#Mike would go and sit in a field at the end of the day and stare into space

[cassowariess]

Do you think Nacho and Jesse would've been friends?

Yes, but it wouldn't be right away.

The first thing that would happen is Nacho would think Jesse is an embarrassing, cringe, white-boy-wannabe-gangster (which he basically is lol). Jesse would try to impress him and Nacho would roll his eyes and later break into his house and rob him.

They would, at some point, attempt to physically beat the shit out of each other, until Mike would yell at them to pack it in. (Nacho always wins anyway because Jesse is skinny AF).

If they both worked together for Gus, there would be arguments in the car during collections, and Mike would threaten to drive it off a cliff.

Eventually they would bond over how they both disagree with their boss's tactics then slowly become friends. Mike breathes a sigh of relief and stops taking migraine pills.

[keirawantstocry]

that one time tubbo called pac a dilf 😵‍💫

okay wait…

young teacher tubbo and dilf pac comes to collect his son from class…..tubbos got such a crush on him and maybe he asks pac to stay back to talk about richas’s behaviour but it turns into something else….

you've come to the right person (guy who is obsessed with pacbo)

Tubbo wasn't quite sure how he ended up with this job. He had never in any of his years considered being a teacher of any sort. But after he adopted his daughter, he needed a second job. Mechanics weren't paying him enough. Luckily there was a daycare nearby that was hiring. It was a more difficult process than he had expected, much like the adoption. But he got it. 

His daughter stayed with her “other father”. Tom's name was always said in a sigh like that. They were young and stupid and drunk and Tubbo didn't know what he was doing when he signed the stupid paper that Tommy had slid him across the dirty bar table. 

Tommy, and unfortunately Molly, found it hilarious. They both insisted on watching Sunny while he was at work. Thankfully Sunny loved them. Tommy would do her hair in braids. It was something they did when they were younger. Tubbo remembered sitting in fields with Tommy's older cousin braiding his long hair. 

As soon as Tommy saw Sunny's thick 3C curls, he stayed up two nights in a row researching and watching video after video of how to do cornrows and other braids in her hair. 

Molly often sent him videos while he was at work on Sunny prattling on while Tommy listened intently, braiding her hair as best he could. As much as Tubbo joked about divorce and threatened, he was glad to have two people he loved watching his child and caring for them so well. 

He closed his laptop with a sigh, rubbing his eyes. He was the last one there, his co worker had to leave because she had to pick up her own child but they needed someone to watch the singular child whose parents were incredibly late. 

Opening his eyes, Tubbo stared down the young boy in front of him. 

He was a Latino boy, probably around 7 or 8 with an oversized yellow jersey that he wore every single day. He was staring at Tubbo with large brown eyes. It was almost unnerving but he was a cute, decently well mannered child. 

Tubbo remembered the day he joined the daycare. A man with shoulder length brown hair and a singular white streak through it brought him in and explained how the boy had been born without part of his leg but was still very capable of movement with the prosthetic his Pai had made him. 

The owner of the daycare had nodded, assuring the man over and over that his child would be well cared for and that they would make sure the other children didn't say anything nasty as children tended to do. 

Richas, Tubbo remembered, as he continued to stare down the boy. His name was Richas. 

“Hello,” he said. 

The boy grinned. “Ola!” 

Tubbo laughed at his enthusiasm before picking up his phone to attempt to call the boy's parents once again. It rang and rang, like it had three times before click. 

“Holy shit, we are so sorry. Our schedule got all mixed up and we didn't know who was supposed to pick him up today. Fuck!” 

“Hey, hey,” Tubbo said calmly. “It's okay. I'm here with him. Get here whenever you can.” 

The voice on the phone that Tubbo didn't recognize took a few deep breaths. “Sim, sim, of course. Peqi is on his way already. He should be there any minute.” 

Tubbo smiled at Richas who bounced up and down excitedly, trying to climb up the front of the desk to reach the phone. “Sounds good, Mr…?” 

The voice laughed. “Just call me Mike yeah?” 

Richas made the saddest noise possible and Tubbo's heart melted. “Wait, before you go, I think he wants to talk to you.” 

He removed the phone from the side of his ear and carefully handed it to the boy who cradled it with both hands and held it up to his mouth. “OI, PAI.” 

Mike's voice came through quietly. “Oi, Richas. Você está sendo bom?” 

“Sim, sim,” the boy sang happily. “Eu sou bom.” 

“Bom menino. Pai Pac will be there soon okay?” 

“Okay, okay.” 

“Eu te amo.” 

“Eu também te amo.” 

The phone clicked, ending the call and Richas handed it back to Tubbo with a smile. Not even five seconds after the phone was back in his hand, the door slammed open. Standing in the now open doorway was a frazzled and incredibly attractive man. 

Richas ran over, bounding easily into his arms. 

“Richarlyson!” the man cooed, swinging him back and forth in his arms. He met Tubbo's eyes over his son's head. ‘Thank you’ he mouthed. 

Tubbo was almost too stunned to nod but he managed to as Richas's father slowly lowered him to the ground to step over to Tubbo. 

“I have to sign him out, yes?” 

Tubbo nodded, still speechless. He cleared his throat and slid the sign-out sheet across the desk. “Yeah, uh, yeah.” 

The man, Pac, from the signs of his scribbled signature, smiled blindingly at him, his son clinging to his leg. 

Tubbo noticed at that moment that Pac had a near identical prosthetic to his son. “You match,” he said before mentally slapping himself. You don't just fucking point out a man's prosthetic, no fucking wonder you're still married to Tommy. 

But Pac just laughed softly. “We do,” he said softly, rubbing the top of Richas's head. “He is very clearly my son.” 

“Are you his biological father?” Tubbo asked. Holy fucking shit, shut up you fucking idiot. He is so tired of you already, why are you asking so many questions? 

Pac just laughed softly again and the twist in Tubbo's chest felt like falling off a cliff. “Sim, yes, I am. I was the one who gave birth to him.” 

Tubbo stopped himself from asking any questions about that. He knew better than that at least. “That's really cool.” He tried a smile and felt so awkward. 

“Thank you,” Pac said. “And thank you for watching him past time. I know you probably have places to be.” 

Tubbo brushed him off with a wave of his hand. “Oh don't worry about it. My daughter is more than happy to spend more of their time with her ‘other father’.” Out of instinct, he raised his hands and made quotation marks with his hands. 

Pac raised an eyebrow curiously. 

Tubbo flushed. “A, uh, friend of mine. We got drunk married and now my daughter considers him her other father.”

Pac laughed. “No spouse of your own then? One that you're in love with anyway?” 

Tubbo flushed darker. “Ah, no. Just my husband and his girlfriend.” 

“Mmm,” Pac said, leaning over on the desk. “Good to know.” 

Tubbo froze in his spot as Pac's eyes, big and brown just like his son's, stared into his soul. He gulped before clearing his throat. “Yeah, uhmm, yeah.” The heat of his face was nearly unbearable. 

Richas gently smacked his dad on the leg. “Oi, stop that.” 

Pac leaned back, holding his hands up with an innocent expression. “What?? What?” 

The little boy glared at him with no heat. “Pai Mike told you to stop that.” 

“Well, Mikey isn't here right now is he? And he also has no control over my life.” Pac turned back to Tubbo and grabbed the pen again. He motioned towards Tubbo's arm which he held out willingly. 

Quickly the man scribbled a number onto his arm, his grip strong and warm. Tubbo felt dizzy. 

Pac dropped the pen with a smile and a wink before grabbing his son's hand. “Call me yeah?” 

Tubbo stared in disbelief, red as a beet. “...yeah,” he said softly as Pav happily bounded out the door, his son berating him in Portuguese. 

“Tommy,” he said softly when he got home, holding up his arm. “I think I got hit on.”

[donttakecandyfromastranger]

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Part One - Chapter One: The Disappearance of Holland and Henderson

Summary: Y/n goes with Nancy and Barb to Steve's party. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas are still looking for will.

Word count: 1,434

Masterlist

Y/n

I should curse myself, because I know better. Why I let my best friend, Nancy Wheeler, talk our other best friend, Barbara Holland, and I into going to a party at Steve Harrington's house is beyond me. Especially since my brother's, Dustin Henderson, best friend, Will Byers,  went missing in the very woods that surrounds Steve's house a couple of days ago. 

Nancy is upstairs with Steve doing things that I don't want to hear about later. She told us to leave without her as she was walking into the house while Barb and I were walking out after bandaging the cut on her hand. Barb cut her hand with a pocket knife while cutting open a beer can. Instead of leaving we went back by the pool. Barb and I are sitting on the diving board, she is at the end and I'm sitting on the side, right behind her. I take my Walkman out of my messenger bag and push play, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John plays quietly, just loud enough for us both to hear. I lean my head on Barb's shoulder and hook her elbow in mine. 

I think that being able to sit in comfortable silence with a friend is the best thing ever. But the comfort doesn't last long. I hate the dark, I've always hated the dark. I see something out of the corner of my eye. It's standing there, looking at me. I don't dare move my head, but I move my eyes. It can't be looking at me. It doesn't have a face. It's tall with long arms and long legs. I scream but no sound comes out. In a blink it's running towards me. 

Dustin

Usually my sister wakes me up in the morning but not this morning. My mom shakes me awake, saying that she didn't want me to be late for school. I change my clothes, fix my hair and throw my hat on. I ran out of my room with my backpack. Last night Mike, Lucas and I agreed to meet at Mike's house to discuss our plan to look for Will after school. I grab my older backpack and stuff some snacks in it for our travels.

“Bye, mom!” I yell as I walk out of the kitchen. I look for Y/n to tell her bye but she is nowhere in the house. My sister must not have stayed here last night because I didn't see her at all this morning. I go back to my room and get my school backpack and jacket. I leave my house, closing the door behind me.

That's weird. Y/n's car is here. But she is not. Well Barb did pick her up last night according to Nancy to go to Will's assembly at the football field. Maybe she stayed with Nancy or Barb. I hop on my bike. 

“Dusty!” I hear my mom shout from the door, I look back at her. “Ask Mike if N/n  stayed with Nancy.”

“I will!” I shout back and kick off the ground. I ride to Mike's house.

I drop my bike on the ground by his front door next to Lucas's and knock on the front door. 

“Is Y/n here?” I ask Mike as he opens the door. Lucas is standing right behind him.

They both give me a weird look. “Why would your sister be at my house?” 

“She didn't come home last night and she went with Nancy and Barb to the assembly at the football field.” I answer as I step through the door and close it behind me. I follow Lucas and Mike into the basement. 

“Maybe she stayed with Barb.” Lucas responds as he closes the basement door behind us. 

“Maybe…” I mutter. “My sister would have called… What if this thing took my sister too?”

“She probably forgot.” Lucas rolls his eyes. He stops walking and stands by the table, Mike and I stand on the two other sides. Eleven, a girl with superpowers that we found in the woods two days ago, is sitting on the couch messing with Mike’s supercomm.

“Here's the plan.” Mike leans over the table. “We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school. That’ll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood.”

Lucas glances at Eleven. “You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will is?”

“Just trust me on this, okay?” Mike responds. “Did you get the supplies?”

“Yeah,” Lucas says. He grabs his backpack and takes his supplies out of it, planning them on the table. “Binoculars… from ‘Nam. Army knife… also from ‘Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana… and the wrist rocket!”

I give Lucas a judgemental look. “You're gonna take down the Demogorgon with a slingshot?”

Lucas glares at me. “First of all, it's a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon’s not real. It's made up. But if there is something out there, I’m gonna shoot it in the eye…” He acts like he's shooting something at me with his wrist rocket. “And blind it!”

Mike sighs and looks over at me. “Dustin, what did you get?”

I dump my backpack out on the table then toss the bag onto the floor. “Well alrighty. So, we've got… Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix.”

“Seriously?” Lucas rolls his eyes.

“We need energy for our travels.” I respond to him. “For stamina. And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway? We have her.” I gesture to Eleven who is still on the couch.

“She shut one door!”

“With her mind! Are you kidding me? That's insane! Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like…” I turn around and walk towards El. I grab Mike’s replica of the Millennium Falcon. “I bet… that she could make this fly!” I turn to El, holding the Millennium Falcon out in front of me. “Hey, hey. Okay. Concentrate, okay?” I drop it and it falls straight to the ground. That's not what I was expecting to happen… “Okay, one more time.” I pick it up. “Use your powers, okay?” I drop it and it falls straight to the ground again.

“Idiot.” Lucas mutters and shakes his head.

Mike sighs then grabs the Falcon off the floor before I can pick it up and drop it again. “She's not a dog!”

“Boys!” Mike’s mom yells from upstairs. “Time for school!”

I grab my school backpack and my jacket and run upstairs with Lucas right behind me.

Nancy

Barb and Y/n haven't come to school today. I have a bad feeling about it. Neither of them ever skip and both of them are rarely sick. The final of the day bell rings. I make my way to the payphone outside the front entrance of the high school. I dig a quarter out of my bag and put it in the slot before typing in Barb's phone number. The line rings. “Come on, come on, come on…” I whisper to myself.

“Hello?” Ms. Holland, Barb's mother, answers on the other line.

“Hi. Hi, uh, Ms. Holland, it's Nancy.” I say, I lean against the phone booth.

“Oh, Nancy, how are you?”

“Good. I’m good.” I answer and stand up straighter. “Um, I was just wondering, uh, is Barb there?”

