FINALLY the Flower Monster Au snuggle piece I've been dying to make. It's not a long one (~800 words), but l've been wanting to write this little scene for a while now, and I did it! [insert YIPEE sound clip]
Summary: Julie and Frank have one last conversation as they settle into bed for the Winter.
Vvvvvvv
"Julie. Are you done? Do you need anything else?" Frank asked from his position next to the giant pile of pillows, hay, and sticks that was his and Julie's nest. Fighting the weight of his eyelids, the grey man couldn't help nitpicking some last minute details of his surroundings. Picking up a small plush apple with a face on it, he turned it slightly and set it back. There!
From within the nest, already under a blanket, Julie responds with a yawn, "Yess, Frank. Stop worrying your silly head and come to bed." She found his fussing rather funny. Silly Frank, why bother trying to find a place for everything when it was just going to end up somewhere else come Spring?
After one last look at everything, Frank concedes and gives in to the exhaustion in his limbs and crawls into his spot among the fluffy quilts and leaves. "Scoot over, will you?"
Ever since the pink rainbow monster proposed the two of them hibernate together all those clock turns ago, Frank and Julie have spent every winter in each other's company. They had been friends for long enough that it just seemed like the natural thing to do. Frank had agreed almost immediately, much to both of their surprise.
Oh, the amount of cartwheels Julie did when he agreed! She had missed the feeling of others around her as she slept. As much as she relished in her independence, there certain things you just couldn't replace with music or a stuffed animal. Even in sleep, the notion of something not being "quite right" still followed her.
Those had been a rough few Winters.
On his part, Frank hadn't ever thought too much about hibernation. Actually— no. That was a lie, but the sleeping part wasn't what bothered him. He spent much of Autumn making maps and lists, and keeping tabs on the different bugs and colonies that needed to be put to bed in winter. He even has a little terrarium just in case he needs to house a few during the deep freeze. His nests where neat and perfectly sized, full of every soft thing he could find and then some (he was picky about what did and didn't go in it). Waking up would have been the hardest part of the whole ordeal, if he was being honest. If it wasn't for the bugs and plants that needed him, he'd probably manage to sleep a whole extra week!
Yet, ever since he agreed to sleep over with Julie he's felt oddly… well rested. It was strange at first. you'd think with how she moves in her sleep that she'd be a nightmare to sleep next to, for three months no less! But, no. Each Spring Frank has woken up to since then has been as easygoing and refreshing as a rainbow monster could expect.
"Heheheh…" Julie scoots to the side and curls up around a grub-shaped pillow.
Frank ignores the brief well of emotion in his chest at this and pulls up a blanket with a big yawn. However, his nest-mate, it seemed, still had enough energy to kick her feet at his legs from under her own blankets. Frank kicks back half-heartedly before sitting up and tucking said blankets firmly under his rambunctious little friend.
"Julie!" he scolds without heat, "That's enough. I thought you were ready to sleep? Don't tell me you've changed your mind." He drops back down with a quiet groan.
Julie giggles softly in response. "No, I am sleepy. So, soooo—" she yawns, "—sleepy." She blinks blearily at her fellow monster from over the grub's head. Equally bleary, Frank blinks back at her. "I'm just so happy you're my friend. When we wake up, let's have the best breakfast ever."
Frank rolls to face her, carefully brushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear. In the den-like darkness he smiles at her, chest warm. Sleep would claim them any moment now, he could feel it. But, he couldn't help indulging his dearest friend one more time, "I think… anything tastes good when you're hungry. Especially after you sleep for three months."
"And all the cooking…" Luckily the two of them were early risers.
"Yes, that too," he tugs his blanket up to his chin, "but we have bread and fruit in the freezer. …And pancake mix and jams in the pantry." A pause. "…Do you want toast or pancakes?" he asks quietly.
"Yeeaaaah… maybe… maybe a toast….sandwich. With….honey."
The two of them have closed their eyes by this point, yet they hang on even as the lull of winter's sleep blankets their thoughts and voices.
Frank rolls onto his back, "And some warm milk…." He adds another item to his mental list of Spring morning activities. "…B'sides, we can ask Poppy or… H'dy if we need som'n else, anyway..." he mumbles. Next to him Julie fumbles around for his arm, falling still when she finds it. Frank lets her.
"… …"
"… …"
"…G'night, Frank."
"…'Night,… Julie."
Nothing follows save for the rhythmic sounds of breathing and snowfall outside the curtained window.
My piece for day 1 of @knb-week-2025!!!!
This is actually set during my fic Caged Birds & Chained Dogs, a small little snippet of rebellious teens sneaking into castles where they really shouldn't be.
