#I think this was the longest chapter of all of them
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Season of Love (10/?) [New chapter]
+18 | Toto x reader fem!teamprincipal, romance, comedy, and some good drama.
Summary: One night on a pier in Monaco, while admiring the sea under the night skies, you tell Toto: "I came to the conclusion that love is simply not meant for me." That's the answer to a question you have been asking yourself for the longest time. But what if he proved you wrong? Author's note: This is a multichapter Toto Wolff x team principal reader fic set along a season of F1. It's a very immersive story full of drivers, team dynamics, races, mystery, and smut. You just bought the Williams team, but nobody really knows who you truly are.
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The Sebaffäre Arc Chapter 10: Finding Our Grip.
Japan
The sun slips through the cherry blossom trees, their soft pink petals floating gently in the spring air over the streets of Shibuya as you, Sebastian, Mick, and Millie walk, soaking in the vibrant energy surrounding you.
Laughter spreads as you explore the bustling district known for its trendy stores, eclectic street style, and, of course, the undeniable Kawaii culture for which Millie lives.
“I saw on Instagram a new pop-up cafe with capybara-themed everything! We have to go!” Millie exclaims, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Sebastian chuckles while pulling her a little closer, wrapping a relaxed arm around her neck, their height difference being noticeable. “If it has cute animals and desserts, just take me there,” he jokes.
Mick, is already scouting for the ultimate kawaii stuff for Millie. “Look! They have those giant plush toys over there!” He points toward a shop filled with oversized snack plushies.
Your heart fills with joy as this hangout feels more like a family trip.
-
“Millie, this one is so you!” you point out, holding up a pink dress adorned with frills and one little cat paw. Millie squeals in delight as she slips it on, twirling in front of the mirror, you are now inside an all-pink extremely chic fashion store.
After some bags of apparel are added to your purchases, you head toward the Capybara café.
As soon as you step inside, you are greeted by the most adorably fluffy residents lounging around.
"I'M GOING TO EXPLODE" Millie squeals out.
-
After some iced Taros, fruit cakes, and playful interaction with the capybaras, you notice something shiny in the corner, a photo booth. “Oh, we have to try it!” you ask the group, eyes sparkling with glee.
Inside, you each squeeze tightly together, giggles erupting as you try to fit in. “Okay, everyone! Let’s do a silly one!” Mick suggests, posing with a goofy expression. You all follow suit, Sebastian squishes his cheeks together, Millie tosses her head back, and you cross your eyes, with the camera flashing in a series of snaps. When Millie suggests doing one series more but "with free poses" Seb doesn't let go of the opportunity to place one kiss on your cheek.
As the pictures print out, you can't help but think about how wonderful it would be to have these moments with a family of your own.
“Check this out!” Sebastian says, pulling the first picture from the stack. The photo reflects the perfect blend of laughter, silliness, and an undeniable bond, the four of you together.
“Let’s each take one copy and place them on our dressing room's mirror” Mick suggests and everyone agrees.
-
You three had the most fun time that day, so much it passed by at an alarming speed, and soon Seb offered to take you back, leaving you at the door of your hotel room, with just one shy and sweet goodbye kiss on the palm of your hand.
And that's all, he tries for.
He doesn't want to rush things, he feels luck is on its side this weekend.
He is just waiting for that special momment.
-
It's race day and Matthew and you navigate to your team's place on the grid - by the front - among the big bustling, and packed Suzuka track, it's kinda hard to walk around, this time they overdid the number of people allowed in there.
You two take your time to reach the place where the cars sit still but are soon ready to roar to life as the orchestra prepares for the national anthem, adding an air of ceremonial anticipation.
Just as Matthew turns a corner, you stumble into Toto with Susie, also hand in hand. The moment freezes as you lock eyes, both of you caught off guard.
"Ah, Toto! Nice to see you! Ready to eat our dust once more?" Matt opens the conversation, stopping in front of them.
You bite your lip, half-wincing. Matthew playfully jabs to push Toto’s buttons. The Austrian raises an eyebrow, letting out a short laugh, though you can tell the jab stings, he remains grinning, his charm on full display as he answers, "Well if it isn’t the power couple of the F1! Dust? I’m here for the victory champagne, my friend."
Susie appears momentarily oblivious to the smoldering tension. She smiles wide, all enthusiasm as she greets you. "It’s a perfect clear night for a race, air is good, isn’t it? I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!"
You can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy as you watch her holding him, effortlessly radiant, completely unaware of the awkward undercurrents swirling around you all.
Her joy in the moment only amplifies the tension, and you battle with the frustrating realization that you wish you could enjoy it as innocently.
Forcing a smile, you answer her. "Yes! Perfect!"
This is the closest Toto and you have been for a while. Your heart races, and you feel a blend of excitement and guilt as memories of your passionate encounters fill you back.
You can feel the weight of his eyes on you.
Matthew interrupts your stares. "Good for you, Toto, victory champagne tastes extra sweet when it's been a while without you tasting it" his smile is big and bright, and Matt snaps back all innocent looking, his hand fondling your hip tenderly but visibly. "Isn’t that right, sweetheart?" he places a soft and sensual kiss on your lips.
Toto shifts and clears his throat, visibly tense, and with that, Susie’s curiosity peaks. She shifts her gaze between the two of you, eyebrows furrowing slightly before forcing herself to smile brightly again and with genuine confusion, she asks, "Are you boys always this competitive?"
You gulp, unsure whether to laugh out of nervousness or shrink. Matthew chuckles, clearly enjoying his mind games, while Toto plays it off with a casual shrug.
"Oh, it’s just a bit of friendly rivalry! Susie, it's not like something else was going on" Matt emphasizes the last words. Much to both your dislike.
Fuck, he knows. HOW?!
Is he surveilling you? Oh, you gotta have a word, well, no, let's better not.
Then orchestra starts to play and you all glance at the stage, feeling the tension ebb with the music. The national anthem begins, and with it, your interaction reaches an end.
-
Neither Williams nor Mercedes gets to sip that champagne. Seb finally makes it to the highest of the podium, and you cheer your lungs out for him along with George and Millie standing next to him.
The miracle happened, lucky bastard indeed!
In the middle of that celebration, Seb turns mischievously your way, shaking that bottle most menacingly, before you can even react you are soaked, and everyone around you runs away as the rivers of champagne fall in.
Seb jumps down the podium stage and reaches you, among pats, hands, and shoulder shakes, loud cheers following him along.
He screams into your ear, and yet you can barely hear him, the crowd and music so loud. "Maybe this sounds absurd, and perhaps is the worst moment, but I can't deny what I feel for you. If you give me a chance, could I take you out on a date?"
"WHAT!?" This takes you by surprise.
Seb looks at your reaction a bit embarrassed now, the red of his uniform blending up with his face, and expecting a massive rejection on his way.
"So you don't mind that I'm married?! You don't care about my past and all that's going on around me!? Are you serious?!" you look utterly shocked.
"No, I don't! I like you the way you are," he says, earnestly.
FUCK.
"But what about the press!? If they found out... WAIT, and your reputation!? Seeing us together could be damaging for your career..."
"Oh no problem about that, we won't hide"
"WHAT?!" your face is a poem.
"I'm never hiding... ever again. I'm going to love you freely and fuck the world" he smiles brightly, drops coming down his hair and big eyelashes.
"But... If you regret it?! And by then the damage is done, you need to think..."
"I don't care, honestly, but do you?" he captures your hands, which were going all over, like an Italian man illustrating something but on steroids, and caresses them.
"Well... I'm done with the hiding too"
"So we could... You know... try it?" his eyes spark, and he looks at you as the most precious being walking on earth.
He is crazy, this is crazy, you are crazy, but for some reason, you nod in agreement.
-
Mathew did not make that long travel to Japan just to join you at the GP, he wanted to give you the long-awaited news that finally you got Lenkov to go on trial in between happy tears, both hugging real tight.
-
Seb becomes your companion for this entire arduous and bitter process.
He even helps you practice your testimony acting as if he were the lawyer and judge questioning you.
That man has watched too much TV and movies.
"Where's my Emmy?" he asks you, papers in hand, dropping himself on the couch next to you and placing a kiss on your forehead.
You chuckle.
-
Seb begs you to let him join you in person at the Lenkov's trial which will be held in a courthouse in Zurich, Switzerland.
He wants to be there for you when you have to face the man of your nightmares for the first time since you were a kid. You know that moment would take a toll on you.
But you say no, due to his protection and safe-being, you don't want to expose him.
-
You look astounded when you spot him among the court audience, feeling a bit mad at him at first but soon he becomes your rock during those three challenging nights.
Especially when he holds you in his warm embrace as you crash down in your hotel room, surveilled by security, after exchanging words and holding your own with Lenkov after years.
-
Going out on dates with Seb feels almost organic, natural, easy, and relaxed, there's no intimacy yet, not even a kiss, just tenderness all over, some cuddles, and nights spent together talking.
He is giving you the time you need, allowing you the space to heal, and it's exactly what you needed, who you needed, to pull you out of that void.
With Seb, there are no doubts, no secrets, just honesty and love.
The intrusive thoughts of Toto start to fade away, he slowly transforms into a distant memory.
-
Qatar
Nowadays, everywhere you go Sebastian is there by your side, at trips, galas, in corridors, at meetings, during breaks, at lunch and people are taking note of it.
Especially during the fancy party the Qatari organized due to their GP's anniversary.
You walked inside that luxurious open venue under the skylight, arm-in-arm with Seb, the two looking so comfortable with the lack of personal space between you.
As the party progresses, he, ever the charming gentleman with his warm smile, turns your way. His blond hair is tousled just enough to give him an air of carefree elegance; he looks radiant in his tailor suit while leaning closer.
“Shall we?” he asks you, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. It is a simple invitation that sends a cascade of feelings coursing through you.
With a playful pull, he leads you toward the empty dance floor, you walk shyly at first. Almost instinctively, people turn to see. You can feel their eyes on you, curiosity brewing as if you were an unexpected plot twist in a story.
As the live orchestra starts a new song, the smooth voice of the singer pours from the speakers, wrapping the room in a sweet, melodious embrace. “Sway,” begins, the gentle beat inviting you two to move closer.
Vettel pulls you in, wrapping his arms around your waist, his touch igniting heat. “Just focus on me,” he murmurs noticing your nervousness, his breath brushing your skin.
With a confidence that is uniquely his, he guides you into a gentle sway, your bodies moving in harmony with the sultry rhythm. You could feel the mix of surprise and judgment hovering at the tables, specifically the Ferrari and Mercedes ones.
Even from a distance, you caught sight of Toto's furrowed brow, eyebrows almost meeting in disapproval; Lewis watching with his arms crossed, shooting glances that said it all.
"Y/N" Seb sweetly calls your name, asking for your attention back. You look into his eyes, those deep pools of sincerity that are becoming so difficult to resist. Suddenly, your worries melt with each passing note, every sway bringing you closer to a reality where you can love freely.
His steady embrace encourages you to lean into him further, to bury yourself in his warmth, placing your head on his chest, and your entire group of friends gasp in complete disbelief.
"WHAT THA FUCK?!" Lando lets out, almost spilling his drink. "WHY?!"
Oscar and Samantha laugh at his reaction but are as surprised as him.
-
By the end of that night, you feel lighter as if finally you were liberated from constraints that had once shackled your heart. Maybe you were reaching several closures as a person.
-
USA
"Howdy partners!? PHEW! PHEW!" Charles greets Sam and you wearing the world's most insane cowboy outfit, barrell fake gun and all.
"You look like a cow with those spotted leather chaps!" words burst out of your mouth as an instant reaction, not even a hi first.
"Where did you leave Bob SquarePants?" Samantha asks him, howling with laughs. "It's giving Patrick Starr"
"PERFECT!" Charles seems way too cheerful about that.
It turns out Leclerc is dressed like this for a sponsor's charity event made in collaboration with Nickelodeon.
Families with kids are everywhere on the grounds and installations were created on the circuit's fields for the special event, Carlos is the first of the gang to join you there, still healing from his accident.
No one dared to ask you about your thing with Toto, even when something was clearly going on between you two, although not as clearly as it is with you and Seb, Toto was notifiable only if you paid attention.
But this time around it was impossible to ignore the elephant in the room, especially when the elephant was holding hands with you in public right now.
"So are you two..?" Mick asks with half a smile already forming on his lips.
"Yes." comes in unison from you.
They don't need to know more. They don't ask more.
-
After eating a delicious grilled burger, you observe the parents interact with kids, Everywhere you look around there are families and you wonder what that would be like.
Sam seems to read your mind and reaches you to hold your left hand, and then you feel Millie holding your right one, also getting a sense of what is going on, now you are in the middle of a Dobrev sandwich.
Then Normani holds Millie's hand, and finally, Seb joins in, adding "I don't know what is happening, but I just wanted to hold hands with you girls." he smiles big and bright, closing his eyes and taking in the sun rays feeling them on his skin.
-
It's George's birthday. And it goes the most awkward possible that can go.
Just by start, he is so freaked out about getting old, that much so he doesn't want to throw a party at all and refuses the group's many texts and invitations to go out.
So you guys being... YOU GUYS.
Plan a small gathering for him at the hotel bar, just a Casa Blanca-inspired night, something simple, not too over the top but old-timey and fun enough as his style is.
You all show up in your best tuxedos and gowns.
Hanging around in the same small space, with Seb by your side and Susie by Toto's feels awkward as fuck at first, but as the night progresses you come up with good terms at completely ignoring each other.
Even if you try to black it out, you are utterly aware of the "Wait isn't she married?! And those two know no shame!" vibes coming from people.
When you reach closer to greet Bono, hanging with Lewis as usual, you move to embrace Hamilton and he pulls you away, making your jaw drop and your heart sink. For the rest of the night, you seem keen to address it with him, you want to know how to fix it and understand fully what's going on.
But he doesn't allow you the chance.
-
For much that a visibly hopeless Niki tries to bring you, Lewis, and Toto closer, creating dumb excuses for you to interact.
Nothing succeeds.
Until Sam calls for a few rounds of "Cards against humanity" almost by the end of the party when it's just "the OGs" remaining as she and Charles love to refer.
And Toto drops a "Slap me____" card and you can't resist it for your life.
Answering "Like one of your headphones", making him and everyone laugh like idiots and steal away the points for you.
He bumps you playfully with his shoulder, smiling brightly.
For the first time in a while, it feels like it used to be.
Maybe the two of you could become friends?
Yeah, puff, who are you kidding!?
-
Mexico
During the Mexican Grand Prix, it was almost Halloween and Day of the Dead.
So you texted in advance on the group chat, weeks before, that you all should show up wearing costumes. Hey, dressing up is always fun!
So you arrive at the paddock, excited to see what the others pulled.
Your meeting spot is the usual, behind the medical wing, near the ambulances' entry, where you all have more privacy.
You get there along with Mick and Michael (who showed up in versions of their Williams uniform but like they were basketball and baseball players).
You went dressed as Niki - red cap hat, silver headphones on, plaid oversized shirt with an exaggerated size access badge hanging from your neck - rocking those denim dad's jeans, and a ridiculous and enormous flip phone along with like four walkie-talkies attached to your black belt.
"Goodness! HA, HA" George tells you, smiling big at you when you reach him; he was the first to get there, with Angela and Roscoe.
"Pow!" You throw him a pose, "Pow!" a turn, and another pose, "Pow pow!" you point to your orthopedic sneakers, it was all in the details.
"Wait till he sees you. He will love it, Oh, I need my Merc shirt in this version" George greets you while grabbing the fabric on Schumi's shirt. "This is so cool, mate!" They get caught in a conversation about Jordan, Kobe, and the old guard and prime of players while Mick and you play with Roscoe (who hates his costume and keeps taking it off, God knows how Angela was able to get him into his tootsie roll candy suit).
Lewis is not around there until a couple of minutes later, acting still cold at you, he just waves a hand your way and that's it. When George approaches him smiling and stands by his side it's when you fully appreciate their outfits; George is the fish, and Lewis the chips.
"Niki has a better ass!" Sam tells you, looking you all up and from all angles and slapping your left asscheek, she arrives dressed as Ocon's FIA time penalty charts, many large cardboard signs attached over a form-fitted black dress. Enough penalties to cover her to the knees.
And Millie arrives after with what turns out to be your favorite costume of the day as "Lewis lost-projected to the skies all worn-out tire from the Miami GP" It has you all rolling on the floor and gagging.
"Oh, It's so fucking good!" Sebastian tells the group looking like a cute Toad, and Millie pats his cute puffy mushroom head hat. "You can punch it and still I will not feel a thing. That's how puffy it is" he says, and four immediate slaps come on Sebastian's way. Big mistake.
After him comes Charles dressed as "Charles Brown", with an oversized t-shirt and shorts, but instead of a yellow one, it's a Ferrari's red zig-zag stripe one along with a tiny horse plushie popping out of his shorts pocket. His version of Snoopy.
You hear a sexy "Sum sum" to your left and turn around to be greeted by a Lando leaning sexyly on the wall in his censored naked Sim outfit.
"Argh! It's so genius!" Millie lets out.
Last but not least, Checo shows up dressed as a Catrin, which impresses you with how artistic and cool it is, with Carlos by his side wearing a Transformer version of his car. Everyone squeezes in the selfie before Angela takes a proper group photo. You feel ready to break the internet that day!
Smiles, chats, and laughter fill the place as usual when you are all together. But you are missing one, a very important one for you.
Where on earth was Toto? He is in the group. The idea of him in a silly outfit got you curious and eager for days.
Around 20 minutes later, Carlos notices a cameraman in the distance, then photographers start to snap pictures and get closer. You all try to ignore them and get them to go away.
You succeed but then, 10 minutes later, an FIA steward calls you to their offices.
You returned after a while, and now the group was forced to hang inside the W hospitality, since the fans and press found them, demanding photos and selfies, Michael saved everyone inviting them in, so you all are having nonalcoholic drinks, and food there.
"Guys the FIA wants us to get rid of our outfits, and change for quote on quote proper clothes, costumes are not allowed, apparently, "Makes us look unserious and cartoonish," they told me" You go and imitate a boring middle age man voice, "and it goes against the FIA dressing code, I had no idea there was a dressing code" you rub your chin, like thinking.
"Well, it's not like we are planning to race in these!" Checo adds as a reply to the absurdity. "Besides, it's super early! Of course, we will change, but not now. Well, I'm not. I don't know you guys?"
A lot of me neither are heard.
"What do they plan to do? If we don't comply, I mean. Penalize us all? It's stupid!" Sebastian comments, getting visibly annoyed at them, but in his usual calm and soft voice, resting his elbow on Checo's shoulder, he was on his feet, and Checo was sitting on the high stool, enjoying french fries.
-
Penalties for everyone. That's what they indeed did.
-
"Weirdly, Christian was the team principal who took it better when he got the notice" you gossip with Charles.
He even told me: "You should have let me know! I lost my opportunity to show up as Ginger Spice!" he joked with you when you both crossed paths on your way to the garages.
Your relationship with him is weird but good. He's a little shit and so annoying regarding work and his schemings, but he's an enjoyable person offside tracks. One day, you ended up sharing breakfast by chance, and he turned out to be different from what you expected, you spoke about life and so on.
But with Toto, the news of getting a penalty on their way due to your dummy ideas went bizarre pretty fast, you recall.
"What happened to your costume? Did the dog eat it?" you tease Toto, looking at his plain Mercedes uniform that night in Mexico.
"I'm a team principal. I thought it wouldn't be a good look, and judging by the fine resolution, it wasn't," he answers you deadpan, arms crossed, both leaning relaxed against a wall near their motorhome.
"So, you do care about how you are perceived?"
"Not precisely, but I take my job, and my position here seriously."
Your eyebrows go up. "Thanks, man. I'm a joke, then"
He didn't mean it that way. But, hey, at least now you two are talking, instead of ignoring each other existence.
"Just because one has a little bit of fun while doing its work doesn't mean it's not professional" you defend your point.
"Shit, then, I should have shown up dressed as Roger Federer as I planned" he winks at you and enters his garage, ending the conversation right there.
Bringing you back to the present, Charles replies: "That's why I don't get them. Why do they create those stupid meetings promoting sportsmanship and building relationships to burn all bridges? It's absurd, no?" The three of you are in pajamas and getting facials since it was the end of the day.
"Toto was pissed. He truly hated you a bit." Sam informs you, in her insides even though she is happy you are with Seb, there's still in her this doubt about where you are truly regarding Torger. She thousands of times would prefer he was with you instead of back with Susie.
"Oh, that man takes his job too seriously! Could be bad for his health!" you hint no more.
"Not just him, you won't believe what Mattia warned us?! He pulled me and Sebastian to the side after a team brief, by the way, he hates Seb even more now that he's with you, and told us that we needed to get our mind straight, that you don't win championships by being the friendliest on the grid, and that we should stay aware of those so-called friends' real intentions" Charles spills the tea as the violet light of the mask on his face goes off.
"Imagine what would do to him if he found out you two live together?!" Sam starts to laugh maniacly.
"They are getting so paranoid! And that's Christian's job, and he was so chill" You roll your eyes, as the esthetician turns off your mask and pulls it away.
"Well, Millie and Lewis got added seconds, which is an advantage for his team and Max. So... I get why he be chill with it"
"Of course, he is going to be chill!" Charles agrees.
"I don't know guys, I'm not with you on this one! I think he meant it."
"It's just that we know him more." They both nod.
"Years, yeah, years," Sam states.
"I'm going to be more careful from now on, to avoid you guys' trouble, I'm still so sorry." you sound a bit sad.
-
You apologize for the hundred times on the group chat and you receive lots of "fuck them" replies.
"You do you. I don't care what the FIA says, you are the glue, I don't remember a near time when everyone was interacting like we are now and it's all because of you, you are the glue." Carlos expresses.
Those words warm your heart.
-
Before the race starts you tap Vettel's helmet tenderly, it's Morse code for the word love. He is inside his car already in formation.
Toto watches from a distance, but he turns away immediately as he gets caught by your eyes.
Yes. This could have been us if you had chosen me.
Lewis' car is right behind Seb's. He watches the full scene unfold before his eyes. You tried again to address things but he gave you no chance, he seemed so disappointed with you somehow.
-
After the race is over a furious Lewis intercepts Sebastian at the parking lot gates, as Vettel is close to his bike.
"You are a cheater, now?" takes him by surprise.
"It's not like that," Seb replies calmer, closing the gap. Lewis is wearing a gorgeous LV email leaning on an SUV.
"For real..." he rolls his eyes, angry, and shakes his head, hands entering the front pockets of his denim-pattered luxurious jacket.
"Lewis," says almost whispers, tender.
"You know I always held you so high." Hamilton bites his lips, not wanting to scream or cry.
"You trust me?"
"I don't know..." this seems to visibly hurt Seb, "If I do that anymore." he finishes saying.
"Why?" Sebastian sounds wounded.
"I don't comprehend who this is." Lewis gestures to him. "Who is this version of you? My Sebastian is a kind person and would never deceive anyone or hurt."
"Lewis, I am still that same person."
"Listen, don't mind me, you do you." Lewis moves his feet on the parking lot gravel, softly, he keeps his composure well.
"Lewis, it's not my place to tell you." Seb sounds hopeless.
"To tell me what?" Lewis for the first time, looks him straight in the eyes.
"The whole picture. Why don't you talk to her?"
"You are who I care about" his answer is fucking honest, "I just wanted to remind you that it never ends well, that you get burned when you play with fire, and that's all." Lewis shrugs his nose, sniffing a bit, the night air is as cold as this conversation.
"She cares so much about you, as well as I do, you know I love you. And I know you do, too."
"Well, as a person who got deeply hurt, almost annihilated, by a serial cheater, I don't feel like having business with someone of the same kind."
Sebastian knows Lewis means well. It is just his trauma and not understanding the whole picture talking.
"The truth always comes out," Seb reassures him. It is a phrase both faced in their lives.
Lewis always reacts weirdly when Sebastian has a new partner boy or girl. It was the same for him when Lewis introduced Miles to him. He just needs time.
"But, I hear you loud and clear," Vettel adds.
Lewis nods and gets inside the black-tinted car.
To be continued... < Previous chapter | Masterlist | Next chapter >
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With All My Love (joel miller x f!reader, no outbreak) Chpt 3
Chapter 3: Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth...
Word count: 10.7k
Chapter Summary: After telling Maria everything about you and Joel, you start to realize your feelings may not be one-sided. However, just when you think things are about to calm down, you and the group are assigned to fly out on a field assignment for several days. Meanwhile, Joel hasn’t heard from you in weeks due to the mail being blocked on your side. He starts to worry something might have happened, but once Sarah discovers something after speaking to Tommy on their way out on a weekend getaway for a soccer tournament, Joel’s whole outlook changes for the better.
Chapter warnings: anxiety, flirting, fluff, mentions of blood, mentions of guns, mentions of active combat and unaliving, panic attack, a smidge of angst, language, slow burn, guys we have smut in this chapter (18+ MDNI), m!masturbation, mentions of death, flying and jumping out of a plane (yeahh no thanks)
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Reader’s POV
After spilling everything to Maria about Joel’s letters and what he sent you, you both fell asleep on the floor of Terrance and Reggie’s.
You woke up 7 hours later to Reggie and Terrance laughing over something in their bunks.
Seven hours was the longest you had slept in days. You sat up on the backs of your elbows and looked around. Maria was still fast asleep next to you. You sat up more and yawned, then looked at your watch. You still had time to grab something to eat, take a quick shower, and maybe write a letter back to Joel, depending on whether any emergencies pulled you away.
You stood to your feet and realized someone must’ve put a blanket over you when you slept, Maria as well. You put your blanket gently over Maria and walked towards the boys “What are you two up to?” you started stretching your arms over your head and cracking your neck as you woke up a little stiff.
“Nothin' much, you sleep good?” Reggie asked, eating a bowl of what looked to be cornflakes.
You shrugged and nodded, “As good as you can on the floor. " You lightly chuckled. “Hey, do either of you know if we have the okay to Skype family and friends? Like, do we have a special computer or somewhere we can do that?” You tried to ask nonchalantly.
“Yeah - they said your laptop we got when we got here is approved to do things like that,” Terrance said as he was working on a crossword puzzle.
“Oh, gotcha. I didn’t know if we were ok to do personal stuff on it like that. Good to know.” you nodded and then smiled softly. “Well, I’m going to try to get something to eat and attempt to take a shower, I’ll see you guys later. Tell Maria when she wakes up I’ll meet her back here in a couple of hours.” you walked backward and then waved at the two of them before you began walking to the cafeteria building.
You passed the medical tent and heard your name being called gently by a small voice. You stopped and looked around before spotting Azzami waving towards you, beckoning you to come to him.
You walked over to his cot and smiled “Hey there, how are you?” you asked him in Dari.
He gently smiled, “I’m a little sore.” he said in English. “Can I have some water?”
You nodded and grabbed him a small cup of water, helping him sip from it, “You speak English pretty good.. better than my Dari, I’m sure”
He softly nodded and chuckled, “You aren’t bad. You’re new. You will learn more.”
You softly looked at him and smiled “Will you teach me more?”
He nodded and then reached for your hand, gripping it tightly “Will you stay with me a little longer?”
“Of course. Of course, I’ll stay a little longer.” you knelt next to his cot and spent the next hour telling him where you were from, how you and Maria were bunkies, and if he ever needed anything, you would help. He shared that he was pretty much an orphan and explained that he wasn’t from this village, he fled here from a nearby village that was taken by the enemy as a base for their operation. You explained that you and he would stick together, that he had a place as long as you were here. You’d keep him safe.
He fell back asleep from exhaustion. You made sure his IV drip looked good and the wound was still clean and then left to go to the cafe.
You grabbed a bowl of rice and beans, ate that to yourself quickly, and then went to take a shower.
Once you felt full and refreshed you went back to your and Maria’s quarters to grab your notebook and pen you wrote letters in and some Polaroid pictures you had taken here and there since being there to send Joel.