“Mmm… No, she hasn't come home yet.”

“But she did come home, right?” I nervously grab the strap of my bag. “After the vigil?” 

“No, she said she was staying with you last night.” 

“Right, yes. She did, sorry.” I lie. “I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up.” 

“Oh, um, no, I haven't seen her.’ 

“Do- Do you know what? I just remembered…” I think for a second for a cover. “She’s at the library.” 

“Nancy, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you.” I tell her then I hang up. I dig another quarter out of my bag and put it in the slot. I type in Y/n’s number.

Her mom picks up right away. “Hello?”

“Hi, Ms. Henderson. This is Nancy.” I answer.

“Oh, Hi, Nancy. Did N/n stay the night with you last night? She didn't come home last night.”

“Yeah, yeah. She did.” I lie again. “Did she come home this morning?”

“No, she didn't. Will you have her call me?”

“Yeah, I will. Sorry for bothering you.” I hang up the phone.

Notes: So I made a mixtape for this story and I had an idea! You can help me make more! Here is a link to a Google Form and you can add song requests!

[kennahjune]

HI OMG HELLO

Just a little obsessed with the whole “projecting my interests onto Steve” train I have going so here ya go—

Steve who has an interest in mythology of just about any kind but specifically Greek Mythology because “holy shit everyone’s gay.”

Steve’s hosting the usual Saturday hangout at his house because it’s the one time everyone’s schedules line up. He’s sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, Robin on the floor to his right and Dustin to his left. Everyone else is spread among the couches and armchair, squeezing together in a way that seems more uncomfortable and over heated than the Devil’s asscrack.

Dustin was going on a ramble about something science-y. Robin and Mike would cut in occasionally with their own arguments and begin a whole new debate. Steve wasn’t paying much attention though.

His focus was on Eddie, who was staring intently at the living room window. Specifically the one that held his mothers flower vases.

When there was a break in the argument where everyone caught their breaths and gathered their thoughts, Eddie struck.

“What kind of flowers are those?” He pointed at the light yellow vase with a complicated floral pattern.

Steve paused and debated answering. He knew it was a trap. The flowers in that vase held a long story— one that everyone in the room would be subjected to hearing if Steve couldn’t help himself.

But Eddie was looking at his expectantly, Dustin tilting his head in curiosity, and even Mike eyeing him with a genuine wonderment.

So, Steve naturally conceded. “They’re hyacinths.”

Argyle whistled lowly. “Pretty name.”

Steve grinned. “Yeah well— they get their name from one of the prettiest people in history. In my opinion anyway.”

That seemed to pique everyone’s interest. Bad move on Steve’s part. At this rate, he’s gonna crack and go on a rant. Nobody wants to listen to his rants.

“Who do they get their name from?” Will asked, pulling his feet up to sit crisscross on the armchair. Mike was sat right next to him on the seat, squished into the arm but making no complaints. Mike nodded at Will’s question, as if agreeing that he also wanted to know.

Steve shifted and pulled one leg to his chest, resting his arm on it and fiddling with his hands. He avoided eye contact with just about anyone, before cracking a little more and looking at Robin.

With the nod she gave him, Steve felt himself break.

“They get their name from the Roman Prince Hyacinthus.”

Nancy hummed and took a sip from her Coke. She waved her hand as if urging him on. Steve continued.

“Um— well Hyacinthus was a Roman Prince beloved by all, including the God Apollo—“

“But isn’t Apollo a guy?” Mike interrupted. Looking over, Steve saw the pure curiosity and something that looked like hesitation on his face. Next to Mike, Will looked equally if-not-more hesitant but also very happy (?).

Steve allowed himself a small grin and nodded. “He is indeed. Hyacinthus is actually the first openly gay Greek character that we know of.” Steve’s smile brightened at the grin that made itself present on Will’s face and look of pure endearment on Mike’s.

“Anyways— Apollo fell in love with Hyacinthus but so did Zephyros, the God of the West Winds. Hyacinthus chose Apollo over Zephyros, however. And one day while Apollo and Hyacinthus were being all couple-y or whatever in the fields and playing discus, Zephyros took advantage of the winds and sent a discus spiraling straight at Hyacinthus and it ended up killing him on impact.”

He paused to take a breath, the story taking hold of him. Steve could feel the rush of excitement at finally talking about it— this story was his favorite and the next part always got him.

Among his break, he looked up and started at Eddie’s eyes on him. Of course, everyone’s eyes were on him, but Eddie’s shone with such a fondness that Steve felt himself having to do a minor breathing exercise to calm his heart down.

He cleared his throat with a cough and picked up where he left off, tilting his eyes down and keeping them on his fidgeting hands.

“Well— um, it was typical ‘if I can’t have you no one can’ fashion but the death shook Apollo to his very core and after trying everything in his power to get Hyacinthus back he finally gave in and grew the hyacinth flowers from the grass wherever Hyacinthus’ blood touched ‘to keep him in the sun where he belonged’.”

And with that, Steve looked around at everyone in the room. El’s eyes were filled with wonderment. Sitting next to her, Max looked shocked— though, at the story or Steve, he was unsure.

Jonathan had a small smile playing at his lips as well as Nancy. Argyle gave him a thumbs up and a “cool”.

Mike and Will were both seemingly buzzing with excitement and joy, Steve could see it in their eyes and on the matching grins they wore.

Dustin and Lucas— the latter sitting behind Steve on the couch— we’re both grinning at Steve and talking over each other, trying to tell him several different things at once.

But over the chaos surrounding him, Steve’s eyes were drawn to Eddie’s. Doe eyes filled with fondness and endearment. Steve’s grin turned to a bashful smile and he was quick to turn away.

He instead focused on Dustin and Lucas, pretending to not notice when Will followed Mike to the kitchen. From the knowing glint in Jonathan’s eyes, he also knew what was happening. They shared a snort and cheersed their Coke cans.

When the night was over and Steve was fresh out of mythology tales to tell the Party, everyone began leaving.

Mike, Will, and El left with Jonathan and Argyle. Nancy drove Robin, Dustin, Lucas and Erica as well as Max— who was spending the night at the Sinclair’s.

It was when Steve went to clean the living room that he noticed he never saw Eddie leave.

Instead, the metal head was standing by the window in the living room. The same window with the hyacinths. Steve furrowed his brow in confusion and walked over.

The moment Steve was within reaching distance, Eddie pulled him into his side. Steve let out an ‘oof’ sound, and caught himself on Eddie’s chest. Rather than pulling away from the other, Steve made himself comfortable and settled into Eddie’s side with his head on his shoulder.

“I love hearing you ramble,” was the last thing Steve heard before Eddie kissed him soundly.

[asksythe]

I want to write an LB6 Oberon x Gudako x PHH Vortigern story.

The other day, I told @erimies that I wanted to try my hand at writing a dark romance story.

I don't often write romance, and even when I do, I view it less as shipping and romance and more as the continuation of characterization. So, if I feel this is how this character would behave or potentially change in a certain direction, I would follow that logic to its conclusion no matter how I personally feel about it.

But the thing is... despite how Oberon Vortigern would like to portray himself, I don't personally think of him as a truly evil kind of character. You see it in the way he conducts himself in canon LB6. There was a lot of things he didn't have to do, but he did (like teaching young Castoria and giving her a short time of respite from her loneliness and ostracization).

There were also a lot of things he could have done were he truly evil, but he never did. I'm talking about his relationship with Riri during the early part of the Lostbelt. Almost every night in the early part of the story, they were alone with each other. Almost every night. Whether it was him climbing in through the window of her room in Mike's tavern, or when he sent Castoria away to gather woods or create a bounded field, leaving him to sit alone with Riri by the fireside. They didn't do anything. They just talked.

I don't think it's possible to overstate how emotionally vulnerable Riri was at that time before she met Mash again in Norwich. Someone as smart and socially savvy as Oberon should have been able to twist Riri's heart and mind like a pretzel in that situation. He might not have been able to pull the wools over her eyes for long, but he absolutely could have done devastating damage or primed her in a way that would benefit him more. I'm fairly sure there are some kinky hentai doujins out there that explored this very scenario. But the fact that Oberon never even tried spoke volume.

Then there's his wet sock of a fight at the end of LB6. Like, sir, can you be more half-assed in your big villain speech and fight?

Summer 2023 on JP server more or less cinched the deal. Oberon is just... a wet cat... and really really really (embarrassingly) down bad for Riri.

Hah!

My point is, I don't think regular Oberon cuts it for a truly dark romance kind of story. Not against someone whose heart is so resilient like Riri. So I thought of exploring the Vortigern side.

As it so happened, I acquired the novella Garden of Avalon, in which PHH Vortigern is featured as the villain.

Having read it, I... have thoughts. PHH Vortigern seems to exhibit the same kind of put-upon, enforced evil as LB Oberon. Again, his actions gave him away. He usurped his brother Uther's throne via violence... and yet let Uther go with his life and limbs fully in tact. And that's how we arrived at the canon Artoria, who is a dragon in human form... because Uther took one look at Vortigern's dragon aspect and thought. I would like me a big freakin gun just like that and he went on to do really skeevy-sounding human experimentation (via way of Merlin), resulting in Arotia....

...Bruh...

And people wonder why Artoria felt so inhuman as king... Well, if her purpose of existence was only to defeat Vortigern and never to succeed Uther as King, then it kinda makes sense, doesn't it?

Even when he was defeated, Vortigern still worried about the fate of the world and his own niece (in the usual tsundere snarky way).

Well, I guess Oberon really is an alternate version of PHH Vortigern. There's a good bit of similarities between them. Implied and not. In any case, that's where the PHH Vortigern x Riri comes in. Because I thought, there are things worth exploring here.

....

Nineveh 2461

... is the name I gave this story idea.

...

On the eve when the two brothers, splintered now in blood and heart, part from one another, the aggrieved people of Albion proclaim. 

We do not want to be fought over by either dragons or wyrms, for whichever one prevails, the little men will lose regardless. 

And so a plan is hatched alongside Uther’s dream to birth a dragon in human form. Is it not customary to proffer a greedy dragon with a virgin? A tribute shall be gifted to Vile King Vortigern, so that he would be sufficiently distracted and thus turn the worst of his evils from them. This shall be no ordinary virgin. Nothing that the Vile King himself could clutch from the populace. 

No. 

This one shall be crafted to specifications. A vessel shall be made. A ritual shall be enacted to call forth that which he desires but may not touch. 

One who can withstand his savagery. One whose burning hurt will endure even the Vile King’s frozen embrace. 

...

Ritsuka is summoned into a ‘vessel’ during the Arthurian cycle in PHH, singularity style!

Core story is a flip on the classical wicked dragon and imprisoned princess tale. 

An exploration of what book Vortigern means by a ‘dark paradise where humans cannot step foot on.’

It’s less that Ritsuka is imprisoned and more that she’s enjoying domestic life, taking care of cantankerous dragon man Vortigern.

This tragic, weirdly domestic romance is doomed because, regardless of how she feels, she has to resolve this singularity and return to Chaldea.

The climax is Ritsuka’s servants aiding the local Artoria and coming to her rescue. 

Oberon Vortigern is among the rescue team, spearheading it. 

Final battle involves Oberon Vortigern against himself. PHH Vortigern against a version of himself. 

[angstea]

i could barely speak (i could only hum a tune)

Fandom: FNAF Movie

Ship: SecurityWaiter

Series: Auctober 2024

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Summary: Mike visits the pizzeria. Ness is waiting (not that Mike knows it)

AN: Title is from My farewells to the fields by Yaelokre

Mike is autistic (so is Ness but it doesn't rlly come up)

This is an AU of my own creation, the Ness Cadet AU (I know Candy Cadet is not at Freddy's in the movie, let me have this)

Written for Auctober Day 5: Verbose

Read on AO3

"Hey. It's just me again.." Mike wasn't sure why he felt the need to announce his presence. The rusted robot in the corner didn't respond.

Mike slumped into the chair that now sat alongside Candy Cadet (he had reluctantly dragged it over from the main dining area after his third visit. It was better than sitting on the old carpet, he supposed).

"How you doing, buddy?" He asked the machine.

Candy Cadet said nothing, of course.

"Hang on, I think I've got something for you." Mike dug through the pockets of his coat, searching for something, dropping things into his lap to help locate what he was looking for. Scraps of paper with reminders written on them, a couple of pennies, a bit of string, a long forgotten raffle ticket, general odds and ends that got shoved into pockets before disappearing from memory.

A crumpled bit of paper fell to the floor and he reached down to retrieve it. His hand trembled slightly when he realised it was a receipt from Sparky's. He felt sick to his stomach at the sight of Ness's handwriting at the bottom, a wave of grief crashing over him once again.

(Mike used to go to Sparky's with Abby to see Ness while he was stuck working a shift. They couldn't chat for long, but Ness would leave notes for him on the receipts. Mike had appreciated every single one but he had always thrown them away in the end. He didn't have space to keep every single one, no matter now precious each one was to him now. He hung onto this one like it was made of solid gold though)

He shoved the paper back into the pocket of his jeans, trying to push away the crushing weight of all that had happened.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, wiping away the couple of tears that fell from his eyes. "I don't even know why I talk to you, you know. You're not...you don't know I'm even talking to you. We can't have a conversation."

He finally found what he was looking for, a quarter buried at the bottom of his pocket. He slipped it into the coin slot and shoved all the miscellaneous junk back into his coat.

