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#AND made our porch kind of cat safe??
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"I wore a tanktop once" is such a funny way to talk about my friends deciding I was a handyman but that really was it??
I found the way to trick ppl into thinking you know what you're doing is:
1 - wear tanktop while helping friends with a household project
2 - adopt Dad Stance (hands on hips while surveying the situation. bonus points if thats what you've trained yourself to do instead of the Autistic T-Rex Arms)
3 - (optional) look up wikihow articles ahead of time because you're anxious worried about looking stupid.
if you know one (1) thing nobody else thinks of, you will be designated the Local Expert. depending on the project, anything adjacent to this will also be assumed to be in your wheelhouse.
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endreal · 11 months
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cam I get all the kinds of reds you feel like answering?
shakhnazaryan red; are you currently binge-watching anything?
I suppose by one definition whatever I've got on TV is a binge watch bc I'll just put on a show and let it run for hours while I wander in and out of the room doing Endreal things. I like to call it 'putting something on for the boys' (the boys are our cats)
red ochre; are you more right-brained (creative) or left-brained (analytical)?
My friend, I am a corpus callosum kinda guy
english red; what animal do you relate to most?
Gremlin, obvs! Idk it varies from day to day but probably most likely either a spoilt housecat (orange) or an excitable medium sized dog (possibly a retriever or terrier).
vermilion; what’s your favorite accent?
Right now hands-down unapologetically my partner's. I love just listening to them.
cadmium red; do you have a “type” when it comes to a significant other?
Based solely on jokes that have been made about me/at me in the past 48 hours alone the answer would be something like welders, poets, Midwesterners, Belgians, musicians, groups of musicians, and people with great shoulders
scarlet; describe your current crush/es.
Utter gaddamn nerds, the lot of 'em <3
ruby; what does your ideal first date look like?
Oh, hmm, good question! I know this may be hard to believe but I don't go on first dates very often? I guess meeting up somewhere and doing a fun casual low-impact sort of thing? Like an outdoor art museum or walking around looking for landmark/historical plaques downtown or something. Maybe a stop at café for snacks or drinks if we're out long enough to need it
carmine; what does your ideal second date look like?
(don't make a uhaul joke don't make a uhaul joke don't make a uhaul joke don't make a) oh man this one is WAY harder! Hmm, I guess similar to the first one but make it nature-y? Park walking, hiking trail, afternoon adventure at the sea (if it's close enough), paddling in streams? (don't forget to stay hydrated and wear appropriate protection from the sun!)
madder lake red; would you ever kiss someone (or accept a kiss) on a first date?
I can't think of any reason why not, unless I just really didn't click with the person!
rose; what’s something really positive going on in your life right now?
I've had time and space in my life for writing again recently. Is it what I expected to be writing? No. But I am, in fact, doing it!
quinacridone rose; what’s something you’re really looking forward to?
Tuesday gremlin time (that's today!). Also in a couple weeks I'm taking my spouse down to the island for his birthday and he's been trying to play it cool but honesty it's starting to slip how excited he's getting about it
violet rose; what does your dream house look like?
Any place that's safe and comfortable, but I think I'd love it if it's got a big covered porch and ceiling fans. (these may be very American sensibilities but as an American I think they're very sensible ones!)
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nancypullen · 1 year
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Friday Evening
I’ve ranted, raved, and cried.  You probably don’t want to hear it anymore. I know we’re all saturated with bad news and you didn’t come here for that. SO...although I will continue to rant and rave to my elected officials and donate to candidates who will work for change, back to our regularly schedule programming.   I have a bird.  Well, I had a bird.  I named him Jeffrey, but the call of the wild was stronger than his love for me.  Let me start at the beginning. Yesterday I was in the front yard prepping the flower bed for spring planting.  It had gotten weedy and ugly because we really didn’t have much of a winter.  Earlier this week I was thrilled that iris bulbs that a dear friend sent to me last year were blooming.  There’s a very sweet story behind them and I’ll get to that too.
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Oh, happy day! This made my heart so light! Thank you, Dina. Anywhoooo, I was on my hands and knees, pulling weeds and singing along to Three Dog Night when I heard a loud THUNK!  I turned just in time to see a bird bounce off the basketball goal of the house across the street. Poor fella hit the street and fluttered around a bit before getting still. I felt awful for him and sort of kept one eye on him while I continued weeding.  I battled with my urge to rush over and save him and the dread of seeing a dead bird.  Then I realized that if he was alive I couldn’t just leave him there for a car to hit or a cat to torture.  I walked into the street and saw that he was very much alive, so I scooped him up and assured him I wouldn’t hurt him.  He thanked me by pooping in my hand.
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I didn’t mind. I figured it was either the poop of death, the poop was scared out of him, or he’d just enjoyed a nice lunch at my bird feeder.  He didn’t seem embarrassed, but that might be the effects of the concussion.  I sat in the sunshine with him and we talked.  He was a good listener, but seemed to have some short term memory issues.  He slowly started to perk up and his little chirps became more inquisitive.  I stroked him and kind of checked his wings and legs and everything seemed to be in working order.  This was when Stanley, the tabby from down the street (I don’t know his real name, he’s Stanley to me) strolled onto the porch.  Interesting timing, Stanley.  I have a little video that I’ll try to post.  Moving right along, Jeffrey showed steady improvement and over time hopped from my hand to my leg, then to my shoulder.  We bonded.
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Don’t judge me, I was working in the garden. I sent this picture to my boys.
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Then I sent it to my sister.
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I was seeing a delightful trend in the responses.  What granny doesn’t want to feel like a princess for a day?  Then I sent it to MIckey.
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He does not think I’m a princess, he assumed that I had somehow lured or tricked that bird.  I have to admit, he’s merely judging from past experience. Of course, I later told him the truth about the poor bird with the traumatic brain injury that I saved from certain death.
After quite a while porch sitting with Jeffrey he hopped to the back of my chair, and then to the porch railing before flying away.
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I don’t regret one minute of our brief but meaningful relationship and I’m sure that he feels the same.  I’m hoping he’ll spread the word about the nice lady on Kathryn Court and tell the other birdies not to poop on my car. Other than acting as an avian EMT, I’ve been finishing up the changes to the downstairs powder room.  It’s nearly ready for a reveal and I’m so tickled with the results. The new faucet arrives tomorrow and I’ve got .a piece of art to hang over the commode yet. Almost finished! I probably won’t post for two or three days - the Edgewater gang is coming for the weekend, we’ll celebrate Mickey’s birthday on Sunday (even though it’s not until the 4th), and we’re spending the day in D.C. on Monday.  We’ll take in the cherry blossoms, visit the African-American Museum, and  hopefully take a turn in the National Gallery.    Might not post until Monday night or Tuesday morning.  Until then, stay safe, stay well, keep your chin up. Sending out loads of love-
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Nancy
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retrowaving1 · 10 months
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My painting of Basia in 2023 / My drawing of “the Queen” Basia (to the left) and princess myself as a cat ( to the right  ) in 2010 - yes, I was a weird child  :D
Despite the description, this post is going to be deeply personal   One month ago, I lost my dearest friend and one of the most beloved family members - my cat Basia. She was fighting a lymphoma since 2020, when she also had a surgery, but even afterward, the problem returned and started progressing again. By the end of May, my mom, who, together with the rest of my family, currently lives in Ukraine, wrote me a message that Basia stopped eating and drinking, and had trouble walking. Clearly, she was in pain and couldn't function anymore. We made a painful mutual decision to put her down the next day, so she wouldn't have to suffer anymore. 
That day, I called my parents on Telegram to say goodbye to my pet. She was looking very ill, she lost most of her weight, and her fur, once silky and smooth, was looking like hedgehog spines. I cannot choose the words (even in my native language, let alone English) to describe the emotional state I was in, knowing that I couldn't be there for her at that moment. I felt guilty and I was so sorry. However, there was nothing to be done. The next day, that was the 1st of June, her 14th birthday, a vet came over to my parents' house and sent her to her last, peaceful sleep. My parents buried her at a beautiful, safe place near the river together with her favorite toy, a mouse, which she had since she was a kitten. 
Basia was an amazing cat. She was very loving and supportive, as much as a cat can be for a human, and even more. In a way, Basia provided me with advice, when I needed one, by gently biting me on my hand when I was misbehaving as a teenager and not accepting my abusive ex-boyfriend into the family, as if she was protecting me. She was an extremely wise pet. She also was my bestie. We were together since I was 8, and she was a 2 months old little piece of fluff. She used to support me through my pain and health issues, both physical and mental. 
She was my painkiller and my inspiration. When we adopted Basia, I had been attending art school for about one year. I have always liked painting, but if before Basia I would paint trees and barbie dolls, after I got her - everything was about her. I used to paint her in different costumes, as if she was a human. Once I painted her on an a2 canvas in my school uniform and I think this work won some kind of competition, and even was hanging on the art school’s wall for some time (even though it actually was awful, if you ask me now XD). 
I guess what I want to say is that I loved that cat so much I could honestly paint her forever and even write short stories about her, as she had her own character and her approach to life, and her eyes were always filled with some unattainable cat wisdom. I truly believe that this cat had a huge influence over my interest in arts and was my first-ever muse. Thus, the most reasonable homage I can pay her is her last portrait, which would capture her young, silky and beautiful, the way I remember her, sitting on the porch of our cottage.
Basia, my dearest pet to whom I owe so much, I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you in 2020, when you first got sick, and in 2023 when your time came, but I hope you didn't hold grudges against me at the moment when you found your final peace, as you have always been in my heart and no other pet will ever replace you. I still rewatch the videos of you, jumping and playing with your mouse, and I appreciate you so much for fighting this horrible disease for such a long time. You were always so strong. Thank you for all the happy memories and for all of your support throughout the years of our mutual friendship. Thank you for everything. I love you and may your cat soul, wherever it is right now, rest in peace.
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valstrax · 1 year
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Today while we were walking the dog, we found a lost cat. He was orange and he was sitting on a low roof near the local church. We had never seen this cat before, but we do tend to see regular stray cats here and there. So we started saying hi to him and babytalking him and he meowed and came down and came running to us excitedly. He didn't seem like a stray because he was so friendly and also stood stupidly in the middle of the road after he was done with us. Not to mention he followed us a good distance as we were walking the dog, and also attempted to follow another random lady we saw on the walk. He was just so interested in people. So we thought he must be someone's lost pet.
We were super worried about him because, again, he stood in the middle of the road at one point, and if he was a pet he likely wouldn't survive just running around outside. So we made a missing pet post online in several places. We also attempted to catch him, but once we picked him up one time he escaped and then became wary of going near us again. During this time of trying to catch him, many people saw us and did not say anything, including the man across the street with his big dogs and high fences and "we support the police" signs and flags all over his yard. He had just come home with his dog, looked at us, then went inside. The cat was nearest to his house, so we wanted to knock and ask him if it was his cat, but none of us thought it would be safe to try and speak to that guy.
Hours go by. We have gone back and forth between our house and the cat to give him food, then treats, because he really seemed like he was starving and we couldn't get him. He ate them up. He also followed us down the street a good distance, but refused to follow after a certain point and then just ran off to another house's porch.
We get home. We're tired. We're cold. Guess who replies to our lost pet posting and tells us it's his cat? The racist guy. He also replied with a list of reasons cats belong outside (bullshit of course) and someone siding with him called us a Karen "looking for her moment of fame" or some shit. Someone also chimed in saying they see the cat all the time and it's "obvious" the cat has an owner. Then someone asked the moderator to delete our post because we were apparently looking for attention. The owner also scolded us for not asking him. But at the same time... this guy SAW us trying to get his cat to come up to us while we had a cat carrier with us and said nothing to us either. It was kind of a safety reason that our queer asses did not want to walk up to this racist, likely-homophobic, likely-sexist man's house.
You try to do something nice for an animal and you get villainized by half the neighborhood for it. Sorry we were worried about your cat I guess.
I just hope this guy doesn't, like, say or do something mean next time he sees us walking the dog.
I'm also still worried about the cat. He should not be outdoors. Especially if he's so friendly. People in this neighborhood have poisoned cats before.
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yandere-wishes · 3 years
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A Story Told In Maybes  {Part #1}
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🗡️Yandere! Enma Yuuken x reader
🗡️Summary: Enma Yuuken lives on the fine line between "Hero" and "Villain" but his story will never end in a "happily ever after" or a "tragically ever after" it will only end in Maybe...
🗡 Edited by the amazing @tealyjade-libran
🗡️ Alternative title: How many times can Genie use "Damn" in a story...
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Maybe in some other world, they could have been lovers
Imagine that...
picture it as vividly as a fresh stab wound to your heart. Sketch the vision of a red waterfall carrying away your life. 
Now picture two people. A young man and woman, sitting on a park bench, holding hands and laughing, inching closer and closer. 
Imagine love, happiness, tranquility...
But those things only exist in fairy tales. And his life was most certainly not a fairy tale. 
They were foreigners, outsiders, aliens. Banished into a strange land were twisted fairy tales, roamed the earth. Where magic and mischief came as naturally to the inhabitants as breathing. Where nothing mattered, because nothing was. Everything is and thus it isn't. Nothing made sense, and sometimes, in some rare moments of stolen repose, Enma Yuuken was scared that nothing would ever make sense again. 
All of it, every microscopic thing about this 'new world' was wrong, abnormal, twisted. 
Everything except his traveling companion. Another lost soul as disjointed and out of place as he was. Another ghost trying to survive in this matrix of a so-called reality. 
There was no shock initially, no surprise in not being the only normal creature to be transported to this bizarre world. Enma knew full well that he wasn't special in any way. Another foreigner being here was one of the few things that actually made sense. 
But as the old expression goes, everything comes at a price. 
Someone else just like him being here, being stuck in this nightmare, made sense. Yet the price of logic was a thread of hysteria that had woven itself deep within his battered heart. A maddening sense that gripped his lungs, robbing them of breath. That picked off pieces from his tattered mind, replacing them with clear cutout thoughts of her. It was always only her.
His companion in this broken world just had to be you. A frail, naïve little girl with no sense about her. Some pretty-girl protagonist straight out of the pages of Shojo Beats. The kind of girl who finds her happily ever after no matter where the hell she is. 
Yet he did not have that luxury, his life was dictated by a series of maybes and could bes. He was a secondary character at best, a background shadow at worst. With no purpose other than smiling and waving. And listening to the protagonist weep about their love-driven woes.
Some days, when the dreary bell chimed for the last time, when the students marched back to the solitude of their dorms, Enma would wander around the halls, squirming in his own misery. Pondering why, oh why of all the people, in all the towns, in all the worlds, did you have to be the one to wind up in this grim land along with him. 
Why fate always had to be so cruel, so domineering, thinking it knew better than the people whose miserable lives it toyed with. He wanted to be your lover, your prince, yours. But what would a guy, who doesn’t even belong in this backward world, have to offer some heroine-type sweetheart? 
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️
The Ramshackle’s flickering porch light glows in the distance. Like a dying star beckoning him to a destroyed paradise. He knows what's waiting for him behind the worn door. He knows you'll be there standing by the cracked dinner table, laying out days-old sandwiches for dinner, while Grimm rangles with an expired can of tuna. He knows you'll smile with tears in your doe-like eyes as you retell the fables of your endeavors. Telling him in great detail how the so-called king of beasts overpowered you in the school garden. How the King of poisons stole yet another kiss. The tales go on and on. Never-ending, never stopping, never giving him the chance to scavenge the fragments of his shattered heart.
You play your role so damn well. You know how to be the damsel in distress, the poor thing in need of saving. It's repulsive, disgusting...but only because he doesn't know how to be the hero that you need. 
If he was being honest -something he rarely did nowadays- Those "prefects" were the root of all his problems. They were the evil that made this dark world an endless horror. They'd been the ones to drive him into the "caring older brother" role. They had twisted his hand, leading him to the role of the "side-hero" like a lamb to the slaughter. Made him into a prince charming in a world that ate princes alive and spat them out once more. 
They had sealed his fate with a few insults and loaded threats. With just a few longing stares overflowing with lust and envy. They were villains, in a world that celebrated sinners. A world that cheered when the dragon steals the princess and rejoices when the evil king sits upon his skeleton throne. They were villains in every dreadful sense of the damn word. 
It's hard to be in love when all odds are against you. 
When your fate binds you into one role with no way out.
Like a rabbit hole made of quicksand. It dragged him deeper and deeper into intimate madness.
Maybe in some fair world, those leeching villains could keep their greedy blood-drenched hands off of you.
Maybe in a world where the sun never dies, you could bring yourself to love him.
Maybe he could have been the love interest, maybe, maybe, maybe.
It's always only MAYBE!
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️
"Welcome home Nii-san," 
It's a sweet greeting that ties his guts into ribbons. His hands grow damp as his heavy eyes stare into yours. His lips curl into a painted smile, shielding you from the pain that's clawing in his stomach.
"Hi..(Y/n)"
His voice cracks and croaks like a dying frog. His lips feel abnormally dry and his eyes sting as if they've been pierced by diamond daggers. His steps are heavy as he plops down in his seat. The weight of his worries pulled him down harder than gravity ever could. He watches you through tried, restless orbs. Watches as you waltz over to your seat and sit down with the half grace of some future queen to be. It's bitter, dreadful, leaving a sickly toxin-like taste in his mouth. The mere thought that someday one of those, sinners, will take your hand and drag you to some kingdom far far away makes Enma want to claw his brain out with his bare nails. 
Enma's focus shifts over from his traveling companion to the silver-coated fireball licking his paws. Grimm's teal eyes scan him nervously before he offers a nervous smile, a rarity for the narcissistic cat. He's usually so talkative, so boasting, there was never a moment of tranquility with that cat around...
It takes a moment. A steel coated moment before the gears in Enma's head begin to turn. Before he can place his finger on the heavy abnormality weighing down the atmosphere. His nerves jolt to life, leaving a freezing sweat behind their trail. The room is spinning like a ballroom floor. Something's off, something big and obvious and hidden and...
Maybe...
"So..."
It's your sweet voice that breaks the tension creeping into the air. Melodic and luscious just like the sensation of a blissful dream. The room freezes in its tracks. The heavy atmosphere melts away like a cube of ice. Normality has one foot through the door. Behind it, hope and tranquility peek their heads through the tiny gap.
 Maybe just maybe everything is alright. Maybe it's just him, his stress and anxiety are starting to play cruel jokes on his wonder mind. Maybe he's just going mad. Yeah, that's the sanest conclusion to draw from all this. 
Enma cranes his neck to the side to get a better view of your face. Distress is scribbled all over your skin, like pristine razor cuts. You shift around in your seat, clawing at your uniform skirt as if the midnight black fabric is cutting off your circulation. Your fingers nudge the entrance to your pocket fiddling with something he can't quite make out. 
His voice is low, shaky, as he replies. The unusualness of the situation has him on edge. Nervous to the bitter bone. Maybe he was wrong, maybe his nerves were right to be wary of whatever this was. This uncertainty permeated the air-tight room. 
