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ironmandeficiency · 1 year

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free food

pairing: pippin / hobbit!reader

word count: 1058

summary: pippin’s idea for free food on valentine's day has far better results than he and merry could have predicted

a/n: this is my february piece for the year of themed creation (@yearofcreation2023), but i lost it before i could actually post it on valentine’s day 🤷🏻‍♀️ but i've clawed my way out of my depressive slumps to post what i'm behind on, so here we are

there were only so many dates pippin could third wheel on before he lost his mind

merry was courting estella bolger and they were so sickeningly cute together that poor pip felt like he was going to lose second breakfast just watching them

his dear friend was saying something about estella; to be honest, pip zoned out for a hot minute because at this rate, he would know estella better than he knew himself if he listened to everything merry had to say about her

pippin would much rather focus on more important things, like ways to steal more crops from farmer maggot or new drinking medleys

his wandering mind was brought back to the present conversation with the phrase “free food” (which he was technically somewhat focused on already)

“where is the food and how can i get it for free?!”

“see pip, it’s not that simple-“

“just tell me what i need to do!”

“you need a date!”

oh. well, it could be worse. pippin doesn’t think he knows a single hobbit that would turn down a free meal

with that being said, there was not a doubt in his mind who he would want to accompany him on this free food expedition: you

if he wanted the act to be convincing, you were the most obvious choice. you knew how to act; case in point, when you would smuggle him & merry while they were running from farmer maggot after burgling his crops, or pretend to not notice when pies suddenly vanish from your windowsill only to be offered right back to you moments later by your favorite took

with his mind set on asking you to be his fake date, he prods for more details. let it never be said that peregrine took does anything halfway. “okay, a date. then what?”

was it pippin’s imagination, or did merry look as if he was scheming?

“you’ve got to profess your love to ‘em, make a big spectacle of it! the sappier, the better.”

oh. apparently, it is worse like he originally thought

his cousin merely laughed at the way his face blanched at the idea of waxing poetic about his lifelong crush, skipping away from a bewildered pippin with a smug smile

“oi! merry! where d’ye think you’re-”

“so,” pippin could feel his heart skip a beat when your voice reached his ears. “what’s this i hear about free food?”

well, bollocks. guess it’s time to reveal the potential plan and hope he doesn’t get socked

“well ya see, it’s but a simple plan. we go from tavern to tavern, making a spectacle of ourselves while professing our love for each other. the barkeeps, so moved by our displays of love, cover the bills. free food, you see?”

“will we take turns doing the confessing?”

“of course. ‘tis only fair, after all. we’ve got to share the workload.”

“may i pick the first venue?”

“of course, dearie-” pippin paused, immediately rewinding the conversation and wondering when he asked you to join him.

wait a moment, he didn’t ask you! but you accepted anyway!

you loved to watch pippin’s mind slowly come to the realization that you accepted his unsent invitation. the scrunching of his eyebrows, one hand reaching for his chin while the other perches on his hip

“then it’s set! we’ll meet at mine for afternoon tea then head out. make sure to dress nicely, i won’t accept proclamations of love and adoration from any average hoodlum!” with a rush of bravery you peck his cheek, tossing him a wink over your shoulder as you stroll away

a rhythmic knock sounded on the violet door of your smial precisely five minutes before afternoon tea

“come on in, pip!”

“i’m not pippin, but i shall come in nevertheless.” you recognize merry’s voice on the other side and laugh. leave it to the tooks (by name, blood, or both) to be so forward

merry enters your home and looks rather serious, which is a funny look on the typically carefree brandybuck

“what seems to be troubling you, merry?”

he took a deep breath, hands gravitating behind his back and a look of concern coating his features. “about your date with pippin tonight… please don’t lead him on with fallacies. there’s only so much his heart can take and i fear that if you act too convincing for the sake of the scheme, it would shatter him come tomorrow morn.”

the concern was touching, and it made your heart swell with the knowledge that your dear pippin has such a stalwart friend at his side

but this also leads you to question, not for the first or last time, the blindness of those with took blood

“who says i would spread a single fallacy tonight? my intentions are pure and good, my friend. i plan on speaking my heart and seeing where it leads.” there was no conceivable way that neither cousin knew of your feelings for pippin… was there?

“and anyway, it’s about time i submit myself to the fate of marrying into the took line. they are a rather rowdy bunch, but genuine in all they do.” you flurry around your kitchen, setting out three placemats on your dining table to accommodate for the unexpected guest “i could become a sackville-baggins, but i fear that adopting that name would result in none of you talking to me ever again.”

a loud clattering followed by a wet SPLAT! jolted you both. you turn to find a flabbergasted pippin in your entryway, a smile on his face and eyes wet with unshed tears. there was a mostly-cooked loaf of lemon & poppy seed cake on your floor, the porcelain it was cooked in still mercifully whole. he didn’t even look the slightest bit bothered by the pieces of cake that splattered on his toes

“d’ye mean it? would you truly allow me to make a took out of you?”

carefully stepping around the remnants of the cake, you hold his face in your hands as you reply, “i’ve wanted for nothing more, pip.”

without warning you’re hoisted into the air, pippin loudly whooping and laughing as you’re spun around. his smile is contagious as always, your own laughter joining his

merry’s presence is all but forgotten until his voice breaks through your reverie. “watch out for the-” THU-THUD!! “-cake.”

#pippin took x reader #pippin my baby boy #merry and pippin #pippin took #lotr reader insert #lord of the rings imagine #peregrine took #peregrine took x reader #lotr imagine #lotr fanfic #lotr x reader #year of themed creation #year of idiots #year of themed creation 2023 #merry is the best friend a took could have #even tho he's also a took it still counts

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smoke-and-silver · 3 months

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How did you come up with your Ifrit / Bernadette content? I would love to hear 😁

It's so flattering that people are interested in them, thank you so much!

I actually didn't plan for Ifrit to make more than one appearance. Initially I wanted to do some little slice of life scenes around the ministry, and I just picked a random ghoul for that introduction scene with a nun first meeting a demon.

When I started drawing Bernadette it was out of a desire to draw an older character than I usually would. I'm 24 and having that first "oh god am I getting old" panic so I started drawing an older woman as a comfort, then she took on her own character as I drew more. :3

For the little comics I wanted something playful, like those early 2000s cheesy goth webcomics where the blood is all played off for laughs--like the repeated joke of Bernadette killing her ex husband. I get a lot of inspo from campy domestic horror flics like Serial Mom (1994).

--and then, I thought it would be sweet for an older lady to get some love, and Ifrit was already there from that first comic, and I kept growing more attached to him too, and the content just got sappier from there. :P

#ifrit and bernadette

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laurenairay · 2 years

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watermelon sugar high - JT Compher

Summary: after three years together, it’s finally your turn – the day of your wedding to JT Compher.

Word Count: 4.5 words

Warnings: fluff, mild angst, kissing, wedding day, anxiety

A/N: we made it! The end of this little story series – I sincerely hope you’ve all enjoyed reading these as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them! I’d love to know your thoughts 💛

Third, and final, part in the watermelon sugar series, sequel to breathe me in, breathe me out and strawberries on a summer evening.

Tagging: @fallinallincurls @suitandtys @sorryjustafangirl @jostystyles @starshine-hockey-girl @xsyntheticsensation @senditcolton @hockeylvr59 @corneliaskates @tysojost

*"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." – Dr. Seuss

Sometimes it can be scary how fast time flies.

The longer you dated JT, the more romantic he became. It was all the little things – he brought you flowers every time he saw you, he started keeping your favourite tea in his kitchen for when you stayed overnight, he always gave you little kisses in passing, he never failed to hold your hand whenever the two of you were out in public, and he spent ages shopping for the perfect Christmas decorations that first Christmas together. And those things were only the tip of the iceberg. He only grew softer, sweeter, sappier when you moved in with him too, two years into your relationship. This was your JT, the sweet gentleman; it was a side of him he never let show in public, and you got to be the person to see the real him, more and more each day.

Before you knew it, three years had passed since that fateful summer, reuniting with JT after so long, starting up that change from childhood friends to more, and you couldn’t imagine your life without him. Not that you would have to, with JT proposing only three months after you’d moved in with him a year ago.

You hadn’t thought much of the walk JT had invited you on one Sunday morning through your old Northbrook neighbourhood, the two of you just talking softly in the early morning quiet, hand-in-hand, until you reached a clearing in the local park with dozens of bouquets of flowers. Before you’d even been able to ask him what the hell, JT had dropped down on one knee and pulled out a ring that still made your stomach fill with butterflies – there was no way you were going to say no.

(and when Jesse and Morgan had both appeared from behind trees, one filming and one snapping photos, you knew they’d played a big part in the planning, which didn’t surprise you in the slightest).

So much of JT’s season had been filled with the wedding planning, both of his sisters and your moms more than willing to help out while JT was off on roadtrips, and somehow within all the chaos and all the differing opinions (and with JT chiming in over facetime), you’d manage to figure out a wedding that would be perfect for the two of you.

Finally though, the time had come for you to marry JT, to become his wife. And you couldn’t wait. This was a day you’d dreamed about since you were a little kid – innocent fantasies then, but now it was the reality that you were giddy to be able to live.

The venue you’d chosen was an all-in-one ceremony and reception site – the ceremony was going to outside in the middle of a beautiful gardens, full of wildflowers and trees lining the outside of the clearing, with the reception hall in a giant converted barn complex, with multiple rooms for changing and food storage & preparation. It was intimate and rustic and stunning, and the moment that the two of you had seen it (because it was actually one that JT had been able to go with in person), you’d fallen in love. And by the look on JT’s face, you knew that he felt the same way. You were getting ready in the largest room right at the back with all your bridesmaids, far away from all the final decorations, and even when people started arriving they wouldn’t be able to see you. It was perfect, for the both of you, and you knew the photos would preserve the memories of your special day exactly how you’d envisioned it.

Waking up early for the hair and make-up stylists was no more fun as a bride than all the times you’d done it as a bridesmaid, but at least this time you weren’t the one running around to make sure things were ready – you left that to your mom and your bridesmaids (JT had claimed Jesse as his best ‘man’ so you’d quickly claimed Morgan as your sane bridesmaid, which she was living up to with tissues and glasses of water). All through getting ready, the light breakfast, the jewellery, sliding into your gorgeous wedding dress, you could hear the photographer snapping photos but it was something you were trying to let fade into the background, just trying to enjoy the peaceful time you had while it lasted. This was something you were only going to experience once (hopefully?) and the only thing you wanted to do was live in the moment, to make the memories rather than let everything pass in a blur.

The one thing that JT had specifically asked for was a moment just for the two of you before the ceremony. Not a first look – no, he wanted to be surprised – but a moment where everyone else left the room so he could hold your hand.

He really had become such a romantic.

When that time came, when your group of people filed out of the room, murmuring their coos of encouragement to JT, you couldn’t help but smile as you heard JT breathe out shakily, the door open less than a foot, just enough for JT’s hand to slip through. You knew he was standing with his back to the door, to not risk seeing you, so you did the same, clasping your hand in his in the ever-familiar motion. The moment that his hand squeezed yours, you felt tension leaving your body that you hadn’t even realised was there.

And with a final click of a camera before the photographer slipped out of the room too, the two of you were finally alone.

“Hey JT,” you murmured.

“God it’s good to hear your voice,” JT groaned.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the desperation in his words, imaging the exasperated look on his face.

“We’ve only been apart for one night, it can’t be that bad,” you giggled.

“I’ve had Jesse and Josty competing all morning to take my mind off how nervous I am,” he said dryly.

What an image – you knew he’d gotten ready in his parent’s home that morning, travelling all together to this venue when they were all ready, and you could only imagine the chaos. There was something that caught your notice though.

“You’re nervous?” you asked, frowning slightly.

“Not nervous to marry you, not that,” he said quickly, “I’m nervous that I’ll do something stupid, like trip over my own feet, or tread on your dress, or forget my words, or just, I don’t know, make an ass out of myself and ruin the day.”

One of the things you loved most about JT was his emotional honesty – drunk or sober, he always told you what was going on in his head and you were so grateful for it. Not just because it was hard to read him sometimes, but because it meant that he wasn’t bottling things up inside. Even if he did worry way too much.

“There’s not a single thing you could do to ruin today. We’re getting married, baby. There’s nothing to be nervous about at all,” you said firmly.

“You called me baby.”

There he was. The happiness in his voice sent butterflies soaring through your stomach, and you couldn’t stop the grin that spread across your lips. He really was so sweet.

“I’ll get to call you baby for the rest of our lives now,” you teased.

The happy noise he made only made you laugh softly in return.

“I can’t wait,” JT said softly, “are you ready to be Mrs Compher then?”

As if that wasn’t the one thing you’d wanted for years.

“I’m ready. Let’s do this,” you nodded.

“Let’s do this,” he echoed, and you could hear the smile in his voice. “I would kiss your hand but that would bend your arm in a weird angle and I’m not sure these pants are squat proof.”

The very thought of him splitting the ass of his wedding suit just to be able to bend down enough to kiss your hand had you busting out in laughter, JT laughing as well, taking the final fizzle of nerves away.

“Rain check?” you offered, still laughing.

“Rain check. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too. Now get out of here so I can meet you at the end of the aisle,” you mused.

JT squeezed your hand again, knocking twice on the door in goodbye before letting go. You clenched your fist briefly, clinging onto the phantom feeling of his hand in yours, before trying to compose yourself as you heard footsteps approaching. The whirlwind of last-minute preparations continued, giving JT enough time to get to the ceremony venue outside, enough time for another round of hugging and almost-tears before it was your time too. Your mom shuffled off to get your dad, ready to walk you down the aisle, and your bridesmaids all lined up in the order you’d discussed, although Morgan stepped up next to you and rested a hand on your forearm.

“I’m so glad you’re going to be my sister,” Morgan said, smiling widely, “my brother is a lucky man.”

It was all you could do to choke out a laugh, hugging her tightly in turn, trying not to cry all over again.

The ceremony setting outside was stunning. The clearing in the trees on the venue grounds was lined with all colours of wildflowers, complementing the olive green of the bridesmaids’ dresses perfectly, with white chairs laid out for the multitude of guests, the mix of rustic nature and wedding blending perfectly just liked you’d hoped. You saw your wedding planner signal to one of the venue staff, and the sound of the wedding march started immediately, making your stomach fill with butterflies, even more so as everybody stood up from their seats.

Here goes nothing.

At the end of the aisle stood your bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and most importantly, JT. He was framed by a beautiful wooden arch that his dad Bob had made as a surprise for the two of you, more of the wildflowers threaded through it, and to be honest you didn’t think you’d ever seen anything looking better.

The tears JT wiped away from his cheeks were just the icing on the cake.

You paused only briefly to pass your small bouquet to a bridesmaid, Morgan straightening your dress out behind you, before you stepped those final steps towards your soon-to-be husband, the smile on his face as wide as you knew yours was.

“Hey,” you murmured.

“Hey,” he said, laughing softly.

You were ready.

The officiant started his speech, welcoming everyone to your wedding, but all you could focus on was JT’s smiling face, both of his hands holding yours, full of so much love. Time stretched out into a blur, everything feeling like a floating magical dream, until Jesse stepped forward with the rings. You knew you were smiling like an idiot as you exchanged I Do’s and slid the rings onto each other’s fingers, but you didn’t care. He was yours, and you were his, and nothing else mattered.

“I now pronounce you as married in the eyes of the law in the state of Illinois! You may now kiss your bride.”

The grin JT shot you made you laugh, and you wasted no time in clutching at his lapels as he pressed a soft slow kiss to your lips, one of his hands cupping your face with the other resting on your waist. Cheers and applause and whoops filled the air, JT slowing the kiss down to a few pecks before pulling away, the sappiest look on his face.

“Wanna get out of here for a moment?” he murmured.

“Hell yes,” you laughed, taking his hand and threading your fingers together.

As you took your bouquet back from your bridesmaid, you murmured to her that you just needed a moment, to have a breather alone with your husband (husband!) and to change out of your heels, and she promised to let everyone know, letting you focus on enjoying walking back down the aisle, flowers in one hand and JT in the others, that giddy rush hitting you harder than it ever had before.

You were married.

JT Compher was finally your husband and you couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot. And why should you stop? You were so unbelievably irrevocably happy, so much so that you felt like you were about to explode, JT’s hand in yours being the only anchor. He led you into the room you’d gotten ready in that morning, and the moment that he closed the door behind the two of you, he let out a laugh of disbelief.

“Did that really just happen? Did we really just get married?” he grinned.

“Fuck yeah baby, you put a ring on it,” you teased, holding up your left hand to display the beautiful wedding band.

“Baby,” he cooed, sliding his arms around your waist, you sliding yours around his neck, “I get to call you mine for the rest of my life. I like the sound of that.”

And with that, he pressed another soft kiss to your lips, barely grazing his tongue over your bottom lip before he broke the embrace.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look?” he asked softly.

He thought you were beautiful?

“Not even once,” you fake-pouted, trying to ignore your racing heart.

“Well I’m going to have to make up for that, aren’t I?”

A kiss to your neck. You’re beautiful. A kiss behind your ear. You’re beautiful. A kiss to your cheek. You’re beautiful. A kiss to your lips. You’re beautiful. Over and over and over again he murmured those sweet words between kisses until you couldn’t take it anymore. You took his lips in a firm kiss, tangling a hand in his hair to keep him in place, earning a soft laugh from your husband before he returned the kiss eagerly, JT sliding his tongue against yours in an instant.

That was more like it.

You lost yourself in his kisses, your blood swirling heatedly through your body, even more so as JT backed you against the wall, his hands like a hot brand even through your dress. And to think, this man was yours for life. Whew.

“Baby, everyone’s waiting on us,” you said with a groan, breaking the kiss reluctantly.

“They can wait,” JT muttered, pressing wet kisses down your neck, making you moan softly.

As much as you’d rather stay alone with him right now…

“Baby, we gotta, come on,” you giggled.

JT nipped your neck, making you gasp before batting at his shoulder, and he just laughed before nodding reluctantly.

“Baby,” he grinned, “Alright, I guess we should go say hi to our guests.”

“And take official photos, and eat, and dance, and actually sit down,” you added.

“And then we can have some alone time,” he smirked.

The dark heated look in his eyes made you shiver and bat at his shoulder again with a laugh, JT letting you out of his arms. If you started thinking about how excited you were for your wedding night, then you knew you wouldn’t be leaving this room any time soon. There were some things that your elderly relatives didn’t need to know. JT sat down next to you as you quickly topped up your lipstick and changed out of your heels into sneakers that your brother had customised for you, Mrs Compher, his eyes lighting up like it hadn’t really sunk in yet. To be honest, it hadn’t really sunk in for you yet either, that you were really actually finally married, that you were JT’s wife, that you were starting this new chapter together – but those were things you didn’t have to think about right now. All of that could come later, because right now all you wanted to do was head back out to your family and friends, and have some fun.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

You’d already asked for photos to be taken in as many combinations as possible, wanting a ton of just yourself and JT (and you couldn’t wait to display them in your home because you knew they were going to turn out amazing), as well as both of your families and your wedding parties. You wanted to remember this day for the rest of your life, to capture every detail as much as possible, and you knew JT felt the same way.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t getting a little grumpy by the time that it was time to head in for the reception.

