#( trotting away to do something obnoxious )

[hostradio]

people  are  being  STUPID  again!  talk  about  your  typical  friday!

[thepastdied]

hi! i was wondering if i could have something with virgin!eddie cumming in his pants or too early and he’s whimpering and whining about it but reader lets him know that she finds it hot? thank you in advance if you do it! if not then thank you for letting me ask at least 😊

Yes, yes- and yes. Of fucking COURSE. This is actually one of the drafts I started!! I love this request 💕

18 + MDNI SMUT

virgin!eddie munson x cheerleader!reader

Word Count: ~1.7k

You'd kissed before. Once. It was only several seconds, and he was so awkward and sweet that it made you fall harder for him. You thought that maybe he'd ask you out after that, but sadly, he's been acting all weird and shy around you since. He was still his goofy self, but whenever you stood too close, he would clam up and make up a dumb excuse as to why he had to go. 

"Welp- gotta go see my friend John." He'd blurt before clumsily throwing himself into the boys bathroom.

You'd been relentlessly flirting with him for the last week. Week and a half? You lost count. You began upping up the amp a little more each day until he got red in the face and it made you go nuts.

Eddie was at his locker, scratching his nose as he quizzically looked around his basically empty locker.

"I swear it was in here- Jesus fucking Christ!" His back hit the wall as he gripped his chest, eyes wild as he finally noticed you'd been standing just a foot behind him.

"Jeez, you're on edge." You snorted at him.

He swallowed and lightly shrugged before slamming his locker shut and spitting his hair from his lips.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, sweetheart?" His eyes left yours and landed on the obnoxiously loud group of jocks that were trotting down the hallway, all hyped up and ready for the game.

Yeah, in your pants.

"Miss you, Eddie.." You stepped forward once the hallway was cleared and gripped his vest, pulling him closer. A whimper bubbled in his throat.

"Y..you miss me?" Eddie blinked a few times, mouth slightly agape when you took your bottom lip in between your teeth and nodded.

You harshly pulled him from the locker and just a short way down the hall, stopping in front of the janitor's closet and ripping the door open.

"Holy shit you're strong- Oh my god, what are you doing?" He stumbled into the closet and held his hands up as you took your hair out of your ponytail sexily. "Okay- You look like you want to chew me up and spit me out-"

"Eddie." You snapped.

"What.." He breathed, licking his lips as he watched you do the same and letting his shoulders slump down.

"Shut up." You stalked toward him and smirked as he dumbly nodded, placing his hands on your hips as you wrapped yours around his neck and pulling him down.

Eddie's eyes warmly looked into yours, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

"You're really pret-" He mumbled but was cut off as his nose touched yours when you pushed yourself onto your toes.

Your fingers dug into the nape of his neck as you crashed your lips into his. It was harsh yet still sweet, your tongue sliding across his bottom lip before biting down. He made a noise that you'd never imagine he could make and pulled your hips tightly against his and, fuck, he was hard. You wanted to hear that noise again.

You pulled away from him, moving your head back slightly and tutting when he chased your lips. Your hands slid down his body, feeling his heart hammer when they moved over his chest and body shiver when they met his torso and pelvis. Your fingers brushed against his hard on through his tight jeans before palming him firmly. Eddie's hand shot out to grab onto a shelf, taking a few steps backward to lean against the wall. You stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his neck, sucking and nibbling there as he moaned and panted, snaking a hand up your side and toward your breasts. 

"You're so hard, Eddie. All I did was kiss you." You laughed and shook your head, placing messy kisses up his neck and along his jaw, his rough stubble scraping against your lips.

"You wanna touch me?" You raised your brows as you looked into his glazed eyes.

"Y-yeah.. right here.." He somehow managed to muster, eyes darting to your boobs that were covered by your cheer uniform. "-please."

"Since you're such a good boy and answered without hesitation, of course. But you need to take my top off." You smirked up at him, another challenge.

Eddie audibly gulped as he pursed his lips. His hands were sweaty and fingers nimble. He'd thought about you touching him so, so many times. Having you whimper as he groped all over your body, chanting his name as you fucked yourself on his cock and he gave you praises. But when it came to actually being close to you, his flight response kicked in. You made him so nervous he wanted to throw up, but this was his opportunity to give it to you the way he wanted, the way you deserved. Hard. Messy. Deep.

But there was one very, very big problem.

He was a virgin and had no idea where to start.

You were completely overpowering him and it wasn't going how he imagined, but he was absolutely loving it nonetheless.

He took a deep breath through his nose and balled the hem of your uniform in his hands before swiftly pulling it over your head, grabbing onto your bare waist and pulling you flush against him.

That tiny spark of confidence quickly faded, but he mentally applauded himself for his brave action and for pulling out a shocked reaction from you. 

"What.. what now?" He cleared his throat when it cracked and glued his eyes to the pale pink bra you wore, the lace embellishments looking so delicate against your soft skin.

"Wow, Munson. I knew you had it in you." You palmed him harder. "Touch me."

"Fuck.. thank you." He whispered, groping his hands on the underside of your breasts, rubbing his thumb over where your nipples were under the fabric and feeling them harden.

He watched as the swell of your breasts puffed up as he squeezed, sighing at the sight and leaning down to kiss at the stretch marks on the top of your breasts.

You removed your hand from his crotch and tangled your fingers in his hair, pulling him more into you and humming when he trailed his lips up to your collarbone, sucking the skin there and leaving a couple marks right where your skin is exposed when wearing your uniform. He grunted when you tugged and pulled away, slapping his hand on the back of your thigh just below your ass and lifting your leg up. You jumped and wrapped your legs around his waist. Eddie's nails bit harshly into your thighs as you pulled him tighter, his back up against the dusty and grimy wall of the janitor's closet.

"S-shit." He hissed when you set your pussy harder into his dick, grinding yourself against him and moaning as you threw your head back, your juices soaking through your panties and leaving a patch on his jeans. His grip got more harsh and he shut his eyes tightly when he looked down and noticed.

"Eddie! You're leaving marks-"

"Well l-let them see, then. Will… oh fuck… will s-show them you're taken." He splayed his hands over the crescents left behind from his nails.

He stepped toward the small table and set you down, roughly and feverntly grinding his hips into yours, whimpering as he watched where your bodies met.

"Want you inside me, Eddie."

"Want me to f-fill you up, huh? I can… I can do that-" He choked and stiffened, eyes wide.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck wait stop-" He whimpered, panting and begging for you to stop your movements. 

A guttural moan erupted from his chest, his body falling forward onto yours as he bucked against you and muffled his moan against your breast. He made that noise from earlier and it almost made you cum, your legs slightly shaking. There was a moment of silence before he pushed himself off you, guilt and shame apparent on his face.

"God, I really ruined it, didn't I? I'm so sorry- I'll- I'll do better next time, I swear. If you don't wanna do it again, though, I totally get it, this is horrible. Shit, I'm such a loser. It's so pathetic-"

"Eddie."

"What."

"Shut up."

He pouted and hung his head down and looked at the large wet stain on his black jeans, huffing and shaking his head in disappointment. He continued to chastise himself and kicked at nonexistent dirt on the floor.

"Could have made you feel real good, y'know? And it's my first time doin' stuff. I didn't get to... fill you up.." He sighed and looked at you sadly as he whined.

You reached your hands out to him, pulling him to stand in between your open legs.

"That.. was so fucking hot." You grabbed his cheeks so he could look at you, his eyes lighting up in surprise "Like, it almost made me cum, Eddie." 

"Really..?" He gaped.

"Alriiiiiight, Tiiiiiiigerrrrrrrrs! The game will start in 8 minutes! Head down to the gymnasium!" Prinicple Higgin's voice boomed from the intercom and echoed throughout the hallways. 

Eddie gritted his teeth and quickly placed his hands on your knees and spread your legs, attaching his mouth to your clothed pussy and sloppily mouthing at it.

"Oh… oh my God." Your hands found his hair as you gasped loudly in surprise and pleasure. 

"Fuck, you taste good." He palmed himself and felt his dick slightly harden again.

"Last call! 5 minutes everyone!!"

Eddie clumsily unbluckled his belt and pressed his cum soaked boxers against your core.

"Five-" He thrust against you "fucking-" harder this time "minutes?!" Seconds later you comvulsed at the wet sensation, a high pitched moan following your fast pants.

"You.. you came?" He slowed his movements as he came to a stop.

You gave him a lazy nod in response, only having a minute to collect yourself before you had to run down the hall for cheer.

"Woah.. that was hot." He chuckled and grabbed a roll of paper towels, wiping up whatever he could and handing you your shirt before untucking his own to cover the stain on his pants.

"Come over tonight." You softly demanded as you pulled your shirt on and quickly put your hair back into a ponytail. You placed two hands on his chest and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "After Hellfire, of course." 

Eddie gave you a wide grin and nodded.

"Of course, baby." 

You bit your lip at the pet name, pulling him into a firm kiss before you peeked your head out from the closet, looking at the empty hallways. 

You both stepped out and looked at eachother.

"Ew, a freak, get away from me." You jokingly teased as you started trotting down the hall, blowing him a kiss.

"Ew, a cock hungry slut, get away from me." He flipped you off before catching your kiss and holding it to his chest, stumbling backward and grinning as you gave him one last wave and disapeared around the corner.

[kiame-sama]

I remembered how the HAE!human told ruggie in early chapters that humans can mimic sounds, and I think it'd be funny if the human ended up sometimes messing with the guys using this apparently unknown ability

hae!human having their back to whoever's in the room, doing something, and just randomly making the most sad and pathetic 'mrow' sound to see how the guys will react to a random cat.

said cat seems to be heard every couple days or so, but no one can find it (human does not meow if they know someone in the room has good enough hearing to easily pinpoint where the sound came from since it'd give them away)

yknow what else would be funny and neat? human not even realizing that they mimic the guys' sounds. hissing or growling when annoyed, trilling when happy, Indignant Peacock Sounds when annoyed, etc etc

Now I'm just thinking about messing with them. It would be mean to cause them too much stress with sound mimicry, some are beastly in how territorial they get.

Like, Vil is having a nice walk in the sun, fluffing and preening his feathers? Make a male Peacock call and watch him get all upset and indignant that another Peacock dare enter his territory. He will be strutting and wildly searching for this interloper. It makes him incredibly angry when he can't find the outsider.

Whooping any time Ruggie is tormenting other students and watching him glance around, responding with his own whoops to try and find the other Gnoll.

Purring can be taken different ways depending on who hears it. Trein, Malleus, and Divus take it as an affectionate sound meant for times of extreme comfort. Lilia will think the Human is inviting him to mate because he only purrs prior to mating, so explain yourself quickly. He will be disappointed.

Make a Mourning Dove call near Neige and he will respond with his own mournful call and try to find this new Harpy friend. He will be happy to see it is the Human and be bashful that the Human is using a Mourning Dove call.

Howl and Jack won't be able to stop himself from responding with an equally loud howl. It makes him happy to hear other wolves especially if he knows the Human is the one howling. Do this often, it makes him happy, just not when he is eating.

Make goat yells/baas anywhere near Ace or Deuce and they are likely to try and find the offending party. Ace may think it is Deuce trying to challenge him, and Deuce will think it is Ace trying to challenge him. This will result in both first-years headbutting each other until one gives or teachers/Riddle/Trey breaks up the fight.

Whinny/Neigh/Snort near Trey or Riddle and they will begin whinnying back and trying to find this strange lost horse/centaur.

Snorting around Vargas makes him start kicking his hooves and lowering his horns with loud snorts of his own. He does not realize there isn't another Minotaur bull around and he will try to rally his class into a close herd so he can circle and kick his feet. The class thinks it is hilarious and Vargas still has no idea there isn't a random Minotaur bull hanging around the school and it is just the Human snorting like a bull. Be nice and don't do it often, it is very upsetting to Vargas.

Though it would be tough to replicate- and he is a Reindeer Cervitaur, not an Elk Cervitaur- Silver will lose his absolute mind if you can make an Elk bugle sound. We're talking rearing, stamping his hooves, snorting, tail up and trotting with purpose as he searches for the source and rattles his antlers against things. He gets very upset with other male Cervitaur not in his Herd (the Hoard) anywhere near those he loves. Lilia treats it like some kind of dramatic dance or show every time Silver gets worked up like this. Don't do this often, for Silver's sake, it genuinely upsets him and makes him stressed.

Caw at Crowley and you two will be making that sound back and forth for hours. He is loud and obnoxious about his cawing and most will want to yell at both him and the Human to stop. He is so happy you are trying to learn his language, little chick!

[hybbart]

Day 2170: Jimmy makes the mistake of searching for their missing goat...

Short story below

It started with a head count of the sheep, when Jimmy realized three were missing. Three sheep and one obnoxious ruddy goat he never seemed able to shake no matter how early in the morning they took off or how distracted it was when they did so. They weren’t his sheep. For all he knew, Bigb had come along and taken them to slaughter (Three at once was far too much for their flock) or for shearing (there weren’t any that needed shearing). But the stupid goat missing even when Jimmy placed himself in prime headbutting position right in front of the manure stall was too strange to ignore. So, he went on a search.

The first thing he should have done was tell Tango. Jimmy wanted to, but it had been over a week since he saw the man before dinner. Besides, there was no way to know if he was somewhere Jimmy could reach. They let Tango have free reign so he could work, but without Bigb’s escort Jimmy’s movement within the so-called kingdom was limited. So, he stupidly wandered off alone after his work, straining his flight muscles to do so. No one told an avian where they could go.

He heard the ear splitting scream first. Distressed bleats, drowned out by the shuffling of feet and groans of the dead. It led him to the edge of Ren’s kingdom, beyond reinforced fences. Stubbornness more than anything flew him over it. The stupid goat screamed again, echoing through the buildings that were growing in height. It was coming from the overpass.

A ruddy face poked over the rail, and then screamed at Jimmy. “You wretched little beast, what are you doing?” He shouted back at it. Jimmy could hear them above, dozens if not hundreds of stumbling steps just out of sight, and the terrified bleats. He sprinted up the walkway. Just grab the stupid goat and run.

Then he tripped. Over what he never saw, something that seemed like it hadn’t been there. But he tripped nonetheless, and he went face first into the pavement. Jimmy had barely pushed up off the ground, ready to yell at the goat standing only a few feet ahead for causing him so much trouble. Then the ground exploded. Instinct pulled him into the air, but he was too caught off-guard to fly and only tossed himself up further. At least he wore his coat, or his arms might not have any skin left from how far he skidded across the pavement.

The world spun. His ears rang. Something snapped its pus and algae-coated jaws right in Jimmy’s face. He stumbled back into the stupid goat. Zombies. A whole pack. They completely surrounded them, held back only by feeble makeshift barriers that were already starting to collapse. The sheep trotted about, searching for an escape that no longer existed. It only riled the zombies further.

Of course this was how he would die. The world ends and he finds paradise with his rancher in the middle of it all for a few years, only to have it burnt out from under him and get torn apart alone in a city street anyways. He hated that stupid goat so much.

A rattle and crack. The first barrier fell. Zombies roared to life, shoving each other so they might get to Jimmy first. He tried to flutter away but the ground was suddenly above him and his wings slapped uselessly against a rail. In the far distance beyond the ring of his bones and blood in his veins he thought he heard his name.

The world went dark, then exploded. Once there was a zombie reaching out for him and then there was blood-splattered ivory. The force with which the spikes locked together created a gust that knocked Jimmy and the surrounding zombies onto their butts. They slowly drew apart, serrated edges grinding away what little flesh had not popped like a rotten egg. In the brief moment the rest of the zombies were stunned an enormous paw slammed down, crushing several zombies beneath.

Jimmy stared up in stunned silence as a form loomed over them. A great beast of a dog, if the dog’s ribs and shoulders had been replaced with human bones and forced into something vaguely reminiscent of a human chest under all the canine musculature. Limbs extended for bipedal motion bent into a quadrupedal position.

Existence look painful, in so many ways. It took it out on unaware zombies. They clawed and bit at its flesh but they were little more than fleas, lacking even the strength to penetrate its thick hide through all its fur. The beast let them, so focused on tearing others apart.

One zombie dragged its half-body all the way up its muzzle, reaching for its eye. Then its head was gone. Tattered remains of its skull splattered across the beast’s cheek while an explosion burnt Jimmy’s ears. A second shot, right through its chest, and the corpse fell away while the beast howled a too-human noise.

“Jimmy!”

“Stop, don’t go up there!”

Jimmy’s ears twitched at the familiar voice of his rancher through the ringing, accompanies by Skizz’s voice. His head swivelled behind him, where the back half of the beast’s body hung off the side of the overpass. A single set of black claws clambered over its back. Jimmy let out a distressed whistle, the most his numb body could do in that moment, when Tango leapt across the gap onto the sidewalk and nearly smacked face first into railing. He recovered quickly in his panicked state, eyes wildly searching until they landed on Jimmy and he bolted towards him. “Jimmy, are you okay?!”

“Are you okay.” He repeated back thoughtlessly, reaching out for his rancher as he collapsed beside the avian. “What-”

There was another roar. The beast moved above them. Both ducked into one another. A paw the size of the abandoned cars swatted at a patch of zombies. Panic began to truly set in. Tango’s terror was palpable and soaked through the shock until Jimmy’s wings beat against the concrete. Fly, far away.

“Hey, you jerks!” Skizz landed on the road behind them, grabbing at the stupid goat before it could ram him. “Stop messing around and let’s get outta here!”

They scrambled to their feet, not needing to be told twice. Jimmy almost asked about the goat before he saw it bounding ahead of them like scaling a giant dog-man was typical. There was no time to relax even on the ground, as Skizz yanked them away towards a door. Bigb was already there, cautiously holding it open and trying to hold Revy back. He barricaded the doorway as soon as they were through. Another bang rang outside which Jimmy could now identify as a gunshot.

Frazzled and on an adrenaline rush, Tango pushed past Revy’s worried whines and went straight for the two men. “What the heck was that!”

“Top, buddy, calm down-”

“Don’t tell me to be calm!” He snapped as his fire prickled down his back. “What. Was that.”

Skizz and Bigb glanced at each other warily. “This isn’t exactly how we wanted to tell you guys.” Bigb scratched the back of his head.

“Well, too bad. We’re not leaving this room until you do. That hing nearly squishificated my rancher!”

“Is that what the sheep are for?” Jimmy’s voice came out airy and high, still gasping for breaths. He could feel his heart pounding in the veins of his neck. Revy practically crawled into his lap, trying to lick away the anxiousness as it bled into the poor pup. “Are you keeping something like that as some sort of zombie killing pet? Are you mad?”

Skizz let out a humourless laugh. “A pet! Don’t let Martyn hear that!”

“Shh.” Bigb chastised before taking a deep breath. “That’s not a pet, it’s Ren.”

“Ren?” Jimmy repeated in disbelief.

“It happens like once a month. He just grows and grows all day until he’s... That.”

“And he doesn’t stop until he gets tired.” Skizz interjected. His arms waved wildly. “So we- it was Martyn’s idea. We distract him with the zombies. That way he doesn’t destroy anything. We’ve cleared out half the city with him! And... And, y’know, it’s a ton of fertilizer for the gardens and stuff. It’s like a win-win.”

It was far from what Jimmy would call a win-win. They’d run into many a strange way of living after the end of the world, but this certainly took the cake. And it was one he had no desire to join in on. “We’re leaving.” He declared bluntly, finally pulling himself up off the floor. Tango gave a firm nod as well, joining his rancher’s side.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

It was Martyn, rifle in hand and pointed directly at the ranchers. They huddled together.

