#and maybe even when he's first adopted into the family and leaves the cave

[fisheito]

found a baby yaku amidst the Sketchbook-glitch-corruption wreckage..... wondering if he flipped skin tones between black and red and everything in between until he saw his to-be-grandparents (and started mimicking THEIR skin tone....... )

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Northern Attitude

Next chapter

a/n guilty... guilty... guilty... I caved in. I own up to my weaknesses. Promised myself to never write for this man and here I am now. This is my first time so be gentle. 🗡️🫧

summery: mission gone bad, feels a little like enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort sort of goodness.

warnings: injuries, blood, bleeding out, alcohol, needles, death, trauma fun stuff.

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You two hated each other. That was a fact, and there was no way around it. It was scowling glares, sharp jabs during training if you two were paired together, and bitter remarks thrown here and there. And the joy of it all was that Price had granted you a shared room on the base. First, the excuse was that there was simply not enough room; the team had grown. Then he said he wasn't having a team that was up on biting each other's necks out. So in conclusion, he had set it up on purpose.

Did it help? No. It was a disaster. The man was insufferable. And, in all honesty, you had no idea what you had done. You had thrown a sexist card at him multiple times because you simply couldn't find another reason for his unmeasured dissatisfaction as to why you shouldn't be here. Never had he said anything nice your way. You got it; the guy was secretive. You didn't need to look far. The fact that he never took his mask off was proof enough. But to be so against someone you didn't even spend time with?

"Clean your mess", Ghost huffed, dropping his wet towel on the bed. You lifted your head away from your book. At least you two had separate beds on the opposite sides of the room. "It's on my side", you said, pointing to the white line that Ghost had drawn on the floor like a kid the first night you dragged your stuff here. The rule was simple: you stayed on your side, he on his. The bathroom was the only exception. "Yeah, I have to look at it, don't I", he grumbled, tossing the towel into the laundry basket. You paid him no mind, your eyes turning back to the pages. "Poor you, does it mess with your posh tea time?", you chuckled under your breath, earning a growl from the other side of the room.

And that's how it went. More than not, you considered any word coming out of Ghost's mouth a win. Because a new tactic the asshole had adopted was pretending that you weren't even a thing. You were an actual ghost, and Simon didn't believe in the paranormal clearly. You fastened your vest, double-checking that your on-hand weapons were right where you wanted them. "Do you need me to do a touch-down for you?", your head darted up, only to be met with a smug-looking scot. Soap. You couldn't help but let out a breathy chuckle. "Do you think that if you keep asking, the answer will eventually change?", you snickered back, shaking your head. Soap shrugged. "You tell me, bonnie?", the man teased back. Leave it to Johnny to joke around right before a mission. You hummed, "Maybe I'm more into you undoing it", Gaz snickered somewhere in the back. Soap's smirk grew even bigger. You knew that it was all good fun. Neither of them would make a move. They respected you. To most, you were like a sister. They had become your family. One you never had. Before Soap could say anything in return, the back door swung open, and in strolled Ghost. God, he looked good. Six feet of pure muscle. And when this man was in his full gear... You allowed yourself a moment to appreciate the way he looked before dropping your gaze. Suddenly, you were way more interested in the guns on the table than anything else.

Johnny came to stand next to you as the team gathered around the table. Price loved to gather everyone around before it all went off. John was like a father to most. You were no exception. You liked to tease the boys that you were his number one. His girl. And well, by law, you were. Considering that he pulled you out of the foster home, you owned this man a lot, even if he said that it was all in the past.

"You know the drill; go in, grab what you need, and get out. Try to keep it clean", Price said, pulling three sheets of paper and scattering them around on the table. "Soap and Ghost, you're together. I'll go with Gaz. Sugar, you're alone on this; we will clean the path for you, though". It was supposed to be a joke that name. You wanted something cool. Something as cool as Ghost, but Johnny was quick to remind you that his nickname was soap "And sugar", He had said, "That's quite literally white death". So it stuck.

You nodded your head, only to find Ghost shaking his. "Got something against it, LT?", you snarled. His eyes met yours over the table. With the war paint, his eyes were even more radiant. "She can't go alone. She doesn't know how to hold herself back and will do something stupid", now it was your turn to growl. Scratch the fact that you found this man attractive. You will suffocate him with a pillow in his sleep when you return to base. "Want to go with her, Ghost?", Price said calmly, knowing full well the answer would be a hard no. "We meet in the safe house afterward", Price continued without acknowledging the death glare Ghost was wearing, "Come back in one piece, you bunch". Everyone nodded quietly, reaching for the masks, double-checking the cartridges and radios. You were all climbing into the motorcar when Soap nudged your shoulder. "I'll hold you to the undressing part", he winked, hurrying to sit down. Your anger simmered down as you flipped him off in return, his laughter booming. It was Ghost, whose unimpressed eyes followed you two, gripping the gun in his hands tightly as he chose to stare ahead.

It was nothing—the mission. The base that needed to be checked out was pretty much abandoned. A couple of kills. A smoke bomb here and there. It was easy. Simple. They laid a clear path for you to do your thing. Your small frame was what they needed here. Air vents weren't the best of friends with hulky soldiers. "Do your worst, Sugar", Price had muttered into the radio some time ago. Your response was a cold, "Copy". The four of them were left to watch over the main entry points. Yet sending you into the belly of the beast felt wrong. At this point, Simon had lost count of the number of times he had reached for his radio, ready to call out to you. But he talked himself out every time.

"Got it", your voice pierced the silence. Ghost's shoulders drooped. "Good girl, bring it home", Price called back. Soap looked out of the window, "We should go meet them at the-", but his voice was cut by the cracking that came from the radio. Then it all died down. Silence. Soap locked eyes with Ghost. "Price, you copy?", Soap called out. Silence struck again. "All good here, you copy?", the captain called out. "Positive", Ghost muttered into the radio. Gunshots echoed deep within the base. It was you. The noise had to come from you. Ghost felt his heartbeat picking up. He had to find a way to get to you. To cover you. Yet the rational side of his brain screamed at him, saying that there was no way for him to do so.

The crackling filled the air around him once more as they rushed toward the spot where the team had agreed to meet. "Abort", your breathless voice came through the radio. "Get your asses out", you were panting. Ghost could hear you reloading your gun. "Sugar, what's the situation?", even Price's voice sounded more panicked. And the old man kept his cool. They all did. This whole shit could have been a setup for all they knew. Even outside, the sound of bullets pierced the silence didn't ease. Simon wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but your labored voice still twisted at his heart, "Get. Out."

The safe house had never felt so quiet. Usually, at least Soap was a never-ending chatterbox. Now the male stood in front of the window. Not moving. His eyes were glued to the forest in front of him. Price was half a bottle down on the bourbon. Gaz's leg hadn't stopped bouncing. They all had minor bruises, but that was expected.

"We need to go back", Soap said, rubbing his palms together. "You know that we can't, Johnny", Price puffed out a cloud of smoke. He was no doubt thinking of ways he was going to break the news to his wife. "She wouldn't fucking leave us", Soap snarled back. You would expect a handful of army men to be able to hold their composure in situations like this, but... You had dragged them all out of a dark pit. You were undoubtedly good at what you did, yes. But you offered much more. The safety blanket. A proper homemade meal when there was time, and that was a lot for a man who had been stuck in the base for months, missing home. There had been so much more laughter and smiles since you joined the force. As if you had breathed back humanity and a sense of life into their ice-cold bones. And now they all had to go back to...

The handle of the back door creaked. All four of them reached for their guns in unison. But no one besides them was supposed to know where the keys had been stashed. A lucky coincidence? The odds were too slim. But the door jerked open, and they all lost the breath they were holding.

"What a fucking greeting", you muttered, dropping your helmet to the side. Soap moved toward you first. Simon would have loved to beat him to it, but he found himself sitting back down, his legs suddenly feeling wobbly. "Here", you yanked the chip from your vest, pushing it into Soap's hand. "Mission complete, captain", you eyed Price. Before moving to undo your gear. "How many?", John asked, taking a drag from his cigarette. The blood on your forehead was crusted. But the sound of drops hitting the wooden floor was constant. "Six", you breathed, moving to undo your vest, and that's when the first growl left your lips.

"You're bleeding", Johnny breathed, reaching for your shoulder, but you pulled away. "I'll lick my own wounds", your tone was cold. It was colder than it usually was. Ghost watched you slowly walk towards the stairs, but not before you had reached for the Bourbon. "I'll come to stitch you,", Price had called out, only to be harshly cut off with a harsh, "No".

You locked the doors behind yourself. Your vision was going hazy. You had managed to get away. You had no idea how because there had been a moment when you were sure that death was standing right behind your back, breathing at your neck. You had killed before, had blood sprayed all over you. Yet something about this felt different. Maybe it was the fact that there was a moment where you weren't the one in control. When they had managed to yank you across the floor by your ankle. You shivered at the image of a knife being jabbed on either side of you as you dodged blow after blow.

Your hands gripped the sink. You will do this. You will patch yourself up. Swallow a couple of pills and go to sleep. You knew there was no way you were getting your shirt off, so you wasted no time as you sliced the fabric with your pocket knife, wincing. Slowly peeling the damp material from your shoulder. Would this be easier if someone else did it for you? Yes. But you didn't want anyone's hands on you. Not now. Not when your brain was still fuzzy. The trickle of blood ran down your chest and through the sports bra you had on. You knew what followed next. You've done it multiple times. Drink bourbon. Splash some on the wound. Dig the fingers in to fish for the bullet. More bourbon. Stitch it up. You ran yourself through the steps one more time. One more look in the mirror before you force yourself to do just that.

Simon's hands were gripping the chair he was sitting on. Every little whimper from upstairs ripped at his composure. Stubborn girl, never knowing how to accept help. And a whimper, a whimper he could handle, but when a loud cry filled the quiet space, Simon was up and going. Every other step was skipped, and he was right in front of the second-floor bathroom. Hand on the handle as his shoulder hit the locked door. "Open up", Ghost banged his fist into the surface. "Go away", your voice was barely audible. Too long. He had sat downstairs for too long. He should have come barging in the moment you tried to play a big girl. Should have carried you back downstairs. "Don't make it bloody difficult", Simon's voice was husky. His own body ached, but he wasn't about to sit back and watch you bleed out.

You didn't answer him. "Sugar", he called out, "Open the fucking door, or I will break it", he wasn't even sure why he was bargaining with you now. But he respected your privacy. He always did. Even in the room you shared. His face was always facing the wall when he knew you were taking a shower. Just in case you had forgotten your clothes and would need to quickly get to your side of the room, this was different; his stalling could cost you your life. So he doesn't say anything else. Backing a couple of steps back, Simon braced himself for the impact. The hinges were old, so one shove from him was enough to break them; the rest he could handle with his two hands.

Ghost's breath hitched once more. "Stubborn, bloody woman", he hissed. The floor was covered in your blood; there was not a single clean towel. Your figure was slumped by the bath. "Price", his voice was more of a roar that made even you jerk your head up. "Get out", you breathed, trying to put distance between you two. "Like fuck, I will", Simon grunted, reaching towards you, his palm pressing into your shoulder. You cried out, your nails digging into his wrists, but the pressure didn't ease. "Fucking hell", the captain called from behind, "Get her downstairs".

"No", you hissed as Ghost lifted you, "Get away". But you knew that it was over now that they'd seen you. Simon tried to lower you down, but you whizzed in pain. "From the back", you say through gritted teeth. "What?", His eyes searched yours; you knew he was struggling to understand you. "The bullet", your breath, "from the back". Simon's eyes darted up to John, who slowly nodded his head, "Keep her up, then", and you could feel him pulling the rest of your shirt off.

"Liquid courage", a bottle was dangled right in front of you, and you could just about make out Soap's shaky hands. "I don't need it", you muttered, feeling the way Simon's chest rumbled with a disapproving growl. "Don't fight it, kid", Price called out from behind you, "You know how it's done". He was looking through the medical bag, no doubt making sure that he had everything he needed on hand. You open your mouth, and Soap quickly takes the hint, tilting the bottle upwards.

"Bite this and hold onto Simon's shoulders for me", the captain delivered his words like an order, but you still shook your head. "Jesus women, do you have a death wish or something?", Ghost muttered, hands moving from your legs that were still wrapped around his torso to your hands, pulling one of them over his shoulder and the other, the injured one, across his torso, so Price could work on it easier. But your palms stay pushed away from his skin. So does your chest. He was too close. You couldn't. Simon doesn't like his personal space being occupied by anyone.

"Deep breath for me", was the only last warning John gives you before you feel a pain like no other ripping through your back. And that was all it took. All it too, for your hands to clamp around Simon. Nails were in his skin as you yelled out, trying to pull away from whatever Price was doing. Simon's big palm cupped the back of your head, guiding you down onto his shoulder. "You got this, love", he muttered against your ear. The grip he had on you did not falter, not even for a second. "Almost there, Sug, just a bit more", Price said through gritted teeth. You could feel him digging through your back. The burning icy cold now.

Your body was working on its own accord. Hand reaching for the side of Ghost's face as another wave of pain ripped through you, making you holler out. Simon didn't pull away. And maybe you were high on pain, but you could swear you felt his lips against your palm. Kissing your skin through the material of his mask. Your breathing got shallow. You wanted to pull back to look up at him. Into his eyes. At least one more time. But your body felt heavy. Your fingers gently caressed the side of his face. The smell of him calmed you. You pressed a weak kiss against his neck, feeling a shiver running down his back.

"Keep her talking, Simon,", Price grumbled in frustration. Something probably wasn't going how it was supposed to. But it was okay. You had made your peace with it. "Come on, look at me", Simon pulled your limp head away from his shoulder, tapping your cheek a couple of times. "Keep your eyes open, eh? Or I'll leave my wet towels all over our room for the rest of the month", there was a tinge of something new in his voice. Some kind of light worry. Frustration. You blinked a couple of times, the corners of your lips turning upwards. "You wouldn't dare", you rasped out, your mouth feeling way too dry all of a sudden. "Why is that?", Simon asked straight away, his eyes not leaving yours. You let yourself breathe for a bit; you didn't have enough strength to answer right away. "I'll get you pink sheets and...", a cough made your body seize, and Ghost's grip on you tightened instantly. And there. There it was. A flash of worry caught his eye. "A fuzzy rug", you finished finally. Simon's palm ran over your sweaty forehead. "I'd like to see you try, darling", he breathed out, but there was no amusement in his voice.

"She's too fucking pale, Price", you heard Soap's voice from the side, or at least it sounded like it. "Shut up, Johnny,", the captain grumbled. "Don't close your eyes, Sugar", you felt another nudge from Ghost, making you blink up at him once more. "It's cold", you muttered, feeling your hand slip down his torso, falling limp by your leg. "John", Ghost said in a warning tone. He was trying to make you hold back on him, but your hand slipped away every time.

It was the way your hand limped against Simon's face that sent the last wave of panic through him. Your clammy skin pressed against him. And he was back there, back in the house where his family was killed. No, he couldn't lose you. Not now that he had found you. Not without you knowing that he also cared, just like everyone else. "Y/N", he called out softly. He had never called you by your real name. Never had a chance to see if your eyes would shimmer when he did. "Don't do this", he breathed again your not injured shoulder, "Don't you dare fucking die on me". But he was met with nothing. Only then did he realize that he would have to live with nothing but regret and your blood on his hands. All because he couldn't find a way to let your light shine through his cold demeanor. All because he was afraid of the fact that he had found himself caring again.

[nelkcats]

Consequences

When he felt compelled to take over as Robin in order to save Batman from himself, Tim didn't have high expectations; he didn't expect to be adopted by Bruce, he didn't expect to acknowledge the fact that his parents were abusive by leaving him alone for months, he didn't expect anyone to care if he ate or not, and in general he didn't expect to gain a family.

And for a while he thought that everything would get better: he gained brothers, he had a caring father, he had no financial problems or had gotten sick; And yes, maybe Robin's patrols were harsh at first, maybe Bruce's words when he was angry reached his heart and hurt him deeply, but he was fine.

Until he wasn't, at some point he felt more abandoned than ever even though he was surrounded by his family. When he was talking to his boyfriend, he realized that everyone took him into account but no one really appreciated what he did.

At first he didn't understand why Danny looked at him concerned and kept asking if he was okay while he told him an anecdote from his life as a vigilante; they had known each other for a while (Alfred had noticed, the others hadn't), they started talking, dating in coffee shops and even revealed the fact of being vigilantes after a few months on a relationship, that's when they started sharing anecdotes with each other.

Danny mentioned that he was being a hypocrite for caring so much about his stories when his were just as bad. Tim didn't get it until he started to see things from another perspective.

He never realized how much it hurted how Bruce had never thanked him for helping when he was lost in time, or how Dick avoided talking about his Robin time by concentrating on Damian, he thought he could understand but that didn't make it any better, Jason's nickname was beginning to make sense.

He didn't realize how broken he felt when Jason tried to kill him and blamed him; He was his childhood hero, Tim loved Robin because Jason put him in the stars, however, no matter how many times he explained to his brother that the only reason he had taken the suit was because he had no choice, and that he felt forced to blackmail Batman to be his Robin before Bruce became what he hated most. Jason still didn't care, still called him Replacement over and over again, blaming.

Or Damian who kept trying to kill him, refusing to acknowledge him, and when he defended himself he ended up getting reprimanded. Not even Bruce thanked him for all the work he did in taking over the company as CEO. His entire family went on with their lives without repercussions.