“JT’s looking a little hangry – do you want me to sneak him a snack?”

Jesse’s whisper made you giggle, glad you weren’t the only one who noticed. “Absolutely – I’ll flag down a waiter to get us drinks too.”

“Teamwork! 1, 2, 3, break!” Jesse grinned.

JT looked over his shoulder from where he was standing with his mom, frowning at Jesse’s whoop.

“I don’t want to know, do I?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“I promise it’s nothing bad?” you said, smiling innocently.

JT snorted, but rolled his eyes fondly. “I suppose I just signed up for you conspiring with my sisters for the rest of my life.”

Hearing him say that, for the rest of my life, wasn’t going to get old any time soon, you knew that much by the way it made your heart beat just that little bit faster.

“That’s the spirit baby,” you grinned.

You watched a happy glint pass over his eyes briefly, making you smile to yourself as he seemed to settle into himself a little more. Baby. You loved how much he loved that.

“They’re ready for your entrance now!”

Snapping out of your thoughts at your wedding planner’s words, you took the hand that JT held out to you with a smile, that giddy buzz filling your body again. He tilted his head towards the door in a silent question, ready?, and you smiled even wider, nodding. You were more than ready.

“I give you, Mr and Mrs Compher!”

The double doors of the venue hall opened, and you were immediately hit with a wave of cheers and whistles and applause and whoop’s, JT grinning widely and proudly down at you before he squeezed your hand. You squeezed his back, grin just as wide on your own face, and with that, the two of you walked into the packed room. There were strings of fairy lights everywhere, just as you’d asked, with clean white tablecloths on every table, rustic wood centerpieces with more of the bright wildflowers from outside decorating as far as your eyes could see. It was exactly how you’d envisioned, exactly what you’d hoped for, and you couldn’t stop the tears that stung at your eyes.

“Shit, it’s perfect,” JT murmured, eyes wide as he took in the room.

Good to know he felt the same as you did. By the time the two of you were sitting at the table at the other end of the room, Jesse had snuck a little bundle of snacks onto JT’s plate, the waiter that you’d nodded to having brought over a glass of prosecco each already too. Teamwork indeed.

“This feels surreal,” JT said softly, voice full of disbelief.

It really, really did. But it was your reality, your dream that you’d built together, and you were going to savour it while it lasted. “Better believe it baby. This is all for us,” you grinned.

“Cheers to that,” JT laughed, lifting his glass in salute.

First came the speeches – JT went first, making your eyes fill with happy tears as he openly declared his love for you in front of all the most important people in your lives, saying how lucky he was to finally be your husband. Then came your dad, as father of the bride, who had everyone in sappy tears, welcoming JT to your family officially, asking him to take care of his little girl. And then came Jesse, as best ‘man’, who had everyone in tears of laughter with embarrassing stories of JT, as well as a few of you too.

“Before I finish up and let JT’s flaming cheeks cool down, I’ll tell you one last story. On JT’s cup day back in summer 2022, my new sister came along even though she wasn’t sure she should, seeing as they’d only been on three actual dates by that point. But I told her, as did everyone else that day, that JT was smitten and that she was already family, so she belonged as much as the rest of us did. But it was on the way home that night that I knew they were going to last. JT was sloppy drunken mess, as we all know-”

Your husband’s face scrunched up in a sarcastic thanks, Jesse just beaming at him.

“-and he basically had to be poured into the taxi by the two of us. And then, she called him baby…and you should’ve seen his face. It was like he’d seen the moon and the stars and the sun all at once. The love on his face, so open and so pure, was like nothing I’d ever seen him show before, and it was then that I knew for sure that I’d get to call her my sister one day.”

Oh god. Oh wow, that was when she knew? That sweet little passing drunken moment? You heard JT let out a soft laugh next to you, a little wet like he had tears in his eyes, and just a glance over at him showed you that he was indeed more than a little emotional. That day had been so early in your relationship, before he’d even asked you to be his girlfriend, before you’d even moved to Denver to be with him for good, and that’s when she knew?

“Clearly I was right, because here we are. Everyone knew long before they even did, how perfect they are for each other, and I’m honoured to be able to welcome you officially to our family. So everyone raise your glasses, and let’s toast to the new Mr and Mrs Compher! Cheers!”

You took a big mouthful of your own drink as your guests drank too, applause immediately filling the room while tears filled your eyes all over again. JT glanced at you, smiling widely, before he stood up to pull his sister into a firm hug, both of them holding on for a little longer than usual, before Jesse let go of him to pull you into a hug too.

“Thank you, so much,” you murmured to her.

“No, thank you. For bring out the best in him, always,” she murmured back.

You pressed your lips together in an attempt to compose yourself, Jesse just grinning as she stepped away to move back to her own seat. JT saw the storm of emotions on your face as you sat back down, and slid his hand into yours with a word, squeezing that silent show of affection he always did.

“Everything okay?” he murmured.

“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed. That was…whew, that was all so much,” you admitted, “in a good way though.”

“As long as it’s all in a good way,” he nodded, eyes serious.

Your sweet overprotective man. It was all you could do to lean over and press a soft kiss to his lips, pouring all your emotions into the embrace, JT just sighing happily as he raised a hand to cup your face. Just a slow, soft, sweet kiss, but it was everything you needed to steady yourself, and when you felt a little less shaky you pulled away, JT just smiling at you. You knew you were smiling like an idiot back at him, but you couldn’t help it. This happiness, this genuine unparalleled joy, was unlike anything you’d ever felt, and you wanted to savour it.

The rest of the evening was smooth riding from there on it. All the food courses were brought out, JT making sure you ate between talking with guests, as well as mason jars being brought around with your favourite cocktails in, polaroid cameras at every table to capture those candid moments, and so so many sweet little kisses with JT. It was perfect. So undeniably perfect. There was just one thing left to do – to open up the dancefloor.

“Here with their first dance, let’s hear it for the bride and groom!”

You grinned up at JT as he led you to the middle of the dancefloor, resting one hand on your waist then clasping the other with one of yours up by your shoulders, you just resting your free hand on his chest. He’d been worried about looking like a fool in the first dance, seeing as it wasn’t something he usually did in public, so the two of you had actually practiced swaying together in a little two-step in your kitchen a few times, just to ease him into the motions of it all. It was those kinds of sweet little moments that let you know you were right in choosing him to spend the rest of your life with, and to be honest, you couldn’t wait to get started.

“Stars shining bright above you, Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you", Birds singing in a sycamore tree, Dream a little dream of me. Say nighty night and kiss me, Just hold me tight and tell me you miss me, While I'm alone and blue as can be, Dream a little dream of me.”

As Ella Fitzgerald’s voice filled the room, you lost yourself in the feeling of JT’s arms, his eyes locked with yours like he didn’t want to miss a moment of it either. This moment, this was the one you wanted to remember the most, this little pocket of time that was just yours. Nothing would ever match up to this, ever, and you could only hope he felt the same.

“Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you, But in your dreams whatever they be, Dream a little dream of me.”

Cheers and applause filled the room as the song faded to a finish, JT capturing your lips in a soft kiss that left your heart racing, whoops and catcalls adding themselves to the chorus around you too. JT broke the kiss with a laugh, shaking his head fondly at his teammates, before looking back down at you.

“I love you, Mrs Compher, so much,” he murmured, eyes shining as he said your new name.

“I love you too,” you whispered back, smile spreading across your lips.

JT just kissed you slowly again, hand cupping your face, his tongue lightly brushing along your bottom lip briefly before he pulled away once more. There would be more time to explore that later, to explore his body all over again to start this new chapter of yours lives together, when the two of you eventually retreated to your hotel room. But for now, you just looked up at his smiling face full of adoration and let him sway you from side to side amongst the other couples who’d joined you. For now, this was all you needed, just him. And it was everything.

#my writing #jt compher fic #watermelon sugar series #jt compher series #jt compher imagine #jt compher fanfic #jt compher x reader #hockey writing #hockey fic #hockey imagine #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl imagine

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the-case-book-of-fanfiction · 2 years

Text

1989

Ship: Eddie x reader

Summary: Returning to Hawkins after years of helping Eddie through English class (and specifically poetry assignments), you make Eddie watch a new film with you called Dead Poets Society.

Word Count: 4, 298

Warnings: DPS spoilers (ish?), fluff, ending is waaaay sappier than I originally planned, mentions of the events of S4E9

Note: I have elected to ignore season 4's ending due to the year DPS was released and because that episode was just painful to sit through anyway.

☟ Continue below the fold ☟

Hawkins had been quiet in the past week since your return from college. The town seemed to have reverted to the same peaceful place its residents had known before 1983. It felt strange. You couldn't say you hated the peace, but a part of you did miss the adventure, knowing that danger was around the corner. That urge to chase danger had curbed quite a bit since '86, of course, which was probably the only reason you had survived three years of college so far away from home and the people (read: person) you cared about most.

Summer break had begun two weeks ago, and you'd come back to your hometown to visit your family and friends—and most importantly, Eddie Munson. You had seen him during break of course, but that was nothing compared to spending three consecutive months of summer with him in Hawkins.

You had your other friends to entertain, of course—Steve and Robin had both been sending you letters nonstop throughout the school year, but this summer was important. This was the summer before your final year of college, and you wanted to make it very clear to Eddie you wanted to get your life together (preferably with him, which he ought to know by now) before you graduated.

Practically melting in the scorching heat, you slammed your car door shut and bolted for the AC'ed depths of Family Video. Steve was at the counter, concentrating on organizing a stack showcasing new movies. He looked up when the bell above the door chimed, a grin spreading on his face.

"Y/N!" he said, holding up his hand for a high-five. "Are you starting today?"

Family Video had been your summer job since the summer before heading to college. You were working there again this summer, but you weren't starting yet. "Nope. I'm coming back next week."

Steve frowned. "Then what are you here for?"

You rolled your eyes. "Maybe Dustin's right and you really do need to be told everything."

He made a face. "No no no, I mean why would you come to your place of work if you didn't have to work yet?"

"Maybe she just wants to see us!" called Robin, peering out from behind a row of movies. She beamed at the sight of you.

"As much as I'd love to spend time with you guys, I'm actually here for a movie," you said, leaning on the countertop. "It's date night."

Steve raised his eyebrows, his mouth forming an 'O'. "I suppose you'll want something a little more, ah, intimate, shall we say?"

You laughed, whacking his arm. "Hardly. I've got something in mind. A new release, if you have it."

"We might," said Robin, leaving the stack she was shelving and peering at the new releases Steve was arranging. "How new?"

"June 2."

Steve's head snapped up. "Dead Poets Society?"

You grinned. "You know it!"

He groaned, not the reaction you'd been expecting. "Nancy's been making everyone watch it. She cries every time."

You shrugged. "I can't blame her. They killed off the best character."

"As per usual," Robin grumbled. "You know, they always do that. They kill of the ones I like the most."

"You and me both," you groaned. "So. You got it?"

"Uhhhhhh, lemme check the box of stuff we just got." Steve crouched below the desk and you stood on your toes to lean over the countertop. You watched him sort through movies, looking for the familiar movie cover.

Robin snorted. "You be careful there, Y/N, or Eddie'll think you're into Steve."

Over your shoulder so Steve wouldn't see, you mimed gagging. She snickered and went back to shelving movies as Steve peered at the pair of you suspiciously.

"Speaking of Eddie," began Steve, "have you guys figured it out yet?"

"After college plans? That's what this summer is for."

"And is the movie with the ending that makes everybody cry going to help you sort that out?"

You shrugged, suddenly mute and unsure of yourself.

Steve stood back up, Dead Poets Society in hand. "You alright?"

"Gotta be honest," you sighed, "I'm scared for the whole conversation." You toyed with the ring on your hand, a simple silver band that had your initials and Eddie's intertwined on the inside, as Robin came back over. "Y'know, the whole...having a life together conversation."

"You think he won't want to?" Robin asked, aghast.

You shrugged. "I don't think he won't want to, I'm just worried about the other things that might...might get in the way. His band stuff is always pretty time-consuming, and I don't want him putting that aside for me, but I also don't want to be shoved aside for the band, y'know? It's just..." You sighed heavily, dropping your head into your hands. "After everything that happened in '86, in the Upside Down—"

Blood covered your jacket, the smell of it drawing even more bats. Dustin howled, trying to keep them away from the pair of you, but a few slipped through. You screamed, shielding Eddie with your body. Your shirt came away soaked with his blood when you sat back up, pulling him into your lap.

"Stay with me, Eddie, please. You hear me? You're not going anywhere, love."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice thick and choked.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," you insisted fiercely, cradling his head. "Absolutely nothing."

Eddie grinned up at you, and you couldn't help but flinch at the sight of the blood on his face, in his mouth, coating his teeth. You knew how this ended in movies, and you hoped to God this wasn't going to be like that. "Yeah," he whispered. "I wasn't a coward this time, eh?"

"You are many things, Eddie Munson, but a coward is not one of them."

His eyes fluttered, his head dropping.

"Eddie? Eddie!"

"'M okay," he whispered. "I just...need a mo...moment..."

"Ed? Ed? DUSTIN! Dustin, c'mon, we gotta get him outta here!"

"Y/N? Y/N, you there?"

Fingers clicked in your face. "Earth to Y/N?" said Robin, both of them peering at you with twin expressions of worry.

You shook yourself out of the memory, more vivid than the ones that usually plagued you and took you back to that awful moment, to the beginning of the weeks where you thought Eddie wasn't going to make it out.

"Sorry...sorry, I just...got thinking about it again." You rubbed your eyes. "After all that, I don't know what I'd do without him. I mean, you guys saw what I was like. And that was just a few weeks! Life without him? I'd lose my mind."

"Does he know?" Robin asked. "About that week. This."

You nodded. "We...we talked about it before I left for college. It wasn't really a conversation he wanted to have, because he knows it scared me half to death, but...he had it. I'm just hoping he'll be okay with talking about it all again now."

"It's been three years," Steve said reassuringly. "He'll be okay. You'll both be okay."

You nodded, knowing Eddie would listen. The memory had shaken you, and Eddie would notice, so you needed some time before you had your movie date. At least he was with his band for a few more hours beforehand.

"Yeah. I'll, uh, let you guys know how it goes. Say hi to Nancy and the boys for me! I'm off to go see my gremlin child."

"Your gremlin child?" Steve echoed, raising his brows. You grinned.

"Dustin!"

"That's my child!"

You laughed yourself out of the store, listening to Steve shout his irate questions after you.

~❊~

You rapped on the Hendersons' front door. Dustin whipped it open, shouting something to his mother further inside, but his words dissolved into a joyful shout of your name as he flung his arms around you.

"You're back!"

"So are you! How's Suzie?"

Dustin grinned, almost bashful. "She's great! I told her all about you. She wants to meet you, she says you sound like a fantasy character come to life!"

You laughed. "Eddie says the same thing, I'm guessing they'd get along just fine."

Dustin giggled, the kind of giggle that meant he knew something you didn't. You narrowed your eyes.

"Alright, what's he planning?"

"Planning?" Dustin asked innocently. "Nothing. Not that I know of. No plans. Nothing at all."

"You are such a bad liar, Dustin Henderson."

"I am not, Eddie taught me!"

You snorted. "Which is exactly why I know those tells, Dusty. Ed can't hide anything from me." Dustin smirked, his gaze flicking over your shoulder. Realization dawned on you. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Tattooed arms swooped around your waist, lifting you into the air. You shrieked as he put you back down, his head resting on your shoulder. "Miss me?" he asked in your ear.

You responded with a grin and a quick peck to his cheek. You turned in his arms, draping your own over his shoulders. "What are you up to, mister?"

He pouted playfully. "No hello?"

You put your hands on either side of his face, thumbs resting above the pale, hardly visible scars left on his cheeks, and put your foreheads together. "Hello, Eddie Munson." You closed your eyes as he kissed you softly and pulled you into one of those warm bear hugs you missed during the school year. "I missed you."

He smiled, pulling back to see your face and brush hair out of your eyes. "If you didn't, I'd be worried."

"No need to worry, believe me." You pulled him back into a hug. "I thought you were rehearsing with the band."

"They practically shoved me out the door when I told them we had a date. So Dustin here helped me set up a little surprise."

You glanced back at Dustin. "How on earth did you two know I'd come visit Dustin?"

"You're a creature of habit," Dustin said matter-of-factly, "and you always come to visit."

"'Course I do, I gotta visit the kid I've got shared custody with," you said, ruffling his hair.

"'Shared custody' is not how you say you're his mom, sweetheart," Eddie laughed.

You smirked. "Oh, sure, but we've gotta share him with Steve."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Not my kid!"

"You both say that, you know that right?" You glanced at Dustin. "They're gonna fight over you for the rest of your life, just so you know."

"I'm sure," Dustin sighed.

"You like me better, right?" Eddie asked, grinning mischievously over your shoulder.

Dustin paled and hurried to close the door. "You guys should really, really get to your date! You know, um, it's been a while, I'm sure you really want to, uh, kiss and—and watch a movie or—or something. Like that."

Eddie frowned at you. "Since when does he endorse us kissing?"

You laughed. "I'm pretty sure he's just trying to stay out of you and Steve's custody argument."

Eddie slung an arm around your waist, pulling you down the road toward the trailer park. "Kid's right, though. We should get to our date." You leaned on him, murmuring your agreement. "You got a movie picked out?"

You held up the copy of Dead Poets Society. "Yup!"

He raised his brows. "Sweetheart, am I gonna fall asleep during this one?"

"You better not. It's my favorite thing since, well..." You looked at him with a smile. "Since you."

He whistled. "Damn! It's been since '65 since you found something you liked? That's rough."

You rolled your eyes. "Not since you were born, you idiot. Since we met."

"Still a good ten or so years since then," he said.

"Ah, well. Let's just say every day with you has been like discovering my favorite thing all over again."

Eddie beamed. "You sap."

"You love it and can't pretend otherwise, I know you too well."

He kissed your cheek. "Yes, yes you do." He glanced at the movie again. "And now I've been replaced with a movie!"

"Not a movie, but maybe a fictional character."

Eddie dramatically smacked a hand into his chest, feigning offense. "Excuse you." You giggled. "Last I checked, fictional characters could not write you songs and play them for you. And they couldn't hold your hand." He laced his fingers through yours as if to prove his point.

You wrapped your free arm around his waist. "Alright, alright—the real thing is infinitely better."

He beamed. "Are you going to keep that opinion while we watch this?"

You looked up at him. "With this beautiful face in front of me? How could I not?"

"Sap."

"You like it."

~❊~

"Mr. Perry, will you read the opening paragraph of the preface entitled Understanding Poetry?" said Professor Keating, sitting in his onscreen classroom.

In a bored voice, Neil complied, reading, "Understanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, PhD. 'To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme, and figures of speech, then ask two questions. One: how artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered? And two: how important is that objective? Question one rates the poem's perfection, question two rates its importance, and once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness become's a relatively simple matter."

Keating had, by now, gotten up in front of his bored students and now stood before the chalkboard.

"If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph," continued Neil, as Keating drew what he spoke of on the board, "and its importance on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields its greatness." Neil looked up as Meeks copied down the graph Keating was drawing. "A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical, but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed through the poetry in this book, practice this rating method. As your ability to rate poems in this manner grows, so will—so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."

