#another monster au
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Vampire!Soap: *standing outside of Priceâs office*
Price, knowing heâs there: I need the report on my desk not outside my door
Vampire!Soap: Please, Cap, just say I can come in. Ghost had me outside his office for thirty minutes threatening me for not bringing his tea in
Price: Ah. Fine, you can come in
Vampire!Soap: *sobs in relief before he runs in and gives Price the report*
Vampire!Soap: Heâs such a dick
Price: Eh, he has some⊠history with fangs
Vampire!Soap: His ex tried to suck blood from his di-
Price: Johnny! No! God! Why does your mind go straight in the gutter whenever we talk about him?!
Vampire!Soap: Big sexy demon. Itâs that simple
Price: *groans*
#another monster au#call of duty#cod mwii#modern warfare ii#john soap mactavish#john price#simon ghost riley#incorrect quotes#soapghost#ghostsoap
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
thinking about witch of the wilds reader, about whom so little is known the story changes depending on which villager tells it.
hunters say she embodies everything beautiful about nature, forgetting its fickle, volatile, dangerous side.
travelers say she disappears into the shadows of the trees, running naked except for the flowering thorns woven through her hair.
the young men say whoever catches her can have her a night, but she's as fast as a minnow and wily as a rabbit.
the old women say men venture into the forest to find her and they don't return.
storytellers say you'll never find her unless you're not seeking her--that she must be a nymph or a dryad, a daughter of Baba Yaga by a forest god.
children say she hinders fools and helps only those pure of heart--pure like children understand it, because pure does not mean well-intentioned. it only means free of distraction and distortion; obsessive; all-consumed.
venture out to find her and you might find that the gap between beautiful wild maid and dangerous sorcerous trickster is vanishingly small.
these stories are all blown a bit out of proportion, but who are you to deny the legends that give you such a steady stream of human travelers to toy with?
masterlist
see also: shapeshifter familiars 141 + witch reader <3
#witch of the wilds reader#witch reader#witch!reader#halloween#halloween 2024#reader insert#x reader#monster reader#fem reader#femme fatale#femme fatale reader#mine#snippet#this is prewriting for another thing pls excuse me#monsterfucker#monsterfucker fodder tbh#au#witch au#dragon age??#definitely inspired by dragon age 1-2
417 notes
·
View notes
Text
Imagine: deaf Soap and siren Ghost. Soap is enraptured by Ghost, but it has nothing to do with the sirenâs song.
#No Iâm not working on another project why would you say that haha#I know this is basically the marine biologist Soap/mermaid Ghost again but I love making them Creatures#Add in a touch of monster fucker Soap and weâre set tbh#john soap mactavish#simon ghost riley#soapghost#ghostsoap#ghoap#call of duty#cod#lemonwrap writes#siren ghost au
476 notes
·
View notes
Text
#monster hunter au#monster hunter au fanart#cockroachdoodles#Listen.... I can see how he acts like a puppy around him....#The only one he might not be scared to freely act around and will to ask for affection#at the same time being a bit scared that he might leave him?...#Kind of.... he just snatched him so fast to get him away from danger#He already ready to protect him#Being grateful for what he did from him in the past#He surely could die back then!#OH HOW I love that he can't speak....#And the fact that Ratchet doesn't know that it is that same beast....#I mean of course he might have saved another beast and it would have been grateful to him but be angry enough at his kind to just run away#from him leaving him behind. He is just his saviour âand I saved him by not eating himâ#But Deadlock just basically was saved twice. Trying to pay him off#And being all puppy and clumsy....#Growing up yet almost not changing ehehehe...#Wondering if there will be Wing....
688 notes
·
View notes
Text
atla!au designs part 3 !! one of these things is uh. not like the others
first year trio gojo/choso/nanami
#my art#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#fanart#jjk fanart#jjk atla!au#geto suguru#yuta okkotsu#mahito#lmhs#atla!au: design#squints at mahito i think i might b trying a bit too hard fr preliminary designs.......#they keep getting progressively more detailed OOPS#atla!au: art#i feel like no one will complain tho so ! anywayyyyy#thank u hisuian zoroark fr ur weird hair n bad posture. stole that 2 put on this freak n gave him some soul orb hair ties#idk if his design adheres very faithfully to anything that can be considered atla canon....but i like it so much ok sue me#i would unironically like mahito more if he looked like this#let him lean more Monster.......pl..pls.......#dont dig too deep into that statement . anyway.#this whole page is full of chars i just Never draw but i dont have a least favourite here ???? all of them look rly good imo??#waterbender garb suits geto's design so well he gave me No trouble#yuuta on th other hand i was Concerned for on account of th aforementioned Orange on a very monochrome char in jjk canon#but i think i made it work? he looks great in th tattoos also??????#maybe th rumors r true and im good at what i do GHFGHGHL#(oh ya after mahito i didnt want to draw Another monster-spirit so i omitted rika but she exists. probably looks similar 2 canon also!)#(sighs ill deal w her later. priorities !!!!)
