#always a paladin eddie

[hisbucky]

Buck, writing a script for D&D: There are quite a few things that are wrong about this world—

Eddie, snorts: A few? More like a thousand.

Buck: Eddie, babe. I'm trying to write a monologue here.

Eddie: And you're doing great. Appreciate everything you do for the campaign - I just have an opinion.

Buck, squints eyes: Says the person who always ends up being a paladin in my games.

Eddie: Not all of us can be math geniuses, Evan. Some of us just want to swing a sword and call it a day.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Modern AU, Eddie and Steve are together and live together, Steve is a paramedic and Eddie is a bartender + fairly successful streamer. He usually plays games where you can create your own character, or at least customize it.

Steve doesn't watch any of the streams, but he's very supportive of Eddie's career.

What he doesn't know is: Eddie always creates a character based on Steve. Always.

Mass Effect? Commander Steve Shepard, brown eyes, hair and tons of bitching from Eddie during the stream that the faces are all ugly and they don't do Steve justice. He goes for the destroy ending because he'll never, EVER have Steve die in a game for good.

Dragon Age: Inquisition? Warrior Steve to the rescue. He also romances Dorian because "of course he would date a sassy gay, duh."

Baldur's Gate 3? Paladin Steven with Oath of Devotion, doing as much good as possible, keeping Gale from becoming a horrible godly being, becoming besties with Karlach and romancing Astarion because "that's just who Steve is, he believes in people even when they don't."

Steve doesn't learn about this for years. But when he does, he completely loses it at a sentence that Eddie always uses to end his stream: "Be good, guys. Always ask: WWSD - What Would Steve Do?"

And yes. There is merch with that.

[strangersteddierthings]

What's Eight Plus Seven?

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five

Prompt from @devious-kitten

Steve had a mild interest in DnD as a freshmen because of a cousin or something. The interest was killed by Eddie being mean since Steve is a jock. Post vecna Eddie finds dust covered DnD handbook Steve explains and Eddie faces a still hurt Steve as a results of his biases

((Half written fic, half rambling about how it would go down. Apologies for the formatting. Also I added more angst than the prompt called for hehe))

Steve has always loved sports. This is a well-known fact. He's played on some sort of sports team from the time he was old enough for his parents to be able to sign him up.

A lesser-known fact is that Steve loves fantasy. Or, at least, he used to. On the playground in elementary school, Steve could often be found playing knights and dragons, and it was anyone's guess if he would be a knight or a dragon on any particular day.

The summer between middle and high school, Steve spent with his grandparents from his mother's side, on the farm they'd retired on in Michigan. A month long stay that he'd shared with his cousins, Amber, Robert, and Christopher. Amber and Robert are twins, four years younger than Steve, and Christopher was two years older and infinitely cooler than anyone else Steve knew.

Christopher was on the varsity basketball team at his high school when he was just a sophomore, captain of the JV football team, president of the chess club, and in a games club.

Christopher was everything Steve wanted to be now that he was going to be in high school. Minus the chess club because

It was during that summer, Steve got to indulge in playing make believe for another summer with his younger cousins, without the judgement of people (his father and peers) who thought he was too old for such things. He also got to learn about make believe for older kids, because Christopher played a game called Dungeons and Dragons with his game club the last month of school before summer break and spent many evenings going over what had happened with Steve as a captive audience.

"I wish I'd brought the books," Christopher had whispered to him one night from the bed, peaking over to look down at Steve in his sleeping bag on the floor, "we could have played."

Steve wishes he'd brought the books, too.

At the end of July, Christopher, Amber, and Robert's parents show up to pick them up, five days before Steve's scheduled flight to Indianapolis. It's a sad goodbye because one summer a year isn't enough with his cousins but they live in Washington. Steve's always jealous their parents drive all the way to pick them up, but a little proud he gets to brag about how he's flown alone since he was seven. No one else in his class can brag about that.

His mom picks him up in Indianapolis and they go back to school shopping while there.

A week later, Steve receives a package from Christopher. Inside Steve finds Advanced Dungeons and Dragons books, three of them, and even though Christopher said nothing about advanced, he's sure he can manage. On the inside cover of the players handbook, Christopher has written:

Hey Steve, I think you'd rock playing a dwarf paladin. Let's play next summer? Christopher 1981

He spends the last three weeks of summer vacation reading the player handbook cover to cover and making a character. It's slow going, because letters don't stay where they're supposed to be on the page (that's a problem he's had his whole life, so he's not surprised but he is determined), and he's never been good at math, so getting the stats down on paper isn't easy. He can't decide what he wants to play, so he makes two characters; an elf magic-user and, of course, a dwarf paladin.

(He's a little disappointed you can't be a dragon.)

Steve's never been one to dread the first day of school, but he's never actually looked forward to it, either. It's just been another day.

Until today.

Today is his first day as a high schooler. And the only people who go to the first day are Freshman, except the upper classman that have volunteered to man the booths for school activities for the last hour of the day. It's supposed to help the Freshman get the lay of the land without being overwhelming and Steve's excited for it. He needs to see if Hawkins High has a games club like Christopher's school does.

Here Steve is, that last hour of school. He's already been to the basketball booth, promising to sign up as soon as the season started, and the swim booth because he's got a pool at his house and has been swimming for as long as he can remember and knows he enjoys it. He also stops by the football booth even though he's never played, or cared much, for it. (Maybe he's trying to emulate Christopher, sue him.). So, the final thing is to see if Hawkins High offers a chess club and a game club.

Steve is delighted to see that, though there is no games club, there is a Dungeons and Dragons club! That delight wavers because of the kid manning the booth. His hair is curly and falls just below his ears, with big brown eyes. Steve hates to think it, but he'd be cute if he didn't look like he wanted to stab Steve.

"Yeah, no, keep walking," says the boy, pulling the flier with meeting information on it out from under Steve's hand, where he'd been attempting to read it.

Steve looks up, brows furrowed in confusion. "I was reading that."

"And I said no. Jocks don't play Dungeons and Dragons."

"I could," Steve says, offended. He squints at the name tag sticker slapped diagonally across the way too big jean vest this guy's wearing. E-d-d-i-e. Eddie.

"Have you ever played?"

"Well... no, but-"

"No buts. Mitch let a jock join last year and that was a nightmare. He could barely read the rule book. And with how you were squinting down at the flier, and then my name tag, you're not going to be much better."

Jokes on Eddie, Steve's already read the rule book. Even if it was slowly. "I can read just fine."

"Can you math, then? What's eight plus seven?"

"What?"

"Simple addition. Eight plus seven. What is it?"

Steve knows simple addition. This is fine. It doesn't matter than he's been put on the spot, and that math is hard for the same reason as reading. He can do this. His hand twitches with wanting to pull it up and use it to keep track. He's faster at math when he can do that, but this jerk is mean mugging him and he just knows if he moves his hand, this guy will mock him the rest of the school year.

Eight plus seven. Ok. Make it easier, get to ten. It takes adding two to the eight to get ten. Ok. Take that two away from the seven now. That makes... five! Ok. Ten plus five is-

"Dude, it's fifteen," Eddie snaps.

"I knew that!"

Scoff. "Right. How about seventeen plus six."

Steve can feel his face turning red with embarrassment but he's not going to let this jackass be right. Round up. It takes three to get seventeen to twenty, so take three away from the six-

"23. Point proven. Go. Away. Go play your jock games and leave me- us alone."

Steve opens his mouth to argue, or maybe plead, that he can do this, and that, more importantly, he wants to do this, but laughter cuts through the air and for the first time, Steve notices the audience that has gathered. Three people are laughing at him, and his inability to do mental math, and it makes Steve snap his jaw shut and swallow.

"Mental math isn't that hard, Steve," one of them, Brant, says, as he elbows the guy next to him.

"Thank you!" Eddie says, "that's what I'm saying."

"Whatever, man, like I'd want to play make believe at this age anyway," Steve mutters and rushes away.

If, two weeks later, Steve watches Kyle trip who he now knows is Eddie 'The Freak' Munson in the bathroom, and drag him into a stall for a swirly, well, no he didn't. He briefly thinks of saying something to stop Kyle, but shoves the words down and instead turns on heel and leaves that bathroom just as the sound of flushing and Eddie yelling start. The thick bathroom door does a good job of muffling the noise and if Steve feels any guilt about that, he shoves that down, too.

Besides, Kyle's the captain of the basketball team and if Steve wants a chance to be on that team, he can't stay anything. It's a well-known fact that Steve likes sports, after all. He's going to stick to that. Screw Eddie Munson and his Dungeons and Dragons club.

Steve will get to play Dungeons and Dragons with Christopher next summer.

Except, halfway through the school year, Steve and his parents quickly board a plane bound for Washington. Turns out being as perfect as Christopher was is hard. Overwhelming.

They arrive the day before the funeral, and fly out right after it. Steve barely has time to mourn before they're shuffling him back to school that Monday.

Christopher died, and with him, so does Steve's desire to be just like him. He quits the football team. He keeps basketball because he does like it, even without Christopher's influence. He can't bring himself to get rid of the Dungeons and Dragons books, but he can't look at them, either. They end up in the downstairs hall closet, forgotten on the shelf.

So, years later, after rising to the top of the food chain (no one was ever going to embarrass him like Eddie Munson had again) and then falling to the bottom (who cares about high school popularity when interdimensional monsters exist) and of course, the years of fighting against said interdimensional monsters before ending it all in spring of '86, Steve finds himself, unwillingly, agreeing to host Hellfire since the school banned the club following the events of spring break.

Damn Dustin Henderson. Steve usually has the backbone to say no but Dustin had to play up 'getting a chance to finally just be kids' and fuck, how was Steve going to say no to that? Despite how quickly his own desire to be a freshman playing Dungeons and Dragon had been squashed, he can't be the one to ruin this for them.

"Thanks for hosting, man," Eddie says when Steve lets him in. He's an hour early but had asked if that was okay. Apparently the dungeon master has a lot of prep to do? Not that Steve would know.

"Sure," Steve says, dismissively, because while Eddie and he went through hell together, and Steve carried his sorry ass out of the Upside Down, Steve can't quite let his guard down around him.

It's funny. In the Upside Down, Eddie had made a point to tell him he's changed, is a 'good dude' now. So, what's funny is how much Eddie is exactly the same person he was five years ago. He was an ass to Steve five years ago, and as far as Steve is concerned, was also an ass to Lucas for wanting to play basketball just this year.

He swears to God, if he hears one negative thing about Lucas tonight, he's punching Eddie unconscious, no matter what the rest of Hellfire will do or say about it.

Eddie's been in his dining room for maybe five minutes before he finds Steve in the living room. Steve's got a movie playing but he couldn't tell you which one. He's not really watching it.

"Do you got a table cloth for that big table? Jeff's got a set of metal dice and I'd feel like a real ass if we scratched it on accident."

Steve takes a deep breath before answering. He hates that Eddie is considerate like this, has been since spring break if Steve's being honest, but he doesn't want to see Eddie's good qualities. So, he waves in the direction of the closet. "Yeah. There should be some in the hall closet there. Help yourself."

"Thanks."

He twists on the couch to watch Eddie cross the room to the closet door, listens as the door creaks opens, hears the quiet, pleased noise Eddie lets out when his eyes land on the stack of table clothes. Steve continues to watch as Eddie just grabs the whole stack and yanks them off the top shelf.

Which means his watching as the stack of non-fabric objects, which must have been half atop the table clothes, also tumble out of the closet, bouncing off various parts of Eddie. It's a bunch of miscellaneous items. However, Steve realizes with horror, the book that bounces off Eddie's head is his copy of the Monster Manual. Eddie has stepped back in surprise (and possibly pain), so the Dungeon Master Guide and the Players Handbook bounce off his torso and leg before landing on the ground.

"Fuck," Eddie curses, before he stares down at what just assaulted him. Steve just stares at Eddie, watching as he slowly comes to comprehend what he's seeing. He watches as Eddie bends down and grabs the Player Handbook, the last thing to fall, from a top the pile. "What the-"

Steve stands, suddenly defensive, but doesn't actually say anything or move closer. He just watches as Eddie examines the book, flipping it from front to back in his hand like the title will change if he does that enough times.

Then, Eddie turns to him, bewildered. "Present for one of the kids? Thought they all had their own copies."

"No."

Eddie flips the book open. Reads the words written in there so many years ago. "Who's Christopher? Wait. 1981? You were playing D&D in 1981?"

"None of your business, and no," Steve says, now kicking into action, stomping up to Eddie and snatching the book from his hands.

Eddie hold his hands up in defense before his eyes turn mischievous. The same glint in them now that was there when Eddie'd leaned into this space in the RV and called him big boy. "Are you lying to me, Stevie? You've played before, haven't you?"

It makes Steve's blood boil. "No. I haven't played!"

"Alright. You could now, you know," Eddie says. And it's the way he says it, all nonchalant and like he's trying to be coy about it- it tips something over inside Steve. A bottle that held his humiliation and hurt from all those years ago.

"Oh, now I'm good enough for D&D? Now I can join? Aren't I too much of a jock for you!?"

"Whoa, what's with the hostility-"

"What's eight plus seven, Eddie!?" Steve snaps. His memory might be shit these days, with all the concussions, but the unfortunate part about Steve is that he always seems to remember the bad. And he remembers Freshman First Day like yesterday. "No? How about seventeen plus six? Come on, mental math isn't hard. Or don't you remember? I'm just a stupid jock too slow on the uptake, or no, what was it you said? It'll be a nightmare to play with me, 'cause I might be barely able to read the rules?"

He watches as Eddie's face morphs from confusion, to understanding and horror. "Holy shit, Steve. That was you- you wanted to join Hellfire-"

"Yeah, and you made it pretty fuckin' clear I didn't belong in it."

"I'm sorry man. I shouldn't have- if I'd known you, I never would have-"

"That's the problem, Eddie!" Steve shouts, waving the book in front of him. "You didn't know me. You looked at me and decided for me that I was going to be a jock and nothing else and then humiliated me in front of other people! You didn't even bother to try to know me. I spent three weeks reading this stupid book cover to cover because I knew I was shit at reading and I still wanted to try anyway."

He sees Eddie puffing up in anger. "Well, I wasn't exactly wrong, was I? You were a jock, a bully even!"

"Yeah, because I was a dumb, hurt kid who decided that it was better to hurt than be hurt. As if you weren't exactly the same that day, lashing out at me first, at my reading ability, and mocking me for not being quick at math. Fuck you, Munson!" Steve walks away, not hearing anything Eddie shouts after him as he sprints up the stairs and shuts himself in his room.

Steve knows he was a dick in high school, and it's not Eddie's fault he was a dick. Steve made choices he's not proud of and no one forced those choice on him. But Eddie doesn't get to throw that back in his face. Not when Eddie made him feel humiliated and stupid on the first goddamn day of high school, long before Steve became mean himself.

[stevieschrodinger]

Baker Steve/Rock Star Eddie wrong number AU

Part One

Part Two

PART THREE

"It's like a TV show, but on YouTube."

"Right," Steve answers, half listening to Dustin's explanation, "so it, like what, has an air time, or whatever?"

"Yeah, like a series."

"And it's just, what, famous people playing dipshits and dickheads?"

"Steeeeeeeeeeeevvvvveeeeeeeeeeee why are you like this?"

"Dunno," Steve shrugs, trying to read a recipe online. Unfortunately that's resulted in his having to scroll past someones entire fucking life story and he's ready to give up and try and work out the dumb Oreo cake recipe himself, "just lucky, I guess."

Dustin drops his head on the kitchen counter like Steve is the greatest difficulty he's ever going to face.

"So why do you need to be here to watch this?"

"Because we all want to watch it together, the guests are Corroded Coffin, they all like, play, the whole band, it's so cool-"

"Corroded Coffin? Playing your nerd game?" Steve's interest leaks through before he can stop it, "I mean, like, I think I've heard of them?" The last thing he needs is the kids finding out he's been kind of friends kind of flirting kind of maybe wants to date the actual Eddie Munson.

Dustin looks at him skeptically, "yeah...so you-"

"You can all watch it here, it's fine...I'll make cookies."

Dustin's completely distracted by his own success, instantly whipping out his phone to inform the other kids. Steve's pretty sure their group chat is called 'No Steve's allowed' but he hasn't actually found out for sure yet.

Steve does bake cookies. All the kids are gathered around his smart TV, absolutely demolishing them while they wait for this thing to start. It's like, an actual channel, with intros and graphics and stuff, a logo that reads 'Final Roll.'

And there's Eddie and the band, sitting around a table with two dudes who must run the channel. They all have the bits of paper and dice and little figures that Steve's used to seeing when the kids commandeer his dining room table.

There's preemptive ramble, and Steve leans forward a little every time Eddie's in shot. He's relieved all the kids are all sitting in front of him and all glued to the TV, so he can ogle in peace. They do introductions, and then everyone introduces their characters.

"May I introduce Sir Steven, the half elf paladin," behind Eddie Gareth rolls his eyes so hard his whole fucking body moves. Steve can see him and Geoff mouthing something to each other. Steve can only assume it's because Eddie has named his character, presumably, after him, "he has a sworn oath to always protect those weaker than himself."

Steve's heart fucking melts.

Steve's phone is buzzing. He's prepared. He knows Eddie's back in the country, they've been talking for months. Steve's kind of done waiting, and he's ready to press his advantage. He's had this set up for a little while, just waiting for the right moment. He presses play, and then answers the phone.

"Hey Stevie how-...are you listening to Corroded Coffin?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve turns it down, bomb dropped, trap sprung, advantage played, "the kids absolutely love them, they're trying to get me into them even though they're not exactly my thing."

"Right, ah, right, what do you, uhm, think?"

"Yeah. Still not my thing-"

"Oh."

"But I really like it when the lead guy sings."

"...yeah?"

"Yeah, not the like, shouty growly singing, I can't understand a fucking thing he's saying-" Eddie chuckles, "but like, the parts where he properly sings. I think he has a beautiful voice."

"I ah, well, I mean, I bet the, uhm, shouty bits are hard work, you know. I expect that takes a lot of, you know, practice. Hell on the throat. I imagine, I would guess anyway, I don't actually, like know-"

"No no, yeah, well, maybe he should just sing more then, save those vocal chords, or whatever. I'd like that a lot."

"Yeah?" Steve can practically hear Eddie blushing down the phone. Eddie's so cute when he goes shy.

"Yeah." There's a long beat of silence before Steve goes in for the kill, "the kids are trying to get me to go see them. They're in the states now, apparently. Will be playing a gig in Indie."

"Yeah they are- I mean, I assume they are, most bands, uhm, yeah-" And Steve is hardly holding it together, Eddie is such a bad liar, and he's trying so hard not to lie at all. Steve doesn't know how he;s keeping his tone normal and not letting the whole ass cat out of the bag.

"And the kids are absolutely itching to go, you know? But tickets man, they're all doing every chore they can find to get some extra cash, but tickets are pricey, and for eight of us? Because I'll need someone else to help me chaperone and, you know..."

"I. I might...know a guy. Maybe. Like, because of the band I might...know someone who can get you tickets."

"Seriously? Eddie that would be incredible, the kids will absolutely loose their shit."

