#Puppet Master fic

[charlie-artlie]

That’s a real cute crush ya got there, Monty. Sure would be a shame if someone corrupted it into a single-minded obsession that ultimately destroyed you both :3

ive been listening to this song on repeat and i couldn’t get this out of my head, pls enjoy. and yes. there is a second part i wanna make *_* on my life, i promise it wont be as polished as this (also, yes, i know this is a my little pony song, im SORRY, i LITERALLY couldn’t help myself)

[tenwhiteandalusians]

so no one was going to tell me if i got literally one episode further tenax drops that he’s the one who saved scorpus from his mom’s pimp AND that he’s intimately familiar with scorpus’ dick when he was younger. guys. guys.

[ryan-waddell11]

guitarists just hit different

[hbdttg]

Eddie, or something that used to be Eddie, wanders the Upside Down in the aftermath of it all.

He may not know where or who he is, but he knows he belongs. His heartbeat syncs with those of the screeching creatures that soar up above. The thrumming in his veins mirrors the pulsing of the vines that cover the ground at his feet. The hunger at his core is shared by the flower-faced beasts that roam the earth on all fours. He belongs, so he must be home.

Weeks after waking—or months, or years; time is unpredictable in this place, moving at whatever speed it so chooses, sometimes not moving at all—Eddie happens upon a gate. It's located on Morehead Street and small enough that he might have walked right past it if not for its peculiar orange glow.

Curious, Eddie digs his clawed fingers into its center, tearing through the viscous membrane until there's enough space for him to crawl through. He drags his scarred body through the tiny opening, dropping onto the other side with practiced grace. He finds himself atop what appears to be a crumbling staircase, overlooking a decrepit landscape that stretches on for miles.

Gone are the blue-gray skies, replaced with hazy red, roiling fog, and flashes of vibrant lightning. Gone is the air damp with rot, replaced with a sticky blanket of humidity and the scent of acrid smoke so thick he can taste it on his tongue.

Eddie descends the staircase, heedless of the wet squelch his shoe makes when he steps through a puddle of black, oily liquid at the bottom. Intrigued, he runs a pale hand lightly over a nearby tower of stalagmite. The place is littered with them, pointed spires made of knotted, dormant vines.

Eddie steps toward one of the larger spires, taking in the figure encased in its vines. It's a human girl, fair-haired and slight in stature, held upright against her tower by large, twisted tendrils. There's no life in her, just the stench of death and decay.

For a fleeting moment, Eddie thinks he might know her. But that's impossible. He knows only his brethren, knows only their chitters in the dark and their shrieks overhead.

He turns away from the girl, staunchly ignoring the deja vu that grips him as he walks away from her. It unsettles him, that niggling feeling he's missing something important here.

Without warning, a bell begins to toll, its ominous knell crashing through the air like thunder. The distant sound of footsteps reaches his ears next, accompanied by heavy, panting breaths and the occasional hissed curse.

Eddie conceals himself behind a partially standing wall, peering through its broken glass windows in search of his interloper. He spies a figure approaching, running through the fog in a zig zag pattern, as though trying to evade something. As the figure gets closer and Eddie can make out more of its features, he realizes it's a boy, carrying a bat embedded with nails and dressed in a brown leather jacket underneath a battered denim vest.

Denim vest?

Eddie doesn't have time to dwell on the vague sense of familiarity that flashes through him at the sight of this boy—of the vest—because the fog and miasma behind him slowly start to clear, revealing a large, gnarled creature walking calmly after him.

"Why do you run from me, Steven?" the creature says, its voice sinister and seductive, a long-stemmed rose laden with thorns. "You asked me to find you. You begged to be mine. Because you know, Steve, that only I can end your suffering."

The boy skids to a halt beside the body of the girl. He whirls around to face the creature, throwing an arm up to point at her remains. "End my suffering like you ended Chrissy's?"

Steve? Chrissy?

The creature laughs, an ugly, croaking sound that sends shivers up Eddie's spine. "She is beautiful now," it croons. "And you will be, too, once you join us."

And that confuses Eddie. Because despite his dirtied appearance, windswept hair, sweat-slicked face, and scarred neck, the boy before him is already beautiful.

"You want me?" the boy—Steve—spits as he brings both hands together, knuckles going white as he tightens them around the handle of his bat. He raises it between him and the creature, widening his stance and shifting his weight between his feet in anticipation of a fight. "Come and get me!"

As soon as the words leave his lips, the vines at his feet spring to life, shooting up and thrusting him back against a nearby spire. The force of it visibly knocks the breath out of Steve, but he was apparently expecting something like this, because he managed to bring one hand up to the level of his eye before he was fully immobilized, trapping his wrist in the hold one of the vines has against his neck.

"Poor, foolish Steve," the creature says, slowly approaching him. It huffs out a derisive laugh as it steps over the fallen nail bat, then reaches out a thrawn, leathery hand, hovering it over Steve's face, clawed fingers curling as if to grasp him, puncture him. "You cannot run from me."

Steve gasps and struggles against his binds, but goes still when something new resounds through the air—the sudden blare of an electric guitar, followed by a series of deep and distorted notes that Eddie can feel in his very bones.

Drums come crashing in, loud and unapologetic, and he revels in the sheer power of it all, letting the music wash over him and set his nerves alight.

"Try and stay very still," the creature murmurs, giving the noise no mind. "It will all be over soon."

Slowly, Steve's brows unfurrow and he actually smiles. "Yes, it will," he manages to choke out, the challenge in his voice apparent despite its compromised state, "but not in the way you think."

As if on cue, a voice rings out, rough and raspy and angry and perfect above the thunderous melody that fills the air. The words are familiar, seared in Eddie's mind like a memory. Without a doubt, he knows this song. If only he could remember how he knows it.

With the voice comes a gate, though it's unlike the one Eddie came in through. Its edges are wispy, like the fog itself cleared to make an opening, and he can see clearly through it to the other side.

The scene features three unconscious bodies. The first is Steve's, wearing a set of headphones and levitating several feet off the ground. The second is a young girl's, floating in a bathtub with a blindfold tied around her head. The third is a boy's, slumped over the side of the tub with his fingers intertwined with the girl's.

A gaggle of children are split between them, some kneeling by the tub and others standing below Steve, jumping and screaming up at him. Their faces are so familiar. Eddie wishes he could place them. But all he has to go on are the frantic pounding of his heart and the bone-deep feeling that these people, these strangers, are important.

There are older kids scattered about, too, one of which has her hands wrapped around Steve's ankle, yelling as she tries to keep him tethered. Her voice is muffled, but Eddie can make out her panicked, "That's enough, dingus, it's time to come back! They've got it from here!"

The song swells, powerful and ferocious, and Eddie feels the chords right in his very heartstrings. He looks down at his hands, watches some muscle memory react viscerally to the song's fury, watches his fingers start to curl as if itching to rest on a fretboard.

"This is for Eddie, you ugly son of a bitch!" Steve yells up at the creature. He manages to leverage a bit of space with his trapped hand, then—at the crest of an absolutely face-melting guitar solo—drops his head to take a huge, violent bite out of the vine wrapped around his neck.

Several things happen at once:

1) The creature—Vecna—rears back, affected enough by Steve's display of unhinged ferality that the vines loosen their grip on him. Steve bursts out of Vecna's hold and starts sprinting toward the gate.

2) Two figures materialize behind Vecna: the girl and the boy from the other side. He must be Will the Wise, in all his bowl-cut glory. And she must be Supergirl, if the way she blasts Vecna straight through a nearby wall is any indication.

3) Eddie fucking remembers.

He remembers Hawkins and the Upside Down. He remembers Vecna, and Chrissy, and nearly every single face on the other side of the gate.

He remembers Dustin sobbing over his dying body; he remembers Max offering up herself up as bait; he remembers Lucas turning on the basketball team to help his true friends; he remembers Erica thrusting a belt made of literal bullets into his hands; he remembers Nancy wielding a felonious shotgun into battle; he remembers Robin's knowing expression at hunt the freak. He remembers Mike Wheeler, and Jonathan Byers, and—well, not the long-haired guy next to Jonathan, but that's probably fine.

And of course, he remembers the boy who'd stripped off his yellow sweater and thrown it in Eddie's slack-jawed face, who'd worn Eddie's battle vest over his still-bleeding battle wounds, who'd walked side-by-side with Eddie in a forest full of danger and decay, who'd blushed so prettily when Eddie called him big boy, who'd held Eddie's gaze and warned him not to play hero.

Eddie remembers Steve.

Later, once they both tumble through the gate and end up on the ground in a pile of limbs, Eddie will groan low in his throat and try to untangle himself from Steve's heavy body. Steve, terrified that he might have brought something dangerous back with him, will twist on top of Eddie and nearly slam his head down into the tiled floor, stopping himself only once he realizes exactly who he has pinned under him.

Later, once the party finally stops screaming in response to Eddie's sudden appearance—to his literal resurrection—Steve will drag him into his chest and clutch desperately at his back, rocking their bodies back and forth in near-catatonic shock. Eddie will clutch him back just as tightly, drenching his shirt with hot, wet tears.

Later, after Vecna is reduced to mere dust and Eddie struggles to heal from his months of being trapped alone in an alternate dimension, he'll dial Steve's phone number in the dead of night just to hear another person's voice. Steve will talk about nothing and everything, hanging up only when he can hear Eddie's breaths slow and finally even out through the line.