738 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello, Clownsuu
I have question if there boundaries on your mob au? Like NSFW and such
Iv mentioned it quite a few times on my side blog but I havenât quite discussed it much here-? So I should probably mention it here too to be thorough!
I do not mind one bit on nsfw art of my au as long as you follow (other) Clownâs rules before mine! (Properly tagging etc etc)
I do not have much rules myself besides these core ones:
-No sus works of illegal behaviors (and I donât mean murder, you know what I mean!)
-No sus works made of my personas (my characters are fine, but my personas are a BIG no no)
-and please do not send me sus asks in my main blog, my second one exists for a reason!
#âWeâre evil but we arenât monsters!â#Another mob barnaby quote NHCHJDHD#Iâm not family friendly here either but itâs much much more tame than the other blog#Other blog is spooky lmAo#Welcome home mob au#not gunna tag the other stuff since this is solely for the mob au
1K notes
·
View notes
Note
Monster Clover, like this is so awesomecool.
They're such a little beast and it is amazing and please i need more, like written text even i just need the juicy lore and emotional moments that are circling in ur brain.
HAT: RETRIEVED!!
#undertale yellow#uty clover#flowey the flower#chara dreemurr#frisk undertale#monster clover au#my art#as for emotional moments. hang in there for another day or 2. got a big batch of comics coming đ#if i ever made a fic for this au i would not advertise it. i got irls following me#they can look at all my cringe ass art but if they read a WORD of fic i wrote i would have to end it all. hope this helps#anyways. frisk appears!! i wont be doing too many canon ut characters in this little au but i like frisk :)#theyre also important for the next part#narrator chara makes an appearance too bc i love them#cowboy (gender neutral)#SORRY I LOVE RAMBLING IN TAGS </3 i love Talking#BUT THANK YOUU i also love my little skrungly im so glad other people like them so much too#mcau comic#mcau art
715 notes
·
View notes
Text
finally giving fem danyal her own au and fulfilling my 'danny is an animal whisperer' agenda at the same time: mother of monsters danyal 2.0
i say "2.0" because TECHNICALLY 'mother of monsters danyal' is an au I made back in June for Dark fem!Danyal (who I promptly named Layal). However, I haven't posted much for her yet, and I like the "mother of monsters" premise too much to leave it only to Layal. Plus Danyal in that au was going to become the mother of monsters anyway, just with significantly less world domination and mass extinction.
'Animal whisperer' Danny has been something I've been thinking about since my latest DP 'wolfpack au' post and it's! So fun to think about, and who no better to assign the idea to than Danyal Al Ghul? Who comes from a family infamously known for their love of animals and nature?
Fem Danyal is just purely self-indulgent. *gestures wildly at her* i just lomvb,,, her,,,, I've only really mentioned her in context of the 'Things in Threes' au/my first Danyal al Ghul au with the facial scar, but she's!!! I love her. She deserves her own au <33
So kill three birds with one stone! Make a post about it.
Anyways, Danny has a large lair. Similar to cult leader danyal, her lair is a giant mountain region resembling nanda parbat with a big temple/palace-like area built into the mountain. It's large, it's overflowing with natural flora, with its own mini-floating islands hovering over some areas, and it's also completely empty.
Danny takes one look at her lair upon first meeting, -- noting that it looked relatively smaller from the outside -- and promptly, with the elegance of an Al Ghul, goes "What the hell??" Because yes, while she does enjoy her own solitude and privacy, this is a bit ridiculous.
For heaven's sake, there's even a massive lake in there! What's she going to do with all this space? Can she make it any smaller? Why is it so big in the first place? This looks borderline like one of the mega-islands!
She finds out later that apparently, the amount of ectoplasm a ghost has can have an effect on the size of their lair. And since she has such a large core, her lair reflects that. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, it's bigger on the inside so it doesn't take up "too much space" on the outside. Don't worry about it too much.
Danyal isn't totally opposed to having such a large lair, she's just... a bit baffled by it. It feels like so much wasted space is all. All this flora and no fauna to enjoy it with. It's practically eerie.
She decorates her temple-palace area, transforming rooms to match her needs as she sees fit. In the center of the inner gardens is a massive tree that she likes to climb, with twisting, winding branches. Sam and Tucker have honorary rooms, even if they can't safely leave the specter speeder for long periods of time, even with proper safety equipment. So does Jazz. Ali (Dani) has one too, but he can actually use that one, and Danny brought him to her lair so he could decorate it himself.
She has a personal garden, but for the most part she lets the flora exist as it is. Too much space to cultivate it en masse anyways.
Skip to a few weeks later, on her next visit to Clockwork. She developed a habit of going to see him semi-regularly just because. She enjoys his wisdom, and he has a lot of stories to tell, and when he's not being the cryptic and esoteric timekeeper, he's a bit goofy.
(pushing my dadwork agenda here,,, i think Danny deserves to go 'hey, Lord Clockwork, do you want me to buy you something' while she's at walmart, only to receive a singular glowing sticky note that says 'cucumber gatorade'.)
