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queenendless · 5 months

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❄️🎄🎁☃️Merry Making (Adult!SatoSugu x Adult!Fem!Reader ft Various JJK) ☃️🎁🎄❄️

A/n: I AM SO LATE TO THE PARTY!

Holiday fluff, ships, and so on, ya know the drill.

SO PLEASE DON'T PLAGARIZE COPY TRANSLATE STEAL OR REPOST MY FANFIC CONTENT. Rather reblog like and follow please and thnx u.

Fuzzy coziness in beige white and cream filled your eyes.

Early light streamed through the curtains.

“Merry Christmas, Y/n~” Satoru's purr was layered with pecks strewn all over your face, bringing a smile to the surface.

The feline man cradled Suguru's head as he gave him the same wakening treatment. “Merry Christmas, Suguru~!”

Said man deeply humming against the crook of your neck had you squirming and giggling, especially as his sweatered arms hugged you close enough to where his grip was too firm to break free from.

“So early,” Suguru grumbled raspily, pulling away from your neck to yawn in his knuckles.

“Better than being late for the day when I embrace my destiny as Saint Nicky~ Imma go get all fancied up for the rascals. I better see you coming right behind me all decked out, hubbie~” Gojo planted one big wet smooch on Geto's lips before giving you the same lovely treatment, pulling a garment bag outta the closet, giving you two a smile and a peace sign before dipping into the adjoining bathroom.

“Sugu?” Your pajama self moved to splay atop your slowly awakening husband.

“Hmm?” He rubbed his eyes, blinking to clear up the murkiness, when the feeling of your lips on his got him to be fully awake.

“Merry Christmas.”

He embraced you, kissing you in kind. “Merry Christmas, love~”

“Tada!” Springing out the bathroom door stood Gojo Claus. Beard, hat, boots and all. “Time to get the sack! Suguru, suit up!” The man warped away.

“Lord I will regret this.” Geto muttered under his breath before lifting you off him so he could get out of bed and pull out his garment bag out of the closet too, heading to the bathroom after giving you a wink. “See you in a bit, honey.”

A few days ago, you celebrated with everyone by throwing a Christmas party at the Tokyo school as it was the one chance you could throw one due to everyone having plans over the holidays.

You even had a Kiritanpo hot pot as the main dish, Christmas version. And a big one at that to fill everybody up.

You hummed as you started up your phone only to see notifications from your group chats. Opening it up, you viewed the photos sent to your phone ever since that night.

One of Haibara beaming brightly as he and a flustered Nanami were lounging on a beach in Malaysia, shades on and a drink in Yu's hands while Kento read off the stack of books he plans to read.

Another one showed Shoko and Utahime in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, with the former kissing the whipped cream off her wife's lips from their shared mug of spicy cocoa along a balcony setting of their lit up resort.

A snapshot of Riko and Misato in a ski lift viewing the snowy hills of a ski resort along the Alps with Yuki, Choso and Kamo skiing together down the slopes below.

More pics kept on piling in.

Miwa and Kokichi taking a sleigh ride through the falling snow, smooching his now beet red face.

Mai and Momo skating across a ginormous ice rink while doing it with such grace.

Todo catching a Takada-chan plushie THE Takada kissed on stage during her live Christmas bash, chucking it to the enormous crowds, hearts and tears in his eyes cause OF COURSE he caught it.

Kusakabe in a tavern drinking with Higurama; one of the many new sorcerers, flushed but at ease.

Yaga and Gakuganji sharing sake together.

Nothing from Mei, but knowing her, she's in a tub filled with cash, with Ui letting her do whatever cause he loves her so … yeah …

And knowing Toji and Shiu, they're probably taking shots while looking out over the balcony of their apartment window and just watching the land being draped in a blanket of snow.

A beaming Nobara and a flushed Maki going through holiday themed boutiques with a shy Fumi and an endearing Saori-chan in tow, so many bags already piling over in their arms.

Rika and Toge doting over a flushing nervous Yuta, spooning him on both sides, lounging in his apartment, with Panda acting as their cuddle couch, snacking on Christmas cookies, egg nog trailing down his conked out face.

Getting lost in holiday feels, you nearly forgot about the other presence in the room but the fuzzy sensations overwhelmed you. Your squeaking giggles were overshadowed by his conniving cackles streaming out as those furry fingers gently tickled you and those smart ass lips kissing your adorable face.

“Letting your guard down makes you vulnerable. It's difficult to resist you, my distracting beautiful wife~” Suguru crooned in your neck, horns on his head and cane in hand as he stopped the tickling to kiss your cheek then easily carried you up in one arm, letting your phone plop onto the sheets. “Now, let's go before Satoru drags us out himself.”

Fairy lights flashed many colors hanging strewn above across the living room ceiling.

A tall traditional tree stood in the corner. Tinsel, ornaments, string lights, and a small start plopped on top decorate the pine.

And Yuji and Junpei awoke to the smell of pancakes being made. Peaking into the kitchen, they spotted Megumi and Tsumiki already having platters full of Christmas tree shaped flapjacks lining up the island. Nanako and Mimiko were prepping up some hot cocoa with marshmallows.

When a sack of presents literally filled up the kitchen like magic.

“Ho ho ho!”

“Santa Claus!” Yuji's chibi self lit up with stars in his eyes at the bearded glasses wearing man poking his head in.

“Santa?” Junpei and Megumi weren't convinced.

The girls giggled, knowing who it was but going along with the cuteness.

A silky raven head with horns on top of his head popped out from the other door, cane in hand. “Yo.”

“K - K - KRAMPUS!?” Yuji turned blue at the alarming sight.

“Geto-sama!” The twins tackled their papa, giddy over his furry onesie look.

The snow began falling that early morning.

As the puppy dog that is Yuji dragged a scolding Megumi outside who didn't want to abandon his cooking duty and let a fire start when a handful of snow was smushed into his now welt forming face.

Yuji's speed was tested by Divine Dog Totality with Megumi riding atop, chasing his salmon boi across the private snowy grounds, as snowballs streaked the air.

A concern Tsumiki tried yelling out her scolding remarks to her brother as she ran out the back patio doors but he was too far off to hear, so her exasperated self plopped down into the snow, getting into the mood to cool down and make a snow angel.

Junpei floundered, his arms and legs jerking as he was doing his best to stay upright even as Tsumiki legit dragged him down with a radiant smile sent his way, going with the flow with a dopey smile on his face.

“SU.GU.RU~!”

“Yeah?”

“Lookie lookie!”

The puffy albino kitty cat and his raven furry mate nuzzled their heels, scurrying out between their legs and through the slide open back doors with cat sized Santa hats on, chasing each others tails.

“Catoru and Cuguru are matching! Say cheese!” Gojo Claus pulled out his phone to take so many pics.

Catoru's chirpy meow and Cuguru's calm meow were all they gave before trotting over to the twins, nuzzling their ankles as they built their snowmen family. Making sure to include a blindfold for one of them and a Gojo Kuja for its snow partner.

“Suguru … THINK FAST!”

Like future father in law, like future son in law.

The side of Geto's face was smothered in snow, giving off a welt mark contrasting Gojo's shit eating smirk.

“Prepare to die … SATORU!”

Choosing to retract his shikigami in preference of handling this matter himself, Megumi rolled across the snowy grounds as he and Yuji's snowball chucking garnered everyone else's attention, especially colliding with Gojo getting his face smushed with powder by a hissing Geto.

A soft rough coughing noise garnered their attention.

All their snowy heads plopped out of their white puffy pile.

Seeing you in that fuzzy velvet robe flowing from the blowing wind, your snug jammies, and velvet slippers as you walked out to admire the falling snow, breathing out to see your breath in a puffy white cloud, fading into purity.

Powder slowly descended from the heavens as you watched, entranced, as you gracefully floated.

“Unless you all want breakfast to get cold, come back inside.”

“Mrs. Claus.” Satoru breathed out in wonder at your tender voice.

“Are we getting our present?” Suguru coyly asked.

Devotion covered your face as you smiled, pressing a hand on your small growing baby bump. “You already have.”

“Oh yeah.” Those two exchanged smirks.

They gently pulled you down to submerge you in their suited powdery embrace, laughing at their gobsmacked expressions as you pulled out some mistletoe from your pockets to hang above your heads.

Lots of kisses between you three.

Yuji snuck in one to Megumi who slunk back in the snow, melting it from how hot he got.

It would be a while until breakfast would be eaten and presents be opened.

But even so …

Christmas had come at last.

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writerscornercafe · 1 year

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Here's the collection of fics from our Discord Secret Santa! Thank you to all the members who participated! 💖

🎄All I know is I'm in trouble (cause the atmosphere's so cold) by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed for @onlythesweet

Larry, T, 8K

While on a holiday with his best mate Zayn, Louis meets Harry, who seems to dislike him from the start. It's just his luck he ends up getting stuck on a ski lift with Harry. Except maybe the universe knows better and he really is lucky.

There is also a podfic version available here. Happy holidays!

🎄Mistletoe Cove by @wabadabadaba for @beardyboyzx

Larry, GA, 4K

Once everyone from the competition was gathered in front of the small makeshift stage, the mayor started to thank everyone for coming and participating. He talked about how everyone were winners in his eyes which made Louis want to hurl. Finally, it was time to announce the winner.

“As the manager of Mistletoe Cove,” Liam spoke. “I am so happy to invite the winners of the competition to enjoy a free meal on us.”

“Why is he taking so long?” Harry complained. “Just say it.”

“The winners are…"

or, a small town throws a snowman competition in which two teams are convinced they will be winners of the coveted prize- a reservation to Mistletoe Cove. Only one team can be the winner though, who will it be: Harry Styles and Niall Horan or Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson?

🎄If you ever feel alone (Don't) by @beardyboyzx for @chai-hat-tea

Larry, GA, 9K

Louis is too busy worrying about helping his mum and paying the bills to let himself enjoy his teenage years and hang out with his friends. Enters Harry, who will help him reconcile with his friend and understand the difference between feeling lonely and being alone.

🎄Snow Squalls & Kitty Paws by @littleroverlouiss for @sun-tomato

Larry, GA, 8K

Louis and Zayn own The Future is Meow, a bookstore-slash-cat café, and are spreading the holiday cheer to their customers this Christmas Eve. A few morning snow flakes turn into a full-blown blizzard and before they know it, the safest place for them and their employees to spend the night is the bookstore.

Shop regular and object of Louis’ affections, Harry, is also snowed in with them— as is another man who Harry seems more than friendly with.

Will it be a Christmas miracle if Louis survives the snow squalls, a seemingly unrequited crush, and a curmudgeonly tortoiseshell cat?

🎄Storm Warning by @restless-rebels for @lululawrence

Larry, Teen and Up, 4K

What makes you think he’ll listen to me? He hasn’t for the last few ye-” Harry was suddenly cut off when Remi jumped from her seat on him and took off with the rest of the dogs, pulling Harry so harshly that he landed hard on the ground, his face pressing right against the hard day old snow.

“Haz? Harry? What happened? You stopped talking all of a sudden.” Liam yelled into the phone, clearly frantic.

Harry scrambled to his feet and held the phone up. “I’m fine, I gotta go!” He shouted and ran to catch up to the dogs who were currently jumping around a man, holding his small puppy close to his chest. He breathed harshly as he caught up and put his hands on his hips. “Everyone, heel!”

Immediately, the group laid on the ground and stared up in excitement at the dog in the man’s arms. Harry rushed to collect the leashes and held them in a tight grip, even though they were looped on his wrist. “I’m so sorry about them! They normally don’t rush other dogs, especially when they’re on their leashes..”

“Yea, well maybe you shouldn’t bring so many to the park at one time.” The man chided and looked Harry up and down. “Isn’t there a rule about it or something?”

🎄Louis' "Harry" Christmas by @chai-hat-teatea for @tommokat

Larry, M, 9K

Louis can't go to his family for Christmas because he injured himself. Harry, the wonderful friend that he is offers to take him back to his house. Cue in the confusion and chaos of family, Christmas, and their feelings.

🎄Silver-White Winters by lululawrence for @beelou

OT5 Relationship, NR, 9K

Liam Payne had learned many things as a bartender. He'd learned when people needed to talk, or when they needed a gentle smile. He now knew when they wanted advice or someone to just agree with them. He also had come to recognize when someone was past the limit and needed to be told no.

But when it came to holidays, Liam had learned that when people came into the Neighborhood Pub alone on Christmas Eve, it was for a reason.

Niall, Zayn, Harry, and Louis all definitely have their own reasons for showing up at Liam's bar alone on Christmas Eve. With the help of a surprise winter storm, none of them will have a reason to be alone for long.

🎄Ho Ho Hopefully by safetyfilm for @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

Larry, Teen and UP, 5K

Attached to the gift, just under the bow, was a paper tag, and Harry wished desperately that he could write his own name there. ‘To Louis, from Harry.’ What a dream that would be.

He’d grown fond of Louis over the time that he’d been watching him, wishing that he could be part of Louis’ life, of his world, regardless of the fact that the only thing Harry had ever known was working for Father Christmas—or Nicholas, as he’d preferred to be called.

The one where Harry is an elf in Santa’s workshop, and Louis is one of the humans he’s been assigned to.

🎄Christmas Pretenders by @larryatendoftheday for @littleroverlouis

Larry, Teen and UP, 4k

When Niall convinced Louis to come home with him for the holidays as his fake boyfriend, he never expected he’d run into the loveliest man he’d ever seen.

Or, a twist on the fake-dating for the holidays fic, where the real love interest is the fake-boyfriend’s best friend.

🎄'Sno(w) Joke by @sun-tomato for @londonfoginacup

The last thing Louis wanted was to get stranded on his birthday. But perhaps it was exactly what he needed.

Featuring a snow storm, a library, and a very grumpy Harry Styles.

🎄Baking Spirits Bright by @beelou / Cherrylarry for @wabadabadaba

Lirry, G, 2k

“Hello, and welcome to day 20 of our Advent Series! I’m Harry Styles and this lovely man on my right is Liam. Say hi, Liam,”

“Hi, Liam!” Liam waves at the camera with a grin.

Harry rolls his eyes with a fond smile. “Alright so today we’re making hot chocolate! Different recipes from all over the world. Mexico, Italy, France, and Brazil.”

🎄While the Moon is Bright by @tommokat for @larrieblr

Larry (Girl Direction), Teen and Up, 1K

Refusing to be the only one over 25 at her family's annual Christmas party, Harry turns to a speed dating event to find the perfect date. Too bad said perfect date hates Christmas.

🎄Odd Dogs by @londonfoginacup / LadyLondonderry for @restless-rebels

Ziall, G, 3k

Zayn is not a dog person. Zayn does not understand dogs. He doesn’t know why they do what they do.

Yet here he is, at the doors of the Allegheny Dog Rescue, staring in at an odd dog and a blue eyed boy.

🎄Snow on the beach by @onlythesweet / onlytheclouds for @larryatendoftheday

Larry, G, 9K

Louis Tomlinson is a busy man.

When he travels to his mother's new smalltown for Christmas, nothing goes as planned. He's starting to think he might be cursed…

Especially when this one guy, Harry Styles, keeps showing up everywhere he goes, doing every single job in town.

#wcc secret santa 2022 #secret santa #1D secret santa 2022 #fic rec #hlcreators #hlupdate #hljournal #tracksintheam #trackinghome #trackinghappily #1Dficvillage

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taylorswiftandx · 6 months

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Taylor Swift and Waking

Note: See also TS and Awake.

'Taylor Swift'

Tim McGraw: And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

You Belong With Me: Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time

Untouchable: In the middle of the night, waking from this dream

SuperStar: When my world wakes up today, you'll be in another town

That's When: And you said, "That's when, when I wake up in the morning"

That's When: And I said, "That's when, when I woke up in the morning"

'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'

(no waking)

'Red (Taylor's Version)'

Sad Beautiful Tragic: And we both wake in lonely beds and different cities

Everything Has Changed: All I knew this morning when I woke is I know something now, know something now I didn't before

Ronan: I remember you dancing before bedtime, then jumping on me, waking me up

Nothing New: And I wake up in the middle of the night, it's like I can feel time moving

'1989 (Taylor's Version)'

You Are In Love: One night he wakes, strange look on his face

'reputation'

Dress: I woke up just in time, now I wake up by your side

'Lover'

The Archer: I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

Paper Rings: Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe

Death By A Thousand Cuts: Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts, flashbacks waking me up

'folklore'

the 1: I guess you never know, never know, and it's another day waking up alone

'evermore'

tolerate it: I wake and watch you breathing with your eyes closed

marjorie: The autumn chill that wakes me up, you loved the amber skies so much

'Midnights'

Maroon: And I wake with your memory over me, that's a real fucking legacy, legacy

Maroon: And I wake with your memory over me, that's a real fucking legacy to leave

Anti-Hero: I wake up screaming from dreaming, one day I'll watch as you're leaving

'The Tortured Poets Department'

Down Bad: Down bad, waking up in blood

Other Songs written by Taylor

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: Wake up in the morning with someone but feeling alone

Beautiful Eyes: I wake up, I'm alive, in only a little while I'll cry

Christmas Tree Farm: And they're warm and they're safe, they wake to see a blanket of snow

I Heart ?: Wake up and smell the breakup, fix my heart, put on my makeup

I Heart ?: Wake up and smell the breakup, realize that we won't make up

You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home: You wake up, it's raining and it's Monday

Official Alternate Releases

Maroon (Clean Version): And I wake with your memory over me, that's a real lasting legacy, legacy

Maroon (Clean Version): And I wake with your memory over me, that's a real lasting legacy to leave

#taylor swift #lyrics #taylorswiftandx #lyric parallels #waking

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jule1122 · 1 year

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RNM Fic - Years past seemed so much grander

Written for @rnmnewyear2023 Day 5: Yankee Swap. I went for the rarest pair I could think of (Jesse/Mimi), but I did work in a gift exchange.