Maybe he was being naive as he refused Danny's requests to run away from home and stay with him, at least for a few days so they would miss him. He felt like a broken record repeating the phrase "it's okay, they're trying, they can change", the look on his boyfriend's face told him he wasn't doing a good job on believing his own words.

The mansion made him feel small at times, ignored; it was fortunate that Alfred was actually paying attention to him and offering a cup of hot chocolate at such moments.

At some point he couldn't take it anymore, Jason and Damian's comments had gone too far, Bruce's lack of response along with Dick's laughter commenting that they weren't saying it in a bad way only made him angry, so he left the cave and called to Danny, he told him it was time to go.

He said goodbye to Alfred, Cass, Duke and Steph who had generally not contributed to his decision, and he regretted that he couldn't stay longer to get to know them better, but the damage had been building up for a long time.

He wrote a letter detailing his reasons to the rest of the family, leaving along some clues to let them know that he had left of his own free will and they wouldn't be able to find him even if they wanted to, he sighed as his anger turned to resignation.

"Are you ready?" Danny questioned, taking his hand gently as they walked out of the mansion.

"Ready as I'll ever be"

That's how Timothy Jackson Drake said goodbye to his home dimension and headed to the infinite realms, of course he was going to sneak in a couple of times to help his friends but never when his family is around. He hadn't expected the life in the palace or the marriage proposal that came years later, but although the place was gigantic, Tim felt good in it, comfortable, appreciated.

Time in the Realms passed quite quickly, unlike his original dimension, so years for him were a couple of months for his family.

He found it ironic that Danny was summoned as the Ghost King by Ra, who had the nerve to order the "creature" to give him the secrets of the Lazarus pits, offering the Batclan as sacrifices. Tim looked at the time portal connected to his home dimension (That Clockwork had given him to watch his family and friends, even if he was upset he was not going to let them die) wondering if he should interfere.

It was decided when Danny called Fright Knight to deal with the nuisance that was Ra, and he accompanied him as a royal adviser (regardless of his second title as ruler, he actually liked being a part of strategizing better and Danny was happy to give in to his wishes).

With a weary sigh he crossed the portal and began to recite Ra's crimes, indicating how he had damaged the balance between life and death since he corrupted the ectoplasm on the Lazarus pits to extend his life at the same time that Frighty stopped the man.

No one in the room bothered to pay attention to the stupefied bats who were watching the missing member of his family, but years older, that apparently was the Ghost King royal adviser. They tried to call him but Tim just gave them an annoyed look before continuing with his work.

By the time Fright Knight took Ra completely chained through the portal, they finally saw the ghost king move, he started kissing Tim's face repeatedly, which had turned his frown into laughter.

The moment they finally processed the scene they both disappeared, and well, weren't those the consequences of their own actions?

----

Thanks to @unadulteratedsoulsweets for the general idea, I enjoyed writing this! Even if it ended up a little bigger than I expected

[yuri-is-online]

Hey, remember the soulmate au by tiyoin(?) I recently read your post abt idia and Leona reacting to yuu being their mates, but I wanna take it a step further since I saw idias line abt the family curse (this has yandere implications so if it's not your cup of tea please feel free to just ignore, nothing is outright mentioned tho)

What if yuu has a family curse similar to the aishi family in yandere simulator? (It's been years since I touched the game so if the lore changed I'm basing it off of 2018 ish lore, just with my own twist) basically yes, yuu CAN feel emotions, they're just muted and barely there. Given the right conditions (like falling in love or spending time with friends) and/or antidepressants they'll basically be like any other person, without them it's like a less severe version of the aishi women pre-falling in love

So, afab ppl born in yuus family, once falling in love, start losing their sanities and adopt yandere like behavior (stalking, increasing rage and jealousy, willingness to murder, etc) unfortunately this means they usually die young (20s or 30s) how quickly/young they die is based on their willpower (resisting the urges) and when/if they fall in love (so someone falling in love for the first time in their 40s and having insane willpower, caving in 20 years later in their 60s has more luck than a 16 year old falling in love and caving in almost immediately). Unfortunately everyone is a carrier, men carry the gene and can pass it to their daughters, but it only presents in the women/afab ppl, so transfems won't be affected but transmascs will.

What if yuu fell in love already (in their own world) and has just been doing a really REALLY good job at Resisting The Urges™️. Like, sometimes they slip up and cave in to anger or get ridiculously jealous, but they try their hardest to tamp down the feelings. Yuu has sworn off falling in love (again) and has given up their dream of having a big family bc of the curse, they're even distancing themselves from their object of affection in an attempt to "be normal again" at the cost of their own sanity.

So yuu gets transported to twst, and without their darling, they have the chance to be normal again, assuming they can get past the initial panic frenzy. Then the soul bond is revealed and they just go "nope. Not this shit again" and spouts cryptic messages about a family curse and swearing off love. I'm pretty sure most of the boys would feel a bit hurt by that lmao

This is mostly made for idia since his segment is what sparked the idea in the first place, but which characters from most to least likely do you think would try to pursue mc and figure out the truth to leave them alone and try to move on? I personally can't see someone like kalim giving up on both but I think the octatrio would try to look for the truth but be 50/50 on pursuing yuu or dropping them like a hot potato. Idia I think would try to relate to yuu and try to pursue them, but I think he'd probably be a bit put off once yuu starts dropping hints about the curse (he's a weeb so it won't take long for him and maybe Ortho to put 2+2 together and figure out the curse)

tiyon's soulmate au can be found here, their first post inspired some asks, which led to my own soulbound au the rules of which can be found here. Please support tiyon and interact with their soulmate au! They're a very creative blog and deserve the attention~ give them some reblogs!

so. uh. I got this ask when I first woke up and 1) very happy to hear from you Rose, always lovely to get a new ask and 2) yandere? sim? has lore? I did not think people actually played the game? help. i've fallen and misplaced my life alert. As a rule I don't really write for a Yuu who is just x character from y game/anime (it is in my rules) so while I was at work realizing I might be old I was trying to think of a way to do this that wasn't just yan sim (I wanted something properly gn) and I think I've got something? I am currently beating away the desire to info dump on you about the myth of Sigurd and Brunhilde (i could scream about that for hours oh god oh please i have written an actual au for that but efkjbekjrgbjrthnytrh) So here is the basic idea:

Yuu ran afoul of a witch in their world and was appropriately cursed. Given the myth I was inspired by I don't think Yuu did anything bad, but they still made the witch mad so they got cursed to lose all reason should they ever fall in love.

"You will be thine own destruction!" Cackles the witch and Yuu, who is actually normal unlike trey this person takes a deep breath and resigns themselves to researching a way to minimize the effects and maybe break it? They don't know they thought magic was fake until they thought they were just doing a favor for someone but turns out they pissed off Baba fucking Yaga.

They start to isolate themselves since they notice the curse starting to eat at them when they are around anyone the love; they consider going back to the witch and asking for further clarification but they can't seem to find them anywhere so they take some deep breaths and do their best to just be normal.

When they end up in Twisted Wonderland, and start feeling... weird. And it only gets worse when Crowley speculates that they might have been brought to Twisted Wonderland because they posses a soulbond.

And Yuu immediately freaks out because they don't want to kill anyone.

Now as for your question for who would try to pursue Yuu vs just leave them... well I don't really like writing un reciprocated feelings so I hesitate to say any of the cast would drop Yuu. In my au it isn't possible for soulbonds to not be reciprocated, and they are already sort of seen as a curse by mages so this... complication might not be normal but it isn't unexpected if that makes sense. Which would probably make Yuu swearing off love hurt even worse.

Kalim wouldn't want to abandon Yuu. Not ever, no matter how much of a danger they could be to him. Hell, he's willing to forgive people who are trying to poison him on the off chance they might regret it. But he is the heir of House Al-Asim, and I could see his dad paying someone to take Yuu out to keep his son safe. Something Jamil sees coming from a mile away and has to just keep quiet about. Something I can see Jamil feeling bad about, he might not like Kalim but you didn't ask for anything that happened to you. And yet the Asim's took your life from you anyway.

Have to disagree about the octatrio just a bit. Floyd would be into this. And so would Jade. But especially Floyd, oh hee hee ha ha his soul mate wants to kill him? Say less he is on his way to get his ass eat beat with an engagement ring in hand. Both he and Jade would be a little disappointed when the curse is broken and you aren't actively trying to kill him anymore... maybe you could try and poison him huh? Like old times?

I wrote 20 paper pages of soulbond au stuff for Azul so I will try to be brief here but... I don't think this situation would be one that made him try to break the bond. He has... complicated feelings about soulbonds already. If anything I could see him thinking he deserves this.

Now Idia. He's complicated. Pre-overblot he has given up on the concept of breaking his own curse, and I could see him feeling the same way about yours. Ortho on the other hand... even before he gets his soul he wants to help. After the overblot I can see Idia pursuing Yuu determined to find the truth and save them. Not that he wouldn't interact with them before that, he's a bit nihilistic so I can see him just making a bunch of jokes about the situation or promising to let Yuu kill him "after this next round." Or just straight up asking them to when he has to hit pity in one of his gachas. It's just cringe enough that it snaps Yuu out of the curse fog for long enough for the two of them to be normal around each other. And by normal I mean incredibly awkward

Anyway that's all I've got. Thank you for the ask ♡

[changingplumbob]

Pancakes Household: Chapter 9, Part 8

Fergus concludes his birthday party and we get some news.

CW: Unicorn zombie with minor carton gore

Calista: Ready to lose all your sleep ins

Eliza: What do you mean

Calista: An adoption fell through at the last minute and my husband put you two forward before they had time to go to the waitlist

Eliza: Wait, really? You're not tricking me?

…

Aaron: So she’s an infant born this morning. There was a family set up but they got cold feet about not having access to parents medical histories so I just told them how reliable the two of you are together. She’s got African American descent so they were keen for at least one of the parents to match

Bob: Thanks Aaron, I really can’t thank you enough for this

Calista: Apparently the birth mother didn’t want to name her, she wanted to avoid attachment, but you didn’t hear that from me. Anyway better get brainstorming

Eliza: Oh Bob already has quite the list, trust me

...

Aaron: There’ll be papers but legally she’ll be seen as yours and Eliza’s from the get go

Bob: I’m sure we can handle not knowing the medical histories, we’re interested in her future. I know it’s selfish to want an infant-

Aaron: Hey, you can always adopt or foster an older one later on. You’re still bringing a child into your family, that’s generous no matter their age

Of course it is Fergus’ birthday party and he spends some time eating cake with his friends. Since aging up has already happened this rotation most of them are teens now to.

In the lounge the adults take over the TV.

Calista: Which button is the gas

Artemisia: Crash ma, crash!

Bob: It’s one of the right ones I think

Artemisia: It’s left ma! Other left! Watch out for-

Aaron: *sighs* You’re not being very helpful Emisia

Artemisia: *tuts* Blame Bob for not having enough seats at their table *leaves*

Eliza: There will be even less when we break the high chair out of storage

Artemisia: What are you doing out here

Beth: You’re all tall now, it’s weird

Artemisia: It’s not my fault that you’re younger than the rest of us

Beth: Whatever

And of course compulsory photos with friends! Chasity and Artemisia below.

Most of Fergus and Artemisia’s friends are born from in game couples. The first two below are Brianna Fryes and Drake Bheeda. Maybe people with better eyes can see the family resemblance but I cannot… Then we have Anya and Atlas

After the party Eliza heads out for a jog with Strawberry but when she gets home it’s Ginger who needs a bath? Keen to dust off her bathing small creatures skills Eliza takes her for a bath. Ginger is very appreciative, even if she shakes off a puddle into the corner.

When Eliza eventually gets to bed Strawberry feels like cuddles and wakes her up.

Eliza: Strawberry! Tomorrow is a big day, mother needs sleep, don’t wake up sleeping sims

Strawberry pretends to listen but she’s stubborn so I’m quite sure it makes no difference to her, especially since Eliza does cave and give her snuggles. Before going back to sleep Eliza decides to check on the dust bunny. Dusty gifts her a fire opal! Not wanting Ginger to feel left out of the snuggle-fest she cuddles her before heading back to sleep. Where is Bob?

It may be half past midnight but Bob is determined to finish his latest book. He’s not particularly good at writing but he needs to save up for his future restaurant.

Strawberry: *yaps* Play time dad, play

Bob: Sorry Strawberry, dad is busy just this second

Strawberry: *yaps* Ginger, come get dad to play

Ginger: *barks* Sure, oh... oh no... he’s on the computer!

To Bob’s confusion Ginger bolts out of the room and is followed by a curious Strawberry. Bob doesn’t have to much time to wonder on it though as he needs to keep writing.

Strawberry: *yaps* Why are we under here

Ginger: *whimpers* hiding

Strawberry: *yaps* Wait, what are we hiding from

Ginger: *whimpers* the computer

Strawberry: *yaps* come on, we’ll crawl out this side and we’ll be away from it. Let's comfort eat

Ginger: I suppose that's what dad does

Ginger reluctantly follows Strawberry out and does her best to forget that Bob is on the computer.

At 2:30 Bob finishes book number 4! He also reached writing level 4, hopefully soon he’ll be able to do more than self publish. Getting ready for bed he is giddy with excitement for his growing household.

Previous ... Next

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Hi! Could would you like to write something about reader and Tangerine where she is the Twins's "adopted sister" but they have always been secretly in love with each other. Anyway at some point they split and later they meet again on the Train (idk... maybe she is an assassin too and is trying to help them?) . Then they argue because something dangerous happens so the truth comes out and a smut at the end?! Ps: Sorry for my bad English but it's not my first language. Thank you so much!

hii! I love it

I did change some things, I hope that’s okay- I changed it to foster siblings and I didn’t do smut, really really really sorry. I’ve written so much smut lately my head might explode😭 but I have already got a train smut one, I’ll link it, in case that suits better. and your English is great, don’t worry! and you’re welcome!

thank you for your request 💌

link for assassin train smut

about time (Tangerine x Reader)

paring || soft!Tan x fem!reader

wc || 1.3k

warnings || nothing really, just fluff

masterlist + rules

taglist

Being a contract assassin meant you sometimes had to do things you weren’t comfortable doing. But right now the thought of walking into a gunfight felt so much easier than the thought of staying in Tokyo a second longer- this feeling was of heartache, rather than of adrenaline.

Momentarily relaxing into the chair of the quiet car- feeling pleased to finally be leaving this city. The thoughts of the current mission resurface, reminding you of your task. You were instructed to snatch a silver briefcase from two people, looking over the assignment paper and silently chuckling reading their names. “Why fruits?” You thought to yourself.

The truth is, you hadn’t dreamt of having this as a career- without sounding cheesy, this career chose you. But lately, you’ve become fed up with your job, you hated the way it made you feel. When you were younger you wanted to help people- not kill them. Shrugging off your consistent thoughts, you get to work.

Getting you up you walk through the carriage doors, checking the luggage area for the correct case. “No way!” You thought to yourself, spotting the train sticker on the handle. “That was too easy.” Leaning over to reach it, you stand upright feeling a bit smug while clutching the case.

A harsh cough interrupts you, turning around to see a tall moustached man glaring at you. “What do you think you’re doing?”

You turn to meet the man’s face and you freeze- not out of fear, but because your past has finally caught up to you. He still looks the same, well apart from the porn-‘stache and his now very buff torso.

His eyes soften when he finally realises who was standing in front of him. Your eyes doe as your lips tug up into a smile. Even with the great speed of the Bullet Train, time stood still for a few moments.

Looking wearingly between him and the case. “Is it yours?” You ask.

“Yeah, but I don’t care about that now.” Trying to hide a smile.

You give him the case with a wry grin, “neither do I.”

When you were a teenager you were passed around the system a lot, you’d stay with new foster families every couple of months. You hated it- never feeling like you had a proper home, but that was until you met two very special people. 

These two very special people were often placed in the same houses as you, which meant that the three of you were able to develop a genuine friendship over the years. You were never able to tell him how much you loved him. It made your heart hurt- the confusion and guilt of being in love with someone from your foster family. But one night it all got too much, you couldn’t take it anymore, so you just left- you ran away. You wrote individual heartfelt letters to brothers before you left, you tucked them under their pillows as you kissed their temples goodbye. You had always regretted the way you left.

Looking at him right now, it’s like nothing had changed like the last fifteen years apart meant nothing.

You cave in, you step towards him extending your arms to initiate an embrace. He doesn’t even need to think about it, he wraps his big arms tightly around you, squeezing you. His chin resting on your head, enjoying this moment as you breathed in each other's familiar scents.

Pulling apart to look him over, beaming with soft eyes, “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

“Neither can I.” A boyish grin plastered across his face, kissing the crown of your head. It didn’t feel foreign or odd, it just felt right.

“We’re finally in Tokyo together.” You smile.

“You remember that too?” Referencing the conversation about cities you had one night, many years ago.

“You need to get off this train.” Tan suddenly admits, with sullen eyes.

“No. I’m not getting off.” You replied simply.

“It’s about to go tits up- I can’t let you get hurt.” He says as his gaze softened.

“I don’t care. I’m not going to leave you again.” Tenderly smiling up at him.

“Please? Just go.” He says a little more sternly.

“No. I can take care of myself.” Standing your ground. “Wait a second- are you both here? Are you the fruit twins?” Connecting the dots.

His eyes squinted so you took that as a ‘yes’.

“You are.” Pointing a playful finger at him, “what one are you? Are you Lemon- is it because you’re sour?” Grinning at him.

“No- I’m Tangerine.”

“Why ‘Tangerine’?”

“Because I’m adaptable- oh bloody hell it’s not important. Are you trying to change the subject?”