"What is it?" 
Slowly you drag out a white envelope flooded seven times over from your pocket. You stretch out your hand placing it in between his fingers. Enma throws a passive look at the note, his nose wrinkled up at the familiar scent that pervaded from the paper. 
"What's this?" 
It was rhetorical, asked out of dull, morbid courtesy. This time he didn't bother looking at you, in fear of seeing you look -lord forbids- gleeful. 
"A love letter, Grimm found it in our locker after class." 
There was a pause, lengthy, nerve-wracking, heart wrenching. Yuuken could hear the way your breath hitched in your throat, he could almost feel the excitement radiate off your body. 
"Can you believe it Nii-san? Someone actually left me a love letter!"
It hurt it really did, this time his heart didn't shatter. It simply broke, in two or three or maybe four. Who knows, who cares.  They had escalated from simple harassment and unsightly displays of public affection to leaving you love letters. How ungodly, how absurd, how brave...
He laments, eyes tracing over the fog of his breath as it wafts through the musty room. He wants to rip that damned piece of paper, shred it into millions so the words become ineligible, so you'll never read those horrible words again. So you'll forget that some damn fool other than him can actually love you. But he doesn't, he has too much self restraint and too much respect for his dear "little sister" to actually do it. 
His arm stretches over the table, skin illuminated by the dying candle on the center. He places the letter back safely in between your fingers. His eyes meet yours for only the second time that night. He takes in your face, Committing every piece of it to his miserable memory. The heartily glow in your crystal eyes, the faint schoolgirl smile dancing across your lips, the rose blush kissing your cheeks, the way the candle illuminates your skin, wrapping in a sparkling glow like the princess from those tales of old. You're mesmerizing in every way, it would be reasonable for other men to notice your elegance. No wonder those "prefects" were drawn to you so naturally like moths to a golden flame. 
"Who sent it?" 
His voice comes out like a block of ice, shielding away any and all his stray emotions. He doesn't want to know how doleful he is, he just can't have you taking pity on him. 
Your smile fades ever so slightly, your brows draw closer. Confusion is etched on your face. You haven't got a clue. 
"Well...I'm not sure, but they did say to meet them at the school gates when the clock chimes twelve."
Oh, joy, another fairy tale reference. It's comedic how fairy tales have begun to dictate his life. Everywhere he turns there's a grim tale awaiting him. Yuuken spares a quick glance at the crooked clock hanging by a loose thread. It’s a minute to midnight. 
"I should come with you" 
It's not a request but you take it as so. 
"No need to bother, I'll take Grimm, he could use the walk. He's starting to bulk up a bit"
"HEY! The great Grimm-Sama doesn't "Bulk up" He only gets more powerful!" 
Before the older male can protest, you're already halfway out the door. Grimm scurrying to follow you on all fours like a pesky rat. The door slams on your way out, leaving Yuuken alone with his morbid screeching thoughts. 
There goes the only good thing in his life. Into the arms of another. 
For a second he contemplates leaving you to fate, after all, who's he to disobey fate, go against whoever orchestrates this universe. But it's only a second, short lived and quickly died. 
Maybe he's a hero.
Maybe he's a Prince Charming.
Maybe he's a villain.
Maybe he's just some honorary older brother looking out for his kid sister.
Maybe, just maybe, he's your future lover;
and he'll be damned if he lets you slip out of hands. 
Enma's quick to grab his old practice blade from the overstuffed closet. It's not much, but it's all he has from the normal world, from his world. 
The door grates for the last time that night as he steps out into the cold midnight air. The stars blink in some sort of secret tongue, either warning him or encouraging him, he doesn't know. Nor does he truly care, for Enma Yuuken is done letting life and fate and villains decree his meaningless life. Here and now that's where he'll make his stand, he'll save you. Kiss you. Love you. Marry you. You, You, YOU
But there's still one nagging thought that screams inside his head as he dashes for the school gates. This world worships villains, prays at their feet, and hands them death and destruction on golden plates. And he's no villains, he's some sort of upside-down, in-between. Rotting alone in the border between Hero and Villain. By law of society, he's a reject, a useless foreigner, an alien, an outsider. 
and MAYBE he's already too late...
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Who wrote the love letter? Was it the head of the savanaclaw dorm or maybe the head of the heartslabyul dorm ? Maybe it’s the ever mysterious  Tsunotarou... 
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sirthisisa-wendys · 3 years
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hope i’m not too late, but congratulations on getting 500 followers! i adore everything you’ve written so far, keep up the good work!
can i request an exes au with geto x f!reader? not too angsty, but whether they get back together or not is up to you 👀
You said "not too angsty" but my mind said "HIT EM RIGHT IN THE FEELS" and I don't know wHyYyYyY
Please forgive me, but this... this is the epitome of my "ex of Geto" feelings. It literally flowed out of me in two hours.
"Yes, But...": Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader
wc: 2k
tw: FLUFF AND A LIL' BIT OF ANGST
The large envelope slides from his hands to yours, and you look at the package in confusion as you open the flap.
“You want to get out of here and start fresh,” Geto begins, lacing his fingers together. You find a phone, two banking cards, and two passports inside, which is more than what you asked for. “You’ll need that.” When you open the phone, you see various apps loaded on the device - most of which are foreign to you. “Open the banking app.”
You do as your ex tells you, and see the collection of numbers (six digits) and the single comma that will change your life. You look up at the man in awe, trying to catch his black gaze as he looks outside, not speaking.
“Su, I just needed a new passport, not all of this.”
“It should put you in a good place for a few months until you get a good job. I have a friend in the States that should be able to put you up in a nice house, all paid for, of course. There’s a private school nearby so you don’t have to drive Haru there and back, just walk. And there are--”
“Suguru,” you stop him mid-sentence, placing your hand on the table to try and reach him. “We don’t need all of this. My parents are willing to--”
“I’m not sending you back to them, y/n. I want you to be independent of anyone else,” he retorts, nostrils flaring at the mention of your family. You know his frustration with your relatives comes from an honest place.
They had treated you savagely after you married into the Geto family, calling you all kinds of names and not even attending the birth of their first grandson. You weren’t sure if it was the ties to the underground that set them off or the fact that the Geto family had brought in a considerable amount of wealth and fame to your lives. Either way, you were cut off from them until you divorced Suguru due to--
“Our flight leaves at ten o’clock tomorrow,” you whisper, and Suguru shifts in his seat, sighing. “Will you come to see Haru before we go?” There’s a long pause as your ex-husband weighs his options, but you know his choice before he speaks.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he finally answers.
_____________________________________________________________
Tickets in hand, you try to keep your composure as you watch your son hold on to his father for the last time. Your other hand is captured in Suguru’s large palm, and he squeezes your fingers tenderly as you walk to the security checkpoint. While you walk, he talks to your son in gentle tones, telling him to write to him about all of the amazing things he sees and does, as well as the friends he makes, and how daddy still loves him no matter where he goes.
When he finally lets Haru down and places his Inosuke backpack around his shoulders, you turn to Geto, expecting him to say something final, something meaningful. But he doesn’t, opting to pull you into a deep embrace and kissing all over your face. “Please stay safe. Call when you make it in.”
“I will,” you whisper, inhaling the scent of his cologne and reliving your life together in a brief flash. “I promise.”
“I love you, y/n.” You want to reply that you love him, too, that the separation wasn’t his fault - but you just nod. The feeling of tiny arms around your legs makes you look down, and you both see Haru wrapping himself around your legs, holding you two together earnestly. When he lets go, Suguru lets go, and you hoist the toddler into your arms.
“Say ‘see you later,” you tell the child and he slowly waves his hand at Suguru as you walk past the agent at the checkpoint. Haru doesn’t stop waving until he can no longer see Geto, and he also waves until he can no longer see you, finally dropping his hand to his side and wondering why he felt so empty.
_____________________________________________________________
“Today we learned about the rainbow,” Haru sings as he skips with you down the sidewalk.
“Oh, yeah?” you laugh, holding his hand as he swings back and forth.
“And we played in the dirt.” That explains the messy pants, you muse, rounding the corner to the back of your home and unlocking the fence before letting Haru run up the back porch and inside the house.
You lock the fence behind you and follow your son inside, thinking of all the things you had to do before his sixth birthday party the next day. Suguru said he would be sending a surprise - you begged him not to send the fake nichirin sword you already purchased and stowed away - so you’d have to accommodate for whatever he sent your way, which was bound to be lavish.
Among other things that he provided (a house, a car, preschool, an on-call babysitter if you wanted to go out, a nain rug you looked at once and said you liked but you weren’t sure about), Suguru also spoke to Haru every evening, which made you feel at ease. He hadn’t ceased to be in Haru’s life after you divorced, so this wasn’t out of the blue. Co-parenting with him was still easy and somewhat effortless, even thousands of miles away.
You’re still lost in thought when the doorbell rings, and Haru leaps down the stairs to answer it, despite telling him not to do that time and time again. Quickly, you sidestep the boy and open the door, forgetting to check the peephole first. If you had, it might have prevented the massive shock both you and Haru have at the sight of Suguru standing in the entryway.
“Suguru…” you whisper, and Haru immediately goes to hug his father, squeezing him tightly.
“Oh, look at you,” Suguru groans, leaning down to pick up his son. “You’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you, huh?”
“I’m two inches taller!” You shake your head at the toddler’s estimation, smiling, but still in shock. Your eyes roam over the man’s appearance. He looks just as you left him, with long hair and that gaze that could see into the deepest parts of your soul. It’s been a year, but nothing’s changed at all.
“Come on in,” you urge him, and he carries Haru inside, setting him down in the foyer. Haru dashes up the stairs to retrieve something, and you walk into the kitchen, Geto following you around and looking over his surroundings.
“It looks beautiful in here,” he murmurs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “You’ve really outdone yourself.”
“You should see upstairs,” you reply. “That’s your son’s domain.” Suguru chuckles, then places his hands on the counter behind him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I wanted to surprise both of you,” he shrugs and you sigh.
“There’s no guest bedroom.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he replies, and your first instinct is to balk at his suggestion and offer your bed. But you know Suguru’s considered his options already and would have gotten a hotel if he wanted to.
“Are your things--”
“In the car. I wanted to see if I was welcome first before I barged in with my stuff.” Haru reappears, holding up his drawing from school today.
“I drew this today! They told us to draw something we love,” your child smiles widely, showing his lack of a right front tooth. You peer over at the picture and see you - with a questionable hairstyle - Haru, and Geto holding hands in front of what you assume to be your house, and a grey… horse? cat? dog? off to the side. “And we have a cat. I named him Gojo after daddy’s friend.”
_____________________________________________________________
You hand Geto a pile of blankets and a pillow, hoping it would be enough to keep him warm on the couch. “You can turn the heat up downstairs if you need to,” you advise, and he nods, taking the offerings. He pauses in your bedroom, wanting to say something.
“Thank you,” he finally whispers, then walks away, leaving you in the room to contemplate your still brooding feelings for the man who walked into your home less than six hours ago.
“Wait,” you call out softly, and he returns, searching your face. “Did you get me that job at the museum?” you wonder, crossing your arms over your chest. “The head of the museum told me I came highly recommended for the Director of Curation position.”
“And if I did?” he wonders, angling his head to the left a little and frowning. You recognize his tell immediately and nod, biting the inside of your lip. “I promised to provide for you and Haru for as long as I’m alive. I’m not going to break that promise.”
Those words stay with you as you toss and turn in the bed hours later, trying to sleep. You’re failing miserably, you realize when you look at the clock, and you rise out of bed, padding downstairs to get some tea and calm down. You tiptoe past the hallway to the living room, hoping you wouldn’t wake Suguru as you heat up a cup of water.
You’ve almost succeeded in your mission when you hear a yawn and the familiar cracking of toes and ankles as Suguru walks into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.
“Can’t sleep,” you explain and he nods, pulling a chamomile tea packet from the caddy by the cabinets. He rips open the packet and hands it to you, leaning against the counter as you dunk it in the cup and watch the color seep out.
“I still remember,” Suguru whispers, recalling the nights you spent awake while you were pregnant with Haru and how the tea was the only thing that could soothe you enough to sleep. He thumbs over to the living room and you follow, settling into the couch beside him. “Nightmares? Or just insomnia?”
“Insomnia,” you reply, and he motions for you to place your feet in his lap. He begins rubbing them methodically, taking his time on the soles as you lean into the arm of the couch and sigh.
“Remember when we used to watch Jeopardy before bed and you’d fall asleep mid-answer?” he chuckles, and you shake your head, a smile pulling at your lips.
“Those were some hard nights,” you reply, and he hums thoughtfully.
“I wonder where it all went wrong.”
You both knew where it went wrong. There was no privacy, no semblance of peace, nowhere you two could go without someone knowing everything and being in your business. And adding Haru to the mix made everything worse. The breaking point came when you were playing with him in the backyard and heard the sound of a shutter capturing your every move. Suguru broke the camera and the man’s arm, but the damage had been done. The only way you could escape the limelight was divorcing him and his name, then escaping somewhere where no one cared who you were or who you used to be. Here, you were just… y/n.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the wife you wanted,” you whisper, and Suguru shakes his head.
“No, you were - are - the wife I want. I didn’t protect you enough. I should be the one apologizing.”
“Don’t,” you urge him, setting the un-sipped tea on the coffee table. “Don’t apologize.”
“Then I won’t,” he replies, pulling you closer. “But I have to confess something.”
“Say it.”
“My family bought property nearby. I’ll be stateside more often than not.” Geto smoothes a hand across your cheek, cupping your chin as you move onto his lap slowly.
“Haru will love that,” you breathe.
“But will you love that?” he wonders, ghosting his lips over yours.
“Yes, but--” He presses his lips to yours tenderly, cutting you off. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer, feeling all of your shared love in that one kiss.
“Yes, but...?” he asks, pulling away and raising a brow.
“Was this your plan all along?” Suguru smiles, nipping at your bottom lip. His arm curls around your waist as he pins you beneath him, pressing a kiss to your neck.
“And if it was?”
“It’s definitely working.” Suguru hums in pleasure and continues to kiss you until you're at peace in his arms again, and fast asleep.
187 notes · View notes
angelamajiki · 3 years
Text
[ here kitty kitty - dabi AKA todoroki touya ]
@orenjineki How about Catboydabi walking home with you and living in your place. Does whatever he wants, especially breeding you and always prepares you by licking you thoroughly.
CW: nsfw, noncon, animal hybrids, knotting, yandere
You were no stranger to taking in stray cats. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to keep letting them come back, but you didn’t mind. There were many frequent visitors on your front porch in the morning and evenings. They made appearances for food and to relieve themselves, but weren’t too keen on sticking around. Except for one. A large Burmese cat with a black coat and striking turquoise eyes.
After his fifth visit, you decided to give him a nickname as you did with all the other frequenters. Eventually, he was settled as Dabi. The poor thing was so skinny when he first arrived that you gave him a little extra love and kibble. He liked to come inside, a rare opportunity with the others, and curl up on your lap whenever you decided to relax for the evening.
You decided to domesticate and keep him after he stayed in your home for a few weeks with no signs of leaving. The lazy cat was little bastard, but he was yours. He liked to trip you and knock things over just to get your attention. Staying curled up in your lap as you worked, he kept you warm with his usually warm body. Wherever you went, Dabi went too.
It became a problem of sorts. He followed you everywhere, no matter the time or the place. At first you were afraid losing him or having him get hurt, but he seemed alright on his own. He was a stray after all.
After a few months of him living with you, you decided to official get a collar for Dabi. At this point, it was safe to assume he was safe to assume that he would stick around for good. He began leaving presents at your door, whether it be dead birds he caught for you or bringing something from the store that you were looking at. He also ran off all the other strays you had been feeding as well. What a shame, you liked them. But, you chalked it up he was being territorial. Nothing more, nothing les.
“Dabi, you can’t steal things from the store, okay?” You sighed. “I can get them fine on my own.” You gently pet his head as he nuzzled your hand and licked your palm.
“I’m going to the store to get you a collar. Until you learn to behave yourself, you’re under house arrest. Got it?” Dabi nipped your hand playful and sauntered out of the room. What a little bastard, you thought.
At the store, you settled on a purple collar with a silver name tag. Perfect for your little man. After making it back home, you called out for him as you walked into the living room.
“Dabi, I’m home-“ Stopping dead in your tracks, you saw him. A man with cat ears, a tail, and tattoos on his face and body sitting on your couch. Naked, you might add.
“Welcome home, Master,” the man purred as he stood up. “Is that my collar?”
“Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?” You barely whispered, frozen in your spot as the man got closer.
“I’m Dabi, pretty Master. Don’t ya recognize me?” He bared his fangs with a devilish smirk, swishing his tail behind him. You were still at a loss for words. Your cat was a hybrid? Granted, they were extremely rare, but they existed nonetheless.
“Why...why didn’t you tell me you were a hybrid?” You were certainly not amused like he was. Was this some kind of joke to him?
“I wanted to make sure you were the one. You took me in when I hadn’t a thing in the world and loved and cared for me,” He explained, moving behind you as he wrapped his arms and tail around your waist. “I knew you were the perfect mate and had to chase those other little fuckers away from you.”
Dabi grabbed the collar from your trembling hands and put it on. “See? You know we’re meant to be together, too. Otherwise, why would you want to claim me with a collar? You love me like I love you.” Purring loudly, he began to lick at your neck and cheek.
“I-I saw you as a pet! You tricked me, you bastard.” Your growled as you pushed him off of you. “Get out of my house!”
Dabi laughed and grabbed you harshly. “Aw, don’t kick me out, Master. You’re the one who took me in and now you gotta deal with the consequences.” He purred in a condescending tone. Picking you up, he took you to the bedroom and threw you on the bed you two shared, pinning you down when you squirmed.
“Let me make it up to, I want to pay back your generous hospitality.” He began to remove your pants and underwear, not bothered by your trashing. Softly shushed your pleas, he smirked “Relax, mate. I’ll take good care of you.”
Dabi locked eyes with you and leaned down, tenderly placing a kiss on your hole before beginning a vigorous pace of licking. Unable to hold back your moans, you began to whimper and whine. He placed your ankles under his arms and grabbed your wrists, locking you down in position.
“Stop it!” You cried, struggling against his grip. Your pet paid no mind as set out to loosen your hole. “Relax, sweet thing. You’re going to need to be nice and loose if you’re going to take my knot.”
Tears streamed down your face as you helplessly laid still, unable to ignore the tight heat coiling in your core. Coming undone, you cried out loudly as your hole flexed and tightened around his tongue.
“Good girl, good Master.” Dabi purred and praised, finally releasing you from his grip. As you caught your breath and came down from your blinding orgasm, he licked you clean and hiked your legs up over his shoulder.
“I can’t wait to breed you master,” he sighed dreamily as he positioned himself. “To fill you up with our litter.” He groaned, slowly pushing himself into your still pulsating hole. Your still sensitive body shook as he bottomed out, both of your noises filling the room.