So I wrote fic last year, This one goes out to the one I love which was canon complaint, but imagined Jesse and Mimi had been together before Jesse became part of Project Shepherd. But like Mimi tells Alex, he is corrupted by touching things from another world and becomes the man we know. This is an AU version of that relationship that give Jesse and Mimi a happy ending. In this universe, instead of joining Project Shepherd, Jesse dismantles it and shuts down Caulfield. Jesse and Mimi are married. The Evans are told Max and Isobel are aliens and Walt adopts both Michael and Dallas.

Title is from “Christmas Saves the Year” by twenty one pilots.

Years past seemed so much grander on AO3

Summary: Mimi struggles with Christmas without the kids, but Jesse has a surprise for her.

Christmas with five kids was pure chaos, but Mimi loved every minute of it. There was the mantle overflowing with stockings, five advent calendars to fill with each child’s favorite treat, checking and rechecking the letters to Santa to make sure they had the most important requests covered, remembering what wrapping paper was “Santa” paper and not reusing it the next year for other presents. And that was before the craziness of Christmas morning when the promise of the season finally become reality.

Mimi loved decorating the house-putting the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. And Jesse always made sure the outside was just as festive as the inside. The house smelled like cinnamon and chocolate for the whole month of December. There were visits to Santa, school parties and sleepovers, night spent driving to see the best Christmas lights.

But the kids grew up, and Christmas started changing. The handmade ornaments and small gifts from the school’s Santa’s Workshop sale dwindled down as one by one the kids left elementary school. One year they were convincing Clay to go along with the younger children’s belief in Santa, and it seemed like only a blink of an eye later, Alex and Maria, the last holdouts, were telling her they knew Santa wasn’t real.

Christmas changed, but Mimi still found joy in her family. She brought the kids in the kitchen more often - passing on the recipes her mother taught her for cookies and kolachi. She held on to some traditions like advent calendars and trips to see the Christmas lights, but now there were winter formals and ski trips. Jesse let the kids take over the outside decorating and it turned into a yearly contest to see who could come up with the best designs between her children, the Ortecho, Evans and Sanders kids.

Their families were close, united in the challenges of raising children with alien powers and making sure they were safe. They took turns hosting a New Year’s Eve party and the kids were in and out of each other’s houses. It wasn’t unusual for Dallas to join her and Greg to bake cookies while Flint spent the day at the junkyard helping Walt. Once they all reached middle school, they started their own Secret Santa gift exchange with heavy penalties for using alien powers to cheat after the year Isobel influenced Flint to buy her a purse several times over the agreed upon spending limit.

But this year December is a quiet month. It’s the second year in a row none of her children will be home for Christmas. Last year, Jesse surprised her with a trip to Lake Tahoe. It was romantic and magical enough to distract her from what was missing. It was the first time in their almost twenty years of marriage she and Jesse had traveled alone, and they treated it like the honeymoon they never had.

Jesse offered to take her to New York City for Christmas this year, but Mimi refused. Between missing the children and losing her mother in February, Mimi wasn’t feeling the holiday at all and hated to waste the trip when she wouldn’t appreciate it. So they stay in Roswell, Jesse doing his best to cheer her up while she goes through the motions.

With the kids scattered throughout the country, and overseas in Flint’s case, her shopping is done by the middle of November so she can be sure all the presents will arrive in time. Jesse still strings the lights after Thanksgiving dinner, but the tree doesn’t go up until the middle of December and except for the star and lights remains undecorated. She tells Jesse she doesn’t feel like baking this year, and he just smiles and says his waistline and cholesterol thank her.

They skip the Christmas light displays, but Jesse takes her to the Christmas market. It’s the best day of the holiday season by far. They hold hands and drink gourmet hot chocolate while wandering among the vendors. Mimi buys wildflower honey for her tea, a set of organic cocktail mixers for the Evans, hot pepper relish and mustard for Walt and alien themed hand painted coasters for Arturo. Jesse leads her to a jewelry vendor from the Reservation, and they pick out a pendant to set aside for Maria’s birthday.

When they leave, Mimi feels lighter than she has in months so she asks Jesse out to dinner. They go to their favorite restaurant just outside of Roswell. Every weekend they have a band, and after dinner and a candy cane martini, she and Jesse dance until closing. Mimi falls asleep on the way home, Christmas music playing softly on the radio and Jesse’s hand warm in hers.

Christmas Eve is quiet. Jesse makes a scaled down version of their traditional dinner, and they end the night with eggnog in front of the fireplace. They could have gone to the Evans’ house with Walt and Arturo, but Mimi decided she’d rather stay home. She doesn’t want to be bad company even though she knew everyone would understand. Isobel and Dallas are the only two in Roswell this Christmas so they are all missing their children. Clay and Alex are stationed in different parts of the country, and Flint is in Italy. None of them were able to get holiday leave this year. Both Liz and Greg are in grad school on the East coast and couldn't manage the trip home. Maria and Rosa are on year two of what was supposed to be a month-long road trip, only stopping in Roswell for a week here or there to plan their next stop. Max had flown out to spend Christmas with Liz, and Michael is staying with Alex until Alex is deployed in the spring. Mimi will be able to handle all the missing faces by New Year’s but right now it’s just too much.

They sleep in on Christmas morning - there’s no one to bang on their door demanding presents. Mimi’s tempted to spend the whole day in bed, but she gets up when Jesse brings her tea. Arturo stops by on his way to church and surprises them with breakfast. He invites them to join him for services, but they’ve never been a religious family, and he’s not surprised when they decline. They exchange gifts after breakfast. Mimi gives Jesse the woodworking tools he wanted and a few new shirts. He gives her a box set of herbal teas, the latest book by her favorite author and a delicate hand crocheted shawl she lingered over at the market. They decide to save the presents the kids sent until each of them calls.

Mimi puts on a marathon of Christmas movies - just something mindless to play in the background while she reads and responds to the occasional “Merry Christmas” text. In the early afternoon, Jesse calls her into the dining room.

“One more present for you, sweetheart,” he says pointing to a laptop with a big red bow on the table.

“Oh, Jesse, you shouldn’t have. Now Alex will have two computers to fix when he comes home.” It’s a running joke in their family that no matter how much anti-virus software and firewalls he installs on her computers, Mimi still ends up with viruses. Her last computer stopped working a few months ago.

“I think you’re going to like this one. Let me show you.”

Jesse gently guides her to the chair in front of the laptop and opens the cover. He taps a few buttons and suddenly the screen is filled with her children. “Merry Christmas, Mom!” They shout, completely unsynchronized.

“My babies!’ Mimi brings her hands to her mouth, tears filling her eyes. She can’t believe they are all there together. “How?” she asks, turning to Jesse.

“I know it’s not the same as being together in the same room,” Jesse says, kissing the top of her head before sitting down next to her. “But we thought it was the best alternative.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she leans over and kisses Jesse.

“We wouldn’t have agreed to this if we knew there was going to be kissing,” Clay complains.

“Please,” Maria scoffs. “If it wasn’t Mom and Dad, you know it would be Alex and Michael.”

“I’m just so happy, I’d give all of you a kiss if I could,” Mimi beams at the screen.

A chorus of groans greets her, and she blows them all kisses in retaliation.

“Why don’t you tell your mom what you’ve done for Christmas,” Jesse directs them.

Mimi listens with rapt attention as they all tell her about their holidays. She doesn't know if they realize it, but they go in age order, starting with Clay.

“Hey Mama D,” Michael greets her. Mimi smiles at the nickname he gave her when he and Alex started dating. “I’m making sure Alex has real food in his fridge, and he goes to bed at a decent hour.”

“Thanks sweetheart,” she replies.

“Taking Alex to bed doesn’t isn’t the same thing as him getting a good night’s sleep,” Flint teases.

“Jesus Flint, not in front of Mom,” Alex objects, blushing.

“Poor Alex,” Clay taunts. “Still the baby of the family.”

“Hey, I’m only a few months younger than Maria.”

“A few months in age, but years younger in life skills,” Maria argues.

“Oh, really?” Alex counters. “Who called Michael last week because they couldn’t figure out why their car wouldn’t start. Only the problem really was”

“No, no, no,” Maria shouts. “You promised not to tell anyone about that.”

“Alright children,” Jesse says in a tone that catches their attention. “This is supposed to be a present for your mother, not a reminder of why a quiet Christmas isn’t such a bad thing.”

“Sorry, Dad,” they respond in unison.

“It’s fine,” Mimi reassures them. She would listen to them fight for hours just to hear all their voices together.

“Why don’t we open gifts,” Greg, always the peacekeeper, suggests.

Jesse brings out the box with all the gifts the kids had sent, and they take turns opening. Everyone is able to stay on for about an hour after that. Between occasional connection issues and general confusion of having so many people online together, there is a lot of talking over each other and cut off sentences. It reminds Mimi of the Christmas morning chaos when the kids were young, and she loves every minute of it.

Once they have to say goodbye, she lets Jesse hold her for a moment while she takes it all in. “That is just what I needed,” she tells him. “What would I do without you?”

“It wasn’t all me,” Jesse insists. “They may not say it, but the kids miss you as much as you miss them.”

“Not possible,” Mimi shakes her head. She looks out the window and notices it’s already dark out. “Come honey, let’s go for a drive and see some Christmas lights.”

“Are you sure?”

Mimi nods. Christmas will never be what it once was, but today her family reminded her it can still be special.

#rnmnewyear23 #rnm fic recs #my fic #jesse manes/mimi deluca #AU #Jesse is a good husband and father in this fic #Christmas fic #Mimi loves her kids #And they love her #Long distance Christmas

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jerkbitchidjitassbutt · 3 years

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It Was You (Part One)

A/N: Jensen and Y/n are childhood best friends. When his agent informs him that his image could use some improvement for a role, will she help him? Or will her feelings get in the way?

A holiday (Christmas centric) Jensen x Female!Reader Best Friends to Lovers series for @spnchristmasbingo. Un-beta’d, so all mistakes are mine. Header created by me with images from Google. Chapter word count: 3371

Series Warnings: break up; angst-ish at times (if you squint), but mostly all the fluff.

I consider this an AU, as Jensen is single in this fic. This is completely a work of fiction, and I wouldn’t want his reality to be any different, this is purely for entertainment.

The slight chill of a Vancouver December morning roused you from a peaceful sleep, making you snuggle further into the down blanket and comfort of your plush bedding. It was two weeks until Christmas and the weather was supposed to be a balmy high of 32 degrees today, so you had planned to stay in, do some shopping online, and stay by your cozy fireplace with every holiday movie you could find. Willing yourself to get five more minutes of shut eye seemed like a helpless feat as the wintry cold seeped into your apartment. You opened your eyes to the gentle prisms of light floating in through the adjacent window, the sunrise indicating it was time to get up for the day.

Sitting up to perch on the side of your bed and grabbing your wide-rimmed glasses from the nightstand, you slid your chilled toes into the warm slippers waiting and shrugged on your fuzziest sweater. It may be time for that fire sooner than you thought.

Padding into your kitchen to get a much-needed caffeine fix after last night’s dinner and drinks with the rest of the cast and crew, you took your favorite mug from the cabinet and loaded the coffee maker, making an extra cup or two for you and any visitors you might have a bit later.

Jensen’s apartment was down the hall, and if you knew him, he’d still be sleeping, but he’d probably wander over at some point this morning. Cradling the mug in your hands warmed them slightly and sent a shiver down your spine. Even your warmest pajamas and the heat from the thermostat did little against the Canadian winds. Laughing slightly to yourself, you’d thought you’d be used to it after six years of winters here.

You wandered towards the windows of your living room to pull back the long curtains. It was a favorite spot to have your coffee and gaze at the sights of Vancouver. Settling on the window seat, you felt a warmth spread through you as you noticed it had snowed in the night, and from the looks of it, it was a depth of fresh, soft powder – a type that you rarely saw growing up in Texas. People were bundled up tightly as they walked the streets, but a few people, adults and kids alike, were already out playing in the thick blanket of snow.

As your coffee began to warm you through, you couldn’t help the giddy feeling of joy that rose at the sight – it made the holiday season and the spirit of it even more intense than just viewing the lights of downtown and the large decorations everywhere. For some reason, snow just sealed it all up in a nice little bow.

Sure enough, about halfway into your second cup of coffee, you heard a key in your door and Jensen shuffled in, still wearing his pj’s with tousled hair, but he had thrown on a thick sweater too.

“Good morning.” You called, still seated at the large window.

“Mornin’ sweetheart.” He replied with a quick wave as he tossed his keys on the counter and waltzed into your kitchen in search of his mug, his voice still thick and gruff with sleep.

He mixed his cream and sugar and took a long sip, letting out a contented sigh after the steaming liquid entered his body. He was notoriously grumpy without his coffee, but he always met you with a sweet greeting when he came over. Walking around your kitchen island and into your open living room, he slumped into the recliner across from you and pulled the leaver to release the footing, allowing him to lean back with his feet up. He adjusted himself to get comfortable, careful to not spill the mug in his hand.

“What time did you get in last night?” you asked, taking another sip from your own cup.

He covered his eyes with his free hand, still obviously tired. “About 2:30. You know how Jared gets when we break for hiatus, he never wants the party to end. He was still talking to me as I was shutting my door.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. Jared was the most social person you’d ever met and knowing that he wouldn’t be back to Canada and on set for a month, he would always soak up every little bit of time he had with the cast and crew. Even though Jensen was griping about it now, you knew he also didn’t mind. He’d probably be missing everyone, especially Jared, about four days into the break. You didn’t get home until about 1 a.m., and that was only because you were beginning to doze off in your cocktail.

“Tell Cliff thanks again for driving me home last night. I just couldn’t cut it.”

“Yeah, I know… Lightweight.” Jensen teased.

“Hey, you didn’t have a 5 a.m. set call yesterday like some of us.”

Jensen huffed a small laugh from his seat, still resting his hand across his closed eyes. His sweatpants hung low on his hips and his green Henley stretched across his biceps as he rested his coffee on his thigh. A slight 5 o’clock shadow and the bedhead he was sporting all combined into a handsome image. He may be your best friend, but you could still appreciate the looks the man was blessed with.

Seemingly close to falling back asleep, you called to him in a hushed voice, “Jay. If you want to go back to sleep just put your coffee mug on the table, okay?”

“Hmmmph. No, I’m up.” He fibbed, as evident from the way he blinked widely once he opened his eyes again. Forcing himself to stand, otherwise he would really fall back asleep instead of just resting his eyes, he walked towards you with his cup, dragging his feet slightly as his legs sluggishly pulled him across the room. His head was down and his shoulders were wilted, but he was trying to get his body moving.

When he reached you, you felt his chest bump your shoulder before he rested his cheek on the crown of your head, his arm dangling by his side as he slumped. He took a deep breath before rubbing his hand across your back and standing, smiling as you peered up at him with a grin.

Licking his lips, he finally peered out to the streets below and his eyes went wide, “Y/n!” he practically shouted.

You flinched, “What? What’d I do?”

“You didn’t tell me it snowed!”

Giving a huff and a giggle, you couldn’t help but be sarcastic, “I’m sorry, was I supposed to while you were falling asleep in my chair?! Besides… it’s Canada. It’s not like snow is very rare here.”

“Y/n! That’s, like, snow! The kind we used to wish for when we were kids!”

“I know, I thought that too.”

“Well, c’mon!” he said, setting his cup down on the ledge. “We gotta go!”

“What? Go where?”

Jensen was already halfway through your living room and heading for the front door but paused to turn and point a finger in your direction, “You, me, snowman. Now.”

“Jay,” You whined. “It’s cold and its early. You sure you don’t want to just watch Netflix?”

“Y/n!” he said once again, looking as excited as a 12-year-old on a snow day from school. “Snowman! Please?” he begged, waving his arms frantically as he gestured outside.

“Okay, okay. Fine. No need to use your puppy eyes on me. I’ll meet you outside in 15 minutes.”

With that, a huge grin broke out on his face and he took off down the hall, leaving you to go in search of your heaviest ski jacket.

Jensen knocked on your door soon after you shrugged into the puffy coat, dressed in thick snow pants, his own jacket, and a black beanie and gloves with a small bag in his hand. Straitening your scarf before locking your door, he barely gave you a moment to put on your knitted pom beanie before he was pulling you by your hand towards the elevator of your building and pushing you out of the revolving doors into the frigid air. Heading to the side where a large park sat adjacent to your complex, he looked around before tugging you along to a spot with a large open space. He nodded to himself, as if to say he’d found the perfect place for his snowman-building escapade. As your boots crunched beneath you, you each began gathering handfuls of snow to make a large base, then packed and sculpted two more spheres. Though you initially protested, you had to admit that it was fun, and the coldness against your cheeks wasn’t bad after a bit, particularly after seeing how happy Jensen was when his finished product towered over yours. He’d managed to gather the majority of the snow within about a six-foot radius of where his snowman stood before piling it high.

“Hey, hey… look at that. An accurate height difference!” He touted, teasing you.

“Oh, hush you. It’s not my fault that you were given the extended version of the human body.” You glared at him playfully.

He laughed as he bent to rummage in the bag he’d brought, producing two carrots. He wiggled them in his hands before handing one to you. He was just about to place it in a very telling place when you grabbed a handful of snow and threw it in his direction.

“Jensen!” You berated. “That’s not where the carrot goes! There’s kids out here!”

He stood up slowly, turning to you with a serious smirk, “Did you seriously just throw a snowball at me?”

Wiping your hand on your pantleg quickly, you gave him a mischievous grin, “Who, me? I’d never.”

“Oh, its on!” he declared as he bent to scoop up the little bit of remaining snow in his reach, that which he hadn’t used for his snowman.

Ducking behind your own, he threw and missed, sending the snow flying passed you. A quick grab from around you produced another snowball that you chucked from behind your shield, hitting him square in the chest. The fight lasted for a good while, the two of you trying your hardest to target the other as many times as possible and receiving some laughs and glances from passersby as they walked along the sidewalk. Finally, Jensen gave up and took off towards you, chasing you in circles before he tackled you into the plush ice, pinning you beneath him as he tried to bury you both.

“Jay! Oh my God, stop! Its freezing!” you yelled through your laughter.

“Truce?” he asked, his eyebrows raised in a challenge.

