#Childhood Friends AU

[hannahbarberra162]

Pipe Dreams (Yan Childhood Friend Sabo x Reader)

I got this as an ask so long ago and lost it but I do have a screenshot of it. Here's the prompt:

This is not entirely what you asked for Nonnie but I hope it scratches your itch. It's a little light on the Yan but I hope you can see where it's going :3

On Ao3

TW: abusive husband mentioned (not Sabo ofc)

WC: ~4.5k

~~~

“Hurry!” you yelled at the servants rushing down the hall to the small steel doors at the back of the large hall. You were trying to move them as quickly as you could before the Revolutionary Army found them and conscripted them to service - or worse. You had a crying child in your arms as you ran towards the doors, the mother carrying the younger sibling towards the safety of the escape hatch. There was no doubt in your mind that you needed all the servants behind the impenetrable doors in the bunker. They’d be safe in there and if they needed to, they could take the tunnel to the cove where you kept a ship in case of such emergencies.

Your husband didn’t know about these contingency plans, of course. He would tell you that spending money on servants was a waste and that they could fend for themselves should any kind of crisis arise. But you couldn’t reconcile that idea with the people who took care of you and your estate every single day. They were people with emotions, feelings, families, just like you. Not that you said any of this to your husband, he would have beat you for such outlandish ideas. 

No, you just waited until he was drunk and raided his vault of Beri and jewels. Since that happened every day he was at the estate, you were able to amass quite a bit of money for renovations in case of attack. He was also often absent from the estate, off with other nobles drinking, gambling, and whoring. You didn’t mind that he sought out other women, it kept him from bothering you. In fact, you strongly preferred when he was gone, the air on the estate was much less tense than when he was present. 

Since you’d become a noble’s wife, you’d heard endless tales of what happened to those islands unfortunate enough to have their estates ransacked by pirates or the Revolutionary Army. The nobles always focused on the looting of riches, the burning of the estates and the loss of property but you found the fortune of the servants to be the most horrific of all. Your husband had told you that noble servants were taken as front line cannon fodder by the Revolutionary Army whereas pirates would sell them directly into the slave trade. It was said that noble women would be taken as concubines for Commanders in the best of cases or whores for the army if they were too mouthy. When you had first taken up the mantle of being in charge of your husband’s estate in his absence you decided that protecting those who depended on you would be your primary goal and no one would come to harm while working under your supervision.

Even though you were born of a noble family yourself, you never felt like you fit in with noble society, even as a child. Maybe it had something to do with being the fourth daughter born to your parents. By the time you were born they already had three perfect noble daughters to marry off later in life. You were brash, wild, and difficult to control unlike your golden sisters. Your parents were also much older when they had you, there was a considerable gap between you and your next sister. All in all, that meant you were often left to your own devices as a child, allowed to roam free in the Goa Kingdom. You’d had the time of your life until your parents married you off - too young in your opinion - and your childhood had come to an abrupt end. 

As you learned via your husband’s vicious fist to acclimate yourself to noble society as an adult, you found yourself reflecting on your childhood more and more as the years crept by. You would catch yourself staring at the forest on your lonely island, wondering how your childhood friends were doing, if they were well. When you did have the rare chance to leave your island estate, you quickly learned to keep your prior adventures to yourself. The women turned up their noses to you and the men found you crude and distasteful. 

Even though you’d felt stifled by the snobby and suffocating noble society, you hadn’t spent most of your time within the confines of your familial home. You enjoyed sneaking out of your parent’s estate and playing all day long in the woods, coming home only when you completely ran out of food or needed some kind of supply. Your parents and governesses had tried various means of locking you in your rooms but they’d never been able to keep you inside, your desire for adventure too strong to be overcome by mere locks.

And those adventures most often included your friends Ace, Luffy, and Sabo. You’d met the brothers one day when you and Ace had both aimed for the same tiger to kill for food, your spear shoved through its skull as Ace’s pipe struck it on the head. You believed it was yours, Ace said it was his, and the two of you were wrestling in the dirt with Luffy cheering Ace on in the background. Sabo had intervened in the fight, breaking it up by forcing the two of you apart by nudging you with his lead pipe as you sat on Ace’s chest, punching him.

“Wait, Ace. What’s going on here? This girl’s a noble, she’ll be nothing but trouble,” the blonde boy asked, looking you up and down suspiciously. You spat blood on the ground and crossed your arms. How did he figure it out? Sure, you were wearing a dress but a lot of girls did, that wasn’t enough to have him mark you as a noble.

“So’re you, doesn’t mean anything,” you countered, annoyed that he’d stopped the fight while you had the upper hand.

“Am not! These are my brothers,” he huffed, pointing to the other two boys. They were obviously not blood brothers, the blonde so different looking than his siblings.

“Are too! Look at your stupid hat and cravat. You’re definitely a noble,” you teased, sticking out your tongue. You were a head taller than either of the two older boys and guessed you were a few years older. Still, being a petulant brat was more fun than taking the higher ground any day.

