#anyways. I also know this fic will get like. 5 reads when I’m done with it but I also gotta do my part and contribute to zirk nation 🫡

[white-weasel]

Writing something about Zirk. Meant for it to just be a quick “Fia and Henry find out about Zirk’s deal with the fairy.” I have instead written 2k and we’re just getting to the part where Fia comes in and is going to start the conversation

[sadnightforus]

NEXT LIFE  (JJH)

toxic-boyfriend!jaehyun x gn!reader

SYNOPSIS: You’re sick and tired of the on and off relationship you have with your boyfriend. He was a chaos and you were trying to tame it, overtime, it burns you and turns you into someone you don’t recognize. And you decide that you’ll walk out of this, to save both yourself and him.

WORD COUNT: 1.4K

WARNINGS: ghosting, neglectful behaviors, toxic toxic toxic, manipulation, self destructive behaviors on god, this makes my head spin.

A/N: i’m better at long one shot than a full fic. embarrassing. anyway, enjoy this charli xcx crumbs, i love love love next life by her (which is the inspo for this). also super fun fact, I wrote this on March this year and it's October now lol.

reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated!

 You both are at the river side, a popular spot for couples to hang out and strengthen their bonds. For you, it’s very far from the truth that you want to strengthen it, because you know it’s on the verge of falling and there’s no way to stop it from crashing and burning.

 It’s a nice day, you feel content. Or force yourself to feel content with what you have. 

 Then you begin to think far, about how tired you are. How sick you are that your relationship with him played out like this and it never became better as time went by. But in one way or another, you found yourself going back to Jung Jaehyun, no matter what. 

 You think his heart is made of metal, that’s why he doesn’t care to change.

 Love can be so pure, but so poisonous, and you’re on the receiving end of the latter. You can barely recall what love is supposed to be like anymore.

 Loving him is a form of self harm, you convinced. Why does it hurt to walk away even when you need to?

 You’ve always been more than understanding. You understand why people lie. You let people use you and throw you away many times, it’s the same thing with him. Nothing is more addictive than lies that come from his lips such as ‘I love you’ and ‘I’ll never hurt you’ are some of the few. And when he kissed you like he meant it. But you know he was kissing in an attempt to mend the broken heart and only then crushed it with his own hands. 

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”  You blurt out, in the moment that you both are enjoying the riverside sight after all of the chaos, which earns a confused look from your boyfriend. You stand up, pulling the strap of your bag to stay on your shoulder as Jaehyun does the same. 

“What’s wrong?” He questions, stunned by the sudden change in your behavior that was just sweet moments ago. Despite that, his face never falters from the stoic expression and you find it so hard to read him.

“I want to break up for real. This time.” You breathe out, finding the courage and words that hides itself in the back of your brain, then gazing right into his eyes before continuing. “Thank you for everything. But we shouldn’t do this anymore.” 

 He reaches out to grab your hand, as if a sentiment for you to change your mind. There’s a different sparkling in his eyes, almost like he cares about your departure from his life. He shifts closer, analyzing your body language if you were being honest. “Do you? Do you not wanna do this anymore?” 

“Yes.” You find the courage to speak louder than you had ever been. Maybe it’s a false confidence, but you want to get out of this situation. He makes it so hard with the way he has been giving you those helpless eyes that made you want to rethink everything you’ve said. 

 Except you don’t. 

“But we can try again, can’t we?” He pleads, asking for another chance but you won’t crumble like you had done so in the past. 

“You say that every time, but that’s why this shit dragged on for 5 years! 5 YEARS!” 

 Perhaps your voice will most likely catch the attention of many if it wasn’t for the fact you both are the farthest as you can possibly be from the area where it has a few people. That much of a distance buys both of you the privacy of doing this in public. 

“I’m really sorry…” 

“Do you mean it? Do you mean it when you say you’re sorry?” It sounds condescending, but really it’s not. It almost sounds taunting, but he doesn’t miss the way tears are making its way out of your eyes. “You don't, right? You don’t. You always said sorry but then you’d go back to neglect me then we’ll fight and say it’s my fault. Then we’ll make up and then get along for you to ghost on me again. Tell me, what did I do for me to get that kind of treatment? Do people in relationships do the same thing as we did?” 

 His eyes shift around, uncertain of the outcome, although in his guts, he knows that it’s not as the same as it was before. That thought crashes him. He was overconfident that you would stay and tolerate him forever.

 Maybe he was wrong. 

 You have tried loving him and given him so many chances, but it was never easy– you watched him being self-destructive. Itt was the same old broken song record that you kept trying, hoping that you would be able to fix all of those errors. He was a beautiful chaos, but still a chaos that you needed to get away from.

 And you do indeed need to get away from him, everything has worn you down so much that you barely recognize yourself. You begin to wonder, why did you let him play with your heart this much?

“Are you aware that I’m just a human too? Every time I thought we could just be friends or change into someone better, you turned around and fuck it up. I DON’T GET YOU!” You yell, hot tears streaming down your cheeks due to frustration. “It’s not the first time you made me feel like this. I’m so fucking tired. Do you see how tired I am? DO YOU?!” You try to suppress your cries in an attempt to articulate your thoughts as you search for remorse on Jaehyun’s face. “We went back and forth so many times. My friends watched me bend my back for you, picking you up at the bar just because you fought with someone who ran their mouths. Aren’t you tired?”

“I am.” 

 His answer sounds as worn out as you are. “I’m sick of it too. But what can I do? I’m fucked up on everything. I’m lonely, you were my only hope. When you were gone, I wanted to get your attention and tie you back to me.”

“Why would you do that?”

“As selfish as it is, you were the only person who had your best interest for me.” And he ends it with “I’m sorry that I took advantage of your kindness. I’m too confident that I’ll get back up on my feet and you’ll still be there in the future. But I’m wrong.”

 You’re stunned, so stunned that you held your breath because you can’t believe what he was saying.

 Suddenly, you see the glimpse of the Jung Jaehyun that you fell in love with, before all of these catastrophic events. You wish that he hadn’t changed so much, because it’s too late to back out now.

 You turn around in an attempt to walk away, want to, but a hand stops you.

 “Let go of my hand.” Your voice trembles, betray the confident demeanor you had earlier as you were lashing out. 

“No.” He firmly answers. “If you promise to answer this question, I’ll promise that I’ll let you go.”

“Okay.” You turn back around, dancing him as you take in a look of him one last time, because you might never see him again. You pull your hand out of his grasp, and he doesn’t make a big fuss over it.

“Do you think somewhere in the parallel universe, we’re happily engaged and in love and I’m.. the best person you could ask for?”

“I think so.” You meet his eyes, which are bloodshot red from tearing up by now.

“That’s all.” He nods, biting his upper lips to suppress his cries. “Maybe we’ll be better in our next life.”

“Maybe in our next life, I’d think twice about this.” You sigh, then finally say out the words you want to say the most. “Goodbye, Jaehyun.”

“Goodbye, Y/N.”

 As you turn around to walk away from the river, heart heavy and body tense, there’s still Jaehyun who stands frozen in the same place since you had left him there.

 His eyes are piercing at your figure that slowly makes its way to slip out further and further from his sight. He wishes he can tell you this one thing.

“Maybe in our next life, there will be no goodbye.”

 But he has to accept that you’re gone, and won’t come back to him anymore.

COPYRIGHTED BY SADNIGHTFORUS, 2024

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 8

Fic Summary: Steve 'the Hair' Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you'll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)

Chapter Summary: Eddie explains himself, and you two make plans to hang out on purpose.

5.7k Words

a/n: Sorry I haven't been updating! I swear, I'm almost always thinking about this fic but I've been trying to figure out where to go with it. I'm started to see how I want to shape the story (over 40k words in, go figure). Thank you all so much for your patience!

Also, I've had a lot of people ask me about Paige and have shown interest in what happened between her and Eddie. She is actually from Eddie's prequel novel, Flight of Icarus! I'll still explain bits and pieces during the story, but I highly recommend reading the novel for the full context. I am trying to write this in a way you don't need to read FoI, but it does give extra context to the story.

Anyway, we continue.

Aside from the mixtape playing in the van, it was surprisingly quiet between you and Eddie. Despite his eagerness to show up and take you out, now that you were sitting in his passenger side seat again, he had no idea what to do next. The sound of Iron Maiden was rumbling through the van, crackling through the old speakers. 

It wasn’t often that Eddie was at a loss for words or couldn’t come up with something to say. After embracing his role in the Hawkins High ecosystem as the resident loudmouth freak he could always come up with something to say to break the ice or cause a ruckus. 

But, being loud wasn’t exactly a substitution for actual charisma. He could hold the attention of his Hellfire Club during the game, and keep them safe enough from most bullies even. But intimidation was different than... whatever the hell he was supposed to be doing here. Flirting? That seemed right. He knew he should be trying to flatter you or compliment you or do something to show that he had an interest in you. 

“So,” you were the one to break the silence between the two of you. “What have you been up to for the past two weeks?”

Eddie know what you actually meant was “What the fuck, man?” which was a really fair question. 

“I should have called you sooner.” It was best to go ahead and rip the bandaid off now and get this conversation out of the way. “I’m sorry, I wanted to but I couldn’t.”

“Why not?” you asked, leaning against the passenger side door as you looked at him. Despite your eagerness to get out of Family Video with him, he could see that you weren’t going to just let him not explain why he hadn’t talked to you. Not that he was going to leave you hanging like that anyway. 

“My phone blew up.” Eddie said bluntly. 

“Your phone blew up? Like... actually exploded?” you asked, trying to see if he was fucking with you. 

“Remember that huge storm a few weeks ago? Turns out that old trailers don’t exactly have the best wiring sometimes so when lightning strikes it knocks out power for a few days and fries some important wires.” he explained. “So... yeah, we just got a new phone today and when I tried to call...”

“So, I didn’t answer my phone so you decided to track me down?” There was amusement in your voice which he took as a good sign. “Seems like you could have done that part earlier. I’m not hard to find.” 

“I’m not exactly interested in stalking.” Eddie snorted. “I’m already on enough people's shitlist in town.”

“Oh, you’re no fun.” you laughed. “You know where I live, you could have shown up at my doorstep in the rain or used random phones around town to leave weird messages about how you can’t stop thinking about me or sent me letters with cryptic meanings.”

“Where do you come up with these things?” Eddie laughed, feeling the tension between the two of you start to dissipate. 

“I read a lot of bodice-ripper books.” you shrugged. “Trashy romance novels are a guilty pleasure sometimes.” 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a weirdo?” 

“Steve did about an hour ago when I suggested that Bozo the clown could be the shit out of Pennywise from It.” 

Eddie wasn’t sure what he expected you to say, but it wasn’t that. Every time you had shown up in his life, you had completely thrown him off. He was starting to suspect that no amount of “Munson Magic” was going to work on you. Not that he wanted to work his dad’s charm on you to begin with. 

What he really wanted to do at that moment was ask you about your little bet with Steve. No, wait, not a bet. A deal? Maybe he should have asked Dustin more questions, or at least waited until after Hellfire to talk to the kid- 

”So what’s the plan?” You broke through his thoughts once again. “You show up out of nowhere and have me get into your unmarked van to take me to a second location... is there a second location in mind?”

There wasn’t, Eddie really hadn’t thought that far ahead.He’d panicked after his talk with Wayne and had shown up to Family Video on the chance that you’d been there. He’d run straight out the door with every intention of finding you and let you know that he was stupid for not trying harder to call you before. 

”I figured we could just... drive.” He wished he could ignore the sudden parallel between you and Paige. He wished that he could just forget about what happened in ‘84. Fuck, him and Paige never even had an official date, only hooking up in his van for a few weeks before everything blew up. 

Wait, was this a date? Crap, that had been the plan right? Show up, ask you on a date and then... then he’d be on a date. What the FUCK was he actually doing? He was acting so fucking awkward now- everything had been easier before. Why did Dustin have to open his big mouth about this?

“Just driving sounds great.” you said, and Eddie once again tried to relax. Every girl he had been with had wanted something from him. Nicole Summers and Cass Finnigan just wanted bragging rights that they got with the freak, and Paige had wanted him to be a rock hero. What did you want from him?

“Have you eaten?” It wasn’t exactly late, but it wasn’t really early in the evening either. His uncle always asked him that whenever one of them got home, and it had taken Eddie an embarrassingly long time to realize that it was Wayne’s way of showing that he cared. 

“I could eat.” you replied, which at least gave this... whatever this was, some structure for the night. Eddie didn’t have a lot of cash on him, but he could probably scrape together enough to get you each a burger or something. 

When the Iron Maiden tape clicked off and spat itself out, you took it upon yourself to pull it out and look it over. “Got any other tapes in here? I need to judge your music taste.” 

That made Eddie laugh “You and every other person in this town. I have a few more tapes in here.” He tapped on the center console which you eagerly dug into, flipping through the different cassettes with eagerness. 

“Metal. Metal. Metal. Metal.” You said, going through each cassette one by one. “I’m starting to see a pattern here, Eddie.” 

“What gave it away?” He said deadpan. “Was it that I play guitar or the fact that we’ve only bonded over music so far?”

“And Chris Morrison.”

“And Chris Morrison.”

“It was your hair, actually. You look so much like Eddie Van Halen it’s actually uncanny.” You looked up from the tapes and he could feel your eyes studying his face. He was glad that it was dark out now, as he could feel warmth rising in his cheeks at the comparison. Was that a compliment? Were you into him looking like Van Halen? 

“Van Halen?” Eddie asked. “I figured I was more of a Kirk Hammett type.”

“The hair yes,” you agreed, still staring at his face as he continued to drive. “But your smile is definitely more Van Halen.”

When was the last time someone had ever looked at him with that much consideration before? Something in Eddie’s gut twisted as he glanced over at you for a split second to meet your eyes. Huh, that was weird. Had anyone made him nervous like this before? Yeah he’d been attracted to Paige but this was starting to feel different. 

He really needed a cigarette right about now. 

“I hope that’s a compliment.” Eddie managed to say as he fumbled for the packet of Camels in the cupholder by him. 

“Oh, it is. I promise.” you replied, digging out a lighter and helping him light the smoke in his mouth. The world's tiniest supernova...

Eddie hated that the closest thing he had to compare notes on when it came to a healthy romance was two months with Paige and a handful of movies that he barely watched. 

You went back to his tapes, and seemed to pick one out. You removed the tape that had been spat out, put it back in the appropriate case (which Eddie found himself appreciating), and he was surprised to hear the old riffs of Muddy Waters playing. 

“A palate cleanser.” you said, leaning back into the passenger side seat. 

Eddie felt his mind reeling from your choice of music. Muddy Waters had been how his mom introduced him to rock at a young age. The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the well loved tape as he pulled into the drive in of the next fast food joint he’d seen. 

When he pulled up to the window to pay, a fresh ten was shoved in his face before he could even reach for his own wallet. It took a moment for him to realize that you were wanting to pay. 

“You got me out of work early, it’s the least I can do.” you said, not giving him the option to say no as cash was exchanged for a bag of questionable but cheap food. You held the bag in your lap as Eddie started making his way out of town. 

“So is this an ‘eating van’ or a ‘non-eating van’?” you asked, messing with the top of the bag. 

“I think I’d starve if I didn’t eat in here.” Eddie snorted. “Knock yourself out.”

You wasted no time digging into the fries and taking a few for yourself as Eddie went to the only place that he could afford to take you right now that might be date worthy. 

Luckily, Lover’s Lake was quiet and private on weeknights. If Eddie had taken two minutes to plan this better, he would have thought to maybe clear out the back of his van and set out a blanket and have a picnic. When it came to music and D&D he was great at planning out details, with dates? Not so much. 

This isn’t a date. He reminded himself for the hundredth time tonight. She’s just a girl that you ran over to spend time with the second it occurred to you that she might have an interest in you and she really willingly hopped in your van and your friends actually like her-

Shit. This had to be a date right? Neither of you had said the word but that’s what it was... right? 

Eddie was snapped out of his thoughts with the sweet smell of hot potatoes and grease was wafting under his nose. You had shoved a few fries in front of his face and Eddie wasted no time in taking them. You continued to absently feed him fries as he found a spot to park.

The two of you divided up the food on his dashboard, and Eddie rolled down the windows to let the cool autumn air in. 

“So... what are you gonna be for Halloween?” Eddie asked, wincing internally. When was the last time anyone he knew had dressed up for Hallowen? Okay, so Hellfire Club did tend to dress up on Halloween for a special one shot but that was different- no one came to school in costumes anymore.

“It depends on my plans.” you answered. “Halloween is on a Thursday so I’m usually working. If I have a morning shift I’ll probably do zombie makeup for work, if Steve and Robin are working with me that day I think we’re gonna attempt to be Luke, Leia, and Hans.” 

“And are you gonna be Leia?” Eddie asked. 

“Ideally, I wanted to be Chewie but I don’t have the time for that.” you laughed. “Robin and I voted on Steve to Be Leia. Robin will be Luke, and I’ll be Hans Solo with a teddy bear.”

“Please tell me that Harrington isn’t going to be in the bikini.” Eddie laughed. 

“Keith said costumes had to be work appropriate so, sadly, Steve will not be gracing the store with his sweater-vest chest hair under a bra.” You sighed dramatically. “It’s like he hates the idea of us having fun!” 

“What if you have to close?” Eddie prompted, adjusting in his seat to lean against the door to face you as best he could. Next time he was absolutely clearing out the back to give you both more room. 

“Oh, I am not closing.” you said firmly. “And if Keith thinks he can schedule me that day he can suck it because I have plans.” 

You already have Halloween plans. Of course you would. It’s not like you had to worry about school on a weekday like he did. Eddie tried not to deflate in front of you and remained calm. 