Maria had snuck some candid photos for you when you weren’t looking over the past couple of weeks. Either when you were taking care of a patient or goofing off. She even got one of you smiling and laughing at one of Reggie’s jokes. When she showed you, you knew that Joel might like that one most. You also got a group photo of the four of you which you all were in a circle, with the camera in the middle all making a goofy face, but all you could do was smile happily while everyone else made a face.
You sat back down next to Azzami’s cot, knowing that he found comfort in having you near him.
You put Joel’s address and your new return address on the envelope, then stuck the photos in, tucking the envelope under your thigh so the wind wouldn’t blow it away as there was a gentle breeze today.
You began writing:
‘Joel, June 20, 2014
I don’t think it would be right to start this letter off without thanking you for the beautiful, sincere and thoughtful gifts you sent in the first parcel. I’m wearing your pendant now, and have already felt so much lighter with it on. I also feel like I’ve somewhat got a part of you with me, that might sound silly, but it brings me such comfort.
You’ve been such a comfort in my life these last several weeks. I hope you know that.
And you’re right, I have you, and you have me <3
You panicked just a little thinking that was too forward, too honest, but then remembered things he said in his last letter and if you could say those things effortlessly, you could too without fear of rejection.
We will have to thank Sarah for your photos, but we will have to thank Maria for mine. The Polaroid intimidates me a little too, but now that I’ve got my disposable - thank you again for that, you’ll be getting that sent back in no time. I can’t wait to start taking photos for you to see. :)
Speaking of Sarah, I’m sorry to hear about the circumstances of her mother. I know that must’ve been hard on you when it happened, but then I’m sure it’s also had some effect on Sarah. Just know that Sarah is lucky to have you as her dad. Her mom missed out on a really neat kid, she seems pretty amazing.
Your grandad sounds like a very special person and I am grateful you had a father figure like that in your and your brother's life. I know that any positive influence when you lack it somewhere, means the world. You had your granddad, I had my Levi. We were both very blessed to have both of them shape us into who we are today. <3
Oh, the name Cricket... I uh… I don’t chirp in my sleep, thank goodness. But Levi said that I used to rub my legs together under the sheets when I would get really warm and cozy… like a cricket he said, and never called me anything else after that. I have a small cricket tattoo… for Levi. To remember him by. <3
You mentioned Oregon and the whales. That sounds so cool, and I’d love to go! I’ve never been to Oregon or traveled much other than when I moved to GA, so that would be fun. Maybe on a school break of Sarah’s… we could all do a small road trip together? Would she like that?
You mentioned you are going to make a rocking chair, I am very excited to see your skills and the progress along the way! I love to watch people work with their hands - it’ll be very cool to watch you work. :) I think in terms of design, a bow would be cute for a little girl! Or a butterfly would be pretty too? You choose! Bow or butterfly <3
I also wanted to let you know that I did send a postcard when I got here, I have no idea if it got out tho, I didn’t get your letters until yesterday. The village I am in was pretty much an active war zone for the last two weeks, and from what we know mail wasn’t allowed in, but I’m hoping mine made it out as I put it to send the morning before everything went to shit.
Anyway, I’ve got to go, my shift is about to start soon, sadly or I’d write more.. but, I wanted to ask, wou-
You stopped writing and took a deep breath, fiddling with the pen against the paper. Rubbing the bridge of your nose, looking at the sentence you want to finish when anxiety starts to bubble up from the depths you’ve tried to shove it down to. You didn’t want to get hurt or overstep.
You hoped this wasn’t one-sided. Was he just socially awkward? Maybe? Maybe more shy than anything. But so were you. This couldn’t be just you, right? He has said things and has done things to show you that he wants more. The annoying thought came into your head, were you reading too much into it? Did you mistake kindness for something deeper? Were you that lonely, that deprived of love? As quickly as the thought came in to haunt you, it disappeared as you subconsciously reached up and grabbed the pendant in your fist, all the anxiety and fears dissolving.
You closed your eyes and smiled softly as you took in a breath through your nose, out through your mouth.
You opened your eyes and looked back at the paper finishing your sentence:
Anyway, I’ve got to go, my shift is about to start soon, sadly or I’d write more.. but, I wanted to ask, would you like to Skype each other in addition to our letters? If so, my email to reach me is [email protected] - I look forward to hopefully hearing from you there <3
Warmest regards,
Y/N
P.S. Cowboys lost 21-7 to the Vikings on Sunday… you were saying whose team was better?? ;)'
You chuckled and knew that football between you two would be a fun disagreement. You then folded the letter into thirds and stuck it in the envelope.
Azzami was still fast asleep so before your shift started, you ran your letter to the post center to be mailed back as soon as possible.
—
5 days later
While Azzami recovered, and when you weren’t actively working, you sat with him and kept him company. You both bonded very quickly and looked out for each other.
He started to call you ‘khahar’, which meant sister in Dari, and you would call him ‘Z’ as he wanted a cool nickname after learning Reginald’s name was shortened to Reggie, he was obsessed with shortening his to something cooler, and easier for the soldiers to pronounce.
You filled your disposable camera almost up in that time, taking photos of the sunrises and sunsets, selfies of Z and you, and photos of the group playing games with the children of the village in your free time. You also took a lot of pictures of stray dogs and cats around the village which was your favorite thing to do aside from hanging out with Z.
He taught you and Maria how to make fishtail bracelets, making one for himself, Maria, and you, which you all wore proudly together. One night you stayed up late and made a purple and pink one for Sarah and a dark green and navy blue one for Joel then sent it off early the next morning with a postcard in the parcel saying:
‘Joel, 6/27/14
Z is a boy in the village that we take care of, and he taught Maria and me how to make these- I was thinking… I am wearing your necklace, and have a piece of you with me, you can wear this and have a part of me with you :)
Made Sarah one too, hope the colors are to her liking as well as yours <3
Hope you and Sarah are well,
-Y/N’
You woke up the next morning to Terrance and Maria suiting up, getting into what you called your field gear. Anxiety shot through you “What’s going on?” you questioned standing up and beginning to put your boots on.
“Field assignment. Sarge just came by with orders. Things are bad 10 miles south, they need more medics.” Terrance said, nervousness evident in his voice.
“Shit… do we know for how long?” you looked around trying to find your things somewhat frantically. “Wait, does Z know?” you started changing into your field gear and packing what you needed.
Maria shook her head, “No we just found out maybe 5 minutes before you woke up. Reggie went to find him. No idea how long we will be gone either.”
Within a few minutes, you hear Z calling out ‘khahar’, “What’s going on? Reggie said you’re leaving…” he said with tears in his eyes, without the four of you there, he was pretty much on his own.
You sat him down on the bed and took his hands “We will be back, I promise, ok? This is only temporary..”
He nodded “But what if..” he looked at you sadly.
You shook your head and hugged him tightly “No, that won’t happen. We are going to have each other’s backs..” you pulled away from him and looked at the group, “Right guys?”
They all nodded and came over to pat his head or nudge him supportively.
You looked at him and kissed his forehead, “Hey, we will be back Z, ok? I promise.” you pulled back to look him in the eyes, “Stay by the camp, everyone knows you here, they’ll let you stay here if you want.” You gripped his head gently in your hands, continuing eye contact, “And Z, you do not leave or go past the south gate for any reason. If anything happens while we are gone, you hide and stay quiet. Understand?”
He nodded “I understand. I will be good. I will be safe.” he smiled sadly.
You nodded back and then kissed the top of his head. “Good. We will be back soon.” you got up and grabbed your stuff then left the bunkhouse.
—
You were all flown in by helicopter to a barren field outside a village south of camp.
Two minutes before landing the pilot came onto your headsets “Alright this is going to be a drop-off, you all need to grab your bags and then when I give the signal, you need to get off as quickly as you can and head for cover! Understood!?”
You looked at Maria, she looked at you and then Reggie and Terrance, “We need to stick together, keep moving and find cover. We don’t leave anyone behind, yeah?” you all nodded and then braced as the pilot made a sharp turn.
“Get ready!” he shouted and aimed the aircraft as close to the ground as possible, you dropped a rope out for you all to slide down.
“I’ll go first! Make sure it's clear!” you shouted, putting your bag over your shoulder and picking up the assault rifle you now had to carry. Each person nodded in agreement.
“Now!” the pilot shouted through the comms system. You ripped the headset off quickly, letting it dangle from the ceiling before grabbing the rope and sliding down, taking cover and pulling your assault rifle's scope out immediately to check for any threats.
Your breathing was heavy and your mind was going a million miles a minute. You did a 360 turn in a circle to scope the area then looked up and signaled it was clear with your hand. Reggie slid down next, followed by Terrance, and then Maria last. Once you all touched down the helicopter immediately turned to fly away. You all crept down and began to run as quickly as you could to a nearby building to take cover. Just as you were about 50 feet away you heard a distant yell “Take cover!” you all froze and dropped to the ground, covering your heads and staying as close as you could to each other.
Within seconds an explosion went off about 100 yards away from you. You lifted your head to look around, ears ringing and dust starting to cloud the view from behind you. You looked around frantically, then spotted a clear path to where your camp location was marked. You looked around once more then stood up “We gotta move, come on!” you encouraged the group. They all stood up and followed you. You all had one hand on your guns and then ran in a line with a hand on someone’s shoulder, keeping you all together.
You heard gunshots and immediately pulled your gun’s scope to view, ready to shoot if necessary as you all kept walking through the camp that had now been from what you can tell abandoned or moved, the location you were given prior, no use.
“Shit..” Maria said under her breath.
You looked back at her then Terrance, “Terrance, radio in, see if anyone answers.”
He nodded and pulled out the radio your group was given before departing, turning to the channel designated for this area. “Delta 34, this is Specialist Johanson, touch down was made via helicopter for emergency medical attention, does anyone copy?”
You all waited for what seemed like minutes before you heard “This is Delta 34, we need help!” The radio stopped and there was a brief moment of static. You all heard an explosion in the distance before the person came back on the radio, “We are 500 yards southeast to the main village entrance.”
You looked back from where you came from and then found southeast and pointed before looking at the group, “Ok we need to go in groups of two, we are too big of a target if we go all together.” you looked around, thinking, trying to think what was best.
“Maria, go with Reggie, follow me and Terrance.” you looked at Terrence, he looked terrified. None of you had been in a combat or active warzone like this yet, you hadn’t even shot your guns outside boot camp.
“How far behind?” Reggie asked.
“I don’t know, maybe 100 yards? Enough to where if either of our groups gets shot at, the other has time to react and cover the other.” you looked at Maria for a suggestion.
“100 yards. We will have your backs.” Maria nodded at you.
You nodded back and straightened your rifle’s strap across you and then let out a deep sigh, “Ok, the faster we get to cover, the safer we are. Let’s take our time, and be safe, but aim for speed. Sound good?” you looked at the others.
Terrence wasn’t with you, he zoned out.
You put your hand to his cheek, “Hey, come back to us. I need you to focus.”
He snapped out of where he was and nodded, panic still in his eyes and features.
“You got this.” you nudged him softly and then started walking, rifle pointed straight forward, finger on the trigger. He followed you looking above and to the sides of you. Maria and Reggie followed.
You got to the center of the camp within 15 minutes, you were only shot at once, it grazed the top of your helmet, Maria zoned in seeing where it had come from, and shot the assailant down.
Once there, it was pure chaos. There were bodies and people everywhere, scattered, injuries ranging in severity. You all froze taking in the sight, processing the mess, and then the four of you all snapped out of it at the same time and split up, doing what you all do best, working together to create a system.
Maria worked on triaging, putting chalk on the bottom of their boot to signal priority, red for emergency, yellow for next in line, green for lowest priority, and white for dead.
Terrence went to gather supplies.
Reggie used the camp's bigger radio and called a nearby camp to ask for further assistance and backup, advising an airstrike may be best for the northeast area as that is where most of the wounded are coming from.
You immediately started working on the red patients.
After 15 minutes of working, you have gunfire within a few hundred yards of you. Instinctually, you lean over your patient to cover them, shouting “Take cover!”
After a few seconds of silence, you looked up to make sure everyone was ok, counting heads, when you realized you couldn’t find Terrance.
“Shit.” You frantically start scanning the area, “Terrance!” you yell, Maria looks your way, realizing, worry registered on her face as well. You had your hands on an actively bleeding wound, you started to pack it with gauze as you kept looking around, shouting his name. You pack the wound and then walk away, looking at Maria “Cot 3, take over!” she nodded and headed over. You continued to walk towards where you last saw Terrence go, and that's when you saw him.
He had been shot in his upper leg, and was on the ground 50 yards away, leaning up against a car, bleeding, fumbling to cover his wound with his hands, breathing panicked, he was clearly in shock, supplies he was gathering scattered around him.
“Fuck… Fuck!” you immediately ran in his direction, not even thinking of there being gunfire potentially aimed at you. “Terrence!”
He looked your way and then saw something behind you, “Get down!” he yelled. You dropped and covered behind a car across the street from him, a grenade went off and created the perfect dust cover for you to make it to him.
You crouch and run to him, sliding in front of him.
His leg is gushing blood, you know just by that it’s most likely nicked the femoral artery. You look up at him, he’s crying, “I don’t wanna die! Please, I don’t want to die!” he yelled, pleading.
You look around for what supplies you have then start to unbuckle your belt. “You’re not going to die. You will not die...”
You snaked your belt above the injury and started to tunicate his leg, pulling the belt as tight as you could. “You still got that radio on you?”
He nodded and pulled it out from behind him, handing it to you, his hands shaking.
You turned it on a different channel, “Alpha 326 this is Specialist ____ with Delta 34, do you copy?”
“We copy.” a voice came almost immediately.
“I need an immediate air strike to the following coordinates…” you pulled out your GPS locator, “34.713911, 69.239214. I have a critical patient and myself in the field and we need immediate assistance to get him to safety.”
You heard static for a few seconds then, “Copy that, air strike 60 seconds out.”
You looked at Terrance and then clipped the radio to the back of your pants. “I’m going to pick you up when that strike happens but I need you to calm down.” You started to pack gauze into his wound, making him groan and breathe faster and heavier.
“Terrance, I need you to breathe… breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.” You said taking one of his hands. “I am going to get us out of here, but I need you to take some deep breaths.”
He nodded and took a slow breath in through his nose and then exhaled out from his mouth.
You nodded, “Good. One more.”
He nodded and did it again.
You smiled softly, “I got us.”
He nodded “You got us..”
You looked up at the sky and saw a fighter jet make its way. You peeked your head out from the car and saw where you needed to go, noting someone in the building to your left with a gun pointed at your position. You moved your head back down to hide, grabbed your pendant in your fist, and closed your eyes for a second, taking in a breath, praying, hoping, ‘Please protect us, please don’t let us die.’
You opened your eyes and looked at him, zoned in, “Ok. Ready?” you grabbed your pistol on the side of your hip and popped up, firing 3 rounds at the gunman pointing at you, disarming him. You got back down, putting your gun away quickly, “On three…”
He nodded, you both counted down and then you grabbed his left arm and right leg and swung him over your shoulder like they showed you in basic.
“Fuck you’re heavier than you were in basic, what the fuck man..” you strained as his full weight was on you, but then you started to jog towards the exit, the fighter jet releasing rounds into the buildings around you as soon as you stood, taking out the threats.
Once inside safety, you got Terrance to a medical cot and Maria took over and tended to him while Reggie checked you out for any injuries.
After being cleared you jumped in like nothing happened, thinking ‘The faster we get done here, the faster I’m back to camp, with Z and Joel…’
—
This went on for another 8 days.
12 deaths.
46 injured.
Once the area was cleared, you helped Terrance and the other critical patients on a medical plane, going to a hospital in the city for care. It turned out that his injury was more severe than you and your crew could take care of in the field, got infected too, and without more intervention, there was a high chance he’d lose his leg.
Maria and Reggie had already said goodbye and left back to camp.
You took his hand, letting out a soft sigh, “You’re most likely going home, which is good, we want you safe and not to lose your leg… but we will miss you all terribly.” you smiled softly. “Z won’t forgive you if you don’t write to him, m’kay?”
Terrence chuckled and nodded, “I’ll write and once I am able, I’ll Skype.”
You nodded and then smiled once more, patting his shoulder softly, “I’ll see you.”
He nodded back, “Yes you will.”
You stepped off the plane and headed back to the camp to gather your things. The rest of you were headed back to camp, you hoped to come back to maybe hear from Joel. You needed that more than anything right now.
Joel’s POV
Joel hadn’t heard from you in nearly three weeks. He wondered if you were safe. He wasn’t a religious man by any means, but couldn’t help and say small prayers for your safety here and there when his mind got too loud.
He often found himself holding onto your picture, especially moments when his anxiety took hold.
‘She’s safe, she just has a very busy job.’ he would repeat to himself when he’d see, read or hear something on the news about the war. He told himself that once he got your letters he would find the location on a map and then pay more closely to that area in the news.
He kept telling himself that letters take time, there was no need to worry, right?
—
July 2, 2014
Sarah had a soccer tournament out of town this weekend. Tommy and Sarah convinced Joel to make it into a Fourth of July weekend getaway and they could take Tommy’s boat to Canyon Lake which was just a half hour from where they were staying.
Sarah could tell Joel was feeling anxious as she also picked up how long it had been since a letter of yours came in the mail. She noticed her dad checking the mailbox every morning before he would hop in his truck, hopeful something would be there, then the look of sadness and disappointment when the mail contained nothing but bills and advertisements.
Tommy came over early, and Joel was upstairs packing his bag. Sarah and he packed a cooler together for the drive.
“Can I ask you somethin’ sweet pea?” Tommy looked at Sarah as he began to spread mayo on some sandwich bread.
Sarah nodded as she was filling some Ziplock baggies with some chips.
“What’s going on with your dad? He seems distant lately, on top of that he’s gone out to that mailbox 3 times already this morning…” he began putting lunch meat and cheese on the bread.
Sarah looked towards the stairs and sighed softly, “Yeah, a lot is on his mind, I think.” she walked over and sat on the counter next to Tommy, “He and I are doing this pen pal thing together. His person is currently deployed in Afghanistan, she’s a medic.” she helped squirt some spicy mustard on the cheese before Tommy put the other half of the bread on top, she continued, “I think dad likes her, you know like likes her…” she hopped off the counter to begin putting the used ingredients back in the fridge. “He hasn’t heard from her in, I think 3 weeks. I think he’s worried something happened to her.”
Tommy perked up when he heard Joel was doing a pen pal program, but then after he heard it was to a woman in Afghanistan he was more intrigued. “Wait wait… you guys are doing that pen pal program too?”
Sarah spun around, confused about what he said, “Too? As in you’re doing it too?”
Tommy chuckled and nodded, “Yeah, saw a flyer at the local library…” he thought for a second, “Wait, that’s interesting because my pen pal also got deployed to Afghanistan maybe… I don’t remember, the beginning of June? She’s a medic too” he shrugged the thought of them writing two bunk mates off though, the chances of that being so slim.
Sarah’s jaw dropped, and she quickly ran up to him, “Tommy, the person you’re writing... What’s her name?”
He looked confused as he wrapped the sandwiches in cling film, “Maria. Why?”
“Tommy. Does Dad know about you doing this pen pal program, who you’re writing to?” she pressured.
“No, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning, why? What’s going on?” he turned towards her now feeling on the edge of his seat by her line of questioning.
“Tommy… Maria and Y/N are bunkmates…” She grabbed his arm and smiled brightly, “Wait, when did you hear from Maria last?” she looked at him desperately, hoping he had heard from Maria more recently.
Tommy connected the dots in his head, “Oh shit... I see what you’re getting at. I uh, I Skyped her right after she got to camp. We uh… you know exchanged Skype info before she left in case mail couldn’t get out… as that happened to me when I was over there quite often.” He chuckled “Now this all makes sense, she said that they were in a pretty active area, and said mail wasn’t able to get out… it’s possible your dad isn’t getting her mail due to th-” he explained.
“Dad!” Sarah interrupted and shouted running up the stairs towards his bedroom, “Dad!!”
Joel came out of his room looking slightly panicked at Sarah’s shouting, “Sarah? What’s wrong?” he grabbed her face in his hands, studying her eyes.
“Tommy! Get your ass up here!” Sarah took Joel's hands off her softly, giggling excitedly.
“Sarah, language!” Joel scolded her gently.
Tommy jogged up the stairs and smirked when he got to the top, “When were you going to tell me all this sulking was over a woman big brother?”
Joel looked at Tommy confused, “What? I’m not sulki-”
Tommy nodded “Yes you are, like a puppy dog.” he laughed softly, continuing to walk towards Joel and Sarah at the end of the hall.
“Dad, Tommy is writing in the pen pal program too! And guess what?” Sarah began bouncing on her toes, hands cradled up to her chest, beaming.
“Wh-” Joel was cut off.
“He’s writing to Maria! You know, Maria!? From Y/N’s first letter! Uncle Tommy is writing your pal’s literal bunk mate Dad!” Sarah shouted a little louder than she expected.
Joel looked at Tommy, relief cracking through his expression, “Wait.. is this true? I.. I haven’t.. when did you hear from her last?” he looked at Tommy, desperately.
Tommy smiled softly and put his hand on Joel’s shoulder, “They made it to their base camp safely, Maria even mentioned how her friend, Y/N, was getting them dinner when I last spoke to her..”
Joel looked at Tommy, confused now, “Wait you spoke to her, as in like on the phone?”
Tommy shook his head, “No, no, Maria and I exchanged Skype information in our last letter exchange before she got deployed. I knew the chances of mail not making it out if she was in an active combat area were gon’ to be high…” he sighed gently. “I spoke to her via Skype a couple of days after she landed in Afghanistan.” he explained before gently squeezing Joel's shoulder, “She said they pretty much had the village on lockdown.” He gently shook his shoulder, “Your girl tho, she’s safe, she probably just hasn’t got your letters yet. Maria said it had been pretty busy and they hadn’t had much time to barely sleep. We haven’t had the time to Skype again tho since then, but she’s been sending messages letting me know small updates, sending pictures, and stuff like that.” he smiled.
Joel listened to everything, nodding along to Tommy and then letting out a sigh of relief, “Oh, thank god..” he felt his kneels buckle as he felt like this enormous load was immediately lifted off his shoulders, he fell to this knees and held his head in his hands, tears pooling, it was like damn of so much emotion had broken. “I thought… she… the news…” he said with a crack in his voice, voice quivering.
Sarah fell to the ground and hugged him, “Oh Dad, I’m so sorry, I had no idea this was bothering you this much.”
Joel fell into her arms and sobbed softly, “I was worried something happened and she has no one to… she has no one they will alert, all her family is gone.” he looked up at Tommy and Sarah, tears streaking down his face.
Sarah had rarely seen her dad cry, this was a huge emotional marker that you meant more to her dad than she knew. Sarah looked at Joel and softly began wiping the tears from his cheeks, “She’s got you now Dad…” She smiled and kissed his cheek before hugging him again, “It’s ok Dad, everything is ok.”
Joel held her tightly, kissing the top of her head.
Tommy knelt, “Do you want me to message Maria and ask for an update? Just for peace of mind?”
Joel nodded, “Please? You don’t need to mention me or Y/N.. I’ll know if Maria is safe, she is too.”
Tommy nodded, “Can I log into your computer real quick? I can do it before we leave then when we get to our hotel, I can check my laptop… it’s just already packed in the truck or I would message on there.” He smiled at Joel and Sarah.
Joel nodded quickly, “Yeah, the uh password is…”
Tommy stood and interrupted walking back downstairs, “I know the damn password Joel, CubsSux123!”
Joel chuckled and thought to himself, ‘I need to change that…’ thinking back to when you said you were a Cubs fan.
—
Tommy messaged Maria on chat quickly and then within 20 minutes they had all left for their destination.
When they got to the hotel the first thing Joel did after unloading their bags into their room was stand and look at Tommy with his hand on his hip and knee popped out, asking if he had heard from Maria.
Tommy chuckled, loving seeing his brother like this, obviously crushing hard on you. He hadn’t seen him like this since they were maybe in high school.
Tommy got a message from Maria:
‘Thanks for checkin’ in! We have been on a field assignment for the past 6 days. It’s been crazy, we had someone get hit on the first day while going to get supplies, he’s ok for now, but Y/N had to go into a hot area to pull him out. Luckily she called for an air strike to cover her while she carried him back, it was a crazy first day. Things are starting to slow down, we think we might be back at the main camp in a couple of days. I’ll let you know when we get back, we can Skype. xx’
Joel must’ve read that message about 20 times, smiling that you were safe but was going to need to talk to you about putting yourself in dangerous situations, he chuckled to himself, ‘Can’t get herself hurt before we get the chance to meet each other…’ he thought to himself as he read.
He stepped out on the hotel’s balcony while Sarah and Tommy watched ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ while eating some pizza they ordered, holding the picture of you he had taken with from his back pocket, ‘She’s ok. She is safe.’ he mumbled to himself looking down at the photo.
He had it bad for you and began to regret not asking to Skype in his last letter. All he wanted right now would be to hear your voice, to know in real-time how you were, how your day was, to hold an actual conversation with you.
God, he wondered how you sounded, how your laugh sounded when you laughed at his jokes that he tried to slide into his writing, he couldn’t wait to hear it. He was counting down the days until he was back home, he hoped by then he would have something from you.
The next few days for Joel were much needed, especially now that he knew you were ok. It felt like he could breathe again.
It felt like he was suffocating every time he heard or saw something on the news concerning the war, not knowing where you were or if you were ok. It also didn’t help that he kept it all to himself; self-isolating was something he did in moments of anxiety or depression, and always regretted it afterward. He seems to always forget in those moments that Tommy and Sarah would move heaven and earth for him, they’d always have his back.
Tommy and Sarah noticed the immediate shift in him, and both discussed when he wasn’t around how nice it was to see him happy about someone. He deserved this after being alone for so long.
Sarah played in a tournament for most of Friday, playing in a total of 4 games. Joel took pictures on his phone and some videos, cheering loudly for her, he was so proud. Sarah scored 2 goals and helped her team win 2nd place.
He beamed with pride when her team was awarded a smaller trophy cup than first place, but still pretty big, taking as many photos as he could on his phone.
She ran over to Tommy and Joel with the trophy “I wanna get a picture with it and also with you and Tommy!” she smiled panting softly, out of breath from running.
Joel pulled out his phone again, taking a photo of just her, one with her and Tommy, then Sarah took a selfie with the three of them and then Tommy took Joel's phone and took one of just Sarah and Joel smiling and then another of Joel kissing the top of her head while she smiled.
The three of them went out to dinner and Sarah chose where to go, which was a nearby dinner. They spent time planning their day on the lake tomorrow and then all got back to the hotel room and started to gather their things for the boat tomorrow.
Tommy sat down on the bed and pulled out his laptop while Joel worked on something work-related on his at the desk. Sarah was in the bathroom taking a shower before they’d all get into bed.
Tommy saw that Maria had messaged him on Skype:
‘We will be going back to base camp tomorrow afternoon after we load the medical evac plane, wanna Skype when I get back? xx’
“Maria messaged me a few hours ago, and said they are headed back to base camp tomorrow.”
Joel turned in his chair to face Tommy, “Can you do that from the lake?” he asked curiously.
Tommy chuckled, “No, but they are about 10 hours ahead of us so by the time we are done at the lake and back here, they’ll be just waking up. I’ll let Maria know I’ll Skype her around 10 pm, and let her know we will be on the lake. She said they are usually up at 5 am, so that’s perfect.” he smiled as he typed his reply back.
He typed back to Maria, ‘Sounds good, thank you for the update. My brother, niece and I are out of town for the weekend, mind if we Skype around 6 am your time, 10 pm mine? We will be on the lake most of the day or I’d do sooner.’
“Thanks for all you’ve done Tommy to keep me… sane.” Joel chuckled lightly, turning back around to face his laptop.
Tommy nodded and smiled at his brother “Anytime.”