“Well, that string of expensive beads around your neck shows that you’re one too!” the blonde said, sticking his tongue back out at you. The other two brunette boys were now just watching the exchange, though the older of the two was gripping his own lead pipe now and frowning at you. Looking down, you realized you were still wearing the stupid jewelry that your mother had forced on you earlier that day. Shrugging, you reached behind your neck and unclasped the necklace to pool it in your palm. Extending it to the oldest dark haired boy, you offered it to him.

“Want this?” you asked, genuinely disinterested in the fate of the necklace. The boy eyed it warily. He was scuffed and bleeding from your earlier fight but didn’t pay much attention to his wounds.

“It looks like Dadan’s!” the smaller boy said excitedly, reaching for the necklace. His older brother narrowed his eyes and smacked the boy’s hand away from your own. 

“ ‘M Ace. Gimme this and you can have the tiger,” he said, grabbing the necklace quickly. 

“But then what will we eat?” whined the young boy while he rubbed his stomach. Ace shrugged.

“We’re good hunters, we can find something else Luffy. She can have it since she won’t be able to get anything else probably,” Ace derided you with a smirk. You saw red as you grabbed him by the front of his ugly tank top.

“Won’t be able to get anything else probably? What the fuck -”

“Oooh she said a bad word, Sabo’s gonna be mad,” Luffy said with a grin, pointing at you.

“Sabo? Like, Outlook and Didit’s son? I heard you died. That’s what all the adults were whispering about the last time I was home,” you said with confusion, letting go of Ace’s shirt. Coming up to study the blonde’s face, you squinted as you looked him over.

“You seem pretty alive to me. Unless you’re a ghost or something,” you mused, rubbing your chin. 

“Sabo’s a ghost?!?” cried Luffy, clutching his face in horror.

“ ‘M not a ghost, idiot,” Sabo scoffed at Luffy. Turning to you, he sized you up as well. “So they think I’m dead?” he asked curiously. You shrugged, getting your paring knife from your pack.

“Dunno, didn’t stick around too long to listen, I had stuff to do. Got stuff to do now too - if you guys help me skin this thing I’ll share the meat. ‘S too much for me and I don’t like wasting food,” you said offhand. The truth was skinning was your least favorite part of the meat preparation process and you wanted to trick them into doing it for you. 

“I’ll do it!!” Luffy offered, reaching for the knife. His arm extended past what he should have been able to reach, making your eyes widen.

“Uh…is that normal?” you asked, turning to Sabo as you smacked Luffy’s hand away from you. It retracted like a rubber band, snapping back to Luffy. You knew you were a sheltered noble kid but even so you were pretty sure regular people couldn’t turn their arms into rubber. It was Sabo’s turn to shrug as he replied.

“For Luffy it is. Let him do this part, we can start the fire.” 

One tiger meat meal later and you became friends with the three brothers. You spent your days adventuring in the forest with them, hunting and exploring what the world had to offer. They taught you to fight using a lead pipe and in return you taught them some of your fishing techniques. They never made fun of you for being a noble but occasionally teased you for being a girl or being unable to stand up to pee. You didn’t mind though, you could tell it was good natured, unlike when your sisters told you that you were ugly or stupid like a wild animal. You started returning home more frequently to raid the pantry and storage for things the brothers needed or wanted for their tree house. It was harder to sneak out with coils of rope or entire dried hams but it was worth it to sleep in a pile with your friends under the night sky, finally feeling loved and wanted for once in your short life. 

As you spent more time with the brothers, you found yourself gravitating towards Sabo. You shared a lot in common with him and felt the closest connection to him emotionally. You told him about life with your sisters and parents and he shared a little about his own home life. He was funny and cute, and could be sweet when he wanted to be. One night as Ace and Luffy laid in a pile snoring by the fire, you and Sabo were the only two left awake under the stars. The two of you sat side by side in silence and stared into the flames, each of you with your own thoughts.

“Maybe when I get older I could marry you and we could live in the forest. I wouldn’t have to live in a stupid castle or go to boring dinner parties and we could have fun instead,” you said quietly, breaking the silence. Sabo didn’t turn his head or answer for a few moments of silence, making your face flame in embarrassment. You wrapped your arms around your shins, hugging them close, putting your chin on the tops of your knees.

“I was just jok-” you started to say, trying to take it back before he could make fun of you.

“Ok,” Sabo answered, now looking at you. The left side of his face looked like it was covered in flames as the fire light danced over his skin.

“O-ok?” you stuttered in surprise, unwrapping your arms from your shins.

“I don’t plan on going back to my family ever. But if you need to marry someone, I want it to be me,” Sabo said, standing on his knees to put his hands on your shoulders. You mirrored his stance and were now both on your knees with hands on each other's shoulders, looking into each other’s faces.

“Do you promise?” you whispered as Sabo stared at your face.

“I do. But let’s get married now so we don’t have to wait,” Sabo said, nodding his head as if in agreement with himself.

“How do we do that?” you asked, unsure what the process of marriage actually entailed.

“All we have to do is kiss on the lips, that’s what adults do. I read in a book once that a promise borne in flames is a promise forever kept, so we can do it by the fire to make it permanent,” Sabo said, cupping his hands on your cheeks. You nodded, your eyes on his lips. You’d never kissed anything besides your cat’s head before, you weren’t sure what to do but Sabo seemed to know so you let him lead.

