#i actually drew these like last week but i forgot that i did | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alittletaste · 1 year

Text

FORGET ME NOT

↳ In which Y/ns a baker and Harry’s the bad boy trying to get under her skin

Warnings: Slightly angsty and a confrontation as well as some grovelling. Hope you enjoy this, please remember to send some asks about the fic and to reblog! I appreciate it 🫶

Everything was in order. Cakes were baked, the dough was kneaded and the cookies were in the oven. The air was scented sweetly from all the baking y/n had been doing since the early hours of the calm and quiet winter morning. The sweet smell of the baked goodies was pungent yet fresh. It was a scent the locals absolutely adored.

Some would say business isn’t as good in the winter as it is in the summer but y/n would disagree. For her, and everyone else in the small town, business was good all year around. Everyone had their role in the town, some people settled on growing crops for the rest of the town whilst others, like y/n herself, settled on making the actual food/goodies people would eat.

Y/n hummed the tune of a song lightly, busying herself on decorating the cupcakes she had baked earlier. She swirled the tip of the icing bag around with ease, expertly icing edible flowers and patterns onto the cakes. She was on the fifth cupcake when she heard the bell placed on top of the front door to her bakery ring, indicating that someone was walking in.

As she looked up, she was met by the local librarian, Ms Anne. A smile crept onto y/ns face as she walked over to the counter to greet her first customer of the day.

“Hello darling” Anne spoke, a smile on her sweet face. She looked around at the variety of baked goods in front of her and inhaled deeply. “It smells lovely in here, as always”

“Hello, Ms Anne! How are you doing today?” Y/n asked, leaning against the counter. Ms Anne was a legend according to y/n, not only did she have an impressive library but she was also the sweetest, softly-spoken woman she has ever come across. Granted they lived in a small town so didn’t really meet a lot of people, but y/n was convinced Anne was one of the greats. Too bad her son couldn’t follow in her footsteps, she always thought.

“I’m doing alright, just came in to get the cake I ordered last week” Anne spoke, reminding y/n of the order which she totally forgot about.

“Oh, um, which cake?” Y/n asks, a sweat breaking on her forehead at the fact that she’s completely forgotten Anne’s order.

“The one for Harry? Remember, it’s his birthday cake” the older lady replied, if she has realised that y/n has forgotten to bake the cake, she doesn’t show it.

“Oh shit” the younger of the two curses, slamming her palm against her forehead. “I’m so sorry, fuck. I can’t believe I forgot about it. I can still get it done for today though, what time do you need it by?”

“Hey, it’s okay” Anne soothes softly, placing her hand over y/ns in a gentle manner. “Things happen, it’s okay. The party isn’t till 6 pm, would that be enough time?”

“Yeah that should be fine” y/n replies, her teeth tugging on her bottom lips “I’m so sorry again Ms Anne. I don’t know how it slipped out of my mind, it’s so unprofessional” she spoke, shaking her head at herself.

“Seriously darling, it’s ok, I promise” Anne smiles, slowly soothing y/ns worry and guilt. “I’ll send Harry to collect the cake around 5, is that fine?”

“Yeah that’ll be perfect, I’m sorry once again” y/n replies and Anne chuckles softly, once again reminding the younger of the two that it’s ok before she walks out.

Great. Now not only does y/n have to work under stress due to her own actions but she’ll also have to see Harry.

It takes Y/n approximately 4 hours to finish the cake, she baked the red velvet that was requested in the initial request and used royal blue icing to coat it. She drew on a yellow car, a nod to Harry’s career as the local mechanic, with some buttercream icing and wrote “Happy birthday Harry” in red icing.

Just as she puts the cake in the fridge, she hears the bell. Today had been a quiet day at the bakery which y/n was so grateful for, it meant that she could finish off the cake rather than entertain customers.

As she turns around to face the counter, she’s face to face with Harry, a smug grin on his face. He looked as annoyingly handsome as always, his curious emerald eyes trailing up and down her body. “Hey” he let out, his voice was a lot deeper since the last time Y/n had heard it, all the way back in school when they were best pals. Alas, things change, and people change.

“Hi,” she replies, staring back into his eyes.

He chuckles, “of course, it’s my cake you forget about.”

“It slipped my mind, ok, I’ve got other orders too you know” Y/n sasses back.

“Let’s hope you don’t forget them too” he challenges, one thing about Harry it was that he loved getting a rise out of people, especially y/n. It’s what caused that big fight all those years back to happen. Harry taunts people and y/n isn’t the type to stay quiet when that happens to her.

“I would never do that to them” Y/n hisses, putting an emphasis on the them to really get her point across. One thing Y/n couldn’t handle was when people came at her for her job, she was good at it, one of the best bakers in town and she deserved the respect.

“Nice to see you’re as feisty as always” he speaks, biting back a chuckle at the way he was annoying y/n. He loved the way y/ns forehead creased and the little burrow in her brows every time he annoyed her.

“And you’re a dick as always” she replies with a roll of her eye as she turns back towards the fridge to take the cake out and give Harry so he could leave as soon as possible.

“It’s funny, every time I see you, you’re always on about my dick. If you really want it, all you have to do is ask” Harry smirks causing y/n to groan.

“You’re so disgusting. There’s a difference between talking about your dick and calling you a dick” she argues, placing the cake on the counter and pushing it towards Harry.

“Wow, you’ve done a decent job. Thought I was going to get cake crumbs or something” he chuckles, pulling out his wallet to pay for the cake.

“It’s what you deserve but Anne’s much too nice of a lady and I couldn’t do that to her” Y/n smiles, sending daggers to Harry as he places the money in her hand. She puts the money away and waits for Harry to go.

“Thanks for the cake, sweet pea” he smiles and turns to leave, but he turns around again. “Look, I know I’m a dick, but I'm really sorry” he says, a look of guilt clouding his eyes.

“For?” Y/n asks, honestly taken aback that he sucked up his ego to apologise.

“For everything, all those years I treated you like shit. I didn’t deserve you as my best bud back then, you were amazing and I’m sorry for how our friendship ended.” He says, y/n knew Harry, she could tell the look on his face was genuine. He was actually feeling bad.

“Yeah yeah, it’s ok” y/n replies, not knowing how to act especially since he was walking right up to her. He smiles, but he can tell the conflicted look on y/ns face. Harry’s heart aches at the pain he had caused her the past years, how he treated her like shit, taunting her and essentially bullying her. He swears it was all friendly but he didn’t understand the impacts stuff like that could have until he was here, looking into y/n's eyes.

His own eyes soften as he leans down and places a soft kiss on her cheek before he whispers a quiet sorry into her ear. All y/n does is nod, she genuinely forgives him, and with that, he’s out the door. To nobody’s surprise, y/n needs a few seconds to compose herself before she’s back to work, her mind still wandering off to how soft his lips felt on her skin.

The next morning as y/n opens up her bakery, she hears the bell and looks up to see the postman. He was holding a bouquet and softly placed it on the counter. “Special little delivery for you hun” he speaks with a smile and y/n thanks him, waiting for him to leave before she examines the flowers.

They were Forget-me-nots from Gemma’s florist shop and instantly she knew who it was from, Gemma was Harry’s sister.

When she tugged out the little note, it wrote “I mean it, I’m sorry. Let’s try this again?” Below that was Harry’s personal number and without another thought, Y/n saved it into her phone before placing the forget-me-nots in the empty vase on the counter with a smile on her face.

#harry styles blurbs #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfiction #harry writing #harry styles smut #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles imagine #Harry styles angst #harry styles x reader

883 notes · View notes

anteroom-of-death · 3 months

Text

Teacher's Pet part 1

Synopsis: The Doctor notices a student. She notices him.

a/n: thank u to the moots for sticking with me. Yall are the best. This is going to be a series. Somewhat of a dark!doctor ish fic maybe. I haven't planned this far. I have ideas. Will switch between a 3rd party but doctor centric POV and a 2nd party student centric POV.

The sun drew itself in on the cold day, light filtering through large windows in the lecture hall. It caught and reflected the motes of light swirling around. First day of the Spring term. Lots of new students trickled in and found their respective seats. Of course, the syllabus was now online and such. But the Doctor still preferred to give a paper one. He felt it helped students focus if they had it real and tangible…unable to forget.

Just like he forgot so much. A lingering pain….

He started up his usual dazzling spiel. Enough to keep them from dropping out, but not enough to rile them to madness. He learned that lesson early on in this particular charade he was distracting himself with. All he had to really do was keep Missy in the Vault and attempt to rehabilitate her. Humans were such a delicate group to keep balanced. Too much stimulation and they would self destruct. Not enough? The same but in a reverse spiral.

Or just fall asleep.

He preferred it if a few actually did fall asleep.

Allowed him to build a reputation as a teacher. Keep the act up.

He didn’t notice the young woman intently staring, writing down the key phrases from his opening statements. He was enraptured in the normal routine he has become familiar with.

The hour came to a close, and he did a bow. He was to visit Missy again some time soon. Just a cursory check. See if she’d calmed down from her last temper tantrum, where she demanded a saxophone and stated that Billy Clinton was also a war criminal, but made some sweet jazz.

He could hardly agree. She already was a mediocre piano player. And the drum set she demanded earlier lay in tatters in her cupboard.

Being her keeper and therapist was rotten work, but it warmed him. Gave him a gram of hope that she may get better and he may have his friend back once more.

Though, he knew in both is hearts, hope could be a fragile thing for a man to hold onto.

But, especially in this body, he believed in redemption and change. They both had forever to change. They had forever.

A few weeks had passed, and he noticed that keen eyes were burning the back of his neck as he scrawled on the chalkboard. It felt different than the usual glazed-over focus of people trying to write or type out his valid points. It was hot and felt more personal. Less trying to pass a class.

He paused his sentence and raked his eyes over. It was a student with large gold hoops and a few tangled gold necklaces. The Doctor recognized two or three of the symbols used on some of them from his travels through Earth’s history. She was chewing hard on her pen. He could see flecks of her tinted chap stick clinging onto the sides of it. Her eyes were squinted slightly and a slight patch of blush rested on her checks. He couldn’t tell if it was a make up look or some feverish feature of her human body. Perhaps she was in the first phases of getting sick!

He went back to his lecture. Some misfocused student was the least of his concern.

But he still felt her eyes bore into him. Intent on something. He trudged on.

He came to a close, reminded everyone of their upcoming projects and let the day start to rest. The Doctor announced that his office hours were changing to represent the spring coming soon and to “Allow you all to feel the sun on your faces, you don’t know how long you’ll have. Humans usually only live once!”

He scanned the audience and saw her shoving her notebook and that well-gnawed on pen into her bag. Big purse with a rhinestone buckle. Resembled something that Rose or Jackie would have had, he mused.

She slung that and a tote bag that seemed overstuffed and ripe for the breaking over her shoulder. She audibly groaned under the weight. He pitied her. The stressed look she had on her face was oddly enchanting in the light just starting to sink.

He knew she was struggling in the class. She did good work, yes. When he opened up questions and debate, she usually had such pointed takes that verged on mind-racing. Sometimes others would bristle against what she said on the more provocative topics he offered up. Essays and tests? Not so much. She floundered.

She had accommodations for some diagnosis or whatever. He could tell her mind was making connections in a far more tangential way than the other’s either couldn’t or wouldn’t make. And for that he did like her. Enjoyed what she brought to the table. Although, even his brains had difficulty making some of the leaps her brain did.

But why was she staring at him like that today? It was almost reverent. Very off putting.

She came forward to his desk and clicked open her notes app .

“Erm…Professor.” She cleared her throat and started up. “Uh, I was wondering if I could see you sooner rather than later. For office hours. I’m sorry for my late essay last week. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I can’t focus and I feel like I’m losing my mind half the time lately. May I have some insight or whatever you want on how I could do better. I know I’m doing…like, so bad.” She confessed and exhaled on the final note of her punctuation.

She turned a new type of stare towards him. Less intense and personal and more of a thousand-yard death grip.

Her entire demeanor in this moment was very lamb like. A confused air of innocent need to do well, to pass her classes, clouded her.

A weaker man would have felt more predatory, he noted.

She wasn’t unattractive for a human, not like past companions he worshiped the ground of. Of course. He was drawn to them for their natures, often ignoring their faces wholesale.

She started to chew and rip at her pinky nail and lower lip simultaneously…

“Of course,” He said. “I have to go help a friend with something, so I have to talk and walk.”

She nodded eagerly and gave such an appreciative smile. “Thanks!” The words came out so quickly, almost breathlessly.

She trotted along side him.

Once outside, they started discussing her options. She had to work nights, she stated, she said so they were arranging a time to work in a little extra help and tutoring.

He genuinely enjoyed her company and led her to a bench.

“What about your friend?” She asked.

“Oh, Nardole can handle himself.” He smiled. “He’ll not miss me for an extra four or five minutes.”

She laughed a bit.

She plunged her hand into her purse and started rifling around. It was a chaotic sight.

She produced a pack of cigarettes and a tiny green plastic lighter.

“Do you mind? I’m trying to quit, but it’s been hell lately.” She grimaced.

He shook his head, no, he didn’t mind. It wouldn’t affect him. Her, yes. But one little luxury, especially if she was trying to quit.

“So long as it’s your last for a while.” He took the teacherly route.

She lit up and took a huge drag. Closing her eyes he noticed that deep look of exhaustion had given her dark purple and almost black under eye circles. She had apparently tried to cover them up with some make up products and some mascara and smudged eyeliner. She held that breath in for a few seconds. It was almost beautiful.

She exhaled and fluttered them open. The smoke wisped and flew away quickly in the gentle breeze.