Later, Steve will admit he purchased Metallica's record shortly after Eddie's supposed death, wanting to hear the song he played in the Upside Down, the legendary song he used to brand himself as bait before running off to protect Dustin and buy the rest of the party more time. Eddie will hide the pleased little thrill that rushes through him at Steve's admission by throwing an arm around him and insisting they'll make a metalhead of him yet.

Later, Eddie will bring the subject up again, curious to know how the song became Steve's Vecna song. Surely he had other options that he'd cherished for far longer than the several months he'd known Master of Puppets. Steve will quietly confess that the song made him think of Eddie, of a fiery, vibrant life snuffed out too soon. And though Steve made the mistake of not turning from the Creel house and running back to Eddie that night in the Upside Down, he knew if he'd ever have to fight for his life trapped in a Vecna mind prison, he'd do it right. He wouldn't for one second hesitate to run toward the song—to run toward Eddie.

Later, Steve will gently cup Eddie's cheek and press in, close enough that they both have to go slightly cross-eyed to keep eye contact, that they feel each other's nervous, shallow breaths in the space between them. Eddie will grapple with the slew of feelings swirling messily in his ribcage before his stubborn resolve wins out and he presses his lips against Steve's in a long overdue kiss.

Later, Steve and Eddie will fall in love. But now?

Now, Steve runs.

And Eddie, or the something that never truly stopped being Eddie, follows.

[frogspond200]

𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽- 𝚁𝙴-𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽

𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒔-

• 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚠𝚕 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎

• 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑/𝙵𝚗𝚊𝚏

● 𝙾𝙺 𝙺.𝙾.! 𝙻𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝙱𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚜! ✌︎

● 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝙵𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎

● 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗��𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

● 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚢 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑

● 𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎/𝙵𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚔𝚎

● 𝙿𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚘

● 𝙷𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚜𝚜

☝︎𝑪𝒐𝒅/𝑴𝑾2

𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝑾𝑶𝑵'𝑻 𝒅𝒐:

𝚁@𝚙3

𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚖𝚞𝚝

𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚐-𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚜 (𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗)

𝙲𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜-𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐:

𝙰𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚞𝚝

𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎

𝙰𝚞 𝙵𝚒𝚌 (𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎)

𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚜

[totally-not-your-babe]

Hi guys!

I really need your help here. I'm having writer's block (that's what this is called?). I can't find to get myself to write most of the times and when I do, when I try I don't like the outcome...

What do you do when you can't seem to get yourselves write? Where do you get the inspiration?

(I was thinking about rewatching The Bad Batch and Stranger Things because these are the two fics I'm writing at the moment but I don't know.)

I really appreciate any help.

Thank you!

Have a lovely day!

[forget-me-not-automaton]

Guys I’m THIS CLOSE 🤏 to making a Bbu au based on a singular, somewhat obscure Vocaloid song,, I’LL FUCKING DO IT!!!

[medicus-mortem]

[💀] - There are 2 new chapters to the angry teen Law fic!!! And this writer gets me because Law gets free of the seastone cuffs and gets his power back and not only does his Room activate without him calling on it but it starts breaking the world around him. Acting on his distress and pain and desperation. I love this shit!

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

OKAY. SO. i'm going to be directly pulling from the wiki + ttrpg text & abridging some of it. here we go. little bowl of seeds for u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so. the circumstances leading up to the trigger event influence the power granted. half the state of mind, and half the scenario that they're in. taylor was in a situation where she was isolated, blind and powerless and felt like everyone was conspiring against her-- either directly (planning for fucking weeks to get her into the locker) or indirectly (ignoring her inside, not letting her out) etc. she triggered as a master, someone who can see everything and control so many things so exactly and specifically and she has something (her bugs) there for her, in some sort of fucked up companionship, in response to that. the overview is as follows!!

^this is the gist of it!!!!!! the ttrpg also goes into more in depth on many of these-- i won't send u 1 billion screenshots Now (spoilers in the gdocs u r Not allowed in there) but. here r a couple irt the nhw for flavor :}

also holy shit now i can be so so so fucking annoying about Why i gave the nhw the powers i did... i kind of got into it w/ the trigger events. but like. still..!!!!!!!!!!!

OHHHHHHHH MY GOD. HOLY SHIT. YEAH UR RIGHT I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT FROM THE WRONG ANGLE. OH MY GODDDD DUDE . THIS IS SO FUCKING TASTY. MY MIND IS GOING ABT A BILLION MILES AN HOUR RNNNN ohhhh god this got so long i gotta out it under a cut. im having so many thoughts dude

i would LOVE the essay about each of the nhw triggers btw. i can SEE your vision i can FEEL your vision. william feeling so fucking isolated in his hometown leading him to have master powers. his. idk weird relationship with ghosts/monsters/death coupled with his EXTREME near death experience manifesting in his breaker powers. UGHHH thats so good. TRUMP POWERS BEING CAUSED BY DIRECT INVOLVEMENT BY ANOTHER CAPE IN THE TRIGGER EVENT. VIRION WATCHING HIS DAD SLAUGHTER THEIR ENTIRE PARTY/FRIENDS/FAMILY. dakota being lost in the crowd after losing his parents, knowing something bad is happening but not knowing exactly what, catching glimpses of the fight and the blood and the horror but still not fully understanding, not knowing how or if he'll ever find his parents again and that manifesting in his thinker powers. also that zone/quick/farsight thing holy FUCK thats so failsafe. "loss of autonomy, being situationally restricted/overwhelmed" manifesting as sensing people in his immediate environment. "results from tunnel vision in views/character, incorrect perceptions" (can we say dakota damascus hero worship!) manifesting as powers that go beyond the usual senses (fear/pain sense!). i honestly think the Quick part would come more from his second trigger, which is what gives him the Mover powers right? "panic, frantic inability to solve problems, rushed errors" <- not being able to catch katori in time, making the split second decision to fall after her, manifesting as his mover/thinker powers. being able to make those split second decisions midair and Actually Accomplish them, but by the time he triggered they were already too close to the ground and he couldnt save her anyway (<< and theres the tragic irony)

ohhhh i didnt mean to go off so much about failsafe but that just gave me a lot of feelings about his triggers :( ANYWAY THINKING ABOUT ASHE NOW. GOD. OKAY. right now. how are we feeling about Shaker/Breaker. ok ok im having a lot of thoughts here bear with me. idk if u have a more clear trigger for him in mind but the thing ive been thinking about all day since u sent me that first ask is. the call going out to evacuate because simurgh is coming. ashe's mom has to go get him from school and its a mad rush with all of the other parents trying to do the same thing. instead of immediately leaving, they go back to the house for some reason (she forgot something important? maybe her phone so she had no way to contact mark/see if he was okay? idk i havent worked that out yet.) and shes just. running around frantically grabbing things getting ready to leave and ashe is standing in the doorway not knowing what to do or how to help. and its like an earthquake hits. (i just keep thinking about chris's death and how fucking. sudden and brutal it was it has stuck with me for some reason). something big or heavy falls on her and just . immediately crushes either one or both of her legs. totally unable to move. and ashe starts panicking and shes obviously panicking but trying so hard to keep it together not to scare ashe anymore than he already is. and she tells him to go, tells him to follow the other people who are leaving, maybe find one of their neighbors and go with them. (side note here. if she got her phone. i want her to text mark here and tell him to come home. something really short and terrifying and panic inducing that breaks him out of his hesitation. "need help, come home, cant leave" something like that. worlds most miserable man these are the last words he has of his wife aha) ashe doesnt want to leave his mom! hes just a kid he doesnt know what the endbringers are or why theyre so scary or why THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR is so bad!! she keeps telling him not to worry, that dad will meet him there when hes safe, ashe immediately asks something like "but what about you?" and its very. disney movie parent dying level of tragedy. he triggers when she eventually cant hold it together anymore either from the pain or the panic and just starts. screaming at him. ashe you need to go you cant stay here you need to leave me im not coming with you etc etc etc.

ANYWAY. ALL THIS TO SAY. shaker powers come from environmental/ambient danger. i.e. a literal endbringer attack. maybe the house isnt structurally sound anymore but he doesnt want to leave his mom. breaker powers come from . well this is more of me maybe forcing the issue but i want the trickster to be a separate form or something. the abstract stressors here being. he knows something bad is happening but he doesnt know exactly what. he knows his mom cant move but he wants her to be able to so she can leave with him, shes yelling at him telling him to go, he doesnt know where his dad is, he doesnt want to go by himself. etc etc do you feel the vision here. taking this directly from that last paragraph about breakers too but like "knowing a situation is dangerous but not wanting to leave" yknow!!!!! i dont know exactly how this would manifest yet but goddd just. imagining it as something like. his shaker powers are the ones he can actually control and use normally but the trickster/breaker powers is what he turns into in situations similar to his trigger, where someone he loves is in danger. but the irony of it is that he cant really control his actions as the trickster and he just kind of. goes berserk on whatever is around him. absolutely brutal, maybe a little sadistic; its kind of perfect for situations like overlord where they do actually need to kill someone to get out of the situation, but with things like his trigger. well. the only living thing around him was his mom. so . wasnt pretty. is this anything . im in so much pain about this

final FINAL side note. i know we have mark as a cauldron cape but even if we didnt i think both his classifications working so fucking well ESPECIALLY tinker "solutionless problems over long periods, resulting in a crisis moment" what is more of a solutionless problme than knowing you and your son have been marked by the simurgh and deciding that instead of following protocol youre going to say fuck it all and get the two of you out of there by. nuking your entire lives and faking new identities and struggling to bounce back from somehting like that all while knowing the inevitability of. the fact that youve BEEN MARKED BY THE FUCKING SIMURGH. (also striker "results from an immediate threat, usually a single object or individual" hello? coming home to find your son in some demonic berserk state and your wife a bloody mess on the floor all while theres this overbearing scream/singing in your head ??? okayyyyy)

[beastenraged]

the nature of the diseased, fifth and final

@hallowed-nebulae

There is a world, at the end of all things, where skies and seas that reflect them stretch out as far as the eye can see.