He used his hands to pull you closer to his body as his eyes closed. It seemed like the thing to do so you scrunched yours shut as well and leaned in while pushing your lips into a circle. Your pursed lips made contact with his own for a few seconds before he pulled away. It was a little weird feeling, a little slimy, but you felt something right settle over your shoulders as Sabo looked into your eyes again. 

“You don’t have to go back home now or marry anyone else. We’re married,” Sabo said solemnly. You nodded back at him, sitting down on your butt again. Sabo did the same but this time you leaned your head against his shoulder. It was a heady feeling to get married under the stars but shortly thereafter you fell asleep on your new husband as he watched the fire die down. 

Unfortunately, life didn’t remain as idyllic as it was during your time with the ASL brothers. Shortly thereafter, Sabo died in a boating accident, and your parents had you married off to a noble fifteen years your senior a few weeks later. They said that since they couldn’t control you, they found someone who could. Your will to defy his orders eventually diminished as the years went on, your battered and bruised body unable to take continuous abuse. After you were married you weren’t able to keep in contact with Ace and Luffy, stuck by yourself in your isolated island estate. Your only source of information was what your husband told you or the old newspapers he’d leave behind in his office but those were months if not years out of date. You stopped trying to escape after your husband broke your leg after the third attempt and settled into a depressing life as a noble lady, putting your energy into improving the lives of those around you.

Which meant that you had to get everyone through the metal doors before the Revolutionary Army found them. You heard the sounds of fighting and yelling as the guards closest to your hall were engaged by the Army combatants. Although the guards were brave and dutiful, you’d seen the ship the RA had come in on and heard the tales of their strength - your friends would be no match for the revolutionaries. You had begged the guards to join the servants and leave the island but they had refused, preferring to fight the incoming intruders.

“We must hurry! Engage the doors!” you yelled at the elderly men working the metal doors. They began the slow process of sealing the room as servants continued to flood through. You were glad you’d ordered them to start since the fighting sounded like it was right outside the door to the hall. Handing off the child in your arms to one of your maids, you grabbed a lead pipe leaning against one of the cream colored walls and began running towards the entry point to the hall.

“My Lady! You must -” your closest servant Isla called to you as you ran towards the locked entry doors. 

“Get everyone through to safety. Once the last of you are in, do not open the door. Not for any reason - no matter what you hear! Do you understand me?” you yelled at a pale faced Isla.

“Y-yes, milady,” she said as the banging on the door grew louder, the wooden beam across it beginning to bow. Facing the door, you held your pipe in two hands and lowered yourself to ready, just like Ace had taught you all those years ago. You hadn’t fought in a long time but your body retained some of the muscle memory as you crouched down. Although you kept your face hard, you were quaking inside. Whoever was on the other side of the door was incredibly strong, the wood barrier creaking under the strain that they were putting on it. You imagined there would be at least a dozen fighters who would take you right there - or if you were unlucky make an example out of you. 

“Milady, everyone is in, please -” but Isla’s voice was drowned out by the wood beam shattering, sending wood shavings all over the floor and yourself.

“CLOSE THE DOORS ISLA!” you screamed at her, still facing the opponents you couldn’t yet see. If the gate didn’t close, everything you had worked for would be for naught. The telltale sound of the metal door banging shut and the latch locking in place had you exhaling slightly now that all your servants were hidden and safe. The only person who was left was you and you’d come to terms with your own mortality long ago. Squaring your shoulders, you held your pipe out in front of you as you waited for your enemies to approach.

The ornate wooden doors in front of you opened slowly as the locks gave way. Only one person seemed to be emerging from the smoke and carnage beyond the doors. Your hands tightened around your pipe - if there was only one person they were incredibly strong to have defeated all those guards and broke through the doors by themselves. As the man passed into the light, you saw a familiar top hat and cravat. This time though, they weren’t on the body of a child but on a full grown man. 

“S-sabo?” you whispered, half dropping your pipe to the ground. You picked it back up quickly - this was no time for a reunion with a ghost. Sabo was dead and whoever stood in front of you was not your childhood friend but an enemy who came to hurt your people. His eyes opened wider, though one was covered in scar tissue from an old wound.

“C-come no further - there’s nothing for you here!” you yelled, twirling your pipe in your hands. You noticed he held his own lead pipe in his left hand, though his had blood dripping onto your floor. 

“Yes, I saw you left the vaults open before we even breached the walls. Quite a strategy,” the man replied calmly. You stiffened and gripped your pipe so tight your knuckles were white.

“If it's riches you want, they’re all there. The kitchens are open, as are the food stores and stables. Th-there’s nothing else in the estate,” you hissed, watching the man warily. He was walking around you in a narrowing circle, staring at you as though you were a missing piece of a puzzle. You gulped but didn’t run - you didn’t want to lead him to the location of your servants. 

“And your servants? Your slaves?” he asked, now too close for your comfort. You were breathing heavily not from exertion but from fear. You were spinning in place to keep yourself facing him at all times as he walked casually around you, assessing you from head to foot.

“We have no slaves, only servants. They’re safe, away from you,” you hissed as the man drew closer. 

“Did you let them run away? Or did you have them killed in advance?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

“Wh-what? N-no! How could you say such a thing? They’re gone, they’re safe, like I told you!” you said, aghast that someone could think to do such things. The man continued to stare hard at your face. 