"Can...candy, candy." Candy Cadet's robotic voice flickered to life and his colourful lights flashed unsteadily. A light clatter signalled the arrival of an out of date piece of candy.

"Wow, two. Must be my lucky day." He gave a half-hearted smile and grabbed the two sweets. One cola flavoured, the other orange. Ness's favourites. Again.

"Are these the only ones you have left or something?" Mike asked. He didn't expect the machine to answer.

"Let me tell you a story."

"Huh. That's the first time you've done that." He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and listening.

"A story about a boy and his friend. Once, there was a young boy who lived on the edge of a forest. Every night, he would wander through the dark forest, watching out for an evil wizard in order to protect the creatures of the forest from him."

Mike raised an eyebrow at the machine.

"One night, he met another boy in the forest. The other boy had heard about the wizard and wanted to see if the stories were true."

It doesn't know. It can't. It's just a coincidence.

"The two boys quickly became friends, running through the forest and laughing together every night. Soon, the boy completely forgot about the wizard or why he was in the forest at all. Until one night."

"Lemme guess, the evil wizard comes back and kills the friend." Mike aimed for sarcasm but his voice was cracking.

"The boys were playing in the woods, carefree and happy. But the wizard found them. Determined to show his power, he killed one of the boys. The other fled."

Mike felt the guilt hit him all over again. He should have tried harder to save Ness. There was so much he could've done.

"Days later, the boy returned to the forest to look for his friend's body. But it was nowhere to be found. He did not know that the wizard had hidden the corpse inside of a tree or that his soul was trapped inside."

His soul was trapped inside. Soul was trapped inside. Soul trapped inside. Soul trapped. Soul trapped.

"His friend cried out for him, trying his hardest to get him to listen. But the boy could not hear."

Then Candy Cadet powered down, leaving Mike in silence.

He couldn't breathe. Ness...Ness couldn't possibly still be here. He wasn't... his soul trapped inside.

"I have to go." His voice was tight as he leapt out the chair and ran for the exit.

He heard Candy Cadet's speaker crackle and croak about candy but he didn't even glance back.

-

Mike!

"Candy."

Mike, please come back.

"Get your candy."

I'm right here, sugar.

"Let me tell you a story."

[little-cereal-draws]

Idea for a BBC Ghosts episode (based off the head canon that Thomas is scared of sudden loud noises)

It’s Guy Fawkes day and the Coopers realize that the field in front of their house would be a pretty good spot to have a firework show

It would be an easy event to make some money so they start gathering supplies and marketing. It’s aimed at families so tickets are pretty cheap

The ghosts are excited bc they’ve either never seen a firework before or haven’t seen one in ages. They spend most of the day bothering Alison with questions and getting in the way while they set up

The Captain’s interested in the organization, Pat and Julian are interested in the guests arriving, and Kitty is so excited for the fireworks themselves that she’s thrown up three times

Night finally falls and the show starts. Mike fumbles the first one, in true Mike fashion, and it nearly hits the house. Alison gets after him about it but it’s more out of love and worry than anger

Mike gets the hang of it eventually and the crowd is “oohing” and “awwing.” The ghosts are having the time of their lives. Pat, Julian, and the Captain are recounting fond memories of fireworks they had from their lives. Kitty is loosing her mind and absolutely adores the sparkly ones. Fanny initially was put off by them because they were too loud but she ends up enjoying herself quite a bit and laughing along with the crowd. Robin was terrified because it was a bit too much like lightning and thunder but once it becomes obvious that the fireworks can’t hurt him, he’s entranced. It looks like fire in the sky

About halfway through, Alison asks them all how they’re liking it and they say it’s a good time. But… Thomas is missing. She asks around but no one’s seen him since the show started. Alison tells Mike to keep it going without her and goes off to find him

She searches the whole house until she finds him curled up at the bottom of the stairs by the basement. When he sees her approaching, instead of an outdated pickup line or a dreamy sigh, he quickly wipes tears away and tries to straighten himself out

She sits next to him and asks what’s wrong; this is very out of character for him. He tries to play it off but can’t come up with a good cover up. She asks him a bit more sternly and he admits that loud noises frighten him

Alison’s confused for a second until she sees how he grips his bullet wound and everything falls into place. Another firework bursts and he jumps and screams

He says it’s pathetic and childish but she assures him he’s not. There’s nothing wrong with being scared of something that reminds him of a very painful and traumatic experience

He thanks her and another firework goes off. Alison is glad they had this talk but isn’t sure how to help him. She can’t give him earplugs or earmuffs and he can’t leave the house to get away from them

Another firework goes off and she makes up her mind. She goes back outside and tells Mike to stop the show early. He’s resistant because they promised an hour long show and people might get mad but she explains the situation and he gives in

People do get upset but Alison says that they’re decided to jump to the next part of their program instead. She starts giving the kids sparklers and party snaps. The kids go wild and the parents calm down a bit

The ghosts ask what happened but she doesn’t tell them. Thankfully, their questioning gets cut short by Kitty begging for a sparkler. Alison waves one around for her and everyone has a good night

[levisgirll]

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

→ Text: hello everyone!! I went through my drafts and realized I never got the chance to post this and felt the need to do it (with some editing). I have decided to combine these two requests together to bring out and make a very fluff but some angst headcanons, it was actually interesting for me to do something like this. I did this because they had a similar theme and I wanted it to have a very fluff ending and longer writing for you all since I keep seeing more likes and reblogs in my account so thank you so much to all after all this time! Enjoy it :,)

synopsis: coming from the underground and having to adapt to a new environment is quite challenging for anyone, especially having to deal with people constantly bullying and picking on y/n just because she is different. Y/n is a very determined person and always tries her keep on going. Although, it does get hard on her later and Captain Levi does take notice of that. He usually doesn’t worry a lot about new cadets, but y/n coming from the underground, Levi could relate, and actually feel sympathy towards her. He slowly begins to worry for her more and care for her which leads to him being protective and enjoying being with Y/n....but something happens and Captain Levi does not hold back anymore. 

word count: 2.2k. fluff, comfort, angst, warning: slight picking on, bullying, aot world, headcanons & fanfiction ♡ —

Finally, y/n was free from that damned place. It felt like she was going to be there for the rest of her life but she finally made it out. Apparently, the military needed some more people to join the Survey crops since a lot had left, were injured and many died recently in the last expedition when they rescued Eren the titan shifter from the enemies. 

A lot hesitated, but y/n did not care. She just needed to leave this toxic environment that was draining her each day. But little did she know, the outside world was going to be the biggest challenge she had to face.

“Everyone salute and welcome your new cadets!” Mike Zacharias, the instructor, yelled out across the field that you were pretty sure your eardrums were going to burst. 

“Hey I heard there is someone from the underground that joined the survey crops, is that true?” someone uttered which you overheard as you looked at them. They quickly glanced at you, staring at you deeply with a look of judgment. ‘Yup, this is not welcoming at all.’ Y/n thought as she looked away and started to introduce herself. 

“I’m Y/N L/N, I hope I can keep up with everyone’s pace and learn from you.” Y/n said eagerly, finally it was a new start for her, no more getting bad treatment in the underground, no one being rude to her. She heard a lot about being part of the survey crops, you finally get some respect from people as part of a famous regiment.

“Where did you come from huh?” Someone yelled from the crowd, ‘Huh? why is he asking that, does it really matter where I am coming from?’ Y/n thought as she gave a look of concern and worry. “Um, from....the underground.” As soon as she uttered that, the whole vibe changed and everyone looked at each other.

The squad leader just gave a sigh and left. It seemed like he knew this would be the start of a big problem and did not want to be responsible for it. But, he glanced back at Y/n, “Please....don’t cause any trouble.” Then he finally left.

Y/n was now even more confused. Was there a reason that there would be trouble in the first place? She decided to just let that thought slide since it had no answer and decided to go into her cabin.

—

Okay, now she gets it. It’s cause she was from the underground and no one was from there and treated them differently. It seemed like any place she went to would never be welcoming. The group of trainers had started to treat her differently, when it was lunch time no one would sit with her, or if she needed advice they would always ignore her or tell her to ‘figure it out’. Y/n had no friends and no one by her side, she accepted that fact but then wondered...Was there something wrong with her maybe? She kept doubting herself now and that was the last thing she wanted.

Although, not everyone was treating her differently. Corporal Levi was their instructor for the use of 3D maneuver gear. Apparently, he is known as the strongest soldier who performed exceptionally well in everything.

Levi was observant, that was not something hard to guess coming from a man who is very much experienced. He noticed the gap between the recruits and...Y/n. He did find that odd and probably thought perhaps she didn’t take a shower.

Well. Yes, he was not treating her differently because Levi actually treats everyone the same! So perhaps Y/n would take that as...fair treatment for once?

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” Just as everyone was ready to go have dinner and relax Levi stood in front of Y/n. “You. I’m gonna need you to stay behind and follow me.”

Okay scratch that ‘fair treatment’. Y/n was wondering now what she had done after following Levi. She noticed then that he was quite muscular from the back and he really...did look quite attractive upfront. Later on, she noticed that she was in his office.

“So what’s the deal with you?”. Hearing that suddenly once he sat down on his chair made Y/n nervous but still stood her ground. “I... dont think I understand, Corporal.” 

“Listen, I need to know what’s going on. Being part of the survey crops means we need to collaborate together, but if there is an issue then I’ll need to hear it, Hm?”

Was he concerned about her perhaps? Y/n then decided to go ahead and tell him about how she was one of the newer recruits that joined coming from the underground and was the reason everyone was giving her that behaviour. Levi was completely off guard, he looked at her with surprise that she herself never seen.

“Okay....I think I get it now. Clearly, there are some shitheads that I need to deal with.” Y/n now was the one who stood off guard. “S-Sir? I didn’t mean to complain or anything!” She was now worried. Scared knowing that maybe now she had done it for herself and made this a bigger problem as it is.

“Don’t worry, just go back for now. I’ll see you in the morning.” He said as he got up and then put his hand gently on her shoulder. “You are....doing a great job. Hang in there.”

And with that, she was left alone in his office, but with a warm feeling, so warm it warmed her heart. He was indeed not what the rumours said about him. But perhaps, it was the same with her since she knew there were some nasty rumors going around. Then she thought ‘Just maybe....I found someone I can relate to’

—

Ever since then, Levi seemed irritated with the other scouts as he did notice and heard some remarks about others mocking Y/n. As well as the way they were just really acting like a bunch of kids who were not mature and had no idea what was coming from them. They truly were pathetic. “You know, it’s best not to be with such pathetic people.” He said suddenly as he was helping Y/n fix her 3DMG which mysteriously got jammed. 

Y/n felt these past few weeks that Levi was caring for her.....but in his own way.

Whenever they had a break, he would go over to Y/n and have a small chat. Nothing big just simple talks. “Make sure to wear good clothes...you know the winter is around the corner.” Y/n quite liked the small chats, it was a while since she had such a nice refreshing chat with someone. But she did not expect Levi to be the one, as he was not very vocal but she noticed actions spoke louder than words for him. Always giving her water or some biscuits for her to have, and checking on her equipment. It felt like she was cared for once and it did make her have an unknown feeling. It was quite complex for her to figure out but, it made her feel happy for sure though.

Whenever she got bullied by the other scouts on how she was just a nobody and just a junkie from the underground, it really made her feel embarrassed and she started wearing a hood over her head just to not be seen or known by others. However, that did not work for Levi as he spotted her quickly as she was sitting beside a tree. “Y/n? Why are you hiding there.” She looked up and saw him with a concerned look. But she gave a small smile, he was....different that was for sure.

“I just wanted to be alone, that’s all.” 

“Oh. Then, would you like me to leav-”

“No!” Y/n did not realize that she had just now raised her voice, but not only that....also grabbing the Corporal's wrist! She quickly backed away and before she was about to say something, Levi just started to....laugh? The whole atmosphere changed within seconds and Y/n just found herself smiling like an idiot. 

“Yeah, I am convinced now that you are an idiot.” He sat beside her and looked at her with a reassuring smile. Now she was a blushing mess, she just knew her face was heating up! Just being beside him the whole time, made her forget about what even made her upset from the beginning and not feel insecure anymore. Levi made her feel that just being herself was nothing wrong, nothing to be embarrassed about. Just spending time with Levi made her realize that, as someone like himself who really doesn’t seem to care about what others say about him while doing what he has to do was the highlight for her. She was y/n, her own person, and also....maybe an idiot according to Levi? But she will take that.

Y/n wasn’t sure what this unknown feeling was, but she wanted to keep feeling it for way longer. As time went by, she felt Levi’s worry and care for her. Whenever they passed by each other, he would look at her with a small smile, and sometimes when they were alone he made y/n to call him Levi.

—

Again, her 3DMG wasn’t working. She was quite disappointed in herself for not maintaining her gear, this would definitely not make her survive outside the walls if she had this problem occurring.

Y/n looked over at Levi who seemed quite angry and annoyed. She felt something in her gut that today...something was gonna happen.

“Alright, who done it.” The whole training area in the forest got silent. Everyone looks at each other with fear in their eyes. ‘What...? Don’t tell me.’

And that’s when Y/n figured it out, someone was tampering with her 3DMG! It was not just a coincidence after all.  However, that left her feeling terrible. Levi could see that and that’s when he snapped when seeing just how hurt Y/n was.

