the prompt list for shipcestember is officially here! <3 <3 <3
prompts can be taken as loosely or as literally as you'd like; you're also welcome to combine/swap around prompts if need be.
and don't worry--if two options for each day isn't enough, there will also be additional quote prompts released sometime before september. keep an eye out for those!
@shipcestember 2025, (belated) day 3: bath / share / stay with me
character set: Problem Quartet (original characters)
scene summary: In the aftermath of a decision Allan can't—and doesn't want to—take back, he joins his little brother on a bath.
content warnings: fluffy/romanticized relationship between a 16-year-old and his 10-year-old brother, including allusions to the fact that they just had (non-penetrative) sex (but nothing explicit occurs here); background neglectful single father, so the 16yo has been the kid's only caretaker for a few years; mentioned/implied past teacher/student relationship (for blackmail purposes, not dwelled on or expanded upon)
Problem Quartet ❀༊·˚ [scene: possessive baby]
The scalding-hot water spray does wonders to relax his muscles even further, making his stretch even more satisfying; he lets out a deep exhale, inordinately pleased.
"You'd be purring right now," Emil says, staring where he sits on the bathtub, sentence left to hang in the air.
Allan is used to following his thought process by now, though. "If I were a cat?"
"Yeah." He nods, lips curving up. "Like a kitty."
Allan hums, turning off the shower and absentmindedly passing his hand through the wettest parts of his body, so he doesn't drip everywhere as he makes his way towards the bathtub.
"You'll just get wet again anyway. And we'll need to get out to dry."
"Doesn't mean I wanna make the clean-up even worse, Em." He stops right in front of the tub, and just… takes a moment to stare at Emil, who's tilting his head curiously, puppy-like. Allan leans down, reaches out to gently grasp his little brother's chin, and they meet halfway in a gentle, lingering peck. As he pulls back, their eyes meet, Emil's surprisingly intense.
"This means you won't have sex with Eric anymore, right?"
Allan blinks, drops his hand, tilts his head. "That was a while ago. Since when did you know about that?" He asks as he enters the tub, settling comfortably.
Emil pouts. "Answer me. And about Jess, too. Nothing with them, either."
"That's…" Allan thinks back. He doesn't remember ever bringing Jess here? "I won't, I won't. I have you, now. But how…"
"Eric is loud." Emil's face twists, and he instinctively curls to put his face down between the knees he'd hugged close to him, before stopping before he manages to accidentally inhale bath water. "Very. Loud." Allan can hear his gritted teeth, even had he been unable to see it. Emil's nose is scrunched up, and he's looking away, like he wants to banish the sound from his memory forever.
How cute.
And yeah, Eric had been pretty vocal in the night he'd insisted he was "just curious and wanted to try out if the butt stuff feels as good as they say, man!", and about crying out the wrong name as he came, and about blowing up on him for fucking Jess, first. What a fucking guy. What a terrible experience. Eric needs to be glad he's best friends with Allan, who's long known he's got no place calling anyone weird as fuck.
Well. At least, last he heard, those two were actually getting somewhere in their relationship. With how they keep being obtuse about it, you'd never believe they'd been the ones to approach Allan about hooking up, but that's a whole other tangent, and irrelevant—his brother's right in front of him, and wants reassurance that he won't lose him to anyone else.
He reaches out to Emil, pats his head. "It's only you now, Em. Promise."
And it'll be. He has enough material to get the teacher out of there, so neither will have to worry about her calling him again, or switching targets to Emil once he joins high school. It's good that his brother didn't find out about that, too; he doesn't need him to worry.
At the promise, he looks back at Allan; stares for a bit. Allan holds his gaze, calm. Emil shifts, leaning forward until he's kneeling, closer to him. Water drips from the tips of his hair and Allan notices a few droplets running down from his jaw, to his neck, to his lithe chest—
"Only look at me. Forever. Okay?" Emil leans even further, pupils blown as he searches his gaze.
Allan smiles, "okay."
He waits as Emil looks, who seems satisfied with what he finds, a soft smile gracing his face before he leans in, up, and kisses Allan again. Their lips slide—slow, comforting, sensual. Allan's hands come up to caress Emil's waist, rubbing in small circles; the other shivers and lets out a shaky exhale against his lips, then leans their foreheads together.
"Stay with me tonight." Emil demands.
"Okay."
"And tomorrow night, too. We have to cuddle."
"Mm-hmm."
"And every night. I'll be the little spoon."
"Forever and ever, right?"
"Yeah. Forever. You and me, Al." Emil leaves a quick peck at his nose.
"Whatever you wish, Em."
author's note: some fluffy incest to make up for the gut punch of the last one! i love these two (and the other insane pair of this quartet), and they're so cute and aughhh. i love them so much. anyway fun fact: wanting to write them for shipcestember made me Finally choose most of their names lol i've just been collectively calling them "problem quartet" and, individually, "big brother" (now allan), "little brother" (now emil), eric (he's always just been. eric to me. that name has "guy who's totally not gay until he realizes he has a crush on the ambiguously gendered incredibly pretty person whom he discovered has been hooking up with his, whoa what a realization, incredibly pretty best friend" vibes to me. he's a jock and has dyed his hair blue btw.) and "pretty" (now jess) lol
with shipcestember only a little over a week away, here are the long-awaited extra prompts! although they're originally intended as dialogue (or in some cases, lyrics), you are more than welcome to interpret and use them however you see fit! :>
as always, here's the list by itself for anyone who needs it:
1 - all we did was kiss.
2 - i hate you.
3 - stay with me.
4 - it's alarming to think of us apart.
5 - you were my first love.
6 - i don’t know what you want from me.
7 - you wouldn’t leave, so i had to.
8 - and i love you so much, i’m going to let you kill me.
9 - why does my heart burn when i see your face?
10 - my dreams of you are always softer than you are.
11 - why don’t we just pretend?
12 - if you love me, you don’t love me in a way i understand.
13 - perhaps we love each other too much.
14 - i just wanna be yours.
15 - you don't get it.
16 - you're adorable.
17 - don't look at me like that.
18 - i loved you to the point of ruin.
19 - even when you’re next to me, it’s not the way i’m picturing.
20 - take me with you.
21 - did you think i forgot about you?
22 - i missed you.
23 - i loved you before i ever even knew what love was like.