“So that I understand, allow me to recapitulate. It is only you, the lady of the estate who remains, while your servants and staff have been ferried to safety? And we are free to take any of your wealth, food, or animals as we please?” he asked, now touching a priceless vase still on a shelf with a gloved hand. Tilting it onto its side with a finger, he watched your face as he tipped it over to the floor, shattering the porcelain. You didn’t bat an eye but kept your sights - and pipe - trained on him.

“Yes, because I know what you’d do to them. You would -”

“Let me guess. You were told they’d be taken to the RA as slaves and sent to the front lines as to die in battle. Maybe that we’d hunt them for sport, taking you as a whore for any RA commander who chose to use you. Does that summarize the matter?” he asked.

“Y-yes. And I won’t let that happen to them. You can take me - I’ll submit myself. But you will not be sacrificing my people for a fight that is not their own,” you said. Stepping over the shattered pieces of vase on the floor, he stopped circling and walked straight towards you. You crouched lower but the man used a single finger to push your pipe down past your chest while you struggled against him.

“That’s not what would happen. We free them. They’re free to leave and start new lives or join the Army if they so choose,” he stated, reaching for you. You flinched out of reflex but quickly adjusted yourself as the man frowned.

“I know what you’re doing,” you stated, no closer to righting your pipe than you were previously.

“Oh? And what would that be?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“You’re trying to trick me, have me lower my defenses and tell you where everyone is. It’s not going to happen,” you said, swiping your pipe to the side away from his finger. With it free, you swung it to the side to hit the man across the head but he grabbed it and took the pipe out of your hands as easily as if you were a child, throwing it across the room beyond your reach. 

“It can be difficult to adjust after a lifetime of lies and propaganda,” he said calmly, not making any more movements towards you. “We save people from upper class brutality, not bring them to harm. We don’t even kill the nobles whose houses we raid. We take your money and belongings, free your workers, and leave you to your own devices. I’m sure most of you wish you were dead with no money and no servants, but we try to avoid killing people. Come with me and I’ll show you,” he said, offering his arm like an upper class gentleman would for an evening stroll.

“You’re - you’re trying to confuse me, but it won’t work! That’s why you dressed up like him, I just know it!” you yelled, taking a step backwards. The man’s eyes snapped to your own as he stepped forward.

“Like who?” he asked, his tone icy. You shivered under the intensity of his gaze as his eyes bored into your own. He already had you alone and unarmed, you might as well speak your mind.

“I-it doesn’t matter. Like someone from my childhood -”

“WHO,” he demanded, his hands reaching to grip your upper arms in an iron vice.

“S-sabo,” you said quietly, scared he was going to backhand you or shake you like your husband had so many times before. His grip and eyes softened but he didn’t let you go. There was no sound other than that of your harsh breaths as the man held you in place. After a moment, he began to speak softly.

“I - that’s me. I’m Sabo. I don’t - I can only remember part - I was in -”

“You’re not Sabo! He died!” you cried out, tears filling your eyes. You’d cried for months over his death and to hear someone lying about being him was too distressing to listen to. Ace didn’t like cry babies, he’d told you many times, but you couldn’t help but cry for your lost friend and husband. You tried to pull your arm away so you could run from this imposter.

“A promise borne in flames -” Sabo started to say, one of his gloved hands rising to cup your face.

“Is a promise forever kept,” you finished, a tear falling down your cheek. You wailed as you began crying in earnest, wrapping your arms around his torso. Clutching him towards you he put his hands around your back, patting your back gently. 

“S-Sabo, I th-thought you d-died,” you cried into his stupid cravat, the same ugly kind he’d always worn. He pulled your face gently off his chest, his hands spanning your face as he looked into your eyes.

“I don’t remember everything but some of it is coming back to me. I - we got married, right?” he asked tenderly, thumbs sweeping over your cheeks. You laughed through a hiccup.

“Yeah, we did. Sorry, I got re-married,” you joked with a small smile, motioning to the mansion you currently lived in. Sabo chuckled, settling his hands on your waist and pulling you closer.

“Did you keep in contact with Ace and Luffy? I’ve thought about all of you so many times and I -” you started to get excited, eager to hear news about the other two brothers. Sabo’s face had a faraway look as he avoided your question.

“C’mon, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about what happened,” he stated, pulling you towards the broken door by your arm. You stalled, trying to get some more time to think for a moment. You didn’t like your island estate and you certainly didn’t love or like your husband but after all those years, you didn’t know Sabo either. You didn’t think Sabo would do something terrible to you but you’d heard so many horror stories about the RA that you didn’t want to verify for truth first hand. 

“Wh - I - Sabo, this is all a lot. You can take whatever you need or want from this shithole, but I thought you said you leave -” Sabo cut you off by picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. As kids, you’d been a head taller than Sabo but now he was the taller one - and much stronger besides.

“I’m not losing you again. You’re coming with me,” he said with finality, striding towards the open doors. 

Taglist @divinedolliebun @mfreedomstuff

[naiad-r]

Childhood friends AU: Reunion.

For anon, who donated to @bingyuanserver's Commissions for Gaza.

