl” you asked the 3 year old who was having a hard time with the glass measuring cup, you helped her hold it making sure she wouldn’t break it

Suddenly Amelia poured all the flour in making the powdery substance go everywhere, especially both of your faces

“EMMY” you said horrified with her in a fit of laughter “mama you look like a ghost it’s not Halloween” she started laughing as I tried wiping the flour off my face

“What happened here” max started wheezing as he sat in the entrance of the door way in a white t shirt and Grey sweat pants

“Daddy!” The little girl exclaimed grabbing the air indicating for max to pick her up

Max ran over to her and then put her on the couch grabbing a blanket.

“schatz can you please make some hot chocolate” max asked sweetly

“You’re Lucky i love you” I rolled my eyes

“Hold on, My Cookie helper has ditched me. Emmy you wanted to make cookies and now you’ve left mummt to do it by herself!” I exclaimed pouting

“Tough love mama” the little girl laughed god she was so sassy and she got it from her father. max smirked looking toward me about to loose it.

“Hey, der weihnachtsmann schaut dir zu!” Santa is watching you

I finally finished making the cookies and popped them in the oven, Emmy had made a mess decorating them. Sprinkles and icing were everywhere.

I had made the hot chocolate for the 2 of them and then Emmy went off to bed hoping for Santa in the morning.

As I was about to finish cleaning up max came over and hugged me from behind. Peppering my neck with kisses.

“Du bist sehr schön” you are very pretty max whispered making my heart flutter

Every time I stared into those eyes of his my heart fluttered just like a teenager in love.

I turned around and kissed him as he propped me up onto the counter.

“You know.. Emmy’s gone to bed” he smirked at me, I started shaking my head and refused

“No no no no, it’s late, Santa comes tomorrow. I have a few jobs to finish up but get into bed and I’ll be there soon” I kissed his nose as he rolled his eyes unravelling himself from my waist

Just then I got a notification on my phone. “You have missed your period for one week, are you pregnant” I read the message and my stomach dropped

I had missed it but max and I were being safe so I was really confused. Maybe that’s why I had been feeling sick in the mornings lately. Or maybe I was reading too much into it.

I walked into the bathroom, pregnancy tests on hand always just to be safe. I peed on the stick and god the wait felt like an eternity.

The timer went off the the test sat there in words it had said “positive” I took another 2 to be sure, all with the same reply.

I grabbed a box from the cupboard put the test inside and put a little note “to max: merry Christmas”

I put it under the tree and now the night awaits

DECEMBER 25TH 2022

I woke up with max and his body wrapped around me as Emma jumped up and down on our bed “mama mama mama daddy daddy it’s chrissy” she was shouting and screaming

“It is too! Let’s go see what Santa brought” max said smiling at his daughter

Oddly enough I saw a massive box and a smaller box in terribly wrapped paper under the tree that I definitely had not put there i tilted my head in confusion as Emmy ran toward it

She ripped it open and it was a racing cart along with maxes helmet from when he had won the first world championship

“Max” I slapped his shoulder, we had agreed to not to get her a cart until she was 7 which theoretically was the age she can first start driving

“But she’s so cute look at her” max whispered back looking at the blonde with the helmet completely drowning her head. “I’m just like daddy” she laughed “max she’s going to hurt herself!” Max just laughed and said “well she will be learning from the world champion so chances are slim”

Max went over and helped her, showing all the parts of the kart. She has gotten a couple gifts from uncle Charles, uncle Daniel and the rest of the drivers as they had all loved her

I saw max pick up the box I had put out last night that was labelled to him, he raised an eyebrow and then opened it. His face had dropped and then looked at mine for confirmation, i just nodded and he came over and kissed me and then my stomach

“Ewww” Emmy showed a face of disgust

“Emmy you’re going to be a big sister” max said with eagerness

“Huh” she asked

“She’ll get it later” max shrugged but then smiling back at me pulling me in for a kiss

“How long have you known” he looked up at me, “since last night”

“You should’ve told me, I would’ve bought 2 karts” he laughed

I rolled my eyes

“Mummy can I have pancakes” emmy asked politely

“Schatz let mama rest, I will cook the pancakes” max picked her up

“But your pancakes taste ew” she fake threw up and I laughed

“Hey they’re not that bad!” Max rolled his eyes starring at me

To be honest I couldn’t have had a better Christmas, right here with our happy little family.

