#and the whole thing is really just you with a flashlight and a walkie talkie running for your life

[yakketymax]

Hi hello hi, what sort of playstyle are u thinking this game will have? Like, visual novel, first person wandering around, top down pixel game, etc? The concept art and stuff I’ve read so far looks fascinating!!!

Okay okay I know exactly what I want to say here but it might come out as word spaghetti so PLEASE work with me here

Teacher's Pet is a first person game and is a mix of 2D and 3D! The hub area where Eugene and the kids you've rescued so far stay at, along with the exploreable areas that get uncovered after you rescue the kids where you can search for and collect missing items for the characters, are in 2D! The exploreable areas are point and click with moveable parts and several scenes you can move through to find everything and the hub area, the characters are 2D models with talking sprites and looping animations, both by themselves and interacting with one another. Levels are in 3D, however, and so are the characters! Each level is a different part of the "school" that you have to go through to eventually reach the student at the end of it.

All in all, it's a first person adventure game that splits itself between being a point-and-click search and find and being a seven part chase down adventure where you are risking your life with every step you take, with a little bit of We Are Friends Now! We're Having Soft Tacos Later thrown in

[softquietsteadylove]

Helloo, how are you?

So its halloween and i have a little request for something scary. Maybe the eternals somehow end up in this very old and problaby haunted house, and then the ghost in said house take a liking for Thena, so they start to hide her and make the others see her when she is not there. And poor Gil is more scared that he would like.

(Also thank you for answering to my asks🩷😭)

"This place really is massive," Gil commented mildly as he moved the flashlight around the walls. It was just the sound of their steps and their breathing. The halls of this old asylum were oppressively quiet.

"It's easily the largest space we've ever been in," Thena agreed as she too moved moved her light to examine their surroundings. "Its a good thing the others agreed to come with us to man the equipment."

Their friends were being good sports about it, whether or not they were present as true believers or because if half of their group was already in, they might as well all come.

"I hope they don't hate me for dragging them out here all Halloween night," he gulped as they turned a corner down - what a surprise - another pitch black hallway.

Thena scoffed at the idea, though, allowing him to walk even closer to her, all but clinging to her arm. "Please, all they would be doing is loitering at Phastos' anyway. He and Ben would be watching something, Makkari and Druig would be pretending not to make out in the corner and Ikaris would be trying - and failing - to hold Sersi's hand during the whole movie."

Gil snickered beside her. Thena's observations could seem cutting at times, but they were never all that inaccurate. And they could be pretty funny, in that way. "I'm sure he'd get there eventually."

"I have yet to see it," she drawled about their mutual friend, more frenemy when it came to her and Ikaris in particular. "Speaking of, when did they last check in?"

Gil pulled pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Ground floor, do you copy?"

"Ugh, Gil--aye, we're still 'ere. You don't have to go all air traffic control for it."

Well, if he was going to be such a stick in the mud. Gil huffed, "roger that, Party-Pooper."

"Oi!"

Thena took his hand and pulled the walkie closer to her. "Sersi, tell us if he holds onto you too tight and we'll switch floors."

"Watch it!"

The constant radio static of the channel clicked again and Sersi laughed. "He's really quite all right, you two. Anything up there?"

"Nothing, so far," Thena sighed before remembering to add, "over and out."

Gil smiled as he put the walkie back in his pocket. Thena probably thought it was silly too, but she would never actually say anything. It was one of the many ways in which she indulged him on these ghost hunts. "Hey."

She looked at him, wondering what had caught his attention. Once she saw him wiggling his hand at her, her smiled turned a little bit shy as she slipped her hand into his. "Do you think they'll know what to look for?"

"I told them about what all the equipment does, they should be able to tell if they get any activity," Gil murmured as they turned down a hall into a more residential looking area. "Whoa, this looks like an actual house."

"This must have been an area for those in a palliative sort of care, like a true hospice," she muttered, pressing closer to him. It was still old floors and concrete walls, but there were now rooms with more than nothing, some even still had an old metal bed frame in them. There was a dresser or two, even a mirror.

Gil winced as their flashlights both hit it head on. He lowered his, but he blinked and rubbed his eyes after the fact. "Can't believe something like that is still standing in a place like this in one piece."

Thena had no comment on it, apparently.

"Kinda freaky, right?" he sighed as he rubbed at his eyes again before shaking it off. "Thena?"

He looked around.

"Thena?" he called out with a little more urgency. He moved the flashlight around, plenty of the room doors were open, but he would have heard her. He would have felt her, wouldn't he? "Thena?!"

He rushed to check each of the rooms, forgetting how creepy everything was. His stomping feet were echoing all over the place, but that didn't matter. "Thena, where are you?!"

All that came back was his own voice bouncing around. He was starting to panic.

"Thena, please, answer me!" he panted, even moving the creaky, old doors to make sure she wasn't hiding somewhere. How could she have just vanished into this air?

He shouldn't have let go of her hand.

"Thena, please!" he shouted, retracing their steps, shining his flashlight down every hall he passed. He knew most of them led to dead ends. Where could she have gone? His hand pulled out the walkie-talkie again, fumbling with it a little. "G-Guys?!"

"Gil, what's wrong?"

"Th-Thena!" he gulped, knowing they needed more information than that. "She was right next to me and-and now-"

"Whoa, Gil, slow down. Nothing's happened to Thena, I'm sure she just went to look at something that caught her eye," Sersi attempted to diffuse his worry.

"Why the hell weren't you keeping an eye on her?" Ikaris snapped at him in sharp contrast.

"Oi," Druig chimed in on his set. "You all need to calm down, I just saw 'er."

"What?" Gil frowned. Druig and Makkari were on the second level, although most of it was sectioned off thanks to a fire from the last century. He rushed to the stairs, "you're sure?"

"Yeah, I saw her walk clear through that light grid you put up, actually," Druig narrated. He paused and then continued, "Kari saw'er goin' down the far stairwell."

"You mean the one to your left?" Gil asked, rushing down the main stairs so quickly he almost tripped at the very bottom. But he took off, full on sprinting.

"Yeah?"

Based on where they had set up, there was no way Thena could be on the stairwell to their left, because it led to absolutely nowhere, just a collapsed hallway downstairs and a boarded up room at the top. Whatever they had seen wasn't Thena.

"Keep your nightvision cam on, okay? And you two stay there--and stay close together!"

"Gil, man, you okay?" Ikaris asked a little more sympathetically, obviously hearing the urgency in his voice over the loud and static-y walkies. "Like Sersi said, I'm sure Thena's just fine."

"I'm on my way to you, just sit tight," Gil huffed. His chest felt tight, like it was on fire. He looked around, only now on the second floor. This place was such a massive hell hole, who knew what kind of malevolent spirits were in here. "Guys?!"

"Hold yer bloody horses, man, hell," Druig flashed his light at him from within the main hallway of the floor. As soon as Gil rounded the corner, though, Druig was already on his feet. Despite his words, his face was dead serious, "she really not with you?"

Gil gulped. Tears sprang to his eyes, although he knew this wasn't the time. He shook his head, trying to catch his breath. The light grid they had set up to pick up any kind of movement was still shining into the closed off areas ahead.

He jumped, but Makkari rubbed his back with a reassuring smile. Druig shone the light a little closer to them to illuminate her words. This place is like a maze, I'm sure she's looking for you too.

That was actually what worried him. He had screamed for her, at the very top of his lungs. And not only had he not heard anything back, but apparently none of their friends had heard him either, which seemed impossible.

And if he couldn't hear Thena, then how would he know if she needed his help?

"Where did you see her?" he asked, shining his own light closer to his face for Kari to read his lips.

She pointed. I swear I saw her walk through the grid. I thought she saw something in the window.

Thena would never walk through the light grid herself; it would compromise any evidence they got of a spectral figure. Still, Gil moved closer to it. He shone the flashlight into the corridor, through the propped open door. It was hard to tell with the light in the window reflection, but he was pretty sure it was just a boarded up, empty room through there.

Druig took the liberty of packing up the light grid and putting it back in his bag. "Take a look."

Gil slid closer to the darkened hallway. Despite never having been on one of these hunts before, all their friends were far less scared than he was. Maybe because they definitely didn't believe in ghosts. His heart hammered as he entered the suffocating dark of the hallway. He pressed his flashlight to the window of the door that was boarded closed. If something jumped up at him he might have a heart attack.

It was just a closed up room, full of evidence of fire damage. He angled the light around as best he could without giving himself nothing but reflection to look at. He jumped as some kind of movement caught his eye. He tried to follow it but it was gone as soon as he saw it. But he knew it moved towards the other door to the room.

And it looked blonde.

Druig and Makkari made room for him as he started running towards the main stairs again. "Come on!"

"If she's messin' with us she's makin' us go through a hell of a workout," Druig felt the need to chime in, following him down the stairs.

But Gil knew that wasn't the case. Maybe - maybe - she might mess with Ikaris a little, possibly Druig, all in good fun. But she would never make him worry about her like this, she just wouldn't. She would never scare him like this, not when it was always her calming him down on these hunts.

It really was like a labyrinth in this place. Gil leapt down the last two stairs and whipped open the doors to the main floor. "Did you see her?!"

Ikaris and Sersi both jumped off the bench of the entrance hallway. They looked at each other and then at him. They still had most of the equipment set up around them, and a floodlight pointed at the ceiling for a little more illumination of the area.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ikaris growled at him for storming in the way he did. "Didn't you see her on your level?"

Druig shrugged, "thought we did."

But Gil rushed past all of them, taking a right and pulling open the doors. This place was so massive, it was hard to keep track. But if the figure he had seen in the other room had been Thena, or worse, something else, it would have ended up in here. "Thena!"

Still, nothing but his own voice. It didn't echo like it did upstairs, though. He moved his flashlight around, seeing all the junk that was pushed into this empty but undamaged area of the building. He moved more slowly.

His heart was still hammering, but he made himself take each next step. He couldn't stop until Thena's hand was in his again. "Thena, are you in here?"

He could have sworn a voice whispered back to him. It would have been great potential evidence if he had any equipment or was recording anything. But for now, he took the potential whisper of 'she's mine' and scowled. "No, she's not."

Whatever whispered at him didn't have another reply to that.

Gil slid around a corner constructed of old office furniture, flashing his light in every nook and cranny. "She's my girlfriend! Whatever you are, find someone on your own plain of existence!"

Something rattled in a far corner. He really was going to have a heart attack in here. But he gulped, re-grasping his flashlight in his sweaty palm. No ghost was getting his precious Thena--not tonight.

He moved closer to the rattling. It was a doorknob turning. Okay, so he might die in here tonight. He hoped his friends would escape, at least. But if he did die, then maybe he could be with Thena. If she had died alone in here, he would never forgive himself.

There was a door, and the doorknob was turning.

Gil let out a breath and steeled his resolve again. He could do this. He would do this! He could do anything if it was for Thena. Thena, he repeated to himself as he reached for the doorknob, Thena, Thena, Thena.

As soon as he touched the doorknob, it was no longer locked, and flew open. Thena tumbled into the room, straight into his chest as he caught her. Both of their flashlights fell and rattled on the ground as they held onto each other.

"Gil!" Thena gasped into his shirt, burying her face in it as soon as she knew it was him. "I-I-I didn't--I-I thought-!"

"It's okay, it's okay," he gulped, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. It was really Thena in his arms, small and warm, blonde hair under his chin. His tears came again, and he didn't force them away, "you're really here."

Thena held onto him just as tightly, clawing at the back of his shirt so she could hold fistfuls of it. "I-I turned around and you were gone--just gone! And I tried shouting for you but I couldn't hear anything around me but silence. And then I thought I saw this--th-this thing-!"

"It's okay, I'm here," he whispered. He couldn't process any of what she was saying right now. All he could think about was the comfort of having his Thena in his arms again.

Slowly, they released one another. Thena sniffled, laughing as she put her hands on his cheeks. "I'm supposed to be the one here for you."

He laughed as well, just as watery and tearful. He put his hands on her cheeks as well, "I can be here for you, just this once."

She leaned into him again as he kissed her.

"You two okay?!"

Thena pulled back and picked her flashlight up first. She shone it around the room, "where are we?"

Gil frowned as she handed him his flashlight as well. "We're on the ground floor, in that side room we checked out first thing tonight."

"The ground floor?" she repeated, looking completely baffled. "We were on the third floor. I-I felt something pull me and I thought it was you, then I was in this completely other room. I was trying to find my way back to you in the hall."

Nice try, ghost creep; Gil took her hand, weaving their fingers together. He could carry his flashlight in his mouth if he had to.

"Gil," Thena continued to frown as he guided them back towards the entrance, "I didn't go down any stairs. We can't possibly be downstairs again."

"It's okay, Thena," he reassured her blindly. It didn't matter. None of it mattered, now that his fear was lifting. He waved as a flashlight circled from where the door was. "I got her!"

Collective sighs of relief were had. Ikaris was the first to bark at them, "what the hell, Thena?! You nearly scared the big guy half to death--that's not funny!"

"Shush," Sersi soothed the beast beside her, as she always did. "We're just glad you're both okay."

Druig and Makkari gave them both more curious looks, "where the hell were did you go?"

"I-" Thena looked at each of them, seeming completely stunned. "I don't know."

"Doesn't matter," Gil spoke up, more sure of this now than he had been about anything all night. "We're getting out of here--now."

He pushed through them, pulling Thena to the door to the outside, hand in hand. He could hear their friends packing up all the equipment behind them.

"Yappin' orders at us now, is he?" he could hear Ikaris gripe behind them.

"Stop it, they've been through enough." How did Sersi put up with him?

Finally outside, Gil took a deep breath. He put his hands on Thena's cheek again, urging her to do the same. She did, but she looked up at him. "Really Gil, I thought I was making my way back to you. I didn't even see any stairs, there's no way I could have-"

"We'll figure it out later," he resolved. They could do that in a safe place, where there was overhead lighting, and a warm mug of her favourite tea. Maybe he'd even have a blanket around her shoulders and massage her feet. "All that matters is you're safe."

Thena's face shifted to something like guilt. She looked down at their joined hands. "I thought I saw you."

"What?"

"What lured me away," she admitted quietly, and maybe with the first bit of true fear he had heard her voice all night. "I thought I saw you in one of those other rooms. That was what made me follow...whatever it was in there."

It had lured him the same way. But, again, that could wait until they were in a brightly lit space with firmly locked doors.

Gil kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms. "I found you again, so it doesn't really matter."

"Hm," she sighed, nuzzling her face into his chest again. "I knew I'd find you, I guess you finding me is okay, too."

Ah, his invincible Thena. She was the truly unshaken of the two of them. But he had to admit, he was assured by tonight that he had what it took to square up if he really needed to. If it was for the woman he loved, at least.

[katrinawritesthings]

Jonghyun/Taemin; Criminal; PG

You know when you're trying to rob a museum and then someone else fucks it up

Jonghyun doesn't need to be told twice. He's off, back to following the map in his head with every one of his nerves alight now.  Which means that he jumps about a mile when he walks into the diorama room and an alarm goes off.

Jonghyun has never really been one for fancy old paintings, but he has to admit, these little guys are pretty cute. He's actually smiling a little as he carefully takes each one off of the wall, whole entire paintings small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and taking in their little subjects of humans and little houses and landscapes with interest. Maybe this is what he's been missing the whole time. Maybe all he needed for him to appreciate paintings from people that died 400 years ago was for them to be tiny and cute.

Maybe he still doesn't really care that much and is just glad to have something cute to look at for once during a heist. When he's done with this and out of here, he thinks he'll keep one for himself. He's taking, like, 30 of them, anyway. One less won't hurt the profit they'll get from trading them. Jinki won't mind, and if he does, then Jonghyun will just suck his dick or something until he doesn't anymore. 

He takes the final one off of the wall and slots it very gently into his backpack, then zips it up and pulls it over his shoulders. Glancing around the dark room, at the security cameras in the corners, he puts his back to the wall and says, "Key, are we good?" 

"Path out is clear," is Key's reply, coming into his ear piece just a little bit crackly. "And your tag is sticking out of your sweater."

"Fuck," Jonghyun mumbles, blushing at the smirk in Key's voice as he starts to leave the room and reach behind himself at the same time. He cannot believe that Key waited that long to tell him. Friendship is fake. 

He slips through the halls of the museum, taking his pre-planned path, making sure to stop by the fountain to let the security guard pass, to be careful clambering over the squeaky metal grate to the naked people statue room, stop once he leaves there and wait for the–

"Uh-oh," he says, stopping short, eyes wide as he looks at the security guard on the floor. Sprawled on their back, walkie-talkie broken a few feet away, flashlight on in their hand. "Guys, we have a problem," he breathes.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Key asks. Jonghyun ignores him for a minute in favor of heading towards the security guard and crouching over them. A nasty bruise building on their temple, but a hand over their mouth tells him that they're still breathing; just knocked out. Well, not as bad as it could be, but, still. "Oh, shit," Key says then. Jonghyun guesses he's found the right camera and can see what the problem is now. 

"What is it?" Jinki asks. 

"A guard is out," Jonghyun says, putting his hands on his knees and pushing himself up. He's wary now in a way that he wasn't before. Someone else that shouldn't be here is in this museum too. "Key, can't you find them?" he asks. "Like, rewind the cameras or something." 

"Not unless I want the main security guy to notice," Key snaps. 

"I mean, do you think he's even conscious to notice if he didn't notice this?" Jonghyun says back. If whoever else is in here didn't have a problem taking out one security guard, he doesn't see why they would have a problem taking out the main guy. They need someone to go check. "Blaze–"

"On it," Minho replies before Jonghyun can even ask the question. The next thing he hears is Minho’s heavy security boots clunking on the tile floor towards the security office. "You keep heading out."

Jonghyun doesn't need to be told twice. He's off, back to following the map in his head with every one of his nerves alight now.

 Which means that he jumps about a mile when he walks into the diorama room and an alarm goes off.

Heart pumping, convinced it was him that caused it, he jumps again when both Key and Minho start speaking at the same time: "I don't know what that is, I haven't even gotten to the office yet," and "quick, Bling, I can't tell where they're heading yet but some of them are going to pass you, to your right, there's a janitor closet, get in there." 

Whoever the fuck is botching their own heist so badly better at least be trying to get something fucking valuable. Jonghyun pivots and runs to the closet on his right, pulling his lockpicks from his pocket as he does so. As frazzled as he is, picking the lock is quick work and he's closing the door behind him far before he hears running footsteps.

Key and Minho are talking rapid fire back and forth trying to figure out what's going on, Jinki offering as much input as he can from the driver's seat. Jonghyun, for his part, stays quiet, listening to what's going on behind his door. Footsteps, footsteps footsteps and then some shouting, orders, more footsteps. Then, quiet, for long enough that Jonghyun thinks that maybe things have calmed down at least in this part of the museum until all at once, there's one pair of footsteps rushing straight at his door.

They're so fast that he barely has time to step back and put his hands up before the door is crashing open, but it's not museum security that tumbles into the room with him.

It's someone dressed very similar to him; dark clothes, gloves, a beanie, and, if Jonghyun is seeing right in the darkness, a face mask with the  Team Rocket logo printed on it. They slam the door behind themself and then lean on it, pulling their mask down, panting hard, putting their face in their hands. They don't even acknowledge Jonghyun as another human being in the room with them. 

The other three are still talking in his ear piece. Putting his hands down, getting his flashlight on, Jonghyun says quietly,  "Guys, shut up. I found them." 

And if Jonghyun jumped a mile earlier, this other thief jumps three when he speaks, eyes wide as saucers as they finally notice Jonghyun in the room with them. Jonghyun can see their mouth open wide to shout something and quickly puts his finger to his lips, shaking his head. They take a moment, breathing hard, and then, in a whisper that's basically speaking anyway, ask, "who the fuck are you? What are you doing here?" 