[sabertoothwalrus]

I was thinking about how Chilchuck was the same age as young Senshi when he became a parent, and thought about if they had been the same age at a different point in their lives.....

this isn't necessarily ship because they SUPER wouldn't get together in this scenario but that makes it hurt more..... the 'almost's that are inherent to childhood puppy love.... and fleeting moments.... and growing up too fast..... augh!

[superscourge]

is there so much hate for the ones we love?

[terrestrialnoob]

Damian had never seen another person his age before.

“Wow, you're good at that.”

Damian froze in his practice and looked over at the boy. It was after his lesson, his instructor had other students to teach, and Damian had his own private training area. Well, it was supposed to be private. “Who are you?”

“Danny, what's your name?”

Damian glared at the boy. Who doesn't know who he is? “I am Damian Al-Ghoul, grandson of the Demon's Head, son of the Bat, heir to the League of Assassins.”

“Wow, that's a lot... Can I just call you Damian?”

“Servants call me Master. How did you get here?”

Danny shrugged, “I was just looking around.”

“Just looking around...”

“Yeah, my parents are in the science lab down in the bottom basement with the weird lake and I was helping them, but then I got board and Jazz said I wasn't allowed to leave the lab, but when I asked Dad, he said I could do what I want as long as I don't get in trouble.”

“Oh, the idiot scientists.” Damian remembered how his mother had described the new scientists hired to study the Lazarus Pools. A pair of geniuses when it came to the scientific study of magic but idiots in all other fields. Surely only idiots would bring their children to live with the League of Assassins.

“What do you mean? If you're a scientist you can't be an idiot?”

Damian huffed at the boy. “You can be smart at one thing and dumb at others. Like you could be good at reading but bad at numbers.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. But I'm pretty good at reading and numbers.” Danny then smiled brightly, “It looks like you're really good at swording though.”

“It's called swordplay. And yes, I am good at it. Better at it at my age than many who are older.”

“Can you show me how to do it?”

Damian contemplated for a moment, “As long as you don't get in the way of my practice, I don't see why not.”

Danny cheered as he ran up to where Damian was standing, but Damian pointed to the side of the training area, “There should be a spare sword over there you can use.”

Danny nodded and ran to get it then ran back.

Damian wasn't sure if he'd like showing Danny how to use a sword, but he liked how Danny followed all his instructions. It was different than how the servants followed his orders, but Damian couldn't place why. It became common place, for Danny to show up after Damian's lessons and Damian would show him what he'd learned. It actually made learning new things easier because Damian had to figure out how exactly something worked in order to show Danny how to do it. Not only that, but when they practiced the moves on each other, Danny would change them and make it harder to beat him. Damian did win every time, but Danny wasn't half bad.

[tidilevee]

Zosan childhood friends AU!!

BTW @/hi6ka9 is also my regularly used ID. Sometimes I sign with that. They're all mine accounts.

I like the AU with friendly Sanji who's excited by having a marimo as a same-aged friend and a easily-blushed lil marimo who's already had a big crush on Sanji. 🤭

[mizaruwu]

They grew

[dreamsteddie]

Steve and Eddie childhood friends is my kryptonite.

They meet in the woods outside Steve's house when they're eight and nine years old. Steve is out exploring because his parents are fighting again, something about a secretary and a jazzercize instructor that Steve really doesn't understand or want to listen to. He's done it before, venturing outside to explore the forest like it's his own private world. They never notice when they're fighting like that anyway and Steve always finds his way back.

Eddie, on the other hand, is new to Hawkins. He's nine years old and was just dumped on his uncle's front porch because his dad "doesn't need some brat who cries when the wires spark." Eddie was heartbroken and mad and scared and he loved his uncle Wayne but he didn't want to be comforted so he ran into the woods, Wayne too slow to catch him but calling his name.

After running a while Eddie trips on a root falling on his hands and knees, blood slowly blooming from his palms. He looks up and realizes he has no idea which way he came from or how to get back and releases all the tears he kept locked up tight since that night with the car.

That's how Steve finds him. He makes his way over, calling softly to the boy crouched by his favorite tree. The boy looks up, and the first thing Steve thinks is that he looks a little funny. His head is shaved down and his eyes are a little buggy and he's lanky in a way Steve's never really seen before. His second thought is that he always keeps bandaids in his shorts.

Together they sloppily patch up Eddie's knee and left palm, Steve pressing a smacking kiss to the other boy's knee like he's seen the other moms do for their kids at the park. They introduce themselves and Steve takes him to all his favorite places in the woods. They play knight and dragon and talk about how mean dads are until the sun starts to set.

Eddie gets nervous when the sun starts to set, not used to the unique darkness of the woods, but Steve is used to it. He takes Eddie by the hand and asks him where he entered and guides him home. Wayne finds them like that, he's clearly been doing his own forest wanderings in his search for Eddie and is quick to sweep his nephew into his arms and hold him close. Edde excitedly introduces his uncle to his "new best friend, Steve," his mood lifted significantly since that morning.