#maxverstappen x reader #max vertsappen #pregnancy #Christmas #Charles Leclerc #Christian Horner #Daniel Ricciardo #f1 #formula one #f1 Imagine #cute #fluff

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darthfrodophantom · 4 months

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Family Traditions (We Are a Family...Right?)

Summary: Summary contains AGIT spoilers! Inspired by the Christmas season, Vlad takes his two charges Dan and Dani to select a Christmas tree for their first Christmas together. Dani is thrilled by the outing, Dan...not so much. And Vlad is left to ruminate on his nostalgic memories and the meaning of the word family.

Happy Holiday Truce @northerngrail! I'm your Secret Santa! I really hope you enjoy your gift this year! Thank you for the wonderful prompts! I decided to go with this one for your gift:

Prompt: The Masters family (Vlad, Dan, Dani) doing something incredibly stereotypically "family bonding" ie: fishing, road trip, etc. And suffering through it (happily)

AO3

CW: AGIT Spoilers!

Family Traditions (We Are a Family...Right?)

He didn’t know what drove him to think this idea would go well. Maybe he thought this living arrangement meant more than it actually did. Maybe he finally had some hope that something would change. Or maybe he was just getting soft and senile in his old age. Vlad realized with a sharp jab of annoyance mixed with pain that it was probably the latter.

He couldn’t really put a name on what living situation he had now with the young Danielle and the redemption-seeking Dan. Parent? No, that felt far too familiar. Warden? In the case of Dan that sometimes felt appropriate. Caretaker? He certainly did watch out for them, but even that seemed a little distant for the paternal relationship he’d started to build. Guardian? That seemed to fit the best as a good mix of responsibility and affection.

But would that make them a family? He felt loath to ascribe that much affection and companionship towards what they had. He could catch a glimpse of it sometimes, especially from Danielle, but he didn’t feel that quite met the criteria for family. Then again, he didn’t have the best example of that growing up, but when he looked at what the Fentons had…he didn’t see that in his current living situation.

So if he didn’t see them as a family, then why did he think it wise to embark on something that most would consider a family tradition? He still couldn’t rationalize those competing principles in his mind, just like he still couldn’t explain the pull he felt towards this activity. He could say he got caught up in the infectious holiday spirit surrounding him, or the yearning for a family tradition, but in reality it had been a thought: a simple thought that pushed him to change his entire approach to the month of December. This was the first Christmas he would spend with children under his roof - and he painfully realized it would be the first Christmas he would spend with anyone under his roof since he was a teenager - and he needed to make that special for them. Whether he was their parent, warden, caretaker, or guardian, that meant he bore the responsibility of giving them a Christmas and rolling out all the stops. The decorations. The stockings. The presents. The Christmas meal. The Christmas movies. And that also meant…the Christmas tree.

Wrangling them into the car proved to be a challenge. Dan was a malevolent, violent ghost stuck in a teenager’s body, which proved to be a disastrous combination on the best of days, and Danielle was mischievous and far too inquisitive for her own good. Neither of them responded well to the idea of an unannounced drive to an undisclosed location for an activity. His suggestion was met with suspicion and questions, and even though he managed to convince them to join him in the car, the suspicious and inquisitive questions had not ceased.

Christmas music crooned out of the stereo to set the mood as Vlad turned off the highway and onto a country road. Sure some people sold suitable trees in the city, but this was less about the tree and more about the experience, and he wanted to find a small local shop off the beaten path. As they pulled into the small dirt parking lot, Dan’s eyes focused on the large cars with cables and trailers and harnesses already equipped. He watched as a family walked out from under a white canopy strung up with warm Christmas lights as they pulled something heavy behind them.

Dan shook his head as he frowned. “No…no wait no. I see what you’re doing here. Are we–”

“Picking out a Christmas tree!” Dani interrupted in sheer joy as she pressed her face against the cold car window to look out at the selection of pine trees that covered the snowy ground.

“Yes, that is what we are doing,” Vlad confirmed as he out-maneuvered someone to get a close parking space. They didn’t need a closer parking space - all of them were fit and able to walk and carry a tree a long distance - but this was about the principle and the status of managing to find and obtain a closer parking space.

Dan groaned as he slumped into his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. “Why can’t we just get a plastic tree from Target like everyone else? Or better yet, none at all.”