“And what plans would that be?” he asked. 

“Have you ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show?” you asked, a smile tugging at your lips. 

He had, once, with Reefer Rick a few months ago when picking up his usual supply. A quick pick up had turned into a game of pool, which had turned into the two of them high on Rick’s couch watching an old VHS tape while Rick laughed his ass off and yelled at the tv before passing out in the middle of Tim Curry seducing Brad and Janet. 

“Once.” Eddie said, not giving the exact details of circumstance. “With a friend, I didn’t really get it.” 

“Did you see it in theaters or did you just watch it at home?” you asked, finishing off your food. 

“Friend’s house.” 

“Oh, no wonder you didn’t get it. Rocky Horror is an experience, you can’t just pop the tape in and watch it. You have to come see it in a theater.” As you spoke you were absently folding a napkin in your lap turning it into what looked like a heart. When you were done with that one, you started with another shape with a different napkin. 

“Is that an invitation?” Eddie asked, tearing his eyes away from the way your fingers moved for now. He found his heart pounding in his chest, unsure if you were actually wanting him to come to this, and from the knot forming in his stomach as the shapes you were folding reminded him of the times he met you before. 

“It is.” you confirmed, the ninja star you had shaped with the napkin was placed on the center console as you grabbed another napkin. “...It could also be a date.” 

Despite the period at the end of the sentence, Eddie heard the slight waiver in your voice on the word date. It was that same nervous stammer that had been in Paige’s voice when she offered to let him move in with her in California, it was the same hesitant inflection that one of his Hellfire players used when they weren’t sure if Eddie would approve of what crazy plan they had for their character. 

Aside from that first awkward meeting at the Palace Arcade, you had been pretty confident and upfront with him. Now here you are, laying out your intentions and seeing what he would do. 

What would he do? Eddie had shown up at Family Video with no real plan. He only knew he wanted to see you again, and he knew that Dustin and Steve were trying to set you two up. And it’s not like Eddie was completely against the idea of going on a date with you. You were sharp, and you kept him on his toes, and when you smiled at him it felt like his brain might short out. 

But he had also panicked when he had thought that you were going to kiss him before. After Eddie’s disastrous break up with Paige two years ago, it’s not like he’d been completely against any physical relationships. There had been a grand total of two other hook ups that he’d sabotaged. People weren’t interested in getting to know the freak, they just wanted to say that they had been with him. So both times, Eddie had made sure that he’d been a lousy date and a decent enough lay before deciding that he’d rather had a date with his right hand and a Heavy Metal magazine.

Eddie would rather the rumor mill call him a boring date rather than set a standard that he’d go out with anyone who asked. He wondered if he had, would Steve have put his name on the town marquis for the world to see? Would Eddie ‘the Slut’ Munson be treated any differently than Eddie ‘the Freak’?

Shit, you were still waiting for a response. 

“A date.” Eddie finally managed to echo your last words back at you. The napkin you had been messing with in your hands was now taking the shape of a ninja star. 

“I mean, if you’re interested.” you said quickly. “It could just be a friend thing. Or you probably already have plans for Halloween-”

“I don’t.” Eddie interjected. “It could be a date.”

He watched your shoulders relax and you smiled up at him. “It’s a date then.” You grabbed a napkin and your green marker out of your bag and scribbled something down, handing it over to him. 

“In case your phone blows up again, here is the date and time and location for the Halloween showing of the movie.” your eyes narrowed slightly at him. “And my work schedule has been hectic but I consistently work on Sunday’s and clock out at four.”

Eddie got the message loud and clear, he would know where to find you now. There wouldn’t be any excuses for not reaching out, but two could play at this game. He took the marker from your hand and grabbed his own napkin, scribbling his own phone number down and handing it over to you. 

“I’m at school all week, but I still play at the Hideout on Tuesdays.” He answered back. “Friday is Hellfire.”

With that, the playing field felt a little more level. Both of you now had the power to track the other one down or call when needed.   

“So what are you going to be for Halloween?” you asked, tucking the napkin with his number into your bog. 

“Oh, haven’t you heard? When you’re the town freak every day is Halloween.” Eddie chuckled. 

“So what, you’re gonna put on a polo and khakis instead?” He liked the way you scrunch your nose when you laughed. “Ditch the jewelry and cover your tattoos?” 

“That would probably scare some of the teachers at school.” Eddie had considered doing exactly that, but he really didn’t think he’d want that kind of attention. “No one dresses up at school anymore.”

“Boring.” You sighed. “I tried dressing up for Halloween my senior year but when I got to school my friends convinced me to change clothes.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem like the type to let other people tell you what to do.” 

“Now I’m not.” you shrugged. “I’m not in high school anymore, and all those people that I saw everyday? Turns out I was only friends with them because I saw them every day. Once you get away from that forced routine you realize that it’s all bullshit.”

Eddie could relate, probably better than anyone else. He was so sick of the day to day hierarchy of highschool that he’d scream it from on top of a table. Literally. 

“What were you trying to be before your friends killed your fun?” Eddie asked. 

“A pirate. It was last minute but I had a bandana, an eyepatch, a sock puppet with feathers glued to it for my parrot, and a wire hanger I was carrying around as a hook.” you laughed at the memory. “I ended up dropping the eyepatch before my friends made me change because I kept running into people. My wire hanger was confiscated, some asshat stole my parrot, and one of my friends gave me a sweater to change into. I didn’t even make it to first period in that outfit.”

Eddie had made it a point to not pay attention to anyone outside of his small group at school, only ever keeping an eye out for lost sheep that didn’t have anywhere else to go. He wondered, if he had seen you that morning in the brief window before you were pushed back into conformity would he have noticed you? Talked to you? You had already been nice to him before. 

“Wait,” Eddie over at you, taking in the picture you had painted for him. “You made a sock puppet parrot?”

“I needed a parrot, or else no one would get it!” you explained. “But then when I took it off and left it to go use the bathroom it was gone. I finally found the thief in fourth period because they kept playing with it and squawking my own parrot at me. But by that point I had just cut my losses and had given up on Halloween.”

“Are you usually this crafty?” Eddie asked, once again looking at the final napkin you were folding into what looked like an old cootie catcher. 

“I get bored easily.” you said. “If I don’t have something to do with my hands I can’t focus.”

“How’d you start with the whole-” Eddie grabbed one of his slightly used napkins and gave it a wave. “Folding thing?”

“Fourth grade show and tell.” you said. “I did not prepare anything and so I spent a full ten minutes in the school library to find something to show. I found a book on origami, found the easiest thing to make and realized that I actually enjoyed it.”

If that was a mystery, it sure did get solved right there. Eddie wanted to ask about Steve and Dustin. He wanted to ask you why him? He could keep his mouth shut, let this whole thing play out and see what happened. Eddie could sit here, and enjoy the fact that a girl was giving him the time of day and leave everything up in the air just like he had with Paige. 

“So I heard you and Steve had a deal going on.” Eddie said. “Something about getting dates?”

You froze for a second, the completed cootie catcher in your hands. Things were dead silent for a grand total of ten seconds. Ten agonizingly long seconds. Even the cassette player had clicked off and was now whirring as it rewind the Iron Maiden tape. 

Then you started laughing. A lot. 

“Jesus, Eddie!” you said, wiping your eyes with the ninja star as a tear threatened to spill down your cheek. “I tell you I have origami as a hobby, and you follow up with ‘So I heard you and Steve are trying to get dates.’ Seriously?”

Eddie remained silent at your reaction, trying to process your laughter. You didn’t seem scared or nervous that he had called you out, and he had to admit that he hadn’t completely thought through the consequences of asking you that question. 

“Who blabbed?” You asked, after your laughter had calmed down. 

“Henderson.” Eddie admitted and, in an attempt to ease any lingering tension he leaned forward to rest his elbow on the center console and held his chin in his hand as he looked at you. “That shrimp informed me that you found me so irresistible that you begged Steve to set you up with me.”

“Is that right?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah,” Eddie agreed. “Told me all about how ever since Chris Morrison shot you down, you’ve been desperate to get my attention to get back at him.”

“So which is it, am I attracted to you or am I using you to get back at a guy I talked to once in high school years ago?” you asked. Eddie saw a glint in your eyes, the same one he’d seen that first night at the arcade when at the air hockey table. 

“Both are true.” Eddie continued to explain, a shit eating grin on his face. “You see, you were originally going to use me to get back at Chris, but then you saw me play guitar and instantly fell in love.”

“Damn, this sounds like the plot of a terrible movie.” you laughed. “So is this the part where I tell you that ‘It started out like that, but I swear it’s not like that anymore!’? Do I beg on my knees that my feelings for you are genuine, even though we’ve hung out a grand total of two-and-a-half times?”

Five times, but who’s counting? 

“What’s the half-time?” Eddie asked. 

“You ditched me at the arcade after I said I’d be right back.” you stated matter-of-factly. “I’m hoping it’s not a pattern where you start dropping off the face of the earth just when things start getting good.”

“Between you and me,” Eddie leaned in closer. “I thought Dustin was trying to set me up with Steve. Not you.” 

Cue more laughter from you as you threw your head back. “Are you kidding me?! Dustin makes me and Steve show up to an arcade and tries to force a meeting with you- and you thought you were supposed to be dating Steve?!” 

“Not dating!” Eddie clarified quickly. “You see, Steve and I only have one thing in common and that’s Dustin Henderson. Kid practically worships Steve. I thought he was trying to get us to be friends or something.”

“Oh my god, you thought Dustin was trying to hook his two dads up!” Your cootie catcher was now crumpled up in your hands, stained with tears from your laughing. “I’m a homewrecker!” 

Yeah, this really wasn’t going the way Eddie had expected it. 

“Shit, Eddie, I’m sorry.” you said, your laughter calming down into giggles instead. “Have I been reading this whole thing wrong? I mean, if you have more of an interest in Steve I could probably set that up. He’s only ever shown interest in girls but you have long hair and are pretty enough-”

“No.” Eddie said. “I don’t have an interest in Steve- you think I’m pretty?” How were you able to throw him off so easily? He could tell that if you had been able to join Hellfire you would have been a menace at his table.

“Extremely.” you said, your voice more sincere now. 

The two of you just stared at each other for a while and Eddie felt that same twisty feeling in his gut again. You thought he was pretty. That was good, right? Did you like pretty boys? You were pretty- he liked that a lot. 

“I...” Eddie started and then dug deep inside himself to find the words he wanted to use. “Prettier than Steve?” Those were not the words he wanted to say, but he said them anyway. 

“Steve is conventionally attractive but, as I said before, not my type.” you said. “I like guys with long hair anyway.”

Eddie really couldn’t tell if he was nailing this or blowing it. “So, what is your type?” 

“I’ll tell you mind if you tell me yours.” you countered. 

Had Eddie ever really thought about what his type was? Yeah, he’d had ill-advised crushes and had been attracted to various women in comics and tv but did he have a type? He tried to connect all the girls in his mind that he’d been with, trying to find a pattern. 

Someone who actually pays attention to me. That’s pretty sad, Eddie. He came to the conclusion. Yeah, aside from his disastrous kiss with Ronnie five years ago, every girl he’d been with had been the one to show interest first, and you were no exception. But had he actually had feelings for the others? Not really. Attraction? Yeah. Feelings? Well, with Paige he had been far too busy dealing with Corroded Coffin, his dad, and school to really decide what he felt for Paige. Any other small flings had been dead on arrival.

So why did he keep wanting to spend time with you?

“Don’t go spreading this around,” Eddie started. “But if I had to pick a type, it’d be She-Hulk.” 

“She-Hulk?” you mulled that over in your mind. “So tall, green, and angry?” 

“Strong-willed, and funny as shit.” Eddie corrected. 

“And green.”

“And green.” 

“If I had known that earlier I would have picked Kermit the Frog as my Halloween costume this year.” you teased. “I don’t have a character off the top of my head, but I like people who feel.. Real.”

Real. The word that Paige and him had used over and over in those two months. 

“What’s real to you?” 

“Not high school.” you said. “Someone who’s not afraid to exist and be themselves. I’m most attracted to anyone who can let go of their desperate ego and just have fun. High school was boring because everyone was so wrapped up in their own bs of looking cool that they didn’t do anything that they actually wanted to do. Shit, even I fell into that.”

Eddie didn’t want to ask if he was real to you. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for an answer. There were lots of times he wished that he wasn’t still in school, but this time really hit harder. He was starting to really like you, and yeah part of him was terrified of that. 

The two of you finished off the last of your food and Eddie shoved all the leftover trash into the brown bag and tossed it in the back so you wouldn’t be stepping on it. 

“I don’t know much about real anymore, but I think you’re pretty badass.” Eddie finally said. “I mean, you brought a wire hanger and a fake parrot to school for a costume. That’s pretty brave, even if your friends did talk you out of it.”

“I’m more mad that the parrot was stolen and used to annoy me than the lack of costume.” you said with a small laugh. “They weren’t even funny. They just kept repeating what I said. It was easier to just shut up at that point.” 

“Didn’t think to make them say anything embarrassing?” 

“Oh, I tried. But, jocks don’t know the art of a good ‘Duck Season, Rabbit Season’ gag. Anything embarrassing I said they’d just turn it around. I’d say ‘I pissed myself in gym.’ they’d reply with ‘you pissed yourself in gym’. No love for comedy.” You took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “If you’re going to be a bully, at least give me a good story to tell later, you know?”

“I once got slammed against a locker by a jock who called me ‘a myriad freak.” Eddie said. “To this day, I still don’t know what he was trying to mean by that.”

“See? At least that’s funny.” you said, and then. “Holy shit, we’ve gotten off topic.” 

“There was a topic?” Eddie leaned back on the seat again. 

“Yes, an important one that I was very interested in before we started talking about bullies and high school and She-Hulk.” you nodded. 

Talking to you was so easy that he hadn’t realized how many topics the two of you had blown through in a short amount of time. He looked at his watch real quick and realized it was creeping towards 11 pm now. Had the two of you really been talking that long?

“What topic was it?” 

“You flirting with me.” you said, your lips pulling back in a cheshire grin. “I’m pretty sure you were at least, before I became a homewrecker between you and Steve. Normally I’d hate to break up a happy family, but I might have to make an exception this one time.”

“Was I flirting?” Eddie tilted his head with his own grin. “I’m pretty sure I was just telling you that I thought Dustin was trying to make me be friends with Steve. If I had known that the shrimp was trying to introduce me to a cute girl-” He would have shot it down and canceled Side Quest Day- “I wouldn’t have left the way I did.”

“You think I’m cute?” 

“Extremely.” 

You nodded. “Alright, then it’s a good thing that we’re going on a date. I’m glad to know that I’m not coming between you and Steve.”

It was just past midnight when Eddie dropped you off at your apartment that night. This time when you leaned over the center console towards him, he didn’t freeze up or panic. Eddie let you hug him and he hugged you back, his cheeks growing hot momentarily when he felt your lips press against his cheek and he was able to breathe in your scent. 

“See you later, Eddie. Oh, and for the movie- I highly recommend dressing up.” you looked him up and down. “Actually, just wear what you’d normally wear. I think you’ll fit right in.” 

Eddie made a mental note to ask Rick later on what he was supposed to wear for this. 

“I’ll call you.” he said. “I promise. I mean it this time.”

“Not if I call you first, I have your number now. And worst case scenario, I know where you play.” you responded. “See you Tuesday, Eddie.” 

And with that you were gone again, leaving Eddie alone in the van feeling much better than the last time he had given you a ride. There were still questions he had. He still wanted to know why exactly everyone was wanting the two of them to meet again, and why you always so readily agreed to meet up with him. But those were questions for another day. 

“You had a missed call.” Wayne said as Eddie made his way into the trailer. “Didn’t leave a name or number. Said she’d call you back.”  

Eddie laughed and shook his head, guess you meant it when you said you’d call first. 

“Don’t stay up too late watching tv.” Eddie said before heading towards his bedroom. He once again found himself falling asleep with his copy of The Hobbit, the origami flower tucked safely in the back. 

Next Chapter

Ending note: This fic takes place during October 1985. Stephen King’s It did not come out until September 1986. I would like to ask you all politely to suspend your disbelief for the historical inaccuracy of a piece of dialogue that probably didn’t add much to the plot. If this horrible inaccuracy bothers you, please repeat to yourself “it’s just a fic, I should really just relax” which is what most of us should be doing anyway.

Dividers by: @strangergraphics

Tag List: @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirl320 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @mistonk @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh @halialex1119 @bakugouswhOr3 @siriuslysmoking @pookiesnatcher @sky-full-0f-fl0wers @takemetoneverlandbabe @killjoynotes @maelibo

[panic-in-the-multiverse]

Reunion

Pairings: Daryl Dixon x teen!reader, Tyreese Williams x teen!reader, Carol Peletier x teen!reader, Judith Grimes x teen!reader (all platonic obviously)

Requested by Anonymous: when the prison fell you and Daryl got separated, this is how you meet up, based on this request

Warnings: mention of blood, fighting, mention killing walkers/zombies, killing people, Daryl hug (yes that’s a warning), knives, guns, mention of killing kids, Terminus, hopefully if you read this you’ve seen the episode and knows what it includes, but ya know typical twd stuff.

A/N did I accidentally write this way longer than I intended yes, yes, I did, now don’t get me wrong the moment where Tyreese defends Judith is iconic but for the sake of this fic I changed it up, kinda wanna make another part

For you who wants to know the episode is season 5 episode 1

Anyway I hope you enjoy this <3

Judith giggled happily in your arms as you walked on the edge of the railway. You could’ve once imagined all kinds of trains going up and down the tracks as they blew past the trees, but now you couldn’t actually remember much about trains, you had the idea of them but not much details (and if a train were to come right now that would’ve been a miracle).