"Yeah, ah, is your work email cool?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course of course, man, the kids are going to love you for like, forever."

And maybe I will too, Steve just about manages to keep the words inside.

@steves-yellow-cardigin @melodymeddler @pitrsattabhaadmeinjao

@superduckmilkshake @she-collects-smut @paintsplatteredandimperfect @resident-gay-bitch

[ataliagold]

But My Heart Is Just A Little Boy

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Rating: Teen (swearing)

W/C: 2012

Tags: Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, hurt/comfort, Steve Harrington has dyscalculia, Steve Harrington has self esteem issues, Steve Harrington needs a hug, fluff, light angst, DnD, Mike and Dustin are a little mean here

Notes: Just slowly posting some of my AO3 stuff here as well :) Title from Rattlesnake by Jack Van Cleaf.

___

Steve joining in on Eddie’s campaign was supposed to be a nice surprise for his boyfriend.

And it was; Eddie’s face had lit up with joy when Steve had walked in and sat down with the kids around the table. Steve had taken the dice Dustin had loaned him and lined them up in front of him, from the D4 (the funny triangle one) up to the D20 (the one with heaps of sides, Steve reminded himself.)

If he kept them in that order it would help him pick the right dice quickly, he’d decided.

Because he wanted this to go to perfectly.

Eddie had been asking him to join in on a game for months, but Steve had so far refused, only coming along sometimes to watch quietly. There were parts of it that piqued his interest – namely the combat and the creatures Eddie planted into the game, because some of them were so damn cool even if Steve wouldn’t readily admit it out loud. A small part of him, a much younger part that had loved fairy tales and stories about knights and dragons and sword fights before his father had confiscated those books, deeming them too childish, watched with a quiet giddiness as the kids battled all manner of beasts.

But much of the game was so complicated - there were so many numbers, and Steve had no idea how Eddie and the kids managed to keep track of everything, how they added dice values together so damn quickly and kept track of a seemingly endless list of stats and bonuses and modifiers, whatever the hell they were.

Eddie knew about his difficulty with numbers. He’d seen the way Steve had to count with his fingers, how it took him far too fucking long to do a simple equation, how he stood in Melvald’s staring at the price of something just trying to make the numbers make sense so they wouldn’t blow their grocery budget.

And Eddie was patient, always. But D&D was Eddie’s realm, his place to shine, and Steve was so worried about holding him back and ruining the game every time he had to pause to add two fucking dice together.

Finally, he’d caved. Secretly, with Dustin’s help, he’d put a character sheet together. He’d made a paladin because Dustin had told him it suited him. Steve made him strong and lawful good, just like the knights he used to read about as a little boy. Dustin had rolled his eyes a little at that but Steve had been quite proud of what he’d put together.

Plus, Dustin had promised to help him with the math.

But here Steve was, well over an hour into the campaign, and he was struggling.

Cheeks burning, he turned to Dustin yet again.

“Wait, which one am I rolling?” he whispered.

Dustin rolled his eyes. The kid had been patient at first, but it was beginning to wear thin.

Steve was beginning to wear thin.

“The D10, Steve,” Dustin hissed.

“Right,” Steve nodded, grabbing for one of the dice.

“That’s the D8, Steve,” Mike said wearily.

Steve’s cheeks flushed even hotter, and he grabbed the other dice, rolling it quickly.

“Ahhh...seven,” Steve announced.

“You slash at the goblin, your blade cutting deep into its chest, the creature gurgling and reeling backwards…” Eddie leant over the table, giving a dramatic recount of events.

Steve smiled, unable to help it. His boyfriend was having such a good time, and even if Steve wasn’t enjoying himself so much, well, that was ok. He could do this, for Eddie.

“…but it scrabbles back to its feet, weak but alive,” Eddie finishes.

Mike groaned and slapped the table.

“It has to be almost dead,” Lucas announced.

“Yeah, but there’s still four others,” Mike pointed out.

“This one must be on two hit points or less,” Will surmised.

How did he know that? Steve frowned, let the kids talk amongst themselves. His gaze wandered over to Eddie, watching him lean back in his chair, eyes shining. He shot a wink at Steve when he caught him looking, then frowned a little, obviously noticing Steve wasn’t looking all that comfortable.

You ok? He mouthed at him.

Steve nodded quickly.

But he felt small.

Grow the fuck up, you’re fine.

“…Steve!” Mike groaned.

Steve’s attention snapped back to the kids. “What?”

“Stop staring at Eddie and tell us how many hit points you’ve got left.”

“Um…” Steve glanced down at the piece of paper in front of him. He’d scribbled some numbers down like Dustin had told him to every time his character had taken damage, but there were a lot of numbers there and he wasn’t sure they all actually related to his hit points…

“Give it here,” Dustin snatched the paper from him impatiently, peering down at it.

Steve waited while Dustin assessed his work, the feeling vaguely reminiscent of being back in school, his teachers reading over his work with a disappointed shake of their heads.

“This can’t be right, Steve,” Dustin sighed. “It says you’re on twelve hit points…is that a twelve? Your writing’s messy.”

Steve nodded. “Yours isn’t much better, pea-brain,” he mumbled, just to shoot something back at the kid.

Dustin narrowed his eyes at him. “You must have less than that because of the damage you took in the last round. You’re probably down to…eight at the most, by now.”

“Just make it eight, then,” Steve grumbled.

“Eight it is, big boy,” Eddie agreed.

“It doesn’t work like that, though,” Mike huffed. “You actually have to keep track of this stuff Steve, there’s no point playing if you just make the numbers up.”

“It doesn’t matter, really,” Will tried to intervene quietly. “It can just be eight.”

Dustin picked up his pencil, drawing some columns on Steve’s paper. “Ok, so just use this one column to keep track of damage, don’t write all over the page. There’s your total hit points at the top, and every time you take damage, write it down under there, ok? And then just take it off the total. Simple.”

Like it was that fucking easy. Maybe for them, it was. They didn’t get every number mixed up in their brain, they didn’t stare at a single digit trying to put some numeric value behind it and coming up with zilch.

Dustin was trying to help, Steve knew. But his tone of voice was so fucking condescending that it had Steve squirming in his seat, wishing he was anywhere else.

He felt Eddie’s eyes on him.

“Come sit by me, Stevie, I’ll help you keep track.” Eddie said gently.

“You’ll just go easy on him, and that’s not fair!” Mike whined.

“Can it, Wheeler,” Eddie snapped at him.

“Just because he can’t do basic math.”

“Right, you get to roll with disadvantage now, just for that,” Eddie told him smugly.

Mike was retorting with something, but Steve didn’t hear it.

His pulse was thumping in his ears, his cheeks on fire. The years were stripped from him, the sensitive child he’d tucked away inside a long time ago forced to the surface.

“Look, just carry on without me,” Steve muttered, and stood up quick enough that his chair scraped on the floor.

“Steve -” Dustin started, but Steve was finished, striding towards the stairs and blinking back tears.

He wasn’t going to cry in front of the kids, not over a fucking game, not over something his boyfriend loved so much.

But they were coming faster than he could blink them back as he headed out of Mike’s stuffy basement and out to the driveway, the cold night air caressing his flushed face.

This was supposed to have been a treat for Eddie. It was supposed to be fun, and Steve had ruined the night by being fucking stupid.

A tear tracked down his cheek , Steve losing the battle against them. He’d just drive home, he decided. Steve had come straight from work that day, so Eddie had come separately in his van, he wouldn’t be inconvenienced.

And then they could finish their game in peace, without having to treat Steve like a five-year-old.

He was getting in the driver’s seat when Eddie ran to him, both hands reaching for him.

“Stevie…” Eddie murmured softly.

“I’m sorry,” Steve mumbled, dragging his sleeve across his face, smudging the tears there.

“Why? The kids were being assholes, I’ve already yelled at them.”

Steve shook his head. “I was just slowing everyone down, they were getting frustrated, I get it.”

“No, sweetheart, they were being rude,” Eddie corrected him. “Especially Wheeler.” Eddie brushed his thumbs across Steve’s cheeks, crouching down beside the open driver’s door. “I’ve told them to pull their heads in. Do you…do you want to come back inside?”

“Eds…” Steve leant into his hands a little. “I’m no good at it. I really wanted to try, for you, and I’m so sorry I ruined it, but there’s too many numbers and I can’t keep track of everything and it takes me so fucking long and it’s embarrassing because I can’t even keep up with a bunch of kids, and I just feel like I’m back at school again.”

Eddie cupped his cheeks again, tilting Steve’s head to look at him. “Hey. You haven’t ruined anything, they did. I’m so happy you came along tonight, because I know you did it for me. But look, D&D doesn’t have to be your thing -”

“But -”

“It doesn’t,” Eddie cut in. “Just like…your balls in laundry basket games aren’t mine. But I like hanging around while you and Wayne watch them, and I love how excited you get about it, and how you sit there with that fucking pretty smile…”

Steve huffed out a small laugh, and Eddie grabbed his wrist to press a kiss to the inside of it.

“But I don’t know what’s going on most of the time,” Eddie continued. “It makes you happy, and that’s enough for me. So, I don’t want you to feel like you have to play D&D just for me if it’s not something you enjoy. It’s more than enough that you listen to my ideas, that you help me write -”

“I don’t really,” Steve said quietly.

“You do! Or have you forgotten who came up with that fucking amazing twist with the elven prince?”

“I got it from a movie,” Steve argued.

“So? I didn’t think of it, and it had the little shrimps completely stumped.”

Steve managed a small smile. “I do like some of the stories,” he admitted quietly. “But I think…I just wanna go home, ok? You can carry on.”

Eddie shook his head. “I’m gonna get them to pack up in there. I’ll drop them home, then follow you back, ok?”

“Steve?” came Dustin’s voice from behind Eddie, small and hesitant.

Steve quickly straightened up in his seat, wiping a hand across his face.

“Yeah, buddy?” he replied, his voice a little hoarse.

“I’m…I’m sorry. That we weren’t more patient. It’s ok if you struggle with numbers, and we should’ve helped more.”

“It’s ok, Dusty,” Steve told him.

Eddie frowned, reached down to squeeze Steve’s hand, then turned to Dustin. “It isn’t ok,” he argued. “But it was nice of you to apologize.”

Dustin nodded. “If you want to try again sometime, I promise I’ll help more. I…I really liked having you play.”

“Thanks,” Steve managed.

“Tell Wheeler to start crafting his apology too,” Eddie said firmly, still cradling Steve’s hand in his own. “Otherwise he’s rolling with disadvantage for the whole next session.”

Dustin’s eyes widened a little before he nodded.

After packing up, the kids waited sheepishly by Eddie’s van. Eddie stayed crouched next to Steve a moment longer.

“Go home, get comfy on the couch, and pick out any movie you want to watch, ok?” Eddie murmured to him. “When I get home I’m gonna order us some pizza, and I’m gonna cuddle the shit out of you, understand?”

Steve laughed softly. “Sounds perfect.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”

___

[pythoness94]

Y'all don't know how important Mike calling Will every day while he was in California and never getting past the dial tone is to me. Like, I have this scene in mind where Mike just had a shit day. Max has completely pulled away from them, Lucas in spending all his time with his basketball people, Dustin is spending all his time with Steve or Eddie, Nancy is at the newspaper, Karen is with Holly, even if Ted was in the house it wouldn't matter because Ted wouldn't pay much attention to Mike anyways. He is completely alone, he has nobody and he just needs his best friend, his older brother figure, his girlfriend, his other mom, anybody. So he is sitting by the ponywall, shifting anxious as he dials the number, Nothing. He dials again, nothing, Again, nothing. Again, nothing, Again, nothing. His eyes get watery as he slips down the wall, head pressed against the cool paint. Again, nothing, again, nothing, again, nothing, again, nothing. He starts to sob, hand trembling but never missing a number from muscle memory.

He is surrounded by ideas, false prentices that his family is perfect, his life is perfect, but what made his life worth living his leaving him, some has already left. Again, nothing, and it's fault, or atleast he thinks it is. Again, nothing, again, nothing. It's really such a pretty house, the Wheeler home, objectively it's what everybody wants and needs, but it's not what Mike needs. The house is cold and dark, the only place that ever felt lived in, the basement, goes unused by everybody but him. The large room that was once full of life and friends is now empty, only used by the leader. He's a king with no kingdom, a paladin with nobody to lead. Again, nothing. Again, nothing. His DnD books gain dust, he just uses Eddie's, the ones he has are to full of painful memories. Again, nothing. He looks up to Eddie, really he does, he's exactly what he wants to be, confident, handsome, loud, proud, so unabashedly himself and people love him for it. If Mike was himself he'd be even more alone than he already is. again, nothing. He wishes he was closer to Eddie, however he seems fonder of Dustin. Which is fair, everybody he ever looked up to is fonder of Dustin. Nancy, Steve, Eddie, it's practically expected at this point. Hell, if he looked after himself, he'd be fonder of Dustin too....Again, nothing, it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Mike's stomach rolls as hot tears fall down his cheeks, Again, nothing. Time ticks past, the clock chimes louder in his ears has the cold press of the dial digs into his finger tips. Just once, just once, just once, he begs and please but nothing, it's always nothing. Heat boils in his veins. Best friend of thirteen years and can't even pick up the fucking phone? He's known the guys Brother for years and he can't pick up the phone? He practically lived in her house and kept her son safe she can't pick up the phone? He's her boyfriend and she can't even answer the fucking PHONE! He slams it against the receiver, dock shaking on the wall as his shoulder shake and chest heaves with heavy breathes. He curls into a ball, shivering and sniffling as his face gets irritated by his scratchy jeans. The sound of the dial tone mocking and grating. He's alone, his cries heard by nobody in a dark house, the savior never to be saved. Distantly, a clock chimed and blood is mistaken for snot that he wipes away without checking.

[tinytalkingtina]

The True Face of Bravery

Written for the @steddiemicrofic June challenge prompt, using the word "stuff" and max 483 words.

483 words | Rating: T (for a single swear word)

Tags: Fantasy DnD AU, Tiefling Steve Harrington, Anti-Tiefling racism, Steve Harrington has bad parents, implied child abuse, first kiss

Ao3 link

"'Mi'lord', your squire is whining he can't find your club, the one with the spikes and-um." Eddie froze with his hands still on the tent flap, staring at Steve. And surely this was Steve, he had the same facial features and clothes as Stephen Harrington, heir to the Barony of Loch Nora and paladin extraordinaire. Except Stephen Harrington didn't have luminous red skin, or a pair of horns that spiraled up out of his hair and curved back over themselves just above his ears. And he certainly didn't normally have a pointed tail poking out from his trousers. Before Eddie could even begin to think of retreating, he found himself roughly yanked inside the tent. “Wait!” Eddie flailed, wrenching himself out of Steve's grasp. “Please don't kill me! As fitting as it would be for Eddie the Banished to die at the hand of a noble I really would rather it not happen today, I promise I can keep my mouth shut and—“ Eddie stopped babbling as he took in how badly Steve was trembling. Weaponless, he had only moved to block the tent flap. Steve lifted a shaking hand to his nose. "Father was right, it was always going to come down to an act of stupidity on my part. Just, let me finish this mission, please." Eddie blinked, still wrapping his head around his companion’s true appearance. "What?" "Vecna is a blight on these lands. Even if the Order is going to expel me once they know, I swore an oath to slay him. I'm asking that you wait to turn me in until we're done. I promise, I'll go quietly." "Why would I turn you in?" Steve's tail twitched when he was anxious. "Have you somehow missed that I'm the shameful reminder of my ancestor's wrongdoings?” he said, clearly mimicking something he had been told many times over. Eddie took a tentative step forward. "And what makes you think I give a flying fuck what stuff society or your Order believes? Sweetheart, I'm just impressed you've managed to hide yourself for this long." "As a child my parents wouldn't let me leave my chambers until I could cast illusion magic." Steve whispered. "But why—” "You're kind of the ideal paladin, you know?" Eddie barreled on. "Always throwing yourself headlong into danger to protect others. You're kind and funny and," he blushed, "absolutely breathtaking. If those abyssal chickens hadn't broken my lute, I would immediately start composing something about the swirl of your horns." "You would...oh." Red hands with black-tipped claws reached out to gently encircle his waist. Eddie shyly reached up to tuck a loose lock of Steve's hair behind one of his horns. "Come on, let's get some rest. You have an undead lich to slay tomorrow, Sir Stephen the Brave,” he said softly. The equally soft kiss he received in response spoke of something much longer than tomorrow.

Some tidbits of trivia/more babbling about this AU under the cut!

I've had an idea for a DnD AU for a long time, featuring members of the nobility Harringtons who made a deal with a devil in exchange for power and wealth. When their first-born son was a born a tiefling, to hide their shame, they at first kept him hidden from view, then, once he learned magic, forced him to constantly cast disguise self to appear human.

As a paladin, he is driven to helping those in need, but doesn't like anyone touching his hair (they'll feel his horns under the illusion magic) hence his nickname "the Hair". Dustin is an artificer gnome, his loyal if mouthy squire, while Eddie is a half elf bard who doesn't initially like "Mr goody two shoes shining knight".

Vecna is a literal undead evil lich causing trouble from his own pocket dimension, dubbed "The Upside Down".

Also Abyssal chickens are in fact a real DnD monster and they are adorably terrifying.

[emeritusemeritus]

Sauron’s Secret [Eddie Munson x Reader]

Title: Sauron’s Secret, one ring to rule them all.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Wife!Reader {Established but hidden relationship}

Timeline: Around S4- slight alternate timeline, no Vecna. No mention of past events in Hawkins.

Summary: Eddie’s hiding a secret and Dustin is determined to figure it out.

Warnings: Swearing. Mentions of marriage. Hidden relationships, secret marriage. Mentions of drugs and marijuana. Dustin is a sleuth and I love him for it. Lord of the Rings references.

I had so much fun writing this. Set in mostly 3rd person/ Dustin POV.

Eddie Munson was allusive and mysterious, even to his closest friends.

He shared only what needed to be shared and kept his business private, just how he liked it. Eddie's favourite colour? Who knows, probably black or red but you'd never get a solid answer. His favourite movie? He says it's some old slasher film from the 50's that defied cinematic structure and gave the middle finger to the 'man' trying to oppress the creative spirit of filmmaking. Was it the truth? Probably not. His favourite book? He’d alluded to it being Lord of the rings but if questioned he would act like he’d never heard of it.

The only things he was open about were his love for heavy metal, pizza and D&D, and even then he kept his sadistic and intricate campaigns under wraps for as long as possible before the big reveal, trusting no one with his secrets.

Despite his attempts at general ambiguity, there were a few 'tells' in his behaviour, if read carefully, that could clue your in to his inner workings.

Dustin Henderson in sheer contrast is a completely open book; wears his heart on his sleeve, has little to no filter and will openly discuss all of his favourite things, regardless of if the audience is listening or not. But Dustin is also naturally inquisitive and curious, always trying to dig deeper and see the little idiosyncrasies in people that clue him in to their internal thoughts. He notices things that most people overlook and in the case of Eddie, someone he looks up to and proudly calls his friend, his curiosity is never stronger, particularly around the subject of Eddie's concealed love life.