Taking your hands in his, he started out a gentle pace as he licked the tears off of your cheeks. He praised you sweetly, whispering all the sweet nothings you used to tell him as you moaned and panted.
Pushing your hips down further, he pressed his own onto yours, setting a brutal pace.
“Gonna look so good and full with our kittens, Master. Gonna be such a good mother,” he practically whined as his thrusts got sloppy. He was getting close to his first knot and your second orgasm.
“Gonna knot, gonna knot, gonna knot,” he moaned loudly as he came, popping his knot inside of you. Thick ropes of come painted your womb as his legs shook from the shock of his high. You cried out as you came as well, gripping his forearms tightly.
The both of you panting in silence for a few moments before he pulls you on top of him and begins to run his fingers through your hair. He grooms you gently and licks any tears that fall.
“Good girl, Master.”
You should have never taken in a stray.
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Text
Out Of Time ~ 140
MASTERLIST
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< previous chapter
Word Count: 2,325ish
Summary: The Starks receive unexpected visitors, that come with a plan. 
Warning: Possible gif overload. Gifs aren’t mine. I just love Tony and Morgan.
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Before the small Stark family knew it, it was October of 2023. And their house had become a wonderful home for them.
Morgan was four and almost the spitting image of her father. She was smart like him too. She loved working with her father in his workshop or playing outside in the tent Tony bought for her. 
Y/N had got into gardening, especially because they were kind of far away from any grocery store. Tony was a willing helping hand and was slowly becoming a small farm boy. It bought a few small goats, an alpaca, a couple of chickens, two cats, and was planning on getting a dog for Morgan for Christmas.
Steve and Natasha only visited when Tony was gone or Y/N and Morgan went to them. Tony was still struggling to forgive after everything, and Y/N wasn’t willing to push Tony more than he had willingly done himself.
Y/N was currently in the kitchen, making lunch, while Tony was “being helpful”.
“Are these our gojis?” Tony wondered, looking at the bowl of berries.
“They are not,” Y/N answered as she cut tomatoes.
“What’s wrong with ours?”
“Your alpaca ate them all.”
“Oh.”
“All of them.”
Tony laughed, moving to the other side of Y/N. “What a glowing endorsement. First of all Gerald is our alpaca.”
Y/N scoffed out a small chuckle. “He’s not my alpaca if he’s eating my goji’s.”
“Okay.” He grabbed a handful of berries. “They’re gonna be nice in the salad right there, right?”
“No.” Y/N quickly reach over to stop Tony. “Don’t, don’t, don’t!” Tony looked at her with big doe eyes. “Could you put it down?” She gently pushed his arm away. “And get out of my kitchen.”
“Okay.” He turned towards the stove and crashed into some pots. “Whoops.” Trying to bite back a smile, Y/N looked up at the ceiling. “We’re good here, right?”
“Yeah, we’re great.” She got back to chopping. “Tell Madam Secretary that lunch is in five.”
“I will collect our alpha female, posthaste,” Tony replied, before exiting the house.
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Y/N couldn’t help but grin as she focused back on the food. She was so lucky. So very lucky.
~~~
Tony walked down the porch steps, clapping out a beat. 
“Chow time!” He called out to his daughter, heading towards her little play area. “Maguna?” He sat on a small chair outside of her tent. “Morgan H. Stark. Want some lunch?”
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Morgan appeared from the fort with a suit helmet on and a fake suit glove. She had her gloved hand pointed at her father.
“Define lunch or be disintegrated,” she demanded in her young voice.
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“Okay,” he ran his fingers down the helmet to the edge. “You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I’m making for mom.” He kissed the side of the helmet before removing the helmet from Morgan’s head and brushing the hair from her face.
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“Okay.”
“There you go. Are you thinking about lunch? Wand a handful of crickets?”
“No,” she laughed.
“That’s what you want.” Tony held up the helmet. “How did you find this?”
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“Garage.”
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“Really? Were you looking for it?”
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“No. I found it, though.”
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“You like going to the garage, huh?” Morgan nodded as Tony lifted her up and set her on his hip. “So does daddy. It’s fine actually. Mom never wears anything I buy her.”
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As they made their way to the house, a black car pulled up and parked in the driveway. Steve, Natasha, and Scott Lang stepped out as Y/N came out of the house to see what was holding Tony and Morgan up. They all were looking at Tony, who was avoiding Steve’s gaze and gave a slight nod to Natasha.
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“Uncle Steve!” Morgan exclaimed, trying to wiggle out of her father’s arms. “Auntie Nat!”
Tony failed to keep her there, and let her run to welcome the guests. Y/N and Tony shared a look. They knew that, since Scott was with them, this wasn’t just a friendly visit. Y/N walked down the porch, to where Morgan was chatting Steve’s ear off in his arms.
“Hey, Mo,” Y/N called to her daughter. “Why don’t we go inside and make drinks for everyone? Then you can talk your uncle’s ear off.”
“Okay,” she sighed, turning to reach Y/N. Y/N took her from Steve.
“Please don’t ask anything stupid of him,” Y/N whispered to Steve. “He’s—we’re finally happy.”
Steve didn’t bother to answer, which Y/N huffed about before heading into the house with Morgan. Tony, Steve, Nat, and Scott gathered on the porch as Morgan and Y/N made drinks inside. Scott was explaining something when Y/N brought a tray of drinks out to Tony. She wished she could hear what they were talking about, but she needed to stay in with Morgan. Y/N watched from the window as she fed Morgan.
“Now, we know what it sounds like—“ Scott said, finishing his story.
“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?” Steve interrupted.
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“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?” Tony asked, handing out drinks. 
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“Thank you.”
“In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home.”
“I did,” Scott said.
“No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?”
“A time heist?”
“Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?”
“The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them.”
“We can snap our own fingers,” Natasha stated. “We can bring everyone back.”
“Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?” Tony responded.
“I don’t believe we would,” Steve said.
“Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise.” Tony sat down.
“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel,” Scott replied. “That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events—“
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Tony held a hand out. “I’m gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?”
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“No.”
“Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works.”
“Tony…” Natasha called. “We have to take a stand.”
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“We did stand. And yet, here we are.”
“I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did,” Scott was pleading. 
Y/N could see that Tony was getting overwhelmed and she quickly told her daughter to go and save him. 
“And now, now we have a chance to bring her back,” Scott continued. “To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even—“
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“That’s right, Scott, I won’t even. I got a kid.”
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Morgan ran up to Tony, who quickly set her in his lap. “Mommy told me to come and save you,” she said.
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“Good job. I’m saved.” Tony stood up, facing his friends. "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was... Oh, and table's set for six.”
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“Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you and Y/N, I really am. But this is a second chance.”
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“I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” He headed inside.
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“Talk to Y/N about it. Think it over.”
“No need. We can’t risk this.”
Tony entered the house, holding Morgan close. He went straight into the kitchen to get washed up for lunch. Y/N watched as their three visitors walked back to Steve’s car. Steve looked back at the house, making eye contact with Y/N through the window.
~~~
Tony was quieter than usual the rest of the day. This worried Y/N, but she couldn’t let it get to her. She needed to take care of Morgan. They made dinner together and Tony and Morgan chatted loudly over dinner. He even offered to do the dishes while Y/N tucked in Morgan. 
As Tony finished the last of the dishes, he lost hold of the hose, causing water to spray everywhere. Including the small shelves beside the sink that held a photo of Howard and a photo of Tony and Peter. Seeing the photo of Peter slightly wet, Tony grabbed it to dry it off. Looking down he say Peter’s face. He missed that kid so much. He looked up, with a determination he hadn’t felt in a while.
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When Y/N came down from tucking in Morgan, Tony was at a table. He was talking to FRIDAY and playing around with a hologram. She knew very well to leave him alone when he was like this, so she grabbed her book and curled up on the couch.
Tony was still going strong about an hour and a half later:
"Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what check out,” he told FRIDAY. “So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please.”
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“Processing,” FRIDAY responded.
“Give me that eigenvalue. That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp. That will take a second.” He stuffed some food in his mouth.
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“Just a moment.”
“And don’t worry if it doesn’t pan out. I’m just kinda—“
“Model rendered.”
Tony fell back into a chair, in complete shock and amazement. “Shit!”
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“Shit,” Morgan giggled.
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Tony turned around to see Morgan sitting on the stairs behind him, large smile on her face.
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“Sshhh,” Tony shushed, finger over his mouth. “What are you doing up, little miss?” He whispered.
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“Shit,” she repeated.
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“No, we don't say that. Only Mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her.”
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“Why you up?”
“'Cause I got some important shit going on here.” Morgan raised a brow at her father, not impressed. “What do you think? No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind.”
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“Was it Juice Pops?”
“Sure was. That’s extortion.” He stood up and took his daughter’s hand. “Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on…” Tony looked back at the model before heading to the kitchen with Morgan, “…my mind.”
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~~~
“You done?” Tony asked with a smile on his face. Morgan was lying in her bed, finishing a Juice Pop. “Yeah, now you are.” He took the popsicle stick before wiping Morgans lips with his sleeve and pushing her head onto her pillow. “That face goes there.”
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“Tell me a story,” Morgan said.
“A story… Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The end.”
“That’s a horrible story,” Morgan giggled.
“Come on, that's your favorite story. I love you tons.” He kissed Morgan on the forehead as he stood up.
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“I love you 3000.”
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Tony grinned, “wow,” he mouthed, putting the popsicle stick in his mouth. He turned off her lamp and headed to the door. “3000. That’s crazy. Go to bed. Or I’ll see all your toys. Night, night.”
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Tony shut the door and heading to the living room. Y/N was still curled up reading.
“Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3000,” Tony stated as he came up to the side of the couch. 
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“Oh does she now?” Y/N questioned.
“You were somewhere on the low 6 to 900 range.” Y/N scoffed as Tony chewed on the stick and looked at the fireplace. “What are you reading?”
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“Oh, it's just a book on composting,” she responded.
“What's new with composting?”
“Just—“
“I figured it out, by the way.”
Y/N looked up at Tony. “You know, just so we're talking about the same thing—“
“Time travel.”
“What? Wow… I… That’s amazing, and… terrifying.”
“That’s right.” Tony sat down on the other end of the couch.
Y/N reached over and squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “We got really lucky.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“A lot of people didn’t.”
“No, I can't help everybody.”
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“It sort a seems like you can.”
“Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop.”
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“Tony… getting each other to stop has been one of the few failures of our lives.”
He smiled lightly at her. “I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake... go to bed.”
“But would you be able to rest? Cause I sure as hell won’t be able to… I’ll stand by your side no matter you choose.”
“You already know what I’ll choose though, don’t you? Cause you’ve seen in.”
“I haven’t seen it… but I know that last fight isn’t the last.”
“I just… I can’t lose you and Morgan.”
“You won’t.” Y/N grabbed Tony’s hand. “We’re going to do this. Together…” She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Your lips taste like Juice Pops,” she giggled against his lips.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not at all.” 
She shook her head before kissing him again, this time more heated. Tony pulled her onto his lap.
“What would you say to grabbing some Juice Pops and taking this upstairs?” Y/N panted slightly.
“I wouldn’t be opposed.” He placed on last kiss on Y/N’s lips before standing them both up. “I’ll grab the pops, meet you up stairs.”
“We have to be quiet though. Last time Morgan almost walked in on us.”
“Oh, don’t worry. FRIDAY won’t let that happen again.”
next chapter >
NOTES: Sorry about the time jump. Please send in requests for one shots or questions you want answered about the missing time. Try to be specific.
If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.
209 notes · View notes
lightphieric · 2 years
Text
Fluffuary Prompt #16: Flower Crowns/Putting Flowers In Their Hair
AO3
Fandom: Zero Escape
Ship: Alice/Clover
CWs: None
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Alice Amin loved beautiful things: luxurious clothes and jewelry, the sunset over LA’s skyline, her girlfriend’s smile. And flowers. People, most often co-workers, were surprised to learn that the tough and serious agent liked something so delicate, but she did, even maintaining a small flower garden on her porch. She could think of no better gift for Clover on their one-year anniversary.
The ephemeral nature of cut flowers had never seemed romantic to Alice, however. Rather than make Clover a bouquet that would die in a couple weeks at best, she surprised her with a picnic lunch at a botanical garden and bought her a sampler of seed packets so she could grow some herself.
The trip was a successful one. Clover was affected by spectacle like a small child seeing Disneyland for the first time, oohing and ahhing at all the most colorful and intricate tulip arrangements. While she was gawking at a huge floral topiary of a cat, Alice found a picnic table under the shade of a cherry tree, its blossoms the same shade of pink as Clover’s hair. She arranged their meal (Chinese takeout, not Alice’s cup of tea but Clover’s favorite) in the most elegant fashion she could, placing the cupcakes at the edge of the table just long enough to sneak a picture. She was leaning down to hide the cupcakes back in the picnic basket alongside Clover’s gifts – the seeds along with a lot of candy – when the sound of Clover’s humming approached and something was placed on top of her head.
“Happy anniversary!” Clover chirped.
Alice straightened slowly. Her instinctual reaction to having a foreign object placed on her person was to avoid jostling it in any way, lest it explode. “Clover,” she said, voice stern, “what is on my head?”
“Look for yourself!”
Alice turned around and eyed Clover, who was grinning wide. She figured whatever the object was, it was probably safe, and she gingerly lifted it off her head with both hands. It was a wreath of flowers – specifically, jasmines. Alice’s favorite.
“It’s a flower crown!”
“You know you’re not allowed to pick the flowers here, right?” said Alice. She was actually finding herself rather angry that her girlfriend had defaced the garden.
Clover raised her hands. “I didn’t, I promise! I made it at home, out of a bouquet I bought.”
Alice tilted the crown and took a closer look at it. The flowers were lightly smushed from being stored in Clover’s messenger bag, and they were not just interlaced with each other but wrapped around a wire, as well. So there had been some foresight involved. “Still, I don’t think I should wear this while we’re here,” she said. “Wouldn’t want someone to think we were stealing.”
“Oh, okay.” Clover clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. “Do you like it, though? It’s kind of a tradition for Light and me to make each other flower crowns on our birthdays. I know I forgot your birthday, but I still wanted you to be a part of it.” She looked Alice earnestly in the eye. “Is that okay with you?”
Was that okay with her? Did she like it? Alice didn’t know how to respond. The gift was impractical and wasteful. The wire looked uncomfortable and the whole thing was just a size too small for her head.
But the jasmines were beautiful. And Alice Amin loved beautiful things.
She looked over her shoulder to make sure there were no potential snitches watching, then put the crown back on her head. “Absolutely. I love it! And I love you.” She gave Clover a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to wear this around the office until it rots or they tell me to stop.”
“Yay! I’m so glad,” said Clover, beaming. She gave Alice a big hug, and as she was looking over her shoulder, she gasped. “Are those spring rolls?” In a shot, she was sitting at the table, already digging in.
Alice adjusted her flower crown and sighed. She pulled up her phone camera to see how the jasmines looked in her hair (amazing, it turned out. White and gold were really her colors) and through the corner of the lens she saw Clover. Sweet Clover, who already considered Alice part of her family and had made her this crown to prove it, who was reminding Alice that while flowers might not be eternal, neither was life, and neither was love. For all her trying, Alice had been unable to forget the weeks she and Clover had lost that winter, sleeping and frozen in that bunker. Crash Keys had let them go, supposedly after averting some global crisis, and things had gone back to normal pretty quickly. But if something terrible had happened… life was fleeting, and just like Alice would be wearing the heck out of this flower crown, she had to make the most of her time with Clover while she still had it.
Her gaze drifted up to the cherry tree she was standing under, and she got an exciting idea. Checking once again that no one was around to see, she stood on her toes and plucked a cherry blossom from a low branch. The action made her stomach flip, but she knew it would be worth it as she sidled up behind Clover and stroked her ponytail. She slipped the stem of the blossom under Clover’s elastic hair tie, an accent that a passerby might not notice in her pink hair but which stood out to Alice, who could stare at Clover’s hair for hours, as quite fashionable.
“What are you doing, Alice?” said Clover, absentmindedly, bringing a hand up to her ponytail.
“Just making sure we’re the most enviable couple around the office.”
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allthingsmustfall · 3 years
Text
For @rockscanfly ‘s prompt of “charles gets to watch arthur do embarrassing shit all the time. whats one time that arthur saw charles do something embarrassing?” which ate my brain and made me cackle incoherently to myself.
This is the ‘like thieves in the night’ verse, after they get to Serendipity and before John’s in the know:
Arthur’s been loitering near the stables, avoiding Hosea’s endless dickering to make nice with some a new foal and its weary momma, so it’s only seeing Charles’ back go rigid that makes him glance up.
It’s a bright spring morning, just barely out of the grip of winter, and they’d ridden down to the Smit’s ranch to pick up a few head of cattle for the farm, something that Arthur figures should’ve taken ten minutes, but with Hosea there’s always twenty minutes of small talk and an hour of haggling over prices, so he’d settled in for the long haul while Charles inspected the herd.
Arthur leans out of the barn to get a better look at Charles, who’d been leaning against the fence, smiling vaguely as he looked out over the rolling hills. He’s not doing that now - his hackles are up and he jumps back from the fence like he’s touched a live wire, furtively casting around like he’s looking for cover in a firefight.
Doesn’t seem to Arthur that anything’s changed, really, Hosea’s still up on the porch with the owner, and it seems his eldest daughter has stepped out to join them. She’s a nice enough girl, just turned twenty with no ring on her finger, and she’s plush and soft in the way Mary was, like she’d break should Arthur so much as look at her wrong. Matilda, Arthur remembers suddenly, her name’s Matilda.
Glancing back to Charles, he finds the man has jumped the fence, making for the side door of the stable, creeping along like he’s hunting game.
“Charles!” Matilda calls from the porch, her voice bubbling with the kind of excitement that only comes with youth. She dashes down the steps, her skirts in hand. “Daddy didn’t mention you’d be coming down too!”
From where he’s leaning, Arthur can see Charles’ face through the side window as he’s caught, and his eyes go rabbit-wide, and he mutters a curse that Arthur has only ever heard him use when he’s talking about the Army or Dutch.
“Heey there, Matilda,” he says, voice strained as he turns on his heel, still backing away slowly.
Matilda is fussing with her hair, straightening her dress as she comes up on the fence. “I told you,” she teases, “My friends call me Maddie.”
Charles makes a strained noise and backs into one of the struts holding up the stable’s overhang. “I - yes. Sorry, Maddie. I was just - just going to take a closer look at the herd -”
“You know,” Matilda says, like she’s being subtle or shy, “I never did get a chance to thank you proper for seeing me home after Glenda threw a shoe.”
Charles throws up his hands, “No need for thanking,” he says quickly. “Just - being neighborly.”
“Lending me your coat,” Matilda goes on, oblivious, “Letting me squeeze up behind you on the saddle - “
Purposefully, Arthur bites down on his knuckles to stifle a laugh .Somehow, Charles has neglected to relate this particular little story of neighborly good-deeding. Funny, that.