Can it properly be called a world at all, for having no end? Merely a plane where fragments of lost souls gathered. Waiting to be either forgotten entirely or released to whatever lies beyond the forever horizon.

Salt grinds underfoot a boot, the secret to why the seas looks so much like the sky.

A figure in black waves his hands about as he shifts back and forth, excitedly explaining something to a shimmer of stars.

"-and that's why salt drives away ghosts. Because it reminds them of the Final World, where the purest salt comes from."

A wavery voice of a girl emits from the star shimmer. "Is that true?"

"No idea!" The figure shrugs. "But it makes for a good story, doesn't it?"

The sound of a giggle. "That sounds like something Ruse would say."

"Really?" The figure tilts his hooded head. "And speaking of your friend, Ruse...I have another story to tell you. Using..."

He reaches into his coat, bringing out... "Puppets!"

"Huh?"

They're papercut, these puppets, somehow casting intricate shadows in this sunless place.

First, a princess in layers and layers of fancy skirts.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess. But there was something very different about this princess from other princesses."

The head tilts as the princess sits down on the air, like there's a chair for her underneath. Paper hands go to the chest.

"For you see, she had no Heart. Born without one. And we all know what girls with no Hearts are, hmm?"

A gloved hand flicks at the top of the physical paper head, pulling a fragment that makes the shadow of a pointed hat. A witch's hat.

"A witch. She was a witch."

Another shadowed figure enters the scene, one with a crown. And spiky hair. Too familiar in silhouette.

"Now, the witch just had to get a Heart somehow. So she cast a magic spell on a prince to get one. Made him forget everything, isn't that crazy?"

"...yes. Crazy."

"But before the prince fell completely under the witch's spell..."

The prince vanishes. Swapped out for an armored figure, heart patterns intricate in their light and shadow mix.

"A knight appeared! Dahaha!" He makes a fake trumpet noise in announcement.

The knight takes to a knee, before the witch princess. Bowing its head.

"The knight loved the princess, as a true friend does. Loved her enough to offer her..."

The knight shade tugs at its chest. Seemingly prying it open to hold up a...Heart. A beautiful shape of a Heart, in paper and cast shadow.

"No, that didn't happen."

The storyteller hums. "It didn't, hmm? Are you sure? Because the princess..."

The princess puppet accepts the Heart from the knight, holding it above her hands. Before tossing it to the side.

"...didn't think so either. She took the Heart and because she thought she was worth nothing as a witch..."

A shadowed knife appears. The knight watches in helmet shaking horror as the princess grabs it to stab into her chest.

"She kills herself. For another princess. And from there, the Heart that knight so naively gave up..."

The storyteller flicks his hands. The shadow Heart breaks apart, in pieces and pieces, and as it does, the knight puppet slumps down.

"Broke. And the princess witch ended up killing her friend too, isn't that great? Just because she thought she wasn't worth anything, how funny!"

A flick of gloved hands makes the entire puppet show disappear. Just like the paper heart, fragmented into pieces.

There's something almost upset to Namine's star shine, but who cares about that? He's only told her the truth as in story, after all.

Not his fault it hurts the feelings of the Heart she never believed she had.

"Maybe I'll change 'friend' to 'lover', hmm..."

"But it's not like that at all!" Namine protests.

"Yes, but 'lover' is a stronger word. They'll understand the loss better for some reason." The figure rubs his unseen chin.

"Give people a story on the Power of Friendship, and they'll be arguing on whether the hero should end up with the girl or the boy. They're funny like that."

"Ruse said that too. That people prefer romance over friends."

"She would know, wouldn't she?" The figure hums. He wishes he could sit back and kick his legs back and forth.

He'll have to settle for grinding the salty water underfoot.

"I don't blame you for what you did, by the way."

"...what?" Namine sounds completely confused.

He doesn't blame her, though he understands why that may be hard for her to believe. His story is pretty much focused on her failure, isn't it? People hate to be reminded of their failures.

"Of course you sacrificed yourself. What else would you do, after being told your entire existence that you didn't matter as much as others, because you're a different kind of being."

The figure spreads his arms once more.

"Not only that, but they were scared of you. Of what you could do, change those memories like you can. Of course they put you down, didn't correct their ideas how you actually were, instead of the monster in their mind."

"They didn't all do that!" Namine argues, lights flashing angrily. Probably more angry than she ever was, alive.

"Oh right, Ruse didn't. But we were just talking about that, in the story." The figure tugs at his hood, rests his chin in his other hand. "One person isn't enough, to change another's nature."

An amount of silence, as he takes in the glimmering stars about them. Each and every one a soul who cannot yet leave their own world behind. Reminders of what lies ahead and behind.

"That's fate, you know. Just living up to your own nature. Fate happens as we follow what our Hearts tell us, to the very end."

That's how he can 'retire' really. Because people rarely change, much more keen on following what they know. Even when that leads them off a cliff.

Darkness sought the Book of Prophecies, fell for its trap because that's its nature to devour knowledge like that. To try getting a headstart on Light.

Every Hero that is and wasn't follow their natures and that's how the Worlds will be saved.

Even this witch, this Nobody, followed her own lonely nature in the end.

His counterpart of that other worldline, ah, he worries too much. But the figure supposes that if he changed the inner nature of his own students as the other did, he would be worried about Fate more as well.

But all things find their way. The stars turn on their axises, the universe spins out further and further, and Light conquers Dark.

The beings of his world-selections will return to their homes and the beings of his counterpart's world-selections will keep to theirs.

That's Fate. That's how it will be.

He wouldn't be the Master of Masters otherwise, right?

[rain11-fic]

"i'll go to bed early"

1k words of a puppet master hualian pwp and 40 minutes later: damn

[listenupneutrogena]

recommending my own fic!!

show it some love? i worked extremely hard on it 🥺

Master of Puppets - Eddie Munson

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader Word Count: 8,013 Warnings: flashing gif, fluff, flashback in italics; eddie has shoulder length hair, angst out the fucking ass, Requested: no | yes; Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! I made a post about this fic, and received some postive feedback! Like I said in that post, I showed my daughter the Upside Down Concert scene, and I immediately saw Reader standing/sitting/squatting on top of the trailer. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

eddie munson masterlist

You never thought you’d be going into the Upside Down again. But, here you are in a big ass grassy area with your boyfriend, Eddie. As well as your brother Dustin, Nancy, Robin and Steve, the Sinclair siblings, and Max. You had been roped into the adventures of the Upside Down ever since the beginning.

Steve and Nancy were a part of the adventures from the beginning, Max joined during Dart’s adventure, Robin and Erica joining you lot last year. Now, your boyfriend was a part of this adventure; The Adventures of Vecna, as you liked to call it. 

You watched as Eddie and Dustin hammered some nails into a couple of tin garbage can lids. 

“So, how did you two end up together?” Dustin asked. “Neither of you really talked about it.”

You looked at Eddie and he at you, a small smile on his face before he went back to hammering. “Well, she caught my eye when I was sophomore, a scared little freshman-”

“I wasn’t scared!” you exclaimed.

Both boys chuckled at your exclamation before Eddie continued. “Okay. Not scared, but… confused. She was confused. Not knowing where to go. I walked up to her as she was looking at her schedule like she was mad at it.”

“When he walked up to me, I got scared. Like, jumping out of my skin, scared. I didn’t know he was walking up to me, despite all the chains he was sporting.” You chuckled at Eddie’s smile. He was proud of his chains. 

“It was loud and busy with all the freshmen trying to make their way around,” he chuckled. Going back to his task, he cleared his throat. “Anyway. I showed her where her locker was and looked at her schedule, seeing that most of her classes were near mine.”

“He took me to every single one,” you smiled, remembering that day as if it were yesterday.

“I saw her at one of the lunch tables, sitting alone with a book in her hands as she ate lunch. I ditched my friends to go and talk to her, but she didn’t talk back.”

“So, Eddie, here, had slipped a note into my locker after lunch, telling me to meet him in the woods right behind the school.” You were taken back to that day as Eddie explained your meeting in the woods.

Walking around in the woods was something you never found yourself doing, but here you were. In the woods. After school. To meet a boy. A cute boy with shoulder length hair, wearing a denim jacket and black jeans. The very same boy that you were thinking about appeared out of nowhere in the woods, scaring you.

He held up a hand, a smile on his face as he said, “Sorry.”

