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barnesandrogersfanfics · 4 years

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Home - Part 10

We spent all of Sunday at my place, Bucky and the girls seemed right at home which was nice. When it came time for them to head home Bucky asked me to go with them, Sam hadn't managed to track down Jack yet so he didn't want me staying home by myself. I didn't need much persuading, i packed an overnight bag and went home with Bucky and the girls.

Monday morning was soon here and it was nearly time to get up and get the girls ready for school, Bucky was still in bed with me, usually he would be up and dressed by now.

"As much as i love having you in bed with me Buck, arent you going to be late for work?"

"Not today doll, I've got an appointment with Mrs Potts at 9:30 then I'm working from home today"

"Who's Mrs Potts?"

"Principal, you still wanna come with?"

"If you want me to" i nodded stroking my fingers over his stubbled jaw.

"I want you too"

"Okay, count me in" I kissed him quickly before getting out of the bed "im gonna go jump in the shower and get dressed before the girls wake up"

"Shower with me" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"We don't have time for that Buck" i laughed and left the room before he could change my mind (which wouldn't take much to be honest the man was irresistible).

"Good morning James, please come in and take a seat" Mrs Potts said coming out her office. Bucky stood up taking my hand and leading me inside the office.

"Morning Pepper" he smiled at the woman with a familiarity, Mrs Potts.... Pepper, looked me up and down waiting for introductions.

"This is my girlfriend Y/N" Bucky introduced smiling down at me.

"Pleasure to meet you Y/N, I'm Pepper Potts" she reached out a hand which i quickly shook before taking the seat next to Bucky.

"So James, you said you needed to talk to me about Allie's teacher Ms Harper?"

"I do, honestly Pepper i don't think the woman should be aloud to work with kids" Bucky told her getting straight to the point.

"Okay.... what makes you say that?"

"Doll? Tell Pepper what happened"

"Sure....she made Allie cry because she wanted to wear a tutu and cowboy boots for a start, that alone was bad enough but the main problem was when i turned up to the mother daughter picnic to hear Ms Harper telling our 5 year old she shouldn't be at the picnic because she doesn't have a mom was the final straw!"

"She said what??" Pepper asked with wide eyes clearly shocked to hear this.

"Exactly! When i told Ms Harper she can't be saying things like that to a 5 year old she didn't even apologise! Just shrugged and said 'why not its true, her moms dead' i mean who says that to a kid Mrs Potts?? its disgusting and unacceptable behaviour from an adult who quite frankly should know better"

"James, Y/N im so sorry! Your 100% right, that is unacceptable behaviour from one of my staff and i will deal with her accordingly i promise"

"Thank you Pepper, i knew you would. I know you don't tolerate this kind of thing. I thought it best to sit down with you personally about the matter" Bucky said sounding very professional even though Pepper was clearly a friend.

"I just don't understand why she would target Allie like this"

"Ms Harper and i used to go to school together, she had always had a crush on me. Then when the girls started here she'd ask me out all the time and i'd turn her down. Ask Tony about Joanne Harper, im sure he'll remember her" Bucky rolled his eyes "she's never been spiteful to my kids until Y/N started doing the school runs"

"Even called me Mrs Barnes the first time we met" i added remembering that first confrontation with the she witch.

"Y/N was our nanny before we started dating" Bucky told Pepper "we haven't been dating long"

"I see, so she see's Y/N turning up everyday for school runs and assumes you got a wife? Wow" Pepper let out a breath as she tapped her pen against her notepad she had been making notes in.

"Crazy huh?" Bucky scoffed

"Id say so yeah, leave it with me. I'll deal with her".

After thanking Pepper for her time Bucky and I left hand in hand walking back to his car. We passed Allie's classroom and she smiled and waved happily, Ms Harper saw us both and was suddenly white as a ghost. I couldn't help but smirk at her 'i told you not to mess with my kid' i thought to myself as we continued the walk to the car.

"I come in peace" Steve called through the door before walking in with Rosie. I hadnt spoken to him since dinner the day he asked if i was sleeping with Bucky.

"Hi Steve" i laughed rolling my eyes at how dramatic he was acting.

"Hey sweetheart, are you still mad at me?"

"No, how can i stay mad at that face huh?" I let him pull me in for a quick hug with the arm not holding Rosie.