(She insists on referring to him with his proper titles even for the most mundane of things because it's proper, but Clockwork sees a future where she eventually calls him "Cee" and by all things in existence is he determined to get there. Anyways,,,)
On her next visit to Clockwork, just as she is about to leave, Clockwork stops her and goes; "Ah, I have something for you. Hold out your hands."
Danny does as such, and Clockwork doesn't give out things often, so her curiosity has spiked to the highest levels. He turns away from her for a moment, using his staff to summon whatever it is he needs, and when he turns around.
He drops a fish into her hands. Granted, a fish in a small glass tank. But a fish nonetheless. A small one, roughly about the size of her finger, with a blue-black, eel-shaped body and four sets of glowing eyes. She can see thin, almost translucent, but spiny fins down its back and the start of bioluminescent markings. It's swimming around in circles in its small container.
"Lord Clockwork." Danyal says all too calmly.
"Yes, Danyal?"
"What is this?"
"That is an adolescent leviathan, Danyal." Sheâs transfixed onto the tank, but she doesnât need to see Clockworkâs face to hear the smile heâs stifling.
The myriad of emotions that runs through her all at once threatens to overwhelm her, and she canât tell if the feelings are negative or positive. So she carefully closes her eyes to breathe in through her nose.
âClockwork.â
âAh, I see youâve dropped formalities.â
She ignores that.
âWhy have you given me an adolescent leviathan?â
She's expecting the trickster to look amused when she opens her eyes. Instead, he just looks endeared. "I know you're fond of animals," he says, "and you always look amazed when you come across an animal of the realms. So I thought you might enjoy taking care of the young beast, it's mother is dead so it has no one to care for it."
Oh.
"But, if you don't like it," Clockwork's hands reach out for the tank, "I can simply take it back--"
Danyal shifts the tank out from his reach and hugs it possessively. "I never said that. How do I care for it?"
And so clockwork gives her a list, and when Danyal returns to her lair, she sets up a large tank in her room for the leviathan to swim in -- it's much too small for the lake right now, she thinks. She'll feel better if it's somewhere she can find it. She names him SuhÄ.
SuhÄ grows quickly, and by the end of the mortal month she transforms one of the rooms into a large pond for him to swim around in. He's a very loyal beast, recognizing her as it's mother of some kind. Danyal takes great care ensuring that her beastie gets quality care, and SuhÄ swims to the surface to see her when he senses her in the room.
It spirals from there. Somehow, Pandora catches wind that Clockwork gave her a leviathan, and so the next time Danyal visits the Greater Athens, she gives her a baby chimera. It's eyes are still sealed shut, Danyal can't bring herself to say no. She names the little beastie Firas.
Frostbite hears about it too, and not to be outdone, gives her an animal she's never even heard of. Infinite-realms born, apparently. A fox-like creature with two small horns like an impala, four eyes, and tall legs. The name isn't something she's quite sure how to write down, and she's positive that her friends won't be able to comprehend it. She names her Eira.
Getting the three of them used to each other was... interesting. SuhÄ tried to eat Firas when Danyal first introduced the two, and they've hated each other ever since. Firas and Eira are seemingly getting along. Her island already feels full enough with the three of them on it.
Of course, that's not the end of it. With her luck, she begins stumbling across other monsters. Realms-borne or otherwise. An injured hydra in the Grecian islands that, through lots of trial and error, Danyal is able to rehabilitate and heal. It routinely comes to visit her afterwards.
A griffin with a broken wing that she moves permanently to the island that likes to keep to itself, but tends to come down when she's near. It gets along best with Firas.
A panther-like monster from the Shades Woods that had six legs and three tails, with ends that reminded her of a venus flytrap. It stuck around the heavy foliage and she can only make out where it was when she saw its golden eyes reflect.
She befriends a young indrik with its leg injured, and much like the hydra it follows her back to her island, and stays there in the mountains. It comes out when she's alone, much like her other beasts.
She receives two more leviathan -- one from clockwork, and one she finds herself while exploring the deeper and darker recesses of the Ghost Zone. It was huddled against the carcass of its mother, and she managed to befriend and get close enough to it to bring it back to her island. SuhÄ is fully grown by then, with a head bigger than Danyal herself and he still likes to stick her head out of the water for nuzzles when she's near.
He's not very happy with his new siblings, but he's not trying to eat them when she's not looking. So she calls it a win in her book.
And it's not just large beasts either; smaller animals begin popping up when she's not looking. Bird-like creatures and small mammals, and she swears she saw a doe (or something resembling a doe) grazing in the forest while she was walking by.
She takes back with her a lone snake egg once, and it grows so big it wraps around her island and sleeps with its massive head on the mountain beside the temple, like some smaller breed of Jörmungandr.
And on and on it goes. Some of the beasts she comes across never step foot onto her island, some of them follow her back, while others she has to carry back. Not all of the ones that follow her stay, and Danny rehabilitates the injured and releases them when they're fully healed.
It's hectic, and busy, and frankly she loves it. Some of her rehabilitated beasts return to visit her, or to have their children somewhere on the island, or whatever it is they need to do.