With a hand over your heart, you exhaled, trying to get your heartbeat back to normal. “No, that’s okay. You’re fine. It’s my fault, really, for getting scared. I didn’t hear you walk up.”

“You didn’t hear the leaves?”

Shaking your head, you tried to hold back a smile. “Nope.”

He tried to hide his own smile as he looked off to the side a little. “I’m Eddie, by the way. Eddie Munson.  I don’t know if I told you my name at lunch.”

You shook your head again, lips between your teeth. “Nope, but it’s very nice to meet you, Eddie. I’m Y/N Henderson.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, M’lady Henderson.”

A giggle erupted from your throat, your hand flying to your mouth to try and conceal it. Looking over to the picnic table, you gestured over to it, asking Eddie if he wanted to sit down and talk, to which he agreed.

Eddie could swear that by hearing you laugh, he wanted to hear it forever. As the two of you sat down, you looked at his shirt, seeing the words Hellfire Club on it with some type of dice, a sword, a demon head and morning star weapon.

“What’s Hellfire Club?” you asked.

Looking down at his shirt, Eddie explained, “Oh, it’s this club I started last year.”

You raised a brow, your interest piqued. “What kind of club?”

“D&D.” When he looked back up at you, he saw a very confused look on your face. Chuckling, he said, “Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a fantasy board game.”

“Wait, with like, monsters and shit?”

Letting out a light laugh while looking down at the table, Eddie said, “Yeah. With monsters and shit.”

Bringing your arm up to the table, you rested your elbow on the tabletop, resting your chin in your hand. “I think my little brother is trying to get into it. Him and his little friends keep talking about it.”

“You have a little brother?” Eddie asked.

Nodding, you smiled a little. “I do. He’s annoying, like most younger siblings are, but I’m more than grateful to have him. He’s the missing piece my mom and I didn’t know we needed.”

Eddie wanted to know more about you. “What about your dad?” Waving him off, you replied, “Eh, he’s deadbeat. Well, not really. He just… took off not long after Dustin was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine. He was an asshole anyway, from what I can remember.” You looked into Eddie’s eyes and wanted to know about him instead of talking about yourself. “What about you? What’s your family like?”

“There’s not much to say, really. My dad’s in prison, and my mom died when I was young.”

“Oh, Eddie,” you said, hesitantly reaching your hand across the table. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

He looked at your hand before timidly putting his hand on yours, instantly finding comfort. Eddie was fifteen and you were fourteen, but that didn’t stop the tingles that shot through both of your hands. 

Flipping your hand over, you watched as Eddie lightly traced random shapes into your palm. “You know, uhm, this isn’t the first time we’ve… hung out.”

Confused as ever, you looked at him with scrunched eyebrows. “No?”

Stopping his fingers, he looked at you, asking, “You don’t remember?”

Trying to rack your brain, your eyes danced all around; at his shirt, his rings, the trees behind him, the tabletop, but you ended up coming up short. “I’m sorry. I-”

“That’s okay,” he said.

Watching as he looked past you for a moment, you wanted to say something that would help to put his mind at ease, but a gasp sounding from you had the words dying in your throat as Eddie pretended to stab himself in the heart, falling from the table bench.

“Oh, my god!” you exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t remember me either, Y/N,” Eddie said, standing up. Brushing the leaves from his body, you giggled, watching as he ran his fingers through his hair, asking, “Do I have something in my hair?”

It felt like forever since you genuinely laughed at someone being so silly. You weren’t used to it anymore. Hanging out with your best friend, Steve Harrington, would do that to you, especially when it came to watching his basketball practices and then heading straight home.

But laughing at Eddie’s antics felt natural, like you’d been doing it your whole life. You wanted to have that feeling for a long time with him. 

Bringing you out of your thoughts, Eddie asked, “You don’t remember me?” with his arms crossed, a small smile on his face.

Chuckling, you responded, “I’m sorry.”

“Middle school,” he said. “Talent show. You were doing this dance thing. Ya’know, the-” He shimmied, which caused you to giggle at him. “-thing that you do. It was pretty cool, actually. You were a really good dancer.”

“Still am,” you smiled. “I still dance.”

He smirked, saying, “And I… I was with my band.”

As if a bus hit you with realization, you gasped, holding your hands up before exclaiming, “Corroded Coffin!”

At the same time he punched his own hand and turned around, saying, “Corro– you do remember!” you were also saying, “Oh, my god! Yes, of course! With a name like that, how could I forget? You guys introduced me to metal!”

“I knew it,” he said, coming back to the table to lean on the top, your foreheads almost touching. “You’re a freak.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “Thanks to you. But you just… you looked totally-”

“Different? Yeah, well, my hair was buzzed and I didn’t have any tattoos yet.”

“You have tattoos?” you asked, almost too excitedly.

“One.” Shifting on the bench to face his right arm towards you, he lifted his sleeve, showing a two legged dragon. “It’s called a wyvern. It’s a creature from D&D.”

Leaning on the table with a small smile, you brought your hand up to trace the outside of his permanent ink. “It looks creepy, but it’s cool. But you’re a minor. How did you get it?”

Slowly pulling his sleeve back down as you sat back on the bench, he sighed. “My dad. Said he wanted to give me a birthday present to remember. So, he took me to the tattoo shop last year for my fourteenth birthday, and said to pick out any design they had. I ended up talking to the tattoo artist about D&D for a little while. The dude said he would tattoo something, and out came this.”

“Is that how you got into D&D or had you been into it for a while before that?” you wondered.

“Was into it for a little while. Where I was at within the campaigns, I hadn’t come across the wyvern yet.” He looked you, something shining in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher. “Hey, thanks.”

“For what?” you asked, tucking your lips between your teeth.

Shrugging, he said, “For listening.”

Smiling, you said, “No problem. Now, back to the band thing. You played guitar, right?”

Eddie nodded, looking at your hand before reaching across the table to continue his shapes from earlier. “Still do. Still do.” He looked back into your eyes, seeing that they were already on him before he added, “You should come see us. We play at The Hideout on Tuesday’s.”

“Isn’t that a bar?” you asked.

“My uncle knows the owner,” he whispered, slightly narrowed eyes.

You nodded and breathed out a chuckle. “Okay.”

“It’s pretty cool. We actually get a crowd of about five… drunks.”

Laughing again, you couldn’t help but let yourself get immersed in the boy that was Eddie Munson. “Doesn’t seem like it’s Madison Square.”

“It’s not,” he agreed. “But you gotta start somewhere, right? So…”

After a moment of comfortable silence between the two of you, you couldn’t help but talk without your filter. “Ya’know, you’re not what I’d thought you’d be like.”

“Mean and scary?” he asked, quietly.

“Yeah,” you whispered.

“Yeah, well, I actually thought you’d be kind of mean and scary.” “Me?” you exclaimed.

“Terrifying,” he smiled. “What, with your quietness and reading and shit.”

All you could do was look at him, a small smile on your lips. The two of you talked until you could hear the distant ringing of your name being called, Eddie being kind enough to walk you to the edge of the woods, where Steve was waiting for you.

Turning to Eddie, you placed a hand on his arm and said, “I had a nice time, Eddie. Really.”

Grabbing your hand, Eddie wrapped your fingers around his before he bent and kissed your knuckles, a smile on his face as he replied, “Until next time, m’lady.”

After that day in the woods, you two hung out on Tuesday nights, and when you weren’t hanging out with Steve. Before long, the two of you were a couple. Hearing the whispers about you two didn’t bother you at all. Eddie made you realize that you didn’t care what others thought about you.

You still dressed in what he would call your “preppy” clothes, and he still dressed in his. The moment he let you wear his denim jacket on a date because you were cold, you stole it and never returned it. He didn’t mind, though, because for your very first Christmas together, you had bought him the exact jacket he gave you.

He ended up cutting the sleeves off of it and glued something about Dio on the back of it, band buttons on the front of it with a patch that you had ironed on for him.

Your parents weren��t too thrilled that you were dating Eddie. They wanted you to date Steve instead, but you protested, as well as Steve, to the point where your parents relented. You ended up turning into a little bookworm, as Eddie had given you a few books he thought you’d enjoy. Now, here you two were, five years later, still together, still going strong. 

As Eddie told Dustin the story, he had finished hammering the nails into the tin garbage lids. He stood, grabbing the one he was working on.

“How’s she feeling?” Dustin asked.

Turning and holding out his makeshift shield, Eddie replied, “Light,-” before holding the lid nail side down, saying, “-but durable.” Holding it out again, he added, “Deadly,-” before lowering it to add, “-but reliable.”

You and Dustin laughed at Eddie’s antics, something you fall even more in love with about him. With an ever dramatic voice as he propped his foot on the crate he’d been sitting on, Eddie reached out a hand towards Dustin, saying, “Hear me now. There will be no more retreating…” Going back to his own voice, he looked at you and said, “...from Eddie the Banished.”

Standing up with his own makeshift shield, Dustin said, “Hey, you’re really ready for bat-tle.”

You and Eddie looked at each other before casting your eyes over to Dustin, as he chortled. “You get it?”

did i forget to mention that your little group minus the younger teens had jumped into lovers lake after steve and ended up having your own little adventure in the upside down? no. oh. well. ya’did!

“Bat-tle.” As Dustin looked at yours and Eddie’s please explain looks, he sighed out, “B-A-T. No?”

