#Zippo Lighter Love

[korroshiame]

So you want to clear a Mirror Dungeon: A Limbus Company Mirror Dungeon guide

Are you a manager stuck doing Mirror Dungeons? Do you sometimes wonder “Wow, I got an EGO Gift, but is it appropriate for this run?” Do you need to clear a Mirror Dungeon under an hour on Hard? Are you starting out, wondering why there’s so many shiny stars on the menu?

Then you come to the right place. In this guide, I will, well, give some guidelines I followed throughout my year long career as Limbus Company executive manager, and hopefully it will ease you in better than I had to figure out on my own.

Index:

Preparation

General Guidelines

Tips and Tricks

Preparation:

- Check your team and dungeon difficulty. Unless you’re a masochist or really experienced, it isn’t a good idea to tackle a hard mirror dungeon with underleveled sinners. Do the easy dungeon to get used to how it plays and see which teams and strategies work.

- What is your team’s status effect? As of now (Canto VII), the gameplay revolves around less of your team levels but around the status effects, with some fusion gifts explicitly rewarding you for building teams around them. Build a dedicated team for the EGO fusion gifts if you can.

- Save up as much starlight as possible and get those EGO Gifts dirt cheap. You will need those EGO Gifts to compensate for the high levels and enemy buffs.

- Please, please make sure you equip the proper ID and EGOs. You do not want to spend Cost on any unnecessary adjustments for your sinners once inside, so make sure you chose the right ones early.

- Did you know you can dedicate a team for Mirror Dungeon on the sinners menu and give it the name? Saves you a lot of time adjusting EGOs.

- The sin generation on the side? It will help in knowing how much you can spam EGOs. Very important for later floors, so make sure to have a team that has all the sins covered.

General Guidelines:

- First floor, EGO resources generation and SP max. Since this is still manageable, your weaker IDs can still clash here. So let them run wild on the first floor, build up their SP and gain EGO resources.

- Second to third floor, switch to main team with high clashing power and damage output.

- Fourth to Fifth floor, you should have an EGO Fusion Gift or at least its parts. At this point, you are roughly equal with the enemy, even with the enemy buffs. If not, you should have a ton of EGO gifts that gives you an edge + EGOs by now at least. Pro Tip: EGO Spam away here and enjoy the subtle animations of your favorite sinners as your mirror dungeon becomes an EGO animation showcase.

- Ensure your whole team is at max SP at all times. You will need it to pass EGO Gifts and Boss checks.

- If your enemy is staggered and you can secure a victory, instead of going all out with S3, use the other two skills instead to generate EGO resources and save the S3 for later waves/boss phases.

- Coffee and Cranes + Zippo Lighter breaks the dungeon difficulty in half, especially with strong EGOs equipped.

- Tackle Focus and Difficult battle nodes as much as you reasonably can. The former gives you more control over attacks, and both give you much needed EGO gifts.

- Take paths with branching paths as much as possible on hard, it will give you breathing room and lets you tackle stages at your own pace.

- Question nodes are double edged swords. You could gain EGO Gifts and avoid difficult battles, but you could also be trapped in harmful events, lose out on potential cost and even be railroaded into difficult battles. Pick wisely.

- If you gain an EGO gift that doesn’t work well in your current team (e.g Burn on Sinking Team), sell it ASAP. Note this can depend on how it activates. For example, if you have Everlasting Faust on her non-tremor IDs and Melted Eyeball, it might be worth keeping anyway because of how good it is.

- Related to above, Cost-increasing/Cost-giving gifts should be sold off completely in the shop of the last floor. You will need the cost you sold to buy better gifts/upgrades.

- On later floors (especially on Hard), your sinner’s teammates will gain SP if they land the defeating blow. This is very useful for late floor battles so you don’t need to spend an EGO to recover SP, not so much if you run N Sinclair or Suncliff.

- Favored/Dominating? Go for it. Neutral? Risk, use EGO, or defend. Hopeless? EGO, defend, or redirect the attack to a tank.

- If you don’t like the dungeon pack selection or their gifts, you can refresh it. May not guarantee better dungeons or gifts, though…

Tips and Tricks:

-Sinking is usually a safe bet for most runs. The only time it doesn’t work well is in human battles, and that’s because you can’t deal gloom damage past -45 without Sinking Deluge and is basically a cheese strategy anyways.

- For the Enkephalin-Box Abno, you can actually fail the check on purpose to gain its charge access card EGO Gift for zero SP cost. I have 20 cards this way.

- Poise is always welcome to any team. It’s basically free extra damage. It’s very powerful when you can stagger enemies and it triggers.

- Rupture is also basically free damage, and is best for enemy buffs that raise their defense stats to very damn high/enemies with ridiculous resistance stats + low stagger.