“Because that’s no fun,” Dani pouted as she turned around in her seat to face her…sibling? Herself? Her future? Vlad wasn’t quite sure how to quantify and label their relationship either. “This is so much better! I’ve seen this on TV. You run around and look at all the trees and pick the best one. Don’t you want to do that?”

“No,” Dan quickly retorted.

“Really?” Dani pressed.

“I would rather be in the thermos.”

“We can arrange that,” Dani muttered under her breath as she turned to look back out the window.

Vlad took a moment to build his patience (a patience he’d been working incredibly hard to develop after finding himself a guardian) before he turned around to look in the back seat. “No one is being sucked into a thermos. Now we are going to look at some Christmas trees. Maybe we don’t need to look at all of the trees,” he conceded. Dani opened her mouth to protest but Vlad held a hand up. “We can find a perfectly good tree without looking at all of them. But we are going to look, understand?”

Dan and Vlad locked eyes for what felt like minutes to Vlad, but he knew in reality it only lasted a few moments. He’d engaged in his fair share of these battles of wills with the malevolent ghost before (and he’d lost his fair share as well), but he had a purpose this time and the genuine hope this would do them all some good, and that pushed him to stand his ground.

Finally Dan huffed out an annoyed breath and stepped out of the car. Vlad slumped in his seat in relief. He really didn’t want this argument to escalate further, but with Dan he never knew. He genuinely felt that the ghost was trying to make good on his second chance, especially since they both knew Clockwork kept his eye on them, but sometimes he acted out in anger and it turned violent. Vlad could take the abuse until he could calm him down, but he preferred not to cause a panic in public around so many families.

Dani seemed to sense their victory. The tension bled out of her and a smile returned to her face as she jumped eagerly out of the car. He had originally been wary of bringing Danielle into the house after he took charge of Dan’s rehabilitation, but she had actually proven to be a stabilizing force in the house. Maybe she served as a gentle reminder of Dan’s prior innocence, Vlad couldn’t quite say, but in the absence of Jazmine (who Dan surprisingly listened to), Danielle could hold quite a bit of sway. They still argued, but she could hold her own and put him in his place when needed. Sometimes they even teamed up, and while Vlad appreciated seeing them working together, that never bode well for him.

He followed his two charges out of the car and led them towards the first row of trees as the snow crunched underfoot. What a stereotypical sight they must make: the single parent leading a sullen teenager and a wide-eyed younger child to pick out a Christmas tree. It felt reminiscent of those horrible Hallmark channel movies that he absolutely did not hate-watch in secret, but how wrong anyone would be to think that their arrangement was anything close to that stereotypical display.

“Don’t even look at the prices,” he instructed as they reached their first row of trees. Wafts of fresh pine scent assaulted them, and Vlad took a moment to breathe deep of the nostalgic smell. He couldn’t wait to have it spread through the living room once they installed the tree. “Just pick out a tree you both like.”

Dani clapped her hands happily and ran off down the row to look at trees further in, but stopped short as soon as Dan spoke up and pointed ominously at the very first tree. “This one.”

Dani stopped and turned around as she stomped her foot. “Ugh, you dummy! You didn’t even look at the rest of them!” Vlad raised an eyebrow because Danielle may very well be the only being in both the realm of the living and the realm of the dead who could get away with calling Dan a dummy.

“I didn’t need to. I like this one,” he said firmly.

Dani opened her mouth to argue again, but Vlad spoke first. “And why do you like this one?” Maybe he had a genuine reason for liking this tree, but he doubted it.

“Because it’s the first one.”

Both Vlad and Dani groaned. “We’ll keep your preference in mind, but we’ll keep looking at other trees,” Vlad decided. He didn’t want to dismiss Dan’s preference if he truly felt a connection to that tree, but he had a feeling the only positive quality that three possessed was being the first of the lot.

Dan retreated further into his sulk as he bowed his head lower, but he trudged after them as Dani ran through the trees. They had their work cut out for them, because all the trees were lovely. The recent snow dusted the branches with white powder and it looked like a perfect winter wonderland; he would be happy taking any of them home. Thankfully Dani seemed to have a vision and she inspected trees that caught her eye with an expert, critical gaze.

“What about this one?” Vlad suggested as he pointed at a well-shaped tree that Dani walked right past.

She turned to give it a second look as she placed a gloved hand to her chin, but she shook her head. “Nope. It’s too…piney.”

“Too…piney?” Vlad asked in confirmation.