Hiding your smirk, “…no”

“You are. You need to go- please. I could never forgive myself if you got hurt.” Face screwing up, hating the thought.

“Tan…” you started with a smirk as you called him by his code name rather than his real name. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.” He quickly responds.

“Do you have a girlfriend- or wife or-or someone?” You said slowly.

His head tilted to the side in confusion. “Uh-? Why?”

“Just answer.”

“No…”

“Good. I want to tell you something I should’ve said years ago… I’m still in love with you. So no, I cannot leave you again, but if you don’t feel the way, please stop me- I don’t know why I’m still taking- just tell me to stop- Christ, my hands are getting clammy. I’m sorry, I don’t think I should’ve said that.” Eyes closing as if you were trying to hide yourself.

Slowly opening them when there was a looming silence, looking up to you see him grinning widely at you.

“I’ve loved you since I was a kid- I haven’t stopped.” He admits. “Look at this.” He pulls out his phone showing you the wallpaper. It was a picture of the letter you gave him all those years ago. “It reminds me to keep going.” Looking over you tenderly. “It’s why I’m still here.”

Your chest staggered as you inched closer to him, you didn’t want to wait any longer. You tenderly kissed him, and as you pulled away his hands cupped your face as if he was trying to bring you back in. He gently brushed over your lips as you melted into him, it felt so surreal to be finally here at this moment.

Separating with a twinkle in each of your eyes, beaming at one another.

“We can run away together? And forget this mission? I don’t ever want to let you go again.” You softly ask. It was a big ask, you just hoped he’d say yes.

“I’m not leaving without my brother.”

“I know, I meant him too.” Cupping his cheeks.

A smile arose under his moustache. “Okay.”

“Really?” Grinning.

“Yes. Let’s go get him. And bring that case- we can put it on red and have a wonderful time.”

Struggling to contain your excitement, you kiss him eagerly. “Okay we gotta be quick, next stop is in two minutes.”

You picked up the case as he lead you through the carriage by your hand, immediately noticing Lemon with the Son.

“We gotta go.” Tan says seriously to his brother.

“Who’s the girl- NO! No fucking way!” Lemon shouts, earning a “shush” from a lady a couple rows in front. He rushes up to you, hugging you tightly.

“I’ve missed you! But we gotta go, right now.” You say ushering him along.

Tangerine leans over the table towards the kid sitting close to the window, “you better stay on the fucking train, your daddy is waiting for you at Kyoto.”

The three of you walked off the train together, it felt like you finally had your family back. Who knows, maybe you could work together as a team. No longer hating this city, it brought your family together.

[infiniteunderworld]

Okay i’ve maybe been reading too many hurt/comfort fics lately.

So as far as DPxDC goes Jason and his pit waters/rage reacting to Danny as a halfa/ghost and vice versa is pretty common. I just almost always see it being a positive thing. And believe me I love it being a positive thing, I’ve seen so many cool iterations of it. But what if it wasn’t positive? What if the ectoplasm-pit-waters/rage feed off of the natural ectoplasm that Danny produces. Danny isn’t malicious, it’s just like he’s accidentally added logs to a fire. Ghosts in Gotham don’t do the same because they usually don’t produce enough ectoplasm to make it flare badly, but maybe the ghosts in Gotham are what has led to the pit rage to stay as long as it has.

Danny ends up visiting Gotham with his family for some reason for another and Danny can’t so much as look at Crime Alley without hearing gunshots. Some of it is regular crime alley, but trying to get coffee or something from the area lands him in the middle of gang war, so he decides he has too much to deal with already and stays out of it. For the few days Danny is around, Red Hood seems to be on a rampage. All of the rehabilitation he’d managed is gone, and it sets his relationships with the bats back loads. Jason is blaming himself for it all, or maybe Bruce somehow, maybe both. And then Danny leaves Gotham and Jason is able to work his way back to where he was. Everyone just tries their best to put that weirdly aggressive weekend behind. They chalk it up to Jason getting set off by something that he won’t talk about. Only Jason is aware that nothing (he was aware of) set him off.

Then years later for some reason or another (reveal gone wrong, moved out for college, etc.) for this idea i’m running with reveal gone wrong or on the run of some kind. Danny comes back to live in Gotham this time. And I can see two interesting ways to take this (immediately anyway, i’m sure there's many more)

The First;

Danny shows up on Bruce’s doorstep essentially requesting a place to hide. Danny’s smart, he knows he checks all the marks in the Wayne Adoption Compulsion, and it only takes one scouting of the manor (to check that it’s actually safe) in order to find the bat cave. And honestly what place would have better security than batman’s house, right?

Everything goes alright for a while but eventually Jason comes round to visit the new kid. As soon as he’s even near the house he can tell the pit is flaring. It's less than the last time Danny was around because the kid was freaked out then, he's more calm now so the ectoplasm is further from the surface (maybe?). That doesn’t stop Jason from barging into the house, maybe wires get crossed somehow, and he’s sure the Ra’s has sent a spy. He quickly finds Danny and shoots him, maybe he aims for the head or shoulder or what have you, but Danny panics and transforms to defend himself and things somehow manage to get Worse. Unsure where one would go from there, but the angst potential is immense. I can also see GhostKing!Danny having enough power over Jason to make him crumble and essentially get stuck not being able to move but full of so much rage. And if the Batfam didn’t know about Danny beforehand? Man what a heck of a reveal that would be!

The Second;

Danny ends up renting or homeless in crime alley. The effects on the pit only happen in close proximity or when Danny uses his powers, so in an attempt to remain under the radar nothing is inherently worse than normal crime alley at first. But then something happens, maybe a gang war that Danny gets caught in the middle of and tries to help, or he gets mistaken for a Wayne and captured in a hostage situation that Hood comes to solve, or heck maybe even a summoning that Red Hood is trying to stop because he realized that they make his control waver. Whatever it is, it's the catalyst and soon Batman is painfully aware of Red Hood damn near hunting this new white haired meta. And Batman maybe has Duke at this point, so his meta rule is a little more lax? Bats is then extra confused at why Jason is all of a sudden defending that rule with deadly fervor.

Danny’s panicked because what did he do to piss off THE Red Hood?? But he’s so used to Skulker that being hunted by someone with normal guns is child's play, but other people are starting to get caught in the crossfire. Also, Danny is pretty sure that Red Hood is human under all that leather and don’t humans need to eat and drink water and sleep?? Hood is so hopped up on MURDER that he has no concept of his own oncoming death by human needs, just that he needs to get rid of the walking (flying?) Lazarus pit.

I like to think that the Batfam eventually capture Jason and essentially put him in time out (to the best of their ability anyway, he was a Robin, he has many escape artist skills). And Batman confronts a now rather haggard Danny as Phantom to figure out what happened and nearly catches the kid himself when he sees those neon green eyes. Maybe he does catch Danny and puts Danny near Jason again, and it’s very confusing and worrying to watch how quickly the pit rage hits full force. Everyone is just stunned until Danny pushes the containment as far away from Jason as he can and transforms back to human. He figured out how to hide somewhere along the way, because Danny is half human, he still needs food and sleep and stuff too. The pit rage dies out significantly, and it answers several questions and brings up SO Many More.

ANyway,

Most of my context for batfam stuff comes from one webcomic, half rememberances from TV shows I watched as a kid, and all of the DPxDC fanfic I’ve read. I’m much more familiar with Danny Phantom. This brain worm simply would not leave me though so ta da! If anyone ends up writing something based on this idea or if there’s something already out there, will you tag me? I’d love to read it :3

[dairy-farmer]

How differently do you think the dicktim biosib AU would have gone if the reveal happened before Jack and Janet Drake were alive? Dick snapped by the end of the first part of the AU. He didn't trust any of the family and it was likely made worse by Tim regressing in mind.

Speaking of regressing, what if the reveal was brought on by some magical mishap. Robin aged down by some amateur magician's spell. And Nightwing was called on by Bruce who needed help watching over Gotham because the spell didn't age Tim down to the age 3 but 4 or 5, during the earliest years of Tim's ECT when the trauma of seeing your parents fall and being kidnapped was really, really fresh in Tim's mind so he's on a dissociative state. Bruce has no idea what to do. Clearly he needs to investigate what happened to Tim, both in the present and the past, but he can't leave Tim alone (he tried doing that earlier but then little Tim went into a panic attack).

Nightwing comes, albeit unsure how he'll react because he's still having a hard time with Tim sharing his brother's name and looking like him and now being the same age as him. Then he sees Timmy. In hindsight, Bruce thinks that maybe he shouldn't have called his eldest who had a hard time during his first few years, adopted. But then Tim responds!! He recognizes Dick? He called him Dickie?? Suddenly, Bruce has a feral oldest son and a dissociating almost son. Where is Alfred when Bruce needs him? In a sabbatical in England. I need him there to make sure the whole situation really blows up in astronomical proportions.

-🦆

!!!!!!!!!!OH MY GOD!!!!! THIS IS SUCH A TOP TIER CONCEPT!!! the idea that dick found out tim was HIS timmy while jack and janet were still alive would really put dick through so much trauma.

i honestly think that a lot of dick would regress to that same pained bloodthirsty hatred he had for zucco and attack anyone including bruce, clark, and his friends when they try to reason and talk to him. because as hard as he was trying to find timmy, part of him wasn't expecting to find him alive because why would someone kidnap a kid and then just keep them alive (unless they were doing truly despicable things to them)????

but then he does find timmy. he finds him ALIVE.

but terrified. scared. and sobbing in petrified fear when he's not stone cold silent and catatonic.

dick is devastated. if there was a better word to describe he'd be that. he's absolutely gutted and so relieved he could cry. he feels like he's on the verge of throwing up and crying so hard he just stops breathing. when dick finds out that tim had been hit with some magic he'd been concerned. a few magic users had been called in to help with clean up and through the grape vine dick had heard that robin had been hit with something particularly nasty, some kind of time spell.

when bruce had called him he hadn't been surprised to hear him mention tim but he was surprised to be asked for help. bruce's voice is noticeably strained and he tells dick about how alfred is out of town and he really had his hands full with gotham and normally he wouldn't ask but things have really taken a turn with tim and-

dick can hear a child start cryng and screaming on the other end of the line. he can hear what sound like little frantic fists starting to bang on a door and the muffled cries grow louder and bruce curses and presumably tries to get to tim. he can hear bruce's strained voice go from a low whisper to assurance and comfort as a little boy sobs in a way that has dick's chest going tight.

it's not that dick doesn't like tim. it's just that tim...he just...he brings back bad memories for dick and being in the cave and hearing bruce yell 'tim' or alfred say 'master tim' or even dick being forced to say the name tim and not mean his...

it hurts. dick hasn't been to see a therapist or a psychiatrist ever but he's fought enough of them and he's pretty sure being close to tim is not good for his health. he'll get over it. he'll overcome the mental barrier eventually but until he does he resolved to keep his distance.

but hearing a child cry and hearing bruce plead with tim that it was alright and he was here now and he was sorry for leaving while tim was asleep-

dick isn't heartless. and something...something about hearing some try and console a sobbing child named tim just twists something in dick's gut and he can't, in good conscience, tell the lie about being too busy that was on the tip of his tongue.

bruce sends him a batplan on autopilot to his location and dick arrives in just a few short hours. bruce tries to call a handful of times before giving up and just forwarding the case file of what he's accumulated so far.

dick reads it over, growing more disturbed the closer he gets. tim had been been hit with a spell by the magician in custody of the league. initially it had knocked him out but after getting medical attention and a consult from a magic user it was determined that tim had been affected by a time inversion spell. those spells are tricky because they can only be removed by the one who made it and as far as they could tell the magic user was an amaeteur and nowhere near the level to undo a spell of this complexity.

their recommendation was to get tim somewhere safe where he could be contained.

bruce had done that.

only to greatly regret it when tim woke up as a five year old and immediatly started panicking about being locked in a room, begging bruce to let him out.

bruce suspects tim to be the victim of some kind of domestic abuse. it hurts dick's heart to read that. bruce notes about how the sight of bruce in the cowl had frightened tim so terribly he'd urinated over himself.

somehow dick can detect the shame in bruce's writing as he reads that.

the picture painted is not a nice one. tim is anxious, skittish, he's frightened of loud noises, and of being left alone. he vomits when upset and he has a stutter in his voice. bruce has noted that tim gets out of breath quickly and is easily fatigued by too much physical or emotional activity.

the part that disturbs bruce the most is the borderline catatonia where tim will withdraw and enter a sort of headspace where he's almost... mind-controlled. he obeys bruce's every word but doesn't respond back even when prompted. he'll eat and drink if encouraged which he won't do normally because tim suffers from nausea which won't allow him to keep down food for long.

bruce has run blood panels, scans, and even pulled tim's decade old medical files. only for nothing to be physically wrong with him. tim's medical file is suspiciously thin and bruce notes how he just gets a weird feeling as he reads it over. he needs to look into it. there's something in his gut telling him something isn't right.

tim is terribly traumatized and bruce gets the feeling that it's not from him seeing dick's parents die at the circus. tim had told him about how he'd nightmares of that night for years but never in a way that told bruce that it would result in this kind of state.

tim's hair is so thin and bruce has included photos where it can seen that there are small patches where the hair is so thin it's nearly a bald spot and it's with dawning horror that bruce realizes it's most likely because of telogen effluvium. hair loss brought about by extreme stress.

tim's blood test results also show similarly concerning results. tim at five years old has the cortisol and catecholoamine levels of someone six times his age.

it's bad.

dick feels concern for tim deepen when he lands. he has no idea what he's walking into.

the cave is empty and dick remembers how the file said tim hadn't liked how dark the cave was so bruce had moved the operation to the manor. dick heads up. he changes out of his uniform first because the last thing he wants is to upset a toddler even more.

dick passes through the cuckoo clock entrance into bruce's office and can hear some soft crying distantly. so dick follows it.

he's not sure what it is in his mind that 'clicks' when he walks into the sight of bruce in a wife beater and pajama shorts carrying and rocking a little baby that can't possibly be five because he looks no older than two. bruce looks haggard and tired because he'd made it three days before calling dick for help in gotham. there are dark circles under his eyes and he looks like he hasn't shaved as he softly whispers to a whimpering child curled up in his arms. tim is in little yellow duckie pajamas. there's still a tag on the collar of the shirt hanging out of the back of it. at the sound of dick's footsteps tim lifts his head and bruce looks so relieved as they both turn to look at him.

tim lifts his little head and turns a chubby red-cheeked and tear stained face to him.

something in dick stops cold. it's like the entire world slows down and part of him distantly wonders if this is what wally feels all the time.

tim's sweet baby eyes settle on him and his expression crumbles as small arms stretch out for him and a fresh wave of tears as tim brokenly reaches for him, little voice hoarse as he yells "daddy!"

something snaps in dick. it's almost audible in his ears. it sounds like a bone buckling under pressure and just...snapping.

that face. that voice. that call of daddy that was always so joyous and followed by shrieking laughter as dick and timmy's dad would lift tim up and toss him in the air before catching him. only now that voice had none of the happiness. just pure desperation and fear and it's like dick gains tunnel vision. all he sees is his precious baby timmy who was taken from him being held back in the arms of a man who tugs tim back as tim tries to escape him.

his timmy screams and a decades worth of rage and pain races to the front of dick's mind and turns him into an animal.

dick's first instinct is to get his innocent baby brother away from the thing holding him. but he takes two steps and tim is pulled further away with that THING blocking his view and that's when dick just decides to kill it.

it'd be easy. like snapping the neck of a dog snapping at him. at some point in the scuffle dick has his teeth in the thing's arm and tim suddenly gets thrown onto a nearby couch. tim shrieks as he's in the air and starts sobbing when he lands.

and as much as dick wants to get rid of this THING as much as he wants to make it pay for scaring his timmy- dick is not about to lose his timmy again.

so dick runs. he snatches his timmy and runs, weaving and dodging and ignoring the yelling behind him. all he cares about is the little, warm body curled up against him and shaking.

dick finds an old crawlspace, a corner that sparks something in his memory about aged hands pushing food and juiceboxes in and a light shining in as his new guardian begged dick to come out.

it's a tight squeeze with timmy but dick recalls the big space at the end with a little window thining down on the lawn below. dick knows they will be safe there and that THING behind him is too big to fit through it.

timmy is softly sobbing against him, nuzzling close and hiccuping and he's cradled close and dick is only barely biting back his tears as he hastily examines tim. his little hands, his face, his little legs, and baby tummy. dick bites back a sob at tim's bald spot and pushes down the vicious snarl that wants to rip out of him. his timmy is too thin. his cheeks aren't as rosy and there are dark circles under his eyes, his timmy isn't as round and sweet and chubby and dick wants to cry at the thought of his timmy starving to death. it'd been one of the nightmares that haunted dick the worst. of timmy falling into the sewer or some big hole and crying but no one coming to save him and slowly wasting away. nightmares of timmy clutching his baby timmy and sobbing at ever rumble, crying out 'dickie! dickie i'm so hungry!'

dick trembles as he cradles the back of tim's tender head, stroking his baby fine hair and rocking the two of them, murmuring how it was okay dickie was here, dickie was here now just like he'd promised tim he would be.

and his baby timmy makes a soft sound at that.

"dickie?" he asks in that heartachingly sweet voice that haunted dick's every living moment for years. "dickie? dat you?"

dickie can't hold it back and lets a sob burst forth from his chest, sniffling as he nods, pulling timmy's sweet baby body back far enough so he can see him. timmy's eyes are dulled and there's something....broken in them. it's like he's looking right through dick.

