#gift ficlet

[hereforthesteddie]

Fuck It

A gift ficlet for @donttellunclesam Steve misses Eddie. Nancy and Jonathan help him realize just how much he misses Eddie. Words: 1132 Rating: T

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"Nance…" Steve lifted his head up to look at her from his curled-up position on the armchair.

It was the first thing he'd said in ages. By mutual unspoken agreement, nobody had prodded or pried, but they had been worried about him.

"Yeah?"

"I know it's not really, well, not like that… But it's just..."

He trailed off as Nancy watched him, her piercing eyes analyzing and extrapolating. It wasn't quite right, but still, close.

"Can I play with your hair?"

Nancy looked confused, then sad. Sad for him.

Robin intervened, "Ooookay, you're officially cut off, Steve-o. Up and at 'em, let's get you to bed."

"No, wait! Just," he gathered himself with a deep breath.

"I miss Eddie. Reminds me of him. Tha's all." He shook his head; it didn't help clear the mental cobwebs much. "Nevermind, sorry that's fuckin' stupid."

When he looked back up, the pity in his friends' faces had melted into something less isolating. They all missed him.

Nancy was the first to face it. She squeezed Jon's hand before letting go of it and grabbing a cushion, which she dropped at the foot of the armchair. She sat down, resting her back on Steve's shins, and tipped her head back until it rested on Steve's lap.

Steve reached out tentatively, but Nancy leaned into it, and he started to run his fingers through her long, dark curls. Her hair was shiny and bouncy, so soft. Maybe a little too soft, or a little too clean. He wanted the tangle, the frizz, and the texture. He wanted to get his fingers stuck in her curls, but they slipped through his fingers like sand.

He sighed and gave up, running his hands over her hair just for something to do.

"Sorry, it's not helping like I thought it would."

"It's ok, Steve," she said. She stayed with him anyway.

Robin started collecting her things to leave. "I've gotta open tomorrow, don't have too much fun without me." She shot Jonathan a knowing eye roll over Steve and Nancy's shoulder.

"No promises," he said, but his easy smile betrayed some amount of relief.

—

"So what was it about him?" Nancy probed into the comfortable silence they'd been sharing. Jonathan perked up, seeming curious too.

"Who?" Steve asked.

"Eddie."

"Uh, he died, in my arms, actually? In case you missed it."

Nancy tilted her head back to look Steve in the eye. "Don't get mean, I'm really asking."

Her reply hit him like a gut punch. She always did have that knack for helping him learn the hard way.

"Nance and I talked about Barb a lot, it helps," Jon added, not one to shy away from the tender areas either.

"Fine." Steve breathed.

He tried collecting his thoughts, but they were hard to hold onto with any clarity.

"I don't know really. I didn't know him that well. He just…" Steve wasn't even sure where to start. "Well, you guys talk to each other. I talked to Eddie. It was good while it lasted. Maybe we would have been friends if things were different."

They let him pause, think. He started playing with Nancy's hair again, not really thinking about it.

"Well, I have Robin, and I love her; she's my best friend. But with Eddie, I didn't have to pull any punches, I didn't have to be so careful. He could take it and serve it right back. We were more evenly matched, I guess."

"And you miss his hair?" Nancy added softly, an afterthought.

"Just wanted to know what it felt like, I guess. He had good hair."

Jon nodded. "Yeah, good hair. Like a rock star."

"He was a rock star," Steve agreed.

Nancy wrinkled her nose. "Not my type. I mean, he was attractive, just a bit… You know, too much for me."

Jon and Steve nodded, Nancy and Eddie didn't make sense.

"Guess I won't be too jealous if you think he was hot then," Jon offered.

"I mean, not like classically hot but kind of a bad boy thing going on," Nancy countered. "What do you think?" She asked Steve.

"No, he was definitely hot, like rough around the edges. Untamed." He liked that about Eddie, he had seemed so free.

"You ever fool around with him?" Jon asked.

"Nah, thought about it but… Wasn't a lot of time to fuck around in the middle of everything."

Nancy turned all the way around to look at Steve, surprised.

Steve shrugged, "You know what it's like with sports guys."

"Yeah, I- I just didn't think you would feel comfortable talking about it. I mean, I suspected…"

Steve smiled. Nancy was so smart. "I dunno though, that's more like just convenience. It's not like I ever thought much about the guys in the showers." It had been different, hadn't it? His throat felt tight. "I didn't care what their hair felt like."

He could feel the heat behind his eyes that meant tears were coming. Wasn't much he could do about it.