—
The three of them spend the better part of the next day on the lake. Swimming, water skiing (or attempting, the only one that could stand up was Sarah), eating, and enjoying the weather.
Sarah took tons of pictures and some for Joel to send in his next letter to you.
Joel’s mind kept drifting to you throughout the day, thinking how it might be if you were tagging along with them. His thoughts dared to wonder as to how you’d look in a bathing suit. How it would hug your curves and how irresistible you’d look.
He took the opportunity while Tommy and Sarah were taking a cat nap on the boat to float in the water and cool off a bit. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the life vest he had on.
After a little bit, his mind started to drift and he started to imagine holding you against him in the water, having your legs wrap around his torso, arms draped around his shoulders loosely. His hands would slowly and ever so gently explore up and down your body, gripping the soft flesh of your hips as he would devour you, hungrily and passionately, lips crashing over each other, tongues intertwining, both of you starving for each other.
“Hey, you wanna start cookin’ up dinner with me?” Tommy called out to Joel from the boat.
Joel’s eyes snapped open and he jumped at hearing Tommy, out of breath from his thoughts. He groaned feeling himself hard against his swim shorts “Fuck…” he moved a hand down to palm himself.
He shut his eyes and let out a shaky breath, thinking of anything to make this go away, but all his mind did was flood with you, your body, your essence, just making him harder.
“Joel? You hear me?” Tommy questioned not hearing his brother answer back.
“I uhm… y-yeah just give me a sec.” Joel let go of himself and started to slowly swim back to the boat, still rock hard.
Tommy looked down at him, “Need a towel?” he smiled, oblivious to the situation Joel was in.
Joel nodded, trying to keep his cool, “Yeah, yes please.”
Tommy put a towel on the edge for Joel and then as Tommy turned to walk away, he took his opportunity to quickly get out of the water and wrap the towel around his waist. He took the life vest off and set it down then started to walk towards the small cabin area where there was a tiny bathroom. “I’ll be right back.” he rushed inside and shut the door.
He undid the towel and looked down at his pants, nothing, no change, cock still straining against his pants, “God damn it, Joel.” he cursed himself.
He put a hand on the sink and closed his eyes, he felt dirty for what his mind suggested he do to relieve the obvious bulge.
He shook his head and whispered, “I can’t, no, that’s… no.” he let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down.
He gripped the sink with the other hand and closed his eyes, trying to focus on something else however flashes of you swarmed his vision. Thoughts of you up against this sink, moaning his name as he sunk deep into you, gripping his shoulders and begging for him to keep going.
He opened his eyes slightly, breathing heavily, and moved his right hand down to untie his trunks and pull his cock out, spitting into his palm he start stroking it, making it as wet as it can. He closes his eyes and whimpers as he keeps a steady rhythm on himself, imagining your legs wrapping around him, his lips feverishly worshiping your soft skin. Making marks on your breasts, neck, shoulders, anything he can touch while gripping his hands tightly around your waist, making you rhythmically stroke and down his cock, gripping him oh so sweetly. He wishes he could taste your lips, how he would drink in every moment he could touch his lips to yours. He would whisper sweet nothings against your lips and into your skin as he prayed to whatever was above to never let this burning desire in his soul for you extinguish.
He felt his knees give out and a coil begins to tighten deep within. “Fuck me…” he whispered as he knew he was close, he began picking up the pace.
He imagined how you might cum against his cock? Back arched, breasts bouncing, nipples perked, and pressed against his chest? Legs quivering, eyes rolling back, fingers tangled in his hair, jaw slacked while you moaned how good he felt inside your sweet tight pussy?
That did it.
He grunted and let out a quiet cry “Oh f-fuck fuck…” as he came harder than he ever had by himself, breath shaky and weak.
He grunted once more as he was slowing down his hand, he felt a small tug again as another rope of cum shot out from over-sensitivity.
His legs buckled and he fell to sit on top of the toilet.
He looked at himself in the mirror, his cheeks were rosy red, looking like he was slightly drunk. All he could was chuckle at himself and cover his face with his left hand, “I’m so fucked…” he admitted.
He cleaned himself up quickly and ‘flushed’ the toilet, just for added detail that he was ‘using’ the bathroom. He looked back at himself in the mirror before exiting the bathroom and mumbled to himself “I’m such a sick fuck…” he chuckled again and then went to join Tommy to cook.
The three of them watched fireworks on the lake together. Around 8 pm they packed up and drove back to the hotel.
By the time they made it back to the hotel, it was just past 9 pm. Sarah fell asleep in the car, Joel carried her inside and put her to bed, tucking her in and kissing her head.
Tommy sat on the bed and turned the TV on quietly, putting on the sports channel.
“Hey I’m going to take a shower, you good keeping an eye on Sarah?”
“Yeah, go ahead, I’ll just be sitting here for a bit.” he smiled his way before turning back to the TV.
Joel had completely forgotten Tommy was going to Skype Maria so a half hour later when he heard a woman’s voice coming from the room, Joel peeked out from the door, confused with a towel around his waist and hair all crazy from the shower.
“Yeah, it’s been a crazy week for us! But it was nice to get back when we did, we made it back just in time for the camp’s 4th of July celebration.” Maria said through the computer.
“Oh, that’s nice! What did you guys have to barbeque there? I remember we did Spam and potatoes one year! Wasn’t so bad…” Tommy chuckled before looking up and seeing Joel peek at him, he mouthed and pointed to the laptop ‘Maria..’
Joel heard Maria laugh softly and then it clicked, he might hear you in the background. He excitedly stumbled to get dressed, knocking things over in the background.
Maria heard what sounded like a bull in a china shop in the background, she stopped mid-sentence, “Is everything ok over there?” she smiled.
Tommy chuckled knowing exactly why Joel was being so clumsy, but he didn’t want to give anything away to Maria in case Joel didn’t want anyone to know your and his relationship. “Yeah it's just my brother, he’s in the bathroom, he must’ve knocked something over, sorry..” he chuckled. “You were saying?”
Joel came out with his hair slicked back and a shirt and pajama pants on. He sat at the office chair and opened up his laptop, attempting to eavesdrop without being too noticeable, thinking Tommy had no idea that he had a major fat crush on you.
He heard Maria talk about someone named ‘Z’ and how you and her were going to teach him how to play baseball with a few other boys in the village tomorrow.
He heard a door open and a kid laughing along with someone else and then a pause, followed by a shocked gasp and then a voice, your voice, “Oh my god! Maria! Have you been Skyping Reginald- I mean Tommy, fuck sorry, and you didn’t tell me!!?” you said at Maria. Joel immediately flipped around towards Tommy.
Tommy looked up at Joel from the camera.
Maria had turned a bright shade of red immediately and stood up to shove you back out of the room, “God you are so annoying! Get out!”
You giggled, pushing back against her, fighting to stay in the room, Z laughing as well trying to help you push against her, “Oh come on, I am delightful Maria! I just wanna say hi!” you waved in the distance to the camera, “Hi Tommy! I’m the lovely, awesome, never annoying at all roommate that I am sure Maria has said soo many good things about!” you giggled and grunted as Maria pushed against you harder, “Good god Maria you are like a fucking linebacker, shit you're strong!”
Joel smiled brightly hearing your voice, slowly moving to sit on the edge of the bed to listen closer.
Maria managed to push you out of the doorway, fueled by embarrassment, but before she could close the door, Tommy saw you wave again and shout “I bid you adieu, good sir!” Z yelled as well and waved “Adieu Mr. Tommy!” you let out a loud laugh at Z’s statement, “Good one Z!”
Tommy let out a chuckle, “Bye Y/N and Z, it was nice to meet you!”
Maria shut the door and took a breath then came back over to the screen. “Sorry about that, she’s never going to let me live that down.” she covered her face.
Tommy chuckled, “Didn’t tell her you were Skypin’ me? Ouch…” he teased.
Maria smiled and chuckled “No no, nothing like that! I was waiting til she started to maybe Skype with her guy. Didn’t want to make her feel like she was behind in some way, you know?” she chuckled, “Plus she’s got a major crush on the guy, and I think he has one on her…” she said in lower tone then went back to her normal voice, “I was going to wait for her letter to get back to him, which includes her asking him if he’d want to Skype and it has her info, but that won’t be for maybe another couple of days or so as I’m sure he hasn’t gotten her letter yet as she sent it right before we left for that field assignment.”
Joel looked at Tommy and Tommy looked at Joel, both frozen by the news Maria just accidentally spilled. Joel turned bright red and smiled so hard his cheeks started to hurt.
Maria noticed the energy shift, “You ok Tommy?” she asked softly.
Joel signaled for him to keep quiet frantically, using the lips-sealed sign, smiling like a fucking idiot, not to tell her anything, Tommy just smiled and looked back down at Maria on the screen, “Yeah, yeah, sorry I just thought I woke up my niece, but we’re good.”
Joel got off the bed and paced the room a few times, trying not to make much noise when all he wanted to do was yell and shout for joy.
You had a major crush on him. Holy fuck, you had a major crush on him.
Tommy and Maria talked for another 15 minutes before Maria had to go as her shift started soon and she needed to do a few things beforehand like ‘knock you across the head’ for earlier she joked.
As soon as Tommy closed the laptop Joel whispered in an attempt to not wake Sarah, frantically, “What the fuck man, what the fuck, did I hear that right?” he came over to Tommy who stood up to get ready for bed, smiling at his brother's obvious excitement that a girl liked him just as much as he liked her.
“You heard her right, Joel.” he chuckled and then hissed as Joel excitedly started punching and slapping his arm. “Fuck Joel calm down!” he moved away from his brother’s over-excitement and smiled at him, he hadn’t seen Joel this happy in a very very long time, and it was all because of you.
Joel may have woken everyone up at 7 am to leave to get home.
Joel may have also sped 15 miles over the speed limit and got a ticket trying to get home, praying your letters were in their mailbox.
Emphasis on the may have, right? No, it all happened and neither Sarah nor Tommy said a damn thing because regardless of the grumpy attitudes they both had from being woken up that early, and the $200 speeding ticket, he was still beaming the whole drive home, even singing along to the radio. Yeah, even Sarah was shocked by that, considering it was her playlist and a good amount of Taylor Swift was on there.
Joel pulled into the driveway and practically leaped out of the damn truck on his way to the mailbox.
Sarah and Tommy leaned against the truck, arms folded, chuckling together as they watched him. Tommy updated Sarah on the events of last night when Joel ran into a gas station to use the bathroom that they were both were convinced he broke some record by how fast he was in and out.
He pulled out the pile of mail from the mailbox and immediately sat on the curb to sort through it.
Sarah laughed “Oh my god, Dad! Come on, get inside and do that, the neighbors will see!” she teased.
“Shh!” he chuckled and continued to sort, “Bill, bill, bill, coupon, scam, bill, scam, bill, another bill…” Then he saw it, your name, on not one, but two envelopes. He’s never been so damn happy to get mail in his whole goddamn life.
“Anything Dad?” Sarah asked, starting to walk over, worried nothing was in there as he stopped sorting and was quiet all of a sudden.
He sprang up from the curb, “Fuckin’ finally!” he yelled and held the letters up in the air.
Sarah chuckled, “Anything for me?”
Joel looked down at the pile and saw the next envelope was from Sam, he wrote back Sarah. He picked up the rest of the pile under his arm, walked over, and kissed her cheek, “Yeah, Sam wrote ya baby girl.” he handed her the letter.
She smiled and looked up at him, “Looks like it’s a good mail day, eh Dad?” she took his arm and started to walk inside with him.
“You bet it is sweet pea.”
—
Tommy started making them something for lunch while Joel and Sarah read their letters, knowing they both were too excited and weren’t going to do anything but that for the foreseeable future, but knew they were all going to be hungry.
Joel opened the letter that felt like something was in it first and smiled at the bracelets you sent, giving Sarah hers and asking Sarah to tie his on for him.
He smiled reading your postcard, realizing who Z was now, and connected that was whose voice he also heard on the call with Maria. He smiled warmly and softly blushed when you referred to the necklace as having a piece of him. He looked at his wrist that now had the watch Sarah fixed for his last birthday and your two bracelets, it had a reminder of the two most important women in his life. That made his heart soar.
He then pulled out the letter you sent that had numerous photographs and he couldn’t help his dorky smile as he looked at each one.
‘She’s so damn beautiful..’ he thought to himself looking at the candid Maria took of you laughing and smiling at Reggie’s joke. He felt his heart beat hard and steady as he looked at each photo. He couldn’t wait to see your face more, and your voice. Now that he knew both, he knew being in your presence - when he would eventually move mountains and heavens to be with you - he would be intoxicated by you. He could never tire of you, he knew he wanted you in his life, for the rest of his life.
He had convinced himself it was silly when that thought first came into his head last night when he heard your voice, blowing it off to just pure excitement but then here it is again.
His grandfather always told him that time didn’t always matter, sometimes, when you know, you just know.
He knew it was it with you.
He hadn’t felt this with anyone else in his lifetime, not even his first love, Sarah’s mom, it was never this strong, this… simple.
Sarah looked up from her letter and watched him for a moment, she smiled, her dad finally was going to be happy, she knew that for certain now, that was a comfort no one could give her so easily, but you did.
She stood up from the table and came over and kissed her dad on the head softly, “I’m going to go take a shower because someone ran us out of the hotel this morning…” she gently nudged her dad chuckling.
He looked at her and smiled, “Ok baby girl…” and that's when she saw it in his eyes, he was utterly and completely happy.
“I’m happy you’re happy Dad. I know you make her happy too.” she softly said before walking upstairs to the bathroom.
He smiled warmly and watched her walk away, out of the corner of his eye he saw Tommy smirking. “Oh, brother you got it bad.” Tommy teased.
Normally Joel would say some smart-ass comment back but right now, he just couldn’t care, he did have it bad.
He smiled and nodded, “Yes I do, little brother, yes I do.” he looked back down and pulled out your letter to read. He heard Tommy chuckle and then he put a plate next to Joel with some toast, spread with smashed avocado, and spicy scrambled eggs on top with some hot sauce.
“I’ll put Sarah’s up in her room and then head out. Tell Y/N I said hello again.” he winked before heading up to Sarah’s room to drop off her food and then leave.
Joel just chuckled at Tommy’s last sentence and ate as he read your letter slowly.
He couldn’t wait to get more pictures from you either, he was looking forward to multiple full disposable cameras to process and look through.
He admired how you empathized with his struggles and pain in regard to Sarah’s mom without being too negative about the experience or not calling her a name or saying something awful. She isn’t Joel’s favorite person, but he’ll always respect her as Sarah’s mother and he could tell you felt the same.
He smiled and warmly read over your kind words about his granddad. He thought, ‘He would have loved you. You’re just like my grandma and mom in a lot of ways, and that’s what he said I always needed, a ‘mujer fuerte e independiente’, strong independent woman.’
He chuckled lightly at the reason for your nickname ‘Cricket’, he thought to himself that he couldn’t wait to hopefully see one day when you and he were in bed together after a long day and you do that little thing with your legs. He’d cherish and adore it, always.
He teared up a little when you brought up doing a road trip with Sarah. You always included her in the conversation, hell you made those bracelets and even made her a pair. She was never an afterthought for you, she was continuously included. That’s all he wanted in a partner, someone to not only love and support him but her as well.
He loved your suggestion of a butterfly for the rocking chair and made a mental note to talk to you more about it and get your opinion on what kind of butterfly and how to position it, he wanted to know your opinion of everything it felt like. He loved having someone to turn to like that, he missed having it for so long.
He beamed at the last paragraph where you asked about Skyping, he looked at the time, ‘4:13 pm’, and then did the math in his head, ‘Shit, it's like 2 am where she is.’ Then he remembered Tommy said that you and Maria get up around 5 am.
He got up from the table and ran upstairs to get his laptop and charger, bringing it back downstairs to the table.
He luckily still had Skype installed from when Tommy was deployed or he would have had to ask Sarah how the hell to reinstall it.
He clicked the icon and then looked at your email on the letter and typed it in, ‘Status: Offline’ he read by your name and picture, in which you had a picture of you most likely before the army, you had your hair down and it looked like it was a selfie, Joel instantly snapped a photocopy of it on his phone shyly.
He typed in the chat section, ‘Morning sweetheart, got your letters, would now be a good time for us to Skype? 🙂’ then clicked send.
He took a deep breath and then walked away from the table, starting to clean up the dishes that Tommy had left in the sink, start the laundry with all the dirty clothes from the weekend, and then started gathering stuff to make dinner when he heard a ‘Ding!’ from his laptop.
He looked at the time, “It’s only been an hour, it can’t be…” he said to himself, confused.
He continued to gather ingredients for dinner, brushing it off as a figment of his imagination.
He heard a second ding and perked up, dropping the bag of noodles he had in his hand and ran into the counter, hitting his knee, in the process of rushing back over to the table “Ow fuck…”
He waved the mouse around to wake up the screen when he saw:
Y/N: Evenin’ cowboy❣️
Y/N: Been going mad waiting for you to get my letters. Of course, it’s a good time! 😀
He grinned, bit his bottom lip, grabbed his laptop and charging cord, and ran upstairs into his bedroom, abandoning his plans to make dinner, he’d tell Sarah to order takeout. As if you saw he was online, he saw ‘Incoming call…’ across his screen with your picture. He jumped on the bed and then laid the laptop down in his lap, clicking ‘Accept.’
Previous chapter - Next chapter
A/N: ahhh i am so very sorry for this cliffhanger, ok maybe not, gotta keep you on your toes hahaha !! thank you so much for reading, i literally poured my heart and soul into this chapter and so far, it’s my favorite (don’t tell the other chapters I said that). please don’t forget to like, reblog, comment, and share with fellow pedro/joel lovers! luv you all! <3
Taglist: @sarahhxx03, @blahkateisdone, @sunnytuliptime, @pedroscurls
#joel miller#joel miller fanfiction#joel miller fic#joel miller series#joel miller smut#joel x reader#pedro pascal#pedro pascal character fanfiction#pedro pascal joel miller#pedrohub#the last of us hbo#the last of us#joel tlou#tlou hbo#joel x y/n#joel x you#withallmylove
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Weekly Fic Recs 87
I'm back from the mythical land of Ohio and I have brought with me fic recs! I'm changing up my format for how I make these too, I'll include the author's summary and bit of my own Thoughts and Feelings about said fic.
ALSO for all you Superbat lovers out there, if you are interested in joining a Superbat discord server, might I suggest the Superbat (every)week Server? It was originally for people to shout about their ideas for Superbat Week 2024, but since everyone was having so much fun talking about their favorite blorbos, we are keeping it running indefinitely. It's fun place full of talented people! Fic and art events are created (like Superbat Kinkmas and a winter gift exchange), watch parties for movies and TV shows are hosted (we also did a watch party for the new Superman trailer the day that dropped), as well as various other events (like Superbat PowerPoint Parties). You can also follow @superbateveryweek on Tumblr or on Bluesky
Anyway, on to the fics!
Fears Unfounded by OdosBucket @odos-bucket - Superbat, Batfam, Teen, 3064 words, complete.
Author Summary: Jason hasn’t really witnessed a lot of positive, healthy relationships between the adults in his life. Looking back on it he might be able to acknowledge that he was going to be mistrustful of anyone who was introduced to him as his new guardian’s romantic partner, regardless of who that person was. But at twelve years old all he knows is that he doesn’t like Clark.
Jason being protective of his dad 🥺 (and learning what weirdos people from outside of Gotham are)
Comfort by fishfingersandjellybabies @fishfingersandjellybabies - Superbat, Batfam, General, 1228 words, complete.
Author Summary: In which Damian has a nightmare, and his stepdad takes care of him.
Damian willingly cuddling with Clark. My HEART 😭💖💖
fast break by pomeloquat @pomeloquat - Superbat, Explicit, 6323 words, complete.
Author Summary: Bruce's heat lasts approximately six days — that should be plenty of time for Clark to impregnate him, right? [Five times Bruce and Clark's children stopped them from making a new one, and one time they succeeded.] For Bottom Bruce Wayne October day 7: batfam cockblocking Bruce.
Omegaverse? On my fic rec list? It's more likely than you think! Also, the thought of Clark being cockblocked by Bruce's children amuses me to no end.
(Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers by frozenpotions @froizetta - Superbat, Teen, 89352 words, wip.
Author Summary: It starts like this. Clark Kent has a hopeless crush on a woman who's out of his league. Bruce Wayne has a newly-acquired kid he feels ill-equipped to raise. Superman is still finding his feet. And Batman has an unshakeable suspicion that Superman surely can't be all that he seems. Things can only get more complicated from there.
SO EXCITED about this fic, it's on the second to last chapter!! I have been thoroughly enjoying the identity shenanigans.
Modern Day Pen-pal Romance by lostinreeverie - Superbat, General, 8937 words, complete.
Author Summary: “Wait, what? You’ve been texting some rando for three—no, four—days?” Clark stuffed an onion ring he stole from her plate into his mouth to avoid responding. Talking to Lois about this felt like opening Pandora’s box. Her shock morphed into intrigue, her eyes narrowing like a predator locking onto its prey. “Four days of texting, and you didn’t mention it until now? This is officially the longest your love life has lasted. Spill.”
Or, Clark accidentally texts the wrong number and strikes a rather unusual friendship
More shenanigans, but in the form of a wrong number. And I love Clark's opinions on phones.
Blood and Honey by RedFive - Superbat, Explicit, 25003 words, wip.
Author Summary: A pod of orphaned killer whales are sinking yachts off the Iberian Peninsula and marine biologist Clark Kent is trying to figure out why their behavior has changed so drastically. Nothing could prepare him for the truth, however, or the strange twists his life was about to take when me meets a merman….named Bruce?
Love me a good merpeople fic and I love mershark Bruce.
Things Turn Out Okay by Anonymous - Superbat, Explicit, 37869 words, wip.
Author Summary: Clark utterly adores his family - Little Dickie is growing more and more by the day, and six-month old Jason is still his perfect baby boy. Bruce is slowly returning to Batman duties, and Clark is happy. Another unplanned pregnancy certainly shakes things up a bit.
Anon, I just want you to know that you are my hero and I would go into battle for you. This fic is also part of a series that everyone should read RIGHT NOW.
I remember the night of the Superbat Kinkmas 2024 by threekingbelt @sisaloofafump - Superbat, Explicit, 16 words, wip.
Author Summary: Fanart fillings of the Superbat (Every)Week 12 Days of Kinkmas Bingo :D
It has been a pleasure and delight to watch Sisa create all this beautiful art. You should all feast your eyes upon it.
Holy Wattpad, Batman! by SolaceInSpace @manufactured-pleasantry - Bruce Wayne, Batfam, Teen, 3356 words, complete.
Author Summary: “—ever touch her again, I’ll make you regret ever being born.” A voice recording of Batman was leaked online. Once again, the internet went too far with it. Once again, Bruce's children suffered for it.
This entire series is perfect and you should all read it. I fucking love it when Bruce has to deal with Internet shenanigans.
straight on by TheResurrectionist @frownyalfred - Bruce Wayne, Unrated, 3250 words, complete.
Author Summary: Batman tries to access the Watchtower without his signature cowl and uniform. Identity shenanigans ensue.
I am a big fan of Res's outsider POV fics, and this one is FANTASTIC. I love Jenna, she is my hero.
6:32 by TheResurrectionist - Batfam, Unrated, 2371 words, complete.
Author Summary: prompt from tumblr: fic idea where for some reason Bruce (as Batman) has to pick up Alfred and Tim from a public event gone wrong in the Batmobile (Tim was poisoned) and it’s not an emergency but speed is of essence and this is, coincidentally, the first time Alfred has been in the Batmobile when it’s actually moving and he gets to see firsthand how absolutely insane Bruce drives without the need to obey speed limits. and Tim’s puking and generally displeased so Alfred spends the whole ride chiding Bruce to slow down, for god’s sake, only for Tim to chime in from the backseat, between heaves, that this is slow for him, Alfred—
Protective dad Bruce and crazy driver Bruce? Sounds like a perfect (and insane) combination.
For Some Desperate Glory by chasingfigments @chasingfigments - Batfam, Teen, 15355 words, wip.
Author Summary: The ringtone lets Bruce know before he’s even pulled the phone out that someone in his family is calling from a civilian line, which—given the current hour—should mean Alfred is calling. The caller ID displays Tim Drake instead. Threads of concern and apprehension coil through him, but it’s possible—something prevented Tim from heading out with Dick tonight. If he were sick, or injured, Alfred would have let him know already, but it’s possible something came up with school or his friends. Dick would be just fine handling a solo night in the Batman suit. There’s no proof that anything is wrong yet. Bruce takes a steady breath and accepts the call. “Hey, Tim,” he says as he unlocks his car. “I’m—” “Sorry,” a mechanized voice cuts in, and Bruce goes still, fingers curled around the driver door handle. “Tim’s not available right now.” -- Or: Instead of taking over the drug trade, Red Hood kidnaps Bruce Wayne.
Oh god, the layers of who knows and doesn't know what is insane and makes for a fun and suspenseful read! I always look forward to this fic's update.
Classical Conditioning by trash_asylum - Logan Howlett/Bruce Wayne, Explicit, 4571 words, complete.
Author Summary: Logan and Bruce play a fun game of cat and mouse or should I say bat and wolverine.
I've been dealing with Poolverine brain rot after watching the Deadpool and Wolverine movie (on top of the Superbat brain rot), so I got SO EXCITED I saw this Logan/Bruce fic. A mash up of my current brain rots (and some favorite blorbos)
Mr. Forgettable by Arwriter @eliemo - Poolverine, Mature, 40523 words, wip.
Author Summary: Wade’s off the couch, moving slowly until he’s standing right in front of Logan. He’s eyeing him carefully, thoughtfully, like he can piece together a solution to whatever the hell is happening right now. “You’re not just doing this so you can get out of buying dinner, are you?" “Fuck you.” Or: Even if he can't quite place his face, Logan doesn't think he could ever forget Wade Wilson.
Every time this fic updates, I have to resist the urge to reread the entire fic because I love it so much (I fail each time, I've reread this fic so much). All the chapters have been from Logan's POV, but the latest one is in Wade's, which was Excellent to read. I am Super Excited for the next update.
The Subtle Art of Giving a Massage by Dorath3xplorer - Poolverine, Explicit, 5318 words, complete.
Author Summary: A minute later, Logan’s hands clutch so tightly at the sheets that his knuckles are turning white. Wade continues to squeeze and wring his muscles, using less skilled but much more powerful techniques just to get a reaction—Logan’s low grunt turns into an almost whine as Wade digs into a particularly sore spot; he does it again, harder, just to be mean, not expecting Logan to whimper, half-pleasure and half-pained as he jerks under Wade. Both of them go still. “Shit, Logan, are you getting off on this?” - Or: Wade asks for a massage, gives a massage, and gets a little more.
I am a big fan of pillow princess Logan. Give that emotionally repressed hairy man a good rub down (and dicking).
In The Midnight Hour by StrawberryNova - Poolverine, Explicit, 21631 words, wip.
Author Summary: "They did not really fuck in the Honda Odyssey, at least, in the conventional sense. The fight itself, that was a cathartic exercise, a release of aggression and hard feelings for both of them. That’s what he told himself, anyway. And what they did after that, it didn’t mean anything. It was barely more than what two teenagers would do on a third date. It was so stupid, so ridiculous, hardly even worth mentioning, let alone remembering over and over and over for three months straight. So why couldn’t he forget it?" or After an intense sexual encounter in the Odyssey, Logan tries to pretend it didn't mean anything. However, slowly, he realizes that maybe there's more to it than that. In the three months they'd been living together, Wade has made Logan feel a lot of things he's never felt before, both in the bedroom and beyond, and things he never thought he'd feel again. It's a getting-together fic fraught with pining, combined with Logan discovering a few kinks he didn't know he had.
I am also a fan about Logan discovering new and excited kinks he enjoys and not knowing what to do or feel about them (but Wade does).
Unexpected Encounters by RogueFroggo - Poolverine, General, 1969 words, complete.