"Thank you, i promise to keep my mouth shut next time"

"It all worked out okay in the end so dont sweat it" i shrugged.

"Yeah? So you and Bucky....?"

"Are together, so thank you i guess" i chuckled "guess we needed that push to admit to how we both felt"

"Your welcome" Steve smiled looking proud of himself.

Steve came with me to pick the girls up from school later that afternoon, Bucky was at home working, his assistant Chloe was sat on the sofa in his office quietly scrolling through her phone waiting for Bucky to tell her what to do.

"Chloe could you grab me a cup of coffee please?" I heard him ask her as i walked passed the doorway.

"Hey, nanny?" I heard her call from behind me and turned to look her way "Mr Barnes wants a cup of coffee" she said before i could ask what she wanted.

"Im his nanny not his maid, besides he asked you to get it not me" i told her and continued on my way to the kitchen where the girls were sat at the table with Steve colouring.

"So girls what do you want for dinner?" I asked them.

"Spaghetti!" Brooke answered loudly sounding hopeful.

"Okay sure i can do that" i smiled and started to pull out what i needed.

"I want pork chops" Allie bounced in her seat .

"I don't think we have pork chops Al" i said looking through the fridge and freezer.

"But i want pork chops!" She pouted with crossed arms.

"Okay let me see what i can do" i said not wanting to let her down. I headed towards Buckys office to tell him i was popping out to the store but got stopped by Chloe.

"Im sorry but Mr barnes is busy, just because your his nanny doesn't mean you can just walk in".

Y/N: Your assistant is a pain in the ass! X

Bucky: what did she do? Xx

Y/N: I was coming to tell you that i need to run to the store, Allie wants Pork Chops for dinner but your guard dog wouldn't let me in, said just because I'm your nanny doesn't mean i can just walk into your office xx

Bucky: what a load of bullshit! You can come into my office anytime you want ;)

Y/N: haha!

Bucky: can you come to my office please? Xx

Y/N: Fine I'm on my way xx

As i approached Bucky's office Chloe stopped me again!

"I thought i told you that you cant interrupt Mr Barnes!"

"Bucky asked me to come see him"

"Bucky? Its a bit unprofessional for an employee to use his first name so casually don’t you think?"

"Its a good job I'm not just an employee then isn't it" i snapped pushing past her to Bucky's office. I felt her hand grab my arm and spun to face her "you better remove your hand from my arm before i break it" i said through gritted teeth.

Bucky's office door opened and he saw Chloe grabbing my arm.

"Chloe what the fuck do you think your doing?" He practically growled.

"I told her not to interrupt you sir but she wouldn't listen"

"Let her go, right now! I asked her to come see me"

"Oh....." she released my arm looking a bit sheepish and i walked over to Bucky.

"You okay doll?" He asked rubbing my arm where she had grabbed me before pulling me into his arms.

"Chloe you should go home, its not like your much help to me here. We'll talk at the office tomorrow"

"Okay" she nodded grabbing her things and making a quick exit.

"She's lucky you opened that door Buck, i would have knocked that bitch out!"

"Im sorry about her babe, i'll talk to her tomorrow don't worry. Ive ordered the pork chops by the way, they'll be here in 20 minutes"

"What? Who's delivering you pork chops?"

"I know a guy" he shrugged pulling me into his office.

"What are you doing Buck i need to start dinner...."

"Ive missed you all day"

"We can't do this now" i laughed as he pulled me down onto the sofa "Steve and the girls are in the kitchen"

"I'll be real quick they wont ever know" he mumbled as he kissed my neck.

"Behave Mr Barnes!" I wriggled off his lap "i'll make it up to you tonight i promise, but we got 3 hungry girls and a Steve to feed right now"

"Fine okay, but i'll hold you to that"

"I should hope so, you done in here?"

"Yeah i'll be out in a minute" he said resting his head back against the sofa as he tugged at the crotch of his pants that had gotten considerably tighter.

"You make it so hard to walk away Buck" i moaned at the sight.

"You just make it so hard doll" he smirked making me laugh.

"Down boy" i winked and quickly left.

