#actually there was another one where i edited a shit ton

[rey-jake-therapist]

Regarding the light vs dark : forgot yesterday that indeed no, it couldn't be just for an esthetic reason that a shadow floated above the Orcs. Orcs' skin burns under the sunlight. The only reason why they could attack Eregion during the day is precisely because Sauron cast this big ass shadow above their heads, to protect them from the sunlight. So this shadow definitely proved that Sauron was there, in a way. Wether it also shows that he was casting an illusion on them is another question.

As for Elrond and his horse, everything doesn't need to have been foreshadowed. This scene could actually be the one that foreshadows another scene that will come in season 3 for all we know. Anyway, I don't think there needs to be a scene connecting an Elf to a horse to prove that an Elf loves his horse. They definitely did a shit ton of reshoots and edited a lot of stuff out, so there may have been a scene where Elrond bounded with his horse that we didn't see for all we know. For anyone who doesn't analyse these scenes, it didn't seem weird.

Yeah, if there were stones in the catapult, it's sure weird for Elrond to do that. But I don't buy the idea that he had the scar from "somewhere else". Having the exact same scar from another place, as well as coincidentally losing his pin elsewhere than in Galadriel's hands, seem like too many 'coincidences' for just one illusion to work. If Elrond had his scar on the other cheek, or still had his pin, the audience would have noticed.

What I mean is that if Elrond = Sauron theory is true they'll have to explain everything that happened on real Elrond's side.

Wrapping-up the loose ends of “Elrond = Sauron” in 2x07 tent scene theory

My followers know I’m the captain of the “it was Sauron, and not Elrond” in the tent scene with Adar, in 2x07, and he’s the one who kissed Galadriel theory. And while I’ve made several posts about it, already, there are still a few loose ends to this theory.

Other posts on the subject: Megathread “Elrond = Sauron” in 2x07 (Part 1 and Part 2); Melian mentioned (here), recognition between Adar and Sauron (here), and the connection between Sauron and Elrond in Season 2 (here).

Why did Elrond lose the cape when he’s returning to Lindon? 

Was it to “look cool”? Acknowledging this in a show with so many plots going on and limited screen-time can’t be random. Why show the audience this when they could spent those minutes fleshing out other plots? 

When he arrives at Eregion, in 2x07 (+ meeting with Prince Durin) he’s wearing a different cape and pin, obviously. Because those were lost. 

And the show told us, in 2x07 and via Elrond himself, that Sauron is keeping an eye on the roads from Lindon to Eregion: There is evil in those hills. Ancient, and filled with malice. Sauron means for us to go that way. We must go another. The Enemy is doubtless watching both roads.

This can indicate that Sauron retrieved Elrond’s cape and pin (instead of my initial thought of him taking them from the place Galadriel was taken by Adar, in 2x04).

In the tent scene, "Elrond" is also wearing his cape in a different way to his usual self (including from his previous scenes in the episode, in his scene with Durin and when he arrives at Eregion):

The shoulder pleated detail on “Elrond” cape in the tent scene with Adar is something we never saw on Elrond’s character. He usually wears his capes in a different style.

We saw, however, this type of pleated in another character, back in Season 1. Can this be a nod to that?

What’s the deal with Adar and Galadriel?

Elrond arrives at Lindon in the same episode “the body” carrying the message from Adar shows up at Eregion gates. And it clearly didn’t say “where is he?”. Because Adar knows Sauron is there, and that’s not the reason why Sauron gets so distressed, because he’s the one who told Adar that “Sauron” is at Eregion, in the first place.

He’s also the one who told Adar that Galadriel is Sauron’s ally, back in 2x01: Since Galadriel’s defeat, she sought out a new ally. An ancient sorcerer, to instruct the Elves in forging a new weapon. One you first told her about. A power over flesh.

But judging by Sauron’s reaction to "the body", this was a seed he didn’t intent to plant on Adar's mind:

And this could explain why he was in such a hurry for the body to be buried and shown to no one else. Because someone might know how to read Black speech (we saw Galadriel understanding it back in Season 1, when she was with Elendil at the Hall of Lore of Númenor, and unravel the founding of Mordor plan) or whatever language it was. The body most likely said Adar has taken Galadriel as captive. And this makes sense, if he thinks she’s Sauron’s ally.

Which can explain why Adar was so distrusting of Galadriel, in the same episode. Adar wanted Galadriel to confirm "Halbrand is Sauron", but also to understand the depth of their connection. Because he saw them fighting together in 1x06, and Sauron "confirmed" they are allies. The “wine and dine scene” was probably a trap from Adar’s part, and it was never his intention to actually make an alliance with her, in the first place (or he was “testing the waters” on that one).

She mentioned Nenya (which he can use for his goal) and who carries it, but Adar, most likely, realized that Galadriel is in love with Sauron, too (I won’t waste time here on the Halbrand vs. Sauron discourse, because I already wrote a post about it). And he wants to use her as bait in the next episode, to lure Sauron out of Eregion. Because there’s no way, this corrupted elf, thousands of years old, fall for that “he promised me an army” lie.

Only it's Elrond that shows up. Or... is it not?

The showrunners have confirmed they are doing a Galadriel/Frodo parallel in “Rings of Power”. And in Season 2, Adar is paralleling Gollum. And, so, the tent scene is meant to parallel Gollum’s trap with Shelob; when he betrays Frodo to an agent of Sauron by setting up a trap. And both of these scenes have some “kissing” involved: in the film adaptation, Shelob licks Frodo’s face (to paralyze him), and “Elrond” kisses Galadriel.

Only in “Rings of Power” this agent of Sauron is “Elrond”. But Elrond is already paralleling Sam in the show. What's most likely happening here is that they are “killing two birds with one stone”, by having Sauron shapeshifting into Elrond (the agent of Sauron is himself), but also emulating Sam by providing Galadriel/Frodo with a means to escape (pin/Phial of Galadriel and Sting).

 

What's the deal with this shot?

Is this only to symbolize Light vs. Dark, as I’ve seen getting thrown around? But that explanation doesn’t exactly make sense because the “Dark” is Sauron, and Adar isn’t on Sauron’s side, at all. Adar’s entire character arc is Season 2 it’s precisely his rebellion and vow to destroy Sauron once and for all.

I would argue the “light vs. shadow” aesthetic is not the explanation for this choice, and there’s something else at work here. Mostly because we have Adar saying this in the tent scene:

Eregion has fallen into shadow. It belongs to the Deceiver now, as does every Elf within its walls.

You are all familiar with “shadow of Morgoth” (it’s been mentioned by Celebrimbor in 2x08), and now I’m introducing you to the concept of the “shadow of Sauron” in “The Return of the King” book, when Sauron's spirit rose above Mordor like a black cloud, and stretched out his hand towards the army of the West:

And as the Captain gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent.

Why Vorohil of all characters?

We know Elrond is the commander of the Elven army, and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor, is also there for the battle. We also see Rian (the she-elf that sacrifices herself later on). But Vorohil is nowhere to be seen when the Elven army arrives at Eregion: he’s not by Elrond’s side nor is he in the “charging scene” at the Orc army:

Where did he come from? And why would Elrond choose him, out of all characters, to accompany him to a negotiation with Adar?

Vorohil is a mere soldier; he’s described as “an Elven swordsman who joins Elrond's band of warrior-elves”. Why not bring another commander or high-rank soldier, or even Gil-galad himself, to a key meeting that could mean the end of the battle before it began?

Something, something about Saurons connection with fire, because Adar’s tent was lit during this scene.

Then we have the fact that “Elrond” conveniently sends him away at the end of the meeting. But what’s ever stranger is: how come Vorohil didn’t know Elrond went to Khazad-dûm and met with Prince Durin before this scene!? How didn’t he know his commander went to another location before the battle begun?

And when Vorohil returns at the end of the episode, to warn Elrond the Dwarves aren’t coming to help, he’s also conveniently mortally wounded with arrows, and dies. (I guess Sauron has been practicing for his torture of Celebrimbor in the next episode?).

Why didn’t the battle stop for Elrond meeting with Adar?

Once “Elrond” returns from Orc camp, there’s a full-on battle happening at the walls of Eregion, far from the camp. Which seems to contradict the point of the meeting itself. Wasn’t this suppose to be a meeting to discuss terms or even a hypothetical truce between the two armies?

Because this is Adar’s offer to Elrond: give me Nenya, take your army back to Lindon, and let me deal with Sauron myself, because you can’t beat me nor save Eregion.

And yet, the battle is already on? Why are the armies fighting each other when their commanders are meeting to discuss terms at Orc camp? This doesn’t make any sense. Unless the “commander” in the tent with Adar isn’t Elrond, at all. And the real Elrond is engaging in battle elsewhere.

Why is Elrond mourning the white horse?

It’s because Elves value all living beings and nature and stuff? Could be, except we haven’t see Elrond associated with horses in “Rings of Power”, have we? Sure, he rides a horse as a means of transportation (like most characters), but he’s not symbolically associated with them. So this scene comes out of nowhere.

There is, however, another character that’s very associated with horses (particularly white), ever since Season 1: Galadriel

And this symbolism (Galadriel = white horse) is already associated with another character, ever since Season 1, too:

Sauron's illusion in 2x06: [children laughing] “It’s a horse!”

The white horse was killed by an Orc, and he licked the blade with the blood. This enraged “Elrond” so much he goes on a murder spree and kills this Orc in a very over the top way: by catapulting him into Eregion’s walls.

We already saw the “white horse Galadriel” being bled in this episode:

Adar just threatened to parade Galadriel’s head on a pike in the tent scene. And “Elrond” snaps, and does this:

Why is Elrond catapulting stones into Eregion walls? Isn’t that against his entire goal of protecting these very walls? Why he’s causing further damage to it? Because he’s not Elrond, at all.

Yes, “this Elrond” was still Sauron, and this was hinted by the show itself:

Why do Elrond, Galadriel and Sauron have the same face wound?

I already talked about this in another post (concerning Morgoth’s crown wound, and its consequences), but I think this is, yet, another clue to it was Sauron, and not Elrond in the tent scene with Adar, in 2x07. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.

How did Elrond get his own scar? Either in the midst of the battle, or the same way as Galadriel: we know, for a fact, Sauron didn’t cut her face in their fight scene in 2x08, the wound “magically” appears on her face after she cuts his face (and it can’t be a error of editing when three characters have the same wound).

Why does Galadriel face scar looks off?

At the end of 2x08, Galadriel “magical” face wound is still a visible on her face, even after her healing. Only, it looks kind of strange now, because it looks like a burn mark, and not a cut.

You are all, probably, familiar with the "Eye of Sauron", but that's not the only thing he's (in)famous for in Tolkien legendarium, and I'm talking about the Black Hand of Sauron, of course. I already did a post about this theme, and how "Rings of Power" is giving us a whole of focus on Sauron's hands and touch.

Even stone cannot hide the mark of one whose very hand is flame unquenched. He was here. Sauron was here. (Galadriel; 1x01)

In “Fellowship of Ring” book we have a description of this, by the account of Isildur, when he cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand:

The heat of Sauron’s hand, which was black and yet burned like fire.

Spoiler alert, one major character will die due to Sauron’s touch in the Siege of Barad-dûr, during the War of the Last Alliance (Season 5).

And “Rings of Power” has already gave us a description of Sauron’s true form, via Mirdania, in 2x04:

It was tall and its skin was made of flames, it came towards me, breathing, reeking of death. And I saw-- I I saw its eyes pitiless and eternal. I think it's been here I think it's been here among us all along..

Now, you are probably confused as to “why” and “how” would Sauron be able to burn Galadriel, when he has touched her face in the past (1x08).

He did it in her presence and in his own physical form. Sauron is using his powers here, and tapping into the Unseen word, too, where his true form exists. Elrond is not his physical form, obviously. So that’s probably the reason for this burn mark. Why not the lips, too? Well, it’s the “black hand of Sauron”, not the “black lips of Sauron”.

[synthshenanigans]

there’s one on here currently and they’re bringing back up old controversy (jashshipping)

Yeaa I saw that. They also seem to post a bunch of CJ related things, so I might make the daily photos one since there isn't one for just CJ screenshots/photos

[stevie-petey]

episode six: the spy

Steve looks like a kicked puppy as you storm ahead of him and Dustin, putting enough distance between you guys so that you can’t hear their conversion that follows.  “Shit…” “You’re awful with women.” Dustin says, now continuing to walk. He doesn’t bother to follow after you, knowing that you need your space to cool down. “I wouldn’t follow her, by the way. Let her cool off.” Steve sighs, now walking as well, “Yeah, I know.” 

Summary: dustin and steve haggle a butcher, you throw some meat at steve and then have a weird conversation about love, you stop dustin from becoming an incel, and then you wrestle some demodogs like any real woman would. side note: steve is hot protecting the kids.

Rating: general, violence and swearing

Warnings: fem!reader, use of y/n, violence and swearing, blood mention and ptsd mention, weapons, fire, probably more

Words: 17.1k (i fear how much longer these next few chapters become)

Before you swing in: its here !!! god, this chapter was ROUGH. the conversations between bug and steve took many rewrites and editing. i wanted to get it just right, and finally i think im satisfied with where they landed. bug and steve aside, i absolutely loved writing this chapter with the kids. i sincerely hope you guys enjoy, this chapter took blood, sweat, n tears lmao

-

You’re the first to break the silence as you all stare at the hole Dart created in the wall in shock.

An obnoxiously loud yawn escapes your lips, and Dustin and Steve shoot you simultaneous weird glances. You feel your face heat up in embarrassment. “Sorry… It’s been a long day.”

Steve huffs. “Yeah, no kidding.”

Dustin clears his throat before standing up. He wipes off some dirt that got on his jeans and then offers you his hand so that he can pull you up as well. You accept it and stand, your bones a deep, weary type of heavy that only comes from pure exhaustion. 

“Okay,” Dustin begins, and you can already see a plan forming in his mind. “Steve, you’ll spend the night here so that way we can all get up bright and early to start our search for Dart.” 

Steve attempts to argue, but Dustin puts his hand up to shush him and continues with his speech. The older boy throws his hands up in the air and gives you a look of disbelief over your brother’s antics. You stifle a laugh, which he only rolls his eyes at. Steve, whether he likes it or not, will have to get used to Dustin’s… Dustin-ness.

“If he escaped through the tunnel, then we have to assume that there’s an opening somewhere above ground.” Dustin finishes. 

You nod your head slowly, still unconvinced. “Okay, but how do we find him? Better yet, what happens when we do? It took Nancy with a shotgun, my knives, Steve’s batting skills, a ton of fire, and almost dying a bunch of times to take down the Demogorgon.” 

Dustin lets out a tired sigh. “I’ll figure it all out, alright? For now, let’s just get some sleep. Maybe it’ll come to me in a dream or something.” 

“A dream? Seriously?” Steve looks at the two of you as if you guys will start laughing and tell him it’s all a giant joke. Unfortunately, it isn’t. 

Steve spent all last year and most of the summer getting to know you. He’s used to your quips and soft spoken teasing, but Dustin? He’s uncharted territory and you’re secretly relishing in seeing Steve fumble around him. You’ve never had anyone else interact with your brother before, only Jonathan, so this change is odd, but welcomed. 

Dustin pays no attention to you and Steve as he begins heading up the steps, back to your home. Once he disappears, you nudge your shoulder against Steve’s. “You know you don’t actually have to spend the night, right?”

“Ya know, I can’t quite tell if the kid will let me leave or not.”

You laugh. “He’s harmless… Mostly. I promise I won’t let him bite, but I also understand if you want to leave.”

Steve looks away, sensing the undertones of what you’re saying. You’re giving him another out, one last chance to leave and go back to pretending like everything's okay. You wouldn’t blame him, and you get a sense of deja-vu from that night at Jonathan’s. When you tried coaxing Steve to leave, to spare himself from everything he inevitably ended up suffering from. 

After a minute or so, Steve shakes his head. “I’ll stay. You need my help.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say need–”

“Shut up and let me help you, Y/N.”

You sigh. There’s no arguing with him, he’s made up his mind and your truce that you shook on ten minutes ago burns your hand. He’s staying. 

“A ‘please’ would’ve sufficed, but fine.” You link your arm around Steve’s and make your way up the cellar steps. “C’mon, Dustin is probably waiting for us with some new insane plan for where you’ll sleep.”

– 

You know that your mom is safe, off at the other side of town, searching for your dead cat, but it’s still lonely walking into your empty home. Dustin is standing in the living room waiting, but you can see that it makes him uneasy as well. 

Steve follows behind you and takes a look around. When he spots the lumpy, old, sagging couch in front of the window, he frowns. It’s barely bigger than he is, his feet would definitely hang over the edge. “This my bed for tonight?”

“It’ll have to be, unless you want to come snuggle with me in my bed.” Dustin says. 

“I wouldn’t, he kicks in his sleep,” you tell Steve, attempting to make light of the situation. 

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he snorts. Then, as if he’s done this a million times before, Steve flings himself onto your couch and his feet do indeed hang over the edge. “Oh, yeah. This will definitely be cozy.”

You wince. “I’m sorry, you’re still free to go home. I completely understand and–”

“Unless…” Dustin begins to brighten up and he wiggles his eyebrows at you. Pure horror washes over you; you know that look on his face. He’s scheming. 

“Dustin, whatever is about to come out of your mouth–”

“Y/N has this giant bean bag in her room. Practically takes up the whole space, and, luckily for you, my new friend, it’s Steve-sized.”

Steve whips his head to face you, a curious look on his face. “You don’t say, Little Henderson?”

Both boys look at you, a matching glint of evil in their eyes, and you realize you’re trapped. When did they manage to sync up to make you miserable?

You weigh your options against your morals. On one hand, it’s your room and you and Steve are still warming back up to each other. However, on the other hand, Jonathan has spent countless nights on that bean bag himself. 

Dustin’s right. Steve would fit perfectly. 

Damn him. 

You shuffle your feet, averting Steve’s eyes. “I mean, I guess you’d fit.” 

“You guess? Steve, she’s had Jonathan sleep on that thing like a bajillion times.” Dustin waves his arms out, gleeful that he’s won. “In fact, I think our mom specifically bought it just for him.”

He now steps closer to Steve and eyes him up and down. “I’d bet money that you two are about the same size, so as I stated earlier: it’s Steve-sized.”

“I’m actually taller than him, so…” Steve mumbles to no one in particular, but quickly clears his throat and changes the subject. “And I’d finally be able to see Y/N Henderson’s room? Count me in.”

You blush furiously. He’s getting a kick out of all of this and he’s such a little shit, honestly. You’re not sure why the thought of having Steve Harrington in your room, eager to be in your room, makes your stomach flutter and your cheeks burn painfully. 

Steve sees your blush and he wiggles his eyebrows at you. “C’mon, Y/N. It’ll be like a sleepover.”

“You’re far too pleased about all of this.”

“We can pretend to be back at Bookstrordinary. I’ll even stack some books that you definitely have in your room.”

Dustin stands between you and Steve, his face alight with joy and curiosity. “Can I please know when you two became best friends?”

“No, you hid Dart from me.”

“I’m not gonna live that down, am I?”

“Nope.”

Steve clears his throat, clearly amused by your banter with Dustin but still unsure about everything going on. “So… What do ya say, Y/N?”

You bite your lip and look at him. He’s pathetically too large for the couch, it wouldn’t be fair to just force him to sleep there because of the weird way he makes you feel as if you’re floating yet falling all at the same time. 

Exhaling, you give in. “Fine, but do not touch any of my books in the room.”

“Yes!” Steve high fives Dustin and you roll your eyes at them both. 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. It’s late, can we please just go to bed now?”

Dustin sends you a wink, which thankfully Steve doesn’t see. “Sure, sis. Have a good night.”

And with that, probably because he senses you’re about to throw a shoe at him, Dustin flees the living room and runs to his room. As soon as he’s gone, Steve bats his eyelashes at you and playfully teases, “Take me to bed, Y/N.”

You snort, despite how exhausted you are. “Never say those words to me again.”

He laughs and stands up, following behind you as you guide him towards your own room. A part of you feels like you should give him a house tour, but logistically it’d be useless. You can’t imagine that Steve would be over at your house again once the Dart situation is handled. 

You have to remind yourself that there are still roses for Nancy, currently wilting, in the backseat of Steve’s car. 

They’ll work things out eventually, or maybe they won’t, but Nancy Wheeler still has Steve Harrington’s heart. He is her’s entirely. 

Lost in thought, you almost miss the turn to your room and have to grab the back of Steve’s jacket and yank him towards your bedroom door. 

“Hey–” 

“Sorry, my room is here.” 

“You Hendersons are just a delightful bunch, ya know that?” 

“Be thankful you don’t have to meet our mother, honestly.” You fling your bedroom door open and gently push Steve inside. 

As soon as he’s in your room, you watch as he takes it all in. His eyes scan every corner of the room, and you hold your breath as you wait for them to land on the Spider-Man poster he gave you for Christmas last year. 

When Steve sees it, he smiles shyly at you. “I see you kept the gift.”

“Duh,” you walk over to your bed and sit down. “Still one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given.”

“One of?” He asks, tone light but curious. 

Unconsciously, your fingers go to your bee necklace from Jonathan. You play with the pendant and smile softly. “Sorry, Jonathan kinda beat you to it.”

“I figured,” he shrugs, shoving his hands in his pockets, uncomfortable. “I noticed the necklace the day I gave you the poster. Didn’t want to, uh, assume. I guess. But the necklace was from him?”

“It was,” you clear your throat, talking about Jonathan with Steve has always been such a foreign feeling for you. 

Steve seems to be thinking the same thing and starts to wander around your room instead. You silently thank whatever god is up there for giving you the motivation to clean your room earlier that week. Normally you’re a neat person, but ever since Will started showing signs of post-traumatic stress, you’ve spent more time obsessively researching rather than tidying up.

Therefore, there’s still books strewn across your desk alongside some comics. Steve sees a Spidey one and holds it up with a laugh. “He’s everywhere.”

“He is.” You say proudly, now getting up to go into your closet to pull out the blankets and pillows usually reserved for Jonathan.

Steve wanders around some more as you dig through your closet. He lingers in front of your dresser, which holds photos of you, Dustin, and Jonathan. 