Eddie looked at you before he handed you his shield as Dustin set his down, saying, “I thought it was a good one,” before your boyfriend all but tackled him with a playful yell, the younger teen caught off guard. “What are you doing?!”

You had to drop the shield as Eddie pushed your brother towards you, your hands coming up to his back to stop him from running into you. He stood up straighter before saying, “Son of a bitch!” before charging at Eddie, who let out another playful yell.

Laughing out loud, you watched as your boyfriend reached down to give your brother a wedgie, who protested by saying, “No wedgies! No wedgies!”

They both stood up straighter, Eddie’s hands on either side of your brother, saying, “Never change.” They both looked at each other as he said, “Dustin Henderson.”

You walked over to them, moving the hair that was in Eddie’s mouth right before he added, “Promise me?”

As if he were getting emotional, Dustin said, “Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good,” Eddie said. “Good.” He looked over at you and kissed you before turning towards the Sinclairs, saying, “Hey, Sinclair’s! How are those, uhh… spears coming on?”

Watching as Lucas gave a thumbs up, you chuckled when you noticed the look on Erica’s face. Shaking your head, you looked down at the shields, your smile falling fast. Dustin noticed before Eddie did, your brother walking over to you and putting a hand on your shoulder.

“What’s up, sis?” he asked. He looked at your waterline, seeing tears lining them. Looking over at Eddie, he whispered his name as a tear slipped down your cheek.

“Baby?” Eddie said, standing in front of you. He cupped your cheeks, lifting your head as you took a shaky breath in. “Princess, what’s wrong?”

With your eyes dancing between his, you quietly asked, “What if we don’t make it out this time?” You grabbed his forearms, keeping his arms in place as you added, “What if one of us dies? I can’t… I can’t lose anyone else.” Gripping his forearms a little tighter, you said through gritted teeth, “Especially you.”

Shaking his head, Eddie said, “You’re not gonna lose me.”

“Do you promise me?”

He grabbed one of your hands after removing one of his from your cheek, bringing your hand to palm at his chest. “With my whole heart.” With the hand that was still cupping your cheek, he brought your face closer to his, sealing his promise with a kiss. 

Dustin cleared his throat, causing the two of you to break apart. You pressed your foreheads together, your eyes shut, Eddie’s still open as he quietly said, “I love you, princess.”

“I love you, too, Dungeon Master.”

“Okay, if you two can stop having a gross moment, can we practice a little bit?” Dustin asked.

Reluctantly, Eddie pulled away to grab his shield, practicing fighting the demobats as you watched them, giggles and chuckles sounding out of you as you did. You laughed when Eddie jumped over Dustin like a leap frog.

A little while later, everyone geared up with their weapons and battle clothes. Your group got back into the Winnebago, everyone quiet as the realness of what was to come started to set it. Steve was driving while Nancy sat next to him in the passenger seat. Erica, Lucas and Max sat in the kitchen/dining area. Dustin, Robin, you and Eddie sat in the very back. 

You were sitting between Eddie and Dustin, your arm around Eddie’s, your head resting on his shoulder as he had his hand resting on the inside of your thigh. You couldn’t help but play with the ring on his finger, it bringing the both of you some form of comfort.

Looking at Eddie, you weren’t surprised to see him already looking at you, tightening his hold on you just the slightest. You looked at Dustin, seeing the worry on his face. You knew he had the same concerns that you did, but he never voiced them. Grabbing his hand, you held on tight as he looked out of the window, the hold he was giving your hand was the same you had on his.

Steve eventually pulled up to the Creel house, letting Max, Lucas and Erica off before he drove you to a secluded area near the trailer park, Forest Hills, where you all ran through the phases one more time that Nancy had set in place.

Phase One: Meet Erica at the playground, where she’ll signal Max and Lucas.

Phase Two: Max baits Vecna.

Phase Three: you, Eddie and Dustin distract the bats. 

Phase Four: Flambe.

Once you were all sure of the plan and that no one was going to deter away from it, the six of you hopped off of the Winnebago to head to Eddie’s trailer, where Chrissy’s gate was. When you all reached the trailer, Steve went in first, everyone else following suit. 

When you walked in, you watched as Steve the makeshift rope that Dustin had made to bring you back from the Upside Down, flipping before landing on his feet.

“Ooooh, what does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin mocked.

You chuckled as you watched him place a mattress on the other side of the gate for safe landing. Nancy went next after dropping her backpack. As carefully as you and Dustin could, you both tossed their gear up into the gate, the backpack and gun landing on the mattress on the other side.

Eddie went next, smiling up at you, telling you to come on with the motion of his hand. With Robin and Dustin’s help, you climbed the rope before falling onto the mattress with your eyes closed, only to see Eddie right above you when you opened them. “Now this looks familiar.”

Chuckling, you playfully shoved him away, saying, “Keep it in your pants, Munson.”

He helped you up before his shield, Robin and her backpack, the spears and your brother came crashing down, Steve and Eddie grabbing his shirt and hoisting him up.

When you all exited the trailer, Steve turned around and said, “Hey, you two, listen.”

“Uhm, three,” you corrected, pushing your way between your brother and boyfriend.

“No, two. You’re coming with us.”

Crossing your arms, you said, “Like hell, I am.” He sighed your nickname before you interrupted him. “No, Steven. You don’t get to make that choice. Not this time. I need to stay with them.”

“Because of-” Steve started, only for you to interrupt him again by saying, “Because of them.” You walked towards Steve, placing your hands on his shoulders. “Look, I know my parents tried with us, and I know it’s what you wanted, too, but I can’t help the fact that I fell in love with Eddie. He’s never experienced this shit before. I need to be here to protect him. And Dustin.”

Sighing, he nodded. “Alright.” Steve looked back at Dustin and Eddie, but directed his next words at the three of you. “If things here start to go South, like, at all-” He looked at you as he said, “-abort. Okay?” Looking back at Dustin and Eddie, he added, “Draw the attention of the bats, keep them busy for a minute or two while we take care of Vecna.”

“Steve,” you whispered, tears lining your eyes.

“Don’t try to be cute or heroes or whatever. You three are just-”

“Decoys,” you and Dustin said.

Gaining Steve’s attention, you said, “Don’t worry, Steve. Can play the hero this time.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie said. “I mean, look at us. We are noooooooot heroes.”

Before Steve walked off with Nancy and Robin, he looked at you and his face softened. At the same time, the two of you hugged tightly. Squeezing each other the way you did as kids when his parents would fight. 

His attention was gained when Eddie called his name. You turned to look at him as he said, “Make him pay.”

When you turned back to Steve, you cupped his neck, his hands going to your triceps. “Be careful, or I swear to fuck, Steve, I will kill you myself.”

“I’ll be careful, love.” Resting his forehead against yours, he quietly added, “I promise.”

“You better,” you whispered. Pulling back to look into his eyes, you added, “I can’t live without my best friend.” 

Steve kissed your forehead before walking off with Nance and Robin right before you turned to Eddie and Dustin, walking straight for the love of your life, cupping his cheeks. 

“You’re my hero,” you said, eyes dancing between his. 

Eddie knew about your close relationship with Steve. When you two not-so-intimate like you just were, it did bother him a little, but he knew that nothing would come of it. Eddie knew you loved him, but he couldn’t help that pang of jealousy that he knew shouldn’t be there.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, princess.” He placed his lips on yours, your lips moving in sync for a moment before you both pulled away, knowing that if you kept going, your brother would be scarred for life.

Three of you got to work; cutting up chain-linked fences, gathering sheets of metal, posts, whatever you could get your hands on to start building a small shelter on the porch of the trailer, leaving one of the doors on the front clear for easy access. A ladder was leaning against it to the side so that you all could get up on the roof.

You looked at his trailer, backing up and taking Eddie with you, Dustin following. Once the three of you were back for enough, you looked at each boy, a smile forming on their faces. 

“Not bad,” Eddie said.

“Not bad at all,” Dustin agreed.

Eddie chuckled, tapping Dustin’s shoulder around our own before bringing you into his side, kissing the side of your head. “Now for the fun part.” He took you hand in his, all but dragging you into the trailer towards his bedroom, where he opened the door.

He stopped, almost making you run into him. “Babe, what the fu-”

“Jesus Chr-” he said. 

“Wha- oh, my god. Eddie,” you whispered, placing your hand on his shoulder. “She’s beautiful.”

“It’s like…” he said, walking towards his mirrored dresser. “...she was destined for an alternate dimension.” When he got closer, he said, “What do you say, Hendersons?” After grabbing his guitar, he turned around while asking, “Are you two ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?”

You and Dustin looked at each other, smiling before you turned to Eddie, and said in unison, “Is that a rhetorical question?”

Putting the strap on his shoulder, Eddie looked at you again, before whispering, “Let’s do it,” and throwing the instrument over his shoulder.

For some reason, you were excited about Eddie putting on a little concert. You loved watching him play, so actually seeing him play wasn’t what was making you excited. It was the fact that you didn’t know what he was going to play.

It was decided after the three of you climbed onto the trailer's roof that this little concert would be dedicated to Chrissy Cunningham, the cheerleader that had, unfortunately, been Vecna’s first victim.