"I think it hurts because I never got to find out," Steve finished.

"If he liked you?"

"Yeah. But also, if I liked him? It's stupid." He wiped his face with a sleeve.

Jon joined them, sitting on the armrest, patting Steve on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you didn't get to find out with him."

Nancy looked up at Jon, sending him silent messages in couples' telepathy. Steve looked away, busy trying not to cry more than he already was. He thought about what all of this meant, wondering how he hadn't let himself think any of it before, missing Eddie who would have known what to say to make him laugh at a time like this.

After a while, stillness returned.

Jonathan was the first to break it this time. "Nance, really?"

"What?" Steve looked up.

"If you want. If he does." She replied to Jon cryptically.

Jon pinched his nose and sighed. He peeked one eye open to look at the mess that was Steve Harrington, red-faced and hair going in eight different directions from stress. Steve Harrington with bags under his eyes from not enough sleep and too much worry. Steve Harrington, who was somehow and despite all of that, still infuriatingly hot.

He looked back at Nancy. "Yeah, fuck it."

She nodded, then pushed herself up, giving Steve's knee an encouraging pat as she did. "Up you get, Steve."

"What? If I want what?" His defiant tone was back, even if his throat was a little hoarse from crying.

"If you want us to make you feel a little better," Nancy answered.

"Or if you just want to find out if you like dick," Jon shrugged.

Steve weighed it over, pursed his lips and nodded.

"Yeah, ok. Fuck it."

[mandiemegatron]

@lumiolivierlithium I can't remember if I sent you this one already, but if not, I LOVE YOU AND YOURE WELCOME YOU SEXY BISH

// The Simple Things \\

Jumin x Reader ficlet

Fluff ! 100% fluff!

A gift for my dearest Lumi. I hope this makes your day a little brighter. 🥰

--

“Darling…”

There was a gentle shuffling of soft bedding before my messy head of hair popped out from under the blankets. Steely grey eyes met mine and I couldn't stop a small smile from cracking my otherwise blank features. 

“Are you planning on staying in bed all day?” 

At those words, though the tone was far from condescending, I couldn't help but drop the smile, a more nervous and embarrassed expression overtaking my face. 

“... is… is that bad?” 

My lover chuckled gently before leaning down to press a warm kiss to my forehead. 

“No my love, it's not bad. Shall I call the chef to bring you something to eat?” 

Guilt overtook my system as I realized I hadn't eaten since my early dinner yesterday - though my boyfriend definitely didn't need to know that - and slowly shook my head before responding meekly, 

“Its okay babe, I'll call him if I get hungry.” 

His stare chilled me to the point where I shivered, pulling myself deeper into the thick blankets as if to hide myself, though our eyes remained locked. It's like he was trying to read my thoughts; oh god, think about something funny, think about something funny -! 

Before I could change my thought process, he simply smiled lovingly down at me, conceding to my obvious charm. 

“Alright my love. You know I worry about you.” 

Another bite of guilt ate away at me. 

“I know, Jumin. Don't worry, I promise I'll get up and eat something in a while.” 

I reached out a hand from the blanket and grasped one of his, giving it a gentle squeeze before slipping mine back to my body. God bless the warmth of Jumin's insane comforters. 

“Good girl. I'll be back before you know it.” 

I gave him a more genuine smile as he leaned down, giving him the softest kiss we've shared before he pulled back with a sigh. 

Man, did he ever sigh a lot. 

Is there such thing as ‘sigh therapy’? 

Terrible thought, think of something funny, damnit! 

“I miss you terribly already and I haven't even left yet.” 

I laughed into my (his) pillow before ripping myself from the blanket enough to wrap my arms around his waist. His hands ran through my hair, pulling a rather lewd sound from me as I smothered my face into his stomach. He laughed under his breath and murmured loud enough for me to hear, 

“Keep this up Kitten, and I won't make it to work.” 

I whined into his suit (which always smelled ridiculously amazing) before pulling away and tugging him into another kiss. 

“Then stay.” 

He chuckled into the kiss, nipping my bottom lip and moving away from me before I could tempt him any longer. 

“I'm sorry my love, my life, but if I stay away from work any longer, Jaehee will have my head.” 

There was a moment of silence for the very temporary assistant Jaehee had while we were away for a week. 

But damn, was that ever a week well spent. 

I sighed and nodded, curling back under the blankets as the light of my life walked away, turning only to smile and call to me, 

“Pick something for dinner tonight. I'll be home before you can even miss me.” 