“No one is leaving here till that disgusting shithead who is responsible comes out.” No one had really seen Corporal Levi like that, the atmosphere changed so bad that even Mike felt it without sniffing anything. ‘I said no trouble...cause I’m afraid of this.’

Everyone now started to back away and look towards the guy who was trying to hide in the middle between the scouts. Y/n quickly noticed that it was one of the main people in the scouts that really was bothering her and came to the conclusion after seeing his fearful face that he was the culprit indeed.

Levi didn’t need to guess who it was and went walking slowly, straight up to him. “Was it...You.” Now, Y/n was sure that guy might have probably taken a real shit right now. He started sweating so badly and then got to the floor. “I-I’m so sorry Corporal!!! I mean to..!” Levi looked down at him with such disgust. “You are indeed pathetic. I did notice your shitty behaviour lately. But to go this far...doing that to another comrade? No. You are no longer a trustworthy scout, let alone a decent citizen and I’m officially taking you out of the whole Training Corps.”

The tension was so high, that everyone backed away from Levi and the bully, who really started this whole problem. Y/n just stood there with sadness and confusion. Seems like she probably will never know why she was the one picked on, like always.

—

After a long day, Y/n was called into Levi’s office during the evening. She went over there and inside his office. Levi noticed immediately the sadness in her eyes and the change in her vibe. He wondered why, why was she still upset? Did they bother her afterwards? He was about to ask when.

“Why did you do that for me? Was it for the good of the scouts to remove someone who doesn’t collaborate with others or....was it for me?” With that last word, she looked up with tears in her eyes that made her eyes come out looking more beautiful than ever. He stood in front of her now, and slowly, gently grabbing her hand. He looked at her with a lot of affection this time. “Idiot. It was because I care for you.” Levi said it so quietly, as if he just wanted Y/n to hear it and no one else even though they were both alone in his office. But, he said it in a way that made him blush just slightly, he was definitely not used to talking in a way to make someone acknowledge how he cares for them but also....for someone who he seemed to like.

“I was from there too you know.” He said suddenly, “So I understand.” Levi was now softly wiping the tears that rolled down Y/n’s cheeks. Levi didn’t need to say more, nothing more. Just that look in his eyes and the feeling that they are both feeling right now. That Unknown feeling was reassuring and what Y/n only needed. Nothing else. Y/n then brought her arms around Levi’s shoulders and hugged him, she wanted to feel his warmth on this cold winter night and comfort for her heart that she never knew she needed till tonight. Levi, hugged her back tightly with affection around her waist, also needing some more warmth that night and they stood there, hugging each other while outside his office window, it started to finally snow.

note: okay, I’m glad to have posted this! I’m not sure if anyone will read it or like it but I felt the sudden urge to post it and it was on my mind lately! I’m also finally done with uni and taking a break, so I decided to come back to post this and see whoever wants to read it and enjoy it. The world is crazy atm and I hope whoever reads this gives themselves a break once in a while <3

[clarepreed]

Mud

Short Story Summary and Content: 5,100 words. Northerner Nikki may not survive her first mudding date with her Southern boyfriend. Suffocation/drowning and on-site resuscitation. Features Zoll AutoPulse.

--

“So… we’re riding these things down a muddy trail and into a muddy field and spending the day getting covered in mud?” Nikki eyed the four-wheeler askance and tugged on her old, red-and-blue leggings.

“That’s about it.” Caleb grinned at her. “I swear it’s fun.”

“I guess I’m about to see for myself. Are we wearing helmets?”

“Nah, you don’t need one. Everything’s so muddy it’s like falling in melted ice cream. But I won’t tip us over.” He stepped close to her and snaked his arm around her waist, resting his palm against the bare skin between her leggings and sports bra. “Then we can shower off together later.”

“Well, that part I know I’ll like.” She pressed her curves against him and tipped her mouth up to be kissed.

He grinned, gripped her ass with both hands, and kissed her hard.

“Ugh! Get a room!” he heard his older sister, Em, say. “Gross.”

He broke the kiss, but he didn’t release Nikki, pivoting her around with him as he turned to look at Em and the disgusted expression on her face. “Just because you aren’t getting any—”

Em snorted and rolled her eyes. “Like you would know. I’m knee deep in—”

“NOPE!” Caleb released Nikki and clapped his hands to his ears. Em just grinned at him and sashayed over to her own four-wheeler, her thumbs hooked in the belt loops of her cargo shorts.

“You deserved that,” Nikki said when he dropped his hands. She offered him a wicked grin. “Over here playing with fire, of course you’re gonna get burned.”

He rolled his eyes at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

A half hour later, their group was headed down the trail. There were five total ATVs carrying eight people, all friends, family, and significant others. There’d been hard rain for two days prior on into the early morning, so the trail was a wide, rutty swath of red clay mud.

“Holy shit!” Nikki exclaimed, her arms tightening around his waist as the four-wheeler bounced and a muddy spray from a nearby vehicle doused them.

“That’s why I gave you those goggles!” Caleb shouted, laughing.

“I’m never getting this out of my hair!” she groaned, reaching up to pat her twists.

Eventually, the trail opened into a large, muddy field that Caleb’s uncle had given over to four-wheelers. During the wet times of the year, the field was nothing more than a vat of thick, orange soup.

He drove over to the edge of the field where the ground was firmer and there were downed trees to sit on, thinking Nikki might want a beer or at least a chance to rinse her mouth out. This was also the end of the field where his uncle’s gravel access drive terminated, giving them quick access to the house, should they need it.

The next hour flew by. Sometimes he rode with Nikki, sometimes he went solo. For being out of her element, he thought she was having a good time.

“I’m gonna take your girl out,” Em said, winking at him. Her short hair was spiked with mud, giving her a rakish look. When he didn’t react, she said: “For a ride…”

“Stop,” Nikki said, laughing as she put on the ATV goggles he’d loaned her. 

Em turned and patted the seat behind her, grinning when Nikki climbed on and slipped her arms around her waist. “Wish me luck!”

They took off, pulling in behind Caleb’s friend Mike as he rounded the curve of the field. He chuckled when he heard Nikki squeal, reaching into the cooler to get another beer.

Mike made a point of circling around the women and then cutting across their path, spraying them with a heavy wave of muddy water. Caleb shook his head, a little annoyed. Mike had a tendency to ride too close and go too hard, which is why the friend group often called him “Dumbass” instead of his name.

The far end of the field sloped up toward a ridge of pine trees. Em was more sensible than Mike, and she cut left pretty early before they gained much elevation. Mike, on the other hand, came around them on the right, engine roaring as he overtook them and surged up the hill.

He lost control halfway up, the weight of the ATV tipping back and carrying him and the four-wheeler downhill. He bailed, just before his vehicle crashed into Em’s. The four-wheelers collided and rolled together, dumping the women into the mud. 

Caleb sat his beer down, already losing track of who was where. “Hey! Fuckhead! Em? Nikki?”

“I think someone’s hurt,” he heard Robb say from behind him. “No one’s up waving their arms around to say they’re okay.”

“Em! Nikki!” Caleb hopped onto his four-wheeler and rode across the field, his heart pounding. He’d been in a number of rollover accidents over the years and had always been fine. But when he was in elementary school, his neighbor’s dad had died instantly in an ATV accident. He’d been there, too young to exactly understand what was happening, watching people run around trying to revive him. Also, this was his sister and his girlfriend, and he couldn’t help but feel protective.

Caleb jumped off his four-wheeler, his boots squelching in the mud. The ground was especially soft here, water pooling up around his ankles. He heard another ATV roar up behind him.

Mike was bent over next to one of the overturned four-wheelers. “Em! Hey! Em!”

Caleb ran up beside him and saw his sister sprawled on her back in the mud, her eyes closed. Blood trickled from her nose and a gash near her hairline. 

“Em!” Caleb shouted, shoving Mike to the side as he dropped to his knees next to her. “What the fuck was that, asshole?!”

Mike sat down hard in the mud. “I didn’t mean to! Fuck, I think one of the tires got her in the face…” Their friends Robb and Dana pulled up beside him, coming from a different angle.

Caleb leaned over her, gingerly touching her muddy skin next to the gash. Em groaned and her hands clenched. “Em?”

She didn’t respond, so he looked up, trying to see where his girlfriend had ended up. “Nikki?” 

He almost didn’t spot her due to the mud, but his eyes stopped on something red and blue under one of the ATVs.

He reacted instinctively; he wouldn’t even be able to recall his actions later. Skirting around the ATVs, he slid in next to her, ignoring the sludge that lapped over the top of his boots. Her upper half was completely submerged in the thick, watery mud. He first tried pulling her up at the waist, but the weight of the four-wheeler resting on her lower half pinned her down. 

Robb ran over, and they lifted the ATV off her prone body, setting it upright. Mike broke free of his stupor and grabbed Nikki under the arms, hauling her up and out of the divot she was lying in.

“She didn’t jump free?!” Mike exclaimed, mouth agape, still holding her out of the mud. “Why didn’t she jump free?!” 

Caleb and Mike turned her over. She flopped boneless onto her back, covered in mud, her goggles lost in the puddle. He cradled her head in one hand and rubbed his other hand down her face, trying to wipe the mud off. Watery muck leaked out of her nose and mouth. In a panic, he pushed his fingers into her mouth, trying to scrape out the mud.

“Nikki! Nikki!” She didn’t respond, her limbs dangling as he shook her. “Fuck! I think she breathed it in!”

Caleb leaned his ear close to Nikki’s face. She was motionless, reclined back in Mike’s lap. He’d never seen someone so still outside of a casket. Her chest wasn’t rising, and he couldn’t feel any movement. “She’s not breathing!” 

He pinched her nose shut, not bothering to drag her out of Mike’s lap, and sucked in a deep breath.  He covered her mouth with his, felt the grit of the mud on her skin. The chill of her lips. Then he breathed into her. Or tried to. His cheeks puffed out, her cheeks puffed out, but then the air stopped, finally forcing its way out of the side of his mouth with a sputtering sound. He took a breath and tried again, with the same result.

“I can’t get any air in her!” He shouted, looking up at Mike.

“Dana’s calling 9-1-1,” he heard Robb say.

“Is your uncle home?” Mike asked. His own wild eyes reflected Caleb’s fears. “Can he help?”

“Get her on a four-wheeler with you!” Robb shouted. “Get her over to dry land! I’ve got Em!”

Mike and Caleb scrambled to their feet, awkwardly hauling Nikki’s limp body between them. Caleb climbed onto his ATV and dragged her out of Mike’s arms, setting her sideways on the seat in front of him and wrapping his arm around her middle to keep her from falling off. Holding her was like holding some kind of rag doll; there was no muscle tension in her body whatsoever.

His ATV roared and jumped forward, and Nikki’s head lolled back on her neck.

Their friends Leigh and Nina waited on the other side, and they helped him get Nikki off the ATV and over the ring of tree trunks. Then they laid her out on one of the drier sections of grass.

Caleb leaned over Nikki again, forcing his fingers between her teeth to scoop out more muck. Leigh dropped down across from him. “Is she breathing?”

“No, and I can’t get any air into her!” 

“I think we need to do chest compressions!” Leigh said, briefly resting her hand on Nikki’s motionless chest. “I know CPR from school!” 

Caleb leaned over Nikki and tried to breathe for her again. When the air escaped uselessly out the side of his mouth, Leigh rose up onto her knees. She clasped her hands together and pressed her palm between Nikki’s breasts. It took her several hard compressions to figure out depth and rhythm, and then she started counting, her thrusts making Nikki’s body quake and twitch.

“One and two and three and…”

Caleb turned Nikki’s head to the side, hoping more mud would trickle out. Nina joined him, a bottle of water in hand.

“I’m going to wash off her face,” Nina said, meeting his eyes. “Is that okay?”

Caleb nodded and watched as she used a bottle of water and a cleanish t-shirt to wipe the mud off Nikki’s face.

“…twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine…”

“Mike’s gone to find your uncle!” he heard Robb call out. “And Dana took my four-wheeler to try to find cell service, we couldn’t stay connected long enough to talk to 9-1-1!”

“…thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two…” A faint sound came from Nikki’s mouth with each compression. It was disturbingly like the sound you’d expect to hear if someone were violently squeezing a bag full of liquid.

 Now that Nina had washed Nikki’s face, he could see that her beautiful umber skin had gone gray, her full lips purpling. He grasped her jaw, holding her mouth open so he could sweep his finger inside. More muck came out, along with another gush of orange water.

“How’s Em?” he called, his voice cracking.

“She’s okay!” Robb called. “She’s conscious. Keeps trying to get up, but she’s making sense now, so I think she’s alright. No, dammit, stay down, they’re taking care of her!”

“…eighty-six, eighty-seven, eighty-eight! When I get to one hundred… after you try to give her breaths… I need to switch!” Leigh was breathing hard, and if Caleb weren’t so terrified, he would be impressed by her strength. She hadn’t faltered once as she forcefully compressed his girlfriend’s sternum. “Ninety-nine, one hundred!”

Caleb scraped more muck out of Nikki’s mouth and then turned her face to the sky, tipping her chin back and pinching her nose shut. Her cold mouth was still as much of a shock as it had been the last time. He blew hard, but again the seal broke from the pressure. “Fuck!” 

“Nina, sit with Em,” he heard Robb say. “I’ll take over compressions.”