Home taglist: @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @lumar014

@bbmommy0902 @past-perfect-future-tense

@heathens-takeitsl0w @captainchrisstan

@ladymelissastark @93generation

@sebastianstansqueen @oceansxpurple

@Imjstaghoststory @rainbowkisses31

@superavengerpotterstar @cap-just-said-language

@booktease21 @ms-betsy-fangirl

@wildest-dream- @michelehansel @thummbelina

@abbylizy @sweetlittlegingy @lorabem

@barnesandrogersworld @dumblani @broco8

#bucky barnes #steve rogers #chris evans #reader insert #sebastian stan #bucky barnes x reader #home

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bixbythemartian · 5 years

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Hi! Im relatively new to your blog, found you thru the princess & warlock story today. Happy 1300! Prompt; cats are always meowing at (character). House cats stray cats friends' cats even that one time at the zoo. They figure hey, cats are just cute chatty little friends, but really they always had something important to say.

Thank you! Also, you accidentally picked one of my favorite things in the world to write about, so this got loooong.

Cats. Cats always chat at me. It’s been going on for most of a year. I have no idea why. Every stray cat I see has to walk up to me and chatter at me. It’s to the point where I carry kitty treats.

My friend, Tara, has three cats and they all have to come meow at me. Every time I come over. It’s a cacaphony of meowing for like five minutes. Tara says they’re usually pretty quiet, and they almost never meow unless, like, something’s up. (Sometimes ‘something’s up’ means ‘there’s a coat hanger on my favorite cushion’ because, well, cats.)

Maybe it’s a pheromone thing? Cats think I smell like someone they need to talk to? They’re pretty friendly.

(Sometimes I think they’re trying to cheer me up because my old cat, the General, passed away. It’s kind of nice and kind of sad to think about at the same time, so I don’t think about it too often.)

It’s kind of fun to go to the zoo. Cheetahs meow, did you know? It’s cute as heck! “Who’s the fastest land mammal?” “Meow. Meow!”

Tigers, uh, do not meow, honestly. I mean they are really big, like, chesty animals so they have a kind of deep growl, but they kind of... bellow at me? They yell. Tigers and Lions yell at me. It’s damn near human sounding.

The looks I get from zookeepers, I’m telling you.

And I swear at one point I had this bobcat, like, out of nowhere walk up and start meowing at me. I tell people about it and they’re like ‘yep, that’s our Ella’ but like seriously that was kind of a bowl quaking moment.

Like, regular house cats can mess you up if they lose their shit at you, and bobcats are fucking stacked, you know? They’re not, like, Lion big but they’re bigger than a lot of dogs, and when it comes right up to you and is like “hey” it is kind of frightening, let me tell you!

It was clearly friendly, which was super weird. It actually did that love rub thing on my ankles as I tried valiantly not to piss itself.

It kept talking to me!

I said “I’m sorry, cat friend, I don’t know what you’re saying,” and gave it cat treats. What else was I gonna do? It did accept my offering of treats and gave me a mildly reproachful look as it wandered off.

Cats, right?

Well, no, actually. This wasn’t a ‘cats, man’ type situation.

So I went to another friend. A... witchy friend, shall we say. She’s kinda weird but in a good way. She’s got a really normal apartment but there’s this one closet that locks that I’ve only ever glimpsed inside of.

Well, I went to her and told her what was up. She owed me a favor anyway, you know?

Well, I told her after her little tiny black cat, Squirt, got done talking to me.

The witch- she’s asked that I don’t name her, because of Reasons- nodded. “I noticed that,” she said. “I wondered if you’d ask me about it.”

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“No idea!” she said cheerfully, and unlocked the closet.

It was a storage closet? It had nothing weird inside. She dug around in it and pulled out a book, which she flipped through for a minute. It looked like a hand-written journal. “Okay, I think I can do this.”

“Do what?”

“Let you understand them. They’ve got something important to say, right?”

“Well, they seem to think so. I thought it was like, I dunno, a pheromone thing.”

“Yeah, that’s why came to me,” she said.

“Well... okay.”

“So we wanna facilitate interspecies communication, right? Do you have a cat?”

“Naw, not since the General died. I couldn’t...”

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I gotcha. No, that’s fair.”

“Every stray cat in the neighborhood hunts me down.”

“Good, cause you’re not taking Squirt.’

I turned and looked at Squirt. “Hear that?”

“Maow,” Squirt replied.

I followed her to her kitchen, where she started pulling all the spices out of the cabinet.

“I thought all your witchy shit was in the closet.”