It started a while ago, just a random day at Hellfire when Eddie came in a little late, trying to downplay his flustered nature as he shot off a roundabout apology and began setting up his campaign as Dustin looked on. Eddie had never been late, always having the table laid out perfectly, the mood lighting and repositioning all done ready for the Paladins, Wizards and Artificers ready to commence their quest. Dustin noticed as the game wore on that Eddie smelt better than usual, not that he ever smelt bad before but he seems to have a little more cologne on and his clothes smelt clean. Sometimes Eddie's clothes would have a faint tinge of damp, like they'd been sat in the dryer a little too long before airing out and being worn, only occasionally but that seemed to disappear completely after that specific meeting.

Sometimes, Dustin swears that he can smell a faint whiff of strawberries emitting from their Dungeon Master, specifically from his hair. At first he thinks he's crazy but the second or third time it happens it's definitely too much to be a coincidence.

A few weeks later when Hellfire had just come to a close, Dustin watched as Eddie shrugged on his signature two jackets and instantly frowned as he looked at the patches on the outer battle jacket. He quickly dropped the frown on his face, unknowingly doing it in the first place, before shifting subtly closer to that he could look to see what was different. The Dio patch on the back piece of the jacket was no longer raised or peeling upwards as it had been before in the bottom corner. He couldn't see any additional patches so he put it down to a fluke that Eddie just have re-sewn the patches, this time doing a much neater job than before.

But then he notices the lunches. Eddie had always brought something easy for his lunch, a bag of trail mix or questionable nut and pretzel mixes but suddenly there were sandwiches and the odd leftovers. That's when things began clicking into place for Dustin, realising that he might actually be on to something. He kept quiet about it, uncharacteristically, until he had more concrete evidence that supported his theory.

One day at lunch, Dustin walked in to see Eddie frantically scrawling ideas and little drawings on to a notepad, an actual wire bound notebook. Dustin had asked Eddie where he got the notebook but he just received a harsh glare and a dismissive insult in reply. Unfazed, Dustin smiled to himself as he tucked into his lunch tray, adding another point to his mental list, taking Eddie's defensiveness as evidence that he hadn't just stolen it from an unfortunate freshman, it was given to him. Eddie usually scrawled onto little slips of waste paper he'd find in his pockets or donated by his friends, never having brought an actual book to school in all the years that Dustin had known him, which were then folded or crumpled up and thrust into one of his many pockets.

The first Hellfire meeting after Christmas break is when Dustin realises that he'd been right all along. Eddie lights up a smoke after getting things loaded into the truck and for the first time since Dustin had known him, he wasn't using gas station grade clippers nor a random pack of matches he sometimes carried when the shitty lighters inevitably died on him. He instead lit the questionable cigarette with a black zippo lighter, one of those that were built to last, refillable and much, much nicer than any he'd ever seen in Eddie's possession before.

Still, he says nothing, content in knowing something about Eddie that no one else did, almost gleeful actually. He decides that if he's going to find anything else out then he needs to tread carefully, not wanting to alert Eddie to his inside knowledge or tip him off that he's digging around in matters that were not his own. He has to plan this carefully, asking questions that are only appropriate in the right setting, not out of the blue.

Luckily for Dustin, the moment presents itself not too long after at Hellfire when mid roll- Eddie's shirt shifts just enough for a second chain to be seen beneath his shirt, the movement of him shaking and rolling the dice allowing the pendant and chain to slip out from under his neckline. Eddie had always worn the guitar pick necklace, he never hid that beneath his shirt but this one had definitely not always been there. Dustin doesn't miss the golden glint of something hanging from the necklace, a ring that looked like a simple band. There's a few tense moments where Dustin studies the ring intensely before Eddie notices it slip, trying to quickly instil it into his mind for future reference before Eddie is alerted to his necklace being on show.

It lasts all of ten seconds before Gareth pipes up about the curious piece of jewellery in a less than delicate manner, his face scrunched up and turned to one side as he questions Eddie about it. Seemingly not missing a beat, Eddie quickly looks down at the offending article and smiles before he stuffs it into his shirt.

"That my friends is a custom made ruling ring, one ring or Isildur's Bane if you will. Genuine lord of the rings replica, 'One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them'." He smirks dangerously at the crowd after replacing the chain inside of his shirt before crouching down and casting aside one of the figurines on the table, "now, gentleman, are you prepared for your next defeat? You've fought valiantly but it may not be enough to save your sorry hides!"

Dustin gives him a lingering side eye, knowing that there was way more to that then he's made out; He'd seen the face Eddie had involuntarily pulled when he realised his mistake. Dustin was moving in on him now, biding his time until he can make his move and actually probe Eddie for the truth.

What Dustin doesn't expect however, after the months he'd spent agonising over gathering secret intel and evidence on Eddie is that one day soon, Eddie would put himself completely due to unfortunate bad luck.

It's raining, tipping it down as the Hellfire club burst through the doors of the school in sheer elation, celebrating their defeat of Vecna and his cult. The gang separates into separates cars all waiting for them and disperse as they run to get out of the rain. Dustin's mom was at work and he'd have to cycle back regardless, cursing himself for not bringing his waterproof. Eddie offers him a ride in the van, only for him to scream multiple profanities when the van only stutters before giving up completely. He kicks the wheels in frustration, already stoked to the bone from the rain in just his two jackets before he turns to Dustin to ask for his cellphone. Dustin watches him closely as Eddie dials a number entirely from memory, moving away so that his conversation would remain private as he quickly talks to someone at the other end of the phone. Dustin quickly shies away as Eddie's gaze flickers over to him briefly, acting as if he wasn't paying attention at all, until Eddie ends the conversation and hands him back the phone.

"Got a ride, stick around and we'll drop you off at home," Eddie says, nodding his head back towards the school so that the two of them could stand under the canopy to avoid getting wetter. Dustin watches as Eddie rings out his nearly flat curls, boosting them up so that his signature look wouldn't be ruined. Dustin however, pays no mind to his wetness and instead stares intensely at the road leading to the school, not wanting to miss who would be picking them up, transfixed on the idea that it might be someone he'd been waiting to meet, or prove was real, for a long time.

Dustin has to fight back a happy jig when he spots an old looking pickup truck driving up the road towards the school, eyes stinging with the rain as he daren't even blink, desperate to catch sight of whoever was driving.

When the truck comes to a stop, he falters as he sees an old man get out, wearing a boiler suit uniform having clearly been a mechanic of sorts. He then notices the logo on the side of the truck, something or others repair shop. Eddie steps forward and has a brief conversation with him but Dustin pays no mind, throwing himself down onto one of the benches under the canopy, his chin resting on his hand as he pouts.

When the older man begins to tow away Eddie's van with one last wave and a pat to the back for the dungeon master, leaving Eddie and Dustin stranded, he shoots Eddie a confused glance. Eddie simply averts his eyes, shooting him a strange look before wrapping his arms around himself, the cold clearly getting to him.

Nearly as soon as the old truck pulls away with Eddie's van, a second truck pulls around the corner, pausing briefly window to window to talk to the man in the truck from their respective vehicles. This truck is all black and seemingly well loved, an old Chevy of sorts but Dustin's not great with car models. The trucks pull away from each other and the second truck comes to a stop outside the school, right by the canopy.

"Wait here Henderson," Eddie mumbles, eyes focused on the truck as he ducks out of the canopy and into the rain. The windows are slightly tinted so it's hard to see what's going off though Dustin desperately tries to sneak a peak at the owner of the truck.

"Haul your bike in the back," Eddie calls out, pulling open the passenger door, only to be met by resistance from the person inside the car. He huffs, closes the door and helps Dustin lift the bike onto the truck bed before he opens the passenger door again and slides across the bench, giving Dustin room to climb in.

He notices the woman driving immediately but doesn't recognise her at all. She's pretty, really pretty and is dressed in a leather jacket with a material hood that is hardly concealing her hair, dark jeans and fingerless gloves.

“Hi, you must be Dustin,” she smiles towards him and Dustin has to fight a blush that the pretty girl was talking directly to him. His momentary silent pause isn’t missed by his dungeon master, who shoots him a harsh look before letting out a low chuckle at the kids face.

“Hi,” he says shyly with a small wave, which only makes the woman smile wider.

“You’re up on Cornwallis right?” She asks, turning the key in the ignition to start up the truck. He gives a little nod, still not finding his voice entirely and she smiles back, turning to check her mirrors.

“How’d you know?” He asks only a few seconds later as the truck begins to pull away. He frowns when both Eddie and the mystery woman share a little mischievous smile, an inside joke of sorts.

“I’d like to tell you it was seeing you riding past on your bike when I’d visit Barb but,” the woman says, barely taking her eyes off the road as she navigates through the heavy rain.

“Skull rock’s just behind your house, dude,” Eddie says with a chuckle, finishing the sentence for him.

“Oh,” Dustin says, “oh.”

Both of the older constituents chuckle and Dustin takes a moment to watch them, seeing that they both had a natural ease with each other, like they’d known one another for a long time. He decides a little harmless digging wouldn’t hurt.

“You knew Barbara Holland?” He asks, watching her reaction carefully. She gives a sad little smile before shrugging gently, the faint rustle of leather ringing out in the near silent truck cabin.

“Our dads used to work together at the shop, before all the shit went down, nice kid,” she replied. Dustin watches as Eddie’s hand seems to move just slightly so that he’s touching her thigh, though it’s subtle, no doubt on account of Dustin’s presence.

“So you didn’t go to school with her?” He digs further. Something tells him that with the addition of the woman, who still remained largely a mystery to him would shield him from Eddie’s wrath if he caught on, like a buffer for the situation.

She snorts a little at the thought and shakes her head, flicking the wipers up a speed as the rain continues to pour, the windshield hardly clearing before it’s full again.

“Don’t know if I should be flattered or offended by that,” she says with a smile and a chuckle. Eddie’s mouth pulls to one side, like he was trying to hide his smirk. “I graduated in 84, spend two years at high with her but we didn’t interact much, she had her friends and well, I got stuck with this degenerate,” she laughs, gesturing to Eddie beside her. He shoves her, muttering his outrage at her statement but she merely laughs harder.

So they were at school together; before Dustin had ever reached high school. He wondered if Steve knew her? He didn’t recall him ever mentioning her, though he didn’t even know her name so that was one issue. He notices they are already on Cornwallis and he pouts again, wanting to find out more about the woman but by the time they’d pulled up to the mini intersection of Old Cherry, right by his house, it was too late.

“Thank you!” Dustin says very pleasantly as he prepares to make a run for it to grab his bike from the bed of the truck, frowning as he wonders how he’d lift it by himself.

“Eds, go help him,” the woman says, urging Eddie to help with the bike. Surprisingly, Eddie doesn’t hesitate much and does actually move to help

Dustin, who gives him an odd look.

“Thank you again, errr,” he pauses before hopping out of the cab, hesitating so that he’ll grab her name.

She’s about to reply but Eddie shoves him quickly out of the cab and reaches for the bike himself before placing it on the floor and handing it to Dustin.

“Night Henderson,” Eddie says, quickly messing with Dustin’s wet cap before he smirks and hops up into the truck again. The truck doesn’t pull away straight away and Dustin realises they are waiting for him to let himself in, checking he wouldn’t be left outside. That had to be the woman, Eddie would have been nothing but exhaust smoke and tyre screeches in the distance by now.

As soon as he opens up the garage, the truck begins pouring with loud music, something heavy and angry sounding and the truck begins to pull away with a single beep of the horn.

This brief but important encounter has only spurred Dustin on further, amping up his desperate need to find out exactly who she was and who she was in relation to Eddie. They seemed overly friendly but comfortable, could she be the one that had given him the necklace? She wished he was sat next to her so he could get a whiff of her hair; if it was strawberry scented he’d have been on to a winner. The next day, he cycled to the library, thankfully it much better weather than the previous day, and had scouted through pages and pages of source material trying to find old yearbooks from Hawkins High that might have illuminated who she was. Nothing.

He cycled to family video, scrambling for any information Steve could give but he was nearly as clueless as Dustin.

“Dude I’m telling you, I never noticed Munson until the satanic rumours started, never paid any attention to him,” Steve shrugged, already having told Dustin this at least three times but the kid was persistent.

“She had * colour hair and she was wearing a leather jacket, really pretty,” Dustin tried to explain her but Steve looks vacant.

“There were tonnes of girls with her hair colour and pretty,” he says defensively.

“I said really pretty,” Dustin says, adding the inflection. Steve huffs and takes a seat on the stool behind the counter, trying to rack his brain for anyone that might have been with Eddie. Until a faint memory appears at the very edge of his brain, making his face squint as he tries to recall it, having been so long ago.

“There was a chick, she was into rock music, saw her with Billy once,” Steve says, still squinting.

“Ughr,” Dustin says, his face distorting into disgust. Steve immediately sees Dustin’s reaction and clarifies.

“No, she told him to fuck off,” he then chuckles, “was pretty funny actually.” He’s quiet for another moment before it comes to him, the memory getting clearer in his mind, the vision of her coming into full view, he clicks his fingers in a eureka moment. “Hot girl! Munson pulled hot girl?” He sounds aghast, muttering it again under his breathe as he questions it over and over again.

“Hot girl? Come on Steve, names, I need names!” Dustin says, banging his hand on the counter.

“Alright alright! Sheesh,” Steve says, running his hand through his hair. “Umm, it was… something hot.”

Dustin gives him a thoroughly unimpressed glare but he doesn’t notice, too consumed with mentally searching for the name on the tip of his tongue. “Ashle…bec..ayleigh…Rox… y/n! It was y/n!” He clicks his finger again, smiling proudly that he’d been able to recall the information. “Y/n L/n!”

“Hey!” He suddenly shouts after Dustin who races out the door with no reply and no thank you. “I need new friends.”

Dustin wastes no time as he pedals harder and quicker, his destination set in his mind, with her name repeating in his head so that he didn’t forget even a single syllable. As he pulls up in front of his house, he doesn’t even slow before dismounting the bike, leaving it on the grass in front of his house without a single care. He runs in, completely ignoring his mums greeting and whizzes over to the phone book that Claudia Henderson always had sat on the side table. He leapt towards the book and quickly began searching for her name, endlessly trawling through the alphabetical listing until her name would show.

Nothing. It was like she never existed.

“Mom! How olds this phone book?” He shouts, his volume way above appropriate for inside. When she tells him that she only got it last month, he frowns and sinks down into the chair with a slump.

“Dammit!”

“Dusty-bun, language!”

He lays off the trail for a while, exhausted by his extreme efforts, pleased that he knew her name now but feeling deflated at not getting any further. He still watches Eddie for any signs and notices a few odd things here and there but nothing feels groundbreaking anymore.

Until the Byers’ pay a visit to Hawkins. Will is immediately accepted back into the group and whilst Mike is distracted with El and Lucas at basketball, Dustin spends most of his time with Will. Jonathan mopes around most days and even his spirited friend Argyle seems a little lacklustre and irritable at times.

“What’s up with them?” Dustin asks, nodding his head towards the two older boys who are sat on the couch moping, hugging pillows to themselves and barely watching whatever’s playing on tv.

“I thought it was just Nancy stuff you know, but they’re been like it for a few days,” Will says with a shrug, casting a look towards Jonathan and Argyle who look visibly irritated.

Later that evening, Argyle catches Dustin alone and delicately tries to swoon him with pleasantries and chitchat until he finally asks the question that seemed wholly inappropriate.

“My dude, where can we find the devils lettuce?”

“What?” Dustin asks bluntly, completely lost.

“You know,” Argyle says, mimicking smoking a blunt, “some green, some kush, Chiba Chiba, ‘pass the kutchie pon’left hand side’.”

“Weed? You want weed?” He asks bluntly, not caring for the theatrics one bit.

“Well yeah my dude, if you have to be so crude about it,” he says jokingly. Dustin rolls his eyes and walks over to the telephone on the side, reaching for the phone book and flipping it straight to ‘M’ for Munson. Eddie’s side business was the worst kept secret in Hawkins, especially to his friends even though he kept discreet about it for good reason.

Dustin’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he came across the name beside Eddie’s seeing it listed directly beneath his. Y/n Munson.

“My dude! I’m the delivery guy, don’t sweat it!” Argyle shouts with a laugh as Dustin suddenly takes off, offering no explanation as he grabs his bike and pedals away, straight towards Forest Hills.

He doesn’t stop, not even to catch his breath as he nears the entrance to the trailer park, flicking his eyes around for Eddie’s van. He’d been here once or twice, mostly to try and visit Max and had spotted Eddie in the opposite plot, assuming that he lived there and had visited once when Eddie needed something for D&D that Dustin had mistakenly taken. He pushes on, catching sight of Eddie’s beat up van and the black truck parked beside a trailer and doesn’t stop until he’s immediately outside. Dismounting his bike, he gasps for air and pulls out his inhaled from his jacket pocket, wheezing as he puffs on it a few times to catch his breath.

He walks up the steps to the trailer door and knocks over and over loudly, insisting that someone come to the door. The door opens to reveal Eddie in a Metallica shirt and some lounge pants, something Dustin would never believe he would wear, assuming he wore his jeans all the time.

“Henderson?” Eddie looks around behind Dustin and pulls him inside, “the hell are you doing here?”

The place looked very, very different from when he’d been here last, the rooms clean and not fusty anymore. The walls were no longer lined with display mugs and trinkets but rather nice homely decorations that were a little off centre, framed band posters and photos of people in nice frames.

“Dustin?” He hears the all too familiar woman say as she walks through into the kitchen. She’s also wearing a band T-shirt, Judas Priest he thinks he can make out, with some plaid pyjama shorts and a cardigan. She reaches up to smooth her hair down, not having expected anyone to turn up and a glimmer of something on her left hand makes Dustin freeze, before he remembers exactly why he came here.

“You’re married?!” He asks, turning to Eddie, shocked and outraged that he’d managed to keep it a secret. The woman, who Dustin now knew to be Y/n Munson, bursts out laughing as she throws herself down onto the couch, immediately covering her legs with a soft blanket.

“You’re still playing that game?” She asks, turning to look at Eddie, who looks like he’s about to spontaneously combusts.

“Fucking Christ Henderson, you came all the way here for that?” He asks, ignoring his wife’s laughter. Dustin simply shrugs, appearing resolute on the outside but internally he’s beginning to see how much he’s overreacted.

“You ashamed of me, Munson?” His wife teases, turning her head to the side, goading him with a smile. He finally turns to her and snorts, also amused by her words.

“Yeah like getting the hottest girl in Hawkins is something I’m ashamed of.” He sends her a wicked smile and she blushes just slightly, both of them smiling at each other as their eyes meet.

“So what am I missing?” Dustin says, not reading the room. Eddie breaks his gaze with his wife to glare at Dustin for interrupting the moment, the kid clearly had a lot to learn about women.

“Just tell him,” y/n says encouragingly, reaching for the cup of tea in front of her as she watches on with rapt interest, and slight amusement.

Eddie huffs and sighs, his shoulders dropping a little as he prepares his explanation, though why he was explaining things was a little lost on him.