Eddie turned to stare at you. "Are they serious? Is that what we were taught?"

You hushed him and pointed to Keating, who had at last faced his class.

"Excrement," he announced. "That's what I think of Mr. J. Evans Pritchard. We're not laying pipe. We're talking about poetry. How can you describe poetry like American bandstand? 'Well, I like Byron, I give him a 42, but I can't dance to it!'" mocked Keating, getting a laugh out of his students. Meeks was crossing out his copied diagram. "Now I want you to rip out that page."

The class grew deadly silent.

"Go on!" Keating prompted. "Rip out the entire page! You heard me: rip it out. Rip it out! Come on! Rip it out!"

Dalton slowly tore his page from his book.

"Thank you, Mr. Dalton! Gentlemen, tell you what: don't just rip out that page, rip out the entire introduction. I want it gone, history! Leave nothing of it! Rip it out, rip! Be gone, J. Evans Pritchard, PhD! Rip, shred, tear, rip it out! I want to hear nothing but ripping of Mr. Pritchard! We'll perforate it and put it on a roll! It's not the Bible, you're not gonna go to Hell for this! Make a clean tear, I want nothing left of it."

Meeks, ever the academic, turned to Neil. "We shouldn't be doing this—"

"Rip, rip, rip!" urged Neil, turning Meeks back around in his chair.

The classroom was filled with ripping and giggling as the boys tore the pages out of their books, some more messily than others.

Eddie looked delighted. "A teacher is encouraging students to deface books," he said gleefully.

In burst another teacher, Mr. McAllister. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, and the class turned to stare at him, their joy and amusement fading quickly.

"I don't hear enough rips!" announced Keating as he returned with a wastepaper basket, just before he saw the other teacher.

"Mr. Keating," Mr. McAllister said.

"Mr. McAllister," said Keating, still wearing his smile.

"I'm sorry, I— I didn't know you were here."

Keating spread his arms. "I am."

"Ah. So you are." McAllister's discomfort was growing, much to the pleasure of the students. "Excuse me." He slowly backed out of the classroom once more.

Keating walked between desks, taking the ripped pages in his basket. "Keep ripping, gentleman! This is a battle, a war, and the casualties could be your hearts and souls! Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Armies of academics going forward, measuring poetry. No! We will not have that here, no more of Mr. J. Evans Pritchard. Now, my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again! You will learn to savor words and language! No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world. I see that look in Mr. Pitts' eye, like nineteenth century literature has nothing to do with going to business school or medical school. Right? Maybe. Mr. Hopkins, you may agree with him, thinking, Yes, we should simply study our Mr. Pritchard, and learn our rhyme and meter and go quietly about the business of achieving other ambitions. A little secret for you—huddle up. Huddle up!"

The class leaned in.

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race! And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering—these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life, but poetry, beauty, romance, love! These are what we stay alive for! To quote from Whitman, 'Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish / What good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer that you are here. That life exists, and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Eddie leaned toward you. "Okay," he admitted. "I see why you like this movie."

You let your hand, wrapped around his shoulders, drift through his hair, a wistful look on your face. "Imagine if we'd had a teacher like Mr. Keating."

Eddie snorted. "I would have passed. I would have paid attention. I like this guy!"

You laughed. "Is it just because you want to rip pages out of a textbook?”

He grinned. "Maaaaybe."

~❊~

Contrary to Eddie's initial skepticism, he seemed to enjoy Dead Poets Society immensely, particularly the part where the kids all shouted at the top of their lungs and stood on tables. He cackled loudly while he watched, drawing a giddy smile from you.

While Neil performed, Eddie turned to you. "Okay, I like this movie."

You grinned, hoping his opinion wouldn't change in the next ten minutes. It, of course, did.

"WHAT?! Y/N, HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS MOVIE?"

"Um—"

Eddie turned to you, in visible distress. "He—! He just—! He died! His father was a dick, so he—" He groaned, shoving his head into your shoulder. "I don't like this anymore."

You held him closer, holding your own tears back. "I know. It's got a horrible ending. I really don't know why they chose to end it the way they did."

"This may be the saddest movie you have ever shown me," he complained, his words and tears muffled by your shirt and shoulder. "How can you like this movie?"

You shrugged. "Well, I mean...it's poetry, and it's Robin Williams, and it's about refusing to conform so it reminds me of you, and it reminds me that life is fleeting so why not make the most of it before it's over, and it's like this...this realizing why people are important and that they even are important to you and how hard it is to go on without them. And that just kind of...resonates with me."

Eddie lifted his head. "Did you have that list prepared?"

"Kind of?"

He sat up fully. "It reminds you of me?"

"Well, yeah. You stand on desks a lot and you like to be loud and you're passionate about the things you love. You'd fit right in at Wheaton."

Eddie snorted, then started to laugh. "Y/N, look at me." He spread his arms, gesturing to the tattoos, band tee, and rings.

"Okay, okay, fine, not entirely," you laughed. "You're too you for that kind of school, but you get my point. You're unapologetically you, and that's what this movie reminds me of."

Eddie pulled you up to stand with him, swaying in place to music only he could hear. "And...what about that last part on your list. The important people part."

"That...reminds me of you, too," you admitted. "I... After everything we've been through and done together, you're my favorite person. I trust you the most, I love you the most, I am most myself with you. I can't really imagine life without you, and those few weeks I did spend without you, not knowing if you'd be waiting for me when I came back to your bedside..." Your head slumped until your forehead rested on his chest. Eddie's arms curled tightly around you.

"You're thinking about the hospital." It wasn't a question or a guess. He knew, just as he always did.

You nodded. "I was so scared I'd come back from the bathroom or a food run or checking up on Dustin and some doctor would tell me you'd gone while I was away. I couldn't bear the thought of living without you." You reached up, touching the tiny scars littering his jawline and cheeks. There were more, these more severe, covering his sides, reminders of what he'd gone through and what he had almost lost.

"You didn't lose me," he said. "I'm right here. I'm okay, I promise."

"I know that, it's just..." You sighed and pushed the words out. "Are you serious, Eddie? About the future. About...our future."

Eddie cupped your face in his hands. "If you're asking me if I'm going to stay with you forever, of course I am." He lifted your face, kissing you gently. "I know I might have seemed delirious, or desperate, or scared, or just plain insane, but I recall asking you to marry me in the Upside Down."

You remembered. Your heart had just about dropped to the ground when he'd said it. As you'd lifted him up with Dustin's help through the rift in his trailer, then climbed up yourself and hobbled to Max's trailer to borrow her car, Eddie had slumped onto your shoulder, had said "You don't have to save me, but I'm glad that you are. Will you marry me?" in the same breath, and then promptly passed out from blood loss. He hadn't woken up after that, and nothing was every said about his impromptu proposal after he woke up for another year, when you mentioned it in passing.

"You know, that was one of the most unromantic proposals I'd ever heard."

He made a face. "Have many men proposed to you?"

You rolled your eyes. "No, but I am a regular romance movie watcher. Usually there's a ring, some flowers, and crying."

"You were crying."

"I was ugly crying because you were gonna die and you were bleeding to death on my shoulder."

He sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll re-propose if that's what you want, and I'll make it as sappy as possible. But the point still stands. I wanted to marry you then, and I still do now."

"Like...now now?"

"Now as in now or in the future, sweetheart," Eddie said, looking into your eyes as if he could see your soul. He brushed his thumb across your cheekbone. "Don't you worry. I'm not leaving you. I asked you to marry me, and you can answer that question whenever you're ready, so I am more than prepared to spend forever with you." He pressed his mouth to your forehead.

You looked at him as his lips left your skin. "So if I were to say yes...after college, could we move in together?"

A grin started to pull at the side of Eddie's mouth. "You serious?" You nodded. "Absolutely. Absolutely we could live together."

"Then start house shopping," you said, "because here I am, saying yes."

Eddie beamed, and it was the largest grin you had seen in a very, very long time.

~❊~

When you stopped into Family Video to return the movie the next day, wearing one of Eddie's rings, Robin caught on immediately and started screaming.

"OH MY GOD, ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED?!"

You giggled, showing off your hand. "It's a temporary ring because it was kind of impromptu again, but—"

"AGAIN?" Steve demanded.

"Well, he proposed to me in the Upside Down but he was bleeding out so he passed out immediately after and I never got to answer, and—"

Steve took you by your shoulders and made you sit on one of the stools behind the desk. "Alright, that's it. You're telling the story from the beginning."

You laughed. "Well, it all started in 1979, when I met Eddie in our freshman year of high school—"

"Y/N!" Steve and Robin yelled.

"Alright, alright, fine. So it was just when the movie ended that we started to get serious and talk about it..."

"You mean after Neil died you had this conversation?"

"You wanted me to do it before?!"

"Steve, shut up and tell the story!"

Maybe Hawkins had gone back to its regular old self, and maybe you were floating through life with Eddie's ring on your finger, but these two certainly hadn't changed. It was a reassuring thought.

☞ ❊ ☜

Stranger Things // Eddie Munson

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strangeswift · 1 year

Note

🍓 throwing this at you like it’s a tomato and ur in stocks

Ella nancysglock.

The level at which we understand each other constantly astounds me. Like idk I don't believe in psychic connections but. We have one idk I don't make the rules. I have never once disagreed with something you've said, even in the slightest. And it's not a thing of like oh Ella thinks it so it must be true, no I mean genuinely.

Here's the thing. I used to think the concept of meeting close friends on the internet was a little weird. How can you become that close with someone you've never even met in person. But holy fuck I get it now because you mean.. so much to me. Like I just fuck okay this is getting way sappier than I planned FUCK. You like... make me feel understood? And safe? And valued? Ew oh my god I'm sorry I'm sorry okay moving on.

Your writing amazes me. You already know this because it's how we became friends, but I'll reiterate. You amaze me. Everything you write. (Even the things I don't have the mental energy to provide full incoherent annotations of <3) Your ST scripts genuinely GENUINELY blow my mind. Your original work blows my mind more. Because something I admire about you is your ability to create from nothing. Completely original scenes that are just so perfect?? I don't even know how to explain this really.. I felt that the first time I read one of your scripts. I feel that even more when you give me the privilege of seeing your original work. Creating characters and backstories that are so compelling to me and that I am actually attached to when I've only seen snippets??? The world building??? But obviously st brainrot so I get very VERY hype for your st scripts. Because it literally feels like I'm getting to peek at S5. I can HEAR the characters saying the lines. I can see the scenes in my head.

I have full confidence that you'll succeed in the industry. I'm not bullshitting you, I'm serious. And you know what a fucking pessimist I am.

Having someone who understands me and is rational and skeptical and thinks critically had improved my fandom experience tenfold. You make this site bearable.

Gotta mention your edits because holy shit. First of all you got so good at editing so fast so good job but FUCK THE BRUTAL EDIT?? FUCKKKKKK YOU'RE A GENIUS. The scene selection was flawless. You know that but I'm telling you again. So excited for what's to come.

Your music is everything to me. I listen to it. I listen to your demos throughout my day when I'm going about my business. I catch myself humming them at work. Genuinely. Your songwriting is amazing musically and especially lyrically. And I adore your singing voice so shut up about it.

I honestly have more I could say but I feel like if I go on too much longer we'll both throw up from sappiness. Oh last thing. Your music recs>>>>>

#shut up okay shut up shut up #asks #compliment spree

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smokescholar · 1 year

Note

scar from vyn, your choice of verse!

OOC: I decided to go with DnD because The Shoulder has a slightly sappier ending and isn't 100% sadness like it is with the other verses

His shoulder was hurting more than usual today and despite his best attempts at masking it, he wasn't all that great at hiding discomfort when not in his Rage state. He tried to shrug it off at first; he just slept on it funny that's all - but as the day progressed, it became more noticeable that it wasn't just stiffness.

He had forgotten his cloak on the riverbank, hoping to go fetch it before Vaishant noticed anything off... but the Aasimar was more perceptive than Wahi had given him credit. It didn't take long to notice It. He didn't put up much of a fight, instead choosing to simply sink to the floor with knees to his chest as he felt his companion's finger scan the massive crater that was once his left trap.

"It was my first time being the captain of a hunting party. I was really excited, the chieftain finally saw my potential and I was determined not to screw it up. I guess that sort of blinded me, though, because I ended up going off the pre-planned route and wandered into giant territory. I don't mean another tribe of slightly bigger Goliaths, I mean.." he made a vague gesture with his other arm. "Actual big, huge giants. We got ambushed by Isejotunen -- I mean Frost Giants, sorry -- we got ambushed and in an attempt to protect my party I took a war axe pretty badly."

He let out a soft hiss through clenched teeth, visibly jerking when he felt Vaishant touch a sore patch and murmuring an apology.

"It probably could have cleaved me in half if I hadn't hardened my skin in time. Ever since then I haven't really been able to move my arm much anymore. I was never chosen to lead again, or join any hunting parties in general after that. They took care of me the best they could but... we have this unspoken rule that if someone can't fix themselves and keep up with the others, they get left behind. I didn't want to wake up one day and be alone, and I didn't want to embarrass myself with an exile ceremony.

So I just...left. It was for the best, I would rather die trying to survive the wilds than be humiliated in front of my family. I thought I was going to die, but then Kavaki the Ram Lord spoke to me and told me to keep fighting, so I did. I used to hate myself for what happened, but looking back on it now... if I hadn't made that mistake, I never would have met my best friend. That's you, by the way. So I guess Kavaki was right, everything worked out eventually. I can't be too mad anymore. I don't know if they'll ever take me back if I get strong again, but I can prove to someone that I'm not useless. If you'll let me, I mean."

Scars || @thekavseklabs || accepting

#thekavseklabs

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caiminnent · 3 years

Text

my demise, my downfall [kylux, rated M]

Summary: Hux had no idea that Ren, his bedmate and partner in crime, was actually Ben Organa-Solo, the sole heir of First Order's biggest rival in the industry.

He didn't know Ben had a girlfriend, either.

Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Tags: Jealousy, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Use Your Words, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Armitage Hux is Not Nice, Kylo Ren isn't Much Better, Canon-Typical Behavior, Unhealthy Relationships

Notes: Photo by Mitchell Griest on Unsplash, cropped.

2.9K || Also on AO3

Hux wakes up to gentle caresses, a feather-light finger drawing unrecognisable shapes over his shoulders, down his back.

His eyes ache behind his eyelids, that didn’t-sleep-enough taste in his mouth. Torn between giving in to his body’s demands for rest and enjoying the soft touch while it lasts, he drifts on the edge of sleep and wakefulness, basking in the pleasant warmth.

Something rattles far behind him, jerking him fully awake. The touch withdraws.

Pushing his disappointment down, Hux takes a deep breath and rolls onto his back. Ren is sitting up in the middle of the bed with his legs stretched out, tapping away at his phone.

“Go back to sleep,” Ren says without looking, his tone sleep-gruff. “’s not morning yet.”

“Why are you awake, then?” Hux mumbles, though he doesn’t particularly care about the answer. A short night wasn’t enough to make up for six weeks of absence; Hux won’t be settled without at least a few more hours of sleep, another round and brunch.

Thank fuck it’s Sunday.

Ren doesn’t respond, focused on whatever he’s doing on his phone. Stretching languidly on the bed, “Come back here, Ren,” Hux purrs, kicking the covers away in the process. Ren’s eyes latch onto the bared skin.

“Can’t,” Ren says, shaking his head. The phone buzzes again, as if reminding them of itself—as if it gave Ren a chance to forget it. “Got plans.”

Hux’s mood sours. Plans. Ren has barely returned to the Core Worlds and he’s already making plans with others.

“What plans?” Hux asks, keeping his tone mild. It can’t be work; they don’t hide Snoke’s various demands from each other, if only so Snoke won’t be able to blindside them later. Ren doesn’t have any friends in this sector, either—none that Hux knows of, at least. Is it that girl? Is Ren running out of Hux’s bed straight into her arms?

Hux has never woken up in Ren’s bed, but he now knows how it would feel to be kicked out of it.

Ren is still typing, not even acknowledging the question. What the hell is he writing, a novel?

“Let me guess, then,” Hux says, poison-sweet. “Early breakfast with your sunshine?”

Ren freezes.

A vicious delight fills Hux. “Unless you two had urgent business to take care of at the Resistance HQ,” he continues evenly, ignoring the tension that thickens in the air between them. “First Order’s latest requisitions have put them in quite the bind; your mother is right to want you on-site, now that you’re—”

—pinned on the bed with Ren’s overly warm body covering his, Ren’s forearm across his throat and knees on Hux’s shins. Ren’s other hand presses Hux’s wrists into the mattress; so close to the knife Hux keeps between the mattress and the headboard, but at the entirely wrong angle to grab it.

“Bastard,” Hux hisses in Ren’s face, the bed groaning as he feebly tries to shake Ren off. Ren presses his knobbly knees harder into Hux’s legs in answer, as if trying to dig grooves into Hux’s bones. The pressure on his neck remains steady, only hard enough to make it uncomfortable to swallow. A half-hearted threat at best.

What a bloody embarrassment.

“You’re not supposed to know any of that,” Ren snarls, his nostrils flaring as he glares down at Hux. Hux stares back, keeping his gaze steady and his breathing even. He’s never been afraid of Snoke’s hound; that won’t change now. “I know Snoke forbid you from investigating me. Have you been fucking—fucking digging anyway?”

Hux scoffs. As if he’s got the time to dig into Ren’s life. “I was having a business dinner at the Starkiller last month, when you walked in with your lovely girlfriend.” It’s quite telling that Ren didn’t even notice Hux there, so captivated by her. “Have you ever noticed how her voice carries, Ben?”

Ren growls low in his throat like the beast he is, his shoulders and neck tensing. Inhaling deeply, Hux waits for the moment Ren will put his crushing weight on Hux’s windpipe, visualising his hands clenching and unclenching as his body struggles to draw air into his burning lungs, unable to even scrabble at Ren’s forearm. The spots in his darkening vision until he can’t see Ren’s face anymore. Waking up with bruises on his tender neck—or not waking up at all.

Ren can’t kill him, though. He isn’t allowed to, not until Hux outlives his usefulness for Snoke. Killing Hux now would mean Ren signing his own death warrant.

“That name,” Ren says lowly, his breath warm on Hux’s face, “isn’t for you to use. Nobody—nobody—can find out that you know it, or there will be consequences.” He gives Hux a long look, anxiety shining through the ebbing fury in his eyes. What happens if word of Ren’s real name gets out? What’s so important about it? “Hux. Do you understand?”

Hux scoffs. “Yes, damn you. I won’t tell anyone.” He wasn’t planning to anyway; this sort of personal information is more valuable as a bargaining chip. When the time comes, he’ll benefit from having leverage over Snoke’s protégé. It just might turn the tide in Hux’s favour.

Satisfied, Ren rolls off and away from Hux. For a moment, Hux can only breathe as his blood rushes back into his feet and hands with that pins-and-needles sensation. Something dark and ugly gathers in the pit of his stomach, a need to sink his teeth into Ren’s throat until he tastes blood rising in him.

Later. His chance will come later.

Ren’s found his trousers on the floor, putting them on. Hux feels oddly naked, vulnerable in only soft trousers while Ren dons his armour again.

Well, Hux is clearly not going back to sleep. Might as well start his day.