“I just - the weather was real bad,” Charles says, still backing away. Arthur has seen him less wary around rattlers. “Just - best for all that you got home safe -”
“It was just so - heroic,” she says, wistfully. “Daddy says you’re an American? You used to be a cowboy out on the frontier?”
“Oh no I - I just - I - just ranching, mostly,” Charles lies, because if the girl wants heroic stories, then Arthur’s got a few dozen to fill her head up with. “Nothing interesting -”
Matilda sighs gustilly, fanning her chest as she positions herself in a way she must think looks enticing, but mostly seems uncomfortable. “It sounds so romantic.”
“It’s not,” Charles says, almost plaintively. “It’s really -”
“Oh no,” she says, purposefully letting an old handkerchief flutter into the muddy paddock. “I dropped my handkerchief.” She leans over the fence, making as if to grab it, but even from this angle Arthur can tell she’s just shoving her breasts together as she leans over, deepening her cleavage with a lot of creative positioning and hope. “Would you be a dear and grab that for me?”
Charles stills, looking from the girl to the pile of manure it’s landed in and says, deliberately, “I’d just as soon leave it, miss, I think it’s ruined.”
Arthur just about has to shove his fist into his mouth to silent a peel of laughter at that, almost doubling over.
The girl pouts, but goes on unperturbed. “You know, I’m a really good baker,” she says hopefully, perking up. “I’d love to come by Serendipity sometime, just to show my appreciation. Momma says no one makes pie like me, you know. Would you like a slice of my pie, Charles?”
Charles just about yelps, probably because he backed his way onto a loose, rusty nail in the side of the barn, cowering back like he’s never done for lawmen or O’Driscolls or the god damn US Army, but it’s just as well, because that sends Arthur to the ground, wracked with silent laughter, and the shout covers the noise of him sinking to the ground.
“I don’t - like pie,” Charles says shortly, which as far as metaphors goes, ain’t even a little bit wrong. “I. My. I been stepping out with Tilly Jackson for a long while now, and she makes, uh, some real nice biscuits, though -”
“You mentioned her,” Matilda says, her voice going a bit suspicious. “I saw her ‘round the market last weekend and she seems real surprised you told me about the two of you -”
I bet she was, Arthur thinks hysterically, another peel of laughter trying to claw its way out of his throat.
“Oh no,” Charles whispers to himself, quietly. Arthur claws his way back to his feet just to see how wide his eyes have gotten, and he’s not disappointed. There’s small rodents living out in the desert with less fear of hawks than Charles has for Matilda Smit in this moment.
“-and she told me you two called things quits? She said you’re a real gentleman but you broke her heart.”
“Did she,” Charles says darkly, in a tone of voice that promised later retribution.
“I think any woman would be lucky to have you, Charles Smith,” she says, earnest and sweet, blinking big brown eyes at him like a fawn in spring.
“That’s - uh, that’s real kind, but really, it was Miss Tilly who broke, uh, my heart,” he says quickly, “I’m just. A broken man about it.”
Tactical mistake, Arthur thinks. In his misspent youth, Arthur has used that line to the exact opposite effect that Charles is hoping for.
On cue, Matilda makes an anguished noise. “Oh you poor thing,” she says, hitching her skirts up to climb over the fence. “Oh, women can be so, so cruel, you deserve yourself a good wife, and lots of babies running around -”
“No, no, no, miss, please!” Charles says, pure panic in his voice, “You’ll muddy your skirts. You just. Stay over there.”
“You’re such an gentleman,” she says, almost as if it pains her, but she at least stops trying to go over the fence. “I was thinking, maybe you’d like to come around some evening,” she says, and her voice goes sly for a moment, “You know, my daddy is driving the herd down to Montreal the end of the month -”
If he was a good man, Arthur would stop this, but thank god he’s a bastard because the anguished noise that Charles makes at that invitation is one that will bring Arthur joy for years and years to come.
“I wouldn’t want to - to presume, Miss Smit -”
“Maddie!” the girl says sharply.
“Maddie! I wouldn’t - I wouldn’t want to bring you any trouble-”
“I like a bit of trouble-”
“And I just - the farm needs me -”
“You’re so responsible -”
“And I, I, uh, uh -”
“No need to get flustered, Charles,” the girl says, all sweet and understanding, “We both want the same thing-”
“Arthur!” Hosea calls jovially, striding into the barn and drawing up short when he finds Arthur doubled over, barely holding back tears of laughter. “What on earth are you-?”
“...Arthur?” Charles growls from the other side of the wall, suddenly glaring in through the window at the pair of them. “You been there the -”
“Mister Matthews,” Matilda says, sounding put out and sour, “Charles and I were just - “
“I’m real sorry, Miss Smit,” Charles says quickly, “We best be on our way. Gotta drive the cattle home -”
“Think Hosea and I could manage it the two of us,” Arthur says helpfully, palming away tears. “If you wanted to -”
“No!” Charles says, then more calmly, “No, no, I think it’s best we all three of us go, just to be sure. Sides,” he says, glaring at Arthur, “We got things to discuss when we make it home.”
Arthur flashes him a sharp, innocent smile, shrugging. “Don’t wanna get in the way of young lo-”
“I’ll go see to the horses,” Charles snaps, heaving himself over the fence and stalking away to where they’d reined up the horses, but not so fast that Matilda doesn’t have the opportunity to lean over, whisper too loudly, “End of the month!”
“What on earth was that about?” Hosea asks, frowning faintly after him.
“Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll tell you the whole thing,” Arthur says, laughing despite himself. Charles was gonna skin him alive, but there wasn’t a force on earth that could stop him telling everyone back home.
~A few hours later~
Lenny is laughing so hard he can’t breathe, doubled over on the ground, looking near to passing out, and Sean and Karen ain’t much better off, both leaning against each other to stay upright.
“I think it’s entirely fair I said what I said,” Tilly says, unrepentant. “What on earth were you thinking? You know I’m thinking about letting Beau Montreau step out with me, and he’s skittish as a cat -”
“I’m just telling her I’m an invert,” Charles says wearily, headown on the table and, taking pity on him, Arthur quietly refills his glass. “It was a nice life here, but it’s time we moved on.”
“And break her heart?” Lenny manages, weeping with laughter. “You scoundrel.”
“Now I ain’t a jealous man,” Arthur says, enjoying this far, far too much, “But if you’re leaving me for her, best you just come out with it, do it quick like setting a bone.” Arthur makes a show of marshalling himself. “Do it now, quick, while I’m ready.”
Charles’ lashes out, but Arthur ducks the smack deftly, catching his hand and pressing a kiss to his unresisting knuckles, only dropping it when the door creaks open behind them. John struts in looking pleased with himself, fresh back from town with the groceries. “Ya’ll will never guess what I heard down in town - seems Charles’s finally got himself a woman - hey, hey! What’s so goddamned funny!”
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fandom-necromancer · 3 years
Text
Finding each other Part 2
This was prompted by the amazing @headfulloffantasy and @downeyjrfreak! Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!
Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Soulmate AU [Part1]
The drive home had been more than awkward. Gavin, having hastily loaded his job and the rest of the rescued androids on some unfortunate intern, had short of pulled the RK900 out of the precinct and to his car. And while the android sat on the passenger side with barely any movement, Gavin’s heart seemed to beat with the same rhythm as the engine in front of him. Finally home, they exited the car standing next to the open doors and looked at the small suburban house Gavin only managed to get because half of the neighbourhood was almost deserted. A bit self-conscious, he looked over to the android he barely knew, who apparently wanted to scan every little detail, because he was staring.
‘It’s not much’, he stammered almost as an apology. ‘But it’s mine, home.’ He coughed. ‘Well, ours now I guess.’ He kneaded his neck just to give his hands something to do and looked over. He stared directly into the android’s blue eyes. ‘It’s yours?’, he asked so silent it was almost drowned out by the slight breeze. ‘Ours?’ ‘If you want it to be?’, Gavin shrugged, taken off guard by the surprised tone. ‘You can of course also join the other androids at Jericho. If it’s too fast for you or-‘ ‘I want to be where you are.’ ‘Oh’, Gavin swallowed what he had been about to say. ‘Of course. Then let’s head on in.’
They closed the doors of the car and Gavin took the lead to the porch. Gavin unlocked the door and walked inside, waiting for the android to follow that did so tentatively, scanning what little he could see of the hallway. He closed the door behind him and followed Gavin’s movements while he kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket. His eyes flew over a few pictures hung up next to the coat rack and Gavin stopped to look at them too. ‘Photo’s of my friends, mostly. A few vacations too.’ He tried a small half-smile, but it did little to chase the awkwardness away that lingered between them.
It was his cat that finally interrupted it, running up to them and weaving through Gavin’s legs to see who that newcomer was. ‘You have a cat?’, the android asked with wide eyes, crouching down and holding out his hand. ‘Yes. Do you like cats?’ ‘I don’t know’, the RK900 answered, completely focussed on the small feline walking up to him just to sniff and headbutt his fingers. ‘I think so, though.’ ‘Right, you never saw one before, right?’, Gavin commented, remembering that the android likely hadn’t been outside Cyberlife Tower until the raid. ‘No, this is the first time. It’s soft.’ ‘I’m sorry. It’s hard to imagine you never did… well, anything really. I think we really should talk.’ The android nodded, standing up again and waiting for Gavin to once again lead the way.
He brought him to the small living room and pointed towards the old cosy couch tucked away to one side of the room facing towards a large flatscreen and a coffee-table in between. Multiple old mugs with dark coffee-stains on the bottom piled on it together with takeout containers and a lone candle meant as decoration. ‘I’m sorry for the mess’, Gavin stammered, even if just to break the silence. ‘I didn’t really expect to… well, to meet my soulmate today.’ ‘I feel the same. I was… Well, your name on my wrist used to be the only thing giving me hope. It made me think I just had to somehow get out of there, once I had managed that there would be a person out there for me that would help me. When I was saved and taken out of that lab… I mean, I still had the name, but how should I even find you? I realised I vastly underestimated how hard it would be to find one human among millions. I was scared for a long time, but the moment I realised that I felt lost, too. Hearing the name in the queue, I thought I must have imagined it. But you had my designation and… I’m just relieved. It’s hard to feel anything beyond that.’
Gavin swallowed hard. It sounded like there was a whole lot of things the android wasn’t saying and none of them would be anything pleasant. Still, he couldn’t help but ask: ‘What did they do to you? If you don’t mind telling. You don’t have to!’ The android looked up at him. ‘I was designed as Connor’s successor. A machine to hunt and kill deviants. And I was thoroughly tested to what extend I was capable of doing that. Sometimes I wished I had been a machine, just so I don’t need to know exactly how it feels, just so I wouldn’t have to reflect on what I did and how it must have felt for the deviant I killed. Even if it was just a simulation it felt real. And I wasn’t a machine. I had been infected when a rogue deviant broke into the lab to get my help. He was killed, but I had his code and the next simulation I deviated. Knowing what they would do to me first-hand though, I did my best to hide it. And I was good with that. They just thought my programming was faulty, not that I was a deviant.’ He paused for a while, looking down on Gavin’s name on his wrist. ‘But because of that they changed me. They stripped away parts of me and replaced them with others. Deleted some completely. I remember existing in some form of a blank slate for an hour because they were on lunchbreak. But no matter how much they changed me, the fact that I never lost you…‘ He nervously faced Gavin again. ‘The fact that I never lost your name on my wrist throughout it all gave me hope. That no matter how much they changed me, you were still out there, and I just had to find a way out. That I wasn’t as alone as I thought to be.’
‘Way to set high expectations’, Gavin chuckled humourless. ‘But hell, that really sounds bad. I hope I can help you. Usually I’m not the person people would come to for that.’ ‘I escaped, and I found the person fate decided was perfect for me. I am safe. Most of my life that was my only goal. Right now I think I just need a place to stay and get used to… learn what it means to actually live I guess.’ ‘S-sure, you can stay here for as long as you want’, Gavin offered, unsure what else to say. He had spent so much time worrying whether his soulmate actually existed, that now that he sat right in front of him, he didn’t know what to do. ‘Cyberlife took a hard blow to their image and lost most, if not all of their power. I don’t think you have to worry about them ever again.’ ‘Thank you’, the RK900 whispered, brushing his thumb over his soul mark just like Gavin had done countless times in the past.
‘What about you?’, the android asked then. ‘I doubt not having a name on your wrist had been easy for you.’ Gavin huffed, finally prying the wristband away and showing the black letters and numbers openly. ‘No, it wasn’t. But no comparison to your story either.’ ‘Please, do tell me’, the android insisted. ‘You are my soulmate and I know nothing about you.’ Gavin leaned back and sighed deeply. ‘Hell, where would I even begin? Everyone thought it was a glitch. Everyone thought I would be someone without a soulmate but fate glitched out and I ended up with this keysmash basically. I wanted to believe it wasn’t and there was some reason for these numbers. Was bullied for them in school and was caught between wishing them away just not to be the weirdo and clinging to your name because it meant there was someone out there. Hid it in the end, but that didn’t help making finding friends easier. It only got better when I met Tina during police academy. She has the same kind of mark. She is destined for a ST300. When androids were released to the public, I must admit I started to really hate my mark and androids with it. I thought that it was an insult to be considered such a bad soul only a lifeless android could fit to me. But with deviancy you basically became persons and my view gradually changed.’
‘So you are not ashamed of having a different mark than other humans?’, the RK900 wanted to know. ‘What? No. Never really was to be honest. I was angry. I felt betrayed being told there was someone for me but having to always doubt myself. Living with the possibility it had all been just a glitch, that I would end up with a mindless machine and then after seeing the RK800 be released, having hope again, just to lose it once again after the revolution. But I was never ashamed of it.’ ‘Why did you lose hope to find me after the revolution?’, RK900 asked. ‘Well, there were no new androids being produced. If your line ended at the RK800, then suddenly the glitch possibility was there again. As was the thought that maybe I would have met you if the revolution wasn’t successful.’ ‘But then the name would have vanished, hadn’t it?’ ‘I don’t have the slightest idea how these things work, tin-can’, Gavin sighed. ‘I was desperate for some explanation at the time. Because I was terrified of staying alone all my life. Always told myself there are a lot of people out there happy living their life without any romantic relationship, but somehow that never sat right with me. And with my soulmark evident, hell, who in his sane mind would date me? I wanted you to exist. Wanted nothing more than meeting you one day.’
‘Maybe we do fit together then’, the android concluded with a calm blue spinning LED. ‘Both desperately wanting the other to exist and be there.’ ‘For vastly different reasons maybe but yeah. You’ve been through a lot more shit than I have.’ ‘I wouldn’t say that’, RK900 disagreed. ‘You had to live with it for thirty-six years. I only for about half a year. I can’t imagine how it must have been for you.’ Gavin nodded a bit uncomfortable. In his eyes his struggle wasn’t even remotely similar to the android’s, but comparing suffering was likely a bad idea in the first place. ‘Well, it’s over now’, Gavin concluded, defeated and feeling tired suddenly. ‘It’s over’, the android agreed.
‘What do we do now?’, the human asked after a few moments of silence. ‘Can I hug you again?’, RK900 asked. ‘It felt really good the last time.’ Gavin smirked at that and shrugged. ‘Sure.’ They scooted closer on the couch and the android put his arms around Gavin, who did the same. Leaned against each other like this, holding the other they barely knew and yet felt completely safe with, a comfortable silence settled around them for the first time. Gavin’s cat joined them after a while and Gavin himself gradually lost all of his tension. ‘I waited far too long for this’, he mumbled already sleepy and settled against the android in a more comfortable position. He felt how RK900 in his back looked down on him by the way his chest angled itself against his shoulder. Then he returned to his resting position and a gust of warm, slightly stale air hit the side of his head. ‘Me too.’
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noladyme · 3 years
Text
La Cuervo - Chapter 24
She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...
TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst
In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on, on Mayans M.C., are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambiguous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.
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24.
Nina’s ears were ringing, and her throat was hurting from her screaming. A pair of strong hands took the gun from her hands, and she fell forwards; into Angel’s arms. He held her close, and stroked her hair. “Shh, you’re ok, mami… You’re ok…”. Nina looked up at him, and ran her fingers over his face, as if checking for gun wounds. “I didn’t…”. “No. I’m here. We’re ok…”, Angel said; his voice shaky.
Looking at the floor next to them, Nina saw Sala coughing up blood. He was bleeding from a hole in his chest, and soon his coughing turned into small sputters for air; before, finally, he went quiet. The room was filled with Mayan and SOA presidents. Filip, Bishop and Packer all stood with their guns aimed at Palo. Alvarez was still aiming at Sala, after he’d shot him. “Sorry we’re late… We were busy trying to figure out where Angel had gone off to”, Bishop grunted. “He left before we could finish explaining the plan to him”. Angel looked at him with pure rage in his eyes. “Where did you think I’d be going…? What the fuck is this, Bish’?”, he asked. “The end of VM”, Bishop said. “Your men were lost as hell without you there, Palo”, Alvarez said. “Most of them are one their way back south; but the ones that did try to stay and fight…”. “Dead… They’re all dead”, Packer smirked. Taza got to his feet, and Bishop handed him a knife. “We had an agreement!”, Palo growled at the VP. "You're gonna have a war on your hands...". “You put a snitch in our midst! And you’ve been moving in on our territory and business for a long time���, Bishop retorted. “You declared war on us a long time ago. You’re not getting the girl”. Angel stood up, and pulled Nina with him; tucking her into his side.
“So, the deal you were offering…?”, Palo hissed. “Here’s your deal”, Taza said, and walked over to Palo. “Get on your knees”. Palo shook his head. “That’s how you want to do this, hermano?”, he asked. “You call me hermano…”, Taza said, his voice pained. “You had a brother. His name was Davíd. And we both loved him; I know that… You just loved your reputation more,”. Bishop walked over to Palo, and forced him onto his knees. “Take off your cut”, he said. Palo looked at him with cold eyes; and didn’t move. Filip and Packer walked over to him, and pulled the leather off him with force; throwing it on the floor in front of him, with the patch facing upwards. Alvarez walked over to Taza, and patted his shoulder. “This is your battle to end, Che”, he said; giving the official El Padrino blessing for what the VP was about to do.
Barely able to stand, Nina dug her fingers into Angel’s cut. He held her tighter, and pressed his lips to the top of her head. Taza stepped over to look down at Palo one final time. “I did see you as a brother once, Palo. But then you killed the man I loved with every beat of my heart… Where you’re going, you will never see him again. After this, I might not either; but at least I’ll know that I’ll get to do this again in hell”. He stepped behind Palo, and grabbed his braid; forcing his head backwards. Palo’s eyes were full of fear for a second, before he closed them, and let out a deep sigh.
Just as Taza put the knife to Palo’s throat, Nina closed her eyes, and buried her face against Angel’s chest. She heard the blood spill onto the cut on the floor; and let her tears fall again.