- Bleed is high risk, high reward. While it’s peak comedy to watch enemies explode to gore, you risk having to actually land the bleed and then let your enemies bleed out. Without certain EGO Gifts, it could spell the end of a run if you aren’t careful. Still hilarious, though.

- Know when to call a loss a loss. If you can’t beat a boss because your IDs are not well suited/no EGO resources, it’s okay to end the run early. If you made it to the 4/5th floor, pay yourself on the back for a good job well done and beat it next week.

- Pick enemy buff options that make them tanky, but not lethal as well. Better to win a war of attrition than to be outclashed often and unable to land a hit at all.

- Offset counters by using defense skills. While the counter can still be triggered by other attacks, you can use a defense skill so you can ‘skip’ attacking. Please note this will not work with enemies with multiple skill slots, so refer to the following tip below.

- Dogpiling attacks (all skills on one skill icon) to ensure a stagger is recommended when there’s too many skills to clash/skill power is absolutely ridiculous. You will appreciate this tip in Canto V, you will need it.

- Defense Skills exist. Use them. In some cases, it’s just better to take a hit because not even an EGO can save you. Some attacks aren’t even that dangerous when you have a defense skill active. Remember, just because your sinner got staggered doesn’t mean they’re done. If they have at least 1+ HP, you still have a chance to heal back.

- Related to team composition, you don’t need to have the team at full starlight bonus, especially if you need an ID that has certain status effects. Prioritize team synergy over starlight gathering, unless you’re still building the constellation up.

- Don’t forget, there’s no shame in playing on the easy difficulty. It’s not the most time efficient in short bursts like hard, but it’s the best dungeon to explore new kits, gifts and strategies without pressure.

Well then, class dismissed and happy mirror dungeon time!

[percivale-105]

Got another lighter but this time from Malevolent where fancy babygirl men and gods have a tea party

[theethlezprincez]

ugh i haven’t had the time to put lighter fluid in my lighter yet but

it pisses me off because everytime i need to use it i get reminded that it’s empty

[ifelllikeastar]

Lighters from the Vietnam era are a truly unique look into the lives of the servicemen fighting in that wretched jungle. Many of the soldiers fighting in Vietnam kept their Zippos handy for a quick smoke while on break, and with little to do on their downtime they took to customizing the lighters to both make sure their property stayed theirs, and to exercise their right to free speech.

[starswallowingsea]

"I'm not in middle school anymore I'm actually a year out of middle school and married so HA" is not the flex you think it is man

[heirofnepeta]

i fucking love zippo lighters :) go click clack click clack click clack click clack then start an accidental house fire :D

[dixonzzgirl]

imagine… 

finding daryl a really cool zippo lighter and seeing him mindlessly flick it open and close throughout the day.

sitting with your feet in his lap while you both relax on the porch swing (alexandria era).

pinky linking instead of full on hand holding. 

finally getting to the playful butt swat stage of your relationship + him winding up his t-shirt and chasing you around the house. 

him praising you whenever you kill an animal: “nice shot, girl.” “look at you.“ “atta girl.” 

reading a book with your legs crossed on his work bench as he tinkers with his bike.

getting a cold and when daryl dips down to kiss your lips, you turn your head away from him. “daryl, don’t! i don’t wanna get you sick!” and then he grabs your chin and presses a firm kiss on your lips anyway.

daryl finds a cowboy hat and drops it on your head. you let out a giggle. “what’s that saying? save a horse, ride a cowboy?” you smirk. his cheeks darken and he turns away from you. “think ya’ got tha’ backwards..” he drawls. “no? pretty sure i’m right…”

eating a lollipop and daryl walks right up and pulls it out of your mouth and puts it in his (or vise versa).

having a journal that you can both communicate in. we all know daryl isn’t the best at communicating his feelings verbally and maybe you aren’t either, so you just write back and forth to each other.

i love the journal idea because you would use it for everything. daryl has to be up early to help rick with something? he’ll scribble a quick “helping rick. come find me.” and as soon as you wake up and feel the void in bed beside you, you go right to the journal.

him getting hard as fuck when you give shane attitude (farm era).

you get into an accident on a run and ending up losing a lot of blood and you wake up later in the infirmary. “ya’ lost a lotta blood,” he says. “then i bet you did too…” you smiled groggily knowing that he gave you some of his (he’s a universal donor).

rubbing aloe vera on his sunburnt skin and he just lets out these sexy ass heavy breaths.

him watching you get visibly frustrated when someone else is helping you with something, but not doing it the way you want it done, so daryl steps in and tells them to get lost.

daryl giving you cold medicine while you’re sick and he makes you take it in front of him and open your mouth to show him that you swallowed it.

a/n: these are my favorite scenarios to imagine when I'm in class :) if you wanna use any of these ideas for a fic, tag me! i'd love to see them!