“Yeah, thanks. People get so weird about smoking. But they’ll vape? Like, indoors. All the time.” She rolled her eyes at that mildly hypocrisy.

They planned for her to meet up with him in his office on Monday just before the lunch hour. Then turned the conversation to some topics in debate that another student, a male who irked her with his constant urge to play Devil’s Advocate. She had some very often-overlooked viewpoints and a very bizarre way of describing things. It was enchanting.

“Thanks.” She ignored a boundary and squeezed his hand. He felt a holy jolt of electricity go up his arm from the small touch. “I gotta go…you’ve got a friend. Works been slow and I have some…appointments. So I have to make sure I’m perfect.” She elaborated with an almost tic-like shake of her head.

“Yes, my friend is probably going insane dealing with our little issue.” He responded in kind. Missy had probably caused Nardole to melt down or malfunction.

He watched her leave towards the bus stop. Her bags hitting her back as she rushed. Her coat barely covering her bottom and the belt caught in the hem of it. He felt himself feeling almost physically unable to leave the bench. Something tugging at his gut was preventing him from doing so. It felt akin to what River and Clara evoked in him but different.

River and Clara were strong and capable, avant-garde. Self-confident. Cocky. But this student was seemingly the inverse. Very vulnerable and nervous to the point of a near imperceptible, even to him with his keen Time Lord senses, shake and a heart that was audibly racing in its cage. Coupled with her addiction to cigarettes and minor tendency towards self mutilation via near-constant picking and chewing…

Something dark, but heartwarming rushed through his core and took root.

He felt himself deeply looking forward to Monday.

#personal #12th doctor #peter capaldi #12th doctor x reader #self insert #doctor who fanfiction #i wrote this #pov fanfiction #student teacher #daddy issues #like my god #doctor who #the doctor #12th dr #reader x 12th doctor #yeeet #get in loser were writing indulgent fics because we've lost control of reality and our lives

74 notes · View notes

dokoni-mo · 1 year

Note

I’ve arrived with more horny william brain rot!

There is little doubt in my mind that our favorite afton to slut up likes to read. He’d probably love to share that with his darling bunny. And you absolutely know that man is making the polaroids he took into bookmarks. He just loves to see his bunny everywhere!

Bunny is in fact a college student, and sometimes certain classes end up requiring/give the option for a field trip. And that trip happens to fall on a weekend. They’re a little bummed, Willy is like actually depressed (lol), so bunny decided to hide a little something for him. As a ✨treat✨

So when afton wakes up Saturday, he reaches over for his book to read a little (because what else is there to do when his little rabbit is gone), and his usually bookmark feels a lot more lumpy than usual. So he opens it and what does he find? Polaroids of his precious, lovely bunny in nothing but his shirt, and a pair of her panties 💜

YEAH i uhhh,,

warnings: age-gap relationship (reader is 20 will is almost 40 yall know the drill), swearing, smoking, drinking, dom/sub undertones, sir kink, not proof read AGAIN IM SRY

"What? What do you mean the whole weekend?"

It had been an especially hard week for the brit at his diner. For one reason or another, it seemed as if nearly every single damn brat in that town just had to have a birthday that week. The diner was booked from start to finish every day of the week. William was frustrated. But every day drew him closer to the weekend. Closer to when he'd be able to see you again. And god did he fucking miss you. He missed his little bunny next to him; kissing them, holding them. Coming up with so many fun activities to show you.

But, it was in the past now. It was Friday. You'd be over tomorrow, and help relieve him of his pent-up stress like the good bunny you were.

Right?

Wrong.

"I knowwww, I'm sorry!" You pleaded with him at the other end of the phone, the older man taking a long, drawn out puff of his cigarette, "I just totally forgot about it until today!"

William sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaning against the wall, "And you're certain you have to go, love?"

"Yeah..." you sighed back, "It's required for my major. And I already rescheduled it last month, too. I can't do it again or I fail."

"Bunny, the weekends are our time together. You know this."

"I knoww, and I'm sorry! I'd stay behind if I could but I just can't. I'm sorry, Will. I'll be back for next weekend though!"

William took another puff of his cigarette, "Are you certain you can't come over even for a little? I... I miss you, bunny. It's been a tough week, and... I want you."

You let out a sympathetic hum, "I miss you too. But I have to go. I'm sorry."

"Alright." William sighed, "Fine. But don't expect to get off the hook next time I see you, little one. You need to tell me these things sooner rather than later."

The brit heard you giggle over the phone, "It'll be fine, Will. Surely you can survive two weeks without me."

"Getting smart with me now, hm?"

"No, sir."

William let out a pleased hum, "Good bunny. I'll miss you, okay? Have fun for me, alright? I'll be here waiting for you."

"I will, I will... Hey, before I forget; you remember that book you gave me, right? The old, thick and dusty one?"

"It's not old, love. It's classic."

You giggled again, "Classic, sure. Well, I finished it. I'll leave it in your mailbox before I go. Maybe that'll keep you occupied until I get back."

"Nothing could replace your company, little one. But, thank you. That's very kind."

"It's no problem. I gotta go pack now, Will. I'm sorry again. I'll see you next saturday, okay?"

"...Alright, bunny. Have fun. I love you."