---
Nina sat on a chair in front of the old house, smoking the perfectly rolled joint Coco had made her. It didn’t calm her down at all; and she threw it on the ground in front of her. Before she could stomp it out, Angel picked it up, and took a huff from it. “What the fuck…?”, he breathed. His eyes were wide and confused, as he looked at Bishop, who was standing, leaning against the railing of the porch. “How could you…?”. He couldn’t finish his sentence, and simply punched his fist through one of the small windows. “You’re gonna get yourself hurt…”, Nina muttered. “Like you was about to? How could you run of with Taza like that?”. “I told you, I wanted to see Palo!”. She sighed, and covered her face in her hands; leaning her elbows on her knees. “I wanted to end this without bloodshed…”. “Well, look how that turned out”, Angel growled.
Nina got to her feet, and glared at him. “Yeah, you’re right. Your plan was so much better”, she roared. “We’ll be fine, mami. We’re just gonna go wage war on a bunch of psycho bikers… See you never!”. She kicked the chair she’d been sitting on with her wounded leg; and instantly cried out in pain. Angel rushed over to gather her in his arms. “I’m sorry… I wanted to keep you safe. That’s why I came, when Bishop and Chibs old me what the presidents had planned with Taza”. Nina let him support her weight, while the pain dimmed again. “If you’d just given us a minute, I could have told you the whole plan”, Bishop said. “Instead, you went off to try to pull off a one-man rescue”. Angel cursed under his breath; picked up the chair, and led Nina to sit down on it again.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”, Nina growled. “I needed you to believe what I told you, sweetheart… I’m sorry”, Taza said. He was standing in the doorway to the house. Filip passed him, and went to stand next to Bishop. “Why?”, Nina asked. “Because Palo had to believe it. If you so much as flinched, he would know something was off”, Filip said. “He might have been bloody monster, but he was also intelligent”. “Unlike someone else we know”, Bishop muttered, and shot Angel a hard look. “Fuck you, Bish’!”, Angel sneered. Nina grabbed on firmly to his arm, to keep him from attacking his president. “Who else knew?”, she asked. “Just us”, Taza said. “We couldn’t risk anyone messing it up by voting against it”. “If we’d taken it to the table, we’d need a unanimous vote”, Filip said. “And you’d never fucking get it…”, Angel said coldly. “How could you put Nina in danger like this?”. “She was never in any real danger", Bishop said. Taza raised a brow at his president. Nina scoffed a laugh. “You… I don’t even know how to respond to that”. “I’m sorry, little sister”, Filip tried. “Don’t”, Nina grunted. “And you?”, she said, and looked at Taza. “You lied to my face! After I showed you that you could trust me…”.
Bishop folded his arms in front of him defensively. “Revenge was Taza’s right”, he said. “We couldn’t go through with this plan without you. We needed to get Palo alone, and that was only going to happen, if Taza offered you up… And you didn’t want any more death”. “So you used me", Nina growled. “All that talk about deals…”. “I needed to keep him busy, so Bishop and the rest could get here”, Taza said.
Nina looked at Bishop. “I’m guessing this was your shitty ass plan". “No, luv'", Filip said. “It was mine". Nina was flabbergasted. “Yours…? How could you…?”. “I knew he wouldn’t kill you, once he saw the gun”, Filip said. “That’s not what I meant", Nina hissed. “Filip, you knew how I felt about being a part of more people dying". "You didn’t kill him", Filip said. “He was here for me!”, Nina roared. “He wouldn’t be dead, if I hadn’t come…”. “Palo would have kept coming for you, deal or no deal. This was for your sake as well”, Bishop said “He needed to die… This goes beyond your morals and bleeding heart…”, Filip said, his voice gruffer than usual. “Is that what Jax would say?”, Nina hissed. Filip looked like she’d slapped him. Alvarez and Packer opened the door, and began dragging out Palo’s dead body. “I can’t be here anymore…”.
Angel pulled her up to stand, and led her down the porch, and around the house. Nina didn’t look at any of the presidents or Taza as they went. She needed to get as far away from them as possible. Angel’s bike was parked behind the house. “I arrived just before you and Taza… Sala caught me off guard”, he said. “I was tied up in that back room…”. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt”, Nina whispered. “I know”, Angel said, and got onto his bike. “At the end of the day, Palo’s dead; and we can move on”. Unsure if she agreed, Nina gingerly climbed on behind him.
They drove back to Santo Padre in silence.
---
“No!”. Nina woke up in a cold sweat; having kicked off the covers. Angel came running into the bedroom; his gun drawn. “What’s wrong?”. She was shaking, unable to control her breath; and her leg was throbbing with pain. Frantically reaching out for the small bag of pills on the bedside table, she accidentally tore it open; and all the little white tablets spread across the mattress. “Shit…”, she hissed, and began trying to gather them. Angel came over to help her, carefully moving her leg, so he could get to a few lying there. “Don’t want the cat to get to them…”, he muttered. Once they’d gathered the pills, Angel took them, and left the room. He returned moments later with a pill, and a glass of water. Nina downed the oxy, and looked at Angel hesitantly.
He looked exhausted, with bags under his eyes; and marks on his cheek from the seams of the leather couch in the living room. “I could have taken the couch tonight. You need rest”, she said quietly. “You need room for your leg… And for tossing and turning from nightmares”. He took the glass from her, and headed back into the living room; pulling the double doors almost shut behind him. The cat, which had been resting at the foot of the bed, ran after him; sneaking through the crack of the doors.
Nina sighed, and wiped her eyes. It had been four days and nights. She and Angel had led almost separate lives; with him leaving for the scrapyard in the morning, before she got out of bed. She’d always been awake when he left, but she couldn’t face talking to him about what she’d done. She'd spent her days staring at the tv, avoiding taking painkillers unless they were absolutely necessary; and avoiding picking up the pre-paid phone Angel had left her, whenever someone called. Filip had sent her a few messages, trying to get her to talk, but she couldn't find it in herself to reply. In the evenings, Angel would return with whatever groceries she’d left a note for him to get. They’d avoid each other’s gazes, and Nina would limp back to the bedroom, leaving the doors on a crack. Officially it was to let Bug get in and out of the room – in reality she couldn’t help but hope that Angel would slip in during the night, and take her into his arms. She knew he was angry; and she understood his reasons. She’d gone behind his back with Taza, and he’d ended up kneeling on a plastic sheet, with her aiming a gun at him.
The feeling of the gun in her hands returned, and Nina clenched her fists, and swallowed bile. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to pull that trigger. Angel would have had to do it for her; and he’d been about to, when Alvarez had stepped in to the room, and shot Sala. Angel loved her so much, that he had been about to give his life for her, and the people she cared about; some of which he didn’t even know. And here they were now, avoiding each other like the plague.
Unable to take the silence between them anymore, Nina got out of bed, and limped towards the door; taking a deep breath before she opened them. Angel was seated on the couch, smoking a cigarette, and scratching the cat behind its ears, as it lay resting next to him. The tv was on, lighting up the room with an eerie shade of grey. Grabbing the remote, Angel shot her a look. “I’ll turn it down”, he muttered. “No… It’s fine”, Nina said quietly. “Can we talk? Please…? I can’t take this anymore”. Angel sighed, and stubbed out his smoke, before turning off the tv. “Talk… About what?”.
Nina hobbled over to sit on the armchair at the end of the coffee table. Bug lifted his head, and looked at her. She couldn’t help but think the cat was scowling at her; clearly having chosen sides. “I understand that you’re angry…”, she began. “I’m not angry, Nina…”, Angel said. “Please don’t say; I’m disappointed…”. He met her eyes, and they looked at each other for a long moment – much longer than they’d kept eye contact for days. “What do you want me to say?”, he shrugged. “I thought you trusted me”. “I did… But I didn’t have any way of calling you…”, Nina tried. “If you did, you still wouldn’t have”, Angel grunted. She swallowed thickly. “You’re right… I thought I knew better…”. “But you didn’t… Fuck, Nina. Everything I’ve been doing these last weeks has been to keep you safe”. Angel clenched his jaw, and shook his head in defeat. “Fact is, you didn’t trust me to be able to do that”. “Of course I did… I just wanted to avoid…”. Her words disappeared into a whimper. She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry”. Angel shook his head. “No… I’m sorry that I wasn’t enough for you… I should have showed you…”. “You were… You are!”, Nina enthused. “I know I fucked up… I was so stupid, and you almost died. I had a gun on you…”. A tear ran down her cheek. “Don’t do that…”, Angel said. “I’m alive. You didn’t do nothing”. “I wouldn’t have”. “I know…”.
Nina took another deep breath, and met his eyes again. “Do you want me to leave?”, she whispered. Angel’s eyes widened. “What? No!”, he said. “You thought I… No, cuervo”. He got off the couch, and went over to kneel in front of her. “I don’t know how to handle shit like this. No one’s ever gotten close to me like this before… Fuck, I’ll admit it. I’m not the most emotionally mature guy out there. I didn’t know how to talk to you, after what happened”. He took her hands, and pressed his soft lips to them. “You’ve been avoiding me…”, Nina croaked. “You’ve been hiding your ass in the bedroom, whenever I came home”, Angel muttered. “I was afraid you wanted me gone… That if I came out to face you, you’d ask me to pack up”. Moving his hands to grab either side of her face; Angel looked seriously at her. “That ain’t never gonna happen”, he enthused. “Nina, I was so fucking scared I was gonna lose you… When I found out you’d gone with Taza, I wanted to kill Bishop and Chibs where they were standing”. “They tried to tell you about the plan… The real plan”, Nina said. “Yeah but I didn’t hear them out. I was out of there”, Angel said. He took her hands again, and kissed them. “They knew I wouldn’t have gone for the plan, unless it was already under way… I wasn’t gonna put you in danger like that”.
Nina let her fingers merge with his, and stroked his knuckles with her thumb. “You could have died… Palo and Sala died… All this fucking bloodshed”, she croaked. “I… I fucking hate them right now”. “I know what hate does to a man…”, Angel quoted Jax. “I’m pretty sure that goes for women too…”. “Are you on their side all of a sudden?”, Nina grunted. “It ain’t about sides…”, he said. “I don’t like how they went about it, but they did what they felt they had to… I’m pissed that they put you in that position… But I get it”. “You’re saying I should forgive and forget…”. “Not forget… But maybe forgive and understand”. He raised a brow at her. “That’s your family, ma’… They’re not perfect, but they love you”. “They used me to do exactly what I wanted to avoid”, Nina frowned. “How am I supposed to trust them again?”. “The same way I gotta learn to trust you not to go behind my back again”, Angel retorted, unable to avoid the slight edge to his voice. “Time…”. Nina looked down, feeling her cheeks burning in shame. “Are you sure you wanna take that time? To learn how to trust me…”, she almost whispered. “The rest of my life, mami…”, Angel smiled. “And… I do trust you. I get why you did what you did. You were following your heart, or whatever. I can always trust you to do that”.
She met his eyes again. “Do you still… love me?”. “You really gotta ask that?”, Angel chuckled. “You’re my fucking endgame. That fairytale ending I don’t deserve”. “I’m not a princess”, Nina smiled embarrassedly. “Pretty damn close”, Angel said. He straightened up, and put her hand over his heart. “Nina Teller… Cuervo. I love you… Like love you”. “Te amo, Angel”, Nina whispered. “Enough to let me sleep in the bed again? Next to you?”, Angel asked. “I’ve wanted you in there for four days”. “Thank fucking god! My ass keeps sticking to this fucking couch. It’s impossible to get any sleep”, he grinned. “And that fucking cat farts!”. “You love him”, Nina said. “I tolerate the little asshole”, Angel said, and got to his feet.
He pulled Nina up to stand, and began leading her towards the bedroom. “How’s your leg? Is the pill working?”. “Yeah… Doesn’t hurt so much anymore”, Nina said. “I wanna cut down on the pills. They make me drowsy”. “Might be those joints Coco’s been rolling for you, and leaving by the front door”, Angel chuckled, and held her hand, as she climbed back in to bed. “I haven’t smoked any of them. Didn’t wanna mix them with the oxy”. “Right, I forgot. You’re one of them smart girls”, Angel smirked. He took off his beater, and got under the covers with her.
As Nina laid on her side, Angel pulled her close to his chest, to spoon her. He left a kiss on her shoulder; before sighing deeply. “What?”, Nina asked. “When you’re turned this way, I can’t kiss you… and I haven’t done that in days”, Angel said. Nina turned in his arms, and brushed her thumb over his lower lip. “Is this better?”, she asked. “Much”, Angel replied; and leaned in, to let their lips meet. It was the perfect kiss; like it was the first one they’d ever shared, and at the same time the most familiar and natural thing in the world. Trying desperately to make up for how much they’d missed sharing these moments, their tongues soon met; and refamiliarized themselves with each other.
As their kiss grew heated, Nina couldn’t help but let out a soft moan. She felt Angel smile softly against her lips, and then his warm tongue brushing down her neck; before he latched on to her pulse point. A familiar tingling sensation began spreading through her lower abdomen; and as Angel turned to lean over her, and cover her with his body, Nina pushed at his chest, to halt him. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”, Angel asked worriedly. “No, I’m just… Are we ok?”, Nina said. “I don’t wanna just have sex, and then pretend we’re fine; because we know how to make each other come”. Angel sighed, and licked his lips. “We got shit to work through”, he said. “But isn’t that normal in… whatever it is you call this thing we’re doing?”. “You mean relationships?”, Nina said. “Relationship…”, Angel said, as if tasting the word. “Yeah. That… We’ll be ok…”. He kissed her softly again. “Ok…”, Nina smiled. Angel raised his brows at her. “Now, can I make you come?”, he smirked. Nina felt her cheeks burn. “Yeah… I’m good with that”, she rasped.
Angel grinned at her, and attacked her lips with another kiss, while sliding his hand down her belly, and under the waistband of her sleeping shorts. “No panties?”, he asked. “It’s comfortable”, Nina shrugged. Angel smirked, and sat up. “Why don’t you get even more comfortable?”, he suggested, and began tugging at her tank top. Nina sat up, and let him pull it over her head. Laying back again, she smiled, as Angel brushed his fingertips over her erect nipples. “Perfect…”, he said, and moved his hand down to the apex of her thighs again; slipping it behind the fabric covering her warmth.
Nina instantly gasped, as Angel flicked his finger over her clit. “There she is”, he said, and moved his head down to suckle at her neck again. Pushing his hips forwards, Nina felt Angel’s hardness pressing against her thigh; and let out a wanton sigh. “Tell me what you want…”, Angel said, and kissed her. “You want my mouth?”. His tongue brushed against her lower lip; reminding her of how he’d do the same to her folds. “Uh huh…”, Nina breathed. “Please eat me out, papi”. Angel began stroking his finger back and forth between her labia. “Ok. I’ll do that for you… But you gotta do something for me”, he said, and circled her clit gently. “Anything… please”, Nina pleaded. The flame inside her was already beginning to evolve into a full-on bonfire.
Angel got on his knees over her, and carefully pulled down her shorts; leaving her wetness bare. He brushed his fingertips through her curls. Before she knew what had happened, Angel had turned to lie with his head in the opposite direction that Nina. He gently lifted her to lie on top of her; bringing him face to face with her warmth, and Nina at eyelevel with his covered erection. For a short second, Nina felt self-conscious at the position she was lying in; her knees on either side of Angel’s head, and all of her most intimate parts on full display for him. Had she been on her back, like she usually was, she would have been able to see Angel’s appreciative eyes; but as it was, she had no idea whether he looked like what he was actually seeing was something he liked. On top of that was the fact that he had a full view of her rear; a part of her anatomy he’d paid some attention before, but which she hadn’t yet fully explored as an erogenous zone.
Nina was ripped out of her nervous musings, as Angel licked a streak from her clit to her opening. The sensation was so overwhelming, that Nina had to grab on to the nearest thing to ground herself. That thing just so happened to be Angel’s clothed cock. “Fuck, mami…”, he moaned. “Squeeze it”. Nina gave his penis another tug, and was rewarded with Angel’s lips closing around her clit, and his suckling at it. Spurred on by the sinful pleasure he was bringing her, Nina hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxers; and as Angel lifted his hips, she tugged them down, to let him spring free. The tip of his hardness bumped against her nose, and she chuckled. Angel unlatched from her. “What?”, he asked, sounding out of breath. “Boop”, Nina giggled. Angel laughed, and gave her left butt cheek a playful slap, before digging back in.
Nina folded her hands around Angel, and began stroking him, while closing her lips around the head, and suckling at the precum. She felt Angel’s hands stroking her butt cheeks, and his fingers brushing down between then; before pulling them apart, to give him better access. Nina lowered her head, to take him deeper into her mouth, and they moaned simultaneously, as they each sucked deeply at the others most sensitive areas. Angel pressed his thumb against Nina’s sphincter; and she pulled him out of her mouth to gasp, just as the tip of his finger made it inside her. His thumb retreated quickly. “You want me to stop?”, Angel breathed. “No, keep going!”, Nina squeaked, before she knew the words had fallen from her mouth. Angel chuckled, and used his other thumb to gather wetness from her opening; before circling her hole with it. Once again, he pushed against her hole, and his thumb made it inside to the knuckle. “Holy fuck…”, Nina gasped. “Keep sucking me, mami…”, he said. “I want your lips around me”. Nina obeyed immediately, and took him deep into her mouth, while Angel went back to sucking and licking at her clit. He moved his thumb back and forth slowly, and a delicious heat tingled through her. It was hard to keep from whimpering around Angel’s cock, but he seemed to enjoy the vibrations it made, and flicked his tongue against her clit as a thank you.
Getting braver by the second, Nina reached back, and grabbed his free hand, trying to get him to pay attention to her tunnel. Angel grunted against her, and entered her with two fingers. He twisted his thumb inside her anus, and his other fingers brushed against her g-spot perfectly. Within a very short time, Nina, had to unlatch from his penis, and let out a loud moan in pleasure. “Does this feel good? You like my fingers inside you?”, Angel asked. She could hear the grin on his face. “Please… I’m gonna…”, she whimpered. “You gonna come?”. “Uh huh…”, Nina almost sobbed. “You better put my dick back in your mouth, or I’ll stop”, Angel warned. Nina immediately closed her lips around his hardness again, and began bobbing her head up and down. “Good girl…”, Angel moaned, and pressed his tongue against her clit, brushing it up and down. Nina led out audible moans and whimpers around his cock, and let the delicious taste of Angels warm skin add to the pleasure he was giving her between her legs.
Moving his hands faster and harder, Angel had Nina in tears at this point. Suddenly, he was pushing her over the edge, and she fell into ecstasy. Her whole body vibrated from her muscles tightening around his fingers. Angel drew them out, and made her get off him; gingerly pulling himself out of her moaning mouth. Manhandling her to get on her back, he got between her legs, and thrusted in to her. “Fuck, you’re tight! You’re coming so hard you’re pushing me out…”. “No… No, stay inside me”, Nina panted. She put her hands on his butt, and tried to force him back inside her, every time he moved his hips back. “I’m not going anywhere…”, Angel smiled, and laid down to cover her with his body. His weight pushing her into the mattress, stretched out her orgasm, and Nina cried out in pleasure. “I love that sound… You’re gonna make me come”. He began thrusting hard, his breath ragged, and his eyes desperate. He needed his release. “Please, I want it”, Nina pleaded. At her words, Angel let out a guttural groan, and spilled himself inside her; before collapsing on top of her.