Tyreese walked a few steps behind you, with Carol in the front, as she led your group of four forward. She came to a stop when a sign that states “TERMINUS” showed up once more. It was your headed path, the sanctuary called Terminus. You personally didn’t trust it, not after the Governor, but you had to find Daryl and the rest of the group. You knew that if any of them were still alive they would’ve gone to Terminus after finding the railway. Which all of them had probably done. Along with finding Daryl you also had to get Tyreese and Judith to safety. Tyreese wasn’t fit to live on the road at the moment, he refused to kill anything that came your way leaving you and Carol to kill stray walkers, or animals for food. Judith, well, she was a baby and sometimes could be screaming all day, she was mostly quiet but the times she did cry was the times walkers got attracted. A baby was no way near fit to be on the road but here you were all of you somehow still alive (except for Lizzie and Mika Samuels, but there was no loss for you over Lizzie that’s for sure).

“We’re close” Carol stated as she saw the sign. “I’m gonna get you all there, make sure you’re safe, but I’m not gonna stay” She saw your face morph into disappointment as you nodded your head, a sad smile on your face. You’d missed her while she was gone and now she would be leaving again, and you didn’t like it, not one bit and you knew Daryl would be sad over it too which didn’t help the matter.

As you heard the rustle of leaves behind you in the forest, you all turned around to see two walkers stalk forward in your direction. Tyreese motioned with his hands to take Judith from you. Judith was carefully switched over to Tyreese and both you and Carol went forward to the walkers. Both of you killed them quickly only to notice the herd that was about to come out of the forest. Carol whispered to Tyreese that more were coming, and so all of you went into the opposite side of the railway. You hid in the forest until the walkers got distracted by shots firing not too far away from all of you.

Tyreese looked worriedly at you as he started to talk. “That gunfire it could’ve been from Terminus”

“Someone was attacking them, or they were attacking someone” Carol responded

“Do we want to find out?”

This time you involved yourself in the conversation, as you believed that you did indeed need to find out. “Yeah, we need to find out, If the others are there they might need help”

With that, and Carol's instruction of walking another track that would get you there as well you all started to walk once more, this time in need to find out the truth.

Your next stop had been outside a small worn out cabin, but it wasn’t the cabin that got your attention. What got your solely attention as you hid in the forest with your companions was the man that talked in a walkie-talkie. He was putting up a bunch of fireworks, no doubt to lead the herd of walkers away from Terminus. You could faintly hear him mention a woman with a sword, and you stopped Carol from going forward. As you continued to listen you heard him mention a kid with a hat and that was all you needed to go on. You didn’t think there were that many women with a sword and kid with a hat together nearby at the same time, so it didn’t take much to know that they were talking about Michonne and Carl. Nor did it take long to realize they had done something to your group, thereby also Daryl. Especially when he mentioned bleeding the kid out.

Carol slowly started to creep up behind the man and you followed not far behind. Tyreese more hesitant but still following. She put her gun toward his head, the young man froze and put his hands up still holding the two way radio. “Keep your finger off the button and drop it”

“Listen, ya’ll don’t have to do this. Whatever you want, we got a place where everyone’s welcome”

“Shut up man” it was what all three of you were thinking but Tyreese was the one to say it.

“Okay”

“We’re friends of the chick with the sword and the kid in the hat” Carol pressed the gun against his head forward, making the man lean forward as the gun touched his head.

It didn’t take long for you and Carol to tie him up and drag him (not so carefully) into the cabin leaning him against one of the walls. Throughout the whole ordeal the man continued to tell the three of you that you didn’t have to do this, that you could all come up with a deal, but he had no luck there.

As Carol made herself ready to scout Terminus out to see what was happening Tyreese continued to hold Judith in a protective embrace. You however had been asking the man questions, finding out that ever since the first questions he had been lying. He told you he only had Carl and Michonne, that they had both attacked them out of nowhere, that they were just protecting themselves. But none of you believed him. Not with the things you heard him talk about before you confronted him.

You would of followed Carol to Terminus had it not been for your will to protect Judith and Tyreese. As much as you loved Tyreese he wasn’t in his right mind. So you stayed to help if anything bad were to happen, to walkers coming your way or your prisoner getting free somehow, it didn’t matter you were there to protect your family. You only hoped Carol wouldn’t need any help.

Talking about your prisoner he was even more shatty when Carol left. Apparently a teenager, a baby and a man who he could clearly see wasn’t going to kill him was no threat to him. It was his undoing in the end. He underestimated you both and it showed in the way he talked to you and Tyreese as you sat by Judith, who’d you made a makeshift bed to.

“She got a name?… Hey, she got a name?”

“No” you answered at the same time Tyreese answered “Judith” you glared at Tyreese as he told the stranger her name, you didn’t want to give him any information, you never knew if it would backfire.

“She your daughter or something?”

“She’s a friend”

“Huh, I don’t have any friends… I mean I know people. They’re just assholes I stay alive with. The other one your friend, the woman” the younger man nodded towards the door that was now closed. Tyreese slowly looked away at the comment being conflicted about his answer. So instead you answered.

“Yes”

The man nodded and his voice that had now started to annoy you filled the room once more. “I used to have them… used to watch football on Sundays. Went to church” he let out a small laugh as if the thought of it was unbelievable. “I know, I did, but I can’t picture it anymore… it’s funny how you don’t even notice the time go by, horrible shit just stacks up day after day, you get used to it”

Tyreese turned his attention towards the man and spoke with distaste laced in his voice. “I haven’t gotten used to it”

"Of course you haven’t, you’re the kind of guy who saves babies, it’s kinda like saving an anchor, when you’re stuck on a boat-“ you had by know decided to drown out his voice as he tried to make justiciable to let him go.

Your thoughts got filled with Daryl like they had for the most time since the prison fell. You missed him. He always looked out for you. Ever since you met you were drawn to each other. Daryl used to pretend he hated you, especially when Merle was around he couldn’t have his brother think he was soft. However everyone knew he had always secretly looked out for you ever since he met you he’d felt the need to protect you. It came to the point that whenever you wanted to go on a run to get new supplies or do anything really you’d always ask Daryl. You had never spoken about it to each other but there was a silent agreement between everyone even you and Daryl that you were his kid and he your father. It might not be by blood but it was how it had come to be. Everytime something happened to you if you got hurt or if you were sad they’d always notify Daryl, but most of the time he already knew and would be with you to try and cheer you up in his own moody way. When you’d been out on the road before you found the prison you’d always sleep next to each other making sure the other one was safe. Even in the prison your cells were next to each other. He always looked out for you. He taught you how to hunt, he taught you how to use his crossbow, and to fight people to be able to protect yourself. Like Judith was “little asskicker”, you were the “big asskicker”. You couldn’t help but to miss him and the thought of him being hurt from the people in Terminus made your stomach hurt. You didn’t really want to voice your thoughts but you needed the reassurance and Tyreese was the only one who knew who Daryl was and could give reassurance. So against the warnings your mind gave you, you voiced your concerns.

“Do you think Daryl’s okay?” Your voice came out quieter than you expected as your mind filled with more scenarios in which Daryl had gotten hurt in.

Tyreese turned from Judith to look at you. He tried to give a reassuring look on his face as he answered. “I’m sure he’s fine Y/N”

”So Daryl’s your dad, maybe boyfriend” he continued to gues what Daryl was as you made no indication of actually giving anything away to him. After a while he stopped, he wouldn’t get anywhere with you, but he was still confident that if he talked enough to Tyreese, he would let him go.

“See, you’re a good guy, saving babies and teenagers.

“You have no idea about the things I’ve done”

“You’re a good guy, that’s why you gonna die today, it’s why the baby is going to die, why Y/N is going to die” both you and Tyreese stood up taking an intimidating step towards the man, your knife pointed at him. “Or… you can get in that car, get out of here, keep on being lucky.”

“You think you’re gonna kill me?”

The man turned his sole attention to Tyreese as he answered him. “Why haven’t you killed me? How does having me alive help you? Why the hell are you even talking to me? Take the kids, take the car and go, I don’t want to do this today”

“For your information we could always use you to get more information or we could kill you now, like you said we have-“ you got cut off by an explosion going off. Tyreese rushed to the window to see what was happening and saw the smoke over the forest.

“Is that Terminus?” The man moved forward as if trying to see out through the window but he had no luck in that department as he slouched back towards the wall.

“Yeah, probably”

“Maybe you’re gonna win this, maybe your friend, I mean maybe that woman just got capped, maybe I’m gonna be the one who gets capped when she comes back”

“Nobody’s got to die today”

“Man if you believe that… then it’s definitely gonna be you and the kids, even if the place is burning to the ground”

“Man maybe you can shut up and stop talking before I kill you myself” the man took his eyes of Tyreese to look at you as you had your knife pointed at him an annoyed look on your face. He didn’t believe for a moment that a teenager would be able to kill him, nor win in a fight against him. He had a way to high ego to think that you would be able to do any harm to him, he underestimated both you and Tyreese and when he heard as well as saw Tyreese look out at the walkers coming toward the cabin he moved quickly and soon enough his hands went to hold Judith in a hold that would be easy to break her neck.

He told you both to drop your weapons and you both did so not wanting him to hurt Judith. As he saw the walkers claw at the windows he looked towards Tyreese telling him to go outside. As Tyreese went outside he went over to you and bound your hands together with some spare rope just like you had done to him earlier. He made sure the knot would hold before he went over towards the walkie-talkie and tried to connect to the woman (apparently named Cynthia) on the other side.

While he did all that you tried to desperately tie up the knot that held the rope around your wrist together. Right as you were able to get rid of the rope around your wrist (thankful Daryl taught you how to do it) the noise from outside stopped. It became deathly quiet and the man looked towards were the last pounding against the walls had been. He took out his knife and was about to kill Judith when you quietly and quickly grabbed the knife that was laying right were you left it beside you on the floor and you ran over to the man. You saw red as you knocked him over, he had threatened to kill Judith and Tyreese. Threatened your sister and one of your closest friends. You knocked him towards the floor and your hand went into the air as you threw it down onto him repeatedly stabbing the knife in your hand into him. even after he was clearly dead.

Tyreese had to carefully walk over to you as he took the knife away from you. He told you that the man couldn’t hurt them anymore nor the walkers, everything would be okay. You appreciated his comfort as you hyperventilated for a few minutes over the fact that you’d just killed a human. You’d killed walkers before but never a human being. In your mind it was justified as he was about to kill all of you anyway, but you still felt like you’d lost something inside of you.

It was a while later when you glanced out of the window and saw Carol as she walked towards the cabin, Rick not that far behind. You broke out in a relieve laugh as a smile spread briefly over you lips, this made Tyreese glance out towards where you were looking. You booth scurried to get everything as you both wanted to leave the cabin not being comfortable to stay inside any longer than you needed to.

As both you and Tyreese stepped out of the barn you glanced at the people led by Carol. Your eyes scanned the crowd looking for one person in particular.

Daryl stared at you in disbelief he couldn’t believe you were actually alive, he’d seen you get shot, and without medical attention he guessed you’d died. He hadn’t wanted to keep hoping in case he would someday find your corpse rotting away (either as a walker or actually dead).

Daryl took in your bloodied state, you’d no doubt had to fight. Dirt and blood covered most of your clothes, and your face had a few cuts covered in dried blood. Your once white shirt was miss colored and your jeans had been ripped in some places, your jacket had blood stains all over it. Daryl could only guess what you’d gone through to end up looking like that (he didn’t even look that bad). He didn’t like all the blood covering you, he didn’t like not knowing what had happened, he didn’t like being away from you, he needed to protect you, he’d lost Beth to a couple of strangers, he wouldn’t lose you too.

When your eyes finally found Daryl, you had a soft smile on your face as you saw him visibly relax at your eye contact. While Rick and Carl ran towards Judith in Tyreese’s arms, Daryl stumbled forward towards you, dropping his crossbow to the ground. You met him halfway and he engelfulled you in a tight hug. You’d never know nor would anyone else but Daryl let a few tears fall in relief as he hugged you tightly knowing you were still alive, actually alive. As he felt you wrap your arms around him he felt you hug him just as tight, the comforting sensation you both brought each other was all you needed to ground each other and know that either of you were dreaming, this was real and both of you were okay.

As Daryl heard you sniffle he realized you were crying and he hugged you even tighter, taking one hand to your head and petting it softly — not knowing fully how to comfort someone, even now, having comforted you all those times before he still was unsure if he did it right. However he did know that you were crying from relief, because he did the same thing. You had your father back and he had his kid back and knowing that, you both knew that everything would be okay in the end. You were yet to be bested by someone when together, even when apart you always won, always found your way to back to each other. You would beat this world together and that was all that you needed to know, and the fact that neither of you were planning on leaving soon.

[goeldicotton]

For some reason people keep reading my other ElevenRiver ship question thing…So sure, why not another. I’m working on a time tot fic anyway.

1) Eleven, not that River can’t. She’s just usually forced to be the adult in the room.

2) I think they both struggle a bit with that. Their baby would have their energy. If I had to decide who’s better…I imagine River??? Just because she just tries more often. The doctor usually just forgets the baby should sleep until his wife reminds him, or they finally knock out on their own.

3) Both of them, but Eleven specifically is pretty over protective…and by pretty I mean extremely. For several obvious reasons, and several fic related ones. Meanwhile, River is also protective. she just has a better handle over her emotions.

4) They almost always go to their dad, because he’s almost always awake. He’s a time lord, he doesn’t need as much sleep as his wife, it just makes more sense for him to handle it. Plus, he’s very good with monsters and nightmares, plenty of experience.

5) Well, River reads more stories, but she doesn’t do voices, she just reads like normal, so I guess the Doctor wins by default (though, for the record, I think his voices would be exactly as ridiculous as you’d expect).

6) I think they’d be homeschooled unfortunately, so neither.

7) Eleven, for both, and River would tease him for being a sentimental old man.

8) Eleven, River.

9) Depends, River is the disciplinarian when it comes to things like when playtime ends, when to go to bed, and getting done homework. You know, house rules. Meanwhile, on adventures the Doctor is usually on edge with them, and starts getting snappy, especially when things go wrong. It’s not that he wants to, he’s just is really worried when traveling with them.

10) All that being said, he’s still the Doctor. Losing his companions is practically part of his job (although he’d have a much bigger heart attack in this particular case). River would hold onto them the whole time.

Alright, that was fun, sleeping now.

[maxinemaxmayfield]

Twelve Days of Stranger-mas (5/12)

I'm using the twelve days of Christmas prompts from the @strangerthingswritersguild to create an ongoing fic with a short chapter for each day! steddie | teen&up | temporary character death

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR

Day 5 Prompt: Five Handwritten Notes

Robin had suggested it. Steve had scoffed and shook his head and sworn he wouldn’t try it. But here he is, pen in hand and notebook in front of him on his desk. Closure, Robin had said he needed.

Dear Eddie Munson, 

Steve scratches that out immediately, feeling like a twelve year old girl writing a diary entry. It’s not like Eddie’s actually going to fucking read it anyway. He tears out the whole page and tosses it into the trash can across the room. 

It takes another week before he tries again. 

Hey Eddie. It’s been two months since you didn’t come back from the Upside Down. It feels like so much longer and yesterday at the same time. It’s not like you’re the first person we’ve lost, so I don’t know why this has hit me so much harder. Maybe it's because of the kids. They talk about you all the time. Sometimes I act like it annoys me, but honestly it’s kind of nice to learn more about you. Those kids idolize you, man. They really do. 

Steve hides the journal under his mattress when he’s done, feeling even more like a twelve year old girl, but he can’t risk it falling into the wrong hands, especially with Dustin hanging around all the damn time nowadays. 

Eddie – Fucking hell, I wish you were here to take Dustin off my hands for a while. I know he’s grieving but holy shit, dude. I wake up to him checking in on the walkie every morning, can’t go to work without him stopping by every single day. I can’t even go to sleep without telling him first, otherwise he’ll come banging on my door in the middle of the night, convinced I’ve been attacked by Vecna. 

Time keeps dragging on, and Steve starts to find comfort in writing his stupid little notes to Eddie. He finds himself sitting down most nights, just updating Eddie on his day, however boring. 

I’m sick to the gills of Hawkins, Eddie, I really am. I always thought I’d live my whole life here, settle down with a little family, all that shit. But it’s day after fucking day rewinding tapes, seeing the same kids and same couples and same assholes coming in to rent the same rotation of movies and I think I might lose it, Eds, honestly.

And when things in his life change, when there’s big news or something to vent about, Steve finds himself counting down the hours until he can write an update and get all his thoughts out on paper. 

Robin has a girlfriend. I don’t know if you knew Vickie? Played clarinet in the marching band? Anyway, she’s nice enough, and I’m happy for Robin, so happy for her, she deserves a girlfriend after everything. But… I’m also kind of lonely. We used to moan about being perpetually single together and now all Robin wants to do is talk about Vickie. Or go see Vickie. Or call Vickie on the phone. And I’m left feeling like a pathetic third wheel. 

Do you think we would be friends, if you were still here? I know you can’t answer me, I’m not fucking stupid, but I don’t know. I think we could have been. Surviving that shit does something to you. Bonds you or something. Maybe we would have been close. Sometimes I feel weirdly close to you, just writing these. I don’t know. Maybe. Guess we’ll never know.

PART SIX

[hanaruri-tunes]

Degrading Leviathan (Levi x reader)

I am BACK from my uni exams, and I’m pretty sure I passed them all so please applause this genius over here. (Or don’t. That’s fine too :')

Anyway, as promised this is supposed to be the part 2 to the humiliating Leviathan fic, but it is smut so I’m pretty sure you can also read it without any prior knowledge of the other one fuehdhd Plot is not really important here after all.