"Love you too."

~~~

It was odd to have an empty house on the weekends. While William was used to Michael being away at his mother's, the house felt more depressing than usual without you in it. Dull. Grey. No life whatsoever.

William didn't drink often, not at all. He never found it to be that classy, and he wasn't about to throw his charm to the wind over alcohol. But god fucking damn it. He missed you so fucking much that Saturday afternoon. His cigarettes weren't having their usual kick to them. He needed something stronger to fill the void where you should be.

Pouring his second glass of whiskey for the evening, he couldn't help but wonder how you were. Your college was taking you an entire state away from him. Those fucking bastards. How dare they drag you so far away from him. What if you got hurt? Or in trouble? And he wasn't there to save his precious bunny? You knew his number, sure, but you were still so fucking far away from him. And a lot can happen so many miles away.

William took a large swig of the alcohol.

Fucking hell. He missed you so damn much.

He knew you didn't mean to tell him about the trip so late. You were a good bunny. Hell, he was the entire reason you didn't go when you were supposed to. He vaguely remembered convincing you to stay in town the first time you told him about it. You had just forgotten this time, surely. He couldn't stay mad at you for that. It was hard for him to stay mad at you in general. You were just too cute.

But William was miserable. He didn't want this shit to happen again. You would need to learn your lesson. And he'd make you learn it next time you were over.

But would he? Thinking of it now, it was hard for him to imagine giving you any sort of punishment. He just wanted you close to him. To pull you in his lap and kiss those sweet lips of yours. Hold you close to him. Lie down on his chest while he read his books before bed.

Oh, yes. That's right. The book he leant you. You said you'd give it back before you left.

Maybe he should take your advice. Use it to get his mind off you.

Finishing up his glass, William finished up his glass before he walked to the front door, opening and shutting it behind him as he made his way to the mailbox. The cool breeze of the sunset blew his neatly-combed hair out of place, washing over his pale skin. Upon opening up his mailbox, sure enough. The book he leant you was in there. But, it was... strange. Looked a lot fatter than normal.

The older man reached in and took the book out, brow furrowing in slight confusion. Leaning against the mailbox to shut it, the brit opened up the pages to see inside.

...

Oh.

William could feel the heat creep down his neck and cheeks.

Oh.

Oh, bunny. Sweet bunny.

Strewn about the pages was a handful of polaroid pictures. Pictures of you. In so many different positions... so many. He could see the plushness of your thighs. Your sweet little smile. Those big, gorgeous doe eyes. Your cute little pair of underwear...

You even still had some of the marks he'd given you last time you were over. And was that his dress shirt? It certainly was. How long have you had that, little one? Why, sir barely noticed that it was gone. Stealing his things now, are we? Naughty bunny.

You've been so bad recently, haven't you? William didn't much appreciate that. You had earned yourself a punishment, bunny. You probably know that just as sir does though, don't you? Was this your attempt at getting out of it?

William calmly shut the book, but quickly walked back into his house.

It worked, bunny.

For now.

#I JUST ALK;FDJA;FLS #CHERRY BEING THE DEATH OF ME PART 2 #GOODNESS GRACIOUS THE FOOD YOU GIVE US #IM HOWLING #william afton x you #william afton x reader

284 notes · View notes

starpirateee · 25 days

Note

WAITWAITWAITWAIT YKNOW HOW SPANKOFFSKI IS A POLISH NAME

PETE OR TED OR MAYBE BOTH SPEAKING POLISH AND CONFUSING THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM

JUST LIKE, THEY HAVE A PRIVATE CONVERSATION OVER THE PHONE THEY DONT WANT OTHERS TO HEAR SO SPEAK IN POLISH TO EACH OTHER AND WHEN TEHY HANG UP EVERYONE AROUND THEM IS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK??????

god im insane about themmmmmm

Anon this is really funny in concept, the size of your mind is insane && I just hope I can do it vague justice

The major problem for Ted on most days was that his phone tended to ring in the most inconvenient of places, at the most inconvenient of times. another major problem was that he often got so engrossed in… Whatever he was doing in the office that he forgot that he and Pete ran on completely different schedules, because his brother was still three months from graduating high school.

He'd been bunking off for the past half hour, and had been talking to Charlotte in the break room, trying to work out when a good time to see her again would be. Everyone who knew them tended to avoid the fact that she was blatantly using him as a fallback option because her husband couldn't— or wouldn't— give her what she wanted. People like Paul and Bill tended to ignore it, only because Sam was doing the same thing across town, with one of the Beanies' baristas, and one of his coworkers… Never at the same time, mind, but Zoey Chambers seemed rather unapologetic about it, so Paul and Bill had managed to work it out as fact.

Still, it was weird to see Charlotte with Ted. Because, at the right angle, it almost looked like Ted genuinely cared about her, and wanted to keep doing what they did to get her away from the thought of her husband for a while. That, of course, had seemed like enough total bullshit that nobody bought it, but they left the two of them to their well needed privacy when it came down to it. Only two people knew they were spot on with near enough everything they speculated about.

Ted leaned against the water cooler, sporting a little more confidence than would surely be allowed in a situation like this. Charlotte wasn't having a terrible day, and that meant it was that little bit easier to talk to her. Less Sam to think about… How did that bastard end up with a woman like her? And why was it that her situation was that bad that he was an upgrade for her?

He was going to think about an answer to that question, but his phone started ringing in his back pocket, vibrating way too dramatically against the cooler.

"Jesus christ-" He stood up a little straighter, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry, Charlotte. One sec, I swear- hello?"

"Hey, Ted."

That was a voice he'd recognise from anywhere. Pete, once again working off his own time and perhaps completely overlooking the fact that Ted still had an hour at work.

For the sake of clarity, Pete checked his watch and drew the realisation that the holidays were over last week, and Ted was back on office hours. His brow creased, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything then realising there wasn't really anything to interrupt in his brother's work life. "This a bad time?"

"Oh, hey, Pete. No, you're good, I wasn't doing anything anyway…" Ted went straight back to lounging, aware that Charlotte was now trying not to eavesdrop but didn't really have anything better to do. "What's up?"

Pete chuckled. "C'mon, when are you ever doing anything? You don't do shit! Especially not at work!"

"Hey! I do shit! I get paid to do shit, don't I?"

"… Do you even know what department you work in?"

It was a genuine question, and would've accounted for Ted's genuine laziness and reluctance to do any of the actual work he was sent… If Ted hadn't prepared for this exact eventuality several months ago. He'd made sure to pay enough attention in a Monday meeting to at least account for what depeatment he worked in, and what that department pretty much required him to do. He didn't have to work constantly anyway, and that was the best part. His main job was just… fixing the problems everyone else had, when they had them.

"Sure I do. Tech support!" He imagined the defeated expression that flashed across his brother's face, and laughed to himself. There were too many people around him to make the point he was going to make next without getting mobbed, so he leaned in a little closer to the phone, a smirk playing on his lips, and muttered, "Czuję się, jakbym był jedynym idiotą, który faktycznie się zakwalifikował… (I feel like I'm the only idiot who's actually qualified…)"

That prompted an unexpected laugh out of Pete, who was clearly around other people too, because he tried to cover it up. "To wiele mówi (that says a lot.)" He returned once he'd stopped laughing. The two of them had stopped questioning the other's occasional slip into their own version of mostly fluent Polish. They used it to their advantage, to have private conversations in public, or sometimes in reverse when they were around the Polish side of their family. More things could be said if there was the added bonus of nobody overhearing, and that way of thinking had helped Pete out on a few occasions.

Ted cracked a smile. "Ty jesteś gówniarz- (you're a little shit)" He managed to bring himself back into the conversation they were supposed to be having, before he and Pete managed to lose it like they always did, lost in the jesting and the back and forth that just seemed to get better with every phonecall they had. "You didn't call to insult my supposed lack of work, did you? What's up?"

"Can I drop by the office and pick up your keys? I must've left mine on my desk this morning… Took me till third period to realise they weren't in my pocket…" Pete turned from the phone to mutter something- a goodbye, perhaps- towards someone else, and Ted found it vaguely amusing that Pete had retaliated to his complaint when he was with friends.

"You left after me this morning…"

"The front door locks itself, don't worry about it."

Ted faltered, and then nodded. He'd figured that by accident once when he accidentally locked himself out after forgetting his own keys, and he had to wait in the foyer for half an hour like an absolute fool for Pete to show up after his study session. "Fine. You know where the back entrance is, don't you? My car's parked out there, you should recognise it."

"That hunk of shit? I'd recognise it anywhere,"

"Do not slander my car!"

"C'mon, Ted, you've had it like, twenty years! And it hasn't gotten any better in all that time…"

He was going to ignore for now the seemingly increasing pile of problems that it seemed to have every year. Wings that needed replacing because they'd rusted so hard last year, numerous little engine faults… And the suspension was probably shot after all these years… It was a hunk of shit, sure, but it was _his_hunk of shit. "You just wait till you get your own hunk of shit, we'll see who's laughing then!"

"I'm- I'm getting close, I can see your car. Thanks for this, by the way…"

"Yeah yeah, don't mention it, Pete. You better not lose 'em on your way home, I know what you're like…"

"Dupek. (Asshole)"

"Tak, też Cię kocham… (Yeah, I love you too)" Ted chuckled before Pete hung up on him with a scoff. He rolled back his shoulders and stood up from the water cooler. Charlotte tilted her head, and it dawned on him that she'd probably heard all of that. He shrugged. "My brother. Useless bastard left his keys in the apartment… Hold on just a moment." He flashed her a quick smile and sauntered out of the break room towards the lift at the back of the office. Charlotte didn't have the time nor the space to question the constant little jumps in language that may well have happened on both ends, because Ted was gone before she had the chance to think about it at all.

#starkid #ted spankoffski #peter spankoffski #void offering #star mail #nova's tags →#i love the idea of ted hiding the fact hes a massive sap by only being a massive sap in polish #like damn that man really will never tell anyone he loves his brother but his brother huh #king of showing affection tbh #btw feel free to correct me on the language if i got anything wrong #i'll be happy to change anything #i'm not a polish speaker and i did use google translate #you know how it is

24 notes · View notes

itsnotmourn · 2 months

Text

CONCEPTS AND RAMBLINGS | "animal" cult pmv extras

thank you everyone for liking my pmv (and on yt and twitter) !! i got more attention than i thought it would and that means the world to me! <33

here’s some of my concept art + rambles for it!

the first thing i made up, the character designs!

i didn’t think to refine them because they were good enough to use LMAO... so i scribbled colours down, threw a filter and called it a night

i wanted a sharp change from the verses and chorus (since the song goes from calm to... louder) so i made it greyscale (with a red filter) that changed to brighter colours!

also changed the text font/colour for ignacio hmm. the font was hard to read, in my opinion.

ignacio's design

ignacio loses his bandage colours because that was too many colours for my liking… i completely forgot his hair highlights tho

ah and he doesn’t get a mouth until the fire scene too…

it was only meant to be done for a few frames but i thought it be cooler if it was consistent.

the missing mouth represents his repressed feelings/silence, or something like that.

skidad's design

i got a few questions on whether skidad was a goat. despite looks, skidad’s design is actually based on the herbiadean/jacob sheep! four horns!

i have drawn skidad as a jacob sheep before as well!

look at them ominous friends.

the resemblance to goats is something i considered as well (links with cult/sacrifice) so i think of it as a fun bonus

i gave him wolf teeth because the whole “wolf in sheep’s clothing” but also because i like it when prey animals are given predator features

i left the body as "human" because i only wanted the face to be censored… i considered clawed/darkened hands too but nah

skidad was originally going to be lined like ignacio, but i liked the lineless look for him so voila! makes it feel like he’s “not bound by anything”... actually, this is the same reasoning for the match to be “out” of the border, even though it’s ignacio’s hand

storyboards

i rarely storyboard (most are locked in my mind) but i figured it'd be fun to try!

halfway, i got bored of drawing digitally so i moved onto my notebook. i think it was a good decision; since i drew with my ink pen, it forced me to move on with my mistakes instead of clicking "clear canvas" lol

i had a pretty solid idea of what i wanted after weeks of listening to the song over and over again. the only thing that really changed was the mirror, which was replaced with a shadowy ignacio

the coloured thumbnails i actually did first, just to figure out out what i’m doing for the chorus part… limited palette my beloved

i didn't know where to put the text so i was scribbling everywhere lol

ratio changes

in the chorus, the ratio of ignacio and skidad’s frames changes! it’s more obvious if i combined them together, like this

less for ignacio, more for skidad

did you notice that the fire in this shot look like the cult ?!!! why did i do that, you ask? well:

the fire is the same “red”as the robe

too lazy to draw fire without abusing motion blur

mmm symbolism idk. it's somewhere there

it wasn’t in my plans but i’m happy i made the choice in the last minute. this was the last thing i needed to finish before syncing it up with the music

also this… i just wanted to point it out… make sure everyone knows... did you notice this? did you? did you did you? well now you do!!!

that's it !!! that's your trip into my mind!! okay byeeeee !!

#even though i gave my own reasons; i welcome any other interpretations!#/gen !! i'm very interested to hear! throw an ask or in the reblogs!#[ mourn's mourns ]#[ mourning pmvs ]#[ the art of mourning ]#spooky month ignacio #spooky month skidad #not apologising for the absolute chaos of my writing... its rambling for a reason........ /J LOL #i won't be free from skidad videos ough #but now im starting university so i guess they won't be out anytime soon HAHAHA #hope you enjoy reading this!

49 notes · View notes

luvchampagne · 10 months

Text

WHOLE - k. tetsuro

summary: kuroo may be lacking and imperfect in some ways but you are there to make up for him.

pairings: kuroo tetsuro x fem! reader

a/n: this has been seating on my drafts for too long, and you can tell im loosing my brain juices at the ending. :')

kuroo tetsuro feels whole the day you entered his life. Every moment he gets he captures himself reminiscing the day how you two met. It was rather a sunny sunday and as always he spent his weekends on his grandmas house. last night he had cried himself to sleep; he had once again wondered what he did wrong for his mother to forsake him, he never truly got a proper answer no matter who he asked and he felt like he would never get one. so today, on a sunny sunday he decided to skip homework. it was unlikely of him, and he knew that all too well but something itched in him to go outside and play after that miserable evening, and there he found you. hair tied up in a pretty pony tail, dressed in floral pink dress as you drew random objects on the sidewalk. one particular thing that caught his eye is a black cat. “you forgot to drew it's whiskers.” he pointed out, he wasn't even aware that he had approach you. “oh,” and oh my god, if he knew that he had fallen inlove with those eyes of yours middle school kuroo wouldve laughed and won't believe a word. “it seems that i have, would you mind drawing it for me?” you offered him a white chalk. “im busy drawing it's food. by the way, his name is mr. cat” kuroo raised a brow at that. “mr. cat? how odd.” he could only smile at that thought as he proceeded to draw mr. cat's whiskers. so, on that day onwards kuroo tetsuro looked forward to every weekend. not only has he gained a new friend besides kenma and he had also gained a fellow friend thats actually interested in his volleyball activities. he learned that you had a crazy obsession with cartoons and like to fan girl over them, you adored taylor swift and you do seem to get along with kenma, occasionally playing video games with each other as you teamed up against kuroo and tell him that he sucks. of course he'd get pouty about it so you always promise to play volleyball with him and drag kenma along.

