#⊹ · inter ╱ talk nerdy to me

[indirectcomedian]

fucking love wrestling actually

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AMITA for lying to everyone I know about my identity’s as a queer/neurodivergent person?

I (18M) am a bisexual, transgender man who is also autistic, ADHD, and OCD. When people hear this about me, even if they know me, I feel like they build up this image of me as an awkward, “cringy” 11 year old who’s obsessed with “cringy” fandoms. And while i have a qualm with this because I know they are looking down on people who are just less masked/higher support needs, I also dislike that they do this because it’s just not who I am. Without the labels, I mostly seem like just a normal dude, if not a bit nerdy.

I also used to be extremely bullied as a kid (7-12) to the point of a suicide attempt, mostly due to homophobic, transphobic, or ablest remarks about me. Since then I’ve completely changed community’s and do not talk to anyone i knew before high school.

When authority figures (Teachers, Show Directors, Investors of the teen programs I lead) apply ablest/transphobic stereotypes or prejudices to me, they also tend to be less,,, normal? around me. Less kind compared to other kids, call me an “inspiration”, or they’ll coddle me when I’m incredibly capable. I do a lot for someone my age- and I know the connections I make now at conferences and whatnot will help me in the long run. My dad’s family is poor, and my immediate family is more comfortable but not that much. I know I’m smart, and I can weaponize that to get a better life for my family by getting good scholarships and jobs in good fields. I can’t just let people who could be very important to my goals look down on me. So i just.. don’t tell them anything about me. They might assume Im odd or “not normal”, and for the most part I let them assume whatever, but if i’m ever asked directly about anything I deny it. Especially in relation to me being transgender; I have the very privileged ability to pass without any medical intervention, and I use that to pretend to be cisgender. Living in the deep south of USAmerica, most of who I am could make my social life very uncomfortable to downright miserable.

Here’s where the problem starts happening. when my social and (what i consider to be a) “professional” life occasionally touch, I wouldn’t be able to be out everywhere socially without someone I don’t want knowing finding out. So i don’t tell any of my classmates/friends/peers about any of my identities either. I hang out with queer and straight people, never be actively homophobic/ablest, and will be very vague about the two questions i’ve ever received about any of that stuff. It’s very, very exhausting to pretend all the time, every day, especially pretending that I’m cisgender because it’s a tricky game, but I can’t really back down and I’m afraid that I might get bullied again if I was ever open about it with classmates.

A few months ago, I was dating this guy, who i’ll call Kai (17M) Kai is also a transgender man, but does not pass at all and is comfortable with it. He’ll get shit sometimes, but also has essentially no straight friends. I told him I was queer when we became good friends, and then told him I was trans after we started dating. I also told him why I lie about being cishet or neurotypical, and while he didn’t seem happy he didn’t push it at first. I told him that I understood if he didn’t want to be in a secret relationship, but because of where we live and what I want to do I wasn’t comfortable with being out again. He said he still wanted to date me, and claimed he would support me, and we had a pretty good relationship overall.

A month after that, he started bringing it up again. He told me that I was more than my identity, and if people didn’t see me for who I am instead of stereotypes, it isn’t worth talking to them at all. And while I agree with the sentiment, it’d never be possible to just not hear someone if they were harassing me, and while I truely dislike a lot of the authority figures that I engage with, they are in the professional fields I’m interested in, and I’m incredibly lucky for getting where I am so early. Kai also said that since I am well known in our very small school (only 300 kids), being out could be a positive influence on what people think about autistic people or trans people. In a particularly heated fight, he even said I was doing a disservice or betrayal to my community by not representing or being proud of being apart of them publicly.

We broke up pretty soon after, but I think about what he said a lot. I know that I wouldn’t be the only out person at my school, and that my school is actually a lot better compared to most local schools, which are a lot larger and… dramatic, but I just don’t think I could be out without going back to how I used to be mentally. And Kai was right about how I could be a good influence on some of the meaner classmates- I do think some of my peers who I ingenuinely connect with might reconsider their prejudices if they knew I was transgender.

I’m intentionally choosing not to take the opportunity to do better. It wouldn’t ruin ALL my relationships with the authority figures I consider to be important holding, since it would just be my school, It might dampen one or two of them. Plus, I’m lying to pretty much everyone who knows me. They build relationships with a false idea of me, and I feel like an asshole sometimes because I’m not honest.

TLDR: I’m a transgender, autistic guy in a very bigoted community. Everybody thinks i’m cishet and neurotypical. AMITA for not being proud of who I am because of potential social losses, and AMITA for lying to people and giving friends/peers false ideas about who I am even if they would not be friends with me if they knew?

What are these acronyms?

[psychewritesbs]

Food for thought but here's an interesting video about the psychology of the trinity and I'm curious as to what your thoughts on this and how Gege might be applying this in JJK considering the concept of threes is arguably prevalent in the series.

https://youtu.be/LAR6FPBPbmA?si=61IoNkA2M7w8dPIb

ohoho anon. I even made a little diagram about it that I just absolutely have to share because the brainrot was so good.

This is the thing, maybe this amounts to something, maybe it doesn't, but these are the things my nerdy brain lives for in jjk. ESPECIALLY because they show Gege's level of metaphorical thinking.

I remember this one time this jjk anti told me "I am sure Gege does his research, but jjk is not that deep". Bro... this isn't research, this is deep understanding of the dynamics of the psyche.

Anyways, Analytical Psychology in jjk under the cut'o.

In fact... MBTI anon, this one might be for you... I'd be curious to read your thoughts.

God I missed using that meme.

First things first. Max Derrat! YES. I've only seen a few of his videos, but what I've seen has always been very, very interesting stuff. Guess how I found him?

Dun dun dun...

Jacob's Ladder.

I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS MOVIE.

So, anyone reading this, go watch the movie and the yt video shared by anon if interested. The movie is a mindfuck, my favorite kind.

About the video...

TLDW; Max basically talks about why the number 3 is considered a sacred number in numerology. For example, Max argues that we often see Gods that come in triads (i.e. Zeus and his brothers Neptune and Hades), but argues that 4 is actually a number of wholeness.

I had rambled about numerology and the significance of 3 and 4 before here. But here's the text again (context: mind = body = soul in jjk as representing the 3 major clans):

Thing is, we are ideally meant to think of it as if this holy trinity (3) makes up one whole together (4). This "whole" is called the Self in Jungian terms, and it is thought to be the entirety of our existence (mind (includes the shadow) + body + soul). Also, from a numerology and esoteric standpoint, you also want to consider that four (the Self) symbolizes stability and order, where three (mind + body + soul) is harmonious but not balanced.

But I really like that Max brought up the Kabbalistic tree of life for his example of why 4 = wholeness. I'm not going to go into all that tho. Suffice it to say he brings up Jung's Answer to Job, which I have not finished reading, but I understand the book is basically Jung rambling about why God is basically an asshole.

Don't quote me on this.

Part of the conclusion that Jung came to is that if God (1) represents "good" then he is not omnipotent because there is an opposite energy to "good", and that is "evil", or Satan (2).

Now, Max talks about how the Holy Trinity (3) represents aspects of God (or something like that), but that Satan, who is on an equal level as God (because good vs evil are opposing energies), got pushed into the shadow (4).

Again, Max does a much better job at explaining how this works, but the whole thing totally reminded me of Jungian typology.

Excuse the chicken scratch.

In the diagram above, you can replace mind (spirit), body (the son), soul (the Father) and (?) with one of the functions from the MBTI.

Mind you, I haven't studied Jungian typology in depth, and I am totally not well-versed on MBTI typology. But the gist of it is that there's 4 functions thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. For one reason or another, one becomes dominant, two support the dominant one, and a 4th one is underdeveloped or pushed into the shadow.

You see the pattern?

This is where we come to jjk and the one who might "emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. [And] purify that which is impure."

Jujutsu Kaisen

Now. I don't have the most coherent thoughts on the topic tbh. Everything is kind of a bunch of ideas floating around that I'm having a hard time grounding.

But I think of particular interest is the idea of the bath's goal being "being near evil."

But in the original Japanese text, the kanji Ura Ume uses is the kanji for devil/demon, not evil. You know, the function that got pushed into the shadow.

魔

So there's defo something here pointing at the need for wholeness and for bringing the contents of the shadow into consciousness in order to achieve said wholeness.

And what is in the deepest depths of the shadow? The devil himself. Your own worst enemy.

If you haven't already, I recommend you read Ant's meta of Megumi's character (hi Ant). Of particular interest to this whole ramble, is the idea that at the core of individuation, Megumi is being tasked with merging with his shadow and how that has greater implications...

God I love Jujutsu Kaisen...

Anon. THANKS for this ask. I am spoiled with brainrot inducing asks and I am very grateful for it.

[kiirotoao]

Alright, I’ve had this happen three times now in my TikTok comments, and I wanted to write things down here if not addressed there. Here’s the three-time happening, in short: ‘why are you, as a girl, so obsessed with a gay mlm ship?’

And, oh boy. Look. Yes, I am a cisgender woman. Yes, I primarily ship Byler (cisgender males) over all other ships in Stranger Things. But do you realize how objective that is? I am more than my gender. So are the characters portrayed in film and media and thus Stranger Things. I think that there are indeed underlying issues and reasons for genders that are more praised in film and media and whatnot, but I think that that’s a large oversimplification of what’s going on, here.

Guess what? Two cisgender men created Stranger Things. Do you think it’s easy for cisgender men to write in the shoes of cisgender women and just automatically know the nuances and be comfortable writing for them? No. That’s why we have an opening of the show with our four main characters, four boys. Because this story is one of the Duffers’ love letter to being nerdy as once nerdy boys themselves. However, I think that the Duffers have created great opportunities for discourse on the issues that women face through Nancy and her struggles, especially in season 3, and if you want to talk about women and discrimination, please do! But I’m just here trying to ship my ship. I talk about inter-relational issues, not gender issues. Are gender issues important? Absolutely, but I clearly don’t talk about them on my page. Maybe I can be more clear about that. I’m currently considering saying this in reply to the people who asked. I get it. There are no rules on my page, so it’s an open book.

But what I take issue with and what makes me passionate enough to write all of this is that the comments were clearly made to break me down and question, in essence, why I’m shipping males as a female. Well, to answer that, when I went into shipping Byler, I thought about what was happening in front of me as a story whole: two best friends, one lost and then found, empathetically and lovingly sticking by each other and being honest to each other through blood, sweat, and tears, facing an emotional and then physical rift, rejoining and rekindling their love, and finally deciding to stand by each other in the face of the world crumbling before them. No. Gender. Attached.

Byler are simply written as male characters and I’d take no issue if they were females and I think I’d still ship them the same if they were. But at the end of they day, they weren’t. They are males. And that’s not why I like talking about them. I like their character traits, not their goddamn DNA. But all that being said, I also won’t hide it, I do ship women, too. I like Ronance. God, I really like Ronance. Even if they very likely won’t be canon, I adore their moments in season 4 and love me a good sun-and-moon dynamic. I also like Elmax. I think that those two genuinely make each other happy which I find plain adorable. I even have a friend who has convinced me to see the light of comphet Joyce and Karen having a grade school fling before ultimately marrying heteronormatively.

Thing is, there are far less women featured as main characters in Stranger Things than there are men. And so that is just how it goes around here. And I didn’t have a problem with that to talk about it until it was presented as one.

Also, side note, I just started watching Grey’s Anatomy, and my current favorite relationship is between Meredith and Cristina, who are - guess what? - women. So, okay. Here it is. Bare bones down to gender, yeah, I actually do like sapphic wlw ships, too.

At the end of the day, this is my cry: please don’t assume that my fixation on Byler is because I - as a girl - like talking about boys.

That stung, a little, as someone who wrestled with her own sexuality for years and rarely had crushes and never really properly liked boys at all. I think that I feel like I need to make a video stating my sexuality because of this, and that makes me a little uncomfortable. But I’m putting it out here because I feel just a little safer. So let me be clear. I am aromantic-asexual.

So please just trust me. This is not about Byler being boys.

[androgynous-pagan2]

As much as younger me used to have the FATTEST crush on Stanley, I had to go with Ford

Here’s why:

So, I looked at it in two ways.

1.) Physical attraction

2.) Personality attraction

Lets look into Stanley’s side first:

Stanley is and will always be known as the ‘free-spirited’ and ‘unapologetically me’ twin - not caring how the world saw him while feeling the sense of jealousy knowing he’s seen as an ‘extension’ of his brother by his parents.

He protects his niece and nephew - even though in his own way - and cares about them deeply. As we see in the show, he’s goofy, yes, but he’s a softie to women even though he tries to act otherwise. He’s softer to the people he loves and acts goofy to lighten the mood.

He’s a bit on the chubbier side, using a gurtle when he dresses up. I personally like chubbiness and the dad bod, so younger me felt so deeply for this man. He dresses up in more of a 60’s and 70’s style from what we’ve seen throughout the show - which I personally love. Even with his hat, he looks great overall. He’s a solid 10. So naturally I struggled to pick.