She becomes a bit infamous for it. She goes to visit Dorathea once, and as she's walking through the streets she can hear some of the denizens whispering while she walks past.
"Is that her?"
"Her highness' friend? Yes--"
"--that's the one--"
"--Mother of monsters--"
Danny's not sure how to feel about that.
Although, she can't say she's opposed.
Danyal Al Ghul, Mother of monsters, raiser of beasts. It has a nice ring to it.
#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dpxdc#dp x dc#dpxdc crossover#danyal al ghul au#dpxdc prompt#fem danny fenton#fem danyal al ghul#mother of monsters danny#if anyone wants to hear about Layal specifically I'd be HAPPY to tell you about her. she's inspired by the song 'scylla' from epic#you can't leave me with dark danny for too long i give him depth if i do. anyways i gave layal mommy issues. she has a complicated view on#danyal and both loves and hates her in equal measure. she killed her out of mercy. she's her mother her sister her other half.#she despises her. she misses her. she'll never see her again. she sees her every time she looks in the mirror. she's 24. she's 10 years old#can you tell that i made layal during a time where i was thinking about the 'dan is danny's kid' dpdc trope bc that's exactly what happened#*holds dad!clockwork up like potato.* 'i just think he's neat :)'#i am incapable of making things only cracky. i must make it meaningful in some way or another.#MMMM i have to cut it off here before it gets too looooNNGGG.#if this flops i'll be sad :((#i just think the idea that danyal has her own little world on her island is neat. she's got dragons and wyrms and serpents and giant wolves#and griffins and one time there's a sphinx although she doesn't stay permanently. Danyal has a blast answering her riddles though.#that panther is based off the dnd displacer beast. there's little salamanders and gazelles with three eyes. there's more sea monsters than#just suhÄ and the other two leviathans but i couldnt think of any. im obsessed with the sea serpents if you havent notice LMFAO.#there's pegasi and a manticore and a ton of infinite realms monsters that are just an assortment of animals slapped together#the shades woods are a mega-island idea that i had. they're where a bunch of the âshades ghostsâ are from. Its this large forest area with#megaflora trees similar to the redwood forest with canopies so thick and wide that no light can reach the bottom. so all of the native faun#living there have adapted to live in the shadows. there are a few villages that live in tall tree houses like the ewok villages that outsid#ghosts can go visit. the panther that's from there is very fond of danyal honestly. anyways yEAH ANIMAL WHISPERER DANNY.#her beasties are all animals up until she's like. 19. where she promptly steals an infant minotaur from a Legends Islands near Pandora#he wasn't being treated well okay!!! she couldn't stand by and watch. his name is asterion. he's a year old. and she'll kill for him.#i dont have enough tags to talk about Damian or her family >:T. just know that i am leaning into her assassin bg as usual :)
148 notes
·
View notes
Text
my aus have aus, it's like a big tree and all the little branches are the slightly different situations I've put my favourite little guys in
#fusion au exes au edating exes au fusion au pt 2 and pt 3 and pt 4 ghost au a second ghost au the aoyama zone a different taz au#yet again another taz au magnus archives au tennis au scammers to lovers au cecaelia au dog au x2 camp counselor au bird au wing au#madoka magica au competitive dance au bakuballet au art school au coorperate employees au shrek forever after au rival bus driver au myth a#dog in the dorms au (different from the dog aus) meet the robinsons au battle of the blades au monsters university au cowboy au pokemon au#quirkless non ua student deku au villain deku au cause I gotta have that au where they stayed friends with the other kids they hung out wit#kung fu panda au time travel au nightmare time loop au polyfam au tenko get adopted by inko au spiderman au x2 bald au? does that count lol#clown au witches au fem fantasy au avatar au steins gate au erased au soul eater au stark trek (wrath of khan) au drag queen au jeopardy au#devil wears prada au IT crowd bkdk au (different from scammers to lovers) gay praying mantis au matrix au cars au hades au cervitaur au#I could go on
172 notes
·
View notes
Text
Monster falls
#how are we feeling about this au? yay? nay?#more on the way#I'm not asking I'm just saying I'm actively making another post of this au. sorry#gravity falls#gravity falls au#monster falls#ford pines#stanford pines#stan pines#stanley pines#gargoyle stan#sphinx ford#ye. monster au#art#fanart#traditional art#watercolor#animal au
228 notes
·
View notes
Text
Horror's nightmare
Horror doesn't think much on his past anymore, but his nightmares often resurface the guilt he's buried about the idea that he could have prevented it all somehow, even if it came at the cost of his own life.
Thankfully, Nightmare is here to make him a hot drink to calm his nerves and promise him a visit to his brother when the sun is up, because Papyrus will always be very glad to see his brother alive and visiting (and as sleepy as ever).