“Martyn, c’mon.” Skizz tried to defuse, but backed off when Martyn nudged his rifle towards him for the briefest moment.

“We had a deal. You get your stuff back and then you help us fix the farms. You owe us.”

Jimmy gaped. “You set us up! Don’t think I don’t know!” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bigb flinch, and that was all Jimmy needed to know he was right on the money. “We aren’t gonna live around that thing!”

But Martyn didn’t back down, glaring daggers into them. “Ren can’t help what he is. You got a problem with us making the best of a bad situation?”

“I have a problem with you not telling us one of you turns into a giant murder dog!”

“You wouldn’t have even known if you didn’t go snooping where you shouldn’t!”

“Well, forgive me for not trusting the people with a huge zombie pit who tricked us into being here in the first place!”

“Okay, let’s calm down.” Skizz finally interjected. He paused, waiting to see if they would comply. Jimmy wanted so badly to continue yelling. If it weren’t for them they’d be out on the road still instead of here. They wouldn’t have burnt through so many supplies trying to look for their animals. Jimmy wouldn’t have nearly suffocated several times between the separation and getting their stuff back. Tango would still have his prosthetic intact instead of struggling through the work they pushed onto him one-handed just to earn some scraps.

Martyn finally lowered his gun, glaring at the wall instead of them now. “This is exactly why we didn’t tell you. What else are we supposed to do? If you’re going to be annoying about it at least blame me, Ren’s been nothing but accommodating. You could at least return the courtesy.”

“Accommodating?” Jimmy squawked, wings flared against the ceiling. “Tango hasn’t had a day off in a week, it’s like you’re intentionally not giving him any time to work on rebuilding his arm!”

“Jim.” Tango murmured, voice wary. Jimmy knew what he would say. We’re outnumbered, they have a gun, I still need an arm, you’re not recovered you need to calm your breathing, there’s still a giant dog tearing everything apart outside. All of the many very valid reasons not to pick a fight here and now. Jimmy didn’t want to hear them out loud. He wanted to scream.

Bigb’s the one to step forward. “Look I think we’ve all just... gotten off on the wrong foot!”

Jimmy bristled. “The wrong-”

“If it’s information you want, I think we can give you that. Right?” Martyn looked ready to protest, but Skizz hurriedly nodded in agreement before he could speak up. There was a crash outside that sent Martyn running to his king’s aid, muttering something aggressive over Bigb’s shoulder before he stormed out. “Right. But maybe we should move this somewhere else while we talk?”

The ranchers shared a look. There was nothing Jimmy would prefer more than to tell them to shove it and run off, but Revenge’s whine reminded him they still had their stuff scattered about the kingdom. Tango gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “... Fine. But anymore threats and we’re out of here!” He snapped between gasps. Breathing was becoming difficult.

Skizz and Bigb agreed, solemn as they navigated the group back to the rec building. The closer they got to the more of Ren’s subjects appeared, going about their day, wilfully oblivious to the groans and roars that still vibrated in Jimmy’s ears.

What mess had they stumbled their way into?

[salternateunreality2]

AGSZC Wedding Highlights (crack)

from the @strayheartless archives <3

The ceremony will be quiet, sweet, intimate, possibly an elopement, and the after party/reception will be a literal zoo because Zack will invite every friend he's ever made, which of course includes animals. Naturally, Cloud's dragon aunt and cousin (Asil and Knarf) will also be invited.

Cloud biting Hojo and Sephiroth immediately urging him to let go… because of how gross Hojo is (that can't be healthy for Cloud), not because Hojo is screaming in pain.

Sephiroth and Cloud hiding under a table/in a closet is going to happen. No, not to make out (though that will happen), but to get away from ~the people~.

Sefikura do come out at regular intervals to show love for their partners by braving the humans. They emerge together, holding hands, and go greet family members or dance with AGZ for 30 minutes at a time, then they make eye contact from across the room and go rescue each other.

"Excuse me, Aunt Rachel, it was lovely meeting you, but it looks like my new husband needs a break" *scuttles off to rescue Cloud from a dance with Cousin Casey*

"Oh, my new husband looks like he needs me, thanks for the dance, bye" *skitter skitter skitter*

AGZ being so proud of them and grateful that they're pushing through AND taking care of themselves.

The Strifes defend the new husbands from obnoxious relatives (some lines borrowed from the illustrious @strayheartless)

Cloud: *materializes out of nowhere* Hello, Genevieve Rhapsodos. I heard you were saying this cake was triggering your asthma because of the gluten. You meant celiac disease. Which you don't have and didn't warn us about. Furthermore-

Sephiroth: Nope, back to the table *drags Cloud away, desperately grabbing his hands so he can't flip her off*

Zack: *laughing his ass off*

Gillian: You had that coming.

Angeal: *trying not to laugh and come up with an apology*

Genevieve: *sputtering indignantly* Are you going to let him talk to me like that?!

Genesis: *smirking* Yep.

Claudia: How's that for a country bumpkin, bitch? *shoves cake in her mouth*

Genevieve: Are you going to let HER talk to me like that?!

Genesis: I don't LET the Strifes do anything. They do what they want. If you want to fight her, go ahead and good luck, mother.

Claudia: If you need me, I'll be under the table with them having delicious, gluten-filled cake, mmmmm!

-----

(((For context, Asil is Claudia's dragon mom friend, as discussed here, and Knarf is Asil's dragon son)))

Hojo: *shows up, starts making a scene with security. Apparently being bitten wasn't warning enough.*

Claudia: I smell bitch. Be right back. ASIL!

Hojo: *suddenly gains the power of flight via dragon*

Knarf: *is raiding the buffet, his mom can handle this*

Hollander: *skedaddles with a pocket full of cake after seeing what happened to Hojo*

Knarf: *pops his head under the table to lick the boys then trots off because he smelled Scientist with CAKE*

Hollander: *is about to learn a valuable lesson about dragon tracking abilities*

Claudia: *adopts Sephiroth on the spot and pats his head because she's awkward and doesn't know what to do. It's the perfect thing to do.*

Genesis sneaks each of his boys away to dance in the night air at some point, just the two of them in a circle of fire he lit with his materia skills to show off.

Angeal makes sure everyone eats, especially Cloud, who was nervous before the ceremony, and Genesis and Zack, who simply forgot.

Sephiroth whisks each husband away to look at the stars together and fumbles through a few lines of the individualized love letters he wrote for them.

He knew he wanted to do something like this and wound up asking Cloud's friend Tifa, who walked him through romantic ideas, and encouraged him to write them each a letter if he was uncomfortable speaking it all out loud. Once he had a structure, the rest was easy. Each of them cherishes their letter to this day.

Zack worked really hard to smooth the way for everyone socially, and also gave each of his men a special, meaningful wrapped gift.

Cloud pulled each one into a random hallway, got on his tiptoes, and kissed them.

He's not the biggest on physical affection, so they were all thrilled that he agreed to marry him despite his hang-ups AND that he's initiating a lot. They're all out of their minds and over the moon over how incredibly cute he is.

He also told them each the same thing, trying to be romantic. And, well...

"I'd kill a god for you and rip out their innards with my teeth".

He...probably should have asked Tifa for help. They love it anyway.

After the party, they take their time on their honeymoon to chill in each other's company.

That suits Angeal just fine, because even neurotypicals get worn out by socializing, and he LOVES cuddling his boys.

Cloud gnaws on a lot of stuff in happiness.

Sephiroth is purring non-stop, and they all take turns laying on his chest.

Everyone passes Cloud around like a prize and he puts up with it because it's THEM.

Everyone simultaneously decides to dogpile Angeal and thank him for all he does for them while suffocating him to the happiest death ever.

Besides marital activities, cough cough, there will be a lot of...

Them play fighting in the long grass. Them getting ticks in the long grass. Them being treated by Angeal and told not to go back into the long grass. Them going back anyway because one of them (Zack) found the coolest bug ever. Genesis setting fire to the long grass because he hates bugs. All the ticks dying because he firagas the shit out of the long grass. Angeal sighing about the long grass. Sephiroth pulling out his textbook knowledge and saying it's fine, the grass will come back, but the ticks won't, and really, they did the world a service. (I KNOW THIS IS NOT SCIENTIFIC, LET A SALT DREAM)

Them all stargazing in the burnt field, Cloud falling asleep almost right away, sandwiched between two of his husbands. Zack asking to be carried home when it's time, then falling asleep in Sephiroth's arms. AGS putting the spiky ones to bed together and taking so many cute pictures as the pair automatically gravitates to each other.

They stumble across a Hojo lab and discover their new children: the Remnants and some Chadleys.

Zack: I love all our babies 🥰 we should have more! Video of Zack with his babies

Sephiroth: Alright, let's find another lab to raid.

Angeal: *reading documents* WHAT THE FUCK, HOJO?!

Cloud: ikr even after Asil ate him we're still finding his experiments. They're hella cute experiments, but still.

Genesis: *at the babies* STOP CHEWING ON YOUR BROTHER.

[daniellesimagines]

Where You Go (Eddie Munson)

word count: 13,130 requested by: absolutely no one pronouns: she/her warnings: lots of swears (sorry), major character death, mentioned character deaths, mentions of murder and dying in a fire, mentions of depression and weed, survivor’s guilt, wildly non-canonical timeline (im serious yall, there are a lot of creative liberties taken with that one), also yn is 18!!! (not tryna commit any crimes here @ fbi) fandom: stranger things au type: high school summary: you have a crush on eddie; the only problem is he’s only interested in your best friend. however, a tragic event brings you two together in more ways than you bargained for inspired by: dream, also heavily inspired by/using scenes from season 4 (i use tvshowtranscripts for exact lines and they don’t put who said it, so i’m sorry if some are wrong!!) authors notes: i’m trying a thing where i don’t split this up into parts, so i hope it’s not too long!!! also this is my first eddie fic so pls be nice to me :((( other parts: none

❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀

Hawkins High School was nothing if not predictable. 

When movies and TV portrayed what it was like to be a teenager, you were sure they’d gotten their ideas straight from your school. Sports were everything, the popular cheerleaders dated the star athletes, the weird kids were outcast from the rest, and you were just...there.

You weren’t a particularly gifted student, nor were you fairly well-known, and you certainly weren’t athletic. To be honest, you only had one friend. You met your best friend in elementary school, her being on your bus route just one stop before yours.

Chrissy Cunningham was everything you weren’t, but she still kept you around. If it weren’t for the fact that you lived so close and were able to create such a strong bond at an early age, you honestly would have thought she just stayed because she felt sorry for you.

But that wasn’t who Chrissy was.

Chrissy was a fiercely loyal friend, and that only grew once you entered high school. She made the cheer squad freshman year – becoming popular pretty much right away – but she never let it come between her friendship with you. Upon entering your senior year, Chrissy became cheer captain and subsequently caught the attention of everyone in school.

And that included Eddie Munson.

Eddie had always been a character, often interrupting lunches with passionate speeches about the popular crowds and how they excluded anyone different than them. You knew he had a club that met after school, though you didn’t know much other than it was about Dungeons & Dragons. You always had a bit of a crush on him – sure, he could be obnoxious and he was on his third try of making it to graduation, but he was friendly and cute and had no problem talking back to people like Jason Carver.

You wish you could say you were surprised when Chrissy started offhandedly mentioning that she’d been hanging out with Eddie every once in a while. You would listen to her talk about something funny he did or said, plastering on the fake interest as she spoke.

Yeah, you were jealous.

But you knew you had no right to be.

Chrissy had no idea you had a crush, and you knew her relationship with Jason only continued to please her overbearing mother, so you wanted nothing more than for her to finally be happy for once.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting whenever she mentioned seeing him.

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Chrissy told you after setting her lunch tray down at the spot across from you, “I have to go talk to Eddie about something.”

You barely nodded, but it didn’t matter since she didn’t even look at you before trotting toward the Hellfire table. You kept your gaze on your lunch tray as your best friend’s voice rang through your ears again.

“Eds!” she chirped, “Do you have a second?”

“Chris!” he smiled back, “What’s up?”

Oh, that’s cute. They have nicknames for each other.

You listened to their voices fade out as they walked to somewhere less crowded, Eddie insisting to get some privacy.

Way to go with the subtlety there, guys.

You knew you shouldn’t be this hurt over it – Chrissy was way more outgoing than you, so it was never shocking when someone gravitated to her over you – but you still were. Sure, she was your best friend and she made sure to include you in everything she was a part of, but you just...

You wanted someone to see you as your own person, not just ‘Chrissy’s best friend’.

~

Sunday afternoon

You’d spent that weekend the same as you always did: alone in your room keeping yourself busy with whatever you could until it came time for your weekly hangout with your best friend. You and Chrissy had hung out every Sunday practically since the day you met. Your mom always offered her own to stay and chat, but she never did; Her mother was more than happy to pawn her daughter on anyone willing to watch her. Your mom became more of a mother to Chrissy than her own – maybe that was why she stayed at your place as often as she was allowed.

You had just eaten lunch with your mom and Chrissy and played a few board games as well – you knew Chrissy appreciated the feeling of normalcy it gave her – before you ended up back in your bedroom. She was laying on your bed watching TV, propped up against the wall behind it, while you were sitting on the floor. Your most recent endeavor to keep yourself occupied, you decided, would be learning how to take in clothing too big and repurpose clothing that didn’t fit anymore into things you’d actually use. And lucky for you, Chrissy didn’t mind – you could gossip no matter what you were doing.

“You didn’t hang out with Jason today?” you mentioned after noticing her show had gone to a commercial, “I thought he said he was taking you to Lover’s Lake?”

“Of course not!” she insisted, “Sundays are for us! And you know how I feel about him.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re still with him,” you shook your head, “It’s like he’s gotten so much more oblivious to anything other than his popularity recently. Does he even notice when it’s one of the bad days again?”

“No,” she sighed, “But you know how my mom would be if she found out I broke up with him.”

“As if you don’t already get perfect grades, are the most popular girl at school, and all the teachers love you?” you rolled your eyes, “I hardly think not dating such an ass anymore would change all that.” You smiled slightly when she giggled.

“You know what? Enough about me!” she bounced in her seat, “What’s been going on with you? I feel like I never see you anymore!”

“Nothing new,” you shrugged, “Just trying to get at least one scholarship before graduation.”

“Oh, please! You could get those scholarships in your sleep!” You smiled slightly as she continued. “But that’s not what I meant! I mean, what’s been going on in your love life?”

“What love life?” you scoffed jokingly, “You know better than anyone that guys don’t even look at me.”

“That’s not true! What about Trevor? He told me he thought you were cute! You even went on a date with him!”

“Yeah, but we didn’t end up connecting as much as we thought we would,” you shrugged, “Decided we’re better as friends than a couple. I’m just glad he wasn’t a dick about it.”

“I knew he wouldn’t be,” she said, “That’s the only reason I set you up with him. There’s gotta be someone you’re into though?” Chrissy watched you pause, making her suck in a breath of excitement. “There is someone you’re into!” she squealed, “Why haven’t you told me?! I wanna know everything! Who is it?”

“Well... He’s in our grade,” you chose your wording carefully to not give it away, “He’s in a club and a band. We’ve been to his shows a couple of times. He’s really nice, but...”

“Is he not nice to you?” she narrowed her eyes at the idea this mystery crush of yours would be rude to you.

“It’s not that, it’s just... He likes someone else...” you whispered, “But I wasn’t surprised he likes someone else more; Everybody likes you more.”

“What do you mean?” she seemed genuinely confused, “Who likes me more?”

You didn’t respond, making Chrissy furrow her eyebrows. She took a moment to think about when you started acting a little differently when it came to boys, earning another gasp of realization.

“Are you talking about Eddie?” she asked, taking your small gulp as confirmation that she was right. “Y/N, you know I would never do that to you!” she assured you, “Oh my God, I would be the worst best friend ever if I went after someone you liked!” You looked up at her with confusion, making her smile. “You didn’t have to tell me for me to know,” she shook her head, “You’re my best friend; I know you better than I know myself.” Chrissy sighed softly, moving to the floor so she could take your hand in hers and squeeze it lightly. “I’ve been meeting Eddie so much because I’ve... I buy weed from him sometimes,” she finally confessed.

“You what?” your eyes widened, “Since when do you smoke weed?!”

“I’ve been... I see things sometimes... Hallucinations, I think,” she admitted, “And I know Eddie deals, so I thought it would help.”

“You’ve been seeing things?” you repeated, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought it was just the depression – that it was just something I would have to live with for the rest of my life... I didn’t want to drag you into all that.”

“Chrissy, you’re my best friend,” you repeated her earlier sentiment, giving her own hand a tight squeeze, “Your problems are my problems and mine are yours; We get through it together no matter what.” She gave you a small, tight-lipped smile. You knew she was still holding back, but you also knew that she’d come to you when she was ready.

But neither of you would ever get to have that conversation.

~

One week later; Wednesday

You felt like you weren’t actually in your body anymore. Everything felt foreign and fake and otherworldly. The school felt out of it and it felt like the students were just blips in the universe. People tried to talk to you – offer their condolences – but their voices were all muffled in your ears.

Chrissy was dead; Your best friend was gone.

You’d attended the funeral the previous day – and if you thought the amount of people at school looking at you in pity was bad, you would have prepared better for the service. You humored Jason when he offered his condolences, giving him your own as well – despite how pompous and two-faced you thought he was, he still lost his girlfriend and you weren’t going to be a bitch to him.

You made it through the funeral service and burial before going back home. Your mother tried her best to lift your spirits, but you knew she was having just as hard a time with everything as you were – Chrissy was like a second daughter to her, after all.

You heard about a meeting at the town hall that would take place the day after to discuss those killed recently. You thought it would be a gathering to remember everyone – Chrissy, Fred, Patrick – so you decided to go. Your mother had wanted to attend as well, but you insisted she rest instead. The events of the past week had taken a major toll on her and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days – and honestly, she probably hadn’t. You promised to tell her everything that happened, and she walked you to the front door as you put on your jacket, kissing your head before you left.

And, to be fair, the meeting did start out as remembering the deceased.

Until Jason showed up, that is.

After those who wished to speak offered up memories, the police chief started to speak. He was giving an update on the investigation, and you could feel your blood run cold when he mentioned that they did have a suspect and were looking for information leading to his whereabouts so they could talk to him. But before he could give a name, he was interrupted by Jason.

“With all due respect, Chief Powell, I think it’s obvious who’s responsible,” Jason stated, “That freak Eddie Munson and his Hellfire cult murdered a popular girl as a sacrifice to Satan! It’s about time we band together and rid this town of him for good!”

“Now, son,” the Chief shook his head with a firm tone in his voice, “We only want to talk to Mr. Munson as of right now; We can’t just go around accusing people of something as serious as murder.”

“Don’t you all get it?” he looked around the room, “These satanic cults that are spreading around the country say they’re playing ‘some silly roleplaying game’ when they’re really planning rituals for human sacrifice! That's what the mall fire was really about! That’s why so many people are dead! It’s because of Hellfire!”

“That’s bullshit!” you looked over to see Erica Sinclair practically seething with anger, “The Hellfire isn’t a cult! It’s a club for a bunch of nerds!”