He was still on top of you, his nose and cheeks a bit flushed from the wintry air. He still had that devilish smirk on his face, but his green eyes were soft and something beneath them made your heart flutter slightly in your chest. He scanned your face quickly before glancing towards your lips, but you were quick to snatch another fistful of snow to smash onto his head. Scrambling out from underneath him, you ran as he said something about you being a cheater before he jumped to his feet.

After the war ended and a truce was finally declared, you both put the finishing touches on your snowmen after you found sticks for the arms and coerced Jensen to put the carrot in the right spot. He stood back proudly, admiring your handiwork.

“Hey.” He gestured to you, “C’mere.”

A bit warry that he was going to tackle you again, you came to his side as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and turned on the camera. Pulling you into him, he said, “Gotta have evidence of our masterpieces.” He reached around your waist and tugged you in close, framing both of you and your snowmen in the background. The cold air made the tip of your nose and the apples of your cheeks change in color, and there was still some snow in your hair from when Jensen wrestled you, but both of you smiled widely. Feeling the scruff of his short beard against your temple and his arms wrapped around you made you think about the way his eyes danced across your face moments ago, but the thought was quickly dismissed as he stepped away from you slightly after he made sure the picture wasn’t too blurry.

“Oh, crap. Is that what time it is?” he said, alarmed, looking at his phone screen. “I have to meet Stacy in an hour.”

Stacy was his publicist and agent, but he usually didn’t meet with her during the hiatus. “You’re meeting Stacy today? What’s up?” you asked, a bit confused.

“She wants to talk to me about this movie. Some sort of romantic drama she thought I may be good for.”

“Oh,” you replied, “that’s great! You didn’t tell me! Would you have to cut back filming the show?” While you were a bit surprised, you were genuinely happy for him.

“Stacy knows Supernatural comes first, so I hope not.”

“Well, let’s get inside so you can warm up and change. I was going to make my mom’s chili and cornbread for dinner tonight, if you want to join me after your meeting.”

The excitement on his face was palpable as his eyes lit up the moment you said it, “You know how much I love your mom’s chili. We’re just meeting for coffee near her office, so I’ll bring the beer.”

As you were walking back into the building, your phone rang. It was Stephen, your boyfriend of three months.

“Stephen, hey.” You said as you entered the elevator, not missing the slight eyeroll that Jensen gave.

“Hey, honey. How are you? I didn’t want to call too early, just in case you were still sleeping after last night.”

“I’m good, thanks. Actually, just got done building a snowman with Jensen.”

A short silence followed, until Stephen spoke up again. “Oh, that’s nice.” He said, his voice noticeably clipped. “Well, I’m going to take my lunch break soon. Would you like to meet up? I can come to your side of town.”

“Uh, sure. I’ll meet you at that café on 3rd in about a half an hour?”

“Sounds great. See you there.”

Shoving your phone back in your pocket, you ignore Jensen’s stare as the elevator climbed to your floor.

“So…” he pressed. “Stephen?”

“Yeah, Stephen. We’re going to meet up for lunch while you have your meeting.”

“Hmph.” He huffed.

“Jay, we’ve known each other our whole lives and to this day you’ve never liked a single guy I’ve ever dated. What’s wrong with Stephen?”

“I don’t know. He’s just kind of… meh.”

He wasn’t lying, if you were being truthful. Stephen was meh. He was cute and had nice eyes and dimples, but he didn’t make you laugh. He was a bit dull and your sense of humor didn’t mesh with his well. Still, you thought that it might get a bit better once you got to know each other and began to understand one another more. Your relationship was still very casual, but maybe it could go further? You weren’t really sure, honestly.

“What about you and Laura?” you asked, quickly changing the subject.

“I told you… that was nothing.” He quipped as you reached your door. “We went on like three dates.”

“Yeah, the last one being just this past week.”

“Yeah, and it just didn’t go well.”

You let out a small sigh. Discussing your dating lives wasn’t really something the two of you loved to do with each other. Maybe when you were teenagers, yeah. You’d asked each other for advice and gossiped a bit about the people in your high school, but as you grew into adults it just became a subject you both steered away from besides the occasional, hey I’ve got a date conversation. Neither of you had ever really found a person that the other approved of, each finding a reason to be picky every time.

“I’m sorry, Jay. I’m just deflecting.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I was pushing.” He said sincerely with a small smile. “Well, you enjoy lunch. My meeting’s at 1:30 across town, so I should be back by 4 at the latest. Pick out a movie for us, okay?”

“Sounds great. I will.” With that, he kissed you quickly on the side of your head and went into his apartment as you ducked into yours. You freshened up quickly and changed, grabbing a different peacoat, hat, and scarf as your others were still wet.

It was a short walk to the café, and they had good sandwiches. You were surprisingly hungry, so you were glad to see Stephen waiting outside for you. He gripped your hand tightly and gave you a quick kiss in greeting before leading you into the restaurant. You were seated and ordered quickly, knowing that he would have to return to work soon.

“So, how has your day been?” You asked as you shrugged off your coat, hanging it on the chair behind you.

“It’s been… good.” He muttered.

“Uh oh,” You said, getting his attention as he looked away from you. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. I was just surprised to hear that you were with Jensen today. You had mentioned you were going to stay home.”

Stephen smiled, almost in an attempt to let you know that he was trying to be lighthearted about it, but you could tell it bothered him.

“Yeah, when he saw it snowed last night, he just really wanted to make a snowman.” You laughed, trying to steer away from the subject. Stephan wasn’t overstepping, but he also wasn’t going to prevent you from spending time with Jensen. The two of you had been inseparable since, well, practically since birth. Your parents had been the best of friends, so you were pretty much raised together.

“Have you, um…” Stephen began, hesitantly. “I know you’ve been friends forever, but have you ever had feelings for him?”

His blue eyes shown with a slight jealousy as you felt a slight pang to your heart.

“No, of course not.” You managed to say with a steady voice and a smile as you picked up your napkin to place in your lap.

It was a lie, one that you’d been telling for years. At one point in your life, you were in love with Jensen. But, the past was in the past. If Jensen didn’t even know, why should Stephen?

Stephen seemed satisfied with your response for the most part, and the two of you had a pleasant lunch. When you stepped away to use the restroom, your phone chimed. Stephen tried not to even look towards your side of the table where your phone sat, but when he saw Jensen’s name, he read the text quickly before the screen dimmed.

Hey, sweetheart. Finishing up here soon and then I’ll be heading home. Do you need me to grab anything from the store?

Stephen knew the two of you were a package deal, and thought he could honestly be alright with it, but between working together and spending practically all of your time together, he was starting to wonder where he fit in in your life. He busied himself by checking his Instagram as he thought about what he should do and found that Jensen had tagged you in a photo from this morning. The caption was simple, just a few words about the filming hiatus and the first snow of the season, but the two of you were so close. Stephen found himself wishing that you could reserve a smile like that for him, but he had yet to see it.

It hurt, but he knew he couldn’t play second fiddle to Jensen. He cared about you, but perhaps it was better to bow out now.

“Hey, sorry about that.” You said brightly as you got back to the table, smiling. It still didn’t reach your eyes, though.

Stephen leaned forward on his elbows with a sigh, “Y/n, I think we should talk.”

To be continued...

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Jensen Only

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storiesofsvu · 3 years

Text

Drunk Carolling

Rafael Barba x fem!reader Warnings: language, flirting, kissing, alcohol consumption

Rafael sat in his apartment, half full glass of scotch and an empty take out container sitting in front of him on the coffee table. The t.v was playing some absolutely ridiculously stupid Christmas movie he couldn’t seem to escape from no matter what channel he landed on.

Fuck he hated the holidays.

The city was cold and windy, packed full of tourists who had no clue where they were going or how to get there, harassing the obvious locals for answers. He’d have to suffer through a company Christmas party at not only the D.A’s office but likely be roped into coming to the SVU one as well by Olivia. Everyone always had their plus one, someone who was usually only mentioned but now it was confirmed that they did actually exist, and were very much in love. Young couples frolicked through the city displaying far too much P.D.A for anyone’s liking.

It all just enunciated the fact that he was still alone, not even just romantically but family wise things were getting pretty slim too. It just seemed like it was the time of year to be joyful and thankful, exuding warmth and love when it really it was one of the most stressful times of the year. Case loads went through the roof as the weather got colder, families were stuck at home more, out of town visitors causing more rising more tensions, and too drunk party go-ers ending up in not so hot situations. It was always so much easier to escape off to some lavish ski resort or disappear to an adults only all exclusive resort in the Bahamas, but his Mami had made him promise he would spend Christmas Day with her this year, and he couldn’t refuse.

He sighed heavily as there was a loud outburst of laughing from across the hall, turning the volume on the t.v up a few levels as he began to flick through the channels again. Truthfully, his neighbour (..Cindy? Cassy? God if he could remember) had come knocking on his door earlier that week to warn that she was having some old friends over on Friday. It was more out of respect for the other tenants, giving them fair warning and letting them know no one would be offended if anyone came by to tell them to keep it down, she’d also presented him with some homemade cookies as a pre-apology bribe.

The least he could do was give them the benefit of the doubt, at least wait until it was closer to midnight to complain. It was Friday night, it was the Holidays, he would do what he could to not be a Scrooge and ruin other people’s fun…even if that’s exactly what he wanted to do.

About an hour later the noise got louder as the soft music, excited talking and laughing morphed into what sounded like a home karaoke machine, pop and rock versions of Christmas carols echoing through the apartment alongside the voices of tipsy over exited women. Rolling his eyes he poured another glass of scotch, they weren’t honestly that loud, and it did sound like they were having a great time..at least someone was. He opted to take the time to finally change out of his work clothes, soaking in a steaming shower before throwing on some more upscale loungewear. He organized a few things in the apartment, tossing in a load of laundry from the week, setting aside the dry cleaning to take in over the weekend.

Essentially, he was killing time until he deemed it was late enough he could play the bad guy. He’d noticed the volume of the karaoke seemed to have been turned up, and it was just passing eleven. Pocketing his phone quickly he unlocked his door, leaving it open considering he was going all of two feet, knocking hopefully loud enough on the offending apartment’s door. He heard a pattering of stilettos on the hardwood before the door flung open, and the view on the other side…certainly wasn’t what he expected.

“Barba?” Your head tilted in confusion, the wide smile dropping from your cheeks. He could barely help but gape, scrambling over words in his brain. You were in a silver sequinned dress that barely met your mid thigh, he would say it made up for that by having long sleeves but the neck showed off much more cleavage than he’d ever seen on you.

“Whitlow?” Your name was barely out of his mouth when one of your friends, who seemed to be much more worse off half stumbled up, shooting him a glare.

“Where’s the pizza? Wait…why is he calling you by your last name? Oh my GOD! Is he one of your cop friends? Did you get a cop stripper for us?!”

“OH my GOD Ashley!” You clamped a hand around her mouth, shoving her out of the doorframe, shouting something about switching to water right as the girl he recognized as the actual apartment tenant trotted up.

“Oh shit…” She whined, “you’re here to tell us we’re being too loud aren’t you?”

“Nah, Claire, he’s not a cop, he’s a lawyer.”

“Wait you know him?”

“Yeah we work together.”

“He lives across the hall.” She gestured and you noticed the open door, there was suddenly a gleam in your eyes and the multiple glasses of champagne you’d drunk became more apparent to Rafael, the shock of him showing up wearing off.

“I..uh was going to ask if maybe-“ You cut him off with a playful whack to the chest.

“Don’t be a Scrooge! You can’t tell me you don’t have an open bottle of scotch you’re indulging in right now Counsellor.” Despite the being tipsy, and the heels, you were across the hall and into his apartment before he even realized it. “Were you seriously watching The Grinch?” You called back to him, a laugh evident on your face.

“Detective..” He gave you the best warning glare he could but before he could even process what was going on you’d scooped up the bottle of scotch and his keys from the counter, swiftly locking his door and dragging him into Claire’s apartment. Your voice was quieter as you replied to him,

“It’s Christmas…and you’re staring at my tits…I think it’s fine if you call me y/n.” You shot him a wink before grabbing a glass for his drink.

He had to admit it, it honestly wasn’t as horrible as he’d originally thought, though most of the guests seemed to be girlfriends of yours and Claire’s, there were a handful of partners scattered around the room. You stuck by his side for the first little bit, introducing him to a slew of them, a list of names he’d never remember. He felt his negative attitude slipping away as he indulged in a few drinks, exchanging stories with people that were so far from the legal world it was finally helping him escape from the work he was constantly buried in. Rafael watched as a girlfriend dragged you off back towards the karaoke machine and the two of you did your best rendition of Run Run Rudolph, dancing and shimmying your way through the entire song.

It was so incredibly different than the you he saw at work all the time, not only physically, but you were always so focussed, so determined, a hard wall up as you dealt with cases. But tonight, you sparkled as much as your dress did. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was the holiday, or being surrounded by not a single member of NYPD, but the smile on your cheeks actually reached your eyes, your laugh vibrated through the room like the voice of a fucking songbird.

He couldn’t help but return the smile you gave him as you swiped a fresh drink from the kitchen, making your way over to where he was on the couch. To his surprise you softly kicked off your stilettos and plopped right down into his lap facing sideways, an arm braced on the back of the couch, just daring to wrap around his shoulders as your legs pulled up criss cross as close as they could to being underneath you. He felt his breath hitch as the movement made your dress ride even further up your legs and tried to steer his brain away from the thought of what you had on underneath it..if anything.

“You always do this Christmas karaoke?” He teased.

“Uhm…this is drunk caroling!” You shot back.

“That is…not a thing.” You gestured wildly to the room in front of you,

“Uh…it clearly is!” He laughed softly as you both took swigs of your drinks. “Can I tell you a secret?” You asked, turning your face to him, he chuckled lightly.

“Even if I say no I feel you’re going to tell me anyway.” You rolled your eyes, pinching at his shoulder with the arm on the couch before leaning in to his ear.

“I’m kinda drunk…” He laughed at that,

“That doesn’t surprise me.” He smirked, his face softly smiling at the distraction across the room that caught your attention, letting him take in your warm smile, the reflection of the lights in your gleaming eyes. Without even realizing it, his free arm wrapped around your hips, making sure to keep you steady, his thumb stroking at your hip softly.

“You weren’t really gonna call the cops on us, were you?” You turned back to him, suddenly very serious, but your words more excited and less enunciated than normal.

“No.” He laughed, “the plan was just to get the volume turned down a couple of notches.”

“Good.” You smirked, “‘cause this is the 2-5 district and those boys love me, I could flirt my way out of it.”

“Believe me…looking like that you could flirt your way out of a murder indictment.” The barely evident growl in his voice brought your eyes to his, there was a brief moment where the urge to instantly straddle him and kiss him breathlessly took over, but you were interrupted by Claire bringing over a round of Jell-O shots.

Naturally Rafael tried to refuse, but your insistence that ‘it’s Christmas! ’ won him over. Besides, how was he exactly supposed to say no when you were practically bouncing in his lap, your chest heaving directly in his eye line. The next round was tequila that you shuddered at as you swallowed, internally thankful Claire hadn’t decided to involve licking salt off someone else like she would have eight years ago. You may have been drunk, and in his lap, but the thought of Rafael’s tongue in your cleavage wasn’t one you could quite handle right now.

“How do you know these girls again?” Barba asked, washing down the tequila with a gulp of scotch.

“Sorority sisters from college.” Your voice was slightly hoarse from the shot, your words beginning to slur more than before.

“You were in a sorority?” He teased, pinching at your thigh.

“It was a long time ago!” You countered, “besides..” your head dropped into his shoulder, practically nuzzling into it briefly, “it’s nice to hangout with people who aren’t involved in the legal system once in a while.” Before he’d even began to adjust to the more than welcome feeling of you snuggled against him your head shot up in a burst of laughter and cheers as four of your friends began to reenact the Jingle Bell Rock scene from Mean Girls.

The party started to die down shortly after midnight, the karaoke replaced by a very soft playlist of music while the small amount of people were in smaller circles of conversation. You and Rafael somehow only had eyes for each other, delving into parts of each other’s lives you never would have heard if it hadn’t been for this run in. He saw the gleam in your eye, the way your hand softly cupped his cheek, thumb trailing over his lips, waiting for the ever so slight nod of approval before you ducked your head to his. The kiss began soft, but the alcohol was quick to take over, your tongue delving into his mouth, moaning over the smoky taste of the scotch, his hand tighter over your hip in attempt to tug you closer to him. Part of him felt like he should be ashamed, making out with someone on the couch of somebody he’d just met, feeling like he was back in high school. But the other part of him could barely wrap his brain around the fact that he was actually kissing you, that you initiated it, that you wanted to kiss him. A small giggle escaped your lips when you departed, your foreheads staying together briefly, a chaste kiss shared before a shout through the room caused you to jump apart.

You scrunched your eyes before you even opened them, the pounding in your head already evident before you even had to deal with the sunlight. Fucking Claire. As much as you loved her holiday parties, you always forgot they could all still go hard like you were barely 22, and you rarely drank more than a glass or two of wine.

The bed you were in felt miles more comfortable than you were used to, the heavy duvet wrapped tightly around you. You peaked one eye open, you were facing a bedside table, it appeared your phone was plugged in. Okay, you’d at least remembered that. Grabbing it you scrolled through notifications, there was nothing important, so you pushed up to sitting, grumbling at the spinning in your head. It was then that your brows furrowed in confusion. The bedroom layout was exactly like Claire’s, but opposite, and impeccably organized and clean. You groaned at the fact that you were still in your sequinned dress, Claire may have given you the guest room, but no pyjamas? She better have gotten some good dick last night to make up for it, you thought.

You found an new toothbrush in the en suite, thankful to brush your teeth, splashing some water on your face as you did you best to fix the remnants of makeup on your face, tugging your false lashes off, sticking them to the back of your phone.

Padding out to the main area of the apartment you were convinced you must still be drunk, it felt like you were in Claire’s apartment, but everything was backwards. The layout was the same but little details… you weren’t awake enough to notice were different. You were surprised she was able to clean the place up this much quickly, not even noticing the lack of a Christmas tree in the living room. You knew you needed water, opening a couple of cupboards, finding only plates and bowls, moving through the kitchen until you found one with cups. You briefly heard the door opening, but the voice echoing through the room was certainly not the one you expected.