“Here,” you hand the bedding to Steve and motion to where the bean bag is. 

He looks up from a photo of you and Jonathan from last year. It’s your favorite of the two of you, he stands behind you in the picture with his arms wrapped around your waist and his chin on your shoulder. You’re both smiling widely at the camera, the moment captured by Will because he wanted to try out the camera Jonathan had gotten that summer. 

“You guys are really close, huh?” Steve asks.

You nod, although confused by his question. He spent half the summer with you and Jonathan at your job. You had conversations about your friendship together, but you suppose it’s different seeing the excess of love you have for the boy within your room. Jonathan is everywhere, if you look hard enough, you’ll find him. 

Steve pauses for a second, as if he wants to say something else, but shakes his head and turns towards the bean bag. He arranges the pillows so that they’re flush against the wall facing your bed, which you think is an odd choice, but say nothing. Once he’s arranged the pillows and blankets, Steve turns to you and clears his throat. 

“I hate to ask this, I really do, but I also don’t want to sleep in these jeans,” he waves his hands over his pants, which have always been a bit tighter than you thought was necessary. “Any chance I could wear something of Jonathan’s?”

You think for a moment and dig through your dresser. “I’m not sure, but if I can’t find anything of his then I think my old camp t-shirt can fit. As for pants, won’t your boxers work fine?”

Steve’s face turns red and he clears his throat once more, speaking in a slightly squeaky voice, “Y–yeah, I guess so.”

He’s stumbling over his words, which makes you pause. There’s no possible way that he’s nervous right now. He’s usually so confident and comfortable around you. Hell, last summer he offered to be your first kiss (by kissing his fingers and pressing them against your lips, but still). 

“Are you shy right now, Steve?”

“What? No!” He scrambles to the other side of the room, putting as much distance between the two of you as he can. 

You raise your eyebrows at him, but your cheeks are flushed as well. “Okay then, whatever you say.” 

It’s painfully quiet after that as you continue looking for something for Steve to wear. You swear that Jonathan has left behind some of his things, and right before you lose hope, you spot a pair of gray sweats and an old The Clash t-shirt of his. 

“Here,” you toss the clothes to Steve without even checking if he’s looking. You hear a crash and know that he, in fact, had not been looking. 

“Gee, thanks.” He says sarcastically, but you giggle. 

“No problem,” you begin to gather your own pajamas before pointing towards your door. “There’s a bathroom to the left, down the hall. You can change there.” 

“Then our sleepover can commence?”

You wave him off, but you smile anyway at his question. You missed his boyish charms. “Sure, buddy. Go change.”

Steve salutes you and then leaves the room, softly closing the door behind him. You change while he’s gone and tie your hair up. After a few minutes, you assume Steve has had enough time to change and make your way over to the bathroom so you can brush your teeth. You’re so excited to go to bed. 

However, the door is closed when you approach, meaning Steve is still changing. You knock on the door, “Are you almost done in there?”

“I’m having… problems.” 

Your hand hovers over the door, mid knock. “Problems?”

There’s only silence for a moment, almost as if Steve is contemplating elaborating. Finally, after several seconds, he says “I’m definitely taller than Byers.” 

You roll your eyes and begin knocking again, just to annoy Steve, until he finally swings the door open. Before you can even stop it, a loud laugh escapes you. The sweats are at least five inches too short on him, while Jonathan’s shirt is a size too small. He looks absolutely ridiculous. 

“It’s not funny!” Steve whines, his face once again red. “I thought you gave me Jonathan’s clothes, Y/N!” 

More laughter escapes you, making your ribs begin to hurt. Every time you try to speak, you laugh even harder, and it’s impossible for you to get any words out. Steve watches, not amused in the slightest, and crosses his arms as if to appear more dignified. 

“I’m sorry,” you manage to gasp out, more laughs threatening to spill from you. “I guess they’re clothes from when he was fourteen.”

“I’m reconsidering our truce from earlier.” 

This gets you to stop laughing, and you gasp and smack Steve’s chest. “You wouldn’t dare!”

He sighs, hanging his head low. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“Exactly,” his admission makes you giddy. “Now, either make yourself cozy in the bean bag or watch as I brush my teeth. Your choice.”

Steve shrugs and steps to the side so that there’s room for you to enter the bathroom. It’s a tight fit, but he ends up sitting on the edge of the tub and just watches as you begin the process of brushing your teeth. “I didn’t actually think you’d stay, ya know.”

“I know, but I’m bored and you’re here.”

You spit into the sink. “Fair, I guess.”

“Plus,” he picks at his nails, trying to look disinterested while wearing Jonathan’s too small clothes. “We still need to have that talk.”

You pause, toothbrush hanging from your lips as you stare at Steve, wide eyed, in the mirror. Honestly, you were hoping he would’ve forgotten about that. It’s not that you don’t want to know whatever he has to tell you, but you’re tired and still reeling over the fact that he’s spending the entire night in your room. 

“Oh, right.” Turning the faucet off, you finish brushing your teeth and awkwardly wipe your face. Steve watches quietly, and once you’re done, you motion for him to follow you back towards your room. 

As soon as you’re back in your room, Steve immediately curls himself upon the bean bag and brings the blanket all the way up to his chin. Dustin, as always, is right: the bean bag truly is Steve-sized. “Cozy.”

You laugh at him as you crawl into your own bed. “Yeah, I’d hope so. Jonathan has slept in it for years now.”

“Well, uh. Speaking of Jonathan…” Steve sits up a bit so that he can properly look at you. “I wanted to talk. Ya know… About you and him. Nancy, too.”

He pauses, furrows his brows, and then adds. “Actually, I want to talk about what really happened this summer. Everything. I want to know everything.”

“Everything is a lot,” you dodge, turning away from the boy. 

Steve sighs. “Y/N… I missed you.”

Missed.

“I want to be friends again, be how we were before, but… I don’t know. There was a lot unsaid between us. Even from the start. I mean, I understand. I do.” His eyes never leave yours, despite how much you try not to look back at him. “You’re, well–If we’re going to be friends again, I want to start from the beginning.”

“The beginning?”

Now Steve is the one who looks away. “I don’t know, it’s stupid, I guess–”

“It’s not stupid, Steve.” You reassure him. He’s trying, he’s inviting you in after everything you did to him, and it’s all you could’ve asked for. 

But you’re fucking terrified. 

You and Steve became close before, sure, but it was something more surface level. An act between the two of you. While Steve was able to read you over time, learning and asking and paying attention to you, there was still so much you never let him in on. What you haven’t let anyone in on, besides Jonathan. 

If you start from the beginning with Steve, someone you know has come to view you as this selfless and kind person, you’re scared that it’ll change the way he sees you. 

But Steve is looking at you from the bean bag, looking ridiculously cozy with the blanket wrapped around him and his usually carefully curated hair has fallen in his eyes; his gaze is open and trusting. There isn’t a pressure behind it, he would understand if you backed down, but you promised him you’d try. 

To try is to be human.

And you really, really missed Steve. 

“I moved here when I was twelve. My family and I had moved all the way from Virginia after the divorce. I remember being really mean, back then. An angry kid with all this hurt within her that she perpetually displaced upon everyone else.” 

“Angry?” Steve asks, his voice soft. 

You shift uncomfortably in bed, but you remind yourself that you agreed to this. If you’re going to begin again with Steve, then he deserves to know the true person he’s befriending. “Angry. I didn’t take the divorce well. At all. I acted out a lot, closed myself off, and was just a fucking awful person.”

Shifting again, you take a deep breath. “My anger got to the point where Dustin, who was nine, had to practically plead with me to be nicer to him. He was a kid.”

“So were you,” Steve gently chimes in, but you roll your eyes at him. 

“Being a kid didn’t give me an excuse to abandon my loved ones like I did. Like my father did. It wasn’t until Dustin called me out on my bullshit that I realized the irony of the situation. There I was, blaming everyone else for my own problems and running away, because I was so hurt by my father doing the same to me.”

Steve clenches his jaw, and you know he wants to say more, but you watch as he exhales deeply and decides against it. “Okay, so you were mean and then you became kind again after something traumatic… So what?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I mean,” the boy sighs. “I was a dick for like, ten consecutive years. It took losing a fight to Jonathan, embarrassing myself in front of Nancy at least five times, losing my bullshit ‘friends’ Tommy and Carol, and some blonde guy with a fucking mullet before I was even able to become a decent person.” 

You frown. “What’s your point?” 

“My point is that you came back.” Steve shrugs. “The second someone you loved asked you to, you came back to being the selfless angel that you are. Which, by the way, is an impressive feat in itself.” 

He says this as if it’s obvious and that the months you spent hurting everyone around you can be redeemed. As if you haven’t spent every waking hour tirelessly devoting every piece of yourself to those around you to make up for them. To repent for your anger. 

Steve takes your silence as more defiance, and he runs a tired hand through his hair. He’s merely a few feet from you, at the foot of your bed on the bean bag, and yet it feels as if he’s inches yet yards away. “I know I can’t change your mind, but… I think that’s what matters the most in the end, ya know? You became kind.” 

“So did you,” you finally say, not quite ready to accept what he’s saying. 

Now it’s Steve who looks away. “Still working on the whole ‘kind’ thing.”

“Isn’t that what matters in the end?” You tease, feeling yourself warm with pride when you get him to laugh. 

“Touche.” 

Silence falls over the two of you, letting the tension lazily slip away for now. Your body hums with energy; the only other person you’ve told about your father to is Jonathan. You both have long since bonded over shitty father figures. However, even when you had whispered these truths to Jonathan back when you were thirteen, you don’t remember feeling quite so raw and vulnerable as you do right now with Steve. 

“I meant it, you know,” you catch Steve’s eye. “Back when you first drove me home last year. You’re alright. Not too shabby, honestly.”

This time a full body laugh cascades through the boy, He clutches at his stomach as he doubles over, breathless with joy. “Thanks, Y/N.” 

Steve is still laughing and this is the happiest you think you’ve seen him in months. The realization makes all the warmth you’ve felt earlier, vanish. You remember the hurt on his face earlier this week on Halloween, the tears in his eyes when he confessed that Nancy didn’t love him. 

You know how plagued Steve is about never being good enough, and for the first time since you’ve truly gotten to know him: you understand him in that very moment. 

Your eye catches on Steve’s adam’s apple as he swallows. It’s a tragedy, really, how attractive he is. You suppose it’s what caused his downfall, in the end. A pretty boy, rich and popular yet easily able to be taken down; it must be a lonely life with all that vulnerability.

“Can I tell you a secret?” You whisper, voice cutting through the darkness of your room as Steve seems to remember where he is, why and how the conversation started in the first place. 

“Always,”

“I’m scared of the compulsive need I feel to take care of everyone. It’s like… I don’t know, this debt that I feel I owe for existing, for the fear I feel because of my father leaving. I overcompensate for this fear now, terrified I’ll become mean again.”

Steve stares at your ceiling. “The whole ‘debt’ thing, I understand. Believe me. Rather than being a perfect angel, however, I just try my fucking hardest not to disappoint everyone around me and make them leave.”

Nancy, as she always seems to do, lingers between you and Steve now; you both can feel her presence without him having to say her name. He told you what she did to him, you tried to reassure him that it hadn’t been his fault, but Steve isn’t an idiot. 

Nancy never loved him. He knows this, now. 

You don’t say anything, you don’t think he’d want you to. Giving him some time, you allow Steve a few minutes to collect his thoughts, sensing he has more to say. Then, softly, he whispers back to you, “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Always,” you echo. 

“I just want to be loved.” 

With just one confession, a string of six words in succession, Steve Harrington crushes you. 

The words come crashing upon your chest and you wish you could tell him how easily you see yourself falling for him. How, even if you can’t admit it just yet, you’re already falling for him. You think you have been for some time now. 

Somewhere, in between him driving you home last year and the way the summer sun kissed his face months later, you began to fall in love with him. 

While you’re thinking this, Steve is laying in the bean bag, absolutely terrified of the words that have come out of his mouth. He’s always had the fear, deep down, that he was unlovable, but to admit the fear out loud… He’s never felt so weak before.

You’re silent and Steve thinks he’s finally done it. His pathetic need to be liked and loved by everyone around him has finally scared you away. How couldn’t it scare you away? You so naturally are loved by everyone while Steve compulsively demands it because he’s still that scared ten year old boy with a father who never showed him love. 

Then, because you’re an angel, you give Steve the response he hadn’t even known he needed to hear. “It’s natural to want to be loved. We all do. It’s human.”

He exhales at your words, still staring at the ceiling as if to somehow lessen the impact of what you’re telling him. There’s something there, hanging in the air after your words have disappeared, that Steve can’t quite understand. 

It almost sounded like you were trying to reassure yourself, as well.

“What’s the deal with you and Jonathan?” Though Steve’s voice is steady, you can tell that he’s trying not to sound too interested. 

The question is a simple one, but it’s the hardest question you’ve ever had to answer. Everyone asks you, sooner or later, if you and Jonathan are together. You never blame them for asking, because ultimately the two of you are  closer than the average friends, regardless of gender. 

It doesn’t make the question any less painful to answer, though. It doesn’t make hearing Jonathan’s laugh cut any less deeper.

As for Steve, he’s asked this question before, albeit with teasing and disbelief whenever you’ve told him there’s nothing there. Despite the numerous times you’ve corrected him, he’s never quite believed you.

This time, it feels different. There’s a weight behind Steve’s question, and your silence is all the answer that he needs. “You love him.”

The words aren’t a question, and they harbor no malice. He says them as if they are a fact; you suppose that it is. You don’t say anything, but you do nod your head at him. “I do… I think I’ve always loved him, honestly.”

You’ve never, ever said those words out loud. Not to anyone.

And now, you’re confessing them to Steve, who doesn’t have to ask you why your voice now holds melancholy within it. He knows, he’s always somehow known. Jonathan doesn’t love you, a fact in which Steve has never been able to wrap his head around. He’s watched the two of you for years, how easily you love one another, and yet somehow the love never blossomed into something more. 

Everything stills between you and Steve, allowing both your confessions to surround the two of you. “I’m sorry.”

Steve’s apology only causes you to shrug. “He’s still mine, at least for now. Is that so bad?”

“I mean, I guess not, but… Doesn’t it get exhausting?”

“God,” you squeeze your eyes shut, finally able to voice all you’ve been feeling to someone who can understand. “It feels like this crushing weight upon me every time I see him smile, like it’s a burden, carrying all this love within me without being able to express it freely. I just… I never thought that love could be so exhausting. ”

As the words start to come out, you find that you’re unable to stop. “I grew up with Jonathan, I learned the way he breathes and the way his hands feel pressed against my skin, but so much has changed and…” Your breath hitches. “He’s not someone I reach out to first anymore. It almost feels like I can’t. I love him, I do, but I also miss how it used to be before I realized everything.”

The pressure of tears builds behind your eyes and forces you to stop talking. If you say anything else, you’re afraid you’ll start crying. While Steve has been so lovely tonight, it wouldn’t be fair to ask him to console you so pathetically. 

Steve seems to hear the tears lacing your voice and speaks for you, having finally pieced together everything he’s been unable to articulate since November of last year. “With Nance, it feels like I’m always somehow two steps behind her and her feelings. Constantly playing catch up while the rules keep changing on me… I get the whole ‘love is exhausting’ thing.”

Though you know Steve means well, his words fucking terrify you. If he feels the same way towards Nancy, a girl who never ended up loving him despite how much he poured his heart out for her, what does that mean for you and Jonathan?

For the first time, you question if the exhaustion you feel surrounding your love for the boy is really something else. Something different, disguised as exhaustion. 

You wonder, deep down, if you’ve started to fall out of love with Jonathan.

Who are you if you have?

The boy has become so intertwined within your life, the threads and strings and lines have tied you to him indefinitely. He’s the reason behind your everything. If you no longer love Jonathan, then who are you, really?

The realization washes over you like cold rain in the middle of winter. It spills over you and pricks at your skin and you suddenly want the conversation to end. While you’re so relieved to be talking to Steve again, the conversation has left you with more realizations than resolutions. 

“It’s late,” you fake a yawn, desperate to cut the conversation short. “We should go to bed. Knowing Dustin, he’ll have us up at the crack of dawn to start looking for Dart.”

Steve sees right through you, he knows he’s somehow crossed a line and that you’re once again retreating. You’re closing yourself off from him again, but he’ll take whatever he can get from you. You’ve told him more than he ever thought you would, so for now he’ll play along. 

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He says, watching as you reach for your lamp and turn the light off. Then, as soon as you’ve rolled over and closed your eyes, you faintly hear his final words. “Don’t we make a pathetic pair?” 

You remember, before drifting off to sleep, feeling relief wash over you that Steve once again considers the two of you a pair.

– 

You wake up the next morning to the faint sounds of Dustin getting ready. His shower can be heard from your room, and through the years it's become your morning alarm. Yawning, you roll over and rub your eyes and take a few minutes to let your brain wake up. 

Bits of yesterday’s events come back to you. 

Dustin confessing about Dart. 

Locking the Demodog in your cellar. 

Radioing everyone in the party for help and getting no response. 

Going to the Wheelers for Mike and coming back with Steve. 

Dart going missing. 

And, most importantly, your bizarre conversation with Steve last night. 

The boy in question lets out a loud snore from the bean bag, blankets haphazardly twisted around his legs, and you stifle a laugh. Even in his sleep, Steve Harrington somehow catches all the attention in the room.  

You throw your blanket off and get out of bed, tiptoeing so as to not wake up the sleeping beauty, and head outside to your kitchen. If yesterday was any indication of how long today will be, then you need all the coffee in the world to get through it. 

The coffee has just finished brewing when you hear Steve stumble into the kitchen. His eyes are bleary and his hair is the worst it’s ever looked. “I guess even Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington can’t escape bed head, huh?”

Steve acknowledges your quip only by grunting, still stumbling around through your home. So he isn’t a morning person, you think with a smile while bringing your coffee mug to your lips and taking a careful sip. 

Eventually Steve makes it to your kitchen table and plops down, letting out a loud yawn and smacking his lips. He looks pathetically endearing, really, especially given his outfit that looks even worse after sleeping in it. The shirt has ridden further up, exposing a bit of his stomach (which you divert your gaze from, feeling yourself blush), and one of his too-short pant legs has ridden up to his knee. 

“You really are a natural beauty in the morning, Steve.” 

“Ha,” he says boredly, looking around the kitchen. “Do you guys have any food? I’m starving.” 

You toss him an apple from the fruit basket on the counter, and Steve only just manages to catch it in time to avoid it hitting his face.

“Christ!” He exclaims, glaring at you when you chuckle at his reaction. Maybe it was a little mean, but you see the small smile he tries to hide. 

“Is this all I get? An apple thrown at my face?”

You walk over to the table and set your mug down. “Were you expecting a home cooked meal?” 

“You’ll have to earn a Y/N Henderson breakfast,” Dustin says as he enters the kitchen and joins the two of you. His hair is still wet from his shower and he drips onto the counter, which makes you cringe. He’s such a boy, sometimes. 

He makes his way over to the fridge and rustles around, looking for something to eat. Truthfully, the reason you threw the apple at Steve is because there’s no food in your house at the moment. Your mom normally goes to the grocery store on Saturdays, and in her frantic rush to find Mews she hadn't left any money for you to go to the store. 

“There’s no food,” you inform your brother. 

He sighs dejectedly, grabbing a banana and then plopping himself next to Steve at the table. “All right, are you two awake enough to discuss the plan?” 

You nod immediately at Dustin’s question while Steve slumps further into his seat, groaning. You run a hand through his hair to try and settle down his theatrics. Dustin sees this and raises an eyebrow at you, but you shake your head and motion for him to keep quiet. 

“So,” he takes a bite from his banana and begins speaking with his mouth full, which you make a face at. “I was thinking we lure Dart with bait to a secure area that we can catch him in.” 

“Wait,” Steve sits up a bit in his seat, careful to not knock your hand off his head. “That’s all you got? That’s the entire plan?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” he begins eating as well, his mouth also full and disgusting to look at, “Do you know how we’ll lure him? Or where? Better yet, how will we even catch him?” 

Dustin narrows his eyes. “Okay, so it’s a working idea. You got anything better?”

Steve opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He pauses for a second before seemingly drawing a blank and closing his mouth; he sinks back into his seat in defeat.

“That’s what I thought.” Dustin says smugly.

You take another sip of coffee, enjoying the mug’s warmth around your fingers. “Well, we at least know what Dart likes to eat.”

“We do?” Steve questions, looking up at you.

“Oh, just wait until you hear this,” you motion over to Dustin. “Go on, tell Steve what you’ve been feeding Dart.”

Now it’s your brother’s turn to sink into his seat, embarrassed. He mumbles something that Steve can’t quite hear.

“What?”

He mumbles again, only a tiny bit louder this time.

“Little Henderson, I can’t understand you.” Steve says, smirking when he feels you laugh against him. 

“I said he eats Musketeers Bars!” Dustin shouts, now incredibly defensive. 

In sync, you and Steve share a look. While you have an exasperated fondness on your face, Steve looks like he’s questioning every choice he’s made in his life. It’s cute that he thinks this is the weirdest things will get.

“Okay…” Steve looks over at your brother. “Unless you plan on buying out an entire candy store, we need something else for bait.”

In the corner of your eye you see Mews’ cat bed laying against the window, and an idea pops into your head. “Dustin, did Dart only eat the candy bars before he killed our cat?”

“Yeah, why?” 

As you walk over to the kitchen sink to place your mug in it, you begin explaining. “Then clearly he’s outgrown his sugar needs and would probably eat just about anything with flesh on it.”

Steve wrinkles his face with displeasure, not enjoying the thought of going after this monster that craves meat. He’s already done that, and call him crazy, but he really doesn’t want to experience anything like that ever again. 

Dustin’s eyes light up, following along with what you’re saying. “Raw meat! You’re a genius, Y/N!” 

“And then we can follow the train tracks to that old junkyard, the one that El brought you guys to last year. It’s a straight shot, Dart won’t get lost, and then we catch him.”

Dustin squeals. “That’s perfect!”

He stands up to hug you, which you gladly accept. “Yeah, yeah. We Hendersons are known for our genius,” you gently push your brother away and start exiting the kitchen. “I’m going to go shower and get ready. Steve, you’ll take Dustin to the butcher and see if you can haggle some raw meat out of him.” 