“What the hell does that mean?” Dan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s more of a feeling. It’s just…too much pine.” And as if that statement cleared everything up, she dashed off to another tree.

“She’s drawing this out,” Dan complained.

Vlad sighed. “We’ve barely been here five minutes; this is hardly being drawn out.”

“There was nothing wrong with that tree,” Dan pointed out. “She shot it down because she doesn’t want to be done.”

“And what’s the harm in that?” Vlad probed. “Let her look at some of the trees, get a feel for what’s out there, and then we can press her into choosing one.”

Dan rolled his eyes and trudged after them as he scuffed his boots stubbornly through the snow. Occasionally he’d kick the trunk of a tree just to watch the snow shake and fall from the branches, but mostly he sulked behind them while Dani debated the features of different trees and the quality of their pine needles.

“Oh stop looking like you’re being tortured,” Vlad finally spoke up. “This is far from the worst thing you’ve ever had to endure.”

“Don’t you remember I hate Christmas?” Dan pointed out.

“Part of you may,” Vlad conceded. He remembered hearing Jack complain incessantly about how young Daniel could not get into the spirit of Christmas. He’d planned to use that at some point to his advantage in recruiting the young Daniel, but now…well he had enough versions of the boy that he didn’t need to add another under his roof. “But the other part of you secretly loves Christmas. I know because that part is me. So maybe you should listen to that other part.”

“I usually lean towards hatred,” Dan quipped sullenly.

Dani poked her head out from behind a nearby Christmas tree, her hat covered in snow. “Well, then maybe you shouldn’t.” She gave Dan a pointed look and a shrug before she disappeared back behind the foliage.

Vlad had to hide a chuckle behind a gloved hand at how simple the suggestion seemed. Danielle had a way of cutting through the attitude to find the cheery solution. He didn’t know where that quality came from, because while Daniel could be overly hopeful at times, he wouldn’t necessarily describe the boy as cheery. She hadn’t had a cheerful existence so far (he meant to change that) so he couldn’t say that positive outlook came from her prior experiences. Maybe she forced herself to adopt that perspective specifically to deal with her experiences? He’d have to ponder that a bit more. But whatever the explanation for her optimistic demeanor, he appreciated her view on the world and tried to adopt a little of it himself now and then.

Dan also seemed intrigued by her suggestion because he grew quiet and pensive. It wouldn’t last long, it never did, but maybe he took some of what she said to heart.

Suddenly a tree caught Vlad’s eye and he stopped in front of it. A wide base with a tapered point, taller than him, no patchy spots - it resembled the quintessential tree from any holiday catalog. “Danielle, what about this one?” Vlad suggested as he inspected the branches. He gave them a good shake and they seemed sturdy and capable of holding even his heaviest Packers ornaments.

Dani doubled back and gave the tree some serious consideration. She walked around it a couple times and even got down onto her knees to look up under the tree at its bones. She scooted out from under the branches and shook her head. “No, that’s not our tree.”

“Are you kidding me?” Dan snapped. “It’s perfect!”

“That’s the problem,” Dani stated as she lifted up one of the branches. “It’s too perfect. You want the tree to have some character.”

“I can’t believe this,” Dan groaned as he looked up at the sky like it held some kind of salvation.

“Well, then we’ll keep looking,” Vlad agreed, though it pained him to walk away from this picture-perfect tree.

“I still don’t understand why we’re doing this,” Dan spoke up.

Vlad took a moment to close his eyes and collect his patience before he spoke up again. “Because we need a Christmas tree,” he tried to say through a controlled, even tone.

“Okay, but why are we doing this?” Dan asked with added emphasis on his real question. ”Why not just send Skulker to grab one? You send him on all your other mundane errands.”

“Because he wouldn’t grab the right one. And he wouldn’t take the care needed to transport it back. And he’s on a date.” There, three practical reasons that should hopefully quell Dan’s query and avoided the true emotional reasons for the trip.

Dan stopped abruptly as he blinked a couple times. “He’s what?”

Vlad turned around and quickly noticed the shocked wide eyes and gaping mouth, and he took the slightest bit of delight that he could catch the ghost off guard like that. He actually greatly resembled Daniel in that moment in more than just appearance. He didn’t often see pieces of the Daniel he knew in Dan - he must have torn it all out when he rid himself of his emotions - but occasionally they would bleed through. It was refreshing to see. “Well, he didn’t call it a date. He’s off destroying the world with Technus. But it’s a date. We all know it’s a date.”