“I hope you realise that this cannot continue,” he says conversationally, stepping into his slippers. No point of pulling the sheets up; he’s going to throw them all in the wash as soon as Ren leaves anyway. “This double life of yours, I mean—it’s too much of a risk to allow.”

“It’s not a double life,” Ren grumbles, trying to shake the wrinkles out of his shirt. The spiteful part of Hux hopes that Ren won’t have time to change out of the mussed state Hux put him in before his plans.

“Well, what would you call it?” Hux asks, raising a brow. “Polished, charming Organa-Solo heir on one side, Snoke’s brooding enforcer on the other? Unless I’m wrong and you’re mixing business and pleasure, in which case Ben’s dry cleaner had better be very discreet.”

“I’m not—” Ren cuts himself off with a huff, his unbuttoned shirt hanging off his shoulders. His glare isn’t quite effective with the entire bed between them. “Look, Snoke knows. Okay? He encourages me to keep Ben Organa-Solo alive—to have past connections we can use. I’m doing his bidding.”

“Sunshine—or whatever her name is—she’s one of your honeypot assignments, then?”

Ren runs his teeth over his bottom lip. “I didn’t say that.”

The space behind Hux’s eyes is throbbing, the beginnings of a headache making itself known. Kriffing Ren and his kriffing inability to say one thing straight.

His robe hangs off the hook behind the door—a strategic mistake. “What, then?” Hux asks as he strides over to it, the luxurious fabric his lifeline to feeling a little more put-together. A little more like himself. “Care to explain how she fits into the picture?”

“None of your fucking business,” Ren mutters—suspiciously like around something. Hux is unsurprised to turn and find one of those death-sticks between Ren’s lips and a lighter in his hand, though annoyance is another matter entirely. “I’m doing my damn job; what more do you care?”

Hux fishes out an ashtray from his vanity with a pointed sigh, throwing it vaguely Ren’s way on the bed. Ren picks it up before dropping himself on the edge of the mattress, balancing the ashtray on a thick thigh.

“You wouldn’t be so cagey if you were only following orders,” Hux points out, ignoring the light tickle at the back of his throat. If Ren drops a smatter of ash on his carpets, there will be hell to pay. “What is it? Does she know something she shouldn’t?” Hux can make it go away, if she does.

“No, of course not. She knows nothing.”

Right. Very convincing.

Crossing his arms over his chest, “Is that so?” Hux asks, leaning a hip against the vanity. Ren barely glances at him before turning to the closed window, blowing the smoke out of a corner of his mouth. “Say, Ren, what does she think that you’re doing for a living? Snoke’s bodyguard works only so well when the man is bedbound. How do you explain your long trips abroad? Or the nights you return smelling of sex?”

Ren releases a long breath, loud in the otherwise quiet room. He ashes his cigarra and takes another drag, cool as you please, while irritation crawls underneath Hux’s skin.

It’s like Hux isn’t even kriffing there.

An odd desperation tugging at his chest, “Or maybe she already knows that you’re fucking someone on the side,” Hux throws, spitefully hoping for it to land.

Ren’s jaw works, his lips pressing into a line.

There.

It’s all of ten steps from his spot to Ren’s. “You’re loyal as a dog; I don’t imagine I’m your dirty secret,” Hux adds as he takes them slowly, satisfaction buzzing through him. Ren’s shoulders grow more rigid with each word, the ashtray moving as his legs tense. “Maybe it’s a thingbetween you two. Is that why you never shower here—because she likes smelling another man on you, feeling how open you still are from—”

“Rey’s my cousin, you jackass,” Ren snarls, a vein pulsing on his forehead. A knot unravels in Hux’s stomach. “What the fuck is it to you anyway? I know you don’t get lonely without me.”

The anger Hux was aiming for—the unmissable undercurrent of hurtin Ren’s tone gives him a pause. Hux hasn’t taken a lover since he and Ren started their… arrangement. He could have—and perhaps should have, instead of relying on his hand alone to get him through Ren’s weeks-long disappearances—but he didn’t even want to.

It worries him, sometimes.

“It’s a matter of security,” Hux says, waving it off. “Secrets have a way of leaking during pillow talk, you know that better than anyone.”

Ren laughs, bitter and hollow. Something in Hux twists at the sound. “Security,” Ren spits out, putting out the cigarra like it offended him personally. “Do you wanna do background checks on everybody I slept with while I was gone, then?”

Sharp hurt jolts through Hux.

Ren is staring at him with an intensity that borders on uncomfortable, waiting. Hux unclenches his jaw, breathing through his nose. “You’re an old hand at this; I’ll trust your judgment,” he responds, turning away. What is he doing, reacting to Ren? What the hell is wrong with him?

Ren grabs him by the wrist, jerking him to a stop.

Irritation rises in Hux again. “Ren,” he bites out in warning.

“No really, I think you should,” Ren says, a dark look shining in his eyes. “I don’t remember every name, but I can give you some other details. I’m sure your network of stalkers—sorry, slicers can find out enough.”

“My slicers have more important intel to chase after,” Hux bites out, looking pointedly at Ren’s hand around his wrist. The grip is loose enough that he might break himself free, but suffering the indignity of struggling doesn’t quite appeal to him. Once was enough. “Will you let me go?”

“Only if you admit it.”

Hux scoffs. “Admit what, exactly?”

“Admit that you’re jealous.” Hux goes ice-cold all over. “You hated thinking about me with Rey, didn’t you?”

Of course not. What a ridiculous claim. Hux holds a certain dislike for missing out on critical intel—understandable given his line of work—and finding out that he’s been left entirely in the dark about Ren, Snoke’s other right-hand man and the only person Hux remotely trusts in the First Order, was a bit of a hit. That’s all there is to it. He’s got no reason to be jealous of some girl who calls Ren by his given name, who can laugh and joke with Ren, be seen in public with Ren, who can loop an arm around Ren as they leave—

The dismissal gets stuck in his throat.

“Because I hated it,” Ren murmurs, looking into his eyes. Hux wants with his whole being to escape the depth of feeling in Ren’s earnest gaze—can’t look away. “Thinking about others warming your bed while I was fucked off on some bullshit mission that barely needed me—it killed me, Hux. Tell me you hated it, too. Tell me you want me to be only yours.”

Only Hux’s. As if Ren, with his constant need for attention and validation, wouldn’t chafe under Hux’s negligence.

Hux shakes his head, wishing he could shake off this spell just as easily. Ren must be similarly addled if he’s talking of fancies of flight like exclusivity. “You don’t know what you’re saying. This isn’t what we agreed on, Ren.”

The light in Ren’s eyes dims. Hux hates himself.

“You’re right,” Ren says, his tone just above a whisper. A glance downwards—he starts buttoning up his shirt like he’s being timed on it, only barely getting the order right. “Sorry I ruined it, I thought—never mind what I thought, I’ll just see myself out. You won’t see me again unless Snoke summons both of us, promise.”

Ren rushes past Hux and out of the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind himself. It hits Hux in the next moment that perhaps he should’ve stopped Ren.

Stars, what a kriffing mess. Hux intended only to stop Ren from jumping off a cliff in the hopes that Hux would follow, not to end what they had. Leave it to Ren to take it as an absolute rejection.

He takes a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. All right. All right. First step: He can’t let Ren storm off. Ren will be damn near impossible to get a hold of if he leaves like this; Hux’s network truly has more important matters to take care of. Hux needs to make him stay long enough to listen.

As for what Hux will say to fix this, well. He supposes he can tell Ren what Ren wants to hear. He can set his pride aside for a moment. It should be good, shouldn’t it? It should be enough.

It had better be enough.

Inside, Ren is nowhere to be found, his jacket and trainers gone. Hux hasn’t heard the Silencer’s roar, though. Hoping he’s not too late, he grabs his keys off the hook and dashes down the front stairs, catching up with Ren just as Ren reaches his bike.

“Ren,” he says, embarrassingly breathless.

Ren turns to him with wariness etched on his guarded face. He’s waiting for beratement, Hux suspects, or the tongue-lashing that Hux is famous for.

“I was lonely without you,” Hux confesses in a rush, words tumbling out of his mouth in his haste to get them out before they clog up his throat. “When you were away, I—I missed you. I did.” Do whatever you want with it.

A series of emotions cross Ren’s face, too fast to parse. A part of Hux—a part that will always remain Armitage no matter how hard Hux tries to purge it—wants to curl into a ball and hide from the moment Ren will laugh in his face for falling for such a blatant prank.

“Hux,” Ren breathes, breaking into a wide grin. It’s the goofiest, stupidest expression Hux has ever seen on his face—and entirely devoid of any mockery. “You missed me?”

“I won’t repeat it,” Hux says, ignoring the growing heat of his cheeks. Least of all in the middle of the street, where all his neighbours would overhear them if it weren’t shit-early on a Sunday—wearing nothing but his robe and slippers.

Stars. What a disgrace.

Ren’s phone buzzes loudly in his pocket. He fishes it out only far enough to silence it, letting it go to voicemail. “I really have to go,” he says with a touch of regret in his tone, running the backs of his fingers down Hux’s cheek. “But I’ll come back right after, okay? I’ll come back to you.”

Such coddling. Hux wants to roll his eyes, but the look on Ren’s face, the same one as when he said tell me you want me to be only yours, stops him.

“You had better,” he mutters instead. It’s a new sort of thrill, getting a genuine grin out of Ren.

Cupping Hux’s face, Ren presses a hard kiss on his lips before getting on his bike. Hux watches him leave with an inexplicably heavy heart.

He misses Ren already.

#kylux #Kylo Ren #Armitage Hux #Star Wars #Cai does words #finished fics #this got much sappier than planned #no regrets

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heliotropehotch · 2 years

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oh my god boss!hotch is literally everything to me. i love the idea of hotch and reader having a sort of tense work relationship because of their attraction to each other that culminates in one of them just losing it and snapping at the other. like i just imagine the look on his face when you snap and call him "Aaron" for the first time absolutely exasperated that you can't have him because he's your BOSS and him calling you into his office to have a "discussion" about what just happened ahhh

pleASE LANA (idk if this is what you want but this is what came to mind?)

i think it happens after you get hurt/almost hurt

the tension between you has been getting worse, hotch has started benching you, you keep pushing back

team shuffles into the station after taking down the unsub, hotch shoves him off to some officers to get processed. the team has been given access to there own closed off work space, luckily.

the door to the work room slams shut and i'm SURE everyone else on the team jumps at the sound, but you only wince, maybe roll your eyes.

"What the hell was that?"

"hotch-" morgan will try and deescalate the situation but hotch is almost red with anger.

"you put everything at risk, for what? a moment to be right?"

"no. you wouldn't listen to me hotch. if we hadn't"

I'm IMAGINING HIM TAKIN OFF HIS SUIT JACKEEET WHEN HES MAD LIKE THIs

"if you hadn't, y/n. he didn't have a gun pointed to anyone else's head but yours. you're the one who got yourself into that mess."

at this point, the rest of the team has taken a step back and is just like *bro holy shit?* even rossi is like "get me the fuck out of this room"

"and if i hadn't that girl would be dead, aaron" you're in his face now and his name is just said with such exasperation and near-malice it almost makes him wince

there's a beat of silence and then a gruff "everyone out"

and there's a quick shuffle and in a second everyone else is gone

aaron's breathing heavily, a glare in his eyes.

"you have no right to speak to me like that"

"neither do you."

"you could've been killed."

"would have been worth it."

and the anger in his eyes lessens just a little bit and you think you could almost detect a bit of guilt. you haven't moved from your spot, still toe to toe with him, chests almost touching.

he chest deflates a little with "nothing could make that worth it."

**** what is this and why is it so much sappier than i planned****

send in your boss!hotch x bau!reader thoughts

#aaron hotchner x reader #hotch x reader #hotchner x reader #boss man hotch #aaron bossner

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talkfantasytome · 2 years

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I dont know if Im allowed to send a part three prompt but Im going to anyway and Im just gonna hope for the best but Gwynriel and Nessians brand new babies meeting for the first time and all the parents just "🥺" the whole time

My ask box is open to requests, so pretty much anything is "allowed". LOL And I love this! Although, brand new babies really can't do much, so I made this more a piece of the story than the focus. 👀 It's very heavily Nessian, cause I've just been feeling very Nessian recently. But, it's also fluff on fluff on fluff, so that's something. 😂

It's been the most amazing two months after Nesta and Cassian welcomed their daughter to the world. And now she's finally able to meet Gwyn and Az's son for the first time. But Cassian remembers what day it is and has some other plans as well.

Word Count: 2,750 | Prequel | Part 1 | Part 2

Warnings: F.L.U.F.F.

Seriously, that's all this thing is. There's, like, maybe one sentence that could be considered angsty. Literally.

a/n: If you missed my earlier reblog, I decided that "Build a Life With Me" is the prequel to this, so it's all the same AU. It allowed me to be fluffier and sappier. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My Candy - Part 3

A screaming cry barreled through the house, shrill and heartbreaking.

It had Nesta up instantaneously. She shuffled toward the stairs without even thinking, pausing at the bottom of them as she spotted Cassian walking down, the wailing bundle in his arms.

"I think someone's hungry," he declared, wearing the same goofy grin that hasn't left his face since their daughter was born.

Nesta huffed a small laugh, taking a step back and holding her arms out. "She must be if she's crying while in your arms."

It came as no surprise to Nesta that Eirena was already a total daddy's girl, never happier than when she was being held by him. Not that Nesta could blame her for that…she clearly took after her mother in that regard.

Their daughter squirmed slightly as she was handed off into Nesta's arms, as if she was curious her problem would be solved with just this movement. But her screams continued within a second as Nesta made her way over to the couch.

"No patience."

Cassian chuckled, standing behind where she sat and resting his hands on her shoulders. "Just another thing she gets from you, sweetheart."

"I am extremely patient!" she argued. She began to unbutton the top of her shirt with one hand as she cradled Eirena in the other arm.

"Yes, dear." He began to rub her shoulders as she finally got her shirt loose enough to bring their daughter's head up to her breast. Luckily, one thing that was never much of a challenge was breast feeding. She was a hungry little thing.

She felt Cassian's weight shift, his hands stilling as his breath caressed her neck. "You know, I could always help you with your buttons," he whispered, pressing a kiss just below her ear, right in that spot that sent her heart racing.

"With our daughter literally in my arms?" she countered, turning her head to find his right next to hers, his eyes boring into her own.

He nodded, his smile growing playful.

"Cass, I think we're going to scar our children enough in their lives. Let's at least give her a few months before we start."

"Children?" His eyebrows rose as his entire face perked up. "As in plural?"

"If you're lucky."

One of Cassian's hands lifted to hold the back of Nesta's head as he lunged forward, pressing a kiss to her lips in a way that had her smiling with him. They couldn't hold the kiss long with their grins, but it didn't spoil the moment. Not as Cassian rested his forehead against hers and breathed in deeply. "You can't say stuff like that to me in front of our daughter if your goal is to avoid scarring her."

Nesta laughed softly, tilting her head to give him a quick peck. "She might be a bit too young to be worrying about that."

"All these rules you set. So complicated." He brushed his nose against her neck and then nipped softly at her ear.

"I'd get used to it. It'll only get worse with another girl in the house."

He beamed at her before his gaze drifted to the dark-haired head still at her mother's breast, his smile only growing. "I think I'll be okay."

Nesta felt a heat build behind her eyes as she placed her forehead to his temple. It was moments like these that made it hard to believe her life was real. With her baby girl in her arms, and Cassian beside her, it was a literal dream come true. She never thought, all those years ago, when he laid out his ideas for their life together on their first date, that she'd actually be lucky enough to get it. But now, here she was, it was perfect.

Well, nearly perfect.

A quick glance at the hand holding her daughter's head reminded her there was still one thing she wanted. One promise unfulfilled that she was ready for.

Small, gurgling noises sounded, Eirena licking her lips with her too-big tongue, full and content, and likely in need of a nice belch.

"Hand me a burp cloth?" Nesta requested, wiping herself off with a tissue before doing herself up again.

Cassian grabbed a cloth from the pile beneath the bassinet they kept downstairs, but he didn't hand it to her. "Can I burp her, please?"

"No." She held out her free hand, waiting.

"But I haven't been able to burp her successfully once!"

"I know. It's my thing, and it's my only thing. Please let me have this." She pushed her lips out into a small pout that had Cassian handing the cloth over to her.

She flashed him a grateful smile and then threw it over her shoulder, standing up and pushing her daughter further up so she could see over Nesta's shoulder. She turned her back to her boyfriend, knowing how much her daughter liked to look at her father whenever she could.

And so began the routine. Nesta bouncing and patting, and Cassian cheering Eirena on with soft phrases like "you can do it" and "burp for daddy".

It was only a minute or so before Nesta felt her daughter's stomach expand as a throaty sound erupted from her lips. She really did have ridiculously loud burps for such a tiny body.

"Wooo! That's my girls!" Cassian exclaimed, as proud as if he'd just watched his daughter make the winning shot in a championship hockey match.

Nesta shook her head, a small laugh huffing out of her as she pulled another, smaller burp from their daughter.

"There, she should be all good for her playdate."

"Playdate?"

Adjusting so she was now cradling her daughter, she turned to Cassian. "Yes, with Az, Gwyn, and their son. Remember?"

"Right!" He snapped his fingers with the word, nodding emphatically. "Still can't believe the babies haven't met yet."

"We had to wait," Nesta reminded him. "Make sure they both got their whooping cough vaccines."

"Still seems weird."

"It'd be weirder if Gwyn and Az hadn't met her."

Cassian let out a breathy chuckle as he walked over to Nesta, placing his hand on their daughter's head and stroking her softly with his thumb. "That's true."

As if on command, they heard a knock at the door, followed by the sound of it opening and a ringing, "Hello!"

"In here!" Nesta called, still bouncing to keep their daughter placated.

"Hi!!" Gwyn all but burst into the room, a massive smile on her face. A far more subdued Az a few steps behind, carrying a car seat.

She gave them each a quick hug before flitting back to Az's side as he set the seat down and picked up his son.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Gwyn was literally jumping up and down.

"Darling, you do know that they won't actually be able to do much, right?" Az asked through a laugh.

She flicked him a flat glare. "Yes, I'm aware. But they can't say they shared a crib if they never actually shared a crib."

Nesta's daughter began to squirm, her face scrunching in a way that said she was getting sleepy. "Speaking of…it is nap time."

"Introductions first!" Gwyn demanded.

Nesta and Az both rolled their eyes as they walked toward each other, babies in their arms.

Once close enough, Nesta tilted her arms enough to give her daughter a view of the three-week-older boy. "This is Caron," she said, as if her daughter would actually remember his name from this encounter.

"And this is Eirena," Az added, doing the same with this son.

The two babies looked at each other, blinking.

It was extremely anticlimactic, as Nesta knew it would be, but she was happy to be bringing them together. To get to really spend time with Gwyn and Az - or, at least, spend a full naptime with them.

She handed Eirena to Cassian, knowing he'd be able to rock her to sleep faster, and then made her way back to Gwyn as the two men tried to lull their children to sleep.

With her arms free, Nesta gave her friend a proper hug before sitting down on the couch with her. "So, how are you?"

"We're great," Gwyn beamed. "Amazing, actually. I mean, I'm tired constantly, getting very little sleep, but I couldn't be happier."