“We got married in October,” he pauses as Dustin immediately looks like he’s going to blow a fuse and with one harsh glare, he closes his mouth, allowing Eddie to continue. “Been together for a few years but Wayne moved out last summer so my girl moved in and then we got hitched just after,” he explains, taking a seat on the little chair, offering the other to Dustin who declines. “I didn’t tell anyone because being a married man, still in school and DM’ing a kids D&D club isn’t exactly ‘cool’,” he says, sounding honest and a little deflated.

“To be clear, you weren’t that ‘cool’ before,” his wife snarks, thoroughly enjoying the show. He shoots her a look and she simply sinks at him, seeing the argumentative look diffuse immediately from his face as he smiles at her, seeing her beaming back at him, if not a little sarcastically.

The pieces slowly meld together in Dustin’s mind, illuminating the big picture, each little thing he’d noticed now becoming clear.

“So the ring,” he says, gesturing towards the chain around Eddie’s neck. “It’s not a Lord of the rings thing?”

Y/n’s loud burst of laughter breaks the last lingering slither of tension in the room and once again Eddie sends her a warning glance though she ignores it completely.

“Yes that very powerful wedding ring forged in the fires of Orodruin by the dark Lord himself, Edward Sauron Munson. Does it enhance your Dungeon Master powers specifically or is it like an all around enchancement? Because as far as I can tell there’s been no improvement to your cooking skills,” she says with a chuckle.

“Sweetheart you are in for it,” he says threateningly, though his eyes still shine with amusement. She lifts her eyebrows once as if goading him, hopeful that his words will take on a very different meaning later.

“Why not just wear it on your hand?” Dustin asks, missing the point of it all being hidden.

“Because, Henderson,” Eddie says, leaning forward to push Dustin back to fall into the seat opposite him. “My girl got me this ring,” he says flashing him the skull ring that sat on his left ring finger. “18th birthday. Couldn’t get married using that so I got a normal band but this means more to us,” he says, gesturing back to the ring. “Plus.”

He then slips off the ring and extends his hand under Dustin’s frowning gaze until he spots what Eddie is trying to show him. Her initials, tattooed on his ring finger, concealed by the skull ring he always wore.

“Soon as I graduate, it won’t be a secret anymore, hell, I’ll probably shout it from the rooftops,” Eddie says with a beaming smile, “but for now, it’s just between us three okay?”

“Okay.”

It’s graduation day and Eddie proudly walks the stage in his cap and gown to accept his diploma before giving the finger to Principle Higgins on the way. His friends sit in the auditorium and cheer him in but no one cheers louder than ‘hot girl’ who stands and cheers, clapping loudly for her husband who had finally graduated.

“Dude,” Gareth says, pointing towards the side of the stage after everyone had walked and the procession was over. They all turn to see Eddie place the cap onto the woman’s head before pulling her in for a searing and very public kiss.

“Who’s that?”

“Hot girl?”

“What?!”

Dustin smiles, watching the pair only briefly before the scene suddenly becomes decidedly less PG, turning to his group of friends that all look on in complete amazement. He smirks, ready to unleash the secret he’d been hiding for months, keeping his tone casual as if it were completely obvious.

“Oh, you guys don’t know Eddie’s wife?”

Taglist Requests:

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[briarberrythornedhart]

Reading You Right

18 plus, darlings or do not engage

CW: explicit language, smutty talk, dom/demeaning tone with established consent

Eddie - even from a very young age - (hyper) focused on people's body language. He saw micro-expressions and noted when they didn’t sync up with what people were saying out loud. And he used that information to understand, control and -to a certain degree- manipulate situations.

For Hellfire Club, that helped him with creating an experience his players enjoyed (yes. even when they bitched about him being stingy with XP, or throwing them into peril, he knew they liked his style overall. It shouldn’t be too easy or players wouldn’t appreciate their wins, right? Of course right.)

With you, it made him the sweetest boyfriend ever born. And very good (uncannily so) in bed.

Over time Eddie memorized every hitch of your breath, every bite of your lower lip, every flutter of your eyelashes, the way you lifted your chin to give him access to your neck and throat. He enjoyed learning All the ways he could make you happy.

Of course he’d much prefer you make as much noise as possible, but he didn’t need his ears to know what was going on in your dirty little mind. You didn’t have to make a sound and he still knew he was treating you right.

🎲 💀 🎲

Hellfire club had moved to the weekends and now met in Dustin’s basement. Eddie graduating meant he didn’t have the blackmail hold on Principle Higgins anymore so meeting on school grounds was out of the question. But it was easy to convince Ms Henderson to host ‘game club’ once she knew Dustin would be home and safe.

After a particularly tricky Hellfire session - puzzles, traps, the near-death of Will’s wizard, your Paladin losing her ancestral sword when you rolled a one - everyone was heading out and Eddie asked you to help him carry his D&D gear to his van. Not that there was too much to carry on his own. This just felt like an excuse to make out a bit. To get each other more and more turned on until you both wished you could move in together already and not have to sleep apart so often. But rent is expensive, and you had work early tomorrow morning, and Hellfire always runs late.

Anyway, you were always more than enthusiastic about helping Eddie clean up after the game. Making the night last just a little longer. Getting his sweetness all to yourself for as long as you could.

Out in the dark, with only a waning moon and some holiday lights on neighboring houses to light his handsome face, he backed you up into his drivers side door with a smirk. You couldn’t wait to feel his body pressed against yours and you were on fire with wanting his lips. But he stayed a few too many cruel inches from you.

“You like it when I’m mean to you in game.” He accused.

You may have gasped. “What!? No, I just appreciate that you don’t treat me different than the others. You know, just cause we are together… you don’t pander to me or go easy on me. I like that.” You rallied. You slid a hand under his jacket to rub his back.

“No, sweetheart, you get excited when I goad you or mock you or…laugh at you. Like… really excited.”

“Oh, Eddie, c’mon, I get excited by you all the time. Just heavy eye contact from you makes my heart race. Please.” You laughed nervously and twisted your hands in your skirt. Looking down at the ground.

Eddie leaned on one arm against the door and used his other hand to lift your chin and get your eyes back on his. He pushed a lock of your hair gently behind your ear. “I mean, I’ve seen girls go crazy over total assholes before but I thought you liked that I’m your very Nice boyfriend. Not a dick to you. Just Your. Devoted. Servant. I didn’t know you’d like it if I was mean.” His tone was playful.

“I like every side of your multi-faceted personality. I adore when you are thoughtful and kind.” You took a deep shaky breath. “But it does I guess sorta do something to me when you mock me or are a little extra… I dunno… mean but in a joking way? It’s probably b-because I trust that later you’ll be so… so good to me and…” why were you nervous? This was total cinnamon roll Eddie, your dreamboat boyfriend.

“Okay, okay… At ease, soldier.” Eddie huffed a laugh and leaned in close enough that you offered your lips for a kiss that he didn’t give you, yet. “If I’ve got you this worked up from just making fun of how bad your die rolls went… do you want to hear how I can see every time you squeeze your thighs together and lick your lips at me during the game. Brazenly, In front of aaaalll our friends, showing me you can’t wait for me. That — when I walked behind your chair tonight I saw you shudder and arch your back as if you wanted me to feel you up — right then. You were so needy and honestly a little pathetic for me, princess. I had to be more theatrical and clown around like a jester to keep the other players eyes off you- you were so ::chuckle:: obvious about how bad you want me.”

It wasn’t so dark out that you couldn’t see the challenge in his eyes, he was watching you so intently he could probably see your heated blush. You swallowed and it sounded loud in the silence.

“Well? Am I right or wrong?” He asked but he knew. He totally knew.

“You are…. Right. I’m sorry I made you work harder tonight.”

Then he smiled again, sexy and demonic.

“You say you are sorry, sweet thing, but I don’t think you really are. Anyway, you can’t help it, can you?” He taunted you. He’d never done this before and you were not even sure how to react. This was a brand new game. “Look at you, legs spreading, leaning into me hips first. All turned on over some light trash-talk from your mean ol’ DM. Does that mean, if I reached up under your skirt right now I’d find you wet for me?” He dropped his voice to a dark whisper “Are those panties fuckin’ soaked right now? I think they must be. And since you clearly don’t mind getting all worked up in public, I wonder if you’d let me finger you right here. Out in the open where some neighbor might come out for a smoke and see you writhing on my hand extra excited because I’m talking down and dirty at you. You know what they’d think, look at that scary metal-head taking advantage of that sweet girl. So innocent. Not the kinda girl who would instigate something naughty ever. Oh no. Not the kinda girl who would Beg for me.”

“Please Eddie.” You were begging. You’d never even had to ask for anything from Eddie before . he always knew what you wanted sometimes before you even knew it. And he was always so kind and generous and super silly a lot of the time. He could make you laugh one minute and then melt you with hot kisses the next. But usually you were in control. Not now.

Yes, you were begging, and you didn’t want to stop! what was he doing to you??

“Please..?What?” He licked a canine and his slow knowing smile made you ache deep inside.

“Please let me make it up to you. In your van. Right now.” You managed to stutter out.

He hummed in approval. He opened the back door. “After you, princess.”

[just-an-enby-lemon]

RQG Characthers and If They Comit Tax Evasion

*PCs*

Hamid -> he thinks he doesn't but he actually does (he trusts his family to do his taxes for him and they just don't cause they are Al Tahains and don't need to)

Sasha -> does not know what taxes are/ still doesn't pay them after learning

Zolf -> people that are part of the cults don't need to pay taxes, that being said after he lefts the Poseidon lot he still does not pay his taxes

Bertie -> hajahahahahahahahaha wait are you serius? Yes! He totally comits tax evasion, he also thinks poor people should pay HIM taxes actually, if pressed will defend feudalism

Grizzop -> No. He doesn't pay taxes but is because the sweet paladin fiscal benefits and still pays a fee to the Artemis lot.

Azu -> No. She doesn't need to pay taxes as a paladin but she comits tax fraud so she can keep paying them.

Cel -> No. They did it for a long time but they don't feel the need to in Japan.

*Some NPCs*

Harlequinns -> Since the taxes are for the Meritocracy no Harlequinn pays them. The Prague ones are in a more complicated spot where they do pay some taxes to keep their position and mostly just commit tax fraud. Einstein likes finding fun ways to do it.

Wilde -> No. He really can't when working that close to the Meritocracy. He also does his coworkers taxes part of it is his workaholic will accept any work tendendices but mostly is so he can spy on people's financial information and collect favors. He did more than once used his position to make someone comitt tax fraud and than gets them in trouble for it (an ex, an enemy, someone he wanted out of the office).

Carter -> Absolutly. 100%

Barnes -> No. He is a good boi.

The Al Tahans -> yup, they also have a lot of financial benefits both because they are bank owners and just for Apophis nepotism style of things.

Kiko -> Yes but not always she sees not getting caught by "dragon IDF" a challenge and Earhart fully incentivizes it.

The Kobolds -> They are all together here because I don't think Kobold society belives in money at all. When they stabelish a goverment they share a part of their inventions and all their resources but it's not really taxes.

Barret -> Yes. Not only that but is very likely that Barret was in fact being paid with people's tax money because of Meritocratic corruption.

Eddie -> also doesn't know what taxes are but for a very different reason, would pay them if he learned. Is tecnically not a crime cause he has paladin imunity and his parents pay his Apollo's fee.

Tjelvar -> No. He is always in his best behavior so he can gather the most financial support for his research and most of meritocratic programs say you have to have a clean criminal record.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

You are who you choose to be; Eddie Munson x reader

Well this is probably the first update of the new year idk but this idea's been buzzing around my head over the weekend and it took me just a couple of days to write it all down. Now awhile back someone mentioned a SKY HIGH AU! With Eddie Munson, now that got me thinking 'hell yeah I loved Sky High growing up and yeah I love the idea of him potentially being like Warren Peace with fire but then again, what if I took it another direction, and made him a waterbender/bloodbender'?

I won't give too much away you'll just have to read on to find out but here you guys go. Now some warnings since this is a MA style of super hero fics.

Warnings: swearing, bad parenting, kidnapping, mentions of r*pe (not on reader or any of the main cast of characters but it is mentioned so just heads up), some angst, and a bit of fluff.

Taglist:

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@queen-paladin

________________________________________________________

Lunchtime at Hawkins Academy was always a hustle and bustle.  Everyone in a rush to grab the first chocolate pudding cup or be the first in line to get their lunch and meet their friends.  But when those students all have some type of super-power, you know there’s bound to be trouble.

Thankfully I managed to get my lunch just before the first wave of students got there (minus those with super speed or teleportation) and I was the first person to reserve our table.  As more students came piling into the cafeteria I soon spotted the first group of my circle of friends.  I waved them over and soon they came over.

“Hey (n/n) surprised to see you here first.” Said Robin.

“Hey when it’s double stuffed crust pizza day I’ve gotta be first. Or at least be after the speedsters and teleporters.” I told her.

“I hear yah, although I don’t understand how you can stomach all of that grease.” Said Vicki.

“I told you not to eat the double stuffed crust at Giovanni’s. You eat that bad pizza and it scars you from pizza forever.” I reprimanded her.

“I just don’t see how either of you can stomach dairy products or anything meat wise. Don’t you know that I’ve been half of those animals?” Robin lectured us.

“Yes Robin we know.” Who would’ve thought that being an animal shapeshifter would turn a person into a hardcore vegetarian.  Even though Robin’s got this laid-back, snarky, sassy attitude, she can be pretty hardcore when it comes to vegetarian products needing to be enforced.  Hell I remember last year how she and Steve nearly tore their friendship apart from their Meat vs. Veggies menu planner for the school lunches.

“I swear if I have to hear coach Boomer scream at me one more time, I’m not only gonna need some hearing aids by the time I graduate, but a titanium skeleton.” Steve said as he and Nancy soon came walking side by side.

“The coach on your case again, Harrington?” asked Robin as they sat down.  Steve to Robin’s left while Nancy sat beside me.

“More than that. Think his last sonic boom he gave me made me throw my shoulder out. Probably gotta skip my next class just to go see the nurse.” He said rubbing his shoulder.

“So Nance, how’s your brother and his friends coming along so far?” I asked her.

“I’m told Mike, Dustin and Will got put into Hero Support while Lucas and Max were placed in the Hero class.”

“Damn, see this is why I hate the Hero vs Hero Support system of High school. Those boys have been together since preschool. And Max really got in with the guys when she joined them back when they were in 7th grade.” I said waving my spoon around before dipping it into my pudding cup and taking a big chunk of pudding into my mouth.

“Mike and Dustin don’t seem to really mind it. After all Mike still hasn’t really gotten his powers yet.”

“Still?” I asked incredulously and Nancy nodded.

“And I’ve tried working with Dustin’s powers but the glowing thing it-it—I’m sorry but it’s not a power. No matter how many times he says it is.” Steve said.

“Do you think we should offer them a place to sit here? At least for today?” I suggested.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Seems your boy’s already heard the news and has offered a few spots at his round table.” Robin teased as she gestured behind us.  A few tables over was what everyone deemed ‘The Mizfitz table’.  A table where hero or sidekick could sit equally without the forced conformity being placed over them.

Running the table was one of the more infamous students known to Hawkin’s Academy, Eddie Munson.  On the outside he may look mean and scary with his many tribal tattoos, his wild, unruly mane that he calls hair, or the many rings he sports on his fingers.  But he’s one of the most powerful Water-benders this school has ever known.

I had seen for myself how when he was first placed in the Hero class, he actually managed to pull water from the air as well as from the plants that had been made by another student to create a water cloak (basically creating a barrier made of numerous tentacle-like arms).  However it wasn’t his Waterbending skills that got people talking, but his heritage.

You see while most of the students here are either the sons and daughters of either two heroes, or one hero and civilian, Eddie Munson was the child of both a hero and a villain.  His mother, before her passing in childbirth (or so I’m told), was known as Lunar Eclipse with the power to use the light of the Moon to push and pull the tides and bend water to her will.  His father, however, that’s what marred Eddie Munson as a villain to everyone in Hawkins, and not just here in school.

His father’s name was Alan Munson aka The Puppetmaster.  A man with the ability to control the water in another person’s body, enforcing his own will over theirs.  He ran the town’s deep underground criminal ring and got away with nearly every trail until the one that my Father actually worked on.  Thanks to him and his two partners, they were able to put Alan Munson away quadruple life sentences.

But even though it was my father’s ‘daytime job’ that put him away, the times I’ve interacted with Eddie were never hostile.  In fact he seemed glad to be rid of his father.  His uncle (who never got his powers) ended up raising Eddie after his father had been sent to jail.  And Eddie has said that he’s never felt more happier than he’s been since being raised by his uncle.

And I also won’t deny that for the past few years I’ve been secretly harboring a crush on the ‘bad boy’ of Hawkin’s Academy.

“Really (Y/n)? I can’t understand why you’re falling for someone like him?” Steve asked as he ate his banana.

“Oh leave her alone Steve!” Robin shoved him. “Let our little (Y/n) fawn for her blood-bending bad boy.”

“He doesn’t blood-bend! He hates it when people assume he does!” I snapped at her.  Everyone looked at me wide-eyed as I sat back down and felt my face burning up.

“Boy you’ve got it bad.” Nancy told me.

“Shut up! I just hate it when people judge him based on his bloodline. I mean hell Steve, just because you’re the son of The Commander and Jetstream didn’t mean that at first you were the humble idiot you are today.”

“Hey!”

“She is right. You were a douchebag back in the day before the whole Vecna thing happened our 3rd year.” Robin said.

“Yeah, and even when we were dating at the time all you talked about was yourself or which freshman you were going to give the first swirly to.” Nancy chimed up.

“Alright, alright yeesh. I know I was a real asshole back then. No need to rub it in.” Steve said as he went back to his banana.

“If you like him so much, why don’t you ask him out?” asked Vicki.

“I—I don’t think he’d ever want to go on a date with me.” I said fiddling with my pudding.

“Is it because of your dad putting his dad away?”

“Actually no, they talk pretty much anytime they cross each other. All on friendly terms, perhaps a bit too friendly.” Nancy teased as she poked me in the ribs to which I let out a squeak and punched her in the arm.  She rubbed her arm and I said to Vicki.

“What I mean is, I don’t think I’m his type. I mean he actually has powers, I’m just a girl who can do acrobatic skills.”

“(Y/n), you’re the daughter of Daredevil—” Robin spoke but I interrupted her.

“Adopted daughter.”

“Details. My point is, Eddie is like the King of non-conformist. If he didn’t want to date you because of your lack of powers, then he’s a hypocrite. And that’s about the worst type of villain you can ask for. Well except for corporate, misogynistic pricks that try to force women who they should love or what they eat.” Vicki took her hand and gently squeezed it.  Robin took a deep breath and rested her head onto Vicki’s shoulder and the two cuddled close to each other.

“Just think, that could be you and Eddie if you grow a pair and talk to him.” Said Nancy.  I turned over towards the Mizfitz table and saw as Eddie was being his usual animated self and the guys all around him were laughing at whatever story he was spinning.

“How can he also be so adorable just by getting animated when telling a story?” Nancy and Vicki giggled at my statement while Robin and Steve rolled their eyes muttering lowly.

“Oh please.” I kept my eyes on Eddie and I swore for a brief moment I saw him look straight back at me and give me a wink to which I blushed and gave him a small wave.