“A club? A club! A harmless club – that’s what they want you to think! But it’s a lie to conceal the truth! And the truth is it’s a cult now protecting their leader! Hiding Eddie and allowing him to continue his sacrifices! We can stop him from killing any more! We must come together and cast the evil out of Hawkins that is Hellfire! We have to-”

“Shut up!” your voice broke as you stood up from your seat, making everyone stare at you in shock.

You were so sick of everyone pointing blame at Eddie – it didn’t matter that they didn’t have proof. You would have defended anyone under those circumstances, but them only choosing him because he’s an easy target made you even more upset.

“It’s bad enough you used Billy and Chief Hopper’s deaths at that pep rally to what, boost morale at a stupid basketball game?! They died in an accidental mall fire; They weren’t murdered in some sacrificial ritual!” you threw your arms up, “But now you wanna claim they were for what, getting justice?! None of you would have even given a shit if someone else died in any other way or if it were anyone but Chrissy, so why do you give a shit now?! You certainly wouldn’t have cared if it were some random student, and you would have celebrated if it were Eddie, so why the hell do you suddenly give a fuck?!”

“Am I hearing you defending that freak right now?” Jason narrowed his eyes at you, “Just because you were Chrissy’s best friend-”

“I am Chrissy’s best friend,” you snapped back, “So I think I know damn well she wouldn’t have wanted this witch hunt! Whether you like it or not, she was friends with Eddie, and she would be pissed at all of you for acting like a bunch of fucking assholes! She wouldn’t have even given him the time of day if she thought he was going to pull some satanic bullshit on her or whatever the fuck you’re bitching about!”

“You’re just as much of a freak as the rest of them,” he scoffed.

“And you’re just as much of the asshole Chrissy thought you were,” you growled, not giving him the chance to respond as you grabbed your jacket and left, letting the door slam behind you.

~

Eddie’s POV; The next day

“Eddie?!” Dustin called out as he and the gang approached Skull Rock.

“I am right here, Henderson,” he reminded him from his makeshift seat, “And I’m sure I will be here until the day I die.”

“You’re not gonna be in here that long,” Robin insisted, “We just have to come up with a plan is all.”

“Knowing all of you? I’ll be here until I die,” he rolled his eyes, earning the same gesture in return.

“Anyway,” Dustin spoke up again, “We brought you some food.” He handed him a bag and Eddie immediately took the contents out and started eating. “Oh!” he chirped, “You know how the town hall had a meeting to remember everyone last night?” Eddie simply nodded. “Well, Erica was there and said Jason came in and started laying it on thick about Hellfire and how we’re a cult and how we perform satanic sacrifices and that’s why everyone’s dying.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better, Henderson?” Eddie rolled his eyes, “Am I supposed to be happy there’s a bounty on my head now?”

“No, man! Erica said someone stood up and told Jason to shut up and that he’s being an asshole for-”

“Language!” Steve reprimanded, earning a middle finger from the teen.

“Dude, she said it was so badass!” Dustin bounced around the dirt path, “The way Y/N didn’t back down when Jason tried to intimidate her for the way she was defending you was so sick! She just totally laid into Jason and his stupid friends and the people going along with it and she didn’t care what they thought!”

“Y/N?” Eddie felt his heart start racing, “She was defending me?”

“Yeah? Weren’t you listening?” he frowned, “Erica said she was a real badass! I wish we could have seen it!”

Dustin kept raving about Erica’s play-by-play of your performance, but Eddie wasn’t hearing it anymore.

Chrissy’s cute friend believed he was innocent?

~

Your POV; The next day

You weren’t at all shocked when you arrived at school the next day to glares and whispers behind your back. You knew Jason and his minions were going to make sure everyone knew what you’d done. When someone said something to you directly, you simply rolled your eyes and ignored them. Jason obviously would have spun the story to make you look even worse, so you didn’t want to waste your time trying to defend yourself with things you knew wouldn’t change their minds anyway.

On your way to lunch, you stopped by your locker to put away a textbook when you saw something poking out of the slot above the latch. You grabbed it and held it under your arm against your side as you opened your locker. You put the books away and reached back for the note. You wondered if maybe it was meant for someone else and they just had the wrong locker, but you knew by what was written in it that it was meant for you.

Meet at Hellfire after school

You stared at the sloppy handwriting for a moment before looking up and around the hall. No one was watching to make sure you received it, so you had absolutely no idea who had left you the note. You flipped the paper over – expecting to see contact info? – but instead found a messily-drawn map of where to find the club in the school’s basement.

~

Three hours later

The moment the final bell rang, you were hastily leaving the classroom and walking to your locker. You’d been internally arguing with yourself all day about whether or not you should listen to this mystery note – you had no idea who sent it or what they wanted or if it was just Jason and his friends trying to get you alone – before you finally defined to just go.

Whatever happened now couldn’t be worse than when you were told Chrissy died, could it?

You shoved all of your books into your locker, deciding to just get your backpack after you were done with whoever you were meeting. You slowly made your way to the stairwell to the basement, wanting to wait until the hallway had mostly cleared out.

Once it had, you went through the door and pulled the note out of your pocket. You followed the practically-illegible map as best as you could, occasionally looking up to make sure you were heading in what you assumed was the right direction.

You finally made it to a door with a piece of doodled-on notebook paper taped to it – drawings no doubt done by Eddie – with the words ‘HELLFIRE CLUB MEMBERS ONLY’ scrawled on it. You opened the door, making the chatter in the room cease as soon as the knob moved.

You came face-to-face with a small group of people – okay, one of them is definitely too old to be in school, right? – stepping back in surprise. It was silent for a moment – the tall man looking at the curly-haired boy incredulously – before someone spoke.

“Y/N!” the boy with curly hair exclaimed before looking at the group smugly, “I told you she’d come!”

“Uh... What’s going on...?” you asked.

The boy – Dustin – then finally introduced everyone to you. You recognized him from the Hellfire table, Max from a couple of your classes, you were pretty sure Robin was in the marching band, and you could have sworn Steve graduated the previous year. You had no idea what was going on – you were only expecting to see one person in here, not four.

“I stole Eddie’s key to the room,” Dustin explained as if he could hear what was going on inside your head, “We need to talk to you.”

“About...?” you trailed off, finally looking around the room.

You could see the Dungeons & Dragons game set up on a table in front of a prop throne with seven other chairs around it. There wasn’t much going on besides the mess of other props strewn about the storage room, but one thing did catch your eye.

Sitting on top of the table was a crumpled-up wanted poster with Eddie’s face on it, a bunch of satanic scribblings all over his face. Next to it, pictures of all the people who had been killed so far – Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, Billy, Chief Hopper, and a few others you didn’t recognize – and you knew what this was really about.

“You know what? I already had this argument with Jason; I’m not interested in another one,” you stated bluntly, turning to leave.

“Steve!” Dustin huffed, prompting him to groan loudly and rush over to you. Steve grabbed your arm and pulled you further into the room, despite how hard you were trying to free yourself.

“Hey!” you started yelling, hitting his forearms as he wrapped them around your waist to keep you there, “Let go of me!”

“Henderson!” he grunted as he struggled to keep you in place while you punched him, “You said she’d listen!”

“Y/N, come on! Just hear us out!” he begged, “We just wanna talk about Chri-”

“I don’t care!” your voice broke, trying – but failing – the keep the tears from falling down your cheeks, “I don’t want to talk about Chrissy! I don’t want to remember she’s gone! I don’t want to think about it anymore! I want to go ho-”

“Chrissy died because Eddie’s trailer is a portal to the Upside Down!” Dustin finally yelled.

Steve’s head snapped to glare at the teenager – he had been so reluctant to tell Eddie what was going on, but had no problem just springing it on you? – but he couldn’t ignore that it made you gradually start fighting back less. Your breathing stunted before picking right back up again, your back hitting his chest with every exhale.

“The what?” you whispered, slouching against the man behind you still holding your waist. Steve relaxed his body as well, slowly moving you to sit on the throne. He finally released his hold on you but remained seated behind you, giving you a weird sense of comfort.

The group started explaining the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down and the portals and Vecna and why those killed were targeted and how the Starcourt Mall fire hadn’t been some tragic accident and how their friend Eleven had powers and what had been going on the last three years, and you had no idea how to even respond.

You couldn’t believe all of this had been happening for three years and you had no idea about it. Sure, you’d heard about all the deaths in your tiny town, but you just assumed what the police were saying happened was true – you had no reason to believe otherwise.

Until it came to Chrissy’s death, of course.

You suspected something more was going on – that, despite being found in his trailer, everyone was just saying Eddie was responsible because it was easy. They already hated him for being different; This was just an actual reason now.

As if he could read your mind, Dustin finally brought you back to the real world.

“-and they all think Eddie did it, but he didn’t! It was all because of Vec-”

“I know,” you choked out, earning surprised looks from everyone.

“You know?” Max asked.

“Eddie could never ki-” you swallowed the word, still unable to talk about Chrissy without crying, “He wouldn’t do that...”

“Thank God,” Dustin breathed out sharply, “That makes convincing you to help a lot easier.”

“Help?” Steve finally spoke, “Henderson, she can’t- Stop dragging people into this!”

“But she’s the only one that can convince Eddie to stop hiding out at Skull Rock! And having one more person would just make it easier to defeat Vecna!”

“That’s not the point!” he insisted, “We’ve all been able to fight whatever monsters came up with just us before! Y/N doesn’t need to be brought into that now too! Eddie’s already been dragged into this by association, we don’t need-”

“I wanna help,” your soft plea cut Steve off, causing the group to look at you, “I wanna help Eddie.”

~

Eddie’s POV

Despite it being close to 5 PM, Eddie was finding it harder and harder not to fall asleep. He was starting to lose track of time being out in the woods for so long, but he was not about to return to a place where he was basically being hunted for sport.

Eddie began to doze off slightly again, only to be jolted awake by the sounds of twigs snapping and leaves crunching as footsteps got closer to his hideout. His body immediately tensed up, holding out the first weapon he could grab – a short, broken tree branch. He peeked around the rock before hopping out and yelling like a madman, only earning eye rolls in response.

“What are you gonna do with that, poke me to death?” Dustin asked, “Put it down; It’s just us.”

“Some warning would have been nice, Henderson,” Eddie dropped the stick, waving the walkie-talkie in his other hand to remind him of it.

“I left it at home,” he shrugged, making him roll his eyes as he sat down on a nearby boulder.

“We brought food again!” Robin chirped.

“It’s just what’s available from the vending machines outside Family Video,” Steve added, “But it’s something.” He tossed Eddie a bag of chips while Robin gave him a can of soda.

“Can we come up with a plan now?” Max interjected, “I’m getting tired of hiking up here.”

“I told you guys already,” Dustin insisted, “That’s why we brought Y/N!” Eddie’s gaze snapped to the teenager before he finally noticed someone new had joined the party.

You were trailing behind Nancy and Lucas, looking at your surroundings. When you finally stopped walking and your eyes met Eddie’s, he couldn’t help but feel sick. He knew you didn’t blame him or think he was guilty of Chrissy’s murder, but something about seeing her best friend made him want to find a new hiding spot – a spot the group would surely never think to look for him. You gulped and quickly looked away from him, nervously training your gaze on the nature around you.

The group started talking about how they were going to get into the Upside Down and get rid of Vecna once and for all. They were all coming up with ideas on how to kill him – how much easier it would be if they could just figure out how to get El her powers back – when Eddie looked over and spoke up.

“Hey, uh... Henderson’s not cursed, is he?” he asked, making everyone follow his gaze to find Dustin pacing around and staring off into the forest.

“Cursed? No, he’s fine,” Steve answered, “Mental? Absolutely.”

“BOOM!” Dustin’s sudden shout made everyone jump and snap to face him. He then pointed at Steve and smirked, “I was right. Skull Rock was north!” Eddie cocked an eyebrow when everyone else sighed and rolled their eyes, preparing themselves for the argument they’d been hearing for the past three days.

“Oh my Go- Are you serious?!” Steve threw his arms up, “This again?! This is Skull Rock! You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong!”

“Yes,” he smiled, “And no.”

“Oh my God,” Steve repeated, his hands on his face muffling his voice.

“This compass worked correctly when we left the school,” Dustin explained, “But it started to slip the further east we went. Now that we’re here, the thing is way off! Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”

“An electromagnetic field!” he perked up, beginning to realize what his friend was saying.

“I’m sorry?” Robin cocked an eyebrow, “I must have skipped that class?”

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there’s a super big magnet around here, or-”

“There’s a gate!” Lucas finished, making Dustin beam with joy.

“Now we know how to get to Vecna and release Max from his curse!” the teen exclaimed. Eddie noticed you look at the redhead with wide eyes – clearly no one had told you that one of them was currently dealing with what your best friend had been.

“But we’re nowhere near Hawkins Lab,” Nancy reminded him.

“All I know is this compass wouldn’t react if something wasn’t nearby,” Dustin said, “It’ll be small and not as powerful, but it’s still a way into the Upside Down. We just have to find it.” The teenager turned and began walking down the hill, but Steve stopped him.

“Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey!” he practically shouted, making Dustin come back to the group, “Eddie’s still a wanted man! We can’t just go for a hike in the woods like we’re on vacation in South America!”

“This little steel capsule-” He held up the compass. “-might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie,” he stated, “So what say you, Eddie the Banished?” Your eyebrow quirked at the nickname.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor,” Eddie responded lowly, “Gotta be totally straight with you: that’s a really bad idea. But... The Shire is burning...” Dustin started jumping up and down excitedly, knowing he was going to agree. “So Mordor it is,” he finished, standing up from his makeshift seat.

You breathed out a laugh when you heard Steve mutter ‘What the hell is Mordor?’ to himself.

“Let’s split up!” the teen announced, “We’ll cover more ground that way and have less of a chance of getting caught before we find it. We’ll meet back here at sunset to see who found it. Lucas and Max, go toward the Creel house. Nancy and Robin can go west. Me and Steve will go south. And Y/N, you go with Eddie toward the train tracks!” Dustin put his hands on your back and pushed you toward him.

Your POV

Eddie grabbed your elbow when you yelped in surprise and lost your balance, glaring at the teen for nearly causing you to fall. You thanked him quietly as you fixed the hair that flew over your face, surprising him by following him into the forest without protest.

You jogged a little to keep up with his long strides, prompting him to shorten them so you could simply walk. Once the chatter of everyone else died down as they walked in their respective directions, you finally spoke to Eddie for the first time.

“So, uh... This is not how I expected this week to end,” you mentioned, making him laugh.

“I never expected to be on the run from police either,” he said. You let out a small breath of amusement, but your face still fell slightly.

Eddie watched you carefully, his mind racing with what he could possibly say about the loss of your best friend. But the only thing he could come up with was the events that led up to it.

“I really thought ‘86 was gonna be my year, you know?” he sighed, “I was finally gonna graduate and leave Hawkins behind and tour the world with my band. I started making friends outside of Hellfire – a cheerleader even wanted to talk to me...” He noticed you swallow thickly at the mention of Chrissy, but he couldn’t stop rambling. “That night... Chrissy came over to hang out. I left the room to get something and when I came back, it was like she was possessed or something. She wasn’t moving and was just staring at the wall. Then she started just...levitating...or some shit. She started bending all weird and blood was coming out of her eyes... And I begged and begged and begged her to wake up but she wouldn’t, so I... I did the only thing I know how to do...” he mumbled, looking down at the leaves in front of him, “I ran away. I left her there like a coward and hid in that stupid boat house and now Skull Rock and I let everyone believe it was my f-”

“I never believed it was your fault,” you whispered, making his head snap up to look at you. You sniffled as you stared at the ground, roughly swiping your fingertips underneath your eyes to get rid of the tears. “I was mad she was gone because she’s my best friend and the only person who ever really cared about me,” you continued quietly, “But I knew the second everyone started saying how she was found in your trailer that you didn’t do anything to her. I saw how you were with her at school; You liked her way too much to do something like that to her.”

“I didn’t like her,” Eddie told you, “I mean, I liked her as a person, but I didn’t like her. She was my only friend outside of Hellfire, but she... We only hung out because... She was...just...”

“Buying weed,” you finished his sentence with a small smile at the shock on his face, “She told me before she... About the hallucinations and how she was trying to get rid of them... Apparently didn’t work, but... I guess it’s pretty hard to get out of Vecna’s curse once you’re in.”

“You know about Vecna?”

“Dustin told me,” you nodded, “Said he thinks I can help somehow.”

“No,” the firmness in Eddie’s voice surprised you, making you look at him with furrowed brows, “You don’t need to be anywhere near this shit.”

“I obviously agreed to it, Eddie,” you reminded him with a shake of your head, “I want to help if it means saving Hawkins and preventing someone else from dying. I wanted- I want to help you...” You suppressed another onslaught of tears – not even noticing the slight blush he was now sporting – not wanting to cry in front of someone you just met for a second time. “He said I’m the only one that can convince you to stop hiding at that huge rock,” you continued.

“Henderson said that?” Eddie asked. You simply shrugged.

“I don’t know why it would make a difference for me to do it, but he says I have the best shot at it,” you nodded. You heard him sigh, turning your head to find him rubbing his face roughly. “You don’t have to, you know?” you mentioned, “We’ve never even really met before today, so I don’t know why Dustin thought that I could-”

“I mean, I obviously want to stop hiding out,” he admitted, “I just can’t believe Henderson dragged you into it on my behalf now.”

“Well, you were Chrissy’s friend and I know you didn’t do anything to her because she wouldn’t have stuck around if she were scared of you performing rituals or whatever shit Jason’s trying to push,” you offered, making him chuckle, “And I’m already in it, so I might as well do what I can to help. Sure beats writing scholarship essays.”

“With your smarts, any college would be stupid not to take you,” he said without thinking. His eyes widened in horror, but his heart raced when you giggled.

“Thanks,” you replied, “It’s just disappointing I can’t put ‘saved the town of Hawkins, Indiana from an evil curse’ on any of my applications.”

“Well, you could,” he shrugged, “Just don’t expect to get into that college though.”

“I don’t think I’d get into any college after that. They’d probably let all the others know I’m insane.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little insane, sweetheart,” Eddie said, making you snort softly.

The two of you walked for a little while longer in comfortable silence. Eddie had since given you his jacket as it got cooler, admiring how cute you looked in it. In fact, he’d been so entranced with you that he’d actually forgotten what you were meant to be doing in the first place.

“So... How do we know if we’ve found a gate or whatever?” you asked.

“No idea,” he admitted, “But Henderson said it’ll be obvious, so I guess we just...look for the obvious.”

Suddenly, as if Vecna himself heard you, the ground started to shake violently. Eddie grabbed onto a small tree, wrapping his arm around your waist and keeping you close so neither of you fell.

“I think someone found the obvious!” he hollered over the sounds of trees being shaken back and forth, their limbs and leaves slamming against each other.

“What are you talking about?! This is totally normal!” you shouted back, gripping him just as tightly as he was holding you while your legs desperately tried to hold you up.

You started hearing loud cracking sounds in the distance followed by small explosions every now and then. Your gaze snapped up to Eddie, finding him already looking at you with a horrified expression.

“What is that?” you asked as the shaking began to subside. It sounded like it was all going away from you, so you figured the gate must be further than you were heading.

“We have to go find everyone,” Eddie said, releasing the tree and grabbing your hand. You both ran as carefully as you could back toward Skull Rock, hoping that’s what the others had done too.