“All my valuable shit is in the closet. I’m a kitchen witch. Any allergies?”

“Latex?”

“Shouldn’t be an issue.” She mixed up a cup of tea, stirring. “It’s got a bit of a kick.”

“For real?”

“Try it.”

The tea was warm and floral at first, and then there was a sort of spiciness that was kind of floral as well? And then it kicked me in the back of the throat. I wheezed.

“I warned ya!”

“You did,” I wheezed.

“Drink past it, you’ll be okay.”

The next sip was easier, and tempered with honey. I finally drained it all down, the last drop was honey sweet, though my lips still burned.

“Okay, go for a walk and see what happens.”

“Is this how you do all your magic?”

“Yep! Let me know, I’m curious.”

“Kay,” I said, and let myself back out.

I walked down the street, and then found a side path towards the park, and headed that way.

A stray cat came up to me, and rubbed it’s head on my ankles.

“Oh, now you don’t talk?” I asked.

“We talk,” it said.

I jumped.

“You listen now,” it said.

“Okay, yeah.”

“Come with me,” it said.

“I’m coming, lead the way,” wondering what exactly the witch had put in that tea. It led me to the park, and to the wooded area behind it, through a path that must be mostly used by cats and deer, to a little clearing. Around the edge was a bunch of trash you’d expect in a little clearing near civilization- beer cans and condom wrappers and food trash- and also an absolute herd of friggin cats.

“Oh. Hey. Everybody.”

One tiny cat, maybe still a kitten, came from the back, dodging and weaving. “Hello,” it said. “You have learned that you understand.”

“Sure,” I said. “Seems like y’all had something important to say.”

“The General has traveled to his next life.”

“Yeah. Y’all knew him, huh?”

“It is hard, when an old friend leaves. You have had time to mourn, yes?”

“Yeah. Wait, you want me to get a new cat? That’s the important thing?”

“Yes. New friend. Now you can understand, and talk to us.”

“Why is that important?”

They all kind of looked around, and an old fluffy orange cat that looked something like a matted cushion limped forward. It stared at her, one eye gone milky with age. “My mistress is dying,” it said, simply. “She is the cat witch, the one we speak to. She is dying.”

“You can understand us.”

“We knew you could learn the words.”

“You must help us.”

“Okay, okay, I can’t- settle, please, I can’t understand when you talk at the same time. Okay. So you want me to get a cat and talk to y’all because you need a cat witch.”

“Yes,” the ancient marmalade cat said.

“Why do you need a cat witch?”

“Tis an ancient bargain we struck, when the world was younger. Cat witches speak to us, help us carry our culture. We are so shortlived, you can carry it longer. They learn our magic. We protect.”

“So... I should go to the animal shelter then. No offense, but I have friends and whatever magic lets me get along with y’all-”

“Most of us are not tame enough to live indoors, you are right,” a really big tom said. “We have not elected. It is a choice between you and your next friend.”

“Well, okay. Um, should I- do you want me to talk to your- your mistress?”

The marmalade cat preened. “Yes. I will lead you to her. It is not far, even for humans.” There was a little snickering, which I ignored.

I followed the marmalade cat to a little old lady’s house and knocked.

She immediately scooped up the purring old cat. “There she is, Miss Betsy! Oh, you found her!”

“Yeah.” I glanced at the hilariously named Miss Betsy, but Miss Betsy was too busy purring and drooling. I sighed. “She said I needed to talk to you about this cat witch thing,” I said.

“Oh good, they found one. Yes, come in. Come in. I just made some tea, would you like some?”

I mean, I could go on, but long story short I have a new cat and an old book. Pookie is really taking to the harness, we go for walks every day and talk to the neighborhood cats.

I try to talk to them about the dying songbird population but that’s... well, the progress hasn’t been great, honestly. I’ll keep chipping at it. I have gotten a few of them fixed, the ones who are tired of watching their kittens die. And I have taken in and fostered and rehomed so many kittens. Fortunately, stray cats are good at finding money. I don’t ask where it comes from, it’s probably better that way.

I’m trying to get my neighbors on the harnessed cat thing and that is going pretty well, actually, especially since I am pretty good at convincing cats to wear them long enough to get used to them. Also I kind of have a... rep, now.

So things are going as well as can be expected.

Let me tell you what, though, I am fucking pumped to go back to the zoo.