I blew him a kiss and cocooned myself in the comforter as the door closed and locked. I turned to the other side and got a face full of purring furr, my eyes slowly opening to meet brilliant blue. Elizabeth meowed at me before headbutting my face and curling around the crown of my head, her tail tickling the skin across my shoulder blades. 

Reaching under the pillow, I whipped out my phone and snapped a photo of the two of us, sending it to Jumin with the caption of, 

“Your two girls will be here waiting when you get home. Have a great day baby!” 

I snuck my phone back under my pillow, ignoring the subtle vibration from a notification as sleep finally took over once more. I already knew what the message would say anyways, since it was the same every single time. 

“I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you.” 

[savvyblunders]

TLC {Polyamorous Mystrade/OFC}

A gift ficlet for @cumberbatchedandgatissmitten

Cumber, this is just a wee gift because A) you’re so kind, patient and all around lovely about my terrible existential angst over writing your RG auction fic, and B) cuz you deserve a little TLC :)

Juggling her keys, purse and tablet in one hand, Alia managed with the other to hang onto the sticky hand of her youngest, Ollie, who was tugging impatiently, trying to get back down the steps so he could go chase a cat which had darted into the bushes. “Oliver!” She finally snapped exasperated, “Stop! We’ve got to get inside. Besides, I can’t take care of a bloody cat on top of everything else.”

When his hazel eyes filled with hurt, she was instantly stabbed with remorse. It wasn’t his fault that the divorce proceedings had left her off-kilter, and that full-time work and mostly-full-time-single-mum-hood was proving crushing. You’ll get through this, she reminded herself. 

She’d bloody better, not much in the way of choice.

“Sorry, pet,” she soothed, giving his hand a squeeze. “I know you want to find the cat, but let’s go inside first to put down our things.” And pre-heat the oven so she could get some sort of dinner prepped for her three boys, start the laundry, sort the bills...

Door finally open, Alia let Ollie run ahead to fling himself in front of the telly, their usual after-school routine. She felt awful depending on it as a sort of nanny, but honestly what parent didn’t do that at least part of the time?

Glancing at the bench by the door, she spied Jeremy and Simon’s school things piled untidily in a heap and bit back a sharp sigh. At eleven and fifteen they weren’t any exception to how messy and frankly disgusting boys could be. Looking up, however, she blinked in shock; not only was the house tidy, for once, it also smelled pleasantly of lemon-scented cleaner, and aside from the school things, was shining with spotlessness. A state it hadn’t achieved since they’d moved in, essentially.

Overriding the smell of lemon was an even more amazing aroma: fragrant Indian food.

“What...?”

Jeremy looked up from where he was sprawled on the sofa, eyes glued to his mobile, although the television was on. “I sat on Si until he agreed not to tear into the food...it’s in the oven keeping warm.”

“You ordered in?” Alia asked, bewildered, “And cleaned?”

Looking at her as if she were mental, he snorted, “Naw, mum, it was the cleaning service. And the food arrived just a while ago...”

“Cleaning service?”

His look said he thought she was ready for a care home. “The one you hired?”

“I...didn’t hire anyone.” She didn’t have the spare cash right now, although it would be a blessing to have a helping hand now and then. “Christ, there’s been a mix-up, I hope the bill doesn’t come here!” Not with football boots to buy, council fees due, winter coming and all three boys bursting out of their clothes. “Are you sure the food wasn’t delivered by mistake?”

He shrugged, already going back to his phone. Alia peeked in the oven and was hit by a wave of delicious food smells; the oven was crammed with enough containers to feed all four of them at least twice. Even with the appetites of a teen and almost teen.

Utterly confused, but grateful, Alia washed her hands and started putting food on the table. The sound of the doorbell made her raise her head, “Jeremy, will you see who that is?” Licking cilantro chutney off of her thumb, she hoped it wasn’t the delivery driver come to take this bounty away. “Who..?”

Jeremy appeared in the doorway, a gift basket in his arms, smirking, “Got a new boyfriend, mum?”

She stared at the high-end bath products visible through the iridescent cellophane, confusion and embarrassment warring with pleasure. “No...” She blushed betrayingly, although thankfully he was too self-absorbed to notice.