kuroo tetsuro feels whole when you two met again in college, unfortunately your parents had found a new job at a better neighbourhood and decided to move there. forcibly severing your contacts with your friends as you entered high school. he had saw you first in the library, hair tied once again in a high pony tail as you typed something on your laptop, your anti rad glass seating beautifully on the bridge of your nose. he remembers particularly in middle school he had told kenma how he felt about you, how his hands get clammy and a random wave of nervousness rush over him every time he gets to see you and how he feels like he's about to vomit his heart whenever you smile at him and tell him how proud you are of his volleyball accomplishments. kenma told him it was a crush and he immediately denied it. of course, middle schooler kuroo didn't care about any of that so he hadn't thought he'd grew feelings of you unconsciously. he recalls that feeling on a random sunny weekend once more when he was on his first year of high school after his friends asked (specifically yaku) if he ever had a crush. it was only then that the realization dawned on him, he liked you. he liked you and, ohmygod, kenma was right and everything's too late now and there was 1% he could actually meet you again. he remembers correctly that he felt hopeless and how dumb of him to never realized his own feelings for you. of course he mopped over that for a week, i mean sure, maybe you wouldn't reciprocate his feelings too but atleast he could've told you before you left. and he felt so stupid and dumb to deny what kenma told him 3 years ago. So, to meet you again in a random library was something he didn't expect. one thing led to another and he had approached you and thank god, you still remember him. a tiny part of him would've died in embarrassment if you did forget about him. he had guessed that if you didn't, he'd just re-introduce himself to you.

kuroo tetsuro feels whole when you drunkly confessed that you like him. of course, that wasn't his ideal way for confessing but if its you, he'd let it slide.

kuroo tetsuro feels whole when he finally get to feel your lips against his. it felt like home oh-so-warm and tasted like watermelon. he never knew that he'd obsessed over that fruit.

kuroo tetsuro feels whole when he gets home exhausted and youd always be there to engulf him in a hug, whispering “i miss you's and welcome, love.”

kuroo tetsuro feels whole when you said yes to him repeatedly on a sunny sunday under a wisteria trea. it was a three letter word but it meant the whole world to him. perhaps it wasn't sunday's that bring him luck but you. because when you had looked him in the eye when you two were seven and offered him a chalk, the day after his parents argued once more over custody, you had saved him. unconsciously.

kuroo tetsuro feels whole as he admires your sleeping face, legs tangled together under the blanket as your warmth engulf him. he can feel you starting to wake up but he can't help but stare at you longer. it was sunday again, and god knows how many times he had already hit snoozed on your alarm just to admire you further. kuroo tetsuro may not be perfect and lacking in some parts but, when he is with you he can feel as if he could conquer the whole world, because you keep him whole and he has zero plans of loosing you again.

#hq kuroo #kuroo tetsuro imagine #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro x you #kuroo tetsuro fluff #haikyuu #nekoma high #kuroo scenarios #kuroo x female reader #kuroo fluff #kuroo tetsuro drabble #kuroo tetsuro fanfiction #kuroo tetsuro oneshot #hq fluff #kuroo tetsuro scenarios #haikyuu!!

64 notes · View notes

genopaint · 29 days

Text

Week 13 of the daily dragon challenge! I'm VERY pleased with some of the stuff I drew this week, including some REALLY good fanart. Hope you like it too!

Also, since it's the last week of March, the Most Popular Dragon poll is up right now! Vote for your favorite dragon this month and they'll get new art tomorrow!

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #84 - Kingdra

Thought it'd be fun to do another Dragon Type today! Completely forgot Kingdra was one of them so I thought that'd be a fun one to draw! Don't worry, eventually I'll do some of the dragon looking dragon types too lol

Daily Dragon #85 - Brad

Was really nostalgic for Tech Deck Dudes yesterday, and remembered there's a dragon / kaiju dude so... Of course I just had to

Also, DAMN, Brad has 9 variant color schemes released over the years! So, naturally, I had to make them all. Do you have a favorite? Did you collect Tech Deck Dudes as a kid? And as a bonus bonus, I made my own variant too. Why not?

Daily Dragon #86 - Connery

Well... y'know... There are MULTIPLE dragons in the Tech Deck Dudes series... And I might as well do a Zood since I did a Dude I won't do all the dragons for this challenge but I wanted to do Connery because I actually had him as a kid! Neat! This little thing influenced how I drew dragons for YEARS when I was a small child lmao I miss tech deck dudes actually

Daily Dragon #87 - Penelope

I figured since I finally saw the Barbie movie, I gotta draw THE Barbie dragon, right? I remember watching Barbie Rapunzel a lot as a kid and yet somehow I've never drawn Penelope before! No time like the present, right?

Daily Dragon #88 - Velocidunce

These dumb dinos are known for their obnoxious laugh you can hear while they're hunting. Because of this seemingly uncontrollable laughter, a lot of smaller prey animals are startled and run away when Velocidunce tries to hunt them

A lot of fanart the last couple days so I figured I should make something new again! Originally this was gonna be a wise dragon but I decided to change the design completely and made it an idiot instead :) anyway, I think I need more non-reptile dragons. Maybe tomorrow!

Daily Dragon #89 - Sketchysaur

Just a random little dinosaur I drew on my phone in a parking lot today! You'll have to bear with me on this one, I'm very tired and busy today and I'm gonna have a tiring busy week ahead of me too

All my first attempts. I need a phone stylus lol

Daily Dragon #90 - Molluscreep

This might seem just like a clam... And, it is. But it's also a powerful dragon! They store massive amounts of energy in their mouths to blast out, which can sometimes form beautiful crystals in their mouth! The mouth muscle is a famous delicacy!

I really wanted to do a non reptilian dragon today, and for some reason a clam is what kept coming to mind! I think it's pretty neat looking!

#dragon #dragons #character design #creature design #monster design #fanart #my stuff #oc #kingdra #pokemon #tech deck #barbie #barbie as rapunzel #penelope barbie

13 notes · View notes

okapiandpaste · 1 year

Text

So Letters from Watson sent out “The Dying Detective” a few weeks ago, and since it’s a favorite of mine I thought I’d talk about why I think it’s one of the most crucial stories for understanding Holmes and Watson as a characters. (This is late because I hesitated on posting and then promptly forgot about it. Whoops.)

What most people take away from “Dying Detective”, I assume, is that Holmes is a master of deception. While this is partially true, I don’t think Holmes’ illness being faked should be used to dismiss the vulnerability of the situation: that Holmes had starved himself for 3 days and needed Watson’s complete faith in him if he was to succeed in catching a murderer.

Holmes’ deception of Watson in this story is regarded by many as coldblooded. There’s a moment in his false delirium where, in a last ditch effort to keep Watson from realizing his illness is fake, he calls Watson a “general practitioner with very limited experience and mediocre qualifications”. At this, Watson describes being “bitterly hurt”.

After the reveal of the sickness being faked, Holmes could’ve easily excused himself of this cruel remark due to it being a part of his act (even Watson himself believed this to be the case), but chooses not to. Rather, after he makes the comment, he immediately backpedals for the rest of the story, complimenting Watson profusely even while still pretending to be delirious (“Don’t forget, Watson. You won’t fail me. You never did fail me.”). At the end, he openly admits that the reason for keeping Watson at a distance was that, contrary to his harsh remark, he actually believed him too astute a doctor to fool if he drew any closer.

Like with Holmes’ false death and disguise in “The Empty House”, the events of “Dying Detective” naturally add speculative elements of distrust and tension to the public interpretation of Holmes and Watson’s dynamic. Why should Watson trust Holmes after he upsets him like that? Despite all this, the actual text frames these moments as faith-restoring.

Although most of Watson’s narration in “Dying Detective” is punctuated with his distress, there’s a deep undercurrent of faith in his behavior. He expresses fear and doubt over Holmes’ ability to make decisions in such a state, but he decides to believe Holmes knows what’s best for himself and follows his instructions perfectly. This isn’t just blind trust on Watson’s part, it’s mutual, because if Holmes did not believe Watson would follow his instructions to a tee, the entire plan would’ve failed.

And this is all without mentioning the scene where Holmes shouts in terror when Watson reaches for the box, clearly fearing for Watson’s safety when we finally learn the context. They clearly care a lot about each other in this story, and even though it’s just from Watson’s perspective, it’s obvious Holmes is trying to be considerate despite the strange situation. (So, anyways, it kinda sucks that this story is read shallowly and used as proof towards the idea that Sherlock is a complete asshole.)

#text heavy #letters from watson #me posting crud #Sherlock Holmes #should he have done that to watson? no #but is he sorry and does watson forgive him? yes #analysis

83 notes · View notes

dontforgetyourmedstoday · 5 days

Note

So you just steal artwork and don't care? Got it. Either that or my ask asking about sources from your posts on April 8th disappeared. Or I guess you could be off tumblr and not have been here for two weeks.

Hi Anon,

I'm assuming this is you:

If it is, yes, I did see your last ask - but life has been a bit shit lately and frankly, I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to deal with an accusatory email that gave me absolutely no details about what you were upset about so I could investigate. So today, despite it being an incredibly long and shit one that isn't over I'm going to reply.

*Takes a deep breath* From this point forward I'm going to assume that, like me, you are just a real-live human with feelings that get hurt and not someone who just likes to yell at people on the internet. So let me apologise that I have used your artwork without attribution, it was in no way my intention. Please take this apology as someone who was just trying to amuse themselves and perhaps help some other people out by reminding them to take their meds too. I absolutely suck at art-type things so in my mind, no one would think I did them or was claiming the actual 'art' part of them as mine. I realise now this is the internet, you guys don't know me, and so I should have been clearer that nearly all of these are edits. (There are a few waaaaay back I actually drew myself). Looking at the 7th, 8th & 9th of April (allowing for time zones and assuming that's when you saw your artwork). All of them except one have a link at the bottom of the image that links back to where I sourced the original image - I don't know if this is visible on mobile so I'll show it below (the bit circled in red)

So I'm assuming this one is yours:

It seems that one doesn't have the link. I don't know why. I haven't made any new reminders for this blog in ages (again - life) - it seems like most of the ones from early April this year were originally posted back in 2021. I got briefly excited about this blog again a few months ago and loaded up a bunch of old ones so this blog was still functional for the people that find it helpful. Going back I have noticed that others seem to not have credit either. It is possible I made a mistake and forgot to add them. It's also possible that Tumblr has a had a glitch/error/weirdness which means it's disappeared. I also used a bunch of images from the editing app I was using to add the reminder message and I wish I could remember what the site was called because I cannot for the life of me remember. Honestly, who knows. I have deleted the post(s) with that image - if it's not the right one please let me know.

I have always gone out of my way to ensure that anything I use is either free use, or non-commercial under Creative Commons. As an aside, I'm an academic and a person who has artist friends and my partner runs a business where our customers are largely designers and artists, so I do actually do my best to give credit. Am I perfect - no I'm not. Part of the reason I stopped making new posts was because of difficulty giving credit even on images that were non-attribution and finding images where I knew what the attribution requirements were (along with trying to remember everything everyone asked me to tag, and doing the image descriptions etc.) If anyone else finds something of theirs in one of my posts and there isn't credit attached please either dm me or send an ask and let me know which post and how you would like to be credited and I'll add it in. If you want it removed, I'm happy to do that too.

Sorry for the long post, hope it helps to clear things up. Finally, let me take this opportunity to say

"Don't forget your meds today my friends"

#attribution #artwork #answered ask

13 notes · View notes

dragonwritersblog · 5 months

Text

Five Times Jax and Pomni Share Dreams of Their Past Lives (And One Time Where They Remember)

Read on AO3

1/2/3/4/5/6

Hi! The last chapter of the first fic! We actually made it! I just wanted to go a huge thank you for all those who have supported me! Whether it was on AO3, twitter, tiktok, tumblr or discord. You guys have been amazing! I still can't get over the fact that my fic has over 10k hits you guys are insane and I love it! I have some other stuff that I need to work on after this (a fnaf one-shot, a funnybunny royal au for my mutual artie on twitter and discord, and a funnybunny pirate au as well) but that doesn't mean I won't be working on the sequel at the same time.

Also, I forgot to include this last week and I'm so ashamed of myself, but please go check out this art of my fic that was drawn on tumblr, it's amazing!: https://www.tumblr.com/pomni-stare/734273534847860736/more

This my pal berry also drew a reference to my fic with her art here as well: https://twitter.com/CheyennePlayz/status/1725864159139738099

Once again, thank you so much!

And now, the final chapter...

Pomni woke in a cold sweat.

That was…it couldn’t be, could it? It was her at the end of that dream! Right after Penny put on the headset! When she first got here! But how could that be?! These dreams weren’t real! They were just, well, dreams! Just made-up figments of her imagination! But then again, no one else had them here, just her. So why did she have them? What made her so special?

Penny…why did that name feel so strikingly familiar to her? Why did it feel like she walked the steps that she walked? That she spoke the words that she spoke? Every single movement and decision that Penny Reed had made, why did it feel like Pomni had done it all before? And Penny’s mother and sister, she felt as though as though she truly knew them. That she could list off everything they loved, from the music the liked, to the foods that disgusted them, all the little things that made them into the people they were. It felt as though if she reached down hard enough, she could remember every piece of information about them. But why?

And then there was Jack, the one that invaded her mind, body and soul each time he appeared, when he spoke, laughed, cried, joked and breathed. Every time she saw him was like dancing an old waltz, the steps might be fumbled and clumsy from the lack of practice, but the heart and joy of it was still there.

Especially when she was with Jax…

There was so much déjà vu with him, it kept her in within its strong grasp. Even when Jax was only a thought in her head, it was as if she were replaying the old song and dance of Jack and Penny with him.

But why?!

Winter

Riley

Amber

Jack….

Her head began to pound, she immediately grabbed it as it throbbed painfully. What was going on?! Suddenly, the warm face of a girl with dark hair appeared behind her squeezed shut eyes.

“So,” Winter turned in the passenger seat to face Penny in the back, “Sorry that it was under these events how you met Jack, hopefully you were okay with him.”

“I’m not,” said Riley, focused on the road.

“Just keep driving mama bear,” Winter rolled her eyes before turning to Penny again.

Pomni gasped. Winter…she knew her. She knew so much about her. She met two months after meeting Riley, trying to sneakily ask for tips on how to ask the other girl out. Carrot cake, her favourite food was carrot cake. She loved it so much that she had it every year on her birthday and baked it whenever she could. “Oh god,” Pomni exhaled, she knew Winter. Not just from the dreams, but really knew her! She was her friend!