Dan shook his head minutely as a look of revulsion colored his shocked expression. “I don’t want to hear that.”

“What, do you have a problem with love?” Dani asked as she emerged from behind them. She had clearly been crawling around under trees because pine needles stuck out of her hat and jacket.

“No - I mean yes,” he countered quickly. “Yes. I hate love.”

“Riiiight,” Dani said as she rolled her eyes. She gave a slight wink to Vlad who hid a chuckle behind his glove. “Hey, shouldn’t we be worried about the ‘destroying the world’ part?”

Vlad waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too worried. It’s Skulker and Technus after all: hardly a pair to be concerned about. Besides, I’m sure Daniel will find a way to ruin their fun.”

“First good thing that brat’s done,” Dan quipped.

Dani put her hands on her waist as she leaned in close to Dan’s face. “Why are you so against them dating?” she asked as she squinted to study his face.

He took a step back and lightly shoved her out of his space. “Because I’ve seen them in the future. Look, can we talk about anything else? Like what about this tree?” he asked as he tapped the tree next to them.

Vlad smiled that Dan seemed to be getting into the spirit enough that talking about a tree was an acceptable alternative. It also seemed to work because it completely distracted Dani who rushed over to examine the tree.

“Nah. This one sheds too many needles,” she decided as she pulled a handful of needles off.

“You can’t–every tree will lose its needles if you pull on them like that!” Dan argued in exasperation.

“Yeah, but this one lost more,” she countered. “So there. Not a good tree.” She scampered off before Dan could get another argument in.

He clenched a fist and breathed out a long, slow breath. Vlad hiked an eyebrow in interest because it looked like some of those anger management techniques were actually working. He’d have to thank Jazmine later. “She’s being unreasonable.”

“She’s just having fun,” Vlad sighed. “I promise, I’ll make her select one soon enough, just bear with her.”

“Oh I’m bearing with her alright,” Dan muttered through gritted teeth as he watched Dani dismiss another perfectly good tree.

While Dan might be suffering watching her traipse through the rows of pine trees, Vlad actually found the whole event quite enjoyable. The whimsy of watching Danielle play around amongst the trees and inspect each one filled him with a paternal glow. Watching a Christmas tradition unfold through the eyes of a child filled him with a happiness he couldn’t really explain and renewed his Christmas spirit more than any other activity could. Now if only his other charge would find the tender happiness of the moment with them, then it could all be perfect. Alas, that seemed to be too much to ask for.

“If none of these trees are right, then why can’t we just get a plastic one? It would save us all a lot of time,” Dan pointed out.

“The plastic ones just don’t have the same feel to them,” Vlad explained as he stretched the limits of his very limited patience to stay civil. How he longed to turn around and brandish the ‘because I said so’ that all guardians use at some point, but he knew that would only end in conflict and would force Dan to pull away even further. But god would it be easier. “A real tree has a scent and a presence that the fake ones don’t have. And the experience of selecting a tree is far more thrilling.”

“I can’t say I agree with the ‘thrilling’ part of that statement,” Dan grumbled.

“Because you’re not letting yourself. But selecting a tree for Christmas…why it’s one of the few happy memories I have of Christmases past. My parents were usually too busy for their trophy child, but Christmas seemed to be the time when they remembered why they had a child in the first place. Every Christmas we would pick out a tree from some small lot like this one here. Mother would watch and smile as I picked out a tree. I could actually hold my father’s attention for a time. We had no distractions or anything else demanding their attention. It was us as a family picking out a Christmas tree.”

A soft smile settled on Vlad’s face as he thought of those happy, nostalgic memories. He didn’t have many happy memories of his childhood as they were mostly filled with loneliness and boredom, but the few he had of Christmas he held very dear to his heart. And being back amongst the trees, with the snow and the pine and the excited squeals of children pointing to trees brought him right back to the happiest of his memories.

Dani stopped her inspection of a tree’s branches, and when she turned to look at him, Vlad could see the sympathy creasing her slightly teary eyes. He wasn’t really trying to get that reaction from her, but he wanted to share how much the nostalgia of this trip meant to him. She reached a comforting hand out towards him, but stopped when Dan’s harsh voice cut through the silence left by Vlad’s story.