Dinner was boisterous, as usual, and highly satisfactory. Leftovers put away, boys reasonably clean, homework sorted and with them all finally in bed (although the elder two weren’t asleep and she knew it), Alia finally delved into her gift. There were bottles of bubble bath, shower gel and bath oil, bath bombs, lotions, scrubs...it was a veritable Aladdin’s cave of luxurious spa products. Locking the bathroom door, she filled the gleaming tub with bubbles and oil and slipped into the hot water, hissing softly. Reaching for her mobile, she queued up some soothing music on her Spotify “relaxation” playlist and then set it on the towel folded next to the tub and wrapped greedy, grateful hands around the wineglass she’d brought with her.

Floating in the steaming, scented water, she forgot her worries, let her tension drift away. The aches and pains of a hard-working forty-six year old dissipated, as did a good deal of her mental turmoil. It was enough just to exist for now, suspended in comfort between one duty and another.

Just as the water began to cool and she was considering refilling the bath, her phone pinged softly. Pulled away from her relaxed haze, Alia nearly ignored it. But the boys had been almost suspiciously quiet, only having come to knock on the door and whinge about something three times since she’d been in here. 

It wasn’t anything awful though. Quite the contrary.

Good evening my dear, read the text from Mycroft. I do hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy our gifts. My understanding from Gregory is that parenthood can be exhausting quite aside from everything else. We wanted to grant you a chance to release your responsibilities and enjoy yourself. Forgive our intrusion...as always, our care comes with no expectations beyond what you’re comfortable giving.

This was followed immediately by another text, from Greg. Hey sweetheart, My is trying to snag my phone, lecturing me about “pressuring you unduly” but... Dinner? This weekend?

The decision she’d been struggling with for several weeks now, whether or not to enter into a relationship with Mycroft and Greg, to become part of their already established dynamic, suddenly seemed crystal clear. Sod the potential gossip, should it become public, the condemnation she would no doubt get from some quarters. I deserve love, she thought, eyes misty with a sudden influx of emotion, I deserve their care. She could feel their love around her like a hug, and craved more.

Smiling, she sent a group text back to them both. I’m starving for you both...see you Saturday.

[xylune]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith Characters: Levi, Erwin Smith, Hange Zoë, Moblit Berner Additional Tags: Humor, eruri - Freeform, Arachnophobia, Implied Relationships, Levi and Erwin are so silly, Gift Fic, One Shot, Teasing, Shy Hubbies, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) and Cleaning, Piggy-back, Background Relationships, Light-Hearted, Safe For Work Summary:

The afternoon sunlight was slanting in through the open window. It was a cool October day, and Levi was on one of his cleaning sprees. Presently, he was in Erwin Smith's office dusting off the bookshelves while his commander busily penned up the next expedition proposal to the brass. Levi was so occupied with decimating every last speck of dust he could find that Erwin's sudden burst of movement made him jump with surprise.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" asked the captain after seeing Erwin abruptly stand up, sending his desk chair careening into the wall in his haste.

Erwin was staring intently down at his desk, having backed up to the window and nearly tripping himself on his own chair in the process. He nodded meaningfully, wordlessly at his desk. Levi peered at it, and as soon as he saw the problem, he tensed up.

"Oh, I see." His voice wasn't quite as level as normal. "Leave it to you to attract the titan of fucking spiders to your workspace."

[schedulingemotions]

Just imagine John pushing his cart around Tesco. He’s accumulating such an odd assortment of stuff in the basket that one would think he’s just selecting and throwing in random items, when in fact, he is actually going off of a very lengthy and unnecessarily detailed list that Sherlock gave him on his way out.

He turns down one aisle, glances down at the list, and looks back up. There is a woman in the aisle. She has a pretty face and a slim waist, her back nearly pressed up against the shelves as she types on her phone with impressive speed. Probably texting. 

John pushes his cart farther down the aisle, stopping in front of her. “Excuse me?” he says with a slight smile. She doesn’t look up from her phone. He shuffles awkwardly, tries again, “Um, ‘scuse me? I was just, uh…” She finally looks up with an irritated scowl. “I have a boyfriend,” she sneers. John polite smile drops instantly, his face pinching with annoyance.

“Yeah, well, so do I,” he snaps, “And he’s demanded I get the raspberry jam that you are currently blocking. So if you wouldn’t mind moving.” 

She blinks and her face reddens with embarrassment, but she moves a few feet down the aisle. 

When John gets home and relays to Sherlock what happened, Sherlock merely takes the jam, kisses John on the cheek, and promises that next time, they’ll go together. 

This piece of fluffy garbage is a gift to @meredelicious, who was literally the only way I got through TST and TLD. Thank you!