⚠️ Also, if this wasn’t already obvious -> MDNI please!

If you want to read it though, here’s the first part. (Hopefully the link works.)

If you want to jump right into this one, here’s a quick summary of part 1 (or a quick reminder for those who did read it): Basically our MC here is pretty sadistic, she found some of her "belongings" in Levi’s room and understood that he was obviously using it to touch himself, she acts like she’s disgusted and disappointed in him, then makes him do some "stuff" for her so she’ll forgive him. And all the while, she’s mocking him (Levi’s into that, of course.) It ends with her revealing that she was acting and Levi is reassured (but still turned on. Yep.)

This is the direct continuation of that! Here are the warnings: praise, degradation, two dicks, a bit of petplay (dog Levi), raw, bj, usage of tail, overstimulation (and if I forgot some stuff don’t hesitate to tell me!)

MC/ Y/N is cisfemale in this one like the first part!

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Now that the charade was over, Levi kept hanging onto you as you two were making out. This might have lasted either 5 minutes or half an hour, you're not quite sure. Slowly regaining your senses, Leviathan had naturally calmed down and turned back into his usual form and casual attire… though his dicks were still hanging out of his pants. You laughed.

"Isn't it about time you put those things away?"

Leviathan chuckled nervously.

"Oh… But I-I thought we weren't done?"

…

Huh?

"Well uh, aren't you tired? You came quite a lot… Not to mention from both of them so…"

He looked into your eyes, a pitiful air hanging around him while still holding into his wish firmly.

"No… I can finally kiss you, and touch you freely and even…"

He looked down to your skirt, under which he knows how wet you had gotten after the make-out session you just had despite the fact that you had just climaxed earlier from his tongue.

"Anyway! What I'm trying to say is- I can still go on for way longer. Probably more than you think. If anything, once is quite literally nothing now that I have you. I've dreamed of this for so long♡"

You take a pause to ponder it. It’s not like you couldn’t take him but you still wondered how you should go about this since, well, he has two of them. Plus you wanted to keep things interesting and that box you had found earlier with his "filthy" belongings had some interesting costumes. You stood up, making Levi worried that you might leave only to see him cheer back up when he understood where you’re heading towards.

"You’ve got a lot of slutty outfits in there, huh?"

You take some dog ears and a tail out of it.

"Are they meant for me or for you?"

Leviathan grins at your pick, excited and eager. He reaches deeper into the box, knowing exactly the placement of each object. He could probably navigate in it even with a blindfold on. Not so shockingly, he pulls out a collar and a leash out of it.

"Whichever is fine ehe. I even got a leash to go with it so um, y'know. We can use it right away i-if you want."

Clearly, although he had said that whichever was fine, his eyes were telling another story. Anyone could’ve seen that what he truly wanted was to wear it and get ordered around by you. Not like it was hard for you to do so might as well. You gently put the ears on him.

"Try barking?"

"Woof!♡"

"Cute. You’re the dog then."

His smile widens, happy that you picked the role for him and chose the one he wanted. It takes barely a minute for him to take his clothes off, now he’s only left with the costume and his boxers that clearly outline his cocks. You take a hold of the leash, pulling him as you walk back towards the seat where both of you were making out earlier. He follows you on his hands and knees, already nailing the role. You sit while he stays on the floor.

"Sit."

He sits.

"Look down."

He looks down.

"Paw?"

He puts his hand on yours.

"Good boyyy! So smart."

You scratch him under the chin as if he’s really just a pet.

"W-woofff…♡"

He brings his face to your legs, lovingly rubbing his head and cheek against them. Both of his dicks are already hard and leaking for you, even through the boxers it’s so apparent, it’s almost embarrassing how turned on he got from being treated like an animal. Not like he minds, if that gets you to mock him he’ll take it. Actually, he’ll take anything from you, be it praise or insults.

"Aww is baby all excited to play with me? You wanna feel good inside your owner?"

He nods against your thighs, helplessly craving your touch. Babying himself up to make you feel sorry for his poor state.

"...Alright. Stand up Levia-chan, I’ll suck you off and stroke you for a minute. If you manage to hold it in, I'll let both of them inside me."

He perks up. Had the ears and tail been real, his ears would have perked up as well and the tail would be wagging. He stands up, finally speaking like a human being. That is, if we ignore the drooling and the leash you’re still holding onto.

"N-No way?! Ha… ahhh… Sorry. I’ve gotta calm down. O-Okay. One minute. One minute, you can do this Leviathan."

He mutters to himself, psyching himself up while you’re pulling half down his boxers, taking his upper dick into your mouth and stroking the lower one through his boxers with your free hand, the one that’s not holding the leash.

He keeps his eyes tightly shut, probably realizing that if he opens them and sees your cute face sucking on his gross cock he’ll ejaculate immediately. He breathes heavily and repeats "IcandothisIcandothisoneminutejustoneminutegodplease". You retain your smile, but he’s just so cute. You count up to 60 in your head, it probably wasn’t super accurate but you’re proud of his restraint regardless.

Once you stop, he slowly calms himself down and starts breathing normally again.

"D-did I make it??"

"Yeah. Despite being such a slutty dog, good job hah."

He grins at your mocking tone, enjoying it. Then he opens his eyes, his gaze goes straight to your open legs. As soon as he had calmed down, he got excited again, seeing you ready to take him fully in. He comes closer, his hard cocks hovering over your slippery pussy and ass.

His eyes go a bit crazy for a second, as if he’s in a frenzy, or hypnotized.

"Ahh… Ahh… fuck. Fuck fuck. Really? I can put both of them in?"

You chuckle at how nervous and eager he is.

"Knock yourself out."

He starts to laugh softly, exhilarated.

"Hah. Haha… Oh my god. I’ve always dreamed of shoving my disgusting cocks into your cute and pretty pussy. I’m such a lucky fucking bastard."

He firmly grabs your waist, frankly you’ve never seen him being so sure of something. He slides them in slowly, both in each hole. You squirm and whimper under his unbreakable gaze on your whole being. Your holes gladly taking him in, your soft body, your cute facial expressions as you’re feeling better and better as he’s pushing himself in, he watches all of it so closely that it almost makes you shy.

"S-Stop staring so closely you dirty mutt."

"Y-Yeah. You’re right, I’m a dirty dog~ Please abuse me with your words some more…"

Geez, this guy has a problem… A problem that you find unbearably hot and cute.

He pounds into your holes, holding your legs up from the back of your knees, pushing them upwards, near your face. All the while you’re still holding onto the leash that is strapped on his collar.

"Come on. Please please please… I’m begging Y/N! Just a little bit."

He’s already enjoying himself so much inside you yet he wants even more, he sure is spoiled. But well, you want to see him go even crazier over you. So you do as he wants.

"You absolute gross fuck. You’re more of a pig than a dog you know? I’ve never seen anyone make such an elated face while fucking someone. You should just get over with it and serve me as a sextoy."

He submerges himself in your fake disgusted face, grinning as you’re completely disrespecting him as a human being, or, well, a demonic being. Then he happily glues his body against yours, his lips near your ears as he begs for more insulting words.

"More please, embarrass me more."

Your mind is already wandering off from getting fucked so good. It’s getting harder to think as both of his dicks are pleasuring your insides, making you pump out so much of your juices, more than you ever have. Yet you somehow manage to answer his needs.

"Y-You… You’re just a gross little fuck- A lame creepy otaku with two dicks who gets off on his crush’s insulting words. You s-sure are good at acting cute and pure while all you really are is a masochistic whore- Mmh!"

You can’t see his face but you can feel him smiling and drooling against your neck and shoulders. Suddenly, the air around him turns dark as he takes on his demon form. Completely lost in his lust and pleasure.

He sticks the tip of his scaly tail into your mouth, making you unable to degrade him any further and his pace quickens. He pounds into you harder and faster, his cocks getting ready to unload themselves into your pretty holes.

"A-And yet you’re so kind that you’re letting a lame, gross and disgusting fuck like me pump both of his dicks into you and you’re wholeheartedly sucking on his monstruous tail. Aaaaahh…~ You’re so nice Y/N, I’ll be your toy all you want! Iloveyousomuch.♡ Iloveyou Iloveyou Iloveyou-"

Your mind completely goes blank thanks to all of your holes being filled by his dicks and tail, at this point, fucking him is like fucking 3 guys at the same time. And as you lose yourself, he does so as well. Emptying himself inside you, grinding on you over and over as he keeps cumming for a solid 20 to 30 seconds, you never even thought it was possible for someone to ejaculate for so long… Well he is a beast and a demon.

When he pulls out, his juices flow out of you for a while, maybe even longer than it took for him to cum since his loads have been mingled in with yours inside of you. He hurries over to his phone, taking pictures of you completely fucked out so he can use them later… Well, hopefully he won’t have to, since from now on you’ll always call for him when you need to use his dicks, right?

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Done! As usual please don’t hesitate to leave comments or some tags (or messages in my askbox if you’re shy!) This is tumblr, I can assure you no one will make fun of you or judge you, we’re all chilling in our trash here 🫰

[astriddestelle]

The way I was obsessed with enemies to lovers/rivals to lovers as a kid 😭😭😭 my top pairings growing up ranked. Canon/Fanon included.

Can you tell I’ve been on a nostalgic rewatch.

1. Logan/Quinn from Zoey 101. The OG teenbop enemies to lovers omg I stan. When they pronounced their love for each other at the season finale at the prom, screaming crying throwing up. The way they get together is so random lmao he calls her hot and they kiss then Michael rides by on a horse like what? But the pay off and ending was so *chefs kiss*

2. Courtney/Duncan from TDI. They were everything to me and Cartoon Network ruined it. First season the bantering, the flirting. When I tell you I was hooked. The scream I scrumpt when they finally kissed (also me didn’t she just throw up but whatever I guess) then she left and it was all downhill from there.

3. Rose/Jake from ADJL. The Romeo and Juliet of this paring needs to be studied. They were so down bad for each other. When Jake found out she was huntsgirl then when she found out. Their first kiss being right before she had to ‘kill’ him for sport in an arena. Her giving up her life to keep him and his family safe, him giving up her to keep her safe. 😭😭😭 they don’t make em like they used too

4. Draco/Harry from HP. The ship that started it all. Before this I’d never read a slash fic before is it even still called that. Anyways this right here is my longest going ship I’m still into only reason it’s not higher is that I love the other ones more. You get so many variations of this, from the super toxic fic, to the I’ve always secretly loved you, to the meet up after the war is over and so on and so forth. Ugh I love it. There’s like 50,000 fics of them on a03 and I know I’ve read like half at least 🤣

5. Zuko/Katara from Avatar. My second non canon ship on here. When I tell you I was obsessed with them. Sigh then I discovered other fandoms and by the time I came back to them I was just done. Which I think comes fromm just not being as much of a Zuko fan anymore. This ship was gold, tho, I mean come on I’ll save you from the pirates how can I not. The way he jumped in front of her (obviously he’d do the same for everyone but like listen it ate down bad) the whole crystal caverns episode was fuel to the fire, the writers/creators knew what they were doing

6. Jake/Miley from Hannah Montana. Another OG omg she hated him so much. The flirty the snark then they had to kiss and both of em were like oh hot damn. They were so cute together and I will forever hate Disney for making her choose Jake just for him to cheat on her like what was the reason. What was the reason 😭😭

7. Alejandro/Heather from TDI. Woo child buckle up. This is one of those slowburns cause it’s not until like a quarter in to the season you’re like hold up. Are they going where I think they’re going and then they did. I don’t like the ending cause seriously wtf was the point. But the lead up and bruh the stuck in a hole song I still sing that on a daily. They were literally made for each other.

8. Chad/Sonny from Sonny with a Chance: one thing about Disney they ate down when it comes to enemies to lovers, or annoyance to like, whatever you wanna call it. Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny omg the drama was beautiful, they hated each other so much and when they started dating I bout passed out. Lol they were so hilarious together I miss it.

9. Raven/Beastboy from TT. This and next two aren’t super enemies to lovers, more live annoyances or belligerent sexual tension. But I really was obsessed with this, like I was the girl reading Terra bashing fics 😭😭 they were so cute, the Beast Within was ship gold, Nevermore, the fact that she holds onto to the penny he gives her when she ‘dies’ and oh he only turns into the Beast again to protect her from Slade and never again. Beautiful

10. Jimmy/Cindy from JN. They may have only been nine but sheesh the rivalry to lovers or in this case crushes was intense. Cindy was down bad since day one but she hid that shit so well. The Valentine’s Day episode still makes me giggle like a kid. And the last episode where they’re legit just straight up flirting with each other I can not. When she almost confesses when he’s the orange hulk. So cute.

Honarary mentions:

Jinx/Kid Flash from TT. They were cute but I hated it solely for the fact that it shoulda been me 😭😭🤧🤧

Sam/Freddie from icarly. Ok so I used to love this one and as I got older, Sam was just so fucking mean that I couldn’t ship like damn. At some point it’s not cute anymore, it’s just down right abusive, early seasons yes, later seasons where they’re actually together no.

Bakugo/Deku simply cause some days I think it’s cute other days I hate it

Mindy and Josh from Drake and Josh. Cute and amusing but didn’t care for em much.

Bailey and Code from Suite Life on Deck see above.

[forest-hashira]

Noble Blood - Chapter Three

i FINALLY finished this chapter!!! not that the wait was exceptionally long between chapters 2 & 3, i know, but there were at least four separate time i thought i was going to be done with this chapter and then realized i was not at a good stopping place. also what i originally planned for this chapter Did Not Happen, and now won't until at least chapter 4, maybe not even until chapter 5, so. hooray for me i guess. sigh. anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

fic masterlist here | read on ao3 here | wc: ~5.3k | cw: gender neutral reader, satoru being a little shit as always, some angst (it's not bad tho)

A few days after your visit to the Gojo estate, Satoru showed up in town again, grinning as he ran up to you, bundled up in a heavy coat and scarf. You couldn’t help but grin back, thrilled to see your friend out and about again.

“Hi, Satoru!” you greeted cheerfully, though you quickly had the breath knocked out of you when the boy practically tackled you with a hug, which you returned eagerly once you’d regained your bearings. “Where’s Kenji?” you added quietly, not sure if anyone else outside of the Gojo clan knew about the dragon, or if he was still meant to be a secret.

Satoru released you after you asked the question, glancing around for a moment to make sure no one was watching, before he loosened his scarf a bit.

Confused, you leaned in a bit closer, and you blinked in surprise when you saw a pair of blue eyes staring up at you from a white, scaly face. The hatchling made a little sound, about halfway between a chirp and a growl, then settled in closer to Satoru’s warmth and closed his eyes again.

“My parents wouldn’t let me leave without him, but they didn’t want anyone to see him yet,” Satoru explained. “Even if they hadn’t made me bring him I would have. He looked sad when I wasn’t holding him, and it made me sad, too.”

You nodded slightly, leaning back from your friend, opting to give him back his personal space, though he’d never been particularly keen on maintaining that distance from anyone – especially not his friends. 

“We should go somewhere,” he said after a moment, shifting on his feet, looking as if he were about to take off running in a random direction just to see if you would follow.

“Like where?”

“I dunno. Maybe to Nanami-san’s bakery?”

“I don’t have any money. Do you?”

He checked his pockets, then frowned. “No.”

The two of you went back and forth like that for a little bit longer, neither of you able to come up with somewhere in town you could go that didn’t pose an issue; you didn’t have money for the bakery, Satoru rejected the idea of going to the library, and neither of you wanted to go to the observation deck in the middle of the day, when your odds of getting caught were much higher and there were no stars to look at.

Suddenly, your friend’s blue eyes lit up. “We should go to the beach!”

“Satoru, it’s freezing.”

He rolled his eyes at your words. “Not to get in the water, dummy. We can skip stones or something. Plus I’m bored just standing here.”

You hesitated for a moment, but you didn’t have a good reason to say no, so instead you gave a small shrug. “Alright,” you conceded. “To the beach.”

Satoru’s grin returned full force, and he grabbed your hand before taking off at a dead sprint towards the ocean.

Even knowing you were about to be dragged off to satisfy Satoru’s whim, you still stumbled over your own feet, and it took you a few seconds to catch yourself before you were able to really keep up with him. Adults called out for the two of you to watch out as you ran past, Satoru practically shoving people out of the way as he went, ignoring the human shouts and dragon chuffs as he pulled you along, and despite yourself, you giggled. It was nice to be doing something normal with Satoru again, even though you weren’t even sure what normal would look like going forward, after the teacher the Gojo clan head had sent for arrived in the settlement to help Satoru train Kenji.

Those thoughts were shoved aside as you stumbled to a halt on the beach, your friend releasing your hand to start searching for stones to try and skip across the unusually calm waters. You quickly followed his lead, walking a few steps away as you looked, eventually returning to your friend’s side with a small handful of smooth, round stones about the size of your palm.

As the two of you took turns skipping rocks, seeing who could get the most skips – Satoru was currently in the lead with six – you turned to watch him for a moment, unable to help but notice the way his fluffy, unruly white hair stuck out against the blue-grey of the ocean and the sky beginning to grow overcast. Thankfully, you looked away before he could catch you, but as you turned out to face the water once again, you noticed something you hadn’t before.

“Is that a ship?” you asked your friend, pointing at the shape quickly approaching from the distance.

Satoru frowned at your words, then followed your finger towards the horizon, looking a bit surprised when he spotted the shape. “I think it is,” he agreed.

“Should we tell someone?” You felt a bit uneasy, not entirely sure why a strange ship would be approaching the settlement with no sort of warning or announcement amongst the town.