#UTDR#UTMV#Horror Sans#Nightmare Sans#My Art#Truce au#Bad dreams comic#Just when you thought you were safe from my 50 ongoing art projects I remember to finish another one >:3c#I had a lot of fun with this one! Despite how kind of grim it is#It gave me a chance to play with different brushes and work with colours and such which is cool :D#Anyway yeah Horror likes to think he's at peace with his past#Especially considering who he lives with - he's probably the least haunted of the 4#But there is always a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he is in some way responsible#If not for breaking the core and more or less killing the scientist trying to fix it#(Even though it was at least partly justified since they tried to kill him first)#Then for letting the human go by with lvl in the first place knowing that they would end up killing Asgore in the end#Even if he couldn't have possibly known how bad things would get as a result#Also!! In case you're wondering Monster Kid and the dog are in the start because it's a dream#In his mind he always remembers horrortale before it started falling apart and losing people#And now... (turns my terrible little eyes upon Cross)
271 notes
·
View notes
Text
Price: Uh⊠why do you have a skirt of garlic?
Demon!Ghost: So Soap will leave my ass alone and stop trying to bite it
Price: Why would he bite your ass?
Demon!Ghost: He wonât because of the garlic. Arenât you listening?
#another monster au#vampire!soap being a menace#call of duty#cod mwii#modern warfare ii#simon ghost riley#john price#john soap mactavish#incorrect quotes#soapghost#ghostsoap
644 notes
·
View notes
Text
@cupofchemicalchatter and I were thinking about my ace attorney monster AU and we decided to be silly and make one up for Mob Psycho 100
Reigen is a kitsune (bro is a fox, need I say more? Jk I will say more. His tails move around a lot, just like his hands). Serizawa is a vampire (shut in, uses umbrella to block the sun, goes to night school, likes small/dark spaces [coughcough like a coffin]). The Kageyama boys are cats. Teru is a fairy. Tome is an alien (she just wants to find others like her, so thatâs why she wants to communicate with extraterrestrials). Takenaka is a werewolf (hearing, lone wolf, etc). Sho is a half-Dragonborn (his mom being human, his dad being Dragonborn).
We think Mogami would be like a Lich, Tsubomi would be an elf, and Dimple would stay the same HAHA
#doctorsiren#mob psycho 100#reigen arataka#serizawa katsuya#shigeo kageyama#ritsu kageyama#teruki hanazawa#tome kurata#takenaka momozou#sho suzuki#serirei#mp100 au#monster psycho au#mp100 fanart#digital art#my art#procreate#LOOK I AM JUSTIFIED IN GIVIGN REIGEN 4 EARS HERE OKAY#WHEN I LOOKED UP KITSUNE. A LOT OF THEM HAD HUMAN EARA AND FOX EARS SO#my silly habit of givign animal people human ears and animal ears is FINE đ#the kagepawmasâŠ.#they are so smallâŠso tinyâŠ#I am not me if I donât make designs turning characters from one thing into another hehe
278 notes
·
View notes
Text
Mothra won't forget the night when Godzilla came home drunk as shit...đđ
#THAT DAY MOTHRA WON'T LET GODZILLA DRAGGED BY HIS STUPID FRIENDS FOR ANOTHER ROUNDS OF DRINK#SHE'S MAD THOUGH LMAO#godzilla#mothra#mothzilla#mosugoji#godzilla x mothra#monsterverse#kaiju#godzilla king of the monsters#godzilla kotm#godzilla x kong: the new empire#gxk#memes#shitpost#funny shitpost#generation au: monsterverse edition
170 notes
·
View notes
Note
That one bit in your Tucker shirt just made me realize something: how would Tucker react if he ran into a Monster High student that resembled that hot werewolf girl he fell for in Reality Trip?
Silvi kiiiinda looks like the Empress She-Wolf I suppose?... and Tucker is but a teenage boy after all
#danny phantom#half normie au#silvi timberwolf#tucker foley#monster high#my art#i have another part to this#because i couldn't stop myself#ill add it in a reblog later tho
2K notes
·
View notes
Text
Memories of somethin' even smoking weed does not replace.
wc: 2.9k | cw: alcohol | rated: M | part: 1/2 | tags: pre s4 au, steve harrington centric, stobin soulmates, raised catholic steve harrington
part 2 | ao3
Ëâ±ââ©â§ââïœĄâ§Ëâ±âââ©â§â
8:32pm January 3rd: Steveâs car
âGod stop complaining! Itâs one party!â Robin says, her exasperation at Steve finally boiling over.