“You forget old man that I have those same memories too,” Dan growled with a slight edge to his voice. While Vlad clearly drew warm feelings from these memories, Dan’s reaction gave him the distinct impression that he was not as pleased to be reliving those old memories. “I don’t need the reminder. So I ask again why are we doing this? And I want a real answer this time.”

Vlad opened his mouth with a quick businessman answer full of bluster and smoke and mirrors, but faltered when he realized that this wasn’t a business meeting. This wasn’t some pitch that he needed to sell to a stranger whose feelings and opinions didn’t matter. This wasn’t some cut and dry business proposal that most people would forget about two days later. No, this was his ward and he owed him more than some superficial response. He deserved to hear the real reason, even if Vlad still didn’t know what that real reason could be. How was he supposed to explain to the ghost who tore out his own feelings a decade ago that he did it because he yearned to give his wards a warm memory to hold on to in the cold and lonely months that seemed to come for everyone in their later years, like he had of his own Christmas traditions. He couldn’t rationalize it or explain it in a logical way that would make sense to him, because all he had were feelings and a hope, and he could hardly find the words to explain that to himself, let alone to the other ghost.

Dani, however, seemed to have no problems putting that feeling into words. She stepped in between them and looked at them both with that infectious smile of hers. “Because it’s what family does.”

A silence fell about them as the word ‘family’ rang in their ears. Dan stared down at the snow-covered ground and refused to meet either of their eyes. He slid his foot in the snow just to make some kind of noise to fill the awkward silence. Vlad also shifted uncomfortably as he grabbed his other arm and ran his hand along his sleeve as he lost himself in thought.

Family. So Danielle somehow believed they were a family? Why was he so shocked to hear that? He’d thought it earlier that night and even multiple times before that as he planned this out. This was the sort of activity a family did together. He wanted to share this with them because he saw them as family. It all made sense in his head, and yet for some reason the word never felt right when he rolled it around in his head. He always felt it wasn’t quite right for what a family should be, but maybe that had been his problem. For Danielle to say it so plainly…well it made it all the more plain to him too. Maybe it wasn’t the family everyone else had, but it was the family the three of them got, and didn’t that make the word all the more meaningful? The fact that three outcasts who never really belonged to anyone had found each other (sometimes in very strange circumstances) and managed to make it work meant something to him, to Danielle, and hopefully to Dan based on his reaction.

Dani must have realized she said something poignant because she let the other two sit in their thoughts for a long, awkward moment before her eyes grew wide. She pointed into the distance as a huge grin spread across her face. “That’s it!” she cried out before she shot off down the row to the tree that caught her eye.

Dan glanced up from the ground and took a step forward to follow after her, but Vlad held a hand out to gently stop him. He knew Dan didn’t like being touched and he was putting his own safety in danger by doing so, but he had a feeling he would allow it this time. “Wait. You want to know why I’m doing this?” he asked, which turned Dan’s warning glare into a look of curiosity. “I’m doing it for her.”

Vlad gestured towards Dani who jumped about her newly selected tree with excited hands clasped together. “Maybe you don’t care anymore, or maybe even can’t care anymore, and that’s fine. Maybe you don’t think we’re a family, and that’s fine too. But she does. And she has known very few Christmases since she…well since I brought her into this life. I wasn’t ready to make them good Christmases before…but I am now. And I want her to have a good memory of this, like we did.”

He gave Dan one last little nod before he met up with Dani at her chosen tree. Dan fell silent and stayed behind, but Vlad didn’t mind. Giving him a chance to think and ponder those thoughts seemed like it would be helpful in the long run. “Well now, let’s see this tree.” Like many of the others they’d pointed out, the tree had a good wide and full silhouette and was tall enough to fit the ceiling of its destined room. He nodded his head in approval as he circled the tree and studied it from all angles, but his inspection unfortunately uncovered a gap in the tree. And not just a gap, but it appeared all the branches below that gap seemed to be drooping, like something heavy had pulled them down. He grabbed those branches and tried to move them up to see if they were broken, but the branches still remained firm. So they were attached securely to the tree but had just been shaped improperly.

Vlad sighed as he released the branch and dusted his hands off on his jacket. “I’m sorry to tell you this Danielle, but your tree has some drooping branches on this side.” She would be crushed to hear the tree that captured her heart had such a noticeable imperfection.

“I know,” she said simply. “That’s why it’s perfect.”