[lovlidollie]

before dollie!reader, rafe’s car was immaculate. everything had its place, the seats were always spotless and the interior was meticulously clean. not a single speck of dust could be found in there, not even one fingerprint. his car was a reflection of the image he wanted to project; a man who was in control and put together (even if he wasn’t all the time). he only kept his essentials in there, a pair of expensive sunglasses in the centre console, a fancy lighter, something like a solid silver zippo, and maybe a cologne or two. he even had a specific air freshener that he replaced regularly so he could keep that ‘new car smell’. but now? his big scary range rover is just a shrine.

dollie!reader has completely taken over his car, she’s the ultimate passenger princess. rafe can barely drive sometimes because of the amount of dangly keychains hanging everywhere. don’t even get him started on those “stupid ugly naked babies,” that she insists he just has to keep. he always rolls his eyes when he gets in, muttering under his breath about how he doesn’t like the way they look at him when he drives. grunts a, “you’re turnin’ my car into a damn toy store,” every time he notices a new addition. despite all the grumbling ‘n complaining he does, he never actually removes anything or stops her from adding more. rafe’s glovebox has become a treasure trove for all her little trinkets — hair ties, clips, spare lippies, her favourite snacks, stickers, the list goes on. the console wasn’t spared from her either. it’s got a mini tube of hand cream and one of those spray sanitisers, a compact, a couple of cute figurines and a ring or two that she absentmindedly placed there and forgot about. he’ll make a huge deal about not being able to find his sunglasses because they’re buried under a pile of her stuff, but the little smile on his face says it all.

even the smell of the car changes after she starts regularly riding with rafe. the ‘new car’ smell starts mixing deliciously with her soft, sweet scent. like leather and fresh bouquets with a hint of vanilla; a perfect mix of both of them. the car isn’t just his anymore — it’s hers too, and he loves that more than he’ll ever admit out loud.

[rubiehart]

jj with a really super girly reader!! like pink everything, bows, the whole coquette look🎀💗🍓

ఌ whenever you decide to paint your own nails for once, he always helps you paint your dominant hand, holding your hand in his larger one, tongue poking out between his lips in concentration as he focuses. giggling a little, “oops. you got it jayj.” whenever he’d , go out of the lines a little, spilling some of the glittery polish onto your finger.

ఌ convincing him to do the tiktok trend where you tie a bow around your bf’s bicep and him mindlessly agreeing whilst scrolling on his phone, looking up at he hears you chirp a little ‘all done!’ to see the little pink bow tied delicately around his arm and grinning at you, “look just like you now, pretty.”

ఌ him coming over to see your vase which is normally filled with pretty pink or red roses is empty, asking you about it casually, “oh, i’ve been meaning to get some more at the market, keep forgettin’.” you’d reply, muffled against his shoulder as you watch the tv, he takes a mental note and you forget about the interaction all together until the next day you come home from work to see a fresh bouquet of baby pink roses sitting all pretty in your vase, and a little note, “hope you like the flowers girly. ♡︎” making you smile and shoot him a thankyou text, all giddy that he remembers lil’ things you tell him.

ఌ buying you a matching pink zippo lighter to his and carving both of your initials into it like he did on his!! maybe tying a lil’ pink bow around it when he gave it to you, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly anticipating your reaction “sorry it’s not much baby-“ not giving him chance to finish before flinging yourself into his arms and smattering his face with grateful kisses.

ఌ you’ve basically built a collection of those little animal skincare/makeup headbands with the lil’ snails and bunny’s and he’d deffo wear one while you do your makeup or tries them all one, finding it funny to distract you because he thinks you look adorable when you scold him.

ఌ when he starts staying over at your house more often he uses your body washes and shampoos because it’s basically his only option!! (also because he loves the smell of you, duh.) but you buy him his own little toiletry basket with shampoo, body wash, deodorant maybe a mini of his cologne and put a toothbrush for him in your bathroom so they’re together all cute!!

ఌ having little self care nights when you put on cute scented sheet masks and him wearing a tiger one with the whiskers and everything, patting it down against his warm skin as he keeps fake biting you, sniggering when you look at him disapprovingly with a “jj.” because he can’t take you seriously in that unicorn sheet mask!!

[eupheme]

OK BUT LOGAN’S LEATHER JACKET.

Like idk if it’s just me but I DREAM of stealing his jacket and just wearing it. I have a feeling it’ll smell just like him and there would be a lighter in the pocket. But MAN, when he finds us wearing HIS jacket…

LOGAN’S JACKET. yes - looks so good on him and I can only imagine how much he’d love to see you in it! Might even tell you to keep it on, as he cancels the evening plan - he likes the way your scent clings to it for a bit afterwards 😏

(I did a quick little drabble below based on your ask - I am thinking this is pre-relationship / flirty stage 💖)

It smells like him. Cigar smoke clinging to the leather as you tug the collar to your nose. Soft and worn after years of stretching across his broad shoulders. Of late nights and fights and hours spent on the road. 