“Glad to see you’re alive.” The A.D.A teased, a smirk on his face as he placed a bag and coffee tray on the kitchen island. You jumped, nearly dropping the glass in your hand before shutting the cupboard.

“Barba?!” Suddenly the very blurry events of the late part of last night came flying back to you, “Oh…fuck…”

“Hey..don’t neglect that water. I needed more than normal when I got up. Your friends are ruthless.” You gave an awkward laugh, filling up the glass before moving to the opposite side of the kitchen island.

“Thank you. I-uh…sorry? Thank you?” You stumbled over words, “You..really didn’t have to come hangout last night. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” He tossed a breakfast sandwich across to you, “We were both pretty drunk last night. If you wanna indulge more, that’s fine. If you wanna pretend it never happened, that’s more than fine.” You gave him a weak smile as you unwrapped the food, taking a small bite. “What I don’t want is for you to show up drunk at my door a year from now when Claire’s fed you too many Jell-O shots begging me to fuck you.” You nearly choked on your food, taking a sip of water as the flush took over your neck and face, hating that you felt so vulnerable.

“Did we…?!”

“No!” Rafael quickly shot back, “Though you pouted like a petulant toddler until I agreed to your oh so important Christmas Cuddles.”

“Oh my god…” you buried your face into your hands, tears of embarrassment burning into your eyes, “I’m so sorry Barba. I should’ve known better than dragging you into that party.” Seeing the tears in your eyes, the way you avoided his gaze he moved his way around the island slowly.

“Hey…” his hand softly grasped your arm, “you have nothing to be sorry about, I was just as responsible as you. You may have kissed me, but I kissed you back. And I would do it again.” Your eyes shot up to his at that, your breath catching in your throat.

“I-really?”

“In a heart beat.” He waited for your eyes to dart to his lips before ever so lightly kissing your lips, loving the way he could feel the smile of your lips against his. You giggled softly, the warm feeling of his arms around you ever so welcome. “Now…how about you finish breakfast. I’ll lay some comfier clothes out for you and you can shower. I felt a world better after one, and..” he sighed heavily, “if you didn’t have plans today, we can watch some stupid Christmas movies.” You outwardly laughed at that,

“My only plans for today were to be hungover as fuck and watch as many horror movies as possible.”

“Horror?” He quirked a brow.

“Yeah…Christmas is overrated.” You pecked him gently, “Thank you…”

“For what?”

“Making sure I didn’t get murdered last night?” You countered, taking another bite of your breakfast.

“I may have had some unwell intentions..but I’m not one to take advantage. I wanted you to be safe.”

“Well…if every guy out there was like you I guess neither of us would have jobs.” He laughed slightly. You groaned as you jumped off the stool, “Shower?”

“Bedroom, right side.”

“Thank you.” You kissed his cheek softly, following him down the hall as he tugged out some comfy spare clothes for you.

If you had been surprised when Rafael had popped up in Claire’s doorway the night before you were even more surprised that he was not only letting you shower, but laying clothes out for you. When you padded your way out to the living room, he had a Gatorade waiting for you, Netflix pulled up to the scary movie section, letting you choose the first one. You were even more surprised at the way he threw an arm around the back of the couch, encouraging you to curl up against his frame. You knew there had been some flirtation…and a very hot kiss…exchanged the night before, but you’d thought they were strictly booze fuelled only to never be spoken of again.

As it turned out, as the day went on the two of you ended up buried deeper into each other’s arms, the occasional jump scare having you hiding your face in his shoulder despite seeing the movie a million times. Since Rafael had bought your late breakfast, you were the one that ordered dinner in, any awkwardness of the previous night fading away as you tucked into some Chinese. A few beers in to try to hit the hair of the dog to help both of your hangovers had you easily laughing over everything.

By the end of the evening, you knew you had to head home, as much as you wanted to cuddle up with him again, you needed your own apartment. You flushed at the way he walked you to the door, reassuring you to keep the clothes as long as you needed. You flushed even harder when he asked if he could take you to dinner the following week, giggling and avoiding his gaze before his hand cupped your cheek. Your breath hitched out a yes before his lips met yours softly, a smile evident against them. He asked for you to text him once you got home and watched you until the elevator doors shut.

It was safe to say that this year..you both certainly had gotten your Christmas wish.

#Rafael barba #Rafael barba x reader #Rafael barba one shot #rafael barba christmas #rafael barba fluff #law ad order #law and order svu

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sunlightwoo · 3 years

Text

Just Three Wishes

pairing: changmin x g.n reader

genre: childhood friends(?) to lovers au, fluff (i think this was really cute tbh)

wc: 2.8k

plot: You meet someone from your past as they come back into your life with a coupon that you handwritten when you were six, asking for three wishes for Christmas. What you couldn’t think about, however, was how your childhood crush got their hands on it, considering he wasn’t the recipient of the original gift.

a/n: this was actually my first collab that i’ve ever done for tbz and i was like crazy nervous for it ahaha but thank you to Dana ( @timextoxhajima ) for creating this cute "12 days of christmas’ collab and for the other creators that also are apart of it!! you guys are all amazing writers and i look up to you all as a deobi writer ahaha but this was fun to write!! i hope you guys support this collab and give the other lots of love too!!

COLLAB MASTERLIST | MY TBZ MASTERLIST

“Choi Chanhee, what are you going on about?” You grumbled softly as you rubbed the sleep that was still leftover from your eyes, sitting up slightly on your bed while the person on the other end of the phone call that was on your nightstand continued to loudly rant about his problems.

So much for sleeping in, you think to yourself as you continue to listen to your best friend talk into the speaker phone.

“Remember when we were kids, you gave me that coupon where you would grant me three wishes whenever I wanted them? I needed to use them now for this dumb holiday I’m going on, but I can’t find it.” He grumbles and you could hear a bunch of shuffles that indicated he was still looking around his bedroom to look for it.

You remember the coupon that you wrote clearly in messy neon green handwriting, thinking that for your best friend it would be the greatest gift to let him have three wishes that you would grant under any conditions that were given. There was even an entire terms and conditions that you wrote on the back with your six year old conscience putting it into consideration, smartly, before signing it in a signature stamp of a smiley face that you got from a teacher weeks ago as a prize for the golden stars you’ve had all year.

“Where was the last place that you had it? Did you misplaced it anywhere, or maybe someone might’ve taken it from your room, even though it seems stupid for it to happen.” You say and huff out a breath as you hear him deeply sigh on his end in frustration, up until the moment that he speaks up once again.

“The only person that could have possibly taken it as a joke is my roommate, but I don’t know if you remember him from when we were kids.” He mutters almost to himself and you furrow your eyebrows at the thought of who his roommate was, considering you don’t remember him telling you who it was at all.

“Who is it? Juyeon? Kim Younghoon?” You asked and got up from your bed, however you could’ve sworn that if it weren’t for the cushions of your mattress behind you, you would’ve fallen right onto your hardwood floor from the sudden surprise of words that leaves his mouth.

“Ji Changmin, your stupid childhood crush.”

Wish One

You think that it’s quite hilarious that you were scared about meeting up with your childhood crush at your best friend’s apartment considering you’ve been there multiple times in the past. The only difference between those times and apparently now was that he was actually present in the apartment, which meant that there was no other place you could possibly go to.

Memories of Chanhee telling you that Changmin would always hole himself up in a dance studio late at night flashes in your mind, as you remember why you would never see him whenever you went over. However, that didn’t mean that he didn’t exist as you remember the fond boy from when you used to be in elementary school, developing a small crush on him in the third grade because you agreed to ‘date’ for a day or two.

It was quite embarrassing as you remember it, not knowing what you were doing at the time because you were pretty sure that the person you were back then was different from present you. Of course you were, it’s been over fifteen years since you last saw him and wrote the coupon so what difference would it have made?

As you finally arrived at the familiar apartment building, you made your way to the familiar floor with the festive decorations on it with caution, softly knocking on the door as you waited for the person on the other end to open it. The sight that you were greeted with, however, made it feel as though your breath had gotten knocked out of your lungs, since the person in front of you was definitely not the childhood crush that you had back when you were a kid.

“Ji Changmin.”

His name easily slips out of your mouth as if it were like a baby on a slide, and you watch as a small grin paints across his lips while he leans against the doorframe. The smile that was on his face was no different from the one that you recognized in the past that never seemed to change, however he had grown well, you think to yourself as you looked at him with a surprised look.

“Y/N, it’s good to see you again. Chanhee told me you were visiting.” He says while you hummed in response entering into the small home after he had moved aside for you to step in.

“He told me that you had something of mine that you stole from him.” You mused, turning to look at him with an eyebrow raised while you stood in the middle of his living, watching as he grins widely while holding up the familiar coupon from your six year old self.

Why did you think it was so cute back then?

“It was never addressed to him properly,” He playfully retorts and you could tell that from the glimmer of mischief in his eyes that he was up to no good, making little butterflies appear in your stomach from how attractive he suddenly looked in the light, “Which means I technically have the three wishes now, if your coupon is still valid of course.”

You weren’t sure why you were suddenly feeling attracted towards this more grown version of Changmin, but something about his confidence and aura screamed for you to get close to him once again; see what changed and what stayed the same from what you remembered him for. However, you were also a bit wary considering it’s also been years since you last saw him, which means that you weren’t sure what he was capable of in terms of your heart.

“What’s your first wish then?” You say while crossing your arms in front of your chest and he smiles a bit before thinking for a bit as he looks back at you with a softer look on his face.

“Let’s go on a boba date, to catch up for all the years that we missed,” He says and holds out his hand for you to take, making you give him an unsure look before placing your hand into his as you allowed for him to drag you to whatever boba place that he liked, “I promise, I’ll be the gentleman and pay for it.”

After that promise, you do end up at the boba place catching up with one another about the years that you missed from one another, including the ones where you already heard of the speculations from Chanhee. It was almost as if the two of you had still kept in touch with one another once in a while, like you never stopped talking to one another because of your different ways, but you were grateful that he never went into too much depth with your childhood.

That didn’t stop the butterflies in your stomach, however, to stop erupting in your stomach with every glance that he threw at you, making it even harder for you to even think about his other two wishes.

Wish Two

You somehow find yourself spending more and more time with Changmin after his first wish, finding some sort of comfort in his company despite the teasing that always came from Chanhee. He took pride in himself after that first wish that he was happy that Changmin stole the coupon from him, up until he was dragged back to his situation with his family at home during the holiday.

Giggling to yourself, you looked out your window to see the grey and white skies indicating that it’d snow pretty soon, wondering what he might be up to on his end of the sky. As if it were on cue, your phone lights up with a text message from him that makes you raise an eyebrow at his wish just as an incoming call arrives shortly afterwards.

“You want to use a wish to go ice skating?” You muse, holding your phone up to your ear as you were already getting up from where you were to go pick out an outfit from your closet to wear.

“It’s pretty nice outside to go skating though, don’t you think? Plus it’d be fun for us to go, after how much we had fun catching up last time.” He grins on his end, making a smile spread across your face at how excited his tone was on the line.

His positive aura was contagious enough to even spread to you through the phone.

“I suppose… Just pick me up in fifteen minutes.” You say, smiling as he hums in response before hanging up the call which makes you think to yourself; was this even a date?

After throwing together a good outfit that would keep you warm from the harsh winter, you smiled to yourself as you admired how put together it looked when you heard the sound of a car resonating from outside. Noticing that it was the familiar car driven by Changmin, you grabbed your phone and keys before leaving your apartment to go ice skating

The entire trip was comfortable considering you two were still at the level of friends that were still getting closer to one another. You remember what Changmin had said the last time that you two had met, where during your boba date he remembers vaguely how you both dated for a day or so while looking at you amusedly for your reaction to it, in which you remember cringing to it slightly.

It seemed as though your thoughts were gone by the time that you both made it to the skating arena that was close by to the park that you recognized from your middle school days. A smile paints your face as you notice the little kids that were skating around with their friends and family along with the different couples that were skating around as well, making you turn to look at Changmin with a curious look as you noticed that he was already looking at you.

“This isn’t a date, is it?” You asked him in an amused tone and he gives you a playful look before shrugging slightly, a breath escaping his lips as he glances between you and the arena.

If anything, he’d think that he was being obvious with his actions towards you, that there was that side of him showing how much he really liked you and admired how well you grew up since the last time you two encountered.

From the moment that he found out from Chanhee that you, said roommate’s best friend, was the same person from his childhood that he had a huge crush on and dated for possibly a day or two. He remembered the way that your eyes would always light up at the sight of one another as kids, along with how it would also be whenever you talked about your day or admirations so passionately that would make his childhood crush on you stronger.

So when he knew that you were still honoring the wishes that you owed Chanhee, he took it upon himself to take it for himself instead and hope that maybe you wouldn’t be too mad at him for stealing them. He was surprised that it ended up being the complete opposite seeing as though you were willing to go on the boba date, and now the ice skating date after weeks of warming up to one another again this winter.

He wished that maybe, those feelings from back then were reciprocated as the strong feelings that he held for you now after hiding himself from you for so long.

“What if I wanted it to be a date?” He responds to your question, giving you a more hopeful look that makes you feel flustered in your seat while you could feel a small rush of heat at your cheeks, eyes darting away from his to look at the ice skating arena once more.

You weren’t sure if it was the fact that he was your childhood crush, or maybe it was the new emotions of him still being your crush now that was making you feel this way, that you were slowly falling for Ji Changmin again. It was almost a haphazard for your heart, you think, that you were falling for the kind boy once again like you did back then for everything that he became in this present day.

And you weren’t complaining about it either as you pondered to yourself whether you should take today’s date as an actual date or a wish that he wanted to use.

“I guess it wouldn't hurt then, right?” You say and you could tell that by the way that his hand snuck into yours to give it a soft squeeze, you knew that you’d be okay.

Wish Three

It was a quiet morning that you wake up Christmas morning somehow arms wrapped around someone’s torso as the light coming in from your window was beaming through. It made you confused since you weren’t used to the feeling of being with someone on the holiday that you didn’t celebrate as much as your peers did, but it was the sight of the person beside you that somehow made a smile appear after remembering how you got here.

After the ice skating date that Changmin had taken you on weeks ago, you both went on another boba date that resulted in him asking if you wanted to go out with him without the label because he wanted to go slow with you. You, for one, weren’t complaining considering you had rather taken it slowly when you both had just reconnected about two months ago in the cold.

Now it was two months later on Christmas morning that you found yourself wrapped around each other’s limbs as the snow from last night’s storm was finally over and accumulated to the large piles of snow outside. You looked at Changmin with a smile that had met your eyes, taking in his soft facial features as he continued to sleep while facing you at the same time.

It wasn’t until you noticed him stir and his eyes were now suddenly locked onto yours that he gave you an amused look while smiling shyly to himself. In almost a split second, his shy demeanor changes to a more playful one where his hands now meet your sides to tickle you up and down as a loud bundle of giggles escape your lips.

“Hey, stop it! You can’t just do that!” You call out in between breaths and laughters, giving him a look when he pauses to give you a mischievous grin that made you acknowledge that at this point, he was never up to anything good.

But then again, you wouldn’t be surprised considering that it was just him that would make your heart speed up at the pace that it was going at like it was now; too fast.

“What if I said I wanted to use up my last wish today as my Christmas gift? Can I do that?” He says releasing you from his hold as he allowed for you to catch your breath to think without having his tickles distracting you from what he had planned for his last wish.

These last few weeks he hopes that all of the signals of you both just enjoying your time in the present were the ones that were all greenlights for what he wanted to do. He had been wanting to finally make it official with you, but he wasn’t sure how you would feel about it considering that even though it was his last wish, it could go against your ‘terms in conditions’ if you were to say no in response to it.

“What did you want to grant as your last wish then?” You ask him softly, looking at him in curiosity as he pretends to think to himself the question when he glances at you once more.

In a blink of an eye, he leans forward to connect your lips into a gentle kiss that was full of warmth and love, one that was able to leave you breathless enough to make you blink for a moment when you both pull away. A smile is painted across his lips as you are caught flustered and off guard, making you look at him confusedly when he speaks up once again.

“My last wish is for me to finally become your boyfriend, for real this time and only if you’ll let me.”

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brockadoodles · 3 years

Text

I want your midnights - b. boeser

AN: This was named something else, but i didn’t update the doc name soooo, new year’s day came on shuffle and I was like that works I guess. Here ya go.

Word Count: 3079

Warnings: None

Brock didn’t make the All-Star game this season, something you were honestly grateful for. You would have loved to go with him to St. Louis, celebrate his success as he represented the Canucks, but the selfish part of you was relieved he was getting the entire bye week to rest. The season had been emotionally and physically draining. Between his injury, the ups and downs of the team, and moving in together it had begun to take its toll on both of you.

You spent the week together in Vancouver, finally taking the time to pack up the Christmas decorations. Lights forgotten about as January came and went with you spending nights alone, Brock’s schedule being mostly away games. Waiting for Brock to come home from away games was different now that you lived together. Instead of restless nights up where you had to wait in anticipation of seeing him the next day, you got to wake up to him coming home and wrapping his arms around you, pressing soft kisses to your neck and shoulders before you both drifted off to sleep together.

You were in pure bliss, the novelty of the “honeymoon” stage of your relationship still going strong. You loved living with Brock, and you felt especially spoiled getting to spend a week with him, no practices or games, no distractions about work, just the two of you together. The last time you got this much time together was the previous summer, when you took a week off of work to visit him and meet his family in Minnesota.

Minnesota gave you a version of Brock that you had never seen before, someone who was in a perpetual state of relaxation. Brock was happiest during the summer, he loved spending time back home with his childhood friends, going on long drives and camping out at the lake. Most importantly, he liked spending as much time with his dad as possible, especially with the future being so uncertain. You got to see him smile all the time, and you fell more in love with the little details about him you had never seen back when you were in Vancouver with him during the season.