"What am I doing?" Jonghyun hisses, incredulous. "What are you doing? I'm doing an honest heist, you're the one fucking knocking out people and tripping alarms. What the fuck were you thinking, just leaving that guard on the floor? Why would you go to the trouble of knocking someone out and then trip the alarm anyway? Is this your first job or what?" He doesn't mean to hound them like this, but he's stressed and once he starts he gets himself on a roll and has trouble stopping. It's keeping them quiet, at least, and it actually looks like it's cowing them, because they look down and rub their cheek sheepishly.

"I mean," they say, "maybe."

"Christ," Key mutters. 

"Did I mess up your heist?" they ask, and oh no, Jonghyun thinks, because their eyes are round and their lips are plumped up into a pout and their distressed voice is, distressingly, adorable. "I'm sorry, I didn't–I just needed to–I thought I had disarmed the alarm, but–I'm sorry–my name is Taemin and–no, wait, fuck that's not–forget I said that. My name is Ace." 

"It really is their first heist," Jinki sighs.

"What were you trying to steal?" Taemin asks. Jonghyun almost answers them on reflex before he stops and squints. Nosy. 

"Mind your own business," he says, "and shut up. I'm trying to listen." Which is true; he holds his finger to his ear piece to press it closer to his eardrum so he can hear the conversation better, but he's not really sure that it's worth listening to in the first place.

"What are the fucking chances someone else would pick the same day we did," Key is saying, and then Jinki responds with, "0.27%. It's easy, you just divide the number of days in a year by–" and then Key cutting him off with "shut up, nerd," and then the sound of a slap on a shoulder, and then the sound of a much louder slap as Key hits Jinki twice as hard back, all mingling with the conversation Minho is having with a real security guard. 

 "Guys," Jonghyun hisses. None of this is helping him. "Can I get out of here or what?" 

"Yeah," Key says like none of the previous conversation happened. "They're all swarmed around the alarm. Get out of the closet and go back the way you came, I'll lead you once you hit the fountain." 

"Okay," Jonghyun says. He pushes around Taemin, then tugs on his wrist, other hand on the doorknob. "Come on," he whispers.

"No come on," Jinki says, indignant. "You're not bringing them with you."

"Yes I am," Jonghyun snaps, leaning on the door instead of opening it and putting a hand on Taemin's chest to stop them from walking into him. "You know they're just going to follow me anyway. And I don't want them to get caught on their first heist. They deserve a chance. Besides, they're–"

"He," Taemin supplies helpfully, and Jonghyun cannot stop the smile even though he knows it'll show in the rounding of his cheeks over his mask. Taemin is pulling up his own mask, eyes bright in an excited kind of way now, and Jonghyun is definitely fond as he says, "besides, he's cute." 

"Bling, you are so fucking soft,” Key sighs. "And I don't mean that as a compliment," he adds before Jonghyun can thank him. 

Jonghyun says thanks anyway before he pushes open the door and tugs Taemin to follow him.

They slink through the museum, Jonghyun glancing over his shoulder so often to make sure that Taemin is still with him that before they even hit the fountain Taemin just grabs onto one of his backpack straps and holds on. Jonghyun appreciates it. Once he's sure that Taemin isn't lagging behind or sneaking off, he can focus more on Key's instructions. 

It's an entirely different path out then the one they planned, half improvised by Key and half monitored by Minho redirecting what guards he can away from it. For the rest of the guards they sink into a corner or behind a wall and wait. And for one, after a silent but fierce argument, Jonghyun winces when the heel of Taemin's boot clips the guard’s temple and they drop like a stone. Jonghyun makes a point to at least drag them into a corner where they won't be found as easily, but doesn't bother arguing with Taemin more about it. He just grabs his wrist and hurries along where Key tells him to.

The entire time, Jonghyun doesn't realize that his heart is beating as fast as it is until they reach a side exit and the sight of Minho standing guard around it sends a wave of relief through him. Taemin stops in his tracks, trying to scuttle out of sight, but Jonghyun shakes his head and drags him forward. 

"He's with me," he mutters, reaching out to hold Minho’s hand for a moment as they pass him and push outside. He can tell from the pull on his backpack that Taemin is watching Minho over his shoulder until the door closes behind him. 

"You have to stop falling for twinks with fat cheeks," Minho says into his earpiece.

"Fuck off,"Jonghyun says back, and then very pointedly does not look at Taemin's round cheeks even though he's turning to him with a confused noise. Instead, he looks around to get his bearings. Instead of being in the gardens with the car parked on the street over the fence like their original plan was, they've been unceremoniously spat out into an alleyway between the museum and the tourist center right next to it. The red and blue of police lights flash down one way, so Jonghyun heads the other way with Taemin and his pinchable cheeks in tow. 

Jinki says that they’ll meet up at the burger place down the street, so when they reach the end of the alley, Jonghyun stops and relays the news. He does so while taking off his beanie, his gloves, and his mask, ruffling out his hair, and after a pointed look Taemin does the same.

"Why would we–"

"You think ordering nuggies in full burglar gear would be less suspicious?" Jonghyun asks, eyebrows raised. Taemin mumbles, but he doesn't disagree, and when Jonghyun takes off his backpack to stuff his things inside, holds his own stuff out with an asking noise. Jonghyun lets him, then takes off his dark hoodie so he's just wearing a blue t-shirt underneath and rips off the dark covering on the pack itself to reveal its regular hello kitty design.

"Oh, cute," Taemin smiles. Jonghyun smiles back up at him as he straightens up and pulls the backpack on again.

"Thanks," he replies. Then he grabs Taemin's arm, pulling it around his shoulders. "Now come on," he says. "Boyfriends." And he slips his hand into Taemin's butt pocket and leads him out onto the street, pleasantly ignoring the other three groaning into his earpiece. Taemin is even cuter in the street light and the giddy blush that colors Jonghyun cheeks when Taemin pulls him closer isn't as much of an act as it should be.

[condorclaw]

Three and a half idiots go ghost hunting (ft. Jimmy, Grian, Joel, and Impulse)

- It’s Grian’s first time playing, and he shows up late, taking even longer to change the settings

- Joel making it his mission to be the biggest menace in the game

- "Impulse, that's a telephone. That's not how you turn the tv off."

- "It's five past eight? Who gets haunted at five past eight?"

- Impulse dies the first game ("Oh, the only person who knew what they were doing, died!")

- Grian surviving the first round and immediately noping right out of there. He had to be sent a text to be told how to end the game

- *rapidly clicking flashlight noises*

- Joel embodying “the power of Christ compels you” ("Joel are you there?" *The most staticky audio* THE POWER OF CHRIST-")

- The Gang Struggles to Light a Single Candle ("I'M TRYING TO LIGHT THE BLOODY CANDLE, JIM!")

- This is then followed by them singing happy birthday to get the ghost to blow it out

- Jimmy points out every single magazine in the game to everyone ("It's your favourite magazine!" "Builder's weekly?" "No, CookingPro." "That looks delicious.")

- "Can the ghost leave the house?" "No, the ghost can't leave the house" *immediately leaves the house* "Okay, I'll just signal you from out here."

- "Why don't you talk in the walkie talkie so we can hear your fear?" "I'M DEAD, GRIAN."

- "No penalties!" "We didn't lose a single thing today!" Ghost Jimmy, standing right next to them:

- "20 whole bucks? We lost a man today! Someone died and we got 20 dollars! Jimmy, you're worth 4 McDonalds at best!”

- Jimmy and Joel try to film a vlog with the in-game camera. Joel ends up dying when they go back to fetch the camera ("The power of Christ did not help him.")

- "Did they find the ghost?" "AUUUUGH SHE'S HERE!"

- Grian, over the gravely walkie talkie: "Guys I'm gonna need a new pair of pants, thank you."

- The panicked singing of “Hey Baby (If You’ll Be My Girl)” as they flee

- Jimmy’s self-worth is now determined by fast food. ("You're worth a chicken burger, and that's about it." "Not even a McFlurry." "The ice cream machine wouldn't even be working.") ("Jimmy, nobody orders a filet-o-fish because it's disgusting." "You called me one earlier." "Exactly.")

- "Wow, I sound really annoying, why hasn't anyone told me?" Grian, upon hearing his echo

- They all get sidetracked by playing every musical instrument they can find and obnoxiously singing

- Grian says “I’m bored” and within minutes, Impulse and Jimmy are killed ("Alright, pick him up. Let's chuck him in the fire.")

- *over the walkie-talkie* "God, I hope he dies soon- Wait, wrong chat."

- Despite never playing before, Grian was the only one who didn’t die in any of the rounds, and also wasn’t scared (“I think I'm dead inside.")

[demonsandmischief]

Fracture

Ghost Adventures - A Zak Bagans Imagine

Zak Bagans x Female Reader

1K Words

-Fracture-

In which you get hurt filming an episode of Ghost Adventures.

----

You normally wouldn't participate in the actual investigation. Your boyfriend Zak Bagans (lead investigator and executive producer of Ghost Adventures) was a worry wart.

But, this location was massive and abandoned. He needed everybody in with a camera, and although he was reluctant about you joining, you convinced him otherwise.

Zak, Billy, Aaron, Jay and you all leaned over to look at the map.

"Splitting up is the best idea. There's three main areas I want to cover, so one person will have to go on their own," Zak said. "Y/N is absolutely not going alone. It's going to be one of us."

"I don't care to go alone," Jay smiled slightly, as he fiddled with equipment in his hands.

"Dude, you're always taking one for the team," Aaron chuckled.

"If Y/N is not going alone, she's not going with you, Zak. You'll be distracted the whole night," Billy mentions, as the group pulls away and gathers gear.

"He's right. You would be too worried about me to get anything done," you contribute softly, smiling up at the serious man that you loved.

Zak rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over chest, "Fine. You go with Aaron, and no goofing off."

Aaron cheers.

You lean up to give your boyfriend a kiss, "Good luck. Be safe."

You hadn't been in any of the buildings during the day which was probably a mistake because you struggled to navigate. You weren't as used to the dark as the others were. You were happy being with Aaron who was good at taking the lead. All you really had to do was film him.

"This is the room that Zak caught the EVP of someone screaming for help. I think I am going to turn on the spirit box."

Chills ran down your spine. It was the first off feeling of the night, and something in the air shifted.

The spirit box picked up some words that the both of you couldn't make out, and you guys continued on throughout the building.

It was an odd considering the circumstances, but you didn't enjoy being in camera. You liked being apart of the action occasionally, but you wouldn't be able to do it consistently like the guys do.

"Aaron, it's freezing in here," you tell him as you walk into a smaller room, feeling goosebumps on your arms.

"Freezing? Y/N it's like 80 degrees in here," he replied, stepping closer to you. "Woah, it's like a freezer all around you."

An ear piercing series of screams ring out in the distance, scaring the hell out of you both.

You stumble back and the floor gives way under your left foot.

"Shit, Aaron, I'm stuck," you yelled, not knowing where he was. Panic squeezes your chest. "My foot went through the floor."

"What?" he calls back, alarmed. There's a blinding light on your face as he shines the flashlight.

"Fuck," he cursed. "You can't pull it out? I'm calling Zak."

You could feel the splinters of the wood digging into your ankle and you couldn't feel or wiggle your foot. It was the worst pain you had ever felt in your life.

Aaron used the walkie talkie to radio Zak and then turned to you.

"It's going to hurt like a bitch, but I'm going to lift you up, okay?"

"No, no. I want Zak to do it," you squeezed your eyes shut as your chest constricted. You were going to throw up or pass out, you were certain of that.

"Where the hell are you guys?" Zak yelled and Aaron yelled back.

"They're going to have to cut my foot off," you mumbled. "I'm going to have to walk with a cane."

"Don't be dramatic," Aaron couldn't help but laugh.

"What's going on?" Zak rushed in with Billy trailing behind.

"Her foot went through the floor."

"Through the floor?" Billy exclaimed. "Isn't there supposed to be concrete or something underneath?"

"Why don't you take it up with the construction workers?" you mumbled. "Z, I can't feel my foot."

"It's going to be fine, baby. Want me to lift you up?"

He reaches under your arms, and lifts you up.

The splintered wood digs into your injury and you let out a sob, putting your head onto Zak's shoulder. The hole is too narrow for your foot, so it takes some maneuvering. The pain was white, hot and intense.

"I've got you," he soothes.

Your leg is a bloody mess when Zak looks you over. Your shoe is torn up and he reaches to pull it off to assess the damage, but the pain is too unbearable.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, pushing your hair out of your face. "Let's get that looked at, yeah? I think Billy and Aaron and Jay can wrap this up for once." He turns to them. "Maybe just focus on the other buildings so we don't get anymore injuries."

Zak picks you up, and you tuck your face into his neck.

---

One fractured foot and a hideous cast later, you were almost all better.

"I'm sorry you had to leave the investigation early," you tell him sleepily as you're laying together in the hotel room.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," he replied, leaning down to give you a kiss. "This is why I don't like you investigating."

You can't help but giggle, "It could've happened to any one of you."

"I know that, but you're my girl. I don't want anything happening to you."

"You'd bubble wrap me if you could," you rolled your eyes and he gave a low chuckle, kissing your forehead.

Pounding at the door startled you both.

"Let us in. We want to see Y/N. We brought pancakes," Aaron yelled.

Zak groaned and went to the door to find the three goofballs standing there.

"We thought you might be hungry. We won't stay long," Jay grinned.

"It's like 5am in the middle of nowhere. The only thing here is this motel. Where did you find pancakes?" Zak asked indecrelousy.

----

Tags: @nyx2021 (general) @purple-liciouss (Zak - Idk why it wouldn't let me tag you!)

[chaoticrobotics]

What do you think of the supernatural? I mean like ghosts, undead and all those creatures of the night things.

[I thought you meant the show for a second lol! I never watched that, but thankfully I reread your ask haha!]

Freddy: I am sure there are plenty of things that are unknown. Ghosts and creatures of the nights can very much be some of those! We don't get out much, but I have seen quite a few videos online that show ghosts! So I am sure there are some out there! There might even be some in the Pizzaplex! I have had quite a few encounters with strange things after hours!.

______________

Chica: There's definitely got to be some spooks! Have you seen those videos online! There are walking ghost pants! And super giant crawling spider men things that stretch up entire buildings! I once saw this video of a really tall man with no face following this guy around for like his whole life! I am so glad that it looks like only ghosts come inside buildings, I would be terrified if I saw some of those things that are out there!

______________

Roxy: It's a load of crap is what it is! I can't tell you how many times I rigged a wire or something to make a box move or used a walkie-talkie to make creepy noises just to scare the others! It was awesome! I even got Monty once! Which is hilarious because he's helped me set up some of the traps before! XD

______________

Monty: I want there to be a zombie apocalypse so I can punch the crap out of them! I would be the savior of a bunch of survivors who would stay in the Pizzaplex and they would elect me their king! *swings golf club around like a sword* those stupid corpses won't know what hit them! Hahahaha!

______________

DJMM: Oh I believe the supernatural to be real. Not in the sense that there could be a zombie invasion or vampires lurking around. But, I do like the idea that there are souls that need some place to go, whether that be reincarnation, heaven, or any other belief system holds.

Though I guess that does pose the question of if we have souls. Yes we are animatronics, we are not organic at all, but has our AI grown enough to be counted as a soul? Can we ever manifest a soul, or can you only have one if you are born with one? It really is a spiritual conundrum that many are posed with. For me though, I just like the idea that I have a soul, as do my friends, and no matter what happens to us, we will be fine one way or another.

Though that is an optimistic thought I suppose. It is much better than the reality that I know is out there. But, I suppose for now it is better to lie to myself with hopeful dreams of becoming more than a robot than it is to sit and sulk in a depressive state of existential dread.

______________

Sun: Oh I believe there are definitely ghosts! Sometimes I will see something out of the corner of my eye, or a small head through the Daycare windows pop below the wall, but nothing is there when I look! I doubt it is my programing. If anything, it is Moon's programing leaking into my own, because he has told me about seeing things before. So yes, there are definitely ghosts, and especially there is one in the Pizzaplex! I know it!

It seems like a child though... So I hope that it is okay and not lost. I only ever see it when it is dark outside the Daycare, so I can never get out there in time with a flashlight or fast enough when the lights come back on to try and help them.

Moon just tells me it's all in my head and to ignore it. Pfft... that's what they always say to me... I'm sick of it... >.>

[Moon is temporarily off limits, they will be back soon!]

[juliasjustanidiot]

��𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀 | cc!wilbur soot

the words of ray simmons - cc!wilbur soot x reader

synopsis: you, tommy, and your boyfriend wilbur were to identify the ghost and get out of there. however, some things went a bit off the rails.

tw: slight gore, character death, swearing, uhh horrific themes and a slight anxiety/panic attack.

word count: 3.2K

bonus: this has a lot of platonic mr. tommyinnit content :)

the shrilling sound of screaming from yourself and the young boy behind you rang in your ears as your heartbeat raced with such an intensity you swore your heart was going to combust. the two of you were running as fast as you could down the hallway of the second floor of a suburban home, rushing to get to the stairs and out the front door.

“i can’t die now, i have wives to please!” tommy shouted from behind you, a figure chasing the two of you. you didn’t dare turn around and face it.

“it’s ok, tommy! i have jesus!” you said pulling out a crucifix from your pocket, sticking it in front of you as you ran. the flashlights you two were holding flickered, telling you the ghost was still chasing you relentlessly.

“why didn’t you place it earlier?!” tommy shouted at you as the two of you ran. “you could’ve prevented this thing from hunting us in the first place!”

“i’m sorry, tommy! i didn’t realize that this was all my fault!” you shouted back sarcastically.

“wilbur! wilbur!” tommy called as you both ran around the kitchen with the ghost still chasing you. it was no use, wilbur wouldn’t be able to hear him. at least not until the ghost gave up and the hunt ended. then the radios would begin to work again with the ghost not blocking the frequencies any longer.

this was only tommy’s third ghost hunt and his first time being hunted. to say he was panicking was an understatement.

as your boyfriend sat perfectly safe in the van, you and tommy were forced to run like mad lads around a living room with every exit locked.

you turned the corner finding yourselves in a hallway with doors. you two quickly got to the furthest room and opened it, hurrying in.

shutting the door behind you, you held it closed with your body weight while tommy breathed heavily, shaken up.

a few minutes passed with the two of you like this when finally your flashlights came back on normally and your heartbeat began to normalize, the adrenaline leaving your body.

tommy stopped, flicked the switch on the wall, and turned on the light in what seemed to be a child’s bedroom. a sigh released from his lips, “the wives will be pleased.”

as you let out a small laugh, you could hear over your walky-talky the voice of your boyfriend, wilbur soot from the van. “y/n? tommy? are you guys good?” he asked.

“we’re fine. this thing will hunt in groups, apparently. it doesn’t target specific people it seems.” you informed him, letting him know that the creature was in fact dangerous.

you and tommy exited the room, making your way outside, heading back to find wilbur.

wilbur clicked his tongue. “yeah, as soon as you guys entered the room of the ghost, ghost activity spiked.” he mentioned. “during the hunt, ghost activity went off the charts.”

“yeah, that’s what happens during hunts, wil.” tommy said, matter-of-factly as if he knew so much about ghost hunting and yet he was still a newbie.

“shut up, dickhead.” wilbur responded, a small giggle released from your mouth. you shook your head with a soft smile. there was the brotherly bickering between the two that everyone knew and loved.

“how’s our sanity looking, wil?” you said as you headed out the door of the haunted house, tommy behind you. you decided it was best to get back on track if you wanted to get this job done as soon as possible.