Steve rolls his eyes, hard, wants to make sure she sees it. Heâs stressed and uncomfortable and wants to be petty and petulant and complain because this night is going to end in him embarrassing himself somehow, he just knows it.Â
Robin makes just as much of a face back at him but then her eyes are full of concern. âYouâve just, been so mopey lately.â she fiddles with her fingers, bites a nail even though that was her resolution. âand I know you say you havenât been, but you know that I know, that you barely got out of bed on your days off over the holidays and that makes me sad.â Robin laments, ripping his bitchiness off like a bandaid, seeing whats underneath. Â
Steve signs, defeated by her big beautiful brain. She is right, but. âRobbie. it was between Christmas and new year, there was nothing going on. What do you expect me to do? itâs literally time made for relaxing.â Steves own exasperation falling away into something that just sounds tired. Heâs so tired. And he hates it when she worries, heâs not, heâs still not used to it. Someone who cares, notices when he spends three days in bed because the thought of getting up when his parents are downstairs makes him want to puke. And, he loves her for it, but, sometimes it makes his skin crawl, makes him feel like heâs not good enough, not hiding well enough. Pitied.Â
âBut you donât relax. You mope. You, like, wallow.â She pokes his arm a couple times for emphasis, but her voice is softer, still a little sad. âAnd.â she takes a deep breath. âI know you donât want to talk about it. But I also know this time of year makes you miss Nancy.âÂ
âOh God, Rob, please.â Steve whines, desperate now. âDonât start bringing up Nancy.â He drags a hand down his face, that is the last thing he wants to talk about. Think about. Admit anything to anyone about.Â
Sheâs not, entirely wrong but Steve still hates hearing it. He does miss Nancy, or, well, misses her in theory. He doesnât really miss her anymore. But, he misses being her boyfriend, a boyfriend. Being needed, and being held, as pathetic as that sounds.
âI know. Just.â Robin says, twisting in her seat to look at him looking at the road. âI just. I want you to have some fun dingus.â
Steve squeezes the steering wheel. He nods. Glancing at her and giving her enough of a smile that she knows not to feel bad. Itâs really not her fault that this time of year makes him want to sink into a hole, makes him think about purgatory and black vines, what he wants for his future if both can exist.
âItâll just be some band kids there, a few stragglers, no oneâs going to care that youâre there too.â Robin explains. âPlus, if they say anything Iâll be there to defend you.â And Steve can hear that care again, but its lighter, said through the joke. He lets his shoulders drop and Steve smiles for real. He canât help it.Â
âYeah, yeah.â he says, like she isnât his everything. Glancing away from the road a second, Steve catches her smile. Happy sheâs won but happier that heâs going to at least try and have fun.
âAnd, donât forget you promised to help me with seeing if any of the girls there are even remotely available to me.â Robin sits back normally in her seat. Talking normally again, worry about her soulmate time over. âPlus, who knows, your new favourite customer might just be there too.â She says into the window, head leaning on her palm.Â
âRobin!â Steve near shouts, scandalised that sheâd bring that up.Â
Robin just cackles.
âMan, you say a guys jeans fit him nice one time and then itâs all you hear about.â He grumbles, pretending his cheeks arenât flaming red. He really hopes any discomfort tonight has nothing to do with that. He almost prays on it. But monsters come out of walls so he stops himself.Â
Robin wriggles around in her seat, delighted by his suffering. âHey! Hey! No, okay you ragged on me over Tammy! I can make fun of you for making goo goo eyes at Eddie Munson!â
9:00 January 3rd: Kitchen
Steve shivers as the heat from the house mixes with the cold evening air he just walked through. Robin at his side but sheâs quickly swept up in a little crowd to say hellos. She looks for him but Steve just waves her on with a scrunch of his eyebrows and a gesture to the beer he wants to find a sport for.Â
The kitchen in strewn with bottles and cups and snacks, not a total disaster but people have definitely been helping themselves. Steve is a little laser focused on getting the cans set down so he can start on one, relax his nerves a bit, so he doesnât even notice Eddie sitting on the counter until he nearly gets kneed in the crotch.Â
He takes a hasty step back and gives himself a mental shake, get out of his own head. Eddies smile looks amused, his eyes able to look so sharp. Steve swallows, grateful for Eddies silence.Â
âHey man. You want one?â Steve offers Eddie a beer and makes a spot for them on the side.Â
Eddie takes it, nodding in thanks, their fingers donât brush, Steve would know. âYou looking for anything stronger tonight? like King Steve back in the day?â Eddie asks, taking a drink, hair framing the long line of his neck.
The old name makes bile raise in his throat. Eddie didnât mean it like that, probably, wouldnât have said it if heâd known how much that name feels like a brand on Steves skin. Itchy and scarred. Like âHarringtonâ, like âBullshitâ, like something that makes people think they know him, like his body and self isnât his own. Â
Steve looks away. âUh, nah, Iâll stick to the classics.â Popping the lid and taking a long gulp, going for casual, slouching against the counter.
Eddie nods like itâs no big deal. âI wonât make this awkward by asking you about college. I know you know Iâve seen you at family video.âÂ
âYour late back on âPoltergeistâ.â Steve says without thinking. Winces, why is he acting like such a loser? âBut uh, yeah. Thanks.â He finishes lamely. No way any colleges wanted him on his concussion grades and zero extra curricular credits.Â
âShit, so you do actually do your job.â Eddie shakes his head, like Steve had deeply wounded him, sarcastic and mocking, pretty little glint in his eye. But it still makes some ugly, desperate little part of Steve rear up and want to take it back, beg for forgiveness.Â
Steve drowns that thought and chugs the rest of his beer.Â
Someone must motion something to Eddie from one of the other rooms because he nods his head up in understanding. But before he goes he leans in closer to Steve, smirking. âOh, and, donât thank me yet. I also saw you in that sailor get up at the mall.âÂ
Steve chokes on his spit, coughing and spluttering like an idiot.