The boy beside you seemed hesitant, an uneasy expression settling over his face, though his looked more disappointed than worried. “No,” he sighed after a moment. “I think I know why it’s here.”

“What?” you squawked. “Who is it? Why is it here?”

“I think it’s the teacher my parents sent for.” 

You went completely still at his words, gaping at him in disbelief. “Didn’t your parents just send for him?” How could he be here so quickly?

“They probably told him it was urgent, or offered him a lot of money.” Satoru paused for a moment, then added, “Or both.”

“Does this mean you’ll be training all the time now?” Will I even see you anymore?

He finally turned and met your eyes again, still looking displeased by the whole situation. “We still have some time before the ship gets here,” he said, offering you a small smile. “I don’t have to go home yet, and if we hide before the ship is here we can spend a little more time together.” His gaze was hopeful, and you realized he was trying to cheer you up, while also avoiding your question. After a moment, you decided it wasn’t worth it to argue, and you nodded.

You skipped stones in silence after that, though your heart wasn’t in it anymore; you kept looking towards the boat, dread and sadness growing heavier and heavier in your gut the closer it got. 

Once the boat was close enough that you could hear men’s voices carrying across the water, Satoru took your hand, and the two of you took off again, running back through town, looking for a place to hide. Before you could find one, though, you heard your father call out your name, and both you and Satoru nearly toppled over from how quickly you stopped.

Your father called your name again, and you glanced from him back to your friend, a pained look on your face; he knew as well as you did that you found disobeying your parents nearly impossible. He smiled at you and nodded, giving your hand a squeeze. 

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised. “I’m gonna tell you all about my new teacher. He’s probably an old man who can barely see and has a dragon that can’t fly.”

A little laugh escaped you before you could stop it, despite the fact that you were hesitant to leave his side. “Bye, Satoru,” you said softly, squeezing his hand in return before letting him go, calling back to your father as you ran to join him.

Despite his assurance that he would see you soon, Satoru started coming around less and less often. You tried to hide how upset it made you to not be able to see him much, your other friends picked up on it easily. 

Utahime started inviting you to take walks around the settlement with her. More often than not the two of you wound up at the library, huddled together in a corner, thankful for each other’s company and the peaceful atmosphere of the building. Most of the time, Utahime would find a book to read, and you would read over her shoulder. She read a lot of history books, which you initially found dry and boring, though occasionally the accounts of battles fought and dragons encountered would pique your interest. Your favorite she read was the diary of the last rider to ever bond with a metallic dragon, more than three hundred years before you were born. He was, unsurprisingly, a member of the Gojo clan, making him one of Satoru’s ancestors. 

Shoko started inviting you out, as well, though her invitations were more practical than peaceful; she would ask if you wanted to help her gather herbs her parents would need to make the medicines they used in their clinic. You didn’t know as much as Shoko did about these things, but following her instructions on what to pick and what to avoid was easy enough. As you went on more and more of these trips with your friend, you began to pick up on a few things: willow bark for pain, valerian for help with sleep, yarrow tea for fever; you weren’t sure why you’d ever need to know any of this, since you weren’t going to become a healer, but Shoko insisted it was always good to know a little about a lot of things. 

Kento even asked once if you wanted to spend time with him, pointing out that you seemed lonely, now that Satoru was spending more and more of his time at the Gojo estate. You had agreed, not knowing what to expect from your young but serious friend, and you were more than a little surprised when he took you back to his family’s bakery. 

“My parents do all the actual baking,” Kento told you, as you hovered outside the kitchen, “but sometimes they need help with other things, like cutting shapes out of the cookie dough, or glazing the pastries once they cool.”

All you did was nod, still in awe of the scale of everything in and around the kitchen; you’d helped your parents in your own kitchen at home, of course, but you’d never seen bags of flour or sugar so big and heavy, though Kento’s father seemed to have no issue picking them up and carrying them around. Even the dragons had their own jobs to do: Kento’s father’s dragon – a small white and beige creature, who you learned was named Ginger – tended to the fires for the ovens, keeping the heat consistent and adjusting the temperature when necessary, which Kento’s mother’s dragon, Cinnamon, carried trays of finished goods from the kitchen to the display racks, every tray perfectly balanced, not so much as a wobble as she walked. 

Your friend’s parents were incredibly kind, asking if you wanted to try and help with anything in the kitchen, but you had turned them down, not wanting to get under their feet or be the reason anything got burnt. 

Kento’s mother had offered you a gentle smile, nodding in understanding at your hesitance. “We need someone to cut out the cookies for us, if you’d like to help the kids with that,” she suggested, tilting her head towards where her son was rolling out cookie dough on a large table, Kokoro next to him with what you assumed were cookie cutters in her hands – one was a circle, the other a star. 

“I can do that,” you agreed, sitting on the opposite side of the table from the Nanami siblings, watching them curiously.

“Can you put the cookies on the baking tray after Koro cuts them out?” Kento asked, and you couldn't help but smile at the way he shortened his sister’s name, since you rarely heard him do such a thing.

“I’m not good at that part,” the girl added, a slight frown on her lips.

“I’ll do my best,” you said, then watched as the pair cut the shapes out of cookie dough: Kokoro’s excitement to be cutting out star shapes was palpable, and you were a little surprised she didn’t overlap any cutouts with how close together she was making them. 

Once you were sure your fingers wouldn’t accidentally fall victim to the little girl’s eager cutting, you carefully began to pick up the dough stars, laying them out on the tray that had been waiting on the table for the three of you. As you worked, you spared a glance over at Kento, and you had to stifle a laugh; some of his circles were fine, but a lot of them looked like they’d been overlapped and cut multiple times, leaving them oddly shaped and looking incomplete.

Before you could say anything, your blonde friend caught you looking. “They’re supposed to look like this,” he told you. “So they look like different phases of the moon. They’re for the New Year’s festival in a couple days.”

His words sobered you instantly, and the laugh you’d been holding back died in your throat. He was right, the annual New Year’s celebration was just a few days away, but the reminder made you realize just how much time had passed since you’d been able to spend any time with Satoru, and it made you sad.

The siblings noticed your change in demeanor right away, and Kokoro, as sweet as ever, rushed to cheer you up. “Everyone will be at the festival!” she said. “Everyone will be there and we’ll all have a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure Satoru will be there,” Kento added, offering you a slight smile before he finished cutting out the cookies. 

You offered a weak smile in return, nodding silent as you returned to the task of putting the cookies on the baking tray. Though you tried not to show it, you were in a much more dejected mood the rest of the day.  

The last two days before the New Year’s festival flew by, and before you knew it, your mother was dressing you in a red kimono with little white fish on it and fussing with your hair like she always did, though this time you didn’t fight her or try to hurry her along at all.

You hovered around your parents for a while at the beginning of the festival, unsure of where Shoko and Utahime were, and knowing that the Nanami siblings would be at their parents’ booth, helping them sell the cookies and other pastries they’d spent the last few days preparing; you’d seen them for a few moments when your parents had stopped by the booth for cookies.

The festival wasn’t unpleasant in and of itself, but your mood had yet to recover from how low it had dropped since your separation from your best friend. After about half an hour of being your mother’s shadow, you heard a familiar voice call your name, and you whipped your head around, searching for the speaker. 

“Satoru?” you called back, hoping you had actually heard him, and it wasn’t just your mind playing a cruel joke on you. Looking for a flash of white didn’t even help you this time, since so many people were wearing white, but thankfully you heard your name called again, and suddenly there he was, blue eyes flashing with relief when he caught sight of you.

“There you are!” he said, grinning as he raced up to you, his face flushed. He paused for a moment, looking up at your parents, giving them a slight bow in greeting. “Would it be alright if we walked around the festival together?” he asked, almost shockingly polite in that moment.

Your parents shared a look, though you could tell from the smiles on both of their faces that they were going to agree.

“Run along,” your father agreed, gesturing for you two to enjoy the festivities on your own.

“Try not to get into too much trouble, alright?” your mother added before you could run off.

Thanking them with a grin, Satoru took your hand and tugged you off in a different direction. “I didn’t want to tell your parents,” he said, leaning in a bit closer to make sure nobody else would hear him as he spoke. “But I’m not really supposed to be out here mingling with people.”

“You’re not?” you asked, glancing around, wondering if someone was already looking for your friend to drag him back to his family. 

Satoru shook his head. “No, I’m not. I think my parents wanted to make a big deal out of announcing my bond with Kenji tonight, but I don’t want to be part of it.”

“You don’t?” you felt a bit stupid for asking such simpleminded questions, but his words baffled you; normally Satoru loved to brag when he was the first to get or accomplish something, so the fact that he wasn’t jumping at the chance to rub it in everyone’s faces that he, at the young age of only eight years old, had bonded with his dragon seemed a little odd.

“No,” he said. “Kenji is my dragon, not anyone else’s. Nobody else will ever train him, or have much of anything to do with raising and taking care of him. Why should it matter if everyone else knows?”

You were silent for a moment, blinking in surprise at his words. “That is… surprisingly grown up of you,” you said eventually, and you couldn’t help but giggle softly at the look he shot you. 

“You don’t need to sound so shocked about it,” he groused, but you could tell he was fighting a smile of his own. He opened his mouth, presumably to insist he was Very Mature, Actually, but before he could say anything, someone started calling out for him.

“Satoru!” The voice was unfamiliar to you, somewhat gruff and clearly frustrated, and you couldn’t yet see who it belonged to.

Satoru’s hand tightened around your own, and he gave you a mischievous grin. “Run,” he said, and the two of you instantly started sprinting away from the voice, ducking and weaving between other townspeople as you went. 

“Who are we running from?” you asked breathlessly, as Satoru tugged you around the corner of a building, both of you crouching low to try and stay out of sight.

“Yaga-sensei,” your friend answered, looking around to make sure you hadn’t been spotted. “He’s the teacher my parents sent for after I bonded with Kenji.” He finally turned to look at you then, a slight scowl on his face. “He’s bossy and he’s boring. I don’t like him.”

Even having never met the man, you also felt a sort of resentment towards him; after he had arrived in the settlement, Satoru had been secluded up in the Gojo estate, unable to leave and spend time with his friends the way he used to. 

You stood there for a few moments longer, still catching your breath, when you realized something. “Do you have Kenji?” you asked, brows furrowed slightly. 

Before Satoru could say anything, you heard a small chirping noise, and just a second later, Kenji’s head popped out of the boy’s sleeve, right by where your hands were still joined. 

“You’re not supposed to be down there!” Satoru exclaimed, releasing your hand and scolding his dragon for causing problems.

Stifling your laughter proved a challenge as you watched your friend try to negotiate his dragon out of his sleeve so that Satoru could get Kenji settled closer to his own body heat. Kenji was as hesitant to follow orders as his rider, and almost seemed to backtalk Satoru every time the boy spoke to him.

“Fine!” Satoru said after a bit, clearly feeling exasperated as he stared at his dragon. “Fine. I’ll make sure to share my desserts with you. Now will you please come down from there before that crazy old man finds us?”

“You should really be more respectful when talking about your teachers.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard the voice from behind you, and you half-hid behind your friend as you looked up to get a proper look at the speaker.

He was tall, with a fair amount of dark hair on his head, styled to be slightly spiky, and he wore a pair of tinted lenses, which you thought was odd, since it was growing dark outside; all that to say, he looked nothing like the old men who lived in the settlement. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at you and Satoru, a displeased and unimpressed look on his face.

“Satoru,” the man began, though your friend cut him off before he could continue. 

“Yaga-sensei,” Satoru retorted, mimicking his teacher’s facial expression and stance – as well as he could with Kenji climbing out of his sleeve, anyways.

“You were supposed to stay with your parents and I,” Yaga said, exasperation already evident in his voice.

“Was I?” Satoru asked, playing innocent. “I didn’t know that.”

“We told you no less than four times that you were not to go running off.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

As teacher and student continued to bicker back and forth, you watched Kenji as finally crawled completely out of Satoru’s sleeve, and began to make his way up his arm to the neck of his kimono. Instead of tucking himself close to your friend’s body heat again, though, the dragon turned and looked at you, a curious little chirping noise coming from his lips as he altered his course, taking unsteady steps onto the sleeve of your kimono, where you were hiding behind and clinging to Satoru.

You stared, wide-eyed, as the little creature made his way up your arm, across your shoulder, and eventually draped himself across the back of your neck, like a tiny, reptilian scarf. A shiver ran down your spine as he settled his scales against your skin; he was cold, so cold you weren’t sure how he was still able to move around with relative ease.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Yaga’s voice was much closer than it was before, and you were startled when you looked up to see him staring down at you.

“What I’m— huh?” you stammered, unsure what he could possibly be talking about. 

“You’re trying to steal Satoru’s dragon,” he said. “You’re not as sneaky as you might think.”

Your eyes went wide with panic. “N-No! I’m not— I would never take Kenji from Satoru!” you insisted. “He climbed up here by himself, and I didn’t want to scare him or knock him on the ground by moving too suddenly.”

“He climbed on you?” Satoru asked, eyes wide; he looked absolutely fascinated. “Where is he?”

“Y-Yeah, he’s laying on my neck… I don’t understand what the big deal is, I figured he was just trying to get warm.” Your brows furrowed as you looked at your friend, unsure about why he was acting like it was such a big deal.

“White dragons have ice powers when they grow up,” Yaga explained. “They’re built to handle cool temperatures. They rarely need to be kept warm, even as hatchlings.”

“And Kenji doesn’t let anyone touch him but me,” Satoru added, grinning widely at you now, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

Still confused by everything that was happening, you angled your head to try and see Kenji, where he had draped himself around your neck. He met your eyes steadily, his little head tilted slightly to the side, as if he were waiting for you to say something to him. You stared dumbly for a moment, then asked, “Are you comfy?”

Not being as familiar with Kenji as Satoru was, you weren’t entirely sure what his mannerisms meant, but the dragon seemed almost…amused? The sound he made sort of resembled a laugh, and he settled back down afterwards.

“Satoru,” you asked, turning back to your friend, completely bewildered. “What is happening right now?”

“No idea!” he replied cheerfully. “But Kenji likes you, which is good. He doesn’t like anyone else but me.”

You nodded slightly, glancing briefly over at Yaga, before a thought occurred to you. “Do you think your parents would let me meet the other hatchling?” you asked, feeling hope flicker to life inside your chest. “If they knew that Kenji was friendly with me, maybe that means that I need to meet—”

“It never hatched,” Yaga cut in, and you felt almost as if you’d been struck.

“What?”

“The second egg never hatched,” Satoru elaborated, much more gently than his surly teacher. “Nobody’s sure why, but Kenji was the only hatchling from that clutch.”

All of the hope and excitement left your body at the words, and you felt yourself deflating; the odds were slim that the Gojo clan ever would have let you meet Kenji’s nestmate in the first place, and you had no delusions of being as special or important as Satoru, so even if you had been able to meet the hatchling, it was unlikely you would have bonded with it anyways. But, still, it hurt to have those hopes smothered so quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Satoru said quietly, noticing the disappointment written clear across your face. He stepped in a bit closer, taking your hand again and giving it a gentle squeeze; a squeeze you half-heartedly returned.

“Not your fault,” you sighed, only giving yourself a moment to feel crestfallen, before shaking yourself of the gloom; there was still a festival to enjoy, after all.

“Satoru,” Yaga said, “you’ll be coming with me, and returning to sit with your parents before the announcement is made.”

“I will be doing no such thing, Yaga-sensei.” Satoru’s grip on your hand tightened slightly as he spoke, and he stared his teacher dead in the eyes as he defied them.

“Satoru—” 

“I have told you, and my parents, and everyone on the estate who could hear me, that I have no desire to be involved in some silly announcement that doesn’t even benefit anyone. It just makes my parents feel more important, and it makes everyone else in the settlement jealous. It’s stupid. Whether I have my dragon yet and how I choose to train that dragon isn’t anyone else’s business.”

Yaga continued to stare your friend down for several long moments; you knew Satoru well enough to know he wouldn’t back down, and if Yaga were to force him to go back to his parents, Satoru would scream and thrash and bite and cause such a scene that it would embarrass his parents so deeply that no announcement of their son bonding with his dragon at such a young age would be able to make up for it.

Apparently coming to the same conclusion, Yaga sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. “Fine, I won’t force you to come back. Just promise me you won’t cause any problems?”

Satoru exchanged a mischievous look with you before turning back to his teacher. “I will try my best.”

Yaga, looking thoroughly unconvinced by Satoru’s answer, let out a long, slow breath through his nose, as if holding back some sort of remark. Then, with one last glance at you with Kenji around your neck, he turned and walked away, presumably back to where Satoru’s parents were waiting for their son to be returned to them. 

“I don’t think he likes me,” you told Satoru, after you were sure the older man was out of earshot.

“I don’t think he likes me either,” he replied; you found his comment oddly reassuring, and you laughed.

“Not exactly what I thought you’d say to make me feel better.”

Satoru turned to face you then, a slightly quizzical look on his face. “Who cares if that old man likes you or not? He’s not your teacher. Besides,” he added, his eyes darting to his dragon. “Kenji likes you, and that’s a much bigger deal.” He did genuinely seem thrilled that his dragon was fond of you, though you still weren’t certain as to why. You didn’t want to crush his excitement, though, so you decided not to push it.

“Yeah,” you agreed, unable to help but return your friend’s contagious smile. “I guess that is pretty cool.”

“Come on,” Satoru said after a moment, tugging you along behind him as he made his way back to the festival. “I want to find Utahime and beat her at that ring toss game again.”