Caleb opened her mouth. The inside of her mouth was mostly clear, but he of course couldn’t see into her airway. He tilted her head back further and covered her mouth with his again, blowing hard.

Then Robb was on his knees beside her, his hands coming down hard between her breasts. Caleb turned Nikki’s head back to the side, his fingers lingering on her cheek. Her head was moving with each compression, but her face was still. She looked bad; he’d never seen someone that ashen color, not ever.

The squelching sound coming from her throat resumed. He watched Robb moving over her forcefully, the compressions from his burly arms making her stomach bulge out even further. Looking at her bloated abdomen, he thought she must have swallowed some water. The thrusts caved in her ribcage, jerking her shoulders and making her arms twitch. There was even movement down her legs and into her feet.

“…forty-three, forty-four, forty-five… I’m counting to one hundred, right?” Robb asked.

“I think…” Leigh sounded uncertain, and she was still breathing hard. “I think so, yes. Until we can get air into her. Anyone disagree?”

No one said anything except Robb, who was still counting.

When Caleb looked back at Nikki’s face, he could see foam, mud, and water oozing out of her nose and mouth again. “I think this is helping… the mud is coming out! Come on, baby, I need you to start breathing!”

“I can keep going,” Robb said. “After the next breaths. Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!”

Caleb quickly cleared her mouth and then leaned in to try another rescue breath. This time, though there seemed to be a lot of resistance, he saw her chest rise. He forced another breath in and got her chest to rise a little further.

“One, two, three…”

“I got some air into her!” Caleb exclaimed. “This is helping!”

“Should we switch to thirty compressions and two breaths?” Leigh asked, her voice anxious and loud. “I think we should.”

“…eighteen, nineteen, twenty…”

The wet bag sound was transitioning to a gurgle, followed by small surges of muddy water and orange-tinged foam leaking from Nikki’s nose and mouth.

A hand suddenly touched his back, and Em dropped down on her knees by Nikki’s head. She looked terrible, her face ghost pale and a dirty shirt pressed to her head wound. “Oh God… Caleb…”

“Thirty!”

Caleb turned Nikki’s face to the sky again and forced another breath into her lungs. Her chest rose, then fell. He gave her another breath.

“One, two, three…”

Caleb spared another look at Em. She was crying, her eyes locked on the violence Robb was doing to Nikki’s chest. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault,” Caleb choked out.

Abruptly, Nikki’s body heaved, and a great deal of muck shot up into her mouth. 

“I need to turn her on her side for a second!” Caleb exclaimed. Robb stopped compressions and Leigh helped them roll her over so the muck would slide out to the ground and not back into her throat. Nikki made a gagging and choking sound, and then there was another flood of orange water and mud from her mouth. Robb pressed his fingers into her neck as Caleb cleared her mouth.

“She doesn’t have a pulse!” Robb shouted after several long seconds, and they put her on her back again. “Caleb, take over!”

He didn’t hesitate, thinking about what mud might still be in her lungs, and how her heart wasn’t beating. He tried to mimic what he’d seen from the others, his clasped hands thrusting into her chest with a force he never would have previously imagined using on her.

As he worked, wisps of thought kept curling through his mind, threatening to distract him. 

How relaxed he’d felt when he’d picked her up that morning, Nikki coming to the door and insisting he approve her outfit before they left. Peeling the clothing off her when they decided they had time to spare. Further back, the look on her face when he’d explained what “mudding” was, and his own surprised laughter when she’d agreed to come along. The day they’d decided to make it serious. The first time they had sex. The day he met her, just a Tinder date that became so much more.

“Hey, Caleb, that’s thirty!” Robb had his hand on his shoulder. Caleb rocked back, lifting his hands. Em had moved, and Leigh leaned over to give Nikki rescue breaths.

“Count out loud,” Robb said. “It helped me concentrate.”

Caleb forced her sternum down. “One, two, three…”

They heard the roar of an ATV coming up the gravel access path behind them. 

“… eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one…”

“Caleb!” His uncle hit the ground running. “The ambulance is on its way; your aunt and your friend are in place to lead it up here. What the hell happened? Em! You’re bleeding!”

Leigh leaned over and forced a breath into Nikki, her chest rising higher than it had so far.

“I’m okay,” he heard Em say. “But… we rolled and the four-wheeler…”

Another breath.

Em couldn’t speak. Caleb started chest compressions again. 

“One, two, three…” Come on, baby! Wake up, wake up…

“We found her face down in the mud with the ATV on her, sir,” Robb said. “We pulled her out and brought her over here. She inhaled a lot of water and mud. She’s not bleeding, we don’t think, but we don’t know how else she might be hurt.”

“…twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

Caleb finally looked up at his uncle. The man’s face was pale, his eyes wide. His uncle David was typically stoic. He’d never seen him look so rattled. 

“Rescue station ain’t far,” David muttered. “We should start hearing sirens soon.”

Then it was time for Caleb to perform compressions. He could see her stomach bulge slightly with each thrust into her chest, felt the cartilage in her ribcage give. “…ten, eleven—Are we breaking her ribs? Fifteen, sixteen…”

“I don’t know,” Robb said. His face was blotchy; pale with red splashed across his cheeks. “I think… I don’t know.”

“You’re doing the right thing, son.” he heard his uncle say. “Do you know how long it’s been? The paramedics will want to know.”

“…twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!” Caleb hovered over her, shaking his head as he watched her chest rise with Leigh’s exhalation. “I don’t know how long… Too long!”

“At least eleven minutes,” Nina said, her voice almost too quiet to hear. “That’s when I saw you pull her out.”

Caleb felt his eyes sting as he started compressions again. “One, two, three…”

“I hear the ambulance!” Nina said, her voice much louder. 

“…seven, eight, nine…”

“We should switch,” Robb said. “We don’t know how long it will take them to get up here.”

“…twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, okay—”

“I’m going to stand at the top of the drive,” Mike said.

“…twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

Caleb leaned back, gasping and shaking out his burning arms, his eyes flying to Nikki’s face as Leigh breathed for her. She was still gray, with bits of dried mud along her jawline. His eyes traced down along her long neck and down to her chest. The sports bra was cut low enough that he could see the top of a bruise, looking like a malevolent shadow cast on her skin.

Robb started compressions, his big hands obscuring the bruise, fingers pressing against her left breast through the sports bra. “…three and four and five…”

The siren was getting louder, and Caleb could hear the tires crunching on the gravel. He reached out, took Nikki’s hand. Squeezed it, then brought it to his lips. He thought it was a good chance he was saying goodbye, and either way they would be loading her up in the ambulance soon and he didn’t know when he would see her again.

Then he gently sat her hand down in the damp grass.

“One and two and three and four…” 

The ambulance was close enough now that the sirens and the sound of the tires on the gravel drowned out the squelching sound coming from her swollen stomach and her wet lungs.  Caleb’s uncle showed the paramedic driver where to stop so that it wouldn’t get bogged down.

Caleb was about to be in the way. He scrambled to his feet and almost fell back down, the scenery around him tilting madly. He stumbled backward and then dropped to a crouch as the paramedics unloaded and hurried over to Nikki’s side.

“We have another unit on the way, but they’re twenty minutes out. Where’s the second victim?”

“It’s me,” Em said, sounding miserable. “But I’m okay.”

Robb and Leigh were asked to move back, and he watched the medics quickly assess Nikki’s condition. The female paramedic restarted chest compressions.

“How long have you been performing CPR?” the male paramedic asked. He’d grabbed a duffel bag from their collection and produced a mask with a balloon coming off the top of it. He pressed the mask to Nikki’s face, squeezing the bulb twice before moving on to another task.

“We pulled her out of the mud about thirteen, fourteen minutes ago,” Robb said. “We saw the accident. The ATV rolled over her and she ended up unconscious with her face in the mud and the ATV on her legs.”

“...ten, eleven twelve… AutoPulse?” the female medic asked her partner.

Everything was going so fast, and Caleb didn’t know what a lot of what they were saying meant. He jumped in when he could with things like her name and age, and no they didn’t think she was injured but they really weren’t sure. The male paramedic gave her two breaths from the bag and then checked her abdomen and chest for obvious injury. He went on to use a pair of shears to snip the fabric of her bra down one side and across the straps. The female medic lifted her hands for a second, and he pulled the fabric to the side, revealing her breasts. Compressions started again, her breasts undulating.

The two worked together, the female medic giving Nikki forceful chest compressions, lifting her hands again so the male medic could apply a large white defibrillator pad over Nikki’s sternum. Then she went straight back into compressions, Nikki’s head bobbing with the force. The other pad was applied just below and to the side of her left breast. A few seconds later, a high-pitched whine filled the air.

Caleb watched the male paramedic grab a large, flat blue bag and set it on the grass above Nikki’s head. He opened it up, revealing large white pads attached to straps and a short blue backboard. The female paramedic was still pounding mercilessly on Nikki’s chest, her ribcage flattening and rebounding. Caleb was too far away now to hear the sound the forceful compressions made.

The male medic walked around to Nikki’s feet, stepped one foot between her legs, and grasped her wrists. The female paramedic stopped compressions and he pulled Nikki up into a seated position, her head lolling back. Something about the way Nikki’s body flopped made Caleb want to cry, and he pressed his hand to his mouth.

The male medic held her there for a few seconds as the female medic dragged the blue board underneath her. They laid Nikki back, her breasts swaying, and the male medic rapidly fastened the white pads over her chest before pressing a button.

The straps moved automatically, pulling the large white pads down to her chest. Shortly after, the machine started pumping, pulling the pads down across her chest over and over again. The machine was surprisingly quiet against the noise of everything else. 

Nikki’s stomach rippled and her arms twitched. The male medic folded something white down by her head to hold it in place, and then clipped a harness over her shoulders.

“I’ll get her going on an IV and epi, you intubate and suction."

The machine clicked away, stopping briefly for the male medic to provide breaths from the bag.

“I didn’t know that a… a CPR machine was a thing,” he heard Leigh murmur.

The male medic tipped back Nikki’s head and angled a device into her throat before he said: “Pause compressions.”

The female medic reached over and pressed a button. The machine beeped, and the compressions stopped. The high-pitched whine from the monitor continued. The male medic made quick work of the intubation, and shortly after he reached around and pressed something on the screen of the compression device. 

Compressions started again.

This time, they continued even when the male medic squeezed the bag, which he’d removed from the mask and attached to the end of the tube. 

“Caleb.”

He looked up. David kneeled next to him, putting his hand on his back. 

“I called your folks.”

He had a hard time paying attention to what his uncle was saying. There was a noisy motor sound, and some commentary about what she’d aspirated. He kept looking back at Nikki. He felt hollow and distant.

“They said they have a number for her parents. They’re going to call her folks and send them on to Grace General. If anything changes, we can let them know.”

“Nothing shockable,” the female medic said, pressing a button on the machine. The pads pulled themselves down hard into Nikki’s chest. “…epi.”

“…time?”

“Caleb?” His ears were ringing.

“Coming up—twenty—”

“Caleb!”

His hearing was fading in and out.

“Give—no ROSC—load and—”

“Caleb!”

Caleb blinked in surprise at his uncle’s worried face. He was laying on back in the wet grass, David looming over him.

Leigh’s worried face joined David’s. “One of the paramedics just asked about Caleb.”

“Okay,” Caleb muttered, though he felt disoriented. “Nikki…”

“He’s conscious and talking,” David said, pitching his voice loud enough for the medics to overhear. “I reckon he fainted.”

“She’s dead,” Caleb whispered. 

David’s face changed, unexpected tears glistening in his eyes. Caleb didn’t think he’d seen him cry other than at the funerals of his grandparents. “They’re still working on her, son.”

Caleb didn’t respond. He let his head fall to the side so he could see Nikki. He really couldn’t see much. A bit of her profile, with the tube protruding between her teeth. The machine pumping her chest. Her muddy sneakers, swaying.

He looked back up at his uncle and felt a tear roll down his cheek. 

David held out a hand. “You up for sitting up yet?”

“V-fib,” he heard the female medic say. “Let’s shock her.”

David pulled him upright and kept an arm tight around his shoulders. “You don’t have to watch that, Caleb. It might be upsetting. See, your friends are all looking away.”

He watched anyway, as her chest jumped and her limbs twitched. There was a silent few seconds before the whine started up again.

“Damn. Asystole. Resuming AutoPulse. I’m going to push another epi. Give us back something we can work with, Nikki.”

“After that you want to package her up and do another rhythm check in the bus? Before we head on to the hospital?”

“Let’s do it.”

Caleb thought this was probably a bad sign, but he wasn’t sure. David must have felt similarly, because he said: “They haven’t called the time. They haven’t called her.”

The male paramedic stayed with Nikki while the female quickly packaged things up and hauled most of it to the ambulance. When she came back, she spoke briefly to Robb. 

The female medic crouched at Nikki’s feet and leaned forward, tugging on the blue fabric at the bottom of the CPR device. It unfurled into a lightweight stretcher. Then she picked up the monitor, slinging the strap over her shoulder, and lifted the IV bag. Caleb was surprised to see Robb helping them with the blue stretcher. His friend’s face had gone white.

When they stood, Nikki’s legs hung limp over the end of the stretcher. The machine kept performing compressions, unfazed by the movement.

The female medic looked over toward David and Caleb. “When we start moving, we’re going to take her to Grace General. They can do more for her there and they’re expecting her.”