Your hands jam in the pockets, the tan stripes cutting across your biceps. Fingers brushing the cold metal of the vintage zippo. A busted old cutter, for when he can't use his claws to cut the cap. 

The jacket warms you as you step out onto the balcony. The wind cold as it whips past you, that collar turned up as you watch the teeming city below.

There's a call from behind you, his voice carrying through the rooms, "Have you seen my-"

Dying on his tongue as your head turns. The slow sweep of his eyes as he takes you in, dark and unreadable.

"Nevermind." It comes out gruff, "Running out, back in a bit."

One breath stretching into another, as he lingers for just a moment. A split-second snapshot that he'll keep, before he's heading out the door, bare-armed. 

Not ready to tell you the rest. 

It looks better on you.

[blackpanda-ts4]

WHO'S a GOOD BOY posepack

5 couple in-game poses

you will need Andrew pose player with teleporter, or WW pose player;

zippo lighter acc open (5th pose);

cigarette acc (5th pose);

some clipping may occur (it depends on sims's genetics and clothes), you may tweak poses with WW poseplayer.

Download: Who's a good boy Posepack (SFS, adfree)

Happy simming and have fun!

Thank you @cola336 for this brutal gorgerous blond guy. I'm in love with him ❤

I would be very happy if you tag me when posting screenshots with my poses.

@ts4-poses thank you for sharing!

[dimsunstuff]

Gerry and Michael for a lovely friend of mine

He specifically requested Catcher in the Rye to be up for burning.

(the lighter is loosely based on a special Zippo design)

[vicinea]

Gimme gimme wolverine x reader scenarios or fic ideas PLEASE….

Logan X reader are in a friends with benefits style relationship and it could be told from either POV.

Logan realizes he caught feelings and tries to show reader… without actually tell them… you just know he doesn’t do emotional talks 😂

A/N: anon... that last scenario gave me a neuron activation moment, holy shit. — pairing: logan x gn!reader. — summary: logan is an absolute FOOL in love, but he cannot for the life of him express it verbally. short, sweet headcanons. — warnings: N/A.

y’know how cats sometimes leave random things as a lil gift for their owners and shit? yeah, logan would definitely do something like that.

HE goes into the kitchen to snatch up a cold beer and slide it over to you, nodding at the bottle before he opens his own, gaze averted to literally anything else but you as he downs the alcohol. for now.

oh, you smoke? PAUSE. logan almost drops his zippo lighter as he tries to be as quick as possible about lighting the cigarette for you — attempting, and absolutely failing, to give you subtle glances when it’s lit.

speaking of his goddamn glances. he thinks he is so slick.

practically stares at you sometimes when he thinks you won’t notice. but you absolutely fucking do — there’s a scowling man just sitting in the corner being all eyes on you like you’re some kind of weird creature, and you’re not gonna notice?

oh, fuck. you can’t find something after searching for what feels like hours? logan’s got it. he’s silently shifting around the place to look for whatever you’ve lost until he finds it, leaving the item in a painfully obvious spot for you to find.

you mention being hungry as just a passing comment? there’s a protein bar where you sat on the sofa after you left the room, straight up materialising out of thin air. the thing you complained about being out of stock at the local store? logan is absolutely listening, making sure to stock up on whatever the thing is when you’re out doing me-stuff.

speaking of logan listening. he does it so intently, sometimes even taking lil notes and keeping them tucked away somewhere in his bedroom as a reminder of what you like, dislike, want, and need.

“i never took you for liking [x] thing.” he did, he literally has a little post-it note hidden away in his wallet, the paper slightly worn, and ink fading from how often he brings it out to add more stuff to it. silently making sure you’re eating and resting enough? you BET he’s looming around like a shadow in the background, taking note of when you last had a full, decent night of sleep. oops, what’s this? a midnight snack? fucking crazy! who put it there?

then, when you finally crack and mention his unusual behaviour with a quick, sarcastic, “y’know, you’re very subtle, logan.”

he just pauses, furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes blinking at you as if you just told him the most outlandish thing in the world — no, the entire universe. and with arms folded tightly over his chest, logan simply scoffs and grumbles in response before turning away — his heartbeat picking up ever-so-slightly.

i want him, your honour... i want that old, angry man.

[katyawooga]

sevika week – day two, to fix you

sevika's been battered and bruised before, but not like this.

just for some extra money between the two of you living in the undercity together, you took up a simple bartending and waitressing job at the last drop. earlier tonight, a pink-haired girl with what looked like oversized hextech gloves walked into the bar, glaring at sevika. she ordered everyone out, including you. especially you.

hours had passed and she hadn't come home. to say the very least, you were worried. you anxiously looked out the window of your shared apartment, and you could've sworn that you saw silco's daughter dragging the now-unconscious pink-haired girl out of the bar an hour ago, but no sevika.

the only places she hung around was your apartment, the bar, or silco's office. that's the only other place she could be.

upon entering, doing everything you could not to be seen, you opened the door to the infamous office and saw sevika struggling to light her cigar while sitting in the corner of the couch.