All of this was happening so fast – you had just been told of the existence of the Upside Down not even three hours ago, and now it seemed like it was all going downhill faster than you could process it. You didn’t even fully understand what the gates were yet, and now it was very likely that one was opening?

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” you grumbled mostly to yourself but felt Eddie squeeze your hand in response.

When the rock came back into view, you could see the group already there, frantically looking around for you and Eddie. Steve was the first to spot you two, sighing in relief.

“Guys!” he exclaimed, making everyone turn, “Are you alright?” He, Robin, and Nancy shared a look when they realized you were wearing Eddie’s jacket.

“Where are Max and Lucas?” you asked, noticing they were the only ones not there. Eddie had yet to release your hand – not that you were going to let go of him either.

“Maybe they’re still on their way? Creel house is pretty far from here...” Robin suggested, but you could tell she felt off about it too.

“What do we do then?” Nancy shook her head, “We can’t just stand here and wait and hope they show up.”

“Well, good news,” Dustin said, “Me and Steve found the gate that was making the compass fuck up at Lover’s Lake.”

“Language, Henderson!” Steve exclaimed, smacking the back of his shoulder.

“We should still go check it out! It could help save Max from the curse!” he insisted. The group reluctantly agreed and started following Dustin toward the lake.

“Hey, are you sure you still wanna do this, Y/N?” Steve asked, “Maybe you should go home.”

“No way!” you frowned, “I’m at least finding out what the hell an Upside Down or whatever gate thing is first!” You felt your heart flutter when Eddie chuckled beside you.

“Alright,” Robin added, “Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

When you arrived at the lake a few minutes later, it looked completely normal. You knew you should be relieved, but you were honestly disappointed – wasn’t this supposed to be some kind of portal to the underworld?

Steve broke away from the group and went into the boat house, reemerging moments later after pushing a boat onto the water. Eddie immediately jumped in, helping Robin and Nancy in as well. He then held his hand out to you, and you knew you shouldn’t – you knew you were biting off way more than you could chew – but you immediately took it and got sat down with everyone else. Dustin started to climb on as well but Steve stopped him as Nancy started rowing.

“Not you, Henderson,” he stated firmly.

“Yeah! Bedtime’s at 9!” Robin chirped.

“What?!” he shouted, begrudgingly handing over his compass when Nancy reached for it.

“Too many cooks rock the boat, you know,” Steve shrugged.

“I don’t think that’s the saying at all!” Dustin rolled his eyes, “I think you’re just an idiot!” Eddie remained silent while you gave the teen a sympathetic smile, promising him you’d be back in no time. “There you are!” you heard his voice again, making you all look over to find the two kids you’d been worried about.

“What are you guys doing?!” Lucas called after you.

“We’ll tell you when we get back!” Steve announced. You assumed the sound you heard next was Dustin groaning loudly again and going on to explain to them what had been said at Skull Rock.

Once Nancy reached where she believed the electromagnetic source was coming from, she stopped. You all listened for something – anything – that sounded different, but nothing did. You looked over when Steve started pulling off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asked.

“Someone’s gotta go down there and check things out,” he informed you all, taking off his sweater and diving in before anyone had the chance to argue with him.

You waited for what felt like hours, jumping when Steve popped back up only a few moments later. He tossed his flashlight back into the boat and grabbed onto the side for support.

“There’s definitely a gate down there,” he informed you.

“Is that a good thing?” you asked.

But he wasn’t able to respond.

Steve was suddenly yanked back underwater, making you all start shouting. Nancy didn’t waste a second before diving in after him, Robin quickly following suit.

“Are you kidding me?!” you screamed at the water as you stood up – though you knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“Y/N,” Eddie said with a warning tone, “Don’t you da-” He didn’t finish the statement before you jumped into the lake as well. He slapped his hands over his face – he knew damn well he wasn’t about to let you be an absolute moron by yourself – and let out a ‘Son of a bitch, this is so stupid!’ out loud before following you in.

You yelped in surprise as you entered into the Upside Down. You didn’t know what you were expecting to happen, but being literally tossed into the middle of a bunch of flying...things...trying to kill Steve wasn’t it. Nancy and Robin were hitting the creatures with pieces of a broken oar, and Eddie came tumbling into the mayhem with the other one.

“Y/N, duck!” he shouted. You didn’t even hesitate before doing exactly as you were told, feeling your hair fly as Eddie’s oar flew above your head. Your gaze snapped to the side, watching a bat-like creature fall flat on the ground a few feet away from you.

You then looked over at Steve, finding him struggling against one of them choking him. Since you felt practically useless without a weapon, you figured you’d try to help the best you could.

You kept yourself low to the ground as you reached him, helping him pry off what appeared to be a tail wrapped around his neck. Once you were both successful, he grabbed the tail and slammed the thing into the ground as hard as he could a couple of times until he was sure it was dead.

The moment of silence that followed – once the creatures were lifeless heaps on the ground around you – you all looked at each other.

“What the hell were those things?” Eddie asked.

“Demobats,” Steve answered as if it were the most casual thing in the world, “I can’t believe all of you idiots followed me.”

“You’d have been a goner if we hadn’t, you dingus!” Robin reminded him.

“Well, it’s not like I planned to be dragged down here!”

“Guys, can we not fight about this right now?” Nancy held her hand up, “We’ve got more company incoming!”

You all looked to where she was pointing, noticing a new swarm of creatures – now known to you as demobats – were en route. You then looked back down at your now completely shredded weapons, knowing there was no way you’d be able to take on any more of those things.

“We need to get to my house,” she went on, “If this really is just the underside of the real world, my guns should still be in my bedroom.” You looked at her in shock.

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns – plural – in your bedroom?” Eddie cocked an eyebrow. She shrugged with a guilty smile on her face.

“Well, it sure beats being eaten alive by demon bats,” you stated, following Nancy in the direction of her house.

“Demobats,” Steve corrected.

“Does it really matter?!” you huffed, your head snapping to look at him. You could feel yourself doing a double take.

You then turned to shoot Eddie a look and he immediately nodded. You slipped your arms out of his jacket and held it out to Steve.

“Please take this, Prince Hairy,” you stated, “I just met you today and I’m very uncomfortable.” The group snorted softly – Robin snickering and calling Steve a dingus again – as he embarrassingly took the item of clothing from you.

Nancy led you all to her house – well, the Upside Down version of her house – and shoved the side door open. Steve and Eddie immediately wandered off upon entering, but you and Robin decided to follow Nancy to wherever she was going. You ended up in her bedroom, showing up in the doorway just as she was letting out a defeated sigh.

“Crap,” Nancy grumbled, closing the closet doors, “My guns aren’t here.”

“Now what are we supposed to do?” Robin wondered, “We can’t get out of here with those bats flying around.”

“There has to be a way to let someone know we’re trapped,” you shook your head with a frown, “I mean yeah, real life sucks, but I don’t wanna be stuck here forever!” The girls looked at you with concern.

“Are you doing okay after...?” Robin asked you.

“I don’t know,” you admitted, “I haven’t been alone long enough to think about it, really.”

“You know, I know what it’s like to lose your best friend,” Nancy offered, “So if you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“Me too!” Robin chirped, “All this Upside Down stuff can be a lot to take in, but it sure is better than being kidnapped by Russians.” You stopped what you were doing to look at her incredulously. “Oh yeah! Me and Steve were taken by the Russians hiding out underneath the Starcourt Mall,” she shrugged nonchalantly, “They were a bunch of dinguses though – they didn’t even get the drugs they injected us with right.”

“DUSTIN?!” you suddenly heard Steve shout, making you all jump, “HEY?! HENDERSON?!”

“We’re gonna unpack more of that later,” you pointed at Robin before the three of you ran out of the room toward Steve’s voice.

You entered the living room at the same time as Eddie, all of you staring at Steve in confusion. He was pacing around like a madman, shouting Dustin’s name at the ceiling.

“Are you cursed now, Harrington?” Eddie asked.

“Just listen!” he insisted. You were all silent for a moment, none of you hearing what he claimed to.

“We don’t have time for this, you dingus!” Robin rolled her eyes.

“I heard the kid talking! It was like he was here! Can you just-”

“Steve!” Nancy shouted to grab his attention, only continuing when he looked at her, “You said Will communicated with Joyce through lights, right?”

Steve’s eyes widened and the both of them ran toward the light switch on the wall. You, Robin, and Eddie watched on in confusion, none of you understanding what was going on. Nancy flipped the switch up and down a few times, huffing when nothing happened.

“Shit,” she mumbled, “It’s not working.”

“Uh, guys...” you spoke up. The group looked at you, following your amazed stare at the light fixture in the middle of the room.

It appeared to have some sort of orange sparkles dancing around it, though the fixture itself didn’t even seem to be in working order. Nancy lifted her arm to touch it, all of you watching in awe as the light bulbs flickered in response.

“Does anyone know Morse code?” she asked, earning a chorus of dejected ‘no’s.

“Wait,” Eddie suddenly said, “Does SOS count?” You all looked at him with dumbfounded expressions, making him frown. “What?”

“Just do it,” Robin rolled her eyes, motioning to the light above you.

Eddie poked around the orange glow a few times, and you could hear Erica’s faint voice alerting Dustin and Lucas to it. They stopped speaking for a moment but you then heard Dustin say ‘S...O...S...’, making you cheer at realizing he understood what you were trying to communicate.

“How are we supposed to keep talking to them?” Eddie asked, putting his arm back against his side, “Those are the only letters I know how to do.”

“Hmph,” Nancy began chewing on her bottom lip before sighing in defeat, “I have no idea.”

After a moment of silent brainstorming – and Eddie wandering off after getting bored – you were nowhere closer to a solution than you had been. You looked back up at the light fixture and decided you wanted a closer look, only to be yelled at while doing so.

“Hey!” you heard Dustin’s echoing shout, “Stop! That’s too bright!” The group turned to find you quickly pulling your arm back to your chest.

“Sorry,” you mumbled in embarrassment, “The light got brighter when I got closer to the glass. I thought it was cool.”

“The light got brighter...” Nancy repeated softly to herself before sucking in a breath of realization, “Lite Brite!”

“Lite Brite?” Steve cocked an eyebrow, “Like the kids’ toy?”

“Yes! Holly got one for Christmas three years ago! We can use the lights on that to talk to the kids!”

“How are we supposed to tell them that though?” Robin questioned.

“Y/N,” Nancy said, making you perk up, “Touch the glass again and don’t let go.” You were confused but did as she asked anyway.

You could hear the teenagers start to complain again, all of them whining that ‘the light’s too bright!’. But as they slowly stopped, you couldn’t ignore that Nancy’s plan seemed to be working.

“Hey... Isn’t Mike’s sister playing with one of those Lite Brite things when we go over sometimes?” Lucas asked.

“Yes!” you, Nancy, Steve, and Robin exclaimed simultaneously, following Nancy when she ran down the hall to Holly’s room.

Once she dug the toy out from underneath her sister’s bed, the four of you quickly worked on placing all the pegs into the holes, filling up the entire Lite Brite board in a matter of seconds. Nancy moved her fingers across the glowing rainbow of lights, but you didn’t receive a response like you were hoping.

“Why isn’t it working?” you heard Erica ask.

“Yank it,” Dustin directed, and Lucas pulled the plug out of the socket by the cord. Nancy tried again, writing out a letter ‘H’ followed by an ‘I’. “H... I...” he said slowly before gasping, “Hi!”

“Yes!” you cheered again, making Eddie poke his head into the room.

“What are you guys doing?” he came into the room.

“We found a way to communicate with the kids,” Nancy said, “What were you doing?”

“Found a flashlight for Y/N,” he said, handing it to you. You smiled softly and thanked him, turning back to Holly’s bed. “We can communicate? How?” he leaned over your shoulder, his hands finding your hips to keep himself steady as he sat on his knees with the rest of you. Robin looked at you when she heard your breathing hitch, glancing down and smirking at the situation.

Nancy spelled out answers to the questions you could hear Dustin asking, finally able to let them know you were trapped in the Upside Down and needed help finding a way back out. Everyone listened to the kids try to come up with a plan but you were spaced out, only coming back when Robin nudged you.

“You good, Y/N?” she asked, making the rest of them turn to you.

“I was just thinking...” you sighed, “It’s probably stupid though.”

“Well, if you’ve got an idea, it would be more than the rest of us have so far,” Steve reminded you.

“You guys said that the gates open when there’s a death, right?” you asked, earning nods, “Well... If the lake is a gate because of Patrick, and that road by the fairground is where Fred was... Wouldn’t Chrissy have made Eddie’s trailer a gate too?” The four looked at each other and you watched the smiles grow on their faces.

“Y/N,” Robin grabbed your shoulders, “You’re a downright genius.” You smiled brightly, finally feeling like you were actually contributing something to the group’s efforts to get back to the real world.

“Eddie, how far away is the trailer park?” Nancy asked him.

“7 miles,” he answered instantly, earning looks from everyone. “What?” he raised his eyebrows, “I’ve been to parties.”

“That’s too far to walk,” she shook her head, “We’ll have to take Me and my brother’s bikes – Lucas and Erica’s too.”

“That still leaves one person without a bike,” Steve reminded her.

“I could ride on the handlebars,” you offered, “I used to do it all the time with Chrissy since I didn’t have a bike.”

You made your way outside to where the Wheelers kept their bikes before walking across the yard and finding the Sinclair siblings’ as well. You determined that Erica’s bike would be most comfortable, so Steve straddled the seat so you could hop on. You wobbled slightly as he began pedaling, barely catching yourself before falling off – it really had been a while since you’d done this.

“You need to lean back?” Steve wondered, “You just have to hold my flashlight.”

“I think I can handle that,” you chuckled, taking the device and doing as he asked, no one noticing the boy sulking at the sight of it.

~

7 miles later, you arrived at Forest Hills Trailer Park. Eddie moved to the front of the group to lead you to his trailer, scoffing to himself as you giggled at one of Steve’s stupid jokes. You hopped off of the handlebars before Steve parked the bike with everyone else’s, following Eddie into his home. Once the door opened, you all stood in awe as you stared up at the ceiling.

“Guys!” Dustin was smiling down at you, “How’s it going up there?”

“Up?” Steve asked, “You’re the one that’s up, Henderson.”

“I hardly think that’s important right now,” Max, who was now with the group, reminded everyone, “What’s important is how to they get back here?”

“Well, they just have to climb in, right?” Lucas shrugged, “Just find something to climb.”

“Eddie! How many sheets do you have?” Dustin questioned.

“In the hall closet!” he called back as he walked away. And sure enough, the teen returned a few moments later with an armful of sheets and thin blankets.

“They’ll need something to land on too!” Lucas chimed in, already hurrying out of sight. He called for help, prompting Max to follow him while Erica and Dustin worked on tying the ends of the fabrics together.

The two teens came back, dragging Eddie’s mattress along with them. They let it fall right underneath the portal opening just as the other two finished tying the final knots.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Dustin said, taking the makeshift rope and looking up at the rest of you. He tossed it upwards, all of you watching it fall into a heap at your feet. “Okay, now pull,” he said. Robin grabbed the rope in front of her and put all her body weight into it, and you were all amazed to see that it actually held up.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life,” Erica commented, “And I’ve seen some crazy shit.” She happily high-fived Dustin when he held his hand up for one.

“Hey, Eddie... What are those-” Robin asked, pointing to some discolored parts of the mattress. “-that we’re going to be landing on?”

“Those are...” Eddie trailed off, “I don’t know what those stains are.”

“Sure you don’t,” you rolled your eyes, “Look, I don’t even care if they’re fresh as long as I get the fuck out of here.”

The four gave you disgusted looks as Robin began her climb as the first guinea pig – her words, not yours – to leave the Upside Down. You watched her fall flat on her back, breathing heavily as she smiled.

“Thank God,” she sat up, getting out of the way as you began your ascent back to the real world. You let out a sharp yelp, not expecting the floor to be as far as it was but happy to be home nonetheless.

Eddie was next to come through the portal, sighing as he sat up on the mattress, “That was fun.” He took your hand and let you help him back to his feet, all of you now watching as Nancy gripped the rope.

But she didn’t climb up and come falling through the portal like you’d expected her to.

You all watched as Steve’s expression changed to a horrified one, grabbing Nancy’s shoulders and starting to shake.

“Nancy?!” he yelled right in her face, “Nancy! Wake up!”

Max gasped softly, her voice coming out as a whisper, “Vecna...”

“Vecna has Nancy?!” Robin started freaking out, “What could he possibly want her for?!”

“Music!” Max spoke again, “Music got me out of it before; We need something for Nancy!”

“I have some cassettes in my room!” Eddie said, prompting you to follow him as he ran toward the back of the trailer. He directed everyone to the various places he kept his collection, all of you practically tearing apart his entire bedroom to find something you thought would work for Nancy.

“Steve says you guys need to hurry up!” Erica shouted as she ran into the room.

“No shit!” Dustin responded, tossing another tape to the side.

“What is any of this stuff?!” Robin exclaimed, “There’s no Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles – music! We need music!”

“THIS IS MUSIC!” Eddie screamed back at her, shaking a Metallica tape in front of her face.

“Everyone, just calm down!” you yelled over their fighting, “Does anyone know what Nancy likes to listen to? Pop? Metal? Fucking ocean sounds?”

No one was able to respond, hearing loud thuds coming from the living room. You all ran to the door to look down the hall, finding Nancy breathing heavily on the mattress and Steve groaning in pain from landing on the hard floor.

“Nancy!” Robin gasped in relief, but you were the first to break away from the group.

You shoved Eddie and Dustin out of the doorway, running to the two as they sat up. You weren’t even fully on your knees before you threw your arms around the girl, hugging her tightly. You understood why she didn’t hug you back – you had only met her that day, after all – but you didn’t mind; You were just happy she was alive.

“I’m so sorry I did that without even asking, but I’m just really glad you’re okay!” you exhaled sharply, “You are okay, right?” Your eyes widened. “Oh my God, I should have asked if you were okay before I hugged you! I didn’t hurt you more, did I? I’m so sorry; I really didn’t mean to-”

Your rambling was cut short when Nancy suddenly grabbed your shoulders and pulled you back in, hugging you tighter than you’d previously hugged her. You took that moment to catch your breath, allowing her to remind you that she was in fact okay and actually right in front of you.

“I’m fine, Y/N,” she assured you, squeezing you before letting go to look at you, “Thank you for caring.” You gave her a shy smile.

“I’m sorry if I’m being weird,” you murmured, “I don’t- Chrissy was the only person who talked to me before, so I... I’m not really...used...to having friends...” You were looking down at your hands as you nervously played with your fingers, not even noticing the way everyone looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.

“What was that?” Max asked, “Why did Vecna want you?”

“Why me? I don’t know,” she shook her head, “But Vecna, he... He gave me these...visions.. And he wants me to tell El everything he showed me in them.”

“What... What did you see?” Robin asked carefully.

“Things that haven’t happened yet – the most terrible things,” she recounted, “I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins, downtown on fire, dead soldiers, and this...giant creature with...a gaping mouth. But this thing wasn’t alone; There were so many monsters – an army of them. And then... Then he showed me my mom...and Holly...and Mike... A-And they... They were all...” She let out a shaky breath, unable to even finish the sentence, as Steve grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“He was just trying to scare you, Nance,” he tried to reassure her, but he was obviously freaked out as well, “Right? I mean... It’s not real...”