Eddie had told you that Chrissy came to him for some weed to help with the “voices” in her head; a voice that turned out to be Vecna trying to lure her into his trap… which ultimately worked, unfortunately. 

You’d met Chrissy because of you being on the dance team, having done football games and basketball games together. You considered her a friend before you and Steve graduated. Upon hearing about her death, you were obviously heartbroken. So, when Eddie asked if he could dedicate the concert to her, you quickly agreed to it, loving him even more than you already did.

Everyone thought that Eddie was this mean and scary freak, but the truth of the matter is, he was just a metalhead, fantasy game playing teddy bear with a heart of gold. Right after you plugged the cord into his guitar, you gave him a kiss, telling him to knock ‘em dead before standing next to your brother.

Robin’s voice came through the walkie-talkie saying, “She’s in. Move on to Phase Three.”

Dustin replied, saying, “Copy that. Initiating Phase Three,” before grabbing the cords, saying, “Let’s hope they hear this,” right before he plugged the amp into the extension cord.

Turning the amp all the way up, you looked at Eddie, who locked eyes with you as you blew him a kiss. “Chrissy,” he said, reaching for his guitar pick necklace, ripping the pick off. “This is for you.” Strumming the first chord of the song, he yelled out and you instantly knew the song he was playing; Master of Puppets by Metallica. 

You stood behind Dustin as Eddie played the first few notes of the song, placing your hands on his shoulders and headbanging along with your brother. Watching as Eddie had his concentration face on, you tried not to let your mind go there.

It was the same face he sported when you two fucked and he was trying to reach climax with you.

You did a couple little jumps, using Dustin to brace yourself when Eddie shook his head, something you loved seeing him do while he played. You looked forward to Tuesday nights because that meant you got to watch Eddie in his element, doing what he loves.

He walked closer to you and Dustin, bending the slightest bit as the three of you headbanged together to the beat of the song. When he got to the chorus, he propped his foot up on the smaller amp that was sitting near him, much like he did with crate hours earlier.

Dustin’s hand tapping your own had you looking down, seeing the binoculars in his hand. Taking them from him, you turned to face the woods, bringing them up to your eyes, not seeing the demobats yet. You turned back to Dustin, giving them back as Eddie tilted his head back, playing two notes for the word Master, two times, headbanging with Dustin.

When Eddie started playing the bridge of the song right before the guitar solo, yours and Dustin’s attention was brought to the shrieking of the demobats, your brother standing to look through the binoculars.

“Dusty!” you said, loud enough for him to hear.

“Thirty seconds!” he responded.

Turning to look at Eddie, you said, “Babe!” He looked at you, while playing your favorite part of the song. “Gotta lock down in thirty seconds!”

He curtly nodded at you, your attention caught in between his and Dustin’s.

“Twenty!” Dustin said.

“Babe, you got twenty seconds! Do the solo near the end!”

Wasting no time, Eddie got right into it as your anxiety started to show as you placed your hand on Dustin’s shoulder, who said ten not a moment later.

“Baby, ten!” Your eyes never left the bats as you and Dustin said, “Five!”

“One!”

You ran over towards Eddie as the notes started to fade out as he ended the song. 

“Babe, go!” Eddie yelled, gently pulling you to jump from the top of the trailer to the top of the truck below and into the bed. “Move! Move! Move!” he yelled at Dustin, the both of them following your lead as you jumped from the bed, turning around for a second.

“Y/N/N, get your ass in the house!” Dustin shouted as he ran past you.

Eddie grabbed your arms and turned you around to run around the side of the trailer, both of you stumbling into the makeshift shelter.

“Baby, shut it!” you shouted, Eddie doing exactly that; shutting the chain link door, putting a two by four on it at a diagonal to essentially lock it. Grabbing at his arm, you pulled him behind you as the bats slammed into the walls and door. “Baby, come on!”

When the two of you backed into the trailer, you stood in between him and your brother, taking deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself down. You and Eddie looked at each other at the same time before he took the steps he needed to get closer to you, your lips locking in heated exchange. You just chalked it up to the adrenaline. 

“Dude!” Dustin said, causing the two of you to break apart. “Most. Metal. Ever!”

The three of you jumped and cheered in excitement, Eddie picking you up and spinning you around, like he did every Tuesday night after his show when you’d meet him at the back of the bar.

When he set you down, he kissed you again, holding it for a moment before moving his lips against yours. 

“I hate-” Kiss. “-to break-” Kiss. “- this up-” Kiss. You lightly pushed him away, looking into his eyes. “Dungeon Master, I love you, but we are currently being swarmed by the very same bats that almost ate Steve.”

Coming back to reality, Eddie looked at Dustin, who already had their spears in his hands. Apparently, you didn’t have anything to protect yourself with because when you tried to make your own shield and had asked the Sinclair siblings to make you one, Eddie protested and said you didn’t need anything because he had said, “They’ll have to go through me to get to you.”

So, you were standing in the middle of two of them, their backs to you as they circled you, the bats continuing their swarming and shrieking. Every time they slammed back against the outside of the trailer, you jumped a little, which if we’re being honest, you were jumping a lot.

When the noises finally started to calm down, your brother thought that that was a good time to yell out, “Hey, dipshiiiiiiiiiiiits! Give up that easy, huh?!”

Covering his mouth, you shushed him. “I don’t plan on becoming demobat chow, Dusty, now shut the fuck up.”

Clattering above you gained all of your attention, your eyes being casted up towards the ceiling.

“They’re on the roof,” Eddie said.

“Baby, I love you, but now’s not the time to be a sarcastic shithead,” you whispered.

With all three of your attention on the roof, you followed the sounds of their walking, the phrase, “Shit, shit, shit,” spilling from yours and Dustin’s mouths with the occasional, “Fucking hell,” being spilled from yours.

Spotting where they were going, you spotted the vent in the kitchen. “Eddie,” you said, his response being an acknowledging hum. “I don’t think we covered the vent.”

“They can’t get in through there, can they?” Dustin asked.

Without missing a freaking beat, one of the bats broke the vent, sending the metal down to the ground, a gasp coming from Dustin, a scream coming from you, and silence coming from Eddie before they yelled out a battle cry and began stabbing the creature through the vent.

You had taken a couple of steps back when Eddie went around you, keeping your eyes on the creature they were stabbing, your breathing coming out in pants, your anxiety reaching max levels.

Eddie turned to face you, saying, “Babe, get out of the way!” to which you obliged, watching as he grabbed one of the chairs from the small table you were standing beside. “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!” he said, making his way towards Dustin. 

He stood on the chair with his nail shield, putting it in the ceiling to block the creatures from going inside, letting go after a second. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”

“Nice,” Dustin said.

“Thanks.”

They gave each other high fives, their attention being put on you when you exclaimed, “Hello?! Damsel in distress over here!”

“Sorry, babe,” Eddie said, jumping down from the chair and walking towards you. He wrapped you in a hug, the lingering scent of his cologne from two days prior calming you just the smallest bit.

“Are there any other vents?” Dustin asked, breaking your moment.

“Oh, shit,” Eddie breathed. He turned away, telling you to stay put as he grabbed his spear and went into his bedroom, Dustin following behind. You weren’t one to listen, so you followed, screaming when the creatures popped from the corner of Eddie’s room from the floor vent.

Turning toward you, Dustin pushed you back as Eddie backed out of his room, closing the door. The creatures started to claw their way through the door, Eddie and Dustin holding their spears, Eddie’s more so in protection before he grabbed Dustin’s shield.

“That’s not gonna hold!” you and Dustin screamed.

“Let’s go!” Eddie screamed. “Let’s go!”

Dustin started to climb up the sheets first, making it halfway up before you started climbing up, watching Eddie every so often. 

When you felt the sheets tug beneath you, you looked down, sighing in small relief when you watched Eddie start his climb. Your head made it through the Hawkins gate when you felt the sheets below you go slack.

You tried your best to look down, seeing Eddie reach for his protection, his name falling from your lips on a shout, trying your best to gain his attention. When you did gain it, he looked conflicted as he said, “I love you. So fucking much,” before cutting the sheets, sending you down into Hawkins with Dustin.

You screamed as you fell through, your front hitting the mattress as Eddie moved on the other side. When you stood up, you watched him shove the mattress away. “Babe! What the fuck are you doing?” you yelled, looking up at him. 

He looked up at you before saying, “I’m buying more time,” before walking away.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” you screamed, your throat feeling raw at the exertion. Looking at your brother, you said, hoarsely, “Dustin Wade, get me something to stand or climb up on.”

“Why?” he asked.

Looking back up into Upside Down Hawkins, you said, “Because I can’t let him die.”

“Move the mattress.”

As you moved it, he grabbed a chair from the table, setting it under the gate. After you climbed on it, you looked at your brother, cupping the side of his head as you said, “I love you, Dusty. Don’t… follow me,” before jumping up as hard as you could, grabbing onto the side of the gate before pulling yourself up.

You flipped yourself, dangling for a moment before dropping to your feet in a, what Dustin would call, heroic squat. When you heard Eddie’s voice, your feet started moving before you could even think about what to do.

Once you were outside, you heard him yell, “Come get me, you sons of bitches!” before you started moving once more towards him. You looked around for discarded bikes, but couldn’t see any, so you just… ran.