"vika?" you murmured, padding your way into the musty space and getting a better look at your lover. sevika had scrapes and bruises already starting to form on her human arm and face, and the absence of her mechanical arm was what caught your attention.

"oh my god..." you covered your mouth, eyes widening at the torn wires, the scraped metal, and the bright purple shimmer dripping from the tubing and staining the couch and her clothes. you sat down on the coffee table in front of her and placed a hand on her knee. it made you tear up how she flinched from your gentle touch.

"what happened to you?"

her silence, apart from the quiet grunts of shifting on the couch and the clicking of her lighter sparking and failing, was heavy.

"what's there to say?" she mumbled, her soft-spoken side coming through in this vulnerable moment. "you can see what happened."

you knew you shouldn't the one shedding tears, sevika was the one that got her arm ripped clean off, not you. but you just couldn't help but feel everything for your lover.

"we don't have to talk about i–"

"yeah, an' we won't."

she finally got her cigar lit after her grand efforts and she dropped her lighter on the wooden floor with a thud. you looked down at the scarred metal zippo before looking back up to meet her eyes.

"can you at least lemme help you? i'm sure i can fix something."

you were no tech wiz, you were far from it, but because of sevika's habits, you had gotten pretty good with a needle and thread, disinfectant, and some hello kitty bandaids.

despite her shitty mood and terribly low morale, she gave a curt nod and groaned to sit up a little straighter. she gestured with her human arm to where the first aid was in the office, and you were surprised there was any first aid at all.

"where's the worst damage?" you sat back down on the coffee table between her legs, leaning forward while dabbing some gauze with alcohol. "besides the, uh... y'know."

sevika almost laughed, a slight smile gracing her full, dark lips for a moment.

"the gash on my good arm," she husked out, taking a lengthy drag from her cigar before setting it down so you could work your mediocre medical magic.

your lover hissed and swore and whispered many a profanity under her breath every single time something stung or pricked or bled. she was tough, but not immune to pain.

"you're about as fixed as i can get you," you murmured with a gentle smile after tending to sevika's every need, even the wounds she didn't want to bother you with. "what'll you do about the arm, though?"

she scoffed a quick laugh, your heart melting at the genuine smile from her. you'd never tell her how much you loved that teensy little tooth gap of hers.

"what are the chances i get silco's kid to tinker somethin' up for me?" she asked, moving over on the couch to make room for you. she slung her human arm around your shoulder and tucked you in close, pressing the smallest kiss to your temple.

"you're persuasive, mamí. i'm sure she'd cooperate."

@sevikaweek

[starrystevie]

eddie figures out that he likes steve all because of nancy fucking wheeler.

it isn't often that they find themselves hanging out just the two of them, quite the opposite. this is the first time they've ever done it and the only reason nancy is even stepping foot inside the munson's new government-provided trailer is because she's having a crisis.

"but what does it mean," she asks, voice muffled as her lips wrap around the opening of her beer bottle before taking a swig. her cheeks hollow and her eyes shut against the feeling of the carbonation bubbling up before she fixes eddie with a glare that he doesn't think is for him. "it didn't... feel this way with barb."

and eddie's just sitting there on the couch, rolling a much needed joint for both of them, trying to follow along with what nancy is saying. she's pacing a hole in the carpet and her hands are flying around in a way that eddie himself does when the wheels in his brain are spinning too fast.

"... what didn't feel what way?"

nancy glares at him again and he gets the feeling that it's directed at him this time. he feels himself shrink under her eyes and wants to raise his hands up in surrender (he gives in and does indeed raise his hands in surrender).

"i think i'm in love with robin, please try and keep up."

eddie stills, his hands in the air and mouth open in shock. nancy's still muttering about something but his brain is stuck on the being-in-love-with-robin part of her tirade. it's not an issue, not in the slightest, and sure he's heard of people who... but he's never met someone who actually-

"are you even listening?" nancy asks, her tone firm. she has a hand on her hip while the other is clenched tightly around the neck of her beer. "what am i supposed to do?! am i just supposed to kiss her and tell her that her eyes are my favorite color and that i miss her when she leaves a room even for just a minute?"

"how should i know?! i'm not in love with robin!" eddie responds and he knows it's the wrong answer by how nancy's whole face falls in the span of .02 seconds. she looks like she's on the brink of tears, frustrated or hopeless or sad, and eddie doesn't know what to do with that either.