“Not yet,” she shook her head, “But that wasn’t it. He showed me these gates – four of them – spreading across Hawkins; They all looked like the one at the bottom of the lake. But they were growing. And they didn’t stop getting bigger. But it wasn’t the Upside Down version of Hawkins; It was this one – the real one.”

“You said four gates?” Max asked, making Nancy nod, “Four gates... Four chimes... Vecna’s clock always chimes in fours.”

“Yeah,” she nodded again, “I heard the clock too.”

“He’s been telling us his plan the whole time!” Max threw her arm up, “Four kills. Four gates.”

“If that’s true...” you swallowed, “He’s only one kill away from the end of the world.”

~

The next day

“He's a number like Eleven,” Max said, “So he must have come from that Hawkins Lab experiment that got it shut down.”

“Sure,” Robin remarked, “Only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin.”

“My point is he’s super powerful,” she rolled her eyes, “Could turn us inside out with the snap of his fingers. It’s not a fair fight.”

“Then why fight fair?” Dustin spoke up, “You’re right; He’s like El. But that gives us an upper hand. We know her strengths and weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?” Steve cocked an eyebrow.

“When El did that remote-travel thing to free me from him the first time, she told me her physical body is in some sort of trance,” Max informed you, “I bet the same is true for Vecna.”

“That’s why he’s up in the Upside Down version of the Creel house?” Nancy asked, “Because he’s in a trance to get to multiple people at once?”

“So we have to go back into the Upside Down,” you announced, making everyone look at you incredulously.

“You’re kidding, right?” Steve asked, “Need I remind you we barely made it out of there yesterday.”

“Listen, I know I just joined in on this shit show, but it sounds to me like you have to take out the physical person and not just his mind fuckery,” you shrugged, “If he’s in a trance, he’s basically defenseless.”

“What about his army of freaky-looking bats,” Robin pointed out.

“We just have to find a way past them.”

“Or distract them and lead them somewhere else,” Dustin said.

“The only problem is there’s no pattern to Vecna’s killings,” Erica finally spoke, “Not one I can decipher anyway; We won’t know when he attacks next until someone dies.”

“But we don’t even know who that someone is,” Nancy sighed.

“Yeah, we do,” Max nodded, “I can still feel him; I’m still cursed. I’ll draw his focus back to me.”

“Max... No...” Lucas shook his head slowly, “He’ll kill you.”

“I survived him before; I can survive again,” she said confidently, “All I have to do is distract him long enough for you guys to get into the attic and chop his head off or stab him through the heart – I honestly don’t care how you put that asshole in his grave. Just... Whatever you do, try not to miss.”

~

You grunted as you fell through the gate, landing with a hard thud despite the group’s best efforts to make it a pain-free landing. You assured them you were alright though, following them outside the trailer back into the desolate Upside Down.

“Alright, we’re all good on the plan?” Nancy asked, earning a chorus of affirmations.

“And guys-” Steve looked at you and Eddie. “-if things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort, got it?” he deadpanned, “Don’t try to be heroes.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie nodded, “I mean, look at us: we are definitely not heroes.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what college to attend,” you shrugged.

“And I’m just trying to graduate high school,” he added, smiling at you when you giggled. Steve, Nancy, and Robin began their journey to Creel house, but they turned when Eddie spoke again. “Hey, Steve?” he said, waiting until he looked at him to continue, “Make him pay.” Steve gave him a small nod, silently promising to do exactly that.

You stood still as you watched them leave, not really sure what to say next. Eddie looked over, noticing the weary expression on your face. He remained silent for a moment – he wasn’t sure what to say either – before finally forcing his brain to come up with something.

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N,” Eddie told you, “Nobody would blame you if you went back home.” You stared at the dark blue and grey sky for a moment, your mind racing with thoughts of ‘is this actually happening?’ before you finally looked up at him.

“For Chrissy?” you whispered. Eddie shot you a smile.

“For Chrissy,” he nodded, holding a fist up with the outside of his hand facing you. You bumped the backside of your own hand against it, both of you taking a deep breath before climbing up onto the roof.

He hopped up on top of the trailer before reaching down and helping you. You grabbed his forearms and he grabbed yours, hoisting you up until you were in front of him. He went to let go, but you didn’t. Instead, you were staring at him, your mouth making small movements until you finally found the words.

“You’re sure this is gonna work?” you asked him.

“No better way to lure over a bunch of blood-hungry demon bats than by playing satanic music, sweetheart,” he winked.

You rolled your eyes, shoving him away from you. He chuckled to himself as he grabbed his guitar, bending down to turn on the amp he, Steve, and Dustin had put up there.

Once you turned the volume up as loud as it could go, you grabbed the binoculars and looked up at Eddie. You gave him a small nod and he did the same, yanking the guitar pick off of the chain around his neck.

“Chrissy,” you heard him murmur to himself before he started playing, “This is for you.”

It took a couple moments for you to start seeing results, but when you did... Oh boy, did you see them. The bats were approaching far faster than you’d expected them too, and you couldn’t pretend you weren’t scared to death. Once the swarm was completely covering your field of view through the binoculars, you knew it was time to get to safety.

“They’re almost here!” you shouted over their screeches, “Eddie, we gotta go!”

Eddie quickly yanked the plug out of his guitar and grabbed your hand, pulling you along with him back down off the room. You scrambled to get inside, Eddie pushing you in before slamming the fence door closed just as the bats reached the trailer.

“God, that was so badass!” you panted, leaning against the wall to catch your breath.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he smirked, “I’ll have to play it again for you sometime.”

However, your moment was ruined when you both jumped at the sound of something hitting metal. You and Eddie shared a terrified look before snapping your heads toward the sound. A demobat had made its way into one of the vents of the trailer, weaseling its way inside.

“Oh, shit!” Eddie shouted, grabbing his makeshift shield and killing it before it could get to you, “Get through the portal!” He followed you to the middle of the room, hoisting you up and watching you tumble back into the real world. But when you reached up to help him through next, he just looked at you.

And you knew what he was going to do.

“Eddie...” you said slowly, “What part of ‘don’t be heroes’ do you not understand?”

“They’re going to go after the others, Y/N,” he shook his head, “I don’t want to run away anymore.”

“Eddie, don’t you dare!” you screamed – much like he had the day you dove into Lover’s Lake to help save Steve – but it was no use; He was already running back out of the Upside Down trailer anyway.

Without hesitation, you climbed back through the portal, landing on the bed with a hard thud. You let out a quiet ‘oof’ before springing to your feet and following him back into the mayhem.

You made it to the gate outside the trailer just in time to watch Eddie running with his makeshift sword and shield, leading the bats away from the portal. You grabbed the spiked bat Steve had insisted you take from Nancy’s arsenal of weapons – “just in case everything goes to shit” – and ran after him without a second thought.

Just as you were getting closer to Eddie, you saw a demobat flying up fast behind him. You knew he wasn’t going to notice it until it was too late, so you immediately charged for it. Eddie spun around when the animal let out a pained screech as it was killed, his eyes widening upon realizing you’d followed him.

“What are you doing, Y/N?!” he shouted, “Go home!”

“Not without you, Munson!” you returned just as loudly, killing another bat as he did the same.

“What did I tell you?! You shouldn’t- Duck!” You did so, letting him kill a bat as it was diving for you. “You shouldn’t be here!” he insisted.

“I never got to help Chrissy through her shit, Eddie! I’m not going to just let you die too!” your voice cracked, making him pause for a moment.

He then grabbed your hand and both of you ran back to the trailer, Eddie closing the gate behind you to buy a moment to talk some sense into you.

“You did not let Chrissy die, Y/N,” he told you.

“I didn’t help her!” you shook your head, not bothering to hold back your tears anymore, “I knew something was wrong! I knew she was acting different! I knew it wasn’t ‘just the depression’ this time! If I just tried a little harder, she would have told me what was going on! And I could have helped her and she would still be ali-”

“Stop it,” Eddie stated firmly, grabbing your face and making sure you were looking at him, “You said it yourself: Vecna’s curse is practically impossible to get out of without knowing you’re in it. There was absolutely nothing you could have done differently. She wouldn’t want you blaming yourself.”

“She wouldn’t blame you for running away either,” you whispered, holding his wrists tightly in an attempt to ground yourself, “She would have run if she saw what you did too.” He stared at you speechless for a moment before swallowing.

“You shouldn’t- Don’t sacrifice yourself for me,” he shook his head, “I’m not worth-”

“Yes, you are!” you sniffled, squeezing him tightly, “Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean you’re not worth fighting for! You’re weird and loud and obnoxious, but there’s nothing wrong with being a ‘freak’; It’s what makes you you! People like Jason not being able to appreciate it doesn’t mean everybody wants you to disappear! We just want you to be loved!”

You could tell Eddie was getting choked up by the way his eyes started to glisten. You never wanted this to be the way you confessed your feelings, but you couldn’t let him go on his suicide mission without him knowing.

He suddenly pressed his forehead to yours, breathing in deeply and acting as if you were being converged on by a bunch of monsters.

“Y/N,” he swallowed thickly, feelings your own breathing hitch, “Please go home; Get to safety.”

“I’m not leaving here without you, Eddie,” you repeated your earlier statement, “I go where you go.”

“That is the hottest thing any girl has ever said to me,” he admitted, though he still huffed at your stubbornness, “If we make it out of here alive, remind me to kiss you.” You finally let the corner of your mouth twitch into a small grin, making him smile as well.

“Promise?” you asked. Eddie held up his hand, showing you his extended pinky finger. Your small grin only grew, linking your pinky with his.

“Wouldn’t dare break the sanctity of a pinky promise, sweetheart,” he informed you, “Now let’s go kick some demon ass.”

You were sure you fought those damn things for the next 12 hours. They were a lot stronger than you gave them credit for, often needing two or three good hits before falling to the ground. But you and Eddie still gave it your all. You weren’t backing down this time; You weren’t going down without a fight.

But as soon as it all started, it suddenly came to an end. All of the remaining demobats dropped dead at once, and, after a moment in stunned silence, you and Eddie knew that could only mean one thing.

“Vecna’s dead?” Eddie murmured, both of your eyes widening.

“Vecna’s dead...” you whispered before throwing your bat down and bouncing on your feet, “Vecna’s dead! We did it!”

Eddie joined you in jumping excitedly before he discarded his own weapons and reached for you. He grabbed your waist with one hand before wrapping his arms around you tightly. You didn’t even hesitate as you hugged him back, your own arms around his neck and your face buried in his jacket. You both had cuts everywhere, your clothes were shredded, and your hair was a mess, but you were alive.

He lifted you off of your feet and you let your legs dangle against his. You closed your eyes and squeezed each other, simply reminding the other that you weren’t dead and imagining this entire thing. You could feel Eddie start bouncing on his feet,

“‘86 really is my year, baby!” he shouted at the sky, throwing his arms up in victory. You giggled at the outburst, putting your hands on his chest.

“I think you made me a pinky promise if we made it out alive, Munson,” you reminded him. Eddie didn’t even hesitate before grabbing your face again, this time to kiss you like his life depended on it.

When he pulled away to breathe, his eyes were still closed for a moment before he opened them again. He couldn’t stop himself from giving you one more peck on the lips though, moving his thumb to wipe some dirt off of your cheek.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he admitted, and you let a soft breath out of your nose.

“Me too,” you nodded.

“Is now a good time to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since the second you stepped into Mrs. O’Donnell’s class?” he asked you, smiling at the way your eyes lit up.

“Is now a good time to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since you told Jason that no one cared how good he was at ‘tossing balls into laundry baskets’?” you returned, earning a small smirk in response.

He didn’t say anything, though; He just returned his arms to your waist, wrapping you up in another tight hug.

“You are crazy and stupid and a total idiot for following me,” Eddie reminded you, his voice slightly muffled by the skin on your neck.

“A crazy, stupid, total idiot who kept you from being some ugly demon bat’s 3-course dinner,” you reminded him with a big smile.

“I think you mean demobats,” he copied Steve’s voice, succeeding in making you giggle.

“Whatever,” you shoved his head playfully. Eddie finally released you, stepping back and holding his hand out to you.

“Would the lady like to go home?” he bowed obnoxiously.

“Are you going to actually follow me this time?” you rolled your eyes as you placed your hand in his and tangled your fingers together, making him grin stupidly.

“I’ll follow you anywhere you tell me to, sweetheart.”

❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀

and everyone lived happily ever after thank u and goodnight

master list / master list for mobile users

you can also check out my last imagine here, my to do list to see what’s coming up, and click here to go to the page for my calum fic :)

Other high school AUs: Josh / Alex / Ryan / Ian / Nash / Ryan / Ryan / Calum / Cody / Zach / Calum / Ryan / Michael / Ashton / Calum / Calum / Michael / Ashton / Michael / Michael / Calum / Luke / Marshall / Luke / Marshall / Ashton / Ashton / Marshall / Michael / Ashton / Jamie / Ryan / Calum / Michael / Calum / Ashton / Cody / Marshall / Michael / Ashton / Calum / Michael / Calum / Michael / Michael / Calum / Calum / Jamie / Calum / Ashton / Luke / Ashton / Calum / Michael / Billy / Eddie

taglist: @calumhoodslays @vendylewin @lunalove25 @i-opened-the-chamber-of-secrets @maurine5sos @rachellwrites​ @itkindajusthappenedreally @breathinginthevapor @double-tap-to-edit @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you​ @silverchainbee​ @disastrxlogy @kikixfandoms @5saucewho​ @mycollectionofnuts​ @sunnysidesblog @youngblood199456 @boxofteenageideas @newhopenessie @5-seconds-of-mendes

if you’d like to be added to the taglist, let me know!

[mol4sses]

for the writing ask game. 27/hide. ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Behind a wall, skirting the edge of the map. Meyer was an expert flanker, swooping in to attack from out of sight. She mused on the cowardice of attacking from behind, while pressing the blaster to her enemy’s back. The tower halted with the game timer before she could pull the trigger, notifying a win for her team. Maybe cowardice isn’t so bad.

A change of clothes, hair down, it’s easy to pass yourself off as a better person when not putting up the obnoxious front. You’d be surprised how much you can blend into the background, even after having been in the spotlight. At least most of the time.

Percy waved ecstatically across the lobby, having finished tucking his gear and roller (somehow?) into his locker. Meyer keeps running into him, maybe we both work too hard. He’s so fit and full of energy. He’s handling it fine. Meyer holds a shaky wrist still with her other hand.

“Finishing up too, yeah? You wanna go get something to eat?” Percy asks with a dazzling smile, as always.

“Nah, I’m good.” She looks away as she feels his stare boring into her, but ignores him.

“You sure? I know you’ve been playing longer than me, and that’s a while…” He trailed off the longer she feigned ignorance, but frowned, noticing her fumble the combination locker’s dial.

Meyer clicked her tongue. “It’s rude to stare, scruffy.”

Percy huffed, not without smoothing down his hair. “You don’t scare me, miss Spritz!” A faux pout, fit with folded arms and a back turned. “I’ll care about your health whether you like it or not!”

She couldn’t help a chuckle at that. “Oh please, what are you, my mom?”

“I may as well be if you’re gonna act like a kid!!” He laughed, but settled down to a sincere look that made Meyer squirm, being seen so clearly somehow. “Cmon, a break would do both of us good, yeah? No need to push yourself that hard.”

Meyer recoiled slightly against his outreached hand, but sighed and relented, taking it. Leading her out the lobby, she really did feel like a dumb kid, trotting along behind. It was so hard to hide from him, from someone who knew the feeling of wearing a mask all too well.

“...Can we get some coffee, too?”

[jotunheimsaga]

Sigyn Chapter 2

It was as if Elizabeth had turned into her mom, banishing her to her room, but Jess knew their mother would have never acted like this. There was no use in fighting, so Jess propped herself onto her bed with her computer, making herself look as productive as possible, so Elizabeth would be pleased when she inevitably stuck her head in.

"It's for your own good, you know."

Jess replied with a flat hum and not enough eye contact, making Elizabeth step closer and harden her voice.

"Don't you give me an attitude! It's not my fault you can't get your shit together. I'm only holding you accountable. Maybe if you finish, you can still make open mic night."

The slamming door ended the conversation, and Jess finally had space to breathe. The cursor on the screen blinked obnoxiously, waiting for her. Minute after minute passed, but she couldn't make her fingers tap the keys.

What made you choose this university? Describe your career goals. What accomplishments are you proud of, and what obstacles have you overcome?

She didn't choose this school - her dad did. She told him there wasn't anything about it that interested her, and all he said: 'well, give it a shot', as if this were a new food to try and not a decision that would impact her life forever.

Maybe ten years ago, she knew what she wanted. Back when she could answer those prompts with ease and dream about studying interesting things that would earn her a fancy degree in an adventurous career.

But you can't force dreams, and you can't fake passion. Dreams pick you without a care in the world about what everyone else thinks is 'practical'.

That was good - she should write that down.

She threw her head back into the pillows and stared at the blank ceiling. She could write everything except what she needed.

Outside, the shadows stretched across the hills as the sun tip-toed behind the heads of the evergreens. Almost an entire day had been wasted; why should she waste any more?

So she threw on warm layers and hurried out the door, ready to let nature inspire her.

Jess knew her sister and friends preferred downhill skiing, so all she had to do to avoid them was stay on the cross-country trails. Before she knew it, she was breathing frigid air in the middle of a white wilderness, completely alone.

The trip did not spark Jess' imagination like she hoped.

The further she ventured, the more she wanted to turn back. The mountain was too quiet, and the rows of trees leaning over the trail made her claustrophobic. Every few seconds, she glanced over her shoulder, her imagination convincing her a monster was lurking in the shadows.

She hadn't bothered to grab a map. She didn't need one as long as she stayed on the trail. No matter how far she went, it would loop back to the lodge...right?

Her confidence faded with the evening sun, casting the world into blue twilight. There was precious little time before the world would turn black, and she'd have to navigate purely by the light of her phone.

As she slowed around a bend, something in the trees to her left caught her eyes. Etched in the bark was a symbol - some kind of Viking rune. She traced the jagged lines and angles the knife had made who-know-how-long-ago. It had been years since she read about the runes, but she was certain she had never seen this specific symbol before.

Perhaps it was a trail marker? Why hadn't she noticed them earlier in other places?

Giving up on identifying it, she turned to the other side of the trail that curved along the edge of a steep hill that was almost a sheer drop into the forest. In the distance was the soft glow of lights from the lodge, and a cloud of mist was expelled from her lips as she sighed in relief.

Movement in the trees pulled her eyes away. The shadows across the snow flickered, and then something trotted into an open field. Jess held her breath in fear the tiniest sound might scare it away. Its long legs pierced the crust of the snow with ease, its steady gait never missing a beat as its head swiveled from side to side. Every once in a while it swept its nose across the ground while its ears flicked back and forth.

Then, there was something else, something closer at the base of the hill. It was taller and moved like a phantom floating above the ground, creeping closer tree by tree. When it leaned into the fading light, its features could not be distinguished beneath a black hood.

Something was wrong, but no matter how loud the warning bells rang in her head, Jess' feet stayed planted where they were as if frozen to the mountain.

The figure raised a long stick curved on both ends. Jess couldn't recognize it until it was drawn back, with an arrow on the string aimed at the first animal.

She remembered the carcass in the bed of the truck - evidence of a poacher.

It all clicked.

"Hey!"

The loudness of her own voice bouncing across the empty mountain startled herself. In retrospect, it wasn't the wisest decision, but she couldn't stand by and do nothing while an innocent animal was killed.