Her head throbbed again, a red headed girl about 4 years older than her appearing, replacing Winter.

“Penny! Oh thank God!” Riley rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around her younger sister and pressed a kiss at the side of her head, “You gave me a heart attack going into that house, and then hearing that you fainted?! Don’t ever do that again!”

She grabbed at her pyjama bottoms. Riley Reed, one of the strongest people she knew. A protector who forgets to protect herself, always putting her mother and little sister first. Had saved said younger sister many times and seen the wounded parts of her that weren’t visible to the everyday eye. There was a secret that she kept, that she never told anyone, not even to her mother. It was always for Riley’s little sister’s ears only. If she ever had a son, she would same him Percy after her youngest sibling. No one knew that, that secret was locked tight in a vault. “Why do I know this?” Pomni asked herself.

White pain flashed in her mind again. It hurt, it hurt so much. But it numbed the moment an older woman took Riley’s place.

“He really is, and you will be too my little costuming star!” Amber nuzzled her daughter’s nose with her nose, laughing at Penny’s groans.

“Mom!” Penny buried her head into Amber’s shoulder, “Stop!” She didn’t mean it and Amber knew that.

“I can’t help it if my daughter is amazingly talented,” Amber grinned, loosening up a bit as she peered down to look at Penny’s face.

Amber, mother of two girls. Divorced from her awful husband. She enjoyed cooking, spending time with her girls, always offered a shoulder to cry on. For Penny to cry on…no matter where she was she knew that her mother was her safe place. The soft feeling of familiar soothing fingers running through her hair made Pomni grasp at her chest with a pained cry, she knew who those memorable hands belonged to. “Mom,” she whispered.

There was another flash. Pomni grit her teeth, trying to ease the pain. It disappeared the moment a handsome young man stepped forward in her mind’s eye, taking a pair of small hands into his one large ones. She knew those hands…

“I would tell her that I’m not a perfect person, but I am someone who’s always trying. You’ve taken over my mind and have stolen my heart, but I can’t find it in myself to care as long as it’s in your hands.” Jack took her hands in his at those words, “I just hope that she feels the same way.”

She did…no, she does. She loved Jack! She loved him so much. The idea of being with him lifted her higher than the sun and moon themselves! She loved him! She loved him because he…he…he. Jack was here.

Her mind throbbed again, it felt as though it was twisting, moulding, transforming. Not into something new, but into something that she never knew she lost.

“I know,” he nodded, bringing her in closer, “I’m always good whenever you’re here.”

She sighed, pressing her forehead against his, “Okay, just tell me if there’s anything going on if there is.”

Penny laughed wetly, cupping both Jack’s cheeks tenderly in her hands, “I don’t deserve you.”

“No,” Jack disagreed, turning his head and kissed the palm of her hand. “It’s me who doesn’t deserve you.”

Penny let another tear fall as she brought Jack in for another kiss. The two relished the moment they had together.

“You’re so beautiful,” he knew what he said, and he wasn’t going to take it back, not when she peered up at him through her long lashes with a gasp.

“Y-you’re ridiculous,” she uttered, handing him her jacket.

“Hey, just telling the truth here,” he replied as he went to hang up her jacket on the wall, “Besides, someone’s gotta point out how pretty you are.”

Penny was about to go inside when she decided to do one more thing while she still had the courage, after all, the night was still young. “Jack, wait!”

He lifted his head at the call of his name, “What? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s just, um, you f-forgot something,” Penny stammered, working herself up as much as she could, “You forgot this.”

She planted a kiss on his cheek, pulling away quickly.

He held his hand out to her.

Penny took it in her own and shook it, “I’m Penny.”

The throbbing finally passed, Pomni let her hands drop to her sides as waves and waves of anything and everything came rushing back to her.

Penny…Penny…Penny. “…My name is Penny Reed,” she was still for a moment before she jumped up and stood on her bed as she let out a thrilled holler. She had a name! “My name is Penny Reed!”

She clasped her hands over her mouth, praying that no one heard her. It was a silent as a mouse, thank goodness. She plopped herself back down, letting tears of relief flood down her cheeks. Her name was Penny Reed, she had an amazing mother and a great big sister. She wanted to be a costume designer and create amazing garments for the whole world to see. She found a friend in her sister’s wife who became a rock for her. But most importantly, she was in love with an incredible man named Jack Bloom.

That was why she put the headset on! That was how she ended up here! Jack had to be here, if the cases that Riley described was like how she got here and how he went missing, then Jack had to be here too.

But who was he? Oh god, what if he already abstracted and she was too late?! No, he’s close, I can feel it. She felt him, she felt him here. He’s close. In fact, he felt closer the more she thought about her. Could he…no.

“Can’t make any promises little lady,” Jack smirked.

…

Jax sighed, “You’re welcome little lady.”

Pomni’s eyes widened.

“Keep the chivalry to yourself sir,” Penny placed a hand on her hip.

“Can’t help it, I’m dreamy,” Jack was unable to keep the grin off his face at her pout. His face softened, holding out his arm, “Shall we?”

Penny raised a brow at him, grinning. “Mr Jack how thoughtful of you.”

…

“Just until you’re more aware of your surroundings,” Jax told her, “After all, I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Ah, right,” Pomni gave him a joking grin, “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to that.”

“See, now you’re getting it,” Jack agreed, returning her grin.

No way. It couldn’t be, they were both so different. But the similarities, they wouldn’t stop adding up.

Penny sank to the floor as she watched Jack shove David away.

There was nothing but fury in Jack’s eyes, “If you ever put your hands on her again, I’ll make sure you lose them!”

…

One moment Jax was at the side like everyone else, watching the whole thing go down. Next, he was in front of Pomni, staring at Caine as the AI tilted his head at Jax’s new and sudden behaviour.

Was he really…Jax was really…

“Oh Penny” Jack sighed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she all but collapsed into him, wailing as he soothingly stroked her back. “He’s never coming back here again, I’ll make sure of it. Shh, it’s okay, I got you.”

…

“Well, I have a proposition for you,” Jax said, she perked up, “Until you feel like you understand this place a little more, I’ll be there to make you don’t have one of your episodes. Whether you’re spiralling or hyper focusing, I’ll be here to ground you in case that happens.”

“Jax…Jack,” she let out a gasp. He was – Jax was – he was right beside her all along and she didn’t even know! “Jack!”

She jumped off her bed and ran to her door, opening it as quick as she could as she made a beeline to Jax’s room in front of her. She swung the door open, a grin widening on her face, hoping to see a purple rabbit tangled in sheets. But he was gone, nothing but an empty made up bed with no sign of a body being in there whatsoever.

She closed the door, he wasn’t here. He couldn’t have gone far. She had to find him, she will find him. Now that she had a grasp on her life and her love again, she wouldn’t let go any time soon.

She ran down the hallway.

Jax-Jack-Jax-Jack-Jax-Jack-Jax-Jack-Jax-Jack

The lines began to blur together, the puzzles slipping back into place. Jax was Jack! She had to complete her forgotten mission. She had to get Jack!

“Penny!” Jax screamed as he awoke, the image of the girl trying to painfully claw off the headset still fresh in his mind. But then, it led to Pomni arriving in the circus. What did that have to do with Pomni being here? Could she…no its just a dream! They’ve all been dreams Jax! There’s no way that I’m allowed to be that lucky. Someone like him didn’t deserve people like Pomni or Penny. Two kind-hearted individuals who tore his heart out the minute it looked like their spirits were broken. How could Jack do that?! Penny was amazing, kind, beautiful! How could he let her go like that?!

Jax gripped the fabric of his shirt where his heart was, who was he kidding, he sounded like a damned hypocrite. Pomni nearly drowned because of him, he would want to stay away from him too. All he did was get her hurt when he was supposed to protect her. He was just as much of a fool as Jack was…

…Actually, now that he thought about it, he had been here as long as Jack was missing in his dream. Time had its own rules here, but Jax would be damned if he didn’t try to keep track of how long he was here, scratching a line on the wall behind his wardrobe to show each night he spent here. Jack had been gone for 6 months, he was here for 6 months – 9 if you counted the three months since Pomni arrived. It was too much of a coincidence for him to not to notice it.

No, don’t! Thinking of this type of stuff never did Queenie any favours! Just stop Jax! But he couldn’t, his mind just kept rushing and rushing, but it didn’t hurt, more like the waves of an ocean gently guiding him to where he needed to be.

“Hey, are you free on Halloween?”

Jax froze. That voice, he knew that voice. He turned, spotting a dark-haired woman on a bed that wasn’t there before.

Winter.

“Depends,” his mouth moved on its own, saying words against his mind’s control. Was he even trying to control it in the first place? “Why, what type of genius plan have you concocted this time?”

“Well, Riley and I are going to the Halloween festival that day and she’s bringing her sister,” said Winter, smiling coyly. “Maybe you should meet up with us and get a chance to meet her.”

“Meeting mini-Riley?” He raised an eyebrow at the woman. Why did this conversation feel so familiar? He never met Winter in his life!...Right? “If she’s related to Riley she might have ‘I’ll punch you in the face tendencies’ so I’m not so sure yet.”

“Trust me,” Winter grinned, “This girl is the total opposite from Riley, her personality is a complete 180.” She stood up and walked over to him.

He crossed his arms, an action that felt repeated in so many ways, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing…” she drawled, “I just think it would be idea to meet this girl, she’s pretty cute.”

“Mmhmm,” he wasn’t convinced in the slightest, “Spill the truth Winter.”

She sighed, he could see right through her and she knew it. “Look, Penny is a sweet girl who’s gone through a lot like you have and she’s struggling to find someone to relate with. And yeah both she and Riley have gone through shit, but Penny is really sensitive and there was some other stuff that happened that’s left her shaken up. I’m not forcing you to be friends with her, but I know that you’ve been looking to relate to someone as well. I think Penny is that someone.”

He fidgeted with his hands for a moment, “I’m getting better you know. I’ve been talking to people in my classes and Andrea has been a great help as well.”

“I know and you’re doing great!” Winter reassured him, “This is just something to think about. If you’re free, the offer’s there.”

Jax paused, as though he were thinking about it. Why was this happening, why was he talking to Winter as though he did this before? Why did it feel like he knew Winter for a lifetime? Why was he begging himself to say yes next? Winter was supposed to be a dream, Penny was supposed to be a dream, all of this was supposed to be a dream!

“You know what, sure, what not. But if she pulls a Riley and sucker punches me in the face I’m blaming you,” He pointed at her.

Winter laughed, shaking her head. “Penny would never do that. And Riley thinks you’re cool! She won’t be getting pissed at you anytime soon.”

Jax gave her an uneasy nod, “Uh huh, if that’s what you say. I’ll check my schedule and see if I’m free. Don’t make me regret this.”

“Oh please, have I ever been wrong?” Winter scoffed.

“Should I list it off right now?” Jax chortled as she punched him in the shoulder.

The second Winter made contact with him, she vanished, leaving the rabbit stunned. That moment, it happened before, didn’t it? This wasn’t some hallucination, this…this was a memory. His mind flashed, he gripped his head as it pounded with agony.

“Hey cariño, how are you doing?”

Another voice snapped him out of it as he whipped round to face a short older woman with darks curls. Her eyes remined him of Winter.

“I…I’m fine,” He sniffed, “I’m really sorry for snapping Laura.”

“Est á bien, come here,” she stepped closer, wanting to comfort him but gave him some space in case he didn’t want to be touched. “I know you’ve been through a lot, and though I’m not happy with some of the ‘colourful language’ you used, you’re a part of our family now and we’re never gonna let anyone hurt you ever again.”

Jax wiped his eyes, how could someone be so forgiving? If only she knew what type of things he did here, “I don’t deserve this Laura.”

Laura tsked at him, “Everyone deserves a chance to be happy. You, you’re just a kid who went through hell and back, you deserve one more than anyone. It’s gonna be okay.”

She opened his arms for him. Jax leapt forward, desperate for the hug she was offering. But just like Winter before, she vanished before he could get the chance.

Laura, Winter, Riley he knew these people, didn’t he? These…these weren’t dreams.

“Okay, I need a little help here. What do you think? Indoor wedding or outdoor wedding?”

That…that was…how…

He turned, only to see Pomni sitting on the bed this time, with a laptop on her knees. The stage disappeared, the rooms of an apartment bedroom replacing them, with only the jester and the rabbit looking the same as before.

“I…I don’t mind, I want this to be your dream wedding sweetie,” he said, moving to sit beside her, “Whatever your heart desires.”

Pomni blushed, gripping the laptop tighter. “Stop being charming and help! This is your wedding too, where do you want it?”

“My dream wedding is your dream wedding,” he replied suavely with a shit-eating grin.

She groaned at his teasing, closing the laptop and flung it onto the plush mattress and she flopped her back onto the bed. “I’m serious,” Pomni told him, “I need to know cause if we want it outside we need to figure out a good date so that it doesn’t rain. But if we want it inside should we rent out a hotel or get married in the church? If your family even religious? And don’t even get me started on the menu with all the dietary requirements and the types of food everyone wants. And my dress – oh god my dress I totally forgot-”

She was cut off by her own squeal when Jax’s hand shot out and tickled her belly, making her curl up and giggle. “Okay, okay, let’s keep calm,” he said, soothingly as he retreated his hand, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you more stress.”

“No, it’s me,” she sighed as she hugged her knees to her chest. “I panic about everything, it’s no surprise I’m panicking over our wedding. Pathetic, huh?”

“Hey,” he gathered her in his arms and carried her over to the headboard of the bed, sitting them both down as he cradled her in his arms. “You are not pathetic, and I should’ve been more sympathetic. I know you want this to be the ‘perfect wedding’, but I don’t want you to overwork yourself.” Jax kissed his forehead, “The only reason why I suggested that you choose was because you’ve been so caught up on making sure this wedding was perfect for everyone else, you forgot to ask yourself what you wanted. I’ll help you with planning, but for now, would you rather get married inside of outside?”

Pomni smiled sweetly at him, placing an appreciative kiss on his cheek before humming in thought. “Outside, during summer. But then have dinner and the reception inside.”

“There you go,” Jax gave her a squeeze, making her laugh as she snuggled into his arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle the menu and all the other stuff that’s giving you grief.”

“Except for the dress,” she informed him, “I wanna handle my dress, no surprises for you mister!”

“Oh no!” he whined sarcastically, making his fiancé laugh harder. “How will I cope with not seeing the beautiful dress my future wife will wear!”

“You’ll survive,” she tapped his nose.

He took her hand, placing a kiss on the inside of her palm.

“I love you Penny,” he whispered.

“I love you too Jack,” she hushed back.

There was no longer a jester and rabbit in that room, replacing them was a young couple with rings on their fingers as they gazed into one another’s eyes with so much love.

Jax blinked and he was back on the empty stage.

“He…I…Pomni…Penny,” he inhaled, fisting his shirt. “I’m…Jack.”

The waves became stronger, suddenly everything was rushing back to him. From the fears of his childhood, his friendship with Winter, his newfound family with the Alvarez’s…and Penny. The love of his life. And she was here. She went looking for him and she’s…

“Pomni!” he gasped.

Penny was Pomni! Pomni was Penny!

She found him! He found her! And she…she went looking for him, after everything he did.

Jax let go of his shirt. He had to find her, he had to tell her how sorry he was, that he couldn’t believe she was here, that we would never let her go ever again!