They walked her to the gurney, and then loaded the gurney into the ambulance. Both medics climbed in and closed the doors behind them.

Everyone was silent for what felt like a very long time. Caleb let his breath out in a rush and pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. He felt like he was supposed to be doing something, when there was no longer anything for him to do.

David was speaking to him, he realized, and he looked up, though his eyes immediately drifted to the ambulance.

“We’ll ride down after the ambulance and your aunt is going to pick us up at the bottom of the drive,” David said. “She’s already ready to go. Why don’t we go ahead and get ourselves ready to do that?”

Caleb nodded.

“Does she have a bag that you need to grab? She might have insurance cards that she’ll need.”

“Everything’s in my pack,” he muttered, and suddenly his was in front of his face.

Mike, his face anguished, clutched the pack. “Caleb,” he began.

“Not right now.” David took the pack from Mike. “He can’t hear you right now.”

“But I—”

“Go the fuck home,” Caleb heard himself say, his tone ice. 

“Don’t push it,” Robb interjected. “Come on.”

“We’re going to go,” Leigh said. “We’ll get him out of here, Caleb. Robb and Dana are going to get Em down to the house. You’ll let us know? Let us know what…?”

“He will when he can,” David said. “Come on, Caleb.”

Caleb let his uncle help him to his feet and steer him over to a waiting four-wheeler. 

The back doors of the ambulance suddenly opened, and the female medic jumped out, slamming the doors behind her. She stopped long enough to call out: “We just got her pulse back. We’re transporting her now.”

Caleb climbed into the ATV behind his uncle, stunned into silence as the ambulance started, turned on lights and sirens, and headed down the gravel drive.

“Does that mean she’s going to make it?”

“It might, son. If you pray, do it now.”

[headcanonsforsale]

can’t help it if you look like an angel, can’t help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain.. - a chess husbands fic

originally posted on ao3 and also found on my other acc @im-glad-you-found-us-alison

Alerted by Alison crying out for Mike, Julian came forward to the scene, in case he was needed. (He still needed to prove against his moral bankruptcy) However, all offers to help escaped his thoughts as his brain was hijacked by Robin screaming and charging for Mike like he was leading himself into battle.

Thunder rumbled overhead as Alison continued to yell out to her husband. There wasn’t much he could do, except stand back with the rest of the ghosts and watch the caveman approach the tree. It was stupid really, everyone knows not to stand under a tree during a thunderstorm and-

Bloody Hell.

Lightning flashed, narrowly missing the tree, instead surging toward Robin, who stood there and harnessed the power like Zeus, letting out what could only be described as a deep battle cry. God, that was hot.

But that begged the question, when did Julian not find Robin hot?

Surely he didn’t, he couldn’t.

Yes, they were friends and he had grown appreciation for the other man but to think he was hot?

I mean, they were together all the time. Whether it was chess, sitting together on the couch, playing a practical joke on Mike or going to one of Pat’s clubs together, they seemed inseparable. Julian would sit and listen to his caveman talk about the stars for hours on end and it wouldn’t matter.

Wait.

His caveman?

Since when were they that close?

Since his first day as a ghost, he supposed. Not a day had gone by where he hadn’t thought of the other and maybe he’d been pushing some emotions down but who could blame him? He was Julian Fawcett, professional at bottling up his emotions. Point is, after thirty years of denial and stumbling on the edge of admitting it all, this new development was the last push he needed. But, words weren’t his thing. They never were when it came to this sort of thing.

That’s why, despite the insane situation, Julian found himself following in tow with Alison, running across the field.

It was like a scene in those dramatic, romance films where they run to each other and reunite in a hug after sorting through their miscommunication. Except, the characters were always drenched and shaking from the cold and well, the rain just passed through his person but the cliche was still there.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t being thoughtful about his actions, it was as if his body had been possessed (ironic considering he’s a ghost) and had decided to sprint to Robin. As he approached and he passed Alison and Mike, the very face he saw everyday became clearer, he stood with such pride and power, the smirk evident on his face as he gazed up at the rumbling clouds. How Julian wanted to kiss that smirk off that face.

And so he did.

However, movies are bullshit and no matter how much practice you get, first kisses always suck ass. It was quick. A weird mess of face grabbing, brief contact and an electric shock, leaving the politician on the ground in a state of pure confusion and embarrassment.

He looked up incredulously at Robin, not exactly how he dreamt of looking up at him but alas. Time seemed to freeze. Like he couldn’t move or speak. He had his fair share of those moments when he was alive, most having an involvement with hiding a woman in the closet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t used to that hole forming in his stomach.

But of course, time can’t actually freeze. If it did, it would’ve been hell of a lot useful right about now.

“Now, you see here-“

Any attempt at a justification was thrown out the window as a strike of lightning struck the gatehouse, sending it bursting into flames.

Oh, fuck.

At least he had an excuse to walk away. ————————— Luckily, Julian had managed to avoid Robin the rest of the evening, inserting himself in the middle of groups. They’d simply dance around the issue, they’d forget about it in a few days, so there was nothing left for him to do except wait it out.

That did mean no more chess, based on his previous actions that day, Julian couldn’t trust himself to sit in arm’s reach of the object of his affection. Affection? Affection. He knew himself and he knew he’d probably pull another stunt like he did in the rain and ruin the one thing he wasn’t supposed to.

So he went to bed early, up into his room, away from Robin and his stupid caveman face that had crept its way into every single thought he conjured. As he stared at the ceiling, he could’ve sworn his brain was etching the very image of the caveman into it. He was going mad and he couldn’t do any damn thing about it.

Well, he could. But did he want to? Questionable.

Then he heard heavy footsteps from down the hallway, padded by fur but strong, he recognised those all too well. It was clear he was coming to pay Julian a visit, and a very awkward conversation. So, to attempt to avoid any more thought and possible pain, the politician laid still and closed his eyes. Resting his hands on his chest, he tried to stabilise his breathing. However, that’s quite hard to do when he could feel Robin's brown eyes piercing into his figure. It’s also hard to keep a steady heart rate when he hears that low voice ring through the room, replaying in his mind.

“You not asleep, can tell. Get up.”

Don’t surrender early. One of the many rules of politics. Continue to fight. Don’t give up everything in the blink of an eye.

And he would’ve stood his ground and continued to ‘sleep’ but that proves a difficult task when a strong arm begins to shake him and push him to sit up like some kind of baby.

“What is it.?”

That’s when they lock eyes and Julian almost surrenders right then and there. Those weirdly enchanting blue eyes that he found himself drowning in sometimes. Fuck. He was starting to become like Thomas. It was all those romance movies Kitty forced them to watch. That was it, he was just under the influence of cheesy love stories, he couldn’t be.. like that. That wasn’t who Julian Fawcett MP (disgraced) was.

“You know what is.”

Robin’s arms crossed as he said that, it took all of the politician’s willpower not to stare as his muscles flexed.

He swallowed and let out a shaky scoff. “I think you’ll find I don’t know what you mean.”

The gaze those blue eyes held hardened, clearly not amused by Julian playing the oblivious card. The caveman took a step closer and looked up at the other man.

“You kiss me.”

He hadn’t expected Robin to come out and say it so suddenly. It felt like something that hadn’t happened, something so out of this world when said out loud. If someone told him when he was still alive that he would’ve kissed a caveman from ten thousand odd years ago, he would’ve laughed in your face and he’s done some weird things.

“Did I? I can’t seem to recall.”

He couldn’t stop adjusting his tie, a device to break the weirdly intimate eye contact. When did he start avoiding intimacy? He chased it so often in life that it led him to the grave. But that was quick love, hidden behind locked doors and scarfs over hickeys. This was something different. Something he wasn’t ready to admit.

“Julian.”

He couldn’t admit it but the way he said his name, his laugh, those eyes, those damn eyes were going to take him down.

“Don’t make me say it out loud.”

Once the words were said, there was no going back and he couldn’t admit it. He couldn’t. Those three words, those words haunted his dreams, how many times he said them to Margot like it was a chore, how many times he didn’t say them. This would be one of them.

“Why you so scared?”

God, when did Robin get so close? So close yet so far. He could hear his irritated breath.

“I’m- I’m not scared.”

A lie masked by a snicker. But that’s not good enough for a man as old as time.

“You in love with me.”

He said it so casually. Like it wasn’t the very truth Julian was running from.

“I-“

Actions speak better than words. Right? So who could blame him when he cupped the other man’s cheeks and pulled him in, letting out years of repression in a single movement. Lips moving together, one pair clearly more desperate than the other, legs buckling with a need he’d never experienced.

And then, it was over and he was faced with those eyes. Softer, but still awaiting a confession.

He was so fucked.

[iliveonteaandbooks]

•A Steve Harrington x Reader Mini Series•

Camping Trip Pt. 1: Car Ride Gone Wrong

Steve Harrington x Reader

Series: Pt. 1

Summary: Steve and you decide to take the boys for a small camping trip for a few days. But during the car ride, things go a little...downhill.

Genre: Angst - ish?

Language: English (English is my first language btw)

Requested: Yes/No

Warnings: Language, yelling

Word count: 925 words

A/N: I normally don’t use strong language in my writing but this is Stranger Things; I mean c‘mon. I had a lot of fun writing this. This is also my first one for Steve; bear with me:) I love feedback on my writing, so please feel free to comment. Requests are open for other fandoms as well! Oh, and I do not own you, Stranger Things, the characters or the actors that portray them, or any of the gifs I use. Credit to the owners. Thanks! <3

MASTERLIST

"Are we there yet?" groaned Dustin from the back of Steve's car.

"What?" you semi - yelled, over the loud music coming from the radio.

"ARE. WE. THERE. YET?!" yelled Dustin.

"Quit yelling man!" barked Steve looking unto the mirror above.

"Well your girlfriend's deaf as hell and can't hear shit!" Dustin yelled back.

Steve chuckled.

"Are you not going to defend me?" you cried lightly hitting hitting his arm and suddenly sitting up.

Steve merely, shrugged, putting his sunglasses back on.

You scoffed putting your feet back on the dashboard.

Steve glanced, annoyed (slightly) but said nothing about it.

"Back to the question." sighed Lucas.

"Honestly, like a married couple." rolled his eyes Mike.

"Well, according to the map we still have another two hours."

A chorus of groans and sighs erupted from the back.

"Don't blame me. If Steve hadn't taken a wrong exit back at the interstate," you looked sheepishly at Steve. "We would have been pulling up by now."

Everyone looked at Steve.

"I did not just hear that. Who agreed to drive you dipshits for five ef'ing hours? Huh? I really don't have to do this, you know."

"In the meantime let's play a game!" you offered cheerfully. "I spy." you began. But a series of:

"I'm out."

"Here she goes.

"Here we go."

"Yeah, no. Not happenin'."

"No thanks." erupted from the back.

And a quiet "Nope." from Steve. Which was a mistake from Steve's side.

"STEVE!" you yelled. "That's mean."

Pouting, you turned around and stared out the window at the never ending fields and trees; arms crossed. You even took your feet off the dashboard.

"Aw. Babe. C'mon. I didn't mean it like that. Don't get mad at me?" he pleaded taking off hiss sunglasses and giving you his best puppy eyes.

You weren't looking at him though.

"No you jerk." you mumbled.

He started poking you trying to get out at least a giggle or maybe even a smile. But you slapped his hand away.

Forgetting he was on the road, he turned towards you with both hands.

"EYES ON THE ROAD!" the kids yelled together making you quickly turned around.

"Steve!" you yelled, your voice filled with worry and urgency. Afraid for everyone's life.

The car was swerving. On a highway.

He quickly grabbed the steering wheel saving the car from crashing into the truck ahead of you.

You guys were now stuck in traffic. Great.

"Jesus Christ!" you yelled. From relief of course.

"Oh. My. God." he breathed rubbing his temples.

The kids were having none of it.

"What the hell dude?!"

"You about almost frickin' killed us!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Eyes on the road next time. Jeez."

"I have to agree, Steve. That was a close one." you said.

"Yeah, Steve. Even your girlfriend agrees."

"QUIET!" yelled Steve suddenly and all of you immediately quieted down. "I'm sorry, okay?! I was an accident. You think I meant for this to happen? To 'kill' us all? She," he pointed a finger at you. "distracted me." he shouted.

"Yeah, Steve blame it on me." you shouted back. "No one," you indicated around the car, "asked you to start poking ME! Or start trying to hug ME! Maybe, just maybe, you should keep your eyes on the GOD-DAMN ROAD!" you yelled now.

"Guys!" yelled Mike.

He was unnoticed.

"Well then you shouldn't take things so seriously and make a big deal out of everything!" he shouted.

"How dare you! Do you realize how crazy you sound?"

"GUYS!!!" yelled Mike again while the others watched you like a tennis match. "GUYS! YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP WILL!"

"Probably to late for that." muttered Lucas, to which Steve just rolled his eyes.

You two immediately stopped.

Suddenly, you became interested in the worn out map. And Steve stared out the window keeping one hand on the wheel.

"Well, this is awkward." deadpanned Lucas.

Both you and Steve turned to say something but noticing this, immediately turned back around.

Not only were you stuck in traffic with a bunch of boys and a jerk, you were now in a fight with Steve. A ridiculous one at that. Great. Just Great. Wonderful. This is so stupid, you thought.