You can as fast your feet could carry you. Watching as a demobat knocked him off the bike, you ran even faster, which you didn’t think was possible. “EDDIE!” you yelled, seeing him roll on the ground before standing.

He looked at you for a slight moment before he started running again, a pained expression on his face at seeing you before he just… stopped running. 

Squeals and screams came from you as the bats started making their way towards you as you continued your running. A hand grabbing you and turning you around had you screaming in surprise. At first, you thought it was Steve coming to your rescue… again, but once you felt that warm feeling go through your body, you knew it was Eddie.

He held his shield up, blocking the two of you from the demobats as they flew themselves at the two of you, Eddie yelling while they did so before they started flying around the two of you in circles.

“Eddie, what do we do?” you asked, fear lacing your voice. “What do we do?!”

“I fight,” he said. 

“Edd-”

“I’ll protect you, and you’ll walk out of here, unharmed.”

“So the fuck will you!” you exclaimed, gaining his attention. “We’re gonna make it out. We’re, Eddie. We are. Plural. Me and you. Together.” From the corner of your eye, you saw a bat make its way out of the circle to make its way towards you, a scream tearing from your throat before Eddie slashed at it with his spear.

You could very faintly hear Dustin calling your name, but you didn’t care enough to risk your life anymore than you already were to run to your brother.

Eddie fought them as they came, standing in front of you the whole time, yelling out “Come on!” at one point. Turning his head a little towards you, he asked, “How you doing, babe?”

“All things considered?!” you shouted.

A few moments later, a bat wrapped its tail around Eddie’s throat and you jumped into action, grabbing the creature to unwrap it. Grabbing the spear, you carefully slashed at it, cutting it from the hold it had.

You did this for every creature that came at Eddie. Knowing they wanted to make him chow, you weren’t about to let that happen. He used his shield to knock them away. Turning your back for a second, you felt a pain go through your leg, a pained scream tearing from your lips as you went down to the ground, stabbing at the bat that had bitten your leg.

Feeling another pain go through you, again you screamed, not sure where the pain was coming from as you heard Eddie’s pained cries mix with your own. Taking the spear, you slashed and stabbed at the creatures, your blood making your clothes stick your body from where the bats were trying to chow down on you.

“Get the hell off my boyfriend!” you screamed, standing on your good leg to scream and stab all the bats that were making their way to his torso, just like they did with Steve. Before you could even process what was happening, the bats just started falling from where they were circling the two of you.

Dropping the spear, you looked around, breathing heavily before a weak voice called your name. Looking down at Eddie, you gasped and sat beside him, seeing all the blood on him. “Oh, my god. No, no, no, no, no, no.” You hadn’t realized you started crying until you looked up, seeing Dustin. “Dusty!!” you screamed, noticing the limp he had. 

Looking back down at Eddie, you grabbed his body and pulled him against you. “Bad, huh, babe?”

“Shut the fuck up, you’re gonna be fine,” you said, through your tears. Looking up at Dustin, you said, “Give me your jacket.” When he didn’t give it to you, you sighed and exclaimed, “I need to stop the bleeding! Gimme your jacket!”

Once he took his gear off and handed you his jacket, you applied pressure to the wounds on Eddie’s abdomen, a pained cry leaving his lips. “I’m so sorry,” you whispered, kissing his forehead through his bandana. “I’ll patch you up when we can get you back to the trailer.”

“P-patch?” he asked, grunting.

“I’ve had to stitch up Steve one or twice, it’s no big deal.” You went to move, but Eddie’s voice stopped you when he said, “Babe, I need a second, okay?”

Letting out a soft sob, you leaned your forehead against his, letting the tears start their descent. Through gritted teeth, Eddie asked, “I didn’t run away this time, right?”

You let out a louder sob, shaking your head, “No. No, you didn’t. My fucking hero.”

“Dustin,” he said, gaining your brother's attention. “You’re gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?”

“You’re not fucking dying!” you yelled, sobbing. “Dustin, tell him he’s not dying.”

“You’re gonna do that yourself,” Dustin sobbed.

“Nah, Hendersons,” Eddie said. Nothing else needed to be said as he looked you dead in your eyes, smiling. “I’m actually gonna graduate.”

Nodding your head fast, you sobbed out, “Yeah. And I’m gonna be there with Hellfire and your Uncle Wayne, cheering you on.

“I think it’s my year, Hendersons.” Seeing the tears welling up in his eyes only made you cry harder. “I think it’s f-f-finally my year.”

“He’s losing too much blood,” you said, pressing harder on his wounds, another pained cry leaving him. “Dustin, help me carry him back to the trailer.” Looking at Eddie as Dustin moved to his feet, you said, “We’re gonna carry you now, baby. It’s gonna hurt like hell. Are you ready?”

He nodded, closing his eyes and trying his best to take a deep breath. 

“Okay, Dusty, ready?” You locked eyes with your brother. “One, two, three.” You both stood up as best you could with one of Dustin’s legs being broken, and with your own injuries.

“What about you?” Dustin asked, looking down at your leg as you walked backwards, also limping.

“I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about Eddie right now.”

With an understanding nod, you both grunted as you made your way back to the trailer. “Baby, keep talking. Please keep talking. I need to hear that amazing voice of yours.”

“I play the solo good?” he asked, struggling to take another breath.

“So fucking good, baby. I jumped against Dustin’s shoulders,” you said, breathing out a chuckle.

Eddie’s chuckle was weak, and he was starting to get heavier in your arms, a bad sign you had come to know.