He let his feet lead him, searching and scanning everywhere for the jester. He had to get to her, he had to!

“Jack! Jax!” Pomni continued to search every room. She dodged every gag thrown at her, she didn’t leave a door wasted unless a purple rabbit was inside. She called out his name, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough to not wake anyone. Especially Caine.

…

“Pomni?!” Jax ran up to the first hallway, calling out the jester’s name, begging for an answer. His stomach churned when there wasn’t a response. He wouldn’t stop, he had to keep going until she was found. “Penny!”

…

Pomni ran up to the stage, it was the only place left. Maybe he was behind the curtain, planning some kind of prank for tomorrow. “Jax?!” she shoved the curtain aside, but there was no rabbit in sight, only the wooden floorboards and the looming height of the ceiling above her. So much space yet he still wasn’t here. He couldn’t have abstracted, it might have sounded crazy but she swore she could still feel him here. She can’t give up. “Jack!” She ran off the stage.

…

Jax raced up the stairs to the rooftop, where they had their late-night conversation, she had to be here! He looked everywhere so she had to be! When he arrived however, the only things that greeted him was the twinkling stars in the sky and the vast endless world of the circus grounds. But still no jester inside. Inside, she still had to be inside. And so inside he went.

…

Pomni sprinted back up the stairs and into another hallway, she lost count at this point, but she was determined to keep going. She was going to start checking when the door flung open at the end of the hall, revealing a panting and exasperated Jax. Pomni froze, was it really…?

Jax pushed some of his dishevelled fur back, about to continue searching when his yellow eyes made contact with Pomni’s red and blue. It was her, she was here. She was up to, did she know? There was only one way to find out. “Penny?”

Pomni felt her eyes well up with tears, for the first time, she was crying with joy here. “Jack,” she let out a relieved breath and ran up to him.

Jax let laugh-mixed cry escape from his throat as he ran to Pomni as well. The jester jumped into his arms, with him sliding an arm under to support as she gripped the fur at his neck while he grasped onto her pyjama shirt. Jax pressed kisses all over her face wherever he could reach, Pomni laughed wetly and did the same. He spun her round, nothing but carefree laughter filled the empty hall. Only two lost souls finally finding each other against all the odds thrown at them.

“It was the dreams!” she spoke between kisses, “You were in my dreams! It helped me remember!”

“Me too, I had the dreams too,” he replied, as she pressed two kisses to each of his eyelids, “You were in every one of them Penny.”

The small kisses seized and the two returned to holding each other as tightly as they could. This wasn’t a dream, it would be too cruel for them. Pomni wasn’t sure if she could bear it. “Is this real?” she barely whispered into the rabbit’s ear.

“Yeah, this is real as it can get Pen,” he buried his head into her shoulder. “I’m so sorry Penny. This is all my fault.”

“No,” she cupped his cheeks into her hands, “None of this was your fault, you didn’t know you were gonna get sucked into this.”

“But I left you,” he sniffed. “I left you and said all those awful things and got you trapped here too. I didn’t mean it, any of it! I love you so much Penny! I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” she wiped away his tears, “I’ve already forgiven you long before my mind was stolen here. I love you too.”

He rested his forehead against hers, he missed this, he missed her so much.

She missed him too, all those months of him being gone when everyone tried to look for him. Trail after trail yet still coming up empty. It was too much to bear, to scream out a name that wouldn’t answer back. But he was here, he was alive, he remembered her and she remembered him! It was her turn to cry now, letting a few stray tears fall.

Jax immediately noticed her sniffling, stroking her hair and pressing her face into her shoulder as he soothingly rubbed his hand up and down her back. Wordlessly, he carried her back to the bedroom hallways, make his way to his room. His bed was big enough for the two of them.

Once he entered, he noticed that his bed was still made – due to the fact that he decided to sleep on the stage – with a small stuffed plushie of him in the centre of the pillows. He shut the door with his foot, carrying Pomni to the bed as he laid her down. She didn’t want to let go, but he pried her fingers off him and laid down next to her, pulling a comforter over the two of them.

Pomni grabbed the plushie, squeezing it tight before latching herself onto Jax, not wanting to lose his touch for a second. He was the same, holding her as though she would disappear if he let go. “I never thought I’d get a chance like this again,” she mumbled, “When you disappeared I just-”

“Shh,” he pressed a kiss to her hair, “I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. Never again.”

“Jax...Jack,” her mind was still processing everything, “What made you…why did you…what happened?”

He sighed, stroking her hair. She meant what made him react the way he did that day. The day he left and set of this catalyst. He had to tell her, hiding it caused all of this. He gulped and felt her small hand grip his. With the newfound reassurance, he began, “You remember when I told you about my old foster family?” He felt her nod against him, “Well, the day when I went to get the stuff you like from the coffee shop, I ran into my foster brother Luke.” He heard her gasp, she knew about everything Luke did to him when he was a kid, even the bad stuff. “Yeah, the things he said, it made me spiral a bit. I was gonna tell you and go to Andrea about what happened, but I just felt so weak to do that. There so much going in my head, so much fear and anger. I just wanted to handle it on my own so no one else could be affected by it. Heh, guess that didn’t turn out so well.”

He felt her snuggle closer. “It’s just,” Jax continued, “I was doing so well. I was happy, had a good support system, fell in love.” He ran his fingers through her hair, making her hum appreciatively, “I always thought that if something like that happened I could talk to someone about it. I relapsed pretty hard though. And I’m sorry that you were the one who had to pay for it.”

“Jack-” she started.

He pressed a finger to her lips. “Please, let me finish. You have been nothing but the most extraordinary person in my life, you were always prepared to be there for me whenever I was gonna go through something. I’m so sorry I didn’t talk to you about this. I do trust you with talking about this, I’m the problem. You didn’t deserve any of the hurt I placed onto you. I love you so much, and I’m really sorry.”

She brushed the fur on his cheeks with a smile, “Like I said, I forgive you. I know you Jack, I know how hard it’s been for you. But I also know that you’re able to overcome it as well. That’s something Luke has never been able to do. You made a life for yourself, Luke is just an insecure jerk who was jealous that you were able to be happy. If I ever see him again, I’m gonna use that move Riley taught me and use it on him.”

“You don’t mean…” Jax gaped.

Pomni gave him a sly grin, “Oh yeah, that move.”

“Oh you’re vicious, woman,” he chuckled, diving to her neck and pressed a dozen kisses to her collarbones, “I love it!”

“Jax!” she chortled, trying to shove his shoulders away. “You idiot! Get off!”

“I have to shower my little lady with all the love she deserves. I never knew she could be so wicked! I can’t believe I’m rubbing off on you short stack,” he pressed a few more to the sensitive spot behind her ear, earning him a yip from Pomni.

“Jack!” she giggled. She then dove her head to the side of his neck, taking his fur between her teeth and nipped him.

“Ow! Pomni!” he let out a laugh as he retaliated, “Okay, I yield I yield!” He fell back against his pillows as Pomni laid her head on his chest, feeling rather proud of herself. “You do realise your teeth are sharper here, right?”

“Good,” she hummed, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Jeez,” his chest shook as he laughed, “Riley taught you well, huh?”

Her sister…Pomni’s smile faded. It had been so long since she last saw her older sister.

Jax immediately picked up on her downed mood, cupping her cheek and lifting her head to his. “Talk to me,” he said.

“I-,” Pomni sighed, “I miss Riley so much. And my mom too. I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now. I forgot about them. They matter so much to me and I just forgot about them! And now that I remember them, it just makes me miss them so much. All I want is to find a way, any way to reach out to them! To tell them that I’m okay and that I’m trying my best to get back to them! I just wanna go home.”

Jax pulled her closer, running his fingers up and down her back again. “I know, I know. I get it. I miss my family too,” he told her. “I miss Winter and her teasing, I miss Laura and her empathy, I miss Nina and Alex’s craziness. I miss everyone. But we’re gonna get back home. I know we will.”

“But it’s impossible,” Pomni interjected, “The exit doors, the void. It all leads nowhere.”

“We remember who we are, don’t we?” he remined her, “That’s a sign that there might be a way to escape this place. Those dreams, we had them for a reason, to remind us of who we are. We’ll find a way.”

“And Caine?” Pomni asked, her voice taking on a more subdued and unsure tone, “What’s gonna happen when he finds out about this.”

Jax froze, recalling that not only had Caine frightened her before with him yelling at her. But he never forgot how Caine had watched her drown, without making a move to help her. He watched Pomni tremble at the thought of the AI, the poor thing was terrified of him. He gripped her tightly and protectively, earning him a surprised squeak from the jester. “Caine isn’t gonna do anything,” he informed her, “If that pair of dentures tries to do anything to you, I will tear him apart. He won’t hurt you while I’m around.”

“He’s a force to be reckoned with Jack,” she said, “The second he catches that something is different he’ll stop at nothing to make sure it’s erased.”

“Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t find out about us,” Jax suggested, “We’ll pretend that nothing’s happened. We’re just two people who don’t know anything about our pasts and are just trying to survive here.”

There was still a bit of doubt lingering at the back of her mind. But Jax’s voice spoke nothing but honesty and safety, she couldn’t help but feel inclined to believe him. “You sure we’re able to do that?”

“Well, you’re going to have to control being head over heels in love with me, but I’m sure we can hide it pretty well,” he was cut off by a pillow whacking him in the face. “No please, not my pretty face!”

“That pretty face of yours won’t save you now bunny boy!” she snickered as she continued to pillow attack. “Besides, you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself in the maze! You picked me up and everything!”

“Only because you cuddled me in your sleep!” he retorted through another laugh, managing to grab her arms and pull her back onto his chest, caging her in his grasp.

Pomni tried to wriggle out and whack him again, but the warmth of his body and softness of his fur lulled her into a state of relaxation. Never mind, she would get him back later. “You’re the worst,” she muttered, “But I don’t mind.”

“Heh, I know…” he paused, taking both her cheeks in his hands again and raised her gaze to his. “Trust me, we’re gonna get out of here. And we’ll see our families again.”

Pomni nodded, a sweet smile gracing her features, “I believe you.”

Jax pressed another kiss to the centre of her face before she relaxed in his hold again.

The two paused, a low tension filled the room as they let their eyes linger on one another for a bit longer than they would like to admit. Slowly, Jax and Pomni came closer and let their lips touch ever so gently. It felt different – they weren’t human lips after all – but it was like all the kisses that they had shared before. Whether it was a chaste peck, a deep kiss when no one was looking, or a promise left on one another’s lips after a night tangled sheets, each one was filled with nothing but the tender and sweet love that they shared for each other.

They pulled away, both of them letting out a breath. Within the silence, they were sure they could hear their hearts racing a million miles per hour. Unable to hold back, the two let out a mirth-filled laugh and as they connected their lips again.

And again, and again, and again.

After a while, they settled back into the mattress, With Jax running his fingers through Pomni’s hair and over her back, making sure that this was real, that he finally had his memories back, that he finally had Penny back. She squeezed him, a silent telling for him that confirmed what he wanted to know. This was real.

“I love you,” Jax whispered into her hair.

“I love you too,” Pomni breathed back to him.

That night everything was perfect. That night the storm had finally cleared. That night, two separated spirits finally found their way back to each other. That night, they would stop at nothing until freedom was granted for them and everyone else here.

That night, Jack and Penny slept in each other’s arms.

Riley sighed as she drove down the road, taking a breath to steady her nerves. She had just come back from work after another endless and failed search for her sister and Jack. Winter was at her mother’s house with their son, it was her day off and her wife desperately needed a break. It took some convincing and promising, but Winter had eventually agreed to go.

It was a hard time for them both, but after the stress of Jack being added to her pregnancy and the birth of Percy, it hit Winter hard. But it didn’t mean that Riley wasn’t affected too. Seeing her baby sister’s face plastered on a missing poster, a constant reminder that mocked her over the fact that Penny was missing. It made Riley want to scream, cry, punch someone in the face, beg to whatever entity that was out there to return her little sister.

It wasn’t fair, Penny was innocent she didn’t deserve this.

And Jack, oh how she wished she took back everything she said about Jack. Of course she was protective over her sister but hearing Winter’s cry every night over her lost brother, it just made the guilt of saying those things to him sting so much worse.

Riley groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. What she needed was a glass of wine to calm her nerves before tackling anything else.

She was coming up to her and Winter’s house when she stopped the car as quietly as she could beside her neighbour’s house. At her front door was a man, his back was facing her so she couldn’t get a good look at his face. He seemed to be looking through the window on the door, trying to get a look through the patterned glass to see if there was anyone inside. Riley reached for her belt, unhooking some pepper spray that she had on hand. Even before she became an FBI agent, she was always well equipped with it in case anyone tried something.

When the man started to move to the windows on the side of the house did she start to intervene, hopping out the car as quietly as she could and made her way up to him. He was lucky that Winter and Percy weren’t here, otherwise it would have been a lot worse for this intruder. She snuck up behind him as he tried to peer through the windows, not noticing the fuming redhead coming up.

Before he could register the glimpse of her shadow, Riley grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder, sending him to the ground before pressing a foot on his stomach, making sure he didn’t get up. “Who are you? What the hell are you doing loitering around my house?!” she demanded, aiming the pepper spray at him.

The man whimpered, he looked quite young. But Riley didn’t relent, he was still an intruder after all. “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he cried, holding his hands up in surrender, “I wasn’t trying to do anything bad! I was just wanting to see if you were in!”

“Oh really?” Riley wasn’t convinced in the slightest, “Normal people don’t try to look in the windows to see if anyone’s in!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” he begged, he was trembling now, “I swear, I didn’t mean any harm! I just need your help! Please!”

Riley slightly lowered the pepper spray. She got a proper look at his face once the guy’s arms were lowered. He looked pretty young, probably starting college but the look in his eyes made him seem more youthful than he should. Guilt twinged at her, he was probably some awkward kid who didn’t know any better. She signed, putting the pepper spray away and taking her foot off, letting the young man gather himself but still kept an eye on him in case he did anything suspicious. He was still a stranger lurking around her house.

“Talk,” she said, keeping her hand on her belt.

The boy gulped, wringing his hands anxiously. “R-right,” he cleared his throat, “You’re Riley Reed right? Your younger sister is Penny Reed?”

She stiffened at her sister’s name, each muscle in her body tightening, “My last name has been all over the news since she disappeared, if it isn’t obvious enough.”

“I k-know,” the boy nodded, noticing the woman’s unease. “My name I-is Samual, Samual Abel.”

She knew that name, back when the very first case came out, “Your Kaleb and Quinn Abel’s kid, aren’t you?”

The boy’s face lit up, “Yes! I mean, yes, that’s me. Look, I know this might be hard to believe but I think I know what happened to your sister.”