“sanity is looking fine for right now, tommy’s is a little lower than yours, love. which explains a lot, really,” he said, egging tommy on.

tommy was quick to respond as soon as you two entered the van. “oh shut up, you big fuckin-“

you turned around to stare at tommy with a small glare. he closed his mouth slowly, taking the hint.

wilbur passed the two of you, walking to the equipment, picking up an emf reader. “i’ll go in with the emf. it’s the upstairs bathroom, right?”

you nodded in confirmation. “right. be careful, wil. this thing is vicious.” he nodded, putting on a headcam similar to the one you were wearing so anyone could watch from the van.

“actually, tommy, why don’t you stay here? i’ll go with wil to place down the book so we can check for ghost writing.” you suggested, turning your head to look at the blonde-haired teen.

“what? why?” he protested. “i can go too!” he spread his arms, looking at you like a child that had just been rejected- which was exactly what he was. “i’m a big man, y/n! tell them wil!” he looked to wilbur expectantly.

wilbur turned to him, looking him up and down, wrinkling up his nose and shaking his head. “no.”

pointing to a monitor on the wall, you showed tommy his sanity percentage projecting on the large screen. “your sanity is gonna drop every second you step foot in there. mine’s a little higher than yours. it only makes sense that i go in before you so that you don’t lose too much. plus, this is still only your second time doing this. something could easily go wrong.”

“third.”

“plus,” wilbur chimed in, stopping for a moment. “we wouldn’t want the wives to be upset if we lost you.” you turned, grabbing the journal from one of the supply shelves and let out a small laugh. he put an around arm your shoulder, leaning some of his weight onto you.

“pft, yeah. exactly.” you agreed, lifting your head to flash wilbur a smile. he looked to you and gave you a similar one, his brown eyes staring into your own.

tommy watched from where he stood as the two of you did your weird “couple thing” while you both made fun of the boy. his eyes narrowed and his whole face scrunched as he let out a groan. “uuugggh. you two are disgusting!”

“oh, tommy.” wilbur sighed. “still so much to learn.” he released you and exited the van with you following him.

“we’d better get this job done quickly. this ghost is only going to get angrier.” you mentioned, finally getting back to business.

“yeah, well, tell that to the innit man himself. he’s the one who kept getting sidetracked.” wilbur mumbled as you entered the family home’s entrance, turning on your flashlights so you could see where you were going.

“wil, don’t bully the kid, he’s still getting a hang of things. and it isn’t just him that’s getting sidetracked.”

“wilbur? y/n? wilbuuuur.” as if on cue, the voice of a teenager rang through your ears on your walkie-talkies.

with a groan, wilbur grabbed the small device and clicked it on. “what, child?”

“the ghost’s name is ray simmons,” he said loudly, making your ears hurt.

“jesus, tommy, back up from the microphone,” you complained, turning the corner and heading up the stairs of the home.

“is this good?” his voice was only louder making your ears hurt even more. you’ve never wanted to hit a child more than now.

“alright, bye tommy.” you grumbled and shut off your device. “how did you meet this kid again?” you asked wilbur who was trailing behind you. he only let out a chuckle after shrugging.

with a roll of your eyes, you opened the door of the ghost infested bathroom and placed the book on the sink. you waited for wilbur to scan the room for emf, letting him check everything.

“oh, here,” he said as he just remembered something, “look for fingerprints or something with the uv light.” he tossed the uv flashlight to you. you caught it swiftly and clicked it on, shutting off the lights in the room. you started with the door, finding nothing there. you then surveyed the rest of the room, again, finding nothing.

“nothing with the uv. let’s get out of the room for a bit and check the cams. then we can come back and look for writing.” you suggested as wilbur pocketed the emf reader.

tommy and yourself had already set up a camera in the corner of the bathroom to look for a ghost orb and checked for freezing temperatures upon your first time entering the room. you already knew it was freezing the minute you walked into the room, it literally felt like a freezer. but it didn't hurt to check and you were correct. the room was in fact below freezing.

“actually, i think we have our answer for ghost writing.” wilbur pointed to the book with his flashlight from where he stood, illuminating it, and revealing some odd drawings.

“well, quite the artist this one,” you muttered, staring at the strange demonic drawings. wilbur came up from behind you, getting a closer observation of the obscure drawings.

“we’ve got ghost writing, fingerprints. all we need is one more piece of evidence and we’ve got our ghost,” he said, moving to the door to exit. “let’s head back to the van and watch the cams.” with a nod, you followed him out, closing the door behind you two.

entering the van, you noticed something wrong.

“wilbur?” you called, turning your head to see wilbur still walking back.

“yeah?” he looked up to you.

“where the hell is tommy?”

“shit.” wilbur cursed under his breath, observing the inside of the van to find no sight of the teenager. picking up his communication device, he quickly clicked it on. “tommy?” he called.

after a few seconds, you finally got a response. “hi, wilbur!” the boy said, a bit of static also playing through the device.

“tommy? where the fuck are you?”

“i’m ghost hunting, wil!” he shouted into the comms.

you went into the computer and clicked the mouse to watch the camera you had set up in the room.

“no ghost orb.” you told wil. you watched as tommy entered the bathroom on the monitor. “tommy, get your ass out here.” you grabbed the walky-talky from wil’s hand and put it up to your own mouth.

“no can do, y/n! i’m talking to ray simmons currently.” he said to you.

“don’t say it’s name-“

“ray says to leave me alone. we’re talking!” if him and the ghost are talking, that could only mean that tommy was using the spirit box or the ouija board.

“fuck.” you thrusted the walky-talky into wilbur’s chest and walked over to the supply shelves picking up some sanity pills. you popped them into your mouth and swallowed them. stuffing some more into your pocket, you gathered a smudge stick and lighter in case things got a bit out of hand.

“y/n, what are you doing?” wilbur asked as he watched you equip all of your things. he stared at you with a curious look.

“i’m getting our wifehaver.” quickly, you turned on your heel and sped to the house.

“be careful, love!” he shouted to you, worried for your safety. however, he trusted you. you both had been in this job for a while. you knew what you were doing.

storming into the house, you quickly ran up the stairs to the ghost room and opened the door with great force. you found tommy sitting in the tub with the spirit box in hand.

“what the fuck are you doing?” you shouted at tommy, quickly grabbing the box from his hand.

tommy looked up to you, looking confused as hell. “what? i’m talking to ray simmons!” speedily, you clasped a hand over his mouth.

“don’t say the ghost’s name, idiot.” grabbing him by his arm, you pulled him up by his feet and made a beeline to the door. you shoved the sanity pills into his hand, forcing him to take them. “what did it say to you?” you asked, aggravated. he was so stupid, going in alone like that. he could’ve died.

“turns out mr. simmons is quite old! he was also telling me the letter ‘e’ quite often for some reason.”

lifting your walky-talky, you called for wilbur. “yeah?” you heard wil’s soft voice from your end.

“tommy managed to get our last piece of evidence. spirit box. it’s a demon.” you told him, making your way down the steps, tommy tagging along.

“if it’s a demon, it can start hunting at any moment. get out of there, now.” wilbur suggested. you of course already knew that. you didn’t want to stick around any longer than you had to. demons were always very aggressive.

“anything else that it said to you, tommy?” you asked him out of curiosity. as you got close to your escape, you felt a sense of relief. you now had all your evidence. the three of you could pack up and take your pay, and head home. the exterminators could do the rest.

“i think he said the word “ill”.” he shrugged it off. “or maybe it was “kill”? ray is a bit mental, aye?” immediately, you turned your head to tommy with a very troubled expression.

“what?”

as soon as the word had left your mouth, the door in front of you slammed shut. you let go of tommy and ran over to it, trying to open it with all your might.

“oh fuckin’ shitting hell.” you cursed aggressively. you grabbed tommy and pulled him next to you, keeping a protective stance with him behind you.

“wilbur?” you talked into your comms, seeing if you could get a hold of him at all. “wilbur?”

“y/n?” you could hardly make out due to the large amount of static and blockage in your communication. “get- there- now. huntin-“ you couldn’t understand him, but you knew he was telling you to get the hell out of there and you were definitely trying.

tommy shook your arm from behind you, confused and freaking out. “uhhmmm, y/n? y/n? what’s happened?”

“it’s hunting, tommy. you kept saying it’s name and now it’s angry.” you grumbled.

“yeah? well ray’s a pussy.” he argued.

“tommy, if you don’t shut the fuck-“

“aaaahhh!” tommy shouted, pointing in front of you. directing your gaze to the direction that tommy pointed in, your eyes widened at the thing you now were looking at. the adrenaline you had pent up earlier from the chase before now came rushing back.

there in front of you stood a tall man with his face completely drained of color and eyes that were so empty they sent a chill down your spine. his left arm was missing with a hunk of bone sticking out of his flesh and his clothes were completely torn up.

you grabbed tommy, shoved him in front of you and started bolting as the thing chased you.

“dammit, run, tommy!” sprinting, you two made a run for it through the kitchen, and into the dining area, circling around that area a couple times.

“leave us alone, bitch!” tommy shouted to the demon as he started running for the garage.

“tommy! no!” you cried to him, trying to stop him by grabbing his arm, but he was already entering the garage.

unfortunately, before you could warn tommy, the demon detected him and chased him in there where he would be completely cornered.

darting to the garage door, you grabbed the smudge stick and prepared to light it with the lighter you had taken in with you.

peeking in, you saw tommy in the far corner of the garage, there was no way he could escape from the demon in time to make it out alive. you had to do something and fast.

you motioned to light the smudge stick and jump in to save tommy, but with all the pressure and anxiety you were feeling, your hands fumbled and the lighter fell from your hands.

“fuck!” you hissed, picking it up swiftly.

an alarming scream hit your ears, forcing you to turn and look. you wish you hadn’t.

“shit, tommy!” you roared, rushing in no matter what danger there was.

entering the garage, you didn’t see the demon in sight. it seemed to have gone elsewhere, deciding it had done its job.

in the corner of the garage sat tommy, motionless and limp.

fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, repeated in your head as you ran over to his body, dropping the stick and lighter on the ground to touch tommy, trying to shake him awake. “tommy, come on.” you cried out as if he could hear you.

you heard rapid footsteps making their way towards you. grabbing the smudge stick and lighter, you flicked the lighter on, prepared.

bursting in was your boyfriend wilbur, out of breath and panting, searching for you. “y/n! i saw it on your headcam! what’s-“

once he caught sight of you, he let out a deep exhale and stopped in the middle of his sentence. but he could sense something was wrong. “y/n.” he breathed your name, walking over to you as you relaxed with the smudge stick and lighter.

“tommy. he’s-“ you fell apart, breaking into a state of just absolute panic and anxiety. shaking all over, your breathing was all over the place. you grabbed at your hair, tugging slightly to feel pressure on your skull. “fuck. he was- the demon- he’s dead.” you cried out.

wilbur grabbed your wrists tightly, forcing you to let go of your hair. “oh, love.” he sighed, pulling your body to him, placing your hands around his neck and burying your face in his chest while he buried his own into your hair, breathing in your scent.

the two of you stayed like this, your eyes never leaving tommy’s cold body. wilbur took notice of this and finally pulled away, grabbing your face, opting you to stare into his eyes. “hey. you’re ok. you did everything you could.” he told you, trying to reassure you. “you’re ok. yeah?”

you nodded your head, letting out a few shaky breaths. the both of you stood up and headed for the door.

“let’s get out of here.” wilbur put an around you, rubbing your shoulder gently, calming you down slowly.

entering the van, you both sighed. after that job, you knew things would be a bit different now. you would have to be more careful next time you took tommy ghost hunting.

“well, at least it was tommy and not you.” wilbur said with optimism. you turned to him giving him a small smile.

“yeah, but now he’s going to hold a grudge against me and try and get me killed all of next round.” you grumbled.

clicking a few keys on your keyboard, you marked the ghost type as a demon and started up the van, making your way back to the lobby.

there in the lobby, stood tommy’s character. immediately as he saw you two, he unmuted on discord and started shouting and cursing both of you out.

“you two are so fucking disgusting! while i died you two were doing your couple shit and making out through the game and all that disgusting shit!” he blasted into his microphone. “while my chat went ‘aww so cute!’ i was laying there dead and couldn’t do anything about it, you dickheads!”

you and wilbur couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “oh, tommy. we love playing phasmophobia with you too.”

(bonus) tommy’s pov:

as tommy watched in his ghostly form, y/n and wilbur’s characters stared at each, their heads completely inside each other’s, causing the game to combine them. with a disgusted tone, he huffed. “you motherfuckers.”

·  · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── ·  ·  

edited by @faithajo24​.

taglist: @etheriaaly

[lillian-nator]

YBLN!Ranboo

His Ranboo is a year older than Tubbo, Tommy, and Purpled. 

Tommy meets Ranboo when he is a Junior and Ranboo is a Senior. 

Ranboo had moved to their town the year before and became the soccer team’s goalie. Due to the fact that Tommy plays offensive, he never interacts with Ranboo, however, he heard Fundy talking to Ranboo once and deemed the tall boy cool. 

They first talk in the senior English class, because Tommy is a year ahead in English, and Tommy tells Ranboo that he will be eating lunch with him and his friends. 

“You are going to sit at my table during Lunch today, and you are going to meet Tubbo and Purpled, and you are my friend now. No arguing."

Very much 2 extroverts adopting Ranboo, and Purpled just vibes on the side. 

But Ranboo turns out to be weird as fuck, and Tubbo vibes with that SO fucking hard. 

They T-pose at eachother in the hallways, its SO cringey that it’s almost okay. 

Most people in The Gang were shorter than Tommy, but since Ranboo is taller, sometimes Tommy likes to lean on him2

Niki gets a scholarship to a preforming arts school nearby, so, on weekends she volunteers at the school's library, and Niki and Ranboo become really good friends - Niki instantly takes the kid in 

ANYWAYS, so Ranboo gets the keys to the library from Niki one day, and the four of them play a game of Manhunt throughout the school - it’s chaotic as FUCK

Overwhelming Social Anxiety - what can I say

He has one sister, she is like 13 years older than him, he never really felt related to her, so then Niki shows up in the picture - OH BOY

Sibling Issues immediately resurface, and then were fixed by one Niki Nihachu. Thank you Niki Nihachu for being a good role model, and surrogate sibling. 

His sister pointed out how strangely deep his voice was when he was like 9, and he got really anxious over talking ever since. 

AND THEN, Ranboo meets Tommy, who some how describes the exact thing that Ranboo is always feeling. He meets Purpled who mutters “mood”, without looking up from his phone, when he explains he has an older sister who in his eyes wears devil horns. He meets Tubbo who cheers when he's willing to speak to him, who's willing to have t-pose battles in the hallways during school. 

Ranboo barely remembers his sister now, only a haunting memory. But he has Niki now, who smiles he rambles about anything, who helps him find books in the libraries, he has friends now, and he cheers internally. 

Ranboo has found his people. 

Ranboo was a MAJOR pushover before he became friends with Tubzo, Tommy, and Purpled. 

He doesn’t mean to be a pushover, he doesn’t. But he’s the kid who will do everything in a group project without telling the others they need to help. He becomes known for being the new kid that will give you homework answers. He doesn’t want to, he wants to help them before giving them straight answers, but he’s new and he’s quiet and his dad told him to make friends and apparently this is how you do it. Everyone asks him to give them things without a return, and he can’t tell them no because he doesn’t want to be the kid that everyone hates. He doesn’t want to be the butt of every joke.

Ranboo is the kid that nobody knows too much about but knows of. They know Ranboo as the one that does homework, the one that somewhat regulates things. They call him a suck-up. But when he is with The Gang and Tommy, he knows he can be demanding, sometimes. 

He can take the path of least resistance everywhere else, but when hes with his friends, he can let go for a second. He doesn’t have to "go with the flow" because the flow is always changing and moving forward and turning, and he will not turn with it. 

For once, he will fight against the tide, because where he is going, is a place that feels like home. He can joke about not doing things without being guilt-tripped into doing things anyway, and his choice is respected, and he doesn’t need to be stubborn for hours on end before breaking to get the people to listen, because they will listen regardless. 

But

But

Ranboo + Tubbo + Tommy + Purpled = Full Out Teen Indie Movie Vibes

Ranboo, Tommy, Tubbo, and purpled borrowing the keys from Niki and totally legally entering the school at like 4am on a Saturday the fifth week of summer break. They play tag along the whole campus with flashlights and ""walkie talkies"" and regroup just before the sun starts rising and sit outside on top of the car they drove here and share a bunch of capri suns before they give in and drive home to pass out for twelve hours and repeat the next day.

They go to Walmart and drive eachother in shopping carts, and eat Subway. 

Ranboo barging into tubbo's room like "i know you have this one specific ring you took it so long ago but i really wanna wear it" and Tubbo just. points at the box he keeps all of them in.

OH YEAH

Ranboo is just always dressed up. Sometimes he shows up in a literally full 3 piece suit. Most times he just wears Hawaiian shirts, and buttons up with black jeans, but - it’s so much better than how Tubbo and Tommy dress. 

He wears a lot of rings and necklaces. He also wears sunglasses inside. Let him have that. 

Tubbo still has a bunch of Ranboo’s rings (Tubbo steals Ranboo’s rings and necklaces, for those who didn’t know) when Ranboo goes to college. He keeps them in his bedside drawer, and puts them on when he feels lonely. Ranboo has to come back on a weekend to get one of his favorite rings back. Tubbo’s plan works out. He keeps stealing jewelry.

Tommy can finally borrow his friend’s clothes, because Ranboo is bigger than him

Tubbo and Purpled always borrowed Tommy’s sweatshirts and shit, but 

Tommy could never borrow any of theirs because it would be extremely awkward because Purpled is 3 inches shorter than him, so it would be just a small bit too small, and Tubbo’s would just straight up not fit him, I mean, the kid is literally 10 inches shorter than him

Tommy feels so fucking warm when he can finally borrow someone else’s hoodie. Of course it is all completely platonic, but all of his friends did it, and now he could finally participate.

Purpled flicking a lighter against his hoodie sleeve absently and tubbo whacking him on the head for it because "it makes the sleeves feel weird" - Purpled has a habit of playing with lighters. And Tubbo has a habit of wearing Purpled’s hoodies. 

Piercing their ears at home like IDIOTS. It doesn't go as bad as you think it would and now Ranboo, Tubbo, Tommy, and Purpled have matching earrings. 

The four of them lying next to each other on the floor with the lights off talking about college, talking about where they're going and where they've been accepted and what they'll do. 

Just very much teen movie shit.

Sitting on old creaky swings, sleeping on the roof, going nuts on Tubbo’s trampoline idk man

TAGS BELOW

@gxd-cxmplex @rmbz101 @introverted--pineapple @seilee @carry-on-my-wayward-why @iluvu3ooo @tubbanna @confusionnoises @yummygummysouls @wassupmygays

[bbysittr]

A gift for @sluggrr​.

Code Red. They had a code red, and it was currently locked away in the cellar. It was a temporary fix for now, but they desperately needed backup. After several attempts by Dustin to get in touch with anyone over his walkie-talkie, he left to retrieve someone himself. Thus, he left Wendy on Dart-Patrol. More specifically, he left Wendy on, ‘Make-Sure-Dart-Doesn’t-Escape-Patrol.’    ( No pressure. )    So there she sat, gripping the hockey stick Dustin had supplied her and shifting her weight as she stares down at the cellar door. The padding she wears over her chest and legs squeaks with every move, which causes Wendy to hold her breath and hope the creature didn’t hear her and decide to have her for lunch.  