"but... you know. what about steve?" nancy's voice is soft now, and paired with her puppy dog eyes, eddie almost doesn't process what she says. "how'd you know with him?"

and if eddie thought he was stunned before, this takes the cake. a nervous laugh bubbles out of him, his face hot and heart pounding. his arms feel a bit like liquid and he doesn't know if he's even breathing anymore.

"nancy, i'm sorry but i think we're on two different wave lengths here." he needs to do something with his hands so he starts to fiddle with his lighter, flicking the zippo open and shut until the clink of the metal sounds too loud in the quiet room. "i don't.... love steve."

tears start to roll down her cheeks and yeah, eddie definitely messed up somewhere. she's wiping the drops away furiously like she's surprised they even dared to show up and she's biting her lip in a way that looks like it hurts.

"what are you talking about? of course you do." her eyebrows furrow which makes her look even angrier or disgusted and eddie feels like they're on a tightrope in his living room that's about to snap away from underneath them.

"well yeah, i... love him," he stutters over the words, "like i love you and rob and everyone. but not like... love love."

nancy's laugh sounds way too harsh for it to have come out of her. "are you sure? you stare at his ass more than i stare at robin's." she takes a deep breath, ignores the gasp of indignation that her statement gets out of eddie, and tilts her chin up like she's taking the high ground.

"i do not!"

"do too! and you're always looking for him when you walk into a room, like it doesn't matter if we're there, you only look for him. and you sit right next to him even if there's an open seat that's more comfortable. and you have this little, i don't know, tic when he smiles that makes you wiggle your fingers and you-"

"wheeler, you gotta stop."

"-always listen to him and he does all of that back for you and it's so obvious. i can't believe you didn't know you were in love with steve! you do everything that i do for robin and i'm in love with her so it must mean you're in love with steve and- holy shit i'm in love with robin."

the silence after nancy stops rings loud in his ears. honestly, he hadn't really given it any thought before but it makes sense.

the very idea of steve has his heart feeling a way it hasn't since he was nine and tracy nichols gave him a shiny rock on valentine's day. he does always look for steve when he enters a room, his very presence calming and dependable. he does sit next to him no matter what, their sides pressed together, heat radiating between them like a blanket. and god, when steve smiles, he does have to move his fingers, something to get out these jolts of energy that he feels licking through his veins.

steve is good and steve is a bit of an asshole but eddie likes that and suddenly the line between platonic and romantic seems to have vanished because holy shit, how did he live for the past year without spending every day loving steve harrington?

eddie reaches for the half rolled joint, licks at the paper to close it and lights up quickly. he holds the smoke in his lungs for probably too long but couldn't care less because he's now having a crisis of his own thanks to nancy.

"goddamnit," eddie hisses out as he exhales. "i'm in love with steve."

nancy looks smug, her arm extended as she waits for eddie to pass the joint to her before taking a hit. "that's what i'm saying."

"but i'm not... you know."

nancy rolls her eyes. "it's not going to bite you if you say it, eddie."

"i'm not gay."

the silence seems louder now as the paper on the joint sizzles. there's a dog somewhere in the park barking and he can hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"neither am i." nancy responds quietly with a shrug of her shoulders. "but i am for robin. and you are for steve."

she passes the joint back over to eddie and stands up from the couch, wipes off imaginary crumbs from her pants like she didn't just turn eddie's world upside down.

"i think i'm gonna go. i have a lady to woo." nancy looks happy. it's a good look on her, one he doesn't see all that often what with everything that's happened to them in the past year. she deserves it, he thinks, happiness.

"let me know how it goes," he calls to her as she stops at the trailer door.

"i will." with a tilt of her head and a with a gleam in her eye, she gives eddie yet another look that he doesn't know if he wants to try and decipher. "you should call him."

eddie snorts and takes a hit, rolling his eyes as he stares up at the ceiling so he doesn't have to look at nancy's all knowing eyes. it isn't that he's scared to call steve, it's that he's terrified. petrified. what would he say? what would steve say? he just figured out that he loves him, he hasn't had time to prepare a whole speech to declare it and-

"eddie." nancy's voice is sharp but certain and part of him thinks that robin is a lucky woman to have nancy wheeler falling in love with her. "trust me. call him."

after she's gone, he finishes the joint. he sits in the silence of his trailer and pulls hit after hit of sticky smoke until it's down the end and burning his fingertips. he stares at the ceiling some more, contemplates what to say, how to say it, how to do anything without throwing up.

he wonders if wayne knows, if he saw what nancy saw, what he thinks of eddie falling in with a guy. he wonders if this will change everything. wonders if it'll change for better or worse. wonders if he'll have to skip town and change his name like he imagined doing after he was cleared of murder.

picking up the phone is easy, dialing is easier when he has steve's number memorized like the back of his hand.