“Uh… can I change first?” He asks, running a hand through his hair with displeasure. 

Only now does Dustin notice Steve’s appearance and he lets out a loud cackle. “Oh, I think you look great!”

You shoot your brother a warning look, not wanting to upset Steve too much. He’s the only one with a car, and the party still hasn’t responded to Dustin’s calls, so he’s all you have right now. Plus, after last night’s conversation, you’re sure he’s feeling just as wound up and tense as you are. 

“We can swing by your place on our way to the train tracks. Your house is right next to it, anyways, and Dustin and I can scout the parameters while you shower and get yourself all pretty. For now, just go to the butcher's shop, please.” 

“But–” 

“Please, Steve?” You pout, daring him to argue with you again. Steve is only able to stand his ground for about five seconds before he groans and nods his head.

“Fine–” You quickly hug him before running towards the bathroom to get ready. 

Once you’re gone, Steve searches for his keys while Dustin stands in the kitchen, shocked. “I so need to know when you two became such good pals.”

“Go wait by the car, Little Henderson.” Steve waves him off, though he’s secretly pleased with how the morning is turning out so far.

–

“C’mon, man. It’s just chunks of raw meat, it doesn’t even matter what, uh, body parts they are, I guess.” Steve argues with the butcher, having no idea why you’ve sent him on this journey with Dustin. Neither of them have any idea about butchers and meat, so they’ve been arguing back and forth for a solid ten minutes with the guy. 

“And I already told you, it’ll be $15. Take it or leave it, pretty boy.” Pat, the butcher, says. 

Steve scowles at the name, “That’s insane for five pounds, you realize that? It’s just a bunch of meat chunks from god knows where, it’s not like we want prime rib you dirty sack of–” 

Dustin cuts him off, snatching the boy’s wallet from his back pocket and pulling out a twenty. “Ignore him, please! Here, thank you so much for your lovely service, good sir.”

Pat narrows his eyes at the boy, and for a split second Dustin is afraid that he’s trying to figure out the best way to skin them alive, before he simply grunts and takes the money. 

Relief washes over Dustin and he scrambles to grab the bags of meat, tugging at Steve’s sleeve in urgence until he gives in and begins to help as well. Within a few seconds, they’ve gathered all they need and head towards the car. 

“Keep the change!” Dustin calls out behind him. 

As soon as they’re in the car, he yells at Steve to step on it. It’s already been twenty minutes since they left the house, and he knows from experience to never keep you waiting. 

“Okay, okay, god.” Steve complies, pushing down on the gas and speeding away from the butcher’s shop. 

The smell of raw meat immediately infiltrates the car, so Steve rolls down the windows and sighs. This is definitely not the weekend he had in mind. He thought he’d apologize to Nancy, kiss and hopefully make up, and maybe even swing by your place to tell you the good news. 

Instead, he has buckets of raw meat in his car and his head is swimming from his conversation with you from last night. While he’s happy it happened, there’s still so much Steve feels like you aren’t telling him. To top it all off, he hadn’t been able to sleep in his own bed, but rather a bean bag that Jonathan apparently has slept in a million times before. 

As Steve is moping, he realizes that there actually wasn’t even a real need to spend the night. 

“Hey, Little Henderson,” Steve gently hits Dustin’s shoulder to get his attention. “Why did I have to spend the night at your place?” 

“Oh, you didn’t.” Dustin says as if it’s no big deal.

Steve turns his head towards him, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d actually spend the night if we’re being honest. I just thought it’d be funny to mess with you.” 

“I tried arguing with you, but you shushed me!” Steve exclaims, putting both hands back on the steering wheel aggressively. 

The younger boy shrugs, “What are you, seventeen? Eighteen? Why would you listen to a thirteen year old?” 

“Well, I–” As much as he wants to, Steve really can’t defend himself on this one. Shit. It’s not like he can tell Dustin that he mostly stayed because his sister is pretty and makes him feel safe.

Dustin smiles, happy to have won the conversation at hand, and decides to really rub it in as they pull up to the house. “I also thought it’d be hilarious to pair you up with my sister. Hope you two made smart choices last night.”

And with those words, Dustin springs out the car, leaving a speechless Steve behind. He turns the car off and sits there for a moment, completely at a loss for words. He’s only spent a total of sixteen hours with the kid, and already he knows he’s in for a world more of trouble. 

If you’re Hawkins’ sweetheart, then Dustin is the town’s horribly terrifying weasel. 

Meanwhile, you’ve just finished lacing up your shoes when Dustin walks in.

“Where are the rubber gloves that mom likes?” He asks in lieu of greeting you. 

“In the closet, second shelf, next to her cat figurines. Where’s Steve?”

Dustin rustles around the closet and pulls out three sets of gloves, “In the car, moping.” 

There’s a crash and then he tosses two buckets onto the carpet. You crouch down and grab the buckets, placing them on the table. “Why is he moping?”

“Why is who moping?” The man in question walks in, throwing himself on the couch and narrowly dodging the third bucket that Dustin throws out. “Why do you guys keep throwing shit at me, jesus!” 

“Language! There’s kids around,” You snap your fingers at Steve, who quickly cowers in shame. “And if it makes any difference, the bucket wasn’t intentional. The rest were, though.” 

Just as Dustin is finishing up in the closet, you spot a can of gasoline and an idea sparks in your head. If you learned anything at Jonathan’s house last year, it’s that these Demogorgon things really hate fire. “Hey, grab the gasoline as well.”

He does as he’s told, no questions asked, and then hands it to you. You add it to the pile on the table, along with two backpacks from your brother and your beloved switchblade. 

Steve gets up from the couch to investigate your stash, nodding approvingly. “Not bad, guys. What are we going to put in the backpacks, though?” 

Dustin goes into the kitchen and begins grabbing the few items within it. The remaining fruits in the basket, a few pieces of bread, a bag of chips, and some water bottles. “One bag will have our food, the other will have our weapons.” 

And with that, you guys are all set to head out. While Dustin is distracted with grabbing his backpack, you run towards Steve’s car and throw yourself into the passenger seat. Every man for himself. 

“What– Y/N!” He calls after you, but he’s too late. You’ve already buckled yourself up by the time he and Steve get into the car themselves. 

“She beat ya, buddy.” Steve teases, flashing you a proud smile. 

Dustin grumbles in the backseat, unamused, and for a moment you think he’ll leave it at that. However, because he’s Dustin, you see from the rearview mirror as his eyes spark with revenge. “So, Steve.”

The tone in his voice terrifies you. 

You place your head in your hands and sigh, mentally preparing for whatever your brother is about to say. 

“Yes, Dustin?”

“How long have you been friendly with my sister?”

“Dustin!” You whip your head around, lunging towards the back seat to swat at the boy, but he quickly scoots over to Steve’s side and avoids your hands. 

Steve, however, surprises you by simply shrugging and taking the question in stride. There’s no embarrassment on his face, no ounce of hesitation in his voice. “About a year now.”

“A year?” Dustin exclaims, having completely not expected such a response. “Y/N, how could you keep this from me?”

“She didn’t hide anything from you, buddy.” Steve defends you, eyes focused on the road. “I convinced her to be my friend after I saved her life–”

“You saved her life?”

“And then bought you boys snacks at the hospital afterwards. Then, because I really wanted to be her friend, I basically stalked her at work every day and annoyed my way into her life. We’ve been pretty close ever since.”

Dustin’s jaw is practically on the ground after Steve’s quick explanation, left speechless for the first time in his life. As for you, you’re admiring the way the early morning sun causes Steve to glow. You’ll never be over how often his beauty distracts you; you wonder how Nancy, or really anyone, could deny him love.

If you didn’t know Steve, if you passed by him on the street one day as complete strangers, you’re sure that a part of you would fall in love with him. 

Even with pieces of his hair standing all over the place, his shirt still being too small, he was a delicate kind of handsome that made you feel a certain warmth.

“Did I forget anything, Y/N?” Steve’s voice breaks you from your thoughts, and you quickly divert your eyes away from the way his arms look while holding the steering wheel. 

“No, uh.” You clear your throat, still recovering. Steve seems to be in good spirits for once, it’s a breath of fresh air seeing him so content, and yet it also serves as a stark reminder that you made the right choice when you first distanced yourself from him. He’s just too easy to love. “I think you pretty much covered everything. Unless Dustin has any questions?”

“Give me three to five business days to process this, please.” Your brother mumbles from the backseat, which you and Steve laugh at. 

The rest of the ride is relatively peaceful after that, and a few minutes later you arrive at Steve’s house. It’s different in the daylight, only ever having seen it late one night driving the boy home from the Halloween party. 

It’s a beautiful home, the smell of chlorine fills your nose. The pool, you remember Nancy mentioning his pool when she explained what happened to Barb. You shiver, now aware that you’re in the same place that your friend took her last breaths at, just a year ago. 

“The tracks are just over on the other side of the street, and I shouldn’t be too long, so you Hendersons can start figuring out the plan in the meantime.” Steve instructs you and Dustin, getting out of the car and entering his house. 

Dustin begins getting out as well, so you unbuckle your seatbelt and follow. Thankfully you decided to wear jeans today with a simple tank top and cardigan with your knit socks; though it was late October, it’s unusually sunny outside and the walk from Steve’s to the junkyard was easily four to five miles. 

The two of you walk over to the tracks and you survey the area. You’re not sure what exactly you’re looking for, but you figure it’s best to look focused in case Dustin yells at you. 

“We’ll need to go that way,” Dustin points in front of you, and you nod as you follow along. “We can drop the meat chunks every few sleepers so we don’t waste any of it.” 

“Sleepers?”

“These.” Dustin’s shoe scrapes against the bottom wooden planks. 

“You would know what they’re called.”

“Ha ha, any more quips or can I continue?”

You put your hands up in surrender and Dustin begins to speak again.

“Then once we get to the junkyard, we can dump whatever meat is left in a pile and put the gasoline on it. Once Dart is distracted and eating, we’ll light it on fire.” His words catch a bit at the end, and you suddenly feel bad for him. He clearly still cares about Dart, but you know your brother understands the risks of letting the Demodog live. 

Without saying anything, you reach over and pull Dustin in for a hug. He fights it at first, but after a couple seconds he gives in and hugs you back. You aren’t the most affectionate pair of siblings, but you love your younger brother fiercely. Not for the first time, you wish you could’ve done more to prevent him from discovering the Upside Down. 

You know it’s irrational to blame yourself and feel guilty, but maybe if you’d been more involved last year, then maybe he wouldn’t have so many nightmares. 

“I’m sorry about Dart,” you say softly against his hat. 

Dustin breaks away, shrugging his shoulders. “Gotta protect the party, right?”

“Right.” You flick his hat. “C’mon, let’s go back to the car and start putting the meat in the buckets.” 

True to his word, Steve is ready to go after about twenty minutes. He walks out of his house, freshly clean and put together, right as you and Dustin finish preparing the bait. He approaches from behind you, and you can smell his cologne. Memories from when he’d have his arms around you and you’d smell the familiar scent now wash over you. 

Clearing your throat, you turn to hand him gloves and a bucket, but almost drop it when you see him. 

He looks good. Like, frustratingly good. His hair is back in its usual style, but he’s wearing a dark blue polo and a gray jacket that fits him criminally well. You almost feel underdressed standing next to him with your ratty old cardigan, which you know is ridiculous to be concerned about. Plus, you’ve always known that Steve was attractive, so it’s stupid to be affected by it suddenly now. 

You guys had one emotional conversation. 

“Y/N?” 

Steve’s staring at you quizzically, and you quickly snap out of your thoughts and hand him the bucket full of bait and instruct him to put the gloves on. He listens, dutifully putting them on and placing the bucket on the ground and starts searching for one of the backpacks in the trunk. He’s seemingly in a much better mood now, which you’re thankful for. 

“Dustin! This is Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin?” 

Lucas’ voice rings out from Dustin’s walkie, and you perk your head up, relieved that he’s okay. The radio silence from the party was something that unnerved you immensely. With Dart on the loose, Will’s increasing episodes, who knows what else is happening in Hawkins at the moment? 

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” Dustin responds, placing his hands on his hips like a disappointed mother. You chuckle at him and continue helping Steve unload the trunk. 

You hear Lucas sigh into the walkie. “Sorry, man. My stupid sister turned it off.” 

“Tell Erica I say hi!” You call out, knowing Lucas will hear you. He always resented the fact that his sister is so nice to you. You’re the only living person who didn’t receive Erica’s insane insults, which is something you’re very proud of.

“Y/N?”

“Hi, Lucas!” 

Dustin shoos you away and continues to speak. “Well, when you were having sister problems, which really aren’t that hard to handle–” 

“Says you,” you butt in. 

“Dart grew again, he escaped, and I’m pretty sure he’s a baby Demogorgon.” Your brother finishes. By this point, you and Steve have pretty much unpacked everything in the car. 

“Wait, what?” You’d kill to see the look on Lucas’ face right now. 

“I’ll explain later, just meet me, Y/N, and Steve at the old junkyard.” As Dustin wraps up the conversation, Steve shoves his bat into the bag and you watch him with disappointment. He’s trying really hard to make it fit, and you almost pity the boy. Bless him. 

There’s a pause before Lucas asks, “Steve?”

Dustin doesn’t elaborate, instead instructing his friend to bring his binoculars and wrist rocket. You suppose it’s a good idea to add more weapons to your arsenal. Better safe than sorry.

“Steve Harrington?” Lucas asks again, this time even more confused. 

“He’s a friend,” you say, shoving your own weapons into the bag and slinging it over your shoulder. 

Steve closes the trunk and says, “Damn straight I am. Alright, let’s go.”

You follow after him, saying goodbye to Lucas as Dustin tells him to be at the junkyard stat. 

Dustin stashes his walkie in his own bag and then the three of you are off. Your brother and Steve walk a bit ahead of you as you all throw the meat chunks onto the ground, doing as Dustin instructed. It’s slow work, but you’re happy to have some time to yourself while the boys are distracted with each other. Their friendship wasn’t something you’d expect, but you’re incredibly happy about it.

You love the party, you’d do anything for them given all that you’ve been through together. However, as they grow older, you can’t help but notice how much they’re changing. Mike hasn’t been himself since El disappeared, Dustin is now hyper focused on science, Lucas is becoming his own person, and poor Will is just trying to recover from the trauma of last year. 

It’s been hard watching them grow apart, in a way. Nothing will ever be the same after the Upside Down, you know that, but watching the party slowly drift makes you sad for your brother. You’re glad he’s seemingly found someone like Steve to bounce jokes off of and feel appreciated by. You know that someday the kids will all come together again, it’d be impossible not to with how strong of a connection they all have, so you try not to worry too much.

You shove the thoughts down, you need to keep focused on Dart and contacting the rest of the party. So, you dutifully place the bait down and follow behind the boys and feel the time pass by. After about an hour of nonsensical conversation between Steve and Dustin, you hear the older boy finally ask the question of why your brother even hid Dart in the first place. 

“It’s complicated, okay?” Dustin defects, clearly uncomfortable with the change in conversation.

You keep your distance from them, but you keep an ear out just in case you need to intervene. 

“You claim you wanted to get famous off of it or whatever,” Steve drops meat onto the tracks and kicks his foot. “Call me crazy, but you don’t hide something that supposedly makes you famous.” 

He has a point, and Dustin scrunches his face up. He casts a glance your way and you do your best to appear distracted by the job at hand. You know Dustin’s guilty face well, so whatever he’s about to tell Steve will be good. When Dustin shuffles closer to Steve and lowers his voice, you get closer as well so you can listen.

You’re his older sister. It’s your damn job to be nosy.

“It was for this girl.” 

Simultaneously you and Steve react. He hums in approval, almost proud, while you scoff. “I knew it.”

Dustin turns around, horrified. “You knew?”

“Duh, you’re awful at hiding things from me. After Max was just conveniently outside the AV room when Dart originally escaped, I pieced it together immediately. Also, side note: you’re too young to be impressing girls. I told you to just be yourself, dummy.”

Steve lets out a snort. “Pretty ironic coming from you, Y/N.”

Suddenly you feel uncomfortable with his attention on you.

“I’m sorry?” Your voice is steady, but you can feel your hands shaking as you continue throwing the bait. 

“Ya know, your massive crush on Jonathan ever since you were twelve.” He laughs, as if it’s the funniest joke in the world. 

Dustin clears his throat aggressively, pointing to your hands. Steve sees the way that they shake, the tension you now carry in your shoulders, and he’s become familiar enough with you to know your anger cues. The teasing smile that had been on his face drops. He runs towards you so he’s now by your side, and Dustin sighs in disappointment. 

“I didn’t, like, mean anything by that, you know. I–uh, I was kidding, Y/N.” Steve tries to catch your gaze, but you pointedly stare straight ahead and clench your jaw. He’s stumbling over both his words and the tracks beneath his feet, trying desperately to appease you. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“You’re an asshole, Steve Harrington.” 

“Y/N, please, I said I was sorry–”

You finally face him, grabbing his elbow to ensure he doesn’t move. “I told you that stuff about Jonathan in confidence. You don’t get to throw it back in my face, joking or not.” 

It doesn’t help that you’re already confused enough as it is about the boy and your feelings towards him. To have Steve tease you about it, especially because he knows how painful jabs about Nancy are… It really fucking hurts. 

Steve looks like a kicked puppy as you storm ahead of him and Dustin, putting enough distance between you guys so that you can’t hear their conversion that follows. 

“Shit…”

“You’re awful with women.” Dustin says, now continuing to walk. He doesn’t bother to follow after you, knowing that you need your space to cool down. “I wouldn’t follow her, by the way. Let her cool off.”

Steve sighs, now walking as well, “Yeah, I know.” 

They walk in silence for a little while, Steve hanging his head in shame and Dustin leading the way, frustrated by being stuck with two overly emotional teens. 

After a while the silence eats at Steve, so he decides to continue the conversation from earlier. “So, this girl… is she someone you’ve known a while?” 

Dustin shakes his head, “No, she’s new at our school. She’s super cool, though.”

“I remember back when I based my attraction to girls on their coolness.” Steve mumbles. 

“And look where basing it off their hotness has gotten you.” 

“Ouch,” Steve rubs at his chest, wounded.

Dustin laughs and flings some bait at him. “I thought that if I showed her Dart, she’d think I was cool, too, and like me.”

Steve sidesteps the thrown bait and tries to comprehend what the younger boy is saying. “So, you kept something that you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who… you just met?”

“Alright, that’s grossly oversimplifying things. And anyways, who are you to give me girl advice? My sister is literally three hundred feet ahead of us because you pissed her off with one singular sentence.” Then, almost as if as an afterthought, Dustin adds, “congrats, by the way. I’ve never seen someone piss her off so quickly.” 

“Look, this isn’t about me, okay? Sure, I messed up with Y/N, but it isn’t like I was hitting on her to begin with,” Dustin makes a disgusted face as Steve quickly continues, panicked. “So she doesn’t count. I just feel like you’re trying way too hard, man.” 

“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?” Dustin grumbles. 

Steve shakes his head, slightly amused by the boy’s antics. He’s so much like you, and yet so different, and Steve is realizing it’ll take a lot to keep up with the kid. “It’s not about the hair, dude. Chicks dig more than just a good hairstyle.” 

“You’re literally known as Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington.”

“Hey, ‘King Steve’ is also there.” 

Dustin flings even more bait at Steve, now annoyed with him. “Whatever man, it’s not like you’d be any help anyways.” 

“Oh really? Well, Little Henderson, I’m about to blow your mind: the key to girls is just acting like you don’t care.”

“Even if you do?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Steve now brightens up, happy to finally be getting through to the boy. For Steve, he’s long since learned that the best way to avoid getting hurt is to pretend that he doesn’t care. “It drives them nuts.”

“Then what?” 

“You just wait,” Steve looks ahead, watching you and feeling like a complete dick. He really hadn’t meant to hurt you, hell the two of you were finally starting to get somewhere and yet… Steve fucked it up. As always. 

He can see that your shoulders are still tensed up, you’re walking faster than you need to be. He feels a heavy weight in his stomach, one that he’s never felt before; he doesn’t like it. “You wait… until you feel it.”

Dustin furrows his brows. “Feel what?”

Steve tears his gaze away from you and turns back to Dustin, beginning to explain the electricity between someone you’re interested in. Being the geek that he is, Dustin turns it into a scientific discussion and Steve does his best to steer the conversation back. 

“No, like sexual electricity.” He explains.

As soon as the words leave Steve’s lips, you whip around and shout, “Are you seriously talking to my little brother about sexual electricity?”

Both Dustin and Steve freeze in place, dumbfounded. You let out a loud groan and continue stomping away, now even more aggressively throwing the chunks at the train tracks. 

“How did she even hear me?” Steve whispers, terrified. 

“I don’t know,” Your brother whispers back, also equally frightened. “Sometimes I think she has powers like El.”

Once you’re a safe enough distance away from them, Dustin hesitantly brings the girl conversation back up. “Hypothetically, what do girls like?”

Steve takes a second to answer, carefully rolling the question around in his mind. “It depends on the girl. Some girls want you to be aggressive, ya know? Go in for the kiss, make them feel protected. Strong, hot and heavy. Like a lion.” 

Dustin hums to indicate he’s following along, but ‘like a lion’ has him a little worried about the reliability of the conversation. He knows that Steve is a lady’s man, but he’s also never seen him with any girl besides Nancy, and the one time he saw him with you, he had immediately pissed you off. 

So for all Dustin knows, it could be lies. 

Steve continues his confusing explanation. “But others? You gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy… like a ninja!”

“Okay, what type is Nancy?” Dustin asks, hoping to get the teen to stop making stupid analogies. Lions, ninjas… maybe it was all lies. 

The question catches Steve off guard and he stumbles a bit, feeling the familiar sense of protectiveness, insecurity, over the girl as well as a new sense of loss. What type is Nancy? If he had been asked this a week ago, Steve would’ve told Dustin that she’s a nice girl, a girl he could happily bring home to his parents and proudly wrap around his arms. Now? He’s not so sure. 

Not when he can still see the anger and disgust in Nancy’s eyes that night at the party. 