Author Summary: “I expected him to be more…forward,” Scott said, breaking the silence “Especially with you.” “With me?” Jean said teasingly. Scott shrugged, “The other Logan—” “This isn’t our Logan, Scott,” Jean said firmly, “And besides, I think he’s very much interested in someone else…” Scott tilted his head confused, “Who?” Jean gives him a deadpan look, “Seriously? Were we not just in the same room for the past half an hour?” Or; Scott meets Logan for the first time and is kind of expecting him to flirt with his girl but instead this Logan is different and seems to have eyes for someone else.
An excellent outsider POV fic looking at Logan and Wade's relationship. I love how protective they are of each other 🥺
Snowstorm by sundazetales @sundazetales - Poolverine, Explicit, 6950 words, complete.
Author Summary: A snowstorm hits the city, trapping Logan and Wade alone in their apartment without electricity. Cue sharing a bed for warmth, drinking too much whisky, cuddling in candlelight, and…well, you’ll have to read to find out.
I am also stuck in the middle of a snow storm (blizzard warning yayyy), so reading this fic was a no brainer for me. Very cute and sweet 💖
Heat of the Moment by FinelyDressedSpacemen @finelydressedspacemen - Poolverine, Explicit, 11840 words, complete.
Author Summary: “My universe is different than yours,” Logan whispered. “Your biology’s a little different too. Think I’m just having a reaction to whatever that powder was. We didn’t have Interdites where I’m from.” “What, like you’re allergic?” “Sure,” Logan agreed. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe. He could feel the first stirrings inside of him, the first whispers of the need that would overwhelm him within days. .. After a mission gone awry, Logan goes into his first heat in twenty years.
A Poolverine omegaverse fic on my fic rec list?? It's more likely than you think! I am also a big fan of fics where Logan (or Wade) have omegaverse dynamics, but the other doesn't, but still learns how to take care of them during heats (or ruts).
crawl out through the fallout [to my loving arms] by Potrix - Poolverine, Mature, 6520 words, wip.
Author Summary: In Wade’s arms, the bundle starts crying in earnest. “No,” Wade chokes out, shaking his head, “no, I—no, no, no, no—” He puts the bundle down on the floor, stands on trembling legs, and flees. No one stops him. Logan, heart heavy and throat tight, goes to pick up the baby. [5 of his daughter’s firsts Wade misses out on, plus the 1 time he gets his shit together, steps up to the plate, and finally does the right fucking thing.]\
Logan with a cute baby. What more do I have to say? I am looking forward to the Wade interactions with the cute baby too :)
it's all in my head but i want nonfiction by obihoebikenobi @obihoebikenobi - Poolverine, Explicit, 21294 words, complete.
Author Summary: “Happy new year,” Wade murmured, bright reflection from the TV glowing in Logan’s eyes. “Should we kiss?” Logan said back, somewhere in the cacophony of voices and clinking glasses. What? “What?” Wade gasped because what the fuck? What the actual fuck? “What?” Logan asked back, lurching backward a little, clearing his throat, “I just–I thought–sorry.” Sheepish, stuttering Logan was not on Wade’s twenty–twenty-five bingo card, but here he was anyway, nervous fingers trembling against Wade’s thigh for a moment before he took them away. Logan stood haphazardly, placing a warm hand on Wade’s shoulder for just a fraction of a second, “I can wait. Another time. How about a hug?” Wade nodded, standing and shoving his chair back, launching himself into Logan’s hold a bit eagerly for his own liking, but Logan really didn’t need to see the heat rising to his cheeks. “Happy new year, bub,” Logan whispered in his ear. (Somewhere between sharing a bed, fixing their sleep schedules, and settling into a daily routine, Logan and Wade start dating. Too bad Wade doesn't know that.)
Oh my god, they are both so dumb. So, so dumb, I love this fic so much. Miscommunication my beloved.
Happy reading!
#weekly fic recs#fic rec list#fanfic recs#fanfic rec list#fanfiction rec list#fanfiction recommendations#fic recs#superbat#bruce wayne#batman#superman#clark kent#fic rec#batfam#poolverine#logan howlett#wade wilson#wolverine#deadpool
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I keep a fanfiction spreadsheet, I have no shame, and I need to yap about my stats.
I am no longer tracking the time I spend on AO3 because it has gotten too complicated tracking between different devices and listening to podfics / TTS. That being said, I read 35 fics this month, 126 chapters, and 443,876 words.
My top fandom was Stranger Things (obviously), being all 35 (with one crossover) fics and my top ship was Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson with 27 fics. My top five reoccurring characters (according to how fics were tagged) were Eddie Munson in 19 fics, Steve Harrington in 19 fics, Robin Buckley in 13 fics, Dustin Henderson in 8 fics, and Wayne Munson in 8 fics.
The tags I read the most were Eddie Munson Lives in 8 fics, Canon Divergence in 6 fics, and multiple tags were tied in third place.
The most words I read in a day was 53,193 on December 13th and the longest fic I read was The Eddie Munson Hallucination Crisis by FerYerHealth at 63,086 words.
All of this information and every fic I've read this month can be found on my spreadsheet!
Every Stranger Things fic I read on AO3 this month is linked under the cut (fics i read on tumblr can be found here!)
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
And All That Could Have Been by HateMeDestroyMe
Mature - 50.4k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Broken Hearts, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Professional Athlete Steve Harrington, Business Owner Eddie Munson, Long lost love, Eddie Is A Single Father, Daddy's GIrl, Mistletoe, Rekindled old flames, Suicidal Thoughts
When Steve left Hawkins to go to college in 1986, he broke Eddie's heart. So, Eddie sought comfort with his best friend. That was how he'd become a single father. Now, 15 years later, Steve comes home after a shoulder injury brings his professional baseball career to a grinding halt. But he gets more than he bargained for when he keeps running into Eddie all over town.
Rogue Organ by Battered_child
Mature - 2.9k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Sicktember, Sickfic, Steve Harrington Whump, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Established Relationship, Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Hospitals, Vomiting, Nausea, Appendicitis, Good Uncle Wayne Munson
As the minutes and hours slowly crept by, Steve began to feel off. He wasn't quite sure what was wrong exactly, he just knew he didn't feel quite right. Nevertheless he continued on with his shift, watching the minutes tick by on the clock. Or Steve starts to feel sick and Eddie takes charge looking after his boyfriend
Bows & All by GodsDoggy
Explicit - 3.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - PWP without Porn, Christmas Smut, Bottom Steve Harrington, Dom Eddie Munson, Top Eddie Munson, Trans Male Character, Trans Steve Harrington, Masturbation, Dirty Talk, Breeding Kink, Squirting, Multiple Orgasms, Creampie, Face-Sitting, Oral Sex, Daddy Kink, Overstimulation, Praise Kink, Steve Harrington Has a Praise Kink, Plugs
“What can I say?” Steve smiles. “I’m a man of my word.” Eddie snorts. “Clearly.” He looks down between them, admiring the ribbons that decorate Steve's inner thighs. “Bows and all, huh?” Steve laughs, a little breathless in his needy state. “Bows and all.”
As Long As I Get to Keep You by MysteriousMidnight
Explicit - 8k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Based on Fan Art, Rockstar Eddie, photographer steve, Playgirl Photoshoot, silver fox steve, Younger Eddie, Age Difference, Smut, Fluff and Smut, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Handcuffs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Rimming, Getting Together, minor daddy kink, like blink and you miss it, some kink talk, Bondage, BDSM, just a little bit though, Nothing Hardcore, Eddie gets tied up and blind-folded, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Some Plot, Mostly porn though, Light Praise Kink, Top Steve Harrington, Bottom Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson
“I- I think I’m ready.” Steve tilts his head. “You sure? There’s no rush, I promise.” Eddie nods, fidgeting nervously with the robe belt. “Yeah.” He takes a deep breath, then lets the robe fall to the floor. And it’s.. less scary than he thought. Maybe because it’s just Steve here, and he trusts Steve completely. ~*~*~ OR: Rockstar Eddie agrees to do a Playgirl photoshoot. Steve is the photographer. They do a little more than just picture-taking.
All Still Breathing by FarahsAmboolents (@farahsamboolents on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 23.1k - Eddie Munson & Wayne Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Eddie Munson Lives, hospital fic, Wayne Munson centric, Protective Wayne Munson, Supportive Wayne Munson, Queer Wayne Munson, Queer Eddie Munson, i guess this counts as a character study?, no ships yet but there's Steddie if you squint, Steve Harrington gets a hero moment, Wayne Munson is vaguely faceblind, that didn't quite happen on purpose it just sorta happened, so many long pauses, Wayne spends most of this fic being very confused, Everybody Lives, pov fic, Hurt Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Graduates High School
Still, Wayne found himself making his way to the hospital after the quake, both hoping to see his nephew come for help and hoping that he wouldn’t have to. He wound up volunteering at the front desk out of helplessness; he sat behind the triage nurse, wrote down the names of the patients that she barked at him and where she had directed them. It was not unlike his job at the motel as a night auditor, except that he was handing out little paper wristlets instead of keys. __ A Wayne Munson centric fic set at the hospital after the "earthquake". Things slowly turn around for the better.
why can't this be love by ssoftcell (@ssoftcell on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 15.5k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - 5+1 Things, Pining, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Brief Sexuality Crisis, Gratuitous Mention of Eddie Munson's Bat Tattoo, it happens like twice but still, Post-Season/Series 04, Fix-It of Sorts, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, she's a great friend, gareth makes an appearance, so does mechanic eddie (if you squint)
Let it be known that Steve Harrington hates cliches. But let it also be known that, despite himself, the feeling of kissing Eddie after all this time is something akin to fireworks behind his eyes, sparklers buzzing beneath his skin and through his veins like pure adrenaline. It’s a high he’ll never be able to top, no matter how hard he tries. Alternatively: Five times Steve and Eddie almost kiss, and the one time they do.
the boys of summer by steveharringtoned
Not Rated - 19.9k - Steve Harrington & Everyone - Graphic Depictions Of Violence - Fix-It, Stranger Things 4 Fix-It, Eddie Munson Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Steve Harrington-centric, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 Rewrite, Not Beta Read, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
“Steve,” Wayne echoes. “This is my home. Eddie’s my boy.” And then he ruffles his hair with one large hand, coarse from years of working with them, in an action that reminds Steve of Hopper. “I’m gonna go down there and get my boy back. You’re gonna be my tour guide.” He holds his hand out for the final gun Steve has stashed, which he gives over reluctantly. He finds Wayne remarkably difficult to argue with—wonders if Eddie found the same. “Tour guides don’t need guns. You point at somethin’, I shoot it. Got it, Steve?” (Steve knows Eddie’s alive. Wayne’s the only one who believes him. So they team up to save him.)
four puffs of farrah fawcett spray (and a mouthful of UD pollen) by oaseas (@metaldeads on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 17.4k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Crack Treated Seriously, Angst, Temporary Character Death, Steve Harrington Has Powers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Getting Together, First Kiss, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Pining Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Not Beta Read, Steve Harrington-centric, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Follows S2 through to 4
Steve cops a faceful of Upside Down flower pollen in the tunnels, hours after Billy Hargrove tries to punch Steve's brain out the back of his head. Beyond the general hubbub of UD bullshit, Steve thinks he's made it out pretty much unscathed. Months later, he makes a discovery. Turns out, he's much more intact than he'd thought. As in, his skin is baby smooth. Even the scar on his knee from his ill-advised ‘77 summer of skateboarding has disappeared. OR: Steve Harrington can take a hit. He can take many hits. In fact, thanks to the Upside Down, there isn't a hit Steve can't take.
You're The One I've Waited For by Foreverlong
Teen and Up - 12k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Mutual Pining, Fluff and Angst, Protective Gareth (Stranger Things), Disabled Eddie Munson, Guitars as a love language, implied/referenced suicidal ideation, Very Minor, Reference to past blood and injury, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, POV Alternating
There’s something to be said for people seeing you at your worst and sticking with you regardless. All of those people - okay, not the band - have seen him at his worst. Dead is probably him at his worst. Bloodied and torn open is not a good look on anyone. He feels sick thinking about it. But they saw it. Steve saw it, then he tried to fix it. Steve gave him CPR; no one wants to know they’ve had CPR performed on them, it’s a window into something that he really doesn’t want to think about. But it was Steve, and somehow that feels big in a way he can’t put his finger on. And then Steve got him out of that hellhole, and Steve kept him alive in the car all the way to the hospital, and Steve screamed at a nurse until they brought a gurney, and Steve, Steve, Steve. It always comes back to Steve. Or: Steve wants Eddie to have the perfect Thanksgiving. He ends up giving him so much more.
I'm The First In Line by FarahsAmboolents (@farahsamboolents on tumblr)
Mature - 53.1k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Robin and Steve decide to be beards, Slow Burn, Disabled Character, Disabled Eddie Munson, this fic contains an obnoxious amount of ABBA, Slow Romance, Period-Typical Homophobia, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, they're a pair of dinguses who don't get the memo, Steve Harrington Has a Bisexual Awakening, Firefighter Steve Harrington, fireman steve harrington, actually now that i'm in the thick of it there's less ABBA than i planned
“Look,” said Robin, exchanging a glance with Steve, “My dad is like, super against me dating, so we didn’t even wanna think about it, okay? But we have a mutual friend from Family Video, she’s not around much but sometimes she’s there, and she was hanging out at my place once with Steve and me,” “Dorothy,” supplied Steve, and he smiled at Eddie for some reason. Was he was supposed to know this Dorothy - maybe she used to be one of his clients? “Yes, Dorothy,” said Robin, “Anyway my dad was saying how I wasn’t allowed to date, and Dorothy was like, well if she can’t date now how’s she gonna know what to do when things go wrong when she goes to college after her gap year and she’s in the big city on her own? And so my dad said fine, and then Steve asked me out, like, the next day.” ____ Steve needs some space for his queer awakening, so he and Robin decide to be beards. Eddie doesn't get the hint. *This is a sequel, but previous fic isn't necessary to understand. Context is provided.
Backbone by GhostHost (@sp0o0kylights on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 14.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Steve Harrington Has Migraines, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, The Party Vs Eddie, Dustin Henderson is a Little Shit, Protective Steve Harrington, Drug Use, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Fic, Eddie Munson Takes Care of Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington is the Parties collective older brother
Steve this, Steve *that*—Eddie’s had enough of his newest sheepies’ hero worship of the guy, and it all comes to a head when they’re distracted at the most sacred of events: Hellfire. Apparently his majesty is under the weather—time to storm the castle and end their serfdom. (Jokes on Eddie, because one look at sickly, pathetic Harrington has him ripping up his Munson doctrine faster than you can say ‘m’lord)
Non Denominational Winter Party For Friends (Who Know) Of The Upside Down by FarahsAmboolents (@farahsamboolents on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 8.5k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington - No Archive Warnings Apply - Gay Murray Bauman, murray bauman being a good investigator, Murray Bauman POV, Beards (Relationships), Fake/Pretend Relationship, Eddie Munson is a Little Shit, Good Sibling Jonathan Byers, murray has a single instance of research gone wrong and the crowd goes wild
It was written mostly in large bubble letters, reading: ‘you are invited to a NON-DENOMINATIONAL WINTER PARTY’. Below it, in messy handwriting, said ‘for friends of the UPSIDE DOWN’. Between the words friends and of was a proofreader’s caret, and in much nicer handwriting, someone had added the words ‘who know’, with a set of aggressive underlines. “Your brother clearly wasn’t consulted when making the invites.” He said. Either that, or Joyce had a serious case of mom brain when it came to her younger son’s skill. He could even see remnants of the word CHRISTMAS where it had clearly been erased in favour of NON-DENOMINATIONAL. ___ Murray goes to a party with The Party. Author shamelessly uses The PI Character for expositional purposes. (Part of a series. Context is provided in author’s notes if you want to read as a one-shot.)
the one we stay for. the one we come back for by flowercrowngods (@flowercrowngods on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 5k - Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & The Party, Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Eventual Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, but this is not a steddie fic primarily, Steve Harrington Has Seizures, Seizures, Hurt Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Needs a HugThe Party Loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington hurts so prettily, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Brotherly Steve Harrington, Trauma, they're all kids they don't know how to talk about their trauma, but they're getting there, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Battle of Starcourt (Stranger Things), Found Family
Two days after Starcourt, concussed and beaten, Steve has a seizure. As a consequence of getting his head smashed in one too many times, he loses more than his car. He has to give up on the one thing he felt like he was good for: driving his friends around and making sure they're safe while he's behind the wheel. He isolates himself from his friends and the world he has no place or purpose in anymore, and it takes a year before people realise it. An intervention is in order. You know, once the world has been saved.
clinging to life by llovebug
Mature - 3.8k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence - Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Suicide Attempt, Overdosing, Seizures, Vomiting, Hurt Eddie Munson, Protective Steve Harrington, Men Crying, Sad Eddie Munson, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drugs, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Medical Inaccuracies, Depression
Eddie recovers from nearly dying in the upside down. He thought he'd be okay. But he wasn't. He shuts everyone out until it becomes too much to handle. Steve makes it just in time to prevent Eddie from almost leaving them a second time.
Never Thought by estrellami (@estrellami-1 on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 9.7k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson & Wayne Munson, Steve Harrington & The Party, Corroded Coffin & Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - actually how do i tag this, Fluff, Minor Angst, Bat Eddie Munson, I freaking LOVE that that’s a tag, Freak’s name is Arthur because I cracked up at him having a ‘proper’ name like that, he’s my child and I love him
Eddie died in the Upside Down. But… what if he didn’t? Aka 10k of bat!Eddie and turning him back into a human.
is it ever gonna change (am i gonna feel this way forever?) by jewishrat420 (@jewishrat420 on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 12.1k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Steve Harrington is in Love With Eddie Munson, eddie munson is in love with steve harrington, DM Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Needs Therapy, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Never Been Kissed Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Love Confessions, Getting Together, more celestial imagery it's all i'm good for, Kissing, Making Out, Crying, Crying While Kissing, Anxiety Attacks, Panic Attacks, OCD, Eddie Munson Has OCD, Eddie Munson Has Anxiety, smoking weed, references to drinking, references to intrusive thoughts, slight descriptions of gore, very VERY slight germophobia, fic is written from both steve and eddie's perspectives, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Literal Sleeping Together, Steve Harrington's Love Language is Physical Touch, Eddie Munson's Love Language is Physical Touch, quality time as a love language, weed as a love language tbh, Jargyle if you squint, Ronance if you squint, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Best Friends, Steve and Robin Are Platonic Soulmates, First Kiss, Jewish Eddie Munson, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, POV Multiple
Steve notices things. Recently, he’s been picking up on it more. Eddie makes these little movements, minute utterances under his breath, like he’s reassuring himself of something. The seemingly incessant tap tap tapping of his fingers, too exact to be strumming a rhythm in the seam of his jeans but too calculated to be mindless. His pointer finger taps the table. Once, twice, three…Five times. Five times before he moves onto his middle. Then his ring, then his pinky, then back to the pointer. Interesting. or Eddie’s got these habits that Steve desperately wants to understand.
The Eddie Munson Hallucination Crisis by FerYerHealth (@fanficferyerhealth on tumblr)
Mature - 63k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Ghost Eddie Munson, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Attempt at Humor, Recreational Drug Use, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Getting Together, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Best Friends, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, The Upside Down (Stranger Things), Eddie Munson in the Upside Down, Family Video, Shenanigans, Steve has a big empty house, Robin has loving and supportive parents
Eddie was concerned, but not 100% sure that he died. He had to be dead if he got stuck in the Upsidedown. Except. Sometimes he got out. Sometimes he flickered about topside and enjoyed his new favorite hobby: Haunting Steve Harrington. Steve was concerned that he lost his mind. He kept hearing things. Seeing things. Smelling things. And by "things" of course, he meant Eddie Munson. It's enough to drive him up a wall. Or at least out of the closet. With help from Robin, of course. The Party was concerned. Steve's behavior of late, was... weird. He started talking to himself. Max saw him breaking into Eddie's trailer in the middle of the night. Lucas noticed some pretty questionable hickeys when they played basketball. Except how could he be hooking up with someone when Steve never left the house? One thing became clear: it was time for an intervention.
Three Queer Boys by lovelylover (@lovely--lover on tumblr)
Not Rated - 2.9k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson, Will Byers & Eddie Munson, Will Byers & Steve Harrington - Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings - Will Byers Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, not like a full crush but, Eddie Munson Lives, Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, steve and eddie live together, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Gay Will Byers, Will Byers Needs a Hug, And He Gets One!, steve eddie and will r a trio, Fluff and Angst, slight angst
Dustin smiled a wide grin and opened the door to the room they were playing in, where Will saw one of the prettiest men he had ever seen. His hair was curly with bangs cut bluntly over his forehead, not reaching over his eyebrows, though. He was wearing the same Hellfire shirt as everyone else in the group, but he had the sleeves rolled up to reveal tattoos on his forearm. Everything about him just seemed so… mustic. But not in a gross way, in a hot-leader-of-a-band type of way. And when he smiled and stood up to walk over to WIll, he could feel his chest tightening and processed thoughts escape his mind. OR Will goes to play in the Hellfire club, he has a slight crush on Eddie, they become friends and Will has complicated feelings to sort out !
Spaghetti-O's by mackmcellister
Teen and Up - 2.1k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - steddie, Abortion, Discussion of Abortion, background lumax, steve and eddie are basically maxs big brothers, This passes the Bechdel Test, mention of suicide but its a joke so i think its okay, steve and eddie are dating i promise, Drabble, no beta we die like billy hargrove, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Max Mayfeild shows up on his doorstep at 6pm on a Tuesday with a plastic bag from Meijer and tears on her cheeks. “I fucked up, Eddie.” or, the Steddie abortion fic.
Cruising by Anonymous
Explicit - 3.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Sex - Heavy Angst, no dialogue in the first chapter, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, evil author, Hurt/Comfort, Eddie’s bandana changes, implied grooming, Eddie was groomed, Sexual Assault, Rape, Eddie adapts his kinks to his trauma, Drug Use, Smoking, Self-blaming, Victim Blaming, Eddie relocates his own shoulder, I promise Steddie in the second chapter, First chapter is all hurt, no beta we die like billy, Grant is unnamed Freak, Eddie gets raped 3 times, Gang Rape, More tags to be added, There’s a gun, Chapter 3 is dialogue heavy, Steve is a good boyfriend, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Robin Buckley & Eddie Munson Friendship
Eddie’s habit of fucking around has gotten him into trouble many times. Three incidents leave him more and more tired and traumatized than the last.
where the light won't find you by griesly (@griesly on tumblr)
Explicit - 24.8k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Extremely Dubious Consent, Monster Eddie Munson, Haunted Houses, Generally spooky vibes, Eldritch Horrors, Liminal Spaces, Isolation, missing time, Oneirophrenia, Gaslighting, Manipulation, Implied Somnophilia, Praise Kink, Monsterfucking, Human/Monster Romance, Monsterfucker Steve Harrington, Tentacles, background rovickie, Background Pregnancy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Kind Of, Tentacle Sex, potentially ableist language, speedrunning a sexuality crisis
From the moment Steve sees the little house on Cornwallis Lane, he knows it's the only one for him. What he doesn't know - at first - is that what's inhabiting the house feels exactly the same about him. I strongly recommend checking out the end notes for a discussion of the ableist language and dubious consent if you feel those might be an issue for you, though they are slightly spoilery.
apple blossom by honeyglooms
[Stranger Things / Marmalade crossover] - Teen and Up - 2.1k - Baron Lamram / Eddie Munson - Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings - Meeting the Parents, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Established Relationship, Gay Baron Lamram, Gay Eddie Munson, Alternate Universe, 1990s, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Eddie Munson Backstory, Love Confessions
Baron knows the best way to an uncle/father figure's heart is a good turnover. Well, he sure hopes so. He’s got his fingers crossed. Maybe he should pray on it.
honestly, just let yourself go by limerental (@limerental on tumblr)
Explicit - 7.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eddie Munson Lives, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Omorashi, Wetting, Desperation Play, Urination, Bodily Fluids, Bladder Control, Undernegotiated Kink, Light Sadism, Adolescent Sexuality, Fuckbuddies, Developing Relationship, Piss Kink WIth Plot, But Still No Plot, oh also some, Crossdressing, Feminization, Light Bondage, Semi-Public Sex, Praise Kink, Dom/sub Undertones, They just don't have the vocab for it, Implied subdrop
"So, you want me to pee on you?" Steve asked. "No," said Eddie. "I mean, yeah sure, but not really. And also, yeah, hell fucking yeah, but no, not quite." "Crystal clear, dude. Really cleared that one up."
Made with Love (and Yarn) by SolarMorrigan (@solarmorrigan on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 10k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Crocheting, Gift Giving, Fluff, Gay Panic, Getting Together, Friends to Lovers
El teaches Steve how to crochet. Steve finds himself getting surprisingly into his new hobby. He crochets Eddie a scarf. Things sort of spiral from there.
took you for a working boy by pukner
Mature - 43.8k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings - Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Misunderstandings, Coming Out, Gay Eddie Munson, Lesbian Robin Buckley, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Bisexual Disaster Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Good Friend Robin Buckley, Post-Concussion Syndrome, Gender Issues, Gender Identity, Genderqueer Character, Babygirl Steve Harrington, except literally, Eddie is a radio host, for some reason, Hawkins is basically nightvale, and Eddie's Cecil Palmer, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eddie Munson Lives, Steve Harrington Has A Crisis, and then Outsources His Crisis, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Genderqueer Steve Harrington, Nonbinary Steve Harrington
"Do you--Harrington, do you know other gay people?" "One," Steve says, and then, after a moment, "and a half." "And a half?" Eddie boggles at him, "What does that mean?" "He's figuring it out!" says Steve, defensively, "Taking his time, y'know? Whatever, the point is. It's cool you're gay, man."
Eddie comes out to Steve, and Steve's heartbroken about it for some reason. Eddie thinks Steve's dating Robin. Everyone else thinks Steve and Eddie have been dating this whole time. Robin doesn't get paid enough for this shit. Also, Hawkins has been cracked open like a badly-baked cake, and everyone's settled into the most mundane apocalypse possible. Eddie Munson starts a radio programme about it. Meanwhile, Steve gets his nails painted, and outsources a crisis he isn't having.
Like a Mythical Virgin by ArtaxLivs (@artaxlivs on tumblr)
Mature - 1.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Crack, Unicorns, Virginity, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Virgin Eddie Munson, Mentions of Blood, Mike Wheeler is a Little Shit
"Are you a virgin?" Mike asked like the total little dickhead he is.
Hold My Hand (Hold It Tight) by MerthurAllure (Kirbymatsu) (@apple-juice-dreams on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 2.3k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Canon Era, Modern Era, You Decide, Meet-Cute, Dentists, Accidental Subspace, Subdrop, Hurt/Comfort, Holding Hands, Corroded Coffin Concert (Stranger Things), Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, First Kiss, Sub Eddie Week 2024 (Stranger Things)
Something strange happens when Eddie goes to the dentist and gets his teeth cleaned by the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen. Somehow it ends up being a good thing.
punched in the teeth by love by spacenarwhal
Not Rated - 1.9k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Eddie Munson Lives, Crack Treated Seriously, Anesthesia, Wisdom Teeth, Established Relationship, Aging, Fluff and Humor
After all these years together, Steve has seen Eddie under the influence of a lot of things. Weed. Alcohol. Whatever the government doctors had him on back in 1986. He’s known Eddie running on nothing but fumes and Yoohoo mixed with crushed caffeine tablets, and on the tail end of a week long insomnia jag. None of that prepares him for this version of Eddie, cheeks stuffed with soggy gauze, eyes glazed over and comically wide as he stares at Steve. Hard. Blinks. Then he starts to cry.
Wisdom by TiannaMortis (@tiannasfanfic on tumblr)
General Audiences - 2.1k - Eddie Munson / Reader - No Archive Warnings Apply - Eddie Munson Lives, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Wisdom Teeth, Best Friends, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Medical Procedures, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Friendship/Love
You finally get your wisdom teeth taken out and your best friend, Eddie Munson, is there to take care of you afterwards.