"dickie." tim says in soft voice so low dick has to strain to hear it. "you look just like daddy."

tim breathes it so reverently but as soon as the words leave his mouth it's like a puppet with it's stings cut. tim goes limp, blank eyes somehow clouding over like a dead fish's.

to say dick panics would be an understatement. his timmy is hurt somehow even though dick has carefully checked his body, feeling every single one of his little ribs and with each one swearing he will make the one that did this pay. there is nothing dick can do but hold his baby timmy tighter to him. hot, vengeful tears burn trails down dick's cheeks and he holds back so much of his anger in favor of being able to gently touch his timmy. his timmy is in his arms now, his timmy is safe with him now and dick will make sure nothing ever happens to him again. dick will never let anyone take his timmy from him ever again.

bruce of course freaks out because dick has clearly gone completely crazy and taken tim with him. they've retreated to a little crawlspace dick used to go into when he first moved to the manor, he'd spend hours inside before coming out for the bathroom or food. those first few months with dick had been terrible. bruce had never had to care for a traumatized child but after they caught zucco dick had waited for days beside the phone, waiting for any news about tim. until it became clear none was coming and that's when....IT started. the fits of violence, the screaming, the crying, the hiding away.

it's like dick became a completely different person. he ended up accidentally cutting alfred with a shard of glass once and bruce had needed to hold him down. bruce had tried asking child psychologists, doctos who specialized in child development. they'd all wanted to get dick committed or put on medications and so bruce had stopped asking them. bruce knew grief, he knew it well. he knew there was a howling beast in dick's chest that was sobbing for that innocent baby that had been stolen away. so bruce hadn't held it against him. and eventually...dick started getting better. he didn't remember those first few months, all those instances of violence and self harm when he'd bang his head against the wall before bruce could stop him were evaporated from his memory and bruce didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse.

that flash....that glimpse of...something else that had crossed dick's expression just before he attacked was something that bruce only saw in his nightmares.

bruce doesn't know why dick took tim. what inspired such a violently animalist streak in him that bruce had only ever seen one other time in dick when he-

....

bruce is a detective. he gets all the facts and he gets the truth no matter how much it hurts. bruce's mind is not flawless and it's not perfect and sometimes it takes him awhile to put things together.

but everything starts fitting together so rapidly.

that day, that first day tim had come into their lives. when he told them that he'd been present on the day of the flying grayson's murder, that he'd been in the crowd with his parents....

this doesn't mean that the drakes, a family of significant wealth in gotham...kidnapped a child in broad view of strangers. the risk associated with such a move, the uncertainty of success....

what if tim had screamed? what if someone had seen?

it doesn't make sense. a family like the drakes don't lack resources. if they'd wanted a child they had so many options. their money gave them so many options it doesn't make sense for them to ...to see a child and then decide to take them.

but don't some of the most mentally disturbed criminals never act in ways that make sense.

and all bruce can do is think.

think about how they could've adopted, used ivf, had a surrogate. if they weren't willing to wait they could've purchased a child as well.

bruce had no proof the drakes were the kidnappers. it's entirely possible a trafficker had seen tim and taken him because the opportunity was there.

but that's not how traffickers function, not good ones at least, not ones that wanted to keep their operation up and running and away from the attention of the police. it pissed bruce off to no end to see on the internet how grossly people would spread lies and fear monger about trafficking. traffickers didn't stalk random people and then put zipties on their windshields or mark their front doors with paint so they can be identified later. kidnapping a person draws unwanted attention. most people don't even realize when they're seeing real trafficking. they think it's only poor neighborhoods but it could be anywhere and it could happen to anyone. but one thing that's certain is that it's almost always someone the victim knows. a friend, a boyfriend, an uncle, a father. somone you trust, somone you're not suspicious of, someone you might even depend on.

traffickers don't just see children walking around by themselves and decide to take them.

so it was the drakes. the drakes stole a child.

tim's thin medical file, his strange birth certificate from florida a state notoriously difficult to extract copies of documentation from, a state that hasn't yet digitized it's state clerical office and records so bruce can't just pull up the documents.

bruce knows that dick is unstable at mentions of his little brother. he's seen the aftermath of the breakdowns of how he'll become recluse at particularly brutal cases involving children. he knows that dick on some level hates him for security measures he instilled to protect him like getting his blood enchanted so enemy magic users won't be able to track him down if they ever get dick to bleed or get a lock of his hair. they were measures that protected dick but ultimately assassinated his changes of finding tim through their biological connection.

bruce knows dick's regrets, he's tried so hard to make dick not feel the pain of losing his last family member. bruce worked tirelessly those first few months because a little boy couldn't just disappear. but he had.

sometimes bruce wondered if the never-ending pain of wondering what happened to your loved one was worse than having them die. at least if they died you'd have the closure of knowing what happened to them. the uncertainty of his brother's fate tormented dick every day of his life.

and now they'd reached the climax of that lifetime of pain.

bruce hissed as carefully irrigated the wound where dick had bitten a chunk out of his forearm. he was going to need serious antibiotics for this. dick was somewhere in the manor and bruce was near certain he wouldn't hurt tim but at the same time...there was no telling what he'd do in his current state and tim was already so fragile as it was.

bruce needed to find out what had been done to tim while with the drakes. it'd been slow but bruce had managed to pry tim's birthday out of him.

timothy grayson disappeared when he was 3 years old meaning that at 5, his abduction was still fresh and who knows what had been done to tim in that time.

as a thirteen year old tim was better adjusted. he was smart and social and he didn't appear to have any clear indications of past trauma. but clearly bruce had missed something.

he'd missed something big.

he'd already dropped the ball but he couldn't again. he needed to make sure he did everything right this time. no more mistakes.

when it comes to the drakes being alive i do think that dick is fighting within himself to go after them. he knows where they are, they send tim, his baby brother, the baby they STOLE post cards of their approximate location. dick had been nice to zucco when taking him in but he was not going to be nice to the drakes- not after he sees how they've tortured his baby timmy for years.

but he also doesn't want to leave tim to go after them. and bruce knows that and for dick's sake and not the drakes, bruce is hurrying to put the case together to have them arrested and put away before dick can find away to care for tim and hunt them. dick isn't going to take tim with him to take down the drakes, not when he knows how panicked and distressed his baby brother becomes at the thought of them. but spending more time with tim only makes his hatred grow. when tim is lucid he cries about how he thought dick was dead- how THEY had told him they'd all died and tim was alone now.

tim had tried running back to the circus but he was always too slow and they caught him. they showed him posters and newspaper articles about haly's circus in other cities and told tim that they left him behind that they didn't want him anymore.

each word and confession just fuels the rage and hatred in dick's heart.

dick has spent his entire life fearing the worst and now the worst has faces and names. and although tim never says it, dick thinks the worst of them. they're murders, pedophiles, kidnappers- every horrible fate, every moment dick lay awake thinking of his timmy, he's going to pay the drakes back for every single second.

bruce gets to the drakes before dick can. but dick's hatred for them never goes away. even the barest mention of their names has him near snarling so people know not to bring it up.

tim is still a baby and bruce can't even imagine what tim will feel getting turned back to normal and learning what has transpired. dick is so possessive of tim, he won't even let clark get near tim.

but bruce can't blame him. if someone had brought jason back to him all those months ago he would've held him and never let go.

but even though these two brothers have been reunited a decade after they were tragically torn apart, it all still carries the heavy air of devastation.

tim will be back to normal eventually and when he is how will both of them cope to the changes in their lives?

bruce wishes he had an answer. but he didn't. he really didn't.

[autumnwoodsdreamer]

5, 10, 18, and 29 for the ask game! I’m always curious what stories don’t end up getting posted

— @corellianhounds

Writing Ask Game

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

Oh, that would be the ole Mandalorian Modern AU. I’ve got some stray ideas for it but very little motivation to actually write it. I can’t see a clear path through it and I can’t envision a climax, and when I can’t do that, I can’t even force myself to start writing it. So yeah. That one’s just gonna sit on the back burner for perhaps forever.

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I’d have to say Echoes, the “what if Gideon made a clone of Din and said clone was a baby and Din went on the run with the baby?” story. I did not expect people to really care for it but it’s one of the fics I get the most requests for updates on.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

“But I can care for you. I can be your buir. My ancestors can be your ancestors. I will not take what you were away from you; it will always be a part of you. But you can also be a part of me, if... if it’s what you really want.”

—Lift a Sail, Chapter 7: Father & Son

This one is definitely one of my favourites because it’s the reason I started the fic in the first place: to give Din and Grogu the opportunity to choose to become a family, also to have it clearly stated that Din is not trying to erase or put down Grogu’s Jedi heritage by adopting him.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

“May I ask a question?” she petitioned as she applied the bacta, working as carefully as she could so as not to needlessly aggravate his injuries.

“Of course,” he replied without delay, prepared to answer anything, no matter how exposing or uncomfortable, hoping it would go some way towards smoothing over their discord.

“What happened? To the other child?” she clarified when she spotted his frown.

He took a long breath and closed his eyes.

He saw, in blurred flashes, the whole ordeal play out again: the cruiser, the Moff, the Darktroopers… the blast doors caving inwards, and then the strange hush, the feeling of something incredible and impossible happening as the Jedi arrived.

“I was commissioned to return him to his people,” Din explained, fighting a sudden tightness in his throat and an acute airless sensation in his chest. “And I succeeded.”

It was a woefully simplified synopsis of events but it was what he told himself, every day, every night: he had succeeded. He had done right by the child and he was safe now, he was where he belonged, doing what he was meant to do.

—a bit I cut from Echoes. Just couldn’t get it to connect to the other parts so it got snipped out.

But for random ideas for fics I don’t plan on getting to… I did have this idea for a short story following Cobb Vanth, Taanti and Jo in Mos Pelgo after the liberation from the Krayt Dragon. How they’re cleaning up the town, learning to work more with the Tuskens and even forging friendships with them, maybe go some way towards explaining how the dragon rib cage ended up in the local cantina when they had promised to leave the carcass for the Tuskens. Maybe see Cobb go through an illness of some sorts (I don’t know why, but he looked like he was healing up from something when Din revisited Mos Pelgo; also pitch into why he’s recently appointed a deputy). The inspiration sprang up after the Boba Fett episodes because what they showed left me with some questions but it never got off the ground, partly because I just don’t like to acknowledge that point in the timeline without some heavy fixing first. Maybe one day 🤷🏽‍♀️

[furiousgoldfish]

Hey, hope you're having a good day today (or at least not a bad one). I'm really confused about my situation, and I'm hoping that perhaps you may be able to help me figure things out about it

My memories of my early childhood are extremely fragmented at best and non-existent at worst, large voids of experiences that should be there, but aren't. Of the few fragments I do have, I get the sense that something must've been going on -- I space out when someone counts to three, the thought of someone grabbing my wrist activates my fight-or-flight response, and any sort of skin-hitting-skin sound makes me flinch. But at the same time, of the earliest whole memories I *do* have, from perhaps around the age of 13, I...wasn't being abused by my parents or anything? Like, I would get shouted at a hell of a lot, and I would get into trouble for shit that my brothers did and got away with, hell sometimes I would even end up getting blamed for what they did, especially my older brother.

And speaking of him, he's always been a self-centered piece of shit, always taking my things from me because he likes them and wants them for himself, or breaking things of mine because he didn't like them -- one time he tore off the face of a doll I'd made based on a character I made up -- and then yelling back at me when I got mad at him, or copying and/or deleting my save datas on games he wanted to complete himself first if I was too far ahead, not to mention the times he would repeatedly bash his leg against mine to the point of leaving bruises if mine happened to knock against his in the car, or how he'd yell at me to stop singing only to start singing himself, or how he'd always claim to like whatever songs he knew I hated and hate songs he knew I liked. And he would always get the more expensive birthday/christmas presents, and there were always loopholes in the rules and restrictions for him. Maybe I'm just being jealous, but it really feels like they're playing favorites here, and I'm the bottom of the barrel.

But in the last couple of years (since like...2020, I was 16 turning 17), things have...changed. I've been keeping myself isolated in my room 24/7, I'm basically nocturnal just to avoid everyone, and...I'm not even sure if I'm doing the right thing. My parents are both acting really nice, especially my mother (which is funny cuz she's always been the one I've been most scared of) -- hell, my mother even got me a Nintendo Switch recently, and she'll always buy whatever snacks and things I ask for, and we're going out together soon in a few days to go get cake together. And my brother, while he's only gotten worse in things he hates about me (now he'll get mad if I clear my throat "wrong"), seems to be...afraid? Of me now, and avoidant of being in the same room as me if he can, while before he would almost seem to seek me out and try to antagonize me.

Whilst certainly a refreshing change of pace in some aspects, it's also throwing my own memories into question. Anything before 2020 feels...fake, almost, at times, and any potential abuse from before 13 may not have even happened, for all I know I could just be inventing this all to try and fill the hours of isolation and justify my own fear and mistrust. And yet I *know* there had to have been something, because a 13-year-old doesn't start feeling like an outsider in their own family, and questioning if they were adopted, or if maybe they're secretly some alien from outerspace or monster from some deep dark cave somewhere for no reason, right? But then again I was always told that I'm overemotional, that my depression was always present from that age (despite me not even feeling depressed at all until I was 14?), that it was hormones, or school, which I mean it could be? How would I know, I don't even remember anything? And yet those just feel like excuses to direct me away from the true problem?

...I don't know, I don't know what to think, I keep flipping back and forth between the two. What's your opinion, reading this? I can give more information if it's wanted

Yeah I can see why your experience is so confusing to you, not only your memories are a mess and constantly being second-guessed, but your reality shifts for no apparent reason and you feel pressured to accept every new situation as if the last one didn't even happen.

Based on everything you're saying, I'm certain you're abused. The fragments of memories that you have all are memories one would have dissociated from due to abuse (in your case, you're even describing physical violence), and people don't make things like this up, it's upsetting, scary and painful. Nobody wants to believe they've been thru such things, and you seem to be suffering from the symptoms of it. Memories of fight-or-flight response being triggered, being shouted at, someone hitting you, this wouldn't have been happening if you weren't thru something really awful. And you'd have your memories whole, not fragmented.

Your sibling definitely abused you, and from how you describe it, it reminds me a lot on the narcissistic split between the children - narcissistic parents will often pick one child who will be 'the golden child' and will be heavily favoured, praised, will be able to get away with everything, and will be able to abuse and exploit the other siblings without any repercussions. The other child will be 'the scapegoat', and this child will always be blamed for everything, shouted at, humiliated, abused, forced to do work/chores, even used as a servant and a punching bag to rest of the family. The golden child can always abuse the scapegoat and get away with it.

So it's not just 'playing favourites', it's parents treating one child as a part of the family, and another one as a burden, waste, outsider. Golden child will usually have traits closer to the parents (it can be cruelty, sadism, entitlement, selfishness, self-importanct, or just some trait that parents can get celebrated for, like talents for acting, singing, music, sports appearance), and the scapegoat will usually be perceived as 'too different' or 'not useful' or can be discriminated even for a disorder, disability or sickness (though I've seen parents pick the sick child for the golden child too, because they can get a lot of sympathy points for being the poor parents who have to struggle with a sick child).

I could be wrong about this, only you will know if this rings true to you or not, if this isn't your situation, you still are being put thru something truly uncommon and weird that is hard to understand. There are several reasons why abusive parents will suddenly snap and change their behaviour from atrocious to 'less atrocious' or even 'nice':

You are closer to becoming an adult and they know you will realize that you have been abused, and there might be consequences for them once you realize it, so the treatment of you quickly changes so you'd have nothing visible to complain about, and so that you look insane if you do complain

Your parents are getting monitored by someone and are in danger of their abuse being outed. It can be a social service, but it also can be a neighbour or someone perceptive who is paying close watch to what happens to kids. Parents will be willing to act nice and to buy gifts and to treat their kids way nicer if they know they're being watched for abuse

You are getting opportunities to get away from home, which could result in you both realizing the past abuse, and telling someone about it, without them being able to stop you. They need to persuade you with nicer treatment to stay home, to not go anywhere, to not tell anyone anything, so they need you to feel insane if you try to remember the past or the abuse

They might want something from you that they can't get via abuse, they'll need your consent to something, and they need to convince you that they're good parents and love you, so you would not object to it. This can be anything from organ donation to marriage to some cult thing

it could be something completely else that I haven't even thought of, but the common theme is that your parents, right now, feel very invested in you NOT being able to figure out that you're abused, possibly because of the risk that they'll be reported, or that they'll lose you as a victim.

None of this means that your memories are not real, or that what you survived was fake or something to discard or forget! Had your parents and sibling really changed, they would actually reflect on their past behaviour, talk to you about it, apologize, try to make amends, they would not simply expect you to 'accept this new situation and never mention the past'. Only on abusive situations are you required to accept whatever you get, and never allowed to bring up anything that was done to slight you in the past.

I know this might be really hard, but trust your memories above everything. You didn't get in this situation, writing to a blog about abuse, struggling with fragmented memory, confronted with a strange and sudden change in behaviour, because nothing happened. Something did happen. The reason for change might be something neither you or I don't know about, some threat to the parents that is currently invisible or hidden from you. But you don't have to accept the current situation or ignore the past.

If you feel it's safe, you could try asking about why they've changed, and if they explode, refuse to elaborate, punish you for even mentioning it, or act like there was no change at all and you're insane - then you have your proof, they're gaslighting you about your past. To pretend nothing happened when it did, is to try to make you second-guess your own memory, and it's generally a method that makes a person go insane trying to figure out what's the truth.