By the end of the day it was now my last class and one of the other classes I shared with Eddie, Heroism Athletics.  Today’s practice was the traditional ‘Save the Citizen’ where two people could either be Heroes or Villains and the heroes only had 2 minutes to stop their villains and save the citizen before they were killed.

So far the reigning Kings for the past three years were the Heroes Tommy Hagan and Billy Hargrove, however if you ask me those boys are far from what you would call ‘Heroes’.  Steve used to hang with Tommy back in the day and Tommy practically poisoned Steve’s mind with arrogance and ego.  But when Billy came along and knocked Steve as the ‘King of Hawkins Academy’, Tommy ditched Steve and teamed up with Billy.

And when it came to ‘Save the citizen’ those two did everything in the book to cheat.  Even when someone would call out to Coach Boomer about an illegal move, he’s merely brush it aside unless the attack was directed towards him.  Like before, Tommy and Billy were slaughtering the villains that were Mako and Bolin.

“Those brothers really do know how to bend Earth and Fire together.” Eddie’s voice soon came up beside me.  I jumped at the sudden voice to which Eddie raised his hands in surrender, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, no it’s-it’s okay. Yeah I was just lost in the match.”

“I get it. Now I’ve seen those brothers bounce back at the last second, hopefully they’ll knock those douchebags down a peg or three.”

“Yeah. God knows they deserve it. It’s not every day you see a horse with two rear-ends.” Eddie gawked and let out a laugh.

“Damn you’re brutal. Remind me to never get on your bad side.” We then watched as the brothers had been defeated and the citizen had been saved.  Tommy slamming the mannequin down to the floor like she was a football and chest bumping with Billy as the students all cheered.  I turned to see Mako help his little brother stand up and the two hobbled away.  “Looks like a healing session is in order for Bolin before Hellfire tonight.”

“Hellfire? Is that your band name or something?”

“Actually yes it is. Since Jeff and Gareth moved out of the state, turns out Bolin plays a wicked drum solo and Mako’s not half bad on bass. We’ve got a gig coming up this Saturday. You should come see us.”

“Really? You’re inviting me?”

“Of course. I mean it’s not the Garden but gotta start somewhere right? Plus we do get a crowd. Of about five—drunks. At least with you you’d be sober.” I laughed as Coach Boomer announced.

“Alright, one last round before we clock out. Hargrove, Hagan, Heroes of Villains?”

“Heroes!” proclaimed Tommy.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” the coach muttered before saying in his normal loud tone, “Alright choose your villains.” The two of them looked at each other before announcing.

“Munson and (L/n).” My eyes widened as I turned to Eddie while Coach Boomer proclaimed.

“Alright, Munson, (L/n). Gear up!” Eddie and I stood up and we walked down towards the arena and put on the padding that was required for ‘Save the citizen’.  Once we came out onto the arena, we saw as the two of them smirked maliciously at us.

“Let me handle Hargrove, Hagan is all yours.” Eddie told me.  I turned to him and asked.

“You sure?” I remember how last year when Eddie and Billy fought against each other for a Hero vs. Villian exam, Billy nearly put Eddie into a coma.  He nodded and told me.

“Trust me, you don’t wanna go against Hargrove.” He rubbed his shoulder from when I had actually heard Billy break the bone that held his left shoulder in place.  “Plus, Tommy won’t expect what else you’ve been working on.” I softly grinned and we both turned to our Heroes as we stood side by side in first fighter’s stance.

“BEGIN!!” The clock began the countdown and the four of us charged at each other.  Billy flew in the air and immediately fired his laser eyes towards Eddie but Eddie created water tentacles around his arms and quickly sprung out of the way leaving Tommy and I to meet each other head on.

Tommy Hagan was a weapons specialist. Like any good back-stabbing son of a bitch, he always seemed to have any type of small sharp weapons hidden within his person.  Be it arrows, shurikens, small daggers and knives, and even flying ninja stars, Tommy is a force to be reckoned with, but when it comes to speed he’s not so good.

As he fired a few arrows toward me, I cartwheeled out of the way before doing a summersault and took out my dad’s old billy-clubs he had given to me on my 1st year here at school.  A little bit of extra protection he called it, plus it was like having the infamous ‘Man without fear’ being there at my side.  When he shot out five kunais in my direction, I used the billy clubs to block and redirect them before charging at him again but he shot out several more arrows in my direction.

Using the wall to my advantage, I leapt up and ran across and over it dodging any arrow that came my way before finally flipping gracefully right behind Tommy and finally got to use my secret move I had discovered at the end of last year.

Holding my hand in a snake-like position, I used my thumb, index and tall finger to jab Tommy right at the center of his shoulder which made his right arm go limp.  Then using my proximal interphalangeal joint of both my hands, I jab them into the center of his lower back, shoulder blades and the section where his neck met his spine.

Tommy let out a pained grunt with each jab until he collapsed to the ground and snarled up at me.

“You’ll pay for that you bitch!”

“Consider that payback for what you did to Mako and Bolin earlier.” We then heard a loud boom and I saw as Billy had Eddie pinned to the floor of the gym, his hands squeezing his throat about to choke Eddie out.  Eddie struggled to free himself but Billy’s enhanced strength was too much for him to handle on his own.

“You know the one way to stop me Munson, show them who you really are.” He sneered.  As Eddie’s choked out gasps filled the stadium I quickly threw my billy-club which made a direct hit to Billy’s head and even made him bleed.  He released Eddie as Eddie let out a series of hard coughs.  Billy raised his hand to his head and once he saw the blood, his eyes glowed red at me.  “You shouldn’t have done that, Princess.”

He then fired his laser eyes toward me but I summersaulted out of the way before racing up the walls once again.  His laser beamed eyes trailed close behind me until I had no choice but to jump off and stand on top of one of the higher platforms in the arena.  Billy flew up towards me and flew right through the platform obliterating it and sending me falling 9ft towards the ground.  But with my billy-clubs I was able to shoot one of the clubs towards the railing and swing down to the ground.

Billy landed with a large thud creating a crater beneath him and he cracked his neck.  He then roared as he charged at me but I flipped over him.  Blinded by his rage, I used it to my advantage and toyed with him until I saw my shot and repeatedly stabbed my PIJ’s up his back until he collapsed to the ground.

“I’ve seen the hardcore vigilantes be better heroes than you, Hargrove.” Suddenly I felt myself going towards the wall and saw myself being pinned by the ends of my uniform by three shurikens.  Tommy stood just a few feet in front of my and summoned out three more shurikens to sit between his fingers.

“I told you, you’d pay for that little trick.” He then threw his other arm outward and soon about a dozen arrows were heading my way.  That’s when an ice wall appeared before me and blocked the arrows just before they could skewer me like a shish kabob.  I looked to see Eddie had gotten back on his feet then he used the ice wall to create ice daggers and one by one fire them at Tommy allowing me time to pull the shuriken’s off my uniform and duck out of the way.

I took notice of the clock counting down and it seems to me that these two are pulling the same move as they did for Mako and Bolin.  Trying to tire us out to they can finish us off at the final second then save the citizen.  But what if we turned their tactic against them?  I raced towards the citizen but was stopped by Billy’s powerful fire blast creating a firewall between me and the Citizen dangling closer and closer to the razor pit.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He snarled at me.

“I have no need, I’m just getting started. Or are you feeling a bit winded, coming from you I wouldn’t be surprised. And I thought you’d be better than your old man.” The one thing Billy Hargrove hated more than anything in this world was when someone made him feel inferior to his father.  Billy let out a roar and fired two blue fire blasts from his hands to which Eddie surrounded us in an ice barrier.

“You’re really trying to push his buttons aren’t you?”

“Don’t you see, they’re trying to get us to tire out just so they can finish it all at the last second.”

“Like what they did to Mako and Bolin?” I nodded.

“Get us closer to the civilian, I’ve got an idea.” Eddie nodded then made us an escape route and allowed the water and Billy’s fire to create a large and powerful mist of fog.  So thick that hardly anyone could see the front of their noses.

And thanks to dad’s training, I was able to help guide Eddie through the fog with ease.  We got closer to the civilian’s imprisonment, I had Eddie create an ice platform right in front of the civilian’s chain then I told him to disband the fog.  With a wave of his arms, the fog quickly diminished around us and Tommy cried out.

“THERE THEY ARE!!” Both he and Billy fired their attacks but we quickly got out of the way and Tommy’s arrows pieced the civilian mannequin while Billy’s fire broke the chain and sent the civilian down to their untimely death.  Coach Boomer blew his whistle and proclaimed.

“Hargrove! Hagan! You two have not only failed to stop your villains but also skewered your civilian. You both FAAAIIILLLLLED!!” he sent his sonic boom sent them both flying across the gym.  “The winners our first set of villains since 1986, Edward Munson and (Y/n) Murdock!” the class cheered as Eddie gave me a gentle nudge and we waved to the others.

At the end of the day my friends and I all gathered at my house for a celebration.  Everyone including Eddie and the Mizfitz were all talking about mine and Eddie’s big win against Billy and Tommy.

“I seriously cannot believe you managed to knock my step-brother off his ass and finally put him in his place. I would’ve paid big money to have seen that.” Said Max as she reached over and ate some skittles.

“You guys really should’ve seen it. Her new ability is too cool that even Vecna himself would be petrified of.” Eddie praised.

“Eddie you’re too much. Besides it only works half the time. They still were somehow able to get up and use their powers again after a while. The first time I used it on some would-be robbers they could barely move.”

“You just need to keep working on it, after all you used it on normal humans. Not supers.” Robin told me.

“Yeah, yeah and the anatomy between the two is different, gotta find the right pressure points, blah, blah, blah.” I then heard the door open and the sound of a cane clanking along the wooden floors signaled to me that dad was home.

“Well this is a surprise. I come home after a long, hard-day’s work and find my daughter throwing a party without her old man’s permission.” The gang all turned to face my father but from the grin across his face, we knew he was just playing around.

“You’re hilarious.” I said sarcastically.

“If you think that, you should’ve seen me and your uncle Foggy in our college days. I was a riot.”

“Evening Mr. Murdock.” My friends all chorused out with a wave.

“Evening children. I take it from everyone being here in our small apartment that something big must’ve happened at school today.” He said as he took off his jacket and hung it over the coat-rack as well as placed his suitcase down beside it.

“You bet. Eddie and (Y/n) took victory at ‘Save the Citizen’!” exclaimed Dustin.

“Really? Last I heard of any new champions was when Hargrove and that kid Tommy became the champs. I take it you two were the villains in the scenario?”

“Yep. Not pissed about it are yah?” I asked with a hint of nervousness.

“You’d be surprised to know that I’ve played both Hero and Villain at Save the citizen in my time at school.” Dad said as he began to prep himself a sandwich.  “Oh by the way Robin, about that meeting you had planned to take with our PA Karen, she’s unfortunately going to have to reschedule. A case has suddenly come up and she’s needed out of state for this matter.”

“Damnit! Now where am I going to find a PA to interview in two weeks?”

“I told you yah should’ve tried to interview her as early as possible.” I lectured in a sing-song tone before taking a bite out of a salsa-dipped chip.

“Isn’t there another PA, oh what’s her name uhh—” Steve snapped his fingers trying to remember the name.

“I believe you’re referring to Jessica Jones?” my dad piped in.

“That’s the one! What about her?”

“Steve, if you don’t know Jessica Jones, you’ll know she’s not the easiest person to talk to. The woman is so hardcore, not even the cruelest Russian forms of torture could break her.” Said Lucas.

“Jessica Jones has a past and certain things happened to her that is her right to not speak about to others.” My dad stated using his ‘lawyer tone’.  “However Jones does owe me a favor, perhaps I could cash in that favor for you.”

“Seriously? Oh my god Mr. Murdock thank you! You’re amazing!”

“However I would take my daughter’s advice. Don’t hold things off till the last minute.” Suddenly the TV that we had on as background noise stopped playing the current show that was on and brought up the News Bulletin.

“We interrupt this program to bring you this urgent announcement. Earlier today, Former Crime Under-lord and infamous villain The Puppetmaster Alan Munson has escaped from his prison hold. 13 years ago Alan Munson was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, possibility of parole after his third sentence. He was known as the Puppetmaster due to a rare ability known only to the Waterbenders known as blood-bending. Which may have been the aid he needed to escape his prison cell.”

As we all tuned out the news reporter, our attention turned to Eddie who looked unreadable but deep down I knew he was a mixture of emotions.

“Authorities have issued an urgent curfew until for the time being. No one is allowed out after sunset and must not be near any large bodies of water. Absolutely no one is to leave their homes after dark for this week a full moon arises, which is the only time Bloodbending can happen. If anyone has any news in regards to Alan Munson’s whereabouts, don’t hesitate to contact the local authorities.”

Yeah that wouldn’t really matter much anyway.  While it is true that Bloodbending could only happen during a full moon, Eddie’s father was one of those rare diamonds in the rough that could actually bloodbend without the need of a full moon.  That’s why he’s so dangerous and why everyone gives Eddie a hard time.  People at the school believe he has his father’s unique ability as well and try to egg him on to use it just so they can ‘prove a point’ (whatever the hell that means).

“I think it’s time you kids started heading home.” My dad spoke in his ‘Daredevil’ voice.  The guys all began packing their stuff and bid me goodbye, all except for Eddie who just remained still as a statue.

“Eddie?” I asked cautiously.  Slowly I walked over to him and slowly reached out and touched his hand.  He flinched back and looked at me, his eyes a mixture of rage and fear and he immediately said.

“I—I gotta go.” Without another word, he grabbed his stuff and raced out of the apartment.  I turned to my dad and he looked in my general direction.

“Things are already hard on him as it is at school. Now that word’s gotten out about his dad escaping, people will really be on his ass now. What do I do daddy?” Dad sighed deeply and came over to me.

“Treat him as you always have. You and your friends are all he really has outside of his uncle.” I looked down solemnly but I felt my dad’s hand on my shoulder gently squeezing it comfortingly, “But if I’m honest, I think all he’ll really need is you.”

“Did you have to go and listen to his heart?” I asked accusingly.

“Not really, even a blind man can see just how in love you both are for one another.” I groaned as he softly chuckled. “I’m gonna be out late tonight, don’t wait up on me.”

“Do you have to?” I asked worriedly.

“The city’s gonna be in mass panic, especially for the non-supers in this city. All heroes and vigilantes are required to make finding The Puppetmaster their first priority.” I nodded solemnly.

“Just be careful. I know you’re one of the rare heroes that keeps both identities of Daredevil and Matt Murdock separate to your enemies, but I don’t wish to be an orphan a second time.” Dad took my hand and placed it on his chest, I could feel the steady beat of his heart as he said to me.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to come back to you.” This was a common thing between us ever since he adopted me and I found out about his ‘other job’.  Most heroes tend to lie and say they are invisible and will come back no matter what.

However my dad isn’t like most heroes.  He can’t fly, he doesn’t have super healing abilities, or super strength, not even control over the elements.  All he is is a guy with enhanced senses that enables him to see the world even though all he sees is a ‘World on fire’.  He’s been trained in almost every style of martial arts but it took him decades of training and he didn’t get it right away like most heroes would.

And growing up with a dad who always burdened himself with ‘protecting the city he loves’ it put a strain on us for a while.  Until one day I got the courage to express to him my concerns and he didn’t reprimand me nor did I him.  I just wanted him to know that I was scared that I was going to one day get the news of Daredevil found dead in dumpster and that once again I’ll be alone without a family.

So this was our vow.  Since he taught me that there’s a spike in people’s hearts when they lie, whenever it came to uncertainty missions that required his attention, he’d place my hand over his heart as he’d speak that very phrase.  And every time he said it, there was never a spike in his heart.

I hugged him as hard as I could burying my face into his chest.  He rubbed my back and rocked me softly.

“I love you so much sweetheart.”

“I love you too daddy.” He kissed the crown of my head before finally separating from me and went over to his old wardrobe where his suit was kept.  In an old trunk that once belonged to his dad who was a well-known boxer back in the day.

I was currently in my room having just finished the rest of my homework when I heard a soft knock at my door and there my dad stood in his full Daredevil suit.  The red devil eyes from his mask had been known to send fear up even the darkest of criminals spines.  His billy clubs rested in a holster at side of his left thigh.

“Be careful, Daredevil.” He gave me a nod and said.

“Lights out by ten, and make sure to brush your teeth.” I softly laughed.

“If only people could hear the infamous ‘Man without fear’ tell his adopted daughter to make sure she did her teeth and got to bed on time.” I couldn’t help but tease.

“Probably would make them even more afraid of me.” He teased back.

“Child labor at its finest.” I teased again as dad softly scoffed.  He then used the fire escape and in his Daredevil fashion, he disappeared into the night and acrobatically scaled down the building before going on the hunt for the Puppetmaster.  “Love you dad.” And so I was left to man down the fort until it was bedtime.

The next few days, as I had predicted, were chaotic at school.  Due to the Heroes still not being able to find Eddie’s father, all after school activities were cancelled until further notice.  Which meant not Starlight Flying, no track meets, not even gymnastics (which I’ll admit I am bummed about but I get why they’re doing it).  And every student has had it out for Eddie.

Just the other day after the Big Championship game had to be cancelled between our rivalry school, Eddie got beans, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding dumped on him by Jason and his lackies.  Before he could even start something, I held him back and told him they weren’t worth it.  They were trying to rile him up and get him to prove to them that he’s the monster they think he is.

And now all day today he’s been up on the rooftop gardens were Lily and the other earth-benders have their club meetings.  Creating new plants and practicing their Earthbending.  I found Dustin, Mike, Will and Lucas sitting outside their normal D&D room and asked them.

“Is Eddie still on the roof?”

“Gareth and Jeff just told us he’s refusing to ever come down. He didn’t even go home last night to his uncle.” Dustin told me.  I looked up at the ceiling worriedly before sighing.

“You guys get on the next bus, I’ll talk to him.”

“You sure?” asked Mike.

“Yeah. Besides Nancy told me you three have a big midterm coming up so I suggest you study. First semester Midterms are no joke, especially to first years. No matter if you’re in Heroes class or Hero Support.”

“Good luck (Y/n).” Will said as they walked off to the bus ramp to get back down to the ground (yeah the academy is actually levitated high up in the sky).  I went up the stair way that lead up to the gardens and there I saw Eddie bending the water within some vines, making them shift and move around the columns they were wrapped around.

“Do you have room for one more?” Eddie jumped and turned towards me but when he saw it was me, he calmed down and said.

“Knock yourself out.” I came over to him and sat down beside him on the bench he was sitting on.  He continued his bending until he just stopped and was deep in his head again.  I reached out and touched his hands, softly fingering around his rings and said.

“What’s going on up there Eddie?”

“My mother’s name doesn’t even matter. All anyone can see me is my old man’s son. The son of the infamous Puppetmaster. Believe me if I had the power to choose, I would’ve had my old man be a normal human who just ran out on me. But nope, I got the shortest end of the stick and no matter what I do, nothing I say or do is ever gonna change that!” his voice raised in anger as he paced while he ranted.  “I don’t……Sometimes I just wish I had died alongside my mother. Or better yet never have been born. She should’ve gotten rid of me when she had the chance.”

“Stop! Don’t ever say that!” I snapped as I stood up.