âThanks for the beer.â Eddie says, patting him once on the shoulder before hopping off the counter and into the throws of the party.
Steve watches him go, skin of his shoulder tingling through his sweater. He feels an itch, like heâs being watched and turns his head to find robin staring at him from where sheâs still by the door, talking to friends. Her smile wicked.Â
Robins parting words from the car float back through his mind and make his stomach twist. âLucky for you, Eddie makes goo good eyes right back.â Sheâd said, quiet and teasing, and Steve hates her. her hates her.Â
Itâs going to be a long night.Â
10:54 January 3rd: Staircase
Itâs a little quieter at the front of the house.
It had been going pretty well and then someone mentioned Starcourt. A couple pairs of eyes flashed to him in recognition. Someone murmuring to another, mentioning Hop. And then Steves eyes were prickling and his wrists were tingling and he had to excuse himself. Squeezing Robins shoulder for her not to follow. Just a minute alone to breath. Sip his drink to get the copper to wash from his lips. Get his teeth back where theyâre supposed to be. Â
Orange streetlights filter through the window of the front door. It catches the dust, makes it sparkle.Â
He thinks about midnight mass with his parents, their one Christmas plan that heâs not allowed to get out of. Thinks about how the light filtered through the stained glass, made patches of the floor look red. Thought about the ceiling of Starcourt, the taste of red metal on his tongue as the world spun.Â
Went up for communion and crossed himself. Looked up at the crucifix. Thought about how the gash that opened in Joyceâs living room was red. How somethings grow in darkness, in cracks and out of sinew. A nail bat ripping through skin.Â
He looks at the drink Robin made him as a joke, its almost wine coloured, a murky, deep red. It makes Steves insides twist, she didnât mean it, she didnât. But blood of the lamb is making the back of his eyelids flash red and brown, flash lightning and ash floating through the air. His nose filled with mould.Â
âYeesh what is that Harrington?â Steve looks up, Eddieâs blocking some of the orange light, head haloed and face in shadow.Â
Steve looks back into the cup, seeing it for what it is again. Remembering how her face lit up with laughter as she dumped in whatever she could find, knowing it would be awful but knowing Steve would still drink it. She made it for him, how could he not?Â
He looks back up at Eddie, Steve can smell his cologne. It smells good. âDonât ask, Robin made it.â He waves his hand and tries to clear his head of red and black. The spirits mix with the beer and now his hands and feet tingle, he focuses on that, itâs nice.
Eddie eyes it warily. âYou wanna trade?â and he holds up a beer, a different brand that the ones Steve brought, he has two, for some reason.Â
Steve looks into his cup, âIts honestly not that bad.â He swirls the contents around a little, thereâs something floating in it.Â
âSeriously?â Eddie asks. Steve looks up at him and his eyebrows have disappeared behind his bangsÂ
Steve smiles, his lips tingling. âNo.â and his smile grows at Eddie laugh, he has dimples.
He looks at Eddie and decides, then, to take. See what he gets given. He can confess later.
The alcohol made a couple of the awkward conversations he had tonight bearable and the couple less awkward conversations he had enjoyable. Maybe itâll do the same for him now. Steve takes the beer and places his other drink carefully on the stair behind where heâs sitting, makes a mental note to dump it out when he moves.Â
He shifts, sitting in a way he hopes looks casual, like he wasnât just thinking about divine sacrifice. The staircase it wide and the carpet is soft, a nice place to take a break. A nice place to talk to a boy. A boy who makes his heart beat in his throat. Steve can confess later.Â
âYou run Hellfire right?â He asks, sipping his beer and cataloguing again how the orange light shines on eddies hair, over his shoulder.Â
Eddie faces him fully, bobbing his head slightly to the music, Steve doesnât recognise the song, he doesnât think its one they play on the radio. âYeah?âÂ
âYeah. like X-menâ Steve says. Â
Eddie blinks at him, but then the corners of his mouth curl and his eyelids droop and Steve feels too hot suddenly. âOkay, Iâm gonna need his majesty to explain how he knows about either of those.âÂ
Swallowing, Steve goes for honest. âWell first off you used to put new posters up every, like, two weeks man, kinda hard to ignore.â Steve says, lifting up a finger. he paid attention, eddies doesn't need to know yet how much. But Steve paid attention.Â
Eddie stays silent, looks at him, eyes roaming over his face, lip still curled. Steve feels his adams apple bob.Â
âSecond, I babysit some of the dweebs who are current members.â Steve lifts a second finger, takes another sip of beer. âAnd three, X-men is like super popular. And, like, super good.â And Steve takes another drink, just because, just to help him be.Â
Eddies lips curl into a full smile, all teeth and a little tongue. He sips his own beer, looking away from Steve then back at him a couple times, like he thinks heâll vanish, change before his very eyes. He shakes his head. âWhat changed with you man? I never expected any of that to ever come out of your mouth, like, ever.â And eddies sounds kind of delighted, voice musical and tinkling.Â
Steve just shrugs, feels hot, Eddies voice too close to happy, words too close to praise. âGrew up a little, I guess.â He crosses his arms, looks down at his shoes.Â
âYeah? That why no more parties?â and Eddies voice is soft, Steve can feel his body heat, his knee by eddies hip.Â
âIâm just not so big on, that much attention any more. That much noise.â Steve says, looking back into Eddies face. Finds him staring, lips quirked in a little smile, softer, then before. Leaning his chin in his hands on the banister, leaning into Steves space.