The Minnesota trip changed your relationship, a shift in seriousness and feelings surrounding the future that terrified you yet felt natural at the same time. It hit you suddenly on your last night there. You were sitting in the living room of his parent’s house, watching as he held his nephew in his arms, smiling down at the little baby boy. You realized that Brock was the embodiment of everything you could ever want in a partner. He cared, not just about you but about everyone around him. He was passionate and multifaceted in ways people that didn’t know him wouldn’t see.

It was nearing the end of the All-Star break, with practices set to resume in two days, the playoff push for the Canucks coming back in full force. Brock was rested and at ease after the week at home with you and the dogs. He was ready to head back into the season, hopefully helping lead his team headfirst into the finish line. He was confident this year, the team had a wealth of young talent and they were finding a consistency that felt good. He felt like he could make an impact even after spending the beginning of the year out injured. He also had a calming factor in his life that he now got to come home to everynight, you.

Brock was so in love with you that sometimes he worried it was too much. When he met you, he knew there was a pull between you, something he was eager to explore as he asked you on that first date over a year ago. One date turned into many, with records of late night FaceTime calls while he was away, and nights wrapped up in one another when he was in Vancouver.

You can tell something is off almost instantly when you wake up. In your semi conscious state you reach for Brock’s side of the bed, missing the warmth of his body that is normally still wrapped up in yours, arms and legs entangled. You shift your body slightly, curling the blanket further around you as you let your eyes adjust to the darkness of the bedroom, allowing yourself to fully wake up before getting out of bed to find Brock. It was late January and Vancouver was plagued with grey skies and rain, the cold air floating through the room outside of the plush comforter.

You reached your arm out to grab your phone, bypassing the notifications as you looked at the time. It was 5:36am and the sun had yet to rise. Milo and Coolie were both curled up on Brock’s side of the bed, laying on top of the sheets in the space that he usually occupies. You glanced toward the ensuite bathroom and saw nothing but darkness, an indication that Brock wasn’t in the room. You laid still in bed for a moment, listening for any signs of him coming back.

You were still adjusting to the creeks and sounds of his condo, getting used to the soft whistle of the wind during the witching hour and the crackles of the leaves. You had only moved in with Brock in December, the two of you deciding once your lease ended that it was time to take the next step as a couple. Even though it had been a short time living there permanently, you already felt like it was a home you were building together, signs of both of you scattered throughout the condo.

You slowly pull yourself out of bed, shivering slightly as you leave the warmth of the blanket. You picked up the blue Canucks hoodie that was resting at the bench beneath the bed where you had peeled it off late last night. You pulled your arms through it and slid your feet into your slippers, feeling slightly warmer and adjusted to the temperature out of the bed. You walked to the kitchen, the room illuminated softly by the stove light. You saw the coffee pot on and realized Brock was up for the day.

You slowly woke up as the smell of coffee became more apparent, the mug warming your hands. You looked out and saw Brock on the balcony, sitting on the wicker couch with a flannel blanket in his lap. You could only see one side of his face as you watched him for a moment, taking in the slight frown on his features as he pulled the mug to his lips, steam circling in the air as he took a sip of the coffee.

You worried about Brock all of the time but living together you found yourself learning even more about him than you knew from just being together. You were memorizing how he liked his coffee in the morning, a dark roast with just a splash of cream, how he always spent an hour in bed when coming home from a road trip, laying with you and the dogs to wind down before he would unpack and settle back in. You knew how much it meant to him each time he scored, a familiar smile present on his lips knowing he would be donating for Parkinson’s research, honoring his dad. You reveled in learning all of the little things about him, finding yourself falling more in love with him each day. But people are multifaceted, and with the good things also come the bad.

You knew what he was like after a loss, letting him be while he showered and then spent the night rewatching tape, analyzing himself for hours before finally coming to bed. You knew the worry lines on his forehead each time his mom called, bracing himself for potentially bad news. You knew how he always reached for your hand first when he was sad, lacing your fingers together as he curled his body around yours, finding comfort in the closeness.

You stood there in the kitchen as Brock sat outside and you didn’t recognize the expression on his face. You weren’t familiar with the way his body was hunched over, eyes closing slowly as he blinked. He always told you when something was wrong and seeing him up this early in the morning on the balcony by himself made your stomach fill with nerves at the idea of it being something serious.

You gripped your mug tight in your hands as you walked over to the sliding glass door, slowly opening it and stepping outside into the cold morning air. The sun was slowly starting to rise, barely peeking through the endless grey clouds in the sky. Brock turned at the sound of the door closing, making eye contact with you as you walked toward him. You didn’t recognize the look in his eye and he quickly turned his head back, looking out at the view of Downtown Vancouver in front of him, sprinkles of light peppered throughout the city as people were beginning their days.

You shivered slightly as you sat down on the couch next to him, Brock pulling you close and putting the old flannel blanket over your lap. He set his mug down, steam slowly starting to evaporate is the coffee cooled down. You bit your lip and took in his appearance. He looked exhausted, dark circles underneath his eyes and his lips slightly downturned. His hair was disheveled like he had been tossing and turning all night, something you felt guilty for sleeping through. Brock shifted slightly and pulled your right hand into his, carefully threading his fingers through yours, a sign that something was bothering him.

“Brock, what’s wrong?” You murmured quietly. You set your mug down on the table next to his and turned your body to face his. He leaned into your touch as you reached out with your left hand to cup his face, fingers gliding over the light stubble that was growing in. He didn’t answer your question, instead he unraveled his hand from yours and pulled you closer into his chest, pressing a light kiss to your forehead before resting his chin on your hair. You pressed your body into him, allowing yourself to stay there for a few moments in his arms, closing your eyes as you listened to his steady breathing and the beat of his heart.

“Trade rumors.” He finally spoke, voice soft as the sound vibrated through his chest. You pulled away from him enough to look at him. Trade rumors had never phased him before, he had just signed a big contract with Vancouver, cementing himself as a key forward for the team. He spent a decent part of it injured this season, but his last few games had gone well, you couldn’t imagine why he would be considered for a trade during the late season push for playoffs.

You curled further into his chest, completely enveloped by the warmth of him as he held you, coffee long forgotten as you watched the city illuminate with light from the sun. Brock’s fingers delicately traced circles on your hips, a cold sensation on your bare skin where the sweatshirt had risen up slightly. You waited for him to continue, knowing that he was mentally piecing together what he wanted to share with you about what was keeping him up at night.

“I never usually pay mind to them.” He started, sighing quietly once more. You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was upset, each word slipping shakily from his mouth. You reached down, finding one of his hands and lacing your fingers with his once more, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his hand for encouragement. Brock loved holding your hand, he often said it kept him grounded, providing him comfort when his mind wouldn’t slow down or when feelings became too much. You felt his body relax as you squeezed his hand gently, encouraging him to continue.

“I love you, you know.” He began again, “I’ve never really had to worry about there being truth to the rumors before. But this season, I don’t know.” You hated how insecure he sounded, how defeated he was over what was hopefully going to end up being some reporter just trying to get an interesting story to circulate with clickbait about Brock.

“You’re not getting traded, there’s no way.” You responded. Brock loved Vancouver, that was why he stayed after his initial contract. He believed in his teammates, he found friendships with them that he didn’t realize he would have. He was a vital player to the Canucks, you couldn’t wrap your mind around any reason why they would want to trade him.

“It’s not that, I mean, I would hate to leave here. I love Vancouver, I have most of my life here, but-” He stopped himself, swallowing softly as he pulled himself away from you a bit. He tucked his hand under your chin, tilting your head up to meet his slowly. You could see him searching your eyes for something, and you did everything you could to not appear worried about how he was acting.

“I just, what if I do get traded though? What happens to us?” You felt your heart drop at his question, not because you were worried about what would become of your relationship, but because you were sad that he was concerned about it. You leaned your head up and closed the distance between you as you pressed your lips to his, the kiss soft, a hint of desperation behind it as you wished he would pick up on how much you loved him in that moment. You leaned back, resting your hand at the nape of his neck, pulling softly on his blonde hair.

“I’d follow you anywhere, Brock. You have to know that by now.” You kept your voice steady, Brock needed to know how serious you were. You loved him more than you thought you were capable of loving a person, you were looking forward to experiencing the rest of your life with him, you would go anywhere he needed to go because that’s what you were willing to sacrifice to be with him.

“I couldn’t ask you to, your life is here.” He smiled sadly, looking away from you and back out to the city he had grown attached to the last few years.

“Brock, look at me.” you instructed, turning his cheek toward you. His eyes softened, nose slightly red from the cold air circling the two of you as you sat face to face outside.

“I love you. I want everything with you, a home, two little kids running around someday, the dogs. I will do that no matter where it is, as long as it’s with you.” You were surprised by your own forwardness, but you meant every word that you said. You knew Brock was it for you, you couldn’t imagine a world where you weren’t with him. He shifted slightly, eyes pulling away from yours and for a moment you wondered if you were moving too fast, if you were being too much for him and he hadn’t been thinking of those things with you at all.

Brock didn’t say anything as he reached into his pocket, curling his fingers around the small black box that had been resting there all morning. His heart was pounding, he loved you, he had wanted this for a long time. Rumors about the trades fizzled from his mind, his entire focus now on you and this moment. He turned and looked at you for a moment, studying your face. Your eyes were wide, but it was evident you were tired and your cheeks slightly pink from the cold. You had a curious look in your eyes as strands of your hair softly fell around your face, evidence of the night before.

Brock pulled the box out, running his fingers over it as he held his hand in front of yours. He watched as you looked down at it in his hands, eyes widening at the realization of what it was, a hint of glassiness already present in them.

“I’ve had this all week, wondering what the perfect moment was to ask you. I almost did it so many times, but then I would get wrapped in my head and think about how maybe it was too soon, maybe we weren’t ready. We just moved in, how could we be ready?” He started and you sat there listening intently. Your hands were shaking, and tears were threatening to spill. Brock grabbed one of your hands, lacing your fingers together before turning to fully look at you again.

“But, then I look at you and I just know you’re all I could ever want. I’ve been up all night about these stupid rumors and you come out here and you just know what I’m feeling and you somehow make it better. You make everything better. I want everything with you, the house, the babies, all of it. Will you marry me?”

He opened the box, revealing a simple yet beautiful ring. You couldn’t stop the tears that were freely sliding down your cheeks, feeling overwhelmed with the events of the morning. Everything about it was perfect, an intimate moment just the two of you. You didn’t need a grand gesture, or a public proposal. You had Brock, and that was all you could ever need.

“Of course.” You leaned up to kiss him, smiling into it. When you pulled apart you presented your left hand to him, shaking slightly as he slid the ring on your finger, lacing your fingers together once more.

The two of you sat out on the balcony for a while longer, wrapped up in that old flannel blanket as you watched the rest of the sunrise, the view of Vancouver sparkling as the sun completely rose, grey clouds evaporating for an abnormally beautiful day. The trade rumors not mentioned again, it didn’t matter where he went if it happened, you’d go to any other city as long as it meant you had him.

#brock boeser imagine #brock boeser fic #nhl fic #nhl imagine #repost from my old blog

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wild-aloof-rebel · 3 years

Photo

amazingly, we ended 2020 with triple the number of words of fic in this fandom that we had at the end of 2019. thank you to everyone who contributed to that and to all the readers who motivate fic writers to keep publishing!!

1 - 3k words

Getting Out There by Januarium (rated G) Twenty-nine minutes after the agreed start time for the date, Patrick is aimlessly scrolling twitter—because isn’t it better to be annoyed at strangers instead of the woman who stood you up?—when a voice says, “Excuse me, are you Patrick Brewer?” [...]

grand gesture... by startswithhope (rated T) It had been David’s idea to host this little pre-holiday get together for their vendors and after Heather had offered up her farm for the venue, Patrick had been shooed out of the planning altogether. But of course, everything is perfect.

in the path of a possibility... by startswithhope (rated T) Sometimes you just have to ask the boy you like to dance and maybe he'll say yes.

Last Christmas by HolmesApothecary (rated T) Three Christmas Walks

On our way back home by upbeat (rated G) During their week-long separation, David gets drunk at a bar one night and calls Patrick for a ride home.

3 - 5k words

finding you at christmas by dinnfameron (rated G) Patrick helps out at his parents' Christmas tree lot in the city every year. One night, a lost kid and a handsome stranger come along needing his help.

I Put A Spell On You by houdini74 (rated G) David is a witch who spends his days baking cupcakes and uses his magic to to help people find happiness until his life is turned upside down by the arrival of a very cute and very unhappy Patrick Brewer.

Mind if I Move in Closer? by JustWaiting23 (rated T) David and Patrick get hit by a spell from a well-meaning stranger, now David can only be warm when touching Patrick. Will this be the final push they need to admit their feelings to each other?

you’re here (where you should be) by singsongsung *Alexis/Ted* (rated M) Alexis takes a holiday trip to the Galapagos Islands.

5 - 10k words

along for the ride by the_hodag (rated T) Unraveling someone else's grief can be complicated when they refuse to engage in anything more than idle road trip banter.

Drink a toast to innocence, Drink a toast to now by DesignatedGrape (rated T) David and Patrick meet one Christmas Eve in Toronto, and run into each other again three years later.

Hurt for the Holidays by missgeevious (rated T) David and Patrick meet by accident on Christmas Eve.

Pining For You by High-Seas-Swan (rated T) A new Christmas Tree stand arrives across from Rose Apothecary, and with it, pine needles. Everywhere. It's driving David crazy. As is the cute-but-rude lumberjack running the lot.

traveled down a road and back again by sonlali *Rachel-centric* (rated G) Five Christmases throughout Rachel's past that she spent with Patrick, plus one she spends together with Alexis at Patrick and David's cottage.

Where Every Stay Feels Like Home by MoreHuman (rated G) The Brewer family holiday wishlist: 1. Surprises 2. Escape rooms 3. Surprise escape rooms The Rose family holiday wishlist: 1. Getting the hell out of here

10k+ words

All I Want, aka O Christmas Trope by Januarium (rated E) A festive fake dating!AU.

The Big Chill by swat117 (rated T) David Rose learns to thaw while being chilled. ❄️ A modern-day Ice Age AU. ❄️

A Cardamom Christmas by Lisamc21 (rated T) David is stressed about work and decides to check out the nearby Christmas market. He expects to find lunch and maybe a Christmas gift or two. He doesn't expect to meet a charming baker who dishes teasing quips as much as sweet treats. David returns to the market each day to get another taste of Patrick the baker.

Every Breath That Comes Before [series] by nameless_bliss (rated T & E) [Three fics where David thinks about Patrick eventually leaving him]

Good Winter by Distractivate (rated M) Patrick spends a week in January at his parents' fishing cabin, sorting through memories and trying to figure out if enough of his past remains to rebuild relationships with his family and Rachel, while not losing who he's become with David. David, of course, helps. A story about making peace with all the versions of yourself, inspired by Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago.

happy golden days of yore by blueink3 (rated E) “What are you doing here?” Patrick blinks beneath the toque shoved onto his head, steadily dripping melting snow from his coat onto the mat they once purchased together. “Um… it’s my weekend.” [...]

A Holiday Escape by Lisamc21 (rated E) David needs to escape the stress of NYC and can't stomach another Rose family Christmas party, so he books an AirBNB for two weeks in Schitt's Creek. The town his family visited when he was a kid. The one true family vacation they'd had. He plans to spend two weeks drinking wine and soaking in a jacuzzi tub, but the cute guy renting the AirBNB derailed his relaxing plans.

If you’re looking for an ass to kiss by grapehyasynth (rated T) Everything's the same, except Patrick is already in town - and he's the mayor.

i’m your moonlight, you’re my star by doingthemost & singsongsung *Alexis/Twyla* (rated M) Twyla and Alexis spend the holidays together.

It’s My (Christmas) Party and I’ll Panic if I Want To by DelilahMcMuffin (rated T) It’s Christmas Eve and David wants nothing more than to spend the evening in Patrick’s room at Ray’s engaging in the kinds of activities that will get them on Santa’s Naughty List. But his dad has decided that he wants to throw a last minute Christmas party. And to top it all off, Patrick’s parents have shown up unexpectedly to surprise their son for the holidays. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, David discovers that Patrick has been keeping a pretty big secret. [...]

Just to Hold the Hands I Love by DesignatedGrape (rated T) As David peered out the window at the snow-covered neighborhood, his gaze landed on his own front lawn, which he shared with the townhouse next door. Oh. Oh, no. Sitting in the middle of the small yard, facing the street, was an honest-to-god snowman, complete with stick arms, red scarf, and plaid trapper hat, and holding some sort of sign. David rolled his eyes. His neighbor thought he was so funny.

Meet me out at the end of my rope by yourbuttervoicedbeau (rated E) What if more than one bombshell was dropped the day of Patrick's birthday — one they couldn't come back from?

Termites of Endearment by unfolded73 & vivianblakesunrisebay (rated E) After discovering the cottage has to be fumigated for termites, David and Patrick suffer a stressful day and an onslaught of memories when they have to spend the night at the motel.

there it is, beating away by blueink3 (rated T) David and Patrick befriend a single mom and her son. Well, Patrick does. David is still feeling things out.

Your Guide to Winter Trail Etiquette by middyblue (rated E) It’s not exactly a promising beginning to his New Year’s Eve ski trip weekend when David drops his bags on the couch of their little rented condo and Alexis’s new boyfriend, who’s wearing an ugly Christmas sweater almost a week after Christmas and crashing David’s plans, says in confusion, “Wait, but where’s Patrick going to sleep?” A story about things ending and things beginning, even if they come from somewhere unexpected.

and finally, just in case you missed it and are interested, i put together a list of some of my fave fics of 2020 and a little recap of my own fics from the year. happy new year and happy reading, friends!! 💗

#schitt's creek #schitts creek #fic recs #rebel fic round up

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mxpseudonym · 3 years

Text

A Woman Like You

Pairing: Polly x Fem!Reader

Summary: Polly works through the seeds of doubt planted by Tommy with her new love.