Nesta couldn't help but smile back at her. "I know the feeling."

A sudden shout burst through the room that had Nesta's head snapping up. "Cassian?"

He was already walking back to Nesta, a frustrated glint in his eyes. "I don't know what you did, but she seems to be switching sides," he groused as Nesta stood up.

She had to bite down on her lip to not smile too widely. "I didn't do anything."

"You did! And I'll figure out what and get her back, but for now…"

Nesta nodded and took her daughter back into her arms, smiling softly at her. Big, blue eyes stared back up at Nesta as she rocked Eirena, the baby's blinks growing longer with every minute.

She loved it when her daughter fell asleep in her arms. Nesta knew they weren't supposed to do that, knew they were supposed to try and keep their child on as close to a sleep schedule as they could, which meant dressing her for bed and putting her in her bassinet at a certain time each night and letting her fall asleep on her own. But Nesta hated doing that. Hated missing out on the opportunity to rock her to sleep herself, or watch Cassian do it.

One big yawn, and it was only another minute until Eirena was sleeping soundly.

She placed her daughter in the bassinet, moving her a bit to the side to give room for Caron, who Az rested next to Eirena quickly.

"We'll have to make sure someone always has an eye on them," Nesta whispered. "I don't think we're supposed to have babies so young sleeping so close."

Az nodded, his eyes as glued to their children as hers were. They both had tufts of onyx hair covering their heads, Caron's a bit longer, and plump baby cheeks that were slightly rosy. However, Caron was paler than Eirena, looking more a dark olive than the light brown skin Eirena had inherited almost entirely from Cassian. She really was only a shade or two lighter than her father, whereas Caron had clearly become more a mix of his parents.

They watched them sleep, their little chests rising and falling evenly. It truly was precious, to see them together, even if nothing was actually happening.

But they were sleeping. Next to each other. And that seemed to count for something in Nesta's heart.

She heard hushed whispers behind her, Cassian and Gwyn conspiring about something. She was about to turn and let Az keep an eye on them when she saw Eirena's head move slightly.

It wasn't much. Just a slight shift. And then another. And another. Just as Caron did the same. Until finally their heads were angled toward each other, the strands of their hair tangling together. It had Nesta inhaling sharply, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

She couldn't look away. Not even as a deep voice asked, "What are you two staring at?"

"Come see for yourself," she offered, holding out a hand for Cassian to take as he walked up to the bassinet.

He peeked inside and let out a gentle laugh, letting go of Nesta's hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

She heard a soft gasp from the other side of the cradle and looked up to see Gwyn was standing beside Az, her teal gaze focused on their babies. Nesta couldn't help but smile to herself as she let her eyes fall back to the sleeping infants.

Nesta was far too preoccupied to see the look Cassian and Gwyn exchanged, or to notice exactly what Cassian did when he let go of her and stepped away.

It was at least a minute before she finally tore her eyes away. "Cassian? Where'd-"

She cut herself off as she turned around to see that Cassian hadn't gone far, but was just a couple feet away, in front of her on one knee, holding up an open ring box. Inside was a platinum band with a princess cut grey diamond, a sparkling ruby on each side of it.

Nesta felt herself freeze, her eyes wide, her heart pounding as she looked between the ring and Cassian. His own eyes were bright and hopeful, his face soft save for that one crease on his forehead that told her he was nervous.

He swallowed and then began to speak. "Nesta, since the day we met I've known that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It took me a while to convince you to even give me a chance, but once you did I knew I could never go back. You infuriate the hell out of me, and I love every second of it. You challenge and question me, and I am a better man for it. You literally thrill me. You brighten my mood just by walking into the room, and there is nothing I love more than making you laugh or smile."

The pooling tears were now flowing from Nesta's eyes, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Eight years ago, exactly, I told you that we were going to build a life together, and you said you thought you wanted that." Nesta felt her bottom lip fall from her top. "Well, we've started doing just that, and it's better than I ever could have imagined. I made a few assumptions that day, but more importantly I made a few promises, and I've fulfilled them all…save one. The very first one I made. I still don't care if it takes another fifty years or if you want to run off and do it tonight. I just want you to know that I'm here for good, with you and the family we create.

"So, Nesta Archeron, will you help me fulfill this final promise? Will you marry me?"

She took in a quivering breath, her body trembling from excitement or love or shock or a combination of the three and a thousand other feelings she couldn't name as all the thoughts eddied from her mind. Everything disappeared, except him. Except the man who'd stood by her for far longer than she ever thought someone would. The man who loved and cherished her, who held her close and made her feel safe whenever she was in his arms. The man who fathered her daughter, who adored and spoiled Eirena as much as he did her mother.

Her eyes remained on his as she fought to find the words, to find her voice. He never faltered. He didn't twitch or squirm. He stayed where he was, kneeling, the ring held out for her as if he was offering her his heart. Only he couldn't, because she already owned that, just as he owned hers.

Finally, her lips curved upward as she nodded, gasping out a wet, "Yes!" as she flung herself at him.

The force of the impact knocked him backwards onto the ground, but it didn't stop his arm from snaking around her. And it didn't stop Nesta from pressing her lips to his as they fell.

Cassian chuckled into her, silver beginning to line his own eyes as she pulled away just enough to look at him. To hold out her left hand over him.

She felt his arms move, his hands fiddling with the ring box over her body, and then the ring was free and he was sliding it onto her finger as he stared into her eyes, the flecks of gold sparkling brightly in the brown and green collage.

It fit perfectly, sliding right into place, but Nesta refused to look away from his gaze as he wrapped his hand around hers and held it to his chest.

"I love you, Cass," she whispered, brushing her free fingers through his hair softly.

His smile grew impossibly wider as he lifted his head to give her a kiss. "I love you, too, Nes."

She kissed him again, savoring the softness of his lips before she dragged her own from his and brought them to his ear. "And to answer your earlier question, yes. Children, as in plural."

a/n: Please don't come at me about the ring if you disagree. I did not spend a tonnnn of time thinking about it, so it is not a hill I'll die on or even attempt to hold. It's just the concept that came to mind while writing this. If I write another proposal fic, it may be a different ring. IDK. XD

Their daughter's name is derived from the name "Eirene", who is the ancient Greek Goddess of Peace/the personification of peace. So, the name means "peace". IDK if I'll keep it. My next gen fic has a different name for their daughter, but it's a very different situation. I just needed something for this cause I didn't want to use that name, and I like this concept. 😄

For Gwynriel, Caron is a Welsh name that means 'love'. It's unisex according to the website I used, so if you've only heard it as a girl's name...well, now you've heard both.

@live-the-fangirl-life @generalnesta @secretlovelybeauty @nestaisgod @julemmaes @boredserpent @autumnbabylon @angelic-voice-1997 @moodymelanist @sv0430 @confusedfandomslut @gwynrielsupremacy @katekatpattywack @moonstoneriver77 @deedz-thrillerkilller16 @swankii-art-teacher @lemonade-coolattas @whoreforgwynriel @emily-gsh @my-fan-side @champanheandluxxury @sayosdreams

If you'd like to be added to my Nessian taglist, or another one, let me know!

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dreamkidddream · 3 years

Text

MC Doing the Peeling Glue Skin Prank on the Bros (Lucifer, Mammon, and Leviathan)

Hoorayyy my first post! I don’t know if any of you have seen the tiktok where they rub glue to look like their skin is peeling off but it’s both funny and horrifying. Also, this got a lot longer and fluffier/sappier than what I thought, but I’m not complaining. This will be done in headcannon format, and I think I’m going to split it up into 2 parts (Lucifer, Mammon, and Levi in the first part and the rest in the second) and I hope you enjoy! Also slight spoiler for lesson 16 (but it’s a blink and you miss it kind of thing in Mammon’s). Reader is gender neutral.

The Build Up:

Ever since you came back to the Devildom after the exchange program, things have been great! It was obvious that you were missing the demon lords, and even more obvious that they were missing you too. Things weren’t different, not at all. But the one day that you were bored out of your mind and they all had different things to handle, you turned to the one thing that could cure your boredom: the Devildom’s version of TikTok. Oh how the boys will forever regret showing you that app, as it had let to their current downfall...

Lucifer

So unfortunately this man is ALWAYS busy

It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, he’s always filling out paperwork. Whether it’s for Diavolo, credit card bills that Mammon racked up, Asmo’s impromptu fashion trips, Beel’s black hole of a stomach, etc.

And he doesn’t like to be disturbed at all unless it’s an emergency

So when you burst into his office out of nowhere, he was slightly irritated (but not that angry, since it was you and your presence was hardly a nuisance)

But that quickly changed whenever he heard you moaning his name in pain and looked up to see what looked like your flesh flaking off by the second

His eyes widen and he is instantly panicking. He’s trying to keep it on the inside but you start to “panic” which makes him shoot out of his seat

Instantly is by your side, trying to delicately hold you and also trying to figure out what the hell is going on

“MC! Are you in pain? What happened? Did someone put a curse on you?!”

Now, you weren’t putting on a Oscar worthy performance but you think you were selling it pretty good. And everything was working out until he grabbed your arm and inspected it closer that he realized he got played

First, he realized that your flesh wasn’t falling in chunks on the ground. Then, he realized that these flakes were awfully thin, and that parts of your arm felt sticky

He fully realized that he got pranked when he peeled off your “skin” off your neck and you giggled, then covered your mouth to realized that your cover was blown

Needless to say, he was not a happy demon

And you basically just signed your death warrant

Before you could even think about running, he grabbed you again and “asked” that you have a seat

Cue another long Lucifer lecture, with him explaining how this wasn’t a funny prank (even for human standards) and that you need to understand how serious this is

Which is his way of saying that he cares about you and was actually panicked and scared. You knew his pride made it hard for him to openly express himself. And while he is getting better slowly but surely, it’s still hard for him to do so. Which made you feel guilty, so you did genuinely apologized

“You’re right, Lucifer, I’m sorry. This wasn’t my greatest idea, as you can see. I didn’t realize how severely this affected you, and it wasn’t right for me to take advantage of that. I know how hard it is to express how you feel because of your pride, but I know how much you care for me even without saying it. It shows in how hard you work, and how you still manage to be there for everyone despite how stress you are. I shouldn’t be adding on to that stress, and I really am sorry for that. You really are a good person, Lucifer, and even though you can be very strict- wait! Let me finish,- you mean well because you care for us. And you don’t get enough credit for that. So, thank you for all that you do. I love you, truly and deeply.”

Despite being a little skeptical in the beginning (he thought you were trying to get out of a punishment, ha! Good luck with that) and ending with a flustered look that he tried to cover with his hand (which was obviously too late to do, you already saw), he did appreciate and accepted the apology.

“I love you too, MC. Truly and deeply.”

So that was your cue to get your hug (and maybe a little kiss) and he pushed you away! You were offended for a second, but you saw the disgusted look on your face and forgot that you were covered in dried glue. Oh yeahhhh...ew

So while you were back in his good graces, you still got punished. A 15 page essay on why doing horrific pranks like that on your loved ones is harmful and no HellTok for your remaining stay?! You know you deserve some type of consequence but geez, overkill much?!

But, he did hint to you that you could make him feel better by spending the night with him in bed

After you take a much needed shower of course

Mammon

As much as this tsundere tried to say he was “too busy” for you, we all know that’s a lie

Granted when you went to go bother him, he was busy

Busy with planning out new scams counting out whatever Grimm he had left, what items to sell and for what price: “maybe I could sell Levi’s golden Ruri-Chan vendor ring thing for some Grimm? He’ll flip but if I just “borrow” it for a little bit, he won’t know what hit ‘im!”

Seeing how focused he was, it was your time to shine

“M-Mamooon! Help me! Something’s w-wrong!”

That immediately got his attention

His head shot up and he rushed to you, panic clearing showing on his face and in his movements

“MC! What’s going on?! WHAT IS THIS!”

When you could physically see him shaking, sweating and on the brink of tears, you knew that it was time to stop while you were ahead

“Mammon wait-“

“We need to go to Lucifer NOW.”

And when he went to pick you up gently, and saw with his own two eyes the flakes slowly fall to the ground, was when hell broke loose

You have never heard him scream so loud before, and you were pretty sure everyone both in and out the house heard him

He lifted you up and you were pretty sure he was in his demon form when you both ran and/or flew (you couldn’t tell, that’s how fast you were moving) to Lucifer’s

Sometimes it was so easy to forget that you lived with actual demons, 7 of the strongest to be exact

When you both reached your destination (ie. barged into Lucifer’s room unprovoked) he was not pleased, but Mammon did not care.

You were one of (if not) the most important person in his life and he would be damned if anything happened to you again. He was your first man, your protector! And he was not going to fail. Not again. He would and will protect you with his life. At any costs

When you saw how serious he was , you tried to wiggle out of his arms, but all he did was just tighten up and say, “MC, quit squirmin’! I don’t want you to make this worse.”

“No, Mammon wait-“

“We’re going to fix this. I’m going to fix this and I’m not lettin’ anything happen to you again. Now stop moving! Lucifer, somethin’s wrong with MC! Look at how their skin is-“

“ITS A PRANK!”

It’s just a prank bro

“Wh-what?”

“I’ve been trying to tell you, I’m sorry!”

While you were explaining the whole process (with Lucifer staring on in building irritation), you were still in his arms

You already felt like a terrible being, but the guilt was steady skyrocketing when you were looking at his face

He looked like a kicked puppy left in the rain with a broken paw

You just kept apologizing over and over, until you heard a certain someone clear their throat.

“If you two are done interrupting me, I would like to get back to work. MC, stay behind, it seems like we need to have a little chat about your so called prank.”

Mammon put you down and walked out the room, head hanging and eyes covered.

You knew you screwed up big time. Forget about the incoming lecture, you felt absolutely terrible about pranking Mammon. Especially after hearing the “again” comment.

Once you finally got released (ie. punished), you all had dinner, which Mammon skipped out on

Geez, this was not suppose to happen and you needed to make it up to him ASAP

So here you were, standing outside his door (after you cleaned up) with two Hell Fire noodle cups, knocking timidly

“Hey, Mammon? Is it okay if I come in?”

Silence

“You weren’t down for dinner and I know that you’re hungry, so I brought us-you some noodles.”

Again, silence

You sighed, you knew you messed up big time and you were going to fix it, no matter what.

“I’m sorry, Mammon. I’m so sorry. What started out as a joke turned into something serious, and it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have did that. Hurting you was never my intention, I care about you too much to do that. When I heard you say that you weren’t going to let anything happen to me again, I knew that I messed up. I know that you will always protect me, and I don’t have any doubt that you won’t. You’re my first man, remember? I know that you’ll always have my back, and I hope you know that I’ll always have yours too. You’re not just the Avatar of Greed to me Mammon, you’re my first guy that I’ll love forever. I won’t ever mess with you like this again, and if you don’t want to talk now that’s fine too, just know that I’ll always love and care for you, okay?”

Ughh and now you were crying!

You sighed. You understood if he didn’t want to talk to you. I mean, he thought you were dying again. It’s easy to forget the events that happened with Belphie, since everyone is communicating and acting like a real family, but you can see now that it left a deep emotional wound in Mammon. He believed that it was his fault that you weren’t saved, and he still carried the burden all this time.

You put the cup down outside the door and started to head back to your room. You would give him as much time as he needed. You just hate that you made him feel this way, that you rose those feelings out of him. And you hated yourself for it.

You barely stepped a foot away from the door when he saw it swing out and a big blob tackle-hugged you

Here was Mammon, sniffling and tearing up, hugging you

“*sniff* You stupid human.”

When he pulled away, you saw the tears in his eyes, which he tried to rub away before you could notice (sidenote: you already noticed)

“Ya-Ya really love me?”

“Of course, Mammon! How could I not? You stayed by my side through thick and thin, through everything. You protected me, and I will forever be grateful for that. I wouldn’t be here without you. You’re not a selfish scum bag like everyone tries to make you out to be, Mammon, and I won’t let you believe that you are. You are my first man, the man that has constantly looked out for me, that has supported and cared for me, and most of all that has never failed to show how much love you have to give. I love you Mammon, always.”

Cue the blushing and cheeky grin

“Now come on the Great Mammon, our noodles are getting cold.”

It felt great to see that smile back on his face

And it felt even better to hear him say, “I love ya too, MC”

Leviathan

Levi was in his room, nothing new

He told you he had some sort of campaign that he absolutely could not afford to miss. Which he said about the other campaigns too but whatever

So when you knocked into his room, and he didn’t ask for the secret phrase, you knew he was in too deep to even pay attention to his surroundings

And the door was UNLOCKED

So you went in, ready to give him the scare of the decade, and-

He turned around in his gaming chair, raging and in his demon form

“UGH! How was that normie of a demon able to kill me with that move?! He has to be cheating! How is it that I’m one of the best players in the entire Devildom and I’m one of the first dead?! It’s not fair! It’s not fair, it’s not fair IT’S NOT FAI- huh? MC, why are you covered in *squints* dried up glue?”

You were honestly shook

Because 1: the third strongest brother was obviously furious and in his demon form which is not a good combination (your mind flashing back to the TSL quiz and whew was that not the best memory) and 2: how the hell was he able to know that this was glue?!

Okay, you weren’t scared of Levi, not at all! But you, just like everyone else, knew how serious he took his gaming

And you all knew how he could be when he was raging about it too

Not saying that he would ever harm or attack you, oh no. What happened at the beginning was just a...fluke! Yeah, just a little hiccup in your now longstanding relationship

But you were still just a tad bit hesitant to be caught in the crossfire of his rage

Really everyone was (except maybe Beel, but even he had his moments)

“LOL you look like one of the rotten magical zombie students from the anime “OMG I’m Just A Magical Girl in Training and Somehow I Turned the Whole School Into Zombies and Have to Fall in Love with a Demon to Reverse It!””

Okay, this was not the reaction you were looking for

“What the- but how-?

Then you remembered

Levi is a renowned cosplayer, the best in the game. It was obvious he knew what the dried up glue looked like considering how much he’s worked with it

You were of course disappointed, but oh well, you could always scheme to get him another way

And then it happened. Another devious idea popped into your head

“So you said I looked like a rotten zombie student huh?”

“Rotten magical zombie student . LOL don’t tell me that you don’t think you do- W-what are you doing MC?”

“Ughhh I’m a rotten magical school girl, and I’m not just hungry for brains, I’m hungry for love.”

“L-love?”

“Gughhh that’s right and only kisses can satiate my hunger. Demon kisses.”

Oh boy

The way that you turned red so quick was always a surprising sight for you to see

“M-MC WAIT-”

“I want my kisses, Levi!”, you said it in your best zombie/monster voice

Cue his famous “WOOAHHHH”

“MC WAIT- YOU’RE COVERED IN GROSS DRIED GLUE OMG”

The campaign was quickly forgotten when you tackled him to the ground, glue and all

Then you remembered how sensitive he was with physical contact, and tried to get up

“Oh Levi, I’m sorry! I forgot you don’t li-”

Something was still holding you against him

Specifically, that something was his tail

His tail was currently wrapped around your waist, holding you tightly against the red-faced otaku

“Levi, you okay?”

“Y-y-yeah, I’m okay.” he said it in the tiniest voice you have ever heard.

“Do you want me to get-”

“NO! I-I mean yes! I mean no! N-no I don’t want you to get up. I’m okay.”