You Ahh Sooooo Byuootifuh by StarsHideYourFires (@starshideurfics on tumblr)
Teen and Up - 2.7k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - No Archive Warnings Apply - Modern AU, Wisdom Teeth, Post-Surgery Confusion, Established Relationship, Married Life, Caretaking, minor hurt/lots of comfort, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, even when he's already locked that down, Eddie Munson Takes Care of Steve Harrington, super minor breeding kink, but we all know, Steve Harrington Has a Breeding Kink
Hey, you’ve got Robin. Or I guess you don’t, really. If this is important text me, but you can leave a message and I’ll get back to you eventually. Unless you’re my mom, then probably sooner! BEEP. “Rob-biiiiihhnnn! Where are you? There’s a hah guy shtanding ow-side my room, and I don’ know where I am. I need you here, Robbie. Yuhv gotta hehp me! I’m gonna say somethin’ shtupid and ‘mbarrass mysel’ in front of the hod guy. Robin, come save meeeeeeee!” Steve gets his wisdom teeth out and has trouble coming out of general anesthesia, much to Eddie’s amusement.
Cabin Fever by These_bones_remember_death
Mature - 6.5k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death - Cannibalism, Eddie Munson Goes Insane, Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Hurt No Comfort, Eddie Munson is Not Okay, Steve Harrington is Not Okay, Snowed In, But it's not sexy, Finished this as a treat for my birthday, Future Fic, eddie munson has trauma, Fluff and Angst, light body horror, Mentioned Cannibalism, Semi-Graphic Description of Death, inspired by an episode of Dan Vs., Starvation, Robin Buckley needs a hug after this, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Has Anxiety, Accidental Death
Would you believe me if I told you this was inspired by an episode of Dan Vs. Eddie and Steve just wanted to get away for a nice winter vacation in the Harrington family cabin. But things don't go as planned when a freak storm sets in and freezes everything, trapping them there. Resources can only last so long when you're snowed in.
our teeth and lungs are lined with the scum of it by jewishrat420 (@jewishrat420 on tumblr)
Explicit - 830 - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death - Vore, Blood, Cannibalism, POV Eddie Munson, POV Steve Harrington, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, yeah i'm using that tag. it fits, idk how to tag this one man read the warnings, Traumatized Eddie Munson, eddie munson's love language is eating people, steve harrington's love language is letting himself be eaten, Blood and Gore, Gore
Eddie loves Steve.
Death Embraces You as I Kiss Your Skin by steviewashere (@steviewashere on tumblr)
Mature - 1.7k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Vecna is Defeated (Stranger Things), Aftermath, Dead Eddie Munson, Grieving Steve Harrington, Secret Relationship, Angst and Tragedy, Mild Cannibalism, (Not Really Steve Just Licks Some of Eddie's Blood of His Finger?), Blood and Injury, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, (minor) - Freeform, Loving Something that Death Can Touch, Breaking Obtuse Promises, Steve Asks That Eddie Doesn't Forgive Him, Unhappy Ending
"He breaks that promise. Because of course he does. The axe falls from his grip. Heavily to the ground. His hand burns from the tightness he held onto the handle. Palm a dull red, fingers aching. His body trembles, knees weak and legs like splintering tree trunks, ready to land sideways on the dusty, dirt ground. At his feet is Eddie's mangled, bleeding, cold corpse. Eyes glazed and far away. Mouth agape, lips parted enough for mumbles to fall through. Hair fanned around his head like the saint halo depicted on Saint Francis' portraits. Blood. There's so much blood." OR Eddie Dies Still and Steve Grieves the Love of his Life
Stream My Darlings!! by DutchsPretties (@dutchs-toybox on tumblr)
Explicit - 3.1k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con - Suicide, Self-Harm, Anger, Rage, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Sex Cam Worker Billy Hargrove, Rape/Non-con Elements, Anal Sex, Stalking, Murder, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Sexual Harassment, Harassment, Masturbation, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Short, Crying
Uh oh, someone found the Eddie Munson tape! I hope he'll be ok... Oh no! Someone found Billy Hargrove's address! I hope he'll be safe...
Welcome Home (To My Arms) by patheticbabiemunson (@patheticbabiemunson on tumblr)
Explicit - 6.4k - Steve Harrington / Eddie Munson - Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings - Eddie Munson as Kas the Betrayer (Dungeons & Dragons), Monster Eddie Munson, Monster Fucker Steve Harrington, Porn with Feelings, Porn With Plot, barely any plot, slight degradation, Slight Dumbification, Anal Sex, Desperation, Pathetic Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Lives, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Protective Steve Harrington, Vampire Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Big Dick, Monstercock Munson, Belly Bulge, Feral Behavior, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Eddie’s back, Eddie’s different, and Eddie was looking for a different welcome committee. ~~ based wholly on @/StaceTanicPanic ‘s beautiful Kas!Eddie art on Twitter, please send her lots of love because I adore her <3
#can you guess what i've been coping with lately#i'm so sorry this is late i just got wifi#i'm not going to post a year wrap because i feel like that's too much#ao3 wrapped#ao3#fanfiction spreadsheet#fic recs#stranger things#steddie#steddie fanfiction#eddie munson#eddie munson fanfiction#steve harrington#steve harrington fanfiction
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Chapter 2 ~ The Supernatural Wars.
Pairing: Dean Winchester X Y/N L/N
Blurb: When the residents of this Earth found out that they were but a draft in God's numerous stories, they decided to make noise in hopes that their creator would return. Nothing can be louder than the begs of the powerless, the cackles of the ruthless, or the unending destruction left in the wake of the most merciless wars any universe can ever see—here the bloodshed never ends. So, tell me how can two young soulmates, then, find love's shade of red under all this crimson gore?
Warnings/Trigger Warnings (18+): Language, gore, voilence, major and minor character deaths, thoughts of suicide (not graphic), substance abuse (alcohol and cigarettes), mentions of wars (I mean, it's in the name).
{ Series Masterlist ; Main Masterlist }
Chapter 2: Marriages Need Sacrifices.
Education has been an adventurous endeavor for you. Most people disagree that books can give you a great travel experience, but books have been ninety percent of your education. You are great on the field of war, don't get you wrong, but you've always gotten a secret thrill in books. Learning about alternate universes, and their alternate lives. Following different spells, symbols, lores. Most importantly, you can apply it all in real life.
No knowledge goes to waste, your father would say. It's one of the rare places where you can find positivity, wallowing in knowledge. For you, it's akin to meditation.
While on the ship, you have been a few of the first to wake up for the morning training from the very first day, the crack of dawn every day. It would be from five to eight before all of your people were shooed into the lowest deck of the Bloody Princess. It was less training than what you wanted, but at least it was something. An energetic start to your days, you believed. After which, you would spend your hours cleaning the lower levels. Rarely would you be found sitting with your soldiers who all had been given three hours of recreational time in the day.
This routine took your mind off of the politics you hadn't stopped playing since the wedding; you would still have more meetings and strategy sessions, map-reading time, and so on, but at least it wasn't all you were thinking of.
As the vampires grumpily sludged through half-assed explanations, in the few days since the crash course had begun, you had learned to stitch leaves together as sails. Different uses of wood for different parts were taught to you; here, at least you were handy with a knife when it came to shaping up the pieces for a good and sturdy structure of the ship. And ropes - oh, there were so many things to do with ropes.
You realized quickly enough that to these monsters, efficiency mattered the most - you could understand that, even come to respect it. To them, the outward appearances mattered not, nor did hygiene. While you agreed to compromise on the first one, you still tried to maintain basic sanitation for yourself and your crew.
You had also found something that you absolutely sucked at.
It was climbing.
For the love of you, you had never been able to climb trees, let alone these long structures on this large daunting ship that stood so tall that they seemed to be caressing the sky. They didn't even have a lot of handholds or footholds that you could support yourself with. They had a long rope that danced with the wind, and you would have to hold it as you pulled yourself up.
You may be the best markswoman the world has seen from this generation, but your upper body strength was a joke for a climb this challenging. Which is exactly why you spent most of your free time on the ship scaling the longest and thickest pole of the ship.
Some nights when your mind was exhausted from the long talks with your team of the select five that you had, you would sneak out to the upper deck after bedtime and squeeze in a few more rounds with the toughest mast of the ship.
Since you were falling often, you had arranged for yourself the assistance of a vampire who was so passive that it would be a miracle to get a full sentence from him. He was named Scully, a fat immortal who was as powerful as ten men. He started catching you when you fell from tall heights.
Even with that precaution, your medic, Selina got so frustrated with your harmful rendevous that she started tagging along with you to heal your hurts - but mostly to try and talk you out of it.
'If the Captain spots you, it'll be our end!'
'You've always given people far too much credit, Ms Doll,' you whispered back, trudging up the last few steps to the higher level where the mast protruded. It was the second-highest level on the ship, only second to another upper deck where the wheel of the ship stood. There was a watch tower atop this mast that you wished to see the sea from one of these days.
The view would be the most breathtaking, you had to gather.
Scully was already waiting at the bottom, he grunted when you greeted him. Selina skirted around him, still as afraid of vampires as the first day she'd seen them.
You gripped the rope in your stinging palms - your rope burns were the worst injuries from this activity besides all the blows that had been delivered to your back when you'd fallen.
Scully placed himself near you, and the proximity tensed you, but you wouldn't be as overt as Selina about it. You placed your foot horizontally on the wood, pulling yourself up. Your muscles smarted as you took one step after another, walking vertically upwards to your goal. You made sure that your steps weren't too far apart, lest they throw off your balance.
Your highest mark yet had been eight feet.
In this round, you barely touched halfway when your right shoe lost its grip. Your hands tried to cling to the rope, but your skin was irritable against the rope's hold. You were free-falling next. You had the sense to curl up and turn mid-air to your side so that it wouldn't hurt as much.
Scully's hold never came, and there was a short scream that tore from Selina. You hummed your pain behind pressed lips as the wood groaned under your weight.
You were used to this by now.
'Why didn't you catch her?!' Selina rushed to your side, but you were brushing her concerns away.
'He doesn't dignify breaking my fall unless it's from really high, Ms Doll. You know that.'
Scully shrugged in response. You'd come to understand his mind enough to know that if you fell too soon, he would think that you deserved to get hurt. You'd come to terms with it.
'Still—'
'Please. I want to try again.'
Fuming, for she knew your decision was impossible to change, she drew herself to the side.
Your rise and fall continued for a while.
By the ninth time, something new happened: your hands started bleeding. And you fell from seven feet. Scully caught you.
'Fuck,' you muttered, your body jolting when it hit his arms.
Scully sneered at your hands, and you scrambled to get out of his hold. He was further pushed away from you by your doctor who forgot her fear of vampires for a terse minute. Selina took your hands in hers. She wore a bumbag around her waist. Small vials of medicines and gauze were in it.
'I told you!' the scold left her. 'What were you thinking—stupid, stubborn, reckless—unbelievable . . .' and so went her mumbles under her breath as she hurried to patch you up. The skin around the wound was angry and red. The antiseptic burned against the already prickling area. The cut wasn't too deep, but stinging enough that it would slow you down in a fight.
You had only glanced at your hands for a second after which your eyes had gone over Selina's shoulder to stare down Scully whose face was the most expressive you had ever seen - he looked starved, as if it had been centuries since his last meal. To your right was Selina, so you tensed your left foot in case you needed to kick down Scully.
'Why ain't I surprised that you're a rule-breaker?' came the drawl of the vampire you had come to dislike the most on the ship.
He was the only vampire on the ship who could think—you disliked that in your potential enemies. The rest of his crew was pure brawl. While he hadn't done anything personally to you, you hated his guts for the same reason he didn't trust yours—the history of generations: the Supernatural Wars.
He threw a pair of gloves your way that you grew wary of.
'Those might help,' he said. He patted Scully on the shoulder who had a vein working in his forhead, barely stopping himself from pouncing on you. Having the permission of his Captain, he scurried of, probably to the food supply.
'Captain!' said a flustered Selina. 'We're, uh—didn't mean to insult your rules. We just, um—'
'You should be more careful, it's been a while since we tasted fresh blood.' His eyes were fixed hungrily on your palms that were quickly being wrapped in the gauze. He'd ignored (or hadn't heard) Selina.
You noticed Selina stifling a panicky expression, trying to focus on her job. You shook her off when she'd weakly knotted the bandages, pushing her subtly behind you as you bent down gingerly to pick up the weathered leather, keeping eye contact with Benny so you didn't appear to him as exposed.
'What do you want?'
'Consider it a gift,' he said, sincere.
You choked back a mirthless laugh. 'You're not serious?'
'You don't have the monopoly on truce offerings,' he said.
Your last truce had been met with the dust of his cabin floor. He must've noted the challenge in your eyes for he amended his words.
'Let it be a belated birthday present. Or whatever. I come with good conscience.'
You conisdered his "gift", a lance of suspicion trilling down your spine.
Yet it would make a good addition to your survial, help you reach the top of the mast as you've been craving. The gloves were fingerless, the leather was brand-new and they would slide smoothly over your palms, adjustible by strap belts near the wrists.
You couldn't take a long time to make a decision; you donned the gift and tightened it; nodding a thanks in the Captain's direction.
'You ain't heard of the witch, Rowena?' Benjamin posted.
You assessed him for his suddenness but you kept up the gossip. 'The Scottish-bred witch. Heard her son, Crowley's been lusting after the throne of Hell.'
'It keeps getting empty,' Benny said. 'Do you know why?'
The Harvelle legacy had the reputation of being the family that had killed most of Hell's Kings. None of the Harvelle ancestors held a candle to the latest Leader though, the Firstborn of South America, wife to a Celeste Middleton who went by the name of Charlie Bradbury for personal reasons.
Somehow you doubted Benny's intention was to praise a Human Leader.
'I have a feeling you will tell me,' you said.
'Rowena, tired of all the fighting, cursed the factions that ousted her. Said the humans had the decency to see grey areas, they were the only ones who treated her nice—she lent them a boon that an era will come where all the Leaders—'
'—will finish the world of all their enemies,' breathed out Selina, her eyes slightly wide with fear and curiosity. 'They're just myths. Rumours. There's no prophecy as such.'
'Then why do you think Rowena won't let her son ascend?' he countered.
You chose to believe your teammate over the vampire. 'Is there a point to this fable, Captain? I would think a rational mons—man,' you caught yourself, 'would know better.'
'I do know better. Just thought I'd let you know why I'm in your corner,' he said, raising his hands meaningfully. 'Even if I'm only a monster.'
Your eyes flared when he called you out. But you focused on what he meant: that he would help your faction asever he could.
The prophecy was the tale of woe of the witch that was currently the most powerful one in the world. Ages old, when she'd been starting out in dark magic, people and factions had kicked her about, inflicting various cruelties on her. Only some humans helped her. Rowena swore vengeance. When she grew into her witchiness, she formulated a prophecy that was never written down, only heard, and in the chinese whispers of these repeated lines, it was highly unclear what had been said. The gist was: twelve Leaders of a time would be successful in ending the other factions - it would be the era of the wars ending. But it would come at a great cost, at the cost of . . . well, that part had never been clear.
Before you could scoff to Benny's ridiculous gesture, you were interuppted by the call of your name. Climbing up the steps, huffing and puffing was your publicist. In tow—you frowned with annoyance—was her wife, Aurora - a hunter who enlisted for your little army to be with her only living family, Layla.
'It doesn't boost the morale of your entourage if you break rules!' she began with a scold. It was her belief that breaking rules would provoke vampires, and cause a fight.
Your annoyance deepend. 'If you'll please excuse us, Captain.'
Benny walked away, more out of respect, you felt - for all vampires had heightened senses, it was moot to wish to not be overheard on a ship infested with that kind. Unless, of course, you found some soundproof hideouts.
'Mrs Stun,' you addressed Lay with a forced smile, 'it's too hard to please you.'
'Not if you try,' Aurora muttered.
Lay was lightly tanned, but Aurora had a bit of a darker complextion. Lay was closer to your age than her wife was, and in the eyes of Aurora, you were still largely a child to be given the reins of an entire continent.
Aurora had been a loyal soldier of your father's. Her only motif to have joined your (far less important, according to her) ranks was to be closer to her wife. Short-distance relationships barely functioned in this dog-eat-dog world, long-distance fell out of question for most couples. Hell, you could probably count the number of couples on one hand's fingers that functioned on long-distance here. Soulmates were a far more common concept than that.
Love for her wife didn't stop Aurora from hating your methods though. Or your age, or attitude, or face . . . everyone gets the picture.
Lay warned her wife with a glance. 'Forgive her, Lady Y/N. The sea makes her crabby.'
'No mind paid. Mrs Stun,' you said, turning to Aurora, a bit stiffly. 'Would you be a dear and escort Ms Doll back down? I feel she's had quite the nightly adventure, don't you? Your lovely wife and I will probably just be talking shop.'
Aurora pursed her lips. She hated you, but she couldn't defy your direct orders. You waited till they trailed out of earshot.
'Is there any reason why you are out of safety, Mrs Stun?' you asked.
She threw a glance around, and took you to the edge of the ship, on the starboard side. She lowered her voice to a whisper. 'They declined our invitation,' Lay was indignant.
Your brow hooked upwards before a smile of understanding and mischief spread. 'Leaders, Winchester?'
'You don't have to be so happy about it,' she said, glaring lightly.
'I can try,' you said, although you made no effort at all to hide your grin.
She sighed. 'I know you like to do things your way, and you don't like being marketed as marriage material, but ties with the older Winchester might seal you a permanent spot.'
'Shut up.'
She frowned, 'That's no tone to take with your—'
'No, I mean it, Mrs Stun, shut up.'
Even from this distance, you could hear it. Your eyes grazed the sky, but it was a no moon night, just the black beauty that was littered with endless untouchable angelic stars. Your eyes scanned the horizons next; on the port side, it was just a smidge from here, but it was growing in size. Mrs Stun followed your orbs to the black outline. And she heard it then too—the howls. Strong, blood-stirring, snarling and snapping howls. You gripped her arm, gentle but firm.
'Alert the troops. Prepare the battalions and wear your armours. Bar the civilians somewhere safe. Do not engage until I tell you to - I'll see if the vampires can scare them off.'
Lay rushed before you, almost sprinting across the deck and disappearing below. You ran up to the other side, up the topmost deck, where you'd seen Benny retreat, at the ship's wheel. He was flanked by two soldiers who were chattering nervously.
'Captain—'
'I see them,' he said grimly, cutting you off. 'Purebloods. Rare to come by, but rarer would be the ships that live to tell the tale.'
'Any way we can outrun them?'
'They are the elite. Better ships, more knots. They'll catch up eventually.'
If you couldn't have flight . . . 'So we fight.'
His lips curled into a sneer. 'We?'
Your eyes flashed in anger. 'They are elite purebloods, do you think they'll leave you when they hear that you've been sheltering humans? Elite hates accomplices as much as their criminals.'
'We did it for the blood supply,' he explained. 'No skin off our neck.'
A thrill of horror crossed your features, but it was masked by anger. 'Mark my words, Captain - even if one of us survives, which we will - they'll take down the whole bloody ship. Some of you may die by the werewolves - all of you will die at our hands.' You squared yourself, eyes glittering with malice, 'Besides, if you really want to be on the "winning side" from the prophecy, earn it.' You turned about on your heel, hearing him curse under his breath; you throw over your shoulder, 'Tear pieces of your cloth and tie them around your right wrist - that way my kind would know not to kill you!'
Flying down the stairs, you took a sharp turn, through the door. The soldiers had filtered out into the corridor waiting for further instructions. Boa, your burly and taciturn personal bodyguard handed you an azure napkin, the color of Europe. You tied it around your right wrist, armoring up with Boa's aide.
'All right, Hunters,' you said. 'Werewolves. Purebloods. Silver. It is our job to make sure none of them reach the Commons.' (It was the slang your lot used for civilians.) You inserted the silver magazine in your gun that Boa had carried up. He also handed you a bow and a thick set of arrows, all headed with silver. Lastly, you were given two long silver daggers that you tucked against your ankles by tying them with a thin wire.
'Try to not be cornered against the ship walls,' the chief of your army, Baz, said. Baz had always been a people's person.
Boa was the one with a long scar running down from his shoulder to the tips of his left hand's fingers. It was how you usually distinguished between the twin brothers.
'Werewolves can swim, so throwing them overboard will only buy you time,' Baz revised.
'Pass around three vials of silver to the close-combaters - poison for last resort,' you said, gazing at the back of the crowd that was near the back door. The last woman there nodded and headed back down for the poison.
'Do we have a number?' grunted Boa.
You shook your head. 'But the vampires seemed scared.'
'Great,' Baz muttered, meaning it. The man thrived on danger. It was one of the reasons why you chose him.
'They're good for nothing,' the surlier twin said. 'Kill them, too.'
You gave him a look. 'Not unless they aren't on our side,' you tapped your cloth. 'Check for their loyalties. Furthermore, I would advise an element of surprise but—'
'Those dogs have probably already sniffed us out,' Boa completed. 'Do we have access to the cannons?'
'You have permission to collaborate with them on it, and take over if unhelpful,' you said.
Baz ordered a handful of soldiers to do that, they left into an adjacent room where the servant quarters were.
'Remember the aim isn't to win,' you affirmed, 'it's to get away. Do everything in your power to survive.'
Thirty vampires, many scores of werewolves, and about a hundred humans. Yet Mathematics failed you - it must be taking revenge for not being your favorite subject in school. Purebloods would not have been how you first introduced the new members of your army to the world, surely not one who seemed to have two centuries' worth of ancestry to back up their bestial habits.
The wolves were ripping into the skin of any human they could sink their teeth into, gobbling them up because they thought that converted werewolves were a disgrace. And from the carcasses, they took bones to play - as if it was some reward for "cooking" their own food. It disgusted you how much saliva they had brought to the ship's floor in just under half an hour.
One of your guns was already lodged in a werewolf that was now being stamped under furious and sparring footsteps. It was after you took a good six and a half down with its bullets.
You were shooting arrows from your vantage at the werewolves trying to get on the deck with the mast where you are, with nine other sharpshooters weeding out the tougher werewolves from a distance.
At least the vampires had worn the indicative cloths around their hairy wristbones.
Benny was dropping heads right and left, in the centre of the war on the level below you. Scully was ripping off heads with his bare teeth, a fearsome sight.
You notched three arrows to kill three on the other end of the ship, it was aimed a little higher to account for the wind. The bowstring went taut, and you released them, not waiting to see if they hit - knowing already that they had, if not killing, at least maiming - saving an eighteen-year-old on your team.
Your bleeding palms may hinder your close-combat, but they wouldn't fail you in your shooting.
You were taking one such aim when the floor under your feet slipped out with a large blast. You jumped to grab the railing as the wood under your feet crumbled and caved into the lower level.
Fucking cannons.
You strained to pull yourself over the railing and to drop on the other side of it - right on top of a werewolf that was trying to scramble away from the falling floor. You didn't have time (or courage) to see how many soldiers had been lost to that blast. You plunged the arrow in your hand through the brain of the monster, landing on your feet as it fell dead on its knees, between your legs.
You had to unsheath your daggers since you'd fallen where the close-combat was taking place. You aimed for their kneecaps, dodging their claws and teeth, even if your hair and shoulders did get snagged a fair number of times.
You soon realized that the werewolves weren't subsiding - no matter how many you killed. Your eyes found a plank and several ropes had been brought as connectors between the ships. Any vampire who tried to thwart that bridge was instantly overpowered by a group who stood guard on this ship, welcoming more of their members that never seemed to end.
You knew that if it weren't for the humans, the vampires would've easily lost by now.
'Boa!' you yelled. You signaled for the bridge, asking for cover.
He came to your side to swiftly slash the werewolves who came at you. You firmed your feet in your place, shooting at the five guards at that distance. As you killed the first two, and severely injured a third - the remaining two dodged out of the way. When they noticed you, they ran for you.
You ducked under a sparring couple of a vampire and a werewolf, sidestepped a dead human, and then used your momentum to strike your dagger through the left arm of the fourth guard, and into his heart. The last one tackled you to the ground, its jaws snapping way too close to your face.
The stench made you cringe, there were bits of skin in his bloody teeth. You locked your arms to keep his torso away from yours, struggling to keep him away with your weaker upper body even if the monster on you was only of a medium build.
Boa saved your ass. He swung his weapon in a powerful swing, and it was all you could do to shut your eyes and mouth tightly as the blood poured over you. You kicked the body off you, taking your bodyguard's hand to stand upright before he had to leave you to combat another wolf that threw itself in your direction.
You proceeded to the bridge to finish your job. You slaughtered the wounded guard. You kicked the bridge away, causing the four wolves on it to flail, and make a wide grasp for the ship. Two fell into the ocean, one caught the ledge, the other hanging onto the first one's pants.
The wind knocked out of you when a wolf threw itself on your back and your ribs must've bruised under the force with which you slammed into the ship's edge. Your remaining dagger followed the two wolves into the water, disappearing between the churning of the two ships. You bent forward on reflex when its breath came too close to your neck, his chest was to your back.
The heel of your shoes pinned through the right foot of the werewolf who yowled. Your elbow hit his chest, then his nose. It was thrown off of you. You extracted your first dagger from the werewolf guard you'd previously killed, in which time the one attacking you now, advanced on you again. You lodged your weapon in its ample belly that spurted blood. You coerced the knife up to his heart.
A new hand grappled for your shoulder, and you were pulled against the ledge again with a grunt. This time, your kidneys took the hit. The teeth of the wolf that had managed to halfway pull itself up the ledge was next to your ear. You whipped out an arrow and slammed it down into his hand. You bent down to pick your bloody dagger from the werewolf corpse and whipped around to plung it into his heart; following that you pulled the arrow holding him to the ship back out again.
The two hanging werewolves fell. The live one let loose a loud whine.
'Dogs,' you rolled your eyes.
Cannons had been blasting at regular intervals from both sides. The aims from their vessel was abysmal, and your team of humans had had a better chance of hurting their ship more, so there would be no chase when you got rid of these monsters.
But they did have a few good hits.
This particular one, which was just blasted, hurtled across the night sky with the faintest of whizzes and crashed into the tallest mast that you'd been trying to climb earlier.
Your eyes widened, and a gasp left the wolf who had you in a deadlock. You used its distraction to your advantage. You head slammed the bitch, and left her strong arms that had been choking you. You took two arrows out and speared both of her thighs. This didn't happen without a jarring blow to your stomach from her punch that brought blood to your mouth. But her shriek hid your groan.
You didn't have time to catch your breath. You had to jump out of the way of the mast that was careening your way, ready to bury you at the sea. Your legs were saved by inches when the thing toppled over the side of the ship. The bitch you'd maimed at the thighs wasn't as lucky and was made into a pancake.
Almost everyone aboard was lucky that it didn't fall on the inside of the ship where most of the battle was (you were sure that had been the intention of the werewolves when they had aimed for the mast) - it damaged a bit of your ship, yet it mostly, and most joyously, fell towards the other ship; the lovely irony: their ship was naturally lowered in height, making the mast tip in that direction, and in your favor.
Their ship buckled with a satisfying crunch of wood. The mast now forming the new bridge between the two ships. You hoped your soldiers would blast it soon so the werewolves stop coming over.
Before you could slide over the round wood, and back into the main fight, a large dog headbutted you. You fell on your butt, close to where the railing had been before it got destroyed, thanks to the fallen mast. Your left elbow absorbed most of the impact, the sea spraying your face when you came close to dropping off the edge.
Your attention was more fixated, however, on the actual wolf.
It was true that pureblood werewolves could access their powers anytime, but to turn into an actual wolf was a rare gift.
It pounced; you rolled away and onto your feet.
The mast had created a separate slice of battle. Only two other pairs were fighting here except you: Mrs Stun versus a werewolf, and a skinny vamp who was clawing out his werewolf's heart.