“Oh c’mon (Y/n) we both know that it’s true! My mother was assaulted by him, I am a product of a rape. Who could ever love someone like that?” a single tear secretly fell down his face as he seethed that self-hatred line.  “But since I’m too much of a coward to kill myself, I start to think fuck it. Why not just go down the path of a villain? Everyone else has decided that for me already.”

“Even though you have the power to go down that road, you’ll never take that step.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Because I know the real Eddie Munson. The boy who takes in the sidekicks who think they’re not worthy being in this school. The boy who spends his time feeding the stray cats at his trailer park, and not just them but the dogs you free from the underground dogfights. The boy who reads fantasy books and comes up with the wildest campaigns for his friends. That is the Eddie Munson I know.” And that’s the boy who I’ve always loved and will always love.

“What did you just say?” he suddenly asked.

“Do you really need me to repeat that whole rant I just did?”

“Just the last part.”

“That that’s the Eddie Munson I know.”

“After that.” After that? What’s he talking about?

“That you save dogs from underground dogfights.”

“No you said that in the middle after the stray cat feeding at my trailer park. I meant the very last thing you said.” The last thing I—oh god. Oooooh no…..please don’t tell me I actually verbally—oh shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck! Fucking hell no! Please god don’t tell me that didn’t stay in a though bubble!

My thoughts were broken by Eddie cupping the side of my face, my eyes staring deeply into his chocolate brown ones.

“What did you say sweetheart?” I swallowed hardly as my heart began to skyrocket out of my chest and I choked out.

“I—I-I……” Eddie chuckled and said.

“You always were cute whenever you got flustered like this.”

“Are-are you making fun of me?”

“Not at all.” He brushed the strands of hair out of my eyes before slowly leaning forward and he whispered, “Just use your new little technique if you want me to stop.” I shook my head no and wrapped my arms around his neck and brought him down to my lips.

He let out a muffled grunt but his body soon relaxed under our kiss as his arms slowly wrapped around my back bringing me in close.  Ever so slowly, my right leg raised up as I tightened my grip around Eddie’s neck and he deepened the kiss.  I then felt him lift me off my feet as we continued to kiss one another until we were left breathless and drunk on our love.

We caught the last bus from the school and now Eddie was driving us back to his trailer for us to spend a little one on one time before the city curfew could ruin this perfect moment another second.  Our hands were intertwined with the other’s and we refused to break that bond, at least not yet.  Every now and then, he’d raise our hands up and kiss the back of my hand and I did the same to him.

But as we pulled up to his trailer, Eddie’s love-sick expression soon turned to dread as he looked upon his uncle’s trailer home.  My expression grew fearful as I too saw what it looked like.  It had been completely torn to shreds, the door was busted right off it’s hinges and the ground was soaked with mud and water.  Eddie immediately raced inside and I followed after him.

The inside didn’t look much better.  The furniture was turned up like the place had been burglarized, but nothing was taken.  The curtains and blinds looked like they had been sliced up by something and there were occasional wet puddles on the inside of the floor and carpets.  But what had us both fearful and enraged was that Eddie’s uncle is usually home by this time, but the trailer was like a graveyard, empty and silent.

Eddie slowly walked further in and grabbed an old picture of him and his uncle just shortly after he had been taken in my him after his father was imprisoned.  I could see that the glass frame was completely cracked but I could also see Eddie’s body shaking with rage until he let out the most gut-wrenching, rageful, and mournful scream I had ever heard out of a man.

I took Eddie back to my apartment and gave him a cup of warm tea but he just sat there with a stoic, broken expression on his face.  Tearstains glistened on his cheeks, his eyes bloodshot red.  I sat down beside him and slowly wrapped my arms over him and I placed my head on his shoulder.

The door opened and in came my dad.  But before he could greet us, he licked his lips and stood at attention.  I knew he could taste the salt from our tears and he asked us.

“What happened?”

“It’s Wayne.” I told him somberly.  My father’s brows raised in shock and he quickly came down over to us kneeling down before us.

“Are you both alright?”

“We—Wayne was already gone when we got there. The trailer was completely destroyed.” Dad let out deep sigh before kissing my forehead and turned toward Eddie.

“Eddie—”

“Another reason why I can’t stand heroes. They claim to be going day and night to finding my old man, and yet he hasn’t been caught. And now he has my uncle, the only person in this whole world that even gave a shit about me!” Eddie snarled lowly, hos body seething with rage and I knew dad could sense it a hell of a lot more than I could.

“I understand your frustrated…..” Eddie stood up from the couch and unleashed his fury.

“OF COURSE I’M FRUSTRATED!! My psychopathic bastard of a father escapes a prison that is supposedly impenetrable and made my life hell this past week! Now the one time I’m not there for my uncle he captures him and will most likely kill him and this WHOLE TIME THE HEROES ARENT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT WHILE I’M STUCK HERE AND YOU TWO CAN’T EVEN HELP ME!!” Dad and I stared at him in shock.  His rageful expression softened as he realized just who he was talking to.  He collapsed back down onto the couch beside me and said in a calmer, softer tone, “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

I took his hand in both of mine and gently kissed his knuckles and I told him.

“It’s alright. You’ve been piling up everything that’s happened this past week inside of you. You hardly scratched the surface earlier this afternoon.”

“But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you or your dad.” He said regretfully.

“She knows you didn’t really mean what you said. And neither do I.” my dad spoke up.  Eddie let out a deep sigh and said.

“I’m just trying to understand why all of this is happening, and why now. But nothing makes any sense. And now—now that Wayne is involved I…..” tears once again filled his eyes as he buried his face into his hands, sniffling into his palms.

“Eddie,” my father started as he knelt down in front of him.  He reached up and grasped his shoulder giving it a comforting squeeze as he continued, “I know you’re feeling lost and frustrated right now. And it’s alright to feel that way, everyone whether hero or normal civilian feels something like this every day. Even Daredevil himself once felt this way when the Kingpin forced him to choose between saving his friends or his child.”

That was a day I never hoped to remember, it reminded me so much of the first time I came across ‘The man without fear’ back when I was a child and my parents were killed in front of me and I was taken by child traffickers.  They would’ve sold me to the highest bidder had Daredevil not found me in time.

After finding out I had lost both my parents and that I had no other family in the city to take care of me, I was taken to the orphanage and within a couple of weeks Matt Murdock came into my life and adopted me.  And the rest was history.  But when Fisk had found out about my father’s true identity, he had a villain named Bullseye take me and hold me hostage while apparently Foggy and Karen were being watched by the corrupt cops Fisk had under his belt ready to take them out.

“He—I can’t even begin to imagine what I would’ve done if that were me.” Eddie said as he took my dad’s story to heart.

“But he knew he couldn’t lose himself. He had to keep his calm and composure to try and work a way to save them both. And not only did he accomplish that, he also managed to put Fisk away for a long time with a proposition of his own.”

“Compared to my dad, Kingpin’s a saint. He won’t bargain anything or with anyone. How is anyone supposed to defeat him?”

“He’s been convicted and captured once before, not every villain is invincible. All it takes if for the right hero to stop him for good.” My dad stood up and walked over to the kitchen as he also told him, “Since your trailer is an active crime scene, you’re welcome to stay here. But I strictly advise you newly appointed lovebirds, no hanky-panky in this apartment. Don’t ask me how I’ll know, I just will.”

“Dad!” I groaned out.  He smirked and started to prepare us dinner.  After dinner Eddie and I sat on top of the roof looking out over the city.  My arms wrapped around his right arm while my head rested on his shoulder. “We’ll find him Eddie, one way or another.”

“I swear if he even lays a hand on him I swear to fucking God I’ll—” I rubbed his arm soothingly trying to ease his anger.

“One thing you should know is that my dad always knows what to say. I know you’re pissed, your scared, you’re high-strung. But all this tense anxiety won’t do you any good. Take a deep breath and focus.” He took a deep breath in before exhaling.  “I know we were too young when he was first arrested but, is there any place you think he’d take Wayne? Some place of meaning between the two of them?”

“I doubt it. They were never really close with one another even as kids. Even though Wayne was the older brother, since he never got his powers he was considered the black sheep of the family while my father was the prodigal son.” I nodded in understandment. “It’s getting late and the curfew is still in place. Why don’t you head inside?”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, plus I can practically feel your exhaustion.” I groaned quietly as I felt Eddie chuckle.  “Go on sweetheart, I’ll be there in a bit.” I looked up at him and we both kissed each other.

“I love you so much.” I told him softly.

“I love you more.” He softly kissed my forehead before I stood up and got ready for bed after a long, confessional and stressful day.

*Eddie’s POV*

Just as (Y/n) got inside, ironically enough it started to rain.  Of course to not people the rain was a nuisance especially to most heroes when it came to night patrols.  But to me, rain was life and a relief.  Mix that with the full moon that shone above the city I could feel myself feeling more alive than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

I realized at this point, I couldn’t wait any longer.  If the heroes weren’t going to do anything to find my father, then I would.  I went over to my van and grabbed a special bag that not even (Y/n) had known about.  I came back inside the apartment and unzipped it to reveal my graduation gift my uncle had made for me.

A traditional Waterbender warrior uniform (with my own modifications).  At the belt’s center design engraving instead of the traditional Water symbol, I had engraved a carving of the moon, the same moon carving that my mother once bore on her armor.  The sleeves I had torn off and had them replaced by black elbow-length fingerless gloves with the center forearm of the gloves wrapped up in war tape.

I also began to give myself the traditional war paint of the waterbenders.  Black markings under my eyes and the symbol of water at the center of my forehead.  I then pulled up my face mask to cover the lower half of my face because in order to find my father, I was going to need to get in touch with some of his old friends, and I couldn’t risk them seeing my face.  But there was one last thing I needed to do.

I went into (Y/n)’s room and saw her deep asleep as the brief flashes of lightning lit up her room.  I silently walked over to her and gingerly brushed the strands of hair out of her face and saw her left hand resting not too far from her face, her palm exposed.  I took off my wolf fang necklace and placed it into her palm.  Truthfully I don’t know if I will come out of this alive or not, but what I have to do in order to save Wayne, I’d rather her remember me as I was instead of who I’m about to become.

Having just confessed our feelings to one another only to lose her now, that’s the damage my father brings out in people.  But I don’t want her to be involved in this anymore than Wayne is now forced to be in.  I saw as her palm closed over my necklace and I whispered to her.

“I love you sweetheart, always remember that.” I then went back to the roof and took a deep breath in before exhaling and waved my arms around to have the rain water spin around me before I shot out into the sky, a flash of lightning coming down then I used the rain to forge a water patch for me to jump across.  Each step I took, water formed under me until I was running on the raindrops.

I soon came to one of my dad’s old dealers Yakone.  Yeah I may have been a kid but my old man certainly liked to take me out to all of his dealings and I got to meet every single bloodbender, drug dealer, and crime boss this city had to offer.  I peeked inside the window and saw Yakone counting up his money even though he had just gotten out of prison and was currently on parole.

Once a crime boss, always a crime boss.  I used my power to spill his whiskey across the counter which forced him to stand up and walk out to get something to clean up the mess.  Once he was gone, I slipped inside his office and waited.  The second he came back in, he froze on the spot before suddenly jerking his arm up.  He groaned as his arm soon shot to the left then the right, his bones snapping with each jerk until he was forced to bend forward.

I made myself known with my left hand in a knife-hand position at my face level before lowering it downward while at the same time his body fully went down to the ground.

“You’re going to tell me where Wayne Munson is and don’t even think about lying.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” sneered Yakone.  I took a step forward and pushing with my other arm as I extended it, Yakone’s upperbody was forced upward and I snapped at him.

“You were once Alan Munson’s second in command. If he ever broke out of prison, the first person he’d go to is you. I won’t ask a third time; where. Is. Wayne Munson!?” Yakone continued to groan in agony as I bloodbended him.

“Tenth and Cicero X! He took that nonbender of a brother of his to the docks along Tenth and Cicero X!” I narrowed my eyes and with a wave of my arms, he was throw across the room, his back hitting the corner of the wall and he let out a pained groan.

“If I find out he’s not there, you won’t have to worry about the heroes finding out about your parole breaking. Cause I’ll see to it that you will be stopped permanently.” Then I used my Bloodbending to knock him out before finally leaving the scene as if nothing happened.

I stood along the rooftop of one of the buildings that overlooked the docks of the city and saw the old warehouse where Yakone said Wayne was being kept hostage.  I could see guards patrolling around the warehouse all either carrying guns or specialized arrows.  Odd that my old man would hire assassins and non-benders to guard my uncle, but no matter they’ll be out of my way soon enough.

I snuck my way down the fire escape of the building and crept up towards the warehouse before diving head first into a bay.  I created a water-helm for me to breath as I swam towards the edge of the warehouse.  I then summoned out a water tendril and reached out for one of the guards and pulled him out into the bay.  I then created a whirlpool tornado and shot myself upward.

“OPEN FIRE!!” one of the guards called out and a hellfire of guns and arrows were shot at me.  Creating an ice barrier I shielded myself before coming down with a back axe-kick which caused the whirlpool to follow me and push half of the men into the street knocking them out.

Using the remaining water, I created a water whip and proceeded to fire ice shards at the rest of the men.  Knocking their weapons out of their hands and then piercing them to either the walls or old shipping carts.  When the first set of guards I had knocked out started to get up, I proceeded to bloodbend all of them stopping them in their tracks.

Forcefully controlling them to stay where they were and getting down on their knees when suddenly I felt something metal hit me in the back of my head forcing me to release them.  I reached behind me and felt blood on the back of my head and I heard the sound of someone landing in front of me.  From the light of the full moon there was no denying who the man in the red suit was that stood before me.  One billy club in his hand, the devil helmet and those piercing red eyes from the mask staring at me.  The Man without Fear aka Daredevil had come.

“You need to back off.” He warned me in the voice that had been known to send shivers down any criminals spine.

“And you shouldn’t interfere with family affairs.” I seethed back at him.  I formed water tendrils around my arms and went on the offense but Daredevil proved to be just as fast as me, if not faster.

“You’re making a mistake.” He told me.

“You made the mistake by coming here!” One of my tendril arms froze over as I went to skewer him but he dodged out of the way forcing the ice shard to pierce through the asphalt of the street.  I broke my arm free of the ice and dropped the other tendril before stepping into a front stance and held my arms parallel of each other to use the rain to knock him off his feet but once again Daredevil’s agility was something.

Each time two waves of water tried to knock him down, he was able to either to flip between them, roll underneath them, or bend so far back against the ground there was no chance of the water touching him.  I growled impatiently and charged at him this time.

However only just two punches he not only dodged them but got me to my knees and had my in a chokehold.

“First rule of combat, never attack in anger.”

“I’m not angry! I’m annoyed there’s a difference!” I snapped as I tried to break myself free from his grip but he held firm.

“I can tell, but that’s the first rule they teach in combat. Now listen to me, you can still turn back. Let me finish the job and you can be reunited with your uncle by morning, your father will go back to prison, and all of this can be put behind you.”

“It won’t matter.”

“Yes it will. You’re young, you have a future to look forward to, you still have a choice. But if you cross this line, the journey back isn’t easy. Trust me, I know.” Looking down at the water I did a few finger flicks which caused a water whip to wrap around his neck and pull him off of me.  I then used my Bloodbending to keep him in place.  He let out a cry of agony as I forced him to stand at attention.

“It’s already too late, I’ve made my choice. One way or another, Alan Munson is dying tonight. He crossed the line when he kidnapped my uncle, who’s to stop him from going after my friends? My—” I trailed off thinking about (Y/n).  The torture alone that my old man could put her through, especially since she doesn’t have any powers to fight him back with.  “If he ever got to her, I’d never forgive myself.”

“Got to her ehh?” I tensed as I released Daredevil and turned to see the man I’d hope I’d never see again.  His hair was longer and madded and the eyes I inherited from him were soulless and cold.  He somehow managed to find his old armor once again and in his grip, he had Wayne levitating in the air.  “Now this I’d love to hear more of, especially if you did all of this for your excuse of an uncle.”

  My heart was pounding in my ears as my blood boiled in rage.  Extending my arms outward in a T position but with my hands standing upward, I made the rain pause around us and slowly form a shield around all of us.

“Release him.” I ordered.

“Or what little man? You gonna kill me?” the Puppetmaster mocked.

“If I have to.” I said soullessly.

“Sounds a bit dark for the son of Lunar Eclipse. But if you were my son, you’d do it without hesitation.”

“Eddie…..don’t do it son.” I heard Wayne groan out.  “Even if you do attack, he’ll use me as a shield.” He said again.

“He’s telling the truth.” Daredevil soon spoke.

“I can protect him.”

“You’re blinded by rage and won’t be able to stop it in time!” Daredevil spoke up again.  “Your uncle raised you to be a hero, not a murderer!”

“I’m already a murderer.” I soullessly stated referring to the men I had just taken out.

“They’re still alive, I can hear their heartbeats. Your father knew those men wouldn’t be worth your time because he knew the only one you were willing to kill was him.”

“Eddie, son listen…..” my uncle strained out.  “Take a good look at the man standing before you, is this the man you’ll want to become if you do this? Because you were the one to break the chain and not be like him ever since you were born. You chose to walk away from his path and choose your mother’s.”

“Listen to your uncle Eddie Munson, you’ve got people who care about you, even love you. One of them especially. Your father, he has no one. No one to call family, friends or even a partner to love and cherish. If you do this, you’ll never see any of your friends or your beloved again! So don’t. Do it!” My body trembled in rage as I stared daggers at my old man.

I waved my arms and let out a rageful cry as the shield dropped and formed into a thousand ice sharps varying in size and flew right towards him.  But just as some pierced the ground and Wayne’s body was moved directly in front of my father’s, I stopped the attack.

The ice shards floating in mid-air before I stood there in the rain and the ice shards immediately turned back into water, drenching both my uncle and father.  My father tossed Wayne aside as Daredevil went over to check on him as my father said to me.

“Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak.”

“You’re wrong.” After 13 years, I was able to stare my father down not in fear and surprisingly not in rage (at least anymore).  “I always wondered just what kind of man you are to have done the things you’ve done. Now that I see, I think I understand. There’s just nothing inside of you, nothing at all. You’re pathetic, sad and empty. And as much as I hate you—I just can’t find it in me to kill you. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t come prepared.” Next thing he knew, he was trapped by a zero anti-gravity forcefield and the entire Heroes Council soon came on the scene.

“Alan Munson, you are under arrest by the City of Hawkins.” Proclaimed Chief Hopper.  Ms. Byers and Robin’s mother soon came up and put my father back in chains and guided him towards the police car.  I closed my eyes and felt a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders but there was still a sliver of doubt floating in my mind.

As the night droned on, I found myself back at the Murdock’s apartment, the rain finally subsiding and I knew in a few hours dawn would break.  My uncle had been taken to the nearby hospital for a healing session and to give his statement to further incriminate my father’s quadruple life sentences.

“I’m proud of what you did back there. You even managed to fool the Devil himself.” I heard Daredevil say behind me.

“I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him but—I couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it or—due to the people that I have in my life, it’s given me the strength not to go down his road.”

“You did the right thing tonight Eddie Munson. Forgiveness is the first step you take to begin healing.” I stood up from the edge of the balcony and walked over to him and told him.