Today was just surprising you left and right huh?

But you weren’t complaining now

“But now we’re covered in nasty, peely glue. And what about your campaign?”

He looked at the screen, and then back at you

“It’s okay. It’s not worth it like I thought it was. It’s just a bunch of normies who either button mash or spam the same attack over and over. And I already got majority of the rewards anyway. Besides, now that another normie has me covered in icky cheap glue, I need to get it off.”

Whoops

“Sorry about that, Levi. I was just trying to prank you but looks like that failed. I could do your laundry for you since it was my bad. Is that okay?”

“O-or you could m-make it up to me by having by binge watching some anime? If you want, even though I’m a nasty, icky, worthless ot-”

“Levi. Look at me.”

You gently grabbed and held his face in your hands

“You’re not worthless or nasty okay? And I love to spend time with you. We can definitely have an anime marathon. I’ll always be by your side, I wouldn’t be your Henry if I wasn’t.”

“R-really?”, the way his eyes light up every time you praise or show him love will never get old

“Of course. But I do have to say that you are icky.”

“WHAT”

“But we both are. I mean I did kinda cover you in the flaky glue, and it’s starting to feel a little gross to be honest.”

“O-oh yeah. I-it’s your fault normie!”

“Yeah, yeah I know.”, you laughed.

Atleast you somewhat pranked him

“So let’s get cleaned up, and I can bring some more snacks when I’m done. You wanna do the pillow fort like usual?”

“O-of course, normie!”

“Alright. I’ll see you in a few then!”, and you began walking out the room

He watched your trailing form, and honestly he didn’t want you to leave yet. That was apparent when his tail wrapped itself around you. I mean, how embarrassing was that?! But he couldn’t help it.

Levi cares about you immensely. You’re his best friend, his Henry! He didn’t know what you saw in someone like him, I mean damn, he was the Avatar of Envy! What’s attractive about someone being jealous 24/7?

He wasn’t outgoing like Asmo or Mammon, didn’t have the confidence like Lucifer or Satan, and he wasn’t good at building bonds like the twins (or at least like Beel)

What a human like you saw in him was still mind boggling, and he thought you were just tolerating him, just being nice. But, he saw how genuine you were as time went on. He saw you as someone special to him, you were his favorite real living person, his best friend, and honestly he wanted you to become more-

“Oh, Levi, one more thing.”

You quickly ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek

“I finally got my demon kiss, ughhh. My hunger has been satisfied!”

And ran right back out

He blushed 100x more now, and he realized that maybe he wasn’t ready to take it to the next step just yet, but he was willing to be patient and work towards it

He was willing to make the effort because you’re worth it

#obey me x reader #obey me imagines #obey me headcanons #lucifer x reader #mammon x reader #leviathan x reader #mc x lucifer #mc x mammon #mc x levi #obey me reader insert #reader insert #fanfiction #first headcanon

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peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology · 3 years

Note

ahh im obsessed with the summer prompts. Can I request Lifeguard Tom with prompt 36 please? preferably fluffy ending but its all up to you thanks!

This became very long sorry bestie. I hope you still enjoy it tho! Love you so much, thank you for the request love!

Reminder to everyone else that the Summer of Love is still going on and I'll be accepting requests for it until September 22nd! You can find the prompt list here!

Let’s Give It a Shot

36 - It’s the last day of summer, and your last day together

Pairing: Lifeguard! Tom x Reader

Summary: Tom shows you exactly why you love him so much

Warnings: angst, crying, fighting

Masterlist

Summer of Love

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Tom peaked at the bed as he pulled his shirt over his head, a smile came over his face at the sight.

“Good morning angel,” he cooed, “Like what you see?”

“I liked it better when you had your shirt off,” she teased, her voice still raspy and tired, “Remind me why we agreed to work today?”

“It’s only till noon,” he reminded as he bent to kiss her. He laughed as she attempted to pull him into bed, “I’ve got to get going, swim class starts at 7.”

She rolled onto her back and groaned, “Who the fuck takes their kids to swim class at 7?”

“Their toddlers angel, most of them have been up since 5,” he pecked her lips one final time before standing up, “I’ll see you at 8?”

She hummed, nodding once before she closed her eyes again, “Love you.”

“Love you too,” he watched her settle back into bed before leaving, closing the bedroom door as quietly as he could behind him.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Bye bye,” Tom waved to the kids as they padded through the lobby.

“We’ll see you all Thursday,” Harrison added.

“Well I really appreciate it,” Tom smiled in response, falling into the spinning chair that she usually sat in, “Seriously, I owe you.”

The kids filed out, being ushered away by their parents while the boys hung around the front desk.

“I can’t believe I agreed to take you shift,” Harrison yawned, stretching his arms above his head, “You’re such a dick.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the best,” he glanced towards the door, just in time to spot (y/n), “Oh shit, fun’s over Tom, time to get back to work.”

“Ha ha,” she rolled her eyes, “What are you two doing at my desk huh?”

“You’re desk?” Tom smirked, “This is my desk today angel.”

“Oh and I suppose you want me to save the drowning children?”

“No,” he stood and grabbed her by the waist, “Haz is going to watch the pool today and I’m going to help you up front.”

She raised a brow and turned to Harrison, “Really?”

He nodded, “Course sweetheart, happy to give you a little extra time together.”

“Aw, thank you Haz,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“You’re welcome,” he gave her a squeeze before dropping her, “Alright, I’ve got to go clean up, you two just make sure everything is done. I don’t want to get in trouble because you two were making out instead of working.”

“We will, don’t worry,” she laughed, “Thank you guys, I couldn’t have dreamed up a better last day.”

“You’re welcome,” Tom hummed, pressing his lips to hers as she tried to reach for the computer behind him, “We could do this everyday if you stayed, I could switch to the front.”

“Tom you know I can’t,” she sighed, “I don’t think we should be having this discussion at work either, it’s just gonna make us both emotional.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow morning so I’m gonna be emotional no matter what,” he sighed, “You never want to talk about this.”

“Because I don’t like thinking about leaving. I don’t like the idea of being far away anymore than you do.”

“Then don’t leave,” he grabbed her hands, preventing her from getting to her job, “Just stay here. You can move in with us, Haz adores you, he won’t mind.”

“Tom I can’t. I have to go back to school, and right now I have to open, so can we please save this for later?”

He sighed and nodded, “Yeah, yeah, we can talk about it later.”

“Thank you,” she kissed his cheek before pushing across the floor.

He laughed as the chair spun away from her, “I don’t know how you expect me to help from all the way over here.”

“I expect you to go make sure the bathrooms are stocked,” she flashed him a cheeky smile while she popped open the register, “And I’m gonna count the cash.”

He sighed and dragged his feet towards the closet, “Fine, fine, I wouldn’t do it for anyone else though.”

The day continued as normal, despite Tom’s best attempts to distract (y/n) from work. Tom had surprised her by doing most of the work throughout the day, insisting she simply sit and handle the register. It was a nice change, normally when Tom hung out in the front it was just to steal drinks and tease. Tom busted through all of her tasks, seeming impossibly determined to get them home as soon as possible. He’d managed to do it too, Harry arrived at exactly noon and he’d rushed (y/n) right out the door.

“Hurry,” Tom shook her shoulders while she gathered her things.

“I am, I am, sheesh,” she shoved her phone into her purse and stood, “What’s the big rush?”

“I’ve just got a lot planned for today,” he beamed at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, “Now come on, our first stop is this way.”

“Our first stop?” she knit her brow as he led her towards the pool, “Wait why are we going to the pool?”

“Because it’s our first stop,” he repeated, stopping just outside the doors, “See that?” he pointed to one of the lifeguard’s chairs.

She nodded, trying to imagine where he might be taking the conversation, “I do see the chair Tom.”

“It’s the most important chair in the world,” he kissed the top of her head with a smile, “Because I was sitting in that chair the first time I saw you.”

She flushed, biting her cheek to try and fight off her smile, “Stop.”

“I remember it exactly. You walked out of there and I just couldn’t take my eyes off you, you wouldn’t believe how disappointed I was when they said you were gonna be up front.”

“I thought you were pretty cute too.”

He laughed, “Thank God you did.”

“Did you bring me out here just for that?” she raised a brow, “You’re not trying to throw me into the pool?”

He shook his head, “No, just wanted to be a little sappy. Now I’m gonna take you on that date and be even sappier.”

“Lucky me,” she chuckled, “So, where are you taking me now?”

“Minx,” he smirked, “Alright darling, just get ready for the best date of your life.”

“Back home, I can’t parade around the town dressed like this,” he motioned to his swim trunks with a smile, “As much as you might like that.”

“I’d rather save that for tonight,” she teased back, “When I’ve got you all to myself.”

Tom took her home, refusing to reveal even the tiniest detail about their date as they both got ready. He claimed it would be long, that’d they’d be out until that night, but refused to give her any more details. He even went as far as to try and blindfold her when they got in the car, but he quickly dropped it when she refused. She expected he’d be taking her somewhere new or out of town because of this, she was completely in shock when he just drove her to a sandwich shop just up the street from the pool.

“Seriously? We eat here like everyday,” she rolled her eyes, “This cannot be it Tom.”

“It’s not,” he laughed, “Obviously I’ve got something more than this planned. I just thought we could stop here.”

“Why?”

“Because, if you remember,” he began to explain, a smile overtaking his features, “You stayed late to help me clean the pool and I took you to lunch as thanks. It was like our first half date.”

“Half date?” she laughed, “That is not a thing Tom.”

“Yes it is, it was the first time we hung out outside of work together, and it’s when I asked you out, it’s a half date.”

“Those are very specific circumstances that define a half date,” she pursed her lips, fighting her urge to smile.

“Whatever, the point is, this place is special because it reminds me of you,” he leaned over the middle console to press a kiss to her cheek, “And I just wanted to tell you that before we got to the real date.”

“Aw,” she cooed at him, “Don’t tell me it’s going to get even sappier than this.”

“Oh angel, just you wait, it’s only getting worse and worse from here.”

She watched out the windows as Tom drove her across town to another restaurant, though this time she knew exactly why he’d brought her there.

“Tom,” she bit her lip as she spoke, “This is incredibly cute.”

“Ah not here angel,” he grabbed her hands as she tried to open the door, “Just being sappy again. Remember what happened here?”

“Our first date, how could I ever forget that?” she smiled as she reminisced on the happy memories, “We got all dressed up and you brought me flowers. Then we talked until they closed, and we still couldn’t get enough of each other so you drove me up to that cliff side and talked all night.”

“No, no, it was nothing like that,” he rolled his eyes, “I picked you up and you looked so fucking gouregous I could barely speak. Then I took you to this restaurant and I tried so desperately and to seem interesting enough to keep your attention. For some reason you put up with me, and we talked and talked and talked. I thought you’d want to go home at the end of the night but you still weren’t sick of me so we drove up to that little lookout point and I fell madly and deeply in love with you while we talked the night away.”

“You did not fall in love with you on our first date,” she rolled her eyes, “You’re just trying to make me emotional.”

“I fell in love with you the first time I laid my eyes on you, it just took me a little while to realize it.”

She sighed, letting her head fall onto his shoulder, “I fell in love with you the first time we kissed. I’ve never felt like that with anyone else.”

“Mine was cuter,” Tom hummed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Oh whatever,” she rolled her eyes, “Alright, are we going to the real date now?”

“You’ll see, you’ll see,” he shushed her, driving just a few parking lots over to the local bowling alley, “Remember here?”

“Another one?” she sighed, “Alright, you took me here to introduce me to your brothers. I found out that I majorly suck at bowling that night.”

“Yeah you do,” he laughed, “But my brothers adore you, they treat you like a sister and it totally melts my heart.”

“Yeah, I think they’re cool too,” she chuckled, “So, is there an actual date or are you just taking me on a victory lap of the city?”

“There is a date, at the end of the victory lap,” he admitted, “There’s just a couple more things I want you to see first.”

“You’ll see, just give it a second,” he hummed.

Tom drove her all over the city, stopping anywhere with even the tiniest amount of significance. He took her to the club where they’d spent Harrison’s birthday, the fairgrounds where they spent way too much money on rigged games, even the local park, where her and Harry had gotten way too competitive with a game of frisbee golf. He took her to more sentimental spots too, like where they’d had their first kiss, the hill where they’d fallen asleep watching a meteor shower, the place where they’d first said I love you, where they’d had their first time. It was like a montage of their greatest hits, that had her falling in love with Tom, and the city, all over again. She was almost in tears when Tom finally declared that the tour was over, and it was really time for their date.

“Okay, where are we really going then?” she pressed, her eyes glued to the window for any clues, “I mean we’ve pretty much been everywhere already…”

“Looks like we’re heading to your place, or work,” she knit her brow.

“Does it?”

“Does it?” she mocked, “We have to get out of this car soon or I’m gonna pee myself.”

“Well,” he flicked his blinker on and turned into the pool parking lot, “Good thing we’re here.”

“Tom I swear to god I-”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he laughed, “But you can run inside real quick and use the restroom before we go.”

“They’re closed.”

“I have my keys,” he flicked off the car, grinning as he waved for her to follow, “Hurry up angel.”

She followed him inside, suspicious that he had some kind of ulterior motive, “We are not fooling around in there Tom.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he hummed as he opened the front door, “Go on, take care of your business.”

“Thanks,” she scampered off to the bathroom, only to find Tom was missing when she returned, “Tom?” she peaked around the lobby but found nothing. She got no response when she knocked on the men's locker room door, and the employee lobby was empty. “Tom?” she called again, peeking at her phone for any hints, “Come on,” she sighed and headed for the pool.

“Surprise!”

Out jumped everyone she’d spent the summer with, Tom, Harrison, his brothers, everyone they’d worked with at the pool, all the friends she’s made across town. The pool was all lit up, lined with tables full of food and drinks. (y/n) was in shock, her jaw hung open as she took it all in.

“So,” Tom’s arms wrapped around her waist and he pressed a kiss to her cheek, “What do you think?”

“This is amazing,” she squeezed his hands, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” he kissed her cheek again before stepping away, “We all wanted to make your last night really special.”

“It’s perfect,” she confirmed, “Seriously, I couldn’t imagine anything better than this.”

“Glad to hear it love,” Harrison wrapped his arm around her shoulders for a quick hug, “Come on though, you’ve got lots of people to say goodbye too.”

She was led around to say hi to everyone, progressively becoming more and more emotional as the night went on. Tom stuck right to her side, doing his best to comfort her as the night went on. It was nice, she appreciated the gesture and everyone being there, but the realization that this was her goodbye just kept creeping back up. Tom could tell she was drained by the end of the night, obviously ready to just curl up in bed.

“Angel, are you ready to go home?” he hummed.

“No, no, I’m okay,” she insisted, “We should stay and help clean up.”

“You can’t clean up your own party,” Harry rolled his eyes, “We’ll stay back and clean it up. If you’re ready to go you and Tom can head out.”

“Are you guys sure?” she wrung her hands nervously, “We can stay and help.”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, it’s not very much anyway, we’ve got this.”

“Thanks guys,” Tom squeezed her side, “Let’s get you home then yeah?”

She nodded, “Thanks guys.”

She moved to give each of them a hug, mumbling a quick goodbye, hoping to escape to the car as quickly as possible. Harry seemed to have other ideas in mind though.

“I love you,” he squeezed her tight.

“Aw, I love you too,” she chuckled.

“I’m gonna miss you so much sis,” he patted her back as she pulled away.

She forced a smile as she stepped away, waving to them while her and Tom slipped away.

“Are you alright?” Tom squeezed her waist.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she insisted as she climbed into the passenger seat, “I just wanna go home.”

“Alright, we’ll go.”

“He called me sis.”

“What?”

“Harry called me sis.”

Tom chuckled, “Well yeah, I told you earlier, they think of you like a sister.”

“But it’s different when he says it,” she sniffled, her facade finally crumbling, “I don’t wanna go Tom.”

He moved to her side as quick as he could and pulled her into him, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to angel. If you want to stay you can, Haz and I would be more than happy to have you.”

“But I can’t! I can’t just ditch everything for a summer fling! I have to go back to school and my family and I have to go home! But I don’t want to go back there! I want this to be home, I don’t want to leave!”

Tom took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head before scooting back to his seat, “I know we went a lot of places today angel, but I’ve got one more thing to show you alright?”

“No I don’t wanna go fucking see anything else Tom! I just want to go home…”

“We will, I just want to show you one thing angel, it’ll make you feel better,” he promised, slipping a hand over hers, “It’ll be quick.”

“Okay…”

She was quiet the rest of the short drive, he’d taken her to a small cafe, they’d only been there once before.

“Come on angel,” he waved for her to follow him.

“Why would you bring me here?” she scoffed.

“Just come on,” he insisted, smiling as she slammed the door behind her, “Come sit with me,” he patted his lap.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before falling into his lap, “Why are we here?”

“Do you remember what happened here?” he hummed.

She nodded, “Yeah, we had our first fight here, and it seems like you’re trying to have our second too.”

“No, I’m making a point,” he corrected with a smile, “We had our first fight here, and then we never came back here again. But that is not why I brought you here, I brought you here because that fight made me think about us, and the fact that you had to leave at the end of summer. I kept trying to think of ways around it or ways for us to minimize our time apart, but you know what thought never crossed my mind?”

“What?” she sank into her chair.

“That when summer came to an end we would break up, because we aren’t a summer fling. We never were, not even for a second, and the sacrifices we make are not for a summer fling, they’re for a real relationship that both of us treasure. If you really, really don’t want to go then you can stay, and I mean we’ve got a Uni nearby and you’ve always got somewhere to stay here. But if I’m the only reason you don’t want to go then you need to go, and we’ll suffer through the long distance until my lease with Haz is up and then I’ll move to you.”

She shook her head, “It’s not just you, I love this town, and the friends I’ve made here, it’s everything about this place. I just feel like I belong here, and I’ve never felt like that back home.”

“Obviously I’m biased here,” he chuckled, “But you could always just give it a semester out here, transfer back if you hate it, or vice versa. Just remember this long distance thing is going to be temporary no matter what, and even then we’re only a couple hours apart.”

She was silent as she tried to sort out her thoughts, “Yeah, school’s a little cheaper out here too, that’d be nice. A-And I haven't paid for anything yet this year so I’m not really obligated to go…”

“You don’t have to justify anything to me angel, obviously I want you to stay” he kissed her shoulder with a frown, “If you wanna give it a shot then I think you should, but if you don’t, we’re still gonna make this work, because I love you.”

“I love you too,” she sniffled while he wiped her eyes, “Thanks Tommy.”

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Taglist:

@niallberry @namoreno @spideyssunshine @thevery-firstpage @outshineallthestars @roseke @zspideyy @tomsirishgirlx @emistrash @andreagf956 @peachyafshawn @spideyspeaches

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yelenasdog · 3 years

Text

something like “i know” (ben hardy x fem reader)

genre: FLUFF FINALLYY

summary: sometimes making tiktoks with ben doesn’t always turn out the way you plan, but by no means is that a negative.

words: 1.4k

warnings: age gap (not dramatic, reader is like, idk, 23 maybe?), kissing, i think that’s it but lmk!

a/n: hi! so i’ve had this idea for ages and wanted to write it so here it is! the end of it is far sappier than i planned but meh whatevs. also ty to cici and eva for helping me pick the moodbard hehe. k enjoy!