❛ Do me a favor, little buddy, ❜    Wendy breathes, not daring to even whisper loud enough for Dart to actually hear,    ❛ ... And don’t try anything funny. Okay? I’m armed. ❜    ( A hockey stick can’t be too different from a crowbar, right? It’s a little flimsier, and lighter, and easier to bite into and break... Yeah. No. She doesn’t want to think about that. )   

The silence is welcome at first –– until, that is, the sun begins to set. Then, the silence becomes eerie.    ( What the hell is taking him so long? )    Wendy begins to pace around the cellar door, which seemingly upsets the creature below her. She hears a growl, a shuffle, the sound of what she imagines to be several things getting knocked over.    ( He’s really not happy about being trapped down there. )    So, the blonde stops moving, and the sounds from below cease soon after. 

That silence is soon broken by the sound of an engine and a radio playing.    ( Was Mrs. Henderson home? It was dark, after all; perhaps she had given up on her search for Mews for the night. )    Wendy’s questions are answered when she looks towards the direction of the sound of footsteps entering the yard –– and she’s met with the sight of Dustin, standing alongside none other than Steve Harrington. 

She’s not entirely surprised to see him. After all, she knows he’s aware of, well... all of this, but Wendy expected Dustin to bring someone like Lucas, Mike, or Nancy.    ( Was everyone else really missing in action? )    Regardless, Steve is here, there’s a creature in the cellar, and... Steve is looking at Wendy like she’s got five heads. 

Wendy’s expression twists for a moment. She knows they drifted apart, and they hadn’t spoken since a courteous ‘are you okay?’ in the hospital last year, but Wendy didn’t think they were on bad enough terms to get such a stare from Steve. She’s about to make a defensive comment to him before remembering that she is wearing a ridiculous amount of padding and holding a street hockey stick like it’s a weapon.    ( Okay, maybe she’d stare at someone dressed as ridiculously as she is, too. )

' I don’t hear shit. ’    Wendy’s thoughts are interrupted by Steve.    ‘ He’s in there, ’    Dustin responds back, to which Wendy chimes in.    ❛ I just heard him. I’ve been here the whole time. ❜    Steve, who does not seem satisfied with these responses, hits the cellar door with his bat several times before turning back towards Dustin and shining the flashlight in his face.    ‘ Alright, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you’re dead. ’    ‘ It’s not. ’    ‘ Alright? ’    ‘ It’s not a prank. Why would Wendy sit in my yard alone, in the dark, dressed like that for a prank? ’    ( Okay, Wendy is not a fan of his tone there. )

❛ Hey. You told me to wear this. ❜    Wendy points her hockey stick at Dustin. He begins to swat his hands at it, his eyes squinted all the while as Steve continues to shine the flashlight in his eyes.    ‘ Get away from me. Get that out of my face. ’    Steve lowers his flashlight, now turning to Wendy.    ‘ You got the key for this thing? ’    She nods, reaches into the pocket of her jeans, and tosses Steve the set of keys Dustin had given to her earlier.    ❛ It’s the big silver one. ❜

As Steve hands Dustin the flashlight and unlocks the cellar door, Wendy removes the padding from her legs. She decides to keep the one over her chest, but she figures the bulky leg padding would only get in the way if they needed to run for any reason.    ‘ Let me see that. ’    Steve takes the flashlight back from Dustin and shines it into the cellar. Wendy crawls forward on her knees and peers in as well.    ( Nothing. )

❛ I watched Dustin smack him in. ❜    Wendy whispers.    ‘ He must be further down there. ’    Dustin adds.    ‘ I’ll stay up here in case he tries to escape. ’    Wendy and Steve look up at Dustin practically in sync. Steve is clearly already exasperated, but Wendy simply passes Dustin one of the hockey sticks they had used before. She isn’t going to argue with him. At the very least, he can smack Dart back down if he does happen to make it past both Steve and Wendy. 

Steve makes his way down the concrete steps first, and Wendy follows close behind, still armed with her sad excuse for a weapon. She gestures towards the bulb hanging from the ceiling, which Steve promptly turns on. The room illuminates, and light reflects off some shiny, gooey substance that Wendy can only assume to be skin that Dart shedded. Steve picks the skin up with his bat and holds it up towards Wendy, and she mouths a, ‘shit,’ before turning around and continuing her investigation. 

The investigation doesn’t last long. As Wendy turns, her attention is pulled towards the gaping hole in the wall that Dart definitely escaped through.    ( That must’ve been the noise she heard earlier. )    She reaches her hand out and grabs Steve by the arm, tugging him to face the same direction as her. The two share an unnerved glance at the hole, and then at each other, before Dustin’s voice breaks the silence.    ‘ Guys? Guys, what’s going on down there? ’    Even though Dustin’s voice isn’t loud, Wendy still jumps a bit.    ❛ Shit. ❜    Steve turns and heads back towards the stairs, shining the flashlight up at Dustin.    ‘ Get down here. ’ 

Dustin makes his way down to join them. He takes one look at the skin on Steve’s bat, and lets out an, ‘oh shit.’    ❛ It gets worse. ❜    Wendy adds, and Steve gestures towards the wall with his bat.    ‘ Oh shit.’    Dustin, Steve, and Wendy close in on the hole, and Steve shines his flashlight in it. Dustin mutters a, ‘ no way, no way, ’ as they stare into it. 

Well, Dart didn’t escape through the cellar door, but he did escape another way. Wendy takes the flashlight from Steve’s hand and crawls a bit closer to the hole. She peers in to get a better look at the tunnel Dart dug for himself.    ( How the hell did he accomplish this in between the time Dustin left and came back? )

❛ Well... that’s not on me. ❜    Wendy quips weakly as she shines the light into the tunnel. There was no way she could’ve predicted this outcome.    Dustin stares blankly ahead, down the poorly lit corridor. Wendy turns to him, and she can practically see the gears turning in his head.    ‘ Yeah, no kidding. ’

Steve lets out a breath before he looks back towards Wendy.    ‘ You didn’t hear it do any of this? ’    Wendy shakes her head.    ‘ It broke the wall. ’    All she can do is give Steve a helpless shrug.    ❛ I thought he was just throwing a hissy fit. ❜    Steve opens his mouth to say something else, but Dustin chimes in.    ‘ Dart can have a little bit of an attitude sometimes. ’    This elicits a confused look from Steve, but Dustin pays it no mind. He’s already deep in thought, pacing around.    ‘ We can’t just let him wander around out there. We need to catch him. ’

Steve and Wendy share one more glance. They’re really in for it now.

[gleefrankenfic]

(missed an earlier chapter? prefer to read it on Ao3? click here.)

Chapter 4 by @klainetrashnumberone

They stand together in a circle. A feeling of dread washes over them, making the air feel thick and hard to breathe.

“You know… the others? The other camp counselors that were supposed to meet you and Finn at your cabin?” Blaine offers, his voice unsure.

“My walkie talkie stopped working after the second screech. We were checking out the other camp buildings when Finn ran off into the forest and well… here we are.” Kurt trails off, raising the broken walkie talkie as if to prove it really is out of order. It is hissing quietly, getting louder and then quieter again every few seconds.

The weather is very cold for a summer night. In fact, now that they are in the middle of the forest, the wind suddenly seems a lot stronger and the freezing gusts seem to chill Kurt to the very bone. He shivers and wraps his jacket tighter around himself, almost unconsciously leaning to his left, towards Blaine.

“So, let me get this straight. Finn saw a light in the forest and ran towards it, then mysteriously vanished. We’re the only ones who went to Finn and Kurt’s cabin, so where is everyone else and how is it possible for Finn out of all people to disappear into thin air?” Sam asks, looking both puzzled and skeptical.

“Now that you say it out loud, it sounds even worse… What are we gonna do?” Blaine asks.

“We have to look for Finn, of course! He has to be nearby, right? We can’t wait for the others or it might be too late,” Kurt announces, his voice uneasy but determined.

“Kurt… are you sure? We should at least tell them what’s going on before we go off into the forest too,” Blaine suggests gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, let’s do that! I’ll just grab the walkie talkie and—” Sam stops in the middle of the sentence, looking dejectedly at the quietly hissing device in his hand.

“Oh come on.”

AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH

      -IIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH

This time, the sound seems to come from both of the previously-believed-to-be-broken walkie talkies.

But it is not quite the same as before. 

It sounds like there is a noise in the background; one that wasn’t there before.

A noise that strangely reminds them of a human voice.

“Finn!! That’s Finn! That thing!! It got him!!! We have to save him, we’re going to save him right?” Kurt exclaims, holding onto Blaine’s arm for emotional support.

“What the hell are we going to do? We don’t know what it is; we don’t know where it is. We need to get back and get the others.” Sam tries to reason with him but there is no changing Kurt’s mind. Finn has to be saved and he will do it, even if he has to do it alone. 

“No, we don’t have time. I’m going to look for him whether you come with me or not,” Kurt says stubbornly, letting go of Blaine.

He turns around, shining his flashlight into the dense forest, swallowing nervously and starts walking briskly towards a spot with a lot of broken branches, where the moss looks trodden on. As if someone had run through it in a hurry, not bothering to move the branches out of the way or to watch their step.

“Kurt, you can’t possibly be serious, you can’t do this alone!” Sam tries to reason with him, but Kurt is getting away at a concerning pace, the back of his jacket barely visible through the foliage. 

“Kurt wait—! I’ll come with you,” Blaine shouts and runs towards him, but just a few seconds too late. Right in front of him, the forest seems to collapse.

There is a loud crash and the whole forest shakes around them. Trees crash down and thick branches snap. Dust rises and tree leaves and pine needles are raining down on them.  They fall down and their flashlights go flying.

It is over as suddenly as it had started. Blaine is the first up, anxiously rubbing his eyes and attempting to look around, his eyes unaccustomed to the pitch black darkness of the forest.

“Kurt? Kurt! Kurt, are you okay!?”

There is no response.

“Kurt!!” Blaine’s voice cracks and he is on his knees looking around for the flashlight in the chaos of the upturned forest.

“Kurt, Kurt please answer me,” he pleads, his hands covered in scratches and digging through the dirt and debris.

A cone of light shines on the space in front of him. 

“You okay buddy?” Sam asks as he walks over and reaches out his hand to help.

“Sam! Thank god you’re okay. Something happened to Kurt.” Blaine grabs Sam’s hand and drags himself up and dusts off his clothes. Sam points the flashlight towards what the forest has turned into.

Instead of a forest patch that was there before, the ground had sunk and created something resembling a sinkhole; the trees in and around it had fallen down, some of them snapping in half. And in the middle of it all, a pale figure was lying, completely lifeless.

“Kurt—!”

AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH

[tiramisiyu]

【恋与制作人】 MLQC: Chapter 34 “Night Curtain” Summary

Translation Masterlist

Summarized Chapters: [to be updated]

Spoiler alert: Please note that all content in this post is content that has not yet been released in the global server.

34-2

Despite it being afternoon, it’s dark and thundering outside

In Shaw’s call, he also had MC bring her father’s notebook when she goes to the orphanage

Before heading out, MC hears a sound, goes onto her balcony, and sees Lucien on his balcony

They talk about the dark, gloomy weather; MC says it feels like an apocalyptic movie and asks if Lucien knows what’s behind it. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, though he says that maybe her power can light up this night

MC suddenly receives messages from Shaw, noticing key phrases “Leto”, “orphanage”, “copying Evol”, “Ares”, the last of which makes MC look at Lucien

Suddenly, the clouds split and the moonlight shines through, lighting half of Lucien’s face

MC asks about Lucien’s Evol

Lucien: After the ball ended, someone broke into Ultima Bioresearch Centre and took something away.

MC: Your Evol?!

Lucien: That was something I discarded, to begin with. As a half-finished product, it’s currently finishing its last mission.

MC: But Leto used your Evol to kidnap the children in the orphanage!

MC then apologizes for getting too agitated

Lucien: Nothing bad will happen. Aren’t you going to the orphanage now? So, nothing bad will happen. I believe in you, and you should also believe in your own power.

MC begins to head off

Lucien: It’s about to rain. I hope that when we meet again, you won’t be too drenched.

 34-4

As MC tries to catch a cab on the empty, rainy streets, Gavin calls – and MC notices he’s standing at the end of the road, so she runs to him

They talk about the orphanage matter

MC: I heard that Leto kidnapped the orphanage and installed a bomb, and he threatened the STF, requiring to see the Queen.

Gavin: Will you really go see him?

MC: Yes, I can’t leave the kids to be frightened the whole time. Plus… You called me because you knew I was planning to do so, right? No matter what Leto wants to see me for, I won’t be scared. Plus, with you here, nothing will happen.

Gavin: Don’t worry. I will protect you well.

They then drive off in Gavin’s car

MC expresses her surprise at Gavin’s new role as STF commander

Gavin: It’s not sudden. Some things are things I need to personally change.

MC notes that public view of STF has been changing a lot under Gavin’s new leadership

Gavin says that Leto must not have much time, as his copy Evol’s appearing is strange and he’s rushing to see MC – possibly because he can’t control or maintain the evol

An STF member calls in on walkie-talkie, saying that there’s a car accident in front; Gavin says to call an ambulance, leave two STF people on the bridge, and for the rest to head to the orphanage on another path

MC notes the change in him, from a sharp blade of the STF to the mature commander

Gavin asks a motorcyclist if he can exchange the car for the motorcycle, and the guy very readily agrees

(I must ask, MC why did you go out in only that dress when it’s raining…)

As they head off on the motorcycle, Gavin uses his Evol to block off the rain, and MC is reminded of when on another rainy day when he tugged her into the rain, dispelling her worries (don’t remember what this refers to)

“Right now, I was no longer weak, no longer crying, no longer needing his comfort to go forward. I could become… someone who could give him power and walk with him.”

34-5

STF people meet up with Gavin at the orphanage, confirming that their assault preparations are set and positions of controlled STF people are confirmed

MC is shocked, remembering that Leto’s request was for the Queen to come in alone; Gavin says that it’s Leto’s request, but he doesn’t agree with it

MC convinces Gavin to let her go in alone since they don’t know Leto’s intentions and he has the children

Gavin relays the change in plans to the team, saying for one portion of the team to cover MC, and another portion to prioritize saving the kids

MC enters the building – with Leto not showing himself, she can only holler that she’s here

--

Lighting flashes as the rain batters nonstop

After some violin music, someone called “Zero” tells Victor that it’s almost time; Victor says he knows

34-7

MC is surprised when Shaw appears. He complains about her slowness and tells her to give him the notebook after everything is over

When MC asks about why he’s here:

Shaw: Right now, there isn’t a single person who can stay out of this. If I don’t intervene, this world is done for.

(To which MC says he’s exaggerating)

MC explains the STF’s role when Shaw asks if they’re using her to draw fire

Shaw confirms that he knows where the children are, and regarding the bomb, there are others who are more concerned about keeping this building together

Shaw hands MC a flashlight when they hear something, and MC sees STF people standing at the end of the light beam, their eyes mindless

Shaw tells MC how to get to the children and to not mind the other stuff – for Leto, wait until he (Shaw) gets her first

--

MC sees two identical rooms at the place Shaw indicated, and heads for the one where whimpering sounds are coming from

--

Ares walks into a room where Helios is, triggering discussion all around

Hephaistos looks at Helios, then says, “Ares, welcome back.”

Ares: How is it?

Helios: It’s almost done.

Helios then heads off to “deal with a small issue”

 34-9

MC finds a boy curled in fear in the corner and convinces him to go with her

The boy says that if they head out, they’ll run into the “uniformed people”. MC thinks it should be fine since Shaw’s there

The boy points out a second door in the room and says to go out from there, as the other kids are enclosed over there

MC notes that there has been no communication from Gavin on the microcommunicator he gave her, and is a little worried

The boy says that he thinks that all Evolvers are bad people because their powers can make them arrogant and selfish, to MC’s surprise

MC explains that aside from their powers, Evolvers are no different from normal people. The boy lets go of MC’s hand, then mutters about why Evolvers killed his family if this is the case

The boy’s body starts changing as he sinks into a crawling position, turning into Leto

Leto: Don’t bother with your fake mercy. Hand your Evol to me… I will tell you exactly how horrifying this power is.

 34-10

Leto says he called MC here to kill her and get her Evol; MC says it’s impossible to get an Evol from that way

Leto says that with the black box, he can get anyone’s power – MC wonders if he’s talking about the “pyramid black box” that she saw with Helios at STF, then at the evolution acceleration cabin

MC suddenly finds that she can’t move, and everything is quiet – Leto has stopped time

Leto then aims a sharp wind with ice at MC’s eyes when a white ripple spreads and stops Leto’s attack – MC’s power

Leto’s right eye becomes black, and attempts to command MC, and MC shuts her eyes in response as he continues his wind attack

A crack appears on MC’s barrier

Leto commands MC to hand her Evol to him as her barrier breaks, and MC feels like her power is draining away (and is shook by the powers that once protected her, being turned against her)

Leto prepares one more ice attack, when MC is able to get out one more attack that appears as a white wave, reducing the ice to powder

Leto is knocked out and MC gradually falls unconscious, the notebook falling to the floor

 34-12

MC has a dream about when her father was alive, where he hopes for her to meet someone she loves

--

Shaw: … A space Evol? He really is willing to steal anything.

Shaw finds the children and has them go with him

--

Gavin walks into the building and gives the command to look for the hostages’ positions, then says he will go find MC

--

Helios taps away on the keyboard, dismantling the last of four bombs

He looks on the wall where a green light flashes faster, then becomes red, then is extinguished

--

Goldman takes a stack of documents from Victor

When Goldman asks about MC, Victor says he (Goldman) doesn’t need to worry about that

--

Lucien regards a line that has already calmed down on a sensor

Lucien: This night truly does seem to be very long… Wake up soon.

 34-13

MC dreams of a long night with a rainstorm, freezing wind, and earthquakes, then wakes up

Leto picks up the notebook and reads it. Seeing MC wake, he expresses surprise that she’s not dead, then tosses the notebook and walks to her

Leto suddenly collapses, looking agonized and convulsing, and MC remembers Gavin’s words from before – that Leto got MC here because he couldn’t use the Evol that didn’t belong to him

MC says that what he’s done to Evolvers has no difference from Evolvers of back then (presumably those that killed his family), and even if he kills all Evolvers, he won’t get back what he lost

A black barrier forms over Leto’s body, blocking MC’s attacks, and he attacks with black wind

Leto: The Queen’s power will only wasted by you, so you’re better off handing it to me. I will use it to stand at the top of this world.

MC: Use? My power is born from love and becomes strong due to love. Love is a better method of resistance than hate, and it can attain a level of resistance that hate cannot. It’s useless even if you get the Queen’s power. Because your narrow-mindedness cannot bear this strength, just like how you can’t bear this copy Evol! Evols aren’t tools for you to gain power. You, who only aims for power, will forever only be ignorant and lamentable.

Leto continues with the ice attack

MC remembers when her father said that humans are weak, but love will make one strong and that this might be the greatest power of humans, and thinks of Kiro, Victor, Gavin, Lucien

MC dthat she won’t let the power born from love be used by him, and a white light wraps her up and attacks Leto

The black box tumbles to the floor, and the sky lightens

34-14

MC gets up; the black box has shattered; Leto is on the ground, his looks becoming old and wrinkled

Leto grasp at the box, going from surprise, to confusion, to relief, then laughing madly, seeing like he understood something

Black Queen MC and Anole appear; Anole gives the notebook to Black Queen

Black Queen mocks Leto for trying to get the Queen’s power; MC prepares to attack her, but Black Queen says that she’ll only hurt herself

Black Queen then attacks Leto with a black light ball, shocking MC, and Leto is gone, leaving just the black box

Black Queen: Why so agitated? I didn’t kill him. He will just exist forever in this world in an unliving form. In some ways, that could also be considered immortality, right?