“But I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him for what he did. In a way he did win,” I looked down at my hands.  “I swore that I would never use his taboo art of Bloodbending but—I did. I…..don’t know if I…..” I soon felt arms wrap around me.  When I looked up, I found myself surrounded by red and I was surprised to see that the infamous Daredevil was hugging me.

I surrendered to his embrace and hugged him back as I softly began to cry.  Now that my anger and rage was gone, the sorrow, the guilt and shame was all that remained in me.  And I finally let it all out and Daredevil not once tried to get me to stop or tell me to suck it up.  In fact he didn’t say a word, he just allowed me to fully let it out until my tears were finally spent.

[strangersteddierthings]

Gut Instinct: Interlude - Eddie

[Art] [Ao3] [Prologue] [Chapter One] [Chapter Two] [Interlude]

A/N: Friday evening from Eddie's POV.

-

“Holy shit,” Jeff says, “you actually do know King Steve?”

Eddie almost gives himself whiplash from how quickly he looks from Erica to Dustin and, holy shit, the Keg Stand King himself, Steve Harrington.

“I told you he’s awesome,” Dustin says in a tone that implies Jeff’s an idiot. “Come on Steve, sit beside me. I’ll help you with the rules.”

“Hold up,” Eddie says, rounding to Harrington. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, which is hilarious to Eddie. Who knew Harrington could be startled? However, any joy he might have gotten from startling Harrington is fleeting, because Eddie doesn’t trust why he’s here. Why he would agree to sub. Harrington’s always been bad news, and Eddie doesn’t trust him as far as he can throw him, no matter how nice he is to look at. “Your character is?”

“Oh, uh, tiefling paladin, oath of the crown,” Harrington says, trying to catch Dustin’s eye in what Eddie thinks Steve believes is a subtle way.

Eddie shoots a glare at him. No way Harrington came up with that character. It had to have been made by Dustin, which Eddie would normally count as cheating and kick someone out for, but… Well, he’s got to admit a little intrigued. Harrington might not have made his own character, but he pronounced tiefling right and knew to say the subclass. “Right. And why’d you agree to sub?”

There is a small pause before Harrington simply says, “Dustin asked.”

He’s got to admit to some surprise here. He didn’t think Harrington could actually care about other people, but he seems genuine. Honest, almost. “Fine.” Eddie watches as Dustin steers Harrington to an empty seat. Eddie takes his own spot back on the throne. If Harrington is going to play, he’ll need to tweak the battle a little. Having another higher-level paladin in the group throws off his carefully calculated challenge rating. Easy enough to tweak. A few more minions can join the fight, and Vecna can still be deadly as he is now without changes. He’ll see if he needs to up the hit points for Vecna after the first combat encounter. If they breeze through that, Vecna’s definitely getting a boost.

Also... Well, also, Eddie’s almost a little excited that Harrington’s going to see this side of him. Yes, Harrington was witness to more than his fair share of cafeteria rants but that’s different. That’s Eddie acting out against the system because it’s rigged in favor of people like Harrington, and against people like Eddie. Here, Harrington will get to see Eddie perform.

While plotting, he does take the time to eavesdrop at bit. Specifically on Harrington.

“Hi. I’m Steve.”

“I know,” Gareth says, and he couldn’t sound more disinterested in talking to Harrington if he tried. Eddie’s a little proud of him.

“Right. And you are…?”

“Gareth.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“We’ve met. Like four times,” Gareth says dismissively and Eddie grins behind his DM screen. How many times had Harrington dismissed them? He knows he shouldn’t be feeling this vindicated. And yet…

There’s a bit of a pause before Eddie hears Harrington ask, “Isn’t Lucas in this club, too?”

“Well, yeah, that’s why you’re here. To fill in for him. ‘Cause he’s in the basketball game,” Dustin answers.

“And he’s okay with missing this game?”

“Well, uh, he doesn’t exactly know he’s missing it?” Dustin says it like a question and Eddie can’t help but roll his eyes. There’s no way Lucas Sinclair, budding athlete that he is, doesn’t know he’s missing this game. He made his choice.

“I’m sorry, what?” Harrington says.

“He asked us to get Eddie to postpone the game, but Eddie said no. Besides, Mike’s leaving the state tomorrow morning and we’d have to wait two weeks to play again otherwise,” Dustin explains, “and, uh, we haven't seen him since he asked us after the assemble to tell him that the game would not be postponed.”

Eddie finally lifts his head to watch the exchange. He can’t see Dustin’s face, as Dustin is facing Harrington, but that leaves Eddie with a perfect view of Harrington.

“That’s bullshit, Henderson,” Harrington’s raises his voice. He doesn’t have an expression on his face that would suggest anger. It’s more disappointment, but either way, Eddie’s not about to watch Harrington bully one of his sheep.

“Watch it, Harrington,” Eddie snaps, matching Harrington’s energy. “You don’t get to bully people around here.”

“That’s not- right, sorry. Just, can we postpone for like ten more minutes?” Harrington asks.

“Why the Hell would we do that?” Eddie is bewildered, he’ll admit that. Why does Harrington need ten more minutes?

“So I can go tell Lucas this game wasn’t postponed, like he thinks it is,” that bit hissed in Dustin’s direction, “and he might only be going to the basketball game because he thinks this one isn’t happening.”

“Oh,” Eddie says, a bit dumbly. Has he read Lucas all wrong? Is he more nerd than jock? It’s strange that Harrington might be the authority on that matter, but he seems terribly invested in these kids. Maybe Eddie has read Harrington all wrong? Maybe he really has changed, and is just here to make a bunch of kids happy? “Fine. Ten minutes. We’re starting without you or Sinclair if it takes longer than that.”

“Thanks!” Harrington smiles at him.

Eddie’s self-aware enough to know why his insides flutter in the face of the full Harrington Charm directed at him. He scrunches his face in disgust at himself. He was, is, over the crush he’d had on Harrington. That was a blip on his radar of Unfortunate and Bad Crushes on Stupid Straight Boys. A lot of people made the list (he’s a hopeless romantic, sue him) so Harrington’s not special.

Isn’t going to be special. Eddie’s going to kill his paladin as quickly as possible and then kick him out to go watch the basketball game or something.

-

“Any moment now Steve's going to walk back through that door with Lucas. So, I hope you are prepared to have two extra players tonight. He's very persuasive. He'll get Lucas to come around. If anyone can, it's Steve. Just you wait,” Dustin is saying when Harrington steps back into the room. Not that Eddie was watching the door for him.

Harrington’s got a look on his face that isn’t pleased. Great.

“Oh no,” Erica sighs, “that’s your Disappointed Parent face.”

“I don’t have a ‘Disappointed Parent’ face,” Harrington says before turning his gaze to Eddie. “Eddie, Lucas thinks you don’t like him.”

“Why does he think that?” Eddie stands up from where he was sitting. He doesn’t like the tone in Harrington’s voice and he’s not going to stay sitting so Harrington can talk down to him, literally or figuratively.

“He thinks you don’t like him because he’s missed previous games. Thinks you don’t like him so much that he had to have Dustin and Mike ask about this game because he believes you’d have said no immediately to him,” Harrington steps further into the room, and Eddie watches as all his friends tense. Ready to jump to his defense if need be. Eddie’s tense, too, because this is the Harrington he remembers. The one who thinks his word is law, and everyone should obey. Well, Eddie’s not going just roll over. Of course the jock shows up in defense of the other jock.

“I don’t hate him, but the budding jock made his choice,” Eddie scoffs, dismissive.

“You’re a fucking hypocrite, Eddie. ‘You don’t get to bully people around here.’” Harrington uses a deeper tone that Eddie thinks is supposed to represent Eddie’s voice as he parrots the words back to him. “It’s only okay for you to be the bully, huh?”

Eddie gasps, offended. “Of the two of us, Harrington, I’m not the fucking bully,” Eddie moves away from the table, rounding it to go get into Harrington’s face, but Gareth reaches out and grabs his elbow, stopping Eddie in his tracks. It’s the right call, because Eddie doesn’t want to have to fist fight Harrington in front of the club, but he’ll fucking do it.

“You don’t know shit about me,” Harrington fires back. “I was a dick in high school, yeah, but I grew the fuck up. You’re bullying a fifteen-year-old because he wants to, what, play sports? Making him choose between the two? That’s fucked up.”

“Again, I didn’t fucking make him choose!” Eddie growls back. Eddie didn’t! Lucas made his choice the day he tried out for basketball. Eddie knew it. Lucas knew it. Lucas’s friends knew it. The only one in the room who doesn’t seem to get it is Harrington, who must truly believe you can have your cake and eat it too. Unsurprising, Eddie thinks, since Harrington was born with a silver spoon in his goddamn mouth that probably already had cake on it. Ice cream, too.

“You did! By not postponing the fucking game! School sports have a set schedule, and you could have looked at it before scheduling Hellfire,” Harrington says. “Lucas is allowed to like sports and nerd things. And you two,” he pivots to point between Dustin and Mike, “are being kind of shitty right now. After everything you’ve gone through together, you couldn’t stick by his side for this?”

“Hey, I have to get on a plane tomorrow morning,” Mike defends himself. “If they postponed, then I wouldn’t have gotten to play!”

“So, it’s fine that Lucas can’t play, but terrible if you can’t? That’s a load of shit, Wheeler. Lucas is supposed to be your friend.”

“He is my friend-“

“Then act like it!” Harrington says. “Will and El aren't here anymore; are you really okay with losing Lucas, too?”

“That is not fair,” Mike’s tone is almost flat as he glares at Harrington.

“Steve, you’re being defensive, right now,” Dustin speaks up, giving Harrington a pointed look.

Those words cause a shift in Harrington for some reason. Eddie watches him deflate before turning back to Eddie and saying, “If you want Lucas to believe you don’t hate him, you’d go to the game, too.”

“Lucas can draw his own conclusion about how I feel. I’m not responsible for his emotions, Harrington,” Eddie growls. As soon as the words leave his mouth, he feels a little regret. He didn’t say anything untrue but it’s not how he really feels. He’s not usually this dismissive of Hellfire member’s feelings but Harrington’s mere presence has set him into fight mode and he realizes he’s saying things he doesn’t believe just to argue. Why is he trying so hard to get into a fight right now?

“You’re right, but you’re also older than him and should take some responsibility for how you act around him,” Harrington says, and Eddie feels shame. He fucking hates it. Only Wayne’s able to evoke shame from him, and it’s bullshit that Harrington’s doing it now. “He thinks you’re being shitty to him, on purpose. He thinks you treat him differently than you do Dustin or Mike. And that’s fucked up. He’s just a kid, he looks up to you, and he's been through enough.”

Eddie doesn’t argue back. Harrington is right. Eddie knows he’s right. That shame coils in his gut, and he’s pissed that it’s Harrington making him feel that way. That it’s Harrington who is pointing out Eddie’s shortcomings.

There’s a shuffling sound and Dustin is standing, shoving his things into his backpack. He doesn’t say anything, but he does look at Mike. The two seem to have a silent conversation because after a moment Mike nods, and begins to gather his stuff, too.

“So, you two are out?” Eddie’s asks. He tries to keep his voice neutral, but he feels a little betrayed. Of course, Harrington shows up and ruins everything for him. He should have known he’d never stack up against Steve Harrington.

It’s childish to think because Dustin and Mike aren’t picking Harrington. He knows that. He knows they’re picking Lucas, their lifelong friend.

And yet.

It’s like Eddie is fifteen and a sophomore again, getting picked last for PE games and group projects. Not being ‘cool’ enough, which had made younger him feel not good enough.

“Harrington’s right,” Dustin says as he swings his backpack over his shoulder, “Lucas does really want to be here. He sounded real upset when he asked us to talk to you about changing the day of the game. I also really want to play, it’s going to suck missing the final session, but it’s going to suck more to bail on a years-long friendship.”

“Yeah. Lucas has never bailed on us,” Mike adds, even though he sounds upset for agreeing.

Erica lets out a put-upon sigh, “he has bailed on me, but never when it mattered, I guess. I expect that you’re buying the tickets, Steve?”

“Unbelievable!” Eddie throws his hands in the air, anger in his voice, probably laced with the hurt he feels. This was always going to be the outcome. Ever since the first time Dustin brought up Harrington, Eddie knew he’d be second fiddle. He shouldn’t feel so upset by this but fuck, he does.

“A compromise?” Harrington offers. “Mike, when are you back?”

“Uhh, the plane is supposed to land Thursday afternoon; I’ll be back in town that night sometime.”

“Great,” Harrington looks to Eddie. “Can you guys play next Friday, or even Thursday night if Mike isn’t jet-lagged too much?”

“School’s locked up next week,” Dustin answers before he can. Which is fine, he was going to say the same thing anyway.

“What about your basement, Mike?” Harrington changes his attention to Mike.

“Won’t fit all of us,” Mike says. “It was barely enough room when it was just Dustin, Lucas, Will, and I. The table's not big enough.”

“Plus, it stinks like boy,” Erica wrinkles her nose, “unwashed, gross boy.”

“It’s not that bad!”

“Yes, it is,” Harrington says.

“Steve, I have a compromise,” Erica says. “Regarding a promise you made to me. For life.”

Erica now has Harrington’s full attention it seems, and also Eddies, because what kind of lifelong promise has Harrington made to this child? “Yes, Erica?” Harrington asks.

“We play at your house next Friday. You will provide snacks and pizza,” she says it like it’s decided, before pointing her finger at Harrington, then dragging her hand through the air to point at everyone, “and all you nerds will stop bickering like old people. You’ll also have to buy our tickets because I didn’t bring any money. In return, I will shorten your life debt to the day after I graduate from high school.”

“Done! Deal!” Harrington accepts instantly, easily, and with a lot of relief in his voice. What the fuck did he owe Erica? Eddie’s dying to know, because he’s curious by nature. Not because anything about Harrington actually interests him. “I’ll be buying all the basketball tickets, and just tell me what pizza you want. That work for everyone?”

“Your parents will be okay with that?” Dustin asks.

“Oh, they’ll be gone by Friday for sure so no issue. So, will that work for everyone?” Harrington asks.

Eddie exchanges looks with his friends, a silent agreement to go with whatever they want. He hopes they say no, but Jeff speaks an affirmative first, so he, Gareth, and Frankie parrot that yes.

Erica stalks up to Harrington, stopping just in front of him, hand out, palm up. With a sigh, Harrington pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and drops it into Erica’s hand. Erica says, “I’ll get back to you on the pizza I want. I’ll go buy tickets. Are you all coming?”

Gareth says, “Uh, Harrington’s not gonna buy-“

“I said are. You. Coming?” Erica repeats, hands on her hips.

“Yes,” Gareth answers, then looks surprised he did. Eddie’s surprised, too, but only a little. He really likes Erica. He’s not going to be in school when her time to really join the club comes, but he’s going to make sure Gareth recruits her anyway. Somehow.

Erica gives one nod and heads out the door.

Eddie just watches for a moment as everyone gathers their things before he heaves a sigh and starts to pack up, too.

It’s not until Harrington speaks that Eddie realizes he’s alone with him in the green room, everyone else having left already. “I'm sorry. I’m sorry for coming in here and like, immediately attacking you. That wasn’t cool of me.”

Eddie looks him over before scoffing. “It’s whatever, man.”

“It’s really not,” Harrington says. “I know that, like, a lot of work goes into this game and I’m sorry. So, like, if you want anything extra, or need something for the game next week, I’ll get it. I’ll help however I can.”

Eddie pauses in the middle of his clean up, to look up at Harrington and study him. Those were the last words he expects to come out of Harrington’s mouth. An apology? Surely he’s entered the Twilight Zone. Harrington not only looks sincere, but sounds it, too.

He hates how, ever since Harrington’s arrival, Eddie feels like he’s lost control of his emotions. He’s always been on a hair trigger when Harrington and his stupid, handsome face were near. It’s the one crush he was never able to fully get over. And he hates it. He hates that he feels anything for the ex-king of Hawkins High besides contempt.

What should he say here? Thank you? Fuck off?

When Eddie finally replies, he settles for, “I don’t know if I hate you or not.”

“That’s fair,” Harrington says quietly, sincerely, and Eddie hates that, too. Hates that he can see the Harrington Dustin is always praising. If even just a little. Speaking of Dustin.

“I’ve got to know, Harrington. How’d this group of kids get to be so important to you?” Eddie goes back to gathering up the stuff on the table, needing something to do or he’s going to do something stupid. Like let Harrington have his full attention. "Why is their continued friendship important to you?"

“I used to babysit them. Try and keep them out of trouble, which is impossible because they’re too fucking curious and smart. That’s a godawful combination, you know?”

Eddie lifts one corner of his mouth upwards in a smile he tries to fight back down because, “My uncle would agree with you.”

“Yeah, well, they don’t need a babysitter anymore but-“ Harrington cuts his words off, and when Eddie glances to him, he’s wearing a thoughtful expression. Harrington finally continues with, “But they’re family now. They can be a bunch of shitheads, but I love them. And they hate it when I say this, but they should get to be kids as long as they can.”

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he takes the time to process the words and he gathers up his things. Maybe he is wrong about Harrington. Maybe, he has changed. People are allowed to do that, Eddie knows, but he’s never witnessed it. Not really.

“Help me load what I’ll need for the session next week into my van and I’ll think about forgiving you for ruining this one,” Eddie says once everything is gathered.

“Yes!” Harrington agrees, a bit too eagerly and quickly. Like he couldn’t wait to be useful to Eddie in some way. Eddie shoots him a confused and concerned look before picking up the first stack of things and heading out. Between the two of them they make quick work of it all.

When they finally get to the gym, Dustin is sitting on the sidewalk waiting for them with their tickets. Eddie follows Dustin into the gym and watches with amusement as Dustin manhandles Harrington into sitting next to Mike. Dustin then sits next to Harrington, then pats the spot next to him while grinning at Eddie. Eddie looks up and sees that Gareth, Jeff, Frankie, and Erica have taken seats towards the top of the bleachers. He debates joining them but ends up dropping onto the bench next to Dustin.

“Oh, shit.” He hears Harrington say to himself.

“What, what is it?” Dustin asks.

“Brenda.”

“What?”

“Brenda!” Harrington hisses, “I, uh, I stood her up. To come to your game instead.”

Eddie swivels to look at Harrington, eyes wide and eyebrows raised in both surprise and delight as he asks, “You ditched a date to play DnD?”

Harrington and Eddie just look at each other for a moment before he watches Harrington blush with embarrassment. “Like I said. Dustin asked.”

Eddie shakes his head because he can’t believe Harrington. Steve ‘Lady’s Man’ Harrington ditched a lady because a fourteen-year-old asked him to. He turns back to the court, so he doesn’t give away how cute he thinks that is.

Wait. No. He doesn’t think anything Harrington does is cute. He doesn't!

Since he’s looking at the court, Eddie looks for Lucas and finds him just in time to see Lucas’s face light up when he sees the whole club sitting there. There’s that shame from earlier back, pooling in his gut.

Everyone stays for the whole game. They all get to see Lucas make the winning shot. Eddie finds himself cheering with the rest of the stands.