Steve waves goodbye and slips away before Wayne can insist on taking him home in the truck, but that's far from the last they see of Steve. After that night, every time Steve's parents get in a fight or his parents go to one of their long, important business dinners without him he makes his way through the woods and to the Munson trailer. The first time it happens Wayne doesn't even know what to say. Steve looks every bit the little Harrington that he is with his little Khakis and perfectly pressed polo knocking on the trailer door all proper-like.

"Hello, I'm here to see Eddie. He's my best friend."

Before Wayne can figure out what to say there's a blur of oversized black hand-me-down clothes barrelling through the door and tackling the younger boy to the ground.

"STEVE!" Eddie absolutely screeches. Wayne is half worried he might take out one of the kid's eardrums, but seeing the wide smile Eddie has plastered on his face, Wayne decides not to say anything.

From there on Steve and Eddie are thick as thieves. Steve spends all his free time at the Munson trailer playing with Eddie and the stray animals. Despite some of Wayne's concerns, their friendship remains strong through the years. With Eddie in the grade above and the grades almost completely separated, they hardly get to interact at school, which only serves to fuel Eddie's disdain and Steve's disinterest in school. Middle school is much the same. They spend almost every waking moment together in the woods or in the trailer but live almost separate lives at school. It's not even that they're trying to hide it, it just never comes up.

When Steve starts climbing up the social ladder it isn't intentional at all. He doesn't have a lot of friends in his grade, certainly not any that come close to Eddie's status in his life, so he kind of just talks to everybody. He plays on the middle school basketball and baseball teams and does well, and before he knows it people are suddenly flocking around him and vying for his attention. He doesn't pay it much mind honestly.

Eddie on the other hand never fits in anywhere. Steve and Wayne are just about the only people in his life he cares about, and despite their overwhelming love and acceptance he can't help but turn out cynical. He struggles with anger management those first few years with Wayne, frustrated with being abandoned by his dad and separated from Steve and it all culminates in him being ostracized from his peers.

It isn't until high school that the rest of Hawkins clues into what's been in front of their faces the entire time. The high school is much less separated so while they won't be sharing any classes, there are many more opportunities for them to hang out.

On day one of Steve's freshman year he's already on the roster for both the basketball team and the swim team and there's already a small group of boys hanging around his locker ready to ride his coattails. They notice Steve seems distracted, turning his head back and forth when he's not struggling to get the lock undone. When he finally manages to wrestle the thing open, Eddie makes his move.

In a move reminiscent of that first day on Wayne's front porch, a blur of black second-hand clothes and dark curls barrels into Steve from the side taking him down to the linoleum floors. The guys around Steve's locker are ready to step in and beat this guy to a pulp until they hear raucous laughter coming from the both of them. They are treated to the sight of rising King Steve and established Freak Munson rolling around on the floor like unruly puppies and don't know what to do with themselves.

When the boys calm down and stand up, arms slung comfortably around each other's shoulders, they're met with the very confused faces of Steve's kind-of-friends.

"You know this guy Steve?"

"You and Munson are friends?"

"What the fuck was that?"

Steve and Eddie share a very confused look, neither of them having realized that people have no idea they're friends. They look back at the guys with two devastating "are you dumb" faces and say:

"Uh, yeah, Duh."

--------

Years down the line, after queer awakenings, a healthy dose of heartache for them both, and a properly dramatic star-lit confession Eddie and Steve both absolutely love regaling anyone who will listen with their love story. Steve insists that he knew from the moment Eddie looked at him with those big bug eyes that he would love Eddie Munson for the rest of his life. Eddie, on the other hand, insists that's bullshit and instead insists that he was the one who fell first "it doesn't count if you were a child Sevie you didn't understand what love was!" that day in the hall when he realized how tall and handsome his best friends had become when they got up off the floor.

Either way, they both eat up the looks people give them as they share their tales of pining, self-discovery, and true love.

[ochibrochi]

"happy birthday, b. -ck"

(redraw under the cut)

another quick little redraw...! I wasn't sure what to draw for bruce's birthday, but someone somehow unearthed this old drawing in my notifications, so i took it as a sign! Childhood friends, underrated trope!!!!!!!

[starry-bi-sky]

"Uhp-uhp-bup-bup." Danny says loudly, cutting off the crime lord bleeding all over his living room. He presses a finger to his lips, despite knowing that Red couldn't see it, and stifles his rage behind a playful smile.

He's lucky he's facing the kitchen, his back turned to Hood. He can see the fury green of his eyes reflecting back at him in the chrome of the sink, he's threatening to crush the rag in his hands. His vision is futzing out in the corners of eyes.

"We don't speak the 'J' name in this household." He says in almost a sing-song, because if he doesn't, then the Gotham oil sitting, boiling, behind his teeth and coating his tongue will spittle out and Danny's already haunting his apartment just by his mere presence. He doesn't want to haunt it more.

He can hear the whine of the lightbulbs, threatening to burst like a popped balloon. He turns the water off and and rings the rag out tighter than he perhaps should.

"You don't like the clown?" Hood asks him, and Danny's not sure if he's mocking him for it. There's a knowing lilt in his voice that throws back Danny to their first meeting on that balcony. If he were anyone else, Danny might've just punched him.