☆❂✧

Having an age gap was never something that put a large damper on their relationship. The conflicting personalities of the two balanced out quite nicely, and the similarities that drew the two of them together in the first place (apart from the aforementioned) made sure they never had a lack of interesting things to talk about that weren’t generational.

Until TikTok, that was.

Now of course, there were some other millennials on the application, but Ben just for some reason couldn’t get it.

“Yes, I know that, babe, but why do they do dances?”

“They lip sync too!”

“But what is the point?”

And that’s how the conversation would end. Every single time. So Ben would sit on the sofa, watching as she danced about in front of the small screen, occasionally playing some cruel (ok, that’s a large exaggeration, they’re somewhat mean, at best) joke on him, claiming it was a trend on TikTok? That just did not sit right with him.

He didn’t remember hearing “mean pranks” in the initial description of the app when she had described it to him all of those times.

Ben tried to tune it out, he really did. He would wear his headphones, blasting Zeppelin as loud as he could while reading scripts or a book. But somehow, those catchy little tunes always managed to worm their way into his ear, being stuck in there for days and days on end.

He would waltz around the house humming Megan Thee Stallion, the occasional Flo Milli or underground indie artist also making an appearance often.

He was pouring a cup of coffee for himself one Tuesday morning in the kitchen before going on a run, Y/n watching fondly from afar. Rain was softly rolling down the windows, barely coming to a cease. The air was chilly, and fog floated through the early morning sky, a sense of calm washing over their shared South London home.

The room was kept somewhat warm, though, from the fireplace that she had insisted the house had to have, which Ben ended up being grateful for on more than one occasion. He looked over his shoulder briefly, smiling at the sight of his beloved wrapped up in his seafoam jumper, watching him move about contently.

As he turned back to where he was working on filling the two mugs in front of him, he began to oh so quietly sing the lyrics to what sounded like a familiar tune off of the app. Watermelon Sugar, maybe?

“Ben? Baby?”

He turned, his eyes growing wide and his hands flying to his hips as he leaned against the countertop behind him.

“Mhhm, yeah, w-what’s up, babe?”

She couldn’t hold in her giggle at the sight of her boyfriend’s red face and disgruntled appearance, one of his hands now scratching casually at his gold locks.

“What’re you singin’, pretty boy?”

His blush only increased at the nickname, eliciting another laugh from his girl.

“Y’know, just somethin’ I heard on the radio the other day.”

She immediately recognized his lie, he refused to listen to the radio, only using either Bluetooth or the aux cord, his music taste too pretentious for mainstream stations. She didn’t mind, though, always finding it quite funny how much of a music snob he was.

But rather than call him out, she only nodded and smirked, standing up and bringing her phone with her over to the windowsill where she usually filmed her TikToks, pulling Ben along with her.

He sipped from his mug, eyes slanted as she scrolled through something on her phone, various sounds emitting from the speaker.

A little smile showed up on her face when she (apparently) found what she was looking for, leaving her to set the phone down, allowing a video under the sound to play on repeat.

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?” He asked, ever so cautiously, taking a step towards her. She walked towards him, engulfing him in a hug which he (yet again) cautiously reciprocated.

“I am going to teach you a TikTok dance.”

He had to do a double take.

“Come again?”

She pulled on the elastic waistband of her sweats, grabbing Ben by the arm.

“Come on, I know you wanna. And if nothing else you’ll do it to make me happy.”

He rolled his eyes, slightly irritated at her confidence and that she was so incredibly correct, he would do mostly anything to put a smile on her face.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He grumbled, moving to stand next to her.

She clapped once in excitement, joy flooding her entire body. The music started up again, but this time, she began to dance along to it.

“Ok, so just try to do what I’m doing, alright?”

“No! Not alright, can I just stand here, I think I should just stand here-“

“Ben, it's literally not that hard, 8 year olds can do it!”

“Well, I’m an extremely confused 29 year old man, thank you very much!”

And that’s basically how the next 15 minutes went until she finally gave in, allowing Ben to stand behind her, occasionally doing a little move of sorts. The two were in a fit of giggles now, struggling to keep enough composure for long enough to get even one successful video.

“Benjamin Jones! This is the last one, okay?”

He put a hand on his stomach, both of the pair attempting to catch their breath.

“Yes, yes, right okay, got it, last one.”

The little timer button counted down, the sound echoing throughout the property.

The music then started, and she could barely keep a straight face for the 15 seconds. Bored of the routine, but never of her, Ben decided he would grab her and throw her onto the sofa, as payback for all the “TikTok pranks” she would pull on him. He waited for the perfect time to strike (one where she wouldn’t hopefully be too infuriated), restlessly shifting from foot to foot.

Nearing the last few seconds, he made his move. He swooped forward, a high pitched shriek falling from her lips as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist, running and jumping onto the couch, crushing her. He rolled off quickly, and she moved to be on top of him, her hair wildly astray. She sat up, straddling his thighs with a bright smile plastered on her face.

“You little jerk.”

He only smiled boyishly in response, a lovesick gaze set in his eyes.

The song was still playing on repeat as she leaned down, positioning her hands on either side of his head in order to place her lips gently upon his.

“That’s your reward for putting up with me today, Jones.”

He scoffed, taking her by the shoulders and bringing her to his chest. She looked up from where she was now comfortably lying, meeting his homey emerald gaze, his eyes like sea glass that had washed up on white sands, waiting to be rediscovered.

“I feel as if I deserve something more for all of that.”

“Oh, do you?”

He hummed and nodded, closing his eyes. She reached up, placing another peck on his plump lips, before scurrying away to retrieve the phone. He sat up rather quickly at the sudden loss of her body weight, smiling at the sound of her laughter coming towards him.

“Ben, look, it turned out so well.” She managed to slip out before basically throwing him the phone. A grin erupted on his own face soon after, along with the hearty chuckles to match.

He made some commentary on how wonderful it was, before handing her back the device. She moved so she was once more essentially laying on top of Ben, the screen in both of their views.

After sharing a few more laughs over the video, she captioned it and posted it, throwing her phone to get lost in the couch cushions as the likes and comments began to roll in.

She looked up at him once more, and he met her gaze, as he always would, bringing a hand up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

It didn’t leave her cheek, resting there and lightly caressing her skin. The two were most serene then, almost appearing as two felines that had decided to nap during the morning showers, most comforted by each other and the steady sound of the droplets as they pattered.

He was whispering now, the rambunctious energy of the room fading into a much more tranquil and stolid vibe, wrapping the two up like a warm embrace.

“Y’know I really would do anything to make you happy, my love.”

She closed her eyes, taking hold of one of his hands.

He then heard her mutter something like “I know”, and all was well.

☆❂✧

it was fitting for the theme. but anyway i hope u enjoyed, pls reblog and like if u did :) go drink some water, eat some protein, and take an electronics break!

love you bunches! xx hj

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kiras-sunshine · 3 years

Text

tarlos valentine 2021 day 1 prompt: “babe please sharing is caring” + blanket hogging

words: 5111

summary:

“Are you seriously reading a WikiHow article about how to stop hogging the covers?”

"Yes"

read on ao3

”This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” TK declares as he takes yet another forkful of the chocolate cake that Carlos has baked for his birthday.

He cannot remember when someone would have baked an actual cake for his birthday. They celebrate everyone’s birthday at the firehouse, but usually those are bought from the supermarket and they taste and look exactly like they cost less than five dollars.

His dad has threatened to bake something every year, but after the year when he served the dairy, butter and sugar free cake, TK had banned him from birthday related baking.

“Seriously,” he continues, gesturing towards the almost empty plate with his fork, “this cake made me fall more in love with you and I didn’t know that was possible.”

Carlos shakes his head, clearly in amusement, as he bites down his smile. He looks delighted and pleased. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Like is an understatement,” he remarks and reaches over the narrow kitchen island to press a quick kiss on his lips.

The cake tastes amazing, rich and sweet, and the texture is fluffy, but firm. It looked gorgeous too, as if it were straight rout of the high-end confectioneries of Manhattan. He had asked where he had bought it before Carlos admitted, rather timidly, that he had baked it from the scratch.

TK hadn’t been expecting anything other than the supermarket cake, and honestly, he thought his birthday would be just grouped together with the firehouse annual Christmas party. Being born in December usually meant that it got joined with Christmas celebrations and it didn’t get to be a separate thing. TK is fine with it. It bothered him more when he was a child, but now he doesn’t mind that much.

Hoping that one day would be about him feels like a dumb, childish and selfish wish.

Carlos had been uncharacteristically quiet about the upcoming birthday or any plans related to it, and TK had been almost convinced that he had forgotten the whole thing. It would have been fine if it were the case, but obviously, he hadn’t forgotten. Instead, he had gone all out.

TK knows he should have suspected something when Marjan had asked all slyly if he had any plans for his birthday when they all had been gathered around the firehouse dining table to eat the pathetic looking supermarket cake.

He had said no, and everyone had smiled like they knew something he didn’t, but he had brushed it off.

TK reaches scoop a forkful of the cake from Carlos’ plate, because his is almost empty, and he grins at him brightly. “Babe please, sharing is caring,” he chuckles.

Carlos rolls his eyes, but the fondness is too visible to make him seem even a tiny bit annoyed.

“You’re lucky I love you,” he mumbles. There is no heat behind his words, and he pushes the plate closer to TK.

It’s obviously meant to be a joke and his voice is light, but still TK is aware that it is the closest thing to the truth anyway. He feels lucky, incredibly so.

Carlos is a kind, caring and loving person in general and it is evident in the way he does his job and the way he treats people around him, and TK is fully aware that he would be lucky to get just a fraction of the love Carlos has to give, but the fact that he has decided that TK is worth of all of it makes it a whole another thing.

Lucky doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Privilege, maybe.

He has started to notice lately that the English language doesn’t have nearly enough words to describe what he is feeling for him. But that doesn’t stop him from trying.

“I know,” TK eventually replies, several beats too late it to be counted as banter anymore and the fondness in Carlos’ eyes just grows.

He does steal another forkful of his piece of cake and lets his gaze wonder around the small cabin.

Instead of forgetting his birthday, Carlos had rented a cabin for three days. It is a couple hours away from Austin, located near camping-area, and while the cabin is small, it is still objectively really nice and fancy for a log cabin.

He looks at the dark brown wooden walls and the shiny marble kitchen island. He tries his best not to think how much money he has spent on his surprise.

Carlos had also coordinated it so that they both have the three days off around his birthday, and he had listed his whole crew’s, and his dad’s help, to do it, several months in advance. TK guesses there are certain perks that his boyfriend gets along with his family like a house on fire.

Carlos yawns. He blinks a couple of times, before focusing his gaze back to him. He smiles and it is warm and genuine one, but TK can see the redness of his eyes and the dark circles below them. He looks exhausted, even though he is trying to hide it.

“You should go to sleep,” TK points out, softly, as he places the fork on his own plate.

“I’m fine,” he insists.

In his opinion, it is a small wonder Carlos hasn’t collapsed already. He had pulled an fourteen-hour shift with some over time on top of it. After that he had still driven them up to the cottage and cooked him a huge dinner. It’s a bit unclear to him where he found the time to bake the cake, but the point is, he knows that he is tired.

He would know it without having all the details. They have been together for year and a half, and TK likes to think that he can read him. Understand all the little cues from his facial expressions and behavior. At the moment, everything he picks on screams that he is fatigued.

“You look like you could pass out from exhaustion,” he remarks.

“It’s your birthday,” Carlos argues, a little flatly, but he is poorly attempting to repress yet another yawn.

“I’m aware,” he says, amusedly, as walks around the kitchen island and reaches to take his hand into his own. He presses a soft kiss on his knuckles. “All of this is really nice, and I love it, but it also pains me to see you so tired.”

He blinks slowly, but his smile is lopsided, but still full of adoration. “I wanted to do something special for you.”

TK remembers faintly that he had told him on his last birthday that his birthday rarely was a priority, always getting entangled to the preparations of the holiday season, and he had certainly not meant anything with it. But Carlos, being a strong contender for the title of most considerate person in the world, had hung on his words and decided to indulge him on his silly wish of having a proper birthday.

TK had snorted when they had picked up the keys of the cabin and the receptionist had frowned when she clarified that there would be no Christmas decorations, per request, but Carlos had just grinned at him.

“And it is,” he reassures, squeezing his hand slightly.

It makes his stomach flip as he thinks how much effort he has put into the whole thing, just so that he would feel loved and cared for.

“Maybe,” Carlos admits softly, “but going to sleep before eight wasn’t really part of the plan.”

Carlos lets go of his hand, but places both of his hands on his waist and pulls him closer. TK has no objections against that, and he loves the feeling of their bodies being pressed together. He loves the closeness of it, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world to be so up in each other’s personal space.

“Yeah, just one of the many perks of dating a first responder,” he deadpans, resting his other hand on his bicep.

Carlos huffs amusedly. “Because there are so many of them.”

“Our never matching schedules,” he offers. He lets his other hand run along his spine and settles it to hold the small of his back.

“Monthly hospital visits.”

TK glares at him. “They aren’t monthly.”

“Bi-monthly,” Carlos corrects himself with a shit-eating grin and it makes his nose scrunch, and it is one of the most adorable things TK has ever witnessed.

“Constant fear and worry,” he adds.

He knows he should be almost used to it. Since early childhood, he has had to learn to live with the fact that one day his dad might not make it to home, and now almost everyone he loves and considers family risks their lives on daily basis to help others.

He should be used to it, but the truth is that he isn’t. The fear and worry still sometimes knock him off his feet and take over every part of his body, but he can cope with it. Most of the time. Although, he loathes the fact that his standards for a good day have been lowered to the simple rule of if they both make it home in one piece, it’s a good day.

Carlos nods and presses a soft kiss on his forehead. He doesn’t immediately pull away. “The way you smell like smoke,” he murmurs against his skin.

TK lets out a surprised laugh and the ghost of his kiss still lingers right above his eyebrows when he pulls away. “I could always shower again.”

He has gotten into the habit of showering at the firehouse when the shift ends, because Carlos does have a point about the smell hazards. Most of the time he reeks after the shift and he had rinsed his skin today too, and the shift hadn’t been terrible. Only one fire at the 24-hour diner when their deep fryer had caught on fire, but that was hours ago.

“You’ve smelled like it since the day we met,” he points out, “I’m not sure a shower is going to help.”

“Hey,” TK protests, but he doesn’t bother to hide his grin.

“I wouldn’t change any of it for anything,” he says under his breath, “apart from fearing for your life.”

Over the couple of years, he has known Carlos, he has noticed that certain things happen when he gets thoroughly exhausted. His accent becomes thicker and he becomes sappier than usually and he starts to lack a certain filter. It’s mostly just amusing and endearing, and he loves that side of Carlos just as much as any other, but he also wants to take care of him.

It makes a certain kind of knot of uneasiness to form in his stomach knowing that he is burning the candle from both ends for him.

“I know, me neither,” TK reassures, softly, but pushes him a little backwards, “but seriously, you should go to bed. And you don’t even have to go alone.”

He is also a little weary after the shift. His muscles are achy, and he wouldn’t mind sleeping around the clock. And as always, seeing Carlos yawn, makes him sleepy, too.

“Your pickup lines are terrible,” he retorts, but takes a couple steps backwards towards the bedroom.

TK snorts. “They worked well enough on you.”

He still keeps walking backwards, his left shoulder only slightly bumping against the doorframe as he enters the bedroom. “They didn’t. I didn’t need pick-up lines, it was that damn smile.”

He ought to add getting complimented by him to the list of things he should be already gotten used to, because Carlos does it a lot. It’s a casual comment here and there, and it definitely isn’t always about his looks, but still no matter how many times he hears them, they always make his stomach twist in a best way possible.

Even now, the bubbling feeling of happiness settles into his chest and his lips are curling into a smile, and he knows it’s giving away everything he is currently feeling. The happiness and adoration mixing into together and spilling out as a soft and bright smile.

“That’s the one,” Carlos whispers, contently and almost in awe, and few seconds later his fist is full of the soft fabric of TK’s grey sweatshirt and he is pulling him close again.

“Yeah,” TK finds himself saying, but he cannot tear his gaze away from his lips and judging by the glint in his brown eyes, he has noticed it too, despite the sleep deprivation.

Sometimes, most of the time really, it is like electricity humming underneath his skin when Carlos looks at him. It feels like it now, too, and while they established very early into their acquittance that they are into each other. It was painfully obvious from the way they glanced each other while dancing and from the way they ended up hooking up within an hour.

Still, TK cannot help but marvel the that the feeling of sparks and electricity is still there, but it is still different. All the rush and fumbling are gone because there is more certainness now, of that the other is not going to disappear and that any of the lingering touches would be the last ones.

Now, every moment is like a small declaration of love.

He tugs the hem of Carlos’ shirt and gently yanks it upwards and helps him to undress it and Carlos helps him to get rid of his sweatshirt and tosses it somewhere on the floor. Suddenly, his lips are on his again, and the kiss is soft, but it still makes TK’s heart beat faster and toes curl up with want.

He runs his hands along his arms and squeezes his left forearm slightly. “Mmh, not when you’re that tired,” TK mumbles against his lips.

He knows where it is heading unless he breaks it off, and while he wants to, it still defeats the whole purpose of his grand plan of Carlos getting enough sleep.

Carlos immediately takes a step back, like he always does when he lets him know he is not up for something, and his smile is mischievous, but still a little flustered. “I’d not fall asleep on you,” he adds, as he takes off his sweatpants, but this time he folds them neatly and picks up their shirts from the floor.

“You have,” TK points out, kindly, as he gets rid of his own pants, “and you probably would now, too.”

Since their schedules don’t always match, they tend to take up any opportunity that arises, but a couple of times, after double digit shifts, Carlos has fallen asleep before they have even properly started, and it’s no big deal. TK knows he has fallen asleep on him too.

He mostly finds it endearing, but it also means to him that Carlos trusts him enough and is comfortable enough to fall asleep without a second thought to it.

Carlos just hums amusedly as a response and gets into the way too huge bed.

The bedroom is tiny, and the bed takes a ridiculously big part of it, but he is surprised to find it to be incredibly soft and comfortable. Still, as TK sits on the bed, he pushes his pillow closer to his because he is not sleeping twenty inches away from him.

He settles down, lying right next to him and Carlos immediately drapes one arm over him, resting it on his chest and nuzzling his shoulder. TK’s hand fumbles a little until it finds Carlos’s other hand and curls his fingers around his.

“I’m--,” Carlos starts, quietly, but TK cuts him immediately off.

“Don’t you dare apologize again,” he says, softly. “This is all I ever wanted and it’s perfect.”

He runs his fingers along his forearm. He hopes that he knows that he doesn’t mean the cabin or any of it, but just that he gets to spend his birthday with him.

Twenty-year-old TK would have laughed if someone would have told him that his best birthday would be in rural Texas, but there he is, more content than ever.

“How did you know what I was going to say?”

He glances at him. “I can hear you think.”

Carlos exhales softly and TK can feel his breath against his bicep. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. You deserve all of it and more.”