Another laugh escaped you then, and you hurried after him as you remembered the last new year’s festival; there had been a ring toss game set up, and the prize for winning was a large paper lantern, expertly crafted and painted to resemble a goldfish. Utahime and Shoko had spent all their money trying and failing to win the lantern, but Satoru had won first try, and then several more rounds after that. He’d selected the lantern as his prize, grinning at Utahime in a way that she had taken as smug, and she had stormed off with tears in her eyes. He’d looked so confused when Shoko had hurried after your friend to comfort her, shooting Satoru a glare.

“Why is she upset?” he’d asked you.

“Because you won the prize she wanted.”

“...Oh,” he’d said after a moment, though he’d still looked a little confused. “I was going to give it to her,” he’d explained. “I just thought the game was fun, I didn’t actually want any of the prizes.”

It had taken a bit of hunting, but eventually the two of you had been able to find Shoko consoling Utahime behind one of the stalls selling sparklers, and Satoru had explained everything to the other girl.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Hime.”

She’d just stared at him for a moment, slack-jawed, holding the goldfish lantern in her hands. “It’s okay,” she’d eventually managed to say, the tips of her ears going red. “Thank you for winning the lantern for me.”

You’d seen that same goldfish lantern in her bedroom, proudly displayed on her bedside table, the last time you’d gone to visit her.

The sound of your friends’ voices drew you out of your reminiscing, and you grinned when you spotted Shoko and Utahime already standing in front of the ring toss stall. There were no lanterns as prizes this year, but there was a small, hand-painted wall hanging of exotic flowers that Shoko seemed to have her eye on. The girls were hesitant to play at first, but were easily convinced when Satoru promised to pay for everybody.

As your other two friends stepped forward to get their rings for the first round, you held Satoru back just long enough to put Kenji back around his neck, rather than your own; you didn’t want to cause any issues with his family if you got caught with a dragon that wasn’t yours.

Satoru’s eyes sparkled fondly as he smiled at you, adjusting the neck of his kimono and allowing Kenji to settle close to his body heat again. “Thanks,” he said quietly, then took your hand and tugged you to stand alongside Shoko and Utahime, getting your own rings and tossing them at the bottles stacked at various heights, trying to land enough of them to win a prize. 

By the end of the night, all four of you were bickering and laughing just like always, and it was easy to forget that so much had already changed in such a short period of time. After tonight, Satoru would go back to his constant lessons with Yaga, and he would still be unable to come and spend time with your friend group like he used to, but tonight, none of that mattered. Tonight, you were going to work together to win that poster for Shoko.

reblogs & likes always appreciated!!! especially reblogs, guys, seriously. keeps my writer heart happy & full and my writer brain motivated!!! 💜

taglist: @ghost-1-y @kentohours @whatthefucksatan @why-the-fuck-am-i-so-tired @mitsuristoleme @lu-dao-writes @peachdues @lik0 @deepestartisanhumanoidshark @here-for-the-tea-baby @staryukis if your url is crossed out, it's because tumblr wouldn't let me tag you. i apologize!

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi, could you please recommended any fics that were basically stiles or anyone from the halen pack join the BAU. Thank you

Yeah, @ashton23458!

I'll Blow This (open wide) by LadySlytherin

(1/1 I 12,595 I Teen I Sterek)

FBI intern Stiles Stilinski is beyond excited at the prospect of joining the elite Behavioral Analysis Team. The BAU seems happy to have him joining their number.

When a fellow-intern comes to the mistaken conclusion that Stiles Stilinski and Dr. Spencer Reid are both dating the same person, Stiles sees it as an opportunity to bond with his future-teammate. One should never underestimate the pranking ability of two geniuses with devious tendencies.

Temporarily Misappropriating the BAU by L3T5_G3T_KR4K3N

(6/? I 15,423 I Mature I Stanny)

Stiles Stilinski would like it known that he did not intend to break the law. Or get a new boyfriend. Or be forcefully adopted and recruited by the BAU. He never intended to solve murders, just as he never intended to get his best friend turned into a Halloween stereotype. Though he doesn't regret it, he would like to blame it on Scott and Jackson for leaving Stiles and Danny unsupervised in a lockable room with alcohol. Honestly, their lives would have been much simpler if they had just stuck to the normal teenage things like making out, instead of hacking the BAU. - - - - - - - - - - - You created a Group Chat with PG and 5 others.

The Lawston Butcher was a woman, not a dude. Pretty sure she was your third witness, Mrs. Alfia.

DM: What?

George Gelding wasn’t one of her victims, which threw off your data. His killer just used the Butcher’s method to throw off the trail. Also, his killer was most likely Kyle Freeden.

AH: Thank you for your input on one of our past cases. May we have your name for the record of the tip?

LOL no. I’m drunk, not stupid.

I'll cross this country on a frequency by illusemywords

(18/18 I 53,541 I Mature I Sterek)

“Stiles, I need you to run a license plate for me.”

“Whatever you need, babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.”

“Stop being such a sourwolf, just tell me the numbers.”

or

The one where there's a serial killer on the loose, Stiles Stilinski has a stalker and Derek Hale doesn't know how to express his emotions.

The New Member by Shadowofahunter

(30/30 I 60,241 I Mature I Stydia)

After losing Prentiss the team is raw, but when the new Agent Stilinski joins in her place they begin to heal.

Set in season 6 and ignores the cases.

Unforgettable by Sallyasher1994

(18/18 I 161,523 I Explicit I Sterek)

“No, I guess not,” Stiles shakes his head distractedly, “What’s this about anyway?” What was it about? Had his dad called and complained about his attitude over the phone? Technically it was made from a work station but it was a personal phone call. He can’t get in trouble for that right? Then Stiles thought about how his stand in boss had mentioned Derek. Derek who is in Beacon Hills right now. Within driving distance of his father. All alone. Without his scrawny, children’s book comparison of a husband to defend him. Stiles felt his heart sink with dread. What had his dad done?

“Everyone get your go bags, we’re heading to Beacon Hills,” - Derek and Stiles are married and work for the FBI, with Scott, Stiles best friend and Derek’s brother. Stiles has always struggled with his father hating Derek, but he never thought it would culminate in the man arresting Derek for several murders. Stiles and Scott have to take the team to their home now and see if they can not only free Derek, but also catch a killer, and do it before anyone else gets hurt… they can’t do all three.

Sheriff is not awesome. Like he was, but now he sucks. Seriously it’s so worth a read but don’t expect to love the sheriff.

Raised By Wolves by auburn 

(6/6 I 186,765 I Mature I Scallison)

An alternate universe mash of season one and two (with later elements), where the FBI is called in to investigate the murders in a small town. Peter doesn't manage to kill Kate, the kanima is not Jackson, Scott McCall is a failure as a friend, Stiles has to face some hard truths, Derek's never been human, the BAU sees what they expect to see, and Gerard Argent is still more monstrous than any werewolves.

[doukeshi-kun]

hiii keshi!! this is my first ask to you ever so i really hope tumblr doesn’t eat it !! i wanted to ask you a question about writing if thats okay with you but before i do i’d just like to tell you that your stalker kolya fic actually changed the wiring of my brain lol it was SO good!! i remembered reading it on the train when it first came out and being SOOOO devastated that i had no one to talk to about it!! its my all time favorite nikolai fic and i’d just like to tell you that <3

anyways!! my question to you is; is it normal to spend a long time on writing fics? 😭 it sounds like a very stupid question (trust me, i know) but it’s kind of been itching at my brain for a while now. so basically i’m writing this gojo x reader/OC fanfic (i dunno if you’re that into jjk or not) but its supposed to be in first person POV and a long fic having at least 20-25 chapters.. i have an idea of what i want it to be like, plans of subtle foreshadowing, backstories, plot points but i’m not really sure if these things should be taking up so much of my time 😭 it took me a day to plan out the first chapter and i’ve only gotten 20% of it done so far. I usually need a whole day to write 3000 words (i struggle) while i always see most writers posting about being able to finish a whole 6k words oneshots (which is SUCH a talent).

is it something that gets easier the more you write?? i’ve been writing for 5-6 years since i started at 13. what can i do to improve this?? or is it a case of ‘not every writer is the same’??

i’ve never talked to another writer before, never thought about reaching out to anyone but today i feel like i kinda do need someone elses opinion with this 💔 i’m so so sorry for the long ramble, it’s difficult for me to simply things <3333 absolutely love your work <3

haiii thank you so much for the kind comments ❤️ you can always talk about stalker nikolai with me hehe

so, to answer, yes it is totally normal to spend a long time for a fic! and you're planning to do a long fic that has like, 20-25 chapters, so it's totally normal for your planning to take some time. this is the case of "not every writer is the same"

take me, for example. i need at least two weeks to write a fic for stalker nikolai. and there was one time i had to take about almost 2-months for a trash sugar magic's chapter. and now, i can only post once a month because i need more time and i am also busy with other stuff in life.

so 3k words a day is very impressive! hells, 1k a day is also impressive. personally, there really is nothing to improve because you are working on YOUR own pace. i think, rushing to get a fic done will give more harm than good (for example, you might get easily burnt out or you feel obligated to keep posting in such a short period)

take your time, plan out your fic, write what you can and don't worry about whether you're a fast writer or not. you're still a writer ❤️

goodluck on your fic! 🫶

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 4

Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: Well, the arcade was a bust, but maybe going to a local dive bar and listening to music will yield better results.

4k words

a/n: This chapter is shorter than usual because my brain fried when writing it at work lol But we finally get to talk to Eddie without Steve cockblocking (too much)

Proof read? You have no proof I can read.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

It wasn’t until Monday after school that Dustin was able to make his way back to Family Video. After the night at the arcade, he’d been caught up with sneaking chats with Suzie and spending time with his mother. Not to mention the dentist appointment that caused him to miss a good chunk of Monday morning. If anything, dating and matchmaking be damned, Dustin had earned the treat of renting a movie and shoving candy into his newly cleaned teeth. 

The freshman walked in, said hi to you and walked shamelessly into the back while you called after him half-heartedly that he wasn’t supposed to go back there before turning back to your conversation with Robin. 

“Jesus, Henderson you can’t just barge into the back of any job I get!” Steve said as he sat in the break room. “I’m going to have to say no to you at some point.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve talked about this.” Dustin said, sitting next to him in the small room, grabbing some of Steve’s chips. “Anyway, has she said anything about Saturday night?”

Steve watched in annoyance as his friend helped himself to his lunch. “No, she hasn’t said anything about what happened. When I clocked in she said she didn’t want to talk about it.” 

“Probably because we might have... totally ditched her.” Dustin admitted. “On accident! It wasn’t my idea!” He added quickly as Steve gaped at him. 

“What?!” Steve was surprised. “Wait, what happened?”

“Well when the two of you left, Eddie decided that we were done and we all went to get pizza instead.” Dustin said. “I saw her when we were leaving.”

“Shit. So he saw her leave with me, which probably didn’t help.” Steve groaned. “Did Eddie say anything about her?”

“Yeah he... said he wasn’t interested.” 

“Really? Shit. I knew he was a freak, but I didn’t think he had bad taste.”

“Why aren’t you dating her?” Dustin asked. “You won’t date Robin and now you won’t date her? Are you allergic to dating cool girls or something?”

“Robin and I are just friends.” Steve said firmly. “And who said I didn’t try to date her? I tried to ask her out once but she turned me down. She said I was ‘too normal’.”

There were tears streaming down Dustin’s face two minutes later from how hard he was laughing at that. Steve Harrington could get any girl in town, and got shot down by the wierdo. 

“Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system, Henderson.” Steve groaned. 

“She’s too good for you, Steve.” Dustin finally managed to say, calming himself down. 

“So Eddie was a bust so I guess I’m back to square one.” Steve sighed. “I guess I could take her out to a bar and help her get numbers. If she can keep herself from saying something too weird for at least ten minutes it’d be easy.”

But it didn’t feel right. You already knew what you wanted, and any bar in town would just be filled with the same normal, boring people that you’d never had an interest in. 

“You know... Eddie’s band plays at the Hideout.” Dustin said suddenly. 

“Yeah, I thought we just established that wasn’t an option.” Steve frowned. 

“Okay but hear me out, she liked Eddie, right?” 

“Yeah, so?” 

“So? So if she liked Eddie then she’d probably like someone who also likes Eddie. He told me that people come to watch his band play specifically.” Dustin was grinning wide. 

“Henderson, you might be onto something.” Steve was starting to follow his friend’s logic. “If his fans like him, then she’d probably like his fans.”

“Precisely, Steve!” 

The two of them grinned at each other as if they’d just cracked the code to helping you out. However, Steve was only aware of half the plan. That night at the arcade hadn’t been sitting right with Dustin since Eddie tore out of there like a bat out of hell with the rest of the club in tow. He’d seen the way Eddie had stolen glances at you when he thought no one was looking, and only Eddie could miss the way you had been staring at him as the two of you talked. 

Dustin wasn’t sure what the hell Eddie’s problem was saying he wasn’t interested, but if Steve was giving him a chance to be nosy and meddle he was going to take it. You had been nice to Dustin this summer, and after starting the new hell that was high school he wanted to help you out. Eddie had been the only person who had been nice to him and Mike in school, and you had been nice out of it. 

If this didn’t work he’d leave Steve to his own problem, but Dustin had this one last trick up his sleeve. 

“So Eddie’s never talked about having an interest in anyone before?” Steve asked as he tossed his trash and handed over the remaining chips to Dustin. 

“Not really. Jeff mentioned that he used to have a thing for some girl named Ronnie, and they all act really cagey about someone else named Paige.” Dustin said with a shrug. 

“I have no idea who those people are.” 

“I don’t either, they don’t talk about it much.” 

“Alright, well I guess we’re gonna go to the Hideout.” Steve decided. “Wait, isn’t his band him and a bunch of high schoolers? How are they even allowed to play in a bar?”

“It’s a bar, not a club, Steve. They can be there, they just can’t drink. Legally.” Dustin decided not to share that Eddie had one or two fake IDs that the barkeeps were happy to overlook for Eddie at least. 

“What do you know about clubs?” Steve was surprised. “The only club you should know about is your weird fantasy club.”

“I watch MTV, I know how some things work!” 

The banter between the two continued until you showed up in the break room. 

“Steve, your break ended fifteen minutes ago. If you get your butt to the front I’ll fudge the time sheet and say you just forgot to clock back in.” you said. “And Dustin, honey, I love you. You aren’t supposed to be back here. Actually, I don’t care because you’re a good kid. Just ask before you barge in, okay? If Keith’s here I’ll actually have to enforce that.” 

“Yes, Ma’am!” Dustin gave you a salute as the two of them made their way back to the front. When Steve took his place behind the counter, Dustin took a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it over. 

“What’s this?” Steve took the paper, looking at the list of movie titles. 

“My payment. I want these movies for my services. We had an agreement.” 

“Jesus, Henderson you’re gonna give yourself nightmares with these.” 

“Nothing’s been scarier than what we’ve been through.”

“Fair enough.” 

You looked to be as thrilled to be at the Hideout on a Tuesday night as you would be at the DMV. You didn’t have anything against the place, but you didn’t have anything for it either. You’d been to bars a few times with friends with varying degrees of enjoyment. Hell, this wasn’t even the first time you’d been to this bar. Hawkin’s didn’t exactly have the biggest variety of places to drink in town, and this place was the town’s “old reliable”. Cheap enough for the blue collar workers to enjoy a cold beer after work, but with enough variety to have the young adults of the town fill up the booths on the weekends. 

It was not the weekend though, it was a Tuesday night. A weird night for Steve to drag you out to a bar to help you get a date. As you swung your body on the barstool waiting on your drink you glanced around. There was a small, cramped stage set up in the back and a few older men were hanging around. 

“So... Steve not to be terribly picky and not to sound ungrateful, but I’m not so sure about this.” You said, scanning the bar for anyone who didn’t look old enough to be your dad or grandpa. 

“There’s a band that’s supposed to play tonight.” Steve said, pointing over to the stage. “I heard they’re about our age so I thought it’d be worth a shot.”

“A band?” You considered it. “What type of music are they supposed to play?”

“I think it’s a metal band.”

You snorted into your soda. “A metal band? In Hawkins? Oh, this I have to see.” You hopped off the stool to make your way over to the cork board that was covered in advertisements for the town. You scanned it until you found a flier that had been covered partially by an advertisement for lawn care. 

CORRODED COFFIN- TUESDAY NIGHTS 

That must have been it. It didn’t give you any information about the band, other than the name and when they played. The logo was hastily drawn on in black and red markers as if putting this up was a last minute idea. You pulled the paper off the board and repositioned it so that it was front and center instead. There, that was your good deed for the day; giving a small band an additional 8.5 by 11 inches of visibility. 

“As usual, I have learned nothing.” You declared, taking your seat again. “I have a name and that’s it.”

“What’s the band called?” Steve asked. 

“Corroded Coffin.” you replied. “Shouldn’t you know? This was your idea!”

“I was just told there was a metal band that played, I wasn’t given a name.” Steve had been given the name and immediately forgot in the near endless ramblings that Dustin had gone on about. 

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy-”

“I already do.” 

You laughed and continued. “You’re gonna think I’m crazy but the name sounds familiar.” Your legs were swinging off the stool, leaning back against the bar with your elbows. “How can you forget a name like that?” 

Easily. Thought Steve. 

A few more people were starting to show up now, though it was still pretty dead and slow. Even as people shuffled in and out of the small bar, there was no sign of anyone who you’d deem “age appropriate” for you. 

“So you tried to set me up with a high schooler and now it looks like you’re trying to hook me up with someone twice my age.” You joked. 

“Yeah, I was hoping there’d be more people here to choose from.” Steve looked around the room. Dustin had said that this band was supposed to have a crowd but he wasn’t seeing evidence of that anywhere. 

“Ah well, even if tonight is another bust we can still have fun.” you gave him a playful punch. “If the band is bad we can bond over that, and if they’re good you probably won’t appreciate it and I’ll subject you to my every thought about it.”