#celebration ficlets #cats and cats and cats and cats #THIS WAS SO MUCH FUCKING FUN TO WRITE #thewonderfulthingaboutfish

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hoopyfrood · 7 years

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as promised, here’s ur first glimpse of katm (@knightatthemuseum) fic 👌👌

i’ll be uploading this to ao3 too when i start uploading all the companion stories in order, but it’s relevant, and these events just happened a few days ago, so it’s only fair u guys get this one now! 😜✌️

posting several days after new years rami style lmao

also context for anyone confused:

i run a natm blog set in an au where nicky goes to the british museum for his gap year and it posts in real time with what events are happening to nicky and lance, as well as fitting into canon as much as possible, and along with it im posting fics for backstory and extras!

no name for this fic just yet, so how about: sleepy boy parties too hard but its worth it because he’s gay as hell feat. sadly not enough tilly

“Ah, a New Year’s Kiss! Isn’t that nice?”

Nicky blinked and looked over at Lance and then at the exhibits dancing and singing in front of them, following their gaze until he got distracted by some of the tiny figures from Pompeii doing a Mexican wave. It wasn’t unusual for him to become sleepy during his hours spent at the museum, and as he’d been to a party earlier that night he was now really ready for a good long nap.

However, he’d promised he’d stay up for the new year, so he was sat on the stairs with Lancelot, who had taken a break from dancing, while several exhibits were partying before them in the Great Court to a 70s playlist provided by his dad. Nicky had put his music on shuffle earlier, but museum folks just seemed to be fans of disco classics. Larry stayed for Hanukkah, and it’d been great hanging out with him, but he’d left earlier that day; he’d gotten himself a dog for company and his grumpy neighbour had only agreed to look after it for just over a week.

Lance had been more excited to see photos of the dog, Betsy, than to see Larry himself. It was understandable, though, his dad was still a little wary of Lance after their first encounter when they almost got all the exhibits, including themself, uh, killed. Also, Lancelot really liked dogs and had an impossible dream of owning one in the priceless artefact filled museum.

His dad didn’t need to be cautious though, Lance was pretty harmless, in Nick’s opinion. Take their sword away and they were just a slightly confused, unfairly attractive person who enjoyed reality tv a bit too much.

Said knight was elbowing him again, which was kinda painful as they were wearing their full suit of armour for the occasion. They grinned and pointed over at the two statues sharing shy kisses.

“Those lovely ladies over there, isn’t it nice?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Nicky knew he should’ve feigned more excitement as Lancelot instantly turned to look at him with a worried expression. He sipped the cider they were sharing and tried to look more awake. New Year’s was a great time for the museum exhibits as it wasn’t long since they’d woken up, so they were ready to party, but Nicky didn’t think it’d be more than a few hours until he passed out. He’d try and stay up and enjoy the celebrations till then, though.

“Nick, what’s wrong?” They didn’t even need to ask if he was okay, they knew each other too well by now.

“Just tired. I did all my partying earlier, and, you know, I love DJing but being on your feet for so long really drains you.”

Lance crunched a handful of crisps as they paused to think. “You should rest, then.”

“No, I’m alright, just don’t ask me to dance, I’ll probably collapse,” He chuckled, but Lancelot was still fixing him with a concerned stare. “Just kidding.” Nick clarified, patting them on the leg in reassurance before helping himself to some snacks too, opting for the bowl of pretzels between them.

“I won’t be dancing myself either, I keep getting made fun of by this very mean guy with freckles who refuses to dress up for the occasion.” Lance told him, sniffing and looking away, opting for being dramatic, as per usual.

“Hey, this is a new sweater, I made some effort!” Nicky jostled them in the side and watched the grin spread across their face again. Lancelot could never remain serious for long without smiling, or just forgetting what they were doing.

“Armour is much more appropriate for an important event such as heralding a new year!”

“Not very practical though, at least I can dance in a sweater,”

“You’ve not gotten up to dance once! Half heartedly doing the hand movements to the macarena doesn’t count.”

“I’m tired! Look, my eyes are almost shut… can’t stay awake… time to collapse… ow!”

“You can’t miss the start of a whole new year, Nicky!”

“I’ll stay awake, just… don’t attack me with your evil metal fingers again.”