âSo, you and Buckley, whatâs that about?â Eddies whispering now, like he knows itâs precious. The orange light kisses his cheek.
Steve clears his throat, whispers back. âSummer job. We scooped ice cream and she, uh, scooped up my heart.â he smiles, just from talking about her, thinking about them.Â
âOh.â Eddie says, drawing away just slightly, eyes hardening in a way Steve hates.Â
He almost reaches out, something drastic, desperate. But he pulls back, fiddles with the tab on his can. âNo, um. Not that kind of oh. I mean in, like, a friend way. Totally platonic oh.âÂ
âRightâ Eddie comes back, but itâs not quite the same, the moment lost. Steve feels a rosary between his knuckles.Â
âSeriously, platonic soulmates. Itâs a thing.â He tries to lighten, tries to make Eddie read his mind the way robin does. It takes a moment, but then Eddie lets his eyes drink in Steves face again. His smile unfurling, sweet and pretty and different than before. He nods once, taking a drink. Looking away, cheekbones flushed pink.Â
Steve can confess later.Â
Robin comes barrelling down the hall calling out for Steve. But she skids to a halt when she sees Eddie. Then her eyes find Steve and she looks at him with raised eyebrows and barely contained glee bubbling under its surface. âMunson.â She greets, eyes staying on Steve. âYouâre late back on âPoltergeist.â
Eddie laughs, big and delighted. âHey Buckley.â He says. âLooking for your boy?â but as he said that heâs gone back to the same position, still leaning on his hands, still looking right at Steve.Â
Steve feels his cheeks heat.Â
âUgh, not my boy. You are definitely not getting out your late fee for that.â And she shoves him out of the way to get to Steve and grab his hand. âThey want me to play beer pong, youâre on my team.â And sheâs pulling him up and away.Â
Steve cranes his neck back to give Eddie a little wave goodbye but heâs pushing off the banister, heâs following.Â
He walks slow, lazy, almost sauntering. Looking right at Steve still, with that little smirk. He knows. He knows. Steve feels the eucharist on his tongue. âWhat?â Eddie asks, innocent but his smile isnât. âI wanna watch.â And Steve just squeezes Robins hand tighter, lets her pull him into the kitchen.Â
11:45 January 3rd: Kitchen
People cheer as Steve neatly sinks the ping pong ball into the final cup, Robin nearly jumping onto his back sheâs so exited. The first couple games with Robin and some of her random band friends really weren't great, he drank a few times, helped Robin get through her shares, they barely won. But by the third game he basically played alone and won pretty easily. The crowd seem entertained, cheering for him and random people kept patting him on the shoulder. itâs weird, a little stale on his skin to be congratulated like that, over something like this again. But heâll be that guy again for one night, if just to make Robin smile.Â
He downs a cup someone offers him in celebration. Accepting a couple high fives from Robins band friends. Tries to not be weird, to not show how the praise makes him itch.Â
Steve lifts his wrist up to wipe at his mouth. His eyes drawn to the far side of the room. Eddie is leaning against the wall, black jacket against stark white. He claps slowly once, twice, his eyes shining with something. Like Steve is something funny, something interesting.Â
Steveâs hands and feet tingle, his lips a little numb. Feels warm. Doesn't think about churches or blood or monsters. Just lifts his eyebrows, sucks some of the sticky beer from the pad of his thumb, and winks.Â
Eddie rolls his eyes and rolls off the wall, disappearing into another room.Â
But Steve saw his smile.Â
Ëâ±ââ©â§ââïœĄâ§Ëâ±âââ©â§â
part 2 | ao3
written for Lexâs Spicy Six Winter Challenge! run by @thefreakandthehair and using the prompt: 'spiked eggnog'. ty for putting this on always!! sorry im posting on the last day again lol xoxo
title from 'stick season' by noah kahan (edited slightly to fit better)
@pearynice and @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx ty for the kind words and guidance getting me unstuck with this fic <3 its alive now
lmk if you would like a tag for part two :)
#hes a boy with a lot of thoughts#some of those are about another boy#some are about the meaning of grace in a world with monsters#and that's okay#this was very hard and then very fun to write#hotlunch#my fic#steddie#steve x eddie#catholic steve harrington#pre s4 au#platonic soulmates stobin#spicysixwinterfanworkschallenge
265 notes
·
View notes