The vampire, noticing the wolf, sneered in hatred.
The wolf was distracted from you for a second. The vampire launched itself at the animal who cleverly sidestepped and caught the vampire's waist betwixt its maws.
Your mouth actually fell ajar when the wolf bit the vampire so hard that its body snapped into two. Color you surprised, this was something extremely hard to do. You knew wolves like these were powerful - it didn't induce you with confidence upon witnessing just how much.
It didn't bother to eat the vampire, gagging in disgust - they mostly had a taste for humans, and vampires who were technically dead humans, might've tasted like decaying food to it.
Its yellow lamplike slitted eyes turned to Aurora, the hunter wife of the Stun family; before it turned to you. With your left elbow injured after that fall, your hand hadn't stopped quivering; you had one arrow aligned which weakly skittered away to the mast's side because the wolf dodged it without much effort.
It used that jump to keep speeding towards you. It couldn't sink its teeth in you as it had planned because you had swayed your weight onto your right leg as you swiveled, barely keeping your balance; its claws did scrape superficial wounds on your skin, across your left hip though.
You re-slung your bow, no point without your useless left hand; and went for your quiver. Your hand clasped around four arrows - all that you had left. You took one out, gripping it tight in your dominant hand.
You knew you couldn't battle this one for long - it would take too much energy. Attack wasn't an option either if that vamp was a good example. Yet defense took too long sometimes - you could be dancing around with this beast till God knows when.
You took a step in the opposite direction for every step it took towards you. The prowl of the animal seemed casual, almost lazed. Then, it did something that almost made you drop your weapon out of shock.
'You must be the head bitch,' he talked.
You scoffed with false bravado. 'Great. A talking fucking wolf - just when I thought you dogs couldn't find more ways to whine.'
Its lips twisted into a smile that was surreal on a wolf. It must be a Pureblood Alpha with a fucking gift of shapeshifting. Alphas can talk in their wolf form, you knew, but you'd never seen one. The rumors had been from so long ago that you thought that they were just that - whispers of the fucking wind.
'Mock all you want,' the deep mesmerizing voice purred. It both fascinated you and frightened you. 'I can hear that heart pounding away like a friggin' hummingbird's - it'll be so delicious with all those hormones.'
'Creep,' your nose scrunched, walking in circles still. As you often did, you changed topics. 'Tell me, how'd you even find us out, huh? It's not like we didn't do a damn good job of concealing ourselves.'
'You don't know who you are, do you? The final piece,' he spat, an almost grimacing smirk fixed on his face. 'Couldn't let you preside Europe and ruin the world, could we?'
Your brows furrowed. 'Did Captain Laffitte call you?' you asked the most pressing question, though you had many.
The answering snarl meant "no". 'That vampire is a traitor to our faction,' it growled, its claws digging into the strong wood threateningly. 'Transporting humans, what a crime! I'll kill him when I'm finished with you.'
'Boy, do I feel special,' you smiled sarcastically, stopping in your tracks. 'Though, you won't be able to keep your word—you won't live past me, dude.'
As expected, his ego was hurt - you can expect that from a person so gifted, who felt so invincible. A person who was egoistic enough to underestimate you, and give you time to think.
It pounced once more and you didn't duck down until it was inches away. You had walked enough so that the mast had been against your back; the werewolf's snout crashed into the wood.
You had turned on the balls of your soles at the last minute so that your back had been to his front. Your hand had shot up and the arrow nicked a long line along his chest and down to the crotch. When he fell due to gravity, the arrow snapped in half, and the lower half of its body took you down with it. Your quiver dug painfully into your back - it wasn't your biggest problem though - you were suffocating under its heavy abdomen.
You punched at its legs and joints (the weakest points) vigorously till it rolled off you, and trembling, stood to its feet.
He snapped its teeth at your face. Your hair missed his bite by inches. The twig in your hand which had been the lower half of your arrow, you shoved it into the monster's mouth - it stuck painfully between his teeth even if he snapped it like a toothpick.
It gave you time to put some distance and retrieve another arrow; one seemed to have slipped out of our quiver when you were getting up, so only two were left with you.
Even weakened due to heavy bleeding, the Alpha of this pack was quick to attack. It swiped at your legs; you came down with an elbow to its brain which seemed to hurt you more than him because it was your left one. You twirled on the ground with your uninjured hand and jabbed the arrow in its left eye.
It howled in pain. Maybe you imagined it, but it felt like the voices of the battle seemed to slow down at the sound - as if the wolves sensed something was wrong with their Alpha.
Your intuition proved right when, out of your periphery, you saw heads turning in your direction - for which some wolves got killed.
You stamped the arrow down further in its face, gritting in effort. Even then, the wolf wasn't dying.
You pulled the arrow from his eye to make it painful for him and then swung a foot over its prone form, straddling it's back; you were facing the rest of the ship this way, and it was almost as if your enemies were holding their breath for your next move. You pulled the wolf up by its ear, his fur matted with claret; it was with struggle, bringing him into a chokehold with your throbbing left hand, your arrow poised at its heart for everyone to rue their day about.
'Whine, won't you?' your British accent curled your words into a certain menacing sweetness. 'I'll allow it this once.' Your arrow pierced his heart, the crimson fluid spouting from his chest and flooding into your palm.
The wolves howled as if it were a military salute.
You slumped as all of them ran like rats from the ship, using the mast to cross over because you heard people from their ship shout orders about retreating. The humans slouched back, relieved; so did the vampires. (Boa tried to stab as many as he could with his silver sword as they were trying to flee.)
You dragged yourself away from the fallen mast. Without imminent danger, your body started screaming about all the pains it had endured, that it had kept quiet about till now. Like pangs, your brain was being sent impulses of all the places that hurt, and all the degrees that it hurt in.
Broken ribs, sore back, left hand and elbow throbbed, cuts on hip, bruised stomach, bloody mouth - and so many more little tales your body had to tell. You were also tired - you needed water and sleep.
You took a deep breath, compartmentalizing all your pain, and already prioritising the order you would take care of yourself in. This was a habit you picked after having been through many wars like this before - never so intense, but wars nevertheless.
You also glanced around to take stock of your people; making plans in your head for the next few hours. Selina and her small group of doctors would have their work cut out.
Speaking of, the civilians were meekly peeking out.
You used the broken railing behind your back to slowly pull yourself up but almost fell back down when you heard a scream of dismay.
'AURORA!'
Her yell seemed to set everyone in motion. With cries, people started rushing to their deceased family members or the wounded ones.
You blinked in surprise as Lay came running, pushing her fellow humans aside - and that's when you finally see it.
Mrs Stun was being dragged away by her leg by the werewolf she had been fighting. She was being viciously stamped on because of all the hurried footsteps and the mad struggle. The werewolf who carried her was weak, and you saw the symptoms of being poisoned on his skin - the werewolf was avenging its posioned self by dragging an unconscious Aurora away. (At least you hoped she was unconscious.)
A coil of guilt made itself known, and you mentally cursed yourself for not paying attention to her when she'd been so close to you. She had been on your side of the mast.
You leaped to your feet, using your last arrow to aim. Your hand shook violently; you gripped the round bodice of your bow that much tighter. With careful aim, and ignoring the cries of Lay Stun who was being held back by the twins now, you shot your very last shot.
Your heart fell as your arrow fell into the ocean - missing its mark by inches. Still, there was a surprised bark from the poisoned wolf, and you noted one of your soldiers - Rory, also an archer - hadn't failed unlike you. The poisoned wolf toppled off the mast.
With a distressed yell, Lay broke free of her binds, and climbed the mast, pushing the werewolves into the sea - whoever came in her way - not that they were paying her much mind either. They all just wanted to escape to their ship before it left without them, all of them were mindless now with their Alpha gone.
So, there, in the middle of the makeshift bridge, Lay kneeled next to her wife.
There was another horrible blast, and a cannon had shot through the centre of the mast - it had been one of your shooters, probably hoping to break the mast in two and let the deadweight fall into the massive waters.
Sure enough, with the distance between ships growing, the hole in the mast was splintering into something larger as well. At this rate, the Stun family would either fall into the ocean or sail away with the werewolves.
You jumped onto the mast, your heels clicking loudly. Boa and Baz came after you. You all were effectively standing above the ocean as the wood cracked quickly under your feet - an ocean filled with werewolves who were trying to either swim to their ship or simply stay afloat. Even if your side of the mast was steady, you found yourself worried for Lay.
'Lay!' you yelled over the terrible sound of wood breaking. 'Give me your hand!'
'We have to bring her, Y/N!' she sobbed, holding the face of her lover in her lap. 'She still has a pulse.'
Almost unwillingly, your eyes darted to the multiple bite marks on the leg that Aurora had been dragged with.
'She needs help!' Lay didn't seem to be getting it.
'Please come over,' you urged. 'We'll see about her!'
'What do you mean!?' she shrieked. 'I'm not going anywhere until you help her!'
Boa, uncomfortable, mumbled to you. 'Aurora's infected, Lead.'
Your lips pursed. You extended your intact arm, 'Lay, please. The mast won't hold long.'
Her eyes wildly scanned yours. 'Take her, then! I'll come after her!'
'Lay, your wife made a choice. For this continent,' you said. 'For these wars! Let her sacrifice not be in vain—'
'What do you know about sacrifices?!' she screeched. Your lips parted in surprise; you'd never been talked to like that, not by Layla. 'What do you know about love!? You either take her, or you leave me!'
You took a step forward, hands raised placatingly. 'Lay—'
With a terrifying lurch, the wood gave away. You didn't think when you jumped forward, letting Boa figure out how he was to keep you alive - your outstretched hand grasped Lay, more than half of your body hanging out. But you were anchored. Your thighs were pinned under someone's weight - and you had a feeling that it was Boa, who must also have been held by several people behind him.
It was a good thing too because you wouldn't have been able to stay aboard under the weight of both the Mrs Stuns; Lay was clutching Aurora by the wrist.
'We can't hold long!' came a yell from Baz. 'It'll fall soon.' True enough, the mast was dangerously teetering on the edge.
'Lay, reconsider!' you said. 'You'll lose your life! Do you think she'd want that?'
'Stop talking about her as if she's dead already!' she growled, much like the wolves had been. You could see her straining, hanging like that, her lover's hand slipping slowly because she wasn't strong enough, and another hand stretched painfully in yours. She was clinging to your azure cloth, her long manicured nails digging into your skin painfully.
You saw her do another thing you never had: Lay Stun was crying.
'Lay—!'
'You don't,' her breath hitched. 'You don't know what she wanted!'
The ship groaned, tilting with the mast. You reinforced your grip, aided with your smarting left hand.
'And you don't know what I want,' she sobbed.
'We can talk about this, back on the ship!'
'No!' she yelled. 'You don't get it . . . y-you don't get—!' She gasped when her slick hands slid further out of your leather gloves. The azure around your wrist grew an unsteady knot.
'I love the work, Y/N,' she said, determined. She met your eyes. 'Pardon me if I couldn't marry it.' It felt more like an accusation than an admission.
She wildly jerked her palm away, your azure cloth unhinging from your wrist and falling with both the Mrs Stuns.
You were pulled off the mast to safety (you couldn't put up much fight against Boa), the mast was pushed into the sea by a hoard of vampires who had survived - before the mast could take you all down into the treacherous waters.
You felt dazed, glued to the starboard side of the ship, watching as the monsters helped the mighty ocean drown your teammate and her family by eating them.
The war had shown it's true colours again; you couldn't help the anger as you watched the blood infested waters getting smaller and smaller in the distance. You had left your friend, quite literally, to the wolves.
Selina was slammed; her group of doctors and the civilians aided her. About sixty humans fell under urgent care, the rest were managable for a while, twenty were dead (inclusive of the ones Boa had to execute because they were bitten). All the vampires were on standby (only eight of them died) - because, well, they were self-healing - they would be seen after the humans were taken care of, if they would even need it then.
You were an orange case. Betwixt the code red and the look-after-yourself-because-you-know-that-much group.
So there you sat, doing a mediocore job of bandaging the wound on your side, and making a sling for your left hand that could be a good joke for the team of doctors some day who were giving you a distressed side-glance everytime they saw you now. To be fair, they were giving everyone in your orange group that look.
You didn't stare back, unable to care about your state right now. Your eyes were fixed on your thoughts where the scene that conspired tonight was playing on a loop. There was a lump in your throat which was as heavy as the mast must have been - the reality seemed as unreliable as climbing that fucking pole.
'Lady Y/N,' called the grave voice of your chief of army. Baz awkwardly stood to the side, his voice low for your ears only. 'Um, do you want to address the crowd? The grievers? Um, Lay would usually, uh—' he shuffled uncomfortably. 'I can do it, but it's better if it comes from someone of higher in the hierarchy.'
You ran a hand through your hair which was a guise to press your palm into your eyes so that it could absorb the tears that were welling up.
I love the work, Y/N, her voice bounded within the confines of your head.
You stood up with a deep breath that pulled you straight on your heels, fully composed - yet with an empathetic mask that the survivors will want.
'Of course,' you said. 'This job shall fall on my shoulders.'
Pardon me if I couldn't marry it, Lay had blamed. Yeah, well, fuck that.
She doesn't have to marry the work because you already have. And marraiges need sacrifices - Lay and Aurora would have to be the first morsel from your personal life to this burning pyre that is your planet.
A/N: Talk about a toxic relationship, eh 🫤? Ah, anyways, who's ready to get their Dean on in Chapter 3 👀?
Tag List.
@hobby27 @stoneyggirl2 @globetrotter28
#dean winchester#spn fandom#spnfamily#storiesfrommyvault#supernatural#dean winchester angst#dean winchester fanfiction#dean winchester x reader#dean winchester x y/n#dean winchester x you#dean x you#dean x reader#dean x y/n#The Supernatural Wars#English Dean Winchester#English Reader#spnfamliy#spn x you#spn#supernatural soulmates#dean winchester soulmate#royal au#royalty#soulmate au#soulmates#dean
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I Think I Smell A Rat (FNAF SB fanfic) C2 - Maybe Just ONE Game
In Summary:
Being a robotic repair rat who lives in the walls of the pizza-plex is a pretty great gig, all things considered! You fix the wires instead of chew them, and you get into tight spaces those silly humans can't reach and fix things up behind the scenes. You do your little tasks diligently, and all is well. That is, until one night when you realize all of your other repair rat friends have gone missing, and almost all of those animatronics outside the walls are acting strange... You aren't sure what it is that needs fixing, but by golly you'll fix it! You just might need a little help along the way...
Things To Know:
Not a lot of warnings for this one! There is some peril and danger, damage to robots, and damage to. Uh, whatever the heck Afton is at this point??
Reader insert! You're a little rat shaped robot a handful of inches long. Lots of borrower-related themes in here
Daycare attendant centered, though the other animatronics make brief appearances. You hang out with Sun in the first half of the story and Moon in the second half!
A little over 17000 words in total, just a lil guy! 5 chapters, they're all pretty short
I somehow managed not to swear once in the entire story, aw hell yeah! Wait-
Ao3 link: Here!
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
C2 - Maybe Just ONE Game
It wasn’t long before you and Sun ran into trouble. You’d just made your way back out of the walls, having turned the lights on to the corridor ahead, when you heard Sun cheerfully greet someone else.
Sun bounced excitedly. “Roxanne Wolf!! Wow wow it’s so nice to see you! You hardly ever visit the daycare except for birthdays. How are you?!”
Roxanne stalked across the funky carpet floor. Her walking animation was off, slow and jerky, like she was having trouble pathfinding properly. You stood cautiously next to the port leading back into the walls. Neither bot had seen you emerge just yet.
Sun noticed Roxy’s strange walk as well. “Uh oh, are you feeling okay??”
Roxy didn’t reply, but her gaze fixed intently on Sun. She lifted her arms, as if to grab Sun, now only a few paces away. Those claws of hers looked menacing, but you knew they were just fancy guitar picks. All the animatronics had them except for Sun, so they could pluck the strings of their instruments despite their massive metal fingers.
“Oh, do you want a hug?! I’d love a hug!! We can hug!” Sun excitedly threw his arms out for a big hug.
Roxy raised a hand, winding back as if to strike. You realized that striking Sun was actually exactly what she meant to do, and you panicked.
“SUN.” You darted forwards, waving your flashing tail.
This got the attention of both bots. Roxy paused a moment away from heaving a clawed hand down at Sun to fix her intimidating gaze on you instead.
“RUN,” you quickly told Sun, already darting back towards the wall.
Sun seemed to have realized that Roxy was not actually about to give him a hug. “This is NOT how we treat our friends, Roxy!!” Sun yelled as he ran.
You were very suddenly plucked clean off the ground. After a moment of terror wondering if Roxy had been closer behind you than you’d realized, you noticed between the pathfinding warnings that the metal fingers around you were yellow, and did not have any claws. They were also cradling you very carefully. After a moment of disorientation and hurriedly dismissing warnings, you poked your head out between Sun’s fingers to see Sun had made it through the door into the next corridor and was trying to close the door behind him via the control panel next to the door.
Roxy made it to the door a moment later. She punched the control panel on her side of the door, and the door slid back open.
Sun immediately hit the controls again, and the door slid closed. Roxy and Sun went back and forth, and after a moment you remembered why Roxy couldn’t just jump through. All the bots were programmed to wait until a door was completely open to step through, as a safety feature. Sun and Roxy were locked in a cycle of opening and closing the door, Roxy unable to get through and Sun unable to move away without letting the door open.
You quickly wiggled out of Sun’s hand and scurried across his arm. Your little claws clung very well to the fabric of Sun’s pants as you climbed down to the ground.
“Tiny friend, where are you going??” Sun asked.
“Closing the door,” you quickly flashed before darting into the walls.
You made your way up to the door controls. Once you reached them, you paused, realizing this wouldn’t be quite as easy as you’d thought. There were active signals constantly transmitting back and forth as Sun and Roxy opened and closed the door. In order to rewire the door shut, you’d need to time your move carefully. Your little paws were insulated, so it wasn’t a shock you were worried about. But if the mechanism detected an active charge going through a severed wire before you could connect it again, the whole thing would shut off as a safety feature to prevent sparks and a potential fire, and the door would be stuck open by default, leaving Sun to face Roxy with no easy escape.
You timed it out carefully. You had an opening a few milliseconds long between signals, so long as Sun and Roxy kept up the same pattern. You were fast, but you weren’t sure if you were that fast. You’d never had to reconnect a wire under a time limit before.
Focusing on your internal timer, you set your teeth on the wires you needed to sever and waited…
Now.
Snip! And then an instant motion of paws twisting as fast as you could make them go, and then…
Silence.
You weren’t sure if the controls didn’t have any more signals going through it because the other bots had stopped pressing the buttons or because you hadn’t been quick enough. The path back out of the walls was much longer than you remembered it being.
You leapt through the port and back into the corridor where you’d left Sun.
“Tiny friend!!” Sun knelt down in front of you, his rays swaying happily.
The door was closed. Roxy was stuck on the other side. You’d done it.
You collapsed with relief, flopping over on the ground.
"You did such a good job!! Thank you so much." Sun reached out and gave your little head a pat. "I'm not sure what's gotten into our friend Roxy, she's not usually… well. She can be mean sometimes, but she would NEVER hit anyone!!"
"Something is wrong…" You were beginning to worry about your fellow robotic rat friends. Maybe Roxy or even another bot got to them… but why would nearly all of them be missing?? At the least there would be total system shutdown pings on the network and a last known location from the downed rats. But the network was still quiet.
Sun hugged his knees and tapped his pointy shoes on the ground. His sun rays slowly retracted into his head. "What do you think is making Roxy feel sick? That's it, right? She's just not feeling herself! Usually she loves to talk, but she didn't say a thing earlier! If she's sick, that means you or someone else could fix her, right?? You can fix things, you're really good at fixing things!"
Your reply was hesitant, somewhat quiet. Not in volume of course, but your tail light was a bit dimmer than normal as you blinked out a reply. "I don’t know how to fix Roxy. I do not even know what is wrong with her. Repair rats were not designed to interact with you animatronics, so all I know is what I have learned from observing over the years."
"Oh." Sun's face plate turned briefly to the door. After a moment, he looked back down at you. "You would help fix her if you could, right?"
You replied honestly. "Yes. If I knew what to do and was capable of doing it, I would. It’s my job to repair, my nature."
Sun nodded. "Would you help me figure out how to help Roxy? After we find your friends, of course!" Sun suddenly straightened. "Oh!! Do you think whatever made Roxy sick also made your friends sick??"
You considered that for a moment. If it was some kind of bug or even a virus making Roxy act the way she had, you supposed anyone connected to the main network could have accidentally been infected. Every bot in the building, even the wet floor sign bots, had to connect to the main network at least every once in a while for system updates. "I think it is possible. If it was a virus, why are you and I not affected? Are the other animatronics affected as well, or just Roxy? More information will likely lead to a solution."
"Yeah! So how do we learn more?? If the others are acting like Roxy too, it might be dangerous to ask them…"
"Maybe we can observe from far away. I'm good at that."
"Good idea! We can play pretend that we're spies on a secret undercover mission!!" Sun swung his arms around, doing a few karate chops.
"You can pretend if you want. I will just be me."
"Aww, but it would be fuuuuun!!" Sun slumped over dramatically, spinning his face at you. "You don't like to play, do you?"
"We do not have time to play." You realized then that you and Sun had been sitting around for five whole minutes, wasting time chatting. You started to scurry along, waving your tail at Sun to follow.
Sun sprang to his feet and easily kept pace with you. "We can play after the work is all done, right?? Once we find and fix all the friends and everything is okay?"
"Fine, fine. We can play later if you really want to so badly."
"YAY!!!" Sun cartwheeled past you, ending with a happy little hop. Well, as ‘little’ as a hop could be when the climax of the jump was more than thrice as tall as you. He crouched back down as you caught up and offered his hands out to you. "We'll have SO much fun, you'll see! We can play all kinds of games, you can even invite all your friends!!"
You climbed up into Sun's hands and imagined for a moment close to a hundred repair rats all sitting around a table together with Sun. The thought was amusing, even if you couldn't imagine what kind of game Sun would have that would host so many players. You couldn't really imagine any games at all, actually.
"I have never played a game before," you told Sun.
Sun stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at you. "Never?? Not ever?! Not even ONE game?!?"
"No."
"You- you don't ever have any fun?!"
"No."
You'd never been at all adept at understanding the expressions of the animatronics or the humans, and Sun's rigid unanimated face plate didn't emote at all anyways. However, Sun managed to make it transparently clear regardless that he was upset nearly to the point of tears. He was shaking and hunched over, and his rays had retracted all the way into his head, and he was making the most pitiful little sounds.
Sun straightened suddenly, still managing not to jostle you. "That simply will NOT stand. You can't just work work work all the time and never play! Gosh, how horrible!! I can't believe you've NEVER EVER played before even once!! We should play a game while we look, what do you say??"
"No time." You weren't sure why this had Sun so worked up. You needed to keep moving, there was work to be done, things to fix.
"We can play as we walk! Please please please?!"
Sun sounded like he might collapse in despair if you declined, and you sort of needed him to get around hastily. You begrudgingly agreed.
"Just ONE game. And we have to keep moving."
"Okay!!" Sun did another happy little hop and immediately started moving again, long strides carrying the two of you down the curving corridor. "Oh boy, your first game!! Okay okay, so this game is called I-Spy! It's easy, all you have to do is pick something you can see."
"Okay. I pick that plastic potted plant over there." You wiggled your nose in the direction of a decorative plant to Sun's left.
Sun giggled and shook his head. "No no, the game is that I have to guess what you've picked, silly! You can't tell me what it is unless I guess right!" Sun elaborated, explaining that the guesser would ask if items in the area, matching a brief description, were the item in question. "You can guess first, okay? Are you ready to give it a try?"
"Sure." You couldn't see how this 'game' could possibly be considered fun, but if it kept Sun moving, you would indulge him.
"Okay!! I spy with my little eye… something… red!" Sun declared.
You gazed around halfheartedly, looking down the corridor for red items. "Is it the red squares on the carpet?"
"Nope! Good guess, try again!"
"Is it… that vending machine?" you tried.
"No, not quite!"
You looked around again. What else was red around here? Your eyes were very good with color, even in low lighting, so that you could easily tell different wires apart. Finally, you spotted a poster near the end of the hall, depicting a few of the main animatronic characters performing together. The background of the poster was a bright red flowing curtain.
"Is it that poster at the end of the hall?"
"Yeah!! You got it! Wow, good job!" Sun cheered.
"I got it!" You held your head a little higher. You looked back at Sun, who was bouncing with every step as his sun rays swayed back and forth. "…Alright. I guess games are… nice."
Sun laughed. "They are!! Do you want to keep playing?"
"Yes."
You played I-Spy with Sun for a while. It was a very convenient game, since you were already keeping an eye out for your friends anyways. It even had the added bonus of helping you get more accustomed to using your eyes. You were, admittedly, having fun. You were even a little annoyed when you had to stop in order to get into the walls and turn on the lights for the next area. You had no idea that playing games and having fun could be so… so… you couldn't even describe it.
No wonder Sun had been so insistent on the games this whole time. Playing games was fun. Having fun made you happy. Oh- that's what it was. Happy, you were happy.
You weren't sure if you'd ever been happy before. Satisfied, maybe. You liked doing a good job and getting your tasks done and fixing things, that all felt good. Like a circuit board with all its neat little pieces lined up just right, everything wired up correctly. Happy was something close, but still almost entirely different. It was more like when a damaged rat finally returned to the nest after a long repair.
You couldn't complain. Of all the things you'd felt so far, this was considerably more enjoyable than some other things. Like physical damage, or buggy updates, the out of bounds error, or not being able to fix something and being unable to dismiss the task until it was fixed.
Sun paused, and you brought your full attention back to him. He was staring at a poster advertising the daycare, the hours of operation listed at the bottom.
"I hope we can get everything sorted soon. I know we've only been gone for an hour and a half, but I miss the daycare. I don't usually like to leave. Everything makes sense, and it feels cozy, I belong there! But this is really important." Sun sighed and slowly carried on.
You studied Sun for a moment. You felt the same way about being in the walls, and your charging nest. You were designed for the walls, built for that specific environment. Sun was built for the daycare.
You waved your tail, bringing Sun's attention back to you. "Sun. Thank you for helping me."
"Of course, tiny friend!" Sun carefully gave you a pat with a thumb.
You and Sun carried on. You'd turned on half the lights in the whole building at this point, and hadn't found any more answers.
Your luck finally changed however when you made it to the food court.
You'd been avoiding the area because the light controls were harder to get to and a bit more complicated. The whole space was quite large, and you'd have to leave Sun for a while in order to get to all the controls. There were three entire floors to activate the lights for, and that meant a lot of climbing for you. Not that you minded, you'd just been hoping you wouldn't have to spend so much time running around fixing lighting controls while your friends were all possibly in danger somewhere.
After figuring out all the lights for the food court, you quickly made your way back to Sun. You could tell he’d gotten worried by how long you’d been gone, and he was especially relieved to see you again.
Sun lifted the rolling shutter gate and carried you through into the food court. You were up on the second floor, surrounded by directories and benches and stroller corrals and vending machines. Sun crept up to the railing, whispering about sneaky spies.
You and Sun peered down into the brightly lit food court together.
There were several animatronics hanging out on the main floor. You could see Monty and Chica aimlessly ambling around the open crowd space in front of the big stage where they usually put on performances. Freddy was stalking slowly between rows of tables, occasionally bumping into the edge of a chair or table. You could see evidence of the gang’s poor pathfinding everywhere- toppled trashcans and downed fake plants.
It seemed Roxy was still wandering around somewhere in the halls behind you, since she seemed to be missing. You weren’t sure if you would prefer to have them all in one place or not.
Sun took a few steps back away from the rail. He crouched down and held you up closer to his face so he could whisper to you. “They all look like how Roxy looked. If everyone is sick, that means it wasn’t just a bug with Roxy…”
“It has to be some kind of virus. It must be in the main network if they all have it,” you reasoned.