Black Queen forms the black ball again, saying that it is the endpoint of degeneration, asking if she wants to try it

MC says Black Queen won’t kill her, since they’re one person

Black Queen: Do your best in struggling, for our futures. Soon, you will understand that I am the person who will save this world.

MC: The one who needs to struggle is you. This world doesn’t need people like you to save it!

Black Queen walks off indifferently, and MC collapses in exhaustion, seeing a rainbow outside. As she falls unconscious, she hears footsteps approach

 34-15

Two days since the events above

As MC cleans up her balcony, she glances towards Lucien’s balcony while children cheer about seeing seagulls

MC wonders why there are seagulls in the middle of the city

Victor calls, saying that he’ll go find MC; MC asks to meet at the café downstairs instead. Victor agrees succinctly, making MC feel like he’s a bit off today

 --

MC arrives at the café in advance, taking out the copy of her dad’s notebook she’d made before and wondering about its secrets. She notes that Shaw had told her before to give him the notebook after the events of that day, but in the end, he himself vanished. Plus, Black Queen wanted it too

MC wonders about how the STF didn’t seal up that old building after Gavin took the kids to other orphanages

MC flips through the notebook, finds nothing of note, and decides to take a nap

Victor looks at MC through the window of the café, not wanting to disturb her rest

Violin suddenly sounds, and Zero says “it’s time to set out”

Victor asks the staff to hand the paper bag he has to MC

Zero: You won’t say farewell to her?

Victor: No need for farewells. I will return very soon.

--

MC wakes up and opens the paper bag, finding pudding and realizing it’s from Victor. She looks around but (obviously) doesn’t see him

[paradox-aethernaut]

Break the Fourth Wall (pt. 2)

Here’s Part 2 -- if you’re looking for Part 1, it’s here! Characters: Y/N (as DA), Actor Mark, the Host, & surprise cameo. No shipping here, but maybe a bit of Actor/DA if you squint? Summary: You can’t remember any life except the one the Actor casts you in. The mysterious Host promises that only his powers can set you free, but does cooperating with him really lead to freedom? There’s no hope for escape… unless you can break the fourth wall.

A loud THUNK comes from behind you. Your whole body jerks, your head whipping around. You exhale… it’s Mark, finally, opening and closing the trunk of the car. He waves at you through the back window, and you wave back, with a sort of half smile.

He opens the driver’s seat door, and sits down, laughing. He’s holding a grocery bag on his lap. “Oh, that got you good, didn’t it! You should’ve seen your face!” His eyes sparkle when he looks at you, and you find yourself smiling at him, a feeling of relief starting to spread through your anxious body.

“Sorry, you startled me!” you chuckle. “But I was already kind of freaked out… the weirdest thing happened while you were gone…”

“Don’t worry, I made extra sure that we’ll have everything we need for this camping trip,” Mark cuts you off, appearing not to acknowledge what you’d said. He counts on his fingers. “Tent, sleeping bags, flashlight, walkie-talkies, every flavor of granola bar…” He reaches into the grocery bag, and pulls out granola bar after granola bar, chucking them carelessly into the back seat as he lists them. “Cookies and cream, peanut butter, lemon, blueberry muffin, birthday cake… What even is ‘birthday cake’ flavor, anyway?” He pauses to analyze the granola bar, makes a face, then throws it back with the others.

A bit bewildered, you find yourself nodding along, almost hypnotically. Right, the camping trip, that’s why you were at the store, to prepare for the camping trip. What were you going to say again? You got a bit lost in Mark’s list, and now all you can think about is, what does ‘birthday cake’ taste like, anyway? Aren’t birthday cakes whatever flavor the person whose birthday it is decides it should be? “Anyway!” Mark throws the grocery bag and the rest of its contents haphazardly behind him, and puts the car into Drive, the engine revving to life. “It’ll be so nice to get away from it all, won’t it? The trees, the fresh air, we’ll really be roughing it! Of course, there’s no one I’d rather be roughing it with except you~” He winks.

“You cheesy bastard.” You smile, chuckling and turning away, looking out the side window. You watch as the car backs out of its parking spot and leaves, watch the cars next to you start to blur a bit as you start to pick up speed.

You blink, and for a second, the darkness tinged red inside your eyelids lingers, blanking everything out even when your eyes open again. Even though it lasts only for a second, it grips you with a cold feeling of dread. Your hands feel numb. You blink again, and the darkness clears, instantly.

Out the window, you see only a thick forest of pine trees, laced with misty shadows; no cars or buildings anymore. You don’t remember how you got here. Did you fall asleep on the car ride here? You must have; you were pretty tired, after all. But you don’t remember falling asleep.

“We’re here!” Mark announces. He pushes the door open, excitedly. “Come on! We’d better hurry… we have to hike up to our campsite before the sun goes down. We don’t want to be stuck out in the scary woods at night, now do we?” He chuckles, low, then jumps out of the car and goes around to the trunk. His footsteps crunch in the dirt, loud in the silent woods. You start to follow him, but he meets you halfway, carrying two full backpacking packs, one in each hand. He holds one out to you. “Here, put this on! It shouldn’t be heavy… well, it shouldn’t be that heavy, anyway!”

You take the backpack, grunting as you realize he’s lying… it is very heavy. “What the hell… did you put… in this backpack, Mark?” you chuckle, struggling and contorting and straining to put the backpack on. You don’t question how Mark managed to fit both of these large backpacks in the trunk at the same time.

“I told you, weren’t you listening?” Mark says. He repeats his list, faster this time, his enunciation degrading the faster he tries to talk: “Tent, sleeping bags, flashlight, walkie-talkies, cooks-peabutter-lemon-blubbury-cake… rope, crowbar, tactical shovel…” “Wait, wait,” you chuckle, breathing heavily from the strain. “You added a few things, mister!”

“Pffft, nah... No way!” Mark insists, waving a dismissive hand. “Come on, it’s not that far of a hike from here, you’ll make it just fine.” He hoists his own pack onto his back with no effort at all, snapping the buckle around his chest. You narrow your eyes at him. “Show-off…” you mumble, shaking your head with a tight smile. Mark pulls a walkie-talkie from the pack, though you’re not quite sure which pocket he pulled it from, and turns it on with a sharp squeal. “Hello? Testing?” he tries. “Hey, take out your walkie-talkie. We’ll need to make sure they work, just in case we get… separated.” He says this in a low, conspiratorial tone, as if morbidly excited by the idea.

“Sure… uh, channel 1?” You raise one eyebrow, and take your own walkie-talkie out of its pouch on the side of your pack. You turn it on, and it crackles to life, bleeping and squealing. “Hello?” you try, and your voice repeats into Mark’s walkie-talkie, distorted and full of static. Mark gives you a thumbs-up and a smile.

“Cell phones don’t work up here, you see…” he explains, leaning in, his voice still low, excited. “All we’ll have are our wits…” He taps the side of his head with one finger. “… and our walkie-talkies.” He clicks the walkie-talkie on and off, making a beeping noise. “Promise me… you’ll never lose sight of me, not for one, single instant! All it takes is one instant… that’s when the bears’ll get you! Or worse… the Wraith of the Woods!”

“… the… what?” you try, but Mark immediately turns around, and starts to walk, quickly, up the narrow trail through the dark stand of trees. Startled, you have to jog to catch up to him, wincing as your heavy pack bounces up and down on your shoulders. “The what??” you try again, more insistently.

Mark doesn’t turn around to face you. He keeps walking with his face rigid forward, staring off into the middle distance.

“They say… that in the spaces where the shadows start and the light ends…” [continued in part 3]

[hanjizung]

The mansion. [PAR T I]

✞༒The Mansion.༒✞

[PART I]

SKZ x Reader.

Word count: 2.8k

♡ Warnings ♡: None. (for now...)

A/n: here’s the first part of this new series im so excited to post! all of this is based in a dream i had. hope you enjoy it! ♡

You checked everything in your backpack for the last time before reuniting with the rest of your friends. 

"You have everything?" Chan asked, closing his own backpack and smiling when you nodded at him. 

"Let's get going then, the night is just starting." Minho announced, keys in hand. The rest of the guys followed him, talking among themselves.

Where were you going? Exploring. You've always been a curious soul, always wondering if abandoned places held something hidden to the human eye. That curiosity guided you here, with these guys that you grew very close to in a short time. 

You called yourselves 'urban explorers' and as the name indicated, you visited empty and sometimes scary buildings just because you thought it was fun. At first, you started alone.

But one day, you happened to coincide with them in an old house by a lake. The first impression was… something else. They confused you with a ghost, you confused them with a dangerous gang and that provoked a lot of screaming. But after that death scare, Chan explained who they were. 

They called themselves ‘stray kids.’ And you found it fitting to the hobby that they all did together. At the end, you asked Bang Chan if you could join them, since exploring by yourself had its dangers, and sometimes the loneliness was too much for you to handle. Chan happily accepted, and that's how you ended up here. 

Today you were going to explore a mansion that Minho found by the outsides of the city, it seemed very appealing, especially because Seungmin had gotten a new recording camera and was excited to film the upcoming events. 

Everyone was super excited to visit said mansion. Everyone, except Changbin. 

Frowning, you waited for the guys to walk ahead of you, walking slowly with the shortest of your friends, a smile on your face corresponding to his own when he saw your worried face. 

"Changbin, we've done this a lot of times, there's nothing to worry about, you know? Even Jisung and Jeongin don't feel scared anymore. Besides, we're just going to explore, not summon a demon" you joked, taking his hand with your smaller ones to try and reassure him that everything would go smoothly. 

"I know, Y/N. I kinda had gotten used to it but… I can't help but feel like this one is going to be different" he replied, shrugging. 

You could understand that. Not all the places you visited had the same energy, it was normal to be more scared of one or more excited to visit the others. All of the buildings had their own distinctive aura. 

"I'm sure everything will be okay as long as we stay together" you hugged his arm, walking to Minho's car. You had divided yourself in two teams, one would be going with Chan, and the other with Minho. 

Each team had the same supplies for filming. In your team (by team you really mean who you're in the car with) was Minho, the driver; Jisung, in charge of carrying snacks; Seungmin, the best camera man of the gang, and finally, Changbin and you. He was in charge of the heavy stuff, like extra water bottles and such, meanwhile you were responsible for the team's flashlights, walkie talkies and batteries. 

Of course, Chan assigned you as the most responsible one since you explored by yourself and never got lost or injured, and just like Chan, you were also in charge of carrying bandages, rubbing alcohol and enough materials to clean a bad injury. You also made sure to always remind the guys to carry their bottle of water and portable chargers for your phone just in case that your flashlights died on you and you lost the batteries. 

Better be prepared than sorry, you always said. 

Minho started the engine, telling you that he found out about the mansion because of a story that one of his neighbors told him about an old woman who died there and cursed the mansion decades ago before her death.

You couldn't help but laugh at the story, getting an arched eyebrow from Jisung who told you to 'be skeptical' because as far as you knew, magic could be real and you were disrespecting that old woman's curse by laughing at it. 

Seungmin proceeded to laugh at him and ask him if he ever listened to the things he said, Jisung tried to hit him from the front seat for making fun of him. It was all fun and laugh in the car thanks to Jisung, but next to you a quiet Changbin distracted himself by looking out the window. 

You were worried about him, he was being more serious than usual, so you decided to stick with him the whole time, only to make sure he felt okay with going on with the exploration.

Two hours later, a huge building could be seen from afar, the roof of the old mansion being what made the mansion really stand out from the forest surrounding it. Upon finally seeing the place that you were going to explore, Changbin audibly gulped to your left. Jisung and you left out a surprised wow. Seungmin, who was sitting on your other side, took out his phone to take a photo of it,while Minho smirked, his eyes never parting from the road in front of him as he parked in front of the old place.

Jisung was the first one to leave the car, slamming the door shut gaining an angry shout from Minho, who got out the car after his friend to scold him from closing the door like that, meanwhile you waited for either Changbin or Seungmin to get off the car to finally be able to breathe the clean air and stretch your legs. 

Apparently, Changbin still wasn’t as excited to explore the mansion as your other friends were. You watched the rest of the guys taking their own backpacks and talking from the window after Seungmin left you and Changbin alone.

You closed the door after Seungmin left and looked at Changbin, placing your hand on his shoulder gently to make him look at you instead of the mansion behind you. 

You could tell something was troubling him, but opted to not say anything. Changbin inhaled and exhaled, his eyes closed and then he returned your smile, opening the door next to him and finally getting out of the car. He waited for you to get out too and Minho, waiting on the back of the car, handed you both your backpacks, closing the trunk of his car. 

You reunited with the rest of the guys who were just getting out of the car and took out your phone. Chan shouted for them to come close to him and make the usual check of having everything. 

"Do all of you have your walkie-talkies?" he counted the nodding head with a smile. You had yours on the pocket of your hoodie. It was almost always there. 

You counted the flashlights in your bag and handed them to the guys, they thanked you and waited for Chan's next question. 

"We're going to test the walkie-talkies and then we're gonna choose a number to see who we're going to be paired with" while Chan talked, Felix and Jeongin tested if the walkies worked, but it seemed like they didn't because Felix looked troubled. 

"Chan, the walkies don't work. We only hear static when trying to receive, it's not clear. Are we going to proceed without them?" the rest of the guys looked at Chan, waiting for his answer. He shrugged. 

"it would be better if we had them, but if you say they don't work we'll just leave them in the car. We can scream if something happens or if we find anything interesting" he said. 

"it's kind of scary going without the walkie, though " Hyunjin said, giving his device to Jeongin who took the most he could back to Chan's car. 

"Nothing bad is going to happen if we go without them, Jinnie. Y/N explored alone, with no walkie for months and she's here with us now. If something had happened maybe she would have quitted urbex" Felix pointed. You laughed at him, the boys loved to pull the 'Y/N used to do urbex without us' card when someone chickened out before an exploration. 

Hyunjin rolled his eyes and sighed, taking the container with everyone's name. 

That's how the pairing system worked. Every time different people had to choose who they were going randomly assigned with, but since you joined that system had to be readjusted, so the person whose name wasn't chosen had to pick a number from 1 to 4 and join them, the groups made from playing rock, scissors, paper and the one who lost had to pick first, their companion and them becoming the number one for the next draw. 

The first round of rock, paper scissors began and after a few minutes, Jeongin was the loser. 

Hyunjin picked Jeongin's name and shook the container for Jeongin to pull a name out. He did and unfolded the little paper. 

"It seems like I'm going with… Seungmin" he said, showing the name of the second youngest to everyone. 

The second round began, Hyunjin lost and he picked his companion; Chan. The next pair was Felix and Jisung, and the last pair was Changbin and you. 

"That means Minho has to pick a number to see what team he's going to join" Chan said, mixing the papers with the numbers on his hand and letting Minho choose one. 

He opened the little piece of paper, everyone holding their breath in anticipation of his words. A little smile creeped on his face, his head turning to look at Jisung and Felix who were resting against Chan's car. Apparently, his number had been three. 

"Alright, now that everyone has their companion we're going to explore. But first, do you all agree on filming the whole exploration or just take photos of the place?" Chan asked. You had a little go pro camera, the one you used when you explored alone to check if anything happened or moved and you weren't aware of it. 

Seungmin loved filming things, so he had gotten a better camera that he was very excited to use that day, giving his old one to Jeongin who seemed kind of interested in capturing paranormal things on tape. 

Meanwhile, Jisung had a modern voice recorder but he only used it when he heard noises and wanted to record anything that he thought was suspicious. It was kind of hard for him to catch up on noises that you didn't make, but he was always the first one to hear steps that didn't belong to any of you, asking to the void if anyone was there, his hand extended trying to record any possible answer. 

Chan, unlike you, didn't have his own camera. Instead he had some gadgets he bought to make contact with possible ghosts. 

Because yes, Chan believed in ghosts, and that was the reason he started exploring abandoned places, to try and communicate with spirits from the other side.

Hyunjin did have a camera of his own, but unlike Seungmin's, his only worked with night mode during explorations, that annoyed him because he preferred to see everything like the first time he was in the explored place in person, not all black and green. 

"I'll start filming everything once we get inside like always, so if you guys don't want to film we at least will have my recordings" you said, pointing to the camera resting in your chest. 

"I'm going to film everything for sure, I'm super excited to try this beauty" Seungmin said, holding up his camera with a proud smile making all of you laugh. 

"I'll bring my camera just to film if Chan manages to make contact with some ghost” Hyunjin said, guarding his device in his backpack. 

Jeongin didn't say anything, but since his partner was Seungmin there was no need for him to film anything, so he walked to Felix and gave him his camera to use if they happened to find something exciting. 

"Alright, then I guess we can get inside now. You know how it goes, we go wherever we want to and in this particular case with no direct communication we'll have to scream if anything happens. Jisung, give me the spray can please" Chan made sure to remind you. Everyone listened to him, he had this image of leader and a reputation of always helping you with anything you were struggling with. He was an excellent friend, and an even better leader. 

Jisung stopped looking into his backpack, tossing the oldest a black spray can. Chan caught it and that was when all of you followed him to the enormous front doors of the mansion. 

"It's a beautiful door to be vandalized like this…" you sighed. Chan looked at you with understanding eyes, but that didn't stop him to do what you all knew was coming next. 

In the middle of the wooden doors, Chan's hand hovered, his finger about to press the spray to draw the logo you got so used to seeing when you explored a new place. 

The initials, SKZ were used to mark places that you visited. They first started using it around the abandoned building near the city where you live, some rumors of a new gang were heard here and there, every time you overheard people talking about that mystic gang that didn't do anything except leave their logo you almost wanted to laugh. 

Almost, because the things people said weren't good things, so you always had to resist the urge of snapping at them and explaining what exactly did the logo mean. 

But you never did, because you had insane self control and tried to focus your energy thinking on what your mother could do for dinner, deciding to be hungry the rest of the day instead of angry. 

To your surprise, Chan moved his hand. You heard him sigh, and he walked to the wall on the right side, marking that place instead of the beautiful door. When he was finished he looked at you with one of his beautiful dimpled smiles. 

"She's right, the door was too beautiful to ruin with our logo. Let's get in now, the place is big enough for us to investigate separately" he said, trying to open the doors. 

He grunted, then he pushed both doors with all the strength in his body to be able to finally open them. Bang Chan succeeded and everyone clapped, he moved and allowed everyone else to get inside before him, like the amazing leader he was, always looking out for all of you. 

You stepped inside, turning on your flashlight and looking around, taking in your surroundings. The light coming from your friends and illuminating the place more, giving you the ability to see more clearly in the darkness. 

On your left, Minho and Jisung were looking closely to the framed pictures on the wall. You glanced at the framed photos and paintings, they looked incredibly old and gave you a sense of fright, your back felt cold and something in your head told you to get out of there.

Walking away from Changbin who hadn’t left your side, you pulled the door and tried to open it. But it didn’t. And you started to panic, a nervous laugh leaving your lips, grabbing the attention of the guys who were mesmerized with the gigantic mansion. You stared at all the boys, looking if anyone was missing and blocking the door from outside as a cruel joke. But you couldn’t concentrate and count who was inside and who wasn’t. Much to your panicked state, the guys weren’t saying anything when you tried to pull the door open again, they opted to look at you as if you were crazy.

“Haha, you’re very funny, guys. Who’s blocking the door?” you asked, voice trembling. Hyunjin walked slowly to you, as if to not alarm you even more. He moved your shaky hand from the doorknob and tried to pull the door open himself.