Now, let’s go into Fords side:

Stanford is more of the nerdy and geeky one that everyone probably cheated off of in highschool because he kept straight A’s easily. He didn’t have trouble with anything academically but most definitely could not talk to women (or men. Most definitely men lmao) romantically. While Stanley could butter up someone, Standford seems like someone who would accidentally tell them the pythagorean theorem instead of flirting out of nervousness.

Even though he definitely struggles to show it in the show, he does love and care for his niece and nephew - just like Stanley. He’s more on the serious side, he can try to seem silly, but he sounds like a suburban dad talking about football during a barbecue while making puns about politics. He doesn’t understand why Stanley was jealous of him for so long until it was too late.

He’s more on the ‘fit’ side - having more stock built onto him due to the 30 years he had to fight to survive another day in other dimensions. He wears more ‘History teacher’ clothing than anything. He gives ‘I’m about to tell the War of 1812 in under two minutes’ but we love him. Just like his brother, he’s also a solid 10.

See why I struggled?

I was able to pick solely due to one thing.

Conversations.

If I were to have a conversation with either of them, Grunkle Stan would be more of ‘I might be trying to sell you something but you’ll never know’ while Grunkle Ford would be more like ‘I want to show you the anatomy of this inter dimensional beast called the Ceptigrögem’ or some shit.

With Grunkle Ford, I feel like I could feel out and talk to him for hours on Greek Mythology without feeling like I’m boring him.

I love Grunkle Stan but I feel like he’d get bored over me real quick and shove me over to Ford so he’d have to listen to me 😭😂

So that’s why I chose Ford.

Same rules as before. Can’t say both. No trying to look at things analytically. If you think one is objectively better looking but you want the other more, vote THAT one. Reblog for sample size and explain in the tags. NOW FIGHT

[altelchagla]

I'm planning to draw "BACK2ACTION" characters someday. This is my character infos as a reminder for me and intro for you.

Logline: The ex-search-rescue and ex-special forces unite as two music groups. All they want is to live their childhood dreams. Yet they have to recall old life to rescue the innocent people from upcoming malicious events.

(Will name them later)

Female idol group Characters Info:

mainly singing energetic dance songs, feminist power pop, opera pop.

1

Style: Femme (kpop and jpop inspired outfits)

Character: Straightforward, pacifist

Sxt: top bi

Outlook: sporty slim, tall, long black straight hair, light skin.

Voice: midtone (Can throat sing).

2

Style: Butch (trendy sportswear)

Character: gets wild when angry, energetic, talkative when it comes to health and sports

Sxt: les

Outlook: very muscular, short, tan skin, medium black hair in ponytail or turkic braids.

Voice: daring, midtone

3

Style: Tomboy chic with feminine touch (simple, clean outfits and accessories)

Character: calm, observant, friendly introvert

Sxt: trans / les

Outlook: slim, tallish, light honey skin, dark brown pixie hair

Voice: soothing

4

Style: High Femme (cute and childlike dresses)

Character: playful, nerdy, likes coming up with jokes

Sxt: aro-ace / inters

Outlook: petite, wavy lob hair, fair skin

Voice: sweet, playful

5

Style: Futch (cool biker style)

Character: calm, kind, laughs easily

Sxt: demi les

Outlook: well built, medium height, beige skin, short black ponytail with undercut.

Voice: mild

Opera-pop boy group Characters Info:

1

Style: metro stylish

Character: introverted, looks dreamy, but most dangerous member when angry

Sxt: aro-ace

Outlook: sporty slim, tall, black wavy hair, light skin

Voice: gentle

2

Style: elegant suit macho

Character: looks daringly stoic but is calm, charismatic gentleman

Sxt: bottom pan

Outlook: well build, tall, tan skin, short dark brown hair

Voice: charming deep

3

Style: modern-sporty-ethnic

Character: energetic, jokester

Sxt: switch gay

Outlook: medium height, well built, blond long hair, neutral skin.

Voice: energetic midtone

4

Style: white gothic punk (elegant and simple)

Character: elegantly reserved, witty

Sxt: trans / top gay

Outlook: slim, tallish, redhead, short but stylish cut, fair skin

Voice: mild, hoarse undertone

[taeyamayang]

hahah yeap everyday unfortunately. on good days though it only takes about an hour 20 or an hour & a half so i cross my fingers & hope for the best each time lol 😄. it ends in August which seems long to me but i'm hoping these months will pass by in a flash 😆. other than the travel time, the work culture & environment is not so bad so i guess that's a plus, but, you never really know what life has in store for you ╮(︶︿︶)╭

i'm in mech engineering! it does include math but if im being honest not much of it is being used rn 😬🫣

congrats on graduating omg!! idk why but that is so you to be studying even after graduating and going to grad school. i wish you all the best and good vibes in your exams~

ahhh i took japanese lessons too! didn't get to finish it bc the classes were always full (╥_╥) i rmb getting excited every lesson bc it was a chance for me to show off my verymediocreveryelementarylearntfromanime pronounciation skills to my sensei ＼(＾▽＾)／ (yeah it nvr went well but she'll always say i did a great job👍😭). i hope you have fun learning the language as much as i did and maybe if i find the courage to pick up my notes again we'll be able to talk in 日本語 . . .(・・ ) ?. jokes aside, what's your favourite part about learning this language so far?

i've heard sooo many people talking about genshin lately. i'm not a big fan of rpgs (actually very bad at them) so i tend to observe from the side. what do you like the most about the game? and ofc i have to ask this, who's your favourite character?

as for me, i'm currently in love with yakuza 0! its my first of the series and i'm enjoying it to the fullest. i've been playing on the weekends to release some stress & it's the perfect antidote for me. i mean come on, it even has a karaoke and disco dancing minigame!

anyways, take care my love. remember to drink water and take your vitamins. you are loved <3

🌻 (p.s missed you too lol)

lmao its so funny that i was so shocked of your travel time when i suddenly remember that during my senior year i used to inter for a company outside the city so i literally have to cross borders before the crack of dawn which was wild bc how did i survive that?? anyway, it was just a month a half or two so it wasn't much. the job was okay too so fatigue all came from the commute (tho reading a book durinf a long ride kept me company, maybe you should try it to!) i'm glad that the work didn't add to your problems tho i'm sure you can handle anything thrown at you ;) and yes i agree, nature has its way of rocking our steady boats but im sure youll be able to cope and overcome it (if it gets too tough always rmbr that my asks is always open for rants!)

really?? i have this belief that engr have to solve math problems their entire lives and i just 😭 (i have math traumas, its speaking loudly rn lol) idk why too but "studying after uni and going to grad school is so you" makes me feel happy lmaooo. well, you are right that is so me ig i love keeping myself busy plus idk it may should rlly weird coming from me but... learning can be fun too 😭 i lit sound nerdy rn but who cares 😭

OMG REALLY! THATS SOOO FUN japanese people are very respectful so ig thats why your sensei always praises you or perhaps you were good. contrary, my sensei was sassy 🥶 lmaooo he points out mistakes and is very particular with pronunciation and clarity of words so when we recite in class it always gives me the nervesss. the only time i was able to connect my classes to anime is through the characters names like yuki means snow and yuki from fruits basket has gray-white hair and is deemed cold or yoru means night asa means morning and that shows the duality of yoru and asa in chainsaw man lol smth like that. WE SHOULD! lmaoooo tho i am not fluent in N5 i got to warn you ahead of time!! im not sure about my favorite part bc i enjoyed it sm lol i love learning languages, to begin with, so altho it gave me a high blood pressure whenever were to recite in class i enjoyed it sm heh how about you? あなたは 日本語 べんきょう たのしいですか。lololol

if you ever pick up genshin or smth YOU GOTTA TELL ME alright? cause im willing to guide you all the way and share the obsession lmaoo my fave characters... god theres A LOT but i mainly played genshin for zhongli and venti and later on liked itto tighnari and kaveh. you dont have to be good at rpgs bc coming from a no brainer in games, dude im surviving lol wait wait so yakuza 0 is a game? where do you play it? karaoke and mini dance games oooo that sounds interesting. tell me more about it and u might find a buddy

you are always so sweet. i hope the same and more for you too sunflower anon :)

take care! love seeing u here :D

[shepgarrus]

garrus is NOT a himbo

[whosflynn]

Flynn era uma pessoa fácil de se conviver, e teve a sorte de, logo no primeiro dia, ter sido escolhido para dividir o chalé com uma pessoa igualmente fácil de se lidar. Os dois tinham suas particularidades, mas se entenderam desde o início. Até mesmo as bagunças eram parecidas. Entretanto, quando se tratava de malícia, Flynn estava muito atrás de Tristan. Dessa forma, quando abriu a porta do chalé e viu o rapaz limpando alguns objetos, abriu um sorriso animado e se aproximou, cumprimentando-o.   ❛❛ —— Hey! Isso aí é aquele bat beg? Eu adorava isso quando era criança. ❜❜   Perguntou, buscando o objeto na cama e franzindo o cenho ao reparar que estava diferente do que conhecia.   ❛❛ —— Mas esse aqui ‘tá esquisito. ❜❜   Só então reparou os outros objetos na cama, imaginando do que se tratava.   ❛❛ —— Espera... isso é o que eu ‘tô pensando? Ah não, me diz que você já limpou esse aqui, Tristan! ❜❜   @tkmaddox​

[orangevtae]

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy [S.Harrington x Henderson!Reader]

prev - next

Chapter 13: Keep Youself Alive

"Hey, buddy, how are you? Are you ok?" You asked Dustin as you neared him

"Y/N, you were right! About the Upside Down, about Dart, about Will, i'm so sorry!" Dustin said, hugging your waist tightly and you heard him sniffle and your heart shattered at hearing it, you can't even imagine how hard all the news about Will had been on him, knowing that once more an inter-dimensional world managed to make his life complete hell again, and you hugged him tightly and right after got down on his eye level, cleaning his cheeks were tears made place.

"Hey, hey, deep breaths ok? Deep breaths" He did as you said and you smiled "That's it. Dusty i'm so sorry that you had been so pent up with everything and into this mess again, i never wanted to be right, i was just worried about you, we're together in this okay? We gonna take care of that like we did last year: together. Alright? Nothing's gonna happen to Will, we will be able to get things on it's place again, kick some asses" he laughed at that "and at the end we gonna eat a lot of snacks while re-watching Star Wars on our living room"

"Do you think it would be ok if we called Steve to join our nerdy friday's night?" he asked hopefully to you

"I don't think that he's into the pop culture world like us, but yeah, of course he can join if he wants to" you smiled at each other and he hugged you again "Thanks Y/N/N, i love you, you are so cool"

"Aw, thanks Dusty, i love you too" you said as you rubbed his shoulder

"Are you mad at me? About Dart?" he asked softly

"What? No, no way sunshine. Yes, i would like to have at least a normal year without fighting monsters but you know what?" he waited for you to continue "It would've been so so boring"

You guys laughed and you got up, hitting the cap of his hat, that got into his line of vision "No more tears, yeah?"

"Yeah" he adjusted his hat

"If you ever need me, you know you can talk to me" you kissed softly his cheek and he groaned

"I know"

Some quite time after your conversation with Dustin, you were sat at the couch, your feet up on the coffee table while Chief Hopper was talking to someone on the phone, his voice nervous trying to get to whoever was on the other side, to understand the situation you guys were in.

You tuned out the conversation and got distracted by the watch on your wrist and the coffee table under your feet, your thoughts back on last years events when you joined Jonathan and Nancy to take down the Demogorgon that had fallen just on the old coffee table, you remembered how scared you were that night, how frightened you were when both Jonathan and Nancy cut open their palms and how the last thing you saw of it was flames overtaking it and you never had to see it ever again.

You had nightmares for one month straight and everytime you went to bed, you had to close the curtains of the windows on your bedroom, afraid that if slept with them open, that thing would appear out of nowhere, you hoped that this time you could handle better. When you decided to look your surroundings again, you noticed Hopper huff and getting somewhere on the house.

Then you saw Mike get something on his hands and went back on the kitchen were everyone was gattered and you decided to follow him, supporting yourself on the kitchen counter on the kitchen entrace. Steve looked at you at where he was, a worried look on his face towards you, he hoped that you were doing alright, you were quieter than usual, he guessed that it was the first time he saw you get quiet since you guys started your journey.

"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of the Hawkings A.V?" Mike asked, your eyes trained on him

"Really?" Lucas picked interest

"Yeah, he petitioned the school to start it and everything, and he got a fund raiser for the equipament. Mr.Clarke learned everything from him, pretty cool right?" Mike's wandered a bit, you couldn't even imagine how the last hours had been for both him and Will, presencing Bob's death, scaping demogorgons and you thought back to Joyce, of how much it had been to her with having to worry about what hapened to Will and then having to mourn about Bob, you couldn't even imagine "We can't let him die in vain" Mike spoke again

"Well, what you wanna do Mike? The chief's right on this. We can't stop these demodogs on our own" Dustin said, a frown present on your face

"What?" you and Max asked at the same time

"Demo-dogs?" Max asked, confused at Dustin words

"Demogorgon-dogs. Demodogs? It's like a compound. It's like a play on words, you know" He was such a nerd, you couldn't believe it

"Okay!" Max interrupted and you let out a chuckle

"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." Dustin said again

"But there's an army now" Lucas said completing Dustin's thoughts

Then, something clicked, like an ignition on the back of your head remembering some of the kids sessions on D&D, your eyes encoutering Mike's that had the same look on yours.