"hello?" steve mutters like he's been roused out of sleep. his voice is scruffy and somehow soft and eddie knows he's going to throw up.

"steve."

"hey, man. is everything okay?"

and it makes eddie's heart flutter in a way that a generic question shouldn't but damn it, he's in love. he's allowed.

"yeah, yeah. everything's good i just-" eddie sighs, scrubs a hand down his face to stop from twirling the phone cord in his fingers. "do you wanna maybe come over? watch a movie or something?"

eddie can almost hear the smile in his voice when he breathes out a yes, thanking whatever higher powers there may be for nancy wheeler.

[smusherina]

bridges burnt - chapter 3 [epilogue series] (regina george x reader)

fandom: Mean Girls (all media)

pairing: Regina George x OFC/Reader

summary: When an invitation to Gretchen Wieners' wedding ended up in your mailbox, you'd been sure it was a mistake. Only, it read your name in neat, swoopy calligraphy. It was addressed to you. And Regina George, whom you hadn't spoken to in years.

additional clarification: This is set in the universe of yard work, a series of mine that can be found on my page! Reading this one might be a bit challenging without the context of the series :)

chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 4

You were leaning against the wall, an unlit cigarette in your mouth. Nicotine was the only substance you hadn't been able to cut off entirely. You smoked less now and were trying to quit, but it wasn't quite so easy. You had made a promise to smoke only once a day. This would be your third if you lit up.

"Need a light?" Janis rounded the corner, already inhaling. The scent of the smoke solved your dilemma. Fuck it. She exhaled as she extended her lighter to you. An old zippo. It was gold-ish in colour, engraved with shapes that were wearing away. You were pretty sure if she were to sell it, she'd get several hundred for it.

"Thanks." Maybe this was the universe telling you that it'd be okay. Just today. Just today, you could smoke all the goddamned cigarettes you wanted.

"When'd you and Regina get back together?" Janis leaned against the porch railing across from you. Behind her was a pretty hillside that led down into a thick forest. The sky was grey and not much light penetrated the dense clouds, making the woods look that much grimmer. You'd rather be there than here.

"A while ago." You might've not seen her in years but you knew when she was plotting something. That kiss out in the open like that was a clue, a wordless message she trusted you to get on your own. You were together. You didn't know what she was playing at or why you were going along with it. Probably old habits.

Janis snorted. "Romantic. Mia would kill me if I said we've been together for a while."

"Get off my dick, Janis," You snapped unnecessarily. You didn't want to be on the spot like this. You couldn't give many details and risk contradicting Regina.

(Why couldn't you? Why didn't you say, "Oh, hey, actually we're not together" instead of, once more, following her example like a good dog.)

"Jeez, I was just asking. Trouble in paradise? Sure didn't seem that way." She wiggled her eyebrows at you. You wished you hadn't lit up the cig so you could just walk away.

"We're fine. Why's your Mia not here?" You assumed that was her partner.

"I didn't get a plus one." She shrugged. "Besides, not sure she could've gotten out of work. They're doing a merger, or something."

"She's the breadwinner then and you're what? A tortured artist?"

"What you don't realize, my friend, is that I'm winning here. I have a beautiful wife who makes money like a printer, has a 401k and air-tight insurance, and works nine to five while I get to paint my little paintings all day." Janis took a drag. "And she fucks me good."

You groaned. "Janis, please."

"Meanwhile you act like you're better than me when, in fact, I'm happy and you're miserable." She finished off with a snarky smile.

Once upon a time, you'd fantasized about staying in the garage all day, fixing old cars as a hobby, and greeting Regina when she got home from her Real Adult Job, wearing a sexy pantsuit and carrying a mysterious briefcase.

Not anymore. You wore the suits, you carried the briefcase, and you did not fix old cars as a hobby.

"You should give motivational speeches. Think Northshore would love to have you back." You took a deep drag. Deflecting with sarcasm was cheap but effective.

"You think?" Her smile softens. "Seriously, though, how've you been?"

"It's been... Good." It had been good recently. You knew, though, that Janis was asking about the last ten years and not just your week. If you were to compile a list of all the good and bad things from that long a time period, one would be perhaps a page and the other a several-foot scroll. Respectively.

"Wow. I forgot how close-lipped you are." Janis said. You could tell she was disappointed. You'd never been friends, not really, not ever like her and Damian, but there was an understanding between you.

You let up.

"We got back together after college." You swallowed, trodding on eggshells, being as vague as possible. "I was cleaning up my act, trying to get away from it all. Moved back into town and met Regina coincidentally. Rest is history, I suppose." You eyed the hills. The view turned into misty nothingness before you could tell if it was the ocean there or more land.

"I heard your dad passed," Janis said, blunt but not mean. "Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, I guess." You rubbed your forehead. It wasn't tactful to tell a near-stranger that you weren't actually all that upset about it. "To be honest, it was a long time coming. He was in bad shape."