This is really, truly not how you wanted to spend your camping trip.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did! Pt. 2? Maybe? Let me know in the comments. Thanks! <3

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

lets say ur fanseason has an intro, what are some scenes in it and who are the campfire couple

oo I have actually been thinking about this. here’s what I’ve got so far:

- At the beginning when the camera pans past Chris, Nicolas is trying to hug him and Chris is holding him at arms’ length with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

- In the underwater shot, Skelly (still with their glasses on - they literally never take them off) tries to pry open a chest using their hands. Ming swims over and bashes it with a rock, breaking it open. They high-five as some of the treasure inside floats to the surface.

- The camera pans up to see Eve sitting on a surfboard. Bell Pepper the snake reaches out and grabs some of the treasure in the water - Eve smiles and gives him an affectionate head-scratch.

- Lloyd is searching in the bushes for an immunity idol, before an eagle picks him up, carrying him across the island before dropping him on top of Rod, who somehow manages to catch him.

- Matt is attempting to hit on Carmen, who is uncomfy. Reggie shows up behind him and offers him a handshake, only to electric-shock him with a handshake buzzer, making Carmen laugh.

- The characters on the canoe are Lara and Art, with Lara writing on her clipboard and trying to ignore him as he snarks at her. They fall off the waterfall and past Sal, who’s doing pushups on the log.

- Greta attempts to blow up the outhouse with dynamite, but ends up blowing herself up while the outhouse is left perfectly intact, somehow becoming cleaner than it was before. The door opens and Isla pokes his head out, oblivious to what just happened. Hans is standing on the sidelines the whole time, completely deadpan.

- William stands on the table in the cafeteria, doing some kind of monologue. Charlie glares up at him before Harper puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

- At the other end of the cafeteria, Esther stares out of the window at the distant shape of Boney Island (idk if you can see the island from the cafeteria but just roll with it), holding a photo in her hands. Alisha looks at her suspiciously. Esther quickly hides the photo and smiles nervously.

- On the jetty, Eve tosses one of the coins she previously grabbed into the air. It spins towards the sun, transitioning from day to night.

- As for the campfire couple, there’s a number of options. We could have Carmen and Reggie, with Matt being the interrupter out of jealousy, or we could have Esther and Lara… with Matt being the interrupter to take a photo of them. Kind of like Mike and Zoey and Sierra in the All-Stars intro. Or we could go the slightly more left-field route and have Lloyd and Rod as the campfire couple, with Ming being the interrupter and giving Lloyd the “I’m watching you” signal, getting defensive on Rod’s behalf. But I feel like that would work better in a theoretical season 2, because Lloyd and Rod have so much baggage to work through in the first season I doubt anything romantic will actually be able to happen just yet, even if the feelings are there.

- Think I’m going to go with Esther and Lara as the campfire couple.

[fearsmagazine]

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

SYNOPSIS: Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 13 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter, Angela on his own. When Angela and her friend Katherine disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil. -Universal Pictures

REVIEW: William Peter Blatty’s novel, “The Exorcist,” spawned four feature films and a tv series. This forth film is helmed by director/executive producer David Gordon Green and co-story contributor and executive producer Danny McBride (yes, that Danny McBride). This is the same team who worked with Blumhouse Productions to breathe new life into the Halloween franchise with 2021’s “Halloween Kills” and 2022’s “Halloween Ends.” A bit out of their league here, the story disregards many important rules of myths and religious belief system for derivative elements of genre films and franchise films.

Let me address the film's positive portions first. I enjoyed Amman Abbasi and David Wingo’s score that incorporates movements based on Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield used in the original film. I enjoyed Cinematographer Michael Simmonds’ work in capturing moments that were reminiscent of the original film, especially the opening sequence similarities, and clearly his work with Green on “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends.” The special effects makeup is good, but not great. In an area where special and visual effects can work in tandem there is nothing here that feels fresh or original, or even transcends what has gone before.

The cast is fantastic, with the amazing talents of Leslie Odom, Jr., Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn. Leslie Odom, Jr. does the best he can with the material that never allowed me, especially as a father, to connect and empathize with the character. Ann Dowd is riveting as a former nun, now a nurse, with skeletons in her closet and is left to sum up their experiences. I liked her character, but, again, never fully connected with her. Then there is Ellen Burstyn. When she is on screen she is 100% and commands the scene. However, her screen time is limited and it clearly feels like an appearance that serves more as a franchise hook than an honest integration into the plot.

Okay, so the story… Clearly they were following a formula that they constructed from watching the films and not any other literary sources or Joseph Campbell. William Friedkin even sought out one of the people who influenced Blatty’s novel, Father Amorth, and later made a film about the exorcist. There are set pieces, including the exorcism, that feel like separate pieces that they attempt to fit together. There are parts of the story that feel like they are simply checking off boxes and don’t feel centric to this particular story. As someone who has studied world religions, I loved the idea of who these people of different faiths were going to come together to save these girls, but it simply fell apart. There are rules, many similarities between beliefs, that are discarded for genre film cliches and shock value. There are setups that lead to expected outcomes and some things that make no sense. There are a lot of assumptions and things not explained that one might think would be revealed in the next installment. By the end, actress Ann Dowd’s character sits at a table delivering a monologue about evil, the devil and hope as a montage shows the audience where this experience has left these characters. One scene in particular feels like it is the purpose of this entire film, in a way detracting from everything that has gone before or any message the film tries to make.

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER feels more about creating a franchise and an attraction at 2024 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. It’s one of the better Blumhouse Production films, but the material is beyond the grasp of the writers. Strong performances are wasted in service of a superficial screenplay that weaves in several lines that are written for laughs, and they get them, but don’t really belong here or uttered by the characters that do. The central idea never fully gells and the question of innocence feels to fall by the wayside. As a colleague pointed out, the trailer makes the film look better than it actually is. One can only hope that this is not the first in an attempt to “exorcize” the material in hopes a franchise.

CAST: Leslie Odom, Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, E.J. Bonilla, Raphael Sbarge and Ellen Burstyn. CREW: Director - David Gordon Green; Screenplay - Peter Sattler and David Gordon Green; Based on characters created by William Peter Blatty; Producers - Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James G. Robinson; Cinematographer - Michael Simmonds; Score - Amman Abbasi & David Wingo; Editor - Timothy Alverson; Production Designer - Brandon Tonner-Connolly; Special Make-up FX Designer - Christopher Allen Nelson; Special Effects Supervisor - Heath Hood; Visual Effects Producer - Andre Coutu.

OFFICIAL: www.theexorcistbeliever.movie FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/TheExorcistBeliever TWITTER: twitter.com/TheExorcistBlvr TRAILER: https://youtu.be/xovJ0GYy75A?si=sxtTkCDkz9pxlcn7 RELEASE DATE: In theaters October 6th, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[aphew]

Favorite Music of 2023

Empire State Bastard - Rivers of Heresy The love child of Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) and Mike Vennart (Oceansize) is a truly epic metal monstrosity.  I'd heard bits and pieces of it that Mike doled out over the years via his Patreon and never thought a fully realized product would see the light of day.  Well, they did it, and they got Dave Lombardo to bash the skins.  That should tell you everything you need to know about this masterpiece. Empire State Bastard - The Looming [Official Video]

Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex This feels like the culmination of the last two albums (To the Bone, The Future Bites) coalescing into an experimental but solid whole.  It's best enjoyed in a single sitting instead of bits and pieces.  There's also an alternate version of this album (Harmonic Distortion) including outtakes and remixes that is just as enjoyable as the main album. 

Steven Wilson - Economies of Scale

Squid - O Monolith I wasn't immediately sold on Squid's first album (Bright Green Field), but after watching them play live they won me over.  This second album is just as intense as the first.  They know their strengths and play to them and the audience wins.  Each song is incredibly complex, yet somehow they pull it off live and make it look easy, every member playing with a musical ambidexterity that is breathtaking.    Squid - La Route du Rock 2023 – ARTE Concert

Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman I still remember vividly seeing Songs for the Deaf at the local Hastings Muisc store at a listening station and proceeding to listen to the entire album.  I stood there for an hour because the music rooted me to the spot.  I'd never had an experience like that before.  I'm sure the store clerk wondered if I didn't have anywhere else to go.  Needless to say I became an instant fan and have been ever since.  Queens of the Stone Age - Time And Place (Official Audio)

Knower - Knower Forever The first time I experienced Knower was back in 2016 and the video for "The Government Knows".   It was hilarious and strange and I couldn't get over how catchy it was.  I was compelled to seek out more from the group and began to appreciate the pure musicianship of Louis Cole and his gang of gifted musical cohorts.  Over the years he released solo albums and had an insane side project known as Clown Core that's a genre unto itself.  With Knower he's always had Genevieve Artadi as a musical partner and her voice fits the music perfectly.  This latest album is their best so far.  I'm The President - KNOWER

Hania Rani - Ghosts I think I first heard Hania based on the Youtube algorithm that thought I might like an insanely talented pianist and composer.  This was mid-pandemic 2020 and her album "Home".  It's one thing to hear the music, but it's quite another to see her perform solo and realize she's creating all of these soundscapes on the fly.  Ethereal, beautiful, and transporting music. Hania Rani - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

The Fierce and the Dead - News from the Invisible World This was a recent discovery.   I know that I'll end up loving a group if I can't stop thinking about a song I heard.  In this case it's one called "Non-Player".  The entire album is great though, bouncing around between song styles and genre's.  I was surprised to find that it's the first with vocals, their past releases being instrumental. ▶︎ News From The Invisible World | The Fierce And The Dead (bandcamp.com)

IDLES - (Everything) I was late to the IDLES party by four albums, but I've now got my arms and legs tucked inside the ride and I'm holding on for dear life.  Not since Oceansize has a group affected me this profoundly.  It's all right there on display, no gimmicks, everything's genuine.  "If someone talked to you, the way you do to you, I'd put their teeth through.  Love yourself." I am beyond excited for the new album coming in February.  IDLES - DANCER  (Official Video)

Bonus Video (You're welcome): Donny Benét: Multiply (Official Music Video)

[veephoenix]

IKIGAI (or A REASON FOR BEING) — CHAPTER EIGHT

IKIGAI CHAPTER 8 | SERIES MASTERPOST | WORD COUNT: 1.5K

Chapter tags: best friends, teenage drama, angst, mentions of alcohol.

CHAPTER 8

Lia is 14. Noah is 15.

Noah had been putting off that moment for weeks, aware that this trip he was subjecting himself to could not last long. 

The school year was about to end, and the only thing that reassured Lia on the fact that she still had to stay there for four more years was that Noah would be one classroom away from hers, that she could see him before entering the building, that she would see him during recess, and then again on the way out. 

Noah had to tell her that wasn’t going to happen. 

It was one of the first days they had been to the lake this year. The water was still cold to swim, but the weather was good enough to have a picnic under the shade of the trees, and that’s what Lia and Noah were doing. In fact, they should have been home by now; it was Friday and instead of going home after the classes were over Noah had insisted until he convinced Lia to make a small escapade to the lake before the week ended. 

He didn’t say much during the way there as they ate an apple and some snacks they carried in the backpacks, and that’s what started worrying her. Noah was usually quite talkative. In the past few years, his head had been getting full of ideas, of plans, of new knowledge about music and about the world, and he was constantly thinking and sharing his thoughts and ruminations.

They were sitting on the edge of the deck, overlooking the lake, barefoot. Feet soaking. Last year, Lia’s feet had barely been able to touch the water form there in that position, now she could easily reach. She had grown taller, but she had given up on the idea of competing with Noah because he was now even taller than last year and the speed at which he was growing didn’t seem to slow down.

He had rolled the sleeves from the white uniform shirt up till his elbows and loosened his tie. Lia, by his side, had the first three buttons of her shirt undone, and her skirt only covered her till half her thighs. She would have to get a bigger size by the beginning of the next school year. 

“You’re quieter than usual,” Lia noticed, wiggling her feet in the water. 

When Lia mentioned Noah’s stillness that day, she did so with grace in her voice. Her tone was changing, and Noah could hint a tinge of womanhood in there. She was a bit more confident in herself than she had been before, and she was emotionally stronger, except for when it came to him. He was her weakness, and he was about to use that against her, much to his own dismay. 

Noah nibbled at his cheek and kept on looking at the sight in front of him, avoiding her bright brown eyes. She was looking at him with her innocent smile, one that she only showed in front of him because life outside the bubble in which the two of them lived had already stripped her of all innocence. 

“Lia, I’m going to drop out of school.”

He continued avoiding her gaze, but he knew that her expression had dropped. Her feet went still in the water. 

“What do you mean?”

He looked at her, then. 

“I won’t be at school next year. I’ve decided to quit. And I’ll be moving out of my grandparents’ house.”

Lia was suddenly flooded by too many questions, too many thoughts. She couldn’t understand anything. 

“But… Noah, what are you talking about?”

“You know my grades are a disaster, and I’ve always felt that being there holds me back from growing in any other field. I want to make music, you know that. So, I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m going to drop out of high school. I’ll probably move in with Mike. He’s already living on his own and you know about the music plans we have. We could make it work in a few years, and if not, I don’t know, we will sort something out."

The smile he offered her was not welcome. Her eyes were open wide, and she didn’t seem to be taking his words so well, not that he did expect her to take it any other way, really.  

“What about me?”

“I didn’t tell you anything because I didn’t want to worry you. We had exams until last week and I didn’t want you to lose focus, but my mother is coming back. She’s going to be living in my grandparents’ house again. And I can’t be under the same roof as her. I’ll go insane.” 