He joins everyone with swarming Lucas. He doesn’t push in and get close, the shame in his stomach keeping him at a distance, but he does make eye contact and gives two thumbs up. Lucas looks overjoyed at just that, and it’s suddenly too much inside. Too loud.

He needs to go.

He makes it halfway to his van before he hears Harrington again.

“Hey, Eddie, wait!”

Eddie does wait, turning as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Harrington. Not done turning my night upside down?”

“Nah, man. Just wanted to give you my number.”

“Your number?” Eddie says, voice a bit delirious because what the fuck. Why would Harrington want Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson to have his number?

“Yeah. So that when it’s closer to the Dungeons game you can call, let me know the time that works for you all. Maybe even drop off some of that stuff I helped you load before the game? Whatever makes it easier for you.”

“Oh,” why is he disappointed by that answer? What had he been hoping it would be? “Yeah. Sure. I don’t have a pen on me-“

“No issue. Already wrote it down,” Harrington says, pulling the paper from his pocket, offering it to Eddie.

He reaches out slowly and takes it, balling his fist around it without looking at it, eyes locked onto Harrington's face. The nearest light source is behind Harrington, so he can’t see the features of his face but that’s fine. He’s not looking for them. He stares, just looking. Harrington has not been what he thought he would be. Eddie’s not used to being wrong about things. Harrington confuses him, makes him a little crazy, and he’s got a week to unpack the why of that. Dare he say it, he might be looking forward to the game at Harrington’s house.

Eddie turns on his heel and heads off into the night without another word. If he stays any longer he might try something stupid, like asking if he and Harrington might have a shot at friendship after all.

“Okay then. Have a good night! See you next week!” Harrington shouts at his back and Eddie lets himself smile about it.

[artiststarme]

Sunflowers

You know, it's kind of concerning that it's easier for me to write angst and heartache than it is to write happy fluff. Oh well, I hope you enjoy it and please leave your thoughts in the comments! Thank you to @doubleb11, @nburkhardt, and @carlyv for the prompt ideas!

~*~*~*~

Eddie was in over his head. He’d dreamed of dating Steve, of taking him out on dates and being the perfect boyfriend. The problem was, he was all talk. He had no experience with dating and Steve was blowing him out of the water. 

Because Steve was the perfect boyfriend and Eddie didn’t know how to handle it. With every whispered flirt or door held open or any other small act of chivalry, all Eddie could do was blush a deep scarlet and pull a chunk of hair in front of his face. Last week, Eddie had choked on his beer because Steve told him he looked handsome under the starlight. Two days ago, Steve came to his set at The Hideout and gave him a thumbs up which caused Eddie to very nearly mess up his lines and fall off the stage. And when Steve picked him up today, he brought both he and Wayne homemade breakfast sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. 

How the hell was this guy so good at being a good boyfriend?! Literally, they’re sitting at a picnic at that very moment in a valley in the woods, surrounded by sunflowers, and Steve kept flustering him. Eddie’s face was going to be stained permanently red if he kept blushing like this. 

“You look really cute today. I love your Metal guy shirt, it really brings out the softness of your hair.”

Now what the fuck was he supposed to say to that? Steve wasn’t even trying and Eddie could feel his face heating up just from the small comment. He had to one up this guy and fast.  

“Um, first of all, it’s Metallica. I know you can read that from there. Also, I don’t know why my hair looks soft. I used the same two-in-one I always do.”

Steve’s face does something complicated, a mix between scandal and constipation. Eddie could tell he was holding himself back from saying something. Oh shit, he said the wrong thing. Flirt Eddie, flirt!

“You look really hot with the sun hitting you like that. And the yellow flowers remind me of your sweater at Lover’s Lake. Very hot. I’m literally sweltering just thinking about it.”

Steve blushed and looked up at Eddie through his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah! 

Eddie had his opportunity. When Steve blushed down to his neck and looked down at the ground with a soft smile on his face, Eddie plucked the nearest sunflower to them and moved to kneel on one knee in front of him. 

“Stevie, my baby, my love, the paladin of my dreams. Would you do me the sacred honor of accepting this sunflower that displays the affections I hold for you?” Eddie waited with bated breath. They’d only been officially dating for like a month and this was essentially a half-assed proposal. Nice going you dipshit, you’re going to scare him off-

Steve’s shy smile turned into a beaming grin and he yanked Eddie into a bruising kiss. “I’d love to, Eddie! Give me the flower. Did you know sunflowers are my favorite?”

Eddie smiled as he tucked the flower behind Steve’s left ear, brushing his fingers against his cheek as he did. “Of course I did, sweetheart. They’re sunny just like you. And might I say, you look beautiful.”

Steve couldn’t do much in the face of his compliment but smile adoringly and pull him in for another kiss. 

Eddie might not believe himself to be a good boyfriend because he would never be able to match Steve’s flawless charms. However, Steve couldn’t imagine how he got so lucky as to have such a pretty and kind metalhead boyfriend that gave him his favorite flowers and called him beautiful. Eddie was the smoothest person there was and he could never measure up to it. They might both question how much they deserved each other but they had a lifetime to prove it.

Permanent tag list:@doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @pyrohonk @straight4joekeery @trippypancakes @conversesweetheart @estrellami-1 @suddenlyinlove @yikes-a-bee @swimmingbirdrunningrock @perseus-notjackson @anaibis @merricatty @maya-custodios-dionach @grtwdsmwhr @manda-panda-monium

[lillie98]

I headcannon Mike Wheeler as autistic (because we share the exact same strain) and I have a theory regarding Season 5. Many autistic people, including myself, have a warped sense of inherent danger. We will throw ourselves into dangerous situations not fully understanding the risks involved. It’s a dangerous situation, sure, but not so dangerous we should avoid it. Mike also has this problem, what with him diving head-first into every fight. He wants desperately to be a hero, to prove his worth and might as a person—to be remembered. If that means doing something stupid like getting himself killed, then that’s what it takes. It’s heartbreaking, but that’s the world he lives in. Hopper, Eleven, Will, they’ve all sacrificed their lives in some capacity to save the world, now it’s his turn.

Eddie touched on this concept with his “Don’t try to be heroes, not today. There is no shame in running,” but Mike doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, those who run are cowards, afraid to face their fears and fight for what they believe in. Has Mike been a bit cowardly these past two seasons by avoiding his feelings for Will? Yes, absolutely. But that’s his arc. Mike has to understand his actions, why he’s hiding, and the serious danger everyone is in. He has to face the music. Where does this lack of inherent danger come in? Glad you asked.

We all know Mike wants to be a hero. He wants to go down in history as someone good, someone who put others before themselves and saves the world. The Brave Knight, The Paladin. Paladins swear an oath of bravery and loyalty, vowing to avenge any threat that dares harm their allegiance (Byler anyone?). Something will threaten to harm/kill Will in Season 5, and Mike will have none of it. They’re not doing this again. Thus, Mike will throw himself in front of Vecna/Demogorgon/Brenner, etc. to protect Will, not fully comprehending the danger of the situation. He’ll be a hero. Unfortunately, this risky act will most likely cost him his life (temporarily). He doesn’t have to die. He’s the heart.

Lucas says, in the Season 4 hospital, that Max’s heart stopped for over a minute, but it miraculously started again. She is alive. El’s love for her conquered death itself. If we go on the “Will Has Powers” theory, then his love for Mike will conquer death and revive him. Mike only needs to be presumed dead, to be out long enough for Will and El to feel the effects of his death and consider joining Vecna. Because without their HEART, they’d fall apart. Both of them.

Back to what Eddie said, there really is no shame in running. Will doesn’t need Mike to do some egregious, knightly act of sacrifice to prove his love for him. His love is already enough. Will loves Mike for EXACTLY WHO HE IS. He always has, and THAT is the real heart of this story. Mike is not a hero because of what he does, but because of who he is. The way he loves, the way he stands up for what he believes in, the way he treasures his friends and protects them. The way he makes Will feel safe just by being there. That’s what Will fell in love with, not some fantastical DnD character that never actually existed.

Like Mike said in Season 2, “this isn’t DnD, this is real life.” DnD characters are fun, and it’s exciting to dream about slaying dragons or exploding orcs with your Magic Missiles, but that’s not real. It’s a game and it will end. Hit Points don’t magically restore you after a Long Rest and Healing Potions don’t deal 2d4+2 Healing. Actions have consequences and danger is real, even if your brain tells you it’s not. Paladins, Clerics, Bards, Rangers, they’re not real people. But Mike Wheeler is (in this context) and Mike Wheeler is enough. He is so enough. It’s time he wakes up and realizes he doesn’t have to be the Hero, slay the dragon, and make everything better, because it was NEVER HIS FAULT. Bad things happen and, sometimes, we can’t fix them. All we can do is stand beside our partner, hold their hand, and fight along with them—to remind them they are never alone. That, in and of itself, is truly heroic.

[chornayadrakoshig]

Not a Wednesday but a WIP! lol

I wanted to share some writing for a while but with my main projects I'm on a strict "no snippets, no spoilers, no sharing publicly" until approximately February next year, so I can't share that 3 complete oneshots I wrote for CL fandom. But I've been working on fics for other fandoms too — less successfully but it is what it is.

So, this one is Greatmage in Strixhaven AU. I have very mixed feelings about this, to be completely honest, so any early reviews/critique are extremely appreciated.

I intend to make it a oneshot collection where each fic it's a separate story but all of them are in continuous timeline. Don't have final title yet, the beta versions are "The Paladin. The Sorcerer." and "The weave keeps bringing us together".

This one was intended as a 2nd or 3rd oneshot in a series, where Gareth and El have already met in passing, but haven't really interacted before. However I haven't introduced El in this snippet yet (it's more focused on Gareth and a bit less on Eddie).

About 1.2k words under the cut:

When Gareth heard that they got a scheduled practicum in the infirmary as part of their class, he was excited at first. He was always ready to give a helping hand to someone who needed it (except for Carver and his goonies didn't count — they were a menace to the whole university), and healers, who worked on Strixhaven grounds, fascinated him since his first year, when (…. some accident). Of course, his upbringing was mostly focused on combat — but how good is the paladin who can't heal an injured teammate in the battle? So after their Life Auras and Necrosis professor,… said they'll spend a few hours per tenday volunteering at the infirmary and helping with the patients, he was thrilled. It was a great practice for the future of slaying real monsters — or, at the very least, a good practice for their Live-Action Roleplaying Guild meetings. Unsurprising amounts of younger students were getting minor injuries while hanging out in Segemoor outside of limiting passageways and bridges of the Witherbloom campus; a surprising amount of older students from their club didn't have any first aid skills, let alone any healing spells in their arsenal. And, apparently, they had a surprisingly absent sense of self-preservation too.

Gravelly boring and quiet shift in the infirmary — following the assigned healer around, helping to restock the supplies, updating some medical charts by controlling a quill with a spell while his hands were full of other stuff — was abruptly cut when sickly pale Eddie, supported by some Lorehold student from his year, came to see the healers.

When they explained what happene­d, Gareth was not impressed, to say the least.

“And you just drank it?!” hissed Gareth. “Eddie, you can't be that stu… No, cross this out” he mumbled, giving directions to the mage hand spell. The quill, which was floating above the paper in the grip of an invisible hand, crossed out the last sentence. Gareth hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for corrections on the medical card he was instructed to fill in. He cleared his throat and continued — Despite the signs of an incorrectly brewed potion, such as wrong shade and consistency, the patient drank it anyway. Observed symptoms: pale skin, nausea, vomiting…

“Oh Gareth Arthur, the son of Emmer, will you show mercy to the humble bard…” dramatically proclaimed Eddie, stopped abruptly, and puked in the bucket. Gareth was glad that he thought about setting it up as he saw his sick friend cross the threshold of the infirmary. If he had to clean up this mess, he would choose much stronger expressions, that's for sure.

“Stop writing,” he commanded to the quill and sighted. “I have no idea how you managed to mess up a simple flu concoction, Edward Munson,” he teased his friend and smiled a tiny bit as he saw his best friend wincing (Eddie hated his full name with passion), “but you're clearly not dying, so…”

“Gareth, you can't be that grudgy after I killed your character in the last game! I was playing the owlbear, I couldn't just mercy you because we're friends!”

“But you didn't have to push me face down into the mud,” said Gareth, though he was smiling. “Hold on here, I need to consult with the professor before I can treat any patients.”

“Oh come on, I know you've learned that spell that,” Eddie stopped and vomited into the bucket again. Gareth politely waited, “that helps with the poisoning! You helped Jeff when that strange scorpion bit him during the game.”

“I do,” confirmed Gareth, ready to leave Eddie on the hospital bed behind the curtains, “but it's not our game club session, it's part of my class practicum and I have a protocol to follow. I don't want to get a lower mark just because you're puking farther than you can see. I am going to help you, just… Maybe think about your life choices for a minute?”

He quickly left, searching for the healer he was assigned to. Technically, Gareth's shift was almost over — it was early morning, and he was supposed to go to classes, — but he couldn't leave his friend behind without making sure he was okay (even if Gareth was, a tiny bit, mad at Eddie). However, he wasn't sure if his mentor was still working, or if she went to instruct the next apprentice. Maybe she took a break? Once again, he was disappointed that he didn't get a spot at a different infirmary on campus. Not every college had one locally — Witherbloom had one, since animals and beasts wandered on campus territory, located in the middle of the forest, and Lorehold college opened a small infirmary since they resumed the excavation near the campus, as many artifacts they found wasn't necessarily safe. The one on the central campus, however, was the largest, with multiple healers working in shifts day and night, unlike other infirmaries, that were normally opened while classes were in session, or if some major event was going on. Originally Gareth was a bit disappointed that he didn't get his training assignment in the Witherbloom's infirmary, mostly because they normally had to deal with more dangerous — and therefore more interesting — injuries. And, of course, because they had more convenient working hours, unlike the infirmary on the central campus, where he was assigned to an early morning shift, just before classes started. Luckily, his club meetings and band performances didn't interfere with his practicum yet: staying up late and waking up at dawn would be too much. But right now Gareth was annoyed at the sheer size of that infirmary — it was a giant wide hall with a dome-like ceiling, made of light stone, with multiple smaller chambers attached to the main area: alchemists workstations, storage rooms, healers' breakrooms and what not. Finding a specific person here wasn't quick.

“Maybe I should've helped Eddie first, and fuck the protocol,” thought Gareth grimly. He even mastered the courage to look into some rooms and distract those few people he found working, but they either didn't know where the healer DeSantos went or just shooed him away. He wondered if she just left for breakfast — the tavern on central campus should've opened for the day, — and forgot to tell Gareth what he's supposed to do. After all, it was his first day helping at the infirmary. And despite his sharp tongue, Gareth knew when to be observant and quiet (if he wanted, of course) — unlike Eddie, who in four years here got more detention hours than all the other guys from his club, combined. Faculty even wanted to remove him from the position of club's head, but everybody protested and said they wouldn't accept anybody else in this position. But maybe today Gareth was too quiet, silently following healer DeSantos and doing all the tasks. He wanted to make the best impression — Gareth liked the idea of this practicum after all, — but maybe releasing a bunch of pests (these voracious caterpillar-like tiny chunky monstrosities, that were, for whatever reason, the Witherbloom's college mascots) would be more… memorable. At least he wouldn't end up in this situation, where the person who was supposed to boss him around just, apparently, forgot about his existence and left.

Maybe most of the staff left for breakfast, actually. The building was surprisingly quiet — in fact, significantly quieter than a mere hour ago.

“Hey! Somebody? Anybody?” called a vaguely familiar voice from the infirmary's entrance, sounding more and more annoyed with each word.

...

[sevenmerrymagpies]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @mustlovesteve for the tag!

How many works do you have on AO3? 106

What's your total AO3 word count? 603,511

What fandoms do you write for? I’m a one-fandom-at-a-time writer. Currently, I write for Stranger Things. Previously, some in the Captain America and Thor MCU fandoms, Merlin, due South, BtVS, and Angel. I have a smattering of other fandoms in there as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Steve’s No Good, Terrible, Kinda Perfect Senior Year (ST) He Sets the Tone (ST) A Paladin’s Work is Never Done (ST) She Sets The Agenda (ST) As I Hesitated, Time Rushed Onwards Without Me (Merlin)

Do you respond to comments? I try to. I figure I’ve let a few drop over the years by accident and I’ve never had a story get crazy popular with too many comments to respond to either.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Generally I write happy endings but Chosen, Rare Minds is a short, one shot downer. (It’s a canon compliant missing scene fic for the Captain America fandom is angsty in that it’s about Peggy and Howard deciding to move forward with bring Armin Zola into SHIELD using operation paperclip)

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I feel like so many of my stories have happy endings, but many of them are series that aren’t done, so the real ending (which will be happy) isn’t published yet. Of the published ones, I think maybe Translucent Hearts. Steve basically dies in the beginning of the story but by the end Steve, Eddie, Robin, and everyone Steve cares about is in a better place and happy with their lives. Lust, Love, and Other Side Effects also has a really happy ending for Steddie specifically.

Do you get hate on fics? I have a dirty, sweet short Darcy/Steve fic that has a shit ton of hits, but no love/kudos and two shitty comments (basically saying that it wasn’t what they expected, but I don’t know what to say, it was tagged and described accurately). Still, it’s tentacle dildo pegging and people don’t seem to want to own up to liking it. Only weird/mean comments I’ve gotten.

Do you write smut? Yes, but the least amount for Stranger Things. For some fandoms all I ever wrote for them was for kink bingo on LJ. I had to learn how to plot before I could do anything but write porn.

Do you write crossovers? Yup! Love a good crossover or fusion. I still love that I am the only Stranger Things/Highlander crossover fic in the fandom.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don’t think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Again, I don’t think so. No one has told me if they did.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope

What's your all time favorite ship? I am a true mulitshipper and trying to figure out a favorite ship in a single fandom is nearly impossible. I don’t think I could ever do it for all my fandoms ever.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? To: Birdbrian c/o the Wakandan Royal Residence - I’ve marked it complete, but it was supposed to be a series of short postcards between Natasha and Clint after Civil War. It was an experiment with writing a WIP that obviously didn’t work.

What are your writing strengths? For someone who writes fluffy stuff: angst, miscommunication (done right, meaning from actual character flaws not contrivance), and horror. Also, dialogue, character arcs, tight plotting, world building (fannish expansion style), and characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses? For all that I write sex, I still feel like it’s more mechanical than I want it to be. Action scenes, rising action and real stakes (I don’t want my babies hurt), emotions, subtle interactions between people - I always have to spell things out.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Super short phrases maybe. But for most MCU stuff I either avoided it or used italics to get across the fact that the dialog was not in English.

First fandom you wrote for? Buffy!

Favorite fics you've written? Steve’s No Good, Terrible, Kinda Perfect Senior Year series, Translucent Hearts, and my Eddie-centric story about Eddie being from the Lab: Future Hazy Try Again (and the rest of the series but I’m really proud of the first story). My older stuff is not my proudest stuff at this point. Some of it is over 20 years old and it shows.

(OMG I'm gonna try and get over my tagging fear, hold my hand and be nice to me)

Tagged: @devondespresso, @formosusiniquis, @ladykailitha, @libraryofgage, @dodger-chan, @1lostsoul0fishbowl