He'd gotten ill when you were in college. At first, all the business stuff was being handled by his team but as more and more time passed and he showed no signs of getting better, he started nagging you to do more for the company.

What the fuck you were gonna do? You didn't know shit about business and, besides, were high out of your mind half the time. You didn't want any of it, didn't want his blood money and shady practices. But you were gonna get it.

Now, you could say you had things under control. Somewhat. You sold some locations, passed them off to people better suited, and sure, lost some money in the process but you weren't ambitious like your dad had been.

If it was up to you, you'd keep the one shop you'd always worked at and make an honest, humble living the remainder of your days. Start a project you could work on for the next several years and be content.

"Sorry to hear that." Janis stumped her cigarette on the ground. You did the same, dropping the stub and snuffing it out with your shoe.

"Well." You sighed. "I'm not."

With that, you turned and walked back towards the doors leading into the hall. Janis followed behind you.

People were still mingling around the place, the bride and groom yet to make an entrance. Your table was somewhere in the middle, not one of the important ones but with a clear view of the stage and where the important people were meant to be sitting.

The mother of the bride was eyeing the room like a hawk scanning for prey. Her eyes didn't catch yours but you could tell she was keen on Janis. The all-black ensemble stood out almost as much as Regina's white stole.

Speaking of her. She was sitting and chatting with Shane, seeming cool and casual. Damian was there too, engaged and laughing at the right parts.

You approached deliberately slowly, trying to hear what they were talking about before you sat down.

"-came back to town after college and we hit it off." She turned her head slightly and made eye contact with you. "Baby," She greeted you.

You cleared your throat, suddenly feeling warm. "Reg," You sat down and, as casually as you could, draped an arm over the back of her chair.

"I was just telling Shane how we met." Her sharp eyes met yours. "What'd you tell Janis?"

You needed to get your stories straight. Act natural. It was sheer luck you'd both set the same timeline.

"I was just telling her how we met up after college. If I remember correctly, wasn't it, uh, at uh..." You fumbled. "The grocery store?"

"Yes, mom saw you and I'm sure she didn't let you leave without a date set for when you'd come to dinner." Regina finished for you. Shane was buying it, slowly crawling out of his shell. You were quickly realizing that the gay people had all been shoved to one table. Hopefully, that didn't bode anything.

"That's Mrs George for you." You knew it was Ms now but old habits die hard.

Regina smiled at you, hand coming to rest on your knee. You shivered. It scared you how genuine she seemed. She could be awarded an Oscar for this shit.

You watched her, really looked at her. She was still so beautiful. She'd always been pretty beyond belief, gorgeous like a movie star, but the confidence she carried with herself now made it all a stunning, deadly combination.

Even so, you couldn't help feeling melancholy. You hadn't seen any of it, certainly were not the reason for it, and chances were this little scheme she was cooking up was at your expense. She had every right to seek vengeance against you.

You wondered if it was worth it to try and enjoy it. Would it hurt to dream a little? You could use a break from practicality.

You closed your eyes for a moment.

"Baby?" Your eyes fluttered open as her hand came to caress your cheek. You leaned into the touch.

"Yeah?" You asked and tilted forward, closer to her. Regina mirrored you, putting a hand on your knee and leaning some of her weight on it as her lips neared yours.

"Just focus on me," She grinned and you resisted the urge to steal a kiss. "Trust me."

"Always." You whispered, reverent in just the same way you used to be. You'd known it for a long time, the irresistible fate you'd sworn yourself to, that you'd go back to her every time.

"Ehem," Someone cleared their throat behind you. You went to look but Regina kept a hold on you. She placed a languid kiss on your lips, sending your mind into orbit, before turning towards the person so rudely invading your bubble.

"Yes?" She almost hissed, smiling in a way that was more like a threat. All teeth and sharp edges.

"The bride and groom are about to enter, so it would be really, really nice if you two could can it for a few moments, 'kay? Thanks!" The maid of honour chirped, voice so high pitched you had to wonder if she was inhaling helium on her off-time.

Regina watched her scurry away, eyes going up and down her retreating back in a manner that surely should've made you jealous. You knew, though, that for one, Regina didn't like girls that wore dresses and, secondly, that she was up to something. She wasn't checking out the maid of honour—she wished—but evaluating her.

"What a bitch, right?" Regina turned to the rest of the table with a sneer on her face.

You bit your cheek to hide a smile as everybody agreed. This was going to be utter shit. Total, absolute chaos with a side of heartbreak and, potentially, a ruined wedding.

You dreaded it. You anticipated it. Both could be true at once.

Notes: Hello all! Been some time! I've been in my summer groove, having a proper vacation. It's been liberating. Hopefully there's some interested readers for this series :) Taglist posted separately! If you want to be added, comment on that post please.