“You do that anyway.” Steve breathed out a small laugh.

“I’ll be worse, cross my heart.” 

It wasn’t long until the doors to the Hideout opened again, with two highschoolers struggling to fit a drum set through the doors. You snickered as they twisted the parts trying to adjust the bulky equipment. That’s right, the circular drum goes through the square hole. 

“Steve, high schoolers.” you whispered. “Again?!” 

But then you realized that the two teenagers looked familiar. Familiar in a fresh way. Familiar in a ‘Hey, didn’t I just see you the other day?’ way. Your stomach twisted as they finally managed to get through the door and make their way to the stage for set up. 

“Hey, Steve, these kids look- shit.” 

Your heart leapt in a way you didn’t expect when the man you’d poorly attempted to get to know just a few days ago walked through the door with a guitar case strapped to his back. He was laughing with another member of the band as they carried in an amp. Eddie didn’t even look your way as they made their way to set up on stage. 

He played guitar. Of course he played guitar in a metal band. Jesus Christ, you were actually going to murder Steve and Dustin if this whole situation wasn’t going to kill you first. Eddie dropped his leather jacket on the side of the stage, leaving him in a band shirt that you couldn’t make out the name of in the dim lights. He had really nice arms (how had you missed the tattoos last week??), and the way he was smiling so genuinely and joking around with his friends made you feel fuzzy on the inside. He hadn’t looked like that when you two were talking-

“You’re drooling again.” Steve said. 

You shook your head and quickly turned around, putting your back to the stage. 

“Steve... what the fuck.” You hissed, glaring at him. “I know I didn’t exactly share what happened on Saturday, but I thought it was pretty clear that it didn’t go well.” 

“Listen, I had no- I” Steve couldn’t lie to you. “Henderson said he’d be playing tonight, but I swear I’m not trying to hook you two up again. I really thought that when he said there’d be a crowd there’d be more freaks here!” 

You smacked your head on the bar a few times with a groan. “It was so awkward. I told him I’d be right back but then when I went back in everyone was gone. He wasn’t interested in me.” 

“His loss.” Steve said. “Listen, we’ll stick around for a few songs and if no one else shows up then we can leave, deal?” 

“Deal.”

You tried to ignore the pounding in your heart as you pointedly refused to turn around. You didn’t even know why you cared so much that Eddie was there again. You had only talked for a half hour before he left, but the man had stuck in your mind since that night. 

You had been attracted to guys before, but Eddie was on some other level. 

“So, are you stalking me now, Harrington?”

FUCK. 

“Nah man, just in the mood to do something different tonight.” Steve said, trying his hardest to play nice. He had to remember that this was for you, even though he was starting to like Eddie less after his disinterest in you. 

“I didn’t take you as a man with music taste.” Eddie said. You hated that this man seemed to always sneak up on you. You finished off your drink and turned around to join the conversation before Steve made things worse. 

Fuck it. It’s not like this could be any more awkward than how things were left off. You might as well have some fun. 

“Actually this was my idea.” You said, lying through your teeth with a grin. “Steve here knows nothing about good music, so I thought I’d show him a little culture.”

Steve was now looking at you with his jaw dropped, wondering where the hell that came from. He looked offended, and Eddie? Eddie’s eyebrows shot up as recognition crossed his features as he looked at you. 

“So you like metal?” Eddie said, his gaze now locked on yours. You felt an odd pounding in your heart as you looked up into those amazingly round brown eyes. “What’s your favorite band?”

It wasn’t a challenge. There was nothing in his tone to indicate that he was about to turn into a total dick about music, and that both put you at ease and made your attraction to him far worse. 

“Well, Black Sabbath is always good.” you thought. “But I’m gonna have to go with WASP. I’d rate them a 69 out of 10 for being so damn horny in their songs.” 

Eddie’s eyes lit up and he smiled wide, the same kind of smile he’d just given his band mates a few minutes ago. You licked your lips and felt Steve kick your foot, probably signaling you to stop drooling. 

“So someone in this town does have good taste!“ Eddie was moving around more now, taking a few paces back and then back towards you clapping his hands. 

“I don’t like to limit myself.” You said. “I’m always looking for new sounds and music. It’s like I feel like I’m suffocating if it gets too quiet.”

You winced internally at the statement, knowing that it was probably off putting but to your surprise Eddie only got more excited. 

“Exactly!” He practically yelled.

How was it so easy to talk to him, and so hard at the same time? Why was it that every conversation so far had ended so awkwardly when moments like this felt easy? 

“So how long have you been playing?” you asked, looking over at the stage where he’d set his case down. 

“The band’s been playing together since we were in middle school, I started playing guitar around fifth grade. We’ve had a rotating cast of members, so I started it, and Jeff’s been there the longest after me.” he pointed to a member fiddling with his bass. “Zack and Gareth joined in high school.” 

“And was Chris Morrison ever part of this band?” you teased. 

“Fuck no!.” Eddie laughed. “My uncle would say that Chris couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on. He tried to play manager. Tried. After seeing how he ran his campaigns, I wasn’t interested.”

“Didn’t he also run for student council once?” 

“You remember those posters?!” there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Oh, he never ran. The rest of us were so done with how he was running Hellfire we put those up detailing why he was shit at leadership.”

“You’re kidding!” you gaped. “Jesus, you guys are weird.”

Eddie bent down in a joking bow. “I got a week’s detention for that stunt. I wasn’t the one who made most of them, but Higgin’s always had it out for me. Still does.” He mumbled that last part mostly to himself.

“Why do you two keep talking about Chris Morrison?” Steve asked, and you suddenly remembered that he was there too. Whoops.

“Common thread, apparently.” you shrugged. “It’s too easy to rag on the guy.”

“You had to be there.” Eddie said, as if you and Eddie were sharing connected memories that you were both part of rather than piecing together fragments of a puzzle where you were both corner pieces. The same picture, but never touching. 

At least, as far as you were aware. 

Steve was looking at you as if you were both insane. He was probably right. 

“Okay, okay Steve’s right. I don’t want to talk about Chris fucking Morrison anymore.” you said. “How long have you been playing here, at the Hideout?”

“Every Tuesday for about 2 years, give or take.” Eddie said. “We started monthly, but we get a crowd now so they asked us to play weekly.”

“A crowd.” You nodded, looking around the dead bar. “Damn, I must be pretty lucky to have the front man talking to me when you have all these people here to see you.” Behind the joke, the tone you used was sincere and playful all at once. You sat up a little straighter, leaning towards him on your barstool. 

That was a flirt. You just flirted. There was no taking that back. You were gonna have to commit now. 

There was something boyish about the smile he returned, calm and relaxed. “Oh yeah, you should feel special. As you can see we have a crowd of about-” he turned to the rest of the bar, counting the patrons. “-Right, about four drunks. I guess Tim’s out today.” 

“Well, make that four and a half drunks and also Steve is here.” you shook Steve’s shoulder playfully. 

“Half?” Steve looked at you, pushing your hand off. 

“I drove here, I can’t get wasted. But I can have one or two drinks and be fine.”

“Well, if you happen to bite off more than you can chew, I have room in my van for you.” Eddie said. “I could give you a ride.” 

Well, that wasn’t what you had expected. Your stomach was flipping like an acrobat at the suggestion. He was offering you a ride home if you wanted to drink? After he’d disappeared on you? Just what was this guy's deal? 

“If I’m biting my drinks that’s cause for concern. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bite a drink.” Smooth, so fucking smooth. You might as well call yourself Skippy because you were as smooth as chunky peanut butter.

But Eddie just laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. But the offer’s on the table. Or the bar, since you want to be literal.”

“I’ll think about it.” you said. “I don’t normally go home with men I just met at bars but if your band is any good I’ll consider it.”

His grin widened at that “Then I’ll be sure to tell the guys to pick up the slack tonight.” 

That was a flirt, right? Eddie just flirted back with you. That had to be right? You almost wanted him to go away so that you could confirm with Steve that your suspicions about that line were correct. 

“Eddie! Get over here and help with the amp, it’s doing the thing again!” One of the teens from the stage called out. 

Eddie sighed and looked over at his band that was messing with the amp they had brought in. “Again? Alright, I have some tape in my toolbox.” he called back to them before turning to you. HIs eyes flicked over to Steve for just a split second before meeting your eyes again. “Talk to you after the set?” 

“Yeah, I’d like that.” you said, “After all you might be my ride home.” 

And with that, Eddie turned and left.

“What was that?” Steve said immediately looking at you. “Where did that come from? Your idea? Going home with him?!”

“What?” you asked, taken aback. “You told me I should actually flirt, so I flirted!” 

“Where was all that on Saturday?! Hell, where was that for the past two months we’ve had this deal going?” Your friend was looking at you like he hardly recognized you. 

“Great question Steve, and it deserves a great answer.” you nodded. “I have no fucking clue. Maybe I’m exclusively attracted to guys that I don’t think I have a chance with?”

“He offered to drive you home.” His eyes darted over to the stage where Eddie had reappeared with a toolbox, messing with the amp. “I don’t know how you missed it but he was flirting with you.”

“Oh, good, I thought I was losing it.” you laughed. “Glad we got that established. Cool. Loving that. Now, on one hand he’s offering me a ride home. On the other hand, to get this supposed ride home I will have to intoxicate myself. Which sounds fun in theory but he’s also a guy I barely know.”

It should have been sketchy, it really really should have been. The only man you would trust to get your drunk ass home without worry right now would be Steve. 

“Hey, can I get another one of these, please?” you asked the bartender, holding up your glass. 

Once your refill came, you grabbed the drink and stood up. The band was finishing up the sound check and it looked like they were about to start. 

“Come on, I want to sit closer. I’m feeling reckless tonight.” You grabbed Steve’s arm and dragged him to a table closer to the stage. Eddie made his way to the mic and smiled at you and your raised your glass to him with a smile. 

“Thanks for coming out tonight, we’re Corroded Coffin and we’re here to make you feel like you’re fighting demons in hell!”

It was in that horrible, terrifying moment when the lights dimmed and the sound of an electric guitar ripped through the air,  that you realized something; you were going to end the night with the biggest, stupidest, useless crush on Eddie Munson and there was nothing you could do about it. 

Part 5

Dividers by @strangergraphics

I would also like to note that this is a work of fiction. You're allowed to make questionable decisions when playing with fake scenarios. Just roll with it.

Tag List: @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirly93 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @mistonk @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh

[consistentlyamess]

Wild Sweetness ⎮ Chapter 1 - Actin' like a sweet car crash

[2.9K]

pairing(s): luca x fem!oc MJ

summary: MJ has just settled in after opening back up a bakery in Chicago when some unexpected news

warnings: not much so far, takes place during and after season 3, 18+ , MDNI, swearing, eventual smut, second chance romance, pining, slowburn, flashbacks in italics, lmk if i missed anything!!

A/N: heeelloo!! this idea has been sloshing around in my head since i watched season 2 and started working on it while waiting for season 3. comments, likes, reblogs are appriciated as always or just come chat at me! And as always 💜💜💜 TY for reading!!!!💜💜💜

Fic Masterlist I Previous Chapter I Next Chapter

London, 5 years earlier 

Everyone warned her about the harsh English autumn dawns. It would be cold and dark and dewy. And it was. But it was also cosy and quiet and nice. She liked that every now and then a grumpy early bird smiled back at her after she handed them their order, she liked that she had a steady trickle of people for a about an hour before the morning rush flooded in and she liked the thought of being done by 3 pm and still getting to go for a walk or sit in the library and study for her classes. But not all of it was fun. Not all the time anyway. There was always one asshole. And sometimes she could deal with them just fine. With a cold but persistent smile on her face. But sometimes they just struck a nerve. 

‘Hi! Welcome to Crumbly Delights, how can I hel- oh, Marcie, hi!’ 

‘Hello, sweetheart, how are you doing?’ 

‘Oh, I’m good, how are you? Long night?’ 

‘You know it. We’re re-organizing the whole kids book section and it just feels like a never-ending task.’ 

‘Woof, I can only imagine. What can I get ya’ darling? And knock yourself out, it’s on me.’ 

‘Oh, now I can’t possibly accept that!’ 

‘Yes, you can and you will! Come on, don’t break the heart of a generous American. And besides, how many times have you let me stay after closing? Or waived late fees?’ 

‘Alright, alright, just this once. I’ll have a raspberry-vanilla danish and a cappuccino to go then.’ 

‘Atta girl, coming right up!’ she said with a warm smile. She didn’t miss the man who walked in with a serious look on his face. Even though he had this boyish streak to him, his eyebrows somehow made him look like he was perpetually stern and concerned about something. She didn’t pay him any mind until she heard him mutter under his breath. 

‘It is waaaay too early to be this chipper in the morning.’ 

She dealt with assholes every single day. She knew how to take care of them, she knew how not to take it personally. But in front of Marcie was another thing. The nicest, wisest British lady, who saved her on so many lonely nights. Not with her. 

‘Well, fuck you too! You wanna try again?’ she replied with a cutting tone. 

They all froze for a moment. Her, fixing this douche with a glare, Marcie, with rounded eyes and a hand raised in front her mouth in surprise, and the douche with a slight embarrassed blush and mouth moving like a fish’s, stranded on shore. She raised an eyebrow that said, ‘try me you dick’. 

‘Uh, uhm’ he started stammering. ‘Shit, sorry, fuck I-uh, I’m sorry! I’m- i’m a chef and I have early mornings and I never, ever wanted to greet anybody like this, at 5 in the morning. I was taken aback a bit, I think, I’m sorry.’ 

‘I’m not a chef, I just work here and I’m paid to be cheerful and nice with dickheads like you all day. So, if you want to buy something, the least you can do is keep your mouth shut if you din’t have anything nice to say.’

‘We- You’re right. I’m sorry. Everything you just said was right. I’ve had a rough week, which is not an excuse, just an explanation. I’m not usually like this.’ 

‘Apology accepted. So, what can I get you today?’ 

‘I’ll just have a coffee and a croissant. Please.

‘Great, coming right up!’ she said, still with a smile on her face. She shot a ‘this fucking guy’ glance at Marcie and got to work on the on orders.

‘Have great day darling, I hope I’ll see you soon at the library.’ Marcie said as she left. 

‘Oh, don’t you worry, you will! Have a great day Marcie!’ The coffee she was making for the douche (she decided, she’ll just call him that) was ready but she thought she’ll take her time with it. 

‘Alright, here’s the croissant and the coffee, it’ll be 5,50 please.’ 

‘Right’ the douche said. He started searching for change in his pocket and she was somewhat ashamed to admit that the flustered haze pleased her a little bit. He eventually put a 10 pound bill on the counter. ‘Here.’ She started looking for change before he said: 

‘No, no-no, I don’t want the change, sorry. I was a dick and this is the least I can do.’ 

‘Well, thank you.’ She started to feel a little bad now. ‘I’m sorry that I snapped at you. It is early and even though you were being a dick, I shouldn’t have.’ 

‘Given the circumstances I think you were remarkably merciful. So, again, sorry, uhm Ma-’ he was looking at her nametag. 

‘Oh, Marjolaine. It’s French. But no one really calls me that.’ 

‘Really? It’s a beautiful name.’ 

‘You already gave me a tip, you don’t have to keep buttering me up. You’re forgiven.’ 

He chuckled at that. 

‘I actually think it’s a beautiful name. And I’m honestly surprised you didn’t spit in my coffee. The servers I worked with definitely would’ve done that.’ 

‘Well, you would’ve seen me do that. Sue us for healthcode violations or just never come back here. Can’t really risk losing business here.’ 

‘Oh, I definitely would’ve come back. Even with the spit, my conscious will only be clear, if i can leave you a tip like three more times’ 

It was now her turn to chuckle a little bit. 

‘Are all chefs such smooth talkers?’ 

‘Most of them are- how should I put this? They do tend to find some enjoyment in uhm, smooth talking and conquests.’ 

She blew raspberries as she laughed in surprise.

‘Conquests? Where are you from? The 1800s? You guys fuck the servers. Everybody knows this since the Kitchen Confidentials, there’s no need to be coy about it.’ 

‘You Americans and your straightforwardness.’ 

‘You guys and your weird prudishness.’ 

‘Well, this is where the Victorian values started. Also, not all chefs shag anything that moves. Pastry chefs generally tend to be a little more tender.’ 

‘Ah, pastry chef, huh?’ 

‘Yup, a late one at that. I better get going.’ He started leaving and she found herself wanting to say something that would make him stay. Almost as if hearing her thoughts, he turned back before stepping out. 

‘I’m Luca by the way. If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, come check out the Mimosa, my treat. Have a nice day.’ 

‘Thanks, you too.’

Chicago, Present day

The first time MJ moved into the small apartment above the bakery she immediately fell in love with the kitchen. It was probably the biggest space in there, wide counters, big fridge, small pantry that definitely made up for the lack of a bathtub. But the absolute knockout had to be the fact that it had not one but two windows. On two different sides making sure that sunshine and light could always get in. A far cry from the gloomy little London apartment she used to have. A far cry even from her first Chicago apartment from like two years ago. Coming back to the States was difficult enough, feeling like she had to start everything over at almost thirty. But there was something about the kitchen and the curtains with the small flower print that immediately had her heart. After moving in, the first thing she did was bake a peach pie. After the frenzy of moving, the uncertainties of starting a new job - the only thing she could think of at that moment, finally stopping after a gruelling month, was baking something. Nothing was unpacked, boxes filled nearly every surface area. Except for the kitchen. Getting ready to bake back then involved setting up her workspace for the first time, which finally filled her with some excitement. Feeling the space, deciding where the pots and pans should go, which drawer should store the cutlery, the cutting boards, the napkins and the clean towels - almost a form of meditation. Peach pie was always the first thing she baked in every new oven she came across. The baking of the crust gave her a general idea about times and temperatures, hot and cold spots in the oven, if it came out burnt or underdone was maybe even better if it turned out perfectly. Gave her more information. The peach had to get a little colour but not too much for it not to get mushy, the sugar or honey glaze on top browning a little but too much. 