“Oh dear, oh no.” Sun grabbed one of his rays with his free hand, pulling at it with worry. “This is no good. I’m glad I don’t have it too, I have to help you fix this!”
You still had no idea how to fix whatever this was. You had the beginnings of an idea, but you weren’t sure how good of a plan it was.
“I bet I don’t have it yet because I’m not on the network!! I’ve been in safe mode this whole time. I don’t like to connect to the network unless I have to, it’s too noisy!” Sun shook his head.
“Maybe I should put myself in safe mode too, just in case.” You had no plans to connect to the main network anytime soon, but you figured you should stay on the safe side anyways. You would be disconnected from the sub-network all the rats used to communicate too, but there was no one on that network anyways. You’d been checking every five minutes, to no avail.
“Good idea. So what do we do?? How can we fix everyone?” Sun asked.
“I have an idea, but I do not know how well it will work.”
“I’m sure it’s a great idea!! Besides, I don’t have any ideas at all.”
You sat back on your hind legs as you explained your idea, folding your two front paws together. Sun patiently and quietly watched your tail light blink out your plan.
“I do not think it is safe for either of us to contact the others directly. So in order to help them without being near them, my idea is to modify the charging stations around the building to set them to safe mode automatically once they enter for a charge. I can do the same with the charging nests in the walls for the other rats.”
“Ohhh that’s really smart!! Yeah, that’s a great plan, lets do that!” Sun excitedly shot to his feet. “I know where all the charging stations are! I’ll take you to the nearest one first!”
Sun was already moving before he’d even finished talking. You arrived in no time at all; the nearest station was just around the corner, by the entrance to the Roxy Raceway attraction.
“Can you set me on top of the station, please?” you asked.
Sun happily obliged, stretching his arm up high enough for you to climb atop the cylindrical chamber. You took a moment to marvel at the convenience of having an extremely tall friend- it would have taken you ages to climb up on your own. You dipped your tail back over the edge and flashed a thanks to Sun.
You heard Sun reply immediately. “You’re welcome, tiny friend!! Good luck!”
You turned your focus to the task at hand.
Changing the controls to set a charging animatronic to safe mode turned out to be more involved than you’d hoped. Not impossible, just difficult. There were a lot of safety features in place to keep anyone from tampering with the charging stations.
Sun shuffled around aimlessly while he waited, doing quiet gymnastics and poking at the surrounding decor.
You were almost finished, and had paused to glance up as Sun did a particularly impressive backwards flip, when you noticed motion behind Sun, on the stairs leading up from the main floor to the second.
“SUN.” You waved your tail frantically, getting Sun’s attention. “HIDE.”
Sun froze for a panicked moment, then quickly swiveled his head around, searching for a hiding spot. He dropped to the floor and quickly wiggled his way under a bench, and not a moment too soon.
Monty reached the second floor and turned to face you. You quickly scurried back away from the edge of the charging station. You could hear Monty’s heavy steps clomping closer, though you were pretty sure he hadn’t seen you. Monty must be coming to charge.
Moving quickly, you rushed to finished your work. You could use this as a test of sorts, to be sure putting the animatronics in safe mode worked before you and Sun wasted a lot of time and effort going around the entire building to alter as many charging stations as possible.
You finished your work in the nick of time. The door of the charging station slid shut, and you could hear the chamber whir to life. The door lock activated, and Monty entered rest mode.
Sun tentatively poked his head out from under the bench.
“Safe,” you assured.
Sun shimmied his way back out from under the bench. “That was a close call!” Sun wiped imaginary sweat from his brow and angled his face plate up towards you. “Did you do it?? Is it all fixed?”
You bobbed your head in the affirmative. “Yes, it should work. I think we should wait around and see if Monty is better.”
“Good idea! Then we’ll know if it made him feel better or not!” Sun reached up and offered you a hand. You hopped down into his hand.
Sun cupped you close to his chest and eyed the charging station. “It usually only takes me five to ten minutes to complete a charge. Do you think the glamrocks charge just as fast? Or maybe even faster??”
“I’m not sure,” you answered honestly. “I suppose we’ll find out.”
You and Sun waited patiently for the first minute, then impatiently for the next four.
"…He's still not done charging." Sun heaved a sigh and sat down heavily on the bench, hands still carefully cupped around you. He threw his face plate back dramatically and kicked his feet out.
"I bet it's ten minutes. Shouldn't be too much longer now, hopefully." You padded around impatiently in Sun's hands.
"We haven't seen any of your friends around. Where do you think they could be?" Sun wondered.
"I don't know… I'm worried." You half expected to see someone every time you went back into the walls to fix the lights, but the walls were strangely empty. Even if they had been infected by this virus that seemed to have infected most of the animatronics, surely they'd still at least be wandering around…?
"Aw, I'm sure we'll find them! Maybe they're all hanging out together somewhere? Maybe there was a really really big repair that needed doing somewhere and we just haven't found it yet!"
"Yeah, maybe." You pat a paw against Sun's palm appreciatively. "Thanks, Sun. And thank you again for helping me."
"Of course!! And thank YOU for helping ME with my friends too!" Sun nodded towards the charging station.
As if on cue, the charging station door suddenly hissed open, causing both you and Sun to start. Sun leapt to his feet as Monty stumbled out of the station.
"Monty!! Montgomery Gator, hi hi! How are you feeling?!" Sun asked.
Monty's attention snapped to Sun. His head twitched to the side, and he crouched slightly.
You got a very bad feeling just then, like an unexpected shock, too much electricity overloading your circuits.
"Sun-" you started to warn.
Monty sprang forwards, lunging at Sun with clawed hands outstretched.
Sun cried out and quickly spun around, hunching over you as his hands closed in tight around you. You felt a violent shudder and a horrible high pitched metallic scraping sound that sent an uncomfortable amount of grating feedback piercing through your audio processors.
"Ouchie," Sun whined.
Sun was moving, and you could barely see through the cracks between his fingers. He was running for the nearest door- luckily, you'd already been through the hallway beyond with Sun earlier and the lights were already on- and you could hear Monty in hot pursuit.
You could finally see again as Sun adjusted his hands, cradling you to his chest with one while the other hit the door controls. You were already moving after a brief moment of reorienting yourself. Monty and Sun went back and forth with the door controls as you darted into the walls.
You were moving as fast as your little legs would carry you. You knew Sun had to be damaged, but you hadn't been able to get a good look at him. You did your best to focus on the most pressing problem; getting this door shut so Monty couldn't hurt Sun again.
You could barely wait the milliseconds required between signals. You cut the wire and deftly reconnected it. All was still and far too quiet.
When you finally made it back out of the walls, Sun was sitting on the ground, his face plate turned all the way around so he could see the damage on the back of his casing. The door was closed, and you could hear Monty stomping around on the other side.
"Hi tiny friend," Sun said quietly, his face plate swiveling back around to look at you. "So ummm. There's good news and there's bad news."
You were already scurrying around Sun to look at the damage for yourself. Sun's face turned to follow you.
"The good news is that parts and service is really close by!" Sun said as you sat there and stared. "The bad news is that I need to get there pretty much as fast as physically possible."
There were three gashes in the metal near Sun's shoulder, right above and leading into where his casing had been entirely torn away. There were a lot of exposed and severed wires, as well as at least one support beam spanning the vertical length of his endoskeleton's spine that looked a breath away from snapping.
You finally snapped out of it and started quickly flashing your tail at Sun. "Do not turn to either side. Do not lift your left arm. Stand slowly and move quickly." You climbed up Sun's leg and scaled his scarf in order to get up onto his shoulder, so he wouldn't have to reach out and lift you.
Sun did as ordered, moving very carefully. You heard some concerning groaning, but nothing snapped. Sun made his way down the hall towards a 'Staff Only' door leading down into the access tunnels.
"Wowie, that sure is a lot of warning pings and damage errors!" Sun laughed nervously. His voice was strained and much higher pitched than usual.
"Keep moving. You'll be okay. I'll fix you."
Sun nodded. "My tiny friend is very good at fixing things."
"Right." You kept checking and double checking your internal clock. Time seemed to be moving a little too slowly as Sun made his way slowly but surely to parts and service.
#I think this was the longest chapter of all of them#teeny little story#eyndr tells a story#fnaf sb#fnaf sb au#fnaf sb fanfic#fnaf security breach#daycare attendant#security breach#fnaf moon#fnaf sun#fnaf daycare attendant#moondrop#sundrop#fnaf dca#tw violence#fnaf au i think i smell a rat#i think i smell a rat#fnaf y/n
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"You'll come back," Manon said.
It sounded like more of a threat than anything
Dorian smirked. "Would you miss me if I didn't?"
Manon didn't reply. He didn't know why he expected her to.
He'd taken all of a step, when Asterin clasped his shoulder. "In and out, quick as you can," she warned him. "Take care of Narene." Worry indeed shone in the Second's gold-flecked black eyes. Dorian bowed his head. "With my life," he promised as he approached her mount and grasped the dangling reins. He didn't fail to miss the gratitude that softened Asterin's features. Or that Manon had already turned away from him.
A fool to start down this path with her. He should have known better.
The hours that passed were some of the longest of Manon's existence.
From anticipation, she told herself. Of what she had to do.
Abraxos, unsurprisingly, found them within an hour, his reins sliced from the struggle he'd no doubt waged and won with Sorrel. He waited, however, beside Manon in silence, wholly focused upon the gate where Dorian and Narene had vanished.
Time dripped by. The king's sword was constant weight at her side. She cursed herself for needing to prove-to him, to herself-that she refused to let him go into Morath for practical, ordinary reasons. Erawan wasn't at the Ferian Gap. It'd be safer. Somewhat. But if the Matrons were there … That was why he'd gone. To learn if they were. To see if Petrah truly commanded the host there, and how many Ironteeth were present. He had not been trained as a spy, but he'd grown up in a court where people wielded smiles and clothes like weapons. He knew how to blend in, how to listen. How to make people see what they wished to see. She'd sent Elide into the dungeons of Morath, Darkness damn her. Sending the King of Adarlan into the Ferian Gap was no different.
It didn't stop her breath from escaping when Abraxos stiffened, scanning the sky. As if he heard something they couldn't.
And it was the joy that sparked in her mount's eyes that told her.
Moments later, Narene sailed toward them, making a lazy path over the mountains, a dark-haired, pale-skinned rider atop her. He'd truly been able to change parts of himself. Had made his face nearly unrecognizable. And kept it that way.
Asterin rushed toward the mare, and even Manon blinked as her Second threw her arms around Narene's neck. Holding her tight. The mare only leaned her head against Asterin's back and huffed.
Manon hadn't dwelled long on what she'd say.
And as the three hundred Ironteeth witches filed into the hall, some coming off their patrols, Manon half wondered if she should have. They watched her, watched the Thirteen, with a wary disdain.
Their disgraced Wing Leader; their fallen Heir.
When all were gathered, Petrah, still standing in the doorway where she'd appeared, merely said, "My life debt for an audience, Blackbeak."
Manon swallowed, her tongue as dry as paper. Seated atop Abraxos, she could see every shifting movement in the crowd, the wide eyes or hands gripping swords.
"I will not tell you the particulars of who I am," Manon said at last. "For I think you have already heard them."
"Crochan bitch," someone spat.
Manon set her eyes on the Blackbeaks, stone-faced where the others bristled with hatred. It was for them she spoke, for them she had come here.
jacket, then hoisting up her white shirt. Rising in the stirrups to bare her scarred, brutalized abdomen. "She does not lie."
UNCLEAN
There, the word remained stamped. Would always be stamped.
"How many of you," Asterin called out, "have been similarly branded? By your Matron, by your coven leader? How many of you have had your stillborn witchlings burned before you might hold them?"
The silence that fell now was different from before. Shaking shuddering.
Manon glanced at the Thirteen to find tears in Ghislaine's eyes as she took in the brand on Asterin's womb. Tears in the eyes of all of them, who had not known. And it was for those tears, which Manon had never seen, that she faced the host again.
"You will be killed in this war, or after it. And you will never see our homeland again."
"What is it that you want, Blackbeak?" Petrah asked from the archway.
"Ride with us," Manon breathed. "Fly with us.
Against Morath. Against the people who would keep you from your homeland, your future." Murmuring broke out again. Manon pushed ahead, "An Ironteeth-Crochan alliance. Perhaps one to break our curse at last."
Again, that shuddering silence. Like a storm about to break Asterin sat back in the saddle, but kept her shirt open.
"The choice of how our people's future shall be shaped is yours," Manon told each of the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks who might fly to war and never return. "But I will tell you this." Her hands shook, and she fisted them on her thighs. "There is a better world out there. And I have seen it."
Even the Thirteen looked toward her now.
"I have seen witch and human and Fae dwell together in peace. And it is not weakness to do so, but a strength. I have met kings and queens whose love for their kingdoms, their peoples, is so great that the self is secondary. Whose love for their people is so strong that even in the face of unthinkable odds, they do the impossible."
Manon lifted her chin. "You are my people. Whether my grandmother decrees it so or not, you are my people, and always will be. But I will fly against you, if need be, to ensure that there is a future for those who cannot fight for it themselves. Too long have we preyed on the weak, relished doing so. It is time that we became better than our foremothers." The words she had given the Thirteen months ago. "There is a better world out there," she said again. "And I will fight for it." She turned Abraxos away, toward the plunge behind them. "Will you?"
Manon nodded to Petrah. Eyes bright, the Heir only nodded back. They would be permitted to leave as they had arrived: unharmed.
So Manon nudged Abraxos, and he leaped into the sky, the Thirteen following suit.
Not a child of war. But of peace.
#Dorian Havilliard#Manon Blackbeak#Chapter 43#Kingdom of Ash#Sarah J. Maas#1st read-readW me-read along-no spoilers please-chapter spoilers in the post&tag+more notes/quotes/ reacts/annotations/etc-ordinary dagger#would be his only weapon-and the magic in his veins-If I don't come back he said while she tied the ancient blade2her keys must go2Terrasen#the only place he could think of-even if Aelin wasn't ther2take them-them u'll come back Manon said It sounded like more of a threat than#Dorian smirked Wouldumiss me if I didn't-Take care of Narene Worry indeed shone in the 2nd gold-flecked black eyes-A fool2start down this#pathW her He should have known better-hours that passed were some of the longest of Manon's existence-Time dripped byKings sword a weight at#her sideShe cursed herself4needing2prove-2him2herself-that she had-she refused2let him go in2Morath4practical ordinary reasons Erawan wasnt#Ferian Gap Itd b safer Somewhat-He had not been trained as a spy but hed grown up in a court where people wielded smiles&clothes like weapon#He knew how2blend in how2listenHow2make people see what they wished2see-She'd sent Elide in2the dungeons of Morath-Darkness dam her it didnt#s2p her breath from escaping when Abraxos stiffened scanning the skyAs if he heard something they couldn't-& it was the joy that sparked in#her mounts eyes that2ld her-Asterin rushed2ward the mare&even Manon blinked as her 2nd threw her arms around Narenes neck Holding her tight-#Their disgraced Wing Leader; their fallen Heir-It was4them she spoke4them she had come here-Crochan bitch-hell no that's a witch queen-She#doesnt lie-UNCLEAN There the word remained stamped Would always bstamped How many of U-silence that fell now was different from be4 shaking#shuddering-Tears in the eyes of all of them who hadnt known&it was4those tears which Manon had never seen that she faced the host againManon#ifted her chin u are my people-Whether my gr&mother decrees it so or notuare my people&always will bBut I will fly againstuif need B2ensure#theres future4those who cannot fight4it themselves2o long have we preyed on the weak relished doing so It is time that we became better than#our4emothers-words shes given the13-Theres a better world out there she said again-& I will fight4it She turned Abraxos away2ward the plunge#behind them Will u-their if u die ill kill u vibe-ugh obviouslyulove each other just get over it-warned hum-my life-gratitude even softened#the witch-Shapeshifter-bye bluebell birdie-His ice-the Valg-just this once-if it keeps them alive then good enough-him&Vesta-terse-dont let#Aelin go4them either please-& the magic in his veins-his true weapon is smarts-come back-she cared her eyes say it all-Wmy life-not a fool#just in love-colds their middle name-her waiting😭-Lys would bproud of his skill-joy in wyverns is giving cuz she screamed4U like I did-Petra#their fallen Heir-a life debt-yes I had2switch2short dashes there’s just2o much going on all the time-4 them she spoke2gather2save-Asterin b#b-made-are monsters born or maid chicken egg wyvern solved-only queen-k how old r they-glory-always-my bb13crying2gether now imma cry-ur#Future is giving a better world vibes-I have seen it-a good queen-real love-u are my people-yes Manon speech-not a child of war but of peace#Manorian#The Thirteen
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accountability post!!!!!!!!!! (in no particular order)
write 300+ words (that's how much i wrote yesterday and it's a much more realistic goal than 500 or 1000 given what i'm working on and i always like a goal where i am more likely to overperform than underperform lol)
edit #18 whumptober gifs (typo) ✅
make arcarm gifs ✅️
make phoomvicha gifs ✅️
make #19 whumptober gifs ✅️
answer asks ✅️
let's goooooooooooo
#i know that seems like a lot of gifs#but i've imported all the frames and that is frankly the hardest/longest/most arduous part#outside of sharpening (which i don't always do esp with big sets) and making sure they're under 10 mb lol#i have a new export default that helps without making them look like ass though#i think 1000 words a day isn't going to be as hard for the fic that i'm going to be working on#because it's wholly new and i can bounce around a little more and work on multiple chapters at the same time#since i'm not going to start posting until i'm at AT LEAST 30k#and the actual total will be anywhere between 50k to 100k#YEAH...........#it might just be 30k because there are some chapters that i haven't really plotted out yet#and i don't even know if we need All of them#without spoiling it's a parallel narrative and i haven't decided if i actually want it to go back and forth between narratives EACH chapter#so if i don't do that there might be less chapters#but also some chapters might be longer because of that? so who knows#however as an aside i'm going out of town for two weeks so i might not be able to write as much then. sigh#again though i think i'm going to be writing more than a thousand words every day because i can follow the inspiration#and work on any chapter i want if i get stuck#rum.txt
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No one:
Me at 230 am: hm…… Nedzu.
#WHY AM I ON THIS MHA KICK#like ok it’s because I keep feeding the fixation sure#BUT HOW DID I GET TO THIS FIXATION IN THE FIRST PLACE?#next thing you know I’m gonna bring back Sirin au#hm. it genuinely has some of my favorite writing I’ve ever done#unfortunately mha fics that aren’t established get like zero engagement because there’s a constant stream of them#it’s not like rain world where each new fic is awaited with bated breath#I think to this day it’s my longest fic. 15-16 whole chapters. I lost the plot for a while in there lol#I miss having semi popular fics that got attention#like. my rain world fic gets a good 5-7 comments plus any replies to my replies to them#if I actually. kept up with king and lionheart. it would probably get around that too#but ohhhh to be a popular mha writer…#I could probably glimpse that life if I dipped back into owl house stuff but you don’t get it.#that’s not my fixation right now. mha is.#WHICH IS WILD BECAUSE I LEGIT DONT LIKE MOST OF THE STUFF I KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING AFTER SEASON FOUR#It got too high stakes and lost the interesting analysis of its own society#and don’t get me started on what I’ve heard about the ending. it sounds like it was really fumbled#but. I’m doing a rewatch. I’ll give everything after season four a chance but I fully plan to drop it if I get bored again#what was I talking about?#right right. my fics and stuff#I might take some of my favorite bits of all but gone and rework it#I might write a Nezu adopting izuku fic#who knows. it’s 245 at night#good night
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Chapter 4 is out! Fuuta has his T2 mental breakdown! ✨
This one took a lot of reworking and revisiting the voice dramas to try and write an argument/breakdown that still felt in character for both of them -- I'm really satisfied with the final product :))
#milgram#fuuta kajiyama#yuno kashiki#not by much but this is the longest chapter so far!#im such a sucker for fuuta goin through it but i dont think hed be soft about it in any way#and poor yuno knows that 😅#rip its midnight but by god i did all my tasks today and i was so excited to post this#i forgot how much i absolutely adored yunos second vd#shes just so damn cool - incredibly written and acted#and how much fuutas unlocks the same unbearable protective instinct that i think haruka fans are overcome with every moment#LMAO#but yeah i hope you enjoy :3#the final chapter is going to be a scene for each of them when they get their t2 verdicts#fanfic
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people weren't lying those crossroads of twilight can really slog
#this is the longest it took me to finish a wheel of time book#i haven't been really posting my thoughts as i read through this series but i am an old man staring out his window rn#wot book spoilers#once i hit egwene pov chapters it definitely got better in terms of me actively wanting to sit down and read it#but the parts before... idk if it's because i had my usual break before picking up this book specifically but man.#tragic to me because elayne and mat povs are usually my favorite in the books but alas.#at least i got the “but she loved aviendha every bit as much as she did rand”. much to think about#but yeah it very much feels like a sort of filler book#i feel like a lot of the events could've been shortened?#but i do find a lot of what happened in the back half of the book interesting. like the introduction of so habor#and whatever is going on with mat seeing dead people?? yeah i'm kicking my leggies and am interested to see what's up with those things#although all three boys now getting in some ways alligned with the seanchan... :| not looking forward to that#and i find tuon intriguing she is interesting to me i just wish there was no romance plot here#overall i enjoyed the egwene chapters the most#egwene povs my new best friend#(i'm saying this as if i haven't liked them in previous books. i very much did but there were always povs that i enjoyed more in comparison#anyways. live randland reaction the book goes to the bottom of my list. i am walking off into the sunset with knife of dreams in my hand#olga talks
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general question would it be fine or stupid to post a stupid long (possible 10k words plus) fic all in one chapter
#the longest chapter i have ever written and posted was 15k words but having a stupid long oneshot feels like a different matter#planning out the ganonbeck fic and man its going to be long if i keep all of the events i want#11 plot beats i need to hit and 4.6k words hits like two and a half of them#its a rarepair fic maybe a stupid long oneshot is good#salty talks#may delete this later just some musing#why is the tagging so ugly and bad now#like obviously i could cut stuff to shorten it but fuck it. maybe ill write it out and see what can be trimmed#i think what im curious about is if it’s appropriate to have a really long oneshot on ao3 or whatever
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MY OUTLINE IS COMPLETE
it's 1600 words
#hmm. hmmmmm.#it's fine though i have all the ideas in order now i just need. words for them.#but i do wonder. how long this chapter threatens to be.#think my longest complete chapter so far is. 1500. uh oh#but i have rambled a fair amount in my outline notes so maybe it won't be too long......
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A post of mine from several months ago about the Perlesvaus self-rearranging forest just wandered across my dash again and made me think about it some more, so I wanted to talk about it a bit.
Perlesvaus, for those who don’t know, is a 13th-century French Arthurian romance. It’s intended to be a continuation of Chretien de Troyes’s Perceval, but it’s mostly known for being completely batshit when it’s known at all. (There’s an old book on Arthurian texts that dedicates a chapter to Perlesvaus and repeatedly speculates that the anonymous author had Something Wrong With Him. This is the longest scholarly treatment of Perlesvaus I’ve been able to find & read.)
Anyway, there’s an odd worldbuilding detail in the text. See, it’s a Thing in chivalric romances that the questing knights happen upon castles & lords & damsels & such that are unfamiliar to them and have to be explained. You know, “this is the Castle of Such-and-Such, where the local custom is as follows. It’s ruled by Lady So-and-So, whose character I shall now describe to you.”
This is a genre convention that largely goes unquestioned, but it’s a bit odd if you think about it. All these knights are at least minor nobility. They don’t know the other nobles in their region? They don’t know what castles are where? Don’t they have, like, diplomatic relations with these people or at least attend the same tournaments? Even if they’re all fully committed to the knight-errant lifestyle and don’t really engage in courtly diplomacy, you’d think they would share information with each other and get the lay of the land. But instead, to use TTRPG terminology, it’s like they’re all on a hexcrawl that was randomly generated just for them to have these adventures.
The author of Perlesvaus decides to address this. In what’s kind of a throwaway paragraph late in the text, he explains that God moves things around so knights always have new quests to do (and, presumably, is also making sure they always arrive at the right narratively-significant moment). So the reason they’re always encountering people & places they have no knowledge of is because those people & places really weren’t there yesterday. They didn’t know about the Castle of Such-and-Such because it’s normally a thousand miles away and the forest path they followed to get there used to lead somewhere else.
And I think that would be a really interesting thing to stick into a novel or a TTRPG or something. When a knight rides into the forest with the intent of Going On A Quest, at some point they go around a bend in the path, cross an invisible barrier, and wind up in the Forest of Narrative. This is a vast forest with no set geography, filled with winding paths and populated almost entirely with questing knights, damsels in search of questing knights, friendly hermits, strange creatures, and allegorical set-pieces. Then, at the narratively-appropriate time, they cross back over the invisible barrier back into the regular world, and find themselves wherever the Narrative has decided they need to be. This could be a different country, a different continent, or a different world entirely.
Whether anyone involved is actually aware that this is how it works is… optional, really. Though if it’s not a Known Phenomenon, the people whose jobs it is to handle trade & diplomacy & god forbid, maps, are going to end up tearing their hair out in frustration.
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What's the definition of "oneshot" here? I've always that to mean any single-chaptered work? Which is what I voted for, it'd be that or "short."
I'll read things that are longer but usually only if it's a situation like I like the author and I've read all their shorter stuff so it's longfic or nothing. While they're being posted it can be hard to follow a multi-chapter because I might forget what's happening in it between updates (which may also never arrive anyway) and once they're finished I can see the 250k wordcount and that's a lot of words. In some cases it's gonna be too many words. (We may all have a novel inside us, but do we all have a novel in us that's the length of several novels, needs no outside editor, and also we can write this novel on our first attempt at writing anything ever?)
I probably write shorter fics because I read shorter fics. More plots and scenarios in the same amount of time, give me all the content NOWWWWW.
(OBVIOUSLY a drabble is exactly 100 words long and many of those are great but I don't generally seek them out cos... well, too short.)
#one of the AO3 tags i follow is currently dominated by multi-chapter Mundane AUs which is not ideal for me tbh#do Mundane AUs seem to lead to longer fic generally? 300k words about the ds9 crew as baristas and that sort of thing?#i must admit as a oneshot writer sometimes i feel like everyone would rather i posted longer works with 25 chapters each#but i just don't have that many words in me at least not all for the same story#and i think i'd rather leave the reader wanting more than have them get partway through an epic and get sick of me#(my current multichapter is... well writing it's a slog at times tbh. what do i have left to say about medieval queens?)#(don't worry i am under no illusions that i'm saying much of anything about the canon characters via this particular AU)#but i have left more than one online fic community because i felt so intimdated by the assumption of multichapter works as default#which is odd because surely wordcount of all things is irrelevant in terms of writing quality?#but for YEARS now i've struggled with feeling like i'm not doing the “acceptable” kind of fic that people spend days reading#when/if i finish The AU there is no way it'll be more than 40k words and that'll still be BY FAR my longest every fic in over 20 years#so like... i am not what you'd call a marathon runner#noobs asking how to pace their 450k debut work. well first of all are you SURE it needs to be 450k words? that's... that's a lot of words.#that's SEVERAL novels. you're committing to A LOT there.#relatedly i almost never read anything tagged “slow burn”#i don't have the patience. this is longer than LotR already and they still haven't even kissed? get tae fuck! i want my fiilth! give me it!#fanfiction#fandom#polls
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CALL OF THE SEA / PART SEVENTEEN
pirate poly!141 x f!reader tw: NSFW, MDNI, violence, degrading, mentions of death/blood, dove is called some nasty words, please heed warnings for this chapter masterlist a/n: girlbossed a little too hard and finished the chapter a day early. posting this after my 14 hour shift with nothing but hope and dreams. this chapter is a long one, i think the longest one so far, so have fun :p
When a group of unhinged pirates invade your small village, you're whisked away from your peaceful home and thrown on to a voyage out at sea. Forced to obtain a new role as their medic, you have no choice but to accept your fate as you join their forces and aid them in their treacherous travels.