“Y/N, there’s nobody outside. We’re all here, together. Look, here’s Jeongin, Felix, Minho, Seungmin, Jisung, Changbin, Hyunjin, you and me” Chan said, taking your hand when he was close enough to you. You  looked at each of your friends that Chan pointed while saying their names to you and you felt a chill run through your back.

Felix took your hand from Chan’s and wrapped his arm around your shoulders, but you pushed him gently, indicating to him that you didn’t want a hug in that instant. Instead, you turned to look at Chan, squeezing the blond’s hand to let him know you weren’t feeling okay at all.

Chan and Hyunjin tried to open the door together, but after some tries under your anxious gaze, there was no success. Sighing and finally giving up, Chan turned to face all of you who hadn’t moved and said:

“Guys… we’re trapped.”

【ＮＥＸＴ　ＰＡＲＴ】

[foxtophat]

HEY HEY HEY!!!!  hey guys. haha. um, idk what to say exactly and tumblr likes to eat my posts so lets see how long this lasts:

its’ only been a couple months but i have been frothing at the mouth trying to figure out what next part of mercy to put out. i have a lot of much bigger stories to tell than this one, but kim and john sharing insomnia felt sort of like the right segue into those bigger bits.  so for now, let’s just enjoy a 20k fic about Kim and John, and also a little about John and Nick, but mostly just about John and Jacob.

there are 3 chapters. i’ll post the 2nd one later this week (wednesday or friday i think) and the third will probably go up next monday.  YEAH THAT’S RIGHT i actually have most of this one finished right out the gate!!!

as usual, i’ll put the entire chapter under a readmore in case you don’t want to leave tumblr.  i hope you enjoy what i’ve got for you this time -- if not don’t worry, there will be more dramatic bullshit later :)  comments, kudos, reblogs and likes are all the things that make ficwriting more fun than it already is, so consider helping me out if you enjoy what i’m doing. otherwise, have a good day!!!

Kim's dreams are normally composed of fleeting images in dark, monochrome colors. They're howling-wind nightmares or ethereal moments of peace, but they're short-lived and she's always disconnected from them. She hasn't had a real dream in probably nine years. She used to miss them, before John Seed reappeared with all of his night terrors, just in time to remind her of how good she has it. Now, she's glad that the most she has to contest with is a looming sense of dread that fades almost as soon as she wakes up.

But tonight, Kim is a long way away from all of that. She's standing at the kitchen sink in her childhood home, which is in full summer swing. The rosemary plant her mom keeps on the sill is in full bloom, thick green spikes dotted with blue puffball flowers. Beyond it, the Canadian sky is seawater green, and Kim marvels at the fluffy clouds drifting through the unnatural color. They seem to be floating by much faster than the still air outside would imply. It should rattle her, confuse her, but before that realization sinks in, her mom's voice distracts her away.

"Do you really think he's the one?" she asks, as skeptically as she had all those years ago when Kim first decided to move to Montana. Her mother had liked Nick, of course, because he was a likable guy, but Kim had known from the start that her parents were worried about her. They'd worried about her moving to a red state, about her trusting a man she'd seen a handful of times since they'd met. They hadn't understood the idea of purple pockets or internet dating, and while they supported Kim's love of rifle showmanship, they'd never trusted Nick owning more than three guns.

"What's the point, is all I'm asking," Kim's mom laughs in response to Kim's unspoken comment. "It seems strange to collect weapons..."

"Mom, he hunts !" she chides. "And anyway, he isn't the worst one out there."

"That's exactly what I worry about," her mom says. "What if something bad were to happen? His family is gone, and we'll be so far away..."

Kim sighs, the words stinging more than they should. The aqua colored sky begins to churn outside, the light filtering through a strange red haze. Inside, the sunlight reflects off the white counters, nearly blinding Kim.

"I'll be okay," she says, reciting an amalgamation of all her old defenses as her eyes readjust. "There are a lot of good people out there. They rely on each other a whole lot more than we do here."

"I worry about you, Kimiko. That's all." Her mother sighs sadly. "You'll understand when you have kids of your own."

"But mom..."

Kim tries to tell her that she already has a kid, but she can't muster up the words. After all, shouldn't she know? Wouldn't Kim have visited? Wouldn't she have brought Carmina into this very kitchen, all the surfaces glowing with light, and introduced them? Wouldn't her mom have been there when Carmina was born?

"It's unseasonably warm, isn't it," her dad remarks at the table. He's sitting there with a magazine as if he'd been there the whole time. He, like the rest of the room, glows from the inside, as though a flashlight were shining through his skin. It shines through the wood of the table, through her mom's curious smile, until Kim has to turn her face away. The room grows hotter and hotter, and in the far-off whistling wind she hears the first lonesome wail of an air-raid siren beginning to pick up. There's a blinding burst of light and howling wind, and Kim lifts her hands to her face, desperate not to look directly at the blast —

The bedroom is dark, warm and humid. At first, Kim doesn't know where she is, struggling to sit up, desperate to run, until all at once reality comes crashing back into focus. It doesn't help that she's pinned beneath Nick's arm and Carmina's full dead-sleeping weight.

Normally, moving would be out of the question. But Kim doesn't want this dream clinging to her memory, and she desperately wants to put some space between her and the nuclear glow of her mother's smile. Hell, maybe it isn't the dream at all — maybe it's the heat that's making lying here unbearable. Maybe it's the extra weight pinning her down, or a panic attack waiting in the wings — whatever it is, she needs to get up and run from it. As she worms her way out from underneath her family, Kim can feel the pressure building behind her eyes, fueled by the need to jog out the tension that will soon become unbearable. She needs to exercise the nightmare away before it sticks around and ruins the rest of her night.

It's probably already too late for that. The back of Kim's eyes are itchy with tears as she struggles to get free. She's already memorized her mom's smile, trapped forever in radioactive amber, and that alone is enough trauma to fuel ten more terrible dreams.

Nick and Carmina remain peacefully asleep, even as Kim extracts herself from the bed. That's good — the last thing she needs to do is worry Nick, whose own sleeping habits have just started to even out. He'll try to keep her company, and they'll just wind up keeping each other up, which wasn't ideal back in the day and definitely isn't ideal now .

Even though Carmina sleeps like the dead and Nick isn't likely to hear her, Kim is careful to watch out for the creakiest steps as she heads downstairs. Sunrise isn't for a few hours yet, but Kim isn't going to let that stop her from insomnia-pacing around her own home. It used to be that Kim would jog laps on the runway to clear her head, but that isn't going to work nowadays. She still wants to, of course; she's desperate to step out into the relatively cool night air and run herself ragged enough to pass out again, but that's out of the question. She's not about to break her own rule.

It's only once Kim is downstairs that she starts to relax, lighting one of the candles left out on the table. The light is just barely enough to see by, and Kim struggles to find something to clean up or organize in the half-dark. All of the coping mechanisms that got her through eight years of bunker living have fallen flat in the face of the apocalypse, but that doesn't keep her from trying them over and over again. Some techniques are more adaptable, but it isn't like she can dig into reorganizing the hangar for Nick at... whatever time it is now. Not without somebody catching her breaking her own rules about going outside alone.

If she had any books worth reading, she could throw herself into that, but she can't bear the manuals and children's books right now. Maybe if there was a radio station she could listen to... but no, she wouldn't want to risk burning out the radio after everything Nick and John went through to fix it. There's not going to be another Hail Mary when it comes to that kind of repair.

Her mom would probably use this time to make a series of endless lists. Grocery lists, to-do lists, lists of pros and cons for buying new appliances or inviting Kim's awful step-grandmother to her wedding... there was nothing that her mom couldn't organize into a column of bullet points or check-boxes. Kim could probably do with a few lists herself, but where is she supposed to get the paper? And even if a supply list wouldn't be a waste of resources, where would she go to fill it? It's going to be a while before they can pick up flour from the farmer's market again, that's for sure.

Well, at least wasting some paper will keep her mind busy. There's too much stuff they need, and she's going to drive herself crazy trying to remember all of it. Anyway, they've been using decades-old junk mail to prop up the radio desk — it can't be wasted if it was already trash, right?

She's careful in her search for a decent piece of mail, not wanting to tip the radio over as she jimmies a yellowed envelope from under the desk. It's only once she's back at the table with a worn-down nub of a pencil that she finds herself hesitating. After all, what is she supposed to write? What could they reasonably expect to get out here, with no supply chain to rely on? Everything that comes to mind is laughably improbable at best.

It doesn't really matter, though, does it? They're probably not going to be able to find anything besides what they can hunt and grow for themselves, so any food she writes down will be wishful thinking. John had offered to help their scavenging efforts, but it isn't likely they'll find working walkie-talkies or a new car. People who have been above ground longer than the Ryes have already taken over key resource points, and they'll be hard-pressed to give up things without a fair trade. And until they can reliably communicate with one another, trading is going to be nearly impossible. One day, maybe, they'll have trading posts and reliable supply chains, but like other pieces of their fractured society, that's not coming for a long time yet.

Staring at a blank piece of paper is worse than writing something stupid down, and so Kim quickly scribbles the word flour across the top of the envelope. She can't imagine that's going to be a reasonable expectation for a while, but at least it's on paper — and it's outlandish enough that it encourages her to continue, her thoughts darting between impossible dreams and honest reality. Salt , she thinks might not be quite as hard to find. Sugar, probably impossible. For now, they can hope for honey instead.

It goes on like that, growing more abstract as Kim lets herself dream. Milk, eggs, bread, twinkies , meat grinder, hamburgers, tomatoes, grains (seeds), grill (charcoal), gas, gas canisters (storage), duct tape, insulation foam (spray, sheet), toilet cleaner, toilet, hot water, plumbing, bathtub! , tarp, doors, ammunition, floodlights, security system, cans + string (security) —

Her flow is interrupted by a soft, distant thud somewhere upstairs. Kim listens for a few tense seconds, waiting to hear boots on the roof, the hiss of a walkie-talkie, or the slide-click of a gun being cocked. Without the cult, those fears go unrealized, and Kim slumps tiredly into her seat. She's just as paranoid about armed cultists tonight as she is about wild animals, although she's sure that's just her nightmare talking. Eden's Gate is nowhere near the threat it used to be.

The relief is short-lived, as is her solitude, when she hears an upstairs door click shut, followed by the sound of quick footsteps on the landing. The house is too old for any real attempt at stealth, but John tries to avoid the worst offending stairs on his way down. He only realizes Kim is there when he notices the candlelight, coming to an abrupt stop on the last step, one hand clutching the banister tight.

He's sweaty and out of sorts as he wipes his limp hair out of his face. "Oh," he rasps. "Kim."

He's surprised to see her. Kim should be surprised, too — it's one thing to know that John wanders the house at night, but it's another to see it happen in real-time. Honestly, she's barely phased by his appearance. John's sleep schedule has been bunker-erratic ever since Nick brought him home, and no amount of diurnal activity has managed to change it. If anything, Kim suspects he gets less sleep now than he did underground. It isn't for lack of trying, she's sure, but this isn't the first time she's heard him stumbling around in the dark. It's just the first time she's been in the same boat.

"Late night?" she asks.

John struggles once more with the hair in his eyes before giving up. "Just needed some air," he rasps, minding his volume. "Some water."

"Don't mind me," she replies, surprising herself with her own ambivalence. Knowing he moves around while they're sleeping is one thing, but seeing it should be upsetting. It should bother her when he avoids creaky floorboards on his way to help himself to their fresh water. It should make her angry to see him using their resources; at the very least, it should have upset her back when it began normalizing. But, honestly, it hadn't. Kim had just been relieved to see John acting like a person, and not just a haunted shell.

John wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, regarding Kim with deep uncertainty that Kim mostly makes out from his hunched shoulders and tense posture. He tries to hide just how lost he is, but Kim never misses it when he slips. It's not that she's sympathetic towards him, exactly, but she knows just enough about his history to want to pity him.

He doesn't speak, not even after the silence stretches out. Maybe he's waiting for her to make the first move?

The thought almost makes her laugh, but she still cuts him some slack. "Can't sleep either, huh?" she asks.

"Hardly ever," John replies, although he clearly isn't looking for reassurance. He takes a step away from the kitchen, hovering in the nebulous space between the table and the stairs. He's usually quick to leave Kim alone — quicker than he is with Nick, anyway — and so she appreciates the fact that he doesn't run now.

His voice cracks on its low pitch as he haltingly asks, "What are you doing?"

For just a second, Kim imagines giving John the cold shoulder and telling him it's none of his business. But the thought fades as quickly as it comes; it's replaced by the knowledge that John is just as dependent on the family's supplies as she is. Anything she needs, he'll also need. And besides, she's almost positive he'd been in control of the cult's supplies, which means he might have an idea of what they should realistically be looking for. He would know what the cult had planned to do, and she could probably translate that into useful advice.

"Just making a list," she sighs. It sounds stupid enough to make her wince, and she concedes with a joke, "You know, for the next time we're at Wal-Mart."

John huffs in amusement and approaches the table. Now that she's got an audience, Kim wants nothing more to do with the list, and so she pushes towards him before slumping back into her chair. Instead of the quick, distracted glance she had been expecting, John leans over to read it in full. The longer he reads, the more embarrassed Kim is of her late-night daydreaming, but he finishes with the list before she can grab it back.

"Some of these are... more manageable than others," he says, using the same kind of diplomacy he utilizes whenever Nick makes a particularly dumb comment.

"Uh, yeah ," she says, embarrassed even if she isn't surprised. "I know. It was just... taking up space in my head. I needed to write it down, otherwise, I'm going to be up all night."

Kim runs her hand through her hair, waiting for John to retreat as quickly as he'd arrived. Instead, John rereads the list once more. Kim can see his amusement much more plainly as he leans into the candlelight. It highlights the deep bags under his eyes as well, but who isn't carrying that particular mark of exhaustion these days?

"Ammunition isn't as high on the list as I'd imagined," he comments.

"We're okay on bullets for now," she replies. "And it's not like there's much to spare."

Whether or not that satisfies John, Kim isn't sure. He only hums in response, eyes roaming down the paper.

"I see you didn't bother to add more guns."

"We don't need more guns," Kim insists, although it's not strictly true. She's just hesitant to overwhelm the house with firearms. They've been getting on just fine with what they have — any more, and they might turn into a target themselves. One day, sure, they'll need to find something for Carmina to carry on her own, but that day is a long, long way away.

She doesn't need to explain herself to anyone, let alone John Seed, but as he watches her and waits for more, she feels compelled to justify herself. "I don't think we're going to find spare guns or ammunition just lying around, and I'm not about to take them by force. We've managed just fine with what we have."

"For now," John points out. "Things could change. It won't stay this calm forever."

"Why not?" Kim retorts, feeling childish and petulant as soon as the words leave her mouth. "Why do you even care? You're certainly not getting armed."

John clicks his tongue against his teeth. "It's not that," he says, only to abruptly roll over with a muttered, "Never mind."

If John thinks he can avoid the conversation that easily, he has another thing coming. "No, what is it?" she asks.

"It's nothing," he sighs, as if arrogantly dismissing her will keep Kim from pushing. When Kim only frowns unhappily back at him, he reluctantly relents. "Joseph had said taking your weapons was the only way we could ensure you wouldn't use them after the Collapse. And if we didn't lock them away, it would be all you would look for." He stares at the list, although Kim imagines his thoughts are about fifty miles away. "It's stunning how wrong he was about everything. But there are reminders everywhere."

John rarely speaks about Joseph; Kim hasn't heard him broach the subject of his own volition before. The only person who ever talks to him about his brother is Jerome, and those conversations are private and short. Having John bring him up with almost no needling feels like a step forward, even if it's only a small one. Even though John is anxious saying Joseph's name.

It's so easy to forget how much control Joseph had over John. Kim has to make a concentrated effort now and again to remind herself that Joseph hadn't only brainwashed normal, desperate people, but his own family. She can't imagine doing anything to Carmina or Nick that would turn them into the angry, anxious mess John had been even before the Collapse. Not even if it meant they would always do what they were told and would trust her implicitly. She couldn't bear it if Nick ever talked about her the way John talks about Joseph. It's late enough that Kim finds herself wondering how Joseph can even sleep at night.

"It's stupid," John says, taking Kim's contemplative silence as disapproval. "I should have known better."

He inhales, letting out a shaky breath, and closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them, they're suspiciously shiny in the candlelight. It sparks a genuine pang of sympathy in Kim, but there's nothing she can say or do to help him. Nothing she's done so far has made an impact.

"Some of this is reasonable enough," John says, desperately trying to redirect the conversation back to the list. It's an obvious, flat-footed attempt to avoid a tender spot in his psyche, but Kim is willing to let it slide.

"Sure, eventually . But we're a long way off from hot baths and backyard barbecues, much less flour and sugar."

"Those are... less reasonable," he admits, dragging his finger across one of the harder to come by items. Still, he isn't nearly as deterred as she is. "But not everything is impossible to come by. Insulation, for one. Tarp, duct tape. Components like that should be easy enough to find." He taps his finger against the envelope. "And there still places to investigate. Root cellars nobody bothered to touch. Caches you never found. Things hidden in places you wouldn't know to look, especially if you weren't in the Project."

Frowning, Kim rereads a few of the items upside-down from her side of the table. "It's been almost nine years," Kim points out, reluctant to get her hopes up so easily. "Isn't it more likely that everything good has already been discovered?"

Still... John's mentioned secret Eden's Gate supplies before. Given the size of the project and how long they were operating in the county, it's not impossible that some of their hidden stashes haven't been found yet. And they were planning for the apocalypse, right? They'd likely have saved things that could last for a long time. John isn't wrong — more ammunition and more weapons would be helpful. At the very least, they could help arm other survivors.

"It wouldn't hurt to have a look, I guess," Kim relents after thinking it over. "How good is your memory?"

That earns her a rare, quiet chuckle from John. "Middling to poor," he admits, "Although if I had a map, it would help. It would make it easier to mark what I remember."

"To think, it only took nine years and an apocalypse for you to finally hand over the intel."

John huffs, but his response is only mildly offended. "Do you want what I have to offer, or not?"

"Don't be like that," Kim says, placating him with a smile. "It would be a big help. It'll help me sleep better, anyway."

It seems there's more on John's mind than Kim teasing him, since he takes the non-apology and moves on without a fight. "Jacob had caches buried for after the Reaping," he says. "They'll most likely be weapons, but he was... hard to read. It could be that he stored survival equipment in one. There were a few in the valley, but most of them would be in the mountains."

Kim shakes her head at that. "As far as I've heard, nobody's made it very far north. And the stories I have heard aren't good. The dam broke, so a lot of the area is flooded, and supposedly the radiation is still pretty bad."

John hums briefly as he considers the facts. He leans contemplatively over the list, and for a moment Kim wonders if this was a common occurrence for him before the Collapse. How many late nights did he spend bent over a map while his brothers watched and waited for his decisions? She has to suspect it was a lot, because this is the first time she's seen John look even remotely confident.

That confidence is clear in his voice as he remarks defiantly, "I suppose the valley will do until we get airborne again. Let flooding stop us then ."

"Oh, okay," Kim laughs, checking her volume before she lets her amusement wake up the rest of her family. "You are just like Nick. Neither of you are going to give up until you get back in the sky, huh?"

"Exactly," John replies. "I won't trust anybody else to do it. Realistically, a helicopter would be the best option..."

"Oh, right," Kim chuckles. " Realistically ."

John taps accusingly at the list and raises an eyebrow at her. "Less realistic than hot water and iodized table salt?"

If Kim didn't know better, she might think that John is actually teasing her. He normally saves that kind of attitude for Nick, who prefers arguing through and around problems. Kim, on the other hand, rarely has the energy to deal with avoidance tactics, and so she tends to demand his sincerity. Thankfully, the liminal time of just-about-three has softened her stance on the matter.