"His army!" you both said, the eyes present on kitchen turning to you both

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, eyes moving from you to Mike to the kids and back on you

"His army. Maybe if we can stop him, we can stop his army too" Mike went somewhere and cameback with one of Will's draws that he putted on the table, you took some steps closer

"The Shadow Monster" Dustin said in realisation, looking at the draw of the monster that has been torturing him on the last week "Y/N, we never told you about it, how did you-"

"I don't know, when i heard that Will was sick on the same day we found Dart and i started to connect the dots, it came as to me as an old memory from one of your sessions of D&D, i figured that what we facing, had to do with this shithead" your eyes moved to Mike, for him to continue

"It got Will on the field" Mike started explaining "The doctor said it was like a virus, that it infected him"

"And so this virus, is connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked, getting on the hang of the thing

"To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down, everything!" Mike exclaimed

Steve took a step forward and stoped right beside you, his presence a little above of yours "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, slow down" he said, looking at Mike

"Okay so, the Shadow Monster's inside everything and if the vines feel something like pain, so does Will" Mike explained

"And so does Dart" Lucas completed the thought

"Yeah, it's like Mr.Clarke taught us: The Hive Mind"

"The Hive Mind?" Steve echoed, lost in the conversation

"Yeah, a Have Mind works like a collective consiousness, it works like a super-organism" you explained to him and he nodded

"And this is the thing that controls everything, it's the brain" Mike montioned the drawing of the monster

"Like the Mind Flayer" Dustin trailed off

"The what?" Steve and Max asked, puzzled expressions on their faces.

Dustin got up and went somewhere, Steve looked lost at you but you just smiled and wink at him, and mentioned Dustin with your head when he sat down at the table again, you noticed that Nancy and Jonathan joyned you guys.

"The Mind Flayer" Dustin said, opening in the page of their RPG, Hopper reapered, interest on your little conspiracy

"What the hell is that?" Hopper asked, his voice filled with disppointment

"It's a monster from a unknow dimension, it's so acient that doesn't even know it's true home. Okay, envolves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using it's high-developed psionic powers-" Dustin rambled

"Oh my god, none of this is real! It's a kids game" Hopper said, palms against his eyes

"No, it's a mannual. And it's not for kids and unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy" Lucas interrupted Dustin

"What?" Dustin asked

"It's an analogy, not a metaphor" Dustin looked at you and you shrugged

"Analogy? It's that what you worried about? Fine, an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is" Dustin huffed

"Okay so, this Mind Flaymer thing" Nancy said, Dustin corrected her but she ignore it "What does it want?" she looked at you

"To conquer us, basically, right Dusty?" you asked your brother

"Exactly, it believes it's the master of races"

"Like uh...like the Germans" Steve said and everyone turned to him

"The nazis?" Dustin asked

"Yeah...yeah, yeah, like the nazis" he cleared his troath and looked elsewhere

You chuckled at his reaction, seeing the tip of his ears get red by the attention his mistake gave him and you passed a hand up and down on his back in a comfort manner and got your attention back on the conversation.

"...views other races, like us, an inferior to itself" Mike completed to whatever Dustin had said before "It wants to spread, take over other dimensions"

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it" Lucas finished the train of thought

"That's great! That's great, that's really great, Jesus" Steve said and you giggled at his reaction

"Hey, calm down pretty boy, don't go stressing over it, it's just theories" you said lowly to him

"But still scary" he responded on the same tone, eyes on you and soft smile on his lips

"Okay so if this things it's like a brain controlling everything, if we kill it" Nancy said

"We kill everything it controls" Mike completed

"We win" Dustin exclaimed

"Theoritically" You and Lucas stated at the same time

"Great. So how do we kill this thing? Shoot it with fireball or something?" Hopper asked, tone full of sarcasm and you could tell that he had enough

"No, no, no fire, no fireballs. You summon an undead army, uh, because you know...zombies, doesn't have brains and the Mind...Flayer..." he saw you moving your head to one side to the other to get him to shut up and he went quiet "It's just a game. It's a game."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hopper stated

"I thought we were waiting your military backup?" Dustin responded, a frown present on his face

"We are!" Hopper shouted

"Even if they come, how they gonna stop this? It's not like you can shoot this thing with guns" Mike asked

"You don't know that! We don't know anything!"

"We already know that it's killed at the lab" Mike said

"And that the monsters gonna molt" Lucas completed

"And we almost got killed by them, we were lucky that they just went away" you added

"And we know that it's just a matter of time until those tunnels reach this town" Dustin sighed

"They're right" Joyce said from the kitchens entrace, joining your group gathering "We have to kill it, i want to kill it"

"Me too" Hopper went up to her

"I-"

"Me too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing here"

"No, but he does" Mike interrupted and you looked at where he was looking: Will's sedate body, sleeping happily while your group tries to deal and get to a point of understandment of what to do "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it, he knows its weakiness"

"I thought that we couldn't trust him anymore because he's a Mind Flayer spy" Max voiced your thoughts

"Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is" Mike finished and as if on cue and everyone's understandment, everyone started to go to the small cabinet that the Byers's had on the back of the house and cleaned it, taking everything out and bringing things so it could be an unreconasible place to Will's to keep his mind off of being a Mind Flyer spy.

As you got inside and out of the house with some tapes to deliver and help Nancy and Steve, you stopped besides Jonathan that was taking off the clothes "So, will i wanna know what happened on these three days?"

"Sure, Nancy wanted to get an end on all the Barbara missing issue, to get her parents to know the truth so that they stop suffering and have a real chance to mourn their daughter's death, and i went to help" he said taking off the last article and looked at you

"And were does it enter you guys together at the hip being super dorkys with each other?" you smirked

"I think we got into an understandment and hmm..."

"Are together finally?" you finished for him "Like dating?"

"Yeah, like dating" he smiled, a little embarrassed

"I'm happy for you Johnny Bunny" you laughed at the way he rolled his eyes

"Will you please stop it?"

"Eventually" he groaned

"So...will i wanna know what's going on between you and Harrington?"

"There's nothing going on between me and Steve" you told him

"Steve" he mocked the way you said Steve's name "C'mon, i saw the way you were looking at each other at any moment you got"

"I really have no idea on what you talking about

"C'mon Y/N/N, you can play naive with anyone, but not me. I know when you lying" he said and you scoffed "I'm not!"

"Then why are you playing like that with your foot?" he pointed to the way you were pretending to kick something, an unfortnate move you tend to do when lying

"I hate you so much" you deadpanned

"No you don't, now will you answer me?"

"I...i don't know okay? Just kinda happened i guess, but i don't wanna jump to conclusions" you sunk

"Really?" he raised his brows

"Yeah, really" you said lower this time "He's obviously still in love with Nancy and i don't know if i'm ready to have my heart shattered again"

He looked the way you went like, that look on your eyes when you fear disappoinment, the last time he ever saw this look was after what that asshole did to you, you passed a whole day crying on Jonathan's chest till you fallen asleep for exhaustion. He knew that that situation between you and Steve were way more different than his situation with Nancy.

"Okay, i understand, if you ever need me, you know where to find me" he smiled softly at you and you nodded

"Yeah, thank you, i will uhm...give this to Nancy" you montioned for the tape on your hand

"Sure"

When you arrived at the cabin, you immediatly runned over to help Nancy and Steve to tape everything together. You were on one side while Steve and Nancy were on the other.

"Hey hmmm...it was nice, what you guys did, helping the kids, i mean" Nancy said, breaking the tension that settled after some time

"Yeah, i guess so, those knucleheads are a pain in the ass sometimes" Steve mentioned and you giggled, getting another piece taped

You shrived a little and tried to keep yourself warm the best you could, damn you the moment you left home without thinking to bring an extra jacket, you tried to ignore it and kept on putting tapes and getting everything together.

Suddenly, you felt something heavy on your shoulder and was surprised to see that it was Steve jacket, his hands adjusting it better around your shoulders while you looked at him "Better?"

"Yes, thank you. But really-"

"If you gonna say that you don't need it because you worried that i'll get cold, i suggest you don't, i've noticed that you were cold at the lab too, so just take it, okay? You gotta take care of yourself too and your hands are freaking cold" he looked at you, expactating an answer but nothing came

"Okay, thank you" you sighed up at him

"Sure, i'll head inside, yeah?"

"Ok"

And then he leaved, leaving you and Nancy alone and she let out a giggle after getting the final panel taped on the same time as you "What?"

"It's just that, that was freaking cute"

"I guess so..." you trailed off

Truth be said: It was deeply strange to talk about that with your crush's now ex-girlfriend. Yeah, you came in terms and just accepted that you developed a huge crush on Steve Harrington after what he said to you on that cliff before you encountered Nancy and Jonathan.

"You really didn't noticed, did you?"

"I really don't understand what you implying Nancy" you said confused

"Nothing but the fact that he just got head over heels for you! And that you reciprocate" she nudged you a little

"No! What? Pff, i don't..."

"So tell me on my face that i'm wrong Y/N/N" You really wish you could be able to lie to her, to say that no, she was wrong and that no, you didn't developed a crush on her now ex-boyfriend, but you knew that lying would be in vain because she knew really well how to read someone and unffortunately she knew you like the back of hand, so you just slumped "Ok yeah, you right, i have a stupid crush on Steve Harrington, again"

"When was the last time you had a crush on him?" she asked, voice full of pure curiosity

"Ninth grade, and i was doing so well in forgetting that i had that silly crush on him" you said, palms covering your cheeks and Nancy smiled softly at you "But everything just happened so fast and when i last seen it, he just snapped his fingers and everything was just like ninth grade again"

"Y/N/N, you're so cute, i highly doubt that he would not fall for you, i can see it by the way he looks, talks and even moves when you're on the same room" she said

"What do you mean?"

"You kidding right? He looks at you like you're hanging the moon and the whole stars on the sky" she said while accompaning you outside of the cabin "It's easy to say that something has been going on between you two in less than three days."

"God, you and Jonathan really are made for each other" you let out a giggle and saw her cheeks get red at the mention of Jonathan "Isn't that weird for you? I mean, you just turned to be his ex-girlfriend now"

"No, not in the slightlest, i had been such an ass to him on the last months, pretending that i felt the same when i couldn't give not even half of what he was giving me because i was selfish and wanted a normal life to forget last year and i don't deserve not even a single teardrop coming out of his eyes because i know that i was a jerk in keeping this up instead of telling him how i truly felt" she took your hands on hers "Steve is a sweetheart, it's kind, funny and caring, and the only thing i deserve from him is to at least be the receiving end of his anger, but you? God, you deserve everything he has to offer. You're kind, selfless, more funny than i'll ever be able to be, super smart and i'm not even gonna talk about of how you care and take care of the children whenever they in danger"

You felt overwelmed about what Nancy was telling you, you never thought that hearing her say that to you made something on your chest, giving a comfort zone that you never thought would be able to get out from.

"I've broken, spitted and completely shattered his heart with my lies and choices, but if there's someone that can help him mend it everything together, that one is you."

"You think so?" you asked, a little bit hesitant

"I know so" she smiled and the both of you went back into the house

Taglist:  @mochminnie @marmol4d4 @starhastoomanyfandoms @ren-ni @xoxoloverb @nctma15 @realmoose @yeswhatever33 @lostinneverland @rinsane @0shippingtrashaway0 @fixtionlover @doctorsgirl262

[heytherejulietx]

Steve Harrington as your older, overprotective cousin?

this was wayyy too long i went overboard lol. ty for sending this in i really like writing platonic fics, i’d love to write more!!

tw - mentions of drugs

1.6k words

@eddie-darling @amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines @80strashbag @ilikefruitgummies @d22malfoys @ninuffi @eldriidd @icarus-star @demigirl-with-problems @alexxavicry @simplymurdock @sydnee-writes @savagejane1 @vintageobx @katsukis1wife

“Steve?”

The man in question grit his teeth as he heard his name being called from where he was in the staff room. As much as he loved the kid, he didn’t have time for Dustin right now. Keith had decided he wanted an entire half of the store reshuffled by the end of the week, and it was only him and Robin that were doing it. If they didn’t get it finished then they’d probably be fired, or worse, spoken to by Keith.

“Steve, you here?”

He sighed and he gathered cassettes into his arms, trying to ignore the child.

“Steve! I know you’re here, your car’s outside!”

The door to the staff room flung open behind him and he flinched, about to yell at Dustin for coming into the staff only area that he had already been in one too many times, but when he turned around it was Robin there, scowling.