It has been a long process to learn that he deserves nice things and to be loved, because of everything and despite of everything. He has Carlos to remind him about it occasionally, but still he cannot help but wonder what he has done to end up with more love than he could have imagined a couple of years ago.

He turns his head to press a gentle kiss on his temple. “Why this place?”

TK has wondered about it since the moment they arrived. He has never heard about the place before and albeit, his knowledge of anything about Texas outside of Austin is a little wobbly, but the whole place seems to be quiet and has a little hole-in-the-wall feeling to it, like you would have to know about its existence to find it.

“It’s a dumb story,” he murmurs against his shoulders.

“I wanna hear all of your dumb stories.”

Carlos shifts a little. “We came here with my family when I was maybe thirteen,” he starts, slowly and absentmindedly tracing some sort of pattern against his ribs. “I loved this place, and we had great time, but it still filled me with dread ‘cause the place was full of happy couples and families, and I was pretty convinced at that age that I couldn’t ever have any of that on my own.”

His heart breaks a little as he listens to him. He meant his words that he wants to hear all of his stories, dumb or not, but now he regrets a little of ever asking because he knows that his coming out process hasn’t always been the smoothest and deep south hasn’t been the most forgiving place for him to live and grow up.

“But,” Carlos continues, “I had this dream that one day I’d bring here someone I’d love.”

TK breath almost hitches in his throat. It’s almost too much, but in the best way possible. To know that he has had that idea in his head for years and that he decided that he would be worthy of being a part of that. It makes his heart soar.

“I did try to warn you it was dumb,” he mumbles, taking his silence in the wrong way.

“It’s not dumb,” he rushes to say, “it’s actually really sweet.”

It’s not the most eloquent response, but it’s too difficult to pinpoint anything he is currently feeling or to put them into comprehensible words that would reflect any of the love he has for him.

“Yeah, well, you’re the only one I’ve brought here, so there is that too,” he adds, his gaze focused on his jawline, but he looks up to his eyes too, with the softest of smiles.

He is convinced his heart is going to burst. “Thank you for sharing it with me,” he whispers, right below his ear, “and for including me in it.”

They lay there for a moment, in silence, only listening the steady breathing of each other’s, but eventually TK sits up to reach the corner of the duvet and tries to settle it so that it covers both of their bodies.

“Are you going to hog all the blankets again?”

Carlos has closed his eyes already, but his voice is light and teasing.

“I don’t hog ‘em.”

He sputters out a laugh, and it’s warm, happy and genuine, and TK loves to hear that particular laugh.

“Oh, so I’ve been sleeping without one willingly for a year and half,” Carlos asks, quizzically, but it looks like another fit of laughter could erupt from him at any given moment.

“What?”

“You always steal the blankets, even if there are two,” Carlos explains, sounding almost fond as he looks at him.

“I don’t?”

TK hates how it sounds like a question to his own ears, too. He is aware that he moves a lot in his sleep, and his ex-boyfriends have given him so much shit about it, which is also why he tried to avoid staying the night when he started seeing Carlos.

Nothing is more charming than elbowing significant other in their sleep or kicking their shins. Still, Carlos has never said anything about the way he sleeps.

He knows that their bed is a goddamn mess every time they wake up, the blankets are usually disregarded somewhere, and they are not in the same positions as they fell asleep to, but he had no idea that he was the main cause of it.

“Mhm, you do,” Carlos hums, his eyes closing again.

TK shoots perplexed glance at him. “Why haven’t you woken me up?”

He is a little more than appalled that apparently he has been doing it since the beginning of their relationship, but he is only hearing about it now.

Carlos opens one of his eyes, squeezing the other one shut. “Yeah, wonder why I haven’t woken up my boyfriend, who on regular basis pulls twenty-four-hour shifts,” he mumbles, but there is nothing but kindness in his voice.

“You could have,” he argues, flatly.

“I’ve tried to steal them back sometimes,” Carlos admits, his gaze landing back to him, and his eyes are gleaming. “But there’s no point. You just steal ‘em back. I’ve extra blankets, too, but there is no limit to how many blankets you hog in a night.”

Not for the first time around Carlos, TK finds himself to be a little loss for words. This time it is because of completely different reasons, he is a little too stunned and confused to talk.

“The way you clutch to them and collect them is almost adorable,” he adds with a low chuckle.

“So, every time you have said you sleep better when I’m there with you has been a blatant lie?”

He almost wants to laugh. It’s a bit more than ridiculous that he is only learning about his own nocturnal habits now, and Carlos has told him multiple times that he sleeps more soundly and deeply, that he feels safe, when he is around, and he has always found that a little more than endearing, but now it feels impossible to wrap his head around that it would be anywhere near the truth.

“Nope.”

“You really expect me to believe that the best sleep of your life happens without blankets?”

Carlos blinks, but the look he gives him is soft and laced equally with love and fondness. Still, he gently pokes him in between his ribs. “Am I in the habit of lying to you?”

“No.”

“Then there’s your answer,” he replies, easily and effortlessly, as if he has accepted the fate of sleeping without any blankets, ever.

TK grunts and picks up his phone from the nightstand and starts typing.

“Are you seriously reading a WikiHow article about how to stop hogging the covers?” Carlos questions, as he peaks the article he started suddenly to browse through.

“Yes.”

He cannot put his finger to what actually bothers him about this small revelation so much. The unnamed feeling in his chest grows and it starts to resemble something similar to guilt, even though some logical part of his brain is telling him that there is no reason to feel that way.

He can admit that it makes him uneasy to know that Carlos has stayed silent about it for so long, especially when it must have affected the way he sleeps, too.

Carlos chuckles, softly. “It’s not that big of a deal, Ty,” he whispers, pressing a kiss on his shoulder.

“Apparently we could sleep separately,” he reads aloud as he scrolls through the surprisingly long article.

“Out of question,” Carlos replies, without missing a beat.

He huffs in some sort of agreement. It’s not the solution he would be eager to try any time soon, but he wants to find something tangible to make the uneasiness in his heart to go away.

“Somehow trap the covers underneath the mattress, smaller bed, bigger blankets--,” he continues to slowly read as he makes through the list, until Carlos gently yanks the phone away from his hand and places it face down on his chest.

“We don’t need to do any of that,” he reminds, “I sleep perfectly fine. You cling like an octopus and you’re like a walking radiator, I don’t need a blanket. And above all, I like sleeping with you.”

It’s a tiny confession, but he sounds sure of it and there is genuine fondness in the way he says it, and he cannot help but believe that he means it.

TK loves the way they sleep. There is so much closeness in it. Their bed is pretty wide, but every time he wakes up, they are close and touching each other, in one way or another. A hand resting on a thigh, fingers against hip, face pressed against shoulder blade, entangled legs and arms.

He is pretty convinced there are no moments when they are not touching when sleeping. He sort of likes that. That they drift towards other, even when they are completely unaware of it. They move in their sleep. Carlos always falls asleep on his side but ends up lying on his back. He moves around a lot more, but the fact that they always wake up pressed together, means that they move together.

When the other moves, the other follows. Invisible string connecting them in their dreams. Like magnets pulling each other in.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” Carlos continues to fill in the silence, “I knew you’d get stuck in that beautiful mind of yours about it, but I didn’t know it’d bother you this much.”

There is a question hidden, and he knows he is giving him the space not to answer, but he wants to.

TK groans, quietly and softly. He places the phone back on the nightstand and rubs his own face. “It’s just that—you simply decided to put up with it,” he tries to clarify, still trying to make sense of the emotions that keep bumping against each other inside of him, “instead of telling me to do something about it.”

He knows that he cannot control what he does in his sleep, but he would still like to try and make it better.

“I get that, but sayin’ that I’m putting up with it makes it sound too negative,” he says, exhaustion leaking back into his voice just slightly, “and I’d have told you if truly bothered me, but it doesn’t.”

“Yeah.”

He strokes his side, in slow moments, with his thumb. It sends small shivers along his spine. TK glances back at him, but his eyes are closed again. “I love you and I’ll gladly sleep without a blanket for rest of my life, it’s a small price to pay.”

Silence follows, and TK can feel how he tenses up slightly next to him. It’s a small change, but he knows him well enough to spot the difference.

“That’s pretty much wedding vow material already,” TK jokes, planting another kiss on his forehead because he wants him to know it is okay, and that he is not freaking out about any mentions of their shared future, and that he can say stuff like that to him.

That he wants to hear it.

Some of the tension immediately leaves his body when he pulls away from the kiss.

“I know,” he slurs, sleepily. “I should write it down.”

“Height of romance.”

He laughs, even though he manages to make it sound tired too, but it is still a beautiful sound. “Damn right it is.”

“I’m gonna buy a bigger duvet when we get home,” TK declares.

“You don’t have to.”

“No, but I want to.”

It might not help anything, and Carlos does seem pretty content with their current arrangements, but he still needs to do something. To try, at least, even if it is something as small as blanket hogging.

Carlos opens his eyes again, clearly fighting off the sleep. “Promise something.”

He is a little surprised by his words, but he cranes his neck on the pillow so that he can get a better look at his face. “Anything.”

“Don’t start to overthink it, the way you sleep isn’t something you should actively think about. You’ll only lose sleep,” he tells him.

TK knows he has a point. It’s definitely an easy rabbit hole to fall in, and to become too self-conscious about every moment and not being able to relax and just be. Maybe he should take Carlos’ word for it.

“I’ll promise I’ll try my best to get over the fact that I’ve forced you to freeze your ass every night for over a year.”

Carlos’ eyes are shut, but the grin that forms on his lips is bright and brilliant. “We live in Texas, it’s hot and humid most of the time, my ass is fine.”

“It is.”

He laughs again, mostly against his fluffy pillow. “How did we end up having this conversation?”

“About us, the blankets, the future or the future of our blankets?” TK asks, deadpan, just to mess with his sleep deprived brain.

“Any of it?”

“I don’t know, you started it,” he tells him, amusement shining in his soft voice

“I’m too tired,” he half-slurs, but the smile still lingers on his lips.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” TK points out, kindly, and moves his other hand to run through Carlos’ hair, massaging his scalp soothingly.

“You’re right,” he breathes out, and TK can hear the smirk in his voice, “just this once.”

He laughs quietly, trying not to stir him any more than necessary, and he thinks he might have already fallen asleep, and he almost startles when he hears his voice again.

“Ty?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t need any blankets, just need you.”

He would have expected his voice to be light, teasing and joking, but it sounds surprisingly sincere and like it half-accidently escapes away from his exhausted mind, but it sounds still so goddamn sincere that it makes TK’s heart flutter.

“Smooth,” he remarks, quietly, unsure what to do with all the happiness that keeps bubbling inside of him, but the only reply he gets is the quiet and steady breathing.

#tarlosvalentine21 #tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star fic #once again i have no excuses

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kakashiswilloffire · 3 years

Text

Shino's Strategy

ao3

words: 2.0k

fluff, shinoten, mention of akamaru biting, established relationship

@narutorarepairjune day 14: melody

shino comes home to find tenten singing in the shower

***

It was 3:17 in the afternoon, and Tenten would be training with Neji, Rock Lee, and Gai-sensei until past 6 in the afternoon, likely close to 6:38 based on her arrival time during the past six days. She always entered the apartment sweaty, though never out of breath, and removed her sandals at the door, though she frequently left them sideways and askew and came back hours later to sit them upright next to his own shoes.

Shino himself would ordinarily be training as well, but Kiba and Akamaru had mis-timed their new formation by .3 seconds, resulting in Akamaru biting deeply into Kiba’s leg. He and Hinata had agreed to part and resume training in the morning, when Kiba would presumably have been healed by the capable medical team of Konoha Hospital.

He set out for his apartment, the one he and Tenten had chosen together nearly eight months ago and moved into just over five months ago. Their relationship was progressing well, and he looked forward to her arriving home later this evening.

On the way, he passed by the dango shop frequented by the jonin of the previous generation. Their first date had been here, and they returned together relatively often. Shino was not particularly a fan of sweets, but Tenten’s recommendations had been pleasing and muted enough in flavor and texture that he was content to order them again and again. On a whim, he stopped inside and ordered four skewers of the hanami dango, her favorite in this season, knowing it would pair well with the green tea she had brought back last week from her latest mission. He allowed his gaze to travel to their usual table, remembering how she had giggled the first time he made the joke that she liked the sweet treats so much she even wore her hair to match. It wasn’t a far stretch, dango to odango, and the dumplings were how the hairstyle’s name originated, but she didn’t mind. She thought it was clever and even cute that he had made the joke in the first place.

Fresh dessert in hand, he thanked the shopkeeper and continued to the apartment they shared. It was four flights of stairs from the ground, which Kiba complained about each time he visited, but it gave them adequate privacy for his bugs and her weapons to be on display without concerning civilians. The noise level was also lessened given their height above the street.

He placed the key into the lock, feeling it notch into place, then turned it. The deadbolt was never locked and the handle only locked for formality; they used chakra wards to truly secure their home. Tenten astonished him when she had first applied it all—he was highly familiar with her work in fuinjutsu, and had no doubt about her skill in sealing, barriers, and wards—but to see the level of fun and pride she took in each layer of protection had warmed him to his core.

Entering the apartment, he was startled to see his partner’s sandals thrown off on either side of the entryway. What could have happened that she was home so early?

Setting the parcel down on the end table in the small living room, he sent two handfuls of beetles to scout: one group toward the kitchen, and the other group to the bedroom. In nearly forty-nine seconds, both sentry groups had returned with their updates. Tenten was indeed home, in the bathroom, and there were no signs of injury they could detect. They had not entered the bathroom itself, disliking the humidity of the small space. Shino thanked and dismissed them.

He made his way into the bedroom after removing the green outer coat and hanging it by the front door and setting both his and her shoes right side up and paired along the wall. Once inside the bedroom, he removed his headband and shuriken pouch, along with his leg wrappings. He lowered the collar of the black shirt, revealing his face in the comfort of his home. Tenten’s dress lay thrown across the top of their hamper, marked with grass stains from the training session cut short. His mouth formed a small smile when he saw her hair bindings tossed on the bed—he loved seeing her with her hair down, as cute as her odango buns were. It was their trade off for her seeing him without goggles.

Speaking of such, as soon as he slid the bathroom door open, the steam hit him so suddenly he was forced to remove them in order to continue seeing. Tenten appeared to be in the shower, and was running the water as hot as she liked, which was nearly 12 degrees higher than his maximum preference. What was more important than that however, was the one thing she had not done and the one thing she had:

First, she had not noticed him entering.

Second, she was singing.

She had brought her shower speaker, a black round rubber thing that suction-cupped to the tile wall, from her own place to theirs and frequently listened to music while showering. He had, of course, heard her sometimes mumble along with the words or hum the tune as she washed her hair, but she had never sung like this before while he was around.

She had sung at karaoke nights various bars, she sang absent-minded songs about what she was doing at times, and loved to hum while cleaning various weapons. She had a lovely voice, undeniably. He always reveled in hearing it, closing his eyes behind his goggles and drinking it in. This time, however, she was not singing gently.

Shino recognized the song, though vaguely. It had originally been popular when they were twelve years old. Girls had gathered in the academy during lunch, sat in groups and sang popular love songs. This was definitely one of those songs, but he couldn’t recall the words well. He also couldn’t recall seeing her in any of the groups of girls who sang these love songs when they were children, but she knew every word and every beat the way she knew her scrolls.

She sang loudly, her voice cracking on higher notes and hitting more dramatic phrases in the lyrics with emphasis that contrasted with the typical lilting voice she had. She must have punched at the volume button because the music swelled, and she began nearly shouting. It was a love song, but it seemed to be about a love lost, maybe a break-up. For a moment, he was concerned for the sake of his relationship with the passion she threw into the lyrics, but when the song changed to a much sappier melody, her tone shifted along with it.

Shino relaxed, quietly sitting down just inside the door to continue basking in the impromptu concert. She was evidently in a good mood, and he looked forward to surprising her with the dango later. In the meantime, he slowly slid the door shut, once again trapping the steam and the echoes of her song over the professional recording. He could make out her outline as she let the water stream through her hair, hands at her head, presumably massaging her scalp and working shampoo either in to or out of the silky brown strands.

With every song changed, her whole body shifted, swaying or snapping or reenacting the scenes to some imaginary boy who had wronged her. Some particularly powerful lyrics earned genuine shouts, and others got the same delicate treatment she would ordinarily use in public settings, with light vibration on notes that were drawn out. He realized she was singing the way a teenager would, with all the passion of raw emotion they had yet to feel and all the artistic skill they had yet to learn, and only periodically did she restrain herself into the more reserved style of singing. When she began singing the opening to a song several measures before the artist did, not once, but twice, she swore and began the line over. Despite how well she knew the music, the seven times she sang the lyrics incorrectly, she sang the entire line wrong before jumping back to what the recording played, regardless of the narrative. At one point, she mumbled an entire verse at full volume before the song reached its chorus again, where she joined back in with renewed confidence. He watched idly as she danced, scrubbing and rinsing the day’s work off her body.

Bathing in the gentle steam with his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes drooped shut and he melted into the sound of her voice, jumping in octaves without any care. He began to drift off, then snapped forward when he heard his name. After a beat, he realized that she had replaced the name of the boy in the particularly sweet song with his own name. His heart began to melt softly in his chest, reassured that she loved him even when he was not there.

He was disappointed when the song ended, though only for a moment. The next song that played after the second of silence was one of the most popular from the album, he remembered. It had played in shops for months after its released and still sometimes came on the radio, though usually just for a laugh.

However, due to its popularity, he did know the lyrics to this one.

He wasn’t confident in all of the lines, but he was sure he knew at least sixty percent of them. And he definitely had the chorus down solidly. Knowing his love’s shower was wrapping up, he sat up and began strategizing the correct moment for his plan. Tenten jumped in with the artist, and he took a deep breath. Singing was by no means his specialty, but in the moment…

When the chorus broke out, so did he.

Tenten’s voice cut out immediately, startled by the additional presence. She popped her head out from behind the two layered shower curtains to see her boyfriend lounging on the bath mat, which he had pulled closer to the door. He grinned at her, continuing to sing along to the best of his ability, and she continued as well through laughter, ducking back behind the curtain.

He stood up, crossing over to the shower as they scream-serenaded each other to the silly song about wanting to be with someone who couldn’t see you. On an impulse, he reached out for her form through the plastic and vinyl hanging between them, wrapping her up in his arms. She yelped, pooling a little chakra in her feet to prevent slipping, then continued laughing, turning around to face him.

They sang the whole song through, then she pulled the curtain aside again and placed her tanned hands on either side of his pale face to pull him in for a lingering kiss. He felt water from the showerhead splash from her skin on to his and could not find it in himself to mind. He loved the sight of her like this, this life they had built together, full of fun and laughter. He slipped his hand into her hair, weighed down by the water, and pulled her closer.

She responded in kind by giving him a single swift yank towards her, pulling half his body into the shower.

He yelped, shocked by the sudden spray and his loss of balance, though he couldn’t be angry when he saw her wicked grin.

“Gonna do something about it, Aburame?” she teased.

He mirrored her facial expression as he quickly removed the rest of his clothing and climbed properly into the shower.

“Not as long as you turn the water down and the music up!”

#shinoten #shino aburame #tenten #fluff #naruto fluff #shinoten fluff #shino fluff #tenten fluff #narutorarepairjune2021 #nrpj2021

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