"Okay," she relents with a smile. "Sure. Might as well add helicopters to the list." It would be a pretty big get for them, all things considered. And anyway, John's right — Kim wouldn't trust flying in a plane jury-rigged together by anyone other than Nick.

But that's a resource that will come in the nebulous future, and Kim's too realistic to worry years in advance right now. There are more pressing concerns to deal with, first — like food, water and security. Any caches John can find will at least fulfill one of those priorities, although Kim can't imagine the cult storing anything other than ammunition and weapons. But even if the caches don't pan out, they might find valuable scrap, like logs for firewood, furniture they can re-purpose, or even old survivalist caches that nobody thought to dig up after the world ended. And now that there are four of them, Kim won't feel so uncomfortable when Nick wants to drive to the middle of nowhere looking for supplies.

Kim sighs with relief, feeling a weight roll off her back that she hadn't been trying to remove. "Things will be a lot easier if you can help us with supplies. And I'll feel better about Nick going out if he has somebody to watch his back."

John pulls the same face he usually makes when someone implies they trust him. Kim could ignore it — after all, John doesn't need to believe they trust them for it to be true. Too bad for him, it's too late at night for her to turn a blind eye. "Oh, get over it," she tells him, unable to help a lopsided smile at his offended scowl. "I seriously doubt you're planning on murdering us at this point. And I know Nick is smart enough to knock the crap out of you if he thinks you've changed your mind."

"I won't," John immediately replies.

Kim believes him, if only because there's nobody left for John to rely on other than them. "Good. Because if I can trust you, that means I won't worry about Nick when he decides to go farther than town. It means we can spend more meaningful time with Carmina, too. Anyway, Nick likes bossing you around, and you like being bossed around, so everybody wins."

John ducks his head, embarrassed, but Kim laughs to let him know she's only teasing. "Seriously," she says, relenting for his benefit, "It does help. It's good to have somebody else to rely on."

"I... want to be helpful," John replies, although Kim suspects that he might be confusing his wants and needs again. It's not quite a compulsion anymore, but even John's most heated attempts to argue about a job end with him rolling over quick. He hasn't outright refused to do something, and Kim doesn't think he ever will, if only to prove to himself one more time that he might actually be capable of change.

It might get annoying one day, but for now, Kim can respect his intense desire to make amends. She just wishes he would accept some form of gratitude or praise in return, to make it less awkward on her end.

Kim rests her hands momentarily on the tabletop, tapping her fingers briefly against the wood. "Okay," she softly declares, "I think I'm going to try to get back to sleep." Whatever she winds up dreaming about now, she's pretty sure it won't be the same awful nightmare again — and that's at least partially because of John's intervention. She figures it's worth telling him as much. "You made a pretty good distraction, so thanks."

He nods immediately in response. "Of course," he replies, momentarily bewildered as he checks Kim's expression for signs of sarcasm or annoyance. His posture relaxes as Kim stands, although Kim imagines his relief is temporary. He's pretty good at working himself up into anxious frenzies — staying out of them is another matter entirely.

"Try to get some sleep yourself, okay?" Kim suggests.

There's no way John means it when he says, "I will," but at least he's willing to placate her instead of getting mad at her being concerned in the first place.

"And try not to wake up Carmina."

John nods affirmatively. Kim's positive that he'll sneak outside once she's gone upstairs, but at least he's waiting patiently for her to leave. If it weren't for her returning exhaustion, Kim might've used him as an excuse to do her own late-night workout, but it'll have to do to merely turn a blind eye to him edging around her rule about going out after dark alone. Kim and Nick have both been woken up by the exterior doors, but John never goes beyond the planters out back, and he always closes up when he comes back in. Kim could call him out on it, but... well, it seems like he needs the freedom.

Kim says goodnight and is mildly surprised when John returns it without any lingering sarcasm. He must be pretty tired, but that's not really a surprise. Hopefully, he'll try to take some of her concern to heart, or at least pretend for her sake.

Although Carmina is definitely still asleep when Kim returns to the bedroom, Nick is watching her with bleary-eyed curiosity. He waits until she's closed the door to speak up, and even then it's a dull, quiet whisper.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

He doesn't mind waiting for Kim to creep back to bed before she answers. "It is," she tells him, gratefully crawling into bed as he opens his arms for her. He folds his arms over her shoulders, letting her wiggle into a comfortable spot before she explains in a whisper. "I needed to move around, and John came downstairs. That's all."

"Hope he wasn't a creep," Nick mumbles into her hair. Kim sighs laughingly into his collarbone, which is already sticking to her cheek with sweat. There's no way she's going to be wrapped up in Nick's arms all night, not when it's this hot, but she'll appreciate it while she's got it.

"Not yet," Kim says. "Just talking about supplies." She presses a kiss to Nick's shoulder and whispers, "We'll talk about it in the morning."

Nick hums happily into Kim's hair. "Sounds good to me," he mumbles. The less they talk about John Seed, the better, after all. Especially right now, when they're tangled up in bed with their daughter snoring next to them; there's no room for serious conversation, and there's absolutely no room for John. There's no space for the nightmares that woke her, either; as Kim falls asleep, Nick's hand tangled up in her hair, she thankfully forgets everything save for a warm, melancholy amber glow.

[fordanoia]

I Think I Saw You [Ch 3: One Sided Conversations]

Fandom: Gravity Falls || CW: Swearing, Mentions of Death || Stan comes to Gravity Falls upon receiving a postcard from Ford, but he can’t find him and he has to figure out what’s going on. || Ao3 || Fic Tag

Prologue || Ch 1 || Ch 2 || Ch 3 || - || - || -

______(~4k words)______

Ford's voice kept warbling out of the car radio now, launching into a whole conversation, but every single syllable was just static. Ford just kept going though, and the only thing Stan could understand was the cadence of his voice. 

Stan was looking past the radio, the past couple days becoming disjointed and twisted and this moment turning into a six foot pit dug into the dirt in front of him. All his guts were missing, emptied out from underneath his nose.

"You..."

The postcard. The kitchen light.  The diner. The library. The shadow.

"-you asshole!" 

The staticky voice stopped. 

Stan shouted at the radio, his rage bubbling over, suddenly there like it had been stewing underneath just out of sight. "You send me a postcard, and then you play around with lights all day?! And now-?"

His eyes were open, but he wasn’t noticing his actual surroundings anymore.

"You were supposed to just be missing, Ford!! You're supposed to be missing, not-!" His chest seized up, the word locked up there and shackled so it couldn't get out.

"You can't be-" Stan slammed his fist into his car door, driving himself back into his body in his car in the middle of the woods. He pointed down the path in front of the car. "You were supposed to be there- at your fucking house! You were supposed to be there, Ford!! "

"I got here- I left as soon as I got your damn postcard! I got here within two days! I only took two fucking days! I only took two fucking days and you were already gone!"

He seethed, shaking. 

No direction, nobody to grab or punch, no physical obstacle around him. Not even a face to look at. It was all just.... nothing .

Stan shut his eyes, the white noise of unchanging static stretching out endlessly and surrounding him.

"Say something, damn it."

The static fluctuated on a short sentence, not one he could understand, but he knew even if he could hear it that it wouldn't have been enough. 

Stan breathed in and held his breath there, counting in his head then slowly letting it back out. He spent a couple moments like that, sitting there and knowing Ford was there, but not how he was supposed to be.

Finally, he opened his eyes and let his head fall back against the headrest, loosely holding onto the bottom of his steering wheel. The familiar sight of the roof of his car and the map he kept up there greeted him, inches away from his sight and not giving him any answers. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted them right now.

Ford's voice barely broke through with a word that Stan didn't understand. Then again, and again.

The static kept obscuring his voice, but soon enough it became clear that whatever Ford was trying to say it was the same word or two, two syllables, that he kept repeating in a measured tone. 

" ----s----s. ---------s. -ow-------. ----sta--- ."

Stan lifted his head up again to look at the radio. "Ow... stats?" He tried. "What?" 

" ------air- ." ---------s. -ow-------. ----sta--- ."

"Airs. Ow, airs." He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands then leaning onto his steering wheel. He rested his chin on his forearms, trying to pull the word together. "Ow, stairs ...." 

If Ford fell on some stairs...

" --wn ."

"Own-” He paused as the word finally clicked together. “ Downstairs . You're saying downstairs?"

Ford's voice pitched upwards, the static changing faster and again the entire sentence being unintelligible, but it was a confirmation. 

If he didn’t know any better he’d say Ford sounded... excited. Why would he be though?

"At your house? What's downstairs?" He asked. "I already looked through the entire shack." 

" ----s--ir-. " Downstairs .

"Yeah, I heard you. Down-"

Ford interrupted him, emphasizing. " --wn. s-----. "

He was still just saying the same word. “Yeah... the ground floor.”

“---n.” The second part of the word didn’t come.

“Down...” No way. There’s no way, not unless- unless Ford was a paranoid loner in the middle of the woods that had an underground floor with an entrance he probably found a way to cover up.

Stan sat back up straight. "There's an underground floor."

The static rumbled with a long sentence that was starting to get hard to even just detect. This already started as a pretty one sided conversation, but at this rate he wouldn't be able to understand anything Ford said in a minute. 

"Gimme a minute here." He said. "It's not exactly getting easier to understand you, trying to think of the best thing to ask here."

There was so much about this, the part about Ford, that Stan couldn’t even really think about yet without feeling like he was dropping into nothing. Whatever came after that bit of nothing, wasn’t good, and if he didn’t have to ever go there in the first place then he wasn’t going to.

He wanted to know what had happened before though, what had been going on when Ford had sent him the postcard. A dozen different questions and he finally had someone that knew the answer to them, but he'd be lucky to get two words out of him that Stan could actually understand. 

For all he knew too, this might be the last time Ford could even say anything which would mean Stan only had one shot at this. He couldn’t know unless he actually asked, and if it did turn out this was it then he’d wasted his only question on something stupid.

Somebody besides Ford had to know what had happened though. He would just have to find whoever that person was though. This could just be the last time he’d ever hear from Ford was all, and that- that was a stupid thought because now his mind was spinning in a different direction about questions to ask. Questions that had been burning at the back of his mind for years instead of days.

If this was the last time he ever talked with Ford...

And of all the questions, of all the questions he could possibly ask that could be answered with one word at least, his mind just kept coming back to the same stupid one, changing the words of it around every turn. 

The static fluctuated momentarily. 

‘Did you ever actually want to go sailing or had it only been...’

“Just making sure it’s not a stupid question,” he muttered in a delayed response to the static.

Don’t ask a question that you already know the damn answer to, Stan, come on .

Stan took in another breath, shoving the stupid questions down and back under water again.

“Okay.” He said. “So, there was someone behind whatever this is, right? You barely mentioned the guy, but you gotta know who I mean. ‘Him’ or whatever, what’s his name?” 

No answer.

He waited a few moments before checking in. "You still there?"

The static changed for a short moment.

"Okay, well do you know this guy’s name?"

A very short blurb of static belatedly answered.

“Great, then give me a name. First, last, nickname - whatever works best.”

Again though, Ford wasn’t answering the actual question, unchanging static greeting him.

" Stanford, come on. It’s not even like this guy can even touch you now.”

The static picked up with a long unintelligible sentence.

"Yeah, can't understand literally any of that, Sixer. You already told me you know his name so come on. "

There was a long silence, but finally Ford said something short.

" -i-- ------ ."

"Uhh... try again." At least it was a short name.

" -i-- -- ph --.... ---h--. " The more Ford tried, the further and further away his voice started getting until it was just changing static.

Eventually there was just silence as they both sat in a quiet acceptance that Ford was out of words. 

“That his full name, right?” Stan could tell the pauses and that there were two words repeated, but that was it.

A low warble of static.

“Well, I know it’s a short name then.” He said. “Better than nothing.” 

Once he got downstairs then chances were Ford had written this guy’s name down somewhere, right? At least there had to be something down there.

"I still gotta find the stairs going down to the basement anyways, right?" He took his foot off the break and began the drive back to the shack. "Come on." 

____________

Stan had kept the static on for the rest of the short drive though he didn’t hear anything else come out of it.

He stepped onto the front porch and opened the door to step inside. As far as he could tell, nobody had busted in since he’d left which was good and bad. Good because he didn’t have to worry about getting into a fight while he was this tired, and bad because well if he had someone on him then he could follow them up to whoever was behind what happened.

Stan locked the front door after himself and stayed on one side of the hallway as he went back through the shack.

He hadn’t really thought about how quiet it’d been here beforehand, but after the car ride back it felt eerily quiet without the white noise of static.

After lighting a fire in the fireplace, he went back into what he considered Ford’s specimen room since it had all the jarred things inside and looked around until he found what he was looking for. 

Beside an empty knapsack was a pile of hiking supplies scattered over the ground with a two way radio sitting on top of the pile.

Stan flipped on the walkie talkie and turned up the volume all the way. There was a quiet buzz of static from the empty station it was already on. It was a constant noise that at least filled up the silence. 

Plus if Ford could talk again...

Stan clipped the small radio into the hem of his pants. “There.” 

He checked around the outside of the shack first with a flashlight, kicking snow as he went. The only thing he found outside though were a few snow covered barrels that were already empty anyways.

Inside, he started walking around the ground floor, trailing his left hand on the wall as he went to feel for hidden creases. Every couple of feet he’d try knocking to see if anything sounded hollow. 

He left all the lights on as he went from room to room, except for the kitchen, of course. He had to sweep the flashlight over the walls and floor and take extra time in there to make sure he didn’t miss anything just because it was dark.

“I probably should have expected you’d have a hidden basement.” Stan said eventually, talking as casually as if Ford was just sitting down in the same room as him. Even if there was no way Ford would have even been that casual with him there, neither would have been this casual talking to each other.

“I’m pretty sure you always wanted a hidden room. I mean hey, what kid didn’t want a hidden room, but you’re definitely the kind of guy that would still be thinking about it years later. Get it the first chance you could.”

“Guess I just didn’t think about you having a whole hidden floor though. Gotta say you outdid yourself, Ford.”

“Would be a lot nicer right now if it was easier to find though.”

Stan stifled a yawn in his hand. Even if he found the door tonight, he probably was only going to take a quick look for anything big and obvious. He didn’t know what, but just to make sure there wasn’t something important in plain sight.

He paused as he came into a room, looking over to the large shape to his right as he turned on the light. His hand left the wall as he went over to it.

It was the same size as a door, the same height and width, just a lot thicker. It looked like just some big computer that had been pushed against the wall, covering in blinking lights and buttons, but...

Stan knelt down next to the machine, to look near the bottom where it met the wall. The baseboard was cut out where the machine began, letting it fit snugly against the wall.

He knocked around the entire thing, but the only place it sounded hollow was above the thing, but that could have just been an air vent. If this wasn’t the door downstairs though, he wasn’t sure what was. 

He moved through the rest of the house all the same though looking for anything else that could be a door, and found nothing. If there was a hatch, he wasn’t spending tonight moving all the piles of junk and lifting up rugs until he found it.

Stan went back to the tall machine, sighing in front of it. He absently started pressing buttons to see if it’d do anything.

“You didn’t tell me what was downstairs, you know.” He said. 

Honestly, he wasn’t that far off from just taking an ax and chopping into the shack’s wooden floor to get downstairs. Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow.

The buttons beeped with every one he pushed, but there was no way for him to tell if he made any progress or not so he just kept doing it as he thought.

“This is...” Stan trailed off, his silence cushioned by the static from the small radio still sitting on the right side of his hip.

“This isn’t what it looks like, is it? Not this gizmo. I mean... I don’t know, I guess I just mean all whatever happened to you.”

Really, he just meant Ford. He didn’t want to believe it. 

“If you’re actually dead,” he said, finally saying what he meant. 

He half smiled, trying to put on a good face for the joke. “Gonna make me sound like a jerk if you’re not though and then I go saying you’re too weak to be a ghost.” The smile slipped away before he was even done with the sentence. 

“Never even gave me a cold chill, but you broke all those lights.” He hadn’t written anything in that fogged up glass either and that would have been easy.

“Stuff just doesn’t seem like it’s stacking up right.” He said, finally stopping with pushing buttons and letting his hands rest inside of the pockets of his jacket.

Stan let the relative silence go for a long moment.

“I don’t think you’re actually a ghost.” He eventually admitted. “Whenever I try to think of you as a ghost in my head it just doesn’t fit. Dido with you know, being dead. It just doesn’t fit together right.” He explained.

“I know that’s stupid, but it doesn’t. When I first thought about that in the car, everything kinda just...” Nothing. 

Nothing and wrong.

He lapsed back into silence again, the buzz of static from the radio filling the space that he should have been able to fill with some loophole. Some ‘gotcha’ that could prove where it didn’t add up and why Stan’s feeling had just been his intuition and street smarts shining through. 

All these years of bad situation after bad situation that gave Stan enough insight to say without a doubt that Ford couldn’t be dead because of some key detail, some definitive clue or sign of proof, but he didn’t have anything like that he could say.

“...It just didn’t fit.” He said finally.

Tired, Stan finally left the room, turning the light back off as he went off to eat something before bed.

____________

"Try it again." Ford said calmly. 

Stan found himself standing back in front of the metal door again, but this time Ford was standing to his right.

Ford was wearing a long beige trench coat, and a loose tie that for whatever reason he still had hanging around his neck. He looked tired, but like he’d spent all night doing something tedious and had since settled into a routine. 

It wasn’t really what Stan had been expecting, honestly, considering all the notes he’d gone through beforehand. He looked calm for a guy that wrote those notes.

“Stanley?” Ford looked over at him.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

Ford let a slow breath out through his nose, pointing to the buttons at shoulder level. 

Stan looked at it. “What about the keypad?” 

“It doesn’t look like that.”

Stan paused. “What?”

Ford caught his attention. “There’s only six buttons on the keypad, remember?”

Yeah, he’d been standing in front of it for long enough. “Yeah, I remember. It’s not my fault that...” as he gestured back at the door in front of them though, there were only six buttons there, but every button was covered in some strange symbol. “...Huh.”

“Can you open the door?” Ford asked.

“What kind of a question is that? You’re right here too, Sixer, plus it’s your door.” He replied.

Ford paused for a long moment. "Well, you already know it anyway, so go ahead."

Stan rolled his eyes and punched in a code. 

The door beeped with a green light. He could finally actually figure out what was down there now.

A metallic voice talking as it began to swing open. " Access gran- " It stopped as Ford grabbed the door by its edge before it opened far enough for Stan to see inside and swung it closed again.

"Hell, I was hoping that would work." His shoulders slouched and he pushed his glasses up to rub the crease they’d made in the bridge of his nose. 

"What are you talking about? It did work! It literally just opened up." Stan gestured at the now closed door. "Come on, we need to get downstairs, Ford."

Ford looked over at him. “You’re dreaming, Stanley.” He said point blank. “More importantly, that wasn’t the correct code.”

Stan scoffed. "If I’m dreaming then how come I’m not on a beach?"

“Because I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do tomorrow so I’m trying to show you the code while you’re asleep.” Ford then added, a hint evasively despite the clinical tone, “and I didn't think being on a beach would be conducive to your memory retention once you wake up.”

“It’d be a lot more memorable if I was doing this on a sunny beach.”

Ford ignored the comment though. “I’m hoping if you do it enough times that you’ll remember at least one of the times.” He said, before inputting the code. “Watch.”

He did it a couple times, each time accompanied by the hissing sound of hydraulics releasing and he gently bumped the door back for it to close again. Ford then gestured for Stan to try.

When Stan followed after with the same code, there was the hissing sound of hydraulics and Ford shut it back with his foot.