Based on this request

Length: 1088 words (allegedly)

Warnings: Nothing really

A/N: I snapped a little and dragged Tommy for a hot sec, so line up if you’d like to see that.

He pursued you. Sought you out. Why would an educated man of his standing do something like that?

You mean to a woman like me?

"Yes."

Polly stared at her boots in frustration as she thought about those heavy words. That day, it didn't matter that she'd practically raised her nephew or that she was a pillar in the Shelby businesses; she was a loose end to Tommy Shelby. He'd figured her out, and she was to stay this version of herself forever. Tommy's plans depended on it.

"Polly," your voice cut through the darkness in her head. She was always amazed that you won out against the viscousness even when you whispered or your voice was bogged down with sleepiness. Polly looked up to where you were fumbling with your own bootstraps and laughed. You sighed and looked at her with pleading eyes. "Don't laugh! Help me, woman."

"Aren't you too old to not know how to do this?"

"I told you, Pol, I've never gone camping, much less hunting in my life. Unless you counted staying at a lodge when my family went skiing," you mused at the memory while Polly rolled her eyes.

"No, we mustn't count that or you'll get the wrong idea about what it is. Don't forget, I have to stop by the office before we go."

"Yeah, yeah."

Polly kneeled down on her living room floor and began the work of untangling the sturdy new boots that practically shined with newness. Oh yes, you were as posh as they came. Your hands were too soft and well-manicured to have ever seen hard labor, not that you needed to work. Labor or no, you were in the trendiest clothes, body graced with expensive family heirlooms, and never a hair out of place.

But you were smart, and you had a rebellious side. Polly found you in a smokey club playing poker amongst, after all. Your eyes lit up when you saw the self-assured Polly Gray with her short hair and smart suit. At the time, Polly thought Tommy's words were sharp, slicing objects. But when she met you, she realized they were the most dangerous kind of weapon: seeds of doubt. You practically chased her, two grown women playing cat and mouse. Even when you found each other in bed, closer than ever, you could still feel the distance.

It was a chilly winter day when you finally spoke your mind. You pulled a fur coat over Polly's shoulders then pulled her closer by the lapels.

"Polly Gray, I don't know why you won't let me in, but I'll be pitching a tent by the door, so don't think you've gotten rid of me. If nothing else, I'll spoil you rotten until you don't want me anymore."

You kissed her soundly, then proceeded to announce the coat you were gifting came with a hat. Polly caught your hands as you put it on her.

"If you're going to keep at it, the least I can do is try, hm?" Her eyes were glossy like you'd never seen, but a vulnerable smile spread on her face. Your arms wrapped around her tightly, and you took her in.

"That sounds like a plan."

Sure enough, somewhere between the operas, weekends in Paris, and exquisite galas, you became as close as family to Polly. It surprised her nephews to know that the person who was sending Polly large flower bouquets was a woman. Though risking their lives to tease Polly about it was fun, it was clear that their aunt's partner was devoted, to say the least.

"Aunt y/n!" Finn greeted you as you joined Polly in the betting shop.

"You don't have to call her that, Finn," Polly laughed, though her blush was evident.

"After the kinds of gifts we got last Christmas, I really do," Finn laughed and hugged you.

"That's the spirit, Finn." You only encouraged him by patting his head. There was only a half-hour before the betting shop would open, and things were already getting busy. You leaned against a wall, keeping out of the way and watching Polly in action.

"A Romani woman of her background. A mother of two children, but their father's nowhere in sight. Had her head in a noose for unspeakable crimes. Did you know about that?" Tommy asked as he walked up to you. You weren't expecting to see the head of the Peaky Blinders that day. While the Shelby brothers knew you were devoted, Tommy was less than accepting. If you were honest, he wasn't exactly your cup of tea either. You turned to him with furrowed brows.

"Excuse me? What was that?"

"Miss y/l/n, I have to know. What is someone like you, with connections to big companies, some who are rivals, doing with someone like Polly?" Tommy asked, lighting a cigarette and settling his cold eyes on you. You chuckled softly and sought out Polly with your eyes.

"How arrogant, both to assume that a man like you could fully understand any woman, much less Polly Gray, and to assume your little company here is worth spying on." Tommy scoffed from his position, but you were already distracted. You met Polly's eyes and smiled.

"If you ever say something like that again, boy, I'll have to get serious," you said while waving. "Even at my age, I can't say I'm mature enough to refrain from being petty."

After a moment, Tommy shook his head.

"Of course, Polly would find herself someone like you. Don't do anything to hurt her."

"I'm not the one who hurts her." You didn't spare Tommy another glance before standing fully when you noticed Polly making her way over.

"Alright, we're ready to go. See you, Tommy. You know the combinations to the safes, don't you?"

"Get out of here, Pol. We've got it taken care of." Tommy sent you a look before retreating.

Three days and three nights spent in the woods with Polly Shelby was an adventure, to say the least. You were a fast learner, but watching Polly do the hunting and cooking over a fire was too exciting to interrupt. On your last evening, you caught a glimpse of Polly in her element. Head tilted back as she took in the sounds of nature while the remnants of the setting sun warmed her face. Romani royalty, she said she was.

"Pol," you called to her, and she turned to look at you with a warm smile. "Everything's better with a woman like you."

#The gays are not here for Tommy's BS #Polly Gray x reader #Polly Gray imagine #Polly Gray fanfic #Polly Shelby x reader #Polly Shelby imagine #Polly Shelby fanfic #Polly Shelby one shot #Peaky Blinders Imagine #Peaky Blinders one shot #Peaky Blinders fanfic #Tommy Shelby fanfic #Tommy Shelby #request fulfilled!

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unimooshi · 3 years

Text

Christmas Fluff Snippet Megapost

(brought to you by your host Mooshi bc I’m stuck at home and wanna procrastinate cleaning my room :) )

Rated: G/Fluff

Relationship(s): Literally as many I can think within the span of 3 hours as they’re all basically 1 paragraph long. Feel free to read whichever ones you want I’m making word soup rn. We smackin’ tonight kings, queen, and royals in between😌😭✨

All relationships can be whatever universe you want, unless stated otherwise. Have a good time

Also please keep in mind that I haven’t read a lot of the comics and have a limited knowledge on the cartoons bc I haven’t watched some of them, but I’ll try my best to write out the dynamic as I see it.

1) Starscream/Optimus (StarPrime) you knew we were gonna start with OTP

“I know you wanted to visit Earth for a small vacation, but did you really have to choose the coldest of Earth months to visit?”, Starscream said with borderline disgust as he stared at the snow at the bottom of their ship, the only redeeming thing about the environment was the setting sun.

He kneeled down and scooped up a pile of snow, watching it crumble away between his digits. His internal heating system kicking into overdrive to compensate, little puffs of steam floating into the air. It wasn’t that it was cold, the issue was how wet it would be. The mess that would be made inside their circuits and the water dripping from exposed wiring made Starscream shiver.

“No, I didn’t have to but Earth has such a happy culture this time of year and I wanted to share that with you. I think you’ll like Christmas. Cheer up, let’s take a walk.” , Optimus planted a small peck on the side of Starscream’s helm and stepped outside, the soft crunch of snow following the Prime.

Starscream reluctantly stepped into the snow and groaned with how much water his sensors were already detecting, “How happy could this holiday possibly be with frozen condensation falling from the sky and getting into your circuits?”

“Well, according to what can be found on the internet, it’s an annual religious festival, but most humans use it as a time to see loved ones and celebrate their love for one another.”, Optimus took Starscream’s servo and interlaced it with his own, removing his battle mask to reveal a soft smile with blue optics to match, “and besides you can take a warm lather in the washracks later while I warm up some energon. I know you like watching Earth movies every once in a while.”

Starscream really couldn’t argue with his conjux and just vented out more heat, the puff leaving a trail of white steam as it floated into the evening sky. If being on a mud ball planet meant Optimus would be relaxed then he supposed it would be worth getting his circuits drenched for. Honestly, doing anything was worth it if it meant his Prime would stop thinking about his responsibilities even for just a cycle.

“Your strobes are blinking by the way.”

Starscream stopped walking and flapped his wings into view then dipped them low, brushing it off.

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t.”, Optimus rolled his optics and laughed, holding his conjux’s servo a little tighter.

———

2) Knockout/Breakdown (KOBD)

“Merry Christmas Knockout!”, Breakdown burst into the Medbay with a clumsily wrapped box.

Knockout nearly dropped his datapad and jumped from the sudden intrusion, his servo switched out for his buzz saw until he saw who it was.

“Breakdown!”, Knockout vented out and transformed his servo back, “Don’t scare me like that so suddenly.”

“I’m sorry, but I just wanted to finally give you this. I knew you just had to have it when I saw it and I really hope you like it.”

“All is forgiven. Thank you.”, Knockout casually tore away at the wrapping and lifted the lid, his optics glowing brighter.

“Well...do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it!”, Knockout unfolded the white stripe vinyl inside to it’s full length, laughing with a full smile, “You always know just what to get me!”

He put his gift down on the examination table and went to go hug his conjux, climbing up a little to properly plant a kiss.

As high as the mood was brought up, it was quickly shot down again.

“Wait, I’m not done with your gift yet.”, Knockout left for his datapad and scrolled through something.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to give me one. Your company is the only gift I need.”, Breakdown tried to comfort his conjux, but Knockout held out a servo to stop him.

“That’s a sweet sentiment, but it doesn’t feel fair if I had my gift before yours is even done and I don’t want you seeing it while it’s incomplete.”

“I’m sure I’ll like it even if it’s unfinished. The thought matters more than what it is. Can you tell me what it is?”

“Are you sure?”

Breakdown nodded excitedly.

Knockout sighed and handed over the datapad, “It’s only about 75% of the way done, but it’s a transcription of that Earth book you wanted to read but couldn’t find an online PDF version of it.”

Breakdown scrolled through the pages of words and felt his frame melt.

“I know it’s not as good as what you gave me but—”

“I love it!”, He lifted Knockout off the ground and squeezed, “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome but watch the paint!”

———

3) Bumblebee/Blitzwing (TFA Blitzbee)

Bumblebee wasn’t one for snow to be perfectly honest. Sure, making snowmen and having snowball fights with Sari were fun, but he mostly did those activities to make her happy as her best friend. The frosty windows on the base served as another reminder as to why he liked to stay inside where it was warm and there was plenty of oil to drink, so it was rather ironic when he started seeing a mech who could make ice and enjoyed just burying himself in the frozen stuff.

“Come outside my little bee~”

Random sang softly and taunted him from outside the Autobot base. The heat from Blitzwing’s system fogging up the window further. Everyone else in the base had retreated back to their rooms for the night, leaving Bee free to do what he wanted in the living room. At least, he would be if there wasn’t a giant beige and purple bot trying to get him outside.

“No way Blitzbrain. It’s beyond freezing out there. I’m not locking up my servos just so you can eat street snow again.”

Bumble whispered harshly and opened the window, a gush of frozen air creeped their way through the cracks of his frame. His central heating system kicked online.

Random’s glossa slithered out of his intake, “Aww why not?”

“Because it’s gross. And that’s saying something when it comes from me!”

Vrrrr.

“I suppose that’s true.”, Icy’s lips pouted outward as he pressed his digits to his chin. His sharp features standing out in the crisp darkness of the night, “But aren’t you the one always wanting to go out? Why is it so different this time?”

“Because time impossible to drive in snow and I don’t wanna deal with traffic.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“So?”

Vrrrr.

“So why don’t you want to come out here and spend some time away from this stupid base you tiny bug bot!”

Bee held a digit to his intake, “I’m right here idiot, you’ll wake everyone up and then they’ll see you and then we’ll have to fight.”

Vrrrr.

“You’re afraid of the snow aren’t you.”

“What? No. That’s not—I’m not afraid of it are you kidding me? Only sparklings are afraid of stupid things like that.”

“Ok, so you just don’t like the cold.”

“So what if I don’t?”

“Even if you can’t drive, it’s still a nice night for flying.”

Bumblebee’s optics widened, “Flying?”

“Yes. Calm winds, clear skies, no organics or bots in the streets, what more could you wait for?”

“You’re gonna take me flying?”, Bee’s voice rose in pitch and he looked up at his mechfriend with stars in his eyes.

Vrrrr.

“If you keep repeating the same thing I’ll crush you with this wall!”

Vrrrr.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen something go splat!”

Random laughed at his own morbid thought.

“Ok, first of all, don’t crush me. You’re like three times my size, you don’t need a wall. Second, as long as I don’t have to get my servos wet I’ll be there in a nanoklik.”

Bumblebee gave a quick peck before racing away to touch himself up a little for his small impromptu date.

———

4) Megatron/Soundwave (MegaWave)

Megatron was busy. Again.

Soundwave didn’t mind it much as he just worked on his reports, but deep in his spark he really hoped he would’ve made some time to be with him. There was no such luck unfortunately. Soundwave knew his leader was always busy which is what made their small times together all the more special and intimate. Nobody ever saw the side of the warlord that he did and he was quite proud of that. It made him feel special.

>Soundwave.

A private communication line blipped open from Megatron. What convenient timing.

>Yes, Lord Megatron?

>I need you to send a message to Shockwave about the latest export of energon. There will be a delay because of Autobot meddling, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple earth cycles to have everything in order.

>Message received. Will be sent as soon as possible.

>Good. By the way Soundwave, I’ve left something for you in your desk compartment. Consider it a token of my appreciation for all you’ve done staying loyal to the Decepticons.

>Understood. Thank you Lord Megatron.

With that, the line cut off and Soundwave was left alone again in the communication center. His optics glanced over at the large compartment in his desk and opened it. Inside he found a small stack of datapads and one single use datapad filled out.

—

‘To: Soundwave

Silent as a thief in the night

You crept into my spark and took flight

Your visor so full of mystery

Yet take away much of my misery

In war there is treachery

In war there is loyalty

No words could ever be strung to say how much you mean to me

Merry Christmas,

From Megatron

—

A/N: I’m done with this post. Whoop. 4 short stories in one post. This is all I could crank out in a few hours. I didn’t anticipate this day to be so busy for me😭😭. I’ve been hanging out with family and dropping off gifts for friends at their door step. You can kinda tel I gave up at the end and poems aren’t really my thing. I’ll finish the rest tomorrow, so just pretend that whatever I post tomorrow was done today. Tell me what you think and have a nice night. I’m gonna pass out now. Mwah.

AND YES WHEN I WRITE MEGS IN ANY FIC HE IS A MUSHY BASTARD WHEN HES NOT AN ASS HAT AND THATS ON SOFT BASTARDS😌✨✨

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riverthunder · 3 years

Text

The Stars in Our Skies

For @thespacecryptid for the @ironstrangehaven Gift Exchange ❤️

Link to AO3 Post: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28625829

Notes:

Alrighty, so first I need to apologize to my giftee, TheSpaceCryptid. I tried to finish your gift early, and I want to say I had it done sometime between the 15th and the 20th? And after a lazy Christmas Day I went into my Google Drive to post this and it was just... gone. I have no idea what happened. So I had to redo the whole thing from scratch. In some ways I like this version a lot more, though- and in others I think the original was a little better? But overall I'm pleased with this.

You had a lot of ideas I absolutely adore- like Asexual Stephen (insert my heart eyes here), and stargazing dates, and these two being professors. Just. Mwah. Beautiful.

Also, I'm tagging this as Teen due to some discussions of sex- nothing graphic, though, obviously- since I headcanon ace Stephen as a sex-repulsed asexual like myself.

I hope you like the fic and your bonus artwork to make up for how late this ended up being! Apologies again!!

The Stars in Our Skies

Tony stared just a little bit as the new astronomy teacher strolled into the break room and began fixing himself a cup of oolong tea. He had a beautiful face, with sharp cheekbones and a well-defined jaw, as well as piercing, beautiful eyes. Tony also had a funny feeling that he’d met the astronomy teacher many times before, but he couldn’t put a finger on where.

He knew Professor Strange had been a surgeon back in the day, and he was sure he’d seen him at some of the galas he’d attended in his youth. But it felt like he’d seen Strange more recently than that.

He was very obviously distracted during his class, and he gave up on whatever physics explanation he’d been trying to give the poor engineering class he was clearly confusing, and told them to just go ahead and work on homework, giving them a bonus extra two days on his latest paper as well to top it off while he sat back down at his desk to think.

At the end of the period, two of his best students came to sit next to him.

“Everything okay, Professor Stark?” Peter asked while Harley gave him a knowing smile.

“Fine, boys, just a little off my rhythm is all,” Tony said, trying to look unconcerned.

“You sure?” Harley asked innocently. “Sure it’s not something else? A certain someone, maybe? Like… I dunno… the hot new astronomy professor?”

Tony had been taking a drink of coffee and choked on it at Harley’s words, which was decidedly not good, since the coffee was still piping hot thanks to his specially designed insulated mug. “I- you- what?” Tony spluttered.

“What?” Harley asked innocently. “He’s kinda like you, Professor. A silver fox. He’s smokin’.”

“Harley!” Peter said indignantly. “You can’t say that about a professor!”

Harley shrugged. “Too bad, it’s true, Pete. ‘Sides, Professor Stark should come to terms with the idea.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at Harley’s tone. “Oh really?” He asked. “Why?”

Harley shrugged innocently. “Because I wrote Professor Strange a note in your handwriting and hid it in his desk drawer asking him to go on a date with you tonight at 8:00.”

Tony stood up so quickly his coffee mug almost spilled all over the papers he’d collected from his first period, but before he could shout at Harley at the top of his lungs, a certain handsome professor was standing in his doorway.

“Oh,” Stephen said, looking from Tony to their students. “I’m sorry, are you busy? I could come back another time.”

He was holding a piece of paper that had obviously been folded a few times in one of his trembling hands.

“No, we were just leaving,” Harley said sweetly.

Peter felt himself blushing for some reason as he passed Professor Stark a quick note of his own. “Um, I just wanted to know if you’d please check my work on these chemistry notes,” he said.

Tony glanced down at them. A new web-fluid design. He nodded to Peter. “Yes. Yes. I’ll look them over and e-mail you with any necessary changes.”

“Thanks!”