Also, I forgot to respond to this earlier, but going nocturnal is something really common with children who are being abused. Night time often seems like the only time it's safe to be awake because abusers are asleep and you're allowed a moment of peace and comfort. Night is the safest time to exist for the abused. So that's another red flag you have that shows signs of abuse on you. Non-abused individuals feel safe and peaceful during the day as well.

[science-lings]

Whoops I’m late to the party but here’s some tropes.

Positive trope! As a traveler Hyrule has a lot of interesting and funny stories to to tell.

Negative Hyrule is a completely ignorant cave boy with the rough intelligent and personality of a 5 year old.

Positive Sky wrapping his sail cloth around someone.

Positive Warriors going full burrito with the near infinite cape he pretends is a scarf.

Negative Time Twilight and Wild’s bonds are treated like they are the only one’s that really matter with the unspoken implication they are the only REAL family.

Positive item trading! One of my favorite trope if rarely seen tropes. Yes Wild show Four your slate and argue over the definition of science. Spinner race time Twilight and Warriors. Let Sky Wild and Wind compare gliding items. Give Hyrule a hookshot! Rings for everyone!

Negative tossing my own take on the Mipha’s Grace is Fairy Bottle With Extra Steps is that we have had some form of Heal by Death in every game except the first. Hyrule has dolls he can find and Legend and Wind even having non fairy items they can purchase to resurrect with. All of them should be aware of the possibility even if only a few have used it. If anything meeting other people who treat dying casually should far more horrific then the simple existence something they can all potentially do.

Positive saying fuck destiny and finding ways to meet again after having to part at the end of the adventure.

You're not late I'm still collecting for the part 2's

Hyrule being a super experienced traveler is so good, this guy has been wandering since he was like eight and he's got a lot of campfire stories. And while I think it's not outrageous to assume that schooling in this era is a little lacking that doesn't mean that he's dumb in any way at all, he's very clever and he knows how to read thank you very much. Maybe he had some education in Calatia. I mean he was smart enough to leave and survive on his own and save his namesake a few times so like.... not stupid.

Any large piece of fabric that the chain owns can and will be used as a blanket. Scarf, sailcloth, cloak, Wind probably has actual sails that he used to have on the king of red lions that he uses to keep the water off of him bc it's more like a tarp than a blanket. Snuggles are inevitable.

While I am a fan of the wolf bloodline, I do get why depictions of it may undermine the importance of found family. I think it's a very valid criticism to point out that it may sometimes put forward the idea that blood family is more valid than an adopted family which could be unsavory, though I doubt that's ever the intention of the authors/ creators. I think that family is a fascinating topic with all these guys who grew up in vastly different but still quite lonely circumstances.

I love it when aspects like items and spells and stories from the other games are shared between the links and utilized to show how vast and different their experiences are. Aside from hookshots, nearly all of them have those bastards.

I mean, anytime people legitimize game mechanics into plot stuff it can be interpreted in different ways so I don't think that 'all of them come back from the dead' is a bad take lol, I think people fixate on Wild specifically with this kind of thing because it is implied he's already died and gone through the whole resurrection thing but more long term, and if that could've just been fixed with a fairy then the entire 100-year sleep just wouldn't have been needed. So it poses the question of if fairies really can bring a link back from the dead. But now I'm rambling...

I'm completely on the side of 'they all meet up in the afterlife as the timelines are assumed to have converged at some point before botw, and it wouldn't mess up the timelines if they just meet up after a few thousand years of waiting. I like the idea that they're watching and rooting for each other. That they've never been alone and there were always some of their brothers watching over them. (I also like to think that Wild caught a glimpse of them when he was placed in the shrine of resurrection)

[zootplayz]

Canine Beginnings

Hey guys! So technically, this family started before Serenity but I was assuming there would be an actual mention of Greyson being engaged in a previous Fox post but yeah... that didn't happen. He did NOT end up with Lilith Vatore. Eventually, he realized that gal was no good for him, instead, he ended up with a beautiful sim named Amanda who, like him, is far more outdoorsy. Thus the generational rules: so let's get into it. Usually when I start a new legacy with a spare from a previous family that sim dictates the legacy rules. In this case that sim would be Greyson. Greyson is an active, self-assured, vegetarian. None of these traits really suit what I want to do with this family. Grey is an outdoor enthusiast and his fiance Amanda is an aspiring freelance botanist. So I wanted the family to have an earthy feel. Thus the surname Gaia: the Greek goddess of Earth. Amanda is creative, loves the outdoors, and is childish.

She definitely personifies the whole concept I was going for. As a result, she will be setting our legacy rules for the Gaia legacy. Heirs will need to have the loves the outdoors trait and or be a girl. Which makes total sense with Gaia being a goddess and all. Alright, so we've met the characters let's set the stage.

Flowers Camp Site by ladyfancyfeast The Gaias live on Gaias Jams a retail lot in Brindleton Bay. I know you technically can't live on a retail lot but they never leave and their 'home lot' is vacant. Works just fine for me. One drawback is you don't get any visitors (unless they call) but you get customers all the time so there's always others to talk to. Not that Amanda has much time to socialize she's always in her (way too big for its own good) garden.

Yes, you are looking at cc. Zoot finally caved and delved into the mystical world of cc. Though I didn't do much. After reading rkings current household I remembered I wanted to try out the canning mod and I also downloaded the cottage stuff pack for good measure. I'm going to try to restrain myself, the PTSD from a huge mods folder back in Sims 2 days has not worn off. (The days before we actually had canning in game - kind of fun seeing my sims life when the game was more bare bones.) Back to the subject at hand. The idea with the Gaia family was that Amanda wouldn't work and make her money off of her garden (canning, herbal remedies) and the occasional painting in a family shop. Sounds easy enough...

In theory that is, for the first few days, they couldn't sell anything. Besides the fact that the customers wandered all over the lot and took hours to decide to buy anything. When they finally did, they couldn't. They would stop and wave like something was in the way. Rinse and repeat. It took me forever to figure it out. I initially thought it was the cc shelf but no, then I was like well maybe they actually need a building to walk in?

Yeah, that wasn't it. Which really made me mad they barely have any money as it is. I did figure it out though. It was that pile of logs decorative item I forgot I marked for sale. Maker forbid you place it against the wall! Once someone bought that we just removed the sign and said adios! The store runs smoothly now and you can make one tidy profit off those jams let me tell ya. I even invested in an employee to actually talk to the customers so they buy stuff quicker. Amanda certainly can't do it that garden takes all damn day!

On rare occasions, she does actually get a break. But it's not often. I've lost the thread here. The title is Canine Beginnings do you intend on introducing a canine anytime soon Zoot? Alright, alright, you got it. The first thing the Gaias did upon arriving in Brindleton Bay was to call the adoption agency. I knew from the beginning they would be a (large) dog family. So they adopted two dogs, one adult and one puppy. Both males, I'm not interested in breeding, I just wanted big dogs. Rush is the playful baby,

and Journey is their hunter.

In fact their very first day in the home, Journey took on a fascination with those woohoo bushes and didn't come out so well.

The poor pup got sick his very first day and had to go to the vet with Mom.

Sorry buddy this legacy is just starting out they don't have the money for expensive treatments. You are just going to have to make do with the cone of shame.

We promptly deleted those bushes can't handle the expense let alone a sick pup. Sorry Journey you're going to have to find a new obsession.

um... alright then... I seriously can't keep this dog out of the bathroom, guess I could lock the doors but, nah. Luckily both the dogs get along really well and are often playing together.

Hopefully, that lasts as Rush gets bigger because his cuddle days are up.

Now he can join Grey on his evening jogs around the neighborhood, like Journey.

Journey just loves Grey...

Almost as much as Amanda.

The Gaia family will be back next update! Part 02 Read the full article

[ravcns]

My God I’m So Lonely

Batfam x batsis!reader

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Jason thought by now everyone would be on speaking terms, they weren’t. Now it was his job to fix that, he felt bad in a way for letting the problem go this far. Jason understood more than anyone your frustrations and if he were you he would never forgive them, except he needed you to. Hypocritical, he knew.

What Jason could think about is the countless occasions this family has failed one another, believing the legacy of that should end here.

You did miss your family, college life was a bitch. Though you did not regret your choice to leave, the actions felt like constant disrespect and you needed to choose a path in life.

Guilt, a strong feeling which was currently eating you as you tried to finish typing your thesis paper. Across the room your roommate spoke up, “y/n keep that up and you’ll get wrinkles.” At this you realized your face had been locked in a scowl for majority of the time that was spent typing, sitting back you stare at pictures of happier moments on the wall.

“Maybe you should visit them.”

“Who?”

“Your family, everytime you come back from lectures you just mindlessly stare at those pictures. It’s normal to be homesick y/n.”

For the rest of the week that one word occupied your thoughts, homesick. When at the manor you were sick of your so called “home”, so this came as a shock to you. Mind going between the fact that you were crazy to even consider it and how eventually you would end up seeing them again. As hurt as you felt it’s not like you could avoid them forever, subconsciously pushing the idea off until you caved.

How does one go about contacting a family with a nonexistent relationship. You could only think about how you were worlds apart from them. Y/n a regular civilian, besides the fact that Bruce Wayne adopted you. Then again “regular” people didn’t have to cling on to the small strings of sanity they had left in big mansions, the walls closing in. “Stop it.” You thought to yourself, there was no pushing this off any longer. For the sake of Alfred who looked a bit more on the sad side last time he visited, you caved.

It was almost like that day. A small child looking up at a big scary castle that would take her pain away, a scared adult looking at the mansion of her rich adoptive father which caused her the very same pain. The place that was supposed to protect you like a princess locked away in the walls of a castle, drove you over the edge.

The sound of you knocking made you cringe at how quiet it was, straightening your spine at the oncoming chills. Upon opening the door you were yanked into a bone crushing hug by Alfred then he led you inside. Damian was one of the first to notice yelling out, “See father I told you l/n would be back!” Then hugging you which confused you since you didn’t think that he liked you, believing that you were below Tim on his list. Slowly the family trickled into the main room. Dick’s face looked older than he was, as if the stress had finally got to him. “I’m sorry.” He whispered as he pulled you into a hug.

Tim and Bruce were discussing something when they walked in, a boyish smile gracing Tim’s features. He too joined in on the hug. At the end of the day you couldn’t hold him at fault for the real problem.

Everyone stepping away when Bruce came over with a relived expression. This time you were the one who hugged him, it would take time to fix things but this was a start.

From the top of the stairs someone watched the display below with a smile. If it were up to him Jason would have locked you all in an escape room.

tags: @yunho-leeknow @twismare @voldieshorts @slowaluminum @bribris-things @awalkingdisasterbi @bubblybrianna 

i tried to tag others but it would only let me tag a few of you and i have no idea why thank you all for reading <3

[bella-goths-wife]

Being the lost boys adopted baby

They would never admit it but part of them (apart from David) always kinda wanted to have a family

But being a vampire makes it impossible to settle down

If they married their partner would grow old and die while they stay in their early 20’s

And even if they turned their partners, once you become a vampire you lose the ability to have children

And although they were saddened by this it didn’t mean they weren’t happy

They had each other and they all loved each other with everything they have

And if they ever got sad about this fact, David would be quick to remind them that they wouldn’t be able to cause chaos if they were looking after some baby

And then you showed up

Your mother had moved up to Santa Carla after your father had passed away overseas in the army

She’d moved here in an attempt to start her life over and maybe find a new partner to help raise you

You were only a few months old at that time

Your mother loved you so much that her world revolved around you

In her mind you were the last part of your father with your big (e/c) eyes matching his and the little bits of hair growing on your head matching his shade of hair

You’d moved in with your grandfather just near the beach

Everything was looking good for the first year and you’d grown into a cute 14 month old

Around this time your mother had caught the attention of the lost boys

She was nothing special in their eyes just the same as every other meal, young and vulnerable

The thing that made them curious about her was the constant rejection of the offers to go to a party or watch the concert with them

She’d always told them she was too busy

This made them want to feed off of her more so they changed their tactics

They started acting like they wanted a serious relationship and with that approach your mother agreed to a date with David

It turned into 3 dates before she finally accepted the invitation back to his house

She’d planned to go home and bring you to meet David since she saw potential in him to be a father figure to you

So she entered the cave with you in a push chair and then looked for David

She put you near a bed before looking for David, she was already disappointed that he lived in a goddamn cave and now she couldn’t find him

She was ambushed by Marko and Paul before she was dragged into another room to be eaten

No one noticed that you were there until they had killed your mother and fed off of her

Her last words as she quickly lost consciousness were “(y/n)” which confused the boys

Dwayne was the one to find you in the makeshift bedroom part of the cave they had after you started crying

Dwayne started to soothe you by rocking you while everyone was freaking out

Marko was mad that Paul didn’t notice you

Paul was mad that Marko was mad at him

David was mad that you were crying and mad at the fact you were even here

When they asked each other what they could do with you it turned to more chaos

Marko suggested leaving you at a bus stop but Paul said that you would freeze to death

Paul suggested that they could leave you on churches doorstep so the nuns could call social services to get you but marko refused considering how much he hated the system when he was in it

David suggested killing you which everyone yelled at him for

The Dwayne whispered “we could always keep them”

David out right denied and the other two were hesitant

After some arguing later David agreed you could stay but you would be Dwaynes responsibility

Which worked out quite well

Dwayne was quite fond of you already and would play with you around the cave

He would steal bottles and everything else a baby would need

You slept on the make shift bed with Dwayne close by in case you need him

It was going well until Dwayne remembered that he had to feed after 3 weeks he was starving

He begged David to bring him a meal but he refused and reminded him of the deal

So after convincing Marko to watch you, Dwayne went to eat

Marko is surprising good with children after his time in the system

He would do anything to make you laugh by pulling faces and dancing to music with you on his hip

Dwayne returned to find marko asleep on the sofa with you on his chest

Even when Dwayne tried to take you back to bed, marko slapped his hand away and groaned at him until he settled himself on the floor watching you sleep

When David saw the scene he scoffed and called marko a traitor

After that Marko had officially warmed up to and began sleeping in the bed with you and Dwayne which he was not happy about

After that marko had started spending more time with you, which caused Paul to be upset because his best friend and one of his boyfriends had literally left him for a child

So during a spare moment where you were left alone to sleep Paul came in the room to find Marko but instead seeing you wide awake

He groaned and mumbled about how it wasn’t fair and “you aren’t so great”

You, having just been addressed by an adult, did a normal response and grabbed the finger he was pointing at you

He was shocked “okay that was a little cute”

You did what you could to pull him to you before playing with his long hair

“Okay yeah now I get it” he had said to marko when he entered the room

When David walked in on you tugging at Paul’s hair he simply groaned “not you too!”

Paul joined you guys on the bed after that which again upset Dwayne because he started to miss the peace

After that David became lonely because of the lack of his boys in the usual sleeping cave

David began to resent you and saw you as the person who took his boyfriends from him which was obviously untrue

David only began to bond with you when you had crawled your way into his sleeping part of the cave while he was asleep

You crawled underneath his sleeping head and tugged on his hanging hair

He grunted and woke up before calling you an asshole

You had started crying because of his lack of affection, and David panicked, so he picked you up and and bounced you around, which In turn made you cry even more

He held you to his chest and you looked up at him with your big eyes and giggled “dada”

That made his cold heart defrost a little so he began to spend more time with you

This did cause some problems at the start because vampires are know to be quite possessive so when it came to you things would get mean

Dwayne would be angry at David for hogging you after he ignored you for months so he would stop him from holding you

This caused a fight that ranged over weeks of David snatching you out of Dwayne’s arms and Dwayne almost biting his throat and ripping it out

The possessiveness eased off after a few months but only from each other

You weren’t allowed out the cave unless supervised

When a random woman tried to hold you she was quickly killed and drained of blood

Things got better as you got older but they’re still very loving fathers and only want to protect you

That’s how they justify it at least

That’s all I’m gonna put now but if you want more please request it and I’ll write it :)

[steddieassheg0es]

I Think He Wants To Be Gentle With Me

Steve had been through this before. Well, not this, the demobats and Vecna, but this Upside Down bullshit.  He’d been through more insanity in the past couple years than most people experience in a lifetime. He’s a pro.

So why is he absolutely NOT handling this well?

Even Eddie, the first timer, has made it through with his easy smiles in tact. He seems surprisingly unfazed by it all. He barely made it out of that place, but he seems so light and joyful. Maybe it’s that the whole town doesn’t think he’s a Satanic murderer anymore, maybe he’s just happy to be alive. Whatever it’s is he seems to be in good spirits. Which is great.

But Steve. Steve can’t sleep. It’s been months since he dragged Eddie’s body back through the rapidly closing gate back to the real world. Since the weird government hospital ran their tests and treated their wounds. And in those months he hasn’t gotten more than a few hours sleep at a time, none of it peaceful.

Eddie may be healing well, but god…he looked dead down there when they first found him and Dustin. Even when they felt a pulse, Steve wasn’t entirely sure if he was dragging him back to be nursed back to health or just because he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his body in that place.

So now when he closes his eyes, that’s what he sees. Those huge brown eyes dull and lifeless. Sometimes he’s there with him, wrapped up in those vines watching Eddie screaming and begging for help and just can’t get to him. Sometimes he only gets there in time to watch his last breath. But he was always, always too late.

He tried to just avoid sleeping for a while. But Steve was pretty sure you could die from lack of sleep eventually. Or at least go crazy. And his friends were concerned, they could clearly see his exhaustion. The last thing he wanted was to burden them with unnecessary concern after everything they’d gone through. Especially the kids. So eventually he caved.

That night was the worst. That night he wasn’t in control of his own body. He wasn’t just unable to save Eddie, he was the one who killed him. Plunging a knife into him over and over. He woke up and felt like he couldn’t breathe. He could still feel the blood on his shaking hands.