“Nancy’s different,” he recalls his conversation with you from last night, how he’d confessed to always feeling two steps behind the girl and how exhausting it all is. “She’s just different. Let’s move on to the next question.” 

Dustin notices Steve’s change in demeanor but doesn’t say anything. He supposes that you and him have a lot in common, then. “Okay, what type would you say Y/N is?”

Once again Steve isn’t expecting the question Dustin asks. “What–” he trips over a twig and just barely manages to catch himself. “Why would you ask me that? She’s your sister, and I don’t even like her–”

“Relax, Romeo. She’s just similar to Nancy and the girl I like, and I figured you’d know Y/N well enough by now considering you guys slept together–”

“I slept on her bean bag–”

“And have been friends for like, a year. Plus, she’s in love with Jonathan, you’re in love with Nancy, and coincidentally they’re in love with each other. Figures that there’s some type intermingling between the four of you.”

How the hell does everyone know about Nancy and Jonathan? Steve thinks bitterly. 

He’s silent for multiple seconds, absolutely at a loss for what to say. He doesn’t know where to begin or what to even deny. Technically the boy is right, as much as it hurts Steve to admit. He’s all but lost Nancy to Jonathan, and you’ve lost Jonathan to Nancy. 

In an extremely messed up way, you and Nancy do have the same type. On top of that, both you and Nancy are close to Jonathan, so it’s safe to assume there’s similarities to the both of you that Steve doesn’t even want to touch on right now.

Even more importantly, Steve has yet to really decipher why your presence alone can make or break his entire day. Why, after months of not talking, it now feels like he’s finally come home again with you back in his life. 

He looks at you again, still angrily throwing your bait, and he supposes that you’re a lot like Nancy in certain aspects, and yet completely different from her. “Y/N is also different, I guess. She’s incredibly intelligent both emotionally and academically. Isn’t she like the top of her class?”

Dustin nods, proud of the Henderson intelligence, and Steve continues. 

“Right. I’d say she’s like Nancy, except she’s softer?” Steve cringes at his own words, suddenly uncomfortable with comparing the two of you. In his mind, you’re both your own separate entities that infatuate him in different ways. 

You both burn Steve; Nancy is like a shot of whiskey, the thrill that follows the burn. But you? You’re a fireplace after hours of being out in the cold, the burn of it warming his bones.

“Y/N is just… she’s special, but everyone knows that. Your sister is the most caring person I’ve ever met, and I know I’m a lucky son of a bitch to be someone she trusts.” 

Dustin snorts. “Yeah you are.”

Up ahead, you finally slow down and face the boys, now waiting for them to catch up and call out, “C’mon, ladies! The sun sets soon, I don’t want Lucas waiting in the cold all alone.” 

“Looks like I’ve been forgiven.” Steve says, relief evident in his voice, something that your brother doesn’t miss.

Dustin lets out another loud snort, patting him on the chest, “Oh, my sister may be forgiving, but she never forgets.” With that, he walks away to catch up with you. 

“Well, isn’t that ominous.” 

You greet the boys with a tired smile, knowing there’s no use holding resentment towards Steve. He couldn’t have known about your mixed feelings towards Jonathan, you know he had only been trying to get along with Dustin. 

Things are still weird between you two, despite the conversation from last night, but it’s hard to stay mad at Steve and honestly, you don’t really want to be mad at him. It’s been so lovely having him around again, and your own confusing feelings can wait. 

Steve leans in close to you, gently grabbing at your hand so that you don’t walk away. “Hey, we okay?”

His eyes are full of concern and his voice is sickly sweet like honey. With the honey, the remaining bits of anger vanishes. “Of course we’re okay.”

Steve exhales deeply and you giggle at him before remembering that Dustin is quite literally a few feet away from you two. Coughing, you hold up your bucket to point out how it’s almost empty. “I guess in my rage, I flung more than I intended. How are your buckets holding up?” 

The two boys hold their buckets up, giving you a mock solute to indicate that all is good. You laugh, impressed by how synched they’ve become in such a short time. 

“Alright, then. Let’s get going.” As you all begin to walk in line again, you ask, “What were you guys even talking about, anyways?” 

The boys glance at each other in a conspiring way, which causes you to roll your eyes. They’re acting like you asked for their deepest and darkest secrets. They seem to have a silent conversation for a couple seconds before Steve finally speaks up. 

“I was just giving Little Henderson some girl advice. Nothing serious.” 

You raise your eyebrows, your heart swelling a bit at the idea of Steve giving your brother advice. It’s sweet, really. “Girl advice, huh?”

“Yeah, why do you sound so skeptical?” 

“Because you’re terrible with girls.” 

Dustin now butts in, “He told me to be aggressive.” 

“I did not!”

“He also said that you’re softer than Nancy.”

You make a face. “Thank you? I think?”

Steve tugs at his hair in frustration. “You two are the worst people I’ve ever met. You know that, right?” 

In unison, you and Dustin reply, “We get that a lot.” 

Steve stares at the two of you with slight horror in his eyes. “Yeah, alright. I’m out.” 

You grab at his sleeve, gently stopping him from storming away. You give him an apologetic look and pull him close so that your chest bumps against his. “You’ve gotta get used to the Henderson humor, Steve.”

He looks surprised by your tugging at his sleeve before he lets a smile cross his face. He doesn’t do anything else, but he also doesn’t back away, either, and you find yourself blushing a bit under his gaze. 

You clear your throat and let go of his sleeve, stepping back a bit. “Anyways, why don’t you tell me what wise advice you have for my brother.” 

The smile that was just on Steve’s face vanishes as he looks away from you. “I was just telling the kid to not fall in love with his little crush. He’s too young for heartbreak and all that other shit.” 

“I’m not in love with her!” Dustin exclaims in disgust, but you’re too distracted by Steve’s words to assure your brother that you believe him. 

“Well, I believe that love is something beautiful.” You say, your words only meeting Steve’s turned back. He doesn’t acknowledge you, but you know his indifference holds no malice. He’s still hurting, still in love with Nancy Wheeler. “Dustin, you may be too young to be in love, but don’t listen to Steve. To love and be loved is the luckiest thing we can ever do, regardless of how it ends.” 

Dustin blanches at your words, grossed out now. “Okay, okay, stop! Love is gross. I get it.” 

You softly mumble sorry to him, now suddenly remembering that he’s only thirteen. When you were his age, the idea of love also grossed you out. Now, love is a concept that you’ve found a comforting warmth in, even if it's burned you a few times and has left you more exhausted than exhilarated. One day he’ll understand (in the far off future, hopefully). 

For now, you flick your brother’s hat and follow after Steve, finishing the rest of the bait journey in silence. 

– 

By the time the three of you get to the junkyard, it’s already about midday. 

It’s different from how you imagined it, filled with old cars and a giant school bus. It’s more open, too, not as “junkyard” as you assumed. 

You, Steve, and Dustin stand at the top of the hill, surveying the area. Your feet ache from the walk and the sun is hurting your eyes. Seeing you squinting, Steve wordlessly hands you his signature Raybans and motions for you to put them on. 

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do. It’ll do just fine,” He says, satisfied as he begins to walk down the hill. Then, as an afterthought, he says to Dustin, “Good call, dude.”

Dustin beams with pride and you fill with so much happiness, seeing the boy getting along so well with Steve, that you almost regret not having them meet sooner. However, there’s no time to wallow in what-if’s and you put Steve’s sunglasses on to follow after the boys. 

Immediately you and Steve get to work, working seamlessly together side by side, months of him joining you in Bookstrordinary finally being put to use. While you and Steve silently scatter more meat and grab supplies, Dustin surveys the area.

Just as you’ve dumped the remaining meat in the middle of the field, you hear Lucas’ voice call from a few yards away, “I said medium well!”

The boy is with Max, who looks slightly displeased, yet curious, to be here. Despite her still obvious hesitation, you still feel excited seeing the girl. You’ve been meaning to talk more to her, she seems like such a lovely girl. 

“Who’s that?” Steve asks you.

“Max! She’s great, and–” You start gushing about the girl, eager to go and say hi, before you see the crestfallen look on Dustin’s face when he realizes why she’s with Lucas. You remember, then, the weird tug-of-war between the boys over her. Shit. 

You grab at Steve’s hand and pull him aside. “Actually, Steve, why don’t we start finding some panels to cover the bus?”

Steve gives you a questioning look, but when you silently motion towards Dustin and he sees his despair as well, he catches on and just nods, following along. Without having to tell him, he understands that you want to leave Dustin alone so he can talk to Lucas. 

As always, you’re forever thankful that he can read you so well. 

After guiding Steve away, you and him begin to prep the junkyard alongside Max. While the boys are talking, you take this as an opportunity to get to know the girl better. 

“So,” you begin, helping Max carry a large piece of wood over to the bus. “I see you’re back again.”

“Looks like it,” she shrugs, not really feeling like talking. Seems like she’s still mad at you for yesterday, taking Lucas’ side over hers. 

You sigh. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”

“That’s a first.” Again she deflects, but you know she’s doing it out of hurt rather than maliciousness. 

“I know you don’t really like me right now, which I totally understand, I just wanted to let you know that while I don’t like that you’ve been dragged into this mess, I’m happy you’re here.”

Max frowns at you. “You guys act like I’m going to like, die or something.”

A scrap of metal that you’d been carrying slips from your hands. Steve hears this and comes rushing over to help, but you gently wave him away and focus on Max. “I don’t know what Lucas told you, but it’s all true. It’s dangerous, being here, and I just… If you ever get hurt, any of you kids, then it’d be on me and I’d never forgive myself.”

“Way to be a buzzkill, Y/N.” Steve nudges you, trying to get you to smile before your ever-present guilt bears down upon you. 

Max bites her lip, still disbelieving, but she recognizes the pained look of protectiveness on your face. It’s not something that someone can easily fake, and from what she’s heard about you, your kindness is one of the few genuine things in Hawkins. 

Before she can say anything else, Steve lets out a huff and grabs a chair to bang on the car that Lucas and Dustin are talking behind. “Hey! Dickheads! How come it’s only Y/N and some random girl helping me?”

“Language!” You chastise. 

Steve sends you a thumbs up, not really listening. “We lose light in forty minutes. Let’s go!”

Dustin and Lucas reluctantly start helping, both calling Steve an asshole and throwing him dirty looks, which you can’t help but laugh at. 

Lucas sees you laughing and points at you. “Are you the reason Harrington is here?”

“Mhm,” you respond, nailing another piece of wood to the bus. “He’s done more to help than you have, so either pick up some metal and help or go sit in a corner and sulk. Up to you.”

Steve high fives you. “Yeah! What she said!”

Lucas’ shoulders sag, completely at a loss as to how any of this has happened. “This is so weird.”

“Dude, I’ve spent all day with them. Imagine how I feel,” Dustin groans. “I think I died a little when I found out they’ve been friends for like, a year.”

“A year?” Lucas gasps. 

“Guys!” You throw pebbles at the two boys to break up their little gossip session. “One, I’m incredibly hurt you two didn’t think I had any friends besides Jonathan. Two, start helping before I throw more rocks.”

“Yes ma’am,” both boys grumble in unison, which Max finds pretty impressive. 

After that, the five of you get to work. You guys use every item available in the junkyard to secure the bus, hoping that with enough stacked against it, you’ll be safe from Dart once he’s lured. Barrels are rolled, more sheets of metal are placed against the bus, and within the next hour or so you’ve successfully managed to build a decent base. 

All that’s left is to pour the gasoline trail, which you help Steve with as the kids watch from inside the bus. 

“I’m getting major deja-vu right now,” you mumble as Steve pours. 

“Gasoline at Jonathan’s?” 

“Mhm. God, he wouldn’t believe what we’re doing right now.” You know he would’ve loved this bizarre interaction. You, Steve, and the kids all in a junkyard trying to lure a baby Demogorgon. 

You’ve definitely had better babysitting days, and Jonathan would have a field day with this one. 

Once you’re done with the gasoline, you and Steve return to the bus. He waits behind you, making sure you’re securely in the car, before he heaves the old bus door closed. As soon as the door is closed, you and Steve exhale together.

You share a look, both in silent agreement to keep the kids safe no matter what. It’s your guys’ job to keep them safe, to fight for and protect them. 

Deja-vu again. You’re back in Jonathan’s house, holding a switchblade while Steve wields his bat. 

“Ready?” He asks you, extending his hand out for you to grab. 

You interlock your fingers through his. “When am I ever?”

Steve laughs, dispelling away any remaining uncertainty and fear. You know, that no matter what, that he’ll be by your side to help. With this in mind, you join the kids further into the bus. 

Lucas climbs the ladder up to the top, something you’re not fully okay with, but he’s the one with the binoculars and you the switchblade, so it makes the most sense. As the boy climbs, you sit down next to Steve as he flicks his lighter on and off. You’re pressed shoulder to shoulder, his presence grounding you.

Dustin paces, and all you can do is watch him as you try to settle your own nerves. Max has seated herself at the other end of the bus, her arms crossed as usual. 

After a few moments of silence, she finally speaks. “So, you really fought one of these things before?”

Steve nods and you hum in agreement. “Unfortunately.”

“And you’re, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“I mean, to be fair I also had that same thought last year–”

Dustin cuts you off. “Shit, don’t be an idiot, okay? It wasn’t a bear.”

You roughly grab at your brother, yanking him towards you to shut him up. “Dustin–”

“Why are you even here if you don’t believe us?” He sneers at Max, something you’ve never, ever seen your sweet brother do. “Just go home.”

Max clenches her jaw and you send her an apologetic look, but she rolls her eyes at you. “Geesh, someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?” 

“Max, wait–” She ignores you and climbs up the ladder to join Lucas. You groan once she’s gone, now more than ever wanting to strangle your brother. “Dustin, what the hell was that?”

“That was good, Y/N!” Steve says, a proud smirk on his face. “He showed her he didn’t care, just like I told him to.”

“Oh, so it’s your fault my sweet, innocent baby brother is now some woman hating misogynistic piece of–”

“I don’t hate women, Y/N.” Dustin tiredly says, before directing his next words to Steve. “And I don’t care.”

Steve winks at the boy, but immediately flinches back when you raise your hand to smack him. “Yeah, cower away, you idiotic and moronic–”

“Y/N, stop overreacting and Steve, stop winking at me.”

You raise your eyebrows at Dustin’s tone and he quickly clears his throat and steps away from you. Steve puts some distance between you two as well, scooting away a bit so that he’s out of hitting range. 

It’s quiet again, both boys now scared of your anger, and you anxiously wait for Dart to show up. 

Steve goes back to flicking the lighter, Dustin paces again, and you tap your foot nervously. The silence is killing you, it’s always been your least favorite part of the Upside Down. The waiting, hoping you’re prepared for when all hell inevitably breaks loose. 

You flick your own blades out, admiring the way the blades catch in the moonlight, when you hear a loud growl come from outside. Instinctively you raise your blades to your face while Steve and Dusin scramble to peek through the metal sheets to look out the window. 

“You guys see him?” Dustin asks as he crouches next to you. 

You shake your head. “No,”

There’s nothing outside, only a thick haze of fog that has settled over the junkyard. 

“Lucas, what’s going on?” Your brother calls up to his friend.

“Hold on!” The boy responds. 

Your heart begins to beat faster, your blades never straying away from your face, poised for a fight. Steve sees the way your knuckles whiten over your weapon and he grabs your spare hand, gently coaxing you to calm down. 

Your fingers tighten around Steve’s and you remember his words from last night, promising you that he’ll be there, and you believe him. 

From the bus’ roof, you hear Lucas call down, “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock–ten o’clock!”

There, in the haze of fog, you see a hunched figure stalk its way towards the bus. Seeing Dart, you’re filled with complete dread. He’s grown again, much bigger than you’ve ever seen him.

He’s practically the size of the Demogorgon from last year, the same one that almost killed you and Steve. 

“What’s he doing?” Dustin asks, as if anyone else would have any more information than he does. 

“I don’t know,” Steve sighs, his eyes never leaving Dart. 

You squeeze his hand again and hold your breath as you watch the Demodog. He slowly approaches the bait, inspects the area, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in it. You send a silent prayer to whatever god is above that your plan will work. 

It has to work. 

However, Dart starts to back away from the bait and Steve leans even closer to the window. “He’s not taking the bait. Why isn’t he taking the bait?”

“I don’t know,” you want to cry from exhaustion and fear and defeat. 

Dustin looks over at you. “Maybe he’s not hungry?”

Something seems to click, then, for Steve. His eyes light up with an idea, and before he can even get his words out, you grasp at Steve’s arm and try to talk him out of it. “No, absolutely not. You’re not going out there.”

“Maybe he’s sick of cow.” Steve tries to make you let go of him, but you quickly tighten your hold on him and fight back. “Y/N, let me go, I can run fast and–”

“You can’t just use yourself as bait!” You plead, but Steve has always been stronger than you and he drags you behind him as he makes his way towards the bus door. “Steve, listen to me!”

“Steve? Steve!” Dustin finally catches on to what’s happening and he grabs at the teen as well. “What are you doing?”

Steve ignores you both and with a quick jerk of his arm, he frees himself from you. As soon as you’ve let go, he runs towards the door and snatches his bat from the ground. You curse, knowing there’s no way in hell he’s going out there alone, so you follow after him. 

Dustin sees this and panics. “Y/N, please don’t tell me you’re going–”

“Stay put!” You command, scrambling after Steve, who has now begun to open the door. He tosses you the lighter, which you toss to your brother. “Just get ready, Dustin!”

“Y/N!”

“I love you!”

Dustin continues to shout, his pleas laced with more fear than you’ve ever heard from him, but you force yourself to leave. Just as you’ve stepped outside and re-closed the bus door, Dustin pounds against the glass that you’ve locked, tears in his eyes.

You look away, despite how fucking hard it is, and it takes everythin within you to leave. 

Steve saved your life last year. 

Now it’s your turn. 

It’s tense outside as you and Steve walk back to back, weapons out. He twirls his bat a few times, a move that you find yourself smiling at due to its familiarity. With your back against his, you whisper to Steve, “You look for Dart, I keep an eye for anything else?”

He nods, and together the two of you slowly follow the sound of Dart’s chittering. 

“C’mon buddy,” Steve taunts, beginning to whistle. 

“I know we named it a Demodog, but I don’t think whistling will help.”

“We could be about to die, and you’re seriously questioning what I’m doing?”

You shrug, eyes now on the skyline as the fog slowly thickens. “Habit.”

Steve chuckles, which brings some comfort to the fucking awful situation at hand. He whistles some more, continuing to taunt Dart. “C’mon. Dinner time.”

“Again with offering Dart meals while we’re near him,” you shake your head, not at all liking where any of this is going.

“What? At least human tastes better than cat.” Steve responds, now at the pile of raw meat.

You both stop here, Steve facing the bait and you facing the bus, still scanning for literally anything else that could possibly go wrong. Because you’re Y/N Henderson and nothing can ever, ever go right for you. 

Dart lets out another growl, now having spotted Steve, and the teen swings his bat around. You spare a quick glance behind you and see Dart, who has placed all his focus on you and Steve. 

Well, at least the live bait plan is working. 

You turn away again, and as soon as you do, you see the other Demodogs now suddenly appear. Your blood runs cold when you see the two up ahead, one directly in front of you and one on top of the cars. 

For a moment, your words seem to fail you and no sound comes out when you try to speak. All you can do is stare at them, overcome with fear. You’re back in Jonathan’s once more, the fear strangling you as the memories paralyze you. 

From the top of the bus, Lucas yells, “Steve! Y/N! Watch out!”

“We’re a little busy here!” Steve yells back, eyes still on Dart. 

The Demodog in front of you starts to approach, which finally seems to break you from your spell. Shakily, you tell Steve, “There’s more.”

“What?” He tries to turn around, but you shove at him to not lose sight of Dart. You can’t distract him now. Another Demodog has joined.

“Three o’clock! Right in front of Y/N!” Lucas screams, his voice cracking with fear. 

“Y/N?” Steve fully turns around now when he realizes that you’re also in danger, and when he sees the three other Demodogs, he lets out a curse. “Shit.”

Suddenly, you and Steve are surrounded by Demodogs, more than you ever could’ve imagined. More than the two of you can even fight on your own. 

Back at Jonathan’s, it had taken guns, fire, knives, and bats to kill a grown Demogorgon. 

You don’t think your knives and Steve’s bat will be enough for Demodogs. 

“Steve! Y/N! Abort!” Dustin has flung the bus door open, screeching for the two of you to get out of there. 

It’s too late. Dart has opened his mouth and is running towards you two, his friends joining as well. 

“I go left, you go right!” Steve has just enough time to direct you before Dart lunges. 

You dodge, going right as instructed while Steve flings himself on top of a car to avoid the monsters. As Steve hits Dart with his bat, crouched against the car, you narrowly avoid the other Demodog and drop to the ground as it jumps over your head. “Shit!”

Steve swings his bat again and tries to make his way over to you, but you’re off the ground in a heartbeat and run to him instead. Two of the Demodogs are on him now, and there’s only so much damage his bat can do. Breathless, you run over and stab at their backs, doing everything you can to give Steve an opening to run. 

Faintly, you hear the kids in the background cheering you guys on, urging you two to come home.

One of the Demodogs lets out a harsh screech as your blade pierces its skin. It crumbles to the ground, giving Steve just enough of an opening to begin running towards the bus. When he goes to run, you notice one of the Demodogs eying him, and before you can even process what’s happening, you’re throwing yourself in front of him and you feel nails tear at your ribs.

You scream, clutching at your side in agony, feeling blood quickly beginning to spill from your wound. “Fuck!”

“Y/N!” Steve starts to run toward you, pale with fear. 

“No!” You shove him back towards the bus; you can’t let him get hurt because of you. “Go, I’ll be fine!” 

He tries to argue, but you take a deep breath and grip his jacket tightly, practically flinging him inside the bus just before Dart lunges again. Together, the two of you stumble up the steps and barricade the door. 

As soon as it’s closed, Dart begins slamming against it with his entire body. 

Steve uses his legs to hold the door closed while you lay sprawled on the ground, trying to steady your breathing as more blood spills from you. The room is spinning and you’re pretty sure you can taste blood in your mouth. 