A flock of birds spooked from their perches, sending clumps of snow falling to the ground. The animal snapped its head toward Jess, who was more concerned with the other figure. It stared at her with no discernable facial features, but Jess could feel her eyes piercing through her layers, coming to a decision that she didn't want to know about.

So focused on each other, no one noticed the first creature launching itself through the air. A quiet forest erupted into the chaos filled with snarls and snapping wood. The tall figure stumbled back into the bracken to escape an onslaught of fangs. Jess only caught glimpses of movement through the sticks.

With a screechy whine, all went quiet. The animal darted into the open with blood dripping from its shoulder. It seemed confused as it put its nose to the ground and paced back and forth.

The figure had vanished.

Gripping her ski poles tightly in her hands, Jess moved her skis through the snow back towards the lodge with renewed urgency.

[chaos--mode]

this isn't the first time someone's clothes have been consumed 'round here. ren thought it was funny, 'til one day she found her favourite silk shawl clutched between beak and talons. least it's not her this time.

so ren laughs when paerin struts into the library holding something that she imagines was a boot, once. one hand comes up to cover her mouth as she leans forward, cradling the bones she'd been fiddling with in her lap.

❝ the whole boot is definitely a new one, ❞ she manages between giggles. she can definitely relate to the sentiment, though ; look at him. ren's pretty damned sure assan couldn't invoke her ire if he trotted into her room and tore up every single piece of clothing she owned. not if he proceeded to look up at her with his stupid big blue eyes and a soft little trill-chirp.

she reaches out towards the warden with one hand to beckon him forward, the other moving her little project off to the side for now ( she'll deal with the spirit later ) . ❝ i'm sure i've got something lyin' around that'll do until you can go shopping for a new pair. ❞ ( she has a truly obnoxious amount of spare apparel squirreled away in her quarters, just in case. ) ❝ how long've you had those anyway? ❞

@chaos--mode liked for a dragon age starter

" Th'bloody griffin ate my boot —— " And he's in one socked foot, one booted one, holding up a well-shredded leather —— scrap. It can be best described as a scrap. At any rate? He utters a laugh, disbelieving, giving a shake of his head; there's an exasperated fondness there, and a wonder besides. He's a Warden, he's got the emblem of the griffins on his damned shield, and he'd never thought to see one alive.

" An' I can't even be pissed about it b'cause look at him. Bloody hells. " A long-suffering heave of a sigh. " —— we got any extra boots? I can't fight darkspawn in my damned socks. "

[undiscovered-horizon]

Imagine breaking Joker and Riddler out of Arkham.

🫀Requests are open🫀

Something was hanging in the air - had been for the entire week. It seemed as if every day there was a new staff and then there were those suspiciously often power outages... Despite the suffocating strangeness poisoning the already stale air of the high-security hospital, the regular workers acted completely natural, dismissing all questions and suspicions. But those two knew better.

Due to the lack of a better pastime, Joker and Riddler spent a fair amount of time talking. Not always agreeing but always understanding to a degree. They couldn't be sure what exactly was going on, what sublime scheme was happening right under the guards' noses but they were both certain that whatever calamity was going to fall on Arkham, it was going to be their golden ticket for freedom. Little did they know, it was the golden ticket that found them.

On a stormy night, waves crashed furiously against the coast. The anger of the sky was great enough to disturb radio communication and visibility. The water around Arkham quite poetically gave voice to the soul of the chilling place: dark, murky and entirely deranged in its unstoppable rage.

"Team leader, we have a go," you heard through the earpiece. "initiating a lockdown in 3... 2... 1... Building locked. Clearing path to the rooftop."

Darkness fell on the entire complex and red emergency lighting came on. It was time to make a living and uphold your immaculate reputation among the demimonde and desperate prudes.

Emerging from the shadows, you grabbed the head of a nearby guard and broke his neck without hesitation. There were more important things than morality or ethics.

You had spent so much time studying the layout of Arkham, you could find their cells with closed eyes and while walking backwards. One of the reasons you've been so successful with your underworld business was the fact that you never took chances: an acceptable plan is one that physically cannot go wrong.

The bottle of strong you had stolen from the storage room was in your hand. There was something funny about that: in a place where shoelaces and necklaces are forbidden, there are litres of acid. Pouring the corrosive substance, the metal locks sizzled as they were melting away. No longer restrained, the heavy door swung open.

To you, Joker and Riddler looked completely unassuming. Without the knowledge of what they'd done and were capable of doing, they could pass off as those two obnoxious guys in high school who whine about girls not dating them. But yourself you were guilty of a similar crime: nothing about the way you looked exactly screamed 'gun for hire'. They surely had that shadow of madness covering their expressions but their visuals did not strike you as murderous per see, more like incomprehensible rambling.

"The clown and the virgin, the true menaces of Gotham," you said while looking between them. "I tremble in fear."

"Princess peach, aren't you a little too pretty to be a goon?" the Joker said with a lopsided grin. It was just one sentence and you were already up for a fight with him. No doubt he'd love that. "You could make so much money if you considered a change of occupation."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd love that. Now, trot along. We're on a tight schedule." Without sparing another second, you turned around and began walking away from the cells. "Rapture 1, we’re ready for pick up," you spoke to the earpiece.

"Roger that," the man on the other side responded.

"What's going on?" Riddler enquired. His anxiety was too rampant for him to even begin to conceal it. Despite that, he walked along Joker behind you. "Where are you taking us?"

"Today's your lucky day, dearest. Someone rich and important wants you to walk free."

You marched through the concrete halls of Arkham, emergency lighting making the path only kind of visible. Every now and then one of the prisoners-patients would bang on the door demanding or pleading to be taken out of their cell. A few years ago maybe you'd have a speck of sympathy for them. Riddler and Joker seemed to not be up for more questions. The former was probably too confused and untrusting, while the latter simply settled for suspicious snickering.

The strong, cold wind hit your face when you made it to the rooftop. It brought drops of seawater to higher altitudes, mixing it with grimy rainwater that drenched your clothes. Gotham's landscape would be virtually impossible to see if it wasn't for the bright lights of city nightlife.

The whirring blades of the chopper's propeller made it hard to hear one another. "Hop in and let's be gone," you yelled while pointing at the helicopter.

"Oh, but there's a trick, no?" Joker asked between his maniacal cackles. It was hard to say which part of the breakout he was enjoying the most. "Your face might be deliciously innocent but your heart ain't." For a man who was completely out of his marbles, he was smart.

"There's a saying that goes 'when the cat is gone, the mice jaunce'. You know what happens when the mice are gone? The cat goes for bigger prey. And someone wants to make sure that the bigger prey has time to finish what they had started."

"Boss," someone yelled to you. You turned your head to see Marco - a heavy man with an equally heavy Yorkshire accent. He surely looked intimidating even without the rifle he was holding. "National Guard knows about the lockdown. ETA 6 minutes."

"Get the napalm, Marco. I want this to look like an inside job."

"Yes, ma'am." Without exchanging spare words, Marco walked past you and gathered some people carrying metal canisters to set the building on fire.

"Rapture 2, the fire is on the way. Be on standby," you said on the radio before getting into the helicopter.

"Roger that. Rapture 2 moving to the rendezvous point."

Before sitting down, you leaned towards the pilot and grabbed his shoulder to get his attention:

"Get us out of here."

You sat on a bench across from the fresh runaways. Now that you were nearly brushing your knees against a serial killer and a mass murderer, hundreds of feet above the ground, a sting of anxiety appeared in your chest.

"We'll play nice, princess peach," Joker speaks up. He must have noticed your sudden uneasiness or perhaps suspected it and decided to try his luck. "Maybe."

"I'm not worried," you lied. Years of working for the worst people on this side of the globe taught you a thing or two about excellent acting. "I believe you two have enough problems without the big fish coming after you."

The believable lie got a laugh out of Joker. Out of the three of you, he seemed to be the only one actually having fun.

"You know, I'm quite surprised, princess peach," he continued. "Your plan worked so far."

"Of course it did, darling. They don't call me Archangel for pretty eyes."

Joker cackled again and nodded to himself. He was familiar with that name. For better or worse, you knew right then that he wasn't going to let go that easily.

[saltstuck]

gridlock

for harringrove week // only one bed // [holiday] in the summer

tw: panic attacks and ptsd

Billy walks out into the early morning hours of July 4th to find Steve waiting for him. 

He stops in his tracks. Takes in the sight of him, arms crossed and leaning up against the hood of his truck. “Harrington.”

“Billy.”

They stare at each other.

Billy sighs. “Max, huh.”

“Max.” Steve shrugs helplessly.

Billy turns round to lock up, then shuts the screen door silently behind him. Approaches Steve with a glance at the backpack at his feet. “It’s a long drive.”

“Better than babysitting duty.”

It’s just Steve and him right now. Around them, Hawkins is quiet. Sparse in sound and bodies. It won’t be come dusk. Not with the fireworks, not with the memories, not with what happened last year. He studies Steve’s face. Maybe he’s not the only one who doesn’t want to be here for it.

“Fine, get in,” he grunts and Steve perks up, trotting to the other side of the truck. 

Billy glances across the seat. 

Steve’s head has fallen into the crook of his elbow. He dozes, eyelashes fanning out across his cheeks and lips parted, puckered slightly where they’re pushed up against his forearm. 

Billy puts a cigarette to his lips and drags his gaze back to the road.

He flicks on the radio and Steve stirs. Around a yawn, he complains, “Don’t know how you can be so awake. Too early.”

“We’re on a schedule.”

“Yeah, but it’s not even 6 yet…”

“You didn’t have to come,” Billy reminds him, flicking a look over his shoulder as he merges into the next lane.

Steve’s response is interrupted by the obnoxious sound of a commercial over the radio. They groan in unison and both reach to shut it off at the same time but Steve’s a second too slow and his fingertips end up brushing over the back of Billy’s hand instead. 

Billy pulls his hand back like it’s been burned, choking back a surprised gasp.

“Sorry, sorry,” Steve says in a rush. 

Billy shakes his head. “’S okay.” And it is, it just startled him. Assures him, “Really, it’s fine.”

“Okay..” 

They fall into silence again, but it doesn’t last long because then Steve asks, “Do they hurt?” 

Billy’s breath catches.

He flexes his hand on the steering wheel, gaze settling on the scar that runs from his first knuckle down to his wrist. He’s not averse to talking about them, it’s just rare that anyone actually brings it up. Most people avoid the topic, look away, some stare. Nobody asks about them. 

He swallows. “Sometimes.” 

“Oh.” 

They stop for breakfast just as the sun breaks over the horizon. The rest stop is empty so they have their pick of a parking space. Billy finds a spot that faces the sunrise and pulls the truck in backwards. Steve leans up against the trunk bed, long legs extended out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. Billy hops up next to him.

They’d picked up some sandwich from the gas station nearby and Steve’s taking these big bites out of his and chewing real slow, squinting into the distance like he’s thinking real hard about something. Eventually, he points at the sun and says, “It kind of looks like an egg yolk, right?”

It does look like an egg yolk, Billy agrees, but he doesn’t want to look, too engrossed in watching Steve look at it, and then Steve’s glancing down at what’s left of his sandwich, whining, “Man, now I kind of wish we’d gotten omelets..” 

The sunlight hits him right then, staining him in pink and gold, and Billy wants to say, well, your eyes look like a sunrise, but he can’t just say that, so he scoffs instead, shoves his own sandwich into his mouth and finds a spot on the ground to stare at so he doesn’t stare at Steve. 

Steve’s finished already. He brushes a few crumbs off his jeans, then leans back on his hands with a content sigh. Billy is watching him again. Studying him, really, because he’s never been real good at self-restraint when it comes to Steve. 

“Does that hurt?” 

“Hm?” His gaze skates over to Billy.

Billy touches his forehead then points at Steve who mimics the movement. 

“Oh.” Steve says, contemplative as he runs a finger over the scar hiding in his hairline. “No, not really. My jaw does sometimes, though. When I yawn.”

“Right.” He finds that spot on the ground again, throat tight. “Sorry.” 

“You’re not the only one who’s taken a swing at me,” he says and shrugs. “Anyways… I dunno, I kind of like it.” 

Billy chokes on air. “W-what?” 

“Oh my god, not like that, Jesus,” Steve says, hiding his face behind his hand. Then he sits up, growing serious again. “I mean, like… it’s a reminder, I guess. That I’m here. I’m alive.” 

“You survived,” Billy supplies quietly. 

Their eyes meet. 

“Yeah.”

“It’s hot,” Steve whines. 

Traffic is at a stand still. Steve’s got his feet up on the seat. There's no gap between them, no center console, just one long seat with a little more than a foot separating the two of them, and Steve’s taking up all of it. 

“It’s hot!” He repeats, yells it like the heat has boiled it out of him, then he’s laughing, head thrown out the window. A bead of sweat drips over the curve of his jaw and down the long line of his throat. Billy indulges in the view, greedy for it now that he’s free from the visual prison of the road ahead. For now anyway.

“Aren’t you hot? How can you wear that? You must be boiling.”

He shrugs. He likes the heat. It was sort of a foreign concept to Billy for a time and he’d like to savor it. That’s what happens when you’re possessed by a monster who likes it cold. 

Steve’s words catch up to him a second later, taking Billy’s silence as him being offended. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…” 

That’s enough of that, Billy thinks and sneers, “That’s new. Wasn’t too long ago you were telling me to put clothes on, not take them off.” 

It does the trick. Steve’s cheeks are cherry red and unbelievably cute. Even cuter is his outraged squawk, “Shut up! God, you’re unbearable.”

He’s beautiful. 

The car ahead of them creeps forward a few inches, then stops. Gridlock. Billy sighs and fishes out a cigarette from the pack on the dashboard. Pauses when Steve’s shoe nudges his thigh. 

“Gimme one of those.” 

Billy eyes the offending toe with a raised brow. He tosses him the pack. “Thought you quit.” 

“Yeah, well,” is all he says. It’s bitter and Billy’s quick to connect the dots. Only a smoker forced to quit by someone else is that sour about it.

“Tell me something,” Billy starts curiously. “The princess. What happened there?” 

“Not much to say. Fell in love, she fell out.”

“Yeah, I know that part.”

“Well, she moved on, obviously. We’re friends. That’s about it.”

“And it doesn’t bother you, seeing them together?”

“Nancy and Jonathan? At first, yeah. But then there was all the Upside Down shit going on and Halloween…“ he shrugs and takes a drag off his cigarette, exhales it out the window.

“And now?”

“Not interested.” 

“Hm.”

A semi flies by on the opposite side of the freeway. It kicks up the smoke in its wake, tossing it left and right before dispersing into the air.

“What about you? Any ladies catching your eye these days?” Steve asks a moment later, a teasing lilt to his voice. 

Billy drums a rhythm on the steering wheel. Resists the gravitational pull of Steve’s gaze when he states, “Nope, no ladies.” 

“That’s too bad,” Steve hums.

Billy swears the foot, still on his thigh, presses down for a second.

The traffic sets them back a few hours. In the rear view mirror, the sun starts its descent into the horizon. Billy speeds up. 

Then, the fireworks start. 

It’s like Billy has been dunked under water. The truck jerks at the first crackle. Beside him, Steve sits up, suddenly wide awake.

“Maybe we should get off the road.” 

“Billy.”

“Billy, pull over."

A crack, a big one, then a dozen pops.

He swerves onto the shoulder. 

“Shit—“ 

Steve is thrown forward when Billy slams the breaks, spooked by the echo of another firework. He catches himself with an elbow on the dashboard and swears. 

“Let me drive.” 

“It’s fine!” Billy snaps. “Give me a minute.” 

And then another firework goes off. And Steve has already hopped out of the truck and is opening Billy’s door, insisting, “I’m driving. We’ll find a motel, head out again in the morning. C’mon, move over.”.

Billy wants to laugh. He wants to cry, too. Of course, Steve doesn’t know. Last time he went to a motel around Fourth of July, he got dragged into a basement and possessed. But he’s not about to tell Steve that. 

He’s fucking right though. They don’t really have a choice. Even with Steve driving, there’s no way he’s going to be able to keep his shit together, not with fireworks going off all over, not when they’re out in the open, vulnerable. And it’s only just started. Who knows how long they’ll go on for…

“Okay, yeah. Fine.” 

The nearest motel is a two minute drive away. It’s quiet when they pull up and Billy hopes it’s far enough from the surrounding town. The lady at the counter scrutinizes them over her glasses when Steve asks for a room.

“No doubles.” 

“Okay, um, what do you have then?” 

A man in the reception area is watching them. The looks he’s giving them has Billy crawling under his skin. 

“It’s fine. Just give us whatever you’ve got,”Billy mutters, nudging Steve out of the way.  He holds out his hand, snaps a few times when she doesn’t move. “C’mon. Don’t got all night.” 

She forks the keys over finally and Billy takes off, leaving Steve behind to deal with the payment. He books it to the bathroom the moment he’s in the room. Shuts the door and paces like a caged animal. Stops only to brace himself at the sink. 

He’s okay. He’s alive. He’s here. Not there . He’s here.

The knock startles him, even though It’s barely a tap against wood. “Billy—“”

“I’m fine. Stop hovering.” 

He’s not fine. From the long pause, Steve knows it too. But he doesn’t press. “I’ll just, uh, call the cabin, then. They’re probably worried.”

Billy pushes off the counter and opens the door. 

“Sorry,” he starts to say, but then another firework goes off. Crackles just outside the window. The smell of ash and dynamite. The ground sways beneath his feet and Billy drops to meet it. He lands hard on his ass in the doorway.

The walkie clatters on the tile, then Steve’s kneeling in front of him, eyes blown wide. “Billy, hey, it’s okay.”

The fireworks stop and Billy sucks in a breath, then they come again but they’re louder and there’s more of them and he's sinking into the black again. 

“Fuck, what can I do? What do you need?” 

“I need—I don't know, fuck—“ What does he need? He needs a fucking break, he needs air in his fucking lungs, he needs something to grab onto— he reaches out blindly, tethers himself to Steve’s forearms and digs his nails in.

“Okay, okay. I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here.” 

There’s pressure at either side of his neck, the base of his skull. Billy’s fingers clench harder and the pressure does, too, and it’s better, good even, grounding. 

Brown eyes break through the black like a sunrise, and Steve is right there, face a few inches away. “I got you, Billy,” he’s saying, “I’m here, I got you.” 

He needs to be here, now, not in a basement in the dark or skewered bloodied in a mall. He needs more. 

He needs—

“Steve,” Billy croaks and tugs at his tether. 

“You gotta let go of me first.”

Steve comes to him easily then, reels Billy into the safety of his arms with that same grounding pressure.

“Breathe with me, yeah? breathe. In and out. That’s good, good job, Billy, keep going. In… and out.”

Together, they breathe. And breathe, and breathe, and breathe.

 

Billy wakes warm. 

He finds himself nestled in the v of Steve’s legs, still encased in his arms. It’s quiet, the only sound is Steve breathing beneath him. He adjusts slightly and winces at the ache. 

Still in the bathroom then, he observes hazily.

“I didn’t want to move you,” Steve murmurs into his hair, reading his mind. 

Not awake enough yet to use words, Billy nods once. The motion tickles his nose where it brushes against the chest hairs escaping the top of Steve’s shirt. 

He burrows into Steve’s embrace and sighs, relaxing again. Safe. Sleep beckons him.

A squeeze. “Billy.”