So that is how Steve Harrington ended up in Eddie Munson’s doorstep at 2AM on a Tuesday.

Eddie opened his door clearly very unimpressed to be woken at such an hour. His hair was even more wild than usual, his big doe eyes blinking away sleep.

“Who the fuck—“ Eddie took one look at him and softened. “Harrington?”

And just like that, Steve could breathe again.

—

Eddie was surprised when it was all said and done that he seemed to have been adopted into this little found family. He was grateful for everything they’d done, everything they’d risked for him. He just figured once the danger was gone, they would be too.

Well, not the Hellfire kids, though they’re even closer now. Robin he wasn’t too shocked by either, kindred queers as they were (though neither had actually come out to the other, Eddie had figured her out in middle school and he’s fairly certain she did the same). Nancy Wheeler was a surprise. Even the Cali group welcomed him with no hesitation. Then there was Steve.

Steve…ask him a year ago and he’d laugh and say the guy’s a douche. But Dustin had been singing his praises all year long. He wasn’t sure then how much he believed it all but the kid had good instincts so there had to be some truth in it.

Then he met him, really met him and saw just how fucking sweet the guy could be. The way he took care of everyone. He may grumble about ‘always being the babysitter’, but he was fiercely protective of those kids. And anyone in need, it seemed.

He didn’t think the others knew it, but Steve had dropped by during his isolation quite a bit on his own. Not with supplies or updates. Just…to be there. When Eddie finally got the courage to ask why, he’d let out a hollow little laugh.

“No one should be alone all the time, man.”

Eddie couldn’t be sure, but he got the feeling Steve knew what that was like.

Shit. Eddie wasn’t dumb, he had eyes. He’d always known how fucking gorgeous the other man was. Now to have that paired with the charming, surprisingly dorky guy he’d gotten to know…Eddie’s heart never stood a chance.

Then everything was done and Eddie was prepared to get that heart a little broken. He did not for a second think Steve would keep on hanging around him once he wasn’t a damsel in distress. Sure, he now knew Steve was a genuinely good person. But that’s all he figured it was. Kindness to the freak in need.

Yet here he was.

He’d helped Eddie move in to his nice new house. Once the government had cleared his name they’d set him up with what he assumed was a “sorry you got blamed for a murder committed by our mistake of a monster, also keep your mouth shut about said monster” gift. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was a hell of a lot better than going back to the trailer where he watched Chrissy…

Steve even came to the first Hellfire Club meeting post not-pocalypse. He’d spent most of it looking adorably confused, but he’d stayed. He’d even given Eddie these looks that could only be described as fondly amused at his most theatrical moments.

Not a day went by in the weeks after it all that he didn’t see Steve. So Eddie watched the progression of exhaustion on his face. He couldn’t help the growing knot of concern in his stomach. He wanted to say something, do something, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed.

The others saw it too. He’d overheard what sounded like the planning of an intervention. But it turns out to be unnecessary, and he doesn’t even have to do anything. There’s a knock on his door at 2 in the goddamned morning scaring him awake. He swings the door open, ready to inflict pain on whoever dared to disturb his slumber.

“Who the fuck—“ Steve? God he looks like a wreck, devastated and so tired. Eddie’s anger vanished and was instantly replaced by worry. “Harrington?”

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…god it’s so late, I’m an asshole, go back to—“

“Steve” he interrupts the rambling gently, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s stupid, I don’t…”

“Whatever it is, if it’s got you this upset it’s not stupid. Come inside. Please.”

Steve takes a shuddering breath then nods. “Yeah…yeah ok.”

Eddie opens the door wider and lets Steve pass. He hesitates before putting a hand on his back to guide him over to the couch. Eddie grabs a blanket off the back and wraps it around Steve’s shoulders without thinking. Then carefully sits beside him.

“Now…what’s wrong?”

“I know it’s crazy but I just…I needed to see you. To see that you’re ok.”

That…wasn’t what Eddie was expecting to hear. He’s not quite sure what to do with it. “Why wouldn’t I be ok?”

Steve curls further in on himself and closes his eyes like he’s bracing himself.

“I’ve been having nightmares. Since everything. And tonight I…you were…” tears leak from beneath those tightly closed eyes, “It was me who killed you. Vecna, the Mind Flayer, whatever, made me kill you. There was so much blood and I watched you die and it was all my fault I couldn’t stop it I couldn’t—“

“Steve, Steve! Breathe.” Eddie places a gentle hand on Steve’s chest and makes a show of his own deep breathing. “That’s it, inhale…exhale…you’re safe. I’m fine, I’m right here with you. Everything’s ok. Shhh.”

Steve was still shaking, but at least he wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. God, he looked so…small. Small and fragile, like the slightest breeze and he’d just break to pieces.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to be alone right now. You can go back to bed, I’ll be fine, just…can I stay on the couch?”

Eddie remembers that hollow laugh. ‘No one should be alone all the time’ he’d said. Just how often was Steve left by himself in that big house of his?

“Come on sweetheart, look at me.” The endearment slips out but he’s pretty sure Steve was too out of it to have really noticed. His eyes finally opened and met Eddie’s. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. We are both going back to bed, I have plenty of space to share.” There was a wild, panicked look in those eyes now. “You’re exhausted Steve, you have to sleep. You can’t keep going like this. But I’ll be right there. You have another nightmare and I’ll be right there with you. I can remind you that I’m-that we’re all ok. We made it out of there. It’s over.”

With that he stands and tugs on the end of the other man’s sleeve. “Come on, up.”

—

At this point there was nothing left in him. He couldn’t fight as Eddie pulled him by his shirt down the hall towards the bedroom. Or as he was nudged towards the bed, then gently pushed down on it.

“I can sleep on the floor, it’s fine.”

Eddie shot him a glare. “Not happening Harrington. I have a king size bed I’m not making you sleep on the damn floor. You need actual rest.”

Eddie knelt down on the floor in front of him and his heart stuttered, still beating rapidly but no longer from fear. But then Steve’s shoes were pulled off and his legs were nudged up onto the bed. He scooted over as far as his body would let him as Eddie joined him and pulled the blankets up to cover them both.

“Alright now princess, close those pretty eyes of yours. It’s time for good little boys to sleep.”

“Mm what about you?” he mumbled drowsily.

“Aww are you saying I’m not a good boy? I’m wounded!” Eddie chuckled.

His tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he tried to form a response.

“Shhh, you can snark at me all you want later. Sleep.”

And somehow…he did.

—

Eddie wakes for the second time much later in the day, his brain fuzzy. He almost thinks last night was a dream but…There’s an unexpected pressure on top of him.

He looks down to see that in the night Steve had shifted, curled up around him with one leg hitched over his and an arm thrown over him. Steve’s head was resting just above his heart, which felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

Shit. Shit. His eyes shot back to the ceiling above. What had he been thinking, forcing Steve into his bed? With him in it? He was so utterly screwed.

But looking back down at the man resting peacefully, he couldn’t regret it. If by some miracle he made Steve feel safe enough to actually sleep…He could do this. He could let the extremely straight man he’d been pathetic enough to fall so madly in love with platonically share his bed. His stupid heart could take the abuse. He’d take an awful lot to bring Steve peace.

So he settled in as much as he could. No way was he going to get up and risk waking his sleeping beauty. Carefully, he lifted the arm under Steve enough to card his hand through that oh-so-famous head of hair. Soft.

It was another 30 minutes or so before the other man began to stir. Eddie’s hand froze as the head beneath it titled back. Pretty hazel eyes blinked up at him blearily.

“Wha-?”

“Hey there, welcome back to the waking world. How do you feel?” His voice was barely a whisper, like if he spoke too loud the safe bubble they were in would shatter.

“Eddie?” Steve’s brow furrowed with his usual look of adorable confusion. “What…huh?”

He couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out of him. Fuck, this man was cute. And very clearly not a morning person. Or late afternoon person, as it was. “Take your time princess.”

A pretty pink blush made it’s way across Steve’s cheeks. “Princess?” He looks down,  then seems to suddenly snap into awareness of their positions because he rolls himself off of Eddie frantically. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Eddie shrugs easily like it didn’t make his foolish heart ache to lose Steve’s touch. “It’s not a big deal. You didn’t answer my question, though. How’re you feeling?”

—

Huh. He feels…well, not great exactly, but definitely better. He actually slept. Not enough to quite make up for all the sleep he’s lost, but still. No more nightmares plagued him last night.

“Wow. I can’t believe I really slept. Was starting to think I’d never get a full night again.” He looks up at Eddie with something like awe. “Thank you.”

“Eh it wasn’t like it was a hardship or anything. I’ve had worse bed partners.” Eddie shoots him a cheeky grin and he can feel his face heat up even more.

“Right…well, really, thank you. And I’m sorry for showing up like that. I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“Steve.” Eddie’s face is suddenly deadly serious. “Don’t do that. I know you’re the hero and the worlds best babysitter and all that, but you’re allowed to have needs too. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” Seemingly satisfied with his little speech, he once again lights up with a dimpled smile. “Also you can’t just run out of here without breakfast, man. They say it’s the most important meal of the day.”

Steve sees the pleading in those big doe eyes. Damn, Eddie must get everything he wants when he uses those things against people. Steve feels helpless to deny him, anyway.

“Yeah…yeah, ok. But I’m cooking.”

“Duh, Harrington. We both know I’m more likely to burn the place down than produce anything remotely edible.”

For all his joking, Eddie has a fully stocked kitchen. Steve makes himself at home in it while Eddie slides into a stool across the counter, resting his chin in his hand and observing. He grabs everything he’ll need and gets to work. Bacon, eggs, and French toast.

“Well damn, Steve, if I knew having you in my bed meant waking up to a full spread I’d have invited you over a long time ago.”

Eddie says these things so casually, like they don’t make Steve’s heart race and his face burn.

“Yeah…I’ve gotten used to fending for myself in the kitchen and it turns out I enjoy it. I don’t usually have an excuse to make anything special, seems like a waste for just me, so I take advantage when I do.”

He glances over and catches an emotion on Eddie’s face he can’t name before it quickly morphs back into a cheeky smirk.

“Aw Stevie, you’re worth spoiling all on your own.”

—

Eddie has to bite his tongue to stop from asking about Steve’s parents, how often he’s left to fend for himself...if he’s lonely.

He wants to know everything there is to know about the man across from him. He wants to find every pain and soothe it all away. He wants to find every joy and surround him with it.

But he also wants to keep this morning as light as he can after last night. He doesn’t think Steve is ready to dig in to his other baggage right now. And god does he just want this man to smile.

So he jokes and, like an idiot, he flirts. Delights in every blush he can make rise to the surface. Even more in every smile or laugh he manages to evoke. He’s not stupid enough to think everything is all better, but Steve looks more relaxed than he has since before this shit all started and he’ll take it.

Once they’ve finished eating, Eddie looks over at him and ponders how to stretch this little hang out as long as he can. Riding the high of Steve’s laughter, basking in his presence. He’s not ready to let him go.

“What? What’s that look?”

“Hmm so worried all the time. Don’t worry Steve, I won’t bite…unless you ask nicely.” He winks salaciously.

“I-I’m not worried. You’re not as scary as people think you are Munson.”

“Ohhh that sounds like a challenge. Think you’re tough there big boy?”

“No, I didn’t…never mind.” Steve looks off to the side, embarrassed.

“Hey man I’m only teasing you.” Eddie frowns, knowing he’s stuck his foot right in his mouth once again without even knowing how. He’s not sure what he said wrong, but he knows he did something to ruin the moment.

“No, I know. It’s fine. Anyways, you got any plans today?”

—

Steve isn’t ready to leave. He’s never ready to leave when Eddie’s around. But he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome.

“Not really. You?”

“I’m off today, but Rob’s working. The kids are all busy doing…honestly, I’m not sure but I don’t think I want to know. So no, I don’t have anything going on today.”

“Mmm, shame. I guess you’ll have to be stuck with me then.” Eddie’s smirking but there’s an almost…hopeful look in his eyes. Maybe he’s still welcome after all.

He had hoped for an opening to insinuate himself into Eddie’s day, but this is a flat out invitation.

“Oh yeah? I guess I can deal with that.”

—

They end up just lazing around Eddie’s place. He figures one night of rest isn’t really enough after everything so Steve probably isn’t up for too much. Eddie uses the opportunity to force some nerd media on him.

“Really? We’re gonna watch a cartoon about weird magic shit?”

“Hey if you’re gonna be hanging around Hellfire, you’ve gotta up your nerd knowledge man. Be happy I’m not making you read the books even though they’re clearly the superior way to get the story.”

He glances over and sees a pleased little smile on Steve’s face.

“I’m invited to your game nights?”

Eddie furrows his brow, confused by Steve’s surprise. “You’ve already been man, of course you are.”

“Well, yeah, I mean I was on babysitting duty so I drove the kids over and kind of just didn’t leave. S’not the same as being invited.”

“Steve.  Of course you’re invited.” You’re always invited anywhere I am, he doesn’t say.

Steve’s face is alight with a shy, happy glow. “Oh. Ok.”

Did he really not know? Eddie sometimes felt like he had a neon sign above his head that said “stupidly in love with Steve Harrington” and permanent hearts in his eyes, but even with his straight guy obliviousness he still assumed Steve would know he was wanted around. Everyone wants him around. Like, always. Anyone who meets him is drawn into his orbit.

“Yes. Anyway, The Hobbit is required viewing for any and all party members. Including observers.”

“Ok , ok, we’ll watch your nerd movie. I can’t promise I’ll understand any of it though.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Stevie, that’s what I’m here for.”

—

Steve really doesn’t follow it, but he does enjoy listening to Eddie talk, trying to explain things and get him to pay extra attention to the good parts. Actually he probably follows it a lot less because he’s enjoying listening to Eddie talk.

Eddie’s just so passionate. Even when Steve has no clue what he’s talking about, just feeling the joy radiating out of him when he talks about things he loves is intoxicating.

It’s dangerous, really, because Steve would do anything he asked just to be a part of that joy in some small way.

“So anyway, we’ll watch The Lord of The Rings some time even though it’s kind of a mess. But now it’s your turn. What would you like to watch?”

“Hm? Oh. Uh…I don’t know, man. I mean Rob’s doing her best to get me educated since we work at Family Video but I guess I don’t watch a lot of movies. I’m fine with whatever.”

Eddie turns those Bambi eyes on him at full power. “Aww come on, I want to know what you’d pick. I mean we’re only picking from my collection so you know I’ll like it anyway. No judgement. Just take a look and find something that sparks your interest.”

He’s got to know what he’s doing. But intentional or not, Steve relents to it. He sits on the ground in front of the tv and searches through the tapes. He considers a few horror options, debating whether he could get away with clinging to Eddie in fright before decided they may hit too close to home for him these days.

Finally he settles on The NeverEnding Story. Partially because it reminds him of ‘Dusty-buns’ singing and makes him smile, but also because he thinks the art on the cover is pretty.

Eddie looks to see what he finally settled on. “Ah, good choice.”

—

They go back and forth picking movies until Eddie finally looks around and realizes it’s dark out. Has been for a while…

“Shit, it’s getting late.”

Steve’s face falls. He’s quick to cover it but Eddie sees it all the same. “Oh, yeah. Sorry for hogging your couch all day, man. This was nice. I should…I should probably get home.”

Fucking hell, what is it going to take for Steve to realize Eddie’s not kicking him out? Will never kick him out. “What? No. I mean…of course you’re not a hostage you can go if you want, I just meant that we should probably eat something.”

“Oh.” He ducks his head like he’s trying to hide his shy smile. “Yeah. Sure. What do you want?”

“I was joking earlier you know, I am capable of making food.”

“I’m sure you’re a culinary genius. But I wasn’t joking earlier when I said I enjoy cooking. So shut up and tell me what you want.”

Eddie raises an eyebrow “Can’t very well do both of those at the same time, can I? I’m not picky, so go wild. Me kitchen es su kitchen.”

The smile he gets in reply is enough to melt the coldest heart, he’s sure. He’d eat steaming garbage to see that smile.

Eddie watches Steve prep his chosen ingredients and feels his heart going mad in his chest. It’s just so domestic. He has to grip the counter he’s leaning back on to stop himself from sliding right in behind Steve and wrapping his arms around his waist. Pressing a biting kiss to his neck. Letting his hands wander…

“You good?”

He blinks away the little fantasy playing in his head and manages a shaky smile. “Yeah, all good. What’d you decide on?”

“Nothing fancy. Just a lemon pasta with roasted asparagus…if you don’t cook why do you have all of this anyway?”

“To lure pretty boys who cook into my kitchen” he grins at Steve’s blush. “I guess those suits had a lot of pity, they stocked this place full of shit. I mean I wouldn’t have picked out a king size bed just for little ol’ me, but hey I wasn’t gonna say no. And apparently that also included food. Like asparagus, another thing I wouldn’t have picked for myself.” 

“It won’t kill you to eat a vegetable.”

“Mmm, yes Princess. Whatever you say.”

Steve puts the pan in the oven and turns to face him. “What’s with that?”

“Hm?”

“Princess? You keep calling me Princess.” He looks torn between upset and…something else Eddie can’t quite decipher. Shit.

“I’m sorry. It’s not…I don’t mean anything by it. I’ll stop.”

“I didn’t say you had to stop. I’m asking why?”