Awesome. Cool. 

The kids are screaming and Dart’s body causes the entire bus to rock as his friends now join, throwing their own bodies against the bus as well.

“Are they rabid or something?” Max screams, but everyone ignores her. 

Steve, quick as ever, finds a spare piece of metal and wedges it against the door and uses his legs again to hold it in place. He looks over at you on the ground and feels his heart jump to his throat. You’re pale, a sheen of sweat now dotted across your forehead, and there’s now a concerningly large pool of blood where you lay. “Dustin, go help your sister!”

Dustin looks up and finally notices your injury and almost faints at the sight. In a daze, he runs over to you and kneels down, terrified of how much blood there is. “Oh my god.”

“I’m fine,” you wince, trying to clench your teeth and bear through the pain. “Honestly, this is like a paper cut.”

“Y/N–” The sound of glass shattering cuts Dustin off as a Demodog breaks through the window. Everyone screams, and your brother grabs your arms and drags you further towards the back of the bus to avoid any glass getting on you. 

Wearily, you watch as Steve does whatever he can with his bat, and a part of you wants to laugh. He looks like he’s playing the hardest game of wack-a-mole ever. 

Meanwhile, Lucas and Max have joined you and Dustin. When they see you, Lucas lets out a choked scream while Max covers her eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Lucas kneels over you as well, and you find his sincerity endearing. He’s always been the sweetest in the group, the most comforting. 

“Never been better,” you wheeze out. 

Dustin instructs Lucas to stay with you while he tries to radio for help. “Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God? Anyone!”

“God would be pretty nice to have.” You remark, pain making you even more delirious than usual. 

Max looks at Lucas. “She’s losing it.”

“I think I’m doing great, all things considered.”

Dustin continues to scream into his walkie for help while Lucas tries to stop your bleeding. Max is running around, looking for anything to help, and Steve is still stuck at the front of the bus playing wack-a-mole with Demodogs. 

The situation is so fucking grim, and you’ve never wanted to laugh more. 

Then, to make matters even worse, the ceiling of the bus starts to creak. You see the faint outlines of what suspiciously looks like Demodog footprints on the roof. In slow, agonizing footsteps, Dart makes his way over to the emergency exit on top.

He leers over, and Max, who is at the bottom of the ladder, screams. 

Steve shoves the kids back and you try to get up, but Lucas pushes you down and shakes his head at you. 

“You want some? Come get this!” Steve places himself between Dart and you and the kids, screaming at the thing and waving his bat around, and you’ve never been more attracted to him.

Dart lets out a blood curdling screech, his mouth full of rows of razor sharp teeth that killed your cat just the other day, and you cling onto Lucas’ hand. Another screech, and just before Dart strikes at Steve, it jumps off the bus and runs away. 

Everyone freezes, unsure what to do, as more distant growls and howls can be heard from outside. Steve and the rest stand up, and you notice Lucas holding Max’s hand, and at least something good came out of this hellhole of a day. 

“Any help here?” You finally ask after a minute or so, still lying helplessly on the ground as you bleed.

“Shit!” Steve drops his bat. “Where did it get you, where’s the bleeding? Dustin, did we pack any bandages, or–or an EMT stretcher or–”

“Steve,” you grab his hand, urging him to calm down. “It scratched the fuck out of my ribcage, but I’m not dying. I promise.”

“You’re not?” Dustin asks, tears in his eyes. 

“I’m not. I just…” you shift, wincing at the pain. “I just really need a bandage and I’ll be good as new.”

Steve swallows, a frenzied look in his eyes, and nods. Without thinking, he tears a piece of your bloodied cardigan off and gently lifts your body up so that he can wrap the shred of cloth around you. He weaves it tight, his movements slow and delicate, his eyes never leave yours. 

You can feel his hands shaking as he tends to your wound and ties the cloth with a knot. When he’s done, even though you’re aware of the kids’ eyes on you two, you bring his hands to your lips and kiss them. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” He whispers, brushing a strand of hair out of your face. Dustin coughs, which seems to make Steve remember where he is, and he clears his throat. “Right, well. Try not to lose any more blood, yeah?”

“I’ll try,” 

Steve nods and stands back up, knowing Dustin and Lucas will want a moment with you, and makes his way back outside. He knows that they’re all still in danger, even if for some reason the Demdogs seem to have left. 

Once Steve is gone, Dustin and Lucas help you stand, and as soon as you’re up, both boys try their best to give you a hug without hurting you. 

“Don’t do that ever again,” Dustin sniffs, squeezing your uninjured side tightly.

“What he said,” Lucas sniffs as well, though he tries to hide his tears from you. 

You laugh, your own tears evident as you hold the boys tight. “I promise.” 

“You saved Steve,” Max notes, though her tone is neutral, you can see she’s impressed.

“I had to even out a debt.” 

“Guys,” Steve calls from outside. “The coast is clear.”

Slowly, you and the kids make your way out of the bus. It takes some help from both Dustin and Lucas, but eventually you’re able to walk on your own, holding your side, and walk down the steps. 

“You okay?” Steve is by your side as soon as you’ve stepped down, holding you so that he’s not touching your cut. You’re thankful for his support, the pain still making you feel woozy. 

“We’ll talk later,” you motion towards the kids, not wanting to worry them any further. 

He nods, although he hates that you feel like you can’t focus on your own safety. 

“What happened?” Lucas asks the group. 

“I don’t know.” Max looks around, and you think she’s finally starting to understand what she’s gotten herself into. 

Dustin points to you and Steve. “Maybe they scared ‘em off?”

“No,” Steve shakes his head. It couldn’t have been that easy. “No way.”

“They’re going somewhere.” You finish for him, confirming your worst fears. Suddenly, more pain shoots through you and you wince again, squeezing your eyes shut. 

Steve bends his head down, guiding you a bit away from the kids so that they won’t hear. “Hey, we don’t have to follow them. We can go home, you know.”

“We can’t.” You clench your jaw as pain rings throughout your body. The goddamn Demodog got you good. “We have to follow. It’s all connected, Will and his episodes, Nancy and Jonathan with the detective, and I’ll be damned if I back down now.”

“So we follow?” Steve asks, trusting whatever call you make.

You nod, knowing you have to do this. While you guys are safe for now, you know that everyone else has to be in danger; you have to protect them. “Unfortunately.” 

-

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for entertaining a friendship with a child?

okay so this might be a weird one or even a controversial one i honestly have zero clue how other people will receive this, apologies in advance if i ramble!

to begin, i (23ftm) and this kid (15f) first met about a year ago. one of my best friends (23m) is a pretty big model and tiktoker and she was a fan of his, and she was pretty recognized online for making cool edits and stuff of him and coming to meetups etcetera, so he knew of her from there, and over time with always seeing each other at meet ups and her being in his discord server (where i mod) she kind of became pretty well known to us.

an important thing to note is that she's SUPER neurodivergent and she's had a really tough life. she lost her older brother a few years back and she's (i'm not sure of the correct way to put it, her family is originally from the netherlands and their english is kind of in the works so this is how they put it) developmentally behind a few years - her parents describe this as her being "mentally more 13 than 15" but her behaviour to me is even younger than that. she's very very innocent and trusting, very overemotional and sensitive to criticism etc, loves stuffed animals and pink and cartoons and all of that. she's told me she feels like a little kid sometimes and will talk/act like one so maybe there's an element of trauma-rooted age regression there, i'm not super sure - i'm not gonna get into detail but she's talked to me about her life a lot and she's had some pretty fucked up shit happen to her.

from the beginning she pretty much imprinted on me - she's told me before i remind her of the big brother she lost, and ever since then she's called me her "big brother" and "family" etc. at first i was more just playing along with it to make her happy but over time she really has become something like a little sister to me, i feel super protective of her. i want to become a teacher after college (not to mention eventually a parent with my fiancee) so i think at least part of it is that taking a kid 'under my wing' so to speak is giving me experience with it all. i've always been kinda paternal/protective over kids in general but i was the youngest sibling in my family so i never really had anyone to utilise that on before

she does rely super heavily on me emotionally, especially because after i found out she was being bullied pretty badly at school i started dropping by to keep her company during breaks/lunch and making sure shit was okay (which her still-living brother used to do, but he's a famous?? - unsure How famous, i don't know sports at all - footballer/soccer player who's often in another country and can't see her often anymore), and i've been working with her to curb that. i'm actually currently working with her parents to find her a good therapist and support system. she's no longer in the tiktok friend's discord just because it was getting a little all-consuming for her and we encouraged her to take a break, but she's done a TON of work on herself and maturing since then and she does plan to rejoin at some point soon.

however, i find it really really hard to gauge whether being so close with a child is... like normal? or not. i honestly can't tell if it's kind of the internet caution about adults talking to minors kind of warping my brain and making me overly wary of what people will think or if i'm doing something wrong or if it's genuinely like a weird situation, so i guess i'm looking for outside perspectives.

the things that make me question it is that like i said she's very 'mentally young', she's very sheltered, and there definitely seems to be an element of her kind of replacing the older brother figure she lost with me. on top of that, we met through her being a fan of my friend, and though she's now separate from that i worry there could still be an element of power there because i'm close with the guy she calls her idol. her family knows me and seem totally chill with everything, but they've told me she tells people at her school that i'm literally her brother and basically 100% talks about me as if i'm her biological family, which i find super sweet but at the same time wonder if it's healthy.

she obviously needs therapy and hopefully soon we can get her it, but: AITA for entertaining a sort of found family dynamic / friendship at all with someone very vulnerable and young or is this genuinely helpful for her?

What are these acronyms?

[morgana-larkin]

Prompt where r is a sub in Abbott who's head over heels for Melissa. She doesn't have the nerve to admit it let alone talk to Mel without being a stuttering and flustered mess. Barb noticed it as well as the other teachers but they leave the sub for the silly crush she's harboring with the redhead thinking it's cute to see such thing like that in the school . Yet Ava, who's like have eyes everywhere teases her about it. Melissa on the other hand is clueless and joined the teasing one day not knowing it was actually about her and the sub, who became absolutely embarrassed at that point and left the break room quickly. All eyes are on Melissa, Barb + crew was like questioning her if she means the teasing or she was just blind and clueless.

So this fic got way out of hand, I thought it was gonna be a cute 2k word one then I look when I’m finished and there’s 4.5k words. Whoops. I really thought this prompt was funny and cute and hope I did it justice. I’m sorry it sat for like 2 weeks while I did all the other fics but I finally got to it. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I’m getting to all your prompts! If you wrote one then I will write a fic for it. I don’t delete them so don’t worry, it’s coming! I also didn’t expect to name it with the one I went with to describe it but oh well

Clueless Teasing

Warnings: Smut, I think one swear word and a shit ton of fluff

Words: 4.5k

You walk in through the doors of Abbott Elementary. It’s your first day as a substitute teacher at this school and you were beyond excited. They told you they’ll need you until the end of the school year which is in 6 months and they told you you’re filling in for Janine Teagues.

You walk into the office to get your temporary badge and classroom key. As you walk out you run into someone causing you to drop both things and the other person dropping a folder. You immediately bend down to pick up your things and the folder for the other person and stand back.

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going-” whatever you were going to say next was cut off when you looked at the person and got distracted by her. Luckily for you, where you finished seemed like the end of your sentence and the woman smiled as she grabbed the folder from you.

“It’s alright hon, happens to the best of us.” She says and looks at your badge. “New teacher?” She asks.

“No no, um new sub. Filing in for a teacher called Janine Teagues.” You tell her and smiles.

“Did you happen to be shown where her classroom is?” She asks and you mentally facepalm.

“Um no, I- I didn’t.” You tell her.

“That’s alright, if you want I just have to drop this off and I can show you. The classroom is across from mine. I teach second grade as well.” She tells you and you smile.

“I would love that, thank you so much…” you say and try to read her badge but got distracted by her chest.

“Schemmenti.” She says and you look back up. “Melissa Schemmenti.” She tells you and you blink, of course she has a beautiful name, fits her beautiful face.

“That’s a lovely name.” You tell her and she sticks her hand out to shake. “I’m-I’m…” you start to introduce herself but short circuited when you shook her hand, it feels so soft.

“You’re…?” She asks and pulls her hand back.

“Oh right my name is Y/n Y/l/n.” You tell her and she smiles.

“That’s a lovely name too. I’ll just go drop these off and then I’ll show you the classroom. I’ll be right back.” She tells you and you nod. She goes into the office and 10 seconds later someone comes up to you.

“Hi, are you a new teacher?” He asks you.

“New sub.” You tell him.

“Oh amazing! I’m Jacob Hill.” He says and brings out a hand for you to shake.

“Y/n y/l/n.” You tell him. “I’m subbing for Janine Teagues.”

“Oh cool, I was good friends with her. She’s a temp at the district right now.” He tells you and you nod. Just then Melissa comes out and sees Jacob there.

“Jacob, are you trying to scare the newbie away? I thought that was more Janine’s thing.” She tells him.

“Well someone has to fill in for her.” He jokes back and she snorts.

“Come on kid, I’ll show you to her classroom.” She tells you and you wave goodbye to Jacob.

You walk down the hall with her and can’t help but feel mesmerised by her.

“So how long are you subbing for?” She asks you and you shake yourself out of your trance.

“Um um 6 months.” You tell her, cringing as you forgot how to speak for a second.

“Are you ok? You seem nervous.” She asks you.

“Ya I’m fine, a little nervous. New place and people.” You tell her and she nods.

“Understandable.” She says and then she stops. “So this is the classroom.” She says and nods her head to the side to the room. She then turns slightly and points to a class down the hall. “And that’s where mine is. Have any questions just feel free to ask. And another teacher, Gregory Eddie, his classroom is just right here.” Melissa points to the classroom just right next to yours. “Him and Janine are close so he can answer questions too.” She tells you and you nod.

“Thank you so much Ms Schemmenti.” You tell her and she waves you off.

“Oh please, call me Melissa. I normally don’t let newbies call me by my first name but you seem ok.” She tells you and you blush.

The morning goes by quickly and before you know it, it’s lunch time. You get the kids lined up and you begin to walk out and to the cafeteria when you have no idea where it is. You were about to ask the kids when Melissa walks by with her class and sees you don’t know where to go.

“Hey newbie, just follow me.” She tells you with a wink and you blush again.

“Thanks Melissa.” You tell her and you follow her to the cafeteria. You both drop off your classes and then she goes to walk out.

“Did you bring a lunch today newbie?” She asks you and you nod.

“It’s in the classroom.” You tell her and she nods.

“How about you bring it to the break room and come meet some more teachers?” She says and you nod.

“Ok, although I have no idea where it is.” You tell her and she giggles.

“I’ll bring you there, let’s go get your lunch.” She tells you and starts walking to your classroom and you sprint after her. For someone wearing heels, she’s sure fast.

She brings you to the break room and you see Jacob there with Gregory. You met both of them briefly today. You see a few other teachers chatting in a corner. You see another teacher at a table that Melissa goes to sit with.

You go to sit at an empty table but then Melissa stops you. “Newbie, come sit with us.” She tells you and you blush then sit down in the empty chair at her table. “This is Barb, she teaches Kindergarten.” She introduces her friend to you.

“Hi Barb, nice to meet you. I’m y/n y/l/n. I’m subbing for Janine Teagues.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Nice to meet you dear. I see Melissa has taken an interest in you.” She tells you and you blush.

“Oh I’m just lost so she’s been nice to me and showing me around.” You tell her.

“Ya like I said, she’s taken an interest in you, she doesn’t do that for anyone.” Barb tells her and Melissa rolls her eyes.

“You’re making me seem like a bad person.” Melissa complains and Barb chuckles.

“Not bad, just antisocial.” Barb responds.

“Well whatever it is, I just really appreciate your help. And if there’s any way to thank you then let me know.” You tell her and she smiles at you. That smile will be the death of you, you just know it.

Over the next month, you’ve been fitting in well and getting to know around the school, and the students seem to like you. You have Melissa to thank for the support and guidance. Your crush for Melissa has just grown more and more as she does seem to take a liking to you. You think that your crush has grown more into love though and you’re not sure how to act around her most of the time, or what to say. Most of the time when you talk to her, all that comes out is something that makes you seem like you have a loose circuit or wire, and you sometimes don’t understand what you say.

One day was really bad though as Melissa accidentally got pushed in a busy hallway and got pushed into you against a wall. You looked at each other and your lips were centimetres away from each other, if she didn’t pull away then you might have kissed her right then and there.

“Sorry kid, busy hallway.” She said as she pulled back. “Kids don’t watch where they’re going most of the time.” She told you.

“Oh.” You squeaked out and you clear your throat. “Oh, it’s alright, um ya. It’s alright.” You tell her and she looks at you confused and you want to bolt out of there but you can’t with all the kids in the way so you just start walking.

All the other teachers seemed to notice how you act around Melissa and they know it’s a crush. They don’t say anything though, since it’s none of their business and having fun watching you try to keep it together. The only one who doesn’t know is Melissa, and you want to keep it that way. But of course Ava happened.

Ava has been watching you on her cameras for awhile now ever since the incident in the hallway that happened during your second week here. She’s having fun watching you try to be a human being around Melissa and failing. After 6 weeks of watching this, she decides to do something about it,

So one day you were all in the break room while Janine was visiting everyone again, she seems to pop in once a week, she’s met you and seems to like you as well. Anyway, Ava comes waltzing in like she always does and looks at you with mischief in her eyes.

“So y/n.” She starts and you look at her confused as she walks to the coffee machine. “I know who you have a crush on.” She teases you and your cheeks go red. Melissa looks at Ava then at you.

“Do you have a crush on a girl y/n?” She asks you and you don’t answer, you just take a sip of your coffee.

“Oh she sure does. And she seems to not know how to act around her. Stuttering and becoming flustered, trying to be a human being and failing, miserably.” Ava continues on and you wish the ground would swallow you whole. And worst of all it seems Melissa is finding this amusing, as she begins laughing at what Ava is saying.

“Oh, I would like to see you around this girl, see you apparently fail at being a human being.” Melissa teases you. Your cheeks go red and you get so embarrassed that you sprint out of the break room and to your classroom.

Once you get to your classroom you close and lock the door and then just sit in your chair and sulk.

Back in the break room everyone looks at Melissa. “What?” Melissa says as she notices everyone staring at her.

“Why were you teasing her about her crush?” Jacob asks her.

“Because it sounded funny.” Melissa says like it’s obvious.

“Do you even know who her crush is?” Barb asks and Melissa shakes her head.

“No, she hasn’t told me, why? Has she told you guys?”

“She doesn’t need to tell us when it’s obvious.” Janine says and Melissa looks at everyone and she’s lost in what everyone else seems to know.

“Girl, how blind are you? You seem completely clueless to what’s really obvious.” Ava states and Melissa frowns.

“Ya like even though I’m not always good at reading people, it’s obvious to me as well.” Gregory says and Melissa looks at all of them confused.

“So it’s a teacher then?” She starts and they all nod.

“And someone you know extremely well too.” Barb says and Melissa is taken aback by this.

“But everyone I know well is in this room, and y/n is only interested in women.” Melissa says and everyone looks at her to see if she’ll figure it out. Melissa still looks completely lost, like something isn’t clicking like it has for everyone else.

“This is getting hard to watch.” Ava says and she almost blurts it out right there.

“Melissa dear, you know y/n, she’s told you what type of women she’s interested in. I know she has because I was there when she has.” Barb says and Melissa thinks about it.

“Well ya, she says she likes older redhe-” and that realisation stops her dead in her tracks. “I’m an older redhead.” She says and everyone smirks. “And I’m in this room.” She says and puts it all together and thinks about all your interactions. “OH FUCK.” She says and runs out of the room to go searching for you.

“Honestly if she didn’t figure it out right there then I would have just told her.” Ava says and everyone glares at her. “What? I didn’t though.” She says and Barb shakes her head at her.

Melissa walks down the hallway and decides to look at your classroom first and sees the closed door. She goes to open it and sees that it’s locked so she knocks on it.

“Y/n? It’s Melissa, are you in there hon?” She asks and doesn’t hear anything. She asks again but is still met with silence so she assumes you’re not in there and goes to check other places.

In your classroom you heard her both times but chose to stay quiet, you just want to be left alone right now.

Melissa is getting worried, she’s checked everywhere you could be but can’t find you, she texts you again but no reply.

Melissa: Hey hon, I wanted to talk to you about something, where are you?

Melissa: I wanted to apologise for what happened in the break room.

Melissa: I’m trying to find you but don’t know where you are?

Melissa: Hon, I’m getting worried, can you reply back to me please?

Melissa: Can you at least tell me that you’re ok?

Melissa decides to just go to her classroom and talk to you at the end of the day. When the bell rings she sees your door wide open and you welcoming back your students from lunch. She sighs as she thinks about what everyone told her at lunch and looks at you longingly. Barb and Gregory see her look at you and they shake their heads.

Melissa’s heart breaks a little, you have a crush on her and she never notices any of the signs, and she teased you about it to the point that you got embarrassed and left. She’s thought about her feelings for you many times, she remembers you telling her your type but she didn’t have any feelings for you at that point and didn’t think much about it. How long have you had feelings for her? Cause she hasn’t seen you act very differently from the first time you’ve met. And that’s when it clicks, you’ve been interested in her since the start and she mentally facepalms.

At the end of the day, Melissa says goodbye to all her students as they’re getting picked up or walking to their school bus. When her last student leaves she sees you locking your door to leave. So she runs in to grab her things, locks her door and bolts to you. She makes it to the parking lot and sees you pulling out and she sighs.

The next day, you come in and when you get to your classroom you see it’s already open and Melissa is spinning a little in your chair.

“Hey hon.” She says casually and you freeze.

“Um h-hi Melissa.” You say and she smiles. She motions for you to come closer and you close your door and walk to your desk as she stands up. You sit down at the chair and Melissa is sitting on your desk. Feet dangling on both sides of you when you sit in the chair.

“I wanted to apologise for what happened in the break room yesterday. Ava and I shouldn’t have teased you.” She starts and you sigh. You didn’t really want to be talking about this, you just wanted to forget about it, finish out your 4 months and then hope to get placed somewhere else.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Just forget it happened.” You tell her and she tilts her head at you. You get up to go and get something at the other end of your classroom but Melissa straightens her legs out and puts them up, effectively trapping you. “Uh, Melissa, do you mind? I need to go get something.” You tell her but she doesn’t move.