“Good, you’ve got it, now just keep doing it.”

Stan kept putting in the code, the code always getting the same response and eventually he just accepted that Ford was going to keep closing it so he started just bumping the door back himself. He made sure to complain even as he did so though. 

“Can’t you just write it down for me?” Stan gestured out with a free hand. “Not to mention you’re here anyway, you know.”

“Two things.” Ford started calmly. “One, I actually tried that already and let’s just say writing things down in your dream didn't go well. Second, I’m here now, but I won’t be like this when you wake up and actually need the code.”

“Because I’m dreaming.” Stan lightly mocked.

“Tell me what we were doing right before we walked into this room then.” Ford said. “Because if you weren’t dreaming you would at least remember that.”

“We were...” His mind blanked though when he tried to remember. All he could really come up with was them being at the library or something, but even that was vague and he couldn’t remember why they had been there or what they were doing. “Huh.”

“Welcome back to lucid dreaming.” Ford said with a tired smile. 

“Then you’re just part of my dream which means I’m not even learning anything here.” Stan argued. “I didn’t know the code before so trying to learn it from myself doesn’t work.”

“I’m not part of your imagination, but I won’t be able to prove that anyway. You’re just going to have to try the code when you wake up and see for yourself.” Ford casted a suspicious glance around momentarily. “That being said, it’s only a matter of time before my luck runs out.”

“What do you mean?” Stan asked.

“I was hoping you'd remember him at least partially...” Ford muttered, fidgeting.

He continued talking, an uneasy expression passing along his face. “There are certain beings that can make their way into your dream and twist it. One of them, Bill, is going to be especially unpleasant when he shows up. You shouldn’t trust anything you dream tonight, regardless of who it looks like is talking to you, and that includes myself.”

“That’d include you talking right now and everything you just told me though.” Stan pointed out.

“That’s exactly right.” Ford responded, nonplussed. “The code itself would, from what you already knew beforehand, have little risk.” He shrugged then. “I could just as easily be Bill right now though so use your best judgment.” 

So what? Either he tried to believe what he was told and it was wrong or he didn’t and then he didn’t actually get any information. Then again this was a dream so it’s not like he’d really gone to sleep expecting to figure anything out. 

Still, if this was actually Ford then it opened up a whole slew of possibilities.

“So... is it you?” Stan asked. “Actually Ford, I mean.”

“For the time being.” He answered, “but again, you shouldn’t believe me.”

“Well, too late, you already told me to use my best judgment.” Stan said with a crooked smile.

Ford opened his mouth to argue, the expression clear on his face before he finally let it go, focusing back on the keypad as Stan kept entering in the code.

Ford broke the silence shortly after. “Do you think it’s me?”

Stan thought about it for a long moment. 

He did act like Ford, and he didn’t what kind of con a ‘dream being’ or whatever would try to pull. Outright saying ‘don’t trust me’ probably wasn’t the go-to though. He’d never met the thing though so he didn’t know how good it was at acting yet.

This was also probably the sort of thing his brain would cook up for him right now though. Ford standing next to him okay and alive, or as whatever spirit he was coming to help him out.

It felt like Ford though, and for the time being he just wanted to go with his gut instinct that it was.

“Use your best judgment.” Stan suggested back, a smug smile on his lips. 

Ford shot a brief look over at him. “That’s not very helpful...” 

“Well, now you know how it feels.” He said. 

“That’s fair enough, I suppose.” Ford said begrudgingly.

Stan hummed. 

They went back and forth for a long time, entering the same code so many times that he couldn’t imagine forgetting it. Hell, if nothing else, he’d probably just remember it from muscle memory.

Even if it wasn’t the most exciting dream he’d ever had, it was still kinda nice. Normally dreams about Ford wound up blowing up in his face before long.

“How long you staying for?” Stan eventually asked.

“Until my luck runs out.”

Stan snorted. “Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?”

“As long as I can then.” Ford amended. “Better?”

“It’s a little less cryptic.” Stan jokingly meandered. “Still ominous though. Could use a little work.”

“Dream that I said it less ominously then.”

[idumpyourgrass]

Always Waiting- Chapter Seven

Always Waiting- Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Always Waiting Masterlist

Summary: Y/n and Dustin have to deal with Dart and join forces with an "unexpected" person (you can probably guess who ;))

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

A/N: Ahhhh! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I really like it! I'm currently stuck on how I want to wrap up the end of season 2 but I do know what I want to happen in season 3 so I'm very excited!! As always lmk if you want to be added to the taglist!

Warning: Language, typos, monster fighting?

Word Count: 3.3k

"Where is it?" You whisper to Dustin.

"Where's what?" Dustin asks in confusion.

"That thing! That thing that killed Mews! Where is it?" You start to yell. Dustin quickly shushes you. He points to his closed closet doors.

"I have a plan, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow," Dustin says. You roll your eyes and leave his room, slamming his door.

You go to your room and lay down flat on your bed. This has got to be the worst day of your life ever. You decide to give Robin a call to let her know about your "date."

"Robin, I'm telling you, the first hour of our date he seemed genuinely interested in me. Like he was asking about my life and like trying to get to know me. Little did I know he was just buttering me up so he could get in my fucking pants." You say

"I'll kick his ass next time I see him, don't worry. Or you know what? Harrington would probably beat him up, ya know if he knew what happened." Robin says. You scoff.

"Good thing he won't find out," You say, twirling the phone cord, blushing at the thought.

"Whatever, I gotta go, call you later!" Robin says as she hangs up.

* * *

~November 2nd, 1984~

Dustin shakes you awake the next morning. You groan, pulling the sheets over your head. Dustin yanks them back down.

"C'mon, I just got mom to leave for the whole weekend, we gotta get a move on!" He starts reaching for your foot, trying to pull you out of bed. He succeeds. You land with a thump on the floor.

"Dustin!" You yell at him.

"Great, ok, get dress. We have to get Dart out of here," Dustin says as he leaves your room. You rub your eyes with the palms of your hands and yawn. You get dressed, throw your hair in a ponytail, and brush your teeth. As soon as you leave the bathroom, Dustin hands you some of his old hockey gear. You look down at the ground and notice a trail of bologna down the hall. You look up at him and see him wearing a helmet and knee pads.

"What's all this?" You ask pointing to him, the hockey gear, and the bologna.

"The hockey gear is to protect yourself in case…something goes wrong and the bologna is to lead Dart out of the house and into the cellar," Dustin says.

You raise an eyebrow at him but grab the hockey gear and start putting it on. Once it's on, Dustin grabs a hockey stick, makes his way over to his closed bedroom door and reaches for the knob, looking up at you. You nod at him to give him the okay to open it. When he opens the door you and him take off running, struggling to do so with your big hockey gear.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Dustin mumbles as you two make your way to the shed by the cellar. Once you are both in you shut the door. You both look through the cracks.

"There his is," You quietly tell Dustin as you see Dart start to make his way outside. Your heart starts racing when you see Dart is not so little anymore. He's about the same size as a small dog. Dart follows the bologna to the open cellar doors.

"That's it, go down there," Dustin says, a little too loudly. Dart quickly whips his head around to the shed.

"Shit!" You say as you both back up from the door. You slowly creep up and look through the crack. Dart has gotten closer to the shed. You turn and look at Dustin.

"Ok, ok, hand me your hockey stick," you say sticking your hand out. Dustin places it in your hand. You turn around, charging out the door.

"AHHHH!" You yell as you charge towards Dart, hitting him with the stick. He falls down the cellar and rolls down the stairs but quickly runs back up the stairs. Before he can get to the top you slam the cellar doors shut, throwing yourself on top of them. Dustin runs out of the shed and quickly locks the padlock.

"Easy peasy," you say out of breath to Dustin.

You and Dustin head back into the house. Dustin tells you he's going to try to round up the party to help with Dart. You start getting cleaning supplies out of the cabinet to clean up what remains of Mews.

"No one's answering!" Dustin yells from his room. You bring all the cleaning supplies into his room and plop down on his bed.

"Ok well once we get all this stuff cleaned up, we can go see if they're at Mike's," you suggest. Dustin nods.

* * *

Mr. Wheeler greets you and Dustin at the door.

"Your phone line has been busy for over 2 hours Mr. Wheeler." Dustin states. "Is Mike home?" Mr. Wheeler looks less than amused.

"No." He responds.

"Well, where is he?" Dustin asks.

"Karen where's our son?!" He yells to Mrs. Wheeler.

"Will's!"

"Will's." He echos. Dustin sighs.

"Nancy, what about Nancy?" You pipe up.

"No." He responds.

"Where's she?" You ask.

"Karen where's Nancy?"

"Ally's!"

"Ally's" he echos again. You groan. "Our children don't live here anymore, you didn't realize that? Am I done here?" He asks.

"Son of a bitch, you really are no help," Dustin says. You smack his head lightly.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Wheeler." You say as you and Dustin walk back to your car.

You are about to get in your car when you see a car pull up, you watch as Steve gets out. Dustin starts making his way over to him.

"Shit, shit, no Dustin!" You say running after him. "We don't need his help, we can handle it."

"Steve!" Dustin says, approaching Steve. Steve looks over to you two, you give him a small smile. You look down and see he has a bouquet.

"Are those for Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler?" Dustin asks.

"Uh no," Steve says with a confused look on his face.

"Nancy's not home." You tell him.

"Where is she?" He asks. You shrug.

"Do you still have that bat?" Dustin asks.

"Bat? What bat?" Steve asks, still confused.

"Actually it was my bat, you know, the one with the nails? But you can just give it back to me and we'll be fine.." You chime in, trying to get Dustin to not drag Steve into this. Dustin starts to get into Steve's car. You sigh, giving up and hopping in the car as well.

"Why do you need that bat?" Steve asks.

"We'll explain on the way, c'mon," Dustin says, urging Steve to get in his car.

"Now?" Steve asks.

"Yes!" You and Dustin both yell in unison. Steve rapidly gets in the car and starts it.

* * *

The car ride was awkward, to say the least. Queen was blaring through the speakers.

"Ok wait, how big was this thing?" Steve asks. Glancing over at you.

"First it was like that," you say showing him with your fingers, "and now it's like this." You say.

Steve scoffs and shakes his head. "Are you sure it's not a lizard?" Steve asks. You nod your head yes. "How do you know?" He questions.

"How do I know it's not a lizard?" You ask in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes! How do you know it's not a lizard?" You just roll your eyes.

"Because his face opened up and he ate our cat," Dustin answers from the backseat. This shuts Steve up.

The car pulls up to your driveway. Steve makes his way to the back of his car, you follow him. He unlocks the trunk of his car then tosses his keys to you. You fumble to catch them then turn to glare at him. He grins at you then pops open the hood. Inside the trunk is your nailed bat. You reach to grab it but Steve gets to it before you. You sigh and follow Dustin around to the back of the house where the cellar is.

"He's in there," Dustin says to Steve. You all three stand in silence.

"I don't hear shit," Steve states. You and Dustin just stare at him. He sighs and then taps the cellar doors with the bat. Nothing. He tries again but harder this time.

"I swear if this is some Halloween prank, you're both dead," Steve says. "You got a key to this thing?" He asks.

"Do we have a key, of course, we have a key. How else would we have locked it, Harrington?" You snicker. You run inside to get the key, grabbing a flashlight on the way out.

You unlock the padlock and open the doors. You shine the flashlight down the stairs. You and Steve hesitate before making your way down.

"I should stay up here, in-in case he tries to escape," Dustin stammers.

Steve looks to you before starting down the stairs, you closely following.

"You know, you took my one weapon so if that thing tries to attack us, you're gonna have to do all the fighting, think you can handle it?" you ask, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Oh yeah, it seems like I did that last year. Remember when I saved you from getting eaten?" He teases, grinning at you. You just playfully shove his shoulder. Once you get to the cellar, you go to turn on the light. Once the light is on you can see something slimy laying on the ground.

"What is that?" Steve asks, picking up the slimy thing with his bat

"Holy shit, Dustin's little pet just got bigger." You say. "Dustin! Get down here!" Dustin comes running down the stairs.

"Oh shit," He says, looking at the molted skin. "Holy shit!" He says again, looking towards the corner. You and Steve both look over to where Dustin is looking. You shine the flashlight and see a huge hole in the wall.

~November 3rd, 1984~

You, Dustin, and Steve all stand at the trunk of Steve's car putting raw meat into buckets. Dustin's walkie starts to go off.

"Dustin? It's Lucas. Do you copy?" Lucas says over the walkie.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up." Dustin answers.

"Sorry man, my sister shut off the walkie talkie." Lucas states.

"Well while you were having sister problems, Dart grew again."

You tune out the conversation as you pile more and more raw meat into the buckets. The plan was hopefully lead Dart to the junkyard by leaving a trail of cow. Once you gathered enough meat and got all the supplies you needed, you all set off toward the junkyard. You trail behind Dustin and Steve while you walk on train tracks, dropping the meat every once in a while. You walk in silence as you listen to Dustin and Steve's conversation.

"The key to girls is just acting like you don't care," Steve advises Dustin. A laugh came out of you, causing Steve and Dustin to look back at you. You look down at the ground and continue plopping meat on the ground. The two boys turn back around.

"Then what?" Dustin asks.

"You just wait till you feel it, the electricity, like a sexual electricity," Steve says.

"And that's when you kiss her?" Dustin asks. You hold in your laugh that time.

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down Romeo, sure yeah some girls want you to be aggressive, but others you got to be slow," Steve blabbers.

"What type is Nancy?" Dustin asks, this catches your attention.

"Nancy's different, she's not like other girls." Of course, she's "not like other girls." Gross.

You three arrive at the junkyard. You all start getting set up, throwing random pieces of metal into an old rusty school bus, pushing all kinds of things against the bus to keep anything from getting in. Lucas and the girl who was waiting outside the AV room show up shortly after you guys start preparing.

"Who's that?" Steve whispers to you, asking about the girl. You look over at Dustin and can see his pink cheeks.

"That's her," you respond. You, Steve and the redheaded girl all start moving items getting them in place. You start to prop up a metal sheet alongside the bus. Steve comes up next to you, helping you prop it up.

"Woah what happened to your wrist?" Steve asks, gently grabbing it to look at it. You had completely forgotten about the bruises Billy left. You quickly pull your hand away.

"It's nothing," You hiss, "I fell on it a couple of days ago." You lie. Steve squints his eyes as he looks at it from afar.

"Kind of looks like a handprint." He points out. You roll your sleeve down before he can make any more observations. You glance at him before walking over to help the girl. Steve walks over to a car where Lucas and Dustin chat behind.

"Hey, dickheads, how come the only ones helping me are Y/n and this random girl? Come on, let's go." He demands.

"Alright, asshole."

"We're going!"

*  *  *

You are all tucked away inside the old, rusty, school bus. You find a metal pipe under one of the seats, taking it for safety measures. You sit down next to Dustin and across from Steve.

"So you really fought one of these things before?" The girl, whose name you've learned to be Max, asks you and Steve. You both nod yes.

"And you're sure it wasn't a bear?" She asks. You open your mouth to respond but Dustin beats you to it.

"Jesus, don't be an idiot, of course, it wasn't a bear. If you don't believe us why are you even here?" Dustin snaps.

"Woooaah Dustin, chill." You say to him. Max just rolls her eyes and climbs up top to join Lucas.

"That's good man, just show her you don't care," Steve says.

"I don't," Dustin states coldly. Steve winks at him. "Why are you winking Steve?" Dustin asks, Steve winks again. "Quit it," Dustin says. You can't help but giggle at the interaction between the two. Steve looks over at you and smiles.

"Why do you keep getting bruises everywhere?" Dustin asks, pointing towards your wrist. Your heart starts beating.

"I don't know what you're talking about." You say covering up the one on your wrist.

"First the one on your thigh and now the one on your wrist? It's just weird."

"How'd you get a bruise on your thi-" Steve starts, but trails off.

You glance over at Steve, you can see the wheels turning in your head. You nearly see the steam blow out of his ears when everything clicks and he figures it out.

"Did Hargrove do this to you?" He asks, standing up, coming over to you.

"What? No, I told you it's nothing." You say, knowing full well he didn't believe you.

"I'll kill that son of a bitch," Steve says, pacing around the bus.

"Ste-" You are cut off a roar. You, Steve and Dustin all run over to the windows looking out. A fog has crept its way into the junkyard. Your eyes scan the area, not seeing it anywhere.

"I don't see it," you announce.

"Lucas! What's going on?" Dustin calls out to Lucas.

"I've got eyes! 3 o'clock!" Lucas yells.

"There," Steve points. It's hard to see it in the fog but you can make out the shape of Dart in the distance. The pile of raw cow sitting directly in front of him. Dart doesn't go near it.

"Why isn't he taking the bait?" Dustin asks. You think, then you realize.

"Maybe he's sick of cow," You suggest. Steve turns and looks at you, then he turns around and goes to get the bat. Your eyes widen when you realize what he's going to do.

"Steve, no." You try to stop him, grabbing his hand.

"Just be ready!" He says giving your hand a squeeze and tossing you the lighter. He walks off the bus and disappears into the fog. You and Dustin watch as he walks towards Dart, swinging his bat trying to clear the fog. The sound of a car rattling from the right startles you. Looking over to it, you see another "dart" on top of a car. You scan the fog one more time, starting to see more "Darts" in the shadows. You stand up, running to the other side of the bus, trying to find the pipe you found earlier. You find it and make your way to the front of the bus.

"What are you doing?!" Dustin asks frantically.

"He needs help!" You say, opening the door and leaving the bus. You cautiously walk outside. Keeping your eyes peeled for one of the monsters. You get closer to Steve and see one creeping up behind him, you run and give it a good whack on the head. Steve turns around, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head when he sees you.

"Henderson, what the fuck are you doing?!" He shouts.

"Returning the favor and saving your ass!" You yell back. One monster leaps off a car and Steve hits it. You look around and realize you two are surrounded by those things. They start closing in on you, snarling and growling. "We gotta get back on the bus!" You yell. Steve grabs your hand and you both make a run for it to the bus. The monsters start chasing after you, right on your heels. Dustin, Lucas, and Max open the bus door, yelling for you guys to run. You and Steve throw yourselves into the bus, you landing directly on top of Steve. Steve protectively wraps his arms around you as he holds a metal sheet against the door with his feet, trying to keep them from breaking the door down.

"They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas yells. The metal sheet against the door isn't much help and a monster breaks through, Steve lets go of you and pushes you and the kids towards the back of the bus while he beats the monster with the bat. The bus starts shaking side to side as the things try to get in. Dustin gets on his walkie talkie calling for help, while you instinctively grab his free hand, squeezing it.

"Mike! Will! God! Anybody! We're going to die!" Dustin yells into the walkie talkie

The bus stops shaking. All you can hear is the sound of everyone's heavy breathing. You all glance at one another wondering what happened. Thumping on the roof startles everyone. You look up to the top of the bus.

"No way," you murmur. All eyes follow the sound of the thumps until it falls upon the opening at the top of the bus. Max screams when one of the monsters pop its head over the open and screams at Max. You quickly step in front of Max wrapping your arms around her.

"Out of the way!" Steve shouts, running to the back of the bus with the bat. He winds up the bat, getting ready to hit it, then the monster stops screaming, looking off into the distance. It, along with all the others unexpectedly run away, rattling the bus as they leave. You all try to catch your breath as you try to process what just happened.

"Is everyone ok?" You ask, checking on all the kids. You receive yes's and thumbs up in return. Slowly, you all crept towards the bus door, opening it with caution. Once the coast is clear, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in.

"What happened?" Lucas asks.

"Steve scared them away?" Dustin suggests. Steve turns around, looking at you.

"No, no way. They're going somewhere."

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