Without another word, Peter seized Harley’s upper arm and dashed out of the room, while Harley laughed and tried to protest, clearly thrilled with watching Tony flounder in the presence of his crush. You could hardly blame him. Seeing Tony Stark, Iron Man, who was a professor for fun, flounder, was a rare and almost unheard of sight.

“Hello, Professor Stark,” Strange said politely, and Tony felt his face heating up. “Um- hi- I-”

“I am very sorry,” Stephen said, setting the note in his hand down on Tony’s desk. Tony caught a glimpse of the handwriting- fucking identical to his own. That damn Keener brat. When Tony got his hands on him-

“But I am afraid I must decline your invitation.”

Oh.

Tony hadn’t even known he was asking Stephen on a date a few minutes ago, but somehow Stephen’s words still stung.

“Oh,” he said out loud. “Uh… busy?”

“No,” Stephen replied.

Yeah, that definitely hurt.

“Oh.” Tony glanced at the note and quickly plucked it off the desk. “Okay. That’s fine, I understand. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this.”

“You didn’t,” Stephen told him. “It was actually very flattering. But I don’t think you would like to be in a relationship with me, so I am afraid I must decline.”

Wait, what?

“Uh… sorry, you lost me,” Tony said awkwardly.

Stephen chuckled. “I identify as asexual,” he explained. “Specifically, a sex-repulsed asexual. And from what I know of your past...er, love life, I think it’s better if I decline the invitation altogether. I don’t want to upset you because you want to have sex and I don’t.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “So it is an ace ring!” He said, pointing at the black ring on Stephen’s middle finger on his right hand. “Rhodey called me crazy and said it was a swinger’s ring!”

Stephen blinked in surprise and glanced down at his ring. “Er- yes, it is,” he agreed.

“Cool! Okay.” Tony shot him a smirk. “In that case- are you an ace of spades?”

Stephen looked shocked. “You- you know about the card suits?”

“Sure do,” Tony said proudly.

Stephen narrowed his eyes. “Okay then- who uses the ace of diamonds?”

“Demisexuals and demiromantic asexuals,” Tony said. “Ace of clubs is for graysexual and grayromantic, ace of spades is for aromantic asexuals, and ace of hearts is for romantic asexuals.”

He grinned, and Stephen had to crack a smile. “Very impressive.”

“So, what’s your suit, Doc?” Tony asked, grinning at him, and Stephen had to resist the urge to let that smile widen.

“Ace of hearts. I’m a romantic asexual.”

Tony grinned. “I can work with that.”

Stephen allowed his face to fall into a small frown. “Tony, I-”

“Look, Doc, I don’t need sex to be happy,” Tony said. “I’ve had loads in my day, yeah, but I’m a big boy and frankly, I think it’s about time I had a relationship that wasn’t so focused on it. If you’re good with a romantic relationship, I can be happy with one, too.”

Stephen chuckled despite himself. “Persistent, aren’t you?”

“Very,” Tony said, a bit smugly.

Stephen chuckled. “Very well.” He wrote something on a small scrap of paper and offered it to Tony, taking back the note Harley had written. “You can pick me up there, at 8:00.”

“I’ll be there,” Tony said, snatching the fake letter back. “And I’ll give you something actually written by me then.”

~(*)~

Tony pulled up to the house on Bleecker Street. Huh… looked kinda like a museum, to be honest.

The elegant Professor Strange was already walking to meet the car. “Right on time,” he teased, climbing in. He looked like he was putting on a brave face as he entered, and Tony took note of the way Stephen’s hand reached for the cabinet handle on the inside of the door.

Tony bit his lip. “I just like to be on time to things,” he said casually, placing his right hand on the console if Stephen wanted to hold it too, or instead.

Stephen nodded. “Well, I appreciate it. So, what’s the plan for our date?”

“I think you told Professor Verity that you like ramen from Samurai Noodle, right?”

Stephen smiled. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Great! Then we’re getting take-out,” Tony told him, grinning to himself. “And I have a great idea of where we can eat it.”

“Oh? And where is that, exactly?”

“It’s a secret,” Tony said, smirking. “Are you ready to go?”

Stephen nodded, looking amused as he took Tony’s free hand on the console. “That I am. Let’s go, Professor Stark.”

Tony snorted as he started the car. “Alright.”

He tried to sound cool, but he knew that he had started blushing.

~(*)~

“So what exactly are we doing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?” Stephen asked as Tony laid a large blanket out in one of the large fields near the Avengers Compound.

“Why?” Tony asked, smirking at him. “Don’t you trust me?”

Stephen chuckled. “Is that your way of saying you’re secretly an ax murderer about to eviscerate me in the middle of this field, free of any witnesses?”

“Ouch,” Tony complained. “You’re really good at wounding someone’s ego, you know that, Strange?”

“So what’s the real reason we’re out here, then?” Stephen asked, amused.

“Lay down,” Tony ordered, pointing to the blanket. “And look up.”

Stephen did so, and gasped in surprise. “The stars….” He breathed, sounding mesmerized.

“That’s right,” Tony said, smiling at him. “Not to easy to see them in the city. But I figured you’re the Astronomy Professor… maybe you’d like to see them more clearly? Maybe teach me something I don’t know?”

“Lay down,” Stephen ordered quietly. “There… Orion the Hunter. Can you see his belt? The three stars, just here.”

“Oh… right,” Tony said. “Isn’t he that dude everyone says Artemis loved?”

“A common misconception these days,” Stephen murmured. “In many of the myths, Artemis was actually the one to kill him, on purpose, for harassing her friends, the Pleiades, or she would encourage someone else to kill him for her, such as Apollo. He’d summon a giant scorpion to kill Orion, which many believe is Scorpio, as the two constellations aren’t around at the same time. When Scorpio rises, Orion vanishes.”

“Cool,” Tony said softly, staring up at the night sky with Stephen. “What else can you see?”

“Sirius, the Dog Star, Orion’s hunting dog,” Stephen said, pointing to the bright star. You can see the constellation Taurus there. Gemini there. Monoceros is there, very faint. You see? Look closely.”

“Beautiful,” Tony murmured, resting his head on Stephen’s chest as he gazed up at the sky.

Stephen smiled to himself and wrapped an arm around him. “Hmm. Not as beautiful as you,” he murmured in a thoughtful voice, making Tony blush.

~(*)~

“Was that an okay date?” Tony wondered as he drove Stephen back to Bleecker Street.

Stephen smiled at him. “You don’t know?”

“Not really,” Tony admitted. “And I kinda wanna… you know. Do this again.”

Stephen chuckled as they reached the museum door. Wait… how come even the building looked sort of familiar? And the street…?

“Well, in that case… it was a perfect date, Professor Stark.” Stephen leaned over, kissing his lips gently. “And I expect to go on another one with you very soon.”

“Sure,” Tony said, a little breathlessly, his eyes wide as he stared at Stephen. “Whatever you want….”

“Perfect.” Stephen smiled at him, and suddenly something long, red, and fluttering was at his throat, gently tugging him out of the car. “Alright, Levi, alright. I’m coming,” Stephen murmured, reaching out to stroke the red fabric.

Tony stared at it. A sentient cloak….

Wait- was he-?

Stephen was already disappearing inside the door when Tony found his voice, so he couldn’t ask him directly. He sat in the dark of his car, dumbfounded, and feeling his heart pounding. Was that the kiss, his sudden epiphany, or both?

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss?” Chirped the cool Irish accent.

“Am… am I dating the Sorcerer Supreme?”

Extra Notes:

To clarify the "Stephen is the Sorcerer Supreme but Tony doesn't recognize him but is sure he's met him before" thing- I headcanon that Stephen's magic acts as a sort of "barrier" to his identity- and just protects his identity for him. I got the idea from Cute High Earth Defense Club actually- where the villains and heroes can't really recognize each other as specific students when they meet due to "radio interference" almost- but in my Stephen headcanon, it's more that the magic puts a sort of veil over Stephen, so Tony is sure he's met him before, but he can't put his finger on where until he recognizes Cloakie and goes "oh shit, Stephen's the Sorcerer Supreme I've been battling monsters with???"

#Ironstrange #IronStrange fic #IronStrange Art #chara’s fics #chara’s art #gift art #gift fic #tony stark #anthony edward stark #stephen strange #stephen vincent strange

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dimitribelikov · 3 years

Text

The Belikov Chronicles: The Tasha Conundrum Pt.1

✶ I was curious about Dimitri’s past with Tasha, so here’s a rewritten scene from Frostbite in his POV, but with added background of how those two met. ✶ notes : All dialogue between Dimitri, Rose, and Adrian are straight from Frostbite, chapter 13. The rest is mine, based on characters written by Richelle Mead. ✶ warnings : mild language ✶ ships : romitri, hints of Dimitri/Tasha ✶ more one-shots featuring my version of Dimitri can be found here

✶✶✶

Everything was chaos. Complete and utter disarray. Strigoi attacks like this were unheard of. I wasn’t sure what was more infuriating though, the attacks themselves or the way the Moroi would rather talk out of their asses and argue for hours instead of actually doing something about it. The meeting was going in circles and I could feel my frustration steadily growing with every new, outlandish proposal made. It wasn’t until Tasha flipped the script with her little display that I actually felt a bit of hope. No way would people get on board with her stance of fighting quickly, but it was a step in the right direction. Watching her talk with such passion, the heat of the argument alight in her eyes, it was overwhelming. She was beautiful and the kind of leader that these aimless, rich, assholes needed.

My friend was pretty amazing, I had to admit. Though despite the heated climate around me, I could help but wonder for a moment if she was my friend. Did that term still apply? Since she’d come back into my life, she’d been not-so-subtly pushing for something more. It could be easy to go along with, but something still held me back. A something that I suspected was sitting next to me at that very moment.

Thankfully, I didn’t have much time to ponder my upside down love life. Fire lit up in the audience and with it, panic erupted. I stood to my feet immediately, ready to jump into action if the arguments turned physical. It was a worry in vain, though, seeing as the entire point of the argument was the Moroi’s refusal of fighting with their fists and magic. Surveying the scene only irritated me further. No decisions were going to be made and I wanted to get away from the crowd to see if any more insights were made from the attacks. “You might as well leave. Nothing useful’s going to happen now,” I told Rose and Mason who had stood with me.

As I started to leave, I realized that my only companion was Rose. Mason was too fascinated by the scandal, apparently. As I fell in step with her, letting the sounds of the arguments die away, I realized how strange it felt to suddenly be alone with her. I last saw her at Tasha’s Christmas gathering, but that was a strained time. The memory of our kiss was still fresh and I was doing everything I could to ignore the effect it had on me. Since then, she’d been downright cold towards me. I wasn’t entirely sure why. I suppose because I canceled the rest of our lessons? It didn’t really make much sense to me, though.

Almost as if she could read my mind, Rose provided the answer herself. “Should’t you be in there protecting Tasha? Before the mob gets her? She’s going to get into big trouble for using magic like that.”

I arched an eyebrow at her, picking up instantly on the tone of her voice. Rose actually sounded jealous. Of Tasha. I had been spending a lot of time with the Moroi, but I couldn’t quite place where this newfound vehemence was coming from. “She can take care of herself,” I commented. I found myself wanting to pick at this wound more, to find out exactly what was going on inside her head. Yet at the same time, I was definitely afraid of what I might find.

“Yeah, yeah, because she’s a badass karate magic user,” Rose continued on, letting her emotions lead the conversation. “I get all that. I just figured since you’re going to be her guardian and all . . .”

That brought me to a halt. I knew gossip at the Academy traveled like wildfire, yet somehow, I always felt like I was exempt since I was a guardian. Apparently not. This was exactly what I didn’t want. I still hadn’t given Tasha my answer but it was already dictating my life. Was this the reason Rose had been so cold? Had been avoiding me like the plague? Had been all over Mason? I quickly pushed the last thought out of my head the moment it had sprung up. Mason was a good guy. I knew better than to make this about me. And if Rose had a chance for some happiness with someone deserving of her, then I wouldn’t stand in the way.

But me and Tasha . . . That was an entirely different matter. I didn’t really know how I felt about the woman still defending her political views in ballroom. We first met when I had just turned nineteen. A bunch of the royals were on a winter getaway in Aspen, Colorado. Snowmass, to be exact. It was a small enough town that made it easier to guard. Plus, there’s a Moroi run ski resort in the mountains there, just like the one in Idaho. My charge, Ivan, had a few friends going for what was sure to be a rowdy, fun packed weekend. I was working, of course, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t have a bit of fun, too.

The first night there was a small gathering in the suite belonging to a Drozdov. Tasha had been invited, though I can’t really remember why. She was clearly an outcast, not quite fitting in. I’d heard the stories, and saw the truth of them in the scar that marred her otherwise flawless complexion. Just because she wasn’t popular, didn’t mean she shied away from the conversations. She was a bit older than me, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward around her. Such beauty and strength wrapped up in a “I don’t give a shit” attitude had caught my attention right away.

The topic of fighting was brought up. One of the Drozdov guys was boasting about “easy” it was to be a guardian. He’d had more than his fair share of vodka shots at that point, which made it hard to actually take offense. He balled up his fist and punched the air for emphasis.

Tasha laughed, bringing everyone’s attention on her. She set down the vodka bottle and stood up. “You’d break your fist instantly, Nik. You have to wrap your thumb like this.” She demonstrated and threw a punch to the air. This was met with whoops from the group, encouraging more. It was every bit as taboo a subject to talk about Moroi fighting then as it is now. There was something scandalous about the conversation topic and the drunken Moroi wanted to encourage more of it. I exchanged a glance with a fellow guardian. We hadn’t been drinking and I could tell that he was as amused as I was.

"You couldn’t break through a sheet of paper with that punch,” Nik laughed.

Rolling her eyes, Tasha responded, “So I don’t have the strength you do in my stick arms, but at least my bones will stay in tact.”

“The power doesn’t come from your arm.” It was me who had spoken, moving away from the wall as I approached her. I tried to push the awkwardness aside, wanting to seem “cool” in her eyes. I’d always had something of a show-off nature and couldn’t help but join in with the taboo conversation. “It’s your hips,” I told her. By now, the entire crowd had fallen to a hush, watching a very unprecedented display with rapt fascination. I got into a fight stance and slowly showed her how to rotate the hips. “Turn like this, use your back foot to put all your weight into the punch, and that’s where you get your strength. The hips. And your hips look more than capable to me.”

The loud cackle I heard belonged to my friend. “Oh Dimka! Beware ladies, he slays more than just Strigoi!”

I dropped my hands and shot Ivan a look. It was Tasha who had pulled my attention again. “Dimka?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as she studied me with curiosity.

“Just a nickname,” I answered with a little shrug.

“I like it.”

Her smile was infectious and I soon found myself forgetting about Ivan’s teasing. We dropped all notions of fighting after that, but Tasha remained at my side the rest of the party. The next evening, we even found time to sneak off together and talk the whole night away in front of a large fireplace in one of the common rooms. There was nothing illicit about it, though. She was pretty and I admired her spirit, but the more we talked and got to know one another, I found something more valuable than a vacation romance. She was someone I could be myself around. Ivan was really only other person I’d ever felt that way about. She even liked my outdated taste of music. We could talk about everything from superficial, amusing topics, to the more serious things such as Moroi politics and even her darkened past. There wasn’t an ounce of judgement from either of us. Even though we’d only known each other three days, at the end of the vacation, it felt as though I’d known her my whole life.

Tasha was a true friend, through and through. We’d kept in contact over the years, but our relationship never seemed anything more than friendly. It wasn’t until she’d showed up at the Academy for her nephew, Christian, that she started hinting at wanting more. Did I want more? The first time we had kissed had been Christmas night, after her party. It was nice, enjoyable. We know each other so well already that there was no fear, no apprehension. Kissing her was comforting, and safe.

But what was safety what I wanted? Or was it danger that always appealed to me more. When her lips had met mine, I couldn’t help but think of Rose’s kiss in the gym just days before. Every part of it was wrong, but there was no denying the passion of that kiss. While under the effects of Victor’s lust charm months before, I had grown a new appreciation for her. Of course the feel of her half naked body underneath mine would light up my dreams for years to come, but it couldn’t compare to that kiss.

There was no charm or spell to dictate us. It was driven solely by Rose’s passion . . . and as much as I don’t want to admit it, mine as well. It had set a fire inside me, making my mind beg for more. Rose was unpredictable, even by my standards, and not knowing what she’d do next thrilled me. Of course my logic had caught up and I put an end to it at once, but the truth was still there. Rose’s kiss had left far more an impression than Tasha’s ever could.

Yet my old friend had offered the perfect solution. Rose could never be, no matter how much my heart yearned for her. Tasha, however, was proposing an ending that would not only keep Rose and Lissa safe and happy, but allow me to live a dream that most dhampirs were never given. Surely I could learn to love Tasha without any difficulty, right?

Either way, I still hadn’t come up with an answer, which made it all the more frustrating to hear the topic from straight from Rose’s mouth. “Where did you hear that?” I asked her.

“I have my sources,” she replied enigmatically. “You’ve decided to, right? I mean, it sounds like a good deal, seeing as she’s going to give you fringe benefits. . . .”

My patience had just run out. I didn’t even know what was going on between myself and Tasha, and I didn’t want to have to explain it to anyone else. Least of the very girl who had tormented my mind into making this such a difficult matter to begin with. I set her with a stern gaze, hoping that she got the message that the topic was off limits. “What happens between her and me is none of your business.” I couldn’t have this conversation with Rose. Not yet. I wasn’t ready. Yet she pushed on in typical Rose fashion. She really was going to be the death of me, I was certain of that.

“Well, I’m sure you guys’ll be happy together. She’s just your type, too –– I know how much you like women who aren’t your own age. I mean, she’s what, six years older than you? Seven? And I’m four years younger than you.”

If I had wondered whether or not Rose was jealous, all doubt was instantly removed. Yes, there was a selfish part of me that took pleasure in knowing that I could get her attention like that, but I quickly pushed it aside. Rose was intoxicating, but we could never be. She’s still only seventeen, I’m her mentor, we’re both set to be assigned Lissa’s guardians. I wasn’t a total asshole and refused to mess up her life with my own selfishness. Reason upon reason stacked up against us, and I felt my control starting to slip as frustration began to seep in. That frustration only doubled when I realized it was exactly the point Rose had made in the gym. My control was always a battle for me.