He hums, stirring. 

“You know I love you, right?”

Billy blinks his eyes open. Steve’s heart is a steady drum beneath his cheek. 

When he finds his voice, it’s barely a whisper. 

“Yeah, I know.” He squeezes back.

When morning comes, they’re slow to pack up their things. After they check out, they head out to the truck. Steve holds a hand out for the keys, but Billy shakes his head. 

The night's events are a heavy hand on Billy’s back but the bruises under Steve’s eyes and the bed they’ve left unused tells him that he’s faring far better than Steve. 

“No way.”

“What? Why not?”

Billy tosses their bags into the backseat, then pins him with an accusing glare. “Did you get any sleep?”

Steve scowls. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Billy scoffs. He hops behind the wheel without waiting for an answer. 

Steve follows to the other side of the truck but continues his protest when he gets into the passenger seat.

“I just don’t see why you won’t let me drive, I’m a good fucking driver—“

Billy exhales a sharp breath through his nose. “Steve.”

“What.” 

“C’mere.” 

That gets his attention. In his peripherals, Steve’s gaze flicks from Billy’s profile to the space he opens up on his thigh. Processing. 

Nervousness turning into impatience, Billy clicks his tongue. “Just.. lay down. Sleep.”

“Fine,” Steve grumbles the entire way down, like a brat. Curls his body into the empty space, legs bent across the seat and his head on top of Billy’s thigh. Then pouts. Ridiculous.

“Drama queen,” Billy mutters, flicking his ear. 

He fights a smile at Steve's glare. The glare turns to surprise at the stroke of Billy’s thumb over his flushed cheek and Billy can’t hold it back any longer. He laughs, softly and terribly fond. “Who would have thought that’s all it took to shut you up.”

Then Steve’s face changes again and suddenly Billy can barely breathe. 

“You know I love you, right?”

He’d known it, he thought he had, but gazing into Steve’s eyes now, the raw adoration looking back at him, he believes it. 

A thumb brushes across Billy’s cheek and Steve smiles. “Right back at you.”

[chadillacboseman]

day 21 of smutember with lion or doc please?

Smutember Day 21 - Balcony Scene

Warnings: Unprotected sex, jealously, semi-public, some risk of getting caught.

Kept promising myself the Smutember requests would be short, but this one got away from me.

For best effect, listen to something like this while reading :)

--

You hate fancy parties.

Sure, the free drinks and food on golden plates are a nice touch, but you can't help but feel that you don't belong here. Not here among these French upper-class and politicians, all clinking their glasses and laughing at jokes you will never understand.

The dress you're wearing is unbearably "not you", a black lace number you had picked from the store Gustave had taken you to. Beside you, he's wearing a a three piece suit in jet black to compliment your outfit; his hair is pushed back, tucked behind his ears, a stark contrast to the usual fringe that hangs across his forehead.

Gustave rests a reassuring hand on the small of your back and leans in close to your ear, "You look miserable, ma cherie, what's wrong?" he asks and you sigh.

"Just a little overwhelmed, I'm sorry."

He hums and runs a thumb along your spine, "Do not be sorry, just stay close to me."

Gustave leads you through the throng of people in the ballroom, pushing past people who don't even offer you a second glance. Toward the front of the decadent room, a string quartet plays a song that's vaguely familiar and your heart races in time with the violinists fervent playing.

The event is honoring Médecins Sans Frontière, a group Gustave volunteered with during his time with the French Army. Whenever donations ran low, the politicians would throw an extravagant ball and plead for money to "continue the greater good" where it was needed.

Gustave feels compelled to attend every one, as his face is that of a true success story, an altruist who had saved hundreds of lives with the MSF before joining Rainbow.

"Oh Gustave!" a shrill voice calls across the ballroom and he sighs in exasperation. You recognize the voice's owner as one of the obnoxious daughter's of a French millionaire. She trots over to him, her pearl-colored silken dress hiked high above her knees.

"Oh, how good it is to see you!" she kisses his cheeks and you feel your already short temper flare just below the surface, "How have you been?"

"I've been fine, Celeste. You remember my-" his attempt to introduce you is lost as she grabs his hand and drags him to her group.

Gustave catches your eye and offers a silent apology as you stand, defeated, in the center of the ballroom.

--

"More champagne, miss?" a man in a pinstriped suit with coattails offers you a tray filled with glass flutes as you seethe silently against the far wall.

"Yes," you snatch a glass from the tray and the server nods curtly before offering you a pitying look and departing.

Gustave is still in the center of the group of fawning women, all cooing over his suit and his physique, giggling and running their hands over him until you feel as if you're going to crush the glass you clutch in your hand.

Why did he bring you here?

You tear your eyes away from the spectacle and make your way to a set of french doors that lead to a balcony overlooking the garden. The cool air hits you like a freight train as you lean over the railing at watch the water in the fountain below dance, reflecting the light of the moon.

This was a stupid idea. You should have told him to him come alone.

Tears threaten to well up into your eyes as you finish the champagne and toss the flute into the bushes below. You couldn't care less if anyone sees you do it.

You hear the set of doors swing open behind you and you quickly straighten, wiping the tears on the back of your hand before turning to find Gustave standing, framed by the bright golden lights of the ballroom behind him.

Your attempts to hide the tears are futile- he knows when even the smallest thing is wrong with you.

He also knows when he's fucked up.

Gustave closes the small distance between the two of you and you move to turn back to the railing, white-knuckled fingers grasping at the fine marble accents until they ache.

"Had enough of being fawned over?" you snap.

"You think I liked that?" he sounds hurt, and for a moment the fire in your chest subsides.

"You didn't exactly make an attempt to stop them," you turn to face him and he cocks his head, his finely-coiffed hair has finally come loose, the fringe taking its rightful place in a splash across his forehead.

He looks strikingly handsome standing there in the moonlight.

"You think I want one of them?" Gustave closes the remaining gap and cups your face with his hand, forcing your eyes to his.

"I...maybe," you're still angry. Still hurt. Still willing to go scorched earth in your wounded state.

"You really think that?" Gustave's voice is husky as he tilts your face up to his, "When I have you?"

His dark eyes are intense as he stares down at you, gaze boring into yours; "Every one of those rich connards is worthless compared to you."

"That's not really an apology...." you trail off with a smirk that he returns.

"Would you prefer something like this instead?" Gustave cups your cheek and brings his mouth to yours, swallowing up your protests in a kiss full of heat and apologies.

"Gustave!" you push him away playfully and he grins.

"What? Don't you want my apology?"

He grabs you around the waist and pulls you roughly against him, his smirk growing wider and more sinister.

"Gustave..." you lean back over the railing and he follows, kissing along your exposed neck until you're giggling like a schoolgirl, "We might get caught!"

"So?"

"So, I don't want that!" You swat at him and he catches your hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing down your wrist.

Gustave abandons his efforts at your wrist and moves his hands to your hips, roughly turning you so you're bent over the railing, staring down into the garden where other party-goers mingle obliviously.

The fiery protests welling in your throat are extinguished when he hikes your dress up to your waist and takes in the sight before him with a lustful groan.

It's not like him to act like this, not when the two of you could so easily be caught by anyone wandering outside at the wrong moment.

You hear him fumble for a moment behind you, fabric rustling as he works to free himself.

"Suits," he mutters in frustration.

A small "ha!" of triumph falls from his lips when he's successful, and you feel him grasp your hips roughly, lining you up with him and shoving your panties down your legs in one swift motion.

"Were you jealous, ma cherie?" he whispers as he drags himself lazily up and down your slit, sending a ripple of shivers up your spine, "When you do this to me?" he exhales shakily, hot breath fanning over you as he tries to hold himself back.

Gustave grips your hips and pushes inside you slowly, agonizingly, hissing as he restrains himself from thrusting wildly.

You can't even answer, too overwhelmed by the way he fills you so well, stretches you to almost unbearable limits, shoving you forward against the railing.

You let out a small moan and he chuckles, "Quiet now, wouldn't want someone to look up," he punctuates the last word with a hard thrust and you bite your lip to hold back a moan.

"You feel so good," Gustave is babbling now, barely able to string together words anymore, punchdrunk as he fucks you on the balcony, "So tight."

The fear of being caught dissipates from your mind, shoved aside by the feeling of him hammering away at the white hot core of you, building tension like a rubber band that threatens to snap at any moment.

You are so painfully close, gripping the marble of the railing as you bite back the curses that threaten to tumble out of your mouth, careful to keep your eyes on the garden below in case one of them looks up.

You wonder for a moment what they might think if they do.

The thought is pushed from your mind as the tension snaps and you feel your legs grow weak; Gustave follows, grunting as he digs his fingers into the meat of your hips.

"Don't want to ruin your pretty dress, hm?" Gustave's words come between pants as he bucks into you erratically until he is sated and your legs feel as if they are made of a wobbling gelatin.

"Does that make it better, mon amour?" He purrs the words in your ear as he pulls out slowly and lets the length of your dress fall back to your ankles as he adjusts his own clothing.

"A little," you admit with a smile.

"Let's go home," Gustave grabs your hand and you cock your head.

"Don't you have to stay for the event?"

He waves a dismissive hand at the ballroom and turns to you with bright eyes, "I'd much rather spend my night with you."

[qqueenofhades]

Happy birthday! Because I know I’m fantasizing about travel and far off places: 2. “Are you traveling alone?” For Garcy if it suits your fancy?

There aren't many more liminal, eerie places than a strange airport at two o'clock in the morning, when you're sleeping (or rather, trying and failing to sleep) on the hard terminal floor, backpack tucked uncomfortably under your neck and trying not to check your phone every two seconds to see if they've rebooked you onto a new flight yet. Lucy always has anxiety about traveling, and being marooned in the badlands of Ferenc Lizst International Airport, Budapest, is just what she gets for flying something called WizzAir. Her onward flight to Târgu Mureș in Romania -- well, it will at least theoretically happen. Sometime. When you're a broke academic who's already feeling guilty about taking this long away from your terminally ill mother and start-of-semester preparations, it's always a crapshoot.

Lucy shifts in vain hope of finding a more comfortable patch of floor, trying to avoid the censorious gazes of the night custodians, who are probably wondering why the crazy American didn't just get an airport hotel like a sensible person. That would indeed be the smart thing to do, but Lucy can't afford it. Or rather, she could, if she took something from the trust fund that Carol's set up, but she keeps reminding herself that that money is for their future, once Carol is gone. Amy was the one who insisted on the idea of a mini-European vacation for Lucy anyway, since it was supposed to relax her before the big fall 2016 semester, where she knows that her tenure meeting has finally been scheduled and Stanford University is -- again, at least in theory -- planning to make her a permanent, no-take-backs member of the history faculty. So now Lucy's here, trotting across whatever scenic European cities she can get to on Ryanair, absorbing the history and culture, shutting down a thousand come-ons from hopeful-to-obnoxious European guys who think that an attractive American woman traveling alone must just be desperate for some of that, and constantly, neurotically checking her budget to make sure that she can afford to fly back home to California without sleeping under a bridge. (She'd say an airport floor, but that is already out the window.)

Lucy stares at the ceiling, listening to distant bilingual airport announcements droning in Hungarian and English, as a few harried uber-late-night passengers dash past her in search of their gates. She isn't sure how much relaxation she's really getting out of this. The hospice nurses have been in touch about Carol -- she's probably not going to die before Lucy gets back, that's always good -- and Amy has assured her that they have things under control, but does she? Not to sound like Carol, but Amy can be... flighty. Lucy is the older sister. It's Lucy's job to be there. Not gallivanting around here, so far away.

She isn't sure if she actually falls asleep, or just drifts off in a maelstrom of troubled thoughts, but either way, she is started awake with an utterly disorienting feeling that several hours have suddenly slipped away, as if she's lost track of time and space. The airport is starting to stir with red-eye business travelers, and she lifts her head groggily, fumbling for her phone. There's an email from WizzAir apologizing for the inconvenience and offering to rebook her on a flight to Cluj-Napoca, which is also in Transylvania, so technically, they feel that it counts. Lucy groans, sits up, tries to get the foul morning taste out of her mouth, and wonders if any of the concourse coffee places are open yet. She could really do with some caffeine, or --

It's just then when she spots the man sitting by himself a few feet away, in one of the otherwise-empty chairs by the gate. He's tall, dark-haired, and has that generic Eastern European look that could mean he's from anywhere in this general geographic region, but something about him catches her attention anyway. He's reading a small brown leather book like it contains the secrets of life, flipping the pages intently and frowning to himself, and no matter all of the previous come-ons that Lucy has shot down, she finds herself oddly intrigued. She doesn't even know why. He is very handsome, in a rugged-lone-wolf kind of way, but she's not about to chat up random strangers at -- she checks her phone -- 4:08 am CEST. It's just... that book. She has no idea why on earth it would, but it seems almost... familiar.

Catching her gaze, the man looks up. "What?" he says, in English. His voice is gravelly, deep and unfriendly. "Do you want something?"

"I... no." Lucy flushes. "I'm sorry. I just... nothing."

He continues staring at her with an intensity that borders almost on the rude. He puts the book back in his bag, as if he doesn't want to be caught with it in public, and Lucy catches a glimpse of the gilded initials stamped on the corner: LP. Those, of course, happen to be her initials, but that obviously doesn't mean anything. He stands up; he's tall, probably a good foot more than her, and powerfully built. She would almost be afraid of him, because he seems like one of those people that you see in a crowd, or in an empty airport at four in the morning, who aren't there when you look back and don't cast a shadow. But there's something else as well, which Lucy can feel as if through a red thread tying them together. Grief. Anger. Steely determination. Like he's getting ready to do something momentous, and can't let himself get distracted now. She wonders where he's going. It feels like somewhere a lot further away than here.

"I'm sorry," she says awkwardly. "I didn't mean -- I didn't mean to stare. I'm just... waiting for my flight."

She doesn't need to justify herself to him. He's the one who's acting grumpy and standoffish to a perfect stranger for no reason, and she was here first, anyway. But he keeps looking at her. All at once, abruptly, he says, "Are you traveling alone?"

Lucy hesitates. That's not the kind of information you want to give out to a creepy large man when you are, in fact, alone, and she doesn't know how long he's been sitting here, watching her sleep. "My sister," she lies. "She'll be along soon."

The man absorbs that with a grunt. He grabs his things off the seat and turns to go, then stops. "Be careful," he says, with absolutely no hint of why or what this might mean. "You never know what's out there. You never know if the world is a lot stranger than it looks."

Lucy frowns. He's said that as if he thinks -- almost as if they've met before, when she definitely knows they haven't. He's still gazing at her with something hungry, something desperate, as if he isn't quite sure if she is who he thinks she is, but God, he hopes that it is. Maybe a lookalike stranger, or.... something? She doesn't know, she doesn't understand. She's relieved when he shoulders his backpack and vanishes down the concourse without looking back.

She doesn't get a name, of course. She doesn't think anything more of it. She completes her trip and gets home to California, to Carol, to Amy, to whatever she expects to come next.

(It isn't until she's standing in the violent firelight of the burning Hindenburg in the year 19-goddamn-37, staring at the face of Garcia Flynn, wanted time terrorist and the man who knew her from the start, who was reading her journal before they had even technically met -- then she understands.)

(Are you traveling alone?)

(He is, though. He is.)

[it's my birthday send me a prompt]

[st4rgiirll]

abandoned - colby brock

Colby Brock x Reader

early traphouse days

Prompt?: yes, "are you just going to leave me here?"

Edited: no

Word count: 1.2k

Summary: y/n had been friends with the trap house before their youtube fame, after a while, they had drifted. y/n pursuing her school career and the boys, their youtube careers. what happens when her friends leave her in an abandoned place they were exploring?

========================================================== y/n pov:

after a long while at college, i leave the hell to then trot to the bus stop. "hey y/n!" a girl shouts over at me. i take my headphones out and shout back "yeah?" it was my friend, well i think we are friends. we've spoken a couple times and i've never had friends, not after them.

"so you're good at photography right? well me and my friends want to go to an abandoned place and explore and take pics. you're taking the pics." she said. "alright, when are w-" i get interrupted by her loud and obnoxious voice. "tomorrow, at around 11. don't be late." she bluntly replies.

'thank god it's Friday' i thought. i speed-walk to the bus stop in order to not be late for it. when it arrives, i step onto the bus and take my 40 minute journey to my house. i live the furthest away out of everyone that takes the school bus. (ik colleges dont have school buses but i cant be assed)

after the 40 minutes, i leave the bus and head down my driveway and through my front door. "i'm home!" i shout to what seems like, no one. i hear shuffling around the upstairs and get concerned. "sorry honey, i needed to fold some laundry!" my mother shouts back "it's fine" i shout but sounds more like a sigh.

i went up to my room after making some waffles and took them upstairs to study for my exam in a few weeks. after a few hours my eyes start to get droopy so i change into some sweats one of the boys gave me and a cropped tee. i then set an alarm for 9:40. i get into bed and start to drift off into a deep sleep.

next day

i wake up the next morning and get changed into grey ripped jeans and a brown gap hoodie with some black converse. i do my hair in two fremch braids and brush my teeth. i look at the time on my phone 10:26. great, i have some spear time to do my makeup.

i do my natural makeup and go onto tiktok and scroll on my for you page until it is time to leave. i hop into my audi s-line and drive to the abandoned and apparently haunted mall. i know who would love to explore here. i arrive at exactly 11 am and see the group there.

"right, now that she's here. we can go" she says, giving me a dirty look. the boys that were there climbed over the wall whilst helping eachother over and then helping the girls over. about half an hour through our 'photoshoot' we hear something drop from above us. we brush it over, blaming it on a ceiling falling considering how old the mall is. then a few, maybe five, minutes later we hear another loud bang and a scream then deep, maniacal laughing from the same spot.

we all run out, me being the last one because i fell. they all helped each other over the wall. this one boy, kieran i believe his name was, was the last to get over. "hey! can you help me up!" i shout to him. "i guess, i'll try" he mutters, not wanting to help at all.

he reaches his hand down to me. "cant reach, sorry" and with that he jumps down and runs away. "are you just going to leave me here?" ... "i'll take that as a yes then" ugh oh well, ive done this with them before. i know how to explore and be safe about it. i think to myself. i walk up the escalator and hear another set of laughs, they were genuine this time. i know these laughs, they're so familiar.

i walk up to a door that read 'authorised personel only' i walked through the doors to a set of spiral staircases. i walked up the stairs, thankful i brought my trusty old headphones, one earbud out and one in, and listened to some soft music to accompany me up these boring stairs. i finally make it to the top, to another door. the familiar laughs are a lot louder now.

i open the door and the voices stop, i look up from my shoes and see the people i've missed more than anything. i take my headphones out and stuff them in my pocket to run over to colby and hug him. "i've missed you colbs" i say, almost in a whisper. i feel his strong arms wrap around my waist and his head bury itself in the crook of my neck "i've missed you too, y/n. more than you know" he whispers back.

everyone else comes up to me, knowing im overwhelmed they make some space between us. i stop hugging colby and hug everyone individually. "hey you guys, how fun to see you here." i joke, we all laugh about it and talk for 20 minutes. "so, y/n, why are you here in this haunted place?" corey asks, obviously not wanting to be there. i explain the story to them and they all look kind of sorry for me but i brush it off saying that it's fine. "i hate to break it to you y/n but those aren't your friends, they are people who want to use your amazing photography skills" kat complimented and sadly said.