Up close, Graves was even more sinister than imagined. It was as if you were living in your own nightmare come to life, with beady eyes crinkling back at you as a curled smile stretched over his face. Adorned in all black from head to toe, with the only spouts of color being the mess of dark blonde atop his head, nearly covered by the old, leather pirate hat.
His skin was deathly pale, a feat you knew to be from his reaping sins. To take a life in return for a piece of his—a soul bind.
If he weren’t such a sick man, you’d dare say he’d been handsome, if it weren’t for the look of rotting to the core. His personality did no justice, something cocky and mighty. He knew exactly how to play his game, and he played it well.
In your turmoil, you dared to wonder if all of this was indeed another nightmare. Perhaps you were still asleep, stuck in an endless loop until Soap or Gaz awoke you as they always did; but with a sharp pinch on your thigh beneath the thin covers of Price’s bedspread, the world remained at ease.
This one wouldn’t be easy to get out of.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Graves mused, smile so wide you worried the corners would crack and bleed. You wished you could see him writhe like a helpless roach beneath your shoe. “Why the long face?”
“How—” You swallowed, fisting the sheets. “How are you here?”
Graves stood straight, glancing around the room. He pretended to ponder, holding his arms up to shrug. “I let myself in.”
Your eyes followed his every move as he slowly stepped throughout Price’s quarters, taking it in. You sat as still as a statue, completely frozen in place. The sound of his heavy boots along the wood floors rang alarm bells.
The air in the room fell icy cold, rising goosebumps on your skin. There was that frigid chill that felt as if you’d just stepped into a slaughterhouse, a hint of decay tickling your nostrils.
This was the feel of death you’d always felt, lingering behind you, watching. He’d always been there, even if only in your mind.
“Where is the Captain?” you asked, attempting to make your voice firm. Show no weakness—it was the very thing you’d been taught since your first day on the ship. You hoped Price would be proud that you remembered.
Graves’ eyebrows raised and while his smile remained, it only seemed to glimmer with excitement when the question was asked, as if you asked a dog if he wanted a bone.
“He truly has you on a leash,” he snickered, finding something amusing in all of it. “You’re like their little bitch, aren’t you?”
Your blood ran hot at the demeaning nature his words brought, but you knew better. They were for show, something to make him appear taller. If you fell for it, you’d only be digging a deeper grave for yourself.
“No,” you muttered, eyes narrowing. “I am a pirate, just as them.”
Graves barked out a laugh, one that made your ears bleed. It was meant to deplete your confidence, poisoned with arrogance.
“Is that right?” he asked with a shit-eating grin. “A pirate, are you?”
Graves stalked towards you, agonizingly slow, stopping when his knees bumped the side of the cot. He leaned down so his face was level with yours, empty eyes peering deep within your soul. His breath reeked of death and despair, nearly knocking you unconscious.
“I’d like to test that.”
His icy hand wrapped around your bicep, hauling you out of the bed. With a yelp, you stumbled to your feet, bare of their shoes. The world beneath your soles felt foreign now, ever since Soap had given you your gift and you’d never take them off unless you were falling asleep.
The grip was tight, causing your heartbeat to thump through your muscles angrily. Your skin under his hand paled from the sheer force.
Graves tugged you along as you fought to resist him, squirming and attempting to plant your feet to the floor. Without the help of your shoes compared to his unruly strength, your fight was deemed useless. He continued dragging you, so much so you could feel little splinters begin to dig into your soles and invoke dull pangs of pain.
Fear filled your body from head to toe, your heart pounding against your rib cage. A lump filled your throat, coated with anxiety. Your mind filled with millions of thoughts, smothering any confidence you previously had and replacing it with the idea of death.
Was this where all would end? Your crew was one of the most feared among the seas, a healthy bounty placed over their heads. But there would always be one person above, and that person was Graves.
Every kick, bump, resist was fruitless as Graves hauled you to the door. What lay beyond it terrified you, images of your men dead flashing before your eyes.
Coated in their own bloodbaths, bodies laid limp amongst the floors of their own homes, sprawled out as if they meant nothing. Oh, you couldn’t bear it. You’d have to go, too—you’d have nothing left.
When Graves opened the door, you weren’t sure if the sight was any better.
It was dark, the moon only a sliver in the sky, granting no room for light. A single lantern was all that was left to cast orange shadows, its fire flickering in a dance for a way out.
Your crew was lined shoulder to shoulder, on their knees in a submissive front, hands bound with thick rope behind their backs. Graves’ men, his Shadows, held the barrel of their guns to each of their heads.
Though the sight was an improvement from what you initially prepared yourself for, it was far from good. It was bordering those images, a glimpse into what could be a massacre.
The moment you were out of Price’s quarters, Graves let go of you, shoving you. You lost your balance, tumbling to your side, your head slamming into the deck. Pain blossomed under your skull and you hissed in pain.
“Dove?” you heard one of them call out. Your head spun, making it hard to figure out who it was.
A heavy blow landed on your side where you lay, and you wheezed, Graves’ boot unexpected. It kept you in place, applying pressure to guarantee you wouldn’t try to flee and fight back.
“Get the fuck off of her,” Price growled. You could recognize it, filled with a burning venom that dared to kill anyone that was in its crossfire. “This has nothin’ to do with her.”
“It’s all to do with her,” Graves spat, digging the toe of his boot into your rib cage. His previous cockiness had melted away, revealing his boiling rage. “Isn’t that right, dove?”
Graves lifted his boot, granting you a brief moment of relief before it slammed back down. It knocked the air right out of your lungs, leaving you croaking out a plea to stop.
You coiled in on yourself, curling into a ball in attempts to lessen the damage. It did nothing to stop his boot from weighing on your side. The pain felt like nothing you’d experienced before, and you were sure you felt a bone crunch.
“Dove,” Gaz called out, frantic. He tried leaning forward to get a glimpse of your face, to search for your eyes, but the barrel of the gun only pressed deeper into the back of his skull in warning. “Dove, it’s okay. Just listen to my voice, alright? I’m right here.”
Your eyes were widened with fear, chest heaving to catch the breaths that were stolen from you. You couldn’t move, frozen in place, even as Gaz called out for you with the threat of a bullet through his head.
“I don’t know what you’re plannin’, Graves,” Price snarled, “but this is between us.”
Graves laughed diabolically, throwing his head back. It only made everything much more tense.
“Isn’t she apart of you now?” Graves humored, cocking his head. His fingers drummed along the gun in its holster on his hip. “If I’m not mistaken, she’s a pirate. I believe those were your words, Price.”
The realization that Graves knew had you going cold. The closer he got, the stronger the connection became.
“What the hell is it ye want?” Soap asked through gritted teeth. His eyes were darting back and forth between your crumpled form and Graves. “S’always somethin’ with ye, aye?”
Graves eyed Soap, a glint in his gaze. There was something unfamiliar in it, as if he held a personal grudge towards the man in question.
“There is something I want,” Graves agreed, letting out a dramatic sigh. He tapped at the gun once again, staring up at the sky in thought. “I think dove here knows exactly what that is.”
Graves dug his boot once again, peering down at you as if you were scum. You couldn’t stop the small whimper from the agony drumming in your side.
“Go on, dove,” Graves taunted, grinning. “Tell them.”
“I don’t know,” you panted. You were unfocused, eyes staring at the old floor from where your head rested.
You tried recalling what it is he could want, anything at all, but nothing was becoming clear. You scavenged through the deepest parts of your brain for even a simple clue, but the blows had made you dazed.
“I swear, I’ll fuckin’ kill you—”
“You do know,” Graves repeated, cutting off the Captain. His tone grew annoyed. “Think real hard, dove.”
“I don’t know,” you cried, shoulders beginning to shake. All the built up confidence to fight back had vanished into thin air. Now, you felt like a scared little girl, begging for mercy.
Graves’ boot lifted, then returned back down. A string of curses were thrown his way from your crew, who were thrashing in the binds, unable to aid you under the lineup of guns to their heads.
You felt wetness cascade down your cheeks, dampening your skin and falling down to the side of your head from the angle you laid. It was then you realized you were crying, embarrassingly so.
Only mere hours ago you were deemed a pirate, and yet at the start of war, you fell apart like a damsel.
“The telescope,” Ghost said, voice low. It was the first he’d spoken, only sitting there silently as you were beaten down. His head hung low, as if ashamed, though the darkness in his eyes was enough to cast doom across entire continents. “He’s talkin’ about the telescope.”
You blinked away the tears, eyes burning. Realization dawned on you the moment Ghost spoke. Through your huddled position, you tried to tilt your chin down to meet his eye. As if thinking the same thing, he lifted his head, connecting your gazes. You could see that familiar apology pooling out of him, expressing everything he needed to say.
Washed away to land and shore,
shall be the looking glass for ocean eyes.
The telescope you found for Gaz was an innocent gesture. The sight of it called out to you, as if meant to be owned by you. If you would’ve known it was Graves it was calling, you would’ve thrown it into the deep sea so it could never be found again.
“So he speaks,” Graves mused sarcastically.
Ghost broke contact first, eyes boring into Graves. He looked murderous, plotting his own bloodbath with just a simple look. The dim light of the single lantern did nothing to lessen the ominous glow, only highlighting it.
“Don’t fuckin’ talk to him,” Soap hissed, scowling. The look of pure disgust was such a contrast to his normal, boyish grins.
Graves paid no mind to him, stuck in a contest with Ghost. The two of them had a dark force swirling between them, one that even outside made the air heavy and suffocating.
“A point for your bravery, Ghost,” Graves sighed dramatically, breaking his stare. He looked between each and every man, sparing you no glance while his boot remained in place. “My telescope. Give it to me, and I’ll let her go.”
You instantly shifted your eyes to look at Gaz, who seemed to be struggling with a decision. You knew why he was having a hard time—you gifted the telescope to him, unknowing of who it truly belonged to. It was something he treasured, something he didn’t want to let go of.
“I have it,” Gaz said lowly, head bowing. “It’s in my quarters. I’ll take you to it.”
Graves sucked his teeth, feigning pity. He shook his head, hand fully resting on the gun at his hip. “Not going to work on me, Gaz. I’m quite capable of getting it myself. You sit tight, aye?”
Gaz stiffened, expression growing grim. Nevertheless, he said nothing, deciding silence was the best contender for a fight bound to end in loss.
Graves gestured for the man behind Price to fetch the telescope from Gaz and Soap’s shared quarters. Price didn’t tear his eyes away from Graves once, even as the Devil of the Seas took out his own gun and pointed it right at Price’s forehead.
He pressed the barrel of the gun into Price’s forehead, indenting the skin. It was a snug fit, a perfect shot for Graves if he wished to end things the easy way.
Graves didn’t like it easy. He liked it fun.
“Scared we’ve caught on to your trail, aye?” Price bluffed, voice gravelly and malicious. “That’s why you came out here like a fuckin’ mutt, hidin’ in the storm until you found the right time to ambush us?”
“You have your dove to blame,” Graves replied nonchalantly, rubbing his boot back and forth along your side. The pressure had you sucking air through your teeth, eyes clenching shut. “She might be your new toy, but she’s just as much a mutt as I am.”
“You shut your fuckin’ mouth,” Price snarled, body shaking with feverish rage. If he could pounce on Graves, you knew he would.
“Looks like you finally grew some balls, Captain,” Graves snickered, pulling back the hammer of the gun. It resounded a loud click, which translated to a warning bell in Price’s favor. “Such anger. That anger has never worked for you, Price. It didn’t work for Ghost—it won’t work for her.”
Price let out an animalistic growl, his lips pulling back in a sneer. You’d seen the Captain angry, and you’d seen him under the guise of a scary, ominous pirate who would kill any innocent bystander that stood in his way.
This was entirely different. This was personal. A build up. This was a storm that had been coming for ages, and you were only toeing the edges.
The Shadow returned, holding the telescope you’d gifted Gaz. It shimmered in the lantern’s glow, glinting its gold details and showing it off. It felt like a goodbye.
“I’d be real careful from now on, Graves,” Price warned. It was the first you ever heard him speak so menacingly, like the demon inside of him was erupting with a stream of hot lava filled with nothing but spewing hatred. “When I find you, I’ll fuckin’ kill you myself. String you up on my sails until you’re dry, toss you into the ocean to the sharks. I’ll take pleasure in watchin’ you burn until there’s nothin’ left but ash and dust.”
Graves took the telescope from his Shadow’s hand, inspecting it. The words Price spoke clearly struck a nerve, for the arrogant grin had vanished, replaced with a gloomy, threatened expression.
“Hm,” Graves huffed, letting his gun fall and placing it back in its holster. He signaled for his men to follow suit, and you watched as all weapons dropped. “I await the day that happens, Captain. Until then, keep your mutt on a leash, aye?”
Graves made no effort to untie the crew, leaving them bound as he gathered his men to walk the plank connecting the two ship. A long, woden plank that creaked under the weight, one od wish you could kick from its balance and send them flying into the dark sea.
The moment was brutally silent as they left. Nobody moved a muscle until Graves was on his ship, the plank pulled from its placement, and the skull flag waved goodbye as they set sail into the pit of the night.
Time stood still, but the second Graves and his crew were hidden in the waves, all hell broke loose. Price and Gaz worked together to unbind each other with their backs to one another, frantic to be released. Ghost sat silently, eyes staring into the floorboards as if they’d speak to him.
“Say somethin’, dove,” Soap begged, scooting on his knees to be by your side.
As if the dam broke, you began to cry once more, heartbreaking sobs coming right from your core. You curled up tighter into your ball, your hand resting on your side as if it would magically ease the pain.
“It hurts,” you replied, voice cracking.
You’d stayed strong up until that point. Now, you couldn’t hold up your front.
You were scared. You felt more helpless than ever. You couldn’t remain strong for the sake of pretend anymore. Everything hurt, and Graves’ presence shook you to your very core.
“I know,” he cooed. He made a frustrated noise when he struggled against the binds. “I know, dove. We’re right here, alright?”
It felt strange, being on the other side of the spectrum. You were used to being the one to aid people in their injuries, but now, it was you being comforted. You couldn’t grasp what your life had become.
Price was released from his binds, quickly helping Gaz slip out of his. While Gaz made quick work to move to work on Ghost, Price was by your side in an instant.
One hand rested on your hip, turning your body towards him while the other found your face, resting his palm on it. His eyes were filled with worry when you faced him and he urgently wiped at your tears with his thumb.
“Dove,” he breathed in relief, his heart aching at the sight of you so broken. This was his fault. “You’re okay, I have you.”
You whimpered when he shifted so he could slide his arms beneath you, one under your shoulders and the other in the bend of your knees. The movement flared pain all over again, and Price murmured apologies, unsure of what to do.
He hurried to his quarters, his men following closely behind like scared dogs with their tails between their legs. Gaz held open the door, and you only caught a glimpse of his guilt-stricken expression before you were ushered in.
Price carefully slid you on to his cot, wincing every time you whimpered or cried. The pain felt excruciating, your breathing quick and labored.
“She needs a medic,” Soap stressed.
“She is a medic,” Gaz reminded, resting his hands on the edge of the cot so he could lean over and inspect your face. “We have no help besides her.”
“Well, she can’t treat herself, ye fuckin’ oaf,” Soap snipped, shooing him away from your space. “Cap, she needs to get checked. She can’t even breathe properly!”
Your head began to pound from the sheer loudness that filled the room. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to will away the ache while simultaneously trying to correct your breathing.
You knew well enough that there was something shattered or broken. A rib, though small in theory, but dreadfully painful without the correct medicines. Not to mention the amount of force Graves had used—it was pure hell.
Price was silent, as was Ghost, the two of them sharing a conversation with just a look. There was an understanding shared, and Price gently shoved Gaz and Soap aside, replacing them.
He mimicked Gaz’s previous stance, leaning on the bed. His hand came to brush a stray tear away, frowning embedded in his mouth.
“Tell me what to do, dove,” he said softly. “I’ll do whatever it is.”
You sniffled, hand shaking where they rested on your side. You shook your head, nearly deranged from the shock and horror of it all, unable to snap out of it.
“I—I can’t fix it on my own, Captain,” you quivered, lips trembling. “It hurts.”
Price nearly broke, filled with guilt. He glanced behind him at Ghost, who quickly looked away, hands balling into fists.
“I know,” he assured calmly, brushing his finger along your cheek where he wiped the tear away. “We’ll fix it, aye? You just have to sit tight until we can. Can you do that for us, dove?”
Though you knew the wait would be cruel—a slow healing process until you could receive proper care—you found yourself nodding shamelessly, instantly trusting Price and his promises.
Price nodded along with you, giving your cheek a comforting pinch. “Attagirl,” he praised, calming your nerves.
“I’ll fuckin’ gut him,” Soap muttered, jaw pulled tight. “He’s fuckin’ dead.”
Gaz reached up to grip Soap’s nape, tugging at his hair. Soap threw him a glare, one Gaz promptly ignored, turning his attention to you.
“Listen to Cap, birdie,” Gaz encouraged warmly. “We’ll get you all fixed up. You won’t even know you’re hurtin’.”
Price had a look of hesitation when you caught his eye. You furrowed your eyebrows, frowning in confusion before he spoke again, causing you to grow uncomfortable.
“We need to check it first, dove,” he said apologetically. “If you don’t feel well with all of us bein’ here, you can pick who you prefer. No hard feelin’s, hm?”
The idea that one, if not all, had to see you undressed in order to inspect the damage was one that made you a bit dazed. You’d never been seen beneath your raggedy clothes in the village, and the same applied for your time on the ship. It felt sacred, like your vulnerability was on the line, but you had to remind yourself that it was purely medical—you’d done it plenty of times when in practice at your old home.
“It—it is fine, just… just turn away, yes?” you pleaded, unable to meet any of them in the eye.
You heard a round of shuffling, only seeing Gaz elbow Soap in the corner of your vision. Once you were sure they feasted their eyes upon the old wall, you began to carefully lift your hips, biting your lip to muffle the pained noise that threatened to leave.
The hem of your dress was swiftly pulled up past your thighs, all the way until your torso was exposed. You stopped it beneath your breasts, quick to tug the blanket over your nakedness that remained uninjured and in no need to be checked.
The anxiety that pooled in your stomach left you queasy, but you toughed through it, knowing how important it was. If you had more than a mere fracture, it could become worse over time.
“Okay,” you said quietly, cringing when they turned to take you in. The men did their best to make you feel as at ease as possible, gearing their focus towards the nasty swelling on your side.
You dared to take a peek yourself, fearing for why they were so quiet. What you saw was ugly—swollen and puffy, beaten to the point it was already turning purple and blue. It was tender to the touch, even more so without clothing as a barrier.
The worst was the gnarly, black veins that spouted out like roots, dipping deep into the new bruising. It was inhuman, something completely out of the ordinary. You knew it was Graves’ dirty work, and it reminded you of when Ghost had cut his finger in the kitchen and his blood turned black, vanishing into thin air.
When you shifted your eyes from your injury, you searched for Ghost’s, who was hard-stuck on the veins. His body was tense, a darkness swirling in his irises.
“Ghost?” Soap tried, nudging the brute lightly. “Any idea what that is?”
Ghost glanced over to Soap before returning to your side, taking in the sight. “Could be anythin’,” he muttered, unsure. “I don’t know what all he’s capable of. For all we know, it could already be infected.”
“Infected?” you asked, a worried chill racking through you.
Price reached out a careful hand to spread his fingertips along the veins. You choked on a gasp at the immediate discomfort, face scrunching up into a wince.
“We’re goin’ to a doctor,” Price nearly growled, taking his hand away. “I don’t care where. The moment we spot land, we’re goin’.”
“We still have bounties on our head, Cap,” Gaz reminded with a frown. “We can’t just go anywhere. It’s not the same as shoppin’. If we end up in the wrong place, we might get ourselves in deeper shit.”
“That is a risk I’m willin’ to take,” Price argued, firm in his stance. “If we start nitpickin’ where to go, it might be too late. You’re either in or out.”
The room fell silent as the men stared at their Captain. The answer to them was obvious, though you knew why they hesitated; if they were imprisoned, it would do you no good.
Emotions were high and the clock was ticking. It placed everyone on edge.
“I agree with Price.”
All heads turned to Ghost, who stood with his arms crossed, eyes boring into yours.
“It’s my fault she’s marked. So long as she gets fixed up, I could care less about bein’ thrown into a cell. I’m with Price,” he finished.
“Ghost—” you tried.
“I am quite firm in what I’ve decided,” he interrupted harshly before realizing his mistake, calming himself down. He looked away from you, crossing his arms a bit tighter. “I’m in no mood for arguments.”
You went quiet, watching Ghost turn towards the door and plot his escape. You knew out of everyone, he was affected the most, tormented with sickening guilt for all that’s transpired. You could only imagine how he felt, now that times had grown darker.
“Let him go,” Soap murmured softly, gaining your attention. “He’ll be alright. Let’s just worry ‘bout ye, aye?”
You were torn, but you nodded nonetheless, silently agreeing.
“You’ll stay with me for now,” Price explained. “No use in movin’ you anymore than I have. I’ll get you situated for now, and then you can rest.”
Gaz, Soap, and Price muttered amongst themselves, discussing a brief plan of what to do. The two set off to find more pillows to extend your comfort while Price remained by your side, plopping himself in his chair with a heavy sigh. His elbows rested on its arms, his fingers coming up to rub at his temple.
He looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes becoming more prominent the longer you looked.
“I am sorry, Captain,” you said quietly, eyes glueing to the ceiling.
“What have you got to be sorry for?” he asked, frowning. “Got nothin’ to apologize for, dove. Our worry stems from care.”
“Yes, but,” you paused, gathering the words, “I have caused much trouble since my arrival. Things only seem to be harder for you.”
“Life was hard before you, dove,” he assured, letting his hand fall from his face. “That’s the way it goes. It is to no fault but the world.”
You took in his words, letting them sink in. You hadn’t known a true life of trouble before, the only hardships being your utter loneliness and daily taunts from the local villagers. This was something beyond your knowledge, and you were beginning to understand that there was more to life than simply displeasuring people. There was more than what meets the eye, but there was also light at the end of every tunnel.
“You do not see me as a mere burden?” you asked, and he huffed.
“What have I told you before?” Price pressed in return, tilting his head. “You are one of us. A true pirate, if that is what you’d like.”
“I am far from a pirate,” you scoffed to yourself, ashamed. “I could not even defend myself or any of you.”
“Dove,” Price called out softly. He scooted his chair closer to your bedside, forcing you to turn your head and look at him. “A loss is not always a failure. Some wars are too big to handle on your own. There’s nothin’ wrong with that. Why must you speak so lowly of yourself?”
You stared at him unblinking, studying the furrow of his eyebrows and the curl of his lips, hidden beneath his beard. The worry lines on his forehead showed years of hardship, and you wondered how he managed to live through it if you could barely survive your own smaller ones.
“I have known nothing else,” you confessed bitterly, though not towards him. You were angry, not only with yourself, but at life for dealing its deck of cards in such an unfair way.
“I see,” he hummed, leaning back in his chair. He tapped his fingers along the armrests, getting lost in thought. “It was the same for me as well.”
Your eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really?”
“Mhm,” he sighed, picking at the splintering wood of the armrests. “My father was a captain before me. Had the tongue of a devil. Always angry, always cold—treated me like scum, even as a child.”
“I am sorry,” you murmured quietly. Price bristled, frowning.
“That is not the point, dove,” he replied. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the side of the bed, mere inches away from where you laid. You waited patiently for him to continue, keeping your gazes connected to show you were listening. “Some may treat you like a mutt on the street and deem your worth how they please. The only thing that matters is how you take it and how you come out of it.”
It dawned on you what he was implying. It was his way of comforting you, shielding you from your own burdening insecurities that never seemed to escape your mind.
“I could’ve remained angry and bitter, but now I captain my own ship and crew. The same applies for you—you may have experienced cruelty all your life, but you must take the reins on your own worth and decide what it is, dove.”
A blinding warmth shrouded you, like a blanket after being trapped in the icy cold, and you welcomed it with a smile. You’d never known Price to be so well with words, not int he way he was expressing now.
He knew what you needed to hear after being trapped in your own world of darkness, and he provided the light you needed to find your way out—all of them did. A glimmer of hope in a world full of loss.
“I am very thankful you kidnapped me,” you blurted, unable to contain your inner thoughts.
Price laughed, boisterous and loud, a smile washing over his face. It was a lovely sight, one that made your heart pound. Even through your pain, you found solitude in the aftermath, reaching a level of comfort you’d always wished to feel.
“I am happy to have you here despite it,” Price teased warmly. “I can say the same for the rest.”
You laughed, almost immediately regretting it at the shooting pain coursing in your side. He shot you a sympathetic smile, slowly standing from his chair.
“I will let you rest,” he said, giving you a gentle pat to your thigh over the blanket. Your heart jumped at the action, and you repressed it.
“You are not staying?” you asked, deflating.
“Soap and Gaz will be here with some more pillows soon. I must gather a plan so we can get you to a medic as soon as possible.”
It made sense, and you knew it was important. There was no telling what was flowing through the black veins, but your heart longed for more of his presence.
“Just for a moment longer?” you dared to request, voice small.
Price peered down at you from where he stood over you, a hint of surprise flashing on his expression before it softened. He nodded, reaching over to give your hand a gentle squeeze. You held on as long as you could.
“Just a moment then,” he repeated. “I will do it for you.”
You squeezed his hand in return, feeling as if you were on cloud nine. Your feelings were uncertain, but the more you spent with them, the clearer your vision became. It was an inner battle, forcing yourself to push them back in order to protect yourself. Now, though, you decided to allow yourself the comfort, just for a little while.
“Thank you,” you told him, unaware your voice had become a mere whisper. The air between you felt heavy, as if something unspoken was there.
Price glanced down at your hands that remained interlinked before shifting his gaze back at you. The gears in his mind were turning, and just as you were about to ask if it was alright, he beat you.
“I am not an emotional man,” he murmured quietly, seeming just as unsure as you were. “I make very stupid decisions and take paths I shouldn’t take. One of them is tellin’ me to kiss you, and I’m not sure if that’s alright.”
You froze in place, eyes growing wide. You were unable to look away, lost in your own little moment. Everything in you was yelling yes, yes, yes! and it was hard to ignore. You had always been weak in your feelings.
“Gaz tried to when I gifted him the telescope,” you said, unsure of why you did. “I hope that is okay.”
Price broke out into a smile, huffing out a breathy laugh. “So long as he did not beat me to it.”
You released a relieved breath, a shaky smile spreading on your lips. Price did not seem angry, and for that, you grew more enticed for a kiss. While your feelings for the others were all different in their special ways, having Price be the first was not something you could deny. It excited you more than it should.
Before you knew it, Price leaned down, capturing your lips in his own. There was no spark like you’d read in books you’d read at merchant stands when you couldn’t afford them, nor were there fireworks.
Instead, it was a calm sea that smothered you in peace, easing every worry that crowded your mind. They washed away, replaced with a warm buzz.
He was gentle, hand still grasping yours, the other coming to rest beneath your jaw. His skin was hot to the touch, rough from the callouses on his palm.
The moment wasn’t long, and when he pulled away, you wished you could reel him in for more.
“Rest,” he encouraged, his smile brighter than a thousand suns. “We’ll get you fixed up and better before you know it, alright?”
You nodded dumbly, your head empty. You were practically vibrating with excitement, the feel of his lips still tingling on yours.
He stroked his thumb over your cheekbone before pulling back, stepping away from the bed. He gave you a soft farewell, reminding you that the boys will be back soon and to try and sleep until then.
Once he was out of the room, the quiet didn’t bother you. It wasn’t maddening, driving you up a wall, suffocating you with loneliness—it was peaceful and kind, welcoming you with open arms as you slipped into unconsciousness, the images flashing behind your eyelids of the four of them in your life only bringing you true comfort after the storm.
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