“When were you going to tell me you have a crush on me?” She asks and your face pales.

“What?” You ask, very nervous now.

“When were you going to tell me you have a crush on me?” She repeats and you don’t say anything. “Were you ever going to tell me?” She asks and you shake your head. “So you were just going to finish up your 4 months and what? Just leave?” She asks and her voice breaks a bit at the end. You nod your head in response to her question and she sighs. “Why weren’t you going to tell me?”

“Because everyone I’ve ever had a crush on never likes me back so now I just keep quiet instead of making a fool out of myself.” You tell her and she puts her feet down. You go to move but she grabs your arm and pulls you to her.

“Oh hon, that’s no way to be. I mean if you never told me and just left then you would have never known that I like you back.” She says and you short circuit.

“Like me back?” You question and she nods.

“Ya, I like you as well you goof.” She says with a smile. You still look at her confused and she rolls her eyes. She then pulls you closer to her and kisses you. Your brain catches up with what’s going on after a second and then you kiss her back. Melissa lets go of your arms and you move a hand up to grab her hair while she puts her hands on your hips. You both pull back for air and you stare at each other.

“How did you find out?” You ask her and she blushes a bit.

“After you left yesterday, everyone sort of helped me figure it out. They all knew except me, go figure that out.” She jokes and you giggle.

“Ya I thought you were the smart one of the group.” You tease her and she huffs at you.

“You’re a little shit, you know that?” She says and you nod. She smiles then just pulls you back and kisses you again. You move your hands from her hair to her cheeks, then to her arms, then back up to her hair. Just trying to touch everywhere you could. While Melissa sneaks a touch and finds the skin under your shirt and places her hands there. You don’t seem to mind so she risks it and keeps trailing her hands up to the front of your chest and you still don’t stop her, even when she’s about to cup your breasts through your bra. You realise that you want her to touch you, you want her to unclip your bra and make you moan and you don’t want to stop. Melissa puts her hands on your bra and squeezes a bit and you moan. You still don’t stop the kiss and she moves her hands to your back to your bra clip and she undos it. She sees that you still don’t stop her so she moves her hands back and puts her hands underneath your bra, right on your breasts and she starts playing with them. You gasp this time and Melissa takes the opportunity to stick her tongue in your mouth and taste you. Melissa wraps her legs around your waist and pulls you closer to her.

You both pull away to breathe and you see how blown her pupils are and see the lust written all over her face. Her brain remembers where you both are for a second and she leans in to you. “If you want to do this now then I suggest you lock the door.” She says huskily in your ear and you shiver a bit. You then register what she says and you run to lock your door as she closes a few of your curtains. Just the ones where someone would be able to see you both.

You walk towards her as she’s leaning against the window sill, all sexy like you think and you smile. Once you reach her, she puts her hands on your hips and spins you around so that you’re against the window sill. She likes to take charge, you think, and you smile at that. You’ll let her take charge of you whenever she wants. You put your hands under her shirt and bring them up and to her back to unclip her bra and she lets you. You then snake them around to the front and you slide them under and feel her big full breasts and you moan and she pulls back. “You like my breasts hon?” She asks with a smile and you nod. She then takes her shirt and bra off for you to look at her chest without clothing in the way and your eyes widen. She then goes to take your shirt and bra off and you let her. She looks at your chest and she smiles. “So beautiful.” She says and you blush. She goes and sucks on your neck while you keep your hands on her breasts. You want to keep your hands on her breasts, I mean it’s not like you’ve been staring at them for 2 months with all her low cut shirts she likes to wear.

She moves from your neck to your nipples and you moan and this time you have to move your hands to the window sill or else you’d fall down right there. She presses her body up right against you when she pulls back from your nipples and kisses your lips, she snakes her hand down your pants and your underwear and finds you clit fast and rubs it. It’s a good thing she’s helping to keep you up or else you’d let gravity do its thing right there and fall. You also think it’s good she’s kissing you as you’d probably be loud enough for someone to hear.

“Keep quiet hon.” She tells you as she pulls back and then slides down your body and pulls your pants down and only has the patience to take them off one leg before spreading your legs. She then gets an idea as the floor here will hurt her legs. She goes back up and lifts you to sit on the window sill and spreads your legs that way, then dives down to your pussy and starts licking it like crazy. You bite your lip and do your best to keep quiet but her tongue is doing wonders on you and you let a few moans escape. She brings one hand up to your mouth and covers it with her hand. She then moves to your clit and tells you to suck on her finger, so you let her stick a finger in your mouth as she sticks another in your entrance and you suck on her finger instead of letting out noises.

She starts licking your clit with her tongue while fingering you and you keep quiet as best you could but she’s really good at what she’s doing. You let a couple of muffled noises escape so she pulls her tongue away and replaces it with her thumb. She pulls her finger out of your mouth and replaces it with her lips and tongue. You kiss her back and that gets you to keep quiet. You lean forward to kiss her too much at one point and end up falling off the window sill and on to her. With her fast reflexes she catches you and neither of you fall down but it does make her back up all the way to your desk. She turns you both around so you're against your desk and continues fingering you. You then realise someone could see you through one of the windows if they look and you push her backwards back to window. She gets the hint and allows it but still continues to finger you and you stop walking. She smirks and then picks you up and brings you the rest of the way. You’re close to an orgasm and Melissa realises as your legs start to shake and you’re breathing is faster. She rubs your clit faster and you come 5 seconds later, doesn’t stop though as she just keeps going.

You pull back from the kiss. “Mel- Melissa, please, it’s too much.” You tell her but make no other attempt to stop her.

“You can do it hon.” She tells you and you put your hand on her back and your mouth on her shoulder to have her closer and muffle your noises. You end up coming again and that’s when she pulls out. She helps keep you up for a few seconds and she licks her fingers and moans at your taste.

You help each other get dressed and fix your hair and reapply lip gloss. Anything to make sure you don’t look like you just fucked in your classroom.

“How about you come over to my place tonight? I’ll cook dinner and then we can continue what we started.” She says and you nod quickly. She giggles at your eagerness, gives your ass a playful slap, gives you a wink then walks out of your classroom. The bell is about to ring so you go to the door frame to greet your students as Barb walks by and looks at you.

“You might want to cover that hickey before Ava or your students notice.” She teases you and your cheeks go red.

“Wha-what hickey?” You stumble out and she chuckles. You take your phone out and put it on selfie mode and sure enough, there’s a hickey on your neck. You whip your head to Melissa and give her a glare. She just smirks at you and tries not to laugh and makes a heart shape with her hands to you. Barb sees the interaction and snorts and shakes her head.

“As happy as I am that you and Melissa got your heads out of your asses. Your students shouldn’t see this.” Barb tells you and ushers you in your classroom and quickly covers it with your makeup that you keep on you for emergencies. You never thought the emergency would be to cover up a hickey that Melissa gave you when you 2 had sex just before school but here you were. Barb quickly makes her way over to her classroom just in time for the bell to ring and you go and greet your students. You glance over at Melissa and she sends you a wink and you blush. You blow her an air kiss and she puts her hand over her heart.

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[paper-mario-wiki]

Do you do farm stuff Scout? Or would you like to? Like owning chickens or tending an outdoor garden, that sort of thing?

From ages 7 to 19 I lived on farms, and was made to be an active participant in maintenance and usages of the facilities I don't know why the fuck I'm typing it like this, but I grew up on a farm. I was kinda in charge of everything, but slacked a lot and my brother had to cover for me. That said, I still spent a LOT of time doing chores.

At one point or another I've been responsible for most every farm chore you can really think of. All the basics like raking leaves, milking goats, collecting eggs, feeding chickens- but also the big stuff like moving tons of hay, herding flocks, caring for large animals such as llamas, alpacas, horses, and cows, as well as delivering babies, gutting and plucking fowl (only chickens and turkeys, though I've also cared for ducks and geese), dehoring, hoof cleaning, corpse transportation, crop maintenance, winter ice removal by breaking up frozen water troughs in 10 below weather (thought this was usually circumvented by anticipating the cold and setting up water heaters beforehand), constructing enclosures, slaughtering pigs, and etc etc etc etc etc all that shit. Bunnies snakes mini horses donkeys. All that shit. Farm stuff. Ya know.

Moved away when I went to college and immediately plunged into a mixed-zoning district in the Fushimi district in Kyoto. This was a really good transition from rural living to city living, because mixed zoning districts have blocks dedicated to apartment complexes and family homes right next to blocks of rice fields and ponds, which was behind the 7-Eleven I bought most of my food from.

Now I live in a SHITTY mixed zoning area in SHITTY America where we never stop hearing cars because there's a massive parking lot nearby and constant police sirens, not because the area is particularly dangerous, but because there's like 2 police stations nearby.

My ideal housing goal, which also happens to be my current goal in life, is to reach a slightly more rural version of the Kyoto living situation. The goals are very distinct:

0. I'm editing this one in after the fact to note that while I've used Kyoto as an example a few times in this post, I'm just looking for an area that feels right and would happily live in any prefecture that fits my needs.

I want to not be tied directly to a visa which would draw me away from doing whatever work I really want to do, like my student visa did later on when school started getting worse as professors were struggling to learn digital classroom mechanics. The visa I'm shooting for is dependent on a few ideas I have for businesses, but that's still kind of a long shot.

I want to be in a position of relative financial freedom so that I can spend enough time genuinely living there instead of just being tied to a computer all day, limiting me to the world I already know. This one's the big one, so I'm still workin on that. That said, recently I've been taking some pretty massive steps towards making this a more tangible circumstance. Fingers crossed.

I want to have a home that I own instead of renting, and I'd like to work with a Japanese architect to actually construct it. Again, these are big big plans, but I think a life goal is a thing worth thinking big about. And it's not like I'm trying to build a mansion, or even a family-sized house, I think I'd be content with three bedrooms, a kitchen, and common room. Of course, in keeping with the "dream big" spirit, in a world where I've got enough money to have a nicer, slightly bigger home, I can imagine as many as 5 bedrooms. It's nice to imagine in this "perfect" outcome that I've got a reason to have enough space for guests to sleep over. A local community, or an otherwise tangible, real-world web of relationships would be nice. Like, Real Adult Socializing Shit.

I want to have a significant emphasis on self-reliance on this home. As far solarpunk as I can reasonably go, without biting off more than I can chew as someone who's kinda limp-wristed. In a gay way and a feeble way. I figure this will come down to solar panels, water filtration, a well, and a garden (or at least the space to have gardening stuff like pots and soil). Some chickens would be nice too, but I don't know that I'd ever take on livestock proper.

I want to be properly submerged in trees without being more than a 5 minute bike ride from a train station. Somwhere like Yase-Hieizanguchi Station in north Kyoto is a good example of station that's on the edge of a metropolitan area and the forest. There was an apartment there I almost got, but backed out when covid hit cuz I decided moving across town would be a whack decision.

This is a BONUS goal, but I think it'd also be nice to not compromise on a single location, and instead have a home out in the inaka, while also having a small apartment rented in the city I can go between whenever I need to. In a world where I can afford a plot of land out in the country, but would still need to travel into town for business, that would be nice. Though in that scenario I'd likely need to also take on the arduous task of getting a Japanese drivers license. If I know far enough in advance that I want to take this specific route then I could bypass that last one by getting an international license before moving to Japan, but after moving to Japan you're barred from getting an international license.

I couldn't tell you in honesty that I'm a Salt of the Earth, Red Blooded American Farmer in my heart, and in fact I could not WAIT to move away from the farm. I hated that I didn't have a say in living on a farm, and was made to take care of animals. But what I DID enjoy about that life was the stillness. The opportunities of perfect silence. The stars unobstructed by light pollution. The ability to explore. Those things I was incredibly grateful for. And as such, in my perfect world, I would like to live on something like a farm again one day, just on my own terms.

[kissesforsatoru]

Yandere Ran tying up his virgin girlfriend who never even had a boyfriend and finally agreed to sleep with Ran after waiting for 4 months 👉🏼👈🏼

TIE ME UP, LAY ME DOWN | wc : 3.4k

HAITANI RAN x FEM!READER

₊˚⌗ ran has been so patient. so, so reassuring and attentive with you. he deserves a nice little reward, and you give it to him in the form of fluffy, purple handcuffs.

⤷ cw : NSFW 18+, general yandere themes, thoughts about non-con but no actual non-con, bondage (handcuffs), oral (f receiving), multiple orgasms, ran has a big dick, dirty talk, virgin! reader, somewhat shy reader turned into a slut, ran is a tease, but so is reader lowkey, praise, he calls you a good girl a few times, use of pet names (baby, pretty girl, sweet thing, and reader calls ran "ran baby"), way too much kissing, not joking guys there's a shit ton of kissing, bad grammar. this is not edited. please let me know if i missed anything.

note : pls pls ignore how bad the layout is on pc, i don't know why it looks like that and i can't figure out how to fix it 😭

ran loves to kiss you.

he loves the feeling of your lips against his, with you shyly following along ‘cause you've never done this shit before. he loves your cute little noises whenever he presses into you a little too aggressively or licks along your lips for you to open up. he loves the feeling of your body under him, the warmth of you and the way you squirm cause the kiss is just too much for you to handle. he especially loves the taste of you. he goes crazy whenever you give him a little passage, parting your pretty lips for him to delve his tongue inside and lap and taste and savor how fucking delicious you are. and god, you’re the most delicious thing ran has ever tasted.

he gets so fucking turned on whenever he kisses you, and it drives him crazy. he's never gotten so hard from a little kissing before, but you– you make him feel like his dick is gonna fall off because of how hard it is.

you never let him go too far though, never let him get past a barely heated make out before you start pushing at his chest and grabbing at his arms that've dipped under your shirt, telling him that you aren't ready.

ran loves you, he's downright crazy about you, really, but he'll really die if he has to shamefully go jack himself off while thinking of all the nasty things he wants to do to you one more time. it’s not good enough; his hand and thoughts can only do so much compared to the real thing that he’s fantasized about plenty. he wants to utterly ruin you, but you just won't let him.

he’s had thoughts in passing to just pretend he doesn’t hear you when you tell him to stop, let himself get lost in you, kiss his way down your body, pin you under him and shove his cock all the way in and fuck you nice and rough. whisper dirty things in your ear and humiliate you till you’re crying as you cream around his cock. but ran knows that you would hate him if he did that, and that kills him. he’s got you right where he wants you, and he refuses to ruin that because he’s horny. abnormally horny, yes, but sex still isn’t worth his relationship with you. he’s worked too damn hard to convince you that he’s not a playboy using you for sex for him to go and do exactly that.

so, whenever you tell him not yet, he pulls away, withdrawals his hands from your godsent body, kisses you sweetly on your forehead and then tells you, it’s okay baby, we can wait as long as you need. even if it’s bullshit and he really can’t fucking wait to have his cock buried deep inside of you, he still says it, reassures you as much as you need. he wants you comfortable with him, wants you to trust him so that he can finally have his way with you sooner than later.

it’s another one of those times where he’s got you pressed under him on the bed and he just can’t get enough of you, licking messily into your mouth and pushing his hands under your shirt to knead your soft, plush skin. you’re whining and squirming, as you always do, trying to kiss him back the best you can, but his kiss is imposing, too needy and too fast for you to really keep up. you’re still pliant though, allowing him to rub his hands on your hips and kiss into you roughly, groaning when you run your hands through his hair and tug gently.

he thinks you’ve come an awful long way from when the two of you first started dating at least. you never used to feel him up or pull him closer, just shyly grab at his shoulders as he kisses you, but now you’ve gotten so bold to tug on his hair when you know how riled up that gets him; it drawls out fluttery moans from him that make you sigh a laugh as you melt even more into the kiss. as much as he loves the feeling though, he hates it when you do that because of how turned on it makes him. you get him all fucked up just to deny him the next second.

he jokes to you all the time about how damn cruel you can be to do that to him, but you always tell him you promise you’ll make it worth his while one of these days. he’s damn set on holding you to that.

“mmh– ran baby, hang on a sec,” you struggle to say through kisses. ran doesn’t pull away still at your protest; he crawls further on top of you, pressing himself against you as he squeezes your hips and keeps placing wet kisses to your mouth. it’s not until you gently push on his shoulders that he groans and finally sits up, looking down at you with a cute little pout.

“’m sorry, just… just hang on a sec,” you say to him as you push yourself up too, panting softly.

“too much? wanna stop already?” he asks you, a disappointed lilt emerging his tone. you shake your head curtly before pushing yourself off the bed. Ran quickly grabs onto your wrists and tugs you back.

“where ya goin’ then, pretty girl?”

“got’ya something. just wait here.”

“give it t’ me later. ‘m not done kissin’ you,” he drawls as he pulls you closer to place kiss you, leaning further towards you to deepen it, but you pull away and push at his hand to let go of your wrist.

“promise i’ll be quick and you’re really gonna like it. we can, uh, kiss some more when i get back,” you scamper out of the room before ran can grab onto you again, hands on your cheeks to feel how warm they are. kissing just gets you so flustered every time, ran does it so sensually and imposingly that it makes you wanna squeal. the warmth in your cheeks only blazes more when you pull out what you got for your boyfriend from the shopping bag, realizing that kissing isn’t the only thing you’ll be doing tonight.

your stomach flutters as you nervously walk back into the room to see ran laying back on the bed. he sits back up and wraps his arms around your waist when you crawl onto his lap, ready to get back to kissing you already, but you hold out a pair of purple, fluffy hand cuffs in front of his face before he can. he takes them from you, looks at them for a second, and then at you with a raised eyebrow.

“baby, what the fuck? what’re these for?”

“saw ‘em in your cart on that porn website when you let me use your computer the other day,” you say looking away from him, “and, uh, i wanna… i wanna try them with you,” you whisper the last part, playing with your fingers to distract yourself from the absolute embarrassment you’re feeling.

“oh yeah?” he smirks, “who knew my sweet little girlfriend was into bondage?”

“ran!” you gasp, smacking his shoulder lightly as you huff angrily, and he laughs.

“what else you wanna do then, baby? you get these just f’me to cuff you or were you hopin’ for somethin’ else to happen too?” he kisses you softly along your shoulder and collarbone, looking up at you through his long, pretty lashes, waiting for you to answer. a fluttery sigh leaves your lips when one of his hands pushes under your shirt and rubs on your hip, while the other rubs on your thigh, dangerously close to your pussy that’s already fluttering in anticipation.

“please don’t make me say it,” you whine, placing your hands gently over his eyes. the way he looks at you jostles all of your feelings and makes your body go haywire—you don’t want him looking at you like that when you’re already so turned on just by the idea of him fucking you tonight. it’s too embarrassing for you to handle.

you squeal when ran suddenly flips the both of you over so you’re now laying under him. he kisses more along your neck and up to behind your ear where he nibbles and licks, drawing out an airy moan from you.

“c’mon, baby, you have t’ say it if you want it,” he coaxes, pressing a quick kiss to your lips before pulling away to look down at you. his hands are still on you, distracting you from your racing thoughts.

you gulp thickly, and then, “please, ran,” you shiver feeling his cold fingers graze along your tummy just above the hem of your shorts teasingly, and he smirks lazily down at you. you gulp again, “want you t’ touch me.”

ran gently takes your wrists into his hands and clicks the hand cuffs around them, securing them around your wrist to a comfortable tightness before putting them down back on the bed above your head, “i won’t bind your hands to the bed this time, so just be a good girl and keep your hands there 'til 'm done. if y’ move ‘em, i’ll haf’ta punish you, y’ understand?” you whimper softly as you nod your head and ran promptly grabs at the juncture between your neck and chin, squeezing lightly in warning, “words, pretty girl. need you t' use your words.”

“yes, i understand,” you whisper shyly, jutting out your lip in a pout, but ran only kisses you, whispering praises against your lips for obeying him.

pulling away from you, ran crawls down your body, pushing up your shirt as he does. he takes a handful of one of your boobs before leaning down and placing gentle kisses on your tummy, just above the hem of the spandex shorts you’ve got on. you hum as your stomach flutters whenever his lips graze lightly against a sensitive area. he slowly trails kisses further down, kisses just above your pussy and along your thighs, until finally, he places a drawn-out kiss on your clothed clit.

an airy gasp escapes your lips that quickly turns into a dreamy moan when rans tongue dips out and licks a small stripe over your clit. you get the urge to move your hands already, wanting to grab onto him and threat your fingers through his hair, but you don't; instead, you squirm and huff as he continues to press his tongue into you and lick, now going from your entrance to the very top of your cunt.

you feel him smirk as he kisses your clit on last time before pulling away, "sensitive already and i've barely done shit. you really are a virgin, aren't y' baby?" he teases, and you pout.

"jus' feels good, don't tease me," you huff.

"'m not baby, jus' means 'm the only one that gets to make y' feel good," he hums and then taps on your thigh, "now, lift your legs f'me so i can take off your shorts 'nd panties." you do as he says and he coos good girl as he pulls your clothes off your legs and tosses them somewhere on the floor.

your nerves rear up again as he looks down at you, and you have half a mind to close your legs and hide yourself from him, but his hands ar planted firmly on your thighs, keeping your legs open. you watch shyly as he licks his lips and settles himself between your legs, his face right in front of your glistening pussy. you jolt and shiver feeling the warmth of his breath fan across your sensitivity.

"such a pretty pussy, and 'ts all f'me" he whispers, and then his mouth is on you, latching onto your clit and sucking--hard. almost, almost your hands move from where they lay on the bed, be the warning from earlier rings in your mind, making you clasp your hands together and push them into the bed. you know if you move he'll stop eating you out. the pleasure coursing through your body as he laps and sucks and slobbers all over your cunt feels too damn good to give up.

ran wraps his arms around your thighs and pulls you further into his mouth, drawing more moans from you. his tongue dips into your entrance for just a second before he pulls it out and drags it between your lips to latch back onto your clit where his tongue swirls around and presses into it. your slick mixed with his spit makes all kinds of disgusting sultry noises that are exaggerated as he slurps up all of your juices.

it's not long before you feel something growing in the pit of your stomach, coiling up tightly until you're pushed over the edge and your hips are convulsing against rans mouth. "ran- shitshitshit," you moan out his name as you close your eyes and allow the pleasure to overtake you, but even as you orgasm ran doesn't pull away; he continues lapping at you lazily, enjoying the way your body jolts whenever his tongue rolls over your clit. he only does pull away when you finally come down and sink into the bed with a sigh.