"Yes,” I finally answered. “You are. And every second this conversation goes on, you only prove how young you really are.”

Shit. Ok, that was a hell of a lot more harsh than I wanted it to be. The problem was, I was feeling cornered. What I wanted was right in front of me but I couldn’t have her. I was mad at the situation, not her. Unfortunately, the more she pushed, the more she became the target of that anger.

My heart raced as I realized what I had done. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe I could still take it back and––

“Little dhampir,” a new voice interrupted. When I looked up and saw Adrian Ivashkov approach, I felt my moody emotions return. Though I wondered if I was only annoyed because he’d interrupted me, I quickly realized that wasn’t the case at all. It was lascivious look in his eyes as they swept over Rose’s body. It was gross, and I wanted nothing more than to smack the smug grin from his face. I did my best to control my expression, but judging by Adrian’s greeting as he continued to talk to Rose, I had a feeling my disgust was pretty obvious.

Was I being a hypocrite, I wondered. I was pissed off that Rose had acted all jealous over Tasha, yet here I was, wanting to explode because she was talking to Adrian of all people. No, that wasn’t it, I quickly realized. Mason was good. I would have been happier if it was him that she was walking away with. Rose deserved someone who could treat her with respect and compassion. I wished it was me, but such wasn’t in the cards. As it were, I silently seethed as I watched her leave with the slimeball, confident that she had no idea who Adrian really was.

With no where else to go, I went in search of Tasha to see if she was free yet. Though part of me suspected there was a more petty reason for suddenly wanting her company . . .

#ᴏɴᴇ sʜᴏᴛ ✶ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇʟɪᴋᴏᴠ ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄʟᴇs #dimitri belikov #vampire academy #rose hathaway #tasha ozera #romitri

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swan--writes · 3 years

Text

A Very Mr. Finn Christmas

There was something about ‘Dewey Christmas’ that just sounded...wrong. Anyway, Merry Belated Christmas to those who celebrate! ❤💚

Warnings: none

Words: 1,936

The year had been a bastard. First was your dog dying, then Dewey getting sent home for last school year because of the pandemic, then the spike in visibility of police brutality and the protests. The summer had been brutally hot, you weren’t working, you and Dewey had had to quarantine separately for more than a month and neither of you had been able to see any of your friends. You spent so much time on the couch at your parents’ place upstate before your partner eventually joined you, once his own lease had run out. Despite both of your relief at Dewey getting out of the city, that had also been when he found out for certain that he wouldn’t be able to see his kids in person. California had caught fire, one of your grandparents died of lung cancer and had a funeral you couldn’t attend because of COVID, and another was all set to spend Christmas in the hospital.

Yes, the year had indeed been a bastard, but thankfully, it was almost a dead bastard.

Since your parents had broken down and gone to visit your aunt, you and Dewey had the large house to yourselves for two weeks. The two of you had been pleasantly surprised: despite both needing a healthy amount of alone time, you still weren’t sick of each other. Not only that, but your relationship had fully survived the year. If anything, you were closer now. You still loved his soft eyes, the give of his chubby stomach when he held you, the way his arms felt like your own personal radiators.

Perhaps you shouldn’t have been surprised. Dewey Finn was the kindest man you knew, and the best partner you could have asked for. As immature and rambunctious as he could be, he was also sweet and soft and – though he would never admit it – quite sensitive. Dewey hadn’t seemed to want to talk about it, but he was pretty clearly heartbroken that he couldn’t see his students face-to-face this year. He had held most of his frustration in, since he knew how much it bothered you that you couldn’t work at all with the pandemic happening. Still, you could hear him grumbling in the office your parents had set up for him.

Now, at Christmas, you were trying to find ways to make the season special for your partner. By the last week, you were holding yourself back from writing out a literal Festivities Schedule. You had made a plague year Christmas playlist, trying your best to channel him as you arranged it. It was far from perfect, but you thought he appreciated it.

Your dad’s studio was full of art supplies, so you and Dewey painted ornaments. Neither of you were particularly skilled, but he didn’t care, so you decided you didn’t care either. Fortunately, you had thought to wear clothes you could get paint on because, naturally, it had taken all of ten minutes for your painting session to turn into a full on paint battle to the death. You were fairly certain Dewey had started it, though he insisted on his innocence. Either way, you wound up with Shining Stars gold on your nose and Dark Winter Skies blue all over your sleeve. Dewey got a streak of Santa Red on his arm and splashes of Sparkling Snow glittery white across his shirt and pants. You were sure you still had some glitter in your hair from when he had tackled you and, in a gruff Muppet voice, insisted that you had turned him into the Glitter Monster. Dewey had tickled you until your tears of laughter had soaked into his shirt.

Eventually, you thought to tap out and, breathlessly, you kissed his hand in surrender. Dewey had kissed your nose in return, and come away with a smudge of gold paint across his lips. So he left to wash his face, and you left to make Christmas cookies, and he joined you in the kitchen. You spend the rest of the night playing Mary Lambert’s new holiday EP and singing at each other, harmonizing at all the best parts. He, of course, had no patience for ‘Ave Maria,’ and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around you – getting yet more glitter all over you – and gently sway with you.

The next day was when the snowstorm hit. Your parents’ plow guy cleared the driveway (twice), but you and Dewey were responsible for the walkway. You woke up early to shovel first thing in the morning, despite Dewey’s unconscious arm trying to prevent you from getting out of bed. Peeking through the curtains, you almost let him.

One hour after you went back inside, you could hardly tell that you had shoveled at all.

The snow was lighter on the walkway, however, when you went back outside with Dewey to shovel again. You got the sense that he was enjoying it far too much, and you wondered if he had ever had to shovel before. You imagined that growing up in NYC didn’t leave many opportunities, but you didn’t ask. In fact, you were especially quiet all day.

Finally, when you lost power, Dewey asked if you were alright. It wasn’t until he asked that you realized that the seasonal depression had snuck back into your brain. Dewey was predictably wonderful, and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to hold back tears. Your partner stood back while you lit up the stone fireplace in your mother’s library, then rolled you up in a blanket on the floor, scattering a few pillows around you.

Dewey heated apple cider over the fire. He picked out a small copy of A Christmas Carol, bound in soft red leather, with gold leaf decorating the cover. It had your mother’s name in it, and just below that, yours in shaky lettering. That did make you cry, but only for a moment. Dewey leaned back against your legs and read the first stave to you while you drank your cider. You took over for him after that, for the next stave. Since you were both musicians with decent vocal stamina, you managed to get through the entire book before you had to call it a night.

When you woke up the next day, it was Christmas Eve. The power was back on, the decorations were hung, the tree was decorated, the presents were wrapped, and the cookies were soft. All that was left was to prep dinner for Christmas Day and dance in the kitchen. As far as Dewey was concerned, there was no type of dancing better than kitchen dancing, and you had to agree. Your parents’ kitchen had plenty of open space, and you could twirl each other around or slide in your socks without running into counters or corners.

The plow guy came by to do one more pass over the driveway and throw down some salt. You donned your mask for the first time all week to bring a box of Christmas cookies out to his truck. It surprised you, how thrilled you were to speak to a new human.

When you returned to Dewey, it still felt as cozy as ever. He jumped around to what almost felt like sacrilegious renditions of Christmas songs, including – though not limited to – a truly perplexing version of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by a supremely emo band from the early 2000s. Dewey had insisted it be added to your playlist, and who were you to argue?

He brought out his guitar while you made the sweet potatoes. You were particular about your grandmother’s sweet potato recipe. When he rolled up his sleeves to make pie dough, you hopped up onto the counter, sufficiently out of the way. Dewey wouldn’t give you his exact recipe, though considering his tendency to use bowls instead of measuring cups, you weren’t entirely certain that he knew his exact recipe.

By the time you were both finished with all of the dishes, it was pitch dark out. There was butter underneath his fingernails and French bread underneath yours, flour on both of your shirts, and tension in both of your backs. You fell asleep long before midnight.

The next morning, you heard Dewey’s voice before you saw his face.

“Hey,” he said. His lips brushed against your ear.

You groaned and snuggled deeper under your Christmas quilt.

“Hey,” your partner said, more insistently. He squeezed your waist, and you groaned again but opened your eyes.

“Yes?” you muttered.

Dewey nosed at the skin below your ear. “Merry Christmas.”

Your eyes sprung open now, and you sat up. “It’s Christmas.”

“Yeah.” You could hear the smile in his voice. He must have been awake for a while now.

“Merry Christmas.” You looked at him then. There was a cold gray light filtering into the room, and you could see snow falling gently through a gap in the curtains across from the bed. Dewey’s hair was mussed, and a few waves hung in his face. His stubble was coming in full force. His tee shirt was wrinkled. There was still some Christmas Tree green clinging to the edges of his fingernails.

“What are you lookin’ at?” he asked you playfully.

You suppressed an eye roll and settled for tapping his nose. “You, wise guy. You’re cozy.”

“I’m cozy?”

“M-hm.”

“Can a person look cozy?”

“Well obviously, ‘cause you do. You’re cute.” You tapped his nose again, twice, very lightly. Dewey scrunched up the bridge of his nose, but didn’t lose the soft joy in his expression. “Oh! I have something for you.” You reached blindly for your phone, feeling around on the bedside table while Dewey straightened up.

“Didn’t we set out all our presents?”

“Yeah…” you dragged out the word. “This was sorta last minute.” Your partner waited while you found your phone and opened up your photo gallery. When you found the video you wanted, you opened it and held up the phone between yourself and Dewey.

“…baby?” he said when he saw what was on the screen,

“Yeah?”

“What is this?”

“I may or may not have conspired with your students behind your back.”

In the video, Summer was yelling at his band, trying valiantly to get them all into some sort of order. It seemed to be working. The students seemed to be in their band room, but most of them wore masks. The only kids who were unmasked were Dewey’s singers, and they were spaced apart from one another.

“Is that legal?” Dewey asked. You elbowed him, and he laughed. It was a quiet laugh, though. Almost astonished.

“Hi, Mr. Finn!” Summer said in the video, now facing the camera. “We wanted to do something for you, after all your hard work during these times. So we–”

“She means your–”

“Freddy! Shut it!” Summer snapped. After a short breath, she turned to the camera once again. “We put a little something together for you.” With that, Summer practically touch-stepped offscreen.

When you glanced over at Dewey, he was watching you.

“What?” you laughed.

“I love you.” You heard cymbals playing through your phone’s speaker.

“Shh, it’s starting!” You snapped your attention back to the screen. Dewey shook his head, but followed your gaze.

“I love you too,” you muttered quickly, as the first chords of ‘Faith Noel’ began to spring from Lawrence’s keyboard.

Outside, the snow fell softly to the ground. Inside, beside Dewey, you were warm, and he was cozy, and he loved you. What more could you ask for on Christmas?

Please reblog, if ye are so moved.

Tags List: @skiddyyo @a-okay-rj @geeky-marie @darkblueeyedperson @hannah-de-lioncourt @ironmansuucks @missihart23 @ballerinafairyprincess @thewolfisapartofmysoul

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acovenofcaffineandchaos · 3 years

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Pagan Yule Traditions Adopted by Christians

With Yule upon us and Christmas fast approaching, I found it appealing to make this post to help others learn more about what traditions started out pagan, and have been adopted over time into Christianity.

First thing’s first, what do we mean when we say pagan? This is a widely encompassing term that means anyone from the Romans, to the Norse in Scandinavia. As Christianity spread through Europe in the early ADs, missionaries met a lot of different groups of people with varying religious systems and beliefs. All these people and religions were lumped into the term ‘pagan’, basically meaning ‘not Christian’.

Although Christians had the goal of spreading their religion across Europe, they were still fascinated by many of the customs and ways of the pagans. Clearly they were fascinated enough to pick up a few of those beliefs and traditions, and adapt them as part of Christian celebrations to boot!

1. GIFT-GIVING AND SATURNALIA

Not only is December a time to celebrate winter solstice, but between the 17th and 24th of the month, the Romans also celebrated Saturnalia. This was a pagan holiday in honor of the agricultural god, Saturn. Romans would spend the week of Saturnalia much like how we spend Christmas holidays today: feasting, drinking, giving gifts, and being joyful.

These days we shell out lots of money on Christmas gifts, but back then the Romans exchanged small gifts mainly for the sake of good luck. The idea was to give a gift in the hope of bringing in a bountiful harvest the next year. Rather than have lists of gifts to give, the Romans shared only one gift with one other person. Somewhere along the line, giving gifts for luck and prosperity became a multimillion dollar business… isn’t that funny?

2. SANTA’S IMAGE & CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

Our current modern day image of Santa Claus, clad in red fur with a big white beard, was largely developed by Coca-Cola in the 1930′s. But the idea of an old man giving gifts to children dates much earlier than that, back to the time of the pagans.

Father Christmas, otherwise known as St. Nicholas, is a patron saint of children, the poor, and surprisingly, prostitutes. Living around 4th century AD, St. Nicholas was a very generous bishop; who was known for giving gifts to the poor, sporting a big beard, and a long cloak much like the Santa we know and love today.

But even before St. Nicholas, there was another bearded old man called Odin. This deity was worshipped by early Germanic pagan tribes (think the Vikings for general visualization), traditionally portrayed as an old man with a long, white beard, with an 8-legged horse called Sleipnir who he would ride through the skies (just like Santa’s reindeer). During the winter, kids would fill their booties with carrots and straw and leave them by the chimney for Sleipnir to feed on. Odin would fly by and reward the children with little presents in their booties, much like we do with Christmas stockings today.

The Santa Claus we all imagine in our heads today is a patchwork of the generous St. Nicholas, the god Odin and Sleipnir, and Coca-Cola’s iconic red-dressed character.

3. CHRISTMAS CAROLS

While the carols we sing for Christmas are undeniably Christian in the majority, the tradition itself of going door-to-door singing to your neighbors comes from another pagan tradition called wassailing. The rather funny and odd word comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase of ‘waes hael’, translating roughly to ‘good health’. Every year, wassailers would roam through their villages in small groups, singing loudly with the aim of banishing evil spirits and wishing good health to those around them.

No wassailing group was complete without their traditional drink on hand – made from mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, spices, and sugar. Medieval alcoholic eggnog in it’s finest. In the 13th century, St. Francis took inspiration from these happy choirs and started the tradition of Christmas caroling.

4. KISSING UNDER A MISTLETOE

Ever wonder about the correlation between mistletoe and kissing? Well, funnily enough, the tradition goes back to the pagans. Everyone from the Romans and Celts, to the Druids and the Norse, had a thing about mistletoe. It was considered to be a highly sacred plant, involved in several pagan rituals.

In the Roman world, mistletoe honored the god Saturn. To keep him happy, they would perform fertility rituals underneath sprigs of mistletoe – yup, that’s exactly what it sounds like: rolling around under the mistletoe! We’ve certainly toned it down as far as mistletoe rituals are concerned, and left it with just a simple kiss – probably a good idea since family is always around, and always happy to judge.

In the world of the Druids, mistletoe symbolized peace and joy. In times of war, if enemies met underneath woodland mistletoe, then they would drop their weapons and form a truce until the next day. In a way, kissing is a form of truce, or at least trusting the other person not to bite your face off.

5. DECKING THE HALLS WITH HOLLY

Mistletoe wasn’t the only sacred plant for pagans. Holly was another holy plant connected with the god Saturn. During the Saturnalia, Romans made holly wreaths to exchange as gifts for good luck. At the time of Saturnalia, early Christians began to celebrate Christmas -however- they were often persecuted for practicing their new religion. It was lucky that Christmas coincided with Saturnalia as it allowed Christians to harbor a cover for their Christmas celebrations.

To avoid detection (and make it look like they were celebrating Saturnalia), Christians started hanging holly wreaths around their homes. This allowed them to recognize other Christians and still do something nice to celebrate their version of the holiday. Eventually, as pagans decreased in number and Christianity grew, holly became a symbol of Christmas instead of Saturnalia.

6. CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATING

Christianity sure has taken a lot of inspiration from the Romans, and tree decorating is yet another borrowed tradition! Besides feasting, drinking, and exchanging gifts during Saturnalia, Romans also hung small metal ornaments on trees outside their homes. Each of these little ornaments represented a god, either Saturn or the family’s personal patron saint.

Early Germanic tribes practiced a similar tree decorating tradition, this time with fruits and candles to honor Odin throughout the winter solstice. Christians merged the tree decorating with ornaments, candles, and fruits to make Christmas tree decorating one extravagant tradition.

7. FRUITCAKE

Fruitcake has become the stuff of legend, if only because once a fruitcake is baked, it will seemingly outlive everyone who comes near it. Stories are abound of fruitcakes from winters past- magically appearing in the pantry to surprise everyone during the holiday season. What’s interesting about the fruitcake is that it actually has its origins in ancient Egypt. There’s a tale in the culinary world; the Egyptians placed cakes made of fermented fruit and honey on the tombs of their deceased loved ones- and presumably these cakes would last as long as the pyramids themselves. In later centuries, Roman soldiers carried these cakes- made with mashed pomegranates and barley- into battle. There are even records of soldiers on crusades carrying honey-laden fruitcakes into the Holy Land with them.

8. THE YULE LOG

Nowadays, when we hear about the Yule log, most people think of a deliciously rich chocolate dessert. But the Yule log has actually its origins in the cold winters of Norway. On the night of the winter solstice, it was commonplace to add a giant log to the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Vikings believed that the sun was a giant wheel that rolled away from the earth each year as winter came, and began rolling back on the winter solstice and brought summer with it.

Either way, these traditions -whether you’re Christian or Pagan, Jewish or Buddhist, or anything else- I wish you a happy holiday season, and pray that 2021 will get its shit in order, unlike 2020.

- Black Magpie

#pagan #paganism #witch #witch craft #witchyvibes #yule #yule traditions #evolution of christiananity

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