“No, no, no. Keep talking. Stay awake. Just stay awake! Eddie, stay awake!”

~~~

“Hold still… You gotta hold still… I’m gonna poke your fucking eye out if you don’t stop.”

A groan slipped past his lips as you messed with his hair, a pair of scissors and a comb in your hand. His hair had grown out a little since coming back from the Upside Down, depression hitting him like a bus.

Dustin walked into your room, letting out a small yelp at seeing you straddling a body. “Oh, my god! My eyes.”

You slowly turned your head over your shoulder, looking at your brother the best you could with slightly narrowed eyes. “Can you not? I’m trying to trim his bangs.”

The boy you were currently sitting on sighed, tossing his head back onto your wall. “They’re not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” you said, turning to face the boy in question. “Eddie, I haven’t trimmed them since after Christmas break.”

“And they’re fine.”

Giving a deadpan expression, you slumped your shoulders a little, saying, “You can’t even see. You’re doing that shaking thing with your head so that you can see, babe.”

Eddie’s eyes danced around as he thought about what you were saying before doing exactly what you had he did, before saying, “I do not.”

“Just you did!” you exclaimed, a smile on your face. Before you could lean in and kiss him, Dustin said, “Uhh, before something happens between the two of you, I should probably tell you that Mom is asking for suggestions for dinner.”

“Whatever she wants to make,” you and Eddie said. You two weren’t picky when it came to your mom’s cooking. 

“Anything is better than Spaghetti O’s,” Eddie deadpanned.

You looked at him and started laughing, covering your mouth as you did. 

Reaching towards you, Eddie grabbed the scissors from your hand as he said, “Okay, let me take these out of your hand so that you don’t get more stitches.”

The first couple of weeks after you all came back from the Upside Down were rough; nightmares every night, waking up in a cold sweat, you constantly checking on Eddie’s breathing despite your head resting on his chest. Dustin had slept in your room for the first week back, calming you when Eddie didn’t wake from his own nightmares. 

Your nightmares consisted of Eddie or Dustin dying, being under Vecna’s trances, or you being eaten alive by demobats. Eddie’s mostly consisted of you and Dustin dying or himself being eaten by demobats.

Once the nightmares had stopped, however, you two still checked on each other nightly. Making sure the other was breathing, checking your wounds to see the healing process, the whole nine. You called Steve, Robin and Nancy every single day to make sure they were doing good, their nightmares being completely different from yours and Eddie’s. 

The last time you had called Steve was to ask about his own wounds he had, him telling you that they were fine and healing quite nicely. You two had plans to hang out, but ultimately canceled when Eddie woke from a nap, breathing heavily. You wanted to stay with your boyfriend to make sure he was fine.

“Well…,” Dustin said, bringing you out of your thoughts. “I-I think you guys should come see.”

Sighing, you dropped your head, your chin meeting your chest. “Okay.” As you were lifting yourself off of Eddie’s lap, he placed his hands on your thighs, keeping you in place. You looked at him with a raised brow.

Tapping his lips, he said, “Kiss first.”

Chuckling, you shook your head, and leaned forward, saying, “You’re so stupid,” before placing your lips on his, careful not to press down on his wounds.

“You love me, though,” he said against your lips, a smile on his face.

“That I do,” you smiled. “That I do.” Before getting off his lap, you pecked his lips, your feet meeting the floor before you helped him from your bed.

You guys made your way to the living room, stopping your tracks at seeing all your friends standing around. Covering your mouth, you laughed at seeing Gareth and Jeff holding up a get well sign.

You looked up at Eddie, happy your life was heading in the right direction with the man of your dreams… monster fighting and all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! let me know what you thought! again, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Notes: i'm trying to add the character masterlists onto all my one-shots from here on out! let me know if it makes it easier for y'all to back and choose!

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

Italics wouldn’t let me tag!

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on January 11, 2024

[8em-em-em8]

What if your favorite song only makes it worse ?

Like, I've been listening to 'Rock 'n' Roll Children' by Dio and I think it really could hit close to home for an Eddie Munson who ran away from home, and has been treated like a pariah ever since. What if he spends his years before knowing the hellfire guys dreaming of a sibling who would understand him and when he hears the song for the 1st time in '85 he just cries ?

So when he gets vecna-ed, the party plays that song, because it's the one he wrote down as his favorite, what would happen if it's just the song that reminds him of the worst time of his life?

In practice I know it doesn't make that much sense : Max's song is just the same and it saved her anyway, but it could be an idea angst fic.

[daemoninfluff]

I hate hate hate when people don't get my fave character right

[pseudowho]

Fright Night! Multi-Fic

The local fair has a Halloween fright night! Actors and zombies and terror, oh my! You drag your boyfriend to it...how does that go for you?

Gojo, Geto, Toji, Higuruma and Ino

18+, NSFW/suggestive in parts

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Gojo: Goes in smiling. Obnoxious laughter the whole way, and it only worsens when you're screaming at every single actor. As you cringe away from a dead-eyed bride, Gojo tickles your ribs until you squirm.

"Awww, baby, you scared? You're scared, right?"

As if in answer to his question, and received with heaps of cackles, you screech when some hideous creature with no teeth and bloodstained rags lunges at you from the dark.

"Satoru-- hold my hand--"

"--ahhh, yeah, okay...c'mere."

He pulls you in, and you scuttle to keep up with his long-legged stride. Still, the horrors continue and so does his mockery.

His teasing is relentless. Your fear is gradually replaced by indignant prickling anger. You take your chance, when it comes.

"You go in first," you beg Satoru, outside a horrifying old room full of dolls, "please, Satoru, check it out first before I go--"

He huffs as if actually bothered, but his shit-eating grin gives him away as he ambles inside. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twi--"

You promptly shove the door closed with a bang! and yank a chair beneath the doorknob. You've heard rumours about this room; you are not disappointed. Satoru's voice sounds wary. The doorknob rattles just once, and you bite your lip with a smile.

"--hey...hey, babe, the...the dolls are moving."

Nervous laughter from the room. You try to hide the laughter in your voice.

"Oh yeah? You okay?"

"--OH, FU-- yeah, I'm fine. You know me, I'm the stronge--"

Satoru's voice cuts off with a profoundly girly screech, and the doorknob rattles violently while you twist with silent hilarity, tears streaming down your cheeks as you choke out.

"Ohhhh, nooo, Satoru, the door's stuck!"

More screeches, bangs and horrifying eerie noises, but you're too busy pressed forwards on your knees, laughing and laughing to the confused looks of passers-by.

"The dolls aren't dolls! THE DOLLS AREN'T DOLLS! BABE! LET ME OUT!"

A guy leans down to you, pointing at the door.

"Hey, uh...can we go in?"

You wipe tears of mirth from your eyes, bursting into laughter as you hear Satoru scream again.

"No...no, sorry buddy. This one's gonna be taken for a while, I think."

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Geto: Total con-artist. Though he croons to you, cloudsoft and soothing through your horror, he's the puppet master. The horror engineer. The king of manipulation.

Every time another actor leaps out to set fear aflame in your veins, Suguru only pretends to be surprised; he isn't. He's already led you around this maze three times, anticipating the flow of the actors, and bleeding you for maximum terror.

He doesn't want to admit how his cock twitches against his thigh every time you break down into a whimpering mess; but, he can't deny that he's getting off on this.

"Shhhh, shhh shhh shhh," he soothes, one arm holding you to his side while his lips and nose ghost the shell of your ear, "shhh, baby, it's okay...it's all just pretend. I'm here. I've got you."

You look confused, your memory tangled by fear; "I...I could swear we've been this way already, Suguru--"

"Trust me. I know the way. These mazes are all samey. You're just getting mixed up, silly. Come on."

He has distracted you again, of course. He walks forwards, looking back to you with a smile. You frown, looking down at Suguru's two empty hands...and wondering whose hand you are holding.

The scream you scream, as Suguru seamlessly replaces himself with a white-eyed, rotten-fleshed actor, sends a dribble of pre-cum down his thigh.

He's just waiting until he can get you home, switch off all the lights, and continue the scare trail straight into bed.

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Toji: Utterly unbothered, and smirks his way around. Some of the actors approach, take one look at him, and then turn tail to scare someone else. Anyone else.

But halfway round, he gets bored, and disappears. You're left, abandoned; alone. Toji wants to get in on the action.

You're surrounded by screams, and silence, and dry ice in the dark, and you turn on the spot, spinning, frantic, your heart pounding, your tongue dry, sweat dripping down the small of your back--

Until the sound of metal on metal. Something scraping along a wall. Footsteps heavier than your own heartbeat. And, the one small light source you have is blocked, as a monster of a man in a boiler suit, mask and axe fills the doorway.

The whimper that leaves you is audible; "...Toji?" As if you could be so lucky.

Silence. His heavy, laboured breathing. The footsteps begin towards you, slowly at first...before he runs.

You run, too, shrieking like a banshee, too loud for you to hear the occasional laugh beneath the monstrous man's roars. You find yourself chased down to a dead end, your back and palms flat against the wall, chest heaving, and he approaches slowly, watching you behind his mask.

The blade of the (very blunt) axe strokes down, down, down the centre line of your torso to stop just over your sex, and you whimper, mortified by the trickle of arousal that creeps through you.

"T-Toji--" You whisper to yourself, "T-Toji, where the fuck--please please please help me--oh my god ohmygod ohmygod--"

A shiver seems to go through the man, who leans down and whispers, in a voice so familiar that your jaw drops.

"Like bein' chased, huh? What about bein' caught? You like bein' caught?"

Judging by the way his boiler suit tents, Toji likes it, at least.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Higuruma: Has not got the mental wherewithal for this, today. Perhaps another day, but not today. And it infuriates him, when his colourful imagination and adrenaline threaten to overtake his inherent logic that this is all just make-believe.

"For fuck's sa-- pull yourself together, Hiromi," he groans as another horrifying creature-person scuttles past in a contortionist twist. You're carried on his back, squealing and kicking into him, while he huffs at you with beleaguered fondness.

Every time something makes him jump, a noise of bewildered shock bursts out, and he growls at himself, running his hand back through his hair and pressing his forehead against a nearby wall.

A few actors, however, take one look at him and treat him as part of the furniture. Hiromi frowns.

"Some of them think I look scared enough, apparently."

You mumbled into his neck. "Scary enough, I think you mean. Look--"

You gently turn his face to a flaking full length mirror. Hiromi drinks himself in; still in a dishevelled suit and tie, sweatstains, coffee drip on his white shirt, and dark circles that surely have to be make-up.

Suddenly, it clicks.

"Ahhh," Hiromi breathes putting you down to your screeching indignation; he doesn't notice as you press yourself to the wall, instead rubbing his face and clothes on a discarded 'bloody' rag.

By the time he's finished, stepping slowly over to you, chin tilted down and looking down at you with beetle-black eyes, you feel a shiver running through you. He's...frightening. Clearly some awful spectral businessman, covered in blood and dirt and horror.

"You...wow. Yeah, Hiromi, you look...great."

Hiromi shrugs you onto his back with a satisfied little chuckle, and the rest of your scare trail is relatively unhindered. Passers-by skirt round him with a wary gaze, and the sinister little smile on his face only adds to the effect.

You stroke one finger down his chest, sultry and whispering.

"Hey, Hiro...stay like this, later, for...activities."

"You are utterly twisted, my love. I absolutely can."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Ino: Just as scared as you. Absolute chocolate teapot. You'd have done better taking a puppy with you, probably, because the actors approach Ino thinking he can take it, and he absolutely can't.

If Takuma could have jumped into your arms, a la Scooby Doo, he would have. Alas, he simply pulls his balaclava down in groaning terror. When other visitors then scream at him, too, thinking he's part of the crew, he raises his balaclava back up with a suppressed sob.

"Baby-- I can't take it-- I'm too weak-- my heart--"

"Takuma, I--" You shriek, too, when some ghastly woman in a bloodstained nightdress appears. She runs for you both, and you and Takuma sprint away, hand-in-hand, half-laughing, and half-crying.

By the time you round a corner, slamming the door to trap yourselves in a dark room, you and Ino hold each other, panting in the gloom. You feel a familiar hard press against your belly, and look up at Takuma with utter disbelief. He blushes, his lower lip drawing up and looking aside with a grumble.

"--are you excited, Takuma--"

"--aww, shit, babe, you know he don't make any sense--"

His words cut off with a strangled moan as you grip him through his pants, and, biting your lip, lower to your knees. Takuma's jaw drops, his cock twitching up as it's released. You whisper up at him in the dark.

"...emotional support blow-job?"

"F-fuck yeah, emotional support blow-job, I can be your hero after that--"

A few people come to investigate the ghostly little moans coming from your room, but Ino blocks the door with one trembling, jittering foot until the moans crescendo.

[totally-not-your-babe]

I'M ALIVE

Who is done with all her uni exams and work and will update her fics soon?!

Also I'm gonna catch up with all you fanfiction updates.

AAAAAND who's got a new job in a bank? Me, again! Scared as hell on the job interview but I did it.

Sooo all in all updates are coming soon!

Love you all!