Riley froze, as though a bucket of ice had landed on her head. “You…you know what happened to Penny?”

“Well, no, kind of?” Samual told her.

“Excuse me?” she groaned, “You came all this way here to tell me that you might know what happened to Penny, only for you to say that you actually don’t. You better not be wasting my time here.”

“I’m not!” he exclaimed, “I’m not, trust me! Whatever happened to your sister, I know it has something to do with C&A!”

“And why should I believe you?” she crossed her arms. “I’m not here to entertain whatever conspiracy theory you’ve got going on. You can’t dangle the promise of me being able to see my sister again and then say you have no idea what’s going on!”

“Because whatever happened to her happened to my parents!” Samual cried, “I know they wouldn’t just leave me, I know something was going on that day and whatever it is, it’s started taking other people, including your sister! I’ve just been too afraid to investigate because Jason always told me that it’s all in my head, but I don’t think it is anymore.”

Riley paused for a moment. This kid seemed to be genuine with what he was saying. He’d been dealing with this much longer than she had, his parents were the first to go. To have to bear with that type of weight and have everyone turn you away when you wanted to look for them. The way he spoke, as if he knew something was going on. What if this was really the first step to finding Penny?

“I know it sounds crazy,” Samual admitted, “But I need your help. You’re one of the only people that I can think of who can help me with something like this. Please Riley, you’ve gotta trust me with this.”

If this was true, if C&A had something to do with her little sister going missing, if Samual was really speaking the truth, then she couldn’t turn away from this. There was an internal pull, her gut screaming at her to go through with this, to take this chance, that if she chose this then she’ll find Penny and Jack.

Riley sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger before looking back at Samual, “You better know what you’re doing.”

The kid looked like a thousand fireworks went off in his brain, jumping and fist bumping the air in complete and utter joy. “Yes! Thank you!” he cheered, going in for a hug.

“Nuh uh,” she raised a hand to stop him, “No touching.”

“Right, sorry, of course,” he apologised, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, just glad to have someone on my side.”

“Baby steps,” Riley told him, “There’s a long road ahead of us.”

“I know, trust me, you won’t regret this,” he beamed, “We might actually find them.”

Riley hummed, “I hope so kid. I hope so.”

Hang in there, Penny, I’m coming.

End of Part 1

To Be Continued...

#the amazing digital circus #jax #pomni #pomnijax #funnybunny #ragatha #gangle #kinger #zooble #caine #bubble #my writing #dragon rambles #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3

33 notes · View notes

notyetbulletproof · 9 months

Text

It makes no sense to play this “they can’t be together” shit in your last few episodes for a couple we never even saw date.

Okay, it would make SOME sense if your 3.5 seasons didn’t span ONLY ONE YEAR.

It would make sense to talk. To actually have more than ONE episode that allows them to talk about what it means. I mean I GET THAT THEY’VE DONE THAT but god it’s so wishy washy. And annoying.

And you want us to buy that all this has happened over one year? Then show us more of them together. Casual brushes. “Oops Sorrys”. “We really shouldn’ts”. More of THAT please.

NO NEW LOVE INTERESTS, no love triangles.

In this one year — Nancy found out she was adopted, had this distance from Carson, accepted she was a Hudson, lost so many people. AND EVERYTHING ELSE (Lucy, Owen, her uncle and gran, Carson legal stuff, Odette(!), Wraith, Hudson stuff, confronting grief, etc).

Nancy has also dated Nick, Owen, Bobsey (i forgot his name now) and Park. She also had that weird thing with Tamura. And now? Tristan. They did lay down the ground work for Nancy x Ace (which made those latter relationships make sense because well, Ace was dating other people). But this bullshit one year thing just messes the timeline up so much???

In this one year— Ace went from being informant to morgue assistant. (Actually SOME of the stuff that has happened within Ace’s own life outside of Drew Crew and relationship stuff could make sense, SOME). Ace rekindled his relationship with Laura Thandie, dated Amanda and now has this weird attachment to ghosts. The one consistent thing is highlighting Ace’s interests in Nancy. Still, ONE YEAR. The only thing that makes sense with Ace over the one year is us not seeing more of his family life. (I want to see more thanks).

In this one year— George went from dating Ryan to breaking up with him, to being engaged to Nick. Not to mention the law school stuff. Of course George Fan would get in please. I just mean ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE THE BUCKET? Has it? No right???

In this one year —- Bess moved to Horseshoe bay, went from sometimes thief to supernatural know all? Dated Lisbeth then Odette/George(?) to Addy. Not to mention the girl the Marvins tried to set her up with. Oh yeah plus her ex coming back. AND SHE WENT FROM BEING A MARVIN to not, to keeper, to not.

In this one year — Nick went falsely accused to suspected killer to accountable person to rich pal to opening and running a foundation. He dated Nancy then George, then was ENGAGED to George before she ended things (and didn’t she say then that this year was weird for her) and now he’s dating(?) Jade.

Also can we talk about how the town has has had 2 changes to chief? One main detective that came and went. One arrested. An FBI consultant? IN ONE YEAR.

Aiya, I don’t know what this post is about. I’m just sad and I really freaking hate this timeline thing. It just feels very HIMYM. Like they had this preplanned thing and they didn’t think about how it would work as they added to it week to week.

Unless the secret Nancy confessed is that she found out the town and her friends are caught in some frozen time loop, it just doesn’t make sense.

Fic writers, please make this make sense. I’ll take your stories as canon.

#this is just a pointless rant #Nancy drew cw

25 notes · View notes

dottielovegood · 1 year

Note

Ugly Christmas sweater and Elriel, please. 💕

Okay, this one is a bit sillier than most of my fics but I hope you like it anyway!

(Did I spend 30 minutes looking at Ugly Christmas sweaters online before writing this? Yes. Yes I did.)

Here's the inspiration:

───── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

Meowy Christmas

“If we don’t leave right now, we are going to be late.”

For once in his life, Azriel was running late and Cassian was waiting on him by the door, impatiently stomping his foot. In his defense, Azriel had been stuck in traffic for almost an hour after work. As soon as the first snow fell over Velaris, traffic jams were bound to happen, which is why he was now running late to Feyre’s birthday party.

“I’m coming,” Azriel muttered and smoothed down his hair once last time. He looked down at his black trousers and the gray pullover. It’ll have to do, he thought and opened his bedroom door. Cassian was now pacing the hallway, already wearing his boots and jacket.

Azriel rolled his eyes. “I’m like two minutes behind schedule. Chill.” He reached for his jacket by the door but Cassian stopped him with a hand around his wrist.

“What are you wearing?” Cassian asked, sounding very close to horrified.

Azriel looked down again, expecting to see an enormous stain somewhere. But no, everything looked just as it had a minute ago.

“Where’s your Christmas sweater?” Cassian asked before Azriel even had the chance to open his mouth to answer.

“My what?”

“Your Christmas sweater,” Cassian repeated, as if those words would bring any clarity to this situation. “The ugly Christmas sweater Feyre asked us to wear to her birthday party. Please, don’t tell me you forgot.”

Azriel’s brows drew together in confusion. “Feyre said nothing about wearing ugly Christmas sweaters.”

“Yes, she did.”

Azriel shook his head. “I guess I didn’t get the memo.” Once again, he reached for his jacket. “Let’s just go.”

And once again, Cassian blocked him. “We are not leaving until you go and put on the sweater Feyre asked you to wear. It’s her birthday, Azriel. It’s the least you can do.”

Azriel threw out his hands in frustration. “Yeah, well. I don’t have a Christmas sweater and all the shops are closed at this time. I think she’ll forgive me.”

Cassian snorted. “You clearly don’t know Feyre. She said that she wouldn’t even let us in unless we wore one. It’s a freaking Ugly Christmas Sweater party, for crying out loud.”

Azriel let out a breath. He actually thought that he knew Feyre very well. She had been dating one of his best friends, Rhys, for a little over a year now and since Cassian and Rhys were more like brothers than friends, he did spend quite a lot of time with them. And for the last year, that also meant spending time with Feyre. Azriel absolutely didn’t mind. He liked her. Out of all the girls Rhys had been with, Feyre was definitely Azriel’s favorite. And from the way Rhys looked at her, he could tell that she was Rhys’s favorite too. She really had that man wrapped around her finger.

Azriel tried to remember Feyre ever telling him about this stupid sweater thing, but he just came up blank. But then again, he had been very stressed during the last couple of weeks and sometimes he was only half-listening to what people were saying to him. So maybe she had told them and he had just been too preoccupied to remember that small detail. It didn’t matter, though, because Azriel didn’t have a Christmas sweater laying around. He didn’t even have anything more colorful than the gray button up he was currently wearing.

“So, show me your sweater then since you find it so important,” he said and gestured to Cassian’s jacket.

Cassian grinned at him. “Oh, no. Definitely not. I am planning on winning the Ugly Christmas Sweater competition and I am not showing you mine. That’s cheating.”

Azriel really didn’t understand Cassian’s reasoning, but they also didn’t have time to stand here and discuss this. “Well, fine. That doesn’t solve the fact I don’t have a sweater. So congratulations, you’ll win and I will be kicked out. Let’s go.”

“Well,” Cassian began, a mischievous grin on his lips. “I do have a few extra sweaters. You can wear one of those.”

“You have more than one ugly Christmas sweater?”

Cassian shrugged. “I needed options. I obviously picked the best one for myself, but you can choose between the other two.”

Azriel glanced at his watch. They really needed to go and he hated being late. “Fine,” he bit out. No sooner than the word had left his mouth, Cassian, quite literally, ran to his room and returned with two knitted monstrosities. Azriel couldn’t see the details yet, but the colors were enough to make him want to puke. Red and gold and green and… was the glitter?

Cassian handed him one of the sweaters and Azriel held it up in front of himself. “Oh, fuck no, Cass.” The sweater was red and there was a giant Christmas tree on the front. But that wasn’t the worst part. The tree was decorated with tiny baubles, tinsel and something that looked like real lights, and above it, the white letters read “LET’S GET LIT.”

“It lights up,” Cassian exclaimed. “Look.” He pressed the star atop the Christmas tree. Azriel almost let go of the sweater in pure horror.

“Fuck, no.” He repeated.

“Well, it’s either that one or…” he held up the other sweater in front of his own body, “this one.” A shit eating grin spread across Cassian’s face and it took Azriel a few seconds to even comprehend what he was looking at.

“Is that…” Azriel turned his head sideways, “is that Jesus riding a reindeer?”

“It sure is!”

“For fuck’s sake Cassian, couldn’t you have gotten something remotely normal?”

“That’s the thing about ugly Christmas sweaters – they are supposed to be ugly. Now pick one.”

Azriel looked at the thing he was holding, shuddering at the mere thought of wearing something so horrendous. But then he looked at the fucking Jesus shirt, and that was, if possible, even worse. And why was Jesus wearing sunglasses?

“Fine. I’ll wear this one,” he said and pressed the button on the star again to turn off the LED-lights. “But there will no fucking lights, okay?”

Cassian was still grinning. “Sure. Just put it on so we can go.”

Azriel gave him a vulgar gesture and walked back to his room to change. He didn’t even glance at the mirror. He didn’t want to see himself like this.

Feyre better love it, he thought as he shrugged on his jacket. Luckily, they were all wearing these ugly things, which meant that no one would care that much about the atrocity he now hid underneath his jacket. He wondered what kind of sweater Elain would wear. Not that it mattered. She could wear the ugliest shirt ever made and would still be the most beautiful woman in the room.

God, he really shouldn’t think of her like that, but there was no helping it. Elain was Feyre’s sister, which should make her off-limits but Azriel had fallen for her anyway. They had met a few months ago when Feyre and Rhys had invited everyone to a barbeque party and Azriel had almost forgotten his own name when Elain walked up to him and introduced herself. He felt drawn to her instantly and they had spent most of that night together on a picnic blanket. Nothing had happened between them, of course not. But just talking to her had felt so natural. So easy. And it was never easy for Azriel to make small talk, which is why his friend group looked exactly the same as it had in High School. When he made a friend, he kept them very close to his heart. He didn’t really feel the need to get to know more people. That is– until he met Elain. He really wanted to get to know Elain, and throughout the months, it felt as if they had gotten to know each other. He knew that she dreamt about owning a garden where she could plant flowers and vegetables. He knew that her favorite color was lilac and that her favorite move was My Girl. He knew that she had a great sense of humor and that she smelled like jasmine and honey. And he knew exactly what her fingers felt like when they brushed against his.

They had never gone further than a longing glance or the tentative touch of fingers, but he wanted more. God help him, he wanted more. Sometimes, in the dead of night when sleep evaded him, he would think of her. Not in a sexual way, but he would think about what it would be like to take her on a date. To touch her. Kiss her. To call her his.

He knew that he shouldn’t want her like that, but he couldn’t help it. But then again, he wasn’t the only one who was fawning after an Archeron sister. Cassian had never talked to Azriel about Nesta, but he could see the way he looked at her. The way he followed her every move. Even if they acted as though they loathed each other, Azriel knew that there was something else hidden beneath the surface, and it wasn’t hate. Far from it.

Azriel couldn’t help but wonder if it would be odd if the three of them dated the three sisters. Maybe it would? But then again, it’s not like he had any control over his feelings. He didn’t choose to like Elain in that way, it just happened and now there was no turning back. She was under his skin and he had found that he really liked having her there. But now he wanted more, and he didn’t even know if that was possible. Did she even like him like that? He had no idea, and he was not about to make a fool of himself today by asking. Especially not while wearing a shirt that said ‘LET’S GET LIT’. He wouldn’t even be able to take himself seriously.

-----

Azriel was the designated driver since Cassian was known for spiking the eggnog. Azriel didn’t mind. He liked driving. He did not, however, enjoy the fact that Cassian saw that as an opportunity to decide what music to listen to.

“If you play that fucking song one more time, I will drive us into a tree.”

Cassian laughed. “Who died and made you The Grinch? It's a tradition to listen to Mariah Carey in December.”

“Nobody needs to listen to that bloody song twelve times in a row,” Azriel muttered. It wasn’t the first time someone had called him the Grinch, and it would certainly not be the last. He found Christmas decorations tacky and the music was just… well, it was Christmas music. Azriel was absolutely positive that they played Christmas music in Hell. It would certainly lead to an eternity of torture, that’s for sure.

When they pulled up to Rhysand’s townhouse a few minutes later, Azriel was pretty sure his ears were bleeding. Cassian really didn’t know how to hold a tune, and he could definitely not hit Mariah’s whistle notes, even though he tried. Multiple times.

“Ready to lose the sweater contest?” Cassian asked as they walked up to the house. Cassian was carrying the presents they had gotten Feyre under his arm. Azriel had gotten her a biography on her favorite artist and Cassian had gotten her the ugliest christmas decoration Azriel had ever seen. It was an inside joke, apparently.

“This is one contest I will be happy to lose.” And he meant it. Azriel was usually very competitive, but he couldn’t care less about winning this particular contest.

Azriel knocked on the door and within seconds, he was greeted by Mor's smiling face. “You’re here!” she beamed and opened the door wider. “Come in, come in.” She was holding a glass of wine and from the redness of her cheeks, Azriel could tell that it wasn’t her first.

“You started without us?” Cassian asked and gestured to her wine.

“That’s what you get for being late.”