"you taste so damn good, baby. y' wanna taste?" he asks, pushes himself up and crawls over your limp body to kiss you on your mouth, shoving his tongue inside for you to taste yourself on him. bitter, you think, but your pleasure high spurs you on to kiss him back, whimpering softly into the kiss from how sensitive you are.

when he pulls away, he smirks down at you, "you look so fuckin' lewd right now, you know that pretty girl? never thought i'd see y' like this, but fuck do i love it," he says and you fluster, moving your hands finally to cover your face from him. he clicks his tongue.

"hey, didn't i tell y' not t' move your hands, hm? 'm not done with y' just yet, sweet thing," he drawls, hooking his thumb under the chain of the cuffs to push your hands back against the bed, "gonna fuck this pretty little pussy now, can't wait any longer t' be inside y'," you moan when his free hand cups your pussy and he smirks, sitting up to take off his own clothes. his shirt is already off, he rarely has one on when he's with you cause you like his tattoo, and his sweats come off easily, exposing his long, thick cock to you.

you quickly gain coherency back as you stare at him wide eyes. you knew your boyfriend was big, but not this big. "ran baby, will it fit...? 'ts... big." you say as ran tosses his pants in the same place he threw yours and crawls back over you, gently pushing you back into the bed.

"'course it will, baby. I'll make it fit," he says and hum skeptically. "don't worry, i'll be gentle," he tells you, dipping down to kiss you sweetly on your lips. you feel his cock press against your entrance, and you squeak, trying to pull away to see what he's doing, but he only pushes his mouth harder against yours. he enters you slowly and gets halfway in before he stops pulls away from the kiss.

"holy shit, baby, you're so fuckin' tight," he groans, nuzzling into the crook of your neck, "you gotta relax or my dick 'll fall off," he tells you, kissing lightly at your neck and rubbing softly on your thigh to ease and soothe you a little bit. you breath softly and try your best to relax, and within a few seconds he gets back to pushing into you until the base of his cock presses into you.

"ohhh," you moan softly as he drags his cock back out and then shoves it back in all the way to the base, and then he does it again and again. his pace starts out slow, but he quickly loses himself in your warmth and fucks you faster and faster with each thrust, your sweet moans of his name and babbles of 'so good, keep goin'' spurring him on more.

ran pulls out of your neck and sits up, one of his hands coming to grab at your hips to guide your body along with his thrusts, while the other gathers your wrists and pins them further into the bed as he fucks into you. the new position allows his cock to stroke deeper inside of you, only coaxing more delicious moans from you that ran eagerly swallows up into a kiss.

"so fuckin' wet f'me," he slurs, pulling away to look between the two at the squelching mess of slick and precum smeared all over the both of you, "shit-hah-y' love my cock that much, pretty girl? y're suckin' me back in ever time i pull out," he grunts out and you swallow hard, nodding eagerly, babbling about how much you adore his cock drilling into you in all of the right ways.

you feel drunk on pleasure, drunk on his cock. the way he fills you all the way up, pushes his cock deep inside of you, stretching your pussy around him, feels so fucking good you can't help but choke on your moans, spilling disgustingly loud from your lips, making you sound like a proper whore from a porn video.

"ran, please," you say between moans, your eyes rolling back at a particularly rough thrust, "keep makin' me feel good, please don't stop- gods, ran, y're so deep," you whine, panting hard as you look up at him in time to see his eyes glaze over with unadulterated lust. his grip on your wrists and hips tightens as he pulls out and plunges back into you again at an angle, hitting a spot that makes you cry out in pleasure.

"fuck- y' sound so fuckin' sexy when y' beg me like that, baby," he all but growls, his head falling back as he groans in pleasure. both of you are panting heavily, but the noises are easily drowned out by the slap of skin against skin, and the nasty slosh of all of sweat and sex; it's downright nasty, but the pleasure you feel is too good, too mind fogging for you to really give a shit about what kind of noises the two of you are making.

"ah-shit, 'm gonna cum soon," he tells you, voice straining, "y' gonna cum too, baby? y' wanna cum f'me?" he asks, leaning back down into your neck to inhale your delicious scent as he humps messily into you, grinding his hips on yours to create even more stimulation. he lets go of both your wrists and hips to push hus arms under you and wrap his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him into a tight hug as he continues jutting into you.

"fuck, yes, ‘m cumming!" you moan, feeling your walls tighten around his cock. you wrap your legs around his waist as your body begins to writhe, and you orgasm for the second time that night, your body jolting every time his hips rub into your sensitive, worn clit.

as you come down from your high, your pussy pulsates around him and he grunts, quickly letting you go and pulling out to cum hotly on your stomach. you hum and flutter your eyes as you watch him fists his cock, milking it of every last drop of cum. when he's done, he sighs and falls back into you, uncaring of the sticky mess between the two of you.

"god, knew y'd feel good, but shit, i don't think i've cum so hard in my life," he says, still breathing heavily against your warm and tingling skin. you bring your cuffed hands up to stroke his head gently, soothing him for all of his hard work at making you feel good.

"ran baby, can you please take these handcuffs off me before you get comfortable and fall asleep?" you ask him and he shifts to look at you, smirking.

"mm, i dunno, baby, i kinda like you all bound for me. you'll have t' beg me t' take 'em off," he says, and you gasp, smacking him lightly on the shoulder, drawing out a raspy laugh from him as he pushes himself up to take off the cuffs.

© 2023 by kolyasobsession━all rights reserved. modification, reproduction or plagiarism of my works and theme are strictly prohibited. likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated.

[noblehouseofgay]

You ever think about how funny it is that we edit fancasts and shit? Bc if those actors see it they'll be like "oh its me from that one movie" but no

No its not. It's you in another universe where you're a gay wizard congrats

Likr ik the mains know about the fancasts (Ben Barnes, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Taylor Johnson, and I believe the og lily fan cast too but idk her name, oh and one of Peter's fancasts), but the rest of them? Do they know??

Imagine being known for something because of a fancast rather than your actual roles. Bc ik I didn't know a fuck ton of these faces til marauders and I find that hilarious

[iloveyurirah]

Punch Out boxers using Tiktok! (headcanons)

—

Glass Joe

• Would be active for a few days before eventually forgetting about the app.

• Reviews restaurants for content and a lot of people tease him for being French.

• Would either have decent followers or just a small account.

—

Von Kaiser

• Was there just to watch videos before making content after seeing a handful of it.

• He shows off his boots, training, and talks commentary. He didn't like showing his military stuff though, reminds him of the past.

• People expect thirst traps from him and he's honestly, seriously, GENUINELY denying every single request.

• Also forgot he had the app LMFAO

—

Disco Kid

• Is still very much active on Tiktok.

• Is always up on trend, especially the ones where you DANCEEEE

• Comments from him are mostly compliments and uses the "slaayyy", "girl" typing style. Very outdated.

• Shows selfies sometimes, just sometimes.

—

King Hippo

• Watches a lot of animal videos on the app.

• Often uses someone else's phone for watching.

• Accidentally posts a picture of himself and has those random ass sounds(Jax Vs. Skibidi Toilet Edging Battle!!!!)

—

Piston Hondo

• Would deny using it at first, but eventually gives in. He enjoys using the app.

• Mostly used his account for commenting and watching. Likes giving people advices.

• He wins a lot of arguments.

• Probably has like 2 accounts, the other one being banned.

—

Bear Hugger

• Has an account with 10 followers.

• Defo tries to do mukbangs but fails almost miserably???

• Eventually moves to showing off his fellow animal friends.

• Likes responding back to comments. Especially when they're making conversation with him.

• Bio is "I like raw fish"

—

Great Tiger

• He makes videos about his magic and people think it’s CGI which offends him.

• Responds to hate comments a LOT. Spends most of his time on Tiktok to reply to them.

—

Don Flamenco

• Vlogs in a lot of places and records them.

• Likes showing off his dance skills and good looks.

• Loves the attention he gets so much.

• The comments thirsting for him make him.. a little uncomfy(VERY LOYAL TO CARMEN!!!!)

—

Aran Ryan

• A big-ass hater

• Posts hate comments, videos, his whole being on Tiktok is about being a hater and complains a lot. For fun.

• Yells in videos he posts.

• None of the boxers want to follow him (HELP, maybe except for Lil Mac)

—

Soda Popinski

• He doesn’t even know Tiktok exists.

• Although tiktok knows about him, he probably gets edits made about him and he’s genuinely unaware of them.

—

Bald Bull

• HATES the camera, absolutely. Doesn't like recording himself as well.

• Doesn't bother using the app at all.

• He always ask the other boxers on why they keep using the app, more offensively.

—

Super Macho Man

• Posts a shit ton of videos just flexing his body.

• Always has his bitches in the videos to 'prove' something (nothing)

• Posts thirst traps but everyone is roasting him in the comments. He's obviously not happy about this. (Aran MIGHT be the troll)

• Responds to hate comments with something that revolves around him being better.

—

Mr. Sandman

• Is actually civilized and does not cause drama. He's chill.

• Posts videos of him training from time to time, but is mostly on the app for.. YOU GET IT. JUST WATCHING.

• Reposts DAILY.

—

Little Mac

• Too young for Tiktok.. :( (JAYKAY)

• Average Tiktok user, follows all of the boxers despite some of them just hating on him.

• Another commenting enjoyer, mostly on the boxers' posts.

• Reposts a lot of memes and shows them to Doc Louis (some of them he doesn't understand)

[usernamesarehard1]

The Magisterium is incredibly abelist when you think about it, and I don't think we talk about that enough. Not only do they have a test to get in where you have to climb a rope ladder (that there didn't seem to be any magical solution for), but they also constantly treated Call badly for being disabled which was so weird. They also have major issues with victim blaming people with PTSD like Call and Alastair, as well as the various devoureds and the devourds families (like the Rajavi's). Like, they are CONSTANTLY shitting on Call and Alastair for not trusting the Magisterium or thr Assmbly when in reality they have absolutely no reason to trust the Magisterium and the Assembly.

And the books just...never acknowledge this? They actually act like it was fair for Rufus to not only a) choose a traumatized young boy terrified for his life as a PUNISHMENT FOR HIMSELF (because yeah, Call and Alastair's situation is so hard on YOU, Rufus /s) but also b) literally TELL CALL THAT to basically shame him for being afraid for his life. And on top if that, later having Alastair become devoured as a punishment for the crime of....not wanting to send his child and last remaining family member into the care of people that caused the death of everyone else he loved and hundreds of other people. Like the books actually act like that makes sense!

EDIT: I also added some more info in the comments that I thought of later because I didn't want to update the whole post

I knew there was something I really didn't like about the first book and I couldn't put my finger on it for so long, until one day it hit me. There was SO MUCH victim blaming in that book it was disgusting.

Also, side note for something kind of unrelated but also kind of similar: the log thing in the first book makes NO sense. Like, they're SUPPOSED to have a hard time staying on the logs. That's the point. They use some magic to throw water and some magic to balance themselves, hence using two types of magic at once. So Call easily could have done that. Yeah, it may have been harder for him than the other kids because he wouldn't have as much natural balance, but the whole point is that they're not relying on the natural balance. So why was he exlcuded? And Call fell off of CELIA'S log. He jumped on when she fell off laughing and totally unharmed. Celia didn't drown or get injured but somehow Call did??? It was the same log. And even if he did get injured from this exercise, wouldn't that be the MASTERS fault? I mean, they're the ones holding exercises where kids are expected to fall into the water in places where people's legs can get caught under the water and make them almost die from drowning. Why are we blaming Call for this???????

***I have a ton of other issues with the logistics of the Iron Trial test, as well as lots of other major plot points in this series that actively harm the characters for absolutely no reason, that I really want to rant about too, but that's probably better for another day

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/749218521745145857/while-i-love-some-queergay-whatever

“Kissing on the forehead isn’t necessarily romantic” makes sense if we are talking about a work of media that is made in a time/place where that was a common thing between same gender platonic friends.

But are you, anon? Or are you talking about like, a piece of Western mass media from the past 50 years? Or are you talking about anime — because if anything, kissing is even more loaded in Japan than it is in the West, especially if there are other people around. (Lots of people in anime fandom love to use “but Japanese culture” arguments to no homo, but are banking on no one reading them actually knowing jack shit about Japanese culture — because it’s almost never true or based on any real Japanese cultural difference, there’s just making shit up. It assumes people will take for granted anything that frames Japan as “foreign and inscrutable and impossible for Westerners to understand” which is just Orientalism tbqh)

Just saying, because I almost never see this shit said about like, a novel from 1820 or something from a culture like, say, some Middle Eastern countries where men kissing other men platonically is a thing…. and almost always see it said about current media from a culture where kissing on the forehead would be seen as something you’d likely not do to a platonic friend of the same gender.

You can’t “impose your cultural norms” on something from the same culture as you lol, or something from another culture that has the same norm! And an (for example) American assuming that modern American media plays by the rules of modern American culture and seeing it through that lens, doesn’t necessarily mean that American is unaware that different norms exist in different cultures. But like… it just makes sense to analyze a current American show for American audiences set in America in the modern day through the cultural standards of 2020s America and not, say, Bangladesh or Namibia or 1850s America.

And on another note, if you were as much of a fan of “queer readings” as you claim to be, you’d know that they often have little to do with authorial intent. In fact, it’s often specifically about reclaiming media that didn’t have you in mind as the audience.

(Seriously, I really doubt you have read many of those queer readings, bc if this bothers you so much, the stuff queer studies academics and cultural critics see as “gay subtext” in old Hollywood movies — hell, the stuff that gay, bi and sympathetic-straight directors and actors and writers often very much INTENDED as gay subtext in those movies — would make your brain explode.)

Anyway, we’ve all been in fandoms where there’s a ship some people insist has a ton of subtext but it’s just two guys sharing a scene occasionally and they just WANT to believe it’s there when it isn’t, and it can be annoying sure if there are so many people insisting this that it’s inescapable and becoming fanon that affects the fic about the ships you like, or if they’re pushy and sanctimonious about it. (My current fandom has a group of people who insist the only reason other people don’t see all the “subtext” for their random rarepair is racism or something, and then ignore how much textual stuff they have to deliberately leave out or misinterpret for their reading to “work” lol. Like scenes where their starry eyed expression is directed at a different character and that’s obvious in the actual episode but not in their selectively edited gif set or meta post.) But that is not the same as doing that with KISSING ON THE FOREHEAD ffs. And also, let’s not pretend that slash (or femslash) shippers are the worst offenders, like het shippers — and the broader culture — doesn’t constantly treat “a man and a woman interact” as meaning “they could/should be a couple,”

If you’re not bothered by that, but you’re bothered by when people do it with two men or two women… yeah you gotta ask yourself why that is. I have an idea why, and it’s not bc of your greater cultural open mindedness lol

--

[fictionfixations]

the dawn knight in place of yuu

MAJOR JP BOOK 7 SPOILERS

(anyway i like calling him the knight of dawn but also thats too many words for a name im going to be repeating a lot throughout this post so dawn knight)

okay so. i was thinking about a fic to write where a character had a part of themselves appear somewhere else? like ive been getting into omniscient reader but i have a diff story im trying to commit to rn so i cant really write something with it when i dont really know shit that happens besides like end game spoilers lOl

but i find the idea of like the 49/51 (?) interesting? i think thats the right numbers. no context to people who dont know what that means but that part broke me even though all i know about omniscient reader is by reading a shit ton of orv fanfiction. my heart man... sob.

but so anyways my mind wandered to the dawn knight

kudos to that like one fic where the dawn knight's soul appeared and attached itself to yuu except i read it when i didnt even know who he was but i thought maybe he was a buddy of lilia so im just reading and getting confused on like no why you no like lilia what (also he doesnt remember iirc and i think that was just like a instinctual feeling cause yknow humans vs fae??) but uh i know context now lMFAO

but like

just imagine this person who looks like silver but blonde. who doesnt remember who he is (as hes kind of more of just a fragment of his soul? but like he appears in NRC and not RSA because he still has a lingering attachment towards silver. wanting to see him grow because he never got the chance to)

who worries over silver

is a little nervous around fae, but maybe this is ooc but like without all the pressure from what the fuck was his name henrik(??) and like the people around him who are all anti-fae, cause he wouldve liked it if they couldve been in peace and stuff yknow? and also without those memories so its not too difficult for him to get past that and see them as people who will probably not harm others (LOOK i just want twst characters to be happy man cause everything is so sad :((( )

anyway lilia has grown since then and doesnt hate humans. maybe he doesnt exactly know how to feel about the dawn knight (UM like cause meleanor. or is it maleanor? i think thats EN spelling but tbh if not for en i wouldnt know how tf to spell it. but uh ykNOW.. he kinda. uh. still killed.)

but then maybe it becomes clear that this dawn knight (who needs an actual name. dawn sounds too on the nose and i dont think lilia associates dawn with positive feelings considering when maleanor died didnt it turn dawn or something. and then they broke down because shes DEAD.???)

is not the same dawn knight he met so long ago.

like

idk

think about it in like a. okay im pulling out honkai star rail examples now. but think of it maybe like dan feng and dan heng where they're like reincarnations of each other? but not the same person? (some people think of them as still the same considering i think(? its been a hot minute since i went through story) those memories of those reincarnations are then shared to other incarnations to help them in high elder duty thingy whatever its called but i think of them as entirely different people who happen to look similar)

i guess you could view it as a 'i once was [this], but now im this and im not the same person who did all those things'

EDIT: I AM WRONG. 2.5 spoilers but its mentioned that someone made dan heng remember his past life so its NOT canon that they remember their past life. "...led her to perform certain healing arts on Dan Heng, who had just finished his hatching rebirth, so that he would regain the memories of his past life?" but anyway thats how it turned out so uh just pretend that i mean reincarnating/past life type deal but stlil having some of those memories of the former life

idk maybe theres some lilia treating him as another son since like. all three of them are orphans who were taken in???? like its implied parallel of lilia being taken in by the mal... dRACONIA family sorry i forgot the last name om. and the dawn knight being taken in by the whoever is in charge. like the dad of henrik(?) and that person whose name i cant remember i think it was leah who the dawn knight liked and married? but so anyway they both got taken in by a family and owe them a debt and fight for them (and care for them. although idk about henrik ew, but he was also like. wanting princess glow(???) which could supposedly grant wishes i think to like cure their ill father, and saying that the dawn knight should do it for leah or something? i cant remember but he convinced him with something something leah)

i dont know where im going with this thought but like. i remember the dawn knight said something like. if things could be different? but like it cant be because they've gone too far now to forgive each other? but like he wanted there to be peace.

i remember thinking about lilia's wish in the wish upon a star event, maybe it was similar i cant recall exactly

Lilia: My wish is... ...for humans, fae, and all other species to live in harmony. [Img of the wishing star] Trey: Haha, wow. That's a pretty ambitious wish. Lilia: To join joyous hands with one another is no simple feat, even for those among the same species... To say nothing of the difficulties across species divides. You've learned about our history, have you not? All the countless tales of our failure to compromise, and the resulting conflicts? I have no desire to see such history repeated. So I make the same wish every Starsending.

like the dawn knight expressed regret that it had to be this way and wanted things to change but it was far too late. but like. he never did that stuff now (well lilia will remember so poor grandpa but. he's also been really forgiving towards humans when doing it for someone? like he endures it? like when he was searching for a way to hatch malleus and these people were really against lilia for being fae when he just existed, and he didnt fight back because it would paint a bad picture for the draconias? there was another example related to silevr but i cant remember it im. not what i was thinking about but theres also when he contemplated killing baby silver but changed his mind because he'd been trying to teach malleus to like. 'walk in time with his neighbor' and so and so and i forgot what he said but that how could he do that when he should be like setting an example for malleus or something right?)

also silver learning who his parents are in a maybe less traumatic way (like NOT running away knowing malleus' mom might die and then oh shit the ceiling collapsed and IS THAT THE ENEMY oh god please dont let malleus' egg be hurt and then he shares the same face as me? and that ring-- cue silver hating himself and being dragged in by darkness and i am just sobbing my eyes out like no silver he loved you so much :((( )

and even if lilia still holds anything against the dawn knight. still has lingering feelings even towards this not-dawn knight. that he wouldnt want to condemn the dawn knight, and then have silver condemn himself for being of that blood even though he didnt even do anything yknow?

and then when lilia dies he can meet up with the ghosts of maleanor and raverne (is that spelled right? i genuinely cant remember the EN spelling but it was something like that. uhh.??) and i know thats sad but i want lilia to be able to spend more time with maleanor and raverne too yknow? but im not sure how to do that

maybe. like the. the the . council? i cant remember its name fshuidfh but those assholes who appeared when we made it to. blackscale(?) castle... ? i. forgor. maleficia(THATS GRANDMA RIGHT?? i get so confused by who is who in draconia) castle??

but like when we get there with malleus' egg and then maleanor dies

and theres just these voices of long dead old geezers who are bitches to lilia and i hate them and i dont know how they're still there and can talk but i dont want maleanor there because they're horrible. also they literally said her sacrifice was like noble or some shit like that and im just like BITCH- (also lilia is banned from the capital or something isnt he?? like i mean he can still visit the castle. but secretly. but still :( )

so i just think.

fully getting over stuff. heart demons. talking things out. lilia gets to talk about stuff for the first time in awhile (remember when like literally no one talked about the circumstances regarding malleus' birth or something so silver and sebek just had no idea what they were getting into??? and like i guess he could talk to baul? baur? idk which one is the one on EN i forgor. but idk man.)

not-dawn knight being a really good listener. being understanding, sharing his input where appropriate. and like he also gets some of his memories which put a lot of things into proper context. and so sharing thoughts of so and so. and just. basically this talk that spirals into moving on.

sharing frustrations, sharing things that never really got to be known.? like regrets, etc etc

since i think the last time they met was when silver father reveal, and time passed and he died so its just all these lingering things that never got to be said out loud for various reasons. like maybe because company is against so and so so to say something would be like idk maybe traitorous? i dont think thats the right word but words are hard and i keep forgetting words the moment i need them

its like. the unique point of view of talking about things between former enemies. like how they viewed things, etc etc

and then when lilias lived a full life, no regrets, he meets maleanor and raverne in the afterlife.

oh yeah also about his dorm i have no fucking idea. i honestly mostly forgot what each dorm represents but either ramshackle or diasomnia, which i know is like nobility or something? but anyway dawn knight married a princess, also i associate diasomnia with fae / briar valley which is related considering hes book 7 stuff so im pushing him there anyway

or maybe the mirror cant read him because his soul is fragmented. or maybe retcon and his soul isnt like that? idk but i like to think the other part of his soul is in the afterlife with his wife yknow? and eventually silver will be there and able to meet his mom and huggies, and acknowledging that these are who his parents are, but also that lilia is also his parent and the one who raised him yknow? there can be more than two parents in my eyes.

its just that his soul is like in half because of the part of him that wants to have seen silver grown. i think i said this earlier in the post but that since the last time he saw silver was as an infant (also he had blonde hair so-)

also wasnt infant silver asleep for like hundreds of years until it was either because someone who loved him came by (lilia) or because the spell finally wore off (which is what lilia thinks. i dont know where to put my two cents at tbh of which i think is right)

so dawn knight just sitting there in the afterlife like. ..man. my childs still not here. i mean. thats a good thing that they're not dead but like. i kinda wanna see them.

or well silvers the only one so i should be saying he but gidfhuj

also it was either leah or leia i am a dumbass? maybe leah was the EN one. idk i forgot.

anyway thats enough yapping for me

[majestic-miko]

Drabble Challenge: Followers send a number to your ask and you write a drabble using that sentence/prompt in your piece. Try to keep up! Expect a TON of requests!

actually no one asked for this but if u feel like it, send me a number. ^^ barely edited btw

113: I prefer blondes

Modern AU. Rated G

Summary: your husband finds out you have a boy best friend.