“Steve,” Her tone was sickly sweet, the type of voice she used when she was just about to lose her shit. “If you don’t go out there and shut him up, I’m going to throttle him.” And there it was. He couldn’t blame her for the short fuse, Keith probably gave Robin a worse time than him sometimes, and he knew that both of them had a growing headache ever since they had clocked in that morning.

Groaning, Steve reluctantly agreed, and gestured behind him to the boxes of tapes. “Fine, we’ll swap, sort those out,” He told her, and stepped around her, cassettes stacked so high in his arms that he held them underneath his chin. “Chances are I might end up throttling him myself.”

By the time that Steve had wedged the door open with his knee and walked out behind the counter without dropping any of the tapes, Dustin had started knocking on the counter with his fist, and the young boy was growing incredibly close to getting banned from Family Video.

“Henderson, man, I don’t have time for this!” Steve complained, and started stacking the tapes on the counter so he could put them on the correct shelves. Dustin opened his mouth to speak, but Steve cut him off quickly. “No, I can’t drive you and the Scooby Gang anywhere. No, I'm not giving you a movie that you’re too young to see. No, I won’t help you fight inter-dimensional creatures. Again. I’m busy.”

Dustin glared at him, arms crossed. “I wasn’t asking for any of that, asshole,” He told him, and before Steve could reprimand him for the language he carried on. “Can you just talk to Y/N?”

Steve swore that his eye twitched. Dustin was interrupting him on the busiest shift in Family Video history to ask him to talk to his cousin? Palms flat on the counter, he glared at the younger boy. “Dustin, you’re what, twelve now?”

“Actually I’m-”

“You really don’t need my help to talk to girls anymore, man. Especially not my cousin, dude.”

Dustin groaned and shook his head. “What? Not like that!” He complained. “Tell her to stop coming to Hellfire, it’s so annoying!”

He was really losing his patience here. “You’re bothering me to tell Y/N that she can’t play that nerdy game with you guys anymore?”

The look that Dustin gave him was like Steve was stupid, and he’d really had enough of it from someone who couldn’t even legally go and see Alien in the movie theatre.

“She doesn’t play – it wouldn’t be a problem if she did – but she’s there to see Eddie.”

Steve stared at him, head tilted slightly, confused. She was there to see Eddie The Freak Munson? It didn’t settle quite right with him, knowing that his cousin was getting close with him. And even if Eddie was a good guy to the kids, he was still older than her and dealt drugs. “She what?”

“Yeah! All the time, it’s awful. She sits on the armrest of his throne and they giggle disgustingly the whole time.”

Steve wanted to ask why Eddie needed a throne, but he felt himself scowling slightly at the thought of it. What if Eddie got her into drugs? Was a bad influence on her? He opened his mouth to ask a bombardment of questions, but before he could say anything, he felt a smack against the back of his head and groaned, cupping it with his palm.

“You have two seconds to start helping me or I’ll kill you, too.”

“What the fuck Robin?”

–

He didn’t see her until Friday, when she came in to rent the movie that she’d watch on the weekend. Dustin had come to complain to him five separate times after his initial complaint, and he was sick of hearing about it. If his cousin really was dating the metalhead junkie, Steve felt like he should at least have a word with her; bring out some statistics on drug use, warn her about dating an older guy. Robin had laughed at him when he ranted to her about it, which only annoyed him more. How had he all of a sudden been the one more worried than Robin?

He was in the back when he heard the bell jingling by the door, but he didn’t pay it too much notice. Not until he heard a familiar voice, and then he groaned as he realised that Robin was manning the desk. Knowing her, she probably had already told his cousin to run before he got there, but by the time Steve had skidded out behind the counter, the two girls were stood by the Teen Movie section.

“If you don’t have it that’s fine,” Y/N was saying to Robin, who was hunched over looking at the shelf. “I can always find something else.”

“I wouldn’t want to spend any longer here if I were you.” Robin was grumbling under her breath, and before Y/N could ask anything in response Steve cleared his throat, coming out from behind the counter.

“Hey Steve,” She smiled, and left Robin by the counter to walk over to him. “Do you have The Breakfast Club?”

“Uh, yeah,” Steve nodded, arms crossed. “Yeah, I mean maybe, who knows? I might have it in the back– are you dating Eddie Munson?”

Behind Y/N, Robin facepalmed at his rambled out question, whilst his cousin just stared at him for a moment. “What?”

She looked surprised at the question, but also like she had been caught out, and Steve wished that Dustin had just been spewing bullshit and not telling the truth. He remembered Eddie from his senior year, and they had never spoken, but he knew enough about the guy. He was in a band, he dealt drugs, he was retaking his senior year. Again. Steve probably wouldn’t have liked anybody that she dated – if he was being honest, they were more like siblings than cousins – but of all people, why did it have to be Eddie The Freak Munson?

“Are you dating Eddie? What’re you, deaf?”

She glared at him and shook her head. “I heard the question, asshole,” She grumbled. “Why are you asking about Eddie, do you even know him?”

“I know he deals drugs,” Steve huffed, and watched as she rolled her eyes. “Dustin told me you and Eddie were sucking face at his Dungeons and Devils game–”

“Dragons–”

“I don’t care!” Steve groaned, irritated by the subject change. “C’mon, do you really think dating Eddie is a good idea?”

She huffed and crossed her own arms. “He’s a nice guy, Steve.”

“Yeah, until he gets you high and murders you in the back of his van.” Steve grumbled, like it was an entirely possible outcome. And maybe it was, he didn’t know the guy. He was doing her a favour by warning about Edde, what if he did turn out to be some raging psycho?

“Oh come on, you can’t actually believe he’s a murderer,” She complained, and he watched as she tipped her head back in annoyance. “Look, he’s really nice. And no offence, Steve, but I know how to take care of myself.”

“Like that time you fell into a bush of thorns and I was picking them out of your arms for an hour?”

“I was fourteen!” She groaned, exasperated. “I’m a Senior, and he’s only just turned twenty.”

“Twenty and a senior? Oh boy–” He didn’t notice that Robin was behind him, but he felt the smack to his head, and for the second time that week he groaned and held his hand over where he had been hit. “Again? Come on!”

“Not that you care what I think–”

“You’re right, I don’t, you’re hopeless.”

Robin shoved his arm. “But I think it’s nice. Eddie’s a cool guy, he used to be in band. Steve, full offence, you’re going a little mama bear here.”

Y/N nodded along in agreement, and after glancing between the two girls, he supposed that they were partially right. He didn’t really know the guy, in all fairness, and maybe he should’ve trusted her judgement… but it didn’t mean that he had to be happy about it. Steve stared Y/N down for a moment, serious, before he deflated and huffed.

“Fine,” He grumbled. “But you’d better not do any drugs,” He told her, and Y/N nodded as he gently pulled her into a hug – partially sorry, and partially so she had to listen when he followed up with, “And I want to meet him.”

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

Robin/Nancy-Taking kids trick or treating

No idea why this story was so hard for me to write...there's a graveyard of half-started responses to this littering my computer.

When does this take place? No idea. Choose your own adventure!

“Wait…you want to go to how many more houses?”

Honestly, Nancy should’ve seen this coming. She should’ve known that between the two of them, Holly and Robin would cook up some sort of scheme that would end in her walking every square inch of Hawkins, twice, before the month of October came to an end.

It had been somewhat of a surprise when her little sister had been the first person to really take a shine to Robin, though there’s something about it that makes complete and total sense if Nancy were really to think about it. Mike feels the same way about his sister’s not-so-secret girlfriend as he’d felt about the boyfriends who had come before, which is to say he finds Robin decidedly less interesting now that he knows she likes Nancy. And there’s her father, who takes an interest in nothing, and her mother, who always looks at Robin through squinted eyes like she’s trying to figure out what has prompted her daughter to start bringing around such a gangly, odd creature.

But Holly…well…Nancy thinks Holly was won over the second Robin painted her nails black while they sat in the living room and talked about Jem and the Holograms when Nancy had really hoped they would be doing more…studying in her bedroom and less bonding with her kid sister.

And now, somewhere along the line, Robin and Holly have gotten together to launch an all-out attack on trick-or-treating and Nancy would be more impressed at her sister’s enterprising spirit (maybe there is hope that one of her younger siblings will take after her after all) if it didn’t involve so much walking in the chilly October air.

Nancy already has Robin’s jacket around her shoulders, the familiar and comforting smell of Robin lingering in the fabric and leaving Nancy feeling warmer than the jacket likely ever could, and it’s currently her only companion given that Holly and Robin are several paces in front of her…conspiring.

At her question, Robin glances back and a firework of a smile passes her face: sparkly, fuzzy and bright, and gone too soon, before she says, “Oh…just a few.”

Even from a few steps back, Nancy can see the smudge of chocolate around Robin’s mouth, feels the longing to pull her close and kiss it off kick up inside her stomach like something alive and needy. Maybe it would make Robin rethink this whole plan, though Nancy doesn’t make a habit of indulging in PDA in front of her little sister. Not that Holly would likely even notice…she’s already got the glazed, wild-eyed look of a sugar high and it doesn’t surprise Nancy that somehow both her sister and her girlfriend have managed to likely shove more candy into their mouths than they’ve put into Holly’s pillowcase sack.

“Just a few,” Holly echoes and somewhere in the middle of saving the world and closing inter-dimensional portals, she and Holly skipped the imitating everything my older sister does phase. And it seems like Holly has decided to give that honor to Robin instead.

If Nancy wasn’t as utterly enthralled with everything that Robin did as her little sister, she might be jealous.

Nancy glances at the watch on her wrist, trying to ignore the smirk she can already see on Robin’s lips. “It’s getting late-”

“Come on, Nance,” Robin wheedles, turning back so that Nancy can catch up with them. “It’s Halloween.”

Holly nods, her witch’s hat tipping forward on her blonde head. “Yeah. It’s Halloween! We’re supposed to have fun!”

Nancy rolls her eyes because that…that comment is all Mike and it makes her feel like she’s somehow gone back in time, saddled with taking her brother and his nerdy friends around the neighborhood while they teased her in much the same way. As though they would be the ones who would be on the receiving end of Karen’s lecture when they came home too late.

But Holly has a secret weapon…something Mike and his friends definitely never did: Robin, wiggling her eyebrows, trying to hide a smile. Robin had shown up earlier, dressed in old clothes splattered with fake blood and had informed Nancy that she was a zombie, duh, and Holly had been quick to tell Robin how awesome she looked and how scary and Nancy had rolled her eyes but kissed Robin when they were alone together, for just a few stolen moments, her girlfriend’s skin smelling both like home and like the sticky, plasticky fake blood already growing tacky against it.

Even as the undead, Robin has the ability to make something sparkle and crack in Nancy’s stomach and she actually has to curl her fingers into her palms to keep from pulling Robin to her because that’s, apparently, the effect that this girl has on her.

“A few more,” Nancy relents, even though she really wants to look at Robin and say you, me, home, now. But Nancy Wheeler is nothing if not patient. She’s had plenty of time to practice that particular art form. “Then we really have to get back.”

Robin grins and Nancy’s stomach somersaults and she says, “You’re the best, Nance” and Holly echoes her quickly, bouncing on her heels and causing her hat to tumble off her head.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nancy says, smiling as she bends down to retrieve Holly’s hat. “I know.”

She goes to place the hat back onto her sister’s tow head but at that moment, Holly spots something down the street that catches her attention and she turns on her heel and is gone, bag nearly tripping her as it bangs against her legs. Robin laughs, watching her. “I think all that sugar is making her super-powered.”

“Trust me, in one more block you’re going to be carrying her after she completely passes out.”

“I’m going to be carrying her?” Robin tilts her head, studying Nancy. “She’s your sister.”

Nancy smirks. “And you’re the one who keeps insisting we go to just one more house…when we could be home already…”

Robin shrugs, taking the hat from Nancy and turning it over in her hands. “Okay, I see your point.” She settles the witch’s hat onto Nancy’s head, smiling softly as her hands fall between them, fingers brushing against Nancy’s palms. “You make a cute witch.”

Nancy lifts her eyebrows. “Hmm, I think I’ve heard that before…”

“I’m serious,” Robin says, their fingers linking together for a fleeting moment, not nearly long enough for Nancy’s liking. “Very spooky.”

Before Nancy can say anything more or do something that would have all the PTA moms whispering on their phone tree the following morning, Holly’s voice rings out from down the street. “Robin! Hurry! They have Butterfingers!”

They both turn, heading in unison in Holly’s direction, and Robin says, “Just for the record, you’re better than Butterfingers.”

Nancy has no idea when she became the type of person to blush at so ridiculous a phrase. “Wow. Thanks.”

Or maybe it’s not the words so much as the way Robin looks as she says them.

As predicted, they barely make it two more blocks before Holly starts stumbling around like a miniature drunk and agrees to be carried piggy-back, her weight settling between Nancy’s shoulders in a way that makes her imagine, just for a minute, a different sort of life where she did stuff like this all the time with her little sister, where they did each other’s hair and where Holly thought she was the coolest person in the universe, instead of a stranger made all the more intangible by all the secrets between them. But where would that leave her and Robin, if Hawkins wasn’t so desperately in need of saving?