I'll see you tomorrow for day 2!!!!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Additional Tags: alternate universe - eddie is not part of the 118, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Catholic Guilt, Internalized Homophobia, appropriate use of reddit, First Kiss, Heteronormativity, Making Out, Sexual Repression, Speed Dating, (an au of it. if it's even a thing), Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Eddie loses his mind, Self-Discovery, Smut, Fluff and Smut, Fluff and Humor, Blow Jobs, ch1 rated M; ch2 rated E, Oral Sex
Here's the deal, though: Eddie is straight. Blatantly straight. His co-workers from the 106 know this. He's had girlfriends! Although, yes, he has to admit none of them has lasted very long. It's true. Eddie's schedule (and his life in general, and his little quirks, and more things he can’t think about) make it difficult. Sure, more than once someone has joked he might be a bit into men. But they are that. Jokes. Between straight men.
"you're the only one i'll talk to this late at night, you know that?" from the call me at midnight prompts :)
Ah! I love this prompt. It's really only a bit of dialogue, but I hope you like it.
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"You're the only one I'll talk to this late at night, you know that?"
“Peeta!” She's whining and she knows it. She doesn't care. “It's only midnight.”
He scoffs. “That's 3 a.m. on baker’s hours, Katniss.”
“Sorry!” she blurts. “I just-” She slides down the wall that's keeping her dorm room from spinning. “I just needed to hear your voice, okay?”
Her best friend huffs out a breath on the other end of the line. “Is everything okay, Katniss?” His voice is gentler now. It feels like a soft caress after a hard day and reminds her of the way he plays with her hair while they watch a movie.
“I miss you. I hate this,” she complains. “Johanna dragged me to a frat party. Everyone was high or drunk. People were hooking up-”
She hears him sit up. “Did someone try to hurt you?” He sounds worried, and a bit angry. She rushes to reassure him.
“No! No, no. I just felt so stupid, and out of place.” She knows what he's going to say next. He’s said it 10 times this week alone. She has to at least try to make friends. She shouldn't give up this amazing opportunity for a free education. He’ll follow as soon as he saves enough to pay his tuition.
“I tried to have fun.” Tears are starting to form and she stares at the ceiling, trying to force them back.
He scoffs.
“I did,” she sniffs. “It was boring. The music was too loud. Some guy named Marble or some other stupid thing was hitting on me and all I could think about was you. I don't want some other guy. I just want you.”
Well, that was more than she planned to say. She guesses the booze at the party was stronger than she thought. It's out there now, though, and there's no taking it back. And now that she's actually said the words, she doesn't want to.
Peeta’s side of the line is quiet.
“Well? Peeta, say something. Please.”
“Just how drunk are you?”
Her heart falls from her throat to her stomach. “Peeta! I’m not so drunk that I don't know how I feel. I can't believe you're judging me right now.”
He sighs and she can hear him settling back down in his bed. She should have thought to FaceTime him. This would be easier if she could see his face. Then again, maybe not.
“This just isn't the way I imagined us having this conversation,” he admits.
She snorts and her head bumps against the wall. The tears spill over at last. She swipes them away. She's probably making a mess of the make up Johanna forced on her. “Well, if romance is what you're looking for, I’m not your girl.”
“You’ve always been my girl, Katniss.”
Even in her misery, her lips quirk up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” His voice is tender, even if it's sleepy. “It’s almost the weekend. You still coming home tomorrow?”
She nods even though he can't see her. “Johanna’s got her dad’s car. We’re leaving after her last class at 3.”
“Get her to drop you at my place, okay? We’ll go down by the lake or something, talk about this?”
“Peeta!” If he's going to let her down, she’d rather just get it over with.
“Katniss, if we’re going to have this conversation -- and we are so going to have it -- I want to be able to see you, okay? Maybe even hold you, if you’ll allow it.”
She bites her lip. “I’ll allow it.”
“Okay then. Sweet dreams, Sweetheart.” His fatigue is pulling him under.
As always, my word count stats are artificially inflated from adding to ongoing fics and also co-writing a lot of stuff.
I wrote in the following fandoms this year: Our Flag Means Death, Roswell New Mexico, Silver Under Nightfall, Sinners, Stargate Atlantis, Tolkien, Wednesday, and What We Do In the Shadows.
I loved writing with @haloud (Dangerous, an otherwise abandoned WIP) and @lizzy-leo (My pretty wax doll--also featuring art by @fidisart, In a Rose Tattoo, and I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue) this year!
I completed my Birthday Gift Ficlets by the end of the year, though I'm still working on the February Ficlet Challenge: an OFMD/20k Leagues Under the Sea fusion which I should have made into a single story but instead made into a series so it's hard for folks to follow...anyway I'm finding it compelling.
I received gift fics With Distinction from @tasyfa and Quantum Entanglement from @ajna-eye-cogitations ❤
My favorite tag I used this year was "does it pass the bechdel test if they are planning a man's murder?"
In case anyone is in the mood for a Biker Cas one-shot (helmet stays on kinda deal):
”Bet you pick up a lot of girls with that,” Dean nods his head at the sleek bike outside.
”I think that would be an unwise goal, statistically speaking. In my experience it primarily attracts other men,” comes the reply from behind the helmet.
Dean’s eyebrows go up. He waits for a flustered no-homo clarification that doesn’t come.
Instead the guy continues, ”And most of them are straight, so that doesn’t really help me pick up anyone.”
Alrighty then.