His heel turns sharply towards him, a tight smile on his face and an even tighter look around his eyes. At least he knows that the green has faded because the pounding behind his eyes are gone, his grief-born, death-made rage sizzling back beneath his veins. "I think you already know why, Ridin' Hood."

A grief like this don't stay buried, after all.

[veinsfullofstars]

🌅 MetaDede Week 2024 Day 5 & 6: AU & Secrets 🌅

(ID: Kirby series fanart comic of a moment in King Dedede and Meta Knight’s youth, when - during a trip to the beach with their friends - the teenaged penguin realizes that he might feel more than just friendship for his little winged buddy. Transcript in Alt Text. END ID.)

Oh.

Previous Day | Next Day | Prompt List (made by @/mtddweek)

Started 08/20/24, finished 08/24/24. | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost

[toringo]

Things can get complicated when you don't tell each other shit

Childhood friends au

[midoristeashop]

childhood friends au where hic spends his autumns at the markets looking for the shepard boy with the star hair

[superscourge]

thinking about the happy parts of childhood friends au gives me joy

[justaz]

ygraine gives birth to a quiet child. the babe does not scream, cry, or wail when it is born. one of the midwives take the bloody babe and holds it against her chest and she rubs its back and urges it to breathe. gaius is hidden beneath her dress and he tends to her wounds that sap her strength with every gush of blood. nimueh sits beside her, holding her hand as she takes in gasping breaths, recovering from the painful and exhausting ordeal of birthing a child. nimueh’s hand is running through her hair as she whispers praises in her ear that she cannot hear.

the room begins to darken as she leans against nimueh. her vision tunnels to a golden scene hovering in the air above her. she sees a young man with golden hair and bright blue eyes. he sits atop a throne with a golden crown nestled on his head. beside him is a figure that is obscured, their features hidden from her view but she can tell they are powerful. the image in the air shifts between the two people, flipping like a coin in the air, the golden king on one side and the cloaked figure on the other. the coin slowly picks up speed until the two figures blur together.

from the distorted image, three women appear and whisper a prophecy to her, a familiar one that has been told for millennia - more a fairy tale now than the words of a seer. as the women speak each line of the prophecy, one after the other, their voices combine into one as they whisper to her “behold the once and future king, arthur pendragon”

“do you see that?” she feels herself mumble as the three women disappear and the coin begins to slow once more. the two men come back into view, now side by side, “oh, its beautiful,” she murmurs, “look at him, nimueh. my son, my son…so beautiful.” arthur shifts his gaze to meet her own and suddenly the golden visage begins to rot. his regal robes fall apart, his crown rusts, the castle around him begins to decay and collapse into rubble.

arthur begins to cry like a child, unfitting for a man of his age. he shrinks to a young boy, perhaps seven, and stands next to his father, uther, as he addresses a crowd. he stands tall and proud though it is clear something has happened. his expression is cold and unfeeling until his gaze shifts down to someone in the square and pure hatred fills his eyes. the vision moves back and allows ygraine to watch as a young woman is tied to a pyre, screaming and crying and begging and pleading for her life.

“this woman has been found guilty for the crime of sorcery,” uther’s voice commands attention though his words make no sense to her. sorcery a crime? what nonsense. uther continues, “for such a crime, the punishment is and will always be death.” he nods down at the executioner who ushers forward and lights the wood of the pyre. knights follow suit and soon the woman is screaming in agony as flames engulf her.

arthur lowers his head and averts his gaze but uther grabs his chin and pulls his face up, “watch,” he orders him, “they killed your mother. they deserve this.” young arthur has tears in his eyes but he does not let them fall. he squares his shoulders and stares down at the woman as she is burnt to a crisp. when the screaming finally stops, young arthur shifts his gaze up to hers.

“i’m sorry,” he whispers, “please, save me.”

ygraine can hear her cries as the vision dissipates, her wails and denials. nimueh holds her close and whispers how she needs patience, her child will breathe yet. ygraine feels even more of her strength sap away and she understands. the deal uther made with nimueh, it called for a death to create a life. she knows now that it is her life that will be reaped in exchange. she does not have time to weep.

she turns to nimueh, “protect him,” she squeezes her hand, “you have to protect him.” she pleads. nimueh does not understand. how could she? ygraine squeezes her hand harder than she had in childbirth, “promise me, nimueh. you won’t let uther corrupt him. you won’t let him harm my son.” nimueh looks down at gaius who peeks over her dress, sorrow in his gaze and shakes his head. ygraine sobs once more, “promise me, nimueh!”

the high priestess turns back to her, “i promise, my lady, but rest assured king uther will not harm a hair on your child’s head.”

ygraine shakes her head, her body has gone numb, “you don’t understand. he will never be the same. you have to protect him. you have to protect arthur.”

nimueh nods, her expression trouble, “i promise, ygraine. i will protect arthur.”

ygraine smiles through her tears, the pain and sorrow fading as she grew weaker. nimueh’s expression grows panicked but the last thing she hears is her beautiful son’s cries.

nimueh didn’t understand ygraine’s wish until uther learned of his wife’s fate. she had expected sobbing, falling to his knees, or begging the gods. she didn’t expect the rage, though it was understandable, and she definitely didn’t expect the vitriol he spat at her, blaming her for ygraine’s passing. despite the protests that fell from her lips, she knew he was right. it was her magic from a deal she offered him that took her life.