Holly’s breath is warm and sugary sticky against Nancy’s cheek as she falls asleep, her head lolling and chin biting into Nancy’s shoulder but having Robin beside her makes the walk almost effortless and she wonders, too, when she became the sort of person who could happily listen to someone talk without drawing a breath about how Halloween would be the perfect holiday if you really were like a Bigfoot or some other monster because you could go out around regular people and everyone would think it was just a costume.

“You’ve really thought a lot about this,” Nancy says as the house finally comes into view and her back is starting to hurt.

Robin nods, breaking a Kit-Kat in half and holding out one piece to Nancy. “Uh…yeah. I can’t believe you haven’t.”

She finally stops talking when Nancy leans forward to take the chocolate from between her fingers with her teeth and Nancy really loves making Robin blush, loves the riot of color beneath the dusting of freckles.

Mike is still gone, and her parents are already upstairs, so Nancy deposits Holly into bed while Robin rummages through the candy bag, pocketing a few choice pieces to take with them into Nancy’s room and she spreads them out on the floor as Nancy locks the door behind them. Ever since Mike walked in on them half-undressed and flushed, Nancy figures it’s better not to take any chances.

“Thanks for coming along tonight,” Nancy says, her back against the edge of her bed and her thigh against Robin’s as they sit side-by-side on the floor. “I know Holly was really glad you were there. She loves you.”

Robin is still blushing as she says, “And what about you?” though she doesn’t specify which part of Nancy’s words she’s referring to.

Not that it matters. “What kind of question is that?”

When Nancy kisses Robin, she tastes like chocolate, just like Nancy had known she would.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S3:E5; Chapter Five, The Flayed - [Pt. 3]

A Will Byers x Fem!Reader Series

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘠/𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

⚠️: mentions of anxiety but no attack. as usual, flashbacks - bookmarked by this symbol 《•••》 and italicized - will feature scenes from the sauna test fight which include violence against the reader and some asphyxiation.

📝: friendly reminder will and yall, while in a loving and dedicated relationship, still consider each other one your best friends, so either term works. im never intentionally trying to "friendzone" anyone when i refer to one as the other's friend, yall are just that close 🥺💞

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"I mean, you have to admit, it's a feat of engineering alone,"

The tunnel had been going for miles, with no turns in sight since they began the trek. All sense of time was still lost to them underground. But Dustin was determined to keep himself and the others distracted.

"this is impressive."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell."

"They're commies," Erica said, earning a funny look of surprise from Steve. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."

"To be fair to our Russian comrades," Robin cut in. "I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking. I mean, think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

Dustin nodded. "It all comes into the mall like any old delivery."

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser."

"Do you think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve wondered.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison." Countered Dustin. "It's gotta be much more valuable like promethium or something."

"What the hell's promethium?"

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components."

Erica suddenly made a face as she grasped at her stomach. "You're all so nerdy it's making me physically ill."

"No, no, no," Steve shook his head. "No, don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd, alright?"

"Why so sensitive, Harrington?" Robin smirked. "Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?"

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack-shit about Prometheus,"

"Promethium," Dustin corrected. "Prometheus is a Greek, mythological figure, but whatever. All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something,"

Robin quirked a brow. "Or power something,"

"Like a nuclear weapon?"

"Totally,"

Steve held in a sigh. "Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great."

"But if they're building something," Robin wondered, unable to shake the question from her mind. A question that stopped Steve and Dustin in their tracks behind them. "why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously? Of all places? At the very best, we're a toilet stop on the on your way to Disneyland,"

Erica and Robin kept walking, not yet aware of the gut-sinking realization the boys were experiencing.

"You think the Russians know?" Steve asked, double checking they weren't heard by the two still walking.

"About the--"

Dustin's stomach turned a second time at the thought of them knowing about either Y/n or El. Let alone, the more likely knowledge of an inter-dimensional portal that was... far underground.

"They could,"

"So it's connected?"

"Maybe,"

"How?"

Dustin shook his head, willing his heart rate not to grow faster if he could. "I don't know, but it's... possible."

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

The two friends turned to see Robin and Erica several feet down the tunnel, waiting impatiently for them. Both Dustin and Steve looked to one another hoping they had an answer. Neither of them did, but luck was on their side.

Erica's backpack came to life with a crackle and hiss. More specifically, what lay inside--

-"Walkie," They gasp, running to catch up and join them on the floor as Erica rifles through her bag.

Passing the Russian-speaking walkie over, Robin unsheathed its antenna and leaned in close.

The voice was clearer than ever. And Robin had no trouble recognizing the translated message as it came.

"A trip to China sounds nice, if you tread lightly. It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from--"

Robin nodded at Dustin.

"--It's close. And if there's one thing we know about that signal..."

"It can reach the surface,"

A smirk took over her lips and she jumped to her feet.

"Let's go."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Y/n never planned on finding herself on the Holloways doorstep a second time. The same bright red door looming in her path seemed to her somehow darker in the daylight in contrast to the single porch spotlight it sat in on that stormy night. It seemed like ages ago - a whole disaster ago.

Unlike just two nights prior, the sun hung in the sky, not a cloud in sight. The rays of light touched everything from the singing birds in the neighbor's lawn to the dew sparkling on the grass from last night's flash storm.

As the group had hiked the Holloway lawn and climbed the porch steps, Y/n stood centered among the pack and silently repeating to herself the very fact that was quickly becoming a mantra over the past few days; she wasn't alone. Not only was she quite literally surrounded by her friends - her Will - they now had the level-headed, ever calming presence of Jonathan. And the unstoppable force of Nancy.

Reassurance crashed over her hard and fast like the tide on the rocks, arching up to impossible heights, untouchable --

Nancy rang the doorbell.

--and then it came crashing back down, returning to the sea and soaking over the rocks in scattered droplets.

Y/n felt the doubt seeping into her bones, and as they waited for a response that would never come, she shared a look with Max and El and knew they were feeling it too. Already their worst fears had been realized; the Mind Flayer was back and now inhabiting Billy Hargrove. And it was precisely who they found dining with the Holloways and enjoying a bottle of wine and the musical stylings of Don McLean.

And despite the urge, they couldn't find it within themselves to back out.

The unease built itself higher and higher until... nothing happened. All was silent from what anyone could tell.

El shared a curious look with all her friends and Nancy rang a second time.

Nothing.

El already knows what she is to do moments before Jonathan and Nancy find themselves looking back at her with questioning eyes. The front door popped open in sync with the jerk of her chin and all reluctantly stepped inside.

"Tom?" Came Nancy's weary voice. "Heather?"

Again - and not to anyone's surprise - there was no answer. In fact, there was a total absence of life that included the sharp chill in the air that crawled up everyone's spine. Max shuddered from beside Y/n and clutched at her arms in a weak attempt at keeping herself warm.

"Jesus, it's freezing."

"Here," Y/n muttered, already clenching her fists at her sides as they walked.

Max nearly melted into Y/n's side in relief as a steady warmth now practically pulsed off of her friend. Her shoulders snapped to Y/n's like a magnet without even thinking. Luckily for Max, Y/n had control over the gentle warmth already spreading out into the air around them. And unlike the unfortunate mishap bights prior, it felt to her more like hugging a heated blanket.

"Thank god we made friends with a human space heater," she quipped, shooting a grateful smile her way. Even Lucas had crept closer and stuck his freezing hands out like there was a roaring fire.

Y/n rolled her eyes in amusement. "So I've been told," she says, for a moment her eyes wandering over her shoulder to Will. But all amusement fell away from everyone when they landed eyes on the sight before them in the kitchen. "Holy shit,"

A pungent, overwhelming smell burned their noses and stung their throats as they stumbled onto the scene. Everyone winced, holding back coughs and gasps as they crept forward into the kitchen. The refrigerator lay in the center of the floor, ripped right off the wall and the steel back was torn back like paper. But scattering every surface including the new 'makeshift table' were just about every bottle of bleach, baking powder, and liquid cleaner available in the house. It was a miracle none of the spilled puddles had mingled with one another.

"More chemicals," Nancy breathed.

Jonathan grabbed a can of drain cleaner off the counter with weary. "You think they're guzzling this shit?"

"Yeah, either that, or they went on a hell of a cleaning spree."

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals," said Max. "Did you?"

"No," He shook his head. "This is something new,"

"Mr. Clarke," Mike said suddenly. "Fifth grade. Posit. What happens when you mix chemicals together?"

"You create a new substance," answered, Lucas, Y/n, and Will.

"What if they're making something?"

"In themselves?" Max asked. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you."

"Yeah," Lucas counters. "if you're human,"

Nancy cautions a glance over her shoulder; her instincts pulling her into the dining room. Her footsteps are cautious and quiet as if one loud step will secure more danger and arouse more trouble. The others follow in her wake, their stomachs twisting as they lay their eyes upon the wine spill in the abandoned dinner table. The food on their plate remained, now spoiled and drying despite the chill they had they had been left in. It was as if they all got up in the middle of their meal and walked out after the spill.

But the living room told a different story.

Nancy was the first to see it; the wine bottle empty and tipped over on the carpet feet away. Even more disturbing, the dark red stain still drying in the fabrics of the rug.

"Blood," she whispers, kneeling to the ground. Jonathan joins her, waiting curiously as she loses herself in thought. "Yesterday... Tom had a bandage on his forehead."

She grabs the wine bottle for inspection as she rises to her feet. Her eyes are unable to unfix themselves from the blood painted on the corner of the bottle. In horror, she turns to the others and confirms what they are thinking.

"He was attacked."

《•••》

"Janet!" He turns to his approaching daughter. "Call 911! Call 91-"

Heather had struck him in the head with the wine bottle before he could finish.

《•••》

Dread sinks into their bones as everyone's eye follows Nancy's to the disturbed hall rug crumpled and trailing around the corner.

Will feels a singeing but bearable hand grasp his own like a lifeline as if begging to be secured to reality. Y/n's face was blank and hard to read, but he had known her long enough to recognize the muted fear laced in her gaze locked on the hall corner. He didn't have to know about her most recent nightmare to recognize being here brought her unpleasant memories. She could practically feel the grip on her stinging throat as she remembered him dragging her down this very hall in her dream.

To her disdain, she realizes with a sinking heart that's likely what had transpired for Tom and Janet Holloway. More or less.

She could picture it so clearly. They all could.

《•••》

The flash of lightning thundering across the sky is bright enough to light up the entire house. Its blinding, ivory light flashes over Billy's lifeless face as he started off down the hall, Tom's unconscious body still in his grip. It was dragging along the floor, riding the hall carpet as it coasted the wooden floors, limp and slack. But the hall just kept getting longer.

《•••》

As they traveled the hall, the first thing they note is the rug stopping at the carpet. Whoever had been hauled - whoever had been the one hauling - didn't get very far. Billy didn't get very far.

The second thing they noticed was the door ajar, and more importantly, the smear of blood trailing under it.

Pulling back the door with a beating heart, Nancy and the others only found another hallway. More specifically, the garage door where the blood trail ended.

It was somehow warmer in the garage than any part of the house. The one-room untouched by the air conditioning. It felt like summer, but in no way pleasant. It was the hot, sticky kind of summer that makes you dread crawling into your sheets at the end of the day.

It was a feeling that blended so well with the fear seeping into their pores as they discovered the bloodied and discarded coil of rope that lay in the empty garage.

"They must have tied them," said Jonathan.

《•••》

The rope coiling around their wrists and ankles tightened like a noose sealing their ends. Had they still been conscious, Tom and Janet would have noted the scratchy sensation of the braided rope on their skin turning to a burn of friction as Billy and Heather tightened the knot and secured the gags in their mouths.

《•••》

"They must have taken them somewhere," he concludes, returning to his feet.

《•••》

The shell of Heather Holloway gazed upon her unconscious mother packed into the back seat of Billy's Camero as she slammed the door shut. Not in guilt or with strain, but a blank, lifeless expression of boredom. One that matched Billy's as he packed away Tom's limp form into the space of his trunk and slammed the door shut.

《•••》

Nancy's face lit up again in realization as fast as the thought struck her. "Mrs. Driscoll. She kept saying, 'I have to go back'. What if the flaying is taking place somewhere else. There must be a place where this all started, right? A source."

"Somewhere he didn't want me to see," El agreed.

《•••》

El's lungs felt like they were flooding. Her legs turned to lead, slowly bringing her to a stop just a few steps behind Billy. Tears had crept into her eyes by the time he rose to his feet, his broad shoulders meeting her eye level.

Her instincts were screaming inside her like an alarm; bright, violent flashes of fear growing more rapid by the second until-

You.

El flinched as he whipped around to face her, sunken, darkened eyes widening as they pierced her own. He had not uttered a word to her but she still heard it. A force so strong and revolted - so concentrated - she could feel the thought in her bones.

You.

He could see her.

《•••》

"If we find the source, then maybe we can stop him," Nancy wagers. "Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

"How do we find it?" Asked El.

"Mrs. Driscoll,"

Everyone's eyes turned to Will.