“What can I say? I have very well made armour. But my metal fingers will leave you be.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

The two shared a smile and then went back to snacking and watching the crowd of exhibits and their varied dancing styles. Tilly was teaching a cluster of people how to do the robot, with mixed results. She waved over to them excitedly and gestured to the exhibits next to her doing the awkward dance. Nicky and Lance both waved back in unison, Nick also giving her a thumbs up.

“When was your last New Year’s Kiss, Nicky?” Lance asked in interest, foot tapping to the music.

That took a bit of thought. “Uh… when I was fourteen and the only other boy who liked boys took pity on me at a friend’s party.” He smiled self deprecatingly as he remembered the girls avoiding him near the end of the night. He’d only recently come out as gay (later realising he was bi) and the only other known gay guy had given him a quick kiss before running off, leaving him alone to play a Pokémon game in the corner. Things hadn’t changed much, clearly, as before Lance found him he’d just been sat on his phone on the steps of the Court.

“That’s a long time ago.” Lance commented.

Nicky elbowed them in the side teasingly. “Not that it’s any competition, but when was your last kiss?”

To Nicky’s surprise, Lancelot turned the faintest bit pink. “William kissed my hand the night before he left, the same as I had greeted him.”

“Shakespeare?” Lance nodded in response to Nicky’s question. “Oh, I thought you were going to say Trixie or yourself or something.”

“Well, it was just a friendly gesture, I think it was, but it was nice of him.”

Lancelot wasn’t saying much which was an odd thing, as they usually wouldn’t shut up, but Nicky didn’t want to probe. They’d only recently gotten comfortable calling themself gay and being more confident in their sexuality: whatever it was, it wasn’t straight, and Nick didn’t want to push them to talk about crushes or anything. Will had gotten on well with Lance when he’d been part of the British theatre exhibition, and he’d been a surprisingly chill, flirty kind of guy who made terrible innuendos.

“That’s a long time with no kisses, though.” Lancelot was saying, and Nicky turned to see they were looking at him in thought.

“I guess. I’m used to it though, no big deal, man.”

“No, that won’t do,”

“Lance…” Now it was Nicky’s turn to feel heat rise in his cheeks. He didn’t know what Lancelot was planning but, oh man, he was already thinking of ideas and he really shouldn’t be thinking those ideas, they were ridiculous… but very welcome.

“Trixie! Come here, girl!”

Nicky breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. Then held his breath again as Trixie scrambled around the corner and sat at Lancelot’s side. She really was a loyal dinosaur, it reminded him of his friend Rexy, as boisterous as she had been, and it was a good thing they weren’t in the staff lounge for once as Trixie would probably have broken through the door frame and most of the wall to get to Lance.

“Now, give Nicky a kiss.” Lancelot commanded, clasping their hands together.

It was probably weird to not be scared by a giant triceratops looming down on you, but Nicky was used to it by now, having helped Lance train Trixie with the more difficult commands. The dinosaur butted her mouth against Nicky’s forehead then sat down again happily, and Nicky patted her side in thanks.

“Isn’t she a good girl? Yes she is! You’re a good dinosaur, Trixie!” Lance was saying, not in a cutesy voice like most people would use for a pet, instead they were proudly proclaiming how great she was while scratching her under the chin. After receiving the praise she wanted, Trixie ran off again in chase of something neither of them could see. It was New Year’s Eve, it was a party, neither of them could be bothered to run after her. Besides, she rarely broke anything lately, and if she did it was never any of the really important historical things.

It was a couple songs later after a comfortable silence between them when Lancelot spoke up again.

“Nicky, when are New Year’s kisses supposed to happen?”

“Uh, New Year.”

“Nicky!”

“What?” He smiled innocently while sipping his drink and avoided looking at his friend; he knew he’d lose his straight face pretty quickly if he saw Lance’s disgruntled expression.

Lance pushed some hair from their face so they could frown more clearly at him. “That’s not very helpful.”

“I’m not a very helpful guy.”

Nicky turned his head to give Lancelot one of his best teasing smiles, but just as he did he realised Lance was moving closer to him, their hands on his shoulders and then Nicky’s breath caught in his throat and… they kissed his eyebrow.

They both moved back quickly, Nicky now in utter confusion. What had just happened?

“You weren’t supposed to move.” Lance told him, and, now that Nicky was frozen due to being in mild shock and being held still by Lancelot, they kissed him lightly on the cheek, stubble brushing against his jaw.