“...I’m not following,” Vlad admitted. She’d dismissed so many other trees for the tiniest of details (some of which she made up) so how could she so easily ignore this one?

“Because it’s not made perfect. It’s not the perfect example of a tree, and maybe it’s not exactly what you expect or want when you think about a tree, but it’s still good. It’ll still make a good tree,” she pointed out as she held one of the branches and ran her gloved fingers over the pine needles. “And you can love the tree not just in spite of its flaws, but because of its flaws.”

Vlad quickly realized this had become far larger than just picking out a tree. Somehow she had turned this into a metaphor for herself. She wanted a tree that had its flaws just as she had, and knowing that tree could still be chosen and loved and desired was important to her. He realized he had caused that insecurity too. By chasing after a “better” clone, a clone more like Daniel, he had dismissed his other creations as failures without caring about how that made them feel. He had a lot to atone for, more than what he could do with a Christmas tradition, but he’d start that atonement by showing her that yes, she could still be chosen and loved because of who she was.

“Well, then it sounds like it’s the perfect tree for us,” Vlad agreed with a smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder. A slightly broken tree for the slightly broken family. It felt right.

Dani squealed in excitement and jumped up and down in place. “Yay! I can’t wait to put all kinds of garland and ornaments and lights and - ooh tinsel! We can put tinsel on it too!”

Vlad chuckled as he shook his head slightly. Tinsel sounded like a horribly messy thing, but if tinsel brought her some holiday cheer and joy, then he’d let her throw tinsel all over that tree. “Whatever you’d like. Now, let’s take this tree number to the–”

“Oh, sorry pal,” a voice spoke up from behind them. Vlad turned to see a middle-aged couple walk over to them. The bearded man gestured towards the tree. “We already paid for that one.”

“What?” Dani asked as she turned her wide, sad eyes onto Vlad, as if pleading for a different answer.

“For this tree?” Vlad asked in confirmation as he placed his hands on the branches of the tree.

“Yup, that exact tree. Number 251. Best bang for its buck on the whole lot. Managed to get a discount on account of the defect,” he crowed proudly.

“But…but…” Dani stammered as she looked back at her prized tree. “But I spent so long looking for this one…”

Vlad felt a frustration rise up within him, but he tamped it down as he put on his best businessman face. He didn’t need to let his temper get out of control here. He had to remind himself that this couple didn’t understand or know how much this tree meant to her, but surely they could be persuaded. And if the joy of a child couldn’t sway them, then he was sure money could.

“Any way I could persuade you to pick a different tree?” he cajoled as he took a step closer. “Pay the cost of the difference to another tree perhaps? My dau–young Danielle here, she really has her heart set on this tree.”

“It’s perfect,” she pouted as she held onto one of its branches like a young child held the hand of a beloved stuffed animal.

The couple looked between each other for a moment, but when he met Vlad’s gaze again he shook his head. “Sorry, but we worked hard for the deal we got for this tree, and as a point of pride we’d like to take it home.”

“Extra money then,” Vlad pressed. “The difference in price for another tree plus an extra hundred to spend on decorations or whatever you’d like.”

The man shook his head again. “Sorry pal, but we’d like this tree, and we did find it first.”

Vlad clenched a fist as his ectoplasm boiled in rage. Really they were just being unreasonable. The tree, while perfect for them, could not possibly be worth this much to the other couple. It seemed like the more he argued for it, the more value they found in their initial purchase. He normally believed everyone had a tipping point, but he feared that these individuals were too stubborn for their own good. Perhaps he could arrange a little…situation on the road, where the tree mysteriously fell through their car on the way home. He’d tried to handle this nicely, but he wasn’t above some ghostly trickery to get that tree. Yes, that could work. He would just need a duplicate to follow them and then–

“He made you a reasonable offer,” Dan growled out from behind them. Vlad turned to see Dan practically vibrating in his anger, like his skin could barely hold the rage building up inside him. His clenched fists shook from the effort it took to keep them at his side.

“Now Dan, we don’t need to–” Vlad tried to intervene, but Dan cut him short with a steely glare.

“I’m not talking to you, old man. I’m talking to these two,” he snarled as he focused his attention on the pig-headed couple as he took slow, controlled steps towards them, like a careful predator stalking his prey. “He made you a reasonable offer and you said no because of what? Your pride? So you can have a trophy and congratulate yourselves on how you got such a good deal at the expense of the dreams of a child? You’re pathetic.”