"If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

It had taken longer than they preferred, but the unlikely quartet had finally reached a fork in the underground tunnels. They had only moments to dive into hiding in the shelter of equipment before they were spotted. To their dismay, this particular wing of the tunnel system was more populated. Russian officers were strutting to and fro, many supply carts like the one they had encountered were spotted every few minutes from where they lurked.

Finally, Steve had determined this moment was as safe as any to emerge from the shadows wedged in between the equipment and the wall. With great caution, he throws his whispered voice over his shoulder.

"Okay, clear," three more heads emerge from the corner to peek at their surroundings. But Steve was already making his way down the hall in light footsteps. "Clear, come on, let's go."

"Okay, that was close," Robin huffed.

"Too close," said Dustin, right on her heels, Erica on his.

"Relax, alright? Relax. Nobody saw--"

Everyone was halted in their hastened steps as they turned the corner to behold the sight before them, and Steve's words had caught right in his mouth.

The outlet they now found themselves standing in was funneling out into the heart of the entire underground network. Dozens upon dozens of Russian officers and scientists were at work, not yet aware of the four children gawking at its entrance. One guard paced the balcony, rifle in hand as he made his patrol, snapping the four out of their stupor.

"Shit!" Steve hissed. The four of them dove behind a nearby crate with gasping breaths. "Jesus."

"Red Dawn," Gasped Dustin under his breath.

"I saw it," Erica whispered, urgency in her voice. "First floor, northwest "

"Saw what?"

"The comms room!"

"You saw the comms room?" He asked, bewildered.

"Correct!"

"Are you sure?" Dustin asked.

"Positive. The door was open for a second and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"That could be a hundred different things,"

Robin nodded. "I'll take those odds,"

Steve gaped at Robin with a sinking stomach. Everything inside him was against this, but where could they go? How could they leave? They had been looking for comms room after all and as hard as it was for him to admit, he trusted their judgment to do what was best for all of them.

He takes a plunging breath and shakes his head. Together, they peer out one by one like something out of a cartoon to get one last look before falling back in line.

"Alright," Steve whispers. "We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?"

"Okay."

And one by one they follow his lead. The first journey was quick and terrifying, and it was only a few hunched steps to the nearest crates. When he was positive - or at least as positive as he could be - that no one was looking, they ran again, hopping the small gap in between grates. Hearing the squeak of sneakers behind him, Steve hissed over his shoulder and waved the others in a fury.

"Shh! Move it!"

He refocused his attention ahead. And sure enough, just as Erica had said, was an opening door to a comms room. He could see the control panels from the window now within their view. He hid himself away further behind the crate, his eyes still set on the door, as the man in the labcoat exited, nose in his clipboard. There was no time to waste.

Steve waved a hand over his shoulders and jetted for the door. "Let's go!"

Just as the hiss of the closing door reached his ears, Steve threw his arm in and caught it before it could shut. With great haste, he scurried inside and saw the others made it in safely. "Sh sh. Come on,"

As Dustin - the last in line - had crossed the threshold he breathed a small sigh of relief and quietly closed the door. He barely got a glance over his shoulder before he froze like the others upon seeing the startled officer standing up at them in surprise. The man looked at the kids in shock, particularly the young man in an odd-looking sailor's uniform, hand gripping the door and still in a hunch, his rear end pointed at him.

His hand maneuvered for his holster and the young woman cried out.

"Tread lightly!" His hand froze on his bolster. "Tread lightly."

"Who are you?" He cried.

She pointed to herself and then the three others behind her. "Silver cat... Silver cat."

He shook his head. "I don't understand."

She shared a glance with the young man and stepped forward, extinguishing what was left of his patience. "China?"

He reached for his gun and Steve roared out in a mixture of fear and adrenaline. He charged for the man and tackled him into the panels. The man was stunned but shook it off quickly, using his strength on Steve and hurling him off and into an adjacent panel. He charged forward before the boy could retaliate and threw his right fist at his face. Before it could connect with his nose, Steve flung himself back.

He felt his neck jerk forward as the man yanked him by his collar and threw him face-first onto a nearby panel He grabbed a fistful of the back of Steve's shirt, ready to yank him to his feet and deliver another punch. But Steve was quicker. He threw his elbow back into the man's groin, stunning him long enough to grab the speaker off the tabletop and tossing it into his good hand and going in for the swing.

Everyone watched astonished, no more so than Dustin Henderson, as the speaker connected with the man's skull. The blow threw him off balance and tumbling into the corner of the ledge, knocking him out cold.

Panting to make up for lost breath and dangerous speeds his heart was racing, Steve looked down at his work and raked a hand through his straying hair. His attention was quickly pulled to the gleaming boy across the room.

"Dude!" Dustin was grinning ear to ear. "You did it! You won a fight!"

Steve looked back at the unconscious man and Dustin's words sunk in. And despite their circumstances, he smiled and chuckled in relief. Son of a bitch, he had won a fight. Against a Russian officer of all people. That had to count for something.

Dustin hurried forward and reached at something dangling from the man's belt.

"What are you doing?" Erica asked.

"Getting us our ticket out of here," he says, securing the man's key card.

"You want us to walk all the way back?" She challenged.

"Oh, well, we can hang out for a little bit," said Dustin, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "relax, have a picnic maybe."

"Have a picnic? We came here for the radio" Erica cried, her among the others unaware of Robin wandering up a glowing blue stairwell in curiosity.

Sitting most ominously at the top, was yet another door. But what drew her curiosity was the small, square window that radiated azure blue light like a flashlight. She was cautious when approaching, and luckily for her, no one was in the adjoining room from what she could see. But there was something beyond. Something just out of sight that she was beginning to feel was very, very, important.

She jogged back down the stairs to the still bickering children. "Guys," They all stopped and looked at her, Steve included. "There's something up there."

Exercising more caution than they had the first time, they assured themselves the room was clear before entering. Robin beckoned them all inside, herding them in and staying low before joining them at the set of double doors.

Their jaws went slack in awe as they packed in against the windows. Their horror-struck faces were illuminated in a flickering, deep violet light. All four of them stand frozen in stunned silence, and Dustin's troubled but whisper rings out. "Holy shit,"

Before them, was what they assumed to be the main control room, filled with even more scientists and officers. But that's not what struck their fear; what struck their fear was the gargantuan, man-made contraption they were observing. Dozens of men in hazmat suits were at its side, feeding the monstrous machine the mysterious green vials. But the horror - the true horror - was what the device was meant for.

Its rapidly spinning mechanisms we're churning out electricity that foamed out its sides as it concentrated all its man-made energy into one focused beam. The beam was so loud, so powerful they could hear it as surely as if they were standing right next to it even behind two sheets of tempered glass. It was a device unlike anything Dustin or Steve had ever seen, but they knew with churning stomachs what it was doing. It was a device that brought about their worst nightmare.

It was a device that was reopening the gate. The gate to the Upside Down.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The ride to the hospital took longer than most of us thought. The sun had already set by the time we pulled into the parking lot. I guess this was the nearest hospital located by this Mrs. Driscoll, which was practically on the other side of town.

The three of us had gotten used to the back seat where we were packed in like sardines for so long. At least, we thought we had. The others were waiting for us in the lot as Mike got the door open, and Will and I tumbled outside after him. The three of us groaned at our unstretched legs that were stuck in the folded position.

I slammed the trunk door closed behind me, and hobbled across the pavement with Mike and Will haunched over like I was. Despite the situation, we could of course count on Max and Lucas to take several jabs at us. They weren't trying very hard not to laugh as they walked alongside us. They had to slow down to match our pace.

"You guys okay there?" Max laughed.

"Yeah, guys, you holding up?" Lucas joined in, feigning concern as he shared looks with Max. "You guys are walking like a bunch of Disney witches,"

"No, no, I'm great," I was able to straighten just a little at a time. But enough to pick up my pace with a threatening glare and speed walk after Lucas. "In fact, come here. No, come here, Lucas"

He laughed and sped up a few paces, walking backward and inching behind El for protection.

"You think she's gonna help you? Come on, come here,"

"Guys," Jonathan called to us. "Come on, we're here."

I sent Lucas a small glare before straightening out as much as I could. Mike and Will did the same just as we approached the entrance. Following Jonathan and Nancy's lead, we all stepped inside and into check-in. I was bombarded with the smell of rubbing alcohol and fresh linen the moment we stepped through the automatic doors. We could hear the nurse at the reception desk talking with someone she knew on the phone.

"That is honest. She won't find out." I side glance the front desk in curiosity when we just keep walking. "See, you're the only one who gon' tell-- Woah, woah, woah! Excuse me!"

We all stopped, and she stood up from the desk. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Oh! Um," Nancy turned back to her with a polite smile, seeming more chipper than any of us were feeling. Lucas peered over his shoulder at me and we shared a curious look. "I was just going to visit my grandma again. And-- and this..."

She turned and gestured to all of us, but even she didn't even sound like she believed the lie. "This is my family."

The woman peered over in my and Lucas's direction and he threw on a cheesy smirk. "Extended."

"I don't care who they are. You know the rules," she told Nancy. "two visitors at a time."

Nancy winced. "Yeah, but--"

She stopped her. "Two!" She said. The woman sighed, putting the phone back to her ear and resuming her conversation as she sat back down. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

With the nurse's attention back on her conversation, we all huddled in with hushed voices. Jonathan and Nancy, so it would seem, had already made up their minds.

"You guys wait out here, we'll go up,"

My instincts were telling me to go, to offer my help given my strengths and the low-risk factor of Mrs. Driscoll. But the Mind Flayer was still involved. And if he was involved...

I could see my past encounters encounter with him blur together in flashes.

《•••》

The snap reached my ears only moments before Will's fist came flying free from its restraint and colliding into my face, knocking me off balance. With a yelp, I stumbled back and met the second flare of pain in my skull before all went dark.

•••

My grunts died in my throat when Billy's hand encircled my neck, cutting off all my air. What strength he possessed as Billy Hargrove had doubled with the Mind Flayer and lifted me above his head with ease.

《•••》

I could still feel the searing pain along my back as much as the lingering scratchy sensation in my throat.

《•••》

Through the strobing lights and my fading consciousness, I'm able to make out the animalistic look on Billy's face as he towered over me. Spit was dribbling from his lips as he clenched his teeth in anger and his firsts were wrung so tightly in my collar it was cutting into the back of my neck. All I could make out before he delivered the final blow and all went dark were the horrified screams of my friends.

《•••》

But I couldn't bring myself to. I was too scared - too shaken from last night's events. I looked down at my feet in shame as the moment passed us by, hugging my arms close to my chest.

Jonathan and Nancy began speaking at once.

"Just stay here-"

"-stay out of trouble--"

"--stay alert--"

"--and stay safe."

We gave them our word and they nodded, taking off down the hall and disappearing into the elevator. We all turned away, slinking off back to the waiting room around the corner.

"Think they rehearsed that?" Lucas quipped, sounding tired but trying to make the best of the situation.

I smiled a little, but couldn't shake the all too familiar feeling settling into my gut. I drew in a long deep breath as I headed for the chairs, all of us broke apart and spread ourselves among the waiting room. Mike and Lucas wandered over to the vending machine to window shop and El and Max spotted some magazines.

I was currently far too anxious to snack, nor did I have a particular interest in going over the latest celebrity gossip so I plopped myself down in the second to last chair on the end and placed my head in the heel of my hands. I let out another deep, billowing breath as I felt someone sit themselves beside me.

"Hey," Will said gently. I felt a delicate hand come to rest on my bouncing knee. It had to have been going fifty miles an hour. I slowed my knee, only slightly, and turned to him.

"Hi,"

"How bad is it?" He asks, already knowing my anxiety had returned.

I think about it for a moment. "About a four and climbing," I smile weakly.

"Anything I can do?"

Again, I smile, thankful for his caring and understanding nature. I lean back into the chair, grabbing his right hand with my left and resting my head on his shoulder.

"You're already doing plenty,"

I rub my thumb against the back of his hand affectionately before I feel a pair of lips on the top of my head. My shoulders sag as my mind reflects not only on today, or even this week - but the mess that was our lives since that one November in 1983.

"How'd we get here, Will?"

With his head resting on top of mine, I feel him sigh.

"A very long and cramped car ride?"

I roll my eyes and smirk, nudging him with my elbow. "I'm serious. How does everything keep falling apart?"

There's a moment of silence between us that seems to last a thousand lifetimes. The thousand lifetimes we've both managed to live in the past two years.

"I'm not sure," he answers honestly. He picks his head back off of mine and brings my interlaced hand to his lips, planting a kiss on the back of my hand. I look up at him fondly, his own gaze looking into my own as he traces the back of my hand with his thumb. "But there's no one I'd rather be with when it does fall apart,"

A completely different, wonderful fluttering feeling retuns to my stomach, overpowering the dark sludge. The flutter in my heart is played like the strings on a guitar, humming out into my chest. I can't fight the smile worming its way onto my face as I bring my other hand to cup his face, bringing him in for another kiss.

"Cornball," I mutter through my smirk, pulling away and returning my head to his shoulder.