“There. Happy new year!” Lance pulled away and patted him on the back, looking as though they felt very successful.

“Oh, right, happy new year, dude,” Nicky though of giving them a fist bump in return, then realised that would look a bit weird and he decided to just smile back before looking away.

Lancelot had no idea they’d just given him the best moment of his whole year and that was ridiculous, but it was also true, and he really wanted to run his fingers over where Lance had been against him and kissing him, and it was just his cheek, but, man, he suddenly felt wide awake. Nicky exhaled deeply and internally told himself to chill. He’d probably have handled himself better if he hadn’t had a few drinks. At least, he hoped so.

Lancelot looked completely oblivious, thankfully, to Nicky’s reaction. They were tapping both feet to the music now and picking the rocks of salt out of a pretzel with great concentration.

“Thanks, Lance,” Nicky told them, not sure if his friend had taken pity on him or just wanted to fulfil the tradition, but it was a nice end to the year. He wasn’t going to look into too deeply; the other was always an open person with expressing their excitement and love of their friends and things.

Lancelot patted him on the back, again, proving Nicky’s internal musings about their touchy feely nature correct, and nodded. “No problem. Everybody should get a kiss for New Years, I think.”

Nicky considered for the briefest of seconds kissing his friend back, but then mentally (and maybe physically? He wasn’t really sure what he was doing at that moment in time) shook his head to get rid of that thought. It was better to stick to their usual banter and move on.

Although… kissing for the sake of tradition was a pretty valid reason to do so. He wouldn’t have another chance for a year, and fuck knows where he’d be then.

Yeah, he might as well go for it.

“Guess you should get one too, yeah?”

He waited for Lance’s nod of agreement, then, as casual as he could be, Nicky held their jaw gently, and pressed a kiss to the side of their face. If he’d been somebody watching he would’ve walked over and slapped himself in the face; it reminded him of little kids shyly kissing each other during school recess or something. It was only for the sake of tradition, of course, but he felt a little nervous about it happening.

(Nicky was too busy keeping his eyes on Lance to notice, but later he’d be told that there was somebody watching, and it was Tilly, and she had been giving Nicky an unseen double thumbs up. She was very keen about setting people up in the museum, but unfortunately for her, it was just a casual thing.)

Lancelot looked surprised, but grateful, and they smiled. “Thank you!” Another person with a big crush on them might’ve been annoyed by how relaxed Lance was, but Nicky was glad to see them looking so happy and comfortable. It made him chill out, too.

Sometimes he was anxious about touching or hugging his friend too much, worried he was being too close, being too obvious about his feelings. He didn’t want to influence Lance, to make them feel they had to be anything other than good friends. So it was nice to just hang out, to get the warm buzz of alcohol in his body, to joke around and know that his friend was comfortable with the odd touch and hug, and kiss on the cheek. He really needed to start up a conversation to distract himself from thinking about moving his lips elsewhere.

“New Year’s Kisses are supposed to happen right as it becomes the new year,” Nicky told them, failing to think of anything to talk about but kissing. Great, not like that was weird. He was also pleasantly ignoring the fact he’d kissed them back way before midnight.

Lance didn’t seem to mind, though, they just looked thoughtful.

Everything had been a bit surreal, but it was hard to feel awkward around Lance, and even though Nicky was sure he was still blushing a tiny bit, the atmosphere was relaxed as ever. Well, he was used to the guy being close. It just happened that he’d liked this one action from them quite a bit more than all the hugs, though they were nice. Lance was nice, too, pretty great, actually. It was ten minutes to midnight now, and Nicky was glad to be spending the last few moments of 2016 with his closest friend.

“Well, hopefully I’ll get it right next year, then.” Lance replied with a nod, happiness returning as they munched on a pretzel and tapped their feet to Boogie Wonderland, while Nicky wondered if that promise would be fulfilled.

#this should post in the dead of night (well for me at least) im dropping it beyoncé album style #i'm such a perfectionist so i'll probably tweak it again before uploading it with the others #i have at least 3 others that will be setting up the au and background stuff #but more to come too ofc!#felix meows #my writing #natm #lanicky #hell knows we need more in that tag lmao #rebloggable #katm #katm behind the scenes #knightatthemuseum

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