They laid there for a long moment. Angel buried his face in the crook of her neck, and kissed her skin softly. Letting her fingertips brush up and down his strong back, Nina let her breathing calm down; and relaxed in their post-coital bliss. Angel was limp on top of her, and his breath tickled her neck. “I love you…”, she whispered into his ear. Angel let out a soft snore, and Nina couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Sweet dreams, my Angel”.
---
tags: @cole-winchester @doloreschanal
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keanureevesisbae · 3 years
Text
Coach Cavill - Chapter 7
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Summary: Amelia is about to go on her first date with coach Cavill
Coach!Henry Cavill x Amelia Jung (Asian ofc)
Wordcount: 3.3k
Warnings: None
A/N: To celebrate the fact that I am done with school for a while, I thought I’d post (part one of) their date with you! I hope you like it 💕 please let me know if you want to be on the taglist!
Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter
Within an hour I had to dress up to look splendid that Friday, because I didn’t want Dean to see how beautiful I was going to look. Maybe the stress dressing up under sixty minutes also had to do with the poor state of my planning today, but we are simply going to ignore that.
The entire week I have been looking forward to this. During the training yesterday, Henry kept stealing glances from me, after he made me a wonderful cup of cappuccino. It’s weird really, how head over heels I’m becoming, in just a matter of a little more than a week.
While everything Dean was exciting and somehow terrifying, since he was mysterious and a little hard to get, this instant connection I have with Henry feels so safe and familiar. I can’t stop thinking about him, to a point where Ricky, Annabelle and the rest of the little ones in my class kept asking me if I was doing okay. However, they figured out pretty soon I was a bit in love and now they continue to make kissy sounds during the day.
‘You look fucking hot,’ Eve says, as she brushes through my hair. ‘Lucky mister Henry Cavill.’
‘Is it too much?’ I ask, as I smooth down my tight dark blue dress, that Isabella insisted on me wearing and it’s a good fit: I mean, it accentuates the few curves I have. I look down at the matching high heels and sigh deeply. ‘It’s too much,’ I conclude.
‘No, honey, it’s not too much. You look beautiful and I know that Henry will think so too. Besides, he is already smitten with you, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about.’
I let out a sigh again. ‘It’s just that I’m nervous. How long has it been since I had my last first date?’
‘When you were nineteen,’ Eve answers my rhetorical question. ‘I know that, but that went well too and since Henry is an absolute angel, this date will go without a hitch, I can guarentee. And besides, you have done things much more terrifying than this. You went to South Korea, debuted in a girl group. A full one eighty in career choices when you got here, went on a date with the mysterious hottie Dean, somehow made that work. Plus, you were a total bad ass and gave birth to Isabella on your own, who was breeched.’
I roll my eyes. ‘I highly doubt you can compare giving birth to a first date.’
‘What I want to make clear to you, is that you are fierce and awesome and Henry knows that too.’ Eve and I both yelp when the doorbell rings. ‘Your future husband is here.’
‘Shut up,’ I say, as we walk down the stairs. She stuffs something in my clutch and hands it to me. ‘What on earth did you put in here?’ I hiss, as I grab my coat from the rack.
‘A condom.’
I halt all my movements. ‘You did what?’
‘Better to be safe than sorry.’
Before I can tell her off and that I’m really not going to have sex with Henry on the first date, she pushes me to the door and I quickly put on my coat, before I open the door.
I’m hit with the realization that I’m going on a date with the most beautiful man on this planet. He looks illegally handsome, with his nice suit jacket hanging open, that matches with his black pants. He is wearing a white blouse, nicely tucked into his pants and the tease has the two top buttons open and the sight of his chest (and the chest hair) is making my mouth dry.
‘Wow,’ he says with a beautiful smile, ‘you look beautiful, Amelia.’
This is going to kill me. How am I supposed to survive this entire night? ‘It’s not too much?’ I ask, just to be sure and first date jitters taking the upper hand.
He shakes his head. ‘This is exactly right.’
I turn to Eve, who is holding in a squeal. After being friends with her for so long, I know every facial expression. ‘Only call me if it is a matter of life or death,’ I tell her.
‘Have I ever called you when it was not important?’ I cock an eyebrow and she nods. ‘Right, I have done that before. I’m sorry. Won’t do it tonight, promise.’
‘Very good. Please, don’t wait up and don’t sit on the front porch with the twins, because I know you three want to do that.’
Eve slaps me on my ass, before I step out of the house and I sincerely hope that Henry hasn’t seen that. From the looks of it seems like he hasn’t seen that, but maybe he is just polite and doesn’t show me he has seen it. ‘Don’t look back,’ I tell Henry, as we walk towards his truck. ‘She’ll embarrass either one of us if we do so.’
Henry can’t help but laugh and he opens the door of his truck. ‘Do I have to give you a boost or can you manage?’
‘Oh shut up,’ I chuckle as I get in the car, after I took his hand. ‘Because I’m short, I have developed cat woman like skills. You should see me in the classroom, when I have to grab something from the top shelf.’
‘I’ll believe that right away.’ He closes the door and I wave to Eve, who nods approvingly and gestures something about how firm his butt looks. I mean, I can only agree to that, but once again, sure as hell hope he hasn’t seen any of that.
Henry gets in the truck and before he puts the key in the ignition, he looks to the side, meeting my eyes. ‘What?’ I ask him.
‘You look breathtaking,’ he whispers, almost as if he doesn’t want me to hear this compliment.
I’m at a loss for words. ‘Oh,’ I manage to choke out. ‘Thanks…’
He clears his throat. ‘I’m just a little nervous.’
‘What? Why? If someone should be nervous, it’s me. One, I’m going on a date with you and two, my last first date was sixteen years ago.’
He chuckles, but he sounds really nervous. ‘Well, mine might’ve not been that long ago… But I have never been on a date with someone like you.’
‘Do you mean that in a good way or…?’
Henry’s eyes widen. ‘In a good way, of course,’ he hastily says. ‘It’s more that you are way out of my league.’
What? ‘I think I was hallucinating. What?’
‘I mean, have you even seen yourself? You are admirable, in any way.’
Is this how it feels when your heart not only is figuratively melting, but also literally? ‘Oh.’
‘You are truly one of a kind, Amelia and I sure hope I meet up to what you deserve.’
Okay, I’m officially blanking. What are words?
Henry smiles and starts the car. ‘I hope you like the place I booked. I heard some pretty good things about it.’
✰ ✰ ✰
Leave it to Henry fucking Cavill to not only book a spot at my favorite restaurant here in town, but also to have a secluded spot that I didn’t know was here. We sit on the patio, a heater pointed at us to keep us warm, as we look over the lake. We are surrounded by romantic Christmas lights, as we sit next to each other on the soft couch. His arm is resting on the back, his thumb softly drawing circles on my shoulder.
He hands me a glass of wine and I can’t help but melt a bit against his frame. ‘You did amazing,’ I say. ‘I really like this spot. I never even knew it was here. How did you discover this?’
‘I might’ve had some help from Greg.’
‘Convenient store Greg?’ I ask. ‘You two becoming friends?’
‘Yeah, I’m there quite a lot. He sometimes watches Kal when I’m not home for too long of a time. Annabelle constantly tells him that she loves Kal, so that’s a plus.’
‘Annabelle is in my class,’ I say. ‘A true angel. A cheeky one, but she is such a delight to have in class.’
Henry smiles, taking a sip of his wine. We’re still waiting for our food to arrive, but the wine will do just fine for now. ‘It’s quite the one eighty, to go from a K-Pop idol to a kindergarten teacher.’
‘Oh, you have no idea,’ I chuckle. ‘It was so weird, to go from that hectic world, fans screaming your name, photoshoot here, there, dance practice and just never not busy, back to Luna Meadows, where every second seems to tick at least three times. I had to spend three months in the barn in the back of my parents yard, to simply talk with Eve and Johnny, getting used to this pace again. It was nice to be back here though, since this will always be my home.’
He nods. ‘So, you come back to Luna Meadows when you were eighteen, go back to college and…’
‘And I met Dean, when I was nineteen, was twenty one when I had Benji, somehow got my degree and after I graduated, I married Dean.’
‘Wow,’ he says. ‘That is top tier multitasking.’
‘That’s what I thought so,’ I chuckle, taking a sip of my wine. ‘It was really important for me to finish college, because, I wanted to be able to provide for myself and even after I graduated, I worked three days a week. I’m not equipped to be a full-time house wife. I tried that for two months and then I became mad.’
Henry laughs. ‘And now you work full-time.’
‘I do, indeed. It’s the only way I can continue to pay for the house. I don’t want to move away from Eve and her baby sit service.’
He nods in agreement. ‘You are very lucky to have friends that care so much and do so much for you.’
‘I sure am,’ I say with a smile. I take another sip, before I ask: ‘What about you? Why did you leave Jersey to move here?’
‘I was a judo coach there and worked in a cafe. However, some family stuff happened and I had to get out of there.’ Henry clears his throat and shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No, no, you don’t want to talk about it, I totally understand it. Just, tell me how you got into judo then.’ I turn a bit to the side and oh my, I can feel his strong body against mine, but weirdly enough it doesn’t make me nervous anymore.
‘Oh, that was something me and my grandpa had together. All of my brothers were into team sports, like lacrosse, football and rugby.’
My eyes widen. ‘You have brothers?’
‘Mhm, four,’ he says.
‘Your mom had five kids?’ I ask him.
He can’t stop his laugh. ‘She did.’
‘Mad respect,’ I say. ‘I don’t want to be too TMI, but I had to recover six years after I had Benji before I even thought about adding another one. Not the point, Amelia,’ I quickly realize letting out a soft chuckle. ‘Your brothers were into team sports.’
Henry nods, a smile evident on his lips. ‘My entire family was obsessed with everything team sport related, including us as a family. I liked to do things solo, just like my granddad and that’s how judo became our thing. My family supported me and judo, of course, but… I knew they didn’t really like the sport as much as my granddad and I liked it. When I was twenty, I was actually doing pretty well. Competing in national tournaments, even some international ones.’
I frown. ‘Why do I feel a however coming up?’ I ask him.
He snickers. ‘However, I broke my leg in three places when I was in the gym.’
‘Oh no,’ I say, as I shiver.
‘Yeah, it was pretty bad,’ he chuckles. ‘But judo was my life and I couldn’t just let it go, so I started to work as a trainer and coach, but I didn’t make enough money to provide for myself, so I also worked in a cafe.’
I nod. ‘And why did you choose Luna Meadows?’
He shrugs. ‘It just felt right. And that’s where I met the most amazing judoka I have ever seen. Benji is miles ahead of not only everyone here, but also to everyone I have ever encountered.’
‘Including you?’
‘Including me,’ he laughs. ‘He is amazing.’
‘That’s because he has some judo genes from his amazing mother,’ I chuckle, as I throw my hair over my shoulder. ‘I was quite something back in the days.’
He chuckles. ‘So, what does Isabella do?’
‘She is in a drama club. When she was younger, she would force Benji, Yara, Jake and Lola to be side characters in a play she made up, where she was the main character. She is overly dramatic and I figured that I would do the other kids a favor if I would put her in a drama club. Yara and she go every Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday after school with Eve.’
‘It must be amazing to have a friend this close living to you.’
‘It does,’ I say, as I stare at my wine. ‘Made the whole divorce thing a whole lot better to handle.’
‘I imagine. Divorce is never easy.’
‘Experience or…?’ I carefully ask.
‘I was married,’ he says, ‘but the second we said ‘I do’, it was already a lost cause, really. Actually, we never really fit together.’
I take a sip of my wine, but I place my other hand on his strong leg. Normally I wouldn’t be this forward, but it feels so warm and comfortable. ‘Is she part of the reason that you had to leave Jersey?’
He shakes his head. ‘No, we were married from my twenty fifth to my twenty seventh.’
Okay, he doesn’t want to continue to talk about it and for some reason I can’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. ‘You know, I never thought I’d go on a date again.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because everyone in this town knows that I got divorced and everyone had an opinion about it,’ I whisper. ‘You know, I wasn’t exactly the most loved. A lot of them thought it was my fault that Dean started to see someone else. I wasn’t a good enough wife, who didn’t love her husband enough.’
When I look up, I see that Henry has clenched his jaw, before taking a sip of his wine. ‘That’s bullshit.’
‘I know,’ I say mostly out of disbelieve. ‘But good things happen to good people and now I met you.’
‘Moving to Luna Meadows was a good move on my behalf.’
Our pasta arrives and I sit up a bit straighter. ‘This looks delicious,’ I say, twirling around my fork, to twist the spaghetti around it. ‘Henry Cavill, you sure know how to swoop a woman off her feet.’
Henry smiles, taking a bite of his pasta. It’s different than mine, but it looks delicious. I can see him ogling my plate as well and I guess the grass is indeed greener on the other side. ‘Here,’ I say, with a fork full of pasta. I hold it above my other hand, so I won’t spill something on any of us. I now realize that it might be weird to feed a grown man on our first date, but I can’t go back now.
‘You’re a natural,’ he chuckles, before taking a bite. ‘Oh, yours is really good. Want a bite of mine?’
‘Sure,’ I say with a blush creeping up on my cheeks. He is a little clumsy, but somehow manages to bring the fork to my lips, without it spilling on my dress. With his thumb he wipes the corner of my mouth clean. ‘Am I tasting some cinnamon?’
‘That was what I was thinking,’ he says. ‘I would never put cinnamon in my pasta, but it is really tasty and it actually works.’
‘I once accidentally added honey to the chicken and somehow it turned out to be pretty okay.’
‘Yeah, Benji told me you weren’t a great cook.’
I hide my face in my hands. ‘I may have burned quite a few meals in my kitchen. One time, for Thanksgiving, I attempted to cook for Eve and Johnny, because they were having a bit of a rough time, with Lola being admitted into the hospital and all. However, I burned the entire meal, the kitchen was filled with smoke and I had a complete meltdown. Isabella called my parents and somehow my mom saved the day.’
Henry’s shoulder shake as he laughs. ‘That would be quite the sight.’
‘Oh, it was terrible. Can you imagine if I was a full time housewife? I think I’d have the fire department on speed dial.’
I want to add something to this (believe me, I have tons of stories of me nearly burning down my place), but my phone starts to ring and I quickly open my clutch to check the screen.
It’s Eve.
Part of me doesn’t want to take it, but I know that she took her promise serious. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I say.
‘Please, take it,’ Henry encourages me, when he sees me hesitating.
I pick up and say: ‘Eve, this better be very important.’ However I don’t hear her voice, but I hear Benji yelling in the background and that is something I barely understand. ‘What’s wrong? Is everything okay?’
‘I have no idea,’ Eve manages to say. ‘Isabella is just sitting in the corner of your living room, not speaking at all.’ That can’t be good. ‘Benji is on the edge of losing it, but I feel like he is too much in a rage to listen to any of us and Dean is outside, trying to let himself in, but we locked the door. I’m really sorry to interrupt your date, but I feel like both of your kids need you right now.’
My heart sinks. ‘Oh no,’ I mumble. ‘I’m coming back.’
‘I hate dad,’ I hear Benji yell in the background. ‘I fucking hate him.’
‘Benji, please stop it!’ Lola pleads.
‘This is not working, man,’ Jake adds.
‘Mom, Isabella is crying,’ Yara says.
I hang up, shaking my head. ‘I’m so sorry, Henry, I have to get back. Something is really wrong and according to Eve, Benji is really close to losing it completely and Isabella is not talking, Dean is outside of my house…’
‘I heard it,’ he says, already standing up, holding up my coat. ‘Let me get you home.’
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seasonsofeverlark · 4 years
Text
Operation Push Katniss Over the Cliff of Love
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Author: @mega-aulover​
Prompt: The crunch of frost when the mornings first start to become crisp ❄️❄️❄️  [submitted by anonymous]
Rating: T
A/N: There are no games. The districts won the war and the seat of power rested wherever the District Tribute won the candidacy for President.  The current president is from District Eight. Katniss takes Peeta out to see nature on a dare or is it a dare? - special thanks to my beta and best friend @norbertsmom who is more than just a beta, she’s amazing.
KPKPKPKP
The light from the Everdeen front porch spilled outside, lighting the three figures that huddled together near some trees. It was safe enough for them to gather outside and talk about their important subject: getting Katniss Everdeen married. Each one had their own reason for being present. One other member, Delly Cartwright, had sent word she would be late. She was roped into planning a fall festival with Effie Trinket, the district liaison. 
Delly wanted Peeta and Katniss to get together. She was the one who inadvertently brought the group together. Gale wanted to prove that Katniss was human, Rigel Everdeen, Katniss’ father, wanted Katniss to be happy, and Prim, her sister, had her own selfish reasons. She’d recently turned sixteen and she wanted her own room. Katniss was always in her business. Prim loved her sister and wanted her to be happy, so when Delly mentioned Peeta had the hots for Katniss, and that they should do something about it, it didn’t take Prim long to realize there was a way to satisfy everyone’s needs.  
“It’s cold outside,” Prim whispered.
The chilly air indicated winter was finally on its way. They had had an unusually warm fall. It kept the trees from uniformly turning right away. Some trees in the district were now displaying the bright beautiful colors, while some of the trees toward the edge of the district were bare. It was as if nature was warring with itself.
“You sound like your sister,” Gale snickered. 
Prim’s pale blue eyes gleamed in the darkness.  “Mama always said never trifle with an Everdeen.” 
“Careful Gale, Prim is sweet and lightness until provoked,” Rigel said, winking at his youngest. He leaned on his cane.  “Now how are we, as Prim said, pushing Katniss off the cliff.”
All three of them had been trying to figure out how to get Katniss and her secret crush, Peeta Mellark together. Peeta worked everyday at the bakery from sunup to sundown since his sixteenth birthday. His father was slowing down. He had had a massive heart attack last year, and Peeta took on more responsibilities at the bakery. 
Katniss not only traded the game she caught, but she also made it into jerky and sold it down at the Hob. Both she and Peeta were very busy people. 
“If Prim hadn’t clued me toward the Merchants I wouldn’t have figured it out,” Gale said stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“I knew she liked someone in the Merchant quarter,” Prim rubbed her arms. “Whenever you guys go to Merchant quarter to sell, she always stops here to wash her hands and change. Katniss isn’t one for dressing up unless she has too.”
“I can’t believe I never picked up on that,” Gale rubbed the back of his neck.
“That’s because you, too, were getting gussied up for all of the ladies,” Prim said. “You take longer than Katniss to get ready. Also, let’s talk about your abuse of the orange extract in your aftershave.”