Well that’s…interesting. “I uh…I don’t know. It just…it suits you, somehow. If you prefer King Steve…”

“King Steve was a douchebag.” His nose crinkles in apparent distaste for his past self. “I don’t…I don’t mind Princess.” He’s pink to the tips of his ears and down his chest. Eddie’s tempted to pull at the collar of his shirt and see how far down that color goes. “As long as it’s not a…you know, derogatory thing.”

A gay thing, Eddie’s pretty sure he means. Because he’s not gay. Fuck.

—

Steve feels like his whole body is on fire. A gay thing, he almost said. As long as you’re not mocking me for being…

“I’m not the expert but I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to stir pasta.”

“Shit!” He turns and gives it a stir, relieved to see he didn’t ruin it.

“Anyway, you don’t know, I may very well choke on that asparagus. A vegetable could kill me.” Something in Eddie’s smile is a little forced. He’s not sure why. Not sure where he messed things up.

They finally sit down to eat and miraculously Eddie survives. Enjoys it even, judging by the noises he makes.

When they’re finished and the dishes are all done, he knows he needs to leave. As gracious of a host as Eddie has been there no way he wants round two of Steve smothering him in his sleep.

At least he got some rest finally. Now he can keep going for a while longer, hopefully not force himself onto Eddie again in a week.

—

Eddie sees Steve grab his keys and his heart sinks. It was too much to hope that he could just…have this. Platonic snuggle buddies? Probably for the best, laying next to the source of his unrequited love every night would probably slowly kill him.

“Heading out?”

“Yeah I probably should. I could use a shower and some clean clothes, brush my teeth…”

Eddie hesitates, then decides <em>fuck it</em>. “Next time you should bring stuff. I mean I have toothpaste and stuff, but you know, clothes.”

“Next time?”

“Steve. Of course you’re invited.”

He thrills at the pleased little smile he gets. “Right. Well…next time then.” Steve says with a nod goodbye before stepping out of the door.

Eddie lays in bed thinking of Steve all alone in that big house. It must feel lonelier for all the space there is to be empty. He wishes he’d been braver, told Steve to go and grab his things and come right back. He has a spare room. He wouldn’t force the platonic cuddles. But maybe they could still fill each other’s empty spaces. At least some of them.

He’s on the edge of falling asleep when he hears a car pull into his driveway.

—

It seems that now that his brain has found the best tool to torture him with, it’s going to stick with it. He wakes screaming and trying to wipe the nonexistent blood off his hands.

He can’t do this. He can’t go back. But he can’t stay here.

So he gets in his car and drives aimlessly for a while. Luckily it’s late enough that he doesn’t see anyone else on the road, because he’s kind of zoned out. He’s pretty sure he’s aware enough to be safe, but he’s mostly just staring blankly ahead and trying not to think.

It works too well, because before he knows it he’s pulling up a newly familiar driveway. He turns the off the ignition and just…sits there. He can’t bring himself to go and knock. Maybe he can just sleep in the driveway, this can be close enough.

But then he closes his eyes and he sees the devastating look in Eddie’s staring back at him. The betrayal, the pain, the fear, all done by his hands. The light in those eyes fading.

Suddenly he’s in front of the door and Eddie’s looking out at him. With his wide, clear eyes still full of life. And Steve breathes again.

Eddie ushers him in, not even bothering to stop at the couch this time. “Come on, sweetheart, you’re ok. I’m here. Alright, go on. Into bed.” Steve does as he’s told, falling back into the pillows before throwing his hands over his eyes and sobbing. Eddie’s right there with him, curled up next to him and stroking his side like he’s a spooked horse.

“Shhhh. Oh baby, don’t cry. It’s ok. Everyone’s safe. You’re safe here.”

But that only makes Steve sob harder. “I-I’m sorry…I’m sorry I’m s-so pathetic I can’t go one night sleeping on my o-own.”

—

Eddie shifts to hover over him, gently tips his chin up until Steve’s hands fall away and those hazel eyes meet his own.

“Don’t you dare feel ashamed to need help. What we did? What we went through? That’s fucking traumatic. And you…God you take such good care of everyone else.” Steve’s eyes dip down and the fingers Eddie has on his chin grip harder and force his eyes back up. “For once let someone one take care of you. Let me take care of you. I want to take care of you. Please.”

“I can’t-I don’t….I’m no good, Eddie. I’m nothing.” Steve let out a broken little laugh. “I’m bullshit. And you’ll figure that out soon. You’ll want to leave like everyone does, only you won’t because you’re too good. And I’ll be too selfish to let you go.”

Eddie’s heart shatters. He wants to tell Steve he is everything, but he doesn’t need to deal with Eddie’s feelings right now. So he pulls Steve up to sit in his lap, wraps himself around him, and tries to surround him with as much love as he can.

“Oh sweetheart. That’s just not true. First of all, I’m never going anywhere and I’ll never want to. You’re stuck with me. Second, you are so, so good Stevie. I can’t even…there aren’t enough words. How could you possibly think you’re not?”

“Everyone knows it. King Steve.” He spits derisively. “What a joke. A hollow boy with a hollow crown.”

“Steve…that’s not who you are anymore. I’m not sure that it ever was, but it certainly isn’t now. You’re…you’re the world’s best babysitter. You’re a hero. You’re the protector, the caretaker, the heart of this little pieced together family. It kills me that you can’t see that about yourself.”

Steve starts struggling to get out of Eddie’s arms, to get up.

“I’m sorry Eddie. I shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t be putting all of this on you.”

Eddie tightens his grip, refusing to let go. Scared of what will happen if he does.

“No, please. Stay. You cannot leave right now, I’ll lose my mind worrying about you. I want you to stay. I need you to stay with me.”

He sees Steve begin to cave. Of course he would stay for Eddie, not for himself. Eddie would feel guilty about using that against him if it didn’t mean keeping Steve safe. Keeping him here. He isn’t lying, if Steve walked out right now in his state of self-loathing and fear Eddie would go mad with worry until he saw him again.

“Ok, Eddie, if that’s what you want. I’ll stay.”

“Thank you.”

They sit quietly for a while, and when he looks down at Steve there is a far off look in his eyes as he stares at Eddie’s guitar.

“I could hear it, you know.”

Eddie jumps at the sudden break of silence.

“I could hear it, you know.”

Eddie jumps, unaware that Steve had noticed him awake.

“You playing. We could hear it from the house. When it stopped I think my heart did too. I was so worried about you two. It was really hard to stick to the plan. And then when I got back to you…Fuck, Eddie, I really thought you were dead. Dustin was sobbing and you were so still.”

“I’m sorry.”

Steve finally looks over to him. “For what? You have nothing to be sorry for. I hate what you did, but if you hadn’t you and Dustin would both probably be dead. You saved his life. How can I be mad at that?”

“You told me not to be a hero.”

“Yeah, I did. But I’m not mad. It just really fucked me up. To see you like that. I really thought I was bringing you back for a proper funeral. What I’m trying to say is…I’m sorry, Eddie. I should have never let you use yourself as bait like that. If I’d been better, faster, you never would have gotten hurt.”

“Jesus, Steve…You can’t save everyone all the time. We all knew the risks we were taking. You shouldn’t have had to go down there either, none of us should. But we did, and we’re here now. We both made it out alright. You saved my life, Steve, how can you still feel like you didn’t do enough?”

“It’s my job to-“

“No. It’s not. You’ve done an amazing job taking responsibility for your little ducklings and I won’t take that away from you. I’m happy to help, and I get it. They’re kids, they need to be looked after. But you and me? We can look out for each other. It is not your job to keep me safe. Sweetheart, you’ve gotta stop taking the world on your shoulders. Let me help you. Let Robin and Nancy and Jonathan help. Or it’s going to tear you apart. Please.”

Eddie reaches out to put his hand on top of Steve’s where it rests on the bed.

—

Steve feels hollowed out. A little numb. He’s so used to taking on everyone else’s problems, he doesn’t know what to do or how to feel about someone else trying to take on his.

“Yeah. Ok. I can try to do that.”

“Well I think you coming here the past couple of nights is good. It kills me that you had to get to your breaking point to reach out to me, but I’m glad you did. I mean it, Stevie. I want to be that person for you. If you’ll let me.”

He’s not sure he deserves this, but he’s going to hold on to it as long as he can.

—

It takes some convincing, but eventually they decide that Steve will spend his nights at Eddie’s.

While he’s off grabbing some clothes and things, Uncle Wayne arrives home from his visit to his mother’s. Shit. Eddie should probably mention this arrangement to him.

“What’s that look for, son?”

“Uhh…so how do you feel about having a house guest for a bit?”

“Excuse me?”

“My…my friend Steve. He’s not doing super well after the shit we went through. So I don’t really want him to be alone for a bit. His parents aren’t ever home, so…if you’re not cool with it I’ll go to his place, but I don’t think he likes it there much.”

“Oh your ‘friend’, hm?” Wait, you talking about the Harrington’s boy?”

“Yes friend. And yes, Steve Harrington. Why, is that a problem?”

“No, it’s just…Well the Harrington’s ain’t very nice people.”

Eddie scowls. “No, they’re not. But Steve’s not like them.”

“Alright kiddo, put your claws away. I’m not saying he is. I remember that boy sitting by your bedside for weeks in the hospital. He seems like a good kid. He can stay as long as he needs to. You’re a good friend.”

He can feel his cheeks heat. His uncle has always seen the best in him, no matter how much rebelling he’s done. Eddie tries his best to live up to it. He gives the old man a hug.

“Thank you.”

He perks up like a dog when he hears a car pull up to the house. Uncle Wayne snorts. “Mhm. ‘Friend’ my ass.”

Eddie flips him off as he races to the door, ignoring his uncle’s laughter.

—

Steve shifts uncomfortably in the Munson living room, not having expected Wayne Munson to be home.  He’d honestly forgotten about the man over the past emotional few days.

“I’m sorry, sir, I can go. I didn’t mean to just move in to your house, that’s incredibly rude of me-“

“Son. Breathe. This place has plenty of room. And I work nights so I’m happy for Eddie to have someone to keep him company during the day while I sleep. We have no need for a guest room anyway, so feel free to make it yours.”

They’d talked about him sharing with Eddie, but just being out of his big empty house and being close to Eddie is enough. Knowing he can creep across the hall to see him if he has a nightmare. 

“Ah…actually Uncle Wayne I think he’s gonna stay with me for now.”

Steve knows he’s bright pink, he watches Wayne shoot Eddie a look he can’t decipher, and Eddie glare in return. As if daring him to say something. But the man just nods.

“Make yourself at home, kid.”

“Thank you, sir. I don’t make that much at Family Video, but I’m happy to pay rent. And I promise I’ll clean up after myself, I can do the cooking too.”

“You’re not paying me anything. The house was free I don’t need no money for it. I’m not gonna tell you you can’t cook or clean, but don’t do me no favors. You saved Eddie’s life. You could burn this place to the ground and I’d still be grateful to you.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that. The Munson family seems to be great at rendering him speechless. And heaping praise on him that he doesn’t deserve.

“Oh. Well, uh…I like to cook, in any case. And my parents are…very particular, so cleaning I’m used to. I don’t mind it.”

“Well Eddie sure don’t clean so that’ll be an improvement.”

“Hey!”

Eddie shoves his uncle and they engage in a playful wrestling match. He’s a bit overwhelmed by the familial affection he’s only ever seen on tv. Eddie is clearly a nephew in name only, loved like a son. Like a son should be loved. He has a moment of envy before he squashes it. He’s happy Eddie has this.

Eventually they break apart with laughter. Wayne announces he’s headed to bed, and tells them to behave and stay safe with another significant look to Eddie that Steve doesn’t understand. Whatever it is has Eddie going bright red which is interesting.

Once he’s in his room, Eddie helps Steve bring his stuff into the house. He didn’t bring much, didn’t want to impose, so it’s a quick job.

“Hey, you know you can have the guest room right? I mean even just to put your stuff. A space of your own to get away from me sometimes.”

I don’t want to get away from you, he doesn’t say. Instead he shrugs. “I don’t need that much stuff, I’m fine. I mean if you don’t want to share I totally get it.”

“No! Not at all. I just…all you brought is clothes and stuff. I know you’re not into my music, you didn’t bring any books or anything like that. I want you to be happy here. I don’t want you to make yourself as small as possible to fit.”

He didn’t really realize that’s what he was doing until it’s said out loud.

“Oh. Uh. Yeah, I guess I could…I mean I don’t hate your music you know, it’s not that bad once you get used to it. I don’t think I ever want to hear the song you played in the Upside Down ever again, but yeah. I guess I could go get more stuff later. But to be honest, not much else is mine over there. I guess I’ve been…making myself small for a long time.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but even he knows it really kind of is.

—

God Eddie’s heart breaks every time Steve casually says something so devastating, like he doesn’t even realize how fucked up it is.

“Steve…you don’t have to tell me, and I get it if after everything we’ve talked about lately you don’t want to, but…You can talk to me about your parents. I just want you to know that.”

“It’s probably not as bad as you think. I mean they’re just…they just don’t care. They had a kid because that’s what you’re supposed to do, not because they wanted to be parents. The messy reality of a child was very distasteful to them. But it only got worse once I got older and wasn’t a perfect trophy kid to brag to their friends about. Too stupid. Too soft. Once I was old enough to reach the stove they started taking off for long periods of time. When they’d come back, there would always be passive aggressive comments about the state of the house or how it looks to their friends that I wasn’t doing this or that. Mostly it’s just…nothing. They just don’t care. They don’t love me, they don’t even like me. After a while I stopped trying. It was a relief that they were gone most of the time even if being in the big empty house on my own sucked.”

“Oh sweetheart…I’m so sorry. You deserve so much better than that. No wonder you don’t know how to ask for what you need, Jesus.” He reaches out and pulls Steve into his arms.

—

Steve melts into him. He doesn’t cry, doesn’t have any tears left in him. Suddenly he’s exhausted. It’s like Eddie shines a light on all of his darkest parts, drags them to the surface so he can’t ignore them anymore. It’s terrifying to be seen so clearly. Draining. But also a relief. Because Eddie doesn’t just see his worst parts, he soothes them. Takes the fragile pieces and holds them with such tenderness.

So he feels lighter, but also dead on his feet.

“Hey angel, you ok?”

“Mmmm, sleepy.”

“Yeah? Let’s go take a nap then. C’mon.”

Eddie guides him gently to his room, to their room, and he’s out before his head hit the pillow.

—

Things go smoother after that for a while. Steve’s nightmares don’t miraculously go away, but they do lessen. And now when he wakes Eddie can be there to comfort him.

Their friends notice a difference. They also notice Steve wearing Eddie’s shirts on occasion. Eventually they put the pieces together and Robin pulls Eddie aside.

“Hey, what’s going on with you two? Don’t say nothing I’m not stupid.”

“Why are you asking me and not your platonic life partner?”

“Don’t be cute, Munson, I’m serious. Steve was…not doing well. He’s a lot better now, and he’s also wearing your clothes and honestly I can’t remember the last time you two didn’t arrive somewhere in the same vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he’s looking healthier, but…I also know he’s not as tough as he likes to act like he is. I like you Eddie, but if you’re not serious about whatever it is that’s going on between you two you need to end it now.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not like that.”

Eddie knows she’s coming from a place of love for Steve, so he tries to reign in the anger building in his chest.

“Then tell me what it’s like.”

“Like you said, he wasn’t doing well. He wasn’t sleeping. So he’s staying with me. To get out of that big empty house, and to have someone to help him sleep.”

She softens, her face falling. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.”

“I’m sorry, Eddie. I didn’t mean…I’ve just seen how you’ve flirted with him. And he can’t take some fling right now. I don’t think Steve really knows how to do casual. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Robin…Even if he was into guys, into me, I wouldn’t do that. I would never hurt him.”

Now she’s looking at him with something like confusion mixed with pity.

“Oh. Ok. That’s…hm. Yeah I’ll talk to him. Sorry again Eddie, thanks for looking out for him.”

He feels like he’s missed something important, but for the life of him can’t figure out what.

—

It all changes after a particularly brutal nightmare. Steve wakes up screaming and flailing wildly until Eddie pins his arms down beside him.

“Shhh, baby, woah. It’s ok, you’re ok. Open your eyes, look at me. It’s Eddie, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

He feels one arm released, a hand trailing across his jaw. He does as he’s told to see Eddie hovering over him, and suddenly the nightmare is the last thing on his mind.

—

Eddie’s voice fails him as he realizes Steve has gone very still. He thinks this is it. The moment he’s stepped over that clear line. He said too much. He touched too much. He was too focused on calming Steve to remember to keep his filter up.

Then he sees the look in Steve’s eyes, those pupils blown wide. Oh. Oh.

It’s a risk. He’s balancing on the edge of a knife, one wrong step and he’ll end up bleeding. But he can’t help himself.

Gently, because god Steve deserves to be handled with care, he shifts his thumb to trail across his bottom lip. He feels the shuddering inhale as Steve parts his lips, opens up so pretty for Eddie.

And Eddie is hypnotized. Powerless to prevent himself from swaying in closer. He stops only an inch away.

“Can I kiss you?”

—

The words barely escape before Steve closes the gap. He feels the hand Eddie’s not using to hold him self up slide back to his jaw to cradle his face. Eddie’s lips part against his, tongue sliding in to meet Steve’s. 

Steve’s own fingers tangle in that wild mane of hair, pulling him down closer. He feels out of control, never thought he could have this. He isn’t sure how long he will. So he wants it all. He moves one hand down to slide up under Eddie’s shirt, desperate to touch.

—

Eddie pulls back, trying to hold onto his senses against the whirlwind beneath him. Steve may be into men, which is making his brain short circuit, but Eddie’s still pretty sure he’s never been with one.