her magic claimed ygraine’s life in her chambers. she held her in her arms as she died and could do nothing to save her. the last thing she saw when she died was nimueh, helpless to do anything to stop what she had put in motion.

uther called for his guards to round up all magic users and have them punished. gaius, a man who was always a bit selfish, surrendered to uther, denounced sorcery and magic and was forgiven for his past “treachery”. when he turned to nimueh, she knew even if she had denounced magic, he would never forgive her for what happened. he ordered his guards to have her taken to the dungeons in cold iron and spat that she would burn in the morning.

it didn’t take much magic to disappear from the throne room and reappear out in the halls. she strode through the castle up to the nursery where little arthur was to reside. something in uther shattered in that room, he cursed magic users and called them monsters, beasts meant to be hunted and killed. she wouldn’t know if he truly meant to go through with it until the first execution but she was not waiting that long.

ygraine’s last wish had been for her to protect arthur, to protect him from his father. when she had said that, she had assumed the queen was delirious from pain and blood loss. now she understood. the triple goddess had blessed her with knowledge before her passing. and with that knowledge, she begged nimueh to protect arthur from uther. nimueh would not wait until it was too late, she would not sit back and let fate have it’s way, she would not let ygraine down again.

nimueh greeted the wetnurse with a smile. the woman smiled kindly up at her and she politely requested arthur and asked her to leave. the woman was hesitant but a subtle spell over her mind guided her out and away from the room. nimueh stared down at little arthur’s face. he had thin strands of white hair that was sure to thicken and darken as he grew. he had ygraine’s nose and lips. when he blinked his eyes open it was like she was staring down at the late queen.

the sound of guards pounding down the hall alerted her of her precarious situation once more and she did not waste another second before fleeing. she held arthur tight to her chest as she fled the castle and wormed her way through the citadel. no one looked twice at her, the average citizen unaware that their queen had had a child and died just that morning.

nimueh traveled as fast as she could back to her island. she warned her sisters that resided on the island of what uther meant to do. they did not take his threats seriously until they scried and saw uther slaughtering hundreds of magic users in the coming weeks. nimueh and her sisters helped raise arthur until an attack was launched on the isle itself. she and arthur remained under the castle while the other high priestesses fought back against the armies storming their home. one of her sisters stumbled down into the room, beaten and bloodied.

“they’ve won,” she slurred, “the isle of the blessed has fallen. you must go, protect the child. do not let him fall into uther’s hands.” she cast her magic to form a gateway for nimueh and arthur, “i do not have much strength to hold this, sister. go now.” nimueh left her home behind. she heard two weeks later that the castle had been burnt and crumbled to rubble.

nimueh and arthur traveled the land, hopping from place to place and never settling for long as camelot knights were soon to follow. arthur grew quicker than she thought possible and she knew she had to settle down somewhere, yet she knew that if she were to settle in a village or town, it would only be a matter of time before camelot found them.

it took time and energy and lots of magic, but she created a cottage in the woods, hidden by wards to divert any visitors. she and arthur both learned to live off the land, to grow what they needed and survive on their own. he always found her magic fascinating and loved to watch her cast spells. since he was born from a deal she made, his very being was fused together with her own magic, marking him as hers.

he called her mama and she called him son. she told him of his other mother, ygraine, of how she gave birth to him but perished before she could meet him. she told him that she knew ygraine was proud of him because she was proud of him. arthur always wished to explore the world outside of their haven but nimueh’s paranoia kept him close.

it wasn’t until one day when arthur was ten that something changed. nimueh had been on her way out to tend to their crops when she heard arthur laughing and playing. she smiled to herself as she continued on her way. until she heard another voice, a higher voice belonging to what sounded like a child.

nimueh dropped her tools and rushed around the lawn to find arthur on the edge of their haven playing with a boy a couple of years younger than him with a mop of black hair and wide blue eyes. the boy was also inside their haven. he had gotten past her wards. he was dangerous. nimueh dashed forward and grabbed arthur, tugging him behind her as she assessed the boy. arthur complained behind her and begged her to let him stay. the boy stood up on shaky legs and didn’t bother dusting off his trousers.

“hi!” he waved a hand, a goofy smile on his face, “my mom’s busy at the market so i came to play in the woods. arthur and i were just about to play will and i’s favorite game, knight and princess. will always makes me be the princess but arthur wanted to be the princess this time so i really, really, really wanna play with him. do you wanna join? you can be…the dragon guarding the princess!! oh, you already are. are we playing now? hold on, let me get a stick so i can-“

“who are you?” nimueh finally cut off his rambling. she wasn’t sure how a child, or anyone for that matter, could talk so fast and endlessly without taking a breath. her fear eased as she recognized that he truly was just a child, but she still remained wary as he had somehow found his way past her wardings.

“oh, sorry! my mom always says i have to be more polite but i always am so i never understand what she means.” he blinked and shook his head before grinning up at her, showing off his missing tooth in the top corner of his mouth, “i’m merlin!”

[tidilevee]

lil comic based on the chibi natsu doodle❄️

You can say it's childhood friend AU. They're lil babies in present outfit!

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