Gale turned bright red.
“That’s enough Prim,” Rigel admonished. “We’re getting off topic. How are we getting them together?”
A loud ruckus could be heard as Delly speedily walked toward the group. “Sorry I’m late!”
“Shhh…Katniss is a light sleeper. She’ll hear you and want to come downstairs and find out why you are here,” Prim admonished.
“Sorry,” Delly whispered, but in reality Delly didn’t know how to whisper. Her version of whispering was using her inside voice. 
“Okay where were we, how to get those two together?”
Delly shot her hand up in the air. Her blue eyes sparkled and she hopped with barely contained excitement. 
“What?” Prim rolled her eyes. She couldn’t understand why Gale was so smitten with Delly. She was like that annoying little lap dog Effie had. Delly was sweet, but sometimes her exuberance could be annoying. Though Delly was loyal and kind. And if anyone said anything about her, Prim would be the first to defend Delly. 
“Well you know how Katniss hates the cold,” Delly said smiling. 
“Yeah,” Rigel said.
“And you know last week Gale and Katniss were bickering about Katniss being late.”
“She claims she wasn’t late,” Gale said, taking his gloves out of his jacket pocket and putting them on Delly’s hands. 
Delly smiled at Gale.
“I remember. She was spitting mad and she’s made it a point of going to bed early,” Rigel said.
“Well,” Delly said, looking at all three of them as if they understood where she was coming from. “You can use Katniss getting up late to get them together.” 
Prim’s mind worked quickly. “Delly’s right, we can use this to our advantage. Delly, you said Peeta uses nature as one of his inspirations right?”
“Yeah,” Delly responded.
“Well, what if we make Katniss take Peeta into the woods.”
“She can take him by the lake. When it’s cold enough, the water condensation freezes and it latches onto the trees and leaves.” Rigel grinned. “I took your mom up there once when we were courting. She called it a winter wonderland.”
“Peeta would love that.” Delly sighed. “A romantic trip into the woods with the girl he’s had a crush on forever.”
“I can goad her in front of Peeta,” Gale said. “Make her angry enough to fall for a bet. She takes Mellark out to the forest if I win, and I have to do something dumb if I lose.”
“Yeah, you know how to push all of her buttons at once,” Prim snickered. She turned her focus onto Delly. “When is the best day for Katniss to take Peeta?”
“Sunday. Sometimes he closes down early or doesn’t open at all.” 
“Okay, Gale do you think you can switch out one of your days off on Thursday?”
Gale gave Delly a look. 
“Gale!” Delly exclaimed, and the others shushed her. “Sorry,” she whispered, then continued, “You can switch, it’s not like we’re going to do anything romantic other than hanging out with your mom. You can switch your Monday for a Thursday.” 
Haymitch Abernathy from District 12 had won the Presidency after the explosion that Gale’s father caused. One of the things Haymitch did when he was President was make the working conditions in the mines better. He also ensured all miners got two days off, as well as yearly pay increases and a paid time off. They also had paid holidays off and they also promoted within. Gale was poised to move up in the mining company. He was pretty smart and had a lot of ideas. 
“Fine,” Gale muttered.
“Thanks Gale, I am proud of you, son,” Rigel said, patting Gale on the shoulder.
Gale looked up to Mr. Everdeen. They had developed a bond, especially since Gale helped his mom raise his three younger siblings. 
“Gale, you can use that you don’t get up early argument,” Prim said.
“Katniss will fall for that. When she gets angry she forgets about being shy,” Rigel chuckled. 
“Right, but how are we going to make sure Katniss is late?” Gale asked, frowning.
“Easy,” Prim grinned like her cat Buttercup when he’d trapped his prey. “I put sleep syrup in her favorite drink.”
“I will distract her enough to make sure she’s really late,” Rigel said. 
“Great, then next Thursday operation push Katniss over the cliff of love, begins.”
Thursday Morning Katniss was surprised when Gale showed up to hunt with her. He said he switched days with his buddy George, who needed the day off. His eldest was Toasting. 
They were approaching one of their last trading stops. Katniss nervously tugged on her shirt sleeve.
“You like him,” Gale said out of nowhere.
Katniss nearly tripped on the stairs she was climbing up. “Woah…”
Gale easily reached out and caught her.
Katniss straightened up and firmly gripped her game bag. “What are you talking about?”
“You like him,” he pointed to the bakery back door right before he knocked.
Katniss was left speechless, her mouth hung open. Her face felt hot from all of the blood rushing to it. She wanted to refute it, but she didn’t have a chance. The ‘him’ Gale spoke of opened the door. Gah, Katniss thought as her heart thumped against her chest at the sight of his flour covered forearms, and sparkling blue eyes that rivaled the color of the lake in the woods.
There were no words to describe why Katniss found Peeta Mellark so appealing. 
He was freakishly strong, with gorgeous blue eyes, broad shoulders, large hands. She shivered when she thought of those hands. Supple hands that were strong enough to rip apart timber and yet delicate enough to create the most intricate of frosting flowers for the cakes he decorated. Katniss recalled the day she caught him ripping wood in half by hand to take out his frustrations at something his mother did. She had stood by the fence staring at him, her mouth ajar and drooling.
“Hi, Gale and Katniss, here to trade?”
Even his voice did funny things to her. His voice was not soft or hard, it was smooth and she died a little when he said her name. Her palms became sweaty and her ability to think rationally went out of her head. Katniss couldn’t even formulate a ‘hello.’ 
Next to her, Gale cleared his throat. Glancing up at him, she saw his shoulders shake, and his lips formed a mocking grin. She realized what Gale said was a trick to get her to show her true emotions. 
Katniss wanted to punch him in the arm. 
“Yeah, Katniss caught some fat squirrels for you,” Gale’s voice taunted. 
Katniss wished the ground would open up and swallow her. How in the hell did Gale know that she had a thing for the baker’s youngest son?
“Oh, great. You guys want to come inside? It’s getting chilly out.”
“Sure,” Gale said.
No sooner did Peeta turn his back than Katniss punched Gale in the arm, hard.
“Ow!” he grunted.
Katniss scowled at him.
“You didn’t have to hurt me,” Gale said with a grin while rubbing his arm. 
“You deserved it, you big oaf!” 
Ever since Katniss turned down Gale’s invitation to run away into the woods a few years back, he’d been trying to get her to admit that there was someone else she liked. Gale had been methodically trying to eliminate the possibilities. He tried several guys from the Seam, then he turned to their own group, the Covey. 
The Covey lived on the outskirts of the district. When the war began the Covey, a group of traveling minstrels, settled in District Twelve. Katniss and Gale’s families were descendants. One of their own became the tenth President. During her brief stint as President she fell in love with a man from the Capitol and ran off. It caused a huge uproar, thankfully her vice president, Undersee stepped in and took the spot. 
The Covey had a tradition of singing and dancing. They mostly lived on their own. Katniss had family that were touring throughout the other districts singing. Katniss had been invited because of her voice, but she turned it down. Firstly, her family needed her, and secondly, she didn’t want to leave because of him. She couldn’t leave Peeta behind. There was a bond between them, an electrical force that drew her to him. 
It began with the bread.
When her father got hurt in the mine explosion, Peeta came over with a basket of bread for her family. The mining company’s compensation toward the injured miners ran out quick. The only source of income was from her mother’s healing business. But with her father’s medical bills, they were drowning and necessities became expensive. They were living off of meager rationings when Peeta brought them a basket of bread and canned goods. 
Peeta must have done it behind his mother’s back because she hit him so hard he missed two days of school. It was this act that caused Mr. Mellark to petition to divorce his wife. Peeta had risked it all to help her family. Katniss could never forget what he did, nor could she repay him for the kindness he bestowed upon her family. 
Through the years she looked for ways to repay him, but one day it dawned on her, she was keeping track of him for more than just the repayment of the food. The more she saw him interact with other people, the more she liked him. She nearly swooned when she saw him in those darned wrestling tights. 
Katniss thought her secret was safe. Until her sister, the little traitor blabbed one New Year’s Eve that Katniss wasn’t into the Seam look. Gale was surprised, but then began trying to look at all of the men in the Merchant side, including the Peacekeepers. He often said Katniss had a hankering; someone she would give her eye-teeth for, like a miner lusting for a cool breeze in the mines.  
Katniss wasn’t sure what he meant by eye-teeth, but using his analogy made her think it meant hungry for Peeta, which in a way she was. 
“Look, just admit you like him,” Gale whispered, elbowing her.
“Grr,” Katniss growled with all of the fake venom she could muster. 
“Why don’t you get all of those juicy squirrels you hunted for him.”
“Gale,” Katniss whispered. “Stop.”
She wanted to pummel him with her fist but he walked into the bakery. 
“GALE,” she squeaked. “Come back here!”
Katniss wondered why the hell they were friends. He was annoying, angry, petty, and infuriating. His one redeeming quality was that he was a good hunting partner, and those were hard to come by. Before partnering with Gale, she had tried to hunt with another hunter named Jed, but it was disastrous. A lynx attacked her and Jed did nothing. He didn’t warn her nor did he try to stop the lynx from attacking her. Katniss was lucky she was such a good shot. She got it in the eye as it leapt in the air. 
Gale saw her shoot the lynx and approached her about joining up with him. Leery, she wasn’t sure she should. His dad was the reason the mine collapsed. He drunkenly set some TNT on fire, blew himself up and caused many miners to be injured, including her dad.
Her dad told her that Gale’s family was hurting. Katniss didn’t want to give in, but then she saw one of his intricate traps and slowly they became friends. Now she wished she’d never accepted his request for friendship.
“Aren’t you coming? Your bread boy is waiting.” Gale winked at her.
Katniss stomped inside, furious at being found out. Gale was going to pay, she hadn’t decided how, but she was going to make him pay for his betrayal. 
“So I know how much you like our nut and raisin bread,” Peeta said good naturedly. 
“Yeah, she just loves your bread,” Gale said.
“Do you?” Peeta settled his eyes on her and Katniss didn’t know where to look. By the heat that was radiating off of her cheeks, she was sure she was redder than a ripened tomato. 
“Yeah, she loves your buns,” Gale kept on talking and Katniss wondered if a court would convict her for killing him. “Your cheesy ones.” 
“You mean my cheese buns?” Peeta’s eyes brightened. “I didn’t know. I’ll add some into the pack.”
“Delly told me you decorate all of the cakes.” Gale changed the subject and Katniss was grateful.
“I do.” Peeta was busily packing things. Katniss took the opportunity to take out the squirrels she shot for him, and then she added a rabbit. 
His brothers moved away to other districts, leaving Peeta as the sole owner of the bakery. Since his parents were divorced, Peeta lived in the bakery with his dad. His father favored rabbit meat. 
“Some of those cakes are complicated,” Gale said.
“Yeah, a cake can take me up to a week to decorate.”
“When are you and Delly going to toast?”
Gale hesitated, turning pale while looking at a dozen leaves in different shades of red, green, gold, and orange before changing the subject. “Do you get the inspiration for the cakes from nature?”
Katniss noticed Gale never answered the question. This was a bone of contention between Peeta’s best friend and her hunting partner. Gale wanted to marry, Delly wasn’t ready. She wanted to date a little bit more before settling down. 
Gale and Delly were such an odd pair. She was this round faced plush girl. She wasn’t beautiful like Madge, who Katniss thought he would have gone for. Before Delly, Madge and Gale used to flirt. It was a little gross to witness. It’s so funny how life worked. When Gale and Delly were introduced Gale couldn’t stand Delly’s bubbly nature. He said she grated on him like a tone deaf canary. Though slowly her generosity won Gale over. Gale told Katniss Delly crept up on him.
“Yeah. I always walk around with my sketchpad and pencil. Though, as you can tell, ever since my brothers left I don’t have time to walk around and observe as much as I used to.”
“Man, you should go to the woods,” Gale said. “The woods get frosty. It’s unlike anything you’ll ever see.”
“Frosty?” Peeta said with wonder.
“Yeah, the frost in the woods is amazing, like a winter wonderland. Katniss here doesn’t appreciate it.” Gale shook his head. “It’s a struggle to get her up on cool mornings.”
“Gale, the animals are still sleeping when you want to go out there,” Katniss grumbled.
“You know that’s not true. The early bird gets the worm. Nature’s teeming with life. They get busy living while you’re all wrapped up warm in your blanket.” 
“You know I get up plenty early to hunt and make ends meet for my family.” Katniss forgot for a moment she was in the bakery. She was still upset with Gale over his trick. 
“Sure you do,” Gale said. 
“I’m there before you are,” Katniss growled. Gale was a foot or more taller than her, but Katniss stood up to him.
“You want to make a bet?” 
Katniss poked Gale’s chest, “I can handle anything you can dish.” 
“Fine,” Gale said. 
“If tomorrow I don’t get up on time,” Katniss wasn’t going to let Gale get the best of her. “I’ll…”
“Take Mellark out into the woods.”
“What!” Katniss sputtered, disbelieving what Gale was proposing in front of Peeta.
“What, you didn’t hear me?” Gale smirked.
“You guys don’t have to-” Peeta said. 
“Mellark, wouldn’t you like to go out there in the woods, and see nature in its purest form?”
“Well,” Peeta said, sneaking a furtive glance at her.
“See, he doesn’t want to,” Katniss harrumphed. The prospect of having to take Peeta into the woods and talk to him was frightening as hell. Anyone who knew her knew she was awkward with people. District Twelve’s old President, Haymitch Abernathy, claimed she had the personality of a dead slug. 
“I didn’t say no,” Peeta said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“He didn’t say no, so what’s it going to be, Everdeen. If you wake up early and are in the woods before me, I lose.”
“And you have to tell everyone we trade with I’m the better shot,” Katniss said, narrowing her eyes. She knew Gale hated to admit it. He liked to boast how handy he was with a bow.  
She saw the nerve in his jaw tick right before he answered, “Fine! But if I’m right and you get to the woods late, you have to take Mellark here to the woods to observe the frost.”
Confident she wasn’t going to lose the bet, she came home from trading with Gale, convinced she was going to be fine. Yet out of an abundance of caution, she went to bed early after sharing a cup of tea with Prim. Katniss made sure she was dressed so all she had to do was slip on her boots and get out the door. But when she woke up the following morning, the sun was already in the sky. 
“Crap,” Katniss said. She jumped out of her bed, grabbed her boots, quickly combed her hair with her fingers and put her cap over her head.
“Good morning, Katniss,” her father said from the table.
“Hi dad.” Katniss sat down briefly to put on her boots.
“You’re late today,” her father said as he wrote something in his plant book.
“Ugh, I don’t know how. I know I went to bed early.”
Her father coughed. “Maybe you were tired.”
“Ugh,” Katniss groaned. She didn’t catch her father’s smile. 
“Don’t you want some toast, Katniss?” Her father asked. 
“Sure,” Katniss said, taking a slice of bread from his plate. “Thanks daddy. I’ll see you in a little while.” 
“Sure, Kitten,” her father laughed, shaking his head.
Katniss left and headed to the woods, not noticing her sister Primrose hiding in the corner laughing. Katniss was more concerned about beating Gale. She climbed over the gate to the fence. It had a sticky latch and she didn’t want to waste time fidgeting with it to open the gate. She ran to their spot in the woods, pausing only once to grab her hunting gear. She saw Gale sitting on the rock with a piece of grass in his mouth.
“Darn it!”
“You’re late, Everdeen,” Gale said in a singsong voice.
Katniss wished very much she hadn’t let her anger get the best of her yesterday. Now she had a date with the boy she’d fancied since the tender age of eleven.
KPKPKPKPKP
Sunday morning Peeta nervously slipped on his jacket. His hands shook. He was nervous about meeting Katniss this morning. He thought her to be the most beautiful girl in the district. Katniss was also the most courageous and strongest person in the district. When her father was injured, Katniss went out into the wilderness to hunt. There were a lot of qualities that he admired in her. It made him fall deeper for her. 
This opportunity to actually have the time to speak to her was unforeseen. Peeta wanted to make an impression on her. He wasn’t sure what was out there in the woods and he didn’t want to act like a fool in front of her. Peeta didn’t consider himself a tough guy like Gale; he was more of a pacifist. He could fight if he had to, but he preferred to talk things out before resorting to hurting people. His mother had often called him soft.
There was a point in time he was bullied for being pudgy as a boy. Peeta learned how to talk his way out of situations, and in doing so he learned that a physical altercation wasn’t always the right course of action. He was worried he wasn’t good enough for someone as dynamic as Katniss Everdeen. 
“Stop quakin’, chicken legs,” Delly said.
“Dell’s this is Katniss. What if I act like a total doofus and say something wrong and make her not like me>” Peeta said in one breath.
“Nonsense,” Delly said, packing up a thermos. “Believe me, you can’t screw this up.”
“It’s Katniss,” Peeta insisted.
“I know, I know. it’s the girl you’ve had a crush on since the Valley song way back in grade school.” Delly grinned, “Believe me Peet, Katniss has noticed you.”
“I don’t know,” Peeta doubted it. “She’s never talked to me.”
“What if she’s shy?” Delly asked.
Peeta blinked.
“Do you know how hard it is to walk up to a guy you like and say ‘I think you’re cute, do you want to go on a date’?”
“Well…”
“When was the last time you saw a girl do that?”
“Never.”
“Exactly.” Delly said triumphantly. “Now let’s look at the evidence. She went to all of your wrestling events.”
“Yeah, but those were mandatory.”
“You and I both know your brother’s matches were mandatory, and she skipped all of them. She also went with the Mayor’s daughter to see you practice. I’ve caught her hanging around the train station on delivery days.”
“She could be trading,” Peeta said.
“Nonsense,” Delly said. “You and I both know she shows up magically every time you have to unload the stuff from the train station. The girl doesn’t ogle every guy in the district.”
“Speaking of ogling.” Peeta turned to Delly. “What’s going on with you and Gale? I asked him when you and he were going to have a toasting. He looked wounded. He actually turned pale.”
Delly made a face. “He wants to get married.”
“So, isn’t that what you want?” Peeta was confused.
“It is, it’s just…” She sighed. “Gale is such a womanizer. I am the only girl who has refused to sleep with him. I want to make sure he loves me and is willing to settle into a committed relationship. It took me forever to make him understand that intimacy meant more than just sex.” 
Peeta understood. 
“Okay, so I packed a few blankets and the food you made. You are all set,” Delly said.
“Thanks Delly.” 
“Go out there have a great time, and just be yourself.”
Delly watched him leave. She quickly ran over to the Hob where Gale was waiting. 
“He just left,” Delly said, giddy. 
“Great, then it’s all up to Prim and Rigel now.” Gale nodded.
KPKPKPKPKP
In her home Katniss slipped on her warmest jacket. She wasn’t sure if she looked alright. This meeting was more than just a scenic walk through the woods. She frowned and then it melted into a scowl. No thanks to Gale’s big mouth, she had to take Peeta into the woods. 