“Easy, easy baby. Steve…I would be perfectly happy to spend the night kissing you. Hell I’m thrilled just to fall asleep next to you. We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Steve slides both hands to his back, gripping his shirt desperately like he thinks Eddie’s going to make a run for it. “I want you.”

“I want you too. I want you so fucking much, you have no idea. But wanting something an being ready for it aren’t the same thing.”

“I mean it’s not like I’m a virgin—“

“Steve. Being ok with one thing with one person doesn’t mean you’re ok with anything else with anyone else. Listen” he presses a quick gentle kiss to Steve’s lips, trying to tamp down the rage he feels building at the though that no one had asked Steve how he felt, if he was ok, if he wanted things to keep going…”Baby I’m not going anywhere. We can take this as slow as you need.”

“This isn’t…I mean, we haven’t…how do you know you’ll want to do it again?”

Eddie’s heart aches when he sees the look on the face below him. Resigned, scared, hurting. Fuck, did Steve think this was some one off fling? As if Eddie could even think of walking away.

He’d do anything for this man, anything to wipe the pain from his eyes. So putting his heart on the line…well, he’d rather break himself than let Steve hurt.

“Oh sweetheart…don’t you know I’m so fucking gone on you? We could never do more than kiss and I’d still be here. This is about so much more than sex. What do <em>you</em> want <em>right now</em>?”

There was a look of awe shining back at him. Maybe his heart was safe after all. “Could we…” Steve’s face was pink as he looked away.

Eddie tips his chin up once more so their eyes meet. “I may not say yes, but you’ve gotta know nothing you ask for could scare me away from you baby. Just ask.”

“I want…I just want to feel you. Please.” He thrusts up to make his point.

Normally Eddie requires a bit more of a direct request, but he can work with this.

“That’s a good boy.” He grins as hears Steve’s breath hitch. God this man is going to be the end of him. “One condition.”

“Anything.”

“At any point you want to stop, you say stop. You want to slow down, you say so. Do not for a second put what you think I want above your needs. Because what I want more than anything is to take care of you. To make you feel good. Do you understand?” He needs Steve to know his consent matters too, that he matters. Always.

Steve nods.

“I need you to say the words baby. I need to know you really hear me.”

“I understand. I won’t do anything I’m not 100% sure I want to do.”

“So good for me, Princess.” He leans down to press a biting kiss to that pretty blush as it travels down his neck. Then he pushes Steve’s shirt up so he can finally see how far down it goes.

Steve is quick to sit up and remove his shirt entirely. But when he lays back down, his arms go across his torso and he looks ashamed.

“Hey gorgeous, why are you hiding from me?” He trails a finger down one arm gently.

“I just…scars. The bats…they didn’t heal good.”

“Oh Steve…you’re fucking perfect. Don’t for a second think any scar could change that. Look, we match.” He lifts his shirt and gestures down to his own side.

Steve glances down at the scar from the wound that almost killed him. One arm uncurls from its protective hold so he can touch. Eddie inhales sharply at the sensation. The hand jerks back.

“I’m sorry-“

“Shh babe it’s fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s just…sensitive. Feels nice, actually.” He grins. “Pretty sure you could touch me anywhere and it would feel good.”

Steve finally moves both arms, no longer hiding his body from view. And <em>oh</em> what a view it is. Eddie remembers the fleeting glimpses he took when Steve stripped his shirt off to check out Water Gate, but he had tried not to stare too hard. His memory pales in comparison to the gorgeous man beneath him. He feels fingers trailing up his torso as Steve bites his lip.

Taking the hint, he leans back to tug his own shirt fully off.

—

Steve is staring. He’s allowed to do that now. And he can’t help but be captivated by the man above him. It’s hard to hold on to his insecurity when he realizes how he feels looking at Eddie’s scars. It’s a complicated mix of emotions. Part of him feels sad seeing the evidence left behind from that night. There’s relief because he’s still here, those wounds got the chance to heal into these scars. There’s awe at the bravery. Eddie may feel like a coward for running before, but the second there was something he could actually do he was a hero.

Then there’s the other feelings. The fire in his belly. He’s never been one to find scars sexy and he really shouldn’t now. But Eddie is magnificent. And these marks on his skin do nothing to detract from his beauty. They enhance it. Show how strong he is, a reminder of all he’s overcome.

When he finally drags his gaze back up to meet Eddie’s, he’s faced with a predatory grin. It sends delightful chills down his spine. Oh how he wants to be devoured.

He pushes himself up, gets his hands back into that lovely mane of curls and pulls Eddie to him. He is on fire, could melt from the heat of the mouth that collides with his. The soft, gentle kiss from before is gone. Eddie kisses like his life depends on it, nipping teeth and curling tongue. Steve has never been kissed like this and it leaves him reeling.

He is gasping for breath, collapsing back into the pillows when those teeth trail down to his neck. His hips thrust up and he moans when he brushes against hardness. Eddie lifts his own hips up and away. “Oh god…Eddie.” His voice is barely above a whisper.

A biting kiss where his neck meets his shoulder is followed by a soothing tongue. “Yes, baby?”

“Please! I need…” He can’t find the words, he is lost.

“Mmmm, go on. Tell me what you need sweetheart. Let me hear you.” Steve whines in response. “That’s very pretty, but I need words.”

“Please, god, please…I need…just touch me.”

He is rewarded with thigh pressed between his legs, giving him a delicious pressure to rub against. It’s good, it’s so good, but it’s not enough. He fumbles with the button to Eddie’s pants, pausing for permission.

—

Eddie almost laughs and Steve’s hesitation, like he would ever say no to him. He nods his consent, then helps get his pants down his legs and kicks them off. Then reaches to do the same for Steve.

When there’s nothing but two thin layers of cloth separating them, it’s his turn to pause.

“Are you sure about this?”

Steve lets out another one of those delicious little whines. “God yes, please don’t stop.”

Eddie nips that pretty little pouting mouth. This man will be the death of him, he’s sure of it. But oh what a way to go.

He slips his hand beneath the waistband of Steve’s boxers, trailing across his hip. Steve lifts up, almost daring Eddie to slide them down. Eddie’s never been very good at resisting temptation. He gives in to the challenge easily, moaning at the glorious sight. Steve has the prettiest cock he’s ever seen.

Eddie’s known he was gay for a long time, and he’s had his fair share of hookups. He’s given blowjobs before and enjoyed bringing his partner pleasure. But he’s never been particularly into the act itself. So he’s a bit surprised at the overwhelming desire to get his mouth on the man below him.

He puts the thoughts aside to explore another time. For now he slides his own boxers off and rolls his hips down, finally feeling skin against skin.

—

Steve had worried, just a little, that being with a man would scare him. He wanted Eddie so bad, but he feared the reality of it would overwhelm him. It does, but not at all in a bad way. Eddie is undeniably masculine, all angles and hardness where the girls he’s been with were curves and softness.

Rather than being distressed, he is toe-curlingly turned on. When he feels Eddie take both of them in hand, he almost blacks out. He bites his lip to contain the noises that try to escape him.

“Don’t hold back, gorgeous, let me hear those pretty sounds.” He moans, unable to deny Eddie anything.

“Fuck. Eddie.”

Steve whines when Eddie lets go, only to sigh in relief when he licks his palm before getting them back in his hand. He seems to be doing his best to wring as many noises out of Steve as possible.

It doesn’t take very long for him to be close.

“Gonna come for me pretty boy? Go on, let me see you.”

That’s all it takes for him to be releasing all over Eddie. The feel of it seems to be enough for Eddie to follow him.

When he returns to his body, Eddie is already cleaning them both up. Gentle, he’s always so gentle. He’s also avoiding Steve’s eyes and looks nervous.

—

Eddie’s cursing himself for not talking this through a bit more before diving in head first. Robin said she didn’t think Steve knew how to do casual, but what if she was wrong?

It will destroy him to be a casual fling for Steve.

“Eddie? What’s wrong? Do you…was that bad? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, baby, not at all. That was amazing. You’re amazing. I just…we should probably talk. About what that means going forward.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…what do you want, Stevie? What do you want from me?”

Steve furrows his brow and under normal circumstances he’d find the confusion adorable but right now it just makes his heart ache.

“I want everything.”

“Everything?”

“Eddie, I…I love you. It’s ok if that’s not how you feel but yeah I want everything. I want to be with you.”

He can’t stop the giddy laughter that explodes out of him. He tries to calm down when he sees the shocked hurt on Steve’s face.

“No! I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you sweetheart. I love you so much it fucking hurts. I just…Jesus, Steve I thought you were straight. I thought platonic cuddle buddies was the best thing I could ever have. This is just…more than I could have ever hoped for.”

“I do like girls. Turns out I like both. Robin says I’m bisexual. I guess I’ve noticed other guys before but you…you’re the first guy I’ve ever wanted. Scared the shit out of me. Especially once I moved in here. You’re my person, Eddie. You’re so fucking important to me and I was terrified of losing you. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Me either. Steve listen…I want to be with you, so bad. But I need you to know…no matter what I’ll always be here for you. I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, but if that doesn’t happen I will always be your friend. Always.”

He means it, from the bottom of his heart.

—

Things aren’t magically perfect after that. Steve’s nightmares are fading, but they still happen. They get into fights, and Steve sleeps in the guest room. But so far each time one of them will crawl into bed with the other in the middle of the night, whispered apologies and they fix it. 

Steve still hasn’t told his parents he’s moved out, and they haven’t been home to notice.

They haven’t told their friends yet, haven’t even come out to them. But Robin knows and she helps them hide it until they’re ready to share it with everyone else.

So it’s not perfect, but it’s theirs. And they’re both happier than they’ve ever been. That’s all that matters.

[redhoodssweetheart]

Welcome to My World

Genre: Soulmate AU

Pairing: Jason Todd x Gender Neutral!Reader

Requested: Yes (REQUESTS ARE CLOSED, this was for my 1.5K follower celebration)

Word Count: 1.6K

Warnings:  Swearing, slight angst, fluff

Description:  You wind up in your favorite comic book character’s world and find out that he’s your soulmate.  Jason Todd wants to know how you know his secret identity since he was in his Red Hood gear when you met, but your answer is the last thing he expected to hear. 

Hey, are you all right?

Those five words were tattooed on your inner arm, the first words your soulmate would ever speak to you.  Every time someone asked you that question you would tense up and respond waiting for their initial reaction as they realized who you were to them.  But the response never came.  The “Oh my God you’re my soulmate” never happened.  And year after year that passed you felt like maybe you would never meet them.

You found solace in comics, in the stories of heroes, and wondering what it would be like to be their soulmate.  Your favorite hero, or anti-hero you guess, would be Red Hood AKA Jason Todd.  The BatFam comics were amongst some of your favorites and you devoured fanfics written about Jason.  Silently you wished that he was your soulmate, maybe because it was easier than feeling disappointed time after time when someone else wasn’t your soulmate.

Then the strangest event occurred.  You were walking home one afternoon from your shift and there was a blinding flash of light.  At first, you had thought that maybe there had been some kind of explosion, or maybe you had died somehow and there really was a white light at the end.  Then everything was dark and when you slowly opened your eyes you realized that you weren’t home anymore.

City buildings you didn’t recognize rose around you a police car with the letter GCPD written on the side whizzed by.  Your heart felt like it had lodged itself in your throat and for a moment you thought that you really had died and maybe this was what the afterlife was like.  You took stock of everything around you looking for anything that might give you a clue as to where you were and in the distance, you noticed another tall building.

It was a stereotypical skyscraper but written on it was Wayne Enterprises.  You blinked and let out a startled laugh, “No way.  No, no, no this isn’t real.  This can’t be real.”  The possibilities that you were dreaming flitted through your mind and you scrubbed your hands over your face as if you were trying to wake yourself up.

There was no way you could be in Gotham City.

“Hey, are you all right?”  Those words.  Those damn words.

Turning your head you saw him standing there, the red mask obscuring his face, the bat emblem on his chest.  “Cool Jason Todd cosplay,” you managed to get out before your head began to swim and you began collapsing, the man before you rushing to catch you before your head could connect to the pavement.

“Shit,” he hissed.  Then he hit the button for his comms, “Alfred, I’m bringing someone to the cave… uh, well I’ll explain when I get there.”

“Understood,” came Alfred’s response.

How did you know his name, and why the hell had you thought he was cosplaying himself?  He didn’t have time for that now, and he also resisted the urge to check his arm where those very words were etched into his skin.  Whoever you were, you were his soulmate.  There was no doubting that.

He managed to get you to the cave in one piece and Alfred quickly checked you over and gave the all-clear.  “It was probably shock,” he told Jason.  “You said that they seemed confused, correct?”

Jason had his arms crossed over his chest and nodded, “Yeah, it was strange.  It was like they had no idea where they were and they thought I was cosplaying.”  He unfurled his arms and rolled up his sleep, “Whoever they are, they’re my soulmate.”

Alfred patted Jason’s shoulder, “Let’s wait until they wake up, and then we’ll get answers.”

Bruce and Dick entered the cave and saw you lying on the medical table, Jason standing over you looking pensive.  “Jason what is this?”  Bruce asked as he stepped closer to him and the stranger.

“They’re my soulmate,” Jason said calmly, his eyes still locked onto you, his mind racing.  “Found them looking lost and confused tonight, and right before they passed out they said the magic words.”

Bruce’s eyes shifted from Jason to you, “Are they all right now?”

“Alfred said that it was probably just shock,” Jason finally looked at his adoptive father.  “They knew who I was.  Or at least they thought I was cosplaying myself.”

There was a moment of silence, “I got a call from Barry, he said there was some type of disturbance.  A doorway opened between our earth and another, maybe that’s where they’re from.  Maybe there they know who you are.”

“Maybe,” Jason didn’t want to jump to conclusions.  “Anyhow I’ll get the answers we need when they wake.”

Bruce and Dick left him alone after that and he pulled a chair over to wait until you woke.

 It was several hours later and when you woke up you were still in an unfamiliar place.  You would have thought that you would have woken in your bed, proving that it had all been a dream.  But it seemed that your subconscious wasn’t done with you yet.  This time when you opened your eyes you were in a cave and then everything came crashing back down around you.

You were in Gotham.  You had seen Red Hood.  That must mean you were in the-- “Batcave, you’re in the Batcave,” the voice from earlier said, this time it wasn’t obscured by his helmet.  When you glanced to your right you saw him sitting there.  Jason Todd in the flesh.  “You and I need to have a little discussion.  Soulmate to soulmate.”

You let out a ragged breath, “You’re my soulmate?”

He pulled up his sleeve to reveal the words you had spoken to him right before passing out.  “How did you know who I was?  You asked if I was cosplaying Jason Todd specifically, not Red Hood.  How did you know?”

Of course, that would be one of his first questions.  All vigilantes were super secretive with their identities, wanting to protect themselves.  Bruce Wayne was one of the ones that was super protective of his.  “You don’t exist,” you blurted out.  “I don’t know how I got here, but where I’m from you’re a fictional character.”

Jason was quiet for a moment, “All right, let’s say I believe you on that and where you’re from I don’t exist as a living, breathing person.  How did you get here?”

“There was a flash of light,” you explained, wanting desperately for him to trust you.  “The next thing I know I’m standing on the street here in Gotham and you’re coming up to me asking me if I’m okay.  I didn’t expect any of this.  Do you know how I’m here?”

There was a moment of hesitation, “Barry Allen called, do you know who he is?”  You nodded, Barry was the Flash of course you knew that.  “He said there was an anomaly, a doorway from your earth opened and brought you here to mine.”

“So this isn’t some weird dream?  I didn’t die or anything like that?”

He chuckled, “No, there’s a scientific explanation behind it.”  He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, “Do you want to go back to your earth?”

Did you?  

I mean you had just found your freaking soulmate.  The person you had been hoping to find since the words had appeared on your arm.  Of course, there was a catch and he belonged to a whole other earth.  And let’s not forget that he happened to be one of your favorite fictional characters of all time.

“Is it okay if I don’t know?”  You asked cautiously.

He nodded, “Yeah, it’s all right.  I know this is a lot to digest.”

You blew out a breath, “This is so not how I saw meeting my soulmate going.”

“It’s not how I saw mine going either,” he offered you a smile.  Then stood and said, “Let me formally introduce myself, I’m Jason Peter Todd, your soulmate.”

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you told him.  “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Y/N.”  And you swore you could have melted at the tender way he said your name.

He took you to a room in the manor where you could sleep and Alfred offered to go out and get some clothes for you since you were left wearing what you had at work.  You were grateful for them all and how friendly they were treating you despite the fact that you were a literal stranger.  Jason stayed with you and asked you questions about your earth and what he was like in the comics that you had read about him.

You talked for hours until you fell asleep beside him, your head resting on his shoulder.

You spent weeks in Gotham with Jason, learning all there was to learn about the city and its inhabitants and about your soulmate.  Jason was patient and understanding and never pressured you into telling him if you wanted to go home or not.

“Jay?”  You said one evening as the two of you were lying in bed, he was reading a book and you were on his phone playing some games.  He stopped reading and looked over at you to see what you wanted.  “I want to stay here with you, I don’t want to go home.”

The smile that he gave you nearly made your heart stop, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you said quietly, smiling back at him.  “I don’t think I could ever leave you, and it’s not because you’re my favorite character or even my soulmate.  It’s just because I love spending time with you.  I love your family and this city despite its flaws.  And I just want to stay here forever.”

He placed a finger under your chin and tilted your head up slightly, “I would love nothing more than for you to stay with me.”

“Good,” you leaned forward and brushed your lips against his, feeling happiness blooming throughout you at the thought of spending the rest of your life here with Jason.