"well, its fine anyways. i havent had any friends since yall. i've been waiting in hopes we'd just randomly reconnect" i say, embarassed at my foolish antics. i knew i should have reached out. "wait!" jake shouts "what?" everyone questions. "y/n and colby technically never broke up" he recollects. everyone comes up with 'oh yeah's and 'oh my gosh's.

"well, i'm willing to try again if you are colby, as i said, i missed you. like a lot. ask my mom, she will tell how much i cried, how much i told her that i missed everyone. she even told me to get therapy one time." i admit, jake laughs. "i agree with your mother, you need therapy." he laughs "oh thanks, missed you too" i say sarcastically. "well, y/n, i am willing to try again, as long as you move in with us." he offers, smirking. "really? i mean, uh sure" i tried to recover my excited actions before hand.

we all laugh and head down the fire escape. "hey colbs?" i question. "yes darling" he replies. "drive with me? i need moral support to tell my mom im moving out. she's gonna cry and beg me to stay, i think. she's been off since her and my dad divorced." i explain. "of course i will." he opens the drivers car door and lets me in then runs over to the passenger seat and gets in.

"god i missed this" i mutter, turning the ignition in my car before speeding off to my house.

[lonely-lost-soul]

Since I've Been Gone

Request: what if...Platonic fluff things with reader and bench trio?... Like they're all in a flower field chilling then Tommy is like, "You guys wanna make flower crowns?" And reader, ranboo, and tubbo just look at him like 👁👁 what, Turns out Tommy picked up flower crown making from his big brothers techno and Wilbur so now he does it when he's either bored or stressed. Anyways hope this inspires you <3 -🐱 Anon

(Platonic!Bench Trio x Gn!Reader)

The server had been through a lot, Tommy was just recently revived and was coming off of finding out his two best friends were married. The young boy had a white streak in his blonde hair and was still trying to adjust to the life he missed. Especially when it came to his longtime friend and roommate (y/n). Tommy had recently found out they were off living with Karl and Sapnap in the Kinoko Kingdom...the bitch. After Tommy had disappeared after he...died Karl had found them hiding out in his old library. You had scared the time-traveler half to death when he found you camping out in a corner of the room. However, after seeing as you had nothing, no weapons or armor he concluded you weren’t much of a threat, especially after you told him your sob story. You told him you lived with Tommy and you couldn’t go back there now that he was dead, Ranboo and Tubbo were off doing married things and you had felt so alone. Karl decided at that moment he would take you in, no matter what the cost. Sapnap had a bit more trouble adjusting to your presence, but as soon as he saw you had some fire within your belly he began to warm up to you. It only took a few days for Karl to practically adopt you and since he was engaged to Sapnap the fire demon was stuck with you for a child.

Not that he minded, you weren’t a loud kid, very pleasant to be around hell even his dad took a liking to you. Sapnap was baffled when Karl told him you had previously lived with Tommy, the most obnoxious child on the server. The two of you couldn’t be more different, and when Tommy was revived, he and Karl weren’t enthused. Karl was worried he’d lose you to the trouble maker and it was well known Tommy and Sapnap didn’t have the greatest history. Their worries were quelled the moment you introduced them as your dads to Tommy, Karl burst into tears and Sapnap put you in a headlock much to your protest. Tommy stood by awkwardly, he had missed a lot, he hated the fact that he felt like his friends were happier without him in their lives.

He was brought back to the present by the idle chatter of Tubbo and Ranboo by his side Tubbo was on Ranboo’s back declaring walking was way too much work for him. You snickered nudging Ranboo in the ribs, he let out a yelp and glared down at you halfheartedly. Tommy watched you turn towards him a smile on his features,

“What do you think Tommy?” He blinked a few times at you, not wanting to admit he wasn’t listening to the conversation next to him.

“I don’t fucking know,” He scoffed “This conversation is bullshit anyway who cares.” You had a smirk on your lips that he was all too familiar with, he narrowed his eyes at you.

“You weren’t listening were you?”

“Of course I was listening bitch!”

“Oh really? What did she ask then big man?” Tubbo mused resting his chin on his husband’s shoulder. Hair covering his vibrant, green eyes, horns peeking from beneath his shaggy hair. Tommy glared at his long time friend flipping him off eloquently,

“Probably something stupid and useless.”

“She asked if you knew where we were going,” Ranboo piped up with a casual hum, bouncing in his step. “Cause we’ve been walking for a while, I know Tubbo’s tired.”

“Yeah Tommy, I’m tired.”

“You’re not even walking!” You argued as Tubbo stuck his tongue out at you, lifting his hair from his eyes to wink at you. His one eye glowing with a yellow nuclear symbol, “Put that symbol away! You’re not cool.”

“Says the person who doesn’t own nukes,” He mused letting his hair fall back into place while grabbing onto Ranboo’s horns. “Or who doesn’t have any cool powers,”

“Ow! Low blow! Just cause Tommy and I are the only two humans in the group doesn’t mean you can pick on us! Right, Tommy!”

“Yeah! Exactly! Fuck you guys!” Tommy agreed linking your arms together, “Plus, I know exactly where we’re going. We’re almost there, Wilbur used to take me here all the time when I was little.” Tommy said almost in an afterthought, the kids around him grew quiet, each one knew Wilbur was a touchy subject for Tommy especially after his time in the afterlife. Yet, people seemed to forget that Wilbur wasn’t always crazy, wasn’t always a manipulator, once he was an older brother. Once he cared for Tommy and wanted to protect him from some of Phil’s neglect, protect him from Technoblade’s voices. Tommy wanted to remember that Wilbur, not the one stuck in purgatory who blew up the country they all fought so hard to retain. He felt your hand squeeze his arm,

“I’m excited to see where Wilbur decided to take you, hopefully, it’s not a fish pond.”

“Oh gross.” Ranboo groaned pinching the bridge of his nose as Tubbo laughed loudly from above him. Tommy made a disgusted face,

“Stop talking about all the fish who fucked my brother!”

“I didn’t you did.” You hummed skipping ahead of the group feet crunching on the leaves on the ground.

“YOU BASTARD!” Tommy shrieked running after you,

“Onward steed!” Tubbo pointed at his two friends who ran off, Ranboo grumbled but trotted after the duo.

It only took a few more arguments and a few more minutes of walking before the quartet came to the destination Tommy was eager to show them. You stopped on your heels jaw-dropping in awe,

“Holy shit…” You murmured, in front of all of you was a gorgeous field of flowers a giant dark oak tree sat in the middle. It was giant spanning up far into the sky but it created a nice shade to keep all of you cooled off. Tommy had a rare peaceful smile on his lips as he let the sun touch his face, he slid off his boots and ran into the field of flowers.

“Take your shoes off so you don’t crush them or I’ll crush you!” Tommy snickered falling back, letting the flowers tickle his cheeks. He opened his eyes just a crack to see you sliding off your boots and joining him in the field, you didn’t lay beside him instead he watched your form head to the tree. Meanwhile, Tubbo kicked off his boots, Ranboo wasn’t far behind his husband. Tubbo laughed running over and flopping next to Tommy, holding his arm close much to the blonde’s displeasure.

“Ranboo! Help me reach the taller branches!” You called to the tallest member of your friend group. He nodded walking over to you, grabbing your waist gently he lifted you into the air. You grabbed onto the nearest branch and hoisted yourself into the air, Ranboo was always shocked at your upper body strength, but then again you trained on your own for years. Ranboo hovered at the base of the tree nervously, both of his tails flicking side to side.

“Don’t climb too high!” He called watching you slip and cling onto the trunk to steady yourself. “(Y/n) CAREFUL!”

“I’m fine, mom!” You stuck your tongue out at him from above, “I’ve fallen out of taller trees!”

“If you get hurt Sapnap would literally burn me alive! So PLEASE try not to fall!”

“Boo calm down a little!” Tubbo snickered, “if they fall I’ll film it.”

“Tubbo has the right idea,” you agreed as Tommy laughed from beside Tubbo. Ranboo frowned ears twitching in distress, you only continued to climb higher to his dismay. Eventually, you came down falling elegantly into the arms of Ranboo who caught you easily. He was breathing heavily, recovering from the shock of your sudden drop. His long nails dug into your skin as he clutched onto you like a lifeline, “Ranboo let go!” You huffed trying to wiggle out of his tight grip.

“Absolutely not! Are you a lunatic!” His voice broke, “I could’ve missed! You could’ve broken an ankle!”

“But I didn’t,” You poked his nose with a teasing hum. Ranboo groaned louder placing his head in the crook of your neck, you snickered as he finally let you onto the ground. You walked over to Tommy and Tubbo and sat down next to them, you leaned against Tommy’s back who grunted in distaste. “Deal with it gremlin, be my backrest,”

“Fuck you bitch!” He snarled but didn’t move or push them off, you smiled teasingly winking in the direction of Tubbo. He snickered into his palm as Ranboo pulled Tubbo into his lap, and the young goat hybrid got comfortable. The four of you sat in peaceful silence, letting the sun beat down around you all. A nice breeze blew through the area causing the leaves of the nearby trees to shake, a few animals rustled around in the bushes.

“We should make flower crowns,” Tommy spoke up suddenly his nails digging into the dirt. You titled your head in confusion and Raboo looked equally as baffled, the only person who didn’t seem surprised was Tubbo.

“Sure man but you gotta collect the flowers,” Tubbo said tiredly Tommy clicked his tongue stubbornly.

“We’re surrounded by flowers you’re just lazy.”

“Yeah obviously.”

You gave Tubbo a look and sat up on your knees, “What do you need to get started?”

“Can you grab me some of those daisy’s, tulips, and some bluebells?” You nodded standing up and popping your knees before heading off in that direction. Meanwhile, Tommy grabbed some lilacs and began stringing those together, his tongue poked out from his bottom lip as he gave his full concentration to the task in front of him. Ranboo watched curiously ears flicking every time Tommy let out a mumble, you came back and dumped the flowers beside him. He grunted out thanks making the final knot in the crown, “Done!” He declared looking over at Ranboo, he flushed a little under Tommy’s gaze.

“Didn’t mean to stare.” Tommy huffed holding out the crown to the halfling, he pointed at himself and Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Take it. If you don’t want it I’ll just give it to (Y/n)-”

“I want it!” Ranboo reached out to snatch the crown from Tommy, he placed it gently on his head mindful of the horns. Tommy’s eyes widened and he flushed red, he quickly turned back to the pile of flowers. “Teach us how to make them,” Ranboo offered to try to ease the awkward tension. Tommy huffed but nodded, a smile spread across your lips,

“Teach us your ways oh wise one.” You teased picking up the daisy’s spinning the stem between your fingers.

“Yeah! I am wise! Call me master innit!”

“I’d rather choke,”

“Fuck you!”

You snicked as Tommy punched you hard in the shoulder, you doubled over falling into the flowers. Tommy growled pulling you up by the shirt, “Pay attention bitch! I’m only telling you this once!” Sitting back up you nodded and followed his instructions carefully, he ended up taking the daisies and you the tulips. Ranboo grabbed the bluebells reaching over Tubbo to follow Tommy’s instructions as well, by the end Tommy’s was pristine. The one you made was decent but Ranboo’s looked worse for wear considering he was trying to put it together with claws. He put the crown on top of a snoozing Tubbo, he was proud of his work nonetheless, his husband smiled tiredly nuzzling against his chest. You on the other hand placed the tulip crown you made atop of Tommy’s blonde hair, he flushed and rolled his eyes. He brushed his fingers over the daisies and placed them on top of your head, you looked up at the crown and smiled warmly.

“Thank’s Big T,” you hummed falling back into the flowers and Tommy joined you in laying down. Both your fingers interlocked and Ranboo shuffled to the ground as well, although he didn’t reach out to take Tommy’s hand, Tommy reached out to take Tubbo’s. The four of you stayed in that field until your walkie-talkie screeched cutting through the quiet atmosphere, it was the gruff voice of Sapnap’s. One of your fathers

“Earth to (Y/n), come in (y/n). Your dad wants you here for dinner, George is joining us tonight. I grilled!”

“Ugh. Buzzkill,” Tommy sneered kicking the dirt with his barefoot. You shushed him and pressed the button in to speak,

“Yeah papa, I’ll make my way back soon. Give papa a big kiss for me and if you see Quackirty tell him hello!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Karl come here honey~” You snickered as Tommy gagged, you heard your dad meow before your walkie cut off then and you sat up. You stretched your arms above your head and popped your arms into place, you kissed your teeth hopping to your feet.

“I gotta head back unless I want dad to beat my ass. Thank you for today boys and Tommy thank you for sharing your place with us. I’m glad we were trusted with this special secret.” You winked wiggling your toes in the long grass, “we should do this again yeah?”

“Yeah!” Ranboo agreed as Tubbo gave a sleepy thumbs up, your smile only widened. Tommy nodded giving a thumbs-up as well, he watched you head off to collect your boots and head back home. Head to a family, a family who cares about your wellbeing, or if you’re staying out too late. Hell, even who cared about who you were hanging out with, Tommy couldn’t help but wonder what that was like, he didn’t think he’d be very good at listening to any parental figures. He didn’t have that, he would never have that, he looked at your retreating figure, then back over at Tubbo and Ranboo. They both were half asleep and he couldn’t help but glance at the golden rings on each one of their fingers.

He missed so much since he’s been gone.

But maybe all wasn’t bad, he touched the tulips on his head, thinking for a moment.

Maybe he didn’t need a normal family with a mom and a dad, or two dads or moms, he had a family right here. He brought his hand to the scarf on his neck and squeezed it in his fist, who needed that shit when he had everyone he loved in this field with him today.

For once in his life, Tommy was happy.

[sylvie-writes]

Keep It Casual

word count: 1141

pairing: chris evans x reader

summary: chris reveals a hidden talent during his birthday surprise.

a/n: yeahhh this isn’t a request but @cheeseburgersstuff inspired me to write something for mr. evans’s birthday. he is not 40 that is illegal for him to look that good at that age. this was just a little something that popped into my head at 2am :)

please excuse any mistakes!

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

“Good morninggggg, birthday boy.” 

A barely conscious Chris sleepily looked at you with painfully squinted eyes due to the sunlight that streamed in from the window behind your crouched figure. He groaned in protest and rustled the sheets as he turned to face the other direction. After a night of early birthday drinking with Scott and his friends, you figured the last thing Chris wanted was to be woken up at 8 am on his actual birthday. 

“Chris, honey, you can’t sleep away your birthday.” Standing up from the floor, you sat on the edge of the bed and approached the matter from another angle which was sweet talking the man out of his shelter of blankets.

“Isn’t there some sort of rule that lets me countermand anything you chose because it’s my birthday?”

Arm covering his eyes from the offending light, Chris rolled onto his back and mumbled out the words. You just smiled down at him, giving him this moment although you both knew you were gonna be persistent. 

“Well, yes and no. That rule can come into effect after you get out of this bed and ready, c’mon.” 

You picked up his arm and tugged just a bit because you both knew there was no physical way that you could pull the giant man out of bed. After a few minutes of useless yanking on the man 2x your size, Chris grinned at you with an obnoxious smirk that just screamed self-assertion because he knew very well that you couldn't even budge him an inch.

“You done?” 

With a huff you popped up from the bed shaking your head as Chris mirrored your actions but instead made a detour for the bathroom and was full of laughter. 

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

About twenty minutes after you left Chris to get ready (or at least you hoped he had done so) the front door opened and you saw Dodger run out. Now obviously the dog didn’t open the door himself and behind him, followed the man in question. Chris saw you sitting in the driver’s seat of his car and held up his index finger in a motion of “one minute.” 

Once Dodger had sufficiently sniffed every corner of the yard, he happily trotted to the front door and looked back at Chris as he expected for his owner to tend to him. 

Seconds later, Chris was in the passenger seat, a way too small polo shirt clinging to his chest, “Since you’re kidnapping me, I wasn’t too sure how to dress for the occasion.” 

As you backed out of the driveway, you took a glance at Chris and nodded, “If anything, I think you’ll regret wearing a white shirt.”

The words didn’t seem to sink in until midway through his cocky declaration and oh how the tables turned, “Well, I did that for you-- Wait what’s that supposed to mean?”

His smug smile dissipated as yours grew. 

 ༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

After much questioning from Chris, who sounded like a kid on a road trip the whole time, you both arrived in a parking lot of a strip mall.

“(y/n)...”

Utterly confused, Chris started to carefully undo his seatbelt, grabbing his wallet and phone while he looked at you in confusion. 

“Tsk, just wait. I promise it will be fun.” You shot him an adorable, cheesy grin that lightened the man’s mood. 

You quickly appeared on the passenger side of the car the minute Chris stepped out and immediately offered him a hand before you weaved through the many cars together. 

Passing all those many stores Chris wondered which one you’d drag him in until you stopped before a painting studio and proudly extended your arms to show off the building. 

“So I know how much you love to draw, and I figured we could do a paint class together.” At this, your voice started to shy away and you could feel the heat rise to your face under Chris’s intense gaze. Your mind was running with ways you could save this day if he didn’t like it, but all those plans went out the window the minute his hand lovingly went under your chin. 

Pulling your face up to meet his gaze, Chris sweetly smiled at you with gratitude and then placed a soft peck on your lips. “I love it, sweetheart, and don’t you think otherwise.”

It always shocked you how Chris could just read your emotions by a simple change in tone and sometimes you were glad for that because it would be really hard to explain if he didn’t.

As part of his nature, Chris felt the urge to throw in a bad joke that would still make you laugh, “Damn, now you’ve really set the bar high for your birthday. I’m gonna have to up my game, babe!”

 ༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

Once inside and checked in, you and Chris walked over to grab smocks. They seemed to fit perfectly on you, but on Chris it looked like a bib, causing you both to laugh a bit too loudly in the quiet space. You made sure to sneak a photo when his attention was focused on the artwork on the wall. 

You both wormed through the groups of people who were chatting over coffee which reminded you of the free caffeine that came with the class. As Chris sat down on the tiny stool, you snuck away to go make two coffees as the cart was currently not occupied. 

The smell of coffee beans hit Chris’s senses and he turned to not only find you gone, but now returning with two styrofoam cups in hand, which he inferred were filled with precious coffee. 

Not too long after everyone settled in, the instructor appeared on stage and introduced herself. It seemed only seconds later that you were elbow deep in paint as your canvas was now halfway covered. You peeked over to check Chris’s progress and he had already blended the colors of his background. 

Time flew and next thing you knew, an hour and a half had passed and the paintings were on the verge of being completed. Just a few more finishing touches were added and the whole class, including yourself and Chris, waited for the canvases to dry while chatting away the time. You looked over at Chris’s painting as he looked at yours and sent many compliments your way.

Upon truly inspecting his finished portrait, shock settled in at his amazing handiwork. “Christopher! I knew you could draw, but you are like the next Monet.” 

Chris’s painting was almost identical to the instructor’s, daresay even better. He had added multiple additions to the portrait of the hilly nightside to make it unique to him.  

“What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.” Chris snickered as he reached across to steal the last sips of your lukewarm coffee

taglist (is open!): @memissbee @tricereads @buckybarnesthehotshot @bval-1 @tonystankschild @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @turtoix @kelbabyblue @jakiki94 @aubreeskailynn @calirindo @lady-elena-adeline @siriuslyslyslytherin @sushiinmidnight @patzammit @iwik3it @moonlight-onyx​ @justreadingficsdontmindme​