She’s made a lot of peach pies since then but none of them felt like this. It was frenetic, hurried, it felt more like something she had to do, not so much something she wanted to do. She was always messy but this went over anything she’s ever done before. Flour everywhere, some eggshell made it into the better, trying to roast the peaches a little turned into burning them quite badly. She huffed and puffed and just couldn’t get her mind to shut off. Her hands weren’t cooperating because she wasn’t really paying that much attention and she knew it. She knew it and hated it. The tense muscles, the tightly shut jaw, her breath in her throat that just would not go deeper, the shakiness of her exhales, the headaches she gets when she can’t relax her face for too long. Everything went on autopilot but that also seemed to be glitching.

Even hours later, running errands, stepping into the bakery to help out, nothing worked. It was stupid. Down right idiotic, really, if she wants to be honest. Which she doesn’t, hence her current predicament. Pacing up and down in the kitchen, waiting for Sophie to finish her shift. Curses being murmured, no use for that of course, but still. She’s hoping that maybe if they keep coming out in these strings, maybe she’ll exorcize something, that maybe the tightness of her chest and the grip of her stomach will eventually go away. Maybe a miracle will strike and she’ll get out of this.  A long shot for sure but which one of us hasn’t hoped for one in times like these? 

‘You okay, boss?’ Sophie asks, finally wandering back to the kitchen. She noticed it earlier for sure but not wanting to hit a nerve, she ignored it. Also hoping that whatever was going on would sort itself out, that she would sort it out, which she somehow always managed to do. Apparently not this time. MJ contemplates for a minute, with a long sigh, with arms wrapping around herself. Cuticles and nails long gone due the anxious gnawing and tearing she’s been keeping at for the last two weeks. 

‘Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry, I’m- you know just-’ 

‘Okay’ Sophie interjected, putting the plates in her hand down. ‘Look, I wasn’t gonna say anything ‘cause maybe it’s none of my business but what the fuck is going on?’ 

She should’ve seen this coming for sure. Sophie always figured it out. She’s been with her since they started the renovations, through the opening, through money troubles, through broken fridges and missed deliveries. If she was being honest, Sophie was as close to best friend as she managed to have in her adult life. She absolutely should’ve known that there was no way of hiding this from her. 

‘Jesus Margo, you’re starting to scare me.’ 

‘I- fuck me! It’s not a scary thing, I promise, it’s just’ Everything comes out in huffs, in between heavy breaths and she kind of hates it. ‘Okay’ steadying breath, palms pressing into the cold metal of the counter while Sophie stays there, waiting. 

‘Do you remember that guy I told you about? The one I met in London?’

‘Sexy pastry chef guy. Of course I remember, still haven’t shown me a picture.’ 

‘Well, you’re in luck. You can see for yourself in, like, 2 days.’

‘What?!’ Sophie’s voice rises, along with her eyebrows, eyes growing big and she simply cannot blame her. ‘But, wait- that’s-’ The wheels are turning and she’s patient. She‘d much rather Sophie put it together for herself than her having to spell it out anyways. ‘No. Are you kidding me?! Sexy pastry chef guy is Luca?’ 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘Luca, from Copenhagen.’ 

‘Yup.’ 

‘Marcus’s mentor, who, I’m still not sure he’s not in love with, Luca?’

‘Yeah, Sophe, that’s all him.’ 

‘But- What?! How’s that even possible? Why the hell didn’t you say anything?’

‘I just- I don’t know, okay? When Marcus first mentioned him when I was too shocked and I couldn’t say anything and then I kept not saying anything while we became friends, thought it would be really weird, and then suddenly almost a year passed and I thought, well, now it would be really fucking weird to say anything and I just kept on not saying anything and then Marcus said he was visiting and- I don’t know, it all just got away from me a little.’ 

‘No shit.’ Sophie can’t even be mad. The fear and the sadness that settled into her MJ’s eyes is more than enough for her to know that this is not the time for scoldings you could’ve told mes and the like. ‘Again, how’s that even possible?’ she asks, still wanting to understand at the very least. 

‘It’s not that complicated, really. I was in London for two years during college, with a scholarship. We met there, my scholarship ran out, he got Noma, I moved back here, he went to Copenhagen and we broke up not too long after that.’ Still vague, still no details, still hesitant and a little closed off. Sophie nods. Not the time for prodding either. 

‘Do you want to close up, get really drunk and continue this after?’ 

‘Absolutely, I do.’ 

‘Good.’ 

***

After going through the motions, closing up shop, it’s still just 7PM. Perks of running a bakery. 

‘Is it okay to ask how you see this playing out?’ Sophie finally chimes over her third glass of Pinot. 

‘No fucking clue.’ They both laugh because this is ridiculous. Absolutely hysterical.

‘Maybe he doesn’t even remember me, you know? It’s been a while.’ 

‘Yeah, fat fucking chance of that happening.’ 

‘Yeaaaah, I’ll just have to suck this one up, I think.’ 

‘You still could just talk to Marcus, you know? Tell him not to bring him to the bakery or work something out, change shifts, bring him when you’re not there. Or you can still just get the fuck away. Make an excuse about someone’s cat dying or whatever.’

‘Sure, not suspicious at all. Also Marcus is so excited. And it’s already eating me up that I didn’t tell him earlier.’

‘How has he not figured it out though? Luca, I mean, not Marcus. Your name is a pretty huge giveaway. It’s not like there are a shit ton of Marjolaines running around Chicago.’

‘Well, Luca never knew that I ended up in Chicago. When I moved back, I went back to San Francisco. It wasn't until a couple of months that Dylan called me about the bakery. And as for the name, Marcus was the one who started calling me MJ. My best guess is he calls me that with him too and he ever felt the need to explain how that happened.’

‘Right.’ They fell silent for a while. MJ loved these nights. Hanging around for a couple more hours, for a couple more drinks. The bakery was closed, but the smells still lingered. The sweetness of vanilla, the fattiness of butter, the slight bitterness of cooked or baked fruit, lights out, most of it leaking out from the kitchen and seeping in from the streets. Lower, softer, warmer twinkles that would only stop the hardest of stone-cold hearts from opening up a little. Even now, when the jig was up and she had to actually face what was coming her way, which did kind of feel like watching a car crash in slow motion.

‘Is it okay if I ask questions about him?’ Sophie asked eventually.

MJ just nodded, eyes a little hazy. Of course she can. When, if not know? Memories being stirred up and tongue loosening from the wine. She still appreciates it. The checking in, the earnestness and caution of this younger generation.

‘How long were you guys actually together?’

‘About two and a half years.’ 

‘Did you love him?’ 

‘Shit, Sophe, big fucking questions tonight.’ 

‘Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just- you never talk about him. And until now I thought it was because it was just kind of a fling or something. Hot pastry chef, college years, you know, the works. But seeing you now, I’m starting to think it might have been the opposite.’ 

‘Meaning?’ 

‘You know what I mean, bitch.’ Sophie pushed her shoulder a little and a laugh spilled out of her despite the ache in her chest that not even the wine could dull down.

‘It’s been such a long time. But yeah, yeah, I loved him.’ 

Sophie just hummed. 

‘Why did you guys break up?’ 

MJ just groaned as if she pulled a muscle she didn’t really use. 

‘Can I plead the fifth on that one? Just for tonight. It’s a long and sad story and-’

‘Hey, of course, you don’t have to explain.’ 

‘Okay, look!’ she slammed her glass down, turning towards her, wine splashing up on either side. ‘We can do this, alright? ‘ I’m sure Marcus will understand, and as for that douchebag-’

‘He’s not a douchebag.’ 

‘Well, he fumbled you, so he will have to try and prove that to me. So. As for that douchebag, you can handle it, and I’ll be here with you, the whole time. How long is he staying?’ 

‘I don’t know, I didn’t have follow-up questions.’ 

‘Nevermind, it doesn’t even matter, we’ll get through this, okay?’ 

MJ nodded. Sophie’s confidence was moving but she wasn’t nearly as sure of that as she was.

[i-care-bout-things-too]

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Love you babe!! I know the answer to some of these but 🫶

Wheezing so hard rn kitty cat you sent like 1/3 the list

Okay so—

👀: I started a Jon/Dami civilian au FOREVER ago, and it’s *this* close to being finished. I really can’t wait to post it because it’s a fun mix of fluffy and angsty (the latter is my specialty), where Jon/Dami have a very unusual first meeting when Damian walks into the veterinarians office Jon works at concussed, bleeding, and cuddling an inured raccoon.

“I am fine.” He says, resisting Jon’s attempts to be seated. He ignores Jon’s bewildered look as well and proffers up the raccoon he’s swaddled and had up to that point been practically cuddling. “Help him. I have grievously injured him and I am at fault.”

While admirable, Jon really wants to point out that he also looks pretty injured and also needs help. “Sir,” He replies calmly, even though this guy can’t be too much older than him. “You’re bleeding. I will help both of you, but we need to call 911 now and get your head checked. If I give you the phone and take the raccoon, could you describe the situation to an operator and explain what happened?”

To Jon’s horror, tears well up in the man’s green eyes. “You’re right. We should call the police, I need to be arrested for taking his life.”

❌: hmmm, now this is a bit of a hard one, I tend to write across a bunch of tropes and don’t really judge people for indulging in theirs… I genuinely can’t think of an answer, you’ll have to tell me something I forgot after I post this.

🎶: I’m always listening to music while I write. My music varies heavily month to months. I tend to find a new batch of songs and listen to them on loop while I write until it’s done or I get sick of them. As you know, I listened to Stranger by Thomas Day for the second chapter of the fic I gifted you, Rook, which is about very sad, angsty stuff centered around Tim and Damian. Click the fic name to end up on ao3!

✨: I actually love my own work sometimes, maybe not *always*, but there are fics I’m especially proud of. I’ll recommend (myself, yes!) Leave a Message, which is a civilian au fic about Damian celebrating his second Christmas ever, while really missing Dick who’s driving a taxi around Bludhaven unable to remember his family who’s waiting for him to come home. Trust me on this one, read it, I won’t let you down.

🛒: Damian running away. It’s a staple in a decent number of my fics, possibly because he does it A LOT in canon too. If I counted the number of fics where Damian was running away from his family or his problems, I think I’d be counting a majority of my fics.

🎢: This…okay look, I’m answering these like I’ve only ever written Batfam fic, which isn’t true, but we’re going to pretend it is to persevere some of my dignity. ANYWAY, definitely going to point a finger at Unimportant and Like We Were Then. Unimportant has spiralled beyond my control, and there are characters and things going on in it that I wasn’t planning for or expecting. Meanwhile, LWWT went from a 5+1 to a 33k word monstrosity with a plot that wasn’t planned either, but I’m actually quite proud of. Hoping to get the epilogue up soon ♥️

🤡: Basically the entirety of I Think I Have A Ghost in which Jason can’t remember his time in the league, and there’s a small child sized wraith who’s been following him around for weeks. These things are not unrelated. I’m proud of both works in the series, but particularly:

He drops a bag of tea in each mug, sits on one of a few stools around the kitchen island, and slides one of the mugs across the table to the side opposite of him.

He waits for the presence to decide what it wants to do.

“It’s going to over steep.” He tries.

It shouldn’t work. What ghost drinks tea?

Apparently, his.

The kid, because it really is an actual child, on silent feet, steps through the doorway to the kitchen and scales the stool in front of the steeping tea. All of this is done without a sound or any indication that this whole situation is really bizarre.

Jason raises a brow at the kid, and takes a sip of his tea. The kid copies the motion, only making the slightest face of distaste.

So not only is he not a ghost, Jason decides, he’s a posh not-a-ghost.

“Cool.” Jason says. “Wanna explain whatever this—” He motions between them, “—Is, kid?

The kid takes a longer sip.

Okay then.

Thank you for asking all these, Kat ♥️

[littlerequiem]

I binge-read we all bleed red until 5 am this morning and I genuinely have not been so captivated by a fic to sacrifice sleep over it in years, so thank you! I'm absolutely enamored by the OC as well as Levi. Their banter is so well-written, and I love the spunk and grit that OC has. I always love a resilient female lead, and given the time period her defiance is even more admirable

So much love and research has been put into writing this fic and I can tell just from reading it. The plot goes crazy too. There are still so many mysteries—how Levi turned into a vampire, where tf Erwin and Miche are, what tf is up with Zachary's obsession to marry into the Clary household despite the fact that they're broke… I find Zachary to be one of the most suspicious people, even though it might also just be a red herring

I also can’t emphasize how obsessed I am with OC and Levi’s relationship. I’m sorry but the progression was insanely written—from them just being mildly fascinated with each other to full-blown I want you and need you but we fucking can’t—HOLY SHIT. I find their dynamic so heart-aching thinking about it in the long run as well. If OC never turns into a vampire, she’ll be not more than half a second in Levi’s timeline :( If I were immortal I’d refuse to get attached to anyone again so I 100% understood Levi’s hesitation to become fond of OC. And ALSO just the way Levi treats OC oh GOD. I didn’t realize how feral I’d go for a bodyguard au but here I am going absolutely feral LOL. One line that BURNS into my mind—when Levi asks “Are you decent?” before walking into the room and helping her with her dress LIKE GOD HE HAS MANNERS THAT’S SEXY. I also didn’t realize how hot the feeding scenes would be… The first time he feeds from her and she sees her reflection in the mirror but not him!! Such an amazing (and hot) detail. I’m TERRIFIED of vampires and blood normally but this fic is single-handedly making me thirst for them too LOL

One thing I’m a little curious about, which you don’t have to answer if it’s not pertinent to the plot, is the main characters’ ages. I know it was mentioned that Zachary’s in his 50s but I imagine Levi might be technically just as old…? Unless he was turned recently; that would change things. There are still moments when OC calls him an old man so I imagine she’s on the younger side (since they also marry off women so young during those times). I’ve been imaging her as someone in her early 20s (I hope I’m not too far off), and I haven’t really dared to imagine an age for Levi bc I could be hundreds of years off

Anyways! Sorry this turned out so long. I can go on and on about every line I adored and every character I would LOVE to meet irl but then you’d be sitting here all day reading so! Thank you for writing this absolute gem of a fic FOR FREE might I add??? And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

P.S. I’ve never been so grateful to have taken 4 years of French class LMAO

I can't even begin to tell you what your message has done to me. I feel like I'm on cloud nine so excuse my incoherent answer lmao.

Thank YOU for taking the time and writing such a thoughtful message! Seriously. I'm so glad you've enjoyed the world I've built, that you've discovered new tropes to enjoy, and that you like the characters and their dynamic - especially Levi & the OC. You know, when I started writing this fic, I had no idea if any of it would resonate with anyone, so that it's touched even ONE person makes me just......... so so so happy.

To answer your question, the ages are purposefully vague. Originally, I did have a specific age in mind for Levi, but I know age gaps between immortal creatures & humans aren't everyone's cup of tea, so I scrapped it. With the way the story is going to unfold, Levi could be anywhere between 35 to a 100 years old, but I leave that decision up to the reader. As for the OC, I envisioned her to be between 25 to 29, since she's stated to be older than the average woman that married (24 at the time, sorry that the source is in French) BUT, having said that, I also leave this to reader preference. I hope this somewhat answered your question :D

All this to say - THANK YOU for coming into my inbox and showering me with all these words. I hope you have a superb start of the week, and just know you just injected me with a boost of serotonin that's making me want to write right now <3

[darloe]

People don’t talk or theorize enough about Midge’s Carnegie set, especially since she canonically gets pulled off the stage for something that I didn’t quite catch in season 5 which was the worst season imaginable.

I like to imagine she just constantly and subtly references Lenny Bruce, like she’s all ‘oh, and I have this special friend, a dear friend of mine, blah blah..’ and the friend is Lenny Bruce but no one except Susie knows this.

Also, I love when authors redo Midge’s apology to Shy. The whole episode was just a disaster.

Before it’s her turn, Midge finds out she apparently took Moms Mabley’s spot and then she’s all anxious already because it’s the Apollo and Susie isn’t here so she gets this vague pep talk from Reggie and he’s like ‘talk about Shy, these are his people’ and because she’s desperate for laughs, it’s exactly what she does.

Her words are her own fault and her apology sucked, this is one of the instances that we see how she hates admitting when she’s wrong but I also sympathize with her because of what happens before she goes on the stage.

Let’s quickly talk about season 5. I knew Midge was going to be an absent and neglectful mom, she knew this as well. Because you can’t have everything, there’s always a sacrifice. But it still hurt to see, especially since in every season before, she references her kids a lot.

And Lenny? Don’t get me started. How old was Kitty when Lenny died? Fictionally, since Lenny’s Carnegie set in Midge Maisel is in a different timeline than the actual time Lenny went to Carnegie, I assume Kitty is a bit older? Maybe.

Anyways, if any writers could possibly make a fic where Midge acquires Kitty after his death and now has to take care of his kid while also balancing her rising career and then it ends up with her becoming closer to her actual kids (the ones that she distanced from due to her career) i would be eternally grateful.

I’ve read that one fic, and if you’re in the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fandom on ao3, you would know what fic I’m talking about because it’s the largest fic there is in the fandom. That one, done by both of those authors? Absolutely gorgeous.

I especially loved how they explored Midge and Joel’s relationship and how it constantly affects Midge’s life.

(And if you just lived under a rock and don’t know what I’m talking about: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46657975)

- Darloe.