With ease we both fell back into the comfortable silence we've shared for years. I noted the humming of the fluorescent lights above us, pouring out over the white walls and tile floors that gave me an all too familiar feeling. But as always, the warm presence beside me was tethering me down to earth - to reality - before my mind could wander the cosmos. I felt safe despite the itch it left in the back of my mind and that was enough for now.

He was more than enough.

Eventually, my eyes wander to the two figures standing by the magazine stand. Hair was falling into their eyes despite their scrunchies and their eyes were lost in the glossy pages. Something, or better yet, someone must have caught her eye. The expression on her face was similar to the one she wore when she discovered Ralph Macchio. I watched with a fond smile as El held the magazine out to Max, who gave it a look. A knowing smile came to her face and I swore I heard the words, "That's Diana Ross. Do you like her?"

"Really pretty," El nodded, her cheeks tinting a rosy pink as she smiled.

Max caught my gaze as El returned to the magazine and we shared knowing smirks. My eyebrows jumped up and down, making her chuckle. But soon enough, they were both back to reading.

"Oh, come on, you piece of shit!"

I look over at the vending machine where Will had already been staring. Mike and Lucas were frowning at the glass, and Mike gave a frustrated smack to the side of the machine. His candy must have gotten stuck.

Lucas joined in and the two boys began smacking the machine hoping to jostle things loose. I nearly got up to do something out of pity when a sudden quake shook the glass and all the candy flew forward. Both Will and I looked over at El who was sharing her gaze with her ex as she subtly wiped her nose.

"Thanks," he said.

El nodded and returned to her magazine and I looked back down at my lap. Will looked down at his. I gave his hand a quick squeeze and buried the thoughts in my head.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm gonna take advantage of all the free candy,"

He chuckled under his breath as I jumped up from my seat and made my way over to the vending machine. Unknowingly, missing the lingering, curious look Will gave between me and my other best friends.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center:

"Providing national leadership to end violence against American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty."

Redhawk Native American Arts Council:

"Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a Not-for-profit 501C3 Indigenous arts and cultural organization, founded and maintained by Native American artists and educators. We are dedicated to educating the public and breaking stereotypes by presenting the traditions and culture of Native People from across North, South, Central America, the Caribbean and the Polynesian Islands."

Native American Heritage Association:

"NAHA, with the help of our generous donors, is committed to fighting hunger with emergency food supplies and basic life necessities. NAHA's trucks leave our office every day with loads of nutritious food that will be delivered to Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River and Rosebud Reservations."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Tag List:

@dickkwad @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa @miscellaneoustoasts @happyandlonely-blog @ba-responds ​ @night-yoarrbe @blogforhoes @witch-of-all-things-soft @shawkneecaps @whothefuckstolemykeds @daughter-of-the-stars11 @stranger-things4 ​ @nightbu-g @lozzybowe @yelenabelovashotgf @spiderbitch69420 @dreadmars @kurodach @honeyxbeexqueen @dreadmars @bilesxbilinskixlahey

❥ Let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist! ❥

[ikingsley]

Ina x MC: My Star

Ina x MC: My Star

Summary: Ina and Luna take their relationship to the next level.

Warnings: Fluff! So much fluff.

Tag: @samanthadalton @domakir @kulaykape @hellyeah90sbaby @dopeyouth @kwaj05 @thedaft1​ @swimmingshoebakerydreamer @kaitlynliaofanxx (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed)​

Author’s Notes: Events after the gala in QB Ch 16. Unfortunately, I have been busy with school and work, but I’ve still been writing. I’ve been working on a new series, one that tells about Ina and Luna’s future together. Here’s the start to their future relationship.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 3 @5:42 PM

Ina: Hey. I have a little something for you. Do you want to swing by my place and pick it up? Maybe stay for dinner too?

Luna picked up her phone, reading the message. They had been together officially for a few months now, but the gala had in a way halted their progress. It’d been a few weeks since Ina and Luna had truly been together for a date. Conversations through texts and FaceTime calls that lasted well into the night did occur frequently, but nothing of the romance the two had grown used to. Neither one knew how to approach the delicate situation they found themselves in. 

Luna: I’ll be there.

Luna walked quickly to her dorm, grabbing a hoodie. She trudged over to Ina’s apartment and waited patiently on the other side of the door. Ina opened it and gave her that million-dollar smile. 

“Hey,” Luna breathed out, her breath hitching after seeing Ina physically after weeks.

“Luna. You’re looking as radiant as ever. Come inside.”

Ina’s glance to the outside world did not go unnoticed. It was if she was searching for someone watching her. Not finding anyone who caught her attention, Ina closed the door and bolted it as she welcomed Luna inside.

“You know, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“You finished your first year at Belvoire. I think that deserves some celebration.”

Luna looked around, taking in Ina’s apartment once more. Then she smelled it.  She looked around the kitchen and saw the oven light on.

“Is Ina ‘I-Burned-Pasta’ Kingsley cooking?”

“Well, attempting to. I have some chicken in there.”

“Color me impressed. Does that chicken happen to be for me?”

“No,” Ina chimed in, turning around to attend to her food. “It’s for a twin sister you never knew you had that I also happen to be going out with.”

Luna only rolled her eyes at Ina in reaction, but reached forwards to hug her from behind.

“I missed you,” Luna whispered into Ina’s ear.

Ina spun Luna around and stared intensely into her eyes. “And I, you. Our FaceTimes weren’t enough for me. I don’t know what happens next with my future at Belvoire, but I know I want my future with you.”

Ina pressed a kiss against Luna’s temple. The timer went off and Ina pulled the chicken out of the oven.

“Me too. I-” Luna stopped.

Ina stopped and swiveled around waiting to hear those three words. “I…what?” Ina questioned. And how she longed to hear those words uttered from Luna’s mouth. Ina heard them frequently from Lilian and Charlotte, but she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d heard it from a partner. Excluding Luna, it’d been so long since she’d felt that kind of intimacy.

“I…I wonder what we have to accompany this chicken!” Luna diverted.

“Oh. I forgot to tell you. I have some broccoli in there too. Maybe I have some…wait- this went bad.” Ina dumped the rotten spinach in the trash. “Yeah, only broccoli.”

“That’s perfect.”

Soon, Ina placed a full plate in front of Luna and settled beside her. They took their first bite and surprised was only one way to describe the taste.

“This is uh…interes-” Luna remarked as she politely forced herself to swallow a portion of the food.

“You don’t need to-”

“Thanks.” Luna ejected what was left of the chicken from her mouth like it were a toxin.

“So, pizza?” Ina said and sputtered out the chicken. It was bone dry and there was too much seasoning of all sorts. Too many things had been combined.

“Please. No offense.”

“None taken. It’s the thought that counts, no?”

“You’re improving every time I see you cook, so let’s call it progress,” Luna smiled as she patted Ina’s shoulder. She stood up to grab her phone and order pizza.

Ina sighed and flopped on the couch. She so desperately wanted this night to go well. She herself was nervous. Ina had spent the previous nights tossing and turning. It finally had dawned on her that she was in love with Luna. Ever since she met her she’d slowly been falling more and more under Luna’s spell. Now she was completely enraptured by her. The simple facial features that morphed into an infectious smile. The way her nose crinkled when she laughed at Ina’s horrible jokes and witty banter. The way Luna caressed her face as she swept her into a kiss. Everything had been coming together.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Luna asked while she sat down next to Ina indicating she had just gotten off the phone for pizza delivery.

“Just...contemplating everything surrounding us. I’ve come to understand what’s truly important to me, which ultimately boils down to Lil, Charlotte and you of course. I don’t dislike my job, but maybe this is an opportunity for me to try and search for a more research-based career rather than actively teaching.”

Ina stood up, grabbing a small, elegantly wrapped rectangular box.

“I care for you too, Ina,” Luna smiled. “You so did not wrap this by the way.”

“Hey! I’ve gotten better at gift wrapping.”

“Not this good-”

“Oh hush, you. Open it.”

Luna meticulously pulled off the wrapping. Inside was a small framed poster. The poster had a big circle right in its center with some stars in it.

“Ina, this is beautiful. Is this-?”

“The stars on the day we met.”

“I don’t know what to say, babe. It’s...it’s perfect. I love you. I mean, I love it! Yeah! I love it.”

The silence that followed was highly drawn out. Both - who could talk a mile a minute when they were excited or passionately ranting - were dead silent. Ina replayed the moment in her head over and over. Had she heard right?

Luna was more bewildered with herself. She’d been too used to toxic, quickly-ending high school relationships. But as more time passed since she’d let the cat out of the bag, the more she realized that this somewhat spur-of-the-moment confession had more truth in it than anything she’d ever said before. She did love Ina. She loved the way Ina would tell her about her day, getting particularly loud during both the best and worst parts of the day. She loved the way Ina made her laugh or actually kept up with her nerdy discussions. She loved the way Ina would leave anything she was doing if Luna needed something. She loved the way Ina cared for Luna during her stressful finals and tended to her every need. She loved the way Ina balanced her so well. 

But deep down, Luna was scared. Scared of being hurt again. Scared of loving someone who only loved her if she acted in a certain way. But that someone wasn’t Ina. She’d found more of herself through Ina. And she’d found something she deserved in a relationship - a mutual respect.

“Can I crash here? I’m pretty tired.”

“Yes, but Luna...”

“Good night!”

“Wait-”

Ina’s urgency made Luna swivel around and she finally met Ina’s eyes. They were full of admiration, love, happiness.

“Did you mean it, Luna?”

“Mean...what?”

“You know.”

“Well, words are a tricky thing. After all, there’s a whole branch of anthropology that focuses on linguistics. It’s very complex!”

Ina hummed softly. “Yes, well...good night.” Ina pressed a chaste kiss on Luna’s forehead and Luna began to turn around to the bedroom. “I love you, Lu.”

Again, Luna stopped in her tracks. “What?”

“I love you, Garcia,” she grinned. “Come here.”

Luna ran towards Ina as she swept her in her arms. Luna jumped into Ina pressing her lips against Ina’s. Ina carried Luna’s small frame and paraded her around the apartment, often breaking their kiss with more admissions of love.

“I love you, Ina. With all my heart. You know pieces of my past and so I was scared to say it. I know we haven’t officially been together for long, but what I feel for you, it’s beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. I am...deeply in love with you, however scary it may seem.”

“Read the caption under the stars, my love.”

Quietly, Luna descended from Ina’s arms and picked up the poster she’d just been gifted. Under the stars was a small quote. 

I love you, what star do you live on? - Conrad Aiken 

Ina Kingsley and Luna Garcia

The Day the Stars Aligned. September 6, 2020 | 4 AM | Dreams Diner, New York 

“I love you so much you big nerd,” Luna beamed and wiped away the tears that began forming at the corner of her eyes. “I love you, Ina Kingsley.”

“Sol.”

“Sun? My name, Luna, means moon in Spanish. But I guess I’m your sun too.”

“You are. By the way, I know that, Lu.” Luna gave her a ‘really? are you sure about that’ look. “I am fluent in Spanish thank you very much! I learned it before English!”

“As did I,” Luna retorted.

“Right, well. My middle name. It’s Sol.”

~

A few months later...

“I can’t believe I’m here,” Ina laughed.

“Honestly, same.”

“What? You basically coerced me into coming!” Ina exclaimed. “I thought we were going to the museum.”

“We will after if you’re up to it. And you would’ve come regardless. You love me too much.”

“Touché.”

“Such a little simp.”

“And?”

“No, nothing,” Luna said quickly. She proceeded to whisper simp once again under her breath.

A strong, tatted man opened the dark curtains, letting the establishment soak in the sunlight.

“How can I help you?” he asked.

“We’re here for tattoos!” Luna said happily.

“Yes, well, we are at a tattoo parlor,” Ina retorted.

“Sorry. Don’t mind her. She’s just grumpy all the time.”

Ina made a face at Luna, her brows furrowed in frustration. Just through that look, Luna knew not to pester Ina once more. She gave her a ‘you’re in trouble when we get home’ look.

“You both are willingly getting tattoos?” the man asked. It was definitely more directed towards Ina.

Bashfully, Ina nodded. Never in a million years did she think she’d do this. A tattoo. Jesus Christ. Luna was right. If she pulled out a Merriam-Webster dictionary, she knew she’d find a full page photo of herself next to the word simp - a word they’d specifically added just for her.

“What are you guys looking for? Something small, something big? Something plain, something colorful?”

Who was this man? Dr. Seuss’s son? Ina thought to herself.

“Just something small. Maybe on my hip or something,” Luna answered for the both of them as Ina nodded in agreement.

As fun as this little bonding activity was, both women were professionals. Nothing could be too blatantly obvious. Potentially hypothetically, Ina couldn’t have her students ask her about her new tattoo rather than anthropology.

“Do you guys have any designs you want me to copy?” the man asked as he put on gloves.

“Umm...I didn’t have anything in specific in mind. Maybe her name or something that reminds me of her? A rose maybe?” Luna began rambling as her thoughts took over.

The two women stood aside in silence, pondering what they would get. It was unlike them - they were always prepared for everything.