The man bristled and stepped in front of his wife. “We saw it first. We already paid for it. That means it’s ours.”

“Oh no it isn’t. No, this tree is ours now. You want to take this tree from her?” he asked slowly as he gestured towards Dani. “On her first real Christmas? Her first Christmas with her family? No…no you’re not going anywhere near this tree. I’ll make sure of that,” he promised as a sinister red light flared in his eyes.

“Brad,” his wife squeaked up from the back, but he shook his head and took a brave (and foolish) step forward. He took a moment to size the teenager up with his dark jacket and thick black boots. Vlad realized that the man probably thought he had this “teenage punk” all figured out - oh how wrong he would be.

“You think some teenager with a mouth will stop me?” Brad asked as he puffed up his chest with fake confidence. “I’ll call the cops and shut down your tough guy act.”

“The cops won’t save you from what I have in store,” Dan threatened as his eyes glowed a uniform red. A white ring of light formed around his waist, and as it split apart it revealed the massive, muscled form of Dan Phantom. Brad took a terrified step back on shaking legs as Dan advanced on him, towering over him. He grabbed the man’s shirt in his fist and easily suspended him in the air. The man grasped at the hand around his shirt and kicked his legs as he begged for mercy, but it only made Dan’s malicious smile grow wider.

He flew the pleading man up into the air, higher and higher before he simply released his hold on the man and dropped him. He screamed as he plummeted quickly to the earth, but Dan swooped down to grab him again. He held him in the air and grinned at his screams for mercy. “If you think that was bad, you should see what else I have in store for you,” Dan threatened as he held up a fist wreathed with green ectoplasmic flame.

“Oh butter biscuits, we’d been doing so well for a public outing,” Vlad sighed from down on the ground. As much as he felt great pleasure (and maybe pride?) upon hearing the unreasonable man squeal in terror and fright, he didn’t actually want the trouble of having Dan hurt the man. As much as he wished for the man to suffer pain for his stubborn attitude and refusal to help secure Dani’s dream tree, as a guardian he couldn’t actually let Dan hurt the man.

“Are you going to stop him?” Dani asked with a slight tremble in her voice. She must still remember the last time he had to stop Dan and took quite a beating in the process.

“Eventually,” Vlad sighed as he kept his eyes focused closely on Dan. “If he does anything that’s actually harmful I will of course rush in.” For now though, it seemed like Dan found satisfaction enough in terrifying the man, and judging by Brad’s high pitched squeals of “You can have the tree! You can have the tree!” he had a feeling the tactic worked.

“But first, let us rescue that tree, hmm?” Vlad suggested as he smiled down at his young charge.

Dani’s smile lit up her face as she reached over to give Vlad a hug from the side. He stiffened slightly in surprise only because he didn’t expect such a physically affectionate reaction, but it melted his heart all the same in a way he’d never felt before. He placed a hand on her back and gave it a comforting pat.

He looked back over at Dan who had moved on to threatening the man by slowly sinking him intangibly into the ground and he noticed the gleeful yet sinister smile on his face. Dan reacted so strongly to the potential for Danielle’s dream to be dashed, and he had even used the word family in his threats. He admitted they were a family.

Somehow, in their own strange way, this trip had brought them closer as a unit and…yes as a family. This off-the-cuff idea that he stitched together with a feeling and a hope had actually proven to be a happy outing that he knew generated some formative memories for all involved. Maybe he had done it. Maybe he had created a new Christmas tradition for all of them. For his family.

Their own family tradition.

Notes: I just wanted to make a note that I don't actually have anything against plastic trees. I myself have 3 plastic trees and have never had a live tree (I'm too paranoid about the fire risks). So that was all Vlad. But I do have a romanticized idea of what selecting a live tree would be like!

Also @northerngrail I hope you noticed the little nod to one of your other prompts in there!

This is also a first for me on a lot of levels. First time including Dani in a story. First time writing from Vlad's POV. First time writing anything post-AGIT. So hopefully I did it all justice!

I hope you enjoyed your gif!

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #fanfiction #phandom truce 2023 #holiday truce 2023 #masters family #agit spoilers #a glitch in time spoilers #post agit #christmas fluff #found family trope #family fluff #minor angst #but mostly fluff #parental Vlad Masters #Vlad Masters POV #christmas tree #christmas spirit

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