[turtlepated]

Just a fun lil somethin' somethin' for the ever lovely Shadow and the unsinkable Captain Zan. It's worth noting that there will be arts based on this ;3

Experiments

Like so many other things, Mikey would later claim it was the Internet's fault.

He had been innocently surfing YouTube for more funny cat videos when he stumbled across it. Something about it just fascinated him and compelled him to watch over and over. By the same inexplicable coincidence, Shadow just happened to be walking by on her way to the kitchen to refill Donnie's coffee cup (he had a tendency to measure the passage of time by how many cups he'd drunk) when she overheard Michelangelo enthusiastically relating his discovery to Zan.

She sat facing him on the couch wearing an indulgent smile while the orange-clad terrapin practically bounced with his barely contained excitement. "I'm tellin' ya, Angelcakes!" he was saying. "It just blew apart! Boom! I wanna try it sooo bad!" The thought of Mikey wanting to make something explode was usually enough to give any one of them pause so as to assess the potential danger. "Wait," Shadow said, her curiosity successfully piqued. "What blew apart?"

Mikey and Zan turned to look at her over the back of the couch. "A watermelon!" Mikey happily informed her. "I found this video! A couple morning DJs did this experiment where they stretched rubber bands around a watermelon to see how many it would take to split it. It was insane and I'm dying to try it!"

Shadow's eyebrows quirked thoughtfully. It actually did sound interesting. Mindlessly destructive and juvenile, but interesting from a scientific standpoint. Mikey was already busily pulling up the video he'd seen on his phone to show Zan, so Shadow carried on to the kitchen, already plotting.

It was the following Saturday when she found herself returning to the lair with a shopping bag full of packages of rubber bands hanging from her elbow while she cradled a watermelon in her arms. This little experiment was silly, ridiculous even, but she was genuinely looking forward to it. It was Leo who met her at the main hatch, glancing down at the melon with raised brow ridges. "So you're actually doing this," he said with a crooked grin, relieving her of the hefty fruit and following her inside. Mikey had doubtlessly shoved his phone into each of his brothers' faces numerous times to show them the original video as well.

Leo carried the doomed watermelon to the kitchen for her and went to fetch Donnie while she set everything up. The distant sound of wheels alerted her to the timely return of Mikey and Zan from another skateboarding lesson. "You were awesome, babe!" Mikey was saying, Zan chuckling dryly in response. "Well I did manage not to kill or otherwise injure myself this time."

Mikey's laughter proceeded them as they moved past the large archway that led into the kitchen, one of his arms draped over Zan's shoulders, a smaller human-sized skateboard tucked under the other and his own customized rocket-powered board strapped across his shell. "C'mon, angelcakes! You're doing great! Pretty soon you'll be shredding right along with me Shadow whatcha got there?"

The praise and the question came out in a single breath, one seamlessly following the other. Shadow didn't reply, glancing from Mikey to Zan with a mischievous smirk. "Shadow, you didn't," said Zan, trying to sound reproachful but failing utterly as a nearly identical smirk lit her features. Mikey let out a loud gasp. "Watermelons and rubber bands?!" he practically squealed.

Shadow nodded. "I thought it might be a fun little activity for a summer afternoon," she admitted. "I think it 's a recipe for disaster," Donnie added bluntly as he joined them at the kitchen island, plopping four pairs of safety goggles on the countertop. Two of the pairs were obviously hand-fashioned custom protective wear for Mikey and himself, larger than the two regular pairs but a perfect fit for the terrapin brothers.

Shadow nudged him playfully with her elbow as he came to stand beside her, lifting the watermelon in both hands and getting a feel for its heft. "Oh, come on," she cajoled. "It'll be fun! It's a science experiment!" He snorted in derision but grinned at her all the same. "How so? We already know what's going to happen." Clearly he had been shown the video several times by his indomitable little brother.

"Bro, a watermelon is gonna explode," said Mikey as he and Zan gathered on the other side of the island. "How can you not be totally on board with this?" Zan and Shadow each grabbed a pair of goggles while Donnie carefully set the watermelon up on its end. Rifling in her shopping bag Shadow pulled out the packets of rubber bands and tore one open, dumping the multitude of elastics on the counter. As she divvied them up into four more or less equal piles Mikey reached out and gently tugged the normal sized pair of goggles off the top of Zan's head, replacing them with his overlarge ones.

She giggled as they slid halfway down her face, pulling them the rest of the way down so they hung around her neck while Mikey let the strap on her pair all the way out and stretched it to its max to get it around his head. Donnie carefully fit his pair on over his glasses, shaking his head disparagingly at his younger sibling. "Okay!" said Shadow, surprised again at the excitement she felt to get things underway. "Who wants to go first?"