What could she, Katniss Everdeen, talk to the most popular boy in school about? When they were in high school Peeta was always surrounded by his friends. 
“It’s kind of late for you to be going out into the woods with Gale,” her baby sister said from the bed.
Katniss had hoped to avoid speaking to her sister. She knew Prim would have all sorts of questions Katniss wasn’t sure she had answers for. “I’m…”
Prim sat up, her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders. “You’re not wearing your normal smelly hunting shirt and pants to go out into the woods.”
“Prim, go back to bed,” Katniss said, turning around. She hoped that her sister would listen. At sixteen her sister was strong willed.
“What’s going on here?” Prim walked over to her, her eyebrow shot up. 
“Ah,” Katniss said nervously.
Prim sniffed the air and gasped, ‘You’re wearing perfume!”
Katniss felt her cheeks burn. There was nowhere to hide.
Prim cornered her. “Katniss Everdeen, you tell me what’s going on this instant!”
Katniss sighed, “I’m meeting someone in the woods, okay.”
“You are?” Prim clapped her hands.
“Shhh,” Katniss said, grabbing her sisters hands. “You’ll wake mom and dad up.” 
“Okay, okay,” Prim whispered. Then her face looked horrified. “Katniss you can’t go out into the woods looking like the bride of a sasquatch!” Prim turned to their dresser. “Let me see, what do you wear for a clandestine meeting in the woods. How does one look pretty in the woods?” She muttered to herself. Then began the questions, “What are they like? Are they tall, handsome? Where do they work? Are they young or is it someone older?” Her sister waggled her eyebrows.
Katniss groaned this was one of the things she was trying to avoid. “Prim. He won’t care what I look like. Look I’m showing him the wooda so that he can use it for the bakery.”
“Eeewww,” Prim exclaimed. “You’re going out on a date with Mr. Mellark?”
“What?” Katniss grabbed her sister before she flew off the handle. “No, that’s just ew, no. It’s Peeta. I’m going to show Peeta the forest. I’m ah…going to show him what the frost looks like.” Katniss let her sister go. She looked down. “He’s not, well, he’s a nice person and…”
“And?” 
“And…he’s cute.”
“Cute?” Prim’s eyes danced. Her grin was wider than the lake in the woods.
“Okay, okay,” Katniss said, lifting her hands in the air. She might as well let Prim make her look pretty. Her sister did have a way with clothing. “What do you think I should wear?” 
“Ohhh, this is going to be great. First off those pants are way too baggy. Lets get you into dark jeans, oh and one of mom’s grey sweaters…” 
Katniss allowed her sister to dress her up. When she finished she was wearing one of their father’s old orange checkered shirts underneath their mother’s knit grey sweaters, dark jeans, and her boots. Prim gave Katniss her navy coat instead of her own. Prim was taller than Katniss and it hung loosely around her frame. She had to admit she looked nicer than before.
They both snuck to the door. Once outside Katniss looked to the path that led to the meadow.
“Okay remember, just let the conversation flow. Don’t try to force small talk. You’re not great at that. One more thing, he’s probably more nervous of you than you are of him.”
“Why would you say that?” 
“Katniss, you do know you’re known as the huntress around here right?”
Prim words caused Katniss to take a moment and think about what she was saying. “What does that mean?”
“Besides the fact that you have the ability to shoot someone through the eyes?” Prim joked.
Katniss blanched at the idea of killing someone. 
“It means you’re a legend in our district. Dad’s super proud of you. When he got hurt and couldn’t work, you stepped up and helped out our family. Believe me, he knows you’re not someone who can be easily swayed or impressed with dumb pick up lines. Peeta knows he’s got to work hard to get into your good graces. He probably has a crush on you but is too shy to tell you. Not to mention, you’re always with Gale and he’s pretty intimidating.” 
Katniss hadn’t thought of that. “You think he likes me?”
“Oh Katniss, I know he does.” Prim smiled warmly. “You’re great.”
“Thanks Prim,” Katniss breathed. 
“Now get out there and show him the forest.” 
Katniss smiled and walked away.
“So did you plant the seed?” Rigel said quietly when Prim re-entered the house.
“Yup,” Prim sat down. “She’s going to meet him with the knowledge that he likes her. That should help Katniss warm up to him.”
Katniss reached the meadow in good time. She waited for Peeta to meet her by the gate. It was a cold morning outside. Her breath came out in puffy little clouds. Katniss gazed up at the heavens, the clouds were gathering, a storm was brewing. 
Prim’s words circulated in her head. What if he did have a crush on her, but didn’t know how to articulate it? She could imagine how it looked to Peeta with Gale hanging around her all of the time. 
She heard his heavy steps approaching before she saw him. The crunch of his boots set several sparrows into the air. 
“Hi,” Peeta said. 
She waved shyly. 
He wore a dark orange knit hat. His wavy blond hair peeked out from the sides and he looked adorable. He also had a knapsack with him.
“There’s frost on the ground,” Peeta said, coming up to her.
“A sure sign winter’s on its way.” Katniss looked at the meadow. There was frost on the ground. It was pretty, but it was nothing compared to what lay in the woods. It was colder today than in the past days.
“Ready?” 
“Sure,” Peeta said.
Opening up the gate they made their way inside. They stopped only once to get her bow and arrows from their hiding place. 
As they walked deeper into the woods, she couldn’t help but smile. The woods was her home, she felt alive here. In the woods, Katniss did not have to worry about society’s demands. Often people found it strange that at the age of 20 she hadn’t married or had a boyfriend.
Her close-knit family and friends accepted her decision to stay alone. Those outside her circle often talked behind her back. Everyone was expected to have a companion. Everyone would be shocked to know Katniss did have someone in mind and he only walked a few feet away from her. 
She snuck a quick look at him and her heart fluttered and her stomach flipped. There could very well be someone that Peeta Mellark was seeing and kept quiet about it. Yet even as she thought this, her sister’s words played in her head. People also gossiped about him. Katniss couldn’t understand why he wasn’t taken. Peeta was compassionate, smart, funny, and selfless. He was perfect, but none of the women in 12 wanted him, and that was okay by Katniss. Peeta never had a girlfriend and by the looks of it, he wasn’t going to get married anytime soon. Maybe he did like her in secret. She wished there was a way for her to know for sure.
“It is very cold out here. I can understand why you want to stay in bed a little bit longer.”
Katniss shrugged. she didn’t intend to talk to him, but then it dawned on her this was the perfect situation for her to get some answers about questions she had. “Gale is so over dramatic. I’m usually awake before he is and waiting for him. What about you, how early do you get up?”
“Well to be honest, I’m downstairs in the bakery before four in the morning. Ever since my dad had his heart attack, I’ve had to do the morning prep work.”
Katniss whistled. “Why don’t you take on someone, an apprentice?”
“Because it’s expensive. We were finally making a profit when my dad had his health scare. His medical bills cleaned us out.”
Katniss understood where he was coming from. “When my dad got injured we had the same thing. Thankfully my mom was his caretaker. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through.”
“I had to hire a nurse to help my dad recuperate. Thank goodness your mom helped out, with all of those free resources and the menu for a lower salt diet.” 
“I’m glad my mom could help.”
“She did it for next to nothing, for that I’m eternally grateful.” Peeta stopped walking, he took a look around the forest.
“I’m glad to hear your dad is feeling better.” Katniss stopped moving. “It must get really hot in the bakery. How do you deal with the heat in the summertime?”
“I sleep with the windows open.”
“Oh,” she said. Katniss didn’t imagine it would be such a simple solution.
Peeta stopped walking. “Wow! Look at all of these colors.”
Katniss saw a tree with red, gold, and yellow leaves. It was warmer closer to town, and the woods that surrounded the perimeter still had some of their leaves. The heat from the mines and the factories warmed the area. The further they got away from the district the colder it got. 
“I can see why you love it out here.” 
They were having an unusually warm autumn. 
“What’s your favorite color?” Peeta asked her.
“Green. Why, what’s yours?”
 "Orange, not like an in-your-face-orange, but muted, like that leaf over there, or your orange checkered shirt.“
Katniss couldn’t help but smile. It occurred to her that talking with him was easy. She thought whoever Peeta dated was a lucky girl. Her curiosity about whether or not he was with someone grew. They walked some more. He asked various questions about how she knew the direction they were heading, and other things that to her came naturally, but that someone who had never been to the woods would be curious about.
“So,” Katniss was working up the courage to ask if he had a girlfriend. 
“Yes?” Peeta asked. 
“Ah…” Katniss closed her eyes momentarily before blurting out, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
She watched him turn red before answering, “I don’t.”
“Really?” The word slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself. 
“You sound shocked.”
“It’s just that,” Katniss stopped to face him. “In high school you were so popular, I was sure there was a girl that you fancied.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, then shyly said, “There is this one girl I like.” He looked her in the eyes. “She’s amazing and I draw her constantly. But I’ve never had the courage to tell her anything. There was a time I thought she liked someone else, but it turned out they weren’t a thing. I guess I chickened out after that.” He shyly said, “I don’t think I’m good enough for her.” 
Katniss felt like she was suddenly a fire that was doused with torrential rain. Of course there was a girl he liked, an amazing girl he held a torch for. “Oh. Okay.” 
“What about you, is there anyone you like?”
Katniss couldn’t smile, she couldn’t even formulate words. Mutely, she nodded.
“Are you thirsty? I packed some hot chocolate for us.”
She looked toward the path. “We really should get going.” Moving was the only thing she could do. Katniss kicked herself the entire route. Of course there was someone special. Why did she have to listen to her sister? Prim was sixteen. Prim knew nothing about affairs of the heart. Katniss wanted to cry for the loss of hope. She held it together the rest of the trek. 
When they came to the lake Katniss stopped walking and Peeta gasped.
Everything was coated in little ice particles. The cold breeze here was noticeable. The condensation from the lake had frozen and latched on to the areas surrounding the lake making it look like freshly fallen snow. Ice crystals hung from the branches, crawled up the tree bark, coated the tall grass. A mist floated up from the center of the lake making it look mystical. 
“It’s beautiful, amazing.”
Katniss smiled watching Peeta get up close to a tall blade of grass. “It’s like they’ve been brushed with ice. It has little ice particles.”
“My dad calls it silver thaw.”
Peeta examined the fallen leaves on the forest floor. His face was flushed and his eyes glowed with excitement. “I never get to see this. I mean, I am sure this happens on the inside of the fence, but I’m inside the bakery most of the time.“
“My dad says no two snowflakes are alike.” 
“Wow,” he said. Peeta whipped out his sketchpad and pencil, and quickly drew what he saw. Loose papers were sticking out between the pages of his sketchpad.
Katniss was amazed by how quickly and accurately he could draw. He was unrivaled; there was no one in the district like him, and she quietly mourned for the loss of what could be. His curiosity and childlike glee at the majestic picture nature presented him would be one of her favorite memories. 
“Do you think we’ll get snow soon?”
“Possible,” Katniss shrugged looking up at the sky. “It’s getting colder out. When it gets really cold out here the lake makes snow. It gets pretty dangerous out here. The snow can accumulate quickly.” 
As he stood up, pages fell from his book. Peeta tried to contain his sketchbook, but various pictures fell down. One of them floated over to her. 
Peeta dived to get it, but was too late. The drawing fell at Katniss’ feet.
Picking it up, she was curious as to whom he had drawn. What she found drawn stole her breath away. The girl in the picture was gorgeous. Then Katniss saw the long braid, the cap she wore on her head. She looked to the other pictures and they were all of her. Peeta had drawn a picture of her, as if she was beautiful.
“You drew this?”
Peeta tucked his sketchbook under his arm and stuck his hands in his pockets and couldn’t look up at her. He shyly gave her a nod.
Her heart thundered in her chest. “Is this me?”
Peeta’s eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly open. He cleared his throat. “I ah…”
She picked up another one. There were pictures of her laughing, others of her eating, one of her sitting by Madge in school. Another showed her with Prim, another with her dad. It dawned on her he said he drew the girl he liked constantly. But she needed to be sure. She didn’t want to make assumptions. Maybe this girl looked a lot like her. 
“Katniss,” Peeta said. 
 “Can I keep it?” she asked.
Her questions seem to baffle him because he gave her a look of wonderment and at the same time puzzlement. “You want to keep it?”
“I mean, if this isn’t me?”
Peeta walked up to Katniss and stared longingly into her silver eyes. As if he was looking for something. Finding it, his face broke out into one of his legendary smiles. “Of course this picture is you. You’re the only girl that I’ve…well…liked.”
“You like me?”
“Ever since we were in kindergarten, when you sang the Valley song. I was a goner then and I’m a goner now. You’re the girl I was describing. I just didn’t know if you felt the same way about me. I was afraid I was projecting what I feel on you. You don’t have to feel any which way about me. I’m okay with that, I just can’t help the way I feel.”
Katniss didn’t know whether she wanted to jump or laugh or run. Instead she took his hand, leaned up on tiptoe, and kissed him on the cheek.
His smile was crooked and his cheeks were flushed. “I think we better get you out of the cold.”
Katniss nodded. It wouldn’t have mattered to her if it was 30 degrees below zero outside. All she knew was she was on cloud nine.
Together, hand in hand, they made their way back to the bakery. They sat down in front of the fire to snack on the cheese buns and hot chocolate he packed for them. They talked and laughed, and for Katniss it was like finding a kindred spirit. It was the start of a beautiful relationship. 
As she left the bakery Peeta held her hand, “When can I see you again?”
“Silly I’ll be back in the morning to trade with you.”
“No I mean,” he shyly gave her a smile, his fingers brushed over her knuckles and Katniss thought she would melt. “When can we spend more time together.”
“How about we have lunch tomorrow? We can meet here at the bakery.”
“Great, we can stroll in the meadow afterwards. It’ll be nice to see the daylight. I’m always stuck inside of the bakery.” He smiled and kissed the back of her hand, and Katniss knees wobbled at the contact of his warm lips brushing up against her skin. Katniss couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow.
When Katniss finally came home she was grinning from ear to ear. Her mother was out attending a birth with Prim.
“Hello,” her father said. “Where have you been?” He was carving a cane for one of her mother’s patients. 
Katniss froze. She wasn’t sure what to say to her father.
“You look like Buttercup when he gets a bowl of cream.”
The heat rose to her face. There was no way she could keep this away from her father. “I was meeting with someone.”
“Oh,” her father said, putting his knife down. 
She sat down. Katniss and her father were close and if she wanted to see Peeta, she needed to sit down and talk to her dad about the boy, no, scratch that, man, she’d had an unbreakable bond with since forever. Squaring her shoulders, she said, “Dad, I was with Peeta Mellark. I took him to the woods and we had a fine time.” Katniss sighed. “We spent the rest of the afternoon at the bakery talking. His dad was an earshot away.” Her eyes pleaded with her father’s matching silver eyes.
“You were with Buck Mellark’s youngest son?”
“Yes.”
“And do you like him?”
Katniss didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
Her father smiled. “I have only one piece of advice Katniss. Just follow your heart as you take the metaphorical leap off the cliff of love. If your heart tells you to stop or you have doubts, just walk away. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“Thank you, dad,” Katniss smiled and walked away. She didn’t know her father gave her baby sister a detailed report on their conversation. Nor did she know Prim was determined to make sure her sister took that final leap and toasted with Peeta Mellark.
Prim and Gale were on chaperon duty, to make sure the lovebirds stayed in love. Katniss for her part went to lunch with Peeta. Each time she and him were together, she did just as her father said. She and Peeta took it slowly. As she and Peeta grew closer Katniss fell deeper in love with Peeta, while the relationship of others cooled.
Katniss stood with Peeta watching Delly slap Gale in the face.
“Delly, I swear I didn’t kiss her!” Gale ran after Delly.
“I saw you!”  Delly cried and ran inside. Her brother stood by the door arms crossed not letting Gale enter the house.
“What can we do?” Katniss whispered.
“I don’t know Katniss,” Peeta answered back. Gale rushed past them in the direction of the meadow. Peeta held her closer. “What we can do is promise each other to be honest and talk to one another.”
Katniss nodded, what Peeta said was true. Delly and Gale weren’t communicating with one another. Her parents talked all of the time, even about trivial things. Communication, as Prim pointed out one time to her, was the key to a successful relationship. She vowed she would talk to Peeta. And so she did, when she got angry at him, she let him know why. When they didn’t agree, they still talked.
It helped them get to know the other. Adversity could do one of two things, draw couples apart or bring them together. The intimacy between their words caused her hunger for Peeta to grow. They abstained and strained from physical intimacy but it was getting harder for Katniss to walk away. Peeta always seemed to be able to hold himself in check, it was Katniss who craved more.
It was hard for her to keep her hands off of Peeta. It was during this time Katniss decided to take the leap. Though she waited for the right moment, it never came. So she contented herself with simple things like taking long walks. There were many trips to the lake. Many trips to behold the wonder of the woods and it’s majesty. When it got cold and the snow coated the earth they walked hand in hand together facing each new adventure together. Slowly, the cold air became warmer and spring kissed the earth. The snow melted and Katniss and Peeta’s relationship heated up.
They were at her father’s cabin, lying in each other’s arms. 
“Are you okay?” Peeta asked.
Katniss was warm and blissful. Her body still coming down from the flight of pleasure she had within Peeta’s care. “Yes.” 
Peeta pushed tendrils of hair away from her face. “I love you,” he whispered.
Words of love and adoration were no longer hard for her to express. “I love you, too.”
He sat up and reached into his pack. He took out a small necklace that had a silvery gem on it. “It’s a pearl.”
“It’s beautiful.” Katniss had never seen such a beautiful thing before in her life. 
“It reminded me of your eyes.” Katniss sat up and he slipped it around her neck.  As he fastened it he said, “Marry me, be my partner in life. I pledge my love and loyalty to you. I promise to honor, obey, and love you with my heart and soul. I know there will be hard times, but I’ve found that when faced with things together, the burden becomes easier.”
Tears streamed from her face. “Of course I’ll marry you!” She rushed at him and they fell back into bed, a tangle of arms and legs.” 
On the day they married, Peeta made a cake that looked like the wintry wonderland of the forest.
It was as they toasted that Prim and Gale and her father were looking all too much like the cat that got the cream.
“What are you three grinning about?” Katniss asked.
Her father coughed, but said nothing. Gale avoided looking at her. It was Prim who spilled the beans.
“Katniss, don’t get mad at us, but we were tired of seeing you make moon eyes at Peeta. So we came up with a plan. Gale was supposed to get you to make a bet to take Peeta out into the woods. I was in charge of slipping you sleep syrup that night, and in case you woke up on time, dad was in charge of making sure you were late getting to the woods.”
Katniss couldn’t believe what Prim said. She wasn’t sure if she should be angry, but then a strong pair of arms wrapped around her middle and she didn’t care. This, after all, was the happiest day of her life.
When Gale walked away Katniss turned to Peeta and together they asked, “Okay Prim, how do we get Gale and Delly hitched?”
Prim grinned, “Well I have a plan…” 
The End….well maybe? 
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