Erwin x GN!reader

Words: 1180

your vibrating ringtone going off in the middle of the night was the sound that pulled you out of your peaceful night sleep, and - although Erwin started to stir next to you - you were the one who let out a grunt, half-awake as you felt around to find the device on your nightstand in the dark. you squinted, your eyes struggling to adjust to the overwhelming light, urging your sleepiness away so you could decipher on your smartphone who called you at such an unruly hour- of course without forgetting beforehand to hold the volume down button until that damn ringtone was muted.

as to not disturb your husband, you decided it best to answer in another room when you recognized the familiar name. You slid out of your shared-bedroom, tiptoeing as silently as possible to the adjacent home office.

“hi Moblit! what's up?” you asked, scrambling in hopes to cover up your groggy voice.

a relieved whisper of a sentence of gratitude to the Lord that you answered was audible on the other end of the line at your question. 

“i’m here now. Is everything alright?” 

“yeah, i mean- no. actually…”

you couldn’t help but notice how his tone was feeble but tinted with alarm. something was clearly the matter and you grew more concerned for him.

“calm down, bro. take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong?”

“that’s the thing! i tried that earlier and it hurts like hell.” 

okay, that sounds bad.

“shit! where does it hurt? ”

“on my lower right abdomen like I’m a hundred percent sure this is appendicitis at this point.” 

“how long has this been going on?” 

“almost a week…”

“...”

“ but before you say anything, it has been mostly bearable-” he emphasized, sensing with your reaction (or lack of) that you were freaking out, “It was not until today that I had to rely on painkillers.”

“you should not have dismissed the obvious warning signs oh my god”, you scolded him as you rubbed your eyes. “have you already called an ambulance? you need to go to the hospital right now, bro.”

“since the pain won't allow me to sleep, I guess you’re right."

"no shit Sherlock sure i'm right"

"to answer your question" he pursued, ignoring your whining. "i haven’t yet. I’ve thought about it but since I have to pack my stuff for my stay before the emergency services come here, I don’t think I can pull this off. I can barely move off the living-room, and would rather avoid random strangers touching my belongings.”

“fair point.”

you took a deep breath, attempting to gather your thoughts and make sense of the situation.

"alright, stay on the line, then. if anything happens to you, at least I’ll know. Where do you live by the way?"

reaching for a post-it and a pen on the table, you scribbled the address he gave.

"noted! I’ll be there with my husband, okay? I don't think I’ll be able to carry you on my own if needed."

you were also a scary ass driver but that detail was irrelevant for now.

"sure, no problem! call me when you’re here."

"of course. hang in there, bro!"

********

you didn’t want to wake up your husband.

how could you find it in yourself to interrupt his beauty sleep in the first place? you knew of his gigantic workload everyday and the way he always came back home utterly exhausted. the way he would slump against the sofa as you massaged his upper back, fixing the muscle knots in between his shoulders. if anyone could deserve much more needed rest, it was certainly Erwin and you found yourself admiring the beautiful sight of him, how vulnerable and relaxed he looked, his mouth slightly ajar in all his sleepy state.

and yet, you  found yourself rubbing his chest ever so softly, whispering your words to him as gently as possible

“babe?”

“mh-” he rubbed his eyes, trying to ward off sleep. Damn he looked so cute and you were having such a hard time not kissing him right now no matter how many times you’d wake up to this sight. “what is it?”

“sorry for bothering you darling but this is an emergency. Can you help me drive a friend to the hospital?”

Erwin let out a yawn and sat up, his eyelids still quite heavy, showing how he was still not entirely awake.You granted him some time to process the information before he answered.

"um- yes, of course."

“you’re the best”

the ride was silent as the vehicle left the driveway since none of you had the energy to do the talking so late at night. Erwin had helped Moblit get in the car while you’d gone to gather his belongings in a bag according to a list he had jotted down on a piece of paper. the three of you eventually reached the hospital and your friend got admitted in the emergency room as fast as possible.

a few moments later, a medic approached you and Erwin in the waiting room, confirming your friend’s appendicitis diagnosis and announcing that he would have to undergo an appendicectomy in a few minutes. You thanked him for the info and soon enough, you found yourself laying your head on Erwin’s shoulder after the both of you agreed to stay until you were sure that the surgery went well.

“i hope everything turns out fine for him.”

“don't worry! nothing will go wrong.”

he caressed your hair softly in reassurance for a while before speaking again.

“you know i actually thought it was Petra who needed our help earlier… i never went to her house before, which is the reason why i assumed so and then instead I find myself face-to-face with an unfamiliar man.”

you chuckled as you took in the mistake. You were a loner by nature so it was common knowledge that the only potential best friend you could refer to was Petra, who you seemed to get along pretty well with during your uni years.

“yeah.. sorry about that. Moblit is a close childhood friend. we lived in the same hometown and have known each other since we were like four or five but life led us to different paths after high school so it’s no surprise that you never met him before. he recently found a job here and we kinda got back in touch I guess… ”

"not in inappropriate ways, i hope."

"..."

“and here i thought i was your only boy best friend”, he pouted.

“am i sensing jealousy in the air?” You  pinched his nose playfully.

“Please stop.”

“love, he’s just a friend…”

“whom you’ve known longer than we’ve been married. “

“he's also tall and handsome.”

“see that. you’re proving my point.”

“nahh, I prefer blondes. thick eyebrows and chiseled cheekbones are also a plus. no… actually you know what? i prefer them even more when they belong to my husband you know- a certain Erwin Smith.”

A little satisfied grin appeared on his face as he wrapped and arm around you and pulled you even closer to him.

“well, that's my luck then. i seem to fit the criteria.”

[the-ace-with-spades]

For the celebrity chef Bradley AU, featuring kinda jealous Jake...

(I'm not writing it, just to be clear, but different scenarios keep popping up in my mind and I need them OUT)

So, to recap from my prev post about this AU, Bradley became a celebrity chef by taking part in Hell's Kitchen-like reality TV show and impressing the show lead chef, first working as his sous chef after the show and then opening his own Michelin-starred restaurant.

He and Jake met and Jake didn't know he was a celebrity chef because he doesn't watch TV, doesn't know shit about the cooking world and Bradley doesn't look like the type at all.

They've been together for some time at this point, Jake is still a bit of a shithead about Bradley's cooking (a tough critic, he likes to call himself) and Bradley gets an offer to come in for a new HK-like show season as a sous chef or supporting lead chefs for one of the teams and offers Jake to come with him to Los Angeles for the ten weeks he's going to be filming since Jake is on leave. He's going to be returning with another contestant from his season, Monica, and will run cooking workshops for the contestants behind the scenes.

Jake isn't a fan of reality shows — he hasn't even watched the HK season where Bradley was the contestant — and not a fan of Los Angeles so he's like No, thank you and Bradley goes alone.

Jake tells Javy about this when Bradley is gone for like two weeks already and Javy, who is a bit too emotionally involved into cooking shows, gets all cagey until Jake prods him and Javy is all like, "So, were the rumors true? About Bradley and Monica, I mean. Did they really...?"

"Did they really what?"

And Javy, the HK fan number one, gets Jake a brief overview of the lore. The lore being that Bradley and Monica were the finalists of their HK edition and Bradley, who had been named an individualist focused on winning from the beginning (and disliked by anyone who wasn't paired with him for both being skilled and brutally honest) had a soft spot for her. Any time they could choose a pair for a challenge, they'd choose each other, they had a wicked banter going on, and at some point at the end of the show, they were filmed sleeping in the same bed (or bedroom? It wasn't clear). The night before the finale they fell asleep cuddling on the couch together.

Obviously, viewers went shipper crazy and the rumors about Bradley and Monica were mad and never really died down (they've been seen together a few times after filming).

Bradley's never talked to Jake about Monica. In fact, he didn't even mention she was the one he lost to when he was telling Jake about the return to the show.

So, maybe Jake spirals a little and maybe some of his insecurities show up — he is aware in the eyes of the general public, there is a big disproportion of success between him, a naval officer, and Bradley, the world-renewed celebrity chef. Bradley earns a shit ton of money and is well-known and one of the best in his industry, Jake is just, well, a good naval aviator. He's also, despite being such a hard critic towards Bradley's skills, not much of a cook — there's a lot he doesn't understand about Bradley's job and he's not sure he could actually ever be as good as he is, not to mention so knowledgeable, sometimes he doesn't understand what Bradley is ranting to him about or what he's making, etc. Someone who works in the food industry would have much more common than he and Bradley have, and probably would be able to understand him more.

Their relationship isn't public, mostly because Jake has no desire to be a celebrity spouse, but also because he's aware Bradley dating a guy would bring a lot of uproar still.

He binge-watches the HK edition Bradley took part in and suddenly regrets not being more public about their relationship, not being Bradley's plus one to the big events or not letting Bradley talk about him in interviews.

He understands why there were rumors — Bradley and Monica had chemistry. They looked cute together, they obviously had a lot of respect for each other, and they almost seemed to be a level above all the other contestants. He knows some of the show is staged, but Bradley seemed so critical of everyone but Monica, only ever working seamlessly if he was a leader in the groups (during service or challenges) or if he was paired up with Monica.

Jake doesn't really use much social media but he googles and then stalks her a bit — sees the promotional material with Bradley and her on insta, for both the current and past show seasons, sees how they look at each other during interviews, all warm and soft and playful, and sees that people still ask about their relationship. And something just sets him off.

Bradley's never talked about Monica to him.

So maybe he's being impulsive but he drives to Los Angeles and goes straight to Bradley's hotel room to talk. He doesn't say anything because when he arrives, he finds out Bradley and Monica have rooms next to each other and they're literally talking to each other in the corridor, all nice and cozy with Bradley hovering over her, when Jake shows up.

He stays and follows Bradley around on the show's filming site. Maybe he is a bit of an ass to Monica, and more of an ass than usually to Bradley.

Maybe Bradley gets mad at him for behaving the way he does. Maybe they fight. Maybe Bradley even tells him to go home and let him work if he's going to be like that to his coworkers and the people on set.

Maybe Jake explodes in his face.

[recurring-polynya]

Izakaya Kamenoya

I am re-watching the Captain Amagai arc, which I love because it has just a shit-ton of Seireitei slice-of-life worldbuilding. Early in the arc, Kira goes to the bar with Renji and Iba to sob about how his new Third Seat is better than him, and it made me wonder-- do the lieutenants always go to the same bar, or does the anime just make up a new one every time? Episode 172 had a nice shot of the exterior:

I immediately went to Episode 355 (the second New Year's episode), because I'm always thinking about Rukia shotgunning that beer while Renji gazes on lovingly, and it certainly *looks* like same place, but again, maybe that's just a very standard-looking izakaya.

I decided that trying to translate the kanji might help. They're more visible in the first image. The ones on the paper lantern, 酒処 were easy, because they just say izakaya (literally, "alcohol" and "place"). That just supported the idea that this was just some generic bar. For the kanji on the wooden lantern, which appeared to be the same as the ones on the sign above the door, I managed to puzzle out the bottommost one, 屋, which means "shop" or "restaurant." Hmm.

At this point, I was feeling a little stumped, so I went looking for other screen shots.

Other bar scenes I could remember took place in: Episode 179 (Ukitake and Kyouraku try to angle Amagai into a threesome). This had a clearer shot of the sign, and it's definitely the same as the lantern.

Ep 305 (Kira and Hisagi go for drinks after work and run into Unohana having "Ladies' Night" with Soi Fon, the Kotetsu sisters, and Yachiru ????)

And finally, Episode 265 (the end of the Sword Beasts arc, Ladies' Night again, I guess, this time with zanpakutou)

and bingo, they actually translated it for me, this time!!

In, the only one that didn't turn out to take place at Izakaya Kamenoya was from Ep. 303, the first New Year's episode. The SWA holds their holiday luncheon here (the sign says 茶屋, or "tea house") .

It is also not the place where Rukia and Renji announce their engagement in WDKALY, that place is called Safflower, and it's fancier and it's specifically mentioned that it's way classier than everyone's usual digs.

That's neither here nor there, let's get back to Izakaya Kamenoya!

Later on, like when I was 90% of the way through writing this post, I realized there was an earlier shot of the sign in episode 172 that was also translated (which I thought I remembered and then assumed I had hallucinated when I couldn't find it, but it was from a separate trip to bar with Kibune and Kira's shitty subordinates). Conveniently, it's also probably the most readable out of all of them. EDIT: I didn't notice when I pasted this in here, but they translate it as Kamegameya here, which seems like a mistake? B3 suggests they might have read the second character as a repetition (with the k turning into a g, which I don't know all the details of, but I assume it's that thing that happens in Japanese when a word is in the interior of another word and it gets a harder consonant, the same way the s in "sakura" in Senbonzakura becomes a z). Google also tells me that the name of Yugi's grandfather's game shop in Yu-Gi-Oh is called Kame Game, so I wonder if the subtitler here was just working on muscle memory 😂. I'm sticking with Kamenoya, although Turtle Turtle Bar has its own charm)

The three characters in the upper left are 居酒屋, which is just a different way to spell izakaya.

"Kame" was easy to translate, it's the leftmost large character on the sign, 亀. It means "turtle", but the second meaning is "heavy drinker," so I'm guessing this might be a bit of a pun. Unfortunately, googling didn't turn up any further detail on this.

I puzzled a little over the middle character, until I realized that it might be 之, which is an older version of の. Oh, says me, who only speaks the Japanese I picked up from anime, it's Kame no ya, the way all the inns in Kakuriyo end in "ya." It just means "House of the Turtle", or "Turtle's Pub."

Turtle's Pub. Can we just take a moment to reflect on the fact that the lieutenants (and sometimes captains) like to hang out at someplace called Turtle's? I am so charmed by this. I have not been so excited since the time I realized that Renji was wearing the koi hoodie in the Bount Arc OP.

It's possible that it was just named by a guy who has "kame" as part of his name or who likes turtles, or as I said, maybe it's a pun, but there are two other possibilities I thought of:

In line with this post on the naming scheme for the Seireitei Gates, perhaps it's in the north part of the city, and named after Genbu the Black Tortoise-Snake

When I am making up business names in my fanfic, I often like to associate them with the squads they are near-- dragons for stuff near Squad 10, fish for 13, firebirds for things that are more city-wide. It's partially trying to tap into squad solidarity, and partially so people have a clue where your place is located in this stupid maze city. I love the idea of some former captain with a turtle-themed zanpakutou, whose is fondly remembered because someone happened to name a good bar after them.

I looked up that extremely questionable Blood War era Seireitei map, wondering if maybe Squad 3 was near the north gate:

It turns out it is not (assuming the unlabeled squads just go in order), but you know what is? Squad 10. So if Kamenoya is named after the North Gate, I assume everyone drinks there because it's close to Matsumoto.

(thank you very much to @kaicko for checking my work)

[badchoicesworld]

hi again, i’m the guy who requested hobie x trans vigilante reader and i LOVED IT. the details felt so true to his character and all in all it was an amazing read. you’re definitely one of, if not my favorite spiderverse writer. (btw, your spidersona sounds very interesting.) so, as expected, i have another request for you!

if you’d like, will you do a hobie x masc reader where they’re in bands? of course, hobie would be a part of a punk group, but maybe reader is in a metal one? they keep running into each other at shows and people think they might not get along, but they instantly get comfortable around each other. it’d be cute if they wore the other’s merch and showed up to some gigs. thank you :)

hobie’s punk, you’re metal (band edition)

hobie brown x masc!reader

EYYYYYYY ANON

had me gripping my knee, tucking hair behind my ear and kicking my feet fr ily tysm - if you’re planning to keep coming back (more than welcome <3) feel free to give me some kinda name to call you ! claim an emoji if you’d like or give me some kinda alias if you’d like, or remain anon, completely up to you !!

anyway such a slay idea thank you so much !

i’m gonna have to be a little brief w details cause i know hobie’s band is completely different in the comics and i have no fuckin clue what’s going on w this hobie’s band, no clue if gwen’s the drummer or what so mans being BRIEF but as far as i’m aware hobie does all of his gigs as “spider-punk” so secret identity still stands. i’m not gonna call him that cause he doesn’t like the name, but you know what i’m tryna insinuate

i’m a guy who can listen to all types of music so i enjoyed indulging in punk and metal music to get a better feel for this, so thank you !

i tried to do research into style, music and history so i hope this is half decent lmao

also wanna stress that i know there’s a shit ton of political stuff when it comes to punk and metal scenes, i ain’t touching it and i want none of you to ask me about it

warnings: none

pairing: hobie brown x masc!reader

requests: OPEN actually begging for them im stuck in a car tomorrow

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

AIGHT ! so you twos both belong to bands that are pretty prominent in london, and if someone doesn’t know one then they’ll eventually learn about the other

you both like to perform at these smaller gigs instead of going mainstream, and it results in you two bumping shoulders every now and again

now, it’s impossible to miss hobie since he’s dressed as a punk spider-man

the same can apply to you if you choose to also have a secret identity lmao

but it’s on sight

it’s a common thing for people to think that punk and metal fans are like cats and dogs (an expression, animals are lovely.) for some fuckin reason

so naturally, both of your fans had always speculated the day that you crossed paths

what would you do ? fist fight ? poke hobie’s eyes out w the 🤘 gesture ? dear god will hobie swing his guitar at you ?!?!

no lmao

it’s like two old friends meeting, you guys have definitely heard of each other before but not yet met, so you’re both pretty psyched to see each other in the flesh !

it’s more like a “Ayy! my guy!” kinda thing instead of typical london stabbing

friendly hug, accidentally get impaled on a spike, that kinda thing

if your fans are sane they’re just kinda like “oh dope lmao” instead of “NOOOOOOOO” because who tf would

instead, opens doors to unlimited possibilities

friendly rivalry ? i think so

depending on what you play/your role in the band, you can get competitive for funsies

if you’re both guitarists you’ve got this ongoing joke about who’s the better one, shows are dope whenever you two are competing cause you go above and beyond for the sake of bragging rights

you win, metal takes a lot more out of a man (from the research i’ve done metal takes more “skill” in a literal sense, way more going on w the cords, correct me if i’m wrong)

hobie insists there are no losers, of course (he doesn’t believe in losing)

hella friendly banter, nudges, cutely whiplashing each other w water at shows whenever you spot the other in a crowd while they’re performing

collaboration ? possibly, imagine that shit

speculation of you two dating ? no because hobie doesn’t like labels

i’m gonna let u decide if hobie is the typa guy to kiss whoever else is on stage w him

back to secret identities for a little- aight so we all know hobie’s identity is a secret because he’s this spider-lad saving london, a conversation starter fr

in the events that you bring it up, he’ll probably just brush it off and tell you to focus on your scene, not in a mean condescending way but because he’d rather talk about music together since it’s his passion

depending on where your guys’ relationship goes determined if he’d reveal his secret identity to you or not, same applies to you if you have a secret identity

but i’ll leave that up to you

back to the gigs ! if you two ever spot each other in the crowds, it’s on sight

wether you recognise each other as your alter egos or secret identities, you will be either drowned by the end of the gig or mercilessly stared at

don’t think hobie would bring people up on stage unless you’re both performing, it can be a super awkward thing, other people might be uncomfortable and also favouritism aint his thing

wear each others merch, see what happens

you don’t have a secret identity and you wear it casually ? will likely catch the eyes of the media and words will spread

i cant actually imagine hobie having official merch, i think he’d like it more if his fans just made things so there’s not that whole “poser” stuff i’ve been seeing (again if i’m wrong and band shirts have significance other than sentimental value let me know)

punk is about diy, so he’d love his fans all the more if the “merch” he had was super unique diy stuff all hand made by his fans :]

so hobie either makes you merch, or you make your own ! he’ll probably make his own merch of you band, too

absolutely wears it to gigs, why wouldn’t he ? how fuckin punk is that ammarite

trade guitar picks, do it

you’re both real comfortable around each other, it’s an honest treat to cross paths whenever you’re both at a gig and if you guys become friends outside of it, that’s all the better

slaps stickers on your instruments case while walking by you, they have accumulated overtime

a lot of friendly call outs at the start or throughout shows, shit like “this one goes out to y/n, he ate my fuckin sandwich” before playing or probably banter along the lines of “refund his show and come to mine instead, it just makes sense” if your shows aren’t free

i expect you to do the same

you are each others worse nightmare

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