Zan teasingly shoved Mikey in the shoulder. "I nominate Swag Master here," she joked, smiling up at his wide goofy grin and too-small goggles sticking up haphazardly from the top of his head. "Sweet!" Mikey cheered, picking up the first rubber band. He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he stretched it around the watermelon. "Aaaand, one!"

They ended up going in a clockwise circle around the island, beginning with Mikey, then Zan, followed by Shadow and finally Donnie before starting over again. There were several snapped bands and one or two snapped fingers, not to mention an impromptu rubber band shooting contest during which the safety goggles proved invaluable. When they got to the 236th rubber band around the center of the noticeably more oblong watermelon, Mikey's stomach growled audibly.

"Pause for the cause!" he announced, scooching around the island to the fridge. He opened the freezer and pulled out a couple boxes. "Who wants ice cream?" he asked, setting them on the counter as he tore the wrapper off a multi-colored fruit pop. The four of them sat around the island on bar stools, silently enjoying their frozen treats, licking dripping juice or ice cream from their fingers. At the conclusion of the snack break they resumed their experiment. Despite his earlier cynicism even Donnie appeared to be genuinely enjoying himself as the melon grew increasingly longer, bulging out from around four hundred and nineteen rubber bands tightened around its center.

"Ah! Look, it's splitting on this side!" Zan exclaimed. "Turn it over!" Shadow laughed, reaching out to flip it onto the other end. "Careful! It's gonna go!"

"Hurry, Donnie! Put the next one on!" said Mikey, his grin huge and his baby blue eyes sparkling happily. With quick movements Donnie stretched the four hundred and twentieth rubber band around the watermelon and had just enough time to pull his hands back before the fruit violently split in two with a small pop! The girls dissolved into giggles, brushing at the splattered watermelon innards that had landed on them.

"That was so epic!" said Mikey, pumping his fist before hooking an arm around Zan and pulling her into a hug. "Mikey!" she laughed breathlessly, wiping his face with her sleeve. "You've got seeds all over you!" He laughed right back, running the fingers of one hand through her hair, picking a seed out of the fine strands and dropping it on the counter.

Donnie pulled off his goggles, knocking them against the island to dislodge the watermelon carnage. Shadow giggled to herself as he picked up the tennis ball-sized rubber band wad that had been created when the watermelon met its unfortunate end. "I admit it," he said, grinning at her. "That actually was fun."

Shadow reached up to his cheek, flicking away a small white seed. "Told you," she said, unable to resist a little dig at him. From somewhere behind them they heard someone clearing their throat, as if to call attention. Four pairs of eyes turned to see Master Splinter standing in the archway. The ninjutsu master stood straight backed with his paws clasped behind him, his expression neutral but the tip of his tail twitching agitatedly. He said nothing, but looked pointedly from the fruity mess all over the island to the four sheepish perpetrators.

"Did you, uh... did you want some watermelon, Sensei?" asked Mikey with a hopeful grin. Splinter regarded his youngest son for a moment before letting out a long-suffering sigh.

[hitlikehammers]

Fic: Khlebosolny

(Otherwise known as: Birthday Present #2 for my darling weepingnaiad​, in which Bucky needs Steve to not treat him with kid-gloves, Phil has a stash of alcoholic alien contraband, and they maybe sample the goods first. Bucky's also an insightful drunk. Yay everything. Sequel to this and this and this and also this and this.)

khlebosolny, хлебосольный (adj): hospitable, expressive of a person's hospitality; derived from the traditional "bread and salt" greeting of welcome; reflective of respect, good wishes, and long friendship. Phil's in need of relationship advice. Bucky is oddly well-suited to provide.

[hitlikehammers]

Fic: all the broken hearts in the world (still beat) (1/1)

(Otherwise known as: For my dearest weepingnaiad​ for her birthday! All my love, peach <3) 

Steve—endearing dumbass that he is—is currently looking at her, all wide eyes and nothing held back because it’s a damned qualifier that all endearing dumbasses wear their squishy, bleeding hearts on their sleeves, apparently: wrapped up in nothing but loyalty and how bad they are at keeping their feelings in check. “Whatever it is, spit it out. I’ve got somewhere to be,” Natasha says, evenly as she can because she loves Steve, she does—a whole bunch, even. But he’s as much of an idiot as the other half of that unflagging shoulder-heart of his where it's sitting in the living room. She should get hazard pay for this shit.