Azriel looked at his watch. “We’re only fifteen minutes late. I’ve heard that all the cool people arrive at least 30 minutes late.”

“Well, I guess you're not particularly cool, then,” Feyre said, a playful smirk playing on her lips. She had just walked up behind Mor and she looked absolutely radiant in a dark blue dress covered in silver stars.

Azriel opened his mouth to wish her Happy Birthday, but the words got stuck in his throat when he looked at her dress again. A dress. Not an ugly Christmas sweater.

His eyes drifted to Mor and sure enough, she was wearing her signature red dress. But there was no Christmas-red near her. No blinking lights, no awful puns, no ugly santa. No Jesus riding a freaking reindeer. They were wearing normal clothes.

Azriel glared at Cassian who was currently unzipping his jacket. Underneath, he was wearing a black, knitted sweater. Black. Not red. Not green. Not gold or fucking glitter.

Black.

“What are you wearing?”

Cassian shot him a giant smile. “Oh, this one,” he put a hand to his chest. “It’s new. Do you like it? It was on sale and the....”

“Don’t play stupid,” Azriel said through gritted teeth. He was still wearing his jacket. He was going to wear this jacket for the rest of the night, even if that meant that he would drown in sweat.

“Can I take your coat, Az?” Feyre asked a bit too sweetly.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m just offering to take your coat like a good hostess.” Her voice was sugary sweet and Azriel knew from the way they were all staring at him now that he had been betrayed. His friends had betrayed him. He was Jesus on a reindeer and they were Judas.

They were all Judas and this fucking sweater was the kiss of betrayal.

“I think I’ll keep it on, thanks.”

Rhys had joined them in the hallway now and he was smirking as he took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass. “It’s very warm in here, Az. We’ve got the fire going.”

Azriel could tell that they were all holding back their laughter. He let out a breath and counted to three just so he wouldn’t get the urge to strangle them all. “Can I borrow a shirt, Rhys?”

“Why? Did you spill on your way here?”

“No, but I would…”

“Oh, just take that damn jacket off,” Cassian all but shouted.

Azriel had never liked being the center of attention and standing here in this hallway while all his friends watched him as if he was about to perform a magic trick made him feel all kinds of awkward. He loved his friends, but right now, they were all assholes.

With a sigh, he reached for his zipper and he couldn’t help but notice the way Mor and Feyre held their breath when he started to tug it down. As soon as they saw a glimpse of the color of his sweater, Feyre started jumping up and down. “Yes!” she cried out and pointed to Rhys. “You owe me ten bucks. And a fancy dinner.”

Rhys just draped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I like being indebted to you, Feyre Darling,” he murmured and kissed the top of her head.

When Azriel had opened his jacket fully, it was Mor’s turn to punch the air. “Yes! There’s glitter! Amren owes me a bottle of wine.”

Azriel just stared at his friends. Or, at the people he thought were his friends. Clearly, they were just a bunch of assholes. “You betted on me?”

Cassian patted his shoulder. “That’s what you get when you miss Sunday dinner.”

“It was one time!”

“And that’s all it takes.”

“God, I hate you all.” Azriel muttered and walked past Cassian. “I need a drink. You can drive home, you asshat.”

“Azriel is about to get lit!” Mor shouted after him as he stalked to the kitchen.

------

Azriel grabbed a glass from the kitchen counter and poured himself some red wine before walking further into the house. Feyre had invited quite a few guests and Azriel recognized maybe half of them. Viviane and Kallias were kissing underneath the mistletoe. Varian and Amren were talking to Tarquin. Nesta, Feyre’s sister, was standing by the Christmas tree with two of her friends. Azriel had met them once or twice before but he couldn’t for the life of him remember their names. There were so many people, but there was only one person he wanted to see.

He scanned the room as he made his way over to the fireplace. One blond man Azriel didn’t recognize raised his glass and shouted “Hell, yeah! Let’s get lit, man,” from across the room. Azriel just frowned at him. He put his glass down on the mantle and crossed his arms over his body. Everyone else was dressed in normal clothes. Azriel stuck out like a sore thumb and he hated it. The sweater itself wasn’t that bad, but it was the attention that came with it that made him want to run out the backdoor. Azriel had always been one to keep to the shadows. He didn’t like attention. He didn’t want to be looked at. He just wanted to…be. Be left alone, preferably.

He did not, however, want to be the only person wearing a weird outfit. But alas, that’s exactly what he was tonight and there was nothing to do about it.

-----

A few minutes later, Cassian walked up to him. “Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t sound like he meant it.

“And why are you sorry, Cassian?”

“Well, if I knew that a colorful sweater would turn you into a freaking emo, then I would…well, I would probably have made you wear it anyway. But this–” Cassian gestured to Azriel’s face, “really doesn’t match this,” he pointed at the ugly, knitted Christmas tree. “You need to cheer up. Get in the Christmas spirit.”

Azriel’s eyebrows drew together. “Did you just call me emo?” He hadn’t been called that since High School, and back then he actually was an emo kid. Side fringe, eyeliner, band t-shirts and a bad attitude - he had it all.

Cassian shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah. An emo that is about to get lit.” He raised his glass to Azriel in an attempt to make him smile, but Azriel just narrowed his eyes. He was already getting very tired of that joke.

He gestured to the glass in Cassian’s hand, “You are driving later, remember?”

“Yeah, this is just soda. I didn’t even spike the eggnog.”

Azriel was genuinely surprised. “What has happened to you? Did the ghost of Christmas past visit you last night? Did he make you think about all the bad choices you’ve ever made?”

Cassian let out a humorless laugh. “Something like that…” his eyes drifted over to the giant Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Azriel knew exactly what, or who, Cassian was looking at. Nesta and Cassian usually acted as if they hated each other, but anyone could see that there was something else burning beneath the harsh words and icy glares. Cassian let out a breath, “I just want to make a good tenth expression.”

Azriel gave him a tight smile and patted his shoulder. “The tenth time’s the charm.”

“Right,” Cassian drained his glass and turned to face Azriel. “How do I look?”

Azriel shrugged. “You should have worn the Jesus sweater. Then her focus would be on something other than your stupid face.”

“Fuck you,” Cassian laughed.

“Fuck you right back.”

Cassian put his glass next to Azriel’s on the mantle and took one last, deep breath – as if readying himself for what was about to come. He looked at Cassian as he approached Nesta and her friends and couldn’t help but cringe at the way Nesta glared at him. She was certainly a handful. Good thing that Cassian was nothing if not persistent. Azriel would have given up as soon as she looked at him with those cold eyes. They were nothing like Elain’s eyes. Elain was warmth and light – there was no coldness to any of her features. Sure, she could bite back when she needed to, but she usually met people with kindness and grace first. That was one of the many things he adored about her.

Azriel leaned against the wall and let his gaze drift to the window. It was still snowing outside. Azriel had always loved the snow, even if he sometimes got stuck in traffic because of it. There was just something about the way it made the entire world brighter.

“Hi.”

A soft voice brought Azriel’s attention back to the party. He hadn’t even noticed that anyone had walked up to him.

“Are you pondering the meaning of life?” Elain asked, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Always,” Azriel answered and returned the smile.

God, she looked lovely. How did she become more beautiful every time he saw her? She was wearing her hair in some sort of half down, half up hairstyle that Azriel loved. One lock of hair had come loose and Azriel had to tighten his hands into fists to keep himself from reaching up and tucking it behind her ear.

He took in the sight of her. She was wearing a short, black skirt, knitted tights and…

At first, Azriel couldn’t believe his eyes. He had to blink a few times, but no, it was real. She was really wearing that.

“Shit, they got you too?” he asked and gestured to her sweater. It was almost as ugly as his.

Elain blushed and looked down at herself. She was lovely when she blushed, Azriel thought to himself. She was always lovely, of course, even when she was wearing a shirt that said “Meowy Christmas”. The cat underneath the letters seemed to be staring into his soul.

“Not exactly,” she said and met his gaze again. Her brown eyes were full of warmth and Azriel wanted to drown in them. God, he really had it bad for this girl. “I might have overheard Cassian and Feyre when they talked about the bet. I didn’t want you to feel lonely.” She pointed at his shirt. “It’s not as bad as I thought though. I heard Cassian say something about Jesus and a reindeer.”

Her laughter was like music to his ears.

“Yeah, that was one of the options he gave me. I think I made a wise choice.”

“Definitely. I actually kind of like this one. Mine is definitely uglier!”

Azriel chuckled at that. “Oh, I’m not so sure about that. You haven’t seen the worst part.”

Elain raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Oh, now I’m intrigued.”

Azriel wouldn’t have pushed that damned button for anyone else, but just the thought of her smile made him raise his hand to that star atop the knitted christmas tree. He really had it bad for this girl.

As soon as the multicolored lights turned on, Elain’s face lit up. “That doesn’t make it worse,” she laughed “That’s an improvement. Now the text makes sense.”

“I would still like to argue that my sweater should win the ugly sweater contest.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that, Azriel.” The way his name sounded from her lips made him want to reach out and capture it with his mouth. He often thought about what she would taste like. What she would sound like if they ever…

No, he really shouldn’t think about that. Definitely not now when she was right there.

“I have a secret weapon, too,” she smirked. She put her finger on the cat’s nose and Azriel tried not to think about the fact that he was currently looking right at her breasts.

When she pushed down on the nose there was an unmistakable meowing sound.

For a second, Azriel just stared at her. Then, as if he wasn’t in control of his body, he tipped his head back and laughed. He probably hadn’t laughed that hard in weeks. Under any normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have found a meowing sweater particularly funny, but the fact that she was standing there with a giant smile on her face while wearing that hideous sweater just made him feel all warm inside. And the fact that she had worn it for him only made the entire situation feel even more absurd. Absurdly great.

“Meowy Christmas,” she said sheepishly, that lovely blush spreading across her cheeks again.

“Okay,” Azriel said when he had calmed down, “you win.”

“I thought so,” she said and tossed her hair in a very Elle Woods kind of way. He blamed Mor for knowing that reference. “I did come to win, after all.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm,” she nodded. “What’s my prize?”

Whatever you want, he wanted to say. Just ask, and I will give you everything.

------

They stayed by the fire for a long time, just enjoying each other’s company. Elain told him that she had recently bought an allotment and she couldn’t wait for spring when she could finally plant all the flowers and vegetables she wanted to grow. Azriel had never cared much about flowers or growing vegetables, but he still loved hearing her talk about it. Her eyes were bright and she was gesturing wildly with her hands while she spoke. He could listen to her talk all night.

“Do you want to get something to drink?” she asked after what could have been hours. He honestly had no idea. Time moved differently when he was with her. Azriel glanced at his forgotten wine glass and nodded. “Sure.” Together they walked to the kitchen and it was almost as if stepping into a different world. Everyone was scattered around the house but the kitchen was surprisingly empty. In here, the Christmas music and conversations sounded muffled.

Elain reached for the whisky and poured herself a decent amount. “Want some?”

“Sure, thank you.” He looked at the bottle and was pleased to find that it was the good kind. Rhys usually hid that one when he, Cassian and Mor came over.

Elain handed him his glass and leaned against the counter top. Azriel suddenly didn’t know what to do with his body so he just reached for one of the cupcakes on a tray on the kitchen island. He wasn’t even planning on eating it. It was just easier to control his body when he was holding things in both hands. And he would hopefully not be as tempted to touch her, which was a bonus.

“I made those,” Elain said. “It’s gingerbread with white chocolate icing.”

He wasn’t surprised that she had baked something. She usually brought some sort of treat to every gathering she was invited to, and they were always amazing. So now he obviously had to eat one.

While holding her gaze, he put down his glass and peeled the paper off the bottom of the cupcake before taking a big bite. He could feel the frosting get all over his nose, which would have made him slightly horrified if Elain hadn’t giggled at the sight. If she hadn’t stepped closer. If she hadn’t reached up…

With one slender finger, she wiped the frosting off his nose and put that same finger into her own mouth. He just stared at her. Stared at that finger between her lips. Stared at her tongue when she licked the last of the icing off.

God, help him. This was torture.

“So,” she popped that finger out of her mouth. “What did you think?” she asked, her expression one of pure innocence. As if she had no idea what she was doing to him.

He swallowed. “Uh.. I,” he swallowed again. “It was delicious.” He had no idea if that was true. He had barely tasted that cupcake. He had been way too focused on her finger. On her mouth. Her lips, her tongue. Her.

She was still smiling at him. Still looking all innocent. “I’m glad you like it.” Elain took a sip of her drink.

“And what did you think?” he blurted out. He had no idea what he even meant. What did you think about the frosting? What do you think about the expensive whisky? What were you thinking when you sucked your finger in front of me?

The corner of her lips quirked up into a playful smile. “Well, I think…” she took one step closer to him. “That Feyre should have put up more mistletoe around the house.”

Did it suddenly get very warm in here? Yes, Azriel was sure that someone had just turned on every single radiator in the house. The house might even be on fire.

“Yeah?” His voice sounded rougher than intended. “And why is that?”

He knew the answer even before the words left her mouth. He knew, but he needed to hear her say it. Needed to know that she felt the same.

“Because maybe you would have kissed me by now.”

She was standing so close now. He could smell the sweet scent of her perfume, could count every eyelash, every freckle. And in that moment, there was nothing Azriel wanted more than to kiss her. To taste her.

“Elain,” his voice was barely more than a whisper. He moved his hand to her neck and relished the feeling of her soft skin against his fingertips. She shuddered at his touch and Azriel needed more. Wanted. Needed. Craved. “There are many reasons why I would want to kiss you. I don’t need a plant to tell me what to do”

“So why haven’t you?” she breathed.

Why hadn’t he?

Suddenly, the fact that he hadn’t kissed Elain yet seemed absurd. It seemed like it went against all logic, and he needed to rectify it right now.

This time, it was Azriel’s turn to take a step toward her. He needed to feel her body against his. She looked up at him with those beautiful brown eyes and all he could see hidden there was offer and permission. He stroked his thumb over her jaw and leaned down…

Meow.

Azriel jerked back at the sound. He stared at Elain and then at her sweater. Her meowing sweater. Elain also looked down at the ugly knitted cat as if she had forgotten all about it. “I’m sorry,” she said, her cheeks turning pink again. She had never looked more beautiful.

“Don’t be.” His hand slid up her neck again, tilting her face just the way he wanted it. Her lips parted slightly and Azriel could almost taste her breath – whisky and white chocolate and all of his dreams coming true. “Meowy Christmas,” he murmured before closing the distance between them. Azriel could feel her smile against his lips and he had never felt happier than he did in this very moment. He buried his hand in her hair and she let out a soft moan that made him want to be anywhere but here in Rhysand’s kitchen. He wanted her in his home. In his bed.

He wanted her coming on his tongue. He needed to know if every part of her tasted just as sweet.

When Elain wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer, her sweater let out another muffled meow.

Meowy Christmas, indeed.

#elriel #elriel fic #elriel fanfiction #elain x azriel #azriel x elain

88 notes · View notes