“Hey, Luna,” Ina turned to face her partner. “Why don’t we get a sun and moon?”

“Aww, Ina,” she smiled.

Goddamn those heart eyes, Ina thought.

“Okay, why don’t you get a moon and I’ll get a sun,” Luna said. “That way I’ll always be reminded of you, and you me.”

“I’d like nothing more, my love.”

And after being called a baby multiple times by Luna and a few blaring yelps - mostly on Ina’s part - they were permanently linked by ink. 

“I love you but I am never ever doing that again, Luna.”

[chemicallywrit]

Hey I read watership down when I was 6 because that was the age my dad read it and I didn’t really understand it because I didn’t know what things like construction were but I still have nightmares about being skinned and also became convinced that I could see the future so here I am asking you about watership down.

Wow Fiver i’m so honored to meet you, thank you for the ask~

I read Watership Down in fifth grade and what I loved about it was the mythology and language, because like most nerdy fifth graders I was obsessed with mythology and code languages. I was just starting to get into Redwall at the time too, so did I start to write some anthropomorphic animal adventures? of COURSE I did, but there was something complex I couldn’t quite nail, because I didn’t quite understand it--

I read Watership Down in high school when I was in AP Government, when I was old enough to get salty about my teacher spouting political opinions to her students like she was talking to her friends in the group chat, and this time the line that stuck out to me was in a footnote: “In the Sandleford warren at this time, the Owsla was rather military in character (though, as will be seen later, not as military as some).”

And while that selfsame teacher was trying to get us to debate complex issues like the needs of the few over the rights of many without simplifying issues down to useless platitudes, I realized that if leaders aren’t willing to adapt and change, then they will eventually be killed. I was voted president of the honors society next year, even though I was an unpopular nerd that everyone thought was Mormon, and I had to assess leadership and politics in a way I never had before, despite my gov teacher’s best efforts--

I read Watership Down during a summer internship in Georgia, where the nearest person I knew was three states away and the only friendship I experienced was from a tiny church group that practiced prophecy and faith healing, and had my parents warning me about signs that you’ve joined a cult, and I was lonesome as Fiver under the willow tree in the rain, and Fiver told me that “a thing can be true and still be desperate folly.” And I held my new friends at a distance and watched them as they poured forth sermons without substance, and I longed for home, I longed to go uphill to someplace high and away--

I read Watership Down in grad school after the church I loved began to tear itself to pieces, an absolute joke of pride and misogyny and selfishness, when the pastor who hadn’t even been very present in the church to begin with started traveling to his other ministry more and more, and the guest speakers started teaching numerology from the pulpit, and I told my brother, sitting next to me, I can’t go to the potluck. I can’t stand it. I can’t pretend that everything is fine anymore. And I left my church. Zorn, zorn, all zorn.

But my friends stayed with me. The Bible study I’d been co-leading drifted into an inter-church outreach, and some other members left the church too, but we stayed together, and no one stopped us because no one cared much about the millennials and zoomers anyway. And I felt like Bigwig, blunt and bothered and never one to hold my tongue, being told by someone much wiser that they were glad to have me along--

I read Watership Down after I left my first job after graduation. I still didn’t know anyone after being out of state for eight years. I hated that job, but the limbo afterward, in which I was unsure, once again, if I could pay my rent, if I could afford my student loans, if my credit card was going to penalize me again, if I was going to be overdrawn again, if there was anything I was going to be able to eat besides raman...My heart was in the frost. But I wasn’t quite alone. Not far now, Hlao-roo, not far now.

My copy got stolen out of my car, along with my scientific calculator, which I was actually more upset about. Those things are expensive. When I was free from the frost again, I bought another copy.

I’m going to read Watership Down again. I read it whenever I need something familiar and comforting and encouraging.

Watership Down is a story about nature and rabbits. Watership Down is a story about leadership and politics. But ultimately, Watership Down is the story of a group of people who decide that what they’ve been promised by their god and their hero is true, that there is a place for them in this world, and that place is worth fighting for, even if all you can do is tell stories to keep people calm, even if all you can do is dig a little deeper and settle in, even if all you can do is run.

All the world will be your enemy, and when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, Digger, Listener, Runner. Be cunning and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed.

[octothorpetopus]

Who Loves You? (Penelope Garcia x Derek Morgan)

Derek Morgan’s in love. That much is clear. But with who?

Penelope Garcia, in short, has no idea what to expect when Derek Morgan walks into her office at 7 o’clock sharp on a quiet Friday morning in late October. It’s not unusual for him to show up so early, he often stops in before hitting the gym before work. But he doesn’t have his gym bag with him this morning, that’s the first thing she notices when he walks in the door. The second thing she notices is that he looks tired, like he hasn’t slept in a week.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Penelope?” He asks, and her heart drops. It’s Penelope. Not babygirl. Penelope. Still, she smiles as wide as she can manage and leans back in her ergonomic swivel chair, steepling her fingers.

“Of course. What can I do for you today, mi amor?”

“I’ve been thinking about something, and I think I just need to-“ he gestures vaguely. “-talk it out with someone. With you.”

“Talk to me, Derek. What’s going on? Is it work? Your mom? A girl?” He flinches, as if surprised. Penelope gasps and claps her hands together. “Oh my god, it is a girl! Who is she?” Derek shakes his head.

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“I didn’t sleep last night. At all.”

“Derek, I don’t need to hear about how you got laid last night.” As a matter of fact, Penelope Garcia wants nothing less than to hear about Derek’s new girlfriend. Still, she flips a pen between her fingers and steels herself.

“No, it’s not- this girl and I, we’re friends. Good friends. And I love that we’re friends. It’s a good friendship, you know?”

“Sure.”

“And I spent so long being friends with her that I never even considered... you know.”

“What, love? It’s not a dirty word, babe.”

“Anyway, after... everything that happened last week, I’ve given my life a lot of thought.” Last week, Derek had nearly died at the hands of Billy Flynn. Penelope can’t remember ever being so worried for him as she had been, or as angry as she was after he had yelled at her. But then he had bought her dinner and apologized approximately seven hundred thousand times, and she forgave him. “And I couldn’t sleep last night because I realized...” He swallows hard, like the words won’t come out of his mouth unless he forces them.

“Derek,” she says gently but firmly, and takes his hands in hers. “Tell me. Whatever it is you’re trying to say, tell me.”

“I realized I don’t want to be her friend. Well, I do, but I don’t just want to be her friend. You know?”

“Yeah.” Penelope chuckles breathlessly. “I do.”

“Well, I spent all of last night trying to figure out what to tell her. When to tell her. How to tell her.”

“And you want my advice? Aw.” Penelope batted her eyelashes.

“I can go talk to Hotch, babygirl-“

“No, no.” She thought for a moment, tapping her pen against her chin all the while. “Tell her... tell her that loving her and being her friend aren’t mutually exclusive. Tell her that being her friend makes your love go that much deeper and that much stronger. Tell her that being her friend wasn’t just a step to loving her but that it’s the simple basis of the reason you love her.” Penelope took a deep breath. “Tell her that, and if she still doesn’t fall in love with you, she never will.” He considers her momentarily, and Penelope shifts in her seat. Her confusion only deepens when he kneels in front of her. When he looks up at her, his eyes are earnest.

“Loving you as my friend and just plain loving you aren’t different things,” he says. What is he doing? Practicing? “I love you because you’re my friend, not in spite of it. I’m not your friend because I love you, I love you because you’re my friend. And I just... love you.” Penelope smiles and clears her throat.

“That was really good, Derek. She’s going to fall in love with you, I guarantee it.”

“No, Pen, I-“ He sighs, shaking his head, and rises to his feet. “That’s not-“ And that’s when he does something very odd. He spins Penelope around by her shoulders to face him, takes her face in his hands, and kisses her. He’s warm and smells like Old Spice and coffee and the geraniums he has planted on his fire escape. Penelope freezes, unable to think. So. He wasn’t practicing then. When he releases her, she blinks rapidly, her eyes wide. The office is silent except for Derek’s heavy breathing and the soft sound of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons over Penelope’s computer speakers. His hands are still radiating warmth into her cheeks, and with one hesitant, but not quite shaky, hand, Penelope reaches up and wipes a smear of dark pink lipstick off of Derek’s upper lip.

“So it was me.”

“Yeah, babygirl, it was you. It’s always been you.”

“You love me.”

“That’s about the size of it, yeah.” Penelope leans back in her chair and lets out a long, slow breath. “What? Should I not have- I shouldn’t have done that. Damn it.”

“No! No.” Penelope grabs Derek’s hand and squeezes it. “That- I- no. You definitely should have done it. But, um, I just don’t... get it.”

“What’s there to not get?”

“Nothing, exactly, but...” Penelope sighs and rubs her temples. “I love you, Derek, but in my brain, I thought when you were flirting with me- I thought that was just, you know, how you are.”

“I’m still confused, what’s the issue here?”

“The issue, Derek, is that in all the years I’ve known you, I never even considered that you were flirting with me because you liked me!”

“To be fair, Penelope, neither did I until a couple of weeks ago!”

“And that’s exactly the point.” Penelope smiles, but there’s something a little bitter there. “What if you don’t? What if it’s all in your head? What if you’ve just convinced yourself that you love me because I’m just, like, the only woman who’s close to you and knows all your secrets and knows that you like your coffee with more sugar than you say and knows that you play the cello and knows that you still have a stuffed panda bear your dad gave you in your closet?”

“Why are you so convinced about this, Pen? Didn’t you hear what I said?” That’s when Penelope snaps. She jumps to her feet and begins pacing the room, waving her hands as she speaks.

“Because in the movies, the girl like me doesn’t get the guy like you, Derek! And that’s not to say I don’t think I deserve a guy like you. I know my worth. But the guy like you ends up with a girl like Emily or JJ. Not me.”

“And what exactly do you mean, ‘a girl like you?’” Derek leans against her desk and folds his arms across his chest. “A smart, funny, beautiful, and overwhelmingly kind one?”

“Sure, but I’m also loud. And weird. And nerdy. And I dress like this.” Penelope gestures down at her dress, which is patterned with big yellow, green, and blue abstract shapes.

“So? Babygirl, have you learned nothing since you started working here? Real life isn’t like the movies. In real life, there are no guys like me and there are certainly no girls like you. There are just people. And even if there were, a guy like me would get to fall in love with whoever he wanted to. A guy like me could fall in love with an Emily or a JJ or, hell, even a Spencer, if he wants to. And I want to fall in love with you, Penelope Garcia.” Penelope stopped her pacing and sniffed.

“That was some speech.”

“Thank you. I try.” He stands and crosses the room until he’s facing her. With one hand, he tips her chin up until her eyes meet his.

“I just have to ask. Once. And I’ll never ask again.” She wrings her hands, but manages to calm her breathing. “Are you sure? About me? About us?” He smiles, the wide, brilliantly white, toothy grin that she fell head-over-heels for the first time she saw it.

“I’ve spent my whole life waiting for the day when a beautiful, kind, funny girl-“

“Don’t forget smart.”

“Right, and smart. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for the day a girl like that would love me just as much as I love her. Now, it’s been a lot of years that I’ve had that dream. Are you gonna ruin it for me, babygirl?” Penelope doesn’t answer, at least not verbally, she just throws her arms around Derek’s neck and kisses him. He doesn’t even pause, just wraps his arms around her waist. She’s just running out of breath when the door to her lair opens. They jump apart, panting, but it’s too late. Aaron Hotchner stands in the doorway, his hand still on the door handle, his eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open.

“We’ve got a case. JJ’s ready to brief us. I was just coming down to get- um, to get you, Garcia.” Hotch clears his throat. His eyes dart around the room, refusing to make eye contact. “But we need both of you in the briefing room.”

“Right. We’ll be right there.” Hotch opens his mouth as if to say something else, but he appears to think better of it and backs out, closing the door behind him.

“Well, that’s not ideal,” Penelope says, sitting back down in her chair.

“Crap. We’re in deep trouble.”

“Please. We’ll be fine. Hotch and Emily practically invented inter-office romance.” Derek’s head snaps up.

“What?”

“Never mind. Don’t worry about it. Point is, Hotch won’t get us in trouble.”

“Good.” Derek nods and shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. “Okay. Well. Um, bye.” He leans down to kiss the top of her head, a familiar and comfortable gesture, and after a moment of hesitation, presses a soft kiss to her lips. “Bye,” he says again.

“You know we’re going to the same place, right?” He stops halfway to the door.

“Yep. I knew that. I definitely knew that.”

“Walk me to the briefing room?” Penelope asks, sidling up to him.

“Always,” he replies, and holds out his arm, which she takes. This is not the first time she has taken his arm, and it is far from the last, but it is the first time that when she takes it, he kisses her cheek. It is the first time that she knows for certain that the butterflies in his stomach are going just as wild as the ones in hers. “Thank you,” he says, his eyes fixed on the hall in front of him.

“For what?”

“For letting me love you.” Penelope squeezes his arm.

“My pleasure, Mr. Morgan.”

“That’s Agent Morgan.”

“Whatever you say.”