Lia nodded. She understood that, to some extent, but not the rest. 

“You could’ve… You could have told me this. We would have thought of something. We would have… I don’t know, but you were supposed to stay with me at school, at least until you're eighteen. How can you…? You can’t leave, Noah.”

You can’t leave me there alone. 

It was a silent plea.

At that age, in that moment, she was terrified of going to school and not finding Noah. Noah didn’t quite grasp the magnitude that his news had on Lia. For her, her world was falling apart. 

“It’s not as bad as it seems.”

“It is.”

Noah leaving school and moving out meant many things. Lia was old enough to know the implications of changes, of leaving school and moving out. Distance would strain their relationship, and the fear of being forgotten gripped her heart. 

Noah would forget her. He would get caught up in his music and he would move on. He would slowly forget her, and then her existence would be reduced to… nothing.  

Her eyes were watery as she stared at him, pleading for him to reconsider. But she could see the determination in his almond-shaped brown eyes. 

The weight of his decision suffocated her. 

“I know what you’re thinking," Noah continued, "and that’s not gonna happen. I’m not gonna let it ha-“ Lia’s whimper cut him off.

“Then, why are you leaving?” Her voice barely audible. “I thought that we…”

“Lia, listen; it doesn’t have to be like that, okay? You’re my best friend, and you’ll always be. We can make it work. I have plans and…”

She didn’t want to hear about any more plans, for these ones were shattering her. A tear rolled down her cheek, and when Noah reached out to wipe it away, a flash of pain crossing his features, Lia stood up and grabbed her socks, shoes, and backpack. 

“Lia, where are you going?” His eyes followed her, alert.

“There’s no point in being here,” she concluded, her voice carrying resignation and sorrow.

“Don’t do this,” he pleaded. He knew she was angry, and hurt, but he was sure that they could make it work, that it would. There was no reason to think it would not. He wanted her in his life more than anything else, so he desperately wanted her to reason.

Hearing those words coming from him only filled the bucket to the brim.

“Fuck you, Noah.”

She didn’t look back at him again. 

Shocked at her words, Noah stood up, his mouth gaping open.

“Lia!”

But Lia didn’t want to hear it, and she didn’t want to cry in front of him, either. She didn’t go home. She ran and ran until her breathing got the better of her and she had to stop, somewhere between the woods and the crumbling house that she was forced to call home. The idea of a future suddenly seemed a daunting void full of ghosts. 

That was the day Lia drank alcohol for the first time. Another stain in her life that would follow her in the upcoming years. It wasn’t Noah’s fault. I was just the fact that sometimes life is fair to some and unfair to others, and those others cannot find any way out other than trying to drown their demons in more misery.  

The days that followed were difficult.

Noah kept calling her house phone and even came to her door two days later, but Lia wouldn't open it, and Noah knew that nothing too bad had happened, that Lia was upstairs in her room, and that it was only that he had hurt her, and she didn’t want to be with him.  

Lia told herself that she had to learn to live without Noah. There was no way it was healthy to be so attached to someone. She was still navigating relationships, which was certainly a challenge for her. There were still many heartbreaks on the way. No one ever stayed in her life. Her father didn’t even wait to hold her when she was born. Her own grandmother pretended not to acknowledge the conditions Lia lived in, the disarray in which she grew up, and her mom… Well, we all knew about her mom.  

Lia told herself she had to make her heart stronger; she had to break free from those shackles of dependency that kept her tied to Noah. There was no other choice. 

Despite the nights crying and feeling empty, she worked on it for the next days, busying herself in the garden, in the house chores, in music and books whenever Noah’s presence appeared in her mind.

She told herself that she would make it, one way or another. She also had dreams, like Noah, and she wanted to live despite everything. 

She wanted to live.

[strangermarvelss]

prom- e.m

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Cheerleader!Reader

Summary: you ask eddie munson to prom

Warnings: angst bro, unrequited feelings, eddie being a butthead, chrissy is not the villain i promise, not proof read oops

Request: No

Word Count: 2k

A/N: got inspired by this idea @ashwhowrites threw out there about wanting something like this made, so i thought why not give it a shot? plus i've been trying to find an excuse to write an eddie prom fic. enjoy- sava

part two

You look to the stage seated at the end of the cafeteria briefly, seeing the big banner advertising the senior prom, making your heart flutter. The Hawkins High prom was the one time of year where everyone isn’t completely miserable and they all come together, cliques having an unspoken settlement, and allowing one another to come together and celebrate one of the last big moments of high school you’d all share together, before walking the stage made on the football field and going your separate ways on new journeys. Everyone had been buzzing about it for weeks, and you thought today would finally be the day.

You smooth out the pleats in your skirt, taking deep breaths in and out as you slowly approached his lunch table. The loud ruckus of the cafeteria filled your ears as your feet brought you closer and closer to the biggest outcast of the school. Not that you saw him that way, but everyone you surrounded yourself with did.

Eddie Munson has been the object of your affection since his first senior year. His beautiful brown eyes ultimately pulled you in one day during your sophomore year, seeing how much he’d changed from his brief time with you at the middle school amazed you. You were captivated by his passionate personality and his carefree attitude towards the conformity that was forced within the walls of this high school, which you were not able to escape, roped into joining the cheer squad with your best friend and the queen of Hawkins High, Chrissy Cunningham.

The two of you met when you moved to Hawkins back in middle school. She was the first person you met when you got to the school, getting paired to sit next to her for the remainder of the year, and the two of you clicked instantly. You spent so many nights together giggling and gossiping, and it was something you continued to do throughout high school. The two of you told each other everything, especially when it came to your dating lives, or lack there of.

She was the only one who knew about your crush on Eddie. You always felt you had to keep quiet about it, especially around the other cheerleaders and football players. Their clouded judgement and resentment towards the ‘freaks’ made your heart sink, but you always opted to keep your head down and refuse to join in on their reign of terror towards them. 

Chrissy convinced you to ask Eddie in the first place. You were hesitant, wanting to continue to keep your feelings towards the resident metalhead deep down, with graduation around the corner for you, and if what Eddie shouted in the cafeteria constantly, it was approaching for him as well. You didn’t see the point in revealing anything now, thinking you could just go about life without him knowing. But Chrissy was there to remind you “what do you have to lose?”

Approaching the well-known Hellfire table, you cough a little to gain the attention of the boys. They all look up at you at the same time, sharing glances with one another as confusion seeped into their faces. You flash them all a timid smile, playing with the end of your cheer skirt to relieve some nerves. 

“Hi guys,” you squeak out. You watch Eddie sit at the head of the table, looking down out his bag of mini pretzels and grabbing his bright red apple, taking a big chomp out of it. 

“Uh, can we help you?” A younger boy with long black hair asks, whom you recognize as Nancy Wheeler’s brother, Mike. Blood rushes to your cheeks, heat overpowering you just for a minute as they all continue to stare at you with their mouths slightly open.

“Yeah! I was uh-just wondering if I could talk with you, Eddie. Alone?” you ask, your eyes meeting his across the table as he freezes, a small sliver of pretzel hanging out of his mouth. He drops the bag to the table and looks to who you knew as Gareth, standing from his seat with wide eyes. You walk towards the corner of the cafeteria, not missing the snickers and mumbles coming from his friends.

You turn to look at Eddie, his hands resting in the pockets of his leather jacket as he finally catches up to you. His big brown eyes peer up to you, his brows raised in a questionable manner, making the nerves spread further throughout your body. Maybe this was going to be a mistake-

“Just so you know, I don’t do deals in the middle of the cafeteria, so if you’re looking for something to clear your head, you’ll have to go to the spot in the woods,” Eddie lets out. 

“What? No, I’m not looking for drugs, I don’t-I don’t smoke,” you tell him, shaking your hands. Did it look like you were trying to buy? Eddie was the local dealer, so it wasn’t totally out of the question.

“Okay…” he responds, rolling his eyes as he snickers to himself. You bite your lip before letting out a deep breath. “Then what did you want?” 

“Okay, so, this might sound crazy, but I wanted to know if you were going to prom?” You finally ask. Eddie’s expression falters a little, his questioned look quickly shifting into a surprised one, as if caught off guard.

“Wasn’t really planning on it. After school events that don’t consist of D&D gatherings aren’t exactly my thing,” he answers. You try hiding the hurt in your expression at his answer, his ability to write it off so quickly making your confidence shrink.

“Oh…well, maybe you’d reconsider? Like say if someone were to ask you to go with them, as their date? And hypothetically that someone…being me?” 

He takes a moment to just stare at you, blinking rapidly a few times before looking around the cafeteria, making you worried, but also confused. He seemed rather off today, with his eyes barely meeting yours unless met with confusion or surprise now, and his entire demeanor even felt off.

Then, he begins to laugh.

Was he laughing at you? Or the question? Or maybe what everyone said about him was right, he was crazy.

“Yeah well like I said earlier, I don’t do prom. And I definitely don’t do cheerleaders, so associating with both at the same time isn’t in the cards for me. So just go back to your friends, okay?” His voice was almost sinister, face merely inches from yours as he whispers the blatant reject in your ear. 

You take a step back from him and catch the seriousness etched across his face, looking to the floor in an attempt to hide the hurt his words caused you to feel. You bump pass him as you continue your efforts of hiding your feelings, walking towards the double doors located closest to you that bled out into the hallway, no longer having an appetite for any food.

All but running to your locker, you fling it open and make yourself small, hunching over into the metal box and covering your face as the tears begin to flow out. You should’ve never taken Chrissy’s advice and kept those feelings buried deep inside. Of course he wouldn’t like someone like you. Even if you didn’t fit in with the other cheerleaders on the squad, he still associated you with the assholes of Hawkins High, and part of you couldn’t blame him. They’ve spent years treating him like shit, and you’ve been too much of a coward to do or say anything in his defense.

What hurt worse was that Eddie and you were on good terms. The two of you shared Miss Click’s class last year, alongside Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley, two of your closest friends. Eddie would ask for your help and the two of you would talk while trying to get him through the assignments he struggled with, which launched your tiny crush into a full blown one-sided love affair. You thought maybe he saw you differently than the rest of the squad, with you and Chrissy always trying to exchange pleasantries and on friendly terms with the metalhead. But deep down, Eddie still knew all jocks were the same, it was clear in the way he spoke to you.

The lunch bell springs to life, pulling you out of your lonely pity party. You look to the mirror you kept in your locker and clean up the makeup that was running down your cheeks with a spare tissue. Taking a deep breath, you grab your books for the remainder of your classes and shut the door to your locker, turning on your heel with you head hung just a bit lower than usual, and darting your way through the crowded halls, onto the rest of the pathetic day.

You push open the doors the led to the parking lot, your peers scattered around trying to escape for the weekend, only to ultimately come back later tonight for the game. Running down the steps, you start the journey towards your car, wanting to relax for the next few hours before you and Chrissy come back for the championship game. 

The school day had flown by, the cruel gods above you taking pity on your rejection during your lunch period. You hadn’t talked with Chrissy for the rest of the day, not having any classes with her after lunchtime anyways. You want to run to her so badly and tell her you shouldn’t have listened to her, but ultimately, you just wanted a shoulder to cry on and soothing words thrown your way.

As you walk towards your car at the end of the lot, you spot Eddie leaning up against his van, the flashbacks from earlier telling you to look away from his figure, but your heart and eyes just can’t seem to listen. As you keep going, you see other pair of feet with him, almost between his own. Getting a better look, you see Chrissy leaning against the van as well, her close proximity making your heart plunge deeper into the depths of your stomach.

No, she’d never be interested in Eddie like that. She was in a very serious relationship with Jason Carver, a.k.a the biggest tormentor towards your crush. Plus, she was your best friend, and new how fondly you thought of Eddie, she couldn’t possibly want to ever hurt you like that. Keeping your head down, you attempt to walk pass them, completely unnoticeable, until your ears perk up at their conversation.

“I was just wondering, if you’d want to go to prom with me?” He asks her, causing you to drop the notebook you’d been carrying in your hand. Shit.

You reach down to grab the book and look back to see them staring at you, as if they were deer caught in headlights in the dead of night. You let out a sigh and pick up the pace towards your car, unlocking the door quickly and tossing your things inside as you ignore Chrissy’s calls out for you.

“…I don’t do prom. And I definitely don’t do cheerleaders…” his words rang in your head as you start the engine, looking behind you to back up and pull out of your spot. You quickly glance their way, faces turned into sad expressions as they watch you fly by them, trying your best to exit the hell that was the high school parking lot. 

A few tears began escaping once more, trickling down your cheeks as you replay the events of today on your drive home. How could Eddie be so quick to reject you, with the excuse of not liking the idea of prom or associating with cheerleaders, but completely do a 180 and ask Chrissy, the girl who everyone knew you were best friends, to the prom? Maybe when he told you his words in the lunch room, he meant specifically it was you he had no interest in. Because who can resist the queen of Hawkins High.

You continue to wallow throughout the drive home, the tightness in your chest never letting up even as you pull into the driveway of your home. Jumping out, you leave your belongs inside the car as you lock it, running to the front door and swinging it open. You had time before the game tonight to mop about as you please, so you grab a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave, waiting patiently to start the pity party you pressed pause on at your locker, wanting to just forget silly notion of you going to prom with the man of your dreams.